A US space shuttle has pulled up for the last time at the International Space Station. Emotions were running high Sunday, in orbit and on Earth, as Atlantis arrived at the space station. (July 10)
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A US space shuttle has pulled up for the last time at the International Space Station. Emotions were running high Sunday, in orbit and on Earth, as Atlantis arrived at the space station. (July 10)
Continue reading …There has to be a law against this, right ? House Minority Leader Eric Cantor made it known today that tax loopholes would now be allowed consideration in the debt ceiling negotiations. According to the Associated Press , the statement was a break from his former position that they only be considered in an exhaustive overhaul of the tax code. It is a slight break in what has become a deeply entrenched partisan-specific debate. But Rep. Cantor has a problem with conflict of interest with regard to the negotiations, something that was made public a week ago. So why hasn’t he recused himself not only from the negotiations but from having anything to do with the debt ceiling talks and/or its subsequent vote? Last week, Salon.com ran an article revealing that Rep. Cantor had up to about a $15,000 investment in ProShares Trust Ultrashort 20+ Year Treasury EFT, a fund that deals in “shorting” U.S. Treasury bonds. To explain: a “short” increases in worth when something fails. In this case: U.S. Treasury bonds. If the debt ceiling is not raised and the United States defaults on its loans, treasury bonds are likely to see increased market volatility and an assured drop in worth. If that were to happen, Cantor stands to make a lot of money on his investment. Yet, the congressman is in negotiations with Vice President Joe Biden and others in what is supposed to be attempts at resolving the debt ceiling issue and keeping the government from shutting down, which could occur should a compromise not be reached by Aug. 2, the last day Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner maintains he can keep juggling the government’s bills in order to keep it running smoothly without defaulting on at least some of its debts. You read that right. Eric Cantor will personally profit if we default on the debt ceiling. I had written some weeks ago that I thought this whole debate was nothing more than kabuki theater , because ultimately, the GOP would not go against their Wall Street masters and destroy the full faith and credit of the country. But when your lead negotiator is lining up side bets that we will, in fact, fail, then you have to wonder where his loyalties lie and whether any negotiations coming from the Republican could be considered “in good faith”. With the news that Boehner has canceled his scheduled meeting this morning with Obama because the White House will not absolutely take tax hikes off the table, I’d say it’s time for the White House to separate distinctly and definitively the discussions of the debt ceiling and the deficit and tell Congress to vote to raise the debt ceiling without delay.
Continue reading …There has to be a law against this, right ? House Minority Leader Eric Cantor made it known today that tax loopholes would now be allowed consideration in the debt ceiling negotiations. According to the Associated Press , the statement was a break from his former position that they only be considered in an exhaustive overhaul of the tax code. It is a slight break in what has become a deeply entrenched partisan-specific debate. But Rep. Cantor has a problem with conflict of interest with regard to the negotiations, something that was made public a week ago. So why hasn’t he recused himself not only from the negotiations but from having anything to do with the debt ceiling talks and/or its subsequent vote? Last week, Salon.com ran an article revealing that Rep. Cantor had up to about a $15,000 investment in ProShares Trust Ultrashort 20+ Year Treasury EFT, a fund that deals in “shorting” U.S. Treasury bonds. To explain: a “short” increases in worth when something fails. In this case: U.S. Treasury bonds. If the debt ceiling is not raised and the United States defaults on its loans, treasury bonds are likely to see increased market volatility and an assured drop in worth. If that were to happen, Cantor stands to make a lot of money on his investment. Yet, the congressman is in negotiations with Vice President Joe Biden and others in what is supposed to be attempts at resolving the debt ceiling issue and keeping the government from shutting down, which could occur should a compromise not be reached by Aug. 2, the last day Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner maintains he can keep juggling the government’s bills in order to keep it running smoothly without defaulting on at least some of its debts. You read that right. Eric Cantor will personally profit if we default on the debt ceiling. I had written some weeks ago that I thought this whole debate was nothing more than kabuki theater , because ultimately, the GOP would not go against their Wall Street masters and destroy the full faith and credit of the country. But when your lead negotiator is lining up side bets that we will, in fact, fail, then you have to wonder where his loyalties lie and whether any negotiations coming from the Republican could be considered “in good faith”. With the news that Boehner has canceled his scheduled meeting this morning with Obama because the White House will not absolutely take tax hikes off the table, I’d say it’s time for the White House to separate distinctly and definitively the discussions of the debt ceiling and the deficit and tell Congress to vote to raise the debt ceiling without delay.
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Click here to view this media Even with the country on the brink of default, the Senate’s highest ranking Republican says his “single most important” goal is to make Barack Obama a one-term president. “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told National Journal ‘s Major Garrett in October. Fox News’ Bret Baier asked McConnell Sunday if that was still his major objective. “Well, that is true,” McConnell replied. “That’s my single most important political goal, along with every active Republican in the country.” “But that is in 2012,” he added. “Our biggest goal for this year is get this country straightened out and we can’t get this country straightened out if we don’t do something about spending, about deficit, about debt and get the economy moving again. So our goal is to have a robust vibrant economy to benefit all Americans.” McConnell told Baier that a “Grand Bargain,” where Republicans agree to tax hikes in exchange for cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits, was likely off the table. “I think it is. Everything they told me and the Speaker is to get a big package would require big tax increases in the middle of the economic situation that is extraordinarily difficult with 9.2% unemployment. We think it’s a terrible idea. It’s a job-killer.” “Nobody is talk about not raising the debt ceiling,” McConnell later insisted. Taking a break from debt limit talk, the Senate’s top Republican also said that it was time to send more terrorism suspects to the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. “They are going the try a couple of foreign terrorists in Kentucky, my state, whose fingerprints were found on IED’s in Iraq. These foreign terrorists are enemy combatants. They should be taken to Guantanamo. They should be tried in military commissions.”
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Click here to view this media Even with the country on the brink of default, the Senate’s highest ranking Republican says his “single most important” goal is to make Barack Obama a one-term president. “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told National Journal ‘s Major Garrett in October. Fox News’ Bret Baier asked McConnell Sunday if that was still his major objective. “Well, that is true,” McConnell replied. “That’s my single most important political goal, along with every active Republican in the country.” “But that is in 2012,” he added. “Our biggest goal for this year is get this country straightened out and we can’t get this country straightened out if we don’t do something about spending, about deficit, about debt and get the economy moving again. So our goal is to have a robust vibrant economy to benefit all Americans.” McConnell told Baier that a “Grand Bargain,” where Republicans agree to tax hikes in exchange for cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits, was likely off the table. “I think it is. Everything they told me and the Speaker is to get a big package would require big tax increases in the middle of the economic situation that is extraordinarily difficult with 9.2% unemployment. We think it’s a terrible idea. It’s a job-killer.” “Nobody is talk about not raising the debt ceiling,” McConnell later insisted. Taking a break from debt limit talk, the Senate’s top Republican also said that it was time to send more terrorism suspects to the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. “They are going the try a couple of foreign terrorists in Kentucky, my state, whose fingerprints were found on IED’s in Iraq. These foreign terrorists are enemy combatants. They should be taken to Guantanamo. They should be tried in military commissions.”
Continue reading …NY Times Mocks Bible Christians, Red-State Righties in ‘Saving the Space Program’ Cartoon Slides
July 10, 2011 No CommentHere’s some New York Times humor for your Sunday (hat tip: nkviking). A Sunday Review slide show on “Solutions for Saving the Space Program” includes some mockery of Bible-thumpers: “Garner wider support by sneaking pro-science verses into the Bible.” Underneath this caption is a suggested verse: “Galileo 3:16: For God so loved the universe that he made it full of really awesome stuff for mankind to check out.” Such whimsey! Apparently, the Times thinks NASA’s problem funders are the conservative hayseeds, not “progressive” President Obama. There’s also these whacks at the capitalist bubbas: – “Hype up the unregulated nature of space to encourage business exploration.” Slogans include “In space, no one can hear labor’s screams.” And: “The Moon: No atmosphere, no taxes.” – “Convert the retired shuttle fleet into a Nascar team. Use winnings to fund future missions.” – It has Obama declaring war on Mars (because we’re apparently suckers for “intractable quagmires”). – “Take the entire country on a field trip to a science museum.” The guide is saying “Come on, Kansas! I know you won’t believe any of this, but attendance is mandatory.” Earth to Kansas: The New York Times thinks you’re all science-hating rubes. If you’re from South Carolina, don’t miss the “space tourism” jokes about “South of the Border” on Interstate 95.
Continue reading …NY Times Mocks Bible Christians, Red-State Righties in ‘Saving the Space Program’ Cartoon Slides
July 10, 2011 No CommentHere’s some New York Times humor for your Sunday (hat tip: nkviking). A Sunday Review slide show on “Solutions for Saving the Space Program” includes some mockery of Bible-thumpers: “Garner wider support by sneaking pro-science verses into the Bible.” Underneath this caption is a suggested verse: “Galileo 3:16: For God so loved the universe that he made it full of really awesome stuff for mankind to check out.” Such whimsey! Apparently, the Times thinks NASA’s problem funders are the conservative hayseeds, not “progressive” President Obama. There’s also these whacks at the capitalist bubbas: – “Hype up the unregulated nature of space to encourage business exploration.” Slogans include “In space, no one can hear labor’s screams.” And: “The Moon: No atmosphere, no taxes.” – “Convert the retired shuttle fleet into a Nascar team. Use winnings to fund future missions.” – It has Obama declaring war on Mars (because we’re apparently suckers for “intractable quagmires”). – “Take the entire country on a field trip to a science museum.” The guide is saying “Come on, Kansas! I know you won’t believe any of this, but attendance is mandatory.” Earth to Kansas: The New York Times thinks you’re all science-hating rubes. If you’re from South Carolina, don’t miss the “space tourism” jokes about “South of the Border” on Interstate 95.
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