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by Wesley Clark
AMERICAS automobile industry is in desperate trouble. Financial instability, the credit squeeze and closed capital markets are hurting domestic automakers, while decades of competition from foreign producers have eroded market share and consumer loyalty. Some economists question the wisdom of Washington intervening to help the Big Three, arguing that the automakers should pay the price for their own mistakes or that the market will correct itself. But we must act: aiding the American automobile industry is not only an economic imperative, but also a national security imperative.
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2008/11/whats-good-for.html
Should the Big 3 US automakers be bailed out by taxpayers? The trends seems to be a resounding YES...not for the sake of CEO's and their inept entourage of administrators, but for the sake of the 3 million US workers who are now forced to rely on the possible bailout (handouts). Yet, as has happened (and is happening) in our past, these and other companies that have relied on bailouts, seldom deserve it. A better plan may be this:
Forget the "love" that Americans have for such names as Chevy, Ford trucks, etc. Federal money should instead SUBSIDIZE the purchasing of US automakers' plants and employees by companies that have made better cars (Toyota, Volvo, BMW, etc.)
The stipulation, however, must be that these new owners adhere to 5 mandates:
- 1. Honor all current retirement plans, etc.
- 2. US taxpayers would own shares in the companies commensurate with the amount of billions poured into them.
- 3. Continue manufacturing of auto parts from the purchased US companies, so that current owners of US-made cars have access to parts for the next 10 years .
- 4. Sever ALL ties between these new companies with OIL suppliers......that relationship has led to the gas guzzlers.
- 5. AND, most of all, new cars must meet the innovation standards that rely less and less on combustible engines.
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If Obama's plan succeeds, it could become one of his greatest achievements.
The plan:
The Arab world will accept Israel as a sovereign state if in exchange Israel retreats to its pre l967 borders. That plan has a great chance to put an end to the insane situation that exists between the Arabs and Israel and bring peace to the region.
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President-elect Barack Obama has, in his transition, submitted a seven page vetting questionnaire to every applicant for a government job within his administration--including Cabinet jobs (not posts). This includes background checks on each applicant, family and 'hired help.' It includes all resumes submitted withing the last ten years, a record of all legal infractions (traffic fines of $50 or under are excluded)
Mr. Obama seems to want to make government honest.
Mr. Obama has elevated the vetting even beyond what might have been expected, especially when it comes to applicants’ family members, in a reflection of his campaign rhetoric against lobbying and the back-scratching, self-serving ways of Washington.
Does his questionnaire accomplish this? Or will he be left with no one to hire?
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"Signs of the times are everywhere...." so says the gospel song from way back, and if the time of Jesus' coming was close way back when, then it surely is closer now!  Christians believe that Jesus is coming back to take us to heaven, and still others believe that the Kingdom will be here on earth, and that this is what we are to be working towards. I believe that we will go to heaven at the moment of death--no passing go, none of that.
Where is Jesus' kingdom, and what exactly does that mean to the Christian??
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Ephesians 4:11-13: "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:"
When one is called into the ministry, what is the end of his calling? For what purpose was he called? According to the bible, God calls each of us for a purpose, but there are some who are called individually for a specific ministry. This certainly isn't new: Consider Abram, Moses, Aaron--all the way to Isaiah, the 12 disciples and to Paul. God called them each to a specific ministry, with certain duties which God wanted only them to perform.
I've always considered a true calling to be something extraordinary, and I'm wondering if any of you believe (as I do), that there are too many ministers today who have either taken their call too lightly, or haven't truly been called to preach. (How would we know?) And what about those who preach a "series of sermons"? What happened to a preacher praying about "what the Lord would have them to say"?
Although the bible tells us that the "word of God won't come back void", meaning that no matter what the intent of those who preach and teach the word, it will never be in vain, I'm wondering about those who have made a 'career' choice of the ministry--if one is truly called into the ministry, when does his calling end?
Dixie
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At the G-20 Meeting Bush is being cornered by the EU (in particular France) and Russia who insist a fundamental change in the world wide financial system is a must. It is pretty well understood that Bush is reluctant to agree to any far reaching changes and the EU and Russia already eye a February meeting with Obama.
Caution is the key word for Obama. He must not give away the entire store.
G-20 finished their DC meeting. www.timesonline.co.uk has a 9 page report. There is a lot of "should" in there. What should be done here and there, etc. I cannot see any actual resolutions.
Nevertheless, it is interesting to read.
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Hi, I'm after some advice. My son and daughter seem to be allergic to tomatoes. I went to see my doctor and he said just keep them off tomatoes. Easier said than done!
My son comes up with a rash on his face but my daughter is worse. She had blisters on her hand and red spots all over her face. The problem is they're only 1 and 3 years old and such picky eaters. Plus I don't even know if its tomatoes or something else. Has anyone else dealt with this and got any advice?
Thanks
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From Wikipedia once again:
Sola fide ("by faith alone")
Sola fide is the teaching that justification (interpreted in Protestant theology as, "being declared right by God"), is received by faith only, without any mixture of or need for good works, though in classical Protestant theology, saving faith is always evidenced by good works. Some Protestants see this doctrine as being summarized with the formula "Faith yields justification and good works" and as contrasted with the Roman Catholic formula "Faith and good works yield justification."
Is it by faith alone, or by faith mixed with good works that a person is justified before God? According to this principle of Sola Fide, it is by faith alone. But then James says in chapter 2 verse 24:
You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.
Lol. I also understand that Luther didn't like the book of James, and considered leaving it out of his Bible.
What do you guys think?
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Change.gov, the copyright Obama/Biden web site features a banner at the top of the page which reads Office Of The President Elect. It also features a seal that bears great resemblance to the Seal Of The President Of The United States.
United States Code Title 17 105. Subject matter of copyright: United States Government works
Copyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the United States Government, but the United States Government is not precluded from receiving and holding copyrights transferred to it by assignment, bequest, or otherwise.
There is no Office Of The President Elect officially formed by or recognized by the US government.
United States Code Title 18
(a) Whoever knowingly displays any printed or other likeness of the great seal of the United States, or of the seals of the President or the Vice President of the United States, or the seal of the United States Senate, or the seal of the United States House of Representatives, or the seal of the United States Congress, or any facsimile thereof, in, or in connection with, any advertisement, poster, circular, book, pamphlet, or other publication, public meeting, play, motion picture, telecast, or other production, or on any building, monument, or stationery, for the purpose of conveying, or in a manner reasonably calculated to convey, a false impression of sponsorship or approval by the Government of the United States or by any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.
(b) Whoever, except as authorized under regulations promulgated by the President and published in the Federal Register, knowingly manufactures, reproduces, sells, or purchases for resale, either separately or appended to any article manufactured or sold, any likeness of the seals of the President or Vice President, or any substantial part thereof, except for manufacture or sale of the article for the official use of the Government of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.
 Whoever, except as directed by the United States Senate, or the Secretary of the Senate on its behalf, knowingly uses, manufactures, reproduces, sells or purchases for resale, either separately or appended to any article manufactured or sold, any likeness of the seal of the United States Senate, or any substantial part thereof, except for manufacture or sale of the article for the official use of the Government of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.
(d) Whoever, except as directed by the United States House of Representatives, or the Clerk of the House of Representatives on its behalf, knowingly uses, manufactures, reproduces, sells or purchases for resale, either separately or appended to any article manufactured or sold, any likeness of the seal of the United States House of Representatives, or any substantial part thereof, except for manufacture or sale of the article for the official use of the Government of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.
(e) Whoever, except as directed by the United States Congress, or the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives, acting jointly on its behalf, knowingly uses, manufactures, reproduces, sells or purchases for resale, either separately or appended to any article manufactured or sold, any likeness of the seal of the United States Congress, or any substantial part thereof, except for manufacture or sale of the article for the official use of the Government of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.
(f) A violation of the provisions of this section may be enjoined at the suit of the Attorney General,
(1) in the case of the great seal of the United States and the seals of the President and Vice President, upon complaint by any authorized representative of any department or agency of the United States;
(2) in the case of the seal of the United States Senate, upon complaint by the Secretary of the Senate;
(3) in the case of the seal of the United States House of Representatives, upon complaint by the Clerk of the House of Representatives; and
(4) in the case of the seal of the United States Congress, upon complaint by the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives, acting jointly.
Do you believe that Obama/Biden are within their legal rights to have this website?
Do you believe that they are ethically right to have this website?
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"BAGHDAD — Two American soldiers killed last month during an operation in the northern city of Mosul appear to have been deliberately shot to death by an Iraqi soldier on patrol with them, senior Iraqi officers said on Saturday." --NY Times
Just after Christmas, a joint American-Iraqi patrol was setting up a combat outpost in a dangerous neighborhood of western Mosul, according to the Times. Gunmen who had concealed themselves in a house and a car began firing on the patrol. The patrol returned fire, but then an Iraqi soldier intentionally turned his weapon on the American troops, killing a sergeant and an officer.
These are the people we have "liberated". The war continues its devastating course. History will not reward our soon to be former President for his disastrous and, frankly, stupid decision to start this war on trumped up evidence, cherrypicked information, and more bullshit than a cattle pen.
The sooner the stink of him and his wretched administration is out of Washington, the better. Have at me, neocons. The blood of dead Americans is not on Democrats' hands.
In this case opponents of the Iraq war are on the right side of history and humanity, and its supporters, if there are still any left, are wrong.
All this crap neocon talk about "we're winning" is just so much gaseous drivel until there are no dead or wounded Americans showing up on a daily basis. "We're winning" is a total lie, a fraud, a neocon fakeout.
I recently read that about 29% of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing. With this war and this economy. Walk down the street, folks. One of every three people you see still thinks George Bush is doing a good job.
If this statistic doesn't astound you, or make you cynical, or motivate you to work as hard as you can for any other party but the neocons, you are either a neocon yourself or devoid of normal human feeling, if you'll pardon my redundancy.
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Your calling yourself a Protestant now, but the last I remember you were openly following Satan. Your path, remember.
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From Wikipedia:
The Five solas are five Latin phrases (or slogans) that emerged during the Protestant Reformation and summarize the Reformers' basic theological beliefs in contradistinction to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church of the day. The Latin word sola means "alone" or "only" in English. The five solas articulated five fundamental beliefs of the Protestant Reformation, pillars which the Reformers believed to be essentials of the Christian life and practice.
and:
Sola scriptura is the teaching that the Bible is the only inspired and authoritative word of God, is the only source for Christian doctrine, and is accessible to all — that is, it is perspicuous and self-interpreting. That the Bible requires no interpretation outside of itself is an idea directly opposed to the teaching of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Coptic, Anglo-Catholic, and Roman Catholic traditions, which teach that the Bible can be authentically interpreted only by Apostolic Tradition, this being for the Roman Catholic tradition embodied in the Magisterium, (that is the teaching authority embodied in Bishops in union with the Pope).
I thought we might try doing a series on the five solas, and how the affect our lives today. As a Protestant, I have been raised with these beliefs firmly embedded within the doctrines I have been taught, without ever realizing that there might be other options or people who believe differently!
Sola Scriptura is one of the main foundations of the Evangelical churches I'm personally most familiar with. Not much is taught without deferring to scripture. So much so that the quoting of scripture is a prominent part of every sermon and every teaching.
I'm not sure how this compares with Catholic or other Christian traditions? Do they also teach from the scriptures, relying on them as the sole authority; or do the priests also teach from Church manuals and such, giving them just as much credence as the Bible?
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How many times have you heard over the last 18 years that.. 'America is conservative', 'permanent republican majority'...? Or, perhaps.. maybe you've been paying attention lately and heard such nonsense as.. 'Obama's win is not a mandate'.. 'Obama needs to govern from the center'...
Let me remind you of some social science that was done in June of 2007 - based on over 20 years of information.. (I dare say, if certain losing parties had been paying attention, instead of marninating in their delusional kool-aid.. perhaps .. well...)
Washington, D.C. - Wed, Jun 13, 2007 , Media Matters for America and Campaign for America's Future released a special report, "The Progressive Majority: Why a Conservative America is a Myth," documenting how the conventional wisdom that Americans are overwhelmingly conservative is fundamentally false. Through decades of public opinion data from nonpartisan sources, the report shows the majority of Americans hold progressive positions on a broad range of issues.
"This report shows that on issue after issue, most Americans agree with progressives and have for decades, despite what we hear from the media." said David Brock, President and CEO of Media Matters. "The conventional wisdom advanced by the media -- that the United States is becoming more and more conservative -- has been debunked repeatedly by independent public polling, but that hasn't stopped them from perpetuating this clearly flawed perception."
KEY FINDINGS:
The role of government -- 69 percent of Americans believe the government "should care for those who can't care for themselves";(They feel so strongly about it that more than half (54 percent) are willing to incur greater debt to get it done.): twice as many people (43 percent vs. 20 percent) want "government to provide many more services even if it means an increase in spending" as want government to provide fewer services "in order to reduce spending."
The economy -- 77 percent of Americans think Congress should increase the minimum wage; 66 percent believe "upper-income people" pay too little in taxes; 53 percent feel the Bush administration's tax cuts have failed because they have increased the deficit and caused cuts in government programs.
Social issues -- 61 percent of Americans support embryonic stem cell research; 62 percent want to protect Roe v. Wade; only 3 percent of Americans rank same-sex marriage as the "most important" social issue.
Security -- 43 percent of Americans say we are spending too much on our military; 60 percent feel the federal government should do more about restricting the kinds of guns that people can purchase.
The environment -- 75 percent of Americans would be willing to pay more for electricity if it were generated by renewable sources to help reduce global warming; 79 percent want higher emissions standard for automobiles.
Energy -- 52 percent of Americans believe "the best way for the U.S. to reduce its reliance on foreign oil" is to "have the government invest in alternative energy sources"; 68 percent of the public thinks U.S. energy policy is better solved by conservation than production.
Immigration -- 57 percent of Americans feel "most recent immigrants to the U.S. contribute to this country" rather than "cause problems." 67 percent of Americans feel that "on the whole," immigration is a "good thing for this country today."
Health care -- 69 percent of Americans think it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have access to health coverage; 76 percent find access to health care more important than maintaining the Bush tax cuts; three in five would be willing to have their own taxes increased to achieve universal coverage.
*Media Matters and Campaign for America's Future conducted this study by examining the past 20 years of independent, nonpartisan polling data.
*Baseline information comes from the following sources: American National Election Studies (NES) maintained by the Univ of Michigan, the General Social Survey (GSS) maintained by the Univ of Chicago, also data from the Pew Research Center and Gallup. (mediamatters.org/progmaj/report)
and most recently we have people starting to speak to the same issue..
"About the political argument: Anyone who doubts that we've had a major political realignment should look at what's happened to Congress. After the 2004 election, there were many declarations that we'd entered a long-term, perhaps permanent era of Republican dominance. Since then, Democrats have won back-to-back victories, picking up at least 12 Senate seats and more than 50 House seats. They now have bigger majorities in both houses than the G.O.P. ever achieved in its 12-year reign.
What F.D.R. said in his second inaugural address - "We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals; we know now that it is bad economics" - has never rung truer. " Friday 07 November 2008 by: Paul Krugman, The New York Times
"On Tuesday, President-elect Obama resoundingly defeated Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), delivering a mandate for Obama's progressive policy agenda. Obama ran on the most progressive platform of any presidential candidate in at least 15 years, "including a promise of universal health care coverage, a dramatic transformation to a low-carbon economy, and a historic investment in education."
But.. I hear the refusers... who might be saying...
"If Americans are so progressive, why don't more say so?
(mediamatters.org/progmaj/report)
"When asked for evidence, advocates of the idea that America is a conservative country will often cite the fact that polls show more people labeling themselves as "conservative" than "liberal." This is certainly true, as data from the NES show:
Yet there are a number of reasons to conclude that the data on self-labeling tells us relatively little about the actual ideological positioning of the public.
*political scientists have understood for more than 40 years, most Americans simply don't think in ideological terms.
*There is an understandable assumption within Washington that if survey respondents answer the ideological self-placement question by choosing "liberal" or "conservative," then their positions on issues roughly correlate with those of the Democratic and Republican parties, respectively; But in fact, this is not the case.
*people don't use the liberal label is that the term "liberal" has been victim to a relentless conservative marketing campaign that has succeeded in vilifying liberals and liberalism.
*When people do use ideological labels, they often apply them inconsistently."
here's the deal... I'm tired. I'm tired of listening to intellectually dishonest pundits, politicians, and talk-show hosts speak out of their asses to reject the truth. I have listened for 8 years of spin-confused-and-offered-as-truth. Regardless of what you call the opinions of so many Americans whether it's liberal or conservative... regardless of the dismissive pigeon-holeing of differing opinions as somehow inherently bad or evil.. a country declared it's priorities. It spoke to what it values. It's time to take care of business.
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I recently bought a new house, and although I don't move in for a few week yet, I would like to get started on my garden plans. The house sits on just over half an acre and there are already some established trees.
In my new garden there is a Walnut, Strawberry Guava, Persimmon, Fig, Peacherine, Apple (Pink Lady), Tangello, Lime (Tahitian), Orange (Navel), Plum (Satsuma), Pear (Red Sensation) and a Cherry tree.
Quite a lovely little orchard, but I think I am missing a few essentials. Any help would be appreciated.
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