Deep Within the AutumnForest

Here's a small bit:

"There were no fireworks so a lot of people probably missed it. We even forgot to mention it here on The Swamp when it happened though we saw the reports. Anyway, on the last day of September, the national debt hit $10 trillion plus.

President Bush signed legislation in July that raised the debt ceiling to $10.615 trillion. Meanwhile, the financial bailout legislation passed by the Senate last night would raise the debt ceiling further to $11.315 trillion.

Here's something else worth knowing. The gross national debt as a percentage of the gross domestic product has, under the Bush Administration, hit a 50-year high. The following two charts illustrate the trend nicely:"

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/200
8/10/national_debt_topped_10_trilli.html

10 Trillion and counting.....
MoonOwl

In my daily surfs I come across all sorts of stuff.  Some turns out to be true and some turns out to be bunk.  I came across this one and thought I'd post it.  I've heard that 03/09 is the date for the "Amero" to make its debut.  If that itself isn't bunk.  But this one I just had to share w/all the hubris about the "Rescue Plan"  Here's a bit :

US Ships 800 Billion AMEROS to China; Prepares to De-Monetize the US Dollar

The US Secretary of the Treasury has informed the China Development Bank that the US has shipped $800 Billion of a new currency called the Amero, which is to be based upon the merging of the economies of The United States, Mexico and Canada into what is termed as The North American Union.

The current American debt obligation to China, currently based on the US Dollar, is now estimated to be the staggering sum of $2.5 Trillion, and which this new Amero will be exchanged for $400 Billion of this debt as the current American currency is set to be devalued by 50 percent before the end of the year.

http://halturnershow.blogspot.com/2008/10/us-ships-
800-billion-ameros-to-china.html

Shall we all hope this is just another bunch of bunk?  I guess we'll know soon enough.
MoonOwl
:

  

Here's one for mmustangg.  A bit:

When a Democratic takeover of Congress put Christopher Dodd in charge of the powerful Senate Banking Committee, Connecticut's senior senator eagerly met with reporters, outlining his generally pro-industry positions, but pledging to put consumers — and the long-term health of the economy — first.

"At the end of my tenure on this committee," Dodd said in early 2007, "I want it to be said that the safety and soundness of our financial institutions was not weakened on my watch."

A year and a half later, Dodd acknowledges that the nation's finances are in an "economic maelstrom." And while Washington engages in an urgent search for after-the-fact fixes, there is also plenty of finger-pointing, and there are enduring questions about whether campaign cash — millions and millions in campaign cash — blinded Dodd and other overseers to the excesses of industry.

http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-dodd0929.artse
p29,0,3321771.story

As of right now, the bail out has failed. 

All responsible for creating the need for the bailout should be held to account. Which ever side of the aisle they reside.

MoonOwl

Here's a bit:

"On Wednesday, the House passed a mammoth defense bill by a 392-39 vote. It's expected to clear the Senate with little difficulty next week.

It was part of a trillion-dollar stop-gap measure to keep programs running through next March, allowing lawmakers to skip town without passing a final budget. The Associated Press reports, "The legislation came together in a remarkably secret process that concentrated decision-making power in the hands of a few lawmakers."

In keeping with the tradition of recent years, Bush held a gun to his own head and threatened to pull the trigger if his demands weren't met. According to the AP, "To earn President Bush's signature rather than a veto, House and Senate negotiators dropped several provisions he opposed. They include a ban on private interrogators in U.S. military detention facilities and what would have amounted to congressional veto power over a security pact with Iraq."

In other words, Congress also maintained recent tradition, swearing not to give Bush a blank check and then whipping out their pens and signing a blank check."

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/100524/wi
th_all_eyes_on_the_bailout%2C_house_passes_trillion-dol
lar_defense_bill/

MoonOwl

Here it is. The Ciip of Rep. Burgess speaking is at the link:

Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) reports from the floor of the House that the Republicans have been cut out of the process and called unpatriotic for not blindly supporting the fraudulent bailout. He says the only debate has been about what talking points to use on the American people. The most ominous revelation is when he claims the Speaker has declared martial law.

“I have been thrown out of more meetings in this capital in the last 24 hours than I ever thought possible, as a duly elected representative of 825,000 citizens of north Texas.” Said Congressman Burgess.

Burgess asks the Speaker of the House to post the bailout bill on the internet for at least 24 hours instead of passing the largest piece of legislation in US financial history in the “dark of night.”

The most frightening part of Rep. Burgess’ one-minute floor speech is when he says, “Mr. Speaker I understand we are under Martial Law as declared by the speaker last night.”

http://www.dailynewscaster.com/2008/09/28/rep-m
ichael-burgess-we-are-under-martial-law/

Say What?  Where?  In DC?  Nationwide?  Rep. Burgess doesn't sound like he's joking.  Misinformed perhaps?  Just in time for the Army to hit the streets? 

Interesting.  I guess if he's indeed correct, we'll know by tomorrow?
MoonOwl

Here's a bit:

WASHINGTON -- Automobile-finance companies lead a growing list of liquidity-starved industries trying to get in on the huge government rescue plan targeted originally at cleaning up bad mortgage bets.

As Congress crafts a $700 billion federal government plan to buy up financial companies' troubled assets, auto-finance-company lobbyists are pressing for specific language including them in the plan, according to a lobbyist for one of the Big Three auto makers.

Other businesses, such as student and credit-card lenders, also could eventually access the program. To permit that, House and Senate versions of the bill written overnight -- with lobbyist input -- now include language broadening the types of assets eligible for sale under the plan, from "mortgage-related" to "troubled assets." The bill now goes by the acronym TARP, for Troubled Asset Relief Program.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB1222128510994
65403-lMyQjAxMDI4MjIyMzEyMjM4Wj.html

Here they come....
MoonOwl

Here's a bit of an article I found and thought I'd post it here instead of continually dragging another blog off topic:


"According to the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman newspaper, Emmons did not mince words when Palin asked her "how I would deal with her saying a book can't be in the library" on Oct. 28, 1996, in a week when the mayor had asked department heads for letters of resignation.

"She asked me if I would object to censorship, and I replied 'Yup'," Emmons told a reporter. "And I told her it would not be just me. This was a constitutional question, and the American Civil Liberties Union would get involved, too."

The Rev. Howard Bess, a liberal Christian preacher in the nearby town of Palmer, said the church Palin and her family attended until 2002, the Wasilla Assembly of God, was pushing to remove his book from local bookstores.

Emmons told him that year that several copies of "Pastor I Am Gay" had disappeared from the library shelves, Bess said.

"Sarah brought pressure on the library about things she didn't like," Bess said. "To believe that my book was not targeted in this is a joke."

Other locals said the dust-up had been blown out of proportion.

"That was many years ago and Sarah never had any intention to ban books," said David Chappel, who served as Palin's deputy mayor for three years. "There were some vocal people in the minority, and it looks like they're still out there.""

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080912/ap_on_el_pr/palin_
librarian


Sounds like a bit more than just wanting to know the procedure of banning books.  But, I'm a peabrain so what do I know...

MoonOwl

I came across this article below, and remembered when I posted this topic here back in March of 07: http://tinyurl.com/6bnykh so I thought I'd update w/a bit of this interesting article:

"Since I posted on April 28 the article “Is There an Army Cover Up of the Rape and Murder of Women Soldiers,” the deaths of two more U.S. Army women in Iraq and Afghanistan have been listed as suicides—the Sept. 28, 2007, death of 30-year-old Spc. Ciara Durkin and the Feb. 22, 2008, death of 25-year-old Spc. Keisha Morgan. Both “suicides” are disputed by the families of the women.

Since April 2008, five more U.S. military women have died in Iraq—three in noncombat-related incidents. Ninety-nine U.S., six British and one Ukrainian military women and 13 U.S. female civilians have been killed in Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain, as well as probably hundreds of thousands of Iraqi women and girls. Of the 99 U.S. military women, 64 were in the Army active component, nine in the Army National Guard, seven in the Army Reserve, seven in the Marine Corps, nine in the Navy and three in the Air Force. According to the Department of Defense, 41 of the 99 U.S. military women who have been killed in Iraq died in “noncombat-related incidents.” Of the 99 U.S. military women killed in the Iraq theater, 41 were women of color (21 African-Americans, 16 Latinas, three of Asian-Pacific descent and one Native American—data compiled from the Web site www.nooniefortin.com).

http://tinyurl.com/6pfak2

MoonOwl

Here's a bit:

"The US plans to establish a diplomatic presence in Tehran for the first time in 30 years as part of a remarkable turnaround in policy by President George Bush.

The Guardian has learned that an announcement will be made in the next month to establish a US interests section - a halfway house to setting up a full embassy. The move will see US diplomats stationed in the country.

The news of the shift by Bush who has pursued a hawkish approach to Iran throughout his tenure comes at a critical time in US-Iranian relations. After weeks that have seen tensions rise with Israel conducting war games and Tehran carrying out long-range missile tests, a thaw appears to be under way.

The White House announced yesterday that William Burns, a senior state department official, is to be sent to Switzerland on Saturday to hear Tehran's response to a European offer aimed at resolving the nuclear standoff.

Burns is to sit at the table with Iranian officials despite Bush repeatedly ruling out direct talks on the nuclear issue until Iran suspends its uranium enrichment programme, which is a possible first step on the way to a nuclear weapon capability."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/17/usa.irana>

Interesting...

MoonOwl

Here's a bit:

"The title of the House committee report sums up what happened: “Die or Give Up Trying: How Poor Contractor Performance, Government Mismanagement and the Erosion of Quality Controls Denied Thousands of Disabled Veterans Timely and Accurate Retroactive Retired Pay Awards.”

The report by the majority staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform domestic policy panel, released Tuesday, concluded that at least 28,283 disabled retirees were denied retroactive pay awards because rushed efforts to clear a huge backlog of claims led program administrators to stop doing quality assurance checks on the claims decisions.

And of the original 133,057 potentially eligible veterans, 8,763 died before their cases could be reviewed for retroactive payments, according to the report."

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/07/military
_concurrent_receipt_071508/

*bangs head*

MoonOwl

Here's a bit:

"WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The price of retail gasoline could fall by half, to around $2 a gallon, within 30 days of passage of a law to limit speculation in energy-futures markets, four energy analysts told Congress on Monday.
Testifying to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Michael Masters of Masters Capital Management said that the price of oil would quickly drop closer to its marginal cost of around $65 to $75 a barrel, about half the current $135.
Fadel Gheit of Oppenheimer & Co., Edward Krapels of Energy Security Analysis and Roger Diwan of PFC Energy Consultants agreed with Masters' assessment at a hearing on proposed legislation to limit speculation in futures markets. Krapels said that it wouldn't even take 30 days to drive prices lower, as fund managers quickly liquidated their positions in futures markets.
"Record oil prices are inflated by speculation and not justified by market fundamentals," according to Gheit. "Based on supply and demand fundamentals, crude-oil prices should not be above $60 per barrel.""

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/gas-could-fall-2
-if/story.aspx?guid={2673C102-68E0-41D9-9C9A-10EE2E7239
48}&dist=msr_13

Congress act for the benefit of WeThePeople?  Pardon me if I don't hold my breath.

MoonOwl

Here's a bit of this article:

"There is water ice on Mars within reach of the Mars Phoenix Lander, NASA scientists announced Thursday.

Photographic evidence settles the debate over the nature of the white material seen in photographs sent back by the craft. As seen in lower left of this image, chunks of the ice sublimed (changed directly from solid to gas) over the course of four days, after the lander's digging exposed them.

"It must be ice," said the Phoenix Lander's lead investigator, Peter Smith. "These little clumps completely disappearing over the course of a few days, that is perfect evidence that it's ice.""

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/06/mars-phoeni
x-tw.html


KewlBeans!
MoonOwl

Here's a bit:

"A patient whose skin cancer had spread throughout his body has been given the all-clear after being injected with billions of his own immune cells.

Tests revealed that the 52-year-old man's tumours, which spread from his skin to his lung and groin, vanished within two months of having the treatment, and had not returned two years later.

Doctors attempted the experimental therapy as part of a clinical trial after the man's cancer failed to respond to conventional treatments.

The man is the first to benefit from the new technique, which uses cloning to produce billions of copies of a patient's immune cells. When they are injected into the body they attack the cancer and force it into remission."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/jun/19/canc
er.science


Yay!  Good news today!

MoonOwl

Here's a bit:

"(NaturalNews) A Rhode Island school district has announced a pilot program to monitor student movements by means of radio frequency identification (RFID) chips implanted in their schoolbags.

The Middletown School District, in partnership with MAP Information Technology Corp., has launched a pilot program to implant RFID chips into the schoolbags of 80 children at the Aquidneck School. Each chip would be programmed with a student identification number, and would be read by an external device installed in one of two school buses. The buses would also be fitted with global positioning system (GPS) devices.

Parents or school officials could log onto a school web site to see whether and when specific children had entered or exited which bus, and to look up the bus's current location as provided by the GPS device."


http://www.naturalnews.com/023445.html


Is this a good thing?
MoonOwl

Here's a bit:

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush and his top policymakers misstated Saddam Hussein's links to terrorism and ignored doubts among intelligence agencies about Iraq's arms programs as they made a case for war, the Senate intelligence committee reported on Thursday.

The report shows an administration that "led the nation to war on false premises," said the committee's Democratic Chairman, Sen. John Rockefeller of West Virginia. Several Republicans on the committee protested its findings as a "partisan exercise."

The committee studied major speeches by Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other officials in advance of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, and compared key assertions with intelligence available at the time.

Statements that Iraq had a partnership with al Qaeda were wrong and unsupported by intelligence, the report said.

It said that Bush's and Cheney's assertions that Saddam was prepared to arm terrorist groups with weapons of mass destruction for attacks on the United States contradicted available intelligence.

Such assertions had a strong resonance with a U.S. public, still reeling after al Qaeda's September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Polls showed that many Americans believed Iraq played a role in the attacks, even long after Bush acknowledged in September 2003 that there was no evidence Saddam was involved."

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0540864220
080605


Interesting read.
MoonOwl