Do Poor People Even Take Their Kids to See Santa?

Rush shared a story today about a Santa School in which the prospective Santas are being taught to lower kid's expectations. If kids sit on their laps and give them a long list of what they want, the Santas are supposed to say, "Well, sometimes you can't get anything."

But it just makes me wonder... I dont' think poor people let their children sit on Santa's lap, because they know they can't afford to get their kids everything they want (although there are plenty of toy drives out there for the little tykes.)

Only people with money - or with credit cards - will take their kids to see Santa.

Of course the underlying thing about the whole Santa schtick is...parents shouldn't be taking their kid to see Santa in the first place, no matter how much money they have!

Talk about the commercialization - the destruction - of Christmas. The institutionalized greed and "me first" that this type of thing instills in children.

I remember, when I was a kid, I'd get the same thing each year for Christmas - books. And I was happy to get 'em. (Now, admittedly, back when I was growing up in the late 60s and early 70s there were no computers or computer games like there are today).

These days, if each Christmas a kid doesn't get more toys then they got the year before, they throw tantrums. People go into debt to buy toys for their kids, and expensive gifts for their adult family members, all because of this "keeping up with the Joneses" mentality.

(And of course, there's the violence on the day after Thanksgiving as shoppers beat each other up in order to get good deals.)

It's a sad commentary on the state of US citizens, and it's been going on for decades.


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My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

The Thing About People's Pensions

An airline pilot for American Airlines called in today. Pointed out that six years ago, all the pilots took pay cuts to keep American Airlines out of bankruptcy...and then all the executives of the company - the ones who schmooze, and don't work - they were given bonuses!

So this guy was upset that Rush is painting Union members with a wide swath.

This is also what Rush said:

I have never in my life expected to be paid after I quit working! I'M SORRY! I expect to be paid when I'm working. I have never assumed -- it doesn't compute, calculate with me -- that somebody is going to pay me when I'm no longer doing work for them.

So I have always thought it was my responsibility to take care of that.

Now here's the thing, to me. This is not a Union thing, per se. It's about promises that are made to people.

If you join a company, and you are told up front, that you will be getting a pension at the end of your tenure...only a fool would say - "No, thanks. I'll do all the savings myself. You don't need to give me a pension."

I guar-on-tee you that everyone who is getting or expected to get a pension believed that the company set aside money for them, in bank accounts that accrued interest, or invested it safely somewhere, so that the money would be there for them.

Instead, 9 times out of 10, the execs of a failing company raid that pension plan - and the people who have worked their lives at the job, were promised a pension, and don't get it... they are not the ones to blame for the financial distress they may find themselves in!

Someone in a big company promises you - in writing - what your pension will be - you believe them!

My dad is sort of an example. He used to work for an airline in Alaska, MarkAir. They were doing very well...then they overextended...and went bankrupt. They couldn't pay the pensions they'd promised...so the government took over the pension plan and the government is who is paying my dad his pension.

Should he turn it down because it's coming from the government (our taxes) instead of MarkAir? I don't think so!

And that is, to an extent, where the Occupy Wall Street folk had a point. Executives can drive their companies into the ground, all their employees can lose their jobs, and the executives are given bonuses and golden parachutes and go on to the next company, which they proceed to drive into the ground.

That's just not right.

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My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

30 Nov 2011, Wed, Rush Limbaugh headlines

--A Magical Night in New York
--Rush Live... in New York City
--Europe's Problem is Liberalism
--GOP Race Has Become Search for Perfect Candidate (Who Doesn't Exist and Isn't Necessary to Beat Obama)
--How Can Anyone Hate America?
--Reagan's 1980 Landslide was a Shock at the Time
--Contentious American Airlines Pilot
--The Herman Cain-Ginger White Saga
--NY Cabbie, Loyal Dittohead
--Obamaville Store Santas Taught to Lower Kids' Expectations
Stack of Stuff
--Iranians Storm UK Embassy
--LA Storms OCW
--Cain Walking?
--10 Days to Rescue Euro
--Newt and Romney



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My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

30 Nov 2011, Wed, SoS Clinton Schedule

Whoever is responsible for doing the schedule for Mrs. Clinton and staff has either been fired or is on vacation - or is simply not doing their job.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/appt/2011/11/177910.htm

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON:
Secretary Clinton is on foreign travel.

PRESS BRIEFING SCHEDULE:
12:30 p.m. Daily Press Briefing with Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner

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My Schedule of Regular Posts:*
Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.

30 Nocv 2011, Wed, Pres and VP Headlines

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule
12:20 am
The President arrives at the White House
Travel Pool Coverage

12:00 pm
The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

12:40 pm
The President departs the White House en route Joint Base Andrews
Travel Pool Coverage

12:55 pm
The President departs Joint Base Andrews en route Scranton, PA
Travel Pool Coverage

1:45 pm
The President arrives Scranton, PA
Wilkes Barre/Scranton International Airport
Open Press

2:05 pm
The President meets with a Scranton family
Private Residence
Travel Pool Spray

2:45 pm
The President delivers remarks at Scranton High School
Scranton High School
Open to pre-credentialed media

4:10 pm
The President departs Scranton, PA en route New York City
Wilkes Barre/Scranton International Airport
Open Press

4:55 pm
The President arrives New York City
John F. Kennedy International Airport
Open Press

6:05 pm
The President delivers remarks at a campaign event
Private Residence
Pooled Press

7:30 pm
The President delivers remarks at a campaign event
Gotham Bar and Grille
Pooled Press

9:05 pm
The President delivers remarks at a campaign event
Sheraton Hotel
Travel Pool Coverage

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
No public schedule
___________
My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

Is It Time To Start Being Afraid of the Occupiers?

Several regimes in the Middle East have been toppled recently by thousands of folks protesting...here in the US we've got the Occupy City-ers who are getting away with murder - literally. (Not to mention ingesting drugs, anti-semitism, and being public nuisances.)

And they have no intention of going home - as long as the cities they have infested have to remove their waste products, provide them with food and heat, ya da ya da.

It's the old lesson of give someone an inch and they'll take a mile. None of these protests and tent cities have been legal, they're supposed to get permits which they haven't gotten. So police try to move them on, and some liberal judge says, "Oh, no, it's their right to make nuisances of themselves."

While there may be some legitimate grievances among their complaints, it seems pretty clearthat all most of them are looking for is a free ride.

Occupy British Embassy: Iranian protesters storm British diplomatic compounds

The US has the Occupy folk... Iran has its radicals: Iranian protesters storm British diplomatic compounds
(Reuters) - Iranian protesters stormed two British diplomatic compounds in Tehran on Tuesday, smashing windows, torching a car and burning the British flag in protest against new sanctions imposed by London.

Britain said it was outraged and warned of "serious consequences." The U.N. Security Council condemned the attacks "in the strongest terms." U.S. President Barack Obama said he was disturbed by the incident and called on Iran to hold those responsible to account.

The attacks come at a time of rising diplomatic tension between Iran and Western nations who last week imposed fresh sanctions over Tehran's nuclear program, which they believe is aimed at achieving the capability of making an atomic bomb.

Iran, the world's fifth biggest oil exporter, says it only wants nuclear plants to generate electricity.

The embassy storming is also a sign of deepening political infighting within Iran's ruling hardline elites, with the conservative-led parliament attempting to force the hand of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and expel the British ambassador.

"Radicals in Iran and in the West are always in favor of crisis ... Such radical hardliners in Iran will use the crisis to unite people and also to blame the crisis for the fading economy," said political analyst Hasan Sedghi.

Several dozen protesters broke away from a crowd of a few hundred outside the main British embassy compound in downtown Tehran, scaled the gates, broke the locks and went inside.

Protesters pulled down the British flag, burned it, and put up the Iranian flag, Iranian news agencies and news pictures showed. Inside, the demonstrators smashed windows of office and residential quarters and set a car ablaze, news pictures showed.

One took a framed picture of Queen Elizabeth, state TV showed. Others carried the royal crest out through the embassy gate as police stood by, pictures carried by the semi-official Fars news agency showed.

All embassy personnel were accounted for, a British diplomat told Reuters in Washington, saying Britain did not believe that any sensitive materials had been seized.

Demonstrators waved flags symbolizing martyrdom and held aloft portraits of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who has the final say on matters of state in Iran.

Another group of protesters broke into a second British compound at Qolhak in north Tehran, the IRNA state news agency said. Once the embassy's summer quarters, the sprawling, tree-lined compound is now used to house diplomatic staff.

An Iranian report said six British embassy staff had been briefly held by the protesters. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the situation had been "confusing" and that he would not have called them "hostages."

"Police freed the six people working for the British embassy in Qolhak garden," Iran's Fars news agency said.

A German school next to the Qolhak compound was also damaged, the German government said.

BRITAIN OUTRAGED

Police appeared to have cleared the demonstrators in front of the main downtown embassy compound, but later clashed with protesters and fired tear gas to try to disperse them, Fars said. Protesters nevertheless entered the compound a second time, before once again leaving, it said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron chaired a meeting of the government crisis committee to discuss the attacks which he said were "outrageous and indefensible."

"The failure of the Iranian government to defend British staff and property was a disgrace," he said in a statement.

"The Iranian government must recognize that there will be serious consequences for failing to protect our staff. We will consider what these measures should be in the coming days."

The United States, alongside the European Union and many of its member states also strongly condemned the attacks.

There have been regular protests outside the British embassy over the years since the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed shah, but never have any been so violent.

The attacks and hostage-taking were a reminder of the 1979 takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran carried out by radical students who held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. The United States cut diplomatic ties with Iran after the hostage-taking.

All British embassy personnel were accounted for and safe, a British diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters in Washington.

The diplomat said the attack likely flowed from Britain's November 21 decision to impose new sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear program, including a ban on British financial institutions dealing with their Iranian counterparts.

"It's impossible, really, not to reach that conclusion," the diplomat said, suggesting that the protests may have been sparked by the Iranian authorities.

"In the past we have certainly had demonstrations that have ... been sanctioned, if not encouraged, by the government. I don't know about this one. I don't think we'd put it past them," said the diplomat.

"It's hard to imagine, in a place like Iran, that these were some kind of spontaneous (event)," said a State Department official who declined to be identified.

INFIGHTING

The demonstrations appeared to be a bid by conservatives who control parliament to press home their demand, passed in parliament last week and quickly endorsed by the Guardian Council on Tuesday, for the government to expel the British ambassador in retaliation for the sanctions.

A lawmaker had warned on Sunday that angry Iranians could storm the British embassy.

"Parliament officially notified the president over a bill regarding degrading the ties with Britain, obliging the government to implement it within five days," Fars news agency quoted speaker Ali Larijani as saying.

Ahmadinejad's government has shown no willingness to compromise on its refusal to halt its nuclear work, but has sought to keep channels of negotiation open in an effort to limit the worst effects of sanctions.

An Iranian official told Reuters the storming of the British compounds was not planned by the government.

"It was not an organized measure. The establishment had no role in it. It was not planned," said the official, who declined to be identified. Iran's Foreign Ministry said it regretted the attacks and was committed to ensuring the safety of diplomats.

Police arrested 12 people who had entered the north Tehran compound, Fars said, quoting a police chief as saying they would be handed over to the judiciary.

Protesters said they planned to stage a sit-in at the gates of the north Tehran compound and would not move until they were told to do so by Iran's religious leaders.

Britain, along with the United States and Canada, imposed new unilateral sanctions on Iran last week, while the EU, France and Italy have all said financial measures against Tehran should be strengthened.

Herman Cain Implodes

I had liked Herman Cain. I don't know that I thought of him as Presidential material...but Vice Presidential material with emphasis on jumpstarting the US economy...sure.

Yesterday the news was reported that a woman was saying that she'd had a 13-year affair with the guy.

Yes, I was prepared to disbelieve it...prepared to think it was another woman wanting money or fame...but then Glenn Beck read Cain's press release - in which he did not deny the affair, just said that it was no one's business.

Which means - it's true. He had an affair, for 13 years.

Puts the claims of the other women claiming harrassment into perspective.

So....I expect him to end his campaign pretty soon now. Even a Democrat would be hard-pressed to continue under these circumstances!

And it just makes you wonder...why do people with so much baggage in their closets try to become President? It must be evident by now that if they have anything to hide, it will be found (unless you're a clean-cut, articulate black Democrat like Obama, of course...)




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My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

No Rush today, Nov 29, 2011

Mark Steyn is sitting in for Rush today.



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My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

29 Nov, 2011, Tue, SoS Clinton and Staff Schedule

As of 11.19 am mountain time, not uploaded


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My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

29 Nov 2011, Tues, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule
9:45 am
The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

2:30 pm
The President has a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands
Oval Office
Pool Spray at the Top

5:30 pm
The President meets with senior advisors
Oval Office
Closed Press

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
No public schedule

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My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

Who is Barney Frnak?

From Wikipedia:

Barney Frank (born March 31, 1940) is the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts's 4th congressional district (1981–present). A member of the Democratic Party, he is the former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee (2007–2011) and is considered the most prominent gay politician in the United States.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Frank graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He worked as a political aide before winning election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1972. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1980 with 52 percent of the vote. He has been re-elected ever since by wide margins. In 1987 he came out as gay, becoming the first member of Congress to do so voluntarily. From 2007 to 2011, Frank served as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, where he remains the ranking Democrat.

On November 28, 2011, Frank announced that he would retire from the Congress at the conclusion of his term in 2013.

Early life, education, and early career
Frank was born Barnett Frank to a Jewish family in Bayonne, New Jersey, one of four children of Sam and Elsie. Frank's father ran a Jersey City truck stop — a place Frank describes as "totally corrupt" — and served a year in prison, when Frank was 6 or 7, for refusing to testify to a grand jury against Frank's uncle.

Frank was educated at Harvard College, where he resided in Matthews Hall his first year and then in Kirkland House and Winthrop House, graduating in 1962. Frank's undergraduate studies were interrupted by the death of his father, and Frank took a year off to help resolve the family's affairs prior to his graduation. He taught undergraduates at Harvard while studying for a Ph.D. in Government, but left in 1968 before completing the degree, to become Boston mayor Kevin White's Chief Assistant, a position he held for three years. He then served for a year as Administrative Assistant to Congressman Michael J. Harrington. Frank later graduated from Harvard Law School, in 1977, while serving as Massachusetts State Representative.

Pre-congressional career
In 1972 Frank was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives where he served for eight years. Frank made a name for himself in the mid-1970s as a political defender of the Combat Zone, Boston's notorious red light district. Neighborhoods in Frank's district bordered the Combat Zone. As a means of dealing with crime in the area (including violence, police corruption and the infiltration by organized crime), Frank introduced a bill into the Massachusetts General Court that would have legalized the sex-for-hire business but kept it quarantined in a red light district, which would have been moved to Boston's Financial District.

The bill, which had the support of Boston's Police Commissioner, never came up for a vote. Later, when Frank was running for Congress, opponents erroneously portrayed him having attempted to permit red light districts in all Bay State communities.

While in state and local government, Frank taught part time at the University of Massachusetts Boston, the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and at Boston University. He published numerous articles on politics and public affairs, and in 1992 he published Speaking Frankly, an essay on the role the Democratic Party should play in the 1990s. In 1979, Frank was admitted to the bar in Massachusetts.

U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
In 1980, Frank ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 4th congressional district, hoping to succeed Father Robert Drinan, who had left Congress following a call by Pope John Paul II for priests to withdraw from political positions. In the Democratic primary held on September 16, 1980, Frank won 52% of the vote in a four-candidate field. As the Democratic nominee, Frank faced Republican Richard A. Jones in the general election and won narrowly, 52%-48%.

For his first term, Frank represented a district in the western and southern suburbs of Boston, anchored by Brookline and his hometown of Newton. However, in 1982, redistricting forced him to run against Republican Margaret Heckler, who represented a district centered on the South Coast, including Fall River and New Bedford. Although the newly configured district retained Frank's district number — the 4th — it was geographically more Heckler's district. Frank focused on Heckler's initial support for President Ronald Reagan's tax cuts, and won with 60% of the vote.

Frank did not face another serious race again for a quarter-century. From 1984 to 2008, he won re-election 12 times with at least 67% of the vote.

In 2010, Frank ran for his 16th term. Public opinion polling showed Frank facing his first credible challenge since defeating Heckler in 1982. He faced Republican Sean Bielat, a U.S. Marine veteran and businessman.

In mid-September, an internal poll showed Frank leading 48%-38%. In late October, he loaned his campaign $200,000. In early October, the Cook Political Report changed its assessment of the district from “solid Democratic” to “likely Democratic”--meaning that while Frank was favored, a victory by Bielat could not be entirely ruled out. While Frank had a 3-to-1 advantage in terms of cash on hand, Bielat outraised him in September.

On October 25th, a Boston Globe survey showed Frank leading 46%-33%. Bielat released a TV ad showing Frank dancing under a disco ball, with the message that he was "dancing around the issues." Frank won re-election to his 16th term, 54%-43%.

On November 28, 2011, Frank announced at a news conference that he would not seek re-election in 2012.

Tenure
In 1985 Frank was still closeted. That year he hired Steve Gobie for sex, a male prostitute, and they became friends more than sexual partners. Frank housed Gobie and hired him with personal funds as an aide, housekeeper and driver and paid for his attorney and court-ordered psychiatrist.

In 1987 Frank kicked Gobie out after he was advised by his landlord that Gobie kept escorting despite the support and was doing so in the residence. Later that year Gobie's friends convinced him he had a gay male version of Mayflower Madam, a TV movie they had been watching.

In 1989 Gobie tried to initiate a bidding war for the story between WUSA-TV (Channel 9), the Washington Times, and The Washington Post. He then gave the story to The Washington Times for nothing, in hopes of getting a book contract. Amid calls for an investigation Frank asked the House Ethics Committee to investigate his relationship "in order to insure that the public record is clear."

The Committee found no evidence that Frank had known of or been involved in the alleged illegal activity and dismissed all of Gobie's more scandalous claims; they recommended a reprimand for Frank using his congressional office to fix 33 of Gobie's parking tickets and for misstatements of fact in a memorandum relating to Gobie's criminal probation record.

The House voted 408–18 to reprimand Frank. The attempts to censure and expel Frank were led by Republican Larry Craig, whom Frank later criticized for hypocrisy after Craig's own arrest in 2007 for lewd conduct while soliciting gay sex in an airport bathroom. Frank won re-election that year with 66 percent of the vote, and has won by larger margins until the 2010 Mid-term elections when Frank only won by eleven points.

Public image
Frank is known for his quick wit. In one famous quip he said he was unable to complete his review of the Starr Report detailing President Bill Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky, complaining that it was "too much reading about heterosexual sex".

In 2004 and again in 2006, a survey of Capitol Hill staffers published in Washingtonian gave Frank the title of the "brainiest", "funniest", and "most eloquent" member of the House. In 2008 the same survey named him "brainiest", and runner up for "workhorse", and "most eloquent", in 2010 he was named "brainiest", "workhorse", and "funniest".

He is also widely considered to be one of the most powerful members of Congress. In his book Ripples of Hope: Great American Civil Rights Speeches, Democratic speech writer Josh Gottheimer describes Frank as "one of the brightest and most energetic defenders of civil rights issues."

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
In 2003, while the ranking minority member on the Financial Services Committee, Frank opposed a Bush administration proposal, in response to accounting scandals, for transferring oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from Congress and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to a new agency that would be created within the Treasury Department. The proposal, supported by the head of Fannie Mae, reflected the administration's belief that Congress "neither has the tools, nor the stature" for adequate oversight. Frank stated, "These two entities ...are not facing any kind of financial crisis ... The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."

In 2003, Frank also stated what has been called his "famous dice roll": "I do not want the same kind of focus on safety and soundness [in the regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] that we have in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision. I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation towards subsidised housing." In July 2008, Frank said in an CNBC interview, "I think this is a case where Fannie and Freddie are fundamentally sound, that they are not in danger of going under. They’re not the best investments these days from the long-term standpoint going back. I think they are in good shape going forward."

Frank was criticized by conservative organizations for campaign contributions totaling $42,350 between 1989 and 2008. Bill Sammon, the Washington managing editor for Fox News Channel, claimed the donations from Fannie and Freddie influenced his support of their lending programs, and said that Frank did not play a strong enough role in reforming the institutions in the years leading up to the Economic crisis of 2008.

In 2006 a Fannie Mae representative stated in SEC filings that they "did not participate in large amounts of these non-traditional mortgages in 2004 and 2005." In response to criticism, Frank said, "In 2004, it was Bush who started to push Fannie and Freddie into subprime mortgages, because they were boasting about how they were expanding homeownership for low-income people. And I said at the time, 'Hey — (a) this is going to jeopardize their profitability, but (b) it's going to put people in homes they can't afford, and they're gonna lose them.'"

In 2009 Frank responded to what he called "wholly inaccurate efforts by Republicans to blame Democrats, and [me] in particular" for the subprime mortgage crisis, which is linked to the financial crisis of 2007–2009. He outlined his efforts to reform these institutions and add regulations, but met resistance from Republicans, with the main exception being a bill with Republican Mike Oxley that died because of opposition from President Bush.

The 2005 bill included Frank objectives, which were to impose tighter regulation of Fannie and Freddie and new funds for rental housing. Frank and Mike Oxley achieved broad bipartisan support for the bill in the Financial Services Committee, and it passed the House. But the Senate never voted on the measure, in part because President Bush was likely to veto it.

"If it had passed, that would have been one of the ways we could have reined in the bowling ball going downhill called housing," Oxley told Frank. In an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, Lawrence B. Lindsey, a former economic adviser to President George W. Bush, wrote that Frank "is the only politician I know who has argued that we needed tighter rules that intentionally produce fewer homeowners and more renters."

Once control shifted to the Democrats, Frank was able to help guide both the Federal Housing Reform Act (H.R. 1427) and the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act (H.R. 3915) to passage in 2007. Frank also said that the Republican-led Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act of 1999, which repealed part of the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933 and removed the wall between commercial and investment banks, contributed to the financial meltdown.

Frank further stated that "during twelve years of Republican rule no reform was adopted regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In 2007, a few months after I became the Chairman, the House passed a strong reform bill; we sought to get the [Bush] administration's approval to include it in the economic stimulus legislation in January 2008; and finally got it passed and onto President Bush's desk in July 2008. Moreover, "we were able to adopt it in nineteen months, and we could have done it much quicker if the [Bush] administration had cooperated."

Subprime Mortgage crisis
As former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, beginning in 2007, Frank was "at the center of power". Frank has been a critic of aspects of the Federal Reserve system, partnering with some Republicans in opposition to some policies. Frank says that he and Republican Congressman Ron Paul "first bonded because we were both conspicuous nonworshipers at the Temple of the Fed and of the High Priest Alan Greenspan."

Frank has been involved in mortgage foreclosure bailout issues. In 2008 Frank supported passage of the American Housing Rescue & Foreclosure Prevention Act, intended to protect thousands of homeowners from foreclosure. This law, H.R. 3221, is considered one of the most important and complex issues on which he worked.

In an August 2007 op-ed piece in Financial Times, Frank wrote, "In the debate between those who believe in essentially unregulated markets and others who hold that reasonable regulation diminishes market excesses without inhibiting their basic function, the subprime situation unfortunately provides ammunition for the latter view."

Frank was also instrumental in the passage of H.R. 5244, the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights Act of 2008, a measure that drew praise from editorial boards and consumer advocates. In 2007 Frank co-sponsored legislation to reform the Section 202 refinancing program, which is for affordable housing for the elderly, and Section 811 disabled programs. Frank has been a chief advocate of the National Housing Trust Fund, which was created as part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 and was the first affordable housing program to be enacted by the Congress since 1990.

During the subprime mortgage crisis, Frank was characterized as "a key deal-maker, an unlikely bridge between his party's left-wing base and [...] free market conservatives" in the Bush administration. Hank Paulson, the U.S. Treasury Secretary for the Bush administration, said he enjoyed Frank's penchant for brokering deals, "he is looking to get things done and make a difference, he focuses on areas of agreement and tries to build on those."

The New York Times noted that the Federal Housing Administration's crucial role in the nation's housing market, providing low-down-payment mortgages during the crisis of 2007–2010 when no mortgages would otherwise have been available, "helped avert full-scale disaster" by helping people purchase or refinance homes and thereby putting a floor under falling home prices. However, due to the tighter flow of credit from the banks, total FHA loans in 2009 were four times that of 2006, raising concern that year that if the economy were to dip back into recession, more Fed funds could be required to keep those loans afloat.

Frank's response was that the additional defaults — 2.2% more of the total portfolio in 2009 than the year before — were worth the economic stabilization of the broader policy, noting "It was an effort to keep prices from falling too fast." In that context, he opined, "I don't think it's a bad thing that the bad loans occurred." In fact, the unprecedented number of loans made since 2008 were noted to be performing far better than those in the prior two years.

Abortion
In 2009 Frank had a 100% rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America indicating a pro-choice voting record. He voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act and against restrictions on the transportation of minors across state lines by non-family members to circumvent local abortion laws.

In 1993 Frank co-sponsored the "Freedom of Choice Act" (H.R.25) (1993-H25) to "protect the reproductive rights of women". In 2006 he co-sponsored the "Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies Act" (S.3945) 06-S3945), a bill for "emergency contraception for rape victims". In 2007 his co-sponsored the "Compassionate Care for Servicewomen Act" (S.1800 & HR.2064) (07-HR2064) to "providing emergency contraception at military facilities"; the "Prevention First Act" (S.21&H.R.463 2009-S21) to "expand access to preventive health care services that help reduce unintended pregnancy, reduce abortions, and improve access to women's health care".

Civil rights
In 1987, Frank was the Chair of the important House Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Law and Governmental Relations in the 100th Congress. In this position, he was one of the staunchest supporters of redress and reparations for Japanese American internment during World War II. In 2001 Frank co-sponsored an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to apply equal rights based on gender differences. In 2002 he co-sponsored the "Federal Agency Protection of Privacy Act" (H.R.4561) to require a "Privacy Impact Statement" on new federal rules. In 2002 he was scored at 93% by the American Civil Liberties Union on civil rights issues indicating a pro-civil rights voting record.

In 2006, Frank was one of three Representatives to oppose the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act, which restricted protests (notably those of Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church) at soldiers' funerals. He opposed the bill, which passed unanimously in the Senate, on civil liberties and constitutional grounds. Frank said of the vote, "I think it's very likely to be found unconstitutional. It's true that when you defend civil liberties you are typically defending people who do obnoxious things... You play into their hand when you let them provoke you into overdoing it. I don't want these thugs to [make the] claim [that] America is hypocritical."

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People scored him at 100% in 2006 indicating a pro-affirmative-action stance.

In 2007 Frank co-sponsored the "Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act" (S.2521/H.R.4838) to "provide benefits to domestic partners of Federal employees". The same year he co-sponsored the "Equal Rights Amendment" (S.J.RES.10/H.J.RES.40) to "strengthen the ongoing efforts of women across the country to obtain equal treatment." In 2009 he signed bills recognizing the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and the 100th anniversary of the NAACP.

Frank has been outspoken on many civil rights issues, including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights. In 1987, he publicly came out as gay. In 1990, Frank was instrumental in crafting the 1990 Immigration Act, which restated the reasons for which a person could be denied entry into the country. The act did not include "sexual preference exclusion[s]", reforming earlier immigration law which allowed persons to be excluded for a sexual deviance "afflict[ion]".

He said in a 1996 interview: "I'm used to being in the minority. I'm a left-handed gay Jew. I've never felt, automatically, a member of any majority." In 1995, then-Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey famously referred to Frank as "Barney Fag" in a press interview. Armey apologized and said it was "a slip of the tongue". Frank did not accept Armey's explanation, saying "I turned to my own expert, my mother, who reports that in 59 years of marriage, no one ever introduced her as Elsie Fag." In 1998, Frank founded the National Stonewall Democrats, the national LGBT Democratic organization.

In 2006, Frank and incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were accused by Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN) of having a "radical homosexual agenda"; Frank responded "I do have things I would like to see adopted on behalf of LGBT people: they include the right to marry the individual of our choice; the right to serve in the military to defend our country; and the right to a job based solely on our own qualifications.

I acknowledge that this is an agenda, but I do not think that any self-respecting radical in history would have considered advocating people's rights to get married, join the army, and earn a living as a terribly inspiring revolutionary platform."

Frank's stance on outing gay Republicans has been called the "Frank Rule" whereby a closeted person who uses their power, position, or notoriety to hurt LGBT people can be outed. The issue became relevant during the Mark Foley scandal of 2006, during which Frank clarified his position on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher: "I think there's a right to privacy. But the right to privacy should not be a right to hypocrisy. And people who want to demonize other people shouldn't then be able to go home and close the door and do it themselves."

In February 2009, Frank was one of three openly gay members of Congress, along with Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Jared Polis of Colorado. In April 2009 Frank was named in the LGBT magazine Out's "Annual Power 50 List", landing at the top spot.

Crime
In 2000 Frank was rated at 89% by Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants indicating pro-rehabilitation crime votes. He co-sponsored "Innocence Protection Act of 2001" (H.R. 912, S.486) to "reduce the risk that innocent persons may be executed [by examining DNA evidence more thoroughly]" and the "National Death Penalty Moratorium Act of 2001" (H.R.1038, S.233) to limit capital punishment until the National Commission on the Death Penalty reviewed the "fairness of the imposition of the death penalty".

In 2001 he also co-sponsored the "Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act" (01-HR1343) to "provide Federal assistance to States and local jurisdictions to prosecute hate crimes." Frank co-sponsored the "Recidivism Reduction and Second Chance Act of 2007" to reducing recidivism. (this became Public Law No: 110-199).

Drugs
In 2001 Frank authored of the States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act (H.R. 2592), an attempt to stop federal government from preempting states' medical marijuana laws. He has consistently voted for the bipartisan Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment, annually proposed by Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), that would prohibit the United States Department of Justice from prosecuting medical marijuana patients.

In March 2008, he proposed the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2008 (HR 5843), which would have decriminalized small amounts of the drug but died in committee during the 110th Congress. On June 18, 2009 he re-introduced the bill as the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2009 (HR 2943).

Commenting on legislation to remove federal criminal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use, Frank stated "In a free society a large degree of human activity is none of the government's business. We should make criminal what's going to hurt other people and other than that we should leave it to people to make their own choices."

In 2003 he was rated "A" by Vote Hemp, indicating a pro-hemp voting record. In 2006 he was rated "+30" by NORML, indicating a pro-drug-reform stance. In 2007 he co-sponsored the "Drug Sentencing Reform & Kingpin Trafficking Act" ((S.1711) 07-S1711) to "target cocaine kingpins and address sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine". In 2008 Frank sponsored "Removing Impediments to Students Education" (RISE) ((H.R.5157) 08-HR5157) to allow rehabilitated drug offenders to get student loans.

In 2009 Frank signed the "Community AIDS and Hepatitis Prevention Act" (HR 179 2009-H179) to "use Federal funds for syringe exchange programs for purposes of reducing the transmission of bloodborne pathogens, including HIV and viral hepatitis" and the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2009 (H.R.1866 2009-H1866) to "grant each state regulating authority for the growing and processing of industrial hemp."

Economic issues
Frank is a member of the Congressional Internet Caucus established in 1996 to "promoting growth and advancement of the Internet and advance the United States' world leadership in the digital world".

In 2001 he co-sponsored the "Anti-Spamming Act" (01-HR718) to protect people and businesses from "unsolicited and unwanted electronic mail". In 2006 Frank voted for the "Communications, Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act" (Bill HR 5252 Amendment 987) to "establish "network neutrality" (non-tiered Internet)." In 2008 Frank voted against the "FISA Amendments Act" (Bill HR6304) which would give retroactive immunity for those involved in the NSA warrantless surveillance controversy. The same year he co-sponsored overturning FCC approval of media consolidation (S.J.RES.28&H.J.RES.79 2008-SJR28).

Environment
In 1993 he co-sponsored "Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments" (H.R.3392) to regulate more contaminants under the Clean Water Act. In 2001 Frank co-sponsored the "National Forest Protection and Restoration Act" (H.R.1494) to "prohibiting commercial logging on Federal public lands".

In 2003 he was rated 95% by the League of Conservation Voters indicating pro-environment votes.[85] In 2007 he co-sponsored the "Great Cats and Rare Canids Act" (H.R.1464) to "provide financial resources and to foster international cooperation for promoting conservation of rare felids & canids". In the same year he co-sponsored the "Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act" (S.261/H.R.137) to "strengthen prohibitions against animal fighting".

Military
In 1996 Frank co-sponsored the "Federal Law Enforcement Dependents Assistance Act" (H.R.4111. Became Public Law No: 104-238.) to "to provide educational assistance to the dependents of Federal law enforcement officials who are killed or disabled in the performance of their duties." In 2001 Frank co-sponsored "the MX Missile Stand-Down Act" (01-HR2718) to take fifty peacekeeper missiles off of high-alert status and he co-sponsored the Landmine Elimination and Victim Assistance Act (01-HR948).

As of December 2003 Frank has a 89% rating by Peace Action, indicating a pro-peace voting record. In 2005 he co-sponsored "Rail Security Act" (S.1379/H.R.153) (05-S1379) giving higher priority to rail transportation security. In 2008 he co-sponsored the "Veterans Suicide Study Act" ( (S.2899/H.R.4204) 08-S2899) designed to study and address suicides among veterans.

As of the 111th Congress, Frank is advocating a 25 percent reduction in the overall Military budget of the United States. "The math is compelling: if we do not make reductions approximating 25 percent of the military budget starting fairly soon, it will be impossible to continue to fund an adequate level of domestic activity...," wrote Frank. He claimed that such a significant reduction would have no effect on the United States' ability to defend itself. "If," he said, "beginning one year from now, we were to cut military spending by 25 percent from its projected levels, we would still be immeasurably stronger than any combination of nations with whom we might be engaged."

Frank supports having fewer F-35 Joint Strike Fighter planes, but also supports a $3 billion backup engine project that the Pentagon does not want. Frank told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann that he actually wanted to cut the entire F-35 program, but as long as military spending continued he would fight for his district's share of it.

Online gambling
Frank has partnered with Ron Paul in support of online gambling rights. In 2006, both strongly opposed H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act, and H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act.[90][91] To restore online gambling rights, in 2007 Frank sponsored H.R. 2046, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act. This bill would have established licensing and regulation of online gaming sites. It provided for age verification and protections for compulsive gamblers.

In 2008, he and Paul introduced H.R. 5767, the Payment Systems Protection Act, a bill that sought to place a moratorium on enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 while the United States Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve defined "unlawful Internet gambling". As a result of these efforts, Frank (who does not gamble) has been praised by poker players and online gamblers, including many Republicans.
[edit] Personal life

According to Stuart Weisberg's 2009 biography Barney Frank: The Story of America's Only Left-Handed, Gay, Jewish Congressman, Frank dated women in an effort to deny his homosexuality. His last romance with a woman was a nearly two-year long affair with Irish-American Catholic Kathleen Sullivan, the daughter of New England Patriots owner Billy Sullivan, that began in 1974. When the two split up, at Frank's instigation, he admitted to her that he was gay. He was still closeted publicly.

According to Frank, he "realized it was crazy" to try to have a romance with someone he cared for but was not compatible with due to his homosexuality. "That was the last effort to avoid being gay," Weisber quotes Frank as saying. Frank never again dated a woman.

Frank started coming out as gay to friends before he ran for Congress and came out publicly in 1987, "prompted in part by increased media interest in his private life" and the death of Stewart McKinney, "a closeted bisexual Republican representative from Connecticut"; Frank told The Washington Post after McKinney's death there was "An unfortunate debate about 'Was he or wasn't he? Didn't he or did he?' I said to myself, I don't want that to happen to me."

Frank's announcement had little impact on his electoral prospects. Shortly after coming out, Frank met and began dating Herb Moses, an economist and LGBT activist; their relationship lasted for eleven years until an amicable break-up in July 1998. Moses, who was an executive at Fannie Mae from 1991 to 1998, was the first partner of an openly gay member of Congress to receive spousal benefits and the two were considered "Washington's most powerful and influential gay couple.

Frank resides in a studio apartment complex in Newton, Massachusetts. His partner, Jim Ready, is a surfing enthusiast whom Frank met during a gay political fundraiser in Maine, where Ready still lives. As of 2009, Frank's net worth is estimated by the Center for Responsive Politics at $1.88 to $4.74 million.

His sister, Ann Lewis, served as a senior adviser in Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign.

Barney Frank to Retire

I heard this news very early today, but decided to wait to post it until I heard what Rush had to say about it.

I must admit I was surprised to hear it - these entrenched politicians usually don't retire until they die! I wonder if his health is failing.

RUSH: So Barney Frank is retiring from Congress. He's not going to seek reelection. He's gonna announce it in less than an hour -- well, he's announced it. He's gonna tell us why in less than an hour. I've been looking into this, and the basic reason, well, it's partly to spend more time with the family. (laughing) What family?

Now, I can't speak for Frank - but it is perfectly possible for gays to have families - they can adopt children - who remain whatever orientation they are, gay or straight, since it's what you're born with! Other family things could be sisters with kids, or brothers with kids, etc.

If running a prostitution ring in your house couldn't make you resign, what does? Wait. Barney did not run the prostitution ring. He said he didn't know that it was going on. It was his partner at the time, Stephen Gobie. Yeah. Barney fixed parking tickets for the clientele at the house. So if having a prostitution ring being run out of your basement couldn't embarrass you to retire, you do have to wonder what it is.

I don't think it's so much that Frank should have been embarrassed into retiring - what politicians gives up a gig unless he's forced out? It's that the people he represented didn't force him out! The man is so stupid as to not know what's going on in his own house (supposedly) yet he's fit to be a Congressperson?

When Frank gave his retirement announcement, he said that part of it was that his section of the state was being re-districted, so he'd have to run, and he didn't want to do it.

So, we're all relieved that Frank is leaving...but let's not get too relieved. He will remain as a lobbyist, making probably twice as much money, have no doubt about that!

_______________
My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

28 Nov 2011: Rush Limbaugh Headlines

--TwoIfByTea.com's Cyber Monday Special
--Good Riddance, "Subprime" Barney Frank
--A Foot Soldier for National Decline
--As World Faces Economic Disaster, Powell Shows up on Sunday to Play Games
--NY Times: Democrats Not Interested in Voters Who Work, Target Losers Instead
--ESPN Sat on Molestation Tape Since 2002
--There is Hope! Lisa Converted to Our Side By Obama's Disaster and Rush's Show
--Question: What Has Fed More Hungry Mouths, Greed (Self-Interest) or Charity?
Stack of Stuff
--Walmarts Attacked on Cyber Monday
--ChiComs to Cancel College Degrees That Don't Pay
--Government Takes Away Kid Who Weighs 200+ Pounds
--Toilet Paper Scam Near Port St. Lucie
--Wall Street Firms Could Fall 27 to 30%
--More Proof That Climate Scientists Colluded to Lie to Us
--Newt Wins NH Endorsement
--Now Syracuse Child Rape Charges





_______________________
My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

28 Nov 2011: Rush Limbaugh Headlines

My Schedule of Regular Posts:*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

Tax Audit Terrorism

From Hot Air: City of Richmond responds to Tea Party invoice—with tax audit
The city of Richmond is fighting fire with fire. Scratch that. It is fighting peaceful protest with fire. To fight fire with fire requires the actual setting of a conflagration, which is the M.O. of the Occupy movement.

It is the Tea Party, however, that is being singled out for this particular act of petty retaliation, which comes two weeks after the organization sent an invoice in the amount of $8,500 to Mayor Dwight Jones for costs incurred at previous rallies.
The purpose of the invoice was to draw attention to the disparate treatment of the Tea Party, which conducts peaceful demonstrations and pays its own way, and the Occupiers, which do neither: The stories of Occupier violence are legion, and the costs of their protests are being absorbed by taxpayers in cities across the country.
Presented with this stark contrast, the mayor had the option (duty?) of telling Occupy Richmond to put up or shut up—to apply for and obtain the needed permits to assemble in a public park and to pay for security, portable toilets, and other essentials.

Instead he opted for plan B. Under the guise of collecting delinquent fees from Richmond Tea Party, Inc., the city’s department of finance notified the group (which has an actual business address) that it is being subject to a comprehensive tax audit. A letter signed by Cynthia Carr, who identifies herself as “field auditor,” requests multiple pieces of documentation, including a financial statement and federal tax return for 2010. Sauce for the goose?

One explanation for this behavior unbecoming an elected official is that the mayor is an Occupy sympathizer. Another equally plausible theory is that the city of Richmond is understandably wary of incurring the wrath of a group that is prone to throwing Molotov cocktails.

Football: How Low Has the Media Fallen?

I was watching Denver Broncos vs San Diego Chargers yesterday. I was hoping Tim Tebow would do well, and he did...adequately. 4-1 as a starter now? Team now at 6-5.

Late in the game, the time was getting near where the Chargers field goal kicker was going to have to attempt a field goal. So the announcers start talking about him, and the camera finds him - and he's kneeling down, with a minion holding a towel around him, and he's apparently going the bathroom.

First question - why isn't there a port-a-potty close to the sidelines so he could have gone in there?

Well...because he's a guy - and guys are uniquely situated so they can go anywhere, and with the help of another guy with a towel, do it with some semblance of decency.

Except when a cameraman keeps filming him while he's doing it.

I mean, really. Once it was clear what the guy was doing, the camera could easily have gone elsewhere while the announcers talked about him and how much pressure he was under, instead of staying right there... although I think it did zoom in so that all we saw was a closeup of his back...

SO then I go to Yahoo new for something, and I see a big ol headline there, "Embarrassing moment for Chargers kicker," and some sports hack has put the video up on his blog - and is making fun of the guy.

Unfortunately, in this day and age of instant news and diminished class, this type of thing happens all the time.

I pay special attention to commercials (and write about them in my other blog, Devolution Media), and most of them contribute to this diminished class - very few of them are uplifting, most of them follow a common theme - embarrass your "friend" or your co-worker or even complete strangers. So funny!

So we've got the Bud Lite commercials where some guy acts "unmanly" and his friends threaten to take away his "man card."

We've got Hanes commercials with Michael Jordan, with one guy telling another to lean forward so that Jordan can see the guy's t-shirt collar has "baconed". (Okay - that one's actually funny.)

There were commercials from Cheetohs a few months ago...which I admit I haven't seen recently...some woman gets out of a nice war and walks away, a poorer woman tosses Cheetohs on to the top of the car so that birds will come and, in eating the Cheetohs, ruin her car's finish, and so on.

Cruel humor is easy humor...that's why it's so prevalent. Which is unfortunate.


__________
My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

28 Nov 2011, Mon, SoS and Staff Schedule

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/appt/2011/11/177775.htm
SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON
9:00 a.m. Secretary Clinton and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu co-host a U.S.-EU Energy Council Ministerial Meeting, at the Department of State.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE FOR OPENING REMARKS)

10:30 a.m. Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with EU High Representative Catherine Ashton, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

11:00 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with International Energy Agency Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

11:45 a.m. Secretary Clinton attends the U.S.-EU Summit meeting hosted by President Obama at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

PM Secretary Clinton departs for foreign travel. Click here for more information.

DEPUTY SECRETARY BILL BURNS
Deputy Secretary Burns attends meetings at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

DEPUTY SECRETARY TOM NIDES
12:00 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides meets with Myron Brilliant of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

7:00 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides delivers remarks to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

USAID ADMINISTRATOR RAJ SHAH
Administrator Shah is on foreign travel in Busan, Republic of Korea to participate in the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness.

US FOR ECONOMIC, ENERGY AND AGRICULTURAL AFFAIRS ROBERT HORMATS
10:45 a.m. Under Secretary Hormats delivers remarks at an event co-hosted by the Global Tiger Initiative and the World Bank, in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

12:30 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats meets with International Energy Agency Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

7:30 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats meets with representatives from the Transatlantic Economic Council (TEC), in Washington, DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

US FOR DEMOCRACY AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS MARIA OTERO
Under Secretary Otero is on foreign travel to Central America and Brazil through December 7.

COUNSELOR AND CHIEF OF STAFF CHERYL MILLS
PM Counselor Mills accompanies Secretary Clinton on foreign travel. Click here for more information.

AS FOR SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIAN AFFAIRS ROBERT BLAKE
1:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Blake meets with David Kilcullen of Caerus Associates LLC, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

AS FOR EAST ASIAN PACIFIC AFFAIRS KURT CAMPBELL
PM Assistant Secretary Campbell accompanies Secretary Clinton on foreign travel. Click here for more information.

AS FOR ECONOMIC, ENERGY AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS JOSE FERNANDEZ
Assistant Secretary Fernandez meets with Ambassador Craig Kelly of the Cohen Group, in Washington, DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

AS FOR EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN AFFAIRS PHIL GORDON
9:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary Gordon participates in the U.S.-EU Energy Council meetings, at the Department of State.
(CAMERA SPRAY)

11:45 a.m. Assistant Secretary Gordon participates in the U.S.-EU Summit at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

AS SECRETARY FOR WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS ROBERTA JACOBSON
Acting Assistant Secretary Jacobson meets with Jose Miguel Vivanco of Human Rights Watch, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ACTING AS OF STATE FOR POPULATION, REFUGEES AND MIGRATION DAVID ROBINSON
Acting Assistant Secretary Robinson is on foreign travel in Geneva, Switzerland through December 1 to participate in the 31st International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

AS FOR EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS ANN STOCK (R)
Assistant Secretary Stock (R) is on foreign travel in India through December 2. She visits New Delhi, Chandigarh and Chennai to plan the next steps in the U.S.-India Educational Dialogue.

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE FOR WAR CRIMES ISSUES STEPHEN RAPP
Ambassador Rapp is on foreign travel in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he meetings with Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE FOR GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES MELANNE VERVEER
Ambassador Verveer is on foreign travel in Busan, Republic of Korea to participate in the 4th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness.

SR FOR GLOBAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS RETA JO LEWIS
Special Representative Lewis is on foreign travel to Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai and New Delhi, India, through December 2.

SPECIAL ENVOY TO MONITOR AND COMBAT ANTI-SEMITISM HANNAH ROSENTHAL
Special Envoy Rosenthal meets with Norwegian Ambassador Wegger Christian Strommen, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

Special Envoy Rosenthal meets with Swedish Ambassador Jonas Hafstrom and Swedish journalist, Olle Wastberg, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

DIRECTOR OF POLICY PLANNING JAKE SULLIVAN
PM Director Sullivan accompanies Secretary Clinton on foreign travel. Click here for more information.

PRESS BRIEFING SCHEDULE:
12:30 p.m. Daily Press Briefing with Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner

___________
My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

28 Nov 2011, Mon, Pres and VP Schedule

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/president
10:30 am
The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
Oval Office
Closed Press

11:45 am
The President hosts a summit meeting with the leaders of the European Union
Roosevelt Room
Pool Spray at the Top

12:30 pm
The President hosts an EU summit lunch
Cabinet Room
Closed Press

1:40 pm
The President, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso deliver statements
Roosevelt Room
Pool Spray

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president
No public schedule.


_____________
My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

South Korea Gives Aid To North Korea

It's interesting to see that, even though South Korea and North Korea are still technically at war.... South Korea is giving food aid to them!

You've got to wonder why this isn't extremely humiliating to the North Koreans - to see their enemies - and a superior type of government - give aid to them.

Or is the North Korean government laughing all the way to the bank? Why should they have to feed their citizens, when their enemies will do it for them?

From Bloomberg Business Week: SKorean official travels to NKorea to monitor aid

SEOUL, South Korea -- A South Korean official will help monitor the distribution of humanitarian aid to North Korean children for the first time in three years, the Seoul government said Friday.

He is the first South Korean government official to travel to Pyongyang to monitor aid distribution since conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office in 2008 with a tough policy toward North Korean aid. The visit is seen as a key sign that relations are improving after years of tension.

The divided Korean peninsula remains in a technical state of war because their three-year conflict ended in 1953 with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Relations have been particularly tense during Lee's presidency, culminating in a North Korean artillery attack on a front-line island a year ago that killed four South Koreans.

The South Korean official left Friday for Pyongyang along with four aid workers, the Unification Ministry said in a statement. He is expected to remain in the North until Tuesday to help monitor the distribution of 300 tons of flour for North Korean children. The flour is being provided by a South Korean civic group.

Some 6 million North Koreans, about a quarter of the population, will go hungry without outside food aid, according to the World Food Program.

South Korean officials have not traveled to North Korea to monitor food aid since Lee took office with a tough policy on linking assistance to North Korea's progress in dismantling its nuclear program.

However, in recent months, officials from both Koreas have met to discuss ways to resume nuclear disarmament-for-aid talks. Seoul has also allowed religious and cultural figures to visit North Korea.

On Thursday, South Korean scholars visited a North Korean border town to join a project to recover and preserve an ancient Korean palace.

Time to End the "Black Friday" Madness

I've been browsing the internet, reading about all the violence that took place yesterday thanks to "Black Friday" - in which people who should have been home enjoying time with their family were instead out shopping and in many cases getting beaten up or beating others up, or getting shot.

It is ridiculous!

Apparently there was one case where someone actually died at a Walmart and people just walked around or stepped over the body... this happened last year too, if I recall.

Of course Walmart will be sued for not having enough security...or maybe even for just creating a climate where this kind of animalistic-behavior (and I hate to use that phrase as its insulting to animals, who don't have the consciousness to know better, while people are people and should).

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My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

Why women don't sue their rapists

From Slate: Why Don't More Women Sue Their Rapists?
Because the Supreme Court took away part of the Violence Against Women Act.
By Claire Bushey|Posted Wednesday, May 26, 2010, at 10:07 AM ET

When the Supreme Court struck down a portion of the Violence Against Women Act 10 years ago this month, the justices made it clear they thought victims of sexual violence had the right to sue their attackers. They just didn't think federal court was the place to do it.

The rationale behind VAWA, which Congress passed in 1994, was simple enough: Rape, a crime committed mostly against women and girls, constituted a brutal violation of their civil rights. Lawsuits could help victims hold rapists accountable. In 1994, Christy Brzonkala, then a student at Virginia Tech, accused football players James Crawford and Antonio Morrison of raping her. She sued Morrison and the school under VAWA's new civil rights remedy. In 2000, in United States v. Morrison, the court said that Brzonkala's suit couldn't go forward because Congress had overstepped its constitutional authority by creating a federal remedy in the criminal-justice realm that usually falls to the states. "If the allegations here are true, no civilized system of justice could fail to provide [Brzonkala] a remedy," Chief Justice William Rehnquist wrote for the majority. "But under our federal system that remedy must be provided by the Commonwealth of Virginia, and not by the United States."

And yet a decade later, rape victims in most states have yet to recover the legal advantages they lost when VAWA's civil rights remedy was struck down. To be sure, the number of civil cases in state court alleging sexual assault has increased dramatically. Research by Ellen Bublick, a professor at the University of Arizona's law school, shows that state supreme courts heard more than 100 sexual violence suits between 2000 and 2005, compared with fewer than 10 between 1970 and 1975. That translates into hundreds or even thousands of cases in trial courts, most of which probably ended in settlement.

But most of these lawsuits go after third-party defendants—the kind with assets. The woman plaintiff brings a negligence claim against a shopping mall guarded by apathetic rent-a-cops or a nursing home that doesn't screen for a criminal background when it hires. These kinds of defendants offer the possibility of a hefty judgment that can pay for a lawyer's work on the case. Without that, attorneys often turn down cases even if they're winners, said Jeff Dion, director of the National Crime Victim Bar Association. Though lawsuits against third-party defendants occasionally also name the rapist, "their responsibility is a far less frequent focus of inquiry," Bublick wrote. Dion said that for every case the National Crime Victim Bar Association's 300 lawyers take, "there's 10 they turn away." Peter Everett, a Virginia attorney who handles negligence cases against malls and hotels with inadequate security, said he turns down more than half the cases he's offered.

VAWA's civil remedy made it easier for women to find lawyers to take their cases against individual rapists because it encouraged courts to award attorney's fees to successful plaintiffs. The federal law also made it easier for women to sue by extending the statute of limitations to four years. (In most states, for cases like these, the time period is about two years.)

Victims need the weapon of a lawsuit because the criminal courts don't always serve their interests. A 2004 study of sex crimes in Philadelphia and Kansas City, Mo., found that only half of the cases that resulted in an arrest were prosecuted. When prosecutors who doubt a victim's story are unwilling to press criminal charges, a civil suit allows the victim a different measure of justice. Juries determine guilt using a lower burden of proof; instead of deciding whether a defendant is guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt," a plaintiff need only demonstrate that "a preponderance of the evidence" points to guilt, making it easier for victims to prevail. Victims don't send their rapists to prison by suing them, but the damages they can win are another form of punishment. Damages can also help replace a rape victim's lost income and pay for counseling. "The criminal case is about paying your debt to society," Dion says. "The civil case is about [perpetrators] paying their debt to the victim."

Along with its practical importance for victims, VAWA promised a more abstract kind of benefit that was lost when the Supreme Court struck down the relevant portion of the law. Introducing the legislation in 1990, then-Sen. Joe Biden pointed out that more than 90 percent of sex crimes are committed against women. And yet, he argued, "we ignore the implication: a rape or sex assault should be deemed a civil rights crimes, just as 'hate beatings' aimed at blacks or Asians are widely recognized as violations of their civil rights." Even when states address rape victims' practical concerns by extending the time they have to sue or encouraging courts to award attorney's fees, they don't challenge the public to rethink rape as an attack on women because they are women—in other words, as a form of discrimination.

At the moment, only Illinois, California, and New York City have laws that pick up on this message of VAWA. In a training presentation she gives to volunteer rape crisis counselors, Kaethe Morris Hoffer, legal director for Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation, talks about a client who won a judgment in Cook County under Illinois' Gender Violence Act. The man who raped her has to write a check for damages every month. Hoffer hopes that, when he writes that check to his victim, for a moment he thinks about what he did. If he's ever tempted to assault a woman again, maybe he will decide it isn't worth it.

It's All About the Money

People donated to the Second Mile to help at-risk youth. The Second Mile folk want to close that charity - tainted by Sandusky's activities - and transfer all that money to new charities that would also help kids.

Not so fast, say the lawyers for the victims.

They want all that money for themselves. (The lawyers do, that is.)

I don't mean to minimize the trauma these kids went through. But do they really need to be put on easy street for the rest of their lives, which is apparently what these lawyers want to have happen? Do female rape victims get to sue their attackers for millions of dollars, as well as putting their rapist in jail? I think all they get to do is put their rapist in jail.

Lawyers seek to keep Sandusky charity solvent to allow lawsuits
PITTSBURGH -- Lawyers want a youth charity established by a former Penn State football assistant coach at the heart of a child molestation scandal to stay solvent so they can file future lawsuits for victims.

The Second Mile shouldn't be allowed to dissolve its assets, according to a lawsuit filed late Wednesday on behalf of someone who claims to be a victim of Jerry Sandusky, the charity's founder. The complaint also suggests some of the future legal strategies that may be used in civil lawsuits.

Lawyers Benjamin Andreozzi and Jeffrey Fritz are seeking an injunction to stop The Second Mile from dissolving or transferring its assets. Nonprofit corporations that cease operations are generally allowed to transfer assets to other charitable groups with a similar mission.

"We felt it was necessary to take this action after learning the organization was considering transferring its programs and not continuing its operations," Andreozzi said, referring to reports last week that the charity was mulling several different options for its future, including the possibility of shutting down.

"We believe it is in the best interest of our clients, as well as the other victims, to ensure that the organization is being financially responsible. The injunction would not interrupt the everyday operations of The Second Mile or its existing programs," Andreozzi said in a statement.

Sandusky, Penn State's former defensive coordinator and coach Joe Paterno's one-time heir apparent, founded The Second Mile in 1977. The group said last week it was considering its future in light of the scandal and its options include closing, though no decision has been made. The charity's most recent tax filing showed it had almost $9 million in assets.

David Woodle, who was named acting CEO earlier this month after longtime leader Jack Raykovitz resigned, said the organization is looking at three options as it moves forward: restructuring and keeping its programs going, even if it means doing so at a reduced level of service and funding; maintaining the programs by transferring them to other organizations; or shutting down.

"Our primary goal is to sustain the programs for the sake of the kids," Woodle said.

Sandusky set up The Second Mile for youngsters from broken homes and troubled backgrounds, building it into an organization that helped as many as 100,000 children a year through camps and fundraisers.

But in the aftermath of the charges against him, questions have been raised about his role in the charity and how much its officials knew of the allegations against him before the release of a state grand jury report this month.

State prosecutors contend that running the charity gave Sandusky "access to hundreds of boys, many of whom were vulnerable due to their social situations."

The grand jury said Penn State officials told Raykovitz in 2002 that there had been an issue with Sandusky and a minor. But the charity said it took no action against Sandusky because Penn State did not find any wrongdoing.

Sandusky informed The Second Mile's board in November 2008 that he was under investigation. The charity said it subsequently barred him from activities involving children.

Andreozzi and Fritz's lawsuit said the accuser -- identified as Victim No. 4 -- intends to charge The Second Mile with "failing to ban or restrict overnight activities between Sandusky and children" and failing to follow policies used by other organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America, such as the "Two-Deep" rule, which generally calls for two adult supervisors on all outings.

The lawsuit also suggests that The Second Mile was negligent both in the supervision of children and in the supervision of Sandusky, and claims that the charity failed to provide the victim "with any assistance in coping with the injuries sustained from sexual assaults."

The Second Mile has received the filing and will adhere to its legal responsibilities, a spokesman said in an e-mail to the Associated Press.

Sandusky is charged with sexually abusing eight boys over a 15-year period. Authorities said he met them through the charity. Sandusky has acknowledged he showered with boys but said he never molested them.

The lawsuit claims that at least 11 accusers have come forward in the case, but the additional cases are apparently still under investigation by authorities.

Andreozzi, whose firm specializes in sexual-abuse litigation, and Fritz represent at least one client who accuses Sandusky of severe sexual assault. Andreozzi has said they are in "active communication" with other potential clients.

The attorney general's office has not confirmed if more complaints from different accusers will result in more charges.
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My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.

News: Egypt's military under pressure from protests, US

It's easy to destroy. A thousand years of history - four thousand years of history - can be destroyed in ten minutes with an appropriately placed explosive charge.

It's not so easy to build.

So now we've got all these folks in Egypt who peacefully overthrew Mubarrak - a US ally whom we sure helped during that whole process, didn't we?

So the army took over.

And now the protesters want the army to step down .... I guess in the next ten minutes... and let the people rule.

What people? Who's going to rule Egypt now.

According to Egypt's new prime minister - the military has given him more powers than the old one, under Mubarrak, had. Isn't that interesting?

A year from now, someone should ask the Egyptians - are you better off now than you were when Mubarrak was in charge? I bet the answer is going to be... no, we're worse off.

And what is the US going to do about it, if the Egyptian army stays in power and refuses to step down?

Egypt's military under pressure from protests, US
CAIRO (AP) — The U.S. increased pressure Friday on Egypt's military rulers to hand over power to civilian leaders, and the generals turned to a Mubarak-era politician to head a new government in a move that failed to satisfy the more than 100,000 protesters who jammed Tahrir Square in the biggest rally yet this week.

The demonstrators rejected the appointment of Kamal el-Ganzouri as prime minister, breaking into chants of "Illegitimate! Illegitimate!" and setting up a showdown between the two sides only three days before key parliamentary elections.

The size of the rally and the resilience of protesters in the face of the violence used by security forces in this week's deadly street battles have won back for the movement much of the strength it projected during the 18-day uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak in February.

Showing the sort of resolve from the earliest days of the Arab Spring, the protesters say they will not leave the iconic square until the military rulers led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi step down and a civilian presidential council is formed to run the country until a new leader is elected.

"They stole our January revolution because we did not agree on who should represent us," said activist Sedeeqah Abu Seadah. "We shouted 'erhal' (leave) but did not shout the name of the person we want."

The military's appointment of el-Ganzouri, its apology for the death of protesters and a series of partial concessions in the past two days suggest that the generals are struggling to overcome the most serious challenge to their nine-month rule, with fewer options now available to them.

Significantly adding to their predicament, the Obama administration brought its position on the crisis in Egypt closer to the protesters' demands, urging the military to fully empower the next interim civilian government.

"We believe that Egypt's transition to democracy must continue, with elections proceeding expeditiously, and all necessary measures taken to ensure security and prevent intimidation," the White House said in a statement.

"Most importantly, we believe that the full transfer of power to a civilian government must take place in a just and inclusive manner that responds to the legitimate aspirations of the Egyptian people, as soon as possible," it said.

The adjustment in the Obama administration's approach is significant because the Egyptian military, the nation's most powerful institution, has in the past 30 years forged close relations with successive U.S. administrations, receiving $1.3 billion annually in aid. It followed the public U.S. endorsement of the military's original timetable for the transfer of power by late 2012 or early 2013.

The military inadvertently sparked the ongoing unrest by pushing plans for a political "guardianship" role for itself and immunity from civilian oversight even after a new parliament is seated and a new president is elected.

The last straw came when the military ordered the use of force against a small protest in Tahrir Square last weekend and then launched a failed, joint army-police raid to evacuate a larger crowd. Nearly 40 protesters have died in the past week.

The latest crisis has overshadowed Monday's start of Egypt's first parliamentary elections since Mubarak was replaced by Tantawi. The vote, which the generals say will be held on schedule despite the unrest, is now seen by many activists and protesters to be serving the military's efforts to project an image of itself as the nation's saviors and true democrats.

The next parliament is expected to be dominated by Islamists, whose political groups have decided to boycott the ongoing protests to keep from doing anything that could derail the election. However, the outcome of the vote is likely to be seen as flawed given the growing unrest and the suspension by many candidates of their campaigns in solidarity with the protesters.

The Social Democrats, a political party born out of the January-February uprising, said Friday that it would boycott the election, arguing that the vote would not be fair given the tension caused by the unrest, which it blamed on the military.

In rejecting el-Ganzouri's government, 24 protest groups, including two political parties, announced the formation of their own "national salvation" government that they say represents the protesters. The group will be headed by Nobel peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei and four deputies.

While it is unclear how many people the statement announcing the move represents, it is an attempt by the protest movement to unify its demands and leadership.

Supporters of the military staged a rival demonstration Friday across town from Tahrir, but only several thousand people turned out. They waved identical, brand new Egyptian flags that prompted activists to post on social network sites their suspicion that the demonstration may have been staged by the military.

State television, whose coverage of the crisis shows a clear, pro-military bias, gave prominence to the supporters of the generals and hosted commentators discrediting the Tahrir protesters as irresponsible youths and violent football hooligans.

"El-Ganzouri is over and done with. We want young people to take charge of the country," said Hamdi Arban, a 50-year-old lawyer who was in Tahrir Square. "We will stay here and we won't get our rights except from here," he said.

Basma el-Husseini, who directs a cultural center and was also in Tahrir, dismissed the 78-year-old el-Ganzouri as a man with little energy to keep up with the multitude of challenges facing Egypt. "They (the generals) don't get the power of the people. All they are doing now is play for time to make people fed up."

El-Ganzouri served as prime minister between 1996 and 1999 and was deputy prime minister and planning minister before that. Tantawi himself served under el-Ganzouri for three of the 20 years he spent as Mubarak's defense minister.

Addressing a televised news conference, el-Ganzouri said the military has given him greater powers than his predecessor and that he wouldn't have accepted the job if he believed Tantawi had any intention of staying in power.

"The powers given to me exceed any similar mandates," he said. "I will take full authority so I'm able to serve my country."

But el-Ganzouri appeared uncomfortable, grasping for words and repeatedly pausing as he spoke, giving rambling answers when pressed whether he could form a government that will satisfy the public when many prominent figures have shunned joining the new administration.

The choice of el-Ganzouri deepened the anger of the protesters, already seething over the military's perceived reluctance to dismantle the legacy of Mubarak's 29-year rule.

El-Ganzouri replaces Essam Sharaf, who resigned this week after nearly nine months in office. Sharaf was criticized for being weak and beholden to the generals.

Friday's protest in Tahrir was dubbed by organizers as "The Last Chance Million-Man Protest." Swelling crowds chanted, "Leave! Leave!" and "The people want to bring down the field marshal!"

ElBaradei was mobbed by hundreds of supporters as he arrived in the square and took part in Friday prayers, leaving shortly afterward. Some factions in the protest have cited ElBaradei as a possible member of a civilian presidential council they want to replace the generals.

"He is here to support the revolutionaries," said protester Ahmed Awad, 35. "He came to see for himself the tragedy caused by the military."

Fireworks lit the sky in the evening and a large banner was strung over a side street called Mohammed Mahmoud, where most of the fighting occurred, declaring that it would be renamed "Eyes of the Revolution Street," in honor of the hundreds of protesters who suffered eye injuries as a result of tear gas used by police.

About 500 protesters camped out in front of the Cabinet office, vowing to remain to prevent el-Ganzouri's government from entering the building.

Thousands of pro-democracy protesters also rallied in other cities, including at least 10,000 in Alexandria and smaller crowds in Luxor and Assiut in southern Egypt.

The military has rejected calls to immediately step down, saying its claim to power is supported by the warm welcome given to troops who took over the streets from the discredited police early in the anti-Mubarak uprising as well as an overwhelming endorsement for constitutional amendments they proposed in a March referendum.

Tantawi has offered another referendum on whether his military council should step down immediately.

Such a vote, activists say, would be divisive and likely open the door for a deal between the military and political groups, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt's largest and best organized group, the Brotherhood is notorious for its opportunism and thirst for power. It was empowered after the fall of Mubarak, regaining legitimacy after spending nearly 60 years as an outlawed group.

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My Schedule of Regular Posts:
*Monday through Friday morning - schedules of President, VP and Secretary of State and her diplomats
*Monday through Friday afternoon - List of topics Limbaugh discussed on his program that day
*Monday through Friday throughout the day - My posts on anything that I feel like talking about. At least one or two a day, sometimes more.
*Saturday through Sunday morning - An addition to my booklist of political books - covering Democrats, Republicans and other interested parties.