Do businesses still need Unions?

When head honchos of businesses can drive them into the ground, receive golden parachutes, and get a job practically the next day somewhere else...yes, it does irk that they are paid so much while the actual folks who do the work are paid so little.

But are Unions the way to go? When the head honchos of Unions are the ones who rake in the dough, and (except for stuff like auto plants and dock workers) the workers work for peanuts.

It is interesting how sweet a deal auto plant workers have. No work. Fine, sit at home. You'll receive full pay. Plant not profitable? That's all right. Sit at home for a year or so, and receive full pay.

"Republican Governor Scott Walker widened his lead over Democrat Tom Barrett to 7

percentage points in a new poll." It's less than a week. Walker at 52. Barrett is at 45. Wall Street Journal: "Wisconsin Unions See Ranks Drop Ahead of Recall Vote -- Public-employee unions in Wisconsin have experienced a dramatic drop in membership -- by more than half for the second-biggest union -- since a law championed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker sharply curtailed their ability to bargain over wages and working conditions."

This Wisconsin recall election, the Democrats, this is their election. They demanded this. It's a recall. They started it. They wanted it. It was gonna be a proving ground. It was where they were gonna demonstrate the power of unions, public-sector employees. They were gonna get rid of a Republican governor and his ideas, and the exact worst-case scenario is happening. The Democrat National Committee has pulled all money out. They are conceding already. The big risk in Wisconsin, I'll tell you what it is. The big risk in Wisconsin is that Walker voters get a sense of complacency, think this is over, and don't show up. That's the biggest risk right now, and that's what the largest concern is. But this election that the Democrats demanded, this has considerable ramifications for organized labor.

How much does it cost to create a job?

A real one, not a government one.

Of course you must remember that the idea for the stimulus started under Bush...

But the way it was put together... what a waste of money.

But will anything be learned form this????

CBO: Obama Porkulus Spent $4.1 Million Per Job RUSH: "When [the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act] was being considered, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation estimated that it would increase budget deficits by $787 billion between fiscal years 2009 and 2019. CBO now estimates that the total impact over the 2009–2019 period will amount to about $831 billion. By CBO's estimate, close to half of that impact occurred in fiscal year 2010..." The bottom line is this: The amount of money that they calculate the stimulus will cost and add to the deficit equals $4.1 million per job created. That's the efficiency we got from the regime: $4.1 million per job. And the reason it's $4.1 million per job is because there weren't that many jobs created.

Well played, Romney!

Romney had a photo op today in front of the closed Solyndra building. Rush was ecstatic, so was I:

RUSH: This is CNN: "Mitt Romney made a surprise campaign stop today at the shuttered headquarters of Solyndra." Romney went and stood in front of the Solyndra sign for a photo-op. Solyndra, "the failed energy company that he talks about a lot as a symbol of Obama's misuse of taxpayer dollars." Now, folks, this is well-played. I have to tell you, at the beginning of the program I told you I really like the fact that Romney is ignoring all these Democrat calls to repudiate his supporters.

"Distance yourself from Trump. He's a birther! How dare you? Distance yourself from Limbaugh. You have go out to condemn these people. You have got to put 'em away. You've gotta put 'em down," and Romney's not responding to it at all. Now, McCain, he didn't wait for the Democrats to complain. When he knew they were gonna complain he took preemptive action and got rid of supporters. And most Republicans do. The media, the Democrats, start stomping their feet and crying and moaning.

They start demanding (sniveling liberal impression), "You better repudiate Limbaugh! You -- you -- you better distance yourself from Limbaugh." And Republicans that go do it are applauded. But Romney, to his credit, is not. So here's Obama running all these ads about how heartless and cold Romney is. (paraphrased) "Bain Capital, all they cared about is profits! They hired people and fired 'em. They took over companies and they fired people and they shut 'em down and took them to bankruptcy, but they got their profits out of it."

So Romney has responded (paraphrased), "Oh, yeah? Well, I've got an 80% success rate, Mr. President. The companies that Bain Capital -- using its own money, by the way -- went in and rescued had an 80% success rate. What's your success rate, Mr. President? Zero! Every company you've attempted to save or industry you've tried to give a boost to -- with taxpayer dollars, not even your own -- are bankrupt." And to personify this, to illustrate it, Romney goes to Solyndra today.

31 May 2012, Thu, Rush Limbaugh headlines

--Obama Gives Standard Stump Speech at George W. Bush's Portrait Unveiling
--News from the Fat Front: Exercise Bad for Some; Once Fat, Always Fat; Doomberg Moves to Ban Large Sugary Drinks
--Axelrod Heckled in Boston
--If It's Thursday... We Have Revised Jobless Numbers
--Scott Walker vs. Barack Obama
--Abortion and Sex Selection
--Romney Campaigns to Win: Refuses to Repudiate Supporters; Holds Surprise Photo-Op at Solyndra

--Why Would Obama Worry About History?

Stack of Stuff
--CBO: Obama Porkulus Spent $4.1 Million Per Job
--More Interesting Economic Numbers from James Pethokoukis
-- Edwards Jury Reaches Verdict on One Count, Well Hung on Rest

31 May 2012, Thurs, SoS Clinton and Staff Schedule

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/appt/2012/05/191430.htm

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

Secretary Clinton is on foreign travel to Copenhagen, Denmark. The Secretary is accompanied by Assistant Secretary Gordon, Counselor and Chief of Staff Mills, Director Sullivan, VADM Harry B. Harris, Jr., JCS, and Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for European Affairs Liz Sherwood Randall.

10:30 a.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton has an audience with Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

11:05 a.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton holds a townterview hosted by TV2 with Danish youth, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
(POOLED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:20 p.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton attends a working lunch with Danish Foreign Minister Villy Sovndal, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
(POOLED PRESS COVERAGE)

1:35 p.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton holds a joint press availability with Danish Foreign Minister Villy Sovndal, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

4:00 p.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton meets with Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
(POOLED PRESS COVERAGE)

5:05 p.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton attends a green partnership for growth event with Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

5:45 p.m. LOCAL Secretary Clinton meets with the staff and families of Embassy Copenhagen, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
(POOLED PRESS COVERAGE)

DEPUTY SECRETARY BILL BURNS

Deputy Secretary Burns is on foreign travel in Singapore for bilateral meetings and to participate in the 11^th Asia Security Summit: The Shangri-la Dialogue.

DEPUTY SECRETARY TOM NIDES

Deputy Secretary Nides is on foreign travel to Poland through June 1 to participate in the Wroclaw Global Forum, hosted by the Atlantic Council.

USAID ADMINISTRATOR RAJ SHAH

9:00 a.m. Administrator Shah meets with World Economic Forum Vice-Chairman Josette Sheeran, at USAID.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS WENDY SHERMAN

3:00 p.m. Under Secretary Sherman meets with Chairman of the German Greens Party Bundestag Caucus Jürgen Trittin, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH, ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT ROBERT HORMATS

10:30 a.m. Under Secretary Hormats holds a conference call with ACE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Evan Greenberg.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

11:30 a.m. Under Secretary Hormats attends a meeting at the White House.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETAY FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS TARA SONENSHINE

Under Secretary Sonenshine is on foreign travel to Pakistan through June 2.

CHIEF OF PROTOCOL AMBASSADOR CAPRICIA PENAVIC MARSHALL

2:00 p.m. Ambassador Marshall hosts a reception in honor of departing Bosnian Ambassador His Excellency Mitar Kujundzic and Mrs. Lea Kujundzic, at the Blair House in Washington, DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CONFLICT AND STABILIZATION OPERATIONS RICK BARTON

11:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary Barton meets with members of the Committee on Conscience, the anti-genocide arm of the Holocaust Museum, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Barton meets with Ambassador Mark Green of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC), at USGLC headquarters in Washington, DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIAN AFFAIRS ROBERT BLAKE

2:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Blake meets with Indian Ministry of External Affairs Special Secretary Asoke Kumar Mukerji, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AFFAIRS WILLIAM BROWNFIELD

Assistant Secretary Brownfield tours International Narcotics and Law Enforcement facilities in Iraq and meets with host government officials.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND NONPROLIFERATION TOM COUNTRYMAN

Assistant Secretary Countryman is on foreign travel in Helsinki, Finland through June 1 to attend the Middle East WMD-Free Zone Conveners’ meeting.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS JOSE FERNANDEZ

Assistant Secretary Fernandez is on foreign travel in Tunisia through June 1 to participate in a conference on open governance co-hosted by the Tunisian Government, the OECD’s International Tax Dialogue, and the Department of State.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN AFFAIRS PHILIP GORDON

Assistant Secretary Gordon accompanies Secretary Clinton on her foreign travel to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS MIKE HAMMER

2:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Hammer participates in a Spanish language Twitter briefing, at the Department of State.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR OCEANS AND INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS KERRI-ANN JONES

Assistant Secretary Jones continues her outreach in Brussels, Belgium on environmental, science and technology cooperation issues.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND LABOR MICHAEL POSNER

Assistant Secretary Posner is on foreign travel to Libya through June 1.

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE AND COORDINATOR FOR COUNTERTERRORISM DANIEL BENJAMIN

10:30 a.m. Ambassador Benjamin speaks with Tunisian Ambassador to the U.S. Mohamed Salah Tekaya, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:00 p.m. Ambassador Benjamin meets with Indonesian Ambassador to the U.S. Dino Patti Djalal, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

OFFICE OF GLOBAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE STEPHEN RAPP

Ambassador Rapp is on foreign travel to Stockholm, Sweden to participate in the Stockholm Meeting on Complementarity, hosted by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Government of Sweden and the International Center for Transitional Justice, with the support from the Governments of Denmark and South Africa.

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE FOR GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES MELANNE VERVEER

10:00 a.m. Ambassador Verveer meets with Chilean Minister of National Women’s Service Carolina Schmidt, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:00 p.m. Ambassador Verveer meets with U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Senior Medical Advisor in the Division of Global HIV/AIDS Catherine McLean, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS KRIS BALDERSTON

Special Representative Balderston presents at FSG Advisor’s 2012 Shared Value Leadership Summit on the Department of State’s efforts to promote impact investing and create shared value through public-private partnerships, in Boston, Massachusetts.

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR GLOBAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS RETA JO LEWIS

Special Representative Lewis is on foreign travel in Turkey through June 1 to promote U.S.-Turkey sub-national cooperation and to participate in Georgia Governor Nathan Deal’s Trade Mission to Turkey.

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE TO MUSLIM COMMUNITIES FARAH PANDITH

Special Representative Pandith delivers remarks at the Brookings Institution U.S.-Islamic World Forum, in Doha, Qatar.
 (MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

SPECIAL ENVOY FOR NORTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES ROBERT KING

Ambassador King is on foreign travel in Brussels, Belgium through May 31 to meet with officials and NGO members concerning the human rights situation in the DPRK.
DIRECTOR OF POLICY PLANNING JAKE SULLIVAN

Director Sullivan accompanies Secretary Clinton on foreign travel.

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

31 May 2012, Thurs, Pres and VP Schedules

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule
9:30 am
The President and the Vice President receive the Presidential Daily Briefing
Local Event Time:
9:30 AM EDT
Oval Office
Closed Press

12:10 pm
The President and the First Lady meet for lunch with Former President George W. Bush , Former First Lady Laura Bush, Former President George H.W. Bush, Former First Lady Barbara Bush and family members Local Event Time:
12:10 PM EDT
Red Room
Closed Press

1:25 pm
The President and the First Lady welcome Former President George W. Bush and Former First Lady Laura Bush for the official unveiling of their portraits; The Vice President, Former President George H.W. Bush and Former First Lady Barbara Bush will attend Local Event Time:
1:25 PM EDT
East Room
Open Press

3:00 pm
The President meets with Secretary Geithner
Local Event Time:
3:00 PM EDT
Oval Office
Closed Press

(The Vice President has no other schedule than what's above.)

Eric Holder Needs to be Fired

Rush was sharing excerpts from Eric Holder today. Talking about how he's been fighting against the requirements for voter ID because they place an "unfair burden" on blacks and Latinos.

Eric Holder. The guy who a) is supposed to uphold our laws and b) who is supposed to serve everybody, not just the black community.

Rush pretty much said what I said - no one is stopping these people from getting IDs except their own community leaders!

(What Rush didn't say, and it surprised me that he didn't, was that people need IDs - social security numbers, drivers licenses, etc. - to get jobs! So all these people who cant vote because they don't have IDs, because they "can't afford them," can't get jobs, either, which is why they are all on welfare.

AN ID is not expensive! Anyone can get an idea for $10 or so. Some place was even giving them out for free. But, according to Rush, Jesse Jackson actually encouraged his community to NOT get IDs because it would ruin their privacy.

I wonder if Jackson has an ID? I wonder if Holder has an ID?

HOLDER: Congressman Lewis may have described the reason for these concerns best in a speech when pointing out that the voting rights that he worked throughout his life and nearly gave his life to ensure -- and I quote him -- "Are under attack by a deliberate and systematic attempt to prevent millions of elderly voters, young voters, students, and minority and low-income voters from exercising their constitutional right to engage in the democratic process," unquote.

RUSH: John Lewis is who he's talking about. From Georgia. Made famous in the march to Selma. I want to know: Who is it that's trying to prevent millions of elderly young students, minority, low income... That pretty much covers it all, doesn't it? Every victimized cliche and group you could come up with, he's covered it. Who is it that's trying to stop millions of people from voting? I know, I know. They're trying to say that photo ID, voter ID is the weapon here.

Intellectually, this doesn't compute. Remember, now, I live in Realville. I have a photo ID. I can't vote where I live without it! I have to show my photo ID when I go vote. I have to prove that I'm in the register. I can't just show 'em my card. They have to see a picture. How in the world...? And it's up to me to get the picture, and nobody is stopping anybody from getting a photo ID. Now, I've heard what Jesse Jackson is telling people. In Georgia they tried to do this, and they said, "We'll even do it free. Just come down to the office."

And Jesse Jackson said (summarized), "Don't leave your home! That's what they want. They want to get you out of your home, and they want to get you in there and they want to take away your privacy." Well, somebody ought to ask these people: "Do you see all the millions of Americans that have photo IDs. Just exactly what has happened to 'em because of that? How have their lives worsened? How have people who have photo IDs been prevented from voting? When's the last known case of this?

"When was it that somebody showed up with a photo ID and because of that were told they couldn't vote?" This really is irresponsible. It's absurd, and it's a classic illustration of the disservice done to the black community by black leaders. They're lying to them, scaring them, keeping them huddled in fear in the corners of their homes with imaginary monsters and threats (who are gonna do imaginary, monstrous things to them). If I didn't know better, I would say they're setting up an excuse for Obama losing here.

If I didn't know better, I would say they were already scared that Obama's gonna lose, the black vote's not gonna turn out, and this is all the setup and excuse for it. But I reject that because it's way too early for anybody to be thinking that way. Don't you need a photo ID to get food stamps or to use food stamps? I don't know. But you need a photo ID for virtually everything. You need a photo ID to buy cigarettes! But to get the EBT card? I know it's an ATM card, but maybe not.

and

HOLDER: The recent wave of changes to state-level voter identification laws also has presented a number of problems requiring the department's attention. In December, we objected to South Carolina's voter ID law after finding -- and this is based on the state's own data, the data that they sent -- the proposed change would place an unfair burden on nonwhite voters.

RUSH: How?

HOLDER: (crosstalk)

RUSH: How the hell does that happen?

HOLDER: (crosstalk)

RUSH: Stop the tape! This is reprehensible and irresponsible. How in the world does it place this "burden on nonwhite voters"? An attorney general of the United States is not even supposed to think this way, much less talk this way. "State's own data... proposed change would place an unfair burden on nonwhite voters." Why? Because they don't have photo IDs and they'd have to go get them?

Why don't they have them? Who's fault is that? Nobody's preventing them from getting them? The only people telling them not to get them are people like Holder and Reverend Jackson, civil rights leaders. "Don't you dare go get one because if you do you're gonna undermine our whole movement! The more of you that get photo IDs, the more you undermine our number one vote technique, which is fraud." Here's the rest of this bite, if I can handle it.

HOLDER: And this past March, we objected to a photo ID requirement in Texas because it would have a disproportionate impact on Hispanic voters. We also will continue working to enforce provisions like the Motor Voter Law, and to that end have recently filed two lawsuits to increase access to registration opportunities. In addition to these and other efforts to ensure access to the ballot box --

RUSH: I can't. Stop it. There is no "lack of access to the ballots box." You can register to vote when you buy a Big Mac, practically. In many places they register you to vote when you have no idea you can vote. That's not a problem. Voter registration is not a problem. Maybe getting people interested in registering in certain places is, but it's not a burden. It isn't hard. It's easy. It's just... This is the kind of stuff that keeps this country torn apart, folks. And this is the kind of stuff that puts a big obstacle, a giant roadblock in the way of ever overcoming some of this stuff.

Why Is Holder Addressing Black Churches?

Presumably the league of black pastors, or whatever they're called, invited Eric Holder to speak to their group to ensure they didn't violate their Tax-free status...I wonder why this wasn't necessary 3 years ago when Obama was first running?

When I first read this news yesterday, I thought nothing more of it than that the black pastors were going to work together to ensure that Obama got re-elected. The article I read said that 95% of blacks were expected to vote for Obama. (And this is not enough for him to win. Whites will have to vote for him as well. And of course Latinos.)

But Rush sees this as Holder and Obama threatening the black churches - over their anger at him over his backing of gay marriage - which ironically blacks and Latinos oppose.

Rush: They're gonna tell 'em just how close they can get to the line. They're probably gonna tell 'em how they can jump over the line a couple times. What's funny about this is Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson. These guys fund-raise from the pulpit! They pass the plate for campaign donations from the pulpit. It's been reported, but nobody does anything about it because nobody's got the guts to. Who wants to criticize black churches for being engaged in politics? They're minorities, they're disadvantaged, they ought to have some chance at making the contest fair.

Nobody's gonna level any charges against 'em. (interruption) Well, there may be something else going on here. Because, frankly, ladies and gentlemen, Holder's not gonna do anything to anybody if they do cross the line, and neither is the IRS. I mean, for crying out loud, if the New Black Panthers can engage in near-criminal activity and voter intimidation at a polling place and Holder lets that go, what the heck is he gonna do to a black minister who crosses the line on politicking from the pulpit? Nothing!

So what's this really all about? Why do you have to have Holder and the IRS and the ACLU have meetings with black pastors about ostensibly protecting their 501(c)(3) status? That's not what this is. That's not what this is. There's something else going on here. I don't know what it is. Some people might speculate that maybe the Democrats are worried about black turnout. I find that hard to believe. I don't see black turnout having to be goosed. No, really.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm suffering from too many decades here of behavior that I think is locked in. I know black unemployment is high. Black teenage unemployment is high. I know that there are... You know, this is probably one of the biggest unreported stories in the country, too. How many average American black people are really ticked off 'cause they thought so much more was gonna happen whenever the first black president was actually serving?

We actually have the inauguration of the first black president. Like that early town hall meeting in Naples or Tampa, wherever it was, where the people that showed up actually told Obama they needed a new kitchen and they needed a new car. They got that specific about what they expected. I don't know how much disappointment there is that those kinds of things have not been delivered. I mean, expectations, I don't care how unreasonable they are, they're still real to the people that have 'em.

Holder has told black churches that the "sacred right to vote is under attack."

RUSH: According to an article in The Politico today, Eric Holder is telling black leaders that the sacred right to vote is under attack, that that's what he's meeting with them about. "Holder to Black Leaders: 'Sacred' Right to Vote Under Attack -- Attorney General Eric Holder told a council of African American church leaders Wednesday that the 'sacred' right to vote is under assault nationwide, with federal lawsuits and at least a dozen state laws that could weaken -- or block -- minority access to the ballot box this fall. ... Holder said in a speech before the Council of Black Churches. The twin factors of lingering bias and systematic assaults from the right, he said, means that 'for the first time in our [lifetimes], we are failing to live up to one of our most noble ideals' -- the right to equal access to the vote."

I've asked this question many times. (Rhetorically, of course.) Instead of spending millions of dollars fighting the request for laws that require that people have IDs, why doesn't the black community just take that money and pay for their people to get IDs? In addition to having IDs to vote, isn't it even more important to have an ID because that's the only way they can get a job? You wonder why so many black teens don't have jobs...ever wonder if its because they don't have one of the prerequisites for getting a job which is, you know, an ID?

There are 5 months from now until November. 5. 150 days. Plenty of time for folks to go out and get the IDs they need so they can function in every aspect of American life. So come on, black community. Just do it.

Why is Carney Still White House spokesperson?

Rush shared a soundbite today:

"Look, Romney got an 80% success rate. Bain Capital, they went in, they took over failing companies and bailed 'em out, and 80% of 'em ended up being saved, growing, jobs are created. What's the difference in Romney doing that, Mr. Carney, and Obama investing taxpayer dollars in failed green energy companies like Solyndra?" So the reporter said, "If that's the argument, that not every company will succeed and therefore it's too risky because private equity can't save 'em all, if that's the argument, how is that different from Romney's argument on Bain Capital which is that many succeeded and a few failed?"

CARNEY: Look, there -- there -- there is the difference in that your overall view of what your responsibilities are as president and what your view of the economic future is. The president believes as he's made clear that a president's responsibility is not just to those who win but those who in -- for an example in a company where there have been layoffs or a company that's gone bankrupt, that, you know, we have to make sure that those folks have the means to find other employment, that they have the ability to train for other kinds of work, and that's part of the overall responsibility the president has.

Really... why does the government need to provide for folks to be able to "train for other employment"? Why can't they do that themselves?

Rush went on:

In fact Romney and Bain Capital, they are using their own money. They chose companies to bail out, they succeeded. What's the difference in that and Obama using taxpayer dollars to try to bail out... of course the difference is that every one of Obama's companies fails. There hasn't been a success story in green energy. There isn't a business there. It's an absolute joke. It's nothing more than a money laundering scheme using green energy as the emotional connection to people, have them support it, while money just travels a circuitous route from donor to Obama, back to donor and finally back to Obama. Pure and simple. Which is the point we tried to make in our little parody commercial I just played for you.

So Carney, well, what's the difference? In fact, the difference is, Romney is using his own money. But the government ought want be picking winners and lose. I'll tell you the next thing -- and again, this is a statement from Realville. It doesn't take long to drive through Realville. You know, people drive through Realville every day. Not very many people stop, and most people that travel through Realville don't know they've been there. That's how tiny it is. But here you have Carney, (imitating Carney) "Well, you got a company that goes bankrupt, those folks have to find other employment, train for other kinds of work, that's part of the overall responsibility." No, it's not. The president's not supposed to pick winners and losers. Somebody loses a job, it's their responsibility to get a new one.

30 May 2012, Wed, Rush Limbaugh headlines

--It's the Little Things: Obama Insults Poland, Awards Medal of Freedom to Socialist Icons
--Obamaville Steals Your Prime Years
--Texas Twofer: Tea Partier Forces Runoff; Obama-Backed Congressman Loses Primary
--Media Begs Mitt to Denounce Trump, Rush
--Trump Blasts Blitzer on Birther Interview
--Spokeskid Carney Struggles to Explain the Difference Between Bain and Solyndra
--Reprehensible Holder Scares Black Voters
--Whittaker Chambers Made Sense for the Medal of Freedom
--Caller: Bain Built My Company

Stack of Stuff
--Home Sales Fall 5.5%
--Pennsylvania Democrat Switches Parties Over Obama Gay Marriage Stance
--ABC/WaPo Poll: Romney Up with Women
--Study: Overweight Women Still Seen as Fat After Weight Loss ...

Wednesday - late posting

Just a reminder that Wednesday and Thursday are my late posting nights - Library volunteer one night, Scrabble club the next.

Do the Politicians Employ *anyone* who is competent???

Obama is catching flack from Poland because he referred to Polish death camps instead of Nazi death camps in Occupied Poland.

Meantime, the Romney campaign put out some kind of app - i.e., application, for those who don't have Smart Phones...and whoever created that mispelled America!

Is there no quality control for speech writers or app makers?

Will all the money these folks make, they can't hire proof readers and fact checkers to make sure they don't make these stupid gaffes?

As with Kennedy and his "I am a donut" comment in front of the Berlin Wall, is Obama's flub really that serious. Everyone did know what he meant ...well, everyone over the age of 30, I think, the younger folks don't even know where WWII took place, I'd wager...

And as for mispelling America...how many of our bright students today - except the Asian-American ones - even know how to spell America themselves?

What's really frightening is the lack of education in this country among our younger folk...even up to college. I read a lot of message boards and it is very rare that I find someone posting in complete, coherent sentences. More often than not they write with atrocious grammar, run-on sentences, and faulty logic.

And the thing is- if you can't write coherently, that means you're not thinking coherently. Problem-solving skills probably nil.

Not a good situation for this country to be in, when there is soooooooooo much competition now from other places.

30 May 2012, Wed, SoS Clinton and Staff Schedule

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/appt/2012/05/191295.htm

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

Secretary Clinton is on foreign travel to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey through June 7. The Secretary is accompanied by Assistant Secretary Gordon, Counselor and Chief of Staff Mills, Director Sullivan, VADM Harry B. Harris, Jr., JCS, and Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for European Affairs Liz Sherwood Randall.

DEPUTY SECRETARY BILL BURNS

Deputy Secretary Burns is on foreign travel in Singapore for bilateral meetings and to participate in the 11^th Asia Security Summit: The Shangri-La Dialogue.

DEPUTY SECRETARY TOM NIDES

9:30 a.m. Deputy Secretary Nides meets with Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

10:30 a.m. Deputy Secretary Nides meets with U.S. Executive Director to the Asian Development Bank Ambassador Robert Orr, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

Deputy Secretary Nides departs on foreign travel to Poland through June 1 to participate in the Wroclaw Global Forum, hosted by the Atlantic Council.

USAID ADMINISTRATOR RAJ SHAH

8:00 a.m. Administrator Shah attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

9:30 a.m. Administrator Shah delivers remarks at a USAID-hosted event, “From Policy to Action: Making Progress Toward Disability Inclusion,” at the Ronald Reagan Building, in Washington, DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

11:00 a.m. Administrator Shah meets with Acting USAID Inspector General Michael Carroll, at USAID.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS WENDY SHERMAN

10:00 a.m. Under Secretary Sherman hosts the U.S.-Canada Dialogue, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH, ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT ROBERT HORMATS

12:00 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats participates in a U.S.-ASEAN Business Council farewell event in honor of Ambassador of Singapore to the U.S. Chan Heng Chee, in Washington, DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:00 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats participates in a roundtable discussion on the Economic Statecraft Initiative with Chair and Executive Director of the Washington International Business Council Solveig Spielmann, in Washington, DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:30 p.m. Under Secretary Hormats meets with U.S. Executive Director to the Asian Development Bank Ambassador Robert Orr, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR CIVILIAN SECURITY, DEMOCRACY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS MARIA OTERO

12:30 p.m. Under Secretary Otero delivers closing remarks at the USAID conference, “From Policy to Action: Making Progress Toward Disability Inclusion,” at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETAY FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS TARA SONENSHINE

Under Secretary Sonenshine is on foreign travel to Pakistan.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIAN AFFAIRS ROBERT BLAKE

1:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Blake meets with U.S. Executive Director to the Asian Development Bank Ambassador Robert Orr, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Blake and Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Grossman meet with Uzbekistan Ambassador to the U.S. Ilhom Nematov, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AFFAIRS WILLIAM BROWNFIELD

Assistant Secretary Brownfield tours International Narcotics and Law Enforcement facilities in Iraq and meets with host government officials.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS JOSE FERNANDEZ

Assistant Secretary Fernandez is on foreign travel in Tunisia through June 1 to participate in a conference on open governance co-hosted by the Tunisian Government, the OECD’s International Tax Dialogue, and the Department of State.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS MIKE HAMMER

11:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary Hammer attends the Andrew J. Goodpaster Award Ceremony at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in Washington, D.C.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY COMMERCE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS ROBERTA JACOBSON

9:30 a.m. Assistant Secretary Jacobson meets with U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Jacobson, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary Jacobson joins Under Secretary Sherman for the U.S.-Canada High Level Dialogue, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Jacobson meets with Director of the Joint Interagency Task Force South Rear Admiral Charles Michel, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Jacobson meets with Canadian Assistant Deputy Minister Kerry Buck, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR OCEANS AND INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS KERRI-ANN JONES

Assistant Secretary Jones is on foreign travel in Brussels, Belgium for consultations with EU counterparts and public outreach on environmental and science and technology cooperation issues.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND LABOR MICHAEL POSNER

Assistant Secretary Posner is on foreign travel to Libya through June 1.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL AFFAIRS ANN STOCK

5:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Stock delivers remarks on the Two Museums, Two Nations, One Identity Project, at the Museum of the Americas in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE AND COORDINATOR FOR COUNTERTERRORISM DANIEL BENJAMIN

3:55 p.m. Ambassador Benjamin attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

OFFICE OF GLOBAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE STEPHEN RAPP

Ambassador Rapp is on foreign travel to Stockholm, Sweden to participate in the Stockholm Meeting on Complementarity, hosted by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Government of Sweden and the International Center for Transitional Justice, with the support from the Governments of Denmark and South Africa.

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE FOR GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES MELANNE VERVEER

12:00 p.m. Ambassador Verveer meets with Major General Lorie Robinson, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Ambassador Verveer speaks with Clinton Global Initiative Head of the Girls & Women Program Penny Abeywardena.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

8:00 p.m. Ambassador Verveer delivers keynote remarks on the economic empowerment of women in Latin America at the Mary Kay Latin America Regional Summit Gala Dinner, at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium, in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR GLOBAL INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS RETA JO LEWIS

Special Representative Lewis is on foreign travel in Turkey through June 2 to promote U.S.-Turkey sub-national engagement and to support Georgia Governor Nathan Deal’s Trade Mission to Turkey.

SPECIAL ENVOY FOR NORTH KOREAN HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES ROBERT KING

Ambassador King is on foreign travel in Brussels, Belgium through May 31 to meet with officials and NGO members concerning the human rights situation in the DPRK.

DIRECTOR OF POLICY PLANNING JAKE SULLIVAN

Director Sullivan accompanies Secretary Clinton on foreign travel.

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

30 May 2012, Wed, Pres and VP Schedule

http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule
10:30 am
The President attends an annual hurricane preparedness briefing
Local Event Time:
10:30 AM EDT
Situation Room
Closed Press

11:40 am
The President signs the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank
Local Event Time:
11:40 AM PDT
South Court Auditorium
Open Press

5:00 pm
The President hosts a Jewish American Heritage Month reception
Local Event Time:
5:00 PM EDT
East Room

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

Was he not using a teleprompter?

From Google News: White House: Obama misspoke on 'Polish death camp'

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said President Barack Obama misspoke on Tuesday when he referred to a "Polish death camp" while honoring a Polish war hero.

The president's remark had drawn immediate complaints from Poles who said Obama should have called it a "German death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland," to distinguish the perpetrators from the location. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski called it a matter of "ignorance and incompetence."

Obama made the comment while awarding the Medal of Freedom to Jan Karski, a resistance fighter against the Nazi occupation of Poland during World War II. Karski died in 2000.

During an East Room ceremony honoring 13 Medal of Freedom recipients, Obama said that Karski "served as a courier for the Polish resistance during the darkest days of World War II. Before one trip across enemy lines, resistance fighters told him that Jews were being murdered on a massive scale and smuggled him into the Warsaw Ghetto and a Polish death camp to see for himself. Jan took that information to President Franklin Roosevelt, giving one of the first accounts of the Holocaust and imploring to the world to take action."

Sikorski tweeted that the White House would apologize for "this outrageous error" and that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk would address the matter on Wednesday.

"It's a pity that such a dignified ceremony was overshadowed by ignorance and incompetence."

Alex Storozynski, president of the Kosciuszko Foundation, said Obama's comment "shocked the Poles present at the White House and those watching on C-SPAN. ... Karski would have cringed if he heard this."

National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said: "The president misspoke. He was referring to Nazi death camps in Poland. We regret this misstatement, which should not detract from the clear intention to honor Mr. Karski and those brave citizens who stood on the side of human dignity in the face of tyranny."

Anxious to quell the controversy, the White House also noted that the president had visited the Warsaw Ghetto Memorial while in Poland and that he has repeatedly discussed the bravery of Poles during World War II.

The Polish Embassy in Washington, on its website, has a "how-to guide" on concentration camps that states that references to Polish death camps are "factually incorrect slurs" that should be corrected.

The Associated Press Stylebook states that when referring to "World War II camps in countries occupied by Nazi Germany, do not use phrases like Polish death camps that confuse the location and the perpetrators. Use instead, for example, death camps in Nazi-occupied Poland."

So a President's Job Lasts for 8 years?

Rush shared a soundbyte from Colbert King today. I highlight the significant portion.

RUSH: Colbert King is a columnist at the Washington Post. And he was on the syndicated Inside Washington on Sunday having a panel discussion about the 2012 presidential race, and this is what Colbert "Colby" King said.

KING: Republicans and Fox News painted Barack Obama as the devil incarnate. They had reasons to want to get this son of Karl Marx out of the White House. But they gotta be careful about how they go after Barack Obama. There is a base out there, and if there is a feeling that he is being treated unfairly -- if there's a feeling that they are trying to get rid of Michelle Obama and those two nice kids, cute kids out of the White House and take this job away from him that the American people gave him -- there are gonna be people who will come out there and turn out. You can count on the nastiness to fire up the base. The nastiness is gonna come out.

So King admits that Obama is "the son of Karl Marx?" Aka a communist? Is that a typo by the Limbaugh folks or did he actually say that?

Secondly, every President serves his four years. That's his job. If he wants to serve another four years, he has to run for re-election. Every president who wants to extend his job for another 4 years has to run for re-election, and people of the other party try to prevent that. It's got nothing to do with a President's race, and all to do with his politics! Jee-zus!

Mayor Nutter of Philadelphia

In three years Obama's policies don't seem to have helped Philadelphia a whole lot. You'd think he'd want to see what the business-creating Romney could do. From Wikipedia's entry on Michael Nutter
Tenure
Despite some residents' high hopes about Mayor Nutter, his tenure as mayor has been characterized by falling tax revenues due to the recession that came into full force as Nutter came into office.[31] When Nutter came into office, the city had a significant budget surplus. Nine months later that surplus became a projected budget deficit of $650 to 850 million over the next five years (2009–2013). As a result, Nutter has closed recreational facilities, cut funding for Philadelphia's traditional Mummers Parade on New Year's Day, and cut other services from the budget. Mayor Nutter has closed seven fire companies including the oldest fire company in the nation (engine 8). Although he was successful in closing the budget gap, he has come under criticism for using up political capital to save a few million dollars on a politically unpopular move, attempting to close 11 city libraries. Libraries are open today due only to the lawsuit brought by City Councilman Bill Green.

2011 re-election campaign
Philadelphia mayoral election, 2011
Nutter announced that he would run for reelection on December 22, 2010. He easily won the primary election against Milton Street, getting 76% of the vote. Despite the lopsided victory, Street capturing 24% of the Democratic vote astonished many and served to diminish Nutter. He defeated two candidates in the general election of November 2011, garnering over 70% of the vote on a voter turnout of around 18%

Whose fault is it that blacks drop out of school?

Black teens lead the country in unemployment. Is it because whites bosses discriminate against them, or is it because they won't learn to speak recognizable English, won't learn math, dress in baggy clothing, have tattoos all over their body, and don't really know much about manners either. (Well, come to that, neither do white teens.) It is sad and a little frightening that the black community can not see that they bring their problems on themselves by refusing to embrace middle classness, and excoriating those in their community who do - or at least try to!

RUSH: How many of you have often thought, often believed that if the Republicans would make some real genuine outreach effort to the black community and just get three to five percent of the black vote, if we could do that, that would end it? A lot of people believe that. And the rule of thumb, standard operating procedure, opinion is that Republicans just never make the effort. They don't know how. Outreach to the African-American community, they don't do it. They should try it. Well, Romney did. Romney went to Philadelphia. The Washington Post has the details.

"When Mitt Romney came to an inner-city charter school here Thursday to promote his new education agenda, he received something of a history lecture about the persecution of blacks in America and the struggles of African American children to meet the academic achievements of their white counterparts." What persecution would that be? Persecution of blacks in America. What are we talking about? Affirmative action? What is this persecution that's going on? So Romney goes in for some outreach. This story, by the way, it was in the Washington Post, but it wasn't picked up. It didn't get very much attention.

Let me briefly tell you what happened. Romney goes to this charter school in West Philadelphia. Local officials attending the event lectured him and insulted him. The Obama campaign organized so-called residents to protest across the street from the school where Romney was. They shouted at Romney, and they told him to get out of their neighborhood. Now, I want you to just try to imagine the outrage from our news media if the Romney campaign had organized whites to tell Obama to get out of their neighborhood. But there was no outrage. This story caused none. I mean even the Washington Post sounds amused. They think this was funny, what happened. But you see, apparently the Republicans are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

Not once in this entire article is it ever mentioned that Romney supports school vouchers, which Obama doesn't. It's something you think that local school officials would support as well. The article quotes the mayor of Philadelphia, Michael Nutter, as saying that Romney, "Suddenly somehow found West Philadelphia." But Nutter said, "I don’t know that a one-day experience in the heart of West Philadelphia is enough to get you ready to run the United States of America."

Now, that's a little ironic, given that you might think Mayor Nutter would be in hiding after what he and his fellow Democrats have done to that once great city. Then there's a quote from a woman named Madaline Dunn, who said she was "personally offended" that Romney would visit her neighborhood. She said it was, "absolutely denigrating for him to come in here and speak his garbage." Now, who is this babe? Madaline Dunn, she's a longtime Democrat political activist. She has served as a chairwoman for the radical Philadelphia Congress of the National Congress of black women. She's currently listed as one of Obama's Truth Team. This is not in the story. I wanted to find out why was this woman being quoted? I was curious. Who is this woman? The Post doesn't tell us. I found that stuff out on my own. They just portray her as another legitimately and genuinely outraged resident.

The bottom line is, Romney attempting outreach, goes into an inner city school to talk about his education ideas in West Philly and is basically told to get the hell out. "What are you doing here, pal? We don't want you here." It won't be long before we hear some civil rights leader saying, "They don't care about us, the Republicans, they don't care about us. They never reach out. They never try." So it's a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation.

Escape From New York? High-Taxing Empire State Loses 3.4 Million Residents in 10 Years

From CNS News: Escape From New York? High-Taxing Empire State Loses 3.4 Million Residents in 10 Years

New York State accounted for the biggest migration exodus of any state in the nation between 2000 and 2010, with 3.4 million residents leaving over that period, according to the Tax Foundation.

Over that decade the state gained 2.1 million, so net migration amounted to 1.3 million, representing a loss of $45.6 billion in income.

Where are they escaping to? The Tax Foundation found that more than 600,000 New York residents moved to Florida over the decade – opting perhaps for the Sunshine State’s more lenient tax system – taking nearly $20 billion in adjusted growth income with them.

Over that same time period, 208,794 Pennsylvanians moved to Florida, taking $8 billion in income.

“Many of these New York and Pennsylvania residents no doubt moved to Florida for the warm weather,” says the foundation, a nonpartisan research group. “[B]ut many more may have moved there because the state does not have an individual income tax, an estate tax, nor an inheritance tax.”

The Tax Foundation has created a “migration calculator” based on data from the Internal Revenue Service, tabulating the number of individuals moving between states each year, and income affected by the shifts.

The calculator shows that 612,520 people renounced their citizenship in New York State and moved to Florida in the 10-year period, taking with them $19.7 billion in adjusted growth income.

Between 2009 and 2010 alone, 40,195 New York residents moved to Florida, taking $1.3 billion in income.

According to the group, New York ranked second among the states for the highest state and local tax burden in 2009. The Empire State was ranked highest for tax burden every year from 1977 until 2006, except in 1984 when it was ranked second.

New York State has a progressive personal income tax rate ranging from 6.45 percent to 8.82 percent for those earning over $2 million. Sales varies by county, and is between seven and eight percent. In Manhattan, the sales tax is 8.875 percent.

According to the Retirement Living Center, which examines tax burdens by state for those nearing retirement, New York also levies a gasoline tax at 49.0 cents per gallon and a cigarette tax of $4.35 per pack, along with an additional $1.50 per pack in New York City.

New York is also one of 17 states plus the District of Columbia that collects an estate tax, with a $1 million exemption and a progressive rate from 0.8 percent to 16 percent.

In 2007, New York State collected $1.1 billion from its estate and gift taxes, the highest of any of the states, according to the Tax Foundation.

California is also known for more onerous taxes and regulations, and the foundation shows similar trends of migration from there to other states like Texas and Arizona.

The Tax Foundation ranked the Golden State sixth highest in the nation for state and local tax burden in 2009.

Between 2000 and 2010, the most recent data available, 551,914 people left California for Texas, taking $14.3 billion in income. Texas has no state income tax or estate tax.

A total of 48,877 people moved to Texas from California between 2009 and 2010 alone, totaling $1.2 billion in income. Another 28,088 from California relocated to Nevada and 30,663 to Arizona, a loss of $699.1 million and $707.8 million in income respectively.

Overall, California had the most departures between 2009 and 2010 – 406,883 people, representing a loss of $10.6 billion in income. Over that year 365,763 people moved there, representing a net loss of 41,120 residents.

Since 2000 1.2 million more people have left California than have moved there, the second biggest net loss, after New York.

Florida, meanwhile, had a negative net migration of 966,934 between 2000 and 2010 – meaning nearly a million more people moved to the state than left. Texas also has a negative net migration – 807,552 – during the same time period.

Florida and Texas rank the two lowest in net migration over the decade, followed by North Carolina, Arizona and Georgia, each of which has a negative rate.

The Tax Foundation acknowledges that taxes are not the only reason to flee a state. “Taxes are one of hundreds of factors that go into a person's decision to move,” it says on its website. “Others include age, technology, job prospects and the quality/quantity of government services provided.”

The foundation also points out that the migration calculator is not definitive. “A true study that sought to quantify the importance of taxes for locational decisions would need to account for as many other factors as possible, in addition to possible serial correlation issues between variables, especially taxes.”

Trickery or Force of Arms?

All throughout history - on any continent - one people has driven out another not by "trickery" but by force of arms. The Native Americans did not live in a paradise in the US before Caucasians came - many different tribes hated each other and fought each other constantly. The Conquistadors were able to take over Mexico so easily the Aztecs had enslaved several other Indian tribes and used them for sacrifice. (Little recking what the Spaniards whom they helped would do to them.)

Point being, we didn't take California, Colorado, Texas or Arizona by trickery, but rather by superior martial ability. (I assume Farrahkan is talking about the USS Maine, which was blown up...either by Spaniards or by Americans hoping to provoke a war). But it owuld have happened regardless.

Calypso Louie on "White Mexicans"
RUSH: Calypso Louie. Louis Farrakhan says it's, "'Sad That Mexico Lost California, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico' Through American 'Trickery;'" but he said payback is coming, because, "Soon Whites 'Will Be the Minority' In the Country They 'Took' -- The day before Memorial Day, Nation of Islam leader [Calypso] Louis Farrakhan lamented that Mexico had lost territory to America due to the Mexican-American War and disparaged American military action around the globe.'"

He was "in San Diego [speaking to] a partially Hispanic audience. [He] began by disparaging 'White Mexicans' of Spanish decent before announcing that 'Africans were in that part of the World [Mexico] maybe before [Mexicans] got there.'" Did you know that, that there were blacks in Mexico before the Mexicans got there? Of course there were no Mexicans. It was the Spaniards. Then Minister Farrakhan "lamented that illegal Mexicans are called 'aliens' and declared that Americans 'ought to be praising the Mexicans because we living on land that was once theirs.'"

And that's when he "went on to declare that he was 'sad that Mexico lost California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado' after the Mexican-American War 'trickery.'" Then he said it's payback time because "white people will soon 'be the minority in their own country that they took from the native people.'" Now, we sit here and we laugh at this stuff, but we're talking about somebody's got a sizeable audience. We're talking about somebody that wields a fair amount of influence within his community.

Yeah, we've had our share of fun with Minister Farrakhan, and we've laughed at him, but this is serious stuff.

The USS Illinois is NOT all female

But even if it were, so what? Properly trained women seamen are just as good as male seamen.

But I do wish Rush would vett these things before he makes his announcements. (For example, if he'd read the link that is at his website, no where there does it mention it will be an all-female crew. According to somebody at Hannity.com, that was just an erroneous rumor by The Hill - who really should check *their* facts first, too!

Moochelle Sponsors All-Female Submarine
RUSH: Michelle Obama is the sponsor of the Navy's first submarine with an all-female crew. Not kidding. Michelle Obama is sponsoring the USS Illinois, the first Navy marine to be staffed by an all-female crew. No seamen on board. I am not making this up: The first US submarine without seamen. And Michelle Obama is sponsoring it. It's the USS Illinois. It has an all-female crew, but again we were on the cutting edge here. Years ago we suggested the All-American First Cavalry Amazon Battalion. Now the Navy has finally gotten around to implementing it with Moochelle in charge.

29 May 2012, Tues, Rush Limbaugh headlines

--Obama to Wage Campaign Based on Fear
--Predictable Sunday Show Lies from Libs
--How Many Jobs Has the EIB Network Created?
--The Wonder of the Golden Gate Bridge
--Americans Want Wealth Creation Over Job Creation
--WaPo Columnist Tries to Intimidate "the Limbaughs"
--Photos from TIBT Contest Winners
--While We Thrive, Liberal Media Fails
--Blabbermouth Schultz: Wisconsin is Dry Run
--Dems Organize Hecklers to Tell Romney to Get Out of West Philadelphia Neighborhood
--Why the Left Denigrates the Military

Stack of Stuff
--Social Jet Lag: Waking Up to Alarm Makes You Fat
--Moochelle Sponsors All-Female Submarine
--New South Beach Diet
--Calypso Louie on "White Mexicans"
--Study: Climate Skeptics Have More Knowledge
--NYC Taxes Drive Away 3.4 Million Residents in Ten Years

Obama's ex-girlfriend: what her diaries reveal

A sentence from the diary is shared - a sentence that I find it difficult to believe a college girl would write - sounds more like what someone would write for a novel...

From Christian Science Monitor: Obama's ex-girlfriend: what her diaries reveal

It could be anybody’s worst nightmare: The diary of an ex-girlfriend or boyfriend suddenly comes to light in a very public way, available for all the world to read.

But for President Obama, whose ex-flame Genevieve Cook comes to life via her private writings in a new biography of the president, the window into the young Mr. Obama may be a plus.
Obama already has a cool image that the Romney campaign is trying to counter. Ms. Cook’s thoughts from the mid-80s, when she and the future president were in a relationship, may only add to that mystique. In her journals, she describes a thoughtful young man, at times emotionally distant, trying to sort through his racial identity and chart an ambitious future.

She also paints a picture full of images and scents that may shout TMI – Too Much Information – but given the buzz around the book, it’s clear the public is interested.

An example: “I open the door, that Barack keeps closed, to his room, and enter into a warm, private space pervaded by a mixture of smells that so strongly speak of his presence, his liveliness, his habits – running sweat, Brut spray deodorant, smoking, eating raisins, sleeping, breathing.”

Cook’s words come to us via Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Maraniss, whose book “Barack Obama: The Story” comes out in June. Mr. Maraniss interviewed both Cook, the daughter of an Australian diplomat, and the president for his portrait, but it’s Cook’s impressions of her boyfriend starting in late 1983, when their relationship began, that add texture to the young Obama already revealed in his memoir, “Dreams From My Father.”

An excerpt of the book appears in the June issue of Vanity Fair, which is just hitting newsstands but already available online.

In his interview with Cook, Maraniss writes, “she remembered how on Sundays Obama would lounge around, drinking coffee and solving the New York Times crossword puzzle, bare-chested, wearing a blue and white sarong.”

But Cook also sensed that something was missing.

“The sexual warmth is definitely there – but the rest of it has sharp edges and I’m finding it all unsettling and finding myself wanting to withdraw from it all,” Cook wrote in her journal on Feb. 25, 1984. “I have to admit that I am feeling anger at him for some reason, multi-stranded reasons. His warmth can be deceptive. Tho he speaks sweet words and can be open and trusting, there is also that coolness – and I begin to have an inkling of some things about him that could get to me.”

Maraniss writes: “When she told him that she loved him, his response was not ‘I love you, too’ but ‘thank you’ – as though he appreciated that someone loved him.”

Cook is white, and she came to realize that the mixed-race Obama “needed to go black.” She also foresaw a mate for him that is almost eerily prescient.

“I can’t help thinking that what he would really want, be powerfully drawn to, was a woman, very strong, very upright, a fighter, a laugher, well-experienced – a black woman I keep seeing her as,” Cook wrote in her diary.
Obama loved Cook – he says so in his memoir, though without mentioning her name. The president has had to answer for the fact that in “Dreams From My Father,” some scenes involving his “New York girlfriend” were in fact drawn from more than one girlfriend. But, as has been reaffirmed, he did explain in the introduction to every edition of the book that he had combined girlfriends into a composite character to simplify the narrative.
That’s a mere bump in the road. The real takeaway from the excerpt published in Vanity Fair is that Obama was already becoming the man we see today – the reserve, the intellect, the striving. And even if reading about the 22-year-old future president’s choice of deodorant seems undignified, we can be sure of this: A tell-all by a former girlfriend could have been a whole lot worse.

 

29 May 2012, Tues, SoS Clinton and Staff Schedule

As of 9.57 am mountain time, SoS Clinton's schedule has not been posted.

29 May, 2012, Tues, Pres and VP Schedules

10:30 am	http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule       The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing Oval Office Closed Press
11:00 am	The President meets with senior advisors Oval Office Closed Press
2:45 pm	The President meets with Secretary of State Clinton Oval Office Closed Press
3:25 pm	The President and First Lady honor recipients of the 2011 Medal of Freedom in a ceremony East Room Open Press (Pre-set 2:30PM – Final Gather at 3:00PM – North Doors of the Palm Room)
5:00 pm	The President meets with Secretary of Defense Panetta Oval Office       http://www.whitehouse.gov/schedule/vice-president   No public schedule

Obama ditches reporters after golf outing

From the Washington Times: Obama ditches reporters after golf outing

President Obama ditched the small group of reporters that accompanied him on a golf outing Saturday at Andrews Air Force Base.

Mr. Obama arrived at Andrews in suburban Maryland at 1:08 p.m. to play golf with a foursome that included Marvin Nicholson, the White House trip director, and two other men. That was the last time the press traveling with the president saw him.

Normally, when the president completes his round of golf, reporters in the "pool" traveling with him accompany Mr. Obama's motorcade back to the White House. But on Saturday, the pool reporters were notified at 5:45 p.m. that the president had already departed the base without them, supposedly 10 minutes earlier.

George Condon, a reporter with National Journal, wrote in his pool report: "In a breach of longstanding policy, the motorcade departed without hooking up with the press vans even though the vans had been loaded and waiting for more than half an hour."

"The pool does not know first hand when the president left the base, what route he took, or when he arrived at the White House.

We were told that he arrived at 5:58 [p.m.] and went to the residence," Mr. Condon reported.
The reporter added, "Your pooler, no doubt invigorated by his inability to tell you anything for certain, registered a protest at this breach and would assume there would be a more formal followup discussion."

The press pool system is designed, in part, to provide a daily record of a president's appearances and travels in public.

Best of Rush on today

Rush is not on his show today - probably in Florida or somewhere!

The President and VP have no public schedule today either.

There's no public schedule posted for the Secretary of State and her Diplomatic Corps, but in that instance I think it's just because the person who is supposed to keep the schedule is on vacation.

Starvation soon in Libya and Egypt?

Some guy named Micah Halperin does a "this is what I've been thinking" spot on my radio station - the same one that hosts Rush Limbaugh.

Friday and today it was on the foot and mouth disease and avian flu that are currently ravaging Egypt's "protein suplly." Apparently when Libya had their little uprising lasyt year, their cattle that was infected with foot and mouth disease was not killed but rather sent into Egypt, where it proceeded to infect those animals.

I just did a search on this topic, and it looks like 2 whole articles have been devoted to it in the past month.

(I wonder if anyone in Libya or Egypt miss Ghaddafy and Mubarrak yet? And of course, where is all the money going to come from to help prevent these two countrys from starving? Why, the despised Christian countries, of course.

I only hope the West will enforce a quarantine on people coming from these countries, to prevent an outbreak of human avian flu in the West.

From the Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/05/egypts-real-crisis-the-dual-epidemics-quietly-ravaging-public-health/257072/ - Egypt's Real Crisis: The Dual Epidemics Quietly Ravaging Public Health

Lost in the recent political jockeying and protest violence leading up to Egypt's May 23 presidential elections is the unfolding public health disaster there. Avian flu and foot and mouth disease are running rampant, killing people and livestock as well as inflating the price of food. It's a serious health and economic issue, but it has potentially much larger implications for Egypt. This little-discussed crisis is beginning to resemble those that occur in failed states.

The Egyptian state, which was not particularly well-prepared for public emergencies even before the February 2011 revolution brought it into near-chaos, has little capacity to cope with the outbreaks threatening not only Egypt, but also Sudan, Israel, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Jordan. Egypt's public health infrastructure barely functions. The sorts of social services that groups like the Muslim Brotherhood have provided over many years fall far short of what is needed to combat the current crisis. Cairo does not have the money to throw at the problem, having burned through more than half of its foreign currency reserves in the 15 months since Mubarak's fall.

Ground zero for Egypt's public health emergency is Libya, where last year, in the midst of civil war, foot and mouth disease swept through the country, killing more than 10 percent of its sheep and cattle. Smugglers subsequently brought infected sheep across the Libyan border, setting off a foot and mouth disease (FMD) wildfire that Egyptian officials have been unable to slow.

Within four weeks, FMD killed thousands of cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, camels, and other livestock across Egypt. In March, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization declared a "catastrophe," warning that the epidemic in Egypt was threatening human food supplies for all of the Middle East and North Africa. The particular viral strain responsible for the epidemic, officially called SAT2, is a new one, against which standard FMD vaccines are useless. SAT2 was first found in Sudan in 1977, the same year it was also thought to have been eliminated. It appears to have resurfaced there in 2010, spread to Libya, then Egypt, and now the Palestinian Territory. Consequently, public and veterinary health officials in Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and elsewhere around the region are on high alert.

For Egypt, which is reeling from the economic repercussions of last year's revolt against the Mubarak regime and ongoing political instability, the FMD epidemic is a serious blow. The loss of thousands of cattle, buffalo, and camels has resulted in a significant spike in the price of meat from Egypt's remaining livestock, which leaves a relatively poor population with only one unaffected source of protein: chickens. Yet Egypt is also in the sixth year of avian influenza H5N1 epidemic. Despite vaccination and control efforts, the deadly H5N1 virus, which swept into Egypt from Asia, persists.

Given the popularity of home-raised chickens in the country, where many households, rural and urban, possess flocks, controlling the infection would be a daunting undertaking for any government. Millions of the animals are estimated to have either died from infection or been killed off by veterinary authorities, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, in failed control efforts. The World Health Organization now ranks Egypt second in the world, after Indonesia, in human cases of the avian flu, which thus far has reportedly killed 60 Egyptians and infected about 100 more.

 Recently, a strain of the virus has spreadto Egyptian ducks; this new strain carries mutations that are thought to play a role in enabling transmission between mammals. This is a particularly worrisome development because some Egyptians have caught the flu from their animals but have not yet passed it onto other people. Once the virus begins to spread between humans, an epidemic becomes far, far more likely.

There are only two well-established methods for controlling these viral animal diseases: through mass vaccination of more than 90% of all vulnerable animals, or via quarantine and culling measures that identify and slaughter all FMD-infected herds and H5N1-contaminated flocks. In either case, governance is the key. These are big, difficult undertakings, and they require public trust in the state.

 Poor farmers are far less likely to cooperate with such a program, which asks them to risk, their livelihood, with faith that government will provide adequate compensation for culled animals.

In Egypt, where the military's ability to exert its authority has diminished over time, the transitional civilian cabinet is ineffective, and a variety of political forces jockey for advantage as the presidential election draws near, the government looks increasingly unable to deal with the FMD crisis, and people are furious about it.

 When more than 7,000 cattle died in March, protesters took the streets to demonstrate against the al Gharbiyya governorate. Unable to get help from the state or compensation for dead animals, impoverished famers dumped animal carcasses into water systems and canals, and on the doorsteps of local officials. By late April, the animal death toll topped 20,000, as the infection spread to the Red Sea and South Sinai governorates as well as the Palestinian territories. When local veterinary experts tried to impose quarantines on infected herds, camel drivers threatened to block Egypt's main highways, insisting on the right to use their beasts regardless of contamination concerns.

In early April, the Egyptian government announced it would buy $1.8 million worth of a vaccine manufactured to treat the specific strain of FMD threatening Egypt's livestock. The first stocks arrived at the end of April. Though vaccinations have begun, it is unclear when they will become widely available. Even if a mass vaccination of Egypt's hoofed livestock could be accomplished, despite the uncertainty of Egypt's politics and limited capacities of its sprawling bureaucracy, it will -- like all vaccines -- take two weeks before the benefits of immunization take effect. Under the best-case scenario, control of FMD would not be realized until June or July. As for bird flu, it's doubtful that Egypt could stop the viral spread of the disease, portending more human cases and deaths.

Observers have spent a lot of time and effort trying to understand Egypt's post-Mubarak trajectory, but this path will be much more than just the twists and turns of Egyptian politics. Public health is a critical factor for the country's transition and its future. Even if presidential elections are smooth, if the military hands power to civilians with no problems, and if Egyptians get down to the hard work of writing a constitution, uncontrolled foot and mouth disease and avian flu -- along with their attendant economic and human costs -- could risk everything. If the international community wants to help guide the Arab world's most populous country through its post-Mubarak crisis, addressing the country's twin epidemics would be a particularly high-impact way to do it.

Absent a global response, Egypt will likely experience continued political instability and violence, and potentially widespread malnutrition that would surely affect Libya, Sudan, Gaza, Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, and beyond. Endless debates about the Muslim Brotherhood's commitment to democratic change or the military's intentions are interesting, but not as important as a coordinated international effort to pull Egypt back from the public health brink.

Why do Asian boys rule the National Geography Bee?

My local PBS station is showing the National Geography Bee - not sure if its live or if it took place last month...maybe what Ive been reading in the news is all the "regional" contests, and now they're doing the national one on TV.

Anyway, of the 8 contestants I see during this final portion, one was an Indian girl, and two were Caucasian boys, one of whom has washed out, and one of will shortly wash out.

All the rest are Asians - one Chinese American I  think, the others Indian-American (as opposed to Native American).

What's up with that?

Well, it's because Asian minorities put a special emphasis on education, something that apparently can not be said for other minorities or the Caucasian majority. I think the math bees and the spelling bees are also ruled by Asian minorities.

Time for parents of all kids to work with those kids to get them interested in learning for the joy of learning.

(Oh...and no, I couldn't answer ANY of the questions that any of these kids were answering so easily...)

24 May 2012, Thu, SoS Clinton and Staff Schedule

SECRETARY HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON

8:45 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Energy Secretary Steven Chu, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

9:45 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with the regional bureau secretaries, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:30 a.m. Secretary Clinton delivers remarks for the Release of the Human Rights Report, at the Department of State.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

11:00 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Counselor Mills and Chief Economist Heidi Crebo-Rediker, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

11:40 a.m. Secretary Clinton meets with Counselor Mills and Science and Technology Adviser Bill Colglazier , at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton delivers remarks to the International Security Advisory Board Plenary Meeting, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

3:00 p.m. Secretary Clinton holds a bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister of New Zealand Murray McCully M.P., at the Department of State.
(JOINT PRESS AVAILABILITY FOLLOWING BILATERAL MEETING AT APPROXIMATELY 3:40 PM)

4:15 p.m. Secretary Clinton attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

6:20 p.m. Secretary Clinton hosts and delivers remarks at the annual reception for the Diplomatic Receptions Rooms, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

DEPUTY SECRETARY BILL BURNS

8:00 a.m. Deputy Secretary Burns meets with Turkish Under Secretary Feridun Sinirlioglu, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:45 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns attends a meeting at the White House.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY WHITE HOUSE)

7:30 p.m. Deputy Secretary Burns attends a dinner hosted by Kuwaiti Ambassador to the U.S. Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, in Washington, DC.
(media determined by host)

DEPUTY SECRETARY TOM NIDES

10:30 a.m. Deputy Secretary Nides hosts an interagency meeting on Law of the Sea, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:00 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides speaks with U.S. Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides meets with Director of Foreign Assistance Robert Goldberg, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

7:00 p.m. Deputy Secretary Nides attends a reception hosted by Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S. Sherry Rehman, in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY THE EMBASSY OF PAKISTAN)

USAID ADMINISTRATOR RAJ SHAH

3:00 p.m. Administrator Shah meets with Counselor Mills, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS WENDY SHERMAN

Under Secretary Sherman is on foreign travel in Baghdad, Iraq, for P5+1 talks with Iran. Please click here for more information.

UNDER SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH, ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT ROBERT HORMATS

Under Secretary Hormats is on foreign travel to Paris, France through May 24 to participate in the OECD Environment Ministerial Forum.

8:00 a.m. LOCAL Under Secretary Hormats attends a working breakfast, Management Issues on Russia, Key Partners & Colombia, in Paris, France.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

9:15 a.m. LOCAL Under Secretary Hormats attends a meeting on Partners for Development: The OECD Development Strategy, in Paris, France.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

9:30 a.m. LOCAL Under Secretary Hormats meets with Israeli Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz, in Paris, France.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

10:45 a.m. LOCAL Under Secretary Hormats attends a meeting on Partners for Development: Working with Key Partners, Russia, MENA and others, in Paris, France.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:00 p.m. LOCAL Under Secretary Hormats meets with German State Secretary Anne Ruth Herkes, in Paris, France.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

UNDER SECRETARY FOR CIVILIAN SECURITY, DEMOCRACY, AND HUMAN RIGHTS MARIA OTERO

6:00 p.m. Under Secretary Otero joins Secretary Clinton for the annual reception for the Diplomatic Receptions Rooms, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ACTING UNDER SECRETARY FOR ARMS CONTROL AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ROSE GOTTEMOELLER

Acting Under Secretary Gottemoeller co-hosts the Iraq Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) Meeting with Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Jim Miller through May 24. The focus of the JCC is strengthening the security partnership between the United States and Iraq. Events take place at the Department of State and the Department of Defense.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

12:20 p.m. Acting Under Secretary Gottemoeller attends a working lunch with members of the International Security Advisory Board, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

CHIEF OF PROTOCOL AMBASSADOR CAPRICIA PENAVIC MARSHALL

10:00 a.m. Ambassador Marshall attends the Diplomatic Reception Rooms Fine Arts Committee Meeting, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

6:00 p.m. Ambassador Marshall attends a reception honoring donors to the Diplomatic Reception Rooms and hosted by the Curator of the Diplomatic Reception Rooms, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR CONFLICT AND STABILIZATION OPERATIONS RICK BARTON

Assistant Secretary Barton is on foreign travel in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates to participate in meetings related to the Friends of the Syrian People Working Group on Economic Reconstruction and Development.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIAN AFFAIRS ROBERT BLAKE

9:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary Blake participates in a Facebook chat for audiences in Central Asia on Central Asia’s participation in the NATO Summit, Afghanistan, as well as U.S. policy in region.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

1:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Blake meets with members of the International and Government Affairs Telecommunications Industry Association, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

6:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Blake delivers remarks on the occasion of the Fourth Republic Day of Nepal, in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AFFAIRS WILLIAM BROWNFIELD

Assistant Secretary Brownfield is on foreign travel in Russia to participate in the U.S.-Russia Bi-National Presidential Commission Counternarcotics Working Group.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS KURT CAMPBELL

Assistant Secretary Campbell is on foreign travel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia through May 26 to lead the U.S. delegation to Senior Officials Meetings on the East Asia Summit and Lower Mekong Initiative and to meet with counterparts in the region.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND NONPROLIFERATION TOM COUNTRYMAN

2:45 p.m. Assistant Secretary Countryman delivers remarks to members of the International Security Advisory Board, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS JOSE FERNANDEZ

10:00 a.m. Assistant Secretary Fernandez participates in Embassy Doha’s first Direct Line teleconference for American businesses, “Doing Business in Qatar.”
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Assistant Secretary Fernandez meets with Paraguayan Vice Minister of Economic Relations and Integration Ambassador Manuel María Cáceres, to discuss Paraguay’s intellectual property rights and investment climate, in Washington DC.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS MIKE HAMMER

Assistant Secretary Hammer is on foreign travel to Baghdad, Iraq.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS ROBERTA JACOBSON

Assistant Secretary Jacobson attends the South America Chiefs of Mission Conference, hosted by U.S. Southern Command, in Miami, Florida.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR OCEANS AND INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS KERRI-ANN JONES

2:30 p.m. Assistant Secretary Jones participates in a meeting of the U.S. Interagency Committee on Trade in Timber Products from Peru, at the U.S. Trade Representative’s office.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND LABOR MICHAEL POSNER

10:30 a.m. Assistant Secretary Posner joins Secretary Clinton for the Release of the Annual Human Rights Reports, at the Department of State.
(OPEN PRESS COVERAGE)

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE AND COORDINATOR FOR COUNTERTERRORISM DANIEL BENJAMIN

Ambassador Benjamin is on foreign travel to Tunis, Tunisia to meet with government officials and discuss counterterrorism initiatives.

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE AND U.S. GLOBAL AIDS COORDINATOR ERIC GOOSBY

8:00 a.m. Ambassador Goosby convenes the PEPFAR Country Coordinator Annual Meeting, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

OFFICE OF GLOBAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE-STEPHEN RAPP

Ambassador Rapp is on foreign travel in Brijuni, Croatia to attend the 6^th Regional Conference of State Attorneys.

AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE FOR GLOBAL WOMEN’S ISSUES MELANNE VERVEER

10:00 a.m. Ambassador Verveer meets with First Lady of Niger Dr. Malika Issoufou Mahamadou, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

2:00 p.m. Ambassador Verveer meets with Secretary General of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Anders Johnson, at the Department of State.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:00 p.m. Ambassador Verveer speaks with CH2M HILL Senior Vice President of International Programs Theresa Loar.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

6:30 p.m. Ambassador Verveer delivers keynote remarks on Burma at an event hosted by the Czech Embassy as part of their “Freedom of Expression in the Contemporary World” project, at the Czech Embassy in Washington, DC.
(MEDIA DETERMINED BY HOST)

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS KRIS BALDERSTON

2:00 p.m. Special Representative Balderston meets with Executive Director of the Center for High Impact Philanthropy at the University of Pennsylvania Katherina Rosqueta, and USAID Chief Innovation Officer Maura O’Neill, to discuss public-private partnership opportunities including the Advancing Market-Driven Partnerships (AMP) initiative.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

4:00 p.m. Special Representative Balderston meets with Senior Vice President of SIFE Worldwide Sylvester John, to discuss plans for the upcoming SIFE World Cup in Washington, DC. Please click here for more information.
(CLOSED PRESS COVERAGE)

SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE TO MUSLIM COMMUNITIES FARAH PANDITH

Special Representative Pandith is on foreign travel to the Vatican to for meetings focused on youth and engagement with Muslim communities.

PRESS BRIEFING SCHEDULE
12:30 p.m. Daily Press Briefing with Spokesperson Victoria Nuland.

24 May 2012, Thurs, Pres and VP Schedule

Yesterday the President traveled to Colorado Springs, CO, today he has no public schedule. Nor does the Vice President.

Stop JIP-ing people when they're talking!

I don't know if that's the right term for it... but Rush, Glenn and Sean will always play audio of some politician, and then insert their own voice-over making fun of what's being said or repeating what's being said in a mocking tone. Kind of like what Mystery Theater 3000 does. Annoys me no end.

So I listened to the opening of Sean Hannity's show, and he's JIP-ing Obama's speech from the last campaign cycle, where Obama admits he took drugs and says, "I inhaled, that was the point." And Hannity is JIP-ing this and making it seem like Obama's makibg it seem "like it's cool. I inhaled. That was the point."

And of course, the reason why Obama said "I inhaled" was because Bill Clinton said, in 1992, "I tried marijuana in England, didn't inhale, and never tried it again." And he was ridiculed for that statement. And so Obama was saying, "Yes, he inhaled," not to be cool but because he wasn't being wishy washy and denying what he'd done as Clinton tried to do.

And unfortunately, the fact that we'd had a president that did drugs as a teenager didn't matter to most voters (a googly percentage of whom, black and white, also do "recreational drugs."

Yes, it would have invalidated him as a candidate to me.

Back to my point. Let the audio speak for itself. If you have to use this voice-over to color people's opinion of the speaker, that means you think your audience is too stupid to get it themselves.