Taiwans Whale-Sized Skimmer to Gulf Coast Rescue, Obama Ranked High as 15th Prez - News Headlines 2 July 2010

*** Behemoth sized skimmer ship created just for oil spill clean up is impressive. Check out Obama's rankings compared to past presidents.





Taiwan's The Whale, the largest oil skimmer in the world, arrives in the Gulf

From Denny: There's a new behemoth in town, a 10-story and almost four football fields long retro-fitted ship from Taiwan sailing in the Gulf of Mexico at the moment. The vessel has been nicknamed "The Whale." It's the largest oil skimmer ever created in the world. It's so large it needs at least a one-half mile berth around it while it cruises in the Gulf.

Currently, the vessel, a retro-fitted oil tanker, is awaiting permission from the Coast Guard to begin its skimming operation. The Coast Guard is assessing how the discharged water that is separated from the oil may impact the Gulf eco-system. The Whale is now cruising a 25-mile-square mile test site over the weekend.

Everyone is practically holding their breath in the hopes this giant skimmer lives up to its expectations and claims. It's capacity for processing is claimed at 21 million gallons of oil spilled water a day. The ship processes the fouled water by taking in water through 12 vents on the bottom level of the ship, then separates the oil from the water and pumps the cleaned sea water back into the Gulf. At least that's the plan. This has never been done and everyone is eager to see it a success.

"In many ways, the ship collects water like an actual whale and pumps internally like a human heart," TMT spokesman Bob Grantham said.

The reason The Whale is so close to the well head is because officials think it will be most effective where the oil is the thickest. Also, it just makes sense to clean up the oil closest to the leaking area rather than wait until it dissipates over million of acres of ocean and lands on shore.

The Whale arrived in the Gulf on Wednesday. Officials are testing its capability and the EPA must sign off on deciding if the water is clean enough to discharge back into the Gulf. Apparently, it is not a perfect process. The cleaned sea water still contains trace amounts of crude oil.

Louisiana officials are frustrated the huge ship was not put to work immediately as they see their marshlands clogged with oil. Once the marsh grasses start dying off what happens is that the land sinks never to return. Then Louisiana loses habitat for wildlife as well as barrier island protection from severe hurricanes. People in Louisiana hope this mammoth ship will prove to be a game-changer for this war on the oil spill effects.


The world's largest oil skimmer hails from Taiwan where they just retro-fitted an oil tanker just for this project:







Meanwhile, BP continues to play games with those of us who want them to stop with the gigantic science experiment in the Gulf: excessive use of dispersant. The whole point of using dispersant from BP's point of view is to force the oil down under the surface where it cannot be easily seen. It's their nightmare public relations problem. Shame on them for thinking only of themselves. Dispersant forces the oil down to the mid and lowest levels of the ocean, killing off every living thing. It's like nothing can swim underwater to get away from the oil spill. There is pollution everywhere on every level.


BP continues to lie about huge amounts of dispersant used on the oil spill:






Here's an interesting story about how President Obama is ranked in relation to the other Presidents. He has only been in office a mere 18 months and is already ranked as high as 15th. Clinton is listed as 13th, Ronald Reagan as 18th and George Bush 43 is listed in the bottom five - no surprises there.

The Survey of U.S. Presidents was conducted by the Sienna College Research Institute. They have done five surveys since 1982, asking 328 Presidential scholars to rank the 44 U.S. Presidents on a number of characteristics.

6 personal attributes:

background
imagination
integrity
intelligence
luck
willingness to take risks

5 forms of ability:

compromising
executive
leadership
communication
overall

8 areas of accomplishment:

economic
other domestic affairs
working with Congress
party leadership
Supreme Court appointments
executive branch appointments
avoiding mistakes
foreign policy


Who was ranked as the best President ever?

1. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
2. Theodore Roosevelt
3. Abraham Lincoln
4. George Washington
5. Thomas Jefferson.

For his first year in office, President Obama was rated highly in these areas: imagination, communication and intelligence.

How did George Bush 43 fare? In 2002, after his first year in office, he was rated as 23rd. Since then? Bush was drop kicked to the bottom of the pile to rank 39th. He received poor ratings for communication, foreign policy, intelligence, the economy and his ability to compromise. Bush's best ranking was in the category of "luck" where he was considered the 18th best president.

Who could actually be worse than Bush? Staring up from the bottom of the cellar were Andrew Johnson, James Buchanan, Warren G. Harding, and Franklin Pierce.


Scholars Rank Obama the 15th Best President


Robert Byrd Tributes Don't Overlook Dark Period

As Congress Plays Politics, the Unemployed Suffer

Why Isn't Economic Recovery Reaching Americans?
Washington Post: Top White House Adviser Jared Bernstein Discusses Daunting Task of Translating Growth into Shared Prosperity

Vets' care hurt by bureaucratic games, memo says

At hearings, Elena Kagan charmed her critics -- and seemed to enjoy herself

Large-scale skimmer begins testing in Gulf

Giant Oil Skimmer Undergoing Tests in Gulf
Taiwanese Vessel "A Whale" to Cruise 25-Square-Mile Test Site Through July Fourth, Company Says



*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:

The Social Poets
Dennys Global Politics
The Soul Calendar
Visual Insights
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations
Poems From A Spiritual Heart
The Healing Waters
Dennys Art Sanctuary
Romancing The Chocolate
Comfort Food From Louisiana
Unusual 2 Tasty
Dennys Blog Feeds
Dennys Funny Quotes
Ouch Outrageous Obnoxious And Odd

McChrystal as Dems Political Disaster - News Headlines - 22 June 2010

*** President Obama may face rage of American voters come November and end up with a Republican Congress. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse: it can.





From Denny: General McChrystal is burned toast politically and career wise. What kind of military fool has his own public relations team and then allows a reporter to follow him around non-stop for two months? That reporter was privy to sensitive information as well as the day to day operations, opinions and sound-offs from the general's staff. In a word: McChrystal was not wise.

Which might explain some of the idiot field decisions he has made of late. But then the guy is known as an alcoholic. Recently, he ordered a small group of men into a geographic area that could only be described as a killing zone. They were ordered to build an outpost on a valley with high mountains, known to contain hundreds of shooting Taliban. It's like saying, hey! Now go build your nice new house while under sniper fire by a team of 200 enemy. This was McChrystal's decision and it cost nine of our soldiers their lives. It was a stupid thoughtless decision and completely unnecessary.

Never place alcoholics in charge of any decisions because they will always be unwise. Bush and Cheney were both alcoholics. Who could forget the so-called pretzel-choking incident of Bush when he fell off the couch drunk and slammed his face? Our military and political sphere is awash in alcoholics unable to make sound decisions.

Meanwhile, the Democrats keep getting lousy political advise from the senior advisors at the White House. In a word, Mr. President, your political advisors make you look the fool to the American people. You only have a measly four months to turn your presidency around or its toast come November elections. The middle class is slammed so hard up against the wall that we are pancaked.

Your advisors keep telling you to wait until your second term to make the important changes. Your advisors live in fear that Big Business will not fund their political efforts. Let me share a thought with you. There will be no second term at the rate you are not moving. Your so-called changes move at the rate of the equivalent of snail mail.

If you don't get up off the couch, quit listening to Axelrod and crowd who advance this lukewarm agenda of The Minimum Acceptable, your presidency will get neutered by a Republican Congress in November. It doesn't look good right now, Mr. President. Follow your own gut instincts and quit relying upon those of political advisors who are advancing their own agendas and don't care about anyone outside of themselves. Quit allowing them to mollify you. Quit allowing them to sideline you from doing what you know is right and needs immediate attention: the American people.



Former oil exec talks energy policy - former CEO Hofmeister used to work at Shell, now he’s on a mission

Prepare Yourselves for Speaker Boehner - William Galston: Earth to House Democrats: Get Ready to Hit the Panic Button

The McChrystal Fallout

McChrystal Ordered to W.H. to Explain Critique - Top U.S. Commander in Afghanistan Offers "Sincerest Apology" for Bashing Administration in Rolling Stone Interview

The Runaway General - Stanley McChrystal, Obama's top commander in Afghanistan, has seized control of the war by never taking his eye off the real enemy: The wimps in the White House

BP's Disaster: No Surprise to Folks in the Know - Andrew B. Wilson: Anyone Who Understood the Corporate Culture Could See This Coming a Million Miles Away


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

*** Come by for a visit and check out my other blogs:

The Social Poets
Dennys Global Politics
The Soul Calendar
Visual Insights
Beautiful Illustrated Quotations
Poems From A Spiritual Heart
The Healing Waters
Dennys Art Sanctuary
Romancing The Chocolate
Comfort Food From Louisiana
Unusual 2 Tasty
Dennys Blog Feeds
Dennys Funny Quotes
Ouch Outrageous Obnoxious And Odd

BP On Hook for $75 Billion in Claims, 1-Man Mission American Ninja Faulkner Hunts bin Laden, News Headlines 15 June 2010

*** New Federal Reserve rules to protect consumers on credit cards, new larger estimate for oil gushing in the Gulf, Bloody Sunday apology from Britain PM.





From Denny: BP lost another nine percent of their stock value today. "Awwwww... how cares?" is the response from the Gulf Coast and here in Louisiana.

Higher levels of oil gushing in the Gulf

Scientists upped the amount of oil gushing in to the Gulf. They are figuring it at 2.5 million gallons a day as opposed to the recently revised estimate of 1.7 million gallons a day. That seemed evident to me from the new video after the top cap failed and the oil was rushing faster, along with the acknowledgment that there were underwater oil plumes from several leaks on the ocean floor.

Yesterday, BP also made a mention in passing on CNN about maybe it was 80,000 barrels a day spewing, trying to soft pedal the news that would come out today. People in this Gulf Coast region are furious at the lying and the abysmally slow and ineffective clean up. Clean up should have been the main priority from the beginning while the government and the oil industry were trying to figure out how to shut off the broken well.

American Ninja

Meanwhile, on another war front is a lone ranger kind of guy out trying to hunt down and kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. He was taken into custody today, along with a sword, night vision goggles, a gun, a dagger and Christian literature. He's been in Pakistan seven times now trying to find bin Laden. Like a whole country of fellow Americans, Gary Brooks Faulkner, a California construction worker, was frustrated at the terrorism from bin Laden's group and wanted to do something about it.

Faulkner, age 52, was in the mountain border province of Chitral which borders Afghanistan. It's next door to a Taliban stronghold believed to harbor bin Laden and Faulkner has already visited this area three times now. There is a $50 million bounty on bin Laden's head.

Bloody Sunday closure and apology

On yet another long time war front between Ireland and Britain about Bloody Sunday some 38 years ago, the new Brit PM actually apologized to the families of the teenagers killed that day. A new report, that took 12 years to finalize, found the teenagers not guilty. After all, they were shot in the back by police who lost their heads as the kids were not armed. At least the families and an entire nation got some closure today. Now if Britain would get as real as this for the Gulf Coast residents and this BP mess instead of lying and cheating us.

Poll against Obama's handling of oil disaster

And President Obama has a war of his own here in America with this Gulf Coast disaster. The polls are running against him and his poor, slow, disorganized response to the disaster. This poll cited is 52 percent angry with the President about his handling of the reponse. Other polls are as high as 71 percent angry and dissatisfied. Obama's political handlers better get real and start addressing the job of proper governing if they want to continue to remain comfortable collecting their pay checks. At the rate they have mishandled this crisis their boss is going to be out of office, if not at the ballot box then by impeachment or an actual grassroots coup.

Why they have not employed the super tankers to come in to the Gulf and handle this gargantuan mess is beyond me, other than BP is too cheap to pay for it, dragging their heels on paying out claims until they can slink off unnoticed. BP doesn't understand the Louisiana mentality. They will hunt BP down and wring the last dollar out of them if it takes ten life times. Yes, Southerners are that tenacious.

And what is BP's disapproval rating by Americans about this oil spill? A stunning 83 percent are furious with BP's poor handling of the clean up, the lying to the public and the government and bad handling of claims. Frankly, I'm surprised it's that low.

BP's true worth and claims capability

The good news, according to the Business sections online, is that BP has deep pockets for making this right. The real question is whether they will squirm out of their responsibilities. They generate tens of billions of dollars in cash regularly and they are sitting on some serious vast oil reserves worldwide like a rainy day bank account. Over the past five years, BP has generated a $100 million profit. Last year their profit was $16.8 billion.

Right now, according to Goldman-Sachs estimates of a worst case scenario, BP is currently looking at paying out up to $75 billion. BP claims, and I am seriously suspect of this figure, they claim they have already paid out $1.5 billion in claims. On what? They offered no itemization and expect us to take their word for it.

Credit card reforms from Federal Reserve

Another war front is that of the American consumer attempting to keep their heads above water with job cutbacks, hours cutbacks, job loss and a chaotic economy. Some good news on the credit card front for consumers. The Federal Reserve adopted new rules today about late payment charges and other penalty fees. Late payment fees could not exceed $25. Penalty fees are not to be higher than the dollar amount associated with the customer's violation. The Fed also barred "inactivity" fees when customers don't use the accounts to make new purchases. The Fed also prohibited multiple penalty fees on a single late payment.




BP faces huge tab, has deep pockets

Scientists up estimate of leaking Gulf oil

Poll: Majority disapprove of spill response - AP poll found 52 percent unhappy with Obama's handling of disaster

Opinion: How oil spills like BP's can reshape politics, from the Amazon to America - Like oil pollution in Ecuador and California years ago, the BP Gulf catastrophe could – and should – lead to profound political change across America.

Gary Brooks Faulkner: 'American ninja' hunting Osama bin Laden

Cameron apologizes for 'Bloody Sunday' in 1972 - U.K. leader says he's 'deeply sorry' for death of 13 protesters in N. Ireland

Setbacks cloud U.S. plans to leave Afghanistan - 'There's not much sign of the turnaround that people were hoping for'


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

BP Nightmare Well, Congress Ready to Nail BP, Kennedy FBI Docs, Obama Gets Oil Spill Help - News Headlines 14 June 2010

*** Assassination attempts on Ted Kennedy recorded by the FBI. Congress gets ready to nail BP to the wall this week in hearings. Get a front row seat as it will be rich political theatre.





From Denny: Well it took long enough, finally President Obama decided to accept help from other countries who had the equipment for oil spill clean up. He waited over a month before finally admitting he needed help. If it had not been for the outcry of rage from Gulf Coast residents it does make me wonder if he would still be dithering about that decision while BP slithered off to avoid responsibility.

To date here is what has been accepted from other countries who offered their help:

Mexico - skimmers
Canada - boom
The Netherlands - three sets of Koseq sweeping arms, which attach to the sides of ships and gather oil
Norway - eight skimming systems

Meanwhile, Obama, ever the detail guy, has finished his picks for the Oil Spill Panel Commission. They will probably be much like other political commissions of the past: not shed much light, waste taxpayers' money needed elsewhere and arrive at a split decision, split down political party lines.

Congress is getting ready for some political grand-standing this week as they prepare to roast, toast and bottle for next century's vintage one BP CEO by the name of Tony Hayward who has commandeered this oil spill liar's mess. Maybe it will even be entertaining. The real question is, "So, what do they hope to accomplish?" They will nail his lying weasel hide to the wall. That's nice if you are the retribution type but meanwhile, the Gulf is literally cooking in oil.

The point of truth here is that BP rammed the drilling of the well, hoping to make it in only 51 days. Remember they were drilling on the ocean floor and went beyond the legal depth of 18,000 feet they were allowed. They did it anyway. They also spent $98 million doing it. It cost $1 million every two days to lease the rig. Because the BP rig was 43 days late for their next job, they rushed up this one. One of their risks that did not play out well was choosing "a cheaper well casing over a safer option that would have cost $7 to $10 million more."

Greed. Not much ever changes. Speaking of greed and immense wealth, apparently, Afghanistan has been found to be rich in minerals to the tune of $1 trillion. The good news is maybe America can find a way to connect the country for trade and help spur economic development. How nice it would be to rid the world of the heroin trade and the Taliban terrorists. Keep your fingers crossed for good things in this part of the world so destitute and miserable. This country's residents could use a break.


Obama Names 5 to Oil Spill Panel Commission

Dems Get Ready to Hammer BP - let's hope this week's Congressional hearings where BP CEO Tony Hayward testifies is more than just empty political rhetoric and wrist-slapping for Big Business.

"The committee will ask BP about five crucial decisions it made:

* the decision to use a well design with few barriers to gas flow;

* the failure to use a sufficient number of "centralizers" to prevent channeling during the cement process;

* the failure to run a cement bond log to evaluate the effectiveness of the cement job;

* the failure to circulate potentially gas-bearing drilling muds out of the well;

* and the failure to secure the wellhead with a lock down sleeve before allowing pressure on the seal from below.

U.S. Turns to World for Help on Gulf Oil Spill

Washington Post: After Weeks of Delays, White House Begins to Turn to Foreign Countries for Additional Equipment to Fight Spill

Locals: We Need More Government Help with Spill - Leaders Tell Katie Couric that Cleanup Effort is Disorganized and No One is Clearly In Charge

BP E-mail: Doomed Rig a "Nightmare Well" - BP May HaveTaken Risks with Deepwater Horizon in Order to Save Money, Ignored Advice from Halliburton

Breaking Down the FBI Kennedy Documents - records revealed of those who tried to assassinate Ted Kennedy after the assassinations of his brothers John and Bobby.

What Can the U.S. Gain from Afghanistan's Mineral Wealth? - from iron to lithium the $1 trillion worth of minerals could be a fast track to economic development to repel the Taliban in Afghanistan.


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

American and World Politics Cartoons - 12 June 2010

*** And this crazy world goes round and round from politics. Check out the world cup soccer cartoons!





From Denny: Sometimes, it seems like the whole universe is in retrograde and the astrology folks are warning us about excessive violence among humanity because of the screwy universe at the moment. The world politics and hot tempers certainly could bear that out to be a truth. Fortunately, we have the fascinating world cup soccer games going on as a respite. While the Brits are horrified and vilifying their poor goalie America is excited to have done so well as to tie the dominant British force in the sport. Meanwhile, South Africans are treating this event like Mardi Gras in New Orleans: PARTY!!! :)


The Political Wars:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by John Trever - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Pat Bagley - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by R.J. Matson - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by John Trever - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by R.J. Matson - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by David Fitzsimmons - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Eric Allie - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by John Darkow - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by David Fitzsimmons - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Pat Bagley - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by John Cole - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Pat Bagley - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Eric Allie - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

The Food Wars:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by John Cole - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Adam Zyglis - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

Israel and Gaza:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Steve Greenberg - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Nate Beeler - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

Terrorism:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Jimmy Margulies - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Eric Allie - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Petar Pismestrovic - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Mike Keefe - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Jimmy Margulies - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

Hunh? and Yay! World Soccer!

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Bob Englehart - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by John Darkow - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Stephane Peray - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Stephane Peray - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Patrick Chappatte - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Patrick Corrigan - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

*** See Also: Ouch: Reporter Helen Thomas Career Ender Comments Cartoons

*** See Also: Obamas Kick Ass Comments Cartoons

*** See Also: Funny Video: Upright Citizens Brigade Mocks BP Execs

*** See Also: Funny Video: BP Creates Rich Fish in Gulf Oil Spill

*** See Also: Krewe of Dead Pelicans BP Protest Parade, Oil Spill Stories - News Headlines 8 June 2010


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

Child Porn Social Site Busted - News Headlines 27 May 2010

*** International child pedophile ring acting as a sicko social site arrested.






Obama's plan seeks security through peace (AP)

President Barack Obama's new national security strategy says armed conflict should be a last resort when diplomacy is exhausted, stepping back from the Bush administration's doctrine of pre-emptive war and its call for the U.S. to go it alone in defending against foreign threats.

The overarching goal of Obama's National Security Strategy, intended to guide U.S. military and diplomatic policy for years, is to eliminate the need for the U.S. to strike first or take unilateral military action.

In the president's first formal declaration of his national security strategy, Obama breaks with some of his predecessors in putting heavy emphasis on the value of global cooperation, developing wider security partnerships and helping other nations defend themselves.............






Child porn 'social networking site' busted by feds (AP)

Federal prosecutors say they are working with police in several countries to investigate suspects in a child pornography "social networking site" that at one point had more than 1,000 members trading explicit images.

U.S. authorities announced Wednesday that they had broken up the international online child porn site, saying more than 50 people had been arrested in more than 50 states since the 2008 start of the investigation. They said they are also seeking the extradition of several suspects from overseas, including the alleged ringleader, Delwin Savigar, who is serving a 14-year prison term in England for sexually assaulting three underage girls.

Savigar created and ran a password-protected website from which members could access collections of sexual images - some including as many as a million files - share their fantasies about having sex with children and give advice to each other about how to build their collections and avoid getting caught, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven D. DeBrota said.........

You really need to read this article. To join this sicko group a prospective member had to be sponsored by a current member and then voted on by the rest of sicko group for admission. Then there were varying levels of access to certain kinds of porn. Glad the feds found this group and broke it up.







Democrats stop bid to send 6,000 troops to border (AP)


President Barack Obama's Democratic allies in the Senate on Thursday killed a move by presidential rival John McCain to send an additional 6,000 National Guard troops to the U.S-Mexico border.

The Arizona Republican says the security situation along the order has deteriorated so badly that 3,000 guard troops are needed just to help protect his state. Even though McCain won support from a dozen Democrats, he failed to muster the 60-vote supermajority required to adopt his plan under Senate rules.

Democrats also repelled more than $2 billion in additional border security spending proposed by border state Republicans John Cornyn of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona.......

And the reason the Dems nixed this move:

A top Democrat said Republicans were throwing money at the problem and urged waiting until Obama sends up his border security plan next week........


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!

Political Cartoons: Local and World Economy - 22 May 2010

From Denny: Our world economy lurches forward two steps and back one step, lurches forward again three steps and back two. Government leaders are forced to make tough decisions now for the leaders before them who refused to curb lavish spending like there was no tomorrow.

For years the demography folks have been advising businesses and governments that as the large Baby Boomer generation ages it will retire from regular or lavish spending into the economy. How could no one see this coming? The younger generations are not large enough to support the Baby Boomers.

Already, for the past few years, you see too much office space for lease - and that was before the world economy took a down turn. In a nutshell, if the Baby Boomers don't support a business niche then expect that niche to downsize or disappear.

Business has become spoiled from the Baby Boomer's support and expanded their businesses to feed the larger generation's appetite. Now that they have reached middle age - up to their eyeballs in debt with college expenses for their kids, medical and retirement home expenses for aging WW2 generation parents, mortgage debt and massive job lay-offs - the Boomers are tapped out.

Look at it this way, at least we are all in the same boat. :) There are worldwide recessions and financial issues. How we come out of this generational crisis is up to us.

The first smart thing is to get off credit cards and stay off them. The Big Banks and Big Business have been capricious and cavalier with their customers. They changed contracts on a whim and charge excessive usury.

The world has tilted to the favor of greedy excessive Big Business to the point that accounts in good standing can no longer afford to pay back their debts. This is where the role of good government comes in to balance the inequities and crooked business practices. Without government leaders acting as champions of the middle class, then expect more turmoil until someone grows the courage to right the wrongs.



From the state of Missouri's budget:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by R.J. Matson - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

From the state of California's budget:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Monte Wolverton - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

The state of the American economy:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Milt Priggee - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Joe Heller - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Brian Fairrington - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

College graduates jobs expectations:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Bob Englehart - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by John Darkow - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Larry Wright - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

How our "Socialist" government in America helps during national disasters:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Jeff Parker - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

Europe's economy:

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Patrick Chappatte - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Adam Zyglis - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Christo Komarnitski - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Petar Pismestrovic - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Patrick Corrigan - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

*** ALSO check out the full post over at The Social Poets where there are more links to great cartoons of the week:

America This Week: World Politics Cartoons and Commentary - 22 May 2010


*** THANKS for visiting, feel welcome to drop a comment or opinion, enjoy bookmarking this post on your favorite social site, a big shout out to awesome current subscribers – and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email updates!