J's Cafe Nette

Archive for September 30th, 2008

There are two things I abhor in any election. Any exploitation of children and of our military is off limits in my book.

This video crosses a line which should concern all who will soon be electing our next President. Should Barack Obama be the majority choice it is one I know I will not soon forget.

I don’t care to hear the excuse that his campaign did not produce it, they have to power to have it pulled at any given moment.

I’ve read much of what has been written today on this topic but the one post which I would like to share is the following from Roger Simon:

Watching this video has disturbed me more than almost anything I have seen in recent years. It is the kind of exploitation of children that reminds me of Young Pioneer Camps I saw when visiting the Soviet Union in the Eighties. You could say, as some have, that this is much like what happens with children in churches and synagogues across America, but this is about a political figure – one of two current presidential candidates and the one leading in the polls. The Drudge headline references the “Dear Leader.” Quite apt. Here for you edification are the words of the people who saw fit to put this together (there’s more at the link):

Also writing on this topic:
The Anchoress
Ace
Confederate Yankee who tells us what should come as no surprise:

Here’s a partial list of those who helped produce this “grassroots” effort:

* Jeff Zucker — American television executive, and President & CEO of NBC Universal.
* Post-producer (former choreographer?) Holly Shiffer.
* Motion picture camera operator/steadicam specialist Peter Rosenfeld (appropriately enough, worked in “Yes Man,” a movie about ” a guy challenges himself to say ‘yes’ to everything for an entire year.”
* Darin Moran, another motion picture industry professional, who just finished filming — how appropriate — Land of the Lost.
* Andy Blumenthal, Hollywood film editor.

I’d like to think Senator Obama would call for these videos to be taken down but I won’t hold my breath. Using children in a manner such as this is reminiscent of far too many not so pleasant events in history. Anything to feel adored and whatever it takes to win. Pathetic.

Tweet This Post

After trashing the President, the administration and the Republican party on the floor of the House yesterday, the Speaker is rethinking her position. She’s decided to play nice:

Dear Mr. President:

Yesterday’s defeat of the Economic Emergency Stabilization Act resulted in additional severe economic impacts both on Wall Street and on Main Street. The consequences of yesterday’s vote – an historic drop in the stock market and the loss of $1.2 trillion in savings, investments, and retirement funds – had a major impact on American families, small businesses, and others that demonstrated the imperative for Congressional action.

We have already made much progress in improving the plan originally sent to Congress. After many days of discussions, we reached bipartisan agreement on key additions, including strong measures to protect taxpayers from the costs of this program; to impose tough accountability on Wall Street through strong oversight and transparency; to limit excessive executive compensation and golden parachutes; to reduce home foreclosures to help families remain in their homes; and to sequence the funding of the program to ensure appropriate cost controls and independent reviews.

Read the rest. Maybe we can guess her next move before she makes it.

Sorry, I have no kind words for the Speaker of the House. She has proven herself arrogant and untrustworthy as the Karl Rove interview of yesterday aptly points out.

If the Democrats remain in control of the House following the November election they should consider a challenge and attempt to replace Ms. Pelosi. Not only Congress but the country would be better for it.

Tweet This Post

Seems those who watch the Vice Presidential debate this Thursday will have a little help determining if either candidate is lying:

Have you ever wanted to know when politicians are lying? A startup called RealScoop thinks it can nail it down for you in real-time with the help of voice analysis technology that it claims is used widely in law enforcement and fraud prevention.

Dubbed the Believability Meter, RealScoop’s analysis technology analyzes over 100 vocal elements of the human voice and performs over 1,000 calculations per second to find out if a politician or celebrity is telling the truth. On Tuesday, RealScoop will cover the Vice Presidential debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, putting each one’s statements to its Believability test.

Technology is great but I like my common sense and gut instincts a whole lot better. I suppose that means I concur with Mr. Reisinger when he states:

I’m sure the highly political among us will find value in this to help prove their point that the candidates they support are telling the truth and those they do not are lying, but the more objective among us will see this for what it is: pure rubbish.

HT: Instapundit

Tweet This Post

Another school of thought (in plain English) on the current Wall Street issues:

Pouring 700 billion of our money into failing financial institutions seems akin to throwing spaghetti against the wall. Keep throwing until something sticks. They tell us that credit will dry up if we don’t inject cash. No credit would be disastrous for the economy, but they have not explained well enough why the banks have failed so suddenly and drastically that emergency room surgery is required. Knowing why would help us poor taxpayers feel better about how the problem should be solved. Ever wonder how many other bank failures are out there waiting behind the curtain to take their bows? Are we going to throw even more money at them too?

Should we consider a solution that requires no money, or at least a lot less? Here’s one. Have the SEC suspend the accounting rule called mark-to-market. By a relatively simple accounting adjustment, troubled banks’ assets and capital could be increased and credit kept available. Accounting purists, cover your ears. Eyes glaze and minds wander when I say balance sheet, so let’s use the acronym BS, a more appropriate description. BS’s have two sides: assets on the left, liabilities and capital on the right. Banks are required to maintain certain levels of capital (the difference between assets and liabilities) in order to make loans. When assets shrink, capital shrinks. When the ratio of capital to assets drops to a certain level, (think ten-to-one), banks are not allowed to make loans. And if it drops too low, they can be classified as insolvent. This can happen overnight, and it did.

[emphasis-mine]

Perhaps the highlighted section is one of the major problems Americans have with this entire concept.

Check out the rest of the article at American Thinker.

Tweet This Post

To see a complete list go here.

By the way, the sun is still rising in my neighborhood today.

Tweet This Post