News Stories

[Decagon]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Time to end America’s two-party system?
http://blogs.reuters.com/bernddebusm...-party-system/
There's always the possibility of a minority gouvernment with a third party...

Unless it's substantial, the most they will do is create more dissonant voices without the support or backing to do much of anything. By the time there is a significant third party(ies) the ones voted in this two-year interval will probably be in someone's pocket by the time the next batch of fresh faces gets in after 2014. At this point I'm hoping that the Tea Party tries to split with the Republican party like some self-aware tumorous growth and splits Republican votes for the next election. They need a wake up kick to the nuts.

[DonQuigleone]

Hey, Ross Perot didn't do too badly in 1992, and he shot his own campaign in the foot by backing out for a while and then belatedly coming back in again.

[Vexx]

*normally* in American politics, parties last about a century at most before they vanish or are "reborn" (anyone remember the Whigs?). We do have the problem *now* that, like the new immortal undying corporations - there is a lot invested in the Machine rolling even if the purpose is gone and its a zombie monster cancer.

[Ithekro]

You have to be popular and have a message people will go with if you want to pull off a massive third party push that isn't a break in party lines (Republican and Tea Party). The Reform Party had a good following but Perot dropped the ball when he backed out and then started up again.

However the hard part is that to be a decent party that can sweep out the older parties (aside from just changine policies but keeping the same name) is that you have to take more than just the Presidency. You have to take part of Congress. You have to take State government spots in order to keep policies intact without anything you do just being blocked on the State level or by Congress that won't play ball with you....as you can only pull off a Veto so many times if they are all agianst you.

[Decagon]

Originally Posted by Vexx

*normally* in American politics, parties last about a century at most before they vanish or are "reborn" (anyone remember the Whigs?). We do have the problem *now* that, like the new immortal undying corporations - there is a lot invested in the Machine rolling even if the purpose is gone and its a zombie monster cancer.

It'd be so much simpler since corporations are recognized as persons if they'd just become candidates themselves rather than pussyfooting around with their front organizations and lobbyists. Instead of commercials with old people slandering each other about who has the national and local interests in mind, we'd get commercials of why Pepsi is more hip than Coke, or why New Balance is more US-friendly than Nike.

Hm. Well, we'd probably see a net decrease of old people on commercials at least.

[Neki Ecko]

Originally Posted by cors8

S&P downgrades USA credit rating to AA+
http://news.yahoo.com/p-reconsiderin...001207261.html

Let the blame game start anew.

Believe me, its started already.

Honestly, i am getting to a point that I just want to give up on U.S., none of those leaders isn't doing any thing, just pointing fingers and getting ready for re-election. T/P, Reps, and Demo is to blame for this mess. Including Obama deserve some blame for this as well.

I know that 2012 Election is about to getting more bloodier then any other election put together.

[Ithekro]

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news...ected-saturday

Seems even Israel is getting local protests about cost of living (as oppose to the normal Palestinian stuff that is normally in the news).

John Ray, NBC News writes:
So, we've all seen and heard plenty of the Arab spring, stretching now into a bloody summer in Syria and Libya.
But maybe even more surprising is the sudden emergence of what inevitably will be called the Israeli awakening.

Out of almost nowhere, a grassroots campaign has sprung up to challenge the nation's leaders.
What's more; it has nothing to do with the peace process, with Palestinians or West Bank settlements.
In fact, it's even bringing Arabs and Jews together. They share a common enemy. The soaring cost of living.
On Saturday, organizers are promising the 'mother or all demonstrations' to surpass the 150,000 strong protest that took to the streets last week.
That’s a remarkable figure in a country of just 7 million

Dairy farmers, army reservists, taxi drivers, even parents planning a "stroller protest" - all have played a part in demonstrations so far.
They have a long list of demands; action on rising rent, fuel, food and power costs. Tax breaks for the less well off; free schooling and changes to health system.
Israel is a heavily taxed nation; people are asking what they get for their money.
Part of the answer is the huge cost of security, a fact not lost on anyone.
"The sense here that we're living in a war zone, traumatized by terror - it's like we're not allowed to talk about 'small' issues, day-to-day stuff," one of the organizers, Stav Shaffir, a 26-year-old masters student, told the Guardian newspaper.
"But security also means education, health, housing. We don't want to be controlled by fear."
With opinion polls showing 90 percent public support the protests, Israelis seem to have found something to agree on.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by Vexx

and they made a ridiculous $2 trillion dollar error in their decision in the US rating. When caught on it, they sidestepped and ramble about it being an assessment of politics.... really? then why didn't they say that first, eh?

Yeah, I was watching an interview on CNN where Anderson Cooper brought that up. Yet the guy from S&P dodged the question and the issue was just dropped.

[Kyuu]

Originally Posted by Neki Ecko

Believe me, its started already.

Honestly, i am getting to a point that I just want to give up on U.S., none of those leaders isn't doing any thing, just pointing fingers and getting ready for re-election. T/P, Reps, and Demo is to blame for this mess. Including Obama deserve some blame for this as well.

I know that 2012 Election is about to getting more bloodier then any other election put together.

In fact, don't give up and vote against the bastards in the House of Rep. who put us into this mess. That's assuming that you live in such a district.

[Ithekro]

Trouble there becomes...vote for one crook or another? The opposing party usually doesn't put up anyone that could be considered better and the third party congressional candidates usually seem like jokes since no one hears anything about them.

So usually it comes down to "voting for the crook you know".

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Vexx

By all rights, it should have been downgraded in 2007 during the collapse or way back when we started fighting wars off the budget with no funding ... but as we're seeing, the rating companies occupy no special place on Mount Olympus. They were coddling along with the Bush administration, they've been absurd on Europe, they favor economic policies that are ruinous for the middle class and poor, and they made a ridiculous $2 trillion dollar error in their decision in the US rating. When caught on it, they sidestepped and ramble about it being an assessment of politics.... really? then why didn't they say that first, eh?

Come to think of it, I think it is good that S&P made the error and downgraded them - it would be good to teach the politicians a lesson in not to mess with the economy on behalf of Big Corp through "legalised bribes".

And the downgrade would have given the people a good reason to kick Bernanke off his chair. But nooooo......

[Kyuu]

http://robertreich.org/post/8542550924

Yep. Who does S&P think they are?

[Haak]

Originally Posted by Ithekro

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news...ected-saturday

Seems even Israel is getting local protests about cost of living (as oppose to the normal Palestinian stuff that is normally in the news).

Too bad the government has taken it as a sign to expand West Bank settlements
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14412639

[Kyuu]

Originally Posted by Haak

Too bad the government has taken it as a sign to expand West Bank settlements
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14412639

But the Israeli government says it will help address the country's housing shortage.

Can't they build in other parts of the country?

[ganbaru]

Canadian embassy’s posting on Lai Changxing taken off Chinese site
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle2121704/

Though the Chinese government is pleased with Mr. Lai's extradition, it likely wouldn’t want too many Chinese reading the entire court decision, which mentions the incarceration of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo, as well as Beijing’s persecution of Tibetans and the Falun Gong. The ruling Communist Party typically censors most online discussion of these topics.

[Bri]

Originally Posted by Kyuu

http://robertreich.org/post/8542550924

Yep. Who does S&P think they are?

Dr. Frankenstein's monster.

Governments created the rating agency oligopoly and made them part of (inter)national legislation on financial markets (Basel accords). So it's a monster of their own making. Vexx pretty much nailed the things gone wrong with them.

Still, the markets already expected the (long overdue) downgrade. Several Asian countries have already announced to diversify their foreign debt holdings (read dump US T-bills) so interest rates for government long term borrowing are going to increase no matter what rating the country has.

[Xellos-_^]

The arrests of James Cecil Stewart, Sharon Ann Palmer and Eugenie Bloch on Wednesday marked the latest effort in a government crackdown on the sale of so-called raw dairy products.

Prosecutors in Los Angeles alleged that Stewart, 64, operates a Venice market called Rawesome Foods through which he illegally sold dairy products that did not meet health standards because they were unpasteurized or were produced at unlicensed facilities.

Palmer, 51, has operated Healthy Family Farms in Santa Paula since 2007 without the required licensing for milk production, prosecutors allege. She and her company face nine charges related to the production of unpasteurized milk products.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,7791693.story

just curiosity, where.when did this crap about natural/raw food come form?

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Kyuu

http://robertreich.org/post/8542550924

Yep. Who does S&P think they are?

I don't really agree with that article.

If you want to say that the notation agencies are incompetent and that heads should have rolled after the subprime debacle, I won't argue.

If you want to say they're corrupt, maintain incestuous relationships with other financial organizations, and that, rather than the public good and health of the global economy, they serve Big Money by unduly rewarding policies that favor them at the expense of the middle class and the poor - I don't know, it's possible.

But their stated mission isn't to tell us if countries (and other organizations) have paid their debt in the past - it's to tell us how likely they are to repay us in the future if we lend them money now. And doing that does require looking at how much debt they have, what income they can expect, and the probable effects of their policies on both.

I'll add that:
- AA+ still means it would take truly extraordinary circumstances for a default.
- that game of chicken with the budget doesn't fill me with confidence. How often do you guys plan to do such things, and how likely are you to always get an agreement in time? Because if it's less than 99.99%, you don't deserve your AA+ rating.
- of course, if you don't, I've got my doubts on how deserving we are of our own rating...

[bladeofdarkness]

Originally Posted by Haak

Too bad the government has taken it as a sign to expand West Bank settlements
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14412639

Jerusalem is not a "West bank settlement"

[MihawkXGP]

Originally Posted by bladeofdarkness

Jerusalem is not a "West bank settlement"

Anything they build in E.Jerusalem is a settlement.Palestinians are having their land stolen from them in plain view of the world, and all we get from other countries is strong criticism.

I'm sure that strong criticism really put Israel in their place.