A-well-a everybody’s heard about the bird
B-b-b-bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, the bird is the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, well the bird is the word

A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, well the bird is the word
A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, well the bird is the word
A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a don’t you know about the bird?
Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word!
A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a…

A-well-a everybody’s heard about the bird
Bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a bird, bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a don’t you know about the bird?
Well, everybody’s talking about the bird!
A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird’s the word
A-well-a bird…

Surfin’ bird
Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb… [retching noises]… aaah!

Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-
Pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow

Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Oom-oom-oom-oom-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-oom-oom-oom
Oom-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-a-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, ooma-mow-mow
Papa-oom-oom-oom-oom-ooma-mow-mow
Oom-oom-oom-oom-ooma-mow-mow
Ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
Papa-ooma-mow-mow, ooma-mow-mow
Well don’t you know about the bird?
Well, everybody knows that the bird is the word!
A-well-a bird, bird, b-bird’s the word

Papa-ooma-mow-mow, papa-ooma-mow-mow
[repeat to fade]

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Democrats have added more than 800,000 voters and Republicans have lost 300,000 in eight of the most tightly fought states in the presidential race: Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Colorado, Iowa, Nevada, New Mexico and New Hampshire. Changes occur when voters switch parties or are removed from registration lists because they moved, died or haven’t voted in recent elections.

Much of the work signing up new voters has been done by Democrat Obama’s campaign, as well as the political parties. In Pennsylvania, Democratic registration is up 400,000 from 2004; Republicans have lost 200,000.

Jon Carson, Obama’s national field director, says the latest data doesn’t capture a "massive spike" in registrations last week. Lines could form when registration closes Monday in 18 states and the District of Columbia. Some states have later deadlines; 10 allow Election Day registration.

On Monday, two organizations that seek to register young, minority and low-income Americans — Project Vote and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) — will announce that they helped 1.3 million people register or update their information this year.

More than half of them are in Ohio, Michigan, Florida and Pennsylvania, 60% are under 30 and about two-thirds are minorities, said Michael Slater, executive director of Project Vote. Carmen Arias of ACORN said the faltering economy motivates them.

GOP officials admit Democrats did a better job registering voters, but they say Republicans are better at getting voters to the polls, which could help McCain. "These aren’t normally people who vote in school board elections," said Rich Beeson, political director for the Republican National Committee. "These are people who need a lot of motivation."  {LINK}

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Graph of Federal Rescue Plans dating back to 2001. Warning Very large (1260×1681) Image.

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C-Spans Debate hub is prime example of how news media should conduct business. C-Span has enthralled itself on being the most unbiased news source out there (because it provides live access to the white-house, house of representatives, and the congress) from their own site: C-SPAN offers gavel to gavel coverage of the U.S. House of Representatives. C-SPAN also offers a variety of public affairs programming including congressional hearings, press briefings from the White House, State Department and Pentagon, campaign and election coverage, and international programming. So I ask every-one of you to follow your “politicking” on PBS, C-Span or multiple news websites. Opinion should not ever be presented as news in any shape or form, and that is what we currently get from CNN, FOXNews, and MSNBC and news should never just come from one source.

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Over the past few years, there have been countless discussions on minding our manners within our new modes of communication. Is it rude to text someone and ask him on a date? When is it appropriate to forward an email? Do we befriend someone on a social networking site we’ve only met once?

But while we’ve been debating the dos and don’ts of technology etiquette, it appears that many of us have forgotten some of the old school manners that our parents, grandparents, and teachers taught us—manners that have nothing to do with a keyboard or a monitor, but have everything to do with the long-forgotten Golden Rule. Maybe technology has eroded our brains so much that we can never go back to those golden days, but there are a few simple courtesies that I’d like to see make a comeback.

Hold doors for people.
This doesn’t just mean men holding doors for women—anyone who has the arm strength to hold a door for someone should. Holding a door shows that we’re paying attention to what’s going on around us and that we care about others even if they’re a complete stranger. That little bit of awareness also helps take our minds off the busy, crappy day we might be having. Plus, it’s a nice and unexpected way to pay it forward, kind of like smiling at a stranger. Hold the door for someone and someone else will hold it for you later.

Give up seats.
Most of us were taught that it’s good manners to give up our seat to the elderly, pregnant, and physically challenged. But if we pay attention on trains, buses, in waiting areas, and other places where people stand, we might notice someone else outside those categories who could also use a seat—like someone carrying a bulky box or a heavy load of groceries. Common sense should prevail; if you see a situation where you think you’d prefer to sit, it’s a good idea to offer your seat.

Let those inside the elevator exit before you enter.
You know the scene. The elevator doors open and a crowd of people waiting to get on rushes toward you, making it difficult to get out. Post says the onus of politeness falls on those waiting for an elevator, meaning they should clear the exit path for anyone getting off and not enter the elevator until it’s clear. She also recommends that waiting until all people exit is a good rule to follow before entering anything—restaurants, shops, dressing rooms, etc.

Mind your telephone manners. 
Obnoxious ringtones, picking up calls in public places, sending a text message when a call would be more appropriate, and subjecting innocent bystanders to inappropriate conversations are just a few common telephone missteps.

Introduce people. 
Iintroducing someone with some details and flair makes a difference; the person on the receiving end of the introduction will have more information to use when committing a name to memory.

Say please, thank you, and you’re welcome.
It sounds simple, but the magic words really do work magic. Using them shows our appreciation for what someone is about to do or has done for us.

Respect elders.
Recently someone I know well surprised me by saying that he thought respecting our elders was a silly courtesy since not everyone deserves to be respected just because of his or her age. Touché. But how about simply showing them civility and common courtesy? An elder is, by definition, someone who has lived longer than we have, so they’ve accumulated more experiences and thus, more wisdom.

Handwrite thank-you notes.
Paper correspondence in general seems to be a dying practice and unfortunately, handwritten thank-you notes are part of the casualties. I know I’m often guilty of sending a thank-you email when I’m pressed for time, which seems to have made its way on the list of accepted practices. But it’s that taking of time that really shows our appreciation.

Sophisticated technology doesn’t mean that good manners have to be a thing of the past. In fact, Post says she defines good manners using three simple, everyday principles: consideration, respect, and honesty. “Apply those to any situation and toward all the people involved—including yourself—and [the solution] will make sense.”

excerpts from Devine Caroline

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What your dad is presumably talking about is stuff like the Community Reinvestment Act, which was signed into law in 1977. The Clinton administration made changes, and the Bush administration made changes, which I’m going to guess the GOP is not talking about.

So, bottom line, are these bad loans? Well, in November of 2000, the Cleveland Fed did a study and found that CRA loans were a little less profitable, and marginally more at risk of delinquency and default (more the former than the latter, which isn’t the worst). I don’t have all morning, but I wish I had more time to look into this.

Turns out that CRA, not Steagall, that helped this crisis occur. The Community Reinvestment Act was tweaked by both Clinton and Bush to increase home ownership among America’s negro and mestizo populations. Other legislation, such as the “Fair Housing Act”, also had similar aims. This legislation pressured the mortgage industry to give loans to blacks and mestizos with poor credit and finances. This was a driving force behind the subprime crisis.

Bottom line is, both Bush and Clinton are on the record promoting home “affordability”, one more recently than the other. Clinton was in the bank’s pockets, too, and of the many, many reasons for the crisis (inflationary Fed policy under Greenspan, poor enforcement of existing regulations, accounting shams, condo-flipping as a career option, etc) the minor deviations in performance for loans to working poor minorities, especially as traced to mid-90s changes in related laws, are probably not that high up. Can’t you and your dad agree that there are a bunch of scam artists in any business where you can get rich overnight, and that the banks bought off both parties in order to keep the orgy going?

But the yammering heads on the right are usually talking about the Community Reinvestment Act… The changes Clinton made were significant, and should have seen increased oversight later (and the regulators intended to in 2002) as its effects (in tandem with the repeal of Glass-Steagall) were better known. Instead, Bush juiced it up with even less regulation… nothing like a modest de-regulation for the sake of growth being co-opted for the sake of greed… especially when you can dump blame on the “entire system” rather than the parties actually at fault. So this “Diversity Recession” blames fault on Minorities, not those in Washington who can’t help but point fingers instead of having actual ACCOUNTABILITY. Clinton publicly said his changes to the Community Reinvestment Act needed to create new regulations in the coming months that would work for the new century. Of course the republican’s who claimed they would do this, promptly ignored the whole issue of new regulations once Clinton signed it. Basically he was punked by congress, and we get Diversity Recession.

“The diversity recession”. I like that. Sounds like a great way to pin the blame on the most powerful economic force in the United States, poor minorities. That way, you don’t feel bad for bailing out the horribly mistreated banks - they were fooled by those tricky poor people! Who knew you couldn’t math away your risk? Not the banks, for sure.

It was Bush deregulation who let up the reins/forgot to rein in enforcement surrounding Community Reinvestment Act-related lending… It is fine to ease requirements in some areas, provided there is adequate oversight… the fact is Clinton got the ball rolling, but the brakes were supposed to be built in… and the Bush administration never bothered to use them (in fact he took them out all together).

And then of course, you have Phill Gramm (mentioned at the top of his article) and McCain in his corrupt role in the last major banking collapse that occurred the last time the Republicans went 8 years in control. LINK FOUND HERE, and 2008 graph to the right.

And for Phil, he snuck in a rider to his bill in the wee hours that created CDO’s and Credit Default swaps with zero regulatory oversight as to how the greedy bankers would use these “weapons of financial destruction” as Warren Buffet named them. That is what took 90 Billion off AIG’s market cap in 3 days and it was all Republicans controlling all 3 branches of Government while Wallstreet went wild selling these fraudulent timebombs to the world. for more on Phil Gramm’s Bill visit THIS LINK and be sure to check out SUBPRIME 1-2-3 graph at bottom-right of article. and remember, McCain wants this man as Treasury Secretary.

The federal government already has pledged more than $600 billion in the past year to bail out, or help bail out, some of the biggest names in American finance. That includes the rescue of investment bank Bear Stearns in March, the takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac earlier this month and the takeover of the world’s largest insurance company, American International Group, just this week.

Less Regulation? YES PLEASE!!!! (see video on next post)

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Intelligent, articulate, and smart speeches dont just make the man, they make our next president.

video from 9/22/2008 shot in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

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and with this I’ll start Picture Post for Education [tag]

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#1. Over One Million Iraqi Deaths Caused by US Occupation

# 2 Security and Prosperity Partnership: Militarized NAFTA

# 3 InfraGard: The FBI Deputizes Business

# 4 ILEA: Is the US Restarting Dirty Wars in Latin America?

# 5 Seizing War Protesters’ Assets

# 6 The Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act

# 7 Guest Workers Inc.: Fraud and Human Trafficking

# 8 Executive Orders Can Be Changed Secretly

#9 Iraq and Afghanistan Vets Testify

# 10 APA Complicit in CIA Torture

# 11 El Salvador’s Water Privatization and the Global War on Terror

# 12 Bush Profiteers Collect Billions From No Child Left Behind

# 13 Tracking Billions of Dollars Lost in Iraq

# 14 Mainstreaming Nuclear Waste

# 15 Worldwide Slavery

# 16 Annual Survey on Trade Union Rights

# 17 UN’s Empty Declaration of Indigenous Rights

# 18 Cruelty and Death in Juvenile Detention Centers

# 19 Indigenous Herders and Small Farmers Fight Livestock Extinction

# 20 Marijuana Arrests Set New Record

# 21 NATO Considers “First Strike” Nuclear Option

# 22 CARE Rejects US Food Aid

# 23 FDA Complicit in Pushing Pharmaceutical Drugs

# 24 Japan Questions 9/11 and the Global War on Terror

# 25 Bush’s Real Problem with Eliot Spitzer

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In fact, even the conservative magazine National Review recently acknowledged that Obama’s plan offers more tax relief for middle class families than McCain’s. And even more recently Karl Rove and FoxNews themselves have caught on to McCains act.

Recent McCain campaign emails specifically target Obama’s tax plan for small businesses. The campaign has repeatedly claimed that Obama’s tax policies would raise taxes on 23 million small businesses, but, as Factcheck.org points out, that is simply not true. The Obama plan actually provides tax relief to small businesses in the form of a proposed capital gains tax exemption and tax credits to help cover the cost of employee health plans.

During a June interview with the Wall Street Journal, Obama stated he will exempt start-up small businesses from capital gains taxes in order to encourage small business development, saying, “Companies that are starting off…should be allowed to accumulate
capital, reinvest profits, if there are any, to the point that they
stabilize.”

And the Obama campaign’s official small business plan, available on the campaign website, states:

Barack Obama will reduce the burden on small businesses in our economy by offering a new Small Business Health Tax Credit to help small businesses provide quality health care to their employees. The Obama Small Business Health Tax Credit will provide a refundable credit of up to 50 percent on premiums paid by small businesses on behalf of their employees.

Provide Tax Relief for Small Businesses and Start Up Companies: Barack Obama will eliminate all capital gains taxes on start-up and small businesses to encourage innovation and job creation. Obama will also support small business owners by providing a $500 “Making Work Pay”tax credit to almost every worker in America. Self-employed small business owners pay both the employee and the employer side of the payroll tax, and this measure will reduce the burdens of this double taxation.

Create a National Network of Public-Private Business Incubators: Barack Obama will support entrepreneurship and spur job growth by creating a national network of public-private business incubators. Business incubators facilitate the critical work of entrepreneurs in creating start-up companies. Obama will invest $250 million per year to increase the number and size of incubators in disadvantaged communities throughout the country.

Factcheck.org concludes that under Obama’s small business tax policies, in terms of overall tax rates, “The vast majority would see no change, and many would get a cut.”

In addition to a small-business-friendly tax plan, Obama has put forth a number of other policy proposals to encourage small business growth.

Obama plans to allow small businesses to participate in a cooperative National Health Exchange to give them the same collective bargaining power in negotiations with health insurance companies that larger corporations currently enjoy. He also proposes a federal health care re-insurance program that would protect small businesses against catastrophic losses related to employee health care coverage.

Obama outlines an expansion of the Small Business Administration loan program that would make it easier for start-up small business entrepreneurs, particularly women and minorities, to access capital for a new business, and imagines a national network of public-private business incubators that would educate and support new business owners to foster greater small business success.

To support women in business, Obama plans to enforce the guidelines set down by Congress during the Clinton Administration under the Women-Owned Business Federal Contract Assistance Program, which state that the federal government should aim to award 5% of yearly contract funds to women-owned small businesses. Currently, the federal government is failing to meet even that incredibly conservative benchmark. (Yes, you read that correctly. The federal government is failing to award even 5% of its contracts to women-owned small businesses.)

Obama’s small business proposals also include providing disaster relief funds to small businesses in the event of a major natural disaster, improving internet access in rural areas that lack communications infrastructure, to help small rural businesses compete with urban businesses on the web, and offering technical support and training to rural business owners.

You can read about many of Obama’s small business proposals in this official campaign document.

Thanks to MOMocrats for this article.

see also: Fact Check: Did Barack Obama Vote 94 Times for Higher Taxes?

“The effort to convince voters that Sen. Barack Obama would support higher taxes is a central part of Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign. McCain and the Republican National Committee have repeatedly cited 94 alleged votes by Obama to bolster their argument. Factcheck.org, a non-partisan project of the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center, pieced through records to determine just what these 94 votes were.” rest at article.

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