Obama's Big 100 Days Accomplishment: Arlen Specter's Defection

Democrats just recovered what Lieberman stole when he moved to the right. Now when Coleman stops his stupid law tricks and let's Franken take his seat, things will move along. Perhaps it was Coleman's refusal to accept defeat that helped him make the switch.



At any rate the switch started during the election. Powell and other Repubicans endorsed Obama. They saw the hand writing on the wall. People were wising up to having been manipulated and lied to by the right to garner votes.



American are getting smarter with time and are learning who their real friends in power might be. It sure has never been the Republicans, unless you are among the top few percent of wealthy Americans.
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What if Khalid Sheikh Mohammed Had Died?

This demonstrates a typical and unacceptable trait that seems embedded in the right-wing psyche in America. Right or wrong does not matter to them...they are stuck in the thinking that only the results matter.



This is one reason we are stuck in two wars. It did not matter to the republican administration if they were right or not...only that they expected a certain result, morals be damned.



It is one reason we are in the economic crisis we have. It did not matter if what people did was right or wrong but how much money they could make.



Change now means we have to not only know right from wrong as a nation, but we have to act accordingly.
About War Crimes
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420: Thoughts on Pot vs. Alcohol from a Former Police Chief

As a former cop myself...Id much rather have to "chase" a pot smoker than a drunk!



I have written and encourage legalization, not just of pot, but of all recreational drugs for many of the same reasons, crime, bad quality etc. but also for the tax revenue and cost of drug enforcement and prisons.



I also mention legalization of hemp which is banned though not even a drug.



http://joethevoter.org/economy/15-stupidcongress.html



I welcome your input here as well.
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The Five Strands of Conservatism: Why the GOP is Unraveling

Republicans need a make over of staggering proportions. Basically if they wish to survive as a party they need to dump certain aspects of their structure starting with religion. While this nation was built by Christians, they, themselves, recognized that freedom must include a restriction on any particular religion having power inside of government. It is fine for people to have their religion, it is very NOT COOL to assume that your brand of religion should in any way, be made into the "official" government version of religion. Keep religion out of politics ! That is like going to bed with the devil.



Republicans have to lose the image and the fact of siding with the wealthy corporate side of America. They are obligated to represent all of their constituents equally, not based on the size of their bank accounts...and they represent PEOPLE not companies. Their present policies have encouraged the loss of American jobs over seas.



In their current condition, they are not relevant to anyone with a sense of common good.
About GOP
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Threats of Secession and Other Recent Republican Rhetoric

Republicans are running scared and trying to recapture something best left to die. After eight years the nation learned that their brand of government has not worked. Trickle down has only trickled up. Tax breaks for the rich resulted in more wealth in fewer hands but has not resulted in more jobs. If anything it has accelerated the movement of jobs overseas.



Now they try to play a scare card that does not exist, inciting unrest over higher taxes even as most Americans get a tax cut. This amounts to the rich complaining about not getting richer as fast as in the past while ignoring the needs of 90% of our citizens.



People will soon realize that republicans are not currently the "every man's" party, they are the party of the rich and will do anything they can to help their wealthy patrons hold onto power.



It is time the average American gets a piece of the pie.
About Tax Day Tea Parties
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Why the Democrats Are Losing Ground As Obama Is Gaining It

As a Democrat I think there are other issues at work here. For one thing the current congress is still full of some of the same democrats who bear responsibility for handing Bush many of his ill-conceived powers.



They need to publicly atone for their bad judgment and promise America to do all they can to undo bad laws of the past 8 years.



Second...the DNC needs to spend some money on Madison Avenue. Hire some of the best marketing and branding people they can find and follow their advice.



Politics has two phases...the get elected phase and the get to work phase. Marketing is where it is at in the first phase and must continue alongside the second phase.



Part of Obama's appeal is that he is always marketing himself and his plans. Most in congress drop out of public view until it is time to ask for votes again. A big mistake.
About Barack Obama
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The Debate Over Online News: It's the Consumer, Stupid

AP does get fees for news..that's their business and no one says otherwise.



Their beef is with others using their content without permission, specifically search engines etc. who index sites for content.



Sites with this content need only use common web practice to avoid being indexed. No one can stop someone from manually duplicating something. AP etc. need to make sure those who legally publish their content on web sites include some simple tools to stop Google, Yahoo and all responsible engines from indexing their content. It is simple to do for any average web developer.



The down side is that AP and others want high rankings in search engines. This is a free service to their benefit based on the quality of the content on their site. Block indexing and down goes your rankings. It is a trade off. If you lose rankings you also lose your own ad revenue.



The bottom line is you can cut off the news at the source but you can't stop it from spreading through any non-traditional means...and you don't want to.
About Eric Schmidt
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The Debate Over Online News: It's the Consumer, Stupid

To the likes of AP and UPI I say stop winning because you have the means at your disposal to solve your own problems. AP does not need a war...they just need average web programmers.



If you know anything about web design ( Its what I do http://www.stuffdone.com ) you know you can protect content from search engines now. All reputable search engines ( the ones that matter ) follow rules when it comes to indexing content. The owner posts those rules in meta tags and/or a file "robots.txt" in the root directory of their web site. You can instruct search engines NOT to index any thing you want to exclude. I looked and AP has no such restrictions on their site leaving everything fair game for automated search bots.



AP, learn something about meta tags, and search engines. Google "robots.txt"



They can also place that content inside a password protected directory where only authorized (paying?) parties can view it. Search engines can't index that content.



In addition I note many news sites offer to the public an RSS feed of news which is specifically telling the public and other site owners to post their content on web sites. You can't offer a free feed then complain about who is publishing your content when you invite them to take it.



AP is making it's own problems by poor web design practice. Stop crying and fix it.
About Eric Schmidt
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Finding a Home for Toxic Assets: Where is the Final Resting Place?

Don't give the money to the banks...give it to the home owner to be used only to pay the bank off for the toxic mortgage.



1) the Bank gets the money anyway.

2) the toxic mortgage is gone.

3) people keep their homes.



If you are going to hand out billions due to toxic assets why not pass the same dollars through the owners of those assets to pay them off? This helps three ways for the same dollars! How can Congress and Treasury be so stupid unless they are in the pockets of the banks?



Banks are just using the money to buy more banks and no one is being helped in the process except the banks.



They often won't even sell the toxic mortgages when they have offers because they find holding them to be a bargaining chip when begging for money.
About Barack Obama
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Have We Reached the Tipping Point on Guns?

Note I am a liberal Democrat and I support gun rights because I support our constitution. The old saying is true, "Guns don't kill people, people kill people"



Humans have found ways to kill each other since there have been people, long before the advent of guns. It is true some people should not have guns. It is also true some people should not drive a car, yet many thousands are killed each year in auto accidents.



People should not drink to excess or smoke tobacco which combined kill more than a half-million Americans a year including "innocent bystanders".



Don't cry about the "objects" that cause these tragedies rather find out why people want to kill other people or themselves in the first place. This is cultural and societal issue not a hard ware issue.



Let's publish a total of all the people who have guns who never shot anyone in order to gain real statistics on the issue. Then consider that EVERY cigarette purchased is intended to be smoked.



How many are killed by eating fatty foods? How many parents feed these fatty foods to their unsuspecting children. Can we ban fat?
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