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That’s a bit much I think.

All,

Not sure if it was discussed yesterday but I know that this is the place to ask for prayers. My classsmate MAJ Doug Zembiec was killed in Iraq yesterday. He has a wife and a baby girl.

http://www.blackfive.net/main/2007/05/a_lion_falls_go.html

He was quickly becoming a legend in the Marine Corps and was a WARRIOR. He and his men were featured in the LA Times during the battle for Fallujah. A quote from that time:

That sense of duty, Skiles said, starts at the top with the company commander, Capt. Douglas A. Zembiec. Zembiec was wounded in his left leg by an enemy grenade in a three-hour firefight. He never left his company.
“The enemy we’ve encountered is an undisciplined one,” said Zembiec, of Albuquerque, N.M. “My Marines have fought like lions and will continue to do so. Ten million insurgents won’t even begin to fill the boots of one of my men.”

Men like Doug and his Marines deserve better than what the political hacks in Washington are giving them.

"Sen John Kerry refused to reply to the family either through the phone or mail system."

REMEMBER THIS. When these Marines are acquitted, the Swift Vets will have nothing on this family if Kerry runs in 08.

John Kerry never saw a soldier he wouldn't sell out for politics.

Wow.

Morning all.

Every citizen of mainland Europe should take 30 seconds today to marvel at what a nation an ocean away was willing to sacrifice for them.

Not that anyone here needs any reminder of the greatness of our military, but I felt the need to post for the first time in a while today.

I once heard a D-Day vet being asked in an interview what made him get off the boat into that hail of fire and his response was very simple. The man next to him was hitting the beach and was counting on him, he had to go.

You're right. The markets started sliding south in March of 2000...leading indicator and all that.

W talked about the economy slowing down during the run up to the election and was criticized by the MSM and the Democrats for "talking down the economy" for political gain. Conveniently forgotten once he took office when it all suddenly became his fault.

The unemployment numbers between the two are usually pretty close, especially after they are revised.

My point is that the 60K sample size of the household survey doesn't invalidate it as an unemployment measure, which was your contention.

"what alot of americans see in their own economic lives"

Much like your criticism of the household survey, this is hardly a verifiable sample, kind of like John Kerry citing the many foreign leaders that wanted him to win the election.

"- private sector wages have been going nowhere. note - private sector middle class wages, exclude government employees and the executive class compensation. employee contributions for medical - goes up and up every year."


The preliminary Wage Trend Indicator™ (WTI) for the fourth quarter continues to forecast a moderate acceleration in the rate of private-sector wage growth in the coming months, according to figures released today by BNA, a Washington, D.C.-based news publisher.

The November WTI reading of 99.97 for the fourth quarter is an increase from the final index for the third quarter of 99.75 (second quarter 1976 = 100). The WTI has now risen for six consecutive quarters, the first time that has happened since 1997-1998.

Despite the steady rise in the WTI, the pace of U.S. wage increases in 2005 has slowed from last year, suggesting that increased global competition and sourcing may be fundamentally changing U.S. labor markets, said economist Joel Popkin, who developed the index for BNA

*Note that I included the portion about the slowing rate of growth due to global competition. Worth considering.

"- people ask themselves "if I lost my current job, could I get another at the same salary level?". for alot of americans, the answer is no (I am one of them)."

Which people and how many is a lot? I think that is a pretty common deal though and always has been. That's why teacher unions fought so hard for tenure. Some of it has to do with outsourcing, some of it has to do with simple economics. Airline pilots that are laid off all get jobs with lower pay but there is an argument that their wages were artificially and unsustainably high.

"- gas prices, housing prices, eating into disposable income."

Always have. Gas is expensive, no doubt. Housing prices are certainly based on location. Part of the dynamic of the boom in real estate is a boom in new building, which in my city has meant a lot of new condos that are reasonably priced in relation to single family houses. Texas hasn't seen nearly the boom as other places and I'm sure there are other areas as well. Often ill-advised loans (and historically low interest rates) have let a ton of people buy houses regardless of where they are, which is why home ownership is at an all time high. In any case the housing market shows many signs of cooling, so part of that concern might be alleviated soon.

"- parents see their kids living in their basements into their 30s, and beyond, because they can't get jobs with salaries that allow them to enter the housing market. I see more and more family structures that involves more than 2 wage earners. an adult child, an elderly parent, a sister/brother/aunt/uncle - are now part of the family unit, giving 3 or 4 wage earners per household."

Which ones? I don't know a single person with a 30 year old in his basement but I won't argue that it doesn't happen. Perhaps more of a parenting than an economic issue. In any case, what we've seen is that the rental market has been slightly depressed as more people have been buying due to low interest rates. So if they are one of the people that still can't afford to buy, they should be able to rent fairly reasonably.

"- private sector companies are relentlessly eroding pension and retiree benefits over time."

Virtually no one has started a new DB pension plan in over ten years. Economic forces at work...they are a bad business decision. Underfunding of existing plans is another story and should be addressed by the Fed Gov. Companies should be held accountable for fulling funding the plans...bankruptcy reform as well.

"- despite posts to the contrary, offshoring is still going on - focused in tech and tech support services."

Not a single company is doing that because it is bad for their business. In order to continue to employ ANYONE or keep up with their pension obligations, the companies must remain competitive. If an engineer or a software specialist who is highly trained and qualified but happens to live in India can do the job, it's like trying to stop the tide to keep that job here. As the economy evolves, people must evolve with it. New technology inevitably creates new opportunities here as well. I don't mean to dismiss this because it is doubtless very painful to people whose job has been outsourced but it follows the laws of economics.

"rather than go off on me with your usual diatribe, comment on some of the observations above. tell me which ones are false."

Did my best. I don't know if any of them are false but I think there is more to the story if you have a different point of view. No surprises there.

"because its those things I list above, that are causing the current ratings Bush gets on the economy."

Were none of the things you listed true during the Clinton administration? Or were the unemployment numbers then pure beyond any question? I think that the poor numbers have much more to do with PR, MSM, and the pain of losing money in the market outweighing the joy of making it...people have a hard time letting go of the bear market despite 3 straight positive market years since then.

The payroll survery has a sample size of 400K businesses...over 1/3 of total non farm payroll. Certainly a big enough sample size and they know exactly who they are polling.

You certainly see some differences in the two measures and payroll usually shows higher unemployment but not by much. These numbers are real.

Oh. I figured someone had wiped out...must have been the "I can't believe I won" fall.

Cute cute stuff with the little girl.

Hate to jump in at the end of this but I scanned the posts and didn't see anything about it.

At the end of the broadcast, when NBC was doing the photo montage, they showed a skier who had fallen and a little girl that ran out onto the course to hug her...anyone know the story there? Pretty darn tearjerking...

LOL!

Just hate to see a great moment like this turn into mud slinging...perhaps some history there I don't know about.

For the record, the kid looked cute as heck to me.

Since this thread just started, it might make things a little easier if you could just go ahead and post a list of items that it is unacceptable to disagree with you on and also one of fairly innocuous comments that will cause you to fly off the handle and start repeatedly calling names in response to.

Heaven forbid that someone be able to express his opinion on a thread that is covering the glorious exercise of freedom.

Not at all...well OK maybe instead of I!

Loved the Zahn books (my favorites of the extended universe) and thought the stories were a heck of a lot better than trade federation blah blah and any scene with Jake Reed and Hayden Christensen in them.

Especially since if they'd done them a few years ago, they could have rolled with the original castmembers for the first of the series anyway.

Different beverage, but sometimes I wake up having dreamt about Orkney Ale, that I once had on a trip to Kinloss.

No CO2, manual pump out of an actual wooden keg...glorious beer.

Oh yeah and to stay on topic, Harry Reid is a jackass.

To quote the worst line in all six movies, when Annakin is told he killed Padme: "Nooooooooooooo!".

I thought I was watching a spoof for a split second.

IMHO The Zahn books should have been put on film...

Text of letter to Bill Nelson:

I am fully expecting Senator Nelson to make a statement this week asking Senator Reid to put aside his temper tantrum for the time being and help get a budget passed.

Specifically, Guardsmen and Reservists are waiting to find out if their Senators and Representatives care enough about their service to provide assistance with health care.

I am self employed and find it very difficult to keep up with the crushing cost of health care and at the same time devote time to the Navy Reserves at the expense of my civilian employment.

I find it particularly insulting that Senator Reid invoked the familiar canard of "for the troops" when he held up Senate business that would clearly benefit them.

The point has been made and has been well covered in the press...NOW GET BACK TO WORK, sir.

Hell, he promised a middle class tax cut too. If you're going to lie, might as well make them big ones.

That's exactly what I thought leading up to Friday. Reading the indictment looks a lot like Libby might have had a poor recollection but then when given a chance to correct himself stuck with the initial story. Seems odd to me, especially knowing about the notes from the meeting with VP where they discussed Plame.

Doesn't change how I feel about this whole sham of a case to begin with (Honestly, is is too much to ask for the CIA to make a definitive statement about her status...and couldn't that have been done two years ago?) and what a jackass and obvious lying hack Wilson is, but I think Libby is screwed.

I'm SURE that we can't trust the reporters! LOL!

Seems like a stretch that all three of them would have one story and Libby another though.

I am a bit of a suscriber to the theory though that something else must be going on because Libby couldn't possibly be stupid enough to think he could get away with being so blatant. Time will tell I guess.

I'm waiting to see Libby's side of this but it looks an awful lot like he deliberately lied twice to the FBI and twice to the GJ.

Seems much more serious than what we heard leading up to Friday about it just being some stories not matching.

Whether you're Willie, Martha or Scooter, lying to the GJ and federal investigators makes you pretty dirty in my eyes.

Dan Rather himself on the first David Letterman after the 9/11 attacks:

"Sadaam Hussein, if he isn’t connected to this, he’s connected to many other things. He’s part of this ‘hate America” thing. You have to understand that Sadaam Hussein is somebody that I have sat this close, eye to eye. When his feet hit the floor every morning, he dreams of leading a victorious Arab army into Jeruselem. And, ah, he sees himself as a new Saladeen. And his hate is deep for us- I don’t even like to use the word hate, but ya know, this is what we’re dealing with and we have to wake up."

Me too. Wow, impressive in its brazenness.

Not being able to put it in the endzone seems to be an issue Big Ten wide today. How many times have 3 top 10 Big Ten schools all been beaten on the same day?

Gotta say never. At least OSU and Michigan lost with some dignity. Iowa was an embarassment!

Great song. This version with Willy is a good one. I really like Johnny's newer stuff with Rick Rubin quite a bit. Glad they decided to work together for Cash's final few years.

Young's first interception was a boneheaded play for sure.

You're right about the broadcasters. Musberger is famous for picking a particular arse and kissing it all game long.

Reminds me of Dickie V any time he calls a Duke game. You almost forget that there is another team and coach even there.

Ohio State MUST win to salvage some Big Ten pride today.

Thanks for putting up my list! Hope everyone enjoyed and/or heard something they hadn't before. I actually had never heard that version of Buddy Guy before...awesome!

Sorry I've been so late in saying thanks. Ridiculous computer problems all week...an out and out nightmare.

Awesome indeed!

Not a coincidence that while everyone else was in disarray, the Coast Guard rescued 7000 in the first three days.

Also not a coincidence that as soon as the military arrived in force, the situation immediately stabilized and improved. Moved 20,000 from the convention center in 24 hours.

Gen Honore is a stud.

God bless you and your family during this time. Prayers for your dad.

Who knew that the New Edition outcasts had so much wisdom?

Unrelated note but good news for afficionados, I read today that Profile is re-issuing remastered versions of Run DMC's first four albums complete with remixes and extras. Might be time to throw out my old tapes and buy replacements!

"Never trust a big butt and a smile"...words to live by?!

Hey All. Forgive the long post below but I was overwhelmed by the images from the Gulf Coast...good news in the form of the MIGHTY U.S. NAVY is already on the scene and more are coming. Truly the best of our nation.


Thanks to the Navy's new readiness model 28 ships were ready to get underway within 24 hours.

Bataan (a helicopter carrier) and HSV (High Speed Vessel) 2 Swift, out of Naval Station Ingleside, Texas, are off the affected coastline providing support. Four MH-53s (huge helos capable of moving 40-50 troops) and two HH-60s (capable of moving about 20 troops) off the Bataan are flying medevac and search and rescue (SAR) missions in Louisiana, and supporting the Coast Guard's 8th District. Bataan's hospital and staff has been augmented by an additional contingent from the Navy's Bureau of Medicine (BUMED), consisting of 85 personnel, including 12 physicians and 4 surgeons.

The Iwo Jima (large helo carrier) Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) is sailing from Norfolk, Va. loaded with disaster-response equipment. The USNS Arctic (T-AOE 8 - an oiler, ammunition and stores (as in refrigerated stores)) is currently off the Gulf Coast. USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) (large helo carrier), USS Shreveport (LPD 12) (large helo capable troop transport ship), and USS Tortuga (LSD 46) (large, helo capable troop transport ship) are expected soon. A medical staff augmentation for Iwo Jima is expected to be en route tomorrow.

The hospital ship, USNS Comfort (T-AH 20), is departing Baltimore by September 3 to bring some 270 medical staff, capable of supporting 250 hospital beds, to the Gulf region. Project Hope has offered to embark additional medical personnel, and the Air Force's Surgeon General has offered to provide still further staff if needed.

USS Harry S. Truman (aircraft carrier) (CVN 75) and USS Whidbey Island (LSD 41) (same as Tortuga above) are sailing today for areas off the Gulf Coast in support to FEMA relief operations. Truman will serve as a command center and an afloat staging base, and will carry additional helicopters from Naval Air Station Jacksonville to support search and rescue efforts. Whidbey Island will bring to the region the ability to employ a movable causeway.

USS Grapple (ARS 53) (salvage ship) is currently en route in order to assist with maritime and underwater survey and salvage operations.

Military Sealift Command has transferred control of five of its ships to the Navy's Second Fleet to provide further support to relief efforts. USNS Bellatrix, Altair, Pillilau, Bob Hope, and Argol are in the Gulf of Mexico already (all capable of carrying lots of food stuffs, and supplies). USNS Arctic is also at sea in the Gulf and acting as a FEMA support ship and providing logistics services support for the other ships at sea.

Navy helicopters from Jacksonville and Mayport, Fla., are supporting relief efforts, and Navy Seabees from Port Hueneme, Jacksonville, and Norfolk are on scene or making preparations to deploy to assist in relief operations.

USNS Pollux is operating onboard dialysis equipment for the patients of a local hospital, providing diesel fuel for area hospitals' generators, and providing meals and berthing to relief workers.

If you're not kidding, I'll bite. Do you think possibly that creating a democracy in Iraq, which has directly contributed to a WMD free Libya and a Syria free Lebanon, might keep us from having to go into another country in the region?

How about the poll numbers showing drastic decreases in support for terrorism throughout the Muslim world?

The folks in Iran aren't exactly tickled with their goverment. I'm guessing that a free and democratic nation on their border might serve to embolden the kind of people we can deal with in Iran to "suggest" that the mullahs pull their heads out.

There are a ton of other nations that aren't democracies, but few that are as vital to our national security interests as those in the ME.

Soliel Moon Frye is one of my favorite all time celebrity names.

Yeah! Some P-3C love in the Canteen. Thanks for posting those pics, the kids and oldtimers who keep the gear up and running are often forgotten. Couldn't do it without them!

I thought the same thing watching it last night. When Deutch asked him to clarify what he meant about government officials and foreign agents, Shaffer was clear that it wasn't Al Quaeda but "another sphere altogether" or something like that.

Gotta believe that's China. Shaffer seemed to thing more would come out on that in the next 3-4 weeks.

If I remember correctly, Dan Rather "confirmed" that Reagan was dead. Seems he wasn't all that interested in accuracy even back then. Hack.

I almost woke my wife up laughing at "Freedom Press" ...LOL!

Thanks for the info. I think I'm going to give it a shot tomorrow. After I pour a cup for sustenance out of the other pot, I've got some blue moutain I can grind for this new adventure.

Great job tonight! Really good history lesson to go with the music.

Can you explain the french press concept to me please?!

We've got one in the way top cupboard but I've never used it...usually stumbling towards the auto-drip to get a fix and don't have the patience for anything else!

Either that or my now natural aversion to anything French!

Ha! It's so much fun dancing with her...she doesn't know how bad of a dancer her Daddy is yet so I'm in the clear.

She loves the blues, old school rap, r&b and disco (mostly because that's what I decide to listen to!)

Wow MoJo, that's quite a list. Surprised to see Jack White so high (crumbs to Gen Y readers perhaps) and Buddy Guy so low...30? Are you kidding me?

I'm partial to the blues guitarists myself.

Kind of surprised that John Mayer didn't get any love. Not bad for a young kid.

Nice list, I'm going to look for the one's I haven't heard of.

The fact that Pete Rose, Bob Hayes and Drew Pearson aren't in their respective Hall of Fame is enough for me to be against lists in general!

Old school LL is good stuff. Always wished I had the giant radio on this album cover.

This tape was always in the rotation with King of Rock and Whodini...Kurtis Blow wasn't far behind either.

The whistle thing at the beginning of Joe Public reminds me of Public Enemy...can't remember the song though...

Hadn't heard the remix...not as good as the original but pretty good!

The best thing about the internet is that you can send a virtual $5 to pay off a bet!

Tull was the 0200 go to band for loud music on one of my deployments. Only 2 of us really loved it, but we always got our way.

Always wondered why a metal band hasn't done a "turn it to 11" version of Locomotive Breath.

I just heard James Brown's "The Payback" on XM.

Out of breath from dancing with my wife and (2 year old) daughter. Awesome song.

Not for me, but for anyone who's looking for a little pick me up this evening...$5 says you can't sit still and listen to it!

I just saw a live Jethro Tull performance on the free cable channel INHD. Great stuff.

Great news! Best feeling in the world to get signed out on leave.

I guess it's too late to ask for some smuggled Kloster Andechs at this point though :(