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Senate Majority Leader Reid, House Majority Leader Cantor Deride Across-the-Board Cuts -In Joint Appearance, Two Hill Leaders Don't Outline Way To Replace Cuts LOS ANGELES(MNI) - In a rare joint appearance, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Republican, said Monday they are frustrated by across-the-board spending cuts that have been mandated by the sequestration process, but they did not agree on how these cuts should be altered or eliminated. Appearing on a panel at the Milken Institute Global Conference, Reid and Cantor took turns blasting the sequestration process. Speaking of sequestration, Reid...

Obama team may regret what they thought was an opportunity with Hurricane Sandy. As the linked story mentions Media talking about people eating out of dumpsters, no electricity, gas shortages. Those photo ops will be forgotten quickly and these stories are going to be going on through election day.

Prog Spring of 2012 continues. Today we meet OccuPoet Misty Rowan of Minneapolis, who will grace us with one of her poems. Misty came to my attention via this THREAD in DUmmieland, "Our Amazing Occupy Poet!" I watched the video, and yes, I was amazed . . . at what passes for poetry with the OWSies and the DUmmies. And seeing Misty of Minneapolis, I was reminded of Ted of New York. You know, Trust Fund Ted? Ted Hall, Tedward, Edward Twitchell Hall III, Flea-bagger Ted, Our Favorite OWSie. Remember when we introduced you to Ted "Help us now!"...

I’ve tried, damn it, God knows I’ve really tried. But every time I try to write something, something bigger happens in the news that just makes me want to book passage to Pluto. I don’t give a damn if Pluto lost its ranking as a planet. If I can find any large orbiting extraterrestrial body where I don’t have to worry about what’s taking place here on earth, I’m fine with that. Call it an orbiting sack of poo for all I care. As long as it’s not inhabited by Barack Obama, Congress, Mo Gaddafi, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, NFL...

After getting frustrated out of the lemons his problems gave him, David Miller made his own corporate lemonade. Due to the frustration of always having to call technical support to solve his own frequent hardware problems, he started taking the initiative to educate himself.

When Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen saw plumes of fire shooting from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig on April 20, he knew oil would eventually start gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, he said in an interview. (snip) On the Gulf Coast in particular, critics say, the federal effort has been uncoordinated and undirected. Top officials were late to grasp the magnitude of the problem and to respond to requests from local officials, and at times overestimated the federal government's ability to stem the gusher, say local officials. (snip) Louisiana officials had said all along that keeping oil away from...

They know that the vast majority of people now realize that they were fooled and elected somebody who's totally unlike the man they thought they were electing, in every way possible. It is in this defiance that he becomes this loose cannon and will screw up and will himself reveal what his true motivations have been from the day he first started planning running for the presidency (which was many, many years prior to when you think it was) for the express purpose of, within the democratic process, overthrowing this country. "You really mean to say that, Rush?" Yeah. Of...

Even in the midst of economic and political melt down, Sen. Evan Bayh was still between 10 and 20 points ahead of his potential Republican challengers. Why did the Indiana Democrat announce he will not run for re-election? "Even pols are sick of Washington," blared the Politico.com headline. Bayh's friend and ex-chief of staff, former Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, told the press, "Those frustrations have increasingly worn on him, and I think his willingness to tolerate the frustrations has decreased over time." Evan Bayh is tired of being the middle patch of ground in a culture war that never seems...

A mile from South Station, an outpost of US marines in Helmand province, the tribal chief was openly hostile. “The Americans threaten our economy and take our land for bases. They promise much and deliver nothing,” he said. “People here regard the American troops as occupiers,” said Haji Khan, a leader of the Baluch tribe, who rules like a medieval baron. “Young people are turning against them and in time will fight them.” Inside South Station, soldiers are proud of the progress...Until they arrived, this remote part of Helmand had not had a government presence for years. But many are...

Only nine months ago, the Pentagon pronounced itself reassured by the early steps of a new commander in chief. President Obama was moving slowly on an American withdrawal from Iraq, had retained former President George W. Bush’s defense secretary and, in a gesture much noticed, had executed his first military salute with crisp precision. But now, after nearly a month of deliberations by Mr. Obama over whether to send more American troops to Afghanistan, frustrations and anxiety are on the rise within the military. A number of active duty and retired senior officers say there is concern that the president...

WASHINGTON — Military officials voiced frustration and congressional leaders urged caution Tuesday over what they described as President Barack Obama's shifting strategy in Afghanistan, six months after he committed thousands more U.S. troops to the stalemated war there. Administration officials maintained they were looking at all options to protect the U.S. and its allies by shutting down al-Qaida leaders who are believed to be hiding in areas of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. Critics at the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill said the White House was in danger of taking its eye off the fight that has turned increasingly deadly for American...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Barack Obama on Tuesday expressed rare frustration at the resistance he is facing in his efforts to overhaul the US healthcare system. "Sometimes I get a little frustrated because this is one of those situations where it's so obvious that the system we have isn't working well for too many people, and that we could be doing better," he said. Obama made the comments as his healthcare reform legislation faces tough hurdles in Congress, where it is opposed by many Republicans, but must also overcome divisions among his own Democratic party. ... "Frankly, if we...

The war of words between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Republican legislative leaders escalated again Wednesday, as the frustrated governor once again called for immediate action to address the state’s budget crisis. Schwarzenegger lashed out at lawmakers for their inaction, while legislators said the governor was disengaged and posturing for the cameras. The governor voiced his frustration at the Legislature’s failure to act. “If that’s not a shameful performance, I don’t know what is,” Schwarzenegger said, speaking of the Legislature’s inability to reach an agreement. “The Legislature is acting as if we have $30 billion in surplus.” Senate Republican leader Dave...

In news of war, tragedy, and uncertainty, 2007 was a year of frustrationBy ADAM GELLER Associated Press writer December 23, 2007 6:00 AM A war winds on, but lawmakers are seemingly powerless to do anything about it. The wrenching sorrow of tragedies on a Virginia campus, a Minnesota highway bridge and deep inside a Utah coal mine is compounded by a question that echoes: Could this have been prevented? Thousands lose their homes in a mortgage and credit crisis that worsened — despite repeated assurances that the worst had passed. Every year has grim headlines. But the story of 2007...

Ok before ya'll freak out listen. Anyone that knows us OP and King Vanity I will not have to explain this too. Others I am a Medical Care Provider and my work requires complete cordination;innovation;skill and my rule is "everythng has its place". That is great when doing pricise procedures and having medical supplies all packed in orderly packages, shifts run in compliance to the shift before. Organized down to when vendors come and meds are ready each month all to stock. Almost as if military. Here is the issue that has me in a frustrated avoid the task issue....

SACRAMENTO In his inaugural address a month ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urged Californians to think beyond party ideology and forge a "dynamic center" that was not captive to Republican or Democratic orthodoxy. Private audio tapes made public this week indicate the Republican governor was heeding his own advice long before giving the speech that kicked off his final term. Sounding almost like a man without a party, Schwarzenegger skewers the Democratic leaders of the Legislature saying one lacks passion and calling another "really weird" as well as Republican legislators in general. He says GOP lawmakers are small-minded, obstructionist and prone...

/begin my translation Depressed Market due to Bad Chinese Goods Life of N. Koreans We find out the life in N. Korea from N. Koreans who came to China. People do not go to work because government cannot give out food rations. The authorities cannot come down strongly on them, either. N. Koreans mainly use Chinese products, but many of them turn out to be health hazards, leading to boycotts. For example, lipsticks can cause fever, and skin to be peeled off. Brazier can cause rashes and itching. Worse, one newly-wed couple died after eating apples in 2005, or children...

WASHINGTON, May 23, 2006 – The recent surge in violence in southern Afghanistan reflects the fact that Afghan security forces are extending their reach and that the Taliban, in desperation, are trying to stop them, a senior military official told Pentagon reporters today. Army Brig. Gen. Carter F. Ham, deputy director of regional operations for the Joint Staff, called the "significant fighting," particularly in the south, a sign that the Taliban wants to stop "the expansion and the filtering of the reach of the Afghan national government." "My suspicion is that the Taliban ... recognize that if they don't try...

Hundreds of Prince George's residents packed an Upper Marlboro church yesterday to warn county officials that they are fed up with increasing crime and want some relief. "We are pushing not because we are antagonizing, but because we are terrified," said the Rev. C. Anthony Muse, one of the organizers of the meeting. In 2005, Prince George's tallied 173 homicides, a record for the county. Additionally, sexual assaults increased by 3 percent, robberies by 24 percent and carjackings by 45 percent from the previous year. Residents and a few county officials painted a grim picture of some streets and school...

The disciplinary arm of the N.C. State Bar dropped charges of felonious misconduct against two former Union County prosecutors Friday because of a 1999 clerical error at the state Supreme Court. The State Bar had charged Kenneth Honeycutt and Scott Brewer with lying, cheating and withholding evidence in a 1996 death penalty case. The ruling Friday marks the second time that Honeycutt and Brewer won on procedural grounds before the bar's Disciplinary Hearing Commission, which sits as judge and jury in disciplinary cases. . . . Prosecutors around the state are concerned that the case is damaging their reputation and...

BOULEVARD – The migrant trails form a maze through the creosote bushes and shrubs in this remote border community, all within plain view of homes and ranches. These narrow dusty paths lead straight over the wooden and wire fences that line the perimeter of Ed and Donna Tisdale's ranch. One leads across their driveway. It's been a decade since they began mending fences, and they still are. Residents of East County border communities have been in the path of human-and drug-smuggling traffic since the federal government fortified the border south of urban San Diego in 1994. The heavy migrant traffic...

Thoughtful Democrats — the rarest birds on the endangered species list — might want to ponder this: "Another hanging chad has dropped. His name is John G. Roberts Jr., and he undoubtedly will turn out to be opposed to abortion rights, affirmative action, an expansive view of federal powers and a reading of the Constitution that takes a properly suspicious view of the state's embrace of religion. You hang enough chads, and you get to change the Supreme Court." That's not moveon.org, or the wilder shores of the Internet. That's Richard Cohen, big-time columnist in that bastion of mainstream media,...

An ongoing sweep of the Iraqi capital has reduced car bombings but increased other kinds of attacks, a senior US military source said Friday. "Car bombs are down, roadside bombs are down and we've captured around 1,000 suspects. But we can't declare victory," the source said of Baghdad's Operation Lightning. Conversely, he said, there are more drive-by shootings. "We think that's another way, though much less effective, to keep up violence," the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told a small group of journalists. The idea for Operation Lightning was put forward by the interior and defence ministries, he...

Proposition 200, the Arizona initiative that was passed last fall and aimed at making sure some social services were not given to illegal immigrants, seems to be having an impact on a national level. Not only is it mentioned on television programs such as Lou Dobbs' evening show on CNN, but it has spurred a group in Arkansas to seek a similar initiative. The group is called Protect Arkansas Now, to mimic the group that pushed Prop. 200 in Arizona- Protect Arizona Now. Like the one in Arizona, PAN hopes to "shrink the magnet" that can draw illegal immigrants to...

SAMARRA, Iraq, Dec. 22 -- The soldiers kicked the wooden doors open and swarmed through the houses, rolling up rugs, looking through cabinets, searching boxes, pushing aside couches. Within minutes, they had lined up the Iraqi men they had found inside. The men were taken outside and made to squat in the late-night darkness, their breath streaming out in faint, wispy clouds as their hands pushed flat against a concrete wall. The soldiers were from the U.S. Army Special Forces, the Iraqi National Guard and Apache Company of the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment. They were looking for a suspected...

Morals of the Election The Democrats have paid for 50 years of standing on principle. By Paul Starr Web Exclusive: 11.21.04 What has the past half-century of our history achieved if not a moral transformation? Equal rights and respect for black people have been a moral cause. So, too, have equality for women and open acceptance of gays. Liberals have advocated each of these causes, often turning to the courts when elected leaders were slow to respond. Insofar as politicians have welcomed and supported these movements, they have chiefly been Democrats. And the Democratic Party has paid for its...

Be Prepared for angry Kerry thugs and thug-ettes after Kerry's defeat.

Small headline with link to democrats.org

This is an Iraqi who normally bloggs about soccer and other sports in Iraq, but the church bombing forced him to comment.

Mrs. Claus could tell something was seriously wrong as she watched Santa walk back in with the day’s mail. "What’s the problem, dear?" she asked as she poured him a stiff cup of hot cocoa. "Nothing much," he mumbled. She knew better, but it was always better not to probe. They sat in silence for several minutes as he opened and read each piece of correspondence. Finally he was ready to talk. "I must be getting too old for this job. For decades, all the mail I ever received – except for some Publishers’ Clearinghouse come-ons – were letters from...

WASHINGTON — I was dubious at first. But now I think Dick Cheney has it right. Making the case for going to war in the Middle East to veterans on Monday, the vice president said that "our goal would be . . . a government that is democratic and pluralistic, a nation where the human rights of every ethnic and religious group are recognized and protected."O.K., I'm on board. Let's declare war on Saudi Arabia! Let's do "regime change" in a kingdom that gives medieval a bad name.By overthrowing the Saudi monarchy, the Cheney-Rummy-Condi-Wolfy-Perle-W. contingent could realize its dream of...

Reprinted from ScienceDaily Magazine ...Source:             University Hospitals Of Cleveland Date Posted:    Thursday, August 08, 2002Web Address:   http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020807065733.htm New Clinical Trials Explore Treatment To Restore Sexual Desire CLEVELAND -- For millions of women, decreased sexual desire is often an unfortunate consequence of hysterectomy or menopause. Diminished sexual desire can lead to feelings of unhappiness, concern, frustration, and leave a lasting impact on a woman's relationship with her partner. An investigational hormone patch developed by Proctor & Gamble and now in clinical trials may offer hope to post-menopausal women who have experienced a decline in sexual desire. The clinical trials of a thin, nearly-transparent...