Honoring Veteran's Day

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

The Rich Get Richer

From an op-end in the Washington Post: From 1950 through 1980, the share of all income in America going to the bottom 90 percent of Americans -- effectively, all but the rich -- increased from 64 percent to 65 percent, according to an analysis of tax data by economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez. Because the nation's economy was growing handsomely, that means that the average income of Americans in the bottom 90 percent was growing, too -- from $17,719 in 1950 to $30,941 in 1980 -- a 75 percent increase in income in constant 2008 dollars.

Since 1980, it's been a very different story. The economy has continued to grow handsomely, but for the bottom 90 percent of Americans, it's been a time of stagnation and loss. Since 1980, the share of all income in America going to the bottom 90 percent has declined from 65 percent to 52 percent. In actual dollars, the average income of Americans in the bottom 90 percent flat-lined -- going from the $30,941 of 1980 to $31,244 in 2008.

Gee, I wonder what happened in 1980?

Rich Whitey?

Is this what the racial divide has brought us to? Where the Green Party is running a rich whitey for governor of Illinois? {grin}

Read all about here --> http://www.suntimes.com/news/elections/2801976,CST-NWS-whitney14.article?referrer=dongs

These Are the Alternatives? - Part 5

Many of the Republicans candidates in the upcoming mid-term elections are VERY much to the right of the majority of this nation. It is only the economic mess created by the last administration and not fixed by the current administration that could possibly get any of these cave men and women elected...

"We need to phase Medicare and Social Security out."
—Sharron Angle, Republican Senate candidate in Nevada

"There should not be [a federal minimum wage]. That is not within the scope or the powers that are given to the federal government."
—Joe Miller, Republican Senate candidate in Alaska

"I am pro-life. I don't believe in the exceptions for rape or incest."
—Ken Buck, Republican Senate candidate in Colorado

So This is The Alternative? - Part 4

Brad Zaun, who is running against Leonard Boswell (IA-03)

In 2001, Zaun had to be told by West Des Moines police to stay away from a former girlfriend who had accused him of harassing her. The woman called police to complain that Zaun showed up in the early morning hours and pounded on her windows. “Brad yelled from outside calling her slut and other names,” the police report states.

So This is The Alternative? - Part 3

Jeff Perry, who is running for the vacated MA 10 seat

In one case, Perry was the supervisor at the scene when the officer stuck his hand in a 14-year-old girl’s underwear, ostensibly searching for drugs. In the other, Perry accompanied the same officer to the house of a 16-year-old girl to tell her parents that she had voluntarily pulled down her pants to show she did not have any drugs.

Perry was a Wareham police sergeant in the early 1990’s

So This The Alternative? - Part 2

Tom Ganley, who is running against Rep. Betty Sutton (OH 13)

Last week we learned that a woman has filed a suit against Ganley for sexual assault and attempted rape. Ganley allegedly met with the woman, who was interested in volunteering for his U.S. Senate campaign and talking about her car payments, when he propositioned and sexually assaulted her in his private office.

So This The Alternative? - Part 1

Rich Iott who is running against Representative Marcy Kaptur (OH-09).

An election year already notable for its menagerie of extreme and unusual candidates can add another one: Rich Iott, the Republican nominee for Congress from Ohio's 9th District, and a Tea Party favorite, who for years donned a German Waffen SS uniform and participated in Nazi re-enactments.