The Command T.O.C.

Washington Post sells access, $25,000+ - Mike Allen - POLITICO.com

This is an absolute disgrace and the Washington Post should be ashamed of itself. The only solution, assuming this report is true, is for the entire upper management of the Washington Post to be cleaned out, start over again. Maybe in a few years they will regain SOME (not all) credibility.

Washington Post sells access, $25,000+ - Mike Allen - POLITICO.com

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So Why Didn't The Conservatives Just Declare Bankruptcy?

I keep reading how the big bad Government is taking over private enterprise and the "bogey man" in the White House is trying to determine what car you drive etc. This comes from the whacked out Conservative right (which normally I would dismiss but since it is now firmly in control of the Republican party you have to pay attention) and, of course, their news network devoted to them, the "Faux News Network".

This leads me to think about all the big CEO's who managed these companies into the ground and how the last 8 years have been a Republican rule. I then think how on earth could we be in such a mess if Laissez faire worked given we have had it for a good 8 years and, since Reagan, we have had it pretty consistently since 1980. How could the economy have failed so badly given this trend?

Further, I think, if these Conservative nutbags really do not believe in Government help and intervention, why didn't they just declare bankruptcy like good conservative little soldiers? No one told the car makers they had to take Government money. They could have just marched into bankruptcy court on their own. 

The banks are now claiming the Government forced them to take the money or they would be fired. OK, if this truly was a principle they lived up to, why not take the firing? Why not resign in protest? Is this principle of not doing business with the Government so flimsy that they would rather do that then just lose a simple job? They all have more money than they need so it cannot be for fear of not being able to put food on the table right?

As I have maintained in this blog for a long time, follow the ACTIONS not the words. While the conservative right wing wackos spew anti Government hatred to the masses to keep their base of whacked out nut bags in check, they all show up at the "Government window" for their hand out. They take it all? Why? Because, back at the end of the regime of Bush they knew the Country would have gone into a depression if they did not. And how would that look for the Conservatives if Bush left the Country even more ravaged than it already was after 8 years of the lunatic?

All the Conservatives lined up and keep lining up at the Government trough. 

United States Army Tribute to D-Day

Wow! What a tribute. Makes you thankful for these brave men both living and those who lost their lives. 

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Memorial Day - Remembering Those Who Gave The Ultimate Sacrifice

Today is Memorial Day. I started this blog thinking about Memorial Day over 4 years ago. I wondered how best to honor those who have served, those who are serving and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. I pondered this question long. I knew of the "yellow ribbons" and the corporate "thank you" but it all seemed so hollow. 

People who refused to do the really hard stuff like serve themselves felt vindicated in their decisions by saying "thank you". I wondered if all this "thank you stuff" was really people thanking veterans or was it for them and their problems. Some psychological treatment to overcome their shame for never having really done anything to help the Country or the military. 

But, alas, it did not matter. I realized the biggest thing I could do to say "thank you" to all those who served is to ensure they are never sent to their deaths again without a real reason - one that threatens the very existence of this nation. They would not be sent to war to satisfy some leader's ego or a petty family feud. 

Further, I would ensure that if they were sent to fight again EVERYONE would be part of it. We would never have a class of warrior that goes off to war so the rest of the Country can indulge in some Roman Orgy type economic benefit. 

So, I think, in a very small way, I have accomplished part of this. I have helped the movement which has seen a far more pragmatic and intelligent President get into power. I have helped move the Country to the point where no one thinks (except the nuts on the radical right) the Iraq war is something we should continue - the debate is now just on how to get out, and I have helped ensure the Country will never again forget the follies of the war administration of Bush. Not to persecute Bush but so that we never forget what happened in that dark time. 

So, yes, I say THANK YOU to all veterans and I hope you enjoy the day. Put a flag on a tombstone of a soldier and thank one if you see one. They did their duty and they did it well. 

Now, let us all unite in ensuring there will be no more gravestones. Let's unite in the belief that our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines are the finest and they SHOULD NEVER be sent to war for no reason. Never should they be sent to satisfy some groups ideology. Never should their lives be wasted again. 

Thank you!

Even Key Republicans are Identifying The Danger of Limbaugh and Cheney

This weekend the more moderates of the Republican party have identified the problem with the party. And, the problem is with the leaders (either real or de-facto) of the Republican party. The current appointed leader, Michael Steele is just a mouthpiece. Do I dare say they selected an African American just to say, "see, we can do it too" to the Democrats? Clearly he was not appointed to be the leader of the party.

That title goes to entertainers and nuts. The entertainers are Limbaugh and Hannity and the nuts are Cheney and Coulter. Even when you Google "leader of the Republican party" in the first two items (as of this writing) an article which comes back is a Wiki article on Rush Limbaugh. 

Now, mind you, it is OK by me if they choose to have Limbaugh as their leader. Hell, they chose "Joe the Plumber"  (you remember, the guy who said, "Back in the day, really, when people would talk about our military in a poor way, somebody would shoot ‘em. And there’d be nothing said about that,” - and the Republican's made him a leader) as their spokesperson on the campaign trail so at least Limbaugh is a step up. This is just great. It does not seem like a fair fight but it is the Republican nuts who have chosen this, not the left. 

This is why I left the Republican party many years ago and probably will not return. It is not a party of ideas. It is a party of ideologues. It is a party of people who would rather see the destruction of the United States than a competing idea win out in the marketplace of ideas. It is also the party of hypocrisy. The leaders of the "family values" party are all divorced, have been on drugs, and have gambling problems (Bill Bennett - Remember, The book of Virtues). Further, the leaders of the Republican "war" party are all people who were COWARDS when they were called to go to war. Ask Hannity, Coulter, Limbaugh and Cheney what they did when they were called to serve. It is one thing to be anti-war and not serve but a very different thing to be the lead drummer in sending others off to die while you refuse and cower like a baby in the fetal position when you are asked to serve. 

This is the Republican party of today. A bunch of entertainers, cowards, radicals, and nuts. This is the party which is trying to win back America. I say, keep on keepin on 'Pubs. You will ensure a massive (beyond super) majority next go around and you will be relegated to a late night joke. 

The Republican Self Destruction Machine

True conservatives should be pissed off at the Republican party. Why? Because they are becoming a caricature of politics. Imagine a party being run by the likes of Rove, Limbaugh, and Cheney? Those are the de-facto leaders of this mob that is known as the Republican party. 

Steele, the "appointed head" is about as much of a leadership position as a ventriloquist's puppet. As General Powell said, he had to lay, "prostrate on the floor" as he apologized and begged for forgiveness from an entertainer. 

What would really make this even more funny is if they all took in the nutbag Ann Coulter. Geez, talk about a dysfunctional group of lunatics. 

Anyway, it is great to be a Democrat and it is fun to watch the Republicans. 

What to Do About Lousy Customer Service - GameCrazy

Today I encountered another just apparently horrible company and its name is GameCrazy. On behalf of my son, I took him to this store for his games and the approach and attitude of the associates was just horrible. Further, they advertise as having the biggest selection and they will buy your old games. When you get into the transaction there is a lot "more to the story" and neither of the promises are true. 

So, what to do. I have done this once before with Earthlink and it worked so I did it again. I wanted to talk to an executive in the corporate structure. The first thing when you do this is you have to figure out what that structure is. What I found out was GameCrazy is owned by Hollywood Video whose parent company is actually a company called Movie Gallery out of Oregon. 

Because all call centers are closed and because they could not do anything anyway, I followed the path of the Investor Relations department. Being a Saturday this got me into the voicemail system which is AUDEX, a very common voicemail system and one I know all the commands for. 

Once in the system, I was able to navigate to a company directory (there are no prompts to get there but their commands seem to be the same for any company using this system). Once there, I typed in the name for the person I wanted to contact and he was Guy Marsala, Executive VP of Operations. Once there I left a lengthy voicemail with all my call back information. 

Then I went for it. I tried the command which makes the message a priority message (bumps it to the top of the list) and it worked! Some companies disable that for calls from outside but not Movie Gallery.  So, we shall see what happens here. 

Follow my posts on Twitter. I will use the Hashtag #kogamecrazy and you can go right to see updates on what I am doing to get this disaster resolved. 

Below are the details of the email I sent them which also outlines the problem and how poor this company is. Oh, and BTW, Mr. Marsala is a West Point graduate and was a battery commander. Perhaps he will help out a veteran!

My Internet Speed...

Guys from Comcast came over today and I think did a GREAT job in moving my internet speed up. It has been so slow and they believe it was because of the way the cables were connected; I was losing a lot of signal strength from the box to the actual modem. Now, it is a lot faster. Although, like all things, I would want it even faster.

My best result was last year but my current result was very very close to this:

Cheney Seeking Book Deal - Now We Know What He REALLY Cares About

Well, everyone was wondering why THE BIG DICK was so vocal and so "out in front" when it has been a fairly long lived tradition for VPs and P's to mold into the background when they leave office. Was it his "caring" for America? Did he really believe all the bull**it that he is espousing on T.V.?

Apparently not. We now learn he is out shopping a book deal and wants $2M and nothing less for his advance. Ah, the Great American Way. It is all about the money. Imagine, he is saying, "I really care about America and I really want to tell the American people what went on but only if I get $2M dollars".

I believe we should let the record speak for itself. No need to get any BIG DICK commentary around it. Let's look at the documents, let's re-run his statements about how the Iraq war would be over in 6 months, how it was THE front on Al Qaeda and GWOT, how Iraqi oil sales would pay for it and this would be a no cost war. Let us let the record speak.

But, I am sure he can find some kind of pornographer to publish what will be, essentially, political pornography. Let Larry Flynt print it. That would be fitting. 

Business Wrap UP - GM Will, I Believe, Go Bankrupt

I think the fight with the bond holders will be too much for them to deal with. GM will go bankrupt which will start a "war in the streets" as suppliers start dropping like flies too. 

Conservative radio hosts gets waterboarded, lasts 6 seconds

Chicago's conservative radio host Erich "Mancow" Muller decided he'd get himself waterboarded to prove the technique wasn't torture. Turns out, he was wrong.

Fantastic. Can't wait to watch Hannity get waterboarded as well.

read more | digg story

Ventura: I'll waterboard Hannity into saying Obama the best

After ripping George W. Bush and expressing his desire to waterboard Dick Cheney, former governor Jesse Ventura continues his media storm...

I love it!! I will take Jesse over any of the blow hards on T.V. like the jerk Hannity who never served a day in his sad, pathetic life.

read more | digg story

Dick's Speech Full of "Omissions" & "Misstatements"

Former Vice President Dick Cheney's defense Thursday of the Bush administration's policies for interrogating suspected terrorists contained omissions, exaggerations and misstatements.

Such a surprise. This man is already trying to plead his defense case publicly so that he can claim there is no "impartial" jury in the Nation. Dick Cheney is a lunatic and it is that simple. He lies, cheats and deceives all who go in his path. Has the pacemaker run out of battery life yet?

read more | digg story

GM Driving Toward Chinese-Made Cars For America

GM says it will be building more cars abroad after it completes its reorganization, inside or outside of Chapter 11. Amazing.. we bail out the company so it can move production to China. Yippie!!

read more | digg story

Forbes: Audit the Federal Reserve, by Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)

The Federal Reserve's recent and unprecedented actions in the realm of monetary policy have provoked a backlash among the American people. Trillions of dollars worth of loans and guarantees have been provided to Wall Street firms, while Main Street Americans suffocate. It's time to audit the Fed.

read more | digg story

Don't Count on Your 401(k): The next financial crisis

A serious warning from Jack Bogle, founder of Vanguard, about the sorry state of our so called retirement system. the 401(k) and IRA put individual risk in the mix. Something this Country has never had since the founding of the modern pension system. This is a big deal.

read more | digg story

Dick Cheney is a Nutbag and Should be Arrested, Tried, Convicted and Sentenced to Death

That is my opinion. Simple as that. Today he said Obama has made the Country less safe. What a moron. He "proves" torture worked because the prisoners spoke after being waterboarded. OK, but the problem BIG DICK is we have this thing called a "Constitution" and the "Geneva Convention". Those crazy things that get in the way of the BIG DICK's make believe world. 

So, if the only way you could get them to talk would be to pull their eyes out would you do it? Would you shoot buckshot in their face if it helped (oh yeah, you did that).

Honestly, I will celebrate the day the his heart pace maker stops working. This guy is pure evil on the order of Hitler. The only thing that stopped him from being another Hitler is the little bit of the Constitution and Bill of Rights we still had after he tried to shred them. 

I hate this man. 

Obama Administration Helps Veterans By Rolling Back Bush Decisions

In this case, the Bush administration had gave the middle finger to disabled veterans. Now the new Pentagon, led by the Obama Administration is THANKING the veterans by liberalizing disability payments. 

Read the full article as reported by the Colorado Springs Press Gazette. 

Where Have All The Posts Gone?

You may be asking yourself if I plan to keep up blogging and the answer is absolutely yes! Three things have caused traffic to decrease here for the past month or so. I will elaborate on them. 

1. First, I discovered Twitter and am on Twitter almost every hour. My "Tweets" are posted in the sidebar to this blog but you would be far better off just subscribing to me on Twitter. You can do that by hitting the "follow" on @kevinaom page. I have found twitter a far more "up to date" medium which fills the gaps in the blogging. In my mind a blog post every few days in depth with "tweets" in between is the perfect social media. 
2. Barack Obama won and the Country appears to be on the right path. I started this blog as a way to help IRR soldiers get exemptions from deployment, bring down the Republican party and get the Country moving in a better direction. Virtually all three of those have been accomplished. While clearly I was only 1/10000th of this I at least can say I participated and helped in a movement that succeeded. Now the Republicans are looked upon like a caricature and they are seen as the "fringe" which is exactly what they are. They are not even taken seriously by the Country as a whole.  
3. The wars are winding down. Everyone thinks these wars were a mistake. There are still the whackos who want to claim we found WMDs or that if we had not blown up Iraq they would have blown us up but those people have been relegated to being the "whackos" and nothing more.  

So, with all of that I do intend to Blog more frequently than I have and will continue to blog on politics and the war but I am also going to expand my blogging to those other topics I am interested in which include: finance and business, gardening, sports and life in general. 

I will also be filling in the gaps at Twitter so come on, join me in the Twitter revolution!! 

My Mother in Law Passed Away

A really sad week at our home. My Mother in Law, a wonderful woman, passed away this week and we will be laying her to rest on Friday. We will celebrate her life and know that she is at rest with God. 

The Torture Used by Bush Goes Long and Deep

I was one of those who, when President Obama was elected, said we should "let bygones be bygones", be happy Bush is out, and get on with our lives. Until recently. 

As I read more and more about the torture used, and the justification for it, by the Bush administration I say to myself these people have to be punished. There is no way we can just let them get away with this. They have created a dark cloud which will hang over the United States for a very long time. The Statue of Liberty is weeping because the values she was built to represent were shattered in 8 short years. 

Frank Rich opines in the New York Times today a scenario which is very scary. Made up reasons for torture, justifications of what is and is not torture which make your head spin, and an interesting "spin" which I had not thought of.

It is starting to appear the Bush administration was in a panic when they realized they were going to war with a Country which had no ties to 9/11 and probably had no WMDs. Two major reasons for "selling" the Iraq war on the American people. So, they think to themselves, what if we can get a prisoner to say what we want him to say. We can get a quote from him saying something like, "Al Qaeda is in Iraq" or something like that.

See, it is proven that torture will eventually get someone to say anything the captives want him/her to say just to stop the torture. It is why torture is a ridiculous tool. If I am being tortured and I realize you want me to say something and I believe the torture will stop once I say it, I will most likely eventually say it. In fact, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. The more you torture me the more likely I am to capitulate and say anything. 

So, you ask me, "Is Al Qaeda in Iraq". I say no. Next thing I know you tie me to shackles and whip me or you waterboard me. I quickly realize "no" was not the answer you were looking for. You ask me how often Bin Laden visited Iraq in the last 5 years and i say never (or I do not know). You whip me. I quickly realize that was not the answer you were looking for. 

In a back and forth game of triangulation as I answer questions and you torture me I can, over time, figure out what you want to hear. Finally, I break. I tell you whatever will cause the torture to stop. 

You go away and say, "see, torture (oh, excuse me, enhanced interrogation) works". You get what you already were predisposed to want to hear. The torture stops (good for me) and you get what you want (I guess, good for you).

Unfortunately, over time you realize I only said it to stop the torture. There was no link, Bin Laden didn't go but, alas, it is too late. 5,000 soldiers dead, 1 trillion dollars spent, a Country in ruin, and our Country in disarray. It is too late. 

And this is why I have changed my views. These crimes cannot go unpunished. Bush must be prosecuted along with his gang of criminals. 

More on Twittering...

I just checked to see if I was an "Early adopter" and I would think so. The company was incorporated in May of 2007 and I joined in September of 2007. I wonder how much the popularity of the iPhone had to do with the massive growth of Twitter?

The Use of Twitter - @kevinaom

Twitter is an incredible little application. It is pure genius in its simplicity and it has become an incredible tool to use in the "micro blogging" space. You can "report" on things as they happen and provide very quick insight. You will not see in depth reporting (except for links to such) or huge ideas but rather it will be part of your journey towards the truth (whatever that is) in just about everything you do. 

As expected, I am twittering a lot. I twitter far more than I write here. I have linked my twittering to this blog on the right part of the screen, in the margin, you will see my latest twitters. Further, I know have any posting from this blog automatically twitter out to the "twittersphere" (Will that be a word soon).

So, subscribe to my twitters at @Kevinaom and please interact there as well as here. When there are in depth topics to discuss, they certainly will be done here but my day to day, hour to hour, perhaps minute by minute, thoughts will be out on Twitter. 

One thing about Twitter (or at least how I use it). They are thoughts. They are not "final disposition" but as I think of things, try to understand them, challenge them, I put them out on Twitter. Just because I say something once on twitter does not mean it is final. Much like here, I want responses and thoughts and be able to be "pushed around" so I can develop and grow my thinking. 

GM Shutdown for 9 Weeks

Today we learned GM is thinking of shutting down for 9 weeks this summer. Effectively, this will be the death nail in the coffin of many automotive suppliers, creditors and Detroit itself. I know intellectually that this is a bad deal for the Country. To have such a massive direct hit to the economy is not good for anyone. Many will learn how tied their business and their locality is to GM (this is NOT a "Detroit" issue). Your business next door may have far more "automotive" business than you imagined and if it goes out of business its suppliers (Tier II and Tier III) will have a big issue as well. 

But in another way, I want to see this so the infamous "Teabaggers" will understand just how fragile this economy is. They will see their friends lose jobs, local factories and businesses shut down, creditors file for chapter 11 etc. etc. When that happens then they may actually think about their ideology v. reality. I wish it upon no one but I am afraid it is what will have to happen for the great "economists" of the tea bagger revolution to understand what is truly going on in our economy and what our state of affairs is today. 

But, alas, my guess is they will just blame it on "Clinton". 

More on The Tea Party Idiocy

Ok, you just cannot make this stuff up. Here is the Daily Show interviewing the morons at the Tea Party events. I wonder if any of these people can calculate their effective tax rate. If they could, they would find it to be far lower now than it was 30 and 40 years ago. But, why let facts get in the way of a good show.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Tea Party Tyranny
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

Republican and Fox News Tea Bag Parties

This week we had to endure the idiotic "tea bag" parties from the Republican party and their media outlet, Fox News. At one point during the week I really wanted to understand what they were talking about however it clearly came down to anger with anything Obama and therefore I tuned it out. On XM Radio I listened to Sean Hannity (This is the Sean Hannity who loves war and "loves his Country" yet never once has he done anything that even remotely looks or smells like service. He only does what he can make millions doing) keep telling me that there were "hundreds of thousands" of people when in reality it was so small they could have all fit into a good size stadium. 

We also had to listen to Fox News talk about how this was a "grass roots" campaign when, in fact, it was choreographed by Fox News in more detail than a performance of the Irish River Dance. So, Fox news has a new model. They create the news, then they cover what they create, then they talk about the coverage of what they created (you know, we had to listen to days of, "The mainstream media did not cover it"). 

Then, like some incestuous family you have to endure Glenn Beck going on Sean Hannity, Sean Hannity going on Bill O'Reilly, Bill O'Reilly just playing with himself etc. etc. It is one hell of a business model they have created. 

In reality, of course, it was mostly about very angry, mostly white, people who are generally racist and have an education of a three year old. At this post at Huffington Post we see the disgusting signs which were used (bringing out of the closet the "Obama is a Muslim" chant) etc. At the clip below (in the extended post) you can hear the vile anger towards a CNN news reporter who was trying to engage the crowd.  Finally, you can hear the vile chants against on of their own.

The good news from all of this is the average American was not swayed by what amounts to the lunatic right. Huffington Post also reports that independents saw what the "Tea Parties" really were and have been turned off in a big way. 

In a funny sort of way, it is interesting they choose "Teabagging" as the description of what they were doing. As you will see in the final clip (again, posted in the extended post), tea bagging has a very specific meaning in the sexual sense. I guess they should have looked that up before they just went hog wild with this stupid show put on by Fox News. 

Jim Cramer and The "CNBC" Crowd Panic on National T.V.

I recently saw a segment on CNBC (Which I watch much like you watch a traveling circus, not for investment advice but more for humor and fun) where Jim Cramer was called out by Dan Solin. He did a great job saying why professional money managers and idiots like Jim Cramer are doing the average investor more harm than good. 

The discussion was about the 401(k) and whether it is a good investment now that many companies have stopped the match. This is a good topic because typically you have poor choices in a 401(k), they have very high fees and will get taxed as personal income when you take money out. 

Anyway, Cramer went absolutely nuts. He came in on the show and was madder than hell which is good. Between his abysmal performance on the Daily Show and now this, he is being called out for what he is: He is nothing more than a huckster in a fancy suit. He does more damage every night to the wealth of America than any one man. 

The video is below.

Bogle Article in New York Times

The New York Times writes a nice article about Jack Bogle's thoughts on professional money managers. Warning, if you are a professional money manager you may not want to read this. 

He also discusses how we are no longer in an ownership society but rather an agency society. Read the article and see what I mean. This is very important for investors. 

President Obama Ordered The Use of "Appropriate (read: Deadly) Force"

Well, I guess this answers the stupid question about what would he do if he got a call at 3:00am. I must say the seals are amazing. Imagine parachuting into the water (most likely at night so not to be detected), swimming to the ship, then setting up the scopes to shoot these bastards.

I hope they get their medals publicly. It is a great moment. 

Odierno Sets Timetable for Withdrawal

Don't look now but it appears that the General in Chief has agreed to a timetable to withdraw from Iraq. The IRR recall no longer makes sense since we are now officially leaving (Thank God)