...Former Bush U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, however, tried his hardest to downplay the significance of the Obama administration’s killing of Al-Awlaki in Yemen today, telling Fox News that we shouldn’t “read more into it than there is”:

BOLTON: At the same time, I think it’s important as individual Al Qaeda figures and other terrorists are killed that we not read more into it than there is. Consider this analogy if you were around in the 1920s and somebody said, my God, Vladimir Lenin is dead. The Bolsheviks will never recover from this. <...>

So while Al-Awlaki death is significant, I would not read cosmic consequences into it. ...

...But as NBC News’ First Read noted this morning, “no president” in over 20 years “has had more foreign-policy successes happen under his watch than President Obama.” Yet, he’s “getting almost no credit from the American public.” Despite the killing of Osama Bin Laden and nearly two dozen other top terrorist, the dismantling of Al Qaeda, and the ouster of Muammar Gaddafi polls show the public still gives Republicans the edge on combating terrorism. That after President Bush failed to capture Bin Laden or even pursue him with much alacrity...

http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/09/...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy_Day

A group of construction workers, students, and general bystanders stepped in to save the life of an injured motorcyclist caught beneath a fiery car wreck on Monday in Logan, Utah. The video above, courtesy of NBC's Today Show, shows the group band together to lift the burning car and pull the man to safety.

According to reports, the man was identified as 21-year-old Brandon Wright and is in stable condition after undergoing surgery on Monday evening. The driver of the car was not seriously injured in the accident.

http://autos.aol.com/article/citizens-lift... |aim|dl3|sec1_lnk1|95172

video at link




Big difference between these REAL people and the audience at the teabagger debates

This morning, the Dispatch updated the story we wrote about yesterday when Kasich talked about how failure of Issue 2 would embolden the private unions and somehow card check in Ohio would become law....

....Governor John Kasich wouldn’t raise taxes to pay for the megabazillion deficit he said Ohio had (even though, in reality, the State was running a surplus), and instead slashed funding for local governments and schools instead…. Yet, if labor prevails and defeats Issue 2, Kasich says he will raise taxes on businesses to help labor?

This sounds more like an extortion threat. As the Dispatch notes, Kasich cannot honestly believe that Issue 2 improves the solvency of the pensions, because there’s nothing in the bill for him to claim that.

We’ve heard rumors that Kasich had a private meeting with business leaders in Cincinnati in which he was essentially shaking down the business community there to donate to Building a Better Ohio and defend Issue 2. We heard Kasich personally offended some of the business folks.

http://www.plunderbund.com/2011/09/08/upda...

"If the poor are rodents, well, republicans are bloated ticks swollen with blood sucked from working families, infecting the country with diseased philosophies."....thanks Chesire, for putting it so succinctly.

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/09/...

Plunderbund research reveals that GOP Senate President Tom Niehaus, leader of the brain trust behind a bill to strip benefits from rank and file public employees, and champion of a budget that makes painful cuts to nearly every program in the state, has now committed the ultimate act of hypocrisy.

Let’s remember, the Senate GOP is responsible for passing a state budget that steals hundreds of millions of dollars from local governments, redirecting it to the state’s piggybank – a move that forced mayors, county commissioners and township trustees statewide to decide between cutting vital services like police and fire, or raising taxes. It was also the Senate GOP that authored SB5, a “tool”, they claimed, that would help local leaders cope with these budget cuts by paying out less in wages and benefits.....

....Now, in the most recent move, quietly, effective with the first paycheck of the new fiscal year, Niehaus has followed the lead of the Governor by rewarding his top staff with enormous taxpayer-funded pay increases. His Chief of Staff, Assistant Chief of Staff, Finance Director and Senate Clerk all received a $15,000 yearly pay increase. The Deputy Finance Directory received a whopping $23,005 increase. .....

....Furthermore, the increases were retroactive, such that on July 16, these same staffers each took home checks containing 26 weeks of back pay at the higher rate, as if their raises had been in place since January. Whatley received a check for $10,123.20. Perera got $11,930.40, Connolly $11,964.80. And Schuler took home $12,825.61 for a single 2-week pay period....

http://www.plunderbund.com/2011/09/03/sena...

I just got back from our county auditors office. We have a homestead act for elderly and disabled property owners. I went in to get the forms for my husband who was just declared disabled by the SS admin. This "lady" was pretty curt, she acted like I was trying to take something from her. She asked in a rather gruff way.."do you intend to see a doctor or what?" I told her we already had a letter of determination from the SS admin and she all but threw the form at me. Said they can't collect them till Jan 1. I'm thinking someone must have pissed in her cheerios this morning or she is a repug. What do you think?

I don't know why but our luck has been holding out so well... last week I posted about my hubby getting his disability approved, well today was MY turn. I've been having medical issues, having to do with menopause, The doc was worried about certain things and wanted a biopsy done. Well I went in this morning for results and...IT'S NOT CANCER!!!!! not even any signs of pre-cancer and the problem doesn't even require surgery, medication can/should take care of it. Now is that good news or what?

little carry out down the road, but it's better than nothing. She's been living at home and without a job for 3 years. She's starting back to school in the fall and this is exactly what she wanted/needed to help with expenses.

My son is married and has three children. His wife went to a different state with the children to visit her parents. She has been there about a month. Now she tells him she's not coming back. What if anything can he do? He doesn't have money for a lawyer. Help please.

My SO is diagnosed and suffering from Menere's disease, it is an inner ear problem that messes up your balance, including sever vertigo and nausea. He files for a disability in March, we've gone through all the steps..paper work, their doctors, test and more tests, so my question is how long before you get a yea or a nay? He's been getting the "reviewing the medical portion of your claim" now for about 5 months, almost 6. Anyone have any info.. a ray of hope...anything? Oh and BTW this is one of the diseases they have listed on their list of allowable claims.

When Michael Fishbach set out for his day of boating around the beautiful waters of the Sea of Cortez, he probably didn't think that it would be the day he and his friends would become wildlife heroes. As luck would have it, that's exactly what happened.

The group came upon a stranded humpback whale who was so tangled in a mesh of nylon netting that she was beginning to drown, and as Fishbach noted in this video, was possibly an hour from death. The crew worked tirelessly for more than an hour to free the stranded whale and, to their elation, eventually succeeded. Then, magic happened.

For miles on their ride home, the whale put on a beautiful show -- perhaps to say "thank you" to her rescuers?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/14/h...

group was thinking of sending care packages and was wondering how to find names of some local service members. Is there a phone number, web site, link, anything? Thanks in advance.