unit731

"President Obama received a modest poll bounce after the Democratic National Convention, according to a new Gallup Poll. According to Gallup on Friday, a day after the convention concluded with Obama's speech accepting the Democratic Party's nomination for president, Obama leads Mitt Romney 48 percent to 45 percent. The poll had previously shown Obama leading Romney 47 percent to 46 percent." LINK

So, let me get this correct. Every news source is liberal . . . except Fox News?

"In 1996 Fox News was launched during the early stages of America’s great political polarization, which has since deepened into a political ice age. Fox News is the love child of cable news and political polarization. This child has demonstrated an amazing ability to make money for its parents, which is why media polarization is all the rage now. The deadly side effect from all the media polarization in our environment is reinforcing and deepening of political polarization. This is a good thing for Fox News as they need to keep the country divided in order to keep those profits rolling in." LINK

"Your cellphone is a tracking device collecting a lot more information about you than you may think, says ProPublica investigative reporter Peter Maass. "They are collecting where we are — not just at one particular moment in the day, but at virtually every moment of the day," Maass tells Fresh Air's Dave Davies. "They are also taking note of what we are buying, how we're purchasing it, how often we're purchasing it. Cell data is also very useful to law enforcement during the course of an investigation and, Maass says, not difficult to access. A report released in July by Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., revealed that wireless carriers responded to more than 1.3 million cell data requests from law enforcement in 2011." LINK

Some of it is racism. Some of it comes from folks who are ignorant. Not enough people read the newspapers, watch regular TV news, or read books. Some of it comes from the advent of the internet. Blogs now. People tend to read and listen to what they already believe. Some comes from the likes of the Koch Brothers and the groups that they fund. They and others espouse hate but in ever so subtle ways. But foremost in these folks eyes is the obtaining and the keeping of wealth at any cost. Money has a lot to do with all. The tax codes have changed incrementally in the last 20 years making some very wealthy. Extreme wealth. And some of those will do anything to keep that wealth while alive. Rupurt Murdoch and his empire including Fox News has some to do with this class warfare. Roger Ailes has been a master of this. "News" shows that are all basically scripted opinions. Fox News has brainwashed so many in that all other news is "liberal". The "main stream media" is droned over and over again as bad. The "main stream media" is somehow controlled by liberals. As if the Board of Directors of GE, Viacom, and Time Warner are somehow liberal. Then there is the social compact. What responsibility do we have for the care of others? What is society's responsibilty to take care of the elderly, the sick, the disabled, the poor, and veterans? What responsibility does government have to provide clean water and clean air? What responsibity does government have for the safety and security of its citizens? Over and over again one hears from Fox News and the likes of Rush Limbaugh and his minions that "we" must take back our government. As if someone has stolen it. Day in and day out.

MILITARY & VETERANS • Ordered the Pentagon to cover expenses of families of fallen soldiers if they wish to be on site when the body arrives back in the US (2009) • Ended the Bush-era “blackout†imposed on media coverage of the return of fallen US soldiers (2009) * Note: The media is now permitted to cover the story pending adherence to respectful rules and with the approval of the fallen soldier’s family • Ended the Bush-era “black out†policy on media coverage of war casualties (2009) * Note: Full information is now released for the first time in the War on Terror • Ordered better body armor to be procured for US troops (2009) • Funding new Mine Resistant Ambush Vehicles (2009) * Note: The old Hummers were very vulnerable to roadside explosives and an alarming percentage of our soldiers lost in Iraq were on account of IEDs • Working to increase pay and benefits for military personnel (2009) • Improving housing for military personnel (2009) • Initiating a new policy to promote federal hiring of military spouses (2009) • Ordered that conditions at Walter Reed Military Hospital and other neglected military hospitals be improved (2009) • Beginning the process of reforming and restructuring the military to a post-Cold War, modern fighting force (2009) * Note: Bush announced in 2001 his intention to do this but backed off the reforms after 9/11, which include: new procurement policies; increasing the size of Special Ops units; deploying new technologies; creating new cyber security units; etc. • Ended the Bush-era practice of awarding “no-bid†defense contracts (2009) • Improving benefits for veterans as well as VA staffing, information systems, etc. (2009) • Authorized construction of additional health centers to care for veterans (2009) • Suspended the Bush-era decision to purchase a fleet of Marine One helicopters from suppliers in favor of American made helicopters (2009) • Ordered a review of the existing “Don’t ask, don’t tell†policy on gays in the military (2010) • New GI Bill for returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan (2009) • Signed bill providing assistance for caregivers of veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan (2010) * Note: The omnibus bill does the following: Training, funding, and counseling for caregivers; promoting pilot childcare programs for women vets under treatment at the VA; independent oversight to prevent abuse; readjustment counseling for National Guard and reservist units; etc. • Eliminated co-payments for veterans who are catastrophically disabled (2010) • Fulfilled campaign promise to have combat troops (90,000) out of Iraq by August 31, 2010 (2010) • Established a new interagency task force to assist veterans owning small businesses (2010) * Note: The efforts include promoting federal contract opportunities, improve access to loans and capital, mentor assistance programs, etc. • Signed The Families of Fallen Heroes Act, which covers the moving costs of immediate family members of those lost in service (military, intelligence, and security personnel) (2010) LINK Enough said.

As a LIFE member of the VFW I can state that he would be welcomed with open arms at my VFW post. No president, no administration, has done more for the military, military families, and veterans then the current one. Sorry to read that your balls have turned black!

"On Wednesday night, Bill Clinton offered the smartest critique yet of Mitt Romney’s economic agenda — and, more importantly, the most robust defense to date of the choices President Obama has made and the direction he intends to continue taking the country I’m a former speechwriter, and this is a very difficult speech for me to review. It succeeded not because of the typical zingers, rhythm, elevated rhetoric or turns of phrase. It worked because Clinton, frequently veering off script, patiently articulated where Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan go wrong and where Obama is going right for the economy and the country. In Clinton’s world, the problem isn’t that Romney and Ryan are greedy plutocrats, just that they don’t get “arithmetic.†And he laid into Ryan’s attack on Obama for supposedly stealing $716 billion in Medicare, pointing out that it’s “exactly, to the dollar, the same amount of Medicare savings that he had in his own budget.†Clinton’s challenge was to reassure uneasy moderates that the country is not simply clawing at the dirt, but actually climbing out of a hole. It’s a deep hole, and it’ll take time, but we’re coming out of it. In my book, he made the case." LINK

Good Point. I guess that puts this subject to rest!

"George Washington: The Commander In Chief As the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army the services and achievements of George Washington are unique in the world's history." LINK

HELLO ! The friggin' guy is COMMANDER IN CHIEF ! How much higher can one go? I really have a good chuckle with some of these posts !

"In the film Saving Private Ryan an American mother sends her four sons off to World War II and very nearly loses them all. Perhaps, Ann Romney should make a date with Netflix this Mother's Day. I won't touch the recent flap-up about whether she has ever worked a day in her life. But I can say with certainty that Ann Romney has never worried a day in her life. That is, she has never worried about the safety of her children fighting overseas. The war in Afghanistan is now in its 11th year and the five Romney boys -- now in their early 30s to early 40s -- have been of prime military age all the while. But like most of today's political leadership, Ann Romney has never sent a single son, much less four or five of them, to war." LINK

You can find all sorts of garbage on the internet. Don't make it true though. But here is one for you. Hope you get all excited about this one. "DNC Makes Plans For Islamic Prayer August 29, 2012 by Bryan Nash Some 20,000 Muslims are expected to attend the Democratic National Convention. The Democratic National Convention will be supporting an Islamic Jumah prayer, a prayer said by Muslims on Fridays. The event is “intended to address the concerns and issues that are challenging to the American Muslim citizens in the 21st century.†LINK

Big News. Kelly Ripa has chosen a new co-host for TV show Live with Kelly. The new co-host is Michael Strahan. What a wonderful surprise.

I read some place that the Elders have stopped this practice. BUT . . . what is wrong with being batized multiple times? Doesn't that increase ones chances of entering into heaven?

There are all sorts of codes of ethics for these guys. Part of what makes them so special. This rogue writer has some sort of agenda. Missed a promotion he wanted or some assignment he didn't get. Could be just plain greed.

Was speaking with an FBI agent awhile back. Seems every time any national candidate comes to town all agents are taken off current cases/duties and stategically placed in crowds. If peacefull all are placed with the peacefull people. If protestors some are placed with the protestors.

"By Louis Jacobson, J.B. Wogan Published on Thursday, August 30th, 2012 at 4:38 p.m. Share this article: Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan did a walk-through of the convention hall on Aug. 30. For a Republican National Convention that began with the unveiling of a ceremonial debt clock, Paul Ryan’s charge was a doozy. During his acceptance speech, the GOP’s vice presidential nominee pinned blame squarely on President Barack Obama for the unraveling of a presidentially appointed deficit commission chaired by Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican Alan Simpson. Ryan’s comments, though, had a striking omission: He voted against the commission’s proposal." LINK Flip-Flop? Omission? Main Stream Media (again)?

“The Romney campaign has, as is strikingly evident at the Tampa convention, broken new ground in its brazen and cynical disregard for the truth,†said Thomas E. Mann, a longtime political scholar at the center-left Brookings Institution and co-author of the recent book about politics, “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks.†Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan, he added, are “counting on a mainstream press, fearful of being charged with partisan bias, of shrinking from their responsibility to report the truth.†LINK Readers can reach their own conclusions of the accuracy of said newspaper article.

"LOS ANGELES (AP) — Clint Eastwood earned plenty of bad reviews for his latest performance: a bizarre, rambling endorsement of Mitt Romney. ‘‘Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and pathetic,’’ tweeted film critic Roger Ebert as Eastwood adlibbed Thursday night to an audience of millions — and one empty chair — on stage at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. ‘‘He didn’t need to do this to himself. It’s unworthy of him.’’" LINK

"IRONTON, La. (AP) — When Hurricane Isaac whirled into the Gulf Coast this week, the federal levee system protecting New Orleans did its job. But the patchwork of floodwalls shielding subdivisions outside the city and rural fishing and farming communities was no match for the drenching storm. As the cleanup began Friday, an old debate grew more urgent: Is it worth billions of dollars to build better levees in areas that are sparsely populated and naturally flood-prone?" LINK

By Kaitlin Mulhere / Sentinel Staff | 7 comments "WESTMORELAND — Two men were killed and several others injured Saturday in an accident on Route 12 during an annual motorcycle memorial ride honoring a fallen war hero from Newport. The crash happened about 11:45 a.m. as nearly 200 motorcycles made their way from Newport to Keene. Robert Lockerby, 87, of Walpole was driving north on Route 12 near the Route 63 turnoff when he crossed the center line and struck several motorcycles, according to a news release from N.H. State Police. Witnesses said that caused a chain-reaction crash among the motorcyclists, who tried to swerve and slam on their brakes to avoid the collision. Some motorcyclists were unable to stop and ran into the first two motorcycles that had been hit head-on by the car, police said." LINK

Gosh, darn. Facts are facts. And opinions are opinions. Editorials are opinions. Sometimes editorials have facts. Sometimes editorials have opinions. Sometimes editorials have both facts and opinions. Sometimes editorials have neither facts nor opinions. The end, though is that real facts used in context are the actual truth. "In 1918, General Motors bought a farm implement manufacturing plant in Janesville, a city of 60,000 near the Illinois border. Production of Chevrolets began there in 1923. Employment peaked at 7,100 in 1978, but a series of five layoffs occurred over the next 30 years. By December 2008, when President George W. Bush authorized nearly $14 billion in loans to General Motors and Chrysler, both of which were near financial collapse, GM had already warned it might close the Janesville plant because of sagging sport-utility vehicle sales. The plant was effectively shut down on Dec. 23, 2008, when GM ceased production of SUVs there and laid off 1,200 workers. (Several dozen workers stayed on another four months to finish an order of small- to medium-duty trucks for Isuzu Motors.) So, the plant closed while Bush was still in office, about a month before Obama was inaugurated. Ryan's evidence We asked Kevin Seifert, spokesman for Ryan's U.S. House campaign, for evidence that Obama promised to keep the Janesville plant open and failed. (Ryan will be on the November 2012 ballot both for his House seat and as Mitt Romney's running mate.) Seifert cited this portion of a February 2008 campaign speech then-Sen. Obama gave at the Janesville plant: "And I believe that if our government is there to support you, and give you the assistance you need to re-tool and make this transition, that this plant will be here for another hundred years. The question is not whether a clean energy economy is in our future, it’s where it will thrive. I want it to thrive right here in the United States of America; right here in Wisconsin; and that’s the future I’ll fight for as your president." That's a statement of belief that, with government help, the Janesville plant could remain open -- but not a promise to keep it open." LINK

I think I understand what you are stating here. I'm almost sure. I did think that unbiased verified facts and statistics was the paramount of any rational discussion. But I think what you are stating is that falsehoods, distortions, and out right lies are the norm for this group of Republicans. And that the comments by Ryan, Romney, and the Republicans - they will say anything - right or wrong - true or untrue - to get elected. And if they say them over and over again, some of lesser minds can and do believe all of these falsehoods, distortions, and out right lies. Wow! I'm gonna have to go back and edit all of my posts regarding this political subject matter. What a fool I am !

by Matthew DeLuca Aug 31, 2012 12:12 AM EDT Mitt’s big RNC speech hasn’t exactly gotten rave reviews—and parts of it weren’t exactly true. Matthew DeLuca checks up on three of Romney’s claims, from the number of jobs he says he’ll create to Obama’s supposed apology tour. 1. Romney-Ryan Will Create 12 Million Jobs This sounds like a lot. But the problem with Romney’s promise here isn’t that he’s too pie-in-the-sky. It’s that these jobs are pretty much coming to us anyway. A number of economic forecasters, including Moody’s Analytics and Macroeconomic Advisers have said that the economy will add a baseline number of about 12 million jobs between 2012 and 2016 – pretty much the whole time Romney would like to put his feet up on the desk in the Oval Office. Moody’s analysts have said that this baseline is “agnostic with regard to who is elected in November.†2. Obama Apologizes for America But in a review published by the Washington Post in February of 2011, the paper ran down the supposed expressions of remorse and regret, and found that the “apology tour†was little more than an invention. 3 . Obama Will Cut $716 Billion to Medicare “His $716 billion cut to Medicare to finance Obamacare will both hurt today’s seniors and oppress innovation and jobs in medicine.†Both Romney and Ryan have followed up this line of attack against Obama, and while it has a grain of truth to it, the statements are mostly misleading. LINK