a letter i wrote to the editor of AR DemGaz but they said it was too long

Subject: Editorial ''Thanks, Professor''
Comment: The editorial criticizing Paul Krugman Saturday seemed like
it contained a little misguided bias. Your optimistic cheerleading is
just the type of delusional rhetoric Mr. Krugman often cites out of
the Bush White House. Let me offer your readers some additional facts
about our economy that you failed to mention.

The value of the U.S. dollar has declined by over 30% since Bush took
office. The Bush economic experiment which is rooted in supply-side
economic theory has taken our $200 billion government surplus and run
it into a $400 billion deficit. That government surplus was an anchor
for the value of our dollar and provided some much needed cushion for
our baby boomer's entitlement liabilities. Now why does does this
matter if I am not traveling to Europe?

Inflation: 1. undue expansion or increase of the currency of a
country esp. by the issuing of paper money not redeemed in specie. 2.
a substantial rise of prices caused by an undue expansion in paper
money or bank credit.

I think that speaks for itself. Contrary to what Vice President
Cheney says, deficits do matter. This is the dirty little secret
behind the Bush economic policy. The foreign exchange market, the
largest in the world, has adjusted the purchasing power of our dollar
to acount for this massive expansion of money to cover the cost of the
war in Iraq, the tax cuts, the increase in the size of government
through the creation of a Homeland Security Department.

When you have to borrow money to cover the cost of a tax cut you are
creating money that wouldn't otherwise be in the economy. The foreign
exchange market discounts and adjusts the dollar lower to compensate
for the increased supply. This inturn drives up the prices of
commodities like food and energy. We all know how the rising costs of
food and energy are affecting our own monthly budget, but remember
inflation hits some peoples's discretionary income much differently
than others. The middle class is in effect subsadizing the tax cut
for the wealthy through the weak dollar and subsequent inflation that
occurs because it hits their budget so much harder. This is one
reason why real wages have been declining in the Bush economy.

The Bush Administration will point to increased tax receipts as proof
his policies are working but just like your 401k, adjusted for
inflation those extra tax receipts and rate of return don't compensate
for what you lost in purchasing power. Sure the Dow is at 11,000 but
priced against euros, pounds, gold or a basket of commodities it's
more like 8000. Still 30% below where it was 6 years ago. This year
the Dow is up about 5% after this correction, which by the by was
triggered by a sell-off in the dollar the very day Congress voted to
extend the tax cuts, and the dollar is down 7%. If you earn a nominal
return of 5% but lose 7% in purchasing power your real return is
negative.

I am not against tax cuts per se, but they are not without a cost.
There is no free lunch. Ponder this; Warren Buffet, one of the
richest men in the country and the greatest investor of all time, is
against the tax cuts and short the dollar.

Mayor's Decree

Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye! The Mayor of D-town hearby instates an ordinance requiring all citizens to log in to www.climatecrisis.net (Al Gore's page). Check out the book review, the upcoming film, and sign the pledge to see the film when it gets here on June 30. It's only going to be shown at Market Street Cinema. I will be checking with all of you, in yer face style, until you crack. This will not go away, it will not lose its relevance but rather will GROW LARGER AND LARGER.

Mock Lottery Picks

First prediction on the late Sportscenter had him at 12 to the NO/OK Hornets.

Chad Ford's Big Board
NAME	HT	POS	FROM	STOCK
1. Tyrus Thomas	6-9	PF	LSU
If Noah decides to stay in school, the majority of scouts have Thomas penciled in at No. 1. He's got the length, athleticism and potential that scouts dream about.
2. LaMarcus Aldridge	6-10	PF	Texas
He had an up and down tournament, but scouts feel that Aldridge is one of the few players in this draft that could be a star. His overall skill set, combined with size still make him a contender for No. 1.
3. Andrea Bargnani	7-0	PF	Italy
GMs starting to back up international scouts opinions that Bargnani might be the best player in the draft. But who has the guts to pull the trigger with the No. 1 pick?
4. Adam Morrison	6-8	SF	Gonzaga
Didn't have the dominating tournament he'd hoped for, but Morrison's stock is still in great shape. A few teams (read Seattle and Orlando) would still take him No. 1.
5. Brandon Roy	6-5	SG	Washington
Roy's stellar play for Washington in the tournament is icing on an incredible season. He might be the most complete guard in the draft.
6. Rudy Gay	6-9	SF	UConn
Gay was solid for UConn in the tournament, but you expected more than solid from a potential No. 1 pick. The tournament hurt more than helped his stock .
7. Randy Foye	6-4	PG/SG	Villanova
Great tournament for Foye. He's tough, smart, can shoot and proved that he can run a team when Kyle Lowry wasn't on the floor. Wasn't Foye's fault Villanova didn't make it to the Final Four.
8. Ronnie Brewer	6-7	PG/SG	Arkansas
Scouts are quick to point out the Brewer isn't a great shooter, but given all of the other tools he has on both ends of the floor, he's got a chance to go this high.
9. Shelden Williams	6-9	PF	Duke
Meat and potatoes big man won't be a star. But he can rebound and block shots in large volume and likes to play with his back to the basket. Given the lack of star potential in the draft, that will be enough.
10. Marcus Williams	6-3	PG	UConn
Williams may not be the most athletic or quickest point guard in the world, but he's got great court vision and he's a floor leader. Someone in the lottery is going to want a point guard.
• Top 100

More on ESPN.com

Robertson: God Says Tsunami Possible For U.S.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- The Rev. Pat Robertson says God has told him that storms and possibly a tsunami will hit America's coastline this year.
The founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network has told viewers of "The 700 Club" that the revelations came to him during his annual personal prayer retreat in January.
"If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms," Robertson said May 8.
He added specifics in Wednesday's show.
"There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest," he said.

those West Coast liberals will perish!!!!!

FBI Searches Mich. Farm for Clues on Hoffa

MILFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. - For years, there has been a rumor in the neighborhood surrounding a horse farm outside Detroit where organized crime figures used to meet. Deb Koskovich heard it two decades ago from a neighbor when she moved next door: Jimmy Hoffa was buried there.
FBI agents investigating the Teamsters leader's 1975 disappearance from a restaurant in Oakland County's Bloomfield Township, about 20 miles away, were at the farm for a second day Thursday.
Asked if they were looking for Hoffa's remains, FBI Agent Dawn Clenney said, "Could be," and declined to comment further on the agents' presence.
A law enforcement official in Washington said the search was based on information developed several years ago and verified more recently.
The information indicated there was a high level of suspicious activity on the farm the day Hoffa vanished, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing. A backhoe appeared near a barn that organized crime members had used for meetings, but that location was never used again after Hoffa disappeared, the official said.

I thought he was buried under the turf at Giants Stadium..... that would be crazy if they found him

Prodi: War in Iraq Was 'Grave' Mistake

ROME - Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said Thursday the war in Iraq was a "grave" mistake, but said Italy would remain on the front lines in the war against terror.
"We consider the war and occupation in Iraq a grave error that hasn't solved — but has complicated — the problem of security," Prodi said in his first address to the Senate as prime minister. "Terrorism has found a new base and new excuses for internal and external terrorist action."

Sir, could you please come run our country?

NSA has massive database of Americans' phone calls

The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth, people with direct knowledge of the arrangement told USA TODAY.
The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans - most of whom aren't suspected of any crime. This program does not involve the NSA listening to or recording conversations. But the spy agency is using the data to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist activity, sources said in separate interviews.
"It's the largest database ever assembled in the world," said one person, who, like the others who agreed to talk about the NSA's activities, declined to be identified by name or affiliation. The agency's goal is "to create a database of every call ever made" within the nation's borders, this person added.
For the customers of these companies, it means that the government has detailed records of calls they made - across town or across the country - to family members, co-workers, business contacts and others.
The three telecommunications companies are working under contract with the NSA, which launched the program in 2001 shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the sources said. The program is aimed at identifying and tracking suspected terrorists, they said.
The sources would talk only under a guarantee of anonymity because the NSA program is secret.
Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, nominated Monday by President Bush to become the director of the
CIA, headed the NSA from March 1999 to April 2005. In that post, Hayden would have overseen the agency's domestic call-tracking program. Hayden declined to comment about the program.
The NSA's domestic program, as described by sources, is far more expansive than what the White House has acknowledged. Last year, Bush said he had authorized the NSA to eavesdrop - without warrants - on international calls and international e-mails of people suspected of having links to terrorists when one party to the communication is in the USA. Warrants have also not been used in the NSA's efforts to create a national call database.
In defending the previously disclosed program, Bush insisted that the NSA was focused exclusively on international calls. "In other words," Bush explained, "one end of the communication must be outside the United States."
As a result, domestic call records - those of calls that originate and terminate within U.S. borders - were believed to be private.
Sources, however, say that is not the case. With access to records of billions of domestic calls, the NSA has gained a secret window into the communications habits of millions of Americans. Customers' names, street addresses and other personal information are not being handed over as part of NSA's domestic program, the sources said. But the phone numbers the NSA collects can easily be cross-checked with other databases to obtain that information.

Sensible Republicans getting pissed.. one blogger's take

http://angrybear.blogspot.com/2006/05/gop-talking-point.html

Republican Leaders Blame High Gas Prices on President Clinton

Congressional leaders attempting to pass the buck to anyone else but themselves now are blaming high oil and gas prices on Clinton's veto of the drilling program in Alaska's ANWR national refuge. Of course high oil prices have nothing to do with an invasion of Iraq or a nuclear standoff with Iran two oil producers. Suicide bombers blowing up pipelines in the Middle East probably don't drive prices higher either. That doesn't even begin to get into the value of the dollar which has been in free fall since Bush was elected and Congress turned our budget into a credit card.
Sen Frist on NBC's Today show says, "President Clinton vetoed it. Unbelievable. Passed the House. Pass the Senate. And if President Clinton had not vetoed that, we would have more than a million barrels of oil coming here every single day. That’s more oil than we import from Saudi Arabia right now. It’s a matter supply and demand. Right now we would have increase supply if it had not been vetoed by President Clinton."

That's total bullshit.

Mr. Mayor Declares May 4th National Day of Prayer, May 5th Cinco de Mayo

http://www.ndptf.org/home/index.cfm?flash=1

"Now Hear This!!! I hereby declare May 4th to be National Day of Prayer. I ask that you all pray for our troops, our razorbacks and my re-election.
I also hereby declare May 5th to be Cinco de Mayo. I ask you to drink a Pacifico and eat a bean burrito..."

uh......
Mr. Mayor, there is no god, but we'll take you up on the burrito

Iran threatens Israel if US acts "evil"

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran threatened on Tuesday to attack Israel in response to any "evil" act by the United States and said it had enriched uranium to a level close to the maximum compatible with civilian use in power stations.
The defiant statements were issued shortly before world powers meet in Paris to discuss the next steps after Tehran rejected a U.N. call to halt uranium enrichment.
"We have announced that wherever America does something evil, the first place that we target will be Israel," ISNA quoted a senior Revolutionary Guards commander, Rear Admiral Mohammad-Ebrahim Dehqani, as saying on Tuesday.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map."
Iran's deputy oil minister said there was "some possibility" of a U.S. attack on his country over its nuclear program.

Nice... Blackmail with nukes