tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post840316378466898299..comments2024-03-28T21:41:52.558-04:00Comments on The Elephant Bar: Who are the major fighting forces in Syria who have for years been holding the line against ISIS? Answer: the Syrian army, Hezbollah troops from Lebanon, and Iranians, backed by Putin’s Russia.Deuce ☂http://www.blogger.com/profile/13472858446242700869noreply@blogger.comBlogger137125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-43604622444335823082014-09-30T01:01:56.421-04:002014-09-30T01:01:56.421-04:00IS made great headway, today, against the Kurds at...IS made great headway, today, against the Kurds at the Turkish border. They continue to grow in numbers. <br />allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15605114251615293411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-31553456257660674692014-09-30T00:56:42.371-04:002014-09-30T00:56:42.371-04:00They did not burn ancient irreplaceable manuscript...They did not burn ancient irreplaceable manuscripts. They are not destroying the patrimony of humankind in places such as Nineveh.<br /><br />Israel's orthodox jews won't be burning anyone; they are cowards.<br /><br />For the record, nothing surprises me about the misadventures of ultra-orthodox jews. Today some of the top leaders in the Rabbinate were sentenced to prison for defrauding the government of about 350M shekels. These holy men were selling certificates of ordination to bidders. These certificates guarantee a government monthly stipend running into thousands of shekels per month to each bogus rabbi created thereby. In my opinion, much of the Rabbinate is hopelessly corrupt. I despise them for the damage they do to Jews who won't enter a synagogue because of them.allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15605114251615293411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-57347353655231660942014-09-30T00:54:18.662-04:002014-09-30T00:54:18.662-04:00" It would not surprise me if an armistice of..." It would not surprise me if an armistice of some sort is reached and temporary boundaries drawn partitioning Iraq. "<br /><br />I hope that happens. Into three parts. <br /><br />If ISIS were being routed their savagery would likely grow, not lessen.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877200182060537865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-19402487365705557492014-09-30T00:52:15.935-04:002014-09-30T00:52:15.935-04:00The only way to grow the economy in a way that ben...The only way to grow the economy in a way that benefits the bottom 90 percent is to change the structure of the economy. At the least, this requires stronger unions and a higher minimum wage.<br /><br />It also requires better schools for the children of the bottom 90 percent, better access to higher education, and a more progressive tax system.<br /><br />GDP growth is less and less relevant to the wellbeing of most Americans. We should be paying less attention to growth and more to median household income.<br /><br />If the median household’s income is is heading upward, the economy is in good shape. If it’s heading downward, as it’s been for this entire recovery, we’re all in deep trouble.<br />Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-18905502664624769102014-09-30T00:50:46.699-04:002014-09-30T00:50:46.699-04:00It used to be that economic expansions improved th...It used to be that economic expansions improved the incomes of the bottom 90 percent more than the top 10 percent.<br /><br />But starting with the “Reagan” recovery of 1982 to 1990, the benefits of economic growth during expansions have gone mostly to the top 10 percent.<br /><br />Since the current recovery began in 2009, all economic gains have gone to the top 10 percent. The bottom 90 percent has lost ground.<br /><br />We’re in the first economic upturn on record in which 90 percent of Americans have become worse off.<br /><br />Why did the playing field start to tilt against the middle class in the Reagan recovery, and why has it tilted further ever since?<br /><br />Don’t blame globalization. Other advanced nations facing the same global competition have managed to preserve middle class wages. Germany’s median wage is now higher than America’s.<br /><br />One factor here has been a sharp decline in union membership. In the mid 1970s, 25 percent of the private-sector workforce was unionized.<br /><br />Then came the Reagan revolution. By the end of the 1980s, only 17 percent of the private workforce was unionized. Today, fewer than 7 percent of the nation’s private-sector workers belong to a union.<br /><br />This means most workers no longer have the bargaining power to get a share of the gains from growth.<br /><br />Another structural change is the drop in the minimum wage. In 1979, it was $9.67 an hour (in 2013 dollars). By 1990, it had declined to $6.84. Today it’s $7.25, well below where it was in 1979.<br /><br />Given that workers are far more productive now – computers have even increased the output of retail and fast food workers — the minimum wage should be even higher.<br /><br />By setting a floor on wages, a higher minimum helps push up other wages. It undergirds higher median household incomes.<br />Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-74652195772009315022014-09-30T00:48:55.434-04:002014-09-30T00:48:55.434-04:00"They didn't have the numbers, or the eco..."They didn't have the numbers, or the economic power."<br /><br />As was said by that handsome S.O.B. Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind -<br /><br />"No cannon, darling."<br /><br />Ah, here he is, now playing guitar in another life -<br /><br />http://www.rhettbutler.org/Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877200182060537865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-50074564282295852422014-09-30T00:47:59.815-04:002014-09-30T00:47:59.815-04:00But the wealthy aren’t investing in new companies....But the wealthy aren’t investing in new companies. Between 1980 and 2014, the rate of new business formation in the United States dropped by half, according to a Brookings study released in May.<br /><br />Corporations aren’t expanding production or investing in research and development. Instead, they’re using their money to buy back their shares of stock.<br /><br />There’s no reason for them to expand or invest if customers aren’t buying.<br /><br />Consumer spending has grown more slowly in this recovery than in any previous one because consumers don’t have enough money to buy. <br /><br />All the economic gains have been going to the top.<br /><br />The Commerce Department reported last Friday that the economy grew at a 4.6 percent annual rate in the second quarter of the year.<br /><br />So what? The median household’s income continues to drop.<br /><br />Median household income is now 8 percent below what it was in 2007, adjusted for inflation. It’s 11 percent below its level in 2000.<br />Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-69273338280542593362014-09-30T00:45:51.702-04:002014-09-30T00:45:51.702-04:00
Why the Economy is Still Failing Most Americans
...<br />Why the Economy is Still Failing Most Americans <br /><br />Sunday, September 28, 2014 <br /><br />I was in Seattle, Washington, recently, to congratulate union and community organizers who helped Seattle enact the first $15 per hour minimum wage in the country.<br /><br />Other cities and states should follow Seattle’s example.<br /><br />Contrary to the dire predictions of opponents, the hike won’t cost Seattle jobs. In fact, it will put more money into the hands of low-wage workers who are likely to spend almost all of it in the vicinity. That will create jobs.<br /><br />Conservatives believe the economy functions better if the rich have more money and everyone else has less. But they’re wrong. It’s just the opposite. <br /><br />The real job creators are not CEOs or corporations or wealthy investors. The job creators are members of America’s vast middle class and the poor, whose purchases cause businesses to expand and invest. <br /><br />America’s wealthy are richer than they’ve ever been. Big corporations are sitting on more cash they know what to do with. Corporate profits are at record levels. CEO pay continues to soar.<br />Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-33920051888325362702014-09-30T00:43:05.306-04:002014-09-30T00:43:05.306-04:00Yes, Bob, the story came from a disreputable sourc...Yes, Bob, the story came from a disreputable source, trusted by millions. "He who judges all" has a readership of four? <br /><br />Yesterday, Britain's recently retired Army Chief said the mission in Iraq is hopeless. He could be wrong, but those Iraqi Army boots generally seem to be running backward. Iraq cannot be governed without a military. It hasn't one. allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15605114251615293411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-78690122196009210392014-09-30T00:34:01.182-04:002014-09-30T00:34:01.182-04:00The Iraqi Army is a figment of imagination. Native...The Iraqi Army is a figment of imagination. Native Americans fought bravely against the well armed armies of Europe and later the U.S. The political leadership of the West intended to exterminate them and nearly did. That is a rather large difference.<br /><br />If the U.S. put boots on the ground, with all that entails, these savages would be ground into the dust in weeks. Since the U.S. has no such intention, I would hesitate writing IS off. It would not surprise me if an armistice of some sort is reached and temporary boundaries drawn partitioning Iraq. <br /><br />The hatreds among the three dominate Islamic sects in Iraq are so great, there will not be peace. Moreover, it is not in the interest of Saudi Arabia, Iran, or Russia that there be peace. Saudi Arabia needs the security of an indefinite American presence as a barrier against Iran. Iran needs an indefinite presence to secure the security of its vassals, the Iraqi government. Russia needs the U.S. diverted to carry out its European adventures. It was reported today that the German Army is not prepared to face a medium level military threat. That must be music to Mr. Putin's ears.allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15605114251615293411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-48262926595095122782014-09-30T00:20:29.532-04:002014-09-30T00:20:29.532-04:00When were you put on the No Fly List, Jack?When were you put on the No Fly List, Jack?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877200182060537865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-68170060988374629392014-09-30T00:17:47.881-04:002014-09-30T00:17:47.881-04:00Just like you, a sham, and misinformation............Just like you, a sham, and misinformation.........Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877200182060537865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-21574989431404573032014-09-29T23:42:12.117-04:002014-09-29T23:42:12.117-04:00When the American Indian fought the European conqu...When the American Indian fought the European conquerors they won a few "battles," but they never had a chance.<br /><br />They didn't have the numbers, or the economic power. The Daesh are in the same boat. They'll win an isolated skirmish, here and there (for awhile,) but they are, as the great military strategist from Mississippi put it, Daid Men Walkin'.Rufus IIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05297231055991566183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-32025700159041155052014-09-29T23:05:04.732-04:002014-09-29T23:05:04.732-04:00Jack, just how many civilians did you execute?Jack, just how many civilians did you execute?What is "Occupation"https://www.blogger.com/profile/02054075097495500689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-15151022668936905092014-09-29T23:04:44.994-04:002014-09-29T23:04:44.994-04:00Israel would accept a Jeffersonian democracy in Sy...Israel would accept a Jeffersonian democracy in Syria, however the truth?<br /><br />ISIS and Assad are both nazi Jihadists.<br /><br />Just like the kind of group our own Jack Hawkins served in when he was a hired gun in Central America.What is "Occupation"https://www.blogger.com/profile/02054075097495500689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-53001877977876689642014-09-29T23:03:19.184-04:002014-09-29T23:03:19.184-04:00Yep, it is a savage culture that would stoop to bo...Yep, it is a savage culture that would stoop to book burning.<br /><br /><i>A hundred years before the advent of Hitler, the German-Jewish poet, Heinrich Heine, had declared:<br /><b> "Wherever books are burned, human beings are destined to be burned too."</b><br /><br />On the night of May 10, 1933, an event unseen in Europe since the Middle Ages occurred as German students from universities once regarded as among the finest in the world, gathered in Berlin to burn books with "unGerman" ideas. </i> …. http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/triumph/tr-bookburn.htm<br /><br /><i>May 20, 2008 - Orthodox Jews burn hundreds of New Testaments in latest act of violence against Christian missionaries in Israel. ... The Maariv newspaper reported Tuesday that hundreds of students took part in the book-burning. . . . </i><br />https://www.google.com/search?q=israel+book+burning&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb<br />Jack Hawkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00342056653466462640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-39110672905840346232014-09-29T23:01:05.894-04:002014-09-29T23:01:05.894-04:00Seems about right, the only contributor here at th...Seems about right, the only contributor here at the Elephant Bar that favors inserting US combat troops into the battle is Robert Peterson, the man who admitted to being a draft dodger.Jack Hawkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00342056653466462640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-86146723254433896432014-09-29T22:59:19.021-04:002014-09-29T22:59:19.021-04:00There is only one source for this story, it is a s...There is only one source for this story, it is a sham, misinformation.Jack Hawkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00342056653466462640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-11279977590896491272014-09-29T22:37:58.693-04:002014-09-29T22:37:58.693-04:00http://www.businessinsider.com/isis-is-getting-clo...http://www.businessinsider.com/isis-is-getting-closer-to-baghdad-2014-9<br />ISIS Seems To Be Getting Closer And Closer To Baghdad<br /><br />“'The Islamic State are now less than 2km (1.2 miles) away from entering Baghdad. They said it could never happen and now it almost has,' Canon Andrew White of the Foundation for Relief and Reconciliation in the Middle East, a British-based charity that supports Iraq’s only Anglican church in Baghdad, said on his Facebook page early Monday morning. 'Obama says he overestimated what the Iraqi Army could do. Well, you only need to be here a very short while to know they can do very, very little.'”allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15605114251615293411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-43135954532905943312014-09-29T22:15:59.694-04:002014-09-29T22:15:59.694-04:00https://screen.yahoo.com/troops-think-deployment-f...https://screen.yahoo.com/troops-think-deployment-fight-isis-145113667.html<br />What Troops Think About Deployment to Iraq (Military Times)<br /><br />70% against U.S. boots on the ground<br />allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15605114251615293411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-48345114869135167052014-09-29T22:11:35.192-04:002014-09-29T22:11:35.192-04:00Curried beef, a favorite of the Gorkhas, will be a...Curried beef, a favorite of the Gorkhas, will be available. Yes, there will be yogurt and saffron. allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15605114251615293411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-42039198194883988122014-09-29T22:09:12.576-04:002014-09-29T22:09:12.576-04:00http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-29/iraqi-tro...http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-29/iraqi-troops-trapped-by-islamic-state-as-fighting-rages-in-west.html<br />Islamic State Overruns Iraq Army to Seize Towns, Official Says<br /><br />"The militant group has captured Albu Etha and al-Hamdhiya, Faleh al-Issawi, deputy head of Anbar provincial council, said by phone today. He said some Iraqi troops were killed and others deserted their posts, without giving details."allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15605114251615293411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-31176976634057489572014-09-29T21:44:19.889-04:002014-09-29T21:44:19.889-04:00
Obama Invites Indian Leader to Dinner While He Is...<br />Obama Invites Indian Leader to Dinner While He Is Observing Religious Fast<br />Administration under fire for perceived insensitivity to Hindu traditions<br /><br />Narendra Modi / AP<br /><br />BY: Adam Kredo <br />September 29, 2014 3:30 pm<br /><br />The Obama administration was grilled on Monday for inviting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a state dinner while he is fasting as part of a Hindu religious observance, a move that has been criticized by some as insensitive.<br /><br />Obama will host Modi Monday evening at the White House “for a private dinner” that will also be attended by Vice President Joe Biden, the White House announced Monday morning. The event is closed to the press.<br /><br />However, the administration appears to have forgotten that Modi is in the middle of carrying out a religious fast in observance of the Hindu navratri, in which the faithful abstain from food, according to reports............<br /><br />http://freebeacon.com/politics/obama-invites-indian-leader-to-dinner-while-he-is-observing-religious-fast/<br /><br /><br />Beef steaks are probably on the White House menu.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877200182060537865noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-65181392612342657702014-09-29T21:26:45.584-04:002014-09-29T21:26:45.584-04:00The only good rat is a lab rat.The only good rat is a lab rat.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21297199.post-5764857343196893232014-09-29T21:24:29.203-04:002014-09-29T21:24:29.203-04:00http://www.france24.com/en/20140929-pillaging-iraq...http://www.france24.com/en/20140929-pillaging-iraqi-artefacts-unesco-warns/<br />IS pillaging Iraqi artefacts, UNESCO warns<br /><br />"In another incident, "Daesh gathered over 1,500 manuscripts from convents and other holy places and burnt all of them in the middle of the city square," he added."<br /><br />We are not allowed to touch the "holy" Quran without gloved hands. "Some folks need killin.'"<br /><br />...savages...allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15605114251615293411noreply@blogger.com