http://graffitipolitti.gather.com Recent Articles on Gather by GRAFFITI POLITTI on Gather en-us Copyright Gather Inc 2009 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 06:19:12 GMT 2010-01-05T06:19:12Z en-us Copyright Gather Inc 2009 http://www.gather.com/images/header/logo_gather.gif http://www.gather.com/ http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976816&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace But I guess things are different now, given that Reid got key votes for the Senate health care bill by…using the manager’s amendment to cut deals. Hypocrite. . . . Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:36:13 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976816&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-05T03:36:13Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976815&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace On one hand, as Allah points out , they have a point.  International Islamic terrorism, the principle threat against which these security measures are to protect us against, is a multi-national . . . Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:36:12 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976815&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-05T03:36:12Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976814&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace As long as you’re doing it while they’re still young, apparently . It found that children who are smacked before the age of six perform better at school when they are teenagers. They . . . Tue, 05 Jan 2010 03:36:11 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976814&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-05T03:36:11Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976083&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Sure.  Why not.  The auto bailouts were about propping up America’s unionized domestic auto industry for the UAW.  Why wouldn’t the “stimulus” be about preserving . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:12:15 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976083&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-04T19:12:15Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976082&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Sigh. To be honest, were it not for we taxpayers being forced to support NPR I wouldn’t have a problem with this.  Free speech and all that. MSNBC has aired worse, but they’re . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:12:14 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976082&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-04T19:12:14Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976081&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace The people who are investing in American treasuries are losing money : Treasuries were the worst performing sovereign debt market in 2009 as the U.S. sold $2.1 trillion of notes and bonds to fund . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:12:13 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976081&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-04T19:12:13Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976080&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace The next decade ! A dismal job market, a crippled real estate sector and hobbled banks will keep a lid on U.S. economic growth over the coming decade, some of the nation’s leading economists . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:12:12 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976080&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-04T19:12:12Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976079&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace On December 30th frequent Obama critic Dick Cheney had some comments about Obama’s handling of the war on terror published in Politico .  Later that same day, the Obama administration responded . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:12:11 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976079&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-04T19:12:11Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976078&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Since opening his own radio station Scott Hennen has started a tradition of picking a “North Dakotan of the Year” as nominated by his listening audience. I think that’s a worthy project.  . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:12:10 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977976078&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-04T19:12:10Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977975691&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Happy 2010 everyone; time to welcome in a new year and all the challenges and opportunities that come with it. Politically speaking, there will be no shortage of challenges in 2010, particularly if you . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:00:23 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977975691&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-04T15:00:23Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977975690&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace International law enforcement that is really under no obligation to adhere to American law. From Neal Boortz : Right before the holidays, Barack Obama issued an executive order that didn’t . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:00:22 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977975690&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-04T15:00:22Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977975689&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace This must be that “unity” and “bipartisanship” the Democrats were talking about. After a painful final vote in the Senate the last procedural hurdle the health care bill must . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:00:21 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977975689&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-04T15:00:21Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977975688&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace One of the biggest problems with the subprime loan fiasco was banks not being diligent enough in verifying the income of loan applicants.  This happened for a lot of reasons (most because banks didn’t . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:00:20 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977975688&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-04T15:00:20Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977975414&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace And not just resigns, but resigns suddenly sending out a notification just after midnight on the day she’s to start her new job. For a while now rumors have been flying about Rep. Earl Pomeroy . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 10:48:09 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977975414&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-04T10:48:09Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977975087&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace        My question is a simple one-where do your rights end,and mine begin; That is,are the rights enumerated in our Constitution (especially the first ten) absolute or finite? . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:49:12 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977975087&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace norman chambers 2010-01-04T05:49:12Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974859&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Not that any poll number is going to deter Democrats from cramming this bill down America’s collective maw, but for what it’s worth : Fifty-three percent (53%) of voters favor a ban on . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 02:24:15 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974859&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-04T02:24:15Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974858&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace It wasn’t that long ago that Obama was talking about spending the “profits” from the TARP bailouts on additional “stimulus” programs.  Granted, Fannie and Freddie . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 02:24:14 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974858&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-04T02:24:14Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974857&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rex Murphy at The Globe and Mail thinks Time is experiencing a bit of buyer’s remorse .  That’s no doubt true, to some extent, but I’m wondering if it didn’t have more . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 02:24:13 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974857&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-04T02:24:13Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974856&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace I often say that politics is all about perception over reality.  How a policy, or how a political leader, is perceived is more important than their reality. In that vein comes an executive order . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 02:24:12 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974856&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-04T02:24:12Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974855&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace I’m sure you all remember the controversy (and the embarrassment for the Obama administration) surrounding the extremely expensive transparency site set up to allow taxpayers to track how so-called . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 02:24:10 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974855&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-04T02:24:10Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974854&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace The profanity is just the icing on the cake.  Warning: If you don’t like graphic violence or profanity, don’t watch this. I’m no prude, but what kind of a parent lets . . . Mon, 04 Jan 2010 02:24:09 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974854&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-04T02:24:09Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974629&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace This clown may as well try to tell us that the sky is purple, that up is down and that the Yankees didn’t really win the last World Series. WASHINGTON – Stronger regulation is the best . . . Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:12:16 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974629&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-03T22:12:16Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974628&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace The folks at Reason think so: Personally, the last decade has been pretty good for me.  And I think more people should use their personal situation as the measure, rather than the perception . . . Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:12:15 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974628&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-03T22:12:15Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974627&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace One former Guantanamo Bay detainee is already recruiting for al Qaeda in Yemen .  Obama himself has been ordering missile strikes in the country to disrupt al Qaeda cells there.  Former Gitmo . . . Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:12:14 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974627&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-03T22:12:14Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974626&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace One of the talking points, bleated with tiresome regularity, by one of our resident trolls, is that conservatives have "ruled" the US "for the last thirty years." Aside from noting that only the far, . . . Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:12:13 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974626&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-03T22:12:13Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974625&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace And they didn’t share the intelligence with US agencies . British security agency MI5 was aware that Nigerian bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, whose attempt to blow up a packed US plane was . . . Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:12:12 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974625&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-03T22:12:12Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974624&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace In the early part of last year, when the battle of the “stimulus” spending was raging in Congress, several Republican governors made noises about refusing some or all of the stimulus saying . . . Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:12:11 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974624&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-03T22:12:11Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974623&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace A few days ago I posted about Republican Scott Brown’s run for the departed Ted Kennedy’s seat in the Senate.  It’s a close race right now, and one that has implications beyond . . . Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:12:09 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974623&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-03T22:12:09Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974618&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace President Obama came into office with the promise of fundamentally changing the country.  Some say he has gone to far, others say he hasn't gone far enough.  However, there is one change, that . . . Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:04:05 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974618&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Poliwonk USA 2010-01-03T22:04:05Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974371&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Which isn’t something Obama can be blamed for , I think, but it does illustrate that we’re at a crossroads in that war and that we need leadership from Obama that we’re not getting . . . Sun, 03 Jan 2010 18:00:34 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977974371&grpId=3659174697239936&nav=Groupspace Rob Port 2010-01-03T18:00:34Z