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POPSOperation Brimstone Operation Brimstone boasts two striking features: 1. It will include for the first time units of the US Expeditionary Combat Command, who are trained to operate in shallow coastal waters and rivers, such as the coastal waters of the Persian Gulf and the small islands around its chokepoint, the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian Revolutionary Guards marine units are posted on these islands. The international force will have to control the islands to ensure oil shipping freed passage out to world markets. 2. The Roosevelt’s decks will for the first time host French Rafale fighter jets which will share space with US warplanes, while the only French carrier Charles de Gaulle undergoes maintenance.
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POPSGOP Convention Lacks Enthusiasm I wonder if they'll realize that forced enthusiasm looks even worse than no enthusiasm? The piece also tells us that while Obama can expect good coverage during bona fide swing state Colorado's DNC, McCain's down double-digits in Minnesota -- happy photo ops aren't nearly as likely as big protests.
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POPSTravel Writing, Courtesy of Uncle Sam I knew that Roosevelt's New Deal created government jobs for blue collar workers. But who knew that travel writers also benefited -- including the likes of Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Eudora Welty? My capitalist tendencies notwithstanding, I can't help but be charmed by writer-employment schemes. Doubly charming (to me anyway): This piece is about my former home state of Washington.
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POPSObama Turns FDR Upside Down assuming the same life expectancy. But the principle remains that as workers’ wages rise so do the taxes they pay, and so do the benefits they will get from the system. Although the formula connecting benefits to tax payments or “contributions” has evolved slightly over time, it still adheres to this basic message. Today, what Social Security terms a “low-wage” worker will pay (in present value terms) $77,197 over his or her lifetime and get $112,261 in benefits. A median-wage worker earning $42,000 will pay $171,550 and get back $187,085. A “high-wage” worker making $67,000 will pay $274,480 and get back $245,085. Sen. Obama would do away with this principle by requiring higher-end workers to pay taxes without getting any extra benefits linked to their higher contributions. This would be a big step toward turning Social Security from a contributory pension scheme into just another welfare program.
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POPSThe symbolic blunder - symbolic in many ways How timely. I recently clipped some things about FDR's NRA. Apparently, I am not the only one that notices the blatant attempt to inspire a reactionary movement to the 1930's fascism. More from article: "The NRA attempted to "organize" the U.S. economy from the largest corporations to the smallest Mom n' Pop store. Businesses were encouraged to sign up with the proviso that they would be able to write their own rules for their industries, effectively turning them into cartels. Member businesses were allowed to place the Blue Eagle in their windows, along with the slogan "We Do Our Part". "
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POPSYesterday was the 64th Anniversary Click on the link= Yesterday was the 64th Anniversary For complete story. I am of that era of learning and expanding our horizons. Of having a better life then my parents. But the past 30 years or more I have seen the raping of that life. And I don't see any change for the better.
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POPSLittle Chance for McCain; If any. “McCain shouldn’t win it,” said presidential historian Joan Hoff, a professor at Montana State University and former president of the Center for the Study of the Presidency. She compared McCain’s prospects to those of Hubert Humphrey, whose 1968 loss to Richard Nixon resulted in large part from the unpopularity of sitting Democratic president Lyndon Johnson.
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POPSHistorians Give McCain Slim Odds Add this to the mountain of evidence that the GOP is headed for a beating in the fall. Remember, polling this far out isn't anything close to predictive.
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POPSREMEMBERING MODERN HISTORY’S GREATEST CRIME Why so silent on this most enormous crime of European history? Might it have something to do with the fact that most of the senior officers of Stalin’s Cheka, or secret police, were Jewish, including Kaganovitch & Stalin? Compensation for Russians, Chechans, Ukrainians? Do not hold your breath.
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POPS D-Day In Context Perhaps that's because it would draw parallels between those who stormed the coast of France in 1944 and those who are fighting now -- and winning -- a war against radical Islam. Unlike those who braved their way into Hitler's Fortress Europe, the young Americans fighting today's battles reap few accolades from the potentates of the press or the liberal "leadership" in Washington. A recent editorial warned about Iraq: "Don't look now, but the U.S.-backed government and army may be winning the war." And it took to task those who comprise "the 'this-war-is-lost' caucus." The victories over al-Qaida and the Shiite militias in Iraq, against the Taliban and Osama bin Laden's remnant in Afghanistan, have been won by U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen, guardsmen and Marines -- and the new allies in these countries. Those who landed on the beaches of Normandy 64 years ago were American heroes. So are those who serve today.
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POPSJames Warburg He has gained some notoriety for the following quote attributed to him: "We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The question is only whether world government will be achieved by consent or by conquest." (Feb. 17, 1950, to the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations)
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POPSFamous Home Schoolers funny how so many of the people from the past that we admire were at least partially educated outside of the public school system
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POPSValor against hopeless odds Almost as many U.S. troops were killed in this one battle than after 4 years of battle in Iraq. Did America's loony left howl at Roosevelt, or blame the secretary of war? What has happened over these 60 odd years, is that the liberals have become cowards, and unswerving in their desire to undermine the government and our duly elected leaders in a time of war. The true definition of traitors.
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POPSPat Buchanan 1971 memo: Use Abortion to Split Catholics, Social Liberals The Nixon White House didn’t enact all of these recommendations, but it would be hard to find a more succinct and unapologetic blueprint for Republican success in the conservative era. “Positive polarization” helped the Republicans win one election after another—and insured that American politics would be an ugly, unredeemed business for decades to come. A strategy that has been very effective, using the citizens of the country as pawns in their power game. Pretending to care about abortion, taxes and welfare - when they could actually care less. As with race, those issues elicit highly emotional responses and well reasoned arguments will not work because of anti-intellectualism fostered by an elite. And the game is still open and the pawns are still playing. Imagine that.
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POPSPresidential Strokes Interesting factoid: Almost a quarter of the nation's presidents suffered strokes, according to Loyola University Hospital neurologist Dr. Jose Biller. It makes a lot of sense considering that strokes are more common in men and, according to the American Heart Association, your chances of having a stroke doubles for every decade of life beyond age 55. A poor diet and physical inactivity can also play roles. Check out my article examining the negative health effects of running for president, too: http://www.forbes.com/health/2008/02/25/health-hazardous-campaign-forbeslife-cx_avd_0225prezhealth.html
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