Let's say you purchase a new home in a development with restrictive covenants and a HOA (Home owners association) with yearly dues of $600.00 and you've been paying said dues for the past two years.
Let's say there are 100 dues paying homeowners.
Let's say the developer is in control of the dues and responsible for maintenance and up keep until the development is 100% owner occupied.
Let's say before the development is 100% owner occupied the developer goes bankrupt because the bank isn't making mortgage loans, or because the bank foreclosed on the developer because of the economy and the meltdown of the mortgage industry.
What happens to the Home owners, the HOA and the dues?
My mind, as usual, is a jumble of ideas, points of view, and angles concerning the debate about torture, or rather the investigation thereof. After a weekend of listening to Catholic and other Christian pundits criticize the late Ted Kennedy for his abortion views, I decided to see what the Church thinks of torture.
According to a memo from the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, signed by the president of the National Council of Bishops and multiple other Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders :
“Torture violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions hold dear. It degrades everyone involved – policy-makers, perpetrators and victims. It contradicts our nation's most cherished ideals. Any policies that permit torture and inhumane treatment are shocking and morally intolerable.
“Nothing less is at stake in the torture abuse crisis than the soul of our nation. What does it signify if torture is condemned in word but allowed in deed? Let America abolish torture now – without exceptions,”
Senators Pence and McCain are very upset. It seems obvious to them that President Obama is soft on those anti-Democratic forces in Iran. In the House, Eric Cantor and Dana Rohrabacher are following suit, lecturing the president on his failure to act in response to the Iranian election snafu.
This is an interesting and very important issue for the new president and he is handling it - as he handles everything, thoughtfully and carefully. He has expressed America's concern that the election does not seem to have been accepted as fair by a great number of Iranian citizens, and he has suggested that there are certainly some troublesome indicators in that regard. But it is what he hasn't done that has outraged his Republican detractors.
Members of the United Auto Workers at a monthly benefit meeting. (Photo: Getty Images)
I am an American worker, and you are damn right I want the wealth to be shared and spread. I am talking about the wealth my hard work helped to create, but was taken from me by George Bush's base, the very rich, or as I know them, my corporate bosses. For the past eight years I have watched W.'s and McCain's (Country Club First) base grab the largest share of our country's wealth. Where did they take it from? They took it from my family's pocketbook, and my co-workers' families' pocketbooks. They stole the wealth that I was trying to build for me and my family when they stripped my pension plan from me and told me to invest in a 401k. Then they stole most of that 401k and other workers' 401k savings with this economic meltdown. This was a massive transfer of wealth from the workers' pockets into the already stuffed pockets of the rich. My retirement savings and my coworkers' savings all across America have been looted by the corporate bosses, who just got bailed out while we got left out. Again!
There are but three days to go, Gentle Reader, and the McCain campaign is now down to fear and Joe The Plumber.
Those who seek to spread The Fear are resorting to fantastic schemes and amazing leaps of logic in an effort to find something to make The Fear rise in voters.
But to be honest, the crazy speculation lacks...imagination.
I believe I can present crazy speculation that is at least as interesting as what they’ve put out—and funnier to boot—and with that and the Halloween just past in mind we present the final weekend edition of the 2008 campaign cycle's blogging.
So, ya wanna hear a few debunked made up rumors that, frankly, have a lot more creative style?
I wonder how many undecideds, independents, Republicans visit this site. According to The Management a surprisingly broad and numerous array of persons visit day in and day out.
I hope that the Bobby Bright Campaign, and other Democrats -- who are sometimes skittish about just standing up to Republican bully and bluster -- will take a page from the notebook, and conscience, of Senator Chuck Hagel, a Conservative, Very "Pro Business" (as if Democrats aren't), Republican Senator from the VERY Conservative state of Nebraska.
I should note that Conservative Republican State Senator Harri Anne Smith, with her endorsement of Mayor Bright for Congress last week, demonstrated her putting State and Country before Party.
Anyway, the lesson begins:
Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel, Nebraska:
A fourth generation Nebraskan, Hagel was born in North Platte, Nebraska on October 4, 1946. He graduated from St. Bonaventure High School, Columbus, Nebraska; the Brown Institute for Radio and Television, Minneapolis Minnesota; and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Hagel and his wife, Lilibet, have two children...
Hagel served in Vietnam with his brother Tom in 1968. They served side by side as infantry squad leaders with the U.S. Army's 9th Infantry Division. Hagel earned many military decorations and honors, including two Purple Hearts.
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan nominated Hagel to serve as Deputy Administrator of the Veterans Administration, a nomination confirmed by the United States Senate. Hagel also served as Deputy Commissioner General of the United States for the 1982 World's Fair. From 1977 through 1980, Hagel was Manager of Government Affairs for The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company in Washington, D.C. From 1971 to 1977, he was Administrative Assistant to Congressman John Y. McCollister (R-Nebraska). Beginning in 1969, Hagel worked as a newscaster and talk show host with radio stations KBON and KLNG in Omaha, Nebraska.
Now, here's just a part of what Senator Hagel says about Palin, McCain, and the Republican race for the Presidency this year (article dated November 3, 2008 -- as in, it's just hitting the news stands):
"'I don't believe she's qualified to be President of the United States,' Hagel told me. 'The first judgment a potential President makes is who their running mate is - and I don't think John made a very good selection.' He scoffed at McCain's attempts to portray her as an experienced politician. 'To try to make the excuse that she looks out her window and sees Russia - and that she's commander of the Alaska National Guard.' He added, 'There is no question that this candidate is arguably the thinnest-résumé candidate for Vice-President in the history of America.' Hagel's criticisms have prompted protests from Republicans, including Senator Orrin Hatch, of Utah . . .
"For Hagel, almost as disturbing as Palin's lack of experience is her willingness - in disparaging remarks about Joe Biden's long Senate career, for example - to belittle the notion that experience is important. 'There's no question, she knows her market,' Hagel said. 'She knows her audience, and she's going right after them. And I'll tell you why that's dangerous. It's dangerous because you don't want to define down the standards in any institution, ever, in life. You want to always strive to define standards up. If you start defining standards down - "Well, I don't have a big education, I don't have experience" - yes, there's a point to be made that not all the smartest people come out of Yale or Harvard. But to intentionally define down in some kind of wild populism, that those things don't count in a complicated, dangerous world - that's dangerous in itself.'. . .."
When last we met, Gentle Reader, we were talking about more or less $150,000 in clothing and beauty services that had been purchased mostly for Sarah Palin’s use by the Republican National Committee.
Since then, we have learned that John McCain himself once tried to outlaw the very type of contribution that led to this situation, we’ve heard McCain’s campaign offer a very non-maverick-y denial...and we’ve learned that the highest paid member of the McCain campaign staff—the person who presumably has the magic touch needed to turn this thing around—will be working her magic with a makeup brush.
As we discussed yesterday, I think I could have dressed Palin for 1/3 of what the RNC paid. Yesterday we “purchased” five of the outfits I think she needs...and with half the shopping done, we’re $670 over budget.
Can she be dressed for a mere $43,000? Let’s see if we can pull it off...
So you’re the Governor of a State...but the next thing you know, you’re running for Vice President. The boss says you gotta bling up the ol’ Governor clothes—and the next thing you know, you’re having to explain how you can be the common “hockey mom” from Wasilla and how you can be clothed in more than enough money to buy Joe The Plumber’s house...both at the same time.
In the interests of telling the story fairly, I decided to conduct my own online shopping experiment.
Let’s head over to Saks and Neiman’s...and Bergdorf and Goodman’s to boot...and let’s just find out exactly what you would need to spend to look fabulous—and what you should probably be avoiding if you really want to project that whole “woman of the people” kind of thing.
That’s right folks, today, we play “Joe The Personal Shopper” for Sarah Palin.
As we've noted before, some of McCain's campaign staff and local Republican party officials seem, well, unhinged about the possibility of an Obama/Biden administration.
We've watched as Hispanic Republican officials play the race card and a women's GOP group in California playfully note that Obama's picture would fit better on a food stamp than a dollar bill. Most recently, the chairwoman of an Otero County, NM Republican women's group wrote an op ed piece titled "Why I'm a Republican," that asserted that "Obama is a Muslim socialist."
You have to ask yourself: What's wrong with these people? Didn't they pay attention at all in civics class in high school? Do they have even a passing familiarity with Article 6 of the Constitution that forbids a religious test for office?
All that's happening in other states, but we're treated to some local bile on the editorial page of the Huntsville Times too.
John McCain is all excited today, because, in his mind, Joe Biden has really Screwed It Up This Time by claiming that Obama will be tested by a foreign policy challenge, that Obama will act in a way we might not immediately trust, and that we should stand by him if it happens.
Oh My God You Have To Vote For Me, is the McCain response, because we can’t afford someone who will be tested in office.
As it turns out, Joe Biden is the smarter guy in this argument, a few calm words are in order...and I’m here today to offer a response that will set McCain’s foolishness right back on its heels.
The McCain campaign is beyond desperate, at this point, and as you might expect, the emails are full of things McCain supporters would like us to know.
I had one of those emails cross my inbox yesterday morning...and I thought to myself: “Self...since the author of this email asked me to look up her facts, maybe I should.”
So I did.
Next thing I knew, I realized I was looking at a giant load of hooey. Follow along, and I’ll show you what I mean.
Every four years, as Americans, we face a duty and a privilege. We walk into a voting booth and decide the direction our great nation will take. We elect a president and vice president and we elect legislators in the Senate and in the House of Representatives. Every election year we hear that this is the most important election since...whenever.
Well, here it comes again. I am writing to suggest that this is indeed the most important election since Abraham Lincoln's second term. In that fateful year, the republic affirmed the action Lincoln had taken to defend the inseparability of the union, an endorsement of a doctrine of indivisiblilty and unity. A defeat for Lincoln would have meant either a retreat from the concept of one nation, or a headlong rush into draconian punishments heaped on the South for its actions. But Lincoln won and even though he died for his ideals, the nation did survive, and survives to this day.
Barack Obama is a Threat To America, we are told, because he served on a board of directors and had other contacts with William Ayers, who, in the 1960s, was, or was not, involved in terrorist acts for which he was never convicted of any crimes.
So imagine how serious of a Threat To America we would have if, last month, one of the two candidates hired someone to lead their transition team—the person who would recommend who should be selected for every appointed office of the new Administration—who, at the time of the 9/11 attacks, actually worked for Saddam Hussein...and who ended up working for him for five years.
Well, one of the candidates did, and I’ll give you a hint: it wasn’t Obama.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s time to meet William E. Timmons, Sr.
Following is a letter about the Palin hate machine from a Jew in NYC to McCain's rabbis:
Rabbi Daniel Cohen, Congregation Agudath Sholom Stamford, Connecticut
Rabbi Barry Freundel Kesher Israel Congregation Washington, D.C.
Dear Rabbis Cohen and Freundel,
Please forgive the presumption -- not only don't we know one another, I'm the kind of "cultural Jew" who makes even Reform Rabbis weep.
But as far as I can tell, now that Joe Lieberman and his family have moved from New Haven to Stamford, you, Rabbi Cohen, are his primary Rabbi in Connecticut. And you, Rabbi Freundel, lead the congregation where Sen. Lieberman worships in Washington. Sen. McCain loves Joe Lieberman -- he wanted him as his running mate, if press reports are accurate. Sen. McCain listens to Joe Lieberman. Sen. Lieberman is, if you will, John McCain's rabbi.
So I thought I would write to you and ask you, as Sen. Lieberman's rabbis, to talk to Sen. Lieberman about the hatred that the McCain-Palin campaign is encouraging --- and the special understanding we Jews have of how that hatred plays out. Why this public forum? Because I feel this is an urgent moment for American Jews. And because, in this moment, the men who can perhaps do the most to help us all -- Jews, Gentiles and Muslims alike -- should be identified and challenged to step up and do the right thing. And make no mistake: Your voices do matter. If Joe Lieberman is the devout Jew he professes to be, you two are the most influential voices he can hear. He'd never listen to me. But to you -- how can he turn away?
I often think about Kristallnacht, that terrible night in Germany when it became unmistakably clear what the Nazis intended for the Jews. Almost a hundred Jews murdered, tens of thousands deported, windows smashed, businesses seized -- and hundreds of synagogues burned. Quite the "November surprise," if you will. But even after this horrific orgy of violence in 1938, there were many German Jews who didn't get it, who thought they were safe, who thought this was where it ended. Now we know better. We say "Never again." But look around you, gentlemen. History does repeat, and in this case, with spooky echoes of Germany's darkest decade. A bad economy. A search for someone who can be dehumanized and blamed. The cries for "justice". And then....? How would we recognize Kristallnacht if it happened today? My fear: It's on the horizon, and coming closer every day. Today "The Other" is Barack Obama. At a McCain-Palin rally the other day, there was a cry from a yahoo in the crowd: "Off with his head!"
John McCain and Sarah Palin have not condemned that man. Indeed, they promise to ratchet up their "questions" about Obama in the final weeks of the campaign. At this point, it seems, they'd find nothing upsetting if the audiences at their rallies showed up with torches and pitchforks. Jews, above all others, should fear this kind of hate speech. It may start with the demonization of one black man. Then it will move on to greedy Wall Streeters and "Jewish bankers" and a "liberal media" owned and controlled by Jews. [It's already happening: The Anti-Defamation League reports "a dramatic upsurge in anti-Semitic statements" on financial message boards on the Web. ] And then -- it sounds crazy, but it sounded crazy to many Jews in Germany -- the mob will come for us. Because that's where this goes. It's where it always goes. No matter where it starts, it ends with the Jews -- we're the ultimate "Other."
On your synagogue's web site, Rabbi Cohen, I note that you have a large family. Six daughters? Mazel tov. We have only one, but she is as precious to us as your girls are to you and your wife, and the thought of having her wrenched from my hand at some 21st century equivalent of a railroad freight yard -- it wakes me in the night. I know I am asking a hard thing of you -- to confront Joe Lieberman and ask him to talk to John McCain, and, if McCain won't stop this madness, to call upon Sen. Lieberman to condemn his friend. But maybe if I make this request both public and personal -- maybe if I invoke the images of Germany, just seven decades ago -- and ask that you do what you can to keep our children from harm, you will see how crucial this moment is to each and every Jew. And how much power you have to help us, all of us, who dare to hope for better from this country but find ourselves, in the middle of the night, awake and terrified.
A healthy and productive New Year to you and yours.
Recent presidential polls show McCain with a 20 point lead in Alabama, which confuses people working on the ground game here in the state. I've volunteered for campaigns in Alabama since 1984, and I've never seen this level of excitement among volunteers and the public. There's a disconnect between the polls and personal experience.
For instance, in Madison County, we're having a record-setting campaign. Volunteers are streaming in, eager to canvass, phone bank, or whatever's necessary to support the Democratic ticket.
It's not just excitement about Obama; people are taking signs for state and local candidates, writing letters to the editor, and donating time and money to help down ticket races.
So, I started to wonder. What's it like in the rest of the state? I asked county chairs around Alabama to describe the activity in their counties.
Read their quotes from around the state on the flip. And hey, tell us what's going on in your part of the state! Polls tell us something, ad buys tell us something, but tell us how things "feel" on the ground to you. Because that's also a leading indicator of excitement and turnout.
Oh, and the shirt pictured is from the Alabama Democratic Party. We have them for sale in Madison County too.
So the second debate is in the books, my friends, and it seems that McCain is not getting out the message as well as he might wish.
I have no doubt that some of the problem is related to McCain’s policies as he presents them...but to be completely honest, there may be an additional factor.
To put it as bluntly as possible: McCain looks a little...creepy.
And it’s not just me: The Girlfriend was mentioning how creepy he looked in the debate as we talked about it this morning. Ask around, and someone might describe him that way to you.
Why is that so, how is this observation going to affect McCain going forward; and most important of all...how does this connect to the Burger King and the design of video game characters?
To help answer the question, let me introduce you to Dr. Masahiro Mori.
I am almost as old as John McClone. I have not had cancer and the debilitating treatments associated with it. I am pretty alert mentally (one man's opinion).
BUT, I know that I do not learn new things with the speed and ease that was once mine I do have to think for a few moments to remember the name of that repairman that came to fix the fireplace, or the name of the insecticide that is safe to use on Danish Daffodils.
I find myself dithering when asked to make an important decision, lacking the instant clarity that I once had. In short, I would be a very bad candidate for President. But with all that, I believe I am sharper and better fit for the office than John McClone.
In what I viewed as a more interesting debate because of its townhall style, I fully expected McCain to win this one. Clearly, from the instapolls, the talking head spin afterwards, and the focus groups, Barack Obama claimed victory.
Obama seemed more calm, and in the townhall, I believe his physical height aided in perception. McCain, short, angry, weird flailing arms, horrible jokes, and condescending attitude just didn't come off well. It was almost reminiscient of 1992's Bush-Clinton-Perot townhall debate.
McCain's attacks are simply pushing voters away, while it seems the opposite is true for Obama.
With Obama's poll numbers higher today than they ever have before, and with most electoral vote watch blogs showing a possible Obama landslide, I feel comfortable where we are today.
In addition, there are a number of Senate races coming into play, including Kentucky, Georgia and Minnesota.
I have a rant and a push for a cause - hear me out, even if you don't agree with my political position - I feel you will agree with what I have to say.
John McCain's negative campaigning is bringing about some rather negative parts of our country. I am deeply disgusted by what is going on with it. (I don't agree with Obama with his push back using negative campaigning either, but McCain's campaign is doing something that I very much do not like.)
One rally with McCain had someone yeah a response to McCain's question that asks "Who is Barack Obama?" The person yelled "A Terrorist"
A rally with Palin, someone shouted to "Kill Him" - cannot be confirmed if they meant Obama or Bill Ayers - either case, shouting "Kill Him" during a presidential election in potential reference towards a presidential candidate - this is unacceptable.
And to make matters worse, Racism is coming back.
People are using the "N" word towards Obama
We have people calling Obama a Muslim with the idea that he is a radical terrorist from Africa.
We have people introducing Palin using Obama's name and making reference to his middle name of "Hussein" to connect the dots between our hatred towards Islam and him.
Hate against the media for Katie Couric's interview with Palin - Palin is using this as an excuse to get people angry at the media.
Written in a story by the Washington Post, some of this hatred & racism is causing innocent press workers to be targeted: "At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, "Sit down, boy." - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100602935.html
Palin will not do a Press Conference; when she does an interview and it goes bad, she blames the reporter and the media; reporters are barred from mingling with the crowds at gathering because "there have been negative things written in the past and they aren't going to put up with it."
Apparently feeling there’s no other way to win, the McCain campaign is now trying to “go negative” in an effort to make Obama unelectable.
Obama has tried to stay above that sort of thing...and while Obama may be a better human being than that...I’m not.
We will divert away from the usual high minded conversation about issues today—and we will instead lay out a few unpleasant facts John McCain would rather you forget about.
Some of today’s discussion reveals McCain’s financial corruption...then there’s McCain giving “aid and comfort to the enemy” back in his Vietnam days...and for those who may have forgotten, a few words about ugly divorces and near-bigamy and the ending of McCain’s friendship with Ronald Reagan.
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Recent presidential polls show McCain with a 
