There is less than obvious beauty in this world, often times, right under our noses, perhaps far away from the banks of the Hudson, or yet again, right along those banks but lost in the shuffle of daily life.

Bob Kendall's piece on 20 June where he notes "foreigners are buying out major assets..." reminds me of the hysteria when the Japanese were buying the Arco Building in LA, Pebble Beach and Rockefeller Centre.

It's an investment. And, they couldn't pick it up and take it to Japan. And, ironically, the Japanese over paid for everything.

Foreigners have historically invested in this country b ecause of our sound economy and political stability. They're buying more because the dollar is soft.

We are the foremost advocates of globalism; which has been good for every body. We can't pick and choose to be 'globalists' one minute and isolationists the next.

Get over it; get on with it; and stop freightening the average American with talk of recession or worse.

LINK TO FULL STORY AT EDGE BOSTON

As was widely expected, on June 3, California Secretary of State Debra Bown confirmed that marriage equality opponents had successfully gathered over one million signatures which allows placement of a proposition on the November ballot that if passed, would overturn the California Supreme court decision.

Leading the local opposition to the court decision are a pair of Southern California businessmen, Howard Ahmanson, owner of Fieldstead & Co and Christian radio magnate Ed Atsinger. Both are evangelical Christians according to a May 27 report from Capital Weekly, a newspaper that covers California's state government.

But a virtual who's who of familiar right wing social conservative organizations have also converged on California and are making the overturning of the California court decision a priority. "There are a number of national religious right groups that are lending their resources to this effort," said Peter Montgomery, spokesperson at the People for the American Way, a liberal advocacy group based in Washington DC.

"An analysis of the complicated, controversial and long road to full marriage equality"

LINK TO PART ONE OF PIECE AT EDGE PUBLICATIONS

Here are some numbers liberals should keep in mind for the upcoming presidential election: 88, 75, 68, 69.

This month's decision by the California Supreme Court, overturning the state's ban on gay marriage, has launched widespread speculation about how the ruling will affect the upcoming election.

Believe it or not, Sec Spellings is already claiming that No Child Left Behind deserves credit for the modest increase in writing scores nation-wide. From a press release from the US Dept of Education.

"U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today highlighted the results of The Nation's Report Card^TM: Writing 2007. Secretary Spellings commended educators and students for the significant progress made under No Child Left Behind."

This can't be true.

In 2004, the media informed us that there was a social security crisis, that social security will face a serious shortfall in 40 or more years. President Bush's "solution" was privatization, converting a portion of social security to private accounts that would be invested in the stock market. This would, of course, mean enormous profits for stock brokers and investment companies, major contributors to the Bush-Cheney presidential campaigns.

President Bush recently vetoed legislation that would stop the CIA from using water-boarding and other harsh methods of interrogation because such methods "have a proven track record of keeping America safe."  

Last October 10, 2007,on CNBC's The Big Idea, conservative writer Ann Coulter proclaimed that Jews need to be "perfected" and that they would be better off being Christian.

Link to Full Story

excerpt:
There is a large, visible, albeit loosely organized gay community in Alabama's largest city. There are 24-hour gay bars, social, religious and political organizations, annual events, even entire neighborhoods that gays have transformed into friendly enclaves.

A new Christmas helper arrives this with the launch of the http://safetoy.mobi website specially crafted for mobile phones. Safetoy features tips on choosing and using toys safely, and the latest information about recalled toys in the US.

I came across a site mentioned on BBC News website called "Free Rice." It is a slightly silly but addictive little thing that actually adds up to helping the UN feed people. Joy and I are obsessing on it yesterday and today.

Basically, they get money from advertisers. They have vocabulary words and you pick the correct defination...for each one you get right, they donate money for 10 grains of rice to feed people through the UN. So far Joy and I made it to Vocab Level 50 four times (though we always drop back down to 48 or so as we get some wrong) and have gotten more than 11,000 grains of rice....which may be only a few good bowls of rice for someone out there, but what the hell. It's fun in a nerdy way and if enough of us do it, it can have a real effect.

Check out our cartoon on the top GOP candidates:

http://njdc.typepad.com/njd cs_blog/2007/10/new-njdc-ca rtoo.html

   So, when you get to your new home away from home. After you have straighten up and cleaned the place the way you want it! You unpack and set out the things, you will be using the next day.  So, far so, familiar!

   You, wake up in a new & strange place and now what are you going to do right after you use the facilities?

   I'm going down to inspect the conditions of the oil fields, walk the transport pipelines right to the end at Basra's seaport! The British troops are patroling the streets, chatting with the residents and...what they are doing? They are not toting any weapons! What da fug!