Lloyd Winburn: His story... a portion.

ANOTHER BIG LIE TO HURT THE MIDDLEMAN

2012-02-01T15:18:00.000-08:00

Why employee pensions aren't bankrupting states

Kevin G. Hall | McClatchy Newspapers

last updated: March 06, 2011 07:46:46 PM

WASHINGTON — From state legislatures to Congress to tea party rallies, a vocal backlash is rising against what are perceived as too-generous retirement benefits for state and local government workers. However, that widespread perception doesn't match reality.
A close look at state and local pension plans across the nation, and a comparison of them to those in the private sector, reveals a more complicated story. However, the short answer is that there's simply no evidence that state pensions are the current burden to public finances that their critics claim.
Pension contributions from state and local employers aren't blowing up budgets. They amount to just 2.9 percent of state spending, on average, according to the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College puts the figure a bit higher at 3.8 percent.
Though there's no direct comparison, state and local pension contributions approximate the burden shouldered by private companies. The nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute estimates that retirement funding for private employers amounts to about 3.5 percent of employee compensation.
Nor are state and local government pension funds broke. They're underfunded, in large measure because — like the investments held in 401(k) plans by American private-sector employees — they sunk along with the entire stock market during the Great Recession of 2007-2009. And like 401(k) plans, the investments made by public-sector pension plans are increasingly on firmer footing as the rising tide on Wall Street lifts all boats.
Boston College researchers project that if the assets in state and local pension plans were frozen tomorrow and there was no more growth in investment returns, there'd still be enough money in most state plans to pay benefits for years to come.
"On average, with the assets on hand today, plans are able to pay annual benefits at their current level for another 13 years. This assumes, pessimistically, that plans make no future pension contributions and there is no growth in assets," said Jean-Pierre Aubry, a researcher specializing in state and local pensions for the nonpartisan Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
In 2006, when the economy was humming before the financial crisis began, the value of assets in state and local pension funds covered promised benefits for a period of just over 19 years.
At the bottom of Aubry's list is Kentucky, which would have enough assets to cover 4.7 years. Other states do much better: North Carolina local government pensions are funded to cover 19 years of promised benefits; Florida's state plan could cover 17 years; and California's plans about 15 years.
"On the whole, the pension system isn't bankrupting every state in the country," Aubry said.

States having the biggest problems with pension obligations tend to be struggling with overall fiscal woes — New Jersey and Illinois in particular. Many states are now wrestling with underfunding because they didn't contribute enough during boom years.
Most state and local employees government across the nation have defined-benefit plans that promise employees either a percentage of their final salary during retirement or some fixed amount. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 91 percent of full-time state and local government workers have access to defined-benefit plans.
Several states_ including Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Colorado and Washington_ have adopted competing defined-contribution plans, or a hybrid plan that provides government employees both a partial defined benefit in retirement and a supplementary defined-contribution plan.
Defined-contribution 401(k) plans divert on a tax-deferred basis a portion of pay, generally partially matched by the employer, into an account that invests in stocks and bonds. In 1980, 84 percent of workers at medium and large companies in the U.S. had a defined-benefit plan like those still predominate in the public sector. By last year, just 30 percent of workers in these larger companies were covered under such plans.

Defenders of the public pension system say anti-government, anti-union elected officials and interest groups have exaggerated the problem to score political points, and that as the economy heals, public pension plans will gain value and prove critics wrong.
"There's a window that's closing as market conditions improve and interest rates rise, the funding of these plans is going to look better than depicted by some," insisted Keith Brainard, the director of research for the National Association of State Retirement Administrators in Georgetown, Texas.

Critics of public sector pensions paint the problem with a broad brush.
"Unionized government workers have tremendous leverage to negotiate their own wages and benefits. They funnel tens of millions of dollars to elect candidates who will sit across from them at the negotiating table," said Thomas Donohue, the chief executive of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in a Feb. 24 blog post. "This self-dealing has resulted in ever-increasing wage and benefit packages for unionized government workers that often far outstrip those for comparable private-sector workers."
In a Feb. 23 radio interview, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., called federal stimulus efforts to rescue the economy "essentially a federal bailout of public employee unions." Nunes described money owed to state pensioners as a crisis "about ready to happen."
Except that two out of every three public-sector workers aren't union members.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in January that 31.1 percent of state public-sector workers were unionized in 2010, compared with 26.8 percent of federal government employees. The highest percentage of unionization, 43.3 percent, was found in local government, where police officers and firefighters work. Teachers can fall into either state systems or local government.

Ironically, in Wisconsin, where Republican Gov. Scott Walker is trying to weaken public-sector unions and reduce pension benefits, he's exempted police and firefighters, who are among the most unionized public employees. And Wisconsin's public-sector pension plan still has enough assets today to cover more than 18 years of benefits.

The most recent Public Fund Survey by the National Association of State Retirement Administrators showed that, on average, state and local pensions were 78.9 percent funded, with about $688 billion in unfunded promises to pensioners. Critics suggest that the real number is at least $1 trillion or higher, using less-optimistic market assumptions.
The unfunded liabilities would be a problem if all state and local retirees went into retirement at once, but they won't. Nor will state governments go out of business and hand underfunded pension plans over to a federal regulator, as happens in the private sector. State and local governments are ongoing enterprises.
The flow of employees into retirement matches up with population trends in states, with Northeastern states with declining populations, particularly Rhode Island, seeing more stress on their pension systems than Southern and Western states, where there's been vibrant population growth.

Another misperception tied to the pension debate is that while the private sector has shed jobs during the economic crisis, state and local government employment has grown — and pensions along with it.
Since September 2008_ when state and local government employees numbered 19,385,000 and the economic crisis turned severe — the governments' payrolls shrunk by 407,000, to 18,978,000 this January, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
When calculating from December 2007_ the month that the National Bureau of Economic Research determined was the start of the Great Recession_ state and local government employment has fallen by 703,000 jobs amid a downturn that cost the nation more than 8 million jobs overall.
"The down economy has had an effect, and the loss of employment outside the public sector has created a contrast" said Brainard, of the National Association of State Retirement Administrators.
Also fueling backlash is the perception that state and local workers don't contribute to their own retirement funds the way private sector workers do.
Four states have non-contribution public pension plans_ Florida, Utah, Oregon and Connecticut. Missouri until recently had a non-contribution policy for state workers, as did Michigan until 1997. Michigan workers hired before 1997 still don't pay toward their pensions, and some teachers in Arkansas don't have to contribute toward theirs. Tennessee doesn't require contributions from most workers and employees in the state higher education system.
Those notable exceptions aside, most states require employee contributions. The midpoint for these contributions for all states and the District of Columbia is 5 percent of pay, according to academic and state-level research. That contribution rate climbs to 8 percent for the handful of states whose workers or teachers are prohibited from paying into the federal Social Security program.
By comparison, private-sector workers shoulder a bit more of the burden.
In its data for 2010, Fidelity Investments, the largest administrator of private-sector 401(k) retirement plans, showed employee contribution rates in its plans averaged 8.2 percent of pre-tax pay.
Separately, the Employee Benefits Research Institution estimates that most private-sector employers match up to 50 percent of employee contributions up to the first 6 percent of salary.
The utility or burden of either type of retirement plan depends on whether the plan is measured by what it delivers to an individual, or by how much it delivers to all workers receiving retirement benefits from their employer.
"It really comes down to what you are attempting to do," said Dallas Salisbury, the president of the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Viewed through the lens of an employee, defined-benefit plans are more cost-effective at providing a pre-determined level of benefits to an employee. But the shortcoming of these plans is that they reward seniority. For workers with a shorter tenure, they're far less generous in retirement.
This fairness issue is one reason why 401(k) plans have grown steadily in prominence since the mid-1980s. From the payroll perspective of an employer, these defined-contribution plans produce at least some retirement income for the greatest number of employees, and the plans can move with employees who change jobs.

FOR JUSTICE WITH EQUITY GO WITH PARACLETE FOUNDATION

2011-04-08T16:02:00.000-07:00

Seeking Justice with Equity

*Paraclete: Advocate, comforter; intercessor, helper. (Biblical: Holy Spirit)

American Patriot

Dear Reader:

Personal Liberty and Civil Rights are ours by Nature’s Law—by God. They are not a gift of any Constitution of Act of a legislative body. The Constitution guarantees these rights, or is supposed to. So, when you see it written or hear it spoken that “the Constitution gives us” these rights, be reminded of a profound truth: these are our rights by birth and we should not to be asked to think otherwise.

The Executive Branch of our Government generally, the Department of Justice specifically, is charged with the duty of guarantying that these rights are not abridged or in any way violated. They are supposed to enforce the “guarantee.” That is their duty.

Over the years we have witnessed steady erosion of our Rights. We have seen the “enforcers” or “guarantors” become the major violators of the principles so clearly and soundly stated in our Constitution and addressed in the Bill of Rights. Whether this is through ignorance, indifference, expediency or misplaced political power which the offenders are eager to expand, it is hard to say. We intuitively know that something is wrong. When there is a time that gross assaults are made upon our Rights, or efforts to minimize them are draped in the flag, we must be wary. When our opposition to these efforts brings upon us insults and doubts about our patriotism, we must remember the admonition: Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.

We must fight back.

There are many areas where we can act to halt the erosion of our Rights. We have chosen to work in an area where there is an obvious attack, The Criminal Justice System. We know we can make a difference to ease the Financial Burden and Human Suffering evident in the System. We can help to refocus upon our Rights and how they should be “guaranteed.” In doing so we hope to be able to save literally hundreds of millions of dollars a year, lighten the burden of families—Children—and communities. At the same time, we want punishment to be applied where it is justly called for without favoritism and unnecessary. We want punishment to be acceptably swift, balanced and fair. Incarceration must involve a meaningful effective rehabilitation program.

It is proven that long sentences do not reduce recidivism. Compounding laws only create jobs for lawyers and cost more money. We want any suspicion removed that we have “the best justice system that money can buy”. We are called upon to remove from Law the vagueness of conspiracy and make sure that sentences are based upon charges that are provable and without hearsay and suspicion only. We must remove the propensity to make everything a crime—to criminalize every error or every option from the “norm.” Our Country deserves our best efforts.

We need your help and urge you to study our presentation, visit our web site and contribute as you can to help.

Lloyd Winburn

Seeking Justice with Equity

*Paraclete: Advocate, comforter; intercessor, helper. (Biblical: Holy Spirit)

TODAY THERE ARE 3,033,321 INDIVIDUALS IN PRISONS IN THE UNITED STATES

One out of every 75 American Males, Men and Boys, is in prison.

There are countless others who are on probation--- for a total approaching 7,000,000. The number is growing. This is a tremendous financial drain on our economy. With an annual cost approaching $90,000,000,000, things have to be turned around. We are applying the punishment and ignoring the causes of our problems. As much as, $45,000,000,000, can be directed to other needs annually.

To be able to focus on these numbers, consider that we are spending now about $5,000 per student per year on education while we spend more than $30,000 per year on individual prisoners in the system.

The Criminal Justice System is in a shambles. For too long we have taken the quick fix approach, abandoned the idea of rehabilitation and discarded the Constitutional mandate with regard to fairness and equity in justice. Balance is gone from the system. Prosecutors wield inordinate power while judges are hampered in their jobs.

Politicians disregard the beneficial potential of change and cringe at any suggestion that we are being “soft on crime.” Wrapped in the cloak of patriotism, in un-warranted fear and weak faith in our democratic system, we have abandoned justice with equity. We have adopted unconstitutional approaches to indictments, trials, sentencing and incarceration. More importantly, there is a well organized force out there that would have everyone--you and me--act and function within the limited confines of their own narrow ideal of freedom, individuality and civic duty. Laws are written by “nit-pickers” who feel justified to prescribe morality of their own standards at the cost of our individual freedom.

All is not lost. There are good solutions. We can save our system and bring it back into line with the Founding Fathers’ original plans for us. There is hope. The Paraclete Foundation is working to build a major force for good while, creating a nation-wide network of knowledgeable, concerned activists. We concentrate upon educating the public in general and policy makers specifically of the problems. We are deeply concerned with the problems that plague our judicial system, especially as they pertain to the sentencing and incarceration of offenders. There is needles waste and unnecessary suffering. We are striving to relieve some of the suffering of the children, wives/husbands, families and friends of those serving time in prison. For lack of funds or due to their ignorance of the Law, many are suffering unjust terms. It is inconceivable for the uninitiated to understand how many children are affected by the cruel deliberate indifference in what is happening today. We can and do help. We help with clarifying the law, making known the conditions of prisons, and point out the inequity involved in sentencing practices. We track laws and regulations in an effort to eliminate unfair and unjust practices. Our extensive educational program is carried by our associates to the far corners of the country-- into public assemblies, civic clubs, into homes, churches and lodges, at colleges and in schools at PTA meetings and school board gatherings. We present alternative measures to political leaders on a personal basis in each Congressional District, each Senatorial Office.

By direct efforts, we help file appeals, separate fact from fiction of sentencing, screen sentencing decisions for abuses, errors or oversight. We have the assistance of lawyers, paralegals, priests and parsons… citizens from all strata of life.

Ours is not a partisan enterprise. Republican or Democrat, an informed citizen will want to join with us. At stake are the lives of many children, many spouses and other members of families affected by incarceration. Unfortunately some offenders must be incarcerated for the public’s good. We work diligently to assure sentences meet certain principal objectives:

Provide assistance to those who have been unfairly victimized by the system in any way.
Assure the safety and security of persons and personal property;
Strive to prepare convicted individuals for release back into society;
Accomplish equity and fairness in all sentences;
Repair or revise the justice system to unfair, over-zealous prosecution, disproportionate sentencing, and cruel and unacceptable treatment of the incarcerated.

Increasing the prison population will not solve the problem. It serves only part of the need. More of our resources can be freed for addressing effective preventative measures. You can help us to realize our goals to make our Country safer, kinder, gentler and financially stronger. We all know of the many things right about America, but feel we can be better. This is a way to assure constant strengthening of our moral fiber. Our efforts, yours and ours, can put a stop to the erosion of our Constitutional Rights. We can and must return to a society whose values reflect the philosophy of our Founding Fathers of equality, justice, balance and fairness. FAMM... look them up.

Education, Information, Commitment, Action, Community Service---this is what we strive for. We are convinced that dedication to these key elements of our life will put us back on the path of our heritage. Please help us. contribution today.

ILL AND NOT LOVING IT

2011-03-07T15:27:00.000-08:00

I went to NC to be with my kids and grand kids for Thanksgiving and enjoyed it immensely.

On Monday after Thanksgiving, I took the bus from Jenny's home to downtown Chapel Hill and walked from Franklin Street to the UNC Med Center emergency room. It was a walk of about one mile and was easy enough. I explained that I was periodically dizzy, had some headache and difficulty walking. I was placed in wheel chair and checked in while the emergency people found that my blood pressure was up or high.

In an hour I was set with IV connection and a slew of monitoring connections and questions. I was amazed that the first question was not “Do you have insurance?” When I showed that I was covered or every eventuality, they never brought up the subject again.

Following another blood pressure review which showed that it was back down to a 'low' and other bells went off. There was an EKG taken and it showed nothing out of the normal. The problem was that I was an 83 year old and they could find nothing wrong with me.

I knew something was wrong and explained about the times I had trouble staying on my feet, went walking and hugged trees and fence posts and leaned against building to get back home. A well known neurologist came in followed by a covey of interns eager to look into my mysterious complaints. The determination was made that they should have an MRI done in full living color to at least eliminate the possibility that there was something wrong in my cranium. They found a pocket of sinus fluid, one of air and a small little lump judged to be nothing of consequence.

In all the questioning they found that I take one pill a day for Gastric Reflux and was examined recently with the gastric-intestinal prodding, if that is the way to say it. I had been found to have an infection situation in my stomach giving me a little problem which, the doctor casually said, would probably require treatment for the rest of my life.

Craig, Jennifer and Mark went to the internet and came up with the diagnosis: Sleep Apnea complicated by gastric reflux.

The neurologist dropped me, defaulting to the Internal Medicine Section where I was promptly moved and fed. It was about 9 in the evening. I had begun my stay with the registration about 10:00 AM. The parade of interns continued through the night and my 'vitals' were checked every hour on the hour through the night.

I was having a hell of a time walking... getting out of the bed and going to the bathroom. I had a special colored ban on my left arm that signaled one and all that I was not to be left alone. The monitor beeped steadily and I asked that it be turned off. “I will call you if I die or you will know I am dead by the foul smell emanating from my hind side,” I told them. They turned off the monitor, or the sound of it. The thing still was sending multicolored lines across the screen and a red light blinked silently.

There was still a headache; I was damn tired and really unconcerned that anything really bad was wrong with me.

During the following day, the hourly reviews of my 'vitals' continued; breakfast and lunch were horrible. The interns continued to parade through my room. Each had me breath while they studiously held a stethoscope against my chest, back, neck, throat, and stomach; they took my pulse and temperature and asked questions.

There was no answer as to why my walking was difficult, there was periodic dizziness and headaches.

My hearing was unimpaired: I could hear the cash register going off.

From somewhere there came the suggestion I should be sent to physical therapy where they could teach me how to walk. A cane was suggested and a walker brought in with the suggestion I should buy one and take it home with me.

When the Neurologist came in with her covey of medical students who all circled my bed and look at me as if this was the most exciting thing in their life. They were a beautiful pack of young men and women who might have been hoping they came up with the answer so they could add to their educational resume how observant, perceptive and knowledgeable they were. I am sure the famous neurologist would have cut them down with a hard look if they got too close to the truth.

Any way, I never saw an internist (that I remember) and turned down the trip to the physical therapy department.

I brought up the thought about the sleep apnea diagnosis put together by my two sons and daughter.. “OOOO, My, that is an idea, a possibility,” was the response. “There are certainly enough symptoms to support such a possibility.” That was it. The Doctor explained, “You can go home now and they will start processing you. Here is a copy of the MRI report and a prescription for physical therapy if you want it. We recommend it. If your Dr back in Arizona wants to have copies of all the other parts or your chart, he can ask for them and you will have to sign the request approving the release. By the way, have you had your flu shots, pneumonia shot?”

It took three hours to be checked out.

I shortened my stay in North Carolina and got back to Tempe. On Friday I saw the doctor I use here. And he understood the sleep apnea thing and suggested a test ASAP. He was puzzled that the NCMed people never did a chest x-ray to view the longs and showed some concern especially in the presence of coughing. He got out a fax request for the chart.

Meanwhile I walk and suffer my discomfort. I sleep 5 hours in the night and take a nap of about an hour in the afternoon with perhaps some short nap in the morning. My concentration is hampered; I make many mistakes in my work and speech and suffer CRS (cannot remember shit). My grandkids and I found a sapling down on the road through the woods that was cut and trimmed for a walking stick. I think sincerely that I can get some help to control the breathing and belching. The farting and bad breath will just have to wait. Meanwhile I have lost a good 5 pounds which pleases me and I have set up my eating routine for small amounts spread out through the day.

All I need is TLC and am getting a lot of that from my kids and grand kids and a pack of great friends who are running up their phone bills calling me... I love it! Buy Mexican telephone stock. That Ahole Carlos Slim is getting richer.

Lloyd

OUR OBJECTIVES

2010-03-31T18:09:00.000-07:00

RESPONSIBLE GLOBALISM
Lloyd Winburn
          We acknowledge and take great comfort in those things that are Right With America. There are so many good things about our country that we would not even try to enumerate all of them. We believe, however, that there is one glaring “wrong.” The wrong we address deals with the justice system.
          There is no way we can foster democracy around the world and adopt the practices of our adversaries. Being the country in the world with the largest prison population cannot or should not be a source of pride for us. Being the last major hold-out favoring the death penalty cannot speak much for our “Judean-Christian” heritage.
          Abandoning all hope for diplomatic and economic solutions, we have come to the place were we try to solve all the World’s problems with arms and armaments… Power and arrogance; bravado and the feeling that we know everything and everything we do is right. We lack humility and charity.
          We cannot do what our enemy does and call it right. The degree of harm done to our reputation and heritage in Iraq and Afghanistan by mistreating prisoners will take years to wash away. We must look at what has happened far back into our system of justice here at home and abroad. We must be consistent with our mercy, understanding and faith.
         It is only a matter of a few degrees from what has happened in that infamous prison in Iraq and what happens here in the jails and prisons. We arrest people by profiling and incarcerate them through error and “rush to judgment.”
          Citizens and foreigners are damaged financially, by besmirched reputations, false imprisonment… all in the simple claim of some supposed harm to our national security, our pride or our property. We execute mentally retarded individuals. We try teenagers as adults. We have lost the ability to forgive while not forgetting crimes against us.
         There are practices in prison facilities of the lowest classification of security that are in place only at the whim of wardens or associate wardens or lesser jail-keepers. While discipline and security are important, rehabilitation release are the prime objective of the prison system. The judge does the punishment when he removes the offender from society and puts him in the care of the Bureau of Prisons. Any other punishment should come as a result of the offender not being a model inmate and proving it by overt violations of the rules in place. There are many examples of acts by officials, enough to warrant a review of the practices with a view to making corrections.
          Inconsistencies in policy, varying by measurable degrees prison to prison should be standardized.
          We hope to be able to show up some of these consistencies along with errors of judgments by officials with a view to having them corrected.

THIS IS NEITHER THE BEST OF TIMES NOR THE WORST OF TIMES

2010-03-08T08:35:00.001-08:00

BRUCE BARTLETT'S ASTUTE ARTICLE IN THE CURRENT FORBES MAGAZINE
puts us straight, with a clear and proper article.

Look at the article:
It is a long and well written article every layman can understand. (Cut and paste in your browser....)
http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/04/consumer-debt-deficit-budget-opinions-columnists-bruce-bartlett.html?partner=weekly_newsletter"

If that does not work for you, go to FORBES.COM WEEKLY NEWSLETTER MARCH 08, 2010

A few well planned tax shifts and adjustments will clear the air.

Lloyd Winburn

WRITER'S BLOCK

2010-02-26T10:43:00.000-08:00

IT SEEMS THE REPUBLICANS HAVE
WRITER'S BLOCK

On the day of the D.C. Conference on Health Care Reform
I was able to catch most of the presentation.
It lasted over 6 hours with no new ideas born;
But, being the Political Junkie and History Buff I am,
I could not get enough of the stuff.

It was easy to project and to understand.
The players had their positions staked out well.
The President was looking for facts
And was hopeful that some suggestions
Would come forth and stalemate attached.

One Party expressed themselves
In a large tome
They had developed over many hours
Of work, debate, give and take.
In pieces, all of it had gone before
Committees and was argued on the floor of each Chamber.

Everyone agreed: Something has to be done.
The other Party wanted to dump that work
And start anew.
Opponents who said that, were not a few.
It seemed to me that something was missing;
As to what it was, at the moment I had not a clue.

Now, as I understand it, the Lower House must
Generate all the money bills;
The upper house exists to 'Advise and Consent.”
That seemed to be lost in the day's milieu.
But both House's minority crew
Faced before a blank sheet but failed to offer anything new.

Throughout the day
There was a tendency to stray
And not to pay proper attention
To the issue at hand,
The question to attend:
Where can we agree? Where have we been?

It was a genteel group
With everyone on his or her best behavior
But the writer's block caused the day
To be just one more display
Of ambition run amok and
Opportunity set aside and Hell to pay.

Lloyd
2/26/2010

BLACKWATER HITS US AGAIN

2010-02-12T10:00:00.000-08:00

IF THESE ARE FRIENDS, MAYBE WE SHOULD BE SLEEPING WITH OUR ENEMIES.

Lloyd Winburn

READ THIS STORY (Control CLICK)

Draw your own conclusion.... The Blackwater thieves are not our friends. The are mercenaries of the worse sort. We should not be using mercenaries to fight our wars.

Become involved. Go for change away from the right wing extremists' disruptive practices and careless opposition to proposals with good intentions.

WHAT PART OF CAPITALISM IS IT THAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND?

2009-12-24T05:22:00.000-08:00

This was gleaned from SLATE who got it from the NY Times.

Banks Won Big By Betting Against Own Securities

Investigators in Congress, at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority are looking at how several banks—including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Deutsche Bank—sold complicated mortgage-backed securities, known as collateralized debt obligations, and whether they broke the law by pushing them on clients and betting against them at the same time.

The banks insist they were just doing what any prudent investor would do by trying to protect themselves from losses. But they ended up using the CDOs "to place unusually large negative bets that were not mainly for hedging purposes," which many say ended up putting the banks "at odds with their own clients' interests," reports the New York Times.

In fact, part of the reason why Goldman and so many others from Wall Street have been able to return to profitability so quickly is that they essentially began to change their stance on the housing market at the end of 2006 but kept that to themselves.

There's perhaps no better example of this practice than a set of mortgage-related securities named Abacus created by Goldman Sachs that allowed investors to bet for or against mortgage securities using credit-default swaps. But instead of trying to persuade clients to bet negatively on Abacus securities, Goldman kept the negative bets. Perhaps most disturbingly of all, some of these CDOs, including Abacus, seemed designed to fail.

REGULATIONS? Any body? Do you still get fuzzy and warm when you think of unfettered Capitalism?

TEARING DOWN OUR DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM

2009-12-12T08:58:00.000-08:00

IN ACTIVITY TO FRUSTRATE THE THE LAWS OF OUR COUNTRY, SHERIFF OF MARICOPA COUNTY DESTROYS PERSONAL FREEDOM.

READ THIS ARTICLE

Joe Arpaio has escalated his tactics, not only defying the federal government on immigration but launching repeated investigations of those who criticize him.

LIEBERMAN: SENATOR FOR ISRAEL IN HOT WATER OVER HEALTH CARE

2009-12-08T07:54:00.000-08:00

CALLED TO ANSWER FOR HIS UNREASONABLE STAND ON HEALTH ALTERNATIVE, Senator Joseph Lieberman, is finally being called upon to STAND up and do right.

Get the picture HERE at the Los Angeles TIMES

SOME FELLOW TRAVELERS

2009-12-03T17:06:00.000-08:00

GOOD PEOPLE.
They write well and think even better.

Inland Z: In the name of our National Security

The PRACTICAL solution of Obama is acceptable.... if he does it. Out in a year to 18 months with fair warning. The only way to go, as we see it.
Lloyd Winburn

WANT TO AVOID BANKRUPTCY?

2009-12-02T08:10:00.000-08:00

VISIT THIS SITE
There is a book with all the information you need to avoid legally and effectively bankruptcy

GO NOW

THE US STANDS OUT AS A PRISON SOCIETY

2009-12-02T07:33:00.000-08:00

Hellhole
The United States holds tens of thousands of inmates in long-term solitary confinement. Is this torture? READ MORE....

There is a great deal wrong with the Prison System (READ "Justice System") and there are humane, secure, effective substitutes for our present practices.

Read the article in its entirety. Look for John McKain, William Buckley, Frank Reed, Terry Anderson... their stories are enough to make you sick.

Read of Harry Harlow, a professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, who produced a series of influential studies involving baby rhesus monkeys. Get the facts.

FOR A FULL RECAP ON THE SUBJECT OF DOMESTIC PRISON, PRISON PRACTICES, PRISONERS, SEE THIS BLOG CLICK

Lloyd Winburn

TURN TO BOOKS ON THE SUBJECT

BLACKWATER BRIBES IN IRAQ

2009-11-11T07:44:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, November 11, 2009
BRIBES BY BLACKWATER IN IRAQ
Blackwater Approved Bribes for Iraqi Officials

After a group of Blackwater security guards opened fire in a Baghdad square and killed 17 civilians, the company found itself mired in a public relations disaster. The episode raised the ire of Iraqi civilians and officials, which suddenly raised the prospect that Blackwater could be prevented from operating in the country, threatening the existence of contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Three months after the Nisour Square shootings, the company authorized about $1 million in bribes to buy the silence of Iraqi officials. When news of the decision spread within the company, it created a huge rift among senior officials. Still, the man who was then Blackwater's president decided to go ahead with the bribes and sent the money from Jordan to Iraq. But the four former executives who revealed the information to the New York Times say they can't be certain the money ever reached Iraqi officials.

Read original story in The New York Times | Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009 CLICK

SENAROR JOSEPH LIEBERMAN: SENATOR FOR ISRAEL

2009-11-10T07:21:00.000-08:00

WE HAVE HEARD FROM THE SENATOR FROM ISRAEL.

Every Country should have its own Senator in the Congress of the United States.... Israel has Joe Lieberman.

Objectivity... the priorities of the United States are lost on Lieberman, the taker. The taker who took the Democrats nomination for Vice President; he took the opportunity to hit out at Democrats against their chosen candidate for president; He took his seat as an Independent as an affront to his own Democratic base in his home State; He took preferred treatment by Democrats to get his position in the Senate as a 'good ole boy.'

He would vote for Israel against anything that starts with an 'A' just to let the Arabs know who is boss. And he never saw and aid package for Israel that he did not like... love. He would filibuster the whole package for the item of most interest to his largest contributors.

Now, he wants to be the block to Universal Health Care in the United States because his big contributors are against is. He does not STAND for America, he gets his and that which he is believes is Israel's and 'to hell with all the goyim.

Lloyd Winburn

EARMARKS: GOVERNMENT FOR THE PEOPLE IF YOU CONTRIBUTE

2009-09-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

MY VOTE GOES TO THOSE LOUD MOUTHS CALLING FOR CUT IN GOVERNMENT SPENDING: I am especially moved by those who do it it style.

Earmarks

WORTH REPEATING THIS ARTICLE By R. Jeffrey Smith

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 29, 2009

EXCERPTED from the full article.... Lloyd Winburn

Sen. Thad Cochran's most recent reelection campaign collected more than $10,000 from University of Southern Mississippi professors and staff members, including three who work at the school's center for research on polymers. To a defense spending bill slated to be on the Senate floor Tuesday, the Mississippi Republican has added $10.8 million in military grants earmarked for the school's polymer research.

Cochran, the ranking Republican on the Appropriations subcommittee on defense, also added $12 million in earmarked spending for Raytheon Corp., whose officials have contributed $10,000 to his campaign since 2007. He earmarked nearly $6 million in military funding for Circadence Corp., whose officers -- including a former Cochran campaign aide -- contributed $10,000 in the same period.

In total, the spending bill for 2010 includes $132 million for Cochran's campaign donors, helping to make him the sponsor of more earmarked military spending than any other senator this year, according to an analysis by the nonprofit group Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Cochran says his proposals are based only on "national security interests," not campaign cash. But in providing money for projects that the Defense Department says it did not request and does not want, he has joined a host of other senators on both sides of the aisle. The proposed $636 billion Senate bill includes $2.65 billion in earmarks.

MORE EXAMPLES OF PRISON MIS-MANAGEMENT

2009-09-24T09:27:00.001-07:00

PRISON SECURITY AND EFFECTIVE PRISON MANAGEMENT
From a Blog worth tracking.....

Does a snake understand how an eagle flies?

The snake has no conception of the thing, but it DOES know that the flying creature above is a danger to it. Well, that's how it is with the prison system and an honest prisoner. They have no idea what to do about him but do understand the fact that he is dangerous. The danger comes not from the honesty but from the attitude of those running things in the prison system. And I do not mean the ordinary kangaroo who has to deal with prisoners on a daily basis. Oh no, most of them do their best. It is the upper echelons who sneak about in dark corners, whispering behind their hands and misleading, lying and backstabbing. How high up the food chain they climb actually depends on their ability to lie and mislead.

Let me give a perfect example of this. Every prison security department knows the identity of every junkie and dealer within its environs, but do they give them weekly drug tests? Do they hell. They give weekly tests to the prisoners they KNOW do NOT take drugs because that gives them a good figure for their quarterly report on drug management policies. 1t is a fraud, smoke and mirrors to fool the general public. "Look!" they cry. "Our test figures show that we are sucessfully tackling the drug problem!"

All lies of course. They make no attempt whatsoever to tackle the drug problem, not so much as lift a finger. In fact it is quite the opposite because they actively encourage drug taking as a control measure.

They deal in a murky world as second nature! This is why they have no idea what to do when they come up against an honest man. They have no reference points to work from.

Now, having said all I have said, it will be seen as subversive and troublemaking. It's not their fault, it never is, it has to be the fault of the prisoner.

Wasn't it John Locke who wrote:

"It is one thing to show a man that he is in error, and another to put him in possession of truth."

The Voice In The Wilderness

...And well said. Lloyd Winburn

View from my window in La Paz

2009-09-18T23:38:00.000-07:00

THE REAL BATTLE IS BETWEEN DEMOCRACY AND TOTALITARIANISM

2009-09-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

COME ON, FOLKS, LIGHTEN UP!
(See FORGES magazine for this week September 14, 2009)

America's durable democratic institutions, due process, independent judiciary and freedom of speech, religion and press are the reason its economy accounts for 23% of world gross domestic product; why 65% of world reserves are in the U.S. dollar; why 17 of the top 20 universities are in America; why we lead in global innovation with 92,000 patents awarded to Americans in 2008; why we lead in global philanthropy and conservation; why we have the deepest financial markets; and why our naval tonnage is larger than the next 17 navies combined.

Our democratic form of government supports and reflects our culture of optimism, openness, transparency, mobility and flexibility.

China's autocratic form of government reflects its closed and suspicious nature and the interests of the leadership of the Communist party, a body Friedman describes as a "reasonably enlightened group of people."

In my view, it is anything but and its stubborn insistence on keeping control of its economy and political system will in the end prove to be its downfall.

JUST LET ME ADD

The current disgusting behavior of the FAR RIGHT *Republicans* is more harmful to our Democracy than all the dictators in the world. Hate, envy, unbridled racism, suspicion,distrust, misguided religious fervor, intolerance of others' opinions, selfishness are enough to smother any progressive movement upward.

Lloyd Winburn

WOMEN OF THE WORLD, UNITE! YOU HOLD OUR PEACE BETWEEN YOUR LEGS

2009-09-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

A Sure Way to Peace:

Lysistrata ("Army-disbander") is one of the few surviving plays written by the master of Old Comedy, Aristophanes.
Originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC, it is a comic account of one woman's extraordinary mission to end The Peloponnesian War.
Lysistrata convinces the women of Greece to withhold sexual privileges from their husbands as a means of forcing the men to negotiate a peace, a strategy however that inflames the battle between the sexes.
The play is notable for its exposé of sexual relations in a male-dominated society and for its use of both double entendre and explicit obscenities.

For PEACE we need all the tools we can get. Women, focus upon your power.

READ ON:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysistrata

Lloyd Winburn

IT IS TIME TO TAKE REMEDIAL ACTION

2009-09-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

Study Finds U.S. Prison System Falls Short in Treating Drug Addiction

Almost a quarter of a million individuals addicted to heroin are incarcerated in the United States each year. However, many prison systems across the country still do not offer medical treatment for heroin and opiate addiction, despite the demonstrated social, medical and economic benefits of opiate replacement therapy (ORT).

According to new research from The Miriam Hospital, Brown University and their affiliated Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights, just half of all federal and state prison systems offer ORT with the medications methadone and buprenorphine, and only in very limited circumstances. Similarly, only twenty-three states provide referrals for some inmates to treatment upon release from prison. These policies are counter to guidelines issued by both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which say prisoners should be offered ORT for treatment of opiate dependence.

The study’s findings are published online by Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
READ ON..... LEARN SOMETHING.... Lloyd Winburn

REPOST FROM 2006: CHICKENS COMING HOME TO ROOST

2009-08-24T08:28:00.000-07:00

SPEAKING OF PROBLEMS OF PRISON OVER POPULATION

Sunday, October 29, 2006
PRISON SENTENCES DO NOT CUT THE CRIME RATE
1 in 136 U.S. Residents Behind Bars
By ELIZABETH WHITE, Associated Press Writer Sun May 21, 6:33 PM ET
WASHINGTON - Prisons and jails added more than 1,000 inmates each week for a year, putting almost 2.2 million people, or one in every 136 U.S. residents, behind bars by last summer.
The total on June 30, 2005, was 56,428 more than at the same time in 2004, the government reported Sunday. That 2.6 percent increase from mid-2004 to mid-2005 translates into a weekly rise of 1,085 inmates.
Of particular note was the gain of 33,539 inmates in jails, the largest increase since 1997, researcher Allen J. Beck said. That was a 4.7 percent growth rate, compared with a 1.6 percent increase in people held in state and federal prisons.
Prisons accounted for about two-thirds of all inmates, or 1.4 million, while the other third, nearly 750,000, were in local jails, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Beck, the bureau's chief of corrections statistics, said the increase in the number of people in the 3,365 local jails is due partly to their changing role. Jails often hold inmates for state or federal systems, as well as people who have yet to begin serving a sentence.
"The jail population is increasingly unconvicted," Beck said. "Judges are perhaps more reluctant to release people pretrial."
The report by the Justice Department agency found that 62 percent of people in jails have not been convicted, meaning many of them are awaiting trial.
Overall, 738 people were locked up for every 100,000 residents, compared with a rate of 725 at mid-2004. The states with the highest rates were Louisiana and Georgia, with more than 1 percent of their populations in prison or jail. Rounding out the top five were Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma.
The states with the lowest rates were Maine, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont and New Hampshire.
Men were 10 times to 11 times more likely than women to be in prison or jail, but the number of women behind bars was growing at a faster rate, said Paige M. Harrison, the report's other author.
The racial makeup of inmates changed little in recent years, Beck said. In the 25-29 age group, an estimated 11.9 percent of black men were in prison or jails, compared with 3.9 percent of Hispanic males and 1.7 percent of white males.
Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing Project, which supports alternatives to prison, said the incarceration rates for blacks were troubling.
"It's not a sign of a healthy community when we've come to use incarceration at such rates," he said.
Mauer also criticized sentencing guidelines, which he said remove judges' discretion, and said arrests for drug and parole violations swell prisons.
"If we want to see the prison population reduced, we need a much more comprehensive approach to sentencing and drug policy," he said.
Posted by Lloyd Winburn at 5:57 PM 0 comments Links to this post

SOCIAL SECURITY DENIED PRISONERS

2009-08-14T14:54:00.000-07:00

WHY?

Old Prisoners Denied Their Social Security by James Ridgeway

Old Prisoners Denied Their Social Security
by James Ridgeway from his blog Unsilent Generation
July 21, 2009

Not long ago I described in the briefest of terms, the plight of the growing numbers of older prisoners now filling up the country’s prisons and jails.They receive bad health care and are subject to cruel and inhuman punishment in any number of ways,i.e. requiring people with bad arthritis to climb to the upper bunk to sleep, or making it next to impossible for inmates in wheelchairs to access parts of prisons available to younger people, such as getting into and taking a bath from a wheelchair..Among the worst sites described to me by a medical consultant were ill women forced to get out of bed at 3 am,then stand in lines,to obtain medicine in one Alabama women’s prison.

There are other difficulties faced by older prisoners.Among them is what to do about Social Security earned for years before conviction of a crime.

David Hinman, a prisoner in Iowa is 65 and when he was in the “free-world” contributed to social security. He is not eligible for parole for a number years.”Currently the government will not pay people in prison social security,’’he writes.“I am speaking about paying social security to those who paid into the fund.Payment is based on what they paid in. Even though I am now 65 and paid into the fund, since I am in prison I am not allowed to collect unless I am released from prison. By not paying inmates the social security to which they are entitled, I believe this is in some manner, theft.“My question to readers is: should prison inmates who paid into social security and reached 65 be allowed to collected social security while incarcerated or not.”

(You can reach David Hinman (#25374), Anamosa State Penitentiary, 406 North High Street, P.O. Box 10, Anamosa, IA 52205-0010.) (Additional essays by David can be found at http://www.realcostofprisons.org/writing/)

Asked about this situation Paul Wright,editor of Prison Legal News, the excellent magazine which tracks prison issues,wrote me,
“Part of the problem I have with this is that someone can work their whole life, pay into Social Security, commit a crime at a later age, and go to prison for the rest of their life and never see a penny of the money they paid into SS. The lie used to justify this is prisoners have no need for money but that is not true. I think it is a backdoor way to trim the SS.rolls.I think this is the exception. To put it into context, retirees can get their pensions in prison, veterans can get their VA benefits in prison. It follows that if you earn something you are entitled to it. It is not a freebie the government can take away because it doesn’t like you and that is exactly what they do here.
Wright attached an article from a 1998 isssue of Prison Legal News that sets the situation into the bleakest of terms.

Denial of Social Security Benefits to Prisoners Upheld

The court of appeals for the Ninth circuit held that a statute denying Social Security benefits to prisoners is constitutional. Robert Butler is a 77 year old Nevada state prisoner. Butler was granted social security retirement benefits in 1983. He was later incarcerated and the Social Security Administration (SSA) determined he was not entitled to benefits while he was incarcerated pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 402(X). An administrative law judge affirmed the SSA’s decision. Butler filed suit in federal court and it was dismissed for failing to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The court of appeals affirmed.The appeals court noted that every court to consider the constitutionality of 42 U.S.C. § 402(X), this includes the Second, Fourth, Eighth, Tenth and Eleventh circuits, had upheld the law. Congress has wide discretion in administering welfare resources. The court held that § 402(X)’s ban on social security benefits to prisoners does not violate constitutional guarantees to due process, equal protection and protection against ex post facto laws and bills of attainder. The court also held that Butler was provided with ample due process before his benefits were terminated because he participated in the SSA hearing by telephone. Since the statute leaves no room for agency discretion and the only fact issue was whether or not Butler was a felon doing time in prison, the telephone hearing was sufficient to safeguard Butler’s due process interest in his social security benefits. See: Butler v. Apfel , 144 F.3d 622 (9th Cir. 1998)

Thanks to:

http://unsilentgeneration.com/

Lloyd Winburn

CREATE A NEW HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

2009-08-10T11:55:00.000-07:00

WE HAVE TO BITE THE BULLET

IT IS TIME
There must be a restructuring of the health care system... the industry.
There must be PUBLIC SECTOR participation:

Everyone must be covered.
Everyone must pay something.
Government participation will bring down costs
This will pay for the coverage of the low end (poverty level or uninsured)
Those who want to "keep their doctor on his welfare program" can pay more.
Cap the liability of professionals and medical facilities
Criminalize mal practice. Gross negligence is an unforgivable situation.
Encourage coop, innovative, prevention, self insurance, approaches
Do it all at once
Include a tax package that balances the system with present day costs and hold the line
Help people wanting to enter the medical profession... make them do public service for the help but must pay back the loans, grants, etc.
Reward innovation
Encourage healthy living measures... it does not cost... it PAYS.
Put the schools back into the personal hygiene situation with required courses
Every child must exercise at school.. That old time gym class. No substitutes like math, marching, or cooking
Enhance education in ways that get more hours to dedicate to health care, family planning, diets and eating, and keeps kids away from the TV and off the streets.

Go get it.

Lloyd Winburn
Posted by Lloyd Winburn at 11:49 AM 0 comments
Labels: cancer medicine, costs of medical care, health care, socialized medicine

ARGUMENT FOR MORE SOCIALISM AND LESS CAPITALISM
WITH A SOUND "SOCIALISTIC" MEDICAL INSURANCE SYSTEM THIS WOULD BE PUT UP ON THE TOP OF ORDERS FOR DOCTORS AND OTHER MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS AND INSTITUTIONS....

GREAT NEWS! John Hopkins Update Needs Circulation. Let's force it.

After years of telling people chemotherapy is the only way to try ('try', being the key word) to eliminate cancer, Johns Hopkins is finally starting to tell you there is an alternative way.

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins:

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

3 When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors..

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs...

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

A. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

B. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.

C. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

D. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment.. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day.. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

E. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the Bo dy into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

1. No plastic containers in micro.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters and this information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well.
Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies.

Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Cast le Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us.

He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers.. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body.
Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food You get the same results, only without the dioxin.
So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else.

Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food.. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

Good eating.....
Lloyd Winburn
Posted by Lloyd Winburn at 8:59 AM 0 comments
Labels: cancer avoidance, cancer causes, cancer cure, cancer cures, cancer diet, cancer medicine, cancer prevention, cancer treatment, socialized medicine
Sunday, July 19, 2009
BANKRUPTCY ON YOUR HORIZON?
MAYBE YOU ARE OUT ON A LIMB, BROKE, UNDER PRESSURE, STRAPPED FINANCIALLY...

Well, you are just one more in the crowd. Many are looking for a way out or a way up. Some even consider sideway in the job market.

What ever. ARE THINKING BANKRUPTCY? DON'T! Join the hundreds or even thousands who are going straight in the face of creditors and their misfortunes. In doing so, they are saving much or many of their assets, avoiding legal fees, court costs, expert fees, appraisal fees, and a lot of time and headaches.

THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE TO BANKRUPTCY..... In this book, the alternative is spelled out in honest, factual, realistic terms. MAKE YOURSELF A HERO.
Posted by Lloyd Winburn at 9:53 AM 0 comments
Labels: alaternative to bankruptcy, assets, avoiding bankruptcy, bankruptcy, cost of bankruptcy, court costs, lawyers, savings
LESSON LEARNED SHOULD MEAN GREAT ADVANCES
THE ECONOMIC CRISIS HAD BEEN A GOOD TEACHER.

The hue and cry for privatizing the Social Security program has died down and should have gone to its eternal resting place.

There was a great push to have Social Security go private... that is, get into the market and free the government from the responsibility for permanence. People pushing hardest for the change were the same people who hood winked, connived, inveigled, and otherwise hungrily tried to get access to the massive funds available in the SS Fund.

Now, I ask you, where would the SS Fund be now if it had gone private?
Posted by Lloyd Winburn at 9:45 AM 0 comments
Labels: bonds, investments, retirement, savings, security, social security, ss, stockmarket, stocks
Saturday, May 2, 2009
TIMES,THEY'RE NOT A CHANG'N; OR MAYBE, JUST MAYBE THEY WILL.
YOU HAVE TO SEE THE TRUTH IN THIS.

"The bank is something more than men, I tell you. It's the monster. Men made it, but they can't control it."
- John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath, Chapter 5

EISENHOWER Addressed it in his farewell speech: Beware the great Military Industrial Complex.

Read the book. Think a little. Feel a little.

Lloyd
Posted by Lloyd Winburn at 11:28 PM 0 comments
Monday, March 16, 2009
IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA AND IN THE CARIBBEAN
THERE IS A RISE IN LIBERAL LEADERSHIP

The failures in Latin America and in the Caribbean of the US failures in aid and diplomacy has brought about the boost of liberal candidates being elected in those areas.

What they democracies there are doing is displeasing to the money class, the oligarchies... so be it.

Our aid has been self-serving; our diplomacy has been strong handed and arrogant.

Governments are responsible for citizens. If there are not jobs created by US style capitalism, then you can expect that citizens will turn to the governments for jobs or assistance. So be it.

I have not been into Venezuela for twenty years. It would be informative to take a look now and see just what Chavez is doing. I fear we do not get the real picture from the media or from the politicians.

Lloyd
Posted by Lloyd Winburn at 1:01 PM 0 comments
Labels: aid, caribbean, diplomacy, foreign governments, Latin America, liberals, liberals drift, oil completion allowance. politics. capitalism, oligarchies
Sunday, March 8, 2009
CAPITALISM, SOCIALISM, RUSSIANISM, CUBAISM, CHINAISM, MODIFIDED CAPITALISM: HOLD YOUR HAT
CHANGE IS IN THE WIND

Read this assessment of the present trend: HERE

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/07/business/economy/07jobs.html?ref=todayspaper

I am convinced this is the era of change. We must change to meed different needs, furnish assistance, guidance, regulation of a new age.

There is no conspiracy. Partisan, it is not. Creeping, it is not; rather, it is a galloping rush to automatic correction of markets, housing, financing, and health.

This has not been brought about so much as it has evolved. Darwin was right.. And there are many areas other than the biological that must change to meed the challenges of time, experience, trial and error, stupidity, wastefulness, selfishness and greed.

Have a good day

Lloyd Winburn
Posted by Lloyd Winburn at 9:49 AM 0 comments
Labels: change, china, cuba, depression, europe, health care, partisan, russia
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CANCER NEWS REQUIRES GOVERMENT EXPOSURE

2009-08-10T08:55:00.000-07:00

HERE IS WHERE WE CAN SPEND SOME MONEY.... TELLING THIS STORY.

GREAT NEWS! John Hopkins Update Needs Circulation

After years of telling people chemotherapy is the only way to try ('try', being the key word) to eliminate cancer, Johns Hopkins is finally starting to tell you there is an alternative way.

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins:

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

3 When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors..

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs...

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

A. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

B. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.

C. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

D. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment.. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day.. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

E. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the Bo dy into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

1. No plastic containers in micro.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters and this information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well.
Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies.

Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Cast le Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us.

He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers.. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body.
Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food You get the same results, only without the dioxin.
So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else.

Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food.. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

Good eating.....
Lloyd Winburn

ANOTHER GOOD REASON YOU CANNOT ALLOW CAPITALISM TO RUN AMOK

2009-07-31T06:51:00.000-07:00

THERE IS A GREAT DEAL OF GOOD IN CAPITALISM....

But capitalism has to be regulated. It is human nature, it seems for capitalists to take every advantage of a situation... legal or illegal, good or bad... as long as it is money in the pocket:

In August 2005, doctors at Urological Associates, a medical practice on the Iowa-Illinois border, ordered nine CT scans for patients covered by Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield insurance. In September that year, they ordered eight. But then the numbers rose steeply. The urologists ordered 35 scans in October, 41 in November and 55 in December. Within seven months, they were ordering scans at a rate that had climbed more than 700 percent.

The increase came in the months after the urologists bought their own CT scanner, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. Instead of referring patients to radiologists, the doctors started conducting their own imaging -- and drawing insurance reimbursements for each of those patients.

Lloyd Winburn and borrowed from the Washington Post.

DON'T LET THE GOVERNMENT GET ITS HANDS IN YOUR POCKETS

2009-07-19T10:01:00.000-07:00

BANKRUPTCY ON YOUR HORIZON?

MAYBE YOU ARE OUT ON A LIMB, BROKE, UNDER PRESSURE, STRAPPED FINANCIALLY...

Well, you are just one more in the crowd. Many are looking for a way out or a way up. Some even consider sideway in the job market.

What ever. ARE THINKING BANKRUPTCY? DON'T! Join the hundreds or even thousands who are going straight in the face of creditors and their misfortunes. In doing so, they are saving much or many of their assets, avoiding legal fees, court costs, expert fees, appraisal fees, and a lot of time and headaches.

THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE TO BANKRUPTCY..... In this book, the alternative is spelled out in honest, factual, realistic terms. MAKE YOURSELF A HERO.

Lloyd Winburn

GET ON BOARD FOR HELTH CARE

2009-07-10T11:10:00.000-07:00

IT IS UP TO US... EVERYMAN, JOHNNY LUNCH BUCKET... TO PUT PROPER HEALTHCARE IN THE PICTURE.

The public health insurance option is key to helping lower the cost of health care and ensure all Americans have access to coverage. In order to do that, a public plan must be a strong as possible, one that is:

Part of a broader plan to cover all of us: A strong public health insurance option must be a key piece of a reform plan that will guarantee access to quality health care for everyone in America.
A national plan with real bargaining clout: In order to truly control costs and compete with private health insurance plans, a strong public health insurance option must be available nationwide with a broad network of providers.
Ready on day one: Every day we wait on real reform, health care costs continue to rise. A strong public health insurance option right out of the gate is key to building a competitive program that will help control costs.
A truly public plan: To ensure it's held to the highest standards of accountability, a public health insurance option must be truly publicly run—accountable and transparent to Congress and to voters.

CALL, WRITE, VISIT or email your representatives... Senators and Congressmen to get off the pot and get moving
Lloyd Winburn

CAPITALISM HAS ITS CHALLENGES

2009-04-28T08:22:00.000-07:00

THIS ARTICLE FROM THE WASHINGTON POST BRINGS INTO FOCUS
A REAL CHALLENGE FOR CAPITALISM.

If building arms is the only way to maintain or create employment, something is wrong.

Plan to Cut Weapons Programs Disputed
Defense Supporters Say 100,000 Jobs Are in Jeopardy

By Dan Eggen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Some of the nation's largest defense contractors, labor unions and trade groups are banding together to argue that the Obama administration is putting 100,000 or more jobs at risk by proposing deep cuts in weapons programs.

The defense industry and its supporters argue that the proposals by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates will increase unemployment during a historic economic crisis. Why, they ask, would President Obama push hundreds of billions in stimulus spending to create jobs only to propose weapons cuts that would eliminate tens of thousands of them?

"It doesn't make sense that our government is looking at trying to save or create jobs at the same time it's talking about cutting something like this," said Jeff Goen, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers chapter in Marietta, Ga., where Lockheed Martin does final assembly on the F-22 Raptor fighter jet, which is slated to be cut.

Lockheed and other contractors predict that up to 95,000 direct and indirect jobs are at risk because of Gates's plan to halt production of the F-22, which is built and assembled across 48 states but which has never been used in combat. Boeing says thousands more positions could be lost if the Pentagon halts production on other programs such as the C-17 cargo plane, which is assembled at a 5,000-worker plant in Long Beach, Calif.

The clash poses a nettlesome political challenge for Obama, who relied heavily on Democratic union support during his presidential campaign but who is backing the ambitious efforts of his GOP defense secretary to remake the Pentagon budget. Opposition on Capitol Hill is being led by Republicans who hope to enlist the support of union-friendly Democrats to quash many of the proposed cuts.

Gates and other Obama administration officials argue that job-loss fears are overstated, and note that the Pentagon's overall budget would increase by $20 billion, to $534 billion, under the plan released this month. Proclaiming the need to "reshape the priorities of America's defense establishment," Gates called for halting or cutting a host of programs that have been plagued by delays, cost overruns or performance problems, including the F-22, the C-17, a fleet of new presidential helicopters and the Future Combat Systems program.

But Gates and his generals have also tailored the budget to include growth in other programs that may lower the intensity of opposition, and has successfully brought Air Force generals in line on cutting back the F-22 and other programs that the service has historically championed. Although Maine would lose some jobs with the shuttering of the F-22 program, for example, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) praised Gates for planning to build three DDG-1000 destroyers at General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works.

"A lot of people are ascribing real cleverness to Gates in the way he has structured this," said Loren B. Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute think tank. "He has spread things out in a way aimed at dividing and weakening opposition."

The approach has already muffled criticism from Lockheed, the nation's largest defense contractor. The Bethesda-based company would gain from an expanded order for F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters that would help make up for the end of production on the F-22. Bruce Tanner, Lockheed's chief financial officer, told Wall Street investors last week that, on the F-22 at least, the company has accepted defeat.

"We've had our chance to lobby this matter," Tanner said.

The defense sector is a major Washington powerbroker, giving nearly $26 million to congressional candidates last year and spending $150 million on lobbying, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Even before Gates's final proposal came out, the machinists' union joined forces with Lockheed, Boeing and 11 other contractors to produce a slick Web site and ad campaign asserting that the F-22 program "provides jobs, a paycheck and economic security." Boeing is running full-color newspaper ads extolling the virtues of the C-17, which Obama singles out for praise on the White House Web site, even though it is one of the biggest targets on Gates's list.

In another ad campaign, the Aerospace Industries Association proclaimed: "Aerospace and defense is a powerful economic engine. We must keep the industry strong." Marion Blakey, the group's president and CEO, said the employment issue is "a compelling argument. . . . These are high-paying jobs."

The machinists, meanwhile, are targeting Democratic lawmakers in areas with defense-related jobs, union officials said. The group's 700,000 active and retired members will be asked to bombard lawmakers with phone calls, e-mails and letters. "It's going to be about jobs at the end of the day, but not in a selfish way," said Rich Michalski, the union's political director.

The criticism of Gates on Capitol Hill has been led by fellow Republicans, most of whom opposed Obama's stimulus plan but contend that defense spending is different. "At a time of economic difficulty, it makes no sense to take a strategically important weapons system and cap it and cost 95,000 jobs in a relatively short period of time," said Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.).

Key Democrats, including Sen. Carl Levin (Mich.) and Rep. Ike Skelton (Mo.), the chairmen of the armed services committees, have generally withheld judgment on Gates's proposals so far.

Gates told reporters this month that the changes will help create some jobs. He pointed to the F-22 as an example, saying that while 24,000 people are directly employed on that project, the F-35 already employs 38,000 and is projected to employ 84,000 by 2011.

"We cannot be oblivious to the consequences of these decisions," Gates said. "But nonetheless, we have to make them as a whole in terms of what's in the best interest of the country."

POINTLESS WARS AND POSITIVE THINKING

2009-03-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

THERE IS A WAY OUT OF AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN.... GO FOR IT.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

I believed as sincerely as American officers do now that we were fighting there to help make our country safer. After the war, as a politician, I could see this war had been pointless.

- Retired Russian Gen. Pavel Grachev, who later became defense minister, recently interviewed about the parallels he sees between the Soviet war in Afghanistan and current U.S. and NATO involvement there. Grachev also advised: Post soldiers to guard road projects and irrigation systems, and send in an army of engineers, doctors, mining experts, and construction advisers. According to him, pouring billions of dollars into infrastructure would be a lot more productive than firefights in far-flung villages. (Source: McClatchy)

PLANT PEACE; REAP PEACE

2009-03-04T09:45:00.000-08:00

IF WE ARE TO REAP PEACE, WE MUCH SOW PEACE....

RIGHT ON!

The New York Times leads with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's announcement that the White House will be sending two senior officials to Syria this weekend. The move is seen as a first step in the Obama administration's expected effort to revive relations with a key player in the Middle East that hasn't had a U.S. ambassador for more than four years.

I am really beginning to feel good about what can be done with a sound idea, a clear vision and energy to succeed...

Lloyd Winburn

POSITIVE MOVES WILL BRING ABOUT PEACE

2009-03-04T09:40:00.000-08:00

PALATABLE SOCIALISM GAINING GROUND

2009-03-04T09:27:00.001-08:00

MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE BEGINING TO REALIZE THAT SOMETHING IS WRONG...

These excerpts from an article in the LA TIMES put facts on the table:
(Read the entire article here...Obama skews battle lines in 'class war'

Yet the true class war of recent American history is the one that has pitted the upper 1% of income earners against almost everybody else. Over the last three decades, a period that spans Republican and Democratic administrations alike, average family income has scarcely budged an inch, while the wealthy have grown measurably wealthier.

In 1979, the top 1% of U.S. households earned eight times as much as the middle 20% and 23 times as much as the bottom fifth; by 2005, the Congressional Budget Office found, the upper crust touched 21 times as much as the middle class and 70 times as much as the bottom. Adjusting for inflation, the average American worker made 16% less in 2004 than in the 1970s, according to economist Benjamin M. Friedman.

Will the Obama budget redress this imbalance? Let's take a measured look at what he proposes.

The budget plan would restore the top income tax brackets to their levels before the 2001 Bush tax cuts, with the topmost rate rising to 39.6% from 35% now, hardly an excessive increase. The higher taxes kick in at $250,000 for a married couple and $200,000 for individuals.

For those taxpayers, Obama would ratchet back itemized deductions. He also would raise more money from hedge-fund managers, shareholders and other recipients of investment income. Obama says the money would help pay for programs aimed chiefly at lower- and middle-income wage earners, including a tax credit, relief from healthcare expenses and more aid for education.

Does this constitute redistribution of income? You bet. That's what government does. George W. Bush redistributed income too -- from the lower- and middle-income wage earners who pay the bulk of Social Security payroll taxes to the higher earners whose income tax cut was financed out of the Social Security surplus.

Plenty of taxpayers have felt uneasy about this tendency.

"All the tax rebates to the rich never made sense to me," says Roger A. Wells, 80, a retired computer executive in Manhattan Beach who considers himself firmly middle class and is a lifelong Republican whose GOP pedigree dates to his father's local party chairmanship in Michigan. "I fully endorse the idea that it's about time the middle class got a crack at it."

The relevant discussion is really about how much income redistribution is proper, and how much the economy can sustain. Obama's critics contend that his budget will take so much from the people and institutions driving economic growth that it's "dangerous," to quote Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.).

They suggest that wealthy investors and entrepreneurs won't work so hard to help the economy if they get to keep less of the bounty, like the striking industrialists in an Ayn Rand novel.

Consider economist Larry Kudlow, who last week declared that "raising the marginal tax rate on successful earners, capital, dividends and all the private [investment] funds is a function of Obama's left-wing social vision."

Kudlow, who holds forth in this vein every day on CNBC, claimed that hornbook economics teaches that "countries that spend more produce less, while nations that tax less produce more."

But Kudlow sang a different tune last September, when he spoke up in favor of the big bank bailout. "Once every few decades or a couple of times a century," he said in an exchange with Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont socialist, "even conservatives have to use government" -- prompting Sanders to congratulate him for joining the socialist ranks.

Furthermore, the supposed link between high government spending and reduced growth is imaginary.

"No matter how you torture the data, there is no negative relationship between a commitment to a welfare state and the rate of growth in how well off we are," Peter Lindert, an economist at UC Davis and a leading student of the subject, told me recently. "There really is no case for saying that what Obama is proposing will damage economic growth."

To be fair, some people don't think Obama can collect all the money he needs by raising rates only on incomes over $250,000. "He's going to reach down, and people making more than $100,000 will pay more," predicts Kip Dellinger, a Westside certified public accountant. Throw in a payroll tax hike to shore up programs such as Medicare and Social Security, he said, and the combined maximum tax bite on top earners could approach 60% -- "and that would have a really negative impact on economic growth." He thinks the middle class will end up getting socked if the Obama budget becomes reality.

Still, in both economic and social terms, the consequences of America's rising income inequality have been dire. Wages stagnated while the money that otherwise would have gone to workers went instead to shareholders and overcompensated CEOs.

This deprived lower- and middle-income Americans of purchasing power; to maintain their standard of living they -- all right, we -- took to borrowing on our credit cards and home equity. The harvest is today's credit crisis and a dizzying falloff in consumption.

The income inequality trend has had a socially corrosive effect. Friedman, the economist, observed in 2006 that the period from 1953 to 1973, when median family income doubled, was one of great social progress, encompassing the civil rights movement and President Johnson's Great Society program.

Over the following decades, however, stagnating incomes for most Americans brought "a fraying of the U.S. social fabric," Friedman wrote. Public opinion turned sharply against immigration, affirmative action and welfare, with attacks on the latter program displaying "a vindictive spirit that was highly uncharacteristic of the United States in the postwar era."

Obama's proposed budget, by reversing the transfer of wealth from lower- and middle-income Americans to the wealthy imposed by the Bush tax cuts and by the economic mantras of a generation, won't in itself restore a sustainable balance to the economy, but it will start the process.

Better-paid workers will be better able to consume goods and services without going into debt, and the frenetic search for profits in financial engineering, rather than in productivity and innovation, will fade. And we'll know whether the talk of "class warfare" echoing so widely today represents the roar of a permanent overclass, or the death rattle of the old guard.

TIME FOR THOSE CIVIL SERVANTS TO PONY UP

2009-02-23T08:40:00.000-08:00

THE CIVIL SERVANTS NOW HAVE TO LIVEN UP, GIVE SOMETHING BACK...

The Civil Service pays well; there are many days off and great benefits. The work is safe and secure for all practical purposes.

From the Post today:
Elected officials and career civil servants alike will be charged with effectively disbursing stimulus funds.

With the elected officials, the Civil Servants can make a liberal serious contribution is work ethic and giving something back by letting those days off go unpaid and a few extra hours given.... and sharpen the feeling of good sercice, sustomer care and a full hour's work for a full hour's pay.

The crisis is for everyone.

Lloyd Winburn

ATTA BOY. REPUBLICANS HAVE THE FORMULA

2009-02-17T18:23:00.001-08:00

REPUBLICANS CANNOT FAIL.... If failing is what they want.

Republicans seemed to bet the future on a daring gambit: By unflinchingly opposing a popular president on the issue Americans care most about, they apparently hope to place responsibility for reviving the economy squarely on Obama's back.

So, the vote NO and sit back and pray that the Obama plan does not work.... Anything to get things going their way again.

Lloyd Winburn

THE PERFECT WAY TO WATCH OUR MONEY IN BAIL OUT ACTS

2009-02-16T11:35:00.001-08:00

WHERE ARE THE BOARD MEMBERS?

I HAVE BEEN ASKING THIS QUESTION FOR MONTHS.... It seems to me that this is a topic the Government should look at and legislate on. Board members get big bucks and in most cases serv as YES MEN for the top managers who are unrealistically involved in their selection.....

From the Washington Post Editorial Pages:
In the WP's op-ed page, Carl Icahn writes that while regulators and executives have been held to the fire for their failures to foresee and plan for the current financial crisis, boards of directors have largely escaped criticism. A company's board is supposed to represent the shareholders, but it's clear that "many were just not doing their jobs," he writes. "In this global meltdown we are seeing that many board members were demonstrably unqualified, abjectly remiss or simply too cozy with management." The current crisis should be used as an opportunity to "strengthen boards at public companies" and carry out "lasting changes to make them more accountable to stakeholders."
Lloyd Winburn

GOVERNMENT SHOULD APPOINT DIRECTORS

2009-02-16T11:33:00.001-08:00

FOR THOS COMPANIES WHO RECEIVE GOVERNMENT AID, it is only resonable that board members representing the public interest should be appointed.

WHERE ARE THE BOARD MEMBERS?

CAPITALISM RUN AMOK

2009-02-14T11:26:00.000-08:00

WHY SHOULD STATE AND FEDERAL PRISONS BE OWNED OR OPERATED BY PRIVAT PARTIES..... CAPITALISM RUN AMOK

FROM SLATE.COM

Two Pennsylvania county judges stand accused of sending thousands of teenagers to juvenile prison in exchange for $2.6 million in bribes from the privately run detention facilities.

Now I tell you that private prisons are breeding grounds for corruption of the system. The owners and operators of these entities have knobbiest in DC and in State Capitols working for bosses who profit from long sentences. Prisons are exclusively the responsibility of Government.. That does not make is socialism.

CAPITALISTIC SOCIALISM: OBAMA'S SOLUTION TO A MAJOR PROBLEM

2009-01-29T06:48:00.000-08:00

GREAT PROBLEMS REQUIRE BOLD MOVES.

Let's not choke on the solution. Do ot gage at the nat and swallow the elephant. Just let those who caused the problem pay the bill

JOBLESS, WORKING POOR, FAILING BUSINESSES BENEFIT

Here are highlights of the $819 billion recovery plan passed by the House. Totals below are not exact because some costs were still being estimated Wednesday night, or are carried over several years.

SPENDING: $544 billion
New spending includes:

* $71.5 billion: Extend and raise jobless benefits through 2009; boost aid to poor, including food stamps.
* $153.2 billion: Subsidize health care coverage for jobless, help states with Medicaid, other health programs.
* $103 billion: Fund construction projects and repairs: highways, bridges, mass transit, federal buildings, water.
* $159 billion: Provide school grants, aid to states, other school programs; boost Pell Grants by $500, to $5,350.
* $53.4 billion: Support science facilities, high-speed Internet, other environmental, energy programs.
* $13 billion: Repair and weatherize public housing, help homeless, repair foreclosed homes.

TAX CUTS: $275 billion
Tax cuts include:

* $145 billion: Enact $500-per-worker, $1,000-per-couple tax cuts for two years.
* $23 billion: Expand $1,000-per-child tax credit and earned-income tax credit to more working poor.
* $10.3 billion: Provide $2,500 tax credit for college.
* $6.9 billion: Homeowner tax credits.
* $20 billion: Extend quicker write-offs for depreciation of equipment; help companies losing money.

Increase: $7 billion over 10 years
Tighten rules on firms that buy failing banks and merge them.

$48.5 billion: Subsidize local bonds for schools, infrastructure, economic development; extend energy tax credits.

Sources: USA TODAY research, The Associated Press

SLAVE LABOR FOR TOWNS AND CITIES

2009-01-26T06:21:00.000-08:00

PRISON LABOR IS SOUGHT by towns and cities. They like the cheap labor provided by the prison system.

While most people fight tooth-and-nail to prevent prisons from settling into their towns, many communities have discovered they like having the inmates around and are trying to prevent them from leaving at a time when many states are consolidating and closing the facilities in order to save money, reports the WSJ. It's not that they love the inmates, exactly, as much as they love the cheap labor they provide. "Oh my goodness, gracious, they are such an asset," Selectwoman Terri-Lynn Hall of Charleston, Maine, said, "they are our public-works department."

That bit was from the Wall Street Journal.... We should be looking for ways to empty our prisons as a matter of economics.

Others who benefit are the contractors for telephone, food and other services provided the prisons in a town.

Lloyd Winburn

SECURITY WITHOUT FAITH; FROGS AND FEAR

2009-01-22T07:41:00.000-08:00

WHEN FEAR RULES OUT FAITH, INTELLIGENCE, PATIENCE AND REALITY....

THIS JUST ABOUT SAYS IT ALL:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Boiling Frog Metaphor

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Comedy has great healing power....

Lloyd Winburn

YOU CAN'T FIRE ME. I OWN THIS PLACE

2008-10-28T08:35:00.000-07:00

LIFTED FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES: http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-stevens28-2008oct28,0,50386.story?track=ntothtml

Alaska's Republican senator vows to fight the verdict and stay in the race for reelection.

By Richard B. Schmitt
October 28, 2008

Reporting from Washington -- In a stunning verdict that imperils the tenure of the Senate's longest-serving Republican, a federal jury Monday found Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska guilty of concealing tens of thousands of dollars in gifts and improvements to his home.

Stevens, 84, reacted pugnaciously, attacking the Justice Department and vowing to continue campaigning for reelection to his seventh term next Tuesday.

========
No, he will not quit. He is the longest serving Republican in the Senate. He has been on easy street for many years and he admits nothing.

Stay tuned.. You are about to see justice prostituted. He will appeal. Politics will take hold. If he does a day in jail, I will kiss ass.

Lloyd

THE 800 BILLION DOLLAR BAIL OUT GIVE AWAY

2008-09-24T08:48:00.000-07:00

I HAVE

Sojourners

TO THANK FOR THIS.... I AM IN TOTAL AGREEMENT.

The proposed bailout of Wall Street banks gives $700 billion and unprecedented power to one man – Henry Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury. If such large sums of taxpayer money are being risked, our elected representatives must have meaningful oversight and taxpayers should benefit more than companies.

The U. S. economic system is in grave danger, and Congress should address the situation quickly. However, any bailout bill must:

Reject any blank check authority to Secretary Paulson
Include real accountability, oversight, and transparency for any money authorized.

Assuming Congress can draft a comprehensive bill that includes meaningful changes in the regulatory system, then the bill must also include:

A commitment that any funds spent by the treasury to bail out investors must be matched by at least a 10 percent tithe to support millions of Americans who have lost their homes and those still at risk of foreclosure.

Contact Congress today and tell them: No $700 billion without oversight AND investment.

Congress is working to pass a bill this week – spending a little less than 7 days to draft the largest government bailout package in history. With anxiety in Congress and pressure from the White House, taxpayers may be held responsible for gambling on Wall Street, without any guarantees that it won’t happen again.

Tell Congress: Draft a sensible bill for long-term reform that includes support for Americans most at risk of foreclosure.

It is not yet clear what the best long-term solutions might be to this crisis, so Congress must weigh its options carefully, not approving a poorly negotiated bill of such large proportions. Wisdom from the book of Proverbs is a good reminder to heed:

“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” –Proverbs 15:22, NIV

Our government has committed grave errors in recent years because it acted out of fear. It should not make the same mistake again. As Christians, we ask you to join us in praying for wisdom for our leaders during this important time.

PALIN, OIL AND MELTING ICE.

2008-09-24T07:03:00.000-07:00

You have to give some time over to this op ed piece from the LA TIMES:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-kennedy24-2008sep24,0,1238333.story?track=ntothtml

The shots on Palin are now coming in steady and it looks by the polls her ship is being sunk. None too soon.

Lloyd Winburn

A SMALL PIECE OF PARADISE

2008-08-20T15:30:00.000-07:00

This is a view of the small piece of paradise you can have in Mexico for your retirement, building, speculation, investing or just visiting. Liveinmexico.com is offering lots with a great view of the Sea of Cortez with over 1/4 acre for less than $10,000 with financing.

IS THIS REALLY WHAT AMERICA IS ALL ABOUT?

2008-08-13T11:52:00.000-07:00

Ill and in Pain, Detainee Dies in U.S. Hands

By NINA BERNSTEIN

Published: August 12, 2008

He was 17 when he came to New York from Hong Kong in 1992 with his parents and younger sister, eyeing the skyline like any newcomer. Fifteen years later, Hiu Lui Ng was a New Yorker: a computer engineer with a job in the Empire State Building, a house in Queens, a wife who is a United States citizen and two American-born sons.

EQUAL JUSTICE AT RISK

2008-06-25T04:28:00.000-07:00

REPUBLICANS WANT IT THEIR WAY OR NO WAY.

Probe finds illegal hiring at Justice Department

Promising lawyers and law students were rejected because of their political and ideological views, internal investigators say.

By Richard B. Schmitt, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
June 25, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Scores of highly credentialed young lawyers and law students were denied interviews for coveted positions at the Justice Department because of an illegal screening process that took political and ideological views and affiliations into account rather than merit, Justice Department investigators concluded in a report released Tuesday.

In 2006, some applicants for sought-after jobs in the department's honors and summer intern programs were rejected because they were members of the American Constitution Society or Planned Parenthood or because they expressed concern about gender discrimination in the military, the report says.

READ THE ENTIRE STORY IN THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

MCCAIN IS OD FASHIONED

2008-04-24T07:50:00.000-07:00

Odd fashioned is correct. As reported in the LA TIMES today:

McCain talks poverty in Appalachia
By Maeve Reston
He visits rural Kentucky on his tour of the nation's 'forgotten places' and says 'government isn't always the answer.'

He is od and that is correct but not different, inovative, original.

McCain talks in Appalachia just like every politician has talked since Herbert Hoover's day: Government is not the answer. That is just the problem. It is the answer because it has not answers. We have given such leaway to capital in this country that the working man and woman have no where to turn. Mortgages are tools for banks and brokerages and they they phuque it up. Interest rates are the chains that bind and credit cards are the jailers.

Too many of us think of Government handouts as a solution. Collect taxes and rebate just before election is a trick that is in style. MaCain has not been to Appalachia until he got to the position to be the Republican nominee. Now, he has discovered that this pocket of poverty exits! Yes, it exists and has existed for a milinium. So is the answer just to go in there and say Government is not the answer?

There are broblems and there are solutions but it takes thinking out of the box to get somethin done and McCain cannont get out of the box.

Lloyd Winburn

IN MY YOUTH

2008-03-27T14:29:00.000-07:00

Times were ugly for black people and I confess I had my day at discrimination and disguting (now) feelings about negros.

This is the most brilliant perspective put on the subject.....

As easy as it is for those of us who are white to look back and say, "That's a terrible statement," I grew up in a very segregated South, and I think that you have to cut some slack. And I'm going to be probably the only conservative in America who's going to say something like this, but I'm just telling you: We've got to cut some slack to people who grew up being called names, being told, "You have to sit in the balcony when you go to the movie. You have to go to the back door to go into the restaurant. And you can't sit out there with everyone else. There's a separate waiting room in the doctor's office. Here's where you sit on the bus." And you know what? Sometimes people do have a chip on their shoulder and resentment. And you have to just say, I probably would too. I probably would too. In fact, I may have had ... more of a chip on my shoulder had it been me. - Mike Huckabee, offering his perspective on the preaching of Rev. Jeremiah Wright. (Source: MSNBC)

Amen. Lloyd Winburn

TELEPHONE SYSTEM IN MEXICO IS A SHAME

2008-03-04T17:30:00.000-08:00

The monopoly of TELMEX is a shame. The Mexican people suffer high costs of phone use and arrogant service and some downright fraude. The Government seems powerless to do anything.

The VOIP services help, but even then, the long arm or TELMEX reaches into the pockets of the users as they do through the "competition" who has to buy time from Telmex.

If you do not have SKYPE now, you are paying too much for calls

AMERICANS IN MEXICO

2008-03-04T17:13:00.000-08:00

WHAT?

Get Out, Gringo! Go to Mexico an LIVE! Yes, you can own property in Mexico and there are good buys on or near the beach near La Paz in Baja California Sur Get the pictures You can live in Mexico for half the cost as the US, making Mexico one of the best places in the World to retire. Health care is less expensive and provided by excellent provessionals.

So why not let the Mexicans and others have this land of the free and we all go live where the sun shines, land is cheap, the cost of living is lower and we are welcomed. Migrate~

COWS FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS

2008-03-04T17:04:00.000-08:00

Cows
Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that our government can track a single cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she sleeps in the state of Washington? And, they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens crossing the borders and wandering around our country. Maybe we should give each of them a cow?