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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: altair19 who wrote (181038)	11/25/2009 4:47:45 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 362576

The WHY is so critical and the current support for the war in Afghanistan is dropping fast...Is it really mission critical for the United State to be over there...?? Can Obama really trust the Generals that are giving him advice...?? Can Obama trust the CIA and their estimates...?? Remember, our intelligence experts were not totally right about Saddam before the Iraq War...Foreign Policy guru Tom Friedman said last week that Afghanistan might be better off if we leave -- and he said he's willing to live with some extra risk to find out too...A greater risk is not effectively doing enough to deal with Global Warming (and that will take the hundreds of billions that the war will cost)...Life's a series of compromises....We can't do everything.

To: altair19 who wrote (181038)	11/25/2009 4:54:12 PM
From: SiouxPal	Respond to of 362576

In this thread there is just a seething frustration and anger about a lot of things going on now. Of course any alternative to the Democrats are the Republicans, and that is beyond a miserable alternative. May be I'll write en toto about it this weekend. Just pissed off major. I always love and admire you and many here though. We are so damned good compared to so many others that we discuss every day.

To: altair19 who wrote (181038)	11/25/2009 8:59:24 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362576

Highland Capital closes $400M Fund: The Boston-based VC firm may shift from high-cost pharma to IT and Internet plays... vator.tv

To: altair19 who wrote (181038)	11/25/2009 11:10:04 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362576

Obama: War and Peace ajliebling.blogspot.com

To: altair19 who wrote (181038)	11/27/2009 7:17:20 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 362576

Tiger Woods' wife rescued him from car crash by smashing window with golf club telegraph.co.uk

To: altair19 who wrote (181038)	11/27/2009 7:42:45 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362576

Hedge Funds Set For Rebound to Pre - Crisis Level ______________________________________________________________ November 24, 2009 -- REUTERS -- Investment flows into hedge funds have turned net positive and the sector is heading toward having assets under management of around $1.75 trillion by year-end, according to Morgan Stanley. That would take them back up to levels last seen in the second quarter of 2007, it said. The investment bank said in a note dated on Thursday that hedge funds were set for renewed growth because investors had begin to focus on risk-adjusted returns. It noted, for example, that inflows into such funds in Britain were around $2.1 billion in the third quarter, three times what they were in the first quarter of the year. Morgan Stanley also said its research showed sovereign wealth funds, foundations and pension funds were now the biggest source of funds for hedge funds, having eclipsed endowments and funds of hedge funds for high net worth investors.

To: altair19 who wrote (181038)	12/1/2009 10:50:21 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 362576

Mass. homeowners can now sell back electricity Steve Leblanc, Associated Press Writer – Mon Nov 30, 5:49 pm ET BOSTON – Homeowners tired of paying high electricity bills can now turn the tables by selling excess electricity back to power companies at more lucrative rates. The hitch? Homeowners need a way to generate power on their own, either by installing solar panels on their roofs or planting wind turbines on their property. It's called "net metering," and beginning Tuesday, property owners can submit the applications needed to begin earning credits on their electricity bills if they generate more energy than they need on any given day or week. To sweeten the deal, the state's 2008 Green Communities Act requires utility companies to pay their customers for the excess electricity at a retail rate rather than a lower wholesale rate. Property owners still would need to be connected to the utilities-owned grid for cloudy days or during the dark, cold winter months when they likely will use more energy from a power company than they would produce on their own. "Your utility is tracking how much energy you are buying and how much energy you are delivering back," said Ann Berwick, the state's undersecretary for energy. "You'll have meters tracking it in both directions." The law also lets customers allocate their credits to other customers, allowing those without the ability to generate solar or wind power to take advantage of the change. The benefits aren't limited just to homeowners. The law lets businesses and even cities and towns sell excess electricity back to utilities. Several municipalities are moving ahead on solar and wind turbine projects. Before the change, net metering was limited to solar arrays or wind turbines capable of generating just 60 kilowatts or less, and customers were able to sell their power back to the grid only at the wholesale rate. Under the new law, customers who own wind turbines or solar power installations up to 2 megawatts — even larger for municipal and state installations — can sell excess power back to the grid at the higher retail rate. The state is working on another plan to bring down the cost of electricity — this time by saving power rather than increasing energy production. The state Department of Public Utilities is weighing proposals requiring electric and gas utilities to ramp up their energy efficiency efforts. That includes providing incentives for energy consumers to buy high efficiency lights, appliances, heating and air conditioning, and insulation and air sealing. The changes also call on the utilities to boost their outreach efforts, especially to minority communities and small businesses. Like net metering, the focus on energy efficiency is part of the Green Communities Act. The proposed changes are designed to help reverse the state's electricity demand. Currently that demand increases at a rate of about 1 percent annually. Under the changes — set for final approval by the end of January — that demand would decrease by about 1.4 percent a year. That's enough of a savings for the state to meet 30 percent of its electricity needs through improved energy efficiency, rather than additional power generation, by 2020, officials said. A similar set of natural gas efficiency programs are expected to save $1.2 billion in energy costs over the next three years. Gov. Deval Patrick said the changes will save electric and natural gas customers up to $6.5 billion over the next three years while creating new jobs. news.yahoo.com

To: altair19 who wrote (181038)	12/2/2009 4:10:59 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 362576

This I Believe _______________________________________________________________ By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN Op-Ed Columnist The New York Times December 2, 2009 Let me start with the bottom line and then tell you how I got there: I can’t agree with President Obama’s decision to escalate in Afghanistan. I’d prefer a minimalist approach, working with tribal leaders the way we did to overthrow the Taliban regime in the first place. Given our need for nation-building at home right now, I am ready to live with a little less security and a little-less-perfect Afghanistan. I recognize that there are legitimate arguments on the other side. At a lunch on Tuesday for opinion writers, the president lucidly argued that opting for a surge now to help Afghans rebuild their army and state into something decent — to win the allegiance of the Afghan people — offered the only hope of creating an “inflection point,” a game changer, to bring long-term stability to that region. May it be so. What makes me wary about this plan is how many moving parts there are — Afghans, Pakistanis and NATO allies all have to behave forever differently for this to work. But here is the broader context in which I assess all this: My own foreign policy thinking since 9/11 has been based on four pillars: 1. The Warren Buffett principle: Everything I’ve ever gotten in life is largely due to the fact that I was born in this country, America, at this time with these opportunities for its citizens. It is the primary obligation of our generation to turn over a similar America to our kids. 2. Many big bad things happen in the world without America, but not a lot of big good things. If we become weak and enfeebled by economic decline and debt, as we slowly are, America may not be able to play its historic stabilizing role in the world. If you didn’t like a world of too-strong-America, you will really not like a world of too-weak-America — where China, Russia and Iran set more of the rules. 3. The context within which people live their lives shapes everything — from their political outlook to their religious one. The reason there are so many frustrated and angry people in the Arab-Muslim world, lashing out first at their own governments and secondarily at us — and volunteering for “martyrdom” — is because of the context within which they live their lives. That was best summarized by the U.N.’s Arab Human Development reports as a context dominated by three deficits: a deficit of freedom, a deficit of education and a deficit of women’s empowerment. The reason India, with the world’s second-largest population of Muslims, has a thriving Muslim minority (albeit with grievances but with no prisoners in Guantánamo Bay) is because of the context of pluralism and democracy it has built at home. 4. One of the main reasons the Arab-Muslim world has been so resistant to internally driven political reform is because vast oil reserves allow its regimes to become permanently ensconced in power, by just capturing the oil tap, and then using the money to fund vast security and intelligence networks that quash any popular movement. Look at Iran. Hence, post-9/11 I advocated that our politicians find sufficient courage to hike gasoline taxes and seriously commit ourselves to developing alternatives to oil. Economists agree that this would ultimately bring down the global price, and slowly deprive these regimes of the sole funding source that allows them to maintain their authoritarian societies. People do not change when we tell them they should; they change when their context tells them they must. To me, the most important reason for the Iraq war was never W.M.D. It was to see if we could partner with Iraqis to help them build something that does not exist in the modern Arab world: a state, a context, where the constituent communities — Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds — write their own social contract for how to live together without an iron fist from above. Iraq has proved staggeringly expensive and hugely painful. The mistakes we made should humble anyone about nation-building in Afghanistan. It does me. Still, the Iraq war may give birth to something important — if Iraqis can find that self-sustaining formula to live together. Alas, that is still in doubt. If they can, the model would have a huge impact on the Arab world. Baghdad is a great Arab capital. If Iraqis fail, it’s religious strife, economic decline and authoritarianism as far as the eye can see — the witch’s brew that spawns terrorists. Iraq was about “the war on terrorism.” The Afghanistan invasion, for me, was about the “war on terrorists.” To me, it was about getting bin Laden and depriving Al Qaeda of a sanctuary — period. I never thought we could make Afghanistan into Norway — and even if we did, it would not resonate beyond its borders the way Iraq might. To now make Afghanistan part of the “war on terrorism” — i.e., another nation-building project — is not crazy. It is just too expensive, when balanced against our needs for nation-building in America, so that we will have the strength to play our broader global role. Hence, my desire to keep our presence in Afghanistan limited. That is what I believe. That is why I believe it. Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

To: altair19 who wrote (181038)	12/2/2009 7:05:08 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362576

The Obama Doctrine, Like It Or Not themoderatevoice.com

To: altair19 who wrote (181038)	12/2/2009 1:12:43 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 362576

Woods Says He Let Family Down With ‘Transgressions’ (Update2) By Michael Buteau Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Tiger Woods, the world’s top-ranked golfer, said he let his family down with “transgressions” and hasn’t been true to his “family values” amid reports of extramarital affairs involving him. Woods, 33, made the comments in a statement posted on his Web site today, less than a week after a single-car accident outside of his home led to scrutiny of his private life. “I have let my family down, and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart,” Woods said. “I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone.” Woods didn’t specifically address reports of infidelity that appeared in media including US Weekly magazine. “I will strive to be a better person and the husband and father that my family deserves,” Woods said. “For all of those who have supported me over the years, I offer my profound apology.” A 14-time major tournament winner, Woods has endorsement deals with companies including Nike Inc., PepsiCo.’s Gatorade and Procter & Gamble Co.’s Gillette brand. In October, he became the first athlete to surpass the $1 billion mark in career earnings, Forbes magazine reported, citing its own calculations of Woods’s golf and endorsement income. ‘Full Support’ Nike said in a statement today that the company “supports Tiger and his family. Our relationship remains unchanged.” Gillette spokesman Mike Norton said in an e-mail that the company was not changing its marketing and doesn’t comment on what it expects to do in the future. Gatorade spokeswoman Jennifer Schmit said in an e-mail that company’s partnership with Woods continues and that it supports the Woods family as it works through this “private matter.” “If Tiger goes out and wins the Masters, it’s business as usual,” Scott Becher, president of Boca Raton, Florida-based Sports & Sponsorships, said in a telephone interview. Woods won six of 17 events he played on the U.S. PGA Tour this season and led all players with $10.5 million in prize money. He ended the year by capturing the season-long FedEx Cup title for the second time, a championship that included a $10 million bonus. He’s No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking. After investigating the accident for four days, the Florida Highway Patrol said yesterday that Woods would be cited for careless driving in the crash early on Nov. 27 outside his home near Orlando, and that he faced no further charges. ‘Embarrassing’ Woods said in a Nov. 29 statement that the crash was his fault and the situation was “obviously embarrassing to my family and me.” He asked for privacy and made no reference to the reports of marital problems that already were circulating. He declined to speak with police about the accident, in which his Cadillac sport-utility vehicle struck a fire hydrant and a tree as he was leaving his Windermere, Florida, house about 2:20 a.m. local time. Police said yesterday that Woods would be fined $164 for careless driving, and that there was insufficient evidence to get medical records in the case. Woods was treated for facial cuts after the crash. Four Points After issuing the citation to Woods, who will also receive four points on his driving record, the investigation will be closed and police will not pursue criminal charges against the golfer or his wife, Elin, police said. In his earlier statement about the crash, Woods referred to “many false, unfounded and malicious rumors,” without elaborating. Today, he again addressed the issue with more specifics. “The stories in particular that physical violence played any role in the car accident were utterly false and malicious,” Woods said in his statement today. “Elin has always done more to support our family and shown more grace than anyone could possibly expect.” Woods decided to skip his Chevron World Challenge golf tournament this week at the Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California, and said he won’t play again this year. Woods has hosted the tournament, an invitation-only exhibition that benefits his charitable foundation, since 1999. Based on his schedule from previous years, Woods likely won’t play again until the Century Club of San Diego Invitational in Torrey Pines, California, on Jan. 28-31. To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Buteau in Atlanta at mbuteau@bloomberg.net Last Updated: December 2, 2009 12:24 EST