U.S.A. Economy August 2007

Political, social and economic movement towards privation, capitalism purely in the pursuit of profit without regard for the public interest is precisely the trend, which has negatively set America’s economy on a downward spiral.

I predict the United States is due for several economic adjustments; Oil companies, Homeowner and health insurance and realtors just might in the end return the profit they greedily scooped up from trusting consumers.

It is time for the people and politicians to push for checks on corporate greed.

Hadithah Killings

The holding accountable of military officers for the killing of innocent civilians in my opinion possesses an absolute impossibility of being politically driven.

"MARINE OFFICER STATES HIS CASE IN IRAQI KILLINGS; HE CALLS PROSECUTION POLITICALLY MOTIVATED

Source: San Jose Mercury News 06/08/2007

CAMP PENDLETON -- The prosecution of seven Marines accused in the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in Al-Hadithah is so politically motivated they cannot be guaranteed a fair trial, a Marine officer said in testimony played in court Wednesday.
Capt. Jeffrey Dinsmore, who was the intelligence officer for the battalion accused in the Nov. 19, 2005, killings, was called as a witness at the preliminary hearing for Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, one of four officers charged with dereliction of duty for failing to investigate the deaths.
''You told me that politically, the Marine Corps had made a decision to hang Lieutenant Colonel Chessani out to dry,'' prosecutor Lt. Col. Sean Sullivan asked Dinsmore.
''Yes,'' he replied.
Dinsmore, whose testimony was videotaped in March, said he doubted prosecutors could be objective given the political climate surrounding the case, and said Chessani was ''above reproach.''
Sullivan said his job as a prosecutor was to ensure justice was done fairly.
The Al-Hadithah killings sparked the biggest criminal case against U.S. troops in the war in Iraq, with three enlisted Marines charged with murder and the four officers accused of dereliction.
The two dozen people were slain after a roadside bomb killed Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, who was driving a Humvee. In the aftermath, Marines went house to house looking for insurgents.
They used fragmentation grenades and machine guns to clear the homes, but instead of hitting insurgents, they killed civilians.
Anti-war observers seized on the deaths as evidence that the troops killed indiscriminately. The Marines who fired the fatal shots say they reacted to a perceived threat the way they were trained, and the officers say they saw no evidence of a law-of-war violation.
Chessani's defense team called Dinsmore as a witness to describe what was happening around Al-Hadithah in the months leading up to the killings. He said insurgents regularly used hospitals and mosques to launch attacks. Men pretending to be asleep in a house shot and killed a Marine when he entered.
''They would exploit any hesitation in order to gain an advantage,'' Dinsmore said.
The bomb that killed Terrazas was only the first of a citywide series of attacks that left several other Marines injured and insurgents dead, Dinsmore said. He recalled Nov. 19 as being the busiest day of combat in the battalion's tour.
Dinsmore said the feeling among the Marine battalion at the end of the day was that they did well. The commanding general in charge of Marines in Al-Hadithah at the time, Maj. Gen. Richard A. Huck, was briefed about the day's combat actions three days later, including details about women and children dying in their homes.
Huck was ''congratulatory'' about the battalion's actions, Dinsmore testified.

At the end of Chessani's hearing, an investigating officer will make a recommendation about whether the charges should go to trial. "

A Shooting in Sarasota

"A workplace dispute turns deadly for two women Friday. Investigators say 51-year-old Jacquelyn Ferguson shot her boss to death before eventually turning the gun on herself. It happened in the 3000 block of Bee Ridge Road. Investigators say Ferguson was supposed to be fired from her job today, but instead fired shots first. 45-year-old Denise Keyworth, Ferguson's boss, was shot and killed. Ferguson escaped, but deputies found her at home a few hours later. She had turned the gun on herself. The shots rang out just after 8:30 Friday morning. "Two girls in the front office heard a couple of shots and a scream and a few more shots," says witness David Jones. Minutes after swat team members surrounded the doctor's office with snipers on rooftops and crouched behind cars. Deputies closed part of Bee Ridge Road during morning rush hour and evacuated nearby buildings. "We did have some people still in that building, we did get them out," says Sheriff Bill Balkwill. But deputies thought the shooter was still inside,” unfortunately when we went in, the suspect was not there." Instead they found the body of Denise Keyworth, witnesses say she was the Office Manager for Dr. Jeffrey Sack, she'd been shot and killed. Co-workers pointed to 51-year-old Jacquelyn Ferguson, a fellow employee investigators call disgruntled. They say Ferguson was supposed to be fired by the victim Friday morning, but an argument started, then gunfire, deputies launched a manhunt, the first stop Ferguson’s home. Deputies found Ferguson’s body on the lanai of her home the suspected killer dead from a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Neighbor’s say they never saw it coming, "I thought there was no way. It had to be someone else," says Jessie Laiken. Co-workers say Keyworth had been the Office Manager of Dr. Jeffrey Sack's practice for the last 10 years. They say Ferguson had only worked there for about 6 months."

Canada’s Healthcare model for America

Universal Healthcare in my opinion should be a socialized government right just as much as the ability to drive on the road. This is my strong stance on Healthcare which will never change. One right wing conservative radio pundit said that if you want healthcare “to get out your wallet”. Honestly, let it be known this perspective is not one held by the general public; observation proves this to be the view of those where issues of the wallet are of no concern.

I believe there are sectors where capitalism, totally driven by the pursuit of profit void of morals and concern for the public good serve no benefit to the citizens of the United States. Healthy workers produce a healthy economy.

The Healthcare model of Canada is the direction America must go.

“Building is underway for the new North Bay General Hospital in North Bay , Ontario , Canada , four hours north of Toronto . It will be a state-of the art facility and the first new hospital construction to top one billion dollars.”



Original Checks & Balances content

President Dick Cheney

Vice President Dick Cheney will temporally serve as President while President G.W. Bush undergoes a medical procedure tomorrow.

Oh No!!!

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/20/bush.colonoscopy/index.html

Impeachment of President G.W. Bush, Part II

Chatter on the topic of removing Dick Cheney from office and the Impeachment of President G.W. Bush is increasing everyday.

Such ideas however can only come to fruition if Congress is compelled to act on demand from the public simultaneously with bold independent legal investigations. The reality of such legislation movement is far out of reach. For example, one can look at the vast public call to end the War in Iraq. However, neither the President nor Congress has responded accordingly.

The leaders of the liberals have other agendas, are focus on money rather than organizing, and the younger members do not have the experience to funnel protest energy into political results. We see the harvest of liberal and Democratic efforts is an empty basket.

Therefore, the fragmented individuals, organizations especially activist whom form the base of these movements must put place second tier their agenda items and form one strong coalition to unify on this movement to impeach.

Senate Debates Deadline in Iraq

1. Senate sets all-night Iraq war debate, Reuters, 07/16/07
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1635629920070716

2. "Deadline in Iraq," Chicago Tribune, http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/469521,CST-EDT-edits16.article

Live Earth Pledge

I PLEDGE:

1. To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth;
   


2. To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become "carbon neutral;"
   


3. To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2;
   


4. To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation;
   


5. To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;
   


6. To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests; and,
   


7. To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.

2007 World's Most Ethical Companies

The best companies in the long run do in deed value ethics.

"Ethics are absolute. Business ethics are relational. And ethical leadership requires a position of influence.

What does that mean? Certainly there are absolutes to business ethics, such as respecting employees and stakeholders, competing fairly and within the law, and being a responsible corporate citizen.

Companies routinely compete for recognition for their “corporate citizenship” or “best place to work” award. And predictably, a select few pharmaceutical companies, a handful of consulting and high-tech firms, and a couple of retailers appear near the top of the list.These lists are based only upon absolutes.

Not surprisingly, the companies that appear on those lists usually are from high net margin industries that can afford to invest in self-promotion, and may have a more vested interest in the awards than other companies. For example, the consulting firm that knows it will help them in the ‘war for talent’; the pharmaceutical company that wants to blunt criticism over patent practices or high prices; or the retailer that wants to attract the higher spending ‘ethical’ demographic shopper.

Yes, many of those companies truly are ‘ethical’—but those industries represent only a minority (less than 20%) of the overall industry of global business, commerce and workforce.

What about the rest of the economy? How can we accurately examine and compare business ethics practices and leadership when we only look at a small portion of the economic landscape?

Frankly, we can’t. We need to look at the relational context.
The absolutes are the necessary grounding for a company to have strong core values to build upon. The context is the environment in which a company operates, both geographically as well as industrially.
The best lens through which to view a company’s ethical leadership behavior is to examine a company compared to other companies in the same industry. Are they leading, are they following, or are they ignoring? And to be a leader, the company needs to have or build a competitive edge, such as size or technology, which allows it to be influential.

In assembling the 2007 rankings of the World’s Most Ethical Companies, the researchers and editors of Ethisphere examined more than 5,000 companies across 30 separate industries looking for true ethical leadership.

We looked for absolutes. We examined companies in relational context of their industries. And we looked for influential leadership that moved others to change or follow.

Companies were measured in a rigorous eight-step process and then scored against nine distinct ethical leadership criteria.Some may ask, “How can McDonald’s be on the list?” The answer is that the food service industry is the largest industry in the world—and McDonald’s has clearly stood apart in introducinghealthier food fare, sustainable packaging, food safety, and ethical purchasing practices.

The winners of the World’s Most Ethical Companies are the standouts. Each of these companies has materially higher scores versus competitors in their industries. Each forces other companies to follow its leadership or fall behind. Each uses ethical leadership as a profit driver. And each of these companies embodies the true spirit of Ethisphere’s credo: Good. Smart. Business. Profit."

Giuliani Support Hints at Shift

Source: The Wall Street Journal 07/05/2007

DES MOINES -- HE IS A PRO-CHOICE, thrice-married New Yorker. So why is Rudy Giuliani the leading presidential candidate in a Republican Party long dominated by pro-life, family-values voters in the South and West?

Iowa state legislator Mary Lundby, who calls herself a liberal Republican, offers one possibility. "Many Republicans have questioned whether our entire party focus should be on social issues," says Ms. Lundby, who has signed onto Mr. Giuliani's Iowa presidential campaign as a co-chairwoman. This year, she is increasingly hearing from Republicans whose greater interest is the economy or national defense, she says. "Is it a groundswell? No," she concedes. "But we didn't get where we are in a day, either."
Don't look for the party to make a sudden leap to the middle, or to turn its back on its religious and social conservatives. But Mr. Giuliani's lead in the polls -- and in the latest round of fund raising, according to new reports Tuesday -- may hint at the declining clout of those voters and their issues within the Republican party, and perhaps a shift back toward a more libertarian emphasis.

If so, Mr. Giuliani's candidacy could be helping to redefine the Republican party, just as Ronald Reagan's did in 1980, when pundits initially dismissed Mr. Reagan as too conservative for his party's mainstream.
Former Iowa Republican Rep. James Leach now sees the party divided between "individual-rights conservatives versus social-issue conservatives. This is an exceptionally interesting phenomenon," he adds. He himself earned the enmity of the religious right in 2006 after he criticized it for attacking his opponent over gay rights, and he lost his seat. He hasn't endorsed any candidate yet in the 2008 race.

There are other reasons for Mr. Giuliani's lead, of course. The war in Iraq and spending scandals in Washington focus on Mr. Giuliani's perceived strengths -- fiscally conservative and hawkish on national security. "Different issues come to the forefront at different times. Those are his issues, and those are the times," says Jeff Lamberti, an Iowa Republican Party official who has endorsed Arizona Sen. John McCain.

It is also still early in the campaign cycle, and Mr. Giuliani's nomination is far from assured. He hasn't defied the religious right as much as he has skirted social issues that are important to them by promising, for example, to appoint "strict constructionist" judges -- a term often used as code for jurists who would favor curbs on abortion.

Only 43% of Republican and Republican-leaning voters could identify him as the pro-choice candidate in a recent Pew Research Center poll. Even those who said abortion is "very important" to them weren't aware of his stand.

That won't last long: Mr. Giuliani's Republican opponents all are running on pro-life platforms. The same week Mr. Giuliani was in Des Moines recently, Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback was making his own swing through eastern Iowa, where he talked in passing about immigration, a flat tax and cancer research. But what his audience clearly wanted to hear about was Mr. Brownback's opposition to abortion, an issue he compared to slavery as "a moral struggle." "We gotta get life right, we got to get marriage right," he told a small but wildly cheering crowd.

Mr. Giuliani's campaign also has benefited from the lack of a prominent Southern social conservative in the race, although that would change with the expected entry of former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson. In the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, Mr. Giuliani leads the Republican field, but with only 29% compared with 20% for Mr. Thompson.
Quarterly fund-raising reports released this week show Mr. Giuliani also led in the three months ended June 30, raising $15 million for the nomination contest, ahead of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's $14 million and Mr. McCain's $11 million. In the first quarter, Mr. Romney bested the former New York mayor on this front.

In Iowa, a Des Moines Register poll of likely Iowa caucus goers -- who tend by a wide margin to be conservative -- shows Mr. Romney ahead of Mr. Giuliani, 30% to 17%. But those same voters ranked terrorism and national security as their leading concerns, above sixth-place abortion.
Mr. Giuliani regularly tells audiences that "keeping America on offense against terrorism" is his first concern, a line that draws applause and refocuses attention on his national-security stance. But he is also now honing his message on the economy, where his record is less well known. In a speech in Des Moines recently, he tackled such nitty-gritty as government accounting methods.

"This is the way a president has to think," he told the rapt audience after explaining how he would save $21 billion a year by trimming the federal work force.

He also disarmingly gives audiences permission to disagree with him on some issues -- a trait rarely evinced during his mayoral terms -- but still support his campaign. "I don't agree with us on everything," he regularly adds. That message appeals to Republicans who fear a 2008 drubbing if the party focuses too narrowly on family-values issues, as it did in the past two presidential races.

"We need a more moderate party that concentrates on economic issues," said Thomas Brady, a computer programmer and Army reservist who attended a recent $10-a-head campaign breakfast for Mr. Giuliani in Wilmington, Del. "Nothing got me more angry" than the party's focus on social issues in 2000 and 2004, he added.

Iowa state Sen. Jeff Angelo describes himself as a pro-life evangelical but signed on to the Giuliani campaign after concluding that the former mayor is the only Republican who could beat New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton if she were to win the Democratic nomination.
"The Republican party is beginning to realize it can't win without coalitions," he says. In any event, Mr. Giuliani's policies are "75% in step with the party," he adds.

Such pleas for flexibility aren't necessarily going to play with the party's social right as Mr. Giuliani's views and record become more widely known. Rick Scarborough, a politically active Texas evangelist, says the Christian right is dismayed by government spending and the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war. But because of what he calls Mr. Giuliani's "radical leftist" social stands, "we will not rally around him," he adds.
In solidly Republican southwestern Iowa, Joni Ernst, the Montgomery County auditor and a Republican Party activist who is backing Mr. Romney, said Mr. Giuliani's refusal to set a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq "might sway some. But abortion is a lot to overcome."

But Ms. Lundby, the Republican lawmaker, sees Mr. Giuliani piquing the interest of women, urbanites and Republican-leaning independents, who she says lost interest in the party because of its focus on social issues. Those voters are most concerned with pocketbook issues, she says, and many "think the party lost its way."