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Sunday Roundup

Posted: 05/27/2012 12:00 pm

This week, last year's Arab Spring blossomed into the first Egyptian presidential election since the fall of Mubarak; private space travel hit the stratosphere, with SpaceX's Dragon capsule's arrival at the International Space Station; the Group of Eight agreed that focusing on harsh austerity instead of growth isn't working but then couldn't agree on a suitable approach -- pushing Greece ever closer to leaving the euro zone; Colin Powell mocked Mitt Romney's assessment of Russia as America's "number one geopolitical foe;" and the Pope's butler scandal shocked the world with the revelation that... the Pope has a butler. Finally, this Memorial Day weekend, be sure to check out this slideshow on ways to honor America's vets and military families.


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Theatrixnyc
Remember John Lennon:Power To The People!
01:10 PM on 06/01/2012
So what's the deal with the 'Comments' section of our Profiles again? Why are they being blocked?
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sal ear
Hi, how are you?
02:15 AM on 05/28/2012
Hello Arianna, I always agree with you! So apparently - you tend to be correct! (I am joking w/you Arianna; I (of course) realize you're extremely astuste - it's uncanny that you almost always mention something resonates with me) This week - RE: "and the Pope's butler scandal shocked the world with the revelation that... the Pope has a butler." Arianna, perhaps I was not 'diplomatic' - but I had the temerity to ask HuffPo why this a front page news item? Perhaps HuffPo didn't like the direct..tone...of my question. So they didn't post my question! [ok - I'll admit I was a bit 'tongue-in-cheek'] But Honestly - the gist of this 'news item' is EXACTLY what you stated: it was reveled that the Pope had a Butler.

Why was this considered dramatic breaking news? SO MANY gravely serious problems continue, UNCHECKED, to plague our Nation & our World; serious problems that harm regular work-a-day people like me. The Pope article was a very odd choice for...breaking news! I questioned HuffPo why/whether it was News......Hmmmmm.

Much is still 'out-of whack' in our Nation; but I am beginning to sense our Leaders have simply 'checked out'. I think We the Citizens of the USA may be on our own: It's a nerve-rattling feeling. I see no [innovative & progressive] work being accomplished to FIX our Nation & our Economy. Perhaps Our Leaders are at a loss? don't understand?
Thanks, Arianna! for 'Cutting to the Chase'!
08:32 PM on 05/27/2012
Ask then LTC Colin Powell all about how he got command of the 1st of the 31st Infantry in 73-74 in Korea? Ask him why a black man could not put down his own black race rioting? Why did he need to ask for a special forces SGM named Moore who had been in Laos years earlier on White Star? Was Colin Powell afraid of his fellow black EM with pool cues in their day rooms?

Why did LTC Arthur Stang, a special forces well known officer who commanded the 1/17 not need any help?

Was Affirmative Action his ticket and Obama's. Please we need strong men who do not play race cards and do not create race riots.
07:39 PM on 05/27/2012
"and the Pope's butler scandal shocked the world with the revelation that... the Pope has a butler."

ahh!! this was great...love it!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
becky bradshaw
"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth
06:50 PM on 05/27/2012
There was one comment on ABC's "This Week" that should stand out. George Will, a respected voice of the Republican perspective, discussed the difference between President Obama, and the subsidy of Solyndra, a solar energy startup. For the record, Solyndra failed, resulting in more than a thousand job losses (please forget about GM and Chrysler).

The facts are not in dispute, but the language was extremely telling. Mr. Will described the subsidy of Solyndra as the act of a "Police State", taking money from the rich to fund a project for the good of the society.

However, it was acceptable for Bain (Romney's Company) to bankrupt operations in our country, and kill jobs, as long as they resulted in profits for the shareholders, as long it was consented by the elite.

Think about that.
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HawaiiShira
He that knows & knows he knows is wise.
04:01 PM on 05/27/2012
The Republicans are taking us back intentionally & underhandedly to Jim Crow days. Americans of every lass, creed & color ought to be objecting vociferously. First blacks & minorities, next women.
03:10 PM on 05/27/2012
The White House tells The Huffington Post to scrub an article about obbama daughter Malea attending a concert....and the article disappears. You know, sometimes the huffpo almost convinces me that they're an independent journalistic outfit, instead of the liberal media arm of the DNC they actually are.
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DSherline
Idiocracy is already happening
02:14 PM on 05/27/2012
As retired military I beg the media to stop blurring the distinction between Memorial Day and Veterans Day. It gets worse and worse at both holidays, every year.
We have a day to honor those of us who are still alive. It's called Veterans Day.
Memorial Day is to honor those who have given their lives in service to our country. As in "in memorial" to, or in memory of.
12:19 PM on 05/27/2012
Why is very little attention being given to the huge effort from the right wing to make voting - our most basic and fundamental democratic right - extremely difficult for the poor, minorities and working class of this country. I am appalled at the need to make this basic American right more difficult - instead of doing everything possible to get our citizens to the polls to vote. What is going on? Are we systematically losing the principles of our founding fathers and moving to a society where the rich dictate our policies and laws. It saddens me to see this happening and so little outrage in our news reporters. The news no longer has the standards of reporting the news without bias - what is now reported is what sells. Let's protect our voting rights - let's help EVERYONE have an opportunity to vote, let's make it easy to get to the polls and be heard, let's vote on a weekend or make voting day a non-working day with pay so people can vote without losing part of their paycheck.

A very concerned citizen.
Jeanne
07:43 PM on 05/27/2012
agreed Jeanne! it should be a day like a national holiday... no one works and every public building becomes a voting station. If we treat it like a chore, then it becomes a chore. That's why people could care less or get turned off.
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11:42 AM on 05/27/2012
"...private space travel hit the stratosphere,..." Stay tuned folks, you will soon be hearing how some "entrepreneurs" made billions with innovative research and development, there will be little mention that none of it could happened without government pioneering a particular field and taxpayers financing the the projects. Free enterprise you say, no, legal thievery would be more accurate. Shouldn't some of the rewards for invention come back to taxpayers who finance the initial research?
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12:59 PM on 05/27/2012
What planet have you been living on?

The NIH does basic research. The privately-held pharmas 'benefit' from tax-payer funding, crafting and selling the drugs that arise from the research. The pharmas create jobs. The citizenry gets healthier. We all benefit.

The DOT builds the roads. Freight companies 'benefit' from tax-payer funding through the more efficient transportation network, making it easier to bring products to market. Freight companies pay road and fuel taxes. We get out-of-season produce on our tables. We all benefit.

Government primes the pump. Always has, always will. The result? Jobs and better lives for us all - and tax revenue that would not have been realized had private industry not taken over carrying the load.
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03:31 PM on 05/27/2012
What private industry gets from taxpayers is upfront, solid and tangible; what the public gets in the way of return benefit is a lot of abstract notions that when examined closely do not pass the smell test. The continuing benefits of a new industry made possible because of governmental action should not be a gift to a minority of citizens through the corporate structure. Taxpayers deserve to be automatic partners in industries that they have made possible.

In regard to your indecorous personal comment: I'm on planet earth. I think that you are here also, but operating in a shallow alternate universe.
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haimchaim
10:57 AM on 05/27/2012
serious situation in Syria .. not an inch is given to getting along with your own people truth will determine the outcome . but don't ensure your challenges without a fight .. the end result will be resentful by the people who count ..
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couer
09:46 AM on 05/27/2012
"and the Pope's butler scandal shocked the world with the revelation that... the Pope has a butler." Thank you for that. A sense of humor forced me to exhale and smile and realize that on this most serious and solemn weekend, not everything should be taken to heart. I have a tendency to forget that so when I read that line, I remembered.
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pa30
All things bright and beautiful
09:02 AM on 05/27/2012
The flip side is that the Egyption Brotherhood may well win the Egyptian election( Egypt wasn't stable after all,as Hillary told us);Libya's war has spilled over into a coupe in Mali . The Russian 'reset'that Hillary mistranslated into 'overcharged', has turned into their membership in the WTOand the abandonment of the all ready aggreed on missile defence,and Russia's continues to persecution Circassians(we will surely hear more on that by the 2014 ,Sochi Olympics).
08:47 AM on 05/27/2012
Aha! The Butler did it, with the Documents in the Apartment.
Elsewhere over the pond a gambit to double down on spending when little austerity has actually occurred outside of Greece and rhetoric have the politicians are sending out another Crème Brulee and Sauternes, far past everyone’s bedtime, and putting it on the tab. Again.
The countries doing the best are the ones that renegotiated with labor, and put a cap on spending. Germany and the UK. Sure the UK is “technically” in a slight double dip, but -.5% growth is nothing compared to the sustained -5 and -10% GDP from the spenders. Taking medicine instead of the crack called debt is the cure.
The spenders are not even discussing what the outcome should be. That’s addiction. Is it a Germany style rebound? Who knows? Gambit only work when the board is full of options. France is looking at a government that is 57% of the economy. 43% of the economy paying for 57% plus the debt burden?
The fallacy of Keynes, in the modern era. A net positive multiplier has never been achieved when accounting for long term debt.
Today the private sector will not take the risk to create new products and services because of government uncertainty and mismanagement. We are at a standstill and standoff. Eventually we will need to privatize parts of government to get out of this. You heard it here first.
Spending must create sustainable value. And only the private sector can do that.
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wmnorton
Moderate where moderate used to be
01:01 PM on 05/27/2012
"The fallacy of Keynes, in the modern era. A net positive multiplier has never been achieved when accounting for long term debt." Yes it was under Clinton. The problem is that the debt has never been reduced in the modern era by any Republican President since Nixon.
01:20 PM on 05/27/2012
The debt went down under Clinton.  Thats austerity the opposite.  It proves the point in my original comment.  We did not feel it because we cut waste and grew the economy with tax cuts.  So when some one asks how do tax cut create jobs, just point to Clinton.  22 million jobs.  Same with Reagan.  You just need to cut the right taxes.
01:34 PM on 05/27/2012
I have revisited my comment and actually Clinton did spend more in his first term.  But he also shut down the government so as not to pass true deficit reduction, which in itself helped the government spend less.  In his second term he supported pro growth policies and legistlation that helped people get out of poverty.  In the end no one died and no catastrohic outcome occured, which leaves one no alternative notion.  The spending is simply a con or flim/flam that politicans use to get elected when they have mucked up the economy due to their own actions.  The debt did go down in Clintons second term.  Politicans looked at that as an opportunity loss instead of thinking this is good for the people.
08:43 PM on 05/27/2012
Keynesian econ is a darn joke. Try real Macro theory with national income accounting that accounts for getting the bums off the public payroll.
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Michelle Brooks
04:20 AM on 05/27/2012
While here in the UK Jubilee fever steadily creeps over and obscures much news on the expenses of politicians the internal child trafficking problem we have, the proposed legislative changes on gay marriage and the slavery among Muslim women we prefer to hide.