How devastating would success in Iraq be for the Democrats? So much so that they won’t even consider the possibility. What a sad, pathetic state of affairs.
ABC News: Pelosi to skip briefing by General Petraeus
WASHINGTON, Apr. 24, 2007— As the House and Senate prepare to vote this week on the final conference report on the $124 billion troop funding bill — which would also mandate that U.S. combat troops begin withdrawing from Iraq on Oct. 1 at the latest — Gen. David Petraeus is scheduled to come to the Hill tomorrow to brief lawmakers on the progress of the recent troop escalation.
ABC News has learned, however, that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will not attend the briefing.
“She can’t make the briefing tomorrow,” a Democratic aide told ABC News Tuesday evening. “But she spoke with the general via phone today at some length.”
Must be a botox day. At least Harry Reid will attend. He won’t listen, but he will attend.
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CNN’s Dana Bash: Gen.Petraeus is coming to the Hill to report on and make it clear to you that there is progress going on in Iraq and that the surge is working. Will you believe him if he says that?
Harry Reid: No, I don’t believe him because its not happening.
Watch for yourself.
This is even more offensive than his “war is lost” comment from last week. This is an abdication of their duty. These Democrat leaders are unworthy of their position and the mighty responsibility that goes along with it.
Not a single senator, Harry Reid included, voted against Gen. Petraeus when they had the chance. Instead, they sent him unanimously to Iraq to implement his surge plan. Now, they withhold funding and refuse to listen to his reports from the field. Wasn’t it the Democrats who have been saying for years that we need to listen to the generals?
Oh, I see, that was then and this is now. As Greyhawk of The Mudville Gazette reminds us, the Democrats are now General Shopping. That was last year when they were demanding more troops in Iraq. Now they are hyping generals who support their new bumper sticker slogan of “Transition the Missionâ€. Silly me, sometimes it’s hard to keep track.
I got a bumper sticker for you Harry,
Vote Democrat in 2008l
What is backdating of stock options? Fortune’s Adam Lashinsky explains,
Stock options grant the recipient the right to buy shares at the stated price after a certain period of time has gone by. If the market price is higher than the so-called strike price, the employee makes money. Find a way to lower the price of the grant – by moving back the grant date during a rising market, for example – and the option is worth even more.
…the system of awarding options has gone from an incentive program to an entitlement. Companies that can’t or don’t offer rich options are at a disadvantage to those that do. Executives – with the complicity of their accountants, lawyers, compensation consultants and boards of directors – game the system to ensure not that employees are working for the shareholders, but rather that employees will make extra money in all but the gravest of circumstances. Options were considered so sacrosanct that Silicon Valley bigwigs fought tooth and nail to avoid having them accounted for as a compensation expense.
Who is responsible for granting stock options?
The Board of Directors. The backdating scandal brought with it calls for reform and an end to insider, absentee boards.
Among the most high profile company’s implicated in this scandal was Apple Computer. When things at Apple are going great, all the credit goes to Steve Jobs, the co-founder who came back and rescued the company with the iMac and iPod. When Apple gets implicated in the backdating scandal, suddenly they aren’t sure who really runs the company. Could the great Steve Jobs be implicated himself? Do you know what that could mean for the stock price?
Apple did what everyone caught with their hand in the cookie jar does, they appointed a blue ribbon panel to investigate.
New York Times
Apple Panel On Options Backs Chief
December 30, 2006
…a special committee of its (Apple’s) board had found that its chief executive, Steven P. Jobs, was not responsible for improper dating of stock options at the company.
Not only was Jobs not responsible, the special committee had, “complete confidence in Steve Jobs and the senior management team.â€
What did Apple admit to in this report?
The disclosure yesterday by Apple in filings with the SEC said that 6,428 grants of options at Apple on 42 dates between 1997 and 2002 were improperly dated, resulting in charges to earnings for those years. Apple restated its financial results between 1998 and 2006 to recognize a new after-tax, noncash expense of $84 million in connection with the improperly dated options.
Many well regarded subject matter experts came to a different conclusion,
Lynn E. Turner, a former chief accountant at the Securities and Exchange Commission, ”It appears as if Jobs is playing the role of a monkey: See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. If he truly were fulfilling his role as C.E.O., it is highly questionable as to why he didn’t know about such poor management and oversight of the option granting process.”
Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Enderle Group, a high-tech research firm, “If Steve Jobs were anything other than what he is, he’d already be gone. There was a crime committed . . . it looks like Steve Jobs was kind of the ringleader.'”
This Apple appointed committee was led by none other than Al Gore. Having an insider like Gore, or any board member for that matter, as part of this investigation is a joke, kind of like having Jamie Gorelick on the 9/11 Commission.
The wrongdoing admitted to by Apple in this report does not square with the notion that Steve Jobs was not directly involved. The Gore report threw two other Apple executives under the bus. It was entirely their fault.
Why do I bring all this up? Because today, one of the scapegoats, former CFO Fred Anderson, settled with the SEC. Anderson issued a remarkable statement that placed the blame squarely on Steve Jobs.
Fred was told by Steve Jobs in late January 2001 that Mr. Jobs had the agreement of the Board of Directors for the Executive Team grant on January 2, 2001. At the time Mr. Jobs provided Fred this assurance, Fred cautioned Mr. Jobs that the Executive Team grant would have to be priced based on the date of the actual Board agreement or there could be an accounting charge. He further advised Mr. Jobs that the Board would have to confirm its prior approval in a legally satisfactory method. He was told by Mr. Jobs that the Board had given its prior approval and the Board would verify it. Fred relied on these statements by Mr. Jobs and from them concluded the grant was being properly handled.
Did Al Gore help cover up for a corporate fat cat who was ripping off shareholders? Was he part of the problem in corporate board rooms? How does this square with his boilerplate speech about shameless corporate corruption? Or his role as Chairmen of Generation Investment Management, a company that is “Dedicated to thought leadership on sustainability and capital markets”?
My chad isn’t hanging, I vote YES.
Oh, one more thing. Steve Jobs other company, Pixar, the animation studio, they are also implicated in the backdating scandal. No need for Jobs to worry, a Disney (Pixar’s parent company) “special committee” has cleared him of any wrongdoing. A mere coincidence I’m sure.
Charles Krauthammer of the Patriot Post has this interesting insight into the Virginia Tech Tragedy:
“Fifty years ago [Cho Seung-Hui] probably would have ended up, more likely, in a state mental hospital, than in a state university. But from the pictures we’ve seen, the kind of iconic photograph of the way he was methodical in everything he did, the one thing you can say psychiatrically speaking, is he was not as schizophrenic—that we colloquially think of as delusional or hallucinating. This is a man who planned it out. This was very methodical—schizophrenics are quite disorganized. He wasn’t. He was too organized. What you can say, just—not as a psychiatrist, but as somebody who’s lived through the past seven or eight years, is that if you look at that picture, it draws its inspiration from the manifestos, the iconic photographs of the Islamic suicide bombers over the last half-decade in Palestine, in Iraq, and elsewhere. That’s what they end up leaving behind…â€
Bob Parks with Project 21 is “Black and Right” and he certainly doesn’t believe we’re “losing the war.” In light of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s treasonous comments, this 9 minute video rebuttal (originally released after the State of the Union Address) is a must see.
Prose from the Pros
Having 70-282 and 1z0-042 on ones credit usually means that his eventual plans include 70-528. Rarely a small group goes for 642-453 as well.
This week we had the distinct honor of speaking with Nader Elguindi, author of the inspirational new book My Decision To Live.
Nader is an expert on leadership and motivation. As a U.S. Navy Submarine Officer, Nader had a terrible accident that severed both his legs and caused him to lose his right foot. He overcame the accident and went on to become the first naval officer to complete his qualifications in submarines with a prosthetic leg.
Today he is the President of Cydecor and now, ten years following his accident, is servicing the Department of the Navy as a federal contractor. Nader is also a peer volunteer at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. All of the proceeds from this great book are going to
Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the Yellow Ribbon Fund.
What is Pundit Review Radio?
Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week Kevin and Gregg give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Hailed as “Groundbreaking†by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening from 7-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.
Matthew Currier Burden from Blackfive joined us once again for another special edition of Someone You Should Know. This week he told us the story of Air Force Maj. Kimberly Campbell, an incredibly brave and skilled pilot of an A-10 Warthog.
Kimberly’s Distinguished Flying Cross citation reads in part,
Captain Campbell’s aviation prowess and coolness under pressure directly contributed to the successful completion of the critical mission and recovery of a valuable combat aircraft. The outstanding heroism and selfless devotion to duty displayed by Captain Campbell reflect great credit upon herself and the United States Air Force.
What is Pundit Review Radio?
Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week Kevin and Gregg give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Hailed as “Groundbreaking†by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening from 7-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.
This is not a left-over April Fool’s joke. It’s for real, though I’m still having a hard time believing that anyone would seriously propose for legislation a piece of folderol that reads like a bad Hollywood script.
Charlottesvillain’s post from last week alerted me to this newest stupidity concocted by the Democrats in the House of Representatives. It’s hard to know whether to laugh or to cry at the sheer ignorance of history and humanity these lotus eaters display.
They must dream up new legislation by reading old John Lennon lyrics and smoking peace pipes. They’re smoking something, that’s for sure – and they’re using flames from the burning Constitution to puff on their corn cobs.
Get this:
H.R. 808: Department of Peace and Nonviolence Act
HR 808 IH
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 808
To establish a Department of Peace and Nonviolence.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
You may read the entire legislation here
This bill would creates another leviathan bureaucracy which would stick its nose into just about every area of our lives including the education of our children in the govt run indoctrination camps where they will be reading all about the great peace nicks of our day like Cindy Sheehan and Code Pink’s favorite treasonist Democrat John “Slow Bleed” Murtha- real American heroes of the Communist American Left! That is sure going to contribute to the next generation’s ability to protect and defend Western Civilization from the throat cutting savage Jihadists. Yup, I’m sure that just hearing about our future “Department of Peace” is making the Thoat Cutting Jihadists quiver in their turbins. Here is section #102 of the bill.
(2) in cooperation with the Secretary of Education–
(A) commission the development of such curricula and make such curricula available to local school districts to enable the utilization of peace education objectives at all elementary and secondary schools in the United States; and
(B) offer incentives in the form of grants and training to encourage the development of State peace curricula and assist schools in applying for such curricula;
(3) work with educators to equip students to become skilled in achieving peace through reflection, and facilitate instruction in the ways of peaceful conflict resolution;
(4) maintain a site on the Internet for the purposes of soliciting and receiving ideas for the development of peace from the wealth of political, social and cultural diversity;
(5) proactively engage the critical thinking capabilities of grade school, high school, and college students and teachers through the Internet and other media and issue periodic reports concerning submissions;
(6) create and establish a Peace Academy, which shall–
(A) be modeled after the military service academies;
(B) provide a 4-year course of instruction in peace education, after which graduates will be required to serve 5 years in public service in programs dedicated to domestic or international nonviolent conflict resolution; and
(7) provide grants for peace studies departments in colleges and universities throughout the United States.
These leftists have lost their minds.
Rightwing Nuthouse Blog has some other departments the Dems may want to contemplate:
DEPARTMENT OF HOLLYWOOD ADVISORS
What better way to reward the Dems friends in Tinseltown than with their very own cabinet level department where rather than pretending to be taken seriously, they actually would be listened to by people at the highest levels of government.
I wonder if Angelina Jolie would be willing to serve?
entire list here.
And that is really what the 08′ election should be about- The “Peace” Party vs. The “Peace Thru Strength” Party. And given a choice, I’ll bet the American people choose the latter.