Fondness for the Bush/Cheney Days???

Last week, I read online comments regarding Dick Cheney and his BS fictional account of the Bush/Cheney White House.

This particular commenter - equipped with an University of FOX News mis-education - stated:

Say what you libertards want about Bush/Cheney, but I sure miss the $2.29 gas, growing economy and 5% unemployment of the Bush era.

I immediately recalled how leading up to the Iraqi War, FOX was successful, via propaganda, in morphing Osama Bin Laden into Saddam Hussein - without a shred of valid evidence.

And Abra Kadabra, the Iarqi War via Donald Rumsfeld's Shock and Awe was launched.

And now the switcheroo is on again and the minions on the right-wing are buying without bewaring.

The historic economic debacle that hit us like a tsunami during the Bush/Cheney era is being blamed, by our friends with selective amnesia, on President Obama.

To set the record straight:

To the commenter, no my ruefully - and sometimes purposely - ignorant friend, two dollar gas and 5% unemployment is how W found the economy.

But by the time W jetted back to his cowboy ranch, we had almost five dollar a gallon gas, double digit unemployment, record deficits, shrinking revenue, two wars costing trillions of dollars (and they were off the books...whatever that means), soaring foreclosures, plunging Dow, and an unregulated Wall Street (think derivatives market) run amok.

Whew!

Oh, one last thing, he left a do nothing but obstruct GOP party; and their mission in life is to sabotage everything Obama - no matter how much it hurts our economy.

Sylvia Robinson aka Mother of Hip-Hop dies

Sylvia Robinson, known to many as the mother of hip-hop, has died aged 75.

The former soul singer set up trail-blazing record label Sugar Hill Records in 1979 with her husband Joe.

She produced hip-hop's first commercially successful single, Rapper's Delight, and co-wrote Grandmaster and Melle Mel's anti-drugs anthem White Lines (Don't Do It).

Robinson died of congestive heart failure in New Jersey, said her publicist Greg Walker.

Early success

Born Sylvia Vanterpool in New York, she had a long career in the music industry before the arrival of rap.

She scored several novelty hits in her teens as Little Sylvia, but scored a huge hit with Love Is Strange in 1957, recorded with her guitar teacher McHouston "Mickey" Baker.

As a solo artist, she had a hit in 1973 with the sexually suggestive Pillow Talk, an early prototype of disco music, and a direct influence on Donna Summer's heavy-breathing hit Love To Love You Baby.



But it was 1979 when she first experienced rap and latched on to its potential. read more

Why Mike Vick takes more hits - by Greg Garrison

Michael Vick:

I’m on the ground constantly. All the time. Every time I throw the ball, in all my highlights and just watching film in general, every time I throw the ball, I’m on the ground, getting hit in the head, and I don’t know why I don’t get the 15-yard flags like everybody else does.

The Fall-out:

Michael Vick got hit just as hard off the field Sunday against the Giants as on the field due to his words/stance on the unfair share hits he has taken. The talking heads are saying, Vick is a whiner. The New York Post mocked Vick (and a Philly staple) with a back page cover stating, Whine and Chessesteak.

According to Mike Pereira, former vice president of officiating for the NFL and now FOX’s NFL rules analyst:

….Vick’s assertion that he doesn’t get the roughing the passer calls that other quarterbacks get is a bunch of bull and …the Eagles historically complain more than any other team about their quarterbacks getting roughed up and not getting calls from officials. It actually took me back to my job in New York when I worked for the league, and it was a constant complaint by the Eagles, whether it was [Donovan] McNabb at quarterback or whether it was Vick…they clearly complained more than any other team. source

ESPN’s NFL Live (DUCK VICK!):

Statistically, Vick is the most protected quarterback in the NFC east and possibly the league (say whut?).

Here's the stubborn facts:

“Hits on Vick have drawn four flags since 2010, more than any other NFC East team; in 2011, Vick's dropback-to-roughing the passer penalty ratio is two percent, well above the 0.6 league average”. source

Wow, ex-top NFL referee and worldwide leader in sport's position carries merit .

Of course, Vick supporters can simply counter, “shouldn’t he get more roughing calls since he operates one of the most pass happy teams in the league?” And, that there is the outside chance that he was not getting the calls due to his color or maybe, just maybe, because his dog drama.

Let’s get it right people:

Michael Vick is not getting the flag protection the he deserves due to something no one has pointed out:

Vick is a passer who throws to his receiver(s) coming out of the break as opposed to anticipating their break (think Peyton Manning and Tom Brady). By holding the ball longer than other QB’s, defenders have time to close in on him. And this makes Vick more vulnerable to the vicious – but legal - hits he endures.

It’s not color folks - just ask Carolina Panther fans who thought Vick was protected when he played with the Falcons. Nor is it his sins of the past. Referee dog lovers with an axe to grind?

I’m not buying it.

Case close. Complaint dismissed.

Andy Reid, come up with a better system to help your O line better protect Vick.


Editor's Note:
I would like to welcome Greg Garrison to HGP. Greg will serve as the Sports Editor and he can be e-mailed at gregory.garrison1719@yahoo.com

Tom Friedman: The State of Our Union

I’m convinced that “we the people” are having an economic crisis and “you the politicians” are having an election — and there is frighteningly little overlap between the two. Has our leadership lost its mind? - Tom Friedman

Rage Against Wall Street - Spring time in America?

In the Middle-East and Northern Africa, the Arab spring led to the uprising against entrenched and oppressive tyrants.

Tired of abusive leaders who have stood in the way of freedom and democracy, the people took to the street to say, enough is enough.

Could the American spring be next?

With the rising income gap between the haves and have nots at an all time high; with unacceptable high unemployment; with a disappearing middle-class; with a corporate owned congress more concerned about lobbyist than the American economic crisis; and with multi-national corporations and Wall Street raking in record breaking profits as the people suffer - yes, an American spring can very well happen.

Matter of fact, rage against Wall Street may be the opening act...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Protesters complaining about the power of the financial industry staged noisy demonstrations that slowed pedestrian traffic on Wall Street for a third day on Monday, vowing to continue "for as long as it takes" to achieve vague demands.

Police reported eight arrests -- two for attempting to enter a Bank of America office on Saturday, when larger crowds amassed for a protest billed as a "Day of Rage," and six more on Monday. At least four on Monday were held for wearing masks, which is illegal for groups of two or more, police said.

"The elite corporate power have hijacked democracy," said Alexander Penley, an international lawyer from New York. "The economic depression we are experiencing today has something to do with how Wall Street is run." read more

Rastani: Governments Don't Rule The World, Goldman Sachs Rules The World

In stunning honesty, international trader, Alessio Rastani declares his - and Wall Street types - fondness for economic chaos.

But in an even more revealing declaration, Rastani confirms what many people have speculated, governments are not the ultimate power brokers.

According to Rastani, huge - too big to fail - multinational corporation, such as Goldman Sachs, rule the world.

In his words and watch the video:

While European government and financial leaders are scrambling to prevent a financial crisis in the Eurozone that would likely throw the global economy into even more turmoil, stock trader Alessio Rastani took to BBC today to tell the world that traders were looking forward to the possibility of a second big recession.

“For most traders, it’s not about – we don’t really care that much how they’re going to fix the economy, how they’re going to fix the whole situation,” he said. “Our job is to make money from it.”

Rastani, who also claimed “Goldman Sachs rules the world,” said,

“Personally, I’ve been dreaming of this moment for three years…I go to bed every night and I dream of another recession.

When the market crashes… if you know what to do, if you have the right plan set up, you can make a lot of money from this.”

Wall Street bankers like Rastani, meanwhile, are large donors to the GOP’s presidential frontrunners, who want to repeal the Dodd-Frank financial reform law that was aimed at preventing another financial crisis like the one that wrecked the American economy in 2008. read more

Retailers eye Africa as 'final frontier' for growth

BERLIN (Reuters) - Africa is starting to appear on the radar screens of western retailers as they look for the next growth opportunity in emerging markets while having to cope with subdued consumer spending at home.

Consultants Deloitte and Planet Retail on Tuesday identified five African countries -- Algeria, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa -- as being among the 10 new markets most likely to appeal to multinational store groups in the coming years.

"All have fast-growing economies, young and growing populations, and fragmented retail sectors," Deloitte and Planet Retail said in a report published on the second day of the World Retail Congress in Berlin.

"Moreover, although traditional forms of retailing are still dominant, a growing middle class is demanding branded products and the opportunity to shop in modern retail formats," they said. read more

King Bill O'Reilly

“I have more power than anybody other than the president, in the sense that I can get things changed, quickly,”

Oh really, O'Reilly?