The Sunday 'Report;' 08/07/2011

[See, 'blogspot' software gets really, really 'pissy' when one logs onto their 'gmail' account! To punish the user, blogspot doesn't save all the entries; does get everything all out of sequence.  To that end:  A sequential duplicate of this post, with more information than is here--www.justincase505.wordpress.com]
What The National Pamphleteers Don't Report:
U.S. eats up most of debt limit in one day
$239 billion spike uses up 60% of funding OK’d on Tuesday
By Stephen Dinan
The Washington Times
August 3, 2011
    U.S. debt shot up $239 billion on Tuesday — the largest one-day bump in history — as the government flexed the new borrowing room it earned in this week’s debt-limit increase deal.  The debt subject to the statutory limit shot way past the old cap of $14.294 trillion to hit $14.532 trillion on Tuesday, according to the latest the Treasury Department figures, which are released on the next business day.  That increase puts the government already remarkably close to the new debt limit of $14.694, which means one day’s new borrowing ate up 60 percent of the $400 billion in space Congress granted the president this week.  Debt numbers go up and down regularly, depending on what the Treasury Department is redeeming or issuing on any day, but have been on a steep upward trend for the past [....]
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/aug/3/us-eats-most-debt-limit-one-day/

Special to Rivals.com Basketball Recruiting
by T.E. Parker,
August 3, 2011
It's pretty hard not to notice Stephen Zimmerman in any setting. He's 6-foot-10, wears a size 19 shoe and towers above everyone in any room he enters. But here's the most astounding part of Zimmerman's story:
He's only 14 years old and just finished the eighth grade.
Zimmerman had already reached the 4-foot mark by the time he turned 4. At 11, he became a 6-footer and was dunking a basketball two years later. Now at 14, he's 6-10 and - get this - supposedly not done growing yet (doctors predict he'll stop between 7-1 and 7-2).  So, no, Zimmerman certainly won't be a typical freshman walking the halls this fall at Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas. But Bishop Gorman isn't the typical high school, either. Gorman could be the top-ranked basketball team in the nation with four elite D-I prospects, including the No. 1 player in the 2012 class, Shabazz Muhammad.  And the newest addition to this roster of stars [....]
http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1246973

Is Barack Obama a Marxist Mole?
    In his biography of Barack Obama, David Mendell writes about Obama's life as a "secret smoker" and how he "went to great lengths to conceal the habit." But what about Obama's secret political life? It turns out that Obama's childhood mentor, Frank Marshall Davis, was a communist. In his books, Obama admits attending "socialist conferences" and coming into contact with Marxist literature. But he ridicules the charge of being a "hard-core academic Marxist," which was made by his colorful and outspoken 2004 U.S. Senate opponent, Republican Alan Keyes.
    However, through Frank Marshall Davis, Obama had an admitted relationship with someone who was publicly identified as a member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). The record shows that Obama was in Hawaii from 1971-1979, where, at some point in time, he developed a close relationship, almost like a son, with Davis, listening to his "poetry" and getting advice on his career path. But Obama, in his book, [....]
http://www.usasurvival.org/ck2.22.08.html

S and P Rating: Your money in a AA-rated U.S.
by Paul Lim, Susie Poppick, and Angela Wu
August 6, 2011
United States bonds are no longer officially rated Triple-A, at least in the eyes of Standard & Poor's.
And while Moody's and Fitch, the other leading rating agencies, have affirmed the top rating, they too have worried about the long-term prospects for the United States.  None of this necessarily means disaster for your money. The United States has not been downgraded to "junk" status, like say, Greece. The rating is still very high -- just not tops.  Still, there could be ripple effects. Here's where.
Your stocks
Bad news for the economy generally means tough times for stocks. But history shows that when a country loses its AAA credit rating [....]
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/SP-Rating-Your-money-in-a-hmoney-388856032.html?x=0

An Editorial Every Saturday!
Love Is a Divine Trait!
By David J. Smith
August 6, 2011    There was an old song with the title: What the World Needs Is Love. The Bible states that God IS love! Jesus has not called the whole world as yet to understand God.s plan of salvation. He has called a certain number in advance of His establishing His kingdom. Those are the individuals God is working with today.  Jesus called His disciples and gave them specific instructions on how to live. This is a hard challenge for anyone, even those with His Holy Spirit to empower them.  Paul was inspired by Jesus Christ to write concerning traits of the Holy Spirit. .But the fruit of the Spirit IS LOVE.. (Galatians 4:22). This trait is listed first, with others to follow. When the Bible says God is love and the first trait of the Holy Spirit is love, it must be very important to God the Father.  Notice what else He said to the original twelve: .A new commandment I give unto you [....]
http://www.newswatchmagazine.org/weekly_editor/index.htm

Moran: President Obama needs a dose of Chris Christie
August 03, 2011,
By Tom Moran,
The Star-Ledger
President Obama is a fine man, but he just got rolled by Republicans again.  He wanted a grand bargain, and they said no. He wanted a balance of spending and tax changes, and they said no again. And now, with 14 million Americans out of work, he’s about to sign an agreement full of job-killing spending cuts. This, he tells us, is good for the country.  You get the feeling that if they kidnapped his dog, he would pay them money to return it. And say thank you.  The solution here is obvious:  [....]
http://blog.nj.com/njv_tom_moran/2011/08/president_obama_needs_a_dose_o.html

6 Stocks Warren Buffett Is Selling
by: Vatalyst
August 2, 2011
Buffett is the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), and a man revered amongst investors. His investment mantra is to buy and hold; indeed, his famous “rule number 4” states, “Our favorite holding period is forever.” It is not surprising, therefore, that when Buffett sells stock, the market sits up and listens. The following are six stocks that Buffett sold out during [....]
http://seekingalpha.com/article/283805-6-stocks-warren-buffett-is-selling?source=email_the_daily_dispatch

Barack Obama's Approval Rating Just Hit An All-Time Low
Ricky Kreitner
Jul. 29, 2011
Obama Trails Romney In Key Battleground StatesPresident Barack Obama's job approval rating hit 40%, a new low, in a Gallup poll released today. The previous all-time low was 41%, last recorded in April, before the special forces raid that killed Osama bin Laden, which kicked his approval rating back up to 50%.  According to Gallup [....]
http://www.businessinsider.com/barack-obamas-approval-rating-just-hit-an-all-time-low-2011-7

Voters Favor Pay Cuts for Congress, President Until Budget Is Balanced
August 02, 2011
An overwhelming majority of voters nationwide want members of Congress to take a pay cut until the federal budget is balanced, and a plurality also thinks the president should chop his salary in half until that time.  The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely Voters shows that 82% believe members of Congress should take a 25% pay cut until the federal budget is balanced. Only 14% disagree.  In August of last year , 75% of Likely Voters said more generally that Congress should cut its own pay until the federal budget is balanced.  Nearly half of voters (48%) also believe the president should [....]
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/august_2011/voters_favor_pay_cuts_for_congress_president_until_budget_is_balanced

Soros serves as warning to mutual-fund investors
by Chuck Jaffe
July 31, 2011
Commentary: Hedge-fund strategies face tough times ahead
BOSTON (MarketWatch) — There was a lot of speculation this week about the reasons why legendary money manager George Soros is shutting down his hedge fund and sending investors their money back.
Some said the 80-year-old Soros — who has run the Quantum hedge funds since the late 1960s — doesn’t want to face the heightened regulation of hedge funds that’s part of the Dodd-Frank legislation. Others suggest he wants to focus on his philanthropic and political causes, and still others suggest he is protecting his investment legacy, because Soros’s record is no better than average in highly turbulent market conditions.  Whatever the reason, Soros’s decision — his firm will return outside investors’ money but continue to operate [....]
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/soros-serves-as-warning-to-mutual-fund-investors-2011-07-31?siteid=nwhpf

Double-Standard Media Sinners in the Hands of an Angry Jonah
    Don't make Jonah angry. You wouldn't like him when he's angry.
The report that Vice President Biden either called the Tea Party-minded Republicans "terrorists" or merely assented and didn't object when other Democrats called them "terrorists" finally made Jonah Goldberg go the full Bruce Banner:
The Today Show even had Debbie Wasserman Schultz on this morning for five minutes talking about Giffords. No one thought to ask her what she thought of Biden's comments? It's not like she's the Democratic party's national spokesperson or anything. Oh, wait. She is!  Instead, after the full ten minutes on Giffords, we get an update about the debt-limit situation (which is supposedly an Armageddon-level issue) and Kelly O'Donnell basically carries water for Biden on the issue by completely muddying whether he said anything of the sort at all. (His office says, no, no the vice president didn't call them terrorists, he just politely agreed with all the Democratic congressmen in the room that they "acted like terrorists." Ah, this is a distinction a team of a million Jesuits working around the clock would have a hard time slicing.)
    And yet you know the next time there's the slightest, remotely exploitable tragedy or hint of violence, the same reporters, editors, producers, and politicians are going to insist that blood was spilled because of the right wing's rhetoric.
Well, go to Hell. All of you.
Robert Stacy McCain notices that the so-called terrorist cell is a heck of a lot larger than one might think: "Meanwhile, the supposed radical Tea Party terrorist plan passed the Senate 74-26. So three-quarters ofsenators are 'hostage takers,' including such fanatics as Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Al Franken, John Kerry, Debbie Stabenow."
Michelle Malkin takes a moment to recall Obama's national sermon on the need for civility:
But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized -- at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do -- it's important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds. . . .  As we discuss these issues, let each of us do so with a good dose of humility. Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together.
I'm intrigued by whom Moe Lane has in mind with this post:
After making a probably-accurate prediction that the media will leap on the next opportunity, however tenuous and/or mendacious, to attack the right's rhetoric as being violent, Jonah concludes "Well, go to Hell. All of you." To which I append: right on. But I'll add a suggestion for those quote-unquote 'moderate' or 'reasonable' Republicans out there who are legitimately interested in repairing their reputations with their more conservative brethren*; calling out egregious Lefty violators of the civility principle on either the talk shows -- or the cocktail party circuit -- will do wonders for their relationship with the rest of the party.  If not their social life -- but then, the rest of us have suffered socially for our beliefs and our affiliations; why the heck should they be immune to that? . . .
*No, there really are. I am a moderate Republican on social issues, after all. I've just simply avoided the subtly insidious trap of getting into the unethical habit of sneering at more socially conservative friends in order to try to curry favor with socially moderate enemies. I am not the only squishy Republican in the United States of America who is capable of making that choice. [~~] {The '~~' symbols are my way of saying "this is the whole article!"}