Denham admits he will get nothing done. No casino for North Fork Rancheria. No High Speed Rail for California. Denham says his goal is to save money and return to 2006.

Hmmmmm. 2006 .....Bush was president and Wall Street corruption and greed was at its peak. In 2006 large corporations were scamming the public and over-extended, sending jobs and American money abroad...and California had been fending off bankruptcy for about ten years with increased borrowing. In 2006, Madoff was a hero.

Denham's idea, more roads and maybe in 6 years....
Goodwin looking GREAT right now.

Why Japanese meltdown means lower U.S. mortgage rates
by Peter Miller

Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, has been hit with an unprecedented series of tragedies. One result from these unfortunate events is likely to be continuing low mortgage rates for those in the U.S.
A massive earthquake and a tsunami of astonishing force have lead to thousands of deaths as well as enormous property losses. Reports indicate that damages could total over $100 billion.
Failures at the Fukushima nuclear facilities have brought on a separate set of problems. At this point, several reactors have been lost and the ultimate extent of the ensuing environmental damage is unknown.
Impacting the bond market
One by-product of the tragedies in Japan has been a massive sell off of stocks and the massive purchase of bonds.
Why bonds?
Bonds pay a given rate of interest. Investors know exactly what return they can expect with bonds and that bond returns have some certainty in troubled times. Alternatively, corporate profits are less certain and so are stocks.
Bond pricing
More demand means bond prices are rising. As bond prices rise, interest rates go down.
For example: Imagine you can pay $100 for a bond that yields 3 percent. Demand for bonds increases and you can sell the bond for $105. This means that while the bond still pays 3 percent, the yield has declined. The new owner is paying $105 to obtain $3 in income, a yield of 2.86 percent.
Or, imagine if the bond sold for $98. It would still pay a $3 dividend but the yield would increase to 3.06 percent because it now takes less money to get the $3 dividend.
Mortgages
Investors can put their money into bonds and they can also invest in mortgages. To investors, 10-year bonds and 30-year mortgages have a lot of similarities — the reason 30-year mortgages compare with 10-year bonds is that very few mortgages last 10 years.
The result is this: If interest rates for bonds go down, the same will happen with mortgage rates (and vice versa).
The usual thinking has been that interest rates would rise in 2011 because the economy was (and is) showing modest signs of “recovery,” or at least some improvement from the depths of misery seen in 2008. Now, however, all bets are off.
As a result of the earthquake, the tsunami, a volcanic eruption and the nuclear meltdowns, Japanese funds that might have been spent on U.S. goods will instead go for infrastructure and repairs. Productivity will be lost and with it income and savings. Less business activity suggests lower corporate profits, a reduced need for oil and therefore some reason to buy bonds.
The Federal Reserve says, “low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate for an extended period.”
Translation: Given the historically-low mortgage rates seen last year, it’s been difficult to believe that interest levels would remain so low but here we are despite rising fuel and food prices. It now seems possible that today’s mortgage rates will settle around or below 5 percent for at least the next several months — a window of opportunity for those who wish to purchase or refinance mortgages

General Vang Pao Funeral Ends Today

Today, Wednesday, February 9, 2011, is the last day of the General Vang Pao funeral. It was a great and memorable event. Such a well-planned 6-day event. The people that I met were very friendly and nice. Lots of the attendees were high level officers in the Laotian military and many people held high level jobs in the U.S. today. I learned alot about Buddhist funerals.

Rest in Peace General Vang Pao. He did a great thing in bringing many thousands of Hmong, Laotians, and Cambodians into the US for safety and a new future. Yes, the stories were amazing.

FRESNO BEE LIES TO GET HMONG EMOTIONAL APPROVAL

FRESNO BEE LIES TO GET HMONG EMOTIONAL APPROVAL

       FRESNO BEE GOES FOR RACISM AND LIES TO CUT MINORITIES


The Fresno Bee printed that the "Obama Administration" denied General Vang Pao the honor of burial at Arlington Cemetery..

The TRUTH is that President Obama's administration had nothing to do with the denial that was presented at General Vang Pao's funeral on February 5th. The decision to deny General Vang Pao was based on a decision by the white generals who oversee the military cemetery. President Obama does not select who is buried at Arlington, he is busy with a few actual wars.

The Fresno Bee struck a low blow to inject racial hatred against President Obama into the decision. Also it shows that these valley republican newspapers are prone to lie in order to get public sentiment on their side. We certainly can not trust what we read in the Fresno Bee or the Modesto Bee.

The TRUTH is that the burial issue will eventually come before President Obama, after the Hmongs appeal this decision by the generals. Amazing as it may seem, President Obama does not even handle the first appeal, so the next decision will also be made by a military review committee.  Eventually, the issue will reach the President - but it will be months because the military has a policy of following the "chain of command" and you can not circumvent the process.

The Hmong community understands the truth and will not be deceived by cheap political antics by the Fresno Bee.
See:  Youtube:  CentralValleyCd19 (posted today - 2/6/2011)

DO WE WANT ANOTHER LARGE CASINO?

Article from ABC30 Website:
Shannon Handy
More: Bio, Articles by Shannon Handy, News Team
FRESNO, Calif. -- Hundreds gathered in Prather Wednesday to share their opinions on a proposed Vegas-style Indian casino to be built in the Fresno County foothills.

The "Big Sandy Casino" would be located off Auberry and Millerton Roads.

On Wednesday, supporters and critics got a chance to talk about the newly released environmental impact statement. More than fifty people got up and spoke during the public meeting.

Those who support the project say it will benefit the local economy, but opponents aren't sure if valley residents can support another casino.

A standing room only crowd packed into Foothill Middle School's auditorium in Prather Wednesday night.

For nearly three hours, representatives from the Bureau of Indian Affairs listened as valley residents voiced their thoughts on the proposed construction of Big Sandy, a $250 million casino near the town of Friant.

Concerns included the project's affect on the local water supply. "I'd like to know how this is going to impact the residents in the local area with their water."

Others, like Rachelle Bedwall of Clovis question the casino's sustainability. "There's already a casino real close and so I don't think it can support two casinos."

Many in the crowd cheered whenever supporters talked about the more than 1500 jobs the 48 acre project would bring to the area.

Eddie Clement said, "It is gonna have the ability to give people career, as well as the construction industry on the build."

The Big Sandy Rancheria announced plans to build the casino in 2004. A switch in development partners initially delayed the project. But, now another claim may delay it even more.

Table Mountain, a casino located about a mile from the proposed site, argues part of the land Big Sandy wants to use is a sacred burial ground.

Big Sandy, however, says that claim is based more on competition than facts.

Loretta Tuell said, "And we believe it is a historic ancient village with many burials with many pounding rocks, with many issues you can't litigate very easily."

John Peebles said, "I think there's a real concern on Table Mountain, members and their leadership that they will have a substantial reduction in income which will affect their quality of life. It's economics."

At this point, no public meetings are scheduled in the near future. But, you have until March 28th to send in a comment about the environmental impact statement

MUSD SEEKS NEW SUPERINTENDENT - MEETING TONIGHT

MUSD SEEKS NEW SUPERINTENDENT

Please attend the MUSD Superintendent search session TODAY at 6:30 PM at Desmond School (Find location in Yellow Pages Maps).

I feel we need a person who actually lives in Madera. All of the MUSD administrators live in Clovis because the MUSD is so Bad and they want their kids to have a good education which can be provided in the Clovis School District. None of these administrators have buy-in for helping MUSD. MUSD is stuck in "mediocrity" and needs to recruit excellence. Most of the MUSD administrators are over-paid...and they want more. If you want to live in Clovis, get a job in Clovis. A person who lives in Madera will support our Madera businesses and schools, not the Clovis businesses.

If we citizens must pay for the MUSD administrators, I want to see some EXCELLENCE.

In addition, we have "white flight" in Madera where the white students are attending private schools and MUSD is left with 60% to 80% Hispanic students. Since our schools are mostly Hispanic, we need to recruit a minority Superintendent.

I expect the new Superintendent to have a DOCTORATE and be a well-rounded professional in education.

The only person I am familiar with at MUSD who could possibly be the next Superintendent is Deborah Woods. Anyone else currently in the district is unacceptable, unless they work for a greatly lower salary. Hence, that would mean we would get significant financial savings in return for a less-educated MEDIOCRE Superintendent. I know Porterfield wants the job but, for a number of reasons, he is not a good choice and does not provide the ROLE MODEL needed.

Please attend the meeting tonight - 6:30 PM, Desmond - or tomorrow at Madera High School, 6:30 PM.

Our kids can not succeed unless you demand EXCELLENCE.

Reprinted from POLITICO

JAKE SHERMAN | 1/31/11 9:14 AM EST

Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) caught lots of flak earlier this year for hosting a swank, rock ‘n’ roll fundraiser months after his freshman class was swept to Washington after promising a renewed commitment to frugality and economic restraint.

And all that ire was before the nearly $80,000 in expenses was disclosed.

The night before lawmakers were sworn in, the first-term congressman’s political action committee appears to have doled out $25,000 to have LeAnn Rimes perform in Washington at the W Hotel for an event that raised eyebrows in both Republican and Democratic circles.

The PAC paid the W Hotel $22,000 for catering and lights, and audio services ran up a $5,000 tab. It also paid $10,000 for “floral expense and event design.”

It was a particularly bizarre event, even by Washington standards. Denham invited the media to the W Hotel before the event, where he vowed that “we’re conservatives but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun.”

“Obviously this isn’t just about raising money, this is about having a good time,” Denham said to reporters before the fundraiser. “We have a great entertainer here in Grammy Award-winner LeAnn Rimes. And we’re excited about that, and excited about the event tonight.” Reporters were not permitted to attend the fundraiser itself.

The money that the PAC raised hardly covered the cost of the event — it took in $85,000. The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians donated $50,000 to the committee, and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians Native donated $25,000. Blue Shield of California’s PAC chipped in $5,000 and the American Association of Clinical Urologists and a Tennessee-based donor gave $2,500 each.

Although Denham was the face of the event, the political action committee raises money for a slew of first-term Republicans, including Reps. Scott DesJarlais (Tenn.), Robert Dold (Ill.), Renee Ellmers (N.C.), Jeff Landry (La.), Tom Marino (Pa.), Tom Reed (N.Y.), David Rivera (Fla.), Jon Runyan (N.J.), Steve Southerland (Fla.), Marlin Stutzman (Ind.) and Kevin Yoder (Kan.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/48487.html#ixzz1CdRE69JZ

Clovis, CA: Vets will sponsor dinner to honor fallen soldiers tomorrow, Saturday, from 4 to 6 PM. Cost is $10.00 for spaghetti dinner and the money will be used to build a memorial to soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq

SARGENT SHRIVER DIES AT AGE 95

Sargent Shriver, a former Peace Corps director and Democratic vice presidential candidate, has died at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. Sargent Shriver has suffered from Alzheimer's disease for many years and has been the foundation for a lot of fundraising and advanced medical research for the degenerative disease. Shriver was also the founder of the Special Olympics and The Peace Corps which, since the Kennedy years, allowed citizens to help impoverished communities abroad.

Recently the Peace Corps has come under fire for placing Corps volunteers in areas which were dangerous without any protection. Volunteers tell stories of violent rapes and murders of Corps volunteers by community members. 

Although the Peace Corps may be too dangerous for young volunteers in many areas, the Special Olympics is still going strong.

Help Loraine Goodwin and Al Franken Prevent Comcast/NBC Merger!

If you're concerned about corporate control of the media, Senator Al Franken needs you to take two minutes to view his video and sign the petition to the Federal Communications Committee objecting to the merger of Comcast with NBC.  The FCC and Department of Justice may be about to approve this deal. This would have serious consequences for consumers across America.  We don't have much time.  Pass the vido link on to others: 

http://www.alfranken.com/index.php/splash/fccopenletter

NEW CONGRESS OFF TO BAD START

I don't feel great about this "new" Congress - looks like the same "old boys club " to me. Jeff Denham has been given the job of frat party thrower and fundraiser. Hence, on the day BEFORE he even gets into office, he throws a $2,500 a plate dinner at a luxury hotel in D.C.. I guess the economy is doing very well after all.

Next Boehner starts crying repeatedly. He is like an old depressed drunk. In fact, he has around eleven brothers and sisters. His sister said, “John is a little man and he has a big job ahead of him." With family confidence like that, it is no wonder Boehner started the, "my gavel is bigger than yours" contest. Yes, it sounds like a penile problem to me too. In fact, as Boehner was waving his gavel around with great pride about its size, the gavel began to resemble a "penis analogy" to me.  Let the frat party begin.

Next these guys, getting high salaries, decide to read the Constitution aloud on the House floor. Maybe these guys should have been reading the Constitution instead of partying, drinking and womanizing at the lavish party the night before. Yes, we got to pay to hear these inept congressmen read the Constitution aloud. It was sad to hear some of the congressional members stumble over the words. That reading exercise cost us citizens around a million dollars or more...our tax money.

The Republicans said the only idea they had for reducing federal spending was to cut the congressional budget. Later, it was revealed that actually the congressional budget would be too hard to cut, so the reduction will be greatly reduced and the congressional party can continue. 

Boehner said first job, as Speaker of the House, is to repeal health care reform legislation. The Congressional Budget Office says that will cost over $230 billion dollars with the investments already made - plus the Senate will not pass the repeal bill, so it is a waste of time and money - but a good show for gullible Republicans. On a news interview show when Boehner was asked what he planned to cut to reduce federal spending as promised during the campaign, Boehner said, in spite of all of his years in the House, he "had no specific ideas."

HOMELESS ANNOUNCER FINDS EMPLOYMENT

Ted Williams, a homeless man begging for money was YouTubed discussing his former career as a radio announcer. He was doing well, but fell into drugs and alcohol. Now, stating he is 2 years clean, he wants to return to radio announcing. Today he was featured on all of the morning talk shows and he will do some TV shows tomorrow. GOOD LUCK Ted. I hope you have a lucretive future career in radio. Look, Rush Limbaugh has been on illegal drugs for years and he has kept his radio job - so can you Ted. I will watch you tomorrow on TODAY show.

JOIN US IN EDUCATION REFORM

A new report that showed a nearly 3 percentage point jump – from 18.9 percent to 21.7 percent – in California’s high school dropout rate from 2007-08 to 2008-09 triggered alarmed headlines around the state. Locally, however, the concern had an additional dimension: Data showing San Diego County’s dropout rate increased from 17.1 percent to 20.4 percent from 2007-08 to 2008-09 may not be accurate because figures for San Diego Unified, by far the county’s largest school district, were in doubt. Why? The district’s dropout rate inexplicably soared from 9.2 percent to 23.5 percent.

Send your name and email address to: saveourvalley@hotmail.com. List your special concerns.

SOUTH KOREA SAVING FACE


South Korea says it will go ahead with one day of live ammunition military drills early next week. The North Koreans are threatening to blast the South even harder than it did on November 23rd, if the South goes ahead with the drills.

The South responded it has to go through with the drills due to their poor response to the North's assault on the 23rd in order to save face.

The North has numerous problems and has little to lose from future battles. This is where sounds minds must intervene.

BARBARA WILLING TO PAY TO GET FEDS OFF HER CASE WITH MADOFF

Jeffery Picower, perhaps a secret partner of Maddoff was paid billions. Jeffery, age 67, died in his Palm Beach mansion swimming pool last year, Today, his widow, Barbara, has announced to federal courts she would return $7.2 BILLION DOLLARS that Jefferey got from Madoff. Madoff, of course, is in prison. Jeffery was under investigation for his part in the Ponzi scheme.
The return of the BILLIONS means Madoff's victims may get 1/2 or more of their investment losses back as a settlement. Some victims have taken jobs as maids due to Madoff's scams. Don't cry for Barbara. Her husbands invetments on the money increased their booty thousands of times. Maybe she should shell out more.

DADT - DON'T ASK DON'T TELL OUT

With 63 votes today in the Senate, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is on the way to the dustbin of history. Now the military and the soldiers must adjust. DADT was a waste of valuable service men and women who had been trained for specific duties and skills, but once accused of homosexuality, were tossed out of the military and all of that training was lost.

RESCUERS OF 9/11 GET NO MONEY


Our Congress failed to give our national rescuers medical care and financial relief for injuries incurred during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The Republicans said they would not pass the bill because they would not agree to pay for it by taxing foreign corporations.

While Republicans denied financial help to the rescuers of 9/11 who suffer year-after-year from any diseases from toxins encountered in days following the attacks, they did fight hard for tax cuts for multi-millionaires and billionaires. The legislation would have provided $7 billion for medical and other financial needs.The Republicans said would not tax foreign corporations - so the deaths and suffering continue.



This issue will have to wait for the new Congress in 2011.

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The top 0.1 % of top 1 % of wealthiest people in America earn 11 % of US income. The gap between rich and middle class is growing much wider. This is an economic and a moral issue. Meanwhile, under President Bush, the federal deficits soared and the tax rates went DOWN. The top 1% of income earners had their taxes cut in half...paid hundreds of thousands of dollars LESS. One quarter of the kids in the US are on food stamps. The top 10% of of American earners, earned more than the remaining 90%.

President Bush inherited a huge federal surplus. The war in Iraq will cost $300 trillion and add to the national debt. The Bush tax cuts added to the national debt by cutting taxes for wealthy, but had no way to pay back that loss of federal funds, When Bush left office in 2009, there was a $10 trillion federal deficit. That deficit has now grown to almost $14 trillion today due to the Wall Street and banking collapse and bail-outs of 2007-2009.

The banks it on huge amounts of bail-out money and do not lend because Americans are now not credit-worthy after huge numbers of Americans had credit ratings lowered with mortgage fraud and bankruptcy.

ELZABETH EDWARDS FAREWELL TO A NINJA WARRIOR



Elizabeth Edwards ended a exciting life story on December 7th. At the young age of 61, her body could take no more. As a young woman, Elizabeth took the hard road of college and then law school. She had her own legal practice. She was clearly a role model and a pioneer for the education of women. Her daughter also became an attorney. Her oldest son died. In her late forties, she decided to have two more children - perhaps this was a stimulus to her eventually developing her fatal breast cancer.

Elizabeth was a ninja. She could swing the sword and dodge an attack. Her beauty in her youth is undeniable and she carried her beauty and grace into her final years.

Unfortunately, with all of her accomplishments, she will be most remembered for her battle at home between her, her husband John and his sexual partner who John paid with our hard-earned public money. Yes, John was really a "John" paying for sex.

Confronted with her cancer Elizabeth came out swinging. She was fierce and she focused on the goal - beat the cancer and live for her family. She was not a victim. She learned to live with the diagnosis and the numerous negative comments she received from well-wishers and the media. Elizabeth was certain she was winning. She felt all were really on her side . She never expected her biggest opponent was lurking in the shadows, next to her on a daily basis and feeding her lies. In fact, she bravely committed to continuing in the wife role to have John elected as President of the United States. She told all of us he was honest and the best man for the job. Little did she know the truth. And it was all about to play out on televison - no where to hide. No dignity left. Humiliation as a wife, mother and work partner. She was supposed to know John thoroughly…she was his wife. Sneaking, surreptitiously John crept and her soul and spirit were exposed and vulnerable...sharing the house, the food, the bed and usurping her energy - energy she needed to fight the cancer.

When the possibility of an affair arose, Elizabeth acted, backed by her soul mate’s reassurance, to deny the possibility of such betrayal. She assured us John was honest and honorable. The sexual partner wanted some recognition, so she and John met in hotels to enjoy their baby. I’m sure she was taking secret pictures to ensure she had the evidence, if needed to entitle her to a significant future income.

When Elizabeth spoke with Oprah on TV, Elizabeth tried to separate herself from the problem, she was the mom and wife. She resented this other woman trying to come in and claim her life. Elizabeth said she worked hard for her life and this new woman would not be allowed to just come in and “takeover.” However, the demon spirit had let this other woman in. The woman could not have come in unless someone close to Elizabeth betrayed her in her time of greatest need. John opened the door and began a series of lies that created a web that sucked the life from Elizabeth.

Down, but not dead, Elizabeth rose. Injured and breathless, she stood weakly on her feet…she was on her own and her kids would be her only supporters. Oprah confronted John in the hallway of his house and questioned him about the affair. John had the look of hate and disgust as he tried to answer Oprah’s questions with his trained political grace. His eyes became squinty as he looked at Oprah, casting a negative ray towards the talk-show hostess. Oprah acted as if she did not notice, but if he could have, John would have given her a left to the head. He was still playing the southern gentleman role. Meanwhile, Elizabeth struggled to grab onto any shreds of dignity she could find. Not yet finished, the other woman moves into a house near Elizabeth and John’s home on an island in South Carolina. Demons all and carrying an innocent baby…or a future mini demon. Only time will tell.

By now Elizabeth is gasping for air, crawling, begging for family support. "Tell this woman not to move next door on our island" - John is paying. Then the sex tapes. The other woman was gathering evidence against John and she, a professional photographer, had been taking videos of John having sex. These tapes were found by John’s campaign manager, who became involved in the cover-up. The campaign manager was dependent on John for income, so he told John he would claim to be the father of the baby and let the women hide at his house during the pregnancy. His wife agreed to the scheme. They decided to keep the tapes just in case John tried to abandon them in the end. Of course, John, as the demon, did just that and the existence of the tapes became public. John’s sexual partner claimed the tapes were stolen from the house; the campaign manager claimed the tapes were thrown in the trash and retrieved by his wife during a clean-up outside of her room.

Elizabeth’s story is not very unusual if you watch Jerry Springer or the Maury Povitch Show. It was unusual in that we saw every bit play out in public, because of the election coverage, and the parties were wealthy, educated, people in high level jobs…running for U.S. President. How bizarre.

It was not a surprise that Elizabeth died, but an honor to her strength and will to live so long and fight for every inch of respect she could gather.

As a woman, we understand her story and we pray for her soul. She is now with her son.
John and his girlfriend are probably off partying. For them too the ordeal is ending and, like Camilla Parker Bowles, after the death of Diana, the two of them can now devise a cover story and continue in a fake shroud of respect and normalcy.

God Bless You Elizabeth. We women will not forget. Surely, we will see this as a movie forever.