Not to mention 4 Friday the 13ths every year.

A long time ago when first I realized I had completely lost my mind I adopted, and have used since, the French Republican Calendar. That means today, to me, is Nonidi, 9 Nivôse CCXX.

The rest of y'all may do as you wish. ;)

Those Republicans sure FEAR and hate smart women.

Well, at least the Republicans passed a budget. The Democrats have not passed one in years. Pres. Obama proposed one which was resoundly defeated. We've gotten to the point where we are arguing about a silly temporary payroll tax

We have to realize that short term fixes don't work. Keynes, in this environment doesn't work. Nor does trickel down. Go back to Simpson/Bowles and start from there. Moaning about either party doesn't solve anything.

What good is the Republican budget when they knew it had no chance of going anywhere? The Ryan budget is going to be the Dem sword in the elections. And the Republicans handed it to the Dems on a platter. Further, short term fixes are being done because Republicans have adopted an all or nothing approach. Each confrontation has cost them support. I wholeheartedly support more of these confrontations because it helps Dems.

Mike,

Both parties are silly now. You are correct that the Republicans adopted and all or nothing approach. And what did the Democrats adopt - some or nothing. So our choice is an all or nothing one year plan or a some or nothing 2 month plan. You may see as the Republicans refusing to compromise (which is true), but in my eyes the Democrats are also refusing to compromise - thus a 2 month band aid until March when this two party crap will start again. Both are comical to me. And Tom is right about no budgets in a few years. NO budgets. The only one proposed is from the executive office? The legislative branch is supposed to to that. They don't even propose one - and that's in their job description.

This is what you are hoping for? That these "confrontations" will get Democrats elected. Nice plan. Don't campaign on a meaningful platform - campaign on "the Republicans do not play well with others so vote for us". How comforting. I may not know what you stand for, but at least you told me you can't "play" with the other side. OK got my vote on that. Amazingly that will probably work on our "American Idol" / "Survivor" mentality voting public :).

Republicans are like little children demanding everything they want. You cannot have a rational discussion or negotiations when one side is all or nothing. That is what the Dems and Obama have been dealing with. It has taken public opinion to force Republicans to negotiate. If Republicans continue to use the "all or nothing" strategy, then they are handing the issue to the Dems. There is no reason why Dems should not take advantage of Republican intransigence. Republicans tried to co-opt the Tea Party but the Tea Party is co-opting the Republicans. That is the price they pay for an alliance with radicals. Dems have difficulty agreeing to issues within their own party. But that just demonstrates which party has the big tent. Even with the differences in the Dem party, they have been able to come to consensus rather than dictate policy to all of the members by.

Mike

I believe the Dems propose short term bandaids because they have no answers, Rather than propose an alternative to the Repub budget, they ignored it. Both refuse to confront the real problems - spending and debt. Pres Obama's response is class warfare - let rich pay more. OK, wipe out their wealth. After that, we will still be in debt and deficit.

The issue is not spending; it is the tax cuts and the unnecessary war in Iraq that has pushed the country in to debt. Have you forgotten the budget surplus Clinton left Bush? Class warfare was declared by Reagan and the Republicans and it is still going on. Republicans have demonized the poor, illegal aliens, NPR, Planned Parenthood, etc. That is what these voter registration laws are all about. Now, OWS, the unions, voters and even some politicians are fighting back and Republicans are whining about class warfare. They are losing the "fairness" argument with the public so all they have left is crying about class warfare.

Why wouldn't Keynesian economics work now? What has changed, apart from the increased desire of right-wing ideologues that Keynes not "work"?

"Keynesian economics doesn't work" is in the same category as "government doesn't create jobs" meme. Both are big lies but they are simplistic enough to sell to the rubes along with the idea that tax cuts create jobs. Wrap it with a bow and serve it up to anyone who will buy it without anything more than a passing thought.

Well, sure. But I still want to see if my question provokes anything like an answer. My bet is that the question is ignored or gets at best some half-hearted tap-dancing.

Well, as Robert Samuelson wrote in the WAPO, Keynes only works if markets support the additional deficit financing. While the US has been fortunate now in raising capital at low rates, consider the dire predicament of competitors for capital.

Everyone likes to point to FDR and the vast infrastructure programs he pushed during the depression. The depression didn't end until WW II.

Pres Obama tried Keynes with his stimulus. Aside from it being a please all policy, it changed little besides delaying off public employees. Infrastructure? Even he admitted it failed. Job creation? Argue to your hearts content it saved jobs. Real estate? Check the market and foreclosures.

Today, with a huge debt and entitlements just adding to it, neither Keynes nor tax cuts work. Spending cuts, entitlement revisions coupled with expiration of all Bush tax cuts have to be done.

There's no end of month jump... you are not reading it in the right order if you see one.

Again, with this and the Zeitgeist documentary series and other posts, I view them as potentially educational sources to filter that you won't get from TV. As to their solutions and what they're marketing, I've not a clue. But one thing I do know, this current system is not sustainable. I'm happy to search for answers and share. If there was only one thing I could recommend regardless of 'what happens' would be to get very instinctively, intuitively oriented and work through any issues of fear, shame and guilt, trust and survival. Expect to encounter resistance. Truth is a good tool in working through this process. I can vouch that these issues can run deep, as they absolutely permeate our society and are how we are controlled and blinded into agreeing to illegal wars, among other more innocent-seeming things that appear to be in our best interest, for example. These issues keep our vibration/frequency/vitality very dense (trust me! I'm probably the blindest and slowest to change, yet I have experienced very good health and energy, so I have a gauge from which to assess myself and outside myself) and thus subject to coercion. Energy is everything, and you have access to much more of it than you are being allowed or aware of. Intuition is our single most valuable protective mechanism, something the West is the most clueless about. Anyhow...

oops, wasn't paying attn. to the timer—

I say this with utmost concern and love. And it may not make much sense. No matter.

We intuitives out here are sensing and experiencing some pretty hinky sh*t that the logical, analytical mind (which I so love and truly adore cuz I have one of those, which I fantasize about applying to medical research, but I digress) will not necessarily impress upon in as compelling a manner, indeed, if at all. I stress, intuition is not logical. It often does not make sense. Some would say, none at all. And many wise ones even say that what's "real" is behind the eyes, not in front of .... But,

Everything is energy; energy is everything. There are certain lower vibrations invested in keeping it that way via control. Not rocket science. Look at the news. There are certain higher vibrations invested in moving affairs that way. Polarization.

I like how this most definitely not mainstream article by Tom Kenyon summarizes kind of what's happening, but more importantly, one of many pretty good perspectives on what to expect and how to proceed:

http://tomkenyon.com/transition-states-of-consciousness

Caroline Myss, PhD. rocks. She's coming out with a book on addiction, but, at least in her workshops, addresses it on a much more ubiquitous, cultural, societal very big picture level which it extremely insightful, relevant, spot on and intriguing.

Patricia Cori's books not only did I find compelling, but I felt "protected" and found some relief from an onslaught of negative energy while reading them. That's just me. On an amusing note, she has been visited by, if I recall correctly, FBI agents wanting to know where she gets her info, as though she had been handed classified documents, or something. Totally f*cking funny. She's one powerful person, though.

Cheers.

And I must add, for those identifying with the Indigo children phenomena, yes, your [shadow] government knows about you and seeks and has sought to contain you. And naiveté doesn't work. Neither does hiding. Coming into your own is a must. Research it. Get some relief. You likely have experienced hellacious life events but you have the strength, wit, love and resilience to match, urgently needed at this time.

My birthday would also always be on a Friday based on the above calendar, so I would be OK with that, and my Anniversary always on a Saturday would be nice.

My husband would not be so lucky, his birthday would always be a Wednesday, and the Fourth of July always being a Wednesday would be rather un-fun as well.

But let's not mention the people whose birthdays, anniversaries etc. would be ELIMINATED (no 1/31, 5/31, 7/31, 8/31, 10/31) and no more Halloween!! No way!!!