city  you went to high school and look at the names.

Click on the name and it will give details of the death.

Vietnam Wall

First click on a state. When it opens, scroll down to the city and the

names will appear. Then click on their names. It should show you

a picture of the person, or at least their bio and medals.

This really is an amazing web site. Someone spent a lot of time and

effort to create it.

I hope that everyone who receives this appreciates what

those who served in Vietnam sacrificed for our country.

The link below is a virtual wall of all those lost during the

Vietnam war with the names, bio’s and other information

on our lost heroes.

Those who remember that time frame, or perhaps lost friends

or family can look them up on this site.

Pass the link on to others, as many knew wonderful people

whose names are listed.

Remember to click on the name . . .

http://www.virtualwall.org/iStates.htm

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By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM | New York Times – 1 hour 49 minutes ago

WASHINGTON — As the housing bubble entered its waning hours in 2006, top Federal Reserve officials marveled at the desperate antics of home builders seeking to lure buyers.

The officials laughed about the cars that builders were offering as signing bonuses, and about efforts to make empty homes look occupied. They joked about one builder who said that inventory was “rising through the roof.”

But the officials, meeting every six weeks to discuss the health of the nation’s economy, gave little credence to the possibility that the faltering housing market would weigh on the broader economy, according to transcripts that the Fed released Thursday. Instead they continued to tell one another throughout 2006 that the greatest danger was inflation — the possibility that the economy would grow too fast.

“We think the fundamentals of the expansion going forward still look good,” Timothy F. Geithner, then president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, told his colleagues when they gathered in Washington in December 2006.

Some officials, including Susan Bies, a Fed governor, suggested that a housing downturn actually could bolster the economy by redirecting money to other kinds of investments.

And there was general acclaim for Alan Greenspan, who stepped down as chairman at the beginning of the year, for presiding over one of the longest economic expansions in the nation’s history. Mr. Geithner suggested that Mr. Greenspan’s greatness still was not fully appreciated, an opinion now held by a much smaller number of people.

Meanwhile, by the end of 2006, the economy already was shrinking by at least one important measure, total income. And by the end of the next year, the Fed had started its desperate struggle to prevent the collapse of the financial system and to avert the onset of what could have been the nation’s first full-fledged depression in about 70 years.

The transcripts of the 2006 meetings, released after a standard five-year delay, clearly show some of the nation’s pre-eminent economic minds did not fully understand the basic mechanics of the economy that they were charged with shepherding. The problem was not a lack of information; it was a lack of comprehension, born in part of their deep confidence in economic forecasting models that turned out to be broken.

“It’s embarrassing for the Fed,” said Justin Wolfers, an economics professor at the University of Pennsylvania. “You see an awareness that the housing market is starting to crumble, and you see a lack of awareness of the connection between the housing market and financial markets.”

“It’s also embarrassing for economics,” he continued. “My strong guess is that if we had a transcript of any other economist, there would be at least as much fodder.”

Many of the officials who appear in the transcripts have since spoken publicly about the Fed’s failings in the years before the crisis. But the transcripts provide a raw and detailed account of those errors as they were made. Evidence of problems in the housing market accumulated at each meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets policy for the central bank.

“We are getting reports that builders are now making concessions and providing upgrades, such as marble countertops and other extras, and in one case even throwing in a free Mini Cooper to sweeten the deal,” George C. Guynn, then president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, said at the June meeting.

The committee consists of the governors of the Federal Reserve and the presidents of the 12 regional banks.

“The speed of the falloff in housing activity and the deceleration in house prices continue to surprise us,” Janet Yellen, then president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, said in September.

One builder she spoke with, she said, “toured some new subdivisions on the outskirts of Boise and discovered that the houses, most of which are unoccupied, are now being dressed up to look occupied — with curtains, things in the driveway, and so forth — so as not to discourage potential buyers.”

For a famously private institution known for its cryptic, formulaic statements, the meeting transcripts offer a rare glimpse of senior officials in relatively unguarded conversation, somewhat akin to the tapes that some presidents have made in the Oval Office. The Fed officials exchange jokes, gossip about people who are not present, and speak much more frankly about the economy and policy than they did in the public remarks that they made contemporaneously.

The results are unlikely to burnish any of their reputations, inasmuch as they could not see the widening cracks beneath their feet. But the Fed’s chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, appears as the most consistent voice of warning that problems in the housing market could have broader consequences.

The general consensus on the board, summarized by Mr. Geithner, was that problems in the housing market had few broader ramifications. “We just don’t see troubling signs yet of collateral damage, and we are not expecting much,” he said at the September meeting.

Mr. Bernanke initially agreed, telling colleagues at his first meeting as chairman, in March, “I think we are unlikely to see growth being derailed by the housing market.”

As the year rolled along, however, Mr. Bernanke increasingly took the view that his colleagues were too sanguine.

”I don’t have quite as much confidence as some people around the table that there will be no spillover effect,” he said.

As for Mr. Geithner, who became Treasury secretary in 2009, his spokesman, Anthony Coley, said, “Secretary Geithner was an early source of initiative at the Fed to reduce risk and make the financial system more resilient even before 2006.”

Some Fed officials argued that a housing slowdown would be good for the broader economy.

“I really believe that the drop in housing is actually on net going to make liquidity available for other sectors rather than being a drain going forward, and that will also get the growth rate more positive,” Ms. Bies told colleagues at the committee’s June meeting. Ms. Bies could not be reached for comment Thursday.

And even Ms. Yellen did not believe that the problems in the housing market would have broader consequences. “Of course, housing is a relatively small sector of the economy, and its decline should be self-correcting,” she said.

One fundamental reason for this blindness was that Fed officials did not understand how deeply intertwined the housing sector and financial markets had become. They also were convinced that financial innovations, by distributing the risk of losses more broadly, had increased the strength and resilience of the system as a whole.

“I would say that the capital markets are probably more profitable and more robust at this moment, or at least going into the six-week opportunity, than they have perhaps ever been,” Kevin Warsh, the Fed governor who watched Wall Street most closely, said at the meeting in September 2006. Three months later Mr. Warsh said almost exactly the same thing. He did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment Thursday.

For the Fed 2006 began with the departure of Mr. Greenspan, who presided in January over his final meeting as Fed chairman and was then widely regarded as the epitome of a central banker, a master who had guided the American economy through almost 20 years of remarkably consistent growth.

“I’d like the record to show that I think you’re pretty terrific, too,” Mr. Geithner said in adding his voice to the chorus of tributes at that final meeting. “And thinking in terms of probabilities, I think the risk that we decide in the future that you’re even better than we think is higher than the alternative.”

Ms. Yellen said: “It’s fitting for Chairman Greenspan to leave office with the economy in such ”solid shape. The situation you’re handing off to your successor is a lot like a tennis racquet with a gigantic sweet spot.

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Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land…all because of public pressure.

In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around.

Congressional Reform Act of 2011

1. No Tenure / No Pension.

A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.

All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12.

The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive the message. Maybe it is time.

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!!!!!

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This is a real billboard recently put up near Madison, Alabama . . .
Enough said!

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House Minority Leader  Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, pictured standing, far right, speaks while colleagues Rep. Barbara Lambert, D-Milford and Rep. Jack F. Hennessy, D-Bridgeport, play solitaire Monday night as the House convened to vote on a  new budget. (AP)

The guy sitting in the row in front of these two….he’s on Facebook, and the guy behind Hennessy is checking out the baseball scores.

These are the folks that couldn’t get the budget out by Oct. 1, and are about to control your health care, cap and trade, and the list goes on and on….

Can we afford them?

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The Time Has Indeed Come! 

Governors of 35 states have already filed suit against the Federal  Government for imposing unlawful burdens upon them. It only takes 38 (of  the 50) States to convene a Constitutional Convention. 
 
This will take less than thirty seconds to read. If you agree, please  pass it on.

An idea whose time has come!

For too long we have been too complacent about the workings of Congress.  Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could retire with the  same pay after only one term, that they specifically exempted themselves  from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any  fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws.

The latest was to exempt themselves from the  Healthcare Reform … in all of its forms.

Somehow, that doesn’t seem  logical. We do not have an elite that is above the law. 

I truly don’t care if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent or  whatever. The self-serving must stop!

The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded  it. That was in 1971…before computers, before e-mail, before cell  phones, etc.  to become the law of the land…all because of public pressure. 
 
In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the  message. This is one proposal that really should be passed around.

Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution:

"Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United  States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the  Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States ."

I’m asking each reader to forward this link to a minimum of twenty  people on their Address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise. 

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The message is loud and clear! The Independent voters are going to control the “ACT” in Congress. If the “Fool” Democrats, and the “Fool” Republicans fail to heed the warning, more of each will get their walking papers next time around. Republican victories in Ohio last night will make it almost impossible for “Obama” to win a second term. The caveat to that is the Republicans need to adjust their platform and come up with “Centrist” candidate and running partner. If they don’t the door will be wide open for a “Independent”. (Ross Perot was just a little to early) Personally I’m itching for a strong Independent.

Obama got spanked last night, so now he has to adjust his agenda. Even Illinois took care of business for the most part.

The message was also clear to the “Tea Party” and they should choose their candidates carefully. Off the wall, lack of common sense and experience will not get a candidate elected and a review of the results supports this view.

Perhaps the Republicans should devote some time and energy resources to educating the “young and foolish and the economically challenged minorities” as to why jumping on board and accepting (voting for) Republican policies would benefit them. It would help us all to have a stronger society and would give the Republicans more of an insight into situations that currently exist in America.

Remember you heard it here: “The Independents giveth and the Independents taketh away”

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