That was long, but an interesting read.. I'm just happy that I can walk up to mcdonalds and buy a double cheeseburger for a $1 and eat knowing it's safe(maybe not healthy).. not many countries have it that easy.

Does anyone know where can I find the list of troubled banks?

excellent read, although it is now noon and I have spent the entire day on plime lol

He makes a lot of good points about where the economy is weak, but I don't fully agree with his "cure". His entire cure seems to involve cutting all spending, which isn't a great idea. A little bit of debt can actually be a good thing, as longs the gains that you are getting from the debt is more than the interest you are paying. I agree that the US needs to get its war budget under control, but I really think they need to invest more into education. US schools are still considered the best in the world, and they have been a source of much of the innovation that has lead to some of the worlds biggest companies and created many high-paying jobs.

I would also like to see investments into alternative energies, as these would provide jobs and make the US less reliant on foreign sources.

And here's where the guy goes off the rails:

As we have already discussed, the part of the quote that the anti-McCain folks leave out, is how he says "If troops are no longer in danger or harm’s way." McCain was not talking about continuing conflict operations there for 100 years; he was talking about having military bases there... just like we have in Germany, and around the world. This is a cheap attempt by some to take a quote out of context, remove and change its meaning, in an attempt to score political points.

Now, if this is the standard of play, folks should not get annoyed when such techniques are used against Obama. Things like his "Iran doesn't pose much of a threat," comment can be used in the exact same way. And either you approve of one quote, and thusly of ALL quotes... or you recognize that both cheapen political discourse.

And out of all of what was said, all you can think to do is focus on the one line that has become your pet peeve...

Does everythign he said hold no merit with you because of this?

Well, I read up until that point. I figure, once someone is going to jump into the "Lake of Lies" (like that, I just made it up), than that's all I need to see.

In other words, if they're happy promote such a obvious fallacy as truth, it colors everything else they say. True or not... for me, this one overt lie means I can't take the rest seriously either.

It's not a difference of opinions... it's a lie. That's what makes it my (as you said) pet peeve.

A great link here.

And your bank question, here. (It's on the same page, if you read it all you would find it, but I saved ya the trouble!!!)

Upvoted for the new catch phrase: "Jumping into the lake of lies."

But you're right. If the man who wrote this is going to use that obvious fabrication it's going to make you wonder (and rightly so) how much else in here is pure fancy?

I'm interested in the part where he, though he's spent the entire letter asking the head of the US government to do something, to make something happen, he boldly then proclaims that government mandated solutions don't work. Okay. Fine. But doesn't that make the letter less meaningful then?

Thanks for the links.
On the first one the only thing that comes up for me is a picture.
I have checked out my bank and they are surprisingly well standing.

Mine too. Thank Gawd.

That picture is a whole web page of very interesting information, if you are interested in reading it!

You didn't really make it up, you just never knew their was an actual "Lake of Lies"

Wow... I'm more international than I thought!