Ladywriter

PNvtZT1D0n4 Senator Kennedy proves Bush Administration is lying

The Mysterious Life and Death of Philip Schneider Phil Schneider's Lectures The Phil Schneider Story You can decide for yourself whether to believe him or not. If he's full of shit, what's the worst thing that can happen? A whole lot of nothing. If he's telling the truth, whats the worst that can happen? Well... are you ready to die? Sometimes its better to worry about nothing and be wrong then to not worry about something and be wrong and suffer or die for your ignorance. Take what you want leave the rest.

Bush created 4.8 million jobs while ‘tax and spend’ Clinton created 23 million.» Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has been attacking Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) as a “tax-and-spend liberal” for his plan to roll back the Bush tax cuts. Under President Bush, however, whose tax plan McCain wants to make permanent, only 4.8 million jobs were created. President Clinton, however, created 23 million jobs after raising income taxes and investing at home, as the Wonk Room notes Obama wants to return the top two tax rates to where they were under Clinton, at 36 and 39 percent. Bush lowered those tax rates to 33 and 36 percent. Obama isn't dreaming up new ways to tax ppl who make over $250,000 a year, he's just ending their tax break because he has seen it has NOT created the new jobs it was supposed to. If it aint broke dun fix it but if it IS broke for fucks sake fix it. That's all he's trying to do; clean up W's mess.

lil plastic coffins fer u n me wtf else could these storage devices be for? Ppl are starting to freak over it; 'bout time. FEMA's 2008 Budget Cuts Back on FIRE Grants Mar 12, 2007 4:50 PM The Federal Emergency Management Agency has released its FY 2008 budget request, which increases funding for the U.S. Fire Administration while reducing the amount of money available for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. The FY 2008 budget request represents the first combined budget to incorporate the components of the Department of Homeland Security's Preparedness Directorate that transferred to FEMA as directed by the FY 2007 Homeland Security Appropriations bill. As such, analyses of the requested $8.02 billion in funding requested presents a cohesive picture of how the newly redesigned FEMA will be funded and operate. The FY 2008 budget request reflects the first year of a three-year phased approach that will improve the core competencies necessary to meet FEMA's commitment to serve the public and be the nation's preeminent emergency management agency. The requested total funding for legacy programs transferred to FEMA and FEMA's existing programs represents an 11% increase, or $601 million, for a total of $5.8 billion in FY 2008. The budget request includes two key elements associated with the reorganization of FEMA under the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act $100 million increase for FEMA's Vision Initiatives, including staffing increases, new technologies, and targeted investment in equipment and supplies that will support emergency management efforts across preparedness, protection, response and recovery. $48 million transfer from the Disaster Relief Fund to the Operations, Planning and Support account to convert FEMA's Cadre of On-Call Response Employee positions with four-year terms into permanent full-time employees. Additional funding over FY 2007 enacted levels is requested for the Disaster Relief Fund ($213.5 million), the National Flood Insurance Fund ($215 million), the Radiological Emergency Preparedness Program ($6.5 million) and the U.S. Fire Administration ($1.9 million). The FY 2008 budget request also includes $2.2 billion to support grant programs; provide technical assistance funding; and support training programs to federal, state, local and tribal partners under FEMA. While this suggests a $1.2 billion decrease from the FY 2007 enacted level, it does not reflect the $1 billion Public Safety Interoperable Communications grant program, which FEMA will be co-administering with the Department of Commerce. As interoperable communications projects have accounted for almost 28% of state grant program expenditures in recent program years, the PSIC grant program will supplement the significant investments made by DHS in state and local preparedness efforts. The PSIC funding is not captured as part of the FY 08 request as it was appropriated per the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 from anticipated spectrum auction. However, the funding will add to the total level of grant funding that will be made available to state and local governments. Although the total grant funding requested includes a decrease in the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program, the FY 2008 request will fund hundreds of grants, focusing on those applications that enhance the most critical capabilities of local response in the event of a terrorist attack or major disasters. Since the program began in FY 2001, Congress has appropriated over $3.6 billion to fund grants to state and local first responders, with FY 2006 funding still being distributed and the FY 2007 grant application process just beginning. Finally, the FY 2008 request does include several decreases in funding for programs that transferred out of FEMA or changes in grant allocations that reflect a move toward placing more funding in programs that are better coordinated with state and local homeland security strategies and are allocated on the basis of risk. Included in these decreases are the transfer of the National Disaster Medical System from FEMA to the Department of Health and Human Services and the reduction of the Emergency Food and Shelter Grant programs. KATRINA TIMELINE "We've all worked hard over the last few years to prepare for another big hurricane and Gustav is going to be it." Federal Emergency Management Agency Deputy Administrator Harvey Johnson. I leave you with RMmSKHvhA_E

its youtube take what ya want and leave the rest

first, the legal definitions: "(1) COMMISSION- The term `Commission' means the National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism established under section 899C. `(2) VIOLENT RADICALIZATION- The term `violent radicalization' means the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change. `(3) HOMEGROWN TERRORISM- The term `homegrown terrorism' means the use, planned use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual born, raised, or based and operating primarily within the United States or any possession of the United States to intimidate or coerce the United States government, the civilian population of the United States, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives. `(4) IDEOLOGICALLY BASED VIOLENCE- The term `ideologically based violence' means the use, planned use, or threatened use of force or violence by a group or individual to promote the group or individual's political, religious, or social beliefs." `The Congress finds the following: `(1) The development and implementation of methods and processes that can be utilized to prevent violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence in the United States is critical to combating domestic terrorism. `(2) The promotion of violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence exists in the United States and poses a threat to homeland security. `(3) The Internet has aided in facilitating violent radicalization, ideologically based violence, and the homegrown terrorism process in the United States by providing access to broad and constant streams of terrorist-related propaganda to United States citizens. `(4) While the United States must continue its vigilant efforts to combat international terrorism, it must also strengthen efforts to combat the threat posed by homegrown terrorists based and operating within the United States. `(5) Understanding the motivational factors that lead to violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence is a vital step toward eradicating these threats in the United States. `(6) Preventing the potential rise of self radicalized, unaffiliated terrorists domestically cannot be easily accomplished solely through traditional Federal intelligence or law enforcement efforts, and can benefit from the incorporation of State and local efforts. `(7) Individuals prone to violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence span all races, ethnicities, and religious beliefs, and individuals should not be targeted based solely on race, ethnicity, or religion. `(8) Any measure taken to prevent violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence and homegrown terrorism in the United States should not violate the constitutional rights, civil rights, or civil liberties of United States citizens or lawful permanent residents. `(9) Certain governments, including the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia have significant experience with homegrown terrorism and the United States can benefit from lessons learned by those nations. pssssst [*]

Hi Friends! Let's face it, our country is addicted to oil. Even George W. Bush, a former oil peddler, has admitted this addiction. And like any sickness, our addiction to oil has serious consequences: higher temperatures, melting glaciers, more violent storms and $4 a gallon gasoline to name just a few. Now, in search of another quick fix, Congress and President Bush have lifted the moratorium on offshore oil drilling that has protected most of our nation's coasts for thirty years. The U.S. burns 25 percent of the world's oil, but we only have three percent of the world's proven oil reserves. Offshore drilling won't even deliver a drop of oil for ten years, according to the Bush Administration's own numbers. That means we'll never be able to drill our way to lower gas prices or energy independence. Drilling for offshore oil is like giving an addict a bigger dose - it doesn't solve the problem, it just makes it worse-for all of us. Politicians talk a good game about the war on drugs. But it's time they learned to kick a habit that threatens our entire planet. It's time to quit oil, get clean, and make a permanent switch to renewable energy. TAKE ACTION! Tell our next President to just say no to offshore drilling! Chanting "drill, baby, drill" is like a drug dealer saying, "come on, it'll make you feel good." It's being sold as a temporary fix, but the effects on the planet's health will last more than a lifetime. Our addiction is making the planet sick while Big Oil is getting rich. Global warming threatens us all, and if we don't break our addiction, we'll ALL suffer the consequences. Sincerely, Kate Smolski Greenpeace

World’s Largest Fishery on Verge of Collapse! Hi Friends, Something fishy is happening in the waters of Alaska, and it has a lot of animals starving for a solution -- and fast! The fish species of pollock, used to make McDonald's fish sandwiches, frozen fish sticks, fish and chips, and imitation crabmeat, has seen a population decrease of 50 percent since last year! That's because factory fishing ships are taking too many fish out of the sea -- and pushing the world's largest food fishery to the verge of a total collapse. Factory fishing trawlers take over a million tons of pollock out of the ocean each year and the fish cannot reproduce and recover as quickly as they are being caught! Scientists and conservationists have warned that unless the folks that manage the fishery reduce pressure on the pollock in the Bering Sea, the fish's entire ecosystem could be in jeopardy. Such a collapse threatens fur seals, whales, and endangered Steller sea lions that depend on the pollock for food! This would also prove devastating for the state's commercial fishermen and traditional coastal communities that depend on a healthy ocean for their livelihoods. TAKE ACTION: Tell the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to Act Now to Restore the Pollock and Their Ecosystem! Just as the financial institutions on Wall Street collapsed due to poor oversight and mismanagement—the pollock fishery is on the fast-track to collapse as well. In order to avoid a collapse, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, who has power over how many pollock get caught each year, must take swift and decisive action. When they meet in December they must reduce catch levels by half in order to return the pollock to healthier population levels. And YOU have to tell them to do it. That way we can make sure the ecosystem stays intact and fur seals, whales and sea lions have the food they need! For the Ocean and All Its Creatures! Chris Greenpeace USA

He's after all abortion but will need to appoint a few Supreme Court judges to get Roe v Wade overturned.

Newsweek Using air quotes in any serious conversation is risky. Even more so during a presidential debate when the topic is abortion. So it was perplexing to many women when John McCain inserted them into a discussion on Wednesday about whether late-term-abortion bans should include exceptions for the mother's "health." Senator McCain's point was that health exceptions, which his rival Senator Barack Obama supports, have "been stretched by the pro-abortion movement in America to mean almost anything." But then, while describing what he called his opponent's "extreme pro-abortion position," McCain made air quotes when referring to the "health" of the mother. The chorus of disapproval over the GOP candidate's tone and gesture spread quickly. MSNBC's Chris Matthews called it "a big mistake by John McCain" and chided him for belittling "the health exception with regard to abortion." And online message boards were flooded with outraged women. "As a mother who almost died during childbirth, the mockery of a woman's 'health' actually being considered was beyond insulting," wrote one woman on DCUrbanMom.com. "McCain should send an apology letter to all the women who have gone through this." And, not surprisingly, the big pro-choice groups immediately issued press releases decrying McCain's remarks. "His air quotes around women's health signified a total lack of regard," says Ted Miller, communications director for the National Abortions Right Action League (NARAL). "When McCain had the audacity to do that, it wasn't just about the health exception, it was attacking a woman's ability to make private decisions with her doctor." So what exactly is a "health exception" in abortion legislation, and is it the "extreme pro-abortion position" described by McCain? Obama's position is basically aligned with that of the Supreme Court. In Roe v. Wade , the court ruled that with postfetal viability--when the fetus's critical organs can sustain independent life--the state "may go so far as to proscribe abortion during that period, except when it is necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother." And in Doe v. Bolton, a companion case issued the same day as Roe , the court provided further guidance on what preserving the "health of the mother" entailed. "Medical judgment may be exercised in light of all factors--physical, emotional, psychological, familial and the woman's age--relevant to the wellbeing of the patient," the court wrote. "All these factors may relate to health." McCain is correct when he suggests that the law does not specify which conditions or complications should be included in the legal definition of what constitutes a threat to the mother's health. That decision is left up to the doctor. Pro-life groups have long complained that the Supreme Court's definition is too vague and includes too many provisions. "It allows abortion under any circumstance because the Supreme Court has defined 'health' to mean a general feeling of well being or age or familial conditions or psychological factors," says David O'Steen, president of the National Right to Life (NRLC). "Health means anything." The NRLC has attacked Obama's own characterization of his abortion position in the debate as disingenuous. Still, state-level bans of late-term abortions reflect the Supreme Court's position supporting health exemptions. Of the 36 states where bans exist, 28 provide exceptions for the mother's health and life, four states provide for the mother's physical health and life and four for the mother's life but not health, according to statistics compiled by the Guttmacher Institute.The Supreme Court has, though, in one instance, taken steps to limit abortion without providing a health-exception clause. In last year's Gonzalez v. Carhart the court upheld a federal ban on a specific abortion procedure--"partial-birth abortion," or intact dilation and extraction as it's known in medical terms--even if a woman can show that without it, her mental or physical health would be at risk. However, both candidates incorrectly used the terms "partial-birth abortion" and "late-term abortion" interchangeably Wednesday. Partial-birth abortion is a particular procedure that Gonzalez banned, whereas late-term abortion denotes the time when the abortion takes place. The health exemption refers to the ban on late-term abortions, not necessarily to the various methods used for abortion. Are women stretching that physical and mental health clause "to mean almost anything," as McCain put it? Looking at the numbers, it would seem that few women--if any--are doing this. The only cases that would require a woman to get an exemption would be if she needed a late-term abortion. According to Centers for Disease Control statistics, only 1.4 percent of abortions took place after 21 weeks in 2004, the latest year for which data are available. ( Roe protects the right to abortions prior to fetal viability; a woman does not need to demonstrate a health risk if the procedure is prior to then.) On a national level, the electorate generally supports health exceptions. Only 10 percent of Americans support a flat-out ban on abortion, without exception, according to an August poll by Time magazine; 40 percent supported making "abortion legal in specific circumstances," including "when a woman's health is endangered." Most other polls results closely mirror these findings. One recent poll asked specifically about exception for the mental health of the mother. It was conducted by Fox News last October and found that 56 percent of Americans support legal abortion if "the pregnancy puts the woman's mental health at risk." So from a political vantage point, Obama's position on the health exception isn't particularly risky. But McCain's unfortunate air quotes may take a bite out of his support among women. "People don't believe that doctors would use 'health' as some trumped-up excuse to perform an abortion," says Celinda Lake, a pollster with Lake Research Partners, which has done polling for pro-choice groups like EMILY's List and NARAL. She says that pro-life voters "take health seriously and want to see the health of women protected."

YOUR SALARY IN 2016 -- THE BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MCCAIN OR OBAMA ADMINISTRATION By Kevin Drum, Washington Monthly Middle-class families will earn about $13,000 more in eight years if Obama wins and $5,000 if McCain wins. http://www.alternet.org/election08/103507/

ICELAND'S ECONOMIC MELTDOWN IS A BIG FLASHING WARNING SIGN By Toby Sanger, AlterNet Iceland followed the prescriptions of a right-wing ideologue, and its economy paid a severe price. http://www.alternet.org/workplace/103525/ HOW THE BANKSTERS MADE A COMPLETE KILLING OFF THE BAILOUT By Pam Martens, CounterPunch It's going to take about 20 years to repair the damage from the huge rip off created under the guise of "free market" capitalism. http://www.alternet.org/workplace/103836/

Personally, I would not choose to eat milk or eggs from genetically-engineered animals. We have no idea how the food from gene-altered animals would affect human health, wildlife, domesticated animals or the environment. Yet the FDA has just proposed rules that would allow the sale of gene-altered milk or meat without requiring labeling. Consumers deserve the right to know whether their food is from genetically modified plants or animals. Demand that the FDA require labeling of gene-altered foods: http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AbQbT/W58k/ANR12 They are talking about pigs that are going to have mouse genes in them -- and they think this should not be labeled for consumers? Milk from cows engineered to produce antibiotics would not be labeled? It's the latest effort by the FDA to leave consumers in the dark about what they're putting in their bodies. Not only should the milk and meat from these animals be studied to determine if they are safe, they should be labeled so we know exactly what we are buying. But we only have until October 31 to gather comments to the FDA. Please take a moment today -- and tell the FDA that you want to know the facts about the foods you buy: http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AbQbT/W58k/ANR12 Thanks for taking action!

Straight from their respective campaign websites: Fuel Efficiency CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards for cars and light trucks are currently set at 27.5 mpg and haven’t been increased for cars and trucks since Model Year 1990—eighteen years ago!! McCain supports enforcing existing CAFE standards Obama supports increasing CAFE standards roughly 1 mpg each year Energy Efficiency McCain supports energy efficiency efforts, although he doesn’t propose any specific targets Obama supports a 15% reduction in electricity demand by 2020 Renewable Electricity Standards (RES) RES is a national policy which would require utilities to achieve a certain percentage of their electricity from renewable sources McCain does not support a national RES, and instead supports local and state efforts to form their own renewable standards Obama supports national policy requiring 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025 Carbon Reduction Goals The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that global levels of carbon must be reduced by at least 80% from 1990 levels if we are to avoid the most severe impacts of global warming. McCain supports 60% reduction of carbon emissions below 1990 levels by 2050 Obama supports 80% reductions of carbon emissions below 1990 levels by 2050 The cornerstone to effective energy policy is an informed electorate. We encourage you to look at each candidate’s website to learn about their respective energy policy. Please read about John McCain’s energy policy and Barack Obama’s energy policy and decide for yourself who will lead us to energy independence.

qnLW57x8ZRM Already, polar bears are starving to death, birthing fewer cubs and drowning as sea ice disappears and their search for food becomes more difficult. Scientists at the U.S. Geologic Survey say that polar bears could disappear from Alaska within 50 years, driven to extinction by habitat loss and global warming. [1] Despite the risk of extinction, Governor Sarah Palin has launched an all-out effort to eliminate protections for threatened polar bears -- a move that could lead to more polar bears dying of starvation and drowning, and more being killed by wealthy trophy hunters. According to the Anchorage Daily News, she covered up evidence from her own scientists showing the need for polar bear protections. [2] Now she's doing the bidding of the oil companies and trophy hunters, suing the federal government to stop the listing of polar bears as a threatened species. [3] As governor, Sarah Palin has been a disaster for polar bears, wolves and other wildlife. A heartbeat away from the presidency, she could do even worse.

My republican friends, Though it may be too late to change your party affiliation with the presidential election taking place in under two weeks, its never too late to do the right thing for ourselves, our children, the future of this free democracy and planet earth. John McCain has put forth more of the same corrupt policies practiced by the disastrous Bush administration. In short you will lose but your children will be even bigger losers in a McCain Palin administration. Bush has done more to erode our constitutional rights and civil liberties then any president in history. McCain/Palin promise more of the same. Bush engages in illegal wars for the profit and benefit of big oil, McCain has vowed to continue these practices. McCain will put your current employer sponsored health insurance at risk, a rise in women and children being under insured or not insured at all will be a result of his proposed health plan. The environment and its regulation are another endangered species under another republican administration. McCain wants to give tax breaks to those who do not need it and ignore those who need it the most. We've all already seen the trickle down effect just doesn't work. Nobody has to take my word for it, in just a few hours anyone can review the two candidates policy proposals and make an educated decision for themselves instead of depending on their party to figure out what is best. McCain's selection of Palin is irrefutable proof the republican party is not what it used to be; she doesn't even know what the VP does and is blatantly ignorant of the constitution. Governor Palin has some crimes to answer for when this is over and she returns to Alaska. Aside from examining the candidates take the time to really look at their campaigns. Republicans have sunk to a new low don't you think? They're trying to terrorize (hey wait, isnt terrorism illegal?!) voters into voting republican claiming Obama is a terrorist, Muslim, socialist or communist, take your pick of scary things. In reality Barak Obama never carpet bombed a city blowing innocent civilians to pieces, John McCain has. The information is out there (its even on these forums!), the media has been covering both candidates for about two years now. Check out what they mean to do in their administration and look at the history of the way they vote, the types of legislation they support. It's not too late to tell the republican party to get their shit together and try again in 4 years when they've touched base with the realities of our dismal future. When I first registered to vote all those eons ago I was a republican. I've watched the party lose its way with my own eyes. Ron Paul used to be more of the standard, now he's the exception. Until I see the republican party return to the ways of the constitution, civil rights and honor the Geneva convention I will not go back and I advise everyone stuck on the sinking ship to run like hell. Regards, Ladywriter

Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) sat for an interview with KUSA, an NBC affiliate in Colorado. In response to a question sent to the network by a third grader at a local elementary school about what the Vice President does, Palin erroneously argued that the Vice President is "in charge of the United States Senate": Q: Brandon Garcia wants to know, "What does the Vice President do?" PALIN: That's something that Piper would ask me! ... [T]hey're in charge of the U.S. Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom. l40nrw3V3GA Indeed, while Palin suggests that questions about what the Vice President does is something only her daughter Piper would ask, Palin herself asked this very question on national television in July. Apparently, she still hasn't learned the correct answer. Article I of the Constitution establishes an exceptionally limited role for the Vice President -- giving the office holder a vote only when the Senate is "equally divided": The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. Moreover, the U.S. Senate website explains that the modern role of Vice Presidents has been to preside over the Senate "only on ceremonial occasions." ThinkProgress contacted Senior Assistant Paliamentarian Peter Robinson, who also disputed Palin's characterization of the Vice President's role: In modern practice the Vice President doesn't really control the Senate. ... If anyone has a responsibility to try to govern the Senate, it's the responsibility of the two leaders. Update ThinkProgress obtained the following statement from Jim Manley, spokesman to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) This comment is all the more puzzling because this is at least the 2nd time she has said this. Gov Palin needs to re-read or perhaps read for the first time the Constitution. While the Vice President presides over the Senate, he or she is not in charge of it. Article 1 says The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. The Senate is part of a co-equal branch of the federal government.

Word is spreading like wildfire about the MSNBC host's hard-hitting new show. Rachel Maddow, a woman who does not own a television set, has done something that is virtually unheard of: she has doubled the audience for a cable news channel's 9 p.m. hour in a matter of days. More important for her bosses at MSNBC is that "The Rachel Maddow Show," her left-leaning news and commentary program, has averaged a higher rating among 25- to 54-year-olds than "Larry King Live" on CNN for 13 of the 25 nights she has been host. While the average total audience of her program remains slightly smaller than that of Mr. King's, Ms. Maddow, 35, has made MSNBC competitive in that time slot for the first time in a decade. The channel at that hour has an average viewership of 1.7 million since she started on Sept. 8, compared with 800,000 before. ... In her first six weeks Ms. Maddow on many nights is retaining more than 90 percent of Mr. Olbermann's audience, a figure that many television executives would envy. Encouraging the audience to stay put, the two programs often cover similar subjects most nights: on Friday, for example, Ms. Maddow appeared on "Countdown" to discuss the political maneuverings inherent in the contentions of voter registration fraud, and in her following hour she devoted two segments to the same subject. While Mr. Olbermann watches Mr. O'Reilly's show on a monitor embedded in his desk, Ms. Maddow insists that she has never watched either Mr. King's program or the 9 p.m. program on Fox News, "Hannity & Colmes," which garners more viewers than either of the other shows. Partly, she said, that lack of competitive interest is an effort to remain original. "I worry every day about the homogenizing forces at work in my professional life," she said, adding that it can be difficult to preserve creativity within cable's production process. It helps, she said, that she does not own a television at home. Even so, Ms. Maddow said, she has finally committed to getting a set, primarily so that her companion can watch her program. With Ms. Maddow delivering MSNBC a record audience, it might seem that the least the network could do would be to deliver her a television. ... I like Maddow and her 'don't bullshit me just answer the question' way of interviewing.

The Power of the Internet and the Failure of Rovian Politics

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and 1984 by George Orwell

before they can force ppl to d/l games or key components to the games; everyone in the target market must be hooked up to cable. The FCC is getting them there, all tv must be cable/satellite or have a converter box by next year or ya just get snow. More restrictive caps on down/up loading dished out by ISP's would have to be changed to accommodate downloading/setting up yer game in the blink of an eye. HD vs Blue ray sound sort of familiar? It should, its a re-hash of beta vs vhs. It took a few years for that to be sorted out and then a few years later vhs became garbage anyway when dvd hit the market. We've been in an economic recession for a while, it just wasn't until recently the big ol bucket of shit hit the fan spreading financial hardship across the globe. Xbox and PS3 are already too expensive for people with more modest incomes (their target market) to run out and buy one or both of these systems. If it comes down to buy a system or pay rent and have a place to live for another month... most people are struggling to hold on to what they have without slipping further into debt. Its responsible business practice for Microsoft to say not now to blue ray because in this economy they and their investors wouldn't be getting what they pay for ie a huge profit margin. After consumers have survived 4$ gas they've learned to spend more safely and after the bloodbath on wall street companies are taking a second look at how to run their businesses lucratively.

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