Change Cuts

Friends, and I only call you friends because I don't know your names individually--

We've been missing. But it has been for good reason. We are getting ready for the upcoming debate parties, etc. While we at ALBC are not specifically (Obama) endorsing (Obama) any one candidate (Obama), we did like what this avid (Obama) supporter did to his hair!

Facebook feelings

I was checking my "friends'" status updates on Facebook today. Boy o boy do we have some outspoken "friends."

KC is still thinking that McCain is a dumbass. What is suspending your campaign for 3 days going to do when you can barely spell economics?

MT thinks you should not vote for a person who can't multi-task.

PH is is putting his Facebooking ON HOLD to respond to the mounting laundry crisis in his closet.

TY is asking McCain to stop the bitchassness. Somebody who doesn't understand economics skipping a debate will provide us an effective bailout plan? Doubt it.

CL thinks John McCain really doesn't understand economics. The economy is not a light switch. A Friday meeting will NOT bring an immediate fix.

TJ is thinking that McCain is pulling the "punk" move. Don't be scared. What next...postpone election day?

Presidential Status

So clearly we’re Obama supporters… unabashed supporters…start making videos and begin blogging supporters. But in all unbiased, objective honesty, the Senator from Illinois handled the “John McCain you better not punk out” press conference very well; so well that we can only describe his performance as Presidential.

This is especially true when you consider the McCain campaign’s reluctance to expose Governor Palin to the media. That’s a clear admission on their part that, with a single question, the press corps can make you say what you mean in a way that ends up being construed in a way that you didn’t mean it and will regret ever saying it in the first place.

You're probably asking, "How many press conferences have you watched?" Not that many. Closer to 0 that 10; but I've seen almost every episode of the West Wing so I know the press is no joke. That said, don't take my word for it...Know for yourself!


For Senator McCain's press conference:

***BREAKING NEWS: MCCAIN POSTPONES DEBATE***

"John McCain suspends campaigning to work on economy, requests postponing Friday debate; asks Obama do the same." source: CNN, via Twitter. Read instant reaction from a running Instant Message conversation between Special Agent Change and 2.0 regarding this breaking news!

2.0: John McCain suspends campaigning to work on economy, requests postponing Friday debate; asks Obama do the same.


SAC: source?


2.0 cnn

SAC: that's actually a good thing; i tip my hat to mccain

2.0: so you don't think he was ill prepared?

SAC: that bailout bill could be worse than the patriot act
prepared to debate?

2.0: yeah, he has asked BO for a debate during everyone of his appearances. I was anxious to see it

SAC: I give him the benefit of the doubt that he isn't so ill prepared as to bailout like that. the debate is supposed to be on foreign policy so it was a softball for him. its good for the debate to postpone it too cuz people arent thinking about foreign policy right now

2.0: But McCain has said himself that he doesn't understand the economic issues that well. How can he justify canceling the debate to speak at The Clinton Global Initiative. He said he was suspending his campaign. Isn't that campaigning?


SAC: you can't skip out on El Padrone
call it one more for the road
obama will probably let it ride

2.0: We need to post this for the people.
This just in Obama doesn't agree with the postponing. I guess not, he's in Florida getting ready, lol


SAC: haha

Game Changer: Jonathan Bender

Today I read an article on ESPN.com about the incredible work Jonathan Bender is doing to help rebuild New Orleans. In addition to making the transition from hoop star to businessman, Bender has used his notoriety and wealth to help hurricane victims. I was inspired by his story and instantly thought that his efforts were causing "a lil bit of change."

ALBC applauds citizens who capitalize on their God given abilities and then convert those blessings into gifts for others. To us, that's "a lil bit of change." People shouldn't be satisfied with merely optimizing their abilities and enjoying the awards received because of them; we should all strive to do more as we're given more. That's not us trying to preach or to be deep; we just believe that for someone who has accumulated a lot, what is a lil bit to them could do a lot of good if passed on to others with less who strive for a better life.

"He could have squandered his remaining millions or succumbed to depression over being labeled a "has-been" before his 25th birthday. But [Bender] was also an entrepreneur who'd watched the business-savvy NBA team owners, thinking 'I can be like them.'"

He always knew he was different.

A long-limbed forward with a 39-inch vertical leap, Jonathan Bender stood 6-foot-7 by the time he was 13 years old. When the soft-spoken teen graduated from Picayune Memorial High School in rural Mississippi, those who saw him play called him the next Magic, the next Jordan.

But Bender, skilled enough to forego college for the NBA, had struggled with his arthritic knees, which soon became his Achilles' heel. After only six professional seasons, he had to walk away from basketball.
For the full article click: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=JonathanBender-080923&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos1

A lil bit of time off

Sorry friends,

ALBC took a lil time off because a lot of housekeeping needed to be done this weekend. But no sweat, we plan to work overtime the rest of the week to make sure we get caught up on the market and the debate later this week. Also, as a bonus, we'll be in D.C. for the Congressional Black Caucus weekend so there will be plenty of scoops and pics from our adventures in the nation's capital.

Best regards,
The Contributors

Don't Change A Word: Howard Thurman

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

-Howard Thurman, American Theologian

Correcting our unfairness

Yesterday we did something that in hindsight was unfair. We said that John McCain didn't understand the current crisis and wouldn't be competent enough to get us back on track. We still don't believe he's the right guy for the job but we should've let him speak for himself.

In a 2-minute ad, Senator Obama was clear and to the point about his plan to strengthen the economy once he's President. In a 5 minute interview, Senator McCain was...well we'll let you watch and draw your own conclusions. "Know for yourself":



All due respect Senator McCain, "...you need more people"

Notable Quotable

Photo Credit: rantsfrompurgatory.blogspot.com

In an interview with the Omaha World Herald, Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel said the following in regards to Governor Sarah Palin:

"I think it's a stretch to, in any way, to say that she's got the experience to be president of the United States"

"She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials,...You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything."


"I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, 'I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia.'" "That kind of thing is insulting to the American people."

Senator Hagel is a highly respected member of the Republican Party and a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Simply put, he knows what he's talking about and his opinion isn't driven by partisanship.

Change Agent: Jovian Irvin, changing perspectives

On a recent trip to China, this week's Change Agent, Jovian Irvin discovered that, "some things change, while many, bound by our human experience stay the same."

"A New Perspective on Change" by Jovian Irvin

While many things were different in China, some things seemed to be quite the same...

Chinese people still desperately seek the change in their government as we do in ours:

Their babies cry with the same intensity when they need their diapers changed.

Cab drivers fail to put their signals on when they wanna change lanes.

You more than likely have to buy something if you want to break your Yuan and get some change.

The degrees of separation between black people is still less than 2.

A smile from a cute guy would change any girls mood.

Whether you're a 20 something black girl from North Carolina, 80 yr. old Brazilian man, or 40 year old Chinese woman; when you reach the top of the Great Wall, not only do you a new perspective on life and what's REALLY high, you have a renewed fear of heights.

Like many Black kids, Chinese kids will change their hair when something really big is goin on.


Black people tend to find the shade in any desert. Chinese people do the same by bringing it with them.

Homeless people do whatever it takes to make 'a lil bit of change.'

There are still snakes on a plane.

And perhaps more importantly, songs are still in the key of life.

I traveled across China because I wanted more than a change in scenery, I wanted to new perspective. One that would helped me understand the differences in culture; one that would make me more compassionate, understanding and aware of God's presence in this world. This trip did just that--and more. It showed me how in the most basic ways, we are all the same. And that, I realize won't change.

Searching for insight-Part 1

Friends, we continue to search for insight on the current market crisis. Today we found a couple of pieces that are concise yet informative. The first is from Joseph E. Stiglitz, professor at Columbia University, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001 and as a member of the climate change panel, shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008. We pulled his 6 point commentary from CNN.com. Link provided below.

This is not the first crisis in our financial system, not the first time that those who believe in free and unregulated markets have come running to the government for bail-outs. There is a pattern here, one that suggests deep systemic problems -- and a variety of solutions:

1. We need first to correct incentives for executives, reducing the scope for conflicts of interest and improving shareholder information about dilution in share value as a result of stock options. We should mitigate the incentives for excessive risk-taking and the short-term focus that has so long prevailed, for instance, by requiring bonuses to be paid on the basis of, say, five-year returns, rather than annual returns.

2. Secondly, we need to create a financial product safety commission, to make sure that products bought and sold by banks, pension funds, etc. are safe for "human consumption." Consenting adults should be given great freedom to do whatever they want, but that does not mean they should gamble with other people's money. Some may worry that this may stifle innovation. But that may be a good thing considering the kind of innovation we had -- attempting to subvert accounting and regulations. What we need is more innovation addressing the needs of ordinary Americans, so they can stay in their homes when economic conditions change.

3. We need to create a financial systems stability commission to take an overview of the entire financial system, recognizing the interrelations among the various parts, and to prevent the excessive systemic leveraging that we have just experienced.

4. We need to impose other regulations to improve the safety and soundness of our financial system, such as "speed bumps" to limit borrowing. Historically, rapid expansion of lending has been responsible for a large fraction of crises and this crisis is no exception.

5. We need better consumer protection laws, including laws that prevent predatory lending.

6. We need better competition laws. The financial institutions have been able to prey on consumers through credit cards partly because of the absence of competition. But even more importantly, we should not be in situations where a firm is "too big to fail." If it is that big, it should be broken up.

These reforms will not guarantee that we will not have another crisis. The ingenuity of those in the financial markets is impressive. Eventually, they will figure out how to circumvent whatever regulations are imposed. But these reforms will make another crisis of this kind less likely, and, should it occur, make it less severe than it otherwise would be. And here is the rest of it.
for full article see: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/17/stiglitz.crisis/index.html

Searching for insight-Part 2

So just in case you think we're just talking big talk when we say we're in hot pursuit of answers about the state of the financial market, we decided to go a step beyond what the media is reporting on the issue and spent some time in the Lehman Brothers discussion group on Google Finance. (Ok, we were on NYMag.com and there we found the link to a post by chris_desbarres@yahoo.com, but over here following links counts as research) Disclaimer: we have no clue who Chris is but we thought his "30-second version of what happened with Bear Stearns and Lehman" broke the issue down in a way that laymen can understand. That said, know for yourself and only use this info as a condensed means to a comprehensive end:

People went to traditional banks and mortgage brokers and bought mortgages. All of these mortgages carry different amounts (e.g. $100,000 mortgage vs. a $500,000 mortgage) and different risk levels. The ones that are more likely to default have a higher interest rate, so the bank stands to gain more money...but at a greater risk of the home owner defaulting on the mortgage.

The problem with this is it is very difficult to balance your risk-reward ratio. So they created an investment vehicle called a mortgage-backed security (MBS). This is reffered to as a "derivative" because it is based off of the mortgage. The way it works is the banks chopped up all these different mortgages into different securities that were worth different amounts and different risk levels. They then sold these to other banks and investments firms. The firms who bought these MBS then received a payment based off of the mortgages. For the banks selling MBS, it helped them pool risk and generate capital, and for the firms who bought the MBS, it provided a source of cash flow with what was thought to be a very safe,secure underlying commodity: real estate.

Since real estate was so "safe," these banks used huge amounts of leverage (borrowed money to buy the securities) because they didn't think they were that risky. Some firms, like Lehman, were leveraged 30:1, meaning that for every $30 they borrowed, they had $1 of underlying assets. That would be like you making $1000 a year but taking out a loan of $30,000.

While all this is going on, people are buying up adjustable interest rate mortgages (ARMs). They offer a cheap introductory rate, but then skyrocket. So all of a sudden, all these people discovered they couldn't make their monthly payments. The default rate shot through the roof. The firms that had purchased MBS did so based on certain
calculations of default. In other words, X number of people could default on their mortgages, but they could still make a profit and have a positive cash-flow. However, when the default rate shot up, this threw all of their calculations off.

Now the firms faced a real problem. They had HUGE amounts of debt on their balance sheets, and the assets that were supposed to balance that debt were becoming worth less and less because of the rising default rate and the drop in housing prices. These are the "write-downs" that you hear about. The firms had to pay interest on that debt, but they did not have the corresponding cash flow to be able to pay the debt. Lehman, for example, had $5.4B of debt obligations last quarter, but only had $2.3B in income.

When you can't pay your debt obligations, that's called being insolvent. Many people think that bankruptcy is caused by having more liabilities than assets, but that's not true. It's caused when you can't make good on your debts, so the repo man comes and claims your assets in order to make up for it. When that happens, you have to file for bankruptcy in order to make sure that people get paid in the correct order because otherwise different creditors are going to be suing you to make sure they get what you owe them.

So that's where we are now with Lehman. They couldn't pay their debts, so they had to file for bankruptcy.

Make sense?

To visit the discussion group see:
http://finance.google.com/group/google.finance.657107/browse_thread/thread/54fdd4c1327913cd/670c91dbcf5945ad?lnk=st&q

Searching for insight-Part 3

After hearing from commentators and informed citizens, the next logical step is to hear our future leaders' perspective on the state of the economy. Senator McCain has stated that economics is not his forte and “...is not something I’ve understood as well as I should.” His surrogates have all but confirmed those sentiments as fact. Today, the Senator from Illinois broke from the 30-second rule for commercials and issued a 2-minute ad as a counterpoint to the Senator from Arizona's deep knowledge on the subject. Check it out:

Change of pace

Over here at ALBC, its not all politics all the time. As you'll come to see we have a broad range of interests. The quest for "a lil bit of change" is a cultural phenomena that goes far beyond candidates, campaigns and catch phrases. It's about being the best you can be and, by doing so, inspiring others to be better .

In that vein, we borrowed this amazing pic from our neighbor thesartorialist.blogspot.com. A subtle understanding must exist between an artist and its subject; they must challenge each other while also being vulnerable amongst each other. This shot embodies "a lil bit of change" because the subject exudes an energy that is free from restraint and the artist reciprocates by capturing the subjects magnetism.

Enjoy. Thanks Sart.

For Your Information

Your friends here at ALBC are keeping close watch on Wall Street and the chaos that is our economy. Things are changing rapidly and honestly it's impossible to know what will happen next. This weekend it was Lehman and Merrill, today it is AIG, and there's potential for another major institution to fall victim later this week (knock on wood those words don't come to life). Yet in the midst of the confusion we thought we'd share some information on "Why AIG matters" courtesy of CNNMoney.com.

I have insurance through AIG. How worried should I be about the problems at the company?

At least in the short term, you probably don't need to be worried at all. The problems are with the AIG holding company, not the individual insurance company subsidiaries that you do business with, according to a source with New York State's insurance regulator.
Even if AIG's holding company is forced to file for bankruptcy court protection, there's a good chance that the subsidiaries will continue to operate normally with no disruption in claims payments. That has happened in the case of other insurance holding companies' bankruptcies in the past, such as Conseco (CNO).

What guarantees that my claims will be paid?

Typically, if an insurance company falls into financial distress and is at risk of having claims that exceed the assets it holds to make those payments, the insurance regulator in its home state will take control of the firm and make payments.

The state regulator will not only use the firm's own assets to make those payments but, if necessary, can also make payments out of a state fund into which all insurers in the state are required to pay.

This guarantee applies not just to traditional insurance policies but also to retirement products that have a promised payout, such as annuities.

But there are limits to the payments that will be made to customers that vary depending on which state a particular AIG subsidiary is based, according to Joseph Belth, professor emeritus of insurance at Indiana University and editor of The Insurance Forum, a newsletter often critical of the industry.

Should I be thinking about changing my policy away from AIG to another insurer?

While credit rating agencies downgraded debt held by AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) on Monday, AIG's ratings are still considered investment grade and the company's insurance subsidiaries are considered to be secure, at least for now.

Belth said changing insurers is not a simple decision.

"A lot depends on what kind of insurance you talk about," he said. "If you're talking about life insurance, you have to think about whether you can qualify with a new insurer, if your health has changed. But it's something you have to consider if the ratings decline into the vulnerable range."

Why should I care about problems at AIG if I'm not a customer?

AIG is by far the world's largest insurer and its stock is found in many mutual funds, including any S&P 500 index fund. It is also a component of the Dow Jones industrial average. All by itself, it's been responsible for dragging the Dow down more than 400 points so far this year.

AIG is also active in the business of credit default swaps, complicated financial instruments used by investors to protect themselves from bond defaults. Lehman Brothers (LEH, Fortune 500) was another major player in that field. If both go away, it would create a tighter credit market for consumers and businesses trying to get loans.

For this reason, there is a debate about whether the Federal Reserve will agree to lend the company the tens of billions of dollars it needs to cover its short-term funding needs or if the Fed will try and get private firms to assist AIG instead.

AIG is an insurer, not a lender. Why do I keep hearing about its problems with subprime mortgages?

All insurers take money they collect in premiums and invest them in different forms of assets. The idea is to make money on those investments so that the insurer can keep their premiums low and attract more clients.

But AIG made a bigger investment into securities that were backed by subprime mortgages than most other insurers. As defaults and foreclosures of those loans rose, the value of those securities fell, creating big problems for the firm.

In the past nine months, AIG has reported net losses of more than $18 billion, largely due to its exposure to bad mortgages.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/16/news/companies/aig_questions/index.htm?postversion=2008091621

Labor indefinitely

To say that the American economy has been in a tailspin the past few days is kind of an understatement. Honestly, I really don't know how to quite articulate what's going on right now. HOWEVER!!!, I found someone who can. Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich gives his 2 cents on the economy while doing a handstand and dropping the S-bomb.


I couldn't have said it better myself.

It's hard finding good help

As the economy goes to "shit", Senator McCain and his surrogates show how well prepared they are to get us back on track.

At least Mitt Romney found it funny.

Fortune Magazine: MySpace sets music free

By Devin Leonard, senior writer

Myspace founders Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson have had an uneasy relationship with the music industry. Nearly every music act has a MySpace page; some of them, like British pop diva Lily Allen and American psychedelic-funk purveyor Gnarls Barkley, have used the social network to become stars. But two years ago Universal Music Group discovered unauthorized songs from U2 and Jay-Z on MySpace and sued the site in federal court.

Well, that relationship is about to improve. In August some of the industry's most prominent executives - including Universal's Jimmy Iovine - showed up at MySpace headquarters in Beverly Hills for a visit that couldn't have been more cordial. "It was almost like we were all singing 'Kumbaya' together," DeWolfe says.
It was the first meeting of the board of directors of MySpace Music, an unprecedented joint venture between the social network and three of the Big Four music companies: Universal, SonyBMG, and Warner Music (WMG), which together account for 77% of all U.S. album sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan. MySpace is also in talks with the fourth biggie, EMI, whose U.S. market share is 9%.

MySpace Music, scheduled to launch in September, promises to be the most significant rollout of a digital-music service since Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) iTunes. It will enable MySpace users to listen to any song from the catalogs of the three music giants free. There will be on-screen ads along with that music, but yes, it will be free. And that includes U2 and Jay-Z-and Christina Aguilera, Kid Rock, and rap superstar T.I.

DeWolfe says the key to the new service is this: Users will be able to visit the pages of major label artists and click on the songs they like as they listen. Then they'll be able to create playlists on their own pages made up of those tracks: "There will be a button that says, FOR THE FULL CATALOG, CLICK HERE," he says. "That's what's never been done before." The idea is that people will use the playlists to personalize their MySpace page, which, in turn, boosts traffic. "Think about why people go to a music service," he says. "They go to iTunes because they just want to get the songs and get out. MySpace is different. It's like going to your friend's house, and they have cool music playing in the background that makes the experience that much better."

"This is how people discover music now," says Luke Wood, executive VP of Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M. "It's not happening through people reading Rolling Stone. It's not happening through the radio. It's happening through social networks online."

If listeners really like a particular song, they can buy it with one click and have it routed immediately to iTunes or Windows Media Player via a download service created by Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500). To Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the alliance makes perfect sense: "MySpace, with its hundreds of millions of users, is an important place for music discovery, just like the Amazon MP3 store."

Bezos sounds excited, and no wonder. He's confident that Amazon's alliance with MySpace will increase his company's share of the music-download market. The market research firm NPD says that Amazon's year-old MP3 store is already the nation's second-largest digital-music retailer, after iTunes. MySpace's music company partners are also pleased that the joint venture will strengthen Amazon's hand. Although they won't say so on the record, they aren't happy with iTunes' current domination of digital music. Says Ivan Gavin, COO of SonyBMG's BMG Label Group: "Competition isn't the worst thing in the world."

DeWolfe believes that MySpace Music could generate enough money through ad sales, downloads, and eventually music-related e-commerce like T-shirt and concert ticket sales to put the industry back on its feet again. The music labels, of course, could use some new revenue streams right now. The industry is in a state of upheaval. Last year alone, CD sales declined an astonishing 20% - that's $2 billion in revenue gone. Digital sales rose by $500 million - nowhere near enough to make up the difference. "We think this has the ability to change the economics of the music industry and create a revenue stream that replaces lost CD sales," he says.

Yet for MySpace Music to succeed, it will have to sell ads - lots of them, and at commanding prices. Its label partners want a penny each time someone listens to a song on an ad-supported service. That means MySpace Music needs to charge $10 for every 1,000 ad impressions just to break even. Think how many MySpace pages automatically play a tune when you land on them; each one counts as an impression. MySpace won't comment, but media buyers say it has been able to charge only $3 per 1,000. Why? Because there's a glut of social-networking ad inventory on the market. That's one reason Fox Interactive Media, MySpace's parent, missed its revenue target for the fiscal year ending in June by an estimated $100 million.

DeWolfe promises that MySpace Music will have no problem selling ads. He points to his company's 300 ad salespeople, most of whom are working on the new music service. Toyota, McDonald's, and State Farm are sponsoring the launch. "We recognized that this is a groundbreaking addition to the music industry landscape," says Doug Frisbie, national media manager for Toyota Motor Sales.

In a way, MySpace Music was something that DeWolfe and Anderson had to do. Their site had a huge audience of music fans, but it wasn't making enough money. So nine months ago they pitched the idea of an ad-supported service to News Corp. (NWS, Fortune 500) CEO Rupert Murdoch and his deputy, COO Peter Chernin. The two executives took a typically contrarian stance. They weren't bothered that other major media companies have been fleeing the music business. "This venture marries the largest music community in the world with the biggest music catalogs in the world," Murdoch tells Fortune. "We're confident it will be a big success."

"It's not like we were going out and starting a record label," says Chernin. "This is something we'd been talking about for a while."

Here's a big question hovering over MySpace Music: Will it actually improve the music industry's slumping overall sales? "We believe that you can't just have ad-revenue-sponsored content," says Michael Nash, Warner's chief digital strategist. But why will people buy more music when MySpace will be offering so much for free? DeWolfe says people will still need to buy tunes to play on their iPods.

The truth is, MySpace et al. are making a leap of faith by pushing free music. Dalton Caldwell, CEO of imeem, an ad-supported music social network that has 27 million users, warns that DeWolfe is setting the bar too high. "I don't know if we can be superheroes and save the world," says Caldwell. "I think it would also be difficult for anybody to say they can replace lost CD sales."

Don't tell that to DeWolfe. He's already talking cultural juggernaut. "Think about MTV," he says. "Not necessarily what they are right now, but how they created pop culture in the late '80s, early '90s. I think that's what MySpace Music will do now." Maybe he should get those lost CD revenues replaced first.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/11/technology/leonard_myspace.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008091212

Soapbox Sundays

Public preference on the issue of the war in Iraq has largely boiled down to those who favor withdrawing the troops and those who favor prolonging the battle. Senator McCain, who is a member of the later group, is running on a 'We can't afford to lose' platform. Yet who defines winning and losing? More specifically, what constitutes victory in a conflict such as this one where the immediate defeat and surrender of the know enemy was immediately followed by conflict with an unknown enemy?

Ultimately the People will determine the definition based on who they vote for. By electing Senator McCain, the People would be defining the recipe for victory as a continued surge in troop levels and a corresponding escalation of the conflict. Best case scenario, the surge expeditiously wears down the militias, restores a reasonable degree of peace and allows us to commence the daunting task of rebuilding. Conversely, a far worse scenario is the Iranian influence on Iraq will evolve from clandestine to conspicuous.

My preferences aside, the reality is, if elected, Senator McCain will declare he has a mandate based upon popular support. What do you think about that?

Ageism has no place in America, but...

Moments of ageism always provide me with a good laugh. This post is in honor of my two year old cousin who threw a fit when his mother wouldn't let him play football with a group of older kids. His response was, "Not too young! Vaughn not too young!" As a person who can relate to the ageism Vaughn experienced (shout out to my 2nd grade teacher who didn't believe World News was my thing and was convinced I memorized the newspaper stories every morning), ALBC would like to share with you a short video from slate.com, How to Call McCain Old Politely.


And in a knee-Jerk rebutal from Sen. McCain, he shares how he feels about his age in his own words, after the jump: