Oligarchy1]
is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with a
small number of people. These people could be distinguished by royalty,
wealth, ...
a
form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a
dominant class or clique; government by the few. 2. a state or
organization so ruled. 3.
The problem with most democracies now being Oligarchies is that democracy is destroyed in the process.
Democracy doesn't completely die in an oligarchy in a democracy. It is only the most fundamental elements that are stolen from the people in an oligarchy. The illusion of democracy is kept locally and in states like in the individual states here in the U.S. However, it is obvious to any thinking person that right now democracy in regard to the largest and most life or death important decisions has been de facto taken away from the American People.
One need only look carefully at what the Congress does or does not do now and during the last four years and the next 2 when the New Congress comes in. Shutting the government down for example, is symptomatic of a dysfunctional Oligarchic government not responding to the needs of the people.
Because if you are rich you want nothing to be done because the most money can be siphoned from the middle and lower classes while nothing is done by a government to protect the average person from this.
So, this is one of the reasons why we have now moved from 30% controlling 70% of the resources of this country in the 1960s and 1970s to 10% controlling 90% of the financial resources of this country. And because of the present dynamics of greed of the 10% this could potentially go to 1% of the people controlling 99% of the financial resources of this country. However, some where between 10% and 1% you have something that looks a lot like the French revolution with guillotines for the 10% or 1% historically if you study history.
So, it is in the interests of the 10% or even the 1% to make sure money is distributed more equally so the 10% aren't all murdered by the 90% at some point in the near or far future.
1. The Speech by President Eisenhower regarding the "out of control" U.S. Military Industrial Complex.
This speech warned us of an industry so powerful that it could destroy the world and the finances of the U.S. government.
We saw this come true in the Viet Nam War and 50,000 deaths of U.S. servicemen as well as all the proxy wars we have fought ever since including Iraq and now in Syria.
2. The Assassination of President Kennedy with likely U.S. government involvement in this plot or complicity or just "looking the other way when it happened" especially by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI under his command.
3. When the Supreme Court Ruled first to put Bush in over Gore even though the popular vote put in Gore this completely demoralized the country and made it ripe for 9-11 and everything that has happened since. Also, when the supreme court allowed money to funnel into the Congress of the U.S. from all around the world this no holds barred funnel of almost infinite money and bribes through various financial vehicles has brought us to the completely dysfunctional Congress of today only getting worse when the new group gets in soon.
These three basic incidents have had almost infinite negative repercussions around the world. Any one of these could have been survivable for the U.S. government.
All three make the ongoing survival of our democracy in a Republic very debatable at this point.
Unless the American people and the whole world at this point step up to the plate, everything people cherish around the world about America will soon be gone.
Is the Kremlin financing Europe's right-wing populists?
Many right-wing European political parties are anything but shy when it
comes to showing their pro-Russian sentiments. Millions of euros have
also been deposited by Russian banks in the pocket of France's Front
National.
France's right-wing populist party, the Front National (FN), has denied
claims in a media report which stated that they wanted to borrow 40
million euros ($50 million) from a Russian bank.
"This is fictitious, it's crazy," said party leader Marine Le Pen. "We
have applied for nine million euros, and we got nine million euros."
Amongst other things, the Front National needs this financial top-up to
organize its Saturday (29.11.2014) party congress in Lyon.
For a long time now, the Front National has been accused of receiving
Russian financial support. The head of the bank is also close confidant
of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Marine Le Pen flirts with Putin
With regards to political party funding in France, the National Front is
in trouble, as they have allegedly received no loans from French banks.
So the support from Russia has come in handy.
According to the Front National's European Member of Parliament (MEP),
Jean-Luc Schaffhauser, the nine-million-euro loan was granted only
because party leader Le Pen has a good relationship with Putin.
Reinhard Bütikofer warns of growing right-wing cooperation with Russia
Marine Le Pen is a great critic of European sanctions against
Russia. In interviews she has repeatedly stressed that she "admires
Putin" and has accused the EU of pushing for a new Cold War. Le Pen is
also critical of the French government for not delivering a warship to
Russia because of the Ukraine crisis.
But Le Pen herself has also been subject to criticism.
"It's remarkable that a political party from the motherland of freedom
can be funded by Putin's sphere - the largest European enemy of
freedom," said Reinhard Bütikofer, an EU parliamentarian for the German
Greens, in a DW interview. Putin, he says, is antagonizing European
values by any possible means.
"But the fact that enemies of European freedom in Moscow are now doing
business with Europe's radical right - that's a whole new can of worms,"
he warned.
In EU parliament, it's not only Le Pen and members of the National Front
who have advocated Putin. Leader of the British right-wing UK
Independence Party, Nigel Farage, and MPs of the "Alternative for
Germany" party have also made Russia-friendly comments. Pro-Russian sentiment in the EU parliament
Although pro-Russian voices were previously heard more often amongst the
EU parliament's left-wing parties, a study by Hungarian policy research
institute Political Capital showed that 15 of the parliament's 24
right-wing populist parties were "open" to Russia.
Marine Le Pen has repeatedly said she 'admires' Putin
That means Putin's nationalist and authoritarian leadership
style is admired not only by the National Front but also Hungary's
Jobbik party - an avowed admirer of Putin's power games - is suspected
of being supported by the Kremlin. According to the party's members, the
offensive in Crimea is "exemplary" - something they believe Hungarian
minorities in Slovakia and Romania could use to alter the Hungarian
border. Legal aftermath
Europe's radical right are by no means hiding that they want to weaken
the European Union. It was this attitude that helped them to win votes
at the last European election.
The scandal regarding the millions of funding, however, comes at a particularly inopportune time for the Front National.
Over the weekend, Le Pen is set to be re-elected as party leader - but
the loan from the Russian bank could have legal consequences. French
investigative judges have, in the meantime, been examining potentially
illegal party funding in the party.
Many right-wing European political parties are anything
but shy when it comes to showing their pro-Russian sentiments. Millions
of euros have also been deposited by Russian banks in the pocket of
France's National Front. Read the story here.
Globally, 51% satisfied with availability of affordable housing
Satisfaction fell in Middle East and North Africa conflict zones
Satisfaction in former Soviet Union up slightly since 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Globally, people's satisfaction with the
availability of good, affordable housing in their communities continued
to languish in 2013. The 51% of adults who were satisfied worldwide
remains depressed from the high of 56% at the onset of the Great
Recession in 2008 and is on the low side for satisfaction since then.
Satisfaction also continued to vary worldwide in 2013, ranging from a
high of 70% in Northern America to lows of 36% and 35% in the former
Soviet Union and the Middle East and North Africa region, respectively.
This wide gap in satisfaction levels highlights the different tracks
that the world's housing markets are on and the struggles people in many
countries are experiencing trying to afford increasing rent and home
prices. The International Monetary Fund found that housing prices peaked
in late 2008, but have since begun climbing back up. The satisfaction
gap also underscores the challenge the global community faces in meeting
one of the United Nations' new Sustainable Development Goals of
ensuring "access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing" by
2030.
This challenge is particularly acute in the Middle East and North
Africa region, where barely more than one in three (35%) are satisfied
with the availability of good, affordable housing. Satisfaction in many
countries started to drop as unrest began to ripple across the region in
late 2010 during the Arab Spring and likely has been exacerbated in
some countries by the ongoing Syrian crisis.
Since the crisis began in Syria in 2011, the U.N. estimates that
almost half of the population of the country, or about 11 million, has
been forced to leave their homes. Almost 3 million have left the country
altogether, most fleeing to neighboring nations such as Turkey,
Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.
Satisfaction in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Syria remains much lower
now than levels seen in 2008 and 2009. Particularly, satisfaction in
Lebanon dropped from 69% in 2009 to 24% in 2011. A recent report
estimates that Lebanon, a small nation where housing and land prices
were already at a premium before the Syrian crisis, has received about a
third of the refugees from Syria, or more than 1 million people. Rent
has increased in some Lebanese cities, especially in Beirut, as a result
of the influx of Syrian refugees, and many newly constructed apartments
remain unsold because residents cannot afford them. Housing Satisfaction Slowly Rising in Former Soviet Union
Satisfaction with the availability of good, affordable housing also
remains low in many countries in the former Soviet Union, but it is
higher than it was five years ago in several countries. Residents of
Georgia currently have the highest satisfaction (70%) in the region, on
par with satisfaction levels in the U.S. (71%) in 2013. The increase
from 50% in 2008 could be the result of increased foreign investment and
comparatively favorable construction laws in Georgia.
Satisfaction with available housing in Russia and Ukraine remains low
in both countries; however, in both countries, levels are higher than
in 2008. Satisfaction in Ukraine rose as high as 36% in 2011, but sank
back to 31% in 2013. This is still higher than the 22% satisfied in
2008.The 28% satisfied in Russia in 2013 is one of the highest levels
seen since 2008, when 19% of Russians were satisfied. This increase in
satisfaction levels may reflect Russia's slowing housing market after
years of overheated prices.
Satisfaction, although improved, might remain low in Russia as a
result of the Soviet government distributing wealthy residents' homes
among poorer families in the 1920s, generally putting one family per
room. While this communal housing program eventually faded, in some
parts of Russia, it is still common, complicating moving and families'
ability to find affordable housing. Bottom Line
Although housing prices vary greatly worldwide, providing and
affording shelter is a necessity in all countries, which is why it has a
place in the U.N. post-2015 development agenda. However, a lack of
affordable housing continues to plague many nations, highlighting the
need for new construction and for home prices to match local wages. The
IMF recently warned that in 2014, housing prices are still above
historical averages in a majority of countries, highlighting that the
struggle to finding affordable homes could continue for many around the
world. Finding available, affordable housing still appears to be a
challenge for many worldwide following the Great Recession, and conflict
in some areas has made already bad situations worse.
The data in this article were generated from Gallup Analytics. For complete data sets or custom research from the more than 150 countries Gallup continually surveys, please contact us. Survey Methods
Results are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews with
approximately 1,000 adults in each country, aged 15 and older, conducted
from 2008 to 2013. For results based on the total sample of national
adults, the margin of sampling error ranges from ±2.1 percentage points
to ±5.6 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
For more complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review Gallup's Country Data Set details. Learn more about how theGallup World Pollworks.
Protests about medical reform may be the biggest political challenge the Russian president has to face right now.
MOSCOW—Several
eye-catching items of bad news awaited Russian President Vladimir Putin
on his precipitous return from the G-20 summit meeting in Australia
earlier this month. The Moscow air was so dangerously polluted that the
government recommended people with lung and heart diseases stay at home;
somebody burned 14 luxury cars—Rolls Royces, Bentleys, Mercedes and
Porches parked in Moscow—worth over $3 million in total; protestors
marching along the river embankment in the capital brandished a banner
reading "Yesterday Kiev, tomorrow Moscow"; the ruble is plunging and the
country seems more isolated internationally than ever.
In the face of all that, Putin remains a paradigm of smug
self-confidence whose approval ratings in the high 80s are roughly twice
those of U.S. President Barack Obama. This is a man who knows his
people and what the issues are that move them.
Which is why he may be worried now about an issue that has drawn little attention outside the country.
State
employees, the foundation of Putin's political support, are planning
protests against social reforms that will hit 40 Russian regions this
week. A medical reform program that president Putin pushed as a priority
when he returned to the Kremlin in 2012 has provoked the greatest
fury. At street protests earlier this month, Moscow doctors claimed it
was applied to them like some kinds of “secret military operation."
Nobody was supposed to say anything, and only when a document was leaked
did Muscovites learn the news that authorities would close over 20
hospitals and fire about 7,000 health-care professionals in the
metropolitan area.
On Sunday at least 5,000 people marched in Moscow, some of them
pulling a coffin on which they'd written, "I did not have room in the
hospital." Other protesters have demonstrated with banners that read:
"Did you close our hospital? Now open a cemetery" or "Do you make
doctors work as nurses? Then bureaucrats should clean streets." Moscow
officials insist that the hospitals listed for closure lacked
professional services and often stayed half empty.
Putin has been mobilizing Russian law enforcement agencies to fight
against so-called extremism in support of supposed “color revolutions”
like those that brought democratic change or hopes of it to so many
countries of Eastern Europe, most recently Ukraine. The Kremlin likes to
portray these as sinister Western conspiracies. But the wave of
protests in reaction to the closing of hospitals is something a majority
of Russians respond to very much on their own steam, and there’s plenty
of that.
"Did you close our hospital? Now open a cemetery"
Every
visit to a hospital is an ordeal but for those who cannot pay for
private care the experience is a horror show. Most Russians are
accustomed to thinking that medical care can and should be free, as it
was in the Soviet era, but they are no longer willing to accept care and
facilities that have changed little since the 1950s.
On a recent
visit to the gastroenterology ward of a hospital in St. Petersburg, a
professional medic discovered that a fresh coat of paint had been put
on the walls, but there were still only two toilets available for a ward
full of patients with stomach and intestinal issues. “No professional
management would allow this situation in a department where dozens of
women suffer from gastro problems,” the medic told The Daily Beast. “On
seeing the restrooms I decided that I could not stay at that hospital a
single night.”
I recently visited a public ward for patients with prostate cancer in
Moscow’s Hospital No. 50 by accident and was hit by waves of stench.
The beds were crammed together, and a man in the middle of the room had
spots of flesh on his body that obviously were rotting. He moaned
constantly from the pain.
In the past few years Moscow has cut the number of district clinics
from 402 down to 86; the new plan to close dozens of hospitals was
something that not many Russians could understand, as, bad as they were,
they did not see an alternative to the clinics.
On a recent
afternoon, the head of the Social Inquiry Foundation, Maria Gaidar,
received two elderly ladies in her Moscow office. The
pensioners complained that authorities were closing their Khamovniki
district clinic. Gaidar, formerly the vice governor of the Kirov Region,
now educates people about how to deal with authorities. "Only pressure,
only constant street protests, and written complaints,” are likely to
work, she says. “Of course it almost never happens,” she adds, “but
people should not give up.”
Social revolt is something president Putin clearly does not welcome
now in the midst of the conflict with Ukraine, with the Russian economy
already suffering from sanctions by the European Union and the United
States as well as a massive drop in oil prices. So Putin has called for
officials to think more and work harder on health reform. As Gaidar
suggests, this is the rare case when public reaction has influenced
authorities at all.
Yan Vlasov, a ministry of health official, recently told a public
gathering that Moscow city hall is to blame for the "thoughtless" reform
that provoked the social fury. "Moscow's medical reform should be
conducted in dialogue with the public," Vlasov said.
In fact, it looks like that angry dialogue is just beginning, and where it will lead is anybody’s guess. end quote from: The Daily Beast: Putin's health care disaster
There
were quite a few good deals to be had on Black Friday this year, but as
in recent years some of the best deals of the holiday season won't be
found on the day after Thanksgiving.
There
were quite a few good deals to be had on Black Friday this year, but as
in recent years some of the best deals of the holiday season won't be
found on the day after Thanksgiving. In recent years, Cyber Monday, the
online equivalent to Black Friday, has eclipsed the Friday before
Thanksgiving as the day to find the best deals.
This year appears
to be no exception, particularly when it comes to cell phones and TVs.
Here are a few of the ones you should watch.
Unlike Black Friday,
there doesn't appear to be many crazy cheap "doorbusters" featuring 32
or 40-inch no-name brands under $150. There are some significant
discounts on TVs from well-known manufacturers like LG, Sharp, Sony,
Samsung and Vizio. Best Buy will be selling a 42-inch Sharp 1080p LED HDTV for $299.99 (an $180 discount from its usual price) while Target will be bundling a $20 gift card with the purchase of a 39-inch Vizio 1080p LED HDTV for $349.99 and a $30 gift card with the purchase of a Samsung 40-inch 1080p Smart LED HDTV for $379.99
(a $250 discount). Dubbing this new week after Thanksgiving "Cyber
Week," Target will be offering discounts up until December 6th.
Similar to Target and its own Black Friday deals, Amazon will also be spreading out its Cyber Monday deals
into its own "Cyber Week" that has already begun on the company's site
and runs throughout the week. As with Black Friday, Amazon will be
posting new "Lightning Deals" to its Cyber Monday site every 10 minutes
during this time. While the good news is the deals extend for more than a
single day, it can be frustrating for shoppers as Amazon hasn't said
when exactly each deal would run (though the company does have an
"upcoming" tab which is worth periodically checking to stay up-to-date
on when the company will be putting certain products on sale). Among the
deals to look out for on Amazon include 40-inch 1080p LED HDTVs from
Samsung and Sony for $298.
In a bid to attract more smartphone
shoppers, Amazon will also be offering "exclusive Lightning Deals" on
Cyber Monday to users of the company's apps on iOS, Android or the
company's own Fire OS (the software that power Amazon's Kindle Fire
tablets and Fire Phone smartphone).
Beyond TVs, there are also a
variety of deals to be had for other electronics, particularly
off-contract smartphones. Motorola will be offering $140 off the
off-contract price of its latest Moto X, bringing the device's starting
price down to $360. Motorola will offer prospective buyers a window on
Cyber Monday to register at Motorola.com to receive a discount code.
Registration will open at 11:00 a.m. CT and the company plans to keep
the deal running until supplies last or 5:00 p.m. CT Monday evening.
Discount codes must be redeemed by December 15 at 11:59 p.m. CT, giving
buyers a bit more time to take advantage of the discounted pricing.
OnePlus,
a startup company out of China that made waves in tech circles earlier
this year by offering a powerful smartphone for a low cost, will be
making its smartphone, the OnePlus One, available to all buyers on Cyber Monday.
It previously was only available to those who had an invitation that
could only be obtained from someone else who had already purchased the
device. The phone runs Android and features a 5.5-inch, 1080p HD
display, quad-core processor with 3GB of RAM as well as a 5-megapixel
front camera and 13-megapixel rear camera. Unlike the Moto X, which can
be bought off-contract for any of the major US carriers, the OnePlus One
is sold unlocked and will only work on T-Mobile or AT&T in the US.
It's available in a 16GB white version for $299 or a 64GB black version
for $349.
There aren't many new deals for the iPhone on Cyber
Monday, but those with T-Mobile will also be able to buy a 64GB iPhone 6
for the price of a 16GB iPhone 6, an $100 savings. T-Mobile will also
be offering a 64GB iPhone 5S for the price of a 32 GB 5S and a 32GB
iPhone 5C for the price of an 8GB 5C. T-Mobile's deal begins at 12:01
a.m. PT on the company's Cyber Monday site.
For
those looking for portable chargers, accessory maker PowerSkin will be
offering its PoP'n battery packs for one cent (plus shipping) with the
promo code "penny." The battery packs usually cost between $49.99 and
$59.99 and are designed to attach to the back of either an iPhone (4/4S
or 5/5S) or Android device and give your phone an additional 70% of
battery life. The company's new PoP'n 2 designed for the iPhone 6/6 Plus
is not included in this Cyber Monday deal. The chargers come in a
variety of colors and the deal will run throughout Cyber Monday on PowerSkin's website, though purchases are limited to one per email address.
Best Buy will also be offering 50% off all myCharge power banks
including the Hub series, now priced between $34.99 and $64.99
depending on size, that includes built-in Lightning and microUSB cables
to easily connect an iPad, iPhone or Android/Windows Phone device.
Other deals worth keeping in mind: Google will be offering the Chromecast for $25
and bundled with 90 days free of the company's Google Play Music
service and 2 free months of Hulu Plus, while rival Roku will offer the
Roku LT box for $29.99 ($10 off) and its Roku streaming stick for $39.99
(also $10 off) on its site bundled with 2 free months of Rdio Unlimited streaming. For those looking for a deal on a game system, Walmart will have a $449.99 PS4 bundle that includes the console, Lego Batman 3, LittleBigPlanet, an extra controller and your choice of one of 12 games, including The Lego Movie Videogame and Madden NFL 15.
Follow Eli Blumenthal on Twitter @eliblumenthal
end quote from:
The
procrastinating, historically inept Congress will have its hands full
starting Monday, when it will attempt to cram two years of leftover
business into two weeks.
Government shutdown still possible as Congress enters crunch time
The
historically inept Congress has two years of business to cram into the
next two weeks: It must avoid a shutdown, renew tax breaks and approve a
defense policy. Then it has to deal with President Obama's requests for
funding to confront ISIS, Ebola and the influx of unaccompanied
children from Central America.
Drew DZWONKOWSKI/new york daily newsDemocratic congressional leaders and their GOP counterparts will face off in the next two critical weeks.
The procrastinating, historically inept Congress will have its hands
full starting Monday, when it will attempt to cram two years of leftover
business into two weeks.
The stooges on Capitol Hill must avoid a government shutdown, renew
expired tax breaks for individuals and businesses and approve a defense
policy measure that has passed for more than 50 years in a row.
Also up for debate: President Obama’s requests for more cash to combat
the Islamic State, fight Ebola and better cope with the influx of
unaccompanied Central American children crossing into the U.S.
The top priority is preventing a government closure when a temporary
funding measure expires Dec. 11 — an achievement that will be more
difficult after Obama’s unilateral move to protect millions of
immigrants from deportation.
House Speaker John Boehner has yet to rule out the possibility of a government shutdown.
Earlier this month, the Ohio Republican said “all options are on the table” to put a stop to Obama’s immigration plan.
J. Scott Applewhite/APHouse
Speaker John Boehner of Ohio has said 'all options are on the table'
for stopping President Obama's immigration plan — even another
government shutdown.
“We are going to fight the President tooth and nail if he continues
down this path,” he said. “So all of the options are on the table.”
Republicans shut down the government for more than two weeks last year
when they tried to cut funding for Obamacare, a maneuver that led many
to criticize GOP leaders for the tactic.
This year, Sen. Ted Cruz, who played a central role in last year’s
standoff, dismissed concerns about how Republicans would be seen if they
organized another shutdown over Obama’s immigration plan.
“At the time, you and a lot of folks in the press said, what a disaster
it was to stand up to Obamacare,” the Texas Republican said on “Fox
News” last week. “Let me point out, we just had a historic election
where we won nine seats in the Senate, we retired Harry Reid, we just
got the biggest majority in the House since the 1920s, and the biggest
issue we campaigned on was Obamacare.”
The House and Senate appropriations committees are negotiating a $1
trillion-plus spending bill for the budget year that began Oct. 1 and
promise to have it ready by the week of Dec. 8.
The president’s authority to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels to
fight Islamic State terrorists in Iraq and Syria expires Dec. 11.
Lawmakers probably will renew it while postponing action until next year
on a broader, new authorization to use military force.
Carolyn Kaster/APSen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has dismissed concerns that Republicans will look bad if another government shutdown happens.
Among the lower-profile items on the agenda are renewing the
government’s terrorism risk insurance program and extending the ban on
state and federal taxes on access to the Internet.
The disgraceful 113th Congress has set benchmarks for lowest approval rating and failure to pass laws of substance. With News Wire Services
I wouldn't say this is the most inept Congress just the most directly and indirectly paid off and bribed Congress likely ever. And this was made possible by Supreme Court rulings that allow de facto bribes and being paid off from all quarters of the world.
So, don't expect the next Congress to be better because likely it will be even worse than the last one as far as not getting ANYTHING done but just to waste the taxpayers money completely.
And this is compounded by the complete defeat of the two party system in this country in regard to presidential elections.
Part of what is happening is Republicans (at a presidential level) are completely panicking while watching their demographics make a Republican President become more impossible to elect daily because more Republicans are dying than are being born and most people new to the U.S. (legal or not) are Democrats because the Democrats cater to a more international and less conservative point of view.
So, our two party system is now dead on arrival for our country (at least at a presidential level).
What are we going to do about this catastrophic change to our system of government short and long term?
Yesterday my wife was okay with me driving downhill on ice in our rental car and so was my younger daughter as we drove from Timberline Lodge back towards Portland, Oregon. However, then at the bottom of the steep hill up to Timberline Lodge from Government Camp she got nervous because of all the traffic, ice and snow there all at once.
By the way, it is better if you can avoid stopping at all, especially on the level or an upgrade while in ice and snow. Overcoming inertia when on the level and especially driving uphill can be difficult under many conditions and in some conditions impossible. So, if possible never completely stop even if you are only traveling one mile and hour or more.
So, when I reached the stop sign at the bottom of the hill I knew this as I slowly interfaced with heavy traffic on a completely ice covered road. At first everyone was moving at 10 to 20 miles per hour but then people slowed way down because some people I guess were really scared. One of the scared people at this point was my wife who suddenly sort of got hysterical and told me she was going to drive.
Normally, I would have put up a fight but my hip was hurting because I hadn't taken a pain killer from the ski lift malfunction from ice buildup so I did a U-turn to get back to somewhere we could change drivers. Also, it was kind of cool because they were making snow where I stopped so this was fun to watch for me even though below 20 degrees Fahrenheit out with the sun going down at the same time.
I was kind of concerned letting my wife drive because this was the first time in 20 years of snow driving that she hadn't automatically deferred to me. I asked her if she had had enough experience driving in ice and snow and she reminded me she had lived in Boston after College through several winters so I knew she understood the basics because it is below 20 degrees Fahrenheit with ice and snow pretty regularly winters there. She said she had driven her then 1968 Mustang there around 1975 or 1980 after college when she first worked there.
She did quite well even though I had to show her how to toggle through the gears while in low on our rented Chevy Traverse All Wheel Drive. After that, I noticed she was leaving a whole lot of distance between us and the nearest car in front of us which is what one should do if they haven't done this in awhile. The more distance between you and the car or truck in front of you while driving downhill on a sheet of ice even if it is partially rocked the safer you likely are going to be under these conditions, especially because you don't know how proficient the people are behind you in this kind of driving or what might be wrong with their vehicle if it isn't properly maintained.
late 15th century: from Greek oligarkhia (probably via medieval Latin).Translate oligarchy toUse over time for: oligarchy
Translations, word origin, and more definitions
Reinhard Bütikofer warns of growing right-wing cooperation with Russia
Marine Le Pen has repeatedly said she 'admires' Putin
Drew DZWONKOWSKI/new york daily news Democratic congressional leaders and their GOP counterparts will face off in the next two critical weeks. 
J. Scott Applewhite/AP House
Speaker John Boehner of Ohio has said 'all options are on the table'
for stopping President Obama's immigration plan — even another
government shutdown. 
Carolyn Kaster/AP Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has dismissed concerns that Republicans will look bad if another government shutdown happens.