"Nobody Cares About Your Stick Family".

Slado (at 11:01:15 AM EST): "Romney left Bain in 1999, according to CNN."

... he presently claims, then please explain this paragraph from Bain Capital's July 19, 1999 press release, congratulating two former associates who were starting their own private equity firm (NOTE: The text is from a Nexus search, and no direct link is available):

"Bain Capital CEO W. Mitt Romney, currently on a part-time leave of absence to head the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee for the 2002 Games said, 'Geoff and Marc have each made very significant contributions to the growth of our business, and have played important roles in furthering its success. In particular, Geoff, who helped us to start Bain Capital played a key role in building our franchise and led several of our highly successful transactions. Marc brought extensive capital markets expertise to the firm, where he co-headed our mezzanine efforts and played a critical role in conceiving and helping to start Sankaty Advisors, our high yield asset business, which now has over $ 2 billion under management. While we will miss them, we wish them well and look forward to working with them as they build their firm.'"

Please take note that the date of this release is a full five months after the date Romney now claims to be be the effective date of his "retirement" from Bain Capital. Yet in said press release, Romney is still identied as "Bain Capital CEO," and is further described as being "on a part-time leave of absence to head the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee for the 2002 Games[.]"

And still further, the "Marc" in this press release refers to former Bain Associate Marc B. Walprow, who later affirmed to the Boston Globe back in 2002 the still-present contention that Romney remained active in the affairs of Bain Capital, even as he was assuming command of operations for the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee:

"I reported directly to Mitt Romney ... You can't be CEO of Bain Capital and say, `I really don't know what my guys were doing." (Emphasis is mine.)

Finally, it should be noted that Romney is now staking his claim regarding his date of departure from Bain Capital on a severance package that was negotiated and finalized in 2002, in which that date of departure was made retroactive to February 11, 1999.

But for all intents, that was strictly for the purposes of the severance package. The bald fact of the matter is that Romney received $100,000 in direct salary compensation in 1999, 2000, and 2001 for his part-time capacity as Bain Capital CEO. He acted in that capacity every time signed documents filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) between 1999 and 2002 as the CEO of Bain Capital.

So, either Mitt Romney was CEO of Bain Capital between February 1999 and late 2002, or he wasn't. And if he wasn't, then he and Bain Capital clearly and intentionally misled the SEC during that same period, when they stated in their filings that he was.

8 planes, 1 full body scan, 9 metal detectors, 11 bag screenings, 5 pat downs (note to female travelers - sports bra and sweat pants is the way to go), 1 small purple teddy bear subject to additional (drug/explosive?) screening, 2 bottles of wine and 2 bottles of olive oil purchased at duty free confiscated at a connecting flight due to inadequate sealing of the bag when I bought it, 1 bumped flight, 1 visa, and 8 passport stamps.

International travel is not for the shy or impatient.  I'm glad I got home safe and sound, but I kind of feel like going through that level of security every time you get on a plane or switch gates - even if it's right after you got off a plane - is a bit excessive.  Mind you, other than the teddy bear check, I was never "flagged" as suspicious or questioned, I can only imagine what it must be like for the people who are.  I managed to be relatively cheerful through most of it, but I admit that I did lose my smile when they took my purchased items.  

I can work from home, too! No need for a corner office when I can pet my furry friends and listen to them snore right here.

"The torch relay clothes were NOT made in Burma. They were manufactured in Myanmar. In fact they were made in the exact same factory that produces clothes for GAP, North Face and other major clothing labels."
-- Statement from the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Committee, attempting to respond to protests over the the news that the manufacture of the 2002 Olympic team's uniforms had been outsourced to Burma

Also rode a bike and canoed in central Oregon, went to Voodoo Donuts in Portland,  and yakked my face off with family and friends in California.

1.  Mermaids might be real, though scientists prefer the term "aquatic apes."  This according to a bizarre two hour doc on Discovery last night.  I haven't seen on-camera scientists so polished and almost theatrically dramatic as they seemed stunned to be discussing data suggestive of some unknown intelligent, language speaking life form in the oceans, which our military seems to want hushed up.

2.  In 1988 for the 25th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, Walter Cronkite, increasingly skeptical of the official story, wanted CBS to undertake a major prime time special re-evaluating the case. But it was nixed. Walter blamed Dan Rather, but top execs were probably responsible.  From Doug Brinkley's new bio of WC.

3.  There is new hope for another Obama term so long as Romney continues the Bain/tax return stonewall and provided the Obama team remains aggressive in pressing the attack.  A couple more weeks like the past week and I might have to re-think my previous early prediction

People around here have already given up trying to keep their public garden spots watered...opting for farmers' markets instead...(not a bad thing)

Last night here (in SE MN) it was 100 degrees air temp with 46% humidity...at 10:30 at night!!