Recommended reading - #2.....fascinating.......
1/ "The Rage Won't End On Election Day"
Fabulous article from Frank Rich on the anger that is driving our politics....
Don’t expect the extremism and violence in our politics to subside magically after Election Day — no matter what the results. If Tea Party candidates triumph, they’ll be emboldened. If they lose, the anger and bitterness will grow. The only development that can change this equation is a decisive rescue from our prolonged economic crisis. Not for the first time in history — and not just American history — fear itself is at the root of a rabid outbreak of populist rage against government, minorities and conspiratorial “elites.”
So far neither party has offered a comprehensive antidote to our economic pain. The Democrats have fallen short, and the cynics leading the G.O.P. haven’t so much as tried.
2/ Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone on the Tea Party Movement
I truly love Taibbi's clarity and vision - he cuts through the BS to the essence of what he is writing about, and this article on the Tea Parties is wonderful. It's long, but if you want to find out what these idiots are all about read this story - it will curl your toes because nothing, nothing will satisfy the old angry white people in this country.
Highly recommended.....
Vast forests have already been sacrificed to the public debate about the Tea Party: what it is, what it means, where it's going. But after lengthy study of the phenomenon, I've concluded that the whole miserable narrative boils down to one stark fact: They're full of shit. All of them. At the voter level, the Tea Party is a movement that purports to be furious about government spending — only the reality is that the vast majority of its members are former Bush supporters who yawned through two terms of record deficits and spent the past two electoral cycles frothing not about spending but about John Kerry's medals and Barack Obama's Sixties associations. The average Tea Partier is sincerely against government spending — with the exception of the money spent on them. In fact, their lack of embarrassment when it comes to collecting government largesse is key to understanding what this movement is all about — and nowhere do we see that dynamic as clearly as here in Kentucky, where Rand Paul is barreling toward the Senate with the aid of conservative icons like Palin.
3/ Afghanistan
It just gets worse and worse in this swamp of corruption, pedophiles and stone age peasants. Nicholas Kristof summarises how disasterous our policy is in this cesspit, and how our money is being squandered......so, General Petraeus, how's it going? Made your retirement bonus from Halliburton yet?
Bastard......
It’s the same with all contractors, and the upshot is that the American taxpayer has become a significant source of financing for the Taliban, along with drugs and donations from Gulf Arabs. With the money they milk from the United States, the Taliban hire more fighters.
“In one way, it hurts the Taliban,” Ms. Stoda said of the American presence. “In another way, it helps the Taliban.”
One security expert here did the math for me. A single American soldier in Helmand Province, he estimated, causes enough money to leak to the Taliban to recruit another 10 fighters trying to kill that American.
4/ Florida Justice
Most interesting piece from the St. Petersburg Times on a case that is blatantly corrupt involving the St. Joe Corp., and the new $48 million boondoggle the First Circuit Court of Appeals has built for itself....this article also has the best first line I can recall.....here it is......
Who would ever have supposed that the fetid cesspool of cronyism, good ol' boyism and classic condescending elitism that is Tallahassee would find at its very wellhead a bunch of imperious judges who traded in their robes for … 60-inch flat-screen television sets?
5/ Ever seen a Fox News or CNN panel that you know are just full of it, and have no idea what they are talking about? Onion News has such a story.....2 minutes of "yup, been there"......
6/ The Economy
If you are interested in economics, and a rational look at US fiscal policy from an international perspective, have a look at this from Simon Johnson. I like this guy - I think he tells the truth.....
The United States stands out as quite different. No one is yet seriously proposing to address our underlying budget issues. There are certainly people who claim to be “fiscal conservatives” – some of the right and some on the left – but none can yet be taken seriously. The implications are very bad for our fiscal future.
The background, of course, is that the US budget was in relatively good shape at the end of the Clinton years (culminating in a 2.5% of GDP surplus in 2000) – but turned sharply into deficit during the George W. Bush era. The headline 2% deficit in 2006, for example, perhaps did not look too bad – but it was remarkably poor performance given how well the economy was doing.
The notion that tax cuts would lead to productivity increases, thus boosting growth and in turn fixing the budget, turned out to be completely illusory. In fact, the tax cuts encouraged consumption, leading to overspending at the national level (and reflected in a current account deficit that reached 6% of GDP – this represents a big increase borrowing from foreigners by both the private sector and the government.)
But what really bust the US budget and pushed up our debt-to-GDP ratio was the way the financial system amplified the housing-based boom and bust through 2008; there were some “feel good” effects through the end of 2007, but then we faced the worst recession since World War II. Net government debt held by the private sector will increase from about 42 percent of GDP to around 80 percent as a direct result of the economic crisis – and the measures taken to prevent it from turning into another Great Depression.
7/ Clint Eastwood is a surprising artist.....famous for his acting of course, but he is also a very talented Director. Good summary of his career and how, in his 80's, he's still got "it".....
ALMOST every fall lately, it seems, Clint Eastwood drops a little surprise on the moviegoing public: an unheralded, modestly budgeted film about a subject that hardly seems to fit the Eastwood mold. In 2004 there was “Million Dollar Baby,” about a female boxer; in 2008 there was “Gran Torino,” about a bigoted Korean War vet, played by Mr. Eastwood himself, who forms an unlikely, heartwarming friendship with a young Hmong boy. His latest film,“Hereafter,” which opened Friday in New York and will be released nationwide a week later, ventures into supernatural territory, which is about the last place you’d expect to find Mr. Eastwood. “Hereafter” concerns itself with just what the title suggests: what we can look forward to after we die.
Our flight to Malta from London was 3 hours on Air Malta....needless to say the seats were the legal minimum apart, but they actually served a full hot meal to every passenger....and it wasn't bad. It brought home how degraded our expectations have become in the US for air travel......even five hour flights don't serve a hot meal any more in economy.....you can buy a sandwich. Whoop whoop. The difference over here is the EU airline regulators mandate a hot meal for flights over three hours, so even the cheapie airlines serve food. Here in the US the corporations have long ago purchased the FAA, so screw the consumer....no free food for you.......
Never been to Malta, so it was a very pleasant surprise how old the city of Valetta was......history is everywhere, but we only had time for a walk around the walled city. The island is fascinating, and worth another visit for yours truly....
We were in Trapani in Sicily yesterday [on a Sunday], and as it is not a tourist port everything was closed except churches and restaurants. But the city is georgeous, and if you ever come here make sure to get on the cable car to Erice, a medieval walled city.....amazing.
By the way both Valletta and Trapani were spotless, no litter, clean as a whistle....
9/ Continuing our series of dumb guy videos, this one is called "Stones of Doom" and you can take that any way you want.......watch the boys get creamed again......
10/ Car Review
The new Buick Regal gets a good recommendation....nice to see GM putting out decent cars again, but of course in this case it the new Buick is based on a German Opel chassis.....oh well, it'll be built here eventually......
The new Regal also has sporting pretensions, but not of the drag-racing sort. This front-drive car takes careful aim at a tricky sales target: the so-called premium sedans that are a cut above mainstream family cars, but not quite full-fledged luxury cars, either. In this class, the lovely Volkswagen CC is the style champ and the Acura TSX is the low-key performance benchmark.
The Regal is certainly ready for its close-up. This might be the best-looking sedan from any American automaker, more this-season-sophisticated than even G.M.’s higher-priced Cadillac CTS.
11/ Good TV
This looks like an excellent series to set your TiVo's to record, or Netflix it....."Luther" on BBC America......
The angst and psychological machinations arrive in the form of “Luther,” a six-part series beginning on BBC America on Sunday. The Luther of the title is John Luther, a London detective who lets a maniac fall to his near death in the show’s tense opening moments. The perpetrator in question obliterates children. We meet him hanging from a high beam, getting no assist from a cop who instead recounts the names of the young victims, thus setting the tone for a series grippingly compelled by the most gothic threats to domestic tranquillity.
The London of Luther’s purview is a city in which the number of deranged evildoers per capita would seem to outrank the number of wool sports coats in Oxford and Cambridge. There are rapists who menace young mothers in their living rooms, sons who kill for their fathers’ approval, daughters who gun down their parents and stage the crimes as home invasion. The series provides one of the most chilling television images in a long time as the camera closes in on a baby peacefully playing on a Gymini while his mother unwittingly opens the front door to a psychopath.
Todays video - Bud Lite Clothing Drive
Todays Irish joke
Three dead bodies turn up at the mortuary, all with very big smiles on their faces. The coroner calls the police to tell them what has happened. 'First body: Pierre Dubois, Frenchman, 60, died of heart failure while making love to his 20-year old mistress. Hence the enormous smile, Inspector', says the Coroner. 'Second body: Hamish Campbell, Scotsman, 25, won £50,000 on the lottery, spent it all on whisky.. Died of alcohol poisoning, hence the smile.' The Inspector asked, 'What about the third body?' 'Ah,' says the coroner, 'this is the most unusual one. Paddy Murphy, Irish, 30, struck by lightning.' 'Why is he smiling then?' inquires the Inspector. 'He thought he was having his picture taken'.. |
Todays religious joke
How Moses Got the Ten Commandments . . ..
God went to the Arabs and said,
"I have Commandments for you that will make your lives better."
The Arabs asked, "What are Commandments?"
And the Lord said, "They are rules for living.."
"Can you give us an example?" "Thou shall not kill."
"Not kill? We're not interested."
And the Lord said, "They are rules for living.."
"Can you give us an example?" "Thou shall not kill."
"Not kill? We're not interested."
So He went to the Blacks and said, "I have Commandments."
The Blacks wanted an example, and the Lord said,
"Honour thy Father and Mother." "Father? We don't know who our fathers are. We're not interested."
Then He went to the Mexicans and said,
"I have Commandments."
The Mexicans also wanted an example, and the Lord said "Thou shall not steal."
"Not steal? We're not interested."
Then He went to the French and said,
"I have Commandments."
The French too wanted an example and the Lord said, "Thou shall not commit adultery.""Not commit adultery? We're not interested."
Finally, He went to the Jews and said,
"I have Commandments."
"Commandments?" They said, "How much are they?"
"They're free."
"We'll take 10."
There, that should offend just about everybody
Todays idiots joke
This was at the Ford dealership in Canton, MS |
We had to have the garage door repaired. The Sears repairman told us that one of our problems was that we did not have a 'large' enough motor on the opener. I thought for a minute, and said that we had the largest one Sears made at that time, a 1/2 horsepower. He shook his head and said, 'Lady, you need a 1/4 horsepower.' I responded that 1/2 was larger than 1/4. He said, 'NO, it's not.' Four is larger than two.' We haven't used Sears repair since.
IDIOT SIGHTING:
My daughter and I went through the McDonald's take-out window and I gave the clerk a $5 bill. Our total was $4.25, so I also handed her a quarter. She said, 'You gave me too much money.' I said, 'Yes I know, but this way you can just give me a dollar bill back. She sighed and went to get the manager, who asked me to repeat my request. I did so, and he handed me back the quarter, and said 'We're sorry but we could not do that kind of thing.' The clerk then proceeded to give me back $1 and 75 cents in change.
Do not confuse the clerks at McD's.
IDIOT SIGHTING
I live in a semi rural area. We recently had a new neighbor call the local township administrative office to request the removal of the DEER CROSSING sign on our road. The reason: 'Too many deer are being hit by cars out here! I don't think this is a good place for them to be crossing anymore.'
IDIOT SIGHTING
My daughter went to a local Taco Bell and ordered a taco. She asked the person behind the counter for 'minimal lettuce.' He said he was sorry, but they only had iceburg lettuce.
IDIOT SIGHTING
I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked, 'Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?' To which I replied, 'If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?' He smiled knowingly and nodded, 'That's why we ask.'
Happened in Birmingham , Ala.
IDIOT SIGHTING
The stoplight on the corner buzzes when it's safe to cross the street. I was crossing with an intellectually challenged coworker of mine. She asked if I knew what the buzzer was for. I explained that it signals blind people when the light is red. Appalled, she responded, 'What on earth are blind people doing driving?!'
She's a probation officer in Wichita , KS
IDIOT SIGHTING
At a good-bye luncheon for an old and dear coworker who was leaving the company due to 'downsizing,' our manager commented cheerfully, 'This is fun. We should do this more often.' Not another word was spoken. We all just looked at each other with that deer-in-the-headlights stare. This was a lunch at Texas Instruments.
IDIOT SIGHTING
I work with an individual who plugged her power strip back into itself and for the sake of her life, couldn't understand why her system would not turn on. A deputy with the Dallas County Sheriff 's office, no less.
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