1/ That Sinking Feeling
Excellent summary of President Obama's first two years in office, where we are and where we could have been....what a waste.
Still, what's done is done and we need to move on, but occasionally this exercise is a reminder of what not to do in the future.......
The president and his party may have racked up one legislative victory after another — on the bank bailouts, the stimulus package, the health care bill, and so forth — but ordinary Americans do not feel as if their lives or their prospects are improving. And they don’t think it’s a public relations problem.
Nearly 15 million are jobless and many who are working are worried that they (or a close relative) will soon become unemployed. The once solid foundation of home ownership has grown increasingly wobbly, with the number of foreclosures this year expected to surpass a million. And the country is still at war.
The voter unrest that is manifesting itself in myriad (and often peculiar) ways reflects a real fear that not just family finances but the country itself is in a state of decline.
2/ The Koch brothers
Sceptical about talk of an oligarchy that secretly runs this country? Still think this is a democracy?
Read this story - the NYT got hold of an invitation to hedge fund billionaires and other wealthy individuals to attend a secret conference on ?.....who knows, but it's political......if it's good for the Koch brothers, it's good for America....
They pull the strings, and the stupids just dance away.......
The invitation, sent to potential new participants, offers a rare peek at the Koch network of the ultrawealthy and the politically well-connected, its far-reaching agenda to enlist ordinary Americans to its cause, and its desire for the utmost secrecy.
Koch Industries, a Wichita-based energy and manufacturing conglomerate run by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, operates a foundation that finances political advocacy groups, but tax law protects those groups from having to disclose much about what they do and who contributes.
With a personalized letter signed by Charles Koch, the invitation to the four-day Rancho Mirage meeting opens with a grand call to action: “If not us, who? If not now, when?”
The Koch network meets twice a year to plan and expand its efforts — as the letter says, “to review strategies for combating the multitude of public policies that threaten to destroy America as we know it.”
Those efforts, the letter makes clear, include countering “climate change alarmism and the move to socialized health care,” as well as “the regulatory assault on energy,” and making donations to higher education and philanthropic organizations to advance the Koch agenda.
3/ Wonder what the bastards at the big banks and hedge funds are up to? They are buying up tax liens - if you fall behind in your taxes, water bill, electricity etc., the entity you owe the money to creates a lien against the property. If you don't pay they have the right to foreclose on your property, so [let's say] FPL sells their tax liens to a hedge fund, then the hedge fund then has the right to foreclose and take your house away, sometimes for a few hundred dollars.....
Nearly a dozen major banks and hedge funds, anticipating quick profits from homeowners who fall behind on property taxes, are quietly plowing hundreds of millions of dollars into businesses that collect the debts, tack on escalating fees and threaten to foreclose on the homes of those who fail to pay.
The Wall Street investors, which include Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co., have purchased from local governments the right to collect delinquent taxes on several hundred thousand properties, many in distressed housing markets, the Huffington Post Investigative Fund has found.
In many cases, the banks and hedge funds created new companies to do their bidding.
4/ Tea party time - Here's a candidate who not afraid - he's running as "willfully ignorant" about everything.....2 minutes.....
5/ Leadership - how the Baby Boomer generation has failed.....
Interesting if painful article from a Millennial [someone in their 30's] on how Boomers [ you, yes you! ] have failed the generation coming up behind us.....in the Environment, Politics, Business and Religion......
As leaders, the Baby Boomers have lost our trust, and time is running out for them to win it back. At this point, we younger generations would at least settle for a place at the table, one where we can provide input on the decisions that will have an impact on us long after they are retired. Oh--I almost forgot--we also want the truth. We've grown up. We can handle it.
6/ Monty Python's "Upper Class Twit of the Year"....classic sketch of Britains upper classes......
7/ Climate change - two articles....
Only one of the 20 Republicans running for Senate will admit climate change is a problem....
The candidates are not simply rejecting solutions, like putting a price on carbon, though these, too, are demonized. They are re-running the strategy of denial perfected by Mr. Cheney a decade ago, repudiating years of peer-reviewed findings about global warming and creating an alternative reality in which climate change is a hoax or conspiracy.
Some candidates are emphatic in their denial, like the Nevada Republican Sharron Angle, who flatly rejects “the man-caused climate change mantra of the left.” Others are merely wiggly, like California’s Carly Fiorina, who says, “I’m not sure.” Yet, over all (the exception being Mark Kirk in Illinois), the Republicans are huddled around an amazingly dismissive view of climate change.
How to get the people in Kansas to cut their energy consumption......appeal to the frugality of saving energy, lessen our dependance on Middle Eastern oil, but don't mention climate change.....
Quite a sensible article.......but why is the center of this country so stupid?
Attempts by the Obama administration to regulate greenhouse gases are highly unpopular here because of opposition to large-scale government intervention. Some are skeptical that humans might fundamentally alter a world that was created by God.
If the heartland is to seriously reduce its dependence on coal and oil, Ms. Jackson and others decided, the issues must be separated. So the project ran an experiment to see if by focusing on thrift, patriotism, spiritual conviction and economic prosperity, it could rally residents of six Kansas towns to take meaningful steps to conserve energy and consider renewable fuels.
8/ New song!!!
"I Am Not A Witch" by Christine O'Donnell.....from auto-tune the news.......2 minutes.....
9/ The Supreme Court - two stories
Excellent commentary on the damage this corrupt and evil right wing court has done to the average person's right to participate in elections. Look at Colorado, and wait till 2012 when the serious money will come out. A frightening future, thanks to the bastards on the Supreme Court.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — I wish Chief Justice John Roberts could spend a day and a night in the Rocky Mountains experiencing what his activist Supreme Court majority has dumped on the American voter in 2010.
The sludge flow from out-of-state, secretive political groups is unrelenting. All hours. All mediums. A football game-break brings three attacks in a row, calling a senator a liar, a vandal and a glutton for debt. A weather update is interrupted by a trio of hits from the other side, making the challenger out to be the worst thing for women since Neanderthal man took up a club as an accessory to romance.
Colorado is ground zero for what’s happening in John Roberts’s America, competing for the dubious distinction of being the top state in the nation for spending by shadowy outside groups telling people how to vote.
Strange......
Clarence Thomas's wife, a Tea Party leader, has called Anita Hill to ask for an apology for Hill's testimony in 1991 at Justice Thomas's Senate confirmation........no she wasn't drunk, the call was at 7.30 in the morning......very weird, but then everything about Justice Thomas and his wife is a little off......but why now, two weeks before the elections......what giveth?
Hill told ABC News: "Even if it wasn't a prank, it was in no way conciliatory for her to begin with the presumption that I did something wrong in 1991. I simply testified to the truth of my experience. For her to say otherwise is not extending an olive branch, it's accusatory."
Hill's testimony in 1991 came close to derailing Thomas's nomination for the Supreme Court post after she detailed her experiences working for Thomas, telling the Senate Judiciary Committee that Thomas had made repeated detailed sexual remarks and suggestions, which Thomas later denied. Hill herself was the victim of repeated smears.
In recent months Ginni Thomas has been taking an active political role with the Tea Party movement and its Republican supporters, and last week spearheaded a fundraising drive for conservative Republican candidates ahead of the US midterm elections in November.
10/ I remember this issue from years ago and how all of the tomato growers resisted as only Florida crackers can.....now, 10 years later, the pickers get their penny a pound increase....
Itinerant tomato pickers in Florida have faced a tough time getting a boost in pay. The 45 cents or so they earn for every 32-pound bucket picked is a rate that has stagnated for decades. In the face of pickers' attempts to negotiate more generous terms, big tomato producers had refused to talk or cooperate with the coalition. And until recently, the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, the growers' trade group, financially threatened any grower who joined the coalition's efforts.
But that didn't stop the group, which brought its Campaign for Fair Food to fast-food chains and supermarkets - companies that buy Florida tomatoes by the ton. Knowing a good corporate citizen move when they saw it, McDonald's, Taco Bell and Whole Foods, among others, agreed to pay an additional 1 cent or more per pound and abide by a supplier code of conduct. The problem has been that the growers wouldn't help implement the agreements.
But that didn't stop the group, which brought its Campaign for Fair Food to fast-food chains and supermarkets - companies that buy Florida tomatoes by the ton. Knowing a good corporate citizen move when they saw it, McDonald's, Taco Bell and Whole Foods, among others, agreed to pay an additional 1 cent or more per pound and abide by a supplier code of conduct. The problem has been that the growers wouldn't help implement the agreements.
11/ Random notes from Europe - on the cruise........
We had a flood on our deck when a hot water pipe burst in the middle of the night.....thankfully down the hall, but when I went to get out of bed in the morning my foot went squish on some very soggy carpet because the water spread along the walls.....the crew was very professional, drying up the water with wetvacs and then replacing all of the soggy carpet along the corridor......ironically the ship will be going into drydock when this cruise is over, so it would have been replaced anyway.
You may have heard of the Mistral, a weather condition that happens in the Med with mostly high winds. Well one was sitting over where we needed to go until two days ago and we had to cancel ports because of the waves, but it cleared a little and the Captain decided to make a dash from Bonaficio in Corsica to Minorca.....we know the weather was going to be rough, but OMG the seas were 4-5 meter waves which in a 4200 ton yacht is a little different than a 90,000 ton cruise ship. "Rockin and a rollin" describes it best......it was tough to stand up, but still 40 people out of 106 made it to dinner, your intrepid reporters included.....but one dish and a bread roll was enough and then back to bed where the waves did their best to make us fall out! Even the crew were under the weather......
The SeaDream is wonderful.....having worked in the "bigger the better" cruise industry these small yachts are truly the next level in service and friendliness.....a great experience.
We're in Palma, Majorca today with two megayachts near us, one called "Al Mirqab" which according to "the Google" is owned by the Foreigh Minister of Quatar.....it's bigger than SeaDream......thanks Koch brothers for keeping this gentleman rich......
Todays videos......Bud Lite commercials
Todays church lady joke
Mildred, the church gossip, and self-appointed monitor of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose in to other people's business. Several members did not approve of her extra curricular activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence.
She made a mistake, however, when she accused George, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his old pickup parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon. She emphatically told George (and several others) that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing.
George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just turned and walked away. He didn't explain, defend, or deny... he said nothing. Later that evening, George quietly parked his pickup in front of Mildred's house... walked home... and left it there all night.
She made a mistake, however, when she accused George, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his old pickup parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon. She emphatically told George (and several others) that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing.
George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just turned and walked away. He didn't explain, defend, or deny... he said nothing. Later that evening, George quietly parked his pickup in front of Mildred's house... walked home... and left it there all night.
Todays dwarf joke
Seven dwarfs go to the Vatican , and because they are the seven dwarfs, they are immediately ushered in to see the Pope.
Grumpy leads the pack.
"Grumpy, my son," says the Pope, "What can I do for you?"
Grumpy asks, "Excuse me your Excellency, but are there any dwarf
nuns in Rome ?"
The Pope wrinkles his brow at the odd question, thinks for a moment
and answers, "No, Grumpy, there are no dwarf nuns in Rome ."
In the background, a few of the dwarfs start giggling.
Grumpy turns around and glares, silencing them.
Grumpy turns back, "Your Worship, are there any dwarf nuns in all
of Europe ?"
The Pope, puzzled now, again thinks for a moment and then answers,
"No, Grumpy, there are no dwarf nuns in Europe .
"This time, all of the other dwarfs burst into laughter.
Once again, Grumpy turns around and silences them with an angry
glare.
Grumpy turns back and says, "Mr. Pope! Are there ANY dwarf nuns
anywhere in the world?"
The Pope, really confused by the questions says, "I'm sorry, my
son, there are no dwarf nuns anywhere in the world."
The other dwarfs collapse into a heap, rolling and laughing,
pounding the floor, tears rolling down their cheeks, as they begin
chanting......
"Grumpy shagged a penguin!"
"Grumpy shagged a penguin!"
Grumpy leads the pack.
"Grumpy, my son," says the Pope, "What can I do for you?"
Grumpy asks, "Excuse me your Excellency, but are there any dwarf
nuns in Rome ?"
The Pope wrinkles his brow at the odd question, thinks for a moment
and answers, "No, Grumpy, there are no dwarf nuns in Rome ."
In the background, a few of the dwarfs start giggling.
Grumpy turns around and glares, silencing them.
Grumpy turns back, "Your Worship, are there any dwarf nuns in all
of Europe ?"
The Pope, puzzled now, again thinks for a moment and then answers,
"No, Grumpy, there are no dwarf nuns in Europe .
"This time, all of the other dwarfs burst into laughter.
Once again, Grumpy turns around and silences them with an angry
glare.
Grumpy turns back and says, "Mr. Pope! Are there ANY dwarf nuns
anywhere in the world?"
The Pope, really confused by the questions says, "I'm sorry, my
son, there are no dwarf nuns anywhere in the world."
The other dwarfs collapse into a heap, rolling and laughing,
pounding the floor, tears rolling down their cheeks, as they begin
chanting......
"Grumpy shagged a penguin!"
"Grumpy shagged a penguin!"
Todays Polish joke
"In what aisle could I find the Polish sausage?"
The clerk looks at him and says, 'Are you Polish?'
The guy (clearly offended) says, 'Well, yes I am.
But let me ask you something.
If I had asked for Italian sausage,
would you ask me if I was Italian?
Or if I had asked for German Bratwurst,
would you ask me if I was German?
Or if I asked for a kosher hot dog.
would you ask me if I was Jewish?
Or if I had asked for a taco,
would you ask if I was Mexican?'
'If I asked for some Irish whiskey,
would you ask if I was Irish?'
The clerk says, 'Well, no, I probably wouldn't!'
With deep self-righteous indignation, the guy says,
'Well then, why did you ask me if I'm Polish
because I asked for Polish sausage?'
The clerk replied, 'Because you're in Home Depot'
The clerk looks at him and says, 'Are you Polish?'
The guy (clearly offended) says, 'Well, yes I am.
But let me ask you something.
If I had asked for Italian sausage,
would you ask me if I was Italian?
Or if I had asked for German Bratwurst,
would you ask me if I was German?
Or if I asked for a kosher hot dog.
would you ask me if I was Jewish?
Or if I had asked for a taco,
would you ask if I was Mexican?'
'If I asked for some Irish whiskey,
would you ask if I was Irish?'
The clerk says, 'Well, no, I probably wouldn't!'
With deep self-righteous indignation, the guy says,
'Well then, why did you ask me if I'm Polish
because I asked for Polish sausage?'
The clerk replied, 'Because you're in Home Depot'
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