1/ This is Monday morning's story from the Times- this tax bill, loaded with pork to get Democratic votes, is likely to pass, and the story says the Democrats will benefit in 2012 because of the tax breaks for the middle class embedded in it.
This is just plain stupid - when Obama took office one of his first actions was to cut taxes for middle class families, but did anyone notice? No. Did he get any credit for this? No. Actually many people thought he had raised taxes, thanks to the 24/7 propaganda machine at Fox news.....so to think the Dems will get rewarded at the polls in 2012 is beyond naiveity.....there will be just as many people remembering the gross irresponsibility of this abortion of a bill for it's tax holiday for the wealthy, borrowing the full cost of it from the Chinese........
Actually there is an excellent chance, considering the micro-memory of the American public, that the Republicans will spin this story into how Obama loaded tax cuts on to the deficit, and it's all his fault....all it takes is time and the relentless drip, drip drip of the Fox machine....
While the full political ramifications will not be known for months or longer, it was increasingly clear on Sunday that the tax deal would move forward.
Reluctant House Democrats predicted that the package would be approved before Congress adjourns this year, as days of rage and frustration began giving way to resignation and acceptance.
Representative Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, who represented House Democrats in the formal negotiations during the tax debate, said his caucus would still push to change the tax plan, particularly a provision granting a generous tax exclusion to wealthy estates. But he conceded that Democrats were not prepared to stop the entire package.
2/ "Tax Cuts for the Rich" Bill - the secret pork in the bill....
Despite the efforts of a lot of our politicians with some traces of integrity to "just say no", the White House is proceeding to load up the bill with pork in it's efforts to get this travesty done......adding billions more in goodies to try to get the necessary votes to get this through the Senate....and some Senators like the whores they are are changing their vote....
The tax deal, reached behind the scenes and still informal, now includes ethanol subsidies for rural folks, commuter tax breaks for their cousins in the cities and suburbs and wind and solar grants for the environmentalists – all aimed at winning votes, particularly from reluctant Democrats.
The holiday additions are being hung on the big bill that was Congress' main reason for spending December in Washington, long after the elections that will give Republicans new power in January. The measure will extend Bush-era tax cuts, averting big tax increases for nearly all Americans, and keep jobless benefits flowing.
Republicans generally liked that agreement, worked out by Obama and GOP leaders. Democrats generally didn't, hence the add-ons.
3/ How some of the House Democrats losing their seats feel betrayed by Obama and this tax cut cave-in....
I can certainly understand it as he was elected as "Change You Can Believe In", and although not too many voters identified it as such people feel in their gut Washington is corrupt and doesn't serve the American people, and so Obama was the hope that the government could somehow be reformed by this "white knight"[!] coming in to clean house.
But here we are two years later and he seems to have drunk the KoolAid of power and so on it goes.....our own oligarch has become one of the boys and it's business as usual.....so there are a lot more people pissed off....
“Just say no, just say no,” rebellious lawmakers cried. Vulgar words were aimed atPresident Obama. Incensed members spoiled for a fight.
The fury coursing through the meeting last Thursday in the basement of the Capitol was just the latest manifestation of the foul mood of House and Senate Democrats as they suffer through the final days of the 111th Congress, watching their power ebb while scores of them cast their last votes.
Many are having difficulty adjusting to their abruptly changed circumstances just two years after a triumphant inauguration of a new president who sealed Democratic hegemony over Washington. Deepening the wound is the fact that Democrats are still in charge, yet the White House struck its tax deal mainly with Senate Republicans.
And, incredulous Democrats say, the administration made a bad bargain even as it left fellow Democrats out of the loop.
4/ Tom Tomorrow on the tax cut debate and Republican bi-partisanship....excellent cartoon.....
5/ For all you conspiracy theorists [you know who you are] it's true - there is a secret conspiracy of the big banks to rule the derivatives market....they meet regularly in secret and divvy up the market.....I can hear it now..."I call this banking oligarchs meeting to order....oh and pour the champagne Rodney"....
The men share a common goal: to protect the interests of big banks in the vast market for derivatives, one of the most profitable — and controversial — fields in finance. They also share a common secret: The details of their meetings, even their identities, have been strictly confidential.
Drawn from giants like JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs andMorgan Stanley, the bankers form a powerful committee that helps oversee trading in derivatives, instruments which, like insurance, are used to hedge risk.
In theory, this group exists to safeguard the integrity of the multitrillion-dollar market. In practice, it also defends the dominance of the big banks.
6/ Ghostbusters are back....but they're sort of idiots.....funny though......especially for guys....
7/ Afghanistan - the US has just arrested a drug lord for narco-terrorism but it turns out he has been a CIA informant for years, and we ignored his drug issues because he was useful. This story smells like a fish after three days in the sun but I am sure will be buried in some cesspool in Langley ASAP..... I'm also sure there are many more disgusting stories like this in our Afghan province...the 51st State soon? After all we've bought this rancid country.....
But what the government did not say was that Mr. Juma Khan was also a longtime American informer, who provided information about the Taliban, Afghan corruption and other drug traffickers.Central Intelligence Agency officers and Drug Enforcement Administration agents relied on him as a valued source for years, even as he was building one of Afghanistan’s biggest drug operations after the United States-led invasion of the country, according to current and former American officials. Along the way, he was also paid a large amount of cash by the United States.
At the height of his power, Mr. Juma Khan was secretly flown to Washington for a series of clandestine meetings with C.I.A. and D.E.A. officials in 2006. Even then, the United States was receiving reports that he was on his way to becoming Afghanistan’s most important narcotics trafficker by taking over the drug operations of his rivals and paying off Taliban leaders and corrupt politicians in President Hamid Karzai’s government.
8/ Katy Perry, in line for a number of Grammys this year, with "Teenage Dream" -Directors Cut......suprisingly frank message in here for teenagers....nice song too.....
9/ Guys - don't read this....no don't proceed....go on to the jokes....oh well I tried.
The premise is any future job growth will be in areas that have traditionally been female, like health care and retail, and that manufacturing and other male orientated trades are declining....which means male unemployment will be higher than female, maybe forever. This isn't good for our society.....
The Great Recession has sometimes been dubbed the Mancessionbecause it drove unemployment among men higher than unemployment among women. Because men tend to work in more cyclical industries than women, they have historically lost more jobs on the downturn and gained more on the upturn.
The current upturn, however, is doing little to restore jobs, withNovember unemployment rates at 10.6 percent for men and 8.9 percent for women.
A long-term trend also lurks behind the cyclical pattern — a decline in the demand for the kinds of jobs that men typically fill.
For example, men constitute more than 71 percent of the work force in manufacturing but less than 25 percent of the workers in health and education services.
For example, men constitute more than 71 percent of the work force in manufacturing but less than 25 percent of the workers in health and education services.
10/ We've seen some stunt videos before but this one is amazing....don't try these at home! Or anywhere!.......5 minutes....
11/ Israel and Palestine
I don't know which of them is worse, both are incredibly stubborn. We do, however, shower billions on Israel which then proceeds to give us the finger time after time.
Thomas Friedman says in a great column let's just walk away...a pox on both their houses.
Good advice which of course the US won't take as the Israeli lobby is one of the most powerful in Washington - they own or rent many lawmakers and have an unlikely ally in the religious right....which I really don't "get".......
Why do the "intelligent design" and "rapture" whack jobs like the Israelis? A mystery....
Oil is to Saudi Arabia what unconditional American aid and affection are to Israel — and what unconditional Arab and European aid and affection are to the Palestinians: a hallucinogenic drug that enables them each to think they can defy the laws of history, geography and demography. It is long past time that we stop being their crack dealers. At a time of nearly 10 percent unemployment in America, we have the Israelis and the Palestinians sitting over there with their arms folded, waiting for more U.S. assurances or money to persuade them to do what is manifestly in their own interest: negotiate a two-state deal. Shame on them, and shame us. You can’t want peace more than the parties themselves, and that is exactly where America is today. The people running Israel and Palestine have other priorities. It is time we left them alone to pursue them — and to live with the consequences.
12/ I-Phoniacs.....one for you.
If you thought "Doodle Jump" was fun, try "Angry Birds" - there's a free app to try and the real one is 99c.....hours and hours of time wasting and IQ reduction......the sound effects are especially obnoxious.....no Mary I'm not playing it....really...
Angry Birds, in which the birds seek revenge on the egg-stealing pigs, is meant to be easily played in the checkout line and during other short windows of downtime — but some players have trouble stopping. Rovio says people around the world rack up 200 million minutes of game play each day. (Put another way, that is 16 human-years of bird-throwing every hour.)
The game has inspired parodies, homages and fervent testimonials. Homemade Angry Birds costumes were big hits on Halloween.
13/ A little late, but Movie Time - reviews and video
Coming soon...."True Grit", with Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon.....
Watch the True Grit trailer first, then read the article about the movie coming in two weeks. It's been a long time since we have had a really good western, so if anyone can make a great one it's the Coen Brothers ["No Country for Old Men", "Fargo"]
The author of the article really likes the Coen brothers......
"Company Men" with Tommy Lee Jones and Ben Afflek...
Good review......
Riding on the strong performances of Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones and Chris Cooper, portraying mid- to high-level employees at the fictional Boston company GTX, the movie is realistic enough to make all corporate climbers, but especially men over 50, quake in their boots. If you are what you do, what are you if you’re no longer doing it?
As depicted in the film the modern corporation is a sterile Darwinian shark tank in which the only thing that matters is the bottom line. The old days of corporate beneficence and loyalty to longtime employees are long gone.
The film is the first feature written and directed by John Wells, an executive producer and show runner for “ER.”
For movie afficionados - "Vengeance" with the legendary French star Johnny Hallyday, directed by Johnnie To....
Excellent review, really suberb direction....Netflix queue....
If you want to know what great filmmaking looks like, watch how he aligns people inside his frame, creating first visual interest through their arrangement — he often places the three assassins in a triangle — and then visual excitement when they start to move. He likes fast edits and restless cameras, and dynamically mixes long shots with close-ups, but his images bristle with tension before he makes a single cut. There’s a near-geometric aspect to his mise-en-scène, even when bodies start flying across the screen amid the clouds of gun smoke and arterial sprays. It’s evidence of a rigor that was common in the old Hollywood studio system, when base levels of craft and technique were givens even in B movies.
"The Fighter" with Mark Wahlberg got a fair write-up, the new "Chronicles of Narnia" was thought to be boring and "The Tourist" with Angelina Jolie also got an "only OK" review.........
Todays video - Trunk Monkey
Todays Indian joke
On his 74th birthday, a man got a gift certificate from his wife. The certificate paid for a visit to a Cherokee medicine man living on a nearby reservation who was rumored to have a wonderful cure for erectile dysfunction. The man drove to the reservation, handed his certificate to the medicine man, and wondered what he was in for.
The old medicine man produced a potion, with the warning, "This is a powerful medicine, and it must be respected. You take only a teaspoonful, and then say '1-2-3.' When you do that, you will become more manly than you have ever been in your life, and you can perform as long as you want."
The man was encouraged. As he walked away, he turned and asked, "How do I stop the medicine from working?"
"Your partner must say '1-2-3-4,'" he responded, "but when she does, the medicine will not work again until the next full moon."
He was very eager to see if it worked so he went home, showered, shaved, took a spoonful of the medicine, and then invited his wife to join him in the bedroom. When she came in, he took off his clothes and said, "1-2-3 !"
Immediately, he was the manliest of men. His wife, excited, began throwing off her clothes. Then she asked, "What was the 1-2-3 for?"
And that, boys and girls, is why we should never end our sentences with a preposition, because we could end up with a dangling participle.
The old medicine man produced a potion, with the warning, "This is a powerful medicine, and it must be respected. You take only a teaspoonful, and then say '1-2-3.' When you do that, you will become more manly than you have ever been in your life, and you can perform as long as you want."
The man was encouraged. As he walked away, he turned and asked, "How do I stop the medicine from working?"
"Your partner must say '1-2-3-4,'" he responded, "but when she does, the medicine will not work again until the next full moon."
He was very eager to see if it worked so he went home, showered, shaved, took a spoonful of the medicine, and then invited his wife to join him in the bedroom. When she came in, he took off his clothes and said, "1-2-3 !"
Immediately, he was the manliest of men. His wife, excited, began throwing off her clothes. Then she asked, "What was the 1-2-3 for?"
And that, boys and girls, is why we should never end our sentences with a preposition, because we could end up with a dangling participle.
Todays TSA jokes
Grope discounts available.
Can't see London , can't see France , unless we see your underpants.
If we did our job any better, we'd have to buy you dinner first.
Only we know if Lady Gaga is really a lady.
Don't worry, my hands are still warm from the last guy.
Throw a few back at the airport Chili's and you won't even notice.
Wanna fly? Drop your fly.
We've handled more balls than Barney Frank
We are now free to move about your pants
We rub you the wrong way, so you can be on your way.
It's not a grope. It's a freedom pat.
When in doubt, we make you whip it out.
TSA: Touchin', Squeezin', Arrestin'
You were a virgin.
We handle more packages than the USPS
The TSA isn't silly, they just want to inspect your willy
Stroke of the hand, law of the land
No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem
Let your fingers do the Walking
Cough
Reach out and touch someone
Can you feel me now?
When we're done with you, you'll need a cigarette
Todays church lady joke
Well, I lost the Trivia Contest during our church's pot-luck dinner last night by 1 point !
Not only did I get the last question wrong, but I was immediately asked to leave.
The question was: "Where do women have the curliest hair?"
Apparently the correct answer is 'Fiji Islands'.
Not only did I get the last question wrong, but I was immediately asked to leave.
The question was: "Where do women have the curliest hair?"
Apparently the correct answer is 'Fiji Islands'.
Todays short bonus joke
Subject: C'mon, Tell Me You Didn't Wonder Too
What's really in Viagra???
I knew it...... I just knew it!
I knew they would eventually release the ingredients in Viagra!
3 % Vitamin E
2 % Aspirin
2 % Ibuprofen
1 % Vitamin C
5 % Spray Starch
87 % Fix-A-Flat
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