1/ You can count on Bob Herbert to call it like it is and be a passionate champion of the middle class....yes, you! Your class!
Today he muses on the unabashed mission of the Republicans in the House to make the rich even richer, paid for by the not-so-rich by dismantling all of the safety nets you will be counting on for your golden years.....
You just can’t close the door on this crowd. The party that brought us the worst economy since the Great Depression, that led us into Iraq and the worst foreign policy disaster in American history, that would like to take a hammer to Social Security and a chisel to Medicare, is back in control of the House of Representatives with the expressed mission of undermining all things Obama.
..............................
The mantra for Mr. Issa and the rest of the newly empowered Republicans in the House, including the new Budget Committee chairman, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, is to cut spending and shrink government. But what’s really coming are patented G.O.P. efforts to spread misery beyond Mr. Obama and the Democrats to ordinary Americans struggling in what are still very difficult times.
It was ever thus. The fundamental mission of the G.O.P. is to shovel ever more money to those who are already rich. That’s why you got all that disgracefully phony rhetoric from Republicans about attacking budget deficits and embracing austerity while at the same time they were fighting like mad people to pile up the better part of a trillion dollars in new debt by extending the Bush tax cuts.
This is a party that has mastered the art of taking from the poor and the middle class and giving to the rich. We should at least be clear about this and stop being repeatedly hoodwinked — like Charlie Brown trying to kick Lucy’s football — by G.O.P. claims of fiscal responsibility.
2/ Matt Bai, the political reporter from the Times gives his assessment of the Republican claims they are doing the people's bidding.....they indeed are, if you define "people" as all of those earning over a million a year......and cautions the Republicans to be careful with what they think is their mandate for change.....
Good one for you political junkies......
Even so, leveling an indictment of government only gets you so far, even when it resonates. To say that the Tea Party won a mandate is to imply that the public registered approval for its specific remedies for changing government as well. And here the picture is considerably blurrier, especially since neither the Tea Party nor the Republican Party laid out a very specific program for cutting spending during the campaign.
In a Pew poll from December, 70 percent of voters said they saw the federal deficit as a major problem that needed to be addressed now — a powerful show of support for the Tea Party argument. But sizable majorities of voters were against, say, revoking the home interest mortgage deduction, or adding any new taxes, or raising the Social Security retirement age, or scaling back federal financing for education or road building.
In other words, while voters endorsed the Tea Party ideal of a radically more parsimonious federal government, they haven’t yet gotten their heads around the excruciating choices it entails — or even the relatively easy ones. And that’s not really much of a mandate, when you think about it.
3/ Ah Florida......we're in deep doodoo.....
Caustic article about our new Governor Scott, detailing some of his philosophies and listing the damage this dirtbag can do our lives......excellent article, and quite amusing if you don't live here.....
Scott rode the Tea Party wave past the Republican establishment pick, Bill McCollum, and went on to post a tight victory over Democratic nominee Alex Sink. Of course, prior to his electoral success, Scott was best known as a record-setting fraudster whose bilking of Medicare reached cartoon-villain proportions: under his stewardship Columbia/Hospital Corporation of America pleaded guilty to 14 felonies and was forced to pay a $2 billion fraud settlement, the largest in the history of the United States.
Now, he'll be taking over for Charlie Crist, running a state best known for passels of shambling old people, swamps riven with non-native species of python, and the statewideinability to pass a law banning sex with animals, including, perhaps, the aforementioned pythons. And if there ever was a man conditioned to rule over what Matt Taibbi refers to as "Griftopia," it's Scott, whose overall shadiness is well-established in advance of his taking an oath of office.
The Department of Environmental Protection is supposed to protect Florida from businesses trying to exploit it.....so of course Scott has appointed a businessman with zero experience whose job will be to gut the department......you can tell that from the code in the announcement....key word is "balance"....what he means is let the corporations have free reign......
An attorney, Vinyard has practiced environmental law and most recently has been business operation director for BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards. He also has served on Scott's Economic Development Transition Team.
"Herschel is a man of deep environmental knowledge and practical business experience," Scott said in a statement. "He has a love for our great state's natural resources and a passion for job creation."
Scott, who has promised to create jobs by making Florida friendlier to business, said Vinyard "will effectively balance those interests for the benefit of all Floridians."
Scott has also appointed a development executive from the evil St. Joe Corp. to head up Florida's planning department.....more urban sprawl anyone? This guy is a real turkey - Buzz Saw Billy......
The only thing that will save us from their unchecked greed is developers can't sell the existing inventory of homes, let alone build more....
St. Joe executive Billy Buzzett has been named Secretary of the Department of Community Affairs. Mr. Buzzett’s claim to fame is the recently constructed $300,000,000 taxpayer funded white elephant airport in the Panhandle. The airport was constructed on 4,000 acres of land donated by St. Joe. (Just like the “Taj Majal” First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee!)
St. Joe’s business model is to develop its vast holdings around the airport. According to a recent report, St. Joe is establishing its new corporate headquarters near the airport’s entrance, and has “said it intends to construct a covered, 300-space off-site parking facility that will offer car washing and detailing.”
In order to get Southwest Airlines to fly into the new airport, St. Joe is covering Southwest’s fuel costs if the carrier fails to break even on ticket purchases during the airport’s first three years of operation. St. Joe has also recently been sued in a number of class action lawsuits by shareholders claiming that St. Joe executives deliberately overvalued land holdings.
4/ Minnesota has passed a bill banning loveless marriages, and the law will be signed by Governor Tim Pawlenty later this week. Onion News has the story.....2 minutes of satire.....or is it? Funny......
5/ Gail Collins with another witty column about the first day of the new House.....
But when the 112th Congress opened on Wednesday, you definitely had a lot of excited new faces. The House of Representatives is flooded with freshmen, some of whom will embark upon a career of service that will allow them to remain in office for the next 20 years without ever impinging on our consciousness a single time.
Others are pretty clearly gunning to become household names, like Representative Allen West, a Republican from Florida, who began his Congressional career by picking, for his top aide, a radio talk show host known for her colorful gift of gab. (“If ballots don’t work, bullets will.”) Her employment was very brief, very stormy, and filled with questions about whether it was really a good idea to suggest that illegal immigrants be hanged and sent home in a box. Looking back on the episode, West assured a Fox interviewer, “I didn’t learn anything from it.”
6/ Jon Stewart - he has been off for three weeks, and boy do we miss him......very good 5 minute segment about the President and Star Wars.....funny.....
7/ Floods in Australia - I am guessing Northern Queensland is fairly flat, because otherwise these incredible rains would have flowed out to the sea.....the misery continues....look at the map in the article [link on the left], the area affected is huge!
Rain predicted for Wednesday is expected to worsen flooding that has struck the state of Queensland, said Jimmy Stuart, a senior hydrologist at the state branch of the Bureau of Meteorology. At least 200,000 people have been affected since heavy rains and floods in late December struck the state, where flooding is a seasonal regularity.
8/ You may have heard of this story - a homeless man is videoed and put on Youtube, and it went viral because the guy has an incredible announcers voice.......and the homeless man found himself famous and on TV......and hired by MSNBC to do voiceovers......
A really nice story, an "only in America" kind of tale...
First link is a link to CNN which has some of the original Youtube clip [withdrawn for copyright reasons], enough so you get a sense of this mans wonderful voice.
Second is a one minute segment from the Today show......
9/ Just an "I didn't know this" story.......if you bundle up old Christmas trees and drop them in a lake they become habitats for breeding fish.....interesting.....
The trees are taken to a different lake each year, where volunteers bundle them and secure them to the lake bed. Within days, the newly denuded branches become covered with algae, which attract aquatic insects, fish and, ultimately, fishermen.
Similar projects are taking place around the country this year, from Helena, Mont., to Hernando, Miss.
10/ Another article on the same lines "I knew that but I thought it was drugs". Nope. The #1 item smuggled into US prisons are cellphones.....
ATLANTA — A counterfeiter at a Georgia state prison ticks off the remaining days of his three-year sentence on hisFacebook page. He has 91 digital “friends.” Like many of his fellow inmates, he plays the online games FarmVille and Street Wars.
He does it all on a Samsung smartphone, which he says he bought from a guard. And he used the same phone to help organize a short strike among inmates at several Georgia prisons last month.
Technology is changing life inside prisons across the country at the same rapid-fire pace it is changing life outside. A smartphone hidden under a mattress is the modern-day file inside a cake.
11/ A disturbing Arcade Fire video "The Suburbs", directed by Spike Jonze who is a serious film director. Not sure if this is set in the future or what, but it certainly makes you think......good song too. Arcade Fire is a really excellent band, may well win a Grammy this year.....
Todays video - why Santa didn't answer your letter.....rude but funny....
Todays retiree joke
After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on her trips to
Target. Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring and
preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunate, my wife is like
most women - she loves to browse. Yesterday my dear wife received the
following letter from the local Target.
Dear Mrs. Samuel,
Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion in
our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to
ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against your husband,
Mr. Samuel are listed below and are documented by our video
surveillance cameras.
1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in other
people's carts when they weren't looking.
2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at
5-minute intervals.
3. July 7: He made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the
women's restroom.
4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official
voice, 'Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away'. This caused the
employee to leave her assigned station and receive a reprimand from
her supervisor that in turn resulted with a union grievance, causing
Management to lose time and costing the company money.
5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms on
layaway.
6. August 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.
7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told the
children shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and
blankets from the bedding department to which twenty children obliged.
8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began
crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?' EMTs
were called.
9. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a
mirror while he picked his nose.
10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he
asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.
11. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly
humming the 'Mission Impossible' theme.
12. October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his 'Madonna? look
by using different sizes of funnels.
13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed
through, yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'
14. October 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he
assumed a fetal position and screamed 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES
AGAIN!'
And last, but not least:
15. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited
awhile, and then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in
here.' One of the clerks passed out.
Target. Unfortunately, like most men, I found shopping boring and
preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunate, my wife is like
most women - she loves to browse. Yesterday my dear wife received the
following letter from the local Target.
Dear Mrs. Samuel,
Over the past six months, your husband has caused quite a commotion in
our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and have been forced to
ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against your husband,
Mr. Samuel are listed below and are documented by our video
surveillance cameras.
1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in other
people's carts when they weren't looking.
2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at
5-minute intervals.
3. July 7: He made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the
women's restroom.
4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official
voice, 'Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away'. This caused the
employee to leave her assigned station and receive a reprimand from
her supervisor that in turn resulted with a union grievance, causing
Management to lose time and costing the company money.
5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a bag of M&Ms on
layaway.
6. August 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.
7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told the
children shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and
blankets from the bedding department to which twenty children obliged.
8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began
crying and screamed, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?' EMTs
were called.
9. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a
mirror while he picked his nose.
10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he
asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.
11. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly
humming the 'Mission Impossible' theme.
12. October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his 'Madonna? look
by using different sizes of funnels.
13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browsed
through, yelled 'PICK ME! PICK ME!'
14. October 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he
assumed a fetal position and screamed 'OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES
AGAIN!'
And last, but not least:
15. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited
awhile, and then yelled very loudly, 'Hey! There's no toilet paper in
here.' One of the clerks passed out.
Todays philosophical joke
Serious questions to ponder
Only in America .......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
Only in America ......do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.
Only in America .....do banks leave vault doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.
Only in America .....do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
Only in America .....do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.
EVER WONDER .....
Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?
Why can't women put on mascara with their mouth closed?
Why don't you ever see the headline 'Psychic Wins Lottery'?
Why is 'abbreviated' such a long word?
Why is it that doctors call what they do 'practice'?
Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?
Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?
Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?
You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?!
Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
If flying is so safe,why do they call the airport the terminal?
Todays Texan joke
He then walked up to the observation post along the west wall of this fort. William B. Travis and Jim Bowie were already there, looking out over the top of the wall.
These three great men gazed at the hordes of Mexicans moving about before them.
With a puzzled look on his face, Crockett turned to Bowie and said ...
"Jim, Are we having some landscaping done today?"
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