1/ Regular readers of DDD know where we stand on the decimation of the middle class and the polarization of wealth in this country, but the poor are very rarely mentioned in our corporate media....the slice at the bottom of our brutal society, invisible, abandoned, left to fend for themselves....
Consider the extremes. President Obama is redesigning his administration to make it even friendlier toward big business and the megabanks, which is to say the rich, who flourish no matter what is going on with the economy in this country. (They flourish even when they’re hard at work destroying the economy.) Meanwhile, we hear not a word — not so much as a peep — about the poor, whose ranks are spreading like a wildfire in a drought.
The politicians and the media behave as if the poor don’t exist. But with jobs still absurdly scarce and the bottom falling out of the middle class, the poor are becoming an ever more significant and increasingly desperate segment of the population.
How do you imagine a family of four would live if its annual income was $11,000 or less?
No one talks about these families and individuals living in extreme poverty. Certainly not the Republicans who were having a dandy time this week deliberately misreading the Constitution and promising budget cuts and other initiatives that will hurt the poor even more.
If you’re still having trouble deciding whose side the Republicans are on, just keep in mind that the House G.O.P. bigwig Darrell Issa sent a letter to 150 businesses, trade groups and think tanks asking them to spell out which federal regulations they dislike the most. These are lifeguards on the side of the sharks.
Scared to death of being outdone, President Obama and his sidekicks climbed into their spiffy new G.O.P. costumes and promised in humiliatingly abject tones to shower the business world with whatever government largess they could lay their hands on. The first order of business (pun intended) was the announcement that William Daley, the Chicago wheeler-dealer and former Clinton administration official who landed a fat gig at JPMorgan Chase, would become the president’s chief of staff. Mr. Daley was a loud critic of recent financial regulatory reforms and has been obsessed with getting Democrats to be more subservient to business.
How do you recognise the poor poor in this country? We the remaining middle class are insulated from meaningful interaction with the poor except in "public" places like gas stations, supermarkets etc., because the poor don't live in middle class areas.....
But think on this - we the middle class are just as invisible to the superwealthy, who never come in contact with ordinary people...they live in a bubble which we can't or won't afford......
Interesting how the BS just cascades down the ladder, isn't it.....
And a follow-up cartoon.....
2/ The tragedy in Arizona.....
The spin is already starting on the right that the shootings by the kid in Tucson were nothing to do with the bile and hatred spewed every day by the likes of Limbaugh and Beck.....Paul Krugman takes them to task.....
It’s important to be clear here about the nature of our sickness. It’s not a general lack of “civility,” the favorite term of pundits who want to wish away fundamental policy disagreements. Politeness may be a virtue, but there’s a big difference between bad manners and calls, explicit or implicit, for violence; insults aren’t the same as incitement.
The point is that there’s room in a democracy for people who ridicule and denounce those who disagree with them; there isn’t any place for eliminationist rhetoric, for suggestions that those on the other side of a debate must be removed from that debate by whatever means necessary.
And it’s the saturation of our political discourse — and especially our airwaves — with eliminationist rhetoric that lies behind the rising tide of violence.
Where’s that toxic rhetoric coming from? Let’s not make a false pretense of balance: it’s coming, overwhelmingly, from the right. It’s hard to imagine a Democratic member of Congress urging constituents to be “armed and dangerous” without being ostracized; but Representative Michele Bachmann, who did just that, is a rising star in the G.O.P.
And there’s a huge contrast in the media. Listen to Rachel Maddow or Keith Olbermann, and you’ll hear a lot of caustic remarks and mockery aimed at Republicans. But you won’t hear jokes about shooting government officials or beheading a journalist at The Washington Post. Listen to Glenn Beck or Bill O’Reilly, and you will.
3/ Our gun laws - Gail Collins with an uncharacteristically serious piece about the lock the NRA has on our politicians - they are all terrified of the gun lobby, so if you had some fantasy that Congress will act because of the absurdity of having 30 shot magazines available for a Glock, forget it......
In soft-pedaling that 2009 encounter, Giffords was doing a balancing act that she’d perfected during her political career as a rather progressive Democrat in a increasingly conservative state. She was the spunky Western girl with a populist agenda mixed with down-home values, one of which was opposition to gun control. But those protesters had been following her around for a while. Her staff members were clearly scared for her, and they put me in touch with Ruiz, who told me the story.
Back then, the amazing thing about the incident in the supermarket parking lot was that the guy with a handgun in his armpit was not arrested. Since then, Arizona has completely eliminated the whole concept of requiring a concealed weapon permit. Last year, it got 2 points out of a possible 100 in the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence state score card, avoiding a zero only because its Legislature has not — so far — voted to force colleges to let people bring their guns on campuses.
4/ The state of Arizona.
This story was published in the autumn in Harpers before the November election and was in DDD a few months ago, and after re-reading it it struck me how prescient this writer was. It's a fascinating insight into a dysfunctional state government, the worst in the nation.
If you are interested in where this country may be going, specifically Florida with our crooked Governor and hard right Legislature, read this fairly long and eyeopening article.
Highly recommended......
The general unsightliness of the capitol makes it a fitting home for today’s Arizona legislature, which is composed almost entirely of dimwits, racists, and cranks. Collectively they have bankrupted the state through a combination of ideological fanaticism on the Republican right and acquiescence and timidity on the part of G.O.P. moderates and Democrats. Although dozens of states are facing budget crises, the situation in Arizona is arguably the nation’s worst, graver even than in California. A horrific budget deficit has been papered over with massive borrowing and accounting gimmickry, and the state may yet have to issue IOUs to employees and vendors. All-day kindergarten has been eliminated statewide, and some districts have adopted a four-day school week. Arizona’s state parks, despite bringing in 2 million visitors and $266 million annually, have lost 80 percent of their budget, with up to two thirds of the parks now in danger of closure. The legislature slashed the budget for the Department of Revenue, which required the agency to fire hundreds of state auditors and tax collectors; lawmakers boasted that these measures saved $25 million, but a top official in the department estimated that the state would miss out on $174 million in tax collections as a result.
Any way out of Arizona’s crisis will require raising taxes, a move that is tantamount to heresy for most lawmakers
5/ Dave Chappelle 3 minute video on a training program for a copy shop.....sounds like he taught some of the customer service people we get locally....funny.....
6/ Bill Daley has been appointed as the White House Chief of Staff, and Simon Johnson argues this is a major problem and continues the impression the financial oligarchs have captured the President.
Bill Daley, President Obama’s newly appointed chief of staff, is an experienced business executive. By all accounts, he is decisive, well-organized, and a skilled negotiator. His appointment, combined with other elements of the White House reshuffle, provides insight into how the president understands our economy – and what is likely to happen over the next couple of years. This is a serious problem.
This is not a critique from the left or from the right. The Bill Daley Problem is completely bipartisan – it shows us the White House fails to understand that, at the heart of our economy, we have a huge time bomb.
Until this week, Bill Daley was on the top operating committee at JP Morgan Chase. His bank – along with the other largest U.S. banks – have far too little equity and far too much debt relative to that thin level of equity; this makes them highly dangerous from a social point of view. These banks have captured the hearts and minds of top regulators and most of the political class (across the spectrum), most recently with completely specious arguments about why banks cannot be compelled to operate more safely. Top bankers, like Mr. Daley’s former colleagues, are intent of becoming more global – despite the fact that (or perhaps because) we cannot handle the failure of massive global banks.
The appointment of a Wall Street banker as Obama's assistant continues the lurch to the center right of the Obama administration....it seems to be the strategy to appeal to independent voters by abandoning any fight for the middle class...which they hope will generate contributions from Corporations for 2012....
7/ Very funny indeed SNL audition tape from Noel Kristi Wells, she does impressions of many celebs and gets them spot on.....this link was given to me by a 15 year old so a few of the ladies gently mocked you won't know, but she is very talented.....good one.....6 minutes....
8/ The title of this essay is "Single, White, Mormon, Alone"......a virgin in her 30's visits Planned Parenthood......a nice, sincere and touching story for the ladies.....
Yes, a virgin in her 30's........
9/ Disney has a rival - the Harry Potter experience at Universal Studios.....the Mouse is trembling.....
But try telling that to the throngs at the new Harry Potter theme park here, where people are routinely turned away because of capacity crowds. Never mind long lines for rides inside; there are waits of up to two hours just to enter the Ollivanders merchandise shop, where staffers struggle to keep the shelves stocked with Potter-phernalia.
The unexpected, turbocharged success of the $265 million Potter playland has not only given a new bounce to Ms. Rowling’s literary creation, it has also ignited Florida’s version of the Jets versus the Giants: a friendly hometown rivalry between Universal and Walt Disney World.
For decades, Disney has ruled this theme-park-flecked peninsula — and the hearts and minds of its “I’m going to Disney World!” tourists — without a serious challenge.
But judging by the swarms, it seems that many of them are, in fact, going to the Harry Potter park.
10/ The new Volvo S60 - a new model from the Swedish car maker is a really good one, more power, better fuel economy and oddles of air bags.......safety with guts!
This Swedish sedan — the first new model since Ford sold Volvo to the Chinese automaker Geely — plays up, and plays on, the curves. And it does so with such panache that the usual water-cooler arguments over sport sedans — which mainly flatter BMW, Audi, Cadillac, Mercedes or Infiniti — must now include a word for Volvo.
That’s especially true for the S60 T6 model. Its splashy first impression is aided by a 300-horsepower, 3-liter turbocharged in-line 6 with standard all-wheel drive. This month, Volvo is adding a front-drive S60 T5 as a 2012 model, powered by a 5-cylinder turbo with 250 horsepower. The T5 comes at a reasonable base price of $31,850, compared with $38,550 for the T6. And the less expensive version will save more money with its excellent federal economy rating of 30 miles per gallon on the highway (20 in town), versus 26 highway, 18 city for the T6.
11/ Music video - a DDD favourite, Paramore with "Careful".....an amazing live concert video.....this is a talented band.....
12/ Eleven travel tips you can use to save money.....really useful stuff! How about this one - book your flights on a Tuesday because the airlines change their fares late Mondays....
As I said, simple, useful tips to save you money....recommended.....
But that doesn’t mean a year in front of your television. There are still plenty of ways to cut costs. Here are 11 strategies — and some useful Web sites — to help you save on travel this year.
13/ TV tonight [Tuesday]
A new boxing show "Lights Out" on FX tonight at 10pm.....
“Lights Out,” a first-rate series on FX beginning on Tuesday, is a cleverly updated version of the “Rocky” story, but with other dimensions that appeal to viewers — male and female — who don’t give a fig about the sweet science. It’s a tale that unfolds over 13 episodes with sly, convoluted twists on family politics, class and New Jersey corruption. The central plot contains echoes of many a boxing melodrama, including “The Fighter,” with Mark Wahlberg. But circling around the ring are characters who once would be called Dickensian and nowadays are likened to people in “The Sopranos” or “The Wire.”
And two PBS documentaries about Haiti tonight.....Frontline [always excellent], and Independent Lens on the poor children on this godforsaken country....
A stark “Frontline” on PBS on Tuesday posits an even more basic answer: Haiti needs most of all to re-establish the rule of law. The episode is titled “Battle for Haiti,” and to watch it is to realize that all those well-intentioned relief efforts may not provide much relief at all.
The intractability of the country’s problems is further underscored by “Children of Haiti,” an “Independent Lens” documentary by Alexandria Hammond that is also showing on Tuesday night on PBS.
Todays video - the Dog Pound
Todays Wisconsin joke
I just got off the phone with a friend who lives in northern Wisconsin. She stated the snow has been falling all day and it is waist deep and still falling. The temperature is below zero and the wind chill is 20 below.
She said her husband has been doing nothing but staring through the window all day.
She feels that if it gets much worse she will need to let him in.
Todays Proverbs joke
2011 proverbs...
23. Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
24. Life isn't like a box of chocolates. It's more like a jar of jalapenos. What you do today, might burn your butt tomorrow.
1. A day without sunshine is like night.
2. On the other hand, you have different fingers.
3. 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
4. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
5. Remember, half the people you know are below average.
6. He who laughs last, thinks slowest.
7. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
8. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap.
9. Support bacteria. They're the only culture most people have.
10. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
11. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.
12. If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.
13. How many of you believe in psychokinesis? Raise my hand.
14. OK, so what's the speed of dark?
15. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
16. Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.
17. How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?
18. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
19. What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?
20. Why do psychics have to ask you your name?
21. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering, 'What the heck happened?'
22. Just remember -- if the world didn't suck, we would all fall off.
2. On the other hand, you have different fingers.
3. 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
4. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
5. Remember, half the people you know are below average.
6. He who laughs last, thinks slowest.
7. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
8. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap.
9. Support bacteria. They're the only culture most people have.
10. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
11. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.
12. If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.
13. How many of you believe in psychokinesis? Raise my hand.
14. OK, so what's the speed of dark?
15. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
16. Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.
17. How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?
18. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
19. What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?
20. Why do psychics have to ask you your name?
21. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering, 'What the heck happened?'
22. Just remember -- if the world didn't suck, we would all fall off.
23. Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
24. Life isn't like a box of chocolates. It's more like a jar of jalapenos. What you do today, might burn your butt tomorrow.
******************************Todays Facebook joke
A good laugh for people in the "Should I
really join Facebook?" over 50 group !!! (Under 50, read it anyway!)
Also for those who know people like us.
------------------------------
When I bought my Blackberry I thought
about the 30-year business I ran with
1800 employees, all without a cell
phone that plays music, takes videos, pictures
and communicates with Facebook and
Twitter. I signed up under duress for
Twitter and Facebook, so my seven kids,
their spouses, 13 grandkids and 2 great grand
kids could communicate with me in the modern
way. I figured I could handle something as
simple as Twitter with only 140 characters of space.
That was before one of my grandkids
hooked me up for Tweeter, Tweetree,
Twhirl, Twitterfon, Tweetie and Twittererific
Tweetdeck, Twitpix and something that sends
every message to my cell phone and every other
program within the texting world.
My phone was beeping every three
minutes with the details of everything
except the bowel movements of the
entire next generation. I am not ready to
live like this. I keep my cell phone in the
garage in my golf bag.
The kids bought me a GPS for my last
birthday because they say I get lost
every now and then going over to the
grocery store or library. I keep that in a box
under my tool bench with the Blue tooth [it's
red] phone I am supposed to use when I drive. I
wore it once and was standing in line at Barnes
and Noble talking to my wife and everyone in the
nearest 50 yards was glaring at me. I had to
take my hearing aid out to use it, and I got a little loud.
I mean the GPS looked pretty smart on
my dash board, but the lady inside that
gadget was the most annoying, rudest person I
had run into in a long time. Every 10 minutes,
she would sarcastically say, "Re-calc-u-lating."
You would think that she could be nicer.
It was like she could barely tolerate me. She
would let go with a deep sigh and then tell me
to make a U-turn at the next light. Then if I
made a right turn instead. Well, it was not a
good relationship.
When I get really lost now, I call my
wife and tell her the name of the cross
streets and while she is starting to
develop the same tone as Gypsy, the GPS lady, at
least she loves me.
To be perfectly frank, I am still
trying to learn how to use the cordless
phones in our house. We have had them
for 4 years, but I still haven't figured out how
I can lose three phones all at once and have run
around digging under chair cushions and checking
bathrooms and the dirty laundry baskets when the
phone rings.
The world is just getting too complex
for me. They even mess me up every time
I go to the grocery store. You would think
they could settle on something themselves but
this sudden "Paper or Plastic?" every time I
check out just knocks me for a loop. I bought
some of those cloth reusable bags to avoid
looking confused, but I never remember to take
them in with me.
Now I toss it back to them. When they
ask me, "Paper or Plastic?" I just say,
"Doesn't matter to me. I am
bi-sacksual." Then it's their turn to
stare at me with a blank look. I was recently asked if I
tweet. I answered, No, but I do toot a lot."
P.S. I know some of you are not
over 50 . I sent it to you to allow
you to forward it to those who are.
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