1/ We start today with a video of Ed Schultz on a rant, imploring, begging the President to go to Madison, Wisconsin to show support for the union workers at this pivotal moment. Ed Schultz is unusual for a TV anchor as he lets his genuine feelings show occasionally on issues he feels deeply about, and I have never seen him so passionate about anything as he was last night. He contrasts the Obama of a year ago with the wimp we have in the White House today, and basically calls him out. I certainly hope it works and he stands with the middle class workers in Madison, but I fear the President has made his choice of whose side he is on.....and it isn't ours. Eight minutes.....
2/ Paul Krugman on the real issues at stake in Wisconsin, which is the front line of the oligarchy's attempt to crush the middle class and make the US more like China....raw power.....
But the bill that the 14 brave Democrats in exile are stopping is corrupt as well.....the Governor has some naughty stuff in there for the Koch brothers as a payback.....
Which brings us to Wisconsin 2011, where the shock doctrine is on full display.
In recent weeks, Madison has been the scene of large demonstrations against the governor’s budget bill, which would deny collective-bargaining rights to public-sector workers. Gov. Scott Walker claims that he needs to pass his bill to deal with the state’s fiscal problems. But his attack on unions has nothing to do with the budget. In fact, those unions have already indicated their willingness to make substantial financial concessions — an offer the governor has rejected.
What’s happening in Wisconsin is, instead, a power grab — an attempt to exploit the fiscal crisis to destroy the last major counterweight to the political power of corporations and the wealthy. And the power grab goes beyond union-busting. The bill in question is 144 pages long, and there are some extraordinary things hidden deep inside.
For example, the bill includes language that would allow officials appointed by the governor to make sweeping cuts in health coverage for low-income families without having to go through the normal legislative process.
..............................
What’s that about? The state of Wisconsin owns a number of plants supplying heating, cooling, and electricity to state-run facilities (like the University of Wisconsin). The language in the budget bill would, in effect, let the governor privatize any or all of these facilities at whim. Not only that, he could sell them, without taking bids, to anyone he chooses. And note that any such sale would, by definition, be “considered to be in the public interest.”
If this sounds to you like a perfect setup for cronyism and profiteering — remember those missing billions in Iraq? — you’re not alone. Indeed, there are enough suspicious minds out there that Koch Industries, owned by the billionaire brothers who are playing such a large role in Mr. Walker’s anti-union push, felt compelled to issue a denial that it’s interested in purchasing any of those power plants. Are you reassured?
3/ I watched this 5 minute video from Corning Glass with their vision of the future and how their technology [using glass] will change our lives - some very cool stuff indeed.....
But then I thought who will be able to afford these magical devices with the way this economy is going and the middle class continually being hammered....and then it came to me - this is a vision of Shanghai, Dubai, New Delhi or the elite bankers in New York. Not Joe Schlep in anytown USA.....
But still an incredible video......
4/ A Frank Rich column on the current state of the Republican party and their quest for leadership to counter the ever-accelerating drift to the extreme right. Most interesting if you are following politics.....
THE G.O.P. has already reached its praying-for-a-miracle phase — hoping some neo-Reagan will emerge to usurp the tired field. Trump! Thune! T-Paw! Christie! Jeb Bush! Soon it’ll be time for another Fred Thompson or Rudy groundswell. But hardly had CPAC folded its tent than a new Public Policy Polling survey revealed where the Republican base’s heart truly remains — despite the new civility and the temporary moratorium on the term “job-killing.” The poll found that 51 percent of G.O.P. primary voters don’t believe that the president was born in America and that only 28 percent do. (For another 21 percent, the jury is still out, as it presumably is on evolution as well.)
The party leadership is no less cowed by that majority today than it was pre-Tucson. That’s why John Boehner, appearing on “Meet the Press” last weekend, stonewalled David Gregory’s repeated queries asking him to close the door on the “birther” nonsense. (“It’s not my job to tell the American people what to think,” Boehner said.) The power of the G.O.P.’s hard-core base may also yet deliver a Palin comeback no matter what the rest of the country thinks of her. In the CNN poll nearly two weeks after Tucson, Republicans still gave her a 70 percent favorable approval rating, just behind Huckabee (72 percent) and ahead of Romney (64 percent).
An opposition this adrift from reality — whether about Obama’s birth certificate, history unfolding in the Middle East or the consequences of a federal or state government shutdown — is a paper tiger. It’s a golden chance for the president to seize the moment. What we don’t know is if he sees it that way. As we’ve learned from his track record both in the 2008 campaign and in the White House, he sometimes coasts at these junctures or lapses into a pro forma bipartisanship that amounts, for all practical purposes, to inertia.
5/ Mitch Daniels is the Governor of Indiana, and the sane end of the Republican party is pushing him to run in 2012 because he is sensible, but in #4 his chances were put at 4% after Rush Limbaugh raked him over the coals for daring to suggest the GOP needed to appeal to more than conservatives.....and of course mentioning Rush's name in vain....
But here David Brooks lays out the case for Daniels.... but good luck getting him past the Tea Partiers.....
The country also needs a substantive debate about the role of government. That’s exactly what an Obama-Daniels contest would provide. Yet because Daniels is a normal person who doesn’t have an insatiable desire for higher office, he’s thinking about not running.
Daniels’s Conservative Political Action Conference speech had a serious and weighty tone. He spoke for those who believe the country’s runaway debt is the central moral challenge of our time. Yet within government’s proper sphere of action, he said Republicans have to be the “initiators of new ideas.” He spoke of the program he started that provides health insurance for low-income residents, and the education program that will give scholarships to students in failing schools so they can choose another.
“Our first thought,” he said, “is always for those on life’s first rung, and how we might increase their chances of climbing.”
He also spoke of expanding the party’s reach. In a passage that rankled some in the audience and beyond, he argued that “purity in martyrdom is for suicide bombers.” Republicans, he continued, “will need people who never tune in to Rush or Glenn or Laura or Sean.”
6/ Tom Tomorrow with 2010- "the Year in Crazy" Part 2.....
7/ Here's a perspective on the Middle East's turmoil that is a challenge to us to end our addiction to oil....and Thomas Friedman's solution is an excellent one....introduce a graduating tax on gasoline that will phase in over years to give us all time to start the process of getting "greener".....but has zero chance of getting done in this poisonous political environment......a pity....but still a very good column....
That volcano is now spewing lava from different cracks and is rumbling like it’s going to blow.Move your house!” In this case, “move your house” means “end your addiction to oil.”
No one is rooting harder for the democracy movements in the Arab world to succeed than I am. But even if things go well, this will be a long and rocky road. The smart thing for us to do right now is to impose a $1-a-gallon gasoline tax, to be phased in at 5 cents a month beginning in 2012, with all the money going to pay down the deficit. Legislating a higher energy price today that takes effect in the future, notes the Princeton economist Alan Blinder, would trigger a shift in buying and investment well before the tax kicks in. With one little gasoline tax, we can make ourselves more economically and strategically secure, help sell more Chevy Volts and free ourselves to openly push for democratic values in the Middle East without worrying anymore that it will harm our oil interests. Yes, it will mean higher gas prices, but prices are going up anyway, folks. Let’s capture some it for ourselves.
It is about time. For the last 50 years, America (and Europe and Asia) have treated the Middle East as if it were just a collection of big gas stations: Saudi station, Iran station, Kuwait station, Bahrain station, Egypt station, Libya station, Iraq station, United Arab Emirates station, etc. Our message to the region has been very consistent: “Guys (it was only guys we spoke with), here’s the deal. Keep your pumps open, your oil prices low, don’t bother the Israelis too much and, as far as we’re concerned, you can do whatever you want out back.
8/ Does the hypocrisy ever end? Here a crusading anti-gay Congressman is caught in a love relationship with his horse....Brooke Alvarez from Onion News has the story.....2 minutes.....
Congressman Ronald North, who said gay marriages would lead to man-horse unions, is caught in a relationship with a mare.
9/ The consequence of Libya in civil war, and the rest of the Arab world in flux is a major jump in oil prices which may have serious effects on our economic recovery....there's an old British saying "it never rains but it pours", and this kind of blow to our finances will always happen at a really bad time....of course.....
The American economy just can’t catch a break.
Last year, as things started looking up, the European debt crisis flustered the fragile recovery. Now, under similar economic circumstances, comes the turmoil in the Middle East.
Energy prices have surged in recent days, as a result of the political violence in Libya that has disrupted oil production there. Prices are also climbing because of fears the unrest may continue to spread to other oil-producing countries.
If the recent rise in oil prices sticks, it will most likely slow a growth rate that is already too sluggish to produce many jobs in this country. Some economists are predicting that oil prices, just above $97 a barrel on Thursday, could be sustained well above $100 a barrel, a benchmark.
Even if energy costs don’t rise higher, lingering uncertainty over the stability of the Middle East could drag down growth, not just in the United States but around the world.
10/ One of Gail Collins' funniest columns for a while......
Right now concerned citizens are probably asking themselves: What will happen if the federal government shuts down?
Also, why is the federal government in danger of shutting down? Whom can I blame for this? Does it have anything to do with what’s going on in Wisconsin? Did Congress pass a budget last year at all? Why not? And does this relate in any way to the report that Christine O’Donnell, the former United States Senate candidate from Delaware, may be joining the next cast of “Dancing With the Stars?”
Wow, you are really asking yourselves a lot of questions, concerned citizens. Calm down.
Right now, all around the country, federal agencies are making plans for an orderly way to shut down nonessential services if Congress fails to do anything to keep the boat afloat next week. The air traffic controllers will stay on the job, but I would not plan any visits to a national park if I were you.
Hundreds of thousands of nonessential federal employees will be furloughed, stuck at home without a paycheck and contemplating their nonessentialness. The economy will tank. Nobody is going to be happy.
Except perhaps some of the House members who prowl the corridors yowling about deficits like accountants on crack. They think they were elected to shut down the government, so the idea of closing nonessential services must sound like a day at the beach.
All hope for averting disaster lies with Speaker John Boehner, who used to be a strangely tanned blowhard but is now regarded as a beleaguered statesman. This just happened a few days ago, so you may not have gotten the memo.
Unfortunately, so far, Speaker Boehner has not been all that helpful. There is very little in Washington that can’t be explained by an episode of the original “Star Trek,” and Boehner is playing out the one where the Romulan captain prefers the ways of peace but is saddled with a crew that will mutiny if he fails to follow through on the plan to blow up the galaxy.
11/ Excellent video of Usher at the MTV music awards, with cool special effects, wonderful dancing and good singing from Usher.....great 3 minute video.....
12/ Totally fascinating graphics of the distribution of wealth in the US in 11 easy to read charts........we know the rich have made all of the gains in wealth over the last 30 years, but it's sobering to see how unfair and unequal this society is, illustrated clearly in these charts.......this should be required reading for all Tea Partiers.....but they wouldn't believe it, would they....
A huge share of the nation's economic growth over the past 30 years has gone to the top one-hundredth of one percent, who now make an average of $27 million per household. The average income for the bottom 90 percent of us? $31,244.
13/ Jon Stewart was sick as a dog when he did this show, but amazingly it's one of his better ones.....and Kristen Schaal is excellent.....
A visibly ill Jon Stewart came through to do "The Daily Show" Tuesday night, and still managed to do a solid show with a great segment from Senior Women's Correspondent Kristen Schaal.
The topic of discussion was the GOP's recent mission to cut spending by reducing government-sponsored family, prenatal and health care, particularly Planned Parenthood. Some even want hospitals to refuse abortions to women even if they'll die. Stewart was shocked:
"Wow that's so pro-life, even if it kills you."
14/ Fun article featuring the prank call to Governor Scott Walker from a fake David Koch, the evil billionaire.....the mainstream media mentioned this wonderful outing of this neo-nazi Walker but without any real emphasis....here's the call below....
And there's some brief history of other fake calls to politicians and even Queen Elizabeth.....good stories.....
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker may want to start checking his caller ID.
Walker's office has admitted that the governor was crank-called by Ian Murphy of the Buffalo Beast, an upstate New York-based website. Murphy spent more about 20 minutes on the phone with Walker, pretending to be David Koch. A Walker campaign contributor, Koch and his brother Charles have donated more than $100 million to "right-wing causes,"according to a 2010 New Yorker article.
With those credentials, it's perhaps understandable that Walker would speak freely to Koch about the protests that have embroiled Wisconsin over the past week. But Walker may have spoken a little too freely, sharing plans about how to foil Democrats who have fled the state and agreeing to a rather inappropriate statement that Murphy-as-Koch makes about the butt of MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski.
Walker's office has admitted that the governor was crank-called by Ian Murphy of the Buffalo Beast, an upstate New York-based website. Murphy spent more about 20 minutes on the phone with Walker, pretending to be David Koch. A Walker campaign contributor, Koch and his brother Charles have donated more than $100 million to "right-wing causes,"according to a 2010 New Yorker article.
With those credentials, it's perhaps understandable that Walker would speak freely to Koch about the protests that have embroiled Wisconsin over the past week. But Walker may have spoken a little too freely, sharing plans about how to foil Democrats who have fled the state and agreeing to a rather inappropriate statement that Murphy-as-Koch makes about the butt of MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski.
15/ Remember the scare a few years ago about how cellphones will fry your brain? Hmmmmm....there's a grain of truth to it!
Overusage of cell phones can alter brain activity according to a scientific study, but they're not quite sure what it means....yet.
So don't panic folks, but don't sleep with the thing wired to your ear either...
Researchers from the National Institutes of Health have found that less than an hour of cellphone use can speed up brain activity in the area closest to the phone antenna, raising new questions about the health effects of low levels of radiation emitted from cellphones.
The researchers, led by Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of theNational Institute on Drug Abuse, urged caution in interpreting the findings because it is not known whether the changes, which were seen in brain scans, have any meaningful effect on a person’s overall health.
But the study, published Wednesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association, is among the first and largest to document that the weak radio-frequency signals from cellphones have the potential to alter brain activity.
Todays video- the true origins of "Lord of the Dance"
Todays Vatican joke
This is something to think about when negative people are doing their best to rain on your parade. So remember this story the next time someone who knows nothing and cares less tries to make your life miserable.
A woman was at her hairdresser's getting her hair styled for a trip to Rome with her husband.. She mentioned the trip to the hairdresser, who responded:
" Rome ? Why would anyone want to go there? It's crowded and dirty.. You're crazy to go to Rome . So, how are you getting there?"
"We're taking Continental," was the reply. "We got a great rate!"
"Continental?" exclaimed the hairdresser.. " That's a terrible airline. Their planes are old, their flight attendants are ugly, and they're always late. So, where are you staying in Rome ?"
"We'll be at this exclusive little place over on Rome'sTiber River called Teste."
"Don't go any further.. I know that place. Everybody thinks its gonna be something special and exclusive, but it's really a dump."
"We're going to go to see the Vatican and maybe get to see the Pope."
"That's rich," laughed the hairdresser. You and a million other people trying to see him. He'll look the size of an ant.
Boy, good luck on this lousy trip of yours. You're going to need it."
A month later, the woman again came in for a hairdo. The hairdresser asked her about her trip to Rome.
"It was wonderful," explained the woman, "not only were we on time in one of Continental's brand new planes, but it was overbooked, and they bumped us up to first class.. The food and wine were wonderful, and I had a handsome 28-year-old steward who waited on me hand and foot.
And the hotel was great! They'd just finished a $5 million remodeling job, and now it's a jewel, the finest hotel in the city. They, too, were overbooked, so they apologized and gave us their owner's suite at no extra charge!"
"Well," muttered the hairdresser, "that's all well and good, but I know you didn't get to see the Pope."
"Actually, we were quite lucky, because as we toured the Vatican, a Swiss Guard tapped me on the shoulder, and explained that the Pope likes to meet some of the visitors, and if I'd be so kind as to step into his private room and wait, the Pope would personally greet me.
Sure enough, five minutes later, the Pope walked through the door and shook my hand! I knelt down and he spoke a few words to me."
"Oh, really! What'd he say ?"
He said: "Who the f-ck did your hair?
Todays blonde joke
A beautiful blonde from New York was so depressed that she decided to end her life by throwing herself into the ocean.
But just before she could throw herself from the docks, a handsome young man stopped her. "You have so much to live for," said the man. "I'm a sailor, and we're off to Europe tomorrow, and I can stow you away on my ship. I'll take care of you, bring you food every day, and keep you happy."
With nothing to lose, combined with the fact that she had always wanted to go to Europe , the woman accepted. That night the sailor brought her aboard and hid her in a small, but comfortable, compartment in the hold.
From then on, every night he would bring her three sandwiches and make love to her until dawn.
Three weeks later she was discovered by the captain during a routine inspection. "What are you doing here?" asked the captain.
Three weeks later she was discovered by the captain during a routine inspection. "What are you doing here?" asked the captain.
"I have an arrangement with one of the sailors," she replied.
"He brings food and I get a free trip to Europe .”
"I see," the captain says.
Her conscience got the best of her and she added, "plus, he's screwing me."
"He certainly is," replied the captain, "This is the Staten Island Ferry."
"He certainly is," replied the captain, "This is the Staten Island Ferry."
Todays joke for the ladies
Three men were hiking through a forest when they came upon a large, raging, violent river. Needing to get to the other side, the first man prayed:
'God, please give me the strength to cross the river.'
'God, please give me the strength to cross the river.'
Poof! ... God gave him big arms and strong legs and he was able to
swim across in about 2 hours, having almost drowned twice.
After witnessing that, the second man prayed: 'God, please give me
strength and the tools to cross the river'.
Poof! ... God gave him a rowboat and strong arms and strong legs and he was able to row across in about an hour after almost capsizing once.
Seeing what happened to the first two men, the third man prayed:'God, please give me the strength, the tools and the intelligence to cross the river'
Poof! ... He was turned into a woman. She checked the map, hiked one hundred yards up stream and walked across the bridge.
GO AHEAD, SEND THIS TO A WOMAN WHO NEEDS A GOOD LAUGH AND TO ANY MAN WHO CAN HANDLE IT!
'If at first you don't succeed, do it the way your wife told you!'
Todays short bonus joke
There was a knock on the door this morning, I opened it and there
was a young guy standing there who said: "I'm a Jehovah's Witness".
I said: "Come in and sit down, what do you want to talk about"?
He said: "Damned if I know. I've never got this far before"
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