Hmmm....away for the weekend and all hell breaks loose in Japan......it's a disaster like the earthquake in Haiti, but with infrastructure.....
If you are in downtown Mount Dora tonight and feel like chili, stop by the Chamber of Commerce building around 6pm.....
1/ Yes this country has a deficit, and despite what some Republicans are saying no, America isn't broke.
You have a mortgage and a car loan. Are you broke?
No, you have debts that you are paying off, just like the US is paying interest on it's deficit. Duh.
But the real problem is noone in government is talking intelligently about any of this - our problems are solvable, but it needs a rational discussion to make any progress which can't happen in this poisonous atmosphere. And President Weenie isn't helping.
Paul Krugman is worried......
And, above all, we need to know what works and what doesn’t so that Medicare and Medicaid can say no to expensive procedures with little or no medical benefit. “So-called comparative effectiveness research” is central to any rational attempt to deal with America’s fiscal problems.
But today’s Republicans just aren’t into rationality. They claim to care deeply about deficits — but they’ve spent the past two years putting cynical, demagogic attacks on any attempt to actually deal with long-run deficits at the heart of their campaign strategy.
Here’s a recent example. In his new book, Mike Huckabee — the current leader in polls asking Republicans whom they want to nominate in 2012 — attacks the Obama stimulus because it included funds for, yes, comparative effectiveness research: “The stimulus didn’t just waste your money; it planted the seeds from which the poisonous tree of death panels will grow.” Will others in the G.O.P. stand up and say that Mr. Huckabee is wrong, that Medicare needs to know which medical procedures actually work? Don’t hold your breath.
Of course, Republicans aren’t the only cynics. As the national debate over fiscal policy descends ever deeper into penny-pinching, future-killing absurdity, one voice is curiously muted — that of President Obama.
The president and his aides know that the G.O.P. approach to the budget is wrongheaded and destructive. But they’ve stopped making the case for an alternative approach; instead, they’ve positioned themselves as know-nothings lite, accepting the notion that spending must be slashed immediately — just not as much as Republicans want.
Mr. Obama’s political advisers clearly believe that this strategy of protective camouflage offers the president his best chance at re-election — and they may be right. But that doesn’t change the fact that the White House is aiding and abetting the dumbing down of our deficit debate.
2/ Surprising fact - NPR is one of the biggest media organisations in the country, and because it's actually fair and balanced the Republicans are doing everything they can to defund them, including sending in this undercover asshole O'Keefe to get incriminating tapes of NPR executives.
I often listen to NPR radio in the car and don't find their news biased at all......note - nor do I find it especially liberal.....
So people - if the Republicans screw NPR the way we think they will, give generously when they run the pledge week - it's the only media left that isn't corporate.
Amid all that creative destruction, there was a one large traditional news organization that added audience, reporters and revenue. That unlikely juggernaut was NPR.
According to the State of the Media report, NPR’s overall audience grew 3 percent in 2010, to 27.2 million weekly listeners, up 58 percent overall since 2000. In the last year, total staff grew 8 percent, and its Web site, npr.org, drew an average of 15.7 million unique monthly visitors, up more than five million visitors. Its foreign bureaus and global footprint continue to grow while other broadcasters slink home.
And while NPR receives a small portion of its operating budget through government money, millions of people also think that its journalism is worthy enough to pay for through contributions, a trick that the rest of news media have had trouble figuring out, to say the least.
Trouble is, NPR has often been better at breaking news than running a news outlet. The current problems started five months ago when Juan Williams, a longtime NPR commentator, was hastily fired for remarks he made about Muslims making him fearful in airports. Then in January, Ellen Weiss, senior vice president for news, resigned after a report to the board found her management of the affair wanting.
3/ Little video about a new fur coat......amusing...1 minute......
4/ Fun column from Gail Collins titled "School of Glock", a story on the push in some states to legalise carrying weapons in college.
And why not. College students are responsible, and of course they can't drink until they are 21 [yeah right], when they suddenly, miraculously become adult binge drinkers instead of underage drunks......
The gun lobby will never be happy, unless the health care law specifically requires every American to have a pistol on his or her person at all times.
Great idea! thought State Representative Hal Wick of South Dakota, who tossed in a bill this year requiring every adult citizen to purchase a gun. Actually, even Wick admitted this one wasn’t going anywhere. It was mainly a symbolic protest against the you-know-what law.
Actual responses to the Tucson shooting — that is, something that might actually stop similar tragedies in the future or reduce the carnage — seem to be limited to a proposal in Congress to ban the sale of the kind of ammunition clip that allowed the gunman to fire 31 shots in 15 seconds. That bill is stalled at the gate. Perhaps Congress has been too busy repeatedly voting on bills to repeal the health care law to think about anything else. But, so far, the gun-clip ban has zero Republican supporters, which is a problem given the matter of the Republicans being in the House majority.
Meanwhile in the states, legislation to get more guns in more places (public libraries, college campuses) is getting a more enthusiastic reception.
The nation’s state legislators seem to be troubled by a shortage of things they can do to make the National Rifle Association happy. Once you’ve voted to allow people to carry guns into bars (Georgia), eliminated the need for getting a permit to carry a concealed weapon (Arizona) and designated your own official state gun (Utah — awaiting the governor’s signature), it gets hard to come up with new ideas.
This may be why so many states are now considering laws that would prohibit colleges and universities from barring guns on campus.
Just a note on the same topic - in the news this morning the NRA refused to meet with the President to discuss issues like keeping weapons out of the hands of mentally ill people....
But the National Rifle Association, for decades the most formidable force against proposals to limit gun sales or ownership, is refusing to join the discussion — possibly dooming it from the start, given the lobby’s clout with both parties in Congress. Administration officials had indicated they expected that the group would be represented at a meeting, perhaps on Friday.
“Why should I or the N.R.A. go sit down with a group of people that have spent a lifetime trying to destroy the Second Amendment in the United States?” said Wayne LaPierre, the longtime chief executive of the National Rifle Association.
5/ Last weeks story on Peter King, the Congressman holding hearings [aka a witchhunt] into the American Muslim community who was and is a staunch supporter of the IRA, was taken up by Jon Stewart in an excellent segment....3 minutes of delicious roasting of this evil bastard....
Now that his conflicting views are known, would King be apologizing, resigning or otherwise throwing in the towel like NPR's Ron Schiller did after being caught bashing the Tea Party? No, instead he called the people who find hypocrisy in his views "uninformed."
"Oh that's right! He's a Republican. They don't fold, they double down! 'Oh I see your charges of hypocrisy, and I raise you a go-f**k-yourself.'"
6/ Remember the stupid old woman who spilled coffee in her lap? Remember the media pillioried her, and you nodded "another frivolous lawsuit" and went on with your day? I'm guilty of thinking that version till I read this article........
The jury found out that McDonald’s served their coffee at temperatures between 195 and 205 degrees, “high enough to peel skin off bone in seven seconds or less.” They found out from McDonald’s own files that there had been 700 previous burn incidents serious enough that people had made formal complaints. The woman in the case only wanted her medical bills paid. The jury thought money might get McDonald’s to change its behavior, because burning at least 700 people hadn’t seemed to bother the company.
That’s what the courts and civil suits are for. To make whoever broke it pay for the damage that’s been done. The courts are also the only place where we—as ordinary, individual citizens—can force other individuals and corporations—tobacco, automobile, chemical, pharmaceutical, insurance, and banking—to open their books and divulge at least the recorded truth, often a history of previous offenses and cover-ups.
The courts are a way to make bad behavior—injurious, even murderous acts—cost enough to make a corporation stop.
Without lawsuits we wouldn’t know that tobacco companies knew that cigarettes caused cancer even while they advertised them as healthy; that Firestone tires made Ford SUVs roll over; that the Catholic Church harbored and protected hundreds of pedophile priests; that Vioxx damaged people’s hearts and killed them.
Big business hates lawsuits. They hate being made accountable. They hate having to pay. So what can they do about it?
They hire PR companies to spread stories—frequently less than complete, often completely false—about frivolous lawsuits. They spend hundreds of millions of dollars promoting those tales. At the same time, almost every settlement contains a non-disclosure agreement. The offenders are free to trumpet their tales far and wide. The victims must stay silent.
It gets worse - corporations are working on tort reform in many states with Republican administrations because lawsuits are one of the very few remedies a citizen has against predatory behaviour by these corporate oligarchies.....
Good story, and just part of the pattern of the dismantling of our concept of fairness in this country by the politicians who whatever the corporations tell them to do.....
7/ Trey Parker and Matt Stone are the creators of South Park, and their latest venture is a Broadway musical "Book of Mormon". Here they are on Jon Stewart's show to tell us about this funny, satirical and musically unique musical. If you are going to New York for a visit or business, these are the hot tickets......
Six minutes....
Matt Stone and Trey Parker stopped by "The Daily Show" Thursday night to promote their new Broadway musical "The Book Of Mormon" and got a stellar review from Jon Stewart.
Stewart praised the "South Park" guys for satirizing religion while simultaneously celebrating it, even going so far as to say,
8/ I've never really been into baseball, which has always seemed to me to be a sport played by millionaires who spit a lot.
However this article about a pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, Tim Lincecum, sounded interesting because he is shortish for a pitcher [5'11'] and skinny. He wins a lot of games so he's an underdog folk hero.....
Good story.......
It has been said that baseball is a boy’s game played by men. Whoever coined this phrase had obviously not seen Tim Lincecum grinning goofily in the dugout between innings. Most starting pitchers hew to strict pregame routines. Meals are carefully chosen and timed. Fifteen minutes before one of his first big-league starts, Lincecum was spotted tucking into a Philly cheese steak on the clubhouse couch in his underpants and shower shoes. Lincecum also doesn’t draw the customary invisible force field around his locker. “Most pitchers on game days are like, ‘Leave me alone, let me do my thing,’ but I’m like, ‘Guys, you can talk to me, we can listen to music,’ ” he told me earlier in his apartment. “I mean, it’s supposed to be fun, right?”
Physically, Lincecum is the opposite of the modern pitcher — the 6-foot-4 Roger Clemens, say, or the 6-foot-6 Roy Halladay, big, broad-shouldered men with tree-trunk legs and “Baby Got Back” posteriors. (The gluteus maximus is one of a pitcher’s most important muscles.) Lincecum is 5-foot-11, in spikes, and runaway skinny.
Ah Florida.....every story that comes out is worse than the last. Will this stupidity and corruption ever go away? Jeesch......
9/ I should have known - thinking about last week's story about Governor Rick and the inexplicable decision he made to abandon the drug database and let the pill mills of South Florida continue, I forgot the fundamental dictum of politics - whenever things happen you can't explain logically, "Follow the Money". These political scum will sell out their grandmothers for enough cash, so in a strange way it was a relief to come across this story that explains the Big Rick pill mill decision.
A large part of his fortune [$60 million or so] is invested in a company called Solantic, which is in [surprise] the drug business, specifically the distribution of prescription drugs. Like Oxycontin. Like Vicodin. So to cut down the traffic in illegal drugs through these pill mills would cut into Solantic's profits and the value of his stock holding would go down.
We knew Rick Scott was corrupt. Now we know he is completely amoral and corrupt. What a disgusting prick he is......
That’s the same argument Scott used for rejecting $2.4 billion in federal funding for high speed rail, though as it turns out, he was either wrong or lying about rail’s potential to generate both ridership and profits.
In the case of the pill mill database, there is even more reason to question the governor’s adamance.
Solantic isn’t just some company Rick Scott owns a piece of. At $62 million, it represents hissingle largest financial holding. When he was preparing to take office, his spokesmandemurred on the subject of putting that holding in a blind trust, arguing that Scott could simply “hang on to the Solantic stock and recuse himself from any regulatory decisions that might impact the company.” Up to last month, reporters attempting to discover whether Scott has put his Solantic holdings into a blind trust have come up short.
As Jim Edwards pointed out in February, “Florida does have a code of ethics for public officials that prevents them using their office for private gain, [and] it is not clear that the database would help or hinder Solantic in any way.
And yet, Scott’s actions at minimum raise the specter of conflict of interest. Jim White at FDL sums up the problem perfectly:
For some reason, Solantic firing an employee who had fallen from their good graces because of writing a pain-killer prescription outside the clinic made me think immediately of when ADM, once they learned he had been an FBI mole, fired Mark Whitaker for taking “off the books” payments that almost certainly had been a practice for all ADM high level executives.To be clear, I’ve seen no evidence so far that Solantic is involved in writing fraudulent pain medication prescriptions. What I am saying though, is that Rick Scott’s actions on the issue of pill mill regulation are precisely what one would predict if he were trying to prevent discovery of such activity in a company in which he holds a $62 million stake. So long as he holds this huge stake in a company that can write pain medication prescriptions, his actions regarding pill mills deserve much scrutiny.
10/ Interesting article on Florida politics and some background on why our political leadership is so awful - the Tea Party activists are constantly on top of every Republican politician in the state - county school boards, mayors and local government as well as the Legislature.
Your scribe attended a local Tea Party meeting in Tavares a couple of weeks ago and saw this first hand.
Yes, I went to a TP meeting, with about 50 TP's in attendance!
Anyway although I was biting my tongue quite a bit I came away from the meeting with grudging respect for their organisation and passion. They hate government spending on just about anything. The undercurrent is that whatever the state/counties/cities do is inefficient, and often unnecessary and that fiscal conservatives need to be in office. The fact that this philosophical domination of the levers of power always leads to blatant corruption escapes them - the private sector always does it better. If only we could harness their legitimate anger against the real villains in our society.....
Patricia Sullivan, mentioned in the article, spoke about the rally in Tallahassee and urged everyone to get on one of their busses to get to this meeting. She also spoke warmly about the Governor.....so you can see Big Rick's strategy - he has no base, and he has chosen the extreme right wing to help pressure the Legislature, which gives him some some clout to get his disasterous programs implemented.
That's disasterous if you are 1/ poor and sick 2/ unemployed 3/ in a union 4/ a teacher
5/ a parent who sends their kids to public school 6/ chronically ill 7/ a black male,
8/ and/or you need the State of Florida's help in anything.
Of course if you are a biggish business, a polluter, make campaign contributions to the Republican Party or just happen to be one of 'the boys" his policies are great.
If you have any interest in Florida politics, this article is an excellent read.....
For another take on the Tea Party, here is the always wonderful Tom Tomorrow......
11/ Here is another time bomb waiting to hit all Florida residents - Citizens Insurance, the windstorm coverage set up by the state to cover hurricane damages......when the big one comes, and it will come eventually, we will all be liable......
With apologies to the fine folks who work at Citizens, their large piece of the pie may one day hit us all in the face with a plate full of assessments. Citizens’ premiums are inadequate to cover losses from a major storm, which makes nearly everyone with a property and casualty insurance policy vulnerable to “hurricane taxes” that last for years. Other states may have recognized the dangers of that earlier because no other state has anything like the behemoth Citizens. Leaders from neighboring coastal states call it Florida’s folly to grow what is, essentially, socialized property insurance.
At a recent meeting, insurance commissioners from several other Southern states participated in a panel discussion on their state initiatives. The consensus was that no state needs to be in the insurance business. Florida, however, is into it deeply — up to its eyeballs with both Citizens and the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund — and absent measures to curb the growth of what was intended to be the “insurer of last resort” and a less-costly reinsurance facility, we may wind up submerged.
Of course other states are being smarter about their insurance coverages, like South Carolina and Mississippi.........it would take some mandates to make everyone in Florida act smarter about their windstorm, and I can hear the howls from the Tea Partiers if this ever happened - "gummint interference in the private insurance sector", but of course Citizens is a state run company. Owned by the gummint.......
South Carolina created a “catastrophe savings account” for homeowners to set aside money, free from state income tax, to pay storm-related expenses such as insurance deductibles or other uninsured risk. The state also requires wind pool policyholders to purchase flood insurance as a way to solve dilemmas over wind versus water damage. Without flood coverage, policyholders may receive coverage at actual cash value rather than full replacement cost. In Mississippi, the wind pool offers discounts of up to 25 percent to policyholders who make their homes more hurricane resistant. This is one way the state encourages coastal development while lessening economic damages.
12/ Now for the latest, and nastiest idea to come out of this Florida Legislature - golf courses in State Parks. The Orlando Sentinel labels this the
" Worst. Idea. Ever."
Folks - these ole boys are prepared to degrade everything that makes Florida unique and worth living in so they can make a buck from their buddies. The stench of corruption is getting worse.....
A portly character on "The Simpsons," Comic Book Guy, often denounces someone or something with the catchphrase, "Worst. (fill in the blank). Ever."
Allow us to label the absurd notion of turning state parks into golf courses as the Worst. Idea. Ever. At least, so far this session. Who knows what else this state Legislature is capable of, seeing as how this notion isn't getting laughed out of the Capitol?
But this is no joke. Sen. John Thrasher of St. Augustine (who is quickly making us regret endorsing him last year) and Rep. Pat Rooney of West Palm Beach have dropped bombshells that would let private developers build five golf courses on state parks throughout Florida. Plus hotels. Because what says natural Florida like 18 holes and room service?
And that's just for starters. The Thrasher-Rooney bills — each pitched as the Jack Nicklaus Golf Trail — have planet-size loopholes that would let Florida's Division of Recreation and Parks approve even more courses once the first five are up and running.
Imagine, if you can, an 18-hole course within a 9-iron of the Wekiva River. Or Wakulla Springs as a water hazard. Or a hotel on Crystal River
Under these bills, golf courses might get built on state parks like Silver River, Rock Springs Run, Paynes Prairie or Anclote Key. Altogether, some 40 state parks could get clubbed.
13/ Love this video - Christina Perri with "Jar of Hearts". She's gorgeous, has great pipes, the song is heartfelt.....but what's with the tattoos?
Oh well, nobody's perfect....
Good clip, very atmospheric......3 minutes....
14/ "A Visit From the Goon Squad", a new book from Jennifer Egan - sounds interesting, intelligent and very well written......if a little different....for your book clubs ladies?
A music mogul named Lou is one of the many characters who drift through Jennifer Egan’s spiky, shape-shifting new book, “A Visit From the Goon Squad.” Whether this tough, uncategorizable work of fiction is a novel, a collection of carefully arranged interlocking stories or simply a display of Ms. Egan’s extreme virtuosity, the same characters pop up in different parts of it. Lou is a case in point. He appears early and then burns through a few of Ms. Egan’s adjacent (though not consecutive) chapters, ending up very much the worse for wear
Todays video - "Needs Lubrication".....
Todays golf joke
A guy left home about 8:30 a.m. to play golf with his friends.
On the way out the door he answered his wife’s “what time will you be home?” question with “probably about 1:30, I’ll have lunch at the club.”
1:30 came & went, 3:00 passed, 6:15, still not home, finally at about 11:45 PM he rolls in the driveway, leaves his clubs in the garage, and presents his wife with a pizza, and begins the apologetic story.
“We finished our game about 11:30, had lunch, and I started home, when alongside the road I saw this attractive girl with a flat tire on her car. I stopped to help, got the tire changed, and looked around for a place to wash my hands.
She offered money, but I refused, so she suggested that I at least allow her to buy me a beer. She said there’s a tavern just up the road, and they have a restroom, you can clean up a bit.
I agreed to stop. We had a beer, then another beer, then a couple more, and I realized that this girl was not only pretty, she was very friendly, and a good companion to spend time with.
Before I knew it, we were in the motel next door having sex. And that is why I am so late getting home.”
His wife looked him in the eye and said “Stop shitting me; you played 36 holes, didn’t you?”
Todays bonus parable
A Parable for our time:
A Union member, a Tea Party member, and the CEO of a corporation are sitting at a table.
In the middle of the table there is a plate with a dozen cookies on it.
The CEO reaches across and takes 11 cookies, looks at the Tea Partier and says,
"Look out for that Union guy, he wants a piece of your cookie!"
Todays airplane joke
Unable to restrain his curiosity, the man turned to the woman and said "I couldn't help but notice that you've sneezed three times, wiped your nose and then shuddered violently. Are you O.K?
"I am sorry if I disturbed you. I have a very rare medical condition. Whenever I sneeze I have an orgasm."The man, more than a bit embarrassed, was still curious. "I have never heard of that condition before" he said "Are you taking anything for it?"The woman nodded, "Pepper."
Todays Zen jokes
Zen Teachings
1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me for the path is narrow. In fact, just piss off and leave me alone.
2. Sex is like air. It's not that important unless you aren't getting any.
3. No one is listening until you fart.
4. Always remember you're unique. Just like everyone else.
5. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
6. If you think nobody cares whether you're alive or dead, try missing a couple of mortgage payments.
7. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have some new shoes.
8. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is probably not for you.
9. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
10. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably well worth it.
11. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
12. Some days you are the dog, some days you are the tree.
13. Don't worry; it only seems kinky the first time.
14. Good judgment comes from bad experience and most of that comes from bad judgment.
15. A closed mouth gathers no foot.
16. There are two excellent theories for arguing with women. Neither of them works.
17. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.
18. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
19. We are born naked, wet and hungry, and get slapped on our arse. Then things just keep getting worse.
20. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me for the path is narrow. In fact, just piss off and leave me alone.
2. Sex is like air. It's not that important unless you aren't getting any.
3. No one is listening until you fart.
4. Always remember you're unique. Just like everyone else.
5. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
6. If you think nobody cares whether you're alive or dead, try missing a couple of mortgage payments.
7. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have some new shoes.
8. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is probably not for you.
9. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day.. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
10. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably well worth it.
11. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.
12. Some days you are the dog, some days you are the tree.
13. Don't worry; it only seems kinky the first time.
14. Good judgment comes from bad experience and most of that comes from bad judgment.
15. A closed mouth gathers no foot.
16. There are two excellent theories for arguing with women. Neither of them works.
17. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.
18. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
19. We are born naked, wet and hungry, and get slapped on our arse. Then things just keep getting worse.
20. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
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