Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Davids Daily Dose - Wednesday August 3rd

The debt limit "Deal"
Three videos from three excellent journalists [I have no qualms about calling Jon Stewart a reporter] reflecting the awful travesty of a bill that has been foisted on the middle class this week. Three points of view, all of them interesting.....






1/  Keith Olbermann on "the deal" - he's angry with the result and disgusted with the process of government. His 'Special Comment" is passionate, intelligent and logical, and you won't see anything his call for action on the corporate media.

Keith Olbermann excoriated Washington for the debt ceiling deal it struck over the weekend--and called for a protest movement to rise up against it.
In a Special Comment on his Monday show, Olbermann did not mince words about the deal, which passed the House on Monday and is headed for a vote in the Senate.
"Our government has now given up the concept of right and wrong," he said. "...Those who defend [the deal] have called it a credit to a pragmatic president who wins some sort of political 'points' because, having stood for almost nothing here, he gave away almost nothing for which he stood."
Olbermann said that the deal was founded on what he called four "Great Hypocrisies." The first was the so-called "Super Congress" that will have ultimate authority over further spending cuts. Olbermann said the committee seemed unconstitutional to him. He also blasted Republicans who called for a Balanced Budget Amendment, which he said contradicted their call for the new committee. And he lambasted the deal for containing no tax increases on the wealthy.















2/  Chris Hayes of MSNBC on how we got here - an excellent summary of what happened and why. He runs through the three crisies the President has had with the Republicans, caving every time, and then shows the scariest footage of all from December 2010, when the President seems unaware this debt ceiling issue night come up and that he might be held hostage.....















3/  Another amazing Jon Stewart - this is his summary of the issue, and he makes this pile of stinking dog turd charade actually funny......watch both videos.....

The deal, consisting of trillions of dollars in spending cuts but no revenue increases, will raise the debt ceiling until 2013 but has Stewart wondering why President Obama gave up on his demands. What about all that talk about how important it is to have a balanced debt reduction plan including higher taxes on the rich? Stewart was even more confused when the President thanked the American people for tweeting and contacting their Congressmen and women to garner support for his plan, even though hardly any of it made it into the final deal:
"Let me just stop you right there -- you're not pinning this turd on us. Last time I checked, the buck stops with you, not the Twitterverse."
Watch the full clip below to hear the rest of Stewart's reaction (including how he realized a certain bow-tied National Journal reporter is the only one who knows what will happen next) and watch the second segment below to hear his take on the Tea Party's reaction.














4/  Fascinating article from the UK Guardian, and they opine on how the very rich have persuaded many of the poor to screw themselves by supporting policies that benefit only the wealthy and powerful.....

A combination of propaganda [Fox News] and the innate political ignorance of lower class working people being manipulated by the [Koch Brothers backed] Tea Party....

Remember the book "1984" by George Orwell? It's here......

There are two ways of cutting a deficit: raising taxes or reducing spending. Raising taxes means taking money from the rich. Cutting spending means taking money from the poor. Not in all cases of course: some taxation is regressive; some state spending takes money from ordinary citizens and gives it to banks, arms companies, oil barons and farmers. But in most cases the state transfers wealth from rich to poor, while tax cuts shift it from poor to rich.
So the rich, in a nominal democracy, have a struggle on their hands. Somehow they must persuade the other 99% to vote against their own interests: to shrink the state, supporting spending cuts rather than tax rises. In the US they appear to be succeeding.














5/  Meat Loaf with "Paradise by the Dashboard Light", a R&R classic recorded live.....a wonderful 7 minutes!














6/  You read this article about the flooding in South Dakota and just go "duh - what were they thinking". They built homes in a flood zone, and then were shocked when the Missouri river flooded.... 
But then think of Florida, lulled into a false sense of security about windstorms as we haven't had a hurricane since 2005......if we get a big fat wet hurricane that sits over Weston you'll see why they call it a wetland.....

In the Flood Zone, but Astonished by High Water

Brian Lehmann for The New York Times
Pat Murphy pulling his neighbor Rob Anderson to their homes along the flooded Missouri River in South Dakota last week. More Photos »
By 
Published: July 30, 2011
DAKOTA DUNES, S.D. — Some skeptical locals offered a warning when developers transformed this mostly barren peninsula at the intersection of two rivers into an exclusive planned community, complete with million-dollar homes and a private golf course designed by Arnold Palmer.
Multimedia

Readers’ Comments

Readers shared their thoughts on this article.
They call it “the Dunes” for a reason, the warning went — the rivers put the sand there, and the rivers could sweep it away. But, much like the developers, the new residents were not worried. A few even paid a premium to be closest to the flowing water of the Missouri and the Big Sioux.
Now, a little more than two decades later, the stately homes on Spyglass Circle and Pebble Beach Drive have been evacuated and the 18th hole is under six feet of water, as miles of newly built levees strain to keep this community from surrendering to a historic flood.
Many residents here at the southeastern tip of the state, where it borders Nebraska and Iowa, say they never imagined this chain of events. Scott Mackie, like most of his neighbors, did not take out flood insurance on his newly built house — not because he could not afford it, he said, but because he believed the Missouri had been tamed by a system of dams and reservoirs.
“This community has been here over 20 years and never had a problem,” he said. “I didn’t think it was an issue.”
A river makes an unpredictable neighbor, as the last few months have reminded.













7/  Remember the banks have been quiet about the debt ceiling issue? This story points out the banking oligarchs were making their feelings known out of the public eye, pulling the strings of the politicians they own.....[all of them]....

And of course they got what they wanted - no increased taxes on the rich and corporations, and the middle class screwed again.....

A Mobilization in Washington by Wall Street

By  and 
Published: July 30, 2011
After a year of clashing with Washington over new financial reforms, the country’s most powerful bankers have found common ground with regulators in the hard-fought effort to lift the debt ceiling and avoid a default.
Susan Walsh/Associated Press
In December of 2009, President Obama met with chiefs of the financial industry. Lately, they have reached out on the debt ceiling.
Multimedia
Wall Street is no longer watching from the sidelines as the most polarizing political fight in years plays out on Capitol Hill. In the last few days, top executives have been in close contact with Washington in a last-ditch attempt to prod lawmakers toward a compromise by Tuesday, the administration’s deadline to reach a deal.
On Friday, Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase’s chief executive, raised concerns with Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner about the standoff over the debt ceiling and its potential to disrupt the system through which JP Morgan and other big banks disburse federal payments. Mr. Geithner assured him that the Treasury and Federal Reserve had taken steps to keep the payment system functioning smoothly, according to individuals briefed on the call.
In addition, more than a dozen chief executives from the nation’s biggest financial services firms wrote a joint letter to President Obama and members of Congress on Thursday warning of “very grave” consequences for the economy and the job market if an agreement wasn’t reached.
It’s not just chief executives who are now doing the talking, either.
Bankers have deluged Congressional staff members with research reports outlining the bleak consequences of a default, or even a downgrade of United States government debt by the major rating agencies. And in corporate America’s version of grassroots mobilization, Allstate e-mailed 45,000 employees and agency owners urging them to call their local members of Congress and demand a deal.
Hedge fund managers, normally among Wall Street’s most secretive tribes, have been stepping out of the shadows, too.
Marc Lasry, a major Democratic fundraiser who manages the $14 billion Avenue Capital hedge fund, said he spoke to half a dozen members of Congress from both parties on Thursday and Friday with blunt warnings that failure to compromise on the debt ceiling risked permanently damaging the nation’s financial standing.
“Over the last couple of weeks, everybody assumed it would get done,” said Mr. Lasry. “It’s only in the last couple of days that I’ve gotten worried it might not.”
Not since 2008 have federal officials and bankers been so clearly aligned in their push for the same policies. Back then, the industry and regulators pressed Congress to pass legislation allowing the federal bank bailout at the height of the financial crisis.















8/  Amazing video of the tsunami in Japan, taken from inside a car on a side street as the water rushes in......3 minutes of riveting footage, soundtrack is in Japanese.....

http://www.wimp.com/japanesetsunami/














9/  What's our Rick up to? He's putting the knife to health plans for state employees, saving hundreds of millions by gutting their HMO agreements.....and he knows how to cheat using HMO's, doesn't he? What an evil bastard......
Florida contends that it will save $400 million over the next two years by making substantial changes to the health care benefits it offers thousands of state employees.
Part of the savings, however, will come from limiting the choices that state workers have for health coverage. The Department of Management Services has approved new HMO contracts that would limit one HMO in each county in the state.
DMS also is moving pharmacy benefits to one statewide provider and plans to agree to self-insure coverage offered by three of the four HMOs that will work with the state.














10/  Funny ways well-meaning signs are defaced.....
Most of these signs were designed to help people — to get where they're going, to find a pet, to avoid grievous bodily harm — and yet some writing-utensil-wielding wiseasses felt compelled to come along and totally deface them. We're so glad they did. Does that mean we value a wry sense of humor or even just a lazy reference to an outdated song over the safety of our fellow human beings? We're insulted you would even ask. Of course we do.















Todays video - a motorcycle jump in Las Vegas

Rumor has it that Red Bull paid this guy $2m to attempt the stunt; and, afterward, he would not try again for even as much as $10m.
 









Todays pet joke......a DDD favourite......



Subject: Dog diary vs. Cat diary:

Date: November 12, 2010 at 3:01 pm 
Excerpts from a Dog's diary:
8:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!
10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!
11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
1:00 PM - OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!
1:30 PM - ooooooo. bath. bummer.
4:00 PM - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!
5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!
5:30 PM - OH BOY! MOM! MY FAVORITE!



Excerpts from a Cat's diary
DAY 752 - My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre
little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh
meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only
thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and
the mild satisfaction I get from ruining the
occasional piece of furniture. Tomorrow I may eat
another house plant.


DAY 761 - Today my attempt to kill my captors by
weaving around their feet while they were walking
almost succeeded, must try this at the top of the
stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these
vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit
on their favorite chair...must try this on their bed.


DAY 765 - Decapitated a mouse and brought them the
headless body, in attempt to make them aware of what I
am capable of, and to try to strike fear into their
hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a
good little cat I was...Hmmm. Not working according to
plan.


DAY 768 - I am finally aware of how sadistic they are.
For no good reason I was chosen for the water torture.
This time however it included a burning foamy chemical
called "shampoo." What sick minds could invent such a
liquid? My only consolation is the piece of thumb
still stuck between my teeth.


DAY 771 - There was some sort of gathering of their
accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout the
event. However, I could hear the noise. More
importantly I overheard that my confinement was due to
MY power of "allergies." Must learn what this is and
how to use it to my advantage.

DAY 774 - I am convinced the other captives are
flunkies and maybe snitches. The dog is routinely
released and seems more than happy to return. He is
obviously a half-wit. The bird on the other hand has
got to be an informant, and speaks with them
regularly. I am certain he reports my every move. Due
to his current placement in the metal room his safety
is assured. But I can wait; it is only a matter of
time...... 


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