It's "Super Tuesday", with quite a few states voting in primaries for the Republican candidates.....watch Ohio......and if you're totally over this wait till tomorrow.....like the Oscars......
1/ Inspiring story for Democrats - Charles Pierce went to one of President Obama's events in New Hampshire and was delighted to find the old Obama.....fiery, relaxed, focused......
NASHUA, N.H. — This was a tough room if you showed up to talk energy policy, which the president did in a snowstorm on Thursday afternoon. The Nashua Community College gym was packed early with people who were so overdressed for the footlights that one of them keeled over in the middle of the crowd just as the president was beginning to speak. Once he got started, you could close your eyes and predict what was going to happen during his speech. Any mention of natural gas, and somebody would yell, "No fracking!" Wild applause ensued every time Wall Street oil speculators took a hiding. Uncontrolled joy broke out any time the president took a whack at Congress for doing nothing, or simply for not doing what he wanted.
After several months of watching the Republican primary process, I can't tell you what a cool breeze it was to watch a politician who looks at a crowd and doesn't see a group of potential marks (Romney), a collection of your fellow Elect marching with you through the dystopic Sinai that is America (Santorum), a gaggle of goldbugs (Paul), or the class of half-bright sophomores that N. Leroy Gingrich sees every time he looks anywhere but into the mirror. Barack Obama is not stiff. He is not bristling with unbridled id. He grins. He kids people, even the people who faint at the beginning of his speeches. ("Always have something to eat before going to see the president," he said.) He is relaxed about the job of politics. He is the only president of the United States — real or prospective — that I've seen in months.
If that is the way Obama's going to run, somebody's giving him good advice again. He talks about the challenges Americans face, but he doesn't do it in the gloom-ridden, stalactite-festooned, minor-key funeral mass context that the Republicans talk about them. He talks in terms of "boundless ingenuity" and "unbridled optimism." This is the way Ronald Reagan spoke on the stump in 1980. Sure, Jimmy Carter sent the country to hell in an handbasket but, by god, the work of climbing out of the handbasket was going to be fun. For all the Reagan cargo-cultism of the Republican party, this is the part of the old goober's charm than none of the Republican candidate have yet mastered. It's become an instinct in the president now.
2/ Amazing big budget 3 minute commercial for Cartier, with special effects, a beautiful tiger and a dragon! ......not just a commercial, almost like a short movie......
Unique.....never seen anything like it........
3/ Frank Rich with a look at how attitudes to gay marriage seem to be much better, but how this is partly an illusion.....some progress has been made, but there is a long way to go to overcome the bigotry and religious pressure for anti-gay legislation......
An excellent essay on one of the most socially divisive issues of our time......especially relevant now, with the Republican primaries still in full swing.....
When the news came last June that the New York State Senate had voted to legalize same-sex marriage, I was at a dinner party that felt like New Year’s Eve, only with genuine emotions. Everyone at the table—straight, gay, young, old—was elated. Later, as my wife and I headed home past an Empire State Building ablaze in the rainbow colors of Pride Week, we were still euphoric at having witnessed one of those rare nights when history is made. Same-sex-marriage adversaries constantly proclaim that gay unions threaten “traditional” marriage. But in truth, it’s a boon to discover that a right you’ve taken for granted is so treasured by others that they’ll fight to get their fair share of its rewards—and its trials.
Fran Lebowitz is correct to remind us that not all gay people (any more than all straight people) are beating down the doors to what she calls “the two most confining institutions on the planet, marriage and the military.” But for those who have been, the dawning of marital equality and the demise of “don’t ask, don’t tell” are twin peaks in the checkered cavalcade of American social justice.
Since that night, the good news on gay civil rights has kept coming. This month alone, legislative and judicial actions have made same-sex marriage the law in Washington Stateand Maryland and nudged it closer to reality in California and, Chris Christie notwithstanding, New Jersey. A Valentine’s week New York Times–CBS News poll, echoing others over the past year, found that Americans now favor marriage over separate-and-unequal civil unions as the legal option for gay couples; less than a third of the public believes that gay families should be denied both. Each day the gay-rights bandwagon attracts unexpected recruits in the vein of the legal odd couple of Ted Olson and David Boies. No less a pitchman than Lloyd Blankfein is making public-service ads for same-sex marriage. Bill O’Reilly is defending Ellen DeGeneres from American Family Association vigilantes demanding that JCPenney ditch her as a spokesperson. Being in with the gays, it’s clear, has become a savvy (if not necessarily selfless) way to attach a halo to almost any troubled brand, from Goldman Sachs to some precincts of the Rupert Murdoch empire (though not the New York Post orWall Street Journal, the only major dailies in the state that disdained large front-page headlines after the Albany victory).
Compared with the other civil-rights battles in America, especially the epic struggle over race that has stained and hobbled the nation since its birth, the fight over gay equality is remarkable for its relative ease, compact chronology, and the happiness of its pending resolution. There’s no happier ending to any plot than a wedding. But, as last June’s celebration has gradually given way to morning-after sobriety, it’s also clear that something is wrong with this cheery picture. Two things, actually.
4/ Samantha Bee from the Daily Show interviews Grover Norquist.....yes, the Anti-Tax Beast himself...... it looks like he has no clue what she is up to......5 funny minutes......
5/ A Time magazine special look at Florida, with a good summary of how our shithead of a Governor and his enablers in Tallahassee have gutted our once decent University system, and to distract us are concentrating on abortion and "social"issues....
Well written article, and profoundly depressing if you are a Floridian......yet another summary of how we have been gutted by the Republican legislature.....
They don’t call economics the dismal science for nothing, which helps explain why U.S. politics is riveted once more by social issues. After being locked for three years in a torture chamber of financial disaster, our elected officials are now looking at the improving metrics and deciding it’s O.K. to step back into their comfort zone: the culture wars. Why deal with layoffs, foreclosures and Greece when it’s so much easier to indulge in debate over contraception, religious liberty and gay marriage – especially in an election year? It’s a no-brainer.
Both political parties understand that. God knows so do we in the media. And so does Florida, America’s bellwether, where the urge to leave the dark forest of economic recession and head for the sunny beach of social demagoguery looks particularly strong – and not just inside the West Palm Beach radio studio where Rush Limbaugh’s knuckles are dragging more loudly than usual these days. When GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum recently cast aspersions on higher education, calling President Obama “a snob” for wanting every American to attend college, legislators in Tallahassee, as if on cue, announced they were poised to slash almost $300 million from Florida’s higher-education budget. This, in the state that already spends the least in the nation per capita on higher education and reaps what it sows in the form of one of America’s most embarrassingly low-tech and low-wage economies.
(SPECIAL: How Students Are Paying for College)
But the Sunshine State is just trying to stay ahead of the political curve: school funding is passé; school prayer is back! Last week, even though the Florida legislature can’t be bothered to shore up the colleges and universities that could help reduce the state’s retro dependence on tourism, condo construction and citrus fruit, it did find the time and energy to pass a measure that would permit student-led prayer in public schools.
6/ Rush Limbaugh and Sandra Fluke - 5 related stories for you.....
A/ The always interesting Rachel Maddow with an analysis of the Rush Limbaugh remarks about Sandra Fluke......she uses her radio experience to explain what Rush does, and her geeky side to explain what Rush doesn't get - how birth control actually works.....a great 19 minute segment, from last Thursday's show.
As of today, Tuesday, I am delighted to report advertisers are fleeing the Limbaugh show in droves, and he has had universal scorn poured down on him by all media.....except Fox, and also the Republican candidates.....see the Jon Stewart clip .....
B/ The footage from the Andrea Mitchell interview with Sandra Fluke, moments after the president called her.....a wonderful young lady, poised, polite and very aware..... 5 minutes.....
Moments after receiving a call of support from President Obama, Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke appeared on “Andrea Mitchell Reports” to express her feelings on the recent disparaging remarks made against her by conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh. Fluke told Mitchell that during the call, President Obama “encouraged me and supported me and thanked me for speaking out about the concerns of American women. And what was really personal for me was that he said to tell my parents that they should be proud, and that meant a lot because Rush Limbaugh questioned whether or not my family would be proud of me. So I just appreciated that very much.”
C/ This is Rush Limbaugh's New York penthouse......have a look at the decor and furnishings and tell me if your gaydar went off?
It explains his contempt for women, and his [viagra] trip to the Dominican Republic.....
D/ An excellent Jon Stewart on Rush and his offensive comments from Monday night.....one of his better ones.....8 minutes.......
Unless you've been doing yourself a favor by not paying attention to Rush Limbaugh, you've probably heard about the conservative radio host calling Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke a "slut" for supporting contraceptive insurance coverage -- and you're probably outraged.
Thankfully, Jon Stewart came to the rescue on Monday night's "Daily Show" with a humorous take on the despicable comments which have advertisers fleeing Limbaugh's show faster than you can say "Liability."
E/ Tom Tomorrow with his take on this latest phase of the culture wars.....female orgasms.....
7/ Matt Taibbi speculates on whether Bank of America is in financial trouble......he has minimal hard evidence, but he is one of the most plugged in financial reporters working today and it may just be he senses something.....
Couldn't happen to a nicer institution......bastards.....
It looks like Bank of America might have started circling the drain before the Occupy movement even had a chance to launch its campaign against the company. For weeks now there have been ominous signs of trouble at the bank, and yesterday we heard yet another dark piece of news.
Last year, there was an uproar when Bank of America announced a plan to slap customers with a monthly $5 fee for debit card usage. The bank eventually backed off that plan when the public and some politicians cried foul.
Now it seems the company is going to try to put a new package on the same crappy idea and sell it again. This time, the plan is to add charges that range from $6 to $25 a month. From an MSNBC report:
Pilot programs in Arizona, Georgia and Massachusetts are experimenting with charging $6 to $9 a month for what’s called an “Essentials” account. Other account options being tested in those states carry monthly charges of $9, $12, $15 and $25, but give customers opportunities to avoid the payments by maintaining minimum balances, using a credit card or taking amortgage with Bank of America, according to an internal memo cited by the [Wall Street] Journal.
It’s a very bad sign that a bank is in a desperate cash crunch when it tries repeatedly to gouge its customers. David Trainer, an analyst for Market Watch, a WSJ publication, wrote that the new fees are a sign of series trouble at BAC. He writes:
http://www.rollingstone.com/In my opinion, there are four actions taken by financial services that signal the company is headed to serious trouble.
8/ The endangered moderate Republican.....think Olympia Snowe.....another very good cartoon strip......
9/ Wow - occasionally something techno comes along that sounds amazing.......this is an app for iPads.....
You’re probably paying something like $60 a month for high-speed Internet. I’m paying $5 a month more, and my connection is 1,000 times faster.
Your iPad can’t play Flash videos on the Web. Mine can.
Your copy of Windows needs constant updating and patching and protection against viruses and spyware. Mine is always clean and always up-to-date.
No, I’m not some kind of smug techno-elitist; you can have all of that, too. All you have to do is sign up for a radical iPad service called OnLive Desktop Plus.
It’s a tiny app — about 5 megabytes. When you open it, you see a standard Windows 7 desktop, right there on your iPad. The full, latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet Explorer and Adobe Reader are set up and ready to use — no installation, no serial numbers, no pop-up balloons nagging you to update this or that. It may be the least annoying version of Windows you’ve ever used.
That’s pretty impressive — but not as impressive as what’s going on behind the scenes. The PC that’s driving your iPad Windows experience is, in fact, a “farm” of computers at one of three data centers thousands of miles away. Every time you tap the screen, scroll a list or type on the on-screen keyboard, you’re sending signals to those distant computers. The screen image is blasted back to your iPad with astonishingly little lag.
There’s an insane amount of technology behind this stunt — 10 years in the making, according to the company’s founder. (He’s a veteran of Apple’s original QuickTime team and Microsoft’s WebTV and Xbox teams.) OnLive Desktop builds on the company’s original business, a service that lets gamers play high-horsepower video games on Macs or low-powered Windows computers like netbooks.
10/ Bill Maher with some sensible advice for Democrats - don't assume the awful candidates on the Republican side will make the election a cakewalk for President Obama.....
A very good 4 minutes, with the usual Maher zingers......
11/ A branch of the financial oligarchs, the Federal Reserve, had some words for middle class Americans alarmed at the pitiful rates of interest the banks are paying on deposits - suck it up. These interest rates are here for another four years.
Gretchen Morgensen in the Times tells us what's going on......and it's to benefit the megabanks of course.....
STOP your bellyaching.
That was the message delivered last Thursday to Americans who today make almost nothing on the savings in their bank accounts.
It came from Sarah Bloom Raskin, an insider at the Federal Reserve. Ms. Raskin, one of the governors on the Fed board, made the usual disclaimer that her comments reflected her own thinking. But Fed watchers said her remarks probably mirrored views inside the central bank.
The issue — as anyone looking for income-producing investments
This is one of the more troubling paradoxes of the Fed’s rescue of the financial system. And, according to Ms. Raskin, it is likely to continue for some time.
So suck it up, America: If it’s good for the financial system, it’s good for you.
Yes, Ms. Raskin, who delivered her message during a speech in Westport, Conn., nodded at how low rates put pressure on savers. But she quickly extolled the advantages that rock-bottom rates offer to ordinary Americans.
“Many households are benefiting from the low level of interest rates, and some critics of the Federal Reserve’s accommodative monetary policy seem to minimize this point,” Ms. Raskin said, according to prepared remarks posted on the Fed’s Web site. “Purchases of motor vehicles and other household durables can be financed more cheaply, and in many cases, households have been able to refinance their mortgages into lower-rate loans, freeing up income for other uses.”
APPARENTLY, Ms. Raskin hasn’t tried to refinance a home mortgage lately. I have, and the process was labyrinthine, glacial and exasperating. Putting potential borrowers through the wringer is a bank’s prerogative, and I have no interest in returning to the days of E-Z Loans “R” Us.
But the idea that legions of people have been able to refinance their mortgages recently is a bit optimistic. The credit scores associated with the mortgage I refinanced were around 800, the loan was for only about 30 percent of the property’s value, and no equity was taken out of the property. Given this experience, it seems clear that troubled borrowers — including those who are underwater on mortgages and who most need assistance — are least likely to receive it.
Walker F. Todd, a research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research and a former assistant general counsel and research officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, said Ms. Raskin should know better about the toll Fed policy is taking on savers.
“She blithely assumes that everyone who could refinance their mortgages at current interest rates has done so,” Mr. Todd said. “She ignores effects of credit scoring and outrageous fees banks are charging for those refinancings. I invite anyone who will accompany me to visit the local branch of any bank in Cleveland and to inquire about what is required exactly to be able to refinance at the currently advertised rates.”
12/ The All American Rejects with the "Beekeepers Daughter"......they look like they had a really fun time making this video.....
Genuinely goofy, full of strange stuff......the hefty cheerleaders? Barber shop quartet in a Mini? Devil girls? Wayne Newton?.....holy tamoley....
Great dancing too.....
13/ Stephen Colbert is pushing Jeb Bush as an alternative to Romney....he calls this segment "Return of the Jebi".....2 minutes.....
Todays video - Fracking explained.....Canadian comedy troupe......
Todays fishing joke.....
A man calls home to his wife and says, "Honey, I have been asked to fly to Canada with my boss and several of his friends for fishing. We'll be gone for a the long weekend. This is a good opportunity for me to get that promotion I've been wanting. So could you please pack enough clothes for a 3 day weekend ... And also would you get out my rod and tackle box from the attic? We're leaving at 4:30 pm from the office and I will swing by the house to pick my things up. 'Oh! And please pack my new navy-blue silk pajamas.' The wife thinks this sounds a bit odd, but, being the good wife, she does exactly what her husband asked. Following the long weekend he came home a little tired, but, otherwise, looking good. The wife welcomes him home and asks if he caught many fish? He says, 'Yes! Lots of Walleyes, some Bass, and a few Pike! he said, 'but why didn't you pack my new blue silk pajamas like I asked you to do?' The wife replies, "I did ..... they're in your tackle box." Never, Never, Never try to outsmart a woman!!! |
Todays senior joke
An elderly couple is both having problems remembering things.
During a checkup, the doctor tells them that they're physically okay, but they might want to start writing things down to help them remember.
Later that night, while watching TV, the old man gets up from his chair. "Want anything while I'm in the kitchen?" he asks. "Will you get me a bowl of ice cream?"
"Sure."
"Don't you think you should write it down so you can remember it?' she asks.
"No, I can remember it."
"Well, I'd like some strawberries on top, too. Maybe you should write it down, so as not to forget it?"
He says, "I can remember that. You want a bowl of ice cream with strawberries."
"I'd also like whipped cream. I'm certain you'll forget that, write it down?" she says.
Irritated, he says, "I don't need to write it down, I can remember it! Ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream - I got it, for goodness sake!"
Then he toddles into the kitchen. After about 20 minutes, he returns from the kitchen and hands his wife a plate of bacon and eggs.
She stares at the plate for a moment and says, "Where's my toast?"
Todays marriage joke
There comes a time when a woman just has to trust her husband...
..... for example .....
A wife comes home late at night and quietly opens the door to her bedroom.
From under the blanket she sees four legs instead of two. She reaches for a
baseball bat and starts hitting the blankets as hard as she can.
Once she's done, she heads for the kitchen to have a drink.
As she enters, she sees her husband setting there, reading a magazine.
"Hi darling", he says.
"Your parents have come to visit us, so l let them stay in our bedroom. Did you say ‘hello’?”
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