If you are at all interested in where this country is going read #1......excellent.......
1/ Oh boy. This is another of those "epiphany" articles from Frank Rich about the sources of the funds that have been released by the Citizens United decision from our corrupt Supreme Court - a shadowy world of billionaires with no constraints at all.......he makes the point that at least some of the huge corporations are sensitive to public opinion and pull back funds if there is a public outcry, but these billionaires don't care.
The title of the story is:
Sugar Daddies
The old, white, rich men who are buying this election.
And here's the deal - they have more discretionary funds than we, the 99%, do in aggregate.....they can outspend us every time.......so it's going to be a brutal campaign folks......
I strongly recommend this article.....
If you want to appreciate what Barack Obama is up against in 2012, forget about the front man who is his nominal opponent and look instead at the Republican billionaires buying the ammunition for the battles ahead. A representative example is Harold Simmons, an 80-year-old Texan who dumped some $15 million into the campaign before primary season had ended. Reminiscing about 2008, when he bankrolled an ad blitz to tar the Democrats with the former radical Bill Ayers, Simmons told The Wall Street Journal, “If we had run more ads, we could have killed Obama.” It is not a mistake he intends to make a second time. The $15 million Simmons had spent by late February dwarfs the $2.8 million he allotted to the Ayers takedown and the $3 million he contributed to the Swift Boat Veterans demolition of John Kerry four years before that. Imagine the cash that will flow now that the GOP sideshows are over and the president is firmly in Simmons’s crosshairs.
His use of the verb killed was meant in jest, of course, much as Foster Friess ($1.8 million in known contributions, and counting) was joking when he suggested that “gals” could practice birth control by putting Bayer aspirin between their knees. America’s billionaires are such cards! And we had better get used to their foibles and funny bones. Whatever else happens in 2012, it will go down as the Year of the Sugar Daddy. Inflamed by Obama-hatred, awash in self-pity, and empowered by myriad indulgent court and Federal Election Commission rulings, an outsize posse of superrich white men will spend whatever it takes to have its way with the body politic and, if victorious, with the country itself. Given the advanced age of most of this cohort, 2012 may be seen as the election in which the geezer empire struck back.
2/ The Hubble Ultra deep field telescope with 3D images of the farthest galaxies ever seen by mankind........an incredible technical feat if you think about it - it sits in orbit with zero interference from our atmosphere, so these pictures are the most detailed we have ever seen of the universe....make sure you choose the 720 resolution - it's the #3 icon on the bottom row right......
Watching this gets our own obscure little planet in perspective.....there are over 200 billion suns in our own average size galaxy alone.....and there are billions of galaxies.....4 minutes.....
3/ Scientists are worried about the Arctic Ocean warming up and releasing hitherto trapped methane gas under the ice that could accelerate climate change......but hey, Fox News and the Republicans say not to worry so this snippet of truth goes in the WGAS file.....
As Arctic sea ice breaks apart, massive amounts of methane could be released into the atmosphere from the cold waters beneath.
High concentrations of the greenhouse gas have been recorded in the air above cracks in the ice. This could be evidence of yet another positive feedback on the warming climate – leading to even faster Arctic warming.
The Arctic is home to vast stores of methane – there are billions of tonnes of methane in permafrost alone. It is a potent greenhouse gas, so a major methane release would greatly accelerate climate change. The gas is found in icy crystals called hydrates beneath the shallow seas that flood some areas of the continental crust, as well as in permafrost. It is also being released from Arctic wetlands.
But this doesn't explain why Eric Kort of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and his colleagues found patches of methane in remote regions of the Arctic Ocean, far from any of these known methane sources.
The team found the patches during five flights over the Arctic Ocean between 2009 and 2010, as part of a project to systematically map greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere.
Kort estimates that, in the methane-rich regions, about 2 milligrams of the gas were being released per square metre of ocean every day. Some of the patches were close to the oil and gas plants in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, but prevailing wind directions make these plants an unlikely source of the release.
4/ Stephen Colbert has his way with a recent report that blames global warming on illegal immigration on "The Word".....very funny, with some great zingers......4 minutes......
Stephen Colbert may not believe in global warming, but a new argument is slowly opening his eyes: That the cause of global warming is actually immigration. A new ad running on news channels including MSNBC makes the claim that the real cause of climate change is citizens coming to America from other countries.
But Stephen sees this new theory as something that can heal the divide between the right and left. "Saving the planet by demonizing immigrants gives liberals and conservatives something they can do together," he said.
5/ A wonderful Bill Maher 6 minute end of show monologue, which includes some of his very funny "New Rules"......great segment........he is ranting about the media and it's obsession with sex scandals....
Between the Secret Service sex scandal, theJohn Edwards trial and the never-ending GOP Presidential primary, it's hard to ignore how often sex scandals dominate the news media. On Friday night's "Real Time," Bill Maher asked, "Why do we punish sex so much more than everything else?"
After three minutes of "New Rules," Maher rips into network news programs for focusing on the Secret Service scandal so much this week, deeming the entire story an excuse to show that bikini girl's photo on TV and call it news.
6/ P&G has a ad running in Britain that salutes the moms of the world, themed for the 2012 Olympics in London......this should bring a little moistness to your optical regions......2 minutes.....actually pretty good........
7/ Ah, Mitt Romney, now the official Republican candidate for President.....but as Paul Krugman notes he is trying to rewrite history with his economic attacks on Obama.....
Just how stupid does Mitt Romney think we are? If you’ve been following his campaign from the beginning, that’s a question you have probably asked many times.
But the question was raised with particular force last week, when Mr. Romney tried to make a closed drywall factory in Ohio a symbol of the Obama administration’s economic failure. It was a symbol, all right — but not in the way he intended.
First of all, many reporters quickly noted a point that Mr. Romney somehow failed to mention:George W. Bush, not Barack Obama, was president when the factory in question was closed. Does the Romney campaign expect Americans to blamePresident Obama for his predecessor’s policy failure?
Yes, it does. Mr. Romney constantly talks about job losses under Mr. Obama. Yet all of the net job loss took place in the first few months of 2009, that is, before any of the new administration’s policies had time to take effect. So the Ohio speech was a perfect illustration of the way the Romney campaign is banking on amnesia, on the hope that voters don’t remember that Mr. Obama inherited an economy that was already in free fall.
How does the campaign deal with people who point out the awkward reality that all of the “Obama” job losses took place before any Obama policies had taken effect? The fallback argument — which was rolled out when reporters asked about the factory closure — is that even though Mr. Obama inherited a deeply troubled economy, he should have fixed it by now. That factory is still closed, said a Romney adviser, because of the failure of Obama policies “to really get this economy going again.”
8/ "30 Rock" is a very funny show, and here they salute David Brinkley, the legendary newscaster who recently passed......well sort of salute.......amusing for guys, not so much for ladies maybe.....2 minutes........Brian Wilson and Alec Baldwin.......
9/ "60 Minutes" is one of the few remaining news programs left with wide appeal, so when the government of Israel heard they were preparing a story on how Palestinian Christians were leaving the Holy cities they tried to kill the segment by using political pressure on CBS. The reason is if American Christians saw how Israel is treating the Palestinians [both Christian and Muslim] in this 60 Minutes story there would be a negative reaction that would affect the American Christian tourism that is vital to Israel.......
This is the Huffpo story of what happened, and the 14 minute "60 Minutes" link is below........the story is clearer if you watch the video segment first........
For me this is a confirmation, yet again, that the Israelis are not the good guys any more...... the religious nuts and right wing zealots have taken over the Israeli government......
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reportedly briefed on Ambassador Michael Oren's attempts to kill a CBS "60 Minutes" story on Arab Christians in Israel.
During Sunday night's episode of "60 Minutes," reporter Bob Simon's story on Arab Christians included a heated confrontation between himself and Oren. Oren reportedly called Jeff Fager, the chairman of CBS News, before the broadcast and said he had information the "60 Minutes" story was "a hatchet job." He was concerned that the piece was critical of Israel and could harm the country's reputation among American Christians.
Simon confronted the Ambassador for calling Fager. Oren called Simon's report "outrageous" and "incomprehensible." He also said Simon's interview questions confirmed what he suspected as the story's critical slant. "Nothing's been confirmed by the interview, Mr. Ambassador, because you don't know what's going to be put on air," Simon responded.
According to sources, news of Simon's "60 Minutes" report reached the highest levels of Israel's government. Haaretz reported on Tuesday that Netanyahu and his political adviser Ron Dermer were "fully informed on the affair almost since its start." The report said "it was unclear whether Netanyahu or Dermer were the ones who instructed or suggested that Oren directly address the president of CBS in an attempt to prevent the broadcast."
According to Haaretz, the effort to thwart the broadcast was intense and coordinated, involving Oren penning an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and Netanyahu addressing Evangelical leaders in Jerusalem, all in an attempt to bolster the government's record when it came to the Christian community in Israel.
A source told Haaretz that Israel's unsuccessful attempts to kill the "60 Minutes" report backfired as Oren's call to Fager became a central part of the story. "We awakened the dead," the source said.
10/ One of the most subversive songs of the 70's that went right over the heads of most adults was "Lola" by the Kinks.....here they are live on a British pop show.....listen to the lyrics......
11/ And continuing the religious theme, the Vatican has reprimanded American Nuns, saying they focus too much on poverty and are silent on condemning gays and abortion......
You know, the same Vatican and the Catholic Bishops that tolerated pedophilic priests ruining the lives of tens of thousands of young boys, covered it up and then lied about it. Worldwide.
That Vatican. Just like any other giant corporation with predatory management....
Think I'm annoyed at their arrogance? Read this column from Maureen Dowd........
IT is an astonishing thing that historians will look back and puzzle over, that in the 21st century, American women were such hunted creatures.
Even as Republicans try to wrestle women into chastity belts, the Vatican is trying to muzzle American nuns.
Who thinks it’s cool to bully nuns? While continuing to heal and educate, the community of sisters is aging and dying out because few younger women are willing to make such sacrifices for a church determined to bring women to heel.
Yet the nuns must be yanked into line by the crepuscular, medieval men who run the Catholic Church.
“It’s not terribly unlike the days of yore when they singled out people in the rough days of the Inquisition,” said Kenneth Briggs, the author of “Double Crossed: Uncovering the Catholic Church’s Betrayal of American Nuns.”
How can the church hierarchy be more offended by the nuns’ impassioned advocacy for the poor than by priests’ sordid pedophilia?
How do you take spiritual direction from a church that seems to be losing its soul?
12/ "Men In Black 3" is coming next month, and looks like another winner.....great trailer......Will Smith, Josh Brolin and Tommy Lee Jones.....
13/ We know Rupert Murdoch is a monster, arrogant and bloated with self-importance, but at least he doesn't try to hide his contempt for all of us and society's rules.
David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, is worse according to this interesting article in the Guardian......British political commentary is rough......
I know we're all ending this week desperate to find common ground with Rupert Murdoch, so I hope to be of assistance. After all, arguably the most striking feature of the News Corp boss's testimony before theLeveson inquiry was his radioactive contempt for the politicians with which he has been so inconveniently saddled. As someone who has long treated a change in government as the shuffling of junior personnel, Murdoch appears to have concluded that you really can't get the staff any more. And as an electorate that has concluded that you really can't get the overlords any more, we might ironically sympathise.
The list of things for which you could blame Rupert is hardly under-aired at present, but only the most piously naive would think self-interested politicking was worthy of a place on it. Blaming Murdoch for attempting to influence policy in his commercial favour is like disagreeing with gravity. He should be expected to behave like a rapacious corporate monster because that is what he is.
Where people have a right to expect far more, however, is from those notionally elected to look after their interests. The trouble with the Christian right is that it tends to be neither, runs a popular diss, and you could say the same for our "political elite". They are as cackiavellian as they are bottom-flight.
Indeed, Murdoch's contempt for politicians seems largely borne of the embarrassing ease with which he is able to persuade them to fawn over him. "I wish they'd leave me alone," he lamented of a succession of prime ministers during last year's select committee testimony.
For Leveson he removed one glove, sweetly observing that Gordon Brown was unbalanced, but reserving his most insouciantly withering dismissals for the current prime minister. Did he find David Cameron a "lightweight" on his first meeting, he was asked? A pause. "Not then," came the reply. Cameron's needy dash to pay homage at his holiday yacht was treated with the faux-pity it deserved. "Mr Cameron might have thought stopping in Santorini might impress me, I don't know," Murdoch sighed – the unspoken "It didn't" hanging derisively in the air.
14/ The President went on the Jimmy Kimmel show to "Slow Jam the News", and if you were wondering what that meant here is the 5 minute clip.....amusing.....
Of course Fox News went apeshit over this blatant pandering to young voters.....TS boys.....
15/ One of the ways we are gradually being forced to be accepting of the rule of the oligarchy is fear.....and a minor yet truly annoying part of this is the TSA Airport Security facade.....in this story TSA agents threaten to shut down a Kansas airport because a 4 year old girl got frightened and ran to her grandmother......
Be afraid......that's what they want.......
Michelle Brademeyer says Transportation Security Administration officers at Wichita’s airport treated her 4-year-old daughter like a terrorist.
The TSA says its officers followed proper procedures, and the agency denies part of Brademeyer’s version of what happened around noon April 15 at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport.
In an interview with The Eagle on Tuesday, Brademeyer said she is telling her story, which has drawn attention from overseas media after she wrote about it on her Facebook page, “because other kids shouldn’t be treated like this.”
In a detailed e-mail and in the interview, the 27-year-old said it happened like this: She, her 4-year-old daughter, Isabella, and her 6-year-old son, Oliver, were in the Wichita airport, headed back to Montana after her brother’s wedding at Exploration Place. The children’s maternal grandmother was taking the same flight on her way back to California. The children went through security screening with no problem, but their grandmother set off the alarm. Officers asked the grandmother to sit to the side and wait for a pat-down.
That’s when Isabella saw her grandmother and “excitedly ran over to give her a hug, as children often do,” Brademeyer said. Their contact lasted a few seconds, she said.
But the transportation security officers “responded to this very simple action in the worst way imaginable,” she said.
16/ Lake County's own Lauren Ritchie with a damn good article about our local schools and how the Lake School Board is going to allow "inspirational messages", code for prayer, in our public schools.
So Lake County, tied for 44th out of 67 counties for academic performance in Florida [49th out of 50 states - Mississippi is worse] is being distracted away from trying to improve our abysmal scores by an irrelevant issue like school prayer.......
Good article - you can tell she is passionate about this issue as we all should be......
School district officials all over Central Florida have said they won't be taking advantage of a new law that would allow students to give "inspirational messages" — including prayers — at school functions.
All except Lake County, that is.
This summer, the School Board will consider whether to create a policy that sticks the toes of the district into the roiling caldron of religious debate.
This is just another absurd non-issue on which school district officials can focus to keep public attention away from the fact that the academic performance of Lake students is among the worst in Florida.
In January, Lake tied with two other counties for the illustrious spot of No. 44 among 67 in academicperformance. That puts Lake at the top of the bottom third of the state's public-school system, which for years has been the butt of jokes across the nation.
So far, board members haven't even had a substantive conversation about the fact that kids here aren't learning. But they are planning to talk about how prayer, banned by a 1962 Supreme Court ruling, can be sneaked back into schools.
Here's what they ought to sneak back into schools: math.
Prayer is already there. Nothing bars students from praying, even in groups, provided that they don't disturb the education or activities of fellow students. So, for example, a student has always been able to say a blessing over lunch. What isn't permitted is for a principal to begin the lunch hour with a public prayer.
And that's as it should be in a country where citizens practice dozens of different — often conflicting — religions, or no religion at all. There is only one reason to insist on public worship outside a church, and that is to recruit followers. Do it somewhere else. Public schools are paid for by all people, and all people have a right to expect their children learn to read and write, not pray.
Todays video - three Bud Light commercials.......
Todays medical joke
During my physical, my doctor asked me about my daily activity level, and so I described a typical day this way:
"Well, yesterday afternoon, I waded along the edge of a lake, drank eight beers, escaped from wild dogs in the heavy brush, marched up and down several rocky hills, stood in a patch of poison ivy, crawled out of quicksand, jumped away from an aggressive rattlesnake and took four "leaks" behind big trees."
Inspired by the story, the doctor said, "You must be one hell of an outdoors man!"
"No," I replied, "I'm just a very shitty golfer."
Todays blonde joke
The shopkeeper replied with a sly smile, 'Well, little lady, why don't you go give it a try?'
The blonde headed off to the swamp, determined to catch an alligator. Later in the day, the shopkeeper was driving home, and spotted the young woman standing waist deep in the murky water, shotgun in hand.
He saw a huge 9-foot gator swimming rapidly toward her. With lightning reflexes, the blond took aim, shot the creature and hauled it up onto the slippery bank.
Nearby were 7 more dead gators all lying belly up. The shopkeeper watched in amazement as the blond struggled with the gator.
Then, rolling her eyes, she screamed in frustration...
Sonofabitch!!! THIS ONE'S BAREFOOT, TOO!
Todays Canadian joke
Siamese twins walk into a bar in Toronto and park themselves on a bar stool. One of them says to the bartender, "Don't mind us; we're joined at the hip. I'm John, he's Jim. Two Molson Canadian beers, draft please."
The bartender, feeling slightly awkward, tries to make polite conversation while pouring the beers. "Been on holiday yet, lads?"
"Off to England next month," says John. "We go to England every year, rent a car and drive for miles. Don't we, Jim?" Jim agrees.
"Ah, England!" says the bartender. "Wonderful country... The history, the beer, the culture..."
"Nah, we don't like that British stuff," says John. "Hamburgers and Molson's beer, that's us, hey Jim? And we can't stand the English - they're so arrogant and rude."
"So why keep going to England, eh?" asks the bartender.
"It's the only chance Jim gets to drive."
