In the previous DDD we said you should avoid Tropicana products because it's parent company Pepsico contributed heavily to defeating the California GMO labelling initiative. That's a good reason, but please also note Tropicana's oranges are grown in Brazil......buy Florida Natural instead......
Thanks to one of our alert readers for pointing this out......
1/ Paul Krugman with an insightful summary of why and how the elites won't admit the austerity policies they have been pushing are dead wrong.....
But you see this all the time - innocent men are kept in prison and even executed because prosecutors will NOT admit they made a mistake.....in the case of our idiotic economic policies Krugman hasn't mentioned that the oligarchs are pursuing austerity for a bigger reason - to reduce 90% of Americans to indentured serfdom......
Just saying......
At this point the economic case for austerity — for slashing government spending even in the face of a weak economy — has collapsed. Claims that spending cuts would actually boost employment by promoting confidence have fallen apart. Claims that there is some kind of red line of debt that countries dare not cross have turned out to rest on fuzzy and to some extent just plain erroneous math. Predictions of fiscal crisis keep not coming true; predictions of disaster from harsh austerity policies have proved all too accurate.
Yet calls for a reversal of the destructive turn toward austerity are still having a hard time getting through. Partly that reflects vested interests, for austerity policies serve the interests of wealthy creditors; partly it reflects the unwillingness of influential people to admit being wrong. But there is, I believe, a further obstacle to change: widespread, deep-seated cynicism about the ability of democratic governments, once engaged in stimulus, to change course in the future.
So now seems like a good time to point out that this cynicism, which sounds realistic and worldly-wise, is actually sheer fantasy. Ending stimulus has never been a problem — in fact, the historical record shows that it almost always ends too soon. And in America, at least, we have a pretty good record for behaving in a fiscally responsible fashion, with one exception — namely, the fiscal irresponsibility that prevails when, and only when, hard-line conservatives are in power.
2/ The excellent Frank Rich on last week's issues, including why the President hasn't used his executive powers to close Guantanamo prison, where the majority of the inmates are on hunger strike. Bloody good question......
- 5/1/13 at 12:52 PM
- 10Comments
Frank Rich on the National Circus: Obama Needs to Make Up for His Gitmo Failure
- By Frank Rich
Every week, New York Magazine writer-at-large Frank Rich talks with contributor Eric Benson about the biggest stories in politics and culture. This week: President Obama re-commits to closing Gitmo, Mayor Bloomberg disses the Times, and Jason Collins comes out.
President Obama announced yesterday that he was recommitting himself to closing the Guantánamo Bay prison. Of the 166 inmates, 100 are now on a hunger strikeand 21 of those are being force-fed to keep them alive. Is there any reason to believe Obama will make good on his pledge five years after he first made it? Obama’s inability to redeem his 2008 campaign promise to close Gitmo is not all his fault: Congress imposed roadblocks, including a prohibition on giving the prisoners civilian trials. But it is a real failure of presidential leadership even so, given Obama's many missed opportunities, including his weirdly passive refusal to be proactive in dealing with the 86 inmates who've been cleared by our own intelligence agencies for transfer out. It’s hard to see how he can let the status quo, or anything like it, stand now. This pointless facility has long been a blight on our national security; its mockery of our country’s ostensible humanitarian and legal principles serves as a rallying cry for anti-American rage throughout the world. The notion of American doctors force-feeding prisoners who want to kill themselves is a further danger to the nation’s interests even leaving aside the moral calamity. And Obama has the political clout to take action: Though his approval ratings are lately lackluster (at 47 percent), a new Times-CBS News poll shows that 56 percent of voters approve of his handling of terrorism. (The same poll shows that only 24 percent want America to intervene in Syria.) For all the roseate nostalgia that greeted the opening of the Bush Presidential Library last week, we are no longer in Bush and Cheney’s America. As far as Guantánamo goes, Obama can ignore the neo-con dead-enders of the McCain-Graham school and start using the executive powers he has weirdly neglected so far; he can lobby Congress on the rest.
3/ A very good Bill Maher - four minutes of amusing wisdom.........one of our sharpest political commentators.......
4/ Matt Taibbi with some good news in the financial sector - momentum is building for some action to be take on "Too Big To Fail" banks, and there is a simple, clear bill with bipartisan support being introduced in the Senate.....
Minds are changing on Too Big to Fail. A month ago, it was just something in the air. Now, it looks like we're headed for a real legislative confrontation. And man, is the finance sector freaking.
Last week, on April 24th, Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Louisiana Republican David Vitter introduced legislation called the "Terminating Bailouts for Taxpayer Fairness Act of 2013 Act," or the "Brown-Vitter TBTF Act" for short. The bill is a gun aimed directly at the head of the Too-Big-To-Fail beast.
During the Dodd-Frank negotiations a few years ago, Brown teamed up with Delaware Democrat Ted Kaufman to introduce an amendment that would have physically capped the size of the biggest banks. The amendment was bold and righteous but was slaughtered on the floor by a 61-33 margin, undermined by leaders of both parties – 27 Democrats voted against it.
Brown-Vitter offers a different and, in a way, more elegant solution to the problem than Brown-Kaufman. Rather than impose size limits, it simply insists that banks with over $500 billion in assets maintain higher capital reserves than are currently required. Companies like J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Bank of America will have to keep capital reserves of about 15 percent, about twice the current amount.
The bill only has such tough requirements for just those few megabanks, which sounds unfair, except that the aim of the bill, precisely, is to level the playing field. Right now, the biggest U.S. banks enjoy a massive inherent market advantage in that they're able to borrow money far more cheaply than other banks, because everybody on earth knows the government will never let them fail and will always bail them out in a pinch, making their debt essentially U.S.-government guaranteed. Studies have shown that these banks borrow money at about 0.8 percent more cheaply than other banks, and that this implicit government subsidy is worth about $83 billion a year just to the top 10 banks in America. This bill would essentially wipe out that hidden subsidy and make the banks bailout-proof.
As soon as Brown-Vitter was introduced, a very interesting thing happened. The Independent Community Bankers of America, or ICBA, issued a press release boosting the bill. "ICBA strongly supports this legislation," the release read, "and urges all community banks to join the association in advocating passage of legislation to end too-big-to-fail."
This was a big thing. It was the first time since the crisis that a prominent financial industry group opposed the will of the TBTF banks. I remember covering Dodd-Frank and being told by a number of members in the House and the Senate that the sentiment of many community bankers was for breaking up or at least curtailing the power of companies like Chase and Bank of America, but that the community banking lobby was not yet prepared to take that step.
But now, after the London Whale, the LIBOR scandal, the outrageous HSBC settlement and nearly five years of rapacious market-dominating behavior by these state-backed banks, the community banks have finally split off from TBTF.
http://www.rollingstone.com/
5/ One of our favourite SNL themes is when they parody "Fox and Friends", and this one isn't the best, but still good......four minutes.......check out the list of corrections at the end.......
6/ Jon Stewart with commentary on one of the most pathetic old white men in the Senate - Lindsey Graham, McCain's buddy......
Four good minutes.......
If Lindsey Graham has his way, the U.S. soon will be fighting four wars. Let's hope we're punching our card, so we can get that free one when we reach ten.
On Tuesday, Jon Stewart took a look at Obama's "red line" that Syria may or may not have crossed by using chemical weapons, and then took apart the Republican march to war, but not "boots on the ground" war. Apparently, we'll be fighting this one with "remote freedom magic."
But Stewart gave Graham some credit when he said we just have to get the right weapons to the right people. "Oh, the right weapons to the right people... maybe we could do background checks."
7/ This describes McCain and Graham to a T - as well as being ironic......
APRIL 29, 2013
REPUBLICANS: OBAMA MUST TAKE ACTION IN SYRIA SO WE CAN CRITICIZE ACTION HE TOOK IN SYRIA
POSTED BY ANDY BOROWITZ
8/ A wonderful song from the Book of Mormon, "Hello", performed at the 2012 Tony awards......
9/ Great article from the Times, on how some of the the Republicans in the House [Louie Gohmert!] are certifiably crazy, and why they keep getting elected......
Not long ago, the congressman from northeast Texas, Louie Gohmert, was talking about how the trans-Alaska oil pipeline improved the sex lives of certain wild animals — in his mind, the big tube was an industrial-strength aphrodisiac. “When the caribou want to go on a date,” he told a House hearing, “they invite each other to head over to the pipeline.”
Gohmert, consistently on the short list for the most off-plumb member of Congress, has said so many crazy things that this assertion passed with little comment. Last year, he blamed a breakdown of Judeo-Christian values for the gun slaughter at a cinema in Colorado. Last week, he claimed the Muslim Brotherhood had deep influence in the Obama administration, and that the attorney general — the nation’s highest law enforcer — sympathized with terrorists.
You may wonder how he gets away with this. You may also wonder how Gohmert can run virtually unopposed in recent elections. The answer explains why we have an insular, aggressively ignorant House of Representatives that is not at all representative of the public will, let alone the makeup of the country.
Much has been said about how the great gerrymander of the people’s House — part of a brilliant, $30 million Republican action plan at the state level — has now produced a clot of retrograde politicians who are comically out of step with a majority of Americans. It’s not just that they oppose things like immigration reform and simple gun background checks for violent felons, while huge majorities support them.
Much has been said about how the great gerrymander of the people’s House — part of a brilliant, $30 million Republican action plan at the state level — has now produced a clot of retrograde politicians who are comically out of step with a majority of Americans. It’s not just that they oppose things like immigration reform and simple gun background checks for violent felons, while huge majorities support them.
10/ I am including this to illustrate how stupid the red states in the middle of the country are - having endured the worst drought in living memory, they are now having torrential rains and floods, with the Mississippi and Missouri rivers at flood stages......
But an overwhelming majority of fine god-fearing citizens in these states don't believe in climate change.......it just boggles the mind how easily manipulated they are by the climate deniers......
CHICAGO — The nation’s midsection, which was for months parched by severe drought, suddenly finds itself contending with the opposite: severe flooding that has forced evacuations, slowed commercial barge traffic down the Mississippi River and left farmers with submerged fields during a crucial planting time.
11/ All you have to say with this story is.....Kentucky. Look at the video......
And remember the boy was given the gun that killed his sister at age 4.......
A Kentucky mother stepped outside of her home just for a few minutes, but it was long enough for her 5-year-old son to accidentally shoot and kill his 2-year-old sister with the .22-caliber rifle he got for his birthday, state officials said.
The shooting that took the life of Caroline Sparks in southern Kentucky has been ruled an accident, Kentucky State Police Trooper Billy Gregory said.
"It's just one of those nightmares," he said, "a quick thing that happens when you turn your back."
Young children in the area are often introduced to guns at an early age, Gregory said.
12/ Not sure if this is completely true, but it certainly might be. David Sirota in a column says we can make great progress on the climate change issue by eating 25% less meat........
And look at the last paragraph.......what conservatives might do........
In case you missed the news, humanity just spent the Earth Day week reaching another sad milestone in the history of catastrophic climate change: For the first time, measurements of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere surpassed 400 parts per million — aka way above what our current ecosystem can handle.
Actually, you probably did miss the news because most major media outlets didn't cover it in a serious way, if at all. Instead, they and their audiences evidently view such information as far less news-, buzz- and tweet-worthy than (among other things) the opening of George W. Bush's library and President Obama's jokes at the White House Correspondents Dinner.
Here's the good news, though: The fastest way to reduce climate change shouldn't seem impossible, because it requires no massive new investments, technological breakthroughs or long-term infrastructure projects. According to data compiled by former World Bank advisers Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang, it just requires us all to eat fewer animal products.
13/ British pop diva Elle Goulding with "Lights".......a traditional music video, but she's cute as a button, has great legs and it's a pretty good song.....
14/ Anyone from the cruise industry reading this? You might be interested in this essay by a former cruise ship staffer......quite good, and very descriptive.....
There's a good book waiting to happen on this subject.......
I lived on cruise ships for three years.
That’s three years of tropical ports, theme parties and a state of perpetual tan. Three years of free world travel, sunsets on the water, and first class martinis. Three years of dancing late into the night, having complete creative freedom, and long conversations with people from countries you thought were made up.
It is also three years of crew food, early morning emergency drills, and hangovers. Three years of a closet sized cabin with no windows, roommates you have no say in, and egotistical men from cultures not comfortable working with women. Three years of holidays away from home, guest complaints and living on ship time.
Todays video - three reasons to quit drinking......
Todays nun joke
TWO NUNS WERE SHOPPING AT A 711 STORE.
AS THEY PASSED BY THE BEER COOLER, ONE NUN SAID TO THE OTHER, "WOULDN'T A NICE COOL BEER OR TWO TASTE WONDERFUL ON A HOT SUMMER EVENING?"THE SECOND NUN ANSWERED,"INDEED IT WOULD, SISTER. BUT I WOULD NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE BUYING BEER SINCE I AM CERTAIN IT WOULD CAUSE A SCENE AT THE CHECKOUT STAND."I CAN HANDLE THAT WITHOUT A PROBLEM", THE OTHER NUN REPLIED, AND SHE PICKED UP A SIX-PACK AND HEADED FOR THE CHECK-OUT.THE CASHIER HAD A SURPRISED LOOK ON HIS FACE WHEN THE TWO NUNS ARRIVED WITH A SIX-PACK OF BEER."WE USE BEER FOR WASHING OUR HAIR." THE NUN SAID, "BACK AT OURNUNNERY, WE CALL IT 'CATHOLIC SHAMPOO'." WITHOUT BLINKING AN EYE,THE CASHIER REACHED UNDER THE COUNTER, PULLED OUT A PACKAGE OF PRETZEL STICKS, AND PLACED THEM IN THE BAG WITH THE BEER.HE THEN LOOKED THE NUN STRAIGHT IN THE EYE, SMILED, AND SAID,"THE CURLERS ARE ON THE HOUSE."
Todays pet joke
A dog lover, whose dog was a female and in heat, agreed to look after her
neighbours' male dog while the neighbours were on vacation. She had a large
house and believed that she could keep the two dogs apart.
neighbours' male dog while the neighbours were on vacation. She had a large
house and believed that she could keep the two dogs apart.
However, as she was drifting off to sleep she heard moaning sounds, rushed
downstairs and found the dogs locked together, in obvious pain and unable to
disengage, as so frequently happens when dogs mate.
Unable to separate them, and perplexed as to what to do next, although
it was late, she called the vet, who answered in a very grumpy voice.
downstairs and found the dogs locked together, in obvious pain and unable to
disengage, as so frequently happens when dogs mate.
Unable to separate them, and perplexed as to what to do next, although
it was late, she called the vet, who answered in a very grumpy voice.
She explained the problem to him, and the vet said,
"Hang up the phone and place it down alongside the dogs. I will then
call you back and the noise of the ringing should make the male lose
his erection and he will withdraw."
"Do you think that will work?" she asked.
"It just worked for me," he replied.
"Hang up the phone and place it down alongside the dogs. I will then
call you back and the noise of the ringing should make the male lose
his erection and he will withdraw."
"Do you think that will work?" she asked.
"It just worked for me," he replied.
Todays golfer joke
As the ambulance takes the body away, Ralph says,
"Well, someone should go and tell his wife."
"Well, someone should go and tell his wife."
Dean says, "OK, I'm pretty good at that sensitive stuff, I'll do it."
Two hours later, he comes back carrying a case of Budweiser .
Ralph says, "Where did you get that beer, Dean ?"
" Jerry’s wife gave it to me," Dean replies.
"That's unbelievable, you told the lady her husband was dead and she gave you beer?"
"Well, not exactly,"Dean says. "When she answered the door, I said to her, you must be Jerry’s widow."
She said "You must be mistaken. I'm not a widow."
I said, "I'll bet you a case of Budweiser you are."
Golfers are good at sensitive stuff.
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