1/ We really have no idea how the majority, yes the majority of Americans live.....Paul Krugman with an excellent column on the willful blindness of our governing class to the struggles of everyday people.
I normally include the beginning of every story as a teaser to get you to read it......here I will give you a sentence that will shock you.....
And something that even startled me: 47 percent said that they would not have the resources to meet an unexpected expense of $400 — $400! They would have to sell something or borrow to meet that need, if they could meet it at all.
One of his best columns ever, and it begins.....
America remains, despite the damage inflicted by the Great Recession and its aftermath, a very rich country. But many Americans are economically insecure, with little protection from life’s risks. They frequently experience financial hardship; many don’t expect to be able to retire, and if they do retire have little to live on besides Social Security.
Many readers will, I hope, find nothing surprising in what I just said. But all too many affluent Americans — and, in particular, members of our political elite — seem to have no sense of how the other half lives. Which is why a new study on the financial well-being of U.S. households, conducted by the Federal Reserve, should be required reading inside the Beltway.
Before I get to that study, a few words about the callous obliviousness so prevalent in our political life.
2/ John Oliver did a piece on FIFA about three months ago which brought some awareness to the corruption at this Agency, but with the arrests of the top management of FIFA he continued last Sunday with a campaign to oust Sepp Blatter the President of the cabal......
This is a classic Comedic news reporting segment, and it's one of his best. He stays in character, lots of zingers and jokes, and gets the point across which is the only way this dipshit will ever go is if the sponsors get him out.
Update - Olivers story worked - Blatter resigned Tuesday........
It's still worth watching - a funny 16 minutes.....
Last year, John Oliver introduced Americans to the gleefully corrupt world of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, a.k.a. FIFA, and how they really don’t care about anything other than making boatloads of money. Last week, he was vindicated when the U.S. Department of Justice, a.k.a. the people who care least about soccer, issued a 164-page indictment against the organization and arrested a slew of its top executives. “That’s like finding out that Ke$ha arrested a group of bankers involved in commodities fraud,” he joked.
After explaining the players in the fraud (including FIFA snitch Chuck Blazer, a man who looks like “Bad Santa”, Mr. Jack “Not the Onion” Warner, and Evil FIFA President Sepp Blatter), Oliver listed the extent of FIFA’s corruption and cruelty. Blatter, for instance, is the kind of guy who would make women play World Cup soccer on Astroturf, which bangs up people’s legs something awful: “The last time an athlete’s legs were beaten up that badly in advance of an major competition was when Tonya Harding was unwilling to settle for silver.” But Blatter may be best known for inexplicably granting the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, which has seen nearly 1,200 people die during the construction of its stadium.
Oliver was hardly surprised that Blatter subsequently won re-election, one day after the massive wave of arrests, due to the weird profit-sharing system of FIFA, in which every country gets the same amount of money regardless of their population. With that, he cheered on America and begged them to arrest Blatter, because that would do more for the American image abroad than anything else. “Imagine if the Dutch suddenly found a reason to extradite Donald Trump,” he explained.
“The problem is all the arrests in the world are going to change nothing if Blatter’s still there, because to truly kill a snake you must cut off its head—or in this case, its asshole,” the HBO host said.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/
3/ Dennis Hastert, the former Speaker of the House under "George W" was arrested this week for some interesting charges to do with paying millions to someone who was blackmailing him......
If you thought this story was weird, you're right, but not in the way you might think. Glenn Greenwald with a most interesting take on the prosecution of Hastert, and why it reflects so badly on our "justice" system.....
Bush-era House Speaker Denny Hastert, who was indicted yesterday, is a living, breathing embodiment of everything sleazy and wrong with U.S. politics. That is highlighted not only by his central role in enabling every War on Terror excess, but also by this fact:
Hastert’s ability to make such large cash payments probably came from his career as a K Street lobbyist. He entered Congress in 1987 with a net worth of no more than $270,000 and then exited worth somewhere between $4 million and $17 million, according to congressional disclosure documents.
That common arc is more of an indictment of U.S. political culture than Hastert himself, but he’s certainly been happily and hungrily feeding at the trough. A political system that essentially ensures that every powerful political official becomes extremely rich is one that is inherently corrupt — as we’ve been taught for decades about those Bad Other Countries — and that is the most interesting and most important part of this story.
But Hastert was not indicted for any of that. Nor was he indicted for the alleged, unspecified “past misconduct” against an unnamed person to whom he agreed to pay $3.5 million to keep concealed.
4/ Contrast this way the justice system treated Hastert with the following story from Matt Taibbi.....on how a young black guy was harassed and arrested by police for BS charges, only to be cleared by video.....watch it yourself, and decide whether he did anything bad to the officers.....
This happens all the time folks.....another great story from Matt Taibbi.......
This police video isn't action-packed. It's not a dramatic institutional killing captured by a bystander, as in the Eric Garner or Walter Scott cases.
But if you want to understand where the pent-up anger toward police in inner-city neighborhoods comes from, scenes like this – showing the lead-up to the arrest of an 18-year-old from East New York named Jaleel Fields – are a big part of the equation.
This video shows "the everyday harassment kids who grow up like Jaleel go through," says Martha Grieco, Fields' attorney. "The cops treat them like garbage from the jump and then lie about it with zero consequences."
The criminal case that resulted from this action is now sealed, so the NYPD is not commenting on it, as noted in Why Baltimore Blew Up, where this incident is mentioned as an example of the reasons behind the widespread discontent toward police. That feature is also being released on RollingStone.com today.
The following account comes from the elevator video and allegations in a civil lawsuit Fields filed in federal court in Brooklyn against the city and the two officers (which resulted in a $50,000 settlement), along with interviews with Fields and Martha Grieco about the case.
In the lawsuit, Fields accused the city and the two officers of violating his civil rights by falsely arresting and maliciously prosecuting him and using excessive force. A spokesman for the New York City Law Department, which represented the officers in the civil suit, declined to comment on the specifics of the case, saying only, "After reviewing all the evidence, we determined that a settlement was in the best interest of the city."
5/ Time for a guy video - the best fails of 2014 from TwisterNederland where things, people and creatures get damaged......a lot of the people are, of course, drunk!
Twelve minutes of pain and expensive accidents......
6/ I had to put this in, just for the title....
"10 Reasons Walmart Is The Worst Company In America".....
Well written, informative and will remind you why you hate the Walton family and never, EVER go to Walmart......
It’s important that people remember just how toxic Walmart’s views on unions are, but it’s also important not to forget all of their other equally problematic corporate policies. For Walmart, unions are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to atrocities.
To that end, here’s a quick rundown of all the other reasons the company is so awful.
1) Walmart hurts local communities
Of all of Walmart’s egregious practices overtime, this is the one that’s probably the most well-known. For additional evidence, check out the 2005 documentary, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price. Many people are aware that when Walmart comes to town, the company drives out smaller mom-and-pop businesses, but what not everybody realizes is that the presence of Walmart actually does little to bolster the economy of local communities in the long run either.
7/ One of the funniest four minutes you will ever see and hear......his list of country songs is wonderful, and then he sings "If my nose was running money, I'd blow it all on you!"
A great Redneck song.....
8/ This story is an indictment of both our medical system and Big Pharma......
Why French Kids Don't Have ADHD
French children don't need medications to control their behavior
In the United States, at least 9 percent of school-aged children have been diagnosed with ADHD, and are taking pharmaceutical medications. In France, the percentage of kids diagnosed and medicated for ADHD is less than .5 percent. How has the epidemic of ADHD—firmly established in the U.S.—almost completely passed over children in France?
Is ADHD a biological-neurological disorder? Surprisingly, the answer to this question depends on whether you live in France or in the U.S. In the United States, child psychiatrists consider ADHD to be a biological disorder with biological causes. The preferred treatment is also biological—psycho stimulant medications such as Ritalin and Adderall.
French child psychiatrists, on the other hand, view ADHD as a medical condition that has psycho-social and situational causes. Instead of treating children's focusing and behavioral problems with drugs, French doctors prefer to look for the underlying issue that is causing the child distress—not in the child's brain but in the child's social context. They then choose to treat the underlying social context problem with psychotherapy or family counseling. This is a very different way of seeing things from the American tendency to attribute all symptoms to a biological dysfunction such as a chemical imbalance in the child's brain.
9/ Amy Schumer is a funny lady, but she really is out there. Here she is at the UK Glamour awards, giving a speech off the cuff with dirty lady jokes galore.....Mary thought it was disgusting, I didn't think it was that funny [a guy thing?] but the women in the audience thought Schumer was hilarious.
Five edgy minutes.....
From defending accused serial rapist Bill Cosby to making out with fellow comedian Tina Fey, Amy Schumer‘s sketches, live performances and stand-up routines have quickly become enjoyable Internet fodder. So of course we’re not surprised that a YouTube video of her Glamour Awards acceptance speech at the magazine’s annual “Women of the Year” gala is going viral.
Though “viral” might not be the best word choice, considering Schumer’s unscripted tangents about everything from period and puberty jokes, to the inability of the British men in the audience to crack a smile.
10/ Before you read the next story about the new CBS show "The Briefcase", watch this one minute clip from the wonderful George Carlin......
11/ "The Briefcase" has an evil premise - it pits two poor families against each other, and the audience sees the result of the stress and pain that ensues.....
It's part of the campaign by the oligarchy to humiliate the poor and give the TV masses something to distract them.....
Although it doesn't say this I'll bet a disproportionate amount of the contestants are black or Mexican to give poor whites people to hate.....
A still from "The Briefcase" (Credit: CBS)America’s never-ending war on poor people: Why “The Briefcase” is just the latest assault
If you want to get a sense of what Mahatma Gandhi’s famous “poverty is the worst kind of violence” quotation means for the U.S. today, there are two stories from this past week you should read. One is from Jonathan Cohn, the Huffington Post’s ace health care reporter. The other is from Margaret Lyons, Vulture’s insightful television critic. Taken together, these two pieces offer a decent sketch of how America’s economy and its culture work together to relentlessly make poor people feel like shit.
Let’s start with Cohn’s piece, which takes a look at a new study from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The study is based on five years’ worth of results from an in-person survey run by the National Health Interview Survey and, as Cohn writes, it “demonstrates, in vivid terms, something that public health experts have known for a while.” Namely, that the closer you are to being poor, the higher the chances are that you’re suffering from what the public health field calls “serious psychological distress” — something of a catchall term for common forms of mental illness.
The difference isn’t small, either. Nearly 9 percent of people with incomes below the poverty line (around $20,000 for a three-person family) said they suffered from “serious psychological distress.”
12/ Remember the earthquake in Haiti? How the country poured money into the Red Cross relief efforts? Even in Mount Dora there was a rally, and lots of money was raised for the Red Cross including some of mine. But did you ever wonder what happened with the funds we all gave to the Haitian people?
If you did, this story will make you sick. And angry......
THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF CAMPECHE sprawls up a steep hillside in Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince. Goats rustle in trash that goes forever uncollected. Children kick a deflated volleyball in a dusty lot below a wall with a hand-painted logo of the American Red Cross.
In late 2011, the Red Cross launched a multimillion-dollar project to transform the desperately poor area, which was hit hard by the earthquake that struck Haiti the year before. The main focus of the project — called LAMIKA, an acronym in Creole for “A Better Life in My Neighborhood” — was building hundreds of permanent homes.
Today, not one home has been built in Campeche. Many residents live in shacks made of rusty sheet metal, without access to drinkable water, electricity or basic sanitation. When it rains, their homes flood and residents bail out mud and water.
The Red Cross received an outpouring of donations after the quake, nearly half a billion dollars.
13/ We recently watched this HBO Documentary "Southern Rites, and it was excellent......a look at a Southern town and a tragic killing of a young black man. It's complicated, certainly not a knee slapper but if you want to see the reality of our race issues in Dixie America watch this movie....
It's on HBO and HBO-GO for a fee.....
SOUTHERN RITES (May 18) visits Montgomery County, Ga., one year after the town merged its racially segregated proms, and during a historic election campaign that may lead to its first African-American sheriff. Acclaimed photographer Gillian Laub, whose photos first brought the area unwanted notoriety, documents the repercussions when a white town resident is charged with the murder of a young black man. The case divides locals along well-worn racial lines, and the ensuing plea bargain and sentencing uncover complex truths and produce emotional revelations.
Here's the trailer......
14/ We love Mount Dora, but a minor downside is that we have representing us in the Florida Legislature two of the most abysmal politicians out of the whole collection of Floriduh idiots. Our State Rep is Jennifer Sullivan, 23 years old and a Christian/Tea Party legislator whose first bill was [of course] a Bill that makes it more difficult to get an abortion.
She's bad enough, but our State Senator is Alan Hays, a heartless, stupid, angry old white bigot, the worst of the lot. This is the dickweed that tried to have our local bus service cancelled because he had to wait behind a bus for 30 seconds.
Anyway an excellent column from Lauren Ritchie who explains his latest outrage....
A special session of the Legislature is going on in Tallahassee because state representatives walked out like petulant children on April 28 instead of staying to hammer out a budget.
It is the first time in 23 years the Legislature adjourned without even a preliminary budget that could be negotiated by committee.
such as whether to expand the Medicaid program to get billions in federal funding and how much money should be spent on education. The two chambers are about $1 billion apart on that last one.
And there is Amendment 1, which seems like to get lost in this 20-day free-for-all.
Voters in November approved the ballot initiative that requires 33 percent of the proceeds from an already-existing real-estate tax called documentary stamps to be spent on buying property for land and water conservation and to maintain those properties. The amendment was designed to bolster the Florida Forever program, a popular land-buying initiative that all but disappeared under Gov. Rick Scott's budget cuts.
15/ Rolling Stone looks at what's ahead for summer TV......
True Detective is coming back on HBO, but there are a lot more shows and interestingly enough very few of them are on network TV......you have to do your homework to find decent stuff to watch these days, so here is todays assignment.
Wet Hot TV Summer Preview: From 'True Detective' to Caitlyn Jenner
Everything you need to know about this season's smoking-hot must-see TV shows
(E!; Lacey Terrell/HBO)
Yes, it's our guide to the summer's most hotly awaited cable shows — from the time-is-a-flat-circle return of True Detective to the emancipation of Caitlyn Jenner. Some of this season's contenders are brand new; others are veteran franchises back with a new twist or two. There's the Wachowskis gone spiritual and the dawn of the Walking Dead zombies, spy thrillers and sci-fi fantasies, hip-hop gangstas and powder-wig wizards and blunt talkers and difficult people. And of course, the first day of camp for Wet Hot American Summer, returning at long last. Summer TV is ready when you are.
Todays video - the famous waitress tipping scene from "Reservoir Dogs", the Quentin Tarantino film.......two tense minutes.....
Todays joke for the ladies
Dan was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family business. When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father died, he decided he needed to find a wife with whom to share his fortune.
One evening, at an investment meeting, he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her natural beauty took his breath away.
One evening, at an investment meeting, he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her natural beauty took his breath away.
"I may look like just an ordinary guy," he said to her, "But in just a few years my father will die and I will inherit £200 million".
Impressed, the woman asked for his business card and three days later, she became his stepmother.
Women are so much better at financial planning than men.
Impressed, the woman asked for his business card and three days later, she became his stepmother.
Women are so much better at financial planning than men.
Todays classic Jewish jokes
A car hit an elderly Jewish man.
The Paramedic says, "Are you comfortable? "
The man says, "I make a good living."
I just got back from a pleasure trip. I took my mother-in-law to the airport.
I've been in love with the same woman for 49 years. If my wife finds out, she'll kill me!
Someone stole all my credit cards, but I won't be reporting it. The thief spends less than my wife did.
We always hold hands. If I let go, she shops.
My wife and I went to a hotel where we got a waterbed. My wife calls it the Dead Sea .
My wife and I revisited the hotel where we spent our wedding night.
This time I was the one who stayed in the bathroom and cried.
My Wife was at the beauty shop for two hours. That was only for the estimate.
The Doctor gave a man six months to live. The man couldn't pay his bill, so the Doctor gave him another six months.
The Doctor called Mrs. Cohen saying, "Mrs. Cohen, your cheque came back."
Mrs. Cohen replied, "So did my Arthritis!"
Doctor: "You'll live to be 60!"
Patient: "I AM 60!"
Doctor: "See! What did I tell you?"
A Doctor held a stethoscope up to a man's chest. The manasks, "Doc, how do I stand? "
The Doctor says, "That's what puzzles me!"
Patient: "I have a ringing in my ears. "
Doctor: "Don't answer!"
A drunk was in front of a Judge. The Judge says,
"You've been brought here for drinking. "
The drunk says, "Okay, let's get started."
Why do Jewish Divorces cost so much?
They're worth it.
Why do Jewish men die before their wives?
They want to.
The Harvard School of Medicine did a study of why Jewish women like Chinese food so much. The study revealed that the reason for this is because Won Ton spelled backward is
Not Now.
There is a big controversy on the Jewish view of when life
begins.
In Jewish tradition, the fetus is not considered viable until it
graduates from Law School.
Q : Why don't Jewish mothers drink?
A : Alcohol interferes with their suffering.
Q : Have you seen the newest Jewish-American-Princess horror movie?
A : It's called, "Debbie Does Dishes."
Q : Why do Jewish mothers make great Parole Officers?
A : They never let anyone finish a sentence.
A man called his mother in Florida . "Mom, how are you?
"Not too good," said the mother. "I've been very weak. " The son said, “Why are you so weak?"
She said, "Because I haven't eaten in 38 days."
The son said, "That's terrible. Why haven't you eaten in 38 days?"
The mother answered, "Because, I didn't want my mouth to be full in case you should call."
A Jewish man said that when he was growing up, they always had two choices for dinner - Take it or leave it.
A Jewish boy comes home from school and tells his mother he has a part in the play.
She asks, "What part is it?"
The boy says, “I play the part of the Jewish husband.
" The mother scowls and says, "Go back and tell the teacher you want a speaking part."
Q : Where does a Jewish husband hide money from his wife?
A : Under the vacuum cleaner.
Q : How many Jewish mothers does it take to change a light bulb?
A : (Sigh) "Don't bother. I'll sit in the dark. I don't want to be a nuisance to anybody."
A Jewish mother gives her son a blue shirt and a brown shirt for his birthday. On the next visit, he wears the brown one. The mother says, "What's the matter already? Didn't you like the blue one?"
Q : What's the difference between a Rottweiler and a Jewish mother?
A : Eventually, the Rottweiler lets go.
Q : Why are Jewish Men circumcised?
A : Because Jewish women don't like anything that isn't 20% off.
Todays Swedish joke
Todays Swedish joke
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