Obviously the big news of the weekend was Paul Ryan as the VP pick......we'll get to this in
more detail in the next DDD, but in the meantime read #2......
1/ The wise man of politics, Frank Rich, with his take on some of the
weeks political stories......starting with the Harry Reid allegations
about the Mittster paying no taxes for 10 years........
Last week, Harry Reid claimed on the Senate floor that Mitt Romney hadn't paid any taxes for ten years. The head of the RNC called Reid a "dirty liar." What's Reid trying to do here?It’s entirely possible that Reid’s incendiary charge has nothing to back it up but (at best) an unsubstantiated rumor. That’s why the GOP is likening him to Joe McCarthy. But there are two important distinctions between Reid and McCarthy. (1) Reid isn’t accusing Romney of being a traitor or even of breaking the law; he’s accusing him of paying no taxes, which can be perfectly legal for the super-rich if loopholes and ingenious accounting schemes align in their favor. (2) While McCarthy’s victims couldn’t empirically and instantly prove that they were not subversives, Romney can easily call Reid’s bluff and prove that he did pay taxes by releasing his tax returns. So if Romney releases his returns, which many Republicans feel he should do anyway as a matter of transparency and good politics, and it turns out Reid is indeed a dirty liar, end of story. Republicans in the Senate can then turn the heat on the Democrats, moving to censure Reid much as McCarthy’s Senate peers ultimately censured him.
The Obama campaign released this 'Romney's taxes" ad last
week.....30 seconds......
It's getting down and dirty folks.....grrrrrreat!
And the President immediately issued this 30 second ad on Sunday
about Romney/Ryan.....
2/ Paul Ryan - absolutely fascinating Matt Taibbi article from Rolling
Stone last year, written when Ryan presented his "bold" budget
proposal in 2011......Matt writes a scathing account of the weasel's
plan, and the media fascination with his awful and dangerous ideas.
But what makes it really interesting is the final part of the article,
which didn't predict anything insane like Ryan being chosen for the
VP slot. Taibbi is as close as we can get to someone telling us how
Washington really works, so Ryan as VP is something new in the
mix......
If you are interested in politics.......read this one......
Paul Ryan, the Republican Party’s latest entrant in the seemingly endless series of young, prickish, over-coiffed, anal-retentive deficit Robespierres they’ve sent to the political center stage in the last decade or so, has come out with his new budget plan. All of these smug little jerks look alike to me – from Ralph Reed to Eric Cantor to Jeb Hensarling to Rand Paul and now to Ryan, they all look like overgrown kids who got nipple-twisted in the halls in high school, worked as Applebee’s shift managers in college, and are now taking revenge on the world as grownups by defunding hospice care and student loans and Sesame Street. They all look like they sleep with their ties on, and keep their feet in dress socks when doing their bi-monthly duty with their wives.
Every few years or so, the Republicans trot out one of these little whippersnappers, who offer proposals to hack away at the federal budget. Each successive whippersnapper inevitably tries, rhetorically, to out-mean the previous one, and their proposals are inevitably couched as the boldest and most ambitious deficit-reduction plans ever seen. Each time, we are told that these plans mark the end of the budgetary reign of terror long ago imposed by the entitlement system begun by FDR and furthered by LBJ.
Never mind that each time the Republicans actually come into power, federal deficit spending explodes and these whippersnappers somehow never get around to touching Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. The key is that for the many years before that moment of truth, before these buffoons actually get a chance to put their money where their lipless little mouths are, they will stomp their feet and scream about how entitlements are bringing us to the edge of apocalypse.
3/ Tom Tomorrow on how Romney is boxed in......and he nails it as
usual.....no wonder the Mittster picked Ryan.......
4/ Clever and fun - the Evian Babies commercial updated......2 1/2
minutes of awesome [GCI] babies......
5/ If you want an example of the complete failure of big media to
expose blatant injustice, it's the lack of coverage of the
disenfranchisement of millions of Americans, with the excuse of
stopping voter fraud. That there is a problem with illegal voting is a
lie, everyone with a brain knows it's a lie but it's just allowed to sit
there. The TV media coverage I saw locally in Orlando was pathetic
- just 15 seconds of Scott at a rally saying there was a problem with
illegal immigrants voting, but no follow-up or questions, leaving you
with the impression there was a problem - because Rick Scott said
so......
It's almost a successful attempt to steal the 2012 election, and if it
wasn't for the legal system and the Justice Department that has
suddenly found a spine they would be getting away with it.....
OK, I feel better now, so here is a good story from the Guardian......
In Washington, conventional wisdom is everything. It's the driver of perceptions, and often of self-fulfilling political prophecies. That's why you might notice a guarded confidence amongst the Obama campaign these past few weeks: generally speaking, most realistic experts predict a victory for the president in this November's election.
This perception is reinforced by current polling, some of the most recent being published by Quinnipiac University, the New York Times and CBS News, giving President Obama an edge over Romney in key states likeOhio, Pennsylvania and Flo
But it's exactly the likely closeness of the race that may turn Washington's conventional wisdom on its head on election day. That's because, until relatively recently, political experts and journalists have been oblivious to a widespread and pernicious phenomenon occurring in many critical swing states – one that, unless checked, could erase Obama's electoral edge.
This phenomenon takes the form of a spate of new voter laws: efforts by Republican governors and Republican-controlled state legislatures to pass restrictive new voting rules just in time for election day. As a result, at least 5 million Americans could essentially lose their right to vote, according to the non-partisan Brennan Center in New York.
It's no surprise that these laws are almost uniformly designed to disenfranchise young people and minorities – the very demographics that make up part of Obama's base. And 5 million votes flagrantly stolen from the Democrats, especially in the swing states where Obama currently has the edge, could easily spell a Romney victory.
The Republican strategy here is simply too blatant to be believed, hence the relatively muted press coverage on the issue. Indeed, while Republican lawmakers have been busy undermining the basic rights of Americans for months now, it was not until recent weeks that th
6/ One of the best political/Fox News Jon Stewarts ever.....if you are
up on the news you will appreciate this......excellent, excellent
clip.....
Note - for some reason it's in two parts.....2 minutes and 6
minutes.....
7/ You're politically savvy, right? You're up on current events, aren't
you? Of course, you read DDD......
Prove it. Take this 11 question test and see how you rank.......
8/ After all of the attack ads, dirty tricks, nasty mailers and other shit
done to Alan Grayson, the GOP has the nerve to criticise him for
doing the kind of things the Republican machine does routinely......
Grayson is putting out ads against the strongest candidate in the
Republican primary so he will run against one of the weaker
ones.......yeay Grayson - about time the Dems started acting like
winners.....
WASHINGTON -- Former Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson has taken an unconventional approach to boosting his bid for Florida's 9th congressional district seat, spending more than $100,000 to attack the man who could be his strongest GOP competitor -- even though Republicans haven't chosen their nominee yet. By weakening John Quiñones, Grayson could help ensure that one of the other three GOP opponents could instead get the party's nomination on Tuesday, likely setting up an easier election for Grayson in November.
This approach, however, has raised the ire of former Florida Gov Jeb Bush (R), who sent a stern warning to Grayson on Friday to stay out of the GOP race.
"I encourage Mr. Grayson to take down his ads, stay out of the Republican primary and let the voters of Central Florida to choose their nominee without his help," Bush said in a statement Friday. "There will be plenty of time for Mr. Grayson to defend his liberal tax-and-spend record in the fall."
9/ Lads - you may have missed this disgusting 2 minute video on
NBC - I am only including it so you know what the rest of the media
are talking about when they condemn NBC for showing it.....this kind
of indecent filth shouldn't be allowed......
10/ Grocery stores all over the country are revising their floor plans
to emphasise the perimeters, because you, you naughty informed
consumer you, are drifting away from the packaged foods with
chemicals in the center sections and buying more fresh foods.......
Perhaps, just maybe, it's sinking in to the American public what
garbage you are eating if you buy Big Ag products......
However......been to Publix recently? You won't see any of
this......our wonderful Central Florida based company ain't too
progressive......all they want to do is beat up on the Messican tomato
pickers......
EAGAN, Minn. — The doors of the Cub Foods grocery store in this middle-class suburban city open onto piles of picture-perfect peaches and nectarines nestled next to jewel-toned plums and grapes.
Around the corner, corn delivered in the morning from a local farm is heaped decoratively on one side of a wide, meandering path that guides shoppers through the produce section and toward the deli counter and sushi bar, where they can catch the aromas of freshly baked breads and doughnuts, a Cub specialty, a little farther away.
“You can pretty much be in Anywhere, U.S.A., in center store, but the perimeter is the fashion side of the grocery business,” said Sharon A. Lessard, chief designer at Supervalu, which operates Cub Foods stores as well as chains like Jewel-Osco, Shaw’s and Albertsons in some markets. “The perimeter is where we can best distinguish ourselves from everyone else.”
By center store, Ms. Lessard meant those long, soldier-straight rows of shelves that have long been the heart of the American grocery store but are now showing signs of the grocery equivalent of atherosclerosis. Shopping and eating patterns are changing, and those changes have threatening implications for the food companies whose shelf-stable products have long filled the center store.
Analysts have been surprised by the volume of sales declines over the last two quarters. Heinz reported a drop of 2.4 percent in its second quarter. Kraft unit sales were down 2.8 percent in its first quarter, and Kellogg said its North American volumes fell 1.7 percent in its second quarter.
With center store sales down, the most forward-looking supermarkets are rethinking the allocation of space — shrinking the staid center and expanding the sexy perimeter.
11/ One of the biggest suprise hits of 2008 was "Taken", with Liam
Neeson as an unlikely action hero battling Albanians for his
daughter......and of course there's a sequel. Like the Afghans and
other hill people, the Albanians must have their revenge.......
Here's the trailer for "Taken 2".......looks gooooood........opening
October 5th........
12/ Wow. Did you hear about this? FEC [Florida East Coast] rail is
building a billion dollar rail line from downtown Miami to Orlando
airport, and it should be open in two years.....the station in Miami will
also connect to the new Metrorail to Miami airport....woop woop....
However......I looked, but can't find who is doing the financing.....who
would loan the FEC a billion for a new rail line? The Chinese? Or is
it the Koch Brothers who want to destroy AmTrack......this theory
was on one of the blogs.....
It’s full-speed ahead on a privately financed, $1 billion plan that will launch fast, hourly passenger rail service between downtown Miami and Orlando by 2014, Florida East Coast Industries officials said.
The All Aboard Florida project promises not just to revolutionize travel between the two cities — there will also be intermediate stops in downtown Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach — but to transform a long-vacant piece of downtown Miami.
FECI, the real estate arm of the conglomerate that also owns the Florida East Coast freight-rail company, will build a new, landmark station and a potentially massive mixed-use development on nine acres of fallow land it owns just north of the Miami-Dade County Courthouse. FECI will also own and operate the new train service, All Aboard Florida, executive Husein Cumber said.
The land is the site of the original train station built by Henry Flagler that gave rise to the city of Miami.
To design the stations, FECI has hired SOM, the giant, famed firm responsible for the new Freedom Tower at Ground Zero in Manhattan. SOM will work in collaboration with the downtown Miami firm of Zyscovich Architects. FECI expects to start construction on the stations and new tracks early next year, Cumber said.
13/ The big movie out now is "The Bourne Legacy", and according
to this review is pretty good......stars Jeremy Renner.....definitely a
guy movie.....
Just before “The Bourne Legacy” gets its game on, the franchise’s new face, played by Jeremy Renner, comes out of the Alaskan wilderness to take refuge in a cabin. There he meets another of his kind, a superspy with a scowl and enough artillery to invade a small country. By the time they’ve grudgingly warmed up to each other an unmanneddrone is blasting everything to bits. It’s an effectively blunt opener for a series that from its start has tracked a different military drone, this one a man fighting to recover first his identity and then his humanity. That you may not remember the name of Mr. Renner’s agent, Aaron Cross, after all the dust finally settles, suggests that the fight goes on.
Less a thrilling franchise reboot than a solid salvage mission, “The Bourne Legacy” is the fourth installment in a series that until now starred Matt Damon as the eponymous spy who, with his near-uncanny wiles, smarts and strength, ran circles around American intelligence agencies and box office rivals both. Superior industrial entertainments, the three previous titles — the first was directed by Doug Liman, the second and third by Paul Greengrass — injected new energy and savvy into American action cinema, which like many of its aging stars had been suffering from blockbuster bloat. The Bourne movies put identifiable human stakes into the action equation, along with a sense of palpable moral outrage, politics and, under Mr. Greengrass’s kinetic watch, increased torque.
Here, then, was an American hero who didn’t wreak random destruction, who didn’t simply light the fuse with a wisecrack and walk away but dug deep into the mystery of why there was a chip in his body and blood on his hands. (Plus: supercool stunts.) Both Mr. Greengrass and Mr. Damon were slated to make another “Bourne,” but when that project fell apart Tony Gilroy, a writer on all three earlier movies, was tapped to take the lead on the franchise. Mr. Gilroy has only two other directing credits, including “Michael Clayton,” a low-key, low-action thriller in which the biggest bangs were from an exploding car and Tilda Swinton’s savage performance as a lawyer.
Trailer is exciting if a little incomprehensible.....stuff blowing up good......
14/ "The Campaign" with Will Ferrell and Zach Galiflanakis......a
typical Ferrell movie, which is to say quite funny, crude and fairly
raunchy....so what's not to like?
“The Campaign” is a comedy about a North Carolina Congressional election. Since it stars Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as rival candidates — you probably know this if you own a television — the movie is obviously not a realistic depiction of the American electoral process. But its relationship to the reality of contemporary politics is nonetheless interesting to consider. Too soft and silly to be satire, too upbeat to be a cautionary tale, the film (directed by Jay Roach) is a fun-house fable that both exaggerates and understates the absurdities of our democracy in this contentious election year.
You can chuckle at the buffoonery, raise your eyebrows at the baroque scatological and sexual humor — Mom, they said “penis” again! — and conclude that “The Campaign” goes too far. Mr. Ferrell does his rabid frat-boy thing; Mr. Galifianakis does his deranged baby-man thing; and there may be comfort in the thought that the American people would never elect clowns like these to any office. But then a glance at some of the clowns we do elect, perhaps especially to our national legislature, might lead you in the opposite direction. Really, the movie could not possibly go far enough unless the screenwriters (Chris Henchy and Shawn Harwell) had abandoned all invention and transcribed the script directly from C-Span.
And so “The Campaign” wobbles between the vaguely topical and the completely preposterous. The villains are a pair of fraternal billionaires called the Motch brothers, played with brandy-swilling, cigar-wielding relish by John Lithgow and Dan Aykroyd. They have been the enthusiastic backers of Cam Brady (Mr. Ferrell), a blow-dried Democrat who is both a Blue Dog and a tomcat, espousing a vague platform of guns, God and family while violating his marriage vows at every opportunity.
"The Campaign" trailer.....funny......
15/ But we've saved the best till last - "Hope Springs" with Meryl
Streep and Tommy Lee Jones....very good review, an adult movie
about marriage and love......note - the Times critique wasn't as
enthusiastic......just sayin'.....
Hope Springs, a serious American adult drama about the complications of intimacy in a long-term marriage, wraps itself in the safety of a surface-y American comedy about an aging married couple fumbling with sex — the lack of it. The movie provides a master lesson in great American character acting, but viewers are also invited to just kick back and enjoy the fun of watching famous, aging movie stars pretend to have difficulties in the sack. Spectacularly well matched and attuned to each other, Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones offer two of the finest performances of the year. (Yes, Streep, again. And Jones is a revelation.) But you'd never know it from the silly trailer, with its nudge-nudge clips and vaudeville-size hints of a ''threesome.''
Well, hey, come for the possibility of a naughty group grope and a sex comedy artificially sweetened by a gummy, chirpy soundtrack of directional mood music and easy-listening songs. But stay for the silences in the exquisitely painful, realistic therapy sessions. Ignore the mass-market movie gestures thrown in by down-the-middle director David Frankel (who previously worked with Streep in The Devil Wears Prada), and Hope Springs just may start looking uncannily like an Ingmar Bergman movie.
Streep and Jones play Kay and Arnold Soames of Omaha, sixtysomethings held together by little more than inertia in a marriage of 31 years that went sexless long ago. The children are grown. The routines are ruts. Each morning Kay cooks Arnold breakfast before he trudges off to the accounting firm where he's a partner. (Before his retirement, Jack Nicholson's Walter from About Schmidt might as well have worked down the street.) Each night Arnold falls asleep in front of the big flat-screen in the den to the drone of golf tips. Then wife wakes husband so the two can traipse upstairs to their separate bedrooms. Kay and Arnold aren't angry with each other, or unkind: They're just...average middle-class American zombies in a nice split-level house.
"Hope Springs" trailer......according to the review doesn't reflect the
intelligence of the movie.....too cutesy.....
Todays video - without a doubt the stupidest, most annoying
commercial ever made.....Shoe Dini, narrated by the awful Gilbert
Gottfried........it gets my spine tingling with disgust......but it's
funny.......
Todays airline joke
Passengers on a plane are waiting for the flight to leave. The entrance opens, and two men walk up the aisle, dressed in pilot uniforms. Both are wearing dark glasses.
One is using a seeing-eye dog, and the other is tapping his way up the aisle with a cane. Nervous laughter spreads through the cabin, but the men enter the cockpit, the door closes, and the engines start.
The passengers begin glancing nervously, searching for some sign that this is just a little practical joke. None is forthcoming.
The plane moves faster and faster down the runway, and people at the windows realize that they're headed straight for the water at the edge of the airport. As it begins to look as though the plane will never take off, that it will plow into the water, screams of panic fill the cabin. But at that moment, the plane lifts smoothly into the air.
Up in the cockpit, the co-pilot turns to the pilot and says, "You know, Bob, one of these days, they're going to scream too late, and we're all gonna die."
Todays teacher joke
A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. At one point in the discussion, the teacher remarked
that it was physically impossible for a whale to swallow an entire human being because, even though the
whale was a very large mammal, its throat was very small.
"But the whale swallowed Jonah," the little girl insisted.
Irritated, the teacher reiterated that a whale could not swallow a human. It was physically impossible, she
said.
The little girl said, "When I get to heaven, I will ask Jonah."
The teacher asked, "What if Jonah went to hell?"
The little girl replied, "Then you ask him."
Todays Florida joke
of the dealership. Taking off down the road, he pushed it to 80 mph,
enjoying the wind blowing through what little hair he had left.
"Amazing," he thought as he flew down I-95, pushing the pedal even more.
Looking in his rear view mirror, he saw a Florida State Trooper, blue
lights flashing and siren blaring. He floored it to 100 mph, then 110,
then 120. Suddenly he thought, "What am I doing? I'm too old for this!"
and pulled over to await the trooper's arrival.
Pulling in behind him, the trooper got out of his vehicle and walked
up to the Corvette. He looked at his watch, then said, "Sir, my shift
ends in 30 minutes. Today is Friday. If you can give me a new reason
for speeding--a reason I've never before heard -- I'll let you go."
The old gentleman paused then said: "Three years ago, my wife ran off
with a Florida State Trooper. I thought you were bringing her back.
"Have a good day, Sir," replied the trooper.
