Sunday, October 24, 2010

Davids Daily Dose - Sunday October 24th




1/  Frank Rich nails it yet again - whatever happens in the elections next week will be driven by the electorate feeling nothing has changed, the rich get richer, noone has been held responsible for the financial disaster and the system keeps on rolling. This is being laid at the feet of the President, who is complicit in giving "the boys" a free pass, and will result in the idiots who allowed this to happen to get in power.....and the oligarchs win again.....

We need a leader, we need someone to speak for the middle class. It isn't Obama......

 It’s the country’s fatalistic sense that the stacked economic order that gave us the Great Recession remains not just in place but more entrenched and powerful than ever.
No matter how much Obama talks about his “tough” new financial regulatory reforms or offers rote condemnations of Wall Street greed, few believe there’s been real change. That’s not just because so many have lost their jobs, their savings and their homes. It’s also because so many know that the loftiest perpetrators of this national devastation got get-out-of-jail-free cards, that too-big-to-fail banks have grown bigger and that the rich are still the only Americans getting richer.
This intractable status quo is being rubbed in our faces daily during the pre-election sprint by revelations of the latest banking industry outrage, its disregard for the rule of law as it cut every corner to process an avalanche of foreclosures.













2/  Disturbing story, but also illuminating about the Tea Party. They don't believe in climate change, thinking it's an Obama plot, it's all a cyclical change in the weather, and flat out deny global warming is true. The revelation here is just how stupid this movement is....it truly is a coalition of the ignorant.
 
Angry, old, white and stupid.....these people are driving the Republican Party folks.....

Those who support the Tea Party movement are considerably more dubious about the existence and effects of global warming than the American public at large, according to a New York Times/CBS News Poll conducted this month. The survey found that only 14 percent of Tea Party supporters said that global warming is an environmental problem that is having an effect now, while 49 percent of the rest of the public believes that it is. More than half of Tea Party supporters said that global warming would have no serious effect at any time in the future, while only 15 percent of other Americans share that view, the poll found.
And 8 percent of Tea Party adherents volunteered that they did not believe global warming exists at all, while only 1 percent of other respondents agreed.
Those views in general align with those of the fossil fuel industries, which have for decades waged a concerted campaign to raise doubts about the science of global warming and to undermine policies devised to address it.













3/  Remember last winter and the cold snaps? It's the Arctic ice warming up and melting.....read the segment below and see the connection.....

In addition the deforestation of the Amazon Basin is making the south and west of the US drier.....less moisture, less cloud, less rain for the western US.....so pick an area in the World - the weather is going to change.......

If you don't like it, join the Tea Party near you......

Atmospheric scientists concerned about global warming focus on the Arctic because that is a region where the effects are expected to be felt first, and that has been the case in recent years.
There was a slowdown in Arctic warming in 2009, but in the first half of 2010 warming has been near a record pace, with monthly readings over 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 Fahrenheit) above normal in northern Canada, according to the report card released Thursday.
Highlighting the immediate consequences of the warming, researchers said last winter's massive snowstorms that struck the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states were tied to higher Arctic temperatures.
"Normally the cold air is bottled up in the Arctic," said Jim Overland of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Seattle. But last December and February, winds that normally blow west to east across the Arctic were instead bringing the colder air south to the Mid-Atlantic, he said.













4/  Even the US Army has a sense of community service - now they have "bring your daughter to war" day.......funny....from Onion News....2 minutes....













5/  Bank of America vs the World
Hard not to chuckle a little when the bastards at BoA get in trouble, but if they get into serious legal shit we'll just have to bail them out again.....it's their arrogance that gets to me.....

Thus the bank’s central position is that, since it is so doggone obvious that the homeowners can’t pay their mortgages, the fact that the affidavits might not have complied with the law shouldn’t cause anyone to break into a sweat. At one point Mr. Noski actually said, “I think it’s a big issue because people are losing homes. It’s not a big issue” for the servicers. Glad he cleared that up.
The prospect of a second legal assault is more recent. Shortly before the earnings call, Bank of America received a letter from a lawyer representing eight powerful institutional investors, including BlackRock, Pimco and — most amazing of all — the New York Federal Reserve. The letter was a not-so-veiled threat to sue the bank unless it agrees to buy back billions of dollars worth of loans that are in securitized mortgage bonds the investors own.













6/  Justice Clarence Thomas
That he is a corrupt, extreme right-wing fanatic is a given, but now his ex-girlfriend speaks and confirms he truly is a dirty perverted scumbag......how he ever got confirmed to the Supreme Court is a travesty.....
Anita Hill was right........
"He was obsessed with porn," she said of Thomas, who is now 63. "He would talk about what he had seen in magazines and films, if there was something worth noting."
According to McEwen, Thomas would also tell her about women he encountered at work. He was partial to women with large breasts, she said. In an instance at work, Thomas was so impressed that he asked one woman her bra size, McEwen recalled him telling her.
Presented with some of McEwen's assertions, Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg said Thomas was unavailable for comment.
However bizarre they may seem, McEwen's recollections resemble accounts shared by other women that swirled around the Thomas confirmation.













7/  Had to throw this in again - it's even more hypnotic the third or fourth time you hear it....."I Am Not A Witch" again for your pleasure.....













8/  Marijuana and Minorities
Interesting article about our drug laws and how they are used to oppress blacks and Hispanics......if nothing else think of the money we waste locking up young men for non-violent drug offences.....and the ruined life that comes from being a felon.....

C'mon California, do the right thing! Vote for legalisation.....

How can such a grotesquely race-biased pattern of arrests exist? Professor Levine paints a sordid picture: young police officers are funneled into low-income black and Hispanic neighborhoods where they are encouraged to aggressively stop and frisk young men. And if you look for something, you’ll find it. So they find some of these young people with small amounts of drugs. Then these young people are arrested. The officers will get experience processing arrests and will likely get to file overtime, he says, and the police chiefs will get a measure of productivity from their officers. The young men who were arrested are simply pawns.
Professor Levine has documented an even more devious practice in New York City, where possessing a small amount of marijuana is just a civil violation (so is a speeding ticket), but having it “open to public view” is a misdemeanor.
According to a report he issued in September 2009: “Police typically discovered the marijuana by stopping and searching people, often by tricking and intimidating them into revealing it.












9/  Personal Finance
If you are among the 75% who are working and have a steady job it may be worth going through the pain and aggravation of re-fi......mortgages are now just over 4%......so if you're credit is good, now's the time!

Now, at last, the frugal are celebrating. With a leg up on their less creditworthy neighbors, they are qualifying for refinanced homemortgages at interest rates that in any other recent era would have been considered stealing. And unlike in late 2008, when rates started their plunge to historic lows, many lenders say they are rushing to accommodate the influx in applications.














10/  Movie review - "Boxing Gym"
If you like documentaries and sports, this movie is for you.....great review......

It’s especially easy to get swept up by the beats in the film because Mr. Wiseman, among the most celebrated direct-cinema practitioners, eschews voiceovers, talking-head interviews, extraneous footage and the customary and sometimes superfluous like. (In addition to directing, he also serves as the producer, soundman and editor for “Boxing Gym.”) This kind of fly-on-the-wall style of documentary can create a sense that you’re watching the unmediated truth, a fantasy belied by every camera position and each edit. He might be quieter than Michael Moore (literally and cinematically), who throws everything (found footage, interviews, himself) at the screen, but Mr. Wiseman says plenty in his work, most famously in his attention to institutional structures in documentaries like the 1997 “Public Housing.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/22/movies/22box.html?emc=eta1













11/  Another repeat - Paramore with "Careful".....an excellent rock concert video.....and again check out the drummer....amazing.....












Todays Video - Bud Light "The Elevator".....this truly is one for the guys.....














Todays political joke


While walking down the street one day a corrupt US Senator was tragically hit by a car and died.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

"Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter.
"Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem.
We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," says the Senator..

"Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from the higher ups.
What we'll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven.
Then you can choose where to spend eternity."

"Really?, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the Senator.

"I'm sorry, but we have our rules."

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell.

The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course.
In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and in evening dress.
They ran to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people.
They played a friendly game of golf and then dined on lobster, caviar and the finest champagne.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who is having a good time dancing and telling jokes.

They are all having such a good time that before the Senator realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises...

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens in heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him, "Now it's time to visit heaven."

So, 24 hours passed with the Senator joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

"Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity."

The Senator reflects for a minute, then he answers: "Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in hell."

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell..

Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulders.

"I don't understand," stammers the Senator. "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?"

The devil smiles at him and says,
"Yesterday we were campaigning. Today, you voted."













Todays Bagpiper joke

As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the Kentucky back-country.

As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost; and being a typical man I didn't stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight.

There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch. I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late.  I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play.

The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. I played like I've never played before for this homeless man.

And as I played "Amazing Grace," the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together. When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head hung low my heart was full.

As I was opening the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I never seen nothin' like that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years."

Why can't men just ask for directions?








Todays poetry joke



A WOMAN'S POEM: 

Before I lay me down to sleep,
I pray for a man who's not a creep, 

One who's handsome, smart and strong.
One who loves to listen long, 

One who thinks before he speaks,
One who'll call, not wait for weeks. 

I pray he's rich and self-employed,
And when I spend, won't be annoyed. 

Pull out my chair and hold my hand.
Massage my feet and help me stand.

Oh send a king to make me queen.
A man who loves to cook and clean.

I pray this man will love no other.
And relish visits with my mother.




 
    A MAN'S POEM: 
  I pray for a deaf-mute gymnast nymphomaniac with
    big tits who owns a bar on a golf course,
    and loves to send me fishing and drinking. This
    doesn't rhyme and I don't give a shit.

 
 

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Thursday, October 21, 2010

Davids Daily Dose - Thursday October 21st


1/  That Sinking Feeling
Excellent summary of President Obama's first two years in office, where we are and where we could have been....what a waste. 
Still, what's done is done and we need to move on, but occasionally this exercise is a reminder of what not to do in the future....... 

The president and his party may have racked up one legislative victory after another — on the bank bailouts, the stimulus package, the health care bill, and so forth — but ordinary Americans do not feel as if their lives or their prospects are improving. And they don’t think it’s a public relations problem.
Nearly 15 million are jobless and many who are working are worried that they (or a close relative) will soon become unemployed. The once solid foundation of home ownership has grown increasingly wobbly, with the number of foreclosures this year expected to surpass a million. And the country is still at war.
The voter unrest that is manifesting itself in myriad (and often peculiar) ways reflects a real fear that not just family finances but the country itself is in a state of decline.














2/  The Koch brothers
Sceptical about talk of an oligarchy that secretly runs this country? Still think this is a democracy?
Read this story - the NYT got hold of an invitation to hedge fund billionaires and other wealthy individuals to attend a secret conference on ?.....who knows, but it's political......if it's good for the Koch brothers, it's good for America....
They pull the strings, and the stupids just dance away.......

The invitation, sent to potential new participants, offers a rare peek at the Koch network of the ultrawealthy and the politically well-connected, its far-reaching agenda to enlist ordinary Americans to its cause, and its desire for the utmost secrecy.
Koch Industries, a Wichita-based energy and manufacturing conglomerate run by the billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, operates a foundation that finances political advocacy groups, but tax law protects those groups from having to disclose much about what they do and who contributes.
With a personalized letter signed by Charles Koch, the invitation to the four-day Rancho Mirage meeting opens with a grand call to action: “If not us, who? If not now, when?”
The Koch network meets twice a year to plan and expand its efforts — as the letter says, “to review strategies for combating the multitude of public policies that threaten to destroy America as we know it.”
Those efforts, the letter makes clear, include countering “climate change alarmism and the move to socialized health care,” as well as “the regulatory assault on energy,” and making donations to higher education and philanthropic organizations to advance the Koch agenda.














3/  Wonder what the bastards at the big banks and hedge funds are up to? They are buying up tax liens - if you fall behind in your taxes, water bill, electricity etc., the entity you owe the money to creates a lien against the property. If you don't pay they have the right to foreclose on your property, so [let's say] FPL sells their tax liens to a hedge fund, then the hedge fund then has the right to foreclose and take your house away, sometimes for a few hundred dollars.....

Nearly a dozen major banks and hedge funds, anticipating quick profits from homeowners who fall behind on property taxes, are quietly plowing hundreds of millions of dollars into businesses that collect the debts, tack on escalating fees and threaten to foreclose on the homes of those who fail to pay.
The Wall Street investors, which include Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co., have purchased from local governments the right to collect delinquent taxes on several hundred thousand properties, many in distressed housing markets, the Huffington Post Investigative Fund has found.
In many cases, the banks and hedge funds created new companies to do their bidding.












4/  Tea party time - Here's a candidate who not afraid - he's running as "willfully ignorant" about everything.....2 minutes.....














5/  Leadership - how the Baby Boomer generation has failed.....

Interesting if painful article from a Millennial [someone in their 30's] on how Boomers      [ you, yes you! ] have failed the generation coming up behind us.....in the Environment, Politics, Business and Religion...... 
As leaders, the Baby Boomers have lost our trust, and time is running out for them to win it back. At this point, we younger generations would at least settle for a place at the table, one where we can provide input on the decisions that will have an impact on us long after they are retired. Oh--I almost forgot--we also want the truth. We've grown up. We can handle it.

http://views.washingtonpost.com/leadership/leadership_playlist/2010/10/dont-get-fooled-again-the-baby-boomers-leadership-failure.html#more?hpid=smartliving













6/  Monty Python's "Upper Class Twit of the Year"....classic sketch of Britains upper classes......















7/  Climate change - two articles....

Only one of the 20 Republicans running for Senate will admit climate change is a problem....
The candidates are not simply rejecting solutions, like putting a price on carbon, though these, too, are demonized. They are re-running the strategy of denial perfected by Mr. Cheney a decade ago, repudiating years of peer-reviewed findings about global warming and creating an alternative reality in which climate change is a hoax or conspiracy.
Some candidates are emphatic in their denial, like the Nevada Republican Sharron Angle, who flatly rejects “the man-caused climate change mantra of the left.” Others are merely wiggly, like California’s Carly Fiorina, who says, “I’m not sure.” Yet, over all (the exception being Mark Kirk in Illinois), the Republicans are huddled around an amazingly dismissive view of climate change.




How to get the people in Kansas to cut their energy consumption......appeal to the frugality of saving energy, lessen our dependance on Middle Eastern oil, but don't mention climate change.....
Quite a sensible article.......but why is the center of this country so stupid?

Attempts by the Obama administration to regulate greenhouse gases are highly unpopular here because of opposition to large-scale government intervention. Some are skeptical that humans might fundamentally alter a world that was created by God.
If the heartland is to seriously reduce its dependence on coal and oil, Ms. Jackson and others decided, the issues must be separated. So the project ran an experiment to see if by focusing on thrift, patriotism, spiritual conviction and economic prosperity, it could rally residents of six Kansas towns to take meaningful steps to conserve energy and consider renewable fuels.













8/  New song!!! 
"I Am Not A Witch" by Christine O'Donnell.....from auto-tune the news.......2 minutes.....













9/  The Supreme Court - two stories

Excellent commentary on the damage this corrupt and evil right wing court has done to the average person's right to participate in elections. Look at Colorado, and wait till 2012 when the serious money will come out. A frightening future, thanks to the bastards on the Supreme Court. 

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — I wish Chief Justice John Roberts could spend a day and a night in the Rocky Mountains experiencing what his activist Supreme Court majority has dumped on the American voter in 2010.
The sludge flow from out-of-state, secretive political groups is unrelenting. All hours. All mediums. A football game-break brings three attacks in a row, calling a senator a liar, a vandal and a glutton for debt. A weather update is interrupted by a trio of hits from the other side, making the challenger out to be the worst thing for women since Neanderthal man took up a club as an accessory to romance.
Colorado is ground zero for what’s happening in John Roberts’s America, competing for the dubious distinction of being the top state in the nation for spending by shadowy outside groups telling people how to vote.



Strange......
Clarence Thomas's wife, a Tea Party leader, has called Anita Hill to ask for an apology for Hill's testimony in 1991 at Justice Thomas's Senate confirmation........no she wasn't drunk, the call was at 7.30 in the morning......very weird, but then everything about Justice Thomas and his wife is a little off......but why now, two weeks before the elections......what giveth?

Hill told ABC News: "Even if it wasn't a prank, it was in no way conciliatory for her to begin with the presumption that I did something wrong in 1991. I simply testified to the truth of my experience. For her to say otherwise is not extending an olive branch, it's accusatory."
Hill's testimony in 1991 came close to derailing Thomas's nomination for the Supreme Court post after she detailed her experiences working for Thomas, telling the Senate Judiciary Committee that Thomas had made repeated detailed sexual remarks and suggestions, which Thomas later denied. Hill herself was the victim of repeated smears.
In recent months Ginni Thomas has been taking an active political role with the Tea Party movement and its Republican supporters, and last week spearheaded a fundraising drive for conservative Republican candidates ahead of the US midterm elections in November.












10/  I remember this issue from years ago and how all of the tomato growers resisted as only Florida crackers can.....now, 10 years later, the pickers get their penny a pound increase....
Itinerant tomato pickers in Florida have faced a tough time getting a boost in pay. The 45 cents or so they earn for every 32-pound bucket picked is a rate that has stagnated for decades. In the face of pickers' attempts to negotiate more generous terms, big tomato producers had refused to talk or cooperate with the coalition. And until recently, the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, the growers' trade group, financially threatened any grower who joined the coalition's efforts.
But that didn't stop the group, which brought its Campaign for Fair Food to fast-food chains and supermarkets - companies that buy Florida tomatoes by the ton. Knowing a good corporate citizen move when they saw it, McDonald's, Taco Bell and Whole Foods, among others, agreed to pay an additional 1 cent or more per pound and abide by a supplier code of conduct. The problem has been that the growers wouldn't help implement the agreements.













11/  Random notes from Europe - on the cruise........

We had a flood on our deck when a hot water pipe burst in the middle of the night.....thankfully down the hall, but when I went to get out of bed in the morning my foot went squish on some very soggy carpet because the water spread along the walls.....the crew was very professional, drying up the water with wetvacs and then replacing all of the soggy carpet along the corridor......ironically the ship will be going into drydock when this cruise is over, so it would have been replaced anyway.

You may have heard of the Mistral, a weather condition that happens in the Med with mostly high winds. Well one was sitting over where we needed to go until two days ago and we had to cancel ports because of the waves, but it cleared a little and the Captain decided to make a dash from Bonaficio in Corsica to Minorca.....we know the weather was going to be rough, but OMG the seas were 4-5 meter waves which in a 4200 ton yacht is a little different than a 90,000 ton cruise ship. "Rockin and a rollin" describes it best......it was tough to stand up, but still 40 people out of 106 made it to dinner, your intrepid reporters included.....but one dish and a bread roll was enough and then back to bed where the waves did their best to make us fall out! Even the crew were under the weather......

The SeaDream is wonderful.....having worked in the "bigger the better" cruise industry these small yachts are truly the next level in service and friendliness.....a great experience.

We're in Palma, Majorca today with two megayachts near us, one called "Al Mirqab" which according to "the Google" is owned by the Foreigh Minister of Quatar.....it's bigger than SeaDream......thanks Koch brothers for keeping this gentleman rich......













Todays videos......Bud Lite commercials















Todays church lady joke

Mildred, the church gossip, and self-appointed monitor of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose in to other people's business. Several members did not approve of her extra curricular activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence.

She made a mistake, however, when she accused George, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his old pickup parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon. She emphatically told George (and several others) that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing.

George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just turned and walked away. He didn't explain, defend, or deny... he said nothing. Later that evening, George quietly parked his pickup in front of Mildred's house... walked home... and left it there all night.








Todays dwarf joke

Seven dwarfs go to the Vatican , and because they are the seven dwarfs, they are immediately ushered in to see the Pope.
Grumpy leads the pack.

"Grumpy, my son," says the Pope, "What can I do for you?"

Grumpy asks, "Excuse me your Excellency, but are there any dwarf
nuns in Rome ?"

The Pope wrinkles his brow at the odd question, thinks for a moment
and answers, "No, Grumpy, there are no dwarf nuns in Rome ."

In the background, a few of the dwarfs start giggling.

Grumpy turns around and glares, silencing them.

Grumpy turns back, "Your Worship, are there any dwarf nuns in all
of Europe ?"

The Pope, puzzled now, again thinks for a moment and then answers,
"No, Grumpy, there are no dwarf nuns in Europe .

"This time, all of the other dwarfs burst into laughter.

Once again, Grumpy turns around and silences them with an angry
glare.

Grumpy turns back and says, "Mr. Pope! Are there ANY dwarf nuns
anywhere in the world?"

The Pope, really confused by the questions says, "I'm sorry, my
son, there are no dwarf nuns anywhere in the world."

The other dwarfs collapse into a heap, rolling and laughing,
pounding the floor, tears rolling down their cheeks, as they begin
chanting......
"Grumpy shagged a penguin!"
"Grumpy shagged a penguin!"

 





  
Todays Polish joke


"In what aisle could I find the Polish sausage?"

        The clerk looks at him and says, 'Are you Polish?'

        The guy (clearly offended) says, 'Well, yes I am.
        But let me ask you something.

        If I had asked for Italian sausage,
        would you ask me if I was Italian?

        Or if I had asked for German Bratwurst,
        would you ask me if I was German?

        Or if I asked for a kosher hot dog.
        would you ask me if I was Jewish?

        Or if I had asked for a taco,
        would you ask if I was Mexican?'

        'If I asked for some Irish whiskey,
        would you ask if I was Irish?'

        The clerk says, 'Well, no, I probably wouldn't!'

        With deep self-righteous indignation, the guy says,
        'Well then, why did you ask me if I'm Polish
        because I asked for Polish sausage?'

       The clerk replied, 'Because you're in Home Depot'




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