Thought Puh-leeze

Valerie Jarrett Is Really Bothering Me

2009-12-03T18:32:00.005-05:00

OK, I watched the President (Mr. Obama) on the tele today, promoting his "Jobs Summit" complete with call outs and who-dats and other useless nonsense. The idea of getting a whole bunch of diverse people together to work on how to get more jobs for more Americans is just such a total canard.

If the feds were really serious about creating jobs, they'd do what they do best: hand out money to employers and let them hire people. Of course, that would be too simple and probably unproductive, but the benefits in graft and corruption to the cronies on the inside would be enormous. Considering that, it's a wonder that they haven't done it already. Billions for jobs; millions for US!

Anyhow, while the "best and brightest" are schmoozing on and about Capitol Hill, there's a nagging image which keeps reappearing on CNBC (I know, I know, but I really do need the steady dose of humorous interludes only mindless economic reporting can provide). It's one of Valerie Jarrett, the wunderkind of the White House, the jazzy superstar of the formerly underprivileged, the she-bop superstar who fell neatly into the job of Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison, which is a really fancy way of saying, "I do nothing constructive."

This image of Ms. Jarrett (BTW: she was married, now divorced and apparently available, though you'd have to be pretty rich and pretty self-important to land a date with her, I believe) comes around just about every hour or so, and it's making me crazy. In the short clip, Jarrett is on some podium, where, presumably, she had just spouted some drivel, and says, "If you have an idea about how to create jobs, I want to hear it."

Well, if that don't beat all. Here she is with her degrees and her too-long title, asking for ideas about how to create jobs. It's annoying on a couple of levels. First, what she has to do with creating jobs in the USA would probably fill a corner of one tiny room in the basement of the Executive Office Building, but I guess she's there representing for the Prez, as intergovernmental explorer extraordinaire or some such nonsense.

Second, if one were to offer her some truly constructive idea that would lead to the creation of a job in America, I doubt that Ms. Jarrett could possibly conceive of how it might work. After all, she's spent almost all of her life behind the shield of public employment, that safe place in America where 40% of the population actually makes a living doing things that aren't necessary to anyone.

I just can't look up to her as an authority on anything, much less job creation. Maybe "saving jobs" which the government has subtly substituted for actual job creation, because they can't do the real thing, would be more in line with Ms. Jarrett's qualifications, as in move this line item to another part of the budget and save this or that job. That's how they do it at city hall, the county office, the state level and yes, all the way up to the White House (I still like Paris Hilton's idea to paint it pink).

Ms. Jarrett really bugs me, not because she's cute and successful (though those would be two good reasons), but because she's such an obvious fraud in a town full of them. Not just Democrats or Republicans, but all of the people in DC are frauds, taking public money and wasting it, mostly to pad their own already well-fattened wallets.

If Valerie Jarrett would like some ideas on how to create new jobs, let's start with the obvious. Cut payroll taxes. Reduce the cost of unemployment insurance. Pay half of newly hired employees' pay right out of the government's own coffers for the first six months. Make it easier for employers to hire people, like reducing the interminable amount of paperwork, costs, fees, taxes and all the other mind-blowing additions that turn a $9/hour job into $15.

How about this one, and the liberals will love it: Roll back the minimum wage laws to $5.25 per hour for new hires. Believe me, you'd have employers falling over themselves to hire people. Or, better yet, keep the minimum wage laws in place, but stop taking social security and medicare from both the employer and the employee.

Small business in America needs a break from taxes and costs. We are non-competitive because of all the taxes and regulations that have turned our free markets into a socialist Turkish bath. Are you listening, Valerie Jarrett? Or will you continue to bother me?

Evidence of Shrinking Intellectual Capacity

2009-04-24T08:17:00.003-04:00

First, I'd like to think that these two women stole my idea - the power of small numbers - but their book, The Power of Small is likely to prove otherwise, as I'm 95% sure that they could not come up with any fresh ideas. As a matter of fact, the kernel of an idea is, in itself, a very small thing, but the people who actually will look down upon this attempt at "new age" junk philosophy are the practitioners of Taoism, for it was the founder, Lao-tzu (c 604-c 531 bc), who said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

If any more proof is needed that there's a sucker on every street corner waiting to be taken by snake oil salesmen - or, in this case, sales women - watch this segment from the Martha Stewart show below, all the time reminded that Martha, the mistress of pop culture, will give air time to any woman who has even the spark of a marketable idea.

OK, not to be snarky, but I'm not even going to read their book or mention the authors names, as I'm fairly certain they won't be making any "world literature" lists (I may not either, but that's another matter), but I will link to their blog, where they offers gems of wisdom, like, you can save money by using coupons. Oh, yeah, they also have some links to online coupons, as though nobody ever heard of those before.

Of course, they are twittering, jumping on all the fads, making the talk show rounds and raking in the cash. These women are quickly becoming my inspiration, because if they can take a concept as simple as small and turn it into a book and make money off it, hey, why not me?

Maybe Associated Press Needs Mercy Killing

2009-04-08T23:32:00.006-04:00

Watching this moron - CEO Tom Curley - from the Associated Press (AP) (shown at right) on the Charlie Rose show flail about over "who's going to pay?" for AP content, and then he brings up Iraq, and somebody needs to take this nutjob out back and beat him senseless, telling him that maybe, if your so fu**ing superior news gatherers were doing such a bang up job, we would never have gone into Iraq, and maybe we wouldn't have the financial mess we have today, you greedy, self-indulgent priggish little whiner.

The problem with the AP moaning about people stealing their content is that it's hardly worth it, since most of their "breaking" news is morphed over the internet in minutes by hundreds, if not thousands of news sites and blogs. What Tom Curley is complaining about - if I'm getting the message right - is unauthorized use, not FAIR USE, which allows for derivative works based on the original story, but I think he's angling for some of the AdSense pie, via Google, because he keeps channeling traffic, which is a whole different story.

Here's a snippet from CEO Tom Curley's April 6 statement (here's a link to the content and, I suppose, UNAUTHORIZED USE OF YOUR WORDS, SO SUE ME!):

In the past year, we shifted resources to business, real estate and economic coverage at the right moment to deliver comprehensive and continuing coverage of the biggest story in a generation.

Like I was saying, the AP wants to cover the news of the financial meltdown, but maybe if its reporters were doing real investigative journalism, they might have been reporting on the massive amount of mortgage-related fraud as far back as 2002 and 2003. So, now, they take credit for "following" the story, but it's the usual, dull, packaged boring read for which the AP is famous.

Oh, and I can't resist this:

At the same time, we delivered on another presidential campaign and vote count and found a way to increase coverage of celebrities to feed the growing demand for entertainment news.

OK, Tom, only every single media outlet in the world was covering the election, so what made your coverage so special? And what happened to that vote count in 2000 and 2004? Do Florida and Ohio ring any bells? Dimwit! (Sorry, I simply cannot comment on the sublime irony of taking credit for making celebrities more famous.)

Here's an idea, Mr. Curley: If you want to be paid well, try doing some good work!

The real problem lies in the fact that the lifeblood of the AP, their 1500 newspaper licensees are falling over like dominos and that directly affects AP's bottom line and their ability to function as a going concern. Beyond that, the AP is so overtly politically connected and establishment they cannot be trusted as an objective source. They have grown too elitist and this latest whining episode is just another reminder that they feel deserving of being treated differently. They are asking the readers of the world to respect and pamper them. Sorry, boys, ain't gonna happen!

Sure, they have bureaus in 240 countries, and that's all well and good, but there are newspapers, web sites, bloggers and ordinary people with cell phones, i-phones and laptops who are out in the real world suitably equipped to report on anything that even smells like news.

AP's biggest problem is that technology has outgrown their revenue model and now they're whining about it. Claiming to be the oldest news-gathering organization on the planet is probably as good a reason as any to euthanize the old dog now, before it starts making messes on the carpet and drooling on respected guests.

Meet the Press Scripted: Political Discourse is Dead

2009-03-29T09:14:00.005-04:00

A few weeks ago, on my blog which focuses mainly on economic issues, Money Daily, I coined the term, Post-Government Era, to describe the public backlash at increasingly overwhelming government control, dictates and policy. Already, a number of instances of the backlash have surfaced on the public landscape - various "tea party" protests, the indictment of six upstate New York lawyers who failed to file state income taxes, and a slow trickle of civil disobedience actions from Bangor to Phoenix running across the political and demographic plains of America have confirmed that regular Americans are fed up with the burdens of massive federal, state and local government, their regulations, taxes and attitudes.

On Sunday's "Meet the Press" the government's response was clear in a well-scripted and rehearsed "interview" between host David Gregory and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. The discourse began with a basic economics lesson, complete with charts and graphics, explaining how "securitization" works and how it is essential to the smooth functioning of the American banking system. Following that little treatise, Geithner and Gregory continued - at a pace which allowed for no follow-up or intellectual inquiry - on to another instructional session on why Geithner's Public-Private Investment Partnership (PPIP) to get the toxic (securitized) assets off the books of the nation's largest banks (BofA, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, et.al.) is the "best" solution for investors, bankers and the general public.

This trite, insipid attempt at justifying spending trillions in taxpayer money to keep the structurally-flawed mega-banking system afloat also included a terse reply by Geithner to NY Times economics opinion writer Paul Krugman (also a Nobel Prize winner) criticism that the Geithner plan was just a rehash of former Secretary Paulson's bad bank ideas with new frills, gee-gaws, bells and whistles.

Geithner's response was so forgettable and lame - and quick - that I actually forgot what he said. Nonetheless, it was pure gibberish and Krugman, who carries water for nobody, is still correct and in good company. As with the previous administration, this one, the one which promised to work from the "bottom up", is surely continuing the policies that got us to this point, with a "top down" approach that favors banks over individuals, institutions over individuals and protecting the status quo over real, fundamental change.

By this dumbed-down, completely-scripted interchange, it's become more than obvious that the press is on board with the administration and the overall dictates of the massive federal system. To take the nation's most widely-watched Sunday talk show and turn it into an infomercial for federal financial reconstruction is more than pure fascism at its unholy worst, it is nearly a return to feudalism, replete with all the trappings of monarchy, class structure and mostly, dictates from the pulpit of officialism, with the formerly-free press serving as a megaphone for the federal government.

To make matters worse, Meet the Press continued the charade with, instead of the usual roundtable discussion, the discussion continued with the inarticulate and largely-emasculated John McCain (drill, baby, drill), to prepare the nation for the "blood and treasure" losses about to be sustained in Afghanistan and at the Mexican border.

Americans have had their minds warped by years of inappropriate Bush doctrines and their savings eroded by globalization and the banking and stock market meltdown. Whether the public is ready for the reinstitution of "perpetual war," further erosion in their individual rights and economic freedom and total control by the distasteful characters in congress and on Wall Street is not in doubt. We have been primed and readied for the final assault on the middle class: extreme taxation, political unaccountability and a widening of the police state structure.

We are ready. Most - those who haven't already - will submit to the feudal federal will. Those with a smattering of grey matter still between the ears will either flee or fight. The runners will be stopped at the border or banished to outliers not of their choosing. Those who stand and fight will likely be slaughtered by the hand and the gun paid for by their very own labor and taxes. And, with the rapid destruction of the nation's newspapers, the press is being downsized along with the expectations of Americans.

We are a lost nation now. Democracy is merely a facade by which the government can continue to con the public into a false belief that America is good, and free, and just - somethings it hasn't been in many years. There are only two ways America can proceed: we will either submit and suffer, or reject and repel the forces of government. With the mainstream media firmly on the government's side, the odds are set against us.

This is not a partisan issue pitting Democrats against Republicans. Rather, it is the purest of class struggles, with the tiny-by-number but great-in-power ruling elite of Washington, Wall Street and the media against 300 million regular folks, armed to the teeth not with pitchforks and torches, guns and ammo, but with cunning, wit, deception and non-compliance.

In the words of the worst American president in history: Bring it on.

Time Out for File Extensions

2009-02-20T12:26:00.002-05:00

Have you ever wondered what those letters after the dot on internet and computer documents meant and didn't know where to look?

Well, geeks, robots and people with waaaaaay too much time on their hands can now find out at File Extension Library, where more than 1000 of the odd-looking and oddly-spelled acronyms are located, easily identified and defined. Also, the site offers useful information on the proper use of such files and how to open them.

For instance, we all know that .jpg or .jpeg stands for Joint Photographic Expert Group, don't we? It's the most common extension for photos posted on the internet.

Some are easier than others, such as dat which signifies a data file.

Then there are ones like flv, which is the common expression for a Flash Video File.

So, whatever you like, there's surely a vob, plsc or swf for it. Figure those out and you can either amaze your friends or become an instant hit at the next Star Wars exposition.

Corrupt Pols #1: GOP Chair Michael Steele

2009-02-09T10:16:00.004-05:00

This is the beginning of a new series which I feel necessary to write as we slide quickly into an economic depression brought about by the continuance of the most corrupt government ever to exist.

Clearly, there will be opportunity to unmask most of the corrupt pols who populate positions of power from the local to the federal level in America.

Let's get the ball rolling with newly-minted GOP Chairman Michael Steele, a black politician from the city of Baltimore, Maryland, who is accused of misappropriation of campaign funds, stemming from his failed Senate run in 2006.

Steele was the first African-American to hold statewide office in Maryland, winning the Lieutenant Governor position in 2002.

For a completely cynical take on this story, in which Steele is accused of paying money to a catering company run by his sister (nepotism is nearly always a tell-tale sign of dishonesty) which had earlier been dissolved, consider that Steele was recently named Chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Having campaign contribution issues hanging over him, Steele can now be easily manipulated, as surely there are other skeletons in his closet. For the most intense side of cynicism, consider the fallout when the media begins to attack "party leaders" Obama and Steele - both black men - for the ills of the nation.

One has to wonder just who is running the government, the KKK or the John Birch Society. Maybe both.

Talking (Clown) Heads Agree on Stimulus Stupidity

2009-02-08T11:59:00.002-05:00

Of the various positions and postures taken by the talking heads (mostly congress-people) on the regular Sunday morning shows, two very intriguing arguments emerged:

1. Nobody knows whether the current plans (separately by the House and Senate) will work.
2. Almost everybody agrees that "something must be done."

At some point, one has to recognize that these two positions - in a real world, say, business - cannot peacefully coexist.

In business, if a manager or group of managers were to approach the executives of a firm with a plan that they said they were unsure about, but that they felt should be implemented immediately, they'd likely be fired, or at least, ignored and castigated.

Sadly, the American public isn't afforded the opportunity to veto the government's massive "stimulus" plan, now hovering somewhere between $780 and $825 billion, depending on which version - House or Senate - one studies.

What's even more disconcerting is the sheer size of the proposal: a stunning 760 pages in the House version, with more added and amended by the Senate. One can safely assume that nary a Senator or Representative has read the entire bill. That would take and average reader a couple of days. Our "busy" legislators don't have that kind of time, but they'll likely go ahead and pass this monstrosity next week.

The most cogent discussion on what would actually stimulate the economy was on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopolous," largely spirited by three fellows who are notably NOT elected or administration officials: George Will, Robert Reich and Newt Gingrich.

Between them, they correctly postulated that the most immediate stimulus to the entire economy - done with alacrity and efficiency - would be to make deep cuts in broad tax grabs, specifically payroll taxes, social security and medicare contributions and capital gains taxes.

Cutting the payroll tax, which affects a huge number of workers, would be easy to do and could be immediately implemented. Somebody - I don't know who, but I believe it was a government regulator - said it would take three months to rework the payroll tables. There's the typical government cop-out on why our leaders won't do what the American public wants and prefers. It's a straw man argument when one considers that the stimulus plan currently under debate will take anywhere from 6-24 months for the effects to be implemented.

It's also a huge lie. If the government wanted to reduce payroll taxes - even on selected income levels or at varying amounts by income level - it could issue such a measure within a week's time, simply by informing tax preparers (businesses) of the percentages, i.e., 50% off this level, 30% off this level, etc.

Besides, most of the nation's tax deductions are handled by computer, or by the major companies which have made a business of dealing with the complexity of the federal and state tax codes, Paychex and ADP. The adjustment to lower deductions would be painless, simple and hugely beneficial, putting more money into the hands of citizens, instead, as Mr. Will pointed out, as part of the government taxing and regulatory system that "wants to do the spending for you."

There has been a great deal of discussion about how effective the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) will be in stemming the loss of jobs and creating new ones. Frustrated at not being able to find an appropriate breakdown of the major spending in the bill, I found some hint of where the money is going in a Wall Street Journal article, entitled A 40-Year Wish List.

On the sidebar, the Journal breaks out $265 billion in what is mostly "welfare" spending on medicade ($81 billion), food stamps (20 billion), extensions of unemployment insurance ($36 billion) and COBRA insurance extensions ($30.3 billion). Color me blind, but I cannot fathom how shoving additional billions into these programs is going to translate into jobs.

A number of private economists have called this stimulus package a big mistake. You can clearly count me in that camp. It's a bloated, unwise, excessive spending program that will likely make matters even worse by failing to address the actual problems in the economy and bandaging over them with more handouts.

I am Cold

2008-12-04T00:14:00.004-05:00

I just did something I've never done before. I deleted something I wrote because it was offensive to somebody. I feel somewhat dirty. Well, considering the circumstances, I guess that's OK. But, I hope I never do it again because I say what I mean and I mean what I say.

And to all of you reading this, and you know who you are, yeah, I'm not happy. But, you know what. I will be. And you'll be what you are.

Ohio for Obama, It's Over

2008-11-04T21:25:00.000-05:00

If one assumes that Obama will win California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii, and their 77 electoral votes, and add them to the 175 Obama already has, we are within 18 EVs of electing Barack Obama the 44th President of the United States.

Polls don't close on the West coast until 11:00 pm.

Ohio has just been called for Barack Obama. IT IS OVER!!!!

Party Time!

Obama within 100 EVs. Udall 4th Dem Senate Pick-up

2008-11-04T21:13:00.000-05:00

Tom Udall defeats Steve Pierce in New Mexico, another pick-up for the Democrats.

A slew of states were just called for Obama, including New York, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Rhode Island. Georgia went for McCain, as did Oklahoma and Kansas. Obama is showing well in Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Indiana. Most of these states are going to eventually go to Obama. There's likely a good deal of vote flipping going on just to try to not make it look like as large a slaughter as it really is.

Arizona, McCain's home state, too close to call. Always a bad sign when you can't defend your home state.

Clean sweep for Obama in the Northeast and upper Midwest.

Obama 174, McCain 76.

ABC just called Kentucky for Mitch McConnell, but the margin was razor thin.

Hagan Ousts Liz Dole in NC

2008-11-04T20:45:00.000-05:00

Another Republican Senate seat goes down. Hagan whips Dole in NC. Sununu (R) is also out in New Hampshire, beaten by Jeanne Shaheen on her second try.

This is looking more and more like an Obama avalanche. There's almost no doubt about it. They're calling for more than 1/2 million people in Grant's Park in Chicago where Barack Obama is expected to accept the Presidency later tonight.

New York closes within 10 minutes. Another 31 electoral votes for Obama, who only needs one more swing state to call it a night because he has the West coast (California, Oregon and Washington) in the bag.

McCain is facing a real uphill climb. It really looks like it's over. I'm on my fifth beer. The celebrations will begin shortly as it gets closer and closer to reality.

I can hardly believe that the eight year nightmare is almost over.

Pennsylvania Goes for Obama

2008-11-04T20:04:00.000-05:00

All networks confirming the Keystone State and its 21 electoral votes belong to Barack Obama. This is great news for Obama, but it brings Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada later. The networks want to keep us glued in until at least 10:00.

No raw numbers, still, anywhere. Very strange.

All the Northeastern states are falling in line for Obama. He'll probably maintain the lead from here on out.

The Anxiety Level is Rising Fast

2008-11-04T19:27:00.000-05:00

Strange. At 7:20, PBS has Obama ahead 50-49, while ABC has McCain winning by the same percentage.

Polls in Georgia, Vermont, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia, South Carolina and most Florida are already closed.

No raw numbers available just yet from most of the states.

Warner wins in Virginia. Daniels (R) takes Governorship in Indiana.

This is too close. These numbers aren't yet making any sense. McCain is leading nationally, but who knows from where they're getting their figures. Ohio, West Virginia and North Carolina closing at 7:30. We need to start getting some numbers.

Exit Poll Trends via ABC

2008-11-04T18:47:00.000-05:00

ABC just released preliminary battleground state exit polling data. Stunningly, the economy was the #1 issue for 60% of voters. The War in Iraq was a distant second at 11%. Charlie Gibson said he had never seen such a dominant issue.

74% espressed dissatisfaction with president Bush.

If these trends holds up, it's going to be a rout for Democrats.

Which network has the best coverage? So far, I'm looking at ABC.

Four Key Senate Races

2008-11-04T18:33:00.000-05:00

There are 35 Senate races this election year and a good number of them are close. There may also be some sizable unexpected outcomes, especially if Obama wins a number of the early swing states, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and Virginia key among them.

The races that are worth watching are, with incumbents listed first:

Minnesota: Norm Coleman (R) vs. Al Franken (D)
North Carolina: Elizabeth Dole (R) vs. Kay Hagan (D)
Kentucky: Mitch McConnell (R) vs. Bruce Lunsford (D)
Alaska: Ted Stevens (R) vs. Mark Begich (D)

Hagan has been well ahead in the polls in NC right through to the election. Franken is in a virtual dead heat. There's a third candidate taking votes from both in Minnesota. Stevens was convicted of taking gifts from constituents in return for legislative favors and should go down, or will Alaskans show their maverick tendency and return a convicted felon to Congress? McConnell is nothing less than the Republican leader in the Senate. His defeat would be huge. Even a close call would send an enormous message.

Network news is beginning. Let's see what the suits have to say.

Randomly Towards a Decision

2008-11-04T18:11:00.000-05:00

Just posting some ideas...

Will we get this one right? Or will be be subjected to the whims and wishes of a hidden power elite? Did enough people go out and cast votes in such an overwhelming majority that any egregious vote-fixing would be easily spotted? Will the majority be large enough to discourage the manipulators completely?

Probably not. There is sure to be a large degree of vote switching within the maze of computer networks and IT specialists across the nation. The sizable hope is that turnout exceeded even the greatest expectations.

Considering that there's still litigation in motion over the 2004 election, maybe expecting that there won't be tampering turns out to be a defective concept. There's always hope for a free and fair election. A certain large percentage of Americans will never stop trying to get elections to be fairly run, honestly administrated and completely non-partisan. It seems such a long shot.

Exit polling used to "call" states and races is once again being handled by the usual gang: Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International for the National Election Pool, a consortium of the networks and The Associated Press. Well, in a nation that also sports the BCS for picking a college football champion, what can we expect?

No Early Exit Polls

2008-11-04T17:37:00.000-05:00

Exit polls and other early indicators are under tight security, especially since the 2004 election showed the early exit polls favoring Kerry before a sudden shift later in the evening by George W. Bush erased all of that. In the end, exit polls were eventually "adjusted" to match the figures on election web sites. No big deal there. We're just talking about some run-of-the-mill organizations like CNN, MSNBC, FOX and ABC.

Obviously, our glorious captains of industry and mind-controlling media moguls don't want little details like actual vote counts muddying the waters about which candidate is actually chosen. The small matter of who did the choosing need not be shared with the actual electorate.

For those reasons, in addition to the avalanche of litigation and reporting on questionable and, to a large degree, criminal, activity that took place in 2004, and after the debacle of 2000, the shapers of the universe are at odds with the general public. It's an unhealthy relationship in which the public at first mistrusts the government, and then mistrusts the people supposed to expose the misdeeds of government, project and protect the populace, the media.

Worse than promoting a stalemate, bad public-media relations foments more than just plain anger, it proceeds to survival instinctiveness and gets nasty on both sides, but especially in the public sphere, if only because there are so many individuals whose actions cannot be predicted or aganst which much of a defense can be erected.

So, here we are with no fireworks. Well, maybe it for the best that there are no early exit polls today. There has been enough incidental and anecdotal reporting already, via early voting polling, and it all points to the same thing - a Democratic landslide with Obama winning as many as 340 electoral votes at the top of the ticket.

The networks aren't going to call a race, or a state, until they're darned sure of what's out there. Quite a few stories are circulating on the consition of no early exit poll releases, The Chicago Tribune has a good story.

Live Blogging: Stocks UP, Gold UP, Oil UP

2008-11-04T16:59:00.000-05:00

Here's a quick and dirty look at what happened on Wall Street today. Some odd trading brought stocks and commodities higher as Americans went to the polls. Check out our commentary at Money Daily.

Today is the Day!!

2008-11-04T15:50:00.000-05:00

Live Blogging to Begin at 5:00 pm ET.

Well, I voted at 10:00 this morning, and was planning to start blogging while simultaneously hitting the bong and boilermakers around 1:00, but a nefarious click attack on my home site set back my plans by a couple of hours.

Naturally, I'm blaming Republicans for this, since they cannot win elections legally nor garner enough traffic to make a living from advertising, they resort to harming those who can and do. Reports of vote theft, flipping and disenfranchisement have been abundant the past few days, and most of us are gripping right about now, especially since Lion John (McCain) has been on the campaign trail insisting that he's going to win.

I have a some web housekeeping to attend to before the festivities can really get underway here, but in the meantime, readers can regale themselves with some of the work I did yesterday on my woefully incomplete but highly entertaining Election Guide. Click on the graphic below and you'll magically jump into a new window of wonder.

I'll be back shortly. Promise.

ABC This Sunday: Not Worth Watching

2008-06-08T11:04:00.000-04:00

Somebody needs to crack a two-by-four over the heads of ABC's Round Table discussion participants. Claire Shipman, George Stephanopolous, George Will (the easiest conservative voice to debate) and the other participants discussed the potential running mates for Barack Obama this Sunday morning.

They are either serially misinformed or purposely stupid.

After pretty much dismissing the possibility of an Obama-Clinton ticket, they went around talking about three Democrats in Virginia, including Senator Webb and former Governor Mark Warner. They even mentioned Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. Not once was the name of the most obvious choice - New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson - who would both solidify the Hispanic base and add valuable experience to the ticket.

Maybe these geniuses are simply out-of-touch with Democratic politics. More likely, they are in denial that whomever Obama picks as his running mate, the race for the White House is going to resemble a Harlem Globetrotters basketball game with John McCain in the role of the inept, overmatched Washington Generals.

The networks - FOX, NBC, CBS and even the Mickey Mouse ABC network - needs to understand that fewer and fewer Americans are paying attention to their idle shibboleths and instead acting in their own self-interest. The glory days of the networks as mouthpieces for the corrupt Republican political machine are about to end... miserably and not a moment too soon.

Obama will choose either Hillary Clinton or Bill Richardson as his VP, and the election in November - unless Republican operatives conspire once again to steal it - will not be close. Obama will win by more than 100 electoral votes and the margin of victory will be something approaching 55-45%.

Get used to hearing the words, "President Obama." It has a nice ring to it.

ABC: Attack Barack Continuously

2008-04-17T13:22:00.000-04:00

Last night's nationally-televised debate between Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama could not have been more of a disgrace and misuse of public airwaves had it been aired on FOX.

In fact, the vacuous, gossipy questioning by the usually likable and intelligent George Stephanopoulos and Charles Gibson were more akin to the sound bite-baiting tactics of a Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly. In fact, Stephanopoulos had appeared on one of Hannity's shows just the day earlier, and must have been taking notes. Most of the two hours of "debate" concerned itself with Obama's minister, his recent statements about frustrated Americans and whether he was or was not patriotic for not wearing a US flag pin.

It seemed as though ABC wished to paint a portrait of the Democratic primary campaigns as a smarmy mess of accusations, cross talk and affiliations with unsavory people. In that regard, they did a bang-up job. As for presenting the candidates' views on the issues of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the economy, high gas prices, lost jobs, the mortgage and foreclosure disaster, foreign policy, the use of torture by the Bush administration and other important matters, ABC should pay a fine to the FCC.

Americans deserve better than what was offered by the network. They deserve a debate and primaries that present issues with which a prospective president will have to deal, not rehashed television-and-talk-show trash.

It was aggravating to have to watch and listen to question after dumbed-down question from the ABC interrogators. Both candidates tried to steer the debate away from the mundane to the real issues and should be praised for not losing their cool under such extremely stupid circumstances.

However, it would have been nice - as Obama nearly did to Stephanopoulos, saying one of his questions didn't "make sense" - to hear Obama answer with what was honestly on his mind. Something to the effect of, "If I thought wearing a US flag lapel pin everywhere I go would get me to the White House, I'd wear three of them."

Neither the candidates nor the voting public should have to be subjected to forums such the one ABC put forward last night. It was dull, moronic and trivial and has no place in American politics. We can only hope that ABC will learn a lesson from the commentaries which are certainly critical of their "debate" and get back to serious coverage of real issues affecting Americans.

Republicans Walk Out, Americans Pray They Won't Return

2008-02-14T20:15:00.000-05:00

Republican lawmakers in Washington, DC, did today what voters and citizens across the country have been trying to do for the better part of the last 8 years: they removed themselves from the House chamber of the Capitol.

Following an impassioned speech decrying "political grandstanding" by minority leader John Boehner, Republican members of the House of Representatives walked out of congress and onto the steps of the Capitol in a move oddly similar to "political grandstanding."

Many Americans cheered the move, but asked, "how can we keep them from coming back? Could they all just go home and stop bothering us?"

The Republicans supposedly walked out in protest that the Democratic members would not approve a Senate bill that granted blanket retroactive immunity to telecom companies involved in the Bush administration's "warrantless wiretapping" practices.

Strangely enough, since that measure was not going to come to a vote, the next item on the agenda, forwarded by Chairman of the Judiciary Committee John Conyers, was to hold administration officials Harriet Miers and Josh Bolton in contempt of Congress and authorized a civil contempt suit against the two by the House. When that issue came to a vote, there were no Republicans in the chamber and the measure passed, 223-32.

Sadly, the Republicans returned to their offices and various hearings moments later, dashing the hopes of millions that once gone, they would stay away.

Hack N. Spend, an interested bystander, hoped the Republican lawmakers would make use of FEMA trailers that New Orleans hurricane victims have been living in for the past two years and now were being told by FEMA executives that they are unsafe for human habitation.

"The Republicans could camp right out here in those FEMA trailers since they're said to be not fit for regular people," said Spend. "Believe me, these Republicans are anything but regular," he added.

State of the Union Drinking Game

2008-01-28T17:53:00.000-05:00

Tonight, the world will cheer President Bush's State of the Union address... because it will be his last. Personally, I intend to be already fairly hammered by the time the faux-presidente takes the podium, shortly after 9:00 pm Eastern time tonight.

Having painfully watched and listened to all seven of his previous SOTU addresses (sad, but true), I plan on celebrating this final assault on my sensibilities with unprecedented gusto.

George Bush... this ass-hole has brought the American people nothing but pure grief for seven long years and if he ends up hanging by the gallows in the Hague for his crimes, it won't be justification enough.

In my own way, I plan on reveling in this jerk's departure, beginning tonight, so I've devised a devilish drinking game designed to maximize my pleasure (always a good idea).

Here are the rules:

You take a drink of the beverage of your choice if Bush says any of the following (or any close variations):

"hard work" - his trademark line of BS

"Al Queda" or "terrorist" or "War on Terror"

"stimulus"

If he calls anyone "brave", drink

any mention of "Iran", drink

if he mentions "Crawford" or his "ranch", drink

If he says "the surge is working" or "we're winning" related to Iraq, Afghanistan or the overall War on Terror, drink

if he says anything about giving the economy a "shot in the arm" two drinks, plus a bong hit

any time he "urges Congress" drink, bong hit and masturbate enthusiastically

if he says the word "legacy" at all, immediately become addicted to heroin

Any reference to Dick Cheney, DRINK hard!

if he says the economy is "strong", "resilient" or "growing", drink, bong hit, shot of heroin, fornicate with anything in the room even if it's not human (cats count), snort cocaine, then go out for a drive.

If he says he's sorry or has any regrets, drink as much as possible because you're either unconscious, dreaming or the nukes have already fallen, we're all dead and that is the rapture you're hearing

That should just about cover it. Make sure to get good and primed. If you can't keep up with all the drinking words, just drink throughout what figures to be about a 40-minute speech. Enjoy the beginning of the end of one of the worst eras in US history.

Media in the USA: Who's Watching?

2007-11-29T12:40:00.000-05:00

It's getting pretty stupid out there in Mainstream Medialand. Last night was the Republican version of the YouTube/CNN debate featuring the mental pygmies and of course, the scourge of the party, Ron Paul.

While most of the press focused on Rudy Giuliani (the adulterer) and Mitt Romney's (the moron Mormon) "heated" slugfest over immigration, the "debate" was poorly staged and arguably scripted. The two Republican leading candidates are both such empty suits when it really comes down to it. Both have hired illegals or had them work on their properties in the past, and neither will do a damn thing about immigration if it costs US businesses one single penny more in wages. Neither would make a suitable president of this country. Maybe some backwater nation like Slovakia or Burundi, but not America.

The most entertaining parts of the debate were taking place off camera, actually, in the crowd that somehow got invited. This particular goon squad cheered every time the "troops" were mentioned and booed at even a hint of the hated Hillary.

It was also interesting to witness the Grover Norquist sighting. The public was told that ordinary citizens would be asking the questions, not paid pro-Republican, loyalist lobbyists like Grover, but there he was, live and in almost-living color.

According to more than a handful of analysts, CNN hijacked the debte, cherry-picking the questions. There was no mention of health care, energy policy or the environment, though considerable time was spent talking about guns and abortion and immigration.

It was not worth watching, even with the paucity of original programming available due to the writer's strike. The Republican candidates are hollow and script-fed phonies. But, on the other side, the leading Democrats don't look much better.

Self-rule is the answer. Without followers, we wouldn't need empty leaders.

Ken Burns "The War"offers perspective for today

2007-10-02T18:26:00.000-04:00

If you are at least half aware of your world, you probably have tuned into PBS to view at least a couple episodes of Ken Burns' opus on World War II, simply titled, "The War." It's a lengthy examination of the "Great War" which took place in the 1940s between the Allies (the United States, Russia and Europe, generally) and the Axis (Germany, Italy and Japan).

What I've come away with so far is a better understanding of what actually took place in the decade preceding my birth, an understanding of what sculpted my parents' opinions and lifestyles, and, especially after viewing last night's episode with my father, an appreciation for his experience at the Battle of the Bulge.

I strongly suggest that everyone watch at least some of this series. It's extremely strong and the images are powerful. Most of us have no idea of the incredible suffering that people of the generation before the Baby Boom endured. It will also give you some perspective on our current bogus war in Iraq and how it doesn't really compare to the most serious conflict the world has ever seen.

If you watch "The War" for a couple of nights, you'll be convinced that President Bush's over-promoted "War on Terror" is a complete contrivance and that our current leaders have tried to fool us into thinking we're at war when we're really not.

Please, take a look around. We're at peace. Our leaders are lunatics.