Happening Today

Always searching and never quite finding is grueling and often dispiriting work. But there is simply no alternative other than to give in and let the field turn hard and barren.

That WOULD definitely be a trade-off but I am not going to dismiss any alternative out of hand. They do say be open to many options, be flexible, &c...

Thanks, tz.

:}

(I'll think about it tomorrow...)

(JK)

Boy I would love to see Sam and Bobby and Pap have a show maybe when rachael takes a break for a visit to haiti to work in the barren fields.

Get on that watch tower.

The Young Turks (Winner - Best Political Podcast and Best Political News Site, 2009) are excited to have progressive fireball Sam Seder hosting his own one hour show that will stream live at www.theyoungturks.com this Friday at 12pm Eastern/9am Pacific Time.

The Bay Area is a hub for new doctors who want to practice family medicine and help the poor, yet had to leave the country to learn how to do it.

Cuba began educating American medical students after members of the Congressional Black Caucus met with Fidel Castro in 2000. Congressman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi told Castro about areas in his district that suffer from extreme doctor shortages. The Cuban president responded by promising scholarships for 500 Americans to attend medical school in Cuba, under the umbrella of the Latin America School of Medicine. To qualify, the students would have to show aptitude and a commitment to work in underserved communities in the United States. Since then, 34 have graduated, and more than 160 are currently enrolled.

The Bay Area, it turns out, is something of a hub for the Cuba school of thought, where Cuba-trained students, unencumbered by the massive debt that plagues grads from US medical schools,...
http://www.alternet.org/health/145523/americans_are_learning_medicine_th...

Seems this might become an ongoing show using the TYT network

toniD's Ya Think?

We are live !!!!!!!!!!!!!

is behind - the voice track is way behind.

THIS IS FUN

Like Old TIMES

THIS IS FUN

Like Old TIMES

I can see him!

can u im @ aol ????
samsedershow

I'll have to listen later,
-later

.
.
.
_ _ _
brr

brl vod | wtf

Had to reboot. Missed about 4 minutes. Did Sammy say so?

can't seem to find where Sam is on TYT? Anyone have the link?

can't seem to find where Sam is on TYT? Anyone have the link?

http://www.theyoungturks.com/

Posted by Liliana Segura at 8:20 am
February 5, 2010
commentsREPLIES: 6
12-Year-Old Girl Arrested in School For Doodling on Desk

In yet another example of the disgusting effects of putting cops in schools, the NY Daily News reports:

A 12-year-old Queens girl was hauled out of school in handcuffs for an artless offense – doodling her name on her desk in erasable marker.

Alexa Gonzalez was scribbling a few words on her desk Monday while waiting for her Spanish teacher to pass out homework at Junior High School 190 in Forest Hills, she said.

“I love my friends Abby and Faith,” the girl wrote, adding the phrases “Lex was here. 2/1/10″ and a smiley face.

“She was led out of school in cuffs and walked to the precinct across the street, where she was detained for several hours,” according to the Daily News.

“I started crying, like, a lot,” said Alexa. “I made two little doodles. … It could be easily erased. To put handcuffs on me is unnecessary.” Alexa, who had a stellar attendance record, hasn’t been back to school since, adding, “I just thought I’d get a detention. I thought maybe I would have to clean [the desk].”
http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/02/05/12-year-old-girl-arrested...

then of course hauling her off in cuffs would be perfectly appropriate.

..so much for defending teh ghet-toes!

oh well! Seder is here to talk us through the apocalypse and through to oblivion! ROCK ON!

"this machine kills fascists"

He should have a regular radio show or something.

http://www.americascup.com/en/acteurs/bmw-oracle/bateau-56-858

http://www.americascup.com/en/acteurs/alinghi/bateau-55-857

Both multihull boats are approximately 90 feet wide and 200 feet tall.

This is wind-powered Star Wars on the Mediterranean. Beginning Monday, the best two-out-of-three takes all.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/05/AR201002...

Trying to imagine us happy...Nope, not takin.'

"I miss you..." Awwww that was so sweet. And he didn't even pound him on the bag or give him a noogie er nuthin'

I'm sure he would have done had he been there. So technically still OK, right 60th?

Oscar nomination

Ehrlich and Goldsmith, who are preparing for the film's opening in their hometown of Berkeley on Feb. 19, are both thrilled and exhausted by its initial success. "The Most Dangerous Man" has been nominated for an Academy Award for best feature documentary, and has received the Special Jury Award at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and Audience Awards at the Mill Valley and Palm Springs International Film Festivals. It will be seen around the globe this year, at festivals, in theaters and on TV.

The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers: Co-produced and co-directed by Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith. Opens Feb. 19 in San Francisco and Berkeley.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/02/05-2

but, no IM? my sedermvs is showing as inactive...maron's is alive, but I'm assuming Seder's IMs are not being forwarded through The Cat Ranch

"this machine kills fascists"

I meant back, not bag (or sac/sack 4 that matter). That's more of a Yoo thing (or some might say a me thing).

S L O W

michele :)

The Lynch Mob Mentality
by Glenn Greenwald

The fact that the Government labels Person X a "Terrorist" is not proof that Person X is, in fact, a Terrorist.

That authoritarian mentality is stronger than ever now. Why? Because unlike during the Bush years, when it was primarily Republicans willing to blindly trust Government accusations, many Democrats are now willing to do so as well.

The Government can literally just flash someone's face on the TV screen with the word Terrorist over it (as was done with al-Awlaki), and provided the face is nefarious and Muslim-looking enough (basically the same thing), nothing else need be offered.

That's enough for many people -- including many Democrats -- to march forward overnight and mindlessly proclaim that al-Awlaki is "a declared enemy of the United States working to kill Americans" (if you can stomach it, read some of these comments -- from Obama defenders at a liberal blog -- with several sounding exactly like Dick Cheney, screeching: "Of course al-Awlaki should be killed without charges; he's a Terrorist who is trying to kill Americans!!!"). Even now, beyond government assertions about his associations, the public knows virtually nothing about al-Awlaki other than the fact that he's a Muslim cleric with a Muslim name dressed in Muslim garb, sitting in a Bad Arab Country expressing anger towards the actions of the U.S. and Israel....
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/05-6

Pentagon to Increase Stock of High-Altitude Drones

"We can't get enough drones," General David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command, which includes the Afghanistan and Iraq war theaters, said in a speech Jan. 19.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/02/05-7

Submitted by gloryoski on Fri, 02/05/2010 - 12:53pm.
I meant back, not bag...
--------
Zure you did.

Vell, I zee your time iss opp. Ve can pick ziss up next week.

Maybe there just won't be room for ims.

nice!

"this machine kills fascists"

are forever in your debt.

I found it quite attractive.

...pointing to this

"it's a pretty picture, and I do hope we are on the right path, but only losing 20 thousand jobs is still... losing 20 thousand jobs.

Dems need to jump on that shit and hammer this jobs bill through and force Republicans to filibuster it!

Put the bill up let people sift through it for 72 hours and vote on it. If the Republicans obstruct it, pass it through reconciliation. Set the fucking precedent for the 2010. You filibuster, we use reconciliation for whatever we can.

"this machine kills fascists"

A regular gig...Yay!!!!

Thank you Sam.

Later.

You have to put something together. You are sorely missed!

That was just a taste and we are looking for the whole meal!

Please do what you can. And please try to join us or do your own thing on Blue Roots!!!

toniD's Ya Think?

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02052010/profile2.html

Yes! A regular show @ TYT HQ! I like that idea!

"this machine kills fascists"

I will think of no other until we meat again. ..beneath the Dwarf Maples.

Everyone should email the young turks to let them kmow how much we appreciate them having Sam do his show on their site, and that we hope he'll be on again on a regular basis

theyoungturks@googlegroups.com

A TARGET-RICH ENVIRONMENT.... It's not unusual to hear discussions in progressive circles about when and how Democrats should go on the offensive against Republicans. "What Dems really ought to do," the refrain goes, "is go after [fill in the blank] with all they've got."

There are always some built-in hurdles -- the "megaphone gap," for one -- that make this easier said than done, but in general, there's certainly nothing wrong with encouraging Democrats to be more aggressive and take advantage of political opportunities as moments of Republican weakness arise.

But what happens when there are too many opportunities all at once?

What Dems really ought to do is go after Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) for holding the Senate hostage until he gets a bunch of earmarks.

Or what Dems really ought to do is go after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for publicly trashing FBI and other counter-terrorism officials.

Or what Dems really ought to do is go after the House Republican leadership for cozying up to Wall Street, seeking big campaign contributions in exchange for less accountability for those who brought the economy to the brink of collapse.

Or what Dems really ought to do is go after House Republicans for a budget plan that eliminates Medicare and privatizes Social Security.

Or what Dems really ought to do is go after congressional Republicans for blatantly lying about the administration's handling of the Abdulmutallab case.

Or what Dems really ought to do is go after congressional Republicans for standing at odds with the national security judgment of the Pentagon and the Joint Chiefs.

They're all worthy of attention, and they're all stories major media outlets are inclined to ignore. Dems can't very well try to raise hell about all of these controversies -- all of which are just from the last few days, by the way -- with equal gusto because that muddles the message.

In other words, the biggest Democratic political problem of the day is ... picking among the several GOP scandals and deciding where to invest party energies.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_02/022267.php

toniD's Ya Think?

I will think of no other until we meat again. ..beneath the Dwarf Maples.

23

The Young Turk and a Jew!

What better way to show the world cooperation!

toniD's Ya Think?

with a red warning that he may not receive message etc. but i sent it anyway and apparently he received it because he responded; so for next time just disregard if it says inactive, it still works! (the mvs one not the samsedershow)

threatened to shut down the samsedershow (the blog)? a revolution would have surely ensued; but maybe he was talking about the show (not the blog) and no revolution alas!

Yesterday afternoon, state Comptroller Dan Hynes conceded to Gov. Pat Quinn in the Illinois Democratic governor's primary. Quinn won by less than 1% of the vote.

* Speaking of Illinois, Quinn desperately wants millionaire pawnbroker Scott Lee Cohen, who inexplicably won the state's Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, to drop out of the race.

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=356753

* Cohen, who spent $2 million of his own money on the primary, has vowed to stay in the race, despite his stunning personal scandals.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/illinois-dem-lt-gov-nominee-i...

toniD's Ya Think?

if u hate Monsanto like I do, then go to this web-site
Submitted by smcgee43 on Fri, 02/05/2010 - 7:54am.
Last fall we asked you to join us in urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate Monsanto's bad corporate behavior. You did and they are. Thank you!
In the coming months we'll be working with partners and with you to make the most of this window of opportunity. Stay tuned, as many Monsanto-relevant movements are afoot, and their outcome depends in large part on what level of public participation and scrutiny we can bring to bear against on one of the most powerful corporations on earth. We'll need every ounce of support you can muster.

The Monsanto line-up:

...

* April: U.S. Supreme Court will hear - at Monsanto's urging - its first ever genetic engineering case. This is an appeal of the landmark District court decision to block GE alfalfa, won by Center for Food Safety and would constitute a coup should Monsanto's lawyers convince the higher court to reverse the ban.

http://ga3.org/campaign/alfalfaEIS2

===========================

This is chilling.

If You Got It, Flaunt It

You may have heard that Larry Kudlow, the former Reagan economic adviser, diehard supply-sider, and CNBC host, is considering running against Chuck Schumer for U.S. Senate from New York.

How can Kudlow hope to match the fund-raising prowess of the incumbent Schumer? Thanks to the Supreme Court's decision on corporate contributions in the Citizens United case, we got it covered, a top Kudlow supporter and pal tells TPMDC.

"People who are worried about their taxes, particularly medium- and large-size businesses, would be more interested in helping Larry Kudlow than Chuck Schumer," John Lakian says.

--David Kurtz

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/conservatives-hoping-larry-ku...

toniD's Ya Think?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU8OQFQZC-8&feature=related

YES!

We're ALREADY paying for it!

Local and State Taxes going up, up, UP to cover the medical emergency needs of those without healthcare coverage! Medical Insurance Premiums going up, up, UP to cover the costs of the uninsured....It's an endless morass we're slogging through and Mr. $250,000 a year acts so smart but he is BLIND to the facts. Maybe Sam made him THINK!

BEAUTIFUL, Sam!

Shelby's Blanket Hold Puts Spotlight On Defense Contractor Ties

Sen. Richard Shelby's (R-Ala.) decision to place a "blanket hold" on all presidential nominations until a pair of billion-dollar earmarks for his home state are fast-tracked has reignited the debate over the parliamentary tactics being deployed by the Republican Party. It also has thrust into the spotlight the clout that major defense contractors often yield on the political process.

On Thursday evening, news broke that the Alabama Republican has taken the extraordinary measure of holding up at least 70 "nominations on the Senate calendar" -- essentially threatening to filibuster the confirmation processes if they came to a vote. The move has spurred a series of recriminations from Democratic officials who see it as yet another instance of over-the-top obstructionism of the president's agenda.

It also has turned inquisitive eyes towards Shelby himself.

The Senator confirmed that he launched the hold, in part, because he is upset with a tanker contract worth $35 billion that remains unresolved between Northrop Grumman/EADs and Boeing. Shelby favors the Northrop Grummann-EADS bid largely because it would result in tankers being assembled in his home state. The two contractors, in turn, have donated to Shelby's campaign committees, hoping ostensibly to secure favor or at least an audience with the Alabama Republican.

According to a review of campaign finance records, Shelby's political action committee received $7,500 in donations from EADS's PAC during the past two election cycles and an additional $21,500 from Northrop's PAC since 2000.

Airbus Chairman T. Allan McArtor, meanwhile, donated $1,500 to Shelby in May 2009. Samuel Adcock, EADS Senior Vice President of Government Relations, donated $1,000 to Shelby in 2003. A fellow lobbyist and top executive at the company, Ralph Crosby, donated the same amount that same year. One other EADS employee, Bacon Douglas, donated $1,500 in 2003.

The strongest connection between Shelby and EADS, however, may not involve campaign contributions. The senator's former legislative director, Stewart Hall, is a major lobbyist for the defense contractor -- he was signed up by EADS North America in 2006 while a member of the firm the Federalist Group. During that time period, the Federalist Group was given $240,000 to help advance the company's legislative interests. When Hall left for another major lobbying firm, Ogilvy, he brought EADS with him -- receiving $160,000 in compensation for his work for the company.

To be sure, Shelby was just one of many lobbying targets for EADS and Northrop Grumman -- both of whom are major players in the world of money in politics and influence peddling. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), for one, received a series of suspicious donations from the companies after he threw his support behind granting them the $35 billion Pentagon contract. Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), meanwhile, serves on EADS's board.
Story continues below

A host of prominent Democratic lawmakers -- from former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to current Vice President Joseph Biden -- also have one-time staffers who now lobby for EADS.

For Shelby, moreover, there are other compelling interests at play. A major tanker plant in the heart of Alabama could result in hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs for his state. And well before he decided to hold up 70 presidential nominees, he proved he was willing to go to great parliamentary lengths to secure goodies for his state. in 2009, Taxpayers for Common Sense ranked him the second most proficient securer of earmarks, having brought home $114,484,250 worth of pet projects. In addition to the EADS contract, Shelby also is currently attempting to secure a $45 million improvised explosive device testing lab for the FBI, according to CongressDaily. more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/05/shelbys-blanket-hold-puts_n_450...

toniD's Ya Think?

Rahm Emanuel's latest gaffe points to larger issues

He's apologized for using the word 'retarded,' but Obama's chief of staff, once seen as the perfect strategist for the job, has become a target of criticism as the White House's agenda lags.

Reporting from Washington - A senior presidential aide is supposed to solve problems, not create or compound them for his boss. So the White House was knocked off-stride when Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel was forced to issue a public apology for using a derogatory word for people with learning disabilities.

But even before the gaffe, Emanuel was becoming a magnet for criticism of President Obama's difficulties in turning his ambitious agenda into achievements.

In an unguarded moment, Emanuel had referred to a group of liberal Democrats as "retarded." When reports of the remark began circulating, the former Chicago congressman -- already famous for his foxhole profanity -- moved to express his regret and promised to help leaders of the disabled community sensitize the public on the issue.

Although that may have tamped down the immediate problem, the larger questions remained.

When he took on the White House assignment, Emanuel was widely seen as a consummate political strategist who was wired into Congress and other Washington power centers -- skills considered especially important to a relatively inexperienced new president pushing an ambitious agenda.

But for all of the relationships Emanuel built in helping Democrats recapture the House in 2006, he has not succeeded in greasing the way for Obama's programs. The healthcare overhaul is in limbo. And the president's political fortunes seem to have dwindled, with his approval rating falling and Democrats suffering embarrassing setbacks in a trio of elections over the last year.

Emanuel's remark, reported by the Wall Street Journal, indirectly reflected those problems. He was irritated at liberals who were criticizing more-conservative Democrats.

After the Journal story appeared, former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who has a child with Down's syndrome, called for Emanuel's resignation.

White House aides said Thursday that Emanuel's position was secure and that he had no plans to leave.

David Axelrod, the president's senior advisor, said in an interview: "He's learned something from that -- that words can be hurtful. And you have to be thoughtful about how you use them."

Axelrod's daughter has a developmental disability. Lauren Axelrod, 27, suffered irreversible brain damage after nearly two decades of epileptic seizures.
(Axelrod should have a good idea about health insurance problems just from his experience with his daughter!!)

Emanuel moved quickly to defuse the episode. He apologized and met privately this week with half a dozen advocates for people with disabilities, including Timothy Shriver, chairman and chief executive of the Special Olympics.

The group asked Emanuel to help eliminate the word "retarded" from everyday conversation by signing a pledge at the website www.r-word.org. As of Thursday morning, Emanuel hadn't signed the pledge. A spokeswoman said that he planned to sign it later in the day and then discuss it with his children as part of a "teachable moment."

Emanuel's gaffe has refocused attention on his role. He is often rumored to be on the verge of leaving -- to revive a promising political career interrupted when he joined Obama's White House. Even with a big portfolio, he has made time to attend three fundraising events for lawmakers.
more...

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and-world/la-na-emanuel5-2010feb05,0,...

"promising political career"? I don't think so. Not any more at least. What do you think? If he can't help a president, and diminishes his base, who would trust him?

toniD's Ya Think?

"Go long with ExtenZe. I do." - former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson 2010

Happening Today
Submitted by SEDER on Fri, 02/05/2010 - 11:17am. I'm doing a an hour or so that can be seen at 12 noon est at the youngturks

______________________

I don't get it. Why did Cenk do a segment/show at 9 AM our time?
That time is strange.

"You look so tired-unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us"
-Radiohead.
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

Thanks for the e-mail heads up. Hope you'll be on again soon. Will the video of this be archived here?

Abortions higher among religious school students

Source: Vancouver Sun

A study published in The Journal of Health and Social Behavior shows that more than 25 per cent of young women who went to religious schools had abortions.

The study of 1,500 women under the age of 26 found that "unwed teens and those in their twenties who have attended religious schools are more likely to have abortions than their counterparts who went to public schools."

Conducted by Amy Adamczyk of City University of New York (left), the study theorized that young women who attend religious schools, even if they're not particularly religious, may feel more shame about becoming pregnant through sexual relations outside marriage. Paradoxically, the study found no correlation between young women's personal religiosity -- defined by their attendance at a religious institution, prayer frequency and the importance of faith in their lives -- and their abortion decisions.

"Religious school attendance is not necessarily indicative of conservative religious beliefs because students attend these schools for a variety of reasons," Adamczyk said.

http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/thesearch/archive/2010/...

toniD's Ya Think?

you think it has anything to do with them being taught that birth control of any form is wrong so that when the moments right they are unprepared.

Senator Franken Rips Into Comcast CEO Brian Roberts

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and NBC President Jeff Zucker testified in front of House and Senate subcommittees Thursday as regulators decide whether to allow the proposed merger of the two media giants. Comcast is the largest cable TV and residential high-speed Internet company in the nation. NBC is one of the largest content providers.

The House hearing opened with several politicians waxing poetic about how the merger is great for America. While nobody in the room cracked a smile, their enthusiasm is laughable. The only people who could believe that the largest media merger in a generation is good for the public are either: 1) on the receiving end of the massive campaign contributions from said media companies; 2) bending to the phalanx of industry lobbyists swarming Capitol Hill; or 3) hoodwinked believers in the "all regulation is bad" approach that brought us Enron and the financial meltdown.

Not everyone is swallowing the snake oil Comcast is peddling to grease its takeover of NBC. None shone brighter yesterday than Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), who aggressively interrogated Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and NBC Universal President Jeff Zucker -- all but accusing them of lying to his face.

"You'll have to excuse me if I don't trust these promises, and that is from experience in this business," Franken said. "It matters who runs our media companies....the media are our source of entertainment, but they're also the way we get our information about the world. So when the same company produces the programs and runs the pipes that bring us those programs, we have a reason to be nervous."

We sure do. Here are 10 more reasons to be very afraid of the proposed Comcast/NBC merger:

1) Comcast Buys Influence
The communications industry is, after all, second only to Big Pharma in Washington influence-peddling. Comcast spent more than $5.5 million in campaign contributions since 2006 alone to have their way in Washington. That's not counting more than $50 million they've spent on lobbying in the past three years!

2) How Much Is Enough?
Comcast earned more than $3.6 billion in profits in 2009 while claiming they didn't have enough money to invest in faster Internet networks ... and while raising rates as much as 50 percent over the past five years in some markets.

3) Fat Cat CEO
In 2008, CEO Brian Roberts was ranked as one of five "Highest Paid Worst Performers" in America. 2008 income: $40.8 million. Sitting on Capitol Hill yesterday, he raked in more than $100,000.

4) Bad Customer Service
Comcast ranked second only to AOL in poor customer service, according to a 2009 Zogby/MSM Money poll. Comcast service is so bad they drove a 75-year-old woman named Mona Shaw to wreck one of their stores with a hammer.

5) Comcast Lies and Plays Dirty
In official 2006 testimony, Comcast Vice President David L. Cohen said: "If Comcast were to try to 'deny, delay, or degrade' the Internet experience that our more than 9 million cable Internet customers have paid for, how can we possibly expect to keep them as customers. ... Any provider that does not meet the needs of users will suffer from a serious backlash from consumers and policymakers."

In 2008, after being caught illegally blocking content Cohen admitted: "Comcast may on a limited basis temporarily delay certain P2P traffic." That's the same year Comcast was caught paying for seat fillers at a public FCC hearing into their illegal Internet blocking. Only this year, after being censured by the FCC, did Roberts admit to the company's "mistake."

6) Comcast Censors Political Speech
Comcast prevents ads from running that criticize the company's political friends. They even fired a newscaster who dared to question an award they were bestowing on Bill O'Reilly.

7) Comcast Blocks Independent Voices
Despite digging up our city streets and enjoying a near-monopoly for decades, Comcast has consistently tried to shirk its community responsibilities - including trying to kick public, educational and government channels into the cable-tier equivalent of Siberia.

8) Goodbye Free Online Video
If this takeover goes through, Comcast will likely pull free NBC content from sites like Hulu and put them behind a "paywall." In Thursday's congressional testimony, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts claimed he wouldn't, but he left wiggle room for his "TV Everywhere" scheme that would force you to pay for a cable subscription to watch your favorite Comcast- and NBC-owned shows online.

9) Launching a Merger Wave
Think this deal stinks? Just wait. If approved, a Comcast/NBC deal would set off a wave of mega-deals as other companies try to keep up. If this deal goes through, you can be sure Verizon-Disney or AT&T-Viacom won't be far behind.

10) Comcast Can't Be Trusted
It's clear Comcast will say and do anything to sell this deal and try to keep Congress and the federal regulators from getting involved to safeguard the public interest. The spin cycle is already starting.

So I'll give the last word to Senator Franken: "I worked for NBC for many years, and what I know from my previous career has given me reason to be concerned--let me rephrase that, very concerned--about the potential merger of Comcast and NBC Universal........so while I commend NBCU and Comcast for making voluntary commitments as part of this merger, you'll have to excuse me if I don't just trust their promises."

Senator Franken's Opening Statement: videos at link (two more)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-silver/senator-franken-rips-into_b_45...

toniD's Ya Think?

Sprint Cup Champion Jimmy Johnson is repeating his anger over when Sam Hornish ran into him at Texas Motor Speedway in November last year saying Sam never apologized to him about it. The crazy thing is Reuteman caused the wreck and did apologize to both Jimmy and Sam. Sam is a quiet racer type. You won't see him talking too much about anything.

I hope they don't start pulling hair.

http://rense.com/general89/mcc.htm

[excerpt]

Senator McCain's bill is called The Dietary Supplement Safety Act (DSSA). It would repeal key sections of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). DSHEA protects supplements if 1) they are food products that have been in the food supply and not chemically altered or 2) if they were sold as supplements prior to 1994, the year that DSHEA was passed. If a supplement fits one of these two descriptions, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cannot arbitrarily ban it or reclassify it as a drug.

These protections are far from perfect. They discourage companies from developing new forms of supplements. New supplements may be arbitrarily banned by the FDA or adopted by drug companies in a way that precludes their further sale as supplements.

McCain's bill would wipe out even the minimal protections contained in DSHEA. It would give the FDA full discretion and power to compile a discreet list of supplements allowed to remain on the market while banning all others.

Everyone knows that the FDA is friendly to drug companies (which pay its bills and provide good revolving door jobs) and hostile to supplement companies. Under this bill, this same Agency could quite arbitrarily ban any supplement it wished or turn it over to drug companies to be developed as a drug and sold for multiples of its price as a supplement.

The FDA will like this because it believes that it can more easily control a few industry giants. But isn't it more likely that the industry giants will eventually gain control over the FDA?

The FDA is already misusing the adverse event reporting process that exists. Drugs rack up thousands of adverse event reports without any action. Just recently, the FDA yanked from the market a supplement product based on just a couple of alleged adverse event reports without even allowing the company (an old and respected firm) to provide any counter-evidence or counter-argument.

The bill also allows the FDA to yank a product (at the company's expense) if there is a "reasonable probability" that it is "adulterated" or "misbranded". Let's remember that "adulterated" could mean there is a minor record keeping error on the producer's part and "misbranded" can mean that the producer simply tells the truth about the product. An "adulterated" and "misbranded" supplement in Orwellian FDA speak may actually be both completely safe and effective.

[end excerpt]

=================

Additional coverage:

http://www.anh-usa.org/new_site/?p=2307

Randi is still available on KTLK 1150 Progressive Talk

anyone know when I can find them?

damned pretzels...now I know how Bush felt....

http://www.ktlkam1150.com/cc-common/podcast.html

WASHINGTON — Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd says he has reached an impasse on bipartisan negotiations over a financial regulation bill. He says he intends to propose his own bill later this month.

Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, has been unable to find common ground over consumer protections with Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the Banking Committee. Nonetheless, Dodd said he will incorporate provisions into the regulatory bill that have been worked out by other bipartisan teams on the panel.

The deadlock is a setback for the legislation. Dodd needs Republican support to win passage of the legislation in the Senate. It is unclear at this point whether adding other regulatory measures supported by Republicans will guarantee him GOP votes.

Dodd's full statement below:

Last night, Senator Shelby assured me that he is still committed to finding a consensus on Financial Reform, but for now we have reached an impasse.

While I still hope that we will ultimately have a consensus package, it is time to move the process forward.

I have instructed my staff to begin drafting legislation to present to the committee later this month.

I appreciate the good work that has been done to this point by Senator Shelby and the other Banking Committee members who have worked so hard in this process. Over the past two months we have had productive bi-partisan negotiations in a number of areas and I intend to incorporate many of those agreements in this new proposal.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/05/dodd-financial-reform-bil_n_451...

toniD's Ya Think?

how's the blizzard goin up there...?

you okay?

Too Busy For Obama, Bank CEOs Make Time To 'Educate' Hill Staffers

Megabank CEOs didn't have time for President Barack Obama when he gave a major speech on Wall Street in September, but they had no trouble making it to Capitol Hill this morning to plead their case to the 20-something staffers who can help them stop reform in its tracks.

Kicking off a two-day event designed to "help" legislative aides who will be writing the rules designed to rein in and reform Wall Street, the CEOs made it clear that they would be there "anytime" a young, confused congressional aide needed help understanding a complex topic.

"Call us, say we met in Washington," said Richard Davis, chairman, president and CEO of U.S. Bancorp. "We'd love to help."

The two-day "Financial Services University" is being organized by the Financial Services Roundtable, one of the industry's most powerful lobbying groups.

"You'll be involved in actually writing the legislation that will affect our futures," James Smith, chairman and CEO of Webster Bank, one of the country's 50 largest banks, said. Robert Kelly, CEO of Bank of New York, nodded his head in agreement.

The banks the CEOs head collectively hold about $500 billion in domestic assets. Many of the staffers in attendance were barely out of college, but will be in a position to draft the rules that will govern how these banks will make their money.

"We're actually good people. We're actually trying to do the right thing. We want to support regulatory reform -- the things that make sense," said U.S. Bancorp's Davis.

"I'm a big believer in fixing stuff at the root causes of the financial crisis," said Kelly. He reminded the staffers that one of the top reasons behind the collapse -- a liquidity crunch -- didn't require legislative action, so they didn't have to worry about that.
Story continues below

He didn't mention the factors that led to the liquidity crunch, including highly leveraged bets made possible by the dearth of smart regulation that then blew up and nearly took down the financial system. Banks, of course, fought for the right to make those bets and pushed back against regulation.

The bankers told the staffer they supported efforts to:

* Reduce the number of regulators. Kelly said the U.S. has "zillions."

* Create a systemic risk regulator, which would watch out for the system as a whole (this is currently lacking).

* Give the government wind-down authority for large, systemically-important nonbanks, like an AIG or pre-collapse Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns.

* Maintain preemption, the principal that federal rules take precedence over tougher state and local rules. "We need uniform national standards," said Smith. Without them, he argued, there would be "costs and inefficiencies. We ask that you keep that in mind... When writing legislation, remember we're the people trying to help people achieve their financial goals." more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/04/too-busy-for-obama-bank-c_n_449...

toniD's Ya Think?

Remorseful Citigroup Banker John S. Reed Parts With Former Colleagues, Calls For Fundamental Financial Reform

The remorseful former banker who made Citigroup what it is today came to Capitol Hill on Thursday and systematically debunked the arguments that his former colleagues use to defend the practices that nearly crashed the financial system.

John S. Reed, 70, served as chairman and CEO of Citicorp from 1984 to 1998. After the 1998 merger with Travelers Group that created Citigroup, Reed served as chairman and co-CEO for two years. Late last year, he apologized for his role in creating the nation's third-largest bank, a $1.9 trillion behemoth that's now 34 percent-owned by the Treasury Department.

"There seems to have been a key failure that none of us anticipated," Reed said in a prepared statement at a Senate Banking Committee hearing, "namely, individual institutions which are thought to take steps and exercise judgments to insure their self-preservation turned out 'not to have' or been incapable of so doing.

"This clearly means that in designing a robust system, we cannot count on that capacity."

Reed came out against the culture that has dominated Wall Street for the past generation. He said policymakers should not rely on banks to do what's in their own best interest. And he also endorsed reforms related to the broken system of federal banking regulation, the government-sponsored housing finance system, the scope of the financial system, and the way consumer credit is extended.

Reed's proposals read as if they came from a consumer advocate.

Among them:

* The capital held by financial firms to protect against potential losses "should be significantly increased, maybe doubled." He added that he thinks the concept of "risk adjusted capital," a complex system used by regulators to judge whether a bank has adequate cash, "is flawed."

* The industry should be "compartmentalized" to limit the spread of failures and to preserve "cultural boundaries."
Story continues below

* Traded products (to the extent possible) should flow through exchanges. Much of the derivatives market is currently in the dark, traded over the phone rather than through a centralized exchange where regulators could know what's going on.

* A consumer-focused financial protection agency with a "clear and separate mandate" should be created.

The Wall Street Journal noted a particular exchange: more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/04/remorseful-banker-parts-w_n_450...

toniD's Ya Think?

Is Sam going to replay this show? I was only able to watch the first half hour.

Take from a snow pro, please get the snow off your roof if you can, especially if it is a heavy snow. And be very careful shoveling. Take lots of breaks. don't want any snow removal heart attacks.

toniD's Ya Think?

After Calling The Stimulus ‘Fiscal Child Abuse,’ Sanford Flies To DC To Demand Stimulus Money

Mark Sanford South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) waged a high-profile war against the economic stimulus package last spring, claiming that accepting the $700 million for which his state was eligible would lead to “a thing called slavery.” Even as his state’s unemployment rate climbed above the national average, Sanford maintained his partisan and politically motivated refusal to take the funds.

But yesterday, Sanford flew to Washington to demand $300 million in stimulus money for education, the State newspaper reports:

Sanford, who spent much of last year fighting parts of the Obama administration’s stimulus plan, now wants S.C. to have a piece of $4 billion in “Race to the Top” education money. [...]

Sanford met with [Secretary of Education Arne] Duncan to learn more about a charter school program Duncan started in Chicago, said Ben Fox, the governor’s spokesman. Sanford also took the trip to urge Duncan to support more charter school grants, Fox said. [...]

Sanford’s trip — which did not appear on his official calendar — is especially hypocritical because the majority of stimulus money destined for South Carolina was to fund education and save thousands of teachers’ jobs. Yet, in March, Sanford told Fox News host Glenn Beck that taking the money would be akin to “fiscal child abuse.”

Indeed, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) said of Sanford’s trip: “I am pleased to see that the governor is finally taking an interest in South Carolina’s public schools.” “After going to court last year to prevent stimulus funds,” Clyburn added, “his meeting with Secretary Duncan appears to be the governor’s admission that the stimulus was not only necessary but effective.”

Sanford’s objection to taking stimulus education funding became especially poignant after eight-year-old South Carolinian Ty’Sheoma Bethea famously asked President Obama to fix her crumbling school. In June, the state Supreme Court finally ordered Sanford to take the $700 million and now, Bethea’s school is being rebuilt with $23.5 of stimulus money.

Sanford’s opposition to taking the federal aid — which mirrored that of other high-profile GOP governors, like Bobby Jindal (R-LA) and Rick Perry (R-TX) — was viewed by many as an effort to lay the groundwork for a run for higher office. But after his affair dashed these hopes, Sanford seems to have gained a new interest doing what is right for his state’s students.

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/02/05/sanford-stimulus-hypocrite/

toniD's Ya Think?

Tea partiers skip prayer and Pledge of Allegiance at opening of national convention.

Tea Party Protesters The inaugural National Tea Party Convention began yesterday in Nashville, TN despite teabagger infighting and controversy surrounding the event in recent weeks. Tea Party activists have criticized the “scammy” convention’s cost, organizer Judson Phillips’ intention to make money of the event, and Sarah Palin’s $120,000 speaking fee. Just last week, Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) withdrew from their speaking engagements at the convention. And today, the Washington Post reports that the teabaggers — who often boast of their patriotic bona fides — got off to a slow start:

And outside the convention hall, entrepreneurs sold souvenirs: sterling silver tea bag necklaces ($89.99), bags of “Freedom Coffee” ($9) and T-shirts emblazoned with a bald eagle ($20).

The convention’s first day lacked the orchestrated staging of most modern political events. The convention host delivered a meandering welcome speech without notes, saying he misplaced them. Former congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) offered a fiery defense of Judeo-Christian faith and traditional American values, but there was no prayer or Pledge of Allegiance to open the convention — nor was there an American flag in the convention hall. (Skoda blamed the oversight on the hotel staff.)

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/02/05/tea-party-prayer-pledge/

toniD's Ya Think?

Flashback: Shelby Pledged To Do ‘Whatever It Takes’ To Deliver ‘Up Or Down’ Votes On Bush Nominees

shelbySen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) is attracting a great deal of attention for putting a “blanket hold” on all 70 of President Obama’s pending executive nominations in order secure pork for his state. According to congressional experts, Shelby’s hold is both a “rare” and “aggressive” abuse of his power.

Unsurprisingly, Shelby had quite a very different attitude when a Republican sat in the White House. In early ’05 — shortly after winning his fourth term to the Senate — Shelby complained, “Far too many of the President’s nominees were never afforded an up or down vote, because several Democrats chose to block the process for political gain.” He added, “Inaction on these nominees is a disservice to the American people.”

In Feb. 2005, Shelby specifically promised his constituents in Tuscaloosa that he’d do “whatever it takes” to confirm Bush’s judicial nominees, including killing the filibuster:

Shelby also pledged to do “whatever it takes” to confirm Bush’s judicial nominees. A vast majority of Bush’s appointees were confirmed in his first term, but a few controversial ones were filibustered by Democrats in the Senate.

One such nominee is former Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor, who Bush nominated more than two years ago to sit on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

With at least one Supreme Court vacancy expected in Bush’s next term, some Republicans are considering changing the rules of the Senate to force a vote, and likely confirm Bush’s appointees. Shelby said he’d support that option if Democrats continue to filibuster.

Later that year, the Senate struck a compromise to avert changing the filibuster rules. Shelby was quick to register his disapproval:

I do not think that any of us want to operate in an environment where federal judicial nominees must receive 60 votes in order to be confirmed. To that end I firmly support changing the Senate rules to require that a simple majority be necessary to confirm all judicial nominees, thus ending the continuous filibuster of them.

By invoking his “blanket hold” yesterday, Shelby is now forcing Senate Democrats to “secure a 60-member cloture vote to break it, or until Shelby lifts the hold.” Unless, of course, Shelby is still “firmly” in favor of changing the Senate rules so that only 51 votes would be required to break his filibuster.

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/02/05/shelby-record-nominations/

toniD's Ya Think?

It's snowing here also and the winds kicked up now. Howling through the windows.

Have a great evening!

Later

toniD's Ya Think?

Submitted by toniD on Fri, 02/05/2010 - 3:32pm.
Senator Franken Rips Into

.
.
.
_ _ _
brr

brl vod

Submitted by toniD on Fri, 02/05/2010 - 5:21pm.
Former congressman Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) offered a fiery defense of Judeo-Christian faith and traditional American values...
---------------
That's not what I heard.

I heard a keynote speech from a supremacist.

this snow is very wet and heavy too...

man I am so sick of winter...lots of snow, it makes the area around here very beautiful, and it was great for a while, but now it is getting old...

I can't wait for the trees to be green again...

and with all the water we've had this winter, it should be a very green Spring indeed....

re US intelligence agencies shielded Flight 253 bomber
Submitted by CeeCee on Thu, 02/04/2010 - 12:01pm.

Kurt Haskell: 'The Truth About Flight 253 Has Been Revealed'
by Flight 253 passenger Kurt Haskell
http://informationliberation.com/?id=28734
& http://haskellfamily.blogspot.com/
[there is video of the level headed Haskell being interviewed by Alex Jones who can be known to take things to extreme]
""
Please note that in the article that follows, I am not claiming that the U.S. Government knew Mutallab had a bomb or intended to hurt anyone on Flight 253 when the U.S. Government let him board.

THE SHARP DRESSED MAN WHO AIDED MUTALLAB ONTO FLIGHT 253 WAS A U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENT.

Since our flight landed on Christmas Day, Lori and I have been doing everything in our power to uncover the truth about why we were almost blown up in the air over Detroit. ...
“Revocation action [of Mutallab's visa] would’ve disclosed what they were doing,” Kennedy said in testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security. Allowing Adbulmutallab to keep the visa increased chances federal investigators would be able to get closer to apprehending the terror network he is accused of working with, “rather than simply knocking out one solider in that effort.”‘
[I'm still looking for the house transcript. I looked at Kennedy's official dept of state statement
http://homeland.house.gov/SiteDocuments/20100127100911-16626.pdf
and he didn't use the words he evidently used live at the hearing. ]
==
Here it is at 21:00 minutes
& 35:00 [Kennedy is trying to tell them - they don't hear]
http://homeland.house.gov/hearings/index.asp?ID=234
and here it is in the official statement which is what he is reading in the video
"We will use revocation authority prior to interagency consultation in circumstances where we believe there is an immediate threat. Revocation is an important tool in our border security arsenal. At the same time, expeditious coordination with our national security partners is not to be underestimated. There have been numerous cases where our unilateral and uncoordinated revocation would have disrupted important investigations that were underway by one of our national security partners. They had the individual under investigation and our revocation action would have disclosed the U.S. Government’s interest in the individual and ended our colleagues’ ability to quietly pursue the case and identify terrorists’ plans and co-conspirators."

[Kennedy is not saying the above words specifically about Mutallab as the Detroit paper suggested, although Mr. Haskell's eye witness testimony indicates that this was what was happening.

Failure to connect the dots the government is saying - wink wink - we may even let these guys into the country in order to track their networks down and if a plane happens to get blown up in the process "Weelllll..." as Reagan was wont to say.]

@ 40:00 minutes rep King asks "Can we un-Mirandaize him?"

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

I am curious to see if they buy into what the organizers are trying to turn their movement into or if they will somehow be smart enough to move away from the idiots like Tancredo who are determined to keep them a fringe movement easily marginalized as nutbags...

(in my best judy tenuta) "It could happen"

Submitted by cent on Fri, 02/05/2010 - 5:54pm.
...I am so sick of winter...it was great for a while, but now it is getting old...
----------
La, la, la...one man's disaster is another man's opportunity to say that he knew your 'sensitive wintertime poet' persona was blowing smoke but he thought you'd be able to fake it for more than a week.

...can't wait to get my 'sensitive springtime poet' on...

one man's "smoke" is another man's fire....and mine is burning out...too much white...I NEED GREEN!!!

Submitted by cent on Fri, 02/05/2010 - 6:41pm.
...too much white...I NEED GREEN!!!
-----------
Here. Have ya some white and green:

http://www.billionairesforwealthcare.com/

"All purse, no strings."

Obama admits health care overhaul may die on Hill

No, maybe he can't.

President Barack Obama, who insisted he would succeed where other presidents had failed to fix the nation's health care system, now concedes the effort may die in Congress.

The president's newly conflicting signals could frustrate Democratic lawmakers who are hungry for guidance from the White House as they try to salvage the effort to extend coverage to millions of uninsured Americans and hold down spiraling medical costs. Obama's comments Thursday night came hours after Republican Scott Brown was sworn in to replace the late Edward M. Kennedy, leaving Democrats without their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate, and Obama's signature health legislation with no clear path forward.

"I think it's very important for us to have a methodical, open process over the next several weeks, and then let's go ahead and make a decision," Obama said at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser.

What a total coward:

"And it may be that ... if Congress decides we're not going to do it, even after all the facts are laid out, all the options are clear, then the American people can make a judgment as to whether this Congress has done the right thing for them or not," the president said. "And that's how democracy works. There will be elections coming up, and they'll be able to make a determination and register their concerns."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8933239

DETROIT, Feb. 5, 2010 – Penske Corporation and its family of companies announced that today it has donated over $1 million worth of diesel-powered flatbed trucks to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. - Catchfence

A Louisiana high school student says he was sent home for wearing an Indianapolis Colts jersey after the principal encouraged students to wear jerseys supporting the New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl.

However, Livingston Parish School Board member Keith Martin says the boy wasn't sent home. He says the teen was told he couldn't wear the blue jersey because the school uniform was relaxed only for black and gold.

He says he will ask school attorneys whether that violates the right to free speech, as the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana says it does.

The ACLU faxed Principal Steve Vampran a letter supporting 17-year-old Brandon Frost. State director Marjorie Esman says she wants Frost's record cleared of any discipline stemming from the incident.

He's demeaning Obama's base also, Liberals!!!
Submitted by toniD on Fri, 02/05/2010 - 2:54pm.

In an unguarded moment, Emanuel had referred to a group of liberal Democrats as "retarded." When reports of the remark began circulating, the former Chicago congressman -- already famous for his foxhole profanity -- moved to express his regret and promised to help leaders of the disabled community sensitize the public on the issue.
==
Does Emanuel expect those liberal Democrats to help him after that?

;)

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

and the Militarization of Sport’s Biggest Spectacle

Sportswriter Dave Zirin, author of A People’s History of Sports in the United States, says the New Orleans Saints’ Super Bowl appearance—at least for the moment—is boosting spirits in New Orleans on a level unseen since Hurricane Katrina. Zirin also discusses pro athletes who have stood up for gay rights and how the Super Bowl spectacle continues to be used to promote US militarization.

...

JUAN GONZALEZ: And Dave, you’ve been involved in plans for a Super Bowl party that has an anti-militarism theme. Could you talk about this whole issue that you alluded to earlier of the involvement of the military in Super Bowls?

DAVE ZIRIN: Oh, yeah. Well, that’s the whole funny thing about, “Oh, we can’t have advocacy ads for the Super Bowl.” But last year David Petraeus flipped the coin at the Super Bowl. Every year, you have the fighter planes fly overhead. It’s a huge recruitment day for the US armed forces. And particularly in the context of the war on terror, the Super Bowl has been an absolute center for military recruitment on a year-in, year-out basis.

And this year I’m teaming up with the Iraq Veterans Against the War, IVAW, and we’re actually going to have a Super Bowl party at the IVAW house here in Washington, DC, where we’re going to watch the game, without question, but we’re also going to speak about de-linking the fun of football with the reality of war. Far too often, sports is used as this idiotic metaphor for war—quarterbacks are field generals, and they throw bullet passes or bombs—when in reality we know that war is very different. War is life and death. War is long periods of boredom punctuated by horrifying terror. So, if you want to just watch the game and have fun watching the game but also speak out against militarism, please email me, dave(at)edgeofsports.com, and I’ll hook you up at the IVAW house here in Washington, DC to watch the big game.
...

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/5/dave_zirin_on_super_bowl_fever

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/love-sex/romance-passion/yes-yes...

Yes, Yes, Yes, No, Yes! In search of the G-spot

The Germans first stumbled on it; the Italians fervently tried to explain it; this month, the Brits poured cold water on it... now, the hot-blooded French have revived it, as only they can. Katy Guest examines the quest for the ultimate erogenous zone

...Some British women find it dispiriting to be told about the non-existence of the G-spot; but still more are disappointed to hear all these French women bragging about having them while we, instead, have fluoridisation and proper tea. "Weeth zees long 'olidays we 'ave plenty of time for ze looking," they seem to be saying. "We 'ave it, ze G-spot. It ees 'ere!"...

Full Unedited Interview of Jon Stewart by Bill O'Reilly Pt 1 of 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4WGtg1uXQQ
from the comments
"Is Jon Stewart is out of touch with American people and out of touch with reality?

He is not funny either. I don't know why. "

Asked and answered.

~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

Nando I now have a new respect for anything Penske!

It must suck to be that rich and know that no one loves you for you. money can't buy you love. turtlehead is losing his hearing. His ears are in revolt because they know how revolting he is.

Senator Franken Rips Into
new
Submitted by toniD on Fri, 02/05/2010 - 3:32pm.

"Sen. Franken gives a bitch slap to ceo of comcast"

~ + I HATE COMCAST ~

than any Arab nation !
That tower of Babel in Dubai is disgusting : برج باب

and no matter what you think of NASCAR, Rick Hendrick motor sports melted my heart with their Haiti response. I'm a complete convert behind that team after seeing what they did. I'll be rooting for various Fords, Dodges and Chevy's but I'll always be happy to see a Hendricks team in victory lane and they are all Chevy.

Have you seen what the #24 car is doing for St. Judes?

Mercedes stolen from Charlie Sheen's garage
The badly damaged luxury car was found in a ravine off Mulholland and a stolen Bentley coupe was found 200 yards away.

http://www.crystalinks.com/nazca.html

This comes to mind. I guess it is my East Coast accent
Nazca

Submitted by toniD on Fri, 02/05/2010 - 5:21pm.
Tea partiers skip prayer and Pledge of Allegiance at opening of national convention.

Tea Party Protesters The inaugural National Tea Party Convention began yesterday in Nashville, TN despite teabagger infighting and controversy surrounding the event in recent weeks. Tea Party activists have criticized the “scammy” convention’s cost, organizer Judson Phillips’ intention to make money of the event, and Sarah Palin’s $120,000 speaking fee. Just last week, Reps. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) withdrew from their speaking engagements at the convention. And today, the Washington Post reports that the teabaggers — who often boast of their patriotic bona fides — got off to a slow start:

And outside the convention hall, entrepreneurs sold souvenirs: sterling silver tea bag necklaces ($89.99), bags of “Freedom Coffee” ($9) and T-shirts emblazoned with a bald eagle ($20).

...

===================

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/08/sarah-palins-rel...

[excerpt]

In the hours after John McCain made Sarah Palin his running mate, much was written about her religious affiliation (probably in part because McCain's people touted her as fervently anti-abortion).

However, much of that early reporting, it seems, was at best guesswork. So writes John L. Allen Jr. of National Catholic Reporter.

Palin was briefly touted as the first Pentecostal to run on a major party ticket. A spokesperson, however, told the Associated Press yesterday that although the 44-year-old mother of five grew up in the Assemblies of God, the largest organized Pentecostal denomination in the world with an estimated 57 million members, she does not consider herself a "Pentecostal."
Her primary place of worship in Juneau, Alaska's capital, is said to be the "Church on the Rock," an independent congregation founded in January 2000. Palin's spokesperson, however, said the governor also attends different churches.

The initial confusion surrounding Palin's denominational identity, therefore, has a simple explanation: She doesn't have one.

Instead, Palin appears to be part of that rapidly expanding galaxy of "post-denominational" Christianity, where elements of Evangelical and Pentecostal styles of faith and worship fuse into a myriad of unique local combinations, and where old denominational loyalties are essentially dead.

[end excerpt]

=========================

The American Taliban -- and should we include The PALIN Family in that group -- are a chimera being created in the laboratory of monied forces, and these forces are working to create their own army of Christian soldiers.

The American Taliban are a mad mixture of American Christian pro-slavery rationalization, Televangelist Religious Capitalism, Madison Avenue Style artificially created concerns/issues developed for a price in service to Dick Army et al, Dominionist priorities, and Media-made CELEBRITY.

Disruptive, reactionary, dangerous.

that's just messed up Taozen.

Sam Seder Show on TYT Network

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATC5vyBBd1E

http://www.theyoungturks.com/audio/2-5-10SamSeder.mp3

• _02/05/2010 08:06:33 PM EST_

http://www.laketiticaca.org/

Lake Titicaca is a sacred place for the Inca civilization, as the Incan mythology says that the first Inca king, Manco Capac, was born here. According to the Incan mythology, this is the place where the world was created from, when the god Viracocha came out of the lake and created the sun, the stars and the first people. You will have many places to discover on the shore of Lake Titicaca, as well as on the many islands that exist on the lake.
==========
Sam and His guest were great today! Sam said he left the entertainment world but I think going to the lake is a sure way to leave the pedestrian world of Gringo entertainment..

Why is it The People must make this pledge so much, but it didn't look like anybody did the Pledge before the State of the Union Address? Did I miss it?

How come those ENTRUSTED with governmental power through election or appointment get off WITHOUT doing the Pledge?

Is this one for the Double Standard File?

Sam on TYT today
new
Submitted by Jmach1JP on Fri, 02/05/2010 - 9:23pm.

thanks much for posting that

When I listened to it I was reminded of how much I hate Chris Hayes and his childish, neurotic shy tittering/laughter every 5 seconds. It sounds like a cross between a nervous 18 year old who is talking to a professor and a madman.

"You look so tired-unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us"
-Radiohead.
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

http://samsedershow.com/node/5642

Relationship disappointing? This will help. (3 minute video)

Raiders of the Lost Picard

Garrison Keillor & Frederica von Stade - The Cat Came Back (MP3 - 3.4MB)

Advance-fee fraud (AFF), also known as 419 scams and Nigerian scams, exploded in 2009, with victims losing more money than ever before. This is according to the latest analysis from Dutch investigation firm Ultrascan—a company that has been monitoring the activities of 419 scammers since 1996—which says that victims lost almost 50 percent more money in 2009 than 2008.

Considering that 419 scams have been well-known since the 1970s, this trend is particularly disturbing. However, Ultrascan says scammers are expanding their operations and shifting their focus to emerging Internet markets, where there's more fresh meat getting online every day.

More here.

Goldman link to Greek financial crisis?
by Chris in Paris on 2/09/2010 09:29:00 PM

Is it really surprising any more? What happens in 10 or 15 years when this "complex financial product" unravels? Where will the highly paid financial consultants be? You have to wonder if Goldman will always remain above the law or if they will continue to call the shots since they make the law. Der Spiegel:

But in the Greek case the US bankers devised a special kind of swap with fictional exchange rates. That enabled Greece to receive a far higher sum than the actual euro market value of 10 billion dollars or yen. In that way Goldman Sachs secretly arranged additional credit of up to $1 billion for the Greeks.

This credit disguised as a swap didn't show up in the Greek debt statistics. Eurostat's reporting rules don't comprehensively record transactions involving financial derivatives. "The Maastricht rules can be circumvented quite legally through swaps," says a German derivatives dealer.

In previous years, Italy used a similar trick to mask its true debt with the help of a different US bank. In 2002 the Greek deficit amounted to 1.2 percent of GDP. After Eurostat reviewed the data in September 2004, the ratio had to be revised up to 3.7 percent. According to today's records, it stands at 5.2 percent.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,676634,00.html#ref=rss

toniD's Ya Think?

Man ! that was creepy
_ _ _
brr

The earliest report of an Illinois earthquake is of a shock in 1795 felt at Kaskaskia for a minute and a half. Subterranean noises were heard. It was also felt in Kentucky. Due to the sparse frontier population, an accurate location is not possible and the shock may have originated outside the State.

Among the largest earthquakes occurring in Illinois was the May 26, 1909, shock which knocked over many chimneys at Aurora. It was felt over 500,000 square miles and strongly felt in Iowa and Wisconsin. Buildings swayed in Chicago where there was fear that the walls would collapse. Beds moved on their casters.

Just under two months later a second intensity VII earthquake struck on July 18, knocking down chimneys in Petersburg, Illinois, and at Hannibal, Missouri, and Davenport, Iowa. Over twenty windows were broken, bricks loosened and plaster cracked in the Petersburg area. It was felt over only 40,000 square miles.

On August 14, 1965, a sharp but local shock occurred at Tamms, a town of about 600 people. The magnitude 5 shock broke chimneys, cracked walls, knocked groceries from the shelves, and muddied the water supply. Thunderous earth noises were heard. It was felt only at Elco, Unity, Olive Branch, and Olmstead, all towns less than 10 miles away. Six aftershocks were felt. It is interesting to compare this shock with the May 26, 1909, shock and the 1968 shock described below: all had maximum intensities of VII but two had abnormally large felt areas more than 100 times larger than that of the Tamms earthquake.

An earthquake of intensity VII occurred on November 9, 1968. A magnitude 5.3 shock, it was felt over 580,000 square miles in 23 states. There were reports of people in tall buildings in Ontario and Boston feeling the shock.

Damage consisted of bricks being knocked from chimneys, broken windows, toppled television antennae, and cracked plaster. There were scattered reports of cracked foundations, fallen parapets, and over-turned tombstones. Chimney damage was limited to buildings 30 to 50 years old. Many people were frightened. Church bells rang and the characteristic "X" cracks were observed at Broughton and several other towns. Loud rumbling earthquake noise was reported from many communities.

An intensity VI - VII earthquake occurred on April 12, 1883, awakening every one in Cairo. One old frame house was shaken down, resulting in slight injury to the inhabitants, the only record of injury in the State due to earthquakes.

The possibility of damage to parts of Illinois from earthquakes originating outside the State is dominated by the threat of a repeat of the 1811 - 1812 New Madrid great earthquakes, which were felt over at least 2 million square miles from Canada to New Orleans, and in Boston and Washington, D.C. There are few reports from the area, but intensities VII to IX could have been experienced over the entire State.

A Missouri earthquake on November 4, 1905, cracked walls in Cairo. Aftershocks were felt over 100,000 square miles in nine states. In Illinois it cracked the wall of the new education building in Cairo and a wall at Carbondale.

On November 7, 1958, a shock along the Indiana border resulted in damage at Bartelso, Dale and Maunie. Plaster cracked and fell, and a basement wall and floor were cracked.

Dozens of other shocks originating in Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Canada have been felt in Illinois without causing damage.

[Abridged from Earthquake Information Bulletin, Volume 4, Number 3, May-June 1972.] 1804 Aug 20 20:10 4.4M Intensity VI
Fort Dearborn (Chicago), Illinois ( 42.0N 87.8W )
The earthquake was felt at the south end of Lake Michigan and at Fort Wayne, Ind. (about 320 km from the epicenter).

1838 Jun 9 14:45 5.2M Intensity VII
Southern Illinois ( 38.5N 89.0W )
Several catalogs place the epicenter of this earthquake near St. Louis, Mo., because of a report of a chimney being thrown down at St. Louis and because it was "severely felt" at St. Charles, Mo. Although reported effects do not support an intensity of VII, that intensity is assigned because of the similarity of the distribution of intensity to that of the earthquake of Oct. 8, 1857. Felt reports recorded at common points are one-half to one unit of intensity higher for the 1857 earthquake. Also felt in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky.

1857 Oct 8 10:00 4.9M Intensity VII
Southern Illinois ( 38.7N 89.2W )
This severe earthquake was centered in the Mississippi River valley between St. Louis, Mo., and Centralia, Ill. At Centralia, the first of three reported shocks threw down chimneys; at St. Louis, it moved furniture, dislocated bricks, and felled plaster. The largest buildings rocked and articles fell from mantles. Reports indicate that the Mississippi River was in tumult. Felt in many towns in Illinois, along the Mississippi River south of Hannibal, Mo., in western Kentucky, and in parts of Indiana and Iowa.

1876 Sep 25 06:00 4.5M Intensity VI
Wabash River Valley (Illinois) ( 38.5N 87.8W )
(06:00 and 06:15) These earthquakes were felt most strongly between Friendsville and Mt. Carmel, Ill., and Evansville, Ind. They were described as "heavy" at Friendsville. The second shock threw down chimneys at Vincennes, Ind., alarmed residents at Evansville, Ind., and caused slight damage at Louisville and Owensboro, Ky. They were felt from St. Louis, Mo., to Indianapolis, Ind., and Louisville, Ky.

1876 Sep 25 06:15 4.8M Intensity VII
Wabash River valley (Illinois) ( 38.5N 87.8W )
See 1876 09 25 06:00.

1881 Jun 27 00:00 4.6M Intensity VI
La Salle, Illinois ( 41.3N 89.1W )
Before daybreak, a shock in the southwest part of La Salle, about 90 km northeast of Peoria, formed six parallel fissures that were traceable for 183 m in a northwest-southeast direction. Walls, foundations and furnaces in bottle and glass factories cracked in many places.

1882 Sep 27 10:20 4.4M Intensity VI
Southern Illinois ( 39.0N 89.5W )
A chimney was cracked severely at Greenfield, Green County, Ill., and a crack in the wall of a building was widened considerably at Salem, Marion County. People were awakened and small objects were displaced throughout the area. The felt area extended from Mexico, Mo., to Vincennes, Ind., and Henderson, Ky., in an east-west direction, and from Springfield to Pickneyville, Ill., in a north-south direction.

1883 Apr 12 08:36 Intensity VI
Cairo, Illinois ( 37.0N 89.2W )
A strong local earthquake rattled windows for 30 seconds and awakened everyone in Cairo, in southern Illinois near the Kentucky-Missouri border. People were injured slightly in the collapse of an old frame house.

1887 Aug 2 18:36 4.9M Intensity VI
Southern Illinois ( 37.2N 88.5W )
This severe shock broke windows at Cobden, Ill., cracked brick walls at Jonesboro, Ill., and Russellville, Ky., and loosened some plaster at Nashville, Tenn. Also felt in Indiana and Missouri and as far south as Huntsville, Ala.

1891 Sep 27 04:55 5.2M Intensity VII
Near Mount Vernon, Illinois ( 38.250N 88.5W )
Several chimneys were toppled at Mount Vernon, and the ceiling and sidewalls of the Methodist Church were damaged. Chimney damage also was reported at Browns and Nashville, Ill., and Cloverport, Ky. Plaster was knocked down at Jerseyville, Murphysboro, and Warsaw, Ill. Also felt in all or parts of Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee.

1903 Feb 9 00:21 4.9M Intensity VII
Mississippi River Valley (Illinois) ( 37.8N 89.3W )
This earthquake threw down chimneys in Jackson County at Grand Tower and Murphysboro, Ill., and damaged chimneys east of Murphysboro, at Carterville and Harrisburg, Ill. It was strongly felt from Jeffersonville, Mo. to Louisville, Ky., and from Cairo, Ill., to Hannibal, Mo.

1905 Aug 22 05:08 4.8M Intensity VI
Southern Illinois ( 37.2N 89.3W )
Chimneys were shaken down at Cairo, Pulaski County, Ill, and about 40 km southwest, at Sikeston, Mo. Chimneys also were broken or partly collapsed at nearby Charleston, Mo., and about 175 km southeast, at Clarksville, Tenn. The earthquake was felt most strongly along the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys, including parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee.

1909 Jun 26 14:42 5.1M Intensity VII
Aurora, Illinois ( 41.6N 88.1W )
This earthquake has been related to the La Salle anticline in the Illinois Basin. Many chimneys fell, a stove overturned, and gas line connections broke at Aurora, west of Chicago. Several chimneys were downed at Forreston, Naperville, Streator, Triumph, and Troy Grove, and one fell at Waukegan. Brick walls cracked at Bloomington, and sidewalks cracked and many chimneys were damaged at Freeport. At Platteville, Wis., about 130 km northwest of Chicago, an old building was cracked; houses were jostled out of plumb at Beloit, Wis., about 240 km northwest of Chicago. Felt from Missouri to Michigan and Minnesota to Indiana.

1909 Jul 19 04:34 4.8M Intensity VII
Between Havana and Petersburg, Illinois ( 40.2N 90.0W )
Chimneys were demolished on more than 100 buildings in Menard County at Petersburg, northwest of Springfield. At a farm west of Petersburg, 20 windows broke and bricks pushed out above the doors. Fallen chimneys also were reported northwest of Springfield at Davenport, Iowa, and west of Springfield at Hannibal, Mo. Several newspaper articles describe this earthquake but do not report property damage.

1912 Jan 2 16:21 4.5M Intensity VI
Near Aurora, Freeport, Morris, and Yorkville, Illinois? ( 41.5N 88.5W )
The highest intensity was reported at those towns in Kane, Stephenson, Grundy, and Kendall Counties, respectively. Slight damage to chimneys was reported at Batavia and Geneva, Ill., north of Aurora, in Kane County. Two distinct shocks were observed at some places. The stronger shock also was felt in parts of Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky (Fulton County), and Wisconsin.

1917 Apr 9 20:52 5.1M Intensity VII
Southern Illinois in the Mississippi River valley ( 38.1N 90.2W )
At St. Louis, Mo., several chimneys were knocked down, windows were broken, and people were thrown to the pavement. At Granite City, Mo., buildings shifted on their foundations. At DeSoto, Mo., in Jefferson County, bricks fell from chimneys and the walls of several buildings were cracked. Many windows were broken and buildings rocked at Ste. Genevieve and St. Mary, Mo., south of St. Louis near the Illinois border. Heavy rumbling preceded and accompanied the earthquake in places. Felt from Kansas to Ohio and from Wisconsin to Mississippi.

1922 Mar 22 22:29 4.8M Intensity VII
Southern Illinois ( 37.4N 89.4W )
This strong earthquake knocked down 25 chimneys at Illmo, Scott County, Mo., and sent people rushing out of stores. Dishes fell from shelves at Carbondale, Ill. Also felt in Kentucky and Tennessee.

1922 Mar 23 02:22 4.6M Intensity VI
Southern Illinois ( 37.4N 89.4W )
At Illmo, Mo., south of Cape Girardeau in Scott County, the earthquake knocked down "many more chimneys" (see description of the main shock on Mar. 22, 1922). The shock was "violent" at Belleville, Ill., and "severe" at Jonesboro, Ill. Stovepipes were downed at Cape Girardeau, Mo., and people were knocked off their feet. Also felt at Evansville, Ind.

1922 Nov 27 03:31 4.8M Intensity VII
Near Eldorado, Illinois ( 37.8N 88.5W )
The earthquake broke several windows and downed chimneys at Eldorado. One chimney flue was demolished and stovepipes fell at Harrisburg, 8 km southwest of Eldorado. Generally felt in southern Illinois, western Indiana, northern Kentucky, eastern Missouri, and western Tennessee.

1934 Nov 12 14:45 4.0M Intensity VI
Near Rock Island, Illinois ( 41.5N 90.5W )
In Rock Island and Moline, Ill., and Davenport, Iowa, bricks fell from a few chimneys and pendulum clocks stopped. In Rock Island, a stucco cornice was dislodged from St. Joseph's School; some loose plaster was shaken from ceilings in the men's dormitory at Augustana College, and loose bricks were shaken from a few buildings.

1939 Nov 23 15:14 4.6M Intensity V
Near Griggs, Illinois ( 38.180N 90.137W )
[Listed without Summary in SUS. Summary from EHUS.] Intensity just short of damage. Affected area included most of Illinois, Missouri, and parts of Wisconsin, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Iowa.

1947 Jun 30 04:23 4.2M Intensity VI
Waterloo-Dupo, Illinois, area, south of Saint Louis, Missouri ( 38.4N 90.2W )
At St. Louis, several chimneys were toppled and a sidewalk was cracked.

1953 Sep 11 18:26 4.0M Intensity VI
Southwest Illinois ( 38.8N 90.1W )
At Roxana, north of East St. Louis, in Madison County, cracks formed in a concrete-block foundation and in plaster. Also felt in eastern Missouri.

1955 Apr 9 13:01 4.3M Intensity VI
West of Sparta, Illinois ( 38.232N 89.785W )
Concrete foundations and plaster walls were cracked at Evansville, Ill. (about 20 km west of Sparta), and at Lemay, University City, and Webster Groves, Mo. Also felt in Kentucky and Missouri.

1958 Nov 8 02:41 4.4M Intensity VI
Southeast Illinois, near Indiana border ( 38.436N 88.8W )
Plaster fell at Dale (Hamilton County) and Albion (Edwards County), and a basement wall cracked at Maunie (White County). Also felt in Indiana, Kentucky, and Missouri.

1965 Aug 14 13:13 3.4M Intensity VII
Southwest Illinois ( 37.226N 89.307W )
This strong local earthquake at Tamms (Alexander County) downed chimneys, cracked walls, muddied water, and knocked stock from shelves.

1968 Nov 9 17:01 5.2M Intensity VII
Southern Illinois ( 37.911N 88.373W )
This was the strongest felt earthquake in southern Illinois since the 1895 Missouri event. Property damage in the area consisted mainly of fallen bricks from chimneys, broken windows, toppled television aerials, and cracked or fallen plaster. In the epicentral area, near Dale, Hamilton County, MM intensity VII was characterized by downed chimneys, cracked foundations, overturned tombstones, and scattered instances of collapsed parapets.

Most buildings that sustained damage to chimneys were 30 to 50 years old. A large two-story brick house near Dale, Ill., sustained several thousand dollars damage. About 10 km west of Dale, near Tuckers Corners, a concrete and brick cistern collapsed. A large amount of masonry damage occurred at the City Building at Henderson, Ky., 80 km east-southeast of the epicenter. Moderate damage to chimneys and walls occurred in several towns in south-central Illinois, southwest Indiana, and northwest Kentucky. Felt over all or parts of 23 States: from southeast Minnesota to central Alabama and Georgia and from western North Carolina to central Kansas. People in multistory buildings in Boston, Mass. and southern Ontario, Canada, felt the earthquake.

1972 Sep 15 05:22 4.0M Intensity VI
Northern Illinois ( 41.645N 89.369W )
Cracks in chimneys, tombstones, elevated water tanks, and plaster occurred at Amboy (Lee County), south of Rockford. Chimney and plaster cracks were observed at Holcomb, northeast of Amboy, in Ogle County. Also felt in Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

1974 Apr 3 23:05 4.3M Intensity VI
Southeast Illinois ( 38.549N 88.072W )
Minor damage, generally in the form of cracked and broken chimneys, occurred in Wabash County. At West Salem, a few chimneys and tombstones were shaken down and other chimneys were damaged. Slight damage occurred at many towns in Indiana and Illinois. Also felt in Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

1984 Jun 29 07:58 4.1M Intensity VI
Southern Illinois ( 37.7N 88.470W )
At Harrisburg, in Saline County, one house sustained structural damage. Also felt in western Kentucky and southeast Missouri.
earthquake.usgs.gov
_ _ _
brr

NYC is getting ready for 18" I think we will get it this time.

it was a 4.3
_ _ _
brr

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,585337,00.html

A moderate earthquake struck northern Illinois Wednesday morning, waking up residents in the Chicago area.

The 4.3 magnitude quake, centered 48 miles west of Chicago near the city of Sycamore, hit at 4 a.m. local time at a depth of about 3 miles, the USGS reported.

was the day I met my long time mate Robyn 20 years ago at the Cupcake Cafe.

LAYTON, Utah, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- A 15-month-old Utah girl died Tuesday, three days after her 4-year-old sister was killed by apparent pesticide poisoning, officials said.

Investigators say Rachel and Rebecca Toone may have been poisoned by pellets an exterminator used on their family's lawn in Layton Friday, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Fumitoxin aluminum phosphide pellets were dropped into burrows on the lawn to kill voles, small rodents that resemble mice.

Rebecca began having trouble breathing Saturday and died within hours. The rest of the family was hospitalized overnight with flu-like symptoms. Rachel became sick again Sunday and was hospitalized again.

Bugman Pest and Lawn, a Bountiful company, placed about 1 1/2 pounds of the pesticide within 7 feet of the front door of the house, Lt. Col. Tyler Smith of the Utah National Guard said. He said phosphine gas given off by the pellets may have collected under the porch and seeped into the house.

Lt. Quinn Moyes of the Layton Police Department said investigators were still examining what the pest company did and whether its employees made mistakes that led to the girls' deaths.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/02/10/2-sisters-apparently-killed-by...

Last time I felt a quake was in the 60's when the New Madrid fault was active.

This quake today is about 15-20 miles from me.

toniD's Ya Think?

i'm behind on my reading. was the illinois quake part of the new madrid fault? for years the chatter has been that if that lets go it will take out a lot of the midwest.

Obama Doesn’t ‘Begrudge’ Bonuses for ‘Savvy’ Blankfein, Dimon

By Julianna Goldman and Ian Katz

Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama said he doesn’t “begrudge” the $17 million bonus awarded to JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon or the $9 million issued to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO Lloyd Blankfein, noting that some athletes take home more pay.

The president, speaking in an interview, said in response to a question that while $17 million is “an extraordinary amount of money” for Main Street, “there are some baseball players who are making more than that and don’t get to the World Series either, so I’m shocked by that as well.”

“I know both those guys; they are very savvy businessmen,” Obama said in the interview yesterday in the Oval Office with Bloomberg BusinessWeek, which will appear on newsstands Friday. “I, like most of the American people, don’t begrudge people success or wealth. That is part of the free- market system.”

[...]

Bloomberg

"This is your tour guide...please watch your step as we leave the realm of simple frustration and disappointment and enter the world of active disdain...step lively please..."

For all you East Coasters and us here in Illinoi & Indiana

toniD's Ya Think?

next up:

when did you stop beating your wife?

Earthquake Shakes Chicagoland
Early-morning tremor wakes up residents

A 4.3 magnitude earthquake woke up Chicago-area residents early Wednesday.

The tremor centered near west suburban Geneva, about five miles east of Sycamore, struck at 3:59 a.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

"It shook the house, rattled the windows and doors," viewer John Bruno wrote in an email. "It woke us out of a sleep and got the dog barking! It shook our whole house!"

The USGS fielded thousands of phone calls with similar stories, geophysicist Amy Vaughan said. Reports came in from Villa Park, Minooka, the Northwest Side and even Crown Point, Indiana and Madison, Wisconsin.

The reports were mostly people who said, "we woke up and thought we were going crazy," Vaughan said.

"I initially thought that perhaps we were having an earthquake," Paul Lockwood, of Woodstock said."But then dismissed the idea, especially since the people who use [snow blowers] on our sidewalk were doing their work a few minutes later."

Others knew exactly what they felt.

"My ENTIRE house shook and things fell off a desk and adresser," wrote Casarah Stark, of St. Charles. "I woke up to that old familiar feeling I could hear the very loud rumbling and feel the shaking for a few seconds."

Local police departments have not reported any injuries or serious damage, and the quake appears to be an isolated event.

It's not the first time Illinois, which sits on the largest fault line in the country, has experienced a quake.

In April 2008, a 5.2 magnitude earthquake hit West Salem, located 270 miles south of Chicago, becoming the state's worst since 1968. But there could be more coming.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/Breaking-News-Earthquake-Shake...

toniD's Ya Think?

A mild earthquake shook northern Illinois this morning.

The U.S. Geological Survey initially reported a 4.3-magnitude quake at 3:59:33 a.m. centered about 5.5 miles east of Sycamore and 3.1 miles underground. But it later revised the magnitude to 3.8, and said the epicenter was just south of Gilberts.

The quake was felt over a wide area -- from Wisconsin to Tennessee -- but there were no reports of any damage so far, according to the Kane County and DeKalb County sheriff's departments, which are closest to the epicenter.

"We got hundreds of calls," said DeKalb County Sheriff Roger Scott. "But we have no reports of damage or injuries.

The magnitude and epicenter were revised after the U.S. Geological Survey studied the "wave forms" from the quake, said Amy Vaughan, a geophysicist with the geological survey in Golden, Colo.

"The information was better understood," she said.

The nature of the fault activity that caused the quake was unclear, Vaughn said. Past quakes that have affected southern Illinois have been in the Wabash Valley or New Madrid seismic zones.

The fault systems in northern Illinois are not as well understood as those in other regions where earthquakes are more common, and more investigation will be needed to determine the cause of this morning's temblor, Vaughan said. (This is ominous)

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/02/quake-like-tremors-reported-i...

toniD's Ya Think?

did u feel the quake?? I just got up about an hour or so ago,
just read about it. I didn't feel anything.

Going back to the Neurologist today to see about the MRI's
& Blood work.? This not getting a paycheck sucks. I'm a
little stressed out. I also have to go & shovel the drive
& walkways. SHIT theres a lot of snow out there. I went out
there yesterday 2 times.
R U ok toniD, how was work for u last night?

from stephanie miller yesterday - google the sarah palin vagina joke.

Stephanie Miller - she's almost on the air.

it started happening last summer...I should have never taught her how to hit the high soft draw shot with her 4 iron....

Now it is just embarrassing....

Doctor's appt. today? Hope they can find out what is wrong so they can treat you. Are you getting disability checks? I know they aren't like a regular check but at least it is some money coming in. Check for other help like a discount for your phone and electric and gas, LIHEAP. And if you need, the Food Stamp program.

I got to work and home driving in ruts last night. When I got home, where I parked, I ran the car back and forth to pack down the snow because I am still wearing that open toed boot on my foot from the surgery. My foot is still too swolen to put a shoe on. So I didn't want to step into the snow so I packed it down.

toniD's Ya Think?

to Republican naysayers.==>KILLABUSTER NOW! Grow a pair and prove you care!

i would suspect that having a wife that plays golf is a rarity.

my point was that there was no correct answer that obama could give to the question, but you knew that.

just once i would like to see obama say, these are the things i believe in and if you don't like it go pound sand.

===

better yet, obama should have said you have to question why anyone should get paid more than 2.5 million a year for some activity that they do. that represents a 100:1 range if you feel that minimal salary should be 25K. its 200:1 if you say minimal salary should be 12.5K.

of course all the conservatives would go apeshit, the chamber of commerce would call him a commie, but then whate else is new?

Burn these assholes to the ground! Maddow Style!

KILL-A-BUSTER!

"this machine kills fascists"

that was my point...

Evidence of his disconnect with the people who elected him is becoming more and more apparent.

There were traces of this during the campaign, and some of us were concerned about it, but we allowed ourselves to be assuaged by the possibility that it was just him camouflaging a more liberal bent than he wanted to reveal...

apparently, my instincts were correct...

I keep waiting for this guy to do something to soften my cynicism, but instead he is hardening it.

Got sunshine here, beautiful snow blanket! Clean house, build cupboard, Costco, Happy hour @ new Brewpub! W00t!!!

"this machine kills fascists"

My brother-in-law was recently flown out from San Diego by his employer to New Jersey to re-calibrate a piece of equipment because of an earthquake. I searched the net and only found mention of one in New Jersey last year around this time (February 3, 2009):
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/03/nyregion/new-jersey/03njquake.html
But with all this snow, he's been unable to get a flight back home. Don't cry for him though, he's a Faux News Republican. If he really wanted to get back home, he'd find a way ;)

I guess since you all in Illinois are use to the snow (:O BORING,) Mother Nature wanted to shake things up. Be safe...

What to do During a Strong Earthquake
Indoors
- Move away from windows, glass doors, furniture or other objects that might fall.
- Get under a sturdy table, or under a doorway of an interior wall.
- Stay in the building unless it is clearly unsafe, or you are told to leave. Leaving a building during
the shaking of an earthquake is very dangerous because objects can fall on you.
- Use stairs. Elevators may lose power or fall.

Outdoors
- Move away from buildings (glass and debris may fall).
- Move away from trees, utility poles, overhead electric wires.
- Avoid highway underpasses, and other structures that might collapse.

In a car
- Drive to (or stay in) open areas away from danger of falling objects, power lines, etc.
- Vacate bridges, tunnels and underpasses.
- Watch traffic, other drivers may be disoriented, or out of control.
- Once in an open area, stay in your car.

What to do If You Think You Feel an Earthquake:
- Ask your neighbors if they felt it too.
- Check with your local police.
- Call your local newspapers and radio stations
or the
the State Geological Survey:

What to do After an Earthquake
Expect and Check
- Expect aftershocks. They cause additional damage and can collapse weakened structures.
- Expect to be on your own for some time, perhaps two days or more.
- Check for injured or trapped. Render assistance and first aid as needed.
- Check for gas or smoke odors.
- Check for building structural damage and general safety.

Remember
- Flipping an electric switch causes sparks that will trigger explosions around gas leaks, as will
cigarettes, candles and matches.
- Use flashlights, they are safe.
- Remain calm, and beware of panic in crowded places.
- Open closet and cupboard doors cautiously.
- Clean up spills of hazardous liquids, such as medicines and flammables.
- Clean up broken glass and other debris.
- Inspect chimneys carefully. Damage could lead to fire.
- Leave gas-main on unless you smell gas.
- Leave electric-main on unless you know the lines are damaged and unsafe.
- If you turn off a utility-main after a disaster, only the utility company is allowed to turn it on
again -- after they have determined it is safe. This may leave you without heat or light for several
days.

Water
- Water can be obtained from canned vegetables, melted frozen foods or ice, hot-water-heater
drain valves (even if water main is off), and from toilet tanks (not bowls).

Pets
- There may be significant behavioral changes in pets after an earthquake. Cats and dogs that are
normally friendly and quiet may become aggressive or defensive. Watch them closely. Leash dogs
or place them in a fenced yard.

http://www.nj.gov/dep/njgs/enviroed/eqrisk.htm#todo

Tea Party Jab to Be Zapped From Captain America Comic, Writer Says

By Joshua Rhett Miller

A "tea bag" reference in a recent Captain America comic book that has angered the Tea Party movement will be removed by Marvel Comics in future editions, the story's writer told FoxNews.com.

In issue No. 602 of Captain America, "Two Americas, Part One," the title hero and The Falcon, a black superhero from New York City, stumble upon a protest rally in Boise, Idaho. They see scores of protesters carrying signs that say "Stop the Socialists!" and "Tea Bag The Libs Before They Tea Bag YOU!"

Captain America says the protest appears to be an "anti-tax thing," and The Falcon jokes that he likely would not be welcomed into the crowd of "angry white folks."

[...]

Faux

These will surely become priceless after Palin/Beck win in 2012..heh heh heh....

I'm telling you...It's coming! People are pissed!

"this machine kills fascists"

Why Republicans Want to "Start Over" on Health Care
Jonathan Chait notes that while Republicans say they want to start over on a health care bill and a pass a plan "without all the bad socialist stuff," he says their real position is to do nothing.

"But it's pretty clear that the Republican pretense to really want to do reform, only just not this reform and not right now, is rooted in an understanding that their real position does not reflect public sentiment. There's been an enormous amount of bluster about popular repudiation of the Democratic health care plan. If Republicans truly thought the public shared their beliefs, they wouldn't be talking constantly about starting over and doing it right in a bipartisan fashion."

http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/why-republicans-say-they-want-sta...

toniD's Ya Think?

17th House Republican to Retire
Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-MI) will make an announcement today about "his future plans," fueling speculation that he may retire from Congress, the Detroit News reports.

The Hotline: "This Grand Rapids-based seat, under the right circumstances, is a potential pickup opportunity for Dems."

Ehlers will be the 17th House Republican to announce plans not to run for re-election, compared to 11 Democrats who have done the same.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2010/02/10/17th_house_republican_to_re...

toniD's Ya Think?

Most See Republicans as Unwilling to Compromise
A new Washington Post/ABC News poll finds that nearly six in 10 Americans say the Republicans aren't doing enough to forge compromise with President Obama on important issues; more than four in 10 see Obama as doing too little to get GOP support.

In addition, nearly two-thirds of Americans say they want Congress to keep working to pass comprehensive health-care reform.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/behind-the-numbers/2010/02/americans_sp...

toniD's Ya Think?

How The Mega Rich Put Millions Where Their Politics Are

They have more money than can be spent in this lifetime and probably in their grandchildrens' lifetimes. They have opinions. They have political beliefs. And they use their humongous wealth to support the cause and candidates they believe in.

Meet California's elite political givers.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the state's Fair Political Practices Commission crunched the numbers to identify the 10 people who've given the most political money over the past 10 years. Those 10 names combined to give $266.6 million to their pet causes and candidates -- and they can be their own favorite candidates.

Two of the names on that Top 10 list -- Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner -- are now running for governor. Another ran for governor in 2002 and a fourth IS governor -- Arnold Schwarzenegger.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/eyeon2010/2010/02/how-the-mega-rich-put-mill...

toniD's Ya Think?

Americans Back Repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"
A new Quinnipiac poll finds that Americans by a 57% to 36% margin think homosexuals should be able to openly serve in the U.S. military.

Voters also say by a 66% to 31% margin that the current policy of not allowing openly gay men and women to serve is discrimination.

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1284.xml?ReleaseID=1422&What=&strArea=;&strTi...

toniD's Ya Think?

Can you put a plow on a tank to help clean the roads in DC?

toniD's Ya Think?

Tax credits, Medicare fix in Senate jobs bill
Photo
10:32am EST

By Andy Sullivan and Kim Dixon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Highway funding and tax breaks for hiring workers figure prominently in a jobs-creation bill that Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Senate hope will attract rare joint support in an election year, lawmakers said on Tuesday.

The bill, likely to be less costly and more bipartisan than the one passed by the House of Representatives, also extends unemployment benefits and postpones a scheduled 20 percent cut in payments to doctors under the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly.

The Senate legislation, which has yet to be formally introduced, faces more than the usual procedural hurdles as a record snowstorm has paralyzed Washington and made it difficult for many lawmakers to get to work.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid initially hoped to finish the bill this week but his optimism on the timing waned over the day as another major snowstorm hit the Washington area and forced the Senate to cancel Wednesday's session.

Reid, in remarks on the Senate floor, said he doubted senators would be able to hold any votes this week because of the weather. The Senate is in recess next week, which means no votes then either, but Reid expressed optimism.

"Despite the storm, we're going to make progress on the jobs bill," he said.

Reid said he had "a good conversation" on Tuesday with Senator Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, "and we're going to continue to work with everyone on an agreement to move forward with this matter."

Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl praised what appeared to be a rare outburst of congressional bipartisanship but said he did not expect a vote this week on the jobs legislation.

"Something might be written this week to go out as a draft to everybody. But it will not be acted on this week. No way," Kyl told reporters, explaining that Republicans would need time to study the provisions.

The Senate's top Republican, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, said the jobs legislation would carry a price tag of roughly $80 billion. That would be about half the size of the $155 billion package that Democrats in the House passed in December with no Republican support.

ELECTIONS LOOMING

Democrats, nervously eyeing congressional elections in November, hope to show voters they are doing all they can to bring down the 9.7 percent unemployment rate.

But they face a growing backlash over aggressive spending last year to lessen the impact of the deepest recession in 70 years and Democrats have lost their 60-seat supermajority in the Senate after a surprise Republican election victory in Massachusetts last month.

"I don't know of any sticking points at this stage," Reid told reporters earlier in the day. "I think we are in pretty good shape."

McConnell said Republicans were anxious to see the "parameters of the final package" before deciding whether to support it but the bill includes several provisions advanced by others in his party.

Among them is a proposal by Republican Orrin Hatch and Democrat Charles Schumer that would allow businesses to avoid paying payroll taxes on some new hires for the rest of 2010.

The bill also would expand taxable bonds, known as "Build America Bonds," that help state and local government pay for big projects.

It would also shore up the dwindling Highway Trust Fund, which funds local road and transit projects, and includes a set of non-controversial tax credits and other benefits to business worth $17 billion that expired at the end of last year.

The Senate bill will not include a permanent fix for the estate tax, which expired at the end of 2009 and is scheduled to return at a higher rate in 2011, Reid said.

LINK

toniD's Ya Think?

Buy one now, if you can find it....
Submitted by cent on Wed, 02/10/2010 - 10:39am.

...buy-buy. Thank gawd, consumerism is in tact.

so they can plow the parking lot here. So I decided to take my car for an oil change.

My car is going in to the mechanic next Wednesday. I have an automatic and the car is making noises when the gears shift like an old stick shift sports car so I am worried about the transmission. My car Is 10 years old. The funny thing is, I've had it for 8 years, bought it used with 34,000 miles on it and have yet to reach 60,000 miles. Haven't used it much except local driving, but I don't get around like I used to.

But I still depend on it for transportation and I am still young enough to be able to drive for at least another 20+ years if I'm still around.

Another expense I wasn't counting on.

I'm going to do my taxes today. I'll be getting a refund so that will help pay for the car to be fixed. Thank goodness my mechanic gives me a brake. I've sent him a slew of customers because he's so honest, so he gives me a discount.

toniD's Ya Think?

funny thing toni, I was just browsing intrade, and a "DADT Repealed by 12/31/10 contract" caught my eye....

Even with all the media attention, it has dropped from 69 to 20 in the last week....

Seemingly, although more people feel it should be repealed, fewer actually think it will happen...

Now I know intrade may not be the best poll of things like this, but it is a curiosity none the less...and just another indicator that we are seeing more politicians ignoring the polls than ever before, and more people simply accepting it as SSDD...

It will be interesting to see if this poll has an affect on public opinion and outcry...

He's not to hopeful either....

Clueless

I’m with Simon Johnson here: how is it possible, at this late date, for Obama to be this clueless?

The lead story on Bloomberg right now contains excerpts from an interview with Business Week which tells us:

President Barack Obama said he doesn’t “begrudge” the $17 million bonus awarded to JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon or the $9 million issued to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO Lloyd Blankfein, noting that some athletes take home more pay.

The president, speaking in an interview, said in response to a question that while $17 million is “an extraordinary amount of money” for Main Street, “there are some baseball players who are making more than that and don’t get to the World Series either, so I’m shocked by that as well.”

“I know both those guys; they are very savvy businessmen,” Obama said in the interview yesterday in the Oval Office with Bloomberg BusinessWeek, which will appear on newsstands Friday. “I, like most of the American people, don’t begrudge people success or wealth. That is part of the free- market system.”

Obama sought to combat perceptions that his administration is anti-business and trumpeted the influence corporate leaders have had on his economic policies. He plans to reiterate that message when he speaks to the Business Roundtable, which represents the heads of many of the biggest U.S. companies, on Feb. 24 in Washington.

Oh. My. God.

First of all, to my knowledge, irresponsible behavior by baseball players hasn’t brought the world economy to the brink of collapse and cost millions of innocent Americans their jobs and/or houses.

And more specifically, not only has the financial industry has been bailed out with taxpayer commitments; it continues to rely on a taxpayer backstop for its stability. Don’t take it from me, take it from the rating agencies:

The planned overhaul of US financial rules prompted Standard & Poor’s to warn on Tuesday it might downgrade the credit ratings of Citigroup and Bank of America on concerns that the shake-up would make it less likely that the banks would be bailed out by US taxpayers if they ran into trouble again.

The point is that these bank executives are not free agents who are earning big bucks in fair competition; they run companies that are essentially wards of the state. There’s good reason to feel outraged at the growing appearance that we’re running a system of lemon socialism, in which losses are public but gains are private. And at the very least, you would think that Obama would understand the importance of acknowledging public anger over what’s happening.

But no. If the Bloomberg story is to be believed, Obama thinks his key to electoral success is to trumpet “the influence corporate leaders have had on his economic policies.”

We’re doomed.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/clueless/

toniD's Ya Think?

http://samsedershow.com/node/5649

Evening all.

toniD's Ya Think?

Got up to early, took a nap before th show, now Im half asleep with a coffee buzz. One of the crew brought some Ann Sather sweet rolls fresh from Chicago.~`ordinary's just not good enough today - olp`~
Jamesbenet

Blue Roots Radio

Ya gotta love the donut bringers...As healthy as the second hand smokers I suppose..but more beloved.