tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155357822024-03-13T19:50:30.309-04:00Night Bird's FountainBarbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.comBlogger1882125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-92092671743869804612011-01-20T07:29:00.013-05:002011-01-25T13:02:14.929-05:00In remembrance of BarbiOur dear talented friend and editor/blogger, Barbi, passed away in October and is sorely missed by us and by the readers of this blog. Here are some thoughts for and about Barbi from some of us who knew and loved her.<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />From Beth in New York:</span><br /><br />Raising a glass to Barbi! A person who was always there for us all during those tough times when our country was under siege back in 2004. Barbi embraced nature and shared her love of it with us, with pictures of Northern Michigan.<br /><br />Barbi took over the blog full time when I was not allowed to blog anymore while working for the government in 2007. She did a great job!! She managed the trolls that would lurk.<br /><br />I will never forget the late nights when we would all blog with Barbi; Jen sharing music and teaching us html, Greg from New Yawk sharing those obscure scenarios, the Rev from NC talking about daisy dukes, Cin from Cali coming into the conversation late and trying to catch up, Rick filling us in on the events in Tennessee, Maura from "The Fat Lady Signs" sharing her ever impressive posts, The Heretick from Utah popping in to leave a link to a post he did, Pam from CT informing us of the Connecticut Senate Race (remember Ned vs Joemomentum), BB from Mass, helping us through the laws being passed back then, George on the road in his camper and his dogs, Paul (in VA) always responding to the right wing attacks, and Dellberto taken under the wing of Barbi - Mom and Son. There are so many people whose lives were touched by Barbi.<br /><br />We are still a group that stays in touch and we miss Barbi but know she is at peace in the Spirit World embracing nature.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />From Cin in California:</span><br /><br />Dearest Barbi:<br /><br />We met during a special time. The old KA gang shared some great times that I will never forget. I will always remember the laughs, tears and your spirit and determination.<br />Rest In Peace, Dearest Barbi<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Ii926KMKtQE/TTgtWeP9G_I/AAAAAAAAAF8/Vjl4B-DnvFU/s1600/krip.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 214px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5564247203716602866" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Ii926KMKtQE/TTgtWeP9G_I/AAAAAAAAAF8/Vjl4B-DnvFU/s320/krip.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">From Greg G. in New York:</span><br /><br />In those days right before and after Kerry lost in '04 I was looking for something to do with my sense of despair and anger. I stumbled onto the DNC blog and found a group of funny, warm folks to share hopes and nightmares with and I met Barbara. We collaborated on some writing and she liked my jokes. Over the years I discovered that a person’s essence is just as easily revealed over the internet as it is when holed up during a snowstorm in some mid-west road house filled with strangers who as they relax into their rum and cokes slowly ease into sharing their life stories. But I wish I had sat next to her on bar stools in such a dive just once in this lifetime.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">From Jenny in Ohio:</span><br /><br />Thank you, dear Barbi, for being a good friend. You're a generous, fun lady and there are so many memories I have of you that I know will stay with me forever. I wish we had had a chance to meet face to face, but our spirits met and that is a blessing. I remember fondly your pride in your Scottish heritage and this seemed an appropriate tribute for you...<br /><p><br /><iframe height="295" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/STqDowSbSTQ?fs=1" frameborder="0" width="480" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p><blockquote><p>My Heart is ravisht with delight,<br />when thee I think upon;<br />All Grief and Sorrow takes the flight,<br />and speedily is gone;<br />The bright resemblance of thy Face,<br />so fills this, Heart of mine;<br />That Force nor Fate can me displease,<br />for Old long syne.<br /><br /></p></blockquote><span style="font-weight:bold;">Rev. James (and Robert) in North Carolina:</span><br /> <br />Barbi was a strong advocate for Rob and me. She and I exchanged quite a few emails. Her warmth, humor, and strong sense of fair play were such light in this often terrible and dark world. She is sorely missed.<br /><br />From Tony D. in Minneapolis <br /><br />What I remember most of Barbi was her passion and the collection of interests she both nurtured and found nurturing - from nature and gardening, to Scottish History and heritage, to ships however small or grand the quarterdeck. The passion informed her writing and posts and when you thought she might have exhausted her knowledge or interest in a subject a response to one of your comments let you know there was more to enjoy if you cared. <br /><br /><a href="http://cdtrrracks.com/Lisa%20Thiel/Invocation%20of%20the%20Graces/Seafarers%20Prayer.html ">A Seafarer's Prayer (Sung by Lisa Thiel) <br /></a><br />O may the winds be fair and the Great Sea be calm, <br />May we follow our course surely from Dark until Dawn, <br />With the Bright Stars above us and the Great Sea below <br />And the Graces around us wherever we go. <br />Oh, we call on the winds to be ally and friends <br />And to carry us through until journey's end. <br />Oh, we call on the winds for their help and their aid, <br />To carry us out and over the waves. <br /><br />(If you have something you'd like to share here, please contact us at donkeyodatgmaildotcom. and we will add it to this post. If you'd rather just leave something in the comments, that is fine too! Thank you! )Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-12102082184502151712010-08-23T16:57:00.003-04:002010-08-23T17:09:41.791-04:00Another CrazyThe RNC's very own Kim Lehman refused to read the President's lips:<br /> <br /><div align="left"> "<strong><em>Part of this conviction is rooted in my own experience. I am a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims. As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the azaan at the break of dawn and the fall of dusk. As a young man, I worked in Chicago communities where many found dignity and peace in their Muslim faith."</em></strong></div><div align="left"><strong><em></em></strong> </div><div align="left"><a href="http://iowaindependent.com/41729/lehman-believes-obama-is-a-muslim">http://iowaindependent.com/41729/lehman-believes-obama-is-a-muslim</a></div><div align="left"><strong><em><a href="http://iowaindependent.com/41729/lehman-believes-obama-is-a-muslim"></a></em></strong> </div><div align="left"><strong><em> </em></strong></div><br /><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 500px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 253px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://iowaindependent.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Picture-1-500x253.png" border="0" />DeLLBertohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10028555136770416145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-1970379566130565572010-08-07T15:48:00.001-04:002010-08-07T15:54:05.980-04:00Persistently CrazyBirther wacko refuses to give up the crazy...<br /><br /><b><i><a href="http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/08/birther_queen_tries_to_fight_20k_fine_at_supreme_c.php">Birther Queen Tries To Fight $20K Fine At Supreme Court</a></i></b><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>If you say nothing else about Orly Taitz, say she is persistent.<br /><br />Taitz, birther lawyer extraordinaire, last month tried to fight a $20,000 fine by appealing to the Supreme Court. Justice Clarence Thomas denied her appeal.<br /><br />So this week, she re-filed the appeal, this time directing it to Justice Samuel Alito instead.</blockquote></div><br />You lost, Orly. Now pay up.<br /><br /><div></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-53725762410471658932010-07-30T21:32:00.005-04:002010-07-30T21:42:18.346-04:00GOP Denying Aid For HeroesI just don't understand these people:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><b><i><a href="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_07/024949.php">GOP opposes medical funding for 9/11 victims</a></i></b></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>We're left with Republicans, in an election year, taking a bold stand against funding for medical care for 9/11 heroes.<br /><br />Amazing.</blockquote></div><br />Rep. Anthony Weiner doesn't understand them either:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><b><i><a href="http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/07/anthony-weiners-spitting-mad-rant-against-republicans-on-the-house-floor-video.php">Anthony Weiner's Spitting Mad Rant Against Republicans On The House Floor</a></i></b></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>The House was debating a bill last night that would provide up to $7.4 billion in health care aid to rescue and recovery workers who have faced health problems since their work in the wake of the September 11 attacks. The bill ultimately failed to get the needed two-thirds majority, 255-159, and Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) was not happy about it. Not one bit.</blockquote></div><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/W4zwCMf8dsc&hl=en_US&fs=1?color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/W4zwCMf8dsc&hl=en_US&fs=1?color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />I'd say he was really ticked.<br /><br /><div></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-69861810760774225002010-07-29T08:35:00.001-04:002010-07-29T08:57:43.537-04:00A ReminderTo be a Liberal, <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/35_kennedy/psources/ps_nyliberal.html">as John F. Kennedy said in 1960</a>:<blockquote>This is my political credo:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I believe in human dignity as the source of national purpose, in human liberty as the source of national action, in the human heart as the source of national compassion, and in the human mind as the source of our invention and our ideas. It is, I believe, the faith in our fellow citizens as individuals and as people that lies at the heart of the liberal faith. For liberalism is not so much a party creed or set of fixed platform promises as it is an attitude of mind and heart, a faith in man's ability through the experiences of his reason and judgment to increase for himself and his fellow men the amount of justice and freedom and brotherhood which all human life deserves.<br /><br />I believe also in the United States of America, in the promise that it contains and has contained throughout our history of producing a society so abundant and creative and so free and responsible that it cannot only fulfill the aspirations of its citizens, but serve equally well as a beacon for all mankind. I do not believe in a superstate. I see no magic in tax dollars which are sent to Washington and then returned. I abhor the waste and incompetence of large-scale federal bureaucracies in this administration as well as in others. I do not favor state compulsion when voluntary individual effort can do the job and do it well. But I believe in a government which acts, which exercises its full powers and full responsibilities. Government is an art and a precious obligation; and when it has a job to do, I believe it should do it. And this requires not only great ends but that we propose concrete means of achieving them.<br /><br />Our responsibility is not discharged by announcement of virtuous ends. Our responsibility is to achieve these objectives with social invention, with political skill, and executive vigor. I believe for these reasons that liberalism is our best and only hope in the world today. For the liberal society is a free society, and it is at the same time and for that reason a strong society. Its strength is drawn from the will of free people committed to great ends and peacefully striving to meet them.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size:180%;">"I think it is our task to re-create the same atmosphere in our own time."</span></div><br /><br /><div></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-45017508090448626362010-07-27T22:20:00.003-04:002010-07-27T22:40:58.784-04:00Additional Afghanistan War Funding PassedCongress has passed another supplemental funding bill for the Afghanistan war:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/7/27/888202/-War-supplemental-bulldozes-to-passage">The Senate version of the supplemental appropriations bill, including $37 billion for the continuation of the war in Afghanistan, has been passed by the House, by a vote of 308-114.</a></i></b><br /><br /><center>_ _ _</center><br /><br /><i>BILL TITLE: <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.+4899:">Making emergency supplemental appropriations for disaster relief and summer jobs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes.</a></i><br /><br /><a href="http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/roll474.xml">ROLL CALL #474</a><br /></div><br /><a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:h.r.04899:">H R 4899</a> <br /><br />Yeas - 308 <br />Nays - 114 <br />NV - 10<br /><br /><div></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-24390237152262875292010-07-23T02:20:00.001-04:002010-07-23T03:32:33.759-04:00Obama Signs Unemployment BillThe unemployment extension bill has finally been passed, and signed by President Obama.<br /><br /><i><b><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=11226785">Checks Are Coming: Obama Signs Unemployment Bill</a><br /><br />Checks coming soon: Obama signs hard-fought extension of long-term jobless benefits</b></i><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>Federal checks could begin flowing again as early as next week to millions of jobless people who lost up to seven weeks of unemployment benefits in a congressional standoff.<br /><br />President Barack Obama on Thursday signed into law a restoration of benefits for people who have been out of work for six months or more. Congress approved the measure earlier in the day. [...]<br /><br />At stake are up to 73 weeks of federally financed benefits for people who have exhausted their 26 weeks of state jobless benefits. About half of the approximately 5 million people in the program have had their benefits cut off since its authorization expired June 2.<br /><br />They are eligible for lump-sum retroactive payments that are typically delivered directly to their bank accounts or credited to state-issued debit cards.</blockquote></div><br /><div></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-45401599962324032092010-07-21T00:40:00.003-04:002010-07-21T00:48:40.270-04:00Breitbart: Pants On FireBreitbart spews BS. Again.<br /><br /><b><i><a href="http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/white-house-you-were-punked-andrew-breitbar">White House, You Were Punked By Andrew Breitbart</a></i></b>:<div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>Sherrod belonged to an organization set up during the civil rights era specifically to help black farmers. So, yes, she had some reservations the first time she was approached for help by a white farmer. Then she sent him to a white lawyer for help, because she thought the white lawyer would help one of his own kind. But she learned an important lesson that day: When you're poor, no one wants to help you, no matter your race!<br /><br />Because the entire point of Sherrod's story was to illustrate how her eyes were opened to that fact, she went on in her speech to explain that she "eventually worked with the man over a two-year period to help ward off foreclosure of his farm and ... eventually became friends with him and his wife."<br /><br />This has been corroborated by the actual discriminated-against white people in question.<br /><br />But that part isn't in the clip that Breitbart posted.</blockquote></div><br /><b><i><a href="http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/07/watch_full_video_of_sherrods_speech.php">WATCH: Full Video Of Sherrod's Speech</a></i></b> [43:15]<br /><br /><b><i><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2010/07/20/sherrod-white-farmers/">White farmers at the center of Shirley Sherrod controversy: ‘No way in the world’ she is a racist.</a></i></b><br /><br /><b><i><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/7/20/885863/-More-Context-On-How-Shirley-Sherrod-Became-The-Latest-Right-Wing-Media-Victim">More Context On How Shirley Sherrod Became The Latest Right Wing Media Victim</a></i></b><br /><br /><b><i><a href="http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/07/20/naacp_revises_sherrod_stance/index.html">NAACP president: "We were snookered" by Fox and Breitbart</a></i></b><br /><br /><b><i><a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/7/20/886004/-Andrew-Breitbart-is-a-Liar.-Lets-Not-Forget-That-One.">Andrew Breitbart is a Liar. Let's Not Forget That One.</a></i></b><br /><br /><div></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-58384438517469034182010-07-15T21:15:00.002-04:002010-07-15T21:18:10.566-04:00Elephant Poo Déjà VuHasn't this country already suffered enough harm from their crap?<br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><b><i>Seeing the Elephant</i></b></span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.truth-out.org/seeing-elephant61372">William Rivers Pitt</a>:<div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>The Republican Party has become a preposterous farce, dominated by the likes of Sarah Palin and Michael Steele. The Tea Party movement is basically nothing more than a Trojan Horse filled with hard-core GOP base members whose views on everything from religion to the constitution to freedom of choice is not shared by roughly 75% of the general population.<br /><br />They are the Taliban of American Christianity, and the only reason they have gotten so much ink is because the national press corps likes to take the easy way out whenever possible. Add to this the fact that the Tea Party has shot the GOP in the foot several times already by running off electable Republicans and nominating the cast from <i>One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest</i>. [...]<br /><br />If people need a reminder, one is readily available. We are, of course, in the middle of a gut-twisting recession that a lot of smart people believe is about to get worse again. The response of the GOP and the far right, of course, is to offer up a repackaged version of trickle-down Reaganomics that would, if enacted, char the economy to cinders. Not to worry, because the very rich would get theirs, but the rest of us would wind up standing in soup lines and selling apples to stay alive.<br /><br />If people need a specific reminder, they can look to the obnoxious drama that has been unfolding in congress over the last several weeks. Democrats in the Senate have been trying to extend unemployment benefits to millions of Americans who desperately need help. Senate Republicans have filibustered the extension of these benefits at every turn, insisting that these benefits be paid for by either tax hikes or spending cuts. This view is shared by virtually every Republican in the Senate.<br /><br />But wait, there's a solution right in front of them: the bloated, unaffordable Bush-era tax cuts for rich people are about to expire, and the GOP is in a tizzy. Democrats want to keep those tax cuts in place only for people making up to $200,000-$250,000 a year, and dump the tax cuts for anyone making more. This would generate billions in revenue that could pay for, among other things, extending unemployment benefits for Americans who have been screwed out of their jobs and homes by Bush-era economic policies.<br /><br />But no, says the GOP, we have to keep those tax cuts as they are. Their desire to make sure unemployment benefits are paid for does not extend to making sure these Bushian tax cuts are paid for. If Senate Republicans get their way, the unemployed will get screwed and the super-wealthy will keep getting pornographically huge slices of revenue we absolutely cannot afford to give them. As it stands, the GOP's filibuster of these benefits is already screwing the people, and if the Republicans were in the majority, well, we've read this script before.</blockquote></div><br />Been there. Done that. Didn't work.<br /><br /><p></p>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-7558134707078593672010-07-04T02:00:00.002-04:002010-07-04T02:02:16.839-04:00Happy FourthFreedom!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VEk4KtNl8gY/TDAh75XoF7I/AAAAAAAAAsA/TrYaCyQG0Gg/s1600/MattPriggee_runupflagpole.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 265px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VEk4KtNl8gY/TDAh75XoF7I/AAAAAAAAAsA/TrYaCyQG0Gg/s400/MattPriggee_runupflagpole.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5489925258660550578" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it.<br /><br />~George Bernard Shaw, <i>Man and Superman</i><br />"Maxims: Liberty and Equality," 1905</blockquote></div><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/D2lr8eZMs_Q&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/D2lr8eZMs_Q&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>Those who won our independence believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty.<br /><br />~Louis D. Brandeis</blockquote></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-51093249960817049962010-07-03T00:20:00.002-04:002010-07-03T00:53:42.902-04:00Crazy Train<div style="text-align: justify;">They just keep on keeping on. Month after month, week after week, day after day, the crazy train keeps on rolling along.<br /><br /><b><i><a href="http://blog.buzzflash.com/carpenter/694">I Timed It: One Can say "The GOP Is Nuts" At Least Fifteen Times in Thirty Seconds</a></i></b><blockquote>Fri, 07/02/2010<br /><br />"What is, Because one can be boundlessly crazy and not pay a price for it?"<br /><br />Ding-ding-ding.<br /><br />"Alex, I'll take 'Republican Antics' again, since all the correct question-answers in this category appear to be identical."<br /><br />That seems to be the best and notionally shortest response to Chris Matthews' and Eugene Robinson's co-bewilderment last night, as they sat and pondered why, for heaven's sake why, Republican pols and their ideological allies persist in ratcheting up the lunacy. [...]<br /><br />What, again, was your question, Messrs. Matthews and Robinson? Something about why Republican pols are behaving like unmedicated lunatics? <i>Because one can be boundlessly crazy</i> -- or at the very least reflect the otherworldly views of the boundlessly crazy -- <i>and not pay a price for it</i>. [...]<br /><br />And we'll stay on this downward trajectory, right up to a replanted lunatic majority in Congress -- with subpoena power, no less -- until Democrats nationalize the election with one simple but endlessly repeated observation, floating superimposed over Barton, Boehner & Co. insights: The GOP is nuts.</blockquote></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-69890318001286934382010-06-28T06:45:00.001-04:002010-06-28T06:47:30.482-04:00RIP, Senator Byrd<b><i><a href="http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,2000062,00.html">Senator Robert Byrd Dies at 92</a></i></b><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>For more than a third of its 144-year existence, the state of West Virginia was represented in the U.S. Senate by one man: Robert C. Byrd. So encompassing was Byrd's 50 years of service in the Senate and so encyclopedic his institutional knowledge that by the time he died early Monday morning, he had become not just the political personification of West Virginia in the nation's capital, but the embodiment and ambassador of the Senate itself to the rest of the country. Byrd was admitted to hospital last week for dehydration, and his condition worsened over the weekend as he became critically ill. Twice its majority leader, a master of its all-powerful rules and a fierce defender of its prerogatives, Byrd was as much a part of the place as the wooden desks, steep-sloped galleries and soaring speeches that filled it. Byrd was 92.</blockquote></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-3876123570157827312010-06-24T19:20:00.001-04:002010-06-24T19:25:51.202-04:00ApologyThe Gulf of Mexico got in BP's way?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VEk4KtNl8gY/TCPkNcR3wJI/AAAAAAAAArg/AOIls7Rxqa0/s1600/JohnDarkow_Beg.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 307px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VEk4KtNl8gY/TCPkNcR3wJI/AAAAAAAAArg/AOIls7Rxqa0/s400/JohnDarkow_Beg.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486479690647978130" border="0" /></a><center>John Darkow, Columbia Daily Tribune</center><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0gP3OG8oPmE&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0gP3OG8oPmE&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><center><i>"<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gP3OG8oPmE">How Republicans Would Govern</a>"</i></center><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VEk4KtNl8gY/TCPkNuZ2eaI/AAAAAAAAAro/WUBuGpRmoz8/s1600/GaryVarvek_Smallpeople.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 281px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VEk4KtNl8gY/TCPkNuZ2eaI/AAAAAAAAAro/WUBuGpRmoz8/s400/GaryVarvek_Smallpeople.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486479695513287074" border="0" /></a><center>Gary Varvel, Indianapolis Star-News</center><br /><br />How about apologizing for the BP <a href="http://blog.buzzflash.com/honors/345">gusher of lies</a>?<div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>Not long ago, BP joined the other oil companies in greenwashing their image by making it appear that they were developing clean energy, when all they were really doing was going for broke in pursuing the last drops of oil in places that it was so dangerous to drill in, we are still left with the possibility that the floor of the Gulf of Mexico may blow up and it will become literally a sea of oil.<br /><br />All you need to know about Tony Hayward is that he believes PR can save BP from prosecution for criminal malfeasance.</blockquote></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-84823622843555292162010-06-12T17:35:00.002-04:002010-06-12T17:48:32.253-04:00Oil Slick Dickitude<div style="text-align: justify;">BP tries to create its own reality.<br /><br />video: <b><i><a href="http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2010/06/10/baghdad-bp/">Olbermann: BP Starting To Sound Like Baghdad Bob</a></i></b><blockquote>The protestations of foreign oil giant BP about their efforts to contain their cataclysmic oil disaster have become increasingly divorced from reality. [...]<br /><br />Featured in the montage are BP CEO Tony Hayward, COO Doug Suttles, and managing director Bob Dudley, the men running the disastrous response to their company’s catastrophe.</blockquote><br />And they're not very good at it.<br /><br /><b><i><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37647218/ns/business-world_business/">BP’s failures made worse by PR mistakes</a></i></b><blockquote>BP is already fighting an oil gusher it can't contain and watching its mighty market value wither away. Its own bumbling public-relations efforts are making a big mess worse.<br /><br />Not only has it made a series of gaffes — none greater than the CEO's complaint that "I'd like my life back" — the company hasn't even followed its own internal guidelines for damage control after a spill.<br /><br />Executives have quibbled about the existence of undersea plumes of oil, downplayed the potential damage early in the crisis and made far-too-optimistic predictions for when the spill could be stopped. BP's steadiest public presence has been the ever-present live TV shot of the untamed gusher.</blockquote><br />As you can see.<br /><br /><embed name="lsplayer" wmode="transparent" src="http://cdn.livestream.com/grid/LSPlayer.swf?channel=wkrg_oil_spill&color=0x5fe6b0&autoPlay=false&mute=false" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="261"></embed><br /><br /><center><a href="http://www.wkrg.com/gulf_oil_spill/spill_cam/">WKRG News (Mobile/Pensacola) Live Stream</a></center><br /><br /><b><i><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-mcquaid/will-the-bp-fiasco-change_b_609558.html">Will the BP Fiasco Change U.S. Politics? Don't Bet on It</a></i></b><br /><blockquote>This is a constant drumbeat, but think about it: Isn't it remarkable how transcendentally awful BP's approach to the Gulf disaster has been? At each and every turn, with the stakes impossibly high, BP has always chosen to do the wrong thing. There's the substance -- having no emergency worst-case contingency plans for a blowout, disingenuously refusing to estimate the amount of oil flowing. There's the politics and image stuff, including CEO Tony Hayward's lies and self-pity and the platoons of lawyers and PR people trying to keep cleanup workers silent and choke off media attention. It's been an awesome display of every kind of 21st century corporate dick-itude. [...]<br /><br />Meanwhile, the cult of the free market, which too often means letting big business do what it wants, retained a powerful hold on U.S. politics. We're still learning all the ways in which the Bush administration pulled out all the political and regulatory stops for big oil and other energy industries, which led to a culture of lax oversight and technological corner-cutting in a high-risk activity.<br /><br />Now: When disaster struck, it quickly became obvious that all the green stuff was just for show. Where it counted, BP had not been green at all, but murky brown. Today, with the Gulf of Mexico getting more fouled by the hour and the eyes of the world riveted on its every move (the one time you really, really want to get corporate PR right) BP has demonstrated it cares more about covering its own arse than doing the right thing.</blockquote></div><br />Fail.<br /><br /><div></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-9811877104675034782010-06-05T15:07:00.008-04:002010-06-05T15:37:07.529-04:00How big is the BP oil disaster?<div style="text-align: justify;">How big is BP's disaster? Pretty darned big. For some size perspective, check out: <i><a href="http://www.ifitwasmyhome.com/">If it was my home</a></i>.<br /></div><br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.abcnews.com/scienceandsociety/2010/06/gulf-oil-spill-where-the-slick-may-go.html">How far might the oil slick spread</a>? <div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>The National Center for Atmospheric Research, which does a lot of computer modeling of the air and oceans, has put together a simulation of where the oil from the Deepwater Horizon might go over the next hundred days. In a word: far.</blockquote></div><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pE-1G_476nA&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pE-1G_476nA&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Here is a <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/05/newshour-oil-widget-2-including-spillcam.html">live feed</a>, courtesy of PBS:<br /><br /><center><iframe src="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/oil-ticker/video.html" height="490" style="align:center;" width="300px" marginheight="5" marginwidth="5" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></center><br /><br />Photos: <i><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/03/gulf-oil-spill-photos-ani_n_560813.html">Gulf Oil Spill: Animals In Peril</a></i><br /><br /><div></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-86596907733499219592010-05-31T00:05:00.002-04:002010-05-31T00:28:13.808-04:00Thank Someone Today<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VEk4KtNl8gY/TAM5mOM-uII/AAAAAAAAArY/-L19R7D522M/s1600/RandyBish_ThankSomeone.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 308px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VEk4KtNl8gY/TAM5mOM-uII/AAAAAAAAArY/-L19R7D522M/s400/RandyBish_ThankSomeone.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5477284900623005826" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><center><span style="font-size:130%;"><b><i>Memorial Day</i></b></span><br /><br />~Cy Warman<br /> <br /><i>Gather the garlands rare to-day,<br /> Snow-white roses and roses red;<br />Gather the fairest flowers of May,<br />Heap them up on the graves of clay,<br /> Gladden the graves of the noble dead.<br /><br />Pile them high as the soldiers were<br /> Piled on the field when they fought and fell;<br />They will rejoice in their new place there<br />To-day, as they walk where the fragrant air<br /> Is sweet with the scent of asphodel.<br /><br />Many a time, I've heard it said,<br /> They fell so thick where the battles were,<br />Their hot blood rippled, and, running red,<br />Ran out like a rill from the drifted dead<br /> Staining the heath and the daisies there,<br /><br />This day the friends of the soldiers keep,<br /> And they will keep it through all the years,<br />To the silent city where soldiers sleep<br />Will come with flowers, to watch and weep<br /> And water the garlands with their tears. </i></center><br /><br /><div></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-26873474890077437582010-05-25T11:30:00.002-04:002010-05-25T11:42:25.197-04:00Kwame Kilpatrick Sentenced For Parole ViolationSome people learn the hard way:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><a href="http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/05/ex-detroit_mayor_gets_18_months_to_five_years_in_p.php?ref=tn">Ex-Detroit Mayor Gets 18 Months To Five Years In Prison For Violating Probation</a></i></b><blockquote>Disgraced ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was sentenced today to 18 months to five years in prison for violating his probation by not disclosing assets as required under a plea deal.<br /><br />Judge David Groner slammed Kilpatrick in court today, saying that "your testimony in this court amounted to perjury" and that "the initial 120 days incarceration did nothing to rehabilitate you."<br /><br />"Probation is no longer an option," Groner said. "That ship has sailed."</blockquote><br />TPMmuckraker's full coverage of Kilpatrick is available <a href="http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/kwame_kilpatrick/">here</a>.</div><br /><div></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-65616228140444728802010-05-20T23:14:00.006-04:002010-05-22T02:51:46.320-04:00Senate Passes Financial Reform<div align="justify">Today, <a href="http://senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/vote_menu_111_2.htm">the Senate passed</a> H.R. 4173, the <b><i><a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR04173:">Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009</a></i></b> by a <a href="http://senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=2&vote=00162">59 to 39 vote</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.truthout.org/an-obama-win-senate-passes-financial-reform-bill-59-3959704">The bill</a>, as amended: "<a href="http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/2010/05/20/senate-breaks-impasse-on-financial-regulation-bill.html">calls for new ways to watch for risks in the financial system and makes it easier to liquidate large failing financial firms</a>. It also writes new rules for complex securities blamed for helping precipitate the 2008 economic crisis, and it creates a new consumer protection agency."<br /><br />The House passed its version of the bill on <a href="http://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/legislation?id=0350">December 11, 2009</a>, by a <a href="http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll968.xml">223-202 vote</a>.<br /><br />The Senate bill will now have <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/05/20/us-financial-bill-vote.html">to be merged</a> with the House version before going on to the President's desk for signing into law.<br /></div><br /><br /><div></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-36215016577332801102010-05-16T01:07:00.001-04:002010-05-16T02:22:03.690-04:00GOP: Bad Drivers<div style="text-align: justify;">Bad driving isn't the only problem the GOP has. Refusing to admit and accept responsibility, and working towards fixing what they've messed up are more problems they won't work on.<br /><br /><b><i><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-dccc-dinner">Remarks by The President at DCCC Dinner</a></i></b><br /><br />St. Regis Hotel<br />New York, New York<br />May 13, 2010<br /><br /><i>"After they drove the car into the ditch, made it as difficult as possible for us to pull it back, now they want the keys back. <br /><br />"NO! <br /><br />"You can't drive. We don't want to have to go back into the ditch. We just got the car out."</i><br /><br /><a href="http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/05/obama-gop-drove-the-country-into-a-ditch-now-they-want-the-keys-back-video.php?ref=fpb"><b><i>Obama: GOP Drove The Country Into A Ditch. 'Now They Want The Keys Back' </i></b></a><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/t4Lf8BTyjL8&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/t4Lf8BTyjL8&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><center><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Lf8BTyjL8">tpmtv</a></center><br /><br /><i>"...it would have been nice to get a little help from the other side of the aisle, just once in a while. You would have thought at a time of historic crisis that Republican leaders would have been more willing to help us find a way out of this mess -- particularly since they created the mess."</i></div><br /><br /><div></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-43202573741999642132010-05-12T00:05:00.001-04:002010-05-12T00:39:15.088-04:00Audit The Fed<div style="text-align: justify;">Tuesday, <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:SP3738:">S.Amdt. 3738</a>, Bernie Sanders' Amendment to <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:SN03217:">S. 3217 (Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010)</a>, was passed by the <a href="http://senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/vote_menu_111_2.htm">Senate</a> in a <a href="http://senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=2&vote=00137">96 — 0 vote</a>.<br /><br /><b><i><a href="http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=C4A45B70-1837-4F76-8606-1F7FAF1932D2">Release: Senate Approves Fed Audit Sanders Amendment to End Fed Secrecy Passes</a></i></b><blockquote>In a major victory for transparency at the Federal Reserve, the Senate today passed an <a href="http://sanders.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Document2.pdf">amendment</a> by Sen. Bernie Sanders to audit the Fed and make the central bank reveal which banks received more than $2 trillion in emergency aid during the financial crisis.<br /><br />“The Fed can no longer operate in virtual secrecy,” said Sanders (I-Vt.).<br /><br />Under his amendment, the Government Accountability Office would conduct a top-to-bottom audit of all emergency actions by the Fed since the start of the financial crisis in 2007. The non-partisan research arm of Congress specifically would be directed to investigate apparent conflicts of interest involving the Fed and CEOs of the largest financial institutions in the country.<br /><br />In addition to the audit, the Fed for the first time would have to reveal by Dec. 1, 2010, the identities of banks and other financial institutions that took more than $2 trillion in nearly zero-interest loans.<br /><br />Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke repeatedly <a href="http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/media/view/index.cfm?id=316acc67-3f29-44bd-a38d-65011e1907e0">refused</a> to tell Sanders and others the names of the banks which took the loans.<br /><br />“Let's be clear,” Sanders said. “When trillions of dollars of taxpayer money are being lent out to the largest financial institutions in this country, the American people have a right to know who received that money and what they did with it. We also need to know what possible conflicts of interest exist involving the heads of large financial institutions who sat in the room helping to make those decisions.”</blockquote><br /><b><i><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/">The Rachel Maddow Show</a></i></b>, hosted by Chris Hayes, Washington editor for <i><a href="http://www.thenation.com/">The Nation</a></i>: <blockquote><b><i><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/37097482#37097482">Senate embraces 'audit the Fed'</a></i></b><br /><br />May 11: Senator Bernie Sanders explains the scope and expected outcome of his "audit the Fed" amendment which passed the Senate Tuesday in a 96-0 vote. (8:35) </blockquote><br /><embed name="msnbc1990da" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" flashvars="launch=37097482&width=420&height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="opaque" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" width="420" height="245"></embed><br /><br /><b><i><a href="http://www.truthout.org/senate-votes-96-0-audit-fed59413">Senate Votes 96-0 to Audit Fed</a></i></b><blockquote> "We are on the verge of lifting the veil of secrecy on perhaps the most important government agency in the United States of America,” said amendment sponsor Sen. Bernard Sanders, Ind.-Vt., "an agency which has control and spends trillions of dollars. They do it behind closed doors." [. . .]<br /><br />The audit is the Senate's latest change to legislation that would overhaul the nation's financial regulatory system, making it easier for the government to break up ailing banks and provide a strong, independent consumer agency to help people with credit questions and problems.<br /><br />The Senate debate is in its second week, with Democratic leaders hoping for a final vote later this week. Still to come are disputes over how to deal with derivatives, the exotic financial instruments that helped spur the 2008 economic collapse, as well as questions about how to deal with government-sponsored mortgage finance titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.<br /><br />If the Senate passes the legislation, next it will have to be reconciled with a similar bill that the House of Representatives passed last year, with final compromise terms then having to pass both houses of Congress before President Barack Obama could sign it into law.</blockquote></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-15999862464680424862010-05-07T00:40:00.001-04:002010-05-07T00:41:27.108-04:00FCC: Third Way On Net Neutrality<div style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20004309-93.html">FCC statement on 'third way' for broadband</a></i></b><blockquote>May 6, 2010<br /><br />THE THIRD WAY:<br />A NARROWLY TAILORED BROADBAND FRAMEWORK<br /><br />Chairman Julius Genachowski<br />Federal Communications Commission<br /></blockquote><br /><b><i><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/05/06/financial/f093118D23.DTL">FCC says it has compromise on key broadband rules</a></i></b><br /><blockquote>FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Thursday that his agency has crafted a compromise in how it regulates high-speed Internet access: It will apply only narrow rules to broadband companies. [...]<br /><br />So now Genachowski is seeking to redefine broadband as a telecommunications service subject to "common carrier" obligations to treat all traffic equally. Similar rules apply to other networks that serve the public, including roads, electrical grids and telephone lines. But Genachowski said he will refrain from imposing more burdensome mandates that also apply to traditional telecom companies. For instance he would avoid requiring the broadband companies to share their networks with competitors.<br /><br />The proposal is intended to strike a balance that can satisfy both Internet service providers that oppose new regulations and public interest groups that are demanding greater consumer protections. FCC officials stressed that they intend to regulate only Internet connections, not the online services flowing through them.</blockquote><br /><b><i><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-silver/fcc-to-restore-authority_b_565086.html">FCC to Restore Authority Over Net Neutrality, Broadband Service: Netroots Backlash Cited</a></i></b><blockquote>The "third way" plan, designed to appease Net Neutrality advocates - while not completely enraging the phone and cable companies - is good in some areas, and bad in others.<br /><br />It will enable the FCC to enact many important provisions of their celebrated National Broadband Plan, including Net Neutrality and modifying government subsidy of Internet services. However, the new plan explicitly states that the FCC will not try to advance policies that promote more competition and affordability. Genachowski will use a technical process called "forbearance" to strip some of the agency's authority.</blockquote><br /><b><i><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/05/05/financial/f134257D98.DTL">FCC seeking to apply narrow rules to broadband</a></i></b><blockquote>The head of the Federal Communications Commission is pledging to apply only narrow regulations to high-speed Internet access to ensure the agency has adequate authority to govern broadband providers without adopting heavy-handed rules.<br /><br />FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said Thursday that the commission will seek to regulate broadband connections as a telecommunications service subject to "common carrier" obligations to treat all traffic equally. But it will refrain from imposing other burdensome obligations.</blockquote><br /><b><i><a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/consumer/Round_1_to_Comcast_but_Round_2_to_FCC.html">Update: FCC plans 'third way' to address 'Comcast dilemma,' net neutrality</a></i></b><blockquote>In regulator-speak, Genachowski's plan says that broadband transmission will be reclassified as a "Title II" service - a telecommunications service of the type subject to close oversight since the FCC was established in the 1930s. Under the Bush administration, the FCC declared broadband offerings to be "Title I" data service, subject to much looser regulation. [ ...]<br /><br />He says that the new rules would apply only to "the transmission component of broadband access service," and that the FCC will formally promise stay away from rules "that are unnecessary and inappropriate for broadband access service."<br /><br />In other words, Genachowski is trying to thread a needle. He wants to make plain to the public that regulators can and will enforce reasonable net-neutrality principals against network owners who want to manage the broadband Internet like a private toll road, potentially favoring some people's or companies' traffic over others' in ways that distort the market. At the same time, he wants to signal businesses and entrepreneurs that the FCC will stay away from needless interference in a technology that has been a tremendous engine for growth.<br /><br />To that end, the Genachowski-led commission also plans to push forward with its visionary National Broadband Plan, which sees wired and wireless broadband networks as the railroad, highway, and telephone networks of the 21st century: essential public services - whoever owns and operates them - that don't just connect the country but that will provide a framework for robust economic growth in the decades ahead. (It's not clear yet whether today's framework will directly affect wireless carriers.)</blockquote></div><br /><div></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-83226081839262492182010-05-05T18:30:00.000-04:002010-05-05T18:33:13.658-04:00Ernie Harwell, The Voice Of Tiger Baseball<div style="text-align: justify;">On <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paWJl3qpUIM">September 16, 2009</a>, only a few weeks after being diagnosed with cancer, Ernie Harwell, the broadcasting <a href="http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100504&content_id=9790944&vkey=news_det&fext=.jsp&c_id=det">Voice of the Detroit Tigers</a> for 42 years, gave his farewell to fans:<br /></div><br /><object width="425" height="258"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/paWJl3qpUIM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/paWJl3qpUIM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="258"></embed></object><br /><br /><b><i><a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/0505/Ernie-Harwell-Tigers-legend-Michigan-s-beloved-son">Ernie Harwell: Tigers legend, Michigan's beloved son</a></i></b><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>You know how you can tell when a person is from Michigan? If you ask them where they’re from, they’ll hold up their hand, like it was a map of the state, and point to their home town.<br /><br />But today, you won’t have to ask anything. It should be easy to spot Michiganders, because they’ll be crying.<br /><br />Ernie Harwell, the broadcasting voice of the Detroit Tigers for more than 40 years, passed away on Tuesday, at the age of 92. As many in the state have noted, Mr. Harwell quite possibly was the most beloved Michigander of all time.</blockquote></div><br /><b><i><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/05/sportsline/main6462556.shtml">Ernie Harwell: The Definition of Baseball</a></i></b><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>The world is a little less gracious, a little less gentlemanly tonight. Legendary broadcaster Ernie Harwell is gone, probably talking with baseball fans in heaven above in that beautiful, courtly manner of his, and the voice of our game is momentarily silenced and forever changed.<br /><br />If Michigan summers could talk, they would sound like Ernie Harwell: Relentlessly sunny and optimistic. I wrote those words last September after one of the greatest baseball voices of our time went public with his battle with cancer and, on this sad evening, I can't say it better than that.<br /><center>. . .</center><br />Meantime, as we observe a moment of silence, I'll leave you with Ernie's beautiful "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPcUcsT6Lek">definition of baseball</a>", as he put it, from the end of his Hall of Fame speech in 1981. Those of you who read this blog regularly or semi-regularly know my affinity for picking out a Rock 'N' Roll Lyric of the Day. Well, today, this is it, and it is perfect:</blockquote></div><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aPcUcsT6Lek&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aPcUcsT6Lek&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Good bye, Ernie. Thank you, and God bless you.<br /><br /><div></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-83788927647989776682010-04-28T21:50:00.000-04:002010-04-28T21:50:19.216-04:00Piles Of Crap<b><i><a href="http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=324169">Senate Subcommittee Investigating Financial Crisis Releases Documents on Role of Investment Banks</a></i></b><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>April 24, 2010<br /><br />The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released several exhibits that will be among those discussed on Tuesday at the fourth of its hearings on the causes and consequences of the financial crisis.<br /><br /><a href="http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/supporting/2010/PSI.Exhibits.pdf">The exhibits are available at this link</a>.<br /><br />Using Goldman Sachs as a case study, the April 27 hearing will focus on the role of investment banks in contributing to the worst U.S. economic crisis since the 1930s, resulting in the foreclosure of millions of homes, the shuttering of businesses, and the loss of millions of American jobs. The Subcommittee, whose Chairman is Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and whose Ranking Republican is Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., has conducted a nearly year and a half investigation into the 2008 financial crisis.<br /><br />“Investment banks such as Goldman Sachs were not simply market-makers, they were self-interested promoters of risky and complicated financial schemes that helped trigger the crisis,” said Sen. Levin. “They bundled toxic mortgages into complex financial instruments, got the credit rating agencies to label them as AAA securities, and sold them to investors, magnifying and spreading risk throughout the financial system, and all too often betting against the instruments they sold and profiting at the expense of their clients.” The 2009 Goldman Sachs annual report stated that the firm “did not generate enormous net revenues by betting against residential related products.” Levin said, “These e-mails show that, in fact, Goldman made a lot of money by betting against the mortgage market.” </blockquote><br /><b><i><a href="http://www.truthout.org/goldman-executives-no-regrets-deals-that-accelerated-crisis58926">Goldman Executives: "No Regrets" for Deals That Accelerated Crisis</a></i></b><blockquote>One of the testier exchanges thus far was between Sparks of Goldman and Levin. It surrounded one of the offshore deals Goldman peddled called "Timberwolf," which included securities backed by subprime mortgages that were most at risk if the housing market dropped.<br /><br />Goldman documents show that the firm's sales force was told to make selling Timberwolf a priority. In 2007, Goldman sold about $300 million of Timberwolf securities to a hedge fund that collapsed later that year. A senior Goldman executive later described the deal as follows: "boy that timeberwof (sic) deal was one shitty deal." According to the subcommittee, 94 percent of the securities in the deal were from other offshore deals.<br /><br />The hearing room then erupted in laughter — low titters at first, and then bigger laughs — as Levin repeatedly asked Sparks about the "shitty" deal and the e-mail.<br /><br />Levin asked: Did you tell your clients that "this was a shitty deal?"<br /><br />"Your top priority was to sell that shitty deal."<br /><br />"Should Goldman be trying to sell a shitty deal?"<br /><br />Levin later grilled Viniar about the e-mails or comments in which Goldman employees referred to specific deals as "crap" or "shitty" or "junk." What did he think about such disparaging comments — and how would clients feel about them? Levin asked.</blockquote><br /><a com="" id="" 21134540="" vp="" 36803246="">MSNBC video [5:58]</a><blockquote><b><i>Levin grills Wall Street execs</i></b><br /><br />April 27: Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mi., quotes from an email as he repeatedly refers to "a shitty deal" while grilling bank executives during a hearing on Goldman Sachs' activities during the housing crisis.</blockquote></div><br /><center><embed name="msnbc92b35c" src="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32545640" flashvars="launch=36803246&width=420&height=245" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="opaque" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" width="420" height="245"></embed></center><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><i><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/04/is_goldman_sorry_it_sold_a_sec.html">Is Goldman Sorry It Sold A Security One Employee Described as #$%&*?</a></i></b><blockquote>Throughout the hearing, Levin kept returning to the argument that Goldman should have told clients its opinion of the security. Goldman should also have told clients if it stood to profit if the security performed poorly, Levin suggested.<br /><br />The Goldman execs basically disagreed with Levin. They argued that when Goldman sold mortgage securities, it was not acting as an adviser to clients. Instead, they said, the company's role was to sell clients whatever they wanted to buy.<br /><br />"The investors that we're dealing with on the long side, or on the short side, know what they want to acquire," CEO Lloyd Blankfein said. "I don't think our clients care, or that they should care," what Goldman's opinion is, he said.<br /><br />It went back and forth like this for hours this afternoon, with variations on the theme. But there was one break in the monotony. It came when Levin was questioning David Viniar, Goldman's CFO:<br /><br />LEVIN: And when you heard that your employees, in these e-mails, when looking at these deals said, God, what a s***y deal, God what a piece of crap -- when you hear your own employees or read about those in the e-mails, do you feel anything?<br /><br />VINIAR: I think that's very unfortunate to have on e-mail.</blockquote><br /><b><i>'<a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100510/scheer">God, What a Piece ofCrap</a>'</i></b><blockquote>Viniar's answer told us all we need to know about the banal but profound immorality of Goldman's business culture: "I think that's very unfortunate to have on e-mail."<br /><br />A flabbergasted Levin cut in with "On e-mail? How about feeling that way?" and Viniar, apparently moved by jeers of ridicule from the audience, conceded "I think it is very unfortunate for anyone to have said that in any form." Pressed further by Levin asking, "How about to believe that and sell them?" the CFO finally conceded, "I think that's unfortunate as well." To which Levin responded, "That's what you should have started with."<br /><br />But Goldman's executives didn't start with any such moral qualms or end with them, as was made clear in the testimony of Goldman Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein that followed. Blankfein basically pleaded ignorance about the company's scams, making it clear that offering the details of such products was below his pay scale. That would be $68 million in 2007, the highest in Wall Street history, when Goldman's bets against its customers paid off so handsomely. What was clear is that his job was to ensure the company's immense year-end profitability with no questions asked about the methods used. "I did not know" he replied when asked about the details of the company's trades, and at another point he added, "We're not that smart." Then there was "I don't have any knowledge" on selling short, and finally, "We did not know what subsequently occurred in the housing market."</blockquote><br /><b><i><a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2252137">The Senate tries to get the bankers to admit they sold America a pile of crap.</a></i></b><blockquote>The question at the center of Tuesday's Senate hearing on the role of investment banks in the financial crisis: Are Goldman Sachs bankers criminals or merely a big bunch of jerks?<br /><br />Put another way: Did the employees of Goldman Sachs deliberately mislead investors by failing to disclose that one of the people creating a certain mortgage-backed security was also betting against it, as a new lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission alleges? Or did they simply recommend mortgage-backed securities to investors, then turn around and bet against them—essentially betting against their own investors?</blockquote><br /><i><b><a href="http://wwww.c-spanvideo.org//program/293196-1">Investment Banks And The Financial Crisis, Directors</a></b></i><br /><i>C-Span, Apr 27, 2010: Senate Committee Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs</i><br /><br />Related:<br /><b><i><a href="http://www.truthout.org/computerized-front-running-another-goldman-dominated-fraud58865">Computerized Front-Running: Another Goldman-Dominated Fraud</a></i></b><blockquote>Also called High Frequency Trading (HFT) or "black box trading," automated program trading uses high-speed computers governed by complex algorithms (instructions to the computer) to analyze data and transact orders in massive quantities at very high speeds. Like the poker player peeking in a mirror to see his opponent's cards, HFT allows the program trader to peek at major incoming orders and jump in front of them to skim profits off the top. Note that these large institutional orders are our money - our pension funds, mutual funds, and 401Ks.<br /><br />When "market making" (matching buyers with sellers) was done strictly by human brokers on the floor of the stock exchange, manipulations and front-running were considered an acceptable (if morally dubious) price to pay for continuously "liquid" markets. But front-running by computer, using complex trading programs, is an entirely different species of fraud. A minor flaw in the system has morphed into a monster.</blockquote></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-85267596699837944382010-04-24T22:47:00.006-04:002010-04-24T23:05:24.929-04:00Happy Birthday, Hubble"Here's looking at you, kid."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VEk4KtNl8gY/S9OtrFCog2I/AAAAAAAAArI/kZyqFWDCXg0/s1600/EyeOfHeaven.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 399px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VEk4KtNl8gY/S9OtrFCog2I/AAAAAAAAArI/kZyqFWDCXg0/s400/EyeOfHeaven.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463901728529744738" /></a><br /><center>Eye Of Heaven (MyCn18)</center><br /><br /><i><b><a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0424/Happy-birthday-to-the-Hubble-Telescope">Happy birthday to the Hubble Telescope</a></b><br /><br />The Hubble Telescope was launched on April 24, 1990. NASA says the best is yet to come.</i><blockquote>The <a href="http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/hubble-telescope-20th-anniversary-100421.html">Hubble Space Telescope</a> launched on April 24, 1990 with a flawed mirror, but survived for two decades in large part because of five repair missions by space shuttle astronauts. Its cosmic gaze has led to breakthrough discoveries about the universe and embedded stunning views of the cosmos in the hearts and minds of the public.<br /><br />"Hubble has done all those things and become an icon of science because it can produce <a href="http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagegallery/igviewer.php?gid=397">glorious images</a>," said Rick Fienberg, an astronomer and press officer of the American Astronomical Society.<br /><br />But there's bigger and better science yet to come.</blockquote><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VEk4KtNl8gY/S9OtPyK-hNI/AAAAAAAAArA/qT3KlQmAkA0/s1600/CatsEyeNebula.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 397px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VEk4KtNl8gY/S9OtPyK-hNI/AAAAAAAAArA/qT3KlQmAkA0/s400/CatsEyeNebula.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463901259607999698" /></a><br /><center>Cat's Eye Nebula (NGC 6543)</center><br /><br /><div></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15535782.post-64040572379714929382010-04-22T10:55:00.002-04:002010-04-22T11:00:43.668-04:00Earth Day 2010<i><b>I really wonder what gives us the right to wreck this poor planet of ours.</b></i><br /><br />~Kurt Vonnegut Jr.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VEk4KtNl8gY/S9BjCNIvpzI/AAAAAAAAAq4/_BrfqtMajXE/s1600/Earth+day+stup.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_VEk4KtNl8gY/S9BjCNIvpzI/AAAAAAAAAq4/_BrfqtMajXE/s400/Earth+day+stup.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462975237537638194" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><i><b>It is our collective and individual responsibility to protect and nurture the global family, to support its weaker members and to preserve and tend to the environment in which we all live.</b></i><br /><br />~Dalai Lama<br /><br /><div></div>Barbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03537751161461273878noreply@blogger.com0