The first slideshow is of various Xmas pictures I took over the Holiday including my son’s school performance, pretty Xmas lights, the Snowman a co-worker gave to me (for my son, but dont tell HIM that LOL!)…in other words, just STUFF.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
The second slideshow is a cute little short with my son and the Snowman set to an appropriate song!
its been awhile since I last posted, Halloween has come and gone, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years….. I do have some cool Christmas pictures I took and a cute slideshow I created of my son that I intended to post but somehow got sidetracked from finishing. The slideshow is done, the pictures are ready but Ive been otherwise occupied 😦
I may be the only one who thinks my blog is important to anyone, but speaking for myself, I dont leave things undone…delayed maybe but not forgotten entirely. For the one or two of you who actually enjoy my literary forays, my thanks and my hope that you will be patient with me yet a bit longer. I hope you all had a great Holiday Season, and that your prospects for the New Year are promising 🙂
As for myself, I can assure you, I may be tardy but I am NOT absent! (some will cheer, others will groan I am sure….Oh well……) Here’s hoping the coming year brings good fortune for each and every one of you 🙂
My mom bought me a subscription to The Week magazine, a sort of Reader’s Digest of current events/News items over the past week. Overall, I’d say its a good Magazine because it manages to distill the current events into a pithy succinct account that is (for the most part) fair and balanced (by that I mean, doesnt pander to either the conservative or liberal point of view). Additionally, it gives perspectives from around the globe, not just here in the US, and that is valuable also.
So, at the outset, I want to say I really appreciate and enjoy this publication. Unfortunately, I found myself unusually motivated to react to articles in the 1/22/10 issue, more so than usual.
For example, page 14 (NEWS-Best Columns International) had a piece on Profiling Air Passengers by Nationality spotlighting an editorial from Nigeria’s The Guardian, that deplored current US policy of tougher screening for passengers from identified “security risk states” (currently Nigeria, Afghanistan, Algeria, Cuba, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen). The author/editor stated that the US policy was outrageous because “there was no evidence that Abdulmutallab (the underwear bomber) had any support from anyone in Nigeria. The article asks “How can the US justify discriminating against more than 150 million people because of the criminal conduct of one person?” Another article by Ali Boukhlef in Algeria’s La Tribune points out, all countries in the list but Cuba have large Muslim populations, and that the failed bombing is just an excuse to stigmatize Muslims. He asserts that “many of us are already acquainted with the zeal of Western police forces when they face a Muslim,” and that one can assume “the monitoring…will certainly involve humiliation.” I fail to see where the author has even the ghost of a leg to stand on, primarily because (GIVE ME A BREAK) the luckless bomber chose his underwear as the best hiding place for his explosives…..Someone please tell me why, under the circumstances, a person’s nether regions should be excluded from some sort of inspection?? And can any country say, if it were the target of the same sort of concerted, determined attempts at terrorism, that it wouldnt have a policy similar to the US? Perhaps the world (and the host countries of the terrorists in general) would prefer the US act as though it werent targeted by the attacks on the USS Cole, the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, etc? At least one writer, Anjum Niaz writing in Pakistan’s Dawn, said he didnt blame the Americans…”After all, the crazy people from across the globe who have been trying to bomb them have in fact been Muslims.” The article ends with a final comment from the United Arab Emirates’ Gulf News that asserted the only way to ensure safety is to screen every passenger, pointing out the shoe bomber was in fact British. The tone of the article was to generally denounce profiling as a practice, stating “demonizing certain nationalities wont make the skies safer.”
This is NOT the time to worry about political correctness. If any of these target countries had themselves been the target of similar attempts by US passengers to blow up innocents on THEIR airplanes, I’d bet you they’d be profiling the bejeezus out of American passengers (and they’d be jolly well self-righteous about it too!!!!) The truth is: by FAR, the group who has committed the most unprovoked acts of terrorism around the globe has been the Muslims. Let me be clear: we are not talking about terrorists who happen to be Muslim, we are talking about terrorists who highlight their religion as JUSTIFICATION for their terrorism! (I’ll give you a minute to digest that FACT) In fact, Ive said it before and I’ll say it again: Any ongoing hotspot of violence WILL have as a factor, Muslim activity. Pakistan/India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Turkey, Yugoslavia, France, Somalia, Denmark…the sad fact is, no matter how much the rest of the world tries to compensate for or excuse Muslim terrorism, the Muslim community itself cant deny its culpability. When poor countries’ youths are trained at an early age (via Madrassas) to hate Western culture and to disregard the sanctity of life and to put a political agenda (disguised as a religious calling) above all else, you have the genesis of a killing machine.
Some would say that the Underwear bomber was a shill, and 9/11 was an inside job. Maybe, maybe not. Many people think the US has exacerbated the issue by supporting Western-friendly dictators in traditionally anti-US areas. That may be true, but it does NOT give terrorists the right or even a reason to attack and kill innocents–and lets face it, that is who is really bearing the brunt of the terrorism attacks….people who have no connection to US policy. Terrorism does NOT solve a problem, it only fosters chaos and fear and uses the global inclination to be reasonable and fair to its own advantage, all the while gambling that the International Community is too scared to stand up to them and say: ENOUGH! So WHAT if we profile terrorists as Muslims? For the most part, they ARE!!
In closing, I want to point out what was highlighted as the Quote of the Week on page 12 by Leslie Gelb in TheDailyBeast.com:
“if the battle against Muslim terrorism is to be won, moderate Muslims will have to do the heavy lifting. If Americans and Westerners continue to take the lead, it will remain and ‘us vs. them’ war. If Muslims take the lead, it will be ‘them vs. them,’ co-religionists battling co-religionists, not ‘infidel and oppressive’ outsiders bhattling ‘victimized’ Muslims. [So] where are the funds, the programs, and the personnel to re-educate young ones brainwashed in madrasas, and where are the alternate schools for these children? Where are the programs to show up at mosques everywhere and argue with the mullahs who say that Allah wants them to kill fellow Muslims and infidels and enslave women?”
I agree. the ONLY group that can EFFECTIVELY STOP Muslim caused terrorism is MUSLIMS. If Moderates truly deplore what is being committed by their brethren, then they need to STEP UP and STOP their fellow Muslims from tarnishing what Islam stands for. The time for pointing fingers and looking the other way is long past. Moderate Muslims need to admit, to themselves and to the world that they have (perhaps unintentionally) allowed a radical element within their ranks to shed blood. If they cannot manage to do this, then they are complicit in the bloodshed, and cannot hide behind their protestations any longer.
The latest big bank to get on the insolvency bandwagon is CIT
WASHINGTON – After struggling for months to avert bankruptcy, lender CIT Group has filed for Chapter 11 protection in an attempt to restructure its debt while trying to keep badly needed loans flowing to thousands of mid-sized and small businesses.
CIT made the filing in New York bankruptcy court Sunday, after a debt-exchange offer to bondholders failed. CIT said in a statement that its bondholders overwhelmingly opted for a prepackaged reorganization plan which will reduce total debt by $10 billion while allowing the company to continue to do business.
The Chapter 11 filing is one of the biggest in U.S. corporate history, following Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, WorldCom andGeneral Motors. CIT’s bankruptcy filing shows $71 billion in finance and leasing assets against total debt of $64.9 billion.
A prepackaged bankruptcy, which has the support of major bondholders, speeds up the process of restructuring CIT’s debt and could allow it to exit court protection by the end of the year. In addition to reducing its debt, CIT said the plan cuts cash needs over the next three years, which should help it return to profitability more quickly.
“The decision to proceed with our plan of reorganization will allow CIT to continue to provide funding to our small business and middle market customers, two sectors that remain vitally important to the U.S. economy,” said Jeffrey M. Peek, chairman and CEO. Peek has said he plans to step down at the end of the year.
CIT’s move will wipe out current holders of its common and preferred stock. That means the U.S. government will likely lose the $2.3 billion it sunk into CIT last year in return for preferred shares to prop up the ailing company. The government could have lost billions more, however, had it not declined to hand over more aid to the company earlier this year.
Treasury Department spokesman Andrew Williams said the government will be closely monitoring the bankruptcy proceedings, but acknowledged that “recovery to preferred and common equityholders will be minimal.”
Common stockholders set to lose their investment include FMR LLC of Boston with a 9.9 percent stake in CIT and San Diego-based Brandes Investment Partners LP with a 9.7 percent equity position, according to CIT’s filing.
CIT has been trying to fend off disaster for several months and narrowly avoided collapse in July. It has struggled to find funding as sources it previously relied on, such as short-term debt, evaporated during the credit crisis.
The company received $4.5 billion in credit from its own lenders and bondholders last week, reportedly made a deal with Goldman Sachs to lower debt payments, and negotiated a $1 billion line of credit from billionaire investor and bondholder Carl Icahn. But the company failed to convince bondholders to support a debt-exchange offer, a step that would have trimmed at least $5.7 billion from its debt burden and given CIT more time to pay off what it owes.
Analysts warned that the bankruptcy could add to the uncertainty around loans for the nation’s small businesses, especially retailers, which make up a significant portion of CIT’s clients and are already struggling with tight credit markets.
CIT is the financier for about 2,000 vendors that supply merchandise to more than 300,000 stores, many of which are gearing up for the critical holiday shopping season. They rely on the lender to cover costs ranging from paying for orders to making payroll. Any disruption caused by bankruptcy could wreak havoc on their operations, Joe Alouf, a partner with Eaglepoint Advisors, a crisis management company that is partly owned by Kurt Salmon Associates.
“CIT is the 600-pound gorilla in the industry,” Alouf said.
But CIT has already pulled back sharply on its lending to businesses as it tried to preserve cash. According to its most recent quarterly earnings report, the company originated just $4.4 billion worth of new business during the first six months of 2009 compared to $11.3 billion in the first half of 2008.
CIT said Sunday the bankruptcy filing is only for the holding company, and won’t affect its operating subsidiaries, such as Utah-based CIT Bank. CIT has filed a number of first-day motions to allow it to continue operations, including requests to keep paying wages and other employee benefits and to pay its vendors and certain other creditors in full.
The company has retained Evercore Partners and FTI Consulting as its financial advisers and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP as legal counsel in connection with the restructuring plan and Chapter 11 cases.
Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin Capital Inc. serves as financial adviser, and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP serves as legal counsel to the bondholders’ committee.
Is anyone really surprised? None of the articles I read mentioned Citibank but I have to wonder if that isnt also included….time will tell…
UPDATE: Citicorp announced it would repay 20 BILLION it received from the taxpayers asap. WHY? Because they are cognizant of the assist they got from the little guy? HELL NO. They are repaying their debt (and they are the last to do so except for Wells Fargo btw) because………drum roll……….
because they dont want to have Government oversight regarding their investments, or top management salaries or other perks they’ve enjoyed scott free for so long. Despicable carrion birds is what they are. they ALL deserve to go belly up.
The mainstream media has been dutifully reporting now for some time about the town hall riots over Obama’s proposed Health Care reform, but what folks dont realize is that these “riots” are staged, shills planted to say provocative things and get the unsuspecting riled up enough that they will perform, like trained monkeys, or Pavlov’s salivating dogs, for the camera to capture and spread elsewhere like some societal virus until (they hope) Obama’s reform momentum loses steam. The TRUE manipulators of smoke and mirrors behind the scenes are the same GOP fear-mongers and their corporate partners in crime. The recent issue of Rolling Stone magazine unveils an insightful piece of investigative journalism that blows the lid off of the farce that is duping many decent Americans:
According to internal documents obtained by Rolling Stone, Conservatives for Patients’ Rights had been working closely for weeks as a “coalition partner” with three other right-wing groups in a plot to unleash irate mobs at town-hall meetings just like Doggett’s. Far from representing a spontaneous upwelling of populist rage, the protests were tightly orchestrated from the top down by corporate-funded front groups as well as top lobbyists for the health care industry. Call it the return of the Karl Rove playbook: The effort to mobilize the angriest fringe of the Republican base was guided by a conservative dream team that included the same GOP henchmen who Swift-boated John Kerry in 2004, smeared John McCain in 2000, wrote the script for Republican obstructionism on global warming, and harpooned the health care reform effort led by Hillary Clinton in 1993.”The insurance industry is up to the same dirty tricks, using the same devious PR practices it has used for many years, to kill reform,” says Wendell Potter, who stepped down last year as chief of corporate communications for health insurance giant CIGNA. “I’m certain that people showing up at these town halls feel that they’re there on their own — but they don’t realize they’re being incited, ultimately, by the insurance industry and the other special interests.”
Behind the scenes, top Republicans — including House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, Minority Leader John Boehner and the chairman of the GOP’s Senate steering committee, Jim DeMint — worked hand-in-glove with the organizers of the town brawls. Their goal was not only to block health care reform but to bankrupt President Obama’s political capital before he could move on to other key items on his agenda, including curbing climate change and expanding labor rights. As DeMint told an August teleconference of nearly 20,000 town-hall activists, “If we can stop him on this, the administration won’t be able to go on to cap and trade, card check and the other things they want to do.”
This is exactly what happened to President Clinton during his first term in office, when HE proposed a health care reform, and made his wife an integral part of the process. Folks scoffed when Hillary Clinton said her husband was the target of a “vast right-wing conspiracy,” but she was right then, and the same thing is happening now, and surprise surprise, the same rabble-rousers are involved:
WRITING THE SCRIPT
The campaign to mobilize the town-hall mobs began with a script written by the right’s foremost fearmonger, Frank Luntz. Luntz rose to fame in 1994 as pollster for Newt Gingrich’s Contract With America, and crafted the Republican playbook on global warming. In a May memo, Luntz outlined a battle plan for conservatives to block what he branded the “Washington takeover” of health care — the most terrifying buzz words conjured up in his polls and focus groups.
Online Exclusive:
Read Luntz’s entire memo.
The logic of the language is simple, Luntz writes: “Takeovers are like coups — they both lead to dictators and a loss of freedom.” For a third of all Americans, he adds, the top worry about health care reform is “being denied a procedure or medication because a Washington bureaucrat says no.” Luntz concludes by telling Republicans how best to play the fear card. “It is essential that ‘deny’ and ‘denial’ enter the conservative lexicon immediately,” he writes, “because it is at the core of what scares Americans most about a government takeover of health care.”
Distributed widely to Republicans on Capitol Hill, the memo framed the right-wing attack on health care reform. What Luntz describes as “the best anti-Democrat message” is by now familiar to everyone in America: “No Washington bureaucrat should stand between your family and your doctor… The Democrats want to put Washington politicians in charge of your health care.”
For the archenemies of Obamacare, however, Luntz’s anti-Washington script didn’t go nearly far enough. To amp up the panic, they decided to spin the “takeover” fear to its most extreme conclusion: Washington bureaucrats plan to institute “death panels” that would deny life-sustaining care to the elderly. That portion of the script was drafted by Betsy McCaughey, the former lieutenant governor of New York, who insists that her expertise as a constitutional historian enables her to decipher the 1,017 pages of legalese that comprise the House health care bill.
McCaughey first unveiled her “findings” on July 16th, during an appearance on the radio show of former GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson. “I have just finished reading the House bill,” McCaughey declared. “I hope that people listening will protect their parents from what’s intended under this bill.” Citing page 425 of HR 3200 — a section that outlines the same kind of optional, end-of-life counseling that Republicans have voted for in the past — McCaughey uncorked a terrifying lie. “Congress,” she said, “would make it mandatory — absolutely require that every five years, people in Medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner.” The Obama plan, she added, is financed by “shortening your mother or father’s life.”
McCaughey has run this con before. During the debate over Clinton’s health care overhaul in the early 1990s, McCaughey — then an academic at the right-wing Manhattan Institute — wrote an article for The New Republic called “No Exit,” in which she claimed that Hillarycare would prevent even wealthy Americans from “going outside the system to purchase basic health coverage you think is better.” Even though the bill plainly stated that “nothing in this Act” would prohibit consumers from purchasing additional care, McCaughey’s claim was echoed endlessly in the press, with each repetition pounding a stake further into the heart of the reform effort.
McCaughey’s lies were later debunked in a 1995 post-mortem in The Atlantic, and The New Republic recanted the piece in 2006. But what has not been reported until now is that McCaughey’s writing was influenced by Philip Morris, the world’s largest tobacco company, as part of a secret campaign to scuttle Clinton’s health care reform. (The measure would have been funded by a huge increase in tobacco taxes.) In an internal company memo from March 1994, the tobacco giant detailed its strategy to derail Hillarycare through an alliance with conservative think tanks, front groups and media outlets. Integral to the company’s strategy, the memo observed, was an effort to “work on the development of favorable pieces” with “friendly contacts in the media.” The memo, prepared by a Philip Morris executive, mentions only one author by name:
“Worked off-the-record with Manhattan and writer Betsy McCaughey as part of the input to the three-part exposé in The New Republic on what the Clinton plan means to you. The first part detailed specifics of the plan.”
McCaughey did not respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for an interview.
The old adage that heads this post is a sad reminder that those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. Your parents lost out on the chance for real health care reform when President Clinton was in office. You stand to lose out now–poised on the very lip of reform–if you do not spread the word that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! GOP and Corporate special interests must BUTT OUT! Dont fall for the phony scare tactics, dont buy their brand of snake oil!! Dig deeper and realize the political reality of who really has the most to lose by this reform, and its not you or me or your parents or mine…its the Medical Insurance juggernaut, and their GOP operatives, all hell-bent on preventing change…
Folks wishing to read the entire Rolling Stone article can find it online HERE
Grateful acknowledgement to my friend Terry for bringing the article to my attention *hugs*
I believe Karl is on the money, and I hope by posting this I will in some way help raise the awareness of more folks, and motivate them to DO something. Ive just contacted California’s Attorney General, and even though I dont expect a response, I will not stop there…next person I am emailing is the Governator.
Anyway, take a look:
My new friend sent me an email that had the following…Any folks of a Libertarian mind-set will probably be livid after reading this because it exposes the ridiculosity (like it? I made that up!) of their “anti-government” position!
I, ________________________, do solemnly swear to uphold the principles of a socialism-free society and heretofore pledge my word that I shall strictly adhere to the following:
I will complain about the destruction of 1st Amendment Rights in this country, while I am duly being allowed to exercise my 1st Amendment Rights.
I will complain about the destruction of my 2nd Amendment Rights in this country, while I am duly being allowed to exercise my 2nd Amendment rights by legally but brazenly brandishing unconcealed firearms in public.
I will foreswear the time-honored principles of fairness, decency, and respect by screaming unintelligible platitudes regarding tyranny, Nazi-ism, and socialism at public town halls. Also.
I pledge to eliminate all government intervention in my life. I will abstain from the use of and participation in any socialist goods and services including but not limited to the following:
- Social Security
- Medicare/Medicaid
- State Children’s Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP)
- Police, Fire, and Emergency Services
- US Postal Service
- Roads and Highways
- Air Travel (regulated by the socialist FAA)
- The US Railway System
- Public Subways and Metro Systems
- Public Bus and Lightrail Systems
- Rest Areas on Highways
- Sidewalks
- All Government-Funded Local/State Projects (e.g., see Iowa 2009 federal senate appropriations)
- Public Water and Sewer Services (goodbye socialist toilet, shower, dishwasher, kitchen sink, outdoor hose!)
- Public and State Universities and Colleges
- Public Primary and Secondary Schools
- Sesame Street
- Publicly Funded Anti-Drug Use Education for Children
- Public Museums
- Libraries
- Public Parks and Beaches
- State and National Parks
- Public Zoos
- Unemployment Insurance
- Municipal Garbage and Recycling Services
- Treatment at Any Hospital or Clinic That Ever Received Funding From Local, State or Federal Government (pretty much all of them)
- Medical Services and Medications That Were Created or Derived From Any Government Grant or Research Funding (again, pretty much all of them)
- Socialist Byproducts of Government Investment Such as Duct Tape and Velcro (Nazi-NASA Inventions)
- Use of the Internets, email, and networked computers, as the DoD’s ARPANET was the basis for subsequent computer networking
- Foodstuffs, Meats, Produce and Crops That Were Grown With, Fed With, Raised With or That Contain Inputs From Crops Grown With Government Subsidies
- Clothing Made from Crops (e.g. cotton) That Were Grown With or That Contain Inputs From Government Subsidies
If a veteran of the government-run socialist US military, I will forego my VA benefits and insist on paying for my own medical care
I will not tour socialist government buildings like the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
I pledge to never take myself, my family, or my children on a tour of the following types of socialist locations, including but not limited to:
- Smithsonian Museums such as the Air and Space Museum or Museum of American History
- The socialist Washington, Lincoln, and Jefferson Monuments
- The government-operated Statue of Liberty
- The Grand Canyon
- The socialist World War II and Vietnam Veterans Memorials
- The government-run socialist-propaganda location known as Arlington National Cemetery
- All other public-funded socialist sites, whether it be in my state or in Washington, DC
I will urge my Member of Congress and Senators to forego their government salary and government-provided healthcare.
I will oppose and condemn the government-funded and therefore socialist military of the United States of America.
I will boycott the products of socialist defense contractors such as GE, Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Humana, FedEx, General Motors, Honeywell, and hundreds of others that are paid by our socialist government to produce goods for our socialist army.
I will protest socialist security departments such as the Pentagon, FBI, CIA, Department of Homeland Security, TSA, Department of Justice and their socialist employees.
Upon reaching eligible retirement age, I will tear up my socialist Social Security checks.
Upon reaching age 65, I will forego Medicare and pay for my own private health insurance until I die.
SWORN ON A BIBLE AND SIGNED THIS DAY OF __________ IN THE YEAR ___.
_____________ _________________________
Signed Printed Name/Town and State
UPDATE: when I originally posted this, I was under the impression that Teabaggers hated any sort of Government intrusion, or resented taxes which pay for services we all need and use daily.
Several months later, I realized, there are facets to this movement, just like there are to any political movement, and I hereby withdraw my previous sarcastic derogatory comments. I still maintain that any republic needs to tax its citizens to provide services for the common good, but I’ll stop there. I think any reasonable person can agree that our current system is FLAWED. I happen to be a card carrying Democrat, however if I ever see that the Teabaggers actually promote an agenda I can get behind, AND they have the numbers to effect change, I’ll be right there with them. I still believe in most of the ideals that the Democratic party stands for, however, the crooked politicians that inhabit that party have given it a bad name. Not as bad as the human garbage dumps that infest the GOP, but even ONE crooked Democrat is enough to cry out for change.
there’s a lot of confusing instructions but basically you start by putting the following IP address in your browser’s address line:
when the Google Search Screen comes up, you type alfa-tsentr in the search field….
you may get a live feed of a girl in a room, an empty room or this video…
http://sheistheorigin.org/broadcast01/
tell me what you think….is it a very elaborate hoax or something more?
weird thing is, when you get search results, here is one of your choices:
It seems to be a mercenary for hire organization similar to Blackwater…to me, having lived thru the Cold War, I know how intimidating Russian Operatives can seem….in fact, they scare me more than American operatives, because they seem to have excised their emotions completely. By that I mean, Russian operatives seem more cold-hearted or ruthless than their American counterparts….Think Ivan Drago from Rocky 4……bloodthirsty efficiency coupled with physical and mental superiority…not weighed down by pesky sentimentalism that we Americans seem to carry with us like a fluffy blanket…MOMMY!
w
I dont know about YOU boys and girls, but this got my grey matter all excited! Nothing says “posh education” quite like YALE, except maybe PRINCETON….
anyway, take a look and see if there isnt something that interests you…after all its FREE (gotta love that right?) and it would sure look good on a resume!
Its ALL Blarney!! 
Recent Comments