Plastic Shopping Bags On The Decline

From Chris in Paris over at AMERICAblog:

Fortunately retailers joined the program and took action before the government was forced to step in. The reported 26% drop in plastic bags handed out is a move in the right direction. You see these hideous plastic bags scattered around the world in parks, in trees and bushes in the sea, under the sea, you name it.

I stopped using paper or plastic bags a while back, and bought four cloth shopping bags, which I keep in my rather large purse. I double them up, so in reality, it's like just two bags.

I am more European in my shopping habits. For instance, I never, or rarely, say I am going "grocery shopping." Instead, I refer to "going to the market." I also shop every day or every other day, preferring to purchase what I need for the day or two days, rather than shop once a week and load up on a shitload of stuff. I got into that habit about 15 years ago when I moved from central Hollywood to the Miracle Mile area, and parking was a bitch. Once I would get home from work and find a spot to park, that was it. I wasn't leaving the spot! So, I began walking the four blocks to the market (Ralphs, which was an Albertson's before it was a Ralphs -- everything here turned into a Ralphs -- there are at least three Ralphs markets within a two mile range of where I live). Even back then, I would request paper instead of plastic, unfortunately not for environmental purposes, but because paper was easier to carry than the lopsidedly loaded plastic bags. About a year ago, I stopped with the paper as well, and just bought the cloth bags that I "reuse" every time I shop, whether at a drug store, convenience store or the market. Some markets like Ralphs give you "green points" off of your bill if you bring in your own bags.

Now, if I could only find something for my trash containers that was biodegradable and not plastic.

Finally, Some Obama Decisions I Actually Like

I know I've been all doomsday about Obama and some of his decisions since taking office, but these last two, at least, make me feel better.

Attorney General Eric Holder said at a press conference Wednesday that the Justice Department will no longer raid medical marijuana clubs that are established legally under state law. His declaration is a fulfillment of a campaign promise by President Barack Obama, and marks a major shift from the previous administration.

I got this piece off of The Huffington Post, and it is a really, really long article, but vastly informative about the emergence of the medical marijuana industry.

As for the other news:

WASHINGTON (AP) — News organizations will be allowed to photograph the homecomings of America's war dead under a new Pentagon policy, defense and congressional officials said Thursday.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has decided to allow photos of flag-draped caskets at Dover Air Force Base, Del., if the families of the fallen troops agree, the officials told The Associated Press.

Obviously, if families want privacy, that will be respected. But far too many families were dumfounded when told that no press was allowed when their loved ones were flown into Dover. These people gave their lives for this country (and not to mention in a war that was started based on a certain person's ego and on the son of a bitch's lies) and they deserved to be recognized upon their arrival back in this country, and not hidden (by the thousands) from he American public, the very public they died for.

"THOSE DAYS ARE OVER"

When I see Obama at the beginning of any of his speeches, and the way he points and winks or nods his head, he reminds me of a star, be it an athlete or a television or a motion picture star. In my lifetime, I have never seen a president appear that way, and although I have seen pictures and videos of JFK, his demeanor was not that casual. Bill Clinton was casual, but he didn't have the star quality that Obama has.

I didn't go to work today, and watched CSPAN all day, and saw the mortgage plan hearings that Maxine Waters was chairing, and the grilling she and others gave to the banking representatives.

I like that jab at Coleman with the reference to the Minneapolis 54 police that would have lost their jobs, which were saved by this stimulus package.

I have never seen an address to congress and the American people like this. He inspires by his speeches, which I sometimes identify with rhetoric, and have already expressed doubts about his ability to succeed, but damn, it, his speeches make me cry every fucking time!

I have to say it's nice to see BOTH sides stand up and applaud. After 8 years of Bush and the one sided speech/applause level, it is refreshing to see a sense of bipartisanship.

We Are Not Alone On The Night Shift

The Nightshift



What's Going On



Baby Work Out

My Everything, Ally McBeal, Part Deux

This one has been deleted by YouTube so many times, I find it funny how often it comes back up.

I have no clue where it is/was on my site last four years, but to find this one again is like getting the golden ring on the merry-go-round!

Enjoy for now!



I also put up the bathroom scene (again) here.

Bailout vs. Stimulus

So, let me get this straight. American taxpayers give (repeat, give) money to certain banks. Certain banks then give the money to their friends in the form of bonuses and whatnot. Then certain banks decide, under oath, they do not have to tell the American taxpayers what they did with this money.

And, on the other hand, we have the non-free give away call the stimulus package, that has all the Republican's tidie whities in a bunch!

New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo filed a motion Monday asking former Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain to provide more information about bonuses paid out on the eve of the bank's merger with Bank of America last year.

Cuomo's office alleges that Thain is not answering the questions under instructions from Bank of America , and as a result, the bank is interfering with its investigation of the bonus payments.

In a deposition last week, Thain refused to answer questions about how the bonuses were determined for certain individuals, citing instructions from Bank of America attorneys.

And speaking of giving out free money with no strings to corporate friends instead of helping real Americans, we have this little tidbit from AIG.

Remember when the Republicans insisted this was going to be a money making venture? They were laughing and counting the profits. Money making in terms of bonuses, perhaps, but in terms of capitalism and customer revenue, not so much. Those Republicans are the same ones hiding from their responsibilities today and offering nothing other than obstruction. Don't worry though because CNBC's Rick Santelli is surely preparing a massive online protest where he will try and do better than the dozens of new fans he rallied to protest rewarding bad behavior. If anyone would understand the value of providing billions more in addition to the $150 billion already handed over to AIG - a single company - it will be Santelli. The report from CNBC is that they will announce an additional $60 billion in write-downs. Yes, $60 BILLION!

Is Obama Taking Us To Armageddon?

Glenn Greenwald, on Gitmo and Binyam Mohamed, who was released on Saturdy, and upon medical evaluation, appears to have been badly beaten clear up until the time of his release. But, of course, the DOD claims that Gitmo is (and has always been) free and clear of any claim of abuse of the prisoners.

For reasons that human rights groups and detainees' lawyers immediately pointed out, this self-exonerating Pentagon report, from the start, was suspect in the extreme. But a sign of how broken our discourse is and how in love with ourselves we continue to be is that, on the question of current Guantanamo conditions, the conclusions of the United States Pentagon released this week were treated not only as credible, but authoritative. If the DOD -- which has long overseen Guantanamo and continues to do so -- says that everything is great there, well, that's the end of that. What else is there to know?

This is, of course, distressful. Obama promised to close Gitmo, and now it appears he is backtracking. I thought, at least, when it came to foreign policy actions, Obama would be straight forward, but alas, that does not seem to be so.

Of all the defining practices and policies of the Bush administration which the Obama administration has already enthusiastically embraced -- and they're piling up so quickly, it's becoming difficult to keep track -- one of the most disturbing is the Obama administration's press management approach. The administration is singling out particularly supportive journalists to whom they anonymously leak purely favorable pro-administration spin; giving access to others who are have a history of such sycophantic behavior that they predictably produce profiles so one-sided and glowing that even People Magazine would be embarrassed to publish it; and -- worst of all -- they are systematically hiding behind anonymity to disseminate their claims in order to evade accountability, the exact opposite of the "transparency" Obama continuously promised (read David Cay Johnston's superb account of dealing with the Obama White House Press Office to see what a real journalist -- as opposed to one desperately jockeying to serve the White House in exchange for favored access status -- does when faced with baseless demands from administration officials for anonymity and off-the-record chatter).

I, personally, think the faulty guidance that Obama is getting stems directly from Rahm Emanuel, whom we all know did such a fantastic job as chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) [cough cough], and how he butted heads with Howard Dean's 50 state strategy. If Dean had not been so singularly focused on the 50 state strategy, and Rahm had his way, the Republicans would still be in power, and McCain would most likely be the current president. And this is whom Obama has chosen to be his White House Chief of Staff? The man who has not been right on anything for the past four years, and Obama is taking advice from him?

That's not to say that I have one shred of evidence at this point in time, but given Emanuel's track record, given the theme of Obama's campaign, "change" and Obama's promise to run the government differently, I am having a hard time in distinguishing the "difference" between Obama and Bush, outside of the fact that Obama can put together complete sentences. The advice being given to Obama is not in the best interests of this country, and although the polls still are pulling in Obama's direction, he's going to go down, and hard.

The stimulus package is too weak, the Republicans are thumbing their noses at him, the TARP money is not working, and is simply being pocketed by the rich, unemployment is through the roof, and it looks more and more like our men and women in uniform will still be fighting imaginary bogey men/women while our country drops faster than a sinkhole into a full blown depression. The only thing that is remarkably different in this scenario than with the 1930's is that the world, as a whole, is financially sinking as well.

Perhaps this is what is truly meant by Armageddon.

"Is Anyone In The Mainstream" Viva la vie Boheme

Going against the grain ... going mad.

La Vie Boheme.

What's Fair, Is Fair, Unless I Make The Rules, Then What's Fair Is What I Say, But It's Fair Because I Said It's Fair

This was so funny, I spilled my rum and coke, damn it!

The notion that a Democratic staffer who works with Henry Waxman would share an imaginary, nefarious scheme with the right-wing American Spectator is even sillier.

Steven Benen, the funny man!

Are You Getting Any TARP Money? I Thought Not

A new report out of the Treasury Department Tuesday confirmed what many lawmakers, housing advocates, small businesses and individual consumers have known all along: That despite hundreds of billions of dollars flowing from Washington to the finance industry, bank lending among recipients of the Troubled Asset Relief Program fell in the last three months of 2008.

Among the 20 largest TARP recipients, median mortgage and business lending both fell by 1 percent over that span, Treasury found, while median credit card lending rose 2 percent, reflecting greater reliance on existing credit lines by consumers.”

The findings were based on a survey of the 20 banks receiving the most federal help under the TARP, and mark the first in what will be a series of monthly reports analyzing the lending trends among bailed-out banks.

Not that those banks have been particularly forthright about where the money’s going if not toward lending. In December, The Associated Press asked the 21 top TARP recipients to specify how they’re using the funds. The AP reported Tuesday: “None would provide any specifics.”

I find it funny they call it "dollars flowing from Washington," as if this isn't pretty clearly "dollars flowing from the American taxpayer." They won't tell us what they did with the money, and they won't loan it out, which is what you give the fucking bank money to do.

Aren't you 20 percenters really happy with the situation Bush left the United States of America in? Even the most die hard Republican on my office floor throws up his hands every time he sees me (this after arguing with me once in the elevator about how Bush was going to get those terrorists and the merits of America not really having to have the big nations as allies in our war on terror [cough cough, Iraq cough, cough]).

Um, I Voted No On The Stimulus Bill, But Hey, Look What "I" Got For You!!!!

Funny how many Republicans that didn't vote for the stimulus package now actually claim they put good stuff in it, and are touring their states with the latest new Republican talking point - "look what I am bringing to my state." Courtesy of Think Progress:

Bond is not alone in trying to reap the political benefits both from voting against the bill and from bringing much needed funding to his district:

– Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN), who complained that the “federal government is spending money they don’t have,” told Rachel Maddow he would nevertheless accept funds for Minnesota: “Our view is, if you buy the pizza, it’s OK if you have a slice.”

– Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who also campaigned ardently against the bill, said he would nevertheless gladly accept its funds for his state. “You don’t want to be crazy here,” he said.

– Rep. John Mica (R-FL) gushed over the bill, which he, too, voted against. “I applaud President Obama’s recognition that high-speed rail should be part of America’s future,” he said in a press release.

– Rep. Don Young (R-AK) boasted that he “won a victory for…Alaska small business owners” in the recovery bill he refused to vote for.

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) boasted about the educational benefits of the recovery act, while Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) said his office "will do what we can to direct as much money as we can." Neither voted for the bill.

Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) joins in, praising the stimulus' "generous" incentives for home buyers on his Twitter feed:

petehoekstra If you know of someone thinking of buying first home, now may be the time. Stimulus incentive is very generous!Up to 8k!Check it out.

BlueJersey notes adds Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) to the growing list. After insisting last Friday that the recovery bill "would have exploded our national debt without providing meaningful job growth," Lance toured construction sites in his district yesterday, touting funds that would come from the stimulus bill. "This is a classic example of a "shovel-ready' project," Lance said after the tour.

No wonder RNC Chairman Michael Steele declared recently, “You have absolutely no reason — none — to trust our word or our actions at this point.”

And, yes, they do believe the American public is stupid. Why in the world the Republicans think 2010 is going to be a watershed year for them is beyond me. But, then again, I'm a pretty rational thinking individual, dealing with all the lawyer issues and whatnot (ha ha ha).

Are All Republicans This Stupid?

There's lying, and then there is just stupidity and ignorance. (h/t to Steve Benen).

ABOUT THAT CHURCHILL EXAMPLE.... Apparently, when the House Minority Whip isn't seeking guidance from Newt Gingrich, he's reading up on Winston Churchill.

...Rep. Eric Cantor (Va.), the House minority whip who led the fight to deny Obama every GOP vote for the plan, is studying Winston Churchill's role leading the Tories in the late 1930s, a principled minority that was eventually catapulted into power over the Labor Party.

There's no direct quote in the paragraph, so it's not clear who's misstating history, but Josh Marshall sets the record straight.

In the late 1930s, of course, Great Britain didn't have a Labour government with a principled Tory minority. It had conservative Tory government with a Labour minority. And Churchill was on the outs with both, although on some fronts he was beginning to make common cause with some Labourites on his key issue, which was foreign policy. When Churchill eventually came to power it was in a national coalition government for the purposes of fighting the war. And when he eventually went to the voters as head of the Tory party toward the end of the war they got crushed by Labour in a landslide.

I say all this as a big Churchill fan. But, I mean, not only is Eric Cantor no Winston Churchill, I'm not even sure he's read a book about Winston Churchill.

Of course, if Cantor is "studying" the former Prime Minister, he'll probably realize one of these days that Churchill's example won't help Republicans now.

Is it any wonder that the Americans are producing stupider and stupider children? Don't people read anymore? Just make shit up and have an attitude that appears knowledgeable is all it takes now?

If the economy doesn't wipe us all out, the human race is sure destined to extinction based on stupidity alone.

STUPIDITY UPDATE (BUMPED):

“A democracy could not exist because Mohammed already made the perfect law,” [former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick] Santorum said. “The Quran is perfect just the way it is, that’s why it is only written in Islamic.”

It's was originally written in Arabic, you idiot. There is no such language called Islamic.

California Just May Fall Off Into The Ocean

Quote from Krugman:

Everyone should be paying attention to the political/fiscal catastrophe now unfolding in California. Years of neglect, followed by economic disaster — and with all reasonable responses blocked by a fanatical, irrational minority.

This could be America next.

As a Californian, I am appalled at how our state's legislature is just asleep at the wheel. It's like Republicans everywhere have decided their mantra is Fuck America, It's All The Democrats Fault, and have dug in their heels to make sure that this country falls into another 1930's style depression.

And California, God bless her, has a Republican for a damn governor! You'd think his own people would work with him!

The LAT:

From Sacramento -- The math seems pretty simple. But apparently it's too rigorous for many Republican politicians.

To avoid raising taxes and still balance the books in Sacramento, you'd have to virtually shut down state government.

Some politicians are in denial. Some are demagoguing. Some are just ducking. Scared.The scared are rather pathetic.

Here are elected officeholders who represent 475,000 people in an average Assembly district -- 950,000 in a Senate district -- and they cower before conservative bloggers, radio talk entertainers and activists of a declining party.

According to the NYT:

Since the fall, when lawmakers began trying to attack the gaps in the $143 billion budget that their earlier plan had not addressed, the state has fallen into deeper financial straits, with more bad news coming daily from Sacramento. The state, nearly out of cash, has laid off scores of workers and put hundreds more on unpaid furloughs. It has stopped paying counties and issuing income tax refunds and halted thousands of infrastructure projects.

Twenty-thousand layoff notices will go out on Tuesday morning, Matt David, the communications director for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said Monday night. “In the absence of a budget we need to realize this savings and the process takes six months,” Mr. David said.

[snip]

The Senate Republican leader, Dave Cogdill, said he thought he had all the votes needed to get the deal done in each house. But on Sunday, two Republican senators — Dave Cox, who was originally thought to be the last vote needed, and Abel Maldonado, whom Mr. Schwarzenegger had been able to woo into voting against his party in the past — said they would reject the plan.

Democrats, who had already given into Republicans’ long-held dreams of large tax cuts for small businesses and for some of the entertainment industry and a proposed $10,000 tax break for first-time home buyers, balked at Mr. Maldonado’s request that the Legislature tuck a bill into the package that would allow voters to cross party lines in primaries.

“I think with an open primary, we would have good government that would do the people’s work,” Mr. Maldonado said.

This makes my blood boil. We are talking serious shut down here in California, and Mr. Maldonado thinks putting some petty primary crap into this bill is necessary? Talk about your obstructionism. Reminds me of Michael Corleone -- "Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in."

H/T to Crooks and Liars.

Republicans STILL Stealing Other People's Copyright Protected Music!

After jamming the RIAA up our asses for, um, downloading, it still amazes me how many Republicans just take other people's copyright protected music without permission and use it. Pretty much every Republican presidential candidate since Reagan stole music that was not theirs and used it on their campaigns. McCain was, though, the most egregious, because even after receiving his cease and desist letters, he just kept using the songs anyway.

With the Republican minority all gaga over their obstructionism, once again, a Republican [House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA)] steals a song. No royalties paid to the company that owns it; no permission to use the song; no permission from the artists to use it either.

Glad to see YouTube pull the video today. H/T to TPM.

New York State Of Mind

My mood this evening.



Some folks like to get away, take a holiday ...

I'm in a New York State of mind.

Don't care if it's Chinatown or down on Riverside.

The Piano Man (genius) at work. Sax at the end is cool. My father was a 'bones player. Got an affection for "dem horns.

The Beltway Journalists Running Scared

Another great post by Glenn Greenwald, on the Beltway mentality, and their fear that Obama just might have really meant what he said during his campaign for the presidency. The media lies to the public constantly. The media distorts reality to the public constantly. And this is supported by the bad guys in government that have something to gain by distorting public opinion to gain their advantage. And just like Greenwald, I am sick and tired of it. Journalists are not supposed to regurgitate press releases ... they are supposed to research and report on the truth and relevancy of the topics. But, between the singularly corporate controlled media (anyone notice the change in tone in editorials once Murdoch took over the WSJ? Yeah, I thought so) and their government officials with a stake in the lies, it has become patently possible to watch and/or read anything emanating from what is considered main stream media.

It's amazing how explicitly Brooks here is endorsing -- and demanding -- deliberate deceit of the public. There is, for obvious reasons, extreme anger among the American citizenry towards the piggish sleaze, systematic corruption, and wholesale destruction permeating the political establishment and our political and financial elites. In order to pacify those sentiments, political elites tolerated, perhaps even desired, a presidential candidate with credible outsider pretenses who claimed to empathize with that popular anger and who wanted to combat the political elites who were the targets of it -- but only on the condition that he didn't really mean any of it, that it was all just a means to deceive people into believing that they still live in some sort of responsive democracy and they retain even a minimal ability to shape what the Government does. The anti-Washington rhetoric Obama was spouting was tolerated by media elites only to the extent that none of it was sincere.

There is a direct relationship between (a) evidence that Obama didn't mean any of his campaign rhetoric and doesn't intend to do anything other than blend into and perpetuate the Washington status quo; and (b) the media's sentiments towards Obama. The more there is of (a), the more positive is (b). Conversely, the less there is of (a), the more negative is (b). That's why Brooks is angry with Obama here: there is almost a suggestion that Obama might have meant some of the critiques he voiced about Washington during the campaign or, at the very least, that Obama's anti-Washington rhetoric might force him, now and then, to oppose prevailing Washington orthodoxies and go against dominant Washington power centers even if Obama doesn't want to (which is what happened when his "campaign blather" forced Daschle out). Brooks is fearful and thus angry that Obama created a Frankenstein: leading people to believe that there would be any changes in Washington and that they had the right to expect it.

[snip]

This is exactly what Brooks is saying. Indeed, if one reviews most of the political controversies of the last decade, one finds exactly this dynamic: the political and media establishment joining together to deliberately distort American public opinion and thus render it irrelevant in what the political class does: the mass desire for de-funding of and withdrawal from Iraq; the overwhelming demand for investigations into Bush crimes during the administration; the widespread belief now that those crimes must be investigated; the extreme majorities favoring "even-handedness" in our Middle East policies; economic policies and government processes promoting the interests of the majority rather than the narrow corporate interests that so transparently own and control political officials. The overarching role of the Beltway journalist is to obscure and distort those widely-held views on the part of the citizenry and thus prevent them from having any impact, protect political power from those beliefs.

Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone!

And Not A Moment Too Soon

But Emanuel said that they recognized they had overdone their initial outreach to Republicans and had offered "a sharp message for the last week.

"For now, the hard-charging chief of staff added, “He has an open hand, but he has a very firm handshake.”

Translation: Yes, the president will continue to do obligatory outreach to the GOP, but he’s not going to be burned again by an out-of-power and toothless minority for the sake of appearances.

Out of power and toothless. I love that! Here's another:

More experienced Washington hands said the White House had been unrealistic to expect to win much Republican support.

“I’m not sure I would describe it as naïve, but wishful thinking,” said John D. Podesta, a former White House chief of staff who ran Mr. Obama’s transition and still informally advises his team.

It's about time the Obama Administration wakes up from this dream of bipartisanship. The 100% nay vote in the House on the stimulus plan should have been one hell of a loud awakening, even for a deaf person.

Look, I'm willing to let Obama run the country. After eight years of the chimpster, Obama simply cannot possibly do anything worse than what we have already been subjected to. I love that the congressional Republicans, in lock step, think, better yet, truly believe, that this country is behind them, and that their 100% obstruction of the Obama Administration will win them majorities in 2010!

Since The Bush Administration surrounded itself with the Washington bubble crowd, they were never able to put forth a message that did not conform to the unreality of their beliefs. With Obama traveling across America and bringing a clear message of his ideology to the masses, (something that Bush had an aversion to), he has the perfect opportunity to continue to build support from outside the Beltway community. And this is important, because the talking heads on (liberal, cough cough) mass media will be unable to continue with their assault that has been based in an unreal version of America, as real America won't be buying it any longer.

As Unemployment Rises, More Employers Are Challenging Employees' Rights To Collect Unemployment

Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits rose for a fourth straight week, reaching a record, as companies accelerated firings.

The total number of recipients rose to 4.81 million in the week ended Jan. 31 from 4.8 million the prior week, the Labor Department said today in Washington. First-time unemployment applications fell by 8,000 to 623,000 last week, a smaller drop than economists expected.

Wait! It gets better!

It's hard enough to lose a job. But for a growing proportion of U.S. workers, the troubles really set in when they apply for unemployment benefits.

More than a quarter of people applying for such claims have their rights to the benefit challenged as employers increasingly act to block payouts to former workers.

The proportion of claims disputed by former employers and state agencies has reached record levels in recent years, according to the Labor Department numbers tallied by the Urban Institute.

[snip]

"I couldn't believe it," said Kenneth M. Brown, who lost his job as a hotel electrician in October.

He began collecting benefits of $380 a week but then discovered that his former employer, the owners of the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, were appealing to block his unemployment benefits. The hotel alleged that he had been fired for being deceptive with a supervisor.

"A big corporation like that. . . . It was hard enough to be terminated," he said. "But for them to try to take away the unemployment benefits -- I just thought that was heartless."

After a Post reporter turned up at the hearing, the hotel's representative withdrew the appeal and declined to comment. A hotel spokesperson later said the company does not comment on legal matters. Brown will continue to collect benefits, which he, his wife and three young children rely on to make monthly mortgage payments on their Upper Marlboro home.

I know about this scam all too well, when about ten years ago, my daughter was fired by Kinko's and applied for unemployment benefits. At first, she received a few checks, then she was notified by mail that Kinko's was challenging her right to obtain benefits. I did a little research on unemployment law, and felt comfortable that my daughter could make a straight case. I even called up the department that was going to handle Kinko's appeal and asked for them to send me all the documents filed in the case. Of course, I was told there were no documents (not true).

When we got to the hearing, I discovered that Kinko's had a full time lawyer working at the unemployment appeals offices. While waiting for our turn, I listened to him instruct and direct various Kinko's supervisors on how to testify against the employee whose unemployment benefits were being challenged. To say I was pissed off is to put it mildly.

Then, to make matters worse, at her hearing, the lawyer and the appeals board "judge" (they are not real judges) REFERRED TO FUCKING DOCUMENTS PRODUCED BY KINKO'S!!!! I knew then that my daughter didn't have a chance representing herself against a lawyer and a stack of documents that they would not produce to me when I asked for them. I would never have let her go there without an attorney had I known the game was played this way.

And the funny part is that they built the Kinko's she was hired to first work at, right at the corner of where we lived, and she was hired specifically to work the late night shift. After about two or three weeks, they moved her to one that was about five miles away, and put her on the 8:00 a.m. shift! She had no car, and that was not the Kinko's she applied to, nor was that the time slot she applied for or was hired for. And guess what the reason was they threw at her for her firing? Being late at least three times by between two minutes and five minutes ... this after having to take two buses to get there at 8:00 a.m.

To this day, I do not use Kinko's for anything (except when I want something free, then I go to my buddy who still works at the original Kinko's my daughter used to work at, and still is on the late night shift as a manager).

My daughter's benefits were cut off, and they wanted her to repay about $120. I made them try to collect it bit by bit from her State refund checks, which were so paltry it took them like six years! Ha Ha Ha!

Seems Judd Gregg Has More Serious Problems Than Just Disagreements With Obama!

According to one diarist at DailyKos, it seems that Judd Gregg's withdrawal from being considered as Commerce Secretary is his connection to convicted felon, Jack Abramoff.

Ahhhh, now that makes a hell of a lot more sense then the garbage press release he put out stating, uh, I just figured out I don't agree with Obama on the issues at hand!

Phil Bredesen's Comments -- And He Wants To Be The Health And Human Services Secretary?

"Anybody who’s got some real scars and experience is going to have their detractors,” the governor said Monday in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. “People at the White House are smart enough to be able to assess that.” And he took a swipe at his opponents, saying that “advocacy groups don’t matter nearly as much as the pharmaceutical groups, the hospitals, the doctors’ groups. There’s a lot of very powerful interest groups that will play in this thing.”

Who are these people, and why does Obama keep wanting them in his cabinet? Advocacy groups don't matter, but the pharmaceutical groups, hospital groups and doctors' groups do? Again, I have to ask, where is the change here?

H/T to Think Progress.

This Is "Change We Can Believe In?" NOT!

But officials said Mr. Geithner worried that the plan would not work — and could become more expensive for taxpayers — if there were too much government involvement in the affairs of the companies.

[snip]

The White House is hoping that its rescue plan will be perceived as a more coherent rescue effort than the Bush administration’s, and one whose breadth and scope are so vast that it begins to restore financial confidence in the battered markets and entices private investors to come off the sidelines.

Hoping? After last night's press conference, Obama assured the American public that there would be tight financial strings attached to the second round of TARP money.

Change we can believe in? I'm laughing so hard my coffee is coming out of my nose. Obama may be able to give a great speech, but he seems incompetent to get anything "changed" in Washington.

Hilzoy's take is exceptional. Give it your entire attention. Long piece, but well worth the read.

You can see the issue in a nutshell in this passage from the NYT:

"And for all of its boldness, the plan largely repeats the Bush administration's approach of deferring to many of the same companies and executives who had peddled risky loans and investments at the heart of the crisis and failed to foresee many of the problems plaguing the markets."

Obama may have been much more eloquent in saying pretty much the same thing Bush has always said: "It's hard work being President."

My Take On The President's Press Conference

First up, on this press conference, it was nice to see a president that could speak in complete sentences, and could actually answer the questions (well, except for Helen Thomas' one about who else in the middle east has nukes -- cough cough, Israel, cough cough), and he understood the issues. Bush was such an ass that he rarely held conferences that allowed for real questions, because he was too dumb to even know how to answer them.

I usually watch CSPAN but went to the talking heads shows for the after-talk just to see what kind of reaction the "media" were going to spin on this press conference.

We shall see what happens with the stimulus bill. Personally, I am still not happy with all this "bipartisanship" talk. All the Republicans have done the past eight years is bankrupt this country, and pocketed as much money in their oil, banking, lobbying, defense contracting and other rich people's pockets (including their own), and then to have the entire House vote NAY on the stimulus package, was like giving the finger to all Americans. That is just not right, and if bipartisanship means kowtowing to the very people that gave us this mess, I say give them the finger right back.

Krugman: "No, they didn’t, and no, it isn’t."

And speaking of the President's stimulus plan, my hero Paul Krugman had this to say yesterday:

One of the best features of the original plan was aid to cash-strapped state governments, which would have provided a quick boost to the economy while preserving essential services. But the centrists insisted on a $40 billion cut in that spending.

The original plan also included badly needed spending on school construction; $16 billion of that spending was cut. It included aid to the unemployed, especially help in maintaining health care — cut. Food stamps — cut. All in all, more than $80 billion was cut from the plan, with the great bulk of those cuts falling on precisely the measures that would do the most to reduce the depth and pain of this slump.

On the other hand, the centrists were apparently just fine with one of the worst provisions in the Senate bill, a tax credit for home buyers. Dean Baker of the Center for Economic Policy Research calls this the “flip your house to your brother” provision: it will cost a lot of money while doing nothing to help the economy.

All in all, the centrists’ insistence on comforting the comfortable while afflicting the afflicted will, if reflected in the final bill, lead to substantially lower employment and substantially more suffering.

But how did this happen? I blame President Obama’s belief that he can transcend the partisan divide — a belief that warped his economic strategy.

After all, many people expected Mr. Obama to come out with a really strong stimulus plan, reflecting both the economy’s dire straits and his own electoral mandate.

Instead, however, he offered a plan that was clearly both too small and too heavily reliant on tax cuts. Why? Because he wanted the plan to have broad bipartisan support, and believed that it would. Not long ago administration strategists were talking about getting 80 or more votes in the Senate.

Mr. Obama’s postpartisan yearnings may also explain why he didn’t do something crucially important: speak forcefully about how government spending can help support the economy. Instead, he let conservatives define the debate, waiting until late last week before finally saying what needed to be said — that increasing spending is the whole point of the plan.

He has a lot more to say, but I am wary of cutting and pasting whole articles these days, what with the uproar over blogging content. Read the whole piece if you can, though.

As many bloggers have asked, where are the REST of the economists on this issue?

UPDATE: An interesting comment from Digby:

On Blitzer this afternoon:

Alex Castellanos: I know Krugman won the Nobel Prize, but so did Al Gore. It can't be that hard. (laughter.)

And if economists were that good, they'd all be rich and they're not. So let's take all this with a grain of salt here.

[snip]

This person was on CNN throughout the presidential campaign, which makes some sense since he was in the capacity of "Republican campaign consultant." But he has no business being on television commenting on anything but dirty campaign tactics, which is where his expertise lies. He is a professional liar who admits to doing anything necessary to back his team and who even village "polite society" is squeamish about cable.

Obama Fails Again -- This Time HIS DOJ Upholds Bush's "State Secrets" Defense

An insightful piece by Glenn Greenwald today:

Eric Holder’s Justice Department stood up in court today and said that it would continue the Bush policy of invoking state secrets to hide the reprehensible history of torture, rendition and the most grievous human rights violations committed by the American government. This is not change. This is definitely more of the same. Candidate Obama ran on a platform that would reform the abuse of state secrets, but President Obama’s Justice Department has disappointingly reneged on that important civil liberties issue. If this is a harbinger of things to come, it will be a long and arduous road to give us back an America we can be proud of again.

[snip]

That the Obama DOJ -- when faced with its first real test to determine what it intends to do in these areas (as opposed to engaging in symbolic rituals and issuing pretty words) -- explicitly adopts exactly the Bush position is about as inauspicious a start in these areas as one can imagine.

Apparently, I am not the only one the sees Obama not fulfilling his campaign promises. At least I don't have to bear the brunt of being a Democrat that has been lied to. I never voted for the man based on his promises anyway, because, to be perfectly honest, I had my doubts about his ability to actually deliver. I did, however, think he had a fighting chance if he actually believed his own rhetoric.

Apparently not. First the sucking up to the Republicans in the name of bipartisanship, the unanimous "nay" vote by the House Republicans despite the sucking up, the complete and utter failure of the Senate stimulus package, and now this -- standing firm on the Bush Administration's claim of "state secrets" defense.

This most certainly does not bode well for the America that many of us voted Obama into office to restore back to its rightful place in the world.

Buffalo Springfield, Revisted (and all who followed thereafter)

I've probably blogged a bit about this band over my three years of blogging ... (soon to be four year anniversary in April).

I wanted to give Dewey his respects, but quite honestly, I, like most, followed the careers of either Neil Young, Steven Stills or Richey Furay.

Me, it was Richie! Plus, his band Poco released a record before Stills did, although Neil just kept plugging along in spite of both of them! And then, there was, of course, Jimmy Messina!

I collected all their hybrids, Poco, CSN, CSNY, Souther, Hillman, Furay, Manassas, Loggins & Messina, and all things Neil Young!

A lot of talent in Buffalo Springfield, and I can say I saw them perform live back in the 1960's.

Crazy Love



Just For Me And You



Unfortunately, it's rare I find S (J.D. Souther), H(Chris Hillman) F (Richie Furay) on YouTube.

Of course, there is a shitload of Steve Stills! Steven. What can I say about him (grins) Just loved his music.



Would put up Love The One You're With, but it seems unavailable on YouTube.

Still some good CSN



and CSNY



I love that this was introduced by David Steinberg, one of my most favorite comics. It was his "Moses" skit that was primarily responsible for the cancellation of the Smother's Brother's show.

And let's not forget the career of Jimmy Messina!

I first saw Loggins & Messina at UCSB in a hall that had the power go out during their session. Who the fuck knew that Kenny would go farther then Jimmy? Oh well!






I'll end this post with classic Neil Young.

Heart of Gold



Old Man



I really was affected by this song back in my young years.


PS, spelled name of guitar is earlier post --- Rickenbacker.

RIP, Dewey

One of my most favorite bands. My first husband was like the spitting image of Steve Stills, and he played a mean guitar (whether classical or on his richenbacker).

Dewey was the drummer. Hardly the star of the band, but part of it's heart and soul.



RIP, Dewey.

Old Time Rock And Roll

I was getting my grandson ready for bed tonight, and he had on a button down shirt. When he took off his pants first, to get into his pajamas, he had the button down shirt and only his underwear and socks on. I was struck instantly by the first Tom Cruise image, coupled with all those new commercials, including Heidi Klum's



(and what was SO controversial about that?).

Zaire was sooooo funny trying to imitate the videos I showed him. I would tape it, but I am sure the NAMBLA police would bug my computer and consider it porn (laughing). However, my daughter is a professional photographer, so perhaps she can make a video that I might be able to put up on YouTube without having my account terminated!

My favorite copy:

Stimulus Or Not, Brace Yourselves, People, The Depression Is On Its Way

No, I'm not being Rush Limbaugh, but I just do not see the Obama stimulus plan having any real impact. This is not because the stimulus plan is a bad idea. This is because Obama is still letting the minority party dictate the crap out of the stimulus plan.


First, despite the House passing its version, it still contained at least 25% of worthless tax cuts, and yet, ZERO Republicans voted for it, when the damn tax cuts were put in it just at their behest!


Now that the Senate is debating (and I use that word loosely) the stimulus package, it appears the tax cuts are up to 40% of the entire stimulus, AND it's been trimmed by about 100 billion dollars!


Obama ... fuck them, all of them, the Democrats and Republicans. Just put out the most proper stimulus plan (hint -- Paul Krugman -- hint, for starters), and if our stupid, self-serving representatives (again, using that word loosely) in Congress don't vote for it, you can rest assured that American voters in 2010 will be looking toward more progressive people to elect to represent them in Congress.


Don't be afraid. Just because the Congressional Republicans and a few mealy mouth wussie Democrats want you to fail, doesn't mean the American public will blame you for the depression that will happen on your watch. And, try to remember ... there may be 300 million Americans, but mass media is only read and/or watched by less than 10% of them (see earlier post of mine on that subject), and even less will be watching them/reading them because of our stupid congresscritters taking out the expansion of cable and internet from your stimulus package. Not to mention, as one tightens ones belt, cable goes! Food, cable, food, cable? Guess which one goes first!


The package passed by the House wasn't all that great, but it had a small fighting chance. The Republicans lining up in lock step and voting "nay" only showed where they stood on helping America. What is transpiring in the Senate is just a complete joke. I am embarrassed for you, Obama, and more pissed off that after the 2008 elections, the Democrats still cannot get off their asses and do something good for this country, instead of always looking out for their corporate buddies.


I'm telling you, 2010 will be a watershed election, which is probably why many in Congress are gearing up for their campaigns now instead of actually doing their work right now in Congress. That work, by the way, is to get off their asses and represent the American people and pass a stimulus bill that will get this country moving forward.

The New Republican Ethic - Insurgency!

"Insurgency, we understand perhaps a little bit more because of the Taliban," Sessions said during a meeting yesterday with Hotline editors. "And that is that they went about systematically understanding how to disrupt and change a person's entire processes. And these Taliban -- I'm not trying to say the Republican Party is the Taliban. No, that's not what we're saying. I'm saying an example of how you go about [sic] is to change a person from their messaging to their operations to their frontline message. And we need to understand that insurgency may be required when the other side, the House leadership, does not follow the same commands, which we entered the game with."

That agreement, as Sessions described it, involved a promise from Pelosi to preside over an "open, honest, ethical Congress." Obama, Sessions added, has pledged to diminish the political rhetoric in Washington and work in a bipartisan fashion.

"If they do not give us those options or opportunities then we will then become insurgency of a nature to where we do those things that are necessary to making sure the American public knows what we think the correct answer is," Sessions said during the 60-minute interview. "So we either work together, or we're going to find a way to get our message out."

WHAT FUCKING MESSAGE, YOU IDIOT?

Have you NOT noticed your dwindling numbers in Congress, dude? Have you NOT heard the American public say NO NO NO to you and your beliefs? And now you think that by identifying your "tactics" as "insurgency" and invoking the Taliban is helping your position?

Keep on, keeping on. 2010 and your party will just be a memory ... a distant one, at that.

You Know, It's Time We Take The Kid Gloves Off Of Prosecuting The Bush Administration

Hughley: "Now I listened to those tapes and I'm not going to hide my affinity for this guy. I never met him before then but to me we have become such a trivial place that we will impeach a man for having sex, or lying about having sex with a woman. In California we will impeach a guy because he raises taxes on license plates because energy gets out of control. We'll impeach a guy for saying some things on tape. But a man can take us to war and lie and we won't do a damn thing about that. That makes me so mad."

H/T to Crooks and Liars.

The Day The Music Died

H/T to DJ Rix.

50 years ago, today, Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper died in a plane crash, which has come to be known as the day the music died, immortalized in the Don McClean song, "American Pie."


"Peggy Sue," by Buddy Holly.



Very hard to find any Richie Valens videos, but here is one entitled "Ohh My Head."

Ohh My Head

And finally, the Big Bopper, "Chantilly Lace."

Joe The G.O.P. Analyst, Now

Sometimes, there are funny things you just can't make up:

Fresh off his stint as a war correspondent in Gaza, Joe the Plumber is now doing political strategy with Republicans.

[snip]

Last month, Wurzelbacher did a brief stint as a war reporter for the conservative web site pjtv.com.

For goodness sake! Even I have better creds, politically and journalistically, than Joe the Plumber!

H/T to Benen.

Super Bowl Sunday -- In Honor Of Pat Tillman, The Cardinal Who Will Not Be On The Field

As we sit down today to watch America's favorite game, Super Bowl Sunday, between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers, let us not forget one Cardinal who will not be playing today.

From the NYT:

The most visible Cardinal has been dead nearly five years. Pat Tillman, the football player turned fallen soldier, is here, there and everywhere Arizona plays, the 2008 team embodying his selflessness and success against great odds.

Emptywheel has a piece up, that all should read (as it is very extensive and informative.

My money is on the Cardinals today, in honor of Tillman. To paraphrase an old saying ... "let's win one for Tillman."

Picture courtesy of Mike Haskey/Columbus Ledger Enquirer, via Associated Press