Analysis on Tapering QE3
-
Last month there were quite a few analysts predicting the Fed would start
tapering off QE purchases in June. My response was Three words: Will Not
Happen.
...
1 hour ago
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Townes Van Zandt Pancho and Lefty
The original by the best. Go to youtube and look up Townes Van Zandt -- listen, enjoy, and become aware of an American TREASURE.
Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?
"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?" lyrics by Yip Harburg, music by Jay Gorney (1931)
They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob,
When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear, I was always there right on the job.
They used to tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead,
Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread?
Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime;
Once I built a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,
Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,
Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,
And I was the kid with the drum!
Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time.
Why don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,
Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,
Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,
And I was the kid with the drum!
Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time.
Say, don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?
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Nothing ever changes -- we just think it does until we realize it doesn't. We really could change things. We don't need anything other than engaged citizens, intelligent choices, a willingness to SEE reality. Nominate and elect real legislators who actually are indebted to the PEOPLE -- not astro-turf groups, large corporations, and the filthy rich 1%.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
"FUN NEWS"
Here's some "fun news" from "Some Assembly Required". Lately, I've been too depressed to even read most of this stuff -- never mind post it. Now that I've had a "cynicism transplant" ----- I think from a much younger person ----- I'm capable of both reading and posting.
Please follow link to original
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http://ckm3.blogspot.com/
Teaching Point: In 2009, the British set up fake internet cafes to intercept communications from attendees and reporters covering the G20 summit. No warrant needed.
Planning Ahead: Philadelphia has chosen to close 23 schools and lay of thousands of school employees in order to fund a $400 million prison that will house 4000. The City of Brotherly love, being prepared. The mayor wants to privatize the entire school systemand merge it with the private prison network.
Observed: “U.S. policy for the past 30 years has been aggressively dedicated to shifting income share away from the poor and middle class and into the pockets of the already rich.”
The Difference Between Gold And Paper Money: Paper money has value only because most people expect most other people to accept it in exchange for goods and services. Ditto for gold. There is no thing – found in nature or created by man – that has value independent of the value humans attach to it. There is no pristine money. Money, be it paper or gold works as money as long as most people keep the faith. And not much longer.
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There's a lot more -- please go there.
Please follow link to original
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http://ckm3.blogspot.com/
Teaching Point: In 2009, the British set up fake internet cafes to intercept communications from attendees and reporters covering the G20 summit. No warrant needed.
Planning Ahead: Philadelphia has chosen to close 23 schools and lay of thousands of school employees in order to fund a $400 million prison that will house 4000. The City of Brotherly love, being prepared. The mayor wants to privatize the entire school system
Observed: “U.S. policy for the past 30 years has been aggressively dedicated to shifting income share away from the poor and middle class and into the pockets of the already rich.”
The Difference Between Gold And Paper Money: Paper money has value only because most people expect most other people to accept it in exchange for goods and services. Ditto for gold. There is no thing – found in nature or created by man – that has value independent of the value humans attach to it. There is no pristine money. Money, be it paper or gold works as money as long as most people keep the faith. And not much longer.
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There's a lot more -- please go there.
more on VSP's
I am ALWAYS amused by the DIRE predictions we now hear from certain "economists". The ones that have said, ever since THE BLACK MAN was elected President -- even though he's a Kenyan/Muslim/Indonesian/Gay/Communist/Socialist/Illegal Alien/BOOGEY MAN/"illegal President" -- that RAMPANT INFLATION is "just around the corner". The USA is, to these "economists", Greece/The Weimer Republic/Argentina/ etc., etc., etc.
Back when the soon to be "Sainted" George W. Bush was President, I once suggested that our unfunded war expenses would, eventually, be funded by inflation -- the very same way everything else has ever been. I was shouted, yes SHOUTED, down by "The Republican Faithful"/"the base"/some supposed "economists".
I guess that's simply because he was a WHITE, alcoholic, druggie, REPUBLICAN -- and, as such, was anointed with the title "Fiscal Conservative". The last WHITE DEMOCRATIC President, though a skirt chasing, saxophone playing, ex-hippie, was also economically suspect -- even though he presided over a genuine "boom".
After the "tech boom" imploded, I once had the temerity to call THAT slowdown a "recession" (this during GWB's Presidency) and was told I was misguided/stupid/ignorant/uneducated/ a "wild eyed Commie hippie freak"/etc., etc., etc.
Once again -- does any one still wonder why I think most of the VSP's are evil morons, totally in THEIR "bubble", both unaware and uncaring of the problems faced by the former "American Middle Class" ("the backbone of our society" - just ask ANY politico either running for office or giving a PUBLIC speech. In private it's about "the 47%" and crap like that).
It's all a total crock of shit. Remember children, in the future, if you want to live to a "ripe old age" --- it's good to be rich.
Back when the soon to be "Sainted" George W. Bush was President, I once suggested that our unfunded war expenses would, eventually, be funded by inflation -- the very same way everything else has ever been. I was shouted, yes SHOUTED, down by "The Republican Faithful"/"the base"/some supposed "economists".
I guess that's simply because he was a WHITE, alcoholic, druggie, REPUBLICAN -- and, as such, was anointed with the title "Fiscal Conservative". The last WHITE DEMOCRATIC President, though a skirt chasing, saxophone playing, ex-hippie, was also economically suspect -- even though he presided over a genuine "boom".
After the "tech boom" imploded, I once had the temerity to call THAT slowdown a "recession" (this during GWB's Presidency) and was told I was misguided/stupid/ignorant/uneducated/ a "wild eyed Commie hippie freak"/etc., etc., etc.
Once again -- does any one still wonder why I think most of the VSP's are evil morons, totally in THEIR "bubble", both unaware and uncaring of the problems faced by the former "American Middle Class" ("the backbone of our society" - just ask ANY politico either running for office or giving a PUBLIC speech. In private it's about "the 47%" and crap like that).
It's all a total crock of shit. Remember children, in the future, if you want to live to a "ripe old age" --- it's good to be rich.
Monday, June 17, 2013
The Two Centers of Unaccountable Power in America, and Their Consequences
Here's the latest from Robert Reich - in many ways it connects to the first post this Monday. Please follow link to original.
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http://robertreich.org/
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http://robertreich.org/
There are two great centers of unaccountable
power in the American political-economic system today — places where
decisions that significantly affect large numbers of Americans are made
in secret, and are unchecked either by effective democratic oversight or
by market competition.
One goes by the name of the “intelligence community” and its epicenter is the National Security Agency within the Defense Department. If we trusted that it reasonably balanced its snooping on Americans with our nation’s security needs, and that our elected representatives effectively oversaw that balance, there would be little cause for concern. We would not worry that the information so gathered might be misused to harass individuals, thereby chilling free speech or democratic debate, or that some future government might use it to intimidate critics and opponents. We would feel confident, in other words, that despite the scale and secrecy of the operation, our privacy, civil liberties, and democracy were nonetheless adequately protected.
But the NSA has so much power, and oversight of it is so thin, that we have every reason to be concerned. The fact that its technological reach is vast, its resources almost limitless, and its operations are shrouded in secrecy, make it difficult for a handful of elected representatives to effectively monitor even a tiny fraction of what it does. And every new revelation of its clandestine “requests” for companies to hand over information about our personal lives and communications further undermines our trust. To the contrary, the NSA seems to be literally out of control.
The second center of unaccountable power goes by the name of Wall Street and is centered in the largest banks there. If we trusted that market forces kept them in check and that they did not exercise inordinate influence over Congress and the executive branch, we would have no basis for concern. We wouldn’t worry that the Street’s financial power would be misused to fix markets, profit from insider information, or make irresponsible bets that imperiled the rest of us. We could be confident that despite the size and scope of the giant banks, our economy and everyone who depends on it were nonetheless adequately protected.
But those banks are now so large (much larger than they were when they almost melted down five years ago), have such a monopolistic grip on our financial system, and exercise so much power over Washington, that we have cause for concern. The fact that not a single Wall Street executive has been held legally accountable for the excesses that almost brought the economy to its knees five years ago and continues to burden millions of Americans, that even the Attorney General confesses the biggest banks are “too big to jail,” that the big banks continue to make irresponsible bets (such as those resulting in JP Morgan Chase’s $6 billion “London Whale” loss), and that the Street has effectively eviscerated much of the Dodd-Frank legislation intended to rein in its excesses and avoid another meltdown and bailout, all offer evidence that the Street is still dangerously out of control.
It is rare in these harshly partisan times for the political left and right to agree on much of anything. But the reason, I think, both are worried about the encroachments of the NSA on the privacy and civil liberties of Americans, as well as the depredations of “too big to fail or jail” Wall Street banks on our economy, is fundamentally the same: It is this toxic combination of inordinate power and lack of accountability that renders both of them dangerous, threatening our basic values and institutions.
That neither Republicans nor Democrats have done much of anything to effectively rein in these two centers of unaccountable power suggests that, if there is ever to be a viable third party in America, it will may borne of the ill-fated consequences.
One goes by the name of the “intelligence community” and its epicenter is the National Security Agency within the Defense Department. If we trusted that it reasonably balanced its snooping on Americans with our nation’s security needs, and that our elected representatives effectively oversaw that balance, there would be little cause for concern. We would not worry that the information so gathered might be misused to harass individuals, thereby chilling free speech or democratic debate, or that some future government might use it to intimidate critics and opponents. We would feel confident, in other words, that despite the scale and secrecy of the operation, our privacy, civil liberties, and democracy were nonetheless adequately protected.
But the NSA has so much power, and oversight of it is so thin, that we have every reason to be concerned. The fact that its technological reach is vast, its resources almost limitless, and its operations are shrouded in secrecy, make it difficult for a handful of elected representatives to effectively monitor even a tiny fraction of what it does. And every new revelation of its clandestine “requests” for companies to hand over information about our personal lives and communications further undermines our trust. To the contrary, the NSA seems to be literally out of control.
The second center of unaccountable power goes by the name of Wall Street and is centered in the largest banks there. If we trusted that market forces kept them in check and that they did not exercise inordinate influence over Congress and the executive branch, we would have no basis for concern. We wouldn’t worry that the Street’s financial power would be misused to fix markets, profit from insider information, or make irresponsible bets that imperiled the rest of us. We could be confident that despite the size and scope of the giant banks, our economy and everyone who depends on it were nonetheless adequately protected.
But those banks are now so large (much larger than they were when they almost melted down five years ago), have such a monopolistic grip on our financial system, and exercise so much power over Washington, that we have cause for concern. The fact that not a single Wall Street executive has been held legally accountable for the excesses that almost brought the economy to its knees five years ago and continues to burden millions of Americans, that even the Attorney General confesses the biggest banks are “too big to jail,” that the big banks continue to make irresponsible bets (such as those resulting in JP Morgan Chase’s $6 billion “London Whale” loss), and that the Street has effectively eviscerated much of the Dodd-Frank legislation intended to rein in its excesses and avoid another meltdown and bailout, all offer evidence that the Street is still dangerously out of control.
It is rare in these harshly partisan times for the political left and right to agree on much of anything. But the reason, I think, both are worried about the encroachments of the NSA on the privacy and civil liberties of Americans, as well as the depredations of “too big to fail or jail” Wall Street banks on our economy, is fundamentally the same: It is this toxic combination of inordinate power and lack of accountability that renders both of them dangerous, threatening our basic values and institutions.
That neither Republicans nor Democrats have done much of anything to effectively rein in these two centers of unaccountable power suggests that, if there is ever to be a viable third party in America, it will may borne of the ill-fated consequences.
The Natives Are Restless -- Just hope The Drums DON'T Stop
After a weekend spent attempting to start a new business in order to keep body and soul together, as well as the old homestead from the hands of the villains bankers, I've finally been able to get back to the internet.
It's truly amazing how age affects the body, and the spirit. Muscles that will not do what is asked, and fatigue that goes beyond being "tired" is now the norm when real physical activity is needed.
No wonder we "old folks" are seen as superfluous by society -- especially the Republicans, the Elites (we don't make goodslaves employees), and those "Libertarians" that call for an end to the "safety net". I guess they really don't mind if we starve and/or die -- as long as we don't make a fuss (or do it in front of them).
From my (still limited) observations swap meets, flea markets, gun shows, etc. are the new "senior citizen retirement program". This weekend I observed one of the greatest concentrations of folks with limited mobility, folks in various and sundry wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, etc., that you would see outside somedumping ground "retirement home" in a neighborhood that does not have enough power to resist what its younger residents see as a "blight" on the "community".
These "oldsters" are just about all folks who despise the government, no matter what their personal political beliefs. Most really do remember a very different USA. Many resent darn near EVERYTHING -- some really don't know why. They are just pissed off.
Now ---- imagine my surprise when I came across the following on "Naked Capitalism" (follow link to original). I guess there are a lot of pissed off folks -- all over the damn world.
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http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/06/42625.html
It's truly amazing how age affects the body, and the spirit. Muscles that will not do what is asked, and fatigue that goes beyond being "tired" is now the norm when real physical activity is needed.
No wonder we "old folks" are seen as superfluous by society -- especially the Republicans, the Elites (we don't make good
From my (still limited) observations swap meets, flea markets, gun shows, etc. are the new "senior citizen retirement program". This weekend I observed one of the greatest concentrations of folks with limited mobility, folks in various and sundry wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, etc., that you would see outside some
These "oldsters" are just about all folks who despise the government, no matter what their personal political beliefs. Most really do remember a very different USA. Many resent darn near EVERYTHING -- some really don't know why. They are just pissed off.
Now ---- imagine my surprise when I came across the following on "Naked Capitalism" (follow link to original). I guess there are a lot of pissed off folks -- all over the damn world.
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http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/06/42625.html
Some Datapoints on Global Political Risk
By lambert strether of Corrente.
So, I was trawling the twitter earlier this evening, and I ran across mention of a large, ongoing “protest” (we’ll call it*) in Sao Paolo, Brazil. I’ve been following events in Turkey, of course, which seem to be on scale of Tahrir Square/Puerta del Sol/capitol occupations/Zucotti Park/carré rouge, but the Sao Paolo protest seemed of a similar scale, and yet I hadn’t heard anything about it in our famously free press. So I thought I would do a quick and totally unscientific survey of protests round the world to see what was up. What follows is a quote dump of protests by country; as it turns out, there are rather a lot of them! Note that most of this material comes from official media, and I’m not making any representations as to accuracy or justification; I’m just trying to get a rough idea of scale.
Brazil, Sao Paolo
BBC:
Bulgaria, Sofia
Al Jazeera:
CBC:
Radio Free Asia:
USA Today:
BBC:
Economist:
DNA India:
Jakarta Post:
RT:
Al Jazeera:
Gulf Times:
Reuters (video):
The Nation:
ABC:
Readers, corrections? Additions? Your own experiences?
NOTE * I know “protest” isn’t prefigurative, and is in any case not the right category for Occupations which, I would argue, are more about parallel sovereignty (non-violent tactic of protest and persuasion #198) than “marches,” but “protest” is the word that Google seems to understand, and so for the purpose of this post that’s the word I’ll use.
NOTE In New York, the occupation of the Cooper Union continues.
So, I was trawling the twitter earlier this evening, and I ran across mention of a large, ongoing “protest” (we’ll call it*) in Sao Paolo, Brazil. I’ve been following events in Turkey, of course, which seem to be on scale of Tahrir Square/Puerta del Sol/capitol occupations/Zucotti Park/carré rouge, but the Sao Paolo protest seemed of a similar scale, and yet I hadn’t heard anything about it in our famously free press. So I thought I would do a quick and totally unscientific survey of protests round the world to see what was up. What follows is a quote dump of protests by country; as it turns out, there are rather a lot of them! Note that most of this material comes from official media, and I’m not making any representations as to accuracy or justification; I’m just trying to get a rough idea of scale.
Brazil, Sao Paolo
BBC:
Protests against bus and underground fare rises in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo have turned violent. Police fired rubber-coated bullets and tear gas, and detained more than 200 people. Police say they seized petrol bombs, knives and drugs. Violence has also been reported at protests in Rio de Janeiro. An estimated 5,000 protesters converged on the streets of Sao Paulo’s central area on Thursday – the fourth day of the protests.Reuters
Thousands of Brazilians have protested in several cities over the past ten days, and organizers are planning for another march in Sao Paulo on Monday night. Rising prices for public transportation was the original cause of the the protests, organized by Movimento Passe Livre. Since then, Brazilians have joined protests for various other reasons, including rising crime, income inequality, and corruption. The protests are quickly becoming a sign of a weakening public confidence for Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.More reporting from Vice; images from PolicyMic; a Tumblr for the movement.
Bulgaria, Sofia
Al Jazeera:
Police said on Sunday that about 15,000 people took part in a rally outside the government building in the capital Sofia to demand a new election. Protesters also gathered outside parliament and in other Bulgarian cities. Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski’s decision to appoint 32-year-old media mogul Delyan Peevski as chief of the powerful national security agency DANS [!!] and parliament’s rapidity in rubber stamping the nomination angered many people.Canada, Montreal
CBC:
Thousands of Montrealers snaked through the city’s downtown core on Saturday afternoon to protest against the Conservative government’s changes to employment insurance. The changes to EI, which came into effect in January, have spurred several protests this year across Eastern Canada — home to many seasonal workers affected by the new rules.China
Radio Free Asia:
More than 3,000 villagers from Henan’s Xuchang county have maintained a 24-hour silent vigil for the past 12 days over the Quandian coal mine run by the Henan Shenhuo Group, which they say has devastated the ground near their homes, swallowed up a road, and left cracks in their houses.China (Hong Kong)
USA Today:
In a show of protest against U.S. surveillance programs and in support of whistle-blower Edward Snowden, several hundred people marched Saturday to the U.S. Consulate General and the offices of the Hong Kong government despite drizzly weather. “Shame on NSA! Defend freedom of speech!” chanted marchers, who carried signs written in Chinese and English and wrapped in plastic to keep out the rain. “Protect Snowden!”Egypt, Cairo
BBC:
Has Cairo become the world’s protest capital? It would not have been tolerated before the revolution, but now numerous demonstrations are held in Cairo each week. Some estimates suggest that over 5,000 public protests were held across Egypt in the first five months of this year alone.Greece
Economist:
Greece was back in protest mode after Antonis Samaras, the centre-right prime minister, broke ranks with his coalition partners and high-handedly closed the state broadcaster on June 11th without first securing their agreement. As sacked employees of ERT (Hellenic Radio and Television) continued to occupy the Greek state broadcaster’s headquarters, streaming live coverage of their plight over the internet, scores of former colleagues peacefully set up camp in a park outside the ERT building in Agia Paraskevi, a suburb of Athens.Hurriyet Daily News:
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras moved to defuse a political crisis over the government’s abrupt closure of state broadcaster ERT that prompted a nationwide strike on June 13 and brought thousands into the streets in protest.India
DNA India:
Leaders across the political parties joined hands during a human chain on Sunday in Pune to protest against the revised development plan for the city. All the leaders and representatives of NGO’s have demanded scrapping of the DP. Pune Bachav Kruti Samiti had organised the human chain for an hour between 9 and 10 am at Lokmanya Tilak Chowk near Alka Talkies.Indonesia, Jakarta
Jakarta Post:
The Jakarta Police said at least 4,000 people would take to the streets on Monday to protest the government’s plan to raise the subsidized fuel price.Japan, Tokyo
RT:
Around 7,500 people participated in the anti-nuclear protests in the Japanese capital, according to organizers cited by AFP. The demonstrators gathered in a park in central Tokyo, marched through the city and rallied outside the offices of Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant which suffered meltdowns of three reactor cores following an earthquake and tsunami two years ago.Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur
Al Jazeera:
Tens of thousands of people held a rally near Malaysia’s capital against alleged electoral fraud, further raising the political temperature after divisive recent polls. The latest in a series of protest rallies over the May 5 elections – which the opposition says were won fraudulently by the 56-year-old ruling coalition – saw a large crowd gather in an open field outside Kuala Lumpur Saturday night.Channel News Asia:
Malaysian police on Saturday arrested 15 people over a flash-mob protest held ahead of a planned June 22 opposition rally against alleged fraud in elections last month, but they were later freed. Those detained, who included opposition-aligned activists but also a 10-year-old boy, were held for disrupting public order in a busy shopping area of the capital Kuala Lumpur.Nepal
Gulf Times:
A strike called by 33 parties in Nepal to protest an election called for November shut down transport, schools and markets yesterday, the parties said in a statement.Peru
Reuters (video):
Stones rain down on Peruvian riot police as they try to calm protests by angry university students. The city of Cusco, better known as the capital of the Inca empire, has seen several days of demonstrations against a proposed education law. Students say it could privatise universities.Thailand
The Nation:
Anti-government white-mask protesters gathered in many provinces yesterday despite opposition from red-shirt supporters of the government. In Bangkok, about 1,000 people – many wearing white Guy Fawkes masks – gathered at the CentralWorld shopping complex yesterday afternoon.Yemen
ABC:
Yemeni security officials say thousands have protested in the capital against “excesses” by security forces, calling for the overthrow of the president and national security apparatus.So, what can we conclude from this random collection of incidents? First, there’s a lot of protest out there. It’s occurred to me that one reason our global ruling elites — besides living in a “morally pathological” environment — are so paranoid is that they have real enemies; hence the global militarization of police forces, and global surveillance as well. Second, currently, although a lot of expertise in mobilization is clearly being developed, the “causes” are diverse. However, in a crisis, things correlate; it would be interesting to see if and how the local blobs of mercury come together globularly over issues like food, or water, or fuel (stuff at the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy). No doubt climate change will accelerate such correlations. Third, there are some protests on this list that I probably wouldn’t support. What is interesting to me is the global scale and intensity. Finally, yes, I know globalism (for want of a better word) has so far been able to destroy or absorb anything thrown at it, but you lose until you win. So I don’t see political risk for the elites decreasing, and if they run true to form, they’ll double down on #FAIL. May you live in interesting times.
Readers, corrections? Additions? Your own experiences?
NOTE * I know “protest” isn’t prefigurative, and is in any case not the right category for Occupations which, I would argue, are more about parallel sovereignty (non-violent tactic of protest and persuasion #198) than “marches,” but “protest” is the word that Google seems to understand, and so for the purpose of this post that’s the word I’ll use.
NOTE In New York, the occupation of the Cooper Union continues.
Friday, June 14, 2013
16
First Tennessee Bank, National Association, Memphis, Tennessee, Assumes All of the Deposits of Mountain National Bank, Sevierville, Tennessee
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 7, 2013 |
Media Contact:
LaJuan Williams-Young Office: 202-898-3876 Cell: 571-215-6027 Email: lwilliams-young@fdic.gov |
Mountain National Bank, Sevierville, Tennessee, was closed today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with First Tennessee Bank, National Association, Memphis, Tennessee, to assume all of the deposits of Mountain National Bank.
The 12 former branches of Mountain National Bank will reopen as branches of First Tennessee Bank, National Association during their normal business hours. Depositors of Mountain National Bank will automatically become depositors of First Tennessee Bank, National Association. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits. Customers of Mountain National Bank should continue to use their current branch until they receive notice from First Tennessee Bank, National Association that systems conversions have been completed to allow full-service banking at all branches of First Tennessee Bank, National Association.
This evening and over the weekend, depositors of Mountain National Bank can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.
As of March 31, 2013, Mountain National Bank had approximately $437.3 million in total assets and $373.4 million in total deposits. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, First Tennessee Bank, National Association agreed to purchase essentially all of the failed bank's assets.
Customers with questions about today's transaction should call the FDIC toll-free at 1-800-356-1848. The phone number will be operational this evening until 9:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time (EDT); on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., EDT; on Sunday from noon to 6:00 p.m., EDT; on Monday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., EDT; and thereafter from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., EDT. Interested parties also can visit the FDIC's Web site at http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/mountain-tn.html.
The FDIC estimates that cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund will be $33.5 million. Compared to other alternatives, First Tennessee Bank, National Association's acquisition was the least costly resolution for the FDIC's DIF. Mountain National Bank is the 16th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Tennessee. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was The Farmers Bank of Lynchburg, on June 15, 2012.
15
Plaza Bank, Irvine, California, Assumes All of the Deposits of 1st Commerce Bank, North Las Vegas, Nevada
1st Commerce Bank, North Las Vegas, Nevada, was closed today by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The FDIC Board of Directors issued an order authorizing the FDIC to close, and become receiver of, 1st Commerce Bank, by exercising its self-appointment powers granted by Congress through the FDIC Improvement Act of 1991 (FDICIA).
To protect depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Plaza Bank, Irvine, California, to assume all of the deposits of 1st Commerce Bank. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits.
The sole former office of 1st Commerce Bank will reopen on Friday as a branch of Plaza Bank during its normal business hours. Depositors of 1st Commerce Bank will automatically become depositors of Plaza Bank. Customers of 1st Commerce Bank should continue to use their current branch until they receive notice from Plaza Bank that systems conversions have been completed to allow full-service banking at all branches of Plaza Bank.
In addition, this evening, Friday and over the weekend, depositors of 1st Commerce Bank can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.
As of March 31, 2013, 1st Commerce Bank had approximately $20.2 million in total assets and $19.6 million in total deposits. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, Plaza Bank agreed to purchase essentially all of the failed bank's assets.
The FDIC and Plaza Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on $12.2 million of 1st Commerce Bank's assets. Plaza Bank will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement. The loss-share transaction is projected to maximize returns on the assets covered by keeping them in the private sector. The transaction also is expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers. For more information on loss share, please visit: http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/lossshare/index.html.
Customers with questions about today's transaction should call the FDIC toll-free at 1-800-405-6318. The phone number will be operational this evening until 9:00 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time (PDT); on Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., PDT; on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., PDT; on Sunday from noon to 6:00 p.m., PDT; and thereafter from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., PDT. Interested parties also can visit the FDIC's Web site at http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/1stcommerce.html.
The FDIC estimates that cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund will be $9.4 million. Compared to other alternatives, Plaza Bank's acquisition was the least costly resolution for the FDIC's DIF. 1st Commerce Bank is the 15th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Nevada. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Nevada Commerce Bank, Las Vegas, on April 8, 2011.
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 6, 2013 |
Media Contact:
LaJuan Williams-Young Office: 202-898-3876 Cell: 571-215-6027 Email: lwilliams-young@fdic.gov |
1st Commerce Bank, North Las Vegas, Nevada, was closed today by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The FDIC Board of Directors issued an order authorizing the FDIC to close, and become receiver of, 1st Commerce Bank, by exercising its self-appointment powers granted by Congress through the FDIC Improvement Act of 1991 (FDICIA).
To protect depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Plaza Bank, Irvine, California, to assume all of the deposits of 1st Commerce Bank. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits.
The sole former office of 1st Commerce Bank will reopen on Friday as a branch of Plaza Bank during its normal business hours. Depositors of 1st Commerce Bank will automatically become depositors of Plaza Bank. Customers of 1st Commerce Bank should continue to use their current branch until they receive notice from Plaza Bank that systems conversions have been completed to allow full-service banking at all branches of Plaza Bank.
In addition, this evening, Friday and over the weekend, depositors of 1st Commerce Bank can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.
As of March 31, 2013, 1st Commerce Bank had approximately $20.2 million in total assets and $19.6 million in total deposits. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, Plaza Bank agreed to purchase essentially all of the failed bank's assets.
The FDIC and Plaza Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on $12.2 million of 1st Commerce Bank's assets. Plaza Bank will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement. The loss-share transaction is projected to maximize returns on the assets covered by keeping them in the private sector. The transaction also is expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers. For more information on loss share, please visit: http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/lossshare/index.html.
Customers with questions about today's transaction should call the FDIC toll-free at 1-800-405-6318. The phone number will be operational this evening until 9:00 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time (PDT); on Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., PDT; on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., PDT; on Sunday from noon to 6:00 p.m., PDT; and thereafter from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., PDT. Interested parties also can visit the FDIC's Web site at http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/1stcommerce.html.
The FDIC estimates that cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund will be $9.4 million. Compared to other alternatives, Plaza Bank's acquisition was the least costly resolution for the FDIC's DIF. 1st Commerce Bank is the 15th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Nevada. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Nevada Commerce Bank, Las Vegas, on April 8, 2011.
14
North Shore Bank, FSB, Brookfield, Wisconsin, Assumes All of the Deposits of Banks of Wisconsin, Kenosha, Wisconsin
Banks of Wisconsin, Kenosha, Wisconsin, was closed today by the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with North Shore Bank, FSB, Brookfield, Wisconsin, to assume all of the deposits of Banks of Wisconsin.
The two branches of Banks of Wisconsin, which did business as Bank of Kenosha, will reopen as branches of North Shore Bank, FSB, during their normal business hours. Depositors of Banks of Wisconsin will automatically become depositors of North Shore Bank, FSB. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits. Customers of Banks of Wisconsin should continue to use their existing branch until they receive notice from North Shore Bank, FSB that it has completed systems changes to allow other North Shore Bank, FSB branches to process their accounts as well.
This evening and over the weekend, depositors of Banks of Wisconsin can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.
As of March 31, 2013, Banks of Wisconsin had approximately $134.0 million in total assets and $127.6 million in total deposits. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, North Shore Bank, FSB agreed to purchase approximately $97.4 million of the failed bank's assets. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets for later disposition.
Customers with questions about today's transaction should call the FDIC toll-free at 1-800-355-0814. The phone number will be operational this evening until 9:00 p.m., Central Daylight Time (CDT); on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., CDT; on Sunday from noon to 6:00 p.m., CDT; on Monday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., CDT; and thereafter from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., CDT. Interested parties also can visit the FDIC's Web site at http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/kenosha.html.
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $26.3 million. Compared to other alternatives, North Shore Bank, FSB's acquisition was the least costly resolution for the FDIC's DIF. Banks of Wisconsin is the 14th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Wisconsin. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Legacy Bank, Milwaukee, on March 11, 2011.
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 31, 2013 |
Banks of Wisconsin, Kenosha, Wisconsin, was closed today by the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with North Shore Bank, FSB, Brookfield, Wisconsin, to assume all of the deposits of Banks of Wisconsin.
The two branches of Banks of Wisconsin, which did business as Bank of Kenosha, will reopen as branches of North Shore Bank, FSB, during their normal business hours. Depositors of Banks of Wisconsin will automatically become depositors of North Shore Bank, FSB. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits. Customers of Banks of Wisconsin should continue to use their existing branch until they receive notice from North Shore Bank, FSB that it has completed systems changes to allow other North Shore Bank, FSB branches to process their accounts as well.
This evening and over the weekend, depositors of Banks of Wisconsin can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.
As of March 31, 2013, Banks of Wisconsin had approximately $134.0 million in total assets and $127.6 million in total deposits. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, North Shore Bank, FSB agreed to purchase approximately $97.4 million of the failed bank's assets. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets for later disposition.
Customers with questions about today's transaction should call the FDIC toll-free at 1-800-355-0814. The phone number will be operational this evening until 9:00 p.m., Central Daylight Time (CDT); on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., CDT; on Sunday from noon to 6:00 p.m., CDT; on Monday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., CDT; and thereafter from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., CDT. Interested parties also can visit the FDIC's Web site at http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/kenosha.html.
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $26.3 million. Compared to other alternatives, North Shore Bank, FSB's acquisition was the least costly resolution for the FDIC's DIF. Banks of Wisconsin is the 14th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Wisconsin. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Legacy Bank, Milwaukee, on March 11, 2011.
More
I was born in 1939. As a result, I really did know a very different USA. I knew "beatniks", veterans of The Lincoln Brigade (Spanish civil War -- on the correct side), painters from The New york School, "commies", Socialists, hard working blue collar left wingers, tough Brooklyn stereotypes (the tough, wise-cracking, N.Y.Jew - or Italian - that was a stock character in WWII movies, often named Goldberg -- sometimes "Izzie"), REAL "preppies", folks who spoke with what we called "Locust Valley Lockjaw", and a varied bunch of REAL "Mafia types", and some "wannabes". I knew Jazz Musicians, some tough, dedicated "Black Power" advocates, and a very wide spectrum of different people.
Many were very admirable -- dedicated to their causes, art, works, etc. Most were very free to speak up, to open their mouths, to point out injustice, hypocrisy, and just plain unfairness. Many had open minds and were capable of changing their minds about the great issues of the day.
Just about all decried our politics -- but held out hope for progress, for the "promise of America". They were NOT "terrorists", nor were they "anti-American".
Unlike so many who seem to hate him, I remember FDR, and the way he was loved by the working people of the USA. The plutocrats never quite understood that he saved capitalism during the depression. I remember widespread prosperity. I remember the REALITY of "the American dream".
When I speak about what we've lost -- it's not just empty rhetoric -- I have lived it.
Though very far from perfect, that past was one that had immense promise. Today folks dismiss it -- and since folks like me are old -- we too are dismissed.
We will NEVER learn.
Many were very admirable -- dedicated to their causes, art, works, etc. Most were very free to speak up, to open their mouths, to point out injustice, hypocrisy, and just plain unfairness. Many had open minds and were capable of changing their minds about the great issues of the day.
Just about all decried our politics -- but held out hope for progress, for the "promise of America". They were NOT "terrorists", nor were they "anti-American".
Unlike so many who seem to hate him, I remember FDR, and the way he was loved by the working people of the USA. The plutocrats never quite understood that he saved capitalism during the depression. I remember widespread prosperity. I remember the REALITY of "the American dream".
When I speak about what we've lost -- it's not just empty rhetoric -- I have lived it.
Though very far from perfect, that past was one that had immense promise. Today folks dismiss it -- and since folks like me are old -- we too are dismissed.
We will NEVER learn.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
" Autumn Leaves " Chet Baker - Paul Desmond
A beautiful song performed by Chet Baker (trumpet), Paul Desmond (alto
sax), Hubert Laws (flute), Bob James (keyboard), Ron Carter (contrabass)
and Steve Gadd (drums)
Horace Silver "Song For My Father" (1964)
Horace Silver — piano
Carmell Jones — trumpet
Joe Henderson — tenor saxophone
Teddy Smith — bass
Roger Humphries — drums
Carmell Jones — trumpet
Joe Henderson — tenor saxophone
Teddy Smith — bass
Roger Humphries — drums
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Why no posts? Here's why.
I've spent the last few days reading various and sundry articles, sources, stories, headlines, etc., etc., in a search for something to put up.
There's a lot out there. But, it really seems no one is that upset about it.
I guess folks just do not want to know the details of our total information gathering. They also don't seem to give a damn about drone strikes, starvation, homeless children, people being "disappeared", unemployment, rape, the total war on women, and damn near everything else --- as long as it doesn't happen to THEM.
We don't seem to care about corruption, military misconduct, or any other issues facing our nation.
BUT -- show a picture of a homeless kitten, and hordes of folks "CARE"!
Talk about "gay marriage", abortion --- and an entire series of groups are willing to go to war.
Never mind equal rights for EVERYONE ---- these flks want equal rights for THEM!!
ME!! ----- not you. NEVER YOU!
How can I put anything up when I usually can't bring myself to read the entire article? How can I post stuff that is made up BULLSHIT from both left and right.
The supposed "left" in this country has apoplexy over guns -- no matter that they play fast and loose with the facts. They make all sorts of apologies, justifications, for the Obama Administrations "habit" of taping EVERYTHING EVERYONE SAYS, writes, posts, comments on. If they could read your thoughts -- they'd do that too. Insane paranoia. Doing all kinds of "stuff" only because you can. The actual morality matters not.
Lazy bureaucrats who want us to do their work. "Operatives" who are too damn lazy to get the REAL "bad folks", so they have some ready made scapegoats available at all times.
We have folks playing "video games" -- drone strikes that actually kill real people. It seems we make quite a few "mistakes" ------ OOPS!
When someone does an expose of our governmental misconduct -- we seem to ALL get pissed off at the "whistleblower". We don't even approach the story with any degree of "critical thinking" -- he is WRONG!! (the whistleblower").
What can I write? What can I post that's not a lie? How much fact-checking do I have to do to find actual "facts", the "almost truth"?
That's another problem --- the right wing "knows" all THEIR pet conspiracy theories are "true" -- even AFTER they have been totally disproved.
Other folks want at least some truth -- unless it's about an issue they are "passionate" about -- then, "the truth be damned".
I'm currently very tired of all this crap. I'm tired of folks who know no history, nothing about The Constitution, nothing about he actual "promise of America", nothing about immigration, the brutality of slavery, nothing about what actually happened during The Civil War, nothing about what our "founding fathers" actually thought, taking made up "facts", selected "quotes" out of context, and weaving these lies into some sort of bastardized "history".
Go read. Go to original sources, go to real historians. Find out about the "mixed economy" we had during the 1950's and 60's. Discover how actual prosperity helped EVERYONE. Look at the finer aspects of our character. See how religion supported freedom, equality , and civil rights for all.
Now, look at how religion supported slavery, "Social Darwinism", inequality, poverty, and virtual slavery of working folks. Learn what people had to do to actually build "The American Way".
Do the research. Then come back and try to talk the trash you've been fed in some of the "schools" out there now.
Register. Vote. Support people who will support you. Don't go out and vote against your own self interest because some liar tells you it just might help "them" (whoever that is) also.
Talk to you soon.
There's a lot out there. But, it really seems no one is that upset about it.
I guess folks just do not want to know the details of our total information gathering. They also don't seem to give a damn about drone strikes, starvation, homeless children, people being "disappeared", unemployment, rape, the total war on women, and damn near everything else --- as long as it doesn't happen to THEM.
We don't seem to care about corruption, military misconduct, or any other issues facing our nation.
BUT -- show a picture of a homeless kitten, and hordes of folks "CARE"!
Talk about "gay marriage", abortion --- and an entire series of groups are willing to go to war.
Never mind equal rights for EVERYONE ---- these flks want equal rights for THEM!!
ME!! ----- not you. NEVER YOU!
How can I put anything up when I usually can't bring myself to read the entire article? How can I post stuff that is made up BULLSHIT from both left and right.
The supposed "left" in this country has apoplexy over guns -- no matter that they play fast and loose with the facts. They make all sorts of apologies, justifications, for the Obama Administrations "habit" of taping EVERYTHING EVERYONE SAYS, writes, posts, comments on. If they could read your thoughts -- they'd do that too. Insane paranoia. Doing all kinds of "stuff" only because you can. The actual morality matters not.
Lazy bureaucrats who want us to do their work. "Operatives" who are too damn lazy to get the REAL "bad folks", so they have some ready made scapegoats available at all times.
We have folks playing "video games" -- drone strikes that actually kill real people. It seems we make quite a few "mistakes" ------ OOPS!
When someone does an expose of our governmental misconduct -- we seem to ALL get pissed off at the "whistleblower". We don't even approach the story with any degree of "critical thinking" -- he is WRONG!! (the whistleblower").
What can I write? What can I post that's not a lie? How much fact-checking do I have to do to find actual "facts", the "almost truth"?
That's another problem --- the right wing "knows" all THEIR pet conspiracy theories are "true" -- even AFTER they have been totally disproved.
Other folks want at least some truth -- unless it's about an issue they are "passionate" about -- then, "the truth be damned".
I'm currently very tired of all this crap. I'm tired of folks who know no history, nothing about The Constitution, nothing about he actual "promise of America", nothing about immigration, the brutality of slavery, nothing about what actually happened during The Civil War, nothing about what our "founding fathers" actually thought, taking made up "facts", selected "quotes" out of context, and weaving these lies into some sort of bastardized "history".
Go read. Go to original sources, go to real historians. Find out about the "mixed economy" we had during the 1950's and 60's. Discover how actual prosperity helped EVERYONE. Look at the finer aspects of our character. See how religion supported freedom, equality , and civil rights for all.
Now, look at how religion supported slavery, "Social Darwinism", inequality, poverty, and virtual slavery of working folks. Learn what people had to do to actually build "The American Way".
Do the research. Then come back and try to talk the trash you've been fed in some of the "schools" out there now.
Register. Vote. Support people who will support you. Don't go out and vote against your own self interest because some liar tells you it just might help "them" (whoever that is) also.
Talk to you soon.
Friday, June 7, 2013
The Crumbling Coliseum That is America
I've taken a week off. Was going to take more time off -- but, I read this and had to post it. Please follow link to original
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http://mortgagefraudexaminers.com/the-crumbling-coliseum-that-is-america/
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http://mortgagefraudexaminers.com/the-crumbling-coliseum-that-is-america/
The horrifying collapse of the I-5 bridge in Seattle in
May, one in an ongoing series I’m afraid, is a grim reminder of the true
state of our condition…we are dying. There is a difference between
pessimism and realism. Badly deteriorating infrastructure is a reality
and predicting the future is easy.
I’m not a pessimist because I see in this very real
situation an opportunity of not a lifetime, but a nation-time. These
disasters-in-waiting should be addressed immediately, and if we did what
we must demand of our leaders, we would solve our economic crisis and
leave the next generation on a solid footing for their futures and the
generations to come.
My fear is that we will not seize upon this magnificent opportunity.
Here lie the jobs that have gone away. Here lies the
economic boost that this country needs to fire up production. Think of
all the component parts that would have to be manufactured. Everything
from bridge supports to electronics would be required.
In order to manufacture and construct stuff, you need raw
materials. Loggers and miners go back to work. Jobs would be created in
transportation because you have to get both the raw material and the
completed parts to their respective sites.
Wholesale trade would boom and consumers would go back to spending. Every sector would grow jobs overnight.
And when we were done, we would have something to show for
our investment. We would have built an infrastructure that would be the
foundation that would position us to compete in the future.
Rome was once the center of the world. What is left of the
ruins of the Coliseum is proof that all great nations eventually
destroy so much of themselves that they can never rebuild.
How is the recovery going after the levees burst and destroyed much of New Orleans Ninth Ward?
What about Detroit’s Brightmoor where once the highest
standard of living in the world has given way to an urban wasteland with
rows of falling down, abandoned housing?
According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, 26% of US bridges are “in urgent
need of repairs.” Don’t forget the massive bridge collapse on I-35W
over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis in 2007. That killed 13 people
and injured 145 others. Remember that the next time you plan your
route.
The number of dams rated as deficient—or
those with structure or hydraulic deficiencies leaving them susceptible
to failure—tripled between 1999 and 2008. Over a third of the Nation’s
dams are fifty years old, a number that will increase to nearly 70
percent in ten years. In addition, bridges are generally designed to
last 50 years, and the average bridge in the United States is 45 years
old.
We know that the gas pipelines have not
been properly maintained and that another San Bruno fireball is about to
occur somewhere. In that incident, eight people died, 38 homes were
destroyed, and hundreds damaged by the 60 foot high wall of flames that
consumed an entire neighborhood. What you may not know is that incidents
of death or injury from gas pipeline explosion average about 50 per
year. The Pipelines run right through neighborhoods. You can find their
locations on-line.
We’ve got levees breaching, dams bursting, bridges
collapsing, pipelines blowing up, power plants shutting down, sewage
systems clogging, and water mains breaking all over town.
The Coliseum was once the proud symbol of Imperial Rome
and its permanence. It is considered one of the greatest works of Roman
architecture and engineering. But, for much of its existence, nobody
gave a damn about it and look at it now.
It is often seen as the metaphor for the collapse of Rome.
They didn’t really kill Christians there, but at one time, under Pope
Sixtus V, they were going to turn it into a half-way house for
recovering hookers.
Contrary to popular opinion, Rome did not fall because of
wild sex parties. By then, most of the Romans had adopted Christianity.
By the fifth century after Christ, Rome was a pretty staid place.
Rome was destroyed by idiot emperors, massive political
corruption, cronyism, nepotism, over taxation and a financial crisis
which led to inflation and the debasement of Roman coinage. Who does
that remind you of? If you said us, you’ve been paying attention.
Perhaps we were a tad too arrogant about “our” country
being different, special, better; even went as far as to think we were
somehow favored by God. America, God’s all-time favorite country.
Some would want to remind me that we are, after all a,
Christian nation. Don’t bother, we aren’t. Wanting to be a Christian
nation and saying we are a Christian nation; do not make us a Christian
nation.
Christian nations don’t have a million homeless children,
starvation, poverty, the death penalty, racism, ageism, sexism, or so
much hypocrisy.
We have a nation with some Christians in it and some
people who use Christianity to their own benefit. Christianity isn’t
something to be proud of or smug about. It is a difficult journey that
requires always putting others first, in particular, the least fortunate
among us. The way of Christianity is seeking salvation through selfless
service to others not through praying and tithing.
We are, in fact, a savage and brutal nation resoundingly
despised around the world for our incessant war mongering. At home we
have the highest prison population per capita in the world, rampant and
rising poverty, and a government of the rich and for the rich who are
all getting richer while everyone else is getting poorer.
Instead of bridges and schools we get urban assault
vehicles, noise cannons, hundreds of millions of rounds of hollow-point
ammunition which because of the Geneva Convention cannot be used outside
the US. Those are exclusively intended for us because they rip out so
much flesh. What’s so Christian about that?
God is not going to make our problems go away. We have a
persistent radiation leak at nearby San Onofre nuclear power station.
Photos from inside the plant show that clear plastic sheeting and duct
tape are being used to deflect the flow of dripping water. WTF?
Now, of course, they assure us that this water isn’t
radioactive; they may be right or they may be lying, as usual. But, the
plant has been shut down for months because the piping system which was
recently replaced quickly wore out.
It doesn’t matter what they say, the funky fix with the
plastic and duct tape is a metaphor for the reality of life everywhere.
Things are patched up with duct tape.
Where will the next pipeline blow and torch a
neighborhood? Where will the next nuclear wasteland be born? Where will
the next bridge collapse, levee breach, sink- hole open up, or school
fall down?
What our grandfathers and our great grandfathers built for
the good of the future is being destroyed by neglect, and the people
who could be fixing it are receiving entitlements instead.
Crumbling. No plan to fix anything. No discussion of infrastructure.
Just Benghazi. Who cares? We
assassinated the leader of the country and then armed the rebels. What
the fuck did we think was going to happen? It’s Al Qaeda. Remember? They
hate us. If I had given them guns I would have gotten the hell out of
Dodge immediately thereafter. No conspiracy just stupid foreign policy.
We are getting the same result here that we got when we armed the
Mexican drug cartels. They shoot us with them.
Hopefully we learned this time but I’m pretty sure we will go right on arming our enemies or the war would stop.
The IRS fought to limit tax avoidance by organizations
that don’t really qualify for exemption. That’s the real story. That is
what they are supposed to do. The truth is they were partying just as
hard as the dudes and dudesses over at the General Services
Administration who spent $822,000 at their Las Vegas convention. Your
tax dollars at work.
The most chilling reveal is the case involving the
Department of non-Justice investigating journalists. What’s chilling
isn’t that the government would spy on us; it’s that the media has
treaded so lightly on this issue. They should be banging a drum night
and day on the first amendment implications. Their talking heads should
be sputtering with outrage and demanding citizen support to beat back
this blatant attempt to suppress the truth.
The lack of uproar tells you everything you need to know about who the media serves.
Everywhere you look, it’s crumbling around us. The tax
dollars we provided have been completely wasted. The danger is real and
omnipresent. The real terror isn’t a religious fundamentalist; it is a
government that cares nothing about its people.
All of that combined sounds like fiddle music, and I’m getting faint whiffs of the smoke of a distant fire. Something’s burning.
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Now you might understand why I haven't posted anything. I've got nothing new to say and my cynicism is increasing by leaps and bounds. Obama is a Republican who worships Ronnie Raygun -- perhaps we should have him tested for early onset Alzheimers.
By the way, given their policies I am, from now on, going to call them THE RAPEUBLICAN PARTY.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Blues in B Flat - Pete Kelly's Big 7 (1951)
Dick Cathcart, trpt.; Moe Schneider, trb.; Matty Matlock, clar.;
Ray Sherman, piano; George Van Eps, guit; Morty Corb, bass; Nick Fatool, drums.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Northern Ireland Town Fakes Prosperity for G8 Summit
This from "The World" -- please follow link to original.
I guess this is the "Irish Miracle" all the VSP's are talking about.
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http://www.theworld.org/2013/05/northern-ireland-town-fakes-prosperity-for-g8-summit/
A town in Northern Ireland is getting spruced up for the arrival of some special guests.
World leaders are gathering in the town of Enniskillen for the G8 summit next month.
And to get ready, the town is putting up fake storefronts on shuttered businesses.
Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Irish Times reporter Dan Keenan about the efforts to make the town look prosperous.
Read the Transcript
The text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.
Marco Werman: I do it. You do it. We all do it, I hope, especially if I’m coming to your house. We do it when we have special guests. Fresh towels in the bathroom, give the counters a wipe, maybe even hide our dirty laundry in the closet. Well, the town of Enniskillen, in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland is sprucing up for some very special guests: President Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, to name just three. In a little over two weeks they and other leaders will gather for a G8 summit at a golf resort in Enniskillen. And as the date approaches the cleanup is moving into high gear. It includes new coats of paint on houses, tidying up lawns, and putting up fake storefronts on shuttered businesses. Irish Times reporter Dan Keenan visited Enniskillen and saw the cleanup process. Describe these fake buildings, first of all. What do they look like?
Dan Keenan: These are basically empty shops that are being now made to look as if they are thriving businesses, and they’ve done that in a very clever fashion indeed.
Werman: How do they do it?
Keenan: What they’ve done is they have filled the shop front window with a picture of what was the business before it went bankrupt or closed. In other words, grocery shops, butcher shops, pharmacies, you name it, they have placed large photographs in the windows that if you were driving past and glanced out the window, it would look as if this was a thriving business. It’s an attempt really by the local authority to make the place look as positive as possible for the visiting G8 leaders and their entourages, and it’s really tried to put a mask on a recession that has really hit this part of Ireland really very badly indeed.
Werman: So it’s kind of like a trompe l’oeil, and I saw a picture in one newspaper. I’m a little confused because the door looked open.
Keenan: Yeah, it looks as if the door is open and inside you can see a well-stocked shop. It’s nothing of the sort. That door has been locked shut for well over a year because that particular business went bust this time last year, and that is an image to make it look as if everything is normal in the town and in the county, but unfortunately it’s not. The County of Fermanagh has suffered terribly as a result of the credit crisis and the resulting recession.
Werman: How are the citizens of Enniskillen reacting to this? It’s kind of, not very funny, is it?
Keenan: It’s not funny. We’re inclined to take a very light-hearted look upon it but the residents of this part of the world are looking upon the arrival of the G8 positively because at the end of the day, it’s not often you have the eight wealthiest and most powerful leaders on Earth visiting your part of the world. But on the other hand, they are a little bit skeptical of really very shallow attempts like this to make the place look better than it actually is. They would rather that it was an honest attempt to promote Fermanagh in its most positive light and really they would prefer if these problems were not masked in the way that they are.
Werman: Where is the money coming from for all these very accurate-looking photographs of meat and other things for sale?
Keenan: This is one big initiative really stemming from the Foreign Office in London. This is David Cameron’s gig. It’s his invitation, it’s his decision to host the G8 in County Fermanagh, which is, don’t forget, part of the United Kingdom. It’s also on the island of Ireland, it’s in Northern Ireland, but he will be the hosting head of government and it’s his say so. Much of the money that has been spent in and around the host town of Enniskillen, about more than £300,000 worth, that’s getting on from half a million dollars, the bulk of the cash and certainly the driving force behind the plans to tidy up the place, that’s all coming from London.
Werman: Dan, you and I are talking about these fake storefronts, other news outlets are talking about it. Presumably the leaders in their limos will know that that butcher shop they see on their drive to the resort is not real. Do you think that some Irish, some people in Enniskillen, are hoping that the leaders realize that it’s fake, and will understand just how bad things have gotten there?
Keenan: The fact that it’s made my newspaper and it’s made the newspapers across the Atlantic, and of course if you look on the Twitter-sphere, it’s everywhere at this stage, so they can do what they like but whenever people get talking about an initiative such as this, then the truth will come out, and that’s what’s happening.
Werman: Irish Times reporter Dan Keenan speaking with us from Dublin. Thank you, Dan.
Keenan: Thank you.
I guess this is the "Irish Miracle" all the VSP's are talking about.
--------------------------------------
http://www.theworld.org/2013/05/northern-ireland-town-fakes-prosperity-for-g8-summit/
World leaders are gathering in the town of Enniskillen for the G8 summit next month.
And to get ready, the town is putting up fake storefronts on shuttered businesses.
Anchor Marco Werman speaks with Irish Times reporter Dan Keenan about the efforts to make the town look prosperous.
Read the Transcript
The text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.
Marco Werman: I do it. You do it. We all do it, I hope, especially if I’m coming to your house. We do it when we have special guests. Fresh towels in the bathroom, give the counters a wipe, maybe even hide our dirty laundry in the closet. Well, the town of Enniskillen, in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland is sprucing up for some very special guests: President Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, to name just three. In a little over two weeks they and other leaders will gather for a G8 summit at a golf resort in Enniskillen. And as the date approaches the cleanup is moving into high gear. It includes new coats of paint on houses, tidying up lawns, and putting up fake storefronts on shuttered businesses. Irish Times reporter Dan Keenan visited Enniskillen and saw the cleanup process. Describe these fake buildings, first of all. What do they look like?
Dan Keenan: These are basically empty shops that are being now made to look as if they are thriving businesses, and they’ve done that in a very clever fashion indeed.
Werman: How do they do it?
Keenan: What they’ve done is they have filled the shop front window with a picture of what was the business before it went bankrupt or closed. In other words, grocery shops, butcher shops, pharmacies, you name it, they have placed large photographs in the windows that if you were driving past and glanced out the window, it would look as if this was a thriving business. It’s an attempt really by the local authority to make the place look as positive as possible for the visiting G8 leaders and their entourages, and it’s really tried to put a mask on a recession that has really hit this part of Ireland really very badly indeed.
Werman: So it’s kind of like a trompe l’oeil, and I saw a picture in one newspaper. I’m a little confused because the door looked open.
Keenan: Yeah, it looks as if the door is open and inside you can see a well-stocked shop. It’s nothing of the sort. That door has been locked shut for well over a year because that particular business went bust this time last year, and that is an image to make it look as if everything is normal in the town and in the county, but unfortunately it’s not. The County of Fermanagh has suffered terribly as a result of the credit crisis and the resulting recession.
Werman: How are the citizens of Enniskillen reacting to this? It’s kind of, not very funny, is it?
Keenan: It’s not funny. We’re inclined to take a very light-hearted look upon it but the residents of this part of the world are looking upon the arrival of the G8 positively because at the end of the day, it’s not often you have the eight wealthiest and most powerful leaders on Earth visiting your part of the world. But on the other hand, they are a little bit skeptical of really very shallow attempts like this to make the place look better than it actually is. They would rather that it was an honest attempt to promote Fermanagh in its most positive light and really they would prefer if these problems were not masked in the way that they are.
Werman: Where is the money coming from for all these very accurate-looking photographs of meat and other things for sale?
Keenan: This is one big initiative really stemming from the Foreign Office in London. This is David Cameron’s gig. It’s his invitation, it’s his decision to host the G8 in County Fermanagh, which is, don’t forget, part of the United Kingdom. It’s also on the island of Ireland, it’s in Northern Ireland, but he will be the hosting head of government and it’s his say so. Much of the money that has been spent in and around the host town of Enniskillen, about more than £300,000 worth, that’s getting on from half a million dollars, the bulk of the cash and certainly the driving force behind the plans to tidy up the place, that’s all coming from London.
Werman: Dan, you and I are talking about these fake storefronts, other news outlets are talking about it. Presumably the leaders in their limos will know that that butcher shop they see on their drive to the resort is not real. Do you think that some Irish, some people in Enniskillen, are hoping that the leaders realize that it’s fake, and will understand just how bad things have gotten there?
Keenan: The fact that it’s made my newspaper and it’s made the newspapers across the Atlantic, and of course if you look on the Twitter-sphere, it’s everywhere at this stage, so they can do what they like but whenever people get talking about an initiative such as this, then the truth will come out, and that’s what’s happening.
Werman: Irish Times reporter Dan Keenan speaking with us from Dublin. Thank you, Dan.
Keenan: Thank you.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Happy Memorial Day!!
It's a holiday. Go read other left wing blogs and sites. see if anything makes sense. Government agents killing bees for Monsanto, Catholic Bishops and Cardinals openly favoring homophobia. Folks who call for violence against LGBT people. Other folks acting on it.
Freedom of the press denied.
Anti-woman, anti-choice, anti-education, people wrapping themselves in the flag and religion. Others saying The Declaration Of Independence is some sort of "religious document". Folks still clinging to the "lost cause" crap in the south. Racism rampant. Muslim insanity defended all over the world. Christian insanity, Buddhist insanity, Hindu insanity, equally defended. Mormonism, Scientology, also defended as "the one true faith".
Total insanity all over the world -- meanwhile people are starving, losing everything. Climate change (GLOBAL WARMING) dismissed and ignored as we fall into disaster. Another lawless period, a fall of civilizations, mass death soon to follow.
I know I sound like someone carrying a placard the says, "The End Is Near" -- but I honestly think we either act or suffer mass displacements of people and a crashing, crazy economy. It might not happen for 20 - 30 years, but happen it will. Our current rich people will also lose everything - all except that old money that is so entrenched, and has hedged its bets so well that it might be damaged - but it will survive.
These days, when I read "The News", or watch TV, ALL of it looks like propaganda -- left and right. Very little seems to actually put any of the people, the CITIZENS first.
Good luck to all you young folks. Please read some labor history. Look at how the corporations have destroyed peoples lives. Look into the reasons some union leaders entered into Faustian bargains with thugs when fighting against the private armies folks like Henry Ford used against his employees.
Look at what actual principles our nation was founded on. Look at the history of common people. Look at the history of both anti-war and AMERICAN radical movements.
Go beyond the "John Wayne" crap. Understand WHY we HAD to adopt The Bill Of Rights to get The Constitution adopted.
Perhaps you too will see why we need a "peoples party".
By the way -- until we form a real party of the people -- vote Democratic, it's still "the lesser of two evils".
Freedom of the press denied.
Anti-woman, anti-choice, anti-education, people wrapping themselves in the flag and religion. Others saying The Declaration Of Independence is some sort of "religious document". Folks still clinging to the "lost cause" crap in the south. Racism rampant. Muslim insanity defended all over the world. Christian insanity, Buddhist insanity, Hindu insanity, equally defended. Mormonism, Scientology, also defended as "the one true faith".
Total insanity all over the world -- meanwhile people are starving, losing everything. Climate change (GLOBAL WARMING) dismissed and ignored as we fall into disaster. Another lawless period, a fall of civilizations, mass death soon to follow.
I know I sound like someone carrying a placard the says, "The End Is Near" -- but I honestly think we either act or suffer mass displacements of people and a crashing, crazy economy. It might not happen for 20 - 30 years, but happen it will. Our current rich people will also lose everything - all except that old money that is so entrenched, and has hedged its bets so well that it might be damaged - but it will survive.
These days, when I read "The News", or watch TV, ALL of it looks like propaganda -- left and right. Very little seems to actually put any of the people, the CITIZENS first.
Good luck to all you young folks. Please read some labor history. Look at how the corporations have destroyed peoples lives. Look into the reasons some union leaders entered into Faustian bargains with thugs when fighting against the private armies folks like Henry Ford used against his employees.
Look at what actual principles our nation was founded on. Look at the history of common people. Look at the history of both anti-war and AMERICAN radical movements.
Go beyond the "John Wayne" crap. Understand WHY we HAD to adopt The Bill Of Rights to get The Constitution adopted.
Perhaps you too will see why we need a "peoples party".
By the way -- until we form a real party of the people -- vote Democratic, it's still "the lesser of two evils".
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Meet Roan Garcia-Quintana, South Carolina’s non-Native Tea Party Nativist By: Hrafnkell Haraldsson
I read this on "Politicus" and just had to post it. Some folks are just beyond insane. Their hatred makes them both unstable and dangerous. I wonder if he realizes a lot of folks are laughing at him behind his back? I'd bet he'd be among the first to go if his beliefs were ever put into action.
Oh yeah -- he's another reason all of us who can should be proficient in some form of self defense. Being an old woman I favor "gun-fu" -- 9mm, 40S&W, or 45 ACP.
I think the attacks against people who are "different" will increase until all the active and latent hatred is worked out.
Anyway, please follow link to original
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.politicususa.com/meet-roan-garcia-quintna-south-carolinas-non-native-tea-party-nativist.html
Roan Garcia-Quintana of Greenville is, despite his name, a white supremacist. Being a white supremacist, it is not so surprising that he is a Tea Party activist.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Garcia-Quintana is also a rabid nativist. Merriam-Webster defines nativism as “a policy of favoring native inhabitants as opposed to immigrants.”
Where you think this would become a problem for Garcia-Quintana is that he was born in Havana and is a naturalized citizen. So here we have a non-native endorsing a policy which would make him a second-class citizen.
In other words, Garcia-Quintana does not want America to be for others what it has been for him.
Nobody said the Tea Party made any sense. Therefore, the befuddled Garcia-Quintana can say, apparently without a sense of irony, that Latino immigration is an “illegal alien invasion.”
If you want to know Garcia-Quintana’s logic, it runs thusly, reports the SPLC: “Although Cuban by birth, Garcia-Quintana does not consider himself Latino. His ancestors, he says, were Spaniards and this makes him white. He refers to himself as “Havana born, Savannah raised” and as a ‘Confederate Cuban.’”
Never mind that the Spaniards themselves were immigrants. Never mind that every white person born in America is the descendent of immigrants. Being bigoted and careless with facts, Garcia-Quintana can advocate that English be made the official language of South Carolina.
Given his logic that he is a Spaniard, you would think he would advocate for Spanish. He may be a white person, but he is certainly not English. Garcia-Quintana is all about Europeans and opposes “the massive immigration of non-European and non-Western peoples into the United States that threatens to transform our nation into a non-European majority in our lifetime.”
I would like to remind Mr. Garcia-Quintana and everyone else, again, that he is not English and that the language of Europe is not English.
According to his “Quintana for SC Senate” website in 2008, reports the SPLC, Garcia-Quintana said: “‘What we want to accomplish is to STOP the enticements for illegal aliens. To do that we must remove the license to operate a business from anyone who continually hires illegal aliens and make it unpleasant for illegals to live here in South Carolina.”
Welcome to the “do as I say and not as I do” world of Tea Party activism. No wonder South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, herself the daughter of Indian immigrants, like Garcia-Quintana enough to name him to a “164-member steering committee comprising folks from all 46 of her state’s counties.”
The SPLC says that,
You have to laugh at this too, because a little farther north, in the Dominion State, Right Wing Watch reports that Virginia Republican Lt. Gov. nominee E. W. Jackson wants to know, apparently also without a sense of irony, “why [blacks] are “allowing the Tea Party to be made into [their] enemy.”
Gosh, I dunno Mr. Jackson…I’m going to hazard a guess that it’s because the Tea Party is racist.
Jackson pretends it’s all about God. He knows that black voters cannot be made to vote Republican because the GOP is all about Jim Crow. But he apparently harbors that GOP fantasy that black voters will leave Obama and the Democratic Party behind on account of their religion.
Hope springs eternal when reality doesn’t enter into the equation. Jackson claims that liberal indoctrination is responsible for “the radical homosexual rights people to be made into your friends and allies when they reject everything you believe and most of the Tea Party activists embrace everything you believe.”
Yeah. I don’t think black voters embrace being treated like second class citizens. Let’s face it, the Confederate flag is a bit obvious. It’s not liberals, after all, who embrace the fantasy that blacks were better off as slaves, but God-fearing Tea Partiers.
Oh yeah -- he's another reason all of us who can should be proficient in some form of self defense. Being an old woman I favor "gun-fu" -- 9mm, 40S&W, or 45 ACP.
I think the attacks against people who are "different" will increase until all the active and latent hatred is worked out.
Anyway, please follow link to original
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.politicususa.com/meet-roan-garcia-quintna-south-carolinas-non-native-tea-party-nativist.html
Roan Garcia-Quintana of Greenville is, despite his name, a white supremacist. Being a white supremacist, it is not so surprising that he is a Tea Party activist.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Garcia-Quintana is also a rabid nativist. Merriam-Webster defines nativism as “a policy of favoring native inhabitants as opposed to immigrants.”
Where you think this would become a problem for Garcia-Quintana is that he was born in Havana and is a naturalized citizen. So here we have a non-native endorsing a policy which would make him a second-class citizen.
In other words, Garcia-Quintana does not want America to be for others what it has been for him.
Nobody said the Tea Party made any sense. Therefore, the befuddled Garcia-Quintana can say, apparently without a sense of irony, that Latino immigration is an “illegal alien invasion.”
If you want to know Garcia-Quintana’s logic, it runs thusly, reports the SPLC: “Although Cuban by birth, Garcia-Quintana does not consider himself Latino. His ancestors, he says, were Spaniards and this makes him white. He refers to himself as “Havana born, Savannah raised” and as a ‘Confederate Cuban.’”
Never mind that the Spaniards themselves were immigrants. Never mind that every white person born in America is the descendent of immigrants. Being bigoted and careless with facts, Garcia-Quintana can advocate that English be made the official language of South Carolina.
Given his logic that he is a Spaniard, you would think he would advocate for Spanish. He may be a white person, but he is certainly not English. Garcia-Quintana is all about Europeans and opposes “the massive immigration of non-European and non-Western peoples into the United States that threatens to transform our nation into a non-European majority in our lifetime.”
I would like to remind Mr. Garcia-Quintana and everyone else, again, that he is not English and that the language of Europe is not English.
According to his “Quintana for SC Senate” website in 2008, reports the SPLC, Garcia-Quintana said: “‘What we want to accomplish is to STOP the enticements for illegal aliens. To do that we must remove the license to operate a business from anyone who continually hires illegal aliens and make it unpleasant for illegals to live here in South Carolina.”
Welcome to the “do as I say and not as I do” world of Tea Party activism. No wonder South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, herself the daughter of Indian immigrants, like Garcia-Quintana enough to name him to a “164-member steering committee comprising folks from all 46 of her state’s counties.”
The SPLC says that,
Garcia-Quintana is a lifetime member and current board member of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), which is listed as a white nationalist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The CCC is the linear descendant of the old White Citizens Councils, which were formed in the 1950s and 1960s to battle school desegregation in the South, and has evolved into a crudely racist organization. Its website, for example, has published pictures comparing pop singer Michael Jackson to an ape and referred to blacks as “a retrograde species of humanity.”According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), “the CofCC has called mixed-race marriage ‘the mongrelization of the races.’” I realize people hate Hitler comparisons but this language is right out of the National Socialist playbook.
You have to laugh at this too, because a little farther north, in the Dominion State, Right Wing Watch reports that Virginia Republican Lt. Gov. nominee E. W. Jackson wants to know, apparently also without a sense of irony, “why [blacks] are “allowing the Tea Party to be made into [their] enemy.”
Gosh, I dunno Mr. Jackson…I’m going to hazard a guess that it’s because the Tea Party is racist.
Jackson pretends it’s all about God. He knows that black voters cannot be made to vote Republican because the GOP is all about Jim Crow. But he apparently harbors that GOP fantasy that black voters will leave Obama and the Democratic Party behind on account of their religion.
Hope springs eternal when reality doesn’t enter into the equation. Jackson claims that liberal indoctrination is responsible for “the radical homosexual rights people to be made into your friends and allies when they reject everything you believe and most of the Tea Party activists embrace everything you believe.”
Yeah. I don’t think black voters embrace being treated like second class citizens. Let’s face it, the Confederate flag is a bit obvious. It’s not liberals, after all, who embrace the fantasy that blacks were better off as slaves, but God-fearing Tea Partiers.
Friday, May 24, 2013
Memorial Day
This is "Memorial Day Weekend". It is a time for cookouts, and a time to celebrate our "warriors".
When did soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines become "warriors"? When did we develop such a "military caste"?
Do any of you remember when folks who served in the armed services were "citizen soldiers"? Do you remember when they were "veterans" after service? Remember the original G.I.Bill -- that thing that helped form our middle class (along with things like workers rights and UNIONS)?
Now we play "God Bless America" during the 7th inning stretch at baseball games, we have "flyovers" by various agents of destruction during pre-game "festivities", and we celebrate those who kill, supposedly in our name.
Memorial day no longer memorializes the CITIZENS lost in all our various wars (if you were to keep track, you'd realize we are ALWAYS at war), it celebrates our "warriors".
Time to go back to "citizen soldiers". Time to go back to THE DRAFT. If more folks were at risk, not just poor kids and members of the military caste, we might not be so quick to go to war.
This is not the country I was born in.
When did soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines become "warriors"? When did we develop such a "military caste"?
Do any of you remember when folks who served in the armed services were "citizen soldiers"? Do you remember when they were "veterans" after service? Remember the original G.I.Bill -- that thing that helped form our middle class (along with things like workers rights and UNIONS)?
Now we play "God Bless America" during the 7th inning stretch at baseball games, we have "flyovers" by various agents of destruction during pre-game "festivities", and we celebrate those who kill, supposedly in our name.
Memorial day no longer memorializes the CITIZENS lost in all our various wars (if you were to keep track, you'd realize we are ALWAYS at war), it celebrates our "warriors".
Time to go back to "citizen soldiers". Time to go back to THE DRAFT. If more folks were at risk, not just poor kids and members of the military caste, we might not be so quick to go to war.
This is not the country I was born in.
Evangelical Family Research Council, as Completely Expected, Says Moore Disaster Is From God:
From "The Rude Pundit" -- follow link to original.
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.rudepundit.blogspot.com/
Sigh.
In an utterly predictable move, the evangelical Christian Family Research Council (motto: "Holier than thou, thou, and, yeah, thou in the back, too") says that the tornado that wiped out a large chunk of Moore, Oklahoma, was a message from God. This is not an Onion parody. It is sadly, awfully real.
The Rude Pundit received his weekly Prayer Target email yesterday, as is his reward for having signed up for the FRC's Super-Duper Prayer Team some years ago under a nom de rude. Each Wednesday (or Thursday, depending on who is feeling lazy), he gets his praypulation orders on various topics, usually gays, abortion, and gays, about which he should drop to his knees and give Jesus a shout-out.
Yesterday, he was a bit disturbed to read that, while we should pray for and give money to help the Moore victims, "there is more that we need to do in response to these and a growing number of devastating natural and man-made disasters that have been striking America in recent years." Whatever could it be? Funding for infrastructure reconstruction? Reduction of carbon emissions to slow the devastation of climate change? What?
Nope. Instead, the email quotes crazy-ass preacher Richard Owen Roberts saying (and let's let this go long because it's a crazy-ass quote from his crazy-ass call to "Solemn Assembly"), "Our Fathers believed God was offended by sin. They themselves were deeply troubled both by the existence of personal sin in their own lives and by the presence of unconfessed corporate sins in the churches and in the nation. They regarded natural calamities as manifestations of the displeasure of God Almighty against sin and allowed such events as earthquakes, fires, volcanoes, epidemics, floods, and droughts to prompt them to special seeking of God's face in fasting, prayer, and corporate repentance. They also sought the Lord in Solemn Assemblies in connection with wars, murders, rapes, etc., believing such outbursts of wickedness to be directly related to the general decline of moral and spiritual life in the churches." Man, we must suck so hard if God is always on the verge of "allowing" volcanoes to explode and wars to rage.
Lest you think that the FRC was merely just implying, wink-wink, that God is such a dick that he'd stone cold spree kill nine children in order to remind people that they need to tell him how awesome he is more regularly, the email evokes God, Jr. hisself: "Jesus asked his followers for their thoughts about those killed in two major disasters of their day. Did they suppose the victims were greater sinners than their unaffected countrymen? He answered his own question twice, 'I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.' He warned of calamity to come for all men if they did not repent."
That's pretty clear, no? Picture Jesus holding a lightning bolt to the head of a 4th-grade girl, saying, "You. Down. On your knees. Repent or the kid gets it." That's a fine religion you got there.
(Remember: This is not fringe nonsense. FRC President Tony Perkins is a regular on the news networks, offering a conservative opinion on everything from gays to abortion to gays. He advises people like Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who will appear on his radio show today. And you can bet that Perkins will filthy up your TV screen soon talking about the Boy Scouts decision allowing gay scouts, but telling gay scoutmasters to take a hike in the woods alone.)
This section of the FRC email concludes with the odd statement that "The sovereign God of the Bible, who has protected America for four centuries, is calling the church and nation to return to her first love." Well, okay. The Rude Pundit's 2nd grade girlfriend, Sandy, is gonna be a bit surprised, but if it'll stop God from murdering people with tornadoes...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Obviously no comment necessary from me. I'll just repeat, we are ruled by crazy people. The "opposition" is totally inane. The currently active "rulers" are insane.
try to look at what we call "the news" with an open mind. Most of it is propaganda -- no matter which "side" it pretends to favor.
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.rudepundit.blogspot.com/
Sigh.
In an utterly predictable move, the evangelical Christian Family Research Council (motto: "Holier than thou, thou, and, yeah, thou in the back, too") says that the tornado that wiped out a large chunk of Moore, Oklahoma, was a message from God. This is not an Onion parody. It is sadly, awfully real.
The Rude Pundit received his weekly Prayer Target email yesterday, as is his reward for having signed up for the FRC's Super-Duper Prayer Team some years ago under a nom de rude. Each Wednesday (or Thursday, depending on who is feeling lazy), he gets his praypulation orders on various topics, usually gays, abortion, and gays, about which he should drop to his knees and give Jesus a shout-out.
Yesterday, he was a bit disturbed to read that, while we should pray for and give money to help the Moore victims, "there is more that we need to do in response to these and a growing number of devastating natural and man-made disasters that have been striking America in recent years." Whatever could it be? Funding for infrastructure reconstruction? Reduction of carbon emissions to slow the devastation of climate change? What?
Nope. Instead, the email quotes crazy-ass preacher Richard Owen Roberts saying (and let's let this go long because it's a crazy-ass quote from his crazy-ass call to "Solemn Assembly"), "Our Fathers believed God was offended by sin. They themselves were deeply troubled both by the existence of personal sin in their own lives and by the presence of unconfessed corporate sins in the churches and in the nation. They regarded natural calamities as manifestations of the displeasure of God Almighty against sin and allowed such events as earthquakes, fires, volcanoes, epidemics, floods, and droughts to prompt them to special seeking of God's face in fasting, prayer, and corporate repentance. They also sought the Lord in Solemn Assemblies in connection with wars, murders, rapes, etc., believing such outbursts of wickedness to be directly related to the general decline of moral and spiritual life in the churches." Man, we must suck so hard if God is always on the verge of "allowing" volcanoes to explode and wars to rage.
Lest you think that the FRC was merely just implying, wink-wink, that God is such a dick that he'd stone cold spree kill nine children in order to remind people that they need to tell him how awesome he is more regularly, the email evokes God, Jr. hisself: "Jesus asked his followers for their thoughts about those killed in two major disasters of their day. Did they suppose the victims were greater sinners than their unaffected countrymen? He answered his own question twice, 'I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.' He warned of calamity to come for all men if they did not repent."
That's pretty clear, no? Picture Jesus holding a lightning bolt to the head of a 4th-grade girl, saying, "You. Down. On your knees. Repent or the kid gets it." That's a fine religion you got there.
(Remember: This is not fringe nonsense. FRC President Tony Perkins is a regular on the news networks, offering a conservative opinion on everything from gays to abortion to gays. He advises people like Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who will appear on his radio show today. And you can bet that Perkins will filthy up your TV screen soon talking about the Boy Scouts decision allowing gay scouts, but telling gay scoutmasters to take a hike in the woods alone.)
This section of the FRC email concludes with the odd statement that "The sovereign God of the Bible, who has protected America for four centuries, is calling the church and nation to return to her first love." Well, okay. The Rude Pundit's 2nd grade girlfriend, Sandy, is gonna be a bit surprised, but if it'll stop God from murdering people with tornadoes...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Obviously no comment necessary from me. I'll just repeat, we are ruled by crazy people. The "opposition" is totally inane. The currently active "rulers" are insane.
try to look at what we call "the news" with an open mind. Most of it is propaganda -- no matter which "side" it pretends to favor.
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