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Thankfully, Kansas City Cameron Lamb Riots Never Happened
31 minutes ago
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
The 2012 economy
There is an article with video out this morning on Yahoo! News pointing out that China’s Slowdown Will Be Worse Than You Think It tells how "China's Premier Wen Jiabao has just warned that China's economy is now facing challenges, including higher-than-desired inflation and an economic slowdown." Their prognosticator goes on to predict dire things for the future, possibly, because of it. If he didn't write doom and gloom books for a living, it would help his case but the fact is, there is likely truth to it, for sure. The good thing is, with the forceful kind of pseudo-Capitalism China has, they can almost do whatever they want to make their economy respond well, in a way. They still can't overcome financial realities, sure, but they can shape things the way they want, to an extent. The thing is, if you put their--the Chinese--situation in tandem with the European mess, it doesn't look good right now, internationally. Our picture, the US' economy seems to be picking up steam and that's good for us, of course, and even for the world but the fact is, we can pull down the world economy, as we did in 2008 with irresponsibility and lack of regulation. We just can't pull the whole world's economy up by just our own bootstraps. Bettye Davis, ala' Margo Channing may have it right concerning this upcoming economic year:
Great news, Kansas City!
Iowa takeaways
Finally, the Iowa caucuses are over, thank goodness. With that and some new developments, it seems there's a lot going on. First things first, the results from last night: 1) Romney technically won, sure--by 8 measley votes. That ain't much, folks. The real winners? That has to go to Rick "I'm a lunatic" Santorum and Ron "I'm really not on the fringe" Paul. How else can you look at it? No one thought Santorum had a chance and to come in so close, in 2nd place? Then, Ron Paul finishes so closely in 3rd? Oh, yeah, those two came out big. What's interesting, too, is that it's been rather correctly pointed out that, with this, it shows 75% of those Iowa Republicans were against the man who is now considered the front-runner. That's not good for Willard. Or Mittens or whatever you want to call him. Also, to add tough insult to this injury, Newt Gingrich said both last night and this morning that he will, in essence, do everything he can to make sure Romney isn't the Republican presidential nominee. Yow. That'll hurt. That'll hurt the Party, for sure. (GOOD). Another winner last night? It had to be President Obama himself. This showed that the Republican Party is tearing itself apart---still. Seriously, President Obama should just use footage of all these candidates from this campaign, all saying horrible things about whoever becomes the Republcan's candidate. It would be easy, there's tons of it (the footage) and it's effective. Shoot, a lot of it is even true. One thing's for sure, it's going to be one crazy political year, made far crazier because corporations and the wealthy can spend all they want on the election, thanks to the Right Wing Supreme
Court's Citizens United ruling last year. Yeehaw. Links: http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/big-takeaway-iowa-75-republicans-don-t-want-152537896.html;_ylt=AsKtTYH1eCE9i5sAUGdem9eiuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTQ0ZTRsMGZtBG1pdANGUCBUaGUgRGFpbHkgVGlja2VyBHBrZwM3NGY1MTYzNS1lN2E0LTMyNWItODMyMC00ZjkwOTZkOTRmNjAEcG9zAzIEc2VjA01lZGlhU2VjdGlvbkxpc3QEdmVyAzViYWVmMjEwLTM2ZTgtMTFlMS05ZjJmLTg3ODhlODE4NzhmOA--;_ylg=X3oDMTFvdnRqYzJoBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25zBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3; http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/newt-gingrich-unloads-mitt-romney-ron-paul-hampshire-184017787.html; http://news.yahoo.com/mitt-romney-celebrates-gop-win-2-rivals-flounder-143626145.html; http://news.yahoo.com/michele-bachmann-ends-her-presidential-campaign-not-her-174809476.html
What's going on with Americans?
What's up with Americans today? What has happened to America? The America I knew? The tough, smart one? I see, hear and read so much paranoia and suspicion anymore, it's shocking. There is expectation of much ugliness and evil and huge "powers that be" and it's surprising and new to me. It seems paranoid and really gets tiresome. We had a financial collapse in 2008, we elected a black man president in 2010 and lots of large weather anomalies have taken place in the recent past. That and a lot of people have lost their jobs or their socio-economic status and still others are having to get used to women having more power and clout in our society possibly. I understand all that but the suspicion or paranoia or whatever it is is really getting out of hand. I've never known Americans to be like this. What brings this about is a conversation on Facebook with "friends" due to this video: People were saying it's chemtrails they think and that the government must be poisoning us, instead of just jet contrails. And sure, it could, remotely be possible. Governments around the world have done some of this stuff. England recently admitted to doing it from the 40's to the 70's but honestly, I see and hear so many people saying that it's "the end of the world", literally, and that the government is preparing to either kill us, like this, or heard us all into FEMA camps and it gets really old. Here's the thing, if everyone's so upset now, why weren't they raising hell when that white moral and mental midget George W. Bush was spending us into oblivion, giving away tax cuts to his already-obscenely rich friends and taking us into a horrible, tragic, needless, mindless, nationally and internationally illegal war in Iraq? Where were these people then? Why didn't they raise hell about the honky who was screwing things up? I'd love to know. Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemtrail_conspiracy_theory
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
That pipeline from Canada to Texas is all but done
When the question of a Keystone XL company's oil pipeline being brought up in the last few months, I thought it was a "suggestion" or request put on the country. And maybe it was. But first, I learned later (recently) that parts of the pipeline have already been built, however far North that is and that, second, the route it was going to take would be examined but that yes, it was going through. Now, today, there is this news: Sinopec, Total pour $4.5 billion into U.S. shale
(Reuters) - China's Sinopec (600028.SS) and France's Total SA (TOTF.PA) made major purchases into the U.S. energy sector on Tuesday, pouring $4.5 billion into deals to buy into booming production from shale rock formations. (link below). So not only is it going through but 2 foreign companies--and one of them our supposed "arch-enemy"--is going to own and run it. If it has an oil spill on it somewhere here in the States, they'll be the ones seeing to its cleanup. This seems like bad news that just keeps getting worse. Links: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/03/us-shale-us-idUSTRE80215S20120103; http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/03/us-athabasca-idUSTRE8020OW20120103
Powerball doubling cost
Maybe you heard that already, that the Powerball lottery is going up in price by a dollar--doubling in price from $1 to $2. In a way, no big deal. At least for those who don't play. And that's why I write today--for those who do. First, do you know what the odds of winning are? The odds of winning the Powerball lottery, as their official website will tell you, is one in 195,249,054. Yow. Very nearly one in 200,000. Think about that.
Imagine you're one person, standing in a crowd of nearly 200,000 people, each with a lottery ticket, and someone of authority is going to somehow pick you out of that crowd for whatever reason. In this case, it would be to win that prize. Now, do you see how likely--unlikely, really--that is? And sure someone has to win it, of course, and you can't play if you don't win. I'm just saying, spelling out how extremely unlikely it is, that's all. Not meaning to rain on anyone's parade. Links: http://fox4kc.com/2012/01/02/powerball-prices-double-so-does-starting-jackpot/; http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/pricey-picks-powerball-tickets-doubling-15269485; http://www.powerball.com/powerball/pb_prizes.asp; http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/02/powerball-tickets-to-double-in-price/
Those crazy Catholics crack me up
I mean, if they aren't busy sexually abusing children in their schools or enabling others--mostly church hierarchy to do said same, Catholics can be one great source of humor. I didn't see this last Fall when it came out but it seems the Vatican came out against a Hollywood movie on Vampires, of all things: The Vatican vs. 'New Moon'
The Catholic Church objects to the newest "Twilight" film This is the part that really made me laugh: "Ahead of the weekend's blockbuster opening for the teen vampire fantasy Twilight: New Moon, a Vatican official condemned the movie as a 'deviant moral vacuum.'" I mean, come on, it's a movie, from Hollywood, naturally, that's about vampires. How seriously can it be taken? Of course, this complaint is from the same group that not only believes in exorcists and exorcisms but keeps a practicing, "official" exorcist on staff. Come to think of it, if they believe in exorcisms as real, it's easy to see how they just might take turning into a wolf once a month literally, too. No wonder they got they're panties in such a twist. Link: http://theweek.com/article/index/103245/the-vatican-vs-new-moon
New Year, dead birds: Is it happening again?
Remember last year there were all those dead birds that fell from the sky and littered the streets in that town in Arkansas? Did you see it happened again this year, albeit on a smaller scale? Same thing, red wing blackbirds, too: About 200 birds found dead in Arkansas city for second straight New Year's Eve
(See link below) My first thought was to write about it but then I figured it would get big, widespread coverage already anyway. I try to post different things. So, then, today, there's this story of yet another die-off: Norwegian beach briefly carpeted with dead herring
It seems scientists aren't sure if predators rather chased them onto shore or a storm surge did it or what. (Again, link to to original story below). My only points in posting about these is to say, here we go again, seemingly, first, and second, are they related to all the die-offs last year? Hopefully they aren't and hopefully, maybe we just weren't as aware of these things in the past. Maybe this always happened but international media and reporting and computers make all this far more available and knowable. Hopefully that's the case. Because if that's not the case, we also hope it's not because of how we--humankind--live, one way or another, and that we're causing these things. Between our pollution and pesticides and belching carbon dioxide into the air at hugely increasing levels and rates, who can say? Hopefully this is not a huge, devastating deal. That said, the way we live on this planet just really isn't sustainable, as the scientists confirm. Links: http://articles.cnn.com/2012-01-01/us/us_arkansas-bird-deaths_1_blackbird-deaths-dead-birds-fireworks?_s=PM:US; http://news.yahoo.com/norwegian-beach-briefly-carpeted-dead-herring-145338809.html;_ylt=AtijTgTm3EOkC3VY7.tHXmSs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTN2N2g3dDdwBG1pdANPZGQgRnJvbnQgUGFnZQRwa2cDMTAwMzIyOGEtYjhjMC0zNzE2LTg5ZWItNDk2Y2JkN2ZkMGI2BHBvcwMyBHNlYwNNZWRpYVNlY3Rpb25MaXN0BHZlcgNmMTYyMzNlMC0zNjFhLTExZTEtOTlmYi04NmE0OGUxMDEzYWM-;_ylg=X3oDMTFvdnRqYzJoBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25zBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3
The Brookside Hotel?
"Class warfare" indeed
Plea for help from the Westport Center for the Arts
We need your help.
A fire severely damaged Westport Presbyterian Church on Dec. 29. In addition to being a historic and beautiful Midtown landmark, the church housed Westport Center for the Arts’ offices. All of our materials for our “Kids Team Up for Art” program were lost. To make our workshops in January, February and March a success, we need donations of the following materials: Glue, magazines, contact paper, old calendars, green (non-holiday specific) wrapping paper, small paper cartons or bins with lids, white posterboard, paper or other materials with a floral design, GLUE, wooden dowels, chicken wire or similar small-mesh wire, ribbon (especially 4-inch wide), Styrofoam balls, chicken wire, clothes line, kids scissors, staplers, acrylic paint, plastic (recyclable) bottles and glue.
If you have any of the above, contact info@westportcenterforthearts.org. The program emphasizes the use of recycled and "found" materials, so "used" donations are appreciated and encouraged. You can support a great program AND clean out your closets at the same time. Thanks in advance for any help you can give.
Most overlooked, under-appreciated facet of modern life?
I think one of the most overlooked, under-appreciated and possibly taken-for-granted facets of everyday, modern life might well be the hot shower in cold weather.
If a hot shower on a cold day isn't a true luxury, I don't know what is. That and running water. And toilets. Just saying. Have a good, hot shower, y'all.
Quote of the day
"Money is like manure — it does no good unless you spread it around." --Anonymous (old country saying). Link: http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/757519/rising_egalitarianism_is_changing_american_politics_--_for_the_better/
Happy National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day!
On the new year
From an article in the UK's Daily Mail:
"Our world is poised on the edge of perhaps the most important 12 months for more than half a century. If our leaders provide the right leadership, then we may, perhaps, muddle through towards slow growth and gradual recovery.
But if the European elite continue to inflict needless hardship on their people; if the markets continue to erode faith in the euro; and if Western politicians waste their time in petty bickering, then we could easily slip further towards discontent and disaster.
The experience of 1932 provides a desperately valuable lesson. As a result of the decisions taken in those 12 short months, millions of people later lost their lives.
Today, on the brink of a new year that could well prove the most frightening in living memory, we can only pray that our history takes a very different path."
Here's hoping for the best in the new year.
Link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2080534/Loss-faith-democracy-make-2012-frightening-year-ever.html#ixzz1iMBUAHHz
Monday, January 2, 2012
On "corporate personhood"
Montana State Supreme Court Justice James Nelson, on "corporate personhood", as set forth in the 2010 US Supreme Court's "Citizens United" ruling: "Corporations are not persons. Human beings are persons, and it is an affront to the inviolable dignity of our species that courts have created a legal fiction which forces people—human beings—to share fundamental natural rights with soulless creations of government. Worse still, while corporations and human beings share many of the same rights under the law, they clearly are not bound equally to the same codes of good conduct, decency, and morality, and they are not held equally accountable for their sins. Indeed, it is truly ironic that the death penalty and hell are reserved only to natural persons.” No one could say it any better, more forcefully or clearer. Thank you, Justice Nelson. Link: http://www.alternet.org/story/153623/montana_high_court_says_%27citizens_united%27_does_not_apply_in_big_sky_state?page=1
American history Americans don't know--and don't want to know
Montana State Supreme Court sees things clearly
The Montana Supreme Court sees what you and I see and what the Supreme Court can't: Montana High Court Says 'Citizens United' Does Not Apply In Big Sky State State Supreme Court Issues Remarkable Ruling Against Corporate Speech
From the article: “Organizations like WTP that act as a conduit for anonymously spending by others represent a threat to the political marketplace,” wrote Mike McGrath, Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court, for the majority. “Clearly the impact of unlimited corporate donations creates a dominating impact on the political process and inevitably minimizes the impact of individual citizens.” And thank goodness. The whole world hasn't lost its collective mind after all. Now, one down, 49 states to go. It's enough to give one a glimmer of hope, at least. Thank you, Montana State Supreme Court. It's a new year's gift. Link: http://www.alternet.org/story/153623/montana_high_court_says_%27citizens_united%27_does_not_apply_in_big_sky_state
Quote of the day
"When the Civil War ended, there were no truth and reconciliation commissions formed to process memories, no Nuremberg Trials to enable reflection, no Great Emancipator to free the future from the past — only ghosts and the ravenous politics of memory. The need for national reckoning was quickly subordinated to the political imperative of reunification, and on both sides of the Mason-Dixon line, forgetting became more valuable than remembering." --Peter Birkenhead, from his article "Why the White South Is Still in Denial About Slavery" on Alternet. Link: http://www.alternet.org/teaparty/153598/why_the_white_south_is_still_in_denial_about_slavery/
In employment, the Germans seemed to know something
There is an article out today about the Germans and their high employment: Record number of Germans in work in 2011
It tells of their successes:
"The number of employed people in Germany hit a new record in 2011, said official statistics published on Monday, with more than half a million jobs created last year in Europe's top economy.
There were an average of 41.04 million people working in Germany last year, the national statistics office Destatis said in a statement, a rise of 535,000 people, or 1.3 percent, on the previous 12 months.
It was the first time the number of people working in Germany has risen above the 41-million mark, Destatis said. The population of the country is nearly 82 million."
So I'm thinking, maybe we could emulate them a bit? At least a bit? Anyone in Washington listening?
Link to original article: http://news.yahoo.com/record-number-germans-2011-103857953.html
Bad news for Kansas City
Word is on the street that that a certain "investigative reporter" will apparently be leaving town this year.
On being kind
A modern way to remind us of Plato's old quote: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Happy new year and all the best in it for you, family and friends.
Back to reality--and the 2012 election grind
Yes, unfortunately, the holidays had to come to an end, as if we didn't know it. At least it's still mild and sunny and beautiful here in the heartland, eh? In the meantime, a friend sent this advertisment to me today. I think it a rather revolutionary ad--no pun intended, you'll see: While he's right, of course, about some other nation being here on our soil, etc., it's an old point, however true. That he chose to put this fictitious "occupying country" in Texas makes it far more emotional and even vitriolic, I think, and dilutes his point. Dilutes his point unless, of course, you're from Texas. I think we all just need to calm down. Let's not make sure it's "The end of the world as we know it", you know? It doesn't have to be yet too many people are overwhelmed either by the 2008 financial collapse or weather catastrophes and tragedies or by the fact that the nation has a black president as its leader. Everyone needs to calm down and just chill. In the meantime, welcome to the new year.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
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