Left Turn on Bird Street

2009-02-27T17:25:00.000-08:00

Rush, The Magic Dragon

2009-01-17T15:26:00.000-08:00

Pardon Bingo: Who Will Be W's Pardon Surprise?

With three days left, who will benefit from the power of the Pardon? Maybe a whole bunch

By Frank Grimes

The President of United States has a great power that is used sparingly and usually only in the waning days of power. Of course we are talking of the constitutional power of the pardon.

The first Bush pardoned convicted-felon and former secretary of defense Caspar Weinberger for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal. Clinton pardoned convicted felon and fugitive Marc Rich.

It has long been said Bush I pardoned Weinberger so as to protect himself from any criminal prosecution in the Iran-Contra matter. Clinton's pardon was crass as Rich's wife had heartily contributed to his campaign.

With just three days left, who will GWB pardon? Speculation ranges from baseball player and fellow Texan Roger Clemens to Scooter Libby.

Interestingly, current attorney general Michael B. Mukasey has said that Eric Holder's (Obama's nominee for attorney general) opinion that waterboarding is torture, could put several Justice Department in lawyers at risk of criminal prosecution.

When asked at his confirmation hearing about possible criminal indictments regarding torture, Holder said that "no one’s above the law, and we will follow the evidence, the facts, the law, and let that take us where it should.”

Given this tidbit, is it possible that GWB will issue a sort of blanket preemptive-pardon to everyone associated with the directive to conduct torture, ranging from John Yoo up to and including himself and Cheney? While the constitutionality of such as move is murky, don't forget this same president who attached signature statements exempting himself from laws he didn't agree with including anti-torture legislation pushed by former tortured POW Sen. John McCain.

One way or another, we will know in less than 72 hours.

2008-11-17T20:02:00.000-08:00

Why saving the domestic auto makers matters to Elk Grove

Let me start with a full disclosure; I was born in Detroit and my father was a 40-year veteran of the Ford Motor Company. Everybody in my immediate family has at one time or another worked or currently works in the domestic auto industry. All of my extended family when they were in Michigan either worked for one of the Big Three or a supplier.

The question is whether or not the domestic auto makers should be bailed-out by the taxpayer. It is a question I have been grappling with for some time now.

One of the primary arguments against a bail-out is that any business should succeed or fail on its own merit. The domestic auto industry has a long and illustrious career when it comes to failure in making cars and if is their ultimate fate, so be it.

Some of these cars were just bad looking - think of the Edsel. Others were unsafe - the Corvair and Pinto come to mind. Some were ugly like the Pacer or Gremlin and some were just outright junk like the Plymouth Volare or Chevy Chevette. No conversation is complete without talking about SUV’s.

The management of the Big Three have made some colossal errors. They shouldn’t be bailed out on this principle alone.

Or should they? But let’s take a look in our own backyard.

Elk Grove’s connection with the Big Three is most obvious in the Elk Grove Auto Mall. While many people were not in favor of auto mall when it was in the planning stage, it is now part of Elk Grove and the sales taxes it generates are quite relevant to the city.

This is the bed that has been made for us, so we better sleep in it the best way we can.

In the last several months we have seen the Ford and Saturn dealerships close shop; the Chrysler store is just selling used cars now. The loss of the dealerships will impact revenues for the city, not to mention the people who lost jobs.

If the Big Three were to go Chapter 11 as some business pundits suggest they should, consumers would likely turn their backs on the domestic producers for a variety of rational reasons and all three would probably disappear within ten years.

For the Elk Grove auto mall, it could spell the end of the Maita Chevy, Elk Grove Jeep and Elk Grove Pontiac Buick GMC.

With a soft economy and uncertain prospects for attracting other dealers based on our demographics, the Elk Grove Auto Mall could become a virtual ghost town, an eye sore of sorts. With it, it could take down a large swath of Elk Grove.

Can you say Florin Road car dealership?

So while we are far away from Detroit, what happens with the Big Three bail-out could be a determining factor in Elk Grove’s future.

2008-09-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

Fed bailing out AIG - Where are they getting the money from? Just printing more Greenbacks?

Tonight the Fed announced it would bailout yet another Wall Street firm. This time around it is insurance giant AIG.

From our count, that makes four major bailouts starting with Bear Sterns.

So just where is the government getting this money from? Are they borrowing it from the Chinese or perhaps the Euros? We're quite sure they aren't raising taxes to pay for it.

Perhaps they are just printing more cash in the basement of the treasury. So is the dollar being driven to the point it will be worthless?

2008-09-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

Staying away from presidential news is no easy task

Lipstick on a pig?

Withdrawing from the daily gaggle of talking heads spewing their nonsense about the McCain-Obama campaign has been delightful if not a difficult task.

Today we saw the collapse of Lehman Bros. and the forthcoming AIG implosion. Of course every news organization had to get the candidates take on the matter. Had to tune those segments out as well as GWB.

Last week there was something in the campaign about lipstick on a pig and how Palin got upset. I found out about this as there were many hits on my other site, www.elkgrovenews.net.

Seems I posted an image about 'lipstick on a pig' and many readers were directed there. Who would have thunk?

As times clicks down, it is getting easier and harder at the same time to stay away.
--DG

2008-09-09T17:01:00.000-07:00

24 hours later, no blacksliding but plenty of temptation

After posting my initial 'cold turkey' last night, with my eyes tired I decided to relax and watch the two best 'news' shows on TV - The Daily Show and the Colbert Report.

It was then I realized my withdrawal from the presidential election would not be that easy.

Fortunately within a minute of tuning in, I realized a rerun was showing and was able to switch to a History Channel program about conspiracies. Kicking the Daily Show and Colbert Report will not be easy.

I guess I can continually watch Colbert punk Bill O'Reilly on his own show.

Getting through eight weeks without Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert will be tough. Perhaps I can rationalize and watch.

2008-09-08T19:02:00.000-07:00

Going cold turkey on presidential election news coverage

Go cold turkey - keep your mind

I'm just about have had enough of news coverage of the 2008 presidential election.

I have already decided how I will vote and I have decided that listening to the endless motor mouths, pundits and assorted talking heads on the radio and TV is a colossal waste of time.

Starting today I will attempt to go cold turkey on the election. I will not willingly listen to any more coverage on my car radio network of choice, NPR.

When a story starts, I will tune in the local hip hop station. If when I tune back and an election story is in progress, I will switch to station, preferably 103.5 in Sacramento, the BOMB.

I will not read any newspaper, magazine or Internet story about the election. And most of all, I will not listen to any of the idiots on cable TV.

No more Barrack or Biden. Goodbye McCain and after such an oh so short relationship, good riddance Palin - I done with all of you.

Hello Lupe Fiasco, Kenye West and NAS. At least you guys try to convey a meaningful message of sorts.

As time goes on, I will post the results of this cold turkey experiment and further explain why I am doing this.

Until then wish me luck. I will need it

--DAG

2008-09-05T23:38:00.000-07:00

Weekend Humor: Another Mike Leary gets 7th DUI!

Magistrate denies 'Leary from buying or even holding a beer for 12 months.'

Recently the campaign expenditures for alcohol of Elk Grove city council member Mike Leary were a topic of discussion on Elk Grove Online. 'Leary likes liquor' (reg. required.) discussed the campaign's large and frequent expenditures for liquor.

Curious, we did a Wikio search for Mike Leary and found a story titled 'Cost of drowning sorrows' from the Daily News in South Africa.

The story reads:

SYDNEY: An Australian man convicted of his seventh drunken-driving charge was spending about A$1 000 (R7 350) a week on beer - enough to buy more than 2 500 small bottles a month, a newspaper reported this week.

The heartbroken construction worker began drowning his sorrows after splitting with his partner five years ago, the Northern Territory News said, quoting his defence lawyer as telling a court in Australia's remote, tropical north.

The magistrate declined to jail the father of four, Michael Leary, noting he had quit drinking since his latest arrest, but he banned Leary from buying or even holding a beer for 12 months. The magistrate also poked fun at Leary's favourite beer, Melbourne Bitter, in a part of the country where drinkers can be as loyal to beer brands as they are to football teams.

"(That is) poor judgment on two counts there - drinking that much and drinking Melbourne Bitter,'' magistrate Vince Luppino was quoted as saying.

Just want to post this so as not to cause any confusion between our Mike Leary and their Mike Leary.

2008-08-10T03:52:00.000-07:00

Developing development debacle: problems piling up for Elk Grove Promenade mall developer

General Growth faces mounting debt, tight credit; Insiders selling shares

General Growth Properties, Inc., is facing troubles at more than just the Elk Grove Promenade. In fact, the delay of the drive-thru mall on Elk Grove's south side is peanuts compared to the companies mounting debt.

According to a story published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Chicago based mall developer is looking at a debt burden that will grow to $17.6 BILLION in just three years.

The Chicago-based company that owns Fashion Show and luxury malls in The
Venetian and Palazzo resorts has more than $2.5 billion in debt maturing by the end of the year, $3.3 billion in 2009 and $17.6 billion by 2011.

The debt is coming due at a time when credit markets are dry, real estate values are stagnant or in decline and low consumer confidence is squeezing retailers who rent space in General Growth malls and other shopping centers across the country.

The company has more than $25 billion in debt and, compared to similar companies, a greater share is secured directly with real estate assets.

Fitch Ratings mentioned the debt late last year when it rated General Growth at "BB," a junk-level status.

A financial blogger mentioned in the Review-Journal story paints a very bleak picture of General Properties.

The tightening credit markets, the national recession and foreclosure crisis have taken a toll on GGP stock. As you can see from the chart, GGP has lost half of its stock value in less than a year.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports that a top executive at GGP has sold half of his shares (700,000 shares) at what looks to be 52 week low. Selling because he fears (knows?) the shares have much farther to fall?

This situation is beginning to sound a little like that energy trading company in Houston that collapsed a few years back. What was it's name, En something?

So if the Elk Grove Promenade sits empty for a few more years, just who will pay the price? We can think of three name that ought to take lots of heat for this developing development debacle.

2008-06-06T11:56:00.000-07:00

California congress members gone wild; but they will likely stay in office

Richardson is foreclosed on; Lungren loves the beach on lobbyist money

It is no wonder that Americans have so little esteem for members of Congress. California has two great current examples of congressional hubris.

First there is the case of Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Long Beach. Seems Richardson has had default notices field on her properties at least six times. Additionally, Richardson lost her home in Sacramento's Curtis Park to foreclosure a month ago without, she claims, her knowledge.

As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, one of Richardson's neighbors in Sacramento said:

Neighbors in the upper middle-class Curtis Park neighborhood said she neglected the property.

Sean Padovan, a retired Sacramento police sergeant who lives three doors away from the three-bedroom, 1 1/2-bath house, grew concerned when the grass grew nearly a foot high.

"I finally went down there and said, 'Would you mind if I mowed your lawn for you?' She said, 'I've been awful busy. Sure.'"

Richardson's Craftsman-style house has also fallen into disrepair. The beige paint is peeling, a garage window is broken, and the grass has turned brown.

Meanwhile a little closer to home, congressman Dan Lungren, R-Gold River, has taken a real shine to beach bumming in Hawaii compliments of lobbyist.

Watch the video.

Lungren's rationale is laughable. At least Lungren did show have a bit of honesty:

“Organizations have their conventions usually at nice places,” Rep. Lungren told ABC News. “I’ll admit I like to go to that particular one.”

Lungren, a member of a key committee that oversees airport security issues, insisted he carried out important discussions with airport executives while at the pool. “I’m a California kid,” Rep. Lungren told ABC News. “I grew up around pools. We do a lot of business around pools.” Asked if he would have attended if the January conference were held in Pittsburgh, Lungren said, “Do I look like I go to Pittsburgh in January?”

It was Lungren after all who said when running for California Governor in '98 that character is doing the right thing when nobody is looking.

The sad part is the neither will suffer anything more than a bruised ego. Voters usually rate every member of congress bad except their own.

Or to paraphrase the late Molly Ivins, they may be bum's, but they are our bums!

2008-05-01T17:55:00.000-07:00

Just when will $4/gal. gas hit Elk Grove, Northern California?

That is the question many of us are asking ourselves on a day where ExxonMobil recorded record profits (again) as we dish out $40 and more to fill our gas tanks.

Many people we talk to seem to think Memorial Day will be the time when the $4 barrier is broken throughout Northern California.

Well at one Sacramento area gas station it has been within one-tenth of a cent of $4 for several days now. This station happens to be located at the Reed Ave. exit and I-80 in West Sacramento.

Obviously they are taking advantage of their location to extract a few more pennies per gallon from unsuspecting travelers. Most local stations are hovering around $3.90/gal.

Nonetheless, hold tight because $4/gal is coming to a gas station near you.

2008-04-03T18:41:00.000-07:00

Meet Douglas Gawadzinski

Who, you may ask is Douglas Gawadzinski?

Gawadzinski is an FAA employee, civil servant if you will, pulling down a cool $100,000 a year. Gawadzinki is at the center of the unfolding FAA Southwest Airlines scandal.

Gawadzinski, has been fingered as having an oh so cozy relationship with the very industry that he, as a servant of and for the people, is charged with monitoring. While his name will undoubtedly be a footnote in history, his story is revealing of the times we now live.

Over the last 30 years or so, the American public has been smacked over the head time after time and told that deregulation is primarily for their benefit. As this case illustrates, deregulation really means killing consumer protection - in this case flight safety.

The fact that this case has made it the public eye is amazing. How many other "civil servants" are out there tucked away in some department of some federal agency that are looking out not for the people, but the industry they are supposed to monitor?

By the way, I wonder how many bags of peanuts and drink tokens Gawadzinski has received from Southwest?

2008-03-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

Bird & Fortune on subprime: why it collapsed, where it is going

Meanwhile an update:

More than 8,000 staff will face the axe at Bear Stearns worldwide once the stricken US investment bank is acquired by JP Morgan next month, as fears mount that the credit crunch could keep downward pressure on share prices throughout 2008.
[…]
Job losses at Bear Stearns are just the thin end of the wedge, as experts warn that redundancies across the global financial services industry are rocketing. The Experian research agency predicts that the total tally in 2008 could hit 180,000.

In New York alone, 12,700 jobs have already been lost this year, primarily in mortgage-related work as the US housing market nosedives.

Citigroup says it expects to lay off a further 2,000 people in addition to the 4,200 it announced in January. Source

2008-03-20T19:03:00.003-07:00

'People who don't know what they are doing will buy anything'

As you flip through the pages of the Elk Grove Citizen, you will certainly notice that while there are fewer business and real estate business ads there are whole lot of foreclosure notices.

For those who don't really understand the mortgage mess, this video from what could be called an Australian version of the Daily Show attempts to explain the unexplainable, as Donald Rumsfeld might say.

Clarke and Dawe explain how 'corporate debt offering' contributed to the sub-prime mess.

As they said of the so-called wizards of Wall Street, 'People who don't what they are doing will buy anything.' You might add 'and leave the rest of us with the tab!'

2008-03-17T20:20:00.000-07:00

When 'Moral Hazard' applies to Wall Street, not the streets of Elk Grove

For some time now, five yearsto be exact, LToBS has warned about the impending mortgage mess brought on by the Federal Reserve and the loose-lending practices encouraged by the Bush administration in wake of the 9-11 and post internet bubble recession.

Recently as two weeks ago our companion site (ElkGroveNews.net)urged the Elk Grove (Calif.) City Council to scream and holler, do something, anything, to help the hundreds of people in Elk Grove losing their homes to foreclosure. While we realize the Elk Grove City Council can't affect the prospects of most people in foreclosure (or for that matter give a damn about what this site says), there are things they could do to help matters. More on this later.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has effectively bailed out Bear Sterns after a bank run with it's guarantee funneled through JP Morgan Chase. Of course this has been done after tens of thousands of hard-working American's have lost their homes and many thousand more face an uncertain future.

Elk Grove and the entire Sacramento region are at the forefront of this unfortunate trend. To bad Elk Grove Blvd. runs through town and not Wall Street.

One of the arguments against helping out homeowners is the so-called 'moral hazard' of bailing out homeowners from bad decision making. This is the same logic that Herbert Hoover applied at the onset of the Great Depression.

"It’s not government’s job to bail out ... those who made the decision to buy a home they knew they could not afford," President Bush has said.

Of course when the players involved in a bailout are well-healed-fat-cat-cigar smoking-Gucci-shoe wearing investment bankers on Wall Street, the rules are different. The Fed and the Bush administration have justified this action based on a sort of domino-theory that if Bear Sterns collapsed it would lead to meltdown of the whole system.

Perhaps. But why has the Fed and Bush administration ignored the plight of average homeowners? If we applied the same logic to investment bankers that the government has applied foreclosed homeowners, there would be no Bear Sterns bailout.

The ghost of Herbert Hoover still haunts the government.

Let's get back to the political leadership of Elk Grove. So just what can they do?

With a general election just around the corner, why not pressure our member of congress, Dan Lungren, to support a government bailout of homeowners in the same magnitude of the Bear Sterns bailout.

They could present their concerns at Lungren's forthcoming town hall meeting in Elk Grove. Grandstanding? Yes, but if it is done to serve the needs of Elk Grove citizen's and not real estate developers what harm can it do but put the problem front and center.

I doubt any member of our city council has the courage to stand up and force at least one hard-boiled Bush loyalist, Lungren in this case, to insist on a government bailout. Gary Davis, where are those Democratic ideals (you know, fighting for the small guy and not Richistan real estate developers) of yours or are you more interested in preserving your butt for higher elected office?

Perhaps Katherine Maestas can 'Cowboy Up' and make this an issue in her bid for city council. Sophia Scherman is a firmly established Republican and by associating her with a group of know nothings Republicans in Washington DC who will bail out the big cats while regular folk flounder, particularly here in Elk Grove, she can win a seat on the city council and push our member of congress for some help. Heaven knows Sophia won't threaten her stature with Republicans in seeking help for Elk Grove or for that matter the entire nation.

Whatever the outcome, let's hope somebody, anybody, on the city council can speak truth to power.

2008-03-01T22:44:00.001-08:00

Now here is novel idea – perhaps Elk Grove community activist and the city council can focus on a real problem

While the Elk Grove, Calif. City Council contemplates whether or not to pass an anti-gang ordinance (they will in the yet another case of political pandering), here is something that if they and community activist really want to help out citizens and curtail crime should focus on - why not organize and help people save their homes from ‘loan sharks’ like Countrywide Mortgage.

That’s exactly what a group of vocal activist has been able to do in Cleveland. Oh.

Seeing mortgage giants like Countrywide prey on working-class home-owners (read not ‘flippers’ or so-called ‘investors’), Cleveland based East Side Organizing Project (ESOP) has successfully battled the Calabasas, Calif based lending giant.

Interestingly, ESOP started over 10 years ago to help parents with safety issues around schools. Seeing that its membership and participation drop starting in 1999, they soon discovered families were losing homes to foreclosure and sprung into action.

According to the AP story, ESOP was able to apply pressure to lenders and advocate for home-owners;

One after another, the group squeezed and cajoled eight companies and their subsidiaries into signing pacts giving it direct access to a single executive with the authority to restructure problem loans. The companies have agreed to cut interest rates and waive penalty fees and past-due balances.

Last year, ESOP — one of four groups that counsel homeowners referred by Cuyahoga County's foreclosure rescue program — says it got mortgages reworked for about 1,500 homeowners, most already in foreclosure.

So what does this mean for Elk Grove?

While many sincere civic-minded people as well as the current city council are focusing their efforts on reducing crime with the unconstitutional magic bullet, also known as the ‘anti-gang ordinance,’ perhaps a better deterrent to crime in Elk Grove would be to keep houses occupied with owners. Nothing attracts crime more than empty homes with broken windows and dead grass.

Community activist, why not use that energy and talent and target it at the white collar gangs that have put Elk Grove home owners and the whole community in real peril which will result in real crime. Don’t waste your efforts on some Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld like vague threat of imminent street gang violence.

As for the city counsel, why not call out these lenders who are squeezing real Elk Grove homeowners from your collective bully-pulpit?

Ultimately public safety funding will be threatened by a city financial crisis brought on by empty and derelict homes and diminished sales tax revenues brought about by the foreclosure meltdown. It is already happening to the Elk Grove Unified School District and the Cosumnes Community Services District.

Now isn’t that a real and measurable threat?

Do you five council members have the courage to call these predators out and go to bat for your constituents or are you so snug in bed with big-business that will you turn a blind eye?

And finally a word for candidate Katherine Maestas.

Here is a free campaign idea. Seeing as you have not come forward with any initiatives yet, why not take this and run with it?

Why not say that if elected, you will use your position as a member of the city council to push the City of Elk Grove to go after lenders like ESOP did? If they can succeed, why can’t the city?

It would be a sea change to see a council member who is more interested with homeowners than some Mercedes-driving-Gucci-shoe-wearing real estate developer. Also you can bet Sophia Scherman wouldn’t have the courage to stand up for the small guy.

2008-02-24T01:48:00.000-08:00

At least Berry showed up

It's that time of the year again - For the Razzies.

This years big 'winners' were Eddie Murphy and Linday Lohan

Long time readers of this blog may remember when Halle Berry won a Razzie a few years ago. Well for old time sake, here is a link to that story.

At least Berry was able to eat her humble pie with humor. As for Murphy and Lohan, they didn't make the show.

2008-02-15T18:03:00.000-08:00

Congressman having it both ways

Congressman Dan Lungren likes having it both ways.

As a self avowed fiscal conservative, one would think he would be against the widespread use of earmarks, aka, pork.

Well he is, except when it helps him buy some votes as it surely will in the small South Sacramento County community of Galt, CA.

Good thing for the people of Galt. They get a new interchange (at least it's not a bridge to nowhere) and it is a way better use of funds than the War on Iraq.

But just how are we going to pay for all these earmarks? Perhaps by using the money we are pouring in Iraq on infrastructure instead.

2008-01-24T06:14:00.000-08:00

'It wasn't me! It was the other dude!'

Consider this headline:

Rogue trader, acting alone and unnoticed at low level loses bank $7 billion

Yeah, right -- which brings to mind this cinematic bit.

Early in “Jaws” two boys surface in wetsuits. One is wearing a wooden shark fin. It’s a nighttime prank to scare people.

When the two see a Coast Guardsman pointing a rifle at them, the smaller one points finger at bigger boy and says, “He made me do it.”

Yeah, right.

Was the audience expected to believe that? No. That’s was what was funny about it the scene.

Everyone knows bad boys lie. Everyone knows they try to weasel out of trouble by blaming others.

Only here, the bank management points to a low-level employee and says, “He made us lose it.”

Lawyers call it "The Other Dude Defense."

As in the suspect telling the cops, "It was wasn't me! It was the other dude!"

2008-01-22T06:07:00.000-08:00

World markets decline further, fingernails chewed on Wall Street

Stock prices plummeted worldwide Monday, amid heightened fears of a US recession. While over the course of last week US financial markets suffered the worst fall since 2002, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping by 5 percent, many Asian and European indices dropped by a similar amount in just one day. It was the biggest one-day fall in world stock markets since September 11, 2001. Industrial stocks fell together with financial, suggesting that the US credit crisis, hitherto confined mainly to the banking and mortgage sectors, is spilling over into the real economy worldwide. WSWS

The scorecard so far:

-- India’s Bombay Stock Index plunges 7.4%
-- Brazil’s Bovespa shrivels 6.6%
-- Hong Kong’s Hang Seng off 5.5 percent
-- Shanghai Composite descends 5.14%
-- Japan’s Nikkei off by 4%
-- Filipino, S. Korean, Aussie marts also off

And now it’s 9:15 a.m. on the East Coast. Let’s see what’s happening there.

2008-01-21T17:23:00.000-08:00

Wall Street was closed for the holiday

Today, stock markets panicked around the world. Took a nose dive.

One London trader, Jaweid Afsar, of Securequity, said the day's events were "very, very nerve-racking". The FTSE turned into a red blur during what Tim Hughes, head of sales trading at IG Index, described as an "incredible day of trading" as Europe faced the repercussions of severe Asian losses overnight.

Meanwhile in Frankfurt a dealer described how a "mass sell-off" across Europe was following the US jitters. "Pure panic is ruling here," he said.
Christoph Lindner, a trader at Baader Bank, agreed. "This is awful," he said. "This is a Black Monday."

"I was sitting here between 9am and 2pm, and in principle the only thing I got was sell orders," said Stefan Kaiser, a trader at the Frankfurt brokerage NM Fleischhacker. He added: "Getting drunk won't help because there'll be more of the same tomorrow." The Independent/UK

All was quiet in New York, however. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, you see. Stock Exchange closed.

Ah, but there is tomorrow. Tomorrow will be Tuesday. And the NYSE will be open again. Then the end will be written plain. Maybe like another Tuesday of not so long ago.

2008-01-21T06:11:00.000-08:00

In the interests of journalistic fairness and balanced viewpoints...

...here is a musical editorial comment in, uh, support of George W. Bush's presidential orders -- both the ones he announced publicly and the ones that eventually leaked out too late to do anything about them.

All these decisions, some say, were, uh, er... I just can't bring myself to say it, so let's let The Right Band do it:

I mean, a reporter's gotta do what a reporter's gotta do, right, Dan?

So, now for the balanced part:

See? Our editorial integrity preserved.

Ironically enough, "TRB" was the signature byline of the semi-mythical semi-mythological editorialist for The New Republic magazine, a publication long considered a liberal opinion journal from the early parts of the 20th century when it hosted writers ranging from George Orwell to Hannah Arendt to Reinhold Niebuhr until it was bought out by conservatives who then used TNR's well-earned respectability to cloak the nefarious agenda of its new stable of writers that included Michael Ledeen, Fred Barnes, Irving Kristol, Charles Krauthammer and many others of the neocon ilk who were and are even worse.

Or, now that I think of it, maybe it is not ironic. Maybe it is a Whole as seen by its Parts.

2008-01-21T03:27:00.001-08:00

Soylent Green is the answer…

…to this eco-enviro problem. Escarole-eating GOPers have more food value than those of us in the starving classes, which is why Republicans are called the "Have-mores."

Always remember, being rich also means being rich in vitamins and protein:

As levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rise in the 21st century, the nutritional value of many major food crops could decrease, according to a study conducted at Southwestern University.

Max Taub, an associate professor of biology at Southwestern, did a "meta-analysis" of previous research that had been done on the effect of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide on the protein concentrations in barley, rice, wheat, soybean and potato.

His study found that the crops had significantly lower protein concentrations when grown in atmospheres containing elevated levels of carbon dioxide. Potatoes showed a nearly 14 percent decrease in protein, while the grain crops of barley, rice and wheat showed reductions of 15.3 percent, 9.9 percent and 9.8 percent respectively. The protein decrease in soybeans was much lower, at 1.4 percent.

"This is just one more example of the impact global changes could have on us," Taub says. He notes that the impact will be felt the most in poorer countries, where people rely more on plant products for protein. ScientificBlogging

2008-01-19T15:08:00.000-08:00

Mitt wins Nevada...Perhaps this performer helped!

Mitt Romney won big in the Nevada caucus today. No surprise with it's large Mormon concentration.

Perhaps this performer, a drag queen singing "praises" to the former Massachusetts's governor her own version of "Wedding Bell Blues" helped Romney corner the adult entertainer segment of Nevada!

2008-01-18T19:51:00.000-08:00

Finally! The press is growing some

After what seems to be eternity, reporters covering the presidential campaigns, are growing some balls.

In this case it is AP reporter Glen Johnson who question Mitt Romney on his claims that he has no Washington lobbyist on staff, which of course he does!

(Thanks to