Things to Know - 3 March

1.  This American Life is a great podcast.  I listened to one part last night, and it is probably something you should know about.   It concerns a Puerto Rican NY Bronx resident by the name of Louis Ortiz - a laid off (terminated?) Verizon phone guy, who just happens to look like Obama's twin brother.  There is this short video about a movie that is trying to get off started, and you just might want to listen to the podcast:
http://audacitythemovie.com/

2.  In subtle ways, the opposition to the GeeOpie guys is starting to pull on the noose that the Wannabees have put around their neck.  Aided by a totally crude and bombastic super Porkie (R.Limbaugh), the Repubnicants are rapidly finding themselves on the wrong side of what should not be issues:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/post/obama-calls-sandra-fluke-georgetown-law-student-assailed-by-rush-limbaugh/2012/03/02/gIQAIoW0mR_blog.html?wpisrc=nl_pmpolitics

3.  There is much discussion and concern on the phenomena of Super PACs and what it is doing and will do to our understanding of a free and open democratic process in elections.  To that end, here is a list of the top 10 donors to the system, who they are, how much money is involved, and to whom the money flows:
http://www.nationalmemo.com/article/super-donors-our-reading-guide-top-10-super-pac-givers

4.  Santorum has a narrow corner where he espouses his views on social issues, but he display a not-ready-for-prime portfolio on other issues, federal drug policy being one:
http://www.truth-out.org/print/13159

5.  Thom Hartman give his views on the news and of particular interest is Georgia's proposed legislation to criminalize union picketing in front of businesses:
http://www.truth-out.org/print/13150

6.  Here you have an article that says that we are witnessing the "death of the Republican Party".   Yes, I agree.  Its been hijacked by the GeeOpee (or GeeOpie).  Redistricting, in some case, and self-destruction in others, is what is happening.  If the improvement in the economy takes hold and continues, and the Wannabees keep killing each other, and the goofy various Republican-controlled state legislators (and sheriffs) keep on going the way they are, the voters will throw them away:
http://www.truth-out.org/print/13137

7.  Joe Nocera offers the opinion that a Santorum nomination and a subsequently humiliating loss in the general election is probably the quickest way to rehabilitate the GeeOpee pardee into once again being a viable Republican Party:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/03/opinion/nocera-rooting-for-santorum.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

8.  The City of El Segundo is a small enclave just south of the Los Angeles Airport.  It is full of aerospace firms, and one huge refinery complex run by Standard Oil Chevron.  Chevron is so big and well connected to key city officials that it pays or ignores whatever city taxes it chooses, and gets away with it:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-el-segundo-20120302,0,5046388,print.story

--
Juan

"Man is so made that he can only find relaxation from one kind of labor by taking up another."
       -- Anatole France

"If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read "President Can't Swim"."
       -- Lyndon B. Johnson

"The best way to keep children home is to make the home atmosphere pleasant--and let the air out of the tires."
       -- Dorothy Parker

"Fall is my favorite season in Los Angeles, watching the birds change color and fall from the trees."
       -- David Letterman