Things to Know - 14 June

1.  Tired of the same old - same old political stuff?  Take a break, and recall the days when we were able to enjoy the fine spirits of alcohol, which to many of us are now just memories.  In any event, I did not realize that Gin has stepped into the lime light (with a mix of quinine), as a fine crafted spirit:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/dining/gin-leads-summers-fight.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120613&pagewanted=print

2.  Okay, put down your glass - back to politics and other stuff.   Focus groups show that they are frustrated and fearful of the economy and its prospects, but are distrustful and wary of Wall Street and Romney at the same time:

http://www.nationalmemo.com/swing-voters-bemoan-obamas-economy-but-strongly-distrust-romney/

3.  Newt fell off his ranting and gurgled something rarely spoken by him:  An actual factual statement of fact not clouded by bombast:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77357.html

4.  George Lakoff, distinguished professor of Linguistics at UC Berkeley, provides a very good perspective on what went wrong with the Democrats and their strategy in Wisconsin.  We should all learn from it and rebut all the Republicans' points by arguing on the immorality of their policies rather than confuse the voters with boring discussion of policy:

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/9751-the-wisconsin-blues?tmpl=component&print=1

5.  Robert Reich (another Berkeley Professor), advises that the reason that the economy is unable to get moving is because the consumers do not have the money to spend and nothing is going to move until that basic factor is improved:

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/9761-why-the-economy-cant-get-out-of-first-gear?tmpl=component&print=1

6.  In one respect, the real estate market is booming.  That "one respect" is actually just one home - the White House.   There is an unbelievable amount of money being ponied up by the wealthiest people around to buy it:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/secret-money-fuels-the-2012-elections/2012/06/13/gJQAsZ4FaV_story.html?hpid=z3

7.  If any of you have been keeping up with the JPMorgan Chase debacle and their leader being questioned by a Senate sub-committee today, you probably saw the whole charade of how cozy Senators (on both sides) are in the pocket of the Wall Street lobbyists and most of them (a couple were not pleased) pretended to be harsh:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/opinion/jamie-dimon-on-the-hill.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&pagewanted=print

8.  This program has the potential of being a winner all the way around.   A panhandler receives a dog from the city pound to look after in exchange for $75 a week and dropping the panhandling and the signs.  The city is going to spend the money anyway for sheltering the animal.   The "owner" now has something to care for, and just might find it more rewarding and interesting than panhandling:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-puppy-panhandlers-20120614,0,5528144.story

--
Juan

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