Saturday, September 6, 2014

Andy Borowitz

McCain Rips Obama's Failure to Bomb Stonehenge

BY 


WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) blasted President Obama on Saturday for failing to bomb Stonehenge while in the United Kingdom for the NATO summit.

"This is a time when it's important to send our enemies the message that the United States is strong," McCain told Fox News. "I can think of no better way to do that than by blowing Stonehenge off the map."

McCain said that he was "astounded" by Obama's reluctance to order airstrikes on the ancient monument. "He had a clean shot at Stonehenge, and he blinked," he said.


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Juan
 
 
There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.
-- Ray Bradbury   

Friday, September 5, 2014

Something to Know - 5 September

Well, here I am at around 0305 (PDT), sitting in front of my iMac.   Can't go back to sleep. Still adjusting to the time zone change after 30 days in Europe.  I did catch the Rachel Maddow show last night, and her chance to bury the disgraced former governor from Virginia (Bob McDonnell).  It was a classic Rachel moment.  So, here's today's piece of work. Maybe I can go back to sleep now:

Mike Luckovich

1.  One major news story while in Europe was the beheading that also freaked out the Brits because the executioner had a traceable British accent.  I saw the Prime Minister (David Cameron), full of rage and consternation, say that "we will track the responsible persons down and bring them to justice and put them away for the rest of their life".   ISIS is probably reveling in this display of rage.  It seems as they hardly care about death in the sacrifice to the Jihad, and are eager to act like this for the cause.   David Brook's, in this piece, reflects on our reaction to beheading:

2.  Paul Krugman continues to wage his fight in pushing back on the opponents of the Federal Reserve and the mindsets that times of economic slumps call for penurious public policy.  Warning, this is not for fans of Ayn Rand:


Now, may I become overwhelmed with sleep?
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Juan
 
 
There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.
-- Ray Bradbury   

Thursday, September 4, 2014

Andy Borowitz


I am back from 30 days of wandering around Europe.   I have been keeping up somewhat by limited views on the world with my iPad.   World has gone to a bit of a kerfuffle, I would say.   Anyway, this is one way to begin the re-startup process of getting down to the essence of staying informed:

TODAY 9:17 AM

Growing Pressure on Obama to Do Something Stupid

BY 




WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Arguing that his motto "Don't do stupid stuff" is not a coherent foreign policy, critics of President Obama are pressuring him to do something stupid without further delay.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) led the attack on Thursday, blasting Obama for failing to craft a stupid response to crises in Iraq, Syria, and Ukraine.

"Instead of reacting to these events with the haste and recklessness they deserve, the President has chosen to waste valuable time thinking," McCain said. "This goes against the most fundamental principles of American foreign policy."

Graham also expressed frustration with the President, telling reporters, "The American people are waiting for President Obama to do something stupid, but their patience is wearing thin."

In his most withering criticism, McCain called Obama's "stubborn refusal to do stupid stuff" a failure of leadership. "If I were President, you can bet your bottom dollar I would have done plenty of stupid stuff by now," he said.


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Juan
 
 
There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.
-- Ray Bradbury   

Thursday, August 14, 2014

NYTimes.com: Working Anything but 9 to 5

Earning a living wage is one thing. Having a stable work schedule is just as important. Workers who are at the mercy of a computer scheduling program suffer in ways that many of us are not aware. J5
 
Sent by juanma2t@gmail.com:

Working Anything but 9 to 5

By JODI KANTOR

Increasing numbers of low-income mothers and fathers are at the center of a new collision that pits workplace scheduling technology against the routines of parenting.

Or, copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://nyti.ms/1sXmYGS
To get unlimited access to all New York Times articles, subscribe today. See Subscription Options.
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Copyright 2014 | The New York Times Company | NYTimes.com 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018

 

Saturday, August 9, 2014

NYTimes.com: It’s a Can’t-Lose Year

Sending this from the beautiful city of Prague. The beer is great and is cheaper than coca cola
 
Sent by juanma2t@gmail.com:
Op-Ed Columnist

It's a Can't-Lose Year

By GAIL COLLINS

Seriously, people. It?s only a bad year if you?re Santa Claus.

Or, copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://nyti.ms/1sGzSsy
To get unlimited access to all New York Times articles, subscribe today. See Subscription Options.
To ensure delivery to your inbox, please add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book.
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Copyright 2014 | The New York Times Company | NYTimes.com 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018

 

Monday, August 4, 2014

Something to Know - 4 August

Clay Bennett

This piece by Charles Blow kind of wraps up John Boehner's gang of clowns in one package for the season:

So with Congress going on vacation, so am I.  I will return some time during the first week in September.  Wife and I are doing the bucket list thing - river cruise on the Danube, and a bus ride from London to Wales, to Scotland, and all around and back to London.  My daughter-in-law will fill in with a few news-worthy items as appropriate from her Santa Monica News Bureau - but you have to check it out by going to 


Cheerio



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Juan
 
 
Dick Armey (the former House majority leader) is a stupid person's idea of what a thoughtful person sounds like.
-- Ezra Klein     

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Something to Know 3 August

History of religion marred by unceasing intolerance

This past few weeks, we have been reminded of the 40th anniversary of the existence of Nixon's oval office tapes.  Most of the analysis of those recordings dwell on the revelation of the basic insecurities and malevolent weakness of RMN.  In this piece, Maureen Dowd leads us to a similar exercise where the 43rd president has his own character failings as he would write a book about his father.  Throw in a poke at Obama in the end, and you have an interesting read:

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Juan
 
 
Dick Armey (the former House majority leader) is a stupid person's idea of what a thoughtful person sounds like.
-- Ezra Klein     

Friday, August 1, 2014

Something to Know - 1 August

Signe Wilkinson

1.  Experience tells us that we learn from our experience.  Not so, says the Nobel Economist.  Seems like there are always experts who ignore the past in preparing for the present and future:

2.  Anti-Poverty programs are efforts to help those who need help.  Whether it is government or private organizations, David Brooks rightly shows that understanding the effects on the receivers of the programs are probably just as important as  what is given:
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Juan
 
 
Dick Armey (the former House majority leader) is a stupid person's idea of what a thoughtful person sounds like.
-- Ezra Klein     

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Something to Know - 31 July

No cartoon is needed today.  This is is both funny and sad at the same time:



The National Memo

--- Breaking News ---


House Fails To Pass Immigration Bill, Asks Obama To Act Alone

House Republicans pulled their embattled immigration legislation on Thursday, after failing to find enough Republicans to vote for a pared-down funding bill. The embarrassing defeat for Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) greatly increases the odds that the House will not do anything to act on the border crisis before leaving Washington for its August recess. 

Ironically, Speaker Boehner — who, one day earlier, advanced his plan to sue President Obama for allegedly exceeding his authority with executive orders — responded to the defeat by urging President Obama to act alone on securing the border. Read more

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Juan
 
 
The difference between a top-flight creative man and the hack is his ability to express powerful meanings indirectly.
-- Vance Packard     

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Something to Know - 29 July

Ben Sargent

1.  Yesterday, I opened up with an article critical of gov. christie's ploy to suggest that public employees would get the shaft in stabilizing his state's budgeting problems.  This article today, keeps open the focus on his charade to deceive and steal from unionized state employees.   This is what ALEC and all of the other conservative zealots are doing around the country - weaken or eliminate unions, and public employee unions, mostly.   This is a sad testament to the perpetuation of income inequality that is taking over this land:
http://www.nationalmemo.com/governor-christie-embraces-theft/


2.  Okay, I'll lighten up now.  Here is a puff piece on subtle efforts to make you buy stuff that you do not need.  If there is money to be made, some force will find its way to make it happen.  Social media has turned into a stage where whimsical exchanges of photos and banter are paid for by the collection of your personal information that is used to sell you something, or to enter into your attention span to stick a subliminal commercial message in your brain.  But hey, it's all free....right?
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Juan
 
 
The difference between a top-flight creative man and the hack is his ability to express powerful meanings indirectly.
-- Vance Packard    

Monday, July 28, 2014

Coming up with a concoction to get Congress to agree on something (transportation related)

Good riddance. Over here in transportation-land, we have been watching to see when/if/what it would take for Congress to renew or extend the National Highway Trust. Though it's got the word 'highway' in it, we in transit also rely on it, for it includes funds to subsidize public transit. No Highway Trust = things get rough.

Anyway, it looks like the Fund will be extended during the lame duck session. The NY Times came up with a concoction/cocktail to tide us over called The Bipartison Compromise: "a cocktail nobody enjoys but serves the bare minimum purpose of getting you drunk", that includes 'offsets' with mixers. 

The Bipartisan Compromise
1.5 oz Everclear
0.5 oz port (any kind)
Egg white

Something to Know - 28 July

Jeff Danziger

1.  This op-ed in the NY Times yesterday has driven a cacophony of howls from opposing opinions.  Such is life.  I can remember my memories of hanging around Southern California beaches back in  the 70s with all types of people gathering signatures to petitions to put measures on the California ballot to legalize marijuana.  Young college kids, hippies, and citizens concerned with its prohibition on society were the only proponents.  Now, the issue has moved to the top of the opinion generator - the New York Times.  Change happens, and it is never a smooth process:

2.  There will be much media focus on how Gov. Christie works through the huge problem of the budget shortfall in New Jersey and its ability to meet funding for the public employee pension system.  I particularly like his statement that "promises were made that cannot be kept".  How he navigates this without a flood of Sandy Hook federal money to solve his state insolvency will be closely monitored.  I might want to ask him why promises to keep him in office after his corrupt election tactics are impossible to keep.  Does he regard public policy for employee benefits and compensation as merely "promises".  Perhaps he should regard his promise not to raise taxes as something he cannot keep:

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Something to Know - 26 July (revised for link correction)

Rob Rogers

1.  As the right-of-center political soldiers united in a peculiar form of a collective blob of nothingness and a distaste for anything "Obama", a funny thing has happened.  The blob is getting unglued by factions of realism and progressive thinking.  It is these particles of sanity that are creating a whiplash of disunity that just may be enough to put the whole blob out of touch with voters.  Here is an example:

2.  Those of us who experienced the 60's will appreciate this article.   When a bunch of us were in college, we saw the unrest, hate, and murders as our friends went to the South on a mission of uniting a neglected part of this country.  It was scary, and for good reason.  Today, there seems to be a difference when we look closely at what are parts of the South.  Not all has changed for the better, but globalization and transplants have contributed in some way:

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Juan
 
 
It may sound funny, but I love the South. I don't choose to live anywhere else. There's land here, where a man can raise cattle, and I'm going to do it some day.
-- Medgar Evers    

Something to Know - 26 July

Rob Rogers

1.  As the right-of-center political soldiers united in a peculiar form of a collective blob of nothingness and a distaste for anything "Obama", a funny thing has happened.  The blob is getting unglued by factions of realism and progressive thinking.  It is these particles of sanity that are creating a whiplash of disunity that just may be enough to put the whole blob out of touch with voters.  Here is an example:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/26/opinion/joe-nocera-chamber-of-commerce-lost-its-way-in-right-turn.html?emc=eta1

2.  Those of us who experienced the 60's will appreciate this article.   When a bunch of us were in college, we saw the unrest, hate, and murders as our friends went to the South on a mission of uniting a neglected part of this country.  It was scary, and for good reason.  Today, there seems to be a difference when we look closely at what are parts of the South.  Not all has changed for the better, but globalization and transplants have contributed in some way:
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-wagman-south-race-20140727-story.html 

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Juan
 
 
It may sound funny, but I love the South. I don't choose to live anywhere else. There's land here, where a man can raise cattle, and I'm going to do it some day.
-- Medgar Evers    

Friday, July 25, 2014

Andy Borowitz

Congress Blocks Obama's Attempt to Order New Office Supplies

BY 


CREDITPHOTOGRAPH BY PETE SOUZA/THE WHITE HOUSE.

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) — The war between Congress and the White House took a turn for the worse on Friday as House Republicans sought to prevent President Obama from ordering new office supplies.

The House panel that mandated the office-supply freeze denied that it was politically motivated, citing "budgetary concerns." "It's time President Obama learned a tough lesson," House Speaker John Boehner told reporters. "Being President does not entitle you to a spending spree at Staples."

At the White House, the President blasted the Republicans' move to strip him of legal pads, pencils, and other office essentials, calling it "just their latest attempt to keep me from doing my job."

In an Oval Office appearance, a visibly irritated President Obama showed reporters a nearly empty supply cabinet and said, "They have manufactured this crisis," noting that he will be out of paper clips and Post-its by August.


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Juan
 
 
Vegetarian - that's an old Indian word meaning lousy hunter.
-- Andy Rooney    

Something to Know - 25 Juy

Ben Sargent

1.  I kind of like this op-ed by Paul Krugman.  You see, when I left Georgia over three years ago in our move back to California, we were asked why we would want to go back to LaLa Land and all the problems of a bankrupt state., high cost of living, and high taxes.   A review of the vital signs as of today (home value, health of government, quality of political leadership, etc, etc) makes us feel better.  I even get to take courses as an auditor at a real local college.  Life is good:

2.  From the Albany News Bureau, comes this article about something that many city political leaders always try and get taxpayers to fund; sport stadiums.  Some cities even go as far as slashing city pensions and services to get this stuff.  You want to know why Los Angeles does not have an NFL team....?   It is because there are enough people around who can smell the pending sleaze every time this comes up.  The city of Los Angeles almost gave away the Coliseum to USC for football.  Why do taxpayers need to fund something that so few people will enjoy, and endure home equity loans for tickets?  NIMBY.  Let private enterprise fund the facilities:
http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/Stadium-subsidies-are-financed-by-pension-cuts-5645594.php?t=e1554c1649

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****
Juan
 
Vegetarian - that's an old Indian word meaning lousy hunter.
-- Andy Rooney  

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Andy Borowitz

Rick Perry Orders Dallas Cowboys to Mexican Border

BY 


CreditPhotograph by James D Smith/AP.

DALLAS (The Borowitz Report)—In his boldest move yet to address the immigration crisis, on Thursday Texas Governor Rick Perry dispatched the Dallas Cowboys to the United States' border with Mexico.

In a photo opportunity with the Cowboys and several of the team's cheerleaders, Perry explained the rationale behind his latest decision. "Those who would cross our borders illegally will have to contend with the power and fury of America's Team," he said.

Critics of the move dismissed it as political theatre, noting that once the Cowboys arrived at the border it was unclear what they would do there.

Additionally, there were questions about how effective the Cowboys would be in stopping illegal immigrants, since the team has the worst-ranked defense in the N.F.L.


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Juan
 
 
The problem in defense is how far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower  

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Something to Know - 23 July

Jeff Danziger

1.  Two separate federal court rulings on the same issue with opposite conclusions.  This will drag the Supremes back to something they would just as soon not have to handle, but must now:

2.  For those who have benefited from 401(k) programs, employer contributions, and related enhancements, it is time to realize that this really favored the upper-end of the  "99%", and did not favor those at the bottom end.  This whole program should be revised so that there is equality for all, or an even playing field for all.  We tend to forget that we have created gizmos along the way that feather our nest at the expense of those who really need it more than we do:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/opinion/a-401-k-for-all.html?emc=eta1
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****
Juan
 
 
The problem in defense is how far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower  

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Andy borowitz


Perry Boosts Presidential Stature by Using Troops for No Reason

BY 



AUSTIN (The Borowitz Report)—An aide to Rick Perry is confident that the Texas Governor proved he "has what it takes to be President" with his decision on Monday to send troops somewhere for no reason.

By deploying a thousand National Guardsmen to the U.S.-Mexico border, Perry has shown that as President he would be "ready and willing" to use troops without a defined objective, mission, or exit strategy, the aide confirmed.

"Sending troops someplace with no clear idea of why they are going or what they are supposed to be doing once they get there is a key part of the Presidential skill set," said the aide, Harland Dorrinson. "Rick Perry has just shown that he's got that nailed down."

Dorrinson acknowledged that the gold standard for using troops for no reason might have been set by Perry's predecessor in Texas, George W. Bush, but added, "If anyone can beat that record, it's Rick."

According to the aide, Perry's "extremely Presidential response" to the immigration crisis is already winning him the praise of G.O.P. voters. "Nothing unites Republicans more than standing up to children," he said.

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Juan
 
 
The problem in defense is how far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower  

Monday, July 21, 2014

Andy Borowitz

TODAY 9:08 AM

Nation Apparently Believed in Science at Some Point

BY 

CreditNASA

MINNEAPOLIS (The Borowitz Report)—Historians studying archival photographs from four decades ago have come to the conclusion that the U.S. must have believed in science at some point.

According to the historian Davis Logsdon, who has been sifting through mounds of photographic evidence at the University of Minnesota, the nation apparently once held the view that investing in science and even math could yield accomplishments that would be a source of national pride.

While Logsdon has not developed a complete theory to explain the United States' pro-science stance during that era, he attributes some of it to the liberal views of the President at that time, Richard M. Nixon.


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Juan
 
 
The problem in defense is how far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower  

Friday, July 18, 2014

Andy Borowitz

The Borowitz Report

JULY 18, 2014

BOEHNER DROPS OBAMA LAWSUIT; SAYS IT WOULD MEAN DOING SOMETHING

POSTED BY 

493091733-670.jpg

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) dropped his plans to sue President Obama on Friday, explaining to reporters, "I realized it would mean doing something."

In a brief appearance before the press, Speaker Boehner talked about his gradual realization that "filing a lawsuit requires effort and, yes, work."

"I came to the conclusion that while suing the President would be the best thing for the American people, it would also require that I do something," he said, struggling to retain his composure. "And that would be a betrayal of everything I stand for."

Mr. Boehner's decision drew praise from fellow Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), who called it "courageous."

"I know this was a very difficult decision for John," McConnell said. "But at the end of the day you have to be true to your core values."



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Juan
 
 
Fatherhood is great because you can ruin someone from scratch.
-- Jon Stewart