"Black Leather Jacket" Rocking Scoundrels
Thanks to zooneyman.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Saturday Crazy Biker Boyz Rock 'n Roll Blogging
You might think this is a wee departure from my usual musical offerings. Let's just say I can relate to the subject matter. Hey, I wuz young once too, ya know...
Thanks to zooneyman.
Thanks to zooneyman.
Fortune Teller
This is dedicated to anyone who thinks they know how the Obama administration is going to turn out. Heh. So far, all my attempts to find out exactly what date and time to show up at the Race & Sports Book with my life savings have come to naught...
To hear Mr. Plant and Ms. Krause shift gears a little, go hear 'Your Long Journey' and see a nice slide show.
Robert Plant & Alison Krause
To hear Mr. Plant and Ms. Krause shift gears a little, go hear 'Your Long Journey' and see a nice slide show.
Whiskey ain't just fer breakfast any more
In honor of yesterday being the 75th Anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition (see post below) I thought I'd kick off the weekend with a nice version of an old Irish (figures!) fiddle tune. Some pretty good pickin'. Enjoy.
This tune is usually done as an instrumental, but here are the lyrics from Triskelle, whose masthead reads 'You are now entering Free Derry':
Early one day the sun wouldn't shine
I don't recommend drinking on an empty stomach, but I damn sure do recommend doing anything you can to give the anti-fun people fits, as I'm sure the last verse did!
Update:
I was clicking through the thumbnails after the video and found this short version of the tune by Broadwaybabe923. This 13-year-old young lady is pretty amazing!
Brad Davis,Robert Bowlin,and Wil Maring doing a fine job on this Irish classic.
"Whiskey Before Breakfast"
This tune is usually done as an instrumental, but here are the lyrics from Triskelle, whose masthead reads 'You are now entering Free Derry':
Early one day the sun wouldn't shine
I was walking down the street not feeling too fine
I saw two old men with a bottle between 'em
And this was the song that I heard them singing
Lord preserve us and protect us,
We've been drinking whiskey 'fore breakfast
Well I stopped by the steps where they was sitting
And I couldn't believe how drunk they were getting
I said "old men, have you been drinking long?"
They said "just long enough to be singing this song"
Lord preserve us and protect us,
We've been drinking whiskey 'fore breakfast
Well they passed me the bottle and I took a little sip
And it felt so good I just couldn't quit
I drank some more and next thing I knew
There were three of us sitting there singing this tune
Lord preserve us and protect us,
We've been drinking whiskey 'fore breakfast
One by one everybody in the town
They heard our ruckus and they all came down
And pretty soon all the streets were ringing
With the sound of the whole town laughing and singing
I don't recommend drinking on an empty stomach, but I damn sure do recommend doing anything you can to give the anti-fun people fits, as I'm sure the last verse did!
Update:
I was clicking through the thumbnails after the video and found this short version of the tune by Broadwaybabe923. This 13-year-old young lady is pretty amazing!
Friday, December 5, 2008
NUMMI*, and a few words from Nummy...
*Sounds like 'roomy', not 'dummy'.
Following up on Fixer's post about the pending Big 3 bailout, I thought I'd whup out a little about the factory that made my pickup, of which a photo appears on the masthead of NUMMI's site.
Wiki, many links as is their wont.
From Toyota:
This approach seems to be working, if the number of their products that I see on the road is any indicator. Toyota Tacomas and Corollas, that is. The less said about Pontiac Vibes the better, I think.
A word about build quality and reliability from the driver's seat of a Fremont-built Tacoma: In 3½ years and 35,000 miles, there have been exactly three problems with this vehicle.
The little plastic dashpot that keeps the glove compartment lid from slamming open fell off. It's been put back in place by me and by the Service Manager at Carson City Toyota. It always falls right back off. The problem is a little molded-in plastic split pin that's just ever so slightly bent. The solution is to either replace the dashboard, which is out of the question, heat the pin and spread it a little without melting the entire dashboard, bend it cold and risk breaking it off thus ensuring it can never be fixed, or to cram something like a small wedge in the end of the thing after the dashpot is installed. If I ever think I have enough time to mess around like this, I'll go fishing instead. Since Mrs. G's knees do an adequate job of stopping the lid before it tears itself off its little hinges, and since it's a royal pain in the ass to get my big fat fingers in the tiny little place it resides, and since I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing I had a vehicle with nothing wrong with it, I am happy to let this inconsequential problem slide.
At about 30K miles, a rear axle seal started leaking, which was noticed by my buds at The Auto & Tire Doctor, who advised me that it was a warranteeable repair. Note: this is one of the best reasons to get your rig serviced regularly by a shop you trust. The Toyota dealer at first said the warranty had expired by one day, even though I had informed them of the problem and made an appointment before the 3 years was up. They self-corrected on this and said oops! when they remembered that the drive train on the products sold out of the showroom forty feet away had a 60,000 mile warranty anyway. They replaced the seal and the brake shoes on that wheel at no cost to me. Happy I are.
The third, and most visible, problem was the right rear plastic mud flap catastrophically partially dismantled itself last weekend. It tore itself almost in two and fell down on the hot exhaust pipe, which put a big melty-lookin' spot on it. Naturally, I called the dealer to see about getting a new one. He had 'em in stock, but at $95 a copy, the damn thing is about three feet behind me at present, awaiting the old Gorilla Glue and ty-wrap treatment. The hardest part so far has been to find push fasteners to reattach it to the truck without another fiscal shock from the dealer. I scored some at an auto parts store that are supposed to fit GM products that look like they'll work. In case the glue and cable tie method doesn't work, the same store has very nice do-it-yourself rubber-like mud flaps for $24.99 the pair. I always liked the reclining nekkid girl with one knee up anyway. Just kiddin', dear. Or there's Pick-n-Pull (1-800-442-JUNK). Heh.
I would say I've had no trouble at all with this truck from NUMMI, and am very happy with it. I consider that I got good value for money. What else is there when it comes to a vehicle?
When it comes to the bailout, I'm torn. On the one hand, given the awful management and shortsightedness that has gotten them to where they are, not to mention the behind-the-times nature of some of their products, and that it didn't come as a surprise but has been heading that way for years, I would have to say that the market should prevail and they be allowed to go down the shitter.
On the other hand, being the sentimental old fool that I am, I kinda got a soft spot in my head for these old American makes. I remember back when they were the good cars. From a flathead six Chrysler in '61, a hand-me-down '50 that my Dad bought new, through a succession of other cars and Chevy and Dodge trucks, a coupla which I still have, they were rugged and dependable. They sorta turned ta shit a few years back, so I went with that other American make, Toyota. I'd hate to see 'em go.
Note: I even had a Ford once while I was in the service. I was desperate for wheels in those days! A '52 four-door sedan, it was painted flat black with a white roof. I called it 'the horny nun'. Used more oil than gas, which wasn't much of a problem as you could get 'reclaimed' oil, AKA 'crankcase squeezins', for 6¢ a quart in those days. I was probably the tenth Marine to own the thing and probably also the tenth Marine to pay fifty bucks for it too. It was better than walkin'. The Marine I sold it to was gonna take it back home to Tennessee and give it to his Dad to haul field hands to the tobacco fields. Picture on request. No concours contender, that one!
If, and it's a big 'if' given their history, the Big 3 can make changes worthy of loaning them our money, then OK, give it to 'em with conditions and oversight that work. Better still, Michael Moore has said that since the entire value of GM stock is only about $3bn, we should just buy it outright rather than give 'em $34bn or whatever it's up to today. Sell the sonofabitch to Toyota or Hyundai or Fiat or somebody that can make it work again and keep Americans employed.
Boy, looking back at this before I post it reminds me of another fine old American car: Rambler.
Following up on Fixer's post about the pending Big 3 bailout, I thought I'd whup out a little about the factory that made my pickup, of which a photo appears on the masthead of NUMMI's site.
Wiki, many links as is their wont.
New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. is an automobile manufacturing plant in Fremont, California. The factory was an old General Motors plant originally opened in 1962 and is now a joint venture between GM and Toyota. When it reopened for production in 1984, it was the first automotive joint venture plant in the United States. GM saw this joint venture as an opportunity to learn about the ideas of lean manufacturing from the Japanese company, while Toyota gained its first manufacturing base in North America and a chance to implement its production system in an American labor environment. Many business textbooks mention NUMMI when they discuss joint ventures.
NUMMI is now an award-winning facility which ranks with other Toyota plants among the most productive manufacturing operations in North America. GM places around 12 managers each year at the plant to learn lean techniques and has improved quality enough across the rest of its operations for it to show through on J.D. Power quality rankings. While the plant has been successful in adopting Lean, other GM plants have seen benefits. GM's Oshawa, Ontario plant received the 2006 JD Power Gold Plant Quality Award, the third time in the last five years.
From Toyota:
As the pioneering joint venture of General Motors Corporation and Toyota Motor Corporation, NUMMI was established in Fremont, California in 1984. NUMMI helped change the automobile industry in the United States by introducing the Toyota Production System and a teamwork-based working environment. The company's core values are based on five cornerstones: teamwork, equity, involvement, mutual trust and respect, and safety.
...
Current Investment: $883.1 million
Employment: 5,333
This approach seems to be working, if the number of their products that I see on the road is any indicator. Toyota Tacomas and Corollas, that is. The less said about Pontiac Vibes the better, I think.
A word about build quality and reliability from the driver's seat of a Fremont-built Tacoma: In 3½ years and 35,000 miles, there have been exactly three problems with this vehicle.
The little plastic dashpot that keeps the glove compartment lid from slamming open fell off. It's been put back in place by me and by the Service Manager at Carson City Toyota. It always falls right back off. The problem is a little molded-in plastic split pin that's just ever so slightly bent. The solution is to either replace the dashboard, which is out of the question, heat the pin and spread it a little without melting the entire dashboard, bend it cold and risk breaking it off thus ensuring it can never be fixed, or to cram something like a small wedge in the end of the thing after the dashpot is installed. If I ever think I have enough time to mess around like this, I'll go fishing instead. Since Mrs. G's knees do an adequate job of stopping the lid before it tears itself off its little hinges, and since it's a royal pain in the ass to get my big fat fingers in the tiny little place it resides, and since I wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing I had a vehicle with nothing wrong with it, I am happy to let this inconsequential problem slide.
At about 30K miles, a rear axle seal started leaking, which was noticed by my buds at The Auto & Tire Doctor, who advised me that it was a warranteeable repair. Note: this is one of the best reasons to get your rig serviced regularly by a shop you trust. The Toyota dealer at first said the warranty had expired by one day, even though I had informed them of the problem and made an appointment before the 3 years was up. They self-corrected on this and said oops! when they remembered that the drive train on the products sold out of the showroom forty feet away had a 60,000 mile warranty anyway. They replaced the seal and the brake shoes on that wheel at no cost to me. Happy I are.
The third, and most visible, problem was the right rear plastic mud flap catastrophically partially dismantled itself last weekend. It tore itself almost in two and fell down on the hot exhaust pipe, which put a big melty-lookin' spot on it. Naturally, I called the dealer to see about getting a new one. He had 'em in stock, but at $95 a copy, the damn thing is about three feet behind me at present, awaiting the old Gorilla Glue and ty-wrap treatment. The hardest part so far has been to find push fasteners to reattach it to the truck without another fiscal shock from the dealer. I scored some at an auto parts store that are supposed to fit GM products that look like they'll work. In case the glue and cable tie method doesn't work, the same store has very nice do-it-yourself rubber-like mud flaps for $24.99 the pair. I always liked the reclining nekkid girl with one knee up anyway. Just kiddin', dear. Or there's Pick-n-Pull (1-800-442-JUNK). Heh.
I would say I've had no trouble at all with this truck from NUMMI, and am very happy with it. I consider that I got good value for money. What else is there when it comes to a vehicle?
When it comes to the bailout, I'm torn. On the one hand, given the awful management and shortsightedness that has gotten them to where they are, not to mention the behind-the-times nature of some of their products, and that it didn't come as a surprise but has been heading that way for years, I would have to say that the market should prevail and they be allowed to go down the shitter.
On the other hand, being the sentimental old fool that I am, I kinda got a soft spot in my head for these old American makes. I remember back when they were the good cars. From a flathead six Chrysler in '61, a hand-me-down '50 that my Dad bought new, through a succession of other cars and Chevy and Dodge trucks, a coupla which I still have, they were rugged and dependable. They sorta turned ta shit a few years back, so I went with that other American make, Toyota. I'd hate to see 'em go.
Note: I even had a Ford once while I was in the service. I was desperate for wheels in those days! A '52 four-door sedan, it was painted flat black with a white roof. I called it 'the horny nun'. Used more oil than gas, which wasn't much of a problem as you could get 'reclaimed' oil, AKA 'crankcase squeezins', for 6¢ a quart in those days. I was probably the tenth Marine to own the thing and probably also the tenth Marine to pay fifty bucks for it too. It was better than walkin'. The Marine I sold it to was gonna take it back home to Tennessee and give it to his Dad to haul field hands to the tobacco fields. Picture on request. No concours contender, that one!
If, and it's a big 'if' given their history, the Big 3 can make changes worthy of loaning them our money, then OK, give it to 'em with conditions and oversight that work. Better still, Michael Moore has said that since the entire value of GM stock is only about $3bn, we should just buy it outright rather than give 'em $34bn or whatever it's up to today. Sell the sonofabitch to Toyota or Hyundai or Fiat or somebody that can make it work again and keep Americans employed.
Boy, looking back at this before I post it reminds me of another fine old American car: Rambler.
75th Anniversary Of Legal Hootch
EssEffChron
Aren't we all?
The 'Prohibition' called the 'War On Some Drugs' needs to be repealed for exactly the same reason: a Puritanical way of turning citizens into criminals that has failed at horrendous expense, both societally and monetarily. On the other hand, if all you want to do is lock up minority people as a way to keep them down because you can no longer enslave them or keep them in their 'place' with Jim Crow laws, it has succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams. It has been of great benefit to the prison industry. It's the American Way.
Trucks loaded with cartons of Tipo Chianti drive to San Francisco's Civic Center after Prohibition ends. Today, the city plans to mark the 75th anniversary of the repeal of the liquor law that made drinkers of nearly everyone.
The repeal of Prohibition was the end of an infamous era in the United States, when the whole nation seemed to turn its back on the law. When booze became illegal, gangsters took over the booze business, and it became fashionable to break the law. Although President Herbert Hoover famously observed that Prohibition was "an experiment noble in purpose," prohibiting liquor made drinkers of nearly everyone.
"It didn't work," said Robert Chandler, an author and a historian for Wells Fargo Bank. "You can't legislate morality" (my em). Although San Francisco didn't have the reputation that places such as Chicago had for breaking the law, the Volstead Act, which enabled the 18th Amendment establishing Prohibition, was widely ignored in Northern California.
"San Francisco always was in favor of, shall we say, 'pleasant living,' " Chandler said.
Aren't we all?
The 'Prohibition' called the 'War On Some Drugs' needs to be repealed for exactly the same reason: a Puritanical way of turning citizens into criminals that has failed at horrendous expense, both societally and monetarily. On the other hand, if all you want to do is lock up minority people as a way to keep them down because you can no longer enslave them or keep them in their 'place' with Jim Crow laws, it has succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams. It has been of great benefit to the prison industry. It's the American Way.
Oh noes!!!!!!1
Unfortunately, I get home early enough in the afternoons (1 pm) to be able to hear all the drivel on CNN before Wolfie comes on (Kyra Phillips - Good god, Rick Sanchez - you must be kidding me). Yesterday, I was treated to auto execs groveling before Congress, agreeing to everything the Banking Committee suggested (pathetic, really). Woulda been nice if the folks at Ford were so accommodating when I worked for 'em or I might still be there but I digress.
The thing that struck me, throughout everything, were the statements that the loss of the American auto industry would result in another Great Depression. Horseshit.
As you know, we here in the Fixer household are close to the auto industry. For those who don't know, I've been a mechanic and engine builder for the better part of my life and most of the Japanese automakers are Mrs. F's clients.
All afternoon yesterday, I had to hear how a loss of one, or more, of the Big Three will result in so many follow-on job losses. They extrapolate out how many suppliers will be affected, how many dealerships, all that stuff. I just answer that with one question. Okay, maybe more than one.
Don't you think the Japenese (Honda, Nissan, Toyota) all have contingency plans to expand to fill the void left by the loss of GM (I use GM because they're the closest to the precipice) or any of the others? Don't you think all of them want a piece of that 11-million unit market share? Don't you think they have a detailed plan to hire a good portion of the trained line workers and maybe take over some of the old assembly plants (if they don't expand their existing lines here)? If they want to sell more cars in America, they're gonna have to build 'em here.
Shit doesn't happen in a vacuum and in a free market like the U.S., (did you hear the auto execs whining about not having trade protection from the government?), there is always someone waiting in the wings to step up. If the Japanese, and probably the Germans and Koreans too, aren't planning to take advantage of the situation they'd be goddamn stupid. There maybe a few upstarts we haven't heard about waiting for their chance as well.
It's time we stop rewarding bad management and greed. The CEOs of Chrysler, Ford, and GM were willing to agree to anything yesterday, I would too for that chunk of change, especially if my existence is threatened, but there is ample evidence agreements will go out the window once they get the loot:
Back close to 30 years ago when Lee Iacocca came to Washington with his hand out, he was given a list of conditions he had to satisfy before he got dollar one. It took him 6 months* and when he came back he got what he was asking for. Chrysler, Ford, and GM shouldn't get a dime until they prove they'll "stick to the script" before they get a dime of public money.
Congress fucked up big time with the Wall St. bailout. I hope they don't turn around and throw money at another bunch who are too stupid, or too willingly ignorant, to read the writing on the wall.
Update:
And just to be clear. I'm not saying the Big Three shouldn't be bailed out. I'm just saying we should make sure it's done right, that there are serious conditions, and that it shouldn't be done immediately just to stave off GM's impending doom.
The thing that struck me, throughout everything, were the statements that the loss of the American auto industry would result in another Great Depression. Horseshit.
As you know, we here in the Fixer household are close to the auto industry. For those who don't know, I've been a mechanic and engine builder for the better part of my life and most of the Japanese automakers are Mrs. F's clients.
All afternoon yesterday, I had to hear how a loss of one, or more, of the Big Three will result in so many follow-on job losses. They extrapolate out how many suppliers will be affected, how many dealerships, all that stuff. I just answer that with one question. Okay, maybe more than one.
Don't you think the Japenese (Honda, Nissan, Toyota) all have contingency plans to expand to fill the void left by the loss of GM (I use GM because they're the closest to the precipice) or any of the others? Don't you think all of them want a piece of that 11-million unit market share? Don't you think they have a detailed plan to hire a good portion of the trained line workers and maybe take over some of the old assembly plants (if they don't expand their existing lines here)? If they want to sell more cars in America, they're gonna have to build 'em here.
Shit doesn't happen in a vacuum and in a free market like the U.S., (did you hear the auto execs whining about not having trade protection from the government?), there is always someone waiting in the wings to step up. If the Japanese, and probably the Germans and Koreans too, aren't planning to take advantage of the situation they'd be goddamn stupid. There maybe a few upstarts we haven't heard about waiting for their chance as well.
It's time we stop rewarding bad management and greed. The CEOs of Chrysler, Ford, and GM were willing to agree to anything yesterday, I would too for that chunk of change, especially if my existence is threatened, but there is ample evidence agreements will go out the window once they get the loot:
...
2:29: Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., asks what the automakers have done for Congress lately in terms of fuel efficiency and responsible spending. Then he addresses questions to Moody’s economist Mark Zandi. Zandi says the federal government should provide aid. He also estimates it will cost $75 billion to $125 billion of taxpayer money from TARP and other federal funds just to keep them out of bankruptcy for the next two years. He doubts the Big Three will "stick to the script" of a bailout and need to be watched, constantly. [my ems]
...
Back close to 30 years ago when Lee Iacocca came to Washington with his hand out, he was given a list of conditions he had to satisfy before he got dollar one. It took him 6 months* and when he came back he got what he was asking for. Chrysler, Ford, and GM shouldn't get a dime until they prove they'll "stick to the script" before they get a dime of public money.
Congress fucked up big time with the Wall St. bailout. I hope they don't turn around and throw money at another bunch who are too stupid, or too willingly ignorant, to read the writing on the wall.
*And yes, I realize GM doesn't have 6 months but tough shit.
Update:
And just to be clear. I'm not saying the Big Three shouldn't be bailed out. I'm just saying we should make sure it's done right, that there are serious conditions, and that it shouldn't be done immediately just to stave off GM's impending doom.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Odetta, 1930-2008
Another good one is gone.
LATimes
Please go read about her.
LATimes
Odetta, the classically trained folk, blues and gospel singer who used her powerfully rich and dusky voice to champion African American music and civil rights issues for more than half a century starting in the folk revival of the 1950s, has died. She was 77.
Please go read about her.
Odetta - Cotton Fields
Goin' Gonzo
Here's something for all you Hunter S. Thompson fans. Of whom I am one also me too.
LATimes
I just know you'll go read what's in between those two quotes without any prompting from moi.
LATimes
The new Hunter S. Thompson CD set
How did Hunter S. Thompson capture the manic, drug-fueled energy of his reportorial pursuits? He was a mad genius, but he had help: He carried a tape recorder. Shout Factory has just released "The Gonzo Tapes: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson," a five-CD set that begins with his Hells Angels work in 1965 and ends in Saigon in 1975.
Music is a constant presence: The Carpenters are on the radio in the background in Vegas, the Hells Angels listen to Joan Baez. The tapes themselves have only mediocre sound quality -- some people are too far from the mike, the sound of traffic intrudes, parts are muffled, and sometimes the recording stops mid-sentence. Then again, listening to these CDs is like sitting in a room with Thompson, with the soundtrack of popular music and the motion and the chaos. You can even hear the ice in his glass. They provide a ringside seat to witness the glory -- and the destruction -- of the great gonzo writer.
I just know you'll go read what's in between those two quotes without any prompting from moi.
Obama calls on Fox News at press conference
Raw Story
Yeah, I miss Bill's womb broom too.
As to the Paulson/TARP question, Obama gave the answer he needed to, which didn't enlighten anybody. Just like F** News.
Breaking a streak of snubs, President-elect Barack Obama, at a Wednesday press conference with New Mexico Governor and Commerce Secretary designee Bill Richardson, took a question from a Fox News correspondent.
Obama, who ignored Fox News five consecutive times at previous press conferences, answered a question from the network's Wendell Goler.
Goler asked Obama if he was fearful over the prospect of Treasury Sec. Paulson allocating all TARP bailout funds before he takes office. "And if I may also ask the Governor: What happened to the beard, sir?"
"I'm going to answer this question about the beard," Obama responded. "I think it was a mistake for him to get rid of it. I thought that whole Western, rugged look was really working for him. For some reason, maybe because it was scratchy when he kissed his wife, he was forced to get rid of it--but we're deeply disappointed with the loss of the beard.
Yeah, I miss Bill's womb broom too.
As to the Paulson/TARP question, Obama gave the answer he needed to, which didn't enlighten anybody. Just like F** News.
Mr. Bush, Here's Something You May Not Understand About The Millions Who'll Attend Obama's Inauguration
Tony Peyser
Many simply want to see Barack do something
Many thought no Black would ever be achieving
But after two terms of corruption, they also need
To be damn sure that you're actually leaving.
U.S. Supreme Court: State Medical Marijuana Laws Not Preempted by Federal Law
Americans For Safe Access
A step in the right direction. Now local LEOs should work to interdict Feds who come into town to arrest yer granny and swipe her stash. I suggest arresting them on domestic terrorism charges.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a landmark decision today in which California state courts found that its medical marijuana law was not preempted by federal law. The state appellate court decision from November 28, 2007, ruled that "it is not the job of the local police to enforce the federal drug laws." The case, involving Felix Kha, a medical marijuana patient from Garden Grove, was the result of a wrongful seizure of medical marijuana by local police in June 2005. Medical marijuana advocates hailed today's decision as a huge victory in clarifying law enforcement's obligation to uphold state law. Advocates assert that better adherence to state medical marijuana laws by local police will result in fewer needless arrests and seizures. In turn, this will allow for better implementation of medical marijuana laws not only in California, but in all states that have adopted such laws.
"It's now settled that state law enforcement officers cannot arrest medical marijuana patients or seize their medicine simply because they prefer the contrary federal law," said Joe Elford, Chief Counsel with Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the medical marijuana advocacy organization that represented the defendant Felix Kha in a case that the City of Garden Grove appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. "Perhaps, in the future local government will think twice about expending significant time and resources to defy a law that is overwhelmingly supported by the people of our state."
A step in the right direction. Now local LEOs should work to interdict Feds who come into town to arrest yer granny and swipe her stash. I suggest arresting them on domestic terrorism charges.
Quote of the Day
Mr. Philadelphia via Avedon:
Yes.
Off to work.
Do Brookings and CFR exist to provide employment for the stupidest of our citizens?
Yes.
Off to work.
Stealin' ...
From POP because she hits it on the head. Jeez, Barry won't be in office for another month and a half. Let's see what he does when The Force is with him:
Like I said over there, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt until he actually gets the chance to do something. I'd say he's done a lot more as President-elect to help people through this financial crisis than the sitting President. Talk to me a year from now and then we'll discuss what kind of change he's bringing.
...
I am completely tired of reading and hearing that the "change" hasn’t come, that this person or that person is a bad choice. I just refuse to get involved in all that. I am determined to take that page from Obama’s book and try my level best to let it be my guide when I am tempted to wander off the beaten path and try to fight all the fights. My change has already arrived and now, like our future president, I am going to try and pick my battles instead of allowing them to pick at me.
...
Like I said over there, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt until he actually gets the chance to do something. I'd say he's done a lot more as President-elect to help people through this financial crisis than the sitting President. Talk to me a year from now and then we'll discuss what kind of change he's bringing.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
CA-04 Update
Got home to an e-mail from Charlie Brown. He considers the vote count to be fair and accurate and has conceded to McCarpetbagger.
From CA SecState as of 11/26, although it only became official last night and I think the actual difference was less than .5%:
Damn, that was close! Try again in '10, Charlie.
From CA SecState as of 11/26, although it only became official last night and I think the actual difference was less than .5%:
Charlie Brown (Dem) 182,967 49.7%
Tom McClintock (Rep) 184,543 50.3%
Damn, that was close! Try again in '10, Charlie.
Re-tirement Day
We done wore out the tires that came with our pickup, so Me'n Mrs. G are off to Carson City to get new ones today. Back later, but for now I'll just leave ya with Rachel Maddow talking Big 3 bailout with the prez of the steelworkers' union. See yas.
More bail?
...
Accounting changes in the US next year mean all credit card debt will have to be brought onto balance sheets. That spells trouble for Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan, which hold more than half of their credit card debt outside their profit and loss accounts, according to Oppenheimer & Co.
...
The names sound familiar? They should. You just handed them close to a trillion dollars of your money. They're gonna want more when this debt goes on their books and the bottom falls out once again.
...
Including credit card debts, Citigroup is exposed to $1.2tn of off-balance-sheet debt, JP Morgan to $735bn and Bank of America to $73bn. Not all of it will be dumped back on to profit and loss accounts but Whitney warns her estimates do not include off-balance-sheet mortgages. "We are unclear what the magnitude of that will be."
...
You know, the automaker bailout looks more and more like a real bargain, compared to the mess Wall St. made of, and on, themselves. It'd be nice if we made the banks and mortgage houses jump through the same hoops as the Big Three instead of just throwing money at them.
As I've said since we bailed out the airlines after 9/11 (have any of the major airlines made a profit since?), we should let failed businesses go under and die. Fiscal Darwinism means someone else will step up to fill the gap. There will always be someone who can do the job better and more efficiently. Throwing money at bad business models only encourages industries to follow the failed model*.
Like our failed President, who's been saved from his own mistakes since his formative years, rewarding failure only produces bigger failures. For a bailout to work, the old rules and lassiez faire regulation have to become a thing of the past and the new regs must be in place, and enforcable, before one red cent of taxpayer money is allocated to their rescue. This hasn't happened on Wall St. and half the allocated money is already gone.
Hopefully, after the inauguration if there's any money left, we might have some people in control who look at these businesses objectively and not with a slant to how much they contribute to the party's campaign coffers. If Barack Obama wants to save the economy, his first order of business should be to close every lobbying firm on K Street. Until the politics is taken out of fiscal policy, business as usual will prevail.
Great thanks to our pal Montag for the link.
*In addition to Krugman, folks should listen to Peter Schiff as well.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
An Unlikely Team of Hawks
Here's a little follow-up on Fixer's post about President Obama's National Security picks, by Peter Beinart in Time:
I'll buy it. Obama is incredibly smart (what a concept for a President! Halle-fuckin'-lujah!) and a hell of a politician as well. Neither the far left nor the far right are going to get what they want outta this guy, nor should they. He's put together a team that may be able to actually get something practical and realistic done.
His picks? I'm down with Hil. Next case. I'm totally down with General Jones, perhaps the only Commandant Of The Marine Corps who didn't retire out of the job, but went on to bigger things.
Gates? An interim placeholder who might not do much damage until Wes Clark or my favorite choice for SecDef, Tony Zinni, are eligible to take the position.
The new administration needs to hit the deck runnin' to immediately start undoing Bush's damage, and I think these choices can do it.
In liberal blogland, reports that Barack Obama will probably choose Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State and retired general James Jones as National Security Adviser and retain Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense have prompted a chorus of groans. "I feel incredibly frustrated," wrote Chris Bowers on OpenLeft.com "Progressives are being entirely left out."
A word of advice: cheer up. It's precisely because Obama intends to pursue a genuinely progressive foreign policy that he's surrounding himself with people who can guard his right flank at home.
...
To give himself cover for a withdrawal from Iraq and a diplomatic push with Iran, he's surrounding himself with people like Gates, Clinton and Jones, who can't be lampooned as doves.
[...] In other words, what distinguishes Gates, Jones and Clinton isn't their desire to shift Obama's policies to the right; it's their ability to persuade the right to give Obama's policies a chance.
Politically, therefore, Obama is playing with fire. If he accelerates troop withdrawals and violence in Iraq flares up again, the GOP will pounce. If he cuts a nuclear deal with Iran, it will probably do the same, accusing him of putting his faith in an inspection agreement that Tehran will never obey. And if he pushes hard for a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, right-leaning Jewish groups may cry foul. That's the beauty of his emerging national-security team. Even Republicans will find it hard to call Gates and Jones latter-day Neville Chamberlains, and even many Likudniks will think twice before claiming that Hillary Clinton is in league with Hamas. (For cover on Israel, Obama will also be able to trot out Rahm Emanuel, whose father was born in Jerusalem, and, quite possibly, long-serving Middle East envoy Dennis Ross, who is tight with the pro-Israel lobby.)
Obama understands that foreign policy is, in international-relations-speak, a two-sided game. To get your way, you not only have to convince other governments; you also have to convince the folks back home. Bill Clinton negotiated the Kyoto Protocol on global warming with well over 100 other countries but couldn't get it through the 100-member U.S. Senate. He crafted a nuclear agreement with North Korea but saw it sabotaged by a Republican Congress that wouldn't provide sufficient money to carry it out. Obama knows that while it's a tough world out there, it's tough here as well. In Gates, Jones and Clinton, he's found people who can do more than sell his foreign policy to Iranians, Iraqis and Israelis; they can sell it to Americans too.
I'll buy it. Obama is incredibly smart (what a concept for a President! Halle-fuckin'-lujah!) and a hell of a politician as well. Neither the far left nor the far right are going to get what they want outta this guy, nor should they. He's put together a team that may be able to actually get something practical and realistic done.
His picks? I'm down with Hil. Next case. I'm totally down with General Jones, perhaps the only Commandant Of The Marine Corps who didn't retire out of the job, but went on to bigger things.
Gates? An interim placeholder who might not do much damage until Wes Clark or my favorite choice for SecDef, Tony Zinni, are eligible to take the position.
The new administration needs to hit the deck runnin' to immediately start undoing Bush's damage, and I think these choices can do it.
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