January 2010 Archives

Bob Franken's blog at The Hill entitled "Time For a Declaration of Independents" pretty much expresses what I've been thinking lately. "Maybe this is the year. After all the decades of lip service to the idea of third-party or Independent candidates, perhaps the time has come. Heaven knows the Democrats and Republicans have done their part to make the idea appealing.The two major parties have way more in common than their loyalists would like to...

During his Wednesday testimony before the FCIC, Government Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein compared the financial crisis to a "hurricane," sort of an act of God, if you will, that nobody saw coming. For an "act of God" there were certainly a series of consequences that just happened to be very favorable and very profitable for Goldman. God must be on the GS payroll. How's this for fortuitous timing:"In 2006 and 2007, Goldman Sachs Group...

If you haven't seen this yet, ya' just gotta take a minute.  Here's Stewart on Thursday, putting his own perspective on the Beck-Palin interview we discussed a couple of days ago.   Presented without further comment:The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cCrazy Like a Contributorwww.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorHealth Care Crisis Have a great weekend....

On Wednesday (January 13) Government Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein was questioned by FCIC chairman Phil Angelides about some, shall we say, less than ethical practices at Goldman. In essence what Goldman is accused of doing is selling securities as safe investments while at the same time betting their value would go down, Here is a portion of the transcript, from McClatchy:"PHIL ANGELIDES (the commission chairman): I want to ask you about a very specific...

There's a lot of good stuff coming out of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) hearings. In fact, it's starting to take on sort of a Watergate-y feel about it, or as George Costanza put it, it's like an onion, the more layers you peel back, the more it stinks. There is too much to cover in one post, so please indulge me. I hope you find it as interesting as I do. On Thursday...

Haiti has been in the news over the last couple of days and you can't help but feel sorry for those that live there. Anytime the word Haiti appears on the wire you know it isn't going to be good news. Unfortunately, I know about as much about Haiti as most of you. I know it is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and I know they have had a lot of political unrest...

Thank goodness for kissmybigbluebutt.com or I'd have missed the watch party event of the year!  Somehow I was unaware that tonight a debate in Denton, TX between Gov. Rick Perry, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, and Debra Medina will be on for an entire hour.  The WWF ain't got nothing on these folks! The Texas Tribune has published a list of TV stations that will be running "Divas Debate in Denton" here.  PBS, Channel 8, will...

I hold Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the highest regard because of the good work they do around the world to provide medical care to those in crisis. They are also one of the most effective charity organizations, with administrative costs of only one percent. Please, help them help those who cannot provide for themselves in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. Nearly a third of Haiti's population lives in Port-au-Prince. The...

Just wanted to share the best piece I've seen yet on the financial crisis - that explains things in terms we can all understand.  If you watch a video online today, watch this one.  MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan narrates.  ...

In the most unsurprising story of the year so far, quitter Sarah Palin has now decided to put on a broadcaster's costume and pretend to be a commentator who actually has something to contribute to Fox Noise.  She debuted last night on Papa Bear O'Reilly's hatefest, and believe it or not, I actually held my nose and watched the interview.  Talk about nauseating.  It was quite a spectacle with the pompous interviewing the ignorant. O'Reilly...