Obama laughs too much: quick get Rahm to pass that pissy look down.

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I watched President Obama on 60 Minutes last night and thought it went okay.
He seems to understand the issues and is willing to talk to the press and public about what’s going on.
This is something we haven’t seen in a president in a very long time.
And after eight years of a president that couldn’t seem to answer a question without confusing whatever it was he was trying to say (and sometimes we never quite knew what he was going for) it’s nice to have a president that can complete a thought without a teleprompter.

However when I got up all I heard about was how Obama laughed too much, it’s inappropriate, he’s not serious enough, and spending too much time talking to the public.
It seems absolutely impossible to please anyone these days.

There are so many things going on in the world and all that you could find were various clips of Obama laughing that were showing up everywhere all day and into the night. Discouraging.
I guess he needs to practice looking serious and pissy in the mirror more. Surely Rahm could help with that.




Far more interesting is the underwater volcano near Tonga in the Pacific. Amazing photos.



Also now Alaska’s Mount Redoubt, 100 miles southwest of Anchorage, erupted.
I bet Bobby Jindal wishes he hadn’t criticized money going towards volcano monitoring in his republican rebuttal speech now.

Some of AIG’s folk gave their bonus money back, but not all of them.

Bernie Madoff’s accountant David Friehling was charged with securities fraud… now how about that bookkeeping wife of his?

My thought of the day: Perhaps Dick Cheney would shut up and stop fear-mongering to deliberately undermine the President of the USA if he was being prosecuted on the criminal charges warranted for torture as he should be under our laws. Why after the Clinton debacle do we turn our eyes from true crimes?

On the lighter side: two marriages:
Bruce Willis (54) married a thirty-two year old model what a surprise… Hmm.
The interesting one is David Letterman. He finally married his long term mate Regina Lasko. They began dating in 1986 and have a five year old son.
Congrats and good luck!
And speaking of marriage: Politico reported that Senator Chuck Schumer of NY has changed his mind on same sex marriage. This might mark a broader change in thought towards equality and human rights. We shall see.

G’night,

Laura

Bernie Madoff’s going to jail. Hallelujah finally.

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Bernie Madoff is off to jail.
I don’t suppose anyone will see much of their money again.
He’ll go to a “FedMedPen” where he can trade stories with other “white collar” criminals.

Personally I hope they drag him off to Riker’s and strategically place him in a cell between warring gang members and the likes of Joel David Rifkin and other criminals. Where he’d have to worry about violence, rape, illness and eat the same food as everyone else with no “perks” of any kind.
Of course this won’t happen.
But for the lower classes, even non violent offenders are housed with more violent crimimals in many prisons. Not Bernie though, that’s “white collar crime” and he’s not in the same class.
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Says he’s “deeply sorry and ashamed” and pled guilty.
No sympathy from me for old Bernie. Sorry. No, actually I’m not sorry at all.
I suppose he’ll write a book or some other family member will.
Even criminals are afforded celebrity in this society.

I’d like to know who helped Bernie with the house of cards that he built.
Can it really be his scheme alone?
Will they really go after his family? His wife that did book keeping?
Of course they didn’t know anything about the ponzi scheme at all. *wink,wink*

Now maybe a few top choice (as in where’s the beef?) SEC folk will be brought in to explain how they failed to notice the red flags of the “biggest ponzi scheme ever.” I wonder if anyone would be held accountable and receive more than a slap on the wrist. They even had a whistle blower that tried to point the scam out to them (Harry Markopolis) and expose Madoff as early as 1999-2000. And now it’s 2009. Amazing.

Madoff Whistle Blower is Finally Heard (CBS)

Just further proves to me that the question isn’t actually for or against deregulation it’s what the hell in the world were the regulators that we supposedly do have doing?
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It seems like accountability is unnecessarily slow or sometimes nonexistent for powerful or rich people. It’s no better in the government itself.
Just like the Bush-Cheney crew won’t be held to task for the actual illegal activities they engaged in… before, during and after the Iraq war.
While Clinton was dragged through the mud while still president and impeached by the house, then acquitted by the senate for basically getting a blow job having oral sex outside of marriage and then lying about it. Duh.
An example of that great left-wing conspiracy, liberal media biased coverage that Limbaugh, O’Rielly, Hannity and Coulter… keep ranting about.

Well at least Bernie’s in jail.
So I ask you justice department… Where’s the beef?

But then again, everyone knows Justice is blind and equal for all… right?
I’m jus’ sayin’

Laura
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Would someone in the republican party please step forward and tell Limbaugh to stop running off at the mouth…

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So now Rush has stuck his foot in his mouth once again.
Sensationalism and self promotion or sheer stupidity I have no idea which (though I have an opinion).
Would someone in the republican party please step forward and tell Rush to stop talking like he’s in charge of the party before he totally destroys any credibility you have with swing voters, moderates and independent voters.

He’s an overblown bigoted gadfly. And you all praise the intolerant bullshit crap that comes out of his mouth each and every day?
In this clip Limbaugh states on health care legislation: "Before it's all over, it'll be called the Ted Kennedy memorial health care bill"



Your spokesperson Rush keeps saying things that if the so called “evil, liberal, socialist, elitists” made equally outrageous statements and then the democratic party praised and called it smart and true you would all be screaming bloody murder.
Instead you defend him and call the other side the morally corrupt group. Amazing.

The more power you give him, the worse he seems so get.
Pick a conservative with a brain next time around.

I don’t represent any party and speak only for myself but I do find you repugnant Rush.
You are a windbag with a microphone.
And he’ll huff and he’ll puff and blow your house down...

February 2009 saw 650,000 more jobs lost. I suppose that’s somehow Obama’s fault. What a mess.
Now it seems Madoff is going to get some sort of a deal? Outrageous.
How is he any different from a crack cocaine or crystal meth dealer?
Bastard should be in jail all ready… a real jail.
And justice for all indeed.

G’night,

Laura

No cussing club, lottery budget bail outs and Bernie Madoff.

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I was watching Connecticut news tonight and saw a story about one of their plans to help raise money for their state budget deficit. Special lotteries with higher payoffs two or three times a month. Hmm. I suppose it could work but is "state gambling" a great way to fund a state budget?
In NY at least the lottery money is supposed to go to education. Now for all the money collected in NY I don't know how it's accounted for (or what the accountability is) but I've watched our schools go down in quality especially over the past 10 years.
Where's all that money anyway? Seems we should have terrific or at least all above average schools given all those lottery tickets sold each and every week (and that's not including the scratch offs).

Madoff was in the news again today. He's still sitting in his Manhattan apt with an ankle bracelet on complaining that he should be allowed to keep his apt and other assets because after all "they're unrelated to his arrest." Uh, let me think for a second- NO! NO! NO! There are hard working, honest people that have lost their pensions, jobs, ins, and are out on the street homeless while this truly sleazy bastard is still ordering out food from NY restaurants?

And I'm pretty sure when he gets convicted he won't go to a real prison he'll go where ole "cupcake" Stewart went or somewhere like it. Certainly not where they would put me that's for sure.
Interesting how we can confiscate the belongings of convicted major drug dealers and they auction them off. But... apparently we don't do this for billion dollar Ponzi scheme perps. Equal justice for all? Nope.

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Now here's a story that really bothers me. It upsets me not because of the story itself, it was the reaction of a certain amount of people to the story that was upsetting.


This fourteen year old boy from CA started a "No Cussing Club." McKay Hatch asked people for a week to clean up their language for a "No cussing week." Fine so far. Not in any way going to hurt anyone and nothing says you have to participate in any way. Well, he started to get some press notice (which again is fine and doesn't hurt anyone).
But then here's where it gets upsetting and weird. He and his family are getting phone messages that are threatening him. One said they would kill him, others threatened him, others called him and cursed obscenely at him or called him names.

Now being that he's fourteen I just don't understand this reaction. Actually I don't even understand the reaction if a no cussing week was proposed by an "adult." It's not an appropriate response no matter how you look at it. There's nothing wrong with a "No cussing club" or a "no cussing week."

I was trying to think of what would upset me enough to leave a death threat to anyone. I couldn't really think of what... There are people I don't like, or even despise. People that I think aren't worth the "powder to blow them to hell" to quote something my dad used to say. But a death threat? To a fourteen year old boy? Where in the world does that come from?

I know I can curse up a blue streak myself so a no cussing week would be admittedly difficult for me. But I try not to be inappropriate in public situations or to deliberately offend anyone.

If you believe life is precious as most people do or at least they state that they do: then stop threatening people.
Death threats are unseemly in "noble" instances (and I'm not sure what that case would be) but over a fourteen year olds desire to clean up people's language with a no cussing week... No way in the world.

Why does this issue even bother anyone that much that they care enough to leave such messages at all?
I truly don't get it.

G'night,

Laura
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Snow day and endless news loops of Democrats and Republicans bitching...

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Snow, snow everywhere!
No school tomorrow finally a snow day.
It's supposed to snow tomorrow too. Maybe I'll get a nice walk in the snow before it turns into sleet or rain.

The first two segments on 60 minutes were really worth watching.
The first was on Bernie Madoff and Harry Markopolos who was the man that tried to blow the whistle on Madoff to the SEC in 2000 and numerous times thereafter.
Neither the democrats or the republicans are effective. Government should have done something about this scheme and it didn't. Seems regulation and deregulation have the same effect with our piss poor system.
::sigh::
Watch the 60 minute segment on Madoff here it was interesting (and frustrating at the same time).


The second segment was on the Mexican drug cartel and it's effect on Mexico and the United States.
I agree that serious drug use is bad (as is cancer from cigarettes and "legal" alcoholism) but the War on Drugs isn't a battle that can be "won." Illegal drugs coming in from all over (and from within) create the black market high risk high gain dangerous situations and Mexico is having significant trouble handling it.
You can see that segment at the same place as above.

I normally don't watch 60 minutes but I caught it tonight.
The economic stimulus package has me reeling a bit. Gives me a headache if I listen to too much debate about it.

And as far as the health insurance issue, we HAVE to do something to get ins to every American.

Everyone talks about the predatory banks and lying or unqualified borrowers as if they are the only reason for the housing crisis but they don't talk much about how many people have gotten sick or been injured and lost their home because of the bills they couldn't afford without health ins... It's an embarrassment to the country.
It's happening a lot and it's very sad in a country that considers itself the "best country that there is."

G'night,

Yet, another week to cycle through begins with snow in NY.

Laura
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Are you sick of the 2012 potential candidates strutting around yet? I am...

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Well we're hearing a lot from certain republicans now. All jockying for a possible 2012 presidential race.
For instance Senator Eric Cantor (Va) who has his political "problems." Anti union videos with lovely language... wife an official in a bank that got stimulus money... but hey they're better than democrats right?

Or Bobby Jindal from Louisiana who we are seeing way too much of as of late. Everyone's "testing the 2012 waters" apparently. Jindal wants to turn down money from the stimulus. I wonder how his state constituents feel about that. They got a bit of a raw deal from the republicans (Bush) after Katrina. How much of it is principle and how much is grandstanding for name recognition? Let's not forget Sarah Palin either.

Meet The Press this past weekend had both Charlie Crist (Fla) and Bobby Jindal on (separately) talking about the stimulus.
I find it hard to listen to Mr. Jindal because he starts out slower and works into warp speed talking.
Slow down, cut back on coffee or what ever it is that makes you talk faster as you go. Doesn't sound as thoughtful as it would if you slowed down a bit. Were you nervous or mostly annoyed? I'm not sure but I saw you a few times today on tv and you talked almost as fast there too. Has an interesting set to his face when he thinks he's being pushed and answers with about as little accuracy as most politicians.

Arnold Schwarzenegger (Republican Gov. of CA) is getting a lot of harsh criticism from his own party because he wants to work with Obama and wants to do what's best for his state as governer. He is behind the stimulus package. Which is nice since I'm pretty sure that at least he isn't making a run for the 2012 republican presidential candidacy.

Now the three republicans that voted for the stimulus package in senate are now referred to as "so-called republicans" I guess there's no getting along if you don't tow the party line anywhere these days... to hell with those constituents!

This is going to be a very odd 4 years. We have the economy to worry about (including the global economy).
We have recession/depression and job losses to worry about.
And throughout it all, we'll have to listen the whole next four years to back and forth political bullshit nonsense.
Not even based in facts half the time.
Say something enough times over and over repetitively with finger pointing indignation and it's magically true???
These people couldn't come up with bipartisanship if it was ordered by God.

Still talking about those "glorious" Reagan years (demagoguery) and glorifying them: trickle down didn't work, the only stuff that trickled down was what wasn't taken by the top. I think we can clearly see that now yes?
"Just say 'no'" Nancy's answer to the drug problem isn't an answer to the republican party for fixing our country either.
You have to deal with people not just the outcomes.

Unfettered, unrestricted extreme capitalism doesn't work for anyone especially the working classes that struggle to make a living. Our representatives for the most part don't always do what is best for us or the country, they do what's best for them (and often their pals).

Madoff shouldn't have happened: think about it. Really think about it. And then think some more...
Eight years and nothing.

The truth about our political and financial systems is becoming more and more apparent every day.
Starting to wonder about our food supply? I am.
But then what does the FDA have for inspectors now anyway, like three?

Amazing.

G'night,

Laura
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Happy Valentine's Day (and don't buy candy with peanut butter in it for your sweetheart)

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Lots going on in the news but I'm a bit hot and bothered by the peanut butter salmonella outbreak.

First off how dare they put their product before people's health.
Secondly: Now the company is declaring bankruptcy...
CNN peanut butter bankruptcy story

My first reaction was good that's the way it's supposed to go. Shut 'em down. You screw up: you pay the price.

Then, I started to think about it. There are people dead because of this, and many others sick.
So, the question is do you just get to say "Oops, we're in trouble, declare bankruptcy and get out with something?

No. This is wrong. This must be illegal and someone is responsible. Whether it's the inspectors, Company heads, someone.

All these crimes, so called white collar crimes, cause pain, loss of jobs and even death... they are no better than those who sell crack cocaine knowing it's effect on people, no better than people that plan to kill someone.

If you know that salmonella is there and you knowingly send the product out into the population and it causes havok then:
there should be repercussions for your irresponsibility that caused harm to others!
And what of the inspectors?
Beginning to wonder if we are nearly as safe as we think we are.
But by all means get the government out of our lives.
I wonder if those that sue the peanut company will even get compensated. What more can you lose besides your life and health?
It's all about protecting themselves, bankruptcy indeed.

Bernie Madoff's scheme is no less evil. White collar crime indeed. Take everything he has, and find what he has hidden.

When will we clean up our act?
We put kids in jail for smoking marijuana... but why are these people still walking around?
Bastards.

I'm just sayin'

G'night,

Laura

PS: Happy Valentine's Day...
I know it's a fake capitalistic holiday, but we went out for dinner, a few drinks and actually (I think anyway for I never speak for someone else) enjoyed relaxing, sitting and talking to each other for the evening.
No roses, cards, silly sappy stuff, just respect for each other for 35 years all told together.

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...and we have a new 790 billion dollar stimulus package.

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Watching the members of congress grilling the bankers was fascinating. These guys are real noble bastards. Yup.
Can someone tell me why these questions didn't come up before any TARP money was given to them?


Then next we get to Bernie Madoff (and I suspect numerous others like him we'll find out about as we go on).
These scandals are going to make Enron look like chicken feed.
Bernie's wife apparently withdrew 15 million dollars before he was "arrested" (ten million days before).
A whistle blower named Harry Markopolos tried to turn in Madoff to the SEC and offered to help catch him years before this broke, but he was ignored. Apparently Bernie had a protective bubble that covered extreme corruption.
Wall Street is only about money, money and getting more money.

It's obviously not the American worker or borrower that caused this mess, it really is the fat cats.
Insurance companies, banks, major corporations are not there for our health and happiness, they are there to own, work and take advantage of us.
Oh, crap I sound somewhat Marxist. Damn it. Sorry about that... not really.

Speaking of... Today's Sarah Palin's birthday, not a National Holiday (at least not yet). She shudders and moves on.

So today we have a 790 billion dollar stimulus package. I hope it lends a hand to the real everyday people out there, the ones who need some help.

I hope it's worth every single dollar: It won't be, but baby I still can dream.

G'night,
Have to catch up on computer work tomorrow.

Laura

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Boy I hope the Obama stimulus package fixes something in the ecomomy...

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On the heels of CEO's getting bonuses as their companies failed...
On the wake of Madoff's "undiscovered until it was too late" Ponzi scheme that ripped off so very many.
I hope he understands what a corrupt capitalist weasel he is sitting in his penthouse with help, food and drink and a ankle bracelet but I doubt he gets it. None of them really seem to.

John Thain resigned under pressure from Bank of America after reports he rushed out billions of dollars in bonuses to Merrill Lynch employees in his final days as CEO there, while the brokerage was suffering huge losses and just before Bank of America took it over. CNBC said Thursday that Thain spent $1.22 million redesigning his office. Bank of America later received an additional $20 billion from the government, in part to offset the unexpected Merrill losses.
How does this shit outrageous disregard for the hard working taxpayers of this country happen? Over and over again. We need to rethink the consequences for so called "white collar" crimes, these aren't victimless crimes.

Lehman Brothers Chief Executive Richard Fuld sold his $13.3 million mansion to his wife for just $100 last November, according to Florida real estate records. He left after the Chapter 11 of Lehman. Yea, white collar crime. The rest of us just lose everything, out on the street. They protect it. Great.

Now there's the guy from Agape World in Hauppauge that newsday says is suspected in a scheme that cost investors some $370 million...

Why would we trust any investor, any bank, any CEO, any politician at this point?
It's so very hard to put this all together while so many Americans are hurting, and congress fights over a stimulus package that might or might not fix the mess we're in. I surely hope it does. But so far the bail outs have been steeped in excess and because of the lack of oversight money was given out and frittered away.

I hope the stimulus package works, I hope Obama succeeds in turning this country around or at least getting us on the right road. I don't think that the goal should be to go back to the way it was before. NO way.
I'm not sure where we should go exactly but we need to really take charge of our future.

Remember the saying "If you're not outraged you're not paying attention" Guess our attention is upon the system now!
And the system stinks to high heaven and probably always has.

You know all those people that think the government shouldn't control capitalism in any way...
Those that scream "liberal" "socialism" and spread fear of anything that they perceive of as un American because the market and capitalism should be unbridled with no government involvement whatsoever. The ones that believe capitalsim will always prevail: for it has in the past, well, sort of anyway. It will simply self adjust. Well, welcome to the readjustment.
People that believe businesses can regulate themselves. Sure and I've got swampland in Florida you should buy unseen.

Honesty is not a valued enough commodity these days. Ethical behavior is lacking and the anything goes mentality must stop.
Money is valued more than people it seems these days. It's a very sad situation we are in.

I wish you well President Barack Obama. I want you to succeed. I want all of us to succeed which is hard when we are bleeding jobs, 40,000 jobs lost on Monday.

On that happy note: Welcome Timothy Geitner to the position of Obama's Treasury Secretary and um, good luck.

G'night,

Laura
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Tomorrow!!! Finally it's tomorrow!!! Inauguration Day is finally here.

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G'bye George Bush not sorry to see you go.
Hello President Barack Obama, very happy to see you and good luck with the mess we're in.

Did catch up with all the news I missed yesterday due to my playing in the snow!
I'm heartened by the changing of the guard as are most of us who are really hopeful that President Obama will be better prepared to work with the war in Iraq and our economy. I think it's going to be tough.

They keep talking about Obama's 89% approval rate and how 79% of the people just "like" him and feel he'll be a good president.
The thing that keeps bothering me about these stats (aside from the fact that I took a lot of statistics courses and realize how sketchy they can be) is that there were quite a lot of people attending McCain/Palin rallies that seemed very unhappy with Obama and even a bit scared and angry about him. Where did these people all go off to and are they actually in the count?

Didn't get that much out of the Rhom Emanuel interview (NBC) or David Axlerod's (ABC) as far as what the state of the union might actually be or if the stimulus package will truly fix things. Rather anxious about the amount of spending we don't have. Isn't that what got us all into this mess in the first place? The interviews only brought more questions into my mind.
I want to be supportive and get behind fixing the future, but I'm a bit unsure about what will end up in the plan. I know Obama says there won't be any unnecessary pork but I'm having trouble believing it. How much will creating jobs cost and what kind of jobs will they be? Construction won't work for many that need jobs... what other jobs are we talking about?

What projects will be funded? I suppose if I trusted our elected officials (and it's really hard to do that these days) I'd feel that we'd have an efficient stimulus package. Lean and mean. The problem is that I think congress can't get out of it's own way for the most part. I do believe we have a short window of effectiveness for all this though. What to do, what to do...

I wonder if Palin is sitting in Alaska hoping Obama fails and the republicans will run her to come in and F things up further save the day. Nasty old media made this whole economic mess up to thwart their economic plans, wait, McCain/Palin didn't seem to have one did they?

Please put Bernie Madoff in jail along with anyone else like him. Are his assets frozen like mine would've been? I hope so.
Weasel of the worst kind and he doesn't even get it.

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Okay so I'm going to stop being worried, tomorrow is the start of the Barack Obama presidency and I along with the majority of this fine country will be watching it on the tv, computer and enjoying the start of a new administration.

Went out and took some nice snowy photos today I'll post them after President Elect Barack Obama IS President Barack Obama. Sounds good to me!

G'night,

Laura
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