Five AIG execs say may quit over pay: report
Wall Street Journal says they're upset that pay czar cut their compensation
Considering that each of these guys could likely RETIRE on this year's downsized bonus and live a much more upscale life than 90 percent of the US population, I'd say that they may as well quit and go sit and bawl on a beach somewhere in the Bahamas.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Blackmail
So insurance companies are now threatening all people with insurance in order to create an uproar and in order to mobilize them to say no to health care.
I sent a message telling my congresscritter to go for Medicare for all starting in summer of 2010, and the heck with insurance companies. So if we all land on the public option thereby, and insurance companies go down the tubes, good riddance to blackmailing rubbish.
I sent a message telling my congresscritter to go for Medicare for all starting in summer of 2010, and the heck with insurance companies. So if we all land on the public option thereby, and insurance companies go down the tubes, good riddance to blackmailing rubbish.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The Number Looks Good
"The Senate Finance Committee's U.S. health care overhaul would cost $829 billion over 10 years, Congressional budget experts say."
When you consider that the Iraq war cost about twice as much in half the time, it's a considerable bargain -- not that any sane person expects Republicans to agree.
When you consider that the Iraq war cost about twice as much in half the time, it's a considerable bargain -- not that any sane person expects Republicans to agree.
Monday, September 21, 2009
What A Headline!
Ahmadinejad proud Holocaust words spur rage.
When will we learn to greet words like his with the scorn they deserve?. How would he feel if the real reaction were "Words spark contempt for ignorance"?
That is, after all, a more charitable reading than "He stirs the pot to make trouble" -- though that, too, may be deadly accurate.
Online, Bigwig once posted pictures of the opening of Auschwitz. Eisenhower with the most disgusted look on his face -- Bradley, too. They rousted out the people of the nearest town and made then bury all the thousands and thousands of abused, emaciated corpses.
And then along comes this Iranian jackass. Well, what can you feel but contempt?
When will we learn to greet words like his with the scorn they deserve?. How would he feel if the real reaction were "Words spark contempt for ignorance"?
That is, after all, a more charitable reading than "He stirs the pot to make trouble" -- though that, too, may be deadly accurate.
Online, Bigwig once posted pictures of the opening of Auschwitz. Eisenhower with the most disgusted look on his face -- Bradley, too. They rousted out the people of the nearest town and made then bury all the thousands and thousands of abused, emaciated corpses.
And then along comes this Iranian jackass. Well, what can you feel but contempt?
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
"Unprecedented"
Today on Fox News, some woman was ranting about the health insurance bill, and reading off notes that to get one you had to have a checking account number. "You would have to give the government your checking account number! That is unprecedented!" she complained.
I wonder how she thinks the IRS does direct deposit of refunds, anyway. The Secret Refund Santa?? And the Social Security Administration uses the Retirement Fairy??
I wonder how she thinks the IRS does direct deposit of refunds, anyway. The Secret Refund Santa?? And the Social Security Administration uses the Retirement Fairy??
Monday, July 27, 2009
Retinking Insanity
The DHS decision to locate a lab for researching plant and animal pathogens in Kansas is encountering trouble -- at last! at last! Finally, the intelligence of locating such a facility in Tornado Alley -- and in the heart of US agricultural activity -- is being challenged. There will be a hearing to discuss dangers shortly.
I hope the new structure goes right back on Plum Island, where the inadvertent release of pathogens would go out to sea instead of over farm animal and crop populations.
I hope the new structure goes right back on Plum Island, where the inadvertent release of pathogens would go out to sea instead of over farm animal and crop populations.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Today
I saw a Beautiful Thing. The Fox News strip for the hearing impaired was quoting your typical Fox mouth breather, when the tag line typist inserted " -- boo-frickin'-hoo --" into the middle of whatever the guy was whining about. I thought it was just inspired!
Monday, July 13, 2009
"If she can avoid a meltdown"?
Is that like saying "IF he can keep his pants zipped"?
Why yes, it is, only no one ever boldly states that about male candidates.
And she will certainly be as impartial as Fat Tony, who goes duck hunting with Dead-eye Dick Cheney -- only not half often enough, evidently.
Why yes, it is, only no one ever boldly states that about male candidates.
And she will certainly be as impartial as Fat Tony, who goes duck hunting with Dead-eye Dick Cheney -- only not half often enough, evidently.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Stirring the Pot
FOX is definitely trying to stir up the class war. I don't know how many times I have heard them say "our system provides health care for 25 million people, but it does not have the capacity to take care of 30 million -- and that is what a public health care option would do."
They are trying to scare the old white folks into a frenzy. They want the unemployed and the minorities to be left out. And like the ignoramuses they are, they want to leave a large population ripe to foster and spread an epidemic with no care.
Fools.
They are trying to scare the old white folks into a frenzy. They want the unemployed and the minorities to be left out. And like the ignoramuses they are, they want to leave a large population ripe to foster and spread an epidemic with no care.
Fools.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
How Funny
Today on Fox News a big story was about how upset Republicans are that President Obama is not consulting them about his health care bill.
Considering that he consulted with them about his stimulus bill -- and considering that even after he incorporated their suggestions, not a single one of them voted for it, I find their whining hilarious.
Consult with them? When it will mean weakening his goals for no reason but to shut them up? Like him, I figure "why bother?" They will not give him a vote, so he should not have to give them a hearing, any more than W gave a hearing to anyone left of Atilla the Hun.
Considering that he consulted with them about his stimulus bill -- and considering that even after he incorporated their suggestions, not a single one of them voted for it, I find their whining hilarious.
Consult with them? When it will mean weakening his goals for no reason but to shut them up? Like him, I figure "why bother?" They will not give him a vote, so he should not have to give them a hearing, any more than W gave a hearing to anyone left of Atilla the Hun.
Monday, June 8, 2009
You Know
President Obama has no idea how to be Commander in Chief. What a commander does is call in the joint chiefs.
"Gay men and Lesbian women may now serve in the Armed Forces. You will no more task them with the sodomy portions of the UCMJ than you currently task your heterosexual troops who get or give oral and other kinds of sex. If any of you cannot follow this order, I will accept your resignations as soon as this meeting is over."
That is what a commander does. He doesn't waffle about what his orders are.
The only part of the military that is not ready for this move is the part in charge, and the part that is so right wing Taliban that they would perfer persecution to peace.
"Gay men and Lesbian women may now serve in the Armed Forces. You will no more task them with the sodomy portions of the UCMJ than you currently task your heterosexual troops who get or give oral and other kinds of sex. If any of you cannot follow this order, I will accept your resignations as soon as this meeting is over."
That is what a commander does. He doesn't waffle about what his orders are.
The only part of the military that is not ready for this move is the part in charge, and the part that is so right wing Taliban that they would perfer persecution to peace.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Yeah, Yeah
We know North Korea tested a bomb. The US Geological Survey map shows it as an earthquake, same as last time.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
What a twist
Today on FOX, Elizabeth Cheney said (more than once) that torture was "just a policy disagreement, and I would hate to see any administration bring charges against their predecessors over a policy matter."
A policy disagreement. No wonder they think it is ok.
A policy disagreement. No wonder they think it is ok.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Not A Clue
Tonight I went past the Spanish language Catholic church and it was packed.
Is today a feast day? Somehow I doubt they are celebrating Beltaine.
Is today a feast day? Somehow I doubt they are celebrating Beltaine.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Augh!
We are not supposed to be the world's policeman, but we *are* supposed to be the International Rescue Squad?
I don't think so.
I don't think so.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Galt
These idiots who speak of "going Galt" have evidently missed just who and what John Galt represents.
First, he's no a middle manager type who makes about an annual quarter mil. If that is what people are taking away from a reading of Atlas Shrugged they are hopelessly illiterate.
Now if you managed an incredible green feat like the fictional John Galt, more likely your income would be in the billions, like Bill Gates. Leaving the specific feat aside, Galt had invented something world-changing, and then he hid it, quit his job rather than give said invention away, and started on a course of creating an inventors, movers and shakers union.
The contemporary creatures who speak of "going Galt" have nothing of impressive scale to withdraw from the workplace or the marketplace, and have no intention of organizing those who most benefit the world into going on strike.
What they are doing is having a temper tantrum, and my reaction is to tell them not to let the doorknob hit them. With unemployment riding so high, they can be replaced more easily than they know. Might be nice to let them find this out the hard way.
First, he's no a middle manager type who makes about an annual quarter mil. If that is what people are taking away from a reading of Atlas Shrugged they are hopelessly illiterate.
Now if you managed an incredible green feat like the fictional John Galt, more likely your income would be in the billions, like Bill Gates. Leaving the specific feat aside, Galt had invented something world-changing, and then he hid it, quit his job rather than give said invention away, and started on a course of creating an inventors, movers and shakers union.
The contemporary creatures who speak of "going Galt" have nothing of impressive scale to withdraw from the workplace or the marketplace, and have no intention of organizing those who most benefit the world into going on strike.
What they are doing is having a temper tantrum, and my reaction is to tell them not to let the doorknob hit them. With unemployment riding so high, they can be replaced more easily than they know. Might be nice to let them find this out the hard way.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Defining Bottom
"Our job, as we see it, is getting the best return on our investments for our stockholders."
Those were the words from a bank that has taken bailout money and invested it overseas -- maybe Dubai, maybe another place -- but the basic thing is that it was anyplace but here.
Foreign banks and economies other than ours are being bailed out. Meanwhile, people are still losing their jobs and their homes at a high rate.
Are we "stockholders"? Are the wealthy still getting richer from our resources -- doing so from principal that was loaned out of the pockets of people whose lives are going down the crapper?
Their job, as we see it, should be untangling the snarled mess of bundled debt and the assuming of responsibility to those who are floating them loans involuntarily -- not to those with enough excess cash to set it out there for raking benefits off money that belongs to others.
Bailout funds should not be going overseas. It's time for that overlooked oversight to come online, before bailout money has disappeared without a trace.
Those were the words from a bank that has taken bailout money and invested it overseas -- maybe Dubai, maybe another place -- but the basic thing is that it was anyplace but here.
Foreign banks and economies other than ours are being bailed out. Meanwhile, people are still losing their jobs and their homes at a high rate.
Are we "stockholders"? Are the wealthy still getting richer from our resources -- doing so from principal that was loaned out of the pockets of people whose lives are going down the crapper?
Their job, as we see it, should be untangling the snarled mess of bundled debt and the assuming of responsibility to those who are floating them loans involuntarily -- not to those with enough excess cash to set it out there for raking benefits off money that belongs to others.
Bailout funds should not be going overseas. It's time for that overlooked oversight to come online, before bailout money has disappeared without a trace.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Nope
Anyone who would make remarks about the unemployed like those below is hardly a presidential prospect.
Not anymore they're not.
"Their comments addressed dissent among a handful of GOP governors led by South Carolina's Mark Sanford, who have publicly criticized the stimulus plan as too big and wasteful. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Friday he would reject a portion of the money aimed at expanding state unemployment coverage, and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has indicated he may do so as well.
"I will oppose my state changing our rule to allow people who are not willing and able to work full-time to get unemployment compensation. That will result in tax increases on our employers going forward," Barbour said.
Both Sanford and Jindal are considered likely 2012 presidential contenders."
Only a hardcore wingnut would consider such views to be either realistic or rational. With the current job situation there are huge numbers of people both willing and able to work who just cannot find a job. Let us hope to find Jindal, Barbour and Sanford among the unemployed Real Soon Now.
Not anymore they're not.
"Their comments addressed dissent among a handful of GOP governors led by South Carolina's Mark Sanford, who have publicly criticized the stimulus plan as too big and wasteful. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced Friday he would reject a portion of the money aimed at expanding state unemployment coverage, and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has indicated he may do so as well.
"I will oppose my state changing our rule to allow people who are not willing and able to work full-time to get unemployment compensation. That will result in tax increases on our employers going forward," Barbour said.
Both Sanford and Jindal are considered likely 2012 presidential contenders."
Only a hardcore wingnut would consider such views to be either realistic or rational. With the current job situation there are huge numbers of people both willing and able to work who just cannot find a job. Let us hope to find Jindal, Barbour and Sanford among the unemployed Real Soon Now.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
A Good Fix
Personally, I think Obama should nominate Howard Dean for HHS -- and IMO he should have been the first choice. He is smart, experienced, organized, and competent.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Wonderful Week
It has been a long time since there was such a refreshing, reasonable week in politics. Of course, the crybabies are out whining about how awful it is that they can't have their way, but that was a very small note in a symphony of good moves, good times, and freedoms seeping back into a country that had been kicked around for eight long years.
In his first week in office, George Bush instituted the Gag Rule. I remember it clearly because I walked down the aisle and taunted a female co-worker who had voted for wingers. This week,President Obama removed it. I am very glad. I was not sure what his position was going to be. I am glad it is on the side of giving women education and the means to decide how their lives need to go.
In his first week in office, George Bush instituted the Gag Rule. I remember it clearly because I walked down the aisle and taunted a female co-worker who had voted for wingers. This week,President Obama removed it. I am very glad. I was not sure what his position was going to be. I am glad it is on the side of giving women education and the means to decide how their lives need to go.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Israel
Israel was founded the year I was born. That means that the people who resettled there have almost died out. People the ages of my grandparents and parents are the ones whose families were murdered wholesale by Hitler's policies.
Israel started with a great well of good will from the west. Its immigrants ha a huge amount of moral stature, and a will to never again be victimized.
But what is it we see now? My sympathy is growing shorter and shorter. Sure, "Never to forgive, never to forget!" is a stance that many people in the Middles East have. This actually makes Israel a great deal like its nearest neighbors, who think that Spain still belongs to the family of Islamic territories.
Of course "Let's be suicidally stupid!" is another description of the behavior by nations of that region -- and Israel is not an exception.
They are treading awfully close to rogue status. What -- they think that if Bush can do it, so can they? [Just another argument for indicting Bush, Cheney and the other outlaws, IMO.]
No. Killing children, targeting civilians and international targets is just plain over the line. Israel has to stop behaving like everything it used to despise. They have pretty much used up all the moral high ground their ancestors bought. The actors now are new generations, and they have wasted the capital bought by the blood of their ancestors. If they are criminals now, they have to be stopped.
Israel started with a great well of good will from the west. Its immigrants ha a huge amount of moral stature, and a will to never again be victimized.
But what is it we see now? My sympathy is growing shorter and shorter. Sure, "Never to forgive, never to forget!" is a stance that many people in the Middles East have. This actually makes Israel a great deal like its nearest neighbors, who think that Spain still belongs to the family of Islamic territories.
Of course "Let's be suicidally stupid!" is another description of the behavior by nations of that region -- and Israel is not an exception.
They are treading awfully close to rogue status. What -- they think that if Bush can do it, so can they? [Just another argument for indicting Bush, Cheney and the other outlaws, IMO.]
No. Killing children, targeting civilians and international targets is just plain over the line. Israel has to stop behaving like everything it used to despise. They have pretty much used up all the moral high ground their ancestors bought. The actors now are new generations, and they have wasted the capital bought by the blood of their ancestors. If they are criminals now, they have to be stopped.
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