The moral philosopher Cornel West (shaking hands with Obama), recently said if Barack Obama’s ascent to power was a morality play, he would be the voice of conscience. Rahm Emanuel, a cynical product of the Chicago political machine, would be Satan. Emanuel in the first scene of the play would dangle power, privilege, fame and money before Obama. West would warn Obama that the quality of a life is defined by its moral commitment, that his legacy will be determined by his willingness to defy the cruel assault by the corporate state and the financial elite against the poor and working men and women, and that justice must never be sacrificed on the altar of power. (click here for more on this Opinion piece by Chris Hedges)
Friday, May 20, 2011
Friday morning musings: the world ends tomorrow, and other stuff
Pull up a chair, grab a cup of hot coffee, and get confortable: this may be your last day on earth! Judgment Day is set for Saturday…
Thousands of people around the country have spent the last few days taking to the streets and saying final goodbyes before Saturday, Judgment Day, when they expect to be absorbed into heaven in a process known as the rapture. Nonbelievers, they hold, will be left behind to perish along with the world over the next five months.
With their doomsday T-shirts, placards and leaflets, followers — often clutching Bibles — are typically viewed as harmless proselytizers from outside mainstream religion. But their convictions have frequently created the most tension within their own families, particularly with relatives whose main concern about the weekend is whether it will rain.
Photo - Abby Haddad Carson and Robert Carson say Saturday is Judgment Day; the children, Joseph, Faith and Grace, right, do not.
Not gnarly! Lifeguard pay of $200,000 riles Calif. beach city
Who had any idea lifeguards made this much money? They make more than nurses and many other professions that require years of schooling. Heck, all you have to do is sit and watch the pretty girls in thongs!
The debate over the merits of having lifeguards as well-paid as some CEOs has divided this wealthy coastal city, spawned a pro-lifeguard Facebook page and created headlines as far away as England ("Time for a Career Change? California's Baywatch lifeguards paid up to $210,000 per year!").
Happy Birthday Cher! You’re 65 today and still look great!
When it comes to Cher, the regular rules don't apply. Born Cherilyn Sarkisian, she was a bride by 18, a No. 1 pop star by 19 and a TV star by 25. It was during her stint on "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour" that she developed her signature style with the aid of designer Bob Mackie and an ocean of faux locks. She has had "every color wig you can imagine," she once told InStyle. "You cannot do things with your hair because all that styling ruins it. And I love my hair." Cher may be outrageous, but the Hollywood veteran is certainly not reckless.
Baby ospreys saved from gators as flood rises
The rising waters unleashed in parts of Louisiana by the opening of the Morganza spillway, to protect New Orleans and Baton Rouge from Mississippi River flooding, has sent people and wildlife searching for higher ground while leaving birds such as the osprey chicks at risk.
In recent days, bird rehabilitators have swooped in and rescued osprey chicks and eggs from this lake in the Atchafalaya Basin.
A guide who usually shows them to tourists and photographers got federal approval, saying the nests would soon be under water or in reach of alligators.
That’s all for now. Thanks for stopping by. It’s time for me to head on down the road…
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Part II: Pursuing more psychodelic posters just because…
What can I say? I love these old 60s and 70s posters. I remember making a few of my own, but with nowhere near the expertise displayed here.
It’s strange seeing them after all of these years. I still remember my first black light poster – it was The Doors. Rock on!
All of these images are available at Google Images Public domain. I’ll share more on another day.
The Social Security/Medicare "Crisis" Is Really a Choice - Between the Middle Class and the Wealthy
Guest Opinion
“The word for today is "choice," not "crisis."
It's time to stop saying the country "can't afford" Medicare, Social Security, or other programs that benefit the middle class. If I told my mother that I "can't mow the lawn" or "I can't do all that homework" when I was a kid, she'd say: "Don't say you can't. Say you don't want to." (The outcome of these exchanges was inevitable. Hello, lawnmower ...)
Now we're told there's a "crisis" and we can no longer afford the middle-class American dream. The truth is the opposite: Our long-term problems aren't caused by the middle class, but by politicians who choose to sacrifice the middle class for wealthy interests.
All this talk about a "debt crisis" is a way for politicians to avoid telling the truth: They'd rather say they "have to" sacrifice the middle class than admit they're making a choice.” Read the rest here.
One infuriating example of public assistance program abuse
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Taking advantage of the system…Fick doesn’t give a flying f**k who cares!
It’s people like this clown who hurt the public welfare recipients who really need help. His picture is going to be put up in every Conservative politicians office in America.
He’s made himself the poster boy of public abuse, but could care less what you think about it. He’s getting his…note the modified mullet.
“A Michigan Lottery $2 million jackpot winner from last year is eligible and collecting some food stamp assistance under a loophole state officials have been working for months to close.
Leroy Fick, who lives near Saginaw, took a lump sum payment for his June 2010 prize, buying a house, a used 2008 Audi and investing the rest, attorney John Wilson said on Wednesday.
"If you're going to ... try to make me feel bad, you aren't going to do it," Fick told a reporter from local station TV5.”
Welcome to my Thursday morning coffee klatch mateys…
The coffee is hot and tasty and the news is what it is! For openers there was a bit of a mutiny on stranded MSC cruise ship yesterday. 'We want the captain,' shouted passengers, who faced another ordeal after disembarking
Police comb city for mullet-wearing bandit
Police in Ohio are searching for a mullet-wearing bandit they say has been on a bank-robbing spree across the state.
A man sporting the distinctive hairdo -- short on the top, tight on the sides and long in the back -- is a suspect in at least two bank robberies in Columbus over the past two weeks, FBI Special Agent Harry Trombitas told Reuters, and may have been involved in a third holdup in the northeast part of the state.
Jamie McCourt asks judge to order sale of Dodgers
My Dodgers have been in dire straights lately. The almost didn’t make the May team payroll. Now this:
“In a court filing made public today, Jamie McCourt says the Dodgers are on 'the brink of financial ruin' due to Frank McCourt's 'mismanagement.' She asks that the judge act before Major League Baseball seizes the club, in order to get the highest sale price for the team.”
Woman's quest for missing dad leads to Utah desert
It was supposed to be Kenneth Schneider's goodbye to the world, the last solo road trip the 78-year-old would take, from Washington state back to his native Utah.
No one knows just how or why the trip ended as abruptly as it did. But, more than five years later, as she clutched her father's skull in the harsh southern Utah desert, Leslie Schneider finally felt an odd catharsis and relief that her family's own emotional quest for answers also had come to an end.
That’s all for now folks. Time for me to head on down the road…
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
‘Go for the moon. If you don't get it, you'll still be heading for a star’
Google Images – Quote by Willis Reed
Lawmaker Says Women Should Plan Ahead in Case of Rape, Since He Carries A Spare Tire
Rep. Pete DeGraaf, a Mulvane Republican makes a complete ass of himself
“A Republican just suggested a woman should have to "plan ahead" and obtain insurance in case she is raped. She should have a plan ready in case she is raped. I cannot repeat that enough -- a Republican lawmaker believes that women should be planning for a future in which she is raped, just in case.” - Robin Marty
Secret Service interrogates 13-year-old over Facebook post
Just in case you don’t think Big Brother is watching…
When Timi Robertson found out her middle-schooler son was being questioned by the Secret Service and the police at his Tacoma, Wa. school, she says she "just about lost it," — especially after they told her it was over a Facebook post the boy had written warning President Barack Obama of suicide attacks in the wake of Osama bin Laden's death.
The Shame List: 10 CEOs Who Got Rich By Squeezing Workers
Corporate profits grew 38.8 percent in 2010, the biggest increase since 1950, the year I was born.
But while CEOs earned an average of 20 percent more last year, many Americans continued to lose their jobs and benefits.
The insecurity of the middle class has a lot to do with how executives are paid. Bonuses pegged to stock prices encourage CEOs to mercilessly outsource and downsize, slashing costs to boost profits.
The result is that more corporate leaders are getting paid at the expense of average workers. Shown here are 10 of the worst offenders:
Solar Energy for All? I can’t wait to see what the impact of a new partnership will be for you and me
Lowe's, the world's second largest home improvement retailer recently announced a new partnership with residential solar provider Sungevity that will put renewable energy within the reach of millions.
On Monday, the companies announced a new agreement that will offer homeowners the easiest and most affordable solar solutions in the marketplace, marking a significant step in the mainstream adoption of residential solar. Story Here.
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