Random Thoughts and Articles

[Why is the world capitalist economy falling apart?]
"Voluntary regulation does not work." [SEC] Too late. "All five brokerages in the [voluntary regulation] program had either filed for bankruptcy, been absorbed or converted into commercial banks." www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/14/AR2008101403343.html?sid=ST2008101403344&s_pos=


[California's Proposition 8 passes, reversing marriage equality in California]
Thanks FreedomToMarry.org. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnHyy8gkNEE&feature=email


[General Motors wants a bailout]
Let it fail. That's why we have Chapter 11. www.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/business/economy/18sorkin.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=sorkin+bankruptcy&st=nyt


[General Motors wants a bailout]
Let it fail. Its lack of cash is not the core problem, it's just a symptom of decades of failed business strategies. It built gas guzzlers despite global warming and rising gas prices, sued the EPA rather than build cars people wanted, ignored its European and Asian competition and hired Bob "Golden Parachute" Nardelli to run to company. We don't need a car company built on failed strategies. www.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/business/economy/13bankruptcy.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin


[Trip to Ft. Lauderdale]
Yes, I'm getting a tan in Ft. Lauderdale. What about it?


[From a bumper sticker]
If you don't like my driving, stay off the sidewalk.


[President Bush's administration winds down]
Good work, George. You're handing over a wrecked economy to the new President. Just like your dad. www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/07/obama-white-house-barackobama


[California's Proposition 8 passes, reversing marriage equality in California]
Blacks voted against marriage equality 70-30 in California?? Come on guys, let's get it together here. www.gaycitynews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20190147&BRD=2729&PAG=461&dept_id=568864&rfi=6 How about a constitutional amendment to overturn Brown v. Bd of Education?


[California's Proposition 8 passes, reversing marriage equality in California]
Blacks voted against marriage equality 70-30 in California?? Come on guys, let's get it together here. www.gaycitynews.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20190147&BRD=2729&PAG=461&dept_id=568864&rfi=6


[Sen. Barack Obama is elected President of the United States / California's Proposition 8 passes, reversing marriage equality in California]
Well, they'll put a Black man in the White House. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jll5baCAaQU. But they still hate the gays. www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/05/BA3B13UM63.DTL&type=politics


[President-elect Obama's victory speech]
While we breathe, we hope. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jll5baCAaQU


[Sen. Barack Obama is elected President of the United States 2008]
Community Organizer, That One, Terrorist, Inexperienced, Muslim, Taxer & spender, "Lipstick" man, flip-flopper, Socialist, Untested, "Pal" to terrorists, Celebrity. President-Elect. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jll5baCAaQU


[Sen. Barack Obama is elected President of the United States 2008. Undecideds make up their minds.]
I guess they finally decided.


[Election Day 2008 is coming]
... and the task that still remains. (Paul Robeson, "The House I Live In"). VOTE!


[In defense of White people]
Hey, I've always liked you guys. Keep up the good work! www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/opinion/26rich.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin


[Hahahahahahahahaha]
You will watch. Both. http://crookedtimber.org/2008/10/28/before-after


[Oh gawd]
I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/27/national/main4547353.shtml?tag=topHome;topStories


[Newsflash: Skinheads want to kill Blacks]
Decapitate? Isn't that extreme? Oh, right. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SKINHEAD_PLOT?SITE=1010WINS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT


[The press reaction to voter registration drives vs. its reaction to voter suppression drives]
Hey, everybody, look over there! Yeah over there, at ACORN and Bill Ayers!! Don't forget Rev. Wright!!! Pay no attention to that man who's working to disenfranchise you. www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/26/voter.suppression/index.html?eref=rss_topstories


[Alan Greenspan says he's sorry for the financial mess he and his buddies created]
Sorry, there was a typo in my standard stump speech, and I never caught it in all these years, until this morning. It should have read, "Free market capitalism does NOT work." My bad. www.nytimes.com/2008/10/24/business/economy/24panel.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin


[Gov. Sarah Palin runs for Vice-President 2008. Please stop.]
Sarah, there's a 5pm Delta flight from JFK to Anchorage, one-way. Only one stop; only $316. Please be on it. I'll drive you to the airport. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/22/palin-god-will-do-the-right-thing-on-election-day


[British transit reveals - God Is Dead]
Huh, apparently there's no god? How come I'm always the last one to be told? www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/21/religion-advertising


[From "Love & Death"]
Remember, it's not the quantity of your sexual relations that counts; it's the quality. If, on the other hand, the quantity drops below once every eight months, I would definitely look into it. (Woody Allen)


[Sen. Barack Obama runs for President 2008. Holds a rally]
"That one" meets a few friends in St. Louis. http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Democratic-presidential-candidate-Sen-Barack-Obama-St-Louis2C-Mo/photo//081018/480/00884ba7d3184e599c1cacb00994ccb4/;_ylt=AjdbvU79a3XVqvdKEPSvHHZPtbAF


[The presidential candidates have fun at the Alfred E. Smith Dinner. McCain declared winner.]
Crappy campaign; great roast. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irXS4Q7mUKQ


[Scary, little known activities by the Bush administration]
Eight more years? http://thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1236


[Scientists discover the meaning of life. Well ...]
Ah, sweet mystery of life, at last we've found you? www.nytimes.com/2008/10/17/science/17life.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin


[Random thought; don't remember the source]
I say, it's full. Half full of water, and half full of air.


[Nobel Prize in Economis to Paul Krugman 2008. ]
So he wasn't just pretending to be smart? (It probably didn't hurt that he is the spit and image of lfred Nobel. Really, take a look at the medallion). www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/business/economy/14econ.html?_r=1&em=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1224010812-MqypKsGbDhdVHCKdlKX4pQ


[Vote!]
Yes, it matters. www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/opinion/11herbert.html?em


[Marriage equality achieved in Connecticut 2008]
Only 47 states to go. www.nytimes.com/2008/10/11/nyregion/11marriage.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin


[Marriage equality achieved in Connecticut 2008]
Marriage equality achieved in Connecticut. www.jud.state.ct.us/external/supapp/Cases/AROcr/CR289/289CR152.pdf


[Gov. Sarah Palin runs for Vice-President 2008. But first tries to destroy local enemies.]
I don't care what it takes. You must destroy Safety Bear. www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/us/10trooper.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1223611106-aNZBxM9sMdgA8FoVJp0xrg


[Gov. Sarah Palin runs for Vice-President 2008. But can't explain why.]
"Gosh darn ... that talking thing, with the other ... when that Biden there ... and gosh darn questions ... but I mean, Gwen, and interview, but drat on that broken foot, huh? Oh heck, I totally nailed it!" https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhedgcpLfTQ5N7NHFIFlRDNmU1CKkOeaqx4PTBfDEq5tpisKHchhGujRX8ih_TstWBJyCrUmo9f31gelxZQifAG8gn1ojWerc5W4fJitOwYAyoSfwSnQ3xbZ3JE0f1pFBTou5rH1MAcCcwN/s1600-h/palinflowchart.jpg


[Gov. Sarah Palin runs for Vice-President 2008. Why stop there?]
Yay! Palin for President. Yay! nytimes.com/2008/10/05/opinion/05rich.html?hp


[Sen. John McCain runs for President 2008. But gives up on Michigan]
That's gotta hurt. www.nytimes.com/2008/10/03/us/politics/03michigan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin


[Government fails to bail out Wall Street 2008]
$2 billion buys a lot of votes in Congress, but not quite enough, this time. http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/among-bailout-supporters-wall-st-donations-ran-high


[Government fails to bail out Wall Street 2008]
Hooray! Wall Street exists to provide capital and credit to industry (with a tidy profit for itself). But the Wall Street begging for a rescue is drunk on obscene self-enrichment through esoteric and non-productive derivatives schemes. It has abandoned investing in favor of gambling. It has abandoned its reason to exist. It doesn't need rescue, it needs rehab (full disclosure, my 401K begs to differ). www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/business/30cong.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin


[Sen. John McCain runs for President 2008. Suspends campaign to rescue the economy]
I, too, have suspended my campaign. It's time to focus on what's really important - the mortal threat of gay marriage. www.youtube.com/watch?v=rixkck8QnjY


[Gov. Sarah Palin runs for Vice-President 2008. I can see Russia from here.]
I can't look. http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/09/palin-on-russia.html


[Sen. John McCain runs for President 2008. Diss'es David Letterman, who gets even]
Mr. McCain, how about a new asshole? No? Well, he's ripping you a new one anyway. http://cajunboyinthecity.blogspot.com/2008/09/letterman-rips-old-asshole-mccain-new.html


[Gov. Sarah Palin runs for Vice-President 2008. Pastor tries exorcism.]
WHICH ONE OF YOU WAS IT?!!! WHICH ONE OF YOU MUST BE CLEANSED?!!!! http://gawker.com/5054894/palin-wins-heart-and-mind-of-one-new-yorker


[Sen. John McCain runs for President 2008. Suspends campaign to rescue the economy]
"It is going to be part of the president's job to deal with more than one thing at once." www.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/us/politics/25campaign.html?ref=todayspaper


[Sen. John McCain runs for President. Suspends campaign to rescue the economy]
Perhaps we should just cancel the elections altogether, and let the Supreme Court appoint the next President (there is a recent precedent), so that the good senators can focus on what's really important. www.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/us/politics/25mccain.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin


[Gov. Sarah Palin runs for Vice-President 2008]
Hey, wasn't there somebody named Sarah something running for governor or something? Huh, Vice President? No way! Anyway, let's get back to what's really important - nasty, National Enquirer gossip. http://gawker.com/5054219/sarah-palins-other-man-brad-hanson-the-plausible-details-at-last


[White people; you gotta love 'em]
I don't care what everybody says about them, white people are totally cool (#110). http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/


[President Bush proposes a bailout for Wall Street]
Good one, Hugo. www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/business/23sorkin.html?ref=todayspaper


[President Bush proposes a bailout for Wall Street]
Now the same guys who turned our financial system into the largest pyramid scheme and failed casino on earth want millions of dollars in fees for managing the "investments" that lie at the core of the scheme (or, "house of cards" as George W. Bush, accurately for a change, referred to it). Please tell me they're joking.


[President Bush proposes a bailout for Wall Street]
Let's take a re-vote on last year's Big Idea from the Republicans. All in favor of privatizing Social Security (let's turn over grandma's Social Security fund to Bear Stearns, I mean Lehman Brothers, I mean AIG, I mean Merrill Lynch, I mean FNMA, I mean Freddie Mac, I mean ...), please raise your hands. www.cato.org/pubs/ssps/ssp8es.html


[Commercials can be fun]
Thanks James. http://frinko.com/you-might-have-to-watch-this-twice.html


[The world economy starts tanking]
Wow, I just invented cool financial instruments!! Now it's time to gamble with your life savings!! I'll trade my CDO's for your ABS's, and stick the CDO's in your money market fund. When the whole thing collapses, I'll split with the $40 million I've "earned." Maybe the Fed will pay you back.


[The world economy starts tanking. Wall Street grasps at straws to save itself]
Step right up! See the whacky Republican "free" market. Watch brokerage firms invent "short" selling, then convince the SEC to make it illegal to short brokerage firms! Watch the SEC encourage gambling on the market's rise, but criminalize gamblng on the market's fall! Step right up!


[Gov. Sarah Palin runs for Vice President 2008. Has difficulty with the truth.]
Good grief! Was there anything truthful in her acceptance speech? http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/09/did_palin_really_take_a_pay_cu.php



[Sen John McCain runs for President 2008]
Up until two months ago, this guy (Phil Gramm) was the Co-Chair of the McCain campaign, and a serious contender to be President McCain's Secretary of the Treasury. www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/07/foreclosure-phil.html


[Gov. Sarah Palin runs for Vice President 2008. Has difficulty with investigations.]
I will fully cooperate with the investigation into how I used the power of the Governor's office to punish my good-for-nothing brother-in-law. Unless you try to get any information or question any witnesses; in that case, I will not cooperate. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080917/ap_on_el_pr/palin_troopergate


[American financial system collapsing. Save some, let others go]
Sorry, Lehman Brothers, today, I draw a line in the sand. No more private profits coupled with socialized losses. Oh, excuse me while I nationalize AIG. (Hello, Fidel? A little help, please.) Henry Paulson.


[Gov. Sarah Palin runs for Vice President 2008. Has difficulty with pale skin.]
Hmm, I bet Obama's been sneaking into the Alaska governor's mansion on weekends. How else to explain his suspiciously rich, dark tan? www.narconews.com/Issue54/article3191.html


[Gov. Sarah Palin runs for Vice President 2008. Has difficulty with family.]
Hey, it's rock solid. It's in the National Enquirer!!! www.nationalenquirer.com/_palin_family_shockers_what_sarahs_really_hiding/celebrity/65407


[Gov. Sarah Palin runs for Vice President 2008. Has difficulty with being Governor.]
Well, she did build an ice rink. In Alaska. But maybe we shouldn't look to closely at that report she suppressed on global warming, or her high school yearbook, now known as the state government directory. www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/politics/14palin.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin


[The presidential race 2008]
I just get the feeling the choir keeps preaching only to itself. All these articles are correct, but we've got to reach the other side. www.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/opinion/12krugman.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin


[Gov. Sarah Palin runs for Vice President 2008. Has difficulty with being Vice-President.]
Let's skip the middle man; Sarah Palin for President! http://open.salon.com/content.php?cid=16427


[Gov. Sarah Palin runs for Vice President 2008. Has difficulty explaining why]
Dear John, I'd like to be the Ambassador to Canada. I live in New York State, which as you well know, shares a border with Canada, so I'm not unaware of the menace that country poses to the U.S. http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/31/cindy-palin-russia


[Gov. Sarah Palin runs for Vice President 2008. Has difficulty with hypocrisy]
Palin "defends her own pregnant daughter's right to privacy even as she would have the government intrude to police the reproductive choices of all other women." www.nytimes.com/2008/09/07/opinion/07rich.html?em


[Presidental race 2008]
Liar, liar! Pants on fire! www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/opinion/06herbert.html?em


[Sen. John McCain runs for President 2008]
Can't we just make him Legislator in Chief, and leave the Presidency to Obama? www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/opinion/06collins.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin


[Gov. Sarah Palin runs for Vice President 2008. Has difficulty with fellow Alaskans]
Go ahead, Anne, tell us what you really think. http://stupidcelebrities.net/2008/09/05/ann-killkenny-palin-email-photos


[Presidental race 2008]
Republicans haul out last election's play-book. Substitute "Obama" for "Kerry," and voila! www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM3oww9Vk-c


[Gov. Sarah Palin runs for Vice President 2008. Has difficulty with the press asking questions]
Thank YOU, Michah. www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13143.html


[Gov. Sarah Palin runs for Vice President 2008. Allegedly has difficulty with the monogamy thing]
Let the mudslinging begin! And in this corner, the newly respectable National Enquirer!!! http://gawker.com/5045218/palin-had-affair-says-enquirer


[The New York Sun's last gasp 2008. Go down well dressed]
Any man wearing khaki trousers spends the night in the box. Any man riding the subway more than 30 minutes spends the night in the box. Any man thinking outside the box spends the night in the box. http://gawker.com/5044701/interns-banned-from-long-subway-rides


[Gov. Sarah Palin runs for Vice President 2008. Has difficulty with the God of Love thing]
Let's not forget Jesus the war-monger. http://mudflats.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/sarah-palins-preacher-problem-end-times-coming


[Global warming. Bye bye polar bears]
But I don't like polar bears, cold weather or huge ice sheets. So what's the problem? www.nytimes.com/2008/08/28/science/earth/28seaice.html


[I read it in the paper so it must be true]
www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2965078.html?menu=


[God-damned particle physicists prepare the accelerator at Cern]
People of earth, please fasten your seat belts. www.nytimes.com/2008/08/08/science/08physics.html?scp=1&sq=cern%20accelerator&st=cse; www.nytimes.com/2008/08/08/science/08physics.html?scp=1&sq=cern%20accelerator&st=cse


[R.I.P. Isaac Hayes]
Yikes! Do NOT tell my brother about this. www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Obit-Isaac-Hayes.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin


[U.S. sneak attack on Japan]
Sorry Japan, our bad. The Navy promises to stop leaking radiation into your waters and ramming your fishing boats. www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/world/asia/03japan.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/07/27/2008-07-27_injured_vets_tell_pull_dick_cheney_invit.html


[R.I.P. Tim Russert 2008]
So, I'll admit it. I'm confused. Tim Russert was a source for Robert Novak? Didn't that betray his obligation to use his "tidbits" for his own employer, MSNBC? www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/18/AR2008061802730.html

[Some people die, they wonder why]
No, sorry. There's no lesson. People get sick and die. According to the laws of nature. And even if one believes in a god, what reason is there to think that this god is "good?" And what reason to think that this god is good "all the time?" www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/nyregion/24towns.html?ref=nyregion


[Rep. Charles Rangel has 4 rent-controlled apartments]
Dear Mr. Rudin: I'd like a nice apartment on East 68th Street. Rent-stabilized, of course. Doorman building. No hassles from management trying to evict me or trying to increase my rent to market rates. Right away, please. Thank you. www.nytimes.com/2008/07/21/nyregion/21building.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin


[Sen. John McCain runs for President 2008. Uhm, no thanks]
Sorry, John. We can't afford another idiot in the White House for another 4 years. Especially with another Bush recession looming, a nuclear arms race in the middle east, and a melt-down in the financial markets. Maybe you can be given a new position to be called Principal First Deputy Assistant Decider. www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/opinion/20rich.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin


[Man has twins. Stops smoking crack]
So having twins helped him get off crack. I wonder if getting a dog will help me get off Entenmann's. www.nytimes.com/2008/07/20/magazine/20Carr-t.html?pagewanted=1


[Rev. Jesse Jackson whispers about a "nigger" on Fox. Nice move.]
You know, I never, ever used the word "nigger" until Jesse Jackson and his buddies told me I couldn't use it. I know you have good intentions. Hey, so do I. But I don't believe in removing words from the English language. And I don't like being told what I can say and what I cannot say. In any event, it's apparently okay to say "nigger" again, now that Jesse uses it around the Fox News studios. Run, Jesse, Run! http://gawker.com/5026087/jesse-jackson-did-use-the-n+word


[Dow sinks below 10,000]
Dow 10,000 (again).


[Rep. Charles Rangel has 4 rent-controlled apartments]
Some of us are more equal than others. www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/nyregion/11rangel.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin


[Sen. Barack Obama runs for President 2008. Gets realistic]
Well, I still feel jilted. www.nytimes.com/2008/07/10/opinion/10collins.html?hp


[OMG! Watch this movie! "The Battle of Algiers"]
Who knew about this, and didn't tell me? This is what we call "required viewing." www.imdb.com/title/tt0058946


[Anglican church okays women as bishops]
Church of England bids fond farewell to the 16th Century. African bishops say "Not so fast!" www.nytimes.com/2008/07/08/world/europe/08anglican.html?_r=1&oref=slogin