The video stores are closing

So it looks like Netflix is the gonna be the only game in town for me. Fuck cable, I don't want to pay to watch more damn ads.

I'm glad I bought a new monitor. I can't stand to not do anything and the damn stitches need air or they won't heal. So I can see the monitor when I'm parked on the bed and take the bandage off.

The movie is in German and the family is Turkish. I'm so busy watching the English subtitles I can barley tell when they switch from German to Turkish.

Education vs. prisons in California

Jeez, what a report We spend more on prisons in California than we spend on ALL of the education system.

The NPR report goes on about how California Correctional Peace Officers Association has increased labor costs of running the prisons.

What the fuck do you expect when most of the unions in the US have been decimated by business? Businesses leaving the country and businesses intimidating or firing groups who may want to form a union.

Thank you "Three strikes law."

Thank you "tough on crime" rhetoric spouting politicians. You managed to gin up the fear in people enough to really create animals who are jammed in like sardines and ready to explode at anyone of a different race in prison.

Thank you federal "war on drugs"

I can think of so many other factors, but why? It is what it is.

Welcome for whom?

Welcome sounds of construction ring in Rancho Penasquitos
By Roger Showley
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
2:00 a.m. October 2, 2009

With construction virtually at a standstill in San Diego County, a Florida-based firm officially started construction yesterday on a 368-unit apartment project in Rancho Peñasquitos that will generate hundreds of jobs over the next two years and replace an outmoded experimental metal housing complex.

The project is called Cresta Bella Apartments and is a development of Atlantic & Pacific Management, a company that owns and manages about 18,000 apartments and condo complexes on the two coasts.

“Real estate's in our blood,” company chairman Alan Cohen said. “This is something that I've been focused on for 45 years.”

The $44 million project is on 31 acres west of Interstate 15 on Peñasquitos Road, immediately south of the DoubleTree Golf Resort. It will include 32 buildings, most of which will resemble what the project architect calls a “big house” — a mega-mansion that contains 10 apartments.

The units will range from 850 square feet to more than 1,440 square feet and rent for a projected $1,350 to about $2,200. Thirty-one of the units will be set aside as affordable units available to low- and moderate-income renters under the city of San Diego's inclusionary housing program.

As a measure of how grateful they were at the groundbreaking, officials of Suffolk Construction Co., a Boston-based general contractor with offices in Irvine, heaped praise on the Cohens for choosing them over San Diego's more deep-rooted contractors.

So far this year, only 778 multifamily housing units have been authorized locally, so the AP project represents a nearly 50 percent increase in just one month.

Robert Pinnegar, executive director of the San Diego County Apartment Association, said Cresta Bella was a prime candidate for redevelopment because of its proximity to a freeway, shopping and community services. However, he said, good urban planning would have called for higher building density.

“There was potential to put much more density there and that's kind of sad,” Pinnegar said.

In fact, the Cohens, who have owned the site since 1975, originally proposed to build more than 500 units but backed off when the Rancho Peñasquitos Planning Board voiced concerns about traffic, and the developers realized how difficult it would to change the community plan. The last residents were relocated to other projects earlier this year; the buildings were demolished last month.

“We had numerous offers on our assets and could have sold and cashed out and made a lot of money,” company president Stanley Cohen said. “We're not interested in that. We're interested in long-term operations and building the company up here.”

Many other builders are stymied from proceeding with their projects because of the lack of financing. Cohen said Wells Fargo Bank agreed to back the project, because, he said, “We pay our bills and have a strong balance sheet.”

The Cresta Bella site has a history as old as the community. Its predecessor was Leisure Life Village, a series of 248 single-story homes built in the late 1960s and rented mostly to seniors with federal housing subsidies. The developer was Irvin J. Kahn, who had bought the 14,000-acre Los Peñasquitos Rancho in 1962.

He signed on United States Steel, Rheem Manufacturing Co. of New York and Rohr Corp. of Chula Vista to build an all-metal framing and modular complex. Promoters at the time spoke of it as a “breakthrough” in residential construction.

But Kahn, who died in 1973, had fallen behind in his payments on $180 million borrowed from the Teamsters pension fund. The balance of the development property was sold to Genstar Ltd. of Montreal for $91 million in 1978.

The Cohens bought some of the Kahn holdings in 1975, including Leisure Life, and watched the I-15 corridor develop over the next 30 years.

But the project, while offering affordable housing, was not the most comfortable to live in.

“In the summer it was hot and in the winter it was cold,” Stanley Cohen said.

Dan Barker, a member of the Peñasquitos Planning Board, said the community and neighbors were “anxious to see this redeveloped.”

“There was no issue between the residents and the community,” he said. “It was just that the property was in dire need of redevelopment.”

Fuckers. Those were low income apartments that they tore down. They had grass, trees, a pool, a small amount of units in each building which makes the ability to control roaches easier. I don't know where these guys expect people who actually work in San Diego to live? Do they own calculators? Will they ever figure out that two minimum wage full-time jobs is not enough for one person to live on in this county?

The assholes can't do simple math either.

" I. ELIGIBLE PROJECTS
A. Residential development projects where at least 10 percent of the units are set aside for households with an income at or below 65 percent area median income (AMI) for rental units and at or below 100 percent AMI for for-sale units as set forth in the City’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance (SDMC Section 142.1304)."

CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY - Loved It!!!!!

I really thought that people watching it would not really react because he would be sort of preaching to the choir. With me he was, but I heard laughter, gasps from shock, and murmuring in sympathy.

It didn't leave me depressed, but wondering what I can do to change things. Laying around doing nothing while everyone around me just takes it up the ass from a bunch of rich assholes isn't cutting it for me anymore.

As soon as these damn stitches come out I want to go buy a pitchfork.

Sunday Oct 4, 2009, It's pretty much playing all over San Diego today.

Jon Stewart

Yeah, it's actually kind of nice to see that his snarky reaction wasn't all that different from mine while I was watching CSPAN

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Democratic Super Majority
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Ron Paul Interview

no squirrels today

Instead, some pics I took of some early morning fog the other day. (click for links to some songs I like over at YouTube)

Late afternoon stories of interest to me

posted October 01, 2009 11:13 am
Tomgram: Pepe Escobar, Pipelineistan's Ultimate Opera

The next article caught my eye because I saw a gun show in San Diego advertised for this weekend.

Mexican drug cartels might target U.S. businesses

Poll. 71% say Congress shuts us out on health care debate

But OK, if Amy and Wendell think there still is hope for a public option I'll keep emaiing, calling and making a general nuisance of myself.

Michael Moore tells Democrats: 'Find your spine' on health care

After you read this article and read the most recommended comments. When allowed even a small voice in the media the majority of Americans are thoughtful, intelligent and interested in the public option. The smart congressmen are listening. The rest will be chucked overboard in '10.

Grassly, the rightwing tool and health sector whore and

that arrogant smarmy cheating dickweed Ensign don't have a clue as to what real people are dealing with.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Baucus is a disgrace to his party, and Nelson, ummm he ummm... tends to do shit that is great for Big Ag and other large corporations in his state.

....Now that Sen. Ben Nelson, (D-Neb.) has definitively stated that he opposes the use of reconciliation to pass health care reform, it's worth noting that on at least two previous occasions the Nebraska Democrat had no qualms supporting the budgetary procedure as a means of passing legislation.
On May 26, 2001, Nelson was one of a dozen Democrats to support president George W. Bush's Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001: the massive tax cut package that defined the administration's plans for job growth. The bill was passed using reconciliation -- meaning it wasn't subject to a Democratic filibuster -- and received the support of 58 Senators..."


Update "Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) told the Huffington Post that he is confident that Democrats can break a Republican filibuster against a public option proposal provided it is the right version."

Sam Stein @ HuffPo
Read more at:Harkin Hangs Tough: We Still Can Get 60 Votes For A Public Option

San Diego arrests gang bangers with drugs, guns , ets.

Anti-gang operation results in 93 arrests
Day care center also shut down
By Angelica Martinez
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
2:00 a.m. September 29, 2009

...Taking part in the probe along with San Diego police were the county District Attorney's Office and Probation Department; state Parole Department; U.S. Attorney's Office; U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Marshals Service; and Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

I think it's this gang, but I'm not sure.

Somehow, I missed this:


Media ordeal blamed on escalating security offensive and cumbersome bureaucracy

"...With a total of 55 deaths of journalists since 2000 that were clearly or probably linked to their work, and eight journalists missing, Mexico is the western hemisphere country where press freedom is most endangered..."





And this might be why you won't see the report widely publicized.

"In the report’s conclusions, Reporters Without Borders calls for a complete overhaul of the Mexican judicial system and major legislative changes concerning the press. The press freedom organisation is nonetheless convinced that a solution to the tragedy is impossible unless the United States imposes controls on firearms."

Mexico's museum of drugs.

Today's medical procedure

Ok, I don't usually blog about personal stuff, but since the health care debate is front and center, here goes.

The local is starting to wear off and it's starting to hurt a tiny bit so I am a little cranky. I had a cyst removed. Before they removed it I had to sign a form that said that I would pay for the procedure if the insurance refused to pay for it. "What?! I was under the impression that it had been pre-approved a month ago when I made the appointment. No wonder 75% of the country wants the public option" I grumbled. She said that the insurance usually pays if they biopsy it. So I think "OK, I get to see in a little specimen container what's been getting infected and bugging me for the last 5 years." So once they excised the "anchored" cyst they sent the little alien looking thing (fucker had it's own little blood vessels, ewwww) off to the lab. Hopefully the insurance will cover the procedure, the Dr.s fee, the lab fee, and the suture removal visit.

So, ya grossed out? I'm not done. At one point I look up and she's got some hose thing and I ask "What's that?" She says "It's for the smoke."

"Ennh?"

I guess the smell of cauterized human flesh is not a big hit, even around a medical office. There are 4 smells that get to me, cauterized infected human flesh, vomit, poop and the contents of a colostomy bag. Fortunately the smoke eater hose thingy worked.

I usually don't have problems with my insurance. There are three levels of care available to retired military dependents, which is what I am. The premium for the highest level of care costs peanuts compared to the out-of-pocket share of premiums paid by other people. I know this. I'm grateful for this, but the retirement pay for enlisted servicemen is shit, and the cost of living in this city is disgustingly high, so something good better come from it. Dental and optical are not covered, and the premium for dental was ridiculously high, so we went with the dental insurance offered by his job, and the current job allows us to pay for glasses. I dunno what we're going to do if he loses his job, we'd be eligible for section 8 vouchers, but the waiting list in most places in Southern California is 10 years or more. Rent here is 2/3 of his gross retirement, not the net, and this place ain't all that and a bag of chips, that's for sure. Never mind stuff like car maintenance, car insurance, renter's insurance, internet access, computers. That would become luxuries.

If he wasn't working, I would not have taken the risk that the insurance might not pay for the procedure that I had done today. A very minor problem, but one that has made me aware in a very personal way of just how screwed up our medical system is, and how important the public option is, even if the congresswhores don't get that.

update 6:10 PM 9/29/2009

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

And the Senate Finance Committee rejects it

Ex-Bush officials face lawsuits over their actions

By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009

Americans Pay More to Die Earlier -- Why Is Our Health Care System So Screwed Up?

By Brad Reed, AlterNet
Posted on September 28, 2009, Printed on September 28, 2009

surprisingly the article did not mention that so many doctors specialize because primary care doctors don't get paid shit, they are forced to be the gatekeepers for the fucking insurance companies and that means waaaaay too much paperwork, and they are disrespected.

If you pay very careful attention when you read this you will see why a government run single payer insurance plan is the ONLY thing that makes SENSE for the people in this country, and any businesses (that require labor) interested in investing here.

And then there is big pharma and their congresswhores -

FDA: NJ Politicians Pressured Them Into Approving Unsafe Medical Device - After They Received Large Donations
By Susie Madrak Monday Sep 28, 2009 9:00am

Religion sucks #20

A hostile takeover of Zionism hat tip to Danny.

An armed ultra-orthodox Jewish settler walks in the mountains overlooking the Palestinian village of Burin in the West Bank. AFP

Israel is teetering toward theocracy, with the rise of the Haredim

...One Haredi leader who almost won Jerusalem's mayoralty race last fall, boasts that, within 20 years, the ultra-Orthodox will control the municipal government of every city in the country. And why not? Of the Jewish Israeli children entering primary school for the first time this month, more than 25 per cent are Haredi, and that proportion will keep growing. There are between 600,000 and 700,000 Haredim in Israel, and they average 8.8 children a family...

Nifty. Just what the world needs, more armed religious fanatics, breeding like rats, and seeking theocratic rule. *sigh*

Nice catch vidiotspeak

Anyone think war got nuthin' to do with economics?

(click on title link)

Fighting Botnets with Doc Savage

...we are still going after online crime like it is being perpetuated by 1990s-era basement hackers who are looking for more fame than fortune, when today cybercrime has become big business...

...The number of malicious websites has grown 671 percent in the past year, and 86 percent of all unwanted e-mails in circulation contained links to spam sites and/or malicious sites, according to the report...

Hmmm, not surprisingly, the worst cyber-criminals come from unregulated Russia and China both on the list for G 20 countries. If someone knows whether or not this was brought up in Pittsburgh and I can't find it, let me know? And oh yeah, you think your MAC is safe? Ha. I knew it was only a matter of time.

Rachel and Jeremy on Acorn witch hunt

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Trudging through "The Black Swan"

Dear Mr. Taleb,

I'm 70 pages in and a lot of it is tedious shit that I already know. I been a philosophizer and a janitor, and believe me, I get "random."

Michael Moore's 'Capitalism: A Love Story' - OPENS NATIONWIDE OCTOBER 2nd!

Moore fears 'Capitalism' movie will be his last

Last Update: 9/06 6:57 am

Moviemaker Michael Moore fears his new documentary Capitalism: A Love Story will be his last - because the footage will grossly offend the financiers who back his projects

The director's latest venture is a scathing critique of Wall Street and lays bare capitalist greed amongst the country's bankers

Moore is adamant he didn't let financial ties stand in the way of his expose, admitting many of the corporations which put up money for the film will be unhappy with the results...


Shit. None of the greedy fucks want to put anything into distribution of this movie. I should be able to buy online tickets to the one theater where it will be playing locally at soon. I will, and I will drive out of my way to see it. Hell, I drove an hour and a half to see his last movie because I didn't think it would be playing here at all. I like seeing Michael Moore's movies. I like to laugh, to be entertained, to hurt, to learn while watching a documentary. I know my emotions are being manipulated. I trust that the greater good will be served by allowing Michael Moore to manipulate my feelings. That is skill. And heart. And integrity.

I really enjoyed Naomi Klein's interview of Michael. The podcast kept me from paying attention to the articles I was skimming at the time. Yeah, I do that, it's the closest I get to "multitasking." I know women are supposed to be able to multitask, but not all of us ever get good at it. ADD is a hindrance to doing one task well, forget doing a shitload of them at the same time.

Here is the best interview regarding this movie that I have seen so far.

Stop Denigrating Government: There is No Economy Without It

Some funny I missed

on an unfunny subject.
Bill Maher Interview with former Cigna Exec Wendell Potter Sept 18, 2009

Fashion

R U FN KDDNG?

Who wears this shit?


San Ysidro border crossing closes after shooting
U.S. officers fire at three vans carrying more than 70 suspected illegal immigrants as the vehicles try to speed north through the checkpoint. At least four people are hurt.

You know? I was born and raised in Southern California and sometimes I just feel stunned at the weirdness of the place. Santa Anna's don't help quell that feeling.

I'm back

and this is some depressing stuff.

Why did the FBI destroy Walter Cronkite's FBI file?

Two years ago, the FBI destroyed documents that “may have” contained information about Walter Cronkite. What documents? We don’t know. Why were they destroyed? Good question!

Raw Story reports that blogger Michael Petrelis filed a Freedom of Information Act request for Cronkite’s file with the FBI, and got back a response that essentially said, “We destroyed a bunch of files a couple years back, and they may have been about Conkrite. We’re not saying they were about Cronkite, but for some reason that we can’t explain to you, we think they may have been about Cronkite, but anyway we threw them away, so thanks for asking.”

With Copenhagen Summit Approaching, Leading Polluters US and China Undercut Hopes of Substantial Pollution Cuts

Federal Judge Dismisses Police Harassment Claims by Activist Groups at Pittsburgh’s G-20
Thousands of additional security forces have been brought into Pittsburgh ahead of the G-20, and tall steel fencing now runs along the the convention center in this former steel town. On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled against two protest groups who accused the Pittsburgh police of harassment. Seeds of Peace and Three Rivers Climate Convergence claim the police used illegal searches, vehicle seizures, raids and detentions to discourage them from taking part in protests later this week.


TIME TO CHANGE BERNANKE'S MEDICATION?
Secret White House letter to G-20

by Greg Palast
Tuesday, September 22, 2009, New York

And finally, another Republican elite to run for CA Governor. She's great at rhetoric, and kissing the ass of rich fucks. The corporate whore will be trolling for corporate money at Gen-Probe in my city today.

"Both McCain and Romney have endorsed Whitman, as has former Gov. Pete Wilson, who is her campaign chairman and joined her in speaking in Fullerton Tuesday."

Romney, the Mormon? The ones who financed the Yes on h8te campaign?

Arnold's secret meeting with Kenny Boy

Chris Kelly over at HuffPo has some questions for her

Chris Kelly
Writer, Real Time with Bill Maher
Posted: May 13, 2009 04:41 AM
Meg Whitman Week -- Wednesday: A Tawdry Episode

...Meg Whitman was the CEO of eBay. EBay's investment bankers were Goldman Sachs. EBay didn't have to hire Goldman Sachs to be their investment bankers, because this was a few years ago, when there were lots of banks, and not just the three we keep bailing out. Goldman Sachs was very grateful for eBay's business and they had a special way of showing their gratitude to eBay's executives. Goldman Sachs would let them buy shares in other companies whose initial public offerings they were underwriting. This was during the dot-com era and IPO companies often posted huge first-day gains. After Meg Whitman brought eBay's business to Goldman Sachs, she bought shares in 100 Goldman Sachs IPOs one day and sold them the next day. She made 1.78 million dollars...

Read more at: Chris Kelly -- Meg Whitman

Wendell Potter on Rachel Maddow

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I think Wendell Potter is a hero.

So, nobody ever accused me of having good taste

But even the politickybitch has to take a short break from politics and be entertained once in a while. I do not know who is playing, but I love this song.



I finished Hollywood Station. It was a nice little romp to places I don't want to be, around criminals and familiar with police officers. My friend and I agreed that we just like to fly under the radar, no cops, no criminals in our lives. I like Wambaugh because he writes about cops as people, as fully fleshed out characters. Cops put up with a lot of crap, and this book is newer than some of the stuff by Wambaugh that I've read recently. It was written after the fallout from the Rampart Scandal, and released after this scum-sucking piece of shit won an Oscar. No, I haven't seen the movie. Why should I? It doesn't look like entertainment to me. What I read and what I watch for entertainment are two entirely different animals.

My friend is such a clown

Well, no, actually this weekend she showed up at a triathlon in a chicken suit. She said the weather was warm and she got baked and then fried, lol. I hear her young niece did very well.

Congratulations Baby J!

Music

Obviously I had a few years to catch up on, and I just had a ball today. If you are my age, you will know it.

Aint No Mountain High Enough

Brown Eyed Girl

In the Summertime

Mr. Big Stuff

Sunshine (go away today)

Low Rider

Fire

We Just Disagree

In the Evening

Flashlight

You can't change that

101 Eastbound

Who can it be now

One Wish

Nena- 99luft Ballons

Put your records on

Can't decide which one to read

The Black Swan by Nicholas Taleb or Hollywood Station by Joseph Wambaugh? Click on the books for reviews. I'm leaning towards the Wambaugh because I just need a break from shit I have to think about. A little fiction break maybe? Anybody read either of these?

ACORN’s Family Tree

Behind the News, Campaign Desk — September 18, 2009 05:44 PM
Was the Baltimore video journalism? Does it matter?
By Alexandra Fenwick

In a piece in the October 2009 issue of The Atlantic, “The Story Behind the Story,” journalist Mark Bowden examines the source of the Sonia Sotomayor video clips that surfaced during her Supreme Court nomination—and what happens when ideologues step forward to provide the reporting that journalists don’t have the resources to do.(click title link)