Had enough in the Middle East

16 February 2011 Last updated at 10:00 ET
Middle East protests: Country by country

Arab leaders warned of 'revolution'
Arab League chief warns regional leaders that recent political upheaval is linked to deteriorating economic conditions.
Last Modified: 19 Jan 2011 20:28 GMT

and um, other places also:

Food Riots Threaten Latin America on Surging Commodities in UN Assessment
By Nicholas Larkin - Feb 16, 2011 12:26 AM PT
Countries in Latin America and Africa, including Bolivia and Mozambique, are most at risk of food riots as prices advance, the United Nations reported.

"....Goldman View

Food prices are going higher because there is competition for limited arable land to boost supplies, said Jeff Currie, global head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in London..."

(derivsive snort)

Goldman Sachs Commodity Index and the 2005–2008 Food Bubble

Regulating Commodity Speculation Back In EU Spotlight

Yeah, What BadTux said

The revolution starts... err.... not.

Yup, I'm feelin' pretty lazy these days too, probably because I feel hopeless regarding the Idiocracy that is my country.

Maybe it's because I just finished watching another documentary on illegal immigration, this one about kids. I felt nothing when I watched it, probably because I was born and raised in a Mexican border town. That could change a person's perspective and make them see things that others might not see while watching that particular documentary.

Maybe it's just the hopeless feeling I get when I think about the Idiocracy that is my country.

Grammys tonight

Eh Feh, I think I have heard one of these songs, unless this is the old McCartney version of Helter Skelter. I don't much care for rap, and most R & B sounds the same to me. I kind of wrote off the Grammys as just one more sad commentary on life in America when I happened to catch part of that Gawdawful song one year about it being "hard out here for a pimp." I think back to what my kid listened to and I can see that some of her favorites from 5 or 6 years back are up for Grammys, but the dinosaur rockers are surprising to me, um, unless I don't know any better and their namesake kids are up for awards. If I could figure out when the kid who went to my high school a gazillion years after I went, I might watch part of it, but since the kid didn't even write the one song I like, again let me reiterate... eh feh.

Tired of the news

No, I don't know it all, but since I've been reading non-stop since September 12, 2001 I'm finding the blowback stories from the Middle East tedious. I just don't see current events the way I used to. With 7 billion people on the planet, how long did the Captains of Industry and the Banksters think they could shit all over a majority of the world population?

Do nothing Republicans

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I'm assuming my congresswhore Bilbray is fundraising. A LOT. Since the asshole never represented me or did anything that I care about, I try not to pay attention to the bills that he votes in diametric opposition to my values.

Time to head back to Netflix viewing. Romantic comedies were never so interesting to me, hey I am a woman, and action flicks get really tedious to me. I just don't like car chases, explosions, gunfights, damsel in distress rescues and all the bullshit regarding national security and war. I did enjoy a movie and a documentary about The Runaways, and I loved a Norwegian film that translated as "Buddy."

DC "blindsided?"

Tomgram: Engelhardt, Goodbye to All That

Posted by Tom Engelhardt at 9:50am, February 7, 2011.

Pox Americana
Driving Through the Gates of Hell and Other American Pastimes in the Greater Middle East
By Tom Engelhardt

"As we've watched the dramatic events in the Middle East, you would hardly know that we had a thing to do with them....

Still, make no mistake, there’s a story in a Washington stunned and "blindsided," in an administration visibly toothless and in disarray as well as dismayed over the potential loss of its Egyptian ally, “the keystone of its Middle Eastern policy,” that’s so big it should knock your socks off..."

As I was reading this I was reminded of an article that I read a couple of weeks ago:

Maddow Shows How the "National" Media Isn't National At All by: David Sirota Thu Jan 20, 2011 at 13:30

"Last night, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow rightly asked a taboo question of our "national" media: Why has it largely ignored what the FBI says is a major terrorist bombing attempt on Spokane, Washington? In the segment, you can see she cites examples of the "national" media hyperventilating about bomb scares that ended up being false alarms. She cites these examples to wonder why, in the face of a bomb scare that's actually real, the same "national" media has ignored the Spokane story? ..."

If the NY-DC media bubble cannot inform the people of the United States about danger, how can we expect them to stop tripping over their dicks internationally? They may understand campaign contributions, election cycles and the coming quarter's earnings but the effin megalomaniacs are so myopically focused on those things that they can't even see how dangerous they are to the world.

And, Oh, yeah, I'm getting better at spotting CIA planted stories, especially with the Egypt thing going on. Some of the absolute nonsense I have read in the last couple of weeks is fucking hiliarous.

Asia Times / By Pepe Escobar 16 COMMENTS
Why the US Fears Arab Democracy
As much as Mubarak is a slave to US foreign policy, Obama is boxed in by geopolitical imperatives and enormous corporate interests he cannot even dream of upsetting.

Natural Gas and New Mexico

Friday, Feb. 4, 2011
Thousands in NM without natural gas service
By SUE MAJOR HOLMES Associated Press

Stocks Posted Best Weekly Gain In 2-Months (AAPL, BAC, BIDU, BP, ERTS, FCX, FSLR, MEE, PFE, SLW, V, XOM)
Written by TradersHuddle Staff
Friday, 04 February 2011 21:33
"...Energy, materials, and financials were the bets performing sectors. The energy sector rallied 2.6% lifted by higher crude oil prices and by M&A activity in the coal space. Crude oil extended its gains, climbing to a two-year high of $92.84 per barrel, before settling with a 3.2% gain at $92.19 per barrel. Traders continued to press the possibility of crude oil flow being interrupted at the Suez Canal and of possible Egypt unrest spillover to other oil producing countries in the Middle East..."


New Mexico Board Votes to Adopt Greenhouse Gas Cap-and-Trade Rules
Published Nov. 2, 2010
"...PNM Resources, the Albuquerque-based parent firm of the utility Public Service Co. of New Mexico, has opposed the regional greenhouse gas regulations and issued a statement indicating that it may consider legal action. The company is among many that would prefer a national approach to energy and emissions regulations of this type..."

Speculation On A Monster Rebound, Higher Oil
Andrew Wilkinson, Interactive Brokers, 01.28.11, 02:58 PM EST
Monster Worldwide has been a horror show, dropping about 20%. Some options players wager on a snap back rally.

Patterson-UTI Energy: Shares of the provider of contract services to the North American oil and natural gas industry were up 2.25% this afternoon to stand at $22.90 just before 2:30 p.m. in New York.

Thursday 3 Feb 2011 UK Guardian
Terry McAllister
Shell's search for profits widens even as the oil price climbs
• Shell now 'world's largest trader' as well as oil major
• Plans to explore in Arctic, Iraq, Russia and deep sea
"...Shell is also busy building up its positions in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico and off Brazil, despite the safety concerns triggered by BP's Deepwater Horizon spill..."

Natural gas leak reported at offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico
Published: Tuesday, January 18, 2011, 9:20 PM Updated: Tuesday, January 18, 2011, 9:21 PM AP

Saboteurs attack Egypt gas pipeline to Jordan
By Agence France-Presse
Saturday, February 5th, 2011 -- 8:12 am
"..."The pipeline to Jordan has been attacked and the supply to Israel has been cut off," the official said..."

It's (Partly) the Food, Stupid!

Why isn't this on the front page!?

"rapacious speculator­s have produced the current dramatic spike in food prices, rapacious speculator­s have produced the current dramatic spike in food prices, rapacious speculator­s have produced the current dramatic spike in food prices, rapacious speculator­s have produced the current dramatic spike in food prices, rapacious speculator­s have produced the current dramatic spike in food prices, rapacious speculator­s have produced the current dramatic spike in food prices"
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Food Speculation Behind Food Riots N Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan, Jordan, Egypt, Yemen, Morocco

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Danny is closely following Egypt

Is Friday “The Day Of Departure?” If Hosni Is Going, Who Is Coming?

Democracy in San Diego?

Bwaaaahahahahahahahahaha!

Wal-Mart Buys San Diego

Dude, this shit is par for the course here in my lovely home town.

Walmart PAC donated to vote-flippers’ favored charities
FEBRUARY 4, 2011 - 1:13 PM
by Dave Maass

Councilmember Marti Emerald on Supercenters
Posted on February 4, 2011 by admin

Congratulations commodities speculators and traders

You are responsible for the unrest in developing countries.

Get your greedy asses out of the commodities markets.

Bankers and Speculators Helped Create Egyptian Crisis
By Danny Schechter
Last Updated: Feb 1, 2011


Get out.

Fuck off and die please.

I dunno what I'll blog about today, but it WON'T be Egypt

So, the whole GOP trying to redefine rape pisses me off. And I'm not the only liberal blogger to be ticked about it.

Republicans Redefine Rape, Outraging Liberals
<> By CAITLIN DICKSON | January 28, 2011 5:07pm

On Rape, War Crimes, and Republicans

Exclusive: Dem calls GOP rape-redefining bill ‘a violent act against women’
By Sahil Kapur
Tuesday, February 1st, 2011 -- 8:23 am

THE ODIOUS GOP PLAN TO REDEFINE RAPE.

Thirteen Days

Thirteen Days (2000)

145 min - Drama | History | Thriller - 12 January 2001 (USA)

7.3/10

Users: (24,062 votes) 302 reviews | Critics: 150 reviews Metascore: 67/100 (based on 31 reviews from Metacritic.com)

The film is set during the two-week Cuban missile crisis in October of 1962, and it centers on how President John F. Kennedy, Attorney General Robert Kennedy, and others handled the explosive situation.

The Pentagonistas were doing a circle jerk that could have led to nuclear war instead of letting the Presidents of the US and USSR actually communicate directly. Fucking warmongering idiots.

Men just irritate the living shit right out of me. I wonder how many pairs of villages that shared the same water well avoided wars because the women talked to each other instead of letting their testosterone fueled men loose on each other.

I read, then escape, and then rinse and repeat.

Still slogging through Russ Baker's Family of Secrets. *sigh* In light of the financial crashes, bubbles, and phoenixes that soon will come crashing back to earth in a flurry of feathers, blood, guts and bits of broken bones again, I found this particular bit interesting:

P. 292
"...In the two years leading up to the oil embargo....

The point man for weaving together the complex economic relationship with the Saudis was a little-known fellow by the name of Gerald Parsky. His grasp of U.S. tax laws enable him to advise Arab countries how to benefit from IRS tax exemptions for foreign investment in real estate..."

Oh. Shit. If we are dealing with foreign capital that started that giant sucking sound in the 70's, how bad is it now?

At which point my head hurts enough to hit the escape button and find out what is on Netflix? Oh, so glad you asked! I recently discovered that the first four years of "Brothers and Sisters" is streaming on Netflix. Either I'm getting senile, or I missed the first half of the first year.

Happy Birthday to me

I went to Wally World and bought myself some new windshield wiper blades. Then I came home to a flower delivery from my mom. Then my friends Jacob and Annie sent me a really funny Jib Jab card, and they told me that I have something else coming, but they won't tell me what it is. My dad called, that was unusual and very nice. My daughter's card was so beautiful that I cried. My sister is taking me to lunch tomorrow.

I feel very appreciated today.

I forgot to post my blog anniversary this month. On the 8th my little politickybitch blog was 5 years old.

I'm not telling you how old I am today, but it's really fucking old.

Update 7:30 pm - Watching this response to the SOTU speech What a fucking tool.

Trying to read now

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (Andrew Bromfield translation, earlier and shorter)

What was I thinking? I still haven't finished Family of Secrets or Globalization and it's Discontents. I used to read for fun. I'm not having much fun reading these days. Fuckin' 9/11.

I love this essay

What Is Conservatism and What Is Wrong with It?

Philip E. Agre
August 2004

California Shows Corporate Subsidies Impoverish Us All

California Shows Corporate Subsidies Impoverish Us All

When a corporation gets a tax break one month and announces that it's moving jobs to Utah the next, California lawmakers end up looking like chumps.

Rachel Maddow is AWESOME

This tool from the Wall Street Journal Steve Moore dude makes me want to smack the shit out of him, just so Rachel doesn't have to treat him like the misbehaving child he's acting like.

Goddamned Old Pricks (GOP)

Posted at 4:14 PM ET, 01/21/2011
GOP bill would block D.C. abortion funding
By Ben Pershing
"..."The new Republican majority has spent its first three weeks preaching about the need to reduce the federal government's power," Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said in a press release. "Yet the third bill they introduced this Congress prohibits a local jurisdiction from spending its own local funds."...

O'Reilly promotes effort to recall Sheriff Dupnik for 'divisive' talk -- with Nazi-coddler Russell Pearce cheerleading

Was Comcast Behind Keith Olbermann’s Exit from MSNBC?
Jan. 21 2011 - 10:51 pm
"...But Comcast has its own calculations. An intrinsically conservative corporation, it’s not overly friendly to congenital boat-rockers like Olbermann..."

The More Americans That Go On Food Stamps The More Money JP Morgan Makes

JP Morgan is the largest processor of food stamp benefits in the United States. JP Morgan has contracted to provide food stamp debit cards in 26 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. JP Morgan is paid for each case that it handles, so that means that the more Americans that go on food stamps, the more profits JP Morgan makes.

Yes, you read that correctly.

January 20, 2011 5:03 PM

After Vote, GOP Not Done with Health Care Repeal Effort

Posted by Jill Jackson

Business over people....again

Jeffrey Immelt, GE CEO, To Replace Volcker On Obama's Economic Team
The Huffington Post Lila Shapiro First Posted: 01/21/11 10:06 AM Updated: 01/21/11 10:13 AM
"...The two men have significantly different backgrounds. Immelt is a lifelong Republican and, as Bloomberg put it, "a corporate heavyweight who can help burnish Obama's pro-business credentials."..."


Should Jeffrey Immelt Really Be Leading Our Job Creation Strategy?
1/21/11 HuffPo Scott Paul

There is no swifter way to alienate working class voters than to name an outsourcing CEO to lead your jobs strategy. Yet that's exactly what President Obama is doing.

Martin Luther King

I can't watch this and stay composed.

Miss Nebraska fake blonde ditz

Teresa Scanlan wins Miss America 2011; Miss Nebraska slams WikiLeaks during pageant

Great, a 17 year-old airhead from the cornfields is Miss America. The dingbat needs to go get her roots bleached or her teeth bleached, or work on those fabulous abs, but come on, social commentary from a 17 year-old beauty queen?

Puhleeeeeeeeze. Sometimes what this country shows the world is just plain embarrassing.

What to say?

Survivors of Brazil mudslides that killed more than 500 frustrated
By Juliana Barbassa (CP) – 4 hours ago

"...TERESOPOLIS, Brazil — Survivors of mudslides that killed more than 500 people are growing frustrated, saying Brazil's government has fallen short in rescuing victims still stranded on remote hillsides and finding the bodies of the dead.
On the fourth night since torrential rains sent avalanches of mud and boulders smashing through communities in the lush mountains outside Rio de Janeiro, many people were still begging officials for aid late Friday. Many also took it upon themselves to search for their dead and help out the living.."

Colbert - Hitler's Inspiring Tucson Memorial Speech

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Hitler's Inspiring Tucson Memorial Speech
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog</a> Video Archive

I'm really trying to find some humor, but frankly the Foxfuck's flip-flops made me dizzy.

I'll let Borowitz help you laugh, I'm still pissed off

Impressed With Speech, Fox Names Obama an Honorary American

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) - Impressed by his speech at the University of Arizona last night, the Fox News Channel today took the extraordinary step of naming President Barack Obama an honorary American.

"Let's face it, he's earned it," said Fox host Glenn Beck. "I don't care where he came from, he's one of us now."

Naming President Obama an honorary American was only one of a series of conciliatory moves made today by what promises to be a kinder, gentler Fox News.

A network spokesman said that starting this week, Fox would air one minute of civil discourse every Sunday at 4 AM. More here.

The Los Angeles Times says Andy Borowitz has "one of the funniest Twitter feeds around." Follow Andy on Twitter here.

Lawmakers And The Crazy Laws They Want To Pass In The Wake Of Tucson Tragedy
Jason Linkins First Posted: 01-13-11 06:56 PM | Updated: 01-13-11 08:25 PM

Tucson: Time for Another Examination of Conscience

Thank you for weighing in on this. Since I was very young at the time of the assasinati­on of your Uncle I didn't realize the rhetoric was ratcheted up at that time also. My mother confirmed this, and said that even as young as she was, that there was a noticeable difference in the nastiness of political rhetoric coming out of Texas.

One question I have regarding the Manchester quote; Why does he use the name Earle Carroll? The name I've seen over and over again for the mayor of Dallas at the time of JFK's assassinat­ion is Earle Cabell, (http://en.­wikipedia.­org/wiki/E­arle_Cabel­l )

who's brother was General Charles P. Cabell ( http://en.­wikipedia.­org/wiki/C­harles_Cab­ell ) who "became Deputy Director of CIA under Allen Dulles. He was forced by President Kennedy to resign, on January 31, 1962, following the failure of the Bay of Pigs Invasion."
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

What is company success?

Tomgram: William Hartung, Lockheed Martin's Shadow Government
Posted by William Hartung at 10:02am, January 11, 2011.

"... How in the world did Lockheed Martin become more than just a military contractor? Its first significant foray outside the world of weaponry came in the early 1990s when plain old Lockheed (not yet merged with Martin Marietta) bought Datacom Inc., a company specializing in providing services for state and city governments, and turned it into the foundation for a new business unit called Lockheed Information Management Services (IMS). In turn, IMS managed to win contracts in 44 states and several foreign countries for tasks ranging from collecting parking fines and tolls to tracking down “deadbeat dads” and running “welfare to work” job-training programs. The result was a number of high profile failures, but hey, you can’t do everything right, can you? ... "

Yup. I know this to be true because I was one of those rounded up and sent to Lockheed Martin offices for the welfare-to-work program. We looked around at each other and wondered aloud if we were going to be Rosie-the Riveter or some shit? Baffling because there wasn't a war going on at the time.

The employees got almost no guidance at all from corporate and I think through no fault of the employees the program was a dismal failure for most welfare recipients. They needed comprehensive help and the psychiatric help was the epitome of incompetent and transitory and a range of other needs were not met.

I know that this county is pretty much owned and operated by the M-I-C so it didn't surprise me, but it did fuel my cynicism. I knew about the budget cuts and privatization going on in the military. When I was offered community college classes I took the ball and ran with it even though my choices were childcare or business. Childcare? Ugh. Well, I did learn something in business classes. I learned how to track a stock price for a period of time:

Computer fiasco costs state dearly
$1.2 billion in fines over child support systemBy Ed Mendel
STAFF WRITER SDUT
March 28, 2007

Tonight's Maddow opening segment

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

I burst into tears before Rachel finished. Suddenly I was 15 again and hearing about the Brenda Spencer school shootings. When I was 16 I was living in the same place as a girl who had been Spencer's cell mate at juvie. I was never a danger to anyone but myself, but believe me, some of those kids were sick. I hope that girl got better eventually because she was twisted. There was help for young people then. Nice places for kids like me who's folks had health insurance, and the State paid for wards of the court if help was needed.
Then came Reagan.

Now whether they are dangerous or not, and they (or sometimes us) are lucky, they are in prison. Sometimes it's just a way to get the medication they need. Sometimes it saves our lives. Sometimes not. I personally think that the really crazy people never get help and some of them are wealthy and important people. Don't tell me there aren't nutballs at the top of the social strata in the world because I will call you a liar. Anyway, things were different, I was lucky, and I've never been in jail. Hell, I don't even have any parking tickets.

Tired and sad today

I missed Grey's Anatomy on Thursday, so I decided to watch in on the computer last night. Sadly, it was about a mass shooting. The characters in the show dealt with a mass shooting in the hospital just 6 months before.

I feel like I can't escape.

I have a lot of respect for David Sirota, even though his OpEds are not carried in my local fishwrap, and he's not heard on local radio. There is too much demand for RepugnanThuglican hate-spew here. I'm pretty sure that Limbaugh, and his ilk are on AM radio, and there's even some local stooge that I can't stand. Anyway, here's David:

Silence Is Complicity & Defensiveness Is Endorsement
by: David Sirota
Mon Jan 10, 2011 at 13:30

US Subpoenas Twitter Over Wikileaks Supporters

"Justice" in the US is a fucking joke.