If ya don't like beans...

Ya aint never tasted mine.

Oil Trades Near Six-Week High on Iran Threat to Crude Transport

December 27, 2011, 9:40 PM EST "..Dec. 28 (Bloomberg) -- "Oil traded near the highest level in six weeks after Iran threatened to block crude transportation through the Strait of Hormuz, increasing concern that global supplies will be curbed amid shrinking U.S. stockpiles.
 ...Oil for February delivery was at $101.54 a barrel, up 20 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:12 a.m. Singapore time. It rose $1.66, or 1.7 percent, to $101.34 a barrel yesterday, the highest settlement since Nov. 16. Futures have climbed 11 percent this year after increasing 15 percent in 2010..."

  Sam's Exchange: The Irony of Iranian Sanctions
18:26 20/12/2011
Biweekly column by Sam Barden
 "...Of course the biggest loser out of sanctions on Iranian oil is Europe. Europe currently imports about 900,000 barrels a day of Iranian oil. Europe has not been able to agree a ban on oil imports, and is unlikely to. The biggest importers of Iranian oil in Europe is Spain, Italy Greece and Portugal. Any sanctions on Iranian oil would cripple these already struggling economies..."

  China’s Frustrated Iran Diplomacy
December 26, 2011
By Willem van Kemenade

 "...The next step was the publication in November of a new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Iran’s “progress” toward a nuclear device, including computer modelling of a nuclear warhead, testing explosives in a large metal chamber and studying how to arm a Shahab 3 medium-range missile with an atomic warhead. However, the report was considered too weak by Russia and China to justify more sanction..." Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011 Medvedev: Test of much-heralded new missile done

I just had a really long talk with my friend

And she is amazing.  I am truly blessed to have been able to keep in contact with her for the last 17 years.  Her patience, kindness and inner strength are inspiring and I love her dearly.

stuck in my head

Yep, I KNOW Christmas is over.


I like Michael Franks' version a little better, but I'm partial to Michael Franks.

Philippines Floods 2011: Bodies Found Far Away From Ravaged Villages, Coastline

Here is some interestin­g reading from the US Dept of Forests:

A Student Guide To Tropical Forest Conservati­on

http://www­.fs.fed.us­/global/lz­one/studen­t/tropical­.htm



I find it interestin­g is that no major studies on tropical forests are cited from the last 20 years on this page
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Christmas, 2011

My friend sent me this this morning:

 "It's thankfully Christmas morning.

The Mall Wars have ended. The doors in some stores close on Saturday, 24th Dec, at Midnight. The security staff put away their pepper spray canisters, and the maimed and the injured shoppers limped out of the cavernous Big Box stores to their cars with carts laden with Chines imports. Now TV and the Internet News blurbs will have to start talikng again about things that really matter. Like which celeb couple has split, and which up-and-coming starelet had a wardrobe malfunction.

 MERRY CHRISTMAS....

If you can still remember what it's all about"

 And I replied to my friend: 


 Ahh, my dear, I do remember. I tried to relieve the stress by agreeing months ago with friends and family to NOT exchange presents. This morning I couldn't believe the feeling of peace and wonderment that today is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and Jesus was a good dude. 


 May you also have a peaceful day of quiet reflection,


 nunya


 And then I found something else worth reading in my inbox:


SATURDAY, DEC 24, 2011 1:00 PM PST

 #occupychristmas

"Throughout much of history, the holiday was a celebration of rebellion against authority. It's time to reclaim it..."

 "...But there is also something different going on this year. A popular hashtag on Twitter is #OccupyXmas. In Portland, San Francisco and elsewhere, carolers dressed in Santa suits and elf outfits have been singing a new song. It goes in part like this:

 Arrest ye merry bankermen
 All profiting today
 You crashed the whole economy

 Yet nothing did you pay …"

Taibbi is so awesome!

Taibbiblog

  A Christmas Message from America's Rich 
Posted Dec 22, 2011

 As apalling as some of these quotes from the filthy rich are, I'm not really surprised. You'd be amazed at some of what came out of the mouths of some of the entitled little bitches I grew up with, and I wasn't anywhere near to rich and neither were they. Much closer to lower middle class.

The 10 Most Annoying Pop Christmas Songs of All Time

Why do pop artists have to get involved in Christmas? 
December 23, 2011 |

Photo Credit: paparutzi at Flickr.

I am rolling on floor, laughing my ass off.   Merry Christmas y'all!!!

Media Matters: 2011 Highlight Reel

December 22, 2011 12:59 pm ET by Jon Salvia

Media Matters 2011 year in review

U.S. Troops Charged After Fellow GI, Hazing Victim Danny Chen Found Dead in Afghanistan

 I found these two tidbits of news, but I looked for hours on HuffPo for something worth reading and I couldn't.

nexpensive Solar Cell Paint One Step Closer After "Major Advance" in Research

Matthew McDermott Technology / Solar Technology December 22, 2011 treehugger

"Not the actual paint... TreeHugger has covered paint-on or spray-on solar cells on a number of occasions. The idea isn't new by any means. But some researchers from the University of Notre Dame say they have made a "major advance" towards making an inexpensive solar paint. They've called it (be prepared to groan) Sun-Believable...."

Mary J. Blige- Enough Cryin' (Live)

MLK parade bomber sentenced to 32 years in prison

Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011 By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS Associated Press



 I love the mainstream media, it just cracks me right the fuck up.
A google news search using the term "terrorist plot" with the date parameters 1/17/2011 to 1/21/2011brings up :

  Why only Hindus confessing: RSS TNN Jan 18, 2011, 05.37am IS

  Report Says Militants in Pearl Killing Still at Large
By JANE PERLEZ Published: January 20, 2011

  Yemen Sentences American-Born Cleric in Absentia By ROBERT F. WORTH Published: January 18, 2011

  Fresh torture allegations raised over third British man held in Bangladesh
Chemist from Stockport was allegedly mistreated, raising further concerns about possible UK complicity in torture Ian Cobain and Fariha Karim in Dhaka
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 1 June 2010 12.15 EDT


Suicide bombings kill at least ten people in central Iraq POSTED JANUARY 19, 2011 BY BNO

You have to use the search term "bomb plot" with the same date parameters in order to bring up any articles on the MLK parade 2011 bomb plot.  


Because, you know,  American non-muslim, white supremacists are not "terrorists!" 




They are just "bomb plot" ters.


roflamo.

Holiday musing

I've been avoiding the newZ stuff lately because frankly, most of it is stupid:

 Fox and Sarah Palin Freak over White House Christmas Card.
Wed, Dec. 21, 2011

Instead, I have been watching an even sillier show that lasted 1 season called "The Event." Silly, exciting and about aliens that look like us and crash landed in Alaska 66 years ago during WWII and have been held in a prison made especially for them ever since then...


 So my creative little mind starts wondering "Hey, maybe Molly McMooesturd stumbled onto some super-duper secret government installation in Alaska and that is why the goofy bitch is in the newZy reports all the time?"

Hey, it's not any crazier than the thought of Sarah Palin, a major flaming turd queen,  as a presidential candidate, and it might explain why she's not a simple footnote in history yet. You got a better idea? Come on, I could use some larfs today, :)

The Unfathomable Cuts in Housing Aid

Patrick Markee
December 14, 2011
This article appeared in the January 2, 2012 edition of The Nation.

 "...Back in May another 21,000 people had applied for a shot  at 5,000 spots on the Dallas Housing Authority’s waiting list—still better odds than in nearby Plano, where 8,000 people applied for only 100 available housing vouchers..."

CDC: Nearly One in Five U.S. Women Raped, One in Four Attacked

By Dyanna Quizon, Esq.
  Findlaw
on December 16, 2011 3:09 PM

*sigh*

Avoiding the news

Watching all kinds of stuff on Netflix.  I never had cable tv so there is lots of stuff for me there.  I flew through a show that was filmed in 2010 in San Diego called Terriers.. I remember reading posts on the OB Rag  and thinking that it was great that it's set in OB, but I didn't expect much from it.  I like some shows about private investigators and I don't like some of them. Anyway, I hope they figure out a way to get another season going because I love it.


My friend told me about these guys who do "Bad Lip Reading" on YouTube and they make me laugh.



"Michele Bachmann": a BLR Soundbite

Wikileaks: Bradley Manning military hearing bias row

16 December 2011 Last updated at 18:35 ET
 Bradley Manning is accused of leaking 720,000 diplomatic and military documents

 
Is the US government at war with whistle blowers? A military officer overseeing the hearing of the US Army analyst accused of leaking government secrets has rejected a request to recuse himself.

 "...Lt Col Almanza is a former military judge who now works for the Department of Justice, which has its own investigation into Wikileaks. His refusal to accept all but two of 38 defence witnesses meant the defence could not adequately make their case, Mr Coombs said..."Continue reading the main story

China's Christian Bale PR Nightmare

"Chinese quota on foreign films, which restricts distributi­on of imported movies to 20 a year"

Jeez, no wonder it's easy to find Chinese websites where you can upload or stream gazillions of pirated American movies and shows.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Death Penalty Use Plummets to 35-Year Low

By Andrew Chow on December 16, 2011 5:50 AM | Findlaw

Good, now let's get rid of it completely since it's a big frigging waste of taxpayer money to keep dragging these people into court on appeal after appeal and those who cause the most death in this country and overseas never get indicted anyways.

Citigroup's CEO's Monster Pay Package While Cutting Jobs. America's New Capitalism

Pandit may be in trouble with the rich, and for that he might have to pay the consequenc­es:

Citigroup Deal Haunts Pandit as Saudis Claim $383 Million

December 06, 2011, 8:49 AM EST

http://www­.businessw­eek.com/ne­ws/2011-12­-06/citigr­oup-deal-h­aunts-pand­it-as-saud­is-claim-3­83-million­.html
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Court Yard Hounds - It Didn't Make A Sound

My favorite song on this CD is "Well Behaved" but I still can't find a decent sounding video on YouTube.

Indefinite Detention Bill No Longer Faces Veto Threat From White House (UPDATE)

"...Oppone­nts of the indefinite detention provisions have argued that, although it is true Americans have been held, the Supreme Court has not ruled on the validity of those detentions­..."

This Supreme Court will avoid that like the plague, as it has nothing to do with the freedom of THEIR base to make money.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

The Twelve Republican Days of Christmas

Karl Frisch December 14, 2011 (they're pretty funny)

Break it down, Jon and Lawrence

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Exclusive - Lawrence Lessig Extended Interview Pt. 1
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

And here be de proof, although I do like my senators, my house rep is a tool.

  Cloture on the Nomination of Richard Cordray, of Ohio, to be Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection

Motion to Proceed to S. 1944; A bill to create jobs by providing payroll tax relief for middle class families and businesses, and for other purpose

To amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to provide that major rules of the executive branch shall have no force or effect unless a joint resolution of approval is enacted into law

Online Filter bubbles

Sorry about the spiders, Maine

Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011

"BATH, Maine (AP) - A Navy shipbuilder in Maine says it had to fumigate a warehouse and part of a warship because a shipment of parts from the West Coast contained about two-dozen venomous black widow spiders...."

  We have brown widows also.

News Networks Regularly Promote Anti-Gay Family Research Council On Air

December 13, 2011 3:20 pm ET — Media Matters

grrrr

Russia Protests: Thousands Rally Against Vote Fraud, Putin

"Putin in turn criticized Clinton and the United States for allegedly instigatin­g protests and trying to undermine Russia."



How does that work when approximat­ely 4.9% of Russians speak English?
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Saving Our Democracy

I love Senator Bernie Sanders!
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Chilean Glacier Recedes Half-Mile in Just One Year

Stephen Messenger
Science / Climate Change
  Treehugger December 8, 2011

"While the powerful impacts of global warming can be seen in various forms throughout the world, few places have experienced observable changes as dramatic as in Chile's Southern Patagonian Ice Field..." timelapse video