Taibbi

The Scam Wall Street Learned From the Mafia
How America's biggest banks took part in a nationwide bid-rigging conspiracy - until they were caught on tape

"...The banks achieved this gigantic rip-off by secretly colluding to rig the public bids on municipal bonds, a business worth $3.7 trillion....

...In fact, stripped of all the camouflaging financial verbiage, the crimes the defendants and their co-conspirators committed were virtually indistinguishable from the kind of thuggery practiced for decades by the Mafia, which has long made manipulation of public bids for things like garbage collection and construction contracts a cornerstone of its business...."


Read the whole thing, Taibbi is a master at cutting through the bullshit,  explaining complex and tedious things in sometimes salty, oftentimes humorous language, which I for one greatly appreciate.


You know?  It just dawned on me that I absolutely loathe movies and tv shows about the mafia.  And I loathe banksters.  Hmmm.

My saviors from reading more Romney crap

Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney.  Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney.  Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney.


Jebus I'm sick of that doof. That rich, greedy tool of the rich and greedy can go fuck himself. Job creators?  Nonsense, that shithead destroyed a shitload of American jobs and made beaucoup bucks doing it.  


 I'm sick of the ridiculous charade that national politics is, especially Presidential election politics. The only way I can stand to look for some article that is remotely interesting and is mildly political in nature is to listen to Blue Gal and Driftglass on the Professional Left Podcast. I found myself impatiently wating for it yesterday and then I thought I would hold off and save it for this morning's coffee on the porch.


Here's part of my view when I sit there.




And I was pleasantly surprised to hear those two talk about themselves and how they came to do the podcast.

Supreme Court: U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Undefeated This Term

Yup, I knew who these jokers were playing golf with.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

U.S. Financial Professionals Call for Transaction Tax

interpress service /news report
Published: Friday 22 June 2012

"...The tax would cover stock trading, derivatives and other financial instruments, but, proponents say, would have a significant impact only on so-called high-frequency trades, in which computer-driven speculators typically hold stocks for mere milliseconds..."


"...In May, however, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to set a blanket tax on trades at .1 percent and on derivatives at .01 percent. Several EU countries are now reportedly ready to move forward, either collectively or individually, led by Germany and France..."

".01% on deriviatives?"

 Are you fucking kidding me? Why are those those fucking things still legal?

Health Insurance Interests Invest Heavily in California Campaigns

by Linda Casey, April 19, 2012
FollowTheMoney

How Many More Mexicans Must Die for America's Drugs?

Thank you Mr. Drucker for telling it like it is.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

SCOTUS sides with big bidness again, what a surprise...

not.


SCOTUS Overrules 2nd Cir on Pharmaceutical Sales Rep Overtime Pay
By Robyn Hagan Cain on June 19, 2012 3:04 PM

"Ethos"

Streaming on Netflix now. A documentary worth watching. Or watch here. (beware, there are preznit Stupie McFuckwit clips in it, and that fucktard still pisses me off)

Gardener Sues City of Tulsa For Cutting Down Her Edible Garden

at Treehugger
Ramon Gonzalez
Living / Lawn & Garden
June 18, 2012

"...Everything that Morrison grew could be eaten. At the time the gardener was unemployed and not covered by insurance. She used her garden not only to feed herself, but to treat her diabetes, high-blood pressure and arthritis. According to Morrison, when she explained this to the enforcement officials she was told “we don’t care.” Morrison has filed a civil rights lawsuit arguing that the enforcement officials overstepped their bounds..."





Well, Law enforcement organizations are doing pretty well ensuring that the rights of BigPharma and Food Inc.'s rights to screw us endlessly are not violated.


I'm sure somebody who spent time in law enforcement will comment that I didn't understand this story and then give me the neatly compartmentalized version of what happened.


Fine.


Geometric cubby hole thinking and an emphasis on capitalistic endeavors without counting the human (and other species) cost is what's fucking this planet and everything trying to live on it.


Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery Talk Dark Money With Bill Moyers
—By Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery| Fri Jun. 15, 2012 5:00 PM PDT

Has the Drug Industry's Grip On Health Care Become a Pharmageddon?


Published on Saturday, June 16, 2012 by Rolling Stone
Senators Grovel, Embarrass Themselves at Dimon Hearing
by Matt Taibbi

Squeeze us some more why doncha?

Published on Wednesday, June 13, 2012 by RobertReich.org
Why The Economy Can’t Get Out of First Gear: The Rich Have Sucked It Dry
by Robert Reich

"...If you have any doubt, just take a look at the Survey of Consumer Finances, released Monday by the Federal Reserve. Median family income was $49,600 in 2007. By 2010 it was $45,800 – a drop of 7.7%..."

"...Bottom line: The American economy is still struggling because the vast American middle class can’t spend more to get it out of first gear..."


Published: Friday 15 June 2012
See You at the Club: Fed Fat Cats Dip Into the Till
Robert Scheer - Truthdig

The Fed backed the bailout of Citigroup, the result of deals dreamed up by Dimon, who before his JPMorgan days had teamed with Sanford Weill to merge privately held investment firms with government-insured commercial banks, which would have been illegal under the Glass-Steagall law.

"... Dimon—whose company last year paid him $24 million, compared to the $45,800 median U.S. family income—testified that the bank could manage its own affairs. But that is hardly reassuring given that the Fed provided JPMorgan Chase $391 billion in total assistance as well as paying the bank to administer the government’s emergency lending program. It was the Fed that back in March of 2008 made $29 billion available to Dimon’s bank so it could acquire beleaguered Bear Stearns; the Fed also agreed to purchase Bear Stearns’ most toxic assets before the merger..."

Hmmm, wonder which consumers will actually buy this article?

Swiss bankers drop holiday plans on fear of arrest
MARTIN DE SA’PINTO AND EMMA FARGE
Zurich and Geneva — Reuters
Published Thursday, Jun. 14 2012, 3:41 PM EDT
Last updated Thursday, Jun. 14 2012, 4:52 PM EDT


After all...

The Greeks today

WEEKEND EDITION JUNE 15-17, 2012
Greeks Face Momentous Elections
Left Threat Terrifies Bankers: Out of the Eurozone, Into Bankruptcy?
by PATRICK COCKBURN
Athens

"As Greeks prepare to vote in the most important election in their history on Sunday, people in Athens fear they are facing a future full of uncertainty, poverty and violence. Well-publicized crimes help create an atmosphere of violence as the wealthy and vulnerable immigrants alike come under attack..."


I never thought I'd be glad to hear that Papou wasn't visiting his home country at the moment.


Man it's cold today.  Halfway through June and it's ususally the hottest part of the day and it's 65 ° outside.  According to this the  La Nina event has concluded. Whatever. I'm freezing my ass off today.

I've known this for years

Rio+20 Earth summit: scientists call for action on population
Joint report by 105 institutions urges negotiators to drop political inhibitions and confront rising global population and consumption

Jonathan Watts in Rio de Janeiro
The Guardian, Wednesday 13 June 2012

"...Many in the scientific community believe it is time to confront these elephants in the room. "For too long population and consumption have been left off the table due to political and ethical sensitivities. These are issues that affect developed and developing nations alike, and we must take responsibility for them together," said Charles Godfray, a fellow of the Royal Society and chair of the working group of IAP, the global network of science academies..."

Human-Induced Ocean Warming Study Addresses The 'Dominant Role' Of People

"Despite the ominous findings, some politicians are still attempting to project an element of doubt on issues surrounding human-induced climate change"



Can you say 'campaign contributions?'
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Wall Street Does Not Care About JPMorgan's Loss

Of COURSE they don't care. They are gambling with other people's money and no matter how badly they screw up the taxpayers get stuck paying off their bad bets.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Supreme Court Declines Guantanamo Bay Cases: It's Been 4 Years Of Silence

Come on, who remembers the days when the Supreme Court was interested in citizen's rights instead of advancing the wealth of the already wealthy? You know, like 50 years ago?
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

I am getting apathetic about elections

Although, I did vote. Love the absentee voting, more people should do it
here . It's easy.



Election Night Website Attack Came From Offshore IP Address, Officials Say
Friday, June 8, 2012
By CITY NEWS SERVICE

"Finding the ultimate source of an off-shore cyber attack on San Diego County's main website on election night will be a huge challenge, an expert at the Supercomputer Center at UC San Diego said today..."

COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO
PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ELECTION
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
THESE RESULTS ARE UNOFFICIAL
Last updated on: 06-07-12 at: 16:54:51
There are approximately 108000 Absentee / Provisional ballots still to be counted

What Does Our Obsession With Zombie Stories Tell Us About Our Politics
By Kristin Rawls, AlterNet
Posted on June 6, 2012, Printed on June 8, 2012

"...A year ago, a CBS poll suggested that, “Americans have long felt they have little say in government. But the trends are troubling: While 58 percent said they have little say in what government does in 1990, that figure has risen to 69 percent today. In the new survey, 85 percent say that people like them had too little influence on American life.”

Political alienation in the United States, in other words, has never been higher. A staggering 85 percent of Americans did not feel that American politics allowed them much in the way of participation..."

House Republicans Vote To Defund Obama Immigration Efforts

Oh boy, another vote I can loathe my hopefully on his way out in Nov. congressman.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

All 67 Florida Election Supervisors Suspend Governor Rick Scott’s Voter Purge

All 67 Florida Election Supervisors Suspend Governor Rick Scott’s Voter Purge
By Judd Legum on Jun 2, 2012 at 12:08 pm

More Corporate Contradictions on Climate

"The Corporation" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z-JVP6aAxs
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Female circumcision

I recently watched a movie called Desert Flower, which was based on the life story of Waris Dirie, a Somalian emigrant to England.  I loved the movie, but the horror of what happens to many girls made me cry. I knew something of this practice as I have a lot of experience working alongside immigrants and I am a naturally curious person. I dunno why, but people talk to me. I've been told that I don't judge harshly, but you might not know it by reading this blog. I suppose I don't judge poor people nearly as harshly as the rich, powerful, greedy, and entitled. Anyway, I met a girl who told me that this had happened to her in her home country in Africa. She was grateful that the family had emigrated and her younger sisters had escaped her fate. I remember that she had the most beautiful smile and many admirable qualities.  I met her and she told me her story years before Waris Dirie shined an international spotlight on the practice in order to try and stop, or at least reduce it.


That is why this article caught my eye this morning:

The horror of female genital mutilation in the UK
An estimated 66,000 girls have been illegally mutilated in the UK, but no one has yet been prosecuted for this practice.
Last Modified: 30 May 2012 15:50
Aljazeera

"...The poisonous power of patriarchy
Female Genital Mutilation is without a doubt powered by the poison of patriarchy. In a FGM affected community, there is a fundamental belief that mutilation is the only way to initiate a girl into becoming a "good woman" ready for marriage and childbirth. The bitter irony is that the very process of FGM is achieving the exact opposite. Removing part of a girl or a woman's anatomy, disturbing and forcefully changing the way her body is intended to function not only takes away her femininity, but biologically changes the composition that makes her into the woman that she naturally is intended to be. Women across the world are torturing other women to accommodate and appease an ideology and distorted history of male supremacy. FGM is practiced to satisfy the wishes of a patriarchal family structure, but in reality the men distance themselves from the procedure of the practice, maintaining a dominating presence in the "background" and are not concerned enough with the consequences to stop inflicting this depravity onto their daughters...."

Many immigrants have traditions that they bring with them that are charming and sweet.  This is not one of them.  This one brings with it pain and suffering and dangerously unhealthy side effects to its victims:

" It is not uncommon in some cases for a woman's vulva to be stitched up, leaving just a small opening for urine and menstrual blood to pass through, before the woman is then re-opened for sexual intercourse and childbirth...."

 It brings nausea and anger to me and frankly it makes me want knock some of these ignorant, selfish men and stupid old women upside the head to knock some sense into them. These women need to buck up and learn the power of what my mom calls "equalizers." Things like cast iron frying pans, and artfully leveraged tools, 'cause the bastard's gotta sleep some time. Ladies, your biggest tools are the truth told to the right people, and education. Being a good wife is not by definition being repeatedly raped or submitting to some selfish, stupid, cowardly piece of shit, and that's exactly what men who favor this practice are:

"There is no endorsement of FGM in the Bible, the Tanakh or Quran."

Bailing out Germany: The Story Behind the European Financial Crisis

Posted by Pratap Chatterjee on May 28th, 2012
CorpWatch Blog
Translation: The Rich Get Richer. Stop Poverty Wages! (Photo of Blocupy poster: linkskreativ. Photo of Euro: Slolee. Used under Creative Commons license)

"...In reality, a large chunk of the bailouts are for debts created by private banks in Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain borrowing abroad – for speculative real estate schemes and such like - not by shopkeepers, small entrepreneurs and ordinary citizens. And a surprisingly big chunk of the rash loans were handed out by private (and some public) banks in just four countries: France, Germany, the UK and Belgium (in that order)..."

Charles Taylor Sentenced: Judge Gives Former Liberian President 50 Years In Jail

Televangelist Pat Robertson didn't have any trouble dealing with Taylor:

"The subsequent investigation by the Commonwealth of Virginia concluded that Robertson diverted his ministry's donations to the Liberian diamond-mining operation, but Attorney General of Virginia Mark Earley blocked any potential prosecution against Robertson, as the relief supplies were also sent.[12]" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Taylor_(Liberian_politician)#Civil_war
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Peter Cincotti "Nothing's Enough" / Produced by John Fields

Rough stink bug

 This, from what I found floating floating round on the internet thingy, is a Rough Stink Bug. Not to be confused with a Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, because the two look unnervingly similiar on this web page, but not very close at all if you look at my bug (good bug).  Well, I hope it's a good bug and not a bad one.

Oh screw the banksters

Published on Monday, May 21, 2012 by Common Dreams
How the Ultra-Rich Betray America
by Paul Buchheit

"... The wealthy benefit disproportionately from property and inheritance laws, contracts, stock exchanges, favorable SEC regulations, the Small Business Administration, patent and copyright and intellectual property laws, estate planning, trust funds, Internet marketing, communications infrastructure, highway maintenance, air traffic control, local and national security, and 60 years of research in technology and other industries..."

"...Denial: Traders feel it's inappropriate to pay even a tiny tax on a quadrillion dollars in sales

A quadrillion dollars sounds like a fake amount. But it's all too real. That's a thousand trillion dollars of derivatives transactions which, along with the high-frequency computer-generated transactions (5,000 per second) that make up over half of U.S. stock trades, contributed to a financial meltdown and a $3 trillion bailout for reckless trading.

But there's no tax on these transactions.

While average Americans pay a 10% sales tax on necessities, millionaire investors pay just a .00002% SEC fee (2 cents for every thousand dollars) for a financial instrument. And their supporters claim, inexplicably after the disastrous trading frenzy in 2008, that a tax would increase volatility..."

("Increase volatility?" Now that is the most ridiculous statement I've heard in a while. Jebus, how stupid do these colostomy bag contents think we are?)


Published on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 by Common Dreams
Snarling Banks
by Jim Hightower

"...Thank you, Supreme Court, for making this crass money play possible with your plutocratic Citizens United decision. Now that bankers are going to intimidate officeholders with the threat to put unlimited campaign cash against them, we can expect Big Oil, Big Pharma and all the other Bigs to join the fun...."


"...Wells Fargo now hits you for $15 a month just to have a checking account, unless you keep at least $7,500 in your account. Citibank charges $20 a month, unless you keep $15,000 on deposit — more than double last year's level. Bank fees for money orders have doubled, and fees for cashier's checks have quadrupled..."

There is a way out of this endless abuse-the-customer game: Move your money out of their vaults! For help, go to

http://www.moveyourmoneyproject.org/"

Penn Jillette Accuses Obama Of Class Warfare For Drug Policy, States' Rights (VIDEO)

Wow, the silly season just keeps coming earlier and earlier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silly_season#Politics
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

It’s Official: Watching Fox Makes You Stupider

Ben Adler on May 21, 2012 - 9:04 PM ET
The Nation



"... The reason is not because it holds a set of values that others may not share. And that is only partially because it claims to be “Fair and Balanced” when it is neither.



Rather, it is because it fails the fundamental test of journalism: are you informing your audience? According to a new study by Farleigh Dickinson University, Fox viewers are the least knowledgeable audience of any outlet, and they know even less about politics and current events than people who watch no news at all....

...When Fox isn’t inventing smears against Obama, it uncritically regurgitates corporate-funded lies about him....


...This laziness, partisan hackery and lack of regard for basic accuracy is what separates Fox News from outlets that merely have opinions. And it is doing their audience a disservice...


Chris Mooney cited six previous studies with similar findings.

I identified 6 separate studies showing Fox News viewers to be the most misinformed, and in a right wing direction—studies on global warming, health care, health care a second time, the Ground Zero mosque, the Iraq war, and the 2010 election.
I also asked if anyone was aware of any counterevidence, and none was forthcoming. There might very well be a survey out there showing that Fox viewers aren’t [emphasis in original] the most misinformed cable news consumers on some topic (presumably it would be a topic where Democrats have some sort of ideological blind spot), but I haven’t seen it. And I have looked...."

Thinking about yesterday's post

And my distrust for mainstream media. 


 Being born and raised in San Diego I had very little interest in reading the local paper because not only do I dislike dirty hands, I smelled bullshit. 


 The older I got the more I knew that the way that local government functioned was not in the best interest of people like me and many inhabitants of the over 4,000 square miles inside San Diego County. And it was obvious to me that the paper and the government supported the wealthiest members of a small elite. 

So articles like this:
  San Diego’s ‘Strong Mayor’ System Worse Than You Might Think 
By Norma Damashek / NumbersRunner / May 18, 2012 
Hat tip to OB Rag 


 and books like these:


 Paradise Plundered and Under the Perfect Sun only confirm my suspicions.

Page One: Inside the New York Times (2011)

Page One: Inside the New York Times (2011) 92 min - Documentary - 29 September 2011 (Denmark)

 I thought it was going to be a puff piece that didn't critisize so I didn't want to watch this. I was pleasantly surprised, but I still tend to only read the NYT when I've been pointed in that direction or I am looking for an item that was widely reported on and I need details and a source link for a blogpost. I've never read any print newspaper because I can't stand to have dirty hands. Well that and I got suckered into supporting the fucking Iraq war by the mainstream media. And hassled by someone who got msm exposure as some kind of fucking hero when he was just a small man with a devious mind. I don't know if I ever trusted the mainstream media. From my perspective they protect the wealthy. Hell that's ad revenue, and with corporate consolidation, including corporate media consolidation that means more power concentrated in fewer places. I didn't even know who Sam Zell was. Jebus, what a dick.

squirrels don't like these, yaaaay

And the sweet alyssum smell just may ameliorate the smell of the dumpster that occasionally wafts over in the summer time.  


 Even though this is an apartment complex the landscape maintenance crew is incredibly lame.  They don't do crap and they turn on the sprinklers 2 minutes a month for the tiny little yards that are closest to this particular building.  So there is a spigot at the end of the building and I bought a garden hose, fuck 'em.  After spending fifty bucks for garden supplies (and I borrowed the tools) I wasn't thinking 'fuck them" I was thinking "fuck me."