Plenty of blame to go around on this one. The only blameless soul in the mix was the center of attention Shirley Sherrod. So much of this has to do with the partisan bickering that seems endless these days. But at the end of the day EVERYONE was guilty of reacting to quickly. Jon Stewart is able to put everyone in their place with a sense of humor and sarcasm that would be more hilarious if it weren’t such a sad commentary on the state of our union.
With the 2010 House of Representatives elections as well as the 2010 Senate races coming up and the majority in both houses up for grabs – the budget is going to be a huge bone of contention.
Although I can’t embed the calculator – I did play with it – here is what I came up with – There I just solved one of the nation’s most pressing problems!
Every two years we have an election cycle in Washington – and every two years its the same-old, same-old. The constitution dictates that members of the house must stand for re-election every two years. So the 2010 house races involve all 435 seats. Even In the United States Senate where the turnover is far from 100% – 37 seats are up for election and the majority in the Senate may hang in the balance. Certainly the 2010 House of Representatives election cycle is bringing out the very worst that our nation’s politics has to dish out.
One of the most confusing issues to the public is the way each party points fingers and indulges in the “blame game.” The Bush adminstration were masters at blaming Clinton for things that happened nearly eight years after Bush had taken office. After blaming Clinton for everything from the terrorist attack of 9/11 and most notably the financial melt-down of 2008 – which happened nearly 8 years after Clinton left office – I find it amazing to see them feigning innocence and taking no responsibility for the deepest recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The crisis that pushed us into this hole actually happened on Bush’s watch.
So expect no relief in the months ahead. Clarity of thought in politics is a contradiction in terms. By the time the election finally rolls around, if you aren’t totally confused – - then you are probably only listening to one side of the story a la MSNBC or FOX news. The ability to get a sense of equilibrium and reality requires a requisite loyalty to one “news” channel – and I use the word “news” loosely. Most of today’s news is a cacoffiny of numerous one-sided versions of the same topic – with no common ground between any of them.
This is why I love Jon Stewart Comedy Central – On TheDailyShow - Jon can take the gloves off and call a spade a spade and do it with grace and humor. This was aired a little over two weeks ago, but it doesn’t get dated.
We are definitely in the “Dog Days” of summer – my Siberian Huskies have morphed from outdoor dogs to indoor couch potatoes in search of the comfort of the AC. Somehow temperatures close to 95 with high humidity don’t square well with the physiology of a dog that was bred to withstand temperatures of 40 below in Alaska. So I definitely understand how they feel.
In any case some relief for the TGIF crowd is in order. So enjoy the video of the dancing pig. I found him on YouTube and thought he was kind of cute and something fun after a long hot week.
Many of my colleagues in the real estate industry are very right-wing. Someone wrote a post about giving BP a break – I wrote a blistering response – or something closer to a tirade about how the far-right preaches personal responsibility UNTIL it comes to a large corporate entity. Then we should understand that business is business and let the free market “take care of it.” Sorry that doesn’t cut it. Nor does the apology for the apology that Senator Joe Barton gave to BP appease me at all. If the whole thing weren’t so ludicrous – it would have been hilarious. Certainly a case of being out of touch with a severe foot-in-mouth complication. Apparently, Barton felt that forcing the company that created thebiggest environmental tragedy in our country’s history was “shaken down” when they were forced to put money in escrow to pay for the damage. What’s wrong with this picture?
Hello everyone – given that its Friday - and the Friday before a holiday weekend no less – I decided to stay away from real estate and merely post something fun. As most of you know, I have Siberian Huskies which are not water dogs. But if they were I would hope that they would clean up the beach after their swim as well as these very well-trained canines do…
Enjoy – I think the theme is appropriate for the unofficial first weekend of the summer season…
I have to admit that I really love political comedy. Lewis Black is perhaps one of the best incarnations of “angry man” in political satire. Using his own unique style, Black had some particularly sage advice for Glenn Beck who seems to feel that he is the victim of an American brand of Nazi persecution.
One of the issues that I have had with both the right and the left is their willingness to brand the opposition as “Nazis” or being “Nazi-like.” the Nazi movement was too cruel and sadistic for those on either side of the spectrum to label the other as “Nazis.” When we do this – we’ve forgotten the true implications of the Nazi movement during World War II and we belittle the death of 11 million who were in the Nazi death camps…
Happy Friday – a day late. Someone sent me a link to the full version of this. My friend thought it was really cute -but couldn’t figure out why she liked it so much. I feel very much the same way…Its a lot of fun although normally this isn’t something that I would choose for my blog. So in the end I decided to embed this for everyone. The full version is not able to be embedded – so if you enjoy the shorter excerpt – here is the link to the full version on YouTube. Have fun with it…I love the how the hippo rolls his eyes at the annoying dog while he tries to perform his solo.
Jon Stewart is one of my favorite comics. Although he definitely leans to the left – he tends to call it the way he sees it. He makes fun of everyone – when it is warrented. Recently, he did a parody on Glenn Beck and his blackboards and what many would consider his wild conclusions. But earlier this year, he gave equal time to Keith Olbermann who clearly went over the edge on the election of Brown the United States Senate. Here are two videos – one making fun of the right and the other making fun of the left.
All I can say about both is that Jon Stewart ROCKS!
The power failure in Westchester County that left many without power for up to a week has in some ways brought to the forefront how much web 2.o become a part of our lives. The internet has gone from being a convenience and diversion at the turn of the century to a major centerpiece of lives – both at work and play.
We started along this path prior to 21st century – but we’ve traveled a long way down the internet super highway since the fears of Y2K dominated our lives. Indeed it was the events of 9/11 that first brought to the forefront the importance of cell phones. After all, it was the cell phone that allowed family members to communicate with their loved ones on hijacked United 93 that the terrorists never intended to land the plane safely. The attempt to gain control of the plane – though it ended in tragedy – probably prevented the terrorists from slamming the hijacked jet into the nation’s Capital – on a day when Congress was in session. A technology of sheer convenience quite literally changed history.
This blackout was nothing on the magnitude of the tragedy of 9/11/01. However, it underscored how much more dependent we have become on technology and the internet in the intervening years. After all, in 2001 many were not online at all. Most that were online were connected by the humble phone line. AOL was king, and no one had ever heard of Twitter, Facebook, and blogs. Wordpress? What’s that. We were hip deep in the world of Web 1.0 – and could not even imagine web 2.0.
