Booker, Bain, Obama

Heh. You know, I was going to partially focus this post on Corey Booker...but you problably have, or should be keyed into enough to politics to hear about that business. Let's leave it at this. He was wrong. It puts him in a bad light to my eyes.

But fuck it, that was Sunday. We are crawling towards the election and their are more serious issues, like why he was wrong to initially give Bain and Romney a pass.

So let's get to that.

Let's talk about BAIN.

We need to focus in on Bain, at least until people in this country understand just what it has done, and what, in turn Romney has done. Romney has made Bain a centerpiece of his campaign, he wants to try and take any good numbers that can be taken from it and take credit for them, while it noting those heavy costs to businesses and the workforce. He wants it to be a symbol of how he's the Great Rich Businessman here to fix the world we simpletons have broken. So let's understand him, so we can tell him just why he's not needed, and he can move onto the next door, put his foot in the door, and try selling his bullshit there.

Let's acknowledge the positive numbers he likes to wave around as the cable news folks jump up on his knees yapping. They can look like nice numbers. Trouble is groups like FactCheck.Org aren't so impressed. Seems his job creator mantle is in question. Even old compatriots from Bain balk at being thought of as job creators.

“The primary goal of private equity is to create wealth for your investors.”

Nothing wrong with that. Profit isn't evil. Trouble is how you gain that wealth. Do you do any harm?

Seems even some Republicans don't buy the claims either, like all the other candidates he shared debate space with. Think Progress cobbled together 10 of the better critiques on Romney and Bain:

... 

1. “The idea that you’ve got private equity companies that come in and take companies apart so they can make profits and have people lose their jobs, that’s not what the Republican Party’s about.” — Rick Perry [New York Times, 1/12/12] 

2. “The Bain model is to go in at a very low price, borrow an immense amount of money, pay Bain an immense amount of money and leave. I’ll let you decide if that’s really good capitalism. I think that’s exploitation.” — Newt Gingrich [New York Times, 1/17/12]  

... 

9. “If you’re a victim of Bain Capital’s downsizing, it’s the ultimate insult for Mitt Romney to come to South Carolina and tell you he feels your pain, because he caused it.” — Rick Perry [New York Times, 1/8/12] 

10. “They’re vultures that sitting out there on the tree limb waiting for the company to get sick and then they swoop in, they eat the carcass. They leave with that and they leave the skeleton” — Rick Perry [National Journal, 1/10/12] 

... 

Obviously no fan of Gingrich or Perry, but nothing like seeing how disgusted they were with Romney and Bain's business.

But finance can be difficult. And what Romney and Bain did can get obfuscated in jargon. If you want a nice explanation of what Bain is doing, Andrew Sullivan had a reader explain it well.

... You take the Cash Cow, paying, say, 30% in taxes, and use various strategies to drive the tax rate to near-zero without killing the cash flow. Then you pocket the 30%, and the investors pay lower capital gains and "carried interest" tax rates on those extracted "tax savings." 

For roughly half of the companies receiving this "operation" will die because of the high debt and other obligations brought on by the Tax Arbitrage strategy. But you, the equity capital firm, get your investment out early. Half of the companies will prosper under this treatment (though not for existing employees who are outsourced or downsized), and you flip those to new owners for huge profits, taxed at capital gains rates. 

This is NOT "Capitalism." This is manipulation of the tax code for profit for some, at the expense of others. Millions of Americans work for years for Cash Cow companies. Slow growth is not a sin; it is a reality in many businesses, and a good Cash Cow can provide employment and community stability to generations of workers and their families.

So businesses were reconfigured, so as to offer big payout to investors while destroying or crippling many of the businesses. This is not good business, for those that Bain comes to. It can be doom. Which is what has been seen is the to the point Obama ad.




And President Obama nicely further explained why ads like this are needed. From AMERICAblog:

... 

“The reason why this is relevant to the campaign is that my opponent, Governor Romney, his main calling card for why he thinks he should be president is his business experience. 

He's not going out there touting his experience in Massachusetts. He's saying, I'm a business guy, and I know how to fix it, and this is his business. And when you're president, as opposed to the head of a private equity firm, your job is not simply to maximize profits.  

Your job is to figure out how everybody in the country has a fair shot.  

Your job is to think about those workers who get laid off, and how are we paying for their retraining.  

...  

And so if your main argument for how to grow the economy is "I knew how to make a lot of money for investors then you're missing what this job is about." It doesn't mean you weren't good at private equity. But that's not what my job is as president. 

My job is to take into account everybody, not just some. ...

And that is what Bain shows us. To put it politely, the lessons and skills that Romney brings out of Bain are distinctly ill-suited to lead a nation.

Randomly Scientific

Irin Carmon (at @irincarmon on Twitter) and Yahel Carmon (at @yahelc on Twitter) both pointed to this image that reminds us of the importance and sad state of science in this country today.

First, to get it out of the way, the EPA and bank regulators intrude? ...You mean those meanies who try to keep your neighborhoods from going Mr. Yuk on you, and the people trying to insure your money doesn't go bye-bye? (Sorry, thought I'd should dump it down for conservatives so angry at a safer physical and financial environment.)

But the main point, "...this is not a scientific survey. It's a random survey." ...Sigh. Do you know how many members of Congress are college graduates? Still, with the people and organizations they rely on for their opinion, no doubt proper scientific processes may well be an inconvenience to be avoided. And I can't help feeling that in his next breath he probably denounced science in and of itself.

But that is a problem right now, and has been for awhile, with conservatives. They have worked with various groups to blur scientific discourse, they have chastised scientist for supporting results that don't fit their needs, and attacked science teaching, and education in general. All of this is troubling.

Their have been many bills coming to state legislatures that range from poorly written half-thought attacks on science facts, branches of science, and science education, and then their are more precise ALEC and Discovery Institute style bills. Academic Freedom is a popular buzz word now (replacing Creation, Creation Science, Creationism, Intelligent Design, Teach the Controversy). Where the earlier ideas pressed a particular beliefs, now the idea is everyone can be right, and deserves credit for having an alternate opinion. (Yes, this is ironic from people who once denounced the idea of every kid in a competition getting a reward.) What's more it wants to protect teachers that want to bring religion and flat earth thinking into science class. It sounds nice, it is a preexisting term, and makes of joke of American education.

But education and science are not real concerns. A proper voting base that understands the world the way the party does seems more important. Major funders having scientific government studies and results that allow them to do as they want are more important. This is unhealthy for science and the country.


We need people in office that have, at least, a respect for science, knowledge, and intellectual pursuits. 


We need an electorate that respect these things to.

Birtherism...Why?

WARNING: Reading this post may cause you to learn 3 Latin words.

Honestly, the whole Birtherism argument has seldom, even from nutters, made sense.

The only way it works is if the person is question has no ties to the United States: If they are not born here, If they do not have a parent that is a citizen. You see there are three ways to look at citizenship: naturalization, jus soli, and jus sanguinis.

• Naturalization means that you have no right to citizenship and go through a process to obtain citizenship.
• Jus soli (Right of the Soil) means that you are born in a given place and are a citizen.
• Jus sanguinis (Right of Blood) means you have at least one parent that is a citizen.

Under US law, being jus soli or jus sanguinis are acknowledged as acceptable forms of citizenship for running for president. If the president was naturalized (or undocumented), it would be a problem.

So we get to the president's mother. From all I've seen, most of the birthers do not question her nationality, or her legitimacy as a parent (There is a nutty of nuts subset of birthers who believe the president was born in the Soviet Union, or a Soviet allied country to operatives and...read one of hundreds of the crappy old Cold War novels in dime bins for more.). So they focused in on Kenya (Mysterious Kenya. Magical Kenya. Foreign Kenya. Booga! Booga! Booga!) and become myopic. Nothing else matters.

"If his dad is from there, maybe he is to. Prove us wrong! ...That birth announcement doesn't count! Show us government proof of his birth! ...Not good enough!!! ..."

If they are being at all rational, they are really focused on something extralegal, "He is in some way foreign, and that is wrong. He is wrong." It bares no connection to the real world. He has some aspect they can cling on to and hate. If Romney was the Democratic nominee, the story would be about Mormonism, or his family Mexican ties (We'll get to that in a minute.).

So there is the problem. If you accept his mom as an American the rest is bullshit. Why would it matter where he was born then? Why would it matter to people to go to such trouble to hide his birth then? It makes no sense, unless you are irrationally obsessed, or plain ignorant.

Hell, it does make the secret Soviet Plan people look a little more clear thinking. At least their bullshit is consistent on why Obama shouldn't be president. It's batshit crazy, but consistent in that. The only way they can regain a sense of consistency is to come out and just say, "He has foreign ties, and where bigoted xenophobes."
\
But this persists, defying common sense and logic. Why all conversations with a birther on a cable show doesn't start on jus sanguinis, and stop there until the birther explains it away is beyond me. There only choice is to ignore the point, or try to go full nutter on us. Either way they show themselves as fools or madmen. But maybe I'm wrong and they will see their error and desist (Trying optimism out. Seeing if it fits.).

So, PLEASE, anytime you meet a birther, remind them of jus sanguinis, the right of blood. Then you can see what you are really dealing with, or, maybe, reveal to them how foolish the media instigators.

And thanks to Don Millard (at @OTOOLEFAN on Twitter) I finally got answer to why George Romney (Mitt Romney's pater) was able to run for president back in 1967-8. He was born in Mexico, as was his own father. What happen was, when George Romey's grandfather fled the US, he did not renounce his citizenship. And then his own father never renounced his, gotten via jus sanguinis. So when George came back to the US, he was acknowledged as an American citizen, who went on to run a car company, be a governor, and run for president. There were questions, there were concerns, and there were complaints. But he was deemed to be legitimately a full citizen. He just didn't get the nomination.


So, please, remember these points. Under right of blood, Obama is legit, just as people like George Romney were, and just as the US Constitution intends.

Now let's get back to real issues.

Is that a rock exploding in your pocket or are you...Oh.

You may have heard an interesting story last week of the lady who picked up some rocks on the beach, placed them in her pants pocket, and later found that they exploded...even if you didn't, that's the story, and it happen.

It does sound quite bizarre and funny, but the woman suffered burns when it happen, leading her to being placed in a hospital. What has been determined is that it is the result of the rock being coated in phosphorus.

... By Friday, California environmental health officials had an answer, or at least part of one: two of the rocks were covered in phosphorus, an element that’s known for igniting into a fierce white flame when it’s exposed to air. Near as they can tell, as long as the rocks were wet with seawater, the phosphorus didn’t ignite, but after they’d dried out in the woman’s pockets over the course of the day, the phosphorus reacted explosively. 

...

So...that can happen... Still, glad that was cleared up so as to prevent other wild stories of the exploding rocks of California...granted rocks can be caused to blow apart in other ways so it isn't the strangest of stories.

What isn't clear yet is where the phosphorus came from.

The most common way more reactive phosphorus is found is within the military, where it is used quite often in flares, though it has also been made use of as a deadly weapon. So there is so interest now about if some flares washed up on the beach, or if there is another, possibly natural, answer.

If this does come from old or more recent ordinance, it would be a wise thing to try and clean this stuff up to prevent further injuries.

4 Comics Walk Into A Bar

Or, 4 comics walk into a Salon.

Salon has a new page called, I Read The News Today, oy vey!...I'm sure the name is the result of an improvisational committee meeting...But it fits well the onw...the dread the morning news often brings.

But what is it? It's short videos dreamt up by comic minds on events of the day, from today's look at the Bush endorsement to the earlier look at Bristol Palin's political parental analysis.

Currently, David Feldman, Merrill Markoe, Frank Coniff, and Judy Gold are offering up their barbed thoughts. And it is worth checking out.

Here is one:

Mormonism critiques.

It is an odd state to be in. As a skeptic and atheist, I find Mormonism to be such a load of crazy bull. But I feel the same of all religion. It is all silly time.

So seeing people join in on criticism has a certain positive quality. It reminds of when issues with some Muslims and Islamic culture became more of an interest and concern in the mainstream, following 9/11. It is great to see an interest in harmful beliefs and practices, or just in the ideas and beliefs that fill the world.

Some it was actually about being unaware and wanting to really learn, but for many it was about the mob. It wasn't really about it's history and tales, or troubling traditions & certain religious leaders. It was about fearing others. It was about separating out the other. And in some cases make the other suffer.

Thankfully the sniping at Mormonism is not so hostile. But it is about ganging up. They're weird, they have different beliefs, different clothes, so you can't trust them. But the same can be said of so many groups, but Romney has helped get some added focus on "them" for now.

Again, like every faith, people should be more aware, and be willing to talk about oddities, and social issues of a faith. But as some have noted, some of the attacks aren't even relevant. Once Mormons openly engaged in polygamy. But they no longer do this. Whether they secretly promote it, or say it is still heavenly mandated, I don't know. But I see no proof they are. And yes they have break off sects doing it still, but they broke off. It is  a false and ignorant claim against them.

Worse it distracts from actual current and more wide spread social troubles in the Mormon community, and there are some severe ones that are worth getting out, like the treatment of women and many children. 

But this stuff isn't as fun as a funny polygamy joke, or a magic underwear quip.

Don't get me wrong. There are some funny joke in that. I love a good joke. But I get bummed at all the cheap and easy jokes. Particularly when they are more like everyone getting together to take turns picking on someone with a funny name.

But we are talking about Mitt Romney. And Mitt is an asshole. He has lived a pretty damned privileged life. He has never had to go without, but likes to pretend he get's it. But through his life, from his teen years to his business success, he has repeatedly shown a disconnect when it comes to the feelings or needs of others, particularly those that are an Other. The gay kid. The blind teacher. The family dog. The girls with his friends. The poor pensioners under the sway of Bane. They all seem foreign and alien to him. And all along the way as he mistreated people, he was forgiven, cheered, or just had people look the other way. It is creepy to think of him with power over a country (granted he is already rich, so he has plenty of power of government already). Even GW Bush didn't seem as disconnected as Romney does.

So Mitt has a huge satchel of bad karma built up, so it's hard to not enjoy jokes at his expense. But there are still cheap jokes. And hating him for being a Mormon seems so wrong and disingenuous. He wears "magic underpants". And this means what for the presidency? He believes differently about aspects of Jesus's will when compared to other Christians. And this will mean what for the economy?

Romney's surrounded himself with GW's Team Bad Idea. He, in a quest for power and glory, is willing to sell more and more out to the most Right Wing radical thinkers in this country. He shows no real moral center or principles.

He is the very creepy guy that Conservatism has decided to rally to because...it's an election year.

People need to realize and have it explained just why he and the GOP will be taking the country backwards if they get further control. More over, it is important to show the benefit of getting more Democrats in to tilt the balance.

And if you want to discuss Mormonism issues, focus on actual issues in it.

What's the Tower of Babel?

Humanity is a funny little thing.

We have certain predilections. We like big things. We like bright lights. We like shiny red buttons. We like things that go boom.

Sure, we don't actually all like this crap, but it is how we as a species seem to continually hove.

Is it really that important that the new towers in New York be the tallest around? Fuck yeah!

How about crucifixes? We need them big right? If they aren't big enough, we might think they're trees, or telephone polls. Hell, no! That's a cross, an ancient tool for torture and execution. It's like how we used to build humorously large electric chairs, so death row inmates would look like Edith Ann.

But that's when executions were funny.






Anyway, giant comedy crucifixes...

Yes, someone had a vision from Gawd. And it is to build a giant, over 17 story tall, cross. Giant cross? Yeah, just the sort of thing I bet Jesus loves seeing.

"Oh, are you living by my message of loving and helping your fellow man? No? Just giving money to preachers? Building a multimillion dollar tourist trap based around the imagery of my grisely death...that's great."

Where do you think they would build a huge gaudy cross, where would that fit in too well? Mecca? Jersusalem? New York City? Hooterville?

No, Branson, Missouri. Only trouble will be all the people lining up outside assuming there will be a buffet inside it. ...As big as it will be, there may actually be a buffet in it...


And remember how this started. A guy had a vision in which God showed in a large phallic symbol, then he continued to obsess over larger and larger phallic symbols, now his son continues the vision...

And that is how our civilization advances...

Bad Journalism

In the world of journalism, and even the world of "journalism", there are lows that are a sight to be seen.

The Andrew Breitbart site is a place to see such epic lows that, really, you should stretch a bit before trying to read. But they are a great example of how to do journalism poorly and pompously. Sure, Drudge Report is horribly wrong at a rate that it should surprise you that major media sources use it as a source, but Breitbart...it is a pageant of bad.

Look at their excitement recently that they have PROOF that Obama is not an American. [Cue dramatic sting]

Yep. Apparently the proof was in front of us the whole time.

You see, when he was promoting one of his books, which chronicled his alleged life, as an American, brilliantly creating a cover story no one could break, his literary agent, accidentally...published a booklet that exposed the shocking truth of his client's past...

...

Okay, a good test of skepticism here.

Why would this prove Obama's illegitimacy?

Is there any valid explanation for this booklet?



The answer is it doesn't, to the first, and yes to the latter.

This proves nothing. A booklet with information contradicted by EVERY other source, made casually by an underling for a book launching is not proof. It's an excuse for bad journalism. When you have one source, that contradicts others, you don't throw away the main sources, you determine why their is a difference. And by determine, you do not declare it is a conspiracy.

So, why was the booklet saying Obama was Kenyan? Was this determined? No. Maybe, someone delegated a basic job to an underling who didn't really care about this book launch anymore than the other dozen or so that were happening that week. And, maybe, they did half ass work for the event for a guy with a funny name talking about his ties to Kenya. Based on all the facts we actually know, how is this not deemed more likely than a deeply hidden secret shared and typed up in a publishing house? How is this not considered before conspiracy?

Because bad journalism isn't about sussing out the truth. It's about selling a claim. It is about not looking for the evidence, or acknowledging genuine and serious disputes over facts.

Breitbart's people excel at this sort of bad journalism. Once, they actually found a genuine scandal. But that followed after a long string of false scandals. Real or fake, they don't care. They are a tabloid, minus the self respect or dignity.

Knowing more about history.

Here's a fun and short video introducing you to the truth about 5 misconceptions of history. From Open Culture:

... 

Viking helmets had horns, Napoleon was quite short and Lady Godiva rode through Coventry naked. Most of us accept these tales as facts because they’ve been told for many generations. But C.G.P. Grey took a closer look and compiled this short video in which he debunks not only these historical misconceptions but also two myths surrounding the Roman “Vomitorium” and Columbus. 

...

Getting to know The Stimulus.

A sad expectation in news coverage these days is it's dull acceptance that Obama's attempt to stimulate the economy were a failure.

Now facts disagree with that. But those angry conservative pundits and talking heads disagree, and far be it from any news reader to challenge such vim and vigor.

But so you can have some facts on hand in future for your own conversations, here are some useful charts. If this doesn't help, as your conversation buddy won't shut up and won't take their fingers from their ears...print the charts up, roll up the paper, and hit the freaking idiots with it.

From Electablog (thanks to LOLGOP, at @LOLGOP) (w/ charts and video):

... 

The good news is: The people who still propagandize against the Stimulus are only doing so because their paycheck or their sanity depends upon it. 

The fact is: The Stimulus has had the singularly most impressive positive effect on the American economy of government intervention since World War II. Simply: It worked. 

The ONLY argument against the Stimulus is an argument for it. It was too small. Krugman said so in 2009. Seriously, the one argument the anyone has against the Stimulus was: Bush’s economy in late 2008 was much worse than we wanted to admit. 

At the time, it was difficult to say how bad the economy was. Was it Iraq bad? Afghanistan bad? Katrina bad? We were constantly testing new lows. Also there was a cautiousness about overestimating the damage for fear that it could spin completely out of control. 

People who say the Stimulus could have been larger or better spent forget that it passed by one vote—one vote as the President faced a Republican Party that refused to even offer a plan to save the economy. 

Yes. That was what the Stimulus was designed to do: SAVE THE ECONOMY. 

It was the winter of 2009. As we were high on electing a sane president, we were also in absolute FREE-FALL. Every month it got worse. Bush/Cheney’s stench of failure had metastasized into actual economic wildfire. 

...

Follow the link and look at the shift in in GDP (Gross Domestic Product), Employment, and Averages of Initial Claims (of unemployment).

Knowledge is power. But the depth of the bullshit filling the media pool is deep. Get those hip waders on now.

David Gregory does what David Gregory does.

As a surprise to no one that regularly watches David Gregory and/or Meet the Press, Gregory is going to be a keynote speaker for a conservative political group. The group NFIB, National Federation of Independent Business, which runs GOP friendly ads during the last election, and has been a leading attacker of health care reform and environmental regulation.

Add to this, the day before he is speaking, the group is having both Karl "MC" Rove and John "Red Martian" Boehner speaking.

Mixing and using his name with a political group and rubbing elbows with Rove?

Helping this group, effectively, raise money and improved legitimacy to as it preps to have an impact on the 2012 elections?

Really?

But this is his norm isn't it.?

No. I doubt any of us are surprised.

George Lucas, "Pray I don't alter it any further."

Briefly saw this story, but didn't know if it was true, but Ragnell (at @Ragnell on twitter) reTumblred it.

George Lucas (of Radioland Murders fame) has been trying to build a massive studio complex on his massive tract of land in Marin County. But his neighbors, the Richie McRichersons, aren't having it. And they have stymied efforts to build up the site, bringing a lot of money to the company...and those pesky working class people. They finally won against Lucas, and the studio won't be built.

Instead Lucas has decided to do something else with the land, instead of trying to have it re-purposed as industrial, he wants to now use it for residential ends. So he is looking to have it made into low income housing, or housing for seniors on fixed income. Lovely. It is one part a middle finger at the prigs in the neighborhood, and a flaming good deed. The force is strong in this one.

Super Friends need a new name.

DC has decided to focus it's animated interest for the moment in an hour block on Saturday mornings. The results have been so so. But what has been fun has been some of the shorts done during commercial breaks.

Including a request for all the non-Trinity members of the Super Friends for a name change, as none of them get any love from the Big Three.

Also there's been the Super Best Friends Forever, starring Batgirl, Supergirl, and Wonder Girl, a young, energetic, and lovable trio.

These shorts are the high point of DC Animation right now. Telling.

Just in time to still be Mother's Day

Have a few minutes left of this day, Mother's Day...the Internet's clock is broken. Sure a commercial holiday of sorts, but you want to start that with a mom? ...Didn't think so.

Ragnell (at @Ragnell on twitter) points to a lovely image of motherhood, via DC Comics. The many different types of moms who have inhabited the comics over the years. Sad, that so many of them were wiped when DC rebooted their books. ...I'd put the image here, but...I'm scared on Tumblr.

DCWomenKickingAss (at @dcwomenkickingass on twitter) also looked at DC moms. The Trinity. And the mom's lost to comic continuity.

Avengers Nitpick!

The Avengers…sigh. I would be tempted to review this movie…no one else has done that online yet, right?

Rather I will try to focus on a few points, and try to move on with my life somehow. Oh, yeah…SPOILERS!!! I talk about what happens in the movie. Shocking.

First, The Whedon. Sometime I will have to elucidate on my opinions and thinking on him. But simply, I like his work…and find it annoying at times. Sorry, I don’t find it perfect, and, yes, I was thinking this before it was cool. He can create amazing and fun stories, and this is a good example of it. It is big and fun. Yeah! But also it has Whedon’s habit of at times putting words in character’s mouths that aren’t theirs. Whedon often thinks of a real funny quip in writing a script and then picks someone to give the line, regardless of if it’s really that logical for the character to say. Like, in Avengers, when Thor talks of Loki, after being told of his mass murder, replies, “He’s adopted.” That is funny! But it also isn’t something that sounds entirely wrong coming from Thor. It in fact feels contradictory. But Whedon and others thought it was funny, so it stayed. Whedon does this all the time. But still fun story. Great effects. Good character moments. So I do credit Whedon a lot. I just have issues in general.

Second, what was Loki’s plan? Not overall. That was to conquer the world, duh. What was the point of getting captured by SHIELD? To distract from the heist or the objective of his scientists? Why? He could have grabbed that guy in a less obvious way. Or he could have vanished with his team and left everyone to try suss out what he’s up to. Would they really have caught up quicker? It wasn’t to knock out the carrier, as Hawkeye got aboard and almost brought it down on his own. To set off the Hulk? Was that important? And couldn’t he have come aboard with Hawkeye, and used his illusions directly to set Banner off to become the Hulk? …The point is, after watching the movie, the gambit by Loki seemed pointless. Maybe it was hubris. Maybe it was just needed for the story, so as to allow as series of confrontations with our main villain and different heroes. Whatever the reason it feels incongruent.

Finally (THIRDLY), the Black Widow…uh. I like the character of the Black Widow. Fun character, grand history. A long time classic character of the Marvel Universe, she can be a great fit for an Avengers team. But Scarlett Johansson… It may be me (and probably is), but I have never been impressed with her film work. I feel bad saying it, but I just have never been whelmed by her work. Maybe I haven’t seen enough yet. Still putting her in the role of a cunning Russian spy is asking a lot. I found Smulder playing Maria Hill, Fury’s second, a more impressive and energized role (And as a comic fan I don’t like Hill’s character in the books.) (I have to agree with The Cinema Snob, would have been interesting to see Smulder play Black Widow). Now, when SJ was speaking in Russian she actually seemed more alive. But overall...she was just underwhelming. The little we got w/ Renner as Hawkeye was stronger. Plus, all of the Widow’s characterization in the movie felt either forced rushed, or crammed in. 

Also, seeing her in the last battle with the little pistol actually makes Hawkeye and his bow seem more dangerous. Why not just make her wrist weapons one of those new SHIELD cosmic cube/tesseract produced weapons, and have them be blasters? I mean, it's like seeing:

"Avengers, ready to charge that alien army! Hulk! Thor! Iron Man! Captain America! James Bond! ...uh, James? Yeah... We really appreciate all your spy work that helped us get here...but what why don't you just take a break...'kay?"

Comic Black Widow is always great in a brawl. But she doesn't take a the equivalent of a Walther PPK with her. Right? Next movie, she needs better treatment in the script.

...And I hear they are pushing for a Black Widow movie...Maybe SJ can prove me wrong...But a Widow movie, but no Hulk movie to take advantage to the amazing actor you have locked in? …Why? (By which I mean why no Hulk movie, not that there can’t be both movies. How are they jumping on one idea, but not the other?)

Again. The movie is great fun. It is a comic book movie. People take hits and get right back up (except for one case), massive property damage with little to no life loss, and suspect super science, are all abound. But, so what, it's a comic movie, a really good one. But it is flawed. Nolan's Batman is dark, noirish, and largely down to earth (eyeing you flying batmobile in trailer), and Avengers is big bright and larger than life. Both are different and both are good.

Be sure to go an enjoy Avengers, if it's your cup of tea. For me, having this, The Hobbit and a Batman movie this year is just grand.

Now I'll just wait for people to line up to kick me in the balls.

Going postal. Getting constructively mad.

When you hear about the sad state of the US Postal Service, the idea to slice down the number of postal workers, the need to shut down post office across the country, and the need to end weekend services, remember 2006. That year Congress placed on the USPS the stressors needed to finally crack and break a perfectly functional government service.

Crooks and Liars:

… 

Rolando lays out the real root of the problem: "The problem lies elsewhere: the 2006 congressional mandate that the USPS pre-fund future retiree health benefits for the next 75 years, and do so within a decade, an obligation no other public agency or private firm faces. The roughly $5.5 billion annual payments since 2007 — $21 billion total — are the difference between a positive and negative ledger." 

…

The Post Office is self-funded, and still keeping down the expense of mail services. But it is government, so conservatives deem it an evil to be purged. Having a healthy union also makes it an easy target.

This is the problem with the conservative movement, government is bad, except for the areas we like and want to bloat and expand. No social security for you or meat inspectors. But we need enough power and operations enough to ensure that no woman has an abortion, that no gay people live together with common legal protections, and so that we can fight off the whole world.

That is the illogical worldview and self-destructive leadership we face in this election year. The country is hurting and conservative politicians don’t want to face or real problems, rather gifting their friends and fighting their phantom battles.

Get active this year, get informed, and get out and make people aware.

Every election is important, but the Senate is at risk of sliding to Republicans eager to push deeper austerity, and the House could stay in the hand of those you have been more concerned with growing tax cuts and shrinking safety nets.

BUT, until electoral changes are possible, stay on the back of what representation and leadership we have now.

• Find your Representative, be sure they know what you are really worried about.
• Find your Senators, and let them know what you expect of them.
• Contact the Executive Branch, and be heard on where the country needs to go.

Oltermanni Halloumi Yaroslavsky Edam Armola Havarti

Well...oh, not a full year...lost that bet.

Well, fuck! A lot of important topics. Lot of fun topics missed. And as I noted in listening to a good talk on the difference in old and new media, no I can't just go back, without some convoluted reason and need. Or I can and just be old hat...I do like old hat.

But no.

So back to the seriousness.

True...True, could be a little silly.

On Spirit Day

Today is considered to be Spirit Day.

This is about offering support to the LGBT community. In particular, it is about supporting the youth in the community. It is for those that are unable, or scared, to come out and be open about who they are. It is about the bullying so many LGBT persons face in their lives.

As was sadly seen recently, one young man did one of the series of It Gets Better videos, meant to bolster and support these young people. He then proceeded to get bullied and was driven to suicide. It was a tragic event. And it was a clear example of just how cruel society can be to a minor and misunderstood group.

So today, and everyday on, think better. Watch out for, and support those that are bullied for just being different, help them out and let them know they do not need to feel alone. And where some purple to show solidarity with them today. But think and act better from her on out.

'
Addendum:
Forgot to place a link to some nice words from actor Zachary Quinto on these issues.

Immunization Myths

Mamamia.com has a nice list of the myths that still often pervade thinking on vaccination. Please give it a read to be better informed on the issues, and misunderstandings.


MYTHS (and these are MYTHS)

• Myth 1: Vaccines cause autism.
• Myth 2: Vaccines contain mercury.
• Myth 3: Vaccines contain toxic ingredients.
• Myth 4: Vaccines have never been tested.
• Myth 5: Vaccines don’t work because children who are vaccinated can still get the disease.
• Myth 6: Improved living standards, not vaccination have reduced disease.
• Myth 7: Infectious diseases are not serious; children are meant to get them.
• Myth 8: Vaccines cause or spread the diseases they are supposed to prevent.
• Myth 9: My child’s immune system will be overwhelmed.

Occupy Wall Street, the continuing

Before I go on to another topic I thought it was best to return to Wall Street.

Occupy Wall Street has continued, despite some confusion in the media.  There has been some rather sad and smug (Really?  Does Erin Burnett have to mouth the Streets thinking, try being a journalist?  You are not trying out for The Tonight Show, and Jeanne Moos job at CNN is currently filled by Jeanne Moos.  Thankfully there was some internal counter.) hostility in the media.  They've had blows from the police.  And they've got the regular outright contempt from the conservative mouthpieces.

I am jaded, but I can hope it has a way to hold on there, or ensure it stays bigger than a bit of real estate and echoing voices.  It has like-minded events popping up around the country.  We will see.

Salon has done some good work on the protest for those coming in late, or looking to better understand.

The Origins of Occupy Wall Street Explained
Occupy Wall Street: A Historical Perspective

Also to hear from people resonating with the protest, and the concerns and anger at the top tier in the country look through, We are the 99 Percent.

This was a nice graphic put up to explain the concern and problems of banking: (There really are no options being left in the system) (Wait until you see how uniform the news media is...)

And Jeff Sharlet put up some nice pics from the current NYC events.

GOP - At Work...for somebody.

So what are Republicans doing for us all?

In Florida, they are trying to put smaller folk to work, hurtling briefly through the air.  Yup.  Republicans want to restore the Floridian sport of dwarf tossing.  It is apparently a matter of freedom, to be able to take someone smaller than you and throw them as far as possible...for AMERICA!  The fact that the Republican governor is backing this speaks to how sad his reign has been.

In New Jersey, the governor, and almost national primary loser, is continuing his brilliant work of costing his state millions while benefiting none. Really, it is quite amazing Christie has done it again and again. From right after taking office up to right now. This time it is a needed rail tunnel to NY. But know it won't happen AND NJ has to pay. After getting over $270 million from the federal government, he decided the project was to expensive. The government decided it wanted the money back then (The villains!). Christie balked, he doesn't return money he grabs, even when it isn't his own. But know he has agreed to return $95 million. So he welshed on a debt to the American people, and also has cost NJ nearly $100 million.  And the state of NJ is left with only an antiquate rail tunnel to service its transport to and from NY.

In Tennessee we see the continuing effects of a national effort by Republicans to deny the vote to...well, everyone if they could just be given office by fiat.  Among Republicans it seems to have become accepted that they can not win in the long run. Hispanics are a threat. African Americans are a threat.  The poor are a threat. Even the military, it seems, can be a threat to their electoral destiny.  So they have moved to remove them (the voters) from their path.  In the past we have seen the electronic voting booths deployed to effect. Misinformation is a go to way to get people to the wrong polls on the wrong day.  But the current method is reworking how you get a ballot to vote on. New restrictions are being given, more and more id's are needed, or a specific one.  And, as you can imagine, they aren't rushing to inform voters.  So now, and as we go into the more serious election year many voters are going to be in for a cruel surprise. Or people can stand up in their states and say no to this. Stand up for people like the 96 year old voter who is no longer an acceptable without hunting down an old marriage certificate from decades past, for a husband long since buried. The truth is voting fraud is rare. The crime against the electoral system comes in the mass of legit voters kept from engaging in their rights.  Maybe 5 million Democratic voters will be lost.

In the Senate the leader of the Republicans is too busy to work out an acceptable jobs bill.  Why?  They are playing PR games.  He was trying to push an old version of the jobs bill. Through this Democrats would have to vote down the presidents bill, which would make the papers.  Then the proper bill would pass through, but the half truth talking point would be born, the senate Democrats oppose Obama's job's bill. Not true. But wha tis the truth to Republicans these days when you've got optics.

In the House Boehner is tripling the tax dollars being spent to preserver the Defense of Marriage Act, and keep gays from marrying. Meanwhile he and Cantor fret about paying to help disaster victims.

In the creepy end of the Internet Beck continues to descend into his role of Col. Kurtz.  Sure he sounds like a weirdo. Sure he shoots out purely maddening conspiracies. But to add to that Beck is doing a kid's show, to teach the real history of American...just stew on that.

In my TV we learned that proudly right wing singers are fully able to spout right wing pap.  Hank Williams Jr. showed that while he does look like a country parody, he is one.  Though when I look at him he looks a good like that someone is reenacting Weekend at Bernies with him.  But enough with a guy that would compare Boehner with Netanyahu.  They are both screwing things up for their people in their own ways.

In the womb Republicans continue to push on to control and dictate use. One way they have worked to control reproduction rights is in defining life.  The effort is to at a minimum define life as starting at conception. Then they will demand that anything that risks or harms joined egg and sperm can be declared a crime. Then end result is that much of birth control will be criminal, as well as abortions.  You see some birth control acts to prevent implantation of the fertilized egg.  And most everyone accepts this birth control, but this conservative effort will kill the pill.  And the far right that started this know that is the result, they want birth control to be more limited and hard to use.  Because?  They want to control what you do in the bedroom.

Republicans at work, to toss dwarves, keep gays single, and control American wombs.

Occupy Wall Street - 3 Weeks in

So we enter week 3 of Occupy Wall Street. Has it been 3 weeks?  Partly it almost feels like it passes fast, from the comfort of home.  But also the lack of coverage from the start makes me feel vague about just when this began. I do remember a comment or two at the start.  A post here and there. But it was mostly a blip.

And that has been a problem (Just don't tell many of the protest supporters that.), communication out about what was going on. I heard about Occupy Wall Street and had no idea what it was. Some people planned to go an protest the big wigs...aaaaaand?  There are people doing protest all the time, is this a bigger one, what makes it stand out? Is it 5 people on a week long silent vigil? Is it 100 chanting? Is it 1000's...doing something?

You watch protest get setup all the time and you can become inured.  And of course those passionate and engaged in this protest hate that jaded quality, but what am I gonna do? I am not alone in this plenty of old hands in the progressive movement have tried to help and suggest ways to improve the work on the street.  And that has been banefully opposed for a long time.  Suggest contacting media with a formal explanation, is hissed at.  And that causes some sighing on the part of people like me.  It reminds me of a bit of work of Patton Oswalt where the hypothetical hippie wants to protest and want to be so standoffish, and subtle, that the protest is invisible. Not taking advantage of the media to get eyes on you is risky. Most of the time it means you can quietly fade away in the background, or go on years being more or less white noise.

Luckily that has changed. In not so good ways, as some cops have attacked protesters, which just helps the media get its rocks off. So the media is on board, until they get bored again. Then yesterday on the Brooklyn Bridge, the police did some mass arrest. This should get the protesters some later in the news show coverage, but still not stories that will open most news shows.

While the Occupy Wall Street concept is spreading some, sprouting up around the country, can it last?  Can it start gather up some more local interest?  Haven't seen it yet.  But it may come. Some more seasoned help may be good.

On Daily Kos they have now the first of the official statements from the protests. It's a statement voted on by people at the event to reflect the myriad of issues those present want to correct. Look it over.


TPM has a look at Week 3 of the Occupy Wall Streets, and considers where it is now.

But it is interesting to see the number of people online still pissed off when told that is unclear what the protest is aiming for. Sorry, the accomplishable goals still need to get lain out.  Media needs to get pushed into being engaged.  How aware is the country right now of it?  How aware is most of NYC?

Addendum 1:

Wanted to mention a good point made on twitter by @allisonkilkenny.  

Think when observers claim #OccupyWallStreet is unfocused, what they mean is the problems are "too big."

A good point. The issues we face are huge. And they are hard to express. So general anger can be good. But we have to be sure it does get positively focused at some point. Hopefully soon.

Addendum 2:
Also wanted to consider a good point made by Driftglass via the last The Professional Left podcast. In it he  noted the Million Women March from 2006. I remember it well. It had big political, social, and entertainment names down on the Smithsonian lawns speaking out. There were huge numbers. But there was no real coverage outside of CSPAN.

The idea that Driftglass posits is that  this is due to being unfocused, interested in all the issues that women face in the United States.

Seems like an interesting point, that I hope Occupy Wallstreet keeps in mind. But I do also wonder, did The Million Man March has a better focus? It got a lot of coverage, I think...All points to consider.

Doctor Who, coming to series end.

Well it is another Saturday. That means BBC is running another new episode of Doctor Who. And it turns out this is the series finale (of Series 6 of the new version of Doctor Who...it doesn't really matter). Doesn't feel like we've come to the end already, this half of the season went by so quick.

It speaks well for the series. The 13 episodes we get for a series seems to be never enough. But the brief taste of scifi fun keeps up from getting too complacent. But the latest run is ending, a race from the Western US and the death of the titular character, has taken us across time, through labor, through Hitler's window, and on back to London. Tonight should take us back to the United States, and back to the beginning of the current series.

I look forward to it. Right now the episode has finished showing in England, but in the U.S. we have to wait until tonight. I had hoped to start doing some analysis of the series before the second half started up last month...but...eh. And I wanted to jump in as the episodes passed...but...well, it is occurring to me that rushing in is not the best plan. We have until next fall (except for a Christmas special this year) before we get new episodes.

So why rush into this. Better to do some post-series analysis of Doctor Who than give a rushed glib post. So that is the plan. For now I want to forward the idea of the Doctor being a fairy tale figure...later.

I may be late in returning, but Tucker is late in leaving already. One of us is being fashionable.

what..What! ...oh sh...say!

So...how about that...

...the hell! Tucker Carlson's The Daily Caller is still around. (I'll do you the favor of not linking.)

If you are not aware, and if so, apologies, but Tucker has a rather poor website he likes to imagine is a useful news source.It isn't.

Take a recent story they ran detailing a rapid expansion of employment at the EPA. Whether a massive influx of 230,000 jobs for the country. the real problem is the story was B.S. There was outrage at the growth of government, and the spending of over $20 billion. And, like with Drudge, news sources leaped at using the tall tale.

The Washington Post's Greg Sergeant has written about how wrong the site has been, and how hard it has worked to justify it's work. First the numbers were used by the EPA as a cautionary tale, a size that the EPA would not want to grow to. But The Daily Caller tried to blow this off. They claim that the EPA, and government wants to grow, expand, and just bulge out. The EPA really does want to balloon, everyone knows it, but The Daily Caller is the only one willing to say it. So the claim is right. What a load of codswallop. It reminds me of the News of the World in England trying to smugly claim that their phone hacks were just journalism. No. NOTW was in the wrong. And The Daily Caller is just plain wrong. The story was done wrong, the claims have been disproven, and everyone with a clue sees where the The Daily Caller is setting. How long will it take Tucker and his little rascals to fess up.

At this point, even the conservative National Review has criticized The Daily Caller for it's poor work.

But it is on par with what we expect from Tucker Carlson.