Friday, March 13, 2009

Harlow Cuadra Guilty!

Never heard of Harlow Cuadra? Welcome to the club.

Gay porn star, Cuadra was convicted of murdering Bryan Kocis, 44, at Kocis' Dallas Township home in January 2007. That is Dallas Township, Pennsylvania, not Texas.

Apparently Mr. Cuadra decided to kill Bryan Kocis as a business decision. Seems Kocis was a rival adult star and because he wanted to work with adult gay film actor Sean Lockhart, who was a contract actor for Kocis' company, Cobra Video.

Strange times these.

Dow Closes Up Again!

The Dow closed up again today for the third straight day - 7,233.98 up 53.92!

That's a ray of hope in the doom and gloom that has overtaken Wall Street. Glad to see it. I have to wonder if it isn't a result of Jim Cramer being rendered impotent last night on the Daily Show?



Thursday, March 12, 2009

Jon Stewart Eviscerates Cramer - Best TV Interview In Years

I just watched Jon Stewart eviscerate Jim Cramer on his show live and face to face and Cramer doesn't even know he is being destroyed. Stewart is mad as hell and echos the feelings of the country. He exposes Cramer's illegal trading ion the tape of him describing his techniques as a hedge fund manager and then proceeds to indict the whole financial broadcast industry.

Stewart is doing what the press should have done all along with these financial liars. This is a program worthy of an Emmy as an example of great journalism.

When he asks Cramer who he is responsible to. His assessment that the networks have been irresponsible and facilitated the wild swings in the market. He reminds Cramer who pleads innocent that as a reporter, he should investigate the statements that companies and executives make with impunity. Stewart has asked the real question of the decade and that is when did journalism stop seeking the truth and started just reprinting press releases?

Watch the whole uncensored interview here.

Michael Steele Angers The Base Again!

Watching Michael Steele as he continues his slow death spiral as head of the RNC is not very much fun. It's no secret his decline started when he angered Rush Limbaugh, the real leader of the GOP, and now he's gone and directly attacked the base.

In an interview with GQ, Steele said unequivocally that he believed in a woman's right to choose when it came to abortion.


GQ: Are you saying you think women have the right to choose abortion?

STEELE: Yeah. I mean, again, I think that’s an individual choice.

And now after a firestorm of criticism, he is recanting. Now he states that he supports overturning Roe v. Wade and has always been pro-life.

Steele is caught in a trap. He is a very smart guy, but he is not ready for the careful dance that is part of leading a party with as hard-boiled a base as the Republicans. His inability to tread the thin line between reality and idology is his downfall and I expect his resignation to "spend more time with his family" in a week or so.


Chicago GOP Chair Caught With Prostitutes! But Wait, There's More!

Sometimes real life is much better than fiction. Even the writers of Desperate Housewives couldn't top this juicy tidbit.

Cook County Republican Chairman Gary Skoien, (thank God it's a Republican this time) was beaten by his wife. Now spousal abuse is never a good thing and I condemn it, but you have to admit, this one might bring a grin to you. Seems, according to police reports, Mr. Skoien was caught by his wife in his children's playroom with two prostitutes!

Nice move, bringing home a couple of working girls and having a tryst in the kids playroom! Apparently Mrs. Skoien was not amused and the diminutive woman, 5-foot-4-inches and 110-pounds, picked up an electric guitar and began walloping her husband for his indiscretion.

The police report says she also beat him with her fists, but how could you follow the scene with the electric guitar?

Mrs. Skoien spent two nights in jail before being released on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond. I suspect after a jury hears this, and stops laughing, they might acquit her.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Another Thought About Jim Cramer

I rarely post twice about a subject, but I just watched the Jim Cramer clip again where he discusses with glee how he and other hedge fund gurus manipulate the market. Not only is it illegal, but he is proud of his crime. Amazing!

It's time the whole wall street system gets a good shakedown. Scumbags like Cramer are gaming the system like Enron did the energy trading market. Hell, Las Vegas is a safer bet than the markets with folks like Cramer in positions of power.

The SEC needs to get it's teeth back.

War On Rich, Who Is The Enemy?

Newsweek has a really insightful column on what has been widely billed as the "War on the Rich". That alleged war is not being waged by the middle class or Washington, but by greedy rich people themselves. It's an enlightening read.

For almost every one of the current economic problems faced by banks or investment firms Newsweek's Daniel Gross traces the root cause...and it is often the same people experiencing the crisis.

Bristol Palin & Levi Johnston Call Off Wedding - More Alaskan Drama!

I suspect that nobody believed the "engagement" that was announced at the GOP convention between Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston. That shotgun wedding announcement was meant to appease the base and preserve what little virtue the Palin family might have left.

Today comes word that the engagement is "off". Is anyone really surprised?

Now Sarah and her family go back to the trailer park drama that is their life. Do my words sound tinged with schadenfreude? A little, yes. I feel so ashamed...yeah, that's it, ashamed!

Jim Cramer Admits To Illegal Activities - Market Manipulation

Pretty shocking footage. Cramer, the wacky stock guru admitting to illegal practices while trading.

GOP Descends Into "Race War"

The Republican "race war" is heating up. I call it a race war because it centers on Michael Steele, the token minority seated as GOP chairman to put a more inclusive face on the party. That hasn't set well with the party loyalists, old white men.

Now former member of a Whites Only club, South Carolina GOP leader Katon Dawson is pushing hard for the "no confidence" vote on Steele. No surprise since Dawson was once considered a front runner for the post of GOP Chair.

Time for me to sit back and watch the carnage!

Cramer Flails While Stewart Giggles

Jim Cramer, the loudmouth wild man of financial analysis is looking worse and worse. What started as a simple bit on the Daily Show has become a feud, and a hilarious one at that.

Jon Stewart has lampooned Cramer for his extremely bad advice to "buy Bear Stearns", a statement that Cramer first denied. Stewart and his staff then browsed through the archive and found numerous clips of Cramer touting Bear Stearns as a good deal just days before its colapse.

Cramer instead of just rolling with the punches began a furious campaign to deny any mistakes on every NBC talk show he could get on. That was a fatal mistaken because the more he squawked, the more foolish The Daily Show made him look.

What started as a comedy bit has become a one-sided war. Cramer furiously fighting while Steward sits on the sidelines and throws spit-balls. Trying to fight a comedian, especially one who has a battery of video tape to support his comedy is futile, and that's what makes this so funny.

Here's the latest salvo in the "war":

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Steele Faces Vote Of "No Confidence" From GOP

I'll put this in the "I told you so" column. Michael Steele looks like he is facing a "no confidence" vote after the special election on March 31 -- regardless of whether Republicans win the seat or not.

The Republican's brief flirtation with inclusion has produced predictably disastrous results. The GOP is not inclusive and never will be in its current incarnation. The idea of an African American as GOP party chair might have looked good in a focus group, but in practice it just makes the white bigots in the party angry. Additionally, because Steele is not particularly a great leader, it makes the idea of a minority as the leader of the GOP look like an inherently bad concept.

Aside from Steele's qualifications, he also dismissed the real party head, Rush Limbaugh and that was his diwnfall. As long as the figure head is obedient and doesn't rock the boat, the GOP is happy to have a token face as its symbol. Once that symbol flexes his power....well that's a different story.

Jon Stewart Exposes Jim Cramer's Crap

Jon Stewart once again does what the mainstream media should do, check facts! Wacko screaming stock guru Jim Cramer gives me a headache. His wild gesticulations and pontifications are as silly as my alliterations, but some people listen to him and worse, CNN sells him and his snake oil.



Stop Worrying About A "Depression"

Listening to the 24 hour news cycle on TV and Radio will make you crazy! Every other story is a ratcheted up "gloom and doom" scenario about the economy. One pundit says the stimulus will destroy us and another says it will save us! In reality is will do neither.

I have been listening to Warren Buffett lately and he seems to think things are bad, but will get better. Now Buffett is no oracle, after all he encouraged people to buy stocks a few months ago and I doubt if those who listened are very happy, but his overall philosophy is probably right.

The people running around with their hair on fire are not the ones you should be following. They are mostly reactionaries and have little sense of long term trends. I prefer to watch those folks who take a measured approach and ride out the rough patches with calmness.

As to the stimulus package? Well I suspect more will be needed to keep the economy afloat. Those Republicans who just want to go ahead and let industry and banking fail are driven by ideology and not practicality. I know the stimulus spending is costing us a lot, but doing nothing would cost more. It is the do nothing, regulate nothing policies of the former Bush administration that helped get us into this mess and it will take time and money to get us out of it.

My suggestion, and it is only a suggestion, is to stay calm, save a little and don't listen to CNBC or FOX all day. Your blood pressure will stay lower and you will be able to enjoy your life more. Don't stop spending on everything. Treat yourself to a movie now and then and go out to eat if you can afford it. Don't charge up your credit cards...that's just good advice anytime! Save them for emergencies.

If we cower in fear and cease doing anything we will stall our economy to a crawl. I know we can't spend our way out of this, but we can use common sense. Hopefully, Congress will get back to the business at hand, re-regulate the financial institutions that got us into this mess and set us back on an even keel.

I am reminded that my parents lived through the Great Depression and they survived. This is not a Great Depression and we can avoid that if we saty calm and encourage our elected officials to act now.

Monday, March 09, 2009

Saudi's Give 40 Lashes To 70 Year Old Woman for "Mingling"

Once again I really have to wonder what kind of allies we have. Saudi Arabia, one of our alleged allies is a kingdom with a medieval justice system that would be seen as barbaric anywhere else in the world, yet we continue to call them our buds.

Today comes news that an elderly Syrian woman has been sentenced to 40 lashes...that's right "lashes" as in with a whip and deportation for having two unrelated men in her house.

Saudi Arabia is an example of fundamentalism run rampant! The Wahhabist justice system prohibits "mingling" something that would be considered a basic human right in any other civilized country. Yet, in Saudi Arabia, it can bring a woman a brutal whipping and imprisonment.

Of course if they didn't have OIL we would condemn them, but since we rely on the Saudi's to fuel our oil addiction we conveniently ignore their inhumane actions.

The faster we can become energy independent the better!

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Not Just Another Cat Video

AmericaBlog.com seems to always find the most interesting videos that somehow relate to my life!

This one is an "Engineer's Guide to Cats", and living with an engineer, as well as cats, I really identify.