The buzz among the politico cognoscenti, and talking heads, is the current New York mag. interview with Hillary.

(..In the world of the Clintons, of course, what constitutes

ordinary


and everyday has never been either. So the question was inevitable:
Given who he is, and who she is, does Bill, among their guffaws over the
dogs and stupid movies, harangue her daily about running for president?
….To this, Hillary Rodham Clinton lets loose one of her loud, head-tilted-back laughs. “I don’t think even he
is, you know, focused on that right now,” she says. “Right now, we’re
trying to just have the best time we can have doin’ what we’re doin’.?”

There’s a weightlessness about Hillary Clinton these days.
She’s in midair, launched from the State Department toward … what? For
the first time since 1992, unencumbered by the demands of a national
political campaign or public office, she is saddled only with
expectations about what she’s going to do next. And she is clearly
enjoying it….”
http://nymag.com/news/features/hillary-clinton-2013-9/
***************

The buzz among the politico cognoscenti, and talking heads, is the current New York mag. interview with Hillary.

Her comments are being interpreted as being open to running for POTUS in 2106.

Sure, such comments make good fodder for our 24/7 news media.
But no ambiguous politico plans beyond the next electoral cycle..in this case, 2014.

Will 2016 be a good year for a Dem. POTUS candidate?
How will the stupid party, now morphed into the crazy party (GOP) evolve? Will it become embers in the tea party bonfire? or will it shed its’ extremism, and move toward the middle?

If Obama burns up, and is as unpopular as Bush 2 in 2008, the Dem. POTUS nomination will not be worth it.

And HIllary’s potential candidacy really depends on her, and Bill’s health, and other personal factors.

Should Hillary run, her polarizing role in Bill’s White House years; and her somewhat mediocre tenure as Sec. of State will be major issues.

 

(Iran's new president, Hasan Rouhani, is leadings the country's delegation at the annual U.N. General Assembly in New York.) **************

3. (Iran's new president, Hasan Rouhani, is leadings the country's delegation at the annual U.N. General Assembly in New York.)
   **************
   
   And that cuddly curmudgeon Newt Gingrich says the POTUS, any US Pres., should only meet with a head of state if there is an agreement to sign, or a treaty to ok. A extemporaneous meet-up would not meet that standard.
   
   Newt, the historian, surely recalls the JFK and Khrushchev meeting in Vienna in Summer 1961.
   There was little to originally agree to, except a possible Laos neutrality agreement.
   Otherwise, Kh. ranted to the young new POTUS , giving a long tirade on how communism would "bury" capitalism; and how he would sign a separate agreement with East Germany/East Berlin that would block the West from access to W. Berlin.
   
   After a day of the rambling tirade, JFK had to get a shot from Dr. Feelgood; a concoction of speed and vitamins.
   
   After two days, JFK put a hat on over his face, sat down, and told James Reston,NYT, how it was the worse two days of his life.
   
   Well, that wouldn't happen with Obama and Rouhani....different time, different personalities.
   
   So what would be wrong with meeting informally?
   It would not require a duel press meet after the meeting, but would signal a potential break threw in bringing Iran back into the international community.
   
   Iran is hurting, economically, with the hard-hitting sanctions.
   Rouhani, with the apparent concurrence of the Allotaha, seems to want a new beginning in relationships.
   
   Israel is opposed; and the Israeli lobby in DC is very influential.
   
   Is Rouhani lying in saying Iran does not want a nuke military weapon?
   
   Can Israel, alone, conduct a quick strike on Iran's nuke facilities, as it did in Syria a couple of years ago?
   
   It would not be the same walk in the park for Israel.
   
   Diplomacy is the path to follow; peace is the goal that is necessary.
   
   http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/24/iran-un-talks_n_3981107.html

   
   

    

Is there no sense of decency anywhere nowadays?

(MIAMI — Diana Nyad's 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida has generated positive publicity and adoration for the 64-year-old endurance athlete — along with skepticism from some members of the small community of marathon swimmers who are questioning whether she accomplished the feat honestly.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/diana-nyad-swim-cuba-florida-questioned-article-1.1449150#ixzz2eV4fxtoP)
**********

Is there no sense of decency anywhere nowadays?

Is the level of competition in sports at a level that a 64-yr. old lady can't get the plaudits she apparently deserves.

I don't hear that Cuban exiles in Miami are challenging her bona fides.

How many of these exiles would have gladly swam from Castro's Cuba to Miami, without jellyfish protection

A second senior official, who has seen the most recent planning, offered this metaphor to describe such a strike: If Assad is eating Cheerios, we're going to take away his spoon and give him a fork. Will that degrade his ability to eat Cheerios? Yes. Will it deter him? Maybe. But he'll still be able to eat Cheerios..."

(..The strike, as envisioned, would be limited in the number of targets and done within a day or two. It could be completed in one fell swoop with missiles, said one senior official familiar with the weapons involved. A smaller, follow-on strike could be launched if targets aren't sufficiently damaged.

A second senior official, who has seen the most recent planning, offered this metaphor to describe such a strike: If Assad is eating Cheerios, we're going to take away his spoon and give him a fork. Will that degrade his ability to eat Cheerios? Yes. Will it deter him? Maybe. But he'll still be able to eat Cheerios..."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/09/08/syria-tomahawk-missiles-chemical-weapons/2770949/
**********

I'm a supporter of small, locally owned businesses.
A capitalist who can think globally, but buy locally.

So I'm always skeptical of the large, primary sector corporations; and their 24/7 marketing imprints.

Are Cheerios still owned by Kellogg? and is Kellogg owned by General Mills?
CherriOats was the original name for Cheerios, according to the wikipedia.
And who wasn't imprinted with the Cheerio breakfast brand?
Not eating Cheerios was like missing Howdy Doody.

Now, the issue here seems to be that the US military spokesperson assumes Assad eats Cheerios.
Now isn't that the height of consumer , multinational corporate imperialism?
**********
On a more serious note, the Charlie Rose interview with Assad was informative; and useful.
As of this morning, there is talk, movement to see if Assad, Syria, will agree to give up its' chemical wmds.
I would like to see this.

We are all Martians..

"We are all Martians.

That’s the astonishing claim from a biochemist who says he has evidence that essential ingredients for life originated on Mars and made the journey to Earth aboard a meteor.

“The evidence seems to be building that we are actually all Martians; that life started on Mars and came to Earth on a rock,” said Steven Benner of The Westheimer Institute for Science and Technology in Gainesville, Fla...."
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/says_blood_runs_red_earth_life_was_YfOcqv4iJbTCSqSC4sB5gO
**************

Are you kidding me?
We left the red planet; settled on Earth; and made civilization.
Our descendents came here from Mars on a rock?
Well, that may explain why we have unending wars everywhere;climate change; the sectarian blood feuds between the Shiites and Sunnis; private cars that dominate our lives, and destroy everything in its' path; floods; wild fires; and Miley Cyrus.

Perhaps there can be a reverse trip. Perhaps our Miley Cyruses can be put inside a rock-like meteorite and sent to the Red Planet, one way of course.

What would be our goal in attacking Syria? Retribution for the immoral chemical attack? Overthrow of Assad" Just what is our goal when we do this?

“..Now there’s an unholy alliance pushing for attacks on Syria. We have liberal zealots, such as our UN ambassador, Samantha Power, who believe that our military’s primary purpose is to protect people who hate America. We have a few Republican senators like John McCain and Lindsey Graham who support any war, any time. We have a president who thinks that, “Gee, maybe, well, gosh, I said I’d do something, so maybe I should...” And we have elements in the defense industry who long for a return to our free-spending years in Iraq and Afghanistan and view a war in Syria as a great way to beat the sequester.
And the one thing every member of that bomb-Syria-now coalition has in common? Not one will have to fight….”
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/obama_third_war_wouSScjkNB1FutCDpAU2cN?utm_medium=rss&utm_content=OpedColumnists
I seldom agree with the NY Post’s editorial and op.ed. pages, but Ralph Peters’ column this morning is a good read, and an important statement on the impending air strikes by the US, and Britain.
Chemical weapon use against civilians is barbaric; and it is a moral issue. It should be condemned by all civilized countries and its’ leaders.
It should be condemned by the UN, in spite of the expected opposition of the Russians and likely Chinese to higher level sanctions against Syria.
But Peters opposition to the coming strikes is based on real politick.
The strikes will toughen Assad’s resistence. They will be opposed by Iran, Iraq, and Russia. Russia has a warm water port in Damascus, the only one available to the Russians.
Assad is a despicable tyrant; and should be replaced. But he has military superiority in the civil war.
He is also the current head of a nation. The bombing of Syrian military sites by us is an act of war. While it is a quaint notion, our Constitution requires a Congressional declaration of war or approval of executive war actions within a short period of weeks after military action is commenced.

 

"... the wealth of the Walton family -- which still owns the lion's share of Walmart stock -- now exceeds the wealth of the bottom 40 percent of American families combined, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute...."http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/minimum-wage-increase_b_3816534.html

"... the wealth of the Walton family -- which still owns the lion's share of Walmart stock -- now exceeds the wealth of the bottom 40 percent of American families combined, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute...."http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/minimum-wage-increase_b_3816534.html

Former Labor Sec. Robert Reich has a good blog this morning.

He looks at the wage gains of the bottom 60% of the working population ; the vast inequality of wealth and income; and concludes that a national minimum wage of $10-15 is appropriate.

The majority of workers at the McDonalds and Walmarts are adults, most with children to support.
A living wage for these workers will not compell the corp. honchos to send the jobs to low wage under-developed countries.

The Walmarts and McDonalds on almost every block of our country will remain open; and the workers are needed.

One study estimated that paying McDonald workers as much as $15 hour might raise the price of the Whopper by 2-3 cents. Not a big deal.

Some bloggers here may say that Reich is an unrepentant New Deal liberal; a big government , centralized control, old FDR new dealer.

You can call Reich anything you want, just don’t call the low-paid workers to a dinner they can’t afford

Trimmings for Labor Day

www.huffingtonpost.com

The wealth of the Walton family -- which still owns the lion's share of Walmart stock -- now exceeds the wealth of the bottom 40 percent of American families combined.

 

“Why is this still an issue?” “Are we really all that different?”

“Why is this still an issue?”
“Are we really all that
different?”

NPR’s Michele Norris has had what she calls a Race Card
Project, with her distributing post cards for people to describe racial
attitudes and opinions in six words.
Norris has learned a lot about racial beliefs, attitudes and
opinions on racial issues, all within the 6 allowable words….smaller than
Twitter characters.

The two quotes above are just two examples of post card
jottings.

Next week marks the 50th anniversary of the Aug.
28th, 1963 March on Washington. The 250,000 who gathered at the
Lincoln Memorial, and tidal basin, came from all over the country; were
integrated, black, brown, red and white; and had different agendas to display
at the gathering.

The Kennedy brothers, John and Bobby, were reluctant to
endorse this March; and when it could not be stopped, they controlled it with
all the power that had. This control included previewing all the speeches, with
a censuring of any hard criticism of the Kennedys; asking the Reuther brothers
to organize labor union whites to attend; closing all the bars and liquor
stores for several hours; and having the National Guard troops standing by.

The essential goal of the March was to apply pressure to
pass a tough civil rights bill that would end de jure Southern segregation. MLK’s dream speech is
the speech most remembered , and it was a conservative call for integration.

Our nation has come a long way since 1963. De Jure segregation
is history; blacks are visible at high levels of our corporate and political institutions,
including the Presidency.

But as Norris’ postcard project reveals, there is a long way
to go before our nation could be labeled color-blind.
Schools can no longer be legally segregated, but the
segregation, both North and South, of our schools is perhaps greater than the
196ies.
The cultural “pathology” within the black underclass
prevails, with high levels of unwed mothers, school dropouts, and violent
crime.

How would the bloggers here describe our current racial
relations, in 6 words?
http://www.aarp.org/politics-society/history/info-07-2013/race-card-project-and-racism-in-america.html

 

 

(...ReelzChannel is getting back into the Kennedy family business ....)

(...ReelzChannel is getting back into the Kennedy family business, and once again likely to make some waves. In November, the network that aired the Emmy-winning 2011 miniseries "The Kennedys" will debut "JFK: The Smoking Gun," a new documentary offering the theory that John F. Kennedy was killed, not by Lee Harvey Oswald's rifle, but by the friendly-fire bullet of an inexperienced Secret Service agent. It is a theory that has been around awhile and has had a difficult track record and the news that Reelz is airing a show based on it has already ignited anger in this hotly disputed stretch of history...."
http://tv.yahoo.com/blogs/tv-news/reelzchannel-ceo-defends-controversial-jfk-documentary-theory--president-was-killed-by-accidental-secret-service-shot-220053275.html
*****************************

This alleged accidental shot from a SS agent in the followup car has been discredited long ago..the theory has no legs.
ReelzChannel , like O'Reilly, is working diligently to continue the coverup of the JFK murder conspiracy.

This movie is based on the Bonar Menninger book, Mortal Error.
Menninger's book is red meat for those who are in denial that there was a vast conspiracy...what ol' Jack Ruby labeled a high level coup d'état.

My family has had difficulty finding me this weekend, as I have Thurston Clarke's masterpiece, JFK's Last Hundred Days, and sequestered myself away to read this gem; what historian Douglas Brinkley has called a book that sings: (""The three-months before President John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas were frenetic times: civil rights, Vietnam, Berlin and reelection were on his mind. Thurston Clarke's JFK's Last Hundred Days does a marvelous job of reliving Camelot's fragile promise. Clarke is a masterful storyteller and able researcher. This book sings. Highly recommended.")

Clarke takes no position on whether JFK died thru a conspiracy or thru a single demented Oswald.
But his book is a spell binding read because it provides details on what JFK was doing and thinking in the last 100 days of his life.

Clarke gives us a picture of how JFK was alienating a litany of very powerful power centers:
the military...as he rejected ground troops in Laos, Cuba, and Vietnam.

the Texas oil men...as he pushed for changes in the oil depletion allowance; and in the case of quasi-fascist H.L. Hunt, confronting the rise of right-wing radicalism.

the NE bankers....as he was experimenting with issuing direct money bills, bypassing the Federal Reserve and cutting into the interest that the banks were earning from the Treasury.

the clandestine wing of the CIA...as he was moving to cut funding for dirty tricks, drug experiments, and executive action "black bag" operations.
JFK's firing of Allen Dulles also threatened the vast spy operations of the former Nazi Reinhard Gehlen , who was brought into the CIA by Dulles.

the anti-Castro Cuban exiles.....as JFK was sounding out Castro on some type of accommodation. This was part of a detailed agenda to cool down the Cold War. Through private letters and secondary contacts, JFK was engaging Khrushchev in a dialogue for "peace". Khrushchev brought Castro to Moscow for a month; and during this stay, Kh. explained that Castro should seek an accommodation with the US.

NASA....as an element of JFK's "peace" agenda, he was exploring a joint space program with Khrushchev. This was a threat to the NASA scientists, and programmers, many of whom were former Hitler/Nazi scientists. Wernher von Braun was especially threatened by this JFK move for a joint space exploration with the USSR.

Clarke gives a vivid account of what JFK was working to do, without concluding that this agenda led to his murder. But one can speculate on this.

All of the powerful interests described above, with the addition of the Mafia godfathers and Jimmy Hoffa, were the constellation, configuration of interests that coalesced to decide that JFK had to be removed.

JFK's Last Hundred Days: The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President

Mortal Error: The Shot That Killed JFK, A ballistics expert's astonishing discovery of the fatal bullet that Oswald did not fire

Amazon's owner Jeff Bezo bought the Wash. Post last week, for a reportedly $250 million...pocket change for Mr. Bezo.

  Amazon's owner Jeff Bezo bought the Wash. Post last week, for a reportedly $250 million...pocket change for Mr. Bezo.

The Post was owned by the Graham family and the Grahams will apparently continue to have a major role in the Post's operations.

There is a relationship between the Post's Graham family and the assassination of JFK.

Phil Graham ran the newspaper from 1946-'63.
By the late 50ies and early 60ies, his major editor Ben Bradlee was close to JFK. Bradlee and his wife Toni visited the White House numerous times.
Bradlee's wife Toni's maiden name was Antoinette Pinchot; and she was the sister of Mary Pinchot Meyer, who had a serious relationship with JFK during his Presidency.

It was Mary who allegedly formed a Georgetown coterie of women married to, or having a relationship, with very powerful DC men. Mary's friend was JFK.
These women formed a support group to work to have their hubbies and partners see an alternative world; a universe without war, nuclear weapons or dangerous Cold War machinations.

Mary allegedly visited Harvard's Timothy Leary to get details on, and even a supply of LSD.
Leary is the only non-collaborating source for this.

Mary allegedly wanted to turn JFK on to LSD; to allow him to see an alternative universe of milk, honey, flowers and universal peace.
Or at least, have the sidewalks turn different colors.

While Mary was deepening her relationship to JFK, Ben's wife Toni, Mary's sister, apparently told Ben; and Ben in turn informed Phil Graham.
And Graham, a heavy drinker and bi-polar, went out West in 1963, got to the podium of a newspaper editors conference, and began screaming that JFK was "screwing" Mary Meyer.

(..In January 1963 Graham disclosed to a meeting of newspaper editors that John F. Kennedy was having an affair with Mary Pinchot Meyer, but his claim was not reported by the news media.[citation needed] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Graham))

Word got back to the Kennedy brothers. They got Phil on a plane back to DC; and his wife Katherine had him committed to a psy. center.
He shortly thereafter committed suicide.

Christopher Anderson's new Kennedy book, These Few Precious Days: The Final Year of Jack with Jackie is in the bookstores tomorrow.

Christopher Anderson's new Kennedy book, These Few Precious Days: The Final Year of Jack with Jackie is in the bookstores tomorrow.

While the early blurbs do not appear to reveal much that is not already known, one headline story this morning concerns Anderson's account of the Marilyn Monroe, Jack and Jackie situation.

Anderson has additional sources that confirm that MM was in an alternative universe (not a parallel one with Earth and reality) by the Summer '62.

She called Jackie and revealed her affair with Jack; and that she (MM) was going to be Jack's second wife, move into the White House, and become the new FLOTUS (First Lady).

Jackie allegedly responded that that was nice; and hoped MM could handle the various problems that will occur. LOL.

While Jackie may have been aware of the various affairs that Jack had, MM apparently was the most difficult and dangerous. MM could have been the only one who told Jackie of the affair and what her psychotic intentions were in becoming 1st Lady.

MM was searching for love in all the wrong places.

RFK was dispatched to deal with MM, keep her quiet and away from the press.
MM had the power to bring down the Kennedys.
RFK likely had sex with MM, but he was using that to control her. He was not about to divorce Ethel and leave his 9 kids for MM.

I have not read Anderson's tomb and do not know if he concludes that MM was murdered.

The prolific scandal writer Darwin Porter claims that MM was indeed murdered; and he even has photos of the Mafioso godfather Sam Giancana's hit team. The team are men you would not invite home to dinner.
(Marilyn At Rainbow's End: Sex, Lies, Murder, and the Great Cover-up [Paperback]
Darwin Porter (Author) )

Would the Kennedys have hired Giancana to hit MM?
By 1962, RFK was working almost 24/7 to put Giancana in prison.
Why would Giancana have considered doing this hit for the Kennedys?

Perhaps Giancana thought that doing this hit would make the Kennedy brothers happy; and neutralize RFK in his campaign to destroy the Mafia.
If so, Giancana would have considered it a serious double-cross.

The alleged murder of MM was a warning shot to the Kennedy brothers.

There is a direct link between MM and the Dealey assassination.

These Few Precious Days: The Final Year of Jack with Jackie [Hardcover]
Christopher Andersen (Author)

---

Posted

(The NY Daily News editorial board is calling on Governor Cuomo to push Weiner from the race.)

(The NY Daily News editorial board is calling on Governor Cuomo to push Weiner from the race.)
*******************
Agree, but should be with a hidden hand, private actions.
The Gov. may be reluctant to go public on this moral issue, but a hidden hand push may convince Weiner to withdraw.
Huma's role here is ambigious.
Is it ambition overcoming rationality?
Is Huma channeling the early Hillary when the Clintons went on 60 minutes, and Hillary proclaimed she is NO Tammy Wynette stay at home cook while the hubby goes out to conquer the world, and also play kid games at the same time?
Weiner allegedly said to Leathers that his marriage to Huma was "a sham....a political union..."
Huma should take away all of her hubby's toys...the phones, close the twitter account, the laptop, the tablet and all the other toys that little boys like.
Should social media and Steve Jobs take some responsibility for what Weiner has, and is, doing?
Facebook, smart phones etc. allow humans to communicate without touching other humans; without interacting on a human level.
But then there is that "San Diego mayor Bob Filner caught up in sex scandal. 7 women now accusing Bob Filner of sexual misconduct."
Filner actually interacted in person, rather than the impersonal online shenanigans.
At least one woman says Filner would get her in a head lock.
A head lock? Is that uncommon in an office environment?
Filner says he will go into a 2 week intensive therapy session to purge the inner demons.
Will he put the female therapists and aides in head locks?
Somebody help me...I'm on the floor convulsed in uncontrollable laughter.

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Rush Limbaugh Says Huma Abedin Is Muslim, Powerless, So Anthony Weiner Can 'Get Away With Anything'

(..Rush Limbaugh Says Huma Abedin Is Muslim, Powerless, So Anthony Weiner Can 'Get Away With Anything'

"It's relevant to point out here by the way ... Huma is a Muslim,” Limbaugh said, according to Mediaite. “In that regard, Weiner ought to be able to get away with anything.”
“Muslim women don’t have any power, right?” he continued. “Muslim
women are beheaded, stoned, whatever, if they drive, have affairs. In
certain countries, Muslim women, if they’re raped, are killed -- it’s
their fault..."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/27/rush-limbaugh-huma-abedin-muslim_n_3664662.html
*************************************************
I carry no water for ElRusbo, and his slur above lacks credibility.
Yes, Huma is a Muslim; and both her parents, highly educated, were ,are Muslims.
Huma has a resume, bona fides that give evidence of her professionalism, and activity in the public arena.
Is ElRusbo claiming that Weiner is applying Sharia law to Huma and that explains her continued loyalty to this man-child?
Huma has been close to Hillary for years; and was her scheduling coordinator for the 2008 POTUS campaign.
If Huma was practicing Sharia law, I assume a female POTUS would be a Sharia violation.
I don't speak with knowledge on this matter, so others weight in.
As I've suggested previously, Huma should take away all of Weiner's electronic toys; hit him aside the head; tell him to leave their abode; grow up; and get good professional help.

 

Anthony Weiner and NYC Mayoral Race

(..Friends say Abedin was “furious” and considered ending her marriage after she discovered last summer that her husband had relapsed even after the couple had publicly reconciled and begun raising a child.
As NYC women try to figure out what’s motivating Abedin, a spokesman for Weiner declined to say whether his wife would continue to play an active role in his campaign.
Anthony Weiner’s smartest path from here to primary day: Retail, retail, retail.
Leathers’ mother, Laura, told the DN: “I have nothing to say except God help New York if he gets to be mayor. You can print that..)
************
In my humble opinion, Weiner’s smartest path from here to primary day is hightail, hightail, hightail to the nearest competent therapist.
Humorist Andy Borowitz reveals that Weiner was actually sexting during yesterday’s apology press meet up.(http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport).
This Leathers young lady that Weiner was sexting with last Summer went public and declared that Mr. Anthony was lousy at phone sex.
I’m older than dirt, and I don’t understand what phone sex is all about.
Can you do it only with a smart phone?
Is there an app. for this?
If it is done with a pay phone, what would it cost; and is it a higher felony than when done privately?
Expect Mayor Bloomberg to don his nanny hat and declare that his great city, the beacon to the world, the home of the Statue of Liberty that asks to “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”…that this great metropolis doesn’t need a mayor who is lousy at phone sex.

A little bit of this, and a little bit of that.

A little bit of this, and a little bit of that.
************************************************
Last Fri.'s NYT  had some good reads. Is it all accurate? Not according to Fox News, but what do they know?
The front page, and the business section, have good reads on the civil charges that the SEC is bringing against hedger owner, Steven Cohen.
The SEC alleges that Cohen, as owner/CEO of SAC Capital Advisers, should have known about the shenanigans that his subordinates were engaged in....that Cohen ignored "red flags".
Not being privy to Cohen's defense briefs, I imagine his concierges will argue that bureaucracies, organizations, are structured hierarchical in order to encase the high mucky-mucks in a bubble of ignorance.
How could Cohen know what his bureaucratic ants were doing?
The business story suggests that the new SEC chair Mary Jo White has removed her Wall Street protector headgear , and is now wearing a prosecutor's battle helmet.
The real test for White will be if she argues that Cohen's alleged ignorance could have been avoided if the hedge fund's hierarchical structure was flattened, made more democratic and horizontal. LOL.
**********************
Putin's antagonist Aleksei Navalyn was found guilty of allegedly stealing $500K from a state-controlled company in Kirov.
The case was weak in documentation, and the anti-Putin organizers blame Putin for the harassment.
Navalyn was sentenced to 5 years in prison, but was suddenly released pending the outcome of appeals.
He is still planning to run for Mayor of Moscow.
And if he wins, Putin can be in deep dodo.
Can you imagine the reaction if Navalyn wins the election, and is then put in prison?
Perhaps Navalyn should seek asylum in the Moscow airport hotel, and share a double room with Snowden.
**************************
Another story has DC US District Judge Rosemary Collyer ruling that the executive branch, i.e.POTUS Obama, does not have authority to kill Americans on foreign soil, without judicial approval.
She wrote in her ruling that the AG brief argument that the decisions on killing Americans are approved within the executive branch, with Congressional oversight, and are therefore legal is Constitutional rubber-band stretching.
She would like the 3rd branch, the judiciary , to make this decision.
Who would have thunk it?

It's so hot that....

("It's so hot that I saw a dog chasing a cat and they were both walking."
"It's so hot today I saw two trees fighting over a dog."
...the Statue of Liberty was asked to please lower her right arm.
It is so hot that Al Gore landed one of his jets, sold the rest of his
carbon credits and drove his caravan of suv's north and discovered the
North Pole. Yes he did! Santa said so.
It is so hot that Polar Bears are wearing sun screen.
It’s so hot and dry in Kansas that the Baptists are starting to baptize
by sprinkling, the Methodists are using wet-wipes, the Presbyterians are
giving out rain-checks & the Catholics are praying for the wine to
turn back into water.")
*************
Ok, it's your turn.
How about it's so hot that Paladino was sunbathing and came back inside and warned that he was going to run against Andrew again.
It's so hot that Anthony Weiner is texting nude.
It's so hot that Christine Quinn's newly sound proofed City Council office will be air conditioned but only after she agrees to attend Charley Sheen's anger management classes.
***************
On a more serious note, climate change is real.
Droughts, floods, heat waves, violent storms, oceans warming, sea level rising, glacier ice melting are real.
Robert Redford has a good blog on the positive Obama moves to curtail power plant carbon emissions; and the POTUS's likely, but not guaranteed, rejection of the Keystone pipeline.
And Jeffrey Goodell has a good read on why the city of Miami will long longer exist in a few decades
..http://www.huffingtonpost,com/robert-redford/we-need-climate-action-on_b_3532691.html
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-the-city-of-miami-is-doomed-to-drown-20130620

 

THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF 7 SECONDS THAT CHANGED HISTORY

 THE 50^TH ANNIVERSARY OF 7 SECONDS THAT CHANGED HISTORY

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Pulitzer-award winning historian David McCullough was recently profiled
on 60 Minutes, as he engaged   in an informative tour with Morley Safer.

The historian raptures us with his knowledge and enthusiasm for our founding  fathers .

McCullough is scheduled to be the main speaker at the Dealey Plaza 50th anniversary of John Kennedy’s death in Nov.

His charge will be to speak about JFK's life; and his rhetoric will contain all the right words.
McCullough will describe JFK's youth, charisma, and the brief shiny moment that has been labeled Camelot. Without being privy to McCullough's speech, it will likely emphasize JFK's
intellectual curiosity; his humor; and the glamour that prevailed in the
White House.

With his knowledge and love of the early tradition
of our country, McCullough is likely to retell the story of the Nobel
Prize winners' dinner at the White House, when JFK  said :" "I think this
is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge,
that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the
possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."

McCullough will also likely talk about Camelot's Lady Guinevere ,  Jackie Kennedy,
and how she brought culture and refinement to the White House.

Finally, McCullough will praise the Dallas Mayor, the city, and its'
business/cultural establishment for  its’ progress in the last 50 years.

This commemoration will give a positive hue to Dallas, its’ political/business elite, and to JFK’s life. It will make for an uplifting media presentation.

To ensure that the occasion is not marred by actions or demonstrations by conspiracy adherents, the Dallas Mayor will control a limited number of passes for entrance to
Dealey Plaza.

The danger is that this Dealey Plaza commemoration can also allow us to lose site of the stark reality that  Dealey Plaza is a crime scene; the scene of  the  brutal murder of a young leader that remains an unsolved cold case; the location of multiple gunshots within 7 seconds that changed history.

McCullough will not likely remind us that   the 1960ies  Dallas was
the epicenter of very rabid, irrational ,and violent right-wing
groups and individuals. In fact, within this swamp of radical right-wing activity, the Dallas John Birch Society was a paragon of prudence; a model of moderation.

I would favor another speaker, Jeffrey Sachs, to also be included in the commemoration festivities.

Sachs has penned what could become one of the crown jewels in the JFK
legacy.

In To Move the World: JFK's Quest for Peace ,  Sachs
elegantly  describes JFK's last year as President It was  a year that Kennedy
devoted to peace in a dangerous nuclear age. During 1963, JFK worked to achieve a limited test ban treaty; made a historical American University "peace" speech that called for us to
re-examine our hard-wired Cold War beliefs; and   continued a  personal
dialogue with Khrushchev.

By 1963, Kennedy and Khrushchev had exchanged over 200 personal letters.
These letters circumvented the Cold War bureaucracies; and helped to promote a
mutual understanding that nuclear war had to be avoided.

Kennedy also used Pope John 23rd and Saturday Review editor Norman Cousins as back-channel communication links to the Kremlin.

The October 1962 Cuban missile crisis provided an epiphany for JFK. He chose the blockade option, opposing the military and national security advisors’ support for a military attack. With Khrushchev having moved almost 200 battlefield nuclear warheads into Cuba, a full-fledged world nuclear war was very possible.

In the last year of his life, Kennedy joined Khrushchev in a step-by-step campaign for an end to nuclear testing; in stopping the stock piling of nukes on both sides; and in preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to other nations. This peace journey was a huge threat to each country's steel-eaters,   the  military-industrial complexes.

As we take this 50^th anniversary of JFK’s murder to discover the details of his peace journey during 1963, the historical question of whether he would have sent 500,000 ground troops to Vietnam is resolved.  It would not have happened if he had lived and served a second term.

If   Sachs were to speak in Dealey Plaza, his words would remind us
of the real reason JFK was murdered:  JFK's quest for nuclear sanity.
Khrushchev was also removed from power a year after Kennedy's assassination.
The steel-eaters, the hard-liners, were the winners in the struggle within both countries.

For those of us in the large community who believe JFK’s assassination was a conspiracy, the hope is that this year’s 50^th anniversary will see serious progress on solving the cold case of JFK’s murder.

All classified files related to JFK’s murder, in all the federal bureaucracies, should be released to the public.

A special prosecutor should be appointed to gather all the evidence, subpoena living witnesses, and indict the assassination planners, and those who have covered-up the crime.

Opaqueness and secrecy are not democratic; democracy demands transparency and openness.     

 

Amid a filibuster, Texas legislators did not act on an abortion bill. (Texas Tribune))

(Amid a filibuster, Texas legislators did not act on an abortion bill. (Texas Tribune))
**************
Kudos to the courageous Sen. Wendy Davis in helping to stop this GOP bill.
The bill was one of the most extreme measures that are streaming through the various state legislatures.
It would have circumvented the SCOTUS Roe v. Wade, and related laws, that allow abortions under certain circumstances.
Texas Gov. Perry recently invaded NY state; and suggested that Cuomo should favor eliminating the state income tax.
This Texas imperialism can also easily find anti-abortion moves here in NY, similar to what is happening in Texas.

 

Edward Snowden has disappeared, possibly in Russia. (AP))

(Edward Snowden has disappeared, possibly in Russia. (AP))
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One would think that the NSA would have data on any phone calls Snowden may have made on his getaway.
And why wouldn’t the NSA, the FBI, op.cit., have installed a GPS on his laptops.
Seems that should be a basic requirement for any contract employee hired by the NSA.
And as methinks Jay Leno said, Putin will return Snowden when Putin returns the Super Bowl ring.

Does anyone believe the mega mining of tele. logs; and social network info. by the NSA is overkill; using a sledge hammer when a chisel would be sufficient

Does anyone believe the mega mining of tele. logs; and social network info. by the NSA is overkill; using a sledge hammer when a chisel would be sufficient?
**********
The latest stories coming out describe how one of the social networks actually went into the Intelligence Court; and fought the order to have their patrons' info. mined into NSA computers.
The social network lost the argument.
The national security complex has grown into a all encompassing sprawling bureaucracy, all housed under the Homeland Security umbrella.
Recently, Fortune magazine complied its' list of the most powerful women in the world.
#3 is Janet Napolitano, Sec. of Homeland Security...just behind Indra Nooyi, CEO, Pepsi and Sonia Gandi,Pres.,Indian National Congress Party.
Napolitano has a $48 billion budget; 240k staff; and 22 agencies under her control.
The NSA is really part of the Defense Dept.
Evil does exist in the world.
There are evildoers living in that world; crazy criminal evildoers.
Maslow's famous hierarchy of values remains germaine for human existence.; and the base of his hierarchy of needs is security.
We must have security in our lives; or nothing else matters.
It is how security is provided that is an important policy question.
The tele. logs, and social network info. remains "unopened" in the huge NSA computers.
But it is there; and who is telling us how long the data remains retrievable? When is the data deleted?
Can this vast storage of raw data be used by private contractors, such as Booz Allen?
Can the data provide the future base for an authoritarian US gov.,whether of the left or right, to use against defined enemies of the state; or ideological threats to the power of the state?
Someone suggested that one positive result of the NSA revelations is that it has motivated more people to read...to read Orwell's 1984.

( Edward Snowden, 29, revealed himself as the analyst who leaked documents on a massive government surveillance program. (WP))
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When Senators Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders are on the same page, we should take notice.
They are both on the same page in describing the NSA’s mega data mining of phone numbers and locations; and in the storing of internet emails and social network information.
They consider it a civil liberties threat; and an undermining of the 4th A.
Sen. Feinstein, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Cmt., argues that this NSA collection is legal, and has the approval of the leadership of Congress.(http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/week-transcript-sen-dianne-feinstein-rep-mike-rogers/story?id=19343314#.UbSyckpcGKI)
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Feinstein argues that the phone chats are not listened to, and the web entries are not perused unless the government goes to the Intelligence Court for approval.
But that is a small , rather meaningless, safeguard.
The case to the Court is presented by the government; and there is no adversary proceeding…no defense lawyer arguing not to open the web entries or listening to the phone chats.
Liberal NYT’s columnist Paul Krugman suggests that there are two different possible surveillance states..a democratic one and an authoritarian one.
The NSA data collection is the latter.
How long are the phone chats alive…able to be listened to?
You can combine this with cameras almost everywhere; small drones making flights over the cities in the future (with cameras looking at all of us); and the future google glasses that can photo everyone on the street; and you have the perfect Orwellian surveillance storm.
Foreign , and domestic, evildoers, bad guys and gals, need to be monitored.
And in our advance information era, they can’t resort to smoke signals or pony express (or can they?).
Our Bill of Rights are important elements of our freedoms; and the 4th Amend. is one of the most important ones.
I’m not an evildoer, but the NSA data mining does raise concern.
Fox’s O’Reilly has his shorts all twisted on this issue.
He exclaims, loudly, that if a husband calls Rosy’s Massage Parlor for an appointment, the data on the call is stored in the NSA huge data bank.
So he says we should be afraid, really afraid.
Big Bill is engaging in hyperbole.
The husband’s wife could not petition NSA to tell her what the Rosy calls by her husband are all about.
Oh, I suppose the wife could walk into the Intelligence Court and ask that the calls become transparent.
The Justices would tell her to leave (LOL).
In some ways, this issue can be considered a women’s issue.
How so, you exclaim?
It is because polls have shown that females make more phone calls than males.
And here is a somewhat apropos joke:
The husband shouts out to his wife that he swatted several flies in the kitchen….3 females and 4 males.
The wife yells back, how can you tell the sex of a fly?
The husband informs her that the 3 females were on the phone; and the 4 males were on a beer can.

Issa is a self-made millionaire with a net worth estimated at as much as $450 million,[3] making him the second-wealthiest currently-serving member of Congress.[

He was formerly a CEO of Directed Electronics, the Vista, California-based manufacturer of automobile security and convenience products….
Issa is a self-made millionaire with a net worth estimated at as much as $450 million,[3] making him the second-wealthiest currently-serving member of Congress.[3][4][5][6]
He recorded the “Please step away from the car”, warning for DEI’s signature product, the Viper car alarm.
After receiving a hardship discharge in 1972, because his father had a heart attack, Issa earned a General Educational Development (GED) certificate.[9] Twice that year, he was arrested. In the first incident he was indicted by a grand jury for an alleged theft of a Maserati, but prosecutors dropped the charge.
Shortly before his discharge, Issa was again indicted for grand theft auto, but Issa insisted he was innocent and by August, 1980, the prosecution dropped the case. ..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa
**************
The Darrell Issa car alarm never misses
It is triggered whenever an IRS bureaucrat disses
When Mr. Darrell visits the White House
Alarms go off and have to be doused
When Issa holds hearings
The West Wing trembles and loses its’ bearings.
**************
Well, I try to be humorous.
Satirist Andy Borowitz often is funny; and makes big bucks doing it.
In yesterday’s columny, Borowitz claims that Issa is going to hold hearings on why nobody listens to him:
“There is a consensus out there that I am an odious, self-serving tool
who uses congressional hearings to advance my own petty political
agenda,” he said. “I think it’s important to know who created that
impression.”
Finally, Mr. Issa said, he hoped that the new hearings would “determine,
once and for all, to what extent my moral authority has been undermined
by allegations that I have been involved in car theft and arson.”
“The question is, what do the American people know about me and when did they know it?” he said.”
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2013/06/issa-demands-hearings-into-why-no-one-listens-to-him.html?mbid=nl_Borowitz%20%28132%29

Gov. Andrew Cuomo introduced his Women’s Equality Act, which contains an abortion provision that is serving as a political wedge in the state Senate.

(Gov. Andrew Cuomo introduced his Women’s
Equality Act, which contains an abortion provision that is serving as a
political wedge in the state Senate. (TU/GNS))
********
It’s puzzling to see the abortion portion included in the overall Women’s Equality Act.
It is divisive ; and will likely lead to the Senate GOP voting against the entire Act.
With less than two weeks left in the session, passage of this Act in
full will be a miracle that will have the Vatican announcing that
Cuomo’s needs only a few more documented miracles to achieve sainthood.
Roe v. Wade, and related decisions, are currently the national law.
The so-called “pro-life” right-wing forces are active across the
country, lobbying state legislatures to pass laws that attack the Roe v.
Wade decision…i.e. closing of Planned Parenthood clinics; have abortion
performing doctors required to be linked to a hospital; lowering the
time for a fetus to be viable; on and on.
There are reportedly over a million abortions performed in the US annually.
The total should be reduced substantially.
Being a male, I can pontificate on women’s issues, and incur the wrath of females when I make irresponsible comments.
But as I’ve posted in the pass, no female needs to get pregnant.
And I’m a libertarian on sexual matters.
All adults can practice safe, smart, and responsible, sex.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will appoint an interim senator to fill Frank Lautenberg’s seat, and has called a special election for October

(New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will
appoint an interim senator to fill Frank Lautenberg’s seat, and has
called a special election for October. (WSJ))
***************
RIP to Sen. Lautenberg.
Christie’s decision reeks of hard-ball politics; a cynical decision
that should disqualify him from being a serious POTUS candidate.
He shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the Oval Office.
The October special election will cost NJ millions.
It will produce a low turnout, that helps the NJ GOP candidate.
It will prevent a large Dem. turnout in Nov., which will tend to increase Christy’s predicted mandate.
Lautenberg’s term was to expire in 2014.
An interim replacement should have been Christy’s decision; and the Senate election should have taken place in 2014.

Today marks the 45th anniversary of RFK murder conspiracy.

Today marks the 45th anniversary of RFK murder conspiracy.

It is armchair historical speculation on what RFK would have accomplished if he had not been murdered.
It is likely that he would have captured the Dem. nomination from Humphrey; and then taken enough white working class votes from the independent George Wallace to achieve victory over Nixon in '68.

RFK would have had the same responsibility that JFK had in 1960...the only person standing between the White House and Nixon.

RFK was only 43 in '68; and again, it is speculation on whether he would have been a good POTUS.
In pol. scientist James Barber's classic personality types, RFK would have been an active-positive POTUS.*

He likely would have negotiated an early end to the Nam war, saving over 25K American lives.
His thinking, stimulated by his two aides Walinsky and Edelman, was evolving ; and his approach to domestic issues would have been a blend of traditional liberalism and conservative elitism.

He would have used his Oval Office power to bring to justice the pond scum that murdered his brother, although the constellation of powerful groups(forces) would make his success problematic.

The three political murders of the 60ies, the Kennedy brothers and MLK Jr. were all right-wing conspiracies; and the result was to move our country to the political right.

Special prosecutors should be appointed to gather all the evidence in all three murders; and file capital murder, and accessory to murder charges against the pond scum.

*http://www.amazon.com/Presidential-Character-Predicting-Performance-Political/dp/020565259X

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/rfk/sfeature/sf_what.html

NY Post right-wing cartoonist Sean Delonas has a scurrilous cartoon this morning.

NY Post right-wing cartoonist Sean Delonas has a scurrilous cartoon this morning.
It has NYC mayor candidate Weiner interviewing Monica Lewinsky for an internship.
Cartoonists have a right to draw anything they want, as long as someone agrees to publish it.
http://www.nypost.com/opinion/cartoons/delonas.htm

A letter to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg tested positive for the poison ricin. (NYT

(A letter to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg tested positive for the poison ricin. (NYT))
**********
You’re a redneck if you dwell in rural Louisiana; believe background
checks will lead to gun confiscation of legal gun owners; and believe
the 2ndA has any relevance to the realities of the 21st century.
The alleged sender of the ricin dwells in the swamp of the Louisiana bayou.
As this alleged ricin sender rides through the crocodile swamps, the
crocs. gather on the shores and declare “there goes the neighborhood.”

Reply

You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face

 

" You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face
And show the world all the love in your heart
Then people gonna treat you better
You're gonna find, yes, you will
That you're beautiful as you feel

Waiting at the station with a workday wind a-blowing
I've got nothing to do but watch the passers-by
Mirrored in their faces I see frustration growing
And they don't see it showing, why do I?

You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face
And show the world all the love in your heart
Then people gonna treat you better
You're gonna find, yes, you will
That you're beautiful as you feel

I have often asked myself the reason for THE sadness
In a world where tears are just a lullaby
If there's any answer, maybe love can end the madness
Maybe not, oh, but we can only try

You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face
And show the world all the love in your heart.."
Carole King, Beautiful lyrics
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Carole King was honored with the Gershwin Prize for Music at the White House last week; and she opened her appearance with Beautiful.

The show will be shown on PBS on Tues. night, May 28th.

The millennials, or near millennials, reading this will exclaim "Who is Carole King? and who is her friend, James Taylor?"

As a member of the silent generation, or the almost baby boomer generation, Carole King's Tapestry album still resonates.

And her Beautiful tune is relevant today, when the days are filled with bridges collapsing, tornadoes, hs students planning Columbine massacres, toxic Congressional politicians, yada, yada, yada.

Everyone wake up with a smile; and have a good holiday weekend.