Today's Tids Issue 2,094
Opening Stuff:
Congress is taking aim at Clueless Lane (Wall Street) with a host of new regulations which are probably already in there, somewhere, anyhow. The most deterrent of regulations against runaway greed and risk taking is a system that allows utter failure; where the out-of-control risk takers are reduced to quivering, jelly-like blobs wallowing in the gutters just outside their former financial playground. Let them fail miserably and the system will generally take care of itself.
If you think about it, “Abuse of Power” is the biggest sin against the spirit of the American constitution.
The Question:
Newport Jazz Festival Impresario George Wein has just announced a stellar group of performers for the Summer 2010 effort by The Bay. I noticed immediately the name Ahmad Jamal, one of my favorites of yesteryear. I first bought his record albums around 1957. Now 80, he came to fame during an era of great jazz pianists. Name five other big names.
The Headlines:
--Federal Reserve Issues New Rules To Protect Consumers From Gift Card Abuses.
--Congress Welcomes Netanyahu; Israel Approves Construction Of New Buildings In East Jerusalem.
--Major Rating Agency Slashes Credit Worthiness Of Portugal; Stock Futures Fall; Frantic EU Still Seeking Greek Solution.
--Investors Looking For Munis As Move To Higher Risk Instruments Grows.
--Budget Crisis Has California Easing Requirements For Parole.
--Banks And Private Lenders Expected To Loses $70 Billion/Year As Health Care LollaPelosi Takes Over Student Loans!
--NFL Changes Rules For Playoff Overtime Games.
Back to More Stuff:
Romney On Health Care Department:
"America has just witnessed an unconscionable abuse of power. President Obama has betrayed his oath to the nation — rather than bringing us together, ushering in a new kind of politics, and rising above raw partisanship, he has succumbed to the lowest denominator of incumbent power: justifying the means by extolling the ends. He promised better; we deserved better.
He calls his accomplishment “historic” — in this he is correct, although not for the reason he intends. Rather, it is an historic usurpation of the legislative process — he unleashed the nuclear option, enlisted not a single Republican vote in either chamber, bribed reluctant members of his own party, paid-off his union backers, scapegoated insurers, and justified his act with patently fraudulent accounting. What Barack Obama has ushered into the American political landscape is not good for our country; in the words of an ancient maxim, ‘what starts twisted, ends twisted’.” How do you flip-flop on that?
You Can’t Make this Stuff Department:
In an interview this morning by a local morning sports show with Josselyn James, Tiger’s Porn Star Lover, she was asked if she had considered turning a child fathered by the golfer in to a big pay day opportunity. She said…she actually said…”I didn’t want it to suffer so I aborted it”.
When I read about the 16,000 new IRS agents authorized by the LollaPelosi boondoggle for the sole purposed of harassing companies and good honest citizens on a “Monthly” basis about health care, I can only conjure up images of Brown Shirts.
American Idol in this man’s eyes was kind of bland last night. (And how about that Miley Cyrus. I was amazed at her size! She was bigger than everybody except Big Mike. She seemed nice. But that’s not why we are here.) The dour Chrystal Bowersox was again the best. I like her style and the way she sings and would vote for her to be at least one of the final two. Unfortunately the voters look for curb appeal, which is often lacking in Chrystal’s non-singing personality. My other favorite, Siobahn, was also above the fray last night. I don’t agree with Simons that she “screams” too much. I think that Aaron, Mike, Katie, Casey (Although I thought he sucked slightly) Didi (I thought the judges were too harsh here) and Lee did well enough to return. Paige was off key, Andy was awkward and vulnerable, but man, you got to get rid of Tim Urban.
Now that it appears that the Prez has set as his personal goal (and believe me, it is his personal goals that count now) the establishment of the largest entitlement society in the history of the universe, don’t be surprised if we start seeing a European style VAT (Value Added Tax) in the not too distant future. To make it fair, the under-salaried in our nation will be issued “Po Boy Cards” which wave their tax on purchases.
A State Farm insurance agent has this huge sign in front of his business: “A Taxpayer voting for Obama is like a chicken voting for Colonel Saunders.”
Through the Same Eyes Department: Chapter 62: I received a lot of “”Hi Paul’s” as I walked into Middleton’s lab operation. We’re not talking about a room with a couple of instruments and beakers, we are talking about 20,000 square feet of some of the most sophisticated technology and experiences scientists in the country. And, best of all, a growing supply of products from my favorite company GenInst. “Hi gang,” I answered. Sally Orstein was still my main contact and I liked that. She and I plus Kelley and Montrose had worked closely together on the GenInst setup. We seemed to get a lot more done when Middleton wasn’t around, although I have to admit he knew how to get to the nub of problems with good ideas. (A little like my wife, I thought.) I hadn’t figured out yet what the team actually thought of their boss. He made me feel uneasy. Yet, when he wanted to win me over, he had an easy way of doing it.
“So, what is step one?” asked Sally.
“I have no idea,” I joked. “All of this new data potential is going to require extensive, new recalibrating to accurately reflect projections from bases with no known comparability’s. It sounds like trial and error, but we have designed computer programs that adjust to data shifts. This is a dramatic data shift. But simpler in that it is closer to where we want to see our final results.” They agreed they understood. Then I added, “Isn’t it amazingly fortuitous how this data fell into Our, Middleton’s, lap?”
Things Never Change Department:
Mark Twain said: “If you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.” Dwight Eisenhower said: “A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.” Thomas Jefferson said: “A democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those willing to work and give to those who would not.”
For three days now the media has been talking about the increase in food serving size in paintings of the Last Supper. Has America lost its collective mind? It’s just another example of too much taxpayer money going to too many professors with nothing to do.
One of the real dangers these days is for people to think that just because someone can speak eloquently or write beautifully that they actually know what they are talking about and have come to the correct conclusions.
You probably read where ACORN is disbanding. That means that the activists behind it are probably reorganizing through another series of sham fronts…and who knows…Congress may have already voted for funding under the heath Care boondoggle. Activists, If anything, know how to persevere. The former ACORN gang just has to do it in a way that doesn’t embarrass their pal in the White House.
The Answer:
Ahmad Jamal, born Freddy “Fritz” Jones, came to fame in an era of giants and in particular three – Dave Brubeck, Errol Garner and George Shearing. Other names were Earl Peterson, Teddy Wilson and Art Tatum. Of course the great holdovers – Count Basie and Duke Ellington. But the Jamal, Shearing, Brubeck, Garner foursome were leading the new era of jazz piano.
Final Thought:
Text messaging is bad for your health.
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