++We have a new 76-year old Pope named Francis. The first Pope from the Americas is also the first Jesuit elected Pope. Not surprising, he is conservative on cultural issues,very homophobic, against contraception and abortions. But economically, he has been outspoken about bankers,Argentina's debt problems and the poor. At first people thought he took his name after St.Francis of Assisi but it was after the founder of the Jesuits. The runner-up at the last Conclave, Francis has escaped the sex scandals that faced the other candidates. There remains dispute about his failure to protect priests and Jesuits during the Dirty War. Overall,it seems he is a caretaker Pope for a Church mired in sex and banking scandals and seen far removed from modern reality. The good news for science fans is that Pope Francis has a degree in science and as a Jesuit isn't against advances in modern science and medicine. The Italians got their digs in when they said he couldn't be Francis I until he dies. The question is whether he can get any control over the Vatican bureaucracy.
++The Sandman exits. Yes, Mariano Rivera did announce his retirement this past weekend. His exit was wonderfully covered by the New York Post.
++Kobe Bryant did live up to his promises that the Lakers would make a run for the playoffs--until last night when he suffered a knee injury when he blew the potential game-winning shot against the Hawks.
++The Washington Post is hosting an event for the Donald, who will speaking on Washington real estate. Think that is strange? The Post ran a piece the other day about how Alexandria is divided on the fate of two warehouses on the waterfront. Of course, they are owned by the Washington Post and I have yet to hear anyone in town talk about the warehouses.
++Waiting for a half an hour to enter the Russell Building for an event on Iran's nuclear program, a motorcade whizzed around the building and the President entered the building from the back for a meeting with Democratic Senators about their budget proposals. The next day he showed up at the House to meet with the Republican Caucus, who complained that he was still campaigning.
++David Bowie's first wife doesn't like "The Next Day", his first recording in ten years. I do. David Bowie returns with an album that is more sober than the past but still outshines any competitors. It is an amalgam of all his styles and is impeccably produced.
++Jimi Hendrix hit #2 on Billboard the other day. I guess if you want to make money,it's best you are dead.
++Speaking of dead, Random House has re-issued John MacDonald's The Quick Red Fox and A Deadly Shade of Gold. My old friend Doug Payne used to read Travis McGee in the old paperbacks. The main character reminds me of Doug.
++Cara Black has a new Aimee Leduc mystery out Murder Below Montparnasse. An old Trotskyite calls Aimee to retrieve a stolen Modigliani. He does so at the recommendation of Aimee's mother, who has been missing the whole series. Wanted for terrorism since the 1970s, her mother has been an elusive presence in the series throughout. The novel has a wonderful premise --that Modigliani painted Vladimir Lenin during his Paris days and gave the painting to the old Trotskyite's grandfather as a gift because Lenin refused it. I found the meaning of the painting more intriguing than Aimee running around Paris avoiding attempts on her life. And,yes, dear readers, we finally get to meet Aimee's mother.
++And speaking of the Left, Venezuela has decided to embalm Hugo Chavez like Lenin so all can see him for the future. The Venezuela government still believes the United States gave Chavez cancer and conservative Americans want to assassinate the anti-Chavez candidate. Why, who knows?
++Paul Krugman didn't declare bankruptcy. The piece circulated in the right-wing blogosphere was a lampoon. The telling part, in my mind, was the reference to a Tiffany charge account--reminiscent of New Gringrich's problems the last year.
++President Obama still seems to be reading Krugman as he mentioned that we don't have a debt problem right now but will in ten years--a position Krugman has maintained all along as he urged Congress to stay away from more austerity.
++In case you missed it, Paul Ryan unveiled his new super duper Budget this week to ridicule and yawns. Even Fox News on several shows said it was dead on arrival. Reporters punched back by questioning Ryan on the results of last year's election and didn't this mean his budget was rejected. Ryan admitted that repealing Obamacare was unlikely but his dream. Medicare vouchers have been transformed into a Super Premium Plan. I guess this was the advice of Frank Luntz. But don't be amused,the draconian cuts to the social welfare net are still priority number 1 of the tea baggers and will form the basis for the 2014 election. The GOP gamble is that 2014 will have as low a turnout as 2010 and enable them to maintain control of the House and Senate.
++President Obama has sent shivers up the spines of Democrats with his talk about entitlement reforms and tying Social Security to the CPI. Anyone who has read this blog over the years knows my position on Social Security. Lower the tax rate and end the cap and Social Security will live at full function for another 75 years. Repeat after me--There is no problem with Social Security.
++CPAC is in town with more attendees than in the past. The sparkling line-up of speakers include The Donald,Sarah Palin, Dick Morris,Mitt Romney,Rand Paul,Vishnu Jindal, Ted Cruz, and thousands more celebrities. After picking Romney in a landslide,Dick Morris wrote yesterday that Pope Francis was an answer to the Left in Latin America and a counterweight to the influence of Hugo Chavez.
++Sequestration is taking hold. Don't go to any national parks. They may be closed. Special ed programs in the DC area, at least, are being cut back. Virginia is bracing to lose 200,000 jobs soon. It does not look like there will be a solution soon.
++The Dow ran 9 consecutive days of gains, the best performance since 1999 and is nearing its peak. But as everyone now knows, Dow performance hasn't even generated the much touted trickle down benefits for the average American. American corporations stashed about a $1 trillion bucks abroad this year to avoid taxes.
++Gun control legislation is passing around the states and moving forward in D.C. But controls on assault weapons and large magazines look out of reach.
++SCOTUS will probably decide against the Voting Rights Act. Already red states are gearing up for massive voter suppression in 2014 and rigging electoral vote counts in 2016. Weirdly enough, I am still hopeful that DOMA will be declared unconstitutional and Prop 8 will bite the dust.
++Immigration Reform is moving in the Senate and the House Republican leadership claims it can pass there.
++The Conservative Crack-up continues. No one can future out what conservatives stand for--if anything--and right now we are experiencing the flavor of the week. This week it is Rand Paul because he warns that President Obama will send a drone at you while you are drinking a latte at an outdoor cafe. Next week it will be someone different, who wants to profile Muslims. I expect Rand Paul to win the CPAC straw poll for President in 2016.
Showing posts with label Kobe Bryant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kobe Bryant. Show all posts
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Friday, March 8, 2013
Let's Hear For the Old-Timers
++The great and classy Mariano Rivera will retire at the end of this season as the greatest reliever of all time. Five World Series rings and a playoff record the envy of all, Mariano said he would return after a rare injury cost him most of last season.
++Kobe Bryant promises us that the Lakers will make it to the playoffs and he has been playing that way.
++The late John MacDonald is back in print with his Travis McGee series with intros by Carl Hiassen. The latest paperback is "The Deep Blue Good-By" (but with an intro by Lee Child).
++Congrats to Grammy winner Jimmy Cliff for Best Reggae Album "Re-Birth". Most of us remember Cliff from "The Harder They Come,the Harder They Fall" which probably popularized Reggae before Bob Marley.
++David Bowie has returned after a ten year absence. You can access the album free at I-Tunes until it is released. Don't miss the videos. They are little films.
++The last studio album of Jimi Hendrix has appeared. "People, Hell and Angels" consists of 12 finished tracks from the Electric Ladyland studio in the Village. As my son would say, his playing on this album is "sweet". I have never understood why people defend Eric Clapton over Hendrix.
++Another old geezer showed up yesterday, President Bill Clinton, who urged that his own bill DOMA be declared unconstitutional. Andrew Sullivan welcomes him to the crowd but as with welfare reform was this necessary.
++And we close with a classy lady. "Old Yellow Moon" has been released by Emmylou Harris. Her voice is in fine form while the tunes are a bit stale.
++Kobe Bryant promises us that the Lakers will make it to the playoffs and he has been playing that way.
++The late John MacDonald is back in print with his Travis McGee series with intros by Carl Hiassen. The latest paperback is "The Deep Blue Good-By" (but with an intro by Lee Child).
++Congrats to Grammy winner Jimmy Cliff for Best Reggae Album "Re-Birth". Most of us remember Cliff from "The Harder They Come,the Harder They Fall" which probably popularized Reggae before Bob Marley.
++David Bowie has returned after a ten year absence. You can access the album free at I-Tunes until it is released. Don't miss the videos. They are little films.
++The last studio album of Jimi Hendrix has appeared. "People, Hell and Angels" consists of 12 finished tracks from the Electric Ladyland studio in the Village. As my son would say, his playing on this album is "sweet". I have never understood why people defend Eric Clapton over Hendrix.
++Another old geezer showed up yesterday, President Bill Clinton, who urged that his own bill DOMA be declared unconstitutional. Andrew Sullivan welcomes him to the crowd but as with welfare reform was this necessary.
++And we close with a classy lady. "Old Yellow Moon" has been released by Emmylou Harris. Her voice is in fine form while the tunes are a bit stale.
Friday, February 22, 2013
Sandy Koufax is Back in the Park
++After a decade exile from the Dodgers, Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax is back at spring training as a pitching coach. The LA Times printed a spread of Dodgers at spring training showing the still fit 70-year old engulfed by autograph seeking fans.
++Only moments ago, Yankee great Mariano Rivera threw 25 pitches at batting practice and promised himself satisfied after his knee injury that cost him most of last year.
++This is all to say we have something to look forward to with spring training. Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant promises that the Lakers will make the playoffs and he doesn't fear any of the other teams going in. But making the playoffs comes first.
++Since I was a teenager, I bought every J. Ballard book that came out as it hit the bookstands or the Doubleday Science Fiction book club. Sadly,I have bought my last with "Miracles of Life: Shanghai to Shepperton,An Autobiography."(Liveright,2013). If you want to know the real details of "Empire of the Sun", the first part of the book describes Ballard's youth growing up in Shanghai before and after the Japanese occupation. Later, Ballard, a middle-aged suburbanite, outrages the literary world with the Atrocity Exhibition and his novel Crash that was made into a film. Ballard describes how he created an art exhibit of auto wrecks and filmed responses to it as inspirations for these two books. Fittingly, Ballard describes his time in medical school and his desire to become a psychiatrist,a profession which had not gained legitimacy in England at the time. In 2006, he found that he suffered from advanced prostate cancer, which had moved to his spine. With his doctor's help, he summoned up the energy to write this last book. We are glad he did and reading it I miss his vision even more.
++Forbes' most miserable city is Detroit, the Motor City. Former New York Times reporter and Detroit News reporter Charlie LeDuff chronicles his move from Los Angeles back to his hometown of Detroit. LeDuff's "Detroit:An American Autopsy" (Penguin,2013) reads like it is written by a Midwestern Jimmy Breslin. The street and the people are in every word. A great read about a city that has been abandoned.
++It is Sequestration time next week and Rush says that he is ashamed of his country for the first time.He laments that everyone believes the Democrats about how horrible it will be even though the cuts are a miniscule part of our budget. Paul Krugman has been writing up a storm of how this is all insane and unnecessary. Rachel Maddow raised the real question why ,if Congress hates it, don't they just repeal it . Even Ezra Klein couldn't give her a straight answer about this because it was too logical a question.
++The reason my posts have gotten so sporadic is because I refuse to be held hostage to manufacturer crises, which this is one among a series. The problem is that in all likelihood it will trigger a new recession. Howard Dean looks at this more optimistically saying that the recession would be short and it will be the first time and probably the only time one can get cuts in defense spending. But President Obama who again had to dive into the breech proposed another smaller deal with about a week left.
++The re-branding of the Republican Party doesn't seem to be working. John Boehner tried to tie Obama to sequestration even though Talkingpointsmemo nailed his Power Point presentation arguing for it in 2011. Polls show that over 50% of Americans hold the GOP responsible.
++Whether it is Pew or Bloomberg, President Obama's approval rating is between 51-55%, the highest in three years. Pew showed that Americans favor Obama's approach to key issues all across the board. Only 22% of Americans now identify with the Republican Party and the approval of Congress is about 18%. Another poll of several thousand Americans showed that calling someone a Republican is now considered an insult.
++I remember that we had an election in November. You would never know it in Washington. The slight moves we have are in the area of immigration reform with Marco Rubio and pro-reform Republicans pretending to throw a snit fit over the Obama plan leaked to USATODAY. The Miami Herald pulled Rubio down a peg by showing how his plan matched President Obama's in every key point. While it looks like the Senate will pass a comprehensive reform package, it is not all that clear the House can or will. House Republicans are emphatically saying that there can be no road to citizenship, a key element needed to solve the problem. Down the street the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO came to an agreement over mechanisms for migrant workers and visas for technology workers.
++The gun debate continues with Joe Biden urging people to buy double-barreled shotguns and not automatic weapons. Joltin' Joe has taken the wind out of the sails of the NRA by neutralizing the idea that Obama is coming after peoples' guns. Wayne La Pierre has gone bonkers urging Americans to buy guns to prevent debt riots and hurricanes. Louie Golmert of Texas says that the 2nd Amendment prevents the imposition of Sharia Law.
++The new and kinder GOP has been closing down Planned Parenthood clinics around the country and introducing more restrictive anti-abortion legislation at the State level.
++The good news is that Mississippi finally ratified the 13th Amendment of the Constitution abolishing slavery.
++The Not so Good News is that the Supreme Court is poised to gut the Voting Rights Act,which would have a devastating result on minority voting rights.
++I am taking a wait and see on the cases on DOMA and Prop.8. President Obama is thinking of weighing in on the cases and an ad campaign has started with Colin Powell and Dick Cheney urging same sex marriage.
++The latest right-wing conspiracy theory is that President Obama through executive action will get the Psychiatric profession to rule Christianity is a mental disorder.
++Senator Hagel looks like he will limp to the finish line. Yesterday he picked up support from Senator Shelby. It seems the right's campaign to say Senator Hagel was a member of the group "Friends of Hamas" didn't pan out since it became clear that no such group exists.
++The Log Cabin Republicans, who endorsed homophobic Mitt Romney, can't get love because they were excluded from the CPAC convention.
++Meanwhile, the "Good" Mormon Jon Huntsman came out for same sex marriage yesterday.
++And I'll leave this post with the return of Nate the Great Silver to political punditry. Nate has the Democrats retaining the Senate in 2014 and gaining a few seats in the House but coming short of a takeover because of gerrymandering.
++Only moments ago, Yankee great Mariano Rivera threw 25 pitches at batting practice and promised himself satisfied after his knee injury that cost him most of last year.
++This is all to say we have something to look forward to with spring training. Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant promises that the Lakers will make the playoffs and he doesn't fear any of the other teams going in. But making the playoffs comes first.
++Since I was a teenager, I bought every J. Ballard book that came out as it hit the bookstands or the Doubleday Science Fiction book club. Sadly,I have bought my last with "Miracles of Life: Shanghai to Shepperton,An Autobiography."(Liveright,2013). If you want to know the real details of "Empire of the Sun", the first part of the book describes Ballard's youth growing up in Shanghai before and after the Japanese occupation. Later, Ballard, a middle-aged suburbanite, outrages the literary world with the Atrocity Exhibition and his novel Crash that was made into a film. Ballard describes how he created an art exhibit of auto wrecks and filmed responses to it as inspirations for these two books. Fittingly, Ballard describes his time in medical school and his desire to become a psychiatrist,a profession which had not gained legitimacy in England at the time. In 2006, he found that he suffered from advanced prostate cancer, which had moved to his spine. With his doctor's help, he summoned up the energy to write this last book. We are glad he did and reading it I miss his vision even more.
++Forbes' most miserable city is Detroit, the Motor City. Former New York Times reporter and Detroit News reporter Charlie LeDuff chronicles his move from Los Angeles back to his hometown of Detroit. LeDuff's "Detroit:An American Autopsy" (Penguin,2013) reads like it is written by a Midwestern Jimmy Breslin. The street and the people are in every word. A great read about a city that has been abandoned.
++It is Sequestration time next week and Rush says that he is ashamed of his country for the first time.He laments that everyone believes the Democrats about how horrible it will be even though the cuts are a miniscule part of our budget. Paul Krugman has been writing up a storm of how this is all insane and unnecessary. Rachel Maddow raised the real question why ,if Congress hates it, don't they just repeal it . Even Ezra Klein couldn't give her a straight answer about this because it was too logical a question.
++The reason my posts have gotten so sporadic is because I refuse to be held hostage to manufacturer crises, which this is one among a series. The problem is that in all likelihood it will trigger a new recession. Howard Dean looks at this more optimistically saying that the recession would be short and it will be the first time and probably the only time one can get cuts in defense spending. But President Obama who again had to dive into the breech proposed another smaller deal with about a week left.
++The re-branding of the Republican Party doesn't seem to be working. John Boehner tried to tie Obama to sequestration even though Talkingpointsmemo nailed his Power Point presentation arguing for it in 2011. Polls show that over 50% of Americans hold the GOP responsible.
++Whether it is Pew or Bloomberg, President Obama's approval rating is between 51-55%, the highest in three years. Pew showed that Americans favor Obama's approach to key issues all across the board. Only 22% of Americans now identify with the Republican Party and the approval of Congress is about 18%. Another poll of several thousand Americans showed that calling someone a Republican is now considered an insult.
++I remember that we had an election in November. You would never know it in Washington. The slight moves we have are in the area of immigration reform with Marco Rubio and pro-reform Republicans pretending to throw a snit fit over the Obama plan leaked to USATODAY. The Miami Herald pulled Rubio down a peg by showing how his plan matched President Obama's in every key point. While it looks like the Senate will pass a comprehensive reform package, it is not all that clear the House can or will. House Republicans are emphatically saying that there can be no road to citizenship, a key element needed to solve the problem. Down the street the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO came to an agreement over mechanisms for migrant workers and visas for technology workers.
++The gun debate continues with Joe Biden urging people to buy double-barreled shotguns and not automatic weapons. Joltin' Joe has taken the wind out of the sails of the NRA by neutralizing the idea that Obama is coming after peoples' guns. Wayne La Pierre has gone bonkers urging Americans to buy guns to prevent debt riots and hurricanes. Louie Golmert of Texas says that the 2nd Amendment prevents the imposition of Sharia Law.
++The new and kinder GOP has been closing down Planned Parenthood clinics around the country and introducing more restrictive anti-abortion legislation at the State level.
++The good news is that Mississippi finally ratified the 13th Amendment of the Constitution abolishing slavery.
++The Not so Good News is that the Supreme Court is poised to gut the Voting Rights Act,which would have a devastating result on minority voting rights.
++I am taking a wait and see on the cases on DOMA and Prop.8. President Obama is thinking of weighing in on the cases and an ad campaign has started with Colin Powell and Dick Cheney urging same sex marriage.
++The latest right-wing conspiracy theory is that President Obama through executive action will get the Psychiatric profession to rule Christianity is a mental disorder.
++Senator Hagel looks like he will limp to the finish line. Yesterday he picked up support from Senator Shelby. It seems the right's campaign to say Senator Hagel was a member of the group "Friends of Hamas" didn't pan out since it became clear that no such group exists.
++The Log Cabin Republicans, who endorsed homophobic Mitt Romney, can't get love because they were excluded from the CPAC convention.
++Meanwhile, the "Good" Mormon Jon Huntsman came out for same sex marriage yesterday.
++And I'll leave this post with the return of Nate the Great Silver to political punditry. Nate has the Democrats retaining the Senate in 2014 and gaining a few seats in the House but coming short of a takeover because of gerrymandering.
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