How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times As These... Continued

From The NYT:

As Jobs Vanish and Prices Rise, Food Stamp Use Nears Record

Driven by a painful mix of layoffs and rising food and fuel prices, the number of Americans receiving food stamps is projected to reach 28 million in the coming year, the highest level since the aid program began in the 1960s.
The number of recipients, who must have near-poverty incomes to qualify for benefits averaging $100 a month per family member, has fluctuated over the years along with economic conditions, eligibility rules, enlistment drives and natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina, which led to a spike in the South.
But recent rises in many states appear to be resulting mainly from the economic slowdown, officials and experts say, as well as inflation in prices of basic goods that leave more families feeling pinched. Citing expected growth in unemployment, the Congressional Budget Office this month projected a continued increase in the monthly number of recipients in the next fiscal year, starting Oct. 1 — to 28 million, up from 27.8 million in 2008, and 26.5 million in 2007.
The percentage of Americans receiving food stamps was higher after a recession in the 1990s, but actual numbers are expected to be higher this year.

Remember You Read It Here First!

From The HuffPo:

With Democrats beginning to voice fears about a long summer of two candidates sniping over electability, the name of unofficial party elder Al Gore has resurfaced. Gore was tossed around early and often as a potential nominee, complete with his own grass roots recruiting party. However, the former Vice President and Nobel laureate assiduously avoided exhortations to run.

Nevertheless, the Gore question is coming back. Joe Klein is the latest to make the case for Al Gore coming into the Democratic race in the case of a brokered convention:

"Let's say the elders of the Democratic Party decide, when the primaries end, that neither Obama nor Clinton is viable. ... All they'd have to do would be to convince a significant fraction of their superdelegate friends, maybe fewer than 100, to announce that they were taking a pass on the first ballot at the Denver convention, which would deny the 2,025 votes necessary to Obama or Clinton. What if they then approached Gore and asked him to be the nominee, for the good of the party-and suggested that he take Obama as his running mate? ... A prominent fund raiser told me, 'Gore-Obama is the ticket a lot of people wanted in the first place.'"

Meanwhile, Jason Horowitz this week tried to outline the timing of a Gore endorsement:

"If Gore were to weigh in, he would have to do so before the superdelegates begin breaking for either Obama or Clinton," said a former Gore adviser, after laying out the various scenarios that might prompt the former vice president to get involved. "The superdelegates constitute the last true contest in this race. And for many, Gore is someone they talk to, listen to, and whom a lot of them admire and respect. Having him make a closing argument for either candidate would carry significant weight with some of these last-man-standing voters."

And earlier this week, Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-FL) suggested that Al Gore as an alternate coming out of a brokered convention:

"If it (the nomination process) goes into the convention, don't be surprised if someone different is at the top of the ticket," Mahoney said.

A compromise candidate could be someone such as former vice president Al Gore, Mahoney said last week during a meeting with this news organization's editorial board.

If either Clinton or Obama suggested to a deadlocked convention a ticket of Gore-Clinton or Gore-Obama, the Democratic Party would accept it, Mahoney said.

Room Full of EMS

Gonna be in Baltimore for the next couple of days at an annual EMS conference I go to each year. I like being in rooms full of medics, there is a good vibe among us. Today I went to a couple of seminars that stressed the ability of a good provider to asses a patient fast and without any fancy toys, just sight, sound, touch, and asking the right questions.  Good EMT's ask the right questions, touch the right places, keep their eyes open, and listen closely. Come to think of it, thats not a bad description of what it takes to be a friend. Anyhow, more from Charm City tomorrow.

Land Shark!

See that fin in the water just off shore? If you are the Obama man or the Clintons you have to start getting a bit nervous. I am not the first one to suggest that should we come down to a Democratic convention with these two tied up, tangled up, tripped up, and so fucked up it looks like we are about to hand the White House keys over to Mr and Mrs John McLiberman; well then Sparky....hold on to your jock strap. That big fish circling out there is the Gorester. Crazy? Consider the following: 

a. He's rested and ready.

b. He's been right from the start about the war ( which is heating back up as an issue).

c. He's every bit the Edwardian populist John is, making him right about the housing crisis.

d. He's the global leader on the environment.

e. He won last time he ran.

Can this happen? I doubt it, but never say never...... and that fin I see out there seems to be getting closer.

A Note From Michael Moore

From Michelmoore.com:

Monday, March 24th, 2008So? ... A Note from Michael Moore
Friends,
It would have to happen on Easter Sunday, wouldn't it, that the 4,000th American soldier would die in Iraq. Play me that crazy preacher again, will you, about how maybe God, in all his infinite wisdom, may not exactly be blessing America these days. Is anyone surprised?
4,000 dead. Unofficial estimates are that there may be up to 100,000 wounded, injured, or mentally ruined by this war. And there could be up to a million Iraqi dead. We will pay the consequences of this for a long, long time. God will keep blessing America.
And where is Darth Vader in all this? A reporter from ABC News this week told Dick Cheney, in regards to Iraq, "two-thirds of Americans say it's not worth fighting." Cheney cut her off with a one word answer: "So?"
"So?" As in, "So what?" As in, "F*** you. I could care less."
I would like every American to see Cheney flip the virtual bird at the them, the American people. Click here and pass it around. Then ask yourself why we haven't risen up and thrown him and his puppet out of the White House.

War Is Peace, Ignorance Is Bliss, George Bush Is President

MSNBC News Services

updated 2 minutes ago

BAGHDAD - Four U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Baghdad late Sunday, raising the death toll for American forces since start of the war to 4,000, according to the Pentagon.

The grim milestone was reached less than a week after the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion to topple former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and coincided with a spate of violence across Iraq on Sunday that left at least 61 people dead.

The attacks included rockets and mortars fired at Baghdad's U.S.-protected Green Zone and a suicide car bomb detonated at an Iraqi army post in the northern city of Mosul.

Exsultet

Of this night scripture says:
"The night will be as clear as day:
it will become my light, my joy."

The power of this holy night dispels all evil,
washes guilt away, restores lost innocence,
brings mourners joy;
it casts out hatred, brings us peace,
and humbles earthly pride.

Night truly blessed when heaven is wedded to earth
and man is reconciled with God!

St. James Rules Of Politics and Church Work

Watching the news recently, it seemed a good idea to review my simple rules of political/ ecclesiastical behavior:

1. Don't spend the taxpayers( congregations) money on pussy, golf, or plumbing fixtures for your office.

2. Never email, text, write, call, or send smoke signals to your girlfriend/boyfriend/hooker/intern/Congressional Page/or pet goat on an official phone, blackberry, envelope or campfire.

3. Never be in a room with a camera if:
a) Your pants are off.
b.) Your drunk is on.

4. Do not reach under the bathroom stall divider. Ever. Not just in airports. Period.

5. Do not counsel anyone while naked. Particularly gay drug dealers.

6. While speaking on the phone to sexy female staffers, keep the door open and both hands on the receiver. Trust me on this one.

7. If you sploggie someones dress, be a sport. Insist on taking it to the dry cleaners yourself.

8. "Holy Water" is not a mouthwash. Everyone knows that by now.

9. Your driver is there to drive your car. Not ride your wife.

10. The Road to the White House ( or Heaven) is paved with cold showers. Lots of them.

More Bedbugs And Ballyhoo

From Huffington Post:

First, the ladies of "The View" reported a rat problem in their New York studios. Now, the New York Times reports, the newsroom at Fox News' Midtown Manhattan headquarters is infested with bedbugs! From today's piece by Jacques Steinberg:
In an interview on Monday, Warren Vandeveer, senior vice president for operations and engineering at Fox News, said the cable channel had realized it had a problem a few weeks ago, when an employee "caught a bug and showed it to us." An exterminator determined that the incursion was limited to a "very small area in the newsroom." But the source of the bugs was not determined until the exterminator inspected the homes of about 20 employees. Mr. Vandeveer said the exterminator later described one employee's home as having "the worst infestation he had seen in 25 years in the business."

Update: Think Progress reports that the employee responsible for the bed bug infestation is no longer with Fox News, according to a source at the network.

That 'Special' Feeling

Watching the news and taking stock of our economic position lately, I get a certain feeling that I think others may have felt before. I'm thinking of the employees and stockholders of Enron. It's that special feeling that says "mmm my asshole seems to be bleeding and I'm not sure why.." 

Bush and his gang of thieves have set in motion forces whose effects we can scarcely imagine. This ride ain't over yet Bubba, and before it is we might all be thinking of getting some pitchforks and rope and heading downtown. 

That is if we can stop the bleeding long enough.

We All Live In A Yellow Submarine.....

From Wonkette:

Adm. Jim Stavridis, our man in Miami in charge of blocking the drug trade as head of U.S. Southern Command, arrived in Washington this month with some startling news. He reveals that Colombian drug traffickers are shifting to minisubmarines to move cocaine to the United States. Stavridis says, for example, that 30 "semisubmersibles" have been detected this year, equal to all of 2007. He says they can travel 2,000 miles and carry 10 tons of cocaine. "To put this threat into perspective," he tells Congress, "each load aboard one of these vessels is the rough equivalent of one cocaine hit for each U.S. high school student—all 18 million of them."

Recomendations

Spending another Saturday afternoon at the 'Span, so here are a few quick ones:


Way Cool Tee Vee Show: Top Gear on BBC America. Someone WILL do a US version of this soon and score big. Think Monty Python wih a Lamborghini ... Zoom Zoom Fast, Funny and oh so British. http://www.topgear.com/


Way Cool Music: A youngish Canuck named Kathleen Edwards . Shes been around for while but I only recently got turned on to her. A great new CD out called " Asking For Flowers". Shes sexy, shes laid back, shes got a little snarl, she writes great & sings pretty ..and she fucking rocks when she wants to. Her hubby plays guitar in the band and the dude has some real nice licks. Watch this one......

Check her out: http://www.kathleenedwards.com/

Way Cool Art Books: A Company called Taschen http://www.taschen.com/ has tons of very cool art books. My current (unaffordable) favorite is a $700 book/DVD set about Latin America's greatest export: Vanessa del Rio. The books tittle says it all: Vanessa del Rio: Fifty Tears of Slightly Slutty Behavior.

Way Cool Shirts: The very fucking best a man can wear: Da Vinci shirts are the same classics my uncle Lenny wore in 1964. Check the "Four Crowns"

http://www.globalrebels.com/davinci/home.asp

I Think He Should Move To New York & Run For Gov

LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- The state attorney general said his office will look into new claims that Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick threw a party with strippers at the mayor's mansion in 2002.
Attorney General Mike Cox told reporters Thursday he wants to meet with retired Detroit police desk clerk Joyce Rogers. The woman recently came forward and said she read a report filed by stripper Tamara Greene claiming she was assaulted by Kilpatrick's wife during a party at the mansion.
Rumors of a party involving strippers at the mayor's official residence have never been substantiated. Kilpatrick repeatedly has denied the party ever occurred, and Cox and Michigan State Police investigators also said earlier they found no evidence of one.
Rogers made the claim in an affidavit included in a $150 million federal lawsuit filed by the family of Greene's son against Kilpatrick and other city officials.
Greene was found shot to death in 2003 in a car on the city's northwest side and the lawyer representing the family of Greene's son claims that Kilpatrick's office has stifled the investigation into her death.
Cox, a Republican, has called on Kilpatrick to resign, accusing the Democratic black leader of race-baiting during Tuesday's annual State of the City address.
Kilpatrick, facing possible perjury charges from testimony during a whistle-blowers' trial and criticism over sexually explicit text messages he sent to his former top aide, said during his speech that he and his family have been subjected to racial slurs.
Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm has not called on Kilpatrick to resign. But her spokeswoman said Thursday the governor was shocked the mayor used the word in his speech.

Please God Grant Him His Wish.......

Bush "Envious" Of Soldiers Serving "Romantic" Mission In Afghanistan

Huffington Post 

President Bush let his inner adventurer out while discussing the state of the war in Afghanistan with military and civilian personnel. While those in Afghanistan detailed the logistical and diplomatic problems via teleconference, the President took a much more whimsical approach to their mission. Via Reuters:

"I must say, I'm a little envious," Bush said. "If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed."

"It must be exciting for you ... in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You're really making history, and thanks," Bush said.

Meanwhile, over 40 Taliban insurgents were killed in a battle in Southern Afghanistan, and six Afghani civilians were killed in a suicide bombing aimed at an American convoy.

Just A Poor Girl In A Rich Mans House.....( never on the lips George )

Well well well...Young Mr Spitzer "blew" 80 grand on whores.  Sheesh Eliot didn't you read the memo? Republicans fuck hookers, Dems boink the interns. What is it about politics that attracts such moral reprobates as Larry Craig, Dave Vitter, Condi Rice and now the Spitz-man.

 Er  Umm.....did I just imply that Sec State Condo Sleeze Ah Vice might have some dirty laundry? Whoops..my bad. I'm sure she never turned a trick in her life. Unless you consider representing George and Dick to the world a form of whoring. Which come to think...it fucking is! 

The whole vile bunch are a parliament of whores (in P.J. O'Rourkes phrase). The only folks that seem to be doing an honest days work are the working girls themselves. At least they know what they're being paid for. Oh, and speaking of getting screwed....if there is anyone out there who doesn't think that nut bag on the Oblivion Express Republican nominee John Boy was banging the blonde lobby-slut...... well, Eliot Spitzer wants to know if you'd mind reserving a room under your name for him at the Mayflower.

And Charlie Manson Will Be In Charge Of Mental Health

Bush: Cheney to Press for Mideast Peace

From HuffPo

WASHINGTON — President Bush, dispatching Vice President Dick Cheney to the Middle East, said the goal is to get Israelis and Palestinians to hold firm to the promises they've made toward peace.
Bush said Monday in the Oval Office that Cheney would "reassure people that the United States is committed to a vision of peace in the Middle East."
As Cheney tries to help hold together fragile negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, Bush says he's still optimistic that a peace deal can happen before he leaves office.
Cheney departs Sunday for a trip to Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank and Turkey. Oil is also on his agenda, as the White House _ coping with high energy prices that have socked American consumers _ continues to push for greater oil production in the Mideast.

Somewhere Thomas Jefferson Is Weeping

WASHINGTON — Democrats and human rights advocates criticized President Bush's veto Saturday of a bill that would have banned the CIA from using simulated drowning and other coercive interrogation methods to gain information from suspected terrorists.

Bush said such tactics have helped foil terrorist plots. His critics likened some methods to torture and said they sullied America's reputation around the world.

"This president had the chance to end the torture debate for good, yet he chose instead to leave the door open to use torture in the future," said Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

A "D" In The Fat Bastards Seat

CNN) – A Democratic victory in a special election to fill the congressional seat held by former Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert is a sign of things to come, according to the party. Barack Obama’s campaign says it’s a demonstration of his electoral coattails.

First-time candidate Bill Foster, a physicist, beat Republican Jim Oberweis, a money manager and head of a giant dairy. The national Republican Party spent millions on his behalf.

Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who leads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Foster’s victory demonstrated to Republican candidates that “Senator (John) McCain, who campaigned with the Republican nominee, cannot save them from defeat this November against strong Democratic challengers, even in districts that voted overwhelmingly for President Bush.”

The race had shaped up to be a presidential face-off of sorts, with McCain stumping for Oberweis and Obama backing Foster.

Holland...

I recently met a very cool woman who is going to help us with a Fire Department outreach project and who is the mom of a special needs son. Asha turned be on to this 'poem' that explains better than anything I've read what it's like to be the parent of a kid with special needs.

"Welcome to Holland"

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel.
It's like this: When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting. After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland." "Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy." But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place. So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned." And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very, very significant loss. But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland. - Emily Pearl Kingsley

Another December Poem

I just found this one from college back in Kalamazoo mid 70's. I seem to have an on going thing about using winter themes. Must mean I'm some kind of nut job......


December Says Goodbye

Winter walks upon my lips

with the fallen grace of Decembers final freeze

The wind blowing off Lake Michigan carries a womans voice

In these last days

December writes a letter

"Enclosed you'll find a winter razor "

Lips crack and blood freezes in this cold

And men freeze in this age.

How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times As These... Continued

Foreclosures hit all-time high

Over 900,000 borrowers are losing their homes, up 71% from a year ago, and a record number of home owners are behind on payments.

By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- More home owners than ever are losing the battle to make their monthly mortgage payments.
Over 900,000 households are in the foreclosure process, up 71% from a year ago, according to a survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association. That figure represents 2.04% of all mortgages, the highest rate in the report's quarterly, 36-year history.
Another 381,000 households, or 0.83% of borrowers, saw the foreclosure process started during the quarter, which was also a record.
Additionally, the number of mortgage borrowers who were over 30 days late on a payment in the last three months of 2007 is at its highest rate since 1985.
"Boy, that was ugly," said Jared Bernstein, an Economic Policy Institute economist of the data.
"It's another reminder that anyone who thought we had hit bottom was wrong. This was a huge bubble, and when a bubble of this magnitude breaks, it creates a huge mess," he said." It could take a lot longer for the correction to work through the system."
One reason it may take so long is that there seems to be no end in sight for falling home prices.
"Declining prices are clearly the driving factor behind foreclosures, but the reasons and magnitude of the declines differ from state to state," said Doug Duncan, MBA's Chief Economist said in a prepared statement.
The foreclosure rates for prime and subprime adjustable rate mortgages both more than doubled compared with a year ago, from 0.41% for prime ARMs to 1.06% and from 2.70% for subprime ARMs to 5.29%.
"In states like Ohio and Michigan, declines in the demand for homes due to job losses and out-migration have left those looking to sell their homes with fewer potential buyers, particularly with the much tighter credit restrictions borrowers now face," said Duncan.
"As prices plummet -- already some California and Florida areas have seen price drops of 25% or more, according to Duncan -- defaults will soar.
And falling prices and growing foreclosures create a vicious cycle; the more prices fall the less likely it is that borrowers can use home equity to refinance into more affordable loans, which leads to more defaults. And as foreclosures rise housing inventory increases, further depressing prices.

Don't Tube Me Bro

KELSO, Wash. —  The state has agreed to pay $15,000 to a man who claimed he was forcefully catheterized after being arrested for investigation of drunken driving, authorities said.

The settlement reached Friday with Matthew Clifford Arthur, 37, over his treatment following an arrest in November 2005 did not include an admission of wrongdoing, Assistant Attorney General Gary E. Andrews said.

"This turned out to be a better way to go than to spend more money litigating it," Andrews said Monday.

Arthur sued last month, accusing two Cowlitz County sheriff's deputies and a state corrections officer of forcing him to undergo catheterization and have blood drawn when he refused to provide urine and blood samples at a hospital after a traffic stop.

Arthur was required to undergo screening for intoxicants upon request under a probation agreement, but his lawyer, Kevin G. Blondin, said the procedure was painful, invasive and unnecessary.

Arthur should have been taken to jail when he refused to give the fluid samples, Blondin said.

Genuine Patriot

From Daily Kos
Congresswoman Nancy Boyda (D-Kansas)

"I am adamant about protecting the Constitution. They're giving nothing in return for it. We're not getting any more security and they're shredding the Constitution," said U.S. Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Second Dist....
"What shocks me is how members of Congress from Kansas would so readily give up 230 years of our Constitution without gaining any additional security," Boyda said....
Boyda pointed out that Congress is being asked to give phone companies immunity without knowing why they need immunity.
"The question is why the president is completely unwilling to tell Congress what he did," Boyda said. "It seems to me it's probably about domestic surveillance."....
Despite her objections to the Senate Bill, Boyda acknowledges wiretapping and conducting terrorist surveillance is "job number-one," but cannot compromise civil liberties.
She said FISA was adopted to safeguard the rights of Americans, not to protect terrorists.
"Keeping America and Americans safe is my number-one priority," Boyda said.
She cautioned that despite many Americans having no objection to wiretapping because they have nothing to hide, the stake of American democracy is hanging in the balance.
"If you are willing to have the government come into your home and into your personal life without any probable cause and without any oversight or any warrant, then you have just given up our democracy," Boyda said.

A Real American Hero

I think we need a candidate who has served his country, maybe even been a POW, has demonstrated leadership skills, and knows how to negotiate with the enemy. 

So when Kinch tells you that the coffee pot phone is ringing at 3am, the man you want answering it is Col. Robert Hogan.

Tested, Ready To Lead: Hogan '08

Alistair Darling For President!

Gas and electricity bosses told 'give back profits'

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor
The Sunday Telegraph

The heads of the biggest gas and electricity companies are being ordered by the Government to hand over part of their multi-billion pound profits - or face a new windfall tax.

The Sunday Telegraph has learnt the chief executives of the utility giants have been summoned to Downing Street and given a dressing-down over the soaring sums being made from millions of customers.

Charities, including Help the Aged, have expressed their concern at rising fuel bills
They are being told that, unless they agree to subsidise a new nationwide "fuel poverty" scheme aimed at the 4.5 million poorest households, a levy will be put on their profits. It is understood that the fuel poverty programme is to be unveiled by Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, as part of the Budget on March 12. The Government has moved to curtail what is increasingly seen as "excessive profiteering" by the utilities industry, with customers having to pay soaring household gas and electricity bills.

Campaigners have demanded action against the big utilities, with the union Unison and the National Right to Fuel Campaign describing their profits as "obscene".

One Step At A Time

Hey folks... sorry for the lack of posts this weekend. We were moving our home office, and that left me offline for a bit. If you are looking for a good workout, try humping furniture up and down the stairs of a three story townhouse. This place is the stair-master from hell!

Speaking of work outs, I hit the two mile mark in my running on a treadmill this Saturday. For my runner friends, I realize this is no big deal at all... but for a fifty something ex smoker I am amazed I've come this far in a year.My goal is to run in a 5K race (I don't care if I'm last) this September in NYC in honor of a fallen firefighter who died on 9-11. More on that as we get closer.

I think this blog needs a few more readers, so please feel free to pass it on to anyone you know who you think is weird enough to enjoy it.