Monday, December 28, 2009

War on Wall Street as Congress Sees Returning to Glass-Steagall - Bloomberg.com

War on Wall Street as Congress Sees Returning to Glass-Steagall - Bloomberg.com:

"Those banks may have lost some of their political influence as their earnings have recovered, said William Isaac, a former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. “The TARP legislation and the way it was administered was political dynamite for the banks,” said Isaac, now chairman of the global financial services unit of LECG Corp., an economic and financial consulting firm in Emeryville, California. “The public feels that this was all about protecting Wall Street and did nothing for Main Street, and it’s largely true.”"

Son House {} 'Death Letter' video

Son House {} 'Death Letter' video

Friday, December 11, 2009

Kings of Convenience - Boat Behind

Cool tune!

Jack Gartside, 66; fly-fisher lived simply to pursue goal - The Boston Globe

Jack Gartside, 66; fly-fisher lived simply to pursue goal - The Boston Globe:

"“Perhaps I do resist financial success,’’ Mr. Gartside told the Cleveland Plain Dealer in 1994. “My grandfather always said, ‘There are no luggage racks on hearses, no pockets in shrouds.’ All we have is this life, and it’s up to us to make the most of it.’’"

Wednesday, December 09, 2009

http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-16602-the-king-of-them-all.html

http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-16602-the-king-of-them-all.html

King Records: The King of Them All.

From 1943-1971 King Records forever changed American music. Owner Syd Nathan gave the world Bluegrass, R&B, Rock & Roll, Doo Wop, Country, Soul and Funk. With stars from James Brown to the Stanley Brothers, and its innovative, integrated business model, Cincinnati’s King Records revolutionized the music industry.

Monday, December 07, 2009

What’s the Big Idea? � Where’s Eric Cantor?

What’s the Big Idea? � Where’s Eric Cantor?:

"Cantor had literally no answer to what ideas the Republicans would offer. His “idea,” after some stammering and stalling, was to “create an environment” for job creation. That’s it."


Check out the video.

Saturday, December 05, 2009

Apple Has Acquired Lala - washingtonpost.com

Apple Has Acquired Lala - washingtonpost.com

This could be bad news for Lala users. It's unlikely that the innovative deals negotiated by Lala will survive through the acquisition. For over a year, Lala users have been purchasing the rights to stream their music an unlimited number of times for ten cents per song. If the deals with the music labels go up in smoke, Lala may lose the right to stream those songs. In other words, all the money users have been spending on web songs may go down the drain. If the deals are nullified, hopefully Apple will renegotiate them to at least cover existing purchases until it releases its own streaming music service. We've reached out to Lala but have yet to hear back.

Thursday, December 03, 2009

Jim Rogers Blog: Investing In Africa`s Farmland

Jim Rogers Blog: Investing In Africa`s Farmland

This blog deserves something better than the Penny Stock ads Google serves up. I'm guessing Rogers has no interest and not much respect for the pink sheets.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Global Warming: Refuting The Skeptics

14............."It's freaking cold!" Since the mid 1970s, global temperatures have been warming at around 0.2°C per decade. However, weather imposes it's own dramatic ups and downs over the long term trend. So we expect to see record cold temperatures even during global warming. Nevertheless over the last decade, daily record high temperatures occurred twice as often as record lows. This tendency towards hotter days is expected to increase as global warming continues into the 21st Century.

Arguments from Global Warming Skeptics and what the science really says

Arguments from Global Warming Skeptics and what the science really says: "14 'It's freaking cold!' Since the mid 1970s, global temperatures have been warming at around 0.2�C per decade. However, weather imposes it's own dramatic ups and downs over the long term trend. So we expect to see record cold temperatures even during global warming. Nevertheless over the last decade, daily record high temperatures occurred twice as often as record lows. This tendency towards hotter days is expected to increase as global warming continues into the 21st Century."

"This Big Push Now" - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

"This Big Push Now" - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Obama "The strategy that I'm pursuing is designed to say let's see if we can change the conditions on the ground in a time certain period. There are risks associated with that, but in the absence of that push, we are in a situation that doesn't change, and there are big costs associated to troop presence, to casualties, to a slowly deteriorating situation over a course of years that are at least comparable and probably worse than us going ahead and making this big push now."

Friday, November 27, 2009

The Emptiness Of Karl Rove - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

The Emptiness Of Karl Rove - The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan:

"What Rove requires is what Palin requires: total amnesia of what they just said or did. There is nothing deeper to either of them than the cynical attempt to spin the next five minutes to their own advantage and at the cost of the country in general. One knows better; the other knows nothing. Together, they represent a useful spectrum of the degeneracy on the Republican right."

Monday, November 16, 2009

Ornette Coleman | 11.08 | San Francisco on JamBase

Ornette Coleman | 11.08 | San Francisco on JamBase

The band then took the stage, the 79-year-old Coleman looking humble and gracious in a maroon suit. Picking up his trademark white plastic alto sax, he looked to his bandmates for the cue, and then it began.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Madoff documents reveal incredulous, unfocused SEC | U.S. | Reuters

Madoff documents reveal incredulous, unfocused SEC | U.S. | Reuters:

"Madoff is serving a 150-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the fraud. He told Kotz that if SEC lawyers had done some basic investigative work, it 'would've been easy for them to see' he was a crook.

The documents could prove fodder for the lawyers suing the SEC for negligence on behalf of several Madoff victims."

Friday, October 16, 2009

meet the senators who voted pro gang rape � celluloid blonde

meet the senators who voted pro gang rape � celluloid blonde

The Dark Side of Corporations' Cause-Marketing - The Atlantic Business Channel

The Dark Side of Corporations' Cause-Marketing - The Atlantic Business Channel

according to a Procter & Gamble spokeswoman, the company will only make a two-cent donation to the National Breast Cancer Foundation if a consumer uses a coupon from Procter & Gamble's brand saver coupon book, which was distributed in newspapers on Sept. 27. Without the coupon, the limited-edition pink packaging on the Swiffer is simply designed to draw awareness to the cause.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Thursday, September 24, 2009

The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan:

"The amount of taxes the federal government took in from the manufacturers of all firearms and ammunition in the fourth quarter of 2008, the period between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, increased 31 percent over the same time period reported in 2007."

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

A Voice for the Poor Is Silenced - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com

A Voice for the Poor Is Silenced - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com: "Rick Wagner, a legal services lawyer, died at home Monday, apparently of a heart attack, bringing to a sudden end a lifetime of service to the poorest New Yorkers."

Sunday, September 20, 2009

The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

"It's almost hard to remember how big a paradigm shift this is. Before the Internet came along, most Americans never wrote anything, ever, that wasn't a school assignment. Unless they got a job that required producing text ..."

The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

9/12 Teabaggers


9/12 Teabaggers
Originally uploaded by owillis
Part of the two million strong crowd at the 9/12 Tea Party. The place was mobbed.

Michelle Malkin and the anatomy of the 2 million protester lie | Media Matters for America

A long and thorough look at the overblown crowd estimates from the TeaParty march in DC this past saturday.

"According to estimates provided by the Washington, D.C., fire department, Malkin and friends were only off by 1,930,000 people. In other words, Malkin, citing fictitious press accounts, led the charge to falsely inflate the size of the crowd by 30 times. Malkin and company, desperate to dress up the tea party event as a mass movement, saw a relatively modest crowd of 70,000 GOP protesters and imagined it was 2 million strong. (She's a dreamer, I suppose.)"


Michelle Malkin and the anatomy of the 2 million protester lie | Media Matters for America:

The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Bush: "“This woman is being put into a position she is not even remotely prepared for,” he said. “She hasn’t spent one day on the national level. Neither has her family. Let’s wait and see how she looks five days out.” It was a rare dose of reality......

The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan

Monday, September 14, 2009

Daily Kos: 912 Teabaggers in their own words

Daily Kos: 912 Teabaggers in their own words

912 Tea Party Ugliness

Next time you hear the expression "These colors don't run.", think of this guy. It must have taken some courage to walk through that ugly scene with all the so called free speech advocates. Too bad Obama won't support the Public Option with the same determination.


Tuesday, September 08, 2009

A Solar Field Larger Than Manhattan – 24/7 Wall St.

A Solar Field Larger Than Manhattan – 24/7 Wall St.: "First Solar is one of the few firms in the industry that has done relatively well financially. In the second quarter, revenues were $525.9 million up from $267.0 million in the same quarter a year ago. Net income for the quarter was $180.6 million or $2.11 per share on a fully diluted basis share up from $69.7 million or $0.85 per share on a fully diluted basis for the second quarter of fiscal 2008."

Monday, September 07, 2009

Baucus Submits Compromise Health Plan - WSJ.com

Baucus Submits Compromise Health Plan - WSJ.com:

"Mr. Baucus's plan requires most Americans to carry health insurance and gives tax credits to low- and middle-income people to help them buy it. But as expected, the proposal wouldn't create the type of government-run health-insurance plan that President Barack Obama has pushed for. Instead, it would create......"

Passwords: how to make up your own - SmartPlanet

Passwords: how to make up your own - SmartPlanet

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Ma Homes For Sale: Condo Fees in Quincy MA - Edgewater Place, The Falls, Mellon Bray, Louisburg Square

Ma Homes For Sale: Condo Fees in Quincy MA - Edgewater Place, The Falls, Mellon Bray, Louisburg Square: "Mellon Bray, located at 10 Weston Ave Condo Fees: This complex is an old mill that was converted to a condo complex. The complex is well maintained, pet friendly and has covered parking. Averages $0.23 - $0.25 per square foot. $268 for a unit with 1165 square feet."

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Detroit Overrun With Lazy Journalists Looking For Trite Depictions Of Poverty

Detroit Overrun With Lazy Journalists Looking For Trite Depictions Of Poverty

"This is the visiting reporters' favorite thing to see," [Griffoen] said. "The people all come here to shoot the story of the auto industry and they love this shot because they can be like, 'See that? That's where they made the cars,' and then forget to add the footnote that the plant's been closed since 1956."

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Palin’s ‘Death Panels’ on Life Support Due to Lies: Ann Woolner - Bloomberg.com

Bloomberg's Ann Woolner calls out Sarah Palin. Think Palin will ever hold oublic office again? Not a chance.

Palin’s ‘Death Panels’ on Life Support Due to Lies: Ann Woolner - Bloomberg.com:

"But for pure demagoguery, Sarah Palin gets the prize for most outrageous. And smelling blood, stalwarts of the Republican Party jumped in. They infected the debate with a fever of fear that spread quickly among the vulnerable, the gullible and those already angry or suspicious."

Rep. Frank lashes out at protester for Nazi remark : NPR

The health care debate aka arguing with furniture.

Rep. Frank lashes out at protester for Nazi remark : NPR: "'On what planet do you spend most of your time?' Frank asked the woman, who had stepped up to the podium at a southeastern Massachusetts senior center to ask why Frank supports what she called a Nazi policy.

'Ma'am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it,' Frank replied."

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Willie Nelson 1960's Medley

If you love music you have to love YouTube. Great, great stuff from Willie Nelson. The production and arrangements are way too over the top for his beautiful stripped down lyrics but he cuts right through all of it. "How am I doing? Oh, I guess, I'm doing fine." This may be the best look you'll ever have at what those songs were when they were still relatively new.

Funny How Time Slips Away

Willie wrote this, Narvel knew a good song when he heard one.

Op-Ed Contributor - Why We Need Health Care Reform - NYTimes.com

President Obama explains why we need health care reform and explains how it can work.

Op-Ed Contributor - Why We Need Health Care Reform - NYTimes.com

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Obama hails chat with Gates, cop as 'thoughtful' - Yahoo! News

Positive development in the beer garden meeting as Gates and Crowley may work together to promote more understanding of the apprehensions and fears of both the police and the many blacks concerned. Gates' remarks are at the end of the column.

Obama hails chat with Gates, cop as 'thoughtful' - Yahoo! News: "Gates said after Thursday's White House gathering that he hoped the entire experience would prove to be an 'occasion for education, not recrimination.' He said the burden now rests with him and Crowley to use the opportunity to foster wider awareness of the dangers facing police officers and the fears that some blacks have about racial profiling."

An e-mail, among many, answered with the delete key - Local News Updates - The Boston Globe

An e-mail, among many, answered with the delete key - Local News Updates - The Boston Globe

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Full email sent by Justin Barrett - Former English Teacher

OMG, a full on rant from Boston Police Officer Justin Barrett. He got suspended today for using the term 'jungle monkey' but that's just one of the winners in an email chock full of the angry side of Officer Barrett. And wait till you get to the part about "belligerent non-compliance". See what you get for that.


Full email sent by Justin Barrett

Friday, July 24, 2009

Obama’s Citizenship Legit

As if we haven't known that all along. I'm really just posting this with the hope that it might help a birther see the light.

On Television and Radio, Talk of Obama’s Citizenship - Media Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com:

"The conspiracy theory that Mr. Obama was born in Kenya, his father’s home, first took root among some elements of the right wing last year. In response, the Obama campaign scanned the candidate’s “certification of live birth” from Hawaii’s department of health and published it on the Internet. It confirms that Mr. Obama was born in Honolulu on Aug. 4, 1961. Numerous third parties have examined the birth certificate and concluded, as the Annenberg Center’s nonpartisan FactCheck.org Web site did last year, that it “meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship.”"

Thursday, July 23, 2009

CME Group Profit Rises, Topping Analysts’ Estimates (Update2) - Bloomberg.com

CME Group Profit Rises, Topping Analysts’ Estimates (Update2) - Bloomberg.com:.



"July 23 (Bloomberg) -- CME Group Inc., the world’s largest futures market, posted second-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates on lower expenses and higher rates per contract."

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

ART: Japanese folk tale translated through Edo-period art - Washington Times

ART: Japanese folk tale translated through Edo-period art - Washington Times

This ties to The Tongue Cut Sparrow.

Survey: Mass. adults are wary about doctor's advice - Daily Business Update - The Boston Globe

>Only 24 percent of Massachusetts doctors "trust their doctor completely to make the right decisions in terms of where they should go to receive medical care," said Boston ad agency Partners+Simons.<

Count me in on that and add me to the group that isn't especially trustful about the doctor's opinion as to what kind of treatment I should be given.

Survey: Mass. adults are wary about doctor's advice - Daily Business Update - The Boston Globe

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Boston Luxury Real Estate, Apartments, & Homes � The Charles Realty

Allston $225k, looks pretty good - elevator

Boston Luxury Real Estate, Apartments, & Homes � The Charles Realty: "Boston-Allston

Bed(s): 1 Bath(s): 1
Sq. ft.: 600 Property Type: Condominium
MLS #: 70915700


TOP FLOOR,STUNNINGLY STYLISH IMMACULATE WELL LAID OUT ONE BEDROOM. CITY AND TREE VIEWS FROM ALL WINDOWS. SPARKLING BATHROOM,SLEEK E.I.K.GREAT BALCONY. ELEVATOR. MINUTES TO RESTAURANTS ,SHOPS AND TRANSPORTATION.PERFECT FOR URBANE LIVING. CATS OK. LAUNDRY IN..."

Canal Street Apartment Complex




Near the Fours and Beer Works.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Broadluxe loft-style condo development

The two units, 4F and 5F, are both listed at $299,000, however, this price comes on the heels of several price reductions in an effort to move the last of the remaining inventory off the books of owner Apex, Inc. (a subsidiary of TD Banknorth). The developer has appraisals in hand for the units at approximately $340,000, and are being aggressive about closing out the remaining two studio lofts.

Thursday, July 09, 2009

YouTube - Tear gases in protest in Iran-9 , july ,2009 -انقلاب 18تیر

Now that Michael Jackson has been buried can we go back to focusing on Iran? The people need the attention and support and MJ is past caring.

YouTube - Tear gases in protest in Iran-9 , july ,2009 -انقلاب 18تیر

Ghost Word: Why Local News is Your Future

Ghost Word: Why Local News is Your Future:

"But if a gathering of about 20 local bloggers Thursday night at the Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism is any indication, the future belongs to sites that focus not on broad swaths of territory, but small neighborhoods. I am referring to hyper-local sites, places where readers can get news about local stores, local crime, and good eats, as well as larger stories that look at government institutions."

This makes a lot of sense but even more intriguing is the idea of "community funded journalism". See the last paragraph.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Cheaper Music Royalties Pull Internet Radio Back from the Brink - PC World

Internet radio is safe for now.


Cheaper Music Royalties Pull Internet Radio Back from the Brink - PC World: "Pandora is now safe from the threat of closure, after reassuring users that long term agreements and acceptable royalty rates are now in place."

Monday, July 06, 2009

1850 Lofts Boston

Housing Notes
From Boston Real Estate Observer

"Summary sales statistics at 1850, where units started going Under Agreement in early 2008, include the following.

Units Sold: 21 of 60
Average Sales Price: $351,395
Median Sales Price: $369,000
Average Price per Square Foot: $447

Sales to list price ratios, specifically at new developments, should be taken with a grain of salt, however,”pricing of a new development is more an art than a science,” says John Keith, a local real estate agent. “Unlike other new developments where all the units were listed for sale (in the MLS), here they are wisely releasing them over time, apparently being able to keep the building looking attractive from a price perspective.”"

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Thursday, July 02, 2009

FDA Panel Recommends Acetaminophen Restrictions -- AAFP News Now -- American Academy of Family Physicians

FDA Panel Recommends Acetaminophen Restrictions -- AAFP News Now -- American Academy of Family Physicians: "An FDA advisory panel has recommended that the agency remove prescription drugs that combine acetaminophen and powerful painkillers -- such as Percocet, which is formulated with oxycodone, and Vicodin, which is formulated with hydrocodone -- from the market because of the risk of liver injury associated with misuse of the products. The panel also voted to lower dosage recommendations for over-the-counter, or OTC, acetaminophen products."

Armstrong Faces an Array of Formidable Riders in Tour de France - NYTimes.com

The Tour de France starts Saturday. Should be good with Menchov, Sastre and Contador as favorites and Armstrong a long shot. Even if he can't win he could help his teammates. New HDTV will make it even better.

Armstrong Faces an Array of Formidable Riders in Tour de France - NYTimes.com

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Daily Hot News Buzz: Princeton Eggs

Daily Hot News Buzz: Princeton Eggs:

The subject of what is and what is not truly random comes up repeatedly on the Internet Scrabble Club. Unhappy Scrabble players grouse when they can't get a decent rack of letters over a span of a few games. Use this as a starting point for looking at the topic.

"A little over two years ago, a discussion briefly touched on PEAR and the so-called Princeton EGGS. In a nutshell, they are 65 random number generators,......"

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Foxbusiness.com Just As Unpalatable As Fox Business Network

It's not like you need stats to realize that but just in case. 24/7 Wall Street is reporting Foxbusiness.com recently ranked number 676 among business web sites. CNBC by comparison comes in at 87. 24/7 doesn't give their own ranking.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Green Revolution

Green Revolution

"So you want to help Iran, but you're not actually in Iran? here's what you can do to help (Focused on twitter, since that's where the infowar is occurring." Follow the link in the header!!

Monday, June 15, 2009

AFP: Former Tiananmen soldier depicts crackdown through art

AFP: Former Tiananmen soldier depicts crackdown through art

The foundation was laid for Chen?s later career as a Tiananmen artist when on the night of June 3, an officer gave him a camera and ordered him to take photos of his unit?s actions, a routine army procedure.

But he kept about 100 of his photos, which now form the basis of his paintings.

Chen was a soldier for little more than a year before he enrolled at a military-run art school, eventually qualifying for the prestigious Chinese Academy of Fine Art.

As an artist, he has pushed the envelope before, but with his Tiananmen paintings, he is venturing into new, dangerous territory. And he knows it.

"Of course, I?m worried, but everything has a risk," he said. "I?ve received phone calls from officials about my work but I can?t stop just because of that."

He feels this even more keenly when observing how others deal with the past.

"I?m still in touch with about a dozen from my old military unit. None meditates about the past the way I do. Some are policemen today, or officials. They?ve got good jobs, and they owe that to what happened back in ?89."

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Sunday, June 07, 2009

Carl Icahn Body Slams Retention Bonuses

The Icahn Report™: It's Up to the Shareholders, Not the Government, to Demand Change at a Company

Why pay bad management to stay? There's no good reason for it according to Icahn.

"Retention bonuses are often little more than an employee racket in bankruptcy proceedings. Why should the very managements that got the company into trouble get enormous payouts? And yet this occurs all too frequently on the ill-advised reasoning that they might actually leave. In many cases, the companies are better off without them."

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Wednesday's Stocks Making News: ORCL, PFAP, PEP, SHLD, STI Issued by Stock Preacher - Press Releases - CNBC.com

I'm brand new to this site it sounds like a good source for stock news.

Wednesday's Stocks Making News: ORCL, PFAP, PEP, SHLD, STI Issued by Stock Preacher - Press Releases - CNBC.com: "StockPreacher.com's Trade Alerts are brief analyses on the active stocks each day that are affecting the markets. These include breaking news, insider activity, recent 52-week highs/lows, technical breakouts, and other market driving information. Stock Preacher is the authority on research in the small cap sector, and we strive each day to find the stocks that are poised to be the biggest movers before the rest of the market is aware of them."

Sunday, May 24, 2009

MOH Citation for George Mallon

MOH Citation for George Mallon

Becoming separated from the balance of his company because of a fog, Capt. Mallon, with 9 soldiers, pushed forward and attacked 9 active hostile machineguns, capturing.....follow the link to read the full citation. Happy Memorial Day!!

TARP Warrants Show Banks May Reap ‘Ruthless Bargain’ (Update2) - Bloomberg.com

TARP Warrants Show Banks May Reap ‘Ruthless Bargain’ (Update2) - Bloomberg.com: "Because Old National was the first to repay TARP money and buy its rights back, the transaction “sets the price point for the whole program,” said Simon Johnson, a fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.

“The point of the warrants is that taxpayers participate in the upside,” said Johnson, who testified on the securities before Miller’s subcommittee on May 19. “It defeats the whole purpose if you’re going to sell them way below market price.”"

Friday, May 22, 2009

Tobacco racketeers lied

U.S. appeals court finds tobacco companies lied | U.S. | Reuters

Merchants of death apparently didn't care whether their customers lived or died.

US Appeals court says ""Defendants knew of their falsity at the time and made the statements with the intent to deceive," said the 92-page ruling. "Thus, we are not dealing with accidental falsehoods, or sincere attempts to persuade; Defendants' liability rests on deceits perpetrated with knowledge of their falsity.""

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Cow's DNA Sequence Reveals Mankind's Influence Over Last 10,000 Years - washingtonpost.com

Does this mean that there are "signatures of the human hand" in the human genome? Seems likely enough, and a signature in the genome of every other creature we've had regular contact with. Cow's DNA Sequence Reveals Mankind's Influence Over Last 10,000 Years - washingtonpost.com: "'Are there signatures of the human hand in the cattle genome? The answer is plainly and clearly yes,' said Harris A. Lewin, head of the Institute for Genomic Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the author of one of three papers on the cow genome appearing in the journal Science."

Monday, March 02, 2009

AIG Bosses Trade Accusations

Ex and current AIG CEO's Greenberg and Liddy both make valid points but neither suggest a way forward.


Bloomberg.com: Worldwide

Thursday, February 12, 2009

51st Grammy Awards - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lots of ideas for anyone looking for new music. Some I want to hear include; # The Sinatra Project РMichael Feinstein, # Jingle All the Way РB̩la Fleck & The Flecktones, Best Electronic/Dance Album

* New York City – Brazilian Girls
* Alive 2007 – Daft Punk
....and much more

Follow the link for the entire list of nominations.

51st Grammy Awards - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Court Says Vaccine Not the Cause of Autism - US News and World Report

Court Says Vaccine Not the Cause of Autism - US News and World Report: "Thursday's decision follows a published report earlier this week that the British doctor whose 1998 paper fueled international fears of a link between childhood vaccines and autism had manipulated and changed the data to make his case.

An investigative report by the Sunday Times of London stated that Dr. Andrew Wakefield and his colleagues altered confidential and public records to support their claim that eight of 12 autistic children attending a routine clinic at Wakefield's hospital had developed symptoms of autism only days after they were given the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. But, almost all of the children had developed symptoms of autism well before receiving the shot, according to published reports.

Wakefield denied the allegations in the Sunday Times of London report.

Since Wakefield's original paper was published in The Lancet, numerous studies have failed to find a link between the MMR vaccine and autism.

In February 2008, British researchers reported in the Archives of Disease in Childhood that their large study failed to uncover a connection. The researchers based their finding on a sample of 240 children -- 98 who had been diagnosed with autism, and two comparison groups: 52 children with special educational needs who were not autistic; and 90 children who had no developmental problems."

Court Says Vaccine Not the Cause of Autism - US News and World Report

Court Says Vaccine Not the Cause of Autism - US News and World Report: "The ruling, which involved test cases of children from three different families, was a setback for parents who had filed claims seeking monetary awards from a U.S.-run vaccine compensation program. More than 5,500 such claims have been filed. The claims were reviewed by the Office of Special Masters, part of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

'It was abundantly clear that petitioners' theories of causation were speculative and unpersuasive,' the court said in one of the three cases ruled on Thursday. The court also said 'the weight of scientific research and authority' was 'simply more persuasive on nearly every point in contention,' the Associated Press reported.

Federal health experts applauded the decision."

Monday, February 09, 2009

So what if Phelps smoked pot -- he's in good company

"Of course, it isn't only athletic stars who have been known to indulge in reefer madness. Important scientists such as Richard Feynman, Stephen Jay Gould, Margaret Mead and Carl Sagan, billionaire executives like Richard Branson and Bill Gates, and a great many of the literary and musical geniuses of the last century or so -- William Butler Yeats, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Bob Dylan among them -- got high. So have many of our top elected officials, notably including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a highly successful actor and businessman whose pot habit was immortalized on film in "Pumping Iron"; New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, another hard-driving billionaire who once told a magazine interviewer that he had not only smoked dope but "enjoyed" it; Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, and Al Gore, former vice president, Google director, and winner of an Oscar and the Nobel Peace Prize."

Madoff Claims Another Victim - Forbes.com

Too bad it's too late to fire Harvey Pitt. This was going on during his tenure too and he either ignored it or never caught on. Pitt did an interview on CNBC shortly after the story broke and when they tried to pin him down he said the 'facts are still evolving' or something like that. Lying through his teeth was my opinion at the time. Madoff Claims Another Victim - Forbes.com

Saturday, January 17, 2009

24/7 Wall St.: Creditors Obstruct GM Rescue: Detroit Becomes Too Big To Fail

24/7 Wall St.: Creditors Obstruct GM Rescue: Detroit Becomes Too Big To Fail:

"The UAW has been dragging its feet, assuming that a Democrat-controlled federal government will not eat its own by abandoning labor. GM's creditors are making sure that the restructuring of the auto companies will fail. They are doing so by ignoring the mandate from Congress to take less than $1 for $1 on the debt obligations of The Big Three."



According to the FT, 'General Motors has signaled it might be unable to meet a key condition of the $13.4bn lifeline extended by the US Treasury requiring a two-thirds reduction in the carmaker’s unsecured debt.'

The intransigence of the UAW and GM bond-holders could put both the company and the new administration in a position to make good on their threat of throwing the corporations into bankruptcy court by violating their agreement to have cost cuts in place by the end of March. But,that won't happen."

Friday, January 16, 2009

Insurance giant to pay $350M in med bill case

Insurance giant to pay $350M in med bill case

"In the center of the alleged ripoff scheme is Ingenix, the largest billing information provider that sets "usual and customary" rates for medical procedures.

Instead of relying on market prices, Ingenix, a UnitedHealth subsidiary, gave lower reimbursement figures than what the patients paid. This allowed insurers to make smaller payments.

"It was a blatant fraud," Cuomo said. "It was an obvious fraud." "

Thursday, January 15, 2009

AIG Not on potential bankruptcy list of 24/7 Wall St.

They're not in the top ten anyway. I'll take that as a positive.

24/7 Wall St.: The 24/7 Wall St. Chapter 11 Watch (SIRI)(GM)(CHTR)(MNI)(F)(NYT)(BAC)(C)(MOT)(AMD)

Obama's Billionaires - Forbes.com

Good read. Ridiculous comments.



Obama's Billionaires - Forbes.com

ICE Emerges as Credit-Default Swap Clearinghouse Frontrunner

Bloomberg.com: News: "Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Intercontinental Exchange Inc., the second-largest U.S. futures market, is emerging as the leading candidate to run a clearinghouse for the $29 trillion market for credit-default swaps.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley and CreditSights Inc. said this week that Atlanta-based Intercontinental, also known as ICE, will likely be the industry choice to back the contracts because of its partnership with Goldman Sachs Group Inc.,JPMorgan Chase & Co. and seven other banks that account for over 80 percent of the trading. A clearinghouse may earn as much as $400 million in annual revenue, according to Keefe Bruyette & Woods Inc."

SEC Moves on Swaps Clearinghouse | Market Features | Financial Articles & Investing News | TheStreet.com

SEC Moves on Swaps Clearinghouse | Market Features | Financial Articles & Investing News | TheStreet.com: "Traded in a $60 trillion market that is unregulated and secretive, credit default swaps have come under scrutiny by Congress and federal regulators in the wake of the financial and credit crises that have plunged economies around the world into recession. The idea behind a system of central clearinghouses -- promoted by a White House advisory group of regulators -- is to bring transparency to the market, possibly reducing risks to the financial system."

An art hoax unites Europe in displeasure - International Herald Tribune

An art hoax unites Europe in displeasure - International Herald Tribune: "The piece, an enormous mosaic installed in the European Council building over the weekend, was meant to symbolize the glory of a unified Europe by reflecting something special about each country in the European Union.

But wait. Here is Bulgaria, represented as a series of crude, hole-in-the-floor toilets. Here is the Netherlands, subsumed by floods, with only a few minarets peeping out from the water. Luxembourg is depicted as a tiny lump of gold marked by a 'for sale' sign, while five Lithuanian soldiers are apparently urinating on Russia."

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Judge OKs streaming of music-swapping hearing

Judge OKs streaming of music-swapping hearing

"BOSTON -- A federal judge will allow online video streaming of oral arguments in a civil lawsuit that pits a Boston University graduate student against the music recording industry."

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Funniest Comment Ever

The comment section is usually the place for over the top ignorance and anger but this guy actually has some half decent sarcasm going on.



Obama has dinner with conservative columnists | KansasCity.com Prime Buzz: "Conservative columnists?
Submitted by jeetzwillager on January 13, 2009 - 8:51pm.

"Oh please, this is a who's who of droopy faces. I even think these guys need a personality makeover!

Do they even blink? The four lost brothers of Kathleen Sebelius?""

Obama Picks Digitally-Savvy Genachowski to Lead FCC | BNET Media Blog | BNET

Obama Picks Digitally-Savvy Genachowski to Lead FCC | BNET Media Blog | BNET: "According to The Wall Street Journal, Genachowski, who was an early Obama supporter, built technology positioning for Obama that included supporting Net neutrality, and increasing broadband access. He also helped construct Obama’s online campaign strategy, which was leagues ahead of the McCain team for both its scope and its understanding of how to use emerging media tools, such as Twitter.

What all this means for communications policy is somewhat hard to say, though Genachowski’s resume alone portends a marked departure for the FCC, and it may have not that much to do with politics. You could definitely see such a chairman pushing initiatives which lead to digital media for all, from universal WiFi to building a mobile infrastructure that would finally put America’s wireless networks on par with those in other countries, where mobile phones are as much media consumption devices as they are communications tools."

Monday, January 12, 2009

Scrapper Blackwell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scrapper Blackwell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Blackwell returned to music in the late 1950s and was first recorded in June 1958 by Colin C. Pomroy (those recordings were released as late as 1967 on the Collector label). Soon afterwards he was recorded by Duncan P. Schiedt for Doug Dobell's 77 Records and Art Rosenbaum for the Prestige/Bluesville Records label.

He just appeared ready to restart his blues career when he was shot and killed during a mugging in an Indianapolis alley. He was 59 years old. Although the crime remains unsolved, police did arrest his neighbour at the time for the murder. Blackwell is buried in New Crown Cemetery, Indianapolis.

AOL Realigns as an Overseer of Niche Sites - NYTimes.com

AOL Realigns as an Overseer of Niche Sites - NYTimes.com:

"Point a Web browser to Engadget.com, TheBoot.com, or TMZ.com, and elaborate sites about technology, country music and celebrity gossip will appear on the screen. They could easily be mistaken for stand-alone brands.

But a small link to the owner, in a corner of the screen, shows otherwise. That owner is AOL, the long-suffering unit of Time Warner. And the subtle links are intentional."

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Required Viewing | ‘Get Carter’ - The Moment Blog - NYTimes.com

Required Viewing | ‘Get Carter’ - The Moment Blog - NYTimes.com

The movie is an old Micheal Caine flick called Get Carter.

Congress Urged To Postpone Nation's Switch To Digital TV - washingtonpost.com

Congress Urged To Postpone Nation's Switch To Digital TV - washingtonpost.com


A coupon is not needed to purchase a converter box. But with boxes costing $50 to $80 in retail stores, Congress allocated $1.34 billion to provide coupons to help offset the price. Consumers who have a newer digital television or who subscribe to cable or satellite service will not lose programming.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

24/7 Wall St.: The Next Corporate Crisis: Massive Pension Deficits

24/7 Wall St.: The Next Corporate Crisis: Massive Pension Deficits

Getting naked with DRM-free iTunes upgrades: the details

Getting naked with DRM-free iTunes upgrades: the details: "Evaluating your library



To get a better sense of what you're dealing with when upgrading, you can easily create a Smart Playlist as follows. Choose File > New Smart Playlist. Create a new playlist whose Kind Contains Protected, as shown below, and click OK. The members of this playlist represent the DRMed items in your library. The number of items listed (in my case, about 800 tracks) is likely quite different from what the upgrade bubble shows (18) and will give you a truer sense of what your upgrade may really cost when iTunes goes DRM-free in April.

Use a Smart Playlist to get a sense of what parts of your library are DRMed iTunes purchases

At this time, iTunes Plus costs $0.30 per track and $0.60 per music video to upgrade. Ars contacted Apple to see if this policy will continue under the new DRM-free store, but received no reply as of this writing. Assuming that the upgrade policy continues as it currently operates, here is what you can expect."

Saturday, January 03, 2009

William Kaufmann, 90; MIT political scientist reshaped Kennedy's defense strategy - The Boston Globe

But it was his series of four-hour presentations to military and civilian officials at the dawn of the Kennedy administration, complete with 54 charts, that made him one of the most influential figures on the use of nuclear weapons.

Before John F. Kennedy took office, the policy of the United States called for a complete and overwhelming nuclear response to any direct conflict with Soviet troops. The United States would immediately launch all of its 3,423 nuclear missiles; every major city and military facility in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and China would be targets. Such a retaliation would kill 285 million people, studies estimated.

Secretary of State John Foster Dulles publicly described the approach as "massive retaliation" in 1954.

Dr. Kaufmann and many of his colleagues at the Rand Corporation think tank privately described the approach as insane, and possibly suicidal. "You're just signing your death warrant," Dr. Kaufmann later observed, "if you go through with this tremendous spasm attack."



William Kaufmann, 90; MIT political scientist reshaped Kennedy's defense strategy - The Boston Globe

Free voices on Internet new path to democracy in China_English_Xinhua

Free voices on Internet new path to democracy in China_English_Xinhua: "Local officials, on the other hand, are going a step further to write blogs and hold debates with netizens on hot issues.

Li Ou, vice mayor of Siping in the northeastern Jilin Province, has been hailed by netizens as being the most active mayor who uses his real name to debate with netizens on social affairs.

Li's blog was selected as one of the 'top 10 blogs of 2008' in a poll by the People's Daily based on the votes from millions of netizens.

Another local official, Liao Xinbo, deputy director of the Department of Public Health of the southern Guangdong Province, was also on the list. His blog was picked for pointing out the keyto China's new medical reform plan which is likely to be issued in January, reported the People's Daily.

Liao wrote on Dec. 25 that China should learn from other countries, such as Cuba, in drafting the long-delayed medical reform plan.

'The government is seeking new ways for the public to voice opinions,' said Yan."

Confederates Ready To Salute Barack Obama??

This is very strange. This picture ran in the Washington Post online on Dec. 31 with the caption: "Heads await positioning in a workroom at Hargrove Inc., in Lanham, Md., Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2008, in preparation for President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration January 20. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (Jacquelyn Martin - AP) ". Trouble is, those are the busts of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson and they're not exactly the guys you would expect to see at the inauguration of the first black president of the US of A. So what gives? Thanks to my brother in law Bob for pointing this out. He saw it in the Boston Globe where the caption described these guys as former presidents.media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2008/12/31...