Monday, October 3, 2011
Monday, Monday
Posted by Max Brantley on Mon, Oct 3, 2011 at 4:12 PM
The week has begun. Slowly. One final note:
* PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS: Barack Obama acknowledges his underdog status in 2012. No, nobody much believes Rick Perry is a racist. But looks like his debate failure is a whole lot bigger issue. Say goodbye to Rick Perry, hello to Herman Cain? No wonder I'm getting so little return mail from the Texas 20 in the Arkansas House who said in June they'd stand tall with Perry. Where's the pride, gals and guys?
Speaking of Rick Perry, Herman Cain
-
Cain's rabbit fever
March 26, 2012Herman Cain is hell on rabbits. /more/
- More »
Comments (46)
Showing 1-46 of 46
Apple is announcing new the iPhones tomorrow. According to the rumors, they will have built-in artificial intelligence, so they will be the first true "smartphones".
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I'm considering changing my formerly free Lifegreen bank account away from Regions. The last order of checks was twice as expensive as before ($25.00) and they now want to charge ME for using my debit card when they make money from the transaction between the seller and the bank already.
We have plenty artificial intelligence on this blog with old B Rock and the various 2012's.
Obama is just doing the old lower expectations and don't spout anything the opposing coach can post in their locker room to fire their team up.
The Republican Frontrunner Whack A Mole show sort of gives a false impression of surge because the new girl in town appeal.
I see problems for 2012 for the Republican party for a few reasons.
One you can't fool all the people all the time so I figure the middle and lower class masses will begin to ask WTF when cut billionaire's taxes and gut social programs starts to sink in.
Also Fox News is scaling back their lockstep lies campaigns. I see it as a reaction to the Rupert Murdock Hacking Gate scandal and the blow back. Old Rupert is starting some massive damage control both in Great Britian and preventatively over here.
Watching the BBC over the weekend the Labor Party leaders are ratcheting up the pressure in response to old Rupert bastardizing media abuses there and softening his wild rightwingnut bias over here.
Without Fox News 24/7 lies to our "Scaredest Generation" some of the oldsters will not be able to ignor their worsening financial and medical conditions.
Remember it was Fox News that came up with "why do they hate American and want the terrorists to win" bullshit that got the USA lied into the Iraq "WMD" war.
Why is anyone paying for checks at any price? The banks already have your money for which they pay minimum interest. Today I heard that Arvest will start charging for printed bank statements.
To paraphrase: First they came for the OWS and I said nothing.
Next they'll come for voters without picture ID's, and I'll say nothing.
Then they'll come for me...
Just got my B of A statement today and am looking forward to what it contains. Noticed a week or so ago a debit for $3.00 since I get a paper monthly statement vs. getting it online. And now they want an extra $5.00 a month so I can use my debit card? Took a minute or so to look at yahoo finance and B of A stock is down 57 percent this year. I think that should tell management, customers and shareholders have no confidence in that institution.
Is it OK with all you intellectuals, bank customers, and deep-thinkin’ politicos to talk about hunting here? Y’know, just for a minute or two? I mean, Sistertoldja and I have already taken the hint that y’all don’t appreciate talk about football and sex here, but hunting? Is that OK?
It’s not? Well, then, just consider this a public health and safety advisory:
A group of young Arkies went deer hunting over the weekend. (It’s bow season till October 22 when muzzleloader starts.) One of ‘em fell about 20 feet from his stand, due to undetected, unrepaired rotting boards.
Shattered leg and ankle, cracked ribs, compound fractures, and a few breaks here ‘n there. Taken to the closest hospital where he’s had two surgeries and will be transferred to an LR hospital later this week. More surgeries to come. Lucky not to have a broken neck and lucky to be alive.
Harness: Gotta wear one, kids. Best to have multiple car seatbelt buckles that hold it all together. Also, run a lifeline attached to yerself before ya begin yer climb. That way, if ya slip during the climb or while getting into the stand, it’ll catch you.
And check out your stands before the season starts. This should have been done a couple weeks ago at the latest. Look for rot or loose boards and replace and/or reinforce those suckers.
Young huntin’ guys ‘n gals (if such critters ever comes to this blog), you’ve now been reminded again of what Shirley yer daddy taught you back when you were a pup.
I’d move on to another hot topic, but I'm being called to dinner.
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Heads up! NBC finally reported on the "protests" going on on Wall Street. They dared not call it "Occupy Wall Street" and only showed a somewhat small group and selected the most bizarre masked younger ones to put on air. However they did show one fellow from the Transportation Union and gave him 15 seconds to say the working people in this nation are getting screwed.
MarcKyle64- several suggestions. Never, never, never have a bank supply your blank checks. There are a number of discount check printing companies online. I've used them over the years and they are much cheaper for check refill orders. Also, Sam's Club (yes, I know, part of the evil Walmart empire!) also offers checks and return address labels at really low prices.
Re debit cards- I don't use them because they are riskier than credit cards. With debit cards whatever you charge is deducted from your account right away whereas with a credit card purchase you have until your billing cycle ends until you get a bill and have to pay it. That 'float' leaves more money in your pocket.
I assume Bank of Little Rock still offers Kasasa accounts (you can also check online to see what other banks do the same). This is a linked checking and savings account and requires you to jump through several hoops, but I find it easy to meet those requirements and it pays real interest rates. B of LR was paying 3.75% interest on a maximum of $15K and 2% on up to $30 K additional in a linked savings account. Requirements? You have to use their credit card 10 times each billing cycle and have one automatic deposit a month. That could be your paycheck, Social Security if you're old enough, etc. Finally, everything is done online- so you log on to check on account activity and print monthly statements if you need paper copies. That's it.
And no, I don't own any B of LR stock. I opened a Kasasa account at B of LR almost two years ago and have earned way more interest than I could have anywhere else on a checking account balance.
We have more Oct 3 history to report. If you're not friends with Stephen Smith of Fayetteville you should be. His "Alternative Ark History" posts are outstanding. Smith is a professor of communications at UA's College of Arts and Sciences, or that's what it once was.
"Smith's Alternative Arkansas History on this date (5):
3-Oct 1928 Baptist leader Rev. Ben Bogard publishes editorial opposing passage of the Dyer anti-lynching bill.
3-Oct 1957 Mothers' League organizes a student walkout at Little Rock Central High School.
3-Oct 1963 Governor Orval Faubus, introducing President Kennedy at dedication of Greers Ferry dam, refers to Kennedy's proposed legislation as a "civil wrongs" bill.
3-Oct 1966 Arkansas Supreme Court holds that Chancellor Murray Reed had no authority to issue injunction against pickets of Cone-Huddleston Construction at Searcy.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Now onto national Alternative History for Oct 3:
On this date in 2004 millions of viewers noted a Big Bulge on President Bush's back, near this shoulder blade as he debated John Kerry. Previously the Bush campaign and security had ordered "no rear shots" of the President.
Yes, elections have Bulging consequences..
Time for 2nd installment of Ken Burns "Prohibition" revealing that elections and subsequent Amendments have consequences.
This isn't really football, Durango...more like foot-in-mouth ball.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_…
Been holding a BOA (think snake) credit card for many years. Getting ready to terminate that account permanently. Buh bye.
Obama is not the underdog. That's just the current media hype. He still has the advantage.
But if he were the underdog, this should be his anthem -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uKapPkp77A
I missed the George Bentley post on the open line last night, so I just want to add my praise. He was a diligent, hard-working reporter, who always got the story and still was respected and liked by the people he covered. I worked with him at the Gazette, and for several years we lived across the street from each other in North Little Rock. Also, unlike myself and a lot of the other Gazette staffers of that time, he eschewed alcohol and stayed away from the parties.
Goof--B of A started that $3 charge a few months back for statements that displayed copies of your checks. You can go online and take that option off and still get a free paper statement--unless they have changed it again. Since I have savings, IRA, etc. with them, I get my checks free and rarely use them anyway. The banks encouraged us to use our debit cards to get cash so they could get by with less employees. I'm hoping that I'll be one of the special accounts that won't get charged a debit card fee, but if not, I am moving on. And rather than paying my B of A mortgage online each month, I'll start sending them a check--just to make it more work for them. And I'll be helping the post office by sending more mail!
Durango--an important post--and I consider it a public safety message more than a hunting comment.
Tap--I'm glad to see you have morphed back into your old persona. I was getting confused which posts were you while you were mutating.
Voter suppression laws could affect 5 million Democratic voters
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/…
Great op ed in the ADG this morning, "Seniors get bad rap" by Jack McQuarrie of Rogers.
Perry's friends will leave him the way Hillary's supporters left her when they realized Pres. Obama was more electable in '08. Everyone wants to get behind a winner and it looks like Perry has too many things going against him.
Bank of the Ozarks...for those of you thinking to move your account. I like local, also have an account at our hospital credit union.
Durango, My nephew modeled the newest contraption with the coat and the tether on the back and the harness, what will they think of next? A robo duck? Oh. wrong season!
Where is Tina?
Christian love at work
Pastor, Deacons Accused of Assaulting Gay Couple
A gay Tennessee couple has filed complaints against against a pastor and four deacons who they say assaulted them while trying to attend Grace Fellowship Church in Fruitland late last month.
Jerry Pittman Jr. and his boyfriend told WBBJ that they were attacked by several deacons at the request of his father, Pastor Jerry Pittman.
"I went over to take the keys out of the ignition and all the sudden I hear someone say 'sick 'em,'" the younger Pittman explained.
"My uncle and two other deacons came over to the car per my dad's request. My uncle smash me in the door as the other deacon knocked my boyfriend back so he couldn't help me, punching him in his face and his chest. The other deacon came and hit me through my car window in my back."
Pittman added that even after officers arrived, the deacons continued yelling anti-gay slurs.
"If I was on the scene I would not have allowed that," Gibson County Sheriff Chuck Arnold said. "The deputy should not have allowed it if he did."
Officers on the scene did not allow Pittman or his boyfriend to press charges while still at the church.
The couple was finally able to file assault charges Friday against Deacons Billy Sims and Eugene McCoy. Additional charges were filed against Pastor Pittman and Deacon Patrick Flatt.
The case will be go before a judge Wednesday.
---C & L
“President Obama was heckled by a protestor who called him ‘the Antichrist.’ The protestor was detained, but released without being charged, and then later he was offered his own show on Fox News.” –Jay Leno
"Heads up! NBC finally reported on the "protests" going on on Wall Street. They dared not call it "Occupy Wall Street" and only showed a somewhat small group and selected the most bizarre masked younger ones to put on air."
This has been providing me with sweet delicious irony for a while now. Self proclaimed anarchists protesting for increased government power as they are getting tossed into cages by agents of the state never fails to bring a smile to my face. It is nice to see some anti-Fed sentiment, but the protesters could use a lesson in public choice theory and regulatory capture.
Partially right target, wrong solution.
Nanc said--"Where is Tina?
I was wondering the same thing! I hope all is well with her. Maybe she just hasn't had anything to say lately....
Gyl, They ARE NOT anarchists by any definition of the word.
Here's an interview by a Fox New reporter which will never be aired on Fox News.
http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2…
Also in the interest of accuracy, that seemingly 12-13 year old girl arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge is apparently 18. Can't say this for certain, but I have read this in other places. She's going to be carded til she's 45.
The cops still entrapped the marchers, blocking both ends of the bridge and not allowing them to leave. I understand this is the largest mass arrest at a demonstration in our history.
Questions for our wireless experts.
I was with Alltel and lived through no signal at the house (I bought it to call the landline at home as I drove through Conway on the way home from teaching. Eventually we got service at the house. Since Verizon took over, I sometimes lose a call repeatedly, no matter who I am calling at any hour of the day. Did Verizon take Alltel towers off line?
My lady friend lives near Conway High School which has a new Verizon tower right behind her home. She has ATT service. Since that tower went on line, she loses calls repeatedly and when I am talking to her, I lose the call and get a busy signal which is really wierd. She has spoken to ATT (somewhere in the world) but the issue continues. Is this going to be true for anyone who lives near a tower for another company or is there a problem with that new tower?
Verizon send me weekly mailing to upgrade my service which I think I am overpaying for now with the quality of my calls. Any ideas?
Of course they aren't. Doesn't stop lots of them from calling themselves that. It's part of the irony.
I have not read reports or heard any interviews where they call themselves that. There may be a few in the mix, but the movement itself is not ararchist. From my experience organizing an anti-Iraq protest, I can tell you that all sorts of people are attracted to promote their causes which may or may not be in sync with the thrust of the movement.
Some lousy reporting on PBS NewsHour tonight. The UK Guardian is the best source of unbiased, accurate reporting.
Well hell's bells, Durango...
I keep forgetting we're not supposed to talk about football or sex around here. Gosh, I'd hate to offend anybody with such inane chatter.
Oh well, I'll only touch on it and try not to make it a habit.
Like my temporary avatar? In honor of the upcoming Auburn-Arkansas game, I've decided to pay homage to the Razorbacks with this cute little pic of three piggies feeding at the trough.
Don't know why, but WBW had the strangest reaction when she saw me playing with it (the pic, that is. I had it up in full-screen on my monitor in order to post it as my avatar. Poor girl thought it was a picture of something else, I guess).
She kept insisting my innocent, sweet picture of little hoggies feeding could somehow be misconstrued, but I assured her nobody on this blog had a dirty mind (like she does, apparently). For shame!
I'm excited about Saturday's matchup, though I don't hold any hope my precious Baby Tigers can win another game on the road against the tenth-ranked team in the country. Then again, I said that last week when Auburn was on the road against (then) 10th-ranked South Carolina. Looked like Chizik & Company exposed the 'Ol Ball Coach as being the has-been he is.
As I see it, my little angel Tigers are at the teething stage. The Auburn Family's just looking for positives before we make another run at the National Championship in 2012.
Tappy, I'm glad you posted that link about Hank Williams Jr. What a rube. Did you notice he was wearing a University of Mullet cap in that video with Fox? I thought that was apropos for the vileness he was spewing.
Cato, thank you too for posting that wonderful story of christian love towards the gay couple. I bet the hayseeds will get their legal bills paid with tithes.
XXOO,
STJ
Fine then. They aren't anarchists and don't call themselves that. They are still calling for more government power while getting tossed in cages by agents of the state.
CBB - It is my understanding that Verizon did shut down some towers around Conway after the Alltel merger.
Likewise, AT&T will shut down some towers if the anti-competitive T-Mobile merger is approved. It would result in a net loss of coverage for the state -
http://www.magnoliareporter.com/news_and_b…
I may consider switching to Sprint if the rumors are true that they will be the only carrier with the iPhone 5 at product launch.
.
>* PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS: Barack Obama acknowledges his underdog status in 2012<
True, how far down in the polls was George Bush in Feb of 2004? Something like 43% approval wasn't he?
This is a special for B Rock Really Really Sucks from the "Calling the Rick Perry 20" thread. It's a letter to the editor in today's Arkansas Democrat:
"How can the Republicans claim Barack Obama’s proposed “Buffett Rule” is class warfare? That war was declared years ago when the tax codes were changed which enabled the Warren Buffetts of our nation to pay fewer taxes than their secretaries. It is time to bring that war to an end and declare one on the national deficit with everyone chipping in, not just applying its costs on the backs of senior citizens, the middle class and the poor.
Only then can we truly say mission accomplished.
DEANE D. WILLEY Texarkana"
Sister........I had the same reaction as WBW, dirty minds, I guess.
What this about no sex or football talk? When did that rule pass?
“Sister........I had the same reaction as WBW, dirty minds, I guess.”
Why, Nanc! Were you in Mrs. Parks’ sixth grade class?
The 6th grade science teacher, Mrs. Parks, asked her class, "Which human
body part increases to ten times its size when stimulated?"
No one answered until little Mary stood up and said, "You should not be
asking sixth-graders a question like that! I'm going to tell my parents,
and they will go and tell the principal, who will then fire you!"
Mrs. Parks ignored her and asked the question again, "Which body part
increases to 10 times its size when stimulated?"
Little Mary's mouth fell open. Then she said to those around her, "Boy
is she going to get in big trouble!"
The teacher continued to ignore her and said to the class,”Anybody?"
Finally, Billy stood up, looked around nervously, and said, "The body
part that increases 10 times its size when stimulated is the pupil of the eye."
Mrs. Parks said, "Very good, Billy," then turned to Mary and continued.
"As for you, young lady, I have three things to say:
One, you have a dirty mind.
Two, you didn't read your homework.
And three, one day you are going to be very, very disappointed."
(Tap, Hank Williams, Jr., is an idiot.)
Why, ummm, no stj. I knew immediately what the avatar was. I didn't enlarge it to see if my eyes deceived me.
For this week, and this week only, I cannot cheer you on....
First, for just an instance mind you, I had some vulgar suspicions about Sis' avatar then I realized she wouldn't do anything that raw, not in Max's house, maybe in her own.
Then I clicked and after two scotch-sodas I assumed it was a clump of cleverly arranged sweet potatoes, then i enlarged it further and realized it was an odd shot of piggies.
Ya fooled me Sis but, just for an instance.
I'm going to suggest some new terminology. How about those of you looking for an insult call the Tea Partiers nihilists instead of anarchists? Anarchists are generally left-wing.
More proof, if anyone needs it, that the Tea Party had a very brief moment as a grass roots movement before being taken over by the big money boys. Grover Norquist an Dick Armey are raking in the money. The man in the street is once again a tool of the rich---useful idiots all.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/…
Got a letter yesterday from Green Earth Pharmacy here downtown saying that they are closing their doors due to the bad economy. Very sorry to see them go.
Was George Carlin wrong? Maybe America is waking up. Unless you want to lose the American dream, you best wake up. Here's Carlin again. Warning to the faint of heart and dainty sensibilities: there's lots of bad language, language that fits the situation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLW1vFO-2Q
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