August 10, 2012

Grecians, Eye-rack-ees & now Shieks

Is it asking too much for the people who want to represent us, to do just a teensy bit of research before opening their big mouths on camera??

The rest of the world is watching us, listening to us..

It's cute when a toddler mispronounces words, but it's far from "cute" when Harvard-educated men who want to be president (and who end up as president) cannot be bothered to learn before they speak..

Eh, Mite??
(The I is long and the second T is silent, isn't it?)

August 9, 2012

It matters where your money comes from

(For the grammarians, I know it's not correct to end with a preposition)

but I digress..

People are locked up every day when it's found out that their money comes from selling meth, or from selling stolen goods, or from staging fraudulent car accidents, or from embezzling from bosses, or from prostitution..

True, those those things have been officially deemed "illegal", and the money from them is considered dirty money, and is routinely confiscated.

The people who commit "other" monetary crimes are often the same ones who make the laws surrounding the circumstances of the gaining of the same money, or pay large sums of money to the people who make the laws, so it's not all that often that they are caught...and even when caught, few are ever checked into the "Graybar Hotel".

The money from such "enterprises" often cause just as much (if not more) "harm" as any pedestrian crime committed by "lessers".

The fat-cat who runs a company that gobbles up people's jobs and pensions, then grabs the money and runs, may be doing it "legally", but the end result is the same as when a crime is committed.

That is also "dirty money"...blood money when people's health and lives are destroyed by the lack of income and health insurance.

Dirty money gets laundered, but the stench is still there. Cayman sunshine & crisp Swiss Mountain air cannot remove the stink.

August 9, 2012

Mittens/Marriott & Porn

just another deliberate (yet lame) attempt to clean up his dirty/nasty money

Do these people know about Google?? and www.waybackmachine.org




http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2011/02/hotel_pornography

Hotel pornography
Marriott, Mitt Romney, and porn

Feb 5th 2011, 18:37 by N.B. | WASHINGTON, DC

THE HOTEL chain Marriott recently announced that it would cease selling "adult content"—ie, pornography—in its newer hotels. Anyone who knows a bit about the hotel business might find this move a bit confusing. After all, porn is still a moneymaker for chains like Marriott, which by some estimates was earning $175 per room, per year in smut peddling alone.

But there does seem to be a method to Marriott's madness. Politico's Ben Smith explains that Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and a presumptive candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, recently left the Marriott board. The chain's owners are "longtime Romney supporters", Mr Smith notes. And social conservatives, apparently, hit Mr Romney hard on the porn "issue" during the ex-governor's 2008 campaign for the GOP nomination. (One critic called Mr Romney a "major pornographer.&quot So in some sense, Mr Smith argues, Marriott appears to be doing Mr Romney a "costly favor." Then again:

snip

August 8, 2012

"State's Rights" may hold the solution to one election foible

As I understand it, each state can (and does) set their own requirements for filing for public office, so........


All we need is for a few important swing-states to set in place a requirement to release "6 most-recent-years" of DETAILED IRS tax forms.

Let's say, PA., MI, and OH did that. (I know they would need some democratic "help" first), would a guy like Romney just pass up running in those states?

August 8, 2012

The "over-the-line" Obama ad.

What people are missing about the ad where the husband tells of his wife's death in 2006, is this..

It's called "reversal-of-fortune", although blue collar workers use the term "fortune" differently than folks in Romney's world.

The "press" is nitpicking the ad to death over the fact that the woman had insurance where she worked after the plant closed & her husband lost his job.

The ad JUST says that when HE lost his good job (and the good insurance), she was reluctant to go to the doctor because of family finances that had been crushed when he lost his job. Her insurance could have been a bare-bones policy with limits or high deductibles.

When family finances are tight, people do not spend ANY extra money, and yes, visits to a doctor are included in that sometimes.

The types of medical coverage that is offered these days to MOST people restrict which doctors/clinics they can use, and switching often brings EXTRA out-of-pocket costs when their "new" doctors want their own tests run, and who will not just refer-over-the-phone.

I found this out when we were dumped into Kaiser. To have my yearly eye exam with an opthalmologist (which had been a $20 co-pay, once a year with my great doctor), I now had to see a new family-practice doctor at Kaiser ($20copay) first, then get a referral to opthalmologist (4 week wait, instead of "we can squeeze you in this afternoon&quot and another $20 copay, and a 20 (roundtrip) mile drive to their hospital in a nearby town, and since this was the first time I had been "in the system", I was also required to have labs (another $20 copay) and more wasted time.

All these expenses add up, and in a budget where a husband had lost his job, finances would be very tight, and vague symptoms get rationalized away.

I am NOT saying that she caused her own death by waiting, or by not using her own insurance, but she probably did not want to strain an already strained family economy, and THAT was brought on by Bain vultures.

A short ad cannot include all that nuance, but the ad also does not say that Bain killed his wife..it just says that Bain's disregard for workers started the cascade of doom..and not to just this family.

August 7, 2012

Standard Chartered Bank.. "...uses Bain methodology recalibrated for financial services..."

Found this little gem on page 4 of this site

Maybe there is a connection to the "tax-troubles"

http://reports.standardchartered.com/ar2011/servicepages/welcome.html

August 6, 2012

NBC/BBC banner/logo placement in Olympic coverage (smile-break)

and a photo to make Mom cringe

August 6, 2012

Teva Pharma discloses SEC bribery investigation...shares trade up 3.2%

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10376619
Teva Pharma discloses SEC bribery investigation

AP foreign, Monday August 6 2012

NEW YORK (AP) — Teva Pharmaceutical, the largest generic drug company in the world, said it is the target of a federal bribery investigation into its business in Latin America. Teva said the Securities and Exchange Commission has subpoenaed documents and is looking into its compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act, which makes it illegal for people or companies to make payments to officials of foreign governments in order to get or keep business. The Israeli company disclosed the inquiry in a form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week. Teva said it was notified of the investigation July 9 and said the probe is in its early stages. Teva added that it is conducting its own voluntary investigation.

snip

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is being investigated for FCPA violations after The New York Times reported in late April that its Mexican unit allegedly paid millions of dollars in bribes to speed building permits and gain other favors. The Times also reported that company executives didn't notify authorities even after Wal-Mart found evidence of the scheme during a probe dating to 2005.


snip

U.S. shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries rose $1.25, or 3.2 percent, to $40.76 in afternoon trading.

August 6, 2012

""...You f---ing Americans. Who are you to tell us, the rest of the world..."

So sayeth Standard Chartered Bank


http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/06/us-standardchartered-iran-idUSBRE8750VM20120806?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=71


Standard Chartered left U.S. vulnerable to terrorists


REUTERS/Bobby Yip

Mon Aug 6, 2012 1:46pm EDT

(Please be advised that paragraph 4 contains reference to language that some readers may find offensive)

By Jonathan Stempel and Carrick Mollenkamp

(Reuters) - A rogue Standard Chartered Plc banking unit violated U.S. anti-money laundering laws by scheming with Iran to hide more than $250 billion of transactions, and may lose its license to operate in New York State, a state banking regulator said on Monday. Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of the state's department of financial services, said Standard Chartered Bank reaped hundreds of millions of dollars of fees by scheming with Iran's government despite U.S. economic sanctions to hide roughly 60,000 transactions from 2001 to 2010. Lawsky's order quotes a senior Standard Chartered official in London who, upon being advised by a North American colleague that its Iran dealings could cause "catastrophic reputational damage," reportedly replied:

"You f---ing Americans. Who are you to tell us, the rest of the world, that we're not going to deal with Iranians."

Lawsky said the unit of the London-based bank was "apparently aided" by its consultant Deloitte & Touche LLP, which hid details from regulators, and despite being under supervision by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and other regulators for other compliance failures. The bank's actions "left the U.S. financial system vulnerable to terrorists, weapons dealers, drug kingpins and corrupt regimes, and deprived law enforcement investigators of crucial information used to track all manner of criminal activity," Lawsky said in an order made public on Monday.

"In short, Standard Chartered Bank operated as a rogue institution," Lawsky added.

snip

August 6, 2012

Dear Mr. Romney,

I understand that you are a tenacious tax-fighter (at least for your own family). Maybe you could do me a favor.

As you can see from the information below, the tax evaluation for OUR California house is in some need of "adjusting" like you have been able to do on YOUR California property.

I realize that we are not beachfront in LaJolla, but since this is our MAIN investment, it's as valuable (to US), or maybe even MORE valuable than just "one-of-many" houses like YOU have.

Could it be that people like you who "adjust" their taxes downward, might just be a reason why California is struggling so much in this time of massive foreclosures? (Foreclosed houses do not contribute to the tax base).

Maybe your beach-house's adjusted-downward tax rate is affecting MY bottom line..

C'mon Mitt, pay your fair share..


................................................................

Duers.., you can see how YOUR taxes have fared by using Zillow for your address and then clicking "details"... Has YOUR evaluation gone down as your property devalued?