“Wildcat Rep. Alan Grayson has introduced a new bill that would tax corporate political donations at the eye-popping rate of 500%. The bill is called the ‘Business Should Mind Its Own Business Act.’ ”
Author: NewMexiKen
Best redux post of the day
From a 1977 Johnny Carson monologue —
August 4th: President Carter has recommended that it should not be a criminal offense to be found in possession of an ounce or less of marijuana.
CARSON: The trouble is that nobody in our band knows what an ounce or less means.
DOC SEVERINSEN: It means you’re about out.
First posted here five years ago today, two days after Carson’s death at age 79.
Best redux line of the day
“Osama bin Laden released his first new audiotaped message in over a year. While there is some new material in the message, insiders say it’s mostly a Greatest Threats collection. A White House spokesman says they plan to check out the message in its entirety, but they’re too busy listening to your phone calls.”
— Tina Fey
From this date in 2006. Not much has changed.
January 25th ought to be a damn national holiday
Today is Etta James’ birthday. Tell Mama, Etta James is 72 today.
Jerry Wexler, Atlantic Records’ legendary producer, describes Etta James as “the greatest of all modern blues singers…the undisputed Earth Mother.” Her raw, unharnessed vocals and hot-blooded eroticism has made disciples of singers ranging from Janis Joplin to Bonnie Raitt. James’ pioneering 1950s hits – “The Wallflower” and “Good Rockin’ Daddy” – assure her place in the early history of rock and roll alongside Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Ray Charles. In the Sixties, as a soulful singer of pop and blues diva compared with the likes of Dinah Washington and Billie Holiday, James truly found her musical direction and made a lasting mark.
Miss James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993, same year as Creedence, Cream, the Doors, Sly and the Family Stone, Van Morrison and Dick Clark if you still need a clue.
Alicia Keys is 29.
I was thinkin’ ’bout Alicia Keys, couldn’t keep from crying
When she was born in Hell’s Kitchen, I was living down the line
I’m wondering where in the world Alicia Keys could be
I been looking for her even clear through Tennessee
— Bob Dylan, “Thunder on the Mountain”
Dean Jones is 79.
Virginia Woolf was born on January 25th in 1882.
Charles Curtis was born in Kansas on this date in 1860. Curtis was the 31st vice president of the United States, serving under President Herbert Hoover, 1929-1933. Curtis is the first person with non-European ancestry to ever serve as President or Vice President. His mother was part Kansa or Kaw, Osage and Potawatomi and part French. Curtis had a one-eighth Indian blood quantum.
And, Happy Birthday to Rob, one of two official sons-in-law of NewMexiKen.
An anxious world awaits
The BIG tech story this week is the expected introduction Wednesday of the Apple slate, essentially an iPod about the size of a piece of paper (and not much thicker) with internet connectivity. No one knows for sure. Word is that Apple’s Steve Jobs considers this the most important thing he’s ever done.
The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs (which, for the uninitiated, is a parody) tells us the backstory. Here’s an excerpt.
But I digress. Let’s talk about this new device.
Yes, it will transform the media business, and by “transform” I mean it will put me in charge of it, the way the iPod put me in charge of the music industry. Yes, it will destroy cable TV and utterly transform the 60-year-old television industry, and again, by “transform,” I mean I’ll be in charge, because I’ll be the guy from whom you buy your shows — I’ll be the guy with whom the consumer forms a relationship. I’ll be the guy who has your credit card on file. So the cable carriers are dead.
As for the broadcast networks? Well, um, for now we make deals with them to get their content into our store. But eventually we just hollow them out from the inside, until everyone figures out that there’s no reason for them to exist anymore. Because really, what purpose does NBC serve, except to be, in and of itself, a form of entertainment — a comedy of errors, like some movie where the Three Stooges get put in charge of a corporation.
Like all good satire, a lot of truth in the above. You should click the link above and go read the rest. Maybe the Apple slate will be an Edsel, but then it could be a transformational device; the iPod was, the iPhone is.
Another idle thought
I wanted the Saints to win and I’ve never really been a Brett Favre fan, but my god the old guy sure made it dramatic in every way, didn’t he?
The Fifth Down Blog has the transcript of Favre’s postgame interview (scroll down past Coach Brad Childress).
Idle thought
The NFL overtime procedure is just wrong.
If it’s fair, why does the coin-flip winner ALWAYS take the ball?
(Because the coin flip winner wins two out of three times, that’s why.)
And though I wanted the Saints to win, last night’s overtime was awful.
In a finale that will be talked about for years, the New Orleans Saints won the coin flip to start overtime in the N.F.C. championship game against the Minnesota Vikings. The Saints’ offense moved the ball 39 yards, 17 of them through penalties, to get into field position for a game-winning field goal.
Above from The Fifth Down Blog, which has a discussion of overtime and some alternatives.
A Is for Amazon, B Is for Best Buy…
“Go to Google’s home page or browser toolbar and type a single letter into the search box. The search engine will then drop down a list of suggestions, based on overall search activity (you have to have ‘show suggestions’ checked for this to happen in your toolbar). There are 26 sites that have the distinction of being the first suggestion for each letter of the alphabet.”
A Superwoman for Kenya, but America is still waiting for Superman
Another incredible essay from Roger Ebert.
“Sometimes two films set up an uncanny resonance with one another. I saw two documentaries back to back. One filled me with hope and the other washed me in despair. They were both about the education of primary school children.”
Just read it.
The last Conan Tonight Show
Best redux line of the day
… that he seems to have forgotten in the year since he said it.
“I won.”
President Obama after listening to Republican gripes about his stimulus package, as reported by Politico.com.
Keeping score
Five bank failures today. Two of the five had more than $1 billion in assets.
That’s 9 so far in 2010.
One of today’s banks was nearby.
Charter Bank, Santa Fe, New Mexico, was closed today by the Office of Thrift Supervision, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Charter Bank, Albuquerque, New Mexico, a newly-chartered federal savings bank and a subsidiary of Beal Financial Corporation, Plano, Texas, to assume all of the deposits of Charter Bank.
It has been nearly 11 years since a New Mexico bank failed.
Today’s Photos
The winter storm that passed through Albuquerque today had much more bark than bite — it did snow an inch to two twice today, but melted in-between and after.
Still, when the sun came out around 5, the Sandia Mountains had never been prettier. These two photos show the proximity of the mountains more than their beauty. They were taken at the nearby CVS, one from the parking lot and the other from inside while I waited for a cashier (it is CVS).
Click either photo for larger versions.
Idle thought
I’m missing something; perhaps someone can help me out.
In federal election campaigns individuals may only donate up to $2300 to a candidate. The Supreme Court says corporations are just like individuals. The analyses of the decision say corporations will be able to spend great amounts.
But if corporations are just like individuals, how come corporations aren’t also limited to $2300?
iPhone leather case with battery backup
$20.75
Slide your iPhone onto the case’s 30 pin dock connector and the fit is nice and snug. Plug in a standard iPhone/iPod cable into the side and the light turns red until fully charged when the light turns green. The on and off switch activates or de-activates the battery backup. I can’t come up with a good reason to ever turn it off. The leather flip cover not only protects the screen, but also acts as a stand, when folded back a bit, holding the iPhone upright in either landscape or portrait mode. So much for those little flexible plastic holders. Another nice feature is that if you leave the switch set to on, you can charge both the battery backup and your iPhone at the same time using a standard 30 pin iPhone/iPod cable.
Bad Judgment
[I]t has long been a staple of conservative thought to criticize “judicial activism”—the practice of unelected judges imposing their own policy judgments to overrule the will of the people’s elected representatives. But it is hard to imagine a more activist decision than the Citizens Union case. Congress passed the McCain-Feingold law, and President George W. Bush signed it, in the knowledge that the Supreme Court had repeatedly blessed restrictions on corporate political activity. But Justice Anthony Kennedy’s opinion blithely overturned Court precedent, and rejected the work of the elected branches—all in service of the bizarre legal theories that (1) corporations have the same rights as human beings, and (2) spending money is the same thing as speaking. This was judicial activism of the most egregious kind. Indeed, it wasn’t as much a judicial opinion as it was Republican talking points.
Another good late night line
“During his acceptance speech Tuesday, newly elected Senator Scott Brown told the crowd that two of his older daughters are both available. Man, so many great American speeches, right? ‘Four score and seven years ago,’ ‘Ask not what your country can do for you,’ ‘I have a dream’, and now, ‘My daughters are both available.’
Jimmy Fallon
Best line of last night
“NBC and I have finally reached a separation agreement. I’d like to apologize to the guests that were scheduled for next week. President Barack Obama, the pope, the queen of England, and our good friend, Elvis Presley, was stopping by.”
Conan O’Brien
Ain't it the truth
Chuck & Beans take a nostalgic look at nostalgia.
Faces of Haiti
Ten days after the massive earthquake in Haiti, some 80,000 of the estimated 200,000 dead have been buried, two million residents now find themselves homeless, and hundreds of thousands of them are now trying to flee the capital city. Rescue crews are beginning to abandon hope of finding any further survivors in the rubble – the last person to be pulled out alive was on was rescued on Wednesday, the 20th. Aid agencies are still ramping up their efforts – the Red Cross alone has deployed what it calls its greatest deployment of emergency responders in its 91-year history. Collected here are some closer looks into recent events in Haiti, seen through the faces of the survivors and the recently-arrived security, rescue and care workers. (46 photos total)
Don’t skip this one.
Best line of the day
Best line last night
“It’s hard to believe President Obama has now been in office for a year. And you know, it’s incredible. He took something that was in terrible, terrible shape, and he brought it back from the brink of disaster. The Republican Party.”
Jay Leno
Runner-up best line:
“Erroll Southers, Obama’s pick to head the T.S.A., withdrew his name because he performed an illegal background check on his ex-wife’s boyfriend. Still, that’s an improvement from the T.S.A.’s normal procedure — not performing background checks.”
Jimmy Fallon
The Golden Bear
Jack Nicklaus is 70 today.
Labor in the Rubble
Amy Davidson asks some provocative real and rhetorical questions about Haiti — and beyond.
