Media Over Kill on Jackson Story

Many claims and false stories have begun to appear as expected. Many are total fabrications.
Read this article for some factual info, instead of the whoring MSM we have these days.
http://www.intent.com/mallikachopra/blog/bloodsuckers-and-world-michael-jackson

New Jobless Claims Rise Unexpectedly To 627K, 6.7M Still Unemployed

Two unexpected stories so far this week.



Actually, two today, the unemployment numbers unexpectedly went up....



Love me some analysts.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Fox News Shows Its True Colors Again

Once again, a Republican politcian who finds himself in a world of hurt is described on screen by Fox as a (D) Democrat. This is done deliberately folks, so there in no question that "fair and balanced" is a fantasy.
Photos have a habit of not lying, so witness this screengrab:

Durable Goods Orders Rise Unexpectedly In May

Another wonderful example of "unexpected" news... analysts caught wrong again. As I posted last week, each week, without fail, another "less than expected or more than expected" story surfaces.

The question then remains: Why do people pay any attention to analysts at all?? Especially if investing money is involved.
About The Recession
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Saxby Leads the Stupid Charge in GA

When you want stupid, here's the go to guy:

CHAMBLISS: Well, that election was, what, almost 60 years ago now. The world has changed dramatically since then. And I dare say that you go up to any of those people in Teheran who are protesting in the streets and say, Hey, what about the United States meddling in your election in the `50s, they would shake their heads, like, What in the world are you talking about?


Comment later from Reza Aslan (on Hardball):
ASLAN: You know, he mentioned the CIA coup of 1953, which most Americans don`t know anything about, but which, I got to tell you, is like the core event, the ur-event of the 20th century as far as Iranians are concerned. It`s their revolutionary war, civil war all wrapped up into a single thing. And to hear a president even mention it, let alone acknowledge it in that way, had a huge effect in the cafes in Iran.
(My emphasis)


Meddling hardly describes the overthrow of the elected officials and replacement by the Shah who pleased the American neo-cons of the day. Chambliss is the poster boy for getting the GOP out of the south and attempting to undo the damage.

Fox Ignores Facts, Yet Wants to be Taken Seriously

"And there was yet another project [the Lake Optima guard rail project] -- somebody dubbed it 'the guard rail to nowhere.' It's for a guard rail along a lonesome, desolate patch of highway by a waterless lake outside a town of 266 people -- $1.1 million. ... There is a lot of waste there."
-- Fox News's Bill Sammon, 6/16/09, criticizing the economic recovery plan

VERSUS

"Work on the Lake Optima guardrail project is not going forward as we explore other approaches to protecting public safety."
-- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 6/15/09

See more at this site:
http://thinkprogress.org/

Arizona Killer Has Major GOP Ties (From FireDogLake) Minuteman Killer Co-Hosted Anti-Immigration Event in 2007 Featuring Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter and Fred Thompson By: Blue Texan Wednesday June 17, 2009 10:30 am

15 diggs digg it

It's important to point out that Shawna Forde wasn't a "lone wolf" or "just a nut." She was a prominent leader of the Minutemen Movement who shared the stage with Jim Gilchrist, the group's founder -- along with three GOP presidential candidates -- at a 2007 "Conservative event" in Washington state.

On June 30, Jim Gilchrist, one of America’s top opponents of Illegal Alien Amnesty will highlight the 2007 Washington State Illegal Immigration Summit in Everett.The Summit should be the pinnacle Conservative event of 2007.

...

Wait ‘til you hear what he has to say. We can unite and win.

In addition the event is co-hosted by Minutemen American Defense, a Washington state-wide American citizen defense coalition headed by Shawna Forde, a re-born Rock promoter from the days of the music world-shaking Seattle Rock explosion. Shawna will speak.

Representatives (or the actual candidates) will appear from Presidential campaigns for TOM TANCREDO, DUNCAN HUNTER and FRED THOMPSON.

Maybe someone should ask Tancredo, Hunter and Thompson what they think of the Minutemen now. Remember, Mike Huckabee proudly accepted Jim Gilchrist's endorsement. And Forde was Gilchrist's protege.

You'd think this would be the end of the mainstream GOP's flirting with these dangerous vigilantes, but don't expect right-wing bloggers like the Anchor Baby to stop writing love letters to the Minutemen any time soon.

This came from the http://firedoglake.com/ website/blog.

Unexpected Result of the Week, So Far

Every week, without fail, some economic result/stat is released accompanied with the qualifier that the result was less/more than analysts' expectations. In other words, every week analysts are wrong in their predictions, yet the corportate media still turns to them for info. Here's the first example so far this week:

"WASHINGTON – Wholesale prices rose less than expected in May as a drop in food costs helped keep overall prices down.

The Labor Department said Tuesday that the Producer Price Index increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent from April. That's below analysts' expectations of a 0.6 percent rise."

No wonder our financial system is such a mess. We keep listening to analysts who, truth be known, have no clue as to what is going to happen.

Stay tuned for the next example. Could happen any time. And watch for it yourself. Once you notice this and it registers, you will begin to see just how often it happens.

AT&T Plays Dumb as iPhone Romance Hits Rocks

As an iPhone user and an ATT subscriber for dsl, et al, I am very disappointed that ATT has not lived up to its side of the equation.

That's what happens when the newest technology partners with the oldest legacy systems. Whitacre must not have known anything about Apple (just like he now knows nothing about cars while chairing the GM board) and thought the power of the ATT brand would see them thru. One word:

FAIL!
About iPhone
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

I like this story. "Flippin' burgers" is now gonna be a cool job!!



That's the power a President has if he gets out in the real world. Real people, real food. (Sounds like a slogan I should trademark).
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Reminder to East Bay/SF Residents

Kevin Berne will have the second weekend of his Open Studio this coming weekend. I recommend you stop by and see his photography and maybe even pick up a print to decorate that boring wall you have somewhere in your house.

See his photos here:
http://www.kevinberne.com/

Today's Violence at Holocaust Museum

There is a lot being written about the threat of right wing extremist terrorism in this country and recent killings attest to that. A new book that covers that subject very well, and the author was just quoted this week saying that more violence by wingnuts was probable. Today's crime bore his warning out.

Oakland's Fenton Ice Cream Shop Has Role in Movie "UP."

Anyone who has seen "UP" may have missed the reference to Fentons in Oakland (I won't give anything away) so in an effort to be of assistance to people curious, I visited Fentons last week and took the following photos. The sundae was delicious. They make their own ice cream in the rear of the kitchen, complete with glass walls so you can view the process. My BLT lunch was excellent as well.



Pix taken with my iPhone

Got Roses?

We do. Hundreds of them so it seems, and they are spectacular this year. Here are a couple photos, Kay had just picked a fresh bouquet for the dinner table.. and one single rose that has my favorite colors in it, called Chicago Peace.

Solid Air Remains A Favorite Musical Group

Saw them again last night at French Garden Restaurant, Sebastopol, and enjoyed them as much as ever. Found out that you can audition their songs at CDBaby.com and buy their music there as well. They have been performing here in Sonoma county for several years now, typically at outdoor festivals (like the Forestville Youth Barbcue this weekend) and are always a crowd pleaser. I recommend that you catch them when they play in your area.

Sample CD:

Mary McCarty, Chair of George W. Bush Campaign, Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison For Corruption

Another corrupt Bush associate goes to jail. Stop the Presses!
About George Bush
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Gas Price Gouging Returns

The price of gas has gone up here in Sebastopol and environs 2-3 cents per gallon everyday of this week. We are now averaging $2.87 per gallon, while at the beginning of the week it was $2.71.
There have been no major news events that justify the traders and speculators raising the price of oil, in fact as far as I can see, the price of oil is the same today as it was Monday.

And of course the corporate media has too many shiny objects to dwell on at the moment to concentrate on the "why" of the price increases, so profiteering continues unabated.

Glad I have a new bicycle, a Trek Navigator, to use and which allows me to thumb my nose at the gas stations as I pass them by.

Book recommendation: "Incendiary" by Chris Cleave. Mother who lost husband and son in a terrorist attack in London writes a letter to Osama bin Laden detailing the affect on her life.
It's very humorous, as unlikely as that sounds, and well told original story.

And just because I haven't posted one in a while, here's another of those exciting "goats on a roof" photo:



These goats are found in Door County, Wisconsin.