I can't believe it's not a democracy!

Well, at least there is one thing at which the U.S. still excels:



In this photo released Tuesday, March 31, 2009, by the Newark (Ohio) Police Department, a motorized bar stool is shown. Police in Newark, 30 miles east of Columbus, say when they responded to a report of a crash with injuries on March 4 2009, they found a man who had wrecked a bar stool powered by a deconstructed lawn mower. Police say Kile Wygle, 28 was charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated after he told an officer at the hospital that he had consumed 15 beers. Wygle told police his motorized bar stool can go up to 38 mph. (AP Photo/Newark (Ohio) Police Department)

Land of the free? Um, maybe. Home of the stupidly clever? Oh, we've got that one nailed.

Bill Maher proving, once again, that the only people on tv who dare speak truth to power are comedians:

Thanks to Mr. Slice for the link.

Jesus, what's next...pestilence or famine?

North Dakota blizzard threatens Fargo's levees. My sister sent me an e-mail this afternoon to tell me that it snowing in Fargo, and she said it was heavy snow. Apparently, however, the snow isn't the problem--the winds are. She said that even though the water looks calm in photos, the current is quite strong and the winds will only make that worse. The problem is that the current could get stronger, and if waves start hitting the sandbags and erode the clay levees, failure is likely to follow. Long and short, the river may have receded one foot, but Fargo is still in the crosshairs.

So cross your fingers or say a prayer. My sister has been working every day, at least 12 hours a day since last Monday. That's not going to let up. She's holding up well and is in really good spirits. Long and short, she'd rather be at work doing what needs to be done than sitting at home obsessively watching the news for updates. Gotta say that I pretty proud of her resolve and hard work. Let's hope that the city dodges a bullet.

Run, don't walk, over to Tengrain's place to see:

The GOP Road to Recovery.  This is one of Tengrain's most brilliant posts.  And that, my friends, is saying something.   

Fargo update:

My sister is home.  She has to go into work tomorrow, because she is handling communications for her workplace (along with other tasks).  Long and short, the remaining staff may be moved to Bismarck, which is on the Missouri River but isn't in danger of flooding.  I hope they move.  If not, she will likely stay at her workplace for the next few says.  They have heat and electricity there, plus food and water.  More importantly, they have an engineering staff and emergency generators (because it was 12 degrees today, -1 with the wind chill factor).  Long and short, I am most concerned about her commute from her apartment--which still has heat and electricity--and work.  Fortunately, the commute is about 1 1/3 miles.  Still, levees can fail quickly.  So, assuming the levees and dikes are holding, she will either be living at work or on her way to Bismarck.  Which is good, since the crest is supposed to hit tomorrow and linger for days.  Wish her--and all the folks in Fargo--luck.  They are going to need it. 

I've said it before, but it bears repeating: Don't buy a fucking thing made in China.

Why? Well contemplate the scariness in this story: Chinese officials say that potentially deadly radioactive material lost in north-western Shaanxi province may have been found at a steel mill. Hey, you may be saying, no worries, the Chinese found the "lost" radioactive material. It's all good, yes? No. The missing radioactive material was "found" to have been sold to a steel mill. Now they are doing a clean-up operation at the mill. My guess? The radioactive stuff was smelted with the other scrap. So where is it now? And the workers...what will happen to them? It's all bad.

Things are bad in Fargo, and they are going to get worse:

New estimate raises ND flood higher than sandbags. I've been following this story very closely, because my sister lives in Fargo. To preserve her privacy, I won't talk about her job, but she--like everyone--is involved in dealing with the flooding. Long and short, the worst is yet to come. She told me that co-workers who live in areas that are not considered part of the flood plain are getting water in their houses. Keep in mind that these people don't have flood insurance because they were told they weren't in the flood plain. Long and short, many of them are going to lose their homes and will have no insurance to replace them. More pressing is that the flooding is coming at the worst possible time--it's still unbelievably cold in Fargo, and, as she told me, there is no way anyone can wade through this water and live or keep their legs. Think about that. Fortunately, her workplace is pretty secure and has a strong dike nearby, so she may have to live there for a while. So, if you believe in prayer, now would be a good time to say a prayer for the people of Fargo, North Dakota, Moorhead, Minnesota, and the surrounding communities. For the nonbelievers, send good wishes. The local government in Fargo has been exemplary, but they are going to need a world of help dealing with the aftermath...whenever that comes.

Bernie Sanders, the best senator ever:

Senator Sanders Blocking Key Obama Nomination. Harper's reports that Senator Sanders has put a hold (along with a second unknown senator) on the nomination of Gary Gensler, a former Goldman Sachs employee and "derivatives cheerleader," who President Obama wants to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Harper's includes Senator Sander's statement on why he opposes Gensler for the position: While Mr. Gensler is clearly an intelligent and knowledgeable person, I cannot support his nomination. Mr. Gensler worked with Sen. Phil Gramm and Alan Greenspan to exempt credit default swaps from regulation, which led to the collapse of A.I.G. and has resulted in the largest taxpayer bailout in U.S. history. He supported Gramm-Leach-Bliley, which allowed banks like Citigroup to become “too big to fail.” He worked to deregulate electronic energy trading, which led to the downfall of Enron and the spike in energy prices. At this moment in our history, we need an independent leader who will help create a new culture in the financial marketplace and move us away from the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior which has caused so much harm to our economy.

There are too many former Goldman Sachs employees in this new administration. Why Obama is putting the fox in charge of the hen house is beyond me, unless he thinks this is just swell. In that case, then I am very very worried. No doubt things will eventually get better and the middle class will find some footing, but what I am worried about is that Geithner's subsidy to the hedge funds to encourage them to buy toxic assets with, essentially, a nonrecourse loan (i.e., they can walk away and only lose their tiny investment if the asset craters, leaving the loss with us) will result in the hedge funds keeping assets that can recover while leaving us with a big pile of shit. Long and short, we may see some improvement, but the wealthy are going to get a whole lot wealthier. And the gulf between the rich and the rest of us will grow bigger. How the fuck is that a good thing?

Thanks to Max for the link.

Get out your handkerchiefs, part IX:

Tiffany & Co.'s profit tumbles on higher costs, lower demand. Good god, is Gucci next?

I'm back.

Had a great visit.  I couldn't mention that I was going down to S. Jersey for a surprise 40th birthday party, because the birthday boy may have read about it (hi Chris!).  Anyhow, his wife (my first cousin) threw Chris a fabulous surprise birthday party.  Sixty plus people showed up and a fun time was had by all.  Some people, however, may be feeling a bit under the weather this morning.  Let's just say no kids were present and the booze flowed freely.  

So, the weekend was a success.  I will post a photo of Sergei in the future.  He has become a hair more interactive.  He did play a bit with some yarn I dangled in front of him, but his playing, for the most part, was engaged in from a prone position.  And then, exhausted by swatting at a cat toy for a few minutes, he rested.  Good thing he is a handsome kitten, or he would be on really shaky ground. 

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.