Wow! I’ve been MIA these last couple months and there has been so much material! From a CIA operative being released from Iran to a witch running for public office and the midterm elections. Good stuff! I’m joking about the first two but come on, a 32 year old Berkeley Graduate hiking with her boyfriend and a friend on the Iraq-Iran border? Smells like CIA to me but regardless I’m glad she’s home and wishing the same for her colleagues.
So its a few days after the mid-term elections and I just can’t understand how fickle the American public is. It is amazing to me the “hope” we voted for two years ago and seeing some progress to that hope, that it is construed as socialism due to all the right wing rhetoric flying back and forth, even with the Public Option not being included in the health care bill. What the fuck? American’s are so uneducated and misinformed with fear. Sure Obama should of held to his guns and demanded the public option instead of appeasing the right wing and settling on Bob Doles plan, but you know what, he still got the plan through and something the republicans couldn’t do years ago. Not only did he get the plan through he averted the worst economic downturn since the great depression by passing the stimulus package because Bush era economic policies threw this country into the worst tail spin that I have ever seen. For that the Dems get labeled as Socialists. Well I rather settle with socialism then be thrust into a state of anarchy and rally round the family with a pocket full of shells! And I’m not a socialist! I believe in this experiment we call capitalism, although as we are learning, laissez faire does not work and regulations need to be implemented to protect us from ourselves. The unemployment rate may be high but this whole thing could of been a hell of a lot worse. Another presidential promise Obama and the Democrats have lived up to is ending the war in Iraq. Sure their are still troops their and probably always will be secure a proxy government but combat troops were out in August! Afganistan will be the next promise Obama needs to live up two before the 2012 campaign and I’m hoping he will stick to his promises their and get our troops home. He did all this while dealing with one of the worst man-made disasters to hit our shores with the gulf oil spill. So why the Democrats did not come out to vote on Tuesday is disgusting to me. It does show how young and immature our youth is when they can’t even come out to vote to get Prop 19 passed to legalize and decriminalize marijuana. Keeping people in jail is big business and the prison lobbyists won this battle over the lazy pot smoking democrats who couldn’t remember Tuesday, November 2, 2010 is the day that we go to the polls. Ridiculous! But I am especially disgusted with my independents who I thought were smarter and would hold their ground. 2 years isn’t a long time, especially in Washington DC where it takes years to get done what it takes months to achieve at the local level. And to look at everything that was accomplished in this short two years and now you want to gridlock the system once again! Unbelievable…
I think Bill Maher articulates this better then I….
Now anyone who has read this blog knows that I am an Obama fan, but todays headline “US to sell F-15s to Saudis” had me shaking my head and screaming WTF Obama? Did we not learn a lesson with the Osama bin Laden backfire that got us into two wars? Apparently, as an extension of the George W. Bush’s policy to insure against Iranian expansionism and maintain a broader 20 year old arms relationship dating back to the elder Bush’s administration, the Obama folks are in talks to sell 84 of some of the finest aircraft ever made here in the States to the Saudi Arabians worth an estimated $30 billion over 10 years. Now sure, the Saudi’s already fly some of the beasts, and some may say the F-15s are an outdated 40 year old technology, and we have a one up on them with our latest Joint Strike Fighter, but if you’ve ever experienced a squadron of the F-15′s swooping and closing in on you at a low altitude then you understand the shock and awe that these birds can instill in the enemy. And I’m not talking the ceremonial flyover either although those are awesome too. I digress.
To appease the Israeli’s, the F-15′s will not be armed with some of the more sophisticated weapons systems such as the long-ranged standoff systems used for offensive air-to-land and sea attacks. But even more importantly this deal seems like a move by the Obama Administration to entice the Israeli’s into committing to a big ticket purchase of the more sophisticated Joint Strike Fighters. Now I’ve got to give it to the Obama administration for the creative thinking to stimulate the U.S aerospace industry. But hasn’t that industry been dead for the better part of a decade, at least here in California where a large sector of our workforce were devastated in the 90′s. Those that remain were out on strike just a few weeks ago. So it seems like too little too late but I’m digressing from the bigger picture.
Now, unlike the United States government, whom just happens to be the largest exporter of arms to the world, I’m no expert on arms dealings, or Middle Eastern affairs, economies, or even terrorism for that matter. But my common sense tells me that equipping the Saudi Arabian government with some of the most strategically powerful man made machines that have ever been produced in order to keep in check the expansionism of a state that has no where to go but nuclear and annexed by the mess that is Afgahnistan and Pakistan is a bad idea. To sell an American hallmark that was built by hard working American citizens who proudly branded our Made in the USA stamp upon to a foreign government who is more like our crack dealer then our friend is un American. If I remember correctly, the majority of the 911 terrorists were Saudi’s and I simply can’t understand how we can trust their kings and princes with their bullshit aristocracy. Ya I’ll buy their oil to get me around town tomorrow but I will never trust the motives of a government whose citizens ruthlessly murdered thousands of our citizens. Some might say well they need us for our Benjamins as much as we need them for their black gold? To that I say China has just overtook us as the leading consumer of fossil based fuels. Whose to say in twenty years allies our no longer allies and enemies our now friends and our own technology is used against us, Israel, and the gains that Americans have bled for in the middle eastern dessert. Now I understand some of the reasons that the Obama administration and the previous administrations have chosen to deal with these bastards but I don’t have to like it.
The Los Angeles City Council passed a mandate 4 months ago to shut down over 400 dispensaries throughout the city that did not register with the city prior to 2007. Today that mandate goes into effect. The dispensaries ordered to shut down are concentrated in the Hollywood, San Fernando Valley, and Venice/Santa Monica areas but are sprawled throughout the city. This map of the dispensaries ordered to shut down is rather eye opening. Not on that map is still another 100+ dispensaries located throughout the city that will remain open.
Most dispensaries are expected to comply with the order and will be shutting there doors for good at midnight. There are some that are expected to fight the mandate based on the premise that it violates consumer rights. However, the City of Los Angeles says it is prepared to enforce the mandate so it will be interesting to watch how this enfolds over the next week.
This mandate is just another example of the failures of the Los Angeles City Council. The council had the opportunity and the responsibility to construct a system that would benefit the many patients and citizens of Los Angeles and serve as a shining example for the rest of the state as well as the nation to legitimize what the voters asked for. Instead they chose to keep pushing the issue to the back burner and left loopholes in their policy that allowed all these dispensaries to grow like weeds (pun intended). And who can blame these businessmen of these dispensaries. There was an opportunity due to the failures of the city council and they took advantage. Now they are the victims not to mention the citizens of Los Angeles who will have to deal with the crowd of the remaining dispensaries, although I’m sure the owners of the remaining dispensaries will reap the rewards. The city council has done a disservice to its citizens and to the nation as we struggle to overturn madness. We’ve come so far since Prop 215 was passed in 1996 with a 55% majority. It was only a dream to many that we would legally be able to walk into a dispensary and purchase marijuana. So considering there are still over 100 dispensaries left in operation within city limits should still be considered a victory. I know it doesn’t feel that way. Let’s only hope that this new mandate which will keep dispensaries out of residential neighborhoods works only to legitimize the cause further.
It’s been the better part of a month and BP has yet to make any sort of headway in plugging the spew of oil into the gulf… It seems to me if these assholes can figure out how to tap 50 million barrells of oil 5000 feet below the sea and 13000 feet beneath the seabed, they should sure as hell be able to plug up a ~2ft diameter pipe. These guys shouldn’t be testifying in congress, not yet at least. They should be in deep diving scuba gear trying to plug that pipe and dealing with the pressure of being 5000 ft below sea level. That’ll teach ‘em to ignore the safety violations that caused the death of 11 of their riggers. Ok, I realize that is probably unfeasible considering the deepest dive any one has survived is a mere 1083 feet, but this is a disaster on so many levels and we’re all so frustrated and angry and ultimately helpless by all this. If we can put men on the moon and walk in space surely we can figure this out.
Iconix, a brand management company, has partnered with the family of the original Peanuts characters’ creator, Charles Schultz to acquire, in an 80/20 split, licensing and rights to the beloved Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the gang.I thought this was rather telling of something that has been so iconic that it has transcended at least 3 full generations. Born out the baby boomers generation The Peanuts Gang was relevant to my generation and $175 million speaks volumes on how relevant it is to todays generations. Theres just something about the Peanuts that has always been so cool!
Part of me is disgusted by what I heard come out of the mouths of top executives from Goldman Sachs during today’s senate hearings, but there’s a part of me, something in the back of my mind that is saying ‘sons of bitches… good for you’. These guys just basically testified that they knowingly were selling “shitty” deals to their clients, thus shorting the market and profiting 3.7 Billion dollars while the housing market was collapsing and triggering the worst financial disaster since the great depression. As if to say “And what the fuck are you going to do about it, Grandpa?” to the senate, they all held their ground, admitting no wrongdoing, regretting nothing,and feeling no remorse about the havoc caused, all based on the position that they were the opposite agent in the market and this is what their clients wanted. Yah, I’m disgusted that these guys are balling while the rest of us our fending off this depression, but if your gonna fleece the wool off a sheep that’s gotta be the way to do it!
