Obama rejects Elizabeth Warren

Watch Elizabeth Warren here, on CNN in May, and then read the story in the NY Times today reporting that she has been passed over for the job of leading the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The President threw her under the bus because she became a GOP target for her outspoken criticism of the financial industry. The former Attorney General of Ohio is the nominee.



But Alabama Senator Richard Shelby is still unhappy:

President Obama waited until the last possible moment to act. For months he has ignored Republican concerns about the lack of accountability at the CFPB and its potential adverse effect on the economy"

Yes! You too can work for The New York Times!!!!

     Yes it's true!

    The New York Times wants YOU!

    Seems the 24,199 emails (250 lbs worth in printed form!) from Sarah Palin's truncated term in office are being released. So The Times wants volunteers to help  go through them and find the dirt.

     After burning and slashing their staff, they expect free labor from anybody who wants to take part...degree not required! Hell, brain not required! Journalism by mob.

     Memo to Times: go hire some of those thousands of unemployed journalists and pay them to do your leg work for you. Look in your classified section. Oh, wait...do you still have one?

     How far the old gray lady has fallen.

Mixed

     The number of mixed marriages in The South is increasing, reports the NY Times in an article that focuses on Mississippi.

     I suspect the experiences of the couples profiled in the article, like being asked it they are together at a restaurant, even if they are arm-in-arm, are just as common in Alabama and the rest of the Old South.

The Other Bus Line

The NY Times writes this morning about the man who ran a black bus company in segregated Birmingham.

The Wisconsin Front

"Gov. Scott Walker ('s)...attack on unions has nothing to do with the budget. In fact, those unions have already indicated their willingness to make substantial financial concessions — an offer the governor has rejected. "

                                         Paul Krugman in a NT Times column

Government Anger. Angry Government.

 



   Reading this story in today's NY Times, I couldn't help but think that actions like the one described contribute mightily to the anti-government fever in the country.

    Please read it and comment! If Mr. Heicklen is trying to convince jurors to obey their conscience, what could be more American!

     Your thoughts?

&^$!!#HG5562$!!!!!!!!!

Mobile, Alabama will be ground zero for a stop-cursing movement tomorrow. According to a story in the NY Times.

A R U Smarter than a 4 YO? Arf?

     Think you've taught your pup a lot?

     I had a Birmingham Humane Society dog in the 70's named Brandy---that's her on the right--- and I was amazed that she so quickly learned behaviours---"tricks"--- like crawling and jumping through hoops and running to whatever room I happened to name. She even won ribbons for her abilities.



     Now, meet maybe the smartest dog in the world. Or at least the one who has learned more than about any dog I've ever heard of. The story is in the NY Times, which I suspect the dog may subscribe to.

     Or own.

A First! No, a 1831st!

I was sure this has has to be the first time the New York Times has used the word "icky" to describe a distasteful thing...

The details of Mr. MacDonald’s case are icky, which may explain why prosecutors pursued it.

Anyway, the latest comes in a story about sex...and some visitors will in fact find it kinda icky, so read at your own risk.



...but no...a search of the century plus archinves of the paper turned up 1,831 other instances. Amazing.

MMMM #124 -- Paying for News

   



      It's been almost a year since the New York Times announced they would start charging for content:

Starting in January 2011, a visitor to NYTimes.com will be allowed to view a certain number of articles free each month; to read more, the reader must pay a flat fee for unlimited access. Subscribers to the print newspaper, even those who subscribe only to the Sunday paper, will receive full access to the site without any additional charge.

     Yet here we are just days away from the start of 2011 and there's not a peep from the Times website. Have they changed their minds? Delayed their plan? Are they waiting to spring it on us on next Saturday's start of the New Year?

     And just what will the "certain number"of free articles be?

     Obviously the owners of just about every paper in the world will be watching what happens closely. So am I. What happens could determine the future.

(Too Fast) Headline Reading

     I'm not sure what this posting says about the current political climate...or about me. But as I scanned the online NY Times a few minutes ago I came across this headline:

Would The South Really Leave?

...and I HONESTLY thought it was a current story about the political divide in the U.S. Then I saw the date: 1860. Part of the Times coverage of the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Civil War.

     But for a moment there......

The subWAY

     Anyone who has lived in New York City for any length of time...especially in Manhattan...knows the joys and terror of the subway system. The N.Y. Times has posted a lengthy photo tribute to the underground/elevated trains that carry so many people where they need to go in the Big Apple. The pictures go back to some of the earliest days to recent times.

     I took the F and the E train from Queens into Manhattan more times than I care to count, and when I lived in Manhattan, the trip uptown was just minutes long from my apartment near Washington Square. Depending on the time of day, that was either a fast and uneventful journey, or a threatening edgy experience.

     I never got mugged or anything on the subway, but there were times when I thought it was a distinct possibility.

The Anger

     If Tea Party candidates triumph, they’ll be emboldened. If they lose, the anger and bitterness will grow. The only development that can change this equation is a decisive rescue from our prolonged economic crisis.

Frank Rich in a Sunday NY Times column.

Pre-Tuskegee Experiments--by the same doctor!

     The Times reports this afternoon that the same doctor who was behind the infamous Tuskegee Experiments, in which some African-Americans with syphilis were left untreated to see how the disease would progress, even though it was known penicillin would cure them, had an earlier experiment in which he actually infected prisoners and mental hospital patients in Guatemala and then gave them penicillin to see if it worked.

Home $weet Home

     Here's the operative sentence in a Washington Post story this morning:

"the expectations of buyers and sellers are out of whack"

     Clearly something is out of wack. Home sales across the county are strangled...down 28% in Montgomery in July, for example. There's a big backup of homes on the market...a year's worth and growing claims the Post piece.

     So even if there is a sudden improvement in the unemployment rate, and people suddenly start buying and selling again, it will more than 12 months before the supply and demand shelf-life of the real estate market evens out a bit.

     Homeowners enjoyed seeing their homes increase in value...a true investment in "The American Dream" the Realtors told us. In reality, as our own homes increased in value, so did the homes we would theoretically buy to replace them when we moved. Sell for more, buy for more. Then, of course, the musical chairs stopped and the foreclosure signs sprouted up like crocus.

     Now homeowners who want to sell have a tough row to hoe...and since they are also the buyers, we're in a quandary.

    About the only people enjoying and profiting from all of this (other than foreclosure attorneys) are first time buyers with some cash to put down. Fifteen year fixed rate mortgages were at 3.83% last week, down from 3.86% the previous week and 4.54% a year ago. 3.83%!

    An historic low interest rate. Supply and demand at work. Few buyers and borrowers, so down go the prices of the homes and the cost of the money to buy 'em. And still the market is moribund,

    A column in the NY Times today suggests that the choice may be to save today's homeowners or tomorrow's...i.e., let the real estate market collapse without government intervention, if necessary, in order to create a fair buying and selling field for the future. Ouch.

    

Speaking of Travel...

     A New York Times travel writer is going to be in Alabama this coming week, fresh from absorbing the culture in Louisiana and Mississippi. His post about that experience is a hoot!

     This is travel on the cheap! So don't expect to see him at the Montgomery Renaissance Hotel...but if someone called Seth Kugel shows up, treat him with all the Southern charm we can muster! He's a fool for rustic unique places....and here's my list of recommendations in Montgomery:

• Stop by the Southern Poverty Law Center's Civil Rights Memorial.


• Then drop down a block or two to stand in the spot where Jefferson Davis took the oath of office and where George Wallace pledged segregation now etc etc.(the upper and lower steps of the Capitol, respectively.


• Go into the Capital and walk through the old House Chamber where delegates decided to un-Unite with the U.S.


• All of that has been free, so splurge and enjoy the unexpected decor and the (somewhat expensive) taste of the cuisine at The Olive Room (down towards the other end of Dexter Avenue) is worth the visit.


• I know your mode of  transit is limited, but if you can go by The Alabama Shakespeare Festival, do so. It is another unexpected jewel.

Visitors? What have I left off?

From Pogue's Lips to the Tech God's Ears

     David Pogue in The Times writes the semi-obituary of cell phone companies in a column today.

     Now...If only he can make the same arrangement for the endless "bundling" that makes cable and a fast net connection an offer you can't refuse (and one that costs a bundle!).

   And by the way, Google is now also offering real-time searching. Put in a name or a phrase, and as new items are found, they appear at the top of your list of found links. Pretty interesting if you want an instant take on what a sampling of folks are writing about a given person or topic.