Month: May 2009

Those Who Cannot…..Teach

The news is slow, so that makes room for another edition of Sexy Sunday.

In a report recently in the BBC:

A Polish Catholic priest has published a book which provides married couples with a theological and practical guide to spicing up their sex lives.

In his book, Sex as you don’t know it: for married couples who love God, Father Ksawery Knotz aims to sweep away the strait-laced attitudes many hold.

Sex in marriage, the Franciscan friar explains, should not be boring but “saucy, surprising and fantasy packed”.

The book, which has the backing of the Polish Catholic Church, has been a hit.

Father Kaswery Knotz says in his “Kama Sutra of the Catholiuc Church”:

“Every act – a type of caress, a sexual position – with the goal of arousal is permitted and pleases God. During sexual intercourse, married couples can show their love in every way, can offer one another the most sought-after caresses.”

“Calling sex a celebration of the marriage sacrament raises its dignity in an exceptional way. Such a statement shocks people who learned to look at sexuality in a bad way. It is difficult for them to understand that God is also interested in their happy sex life and in this way gives them his gift.”

But Father Knotz stresses the book does not differ from the Church’s view on sex. He discourages the use of contraceptives, saying they “lead a married couple outside of Catholic culture and into a completely different lifestyle”.

He also dismisses those that have questioned the competency of a celibate monk to write about sex, saying his experience comes from counselling married couples and from running a website giving sexual advice for almost a year.

There are just so many trashy comments that I could make right now but I will leave those to others.  BTW, I am still shaking my head at this one.

Nerds Do It Better!

THE next time you want to bag the bonk of your life, you need a partner who knows a lot about your hardware.

While computer nerds are obviously good at IT, what we didn’t realise is that they’re good at “it” too.

An anonymous study of 2,000 British men and women concluded that out of all jobs, computer geeks make the best lovers.

They were found to be the most selfless in the sack, the most adventurous and more likely to use love gadgets.

Seventy-eight per cent of techies that were questioned also claimed that sex toys were part of their love life.

And a further eight out of ten tech workers said that sex toys played an important part in their sexual relationships

Eighty-two per cent of IT workers also claimed to consider their partners sexual needs above there own, the highest result from all of those asked.

So the next time a geek or a nerd is flirting with you remember this article from the SUN…you may well be passing up the sex of a lifetime……

2009 Anal-Ocity

I admire the Pres. for his oratory, but unfortunately he is NOT above making an anal statement.  And he has done just that, in my opinion.

In LA at a fundraiser, Obama was talking about the economy and how we have pushed back from the brink of disaster.  His rosy scenario was all well and good but he then said:

“We can’t return to a bubble-and-bust, borrow-and-spend economy based on maxed-out credit cards, over-leveraged banks, and financial profits that were only real on paper,”

But if you take a long hard look at what is being done with the economy, we are doing just that–returning to borrow and spend and a push to make credit more readily available, which in turn could return the maxed-out cards.

Sorry dude—anal is anal.

National Day Of Action For Single Payer Health Care

Today is 30 May and is the National Day Of Action for health care.

The Green Party of the United States has endorsed the national Day of Action for Single-Payer national health care (Medicare For All) on Saturday, May 30 (http://www.healthcare-now.org/campaigns/may-30th-day-of-action).

The Day of Action is being organized by Healthcare-Now (http://www.healthcare-now.org) and other groups dedicated to winning a health care system that covers all Americans, providing treatment regardless of employment, income, age, or prior medical condition, with full choice of physician, hospital, or other health care provider.

A more immediate goal is to have Single-Payer advocates — who speak for the will of a majority of Americans (http://www.wpasinglepayer.org/PollResults.html) — represented in all congressional and White House meetings, roundtables, and hearings on health care. Single-Payer has been barred from the public debate, because of the influence of insurance, HMO, and pharmaceutical lobbies, through campaign contributions, ‘astroturf’ (false grassroots) operations, and dishonest advertising.

Similar events will take place throughout May. On Wednesday, May 13, a ‘Single-Payer Solidarity Rally’ will take place in Washington, DC, as part of National Nurses Week. Participants will gather at the Washington Court Hotel at 11:45 am and then march to a rally at Upper Senate Park, which will take place from noon until 2 pm. The California Nurses Association expects 500 nurses to lobby and rally for Single-Payer legislation, along with others in the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care.

Two Single-Payer bills have been introduced in Congress, HR 676 and S 703, under the leadership of Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (Ind.-Vt.).

2009 Anal-Ocity

During the last primary season after one of the Repub debates I said that Tancredo was a bout as exciting as watching flies mate and that I thought he was a moron.  And he just keeps enforcing my belief.

Recently when talking about the supreme court nominee, Sotomayor and her association with La Raza he said:

“a Latino KKK without the hoods or the nooses.”

He continues the line of some conservatives that Ms. Sotomayor is a racist.  But to characterize a 40 year old civil rights organization as a “KKK” is just showing how stupid these attacks are.

Will I Pay Less?

As reported by Reuters:

“The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose last week, Labor Department data showed on Thursday, largely pushed up by auto plant shutdowns related to Chrysler’s bankruptcy.

Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits increased by 32,000 to a seasonally adjusted 637,000 in the week ended May 9, the latest setback to hopes that the 17-month-long U.S. recession was nearing an end.”

And in the mean time auto makers will be filing for bankruptcies…that alone should send the GOP into a masterbation overload.  For years their argument against the unions has been that they workers are paid way too much and have way too many benefits.  Now the auto industry will be laying off workers, closing plants and crapping on dealers…think of the savings!  But beyond that think about the destruction of the union, now there is what the Repubs have wanted sine the days of Reagan and the air traffic controllers.

At least one of their dreams can come true….at least they can have that since the party is about as effective as tits on a boar.

For years opponents of the union have been saying that the union was destroying the industry by over paying the workers and that Japanese cars were more attractive than American because they could be built cheaper because of the lack of union workers.

Now, the auto companies are getting rid of their massive debt and best of all they are ridding the companies of a lot of the overpaid workers, but they will retasin the overpaid execs that actually caused all the problems to begin with, but beyond that the American auto will be made more cheaply than before.

Now my question is, with all these austere moves will I pay less for an American car?

It will be fun to see how cheap American cars will become now, don’t you think?  I mean for decades they have blamed the workers and their salaries for all the problems with the industry and especially the cost of the vehicles.

By using their logic, I should be paying less for a car in 2010.

I know—dream on McDuff…….

Pelosi Gets A Rest

Obama has made his choice for a judge to replace the retiring one on the Supreme Court…how fortunate for Pelosi…she now gets a temporary break from the bashing she has been taking at the hands of the conservatives, both on air personalities and the not so popular bloggers on the right.

Well at least the conservatives are consistant, they are still attacking a woman.  I asked the question about a month ago here on Info Ink.  I asked if the GOP and its lot were sexist.  I aked because of the attacks they, the GOP, have been having against women, like Pelosi, Sibelius and Napolitano.

Pelosi was in China trying to get them to cooperate on climate change and probably got very little of the cooperation she was looking for since she has been an outspoken critic of the government in China.  Her only good news for now is that Sotomayor is taking all the heat that she would be getting, at least for now.  I am sure that she is only getting a temporary lapse and the bashing will soon return.

Anyway, I digress..the conservs are taking careful aim at Sotomayor.  They have attacked her IQ, her name, her eating habits, her temperment and a racist.  All their attacks are just so damn silly……so damn lame…….and so damn predictable.

She will be confirmed……Repubs just want to have their say……it is all just a fundraising ploy….she will be confirmed.

What To Do With Social Security?

By now, I am sure that everyone has either read or heard from their favorite news source that Social Security will be dead by 2017.  But why will it be dead?

The standard argument is that it is not getting enough money incoming to meet the demand from retiring Baby Boomers.  That is a really good argument, but it is a bit of a manure spreader.  It is going bust because the government in the last decade, probably more, have been raiding it to pay for pet projects like war and such.  Why was this done?  So the cowards could continue to preach and enact tax cuts and related BS moves.

Now Repubs want to “reform” the system…that is code talk for eliminate it and let the people fend for themselves.  Even the Obama administration has shelled out hundreds of billions, no strings attached, to the biggest financial institutions, under the false rationale that this would “kick-start” lending and generate jobs. All told, between direct cash infusions, loans, and guarantees on debt, Washington has handed over around $10 trillion to Wall Street in less than a year. In comparison, Medicare would need $13 trillion and Social Security $5 trillion over the next 75 years to remain solvent, according to the report. In other words, retirement benefits and healthcare benefits for several generations of the elderly could be secured at the cost of one year’s bailout of the financial aristocracy.

Here is a couple of ideas–1)  raise the FICA and Medicare tax about 1% and 2) make ALL income subject to the tax, there would be NO cut off amout, 3) stop fighting stupid wars that we cannot afford.

Tom Eley wrote on wsws.org:

Secretary Geithner’s dual role as Wall Street frontman and “trustee” of the retirement and health care for the working class underscores the duplicitous nature of the Obama administration. Disregarding the trillions he has handed over to the banks, Geithner claimed that “there is no more important long-term fiscal measure than gaining control of the growth of Medicare costs.”

The first target for cuts will be Medicare, followed by Social Security. Geithner explained: “After we have passed health-care reform that puts our nation on a path to lower growth in health-care costs and expanded affordable coverage, this president will work to build a bipartisan consensus to ensure the long-term solvency of Social Security.”

Geithner’s reference to “bipartisan consensus” is Washington code for the sort of reform that can bring the most far-right, pro-market forces aboard.

Once again, we see that Obama Boyz are not concerned with the survival of the poor and retired.  Main Street waits for the next hard screw.  What will be the next situation that will present another opportunity to stick it to the middle class?  Retirement is hard enough, especially for most of the working class and Washington continues to make it harder and harder….it is demeaning.

Will Recession End In 2009?

CNN is reporting that a group of economists are saying  just that.

The end of the recession is in sight, according to a new survey of leading economists.While the economy is showing signs of stabilizing, the recovery will be more moderate than is typical following a severe downturn, said the National Association for Business Economics Outlook in a report released Wednesday.

The panel of 45 economists said it expects economic growth will rebound in the second half of 2009.

“The good news is that the NABE panel expects economic growth to turn positive in the second half of this year, with the pace of job losses narrowing sharply over the remainder of this year and employment turning up in early 2010,” said NABE president Chris Varvares in a written statement.

Almost three out of four survey respondents expect the recession will end by the third quarter of 2009, the report said.

But 19% predicted that a turnaround won’t come until the fourth quarter, and 7% said it may not come until early 2010. None of the panelists expected the recession to continue past the first quarter of next year.

I think that the indicators do not illustrate this optimism.  This report came out just one day after the Consumer Confidence Index which showed that the consumers were becoming more confident.  The survey is of 5000 households, apparently they ask only those that are stable and thriving.

Businesses are struggling….Staples losses business…..Costco has falling sales and has to cut back….and the list can go on and on…..businesses are suffering because NO ONE is spending…where is the dang confidence there?  And then there are the “real” people that make the economy run…the average consumer, who are facing unemployment, foreclosures, growning credit debt, and so on……just take a moment and think about everything you have heard or read in the last month …….Now, are you optimistic?

Even the ticket prices for the Obama fundraising visit to Beverly Hills had to be discounted to sell…….are you still optimistic?

This is just another attempt to fuel the market, in my opinion.  I do not see too much validity in anything these guys have said….and I look at it from a person struggling in the economy….I do not see too much improving in my economic life by the end of 2009.

Emissions Trading: The Con

For a week or more I have been seeing an ad on the tube urging me to urge my Congressional team to support and pass the Waxman-Markey Bill.  At first I was not sure what it was but I did a little research and found my answer.  It is the new climate change bill.

The new Climate Change Bill is working its way through the Congress at its usual slow pace, but is it the answer to the problem?

The bill would require polluters to obtain “allowances” — permits allowing them to emit a given amount of a greenhouse gas such as carbon dioxide or methane.  This bill would put a price on them.

To satisfy Democrats from states with coal mines or heavy industry that would be hit hard, committee leaders dropped their target for emissions reductions by 2020, from 20 percent to 17 percent. And they agreed that, instead of all credits being sold to the highest bidder, 85 percent would be given away.

The Green Party has responded to the proposal:

Greens have criticized emissions trading (‘cap and trade’), calling it a concession to polluting industries that will impede efforts to curb global warming. In many instances, emissions trading encourages greenhouse gas emissions, since companies with low pollution will be able to sell their conservation credits to the highest bidders, giving major polluters a license to maintain or increase pollution levels. Party leaders called emissions trading schemes like the Waxman-Markey “American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009” a capitulation to polluting industries.

“Democratic leaders in the US House are planning to give away 85% of the greenhouse gas emission credits. Giveaways bypass the trading and auction strategies that cap and trade advocates have promoted as a free market solution. Such allowances are a signal that Congress is more willing to satisfy industry demands and ‘grandfather’ polluters than to demand the necessary extensive reductions,” said Tony Gronowicz, political historian and 2005 New York City Green Party mayoral candidate.

The whole idea of the cap and trade was to make those pay for the emissions they produce that in turn are damaging the planet.  Looks like that will be just another pipedream of actually doing something constructive to protect the planet.