Ask Rahm Emanuel If He Knows Anything About The AIG Bonuses.

This week the public's rage about the Wall Street Criminals and the destruction of our country is focused on the AIG bonuses. Which is small potatoes compared to the bigger picture. But nonetheless, it is symptomatic of the massive corruption and the intimate relationship between our politicians in Congress and the criminals on Wall Street.

Apparently some of the Senators and Representatives had specifically required that the stimulus bill must include a provision that would make it illegal for any of these companies to pay bonuses with taxpayer money. But guess what? Somebody removed that prohibition at the last minute. And now there's a speculation about who removed it, how, and when. Supposedly neither Obama nor Geither knew about it until last week. So who did it then? What's with all the secrecy?

I'd suggest everyone go back and read the Wall Street Journal article of February 12, 2009 (link below) in which Rahm Emanuel trashed Obama and claimed that he put on his magic red cape, worked all week-end, changed stuff in the bill, and that's why it got through. If anyone should know what happened, Rahm Emanuel should.

To be more precise: did Rahm Emanuel remove from the bill the prohibition on AIG bonuses? Or did he have any involvement? Obama's being remarkably unclear when asked if the "White House" was involved. Obama simply said he is President, he is responsible. Yeah, okay, but did someone in the White House make revisions to the bill so that the Wall Street Criminals could keep taking bonuses. Remember, Rahm Emanuel was known as Wall Street's favorite politician, big recipient of money, and supposedly is just in the White House for a brief stay until he goes back to Chicago to run for Senate (then on to his own White House bid with the full funding of Wall Street behind him?)

At the time I read this article, I thought Rahm Emanuel was shockingly arrogant in publicly blaming the President for any problems they'd had, and claiming for himself all the credit for the success. Not a team player at all. But now I wonder if those words will come back to haunt him.

FEBRUARY 12, 2009 (WSJ)
"Emanuel Says Obama Team Lost Message on Stimulus" (by Jonathan Weisman)

....."Speaking volubly about the stimulus package, Mr. Emanuel offered new details about the White House's involvement in bringing the legislation to the brink of passage. The framework for the bill was set at a Dec. 12 meeting during the transition, he said, but White House aides decided against drafting a detailed proposal. That decision has elicited criticism from Republicans and some Democrats who said it allowed members of Congress to bulk up the measure with extraneous provisions of questionable economic value. "

"On Friday night, after Senate Democratic leaders and three Senate Republicans struck a deal ensuring Senate passage, Mr. Emanuel, White House Budget Director Peter Orszag and others went to work on precisely the kind of detailed proposal many had been calling for, laboring through the weekend."

On Monday morning, the president met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D, Nev.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D, Calif.) to inform them after Senate passage, the White House would deliver a proposal that he hoped would form the bulk of a House-Senate compromise. That proposal contained some measures not included in either the House or Senate version ...."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123449249590080699.html'>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123449249590080699.html">http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123449249590080699.html
So as I read this, the Senate reached agreement on a Friday night, then Emanuel and someone named Orszag "and others" worked all week-end writing up some details. They also added some "measures" which had not been included in the Senate or the House's version.

So what about it Rahm? Know anything about the AIG Bonuses, how that little thing just slipped on through. If he is going to step forward and claim credit for things, then maybe he can explain exactly what happened. No one else is.

CNBC: Stupid and Arrogant.

Back in the early 1970s, the oil-producing nations, working together through OPEC, radically raised the price they charged for oil, and cut-back on oil production. All of a sudden, people could not get gasoline for their cars, and the nightly news would show cars lined up for blocks trying to get some gas. Some stations rationed the amount each person could buy. The oil companies also radically increased the price they charged to consumers, which meant people's home heating costs went through the roof. The public was in an uproar.

Some oil companies decided to lay low. They pulled all their advertising hoping that when the public looked around for someone to blame, they'd pick someone else. One oil company chose another course, and increased their advertising. They created lots of sympathetic-sounding commercials, long-winded emotional print ads placed in the major newspapers op-ed with headlines like "We Feel Your Pain."

The oil company that kept advertising, just kept talking, full of excuses and spreading b.s. around the nation is the one that got blamed by most consumers. When people were asked who do they blame for the gas shortage, for some reason that oil company was the first name that came to mind.

A lesson lost on the morons at CNBC who are out in force, blanketing the airwaves with their salespeople (i.e. on-air talent) everywhere to sell the nation on the idea that they, too, are "just folks." Well guess what. Nobody's buying it. And more and more, when people are asked who they blame for this looting and plundering of our nation, they think: CNBC. Duh. They send their billionaires out in shirt sleeves, or send cute little Erin Burnett out for ribbon-cuttings to try to tell everyone that they are just like us. But they're not. They made money off of this plundering, while the rest of us lost it.

Now I understand the temptation to defend themselves. After all, if things don't turn around soon they'll all be out of work. But I think somebody inside the NBC organization might want to re-think their current approach. It's like they've tied the noose, found the tall branch, brought a ladder, and now they're yelling at the whole country: Come over here, help me climb up this ladder.
(Reuters) – "NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker fired back at comedian Jon Stewart on Wednesday, saying it was 'unfair' and 'absurd' for the funnyman to criticize CNBC and question its coverage of financial news."

"'Everybody wants to find a scapegoat. That's human nature,' Zucker said during a keynote address at a media industry conference. 'But to suggest that the business media or CNBC was responsible for what is going on now is absurd.'"

"'Just because someone who mocks authority says something doesn't make it so,' Zucker said, describing the comedian's comments as 'completely out of line.'"

"It's unfair to CNBC and to the business media in general," Zucker said. "I don't think you can blame what happened here on the business media." To which I reply: Okay Mr. Zucker. If it's not CNBC that's to blame, "The Place For Business," then who? QVC? Do you think Joan Rivers sold one broach too many and that sent the world's economy into a tailspin?

Let's look at this proclamation of innocence by NBC. First of all, what did Jon Stewart say? He said (I'm paraphrasing) that lunatic Cramer is selling the stock market like a character out of Damon Runyon sold swamp land in Florida, convincing every Joe Dick and Harry that they too can make millions and be a really cool guy just like him. That allegation by Jon Stewart is undeniably true. Cramer is an entertainer-salesman. He's selling himself, selling a false belief, conning people, and a lot of people have lost a lot of money believing they can get rich in the stock market. So why argue?

"'Listen, you knew what the banks were doing, yet were touting it for months and months,' Stewart said during his March 12 show. 'The entire network was. Now to pretend that this was some sort of crazy, once-in-a-lifetime tsunami that nobody could have seen coming is disingenuous at best and criminal at worst.'"

That's also a true statement.

Stewart is clearly correct in his statements. So why is CNBC in such an uproar? Why is it that every single person in the business world has to lie all the time? They knew what was going on. Yet they told no one. They just kept selling the story, singing their jingles, conning the public. And if they refuse to be truthful, why don't they at least have the brains to keep their mouths shut?

Jim Cramer showing up on The Daily Show is like Scarlett O'Hara showing up in the crimson red low-cut ball gown at Melanie Wilke's house, right after Scarlett had been "seen" kissing Ashley. What was Cramer thinking?

There appears to be a legitimate basis right now for a class action lawsuit against CNBC. They are not "reporting" financial news and providing an intelligent analysis. They're selling swampland. They sell sell sell no matter what. Does anyone doubt that behind the scenes this place sounds a lot like Glengerry Glen Ross? They're selling the public on the idea that the public, individual investors, can outsmart the institutional investors and make money. It's like telling some gambler in Las Vegas that they can outsmart the dealer and get rich. Not really. The game is rigged so that the house always wins in the long run.

What the people at CNBC know is that individual investors are more likely to lose everything than to make money. They also know when businesses are going down. They also know who advertises on their programs, who essentially underwrites their paychecks. There is nothing independent in their reporting on or analysis about the people who pay their bills: Wall Street.

CNBC is just one big Info-Mercial, selling Wall Street. They might as well be selling cocaine. At least with cocaine people might have a few happy moments, a couple of really big nights, before they die miserable, in the gutter, dead broke.

I hope there is a class action lawsuit against CNBC and its on-air salesforce. And anyone who has been directing them, including the arrogant Mr. Zucker if he was involved in directing this channel. At a minimum, I would say there are legitimate claims for negligent misrepresentation and for intentional concealment. Both of which carry not just actual damage but punitive damage claims.

If these people want to run 24-hour Info-tainment, then each "reporter" should stand behind a bar that has a juicer, an electric fry pan, and a mini-chicken-roaster on it, and be required to demonstrate new recipes at the same the same time they are gushing over their boyfriends on Wall Street. And wear aprons, too.

The Good Citizens of Calagary Throw Shoes At George W. Bush

If this keeps up, I think George is going to get a new nick-name. Which might be better for him. Instead of "the Idiot President" for example, he might become "George the Shoe Guy." Or even cooler, like he was on the Sopranos, he might be called "Georgie Shoes." Let's see: George W. Bush murdered over a million Iraqis and he goes to expensive lunches to amuse his upper-class criminal friends around the world. And the Iraqi who threw a shoe at this monster gets 3 years in prison. We know what's wrong with this picture.

George W. Bush traveled to Calgary, Canada yesterday to speak to members of the upper-class in a private lunch from which the public was barred. But the good citizens of our neighbor to the North gathered outside with signs and jeers that they did not want this war criminal in their town.

The Canadian Press
"CALGARY -- George W. Bush wooed a packed crowd at a private luncheon in Calgary with his trademark folksy charm, while hundreds of protesters outside hurled insults and shoes at the former U.S. president's image. "

Signs included "No to U.S. Crimes Against Humanity," "Indict Bush For War Crimes," "Canada Is Not Bush Country," ane "Shoe Him The Door" -- a reference to the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoe at Bush during a news conference in Baghdad in December.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090317/Bush_calgary_090317/20090317?hub=TopStories

One man was arrested for throwing a flip-flop -- a two-dollar plastic go-ahead shoe -- at a building. Who arrested him? The fashion police?

One protester, who told CBC News he was "making a statement," tossed a plastic flip-flop sandal, which hit a building. Police handcuffed him and put him inside a police van.

"What are you doing arresting that man? The criminal is inside," shouted a protester while others chanted, "Let him go."

"I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to publicly voice my displeasure with the American foreign policy" under Bush, said Jeff Gaillus, who was carrying a rod with a shoe at the end of it. "I'm not sure what he has to tell us to shed wisdom on the future of the planet."

I guess no one told the protestors about Georgie Shoes' "folksy charm." I wonder if the one million dead Iraqis think he's cute, or the four million Iraqi refugees driven from their country think he's "folksy." I wonder how many people in the world will dare to refer to some "folksy charm" of this monster as the horrors of his destruction of the world economy become clear. How many people have to starve to death before the press stops covering up for this man, and somebody finally arrests him.

The Swan, from Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saens.

Scumbag Millionaires.

The money of all the working people in the world has been stolen by the banks, the financial cartels, and the rich. We need to go back it back.

AIG Bonuses: it's not confusing. Congress is feigning shock: "Oh my God, we gave away 700 Billion Dollars, No Strings Attached, and "those" people just took the money and spent it." Of course they did. That's the point. They've taken all the money out of the banks and out of Wall Street, hidden it offshore in secret private equity accounts so they could go to Congress and say "Eke, eke, we're broke," and see if the corrupt money-whores in Congress who are on Wall Street's payroll would actually give them more money. And it worked.

I say this: either Congress goes and drags those silk-shirt-wearing AIG criminals into prison and leaves them there to rot, or Congress should pay the people back the money they stole from us. From their personal secret off-shore private equity accounts, where they hide the bribes they're not supposed to be taking. One way or the other.

I don't think Congress is that weak or confused. I think they're just corrupt.

Oh Danny Boy, The Pipes, The Pipes Are Calling

"Danny Boy" is an Irish song, lyrics written by an English lawyer, and sung to an older tune named Londonderry Air. The song was first written in 1913, and first recorded in 1915. It soon became the most popular song of the new century.

People have different interpretations of the song. Some think it is a message from a parent to a son leaving Ireland as part of the Irish diaspora. Some say the phrase "the pipes, the pipes are calling," means the bagpipes traditionally played at an Irish funeral, and the father knows he will be dead before his son ever returns.

The song is considered am Irish anthem, some thinking of it as a particularly Irish-American signature song because of so many Irish who came to the U.S. in the Irish diaspora and never returned to Ireland.

Oh Danny Boy (lyrics as sung here; there are slightly different versions elsewhere)

Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the roses falling
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.

But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.

And when you come, and all the flowers are dying
If I am dead, as dead I well may be
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me.

And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me
And all my dreams shall warm and sweeter be
For you will bend and tell me that you love me
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me.

The Irish Potato Famine - Sculpture of Rowan Gillespie

The Irish Potato Famine and the deliberate genocidal ethnic cleansing by the British stand as one of the most horrific human rights tragedies ever in the history of the world. One million Irish people starved to death when a blight destroyed the potato crop for many years. Potatoes were the staple of the Irish diet. The English took all the other edible crops out of Ireland, and used them inside their already well-stocked pantries. The English "solution" to the starving Irish was to tell them to leave Ireland forever, creating one of the worst diasporas ever in modern history.

One Irish artist, Rowan Gillespie, created sculptures of the famine victims at a famine memorial at the Customs House Quay in Dublin, Ireland. He also created the sculptures which are part of the Ireland Park Foundation in Toronto, where many of the victims of the Irish famine fled in what became known as the "Coffin Ships," and often died lined up outside of Canada, forbidden to enter, locked into ship holds without adequate food or water.

http://www.irelandparkfoundation.com/index.php