Fuck Chase Bank!

If anyone has a Chase credit card please beware... Chase is raising monthly minimum payments from 2% to 5% effective August 1st.

Like the average American I owe 10K on a Chase credit card, so my minimum monthly payments just jumped from 200 dollars to 500 dollars per month. They roped me in with a low 3.99% offer. I usually paid a 3% minimum monthly payment anyway, but forcing you to pay an extra 300 bucks a month is a backbreaker.

Chase is asking for too much, too soon from the American consumer.

So I have done the balance transfer offer, will be closing accounts and changing my banks very soon. Then transfer my mortgage to anyone other than Chase. Chase has lost a customer and I suggest to everyone, do not deal with Chase.

This is how Chase pays back the American people after we bailed them out with TARP money!

Fuckers!

FRIDAY F U N

• Fallen Princesses
• "News" that you might have missed
• Okay, Californians, YOU try balancing the state budget!
• Kinetic sketching
• Body counts of Clint Eastwood films
• Abandoned places
• Hidden meanings in popular logos

Blackberry Addiction - Watch a funny movie here

The Michael Jackson we all enjoyed (moonwalk and all):

From Robert Reich:

Why the Critics of a Public Option for Health Care Are Wrong Without a public option, the other parties that comprise America's non-system of health care -- private insurers, doctors, hospitals, drug companies, and medical suppliers -- have little or no incentive to supply high-quality care at a lower cost than they do now. Which is precisely why the public option has become such a lightening rod. The American Medical Association is dead-set against it, Big Pharma rejects it out of hand, and the biggest insurance companies won't consider it. No other issue in the current health-care debate is as fiercely opposed by the medical establishment and their lobbies now swarming over Capitol Hill. Of course, they don't want it. A public option would squeeze their profits and force them to undertake major reforms. That's the whole point. Critics say the public option is really a Trojan horse for a government takeover of all of health insurance. But nothing could be further from the truth. It's an option. No one has to choose it. Individuals and families will merely be invited to compare costs and outcomes. Presumably they will choose the public plan only if it offers them and their families the best deal -- more and better health care for less. Private insurers say a public option would have an unfair advantage in achieving this goal. Being the one public plan, it will have large economies of scale that will enable it to negotiate more favorable terms with pharmaceutical companies and other providers. But why, exactly, is this unfair? Isn't the whole point of cost containment to provide the public with health care on more favorable terms? If the public plan negotiates better terms -- thereby demonstrating that drug companies and other providers can meet them -- private plans could seek similar deals. But, say the critics, the public plan starts off with an unfair advantage because it's likely to have lower administrative costs. That may be true -- Medicare's administrative costs per enrollee are a small fraction of typical private insurance costs -- but here again, why exactly is this unfair? Isn't one of the goals of health-care cost containment to lower administrative costs? If the public option pushes private plans to trim their bureaucracies and become more efficient, that's fine. Critics complain that a public plan has an inherent advantage over private plans because the public won't have to show profits. But plenty of private plans are already not-for-profit. And if nonprofit plans can offer high-quality health care more cheaply than for-profit plans, why should for-profit plans be coddled? The public plan would merely force profit-making private plans to take whatever steps were necessary to become more competitive. Once again, that's a plus. Critics charge that the public plan will be subsidized by the government. Here they have their facts wrong. Under every plan that's being discussed on Capitol Hill, subsidies go to individuals and families who need them in order to afford health care, not to a public plan. Individuals and families use the subsidies to shop for the best care they can find. They're free to choose the public plan, but that's only one option. They could take their subsidy and buy a private plan just as easily. Legislation should also make crystal clear that the public plan, for its part, may not dip into general revenues to cover its costs. It must pay for itself. And any government entity that oversees the health-insurance pool or acts as referee in setting ground rules for all plans must not favor the public plan. Finally, critics say that because of its breadth and national reach, the public plan will be able to collect and analyze patient information on a large scale to discover the best ways to improve care. The public plan might even allow clinicians who form accountable-care organizations to keep a portion of the savings they generate. Those opposed to a public option ask how private plans can ever compete with all this. The answer is they can and should. It's the only way we have a prayer of taming health-care costs. But here's some good news for the private plans. The information gleaned by the public plan about best practices will be made available to the private plans as they try to achieve the same or better outputs. As a practical matter, the choice people make between private plans and a public one is likely to function as a check on both. Such competition will encourage private plans to do better -- offering more value at less cost. At the same time, it will encourage the public plan to be as flexible as possible. In this way, private and public plans will offer one other benchmarks of what's possible and desirable. Mr. Obama says he wants a public plan. But the strength of the opposition to it, along with his own commitment to making the emerging bill "bipartisan," is leading toward some oddball compromises. One would substitute nonprofit health insurance cooperatives for a public plan. But such cooperatives would lack the scale and authority to negotiate lower rates with drug companies and other providers, collect wide data on outcomes, or effect major change in the system. Another emerging compromise is to hold off on a public option altogether unless or until private insurers fail to meet some targets for expanding coverage and lowering health-care costs years from now. But without a public option from the start, private insurers won't have the incentives or system-wide model they need to reach these targets. And in politics, years from now usually means never. To get health care moving again in Congress, the president will have to be clear about how to deal with its costs and whether and how a public plan is to be included as an option. The two are intimately related. Enough talk. He should come out swinging for the public option.

Bits & Pieces

Not as much of a bummer.

May his music live on forever, though.

Bummer.

May she RIP.

The case for deflation happening next

Look at question #31 in this Washington Post-ABC News Poll. Half of Americans polled say it's okay to consider torturing suspected terrorists. What the fuck is wrong with us?!

Republican politicians apologizing for infidelity.... that's just so 'yesterday'.

What do you do when you've fallen behind on your mortgage payments, you declare bankruptcy, you move out of the house, and the bank refuses to forclose, thus forcing you to maintain ownership?

A son's Father's Day story

I never thought that I'd agree this completely with Bill Maher. The important part of this starts at the 1:57 mark.

Bits and Pieces for the Week of June 14 - 20

Another right wing terrorist attack. This time they kill a 9 year old girl and try to blame it on the Mexican border drug wars. Hate is hate... time to stop this shit in advance. (7 of 6)

FRIDAY F U N

• Wow. This video compilation really drives home the meaning of "luck".
• Game: Drive your own ocean liner.
• Clouds
• Literal Videos
• Tokyo a la time-lapse
• What if there really were x-ray glasses
• Bonds Explained
• I got a call on my cell phone. Didn't recognize the number so I didn't pick up or call back. Then I typed the number into Google and got this site which tracks comments from people who receive calls from unknown numbers. Pretty cool.

I don't necessarily agree with everything Peter Schiff touts in this video but he makes quite a compelling case that verges on the accusation of a conspiracy by Uncle Sam.

OUR YOUNG CANNOT SUSTAIN THESE DEPLOYMENTS!!

"At least 128 U.S. soldiers killed themselves last year... Through April, (2009) 91 soldiers had committed suicide."

15 months after Iraq bloodbath, young veteran takes his life On March 7, 2007, Army Spc. Trevor Hogue was inside his barracks in Baghdad, describing his morning on the battlefield. "I saw things today that I think will mess me up for life," Hogue typed to his mother, Donna, as she sat at her computer thousands of miles away from Iraq, in Granite Bay. That day the young soldier, whose assignment included driving a Humvee through perhaps the most dangerous ZIP code on the globe, saw his sergeant blown to pieces. He saw the bodies of half of the men in his platoon torn apart. Heads were cut off and limbs severed. It happened 30 yards in front of him, and he had never been so afraid, he told his mom. "My arms are around you," Donna Hogue wrote. "You'll be alright." But Hogue never really recovered. Last week, he committed suicide by hanging himself in the backyard of his childhood home. He was 24 years old. According to the Army, soldiers are killing themselves at the highest rate in nearly three decades, surpassing the civilian suicide rate for the first time since the Vietnam War. At least 128 U.S. soldiers killed themselves last year, a number that has risen four years in a row. The death toll could be even higher this year. Through April, 91 soldiers had committed suicide. Hogue's death, because it occurred after he was discharged, is not included in those statistics. But his friends and loved ones believe he was a casualty of war as much as any soldier on active duty. "You think that they are safe when they get back home," Donna Hogue said, tearfully reading printed messages that she and her son exchanged while he was at war. "They're not. The reality of the things that they experienced continues to haunt them."

I don't know what to say... As a disabled Veteran who suffers from PTSD and Bi-Polar disorder, everyday is a struggle. My condolences to the family of Trevor Hogue and all the other military families who have lost loved ones to suicide. I truly believe they were killed on the battlefield... they just didn't know it yet.

I live today with similiar questions... I have to constantly remind myself there are no easy answers but viable alternatives. I will take my medicine daily, give myself a chance and call a V.A. Doctor if I need help. I have a family who loves me and I will not hurt their feelings.

Bits and Pieces for the Week of June 7 - 13

Sicker than the sick... there is actually a group of anti-abortion activists who were jailed for protesting Focus on the Family. Whew, that's what you really call, "right wing extremism." (7 of 6)

The right wingnuttiashpere is now trying revisionist history... the Holocaust Museum shooter was a "Leftist"! (7 of 6)

Someday soon we'll be able to extract drinking water from the air. (Mike)

Should you trade in your gas guzzler? (Mike)

In other health related news... "American Medical Association Trying To Torpedo Health Care Reform Again". Seems like I want my primary care Doctors to be more interested in my health than the bottom line. (7 of 6)

"The World Health Organization told its member nations it was declaring a swine flu pandemic Thursday _ the first global flu epidemic in 41 years... WHO said it decided to raise the pandemic warning level from phase 5 to 6 _ its highest alert _ after holding an emergency meeting on swine flu with its experts." (7 of 6)

A small amount of happiness about our current media... Lou Dobbs ratings are down. His attacks on Obama's policy, his anti-immigration stance and second amendment rights screeds, have failed miserably. Maybe Mr. Independent should stick to his reporting of how corporate America is screwing over the middle class. UPDATE: After the shooting at the Holocaust Museum, it's possible that Lou's rants have brought the response he really wanted. (7 of 6)

Oh no!! Grab the kids and lock the doors! The first Gitmo prisoner is inside our borders. (Mike)

This year's graduates of the school of factual journalism (Mike)

Great cartoon.... just too offensive for this blog. (Mike)

Come on Obama... I thought this was a priority... time to stop the fraud, waste and abuse conducted by private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan. (7 of 6)

This video may have originated in Canada, but it's not about Canada. If this guy's predictions are accurate then life as we know it is over. If he's only half-right then saying "tough times are ahead" would be a gross understatement.


Contrast this with what you're hearing in the MSM about our economic recovery starting later this year, and you head will start spinning.

Here's a video where an economic guru portends hyperinflation (in contrast to the video above), but otherwise also says that the worst is yet to come:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Peter Schiff
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Newt Gingrich Unedited Interview

So now what do we do?

Bits and Pieces for the Week of May 31 - June 6

Timing is not one of the stronger suits of Christian Extremists. Days after Dr. Tiller was assassinated in church, a church pastor tells his flock to bring their guns to church for a celebration (of guns and religion). (Mike)

My state of California, in response to its financial woes, is trying to reshape state government from a rectangle into a triangle. (Mike)

Check out this video of Obama going out to get a hamburger. The reactions of the customers are priceless. (Mike)

Besides his being black, the hidden corporate powers that actually run the U.S. might use this as a reason to conspire to have Obama assassinated. (Mike)

Don't look to Dow Jones as an economic indicator. (Mike)

In response to the Republican Conservative Terrorists' claim about Dr. Tiller's late-term abortions (Mike)

Didn't the DHS come out with a report warning everyone about right wing extremists... causing the right wing pundits to ridicule and ask for the resignation of DHS head, Janet Napolitano. Unfortunately, the suspect in Dr. George Tiller's assasination is a "Militia Member". "A bombmaker, tax protester, member of the "sovereignity" movement, anti-abortion zealot and Operation Rescue member: the arrested suspect manages to fit every stereotype of right-wing militia teabagger." I thought anti-abortion activist's cherish and love life? What say you now right wing pundits... pretty accurate report, eh? RIP Dr. Tiller. (7 of 6)

FRIDAY F U N

• 10 great moments from Sesame Street
• The art of folding paper
• Wikipedia For Dummies and Compare it with regular Wikipedia
• Create your own tombstone
• Monkeys in space
• Seeing a movie this weekend? Find out the best time to go pee during the movie.
• Star Trek business cards
• Nifty way to park in tight spots
• A Skittles commercial with a small cannibalistsic twist
• A colleague of mine is an avid scuba diver and photographer. Here is her photo gallery of dives off the coast of Belize a few weeks ago.

As you can imagine, here in L.A. we're getting revved up for the NBA Finals which starts tonight. This LA Times columnist explores the "Beat L.A.!!" chant that is popular with most other NBA cities (and for most professional sports, for that matter...).

Don't beat L.A.! Join us! Chris Erskine - June 4, 2009 Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.! Why does everyone want to beat L.A. all of a sudden? I don't get all this "Beat L.A." stuff, even as the chant seems to grow in arenas and ballparks around the nation. You hear it in Portland. You hear it in Boston. We hear it from that little bunny hutch of Orlando. Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.!! Beat L.A.!!! It's as if we've become the Evil Empire, or the shiny Russian dude in "Rocky IV." In the near corner, Los Angeles. In the far corner, the world. Beat L.A.!!!!!!! Sure, we've had a few little issues. Rappers and wacked-out starlets seem to run rampant here -- their bug-eyed mug shots popping up everywhere. And you'll probably never forgive us for "Three's Company," and we deserve that. You must understand that only a small fraction of the population makes unforgivably bad television. The rest of us . . . well, we're pretty much the same as you. In the real L.A., we tend the tomatoes, rush to the monthly meeting for Pack 515, sell gift wrap for the school at Christmas. The real L.A. gets to the game early to open the snack bar and rake the infield, goes to the farmer's market on Saturday for cheap grapes, watches the neighbors' house when they're away. Like you, we get to work early, come home a little late, drink too much Trader Joe's merlot, fall asleep during the monologue. Beat L.A.? Why not New York? Why not Orlando? It's not as if Orlando is Rome. I've been to Orlando. In Orlando, the best restaurant is a Dairy Queen. Orlando has cockroaches the size of Reese Witherspoon. Here in L.A., we're no better, but we're no worse. We're just another congested American city struggling to make the best of it. Turns out our most talented baseball player is juiced. So's our governor (lot of good that did us). For gawd's sakes, we don't even have a pro football team, unless you count USC, which many of you do. That's not our only civic embarrassment. There's that awful cathedral, for example. There's the Grove. There's Cher. And think of all the other things we don't even have. Our drinking water is disappearing, our ocean is overfished. In fact, the only fish left in the Pacific these days are a bunch of unemployed surfers (Tip: Try them broiled with a spritz of lemon). Our schools are reeling, our budget is upside down. We don't need your scorn, we need your old clothes, your empty bottles and cans. The way things are going in California, we'll be out of tequila by July. You want to see this state in real turmoil? Take away our Cuervo Gold. To be fair, look at all that Southern California has done for the rest of the world. How about "The Wizard of Oz," only the greatest movie ever, unless you're counting the "The Dirty Dozen." How about "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour," merely the best TV show of all time, hands down. Don't forget the Marx Brothers, Johnny Carson, Steve Martin and Mickey Mouse. Don't forget Jimmy Stewart, Steve McQueen, Annette Funicello and Alyssa Milano. L.A.'s really a remarkable place. If you go on TV, in almost any capacity, the mayor will immediately date you. And think of the lifestyle changes that we've helped to introduce. Once upon a time, didn't L.A. play an instrumental role in that whole free love movement? What's so wrong with free stuff? What's so wrong with love? Well, plenty, but would you rather pay for it? Would you rather sleep solo? So please, America, get over this whole "Beat L.A." obsession, it's so beneath you. For once, why don't you try embracing L.A. Come on . . . have a little hug. For free. Just be careful where you squeeze. Many of us are about 50% saline.

The other 50%? Enchiladas and lattés.

"Israeli settlement policy is the Amy Winehouse of foreign affairs." - - - Juan Cole

A term I really hate: "Deja Vu all over again" which literally means "The illusion of having already experienced something actually being experienced for the first time all over again". Yeah, that makes a sh*tload of sense. (Mike)