By spocko, on January 29th, 2012% I often have conversations with people who don’t exist to illustrate real conversations I know about and have a 93% confidence level have actually happened. Here’s a conversation I had last night about Mitt, taxes, GE and strippers. I’m not lying, I’m writing fiction with my mouth. — Homer Simpson
Over a single malt whiskey at the Scruples Lounge in Bridgeport, Connecticut I spoke to Sam Johnels, junior deputy tax guy for General Electric.
“We totally could have gotten the Government to pay Mitt. The guys he hired? PricewaterhouseCooper? More like Pricy Underwater Houses Pooper! They couldn’t figure out how to get the IRS to pay him? Idiots. If we were in charge of his return, he would be getting $3.2 million from Uncle Sam instead of paying out one thin dime.”
“Do you think that the fact that Mitt was running for President had anything to do with how they structured the returns?” I asked.
“I suppose so, I hate all that political ‘What will it look like to the regular people?’ bullshit.
“Our job is to make the tax system our bitch. That’s why at GE we hire former IRS and Treasury people. It’s an embarrassment to our . . . → Read More: “Mitt paid 13.9% in Taxes? Sucker!” GE Tax Guys Taunt Romney’s Tax Guys.
By spocko, on January 25th, 2012%
At the GOP debate on Thursday will Wolf Blitzer ask Mitt, Newt, Rick or Ron any question with the tenaciousness we see on display in this video at a European Central Bank press-conference in Ireland?
I doubt it, but it could happen. It should happen. After all, Blitzer is an Emmy award-winning anchor for CNN and is also a recipient of the Peabody award for his Hurricane Katrina coverage, the Alfred I. duPont Award for his coverage of the tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia and an Edward R. Murrow Award for CNN’s September 11 coverage. Let’s hear his own words of advice to CNN iReporters (their citizen journalist program) on asking questions:
Q: What tips do you have for getting people to get comfortable and open up?
A: My rule of thumb is to be polite but firm in asking the questions and trying to make sure I get the answers.
Q: What is the one piece of advice you wish you were taught about interviewing that you had to learn on your own?
A: The most important thing is to listen to the answer and follow up when appropriate.
Why . . . → Read More: What Wolf and You Can Learn from the Irish Press for the GOP Debate
By spocko, on January 22nd, 2012%
Now some of you might laugh and consider this a silly reason for Mitt’s loss. I disagree. This is a very important thing to note. It is so important that it was the subject of the mainstream political press just five short years ago during the last Presidential campaign. Only that time the person not wearing a flag pin was Sen. Barak Obama. On Oct 4th, 2007 the Drudge report ran the story, “Obama Drops American Flag Pin.” It was then picked up by the national main stream media.
The exact same thing should happen here with Romney and Paul not wearing flag pins.
Matt Drudge, ABC’s Good Morning America and ABC’s World News, host Charles Gibson should all cover it (BTW, must credit Spocko of Spocko’s Brain) at the same level as the coverage of Obama’s flag pin story. This time it is not a Democrat but a Republican skipping the flag pin, shouldn’t they know better?
I look forward to Sean Hannity saying the same things about Mitt Romney and Ron Paul for not wearing a flag pin as he said about Obama. It shouldn’t make a difference if the person is a Democrat or a Republican . . . → Read More: Why Did Mitt Lose to Newt? No Flag Pin!
By spocko, on January 4th, 2012%
By spocko, on January 3rd, 2012% The last days of a Christmas tree.
By spocko, on January 2nd, 2012% Clearly someone had enought with the New Year’s resolution to lose weight.
By spocko, on December 25th, 2011%
Just heard this Christmas song for the first time today. Very funny. Bare Naked Ladies.
“Elf’s Lament”
I’m a man of reason, and they say “‘Tis the season to be jolly” But it’s folly when you volley for position
Never in existence has there been such a resistance To ideas meant to free us If you could see us, then you’d listen
Toiling through the ages, making toys on garnished wages There’s no union We’re only through when we outdo the competition
I make toys, but I’ve got aspirations Make some noise Use your imagination Girls and boys, before you wish for what you wish for There’s a list for who’s been Naughty or nice, but consider the price to an elf
A full indentured servitude can reflect on one’s attitude But that silly red hat just makes the fat man look outrageous
Absurd though it may seem, you know, I’ve heard there’s even been illegal doping And though we’re coping, I just hope it’s not contagious
You try to start a movement, and you think you see improvement But when thrown into the moment, we just don’t seem so courageous
I make toys, but I’ve got aspirations Make . . . → Read More: The Elf’s Lament with Lyrics
By spocko, on December 16th, 2011% Irena Briganti, Senior Vice President Media Relations Fox News
Dear Ms. Briganti:
On Monday December 12, 2011, Fox News Network, L.L.C., broadcast a chart entitled Unemployment Rate Under President Obama. The source was listed as the 2011 Bureau of Labor Statistics. Numerous writers have pointed out the visual errors in this chart (link) and called into question whether they were genuine mistakes or intentional efforts to mislead.
Note where 8.6 is at the end of the chart in relation to earlier numbers
I would like to hear your official statement about this chart and its errors; and how it came to be created and broadcast. I would also like to know if there will be any consequences for the people who created and aired this chart.
Toward that end, I would direct your attention to an internal memo Fox News Corporation (FNC) management sent to its newsroom staff in November 2009 (emphasis is mine):
Effective immediately, there is zero tolerance for on-screen errors. Mistakes by any member of the show team that end up on air may result in immediate disciplinary action against those who played significant roles in the “mistake chain,” and those who supervise them. That may . . . → Read More: Dear Irena Briganti: Anyone Ever Fired for On-screen Errors at Fox?
By spocko, on December 11th, 2011%
Turn on captions for more Community lyrics goodness. Mistletoe for eat-y taste good?
I love Community. And as with all the programs I love, it is being canceled.
Well, we’ll always have Cwistmas.
By spocko, on November 4th, 2011% I’ve been writing lately about how to deal with the vandals at the #occupy movement in my piece yesterday at Firedoglake, Time to Identify the Occupy Vandals. Today my friend Sara Robinson wrote an excellent piece on dealing with people with over-the-top behavior. I think this will be useful context for thinking about dealing with outliers.
By, Sara Robinson, Senior Fellow, Campaign for America’s Future
November 4, 2011
I wish I could say that the problems that the Occupy movement is having with infiltrators and agitators are new. But they’re not. In fact, they’re problems that the Old Hippies who survived the 60s and 70s remember acutely, and with considerable pain.
As a veteran of those days — with the scars to prove it — watching the OWS organizers struggle with drummers, druggies, sexual harassers, racists, and anarchists brings me back to a few lessons we had to learn the hard way back in the day, always after putting up with way too much over-the-top behavior from people we didn’t think we were allowed to say “no” to. It’s heartening to watch the Occupiers begin to work out solutions to what I can only indelicately call “the asshole problem.” In . . . → Read More: Occupy’s Asshole Problem: Flashbacks from An Old Hippie
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