Thursday, April 30, 2015

Insomniac Theater: `They Sold A Million`.

Badfinger were a British rock band that originally consisted of Pete Ham, Mike Gibbins, Tom Evans and Joey Molland. The band evolved from an earlier group called The Iveys that was formed in 1961 by Ham, Ron Griffiths and David "Dai" Jenkins in Swansea, Wales. They were signed by the Beatles' Apple label in 1968 as The Iveys. In 1969 Griffiths left and was replaced by Molland, and the band renamed itself Badfinger.

Badfinger had four consecutive worldwide hits from 1970 to 1972: "Come and Get It" (written and produced by Paul McCartney), "No Matter What", "Day After Day", and "Baby Blue". Their song "Without You" has been covered many times, including a Billboard number one hit for Harry Nilsson....

                                                 -------------------------------------------------------
In 1970, the band engaged American businessman Stan Polley to manage their commercial affairs. Over the next five years the band recorded several albums for Apple and toured extensively, but became embroiled in the chaos of Apple Records' dissolution. They signed to Warner Bros., but Polley's financial machinations resulted in a lawsuit by Warner over missing escrow account money. Warner's consequent withdrawal from market of the 1974 album, Wish You Were Here (seven weeks after its release), cut off the band's income. Three days before his 28th birthday, on 24 April 1975, Ham committed suicide by hanging himself, leaving a note that included damning comments about Polley.

Over the next three years, surviving members struggled to rebuild their personal and professional lives against a backdrop of lawsuits. The albums Airwaves (1978) and Say No More (1981) floundered, as Molland and Evans see-sawed between cooperation and struggle in attempts to revive and capitalise on the Badfinger legacy. Having seen Ham's body after Ham's wife had called him, Evans reportedly never got over his friend's suicide, and was quoted as saying in darker moments, "I wanna be where he is." On 19 November 1983, Evans also took his own life by hanging...


Taxi

We Now Conclude Our Broadcast Day: Trainwreck 1979

Roger McGuinn & Marty Stuart - Turn, Turn, Turn (Live)

Ole Buttermilk Sky

Bubblegum Pop too good not to post: Bobby Sherman - Julie Do You Love Me (Live)

#Sharpton Gets In Physical Confrontation With #Fox News Reporter #BaltimoreRiots

It's Drink O'Clock Thirty: Gettin' Lucky

It's Drink O'Clock: Your Woman - White Town

What the Holy #Hell? #GeorgeSoros May Owe #UncleSam Billions?

Photo Credit
Bloomberg Business: George Soros likes to say the rich should pay more taxes. A substantial part of his wealth, though, comes from delaying them. While building a record as one of the world’s greatest investors, the 84-year-old billionaire used a loophole that allowed him to defer taxes on fees paid by clients and reinvest them in his fund, where they continued to grow tax-free. At the end of 2013, Soros—through Soros Fund Management—had amassed $13.3 billion through the use of deferrals, according to Irish regulatory filings by Soros. 
Congress closed the loophole in 2008 and ordered hedge fund managers who used it to pay the accumulated taxes by 2017. A New York-based money manager such as Soros would be subject to a federal rate of 39.6 percent, combined state and city levies totaling 12 percent, and an additional 3.8 percent tax on investment income to pay for Obamacare, according to Andrew Needham, a tax partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Applying those rates to Soros’s deferred income would create a tax bill of $6.7 billion.
Want to read more? Click here.

#BillClinton Lands Unexpectedly in Tanzania

by Kim D.
A plane carrying former President Bill Clinton made an unscheduled landing in Tanzania Wednesday after a problem with one of the plane's four engines was identified, CBS News has learned. The engine was repaired, and the aircraft was on the ground at the Dodoma fueling station less than 45 minutes before taking off again. 

#Hillary Welcomes #Bernie to the Race

#MichaelMoore to the Rescue - #BaltimoreRiots #2A #BitterClinger

by Kim D.

Thank goodness Michael Moore has chimed in with his two cents on how to solve the problems Baltimore citizens face! When you vote for big government, that's exactly what you are going to get.

Fling open those jail cells and let em all loose! 

Actually, all kidding aside, he makes a good case for those pesky 2nd Amendment rights. Who knew chubs was a bitter clinger? 

Vintage #BernieSandersForPresident #NoBernieNo

by Kim D.

Get ready folks - what we saw today when Sanders announce his candidacy was "vintage" Bernie. Progressives will expect him to be the "scolding" Socialist warrior.

The Day #Adolf Bit the Cyanide Capsule - #RightingAboutHistory

by Kim D.
Photo Credit
On April 30th 1945, we bid a not-so fond farewell to Nazi Fuhrer Adolf Hilter when he committed suicide by ingesting a cyanide capsule then popping a cap in his Jew-hating noodle. Care to read more? Click here.





#OTP Issues: Don’t “Ship” My Kid – That’s My Job!

by Kim D.


A huge hat tip to Virginia Kruta for being one of the first to discuss the very odd notion of teachers shipping students. So, exactly what is this? “Shipping” students, a controversial topic currently swirling with opinion on Tumbler, is quite simple. It  is the pairing of students in an attempt to foster possible relationships, whether they be platonic or romantic. Reading, writing, and arithmetic – that was what I received in school, and, call me crazy, it is the role I want educators to play in my son’s life as well. I am not interested in teachers, knowingly or unknowingly, “shipping” my child.


But, hold up, you might say, haven’t teachers always practiced a form of “shipping” when they assign student seating or project collaboration? Yes and no, it all depends on the intent of the teacher assignment. If teachers perceive their role is to help students succeed academically, they may assign weaker students to work alongside stronger ones. This is not practicing overreach into a student’s life. However, if teachers make strategic student pairings with the intent of social engineering, then, yes, the practice has gone too far.


One teacher on Tumbler defended this practice by claiming the act of “shipping” is human nature. The argument is that we all see possible romantic pairings and secretly desire to act in a way that promotes successful relationships. Teachers spend the majority of their working day with children and have a vested interest in seeing them grow academically and socially. This teacher further claimed that her students were always asking for romantic advice, to which she felt justified in giving her version of “Dear Abby.”  In further defense of this action, she simply claims it is helping a student who requests intervention.
But is that a teacher’s job? Should a teacher not refer such student questions back to the parents, encouraging a family values’ dialog? Or, if a student is experiencing issues and is not comfortable discussing romantic issues at home, does the school system not employ counselors who would be better suited to give such advice?

Yes, I know, my son is only five, but the “shipping” in my his life comes from me. I have always been the one who decided the play dates and sent birthday invitations, encouraging my son to develop friendships with both boys and girls, ignoring social, ethnic and economic boundaries. The extra-curricular activities we enjoy as mother and son have introduced us to a wide range of friendships. 

And, yes, I’m more than positive, that my son’s teacher is not interested in pairing preschool students in order to form relationships, although she does seat students strategically to encourage appropriate and academic behavior. The notion that in later years another teacher might see my son, who is rather cute with a charming personality, and wish to see him in a relationship (platonic or romantic) and feel the need to “position” his time in the classroom in order to facilitate the finding of his OTP (one true pairing) is rather creepy. Teachers are, in part, parent employees, paid via taxes or tuition. The job is challenging at times but basically simplistic in theory. Teach children the academic skills needed to be successful in life. Leave the “shipping” or fostering of relationships to parents and counselors.

#Cher Goes Mental Over #FreddieGray #BaltimoreRiots

by Kim D.
This hysteria was in response to reports that another prisoner was in the van at the time of Gray's arrest who is telling a shocking story that proposes an alternate theory to death by police brutality. According to The Washington Post,
A prisoner sharing a police transport van with Freddie Gray told investigators that he could hear Gray “banging against the walls” of the vehicle and believed that he “was intentionally trying to injure himself.”
If this is the defense the Baltimore Police try to use to explain the death of Freddie Gray, prepare for the worse. The rage will be Ferguson on steroids.

Bodacious #BernieSandersCampaignSlogans #Bernie2016

by Kim D.

Now that Senator Bernie Sanders has laid down the gauntlet and made the declaration to challenge Hillary Clinton for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, he needs some catchy campaign slogans. Here were some helpful suggestions via Twitter:
All of them were very good and are worthy of Bernie's consideration, but @ThePoliticalHat gets extra credit for some mad Russian skills:
Translation: All of your money belongs to us.

#Geraldo - Round 2 #BaltimoreRiots

by Kim D.

Yeah - it's got to be the mustache that brings out the vitriol. The video is crappy, but you'll get the gist

Bernie's in it to Win it! #NotReally #Bernie2016

by Kim D.

Well, I guess Hillary Clinton won't get an automatic coronation as the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee. Senator Bernie Sanders has announced he's interested in the job as well.
Or . . . is Sanders really serious about thwarting a Clinton nomination and possible presidency? Is he simply in it to prop up a half-assed dog and pony show primary for the Democrats? 

As reported by The Guardian
Read more here

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

We Now Conclude Our Broadcast Day: Vincent

First I Look At The Purse

Easy Livin' (New Version)

Dance Little Jean

It's Drink O'Clock Thirty: It Hurts Me Too

#Geraldo Nearly Comes to Blows with #Baltimore Protester

by Kim D.

Maybe it's the mustache that incites so much anger . . . Geraldo is lucky a chair wasn't nearby.

Bernie Sanders? Hell, I want to see THIS guy primary Hillary...


Dan Joseph: The Joe Biden Song (The Groper)

Economy plunges into further fall back with horrible 0.2% GDP growth rate for 1Q2015. Obama to announce economy moving along smoothly under Obamanomics.

By Rob Janicki

What President Obama knows about economics could be inscribed on the head of a pin in capital letters.  

Expect every Obama sycophant and talking head to spin this poor GDP quarterly number as a one time event and that the remainder of the year will show increased growth.  Even if there is growth in the remainder of 2015, the question still arises as to what that growth will be.  Will it be enough to generate a significant or at lease decent increase in jobs creation?  At the present time consumer spending may be slowing down relative to consumer saving, even in light of the consumer savings with the decreased cost of gasoline at the pump.

The U.S. economy ground nearly to a halt in the first three months of the year, according to government data released Wednesday morning, as exports plunged and severe winter weather helped keep consumers indoors.

The gross domestic product grew between January and March at an annualized rate of 0.2 percent, the U.S. Commerce Department said, adding to the picture of an economy braking sharply after accelerating for much of last year. The pace fell well shy of the 1 percent mark anticipated by analysts and marked the weakest quarter in a year.

It takes a minimum of a 2% GDP growth rate just to keep up with growth in the population.  The 0.2 annualized GDP growth rate indicates that jobs are actually being lost relative to the growing potential work force numbers.  I would expect that the work force participation rate will also reflect this significant decline in GDP.  This will probably artificially bring in an unemployment rate consistent with today's rate of 5.5% unemployment, which then, is totally misleading.  As more people drop out of looking for work because of the hopelessness, unemployment actually appears to drop or at least remain the same.  

Read more here

RadioActivity: Hall of Fantasy - The Night The Fog Came

I've seen two original broadcast dates for this episode.
Dec 21, 1953 and the date I suspect is correct March 23, 1953 

Gangsta's Paradise #BaltimoreRiots

by Kim D.

Robert Valentine Vietnam Vet on #BaltimoreRiots: I'm Not Black, I'm An American - CNN Interview

Dept of Energy declares Green Energy guaranteed loan program $2.2 billion loss...a success.

No surprise here. Americans bomb Pew test of basic political knowledge.

By Rob Janicki

The Pew Research Center regularly survey tests on this topic.  The survey was conducted March 10-April 6 among 3,147 adults who are part of the Pew Research Center’s American Trends panel.

Take the 12 question test HERE and see how you stack up with the Pew Center's panel results.  The survey results will let you know how you compared with all other survey test takers.

For the complete article at Politico, go here

Monday, April 27, 2015

We Now Conclude Our Broadcast Day: Slumming On Park Avenue

It's Drink O'Clock: I Talk To The Wind

Covered California on death watch as enrollment fails to reach sustainability

By Rob Janicki

California's state exchange for Obamacare, called Covered California, is in deep financial trouble, even after spending an unbelievable $1.1 BILLION dollars in federal setup money.  It's hard to imagine how a state could bungle such an astronomical number of dollars and run it right into the ground, but California liberals are quite practiced in creating such fiscal disasters.  All one has to do is look to the state's own in-house annual ongoing fiscal budget disaster to understand how mismanagement has become a way of life for liberal politicians in the Golden State.  

Back to Covered California on life support.

Indeed, there’s no more money coming from Washington after the state exhausts the $1.1 billion it received from the federal government to get the Obamacare exchange up and running. And state law prohibits Sacramento from spending any money to keep the exchange afloat.

That presents an existential crisis for Covered California, which is facing a nearly $80 (sic $80 million) budget deficit for its 2015-16 fiscal year. Although the exchange is setting aside $200 million to cover its near-term deficit, Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee acknowledged in December that there are questions about the “long-term sustainability of the organization.”


Looking further into the numbers reveals just how tenuous the existence of Covered California really is.

The state auditor’s warning appeared prescient as of Feb. 15, which was supposed to be the close of open enrollment for 2015: Covered California had fallen 300,000 enrollees short of the goal set by Mr. Lee and the agency’s board of directors.

Indeed, Covered California’s enrollment growth for 2015 was a mere 1 percent, according to a study this month by Avalere Health. That was worst than all but two other state exchanges. Meanwhile, California’s Obamacare exchange managed to retain only 65 percent of previous enrollees, the nation’s fourth-lowest re-enrollment rate.


No one can be certain what the end will look like for Covered California.  Will it die with a groan or a flurry of fireworks or will it somehow limp along for another year.  Since this is virgin political territory there is no certainty of what the final outcome will look like.  Whatever the outcome, it will not be a good one for consumers depending upon Covered California.

A problem with Covered California is that it's just one level above the state version of Medicaid, called MediCal, which serves those below a designated poverty level.  In both cases of Covered California and Medi-Cal, there is limited coverage in terms of medical providers willing to accept either insurance program.  I can attest to this since the urology group I visit twice a year does not accept Covered California.

More news on the condition will be seen in the coming weeks as we see whether enrollments somehow spike astronomically to keep Covered California on life support and sustainability.

Our New Vid: Hillary Clinton - The End Is Near









Blacks Riot In Baltimore Attack Whites And Police Do Nothing

Updated: #ProteinWorld Won't Apologize for #BeachBodyReady Ad and Tells Outraged Feminazi Regime to #GetAGrip

by Kim D.

While I agree that the perfect beach body is quite difficult for the majority of women, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that if women want to wear bikinis at the beach they should be respectful of other beach goers and not do so if they have excessive flesh that perhaps may not be pleasant to look at. It's not fat shaming. It's reality. If you don't look good in a bikini, simply don't wear one; there are plenty of other bathing suit attire choices available.

But, then again, I'm not an outraged Feminist, gnashing and grinding my teeth over the recent ad from Protein World which features an attractive, thin female wearing a tiny yellow bikini and promotes weight loss products by asking "Are You Beach Body Ready?" I'm not so triggered by a model in a bikini that I need deface posters and demand Protein World retract and change its advertisement. But, the Feminazis are.
The regime even began a petition on Change.org to remove Protein World's ads. According to the petition's creator,
The ridiculousness of this whole situation is that Protein World is a business that promotes weight loss and a healthy lifestyle. The intent of the ad is not fat shaming. Those who perceive it as such only reveal how sensitive and insecure they truly are. I mean, after all, what visuals make the most sense to promote Protein World's products? 
I predict the result of this Feminazi outrage will do wonders for Protein World's bottom line. The company will sell more product due to perhaps controversial yet extremely effective advertising. Couple that with the fact that the company refuses to bend to the will of the regime and change its advertisement, Protein World will garner far more respect and customer loyalty in the long run.

Judge Jeanine: Hillary Clinton is the worst possible choice

Washington state high school junior class boycotts Common Core standards testing.

By Rob Janicki
Just when you think the youth of America is going down the toilet and taking America with it, comes this rather uplifting news.

It seems the Junior Class at Seattle's Nathan Hale High School isn't exactly thrilled with the latest state testing, called Smarter Balanced, and administered to determine if student academic achievement has met the national Common Core standards.  Parents, teachers and administrators in some numbers are also not inclined to accept the Common Core standards and the testing related to these standards.

Not a single junior at Seattle’s Nathan Hale High showed up to take new state tests in reading and math this week, a school-district spokeswoman said Thursday.

Testing started Tuesday at the school, where a group of teachers, administrators, parents and students had earlier agreed to boycott the exams, called Smarter Balanced, which are replacing Washington’s old statewide tests.

Under pressure from the district’s top administrators, the school’s leaders capitulated, sending an email to families saying they would give the test after all.

But the 280 juniors — who don’t need to pass the Smarter Balanced exam to graduate from high school — opted out anyway.


As a retired high school teacher, I would oppose the testing based upon any national standards set by the U.S. Department of Education, which I believe should either be abolished, or, at the very least, significantly reduced in scope and authority over local schools and school districts.  Allowing the federal government to set standards allows bureaucrats to establish a "group think" outcome.  Such setting of standards should reside within the local school districts in conjunction with their state board of education and there is a good reason for this.

Local schools, school boards and communities of students and parents are the best institutions for structuring the educational framework that best meets and suits the needs of the students and the community they reside in.  American public education was created and based upon local control.  It was never envisioned that the federal government would regulate education across all of America.  The thought that far off Washington, D.C. and the bureaucrats of DoE are better suited to determine what is best for all America is simply a subterfuge to establish a "group think" along the political lines and ideology of the liberal left, which has infiltrated every federal agency. 

More details of this protest can be found at the Seattle Times.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

We Now Conclude Our Broadcast Day: Just Along for the Ride (Live)

So It Goes

#Hookers for #Hillary

by Kim D.

They have a four-point platform y'all:

  1. Healthcare reform protection
  2. Foreign policy experience
  3. Support for agencies that protect public health
  4. Prevention of a return to trickle-down economics

Medicine Jar

Bad Things

It's Drink O'Clock Thirty: Get Your Daddy's Car Tonight

It's Drink O'Clock: Mustang Sally Bought a GTO

The Who - Barbara Ann

One of Those Days

Chevy Shut Down

#UberFact Is Nothing More than an #UberFailure #CrackAHistoryBook

by Kim D.

Yes this was posted to the Twittersphere by a Twitter "jack" . . . I mean "dumb" ass:
UberFacts needs to brush up on history a bit. Democrats, like President Jackson, prefer to be portrayed subliminally as an ass. Republicans have traditionally preferred the symbol of an elephant.

RadioActivity: Command Performance - Premiere Episode (March 1, 1942)

Command Performance is a radio program which originally aired between 1942 and 1949. The program was broadcast on the Armed Forces Radio Network (AFRS) with a direct shortwave transmission to the troops overseas. It was not broadcast over domestic U.S. radio stations.
Command Performance radio broadcast c. 1944
with 
Jane RussellBob Hope and, in background,
 
Major Meredith Willson conducting the AFRS band.

The program was produced before an audience in the Vine Street Playhouse in Hollywood, California, and recorded via electrical transcription. The weekly listening audience of military personnel was estimated at 95.5 million.
Troops sent in requests for a particular performer or program to appear, and they also suggested unusual ideas for music and sketches on the program, such as Ann Miller tap dancing in military boots. Top performers of the day appeared, including Jack Benny, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Fred Allen, Ginger Rogers, Judy Garland and The Andrews Sisters...   READ MORE


The #Epic Rant of @TamahJadaClark - "F*ck This Court and Everything it Stands for"

by Kim D.

When people don't have the resources to hire a lawyer to fight on their behalf, they have two choices: (1) deal with whatever the legal system throws at them or (2) fight back. Tamara Jada Clark, a self-described "Floridian-American," has chosen the path of most resistance and is fighting the legal system on behalf of her family. But, when her original complaint was summarily dismissed by a judge in Georgia, she fired back on April 20th with a "Notice: To F*ck This Court and Everything that it Stands For."

In her nine-page legal notice, Mrs. Clark does not mince words in her criticism of the judge:




Some may dismiss Clark as a foul-mouthed loon. Others will see her profanity-laced rant like I do, an epic example of simply following the "Get Told Flowchart":  Does someone need to get told? No. Then don't. Yes. Then tell them! 

The back story isn't quite clear, but from what I gather Clark's husband was arrested in Georgia in 2009 and sentenced for 30 years in jail. Then the next year Tamah was arrested and charged with plotting to break her husband out of prison. However, let this sink in . . .

This is true. The courts have not convicted Mrs. Clark of anything she has been accused of doing. She is free and able to fight the justice system on behalf of her family. On her website, Clark defends her rant:

Yes, I am aware that my language was strong, to say the least; however, I am very passionate about the subject matter and have grown fed up with the persistent injustice that is rapidly effectuating a societal paradigm increasingly reminiscent of dictatorial fascism.  

Contrary to the idiosyncrasies of those who would bemoan my actions and pre-judicially attempt to categorize me in a manner that quarantines the heart of my message, I really am not such a horrible person. Furthermore, I am not an anarchist, “sovereign citizen”, or other misfit denomination. What I am is this: a concerned American.


The VA, working to disarm law abiding veterans without due process.

By Rob Janicki

It's too bad the VA can't work as diligently on providing timely services for the veterans it is mandated to serve, rather than trying to engage in Gestapo like tactics to violate the constitutional rights of the veterans it purports to serve.
 
It's not that the Veterans Administration doesn't have enough to do to keep them occupied, what with the scandal with VA hospitals stonewalling vets on medical services ending in death for some veterans waiting months for life saving services.  Now we find out the VA is a snitch on veterans who may or may not be having psychological problems.  Whatever happened to doctor/patient confidentiality?  Apparently in the VA system, a veteran patient loses his or her right to privacy and due process.

The scandal-ridden Department of Veterans Affairs has been running a secret program in an effort to confiscate veterans’ guns by sending personal medical and financial information to the FBI. This information is being used to evaluate veterans as mentally incompetent and subsequently bans them from owning a firearm without proper legal backing. Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has expressed deep concerns over these VA evaluations:

"But there’s something wrong when a whole class of people get swept up and denied the right to own guns because if you’re on this list with the Department of Justice and you go in to buy a gun…and they see your name, you can’t buy a gun."

So, without a formal psychiatric evaluation of a veteran patient in a VA facility, the VA surreptitiously sends the Department of Justice medical and financial information on a veteran patient without that patient's knowledge.  What ever happened to due process?  Whatever happened to having a competency hearing to determine the mental state of a veteran patient?  This is a blatant plan to disarm law abiding American veterans under the guise of an authority that the VA does not possess.  And all of this is being done without the knowledge of the affected veteran.

And what's with the VA forwarding a veteran's financial records to the DoJ?  What relevance does this have on the mental health of a veteran?  There's more to this situation and hopefully Senator Grassley  and his Senate committee will get to the bottom of this travesty of justice.

Friday, April 24, 2015

We Now Conclude Our Broadcast Day: Looking Out For Number One

Bryan Ferry - All Along the Watchtower (Live)

Time Has Come Today (live)

Rock & Roll

Young Lou Reed


Later Lou Reed

Blood and Roses

Goodbye, Eric Holder!



It's Drink O'Clock: Me And The Boys

It's Drink O'Clock: Cracking Up