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The Riot Act               
by The Usual Gang of Fools

QUOTE OF THE YEAR (SO FAR:)
"
Let’s get one thing clear once and for all: the only person who has ever been allowed to “reach out” (and, in her case, touch someone you love) was Diana Ross. Anyone else should just “get in touch with” their colleagues, perhaps even “write a letter” asking for their views. What was once a mild rash has become a contagious bug and we need to find a vaccine for all this reaching out. Not only is it a drippy, meaningless phrase, it also conjures up an unpleasant image of people’s sweaty paws grabbing at you.

"The people who 'reach out' are also those whose thinking is always 'blue sky,' who can’t describe anything vaguely contemporary without incorrectly enlisting phrases such as 'minimalist' or 'modernist' and who don’t have to hurry to the airport but need to 'rocket' there. But for now if we can just get everyone to delete 'reach out' from their memory banks, opening our emails in 2010 will be a less tense experience. And if they don’t, perhaps we’ll have to reach out – and grab them by the throat."
-- Monocle magazine

A Marist College poll shows how much we hate certain overused words.

The top 5 most annoying words:

  • Whatever: 47 percent
     
  • You know: 25 percent
     
  • It is what it is: 11 percent
     
  • Anyway: 7 percent
     
  • At the end of the day: 2 percent

    It may be a sign of our cultural laziness that we allow our communication to be so debased.  When it comes to the rich, cultural heritage of the English language, we should be ashamed to obfuscate our precious language.  Anyway at the end of the day, it is what it is, you know. Whatever.

    THE TOP NINE OR TEN CATCH-PHRASES OF THE 21ST CENTURY SO FAR...

    The No. 1 political catchphrase for the decade, according to the Global Language Monitor, is "We hear you!" Former President George W. Bush said those words standing in the rubble of Ground Zero following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City.

    Other political catchphrases of the decade are:

    Global warming/climate change (2000)

    War on terror (2001)

    Weapons of mass destruction (2002)

    Embedded (2003)

    Shock and awe (2003)

    The audacity of hope (2007)

  • Economic meltdown/financial tsunami (2008)

    Obamamania (2008)...

    NOW LISTEN UP YOU PEOPLE!! 

    On blogs such as this one you're supposed to rant, so I just wanted to mention that one of the things that really bugs me about some people is when they say, "Listen up!"  As soon as you say that I immediately stop listening.  If I were in the military and my DI said that, I'd listen.  I'm not so I don't. 

    I also stop listening to anyone who refers to me as part of a crowd when that person addresses us as "You people," or even worse, just "people."  As in "listen up, people."  What?  I was listening kindly till you addressed me in that demeaning, stupid way.    -- MS


     


    GO GREEN AND SAVE THE PLANET! (Not really, it's just corporate hype to save some bucks)
    Isn't it great how big corporations are allowing us to "go green" by letting them email our bills and junk ads rather than their having to mail them?  Gives you warm, green shivers doesn't it?  Never mind that the real reason they want us to "go green" is because it saves them postage and printing costs.

    The truth is it takes the procurement and refining of lots of metals and minerals (including gold and silver) and extensive molding of plastics and the use of hydrocarbons just to make a computer.  And guess how you run a computer?  Electricity that comes largely from the combustion of coal.

    And never you mind that dead electronic devices have become a huge stream of toxic waste that we have yet to fully deal with.

    I like paper bills and paper junk mail.  Besides, I'm Irish so I'm already green.

    BREAKING THE ICE

    ...We got a new refrigerator not too long ago.  When it happened my family leapt into the 21st Century. It's really nice because you don't have to use trays to make ice.  The icemaker works great, but it's just not the same as having big squares of ice for a soft drink.  These ice "cubes" are like big, thick half-moons.  Every time I reach for a handful of ice, I drop at least one "cube" on the floor. 

    I'm going to try the built-in ice crusher soon.  I'll probably find a way to drop some of that on the floor too.  But since they're not ice "cubes" anymore, what do I say to my family? "Oh, I just spilled another ice half moon again?" "Oh, look, again I spilled some slush?"  They're already worried about me.  I can't say that.  -- MS


    THE TROUBLE WITH THE NEW H1N1 FLU SHOTS IS MARKETING!

    Why does the cost of H1N1 flu shots keep going down?  Two months ago they were unavailable in my area, then when the vaccine showed up it was $20 a shot.  Now it's $10.  Maybe they'd sell more of the shots if they tried a different marketing approach.

    So many drugs have happy, smiley names, like Celebrex ("Celebrex good times, come on!!") and Ascenden ("I'm ascending, I'm floating my way up into the sky, ahhhhhhh") and even old Dimetapp (sounds cheap, huh?...but based on the real price they ought to call it "50-cents-a-tapp"). 

    The drug companies should rename the H1N1 shot and maybe call it "FluOver," like "YOUR flu fears are OVER!" (or like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest). 

    Or maybe they should call it "Affluent" to give consumers the feeling they're rich because they've had their shot.  Millions of people are out of work.  We need to hear words like "affluent."

    Considering how dangerous the shot appears to be to some people, maybe they should market it as "Advench-aflu." ("Be adventurous!  Get pandemic relief with Advenchaflu!")

    Or just market it as protection against a very strange flu, and base the campaign on price ("Your expensive $20 flu shot is now PRICED JUST RIGHT!  Get your shot, give us a $20 bill and we'll give you TEN DOLLARS BACK, guaranteed!  Now that's change you can believe in!").


    SIX STRANGE FOODS

    AlterNet has come up with "The 6 Weirdest, Scariest Processed Foods," and they are remarkable.  I already knew (did you?) that the prime ingredient in the white filling in Oreos is Crisco, a vegetable alternative to lard, but a fat is a fat.  The other prime ingredient is sugar.

    Did you know that the addition of chemicals like trisodium phosphate in Kraft Easy Cheese (the cheese from the spray can, remember?) causes much of the calcium to be leeched from the cheese-like product squirted from the can?  So Kraft has to add extra calcium to make up for it.

    Canned condensed soup contains about 90% of the sodium (salt) you should have in one day.  AlterNet says Spam is essentially pork-flavored Jello.  And what are those things that look like blueberries in blueberry waffles?  Are they blueberries?  No, they're bits of blueberry-flavored sugar. 

    And you may have looked at the ingredients in Kraft's guacamole dip and noticed that avacado is not an ingredient.  Real guacamole is always made with avocado, so how does Kraft do it?  Flavoring.  AlterNet points out that when this was brought to Kraft's attention, the dip was renamed "guacamole-flavored" dip.

    With as much Easy Cheese, Spam, Oreos and condensed soup we were fed when we were children, how did we live through childhood?


    TOP 100 funniest one-liners on the internet

     

     


     

     

    The Latest                             
    News Edited by Michael Kelly & Jack Bennett

    INDEPENDENTS ARE INCREASINGLY "GOING" CONSERVATIVE  -- 2010 GALLUP POLL
    "The rather abrupt three-point increase between 2008 and 2009 in the percentage of Americans calling themselves conservative is largely owing to an increase -- from 30% to 35% -- in the percentage of political independents adopting the label.
    Over the same period, there was only a slight increase in professed conservatism among Republicans (from 70% to 71%) and no change among Democrats (at 21%)."

    Why Snakebites Are About to Get a Lot More Deadly  After October 31st of this year, there will be a major shortage of the antidote to snakebites.  Add that to a severe shortage of black widow spider and scorpion antivenom and people are likely to die.  And the FDA is doing little or nothing about it.


    Texas Rep. Dr. Ron Paul Makes Southern Poverty Law Center's Watch List As "Patriot"
    The SPLC characterizes Paul as a "radical libertarian," who "represents an accessible brand of Patriot politics that helps validate and stoke fears of an overreaching government on the far right." Overlooked by the SPLC: Paul is a frequent critic of the Republican establishment.

    Rasmussen Poll: Statistical Tie Between Rep. Ron Paul and President Barack Obama If Election Held Today


    'Cure' is found for skin cancer
    A vaccine being tested in the UK has been shown to help some patients fully recover from melanoma, even in its advanced stages. It attacks tumor cells, leaving healthy cells undamaged and carries agents that boost the body's response to skin cancer.


    US military warns oil output may dip causing massive shortages within 5 years
    "The Energy Information Administration (of the department of energy) has been saying for years that Peak Oil was "decades away". In light of the report from the US Joint Forces Command, is the EIA still confident of its previous highly optimistic conclusions?"

    Are we running out of oil?


    White men shun Democrats 
    Millions of white men who voted for Barack Obama are walking away from the Democratic Party, and it appears increasingly likely that they'll take the midterm elections in November with them.  Why is this?

    OH NO, THIS SUCKS:

    May 7, 2010 | From theTrumpet.com

    The one demographic that is consistently profiled racially.

    White males have taken a beating in recent weeks. First it was legislators in Arizona, branded as Nazis in some quarters, because they had the gall to clamp down on illegal immigration. Then it was Arizonans in general, labeled as racist for supporting tougher legislation, even though this majority support included many Hispanics—those who are legal citizens of Arizona.

    Then there was President Obama’s snub of white males all across America. Trying to rally his base to carry Democrats to victory in 2010, Obama called on women, youths, blacks and Hispanics to get involved—as if white males had nothing to do with his 2008 victory. Back then, Obama was hailed as a great unifier of racial differences. And judging by exit polls, Obama the healer seemed to resonate with just about every demographic, including middle-aged white men. Forty-one percent of white males voted for Barack Obama in 2008. John Kerry only managed 37 percent of the white male vote in 2004. And given the immense size of the white voting demographic, one could easily argue that Obama’s popularity among white males was largely responsible for his comfortable win over John McCain. Yet today, judging by the president’s comment last week, the Obama Express seems to have left white males standing alone at the train station.

    Then there’s the failed terrorist attack at Times Square last weekend. When these kinds of frightening incidents happen, our leaders generally coach us to not jump to hasty conclusions and to minimize any Muslim connections. For example, after Major Hasan murdered 13 people at Ft. Hood in November, U.S. Gen. George Casey downplayed the role Hasan’s Muslim faith played in the killing spree. “As horrific as this tragedy was,” Casey added, “if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse” (emphasis mine throughout).

    For his part, President Obama pleaded for Americans to refrain from making judgments until all the facts had been gathered.

    These rules, however, do not apply when the suspect might be white.

    On Sunday, hours after the U.S. barely averted another terrorist strike in New York, thanks to an alert T-shirt vendor who noticed a smoldering suv parked in Times Square, law enforcement officials informed the media that they were looking for a “white male in his 40s.” Surveillance video caught the man suspiciously removing his shirt on a warm day.

    “He put the dark one into the bag that he was carrying,” New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly explained. “This happened about half a block away from where the vehicle was parked.”

    The suspect wore a red undershirt. He stuffed a dark shirt into his duffle bag. He was spotted near the car bomb. And he was white—the one bit of evidence reporters found particularly noteworthy.
    Earlier that same day, the Pakistani Taliban had accepted responsibility for the failed car bombing. But New York’s top police officer quickly dismissed the claim made on the Internet. “We have no evidence to support this,” Kelly said.

    The next day, on cbs evening news, Katie Couric asked New York’s mayor, Michael Bloomberg, if the failed terrorist plot might be a precursor to a larger attack. Bloomberg responded, “There is no credible evidence so far that this attack was more than at least one person, the driver. After that, there’s no evidence that anybody else was involved.”

    When prodded to speculate on who this loner might have been, Bloomberg said he was probably “home-grown, maybe a mentally deranged person or somebody with a political agenda that doesn’t like the health care bill.”

    Meanwhile, investigators were quickly closing in on the actual terrorist—Faisal Shahzad, a 30-year-old Pakistani Muslim who had obtained American citizenship in 2009. In February, Shahzad returned to the United States from Pakistan, where he learned about bomb making for five months in the Taliban stronghold of Waziristan.

    Soon after he arrived in the States, Shahzad paid $1,300 in cash for a 1993 Pathfinder—the suv he later rigged with explosives. On Wednesday of last week, Shahzad parked his other vehicle, a white Isuzu, in Times Square to serve as a getaway car on the night of the would-be bombing.
    After fleeing the crime scene last Saturday night, Shahzad inadvertently left his keys inside the bomb-laden Pathfinder.

    So instead of driving away in the Isuzu, he took a train back to his apartment in Connecticut, where his landlord helped him obtain a spare set of keys. On Sunday, Shahzad went back to Manhattan to retrieve the Isuzu.

    That same day, while going through the Pathfinder, investigators found fertilizer, gas, firecrackers, propane tanks, a gun and the keys to Shahzad’s apartment and two cars. Shahzad had stripped the Pathfinder’s identification number (vin) off the dashboard, but made the mistake of hiding it elsewhere in the suv he intended to blow up. Once investigators located the vin, they quickly linked the car bomb to its Islamic triggerman.

    After discovering the terrorist’s identity Monday afternoon, customs officials immediately put Shahzad’s name on a national no-fly list. Later that evening, at about the same time the New York mayor was speculating about a deranged tea partier being responsible for the attack, word leaked that authorities were hunting for a Pakistani-American.

    The manhunt was on. And Shahzad vanished.

    As we now know, when Shahzad learned that he had been targeted, he hopped in the Isuzu and rushed to jfk Airport. On the way, he contacted Emirates Airlines via cell phone and reserved a one-way ticket to Dubai.

    Because the airline failed to update its no-fly list, Shahzad was able to pay for the ticket at the counter, in cash, and make it through tsa security and onto the plane without incident. Only after a last-minute review of the passenger list by federal agents was Shahzad finally captured and taken into custody.

    Since then, we have learned more about Shahzad’s background and his links to terrorist organizations. In his apartment, authorities found a Koran and prayer beads. Shahzad was also an amateur artist whose masterpiece was a wooden carving he made to look like a mosque. Neighbors described him as strange and distant.

    But, as we have also learned, he was no loner. According to yesterday’s New York Times, evidence is mounting that the Pakistani Taliban, as it claimed immediately after the bombing, is responsible for inspiring and training Shahzad. In Pakistan, authorities have already detained several suspects believed to be connected to the bombing.

    According to the Times, American officials said “it was very likely that a radical group once thought unable to attack the United States had played a role in the bombing attempt in Times Square, elevating concerns about whether other militant groups could deliver at least a glancing blow on American soil.”

    In other words, this may well be the precursor to a much bigger attack. But before we jump to any conclusions about Muslim men, or their faith, let us remember the fundamental doctrines of political correctness: America’s greatest strength is its diversity. Any perceived threat against our diversity is of greater concern than terrorism itself. Also remember that Islam almost never inspires terrorism. And in the rare case that it does, we should downplay that reality. And why? Because the best way to fight terrorism is to avoid offending Muslims.

    Added to that list, we now know, is that those who violate the above rules are more dangerous than the terrorists themselves. And these violators, generally speaking, are middle-aged white males.

    On Tuesday, rather than apologize for targeting Republican tea partiers who oppose Obamacare, Mayor Bloomberg responded to Shahzad’s arrest by offering praise for the Pakistani community and its positive impact on New York. He then issued this stern warning to every non-Muslim in the region: “We will not tolerate any bias or backlash against Pakistani or Muslim New Yorkers.”

    Every ethnic group has “a few bad apples,” Bloomberg lectured, after dabbling in a bit of his own racial profiling the day before.

    And so, now that the dust has settled on yet another Muslim terror attempt on U.S. soil—in the past two years, more than a dozen people who fit the exact same mold as Faisal Shahzad have either supported or instigated terror attacks in America—we return to the status quo.

    Watch out for middle-aged white men. •

    Wait a minute.  What about people like me?

    Young white men?...

    Free Booklet

     


    California to Consider "Legalizing" Marijuana
    Good news for the makers of Twinkies, Hawaiian Punch and Doritos


    The Shiloh Letter      by Mike Shiloh       
    The Political Independent   Pronounced SHY-low, so don't accept cheap imitations.
    Mike Shiloh, an editor at TheLatest.Net, is an award-winning broadcast news reporter, anchor and Internet writer, a regular on CNN, as heard on KTRH, KRBE, KILT, KTRH, KKBQ, KSEV and KQUE.

    31% say America needs 3rd party
    According to the poll, more than 80% see problems with America's two-party system -- with 31% believing it's seriously broken and that America needs a third party, and with another 52% saying that it has real problems but that it can still work with some improvements. Only 15% of Americans believe the two-party system works fairly well.

    It was interesting to hear Dennis Miller on his syndicated radio show Wednesday night (5/12) say that if the Republicans don't take their winnings in this November's election and do something extraordinarily decisive, he's now willing to go Independent-3rd-Party.  From a years-long Republican like Miller, that means something significant.  He sounded very serious.  Kind of like when Michael Reagan (President Reagan's adopted son) went "very" Independent in 1999.

    Barack Obama plans to punish BP with tax hike as Gulf spill worsens


    As I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted, "Now is the time of the New Independents. The world is changing fast. It's time to make a new beginning for voters who are not Democrats, who are not Republicans. It's time to be very serious...but have some fun too."

    Many are good at jobs that are vanishing  Millions who have already been unemployed for months, if not years, will most likely remain that way even as the overall job market continues to improve, economists say. The occupations they worked in, and the skills they currently possess, are never coming back in style. And the demand for new types of skills moves a lot more quickly than workers — especially older and less mobile workers — are able to retrain and gain those skills.

    Obama gives unions sweeping new power to organize
    Labor unions will have an easier time organizing workers at U.S. airline and railroad companies after the Obama administration on Monday changed a 76-year-old rule on union elections. The change is a major victory for unions that have struggled to reverse years of decline in membership.

    What Oil Shortage?  The latest data from the Energy Dept.'s Energy Information Association shows that as of mid-March U.S. refiners were operating at 81 percent of capacity. There are 6 million barrels per day being deliberately left in the ground by the world’s oil producers.


    A PRECARIOUS ECONOMY...AND NOW IT'S FUNDRAISING TIME!

    The Postal Service has been threatening to stop Saturday mail delivery for decades...but in this bad economy and with email and social media proliferating, the USPS may -- may --  finally get its wish.

    "Delayed effects of the worst US recession" could close charities.

    Fortune "Magazine:" Americans are "fearful" because of the loss of jobs...but corporations are doing better than they have in a while
    Amazingly, as consumers struggle, U.S. corporations are staging a nearly unprecedented comeback that's largely escaping notice. The gargantuan, dispiriting job cuts that seem to dominate the news have also been the spur for an epic resurgence in profits.

    Yes, 47% of Households Owe No Taxes. But Look Closer...

    Jobless claims in another surprise surge
    The number of Americans filing for unemployment insurance for the first time jumped for the second week in a row, according to government data released Thursday.  The number of new claims was the highest since the Feb. 20 week, when initial claims totaled 486,000.

    Foreclosure rates surge, biggest jump in 5 years
    A record number of U.S. homes were lost to foreclosure in the first three months of this year, a sign banks are starting to wade through the backlog of troubled home loans at a faster pace, according to a new report.

    Giving up "television" -- thanks to the Recession?: By the end of last year, almost 800,000 U.S. homes ditched their cable, satellite or telco carrier in favor of watching their favorite television shows online, using Netflix rentals or even via over-the-air antennas, according to a new report from the Toronto-based Convergence Consulting Group.

    A question for those who say the housing and loan industries are in recovery: What about the resets in mortgages coming up over the next three years?  Mortgages that used variable interest rates in the "Alternative-A" category will start to reset over the next few months.  "Alt-A" -- meaning houses that cost a lot more than those in the "Subprime" category, and it was the Subprime mortgages that set off the mortgage crisis two years ago. Resets meaning that variable rates will increase and we don't know how many of those holding the mortgages will be unable to keep up the payments.  We won't know how bad the coming resets will affect the economy until later this year, and the resets will continue through 2013.

    A fundraising letter we received from Vice President Joe Biden: Under the misguided leadership of the Republicans, "our economy was in shambles. In fact, just days before the inauguration, we'd received news that another 700,000 Americans had lost their jobs....One year later we have brought the economy back from the brink of collapse.  We are now in the process of building the economy of the future -- an economy in which America's besieged middle class shares in the wealth they create.

    "Republicans want," Biden continues, "to stop us from expanding health care to the millions of Americans who don't have it. They want to stop us from rebuilding our economy and creating the jobs that Americans so desperately need.  And they want to stop us from enacting the financial reforms that will prevent Wall Street from ever taking up to the brink of economic collapse again... I served in the Senate for 36 years and in all that time, I have never seen more Republicans committed to permanent, unyielding obstruction."  Emphasis is the vice president's, who goes on to say that the November election this year will be crucial.

    Unemployment Rate for College Graduates Highest on Record

    We're going to have zombie capitalism for the next 15-20 years,' says Jim Rogers

    Layoffs, bankruptcies: Daily Job Cuts

    WITH THAT IN MIND, IT'S LESS THAN SIX MONTHS TILL THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS, SO IT'S FUNDRAISING SEASON BOYS AND GIRLS!

    It seems like half the political fundraising mail we get are in the form of a "poll," "survey" or "inquiry."  Perhaps the Democratic National Committee and the Republicans are interested in what we think, but most likely it's a marketing gimmick.  One of the hallmarks of modern marketing is the "Call to Action," meaning get the marketing target to do something, anything. Filling out opinion forms is a good call to action, especially if it causes recipients to send the form back -- along with a check.  

    Perhaps neither the Republicans nor the Democrats particularly care what Independents think, I guess, until it's election time. Of course, none of the questions in these "polls" would be considered scientific in any way; they're always written to the bias of the recipient. 

    For instance, one question from the ACLU fundraising letter asks, "The ACLU is urging Congress and the Obama administration to aggressively get the truth out about abuses of power and violations of the law during the Bush administration and pressing for a commitment to hold high-ranking officials accountable for any and all serious violations. Do not believe?  Somewhat believe? Believe? Strongly believe?"

    Republican fundraising mail we get seems to invariably use the term "Socialist" in connection with President Obama.

    Nearly all of the Democrat-affiliated groups point to Republicans as the reason the progressive agenda is "in trouble."  Most say President Obama has "pulled our economy back from the brink of collapse." Many talk ominously about an "energized GOP."

    The Union of Concerned Scientists is circulating a "petition" calling on ExxonMobil to "take the lead in the research and development of renewable energy sources" and is calling on Wendy's restaurants to "reduce the purchase of meat produced from animals that are given antibiotics when they are not sick."

    The Democratic Governors Association (dedicated to electing state governors from the Democratic Party) points out that 37 governors races are at risk for Republican takeover in this year's elections. Governors will of course have a pivotal role in redistricting.  And "GOP insiders say 25 to 30 congressional seats could go to Republicans as a result of" redistricting.

    A number of Republican fundraising letters seem to be attempting re-emphasize basics: "Limited government, limited spending, legal immigration, the national motto "In God We Trust" and "believing in our troops and our freedom."  Most of them appear most concerned about "policies that cost billions" and don't make any sense, like the "cap and trade" bill and Obamacare.

    Emily's List is recruiting Democrats -- especially women -- to run for office or at least support candidates who reflect the pro-choice agenda. The group -- dedicated to placing pro-choice women into office -- calls this year's midterm election "perhaps the toughest ever." Officially, Emily's List says Republicans are to blame for the limited successes the Democratic Party has had over the past 4 years, especially in the last two.

    In letter after letter, Democratic pollsters and fundraisers are calling this a "critical year," concerned about the increasing political opposition from Republicans. Notable are fundraising letters from James Carville and Nancy Pelosi, who's letter for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is promising a dollar-for-dollar match of private contributions by "a group of committed Democrats."

    The League of Women Voters is making an issue of transparency in government, stating that "Americans are concerned that their government is more responsive to special interests with deep pockets than ordinary citizens."  They state their support for holding the Obama administration and Congress to more openness and accountability.

    The league is also asking members whether they're concerned about "protecting individuals' basic Constitutional rights from increased government surveillance and wiretapping."

    The Southern Poverty Law Center has George McGovern (Democratic presidential candidate 1972) writing letters for fundraising.  The connection is: the Law Center's Morris Dees was once a campaign organizer for McGovern's campaign.


    THE ENDLESS WAR BETWEEN REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS CONTINUES:  Opponents of the "Tea Party" movement say they'll do what they can to make Tea Partiers appear to be racist and homophobic.  Those opponents say they'll start by infiltrating rallies.  There's a rally today in Boston, as members "battle for the soul of America."


    No Recovery On Main Street

    Despite talk of an economic recovery, there are a number of signs that the effects of this deep recession continue unabated: personal bankruptcies, for instance.  There were 158,000 filed in March alone; that's nearly 7,000 bankruptcies filed each day!

    The Labor Department said Thursday (April 8) that first-time unemployment claims increased by 18,000 in the week ending April 3, to a seasonally adjusted 460,000. That's worse than economists' estimates of a drop to 435,000, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.

    We haven't reached the bottom of the unemployment curve yet; employers are still laying off.

    "Real" unemployment is at about 20 percent of the US workforce. It's now called "underemployment," meaning all those who are looking for fulltime work but can't find any work AND counting those who have part time jobs but want fulltime jobs. 

    At the height of the Great Depression (1933, 4 years after the 1929 stock market crash) the "real" unemployment rate was  about 25 percent.  Counting the people who have dropped out of the job market and aren't even looking for work anymore, today's unemployment figure might approach that of the Depression.

    More than 11,000,000 people are now collecting some type of unemployment compensation.

    With that kind of unemployment, Americans will probably not look favorably on talk among some in Congress about amnesty for illegal immigrants this year.  With so few jobs available for legal residents, the view by many appears to be that amnesty will increase the legal workforce at a time when many are struggling to keep or find jobs.

    Forbes: Fifty-four percent of Americans surveyed in a new Pew Research Center poll said there had been a time in the past year when they or someone in their household had been without a job or looking for work. A year ago 39% gave that response. That's a huge change--and only one of the many survey indicators revealing the widespread pain from this recession. In another question in the poll, only 10% said there were plenty of jobs available in their communities, while 85% said jobs were hard to find.

    In a new ABC News and Washington Post poll, a plurality described themselves as middle-class. Of this group, 41% said they were struggling to remain in the middle class, 52% comfortable in it and 6% moving beyond it.

    AOL's WalletPop's LIST OF STORES CLOSING THIS YEAR:

    1. Ann Taylor: As part of its strategic restructuring program, this women's clothier will close 72 stores in 2010 after closing 60 stores in 2008 and 42 in 2009. Of the 2010 closing, about half will be Ann Taylor stores and the other have Ann Taylor LOFT stores.

    2. Blockbuster: The movie rental store will shutter between 500 and 545 "underperforming" domestic company-owned stores. Of these, 253 were closed in January.

    3. Jones Apparel: It will close 165 of its specialty retail stores this year, primarily in malls.

    4. Waldenbooks: After disappointing holiday sales, parent company Borders Group Inc. will close 182 Waldenbooks Specialty Retail stores, following the closure of 112 stores in 2008 and 66 stores a year from 2001 to 2007.

    5. Footlocker: As part of an initiative to consolidate its Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker, Kid Foot Locker and Footaction operations under one management structure, Foot Locker has already closed 106 "underproductive" stores during the first quarter of 2010 and eliminated 120 corporate positions. The company also closed 179 stores in 2009.

    6. Sam's Club: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is closing 10 financially "underperforming" Sam's Club locations in the United States; however, it also has plans to open six new stores this year.

    7. French Connection: The fashion retailer will close 17 "underperforming" stores in the United States and sell its Nicole Farhi business as part of a restructuring plan.

    8. Men's Wearhouse: Due to geographic overlap caused by its 2006 acquisition of the AfterHours Formalwear chain, the company has identified 145 stores that it will likely close.

    9. Williams Sonoma: The specialty retailer plans to close an undisclosed number of stores, in large, multi-store markets during the next three years.

    10. Macy's: The department store plans to close five "underperforming" stores, while also opening new ones.


    Interviews With Legends of Television Hit the Web

    Paul Burke, ‘Naked City’ Star, Dies at 83

    New Set-Top Box Promises To Bring 3D to Television

    5 things to hate about HDTV

    Patrick Swayze: Near the End, He Said...

    America's Favorite TV Dad Is...

    Digital Contacts Will Keep an Eye on Your Vital Signs


    I still hate the fact that every time I type in the word "Obama" my Spellcheck wants to correct me.  It's about time the White House orders a universal Spellcheck correction.  I don't want to tell you the alternatives Spellcheck wants to replace "Obama" with.   -- MS


    It was a sad day when John Hughes died.  He was the brilliantly talented comedy writer and director who made so many great movies, from the "National Lampoon's Vacation" films to the "Home Alone" movies to my personal favorites, "The Breakfast Club" and "16 Candles."

    In case you missed his obituaries, he worked hard and became a solid filmmaker, but was also known to be a fine human being, something of a rarity in Hollywood.  Maybe that's why he didn't spend his last years in LaLaLand.

    Here's a very touching blog from a Hughes fan who got to know him pretty well and can corroborate Hughes' kindnesses -- and fondness for those of us who loved his work:

    wellknowwhenwegetthere.blogspot.com

    Meanwhile, One of the funniest people in America has died.

    You may not have heard of him, but to me Larry Gelbart was more than just a comedy writer -- he was one of the funniest men of the 20th Century.  He wrote one of your favorite TV shows, plays, stories, radio shows and movies, I'll bet.

    He started making up jokes as a high-school kid, and would tell his jokes to singer/comedian Danny Thomas.  It was easy because Gelbart's father was Thomas' barber, so Larry would spin joke after joke, cracking up Thomas with his one-liners, and considering how boring haircuts can be, Thomas must have been quite impressed. 

    (That was the 1930s, when men were men, soldiers were dogs and stylings were haircuts.  The great 20th century singer Perry Como started out as a barber.  If you've ever heard Como, can you imagine getting Perry to cut your hair, sing you a song, and then have 16-year-old Larry Gelbart tell you a few jokes?  The price of a haircut would have gone up!  Well, okay, that was way before my time, but I can imagine.) 

    Danny Thomas, the guy who discovered Gelbart, was also the guy who much later launched Dick Van Dyke into superstardom (1962). He did the same for his daughter Marlo Thomas (the TV series "That Girl" 1966), Mary Tyler Moore, Andy Griffith, Don Knotts and so many others.  Thomas kept talking about that "funny kid" Larry Gelbart.

    Soon (still the 1930s-'40s) Gelbart was writing radio material for big stars like Bob Hope, Eddie Cantor and later Jack Paar ("The Tonight Show").

    He was also a writer -- along with Woody Allen, Neil Simon, Mel Brooks and other greats -- on Sid Caesar’s genius “Your Show of Shows” TV series in the mid-1950s.  That crew of writers was the real-life inspiration for later movies ("My Favorite Year," "Laughter on the 23rd Floor") and TV series (such as "The Dick Van Dyke Show").

    Gelbart's biggest hit, though, came 30 years later when he developed "MASH" for television and wrote many of the early (funniest) episodes.   He created the character named Klinger.

    Gelbart also wrote for the stage, his most successful production being “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." It's one of the big stage success stories.  High schools, colleges, regional theaters still perform it today.

    And you guessed it: he covered all media, writing movies like “Tootsie” and “Oh God.”

    For cable TV (HBO) he wrote "Barbarians At the Gate" among others.  Larry Gelbart lived 81 years. 

    I was privileged to interview him in 1998.  He had his wits about him even on an early workaday-weekday California morning, and it ain't easy being funny on the radio at 8 or 9 in the morning, being reminded of events that happened 40 years ago.  But he was intelligent and thoughtful and private about his personal life, but hilarious.  He lived and breathed comedy, as the cliché goes.

    For most, he entertained us in ways we may not even remember. 

    Even though you may never have heard of him, if you were to gather all his work together, you would have to agree he was one of the funniest men anyone anywhere can think of.

    At least we still have his contemporaries, the names we can remember: Woody, Mel and Neil.


    Perhaps it's a story of the often-thin line between talent and madness...

    Speaking of the Houston Press, it's now ten years ago that the little Oil Town weekly free-paper did a heartbreaking history on the rise and fall of a quite talented filmmaker from Texas named Eagle Pennell.

    When I knew him he was one of the most enthusiastic would-be movie directors you'd ever want to meet.  He had such charm because this gangly young guy dearly loved to talk about movies, just as my friends and I did.  Later he started to become successful and for some reason, his downhill slide was much too quick. 


    Eagle Pennell 

    Not long before he seemed ready to descend upon Hollywood with a resume that you might envy, he ended up a homeless derelict.  Still, I raise a glass to you, Eagle. I know you wish you could be here to be part of it, both for the glass and to once again talk film.

    The grande auteur of Eagle's Houston Press story, Steve McVicar, caught up with Pennell for this tender story just as Eagle's psyche eventually caught up with Eagle, you might say. Never mind McVicar's crass judgment that Pennell was a "loser."  To me, it's a tragedy in the classic sense of the term:

    FADE TO BLACK

    Eagle's insightful movie about hope and hopelessness in The Lone Star State -- The Whole Shootin' Match -- has now been released on DVD:

    LET THE EAGLE SOAR


    A tribute took place in Toronto the other day for one of the greatest rock groups in history.  The Band.  Not just any band, THE Band.  As I wrote at The Band website back in 1999...

    The music of The Band will go down as among the best of the 20th century. It invokes a timeless feeling that approaches that of any of the great "orchestras" of the big band era. added to classic images from American country music, religion, history, myths and literature (yes, and film and rock and roll), wedded to a mid-20th century point of view.

    The Band's music is classic, at once soothing and bold, at once jolting and mystical. It's music for the ages, for all ages. No group of five musicians has done anything like it before or since. And the more you come to understand the music, the more you understand the unique contribution of each artist, each Bandmember.

    The sharing of the music by each musician -- the musical restraint by each gifted artist in service of the song and the performance -- may be The Band's greatest untold legacy, because each member was (and is -- God rest you, Richard and Rick) a brilliant solo artist alone, lost in a tempest of commercial music trends, saved by membership in this mature and highly-styled collaboration.

    -- Mike Shiloh


    Cass Sunstein, US "Regulation Czar:" Brain food: The [legal] theory of lies  
     

    Entire contents copyright © 2010 by Michael Shiloh, Jack Bennett, Michael Kelly