Duke Didn't Want to Apologize

And clearly, they didn't mean it when they did:

 "Duke had agreed to submit a public statement of penance for the way it mishandled its merger with Progress and fired CEO-to-be Bill Johnson on the day the merger was completed. Lawyers at Duke and at the Utilities Commission had agreed on a draft of the letter....

Rogers submitted his letter Tuesday. Several hours later, however, the company was forced to submit a corrected version, this time adding two key words: “we apologize.”

“This was a draft mix-up at our end – we basically submitted the wrong draft,”"

You just can't make this stuff up folks.  The North Carolina Utility Commission has  officially been walked all over, again.  And they know, and don't seem to care much:

"Public Staff Director Robert Gruber had been publicly demanding Rogers’ ouster as a moral equalizer.
Gruber said Tuesday that Rogers’ letter signals that Duke and the commission have reconciled.
“They owed the commission an apology in plain English,” said Gruber, whose agency represents the public in utility rate cases. “I’m satisfied it brings closure to the matter.”"

I'm sure the Duke authorities have learned their lesson and will never try to fool the commission, their shareholders, the legislature, and the general public again after such harsh treatment:

"As part of the settlement finalized this month, Duke will pay $30 million to benefit North Carolina customers and Rogers will retire by the end of next year. The settlement also reassigns two top Duke executives to other roles."

 Oooooooooh, $30 Million for all of us?  That's like being Duke CEO for like, 3/4 of a day or something, and we all get to share it.  Mmmmmm hmmmm, feelin' that satisfaction!

Dumbass in the Seventies, Dumbass Now

But Can They Eat 50 Eggs? - NYTimes.com
The column where Maureen Dowd admits she didn't know who Roger Staubach was when she went to a football game in the 70's.  That explains this column, where she overcriticizes freshly re-elected President Obama, while gushing over a rookie QB with a 5-6 record.  See, she didn't recognize greatness then, or now.  Dumbass.

Advice for the Republicans

Grand Old Planet - NYTimes.com
Krugman tellin' it like it is!  Repubs should listen, but they won't.  A shame.

Progress ing to Higher Rates with Duke

Who could have seen this coming?  Progress Energy and Duke Energy are merging, and this is supposed to bring savings to consumers, and keep jobs in North Carolina.  Well, here we have their first new request for a rate hike since the "merger", and we already know they plan layoffs as the merger progresses.  At least there is some modernization happening, switching from coal to natural gas, for instance, but that will ultimately save the company money too.  They might quit the coal, but they're saving the shaft for us citizens/consumers of literal monopolized power.  It's time to re-think how we deal with the electric grid and the monopolies that exist in the energy industry, as a first step in a long term solution for our energy challenges. 

Help Big Bird

Hilarious!

 

And speaking of Big Bird, here's a tune from Eddie Floyd with Steve Cropper on guitar.  Big Bird.

The Sealy Mattress Story

It all started one cool fall night, the moon was full when she brought her new lady-friend up to my room after the party....

oh, wait, not that kind of Sealy Mattress story, no, this one involves less enjoyable pursuits for the humans among us.  But there is a class of folk, some say human, who enjoy nothing more than a forced corporate takeover or a leveraged buyout... ah, the sheer power of it all, muhahaha!!  I'm getting ahead of the story.  First, a little Sealy history:

...The failed deal, known as "burning bed," led to a dramatic slow-down in leveraged buy-outs.
In 1990 Ohio Mattress assumed the Sealy name...  Bain Capital and a team of Sealy's senior executives acquired the company in 1997.   In 1998 Sealy announced that it was moving from Cleveland to the High Point, NC, area.

In 2004, the company was acquired by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and a team of Sealy management. The deal was valued at $1.5 billion but included significant debt.  The company operated as a privately held corporation until 2005. "

Say these guys who flip these companies take significant risks to keep these companies going to benefit the shareholders and by happenstance, the workers, and America as a whole.  That's why they make the big bucks!  But, what if their investments weren't that large, and their personal profits guaranteed at the expense of the shareholders and workers?  Would that be capitalism working?   Because that's what they did, time and again.

Josh Kosman has an interesting new article at Salon about what happened with Bain & Sealy.  The whole article is worth reading, it's not too long and really lays it bare:

 Mitt Romney’s Bain led a $791 million buyout of Sealy in 1997, putting $140 million down and, in typical private-equity fashion, having Sealy borrow the remaining $651 million to finance the deal and assume responsibility for paying it back. ...

 (Despite the "one-sided mattress" and other mismanagement under Bain mentioned in the article) Bain and co-investors sold — “harvested,” if you like — Sealy in 2004 to fellow private equity firm KKR for $1.5 billion ($5.78 a share), pocketing $741 million for its $140 million investment. ...KKR then took Sealy public in 2006 at $16 a share.

 AND why is this news now?  

 Relative upstart Tempur-Pedic agreed to buy Sealy this week for $2.20 a share, paying less than $250 million for its stock and assuming its $750 million debt.

Thus Sealy joins Burger King and others on the list of Bain-acquired companies that collapsed soon after Bain cashed out — hardly surprising, since private equity is mostly about squeezing businesses as hard as possible, not creating long-term value...

 A longtime Sealy executive told me he was very sad about last week’s sale. “I don’t like being acquired by an upstart like Tempur. We should have figured out how to handle them in the marketplace.” Now, some of Sealy’s 4,500 workers will likely lose their jobs in the merger.

"Oh, that's chump change for a guy like me!"

That article at Salon is really worth a read.  Why should a company get tossed around by five investment groups in 10 years?  Let's hope Mitt doesn't do to America what Bain did to Sealy.  In fact, let's not give him the chance.

Proof Tax Cuts for the Rich Help the Economy

I mean, Where is the proof tax cuts for the rich help the economy?  Ruth Marcus takes on the fallacies of Romney's "plan" in her Washington Post editorial, with the introduction of things called "facts" and "numbers".  The nerve.

"Consider: The economy grew at 3.9 percent from 1950 to 1970, when the average top marginal income tax rate was 84.8 percent. From 1987 to 2010, when the average rate was less than half that (36.4 percent), economic growth was far less robust, 2.9 percent.

This comparison might be misleading because multiple factors affect the economy, so the CRS looked at a shorter, more recent time span.
From 1987 through 1992, the top average marginal income tax rate was 33.3 percent. Economic growth averaged 2.3 percent.
From 1993 through 2002, after taxes increased under President Clinton, the average top marginal rate was 39.5 percent. Economic growth averaged 3.7 percent.
Finally, from 2003 through 2007, after the Bush tax cuts, the average top marginal rate was 35 percent. Economic growth averaged 2.8 percent.

If you were going to make a causality argument from these figures, it would be that lower taxes correlate with lower growth. Such a leap isn’t justified — but where is the proof supporting Republicans’ insistence that lower rates fuel growth?"

How about that?

What Would Mohammad Do?

Looking for reasonable Muslim voices out there in media-land?  Well, I found one, Nahed Eltantawy, a professor at High Point University, and she has a terrific column in the Greensboro News & Record:

"Probably every Muslim has heard the story of Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) and his non-Muslim neighbor.

Every day this neighbor would throw garbage in the prophet’s way so as to irritate him, and every day the prophet would walk away peacefully. One day, the prophet walked out of his house and did not find his neighbor who threw garbage. What did the prophet do? He knocked on the neighbor’s door and asked her if she was all right. The neighbor, who had fallen ill, felt very ashamed by her actions.

The moral of the story? Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) never once used anger, let alone violence, to respond to his neighbor, or to others who expressed hatred and violence toward him. Why, then, are some Muslims using rage and violence to honor and defend their prophet? Why can’t we follow in his path and learn from his teachings?"

 Sell it to the street, my lady!

Racists: A Column for You

I don't see how racists can read columns like this one by Leonard Pitts, and still come away not realizing that they are racists.  I found this column to be uplifting and full of the kind lessons we need to keep toward the top of our social consciousness.  It's a short read, but sure will stir ya:

"...why should “Don’t Re-Nig” come as a surprise? It’s just the next logical step.
One cannot openly express one’s hate — right up till the day one can. Though even then, one may have to delude oneself."

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/23/3014528/racist-bumper-stickers-dont-stop.html#storylink=cpy

The Hiker Who Could Have Been President

Imagine a Southern Protestant Christian who didn't sound like a 1%'er on the Republican ticket.  You know who could have stopped Romney back in the primaries?  And who would have had a much better shot at beating President Obama?  No, not Rick Santorum, I'm talking about a real man, like what Republicans used to think about say, Clint Eastwood.  Yes, I'm talking about the hiker, Mark Sanford.  Nobody was in a better position to take on Romney, right up until he, well, took a hike on the Appalachian Trail. 

Well, good news for Mark Sanford, as he is clearly head-over-heels in love!  The couple recently announced their engagement, and the tale of the proposal was, er, well:

"Sanford arrived early to the Bella Italia Grill in Palermo for a lunch date last week with Maria Belen Chapur, handed a waiter a bag containing the engagement ring and told him to “make up a good story” for her while he hid in the stall.
When Chapur arrived, she was told she had won a prize for being the restaurant’s 100th customer of the day. Though she reportedly didn’t know what to make of the story, Sanford soon emerged to spring his proposal, which she accepted."

So, uh, I guess Mark Sanford may not have been gaff-free, either.  Honeymooning on the Appalachian Trail, I presume?  

Don't Mess with Jimmy!

Grandson of President Jimmy Carter, James Carter, IV is the one who helped get that "47% Romney doesn't care about" video out there, and the whole story is fascinating.  Some exerpts:

"The video then reappeared on YouTube under a different account -- "Anne Onymous." Carter said he was fascinated by the video -- and figured there had to be more to Romney's talk.
"It was just weird video to all of a sudden come across,” he said. “It was all very strange and it piqued my curiosity," he said.
Carter Tweeted a link to the video -- and then soon noticed he had a new follower named "Anne Onymous."
 "I recognized it" -- and then messaged the follower back, resulting in a series of exchanges in which he encouraged the poster to come forward and give the full video to Corn. (David Corn at Mother Jones)"

 Does it get a little weirder?  Oh yeah.  Check the details surrounding the event where Romney clearly admitted that he just wants to cut taxes for rich people:

"The source who took the video has confirmed to NBC News that it was taken at a May 17 $50,000-a-plate fundraiser at the Boca Raton, Fla., home of private-equity mogul Marc Leder, chief executive of Sun Capital Advisors.

Leder has given $225,000 to Restore Our Future, the pro-Romney Super PAC, in addition to raising money for Romney's presidential campaign. He has also been the subject of controversy after a report in the New York Post last year -- under the headline "Nude Frolic in Tycoon's Pool" -- about a wild party at his Bridgehampton mansion in which, according to the Post's account, "guests cavorted nude in the pool" and scantily clad Russian dancers performed on platforms."

 Oh, and I should remind everyone about exactly why Mitt Romney is not fit to criticize former President Jimmy Carter... well, I've said it before:  You're unfit to carry his bags, mister.  How dare you?

And while I'm at it, though I may be tempting fate, I feel I must point to this post from almost a year ago, titled "I'm Making a Prediction". 

Political Opinion From 'Friends' on Facebook

I don't bother commenting on this guy's many, many, many posts on Facebook, I think he's doing a good enough job tearing down the party he supports, and he needs no additional help from me.  I left out the names, I just want to show an example of what's out there.  Here's the pic he posted and the only 3 comments.

commenter: Agreed. Muslims are a cancer to the planet. We should not tolerate a religion that rewards INSANE behivor anymore than we tolerate satanic cults sacrificing 13 y/old virgin women in america. Both "Religious beliefs" of radical muslims and satan worshipers must dealt with an iron fist.
Yesterday at 12:52pm · Like

poster: They are one in the same!!!
Yesterday at 12:54pm · Like

commenter: Two Words "Carpet Bomb"
Yesterday at 1:01pm · Like

Now let me be sure to clarify that I don't agree with this graphic or those sentiments.  In any way.  

Please check out the rest of my blog if you doubt me.  I am pointing out "what is out there", and if this is what you want, well, then I guess you should vote for the candidate they support? 

That's Mitt Romney.  These guys love Mitt Romney.

I May Have Been Wrong on a Couple of Things

So, I've been blogging since 2004, and several early posts had me doubting global warming was caused by man.  I suggested we couldn't know that for sure since there are so many variables, but more evidence has mounted in the past 5 years, and I have to admit that I was probably wrong and climate change like we are experiencing is most likely mostly mankind's fault.  It has taken me some time to come around, and I don't believe all the "chicken little" stuff out there, but mounting evidence of humans' contribution to global warming has convinced me.  Here's the article that finally made me "come out".  A passage of interest:

"Updating this analysis using observational data through 2011 (not even including the 2012 record low sea ice extent), the 32-year trend (1979-2011) is -530 thousand square km per decade, and the 20-year trend is -700 thousand square km per decade.  Using the Vinnikov et al. results, these trends both correspond to probabilities of well under 0.1% of being due solely to natural variability."

The other thing I was wrong about.... Hillary Clinton.  While I am still happy that Obama won out, even naysayers like me have to admit that Hillary has done an excellent job as Secretary of State.  I no longer get the urge to vomit when I see her, and I might even vote for her in 2016.  Sorry about all those "Stop Hillary" posts.  

Alternate or Parallel Universe?

Bill Clinton delivered the greatest convention speech I've ever seen in Charlotte last week.  What a performance.  (that's a link to a terrific column in The New Yorker that details the performance.  example: "He improvises, in the sense that Miles Davis or Beethoven would come up with an enduring work of art on the spot.")

Flip to 3:30 and hear the maestro deliver the 'alternate universe' line.   If you watch for 2 minutes, you'll get to see Chelsea's hot friend!




Perhaps the maestro read Robert Reich's August 28th blog post:

"The third mechanism is by using its own misinformation outlets – led by Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and his yell-radio imitators, book publisher Regnery, and the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, along with a right-wing blogosphere – to spread the lies, or at least spread doubt about what’s true.

Together, these three mechanisms are creating a parallel Republican universe of Orwellian dimension – where anything can be asserted, where pollsters and political advisers are free to create whatever concoction of lies will help elect their candidate, and where “fact-checkers” are as irrelevant and intrusive as is the truth."

I think President Obama may need to get Walter on the team.

Crushing the Deficit

The Atlantic has been crushing it this year, easily my favorite publication right now.  Here's an article that really lays out Romney/Ryan and their plans for our already bloated deficit:

 It remains the case that the Romney-Ryan ticket, as fleshed out in recent days, is running on the following:

• Zero cuts to the military budget. "If I'm president and Paul Ryan's vice president we will not cut our military budget," Mitt Romney said. He's also talked repeatedly about increasing defense spending.  
• Zero tax increases on investment, savings, or the middle class, and a broad income-tax rate cut.
• Zero cuts to Medicare for the entirety of two terms in office.
• War with Iran if it keeps pursuing a nuclear program. 

What about those policy promises suggests to deficit hawks that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will shrink the deficit? Meanwhile, the GOP ticket promises to eliminate tax deductions but won't specify which ones. Naturally, the deductions that cost the most are correspondingly popular with voters. How is it that deficit hawks fail to appreciate the fact that the most likely parts of the Romney-Ryan agenda to pass are the tax cuts, increases in military spending, and the restoration of $700 billion plus to Medicare, while the least likely to pass are the elimination of tax deductions?

So for all you folks out there trying to put the deficit anvil around Obama's neck, what do you think about the Romney/Ryan plan?  I mean really.  What do you think?  I know.  You know I know and now you know you know, too. 

The Class (hey, where'd it go?)

The Charlotte Observer recently had an interesting column about the middle class:

It’s all vanishing. If we stay on this trajectory, a majority of residents will not be middle class. (As defined by Pew, the middle class is a household that makes between 67 percent and 200 percent of the national median income.)
Some of Pew’s findings:
• Just 51 percent of adults were in the middle class in 2011 – down from 61 percent in 1971.
• The middle class’s median wealth dropped 28 percent in the decade since 2000, and its median income fell 5 percent.
• The middle class’s share of the nation’s household income has dropped from 62 percent in 1971 to 45 percent now. The lower-income group has stayed about the same, and the upper class has increased its share, from 29 percent to 46 percent.
“The notion that we are a society with a large middle class, with lots of economic and social mobility and a belief that each generation does better than the next – these are among the core tenets of what it means to be an American,” Pew’s Paul Taylor told the Los Angeles Times. “But that’s not necessarily the case anymore.”

I added the bold.  We need a vibrant middle class to maintain a healthy economy.  Will more tax breaks for the Top 1% , plus cutbacks for the poor & middle class fix this?  Please.  You know.  You all know you know.  Well, I know you know, anyway.....

W
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/08/27/3476339/debate-this-americas-shrinking.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy

I'll SEAL This Leak, and Raise You Another

For all the folks clamoring about the military "secrets" coming out of the White House (Obama is a good leader!.... we can't have that!), where are you in complaining about the Navy SEAL that is releasing this book?  

"Rear Adm. Sean Pybus told his force Tuesday that "hawking details about a mission" and selling other information about SEAL training and operations puts the force and their families at risk.
"For an elite force that should be humble and disciplined for life, we are certainly not appearing to be so," Pybus wrote in a letter to the roughly 8,000 troops under his command. "We owe our chain of command much better than this.""

I look forward to hearing the right wing complain about this, just like they did when the White House was releasing "secrets". 

Huckabee Invokes the Bono

Oh no he di'n'.  Mike Huckabee invoked the name of the Bono at the tumultuous conclusion of his "sermon of negativity" to the masses gathered in Tampa last night.  Bono, one, if not the only non-partisan figure in Washington, had his good name and extra-ordinary words dragged through the mud last night by the increasingly hostile Huckabee.  This was a breach of their "friendship" and I'll be interested to see if Bono has something to say about it.  I'll try to link the video later, but for now, enjoy the text from Bono's friend, and notice how he never ends the "quote" from Bono.  Ass-hat.  To turn Bono's "extra-ordinary" quote into a political attack on Obama is an outrage!! 

"Sometimes, we're so close to the picture, we can't really see it clearly. I've worked with Bono for the past few years in the ONE campaign to fight AIDS and hunger and disease around the world.

He's an Irishman and a great humanitarian who told me of his admiration for America. He said we're more than a country; we're an idea.
He reminded me that we are an exceptional nation with an extraordinary history who owes it to the generations coming after us to leave them an extraordinary legacy.
If we don't change the direction of our nation now, our bequest will be nothing but an extraordinary shame.

But we can do better.

President Obama is out of gas; Americans are out of patience, and our great Republic is almost out of time."

Bias Exists, Admit It

Interesting article with studies about bias from the Christian Science Monitor:

"When Barack Obama became president, there was talk of a post-racial society, one blind to color. But the only thing we’re blind to is how instinctively biased we all are. If we can learn to see that blindness, there’s a chance we can learn to see more clearly."

I thought these lyrics fit pretty well with the topic of bias, and hey, you can't go wrong with U2 circa 1982, am I right?

I was talking, I was talking to myself
Somebody else talk, talk, talking.
I couldn't hear a word, a word he said.

He was my brother
I said there was no other way out of here
Be my brother (Brother)
Got to get out, got to get out.

I was walking, I was walking into walls
And back again
I just keep walking
I walk up to a window to see myself

And my reflection
When I thought about it
My direction
Going nowhere, going nowhere.

No-one, no-one is blinder
Than he who will not see.
No-one, no-one is blinder
Than me.

I was talking, I was talking in my sleep
I can't stop talk, talk, talking
I'm talking to you, it's up to you

Be my brother
There is no other way out of here
Be my brother
Got to get out, got to get out
Got to get out of here.

No Time To Lose

Here's a link to play this sweet oldie from Carla Thomas... contains some Steve Cropper guitar that is simply perfect, love it! 
Click the play button and a new window will open, you can hear the whole thing:


I've Got No Time To Lose (Single/LP Version)

 

Amazon link to better sounding mp3: 

Ruby Johnson, OMG!

As a longtime Steve Cropper fan (well, I'm 43 and don't remember life before "Dock of the Bay"), I am always amazed by the hidden jewels that keep turning up, but I just discovered this CD, and it's G-O-L-D, I tell ya!  Unlike most collections, it sounds like a cohesive 60 minute album, with the best band on the planet letting Ruby Johnson shine, by playing in their restrained and perfect style.

The Donald the Economist

Trump the economist

Trump: Gasoline to Hit $7 a Gallon This Year

Read more: 7 Dollar Gasoline Predicted for Summer 2012

"He's Not a Good Fit"

 That's what she said. Ba-dump!


“Handshakes, pats on the back, congratulations all around,” Johnson said.
Minutes before the 4:30 p.m. board meeting, Rogers came to Johnson’s office and the two chatted before Rogers said, “We can’t be late for your election.”
The board met by conference call for 20 minutes and approved its new officials, with Johnson and Rogers listening in the same room.
The board then went into executive session, excusing Rogers and Johnson, who prepared to head back to Raleigh.
Several minutes later Johnson got an email from Duke’s lead director, Ann Maynard Gray, telling him to stay. During the executive session Gray introduced a motion: Johnson is not a good fit for Duke, should be removed, and replaced by Rogers, who had been Duke CEO since 2006.
Gray said she knew this would be a shock and expressed her apologies, McKee said. The five former Progress board members began enumerating Johnson’s attributes and qualifications and asked the board to reconsider, McKee said. For one hour, McKee said, Gray kept repeating: He’s not a good fit.
None of the other nine legacy Duke board members spoke.
“There were no answers,” McKee said. “It felt like a lifetime.”
The vote was 10 to 5, with the Duke members siding against the ex-Progress members."

 http://www.midtownraleighnews.com/2012/07/21/14553/johnson-duke-board-had-change.html

UPDATE:  More info and shenanigans over here.

The Biggest Balls of Them All...

...Belong to Ann Maynard Gray.
She gets nailed on the Churchill quote, but by the end she seems to be daring the commission to regulate Duke.

I thought you might be interested in this story: Duke directors: Johnson raised doubts from the outset, http://m.newsobserver.com/observer/db_111683/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=9eudnIey



Update:  Though Finley nails Gray on the Churchill quote, and they mentioned it in the N & O, but stories on Forbes and the Chicago Tribune leave out the damning retort, and act like Gray made a legitimate point.

"Gray revealed that concerns about Johnson arose the first time Duke’s corporate board met Johnson in November 2010, two months before the merger was announced.
“He did describe himself as an individual who liked to learn but not be taught,” Maynard said, who joined Duke’s board in 1997. “That comment stayed with me and I saw some reflections of that going forward.
“It was the first flag,” she said.
Finley pounced on Gray and demanded to know if Gray was aware that the comment she attributed to Johnson is a direct quote from Winston Churchill, one of the most admired leaders of the 20th century.
“No, I did not,” Gray replied softly.
Still, Gray warned the commission that the investigation will make it harder to integrate the two workforces.
“Are you implying,” Finley retorted, “that we need to bug out and get out of the way and let you get on with your business?”
Gray replied: “When it’s over it will be very constructive.”

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/07/21/2210285/duke-director-johnsons-controlling.html#storylink=cpy

Lotto Fever!

Ah, the sweet lottery is so good to us, what could go wrong?  Looks like this Kangaroo cashier gamed the system and had his wife win a cool $1 Million Dollars!  My favorite part,

"The lottery is seeking recovery of the prize money paid to Fields."

Nice work.  The lottery pays off again!

IMGP0308j

IMGP0308j, originally uploaded by Watts4.

Waaaaaaa-shington for the 4th

Mo' Money, Mo' Power

Duke Energy CEO To Receive $44 Million Payout Despite Resigning On His First Day | ThinkProgress

Wow, just wow. 

Power Problems

And the Duke Energy/Progress Energy merger of monopolies is off to a roaring start. 

NC attorney general, utilities commission to investigate Duke Energy, http://m.newsobserver.com/observer/db_111683/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=qXCQzoDd

Who would have thought they were playing hardball? 

How High the Cliff?

Fed reports how much recession shrank US wealth
That economic cliff we fell off at the end of the Bush Administration?  The average household lost 40% of its net worth.  Wonder how the top 1% did?  Maybe we should do something to save the middle class?

Massive Synch Test

teIMG_0011pbsc, a photo by Watts4 on Flickr.

Using 2 remote flashes and 2 cameras, I successfully synched several gadgets to pull this one off. This method is hit or miss, as the flash always is for 3D photography with the Canon SD1000s. Without remote flashes, I use both camera flashes when flash is necessary. I found the trick to getting the remotes to synch correctly is to turn off one of the camera flashes and set the shutters manually using SDM. I still can't stop the Canon auto-flash feature. It does set off the remote flashes, so I wait for them to recharge before hitting the shutter button the 2nd time.

Nando on Poverty

We simply won’t look at poverty
Well written piece about people who are mostly invisible.

MonoMonopoly: Abuse of Power

Federal regulators approve Duke-Progress merger with minor conditions
I can't choose which company I get my power from now, yet they have found a way to give me fewer choices.  Is this capitalism?  Why on Earth would we allow 2 monopolies to become 1 even bigger monopoly?  I wonder how much power companies donate to political campaigns.  Maybe that has something to do with this.  Shouldn't we have more competition, not less?  Why aren't Tea Partiers marching in the streets over this?  Why isn't everybody against this? 

Let's Get Back to the Good Ol' Days

Ugh, not again!
Christensen: Good ol' days? Let's review
This kind of rhetoric, lauding the past through rose colored glasses, is one of the more asinine Republican talking points this time around.  As many good points as this article makes, it falls short of calling this what it is, at its heart: veiled racism.  Everything was not so great 'back then', and most of the improvements in society can be traced in part to government programs that improved education, roads, access to health care, social security, etc.
It's almost enough to make the 'Forward' slogan worthy.

Holding Court

Reason for criminal charges in Edwards case remains unclear
It was always about the politics.  Why would Kay Hagan do what she did in the last paragraph?  Sometimes I think most NC elected Democrats are closet Republicans, or just damn fools. 

A Good Test

I like how it's so easy to send voicemails to e-mail and the blog with Google Voice.  And I like this call from my daughter!

Bin a While

Bin down so long?  Hee hee.

Anybody would have made that call, eh Mitt?  Even Jimmy Carter?  You're unfit to carry his bags, mister.  How dare you?

While I'm at it, The Drudge Report keeps riling me with articles like this one.  Say what you want folks, but the Secretary of Defense, appointed by George W. Bush, mind you, was advising President Obama not to do the raid.  Obama made the call.  Get over it.  Maybe Romney would have gone with the stink bombs?

Election on, bitches ;-)