News and Current Events - 2012

[BayCityJohn]

If you learned everything you knew about gay cowboys watching Brokeback Mountain, think again. The real history would include the creation of the gay rodeo in Reno. And the way the sport has spread across the West. It is another example of the West shaking up stereotypes. Las Vegas Clark County Library will host a lecture as part of its Out West series this Saturday evening to look at the history of gay rodeo.

http://www.knpr.org/son/archive/detail2.cfm?SegmentID=8874&ProgramID=2502

[AZ.bbm]

The Prez is running Yemen now? Honestly, you'd think he'd stick to the US until he gets it straightened out.

I agree! 
Apparently, the Yemeni government does exactly what the US tells them to do. When the US Gov't says "Jump"  the Yemenis say, "How high, sir?!" When BHO says "Lock up the whistleblower", the Yemeni regime jumps through its own butt-hole to comply.
 

[AZ.bbm]

Thanks to both oilgun and stan for your posts.  Detention for no reason and/or no cause is one of the most inhumane things to do to anyone. 

And, it's illegal. That matters only to those of us who operate within the law.

Now, for an officer of the court, a constitutional expert and the 'leader of the free world' to commit injustices of this magnitude seems to indicate that he is under enormous pressure to comply with some ulterior agenda.

[huntinbuddy]

Don't let the "illion" get in the way. It takes 1000 billion to make a trillion. So in normal Americanhousehold terms, the bank lost $2 of it's $2300. If it was out of my pocket, I sure wouldn't be upset or looking for a missing $2.

One of the things I keep in the background and minimized on my terminal at work is CNBC.  Of course today was the IPO of Facebook, and I as well as I would guess millions were watching today.   I had no intention of getting in on the IPO action.  Personally, I think Facebook is a fad, and a passing one at that.   What alarmed me was the stock closed at or just a hair below the IPO price.  It's hard to say as overseas orders are still being processed at this hour, but it is very safe to say, it did not set the world on fire as anticipated.

For as much hype as it got, and to close at or very close to issuing price is not a good omen for a stock.

Now, why did I quote Sherry's post here?   Well, I've also been watching the JPMorgan/Chase stock all week, and essentially, it has been in freefall.   As of the close today, it has lost about $40B in market capitalization in the past week (since the announcement of their little trading deal gone bad).  So essentially, they have now lost $40 out of that pocket of $2300.   They should be concerned.

Now, on a different note, and I'm asking here because I really don't know.....but where in this country or on the planet is there a JPMorgan/Chase Bank that you can actually walk into, and approach a teller window and open an account, make a deposit....and they issue you a checkbook, and you can write checks or make a cash withdrawl?   They certainly have no locations of this nature I am aware of here in the midwest.

JPMorgan/ Chase is the classic example of who Jesus threw out of the temple in story by Matthew. Actually, it is one of the few accounts that occurs in all four canonical gospels of the New Testament.  Make no mistake about it, JPMorgan is really nothing more than moneychangers, and now, with the availability of electronic transfers, very sophisticated ones at that.  

[doodler]

Will it never stop?! It is getting so you can't trust anybody .
It was announced today that documents just uncovered prove Loretta Lynn was NOT 13 when she got married. She lied about her age and was just shy of 16. Seems Ms Lynn is 80 years old instead of the 77 she's been telling people.

[huntinbuddy]

Will it never stop?! It is getting so you can't trust anybody .
It was announced today that documents just uncovered prove Loretta Lynn was NOT 13 when she got married. She lied about her age and was just shy of 16. Seems Ms Lynn is 80 years old instead of the 77 she's been telling people.

My Gawd....what's the world comin to???   Next it will be revealed she is not a Coal Miners Daughter after all! 

[kathy]

I agree! 
Apparently, the Yemeni government does exactly what the US tells them to do. When the US Gov't says "Jump"  the Yemenis say, "How high, sir?!" When BHO says "Lock up the whistleblower", the Yemeni regime jumps through its own butt-hole to comply.
 

You got that right.  And we must include Saudi Arabia in the jumping high as you can category (of course there are others; Egypt was one under mubarrak for 30 yrs).   Yes, you can always buy a traitor and the U.S. via the CIA, etc. has done this many, many  times.  In addition, it's the U.S. Gov't. that keeps the Saudi family in power, no matter how many times the people have tried to rebel against them.  The first King Sau'd was an honorable man, but that was in the '30's and '40's and is long past now.  That family is so huge and different now - well, you get the point.

I know I'm repeating myself, but I have to:  In Lawrence of Arabia, that great classic film, the great Peter O'Toole in his iconic performance as T.E. Lawrence says: "They won't come for money, not the best of them.  They'll come for Damascus. 
No, they won't come for money.  They'll come for me".  Sigh...isn't that wonderful? 
Oh, my emotions are showing now...but I don't care.

kathy

[kathy]

And, it's illegal. That matters only to those of us who operate within the law.

Now, for an officer of the court, a constitutional expert and the 'leader of the free world' to commit injustices of this magnitude seems to indicate that he is under enormous pressure to comply with some ulterior agenda.

Yes.  You see, cheney/bush/rumsfeld and all the rest of that illegal crowd started it all; to them the U.S. Constitution was just a little piece of paper to be ignored.  And ignore it they did; they broke every article in it. 

Well, this one and his crowd are repeating and continuing the same acts all over again and probably more.  Never did I think that would happen.  I was so wrong.

kathy   

[killersmom]

One of the things I keep in the background and minimized on my terminal at work is CNBC.  Of course today was the IPO of Facebook, and I as well as I would guess millions were watching today.   I had no intention of getting in on the IPO action.  Personally, I think Facebook is a fad, and a passing one at that.   What alarmed me was the stock closed at or just a hair below the IPO price.  It's hard to say as overseas orders are still being processed at this hour, but it is very safe to say, it did not set the world on fire as anticipated.

For as much hype as it got, and to close at or very close to issuing price is not a good omen for a stock.

Now, why did I quote Sherry's post here?   Well, I've also been watching the JPMorgan/Chase stock all week, and essentially, it has been in freefall.   As of the close today, it has lost about $40B in market capitalization in the past week (since the announcement of their little trading deal gone bad).  So essentially, they have now lost $40 out of that pocket of $2300.   They should be concerned.

Now, on a different note, and I'm asking here because I really don't know.....but where in this country or on the planet is there a JPMorgan/Chase Bank that you can actually walk into, and approach a teller window and open an account, make a deposit....and they issue you a checkbook, and you can write checks or make a cash withdrawl?   They certainly have no locations of this nature I am aware of here in the midwest.

JPMorgan/ Chase is the classic example of who Jesus threw out of the temple in story by Matthew. Actually, it is one of the few accounts that occurs in all four canonical gospels of the New Testament.  Make no mistake about it, JPMorgan is really nothing more than moneychangers, and now, with the availability of electronic transfers, very sophisticated ones at that. 

Yeah, I got a big kick out of the Facebook debacle myself, Charlie. It is a big local thing here, since the headquarters is right down the street!

As far as the Chase banks. They are all over the place out here. They bought out Washington Mutual here and so one can't go very many miles without coming to a branch. There is one a few blocks from my work in San Mateo and I have seen numerous branches all over San Francisco  and in most of the cities up and down the Peninsula.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2010/04/26/daily44.html

[huntinbuddy]

As far as the Chase banks. They are all over the place out here. They bought out Washington Mutual here and so one can't go very many miles without coming to a branch. There is one a few blocks from work in San Mateo and I have seen numerous branches all over San Francisco  and in most of the cities up and down the Peninsula.

Thanks Linda, that makes sense now.....I had forgot all about Chase taking over WaMu.   They got it for cents on the dollar if I remember correctly, and WaMu was big on the west coast.

I have Chase on my watch list both here at home and work.  If they continue to slip next week, which I believe they will because some big investors are selling their Chase stock in response to the speculative trade that went bad.  Many Chase investors are calling for Dimon's resignation.

[janjo]

What I found amazing about Facebook, is that is worth the same amount as the whole Greek economy.

[bubba]

Are some of you guys seriously blind to even PAST stories about gay celebrities?
Let's use two disparate examples, Rock Hudson and Liberace.

Rock Hudson had many stories like this that came up, but were dealt with.
The one that caused his agent Henry Willson to arrange a marriage for him
was when he had an affair with an Italian guy while he was filming A Farewell
to Arms and the guy was so enamored of Rock that he followed him back to
the U.S. and started all sorts of threats about going to the press and outing
him and such.

And marriage still seems to be a blinding issue to straight people if you read
some of the comments below that Travolta article linked above that tout
"he's a loving family man" so these stories could not possibly be true!  LOL!

Liberace actually won TWO lawsuits for defamation, once in the U.S. and once
in England.  Think of it!  He won two lawsuits for defamation!  Two magazines
wrote about Liberace being gay and HE WON lawsuits claiming they were telling
lies against him!  If Liberace can win lawsuits and claim magazines are wrong that
he is gay, anything is possible.

It's why juries never seem to convict Hollywood celebrities of anything.  If people
can believe a nutcase like Robert Blake and his inane story then it's not hard to
see how people keep ignoring what's right in front of their eyes concerning gay
celebrities.

Over the years there's been lots of stories about celebrities being gay.  Can anyone
name me ONE of the incessant stories about someone that turned out NOT to be true.

I will add to the Travolta stories and you can believe what you like:
My friend Ken has been regaled with stories of Johns activities
with several boyfriends on the set of Urban Cowboy by Debra
Winger herself, who noted that all of those stories in the Enquirer
about him and his adult film star boyfriend (was that in the 80's or
90's?) were absolutely true.

My waiter friend Rich was propositioned by John Travolta at his
place of employment.  My friend declined.

I don't think anyone here (especially here) cares whether John Travolta is gay or not.

I would "think" his wife would care, but who knows...

I think what people care about is that he is being accused of sexual harassment and battery.   That is "uncool" gay or straight.


Here is a link that came up on TMZ where a reporter tried to kiss Will Smith on the mouth.


http://www.tmz.com/2012/05/18/will-smith-slaps-reporter/



Ummm you don't walk up to a total stranger and ask for a hug, and then try and kiss their mouth.   Will gave him a little slap, someone else might have knocked him out.




Oh an Lyle I do want to say, I like your little "inside scoops"     I don't know anyone famous, so I like hearing from someone who does know people!

[AZ.bbm]

Yes.  You see, cheney/bush/rumsfeld and all the rest of that illegal crowd started it all; to them the U.S. Constitution was just a little piece of paper to be ignored.  And ignore it they did; they broke every article in it. 

Well, this one and his crowd are repeating and continuing the same acts all over again and probably more.  Never did I think that would happen.  I was so wrong.

kathy   

-I know what you mean, kathy! -The neo-cons/'Israel First' crowd has little respect for our Constitutionl theyare essentially anti-democratic. 

+I feel that the current president is "going along in order to get along." -The thing that most unnerves me is the extremes to which he has gone and is willing to go in the future in order please that crowd. I believe that the thing they truly want is a fascist state, or more specifically, a corporatist  state; and very likely the next president, whomever it is, will hand the Country over to them.

[AZ.bbm]

@bubba,

Re: the Kiss-

Did it really look like the reporter was trying to kiss Will Smith on the lips? - Because it seems to me that, after he hugged Smith he only attempted to kiss him on the cheeks -  first the left cheek, then the right.  Isn't that a traditional greeting in a lot of countries?  

Didn't it seem to you like Smith thought the whole thing was humorous?

 


http://www.tmz.com/2012/05/18/will-smith-slaps-reporter/

[bubba]

Looking at it, yea it doesn't look like he went for the mouth!     But Will said he did, maybe he was doing "the cheek thing" and it got a little too close to the mouth - as it often does.


Who knows, he did seem angry at first for sure, but then laughed the whole thing off in typical Will Smith fashion.


Remember when some guy tried to kiss the tennis player Rafeal Nadal?   He wanted him to come back! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6qQnrF2UBY