And That’s The Way It Is July 18, 2009
Posted by Joey in Media.Tags: Walter Cronkite
add a comment
A giant, compared to the suckups to power we have now on network news.
Walter Cronkite, Voice of TV News, Dies – Obituary (Obit).
Walter Cronkite, who pioneered and then mastered the role of television news anchorman with such plain-spoken grace that he was called the most trusted man in America, died Friday at his home in New York. He was 92.
Humor In The Workplace: Treasury Dept Edition July 17, 2009
Posted by Joey in Government.Tags: Humor, Treasury Dept.
1 comment so far
The US Department of the Treasury must be a lousy place to work. All that money to be borrowed, stolen, or printed. Economies around the world to be wrecked, banks to be pillaged, and taxpayers to be raped.
No wonder they need humor training.
Humor In The Workplace – Federal Business Opportunities: Opportunities.
This is a sources sought notice and not a request for quotations. The purpose of this announcement is to seek qualified contractors with the capability to provide presentations for The Department of Treasury, Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD), Management Meeting with experience in meeting the objectives as described herein.
The Contractor shall conduct two, 3-hour, Humor in the Workplace programs that will discuss the power of humor in the workplace, the close relationship between humor and stress, and why humor is one of the most important ways that we communicate in business and office life. Participants shall experience demonstrations of cartoons being created on the spot. The contractor shall have the ability to create cartoons on the spot about BPD jobs. The presenter shall refrain from using any foul language during the presentation. This is a business environment and we need the presenter to address a business audience.
Upon completion of the course, participants shall be able to:
- Understand the importance and power of humor in the workplace in a responsible manner
- How to use talents in a creative way that adds humor to everyday experiences
- Alleviate stress in home and the office
- Know how and why humor is important to communication
- Improve work-place relationships
- Prevent burn-out
Friday Demotivator: Ascension July 17, 2009
Posted by Joey in Demotivator.Tags: Ascension, Demotivator
add a comment
Budget Deal Claimed In Governator Land July 15, 2009
Posted by Joey in Government, Politics.Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California, Dysfunctional Government
add a comment
The dysfunctional government of California claims to be near a budget deal. I’ll believe it when I see it.
California lawmakers, governor nearly in agreement on budget, leaders say.
Legislative leaders say they have reached agreement with the governor on how to close almost all of the state’s $26.3-billion deficit and hope to finish work on the matter today.
The announcement came after a series of meetings in the office of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday that went on until almost midnight.
Democratic and Republican leaders are briefing their caucuses this afternoon on progress made in the closed-door talks.
LPGA Mutiny Succeeds July 13, 2009
Posted by Joey in Sports.Tags: Carolyn Bivens, Golf, LPGA, LPGA Tour, Marsha Evans
add a comment
The LPGA mutiny against Carolyn Bivens succeeded today. Ironically, the LPGA named a retired Rear Admiral as interim commissioner.
Carolyn Bivens out as LPGA Tour commissioner; Marsha Evans to take over on interim basis.
Carolyn Bivens resigned as LPGA Tour commissioner Monday, bowing to pressure from players who were upset about the organization’s economic woes and her leadership.
Marsha Evans, a retired rear admiral in the Navy who has also led the American Red Cross and Girl Scouts of the USA, will take over as interim commissioner. She’ll serve until the LPGA board finds a replacement, which it hopes to do by the end of the year.
Bivens’ departure seemed increasingly likely after a group of players wrote a letter last week to the LPGA Tour’s board of directors calling for her to quit. Her uncertain status created a distraction over the weekend during the U.S. Women’s Open.
“We reached a point which made it difficult for Carolyn herself to see herself going forward and being able to lead in this environment,” board chairwoman Dawn Hudson said. “We had to change something.”
Ugliest Yachts Ever Created July 13, 2009
Posted by Joey in Art, Gadgets, Weird Stuff.Tags: Yacht Design, Yachts
add a comment
I can’t bear to post a picture of these… yachts. Small children and animals might be harmed. You’ll just have to visit Wired to see for yourself.
My comment for the “architect” who designed these boats: Ever heard the saying “form follows function”?
Don’t quit your day job.
Spectacular Dream Yachts to Set Sail.
So often we’re teased with amazing renderings of things that could be but never will because they lack a bridge between blue sky and real world. The latest virtual tease, a pair of futuristic yachts rapidly rising in virtual visibility, breaks that convention. Designer Kevin Schöpfer plans to set sail in three years.
Schöpfer Yachts’ first design, Oculus, demonstrated a futuristic melding of boat, spaceship and fish at an impressive 250 feet long. Then came the even larger and more futuristic looking Infinitas, an astonishing 300 feet long. Needless to say we were intrigued.
The founder of Schöpfer Yachts is an accomplished architect who studied at Syracuse and Harvard. His resumé includes the upcoming International UFO Museum in Roswell, N.M. and the Wine Room at Nebula Casino in Macau. Schöpfer has worked with internationally acclaimed urban planning guru Paolo Soleri and is working on the post-Katrina proposal to turn New Orleans into a floating city.
Treasury Dept. Using Strong-Arm Tactics July 13, 2009
Posted by Joey in Bailout, Economics, Politics.Tags: Making Home Affordable Program, Treasury Dept.
add a comment
Here’s a surprise: If Treasury can’t achieve its goals through regulation, laws or good will, there’s always threats and intimidation.
Or printing money like it is toilet paper (which, at the rate the Fed is printing debt, will be what you’ll be using your money for before too long).
Again, and I can’t make this statement too often: Don’t feed the socialists by buying their bonds. Feel free to short them (while you still can).
Talking Business – From Treasury to Banks, an Ultimatum on Mortgage Relief.
The subject of the meeting is going to be loan modifications. Specifically, the government is going to be asking — in none-too-friendly fashion — why the nation’s big servicers aren’t doing more to modify loans for homeowners who are in danger of defaulting on their mortgages. Back in the spring, after all, they all signed onto the administration’s new Making Home Affordable program, which uses a series of incentives — not the least of which is $1,000 to the servicers for every mortgage they modify — to help keep people in their homes and prevent foreclosures.
Wells Fargo Sues Itself July 13, 2009
Posted by Joey in Bailout, Economics, Politics.Tags: Bailout, TARP, Wells Fargo
add a comment
Here’s a business model sure to fail: suing yourself.
Tell me again how these bozos got so big.
Al Lewis: Wells Fargo Bank Sues Itself.
You can’t expect a bank that is dumb enough to sue itself to know why it is suing itself.
Yet I could not resist asking Wells Fargo Bank NA why it filed a civil complaint against itself in a mortgage foreclosure case in Hillsborough County, Fla.
“Due to state foreclosure laws, lenders are obligated to name and notify subordinate lien holders,” said Wells Fargo spokesman Kevin Waetke.
Being a taxpayer-subsidized, too-big-to-fail institution, it’s possible that one of the few ways for Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC: 24.67, 1.76, 7.68%) to know what it is doing is to notify itself with a court filing.
In this particular case, Wells Fargo holds the first and second mortgages on a condominium, according to Sarasota, Fla., attorney Dan McKillop, who represents the condo owner.
As holder of the first, Wells Fargo is suing all other lien holders, including the holder of the second, which is itself.
I Join The 21st Century July 13, 2009
Posted by Joey in Culture, Internet, Music.Tags: Californication, Facebook, Joey, Red Hot Chili Peppers
add a comment
Yes, it’s shocking but true. I bought my first song off iTunes today (Californication by the Red Hot Chili Peppers for those interested). I even have a Facebook account (and no, you can’t be my friend; I reserve that privilege for people I know in meatspace).
I’m going to hell, aren’t I?
Feng Shui In A Gadget July 13, 2009
Posted by Joey in Gadgets.Tags: Feng Shui, Feng Shui Compass
add a comment
Here’s quite possibly the goofiest gadget I’ve seen in a long time, the feng shui compass. It’s right up there with Scientology’s electropsychometer.
Working with electromagnetic energy, this handheld feng shui compass helps you support favorable conditions at home or in a hotel room. Operating with the same technology used in aerospace guidance systems, it locates and calculates energy fields so quickly, you align your physical surroundings to match your intentions.
