Good Thinking
What a fairytale:
A graffiti artist who painted the walls of Facebook’s first headquarters seven years ago is set for a bumper payday of $200million after he agreed to take Facebook stock instead of cash for his work.
David Choe, 35, was asked to paint the offices in Palo Alto, California, in 2005, and was offered the choice by then-president Sean Parker of being paid a few thousand cash or the equivalent in shares.
Now, after a blockbuster $5billion Facebook stock exchange flotation moved a step closer last night, he is one of at least 1,000 company employees finally on their way to becoming millionaires.
Although Mr Choe reportedly considered the idea of Facebook ‘ridiculous and pointless’ at the time of his painting, he took the stock when offered the option, reported the New York Times.
Now a successful artist, Mr Choe refused to be interviewed about his windfall.
Wow. Lucky dude.
Seattle Reporter Arrives at Gig in Dog Crate Strapped to Top of Car
This is hilarious:
Seattle Channel’s Nancy Guppy turned heads arriving to cover the red carpet [at the Seattle International Film Festival on May 17, 2012] in a pet kennel on top of a car.
(Photo: Ken Lambert / The Seattle Times)
(Via.)
Inside the Food Bank
As regular readers of this blog know, I spend a good part of the day on Friday volunteering at the Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA) food bank in Boulder, Colorado.
I’ve written a lot about the inner workings of the food bank, about our clients and about our seemingly never-ending quest to keep the shelves stocked but I’ve never posted pictures. So, voila, here are pictures:
This is the reception area. EFAA not only runs a food bank but it helps people find housing, it has a furniture bank to help people with beds, tables and chairs, etc., but everyone passes through this area when they come in for help:
This is the entryway into the food bank. The door to the immediate right, at the end of the row of shopping carts, is the door leading toward the reception area above.
Below is the canned fruit and veggie area, bread (down below) and the freezer straight ahead.
The area below is our food prep area. Here we divide the likes of big bags of lettuce, potatoes, 10 pound bags of sugar, large bags of coffee, etc. This is also where we store empty egg cartons, baggies, and anything else we might need. It is also where we store diapers and toilet paper.
And last but not least, this is the cooler where we store dairy goods, lettuces, some fruits like blueberries and raspberries (when we have them) and anything else one would typically put in the frig. Below and to the right (off camera) is a slanted table that holds our fresh veggies and some fruits (when we have them).
EFAA used to rent the dingy basement of a tiny church before moving into this building about six years ago, which was designed as food bank. It’s light and airy and laid-out in a very efficient way. We walk the clients through, giving food out according to family size, and they go out a door to the right of the picture above which leads to the parking lot.
So, that’s it.
Facebook Insanity
Today is Facebook’s IPO. CNBC has a helicopter flying over Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California and they’re counting down to the “first trade” in hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds.
Oh, and you can tell Jim Cramer didn’t take his meds this morning.
Crazy.
Imagine if Iran Said This
There goes Iran again, being all aggressive and antagonistic:
Plans to Strike Iran “Ready,” Says U.S. Israel Envoy
U.S. plans for a possible military strike on Iran are ready and the option is “fully available”, the U.S. ambassador to Israel said, days before Tehran resumes talks with world powers which suspect it of seeking to develop nuclear arms.
Like Israel, the United States has said it considers military force a last resort to prevent Iran using its uranium enrichment to make a bomb. Iran insists its nuclear program is for purely civilian purposes.
“It would be preferable to resolve this diplomatically and through the use of pressure than to use military force,” Ambassador Dan Shapiro said in remarks about Iran aired by Israel’s Army Radio on Thursday.
“But that doesn’t mean that option is not fully available – not just available, but it’s ready. The necessary planning has been done to ensure that it’s ready,” said Shapiro, who the radio station said had spoken on Tuesday.
Imagine if the tables were turned and Iran said, “the necessary planning has been done to ensure” that a strike against Israel and/or the United States is “ready.” Who’s being the aggressor here?
Romney’s “Day One” Ad
Here is Mitt Romney’s newest ad — “Day One” — about what he would do on day one if elected. Short version: Cut taxes on the rich and take health care away from millions of Americans but, hey, it’s gonna be awesome.
50,000 Brown People Died Over the Last 6 Years Due to America’s Drug Addiction
I am shocked. I had no idea 50,000 — 50,000! — of our neighbors to the south have died in the last six years in the fight to supply the United States with the drugs it craves.
Here is a haunting photo essay from The Atlantic:
Thousands of guns are destroyed in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua State, on February 16, 2012. At least 6,000 rifles and pistols seized from drugs cartels were destroyed by members of the Mexican Army. (Jesus Alcazar/AFP/Getty Images)
Where did those guns come from? The United States.
● ● ● ● ● ●
young man lies dead next to a skateboard and a bicycle after unknown gunmen opened fire in the eastern part of Saltillo, Mexico, on December 7, 2011. According to the state attorney general, three young men were killed in the attack. (AP Photo/Alberto Puente)
More images here.
Instead of building bases (yes, we’re doing that too) and joining counternarcotics efforts in Honduras, killing civilians, pissing off the people and arming the Mexican government, we might want to take a look at why so many people in the U.S. feel the need to get high. Ya think? Unemployment comes to mind. Debt comes to mind. The cost of medical treatment comes to mind. Mental illness comes to mind. Over-stressed parents and families come to mind. Seniors who are freaked out about being able to live with dignity until they die come to mind. Hello!
But no. I guess the thinking is that 50,000 dead brown people (and counting) is preferable to the USA! USA! USA! facing what’s going on at home.
Talking War on the “Liberal Media”
This would be my Tweet of the Day and IMHO this is serious. The “liberal media” is saturated with Pentagon and military “analysts.” How about we have one person on every network who talks about the benefit of not waging war and not spending trillions on defense?
Where are those (you know, “fair and balanced”) voices? Nowhere.
Don’t Forget, George Zimmerman Wasn’t Tested For Drugs
(Image via the OrlandoSentinel.com)
Apropos of the post below, about Trayvon Martin having “traces” of THC in his system on the night George Zimmerman killed him, it’s interesting to note that ABC “News” didn’t point out Zimmerman wasn’t tested for drugs that night. So who knows, Zimmerman could have been more drugged up than Trayvon was, but we’ll never know.
ABC News Stacks the Deck Against Trayvon Martin
ABC News just sent this tweet out:
Go to the article — here — and you learn Trayvon Martin had a drug, not drugs plural, in his system: “The autopsy report shows traces of the drug THC, which is found in marijuana, in Martin’s blood and urine.” So there was one drug and there was only a “trace” of that one drug.
That’s a far cry from what is stated as fact in ABC’s tweet: “…had drugs in system…”
They don’t call it the lame stream media for nothing. Maybe we should throw something about shameless in there too.
Romney: I Stand By What I Said Before, Even if I Don’t Remember What it Was
Holy cow. This is Mitt Romney earlier today after being asked if he stands by his past comments about Obama and Jeremiah Wright. The guy doesn’t have a firm position on the issue (even tough it has been in the ether for four years) and he couldn’t remember what his last line of BS on it was, so this is what he had to do:
Yeah, whatever. So funny, huh Mitt?
This is what happens when you lie and/or change your position depending on which way the wind blows: You can’t remember what your position is on things from one day to the freakin’ next.
Republican Star Meg Whitman Preparing to Lay-Off 30,000 HP Workers
Meg Whitman, whose net worth is estimated at $1.3 billion, ran for governor of California in 2010 (but lost in the primary) because she claimed she wanted to represent We the People:
(Image via Wikipedia)
The daunting task of restructuring Hewlett-Packard will begin in earnest next Wednesday when the company reports its quarterly earnings. Sources familiar with the company’s plans say that CEO Meg Whitman will discuss the opening steps of a company-wide restructuring plan that will include the elimination of about 30,000 jobs.
A report by Business Insider yesterday pegged the range of cuts at HP to between 10 percent and 15 percent of its current work force of 320,000 people. But sources familiar with HP’s plans tell AllThingsD that the cuts will be carried out over a relatively long period of time, perhaps a year or more. A report by Bloomberg News out minutes ago puts the target at 25,000. The exact number of cuts, one source told me, is still considered a “moving target” and could grow or shrink.
I don’t get how someone who claims to have that mindset — of representing We the People — can also have the heart to fire tens of thousands of people. I can’t make those two personality-types fit together in my mind.
What’s Goin’ On?
I just listened to an hour-long talk by Dr. Cornell West on Boulder’s “alternative radio,” KGNU. At one point he mentioned Marvin Gaye and his song, “What’s Goin’ On,” which I love but hadn’t heard in years. I was on my morning speed-walk at the time so when I got home I looked it up and played it with the volume on high. It’s better than I remember:
Looks Like We’re Heading Toward Another Barack HUSSEIN Obama Summer
Leave it to the Republicans to come up with new and fresh ideas:
A group of high-profile Republican strategists is working with a conservative billionaire on a proposal to mount one of the most provocative campaigns of the “super PAC” era and attack President Obama in ways that Republicans have so far shied away from.
Timed to upend the Democratic National Convention in September, the plan would “do exactly what John McCain would not let us do,” the strategists wrote.
The plan, which is awaiting approval, calls for running commercials linking Mr. Obama to incendiary comments by his former spiritual adviser, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., whose race-related sermons made him a highly charged figure in the 2008 campaign.
I have my doubts as to whether this will work. We’ve been there, done that. People have formed an opinion of Obama after watching him for 3-1/2 years and a majority of Americans think he’s a good guy (though they may disagree with his policies). Natch, the 27%-ers who still think W. was great and who can’t stand Obama no matter what will probably eat it up but I don’t think it will do much to sway people in general. I don’t think there are millions of voters out there who think Obama has some master plan — which he’s kept hidden all these years — to turn the country into a Muslim state once he’s reelected and doesn’t have to worry about getting elected again.
I think this will make Republicans look foolish, desperate and nasty, which by the way, they are.
We shall see but ugh, this summer is going to be a wall-to-wall national bummer.
Morning Art
It’s amazing that figures cut from old encyclopedias, National Geographics and nature magazines and suspended in plexiglass can be so beautiful:
Peter Madden
More images here.
The White House Promotes Pig Outs
Geezus. For whatever reason, the Obama White House doesn’t seem to get that it might be good for our increasingly obese country to stop pigging out on crapola. How hard is that? Oy. Here’s Joe Biden today:
(Image via BuzzFeed.com)
Here’s a blurb about Obama inhaling burgers and fries last week.
Come on guys. Stand for something already.
I Feel Sorry for Dr. Linda Roberts’ Kids
The God I imagine is loving, warm, supportive, forgiving and inclusive. I’m sorry for Linda Roberts’ kids that they live in fear of Him.
My Tweet of the Day:
Judge Rules in Favor of the Constitution, Against Barack Obama
I’ve been following this lawsuit by Chris Hedges, et al., and while this, sadly, will be in the courts for years (thanks to hope and change Constitutional lawyer guy Barack Obama), I’m happy for this development:
A federal judge Wednesday issued an injunction against a National Defense Authorization Act provision that grants the military the right to detain anyone it suspects of involvement in terrorism. [Vague and subjective or what?] U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest ruled in favor of a group of plaintiffs, including Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges, who filed a lawsuit against the legislation within weeks of President Obama signing it.
Signed by President Barack Obama on New Year’s Eve, the 565-page NDAA contains a short paragraph, in statute 1021, letting the military detain anyone it suspects “substantially supported” al-Qaida, the Taliban or “associated forces.” The indefinite detention would supposedly last until “the end of hostilities.”
In a 68-page ruling blocking this statute, U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest agreed that the statute failed to “pass constitutional muster” because its broad language could be used to quash political dissent.?
“There is a strong public interest in protecting rights guaranteed by the First Amendment,” Forrest wrote. “There is also a strong public interest in ensuring that due process rights guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment are protected by ensuring that ordinary citizens are able to understand the scope of conduct that could subject them to indefinite military detention.”
Thank you Judge Forrest for respecting the Constitution.
I have a category on this blog: “Obama — Don’t Count on My Vote.” I’m filing this post there. “Democrats:” I can only take so much. There are lines I won’t cross. This is one of them.
The Baby Coyote Zoe
When we can, the hubby and I give a few dollars to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keensburg, Colorado. It’s a wonderful place; a sanctuary for large carnivores like lions, tigers, leopards, bobcats and cougars.
Their Summer/2012 newsletter came in the mail today and in it is the story of Zoe the baby coyote.
(Image via WildAnimalSanctuary.org)
Zoe was born and raised in captivity but the Colorado Division of Wildlife, in its infinite rigidity, decided Zoe should be destroyed because “their regulations state that wild animals must remain in the wild, and in their opinion Zoe was a wild Coyote.” But, again, she was raised in captivity so she couldn’t make it on her own in the wild so CDW’s solution was to kill her. What?
Anyway, Zoe came this close to being put down but, well, read more here for the surreal and wonderful end to Zoe’s saga.
Is she gorgeous or what?
Haters Coming Out of the Wood Work in Maine
A citizen-initiated referendum is on the November ballot in Maine:
“It is called ‘An Act to Allow Marriage Licenses for Same-Sex Couples and Protect Religious Freedom’, and the text of their proposed ballot question is:
Do you favor a law allowing marriage licenses for same-sex couples that protects religious freedom by ensuring no religion or clergy be required to perform such a marriage in violation of their religious beliefs?
Think Another Banking Crisis is Impossible? Think Again
JPMorgan Chase’s $2 billion blunder is throwing the spotlight on an awkward truth for President Barack Obama’s promise to end the era of big bank bailouts: The same institutions that were deemed “too big to fail” before the financial collapse are even bigger now.
Efforts to manage the size of such institutions were at the heart of the Dodd-Frank financial law passed in July 2010. But nearly two years later, many of the law’s regulations remain in limbo, as federal agencies muddle through long rule-making processes against stiff industry opposition.
“Keep in mind if we get all the rules that we proposed and were passed by Congress implemented into law, it should prevent this kind of stuff from happening,” Obama said on “The View” Tuesday.
All the while, the country’s biggest financial institutions continue to grow. The five largest, which controlled $6.1 trillion in assets before the collapse, by the end of 2011 had assets worth $8.5 trillion — equal to more than half of U.S. economic output, according to Federal Reserve data.
Jim Bakker — Still Doing God’s Work?
Remember Jim Bakker?
Bakker made headlines in the 1980s when he and his wife Tammy Faye took the airwaves by storm with their Christian evangelical broadcast and development of the Praise The Lord Television Network.
After amassing millions of viewers and becoming household names, their fortunes turned when Jim was accused of raping then-21-year-old secretary Jessica Hahn. He denied the charges, saying that their sex was consensual, and they settled out of court.
However, an indictment for fraud and conspiracy was what landed him in jail for six years.
Those charges accused him of keeping millions from the donation money his company accrued, and later sought after by the IRS for $6million in tax liens dating back to the 1980s.
Together, the new Mrs and Mr Bakker have begun their own television program and ensuing product line.
Among his books is Prosperity And The Coming Apocalypse, in which he touts his belief in the undetermined return of Jesus, and urges his followers to be prepared.
In that vein, he and his wife are selling a number of apocalypse-themed products aimed at helping their fans prepare, while undoubtedly helping earn back some of the money he still owes the government.
Emergency room and board kits- that cost $500 or $1,000 a pop- are for sale, along with foldable fuel-less generators for $1,700 and packages of long-lasting food supplies.
The Jerry Jones Special is an unusual $2,000 grouping of 37 buckets of corn, green beans, tomato flakes and raspberries that are said to provide enough ingredients for 480 meals.
[...]
The strangest by far is the so-called ‘Silver Solution’ enema kits, selling for $100.
‘He appears to have no shame. He’s milking his worshippers for “end of the world” products and enemas too, which is bizarre,’ a source told The National Enquirer.
Ah yes, a former evangelist living a life, ahem, based on biblical values.
What If Your Letter Carrier Could Selectively Deliver Your Mail?
This happened in good ol’ Kansas yesterday:
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) signed a bill yesterday that will allow pharmacists in the state to refuse to fill a prescription they think could be used to induce abortion. But since the “conscience” measure says they cannot be required to provide a drug or devise that they think “may result in the termination of a pregnancy” — but does not define which drug in particular — the law’s opponents say it could allow a pharmacist to interfere with a woman’s health care by refusing to distribute birth control or emergency contraception.
I think this opens such a huge can of worms. Can we extrapolate from this law, for example, that a grocery store checker doesn’t have to scan a magazine or a book or a prescription or a food item their “conscience” objects to? Can Letter Carriers refuse to deliver mail they disagree with, i.e., campaign solicitations or mail from a company their “conscience” objects to? I mean come on. No way are they going to be able to limit this to pharmacists.
Imagine Having $16 Million in Cash
How rich is Mitt Romney? Very rich.
Forbes breaks down his millions, including $16 million in cash (can you imagine?):
Seeking to remove as much guesswork as possible, we assigned a value to every single asset Mitt and Ann Romney own – 184 in all across the couple’s two blind trusts, IRAs and outright holdings. Our core method: noting the shift in ranges between the 2007 filing, the 2011 filing and now (much of his wealth has been consistently held over the whole period). Comparing which assets changed brackets – or didn’t – with their underlying price fluctuation (or in some cases, a good comparable) over that period, we were able to get better estimates of where each fell in the range. Supplemented by a dozen interviews – from local real estate experts to private equity partners – we get a detailed look at the current state of Mitt’s money, pinpointing his net worth at $230 million, split between 9 different asset classes.
[...]
Debt Securities: +$91 million
[...]
Bain Alternative Investments: +$52 million
[...]
Other Alternative Investments: +$29 million
[...]
Mutual Funds and ETFs: +$23 million
[...]
Real Estate: +$18 million
[...]
Cash: +$16 million
[...]
Individual Equities: +$600,000
[...]
Transportation: +$425,000
[...]
Gold: +$260,000
Unfathomable.
Details here.
Moon Over Venice
Wow. If I took this photo I’d wish I could stop time. I could sit on that bridge and watch this scene for days:
(Via.)
Gorgeous.
Thanks Monsanto
This is not good:
Super Weeds No Easy Fix for US Agriculture — Experts
A fast-spreading plague of “super weeds” taking over U.S. farmland will not be stopped easily, and farmers and government officials need to change existing practices if food production is to be protected, industry experts said on Thursday.
“This is a complex problem,” said weed scientist David Shaw in remarks to a national “summit” of weed experts in Washington to come up with a plan to battle weeds that have developed resistance to herbicides.
Weed resistance has spread to more than 12 million U.S. acres and primarily afflicts key agricultural areas in the U.S. Southeast and the corn and soybean growing areas of the Midwest.
Many of the worst weeds, some of which grow more than six feet and can sharply reduce crop yields, have become resistant to the popular glyphosate-based weed-killer Roundup, as well as other common herbicides.
Monsanto Co’s Roundup worked well for many years. It became prevalent with the commercialization of “Roundup Ready” crops Monsanto developed to tolerate the weedkiller, making it easy for farmers to treat their fields.
But now super weeds have developed a resistance to Roundup, and farmers are scrambling to figure out how to combat their weeds.
Couple this with a Washington that thinks “regulation” and “big government” is bad for business (never mind the planet) and we have a disaster in the making. (As if there isn’t enough to worry about already.)
Did You Hear How George W. Bush Endorsed Mitt Romney?
OMG. Yesterday I heard that George W. endorsed Mitt Romney but it wasn’t until this afternoon that I learned how he endorsed him. Geezus. It’s hilarious:
(Photo via AP)
Mitt Romney has the support of George W. Bush.
“I’m for Mitt Romney,” Bush told ABC News this morning as the doors of an elevator closed on him, after he gave a speech on human rights a block from his old home — the White House.
That’s it.
No press conference. No flags. No handshakes. No back slapping. No hugs. No waves. No swooning wives. No stage packed with kids. No stage packed with grandkids.
Seems to me we can draw one of two conclusions. Or maybe they’re both true: (1) George isn’t all that thrilled with Mitt. (2) Mitt would rather not be associated with George.
Either way, damn I wish we had video.
Interesting Priorities in North Carolina
If I had a friend or relative in North Carolina, I’d send them this ecard:
(Via.)
