I’m schlepping my butt up to Manhattan tomorrow for the big protest in Union Square Park. The protest is being organized by A New Way Forward and you can find local protests all over the country. I have my trusty Metrocard all ready. I only wish I had a nifty PUMA T-shirt. I should have swiped one from Murphy when we were in Denver.
The purpose of the protest is to bring attention to the fact that a bank that is too big to fail is too big to exist. I just hope we don’t focus so much of our ire on the bankers that we let Congress and the Obama administration off the hook. Bankers can’t help it if they’re greedy bastards. It’s they’re nature. But if banks are too big it’s because our elected officials won’t step up to the plate and make them smaller. All our Reps need to do is decide they are on the side of their constituents, the taxpayers, who have lost their life savings and retirements. That should be a fairly easy decision to make. The problem is they aren’t afraid of us yet. But they shouldn’t get comfortable because 2010 is just around the corner and we can organize to primary the ones who do not think they have to be accountable to us.
As to the polls, I don’t believe them. Nope. Everyday, I overhear people all around me who are steaming mad about what is happening in the financial sector. In fact, it’s practically the only thing I overhear anymore. And attention is starting to turn towards Obama himself. Now, it could be that I just hang around a lot of geeks who are in danger of losing their jobs because big money investors just can’t get enough of mergers to boost their stocks. But I suspect there is just as much dissatisfaction with the fact that Obama rode to the White House on a horse called Change!™ and so far, there is precious little change type activity going on. So, my intention when I go to Manhattan tomorrow is to hang out with the people holding Congress and Obama accountable for the mess we’re in. Care to join me?
In the meantime, let’s have a cocktail.
Welcome to the Conflucian Cocktail Party! This is the time of the week when we mingle, mingle, mingle. You will find the bar to the left of the door. Our bartender with flair, Rico, is back for a permanent engagement. He’s lucky. A bartender’s job is recession proof. Someone is always in need of a drink. His special of the day is a Manhattan. Simple, classic, I couldn’t have made a better choice myself. We are also offering Causmos today at $10. Today’s Causmo is dedicated to paying off Hillary’s debt. I know, I know, I thought Obama was going to take care of it but, hey, that would me her term of indentured servitude would be over and where would be the fun of that? Let’s put this baby to bed. Purchase your Causmo here. Of course, you can order anything you like.
Tonight’s entertainment is one of the BFF’s favorites. Sing along with Dizzy Gillespie to Salt Peanuts:
Ladies and gents, our saloon is real genteel like. You can keep your grudges to yourself or hand them off to Florence, our lovely checkroom attendant. The waiters will be circulating shortly with some samosas, soup dumplings and knish’s. Please drink responsibly and tip your wait staff generously.
Filed under: cocktails | Tagged: A New Way Forward Protest, Banks are too big- period., cocktails, Manhattan |
The Confluence 
Rico, what do you have for people in a health and exercise competition? Soda with lime? That’s it?
{{F%^&}}
Ok, make mine a double.
Rico, what do you have for some one on blood pressure medicine blood thinner for clots?
You can stop laughing now Rico good buddy.
Oh, thanks.
Hey, you gave me an empty glass!
Oh well go ahead and make it a double.
LOL! My company probably makes your medicine. Thanks for helping me pay the mortgage.
Hey, I found a great sparkling water with lemongrass, Tres refreshing. Want some?
As long as there is absolutely no health benefit to it. This taking medicine to keep me healthy is killing me.
On warfarin for blood thinning. I have to take it for about five more months So don’t count on me for your job after that. 🙂
Nah, not one of ours. But I hope it’s working for you nonetheless.
Seems to be working so far. How about Verapamil for BP?
I always loved chemistry and your work must be very interesting and rewarding. Maybe in some future life I’ll be able to work in something similar.
I’m not complaining, I really like my job now and I find it very rewarding also, it’s just that I have many interests and only one life.
Didja know that Warfarin is used in rat poison??
My doctor told me I couldn’t drink while I was taking a blood thinner. When I asked why, he said it would make my blood too thin. I asked if I could not take the thinner and just start drinking. HE didn’t think it was funny.
True story.
If you thin your blood too much you become a “bleeder”
I see the captains picture. You keep this up and I’ll be sleeping with one eye open and a hand above each kidney.
Don’t lose any sleep over the Captain, you’re safe in your bed.
But don’t ever hitchhike
Riverdaughter, We need more weekend cocktail hours, just like when
Hillary was winning the nomination.
We were cheated, but we still need to communicate!
When I was young I liked Baileys on the rocks on special Holidays and some times was given a bottle for Christmas as that was how rare the occasion was (that I had one).
So a small Baileys. 🙂
Not sure but this could be a test to see if you had one too many Baileys? 😯
http://www.baileys.com/en-row/TheDrinks/overice.html
Yum! Have you ever made Irish Creme? I think there are several very good recipes for it. I’ve had the homemade stuff and it’s delicious.
Once when I was sick and my friend took pity upon me and made it for me. It was almost as good as the soup they gave me.
Evening, y’all. Jack D and a splash of soda, please. I have not found any NWF demos, but I spent part of the day helping my grandchildren make signs. We are going to the Tea Party in Ft. Ladeda on Wednesday.
Ladeda? Is that a real place?
Ft. Lauderdale. La-dee-dah to the locals.
LOL If that’s real, it’s the best place name ever. Unless there’s a Ft. Fiddledeedee
That would probably be in Georgia.
Ok, here’s an icebreaker from the Dinnerparty Download:
A pirate walks into a bar with a steering wheel in his pants. The bartender looks up and says, “Hey, buddy, I hate to break this too you but there’s a steering wheel in your pants.”
“Arrrrghhh”, says the pirate, “It’s drivin’ me nuts!”
Ba-dum-dum, {{Ching!}}
Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week.
Oh, deah.
It could be worse.
I’m having iced tea mixed with limeade. It was a wonderful spring day here–about 65 degrees and sunny! So I broke out the iced tea. I’d love one of those samosas.
Yay! You made it. Would you like some of this tamarind stuff to go with or would you prefer that green sauce with the little kick of chili?
I’ll take the green sauce and chili, please.
I’ve never tried samosas. Are they good? They look like an Indian fried pie when I looked them up.
They are delicious! Yum.
Yummy! My sister makes them from scratch.
I’d say they’re more in the wonton family, at least the ones from the supermarket.
It’s been really slow here all day.
People must be observing the holy days by drinking excessively in a tropical location.
I had to work, unfortunately.
It’s 65 degress and I found a dusty bottle of 20 year old generic store brand water in the back of a cupboard–does that count? Tropical vacation recession style.
20 years old?
Hey, it works for scotch
It looks like it’s from the stone age. It’s from a store that as far as I know no longer exists.
Help, I need a strong one fast. It’s allowance day and I have to go inspect the kids rooms. This is usually extremely traumatic. For you lawyers out there I have a nine year old and a twelve year old that can argue a case with the best of them, evidence be d@mmed. If you need an aspiring lawyer you can’t miss with either one. 🙂
LOL! Do they stuff everything in the closet or under the beds?
I take it as a miracle if I can see enough of the floor to get to the bed or closet to check.
Tell them it could be worse. My dad was military. He used to bounce quarters off our beds to see how tight the sheets were and he dumped out our drawers if they weren’t neat enough.
I did not grow up to be a neatnik.
The mother of my children is a Felix. I am an Oscar
All our children take after me.
It must be autosomal dominant.
Is that a fancy way of saying “genetic defect?”
All my stuff is neatly in piles. Or maybe I should say the piles of my stuff are neatly arranged. ARGH I don’t know what I mean. I judge the cleanliness of my house on a 1-2-3 scale. The scale represents how many days it would take to get it presentable if we know company is coming. 🙂
Cannon is smoking hot angry
http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2009/04/turning-of-worm-and-eating-of-crow.html
I wish Cannon would stop beating-around-the bush and just tell us how he really feels.
It’s a good rant even if Cannon freaks me out.
moderation for that???
The spam filter sort of randomly grabs stuff, with little rhyme or reason. Don’t take it personally.
I freak you out? Now I’m upset. I’ll have to calm myself down by engaging in relaxing activities, such as tearing the heads off sparrows and and mailing severed ears to random strangers.
LOL
LOL!
Now I’m upset.
Last week I did a site search over there for The Country Which Must Not Be Named and spent an hour or so skimming what I found. I don’t even know anybody who’s J3wish, but it sure did set off all my alarms. I had to take a shower after reading it.
If myiq wants to link there to something specific, I’ll read it, otherwise I’m done with that place.
I love it! What an excellent post.
I proclaim May 31 as National PUMA day and I’m having a BBQ and you are all invited.
great idea!
Nat’l PUMA Day!
Fantastic idea. I’ll be there.
Any South Central PA PUMAS paying attention here?
Just looked outside and realized the sun has gone down, thats the signal for bedtime here on the old farm. It seems that I have killed the thread anyway. I’ve enjoyed it( the give and take, not the thread killing). You all have a great night. RD be careful tomorrow but give’ em h-e double toothpicks if you get the chance.
night all.
The investment banks are the way they are (failing) because some Senator or Representative decided lining their pockets came before the welfare of constituents.That language change that allowed bail out funds to go toward bonuses was no accident or oversight, Obama got caught pulling a fast one.
RD –
this is a great read if you haven’t seen it yet
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/gerald_warner/blog/2009/04/10/barack_obama_president_pantywaist__new_surrender_monkey_on_the_block
You realize that a New Way Forward is a pro-Obama group, don’t you? On its board is Mike Lux of Open Left, Jerome Armstrong of MyDD, Jane Hamscher of Firedoglake – all pro-Obama if even they quibble on the margin. These rallies are to show support for the President and to encourage him to be bolder and more progressive.
I realize that you are one of the PUMA-obsessed blogstalkers from usedrubbernectar’s place.
And what makes you think that we don’t also encourage the President to be “bolder and more progressive.” ??
right now I’d settle for “less conservative”
Baby steps to the left would be a good start
(nodding) I’ll drink to that.
As long as it’s not Bush Lite.
I think it’s the stoopid that makes Ho no go.
Its late on a Friday so what the hell…
This is not meant for you personally but I absolutely hate the term “progressive” because it does not really mean anything. It does not stand for a political view. It does not suggest anything. I have taken issue going back years because no one could really define it except to say its a better word for left leaners than liberal because liberal has such “negative connotaitons”. In other words, they have been listening to the rightwing media and buying their coloring book.
Liberal is not a dirty word. But, using progressive instead of liberal suggests a reaction to and fear of the right.
I am a liberal. I have always been a liberal. I will always be a liberal. Liberal, liberal, liberal, liberal, liberal. I wish everyone who is really a liberal would own it.
I am a liberal. Obama admits he is not.
Does Obama self-define as a “progressive”?
Oh nevermind, he doesn’t self-define at all…
Obama has transcended ideology.
When you submit to his will and accept him as your savior you will realize that there is no “left” or “right”
There is only Kool-aid.
As the blogger boys pointed out when Obama was being criticized for things like giving gay bashers a seat at the table, Obama’s main theme is post partisan bringing everybody together. Only they can explain how it makes sense for people who are not in favor of collaboration with bushies to vote for the guy who makes that his be all end all and then someone try to nudge him to do a 180 and completely abandon what he’s about using their non existant leverage. Obots are funny like that.
Obama’s a “New Democrat” not a “socialist,” according to him via NYT. And, he doesn’t want anybody to get it twisted. 😉
I guess we are the only ones.
I am proud to be a liberal. I own it.
Quibble on the margin?
Is that the new Axelrod doublespeak?
Try reading what is written- National Protests
nationalize, reorganize, decentralize
What this site has been saying for quite a while now (but of course you read things thru funny colored spectacles)
Dear Ho,
So?
Poor Ho Sento is confused.
Not everyone who supported Obama is a Kool-aid drinker, and many who opposed him are liberal/progressive Democrats.
Rico, long time no see…a Scotch please Glenmorangie’s fine.
While I’m here Rico, do you know any travel group doing a GLBT Highland and Spey side tours?
Obama flies a chef 860 miles from St. Louis to DC to make pizzas for a White House dinner. Okay, maybe this pizza is really good but I’m sure there was somewhere closer in DC or NOVA that makes good pizzas too. I guess this would be okay if the economy was booming but this is not the time for extravagance and unnecessary spending.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1168940/Obamas-fly-chef-860-miles-White-House–just-make-pizza.html
What an Idgit. Anyone knows the best pizza is from the Bronx. People come from Italy to get Bronx pizza, for crissakes.
Pizza is Italian the way a hamburger is German
And Obama is Presidential material the way that Geithner is Treasury material.
Isn’t pizza American and introduced to Italy? I much prefer American
pizza to the watery excuse for pizza that is passed off in Paris and
Stockholm. I have read that Naples does it well.
I believe pizza Margherita originated in Italy and came to New York via Ellis Island, according to my memory of the History and Travel Channel docs I’ve watched. This is the Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pizza
Always at your service, and I’d like a drink; anything but Barack Brandy:
http://www.stawskidistributing.com/Hungary.html
Naples pizza is the best in the world.
Where are Andrew Jackson and Rachel when you really need them? Obamas in way over their heads. They come from a 1 mill stretch manse in Chitown to the big leagues and its like an alcoholic at the all you can drink bar.
Chicken and BBQ sauce on a pizza? He should have come down here on the south side to his old congressional district where we have real deep dish pizza. Obviously they know nothing about pizza in Hyde Park.
ROTFLMAO!
I just heard a Lt Col. on Fox, speaking of Obama’s total lack of knowing what the hell to do as president, say he was like
“the dog who caught the fire truck”
Cracked my ass up. How apt. I need a drink – something with rum.
Too funny. I love it!
OT and sick to my stomach. Just saw an ad for a new children’s book entitled “Mama voted for Obama”.
The sales pitch – let your kids know you made the right choice in 2008.
The second book is “the kids had mama committed.”
LOL!!!!
If that’s the Zilber book, it’s been around for a while.
http://cinie.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/mama-for-obama/
Oh I’ve seen the first one, it has this elephant lumbering around leaving a path of destruction in its wake, and mama like protects everyone and cooks and cleans because that’s what mommies do (Howard dean says, “I enjoyed the gender stereotyping!”). Then the elephant destroys the homeless guy’s bench and, ironically, he gets a voter registration form. The book ends before the rbc swoop in and tear it up.
Also, for some reason, mommy and the kids are I think kangeroos. Unless it’s an ironic comment on the superior social services of Australia or maybe a tweetie and sylvester reference, I don’t get it.
Seriously, I adore your wit.
By the way one can say ” Seriously, Seriously … “, and that reminds me of Prolix musing that he loved to be able to say, when refering to the publication “This week This Week …”
I miss Prolix 😦 Dear, loveable carrot top.
yes-I miss him too-hope he’s all right.
I miss him too! The last I heard, he was moving across the country from Kentucky, I think to the East coast. I hope he’ll check in sometime soon.
Seriously,
I wish I hadn’t been too tired to stay awake last night. You were on a roll!
If we gave the max to the Hillster for her primary run, can we give to the retiring of the debt?
On Fox they had a short clip of Sen. Schumer saying how Republicans are hung up on believing traditional values and a strong national security policy are what people want. And, said Schumer—“those days are over.”
I am not a culture warrior and I think we spend outrageously on boom-boom toys but somehow that statement really struck me as an incredible thing for a Senator to say. Did any of you catch that and if so, what do you think of it?
No. Perhaps a member of your family wants to give, however.
Shucks. I maxed out for our Hillary (who won the nomination just as Gore won in 2000), and would really really like to spend a weekend talking with Bill, but guess I can’t contribute to paying down the debt. I would trade a lifetime of chats with Obama for one-hour of chatting with Bill.
Shouldn’t those cheaters in the DNC and RBC pay it back? They were the
ones who had to stuff The One down our throats regardless.
What about those under $200 donations that came to Bama via the internetS? Who sent them?
No money from me to the Dems until the DNC leaves Chicago and the Obamabots have been re-educated.
Yep – I would also like a chance to spend some time with Bill. My sister (a Repub) called me tonight wanting to know if I knew about the effort to pay down the debt and chance to chat with Bill. She was encouraging me to give some money because she wanted me to take her with me if I got to spend some time with Bill.
Funny thing – until this past year she hated both Bill and Hillary. Now, she has seen the light and loves both of them.
Anyway, I let her go on for a bit and then told her I was maxed out and could not give more. Dead silence on her end for several seconds as she took it in. Finally I said, did you think I was kidding when I told you last summer how I had spent part of my inheritance and I particularly enjoyed it because our Mother was such a rightwing Republican. She didn’t believe me back then but now she understands how angry I am at the DNC and how much I can not stomach Obama.
She is 65 and its about time she got a little more sophisticated in her political views. ’bout time.
I saw the clip, and I was appalled. He actually said the days of traditional values and a strong foreign policy are over. He said it with great disdain, and zeal for the Brave New Obamaworld.
Um, I don’t think most of America is going to like that. We wanted an end to gay-bashing, to snooping in our bedrooms and uteruses, to a bullying stance on the world stage – but we don’t want an end to traditional values and strength.
….but we don’t want an end to traditional values and strength.
Exactly…. I think one Barry’s job’s , besides helping Wall St to loot, is to rehab the post Bush GOP. He’s doing one heck of a job there.
Well, you could always pull an Obot and get a prepaid Visa card and use that, under the name “Donna Brazile”.
The originally scheduled dnc seminar on ‘how to talk to those gun totin’ superstition-riddled American hicks’ has been cancelled. In its place, ‘we don’t need no stinkin’ communication skills, we’ve got hubris’
Let me get this correct. The O’s flew a chef in from St. Louis to do a pizza party? So is this one of the office perks that we are all paying for? They do a pizza party for about a quarter million $??? On the taxpayer tab? What about the pirates and the Phillips family? Just because he got the POTUS job you can not expect him to work all the time, not have fun with his kids; he is trying to do so much and save us all. Give him a break!
You know, we figured out before the first family has to pay for their own food, but I bet they don’t have to pay for chef airfares. Instead of ordering from the local takeout, fly someone in from Beijing and Paris every night. Loopholes, loopholes. 😉
It’s amazing what you can pick up at parties. The boss doesn’t want the big acquisition, cares about fleas, and get this, he wants to live in the US. Go figure.
I’ll be at the Pittsburgh protest after the Tea party. It just a short walk way, and the time works out. I’ll try to bring others.
Sayz RD:
Care to join me?
Would I ever! N.Y. – the love of my life!
Enjoy your trip RD.
I have rummaged giggling through the thread now, and as the party seems to be over, I would like to post the following transscript.
This past Thursday it was 68 years since the Germans occupied my country. As an apropos here is a
Historic Flashback
2 days ago was also Skærtorsdag (Maundy Thursday? … so sayz the dictionary), the first day in our 5 day long Easter vacation. For a country that is so … hmm … relaxed, about religion, we sure do love us some HolyDays. 😀
I’ll show up in Union Square as well.
And a little interesting tidbit about the little silence pact between Jr and Jr.jr while the Iraq war is ready to escalate
http://edgeoforever.wordpress.com/2009/04/11/shhht-what-war-we-have-a-silence-pact/
Tiffany Cheng, founder of “A New Way Forward”, is an Obot.
Do you see any criticism of Obama on that site?
No.
And you wont.
But Moveon and Acorn will be there to take your email addy and get you on “the list.”
It’s a game.
Alinsky says control EVERYTHING.
Even the pretend opposition!
Good catch. I’ll take a deeper look. This was mentioned upthread. I see my former “friend” BuzzFlash on the list. That makes me suspicious from the get-go.
However, catarina, do you think that “good” can come from “bad” on occasion?
From a quick read through B-Flash, they still love Obama even though they are negative on bankers.
yup. please sound the alarm. I have to get back to work right now.
those motherfuckers.
its the very same machine that got Obama elected-they are warming up for the next PE.
with a few pretend protests for good measure.
they will plead in 2012, telling us we have to vote for O cuz he’s a dem, and he’s really sorry about all that dough that went to the banks.
I’ll go stand with the republicans at the tea parties.. fuck these people
Excellent point. If it wasn’t about a pretend opposition,
why would obots need a group called the way forward? Barry is the freaking President!
In the novel 1984, Winston joins what he thought was an underground resistance group….nah, it simply was a group created to gather in trouble makers. When this revealed to him he says “Yes, but is there a REAL resistance group? ” and he’s told you’ll never know’
Indeed.
not this time, purple.
this is classic diversionary tactic.
preplanned and controlled.
these people will hog the media spotlight so that the “real” protests are minimized or shoved aside.
the message will be carefully shaped-O “inherited” this mess…
I smell a big fat Axelrat.
“I smell a big fat Axelrat.” Ooooooh, classic!
This project is not funded or initiated by any organization. The individuals who helped to bring the website together in our ealier days are Zephyr Teachout, Morgan Knutson (amazing designer), Nicholas Reville, Tiffiniy Cheng, Andrew Packer. This has been an all-volunteer, grassroots effort. We have all worked on public-interest projects on issues like the music industry (Downhill Battle) and have been active in politics. Individuals and organizatios have been instrumental in launching this project and we hope to involve them more formally. We have worked together on various technology projects in the past and currently.
Tiffiniy Cheng worked on the Obama campaign in MO, helping with Get-out-the-vote efforts.
“Zephyr Teachout” was a VERY prominent member of Howard Dean’s campaign staff in 2003-2004
They are such bastards. Acorn bussed people to the AIG executives homes in CT as well. When you read of protesters being bused, smell rat . I’m not saying folks shouldn’t have protest…..but when it’s that highly organized, it’s Obot lead and meant to fool
“We expect the unemployed, the foreclosed, the Obama supporters, the progressives, and those who are seeing their country slip away, to make their voice heard — this country can’t be hijacked by the banks anymore,” said one of the website creators. “People will come out of the woodwork and lead others to express our majority opinion and our public will.”
I sense cognitive dissonance. It will be interesting to hear RD’s take on the experience.
The message boils down to
Blame banks, not Barry
that’s right.
They’ll banker-bash and somehow it will get spun that PO comes in and saves us from their evil.
what a mind fuck.
The New Way kids have been busy-looks like their page has been “modified” since I started posting info here.
Watch how fast they scrub.
Yup, they’re Obots all right.
Also it takes dough to get up this fast… the kind of dough Barry had at every turn….TWF has all the obot spots and can’t change them . Apparently they haven’t heard of google
I only trust a little of what I SEE anymore, and virtually none of what I read/hear…
I feel really bad for the poor Ho upthread.
Nuthin like shooting the messenger.
New post up!
Hey Catarina and all,
I posted about the “new way forward” in the new thread. Let’s discuss this up there and see what we can find out!
[…] pouring in Union Square Jump to Comments Si, I am home thinking of this protest and who organized it (I was going to make myself a […]