Sunday evening personal

Red Lobster is holding their Lobster Fest these days and last night I decided that today I would take part. I'd already gone online and picked out what I would be ordering (the "Lobster Lover's Dream," for $30.99). (There's a restaurant across and just down the street from here, a short walk.) I thought I'd go at an odd time to beat the crowd, so I left here at around 2:30.

Even at that time, people were waiting inside for tables. Since I was by myself, I decided to sit at the bar, which at that point was empty.  (By the time I left, at around 4:00, the bar was full and people were waiting outside to get in -- I overheard that it was a half-hour wait to get a table.)

I'm not a big Red Lobster fan and rarely go there, but I love lobster. I was raised on spiny lobster and actually prefer it to Maine lobster. Today, however, I had both, plus linguini Alfredo with shrimp, lobster and langostino. Started out with biscuits and a house salad with blue cheese dressing. The lobster was, as I expected, OK -- it satisfied my lobster craving. The spiny lobster had been broiled or roasted whole with all the meat lying exposed outside the shell. Came out kind of dry and tough. But it was fine dunked in drawn butter into which I'd squeezed fresh lemon. (The Maine lobster tail was split and roasted and was still pretty juicy.)

The linguini was very good. Ate the meat out of it first (was meaty). Didn't finish the pasta. (I'd already eaten two biscuits.) It also came with steamed broccoli. Ate all of that. Read magazines.

After dinner, I walked over to E.'s restaurant for a couple of cups of coffee. Had a nice, long visit. On the walk home, the intense late-afternoon sun had set the tabebuia ablaze, so I ran upstairs to get my camera. Still, the camera doesn't do it justice.

Daylight Saving Time

Always have trouble adjusting to the time change this time of the year. I'm a night owl and hate to go to bed anyway. Then all of a sudden make me go to bed an hour earlier (and wake up earlier), I have a problem adjusting. (It takes a week.) According to the chart, "most people do not use DST."

I'll go with "most people." I hate it.

If the Japanese can’t build a safe reactor, who can?

"Japan’s nuclear power stations were designed with the same care and precision as everything else in the country. More to the point, as the only country in the world to have experienced true nuclear catastrophe, Japan had an incentive to build well, as well as the capability, laws and regulations to do so. Which leads to an unavoidable question: If the competent and technologically brilliant Japanese can’t build a completely safe reactor, who can?" Source (via Kos)

From Anderson Cooper in Japan

Time for drug companies to 'cease and desist' extortionist pricing policies

From Daily Kos here.

KV Pharmaceutical is behaving as pharma does in the wake of winning approval from the government to exclusively sell Makena, a form of progesterone used in high-risk pregnancies to prevent premature birth. They're raising the price of a single injection from $10 to $1,500.

Doctors say the price hike may deter low-income women from getting the drug, leading to more premature births. And it will certainly be a huge financial burden for health insurance companies and government programs that have been paying for it.

The cost is justified to avoid the mental and physical disabilities that can come with very premature births, said KV Pharmaceutical chief executive Gregory J. Divis Jr. The cost of care for a preemie is estimated at $51,000 in the first year alone.

"Makena can help offset some of those costs," Divis told The Associated Press. "These moms deserve the opportunity to have the benefits of an FDA-approved Makena."

That sounds just a little like extortion—pay the $1,500 per injection (they're required weekly for as much as 20 weeks) or experience the "mental and physical disabilities that can come with very premature births." These moms include a higher percentage of [African]-American women, as well as low-income women receiving Medicaid. But those with private insurance don't have any guarantees that the treatments will continue to be covered at the new, insane rate.

And there's more. ThinkProgress reports that the company is "seeking to prevent other pharmaceutical companies from producing a cheaper version. Last month, KV sent out a letter to compounding pharmacies to cease and desist from producing the drug."

TP also reports that the move hasn't gone totally unnoticed by government.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) sent a letter to KV Pharmaceuticals Thursday demanding they “immediately reconsider the massive price increase.” Noting that African-American women have a higher percentage of premature births, and that fewer women will be able to afford the drug, Brown said he is “gravely concerned” that premature birth rates will increase nationwide. “[H]ealth insurance companies could either stop coverage of the treatment or impose higher premiums on consumers,” Brown said, adding that “state Medicaid programs — which are already struggling to make ends meet — will be forced to deal with the financial repercussions” of the “exorbitant” hike. “This isn’t in the interest of children, new mothers, or taxpayers,” Brown told ThinkProgress.

The FDA might also reconsider its granting of an exclusive license to KV.

[Emphasis added.] See previous post here. Logic would dictate that the cost of drugs should be based on the cost to produce them, plus R&D (which isn't as high as the drug companies claim), plus some reasonable profit. (The U.S. Government funds a lot of the R&D for drugs already.) Taking that into consideration, this particular drug company could make money selling the injection for $10 (as the compound pharmacies apparently do), but then jacks up the price by $1,490, which is pure profit for the company's executives and shareholders. And then it has the chutzpah to say it's giving you a break on your preemie costs. (All the while imposing a huge burden on our already teetering healthcare system.) This has to stop.

See ABC News story here.

Hydroxyprogesterone caproate injections have been around since 1956, and were commercially available up until 1999 when Squibb, the pharmaceutical company making them, withdrew the product from the market. In the past few years however, studies have shown that these injections had a positive effect in preventing pre-term birth among women who had previously had a spontaneous pre-term birth in the past. Since then, doctors have been able to fill prescriptions for the synthetic progesterone using compounding pharmacies at a price of $10 to $15 per injection.

Most health insurances did not cover these shots as they were not FDA approved, but given the low price of progesterone, women were able to pay out of pocket for the treatment, says Moritz.

It wasn't always easy to find places that made the medication, however, says Dr. Michael Lindsay, division director of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, so "we were excited at first to hear it be FDA-approved."

"My mind-set was that now everyone could get it, but no one is going to be able to afford that," he says.

Many doctors are particularly frustrated with the price hike because to date, KV Pharmaceuticals has not had to bear the cost of the clinical trials used to get the drug approved, but they have announced plans to conduct further trials in the future.

"All the upfront development of the drug was done by the National Institute of Health. You and I paid for that with our tax dollars, it's not like this pharmaceutical company is trying to recoup its investments in research and development, as is usually the reason for the price of new drugs," says Dr. Kevin Ault, associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine. . . .

The company does plan on providing financial assistance to people who can't afford it, but it shouldn't have to be so expensive in the first place. (Sounds like compounding pharmacies are a great idea for reducing some of our out-of-control healthcare costs.)

Monday night

For St. Patrick's Day, made corned beef (on sale at Publix) in the pressure cooker. Takes about an hour (vs. three if I'd boiled it). The meat really shrinks -- it's up to 35% brine solution, according to the label. I think I can make three meals out of it, tops. So not cheap but really tasty. Taking some to work tomorrow, along with horseradish.

Watched a new Anthony Bourdain show tonight on Nicaragua. What a disgraceful place (in parts). They have a whole class of dump scavengers in Managua ("churequeros"). (They even scavenge for food, in addition to stuff to recycle, for a pittance.) Tony didn't give President Daniel Ortega (worth $400 million according to Tony) an easy time.

I think, however, some Republicans and Libertarians in this country would have no qualms if we had a dump scavenger class here. (Maybe we already do.) That seems to be what they're pushing for, in their efforts to siphon all the country's wealth up to the already wealthiest people at the expense of everyone else. (See, e.g., drug-pricing post above.) (We're becoming a "third-world" country ourselves, folks.)

One of Tony's meals tonight included an animal called "pelibüey." I'd never heard of it. See here. It's a non-woolly tropical sheep that's raised mainly for meat [pictured].

Before-and-after satellite photos of tsunami

From The New York Times here. (On the site, move the blue slider to compare satellite images from before and after the disaster.)

Fresh footage of Japanese tsunami

See here too ("This Is the Scariest First-Person Video of the Japan Tsunami Yet"). (We used to call them "tidal waves." "Tsunami" is Japanese for "harbor wave.")

Frank Rich is leaving The New York Times

See his latest column here.

Andrew Sullivan over the years (in video)

Top video from 1996; bottom from October 2010 (link to full interview here)

Andrew Sullivan over the years

[Click twice to get large photos]

A night in Paris

(From Andrew Sullivan) (Update: Just found out Andrew is leaving The Atlantic and going to The Daily Beast/Newsweek.  See Joe.My.God. here.)

Worst Housing Markets For 2011: Clear Capital Markets

From The Huffington Post here. (So we're not the worst.)

#12 Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Miami Beach, Fl

@

According to Clear Capital's Home Data Index Market Report, the Las Vegas-Paradise area saw home prices fall 3 percent in 2010, and prices are projected to fall another 6.4 percent in 2011 (Pictured: Las Vegas, Nv)

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Clear Capital reports that the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Miami Beach area saw home prices fall 3.9 percent in 2010, and prices are projected to fall another 6.5 percent in 2011

(Pictured: Miami Beach, Fl)

Wall Street malfeasance hits home

(Pun intended.) Older assessment information isn't available online from the County.

The market value was even higher in previous years.  (But there was another huge drop between 2008 and 2009.)

Bought in 2002 for $77,500 and the value rose steadily. Mortgage is low, so I still have some equity in it.  (I'm not "under water.")  (Lots of people are.)  Foreclosures in the building have killed the value.  (While immoral Wall Street made a killing off risky mortgages.)

One of the worst real estate markets in the country, if not the worst.

One more day

See here.

Yellow tabebuias in bloom

Former Gov. Graham slams Scott over education

From The Miami Herald here.

Former Florida Gov. Bob Graham has been mostly silent about the proposals of men who have succeeded him in the office he left in 1987.

But Friday he openly criticized Gov. Rick Scott’s plans to cut education funding, eliminate money for Florida Forever and dismantle the state agency that oversees growth management.

“This idea of selling Florida as the cheapest state — well that’s what we’ve got now,’’ Graham said in a lengthy telephone interview with the St. Petersburg Times. “To drive it (costs) down at the expense of young people’s education is wrong.’’

“Florida is a wonderful place to live. But it is a fragile place and we have to keep investing in the things that will retain that high quality of life.’’

Graham, 74, said he fears measures proposed by Scott and supported by the Republican-led Legislature will not only damage education and the quality of life for Floridians, but hurt efforts to attract new business.

“We have to add other elements like places that provide quality education for their children,’’ said Graham, one of Florida’s most prominent Democrats. “The difference between Chapel Hill (North Carolina) and Fort Pierce (Florida) is where would I like to go for quality of life and opportunity for my kids.’’

Scott has proposed cutting education funding, zeroing out Florida Forever and dismantling the Department of Community Affairs, along with layoffs, pension and health care payments for state employees. The Legislature appears to be following his lead in most respects.

“I’m discouraged at a lot of things that are happening,’’ he said. “It seems so short-sighted, the idea of cutting education by 10 percent seems unbelievable. To cut Florida Forever (the state’s land buying program) to zero and cut down spending on the Everglades — it all damages education and the environment.’’ . . .

No money for beach renourishment in Scott's budget

From the St. Petersburg Times here.

For decades taxpayers have been footing the bill to pump extra sand onto eroding beaches around Florida. But this coming year may be different.

Gov. Rick Scott's proposed budget for next year includes no money for repairing any of Florida's 825 miles of sandy beaches.

By cutting out new state funding, Scott is guaranteeing that the millions of dollars in federal funds that go with it as a match are cut as well, warned state Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole. . . .

"It's unfortunate, given how much the governor talks about jobs," Jones said, contending that Florida's tourism-based economy depends on regularly pumping more sand on its beaches.

Robin Grabowski, president of the Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce, called it "a very unfortunate decision" by Scott. "I don't think he's looking at it from a long-term perspective." . . .

TGIF!

Was back at gym tonight, after a hiatus due to a bad cold and issues with the truck.  Afterwards couldn't resist walking a few paces up to Publix to get some fresh fried chicken.  Mmmm.  (Also got Boca Burgers, which I also like.)

Watching Anderson Cooper to get more on the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  Hadn't seen much video on it.  (Streaming video not available at work.)  Caught some at the end of the NBC Nightly News earlier.  Yikes.

'Resetting the debate': Email today from Chuck Schumer

[Moi],

We have just one week to go before the current budget agreement expires. If a new agreement is not found, we face the prospect of something no one wants: a government shutdown.

My fellow senators and I are working hard to avert that, but so far, the debate has centered on so-called "domestic discretionary spending" -- basically the 12% or so of the budget that goes to programs other than the military, Social Security, and Medicare.

And let me tell you: a bipartisan compromise simply will not be found in domestic discretionary spending cuts alone.

Just yesterday, the Senate defeated H.R. 1, the House Republicans' scorched-earth spending proposal that sought to cut such critical national priorities as border security, cancer research, and food safety inspectors.

The defeat of H.R. 1 shows we need to reset the budget debate to include things like military spending and agricultural subsidies and put revenue raisers on the table.

Help me reset the budget debate. Click here to use our easy online tool to write a message to your representative in Congress today.

Right now a small, intense ideological tail is wagging the dog over in the House of Representatives, where the hard right wing of the Republican Party has deliberately confused two separate issues: reducing the deficit and cutting government.

Their fervor for spending cuts is not grounded in deficit considerations at all. They are using deficit talk as a Trojan horse for eliminating things they don't like.

We don't face the current deficit because of Head Start and cancer research, and we'll never get out of it by cutting Head Start and cancer research.

We need to scour all parts of the budget that contribute to the deficit, not just the parts of the budget that some of us don't like.

And we can't have honest debate on the rest of the budget until we reset it.

Send a quick message to your member of Congress today and ask them to reset the debate on the budget.

In last week's Wall Street Journal-NBC poll, the most popular proposal to reduce the deficit -- out of 23 options surveyed -- was a surtax on millionaires and billionaires.

The Pentagon should no longer be treated as off-limits. We can find ways to achieve savings in Medicare and Medicaid that don't reduce benefits. And agriculture needs to be put on the table.

Yet all the Republicans can talk about is cutting "discretionary" areas of government.

We need to reset the debate. Together, we can do it.

Click here to help.

Thank you for your support,

Chuck Schumer

What Wisconsin Democrats can teach Washington Democrats

From E.J. Dionne Jr. at The Washington Post here.

In 2010, working-class whites gave Republicans a 30-point lead over Democrats in House races. That's why the Wisconsin fight is so dangerous to the conservative cause: Many working-class Republicans still have warm feelings toward unions, and Walker has contrived to remind them of this.

Which brings us to the Washington Democrats. Up to now, the only thing clear about the budget fight is that Democrats want to cut less from discretionary spending than Republicans do. Quietly, many Democrats acknowledge that they have been losing this argument.

Thus the importance of a speech on Wednesday by Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a New York Democrat, intended to "reset the debate." As Schumer noted, the current battle, focused on "one tiny portion of the budget," evades the real causes of long-term budget deficits.

Schumer dared to put new revenue on the table - including some tax increases that are popular among the sorts of blue-collar voters who are turning against Walker. Schumer, for example, spoke of Obama's proposal to end subsidies for oil and gas companies and for higher taxes on "millionaires and billionaires." Yes, closing the deficit will require more revenue over the long run. But right now, the debate with the House isn't focusing on revenue at all.

Schumer, who spoke at the Center for American Progress, also suggested cuts to agriculture subsidies and in unnecessary defense programs. He proposed changes in Medicare and Medicaid incentives that would save money, including reform of how both programs pay for prescription drugs. The broad debate Schumer called for would be a big improvement on the current petty argument, which he rightly described as "quicksand."

To this point, Washington Democrats have been too afraid and divided to engage compellingly on the fundamentals of what government is there to do and how the burdens of deficit reduction should be apportioned. Wisconsin Democrats have shown that the only way to win arguments is to take risks on behalf of what you believe. Are Washington Democrats prepared to learn this lesson?

Fox News lies

The disaster of Obama

First, it should be said, the American public is more concerned about jobs than anything else.  But now we're in a deficit-cutting mode.  Which we shouldn't be in, with so much unemployment.  Slashing budgets shashes jobs, and, from what I've read, the private sector can't compensate for that.

When Obama extended the tax cuts for the wealthy

Just in from Alan Grayson

Dear [Moi],

It has been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results.

That’s pretty much where we are on tax cuts for the rich.

Ronald Reagan cut taxes on the rich. Reagan added $1 trillion to the federal debt, and turned America from the largest creditor nation into the largest debtor nation. 

George W. Bush cut taxes on the rich. Bush Jr. added $4 trillion to the federal debt, and vaporized 20% of our national wealth in the last 18 months of his administration.

Yet in December, the Republicans in Congress forced us to extend tax cuts for the rich for two more years, at the cost of $70 billion a year. And now, they want to cut social services by . . . $70 billion a year. Here are some of their cuts, to pay for more tax cuts for the rich:

They want to cut Community Health Centers, which provide care to 3 million patients, by 46%.

They want to lay off all food inspectors for 30 to 45 days.

They want to eliminate the COPS program, and lay off over 1000 police officers. They want to cut Title 1 education funds, laying off 17,000 teachers and aides.

They want to cut 200,000 children from the Head Start preschool program.

So there it is: tax cuts mean school cuts. And health cuts. And safety cuts. This is the Republicans’ jobs program: lay off thousands and thousands of workers. 

And in Florida, Rick Scott, our teabag Governor, our Thief in Chief, announced yesterday that he wants to cut taxes on the rich and corporations by $1.7 billion, and (coincidence, of course), cut school funding by $1.7 billion.

Rick Scott’s personal net worth is hundreds of millions of dollars. Rick Scott wants a tax cut for the rich because he wants a tax cut for himself.  As for the rest of us, the other 20 million people who live in Florida, all he wants from us is cheap labor.

It’s amazing, isn’t it? We live in the richest country the world has ever seen, but thanks to rampant greed on the part of people like Rick Scott, we have to fight for our health and safety, and the education of our children. As Cardinal Spellman said 45 years ago, “it is a war thrust upon us, and we cannot yield to tyranny.”

I’m ready to fight for what’s right. What about you? 

Courage,

Alan Grayson

[You can contribute to Alan Grayson here.]

Miami No. 1 in healthcare costs

The latest Medicare data shows that healthcare for the average senior in Miami costs twice the national average

From The Miami Herald  here.

Once again a new survey shows Miami has by far the highest healthcare costs in the nation.

A study by Kaiser Health News of the latest available Medicare data shows that the costs of the average Miami senior’s healthcare beats out any area of the country.

The Miami senior averaged $18,199 in 2008, according to the report. That’s twice the national average. Adjusted for higher local wages and other factors, the Miami cost is $10,145 – 35 percent higher than the national average. . . .

For years, the Dartmouth Atlas research group has been analyzing why Miami’s costs are so much higher than elsewhere, even when adjusted for severity of illness and other factors. Their findings have shown that a major contributor appears to be the large number of physician specialists in the area, a situation that tends to lead to more visits to doctors and more diagnostic tests. The large number of hospital beds in the area may also drive up usage, Dartmouth has found.

For years, the Dartmouth analyses have found that Miami’s costs are twice as much as in Minneapolis. The latest study shows Minneapolis has actual costs of $7,415 per senior – making Miami 2.5 times more expensive.

The Kaiser story also noted that Miami is the spot where “federal prosecutors are intensely prosecuting Medicare fraud.” . . .

[Emphasis added.]

Starts at 9:00

There's also a new "What Not to Wear" on at 9:00. I'll watch it re-run at 12:00. (Going in late to work tomorrow -- using some flex time from Sunday.)

The Deal And 'Shared Sacrifice'

From Big Tent Democrat here.

Atrios asks:

I wonder what Andrea Mitchell is sacrificing for the new austerity.

Here's the thing, the time to ask Andrea Mitchell and Alan Greenspan and rich people like them to sacrifice was when President Obama was striking The Deal. Everyone wants to pretend that what is happening now on the "New Austerity" has nothing to do with the The Deal that was struck in December. It has everything to do with it. When Ezra Klein was giving The Deal a standing ovation back in December, me and a few others were saying that it was a terrible mistake because the "New Austerity" was coming. If Obama had simply said No to The Deal, he could be negotiating tax rates right now, not just budget cuts. The Deal was a terrible mistake and anyone who was honest when thinking about it knew this.

Speaking for me only

"The Deal" of course is the "compromise" Obama struck that extended the tax cuts for the wealthy another two years rather than letting them expire at the end of last year. (That's when I removed myself from Obama's "Organizing for America" mailing list.) (But I did get an invitation to the events when Obama was here last week, although I did not attend.)

Last fall, after the Democrats' "shellacking" in the mid-term elections, I had emailed the President the following (to paraphrase): "Whatever you do between now and the end of the year, do NOT entertain any type of compromise that would prevent the tax cuts for the wealthy from expiring at the end of the year, as scheduled by law." (I think it was the next day or so that I heard a "compromise" was in the works. My heart sank.) Now look at the mess we're in. SUCKER!!

Lesbians Who Look Like Justin Bieber

See here.

Miami's own Jared Prudoff-Smith

See his info here.

New Study: Big Pharma research costs overvalued by nearly $1 bn per product

From AmericaBlog here.

Surely it's all a simple rounding error mistake. This new study may not be perfectly accurate but the Big Pharma claims of $1.3 billion per product is surely overstated. Slate:

For years the government has sought to make brand-name drugs cheaper and more widely available to the public. It has tried and failed to limit to a reasonable time period various patent and other "exclusivity" protections. Or it's tried and failed to negotiate volume discounts on the drugs that the feds purchase through Medicare. Every time, the pharmaceutical lobby has used its considerable wealth and political clout to block any government action that might trim Big Pharma's profits, which typically amount to between one-quarter and one-half of company revenues. And just about every time, Big Pharma has argued that huge profit margins are vitally necessary to the pharmaceutical industry because drug research and development costs are so high.

The statistic Big Pharma typically cites (see, for instance, this PhRMA video on how Mister Chemical Compound becomes Mister Brand-Name Drug) is that the cost of bringing a new drug to market is about $1 billion. Now a new study indicates the cost is more like, um, $55 million.

Late Saturday night

Gotta get up in the morning to be at work by 1:00. Taking the bus. Will stop off at Checker's at Omni for chili dogs before taking the Metromover downtown.

Just watched a good vampire movie on SyFy with Lucy Liu, "Rise: Blood Hunter." Meanwhile it's been pouring outside. Love hearing the rain.

Drove the truck to Target tonight to buy a new stand fan for the bedroom. (The last one died a slow death, and it wasn't that old. Lately I've been getting it going by manually spinning the blade, the way they used to start the old prop planes. But then it just died in the night.) Unloaded that here and then went grocery shopping at the close-by Publix just south of here. Truck acting like nothing was ever wrong. How deceiving.

Did a load of laundry tonight.

Had dinner at KFC before heading up to Target. If the truck had died at Target, I could have walked home with the fan -- it's that close. The reason I live so close to everything is that I hate depending on automobiles, i.e., for good reason. Cars and I don't go together well. (Having experienced London and Paris at an early age, I think every decent-sized city should have a "tube" or "metro." It only makes sense.)

Couple In Cuffs After Facebook Defriending

Floridians busted after violent, antisocial networking

Also from The Smoking Gun, here.

MARCH 1--A violent domestic dispute was ignited when a Florida woman “un-friended” her beau on Facebook and changed her relationship status on the popular social networking site, according to police.

The altercation Saturday between Thomas Gannon and Tina Cash reportedly began when Gannon confronted his girlfriend about the updates on her Facebook page, according to a Hernando County Sheriff's Office report. In short order, household items and fists began flying. Gannon, hit with a picture frame, suffered a laceration under his right eye.

Gannon, 35, and Cash, 31, are pictured in the above mug shots. They were each busted for misdemeanor domestic battery and briefly booked into the county jail.

Cash’s Facebook page today lists 223 friends. Gannon’s name is not among them.

Video: Drunk Priest's Holding-Cell Sermon

From The Smoking Gun here.

MARCH 4--In a bravura 23-minute videotaped performance, the Ohio priest arrested early Monday for drunk driving offers a tipsy stream-of-consciousness riff on topics like patriotism, Libya, Oprah, Johnny Weir, his jailer’s eyebrows, and even Sarah Palin.

“We’re going rogue,” Rev. Ignatius Kury, 35, announced at one point.

Kury’s expletive-peppered monologue--captured by a Brimfield Township Police Department camera--can be viewed below in two parts (note that the sound sync is slightly off). While a viewing of the entire tape is suggested, here are a few of Kury’s more entertaining comments:

► To a jailer: “You have fabulous eyebrows. Those don’t come naturally.”

► “I am not going to get on my knees, I am not going to give head. Oral sex, no. I don’t care how long I’m here.”

► “Thank you. Because I believe in real American democracy. I believe in Sarah Palin. We’re going rogue.”

► “I want you to free me, America, I want you to love me. I want you to be with me.”

► “He’s in shackles, like Uncle Tom. Like I’m an Uncle Tom, don’t you think so, cause I’m black, I’m part black. You understand, sir, what kind of a shit storm you’re going to be under cause I am part black. Ohh, I can’t wait. Oprah Winfrey is going to have her fat ass down here and you are going to have your ass up the wall, and not in a good way.”

► “And I refuse like Johnny Weir. I will say my people have been oppressed for too long! And we will not go along with your shackles! We will not be slaves to you. No, we will continue to rise against you, you Bolsheviks. We are true royalty. I am the Viscount and I will not allow you to denounce me nor will I allow you to denounce my family.”

The success of Warren Buffett

From the February issue of Vanity Fair:

Buffett and [Vice-Chairman] Munger have built a reputation for being the "buyer of first resort." In other words, when a certain type of owner wants to sell his business, he'll turn to Buffett first -- because Berkshire is widely seen as the most benevolent of owners for the right kind of business. "For the last 20 years Buffett has been like Steven Spielberg -- every good script comes across his desk," says an observer. . . .

"We think faster and operate faster than anyone," says Munger. "There is no one in the world better at buying something Monday morning that we heard about Saturday." Another Wall Streeter says about Buffett, "His true genius is, given the flow of deals and investments that cross his desk, he sifts through them very efficiently. I call this the uncluttered mind. And he has the guts to write big checks."

And after that Buffett leaves the business alone. It is free from the pressures of being a publicly traded company, and it is managed as the original management sees fit. This is the opposite of the private-equity approach, in which businesses are loaded with debt and profits are boosted via layoffs. "Love of money over love of business," says Buffett about private equity. Every two years, Buffett sends a memo to his top managers, whom he calls his "All-Stars." This summer, he wrote, "Talk to me about what is going on as little or as much as you wish. Each of you does a first-class job of running your operation with your own individual style and you don't need me to help." . . .

Blog description

Just added it tonight. The reference to "reality" comports with this (from Wikipedia here):

Reality-based community is an informal term in the United States. In the fall of 2004, the phrase "proud member of the reality-based community" was first used to suggest the commentator's opinions are based more on observation than on faith, assumption, or ideology. The term has been defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from judicious study of discernible reality." Some commentators have gone as far as to suggest that there is an overarching conflict in society between the reality-based community and the "faith-based community" as a whole. It can be seen as an example of political framing.

The source of the term is a quotation in an October 17, 2004, The New York Times Magazine article by writer Ron Suskind, quoting an unnamed aide to George W. Bush (later attributed to Karl Rove^[1]):

The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." ... "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors…and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."^[2]

[Emphasis added.] The first time I read that, I could hardly believe my eyes. The hubris of it all. Karl Rove, I think, is a perfect exemplar, along with Glenn Beck, of the problem of a little education being a dangerous thing.  "A small amount of knowledge can mislead people into thinking that they are more expert than they really are." (See here.) Both Rove and Beck are college drop-outs; education was too liberal for them.  (George Bush, always the rebel, was basically just dumb enough to be bamboozled by Rove.)

Of course, Glenn Beck now has his own bullshit "university."

Changing the subject:  Technically, I was born in Coral Gables and now live in North Miami, which is its own municipality. But for the most part I grew up right in the heart of the City of Miami. I also work there.

TGIF!

Vacation from the gym is almost over. I'll start back next week. (Didn't go tonight.)

I think I'll also go down to Magnum next Friday, after the gym. Will bus it there and taxi back.

Haven't been on the bar scene in a few years, not since the local watering hole closed down. I used to stop in there regularly. Won't get back into that habit, however. I do miss the music and the company, though.

I enjoyed Magnum on New Year's Eve. It was busy and the music was great. Not into the piano bar, however. (It's a good one if you like piano bars.) (Too faggy for me, everybody sitting around singing "New York, New York.") They had regular house music outside. I mostly sat in the little "Shack" bar. There's also a covered outdoor seating area, with couches and a large-screen TV.

Miami New Times "Housewives of Miami" blog

Here. Cute (with a few minor errors).

"We might be getting a little ahead of ourselves, but it looks like this season of Real Housewives of Miami is actually getting good. Yes, the first episode was boring, but the second really stepped it up. Are we the only ones who feel this way? . . ."

Gay-Themed Films Heat Up SXSW

From The Advocate here. SXSW (South by Southwest) is a gay film festival in Austin, TX, taking place March 11-20. Watch trailer for one of the entries below.

George Will, conservative columnist, on the Republicans

“[S]ensible Americans … must … be detecting vibrations of weirdness emanating from people associated with the party. … The most recent vibrator is Mike Huckabee, [who referred in a radio interview to President Obama] ‘having grown up in Kenya’ [actually grew up in Jakarta and Honolulu] .… A spokesman for Huckabee dutifully lied, saying his employer ‘simply misspoke’ .… Let us not mince words. There are at most five plausible Republican presidents on the horizon -- Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, former Utah Gov. and departing ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. So the Republican winnowing process is far advanced. But the nominee may emerge much diminished by involvement in a process cluttered with careless, delusional, egomaniacal, spotlight-chasing candidates to whom the sensible American majority would never entrust a lemonade stand, much less nuclear weapons.”

From Politico here.

Omar Sharif Jr., Hottie Oscar Trophy Presenter, Discusses Gay Rights

(Actor Omar Sharif's grandson.) From Towle Road here.

His grandfather told him: “I gave you my looks and I gave you my name. That’s all I can give you in this profession. After that, you’re entirely on your own.” (From Advocate interview - follow link above.)

[Click to enlarge]

The grandfather with Barbra Streisand

The grandfather