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Hito, the last time I saw anybody with as many rings as you have, he was tickling the ivories in Vegas. Entranced as I am by your suggestion, I think I'll just stay on the sidelines until you're finished shopping it around on MER. I'm not a Mormon, you know.

I have clearly spent my entire life so far in the wrong hemisphere. Soon as I manage to reassemble myself, I will materialize there beside you. Dividing my time between wherever you, firecat, and Andre should happen to be at whatever moment.

We have waited four years for the Republicans to cooperate. That's enough. They have burned the bridge not the Dems. It is time to move ahead, not without the filibuster but with a restructuring of it to limit it's use only to issues of national significance. Dems do not want to give up the filibuster either. It is an important tool for highlighting serious policy issues. However, it cannot be tolerated to disrupt normal operations of the Senate. I see no reason why limiting the number cannot work. If there is no cost to spending a filibuster then they can be dispensed like Mardi Gras beads. That is exactly what we have seen the last six years. If everybody has only one they will be saved for truly significant purposes. Give each of the leaders two. The goal is to actually vote on bills eventually. If on rare occasion a bill cannot muster 60 votes to invoke cloture then so be it, but it should be a rare occasion, not common practice.

IMHO Fox News has destroyed the credibility of journalists. Most Americans view Fox as a news group and their anchors as real journalists. That means that half of America is really stupid. I am not an elitist. I just agree that Fox News is no more of a "real journalist" style than Bill Maher is. I like Bill but he is not a journalist, he is a comedian.

Wow! You have accomplished a first at boytoy/MER. You are ranked number 1 with the highest number of posts and you have just past the 6,000 mark! THANK YOU! Thank you for being such an amazing part of this site!

Yep, the nearest thing to the journalism you describe that I can find on the tube is The Daily Show--how sad is that? Though Maddow can get pretty close too.

Finally!! Somebody tells it like it is and to Fox's face too. Three cheers for Tom Ricks. I've grown more than weary of the likes of Brokaw and others playing like these guys are authentic journalists. It's guys like Brokaw who give journalism a bad name, not Fox, because these guys cannot be objective and truthful about calling out their own institutions. It's like one has to catch Ailes, Krystol, McConnell and Behner pants down in a circle jerk in the closet before one can infer there is some mutual glad-handing going on between those fellows. (Pun intended.) Truthfully that is only half the problem with journalism. The other issue is these guys are confused about the purpose of journalism. Many, probably most if one gauges by observation, believe it is limited to purveying propaganda to the people from all sources about issues rather seeking to determine the facts and veracity of views before informing the people. And when that veracity is unsettled, they leave it to the readers to ferret out the facts rather than present them in a cogent form for the people and provide independent information that bears on the issues. Most of the time journalists leave the issues as a 'he said - she said' argument which does nothing for informing the people. It is not that good journalism is never done, just done too infrequently by too few. The reasons are several: some 'reporters' (eg. Brokaw) feel they should not put a thumb on the scales, even if that thumb consists of verified facts or an independent assessment of the issue. Of course that takes effort and sometimes guile to accomplish. So some are just lazy. Some are incompetent -- too stupid or clueless to ferret out the information. Some worry that it will offend guests to call into question their views with countervailing facts. Journalism management does certainly. They want talking heads to attract viewers which garner ratings which increase advertising rates. (Thou shalt not offend guests by too deeply dissecting their positions.) Of course this does happen on occasion but is more the exception than the rule. One sees very few journalists of the caliber of Edward R Murrow, Huntley and Brinkley, Walter Cronkite, Eric Severeid, Harry Reasoner, etc. who thought they were there to inform the people and to hold government and institutions accountable. To be honest, these people frequently were a pain in the ass to their management. They stepped on some powerful toes in their pursuit of the profession but... they were first class journalists. I'm not even sure they could exist in today's environment.

The Usual Suspects with Kevin Spacey

His addiction to Lifetime was one of myriad reasons I had to ditch the ex.

I'm grateful for three opportunities afforded by a trip upcoming later today to Vegas for a software conference: 1. To flog my consulting services 2. To reconnect with several friends in the same line of business 3. To hang after hours at the Fun Hog Ranch http://funhogranchlv.com/

Turns out that Management seems to be the culprit here. Not only was the original Hostess Management malfeasant but the savior they got in bed with to heal them was a .... guess what? -- a vulture capital company! Another one of those job creators (like Bain) that seems to makes millions dismantling other companies. No wonder mediation went nowhere.

Thought I'd mention that there are still 30,000 without power and many tens of thousands or more still coping with temporary housing situations as well as food and other personal needs. I know some are skeptical of the effectiveness of the Red Cross and I wanted to share a couple of local organizations with good reps that are on the frontline in the communities every day. They came with high recommendations, one from Chris Matthews and the other from another cable talking head that eludes me at this moment. I checked both out to my own satisfaction and share with those who are able to offer some support to the hardest hit communities. DrAtlasFoundation.org works in Staten Island CFBNJ.org The Community FoodBank Of New Jersey

LOVE the Dr. Phibes campfests,,,,Vincent Price drops several lavender scented hankies in those! My favorite film of all time is Cinema Praradiso,,,, My second favorite is not such a great film but I love it-Strictly Ballroom!