It's somewhat startling that after being resoundingly defeated in the last election and with their approval rating lower than the Dow that the Republican party would at least temporarily rally around two nobodies--Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who looked positively adolescent in delivering the GOP reply to the Obama congressional address and Michael Steele, their new national chairman who has made some ludicrous attempts to portray his party as hip and cool.This may not be PC to say but but maybe men of color and Republicans just don't mix. A much more appropriate face for today's conservatives is their new de facto "leader" -- big old Rush Limbaugh to whom Steele has already apologized for daring to criticize.
Rush is a perfect symbol of much of today's GOP--a nasty, bigoted hypocrite whose main appeal seems to be to people like him--a few rungs above trailer park trash (but a hell of a lot richer). In case you've forgotten, he's a thrice divorced pill abuser who, among other "accomplishments" has been arrested for doctor shopping to obtain multiple prescriptions. He has publicly mocked the Parkinson's disease symptoms of Michael J. Fox. Limbaugh will likely be apopletic Monday when President Obama reverses the despicable Bush limitations on stem cell research, which of course hopefully will some day help find a cure for horrible diseases such as Parkinson's. Also, Rush has been a vicious foe of immigration. Wouldn't it be ironic if eventually he faced a life and death dilemma on whether to accept a transplanted organ from an illegal Mexican alien?
Just recently, Rush has suggested naming the Obama health care bill "Ted Kennedy Memorial Legislation" thus effectively burying Teddy alive. What's with these right wing morons? Last week, Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning (a Hall of Fame pitcher who should have stuck to baseball) announced that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (whose name he misspelled twice) would be dead within nine months. Maybe these guys have a special pipeline to God that is not available to liberals.
Perhaps most outrageously Rush has noisily "invited" President Obama to debate him on his radio show (ratings anyone?). Since it wouldn't make any sense for the President, how about an equally adept replacement--one who will not be restrained by good taste or concern about future political damage--yes, TNB. Let Rush know what you think!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Twenty Questions
Those of us old enough to remember the old quiz show "Twenty Questions" (animal, vegetable or mineral?) probably are anxious for a 21st century successor. For the rest of you, the new version, as delineated below, should start an exciting trend (??) Answers of course are not provided.
1. Is anyone surprised that the GOP is totally devoid of constructive ideas on how to fix the economy other than the tired mantra of cutting taxes and not spending?
2. Isn't this the same group whose plan for financing the Iraq war was to, you guessed it, cut taxes thus significantly contributing to our current deficit?
3. Is it becoming a sort of perverse "badge of honor" to have your ethnic group be victimized by your own kind in a Ponzi scheme?
4. How else to explain what has befallen Jews (Bernie Madoff, Arthur Nadel), Bible Belt Christians (Allan Stanford) plus assorted Haitian Americans, Polish Americans, etc. and just about anyone you can think of except Hopi Indians and Kazakhstani/Americans (maybe Borat)?
5. Was anyone shocked that our national priorities are so screwed up that by far the highest paid Connecticut state employee at $1.2 mil. is the UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun who recently displayed an arrogance about such compensation worthy of any (former) Wall Street banker?
6. Does anyone care that insurance (former) behemoth AIG has needed the largest single Treasury bailout since they "insured" all of the exotic (now toxic) financial instruments such as credit default swaps without setting aside any loss reserves?
7. Were any regulators home while AIG and a myriad of others were causing irreparable harm to our economy?
8. When did celebrities (Hollywood, athletes, etc.)start to have an entourage or posse of hangers on to do everything, good or bad, for the exalted ones, such as cousins buying banned drugs?
9. Why do such celebrities have to be held up as role models for our children despite the well documented foibles and worse of many of them?
10. Why can't the real role models be doctors, teachers, firefighters, scientists and the like?
11. Was Kate Winslet sincere when she announced that henceforth she will keep her clothes on for her movie roles?
12. Is TNB the only one upset by such announcement?
13. Will Mickey Rourke fade back into oblivion?
14. Will Joan Rivers overcome her 32 facial operations and beat out the other D-List participants on Donald Trump's new Celebrity Apprentice?
15. Will the Donald overcome the stigma of his latest casino bankruptcy filing?
16. Will Minnesota's senatorial election (Al Franken vs. Norm Coleman) ever be settled?
17. When will Roland Burris' brief career as Senator from Illinois end?
18. Who will Roland's successor be?
19. Will such person be male, female, white, black or Hispanic or all of the above?
20. Whatever happened to Rod Blagojevich?
1. Is anyone surprised that the GOP is totally devoid of constructive ideas on how to fix the economy other than the tired mantra of cutting taxes and not spending?
2. Isn't this the same group whose plan for financing the Iraq war was to, you guessed it, cut taxes thus significantly contributing to our current deficit?
3. Is it becoming a sort of perverse "badge of honor" to have your ethnic group be victimized by your own kind in a Ponzi scheme?
4. How else to explain what has befallen Jews (Bernie Madoff, Arthur Nadel), Bible Belt Christians (Allan Stanford) plus assorted Haitian Americans, Polish Americans, etc. and just about anyone you can think of except Hopi Indians and Kazakhstani/Americans (maybe Borat)?
5. Was anyone shocked that our national priorities are so screwed up that by far the highest paid Connecticut state employee at $1.2 mil. is the UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun who recently displayed an arrogance about such compensation worthy of any (former) Wall Street banker?
6. Does anyone care that insurance (former) behemoth AIG has needed the largest single Treasury bailout since they "insured" all of the exotic (now toxic) financial instruments such as credit default swaps without setting aside any loss reserves?
7. Were any regulators home while AIG and a myriad of others were causing irreparable harm to our economy?
8. When did celebrities (Hollywood, athletes, etc.)start to have an entourage or posse of hangers on to do everything, good or bad, for the exalted ones, such as cousins buying banned drugs?
9. Why do such celebrities have to be held up as role models for our children despite the well documented foibles and worse of many of them?
10. Why can't the real role models be doctors, teachers, firefighters, scientists and the like?
11. Was Kate Winslet sincere when she announced that henceforth she will keep her clothes on for her movie roles?
12. Is TNB the only one upset by such announcement?
13. Will Mickey Rourke fade back into oblivion?
14. Will Joan Rivers overcome her 32 facial operations and beat out the other D-List participants on Donald Trump's new Celebrity Apprentice?
15. Will the Donald overcome the stigma of his latest casino bankruptcy filing?
16. Will Minnesota's senatorial election (Al Franken vs. Norm Coleman) ever be settled?
17. When will Roland Burris' brief career as Senator from Illinois end?
18. Who will Roland's successor be?
19. Will such person be male, female, white, black or Hispanic or all of the above?
20. Whatever happened to Rod Blagojevich?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Olio
"Olio" is defined as a miscellaneous collection of things. So herewith an olio of profound musings. What else would you expect?
FRAUD AND SHAME:
The collective shame many Jews (not TNB) felt over Bernie Madoff's giant fraud, mostly victimizing other Jews, has been partially assuaged by the revelations of a $9.2 billion fraud allegedly perpetrated by Allen Stanford, a Texas WASP financier. It's doubtful that gentiles (other than those duped) feel anything about Stanford, certainly not ethnic shame. Stanford, who has been "knighted" by the Prime Minister of Antigua, has falsely claimed that he is a descendant of the founder of Stanford University. The lesson here, if one is needed, is that fraud and other criminal behavior crosses all ethnic lines and there's no reason to identify with some miscreant just because he was bar mitzvahed.
THE TOXICITY OF ROD:
It's no surprise that Roland Burris is now being asked to resign by many parties. He was tainted from Day One by being appointed by the Beady Eyed Balkan. Next up-- everyone who interviewed Rod on TV, from David Letterman to Sean Hannity to Larry King, will be subpoenaed to appear at his Federal trial, where no cameras are allowed. What retribution!
Even Patti Blagojevich, she of the potty mouth, could face some charges. TNB is a little nervous because 10 years ago he met then US Rep. Blago, and shook his hand.
BEAT TNB OSCAR CONTEST:
If you submit (before the Oscar show, of course) a better slate of Academy Award winners than that promulgated by TNB below, you can win (TNB did not make this up) the latest in innovative toys-- a $100 Bernie Madoff doll, dressed in a devil suit together with a hammer for taking out your frustrations. Eligibility and other rules are under the sole discretion of TNB.
Best Picture Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor Sean Penn (Milk)
Best Actress Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Best Supporting Actor Heath Ledger (Dark Knight)
Best Supporting Actress Tajari P. Henson (Benjamin Button)
FRAUD AND SHAME:
The collective shame many Jews (not TNB) felt over Bernie Madoff's giant fraud, mostly victimizing other Jews, has been partially assuaged by the revelations of a $9.2 billion fraud allegedly perpetrated by Allen Stanford, a Texas WASP financier. It's doubtful that gentiles (other than those duped) feel anything about Stanford, certainly not ethnic shame. Stanford, who has been "knighted" by the Prime Minister of Antigua, has falsely claimed that he is a descendant of the founder of Stanford University. The lesson here, if one is needed, is that fraud and other criminal behavior crosses all ethnic lines and there's no reason to identify with some miscreant just because he was bar mitzvahed.
THE TOXICITY OF ROD:
It's no surprise that Roland Burris is now being asked to resign by many parties. He was tainted from Day One by being appointed by the Beady Eyed Balkan. Next up-- everyone who interviewed Rod on TV, from David Letterman to Sean Hannity to Larry King, will be subpoenaed to appear at his Federal trial, where no cameras are allowed. What retribution!
Even Patti Blagojevich, she of the potty mouth, could face some charges. TNB is a little nervous because 10 years ago he met then US Rep. Blago, and shook his hand.
BEAT TNB OSCAR CONTEST:
If you submit (before the Oscar show, of course) a better slate of Academy Award winners than that promulgated by TNB below, you can win (TNB did not make this up) the latest in innovative toys-- a $100 Bernie Madoff doll, dressed in a devil suit together with a hammer for taking out your frustrations. Eligibility and other rules are under the sole discretion of TNB.
Best Picture Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor Sean Penn (Milk)
Best Actress Kate Winslet (The Reader)
Best Supporting Actor Heath Ledger (Dark Knight)
Best Supporting Actress Tajari P. Henson (Benjamin Button)
Monday, February 9, 2009
Get a Good CPA
Although TNB's chosen profession of accounting is often maligned or ridiculed ("it was the accountant's fault","they're just pencil pushers", etc.) if you really think about it a lot of the current problems being experienced by politicians, businesses, investors and the like could certainly have been prevented or at least mitigated by getting a good CPA on the case. Consider these examples.
The tax problems of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and almost HHS Secretary Tom Daschle would never have occurred if a good CPA was used to "do their taxes". Geithner was using TurboTax? Incredible. He's lucky his confirmation hearing was scheduled before Daschle's. At least Obama uses a large CPA firm.
Investors apparently didn't bother to ask if Bernie Madoff used a good CPA before entrusting him (directly or through feeder funds) with billions. His so called auditors (a 2 person "firm" in rural Rockland County, New York) did not admit to regulators that they performed audits (a Freudian slip) thus averting periodic peer reviews which would have probably uncovered the fraud years ago. Nobody seemed to ask how a firm such as this could have the resources to audit Madoff's entities. Everyone was too enamored of their too good to be true results to do any diligence, due or otherwise.
Several years ago, a similar Ponzi scheme, Bayou Securities (the principal , one Samuel Israel tried to fake his own death last year to avoid jail) actually used a phony CPA firm to issue bogus reports. Eventually someone checked not whether there was a good CPA involved but rather were any of the financial statements legitimate--the answer was obvious!
How to go about finding a good CPA or at least deciding whether to trust the one whose work is presented? Besides the usual channels of professional societies and the Internet, there's always the ultimate reference for any CPA --yes The Normal Blogger. If there's too much new business created by this service, TNB may be looking for some new blogging help.
The tax problems of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and almost HHS Secretary Tom Daschle would never have occurred if a good CPA was used to "do their taxes". Geithner was using TurboTax? Incredible. He's lucky his confirmation hearing was scheduled before Daschle's. At least Obama uses a large CPA firm.
Investors apparently didn't bother to ask if Bernie Madoff used a good CPA before entrusting him (directly or through feeder funds) with billions. His so called auditors (a 2 person "firm" in rural Rockland County, New York) did not admit to regulators that they performed audits (a Freudian slip) thus averting periodic peer reviews which would have probably uncovered the fraud years ago. Nobody seemed to ask how a firm such as this could have the resources to audit Madoff's entities. Everyone was too enamored of their too good to be true results to do any diligence, due or otherwise.
Several years ago, a similar Ponzi scheme, Bayou Securities (the principal , one Samuel Israel tried to fake his own death last year to avoid jail) actually used a phony CPA firm to issue bogus reports. Eventually someone checked not whether there was a good CPA involved but rather were any of the financial statements legitimate--the answer was obvious!
How to go about finding a good CPA or at least deciding whether to trust the one whose work is presented? Besides the usual channels of professional societies and the Internet, there's always the ultimate reference for any CPA --yes The Normal Blogger. If there's too much new business created by this service, TNB may be looking for some new blogging help.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Then and Now
As The Normal Blog approaches its first anniversary next month, it is startling to realize just how much things have changed between then and now and just how unpredictable life is. Consider the following:
BARACK OBAMA
Then: Long shot for Democratic presidential nomination and even longer shot for White House
Now: Coolest dude on the planet
HILLARY CLINTON
Then: Odds on favorite for Democratic presidential nomination and White House
Now: #4 in line for White House (as Secretary of State)
ROD BLAGOJEVICH
Then: Unpronounceable Governor, little known outside Illinois
Now: National laughingstock and star of TV series "The Beady Eyed Balkan"
ELLIOT SPITZER
Then: High profile New York Governor
Now: National laughingstock and star of TV series "The Thousand Dollar Hooker"
SARAH PALIN
Then: Obscure moose hunting Alaska governor
Now: National laughingstock and star of TV series "Hottest Mama from Coldest State"
JOHN THAIN (Merrill), RICHARD FULD (Lehman), JAMES CAYNE (Bear Stearns)
Then: Masters of the Universe, widely admired for Wall Street success
Now: Widely reviled as symbols of Wall Street greed, arrogance and incompetence
BERNARD MADOFF
Then: Little known but highly admired for stunning, mysterious Wall Street success
Now: Universally reviled as shameless sociopathic sadistic serial swindler
CHICAGO CUBS
Then: Hoping for first World Series championship in 100 years
Now: Hoping for first World Series championship in 101 years
THE NORMAL BLOGGER
Then: Obscure retired CPA
Now: Obscure retired CPA
BARACK OBAMA
Then: Long shot for Democratic presidential nomination and even longer shot for White House
Now: Coolest dude on the planet
HILLARY CLINTON
Then: Odds on favorite for Democratic presidential nomination and White House
Now: #4 in line for White House (as Secretary of State)
ROD BLAGOJEVICH
Then: Unpronounceable Governor, little known outside Illinois
Now: National laughingstock and star of TV series "The Beady Eyed Balkan"
ELLIOT SPITZER
Then: High profile New York Governor
Now: National laughingstock and star of TV series "The Thousand Dollar Hooker"
SARAH PALIN
Then: Obscure moose hunting Alaska governor
Now: National laughingstock and star of TV series "Hottest Mama from Coldest State"
JOHN THAIN (Merrill), RICHARD FULD (Lehman), JAMES CAYNE (Bear Stearns)
Then: Masters of the Universe, widely admired for Wall Street success
Now: Widely reviled as symbols of Wall Street greed, arrogance and incompetence
BERNARD MADOFF
Then: Little known but highly admired for stunning, mysterious Wall Street success
Now: Universally reviled as shameless sociopathic sadistic serial swindler
CHICAGO CUBS
Then: Hoping for first World Series championship in 100 years
Now: Hoping for first World Series championship in 101 years
THE NORMAL BLOGGER
Then: Obscure retired CPA
Now: Obscure retired CPA
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
