Dec 122012
 

I’m afraid I’m still down.  I’m current with replies.  Maybe tomorrow.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:44 (average 4:31).  To do it, click here.  How did you do?

Fantasy Football Report:

Here’s the latest from our fantasy football league, Lefty Blog Friends.

Scores:

TomCat Teabag Trashers

MittsMagicJock

123.50

107.34

Texans Will Rise Again

hugos renegades

116.84

77.76

Progressive Underdogs

Playing without a helmet

142.54

101.22

Standings:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Points

 

Rank

Team Name

W-L-T

Pct

Streak

Waiver

For

Against

1 (1)

TomCat Teabag Trashers

12-2-0

.857

W3

6

1673.94

1400.92

2 (2)

hugos renegades

8-6-0

.571

L3

5

1513.64

1430.08

3 (3)

Progressive Underdogs

7-7-0

.500

W4

4

1492.64

1413.38

4 (4)

MittsMagicJock

5-9-0

.357

L2

3

1387.98

1455.92

5 (5)

Playing without a helmet

5-9-0

.357

L1

2

1331.28

1524.48

6 (6)

Texans Will Rise Again

5-9-0

.357

W1

1

1357.62

1532.32

This concludes the regular season, and now it’s time for the playoffs.  The 3rd through 6th place teams will now play to take on the Teabag Trashers and the Renegades, who have a first round bye, in the semifinals.

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: This Lawmaker In Michigan Really Cuts Through The B.S. With Her GOP Coworkers

 

Whitmer is spot-on, but The Michigan Right to Screw Workers Law isn’t about what’s good for people, what’s good for Michigan, or what’s good for America. It’s about establishing a permanent, totalitarian Republican regime in which elections and the will of the people no longer matter.

From NY Times: It is a dark day for the rule of law. Federal and state authorities have chosen not to indict HSBC, the London-based bank, on charges of vast and prolonged money laundering, for fear that criminal prosecution would topple the bank and, in the process, endanger the financial system. They also have not charged any top HSBC banker in the case, though it boggles the mind that a bank could launder money as HSBC did without anyone in a position of authority making culpable decisions.

Clearly, the government has bought into the notion that too big to fail is too big to jail. When prosecutors choose not to prosecute to the full extent of the law in a case as egregious as this, the law itself is diminished. The deterrence that comes from the threat of criminal prosecution is weakened, if not lost.

If refusing to prosecute a criminal corporation due to fear of the damage it will do to the financial system, then the financial system is already far too damaged to permit its continuation unchanged. Especially if too big to fail is too big to jail, then too big to fail is too big to exist. Reinstate Glass-Steagall and break up the TBTF Banksters.

From MSNBC: The Injustice vs the Student

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

We can be sure that Herr Scalia has decided the LGBT cases without having heard them, and with no consideration or respect for the Constitution of the United States, given that he is doubling down on hate speech. Kudos to Duncan Hosie.

Cartoon:

12Cartoon

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  24 Responses to “Open Thread–12/12/2012”

  1. The one (and only) saving grace WRT the HSBC settlement is that it at least includes a "deferred prosecution" clause.  If HSBC fails to abide by any of their required agreements, they can then still be criminally prosecuted.
    While $1.92 Billion is a huge amount of money, in perspective it's only a little over 10% of last year's $16.8 Billion profit that HSBC made.  Sort of like a parking ticket fine to them.
     
    And interestingly enough, Scalia made his obscene gesture in church when leaving mass.  He was being asked by a reported about his (in)ability to remain impartial. 
    Scalia replied to him with "Vaffanculo" – which is Italian for "Yuck fou!"
    AND Scalia immediately said, "You're not going to print that, are you?"
     
    http://scatablog.blogspot.com/2006/03/scalias-gesture-examined.html

    • PS:
      Hope you're feeling bette soon!
       
      … And Happy "12-12-12 Day!"  (It only happens once a Millenium)
      To celebrate, a dozen notable items involving a dozen:
      12 months in a year.
      12 hours on a clock face.
      12 inches in a foot.
      12 strikes to bowl a perfect game.
      12 people have walked on the moon.
      12 face cards in a deck.
      12 days of Christmas.
      12 apostles of Jesus
      12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous
      12 jurors in felony trials
      12 signs of the Zodiac
      12 pairs of ribs

    • Scalia: "You're not going to print that, are you?"

       
      What a fool!  If he didn't want to be quoted or known by his obscenities, he should have stayed away from such a high profile position as Injustice of SCOTUS!

    • And interestingly enough, Scalia made his obscene gesture in church when leaving mass. He was being asked by a reported about his (in)ability to remain impartial. Scalia replied to him with "Vaffanculo" – which is Italian for "Yuck fou!"

      Thank you SoINeedAName, It's amazing the damage one man can do to our country which our children will pay for for decades…

    • Thanks Nameless.  Scalia certainly is a piece of work.

  2. 2:56 Maybe I won't be the last leaf of Autumn.

  3. Keep getting lots of rest so you can heal fully, Tom. I think I can speak for everyone when i say that we need you here and we would rather have you part time than not at all.
     
    Congrats on still being first in your fantasy league!
     
    MoveOn  ~ My favorite part of her speech was when she said she was going out to the rotunda to join with the demonstrators. Brava, Sen. Gretchen Whitmer! She is a lawmaker who cares about her constituents, unlike so many.
     
    NY Times ~ This is a terrible injustice!
     
    MSNBC ~ Scalia is a lower than a whale's excrement which has sunk to the bottom of the Marianas Trench.
    The incident which Nameless mentions was repeated several times on Stephanie Miller's show this AM. Scalia is the worst example of a Christian I have ever seen.
     
    Cartoon ~ Was this photo-shopped so that all his fingers were visible instead of just the middle one?
     
     

    • Patty, re cartoon — I strongly doubt that this particular photo of Scalia was photoshpped.  There is an Italian hand gesture where the tips of the fingers are dragged under the chin in a forward motion as you see with Scalia.  It means "screw you"!

    • Thanks Patty.

      Thanks again.

      I liked that part too.

      Yes it is.

      That's an insult to whale excrement.

      Lynn is right about that cartoon.  I grew up in an area with a large, cohesive Italian community, and I was the recipient of the four finger salute on several occasions.

  4. Puzzle — 3:10  nor I, but there is something to be said about the tenacity of that last leaf to let go.
     
    MoveOn — That is one pluckey state senator and she hit a home run!  To me, it is very apparent with all the GOP reactions to the 2012 elections that the Republican/Teabaggers are out to establish a totalitarian régime.  'No' is a word they only understand when they are using it.
     
    NY Times — Last I heard, HSBC was the world's second largest bank with offices in 78 countries.  I worked for HSBC Bank Canada for 10 years and can tell you that there, compliance with money laundering regulations was a 'MUST'.  But as with many debacles it seems, the people who suffer are the ones in the middle or the bottom of the food chain.  Ms L Midzain, a Canadian solicitor working for the Bank and someone with whom I worked and had great respect for, was put in charge of Compliance for North America and has been hung out to dry by the Bank, when really it is executives higher up the ladder that should be hung out to dry — you know the ones, the policy and strategy makers.   What does it say when the Bank contends that "she wasn't qualified for the role", yet it was that very same bank that promoted her.  This is not a bank that looks like it is taking responsibility for its own failures.  Add to that, the senior executive of compliance in the UK was found responsible for lax oversight last July I believe and removed from his compliance role.  He was not fired though.  When I think of the regulations and policies that I was subject to as a lower level compliance manager, I can only think that I, and others like me, were held to a higher standard than those at the executive level who actually made the policies and standards.  I can also tell you that at HSBC Bank Canada, there is an ongoing increase in compliance staff, the likes of which the compliance area has not seen before.  Because of the enormity of the Bank, I do have concerns about prosecuting the Bank and the economic chaos that could result.  However I do not have the same concern about prosecuting the officers of the Bank, the policy and standard makers.  I could also see such prosecution extending to board members if that were appropriate. 
     
    MSNBC — Kudos to Duncan Hosie for asking the questions and wanting an answer.  Scalia has probably already "written" his dissent decision.
     
    Cartoon — Scalia is an anachronism, a dangerous one at that , ready to pull the country backwards into the days of greater bigotry, discrimination and fear.  I have one word for you, Injustice Scalia — vaffanculo!
     

    • That's a 2nd.

      Amen.

      Thanks for the inside perspective.

      I agree.

      That refers to too pleasurable an activity to associate with Herr Scalia.

  5. Especially if too big to fail is too big to jail, then too big to fail is too big to exist. Reinstate Glass-Steagall and break up the TBTF Banksters.

    I think of wealthy spoiled children who won't compromise, my way or the highway Republican/Tea-Bags who will be responsible for going over the cliff…

  6. Dear TomCat –
    I have had trouble getting access to the net lately but I couldn't find your contributions anywhere – so glad I have found them today – but I suspected your COPD had reared its ugly head again and had laid you low – so have been praying for your increased health every few hours (well, it was all I could do!).
    Hope you get better soon  –
    Hugs and blessings
    Pat

  7. Just had to record my admiration for Sen Gretchen Whitmer's speech – utterly brilliant in every way – well done!  Thanks TC!

  8. Ah, now that the election season's over, i've been able to devote more and more time to my fantasy season. Moving up quickly from 6th to 3rd in the regular schedule, the playoffs are MINE!

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