Buzzfeed collected 50 great signs from Occupy Wall Street
and published them here. Sample:
Friday, October 14, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Senate Panel: 2004 American Jobs Creation Act, voted for by Lee Terry and Steve King, killed jobs and increased corporate profits
USA Today said the report, released by a Senate panel, found that overall, firms that took advantage of the America Jobs Creation Act to repatriate overseas income from 2004 to 2006 actually cut jobs and research and development spending, while raising stock buybacks and executive pay.
And who voted for this budget-busting, job killing hoax? Why, Lee Terry (R-Nebraska) and Steve King (R-Iowa), of course!
And who voted for this budget-busting, job killing hoax? Why, Lee Terry (R-Nebraska) and Steve King (R-Iowa), of course!
American Family Association Radio: Mormonism a cult which victimizes other religions
Right Wing Watch notes that during a recent American Family Association radio program discussion, Fischer defended Robert Jeffress' right to his "sincerely held religious belief" that Mormonism is a cult ... which then somehow morphed into an assertion by Fischer that Christians are really the victim here because it is the Mormon church which believes that Christians are a cult:
Here's one of Rick Perry's biggest Texas evangelical supporters saying that Mormonism is a cult from the pit of hell:If somebody is true to their Mormon faith - I mean, if they're devout - Mormonism, they believe, restored the church of Jesus Christ. It was gone, it disappeared, all the church was corrupt, there was no representation of the Gospel of Christ. This was Joseph Smith, he said "I talked to God about it. He said 'don't join any churches; they're all corrupt, they're all gone; my church is not here on planet Earth; you and you alone can restore my original church.'"
So, as far as devout Mormons are concerned, the entire history of Christianity, the entire church is one big ginormous cult, if they're going to be honest about their own faith and about their own religion. So if anybody's out there saying something is a cult, it's the LDS Church!
Rachel Maddow's Frank Kameny obituary
GLBTQ, in its entry on Frank Kameny, documented the flashpoint which radicalized Kameny and which Maddow glossed over.
Late one night in 1957, Kameny was arrested on a morals charge in Lafayette Park, a popular gay cruising area in Washington, D. C. He was released, and nothing immediately came of the incident. It was not long afterward, however, that an investigator from the Civil Service Commission came to question him about rumors that he was a homosexual.
That fall, after serving in his job for only a few months, Kameny was fired from the Map Service, and early the next year he learned that he had been barred from all future employment in the federal government.
Adar v. Smith: Lambda legal reacts to SCOTUS denial of appeal in Louisiana Birth Certificate Ruling in respect of child adopted by gay couple
The sharply divided Fifth Circuit Court's decision, which the US Supreme Court, without comment, refused to review, reversed earlier judgments, ruling that the full faith and credit clause applied only to state courts, not to state officials acting pursuant to state law.
Writing for the majority, Chief Judge Edith Jones said the Louisiana registrar had neither refused nor denied recognition of New York’s adoption decree. Rather, the issue faced by the registrar was whether to issue a corrected birth certificate to adoptive parents who were unmarried.
Lambda Legal had this to say:
"This decision leaves adopted children and their parents vulnerable in their interactions with officials from other states."(Washington, DC, October 11, 2011) – The U.S. Supreme Court today denied Lambda Legal's petition for a writ of certiorari in the case of a same-sex couple seeking an accurate birth certificate for their Louisiana-born son whom they adopted in New York. The Louisiana state registrar has refused to recognize the adoption and issue a birth certificate listing both fathers as the boy's parents.
"By denying this writ, the Supreme Court is leaving untouched a dangerous Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that carves out an exception to the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution and to the uniformly recognized respect for judgments that states have come to rely upon," said Kenneth D. Upton, Supervising Senior Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal's South Central Regional Office in Dallas. "This decision leaves adopted children and their parents vulnerable in their interactions with officials from other states."
"More particularly, this decision leaves a child without an accurate birth certificate listing both his parents," Upton added. "This issue now moves into the legislative arena. We need to push for a change in Louisiana state policy in order to stabilize and standardize respect for parent-child relationships for all adoptive children."
Lambda Legal represents Oren Adar and Mickey Smith in their case against Louisiana State Registrar Darlene Smith. Adar and Smith are a gay couple who adopted their Louisiana-born son in 2006 in New York, where a judge issued an adoption decree. When the couple attempted to get a new birth certificate for their child, in part so Smith could add his son to his health insurance, the registrar's office told him that Louisiana does not recognize adoption by unmarried parents and would not issue it with both adopted parents' names.
Lambda Legal filed suit on behalf of Adar and Smith in October 2007, saying that the registrar was violating the Full Faith and Credit Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution by refusing to recognize the New York adoption judgment because the child's parents are unmarried. The Constitution requires that judgments issued by a court in one state be legally binding in other states. Further, a state may not disadvantage some children over others simply because the child's parents are unmarried. The Louisiana attorney general advised the registrar that she did not have to honor an adoption from another state that would not have been granted under Louisiana law had the couple lived and adopted there. In 2008, U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey ruled against the registrar and entered judgment ordering her to issue a new birth certificate identifying both Oren Adar and Mickey Smith as the boy's parents, saying her continued failure to do so violated the U.S. Constitution. In 2010, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed and unanimously affirmed the judgment. The attorney general requested a rehearing by the full Court of Appeals, and a sharply divided court issued a decision this spring overturning the prior decisions.
In July Lambda Legal asked the U.S Supreme court to review the case arguing that the Fifth Circuit's ruling ignores nearly one hundred years of well-established Supreme Court law and conflicts with other federal circuits across the country. In August, the nation's leading child welfare organizations joined family law and constitutional scholars in support of Lambda Legal's petition for a writ of certiorari, filing six separate friend-of-the-court briefs. The signatories included: National Association of Social Workers; Child Welfare League of America; Center for Adoption Policy; Tulane School of Law – Juvenile Litigation Clinic; Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana; and more than 60 legal scholars. "Unfortunately, same–sex parents who have or plan to adopt children are treated differently from state to state at this point," added Upton. "So we urge parents to check with an attorney and take every step they can to protect their families – and to call Lambda Legal's HelpDesk if they need more information."
The case is Adar v. Smith.
Writing for the majority, Chief Judge Edith Jones said the Louisiana registrar had neither refused nor denied recognition of New York’s adoption decree. Rather, the issue faced by the registrar was whether to issue a corrected birth certificate to adoptive parents who were unmarried.
The full faith and credit clause does not oblige Louisiana to confer particular benefits on unmarried adoptive parents contrary to its law.
Lambda Legal had this to say:
The Supreme Court is leaving untouched a dangerous ruling that carves out an exception to the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
 |
| Kenneth D. Upton, Jr. |
"By denying this writ, the Supreme Court is leaving untouched a dangerous Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that carves out an exception to the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution and to the uniformly recognized respect for judgments that states have come to rely upon," said Kenneth D. Upton, Supervising Senior Staff Attorney in Lambda Legal's South Central Regional Office in Dallas. "This decision leaves adopted children and their parents vulnerable in their interactions with officials from other states."
"More particularly, this decision leaves a child without an accurate birth certificate listing both his parents," Upton added. "This issue now moves into the legislative arena. We need to push for a change in Louisiana state policy in order to stabilize and standardize respect for parent-child relationships for all adoptive children."
Lambda Legal represents Oren Adar and Mickey Smith in their case against Louisiana State Registrar Darlene Smith. Adar and Smith are a gay couple who adopted their Louisiana-born son in 2006 in New York, where a judge issued an adoption decree. When the couple attempted to get a new birth certificate for their child, in part so Smith could add his son to his health insurance, the registrar's office told him that Louisiana does not recognize adoption by unmarried parents and would not issue it with both adopted parents' names.
Lambda Legal filed suit on behalf of Adar and Smith in October 2007, saying that the registrar was violating the Full Faith and Credit Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution by refusing to recognize the New York adoption judgment because the child's parents are unmarried. The Constitution requires that judgments issued by a court in one state be legally binding in other states. Further, a state may not disadvantage some children over others simply because the child's parents are unmarried. The Louisiana attorney general advised the registrar that she did not have to honor an adoption from another state that would not have been granted under Louisiana law had the couple lived and adopted there. In 2008, U.S. District Judge Jay Zainey ruled against the registrar and entered judgment ordering her to issue a new birth certificate identifying both Oren Adar and Mickey Smith as the boy's parents, saying her continued failure to do so violated the U.S. Constitution. In 2010, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed and unanimously affirmed the judgment. The attorney general requested a rehearing by the full Court of Appeals, and a sharply divided court issued a decision this spring overturning the prior decisions.
In July Lambda Legal asked the U.S Supreme court to review the case arguing that the Fifth Circuit's ruling ignores nearly one hundred years of well-established Supreme Court law and conflicts with other federal circuits across the country. In August, the nation's leading child welfare organizations joined family law and constitutional scholars in support of Lambda Legal's petition for a writ of certiorari, filing six separate friend-of-the-court briefs. The signatories included: National Association of Social Workers; Child Welfare League of America; Center for Adoption Policy; Tulane School of Law – Juvenile Litigation Clinic; Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana; and more than 60 legal scholars. "Unfortunately, same–sex parents who have or plan to adopt children are treated differently from state to state at this point," added Upton. "So we urge parents to check with an attorney and take every step they can to protect their families – and to call Lambda Legal's HelpDesk if they need more information."
The case is Adar v. Smith.
Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal tells Warren Buffett to release his tax returns; Buffett counters 'Why don't you?'
 |
| Kansas GOP Rep. Huelskamp |
Interesting aside: Huelskamp's web site says he and his wife have adopted four children. "Both girls are from Haiti, while the two boys were already Americans."
Apparently Huelskamp doesn't consider Haiti and its citizens part of North America.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Eat the rich: the Omaha version of Occupy Wall Street; downtown march this Saturday
Update: Saturday's Occupy Omaha demonstration deets are here:
New Nebraska Network has just posted a piece on this weekend's local mini-me version of Occupy Wall Street:
New Nebraska Network has just posted a piece on this weekend's local mini-me version of Occupy Wall Street:
...It's now reached the point where this movement has been endorsed by several unions and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. She said that she supports the message to Wall Street that "change has to happen." Pelosi added that the failure of TARP, commonly known as the bank bailout, to add liquidity to the Main Street marketplace is fueling Americans' animosity towards Wall Street. "The thought was that when we did that [pass TARP], there would be capital available and Main Street would benefit from the resources that went largely to Wall Street," said Pelosi. "That didn't happen. People are angry."
The reaction from the GOP and the Right tells me that they are genuinely alarmed by this movement. GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney described the Occupy Wall Street movement as "dangerous...class warfare." House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) described the Wall Street protesters as a "mob."
If marchers go past the Wells Fargo branch, they might do well to remember how deeply that bank's Wachovia unit was involved transferring drug smuggling money:Representative Peter King (R-NY) went so far as to say: "We have to be careful not to allow this to get any legitimacy," he said, adding "I'm taking this seriously in that I'm old enough to remember what happened in the 1960s... We can't allow that to happen."
This movement is "dangerous" to the objectives of the large corporations and the Right because they threaten to expose the inequities of a political and economic system where the very wealthiest individuals and corporations game the system to their own political and financial advantage. The last thing Mitt Romney - who has a net worth in the vicinity of $250 million - wants the American people to know is that he pays an average of 14% of his income in federal taxes. That's probably a lot less than anybody who reads this blog or the Leavenworth Street blog. If these kinds of truths get out, the GOP and it's corporate allies will be in a lot of trouble.
This Occupy Wall Street Movement has now spread to Nebraska... Local supporters of the Occupy Wall Street Movement have set up Facebook pages for the Omaha and Lincoln chapters. The Omaha World-Herald reported today that the Occupy Omaha movement has scheduled a march for 9 a.m. Saturday. The group is planning to march from the City-County Building, 1819 Farnam St., to the Federal Reserve Bank at 2201 Farnam St. They might also venture farther downtown, into the Old Market, and pass several major bank branches along the way.
Wachovia admitted it didn’t do enough to spot illicit funds in handling $378.4 billion for Mexican-currency-exchange houses from 2004 to 2007. That’s the largest violation of the Bank Secrecy Act, an anti-money-laundering law, in U.S. history -- a sum equal to one-third of Mexico’s current gross domestic product.And if the marchers pass First National Omaha, they might remember this fond remembrance from someone who has dealt with that institution's "trust" department:
“Wachovia’s blatant disregard for our banking laws gave international cocaine cartels a virtual carte blanche to finance their operations,” says Jeffrey Sloman, the federal prosecutor who handled the case.
As nightmarish as the above account of dealing with FNB is, AKSARBENT can only say that the heirs were lucky it wasn't Bank of America, about which we have heard at least one even worse story.First National Bank of Omaha North Platte took over management of our family trust in 2002; I use the term management lightly. They have done a horrible job - except for providing a strong, steady income to their investment arm.
We are now at three years after our mother's death, when the remainder of the trust was to be distributed, still waiting on them to complete distribution of the monies.
They finally distributed most of them last month, but, gee, they'd invested in a $100,000 bond that couldn't be cashed for a couple more weeks. -Never mind that they had no business investing in a non-liquid asset when the distribution has been imminent for several months.
The vp sent us all a note telling us the bond couldn't be sold until Oct. 1 - but would then be distributed. The lack of professionalism was incredible! Plus she sent some little "accounting lite" "spreadsheet" of the distribution. -Anyway, she stated in an e-mail that the bond proceeds would be distriubuted after the 1st (which had lost value by the time they sold it - in keeping with their track record of smart management). That was a Friday. The following Wednesday, she hadn't distributed it. So I sent an e, inquiring as to when it would be distributed. She replied "later this week." It's now been three weeks, and nothing has been distributed.
I had my lawyer send a letter to their attorney, demanding that I received interest on my share - 3.75% - which is what my Kasassa account pays - from the 1st until she finally gives us our money.
But the point here is that THIS ISN'T THEIR MONEY!!! -But they refuse to distribute it! I have no doubt they're collecting interest on it's use. -More of the same "the heck wit the beneficiaries we're supposed to take care of" - and just ignore the legal "niceties" of their fiduciary responsibility!
The overall picture: after over 10 years of management, the bank is returning to us almost exactly what we turned over to them, in 2002. On $2.1M over 10 years, there is virtually no investment gain whatsoever. But they've made plenty off of it - brokerage fees, their ever-increasing quarterly "management fees," the legal fees - including the penalties and interest on THEIR LAWYERS SCREW UP - and now? They're charging an additional $25,000 "trustee fee" to the trust for their services!
Their quarterly statements reflect a trackrecord of constant "churning" of the trust- trades being made, no matter what the economic or investment environment - on a constant basis, through volatile markets including the economic meltdown a large portion of them at a loss. This is the quintessential definition of the word "churning." But the return on investment for the trust was never a priority; colleting fees for themselves was.
When they first took over the trust, they told my attorney that "they didn't charge brokerage fees." When I saw these notations, we sent a letter to the bank vice president, inquiring about them. I asked that the totals of the fees paid be included in the accounting, along with those brokers/firms to whom they were paid. The VP just said "we don't pay brokerage fees."
After having two other brokers review the statements and the notations, they both unequivocally verified they were indeed brokerage fees, but went on to commented that they were also well above the standard charged in the industry - and these guys both work for brokerage houses!
I might point out here that this bank is a subsidiary of First National of Nebraska, Inc. - and their "services" include an "investment arm." Guess who I'm sure was making the money off of all these often unnecessary trades?
Despite these trades being recorded on the quarterly statements - the bank still denies paying the fees. Early on, they were called by some varying names - in an obvious attempt to be disengenuous. The last couple of years, they say, point blank: "broker fees paid."
We've now sent several letters, demanding that the bank either provide the accounting of the total amount of brokerage fees paid since they took over management, along with who they were paid to, but they still refuse! -We also stated that if they WEREN'T brokerage fees, then explain just what the notation are. Again, they simply ignore it.
We've even written to the lawyer they hired to do the trust taxes and the final estate tax filing. His answer has been the same "the bank doesn't pay brokerage fees."; and no explanation of what the notations are. He apparently can't read
He's another story. They hired him to do the taxes for the trust in 2002; at that time, he apparently contacted the accountant whom he was taking the business away from for copies of the previous filings. After taking over 2 years to get the final tax filing done, he was notified by the IRS that he'd not accounted for a gift tax filing from 2001. His explanation was that the other guy didn't give it to him.
Couple of things about this explanation: 1. Why didn't he go to the bank TRUSTEE to get the files? That's called "due diligence" - which is required for lawyers and the bank itself, in fulfilling their fiduciary responsibility; 2. The other guy DID provide the previous year's gift-tax filing to this lawyer; I believe that would be call a "clue" - perhaps indicating there may have been others... 3. The lawyer's explanation to the IRS was to blame the other guy for the oversight.
Now for the clincher: after paying the lawyer a lump-sum of $13,000 - along with ongoing payments over the past two years to file for a trust the bank claimed he was "quite familiar with" - the bank is charging the trust for the penalties and interest for their lawyer's failing! I've obviously objected and my lawyer has sent a letter demanding the bank and/or the attorney pay the penalties and interest. Not the trust. That was a month ago; haven't heard anything back. -Big surprise.
If those monies had been with a regular brokerage firm and had consistently performed that badly,- and they'd continued to make senseless trades month in and month out, they'd have long since been fired. But not this bank "trust" division. I wouldn't "trust" them to manage a plant.
Adrienne of North Little Rock, AR
Geraldo Rivera driven away by 'Fox News Lies!' chanters; plutocrats are panicking
Video courtesy of Russia Today, Vladimir Putin's US propaganda outlet, which loves to cover protests against US plutocrats, but doesn't say much about the excesses of Russian ones, unless they're in opposition to Putin or his current presidential puppet.
In the New York Times, Paul Krugman says that the people FDR called "economic royalists" are
Monday, October 10, 2011
Materials list for Made-in-America house: ABC interviews Bozeman MT builder who says 5% more US material in new homes will create 220,000 jobs right now
A builder in Bozeman, Montana says using only US materials can increase the cost of a house only 1-2%, but if builders increased US-made materials just 5%, 220,000 domestic jobs could be created immediately. Some US building materials are actually cheaper. And US nails, though $5 more per box, seem to jam the nail gun less often.
Here, via ABC's web site, is a list of products Lewendal is using to build the Made in America house. ABC news will do a follow-up story tomorrow, talking to economists about the claim. The teaser suggests that they agree with the builder's conclusion.
(AKSARBENT discovered some time ago that the Charlotte and Walter Kohler Charitable trust is known for the amount of money it dispenses to right-wing think tanks which attack working people and the efforts to establish a living wage standard and notes pointedly that the plumbing fixture company recommended in the list below is Moen. Kohler only gets a mention for toilet seats, which is fitting.)
Here, via ABC's web site, is a list of products Lewendal is using to build the Made in America house. ABC news will do a follow-up story tomorrow, talking to economists about the claim. The teaser suggests that they agree with the builder's conclusion.
(AKSARBENT discovered some time ago that the Charlotte and Walter Kohler Charitable trust is known for the amount of money it dispenses to right-wing think tanks which attack working people and the efforts to establish a living wage standard and notes pointedly that the plumbing fixture company recommended in the list below is Moen. Kohler only gets a mention for toilet seats, which is fitting.)
| Product | Manufacturer/Supplier | State |
|---|---|---|
| J bolts/foundation | S.C. Prototypes | MT |
| J bolts/foundation/stock | Pacific Steel | UT |
| Gorilla Duct tape | The Gorilla Glue Co | OH |
| 4″ perforated pipe, radon | Northern Pipe Co. | ND |
| 4″ pvc fittings | GPK | ND |
| pvc glue | Oatey | OH |
| 8d ring shank nails | True Spec | CA |
| 16d sinkers | Griptite | WI |
| 1/2″ foundation nuts | CAT | IL |
| gun nails | Maze | IL |
| damp proofing | Mulseal/Tremco | OH |
| Rebar | Nucor | UT |
| Concrete | CMI | MT |
| Concrete Portland | Ash Grove | MT |
| Concrete aggregate | CMC. Beglade | MT |
| Concrete sand | CMC. Beglade | MT |
| Hangers, straps, H clips | Simpson Strong-Tie | CA |
| TJI’s | I-Level Truss Joist | OR |
| 2×4′s and 2×6′s | RY Lumber | MT |
| Plywood | Potlatch | ID |
| 2×4′s and 2×6′s | F.H. Stoltze | MT |
| 2×4′s and 2×6′s | Idaho Forest | ID |
| PL 400 sub floor adhesive | Loctite | CT |
| MiraTEC fascia | CMI Corp | PA |
| treated plate | McFarland Cascade | WA |
| T braces/framing | Appleton Supply | WI |
| sill seal | Reflectix | IN |
| powder actuated pins | TW Ramset/Redhead | IL |
| foam board | Dow | IL |
| Spray paint | Rustoleum | IL |
| Spray insulation | JM Corbond | MT, TX |
| Screws | Por Pac | CO, CT |
| Wire joint | Thomas & Betts | TN |
| Spray paint | ACE | IL |
| paint | Sherwin Williams | OH |
| Window foam | Touch n Seal | MO |
| Caulking | White Lightning | OH |
| Plastic elect. Straps | Handy Straps | WI |
| meter base | Eaton/Cutler Hammer | PA |
| electric panel | Eaton/Cutler Hammer | PA |
| Breakers | Eaton/Cutler Hammer | PA |
| PVC pipe/fittings | Ridgeline Pipe | OR |
| 2″ Romex connectors | Bridgeport | CT |
| Boxes | Allied | OH |
| Wire-service, romex | Southwire | GA |
| staples | Sturgeon Bay | WI |
| 4/0 SER straps | Sturgeon Bay | WI |
| Telephone wire | 3M | MN |
| wire connectors/crimp sleeves | Ideal | IL |
| wire staples | Sturgeon Bay | WI |
| Furnace disconnect | Eaton/Cutler Hammer | PA |
| recessed cans | Juno/Schneider Electric | IL |
| recycled glass | Livingston Landfill | MT |
| Furnace | Trane | TX |
| Cooling Coil | Trane | TX |
| HRV | Trane | TX |
| Air Cleaner | Trane | TX |
| Zoning/Thermostats | Trane | TX |
| Ductwork | Norwesco | WA |
| Screws | Brynolf Manufacturing | IL |
| PVC | Cresline | WA |
| Condensate Trap | Airtec | MA |
| Registers/Grilles | Hart & Cooley | MI |
| Allthread Rod | Chicago Hardware | IL |
| Pipe Brackets | C&S Manufacturing | WI |
| Conensate Pump | Franklin Electric | IN |
| Unistrut | Cooper B-Line | IL |
| Flexible Duct | Atco | TX |
| Duct Sealant | Hardcast | TX |
| Flex Duct Straps | Source 1 | OK |
| PVC Glue/Primer | Oatey | OH |
| Thermostat Wire | Honeywell | MS |
| Exhaust Fans | Broan | WI |
| Concentric Vent | Source 1 | OK |
| Exhaust Hoods | Broan | WI |
| Nuts/ Washers | Perine Danforth | WA |
| Dryer Box | In O Vate Tech | FL |
| Duct Liner | Johns Manville | CO |
| Duct Liner Pins | Hardcast | TX |
| Allthread Anchors | ITW Buildex | IL |
| Ductstrap | Colombia Man | WA |
| Manual Dampers | Norwesco | WA |
| Sill Sealer | Reflectix, Inc. | IN |
| PVC Primer and Cement | Oatey | OH |
| PVC Pipe | Crest Line NW | WA |
| Pex Pipe | Viega | KS |
| Kitchen Sink | Moen | PA |
| Kitchen Faucet | Moen | NC |
| Kitchen Basket strainer | Dearborn Brass | TX |
| Kitchen disposer | In-Sink-Erator | WI |
| Bathroom Pedestal Lav | Mansfield | IL |
| Bathroom Lav faucet | Moen | NC |
| Bathroom Lav sink | Mansfield | IL |
| Bathroom toilets | Mansfield | IL |
| Bathroom toilet seats | Kohler | AR |
| Master Shower | Aquaglass | OR |
| Master shower valve | Moen | NC |
| Master shower trim | Moen | NC |
| Master soaker tub | Aquaglass | OR |
| Master soaker tub trim | Moen | NC |
| Master soaker tub valve | Moen | NC |
| Bathtub waste and overflow | Watco | MO |
| Full Bath tub/shower | Aquaglass | OR |
| Full Bath tub/shower trim | Moen | NC |
| Full Bath tub/shower valve | Moen | NC |
| Water Heater | Bradford White | PA |
| Pex Fittings | Zurn | TX |
| PVC Fittings | Sioux Chief | MO |
| Hangers/pipe insulators | Sioux Chief | MO |
| Roof Jack | Oatey | OH |
| Plumber Putty | Hercules | NJ |
| Wax rings | Hercules | NJ |
| Thread Dope | Hercules | NJ |
| Plumber tape | Smith/Cooper | CA |
| Black pipe | RJB Wholesale, Inc | WA |
| Black pipe fittings | Anvil International | NV |
| Gastite pipe and fittings | Gastite | MA |
| Soulder Flux | Rectorseal | TX |
| Soulder | Exeon Inc. | IL |
| Copper Pipe | Cerro Flow Products Inc. | MO |
| Copper fittings | Elkhart Products Corp. | IL |
| Backflow preventor/PRV | Watts | ME |
| Expansion Tank | Amtrol | RI |
| Hose bibs | Woodford | CO |
Netflix kills Qwikster
The plan was to have two websites: one (netflix) for streaming, and a new one for DVDs-by-mail, Qwikster. That ended today in a letter sent to subscribers.
It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs.
This means no change: one website, one account, one password… in other words, no Qwikster.
While the July price change was necessary, we are now done with price changes.
We're constantly improving our streaming selection. We've recently added hundreds of movies from Paramount, Sony, Universal, Fox, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, MGM and Miramax. Plus, in the last couple of weeks alone, we've added over 3,500 TV episodes from ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, USA, E!, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, ABC Family, Discovery Channel, TLC, SyFy, A&E, History, and PBS.
Bill Maher: Alan Grayson demolishes the empty snark of a burnt-out P.J. O'Rourke
(Source)
P.J. O'Rourke: Or is it simply that the Occupy Wall Street people, like us, flunked Econ.?Alan Grayson: I have no problem understanding what they're complaining about.P.J. O'Rourke: Did you PASS Econ.?Alan Grayson: I was an economist for more than three years so I think so.P.J. O'Rourke: No wonder. You were probably the grad student who flunked me in Econ. 101.Alan Grayson: No, but I would have if I'd had the chance. Now let me tell you what they're talking about. They're complaining about the fact that Wall Street wrecked the economy about three years ago and nobody's held responsible for that. Not a single person has been indicted or convicted for destroying 20% -- 20% -- of our national net worth accumulated over the course of two centuries. They're upset about the fact that Wall Street has iron control over the economic policies of this country and that one party is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wall Street and the other party caters to them as well. That's the real truth of the matter, as you [pointing at P.J. O'Rourke] said before.P.J. O'Rourke: Get the man a bongo drum. They've found their spokesman! Get a bongo drum, forget where to go to the bathroom, and it's yours!Alan Grayson: If I am the spokesman for all the people who think we should not have 24 million people in this country who can't find a full time job, that we should not have 50 million people in this country who can't see a doctor when they're sick, that we shouldn't have 47 million people in this country who need government help to feed themselves and we shouldn't have 15 million families who owe more on their mortgage than the value of their home, then I'll be that spokesman.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
SNL trashes fine insurance company spinoff promising to make you rich via today's dynamic stock market
New York entertainers are so cynical that they no longer have any respect for Wall Street firms, like Lincoln Financial, that are doing their darnedest to enrich Main Street America. Pay SNL no never-mind. You listen to that fine GOP Senator Eric Cantor and believe! And remember:
- It's not gay if you're underway (naval term),
- It's not gay if it's your future self (see below), and
- It's not gay if it happens before your release date
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Taxing millionaires: Obama echoing Ronald Reagan
Meanwhile, it looks as if Eric Cantor will be celebrating Halloween as Marie Antoinette.
Iowa Rep. Steve King goes gay bashing at "Value Voters Summit"
Steve King continues to spin his tangled web of victim mythology without any supporting evidence.
They would come out and they would stand in there and they would scream and yell and curse with the worst profanity I've heard anywhere and I've spent my life in the construction business. They were the most unhappy people I ever met that called themselves gay [laughs at own lame joke].Click on the "Steve King" label at the bottom of this post to see how Steve King has voted to expand surveillance of your internet browsing, has endorsed a Wall Street group lobbying to kill farm subsidies, has voted to eliminate Medicare, has voted to subsidize hate-mongering religious schools at taxpayer expense, has voted to defund NPR, and has called restoration of funds denied otherwise qualified black farmers "slavery reparations." Click here to see a great example of why the Des Moines Register has called King "an embarrassment to the state of Iowa."
Compare and contrast: Rep. King is running against former Iowa first lady Christie Vilsack.
Iowans need problem solvers representing us, not just partisan fighters...We need leaders willing to lower their voices and start lifting their sights.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
More Keystone XL pipeline bias by State Department revealed by emails obtained by Friends of the Earth
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| State Department caught adding foreign oil company- written 'appendix' to environmental impact statement without identifying the authors. Good job, Hillary! |
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Documents made public this morning by Friends of the Earth provide definitive evidence that the State Department's review of a controversial proposed oil pipeline has been irreparably tainted by department employees’ pro-pipeline bias and complicit relationships with industry executives, including an oil lobbyist who was once a top Hillary Clinton campaign aide.The internal State Department documents, which pertain to the review of TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline, show that a State Department official cheered “Go Paul!” after TransCanada lobbyist Paul Elliott announced his firm had obtained new support for the pipeline. They reveal multiple department officials’ understanding that TransCanada planned to reapply to pipe oil at potentially dangerous pressures after the Keystone XL was approved (TransCanada announced in August 2010 that it was withdrawing its application for a permit to use high pressures). And they provide further evidence of inappropriately cozy relationships between multiple department employees and lobbyist Elliott, who was lobbying illegally for as long as two years due to his failure to disclose his lobbying as required by the Foreign Agents Registration Act.An overview of key contents of the newly released documents, as well as links to pdfs of the documents themselves, can be found at http://www.foe.org/new-foia-docs-reveal-smoking-gun-regarding-state-department-bias.“The contents of these newly released documents are shocking. They expose a rigged State Department process conducted in close coordination with oil firm TransCanada,” said Erich Pica, president of Friends of the Earth. “These revelations should disqualify the State Department from playing any further role in the pipeline review. If President Obama is true to his campaign pledge to end the days of lobbyists setting the agenda in Washington, he must revoke the State Department’s authority to approve this pipeline.”“If President Obama removes the State Department from the process, a fair-minded reading of the evidence will force him to reject this dirty and dangerous pipeline, and that is exactly what he should do,” Pica said.The documents made public today were obtained by Friends of the Earth, the Center for International Environmental Law and Corporate Ethics International via the Freedom of Information Act. The State Department initially refused to release the documents, so the groups, represented by Earthjustice, filed suit in May to force their release. The batch of documents made public today is the second round of documents released by the State Department. More documents are expected to be forthcoming.On Thursday, September 22, the Washington Post reported on the first round of documents. Those documents indicate that State Department officials provided inside information and coaching to TransCanada.The additional evidence of State Department bias and an irreparably flawed process is substantial. For example:Last fall Secretary of State Clinton said she was “inclined” to approve the pipeline even though an analysis of the pipeline’s potential environmental impacts was not finished.
A Wikileaked document reported on by theLos Angeles Times indicates that State Department officials “alleviated” Canadian officials' concerns about whether the pipeline might be approved and provided them with “messaging” advice.
The firm hired by the State Department to prepare the environmental impact statement and hold public hearings — Cardno Entrix— recently listed TransCanada as one of its “major clients.”
The environmental impact statement released by the State Department in August included an appendix written by two TransCanada employees and a TransCanada consultant(pdf) but did not identify TransCanada as the author. The appendix was a response to an independent report by University of Nebraska professor John Stansbury, Ph.D., about what the worst Keystone XL spills could look like. Though the TransCanada-authored response was included in the environmental impact statement, Stansbury's report itself was not.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Death of Steve Jobs: Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg, Google cofounders react
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| Steve Jobs in 1981 |
Jobs' instincts and insight were as close to prophetic as any 20th Century CEO could hope for. Example: even as "desktop publishing" was supplanting traditional typesetting in the 1980s, Jobs was telling reporters that the phrase was merely transitory. He was right, of course; it was merely a temporary label ushering in a new paradigm.
Here is what Bill Gates had to say about the passing of Apple's cofounder:
Other reactions, from Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg and the cofounders of Google are here.Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives.The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come.For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.
Correction: Larry Ellison has not yet made a statement about the passing of Jobs at the above link or anywhere else. Last summer, MacWorld excerpted part of a San Jose Mercury News interview with Ellison, who talked about Jobs, even then gravely ill:
The most poignant reaction was from Jobs' business partner and Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak, who, after Jobs stiffed some key Apple employees in its IPO, gave them 1/3 of his own stock.We almost decided to wear T-shirts: "The Mercurial Steve Jobs" and "The Arrogant Larry Ellison."Steve Jobs is my best friend, and I love him dearly, and he is one of the most remarkable people on this planet. You watch him create Apple, then in one of the worst human-resources mistakes in the history of Silicon Valley — the only thing worse was when the French fired Napoleon — they fire Steve Jobs and Apple almost completely disintegrates. Then he comes back and he saves a company that was on life support.
I never see this quoted about Steve, but they once asked Andy Grove who he most admired in the PC industry, and he said, "One guy: Steve Jobs. He invented the PC industry."
You know, we live in a very egalitarian world. We don't like heroes. And Steve is one of these heroic guys whose accomplishments are of such epic proportions, and it gnaws away at our egalitarian sense of the world.
The most amusing reaction was from Rupert Murdoch who preposterously insinuated that he had a heart which "goes out to [Jobs'] family."He said he was "overwhelmed and could not get in touch with his emotions". His only words: "People sometimes have goals in life. Steve Jobs exceeded every goal he ever set for himself."
The best look back at Steve Jobs' life that AKSARBENT has seen is over at gizmodo.com.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Maynard G. Krebs explains it all to you
Maynard: Now you don't have to wear all those clothes anymore...Dobie: Well what was the matter with them?...Maynard: Dobie, you don't, like, understand. Clothes are no good.
They're like a prison.Dobie: I see.Maynard: I mean they squeeze ya, hem you in. A guy oughta be, like, free.
Dobie: Aw, Maynard, you oughta get yourself a girl.Maynard: Oooh, not me big daddy. I've tried girls and it's like nowhere. They spend my money, they won't kiss me goodnight and they make giggle about me in the powder room. You try girls if you want to; Me, I'm sticking to jazz.
Pearl: You fellas don't need me. You've got each other!Dobie: Aw, Girls. Nothin' but trouble. They bug me. They really do.Maynard: Me too, man. Who needs girls?Dobie: Yeah, look at the rich full life you can have without girls.
Dobie: You know how I feel about girls...Maynard: The same way I feel about Stan Kenton.Dobie: Maynard, don't a girl's lips mean anything to you?Maynard: If they can play a hot trumpet, I'll listen, I'll listen.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Matt Baume: Marriage News Watch, 10/3/11
President Obama's doing everything right for the LGBT community -- except marriage. An anti-gay senator from North Carolina is things up again. And Senators in Rhode Island and Maine need to hear from you. More details at here.
Holy cow. Where to begin? Dustin Lance Black's play about Prop 8 hit Broadway for an incredible night. The tapes of the Prop 8 trial might actually get released. Florida's working on domestic partnerships, North Carolina's marriage ban is even worse than we thought, New Hampshire might repeal marriage, and Missouri -- yes, Missouri -- favors legal recognition for gay couples. All that, plus the first Republican co-sponsor for the repeal of DOMA. Wow.
Holy cow. Where to begin? Dustin Lance Black's play about Prop 8 hit Broadway for an incredible night. The tapes of the Prop 8 trial might actually get released. Florida's working on domestic partnerships, North Carolina's marriage ban is even worse than we thought, New Hampshire might repeal marriage, and Missouri -- yes, Missouri -- favors legal recognition for gay couples. All that, plus the first Republican co-sponsor for the repeal of DOMA. Wow.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Gasp! In Prohibition Ken Burns come this close to acknowledging that a gay historical figure was gay
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| Frances E. Willard |
Given that, AKSARBENT was a bit shocked tonight to see a little crack appear in the Florentine Films LGBT Iron Curtain when Burns allowed an scripted acknowledgement that Women's Christian Temperance Union leader Frances E. Willard had a long-time female companion.
Willard was the most important and influential American woman of the 19th century; she was the first female represented in Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol.
Her tireless efforts went far beyond temperance, extending to women's sufferage, federal aid to education and free school lunches, unions for workers, the eight-hour work day, work relief for the poor, municipal sanitation and boards of health, national transportation, strong antirape laws, and protections against child abuse.
Progressive American African journalist and anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells wasn't much of a fan of Willard on account of what Wells thought was WCTU pandering, under Willard's leadership, to southern racists by depicting alcohol as a substance that incited black criminality. From wikipedia:
When Wells returned to Britain in 1894, she brought a copy of the article with her [racist remarks made by Willard to the Voice, a New York temperance newspaper], and openly mocked Willard and the temperance movement for its attention to the "evils" of card playing, sports and lewd dancing, while "during all the years which men, women, and children were scourged, hanged, shot and burned, the WCTU had no word, either of pity or protest. Its great heart, which concerns itself about humanity the world over was, toward our cause, pulseless as a stone."
Wells attempted to have Willard's remarks publicized in Britain by republishing the article, but was blocked by Lady Henry Somerset, Willard's lover and host in the United Kingdom, who threatened to use her influence to make sure Wells would never have another speaking engagement in Britain.
Six degress of separation: Ronald Reagan, Star Wars
Steve Hayes gives King's Row more than his stamp of approval. It's his favorite 40s movie.
...deals with matricide, patricide, mattress-tracide, cyanide, homicide, you name it... all the cides...Ronald Reagan is fantastic and I hate that man.
Disgust over Clarence Thomas' lack of ethics grows
Now that 20 House Democrats have called on the U.S. Judicial Conference to formally request that the U.S. Department of Justice investigate Justice Clarence Thomas’s non-compliance with the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, there is a renewed focus on Thomas' ethical lapses.
The Atlantic has just published a concise summation of the justice's ethical entanglements.
Is Liberty Institute defending a victimized student or a homophobic, bullying brat?
Guess it depends on whose lawyer and which students you listen to. Consider this letter recently sent to the Dallas Voice and republished here.
I would like to take a moment to fill you all in on an instance of injustice playing itself out right now in the Fort Worth ISD, part of a larger attempt to get the district to back away from its newly adopted policies prohibiting ISD employees and students from harassing others at school on the basis of their perceived or actual sexual orientation or gender identity. I do so in the hopes that you might add your voice to those of Fairness Fort Worth, City Councilman Joel Burns, and others, in demanding that our public school system live up to those policies.
Kristopher Franks, a German teacher with a long and distinguished service record at Western Hills High School, is currently being investigated by FWISD administrators, swayed by a right-wing attempt to rouse public opinion against him for having the temerity to write a disciplinary referral against Dakota Ary, a student whom Franks reports publicly harassed him in class on the basis of the student’s perception that Mr. Franks is gay. This is being depicted in numerous news reports as an effort to suppress the student’s First Amendment right to free speech. As Franks and the district cannot speak to media while the incident is being investigated by the district, only the student and his Liberty Institute lawyer’s version of the incident is being reported in the media.
The gist of these reports is that Ary, during a discussion about religion and homosexuality in his first-year German class, expressed the opinion that “I am a Christian, and I believe that homosexuality is wrong,” and was subsequently sent out of class with a disciplinary referral by his teacher, Mr. Franks, and then given a three-day suspension from an assistant principal.
I and other members of LGBTQ S.A.V.E.S., a group formed a year ago in response to local and national incidents of school-based, anti-LGBTQ incidents of harassment, became aware of this incident last week, shortly after the first, distorted media reports came out. Concerned that only one side of the incident was being reported, we met Friday night with Mr. Franks. His account contradicts Ary and his lawyer’s version of events, and has been substantiated by several of the other students in class at the time. We found Mr. Franks’ explanation entirely credible.
He reports (and has reported to his school) repeated acts of anti-gay harassment by several students that occurred this and last year, including by a group of four specific boys in this class, of whom Ary is one. Among other incidents, Mr. Franks maintains a “word wall” for his German IV class on which he posts articles and images from several journals, including the German magazine, Stern. One of these articles concerned gay rights in Germany, and included a photo of two men kissing. The group of four boys concerned was sitting near this image immediately before Mr. Franks found it had been ripped from the wall. The student and his lawyer are now asserting that including this photo among the others constituted his teacher’s “imposing acceptance of homosexuality” in his classroom. These students subsequently took every opportunity to denounce homosexuality in class, frequently without context; that is, with the topic having otherwise been broached.
On the particular day in which this incident occurred, Mr. Franks was opening class when the topic of Christianity in Germany was broached by one student, who asked what churches were there, another whether they read the Bible in English, etc. Franks asserts that the topic of homosexuality was not broached in any way, and that Ary‘s assertions to the contrary are entirely false. At this point, Ary declared, with a class audience, “Gays can’t be Christians; homosexuality is wrong,” looking directly at Mr. Franks. Franks says he understands and affirms students’ right to free speech, and that he is perfectly prepared to lead a respectful discussion on topics such as gay rights that allows for the assertion of opinions with which he disagrees. He has led such discussion in the past in his sociology classes. But in this case, hr feels the context makes it clear that this remark was made ad hominem, aimed specifically at him to devalue him and any information he might share on the topic of religion, on the basis of his perceived sexual orientation.
The Liberty Institute, which has provided the lawyer to represent Ary, depicts itself as concerned with protecting “faith-based speech,” and has a record of fighting against the extension of anti-harassment policies to protect LGBT people. It is associated with a number of other, politically active, conservative evangelical institutions. So far, the lawyer’s efforts to whip up public sentiment against Mr. Franks have been very successful: The story has been broadcast nationally by a number of right-wing websites. Franks has received numerous insulting and threatening phone calls and emails, and after public outcry generated by these media reports, these suspensions were nullified, and the district has called Mr. Franks in to be interrogated Monday (26 Sept.) by the Office of Professional Standards, the office responsible for investigation ethical violations, though without as yet bringing any specific allegations against him.
As you might guess, the Liberty Institute tends to be very strategic in its selection of cases on which to to deploy its resources. It is likely no coincidence that it chose to represent the student only a few months after the FWISD adopted policies against anti-gay harassment.
It would be very helpful, and a grace rendered to the threatened teacher, Mr. Franks, if you and other community members would write letters and/or email messages to the school board members, assistant superintendent, and Western Hills High School principal, calling on them to give a respectful, caring, and full hearing to Mr. Franks’ side of the story. Time is of the essence: He is being interrogated by an external investigations group today, though no specific allegations have yet been made against him by the ISD. I will post their names, phone numbers and email addresses below. Please keep all messages respectful and restrained, calling simply for a fair, respectful and caring hearing of Mr. Franks’ side of the story, unswayed by the public outcry generated by the slanted media coverage. Do not go into the speculations or reports of his side of the case; that is for him to present.
Walter Dansby Interim Superintendent Fort Worth ISD Email: walter.dansby@fwisd.org Phone: 817.871.2000
Ray Dickerson President Board of Education Fort Worth ISD Email: ray.Dickerson@fwisd.org
Carlos Vasquez Board Member, District 1 Board of Education Fort Worth ISD Email: carlos.vasquez@fwisd.org
Norman Robbins Board Member, District 7 Board of Education Fort Worth ISD Email: norman.robbins@fwisd.org
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Toby Keith isn't a homophobe?
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| Toby Keith prepares for a tornado in Trailerhood |
On the one hand:
He's a jingoistic, manipulative war monger and we're glad that his box-the-camera Ford Truck ads are off the air. We'd much rather watch San Francisco resident Mike Rowe pitch Fords. We're also glad that the more judicious powers in country music didn't subscribe to Keith's fatwah against the Dixie Chicks. (CMT used to play Keith/Dixie Chicks videos back to back — Snort!)
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| Big Blue Note |
Keith is a clever, talented artist with a great voice (and even better management) who apparently is sexually sophisticated enough to regard teh gay as a nonissue, as CMT revealed today via (for us) Towleroad. (AKSARBENT will try to resist the snarky observance that people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones and that people with lips as large as Keith's should never belittle dudes who... oh never mind.)
From the interview — Keith's sensible, practical assessment of gay marriage (probably a more persuasive argument to Joe Sixpack than 80% of what gay rights organizations say):
"First of all, we're going to stop somebody from getting a marriage license because they're gay? You won't stop them from living together, so what have you accomplished? ... Wasting a lot of money here and a lot of time that could be spent working on this deficit that we're under ... I never saw the reasoning behind getting in people's personal lives."As CMT's interview shows, Keith is NOT sophisticated enough to have overcome his dumb sexism regarding women in combat; apparently he thinks that warfare today is like a wrestling match in which the physical size advantage of males means something.
Closer to homo, AKSARBENT has a problem with the tragic fact that evidently, except for a brief anomaly in As Good As I Once Was, no males better looking than Keith are ever cast in his videos. What's up with that?
Anyway, AKSARBENT has always liked two of his songs, the first of which shows his versatile ability to work the Kenny Chesney / Jimmy Buffett side of the street at least as well as they do and the second of which demonstrates how cleverness of execution (Thank you, director Michael Salomon!) can overcome even the most cynical of demographically-driven Nashville product.
Luxury car-crushing mayor of Vilnius, Lithuania wins Harvard Ig Noble award
Harvard University may or may not be the best institution of higher education in, say, Law or Medicine or Economics.
It is, however, Number One in generating publicity for itself, either by ripping off real awards winners with its own knockoffs or burnishing its own goofs, like Hasty Pudding, by luring celebrities who can be bought off cheaply by the mere spectre of basking in the luster of an Ivy League which would never have invited them to campus under normal circumstances.
PHYSIOLOGY PRIZE: For a study concluding that there is no evidence of contagious yawning in the red-footed tortoise.
CHEMISTRY PRIZE: For the invention of the wasabi alarm (airborne wasabi [pungent horseradish] utilized for waking people in the case of fire or other emergency).
MEDICINE PRIZE: For a study demonstrating that people make better decisions about some kinds of things — but worse decisions about other kinds of things — when they have a strong urge to urinate.
PSYCHOLOGY PRIZE: For a study whose purpose was to try to understand why, in everyday life, people sigh.
LITERATURE PRIZE: For the Theory of Structured Procrastination: To be a high achiever, always work on something important, using it as a way to avoid doing something that’s even more important.
BIOLOGY PRIZE: For a study that investigated why a certain kind of beetle mates with a certain kind of Australian beer bottle.
PHYSICS PRIZE: For a paper that studied why discus throwers become dizzy, and why hammer throwers don’t.
MATHEMATICS PRIZE: To six pundits, all of whom predicted that the world would end on a number of different dates, for teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations.
PEACE PRIZE: To the mayor of Vilnius, Lithuania, for demonstrating that the problem of illegally parked luxury cars can be solved by running them over with an armored tank.
CBS cares? Nah. 'The video you have requested is either unavailable or is being blocked by an ad blocker installed in your browser'
AKSARBENT found the best explanation of this on one of Google's support forums.
This problem is not a result of any specific browser or antivirus program. On your computer there is a file called HOSTS (on XP it is typically in C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\). You can think of the HOSTS table as a list of web sites your browser is prohibited from visiting (although that is not technically what it is). Antivirus, anti-spam, anti-adware, privacy protection, and other types of software designed to protect your computer will add URLs to keep your browser from web sites that are known to be bad.
To view their video stream, CBS requires your browser to go to Doubleclick. Doubleclick provides the commercials, tracks users, and collects other information about your computer when your browser goes there. Because of what Doubleclick does and how it does it, Doubleclick is commonly put in the HOSTS table by a number of software packages as well as corporate IT departments. This affects a large number of people. Clearly CBS does not really care if you are able to view their programs or not. If they did, they would provide a safe solution.
Doubleclick will put cookies on your computer so it can track where you go and has been used as a vehicle to install malware on computers, so there is a good reason for it to be blocked. You should understand that there are risks to disabling this protection. Disabling it, however, is fairly simple:
1. Open the HOSTS table using Notepad.2. Look for a line that says something like: 127.0.0.1 ad.doubleclick.netIf you have a number other than 127.0.0.1, don't worry about that. Also, don't worry of there is additional stuff on the line preceded by a hash (#).3. Put a hash at the beginning of the line, so it looks like this: #127.0.0.1 ad.doubleclick.net4. Save the file.5. Restart your browser.6. Return to the CBS.com web site and you should now be able to watch the program.
When you are done, re-edit your hosts table and take the hash out. Then delete any cookies with doubleclick in the name. You can do this in Firefox by going to Tools | Options | Privacy | Show Cookies... then looking through the list for anything with doubleclick in it. You can also search your hard drive for any files and folders with doubleclick in the name and delete them.
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