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Can you imagine any other US President pulling this off? Strong work by you, Jimmy Fallon.
* * * * *
Bill Simmons can be infuriating, but he also has a way of summing up what sports mean to the fan. What he had to say about baseball recently in reviewing the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park was spot-on.
Football is more popular, basketball is more marketable, hickey is more exciting, soccer means more throughout the world. But baseball has a way of making you think about heverything that ever happened to you , every conversation you ever had, every place you eve lived, everything.
Thank you, Sports Guy!
* * * * *
In case you haven't heard, there was a new website launched last week - YourBofA.com - that was announced as a re-branding of Bank of America as they headed into federal receivership. This was a classic Yes Men hoax (with the help of the Rainforest Action Network) designed to draw attention to the lack of reform by the banking giant that benefited vastly from the federal bank bailout and ensuing industry consolidation. The announcement was picked up immediately by numerous business and financial news services. Below is an explanation of the action and the fallout, and the links will provide helpful explanation, if needed. Great work by all involved!!
April 19, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ON-THE-BRINK BANK STILL NOT YOURS (YET) Dow Jones posts fake release for two hours; bank gets fake website blacklisted, briefly
Contact: bofa@yeslab.org
Bank of America executives, investors, and opponents alike reacted with surprise to yesterday's newsposted for two hours on Dow Jones Newswire and elsewherethat the mammoth financial institution, realizing it was heading for a taxpayer bailout, was asking Americans to start thinking about what they'll do with the bank once they own it, and to start advertising that vision too.
The news, of course, was a hoax.
The fake YourBofA.com website was quickly, but temporarily, blacklisted by Google as a potential "phishing scam," despite the site containing no forms, spyware, or other characteristics of a site engaging in phishing. Firefox and Google Chrome users who tried to load YourBofA.com were warned that the site may be "dangerous," while some individuals with Gmail accounts reported that emails containing the URL were bounced back or not delivered. An investigation by Raw Story concluded that "It's likely that Bank of America reported the site to Google as a phishing scam." Shortly after the article's publicationand with the help of thousands of volunteers complaining to Googlethe website was taken off the blacklist.
Today's reports of slumping profits make the fake site all the more timely. "This site is a forum for people to imagine what they could do with this bank," said Jane O'Heely of the Yes Lab, one of the site's creators. "The ideas we've gotten already show we all know as much as bankers about how a bank ought to be runand actually, a good deal more."
"A bank doesn't have to be something that charges you fees, invests your money in things you abhor, destroys poor communities with predatory lending, and then threatens to take down the global economy if you don't agree to bail it out," said Logan Price, who helped create BreakUpBofA.com. "Thinking of alternatives to this nightmare is not rocket science."
The hoax was perpetrated by means of a fake press release; it was followed two hours later with a fake angry retort, so that no journalist would be fooled for very long. "We wanted to get people thinking about how they'd run banking differently, not to really fool anyone," noted O'Heely. "The whole fake release thing was just a way to publicize it and get people posting ideas and ads."
"Any response by Bank of America would just help spread the word, and they seem to know that," added O'Heely. When Bank of America got Google to blacklist the website as "phishing" (which it was not), the Yes Lab mobilized 4000 volunteers to complain, which quickly worked to de-list the site and give this press release a small extra hook.
The website's centerpiece is an open call to American taxpayers to begin considering what they will do after a bailout, when they'll have a chance to become the company’s majority owners. The "bank" also asks the public to advertise their visions with a tool for generating web bannersimages that could give Bank of America a very real "google problem" not unlike Chevron's. The site also includes a letter from CEO Brian Moynihan that admits to the bank's many failingsshort-sighted investment decisions and the massive accumulation of le gal liabilities, causing plummeting share prices and inexorably pushing the company towards a public bailout.
The YourBofA.com website was a collaboration between the Yes Lab, Rainforest Action Network, and New Bottom Line. A number of folks within Occupy Wall Street's Alternative Banking working group also helped with the site. Like other Yes Lab websites, this one is hosted by May First / People Link.
The website comes at a time of rampant distrust of big banks. Even top Federal Government regulators have recently called for the end of "too big to fail." As Harvey Rosenblum, the head of the Dallas Fed’s research department, recently wrote: "Many of the biggest banks have sputtered, their balance sheets still clogged with toxic assets accumulated in the boom years... creating a residue of distrust for the government, the banking system, the Fed and capitalism itself."
"Most Americans, and even some regulators, see what's wrong with the state of our banking system," said Price. "We have a real opportunity to safely and proactively push this company towards managed bankruptcy and create smaller, more responsive financial institutions that help American communities rather than harm them."
If banks and other giant corporations don't like this type of "identity correction," I suggest they quit posing as "people" under a blatant bastardization of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Instead, they should leave us flesh-and-blood humans to govern ourselves in our own interests.
* * * * *
Some big-time actresses venting some frustration towards Santorum and his political position regarding their bodies in his most vulnerable moment. Funny and apt, IMO.
* * * * *
Where are my Arrested Development fans? Yeah!! Some good news about the return of the show recently surface, though this time it appears it won't be on any TV network but on Netflix. The details are vague, but it appears the delivery mechanism will definitely impact how the stories are told. From grantland.com's Amos Barshad:
Specifically, but still vaguely, [show creator Mitch] Hurwitz explained that the current distribution model - at some point in the first half of next year, all of the new episodes will be available for streaming at the same time - will be incorporated: "We are embracing the fact that these episodes are being 'aired,' so to speak, at the same time. And it is changing our storytelling; we had a lot of secrets that we were planting in storytelling. Hopefully by the end of the episodes you will want to go back to start and view it through new eyes."
Read more here. Oh, how I'd love to see GOB, Maybe, and Gamgam again....
* * * * *
In case you missed it, Bob Weir was on CNBC last night stumbling his way through an interview about his new recording and performance space the Tamalpais Research Institute (TRI) designed and build with musicians in mind. Ok, it's not that bad - he's actually quite articulate - but he talks so much sloooooooower than anyone else on TV these days, you can see the hosts are pained.
And be sure you check out the Sycamore Slough String Band's webcast from TRI on Thurdsay, April 26th from 7-8 pm Pacific time. Check out the details here. Roger holds it down for these guys, can't wait!!
* * * * *
* * * * *
* * * * *
Can you imagine any other US President pulling this off? Strong work by you, Jimmy Fallon.
Bill Simmons can be infuriating, but he also has a way of summing up what sports mean to the fan. What he had to say about baseball recently in reviewing the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park was spot-on.
Football is more popular, basketball is more marketable, hickey is more exciting, soccer means more throughout the world. But baseball has a way of making you think about heverything that ever happened to you , every conversation you ever had, every place you eve lived, everything.
Thank you, Sports Guy!
* * * * *
In case you haven't heard, there was a new website launched last week - YourBofA.com - that was announced as a re-branding of Bank of America as they headed into federal receivership. This was a classic Yes Men hoax (with the help of the Rainforest Action Network) designed to draw attention to the lack of reform by the banking giant that benefited vastly from the federal bank bailout and ensuing industry consolidation. The announcement was picked up immediately by numerous business and financial news services. Below is an explanation of the action and the fallout, and the links will provide helpful explanation, if needed. Great work by all involved!!
April 19, 2012FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEON-THE-BRINK BANK STILL NOT YOURS (YET) Dow Jones posts fake release for two hours; bank gets fake website blacklisted, brieflyContact: bofa@yeslab.org
Bank of America executives, investors, and opponents alike reacted with surprise to yesterday's newsposted for two hours on Dow Jones Newswire and elsewherethat the mammoth financial institution, realizing it was heading for a taxpayer bailout, was asking Americans to start thinking about what they'll do with the bank once they own it, and to start advertising that vision too.The news, of course, was a hoax.
The fake YourBofA.com website was quickly, but temporarily, blacklisted by Google as a potential "phishing scam," despite the site containing no forms, spyware, or other characteristics of a site engaging in phishing. Firefox and Google Chrome users who tried to load YourBofA.com were warned that the site may be "dangerous," while some individuals with Gmail accounts reported that emails containing the URL were bounced back or not delivered. An investigation by Raw Story concluded that "It's likely that Bank of America reported the site to Google as a phishing scam." Shortly after the article's publicationand with the help of thousands of volunteers complaining to Googlethe website was taken off the blacklist.
Today's reports of slumping profits make the fake site all the more timely. "This site is a forum for people to imagine what they could do with this bank," said Jane O'Heely of the Yes Lab, one of the site's creators. "The ideas we've gotten already show we all know as much as bankers about how a bank ought to be runand actually, a good deal more."
"A bank doesn't have to be something that charges you fees, invests your money in things you abhor, destroys poor communities with predatory lending, and then threatens to take down the global economy if you don't agree to bail it out," said Logan Price, who helped create BreakUpBofA.com. "Thinking of alternatives to this nightmare is not rocket science."The hoax was perpetrated by means of a fake press release; it was followed two hours later with a fake angry retort, so that no journalist would be fooled for very long. "We wanted to get people thinking about how they'd run banking differently, not to really fool anyone," noted O'Heely. "The whole fake release thing was just a way to publicize it and get people posting ideas and ads."
"Any response by Bank of America would just help spread the word, and they seem to know that," added O'Heely. When Bank of America got Google to blacklist the website as "phishing" (which it was not), the Yes Lab mobilized 4000 volunteers to complain, which quickly worked to de-list the site and give this press release a small extra hook.
The website's centerpiece is an open call to American taxpayers to begin considering what they will do after a bailout, when they'll have a chance to become the company’s majority owners. The "bank" also asks the public to advertise their visions with a tool for generating web bannersimages that could give Bank of America a very real "google problem" not unlike Chevron's. The site also includes a letter from CEO Brian Moynihan that admits to the bank's many failingsshort-sighted investment decisions and the massive accumulation of le gal liabilities, causing plummeting share prices and inexorably pushing the company towards a public bailout.
The YourBofA.com website was a collaboration between the Yes Lab, Rainforest Action Network, and New Bottom Line. A number of folks within Occupy Wall Street's Alternative Banking working group also helped with the site. Like other Yes Lab websites, this one is hosted by May First / People Link.
The website comes at a time of rampant distrust of big banks. Even top Federal Government regulators have recently called for the end of "too big to fail." As Harvey Rosenblum, the head of the Dallas Fed’s research department, recently wrote: "Many of the biggest banks have sputtered, their balance sheets still clogged with toxic assets accumulated in the boom years... creating a residue of distrust for the government, the banking system, the Fed and capitalism itself."
"Most Americans, and even some regulators, see what's wrong with the state of our banking system," said Price. "We have a real opportunity to safely and proactively push this company towards managed bankruptcy and create smaller, more responsive financial institutions that help American communities rather than harm them."
If banks and other giant corporations don't like this type of "identity correction," I suggest they quit posing as "people" under a blatant bastardization of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Instead, they should leave us flesh-and-blood humans to govern ourselves in our own interests.
* * * * *
Some big-time actresses venting some frustration towards Santorum and his political position regarding their bodies in his most vulnerable moment. Funny and apt, IMO.
Where are my Arrested Development fans? Yeah!! Some good news about the return of the show recently surface, though this time it appears it won't be on any TV network but on Netflix. The details are vague, but it appears the delivery mechanism will definitely impact how the stories are told. From grantland.com's Amos Barshad:
Specifically, but still vaguely, [show creator Mitch] Hurwitz explained that the current distribution model - at some point in the first half of next year, all of the new episodes will be available for streaming at the same time - will be incorporated: "We are embracing the fact that these episodes are being 'aired,' so to speak, at the same time. And it is changing our storytelling; we had a lot of secrets that we were planting in storytelling. Hopefully by the end of the episodes you will want to go back to start and view it through new eyes."
Read more here. Oh, how I'd love to see GOB, Maybe, and Gamgam again....
* * * * *
And be sure you check out the Sycamore Slough String Band's webcast from TRI on Thurdsay, April 26th from 7-8 pm Pacific time. Check out the details here. Roger holds it down for these guys, can't wait!!
And you thought Rick Ankiel would never throw a strike again.... Turns out the pitching rubber was 150 feet too close to the plate!!
* * * * *
Here is a rundown of some of the worst album covers of all time. Hilarious & troubling, with a healthy dose of what-were-they-thinking?!?!* * * * *
In honor of the Masters this weekend and the return of the AMC series Mad Men a couple weeks ago, I recommend this piece comparing the cultural relevance of the two.
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North Side, South Side, can't we get along? Or at least try to be civil.
Whatever, North Side got smoked in that round.
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The Daly Show's incisive reporting on the Tuscan school board's ban of the Mexican-American studies program in the public schools.* * * * *
From a humorous list of baseball giveaways:Sid Bream Slides Bobblehead Giveaway -- Braves, June 9
Sure, this commemorates a great moment in Braves history. But a Barry Bonds Plays Way Out of Position and Then Weak Arms a Throw in From Left, Somehow Allowing One of the Slowest Players in Baseball to Score From Second With a Spot in the World Series on the Line Bobblehead Night would get a lot more buzz.
In his defense, Bonds was mentally checked out of Pittsburgh already, prepping to become the highest-paid ballplayer at the time ($43.75 million over six years - sounds like a bargain today). He avenged the loss to Atlanta the following year by leading the Giants to a 103-win season... only to not make the playoffs because the Braves won 104 games. You showed 'em Barry!!
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What better way for a pitcher to celebrate opening day than on the DL with a vomiting-induced oblique injury. I wast thinking the same thing, but this isn't how Jamie Moyer made the team.
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Destroy the evidence!!* * * * *
This drunk Canadian is getting his 15 minutes. I've heard he's a homebrewer (maybe too many Bohemian Pilsners?), but someone put some time into giving him the accompaniment he deserves. Bravo!
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