Okay, the weekend is over; it’s time to get back into the financial fray. I’ve been reading up on Goldman Sachs and it seems that they are talking out of both sides of their mouths. One side speaks to the public in support of financial reform, meanwhile the other side is busier than ever safeguarding its interests by hiring 40 lobbyists to solely target financial reform.

Even though a civil fraud case brought against the bank last month by the Securities and Exchange Commission, lead us to predict that Goldman’s future is not as bright as they have seen in the past, they are still one of the most influential of the nation’s top six banks, and  they plan on holding their position. From what I can see, Goldman isn’t going down without a fight. And in fact they are upping the ante when it comes to lobbyist spending to ensure their position:

Goldman’s professional persuaders hail from 14 different lobbying firms, Senate lobbying records show. No other top bank — not JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo or Citigroup — has as many firms lobbying on its behalf. Goldman has hired nearly 40 lobbyists, all former government employees, to target financial reform alone, Senate disclosure records show.

These services have not come cheaply. Since the beginning of 2009, Goldman has spent nearly $6 million on lobbying, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Only Citigroup and JPMorgan spent more.

So far this year, Goldman has revved up its lobbying even further. In the first three months of 2010, the bank spent $1.53 million lobbying, a 22 percent jump over the same period last year. Goldman also has increased its donations to political campaigns.

“It does show how a corporation will leave no stone unturned — creating a powerful and potentially influential lobbying force,” said Ellen Miller, co-founder and executive director of the Sunlight Foundation, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that advocates for greater disclosure of how Washington works and is influenced.

Readers: What did Anonz say to us a while back? I think we need a little reminder:

Rather than complain about us feeding at the trough, remove it.

Destroy it by; (1) insisting that special interest groups not be allowed to lobby congress. (2) Out law PAC’s political contributions (3) get your Congress to fix the opinion rendered by the bought and paid for 6 of the Supreme Court who ruled that corporations can spend as much as they want on political issues and candidates.

Goldman Sachs is doing everything that Anonz has suggested that we prevent. Not only is Goldman Sachs lobbying like they’ve never lobbied before, but they have increased their donations to political campaigns. And it isn’t just Goldman. Check this out:

To be sure, Goldman isn’t the only investment bank with a sophisticated lobbying operation, and pro-financial reform groups have attacked them all. Last week, three liberal advocacy groups said they had tallied the amount of money big banks are spending to influence financial reform: An estimated $600 million on lobbying and political campaign contributions since the government bailed out Bear Stearns in March 2008, and a lobbying force of more than 240 former government officials and Capitol Hill staffers. (Labor groups today will take to the lobbying industry’s venerable K Street corridor in Washington to protest the prominent role lobbyists are playing in the financial reform debate.)

And Goldman is smart. They know how to do it right. The bank was once nicknamed ‘Government Sachs’ because they had a long tradition of swapping employees with the federal government, including Treasury Secretaries Henry Paulson and Robert Rubin.

Goldman also hired 13 outside lobbying firms, according to Senate lobbying disclosure forms. These lobbyists include former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt; Stephen Elmendorf, Gephardt’s former adviser; Ken Duberstien, former chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan; and Janice O’Connell, former adviser to Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. Goldman also has tapped Harold Ford Sr., a former Democratic congressman from Tennessee and Daniel Meyer, former chief of staff to then-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

There’s a voracious appetite out there. I hope that my write today has reminded you that unless we put a stop to all of this, they will continue to stroll to the profit trough and feed. Like Anonz says, “Rant of vote.”

Thoughts? Comments? Blog me.

Clarence: I haven’t addressed the likes of men such as yourself in a long time. I have no time for bigots that I know I can’t knock some sense into. But what I do have time for is watching Madaline knock some sense into you, or at least revel in her attempt to. I know, impossible. But if anyone can spank some sense into the likes of you, Madaline is the one. Yes, I can say the only thing I look forward to when it comes to you, is Madaline whooping your white ass. Ah… a girl can dream can’t she? (That’s a nod to you Gloria:) The cool thing is though, for this girl, my dreams become my reality with the snap of my finger…okay, more like the tap of my keyboard. :) Bring it on.

Karen, Jamie, Zen Lill: I thought this was hilarious too and as far as I know it’s real. Did you catch the notation after the ‘cucumber’ on the list? And in answer to your question ZL, I have a feeling that’s on Walter’s list.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)

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Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

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Everyday, like I many of you, I am reading online, and everyday I keep reading about the the oil spill, and everyday I get angrier and angrier. How can something so disastrous be happening, and why haven’t they figured out how to stop this gush?

All I keep thinking about is the plant and marine life that is destroyed, not to mention any life that we aren’t even aware of, that we will now never have the privilege of discovering in our deep oceans. The loss is devastating to say the least.

And although this slick is worse than the Exxon Valdez,  BP CEO, Tony Hayward, has the gaul to say that the Gulf spill is ‘relatively tiny’ compared to the ‘very big ocean’.

Don’t worry about that pesky oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP CEO Tony Hayward says: It’s “relatively tiny” compared to the “very big ocean.”

Hayward launched this novel defense of the worst spill in U.S. history during an interview with the Guardian that deserves a full read, especially with BP fighting the Obama administration’s push to make the company pay the full tab for cleanup costs. The BP chief executive acknowledged for the first time that he expects his future with the company to be “judged by the nature of the response” to the current crisis; this may help explain his stream of delaying tactics and excuses.

“We will fix it. I guarantee it. The only question is we do not know when,” Hayward told the Guardian. “The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume.”

Before calling the oil spill analogous to the Apollo 13 flight and comparing it favorably with a deadly 2005 BP rig explosion in Texas, Hayward said BP is “increasingly confident” that they’ll find a way to stop the oil flow, and that the company has already prevented significant amounts of oil from reaching the shore.

BP’s CEO isn’t alone in downplaying the effects of the spill. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R)told the Associated Press his state is ready for tourism dollars — just don’t get too close to the water while waterskiing.

“We don’t wash our face in it, but it doesn’t stop us from jumping off the boat to ski,” Barbour said.

Yeah well, your pockets are deep, and thanks to the Bush administration, what comes out of your pocket is ‘relatively tiny’ compared to your ‘very big ocean’ of billions. If you check the regulations that Cheney and Bush set up, you will find that no matter how much the spill cost, BP by law, is only liable for $75 million. The tax payers are on the hook for the rest.

So….if I think in a conspiratorial way, I wouldn’t be surprised if Cheney knew about the integrity of the oil rig well beforehand. One of my readers, Claire, posted this awhile back from the Huff Po:

“And wherever there’s a national tragedy involving oil, Cheney’s offshore company Halliburton is never far afield. In fact, stay tuned; Halliburton may emerge as the primary villain in this caper. The blow out occurred shortly after Halliburton completed an operation to reinforce drilling hole casing with concrete slurry. ”

Tie this in with the rumour that Goldman Sachs shorted the Gulf of Mexico – yes that was a joke that the Borowitz Report put out:

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) – In what is looming as another public relations predicament for Goldman Sachs, the banking giant admitted today that it made “a substantial financial bet against the Gulf of Mexico” one day before the sinking of an oil rig in that body of water.

The new revelations came to light after government investigators turned up new emails from Goldman employee Fabrice “Fabulous Fab” Tourre in which he bragged to a girlfriend that the firm was taking a “big short” position on the Gulf.

“One oil rig goes down and we’re going to be rolling in dough,” Mr. Tourre wrote in one email. “Suck it, fishies and birdies!”

But many believed it to be true:

by Sterling D. Allan
Pure Energy Systems News

Not being aware that the author,Andy Borowitz, is a comedian, scores of Internet sites ran with the story as being genuine. As of today, Google search on <Goldman Sachs shorted “Gulf of Mexico”> pulls up 207,000 returns, beginning with the Huffington Post link. Many, such asInfowars, pulled their stories when they realized the mistake.

Christopher Rudy noted:

The news about Goldman’s bet against the Gulf comes on the heels of embarrassing revelations that the firm had taken a short position on the housing bubble, profiting from economic collapse, followed by more billions in government bailout support that paid out a couple billion in bonuses to thousands of loyal Goldman “officers” (corporate stakeholders).

We shouldn’t be surprised. The owners of Goldman Sachs are the same Rothchilds co-owners of the privately held Federal Reserve Banking System, and they know how to play this game. Watch how Congress capitulates to Wall Street losses that the lap-dog press attributes to “bankster bashing”.

Goldman Sachs just settled with the SEC for $450,000 (one guy’s salary for a month; or the price of one nicer home lost, among millions due to the collapse) as punishment for shorting the mortgage balloon. (Ref.) They made billions in the crime.

StreetInsider.com reported on April 30 in their “Top 10″ recap for that week:

Shares of Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) fell about 7% this week as execs were grilled on Capitol Hill and then, later in the week, the SEC referred its fraud case against the firm to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution. While much of Wall Street cheered Lloyd Blankfein’s snappy responses to an onslaught of questions, Main Street rejoiced as Carl Levin “stumped” other execs with “meaningful” interrogation tactics aimed at exposing the corruption within the US financial industry.

You can certainly see why people would be quick to believe the comedian’s satire piece about Goldman Sach’s shorting the Gulf of Mexico.

However, just because his piece was satire, doesn’t mean there isn’t something to it. The reason humor is funny is because it lampoons reality, providing an exaggerative and simplified caricature to bring out the key issues in a non-threatening way. Historically, especially in times of heavy oppression, the best truth tellers have been the comedians. Benjamin Franklin certainly used humor to his advantage in helping to win America’s Independence.

A. True Ott, Ph.D., wrote the following to me last night:

I have confirmed that there were indeed numerous “shorts” placed on TransOcean stock just days before the “problem”. Was it Goldman Sachs? That is yet to be conclusively determined (there is indeed a SEC investigation ongoing) — but labeling something as “satire” is a lawyer’s shrewd trick to keep from being sued for slander — even if it is all true. Moreover, there were massive shorts placed literally seconds after the news hit the airwaves.

Who would dare to quote the actual e-mails from “Fabulous Fab”, unless the writer would post them as a “satire” – especially after what happened to the Wall Street Journal writers who dared expose the 9-11 short sales involving Goldman Sachs. (They were assigned to Afghanistan, and had fatal “accidents” there.)

Dr. Ott has subsequently confirmed from two sources that Goldman Sachs was indeed in on the shorts being placed on TransOcean stock. (See Email from Don Nicoloff documenting Goldman Sachs short puts on TransOcean stock.)  And he has confirmed that the comedian was aware of that as well.

Dr. Ott had me and Paul Noel on his two-hour radio show yesterday talking about the viral article we posted, “Mother of All Gushers Could Kill Earth’s Oceans“.

In response to the alleged Goldman Sach’s shorting story, Paul, who is an expert on the Gulf Oil subject, provided the following intelligence:

There is a reason they could have known the rig was going to fail up to two weeks ahead of its failure. The nature of these wells is that they leave the drill mud in the well and compress using very heavy drill mud to keep the well from blowing up unlimited. The well would begin to bump (similar to boiling a big bubble) and the acoustic signals would tell the rig was in trouble that far ahead. Goldman Sacks could just have had inside info. They also know the scale of things. This is the best explanation. It could be otherwise.

If you were going to sabotage a drilling team, all you would have to do is load a lighter mud in the mix as they pulled a drill pipe. …. There are lots of ways to have this happen either accidentally or deliberately. Goldman teams are great on statistical stuff sort of like the odds of rolling dice. They might just have figured stats for probability of a failure.??? Of course we could surmise other reasons are possible.

(If you want to read the rest of the article, click here)

So perhaps Cheney and Goldman Sachs were in the know. I wouldn’t put it past Cheney, and in light of the recent news on Goldman, who’s to say they weren’t in the know too? So…they went with it, knowing they could make a killing in the stock market for a few weeks, and in the end Halliburton would have several very lucrative contracts for shut off and clean up. There was no real downside because, like the too big to fail bank rip off, the federal government would have to step in. And hell, only a few birds and fish would be harmed right? Sounds like a plan to me.

Problem: The oil is still gushing. Did they realize that they would have such issues shutting it off? Do they even care?

Readers: Think I’m far off? Perhaps. Blog me.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2010

John Curley Photography

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

**************

Readers: So…what do you think?

Brittany: I am so sorry that you and your mother were not able to view my blog on Sunday. I was disappointed too as I was looking forward to seeing everyone’s ‘six words’.

Zen Lill: That play sounds like  hoot – how fun! Happy to hear that you two enjoyed each other.

Jackie: Yes, Zen Lill is real. Why she doesn’t have an issue getting in is a mystery to me.

Doug: So, in light of what you wrote, do you think Obama should’ve nominated Wood or someone else?

Mildred: I still have to admit, I don’t know much about Kagan, nor Wood for that matter. But from what I’ve read I think she will be an asset to the court. She may not be a progressive, but she certainly isn’t a conservative, and she is a woman – those factors alone, gets me to give her a thumbs up.

Anton: Thanks for being persistent in getting in so you could give us an update. I didn’t hear about Twitter. Another reason why I love this blog: I learn so much from all of you. All I can say is if the government can have someone monitoring my blog everyday (?) they can put out the same, if not more effort, to protect the livelihood of the American people from hackers 24/7. The question is, ‘Will they?”

Gloria: :>)

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2010

John Curley Photography

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

I hope all of you enjoyed time with your mothers, and all you mothers had a great time with your children yesterday.

I wrote about Elena Kagan last week. Today Obama announces Kagan as his choice to succeed John Stevens in the Supreme Court.

Do you think Obama made the right choice? Or do you think Diana Wood, would’ve been the better pick? Voting in another woman is certainly a historic step forward as women continue to take their rightful place on the high court.

But not all Democrat-affiliated groups are happy with Obama’s choice. Kagan is a moderate and some are concerned that replacing Stevens who is the leader of the court’s liberal bloc, with a moderate like Kagan, would have the net effect of making the court more conservative. Plus, Kagan, lacks judicial experience and her short time as solicitor general, arguing just six cases before the Court, concerns people. In my opinion, we certainly don’t need our high court to get any more conservative.

Known as sharp and politically savvy, Kagan has led a blazing legal career: first female dean of Harvard Law School, first woman to serve as the top Supreme Court lawyer for any administration, and now first in Obama’s mind to succeed legendaryJustice John Paul Stevens.

At 50 years old, Kagan would be the youngest justice on the court, one of many factors working in her favor. She has the chance to extend Obama’s legacy for a generation.

Kagan has clerked for Thurgood Marshall, worked for Bill Clinton and earned a stellar reputation as a student, teacher and manager of the elite academic world. Her standing has risen in Obama’s eyes as his government’s lawyer before the high court over the last year.

Yet Kagan would be the first justice without judicial experience in almost 40 years. All of the three other finalists she beat out for the job are federal appeals court judges, and all nine of the current justices served on the federal bench before being elevated.

On the other hand there is Diana Wood. I didn’t get the chance to blog about her. She is a better pick according to the progressives, and was considered a front-runner all along.

She is known for sparring well and being a persuasive force with conservative jurists, which could be a huge selling point for the president. Obama is eager to choose someone he thinks will not just interpret the law fairly but also help in forming a winning majority on a court that is often split down the middle.

Wood also offers the diversity of experience that Obama likes. She has been a Justice Department official, a lawyer in private practice, a teacher and a judge.

Yet, she has also drawn fire from conservatives for rulings that put her on the side of abortion-rights activists, which could be a factor in her confirmation hearings. She once clerked for Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun, who in 1973 wrote the decision in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion in the United States.

Readers: What’s the consensus?  Did Obama make the right choice or was he hesitant in nominating Wood, perhaps because he thought the Republicans might filibuster if he did?

Blog me, I’m interested in hearing your thoughts.

***************

Doug: A nice one. And definitely true.

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

If you love my blog and my writes, please make a donation via PayPal, credit card, or e-check, please click the ‘Donate’ button below. (Please only donations from those readers within the United States. – International readers please see my ‘Donate’ page)

Or if you would like to send a check via snail mail, please make checks payable to “Michelle Moquin”, and send to:

Michelle Moquin PO Box 29235 San Francisco, Ca. 94129

Thank you for your loyal support!

For archives dated before January 17, 2008 click on my Blogroll:

or click here: “A Day in the life of…”

All content on this site are property of Michelle Moquin © copyright 2010

John Curley Photography

" Politics, god, Life, News, Music, Family, Personal, Travel, Random, Photography, Religion, Aliens, Art, Entertainment, Food, Books, Thoughts, Media, Culture, Love, Sex, Poetry, Prose, Friends, Technology, Humor, Health, Writing, Events, Movies, Sports, Video, Christianity, Atheist, Blogging, History, Work, Education, Business, Fashion, Barack Obama, People, Internet, Relationships, Faith, Photos, Videos, Hillary Clinton, School, Reviews, God, TV, Philosophy, Fun, Science, Environment, Design, The Page, Rants, Pictures, Church, Blog, Nature, Marketing, Television, Democrats, Parenting, Miscellaneous, Current Events, Film, Spirituality, Obama, Musings, Home, Human Rights, Society, Comedy, Me, Random Thoughts, Research, Government, Election 2008, Baseball, Opinion, Recipes, Children, Iraq, Funny, Women, Economics, America, Misc, Commentary, John McCain, Reflections, All, Celebrities, Inspiration, Lifestyle, Theology, Linux, Kids, Games, World, India, Literature, China, Ramblings, Fitness, Money, Review, War, Articles, Economy, Journal, Quotes, NBA, Crime, Anime, Islam, 2008, Stories, Prayer, Diary, Jesus, Buddha, Muslim, Israel, Europe, Links, Marriage, Fiction, American Idol, Software, Leadership, Pop culture, Rants, Video Games, Republicans, Updates, Political, Football, Healing, Blogs, Shopping, USA, Class, Matrix, Course, Work, Web 2.0, My Life, Psychology, Gay, Happiness, Advertising, Field Hockey, Hip-hop, sex, fucking, ass, Soccer, sox"

Good morning. In light of yesterday’s blog, just another reason why we need some new blood in the Supreme Court.

SCOTUS: What’s the Difference “Between Email and a Pager”?

Posted By Brad Jackson On April 21, 2010 @ 8:28 pm In Politics, The Whip

During recent oral arguments of the City of Ontario vs. Quon case, the Supreme Court proved they’re way out of touch ^[1] with the modern technological world. It seems the men (and women) in black aren’t big users of iPhones, Blackberrys, or even a simple computer.

The court is trying to decide “whether police officers had an expectation of privacy in personal (and sexually explicit) text messages sent on pagers issued to them by the city.”

At one point Chief Justice John Roberts asked what the difference was “between email and a pager?”

Uh… about a decade.

Keep in mind, he’s the youngest SCOTUS Justice, at age 55, and he doesn’t know the difference between a pager and email.

Justice Roberts is apparently known, “to write out his opinions in long hand with pen and paper instead of a computer.” Wow. My mother is two years older than Roberts and she’s a Blackberry addict who practically has her MacBook strapped to her side wherever she goes.

Don’t worry though, Roberts isn’t the only one who is technologically neolithic.

At one point, Justice Anthony Kennedy asked what would happen if a text message was sent to an officer at the same time he was sending one to someone else.

“Does it say: ‘Your call is important to us, and we will get back to you?’” Kennedy asked.

Yep. That happens to me all the time.

Follow Brad Jackson on Twitter ^[2]

Article printed from The New Ledger: http://newledger.com

URL to article: http://newledger.com/2010/04/scotus-whats-the-difference-between-email-and-a-pager/

URLs in this post:

[1] proved they’re way out of touch: http://lawyersusaonline.com/dcdicta/2010/04/19/technical-difficulties-at-the-supreme-court-2/

[2] Follow Brad Jackson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/bradwjackson

Readers: I would’ve responded to all of you yesterday but Doug and I played tourist and spent the night in SF Saturday night. I preprogrammed my blog to post for me on Sunday so I could take a break and be computer free. Ah…love technology. Anyway, it was a much needed break but I am back and happy to hear from all of you.

Ruth, Evelyn: Thanks for posting such important info. You two are a great team, mother/daughter and otherwise. Thanks too Dorothy for adding to their comments.

Anna: My pleasure. And thanks for the update. You too Alvina.

Randoff: Touché. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by your response back to me. I was informed by a friend that he thought my last comment to you was ‘cold’. I didn’t mean to be; just having a little fun. Not that I didn’t think your first comments to me were sincere; I did. My gratitude was sincere too. I just can not imagine that kind of potential in myself. My sincere apologies that I offended you.

Lenny: LOL. Thank you (I think :) Let me think about it. Okay, I thought about it, and it’s still “Thank you.” PS…I assure you I am real.

I’m still catching up. I’ll finish responding to the rest of you tomorrow when I have had time to read all of the comments.

Peace out…

Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.

Gratefully your blog host,

michelle

Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)

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