Great Short Film: “Storm”
Had this on my “To-see list” and finally got to it. It is quite aggressive as the title already suggests. But who can deny the creativity behind it!
Origins of the debt showdown
Here is another good account of the drama behind the debt showdown by the Washington Post.
In mid-January, newly installed as the GOP House majority leader, Virginia’s Eric Cantor rose to the podium inside a spacious hotel ballroom to deliver a message to his troops, including the 87 newcomers who had given the party control of the House. A vote to increase the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt limit was coming soon, he told the caucus members who had gathered at the Marriott in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor for a closed-door retreat less than 10 days after taking power. Think of it as a “hidden” opportunity, he implored them, a chance to achieve their goal of reining in the federal government and its spending habits.
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Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face
Poem by Jack Prelutsky
Be glad your nose is on your face,
not pasted on some other place,
for if it were where it is not,
you might dislike your nose a lot.
Imagine if your precious nose
were sandwiched in between your toes,
that clearly would not be a treat,
for you’d be forced to smell your feet.
Your nose would be a source of dread
were it attached atop your head,
it soon would drive you to despair,
forever tickled by your hair.
Within your ear, your nose would be
an absolute catastrophe,
for when you were obliged to sneeze,
your brain would rattle from the breeze.
Your nose, instead, through tick and thin,
remains between your eyes and chin,
not pasted on some other place—
be glad your nose is on your face!
From Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face: And Other Poems published by Harper Collins, 2008.
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The Great Gatsby
What a great book! It is short enough that you can read it in one day. I recommend that you set aside a Sunday and get rapped at in this marvelous piece of American fiction. F. Scott Fitzgerald is a masterful writer. His prose is a bit reminiscent of Joseph Roth. He sets up a mystery story that makes you crave to find what Jay Gatsby is all about. The novel takes place in 1922. The jazz age is in full swing and the automobile is starting change everyone’s life. Jay Gatsby owns a big house on Long Island where some people are invited for parties and many more show up. Fitzgerald has a sharp eye for people and the American people in particular and he construct an enthralling mystery. For the entire book I felt like Jazz music was swinging in the background. Some people have called it the best American novel of all time. I have not read enough to make such a grand statement but I can say: You don’t want to miss this book because at the end you will say. “Good Lord, was this story well crafted.”
The Cliffhanger: Will the US default and usher in a new era?
All eyes are on Washington. I have a hard time believing that in the end the debt ceiling will not be raised but to be honest, I cannot rule it out completely. And if it does not happen, we are in a new world altogether…
Update August 2: Click on more to read background analysis of public analysis that prevented Obama from negotiating a better deal
Congress closing in on a deal to avert US default By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate plunged on Sunday into what many lawmakers and the White House—and millions of Americans coast to coast—hoped would be an all-but-decisive last-minute effort to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and defuse a crisis that still could lead to an unprecedented government default.
As senators began debate in a rare Sunday session—just hours after Saturday night’s concluded—Democratic leader Harry Reid said he was “cautiously optimistic” agreement could be reached.
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