DadNews Daily – Yesterday And Today
Despite the fact that it’s probably a dying medium, I love radio, which is where I’m taking this post’s title from. But instead of playing, say, two Fleetwood Mac songs (one old and one new — get it?), I’m doing news from yesterday that I didn’t get a chance to write about, and then a couple of items from today. I know. So exciting. Try to contain yourself.
People are freaking out over the economy. No surprise there. The Times profiles a few of the folks who are freaking and what they do to calm the fuck down. The main photo on the article was startling, not because it had people meditating — who cares? — but because the meditators seemed to be on top of each other. Look at it — feet hanging in faces, two of the women are almost holding hands. I couldn’t relax like that.
Skinny people may actually have fat cells that help them stay skinnier than the rest of us. Does this mean that maybe it is glandular and not the neverending plates of pork chops?
An article on the proposed and then dismissed soda tax in New York has a hidden gem. Comparing the tax to the hefty one on cigarettes, they say that some argue that the tax isn’t all that effective, since lots of people still smoke. (Since there is no mention of how many smokers there were before and after the taxes were increased over the years, it’s not a very compelling comparison.) Then we get this: “There is also a booming market in bootleg cigarettes, and some worry that a soda tax might lead to similar underground sales.” Underground soda sales! “Psst. Psst. Hey. Hey kid. Wanna buy some cola? I got the good stuff right here.” Maybe the street versions will put the cocaine back into Coca-Cola. That people would buy.
And now… today!
Squatters are squatting, sometimes in what used to be their homes. It’s pretty depressing. One woman says that “the mortgage lender had offered the family $1,500 to leave but was unwilling to negotiate minimal payments that would allow them to stay. She said she and her husband had been looking for work since he lost his delivery job with The Miami Herald.” How does that situation work for anyone? Why not let her pay just the interest for awhile, or a reduced payment of some kind until she can find a job? It’s crazy. These are often folks who can pay utility and cell phone bills, so its not like they have absolutely no money. Is it better for the house to sit empty and eventually fall into disrepair? Some organizations are moving homeless people into the houses illegally, which I have mixed feelings about. On the one hand I think its better that someone is using the home. On the other hand the practice is completely illegal. But no one seems to care too much. According to the Times article, local Sheriff’s offices are overwhelmed with foreclosures and evictions, and in some cases the neighbors just prefer to have people living there. And it’s not just anyone that’s moving in; the organizations in question have a screening process to weed out undesirables (drug addicts and other NIMBY types), and they require that folks be able to pay utility bills and keep the places clean. Abandoned houses are more likely to attract scummy sleazos if left unattended, which makes the neighborhood worse, which lowers property values, which leads to people moving, which leads to more abandoned houses, which leads to a world that looks like The Road Warrior. How is that a good thing?
President Obama had a seder, which was apparently the first ever at the White House. (Which is somewhat disturbing, although not surprising because, as Tom Lehrer sang, everybody hates the Jews. I kid. Sort of.) The way I heard it, the seder was held not because Obama has a jewy Chief of Staff (Rahm Emanuel), but because last year on the campaign trail, the staff had one and Obama dropped by. When they got to “next year in Israel”, someone said “next year in the White House.” Since they won, everyone figured they should stick to what they said last year. I like it. I’d like to know if Sasha and Malia got to look for the Afikomen, though.
Some white firefighters are claiming they were discriminated against. OK.
Pirates! It sounded like a joke but this is getting kind of serious. And by serious I mean that Americans are being held hostage. Which is when we start giving a shit. According to NBC’s Today Show, “Captain Richard Phillips tried to swim away before being taken back into the pirates’ custody.” Wow. That’s kind of crazy.
That’s all for now. Have a good weekend and don’t eat too much matzo ball soup.
Image: Amazon
