Weekend Zen

I always feel like somebody's watching me
And I have no privacy, whoa-oa-oa

Somebody's Watching Me.

Rockwell with Michael Jackson singing chorus.

The Meek Shall Enter the Kingdom of Clinton?

When Bill Clinton hunkered his way down to Florida, I knew the trip was more than a campaign stump for Kendrick Meek.

Breaking news reports this evening have verified my political instinct. The silent majority are proving not so silent just days to the midterms.

Apparently, Big Bill asked the Congressman to drop out of the Florida Senate race. An October 26th reveal date was planned where Meek would throw his support behind Crist.

All which could explain Marco's own recent just a little bit country, just a little bit rock and rock moment during the final debate, where he indicated to moderator David Gregory he really, really leaned somewhere towards the middle.

Somewhere along the path, Meek changed his mind, claiming allegiance to those who had already voted via absentee and also by early voting.

I'm not so certain about that.

I know at least 5 Democrats with a Meek bumper sticker slapped on the back of their car who all pulled the lever for Crist.

And if I know five and they know five and on and on and on....?

Read more here.

Talk to Me.

The Dog Ate Mike's Homework

"... And I feel pretty silly. I mean, I'm a college professor, and I didn't do it right."

Well, Senator Haridopolos, there are those at University of Florida who would find that that job description quite debatable.

A, your job as lecturer isn't quite Goodbye, Mr. Chips and B, the flap regarding how you somehow managed to land the salary of a a tenured professor sans Ph.D. amid budget cuts is still quite the talk among Gainesville academia.

But the silly part, I imagine that description, most agree on.

Because this dog ate my homework excuse I must be doing it right offered for the sorry state of your financial disclosures just doesn't quite calculate. We are supposed to believe that you--a man with access to the very best money manipulators this state has to offer--couldn't get an assist or at the very least, bring up the online instructions over at the Florida Commission on Ethics?

Not buying it, Mike.

Someone once told me that someone out there is always watching. Doesn't matter if you are a BCC college instructor, a lecturer, state Senator or some sort of consultant. But no one knows that better than a politician.

Dot the i's, cross the t's or someone will do it for you.

But thanks for throwing the press a few bones: MJH Consulting, Marketshare Systems, Syntax Communications (considering all that gung ho support you threw behind Senate Bill 6) and of particular interest to me, Ness Energy (considering the consortium of unnamed energy interests who lobbied you hard as the next state Senate President to support drilling off the Florida coast).

And if you expect us to believe the three houses listed (valued at $400,000 and up) were purchased on your declared income, well all I can say Senator is...

...woof.

Read the investigation report here
and the Advocate's recommendation here.

Kentucky's Version of Stomp

Lauren Valle


If Confucius were around this election cycle, he might sum up the latest political horror a little something like this:

Those who hold women down by foot, should not do so in full view of rolling video camera.



Had enough yet?

Read more about Rand Paul's October surprise here.

(Can't view the video? Watch it here).

Postscript

Around marker 1:35, a man's voice is heard to say "No no no no no" in an attempt to stop the above nonsense.

This is a person whose true values went into overdrive under pressure. If I were Lauren's mother, I'd want to thank him for attempting to assist my daughter.

Mr. Profit has been charged with fourth-degree assault. He claims he was simply trying to subdue the MoveOn protester.

In this country, he has the right to counsel and is presumed innocent until proven otherwise.

In this same country, Miss Valle has the right to freely express her opinion.

Both are the exclamation point on a midterm election cycle that has been stirred and stirred and stirred for far too long by a media and a machine we have allowed to "report" in a detrimental way.

The 2012 Presidential election will likely begin November 3.

What will We, as Citizens do differently?

Talk to Me.

Just Wake Me When It's Over

I found last night's debate between gubernatorial candidates Alex Sink and Rick Scott so distressing, at one point, I hit the mute button.

Didn't help. Without sound, the hang dog look Scott wears when feigning attention to a Sink rebuttal causes me to believe that beneath all that underlying loathing, the GOP candidate is harboring quite the crush for the Democrat.

That being said, the likely reason the moderators buffered themselves the length of a conference table away from these two is because both are obviously and absolutely ready to rip each other to shreds with one week left to go in the campaign.

I clicked the volume back on in time to hear the best line of the match, 'er debate.

Sink to Scott: "Don't lecture me about fraud."

Read more about the final (thank goodness) debate here.

Talk to Me.

The Saturday Vote

This latest O'Donnell-ism caused me to rethink my long-standing tradition of voting on Election Day.

MODERATOR: Give me a name, Christine, of someone in the U.S. Senate, across the aisle that you’re comfortable working with.

O’DONNELL: [Pause] Well, she’s not a senator any more, but I would definitely have to say Hillary Clinton. [...]

COONS: One of the real risks as we go forward, is that if we elect someone who literally cannot name a single currently serving senator in my party with whom she would work –

O’DONNELL: Senator Lieberman!

COONS: Someone who has no experience crossing the biparistan divide.

I early-voted Saturday morning, along with many others who may or may not have been spurred into action for the same reasons. Having read and heard so much about Republican voter enthusiasm building for this midterm election, I noticed the same enthusiasm appears to have extended to the Democrats, at least those furiously bubbling in the vote at my choice of locale.

How could I be sure?

By the bumper stickers on the cars parked in the lot.

Peace, Love, Freedom
Alex Sink for Governor
Corporations Are NOT People
I need my library.

I'll let you in on a little secret. That last sticker? It's mine.

You see, it takes a Dem to know a Dem.

Check out where and when to early vote in Brevard County here.

Weekend Zen

Ha Ha woman what you gonna do,
You destroyed all the virtues that the Lord gave you.

Electric Light Orchestra.

Evil Woman.

Memories May be Beautiful and Yet...

...what's too painful to remember, apparently some choose to forget.

As did Florida GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott, feigning his best I don't recall during a 1995 legal deposition recently released by the Sink campaign. (Watch the video here).

On the flip side of painful memories, Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, recently reached out to Anita Hill by voice mail with an invite to walk down memory lane for a bit of girl talk.

“Good morning, Anita Hill, it’s Ginny Thomas,” she said, according to ABC News. “I just wanted to reach across the airwaves and the years and ask you to consider something. I would love you to consider an apology sometime and some full explanation of why you did what you did with my husband. So give it some thought and certainly pray about this and come to understand why you did what you did. Okay have a good day.”

I wracked my brain for a plausible explanation for the call but all I can come up with is a mental image of Thomas and Thomas involved in one serious game of Truth or Dare.

Anita--vilified by the Right via methods similar to those utilized today against those who won't cower (blatant lies and false information)-had better things to do than dish old testimony with Clarence and Ginny.

She turned the tape over to her employer who promptly forwarded the invite to the F.B.I.

Talk to Me.

Marco Rubio's Taj Mahal

The next time the Florida state legislature cries poor when dodging their constitutionally-mandated responsibility to fund education, remind them how the legislators themselves managed to scrape together an extra $5.5 million toward the $48 million dollar "Taj Mahal" courthouse back in 2008.

During a year when money was not growing on palm trees, $7.9 million was included in the 2007-08 budget, along with "a suspicious authorization of a $33.5 million bond issue in an unrelated bill approved on the last day of the 2007 session. "

It gets better. The additional $5.5. mil--stripped from the Workers' Compensation Trust Fund--was the result of "a very successful meeting with Speaker Rubio." (As in Marco Rubio, who wants to be your next Senator).

(...)

Yet Rubio cannot get his story straight. He first said in August that he didn't recall the project. Then his campaign blamed the state Senate, where the bond issue was added to a transportation bill that was then approved by the House. Then Rubio said he was aware of the project and tried to shift attention to Gov. Charlie Crist, who signed the budget and the transportation bill into law.

(...)

In fact, the court's building committee circulated an e-mail in 2008 that identified "heroes" for their project. It lists Rubio as one of four lawmakers who were "especially helpful.'

Fast forward to present day. After a release of an audit by CFO Alex Sink (read audit here), soon-to-be state Senate President Mike Haridopolos is at his best smoke and mirrors, shifting the attention away from Marco Rubio and towards Linda South, head of the Department of Management Services, which oversees the construction of state buildings. Haridopolos charges that South demonstrated "irresponsible oversight" that "clearly wasted millions of taxpayer dollars".

Hold that thought.

South seems to recall what Rubio does not and what Haridopolos recalls quite differently.

(...)

The judges wanted a building with "wow" factor — "worthy of the court and its functions," according to 2007 notes taken by Hawkes' law clerk of early meetings between the architects and judges.

Chris Kise, attorney for Gov. Charlie Crist, attended one meeting and warned the judges that the governor and Legislature supported "a nice courtly facility but not at the expense of the four other DCAs and the Supreme Court," where there are older facilities.

A meeting on Feb. 28, 2008, included Hawkes, fellow 1st District Court of Appeal Judge Edwin B. Browning Jr., South and key legislative staffers: David Coburn and Bob Ward, chiefs of staff for Senate President Ken Pruitt and House Speaker Marco Rubio; and budget staff from the House and Senate.

Gathered in the House speaker's conference room, South said, the group agreed the architects would design a building with the "footprint" the judges wanted, but seal off part of it and leave it unfinished until future needs required the space. The court has 15 judges but wanted to design a building that would accommodate 18 judicial suites, a third law clerk for every judge and others that might be authorized in future years.

"Everyone agreed," South recalled.

But when the 2008 legislative session ended three months later, the judges had lobbied their way into $5.5 million more, carved from the Workers' Compensation Trust Fund, despite serious budget cuts in almost every other segment of the state budget.

South said the DMS had no idea the judges were still lobbying for more money or that legislators might be willing to ante up even more than what had been committed: $7.9 million in general revenue and a $33.5 million bond issue, which was tucked into a transportation bill on the last day of the 2007 session.

In an e-mail to his fellow judges dated April 27, 2008, the day lawmakers finished work on a new budget, Hawkes said that in "on and off again" negotiations across the weekend, the court managed to get the additional money.

As you cast your vote--early or otherwise--take this gem to the booth along with you.

"Conservative government is organized hypocrisy."

"The Miami Republican is stonewalling by first claiming ignorance and then blaming others. ...The chances something of this magnitude would be approved without the House speaker's endorsement are slim to none."

--The St. Pete Times
9/24/2010

For Whom the Cell Phone Polls

One of my favorite pollsters, FiveThirtyEight, predicted little change from last week's projection that Republicans have a 73% chance of taking over the House this midterm. "During an average simulation run, Republicans finished with 227 seats, up from 226 last week; this would suggest a net gain of 48 seats from the 179 they hold currently."

Yet, pollster Nate Silver calls that forecast "uncertain".

Whether the gain is 70-80 seats or as few as 20-30 seats, Silver cites that several factors inhibit an accurate forecast of the number of seats expected to be gained: the number of House seats in play, the generic ballot and the enthusiasm gap.

"If Gallup’s likely voter model, which implies extremely lopsided turnout in favor Republicans, were to be correct, G.O.P. gains would be well in excess of 50 seats. Other turnout models, however, imply more like a 4- or 5-point enthusiasm gap, which would be more consistent with patterns in a typical midterm election. With an enthusiasm gap of that magnitude, Democrats would probably lose the House only narrowly and would have decent chances of holding onto it."

Meaning, every vote counts.

Another big factor playing (or actually, not playing) into the midterm polls, is the Cell Phone Factor.

"It is also important to remember that there are some factors, like the fact that many pollsters do not include cellphones in their sample, that could potentially result in the polls underestimating the position of Democrats. Our model assumes there is a chance that the overall “consensus” of polling could be off, which could affect the results in a great number of individual districts. This is one reason that it thinks such disparate outcomes as a 70-seat Republican gain or a mere 30-seat gain are not exceptionally unlikely. But such systematic bias in the polling could run in either direction."

A personal aside. I can't remember the last time my 25 and 30 year old used the land line gathering dust in the corner of our kitchen. That being said, both voted by absentee ballot without one call from a pollster, via the Bell dinosaur or the cell, never too far from their reach. Odd that pollsters would not clamor for the insights of my NPA-registered young adult, which adds weight to Silver's cell phone polling point.

Read more from Nate Silver here.

Talk to Me.

Weekend Zen

Last night I held Aladdin's lamp
And so I wished that I could stay
Before the thing could answer me
Well, someone came and took the lamp away
I looked around, a lousy candle's all I found

Magic Carpet Ride.

Steppenwolf.

Strength Miners!

As I sit glued before my television as I expect is much of the rest of the world, waiting for the first of 33 Chilean miners to be brought to the surface after 69 days trapped underground, I consider the symbolism of what is accomplished when people come together for the common good.

We move mountains.

My thoughts today lie with the miners and their loved ones.

May the sun soon shine warm on your faces.



Watch the live stream here.

Purging the Florida Senate

Yesterday, I blogged about two possible scenarios to take back Florida.

Elect Alex Sink as the state's next governor and Vote Yes for Fair Districts Amendments 5 & 6.

I urge --urge, urge, urge--that strategic voting be a consideration as your vote is cast this midterm.

Here's why.

The St. Pete Times is reporting that incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos is purging the Senate. What he refers to as "rightsizing" as in cutting the budget, I call "RIGHT-sizing" as in thinning the ranks of anyone that is not Republican. (For my more conservative readers, that also includes anyone registered NPA).

Read on.

The once-moderate Florida Senate is growing more conservative under incoming leader Mike Haridopolos in the wake of high-level staff firings and resignations that have thinned the ranks of Democrats in the upper chamber.

The shakeup could leave the "New Senate'' filled with the most Republican members and staff members since Reconstruction, which paves the way for swifter approval of budget and tax cuts, pension reform and conservative social issues.

(...)

A number of Senate staffers grew so worried about job security at the end of last year that many thought their party affiliations, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter posts were being monitored. Haridopolos, who is set to assume the Senate presidency from Jeff Atwater after the Nov. 2 election, said the fear resulted from a false rumor.

Still, an unprecedented number — 15 — switched party registrations this year out of the 44 high-level posts Haridopolos reviewed for cost savings, according to a Times/Herald analysis of voter data since 2000. Nine staffers became Republicans; the rest no-party-affiliation voters.

A total of 10 Democrats left their party. No Republicans did. Of those who switched registration, five were dismissed anyway.

In all, 13 staffers were let go. Only one of the dismissed, an independent voter just days before switching, was a Republican. Nine more are leaving of their own volition. Most are Democrats or independents.

Haridopolos has hired 11 replacements so far. Six are Republicans; three Democrats; the rest aren't registered with either party.

Haridopolos said he knew nothing of all the partisan issues. He said he didn't know of any rumor that he, his staff or anyone connected to him was checking party registrations.

"I have no idea what anyone's political affiliation is," he said.

Some insiders thought ideology mattered in hiring decisions.

(...)

(Sen. Paula) Dockery, R-Lakeland said she found "most troubling is the rumor that the incoming administration was checking the political party affiliation of Senate staff as well as their information on social media sites. More than one staffer indicated that they felt pressure to switch their political party affiliation in order to keep their job."

One comment following the article caught my eye.

"We're in big trouble people. We are officially powerless in our own Senate."

As the kids text, OMG.

If Rick Scott is elected Governor, double OMG.

Read more here.

Two Chances for Florida: Alex Sink and Fair Districts

Floridians have two chances to take back Paradise this election cycle.

Elect Alex Sink as Governor and vote YES on Amendments 5 and 6.

Should the GOP continue its power lock on the state legislature after every 2010 midterm vote is counted, Governor Sink will serve as a stop stick between the Reps and us, the people of Florida.

The alternative? A rubber stamp for the GOP--Rick Scott.

Should the Republican majority hold in Tallahassee, Sink can stave off the hard Right (led by soon-to-be House Speaker Dean Cannon and Senate President Mike Haridopolos) until 2011 and 2012, when legislators begin the politically charged tasks of redrawing legislative and congressional districts. Should Fair Districts Amendments 5 and 6 be passed by the voters November 2nd, this task takes a twist. Gerrymandering--the current practice of drawing districts to favor and ensure the majority political party retains power--will end.

No more practice of legislators choosing voters instead of voters choosing legislators.

The GOP--a bit miffed their rebuttal Amendment 7 to Amendments 5 & 6 got booted off the ballot by the Florida Supreme Court--is not giving up easily. On Sunday, Senator Haridopolos opined for Florida Today that Fair Districts received millions from lawyers and unions and "a stealth group" called America Votes, a "...national, union-backed coalition whose membership has included MoveOn.org and Planned Parenthood."

Mike neglected to mention his own affiliation with Protect the Vote, for which he recently helped raise $25,000. Back in September the movers and shakers behind the anti 5 & 6 electioneering committee, stood "...ready to raise and spend "at least $4 (million) maybe more'' to defeat Amendments 5 and 6."

With all the recent hubbub regarding the United States Chambers of Commerce--accused of allegedly co-mingling dues from foreign countries with monies designated for political purposes--it's an interesting side note that the Florida Chamber of Commerce stands in support of Protect the Vote.

Long time readers of Talk to Me are familiar with my "strategic vote" mantra. By using your vote to elect Alex Sink and pass the Fair Districts 5 & 6, together we can both impede the Republican state majority and effectively change the way politics is played in Florida.

It's all within our grasp November 2, 2010.

Vote.

Weekend Zen

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one

John Lennon.

Imagine.

Rubio's Gone Washington

The Crowley Political Report ran the closest semblance to a transcript that I could pin down Wednesday night after the ABC debate between U.S. Senate contenders Republican Marco Rubio, Independent Charlie Crist and Democrat Kendrick Meek. Creative Loafing caught the highlights, although not the one moment I considered the most thinly veiled act of pandering--a Crist offered one-size-fits-all-voters answer to a question posed, guaranteed to make him stand out as the I'm not one of these guys, I'm one of you candidate.

Besides the fact Rubio resembled a petulant child throughout the debate, he emerged from the Crist-Meek tag team verbal assault relatively unscathed, although towards the end, I caught a bit of a flush when Crist attempted to tag the former state House Speaker as a serial earmarker.

Meek proved assertive and had the best lines of the evening, at one time comparing Crist to George Wallace as in "the George Wallace of gay adoptions". Rubio stuck to his hard right "it's all about debt, stupid" script and scribbled more on his legal pad than the others, likely channeling his mentor, Jeb Bush. Charlie reminded us how much he's done for Floridians as the state's Governor, which prompted Rubio to share how the state is in worse shape now than when Crist took office (although both worked together at one point to help make Florida everything it is today and more).

Although a couple more debates are scheduled, I wouldn't be surprised if Rubio bails. My guess is his buttons got pushed tonight--as a candidate, he's not yet polished enough to keep the Jack Kennedy face casual under fire, so it was easy to spot his aggravation when the two tail chasers nipped a bit too close. One more dig about the $800,000 astroturf pork and I'd say, all bets are off on Rubio maintaining composure.

Besides, the Rube is rolling in so much campaign dough, who needs to debate? Just roll the film and get in "Pelosi" as many times a sixty second campaign ad allows.

Talk to Me.

***
(...)

CHARLIE CRIST:

Ver-- very quickly. The Speaker said that he didn’t put these earmark items into the budget. Are you telling us here tonight that you didn’t put $800,000 in for AstroTurf on a field-- in a football field that you play-- at--

MARCO RUBIO:
Governor, I don’t know

CHARLIE CRIST:

I vetoed it.

MARCO RUBIO
Yeah, not only-- not only am I willing to--

CHARLIE CRIST:
Look at the facts.

MARCO RUBIO:
Not only am I willing to tell you that, but I think Politifact, and independent journalists that have studied the issue have said I had nothing to do with putting that in there. The fact of the matter is, Governor, that the budgets that I proposed as Speaker spent less money than the budgets you proposed as Governor. Why didn’t you sign onto our budgets?

CHARLIE CRIST:
I had to cut $500 million out of the pork that you sent me as Governor of the State of Florida--

MARCO RUBIO:
Governor, why didn’t you line up behind our budget? Our budget didn’t have that in there.

CHARLIE CRIST:
That’s what you sent to me.

MARCO RUBIO:
No. Our budget didn’t have that in there.

CHARLIE CRIST:
And you’ve gone Washington.

Florida Senate Debate: Transcript 1
Florida Senate Debate: Transcript Part 2

Bull, Bill

This state's largest Medicaid provider was raided by the FBI in 2007 and charged "...with conspiring to steal about $40 million owed to Florida Medicaid and Healthy Kids from 2002 to 2007."

To avoid prosecution, WellCare chose to cooperate with the feds, which led to a sweet deal to pay back a fraction of the amount bilked Florida kids.

Outgoing Attorney General Bill McCollum is set to make certain the Sunshine State gets back what's due.

But according to Tampa attorney Barry Cohen, McCollum has no business representing the state because WellCare contributed millions to the AG's failed gubernatorial campaign.

Cohen had this to say about that. "We say that Bill McCollum has got no business representing the taxpayers of the state of Florida in this WellCare matter." Cohen represents the whistleblower, Shawn Hellein, and they both stand to make money for tipping the FBI. But they insist it's not about the money, it's about victims...".

Cohen wants McCollum removed from the negotiations. To do so, he must prove to the state Supreme Court that McCollum "...did not aggressively pursue the company, and never even pressed to figure out exactly how much Medicaid money is missing."

Interesting side bar. Barry Cohen represented current GOP AG candidate Pam Bondi in her failed court attempt to keep Katrina dog, Master Tank from returning home to his Louisiana family of origin.

The dots never stop connecting in Florida.

Case in point. "WellCare's fraud case centers around allegations that it created documents for bogus expenditures to get around a state requirement that it spend at least 80 percent of its fees for mental health patients on health care. Such a requirement is included for all health plans as part of the federal health-care legislation, to take effect in 2011...

...but McCollum has filed a lawsuit -- and is joined by 19 other attorneys general -- claiming the law is unconstitutional."

There's a whole lot of Bill going on here.

For those of you concerned about the costs of health care reform, fraud is already costing taxpayers plenty. Per The Tennessean, the Justice Department--working alongside Health and Human Services--"...has netted more than 580 criminal Medicare and Medicaid fraud convictions and recovered more than $2.5 billion in the past 16 months."

And that's no bull.

Village People

The Villages recently hosted a campaign rally featuring new best friends Mitt Romney and Rick Scott.

Scott--the GOP gubernatorial candidate who chooses to problem solve national issues instead of rolling up the shirt sleeves to address the hot mess aka Florida--took the fifth when asked his opinion of health care reforms enacted by his fellow headliner as governor of Massachusetts, reforms which closely mirror the plan conservatives lovingly refer to as ObamaCare.

Watch Rick Scott flash the Ipanas and dodge the "RomneyCare" question here.



Unfortunately, the Village People spoke enough for Scott and then some.

See for yourself here.



Many thanks to our man on the street, Kenneth Quinnell for covering the event.

Oh, fyi. On September 23, the Patient Bill of Rights kicked in the following health care protections for you and I, Rick Scott and every conservative who calls 32162 home.

•Bans insurance companies from dropping patients’ coverage.

•Bans denial of coverage for children with pre-existing conditions.

•Cracks down on benefit payment limits. Insurance companies are prohibited from imposing lifetime dollar limits on essential benefits, such as hospital stays.

•Provides for appeal of insurance company decisions.

•Guarantees free preventive care. All new plans must cover certain preventive services, such as mammograms and colonoscopies, without charging a deductible, co-pay or co-insurance.

And my personal favorite:

•Extends coverage for young adults. Young adults are now allowed to stay on their parents’ plan until 26.

Remind me again, how many more days until Election Day?

Because I can't wait to vote Democrat.

When Shopping is a Pleasure

Browsing through the clearance racks of Neiman Marcus is like shopping for last year's Jag on a Saturn budget. No matter how low the sale price, the sale price will still be too high for most.

One flip of a single price tag startled the Target back into me, so I turned from the rack to my favorite past time of people-watching while waiting for my shopping companion to powder her nose in restroom of the high end (no pun intended) store.

A women modeled a blue and gold St. John cardigan before a much older gentleman. "Daddy," she gushed, turning this way and that before a full length mirror, "Isn't it a bit too much?"

With that color scheme, I thought, absolutely.

She stopped twirling about just long enough to catch sight of an older woman in the glass. "Oh Mother!" That suit looks wonderful on you. Don't you think so, Daddy?"

About this time I note Daughter Dearest and her own daughter--around age ten who bounced a small rubber ball off the high gloss floor during the entire exchange-- were both dressed in Palm Beach summer wear, specifically Lilly Pulitzer skirts, seahorse and turtle print respectively, low end price $70.00 a pop. She hurried over to coo her mother into the purchase as the sales associate turned to Daddy, just pulling his American Express from his wallet.

I retrace my steps back to the clearance rack and pause at the ticketed sales price of a cardigan identical to the one now folded and waiting purchase by plastic.

$417.00. As in four hundred and seventeen dollars. On clearance.

Definitely a bit too much, thought this Saturn owner. But just as definitely a sign of renewed consumer confidence, particularly so for those with higher incomes.

Read more online at The Wall Street Journal.

Weekend Zen

Take too long b'fore I found out
What people mean by down and out.

Led Zeppelin.

Black Dog.