"We want our money back"

I just got this message from my BFF Joseph Biden (I call him Joe: you can too!). This is what he wrote:

Marc --

Yesterday, President Obama announced our proposed Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee on the country's largest banks:

"My commitment is to recover every single dime the American people are owed. And my determination to achieve this goal is only heightened when I see reports of massive profits and obscene bonuses at some of the very firms who owe their continued existence to the American people...We want our money back, and we're going to get it."

The fee would recover every penny loaned to Wall Street during the financial crisis and stop the reckless abuses and excesses that nearly caused the collapse of our financial system in the first place.

But the banking industry -- among the most powerful lobbies in Washington -- is already launching attacks to stop Congress from enacting the proposal.

Barack and I aren't backing down. But to win, we'll need the American people to add their voice right away.

Thankfully, OFA supporters are already signing on to a bold statement of support: "We want our money back -- and we stand with President Obama to make sure we get it." You can add your name by clicking here.

The message had the subject line: "We want our money back". And the first thing I thought of was of all those of us who contributed to the campaign of Barack Obama on the basis of a commitment to repealing DOMA, ending DODT, a public option for health care reform, the end to the State's secrets argument... you know the kind of things I'm talking about.

I want my money back.

PS: Sure, I'll support you on the bank tax. Or maybe not... since I'm pretty sure this is the only thing we're gonna get. I really don't see any real reform of financial institutions coming from the Obama administration. Tools.

Education Minister admits plagiarizing text from internet...

Marc explains the news from France...

The story HERE. (The photo shows an arrow, not a penis.)

The theft of intellectual property by the party and government of Nicolas Sarkozy (the one who wants to censor the internet in France to prevent illegal downloading) continues. Education Minister Luc Chatel has admitted stealing from a website called Wikiberal the answer he gave to a MP (noted homophobe from Chatel's party, Christian Vanneste). 

The question referred to school vouchers... which is ironic in France, where Catholic schools already are financed in large part by tax dollars (they pay the teachers' salaries). This is just one of the many facts about France that make me guffaw when the Frogs go on about the lack of separation of Church and State in the USA...

Back to our subject: so the Minister of Education is copying stuff off the web for his homework. Okaaay.

Jimmy is an avatar

How to explain the fact that JM can fall asleep at the drop of a head on a pillow, cannot be roused, and doesn't appear to move in his sleep? Could he be an avatar?

Islam, a religion of hate...

Imaginary dialog:

A: Islam is a religion of hate and violence.
B: If that's the case, so is Christianity.
A: What do you mean?
B: You know: mass murder, the Inquisition, the Crusades...
A: Oh, but that was way back in the olden days. Christianity left that kind of thing behind long ago.
B: [cough] Uganda [cough] 

DP Jan 7: One-by-one

Boring lot.

LW1 is a private tutor whose male teenage pupils keep putting their hands down their pants. Prudie consults her expert (14-year-old daughter) who says that the boys do it when they need to motivate themselves or when they're nervous. Prudie tells LW to just keep using disinfect. Prudie is whacked.
My take: Sorry, it's gross. Maybe an ahem and a raised eyebrow would be effective. And "it itches" is not a good reason. If he says "it itches", pull out the jock itch spray.

LW2 is a woman whose father is about to die. Father was an alcoholic who was emotionally absent from her life and about whom she has nothing good to say. Mother wants LW to deliver the eulogy at the upcoming funeral. LW doesn't want to. Prudie says she should talk about father's "struggle with alcoholism" (of which LW gives no indication there was one...) and find something, anything, nice to say.
My take: No comment. (But skip the alcoholism thing, maybe....)

LW3 is taking piano lessons from a teach with whom she's become friends. But she has also started taking lessons with a better teacher who is cheaper to boot. Can she dump her friend-cum-teacher? Prudie says yes.
My take: Prudie's advice is good. If the friendship doesn't survive, it wasn't a real friendship, was it?

LW4 is a woman who objects to receiving requests for first dates by test message. If they can't get up the nerve to call, why should she go out with them. Prudie tells her to stop being a Luddite and catch up with the times.
My take: Text them back: "Sounds interesting. Give me a call."

Muffins à la compote de pomme

Petit rappel car c'était bon...

1 oeuf

15 g sucre

1/2 sachet de sucre vanillé

1 petit pot de compote sans sucres ajoutés (100 g)

50 g farine

1/2 sachet de levure chimique

raisins secs gonflés

Doudou!

Tu ne peux pas savoir combien je suis content d'etre avec doudou.