Disqus - Latest Comments for mmuoio

Re: House GOP sees few options on debt

mmuoio — Thu, 09 May 2013 09:22:18 -0000

The GOP sees few option because most are brain dead and we should adopt the most humane outcome for most.

Fire them if there is an R behind their name as we really do not need brain dead representation in DC especially at a time like this.

Re: Paul Krugman’s Proud War on Fools, Knaves and Lunatics

mmuoio — Wed, 01 May 2013 01:49:58 -0000

It may be developing into a bit of nonsensical ego driven dribble that the media loves to publish.

Re: Donor who paid for anonymous voter-fraud billboards comes forward

mmuoio — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 12:17:22 -0000

Shame Shame Shame......All this nonsense is a disguise for pure and very simple RACISM.

This form of hate will not move us forward....but rather back to Marc Leder's dining room on Long Island with "Witless Willard Romster Romney" spewing more hate.

As his mindless wife Anne said, "Stop it....just stop it!"

Re: Microsoft Will Lose a War With Apple; So Will Google

mmuoio — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 14:59:00 -0000

They already have.....but it will get more ugly very soon.

Re: Bank Stock Housing Bubble May be Bursting Again: Street Whispers

mmuoio — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 12:24:14 -0000

When do you think the Fed will realize low or negative interest rates destroy real estate value?

Re: WATCH: Romney Booed Repeatedly In Speech To NAACP

mmuoio — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 15:02:16 -0000

He is truly dumber than he looks.

Re: LOL Of The Week: Mitt Romney Accidentally Speaks The Truth!

mmuoio — Tue, 29 May 2012 10:17:16 -0000

The fascists are everywhere....as Henry Wallace ... FDR's VP pointed out in the NY Times in 1944....

An article in the New York Times, April 9, 1944.
From Henry A. Wallace, Democracy Reborn (New York, 1944), edited by Russell Lord, p. 259.

On returning from my trip to the West in February, I received a request from The New York Times to write a piece answering the following questions:

What is a fascist?
How many fascists have we?
How dangerous are they?

A fascist is one whose lust for money or power is combined with such an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religions, cultures, regions or nations as to make him ruthless in his use of deceit or violence to attain his ends. The supreme god of a fascist, to which his ends are directed, may be money or power; may be a race or a class; may be a military, clique or an economic group; or may be a culture, religion, or a political party.

The perfect type of fascist throughout recent centuries has been the Prussian Junker, who developed such hatred for other races and such allegiance to a military clique as to make him willing at all times to engage in any degree of deceit and violence necessary to place his culture and race astride the world. In every big nation of the world are at least a few people who have the fascist temperament. Every Jew-baiter, every Catholic hater, is a fascist at heart. The hoodlums who have been desecrating churches, cathedrals and synagogues in some of our larger cities are ripe material for fascist leadership.

The obvious types of American fascists are dealt with on the air and in the press. These demagogues and stooges are fronts for others. Dangerous as these people may be, they are not so significant as thousands of other people who have never been mentioned.

The really dangerous American fascists are not those who are hooked up directly or indirectly with the Axis. The FBI has its finger on those. The dangerous American fascist is the man who wants to do in the United States in an American way what Hitler did in Germany in a Prussian way.

The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information.

With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power.

If we define an American fascist as one who in case of conflict puts money and power ahead of human beings, then there are undoubtedly several million fascists in the United States.

There are probably several hundred thousand if we narrow the definition to include only those who in their search for money and power are ruthless and deceitful.

Most American fascists are enthusiastically supporting the war effort. They are doing this even in those cases where they hope to have profitable connections with German chemical firms after the war ends.

They are patriotic in time of war because it is to their interest to be so, but in time of peace they follow power and the dollar wherever they may lead.

American fascism will not be really dangerous until there is a purposeful coalition among the cartelists, the deliberate poisoners of public information, and those who stand for the K.K.K. type of demagoguery.

The European brand of fascism will probably present its most serious postwar threat to us via Latin America. The effect of the war has been to raise the cost of living in most Latin American countries much faster than the wages of labor.

The fascists in most Latin American countries tell the people that the reason their wages will not buy as much in the way of goods is because of Yankee imperialism. The fascists in Latin America learn to speak and act like natives.

Our chemical and other manufacturing concerns are all too often ready to let the Germans have Latin American markets, provided the American companies can work out an arrangement which will enable them to charge high prices to the consumer inside the United States.

Following this war, technology will have reached such a point that it will be possible for Germans, using South America as a base, to cause us much more difficulty in World War III than they did in World War II.

The military and landowning cliques in many South American countries will find it attractive financially to work with German fascist concerns as well as expedient from the standpoint of temporary power politics.

Fascism is a worldwide disease. Its greatest threat to the United States will come after the war, either via Latin America or within the United States itself.

Still another danger is represented by those who, paying lip service to democracy and the common welfare, in their insatiable greed for money and the power which money gives, do not hesitate surreptitiously to evade the laws designed to safeguard the public from monopolistic extortion.

American fascists of this stamp were clandestinely aligned with their German counterparts before the war, and are even now preparing to resume where they left off, after "the present unpleasantness" ceases.

The symptoms of fascist thinking are colored by environment and adapted to immediate circumstances.

But always and everywhere they can be identified by their appeal to prejudice and by the desire to play upon the fears and vanities of different groups in order to gain power.

It is no coincidence that the growth of modern tyrants has in every case been heralded by the growth of prejudice.

It may be shocking to some people in this country to realize that, without meaning to do so; they hold views in common with Hitler when they preach discrimination against other religious, racial or economic groups.

Likewise, many people whose patriotism is their proudest boast play Hitler's game by retailing distrust of our Allies and by giving currency to snide suspicions without foundation in fact.

The American fascists are most easily recognized by their deliberate perversion of truth and fact. Their newspapers and propaganda carefully cultivate every fissure of disunity, every crack in the common front against fascism.

They use every opportunity to impugn democracy. They use isolationism as a slogan to conceal their own selfish imperialism.

They cultivate hate and distrust of both Britain and Russia. They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution.

They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest.

Their final objective toward which all their deceit is directed is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection.

Several leaders of industry in this country who have gained a new vision of the meaning of opportunity through co-operation with government have warned the public openly that there are some selfish groups in industry who are willing to jeopardize the structure of American liberty to gain some temporary advantage.

We all know the part that the cartels played in bringing Hitler to power, and the rule the giant German trusts have played in Nazi conquests.

Monopolists who fear competition and who distrust democracy because it stands for equal opportunity would like to secure their position against small and energetic enterprise. In an effort to eliminate the possibility of any rival growing up, some monopolists would sacrifice democracy itself.

It has been claimed at times that our modern age of technology facilitates dictatorship. What we must understand is that the industries, processes, and inventions created by modern science can be used either to subjugate or liberate.

The choice is up to us. The myth of fascist efficiency has deluded many people. It was Mussolini's vaunted claim that he "made the trains run on time."

In the end, however, he brought to the Italian people impoverishment and defeat.

It was Hitler's claim that he eliminated all unemployment in Germany. Neither is there unemployment in a prison camp.

Democracy to crush fascism internally must demonstrate its capacity to "make the trains run on time." It must develop the ability to keep people fully employed and at the same time balance the budget.

It must put human beings first and dollars second. It must appeal to reason and decency and not to violence and deceit.

We must not tolerate oppressive government or industrial oligarchy in the form of monopolies and cartels.

As long as scientific research and inventive ingenuity outran our ability to devise social mechanisms to raise the living standards of the people, we may expect the liberal potential of the United States to increase.

If this liberal potential is properly channeled, we may expect the area of freedom of the United States to increase.

The problem is to spend up our rate of social invention in the service of the welfare of all the people.

The worldwide, age long struggle between fascism and democracy will not stop when the fighting ends in Germany and Japan.
Democracy can win the peace only if it does two things:

-Speeds up the rate of political and economic inventions so that both production and, especially, distribution can match in their power and practical effect on the daily life of the common man the immense and growing volume of scientific research, mechanical invention and management technique.

-Vivifies with the greatest intensity the spiritual processes, which are both the foundation and the very essence of democracy.

The moral and spiritual aspects of both personal and international relationships have a practical bearing which so-called practical men deny.

This dullness of vision regarding the importance of the general welfare to the individual is the measure of the failure of our schools and churches to teach the spiritual significance of genuine democracy.

Until democracy in effective enthusiastic action fills the vacuum created by the power of modern inventions, we may expect the fascists to increase in power after the war both in the United States and in the world.

Fascism in the postwar inevitably will push steadily for Anglo-Saxon imperialism and eventually for war with Russia. Already American fascists are talking and writing about this conflict and using it as an excuse for their internal hatreds and intolerances toward certain races, creeds and classes.
It should also be evident that exhibitions of the native brand of fascism are not confined to any single section, class or religion.

Happily, it can be said that as yet fascism has not captured a predominant place in the outlook of any American section, class or religion.

It may be encountered in Wall Street, Main Street or Tobacco Road. Some even suspect that they can detect incipient traces of it along the Potomac.

It is an infectious disease, and we must all be on our guard against intolerance, bigotry and the pretension of invidious distinction.

But if we put our trust in the common sense of common men and "with malice toward none and charity for all" go forward on the great adventure of making political, economic and social democracy a practical reality, we shall not fail.

Willard is just the latest to manifest in our land.

Re: Should Jamie Dimon Resign From the New York Fed?: Poll

mmuoio — Sat, 26 May 2012 23:45:18 -0000

Yes...as I believe he ordered the trades....3 deep in synthetics......HO HO HO.

Fire someone quick---Ena will take the hit.

These banks need to be nationalized as they remain insolvent then break them up into $100 Billion chunks and IPO them.

Shark meat!

Re: Support Tom Barrett

mmuoio — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:18:02 -0000

Today’s date:
May 16, 2012

Fox City Viewpoint

WHBY Commentary

Air Date; June 5, 2012

Today
is a very special day. Today we
will decide as a State, whether we want to keep our current Governor or to
replace him.

This
has only happened twice before, once in North Dakota in 1921 and in California
in 2003.

As
of today, over $20 Million dollars will have been spent by Scott Walker and his
supporters in an attempt to keep him in office.

The
Democratic opponent Tom Barrett will have spent less than 10% of that amount.

Seems
hardly like a fair fight does it?

I
love a fair fight, and I know every American does as well.

All
Wisconsinites love fair fights. We understand because our Green Bay Packers
exist in a State that has less than a third the population of many of the
cities we compete with.

That
hasn’t kept our team from winning 9 Championships and 4 Super Bowls.

Today is a day that we can make a difference. Will it will be a day
that will make us proud to live in Wisconsin?

Get out and vote and
let your voice be heard and do it with your mind and your heart …just like the
Green Bay Packers

Re: Support Tom Barrett

mmuoio — Fri, 18 May 2012 16:17:11 -0000

Today’s date:
May 16, 2012

Fox City Viewpoint

WHBY Commentary

Air Date; June 5, 2012

Today
is a very special day. Today we
will decide as a State, whether we want to keep our current Governor or to
replace him.

This
has only happened twice before, once in North Dakota in 1921 and in California
in 2003.

As
of today, over $20 Million dollars will have been spent by Scott Walker and his
supporters in an attempt to keep him in office.

The
Democratic opponent Tom Barrett will have spent less than 10% of that amount.

Seems
hardly like a fair fight does it?

I
love a fair fight, and I know every American does as well.

All
Wisconsinites love fair fights. We understand because our Green Bay Packers
exist in a State that has less than a third the population of many of the
cities we compete with.

That
hasn’t kept our team from winning 9 Championships and 4 Super Bowls.

Today is a day that we can make a difference. Will it will be a day
that will make us proud to live in Wisconsin?

Get out and vote and let your voice be heard and do it with your mind
and your heart …just like the Green Bay Packers.

Re: Where’s The ‘Beef’? Clinton’s Answer To Romney Snark

mmuoio — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:35:26 -0000

God bless you until you wake up.

Regards,

Sent from my iPad

Re: Where’s The ‘Beef’? Clinton’s Answer To Romney Snark

mmuoio — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:07:30 -0000

Who is this Willard guy?

Re: Perhaps It's Jamie Dimon Who Needs a Psychiatrist

mmuoio — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:00:21 -0000

My bets are when it is all said and done he ordered the trade!

Re: One Way Apple Could Kill Its Empire - TheStreet

mmuoio — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:51:23 -0000

What you forgot may be the largest problem for AAPL----THE GALAXY II WITH THE LARGE SCREEN IS A MUCH BETTER PRODUCT.

And cheaper----the i5 better be a buster or they are in a decline and VZ and T will help all the way to the bank.

Long T, VZ

Sold AAPL and put the money in the above.

Good trading

Re: 5 'Noisy' Banks and What They Really Earned - TheStreet

mmuoio — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:42:04 -0000

All these Banks...if you can call them that are insolvent. Should have been nationalized and when back to health broken up or sold to the public.

This hybrid-Bank thing is just one screwed up mess.

Re: Romney’s Magical Capitalism

mmuoio — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:58:32 -0000

Ask him about the salamander.

Re: ALEC Disbands Task Force Responsible for Voter ID, 'Stand Your Ground' Laws

mmuoio — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:39:56 -0000

Amen to that!

Re: David Cay Johnston: Taxed By The Boss

mmuoio — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 08:48:17 -0000

The diversion of public funds seems to correlate to the fascist nature of the governors fooling around....or is it the level of their obesity?

Re: Scott Walker's Using John Mellencamp's Music; Mellencamp is Not Amused

mmuoio — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:20:27 -0000

Amen to JM!

Re: Analyst Cuts Apple Rating on Prospect of iPhone Subsidy Revolt

mmuoio — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 14:37:43 -0000

Time to buy T and VZ....and sell AAPL.

Re: The Right’s Stealthy Coup

mmuoio — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 10:20:35 -0000

Should We Embrace Compulsory Voting?

Wisconsin citizens have certainly had an interesting political environment since the last general election in November of 2010.

In the last general election only 52% of eligible voters in Wisconsin actually voted.

Governor Walker received 1,128,941votes out of 4,360,844 eligible voters or 25.9% of all potential votes. Interestingly, about the same number signed the petition to recall Governor Walker.

It seems very odd to me that we, as freedom loving people, would render ourselves to political control both in our State and Federal Governments with elected officials that only muster slightly more than 25% of the potential vote.

It actually causes me extraordinary concern that so many of our forebears fought, shed blood and died in wars to defend our right to have a say in our Democratic Republic through voting.

Clearly, a great national sacrifice has been made to keep us free from the Revolutionary War that cost over 25,000 lives, to the Civil War, that consumed over 625,000 Americans, to World War I and II that took 521,915 of us.

We owe the patriots that have sacrificed so greatly to establish and maintain the Republic, the sacred act of casting our vote with regularity to protect and preserve the Republic.

Voting in most democracies is considered a “right of citizenship” as we do in the United States.

But in 32 countries around the world, voting is not a “citizen right” it is a “legal obligation”.

The idea is not new with compulsory voting dating back to 1892 in Belgium and 1924 in Australia.

In Australia, where mandatory voting is strictly enforced, turnout is in the 95% range for all eligible voters. When an eligible voter does not turn up to vote, they face fines of $20-$50 and may face imprisonment if the fines remain unpaid.

I would submit that mandatory voting would enhance our Democratic Republic in many ways.

Mandatory voting in a democracy really is a “moral obligation” not just a right. It is also a form of respect for all of those that sacrificed to create and preserve our Democratic Republic.

Mandatory voting justifies and legitimizes the government we live with, as the majority of us will grant it legitimacy via mass endorsement.

Mandatory voting diminishes the need for massive campaign expenses such as getting the vote out.

Mandatory voting would decrease the strong polarization we have endured. The far right and the far left would not play as large a role as the general electorate.

Mandatory voting in free and open primaries instead of “closed party primaries”, as we have in 40% of the states, would encourage independent voters to participate in the primaries.

This would limit the radical and ridiculous behaviors we have endured from the candidates as they try desperately to appeal to their respective highly skewed “bases”.

Mandatory voting would ensure that the maximum number of voters actually vote. This is in direct opposition to the various devious schemes that have been employed to limit voters from casting a free ballot.

Mandatory voting would make the very act of voting much more important and a very serious matter for all citizens.

Mandatory voting with “same day registration” would greatly enhance total turnout. In Minnesota during the 2008 election they implemented “same day registration” and Minnesota proudly led the nation with a 78% voter turnout versus 41% nationally.

In addition to mandatory voting, we need to make the actual act of voting easier.

We have incredible technology today and we should use it to enhance turnout every way we can. Mail, phone and e-mail should be used to get voter counts up once we move to mandatory voting.

When we see deliberate acts of voter suppression including gerrymandering we need to challenge them aggressively to preserve the legitimacy and credibility of voting.

As we approach our recall vote, we need to summon the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt who led us through the Great Depression and World War II:

“Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting.”

If that is not enough to get you out of your easy chair, consider the men and women that gave their lives so that you have the right to vote.

As for me, I will not only be at the poll to cast my vote, I will encourage everyone I know to get out and vote.

In addition, I will continue to advocate for compulsory voting that will reaffirm our Democratic Republic and ensure it’s longevity and legitimacy.

Vote.

Re: Is AT&T Struggling With Being Too Popular?

mmuoio — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 14:46:48 -0000

You missed it here....T is a huge buy----by eliminating data hogs it frees them up for many more profitable accounts.

PS: Just in case you want to see where unlimited accounts go look at Sprint (S). Massive losses at Sprint having reached $3.5 Billion last year.

When I hear the news on killing hogs I bought another 2000 T.

Strategically, this had to happen.

Is this an APPL short......not yet.

Re: 10 Stocks Owned by the Best Fund Managers - TheStreet

mmuoio — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 11:54:44 -0000

Very sick list.

Re: Paulson, Soros at Odds Over Gold's Direction - TheStreet

mmuoio — Thu, 19 May 2011 11:26:23 -0000

Soooo....do you think they play poker on thurday nights?

Re: www.alumniforwisconsin.com Information | DomainGoat

mmuoio — Wed, 18 May 2011 11:58:31 -0000

From “Land Grant” to “Land-Grab”
with Scott Walker and Biddy Martin, or “ How I learned to love the UW Madison
Grand de-Merger”

I read with great interest the article by Tom Still on the reforms proposed by
Biddy Martin and Governor Scott Walker for the University of Wisconsin System.

The basic proposal is to remove the heart of our Higher Education System. UW
Madison would become a separate quasi-private entity.

The rationale for this “Grand de-Merger” idea is all over the map because none of
the rationale are relevant, but the ideas can basically be broken down to the
following “less than meaningful concepts” all of which do not have enough
weight to break UW Madison out of the system.

-The tuition students pay.

-Be able to prioritize building projects.

-Manage Construction Projects

-Maintain authority to invest university funds.

-Would have authority to purchase separately from the current system.

-Would have authority on autos and travel versus current system.

-Would be authorized to enter purchasing agreements with other institutions.

-Would maintain authority to prioritize building projects.

-Would set uniform pay plan outside of state limits.

-Would set job classes for all staff.

-Would set all collective bargaining agreements.

-Would establish policies regarding compensation, and exceptions.

The New Board of Regents, for UW Madison exclusively, with 11 of the 21 Regents
appointed by Governor Walker, without complete legislative approval, would
manage all of the above.

If this sounds like a bunch of “malarkey” you’d be correct!

I would remind the readers and Mr. Still that the University of Wisconsin is a
land-grant university.

So just what is a land-grant university?

“A land-grant college or university is an institution that has been
designated by its state legislature or Congress to receive the benefits of the
Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890. The original mission of these institutions, as
set forth in the first Morrill Act, was to teach agriculture, military tactics,
and the mechanic arts as well as classical studies so that members of the
working classes could obtain a liberal, practical education. Land was granted
to the states from federal or state ownership to the universities or colleges”.

The benefits of the Morrill acts were to grant public land to get the University
established. It must be remembered
that these institutions were the property of the state itself, or in other
words, the people of the state own the institution.

The reforms that Scott Walker and Biddy Martin are attempting to institute, with
very well orchestrated public relations mind you, including Tom Still’s column,
are essentially a take-over of the institution by corporate interests. All of
which to be managed by the Governor, who as we all know, via the faux twenty-two
minute Koch conversation, is corruptible.

Tom Still is the “President of the Wisconsin Technology Council” which is nothing
more than a lobbying group that would like nothing more than to abscond totally
with your University for private purposes at taxpayer expense.

This effort equates to the 2008 financial crisis where we as a nation have essentially
privatized profit and socialized losses.

The proponents of this “Grand de-Merger” speak to cuts in budgets for the
University and its’ need to become more “flexible” to “compete with the other
top 40 research Universities in the United States”.

One just might be able to support the concept if it would truly make the UW Madison
more “competitive”.

It has taken the state and it’s hard working citizens over 160 years to get UW
Madison to the position it is in having spent billions of hard-earned taxpayer
dollars on the effort.

Why would we as the owners of the institution, permit it to be given away, to be
used by special interests for their research versus serving the people of
Wisconsin and its’ original and existing mission?

We, as taxpayers, have a role in this discussion. Bureaucracies are often a little bit like egocentric five year olds; they will go as far as you permit them to go. But as a responsible parent, we rein them in once they go over the top in behavior.

This is exactly where we are on the “Grand de-Merger”.

All the new responsibilities that Governor Walker and the Regents will assume are
already being administered very well via a singular Board of Regents with legislative
oversight.

As you probably have already surmised, the real issue is money. Walker wants to sell UW Madison to the highest bidders or best friends (aka major contributors to the Walker
campaign). All this to compensate Madison staff better, particularly Biddy
Martin, as our tax base evaporates due to cumulative effects of awful policy
decisions and post election strife.

Selling, giving or sacrificing Wisconsin’s prized asset away to special interests is a
very cowardly means to an end that I do not believe the Governor really
understands.

Research and discovery can be pure and/or applied. Wisconsin needs to do both well.
Major problems arise when you organize, as a university, to do only one.

By making the choice to only focus on one, you ultimately will lose your ability
to do either effectively.

I must say to suggest increased payroll will get a “better professor” in the
middle of the great recession is frankly absurd. The greatest professors that I ever had, had income driven by textbook sales, royalties on inventions, consulting and paid lectures.

In my day, they may have gone hungry if they relied solely on their base salary
and perhaps there was a degree of “intellectual motivation” in the past
compensation practices.

We want these very talented people to be motivated and totally immersed in
research and teaching and sharing it with the state and the nation. Not to mention the student body!

I am a product of the UW at Madison and have a BA in Economics and an MBA. I love the University and everything it does in teaching and research.

But it does not need to be cheaply “sold out” to continue to exist.

I would submit that the entire staff at UW Madison can do better without the
“Grand de-Merger”, and they can strive to be number one in both research and
production of the very best graduates for the State of Wisconsin and the
nation.

My fear is we may not be challenging UW Madison to a high enough level.

That, my fellow citizens, is a “management problem” we need to address immediately.

Michael D Muoio
BA 1974, MBA 1976
Appleton, Wisconsin