the fear that defeats and dreams are one

Clodumbo

“MAD” MAGAZINE

"Clodumbo"  

 

"Clodumbo" is a classic "Mad" Magazine TV parody,  written by Lou Silverstone and illustrated by Angelo Torres. Appearing in the January, 1973 issue,  "Clodumbo" is more than a generic cartoon farce. It is a deft and insightful satire of Columbo's working style – solving crimes by constant pestering.

When a woman is found dead in her home, Columbo immediately suspects the husband, "Dr Robert Culpable", because his fingerprints are all over the murder house -- his own home.   

Clodumbo constantly hounds Dr Culpable. He plays golf in Culpable's living room, takes a bath in his tub, reads Culpable's mail, cooks eggs in his kitchen, and walks into his closet (as Columbo actually did, in Death Lends A Hand), all while constantly talking in streams of inane chatter. Culpable gets increasingly agitated.

Later, Clodumbo shows up in Dr Culpable's operating room, takes over the brain surgery, drops the patient's brain on the floor, and uses the patient's skull as an ashtray to put out his cigar.

Dr Culpable is finally driven mad by Clodumbo's incessant pestering, until he cracks and confesses to murder. Then it turns out Culpable is totally innocent, and only confessed because he would do anything to get Clodumbo out of his life. 

We find out that there were 27 other innocent people who confessed to Clodumbo for the same reason. Sixteen of them are still in jail, and 11 of them were executed.

("Mad" Magazine is copyrighted by EC Publications, Inc.)

.

"Love Gift" http://www.flickr.com/photos/firenzesca/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/firenzesca/1249393754/in/faves-46684934@N08/

"New York - West Side Story" http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcdead/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcdead/3732349006/in/faves-46684934@N08/

"Madrid 17:28" http://www.flickr.com/photos/esmuz/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/esmuz/4351177982/in/faves-46684934@N08/

"Chilled - Literally!" http://www.flickr.com/photos/spiritflier/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/spiritflier/4350415933/in/faves-46684934@N08/

"Will it be an orderly process, or are we looking at default of the messy Argentinian kind?"

"The best thing you can say about the rescue package is that it buys time to negotiate an orderly default. Restructuring and rescheduling is probably the only chance for both Greece and its bondholders to come out of this mess still standing." 

Wolfgang Münchau

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/da5b9516-4b1f-11df-a7ff-00144feab49a.html

"Comedian Lewis Black, of “The Daily Show,” speaks with WSJ/MarketWatch columnist David Weidner about the Tea-Party movement, taxes, bank bailouts and the iPad."

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/04/lewis-black-i-dont-understand-the-tea-partiers/

american friend

Kris Kristofferson The Pilgrim Chapter 33 "From the rockin' of the cradle to the rollin' of the hearse The going up was worth the coming down"

See him wasted on the sidewalk in his jacket and his jeans
Wearin' yesterday's misfortunes like a smile
Once he had a future full of money love and dreams
Which he spent like they was going out of style
And he keeps right on a changin' for the better or the worse
And searchin' for a shrine he's never found
Never knowin' if believin' is a blessin' or a curse
Or if the going up is worth to coming down
He's a poet he's a picker he's a prophet he's a pusher
He's a pilgrim and a preacher and a problem when he's stoned
He's a walkin' contradiction partly truth and partly fiction
Taking every wrong direction on his lonely way back home

He has tasted good and evil in your bedrooms and your bars
And he's traded in tomorrow for today
Runnin' from the devils Lord and reachin' for the stars
And losin' all he loved along the way
But if this world keeps right on turnin' for the better or the worse
All he ever gets is older and around
From the rockin' of the cradle to the rollin' of the hearse
The going up was worth the coming down
He's a poet...

"Dennis Hopper directing the film "The Last Movie."" Everett Collection

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/movies/11dargis.html

"http://caseymulligan.blogspot.com/2010/04/lack-of-demand.html"

"Extrapolated across other major banks, the 15% figure implies they’d have to raise nearly $900 billion, a truly stupendous figure."

http://blogs.reuters.com/rolfe-winkler/2010/04/09/greenspans-15-survival-formula/

Charlie Brooker - How To Report The News

"Grafton (#56)" http://www.flickr.com/photos/chanc/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chanc/431299515/

"Warming Up" http://www.flickr.com/photos/shatteredabstracts/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shatteredabstracts/163152526/

"Niagara Falls at Night" http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcdead/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcdead/3739301058/

"scoot scoot!" http://www.flickr.com/photos/splityarn/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/splityarn/3179637889/

"http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bernanke20100408a.htm"

"I'll conclude with the cautionary fourth lesson--history is never a perfect guide. It is a principle acknowledged by the words etched on the wall of the Center's conference room, attributed to Mark Twain, "History does not repeat itself, but it can rhyme." As an example, bank runs in many countries, including the United States, were common in the Depression. In the most recent crisis, retail runs--depositors lining up in the streets--were thankfully rare because of deposit insurance and other changes in our financial system.⁴ Although ordinary small depositors by and large did not run, we nevertheless experienced the equivalent of runs on the network of nonbank financial institutions that has come to be called the shadow banking system. In the shadow banking system, loans, instead of being held on the books of banks as was virtually always the case in the 1930s, were packaged together in complex ways and sold to investors. Many of these complex securities were held in off-balance-sheet vehicles financed by short-term funding. When the housing slump shook investors' faith in the values of the loans underlying the securities, short-term funding dried up quickly, threatening the banks and other financial institutions that explicitly or implicitly stood behind the off-balance-sheet vehicles. This was a new type of run, analogous in many ways to the bank runs of the 1930s, but in a form which was not well anticipated by financial institutions or regulators. In an additional variation on the theme of the bank run, in September 2008 money market mutual funds saw massive outflows after one prominent fund suffered losses related to the failure of Lehman Brothers."

"http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2010/04/liveblogging-the-berkeley-finance-seminar-john-cochrane-2010-understanding-policy-in-the-great-recession-some-unpleasan.html"

"That if you add in a Phillips-curve friction--so that production and employment fall in deflation--and a credit-channel friction--so that the interest-rate spread and thus the interest rates on Treasurys depend on the capitalization of the banking sector--then the fiscal theory of the price level strongly militates for a helicopter drop of money to banks as the best policy to fight a financial crisis and the resulting recession: a TARP, a TALF, a PPIP, or its left-wing version of bank nationalization is exactly what the government can do to most effectively stem and cushion the deflation."

"We know what it looks like when the market expectations are that expected future primary surpluses are as high as they can go, and cannot go any higher. It looks like Argentina in 2000. In times like that, the discount factors on government debt are low because government debt is perceived--rightly--as being very risky, and the current consumer price level moves essentially one-for-one with additional debt issue. That is not where we are right now. We are not there at all. The discount factors on U.S. Treasury debt are not low because such debt is perceived as risky given the inability to finance more of it by raising future primary surpluses. Instead, the discount factors on Treasury debt are very high as the market perceives U.S. Treasury debt to be extraordinarily safe. And the price level is definitely not moving proportionately with additional debt issue...

Is inflation in this model supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing right now? If P is something like nominal spending, then it strikes me that more "inflation" right now would be a very good thing: I don't know anyone who wouldn't rather have an economy in which nominal spending were 10% higher and so back on its long-term growth trend..."

Ringo Starr - The Concert For Bangladesh - It Don't Come Easy [HD] "PEACE, REMEMBER PEACE IS HOW WE MAKE IT, HERE WITHIN YOUR REACH IF YOU'RE BIG ENOUGH TO TAKE IT."

IT DON'T COME EASY,
YOU KNOW IT DON'T COME EASY.
IT DON'T COME EASY,
YOU KNOW IT DON'T COME EASY.

GOT TO PAY YOUR DUES IF YOU WANNA SING THE BLUES,
AND YOU KNOW IT DON'T COME EASY.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO SHOUT OR LEAP ABOUT,
YOU CAN EVEN PLAY THEM EASY.

OPEN UP YOUR HEART, LET'S COME TOGETHER,
USE A LITTLE LOVE
AND WE WILL MAKE IT WORK OUT BETTER,

I DON'T ASK FOR MUCH, I ONLY WANT YOUR TRUST,
AND YOU KNOW IT DON'T COME EASY.
AND THIS LOVE OF MINE KEEPS GROWING ALL THE TIME,
AND YOU KNOW IT DON'T COME EASY.

PEACE, REMEMBER PEACE IS HOW WE MAKE IT,
HERE WITHIN YOUR REACH
IF YOU'RE BIG ENOUGH TO TAKE IT.

GOT TO PAY YOUR DUES IF YOU WANNA SING THE BLUES,
AND YOU KNOW IT DON'T COME EASY.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO SHOUT OR LEAP ABOUT,
YOU CAN EVEN PLAY THEM EASY.

PEACE, REMEMBER PEACE IS HOW WE MAKE IT,
HERE WITHIN YOUR REACH
IF YOU'RE BIG ENOUGH TO TAKE IT.

I DON'T ASK FOR MUCH, I ONLY WANT YOUR TRUST,
AND YOU KNOW IT DON'T COME EASY.
AND THIS LOVE OF MINE KEEPS GROWING ALL THE TIME,
AND YOU KNOW IT DON'T COME EASY.

"Leopard-Head Decoration from a Ritual Robe. Gilded wood, rock crystal, and coloured glass" http://www.flickr.com/photos/artimageslibrary/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artimageslibrary/4503728788/

"Kodachrome curtains" http://www.flickr.com/photos/yarnzombie/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yarnzombie/4357020886/

"http://www.flickr.com/photos/absolutelynothing/4353894329/" http://www.flickr.com/photos/absolutelynothing/

Johnny Strikes Up The Band/stereo/Passaic "They'll be rocking in the projects Walking down along the strand"

Written By Warren Zevon
c. 1978 Zevon Music/BMI

Dry your eyes my little friend
Let me take you by the hand
Freddie get ready Rock steady
When Johnny strikes up the band

They'll be rocking in the projects
Walking down along the strand
Freddie get ready Rock steady
When Johnny strikes up the band
Johnny strikes up the band
When Johnny strikes up the ...
When Johnny strikes up the ...
When Johnny strikes up the band

And Johnny is my main man
He's the keeper of the keys
He'll put your mind at ease
He's guaranteed to please
Back by popular demand

Look around, my little friend
Jubilation in the land
Freddie get ready Rock steady
When Johnny strikes up the band
Johnny strikes up the band
When Johnny strikes up the ...
When Johnny strikes up the ...
When Johnny strikes up the band

"On Top of the World" http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecstaticist/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecstaticist/4355163511/

"http://www.flickr.com/photos/anselolson/"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/anselolson/4356993873/

"8505 Reprint" http://www.flickr.com/photos/26518458@N05/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26518458@N05/2607369890/

Les Eaux de Mars - Aguas de Março - Moustaki / Jobim

Un pas, une pierre, un chemin qui chemine
Un reste de racine, c'est un peu solitaire.
C'est un éclat de verre, c'est la vie, le soleil.
C'est la mort, le sommeil, c'est un piège entrouvert.

Un arbre millénaire, un nœud dans le bois
C'est un chien qui aboie, c'est un oiseau dans l'air.
C'est un tronc qui pourrit, c'est la neige qui fond
Le mystère profond, la promesse de vie.

C'est le souffle du vent au sommet des collines.
C'est une vieille ruine, le vide, le néant.
C'est la pie qui jacasse, c'est l'averse qui verse
Des torrents d'allégresse, ce sont les eaux de Mars.
C'est le pied qui avance à pas sûr, à pas lent.
C'est la main qui se tend, c'est la pierre qu'on lance.
C'est un trou dans la terre, un chemin qui chemine
Un reste de racine, c'est un peu solitaire.

C'est un oiseau dans l'air, un oiseau qui se pose
Le jardin qu'on arrose, une source d'eau claire.
Une écharde, un clou, c'est la fièvre qui monte
C'est un compte à bon compte, c'est un peu rien du tout.
Un poisson, un geste, c'est comme du vif-argent
C'est tout ce qu'on attend, c'est tout ce qui nous reste.
C'est du bois, c'est un jour, le bout du quai
Un alcool trafiqué, le chemin le plus court.

C'est le cri d'un hibou, un corps ensommeillé
La voiture rouillée, c'est la boue, c'est la boue.
Un pas, un pont, un crapaud qui croasse
C'est un chaland qui passe, c'est un bel horizon.
C'est la saison des pluies, c'est la fonte des glaces
Ce sont les eaux de Mars, la promesse de vie.

Une pierre, un bâton, c'est Joseph et c'est Jacques
Un serpent qui attaque, une entaille au talon.
Un pas, une pierre, un chemin qui chemine
Un reste de racine, c'est un peu solitaire.
Un poing, une bosse, une tache, un gond
Un geste, une aiguille, une guêpe, un coup.
L'hiver qui s'efface, la fin d'une saison
C'est la neige qui fond, ce sont les eaux de Mars.
La promesse de vie, le mystère profond.
Ce sont les eaux de Mars dans ton cœur, tout au fond.

Un pas, une pierre, un chemin qui chemine
Un reste de racine, c'est un peu solitaire.
C'est l'hiver qui s'efface, la fin d'une saison.
C'est la neige qui fond, ce sont les eaux de Mars.
La promesse de vie, le mystère profond.
Ce sont les eaux de Mars dans ton cœur, tout au fond.

"William Blake - Hecate" http://www.flickr.com/photos/artimageslibrary/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artimageslibrary/4492554006/

"Diane Arbus - "Twins" http://www.flickr.com/photos/artimageslibrary/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/artimageslibrary/4498739814/

Townes Van Zandt - For the Sake of the Song "Oh my sorrow is real even though I can't change my plan If she could see how I feel then I know that she'd understand"

by Townes Van Zandt

Why does she sing
her sad songs for me,
I'm not the one
to tenderly bring
her soft sympathy
I've just begun
to see my way clear
and it's plain,
if I stop I will fall
I can lay down a tear
for her pain,
just a tear and that's all.


What does she want me to do?
she says that she knows
that moments are rare
I suppose that it's true
then on she goes
to say I don't care,
and she knows
that I do


Maybe she just has to sing, for the sake of the song
and who do I think that I am to decide that she's wrong.


She'd like to think that I'm cruel,
but she knows that's a lie
for I would be
no more than a tool
if I allowed her to cry
all over me.


Oh my sorrow is real
even though
I can't change my plan
If she could see how I feel
then I know
that she'd understand


Oh does she actually think I'm to blame?
Does she really believe
that some word of mine
can relieve
all her pain?
Can't she see that she grieves
just because she's been blindly deceived
by her shame?


Nothin's what it seems,
maybe she'll start someday
to realize
If she abandons her dreams,
then all the words she can say
are only lies
when will she see
that to gain
is only to lose?
All that she offers me
are her chains,
I got to refuse


Oh but it's only to herself that she's lied
she likes to pretend
it's something that she must defend,
with her pride
and I don't intend
to stand her and be the friend
from whom she must hide

"http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/spence9/English"

"Today, the best way to use deficits and government debt is to focus on distributional issues, particularly the unemployed, both actual and potential. In an extended balance-sheet recession of this type, unemployment benefits need to be substantial and prolonged. The argument that this would discourage the unemployed from seeking work has merit in normal times, but not now.

Today’s unemployment, after all, is structural, rather than the result of perverse incentives. Benefits should be expanded and extended for a limited, discretionary period. When structural barriers to employment have diminished, unemployment benefits should revert to their old norms. Doing this would not only reduce the unequal burden now being carried by the unemployed; it would also help to sustain consumption, and perhaps reduce some precautionary savings among those who fear losing their jobs in the future."

http://www.flickr.com/photos/imogen_c/4306827399/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/imogen_c/

Last one "

"Sinai Lighting Storm" http://www.flickr.com/photos/lostlab/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lostlab/4287408912/

"The Doors of Santa Fe" http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikejonesphoto/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikejonesphoto/4348687989/

"fountain in the Place de la Concorde" http://www.flickr.com/photos/hjk-photo/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hjk-photo/4019526180/

"http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/stiglitz124/English"

"But exchange rates do affect the pattern of growth, and it is in China’s own interest to restructure and move away from high dependence on export-led growth. China recognizes that its currency needs to appreciate over the long run, and politicizing the speed at which it does so has been counterproductive. (Since it began revaluing its exchange rate in July 2005, the adjustment has been half or more of what most experts think is required.) Moreover, starting a bilateral confrontation is unwise.

Since China’s multilateral surplus is the economic issue and many countries are concerned about it, the US should seek a multilateral, rules-based solution. Imposing unilateral duties after unilaterally labeling China a “currency manipulator” would undermine the multilateral system, with little payoff. China might respond by imposing duties on those American products effectively directly or indirectly subsidized by America’s massive bailouts of its banks and car companies.

No one wins from a trade war. So America should be wary of igniting one in the midst of an uncertain global recovery – as popular as it might be with politicians whose constituents are justly concerned about high unemployment, and as easy as it is to look for blame elsewhere. Unfortunately, this global crisis was made in America, and America must look inward, not only to revive its economy, but also to prevent a recurrence."

Solomon Burke: Valley of Tears with Gillian Welch "People stand in line just to hear me cry. I wanna know what's on the other side."

I've been riding high, but i don't know why everybody wants to send me down to the valley of tears.
It's a sunny day and i'm on my way but everybody wants to send me down to the valley of tears.

People stand in line just to hear me cry.
I wanna know the other side
but everyone i choose only brings bad news.
Everybody wants to send me down to the valley of tears.
People stand in line just to hear me cry.
I wanna know what's on the other side.

I've been riding high, but i don't know why cause everybody wants to send me down to the valley of tears.
It's a sunny bright day and i'm on my way but everybody wants to send me down to the valley of tears.

"Rosewood Cafe" http://www.flickr.com/photos/tacoma-urbanist/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tacoma-urbanist/3288841901/

"taught line... down to the shoreline" http://www.flickr.com/photos/kelreed93/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kelreed93/4354820524/

"F a s t! [ Explore #3 ]" http://www.flickr.com/photos/httpwwwflickrcomphotos22254138n04/4349826580/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/httpwwwflickrcomphotos22254138n04/

All Rights Reserved by ƒaisal © 2010

The camera was left on the road.
Don't worry, the camera safely! ;)

"However, hiring has not picked up - and even though total separations were at a series low, there were few jobs added in February (according to JOLTS). This low turnover rate is another indicator of a weak labor market."

http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/04/bls-low-labor-turnover-fewer-job.html

"Edward Whitson waits while yet another tortured wraith rises from a dig site in Syria" "A dig in Yalvac, Turkey, is once again disrupted by the occult."

http://www.theonion.com/articles/archaeologist-tired-of-unearthing-unspeakable-anci,1448/#enlarge

".....dal mio punto di vista" http://www.flickr.com/photos/38110849@N08/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/38110849@N08/4398402119/

"Life is but a moment.... so Aim High" http://www.flickr.com/photos/stretch500/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stretch500/4312994921/

"beer and pipe - Cardiff" http://www.flickr.com/photos/maciejdakowicz/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/maciejdakowicz/289840523/

"http://www.interfluidity.com/v2/753.html"

"I don’t think there’s a clear case that one story is “truer” than any other. But I do know that a future in which the US and China are warm friends looks far better than a new cold war based on avoidable grievance. My first-best prescription for the US is to avoid singling out China at all, while using nondiscriminatory capital controls (or else “import certificates“) to unilaterally enforce a balance of trade. But if we must single out China, we should prefer revaluation via higher wages to nominal appreciation. If we are not stupid about how we frame the issue — if we don’t throw around accusations of sweatshops and slave labor as an offensive sort of cudgel — we might find that China’s leadership is more open to wage appreciation than currency appreciation. Higher wages balance the cost of reduced international competitiveness with the benefit of increased domestic demand. Giving ordinary people more money always has a political upside. Rising wages don’t attract self-defeating flows of “hot money”, like gradual nominal appreciation does. And China’s leadership, with its laser-focus on stability, prefers gradual experiments to bold, dramatic adventures."

"Precious nectar" http://www.flickr.com/photos/24894289@N08/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24894289@N08/3578052933/

"All gone to the emergency exit..." http://www.flickr.com/photos/manganite/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/manganite/415562039/