Pistachio Recall: A True Sign of the Apocalypse

[BigBella]

How can this be? What evil is there in the world that would strike the noblest of nuts with Salmonella, no less? My favorite ice cream flavour, my all-time favorite compulsive snacking item. To hell with spinach salad, the peanut and anaphylaxis; things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.

Crap! The morning news . . . Obama acting like he's Hugo Chavez and pressuring auto executives to leave, banks tanking, the economy in turmoil; and now, truly the end of all things -- tons of pistachios recalled:

THE SECOND COMING BY W.B. YEATS

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/31/business/31nuts.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=pistachio&st=cse

 

[Chunkyhunks]

Oh gawd. That poem, it was such a headache in English last semester. T_T

 

[BigBella]

Hey, you slack-jawed punk! What, no appreciation for Yeats? It's all comic books and video games for you?

Don't make make me come over there . . .

 

[Chunkyhunks]

Hahaha, nothing against Yeats, it's a great poem and even though I talk spitefully about it, it remains one of my favorites. It just took more brainpower than I care to use to thoroughly analyze.
But yeah, I'll take comic books and video games over Yeats any day!

 

[ktulu]

Oh sure they release this now. I just finished my huge jar of pistachios yesterday.

The banks tanking and the economy in turmoil isnt new, unless you have been in a cave for about 4 months. As for the comparison of Obama and Chavez, well you need to look into your Latin American politics more.

 

[BigBella]

Oh sure they release this now. I just finished my huge jar of pistachios yesterday.

The banks tanking and the economy in turmoil isnt new, unless you have been in a cave for about 4 months. As for the comparison of Obama and Chavez, well you need to look into your Latin American politics more.

Yeah, you and me both. Is nothing sacred? A mason jar full of pistachios from Christmas . . .

I knew full well about the financial declines eighteen months ago as most everyone did; and as far as the Chavez comment was concerned, I was only joking about our lurch the toward what looks like the beginnings of nationalization (though I am sure they'll come up with a far more "friendly," "hopeful" euphemism for that) of some industries and the slippery slope it presents. Our government can't find its *** with both hands and a Michelin map, much less handle the challenges of Detroit). I spent almost four years -- up to my ****ing armpits in Latin American politics -- in Venezuela back in the 1990s; and some things do look strikingly familiar, once you get past all of the empty slogans and the university "trustafarians" in Ché Guevara t-shirts.

But, relax, it's mostly a bit of a joke about the plight of the pistachio. C'mon, including that Yeats poem? Does anyone recall hyperbole anymore?

 

[swords]

Yeats is such a bore! lol!
But I've generally found most "classic" writers/artists pretty boring for my tastes so it's nothing personal. The best thing about passing English Lit. was not having to read anymore English Lit.!

Oh come now, that auto exec surely didn't leave empty handed, I'm sure they gave him a laundry hamper full of money before he left. "Fill 'er up boys and we talk business..." Don't worry, he won't go hungry.

Latin American politics appears to be nothing but puppet governments run by US corporations and US funded military "factions". If the multi-nationals had a problem with Chavez he'd be gone already. Apparently he still "plays ball".

I've certainly been less than pleased with Obama's performance, he sold me a big bag of hope and it was bunk! That first day or so after being elected when he met with Bush 2.0 is when they must have put the electrodes in his brain. He clearly had a different expression when he emerged to say that "the meeting had been a success." Which to me sounded eerily similar to what the surgeon told me after my dad's second open heart surgery...

At least I can HOPE I won't allow myself to be suckered in again by any damn politician. Once they get on top of the throne of skulls it's all just button pushing on the same old US Government BS switchboard. Doesn't seem to matter who's pushing the buttons, they all do the same thing. We don't need a president we need an engineer!

On the other hand, Pistachios always made me queasy, now I have an excuse!

 

[BigBella]

It wasn't that the guy left empty-handed and he certainly did not -- a severance package of 20 million, I heard; it was the principle -- the strong-arm threat of not getting any further government assistance without his immediate removal. In most business practices, it's known as extortion and something I didn't expect to see so soon in the Messianic Age of Obama. I have family near Napoli and there's a certain familiarity to what is beginning to happen here.

I had been so "hopeful . . ."

Yeats is such a bore! lol!
But I've generally found most "classic" writers/artists pretty boring.

Oh come now, that auto exec surely didn't leave empty handed, I'm sure they gave him a laundry hamper full of money before he left. "Fill 'er up boys and we talk business..." Don't worry, he won't go hungry.

Latin American politics appears to be nothing but puppet governments run by US corporations and US funded military "factions". If the multi-nationals had a problem with Chavez he'd be gone already. Apparently he still "plays ball".

I've certainly been less than pleased with Obama's performance, he sold me a big bag of hope and it was bunk! That first day or so after being elected when he met with Bush 2.0 is when they must have put the electrodes in his brain. He clearly had a different expression when he emerged to say that "the meeting had been a success." Which to me sounded eerily similar to what the surgeon told me after my dad's second open heart surgery...

At least I can HOPE I won't allow myself to be suckered in again by a damn politician. Once they get on top of the throne of skulls it's all just button pushing on the same old US Government BS switchboard. Doesn't seem to matter who's pushing the buttons, they all do the same thing. We don't need a president we need an engineer!

On the other hand, Pistachios always made me queasy, now I have an excuse!

 

[swords]

Well ya can't have it both ways. I know it's America and we're supposed to have the cake and eat it too but if the stipulation (rule) for these insane loans is "for the moolah you have to loose the punta" so be it. I suppose another stipulation for the next guy is that he can't have a salary higher than the combined income of my town. I don't see a problem with government control in a company that asks for assistance - be careful what you ask for. If companies want to stay "free market" (biggest joke running...) they should not go begging for handouts/bailouts/fraudulent taxation, call it whatever you like. The services of an auto company will still be needed so if GM crashes big deal, someone will be along to take their place. Since "Oh nobody wants that" we're going to have GM stand for Government Motorcars.

I really see it as these companies/execs having dug their own graves to hide their ill-gotten booty, I say let them jump in and drown in them. I'm not speaking specifically about the auto guys but every one of these companies deserves to fail, or worse. Their insatiable greed does not deserve our pity or admiration.

 

[ktulu]

I have to say that the CEO of a failing company should be forced to step down if they want money from the government. Along with the entire executive decision making system, as they created the problem. The leaders of all of those banking institutions should be forced to step down too, without their millions of dollars in bonuses for running their companies into the ground. Though with the auto industry the UAW deserves a good portion of the blame as well. They need to realize that if they dont start accepting reasonable wages and benefits they arent going to have a job at all.

As for the whole Chavez thing, I was just trying to point out that Chavez is trying institute much more government control over things than I think the US government would ever try to put in place, mainly because the lobbyists have bought Washington and would never let thing nationalize because that means no more free vacations and piles of money for Congressmen and that just cant happen.

The living in a cave thing was a joke, but lately I am thinking it might be a good idea, no rent, central air, pets pre-installed, and it probably easier to find a job in a cave scraping up guano for organic fertilizer.

 

[rattler]

my concern over the GM CEO beong forced out by Obama is why in the hell didnt he force out all the bank CEO's.....you either do them all or none.....

 

[swords]

Probably due to him having connections in the banking industry we never knew about or imagined. Everybody was so busy looking for erroneous connections to Allah and Marx that they didn't stop to think, "maybe he's a capitalist pig like most of the other politicians?" lol!

I don't think UAW or the workers are to blame at all, at all. It's a common tactic of corporations to try and pin the blame on the lowest wage earners, the "peons". TV pundits pick up on that and run with it, there's no gain for the media in propping up the poor. Some guy living in a dilapidated trailer pulling $25 an hour and retirement benefits (which he may not live long enough to use anyway) doesn't equal $20 million a year.

I've heard of something called a "right to work" law looking to be passed in some southern states where the auto companies want to pay substandard wages and no benefits "to help the people". lol!

 

[BigBella]

my concern over the GM CEO beong forced out by Obama is why in the hell didnt he force out all the bank CEO's.....you either do them all or none.....

Would that we be able to fire incompetent politicians with the same ease that our government is able to pressure the private sector; and that we didn't have to wait until the next election cycle to do so.

Sure, there should have been one huge purge of all of the incompetents -- from the bottom up and not political presssure from the Executive Branch; but the banks also had a serious political problem, essentially extorted by Washington and local politicians to give out those NINJA (no income, no job, assets) in many urban areas, an effort to "even the playing field."

A fellow I know from my time in Latin America, working as a "migrant worker" picking strawberries, qualified for a 600,000 dollar home, here in California. Do you think for a moment he had any of the financial bona fides for a home loean? He didn't even have legitimate ID or a bank account in his name in the US . . .

Just having lived for a time in countries that have turned toward nationalization, it's nothing that I'd like to see here. No good can of it; and if you wish to punish businesses, sue them in courts of law for malfeasance when the opportunity arises. Simply don't hobble US business with the hope of ever finding work. The US government cannot balance it own books; and the financial wünderkind expected to steer us to recovery couldn't even manage his own personal taxes (Geitner blamed Turbo Tax for his "error" of 100K ), much less the woes of a country of three hundred million . . .

 

[rattler]

the car manufacturers should go through the bankruptcy process.....someone will pick up the assets for pennies on the dollar and try and make a profit off it.....its the way things are supposed to work....hell the feds couldnt run the Mustang Ranch and turn a profit, if they cant do that they dont have a chance in hell at running banks and car manufacturers......the only government entity thats EVER turned a profit is the IRS, and there are laws in place to insure it......

 

[F R e N c H 3 z]

Quite simply a Democracy should be the voice of the people; the only way such a thing will ever work is rather then having politicians pass the laws they should propose them and let the people decide by means of a referendum.

And I agree with rattler, small business must suffer the consequences when they fail, so why shouldnt the big boys? Bailing them out won't help with the peoples budget problems. Big companies will continue to do what they do best: find loop holes and invest their money for the cheapest labor possible.

Rather then bailing out the car companies; bail out the single parents working 70 hrs a week to support 3 children. Bailout the middle class families that cant afford to send their kids to college because $12,000 a year is the norm. That's who spends money and truly runs the economy, not the manufacturers though they have a minor role in it.
Teach people to buy what they can afford (other then homes and cars of course) and you reduce a deficit of $25,000 per person to possibly 0 or even better yet....a net Gain rather then spend 3 times the amount of something then it's really worth.

 

[BigBella]

the car manufacturers should go through the bankruptcy process.....someone will pick up the assets for pennies on the dollar and try and make a profit off it.....its the way things are supposed to work....hell the feds couldnt run the Mustang Ranch and turn a profit, if they cant do that they dont have a chance in hell at running banks and car manufacturers......the only government entity thats EVER turned a profit is the IRS, and there are laws in place to insure it......

I agree with you -- to a degree. The only problem with simply letting the auto industry go belly up is the disruption of the economic food chain. Outright, it's obviously the tens of thousands of jobs that immediately evaporate, but also the parts suppliers nationwide who close down, the town's legions of small businesses which supported those auto workers, the town's loss of tax revenues, and on and on, right down to the Tacos Morenos Roach Coach outside the plant.

In an odd fashion, a similar thing occurred with the wholesale closure of military bases in the 1990s. Whole revenue streams and supporting towns simply dried up as a result; and it took nearly a decade for Seaside, California, for example, to come back with the arrival of the California University on the site of the former Fort Ord.

Ultimately, it is the little guy who gets the high colonic in the process -- one way or the other; but now, without the comfort afforded by a pint of Ben and Jerry's Pistachio-Pistachio Ice Cream.

Approaching hoof-beats. I'm telling you, man . . .

 

[S_Oregon_CP]

Blame Kissenger, Nixon, Bush Sr, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bush Jr, and the GREEDY Wall Street Machine. Wall Street is simply an example of what living the American Dream will do to the rest of us. Go ahead and use 1/3 of the worlds resources and see what happens.

If anyone blames OBAMA you are a silly little fool with no patience. what goes awry for 20 plus years can not be fixed by Obama in 2 months. So kindly ignore the 1st ammendment and shush if you believe that. Government never claimed to be perfect but with Barrack in charge I feel like there is a future again. Thats a lot more than could be said for anyone on the list above.

 

[F R e N c H 3 z]

Blame Kissenger, Nixon, Bush Sr, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bush Jr, and the GREEDY Wall Street Machine. Wall Street is simply an example of what living the American Dream will do to the rest of us. Go ahead and use 1/3 of the worlds resources and see what happens.

If anyone blames OBAMA you are a silly little fool with no patience. what goes awry for 20 plus years can not be fixed by Obama in 2 months. So kindly ignore the 1st ammendment and shush if you believe that. Government never claimed to be perfect but with Barrack in charge I feel like there is a future again. Thats a lot more than could be said for anyone on the list above.

Dems. arent without their faults either

 

[rattler]

I agree with you -- to a degree. The only problem with simply letting the auto industry go belly up is the disruption of the economic food chain. Outright, it's obviously the tens of thousands of jobs that immediately evaporate, but also the parts suppliers nationwide who close down, the town's legions of small businesses which supported those auto workers, the town's loss of tax revenues, and on and on, right down to the Tacos Morenos Roach Coach outside the plant.

In an odd fashion, a similar thing occurred with the wholesale closure of military bases in the 1990s. Whole revenue streams and supporting towns simply dried up as a result; and it took nearly a decade for Seaside, California, for example, to come back with the arrival of the California University on the site of the former Fort Ord.

Ultimately, it is the little guy who gets the high colonic in the process -- one way or the other; but now, without the comfort afforded by a pint of Ben and Jerry's Pistachio-Pistachio Ice Cream.

Approaching hoof-beats. I'm telling you, man . . .

the same thing happened in the 1970's, an air force base not 50 miles from me closed down......the community still feels the effects of that.......crap happens, businesses and industries close down......Butte, MT used to be the biggest city between the Mississippi River and the Pacific ocean, i think only San Fran and Seattle were bigger......the mine closed up and the town has a population of less than 30,000 now........you cant prevent bad things from happening and the government subsidizing a business that cant make it in the free market is just going to be come a huge money pit for the rest of the country........its even worse when they pick and choose which ones they want to save........

 

[rattler]

Blame Kissenger, Nixon, Bush Sr, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bush Jr, and the GREEDY Wall Street Machine. Wall Street is simply an example of what living the American Dream will do to the rest of us. Go ahead and use 1/3 of the worlds resources and see what happens.

If anyone blames OBAMA you are a silly little fool with no patience. what goes awry for 20 plus years can not be fixed by Obama in 2 months. So kindly ignore the 1st ammendment and shush if you believe that. Government never claimed to be perfect but with Barrack in charge I feel like there is a future again. Thats a lot more than could be said for anyone on the list above.

you left out Clinton who took off alot of the banking regulations that lead to the housing bubble that burst.......just blaming the repubs is idiotic, DC as a whole, both parties, are at fault.........