Brian McLane

Rocking Daddy Blogger – Social and Media Commentary

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I’M WITH STUPID. CHASE LOSES 2 BILLION. JAMIE DIMON NEEDS TO RESIGN FROM JP MORGAN CHASE.

May 11th, 2012 · Business

Will The Real Jamie Dimon please stand up.

His Wiki reads that he is “an American business executive.”

The same American business executive who today admitted on a conference call that “we were stupid.” Losing 2 billion dollars, on of all things derivatives is more than stupid. Jamie Dimon needs to resign as the current chairman, president and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase. He received a $23 million salary and pay package last year. For this? What’s going to happen now? Chase will raise bank fees and figure out a way to make it up in retail of course.

There needs to be an investigation and people need to go to jail. Simple as that.

Here’s are a few links to stories on the whole sordid mess. The first I found on my Stitcher Radio App. It’s great and I have it set to breaking news only so I’m only notified when it’s something really big. This qualifies. Stitcher grabs radio podcast headlines from around the world. To get the Stitcher App go to your market or store app on your phone. Here’s the exact link from Wall Street Journal.

Jamie Dimon loses 2 Billion More.

Here’s an article on Rolling Stone about this crook.
Liar

Here’s an article in BusinessWeek about this crook.
Crook

So Jamie Dimon is a crook and a liar. Sounds like there’s a website just for him… and guess what? It’s called Crooks and liars.

Jamie Dimon Needs To Resign

Jamie Dimon Doesn't Get It. Jamie Dimon Needs To Resign

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BEATEN INTO SUBMISSION, THE HOMELESS FINALLY GIVE UP.

May 9th, 2012 · Social Commentary

I got to the top of subway platform and it was very cold for a May morning.

There were no trains in sight. I looked across the platform and there was a cop radio-ing for assistance as he stood a few feet away from a homeless man. It all seemed routine.

The homeless guy didn’t seem drunk, but he just didn’t care to comply with the whatever it was that the policeman was requiring of him. He sat, slumped onto his right palm supported by his elbow which rested upon the worn wooden bench. He’s given up.

A picture was worth a thousand words. It was clear that the man preferred the comfort of jail than of trying to make a go of it for another day. He was probably in his early 40′s but looked much older. Younger than me and beaten. Some are motivated by their alcoholism, others drugs, some try to turn it around. But I have noticed recently a marked increase in homeless on the subways. Perhaps they retreat there for what they perceive as safety.

The other day I was coming back from my favorite bakery in Chinatown (Swan on Center Street at Canal) and a guy, who didn’t look all that homeless, walked to the back of a little sitting area off Broadway on White street, took down his pants and just defecated right there on the street. Why are we seeing all these things again?

Here are some interesting facts on homelessness in New York City.
Each year 100,000 New Yorkers experience homelessness.
* Each night, over 38,000 homeless individuals sleep in the New York City shelter system. This includes more than 16,000 children and 8,000 single adults. Thousands more sleep on city streets and in other public places.
* Nearly 1-in-20 New York City residents have experienced homelessness.

Some more interesting facts. The following were homeless.
Billionaires: 1
Millionaires: uncounted
Nobel Prize Winners: 1
Nobel Prize Nominees: 2 (includes above)
Oscar Winners: 7
Oscar Nominees: 11 (includes above)
Emmy Award Winners: 8
Emmy Award Nominees: 11 (includes above)
Grammy Award Winners: 9
Grammy Award Nominees: 14 (includes above)
Best-Selling Authors: 9
Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients (U.S.’s highest civilian honor): 1
Knighthoods: 1

Some celebs that were homeless?
Halle Berry, Jim Carrey, Drew Carey, Kelly Clarkson, Kurt Cobain, Daniel Craig, Troy Donahue, Kelsey Grammer, Carmen Electra, David Letterman, Lil Kim, Suze Orman, Tyler Perry, William Shatner, Tupac, Martin Sheen, Sylvester Stallone, Rob Thomas, Hilary Swank, and hundreds of others. For a more comprehensive list click

And here is a great article on the sharp rise in tent cities in the United States.

what if this was your daughter homeless give up

what if this was your daughter homeless give up

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YOU COULDN’T PAY ME TO GO TO MEXICO

May 7th, 2012 · travel

Talk about Horror Vacations? A retired NYPD officer getting held for 1500 ransom? A woman on the beach starts a fight with his wife and the cops take him away.

It’s a racket alright. I never really wanted to go to Mexico and now never will – because it’s NEVER GOING TO GET BETTER THERE!

A client just went to Mexico and I crossed my fingers. Especially after I saw this news story.

Couldn't Pay Me To Go To Mexico

Couldn't Pay Me To Go To Mexico

I guess these low-lifes aren’t part of the group of corrupt cops in Mexico getting 1.27 billion pesos a month from the cartels. Came upon an interesting website called

Check out the retired NYC Police Officer who was abducted in front of his wife and kids. If you think you stand a chance you’re crazy. Better have someone at home who can send those pesos.

My friend Yael told me that in Sao Paolo the cops stop you for beer money.

So the places you can visit on vacation continues to shrink for me. I’d go pretty much anywhere in Europa. Georgia, Turkey, Greece, Israel, Japan….. and that’s about it.

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251 WEST 30th STREET STILL A MECCA FOR MUSIC

May 5th, 2012 · music

I walked into 251 West 30th to go to rehearsal for what probably was the 1000th time. It’s hard to believe that 30 years later I’m still going to rehearsal in the building. UltraSound has been there for much of this time with a reputation for being pretty much the best most reliable rehearsal facility in the city. Andy Justin was the owner/manager of the building and still I guess is. From what I remember he was a party animal himself.

There was a story about Cyndi Lauper nodding out in front of 251 West 30th in the days before she became a star. One time I walked into the A room at ISS (Intensive Sound Studios) run by my friend Tony Killens early only to see Paul Stanley sitting on the couch watching a band he was producing. Other interesting stalwarts including Rula Lenska, The Blessed (they’d just released “Rubbernecking”), Full Force with whom Mondo Boffo played the Ritz and their keyboard went missing. They blamed us but realized they were mistaken.

The building at 251 West 30th Street is definitely steeped in histroy with many rehearsal and recording studios coming and going over the years. I remember on Planet Sound in the basement that was particulary popular. Rogue Music used to have a recording studio on the 8th floor. The engineer was John Heckman. I wonder where he is.

Some know it as the Recording and Rehearsal Arts Building and it has large Treble Clef above the entrance. There’s a cool website called forgotten-ny.com that is worth a look. Recently I’d seen a plaque outside the Mudd Club on White Street which, along with Max’s Kansas City will be the story of another post.

Many clubs have taken their turn trying to succeed on the ground floor at 251 West 30th Street. I remember one called “Downtime” that had a good run but can’t remember a single one of the others. Now there’s a Goth Club there called Albion.

I’m going to invite Jeff who runs UltraSound to comment on this so stay tuned.

251 West 30th

Click for Forgotten New York 251 West 30th

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BRING BACK THE FIRST TIME HOME BUYER CREDIT

May 3rd, 2012 · Politics

Congress needs to IMMEDIATELY bring back $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers. It was enacted in 2009 and was extended through April 30, 2010. Further legislation gave buyers already in the process of buying a home an additional 3 months to take advantage of the credit if they were already in the process of purchasing a home.

Purchasing Power
The primary benefit of the $8,000 tax credit is that the money can be used in many cases to go to the down payment or closing costs on a home. Amen here! To be sure, if people can’t come up with the key money, meaning the down-payment they shouldn’t be buying a home in the first place. But when one thinks of moving, rubbish removal, taxes, lawyers, inspection, and so on, those costs add up and can push people to opt for the rental. Nowadays people can roll those costs into the mortgage and spread them out over 30 years at a low interest.

Such is the benefit of buying a home in this economic environment.

The bottom line though is that people need to start buying homes. It is the bedrock of our economy. The greater the demand for home purchases the better for the employment index and helps the housing industry by stimulating business for general contractors, retailers, mortgage companies, title companies, real estate firms, brokers and real estate investors, transportation companies and so on.. New homebuyers purchase furniture and other goods, products and services.

I don’t pretend to understand the tax Issues involved but at its most fundamental level, it will help people buy homes. Like me.

Check out this article in the San Francisco Chronicle.

bring back the 8000 first time homebuyer tax credit

bring back the 8000 first time homebuyer tax credit

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