So High Above

A Review - The Law According to Lidia Poët The Law According To Lidia Poët is worth the watch. It is well written. The plots, themes, and dialogue of each episode are worthy of literature. Its plots are intriguing, captivating, and fulfilling with just the right amount of depth to prevent them from being cheap who-done-its. The themes remind the viewers that not much has changed in society from the late 19th century to the early 21st century. Women were fighting for equality as they are now. Poverty and wealth define education, health, and the dalliances of intellectualism. The dialogue is serious, whimsical, and comedic advancing the depth of the characters and their relationships with each other. As a cinematic adventure, it is eye candy with stunning scenery, amazing architecture, beautifully appointed interiors, historic details, exquisite clothing, and charming well-groomed actors. I am in no way attracted to fashion; however, I am truly impressed with the texture, hues, patterns,...

                                                            A Review of Maestro in Blue Maestro in Blue is currently topping the charts on Netflix. It is the first of what promises to be more gems produced for Greek television making its way to Netflix. On the surface, Maestro in Blue is a story of a musician brought to a small Island village to reinvigorate the soul of its people during the waning days of COVID with music. His job is to organize and produce a multi-day all-island music festival. The goal is to feature local talent as the air is filled with music, the thoughts of the soul, from every generation. It is a drama that explores the human condition of relationships through multiple generations. The characters alone and in relation to each other grapple with love, regret, longing, remorse, greed, corruption, violence, morality, ...

This spring the world witnessed the citizenry of Arab Countries around the world rise up against oppressive government regimes and demand social and economic justice. The United States Government feigned support for these uprisings with support offered by Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama along with a host of Republican and Democratic Party Leadership. Today in New York City, New York in the heart of the Financial District young people are occupying and protesting against the economic and social injustice that has taken hold in the United States. Looking at their future, they see none, as it has been stolen from them by the excesses of the Financial Industry which has thrown the world economy and especially the United States Economy into chaos with their greedy quest for profits over growth and stability. As the World watched the regimes of the Arab Dictatorships kill and arrest the protesters in an attempt to forestall the inevitab...

As The Obama Administration approaches 100 days in office, there is a lack of an inspirational message to those suffering through the worst Economic Crisis of a lifetime. The Obama Administration was definitely handed a bad situation by the Bush Administration and as they try to unravel it, it appears worse each day. The problem is that the Obama Administration is failing to lead in an inspirational way, instead, they are mimicking a lot of the Republican Policies. The Obama Administration continues to be fixated on rescuing the Banking and Financial Institutions that created the problem using the same argument as the Republican Bush Administration, that these multinational corporations are too big to fail. An inspirational approach would be to rescue middle and working-class families from the depths of despair and as they can purchase goods and services the economy will recover from the ground up, as it should be. To continue the failed approach of trickle-down economics championed b...

The So High Above Political Blog has been on hiatus because the current the Bush Depression has also affected this writer's personal income, so time had to be dedicated to working more to stave off foreclosure and bankruptcy just as millions of other Americans. First Happy 4th of July, a day to commemorate the founding of a new ideal in governance. A day that should remind us of the Revolutionary values of this Nation. many of the Founding Fathers warned in their writings that in order for this experiment to succeed the People must always be willing to engage in Revolutionary Change to protect Freedom and Liberty. So High Above will no longer be published on a daily basis but on an as warranted basis, which may mean once a week or even twice a day as the situation warrants. Over the coming weeks So High Above will catch up on the Obama accomplishments and failures, the Democrats inaction, Governor Sanford, the Republicans in hiding, where did the money go, Senator Al Fraken, Govern...

So High Above will return on July 4, 2009

The United States Department of Health and Human Services released the 2009 Poverty Guidelines. For a single person the Department considers $10,830 as the poverty level. Taking this figure in context that means that the United States Department of Health and Human Services believes that a person can live on $10,831 and not be in poverty. That would mean that the person would be able to maintain shelter, food and clothing for under $30 a day. Since August of 2008, the American Citizen has seen the United States Treasury Bailout multinational corporations where their executives are making in excess of of $5 Million Dollars a year. So the Treasury Department sees the Federal Government as an insurance for the continuation of income for Executives who are earning more than $13,000 per day, while the Department of Health and Human Services believes that a person can live on less than $11,000 per year. The United States Government does not have an obligation to secure the lifestyles of th...

Congressional and Governmental help is desperately needed by the American People to regulate the loan sharking activies of the Credit Card Industry. Thanks to the revamped Bankruptcy Bill that was passed during the Bush Administration's Republican controlled Congress Credit Card Companies were given free reign to charge loan sharking rates on credit cards. Credit Card Rates charged by the credit card industry were always excessive but thanks to the revamped Bankruptcy Bill they now have the legal blessings of the Federal Government to set punitive interest rates that will keep Americans repressed throughout their lives. The revamped Bankruptcy Bill allows credit card companies to randomly raise rates after a cardholder borrows the money. If a cardholder made a purchase at 3.99% interest and has been paying that bill promptly, a late payment to another company gives the credit card company the right to raise the interest rate on the debt to them which is being paid on time. This was...

The United States Congress is on a two-week vacation. This is disgusting being that they have failed to accomplish much of anything at a time when the Nation is suffering the poorest economic downturn since the Great Depression and maybe the worst economic downturn of the entire history of the Nation. Since this Congress has been in session they have failed to address the pilferage of the American Consumer by the Credit Card Industry that is charging loan sharking rates on consumer debt. Congress has made sure that the wealthiest Corporations in America received enough federal Bailout money to maintain the conspicuous consumption standard of living that they have become accosted to and they have enough money in their Treasuries to continue political contributions even at the expense of emptying the United States Treasury. There has not even been one piece of legislation proposed by any Congress person or Senator to apply Usury Laws to loan sharking credit card companies, or to demand ...

The classic view of an empire in distress has always been summed up by the phrase, Nero fiddled while Rome burned". A new phrase can be added to the lexicon, "Congress played games while the People lost their Future". This Congress under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid seems to wander aimlessly from one fund raising event to the next without taking a proactive step in the direction of helping the American People. While they continue to appropriate Bailout Money for every multi-national corporate entity on earth not one piece of legislation has been proposed or enacted to stop these corporations from prying on the People. We have a Nation where Credit Card Companies are worse than a neighborhood loan shark, where interest rates with late fees and over-limit fees added to the interest costs of borrowing exceed 50% in a lot of cases. Even with the best of creditworthiness interest rates are commonly exceeding 15% even though these companies are borrowing ...

The conclusion of the months of examining the Auto Industry by the Auto Committee appointed by the Obama Administration is that they are better off dead. After propping up the Auto Industry and letting it continue to burn cash, the Administration has basically decided that the Auto Industry would best be restructured in Bankruptcy. The conclusion that the Bankruptcy Code is the best route for a streamlined Auto Industry is most likely the correct choice. The questions that arise from this conclusion are; Why did the USA waste Billions of Dollars waiting to come to this conclusion, and why is Bankruptcy not the correct choice for the Financial Industry. The Financial Industry and the Auto Industry are both in trouble for similar reasons, bad management, greed, excessive loans, and no plan for the future. The Financial Industry continued to sell unregulated leveraged derivatives based on the premise that growth would continue indefinitely, every student of economics knows that this is no...

After months of dire predictions from the various Financial Network Anchors, reporters and editors, these same people are telling us that the worst is over and we have seen the bottom of the economic crisis. Their reasoning is that the stock market has been rallying. However, a look at history will show that even in the depths of the most vicious Bear Markets there are rallies that often times bring the indexes up by as much as twenty percent before they reverse give it all back and tack on another 5 % on the downside just for good measure. The important events in March that caused this rally are not the Treasury Plan, or the announcements by banks that they are doing better. Stock market rallies in the middle of a prolonged Bear Market are usually caused by a beast known as short covering. This is when sellers of stock that they do not own begin to buy the stock to cover their position to lock in a profit. As they begin to buy stock to cover their short position it causes a short sq...

The New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo seems to be the only elected leader who sees through the web of deception that is AIG. When the bonus furor came to the forefront, many elected leaders including President Obama feigned disgust in public but sought little legal remedies. Congress held hearings to publicly ridicule the AIG Executives, the President and Secretary of Treasury Geithner made public pronouncements but none of them began investigations. Not only did New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo begin an investigation into the AIG Bonus Scandal, he issued subpoenas, set deadlines and demanded answers. Attorney General Cuomo was relentless in demanding the names and figures associated with the bonuses, and he was successful in shaming a majority of the recipients to publicly announce that they would return the bonuses. Of more significance is another investigation that Andrew Cuomo is pursuing in regards to AIG. Mr. Cuomo is seeking the answer that Secretary of...

Billed as an online Town Hall Meeting, President Obama answered questions submitted online. Similar questions received votes and a question that received a lot of votes was about legalizing Marijuana which led President Obama to quip, "I don't know what this says about the online audience. The answer is no, I don't think that is a good strategy to grow the economy". President Obama missed a golden opportunity to modernize America's archaic drug laws. To have a President who has written about his marijuana use and cocaine use, it is an abomination not to want to lead the Nation in a more civilized direction about drug laws and policy. In Congressional Testimony on March 14,1995, David Boaz, Executive Vice President of the Cato Institute revealed some startling statistics, and although over a decade old, these figures are still mind-boggling. In 1995, Mr. Boaz revealed to Congress that drug enforcement efforts in the United States accounted for 15 Billion Dollars i...

President Obama held his second Prime Time Press Conference on March 24,2009, his second Prime Time Press Conference since taking office on January 20, 2009. Mr. Obama presented a brief statement about the various efforts of the Administration to heal the economic wounds left by the previous Republican Administration, they thoughtfully and politely answered inquiries from the press. Unlike the previous President, Mr. Obama seems able to address questions from all segments of the 4th Estate regardless of their political leanings. In this regard, Mr. Obama selects questioners from a wide range of media outlets and political persuasions throughout the conference. Most of the questioners focused on specifics and reasons of certain programs and the effect that the Administration hoped to achieve through their implementation. Chuck Todd, from NBC, asked " Thank you, Mr. President. Some have compared this financial crisis to a war, and in times of war, past presidents have called for ...

The Obama Administration is stuck on the rebuilding of the banks as the way to solve the current economic situation. That might be a necessary element, but it is far from the only response that is needed. After eight years of neglect by the Bush Administration, there is a dire need to address the downward mobility of the American Family. Not only has the income disparity grown throughout the Bush years to the point of creating two classes and almost making the middle class non-persistent, but the disparity among racial segments of American Society suffered greatly under the Republican Regime of George W. Bush to the point the wealth quotation of Black Americans is on 10% of the wealth quotation of White Americans. But this is not just a racial issue, the disparity between rich and poor has widened at an alarming rate throughout the Bush Administration and nothing that the Obama Administration has proposed will address this disparity. Even if the Banking System is the priority at this m...

Communiqué Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, United Kingdom, 14 March 2009 We, the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, met today to prepare for the Leaders’ London Summit. We agreed further action to restore global growth and support lending, and reforms to strengthen the global financial system. Restoring Global Growth 1. We have taken decisive, coordinated and comprehensive action to boost demand and jobs, and are prepared to take whatever action is necessary until growth is restored. We commit to fight all forms of protectionism and maintain open trade and investment. 2. Our key priority now is to restore lending by tackling, where needed, problems in the financial system head on, through continued liquidity support, bank recapitalisation and dealing with impaired assets, through a common framework (attached). We reaffirm our commitment to take all necessary actions to ensure the soundness of systemically important institutions. 3. Fiscal expans...

Ann Coulter appearing on the new Sean Hannity Show on Fox News, entitled Hannity's America, dared to call the current financial crisis, " The Obama Recession", with Hannity concurring. Both of these two right-wing talking point hosts are shills for the Republican Party and continue to plant the seeds of divisiveness and hatred through their appearances and statements. We are lucky that History is not written by the likes of Hannity and Coulter, according to their remembrance of History, the economy was just fine until President Obama took office just a few short weeks ago, and it is his fault that unemployment continues to rise. Ms. Coulter even said that Wall Street Executives are basically Democrats, not Republicans. Talk about reconstructing reality and as far as can be seen Ms. Coulter does not use hallucinogenics. Ms. Coulter and Mr. Hannity continued to feed each other through a segment entitled The Great American Panel, which on Sunday Night consisted of Ms. Coul...

Senator Gregg, a Republican from NH, who accepted then declined President Obama's appointment to Secretary of Commerce, as a guest on State of the Nation on Sunday and declared that the Obama Budget would Bankrupt the Nation. Does Senator Gregg realize that the Nation was Bankrupt by the Republican Economic Policies, the unwarranted invasion of TWO sovereign nations, and the deregulation of the Financial, Investment, and Insurance Industries by the Republicans since 1981. Senator Gregg bowed out of being the Commence Secretary after the Republican Leadership made disparaging comments about Republicans who joined the Obama Administration and by right-wing ideologues who have talk radio shows. Now Senator Gregg is spitting out the rhetoric that these right-wing radio hosts spew daily. When President Clinton left office the Nation had a surplus and a growing economy, with the population rising through the economic classes at a rate never before seen in the History of America. Within o...

As the President of the United States in one of the most pivotal points of its history, President Obama can redirect the future of the Nation as only a couple of previous Presidents have been able to change the nation's Future. Abraham Lincoln was thrust into the moment and responded. FDR was thrust into the position and responded. President Obama has been thrust into another pivotal era in America's History and if he responds as he should, he too will be remembered as a President who changed the course of America's Future. For President Obama to follow in the footsteps of Lincoln and FDR he must have the internal strength to push the agenda of the future even in the face of stiff opposition from the minority party. Although his intentions were well-meaning when he tried to include the Republicans in planning the future through the legislative process, the results were less than stellar. Mr. Obama even has retained a Republican on his cabinet and tried to appoint others. ...