Saturday, March 24, 2012
And Bears Shit In The Woods
The NYT informs us that the Pope may wield a wee bit of political power.
Something new for the 21st century I guess.
Something new for the 21st century I guess.
Mattresses Will Work Just Fine
One reason to have a well-regulated financial system where stealing all the money is at least slightly difficult is so that you actually have a functioning financial system. If they can all steal with impunity then some of us might decide to put our money elsewhere. The point is that while individually I'd be better off if I could steal with impunity, I'm not better off if everybody can.
Wanted: Meddling Kids
I seem to be the only one focused on the likely consequences of everyone at MF Global getting away with it. There's now a blueprint for how steal billions of dollars without any consequences. That's a plan everyone can follow.
Only Fools and Frenchmen
Richard Cohen wants to blow more things up.
It's a total mystery why countries might want to obtain nuclear weapons.
It's a total mystery why countries might want to obtain nuclear weapons.
For the Record
Here is why Climate Science exists.
An international carbon tax program is one of the most hideous ideas forged in the minds of men. Since all known life forms are carbon-based, it is a proposal to control all life.Wheeeee!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Nobody Could Have Predicted
That proponents of prosperity Gospel would engage in this kind of behavior...
Oh My
I think it's been awhile since we've had an "Oh My."
Jon S. Corzine, MF Global Holding Ltd. (MFGLQ)’s chief executive officer, gave “direct instructions” to transfer $200 million from a customer fund account to meet an overdraft in one of the brokerage’s JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) accounts in London, according to an e-mail sent by a firm executive.
Edith O’Brien, a treasurer for the firm, said in an e-mail sent the afternoon of Oct. 28, three days before the company collapsed, that the transfer of the funds was “Per JC’s direct instructions,” according to a copy of a memo drafted by congressional investigators and obtained by Bloomberg News.
Thread
I'm always trying to browbeat people into listening to this explanation of what the "Senior Democrats" are up to. Know your enemy.
Where At Least I Know I'm Free
9/11 changed everything, hippie, so Suck On This.
I suppose it's worth pointing on that this Fall, 11 years later, the incoming college freshmen will have been 7 on The Day That Changed Everything. Forever.
I suppose it's worth pointing on that this Fall, 11 years later, the incoming college freshmen will have been 7 on The Day That Changed Everything. Forever.
Minimum Booze Price
There's great concern by the Tories in the UK that the lower orders are misbehaving and consuming too much drink. A policy alternative to a minimum alcohol price, which modestly raises the price of the very cheapest of booze, would have been to raise booze taxes across the board so that all people, rich and poor alike, would have paid more for their booze. But we can't have that.
Poverty Nation
Aside from the John Edwards-specific tawdry stuff, as Pierce says, the people who rule us really don't address the dismal circumstances that large numbers of people in this country face. Obviously with a little Burkean humility all of these people could get rich starting call centers in India, or something, but David Brooks has claimed all the Burkean humility for himself so they're mostly shit out of luck. The Greatest Nation In The History Of The Universe is giving an immensely raw deal to a big part of its population, with little hope for most of them to improve their circumstances. Hopefully if the economy is finally turning around a few more people with have it a bit better, but it's probably only going to be a few more people.
I bet if we gave more free money to rich people all of these problems would be solved.
I bet if we gave more free money to rich people all of these problems would be solved.
Assholes
Yes, I know, I should stay away from newspaper comments sections, but the Trayvon Martin related ones are worse than normal. Basically, black people are all criminals, so, somethingsomething, also, too, hiphop. Essentially, that some black people somewhere suck, the real issue is anything other than the fact that an armed self-appointed vigilante shot an unarmed black kid. Have I told you about black-on-black crime yet? Black people are the real racists. And liberals. And an armed society is a polite society.
Good Thing That Austerity Is Working
Oh, wait, what?
Ireland ended last year in recession, according to figures released on Thursday, dealing a blow to the policy of economic austerity being forced on struggling eurozone countries by the European commission and the IMF.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Passions
Black people in America sure are weird, what with their passions and all.
I bet they have crazy conspiracy theories about the "unfairness of the criminal justice system" too.
SANFORD, Fla. — The police chief who has been bitterly criticized for not arresting a neighborhood watch volunteer in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager announced Thursday that he is temporarily stepping down to let passions cool.
I bet they have crazy conspiracy theories about the "unfairness of the criminal justice system" too.
My Grand Idea For Making The Kings Of The Twitters Rich
Keep the timelines clean, and run ads in the corners or along the bottoms of dedicated apps. Is that so hard? Plz. send check in mail. Thx.
Wingnuts For Wingnuts
It's quite amazing that a somewhat sketchy but well-respected noncontroversial nonpartisan organizzation could have destroyed their brand so quickly. Liberals are usually the ones accused of being clueless about how Real Americans think, but the wingnut bubble is powerful.
CREEP
I suppose I'm going to have to start asking the question I kept asking in 2010. Vote for Democrats because...
They're getting a bit better at the "not as shitty as the other team" messages. That's something. But... what's the agenda?
They're getting a bit better at the "not as shitty as the other team" messages. That's something. But... what's the agenda?
"Pensioners Fund Tax Cut"
Labour appears to be about as incompetent as the 2002 Washington Generals Democrats.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
And How'd That Happen Then
So how is it that the relatively union-friendly Southwest manages to avoid the frequent (minor) boom/bust cycle of the rest of the major US airlines? My inner communist tells me that management of other airlines is either incompetent at running a business and/or extremely competent at extracting all rents for themselves by stealing as much as possible before and during the various bankruptcies and bailouts, but it isn't polite to insult the jaaaahb creeaaahturrrrrz.
Afternoon Thread
Some crazy stupid idiots said some stupid stuff today.
People in Washington proposed some new wars and new creative ways to stick it to the poor and cut taxes for rich people.
A few more state flags were planted in women's uteri.
I could put this post up EVERY DAY!!!
People in Washington proposed some new wars and new creative ways to stick it to the poor and cut taxes for rich people.
A few more state flags were planted in women's uteri.
I could put this post up EVERY DAY!!!
Sketched
I actually don't think this guy is correct. Romney won't reboot himself for the general election. He is what he is, now.
Nobody Could Have Predicted
Clive Crook writing for Bloomberg.
The Tory line, echoed by many of the Very Serious People here, has been that appeasing bond markets and keeping government borrowing costs down by pretending to reduce borrowing - in other words, fixing the economy by obtaining a tool by promising not to use it - would lead to paradise.
Since 2010 Britain has been a laboratory for an important experiment in economic policy. The question: When economies slump and public borrowing soars, can fiscal restraint speed the recovery? Preliminary findings: No, and whatever made you think it could?
The Tory line, echoed by many of the Very Serious People here, has been that appeasing bond markets and keeping government borrowing costs down by pretending to reduce borrowing - in other words, fixing the economy by obtaining a tool by promising not to use it - would lead to paradise.
In Which Ben Bernanke Has An Idea
Have we tried giving more free money to rich assholes who enjoy lighting it on fire? Well perhaps we should.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said Europe must further strengthen its banks and that its financial and economic situation “remains difficult” even as stresses have lessened, according to testimony prepared for delivery to U.S. lawmakers today.
“Full resolution of the crisis will require a further strengthening of the European banking system,” Bernanke says in the text of testimony to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The region’s leaders also must “increase economic growth and competitiveness and to reduce external imbalances in the troubled countries,” he said.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Random Thought
I know whenever I, for example, notice a 60+ year old woman cleaning my hotel room, my first thought is "best raise the Social Security age to 70. Also, too, cut the benefits."
Feel Good
If I ran the world I'd just give free money to poor people. At least as much free money, per person, as we give to rich people anyway. But we're a wee bit paternalistic in our stingy welfare for people, in part because such aid is intended to benefit children too. Aside from the random "can't buy this grocery item but can buy this one" rules that get inserted into food stamp programs, the paternalism the program isn't too bad. People get a card that they can buy (some) food with.
Our infotainment industrial complex is run by people who can't comprehend food or economic insecurity. They're horrible people.
Our infotainment industrial complex is run by people who can't comprehend food or economic insecurity. They're horrible people.
The Unaccountability Era
It's generally true, but certainly the most true during lame duck sessions. Vote Democrat, and see Social Security cut anyway!
Inspiring times.
Inspiring times.
BoBo's Warning To The World
Or cry for help?
Serial killers are often charming, but have a high opinion of themselves that is not shared by the wider world. They are often extremely conscious of class and status and they develop venomous feelings toward people who do not pay them sufficient respect.
Bad Places To Be Poor
US suburbs are generally not equipped to provide necessary social services, and the lack of transportation options means that just existing is costly.
Rigged
Via Felix Salmon, odds of winning a scratch off ticket are sometimes even worse than the stated odds. Because they can be beaten.
Monday, March 19, 2012
The Argument
I really don't know what to say about people who think some abstract argument about TEH DEFICIT is more important than the actual state of the economy to people. And that's just on the politics, leaving aside the, you know, widespread economic suffering.
Spaces For People
Regular readers know my thoughts on this subject. Nature and wilderness are great, and so are public spaces designed to actually be visited by people. This country has lots of wilderness, and not so many well-designed public spaces.
That Minimum Wage Is Too High And It's Destroying All Of Our Biznessess!
Though I have no idea how high it is.
Pundit-Land
Bill Keller:
Obviously I'm generally in favor of not starting more wars, but generally the people of the King of Pundit-Land are the stupidest fucking people on the planet who have no idea what they're talking about on most of the issues that they think their opinions matter about. I know it's a bit glass house of me to knock people who spend their days opining, but what I'm really knocking is that suggestion that the blessing of Pundit-Land gives an idea any merit.
The ultimate “or what” question about Iran is, if sanctions and threats fail, could we live with a nuclear Iran? Could we trust that like every other nuclear state Iran would be deterred from using its weapons by the certain knowledge that a counterstrike would turn Persia into a wasteland? It’s worth serious discussion, but while the idea of containment by deterrence is gaining ground in pundit-land, President Obama can’t touch it; to do so would undermine the whole effort to halt Iran’s program and, not incidentally, would be hazardous to his reelection.
Obviously I'm generally in favor of not starting more wars, but generally the people of the King of Pundit-Land are the stupidest fucking people on the planet who have no idea what they're talking about on most of the issues that they think their opinions matter about. I know it's a bit glass house of me to knock people who spend their days opining, but what I'm really knocking is that suggestion that the blessing of Pundit-Land gives an idea any merit.
The Real Issue
A common thing this (and others) humble blogger faces is that almost no matter what the issue is, there's a reasonable chance someone will pop up in email or comments to inform me that it's just a distraction, stupid liberal bloggers are failing to see the big picture, and THE REAL ISSUE is biofuels or whatever.
Issues related to lady parts seem to inspire a bit more of that for some reason.
Issues related to lady parts seem to inspire a bit more of that for some reason.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Shit Is Fucked Up And Bullshit
Not a fan of employer-based coverage, but we don't yet really have a semi-affordable replacement.
We're Still There
Regarding this:
I have no idea whether Karzai and his people can maintain security in the country, but I'm not sure what "evidence to the contrary" there is. There's a reasonable amount of evidence that a large US troop presence hasn't exactly made the place a security paradise. The country we've occupied is totally fucked up so that's evidence we need to continue the occupation seems to be the logic.
Things may go to hell when we're gone, but it isn't exactly paradise with us there.
“Afghanistan is ready right now,” Karzai said in a statement, “to take all security responsibilities completely.”
With so much evidence to the contrary, it is tempting to assume that Karzai’s pronouncement is simply another provocation from a war-weary leader angered by American military lapses, the most recent of which was a U.S. Army staff sergeant’s alleged shooting rampage that killed 16 Afghan civilians last weekend. Karzai said Friday that he is “at the end of the rope” over how the U.S. military has handled the incident.
I have no idea whether Karzai and his people can maintain security in the country, but I'm not sure what "evidence to the contrary" there is. There's a reasonable amount of evidence that a large US troop presence hasn't exactly made the place a security paradise. The country we've occupied is totally fucked up so that's evidence we need to continue the occupation seems to be the logic.
Things may go to hell when we're gone, but it isn't exactly paradise with us there.
More Material For My TRILLION DOLLAR Lawsuit
My constitutional right to get obscenely rich from broadcasting my opinions has been violated for far too long.
About Right
Grey Lady:
So homeowners are still bearing the brunt of the mortgage debacle. Taxpayers are still supporting too-big-to-fail banks. And banks are still not being held accountable.
Sunday Bobbleheads
This Week has Little Ricky.
Meet the Press has AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH JOHN MCCAIN. Hopefully they chat about heartland values at the Chevy Chase club. Also, too, George Clooney and John Prendergast.
Face the Nation has Reince Priebus and Axelrod.
Document the atrocities!
Meet the Press has AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH JOHN MCCAIN. Hopefully they chat about heartland values at the Chevy Chase club. Also, too, George Clooney and John Prendergast.
Face the Nation has Reince Priebus and Axelrod.
Document the atrocities!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)