CNN's Erick Son of Erick: "Watching A Hippie Protester Get Tased Just Makes My Day"
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Afternoon Thread
The twitter tells me Heath Shuler will not be running for governor of North Carolina. Lucky North Carolina.
Easier Visas
Yes we should make it easier for more people to get tourist visas. It's a big pain in the ass - and expensive - for people from non-visa waiver countries to visit.
Fortunately There's A Policy For That
And on and on...
Unemployment in the 17-nation eurozone ended 2011 at 10.4 per cent, a new record high for the single currency since its launch at the start of 1999, official figures showed today.
Washington's Pastor
In the WaPo (find it yourself), Pastor Gerson, most noted for his efforts in service of making sure we killed a lot of people in Iraq, is very upset that the Obama administration thinks women should have proper health care.
Morning Thread
Geeze, I'm tired of having a bunch of old men tell me when and if I should use birth control.
Monday, January 30, 2012
That Inaugural Spot Was A Great Idea
More generally... I get that conservatives are going to obsess about dumb crap that nobody cares about, but there was a time (I think past, not sure) when the Villagers thought these teleprompters cracks were hilarious. As in, the DC press, the group of people who have institutional memory reaching back at least to Reagan, who surely know that everybody uses the fucking teleprompters that St. Reagan invented. But hahahaha! Obama teleprompter!!!!!
There's some real crap Obama does that people can object to. HAHAHAHA FUNNY HE USES TELEPROMPTER LIKE RONNIE really isn't part of that.
There's some real crap Obama does that people can object to. HAHAHAHA FUNNY HE USES TELEPROMPTER LIKE RONNIE really isn't part of that.
Progressive Catholics
Thought about this post all day and haven't come up with a satisfactory (to me) thing to say...so I'll just put out a flawed thing. My impression based on my experience with (some) politically connected progressive Catholics is that... they disagree with the people in charge about birth control, they certainly don't personally disapprove of the use of birth control, yet... think public policy should still cater to the will of those in the hierarchy who they disagree with.
No I have not managed to make sense of this. Perhaps there is sense to be made, or perhaps I am just getting it wrong.
No I have not managed to make sense of this. Perhaps there is sense to be made, or perhaps I am just getting it wrong.
1st
I get why arresting journalists while they're covering news is problematic, but I'm a bit confused why 'ZOMG JOURNALIST ARRESTED AT OCCUPY CAMP' is all that much more problematic than 'ZOMG HUNDREDS ARRESTED FOR PEACEFULLY ASSEMBLING.' Should be a bit more 1st amendment solidarity all around.
Gone
No the money hasn't disappeared, they're just making clear that whoever took it is unlikely to relinquish it. Whoever took it is more important than the people it was taken from.
And a new standard will be established: the right people are free to steal $1.2 billion.
What's been learned so far suggests that a good deal of the money may have “vaporized” because of scrambling in trading in the week before MF Global filed for bankruptcy protection Oct. 31, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing “a person close to the investigation.”
Many now think specific MF Global employees used money from a customer account meant to be walled off and used it to cover collateral requirements or to unfreeze assets of banks and others as they became more worried about how exposed they were to MF Global, the Journal reported.
And a new standard will be established: the right people are free to steal $1.2 billion.
The Stupidest Fucking People On The Face Of The Planet
This is totally random, but I was thinking of the tribe of blithering idiots who helped bring us the Iraq war. Sure there were the people who knew what they were doing, who wanted war for various reasons, but then there were the people who managed to be conned by those people.
Sorry about all the dead people! Oopsie. Now let me get back to writing my column about The Arab Street and all their crazy conspiracy theories...
Sorry about all the dead people! Oopsie. Now let me get back to writing my column about The Arab Street and all their crazy conspiracy theories...
Very Serious People
Think that worry about a potential future small tax increase on some rich people is more damaging to the economy than current mass unemployment.
Book
Shit is fucked up and bullshit.
But public documents show that in 2010 and 2011, Freddie Mac set out to make gains for its own investment portfolio by using complex mortgage securities that brought in more money for Freddie Mac when homeowners in higher interest-rate loans were unable to qualify for a refinancing.
Those trades "put them squarely against the homeowner," PIMCO's Simon says.
Freddie Mac's trades came at a time when mortgage rates were falling to record lows. Millions of homeowners wish they could refinance, but their lenders tell them they can't qualify for today's low rates because of tight rules. Freddie Mac is one of the gatekeepers with the power to set those rules, and lately, it has been saying no more often to homeowners.
That raises concerns among some industry insiders who see a conflict: Freddie Mac's own financial health improves when homeowners can't refinance.
Simply put, "Freddie Mac prevented households from being able to take advantage of today's mortgage rates — and then bet on it," says Alan Boyce, a former bond trader who's been involved in efforts to push for more refinancing of home loans.
Where Have They Been
I admit one thing I've been a bit surprised about is the rather inept fake scandal machine on the Right. They used to be so good at it.
But no one should be surprised when the impeachment machine cranks up.
But no one should be surprised when the impeachment machine cranks up.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
So If He Doesn't Go Galt
Then maybe that wasn't a credible threat? Wow, I'm totally shocked. Here's my shocked faced: :|
RBS boss bows to pressure and gives up £1m bonus
Thanks, Idiots
For all you have done.
How about maybe resigning in shame?
BRUSSELS — Bowing to mounting evidence that austerity alone cannot solve the debt crisis, European leaders are expected to conclude this week that what the debt-laden, sclerotic countries of the Continent need are a dose of economic growth.
How about maybe resigning in shame?
Our media, not theirs
Stuart Zechman and Digby will be tonight's panelists on Virtually Speaking Sundays. Listen live or later at the link.
Signed,
Not Atrios
Signed,
Not Atrios
The 99%
I've said this before (I've said everything before), but one divide (not the only one) is between people who live paycheck to paycheck most of the time and people who don't. Some people who live paycheck might be living pretty well, at least until they lose their job or have a health care event, but the point is that they're always living a bit on the edge, just one bad event away from trouble.
Most highly paid people on the teevee long ago forgot what it was like to count down the days until the next paycheck, and increasingly most of them probably never knew, especially as they now seem to be hereditary titles.
Most highly paid people on the teevee long ago forgot what it was like to count down the days until the next paycheck, and increasingly most of them probably never knew, especially as they now seem to be hereditary titles.
Wanker of the Day
Dancing David Gregory.
MR. GREGORY: Why doesn't that appear to be a more poll-tested position, which is if you really want shared sacrifice, then the middle class should pay taxes, too. I mean, roll back the Bush tax cuts for everybody rather than looking at the, you know, just having the rich pay more, which you look at polling and see that you have some political for. If it's shared sacrifice, why not say to everybody, everybody's going to have to do with less in terms of a social safety net, in terms of taxes and all the rest.
Hurray!
Double down!
While talks with private creditors appear to be on the right track, Papademos concedes in his statement that "deviations" from agreed targets and "delays that are piling up" have led the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to ask for additional, painful austerity measures.
Memories
SOTU 2010.
We had recovery summer and then it was all better.
Starting in 2011, we are prepared to freeze government spending for three years. Spending related to our national security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security will not be affected. But all other discretionary government programs will. Like any cash-strapped family, we will work within a budget to invest in what we need and sacrifice what we don’t. And if I have to enforce this discipline by veto, I will.
...
I know that some in my own party will argue that we cannot address the deficit or freeze government spending when so many are still hurting. I agree, which is why this freeze will not take effect until next year, when the economy is stronger. But understand – if we do not take meaningful steps to rein in our debt, it could damage our markets, increase the cost of borrowing, and jeopardize our recovery – all of which could have an even worse effect on our job growth and family incomes.
We had recovery summer and then it was all better.
Sunday Bobbeleheads
Meet the Press has an EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN. Also FRED THOMPSON, RICK SANTORUM, JOE SCARBOROUGH, david axelrod, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Chuck Toddler.
Face the Nation has REINCE PRIEBUS, MICHELE BACHMANN, DONALD TRUMP, ALLEN WEST, MARIO DIAZ-BALART, debbie wasserman schultz, John Dickerson, Scott Conroy, and Marc Caputo.
This Week has NEW GINGRICH, JOHN BOEHNNER, GEORGE WILL, donna brazille, austan goolsbee, and LAURA INGRAHAM.
document the atrocities
Face the Nation has REINCE PRIEBUS, MICHELE BACHMANN, DONALD TRUMP, ALLEN WEST, MARIO DIAZ-BALART, debbie wasserman schultz, John Dickerson, Scott Conroy, and Marc Caputo.
This Week has NEW GINGRICH, JOHN BOEHNNER, GEORGE WILL, donna brazille, austan goolsbee, and LAURA INGRAHAM.
document the atrocities
They Would Have Gone Galt!!!
Apparently there's no shortage of jobs for the management of failed companies that keep failing even after massive government bailouts.
Funny meritocracy we have.
Funny meritocracy we have.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Funny And Stupid
Tom Brokaw is concerned that if people see him in his role as a journalist it will compromise his role as a journalist.
The ad, which uses a 1997 clip from the day Mr. Gingrich was found guilty by the House of ethics violations, prompted a terse statement from Mr. Brokaw on Saturday in which he expressed concern that his work was being used for political purposes he never intended.
“I am extremely uncomfortable with the extended use of my personal image in this political ad,” he said. “I do not want my role as a journalist compromised for political gain by any campaign.”
Better Than Tanks I Suppose
Germany proposes sending in a giant wooden badger.
The right response is, "fuck off, bail out your own goddamn banks."
I do hope this is all a big stalling tactic to give time to get their secret drachma re-release program up and running, but I doubt it.
The move to make Greece hand over control of budgetary policy as the price for agreeing a €130bn rescue package would represent a humiliating blow to Greece's hopes of controlling its own destiny but could offer a means of staving off financial ruin.
The proposal was made by Germany as the euro group considered how extra finance should be offered to countries such as Greece which need support but are "continuously off-track" with their budgets. The idea, a source told Reuters, would be that European institutions already operating in Greece should be given "certain decision-making powers" over fiscal policy.
The right response is, "fuck off, bail out your own goddamn banks."
I do hope this is all a big stalling tactic to give time to get their secret drachma re-release program up and running, but I doubt it.
Also, Too, Hitler
Really great argument there.
Dr John Sentamu, the second most senior cleric in the Church of England, said marriage must remain a union between a man and a woman.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, the archbishop said marriage is set in history and the state cannot change it overnight.
He said: "I don't think it is the role of the state to define what marriage is. It is set in tradition and history and you can't just (change it) overnight, no matter how powerful you are.
"We've seen dictators do it in different contexts and I don't want to redefine very clear social structures that have been in existence for a long time and then overnight the state believes it could go in a particular way.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Tax Bite
I'm not one to complain about my taxes, but I'm probably in fairly similar circumstances as James Stewart. Significant proportion of self-employment income, household income at a level where deductions start being disallowed, etc. The issue is less that my taxes are too high than that that I pay a high percentage relative to people who make a lot more money than me. I'm not going to weep for people in my nondire circumstances over a too high tax bill, but there is an income range where taxes do actually bite, where marginal tax rates are genuinely high.
Doing It Wrong Everywhere
England has recently followed our great lead and decided that the price of a university education should be sufficiently high to ensure everyone graduates with a massive amount of debt. It was moving in that direction when I taught there. I tried to warn people that aside from the 'making people pay' part, it would transform academia by turning students into customers. Hello student evaluations and competitive pressures!
The basic thinking seems to have been that it was wonderful for university to be free back when most people who attended were quite wealthy, but once the masses started getting ideas about going it was time to force them to pay. And there again is your generational divide.
The basic thinking seems to have been that it was wonderful for university to be free back when most people who attended were quite wealthy, but once the masses started getting ideas about going it was time to force them to pay. And there again is your generational divide.
The Great Thing About Free Money From The Government
Is you can use that money to lobby for...more free money! Even from other governments!
The Royal Bank of Scotland has spent more than $4m (£2.5m) of British taxpayers' money on lobbyists in Washington since it was bailed out by the government, documents disclose.
Nobody Has Any Money
It's sort of amusing reading various articles about, for example, generational divides in the housing market, otherwise known as "young people don't think they'll ever be able to buy a house." There's too much of a desire to attribute to preferences instead of income, prices, and access to credit. I'm not saying preferences for such things can't change, but right now what's happening, both in the US and much of Europe, is that younger people are getting screwed. The game has changed for them. They're facing crap job prospects, crap income, no possibility for defined benefits pensions, and perpetual threats to completely gut retirement systems.
I'm not saying young people are the only ones being screwed by our incompetent and evil Galtian Overlords, but if you're looking for generational divides, that's your divide.
I'm not saying young people are the only ones being screwed by our incompetent and evil Galtian Overlords, but if you're looking for generational divides, that's your divide.
Who's The Boss
I'm not surprised that the conservative powers that be might be rethinking the awesomeness of Citizen's United. Basically, in the previous campaign finance framework, rich people had influence but none of them individually had too much influence. Suddenly, the money really is king, and those who managed to obtain influence and power in other ways aren't as important anymore.
Not Good Enough
As the downers at the EPI remind us (email), today's growth numbers aren't good enough, and with various bits of fiscal contraction looming next year...
“Gross domestic product grew in the 4th quarter of 2011 at the fastest rate since the first half of 2010 – but any celebration should be muted. The 2.8% growth rate for the quarter was well below expectations and the year-round growth rate for 2011 was only 1.7%, a rate that would not generate reliable declines in unemployment should it continue.
“It seems clear that the sharp withdrawal of fiscal support currently embedded in law for 2012 would result in growth wholly insufficient to reliably lower the unemployment rate. At the very least, a year-long extension of extended unemployment insurance benefits and the payroll tax cut should be passed to keep 2012 from being a year of no improvement in joblessness.”
Free Money
It isn't pointed out often enough that we've been giving massive amounts of free money to banksters, and that it would be more effective to give free money to this rest of us.
Helicopter money is precisely what the government has for three years been dropping into bank vaults, to the tune of some £850bn in cash, loans and guarantees. Ministers pleaded with bankers to lend it on to firms in the high street, but the banks preferred to keep it for themselves, to cover their gambling debts and bonuses. Dropping the stuff from helicopters is more effective since it does what it says on the tin: it instantly unleashes demand. It is an emergency blood transfusion straight into the veins of the economy, through high-street tills, job recruitment, restocking, warehouses and order books. It does not pass through the constricted arteries of bank managers.
Fortunately There's A Policy For That
So we should have this all fixed up pretty quickly.
Spain’s unemployment rate rose to 22.9 percent, the highest in 15 years, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to change labor rules and deliver on his election pledge to create jobs in a shrinking economy.
The unemployment rate rose in the fourth quarter from 21.5 percent in the previous three months, the National Statistics Institute in Madrid said today. That’s more than twice the euro- region average and exceeds the median estimate of 22.2 percent in a Bloomberg survey of seven analysts.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Applebee's America
I haven't walked by in awhile, and this is of course just anecdote, but an Applebee's opened in the urban hellhole a few years ago nearby where I used to live. It wasn't an African-American neighborhood, but every time I glanced through the window most of the customers were actually black.
Where Are All The People Going To Go
Had an idle thought about where "we" think population growth is going to go. Census hasn't (unless gastritis broke my internet) done a new projection based on 2010 data, but this .xls file (warning! .xls file!) tells us what they thought based on the 2000 data. Short version from eyeballing it is that they thought places that had been growing fast would continue to grow fast, with Nevada and Arizona more than doubling in population from 2000-2030.
Too lazy (right now) to see how the data is tracking projections, but just at a glance they're probably going to get one thing wrong: they project DC population will fall from 572K in 2000 to 433K in 2030. Could happen, I suppose, but they have the 2010 population at 601K and the 2011 estimated population at 617K...
Too lazy (right now) to see how the data is tracking projections, but just at a glance they're probably going to get one thing wrong: they project DC population will fall from 572K in 2000 to 433K in 2030. Could happen, I suppose, but they have the 2010 population at 601K and the 2011 estimated population at 617K...
What's He Been Doing For The Past 5 Years
Mitt's had a long time to purify his recent finances. And he didn't bother.
As It Should
One would think that more firms would be a bit worried that the ability to steal all of their customers money might shake a bit of trust in the system.
People such as Mr Kasouf increasingly feel they will never get their money back. As Christmas approached, with a wife and two children to support, he considered selling his house or declaring bankruptcy. Ultimately, the 72 per cent of his funds MF Global’s bankruptcy trustee has since returned prevented this, but his view of the markets has been shaken. “This has practically destroyed my trust in the whole system,” he says.
Is That Really What It's For
I normally don't pay much attention to these sorts of things, but I saw this and...wuh?
So religion lets you feel good about not practicing what your religion preaches?
Ok.
The beauty of religion is that it soothes life's contradictions. If I were a policy maker I would come down hard on the abuse of our borders or those who play the benefits system, yet I also love the Church's suspension of judgment in favour of universal love and pity. The apparent muddle over protesters at St Paul's is simply Christianity.
So religion lets you feel good about not practicing what your religion preaches?
Ok.
Probably A Bad Idea
Yes I say this in part because I'm an old fogie who probably hasn't seen closing time in quite a long time, but as long semi-dormant commercial corridors and corner retail spots continue to be revived and would be establishment owners face neighborhood resistance, I'm not sure shifting last call from closing time to 3AM (from 2) is really such a good idea.
Crooks
As I keep saying, I don't know how anybody thinks the housing market and the economy can recover as long as the banking system is filled with incompetence and outright fraud.
Newtered
I admit it's hard to know how to respond to the entity that is Newt. I'd probably have a lot of fun digging up the 3 trillion funny and horrible Newt things that are out there, but it's also so tempting just to root for him.
Hire A Driver
An Eagles player who makes over 2 million bucks/year was a passenger in a car where the driver was arrested for a DUI.
You have money. Get a taxi or hire a driver.
You have money. Get a taxi or hire a driver.
A Few Hundred Billion For The Moon, A Trillion To Kill A Couple Hundred Thousand People
I'm enough of a geek to have sympathies for spending some money on a space program, recognizing also that such R&D can have some technological payoffs, but as we're discussing Moon bases and Mars missions can we maybe have a few bucks to spend on SUPERTRAINS or, you know, unemployment benefits. Priorities, that kind of thing.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Protest Songs
Maybe it's just me, but I don't know of too many great angry songs about this here shit authoritarian economy. This one from The Mighty Stef (an aggrieved Irishman) rocks, but ought there not to be more in this vein?
Indeed It Is
So, you know, suck on it.
Oddly I'd like a Little Tommy Friedman column on this basic subject.
Calif. Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris' office has called a proposed $25-billion settlement with the nation’s mortgage industry “inadequate.”
"We've reviewed the details of the latest settlement proposal from the banks, and we believe it is inadequate for California,” Shum Preston, a spokesman for Harris, said in a statement. “Our state has been clear about what any multistate settlement must contain: transparency, relief going to the most distressed homeowners and meaningful enforcement that ensures accountability. At this point, this deal does not suffice for California."
Oddly I'd like a Little Tommy Friedman column on this basic subject.
Unearned Income Is Awesome
It is. I wish I had much more of it. My vast portfolio is, sadly, not so vast (there's button somewhere to the left if you wish to help rectify this problem). We sell it in this country as a reward for thrift. You know, by putting pennies into a coffee can you manage to buy up a few savings bonds and earn a modest rate of return. But when you have hundreds of millions of dollars it has nothing to do with thrift. You just get money for doing nothing!
I say more people should get money for doing nothing. Specifically, babies. Everybody likes babies. We should do more for them. There are about 4 million births in this country every year. Give every one of them a $10,000 t-bill. In recession times, the Fed can pay for them, in boom times the Treasury can. It'd cost about $40 billion per year in years when the Fed didn't just make them for free. These would be special, redeemable only on/after, say, their 25th birthday. If we assume a modest 2% real rate of return, everybody would have a nice $16,500 (in real terms) gift on their 25th birthday. Ownership society!
I say more people should get money for doing nothing. Specifically, babies. Everybody likes babies. We should do more for them. There are about 4 million births in this country every year. Give every one of them a $10,000 t-bill. In recession times, the Fed can pay for them, in boom times the Treasury can. It'd cost about $40 billion per year in years when the Fed didn't just make them for free. These would be special, redeemable only on/after, say, their 25th birthday. If we assume a modest 2% real rate of return, everybody would have a nice $16,500 (in real terms) gift on their 25th birthday. Ownership society!
Semi-Discretionary
There are some medical treatments which are sorta-necessary-but-not-right-away. Um, like hip replacements. Or maybe some types of post-accident reconstructive surgery. Or...I don't know, there are probably more, but I can't come up with all of that many. For those the magic of price competition could work...but, so what? It's just not an important of a class of medical procedures.
Generally, the best comparison is probably shopping for an auto mechanic. You probably can get a couple of estimates, but each one is going to take an hour of your life at least, unless your car needs to be towed in which case one more estimate is also going to set you back another hundred or more bucks. What you care about, really, is less the price than about whether or not you can trust the auto person to do the job well and that they aren't either incompetent or lying about how to fix your car. Knocking a few bucks an hour off the labor charge, or finding a deal for you on aftermarket parts, is of some value but far less than the value of being sure they're really going to do your job right.
And most people probably need their car to be fixed fairly quickly. Can get by for a few days without it, but...it's somewhat pressing. The point I'm getting at is, for all the reasons shopping for a mechanic is actually quite problematic, shopping for health care is a lot more problematic. Especially if you've been just towed to the hospital in an ambulance.
Generally, the best comparison is probably shopping for an auto mechanic. You probably can get a couple of estimates, but each one is going to take an hour of your life at least, unless your car needs to be towed in which case one more estimate is also going to set you back another hundred or more bucks. What you care about, really, is less the price than about whether or not you can trust the auto person to do the job well and that they aren't either incompetent or lying about how to fix your car. Knocking a few bucks an hour off the labor charge, or finding a deal for you on aftermarket parts, is of some value but far less than the value of being sure they're really going to do your job right.
And most people probably need their car to be fixed fairly quickly. Can get by for a few days without it, but...it's somewhat pressing. The point I'm getting at is, for all the reasons shopping for a mechanic is actually quite problematic, shopping for health care is a lot more problematic. Especially if you've been just towed to the hospital in an ambulance.
Not Optimistic
It's hard to see the Schneiderman thing as anything but bad news.
I also don't know how the economy can rebound with a completely corrupt and corrupted banking system in place, but obviously Very Serious People think that's not important.
I also don't know how the economy can rebound with a completely corrupt and corrupted banking system in place, but obviously Very Serious People think that's not important.
Perhaps More People Should Have Listened To The Dirty Hippies From The Beginning
Apparently imploding economies is not the best strategy.
Everybody has been getting it backwards.
1) Cut spending
2) ??
3) Growth
When the reality is:
1) Increase spending
2) Growth
3) pay down debt
Yes things were a bit more complicated with Greece, but the people in charge have just made things worse. Won't hold my breath for an apology. Sorry we destroyed your economy! Bygones.
It never, you know, made any fucking sense.
Financial market participants say they are more concerned about the absence of growth in the euro zone than about budget deficits and public debt levels now, because growth is what will enable countries to service and repay their debts over time. "It looks like the LTRO is having a positive contribution. Does it solve all of the problems sustainably? Probably not," said Andrew Bosomworth, a senior portfolio manager at Pimco.
"At the end of the day, it comes down to growth -- that's what these countries need to keep their debt sustainable."
Everybody has been getting it backwards.
1) Cut spending
2) ??
3) Growth
When the reality is:
1) Increase spending
2) Growth
3) pay down debt
Yes things were a bit more complicated with Greece, but the people in charge have just made things worse. Won't hold my breath for an apology. Sorry we destroyed your economy! Bygones.
Angela Merkel has cast doubt for the first time on Europe's chances of saving Greece from financial meltdown and sovereign default, conceding that Europe's first ever multibillion bailout coupled with savage austerity was not working after two years of crisis that has brought the single currency to the brink of unravelling.
It never, you know, made any fucking sense.
Perhaps Doctors Can Bid On My Appendix Surgery
People who push 'price transparency' as a magic solution to medical costs problems can't possibly have ever dealt with our medical system.
Fortunately We Have A Policy For That
Oh, you know.
And first prize for non-sequitur goes to David Cameron.
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The United Kingdom's fourth-quarter gross domestic product shrunk 0.2% quarter on quarter, pinched by weakness in the production and construction sectors, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday.
And first prize for non-sequitur goes to David Cameron.
The prime minister says the growth figures are "disappointing" but they reflect the size of the deficit inherited from Labour.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Capital And Labor
Just to put this a bit more briefly: people who have a bunch of capital don't have to work, people who don't have any do. Most rich people emulate 'working' in one way or another. They dress in suits, go to meetings, serve on the boards of organizations, etc. But they don't necessarily do any work, their money does it for them.
It's Just Tone
For Villagers, Republicans are "moderates" if they're reasonable dinner party guests.
...link fixed, always c&p the wrong link at Balloon Juice.
...link fixed, always c&p the wrong link at Balloon Juice.
Unemployed
Romney has said he was unemployed. He's right. He actually does nothing to earn most of his income. He's just in possession of a giant pile of cash. He pays some people to do stuff with that giant pile of cash so it earns a rate of return. And because we are ruled by horrible people who think the lives of the 1% are more important than everyone else, the tax rate on any money that pile of cash earns is much lower than it is on the money earned by people who actually work.
Heckuva Job
What other crazy shit goes on in police training.
In January 2011, when news broke that the department had used the film in training, a top police official denied it, then said it had been mistakenly screened “a couple of times” for a few officers.
A year later, police documents obtained under the state’s Freedom of Information Law reveal a different reality: “The Third Jihad,” which includes an interview with Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, was shown, according to internal police reports, “on a continuous loop” for between three months and one year of training.
Maybe I Just Hate The Future
But I really don't believe adding self-driving cars to our road system will work. I imagine the technology is there to build a system from scratch where all or most vehicles are self-driving, but I don't believe it would work on our existing system.
Monday, January 23, 2012
What's Important Is What Gail Collins Thought of David Brooks's Thoughts on Jonah Goldberg's Remarks About
Actually no one gives a shit about any of that.
Evening Thread
This will probably serve to get you properly annoyed before the debate (yes, another one).
cha cha cha cha cha
cha cha cha cha cha
And They'll Make Us Use Sandpaper For Toilet Paper!
And bring back New Coke!!! Of all of the recent mostly pointless wingnuttery, the lightbulb fixation has been the most amusing/bemusing.
Also, too, move our cheese.
Also, too, move our cheese.
I've Got An Even Bolder Plan
How about more free money for the most corrupt people on the planet?
That'll probably work.
That'll probably work.
Because It's My Blog And I Like Transit Maps
New York City (the most hellish of all urban hellholes) subway map.
Click to embiggen it.
Click to embiggen it.
A Bit Of Sanity
Even SCOTUS thinks that attaching tracking devices without warrants might go a wee bit too far.
Any Day Now
I suppose we should start betting on whether a Greece debt deal or a bogus foreclosure fraud settlement deal happens first.
Keep Bleeding The Patient
I really don't know what will end all of this austerity madness. All the Very Serious People agree it's the right thing to do, and nothing will ever convince them that they are/were wrong.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Bankster Abbey
The upper class twit fantasy that the happiness of the help is determined by the success of their masters.
And it isn't the Bank of Scotland, it's RBS, an almost wholly owned entity of the British government, and a very poorly performing investment so it's not entirely clear why any bonuses for top management are deserved at all.
And it isn't the Bank of Scotland, it's RBS, an almost wholly owned entity of the British government, and a very poorly performing investment so it's not entirely clear why any bonuses for top management are deserved at all.
With its 83 per cent stake in RBS, the British taxpayer now has an opportunity to demonstrate the kind of shareholder activism that Mr Cameron has been invoking; the bank’s share price has fallen 43 per cent in a year, wiping £11bn off its market value.
Twitterplause
I thought this, from English actress Louise Brealey, was interesting.
Obviously a big difference between non-live audience TV and theatre is the lack of audience response. Having immediate feedback on the twitter to a TV broadcast can't impact the performance in the way that it does in theatre, but perhaps does provide some of the same feeling for the actors.
Twitter's amazing because suddenly being on the telly is like being on stage: you get this immediate response and it's really unusual. On Sunday [when the last episode of Sherlock aired], it was extraordinary. I got hundreds of messages and 18 marriage proposals.
Obviously a big difference between non-live audience TV and theatre is the lack of audience response. Having immediate feedback on the twitter to a TV broadcast can't impact the performance in the way that it does in theatre, but perhaps does provide some of the same feeling for the actors.
Fluke
Presumably Romney will instruct his tax people to maximize his effective tax rate for the year. The obvious question, then, is did he treat income in previous years differently?
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK
I assume we'll get a bit of a Bow Tied Republican freakout over Newt, and then if he keeps winning David Brooks will discover his Burkean Humility, or whatever, and all will be well.
Sunday Bobbleheads
Face the Nation has Newt Gingrich, Haley Barbour and Lindsey Graham.
This Week has Rick Santorum.
Meet the Press has Newt and Chris Christie.
Really don't even need to comment.
This Week has Rick Santorum.
Meet the Press has Newt and Chris Christie.
Really don't even need to comment.
Wisdom
Newt Gingrich can be the GOP nominee in exactly the same sense as Tim Tebow can be an NFL quarterback.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
The Village Morals
The important thing to remember is... the only people who cared about Clinton's affair with Lewinsky were committed partisans and the church ladies that were our press corps. The 24/7 year long Monica show resulted in...extremely high approval ratings. I'm not saying such things can have no impact on how voters see candidates, but personally I'm not surprised that those values voters don't give a shit about this stuff because most people really don't give a shit about this stuff. I'm more surprised those values voters don't care that he's Catholic. Maybe no one has told them yet.
The Dual Cassette Deck Menace
I'm old I can remember we had these little cases that held.. I dunno, maybe 60 cassette tapes if they were double sided? And a typical weekend activity for bored suburban young teenagers was to spend the paper route money on a big chunk of blank tapes, which weren't even all that cheap, trade cases with a friend, and spend hours copying them.
How else would I hear new (to me) music? Radio sucked and there wasn't any internet. I guess for a short bit we did have an MTV that was a bit all over the place, before it locked into the 'same 6 videos every hour' format and then the 'no music whatsoever' format.
How else would I hear new (to me) music? Radio sucked and there wasn't any internet. I guess for a short bit we did have an MTV that was a bit all over the place, before it locked into the 'same 6 videos every hour' format and then the 'no music whatsoever' format.
Fashion
Not my area, of course, but as defined by "what I see the 20somethingish wimmenfolk wearing," I'd say it's generally much less based around "do everything to hide flaws (real or imagined)" that mostly prevailed when I was younger.
Not saying fashion is all about young people or women, just that what's new/changed is a bit more obvious with younger people. And dudely fashion hardly budges, at least since we all threw out our Kajagoogoo clothing lines.
...the one dudely thing I've noticed is that The Kids Today think pleated pants for men are the equivalent of running around with a giant green wig and a bozo nose.
Not saying fashion is all about young people or women, just that what's new/changed is a bit more obvious with younger people. And dudely fashion hardly budges, at least since we all threw out our Kajagoogoo clothing lines.
...the one dudely thing I've noticed is that The Kids Today think pleated pants for men are the equivalent of running around with a giant green wig and a bozo nose.
Everybody's Reasonable
One thing that seems to be lacking is recognition that people actually mean what they repeatedly say. Most anti-choice leaders/movement (not all anti-choicers, but the movement) actually are against birth control use, at least by other people. Very respectable right wing economists do think all unemployment is "voluntary." Etc.
What's It All About Then
Not so hard to figure out.
More applause greeted a woman at one of Gingrich’s next campaign stops when she thanked him “for putting Mr. Juan Williams in his place the other night.”
It's Their Game
And as the self-appointed referees they get cranky when someone points out it's all a sham.
Unpossible
This is a post-racial world.
Blacks are about twice as likely as whites to wind up in the more onerous and costly form of consumer bankruptcy as they try to dig out from their debts, a new study has found.
Good Morning
Really, it's not a tragedy when your coffee maker gives up the ghost. It just feels like one.
Grrrr.
Grrrr.
Friday, January 20, 2012
SOPA PIPA
I think the not quite made enough point about these types of laws is that they're really not about stemming piracy, they're about big media companies declaring that the internet is ours now, bitches!
Hating Gay People And Abortion For Some People
It's been somewhat sad watching CNN, always imperfect at best but not always awful, become the worst cable news network.
Values.
ANNOUNCER: Welcome to the South, the heart of the Republican Party, where tradition lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FORMER GOV. MITT ROMNEY (R-MA.), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The strongest military in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: And values matter.
Values.
As you know, your ex-wife gave an interview to ABC News and another interview with "The Washington Post." And this story has now gone viral on the Internet.
In it, she says that you came to her in 1999, at a time when you were having an affair. She says you asked her, sir, to enter into an open marriage.
Would you like to take some time to respond to that? GINGRICH: No, but I will.
(APPLAUSE)
GINGRICH: I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office. And I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that.
(APPLAUSE)
Look Forward
No I don't know precisely why massive criminal fraud by the banskters has been allowed to continue, but it's good that people are talking about it.
Really Horrible People
"Abstinence education" is stupid regardless, but it takes a worst person of the world level caliber person to propose it only for girls.
One day, maybe, this impulse to screw up teenage kids (especially girls) as much as possible will fade. I hope.
MPs will debate a controversial bill on Friday calling for teenage girls to be given lessons in sexual abstinence.
The bill, proposed by Nadine Dorries, the Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire, would require schools to offer extra sex education classes to girls aged 13 to 16 and for these lessons to include advice on "the benefits of abstinence".
One day, maybe, this impulse to screw up teenage kids (especially girls) as much as possible will fade. I hope.
Austerity Bites
Hopefully the IMF increasingly realizes that its other pet policy issues, whatever their merits, are rather unimportant compared to the deliberate imposition of mass poverty on the citizens of wealthy nations.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Share
Not a particularly deep or original thought, but if not for the internet I doubt I would have purchased a CD or gone to a newish music concert since about 2004. I don't download music for free deliberately, in that I'm not trying to GET FREE STUFF, but of course I watch (and embed) clips of dubious legality on the youtube and similar. If I like stuff I buy it. I stuck to buying CDs for a long time, but now it's likely sound files as direct from the artists as I can perceive. And, yes, this increasingly old man also pays money to go see shows of bands I never would have heard of otherwise.
The internet provides an immense amount of free marketing. That's really sad for the people who earned lots of money based on their supposed ability to market things, but generally it's a feature, not a bug.
I remember back in the early days in of the internet when suddenly the megacorps started aggressively going after fan sites. And this was before there were easy ways to monetize such sites in any genuinely lucrative ways. They were mostly, if not entirely, hobbyist sites. Yeah, sure, some of them probably abused copyright more than they should, but the smart thing then would have been for the companies to buy the sites or pay the site owners, not sue them. After all, they were provide them with a very valuable service.
The internet provides an immense amount of free marketing. That's really sad for the people who earned lots of money based on their supposed ability to market things, but generally it's a feature, not a bug.
I remember back in the early days in of the internet when suddenly the megacorps started aggressively going after fan sites. And this was before there were easy ways to monetize such sites in any genuinely lucrative ways. They were mostly, if not entirely, hobbyist sites. Yeah, sure, some of them probably abused copyright more than they should, but the smart thing then would have been for the companies to buy the sites or pay the site owners, not sue them. After all, they were provide them with a very valuable service.
Receiving Stolen Goods
I'm not expert law talking dude, but I imagine if someone steals a car and gives it to me, the cops might come and take it back.
Newtered
I'd like to say it's none of our goddamn business, but Newt made sure that this stuff will be our business for a long long time.
The World That Was
I grew up internalizing some of this basic gender worldview. I hope more kids today aren't.
Who's The Boss
What a horrible world we're creating.
The novel approach would have the funds arguing in the European Court of Human Rights that Greece had violated bondholder rights, though that could be a multiyear project with no guarantee of a payoff. And it would not be likely to produce sympathy for these funds, which many blame for the lack of progress so far in the negotiations over restructuring Greece’s debts.
The tactic has emerged in conversations with lawyers and hedge funds as it became clear that Greece was considering passing legislation to force all private bondholders to take losses, while exempting the European Central Bank, which is the largest institutional holder of Greek bonds with 50 billion euros or so.
What's His Job
Just what was Freeh hired for...
MF Global Inc. (MFGLQ) commodity customers must be paid before all other claimants, including the bankrupt parent company, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Court papers by the trustee for MF Global Holdings Ltd., Louis Freeh, contain “errors and misstatements of law” in arguing that commodity laws, which require that customers be “made whole” first, don’t apply to brokerage liquidations, the regulator said in a court filing today. Freeh, representing the parent company creditors, has said money due to them shouldn’t be “diverted” to customers.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
It Would Certainly Save Money
Whether it would save the government money... 50-50 is a good guess on the odds.
What's It For
Don't really know or even much care what the future of home sizes is. I have issues with mandated lot sizes and parking requirements and lots of regulations which limit the possibilities for dense development, but if people want big houses I don't really have any objection. (Nor do I have an objection to people wanting to live in non dense development, just object to stupid laws preventing such development).
But I've been puzzled by the McMansion phenomenon. What are they for? Obviously if you have a large family you might need some extra bedrooms, but otherwise, unless you entertain a lot...I don't know why you'd want a large house. I have a pretty big place, bigger than I need. A little extra space is desirable because I work from home, and a little more is desirable because I do entertain a reasonable amount, but even if I had 3 kids I'm not sure why I'd want 4500 sq. feet.
But I've been puzzled by the McMansion phenomenon. What are they for? Obviously if you have a large family you might need some extra bedrooms, but otherwise, unless you entertain a lot...I don't know why you'd want a large house. I have a pretty big place, bigger than I need. A little extra space is desirable because I work from home, and a little more is desirable because I do entertain a reasonable amount, but even if I had 3 kids I'm not sure why I'd want 4500 sq. feet.
Fucking Internets, How Do They Work
Years ago I posted that the internet was indeed a miracle, and only due to sheer luck does it exist in anything resembling its current form. Reed Hundt objected, saying it was due to design by smart people. He was, of course, correct. I didn't mean luck in the sense that we found a shiny penny, I meant lucky in the sense that when smart people were inventing it and Al Gore was making sure it happened, nobody had enough "sense" to stop it. That is, the entrenched interests didn't see it as a direct or indirect threat, and no one informed Senator Hatch that in a couple of years his granddaughter would have a porn machine on her desk.
It could have been very very different. As it could be in the future.
It could have been very very different. As it could be in the future.
Nobody Could Have Predicted
That the "Pain Center" was an (alleged) dodgy entity.
Walked by it for years. Always had the air of a scam outfit.
Walked by it for years. Always had the air of a scam outfit.
Taking Me Back
It's like when liberal bloggers were causing all the violence in Iraq by pointing out that there was lots of violence in Iraq. If only we'd clapped a little louder, everything would have been great.
The reason to point out the negative consequences of policies is to maybe, just maybe, change the policies. This idea that if only people took their beatings with a bit more of a smile and a thank you then everything would be ok is insane.
The reason to point out the negative consequences of policies is to maybe, just maybe, change the policies. This idea that if only people took their beatings with a bit more of a smile and a thank you then everything would be ok is insane.
Clap Louder
And things are getting dumber and dumber...
On Tuesday the Irish Congress of Trade Unions claimed that 26,000 jobs could be lost in the Northern Ireland public sector as part of the Coalition's cost cutting, austerity programme over the next five years.
But Wilson denounced these projections saying that the predictions undermined efforts to build confidence in the economy.
Speaking on Radio Ulster, the Democratic Unionist minister said: "If they haven't anything positive to say, then they should shut up."
They Screwed Up
Basically the Tories thought they could implement a bunch of policies they wanted to implement anyway, watch the economy turn around because, like magic, that's what happens, and then cut taxes in time for the next election.
Oh well. Maybe the confidence fairy will arrive soon.
Oh well. Maybe the confidence fairy will arrive soon.
David Brooks Finds A Nut
He's almost there...
And never was, unless what you're pining for is segregation and lack of rights for women. Which, for some, is what they're pining for, though most are just indulging in Leave It To Beaver fantasies.
I was also struck, as in New Hampshire and Iowa, by the mood of this year’s rallies. Republican audiences this year want a restoration. America once had strong values, they believe, but we have gone astray. We’ve got to go back and rediscover what we had. Heads nod enthusiastically every time a candidate touches this theme.
I agree with the sentiment, but it makes for an incredibly backward-looking campaign. I sometimes wonder if the Republican Party has become the receding roar of white America as it pines for a way of life that will never return.
And never was, unless what you're pining for is segregation and lack of rights for women. Which, for some, is what they're pining for, though most are just indulging in Leave It To Beaver fantasies.
And Locally
Saw this on the twitter earlier and thought it was a joke.
Last week, The Inquirer began asking about Patterson's side job as editor of The Family in America, published by an Illinois-based research center that advocates for the "natural human family . . . established by the Creator."
In the journal, Patterson has weighed in on everything from what he called "misguided" programs that grew out of the 1960s War on Poverty - programs now administered by DPW - to what he described as a woman's ideal role in society: married and at home raising children.
For instance, he wrote about research that he said showed that if women wanted to find "Mr. Right," they should shun birth control pills; and if they wanted to improve their mood, they should not insist that their men wear condoms lest they miss out on beneficial chemicals found in semen.
All We Need
Is more austerity!!!
UK unemployment rose by 118,000 in the three months to November to 2.685 million, official figures show.
The Office for National Statistics said the unemployment rate also rose to 8.4% from 8.3%, the highest since January 1996.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Erin Go Puppy
Via P O'N.The Indomitable Irishry.
We have not adjusted our political score backing the rating on Ireland. This reflects our view that the Irish government's response to the significant deterioration in its public finances and the recent crisis in the Irish financial sector has been proactive and substantive.Good dog. Have a biscuit.
Jibber Jabbery
Kinda blogged out. Blogging (as I do it) really is like talking. Sometimes I'm in a social mood, in the mood to talk, and sometimes not.
So talk amongst yourselves!
So talk amongst yourselves!
Deep Thought
Big internet companies should start taking their users to court. That wouldn't be a stunt!
Kick Their Ass And Take Their Gas
I thought we had a proven method for dealing with pesky little problems like this?
It Doesn't Necessarily Fix Itself
I hope I'm just the eternal pessimist, but as dday says, continuing 'austerity' is perfectly capable of destroying any chance of an economic recovery.
Maybe Everybody's Doing It
Oh Canada.
TORONTO - One of Canada's investment regulators has accused Barret Capital Management, a firm specialized in futures and options on metals and other exchange-traded commodities, of using client money for its own purposes.
The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada warned Monday that Barret clients are at risk due to the firm's "ongoing misappropriation of their money to fund losing trades and ongoing misinformation about the value and holdings in their accounts."
Medicare For Old People Good Medicaid For Kids Bad
This commenter pretty much embodies the modern Republican party.
[W]ith Obamacare we the taxpayer are the ones paying for it and because of Obamacare our Medicare will be cut because the Democrats decided to take the money from Medicare. Oh and we the taxpayers who are paying for Obamacare shouldn't have lesser health insurance than you deadbeats who get it for free. Welfare should be for short-term assistance so people can get on their feet...not a way of life and not a system where people who have BMWs and Mercedes are whipping out Access cards while chatting on their iPhones.
It's Their Country
I imagine that to get close to finding out just what/why the hell we're doing in Iraq would require getting some Dod/State people very drunk, and even then I'm sure that different drunk people would provide different drunk answers.
And I suppose that once it finally dawns on us that it isn't actually our country, our plans might change,
And I suppose that once it finally dawns on us that it isn't actually our country, our plans might change,
Nice Work
Looters, looters, everywhere...
Investors in a certain share class had to agree to keep the money in Eton Park for a minimum of 27 months, and it would take them another two years to get out, as they could only redeem one-third in any given year -- what's called a rolling three-year lockup. If the investor missed the window of opportunity after the initial 27 months, he couldn't try again for another 27. He also had to let Eton Park know 65 days ahead of time of his desire to exit the fund, and then would only receive his cash 30 days after the redemption date. The only way to get around these terms would be to pay a 6% early-exit penalty to the fund. And that wasn't all: Eton Park also reserved the right to place up to 30% of the fund in side pockets; that money would be stuck there as long as the firm wanted.
The terms were egregious, but Mindich could demand them, and so he did. Such was the golden era for would-be hedge fund titans.
Monday, January 16, 2012
I Own My Own Home
Amazingly lots of people do in the urban hellhole. Not even a condo fee.
Apparently speaking to his suburban, middle-class base, he struck a populist tone: “Those who, you know, live in high-rise apartment buildings writing for fancy newspapers in the middle of town after they ride the metro, who don’t understand that for most Americans the ability to buy a home, to have their own property, to have a sense of belonging is one of the greatest achievements of their life, and it makes them feel like they are good solid citizens,” he told the crowd.
Gotta Hate Somebody
As I've before, I get why people oppose abortion but really don't get see any semi-rational reason for spending your time trying to ruin the lives of gay and lesbian people. And, no, the religion reason is no reason, as 'ruining the lives of gay and lesbian people' really isn't too near the top of the Jesus agenda.
Concentrate The Pain
A tiny uptick in the gas tax would probably make more sense, but if it's called a 'tax' you aren't allowed to increase it...
Keep The Campaign Donations Coming
One positive thing about our corrupt system is how perpetually almost passing horrible legislation to benefit a particular industry is likely more lucrative for members of Congress than actually passing that legislation. Certain things, like the inevitable perpetual copyright extensions, will get passed because there are deadlines, but there's a chance that laws like SOPA might not get passed due to, not in spite of, greed and corruption. Throw a check into the campaign hat, and we'll revisit it next year...
Mysteries
I still really just have no idea why Greece doesn't tell them all to piss off, and give the opportunity to French and German leaders to explain to their people why they're going to shovel taxpayer money into the maws of the banksters.
Priorities
And maybe they can hire some yacht scrubbers.
The Queen should be given a new royal yacht – likely to cost at least £60m – as a way to help overturn Britain's mood of austerity, according to Cabinet minister Michael Gove.
...
"In spite, and perhaps because of the austere times, the celebration should go beyond those of previous jubilees and mark the greater achievement that the diamond anniversary represents," Mr Gove recommended.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
The Fed Can Give Free Money To People
As we move from blame Yurp to blame oil prices... it's important to remember that there are things that the people who rule us can do. They aren't doing them. They could make things better. They have chosen not to.
Go Vote, SC Democrats
I don't entirely get what Colbert's game is, but...registered Dems can go vote for him in the SC primary.
So, do so!
I'm for easy voter registration and party switching, but think open primary rules are dumb.
So, do so!
I'm for easy voter registration and party switching, but think open primary rules are dumb.
Health And Safety
I don't think 'the porn industry will move' is a good argument against mandatory condom worker safety laws, but I do think it's a pretty good argument against expected impact of those laws. It's an argument for pushing for state level laws. For somewhat obvious reasons the general Los Angeles area will likely remain a hub of the porn industry, but porn producers can still move 5 feet out of jurisdiction of the LA City Council rather easily.
It's A Start
Not a complete solution to the problem, but perhaps the worst thing about our criminal justice system which has all kinds of competitors for the "worst thing" title is the fact that people are made mostly unemployable forever.
How Weird Rich Assholes Think
Oh, yes, that's the answer.
Jamie Dimon has a plan to fix the U.S. housing market: lock mortgage lenders and regulators behind closed doors until they figure it out.
“I would convene all the people involved in the business, I would close the door, I’d stay there until we resolved a bunch of these issues so we could have a more healthy mortgage market,” the 55-year-old chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co. said today.
Consumption Choices
A NYT commenter:
...adding, median household income in Manhattan is about $70K.
The local cost of living is not given enough consideration in analyzing these statistics. For example, in Manhattan, after paying "millionaire's tax" on everything from apartment purchases to income tax "surcharges", $150,000 per year for school (if you have four kids and want them to have a primary school education close to what you get for free in a decent suburb), send them for a few weeks of day camp in the summer for around $30,000--unless you want them to play video games all day, pay a mortgage on an apartment barely large enough to house the family (no one with a bedroom of their own) $100,000 year, pay $800/ month to park your car (no, not a luxury car), make some meaningful charitable contributions, etc. there is little left. A two income family will work 11 hour days, rush home to supervise homework, scarf down some burgers for dinner, pay some bills, read to the kids, put them to bed, do another hour or two of office work, and crash.
Does this lifestyle-- one with a focus on educating your children to be able to contribute to a dynamic and increasing unpredictable economic and social climate sound like one that should be targeted for further economic penalties? Teach yourself and your children to be able to adapt to the economy instead of demanding that the economy adapt to you.
Why aren't stories like this being told? I'm glad the Times dug into the 1% more deeply, but this group is still being tared with a broad brush. It is not accurate or fair.
...adding, median household income in Manhattan is about $70K.
He Looked At Me Funny
I had friends in college who liked to fight. As in, liked to go to bars, get really drunk, and then look for an excuse to get in a fight. I never quite understood it until one night one of these people was pissed off and about to start fighting because, as the title says, "he looked at me funny."
What I've never understood is how these people think that such fights don't have a nontrivial chance of ending in tragedy. We're pretty fragile, really.
What I've never understood is how these people think that such fights don't have a nontrivial chance of ending in tragedy. We're pretty fragile, really.
Kless and two female friends were walking on Chestnut Street near Fourth Street when he tried to hail a cab. The three had just left Lucy's Hat Shop Restaurant & Lounge, a few blocks away.
The cab's rooftop lights were on, signaling it was available, but there were passenagers inside and the taxi didn't stop. Police said Kless yelled "turn off your f-ing lights."
A Maroon Mazda with four men inside drove up behind the cab, as traffic likely slowed up for a brief moment, Evers said.
"We assume the people in the car feel he's yelling at them," said one investigator.
LEAVE THE 1% ALOOOOOOOOOONE
If you prick them, do they not bleed? And as for this:
The maximum monthly benefit is around $2500, or $30,000 annually. If you took it all it'd be equivalent to raising the tax on a million dollar earner (for the entire amount) by 3 percentage points. For a ten million dollar earner, 3 tenths of a percentage point.
Of the 1 percenters interviewed for this article, almost all — conservatives and liberals alike — said the wealthy could and should shoulder more of the country’s financial burden, and almost all said they viewed the current system as unfair. But they may prefer facing cuts to their own benefits like Social Security than paying more taxes.
The maximum monthly benefit is around $2500, or $30,000 annually. If you took it all it'd be equivalent to raising the tax on a million dollar earner (for the entire amount) by 3 percentage points. For a ten million dollar earner, 3 tenths of a percentage point.
Sunday Bobbleheads - MLK Day Weekend Edition
This Week has Colbert and Ricky Perry.
Meet the Press has Gingrich, Lindsey Graham, Harry Reid, and Tim Scott.
Face the Nation hasStephen Colbert Santorum and DeMint.
Stay in bed.
Meet the Press has Gingrich, Lindsey Graham, Harry Reid, and Tim Scott.
Face the Nation has
Stay in bed.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
This Is Probably Not A Good Thing
Discuss.
One reason for the automakers to be encouraged is that more senior citizens are driving. Some 70 percent of ages 70 and older had their driver’s license in 2008, up from 55 percent in 1983.
Not Sure Yet
I'm still not so sure that the practical impact of Citizens United on our politics is going to be as dire as people imagine. Sure it all looks pretty gross, and I don't blame people for being concerned, but even without donor transparency there's a degree to which election-related activities are essentially public, unlike many of the other channels through which money flows in our weird political system.
Anthropology
The New York Times ventures into the jungle.
There is a problem, though. Here in Gaffney, where deeply held Christian beliefs often matter more than jobs, few remember the Holson Burnes photo album plant, let alone the devastation its closing is alleged to have caused back in 1992.
...
“Nobody here really cares about that. It wasn’t a big deal,” Mr. Sossamon said. “We’re looking for a new school superintendent. That and the economy are what people really care about right now.”
Friday, January 13, 2012
Priorities
I used to have some sympathy for CNN. Thought they were flawed, but that they showed signs of trying. Then they started trying something else.
At least one regular CNN political contributor took issue with the comments and with CNN's handling of Loesch and other right-wing contributors:
"What's interesting is how the kid gloves are applied to outlandish comments made by the likes of Erick Erickson or Dana Loesch and how it has a negative impact on the CNN brand," said the contributor, who also requested anonymity. "There really is no pushback or no real conversation that says, 'Look, you make these kinds of comments or you write these kinds of wild, crazy stuff, that's just not what we're about.' It simply doesn't happen. I think there is fear of saying anything to them because they are Tea Party folks, and there has been a clear effort on the part of our political team to court that whole Tea Party thought process, if you will."
"The danger is always the negative impact on your whole political coverage," the contributor added. "Because clearly you want there to be a point of view, but there is a difference between a point of view and being so far off the rails it defies logic."
Reflect This
I don't know why Greece just doesn't say... "first X billion in line gets a 40% cut, next Y billion gets 60%, the rest of you, suck on it."
Crucial negotiations between the Greek government and its private creditors on a bond swap deal needed to avoid default appeared close to collapse Friday, with representatives of private bondholders saying they had been "paused for reflection."
Lies Nobody Cares About
Lying about the operation of government is sooooo boring. More gossip, please!
Random Thought
This isn't especially new and original, but I hadn't quite thought of it this way before. It was quite the triumph of conservative propaganda to convince people that the housing bubble was, once again, about poor minorities getting more than they deserved.
And on and on.
And on and on.
Looters
That's way the game is played these days.
And it's probably completely legal!
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. diverted more than $100 million in gas safety and operations money collected from customers over a 15-year period and spent it for other purposes, including profit for stockholders and bonuses for executives, according to a pair of state-ordered reports released Thursday.
And it's probably completely legal!
QOTD
Dean Baker:
[A]s noted in the article, many of the people at these Fed meetings are still in top policy making positions. This shows that the U.S. economy still produces good-paying jobs for people without skills.
I Knew Something
I never claimed to know exactly how the housing bubble would play out, and I certainly was, for a time, unaware of the financial stuff behind it, but unlike the geniuses who rule us, I knew one simple thing. Not enough people in this country had anything close to enough money for house prices to make any sense. I knew that not enough people could possible afford those inflated mortgages.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Politico on Colbert
How it is possible to watch a Politico douche on Colbert and not want to shoot someone in the face, escapes me.
"You don't want a Mottfrontation!"
Kill me.
"You don't want a Mottfrontation!"
Kill me.
Stoop'd
I think open container laws are kinda dumb, and have no idea what the laws are in my urban hellhole regarding stoop consumption (have stoop, don't think I've ever had a drink on it), but this is certainly dumb.
A Whiter Shade of CLANG
Awesome.
As he traveled across South Carolina on Thursday, Mr. Santorum urged voters to dismiss the conventional wisdom that Mitt Romney has an upper hand in the nominating contest. He said the party can win back the White House only by offering a “clear contrast” with President Obama.
“We need contrasts,” Mr. Santorum said, “not just a paler shade of what we have.”
Also, Too
It isn't as if random crazy people on the street are granted "they said it so that's good enough to print" privileges by our elite newspapers. Powerful connected people are.
The "liberal media" used to be called the "establishment media" back before conservatives started to seriously work the refs.
The "liberal media" used to be called the "establishment media" back before conservatives started to seriously work the refs.
Information Laundering
This point has been made a million times, but when the New York Times prints something, most readers assume that they have, in fact, made a modest effort to determine the truth or falsehood of it.
The Guiding Principle
I get it, finally. It's the Cokie/Colbert principle: The truthiness is out there.
Not The Onion
NYT Public Editor:
I’m looking for reader input on whether and when New York Times news reporters should challenge “facts” that are asserted by newsmakers they write about.
Must Have Been A Bit Confusing Near The End
Funny how the side of goodness and light can switch so suddenly.
Scotland Yard has opened a criminal investigation into secret MI6 rendition operations that resulted in leading Libyan dissidents being abducted and flown to Tripoli, where they were subsequently tortured in Muammar Gaddafi's prisons.
...
Saadi was detained in Hong Kong in 2004 and then forced on to a plane to Tripoli with his wife and four children in an operation that MI6 mounted in co-operation with Gaddafi's intelligence chief, Moussa Koussa.
Nobody Could Have Predicted
And the madness will continue.
Jan 11 (Reuters) - Greece's budget deficit widened last year as an austerity-fuelled recession cancelled out much of the extra revenues the government was hoping to raise through emergency taxes, data showed on Thursday. The central government budget gap widened 0.8 percent year-on-year to 21.64 billion euros ($27.45 billion) last year, according to figures from the finance ministry.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
It's Also So Confusing
And of course you have to fill out a 17 page claim form in order for us to consider thinking about maybe possibly if you're lucky considering trying to find out if the money in your customer account is still there.
I've been a bit curious how this would play out, whether DEMOCRAT SCANDAL (golden!) or WALL STREET SCANDAL (shhhhhh) would win. Mostly it's been the latter.
Maybe if Dana Milbank had a couple bucks in an MF Global account he'd write a mildly perturbed article about it before getting back to the usual business.
So far, the trustee liquidating MF Global's brokerage has arranged for customers to be reunited with about 72% of their funds. Now customers are in a new stage of recovery for the rest, slogging through what some describe as an unduly arduous claims process. The trustee has estimated that $1.2 billion in customer funds remains missing.
The customers' main complaints: a 17-page claims form that some say is vague and doesn't fully reflect the nuances of futures and derivatives markets. Some also are frustrated that a process they hoped would swiftly return their money hasn't.
I've been a bit curious how this would play out, whether DEMOCRAT SCANDAL (golden!) or WALL STREET SCANDAL (shhhhhh) would win. Mostly it's been the latter.
Maybe if Dana Milbank had a couple bucks in an MF Global account he'd write a mildly perturbed article about it before getting back to the usual business.
Or Maybe You Could Spend Some Of The Toll Money?
I get less enraged than some by the fact that our local bridge authority, which is supposed to spend the toll money on jersey-pennsylania linkage related program activities, spends a lot of it on random patronage projects (of varying merit), but when a rather obvious core function project appears...do it?
and as for this:
Um, basically every day I'm out in Philly? They ride the bus, too!
and as for this:
How many times have you seen a person riding down the sidewalk in a wheelchair? I can't recall ever. I'm 54.
Um, basically every day I'm out in Philly? They ride the bus, too!
9 Out Of 10 People In The Green Room Disagree
I think it's true that a lot of people erroneously think the deficit is somehow a cause of the bad economy, so you can't entirely rule out the idea that being a deficit peacock has no political gain, but what they really care about, unsurprisingly, are jobs. Even if there's value in deficit peacocking, there's presumably greater value in jobs peacocking. Also, too, actually providing more jobs.
Also, Too, If You Weren't White This Story Wouldn't Be In The New York Times
Not blaming the subject of this story, it's just another case of reporters only sometimes noticing wee flaws in our criminal justice system.
That's A Thing
I have no idea who is killing Iranian nuclear scientists, but might I suggest that it isn't a very nice thing to do.
Is Water Wet?
Wow, it's as if this never occurred to anybody before...
We are ruled by fools who think mass poverty is the solution to a bad economy.
ATHENS — Deeply indebted and nearly bankrupt, this Mediterranean nation was forced to adopt tough austerity measures to slash its deficit and secure an international bailout. But as Greece’s economy slides into free fall, critics are scanning the devastated landscape here and asking a probing question: Does austerity really work?
We are ruled by fools who think mass poverty is the solution to a bad economy.
Here's A Cunning Plan
Do everything you can to make sure your trading partners don't have any money to buy your stuff.
WIESBADEN, Germany--Germany's economy probably contracted by around 0.25% in the fourth quarter of last year, the government's statistics office said Wednesday, increasing the risk the 17-nation euro zone could be heading for a contraction only two years after the last recession.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Ummm... We've Already Seen This Movie
Just make sure to sell minutes before the real crops report comes out.
Suck on it, Randolph and Mortimer.
Suck on it, Randolph and Mortimer.
Don't Know Anything About Anything
More generally, the belief that because someone is good at X they're likely to be good at Y is a strange one. Yes displaying some core competence in anything does provide a signal of something, but it still doesn't mean a skilled brain surgeon knows anything about which countries we should be invading (hint: ALL OF THEM!!!).
Such Confusion
The latest on MF Global doesn't shed much light, but makes sure we know how confusing things are, how the record keeping was sloppy, and how nobody is being accused of any wrongdoing.
Huzzah! The Asset Test!
Make sure you're completely broke before you can get any help.
Specifically, the Department of Public Welfare said that as of May 1, people under 60 with more than $2,000 in savings and other assets would no longer be eligible for food stamps. For people over 60, the limit would be $3,250.
Monday, January 09, 2012
Malaise
Miliband is truly inspiring.
Labour: maybe sucking slightly less than the other guys for the past 8 months or so.
Ed Miliband will set out a new direction for the Labour party under his leadership on Tuesday by saying that the unprecedented and unexpected landscape at the next election will require it to address the deficit and make decisions "all of us wish we did not have to take".
...
He will stress that the persistence of the deficit does not mean Labour has to abandon its distinctive agenda, but instead rethink it. He will say: "Each time New Labour won an election, we came back to power with a growing economy. Next time we come back to power, it will be different. We will be handed a deficit. Whoever is the next prime minister will not have money to spend. We will have to make difficult choices that all of us wish we did not have to make."
Labour: maybe sucking slightly less than the other guys for the past 8 months or so.
I Suppose We Could Just Kill Them
I can't find it now, but years ago I think I overreacted to Chris Matthews suggesting that was the solution to our little Gitmo problem. Later I realized he was probably making a modest proposal in response to the "we can't release them because we've probably made them mad" logic, but at that time any number of modest proposals were taken very seriously.
He Probably Had A Few Unpaid Parking Tickets
Maybe did something mean to his mother? Everybody's guilty of something, really.
They Don't Trust The Banks
This is sort of pitched as companies lending money to banks, but companies always lend money to the banks in the form of deposits. What's going on here is that the companies are demanding collateral.
"Dented The Credibility"
Just a little dent, people, no biggie.
Philipp Hildebrand resigned as head of the Swiss central bank after a currency transaction by his wife last year dented the credibility of the franc’s chief guardian.
I Suppose They Don't Really Need To Go To Manhattan
But a giant convention center in Queens sounds like pretty much the stupidest idea ever.
Sure most outsiders have a rather Manhattan-centric view of New York city, but that's kind of the point. People who pay to go to New York want to go to Manhattan, or at least have easy access to it. And while we can fantasize about how this will help make Queens extra awesome (I actually don't know this neighborhood so I'm at a disadvantage), convention centers are a lot like casinos. The people who run them want to keep you and your money inside, not wandering around the surrounding streets.
Sure most outsiders have a rather Manhattan-centric view of New York city, but that's kind of the point. People who pay to go to New York want to go to Manhattan, or at least have easy access to it. And while we can fantasize about how this will help make Queens extra awesome (I actually don't know this neighborhood so I'm at a disadvantage), convention centers are a lot like casinos. The people who run them want to keep you and your money inside, not wandering around the surrounding streets.
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