Friday, July 31, 2009
EATED
First State Bank of Altus, Altus, OK gets EATED.
Integrity Bank, Jupiter, FL gets EATED.
Peoples Community Bank, West Chester, OH gets EATED.
First BankAmericano, Elizabeth, NJ gets EATED.
Don't tell Lou Dobbs about that last one.
Integrity Bank, Jupiter, FL gets EATED.
Peoples Community Bank, West Chester, OH gets EATED.
First BankAmericano, Elizabeth, NJ gets EATED.
Don't tell Lou Dobbs about that last one.
Everybody Sucks But Me
Aside from the misogyny, Milbank's basic schtick is that. It's fairly common Villager view of the world, so perhaps he's just performing for them.
Next Wave
I hope I'm wrong, but I think we're just about to start round 2...
July 31 (Bloomberg) -- Rising delinquencies among consumer and corporate borrowers are the “next wave” of the financial crisis and may affect banks that have avoided losses so far, said Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Josef Ackermann.
“This crisis has consisted of a series of earthquakes, with changing epicenters,” Ackermann said late yesterday at an event in Zurich. “Bad loans are the next wave. Banks that have fared relatively well so far will also be affected by this.”
And Speaking Of Resource Allocation
Does the Washington Post actually pay Milbank and Cillizza for Mouthpiece Theater?
PCS
I don't have any deep knowledge about the goings on at Philly Car Share, but I do know that it's the kind of operation which will have a much easier time of succeeding if they recognize that community goodwill is incredibly important.
The existence of a convenient and affordable carshare program really is revolutionary. Those who actually read my posts know that I don't really have any problem with driving, but my bigger beef is with cars taking up all that space and the policies which cater to that at the expense of all other considerations. I'm one of numerous people in Philly who lives quite happily without owning a car. If PCS didn't exist I'd probably eventually get one. Cars are very useful things and I've never said otherwise, but I don't really need/want one more than a couple of times per month and am happy to... share.
The existence of a convenient and affordable carshare program really is revolutionary. Those who actually read my posts know that I don't really have any problem with driving, but my bigger beef is with cars taking up all that space and the policies which cater to that at the expense of all other considerations. I'm one of numerous people in Philly who lives quite happily without owning a car. If PCS didn't exist I'd probably eventually get one. Cars are very useful things and I've never said otherwise, but I don't really need/want one more than a couple of times per month and am happy to... share.
The Forgotten War
Holy crap.
July has been the deadliest month for the U.S. military in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001 — with at least 39 service members killed. NPR's Pentagon correspondent, Tom Bowman, who recently spent more than a month with U.S. forces in the country, talks to Steve Inskeep about the reasons behind the spike.
The South
For most of my life the South has, rightly or wrongly, been perceived as dominating national politics. I'm really glad those days are over.
Resources
Perhaps they could be better allocated.
For some reason it reminds me of the political conventions. Every year journalists complain that these are theater, not news, as if they never ever cover such events otherwise. Then approximately 3 trillion journalists show up in the convention cities to cover something which can mostly be covered by watching the teevee. And, in fact, most of them do cover it by sitting in the designated press area where they watch it on the teevee. The point is not that there is zero value in sending reporters to these events. There are other activities surrounding the conventions which are worthy of coverage, and of course plenty of important people around. But there is no good reason for that many journalists to go, especially when they, as a class, complain about it.
For some reason it reminds me of the political conventions. Every year journalists complain that these are theater, not news, as if they never ever cover such events otherwise. Then approximately 3 trillion journalists show up in the convention cities to cover something which can mostly be covered by watching the teevee. And, in fact, most of them do cover it by sitting in the designated press area where they watch it on the teevee. The point is not that there is zero value in sending reporters to these events. There are other activities surrounding the conventions which are worthy of coverage, and of course plenty of important people around. But there is no good reason for that many journalists to go, especially when they, as a class, complain about it.
YAY! GREEN SHOOTS!
YAAAY!
Oh, wait...
I'm always fascinated by the fact that nobody cares about the revisions. Yes, in the most recent quarter for which we have data the rate of economic contraction was "only" one percent annualized. But the previous quarter was... much worse than previously thought!
Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, fell at a 1 percent annual rate in the April through June quarter, the Commerce Department said.
Oh, wait...
That compares with a 6.4 percent pace of decline in the first quarter, a revision from an earlier estimate of a 5.5 percent rate of decline.
I'm always fascinated by the fact that nobody cares about the revisions. Yes, in the most recent quarter for which we have data the rate of economic contraction was "only" one percent annualized. But the previous quarter was... much worse than previously thought!
Meanwhile
Over there.
- BAGHDAD — Bombs exploded outside four Shiite mosques around Baghdad on Friday as worshipers left prayer services, killing at least 19 people in what appeared to be a coordinated attack intended to raise sectarian tensions in the city, Iraqi officials said.
Overnight
Suppose, arguendo, the minority Senate GOP somehow engineers nuclear war and mass human extermination. At that point, would it be politically feasible to challenge the sacred principle of the filibuster?
Probably not; let's not get crazy, now. This is after all a serious policy blog and demands to be treated as such.
Probably not; let's not get crazy, now. This is after all a serious policy blog and demands to be treated as such.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Just What Am I Supporting Again?
It's difficult to sell a plan when a plan doesn't really exist. I don't think people really care about the details, but they do want to be convinced that what will be delivered to them is as good or better than what they currently can get at roughly the same price or less. It would be easy to sell a plan if they could say things like, "Under this plan, all people will be able to buy affordable comprehensive insurance which cannot be taken away." But they can't actually say that at the moment.
Urban Hellhole
If trash collection gets switched to every other week, that will no longer be a joke.
Porkulus
Earkmarks are an issue that our media often plays stupid about. While the process and transparency of earmarks might be a problem, earmarks themselves are not intrinsically corrupt. Though some probably are...
This Is Excellent News For Republicans
It always is!
Obviously if the economy is in the crapper and health care reform is an epic fail, in '10 anything can happen. But the perpetual GOP resurgence story is always a Village favorite.
Obviously if the economy is in the crapper and health care reform is an epic fail, in '10 anything can happen. But the perpetual GOP resurgence story is always a Village favorite.
Incentives
Awhile back there was talk about how mortgage servicers would have a hard time modifying loans because they could be sued by their investors. It turns out they're not modifying loans so that they can gouge their investors. Nice work!
Everybody Hates Arnold
It's important to remember just how large a role our Village media had in promoting Arnold back in the day.
heckuva job!
heckuva job!
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
Still shitty.
- In the week ending July 25, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 584,000, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 559,000. The 4-week moving average was 559,000, a decrease of 8,250 from the previous week's revised average of 567,250.
Wanting Women To Die
I know asking our TV pundits to consider the actual impacts of policy, instead of the theater and aesthetics, is really asking too much. But just in case.
Summertime
Here in the Northeast summertime means seasonal berries. Raspberries and blueberries from a farmstand in Maine for breakfast.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
And A Pony?
My guess is that Matt is right and that costs are cut by slowly phasing it in. I wouldn't be psyched about a slow phasing in, but I'd be on board for a super awesome bill with the flaw of being phased in slowly so that senators can adhere to a pointless and arbitrary budget framework. But I doubt the bill is super awesome, so...
Collective Action
Ezra's right that enviro groups should add suggesting people eat less meat to their basic, uh, menu, but it's also important to realize that while individual lifestyle decisions can have a major impact, the carbon problem is still something that needs to be addressed through collective action. It's great if people choose to find ways to reduce their carbon footprint, but it's no substitute for comprehensive policy on the issue. Not that I think he's suggesting otherwise.
That's Some Quality Link Trolling
Some genius at Newsweek thinks George W. Bush should be Obama's Middle East envoy.
There really is something wrong with our elite journalistic institutions.
There really is something wrong with our elite journalistic institutions.
A New Luxury
One nice thing about having large majorities in the House and Senate is that finally I will feel perfectly comfortable rooting for members of the wanker caucus to lose their seats. In 2010 voters will chuck out incumbents if the economy sucks and they don't perceive they've been given what they were promised (health care). The "center" on health care involves giving people affordable quality health care, it does not involve preserving the obscene profits of the corrupt health insurance industry. If Democrats screw this up, those in Republican-leaning districts will lose their seats and I'll be cheering on every bad Democrat loss.
Threat
Obviously it's impossible to make a judgment about whether a non-existent health bill should pass until it actually exists, but unless progressives make it clear that they're willing to torpedo a shit bill a shit bill is what we will get.
Where Everyone Has A License To Make Shit Up
Like Krugman I don't know if Feldstein is a liar or an idiot, but I do know that one of the things which supposedly makes our elite press great is that they have things called "editors" who make "judgments" about what is or isn't worthy of publication.
Philadelphia Story
Corrupt city institution is taken over by state Republicans who proceed to make it infinitely more corrupt...
We're Attacking...?
Apparently I don't get the e-mails from The Horde, since I had not even known Michelle Malkin wrote another "book." And I don't care that she did either, unless she's prepared to apologize for heartlessly jilting our old friend King Leopold, sob.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Worth The Paper They're Written On
Oh, wait...
- WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration, scrambling to get its main housing initiative on track, extracted a pledge from 25 mortgage company executives to improve their efforts to assist borrowers in danger of foreclosure. In an all-day series of meetings Tuesday at the Treasury Department, government officials reached a verbal agreement with the executives for a new goal of about 500,000 loan modifications by Nov. 1 and stressed the program's urgency.
A Really Big Set Of Keys
Jingle Mail is increasingly coming to Commercial Real Estate, effectively anyway.
Kristol&Stewart
Extended version of what was run last night.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Bill Kristol Extended Interview | ||||
| ||||
They Can Always Go To The Movies
Another problem with our anti-teen drinking hysteria and associated laws&enforcement is that in plenty of places it's very difficult for kids to go to a club and see a band. Locally in Philly we a have a promoter who is dedicated to sponsoring, as often as possible, all ages shows, and this often mandates finding performance spaces where no alcohol is served, which messes up the economics of small touring a bit. Bigger performance spaces can get away with physically separating the drinkers from the under 21s, but smaller performance spaces can't and especially for smaller venues alcohol sales really pay for the band... Enforcement of this stuff varies across cities and states of course.
Boozing Teens
As Amanda says, it's weird that mostly responsible drinking behavior by British teens is more disturbing to some than the blowout party binge drinking scenes one generally sees in US teen comedies. Even though the binge parties are portrayed as "fun" in some sense, there's also the underlying message that somehow drinking is irresponsible behavior. When the adults show up the party's over! Portray 16-18 year olds drinking without adults freaking out and suddenly it's an issue.
I think things would be a lot better if we acknowledged that whatever valid risks and concerns exist, people drink and party and kiss and have sex because they want to and because it's fun. People generally start doing these things long before society officially approves (sex) and before it's legal (drinking), and only portraying these behaviors as irresponsible might make the official tut-tutters feel better about themselves, but it doesn't actually encourage healthy behavior in these areas.
...and as for this:
Yes, it was weird how for a long time no one actually had a drink on your typical sitcom/drama. There was a certain unreality about TV when I was growing up, it didn't reflect the reality of existence in any way.
I think things would be a lot better if we acknowledged that whatever valid risks and concerns exist, people drink and party and kiss and have sex because they want to and because it's fun. People generally start doing these things long before society officially approves (sex) and before it's legal (drinking), and only portraying these behaviors as irresponsible might make the official tut-tutters feel better about themselves, but it doesn't actually encourage healthy behavior in these areas.
...and as for this:
I’d suggest another thing that’s changed dramatically since the 80s, and that’s how TV approaches the subject of drinking. I remember when characters that weren’t supposed to be derelicts on TV rarely, if ever, drank. But now, we see TV characters drink and often we even see them drunk, but that’s also followed up by something that you didn’t see in the 80s and early 90s---their friends arranging for drunk people to get home safely.
Yes, it was weird how for a long time no one actually had a drink on your typical sitcom/drama. There was a certain unreality about TV when I was growing up, it didn't reflect the reality of existence in any way.
What's It All About Then?
I have a hard time writing about the health care situation because, as John says, I'm not even sure what it's about anymore. What's the Obama administration pushing for? What do they want? What's the bumper sticker you can take to the country, other than "health care reform."
Right now it seems to be "maybe, kinda, sorta, better than what exists now. Somehow."
Right now it seems to be "maybe, kinda, sorta, better than what exists now. Somehow."
The Good News
Option ARM mortgage holders are defaulting en masse even before their loans recast, so the recast wave won't be as bad as predicted! Probably a lot of these are specuvestor properties.
I love how (at the link) Wells Fargo is bragging that "only" 18% of their option ARM portfolio is more than 60 days past due...
I love how (at the link) Wells Fargo is bragging that "only" 18% of their option ARM portfolio is more than 60 days past due...
Nobody Could Have Predicted
Soccer stadium with less than awesome transit access, and no supermarket.
I'm not sure precisely how the supermarket subsidy is intended to spent, but subsidizing supermarkets in low income neighborhoods which lack them is one money-for-private-companies scheme I can get behind.
Stadium won't do anything for the area, a supermarket would.
The impoverished Delaware County city hasn't had a full-service grocery since 2001, and plans to build a new supermarket there have been on the horizon for almost as long.
Aided by $47 million in state funding, construction of a $115 million professional-soccer stadium is under way on the Chester waterfront. It is unclear, however, whether state money for the supermarket - which lawmakers say was part of the stadium deal - will be released.
Up to $4 million was earmarked for the store last year, at the insistence of state Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland.
"That was part of the deal," said Johnna Pro, spokeswoman for state House Appropriations Committee Chairman Dwight Evans. "The supermarket [funding] was part of the whole soccer-stadium deal."
I'm not sure precisely how the supermarket subsidy is intended to spent, but subsidizing supermarkets in low income neighborhoods which lack them is one money-for-private-companies scheme I can get behind.
Stadium won't do anything for the area, a supermarket would.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Lighten Up Francis
I just saw the latest Harry Potter movie, and frankly what I liked about it was non-judgmental portrayals of teen drinking and teen sexuality. More generally, it did a good job of treating the now relatively old teens as... not children.
Memories
It isn't exactly the same, but this reminds me of the time Newsweek discovered a previously unknown border between Israel and Iran and made it seem like they were amassing forces at the border.
Ah, American journalism.
Ah, American journalism.
Seeing The Future
Thers:
That's about right. Once there's something just uncrazy enough for Politico to get behind, they'll all be one happy family again.
The only reason the birthers might cause serious problems for the GOP is that the birthers are such obvious rubes. Apart from that, though, what will probably end up happening is that the GOP bigwigs will keep up with the doubletalk until a more exciting and ever so slightly more plausible nutty conspiracy theory comes along that the whole moron gang can cheerfully get behind and bray about endlessly, all family troubles in the past buried and forgotten.
That's about right. Once there's something just uncrazy enough for Politico to get behind, they'll all be one happy family again.
The Pain Caucus
I don't know precisely what motivates David Broder, but for years Very Serious People in Washington, regardless of party, were the members of the pain caucus, dedicated to reducing any benefits for middle class (especially) and "undeserving" poor people.
It's All Fun And Games Until Somebody Dies
In college I knew people who liked to get drunk and find an excuse for a fight. "He looked at me funny" was often good enough reason. Unsurprisingly I didn't have an interest in joining in this activity. I was always a bit mystified, in part, because it's not all that hard to really really hurt someone, or be hurt yourself, in a fight. Then there's the death possibility.
Police are expecting at least one more man to surrender in the beating death of a 22-year-old man during a brawl Saturday night in a parking lot at Citizens Bank Park.
...
Police said the group got into an altercation with other patrons at the pub about 7 p.m., as the Phillies game was in late innings. According to police, McFadden's employees ousted the two groups from the bar, and notified police. The second group reportedly was made up of patrons of a Fishtown bar making a bus trip to the game.
Online Threat To Standards
Um, what?
I thought we were finally getting over the incoherent rage at TEH BLOGGERS ARE DESTROYING JOURNALISM. I don't even know what "reporting and attribution must precede publication" means. But as for people with "made-up names," it's quite awesome for those who feel they have the privilege to participate in public searchable discourse to use their real names. Anyone who fails to understand why some people might not be able to do that is clueless.
There is no online threat to your standards. Your publication can abide by whatever standards it wants to. Nothing on the internets changes that.
Certainly, we are concerned about job stability. But veteran journalists are equally troubled by the online threat to standards we hold dear.
If anyone had told me five years ago that newspapers would allow anonymous comments and that we would have to respond to them, I would have invited them to come for a walk with me to the land of grown-ups. Now, I regularly address authors of online comments by their made-up names and pretend this doesn't feel like junior high school all over again.
The so-called citizen journalism of most blogs is an affront to those of us who believe reporting and attribution must precede publication.
I thought we were finally getting over the incoherent rage at TEH BLOGGERS ARE DESTROYING JOURNALISM. I don't even know what "reporting and attribution must precede publication" means. But as for people with "made-up names," it's quite awesome for those who feel they have the privilege to participate in public searchable discourse to use their real names. Anyone who fails to understand why some people might not be able to do that is clueless.
There is no online threat to your standards. Your publication can abide by whatever standards it wants to. Nothing on the internets changes that.
What's The Problem?
Here in PA we have a state monopoly on liquor sales. I can see why restaurant owners would object to the liquor authority cutting special deals with competing restaurants, but I really don't see how expanding options for sales is unfair competition...
41 Steps
I'm certainly in favor of working escalator and elevators, and for people who are disabled or otherwise have mobility problems I get that it's a major issue if they aren't working, but for the rest of us... 41 steps? Not a big deal.
Frontrunning
Frontrunning, when human traders do it, is executing trades for your own or the brokerage account before executing a large customer trade you know will move the price. This is an illegal use of insider information.
Apparently, when Goldman uses extra fast computers to do the same thing, it is innovation!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Could I Be President?
Like Josh I've always understood it to be a slightly unclear constitutional question, but only slightly. In any case it's the question that's relevant, not where exactly Lou Dobbs thinks Obama might have been born.
For the record, born a US citizen in Sydney, Australia.
For the record, born a US citizen in Sydney, Australia.
Lovin' It, Stockholm Style
Actually Stockholm killed most of their trolleys when they switched from left side to right side driving. This is mostly a tourist trolley. True trolley nerds should go to Gothenburg and Oslo, especially the former. They heyday of modern cities, especially smaller ones, was when they were trolley-centric. See a trolley-centric city like Gothenburg and it makes sense.
Bad Ideas
I don't think a movie version of Foundation is good idea anyway, but one directed by Emmerich....ew.
Row House Life
Because you desperately need updates on this, someone in the neighboring building, which is carved into apartments, had put something into the plumbing which had clogged the connection to the city sewage system causing the water to go...elsewhere. Fortunately had managed to locate landlord to notify of water problem (adjoining wall with that building), and he took care of it...
This is not my house.
This is not my house.
Occasionally I Read My Own Blog
Just adding a bit to John's post which I stepped on with my household troubles, the key issue isn't communication, it's commitment. And, yes, changing the payoffs somehow is a way to add some sort of commitment mechanism.
Prisoners
Since it looks like normal blogging isn't quite back yet, I'd like point out that I disagree mildly with Matt and Booman. The key feature of the "prisoner's dilemma" is not, contra Matt, that they may not communicate. Afterall, the prisoners were free to communicate before their apprehension, and have a plan for how to act if they are caught. The key feature is that as the pleas are offered, for either prisoner to remain silent is a strictly dominated strategy. That is, regardless of the actions of the other prisoner, it is always a preferrable strategy for each prisoner to rat out the other.
The only way to defeat a prisoner's dilemma is not through communication, but through changing the payoffs. The prisoners will not rat if they know doing so will get them shived in prison, or that remaining quiet and doing time will get them taken care of when they get out.
Obviously the political calculus for congresscritters is complicated, but there is an important lesson from here for activists. If congresspeople think that regardless of the success of the healthcare bill, they will be better off having voted against it, then they will. We need to convince them that they are wrong, and that they will either suffer if it fails or benefit if it succeeds. That means working the phones, writing letters to local papers, and doing whatever other individually meager but collectively powerful grassroots organizing we can.
The only way to defeat a prisoner's dilemma is not through communication, but through changing the payoffs. The prisoners will not rat if they know doing so will get them shived in prison, or that remaining quiet and doing time will get them taken care of when they get out.
Obviously the political calculus for congresscritters is complicated, but there is an important lesson from here for activists. If congresspeople think that regardless of the success of the healthcare bill, they will be better off having voted against it, then they will. We need to convince them that they are wrong, and that they will either suffer if it fails or benefit if it succeeds. That means working the phones, writing letters to local papers, and doing whatever other individually meager but collectively powerful grassroots organizing we can.
You're Next
We've built a lot of road structures in this country. Older ones are falling apart, new ones will fall apart. This is not a post about the evils of highway expenditures, I'm just pointing out that the shiny new roadway of today is the crumbling structure much in need of maintenance thirty years from now. Infrastructure is expensive to build, and also very expensive to maintain. It's always tempting to defer maintenance, passing the buck on down the road often at huge (later) cost.
It's also of course true of transit systems. The capital expenditures of my local transit authority are largely dedicated towards much-delayed station refurbishing and similar.
It's also of course true of transit systems. The capital expenditures of my local transit authority are largely dedicated towards much-delayed station refurbishing and similar.
Catching Up
On my primary computer, I access my regular intertubes read through some weird and random combination of my blogroll, bookmarks, and an RSS feed. There's no real organization to it, but I have my own weird clicking habits. I now travel with a little netbook which does not have my chaotic organization system, so when I do there are many fine blogs I am less likely to read...
Sunday Bobbleheads
This Week has Kent Conrad, Demint, and some babble with Krugman, Will, Huffington, Brooks, and Brazile.
Meet the Press has Hillary Clinton.
Face the Nation has Axelrod, Jim Cooper, and Bobby Jindal.
Document the atrocities!
Meet the Press has Hillary Clinton.
Face the Nation has Axelrod, Jim Cooper, and Bobby Jindal.
Document the atrocities!
A City upon a Hill
Stupid foreign wars: cheered for, given blank checks, can't end them.
Decent health care for Americans: worrying, can't be paid for, unsustainable.
Decent health care for Americans: worrying, can't be paid for, unsustainable.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Almost Home
Specifically, at Newark airport waiting for my scheduled Amtrak train to arrive. Can't wait to see what kind of revenge the kitties cooked up.
One nice thing about Amtrak used to be that changing ticket times was painless and generally free or cheap, but now that they've gone all in with advance purchase discounts and similar on the NE corridor, changing your train can cost you quite a bit. Fortunately the ticket guy let me know that the earlier train was going to be 40 minutes late, so I'm spending the money on beer instead.
One nice thing about Amtrak used to be that changing ticket times was painless and generally free or cheap, but now that they've gone all in with advance purchase discounts and similar on the NE corridor, changing your train can cost you quite a bit. Fortunately the ticket guy let me know that the earlier train was going to be 40 minutes late, so I'm spending the money on beer instead.
What Digby Said
We are on a steady course of rising authoritarianism by our internal security forces.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Friday
Suitcase cat is watching you pack for the shore.
Also, if you're not familiar with "The Chasers War on Everything," you're missing out. This was funny in a dark way, and I hope it keeps happening to Yoo and Cheney for a long time.
[Updated to add:] I've been challenged to a catfight(?) in the comments. I admit, I don't have a monopoly on cute cats. We'll call it a tie.
Also, if you're not familiar with "The Chasers War on Everything," you're missing out. This was funny in a dark way, and I hope it keeps happening to Yoo and Cheney for a long time.
[Updated to add:] I've been challenged to a catfight(?) in the comments. I admit, I don't have a monopoly on cute cats. We'll call it a tie.
Bizzaro
Sometimes I feel like I'm living in bizzaro world, and today is one of those times. I mean, sure, Obama probably shouldn't have said all cops are honkeys, or maybe kept better control of all black people everywhere, but it's still such a crazy media diversion when you consider the stakes facing our country right now.
Of course, I think the biggest strike against the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics is that were it true, there would be a world identical to our own except that Rush Limbaugh is President, which would violate all known laws of the universe. I think that's called the "Limbaugh paradox."
Of course, I think the biggest strike against the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics is that were it true, there would be a world identical to our own except that Rush Limbaugh is President, which would violate all known laws of the universe. I think that's called the "Limbaugh paradox."
BFF
Could be an exciting one!!!
NEW YORK, July 24 (Reuters) - Guaranty Financial Group Inc
(GFG.N), the second-largest publicly traded bank in Texas, said
it will probably fail after loan losses and writedowns left it
"critically" short of capital.
The Austin-based lender has about $16 billion of assets and
more than 150 branches in Texas and California, according to
its website.
Opportunity
This NYT editorial makes the important point that the problem isn't low wage jobs per se, it's low wage jobs that lack any opportunity for advancement. It's one thing to be a fry cook who can advance to manager, another thing to be a fry cook who has no career advancement possibilities.
Bet a lot of people wish they could pick lettuce for $50/hour, my friends, career advancement possibilities or not.
Bet a lot of people wish they could pick lettuce for $50/hour, my friends, career advancement possibilities or not.
Bullshit
The bluedoggery on health care reform is of course bullshit, but it's bullshit they get away with because all they have to do is chant the mantra "fiscal responsibility" and the Villagers praise them, even if their fiscal responsibility is actually more expensive.
Life In Yurp
One thing I think people sometimes fail to realize is that once you leave behind the broad core of cities in Europe, you hit areas which are just about as car-centric as the "typical" US suburbia. This includes Home Depot type places with giant parking lots and, of course, IKEA. But the big difference is that while these places are car-centric, they aren't nearly as car dependent. They're fundamentally built around the automobile being the key means of transportation, but they aren't built around the automobile being the sole means of transportation.
From A Distance
Apparently conservatives and The Villagers think it's okay to arrest black men for getting uppity in their own homes.
Make it stop.
Make it stop.
Thursday Is New Jobless Day
Forgot about this yesterday.
Still high. Job market still deterioriating...
The Labor Department said Thursday that its tally of initial claims for unemployment insurance rose by 30,000 to a seasonally adjusted 554,000. That was above analysts' estimates of 550,000.
The increase follows two straight weeks of sharp drops largely because automakers didn't lay off as many workers as expected in early July. General Motors and Chrysler temporarily shut down many of their plants earlier than usual this year, in May and June, after filing for bankruptcy protection and restructuring their companies.
Still high. Job market still deterioriating...
Raid
Arnold and the California Dems are going to raid town coffers, causing wave of bankruptcies.
TERMINATED.
TERMINATED.
Silly Maoists
This provocative film directed by Sidney Lumet for HBO only aired a few times, I believe. It should be re-aired, if only to show how well-treated the terror suspect is treated, (yes, the mild interrogation is air conditioned). But back in the spring of 2004, to the New York Times, the idea that America could be as bad as those wicked Chinese was painfully wrongheaded, heavy-handed, simplistic, tendentious, Maoist, silly, and specious.
Good times.
Good times.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Perhaps A Moment Of Reflection?
I like Jon Stewart. I think the Daily Show is great. I think he is worthy of the label "trusted newsman" despite the fact that much (not all) of his show is parody. The problem is not that people like Jon Stewart, the problem is that they like him more than the rest.
Money
I don't necessarily have a problem with converting HOV lanes into HOV/toll lanes, but... when it costs $210 million to do so it reminds us that like wars, any expenses on highways are thought of as "free" relative to other possible expenditures.
Epix
Not quite what I had in mind...
But while we're visiting with the good Roger Ailes, this is wankery of a level previously not achieved, or even imagined...
But while we're visiting with the good Roger Ailes, this is wankery of a level previously not achieved, or even imagined...
I Once Tongue Kissed A Black Man
One thing which is frustrating in all of these kinds of things is how our stupid discourse sees racism as a binary 1,0 Racist, Not Racist kind of thing. Most of us - including me! - are a bit racist in that we sometimes unconsciously make assumptions based on race which, even if they aren't based in malice, can sometimes effectively come out in malicious ways.
I have no idea if this guy is a racist in a David Duke, or even Pat Buchanan, kinda way, but he should spend a few moments figuring out why he arrested a man for trespassing in his own house...
I have no idea if this guy is a racist in a David Duke, or even Pat Buchanan, kinda way, but he should spend a few moments figuring out why he arrested a man for trespassing in his own house...
Spaghetti Junction
I have no knowledge of Louisville, but that's one awesome urban highway expansion proposal!
Wow
We're only a few months into the Obama Administration and the barrel already appears to be bottomless.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
On Financial innovation
Financial innovation has gotten a somewhat deserved bad rap, because as Matt smartly pointed out earlier, so much innovation is really just regulatory arbitrage.
That can cloud the fact, however, that there really is a societal benefit to efficiently allocating capital. This is particularly true with regard to solar energy, where the high capital and long operating lifetimes makes the cost of capital a significant factor of the total cost.
For instance, the Solar Buzz solar electricity index assumes a 5% cost of capital to calculate the price per kwh. They note that if the rate were instead 0%, a system that had cost 24 cents per kwh at 5% would instead only cost 15 cents per kwh. Even modest changes to the discount rate dramatically alter the economic viabilty of installations.
It's one specific area where we could probably use a good deal of financial innovation.
That can cloud the fact, however, that there really is a societal benefit to efficiently allocating capital. This is particularly true with regard to solar energy, where the high capital and long operating lifetimes makes the cost of capital a significant factor of the total cost.
For instance, the Solar Buzz solar electricity index assumes a 5% cost of capital to calculate the price per kwh. They note that if the rate were instead 0%, a system that had cost 24 cents per kwh at 5% would instead only cost 15 cents per kwh. Even modest changes to the discount rate dramatically alter the economic viabilty of installations.
It's one specific area where we could probably use a good deal of financial innovation.
More Thread
Mcjoan makes the point that needs to be made over and over. I really hate the "what's the rush?" criticism. I mean, it's not like healthcare wasn't a huge election issue during two solid years of campaigning, and more than a decade before that even. This didn't come out of nowhere.
Anybody find any astute reactions to the presser?
Anybody find any astute reactions to the presser?
Never In My Wildest Dreams...
... did I imagine that the Freepers would be calling to march on Washington to overthrow the government so that they can install Hillary Clinton as the Chief Executive...
The Secretary of State shall immediately assume the office of interim Chief Executive.I mean, double you tee eff?
Happy Hour Thread
Bed for me. Normal sucky blogging, with less salmon and herring, will return on Sunday.
Deep Thought
Let's just ignore all the money Goldman Sachs was given through the AIG bailout, mmmkay?
CRE
I don't know if CRE is a bigger problem than housing for our financial institutions, but it is a huge problem and will lead to the FDIC eating up many smaller regional banks...
California Budget
And the punchline is, unsurprisingly, that Republicans won't even vote for their fantasy budget bill.
EATED
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. eats Delphi's pensions. It wouldn't surprise me if the PBGC starts getting as hungry as the FDIC.
Democrats Against Unapproved Fucking
I don't know how many times stoopid bloggers like me have to point out that the anti-choice movement - again, not all anti-choice people, but the organized movement - aren't just against abortion, they're against contraception and any sex without a good chance of "consequences" for the woman taking part.
I've met Ryan and he seems like a pretty good guy. I think he was genuine, unlike some, in his attempt to find some common ground. But it just isn't there.
I've met Ryan and he seems like a pretty good guy. I think he was genuine, unlike some, in his attempt to find some common ground. But it just isn't there.
Meanwhile
Over there.
Reporting from Baghdad -- Bombs killed 19 people and wounded 80 across Iraq in a flurry of attacks Tuesday, three weeks after the U.S. military completed its withdrawal from the cities.
Perhaps Better Than Nothing
The wasteland down by the Philly stadiums is absurd. I'm not sure how much a project like this is an improvement, but just about anything is better than a parking lot.
2 x 4
by Molly Ivors
Honestly, I'm just speechless. And read all about the fucking gym! (That's an adjective, not an intensifier.)
Sometimes I really value these vacations from the news...
(h/t Pam)
In what has to be among Fox News' all-time lowlights, Neil Cavuto had a segment a short while ago on whether the new surgeon general nominee, Dr. Regina M. Benjamin, is "too fat" for the post. Seriously. In support of this argument, they had on as a guest some guy wearing a "No Chubbies" T-shirt. Again, I'm serious. Watch.
Honestly, I'm just speechless. And read all about the fucking gym! (That's an adjective, not an intensifier.)
Sometimes I really value these vacations from the news...
(h/t Pam)
If You're Bored...
You might get a kick out of comparing the number of references in various Wikipedia articles. For instance "energy" has 24 references while "Bill Clinton" has 185. "South Park" has 189. Don't know what that says, just thought it was funny,
More thread for the late night crowd.
More thread for the late night crowd.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Equally Stupid
This hilarious markup of Palin's resignation speech reminded me of my general attitude toward Palin regarding her intelligence.
I think it's more, if not far more, common that people question the intelligence of female politicians than male ones, when all evidence demonstrates that stupidity is an equal opportunity trait. Hell, Newt Gingrich is hailed as a brilliant visionary, but he's really just as stupid as Palin. So is Mike Pence, or Eric Cantor, or any wingnut radio host.
The inescapable difference with Palin, however, is her unique manner of speech. I have those little books of Bushisms, but Palin makes Bush seem downright literate. I can't hear her speak or read her writings and not think "this person gives no thought to how her ideas are being conveyed."
That resignation speech really is a thing of bizzare beauty, that only gets better with the perspective of time. I'm considering a regular feature called "Sarah Palin's Resignation Speech Line Of The Day (SPRSLOTD)." I think I'll start with this gem.
I think it's more, if not far more, common that people question the intelligence of female politicians than male ones, when all evidence demonstrates that stupidity is an equal opportunity trait. Hell, Newt Gingrich is hailed as a brilliant visionary, but he's really just as stupid as Palin. So is Mike Pence, or Eric Cantor, or any wingnut radio host.
The inescapable difference with Palin, however, is her unique manner of speech. I have those little books of Bushisms, but Palin makes Bush seem downright literate. I can't hear her speak or read her writings and not think "this person gives no thought to how her ideas are being conveyed."
That resignation speech really is a thing of bizzare beauty, that only gets better with the perspective of time. I'm considering a regular feature called "Sarah Palin's Resignation Speech Line Of The Day (SPRSLOTD)." I think I'll start with this gem.
"These troops in their important missions now, there is where truly the worthy causes are in this world."Indeed.
Wingnuts! To the Google!
Mudflats has a link to the pdf of the documents describing Palin's ethics violations. My preliminary investigation of the kerning however indicates that these are crude forgeries; algorithmic linguistic analysis performed by powerful computing machinery suggests the true author is -- William Ayers. Plz. alert Glenn Reynolds as to this impressive feat of citizen journalism.
Kinda Like When The Sanford Mystery Was "Solved"
I mean all the punditry about why Palin chose to resign.
More soon apparently...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Documents obtained by AP show Palin may have violated ethics rules with legal defense fund.
More soon apparently...
Couldn't They Build SUPERTRAINS Instead?
I get the sad difficulty of making the military industrial complex go cold turkey, but couldn't we at least pay them to make useful things instead? Presumably few actually care about the F22, what they care about is the revenue/profits/jobs/campaign contributions that such a project brings in.
Flipper
Reader L brings to my attention this series on corrupt house flipping practices from the Sarasota Herald Tribune. Long and many parts, so just read the whole thing...
Who Rides?
I, for one, will welcome our new smart card overlords, but it would be nice if it was something more than just a declining balance card. Without the ability to have discounted daily-monthly-weekly passes it isn't actually a step forward.
Trust Us
As Ezra says, that's the basic Obama message on health care. It's basically the Obama message on everything. We'll get it done, so don't bug us or worry your beautiful minds about the process.
Terminated
I don't know what the Obama administration should do about it, but Arnold Hoover isn't helping things.
He's on my teevee and he just likened it all to a "suspense movie." Thanks Villagers.
He's on my teevee and he just likened it all to a "suspense movie." Thanks Villagers.
Interesting
McClatchy:
WASHINGTON — A federal district judge ruled Monday that the CIA repeatedly misled him in asserting that state secrets were involved in a 15-year-old lawsuit involving allegedly illegal wiretapping.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth also ordered former CIA director George Tenet and five other CIA officials to explain their actions or face potential sanctions.
Lamberth also questioned the credibility of current CIA Director Leon Panetta, saying that Panetta's testimony in the case contained significant discrepancies, and rejected an Obama administration request that the case continue to be kept secret. He released hundreds of previously secret filings.
Perhaps Larry Should Try A Sternly Worded Letter
So absurd.
Gee, perhaps actual conditions could be attached to that government commitment...
July 21 (Bloomberg) -- White House National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers chastised some banks that received government aid for not doing enough to reduce foreclosures, while declaring that next year’s economic growth pace is “in doubt.”
“Prudent financial institutions will recognize that the profits they’re enjoying are in part a reflection of the commitment government and the broader society have made to the financial system that has enabled them to enjoy those profits,” Summers said in an interview with Bloomberg News yesterday in Washington.
Gee, perhaps actual conditions could be attached to that government commitment...
Facts You Should Not Know
A plan with a public option is cheaper, but since it's what those crazy liberals want it must be expensive and so our media is not going to let you know that.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Screw Us All Once More, For the Gipper
I'd love to see one of the several cable news networks with 25 hours of prime time slots a week air one of those "Did you know?" segments on this.
The history of the debate, almost as much as the current facts, and you know, reality, illustrates nicely how hollow GOP obstructionism is.
The history of the debate, almost as much as the current facts, and you know, reality, illustrates nicely how hollow GOP obstructionism is.
Tarparency
Surprise Surprise
The report by special inspector general Neil Barofsky calls on the Treasury Department to require regular, more detailed information from banks about their use of federal aid provided under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The Treasury has refused to collect such information.
Doing so is "essential to meet Treasury's stated goal of bringing transparency to the TARP program and informing the American people and their representatives in Congress about what is being done with their money," the report said.
In a written response, the Treasury again rejected that call. Officials have taken the view that the exact use of the federal aid cannot be tracked because money given to a bank is like water poured into an ocean.
Tragedy Averted
For a few moments it seemed that my SUPERTRAIN ride was going to be converted into a SUPERBUS ride which would not have been the same at all. Fortunately it was only for a small section of the route.
EATED
Nobody could've predicted...
- By any measure, the Fed is in the hole with all three SPVs. Its own estimates are that the amount by which the fair value of the net portfolio assets of each vehicle falls short of the outstanding balance of the loans extended to each of these vehicles (including accrued interest) is US$ 3.77 billion for Maiden Lane I, US$ 1.97 billion for Maiden Lane II and US$ 2.82 billion for Maiden Lane III. This is likely to be an underestimate of the true loss, because the reported fair value of the assets in the Maiden Lane vehicles is likely to overstate the present value of their held-to-maturity net cash flows. Much of the assets is illiquid, especially those in the AIG-related SPVs, Maiden Lane II and III. In an earlier post on this subject I wrote “The Bear Stearns-related assets are likely to be rubbish. Maiden Lane II and III I know less about.” Thanks to the Monthly Report on Credit and Liquidity Programs and the Balance Sheet I now know that I may have overstated the degree of awfulness of the Bear Stearns legacy assets. I almost surely also overestimated the quality of the AIG legacy assets.
Pricing Big Shitpile
While I agree that greater transparency about the various chunks of big shitpile would be a good thing, the writers of this piece ignore a major issue: financial institutions don't really want the true value of shitpile revealed because it'll push them into insolvency. It isn't simply that buyers and sellers aren't sure of what things are worth, it's that sellers have an interest in obscuring it.
Innovate To Infinity
I saw Shiller speak awhile back and like Felix I was quite puzzled by his desire to fix things buy adding even more financial "innovation." One proposal involved insurance against falling home prices, which just seemed to be kind of absurd. The whole game seems to involve injecting as much risk into the system and then conning or forcing the suckers to pay to remove it again. Oh, and then repackaging that risk and conning still more suckers into buying it.
Shorter Ross Douthat
Pretty soon the brothers will be in charge of everything, and then what will happen to guys like me?
Nobody Could Have Predicted
Well, you know...
Many of the banks that got federal aid to support increased lending have instead used some of the money to make investments, repay debts or buy other banks, according to a new report from the special inspector general overseeing the government's financial rescue program.
Nobody Listens To Me
But if only the administration had more actively backed legislation which would've allowed bankruptcy judges to modify home mortgage debt the way they can modify yacht and vacation home debt. It could've even been limited to "exotic" mortgages or whatever (pick-a-pay, etc.).
Obama really needs to start listening to people who have a clue.
FedMod is but one example of how many of the same people who dispensed risky mortgages during the real estate bubble have reconstituted themselves into a new industry focused on selling loan modifications.
Despite making promises of relief to homeowners desperate to keep their homes, FedMod and other profit making loan modification firms often fail to deliver, according to a New York Times investigation based on interviews with scores of former employees and customers, more than 650 complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau, and documents filed by the Federal Trade Commission in a lawsuit against the company.
Obama really needs to start listening to people who have a clue.
PUMA-Lite
Concern trolling has always been the PUMA stock in trade. I think that having Harriet "Inadequate Black Male" Christian as a founding member tells you everything you need to know about The New Agenda.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Not Just Harry
Obviously the economics - and I have no real knowledge - will ultimately dictate whether things are made into movies or serialized TeeVee shows, but I do look forward to the day when the obvious visual translation of a good novel isn't the big screen. Or, hell, bring back serials on the big screen!
Though, ultimately, nothing is medium specific anymore. Someone should try a big serial. My guess is that if Harry Potter came out today (with associated popularity) it might be a good test case.
Though, ultimately, nothing is medium specific anymore. Someone should try a big serial. My guess is that if Harry Potter came out today (with associated popularity) it might be a good test case.
Fresno
Interesting seeing what afflicted the rust belt for years spreading...
Obviously interesting doesn't mean it's awesome, but not awesome things can be interesting too.
Obviously interesting doesn't mean it's awesome, but not awesome things can be interesting too.
Itinerary
Another bit of semi-SUPERTRAIN travel for me tomorrow, so I'll proably be away from the internets, then returning home on a big jet plane on Saturday.
Because I know you all needed to know.
Because I know you all needed to know.
I Think There's A Metaphor Here
Wilted Watergate...highest bidder...Washington Post...highest bidders...
- The Watergate Hotel lost its luster years ago, its marble floors, rich colors and grand interiors dusted over with age. Its 251 rooms have stood empty since 2007, and for a year its debt-ridden owners have been trying to unload it. On Tuesday, the national landmark may find its suitor.The bank holding the $40 million loan is putting the foreclosed property up for auction, and in real estate circles, the much-anticipated sale is flooding the phones, fax lines and e-mail in-boxes of a District auction house. A luxury hotel chain from the Middle East might be interested. A big-time developer who built the Georgetown waterfront complex definitely is. So is a hotel company from London, not to mention dozens of other would-be owners.
Failure
I don't think the failure of health care reform in '93 was the sole reason that the Dems lost in '94, but it certainly was a contributing factor.
Dems are perceived as giving stuff to "the other guy," usually someone "undeserving." Failure to give some goodies to "me" is why they'll lose... again..
Dems are perceived as giving stuff to "the other guy," usually someone "undeserving." Failure to give some goodies to "me" is why they'll lose... again..
Sunday Bobbleheads
Face the Nation has Hatch, Rangel, and John Glenn.
Meet the Press has Sebelius and McConnell.
This Week has the British Open.
Document the atrocities!
Meet the Press has Sebelius and McConnell.
This Week has the British Open.
Document the atrocities!
No, Really?
Arnold is the best governor ever.
Irene Steinlage has trouble walking, getting dressed, making her bed, taking a bath. She has stayed in her Folsom home with the help of a health aide, one that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says the state can no longer afford.
The governor's plan to take away such care is meant to save money. But it could end up costing California more by forcing the 85-year-old, who has Parkinson's, osteoporosis and other ailments -- and thousands like her -- into nursing homes.
"I couldn't possibly afford a nursing home," Steinlage said. So the state could be saddled with a Medi-Cal tab that is triple the cost of her home care worker, who receives $10.40 an hour five days a week.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
A Petty Bully
Bill O'Reilly is a pretty typical wingnut in most respects, but where he really stands out is his pettiness. He treats his television program as a platform not just to dissemble for Republican interests, but as a weapon to wield in personal vendettas. The Waters/Jenkins stalking schtick just makes it all the more odious.
Rick Perlstein should be proud to have drawn BillO's ire, and I do hope he remembers "Andrea Mackris" when some prick sticks a camera in his face.
(PS- Who knew Bernard Goldberg was still alive!)
Rick Perlstein should be proud to have drawn BillO's ire, and I do hope he remembers "Andrea Mackris" when some prick sticks a camera in his face.
(PS- Who knew Bernard Goldberg was still alive!)
Haters!
They fill me with love.
On a related note, here in Oslo there are a nice mix of buses, trams, and a DC-metro style subway. The latter goes way up into the burbs, which are up in the hills, so you get to take the subway to go camping or for a hike or a swim in the lake or whatever.
On a related note, here in Oslo there are a nice mix of buses, trams, and a DC-metro style subway. The latter goes way up into the burbs, which are up in the hills, so you get to take the subway to go camping or for a hike or a swim in the lake or whatever.
Financial Incentives
Beyond the obvious and par-for-the-course racial angle, I guess by this logic we shouldn't allow a public plan to help cover chemotherapy, lest we incentivize cancer? Maybe the GOP opposes universal healthcare because it will incentivize people to get sick? Or something.
Women must be penalized for having sex. It'spractically in their party platform.
Women must be penalized for having sex. It's
Domino
Smell those green shoots.
“This thing doesn’t have a future,” CreditSights analyst David Hendler said yesterday in a telephone interview. “Anything is possible but the problem is not solvable anymore. They’re just in denial it’s finally over,” the New York-based analyst said referring to the rescue financing.
The century-old lender that finances about 1 million businesses from Dunkin’ Brands Inc. to Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc. is “continuing to evaluate alternatives” after failing to convince the U.S. government to back its debt, the New York- based company said July 16 in a statement.
Line In The Sand
Obama says no public option is a dealbeaker. While I don't especially care about the deficit fetish, it seems he might be turning a bit of jiu jitsu back on the Blue Dogs by making it clear that a plan with a public option will of course be cheaper.
We'll see where we go from here, but good noises this morning.
We'll see where we go from here, but good noises this morning.
New ChooChoo
I've only been to Seattle once, very briefly, and so I have no sense of this project. But, enjoy the ride!
Thirteen year after voters approved the taxes to build it, Sound Transit's Central Link light rail opens for service Saturday. Trains will run every 71/2 minutes from stations along the 14-mile line between Westlake Center in Seattle and the massive, glass-encased station in Tukwila at South 154th Street and Tukwila International Boulevard.
Passengers can ride for free during the inaugural weekend. Sound Transit officials had no predictions on opening day ridership, but are ready for up to 100,000. Their best reference is Phoenix, Ariz., where the city's new Metro light rail logged 90,000 riders when it opened last December, with some waiting in lines for two to three hours.
EATED
While I was sleeping, 4 banks got eated by our very hungry FDIC.
Temecula Valley Bank, Temecula, CA
Vineyard Bank, Racho Cucamonga, CA
BankFirst, Sioux Falls, SD
First Piedmont Bank, Winder, GA
Temecula Valley Bank, Temecula, CA
Vineyard Bank, Racho Cucamonga, CA
BankFirst, Sioux Falls, SD
First Piedmont Bank, Winder, GA
RE
It is quite funny how their minds work. Problem with the insurance market such that they tend to increase prices when you get old and sick? Simple! Just take out an insurance policy on that. Of course, if the same thing happens with that insurance policy...take out another one! Eventually all the risk and costs will be passed on to insurance policy #666, at which time the health insurance companies will eat up 80% of our GDP.
They almost grasp the problem, but they're ideologically unable to understand the obvious solutions.
They almost grasp the problem, but they're ideologically unable to understand the obvious solutions.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Friday Guest Cat-Blogging
In addition to watching trolleys and licking curtains, Hope likes playing with my girlfriend's shoes.
Yes, she is licking that shoe.
Yes, she is licking that shoe.
The Bully Pulpit
At least he's using it. I really don't think there's a bigger wanker in the senate than Joe Lieberman. I'd like to see Obama take him aside again and issue some credible threats.
Dept. of Bad Analogies
I don't think this gentleman understands either Bruno or healthcare reform. Nor, for that matter, Mexicans or furniture.
Oh Dear, Time For Another Blogger Ethics Panel
Already?
Note, of course, the necessity of media complicity in such shenanigans.
As for this:
We should include readers of our elite media who assume that the outlets don't just exist to launder propaganda. A reporter once suggested - when bloggers ethics was a very important subject - that op-ed contributors were vetted for financial ties. I laughed.
- The American Conservative Union askedFedExfor a check for $2 million to $3 million in return for the group’s endorsement in a bitter legislative dispute, then flipped and sided with UPS after FedEx refused to pay. For the $2 million plus, ACU offered a range of services that included: “Producing op-eds and articles written by ACU’s ChairmanDavid Keeneand/or other members of the ACU’s board of directors. (Note that Mr. Keene writes a weekly column that appears in The Hill.)” The conservative group’sremarkable demand — black-and-white proof of the longtime Washington practice known as “pay for play” — was contained in a private letter to FedEx , which was provided to POLITICO.
Note, of course, the necessity of media complicity in such shenanigans.
As for this:
- The letter exposes the practice by some political interest groups of taking stands not for reasons of pure principle, as their members and supporters might assume, but also in part because a sponsor is paying big money.
We should include readers of our elite media who assume that the outlets don't just exist to launder propaganda. A reporter once suggested - when bloggers ethics was a very important subject - that op-ed contributors were vetted for financial ties. I laughed.
Shorter GOP Senators, with Pictures
Oliver Willis captures the essence of the Sotomayor hearings pretty well here, I think.
The Next Crisis
Krugman worries about the financial industry and the next crisis. I worry that the next crisis is already here, or at least slowly sneaking up on us. Commercial Real Estate is going to bring more institutions down....
Overnight
I wonder why are there a bunch of Moon landing hoax videos in the related videos to this one.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Have I Mentioned Yet How Stupid Dennis Prager Is?
I would regret it if I didn't take this opportunity with a soapbox to crib from my own recent archives and point out how stupid Dennis Prager is. Here's the quick background.
I listen to a rightwing podcast that is often just an hour of Prager's radio show. He's a big "Fair Tax" proponent, big enough that you would assume he's actualy figured out what it is. So Hugh Hewitt was on his show, and well, Dennis Prager makes him look like Marie Curie.
I listen to a rightwing podcast that is often just an hour of Prager's radio show. He's a big "Fair Tax" proponent, big enough that you would assume he's actualy figured out what it is. So Hugh Hewitt was on his show, and well, Dennis Prager makes him look like Marie Curie.
Hewitt: Let's cover this 23, 30% divide Dennis. If we can. If I want a dollar for a pencil at the end of the transaction, I make a pencil I want to have a dollar in my pocket, I'm going to have to charge $1.30 under the Fair Tax plan. Do you call that a 23% tax or a 30$ tax?I think even Joe the Plumber has got that part figured out...
Prager: Ok. I have mulled this thing over, and over, and over, and I don't know of much in life where truly the way one phrases the question gives you a different response. That's one way of stating the statement. The other is I charge a dollar for a pencil and you pay me 23%, therefore you are in fact going to pay $1.23 for the pencil. That is 23%.
Hewitt: But the Fair Tax would operate this way. They would charge you $1.30 for that pencil. Under both my approach and their approach it's $1.30. They say that 30 cents is 23% of $1.30, and therefore it's a 23% tax. I say that America and the 45 states that apply sales taxes all calculate and find sales tax based upon the percent applied to get to the final number.
Therefore, if we're looking for clarity in the public space, if we want the public to understand what is being proposed, we should call it a 30% sales tax because that's how American's talk about sales taxes.
Pointing Out the Obvious
I've waited a long time for health care reform to be at the top of the agenda. Now that congress is finally addressing the issue, politicians on both sides of the aisle are focusing most of their time talking about the cost of reforming our system. Democrats for health care reform are pointing out how much money it will save the country as a whole while the Republicans are pointing out how it will drive our country deeper into debt. I get that both sides are trying to win the messaging war by saying that their health care stance is more fiscally responsible. The truth is most Americans know the reality of the system quite well.
The reality is if you get real sick, no matter if you're insured or not, you're probably financially fucked.
The reality is if you get real sick, no matter if you're insured or not, you're probably financially fucked.
Really Not Important
But I have a bit of an obsession with the number of local sports franchise team members who live in the 'burbs. Voorhees?
Studies Say What I Want Them to Say!
A common phenomenon in right-blogistan. Even more common than its cousin, "any new rearrangement of debunked arguments constitutes a new and devastating study."
Also.
Also.
Quote of the Day?
Linda Chavez, testifying at the Sotomayor hearings:
"I testify today not as a wise latina woman."Well I think we can all agree on that...
Surely Not Joking
Microsoft has put the Richard Feynman Messenger Series of lectures online, and they're pretty amazing to watch. I'd never actually seen video of a Feynman lecture, but I've had a soft spot for him for a while. When I graduated high school, my physics teacher, who I liked a lot, gave me an old set of the Feynman Lectures on Physics she found cleaning out a lab closet, and I credit Feynman's books with drawing me into the sciences in the first place.
They're entertaining on a number of levels, and you probably won't even get in trouble for watching them at work!
(via the borg)
They're entertaining on a number of levels, and you probably won't even get in trouble for watching them at work!
(via the borg)
Getting Fleeced By Ben Stein
The NYT should care. Perhaps if we set up a blogger ethics panel it'll all make sense.
Journamalism
I normally don't cheer on the death of "journalism,"but the AP's national political coverage can't die soon enough.
Still Looking For That Bottom
Maybe it's over here somewhere...
July 16 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. foreclosure filings hit a record in the first half, a sign that job losses and falling property prices deepened the housing recession, according to RealtyTrac Inc.
More than 1.5 million properties received a default or auction notice or were seized by banks in the six months through June, the Irvine, California-based seller of default data said today in a statement. That’s a 15 percent increase from the year earlier. One in 84 U.S. households received a filing.
Mission Accomplished
And the governator terminates the state.
LOS ANGELES — California lawmakers neared a deal on Wednesday with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to close the state’s $26 billion budget gap in ways that would profoundly alter the state’s relationship with its cities and millions of residents who receive basic services.
Details emerging from the talks suggested that the deal would require extraordinarily deep cuts to school systems and local governments, and, while far smaller than the governor threatened a month ago, substantial cuts to health care and other social services.
Good morning
I see Amy Goodman had Matt Taibbi on Democracy Now!. (And, btw, I never did like Lanny Davis, who is now a lobbyist for supporters of the Honduran coup.)
Signed,
Not Atrios
Signed,
Not Atrios
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
I Guess So
But I don't know what else would convince them.
I must admit, I think there is entertainment value in watching his head explode as an African-American president nominates a latino female to the supreme court.
I must admit, I think there is entertainment value in watching his head explode as an African-American president nominates a latino female to the supreme court.
Healthcare Details
I was wondering the other day whether there was any push by advocates of complimentary and alternative medicine (CAM, which I hold in rather low esteem) to get unscientific health care products and services covered under any public plan.
Medicare/Medicaid won't cover CAM treatments, but the British NHS does, including outright quackery like homeopathy. There's obviously a strong disincentive to pay for ineffective treatments, but CAM quackery does have devoted and vocal supporters. And if there is one thing congress does poorly, it's protecting taxpayers from getting ripped off for the benefit of a business group.
I imagine that the public option would essentially be a ported version of Medicare, which would be fine. But then I read about Sen. Harkin's shenanigans, and began to worry again. Does anybody know if this is a topic of debate around either the senate or house bills?
This is a concern several orders of magnitude less important than the issue of whether or not we actually get real healthcare reform with a strong public option, and much less important than various other details in any bill that will shape how our nation receives healthcare. But as long as people are worrying about costs, it seemed a relevant concern. And there's a lot of room on the internet to worry about minor details, too.
Medicare/Medicaid won't cover CAM treatments, but the British NHS does, including outright quackery like homeopathy. There's obviously a strong disincentive to pay for ineffective treatments, but CAM quackery does have devoted and vocal supporters. And if there is one thing congress does poorly, it's protecting taxpayers from getting ripped off for the benefit of a business group.
I imagine that the public option would essentially be a ported version of Medicare, which would be fine. But then I read about Sen. Harkin's shenanigans, and began to worry again. Does anybody know if this is a topic of debate around either the senate or house bills?
This is a concern several orders of magnitude less important than the issue of whether or not we actually get real healthcare reform with a strong public option, and much less important than various other details in any bill that will shape how our nation receives healthcare. But as long as people are worrying about costs, it seemed a relevant concern. And there's a lot of room on the internet to worry about minor details, too.
Wuuuhh?
London Tube prices aren't all that cheap, but this just can't be true.
Even a cash fare to the furthest out zone will set you back only 7 quid, or about 12 bucks. Of course pass fares are cheaper. And zone 9 stations are like 25 miles from the central city area.
At the news conference Tuesday, Mr. Walder spoke highly of the Oyster card but stopped short of saying he would import the program. And he did not address the issue of fare increases; in London, subway rides start at $2.60 but can rise above $20, depending on the length of the ride and the time of day.
Even a cash fare to the furthest out zone will set you back only 7 quid, or about 12 bucks. Of course pass fares are cheaper. And zone 9 stations are like 25 miles from the central city area.
My Wee Inner Libertarian Comes Out
The reason (fair or not) to limit calorie/nutritional information requirements to chain restaurants is that requiring it of every restaurant for every item would really place a really large burden on small establishments. It isn't costless to get this information, and aside from monetary cost there's a time cost. I wouldn't want my local French BYOB to have to send every new proposed menu item to the lab before putting it on the menu.
It's more reasonable for large chains because their menu items are standardized and the cost can be spread over their entire chain. And, more than that, the major chains at least already know the nutritional information about their products, they just don't necessarily share it very prominently absent regulation.
It's more reasonable for large chains because their menu items are standardized and the cost can be spread over their entire chain. And, more than that, the major chains at least already know the nutritional information about their products, they just don't necessarily share it very prominently absent regulation.
The First Rule Of Fight Club
Well, you know.
- The teenager, Kyle Shore, of 250 West 27th Street in the Chelsea section of Manhattan, was charged with arson, criminal possession of a weapon, and criminal mischief, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said at a news conference. He had bragged to friends that he was responsible for the bombing, Mr. Kelly said, and had started an underground fight club modeled on the one in the 1999 film, which starred Brad Pitt and Edward Norton.
Of Course A Bit More Actual Mass Transit Would Help Too
But, in any case, the administration's stated emphasis on building walkable/transit-oriented communities is a positive sign. I don't yet have a sense of what kind of carrots/sticks the feds can realistically wield to encourage state/local gov't to actually do such things. It's important to remember that in most places - even places with mass transit! - it's been extremely hard to actually have such development even if developers are willing.
(ht reader d)
(ht reader d)
Joe The Soothsayer
Hopefully wingnuts will start taking stock and horse picks from the guy.
That they continue to cling to Joe the Plumber in wingnut world is even more odd than their love of Palin.
That they continue to cling to Joe the Plumber in wingnut world is even more odd than their love of Palin.
Apparently There Was An Election Yesterday
In case you hadn't noticed.
- LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Democrat Judy Chu has easily claimed a vacant U.S. House seat in a Los Angeles-area district, reinforcing the Democratic majority on Capitol Hill.
Shorter Tom Friedman
You can find it.
- Sure we beat the crap out of our kids and pretty much destroyed their lives, but we still have so much love to give.
You can say that again
When Mark Sanford first disappeared in his inadvertent quest for new euphemisms he did have plenty of people rushing preemptively to his defense -- The usual suspects; The Washington Times, the Wall Street Journal editorial page, FoxNews, Jake Tapper.
But none were so prompt and servile as Erick Erickson at Redstate.
Whoops:
But none were so prompt and servile as Erick Erickson at Redstate.
Whoops:
The e-mails also show some reached out to the governor on how best to come to his defense.
“If he wants something more personal for the blog to push back, I’m happy to help,” wrote Erick Erickson, a writer for RedState.com. On June 23, Erickson ripped “media speculation” about Sanford’s whereabouts.
“I wasn’t trying to be a reporter. I wanted to curtail the story,” Erickson said by e-mail. “Well that didn’t work.”
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Sarah Palin's Op-Ed
I was going to say a few words about it, but really it speaks for itself, and it's been ably dealt with several times over already.
I'll just add that more generally, the idea of freeing ourselves from foreign sources of energy is another one of those concepts that polls well across the political spectrum and thus gets overused to the point that it loses all meaning.
We're a net coal exporter, and electricity isn't generally traded between countries (except really along borders), so the entire concept of "foreign sources of energy" really means petroleum and natural gas. And the idea of consuming less imported oil and gas appeals to people for various ideological reasons. And there are genuinely good reasons for reducing the amount of foreign (and domestic) petroleum and natural gas we consume.
But increasing domestic production of an internationally traded fungible commodity won't really solve those associated problems. The EIA has made it pretty clear that our own ability to ramp up production is dwarfed by global demand, even with the recent downturn. I always thought last summer that figures 20 and 21 put the lie to "Drill baby, drill!" (why I never saw a cable news show discuss that report is a separate matter...)
Even if we managed to increase our domestic production to the point where we significantly reduced imports, it wouldn't solve most of the problems of "foreign sources of energy." Global demand would still support dictatorial oil-garchies. The global economy would still be vulnerable, if somewhat less so, to geopolitical supply shocks. And global climate change would continue unabated or accelerated.
My point is just that "freeing ourselves from foreign sources of energy" really only has meaning as "freeing ourselves from petroleum and natural gas*" Sarah Palin's op-ed has no meaning.
The kind of crap that gets published in the WaPo op-ed pages would be amazing, if it weren't so unsurprising.
(* although even in my utopian future, we'll have natural gas cycling plants for some time.)
I'll just add that more generally, the idea of freeing ourselves from foreign sources of energy is another one of those concepts that polls well across the political spectrum and thus gets overused to the point that it loses all meaning.
We're a net coal exporter, and electricity isn't generally traded between countries (except really along borders), so the entire concept of "foreign sources of energy" really means petroleum and natural gas. And the idea of consuming less imported oil and gas appeals to people for various ideological reasons. And there are genuinely good reasons for reducing the amount of foreign (and domestic) petroleum and natural gas we consume.
But increasing domestic production of an internationally traded fungible commodity won't really solve those associated problems. The EIA has made it pretty clear that our own ability to ramp up production is dwarfed by global demand, even with the recent downturn. I always thought last summer that figures 20 and 21 put the lie to "Drill baby, drill!" (why I never saw a cable news show discuss that report is a separate matter...)
Even if we managed to increase our domestic production to the point where we significantly reduced imports, it wouldn't solve most of the problems of "foreign sources of energy." Global demand would still support dictatorial oil-garchies. The global economy would still be vulnerable, if somewhat less so, to geopolitical supply shocks. And global climate change would continue unabated or accelerated.
My point is just that "freeing ourselves from foreign sources of energy" really only has meaning as "freeing ourselves from petroleum and natural gas*" Sarah Palin's op-ed has no meaning.
The kind of crap that gets published in the WaPo op-ed pages would be amazing, if it weren't so unsurprising.
(* although even in my utopian future, we'll have natural gas cycling plants for some time.)
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