2009 archive
End the Politics of Hate 1
From D-Day, reflecting on the Unitarian Church shootings last summer.
Unspoken but clear is his concern of more violence from the Right.
What I find truly maddening is that many of these haters wrap themselves, not just in the American flag, but also in the Christian flag.
Doesn’t seem right. But it is Rightwing.
More on Being Illerate Illiterate
1
Techfun looks into where people get their news (emphasis added):
“Dow Theory” 0
Bonddad summarizes what it is and how it works, in understandable terms.
I’m Proudly Illerate Illiterate
0
I’ve never been able to bring myself to read a Jane Austen novel and I’ve never been required to.
Maybe I’ll try this one.
Via Wait! Wait!
Bailouts for Bozos 0
I am bemused by all the leftie hand-wringing over the Geithner bailout plan. Not because I’m a fan of the plan, but because persons are acting like it’s somehow immutable.
I think that we will find that it’s very mutable.
This administration is not hampered by ideology that prevents it from recognizing when something’s not working.
In contrast, consider the Republican loyalty to tax cuts as the only way to do anything.
Even though that loyalty is based on the demonstrably false Laughable Curve (and, if you don’t want to research the economic theory, just read the stock market pages and the weekly jobs reports), it has become a central tenet of their ideology: They are incapable of considering any economic strategies other than tax cuts for the rich. Making the rich richer is their Eleventh Commandment.
They, like the Blues Brothers, believe they are on a mission from God. (The Blues Brothers had a better script.)
Supplementary Material:
Very interesting interview about executive compensation on Radio Times yesterday. Go here and search for February 9, 2009, and select Hour 1 or listen here (mp3).
Video via TPM.
“I Get Aid. You Get Welfare.” 2
Just like money for workers is “pork-barrel spending” and money for bankers is “asset relief.” (Aside: Jeez oh man! you can’t make this stuff up.)
It’s just a question of symantics I’ve been doing computers too long semantics (emphasis added):
“In Nadya’s view, the money that she gets from the food stamp program … and the resources disabilities payments she gets for her three children are not welfare,” he said. “They are part of programs designed to help people with need, and she does not see that as welfare.”
Via Skippy.
Extremely jaundiced commentary here, via Sullivan.
Credibility Where Credibility’s Due 0
“Grab, Get, and Goose” 0
That is compensation slang for a compensation program that attracts, retains, and motivates persons.
The often unstated truth is that, for most persons, pay in and of itself is not a motivator. If persons believe they are being compensated fairly, they just don’t worry about pay all that much. (Lack of pay, of course, is a motivator of sorts.)
In contrast, perceived unfair pay is a hell of a demotivator.
Wall Street, though, speaks as if pay is the only motivator; that is their defense of their bonus practices.
Dave Weidner considers this on MarketWatch:
If, as you threaten, we lose the so-called “best people” on Wall Street, then so be it.
If these are the same “best people” that former Merrill Lynch & Co. Chief Executive John Thain talked about in defending the 11th-hour bonus payout he made before his deal wit (sic) Bank of America closed, then what happens without the best people? Does Merrill lose double the near $30 billion it lost last year?
The big gray monster in the room that no one mentions is this:
Considering their performance, these were clearly not the “best people.” Indeed, they were clearly not (recalling the classifications in the old Sears Catalog) the better or even the good people.
They are buffons who drove their companies into the damned ground and are pulling the rest of us behind them.
Pay for performance my anatomy.
Facebook Exchange 0
Facebook Friend: [redacted] is dumbfounded at Sen. McConnell’s statement that the spending in the New Deal didn’t work. Are. You. Kidding. Me?
Me: Republicans lie. Get used to it.
Stray Thought 0
This house eats lighters.
Probably just as well.
No There There 0
Andrew Sullivan:
And he looks at the numbers. The Congressional numbers are particularly interesting:
If the image doesn’t work, just follow the link to Mr. Sullivan’s place.
As BarbinMD says,
Truth. No Reconciliation. 0
See the Booman for why.
The Latest for Your Dining Pleasure 0
Ummmmmmmmmm.
Soup.
City officials hope to dish out 65,000 free or inexpensive meals a day at the soup kitchens, he said.
Coming soon to a kitchen near you.
Turnarounds 0
The Coyote’s Byte:
And this surprises us how?