2010 archive
“Can’t Do” Republicans 1
New Jersey Republican Governor Christie threatens to scuttle a new commuter terminal between New Jersey and New York City.
Bob Herbert comments:
Somewhere, somehow, things went haywire. The nation that built the Erie Canal and Hoover Dam and the transcontinental railroad can’t even build a tunnel beneath the Hudson River from New Jersey to New York.
Because, you see, the tunnel would benefit persons who can’t afford to have chauffeurs.
Via Atrios.
Educational Folly-cy 1
Republican millionaires have claimed for years that teachers and cops and other government employees making, say, $30-50,000 a year are overpaid. (See some comparative pay statistics; it’s a little dated but it was the clearest I could find that focused on numbers, not on rants.)
They’ve finally figured out what to do about it.
Crash the economy.
Public schools in New Jersey were set to start the academic year down 10,000 jobs, including 7,000 educators who chose to retire, Steve Wollmer, a spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association, a union that represents teachers, said in August after Governor Chris Christie slashed $1.3 billion in aid to schools and local governments.
(Link fixed.)
Twits on Twitter 0
It has always confounded me that folks believe stuff simply because they see it on a computer screen, when they would not believe the same stuff if they read in a chain letter.
Bags of Air (Updated) 0
“Apparently now we have a foreclosure-based economy.”
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Foreclosure Crisis | ||||
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Thoreau comments:
Now, I do realize that there might be economic repercussions if bankers are unable to recover some of their losses. Fortunately, I have a solution: They can sell their own organs to raise cash. I have a bit of damage on my cornea, my brother has a less-than-perfect cardiovascular system, and most of Ireland could use a new liver. So there’s clearly a customer base.
Video via TPM.
Addendum, Later That Same Day:
Stewart thought he was being facetious with the crack about a “foreclosure-based economy.”
In a report that at attorneys-general of at least 40 states are preparing to investigate the fiduciary and legal irresponsibility of the banksters, Bloomberg includes this tidbit:
“If you have a national moratorium on foreclosures, that’s a problem,” Paul Miller, an analyst for FBR Capital Markets Corp. in Arlington, Virginia, said in a phone interview. “The longer you drag out foreclosures the longer it takes to get through” the housing slump, he said.
Of course, he is wrong, as any student of Kepner-Tregoe could tell you.
A moratorium would be a symptom.
Incompetence and fraud are the problems.
QOTD 0
One, Two, Three, FEAR! 0
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Indecision 2010 – Revenge of the Fallen – FearStock.com | ||||
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Via TPM.
Robo-Signers 0
The banksters’ mortgage foreclosure fraud explained, with illustrations (as children’s books used to say), via Atrios.
Finders Keepers, Not So Much 0
Not so far as the FBI is concerned.
All seriousness aside, this is the very portrait of the arrogance of the out-of-control.
This illustrates why we need the ACLU.
Loyalty Oath Stupidity 0
Loyalty oaths were stupid during the Cold War and they are stupid now.
Someone with dastardly intent will quite happily swear a loyalty oath. What’s the little betrayal of a loyalty oath to someone who has already determined to betray a trust?
The only persons who benefit from loyalty oaths are politicians who use them to create fusses and furors.
Follow the link for more details on this particular fuss and furor.
Helen Philpot on “Populism” 0
A nugget:
And let’s talk about that hatred. It seems so at odds with the supposed Christian morals they so proudly espouse. They hate big government but instead of taking issue with the largest part of that government – the military – they take issue with healthcare. They hate big government in healthcare but they have no issue with government being big enough to intervene in the private health decisions of a woman seeking to end a pregnancy or the private decisions of a husband wanting to end the decade long sufferings of his wife. They hate big government but they don’t seem to hate using government to legislate hate against homosexuals. And they hate big government, but they don’t seem to hate it when they can use it to fuel their hatred. Gosh I hate that…
That’s just the beginning. Read the whole thing.
Topology 0
Lately, I’ve been spending most of my on line “social” time in forums trying to learn and teach stuff.
Via Blue Ridge Data.
Who Has What? 0
From the Booman, a chart contrasting actual wealth distribution with Imagined wealth distribution by members of different income levels, sexes, and voting groups.
No one estimates the reality: that the very rich own almost everything:
Click the image to read the Booman’s complete analysis.
That Loving Spirit 0
Mild exercise and contemplation is verboten. Only self-flagellation with a scourge is acceptable.
Southern Baptist Seminary President Albert Mohler says the stretching and meditative discipline derived from Eastern religions is not a Christian pathway to God.
Follow the link and read the entire article for more perspective on this absurdity than I have patience for.
Somehow Fitting 0
The 10th anniversary is traditionally the tinth anniversary.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
Under 450k for the first time in weeks, but just barel. Bloomberg:
(snip)
The four-week moving average, a less volatile measure than the weekly figures, dropped to 455,750 last week from 458,750, today’s report showed. It was the sixth consecutive decrease.
The beatdown goes on.
The Internet Is a Public Place 0
And that goes for the “secret ballot,” too.
Brad Friedman reports that
Hackers Inject Univ. of Michigan ‘Fight Song’ Onto System During D.C. Internet Voting Scheme Tests
,
amongst other things.
The Water Cure 1
From the BBC. Follow the link for a video report.
The Bush legacy is a legacy of sin in our name.