August, 2011 archive
Partnoy’s Complaint 0
Last week, Fresh Air interviewed Frank Partnoy, a Wall Street veteran who is now a professor on the growth, power, and functioning of the investment ratings agencies. Here is a nugget from the transcript:
Follow the first link to listen or the second to read the transcript.
Republican Family Values, the Gift that Keeps on Giving 0
At the Chicago Tribune, Rachel Marsden is troubled by the focus on the sex lives of the Republican presidential wannabes.
Much of what she says has merit; sexual propriety does not correlate with governmental competence. Here’s a snippet:
The American and world economies are circling the drain, and already some are suiting up to play “Indiana Jones on the Trail of the Family Jewels.” Before the expedition moves any further along — and you can be sure that it will — I’d like to provide some handy guidelines for political sex-life vetting.
She continues to offer some remarkably vapid guidelines for reporting on politicians’ sex lives.
They would, for example, forbid reporting on Dwight Eisenhower’s long-term relationship with Kay Summersby, while disqualifying serial philanderer John F. Kennedy from office.
She also ignores the “why” of the attention to the “family values” of Republican pols.
The Republican Party asked for it with their blowhard crusading hypocritical moralism.
Few things fill a foley-o of pages more than titanic hypocrisy taking a wide stance athwart the Appalachian Trail.
Doggone Diamonds 0
So they took X-rays of Honey Bun, a beloved dog who greets customers at the store, and determined that the pooch ate the diamonds.
The stones were recovered the next day. No details were given about the recovery process.
Ben Stein’s Money 0
You know that the right wing has lost touch with reality when they lose Ben Stein.
The good part starts at the three-and-a-half minute mark:
A nugget from RawStory:
O’Reilly went on to argue that raising taxes on the rich would make the recession worse.
“That isn’t true,” Stein said. “There is no correlation, Mr. O’Reilly, between taxes rates on millionaires and people above that level, billionaires, and the growth of the economy… Higher taxes have historically correlated with more growth.”
“Mr. O’Reilly, sir, there is no correlation of raising taxes and unemployment,” he added later. “If you can show it to me, I’ll eat your shoe.”
Via IntoxiNation.
QOTD 0
Malcolm Forbes, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
If you’re looking for perfection, look in the mirror. If you find it there, expect it elsewhere.
Afterthought:
A number of my leftie friends with Firebagger tendencies might try out this advice.
Break Time 0
Off to drink liberally.
Copywriteswrongs
0
From yesterday’s local rag:
I’m not so sure it’s a typo so much as a Freudian slip.
Wall Street banking is not much different from Faro these days. Everyone plays against the bank and the bank wins.
Fire in the Hole 0
Facing South reports on the depredations of big coal. A nugget:
The Howards refused the company’s offer — and when WKYT checked back in July, the flames that had been just about to the top of the well were shooting out at least a foot and a half.
Since then, the Howards have filed a lawsuit [pdf] over the contamination. In addition, environmental advocates have gotten involved, arranging for the delivery this week of clean water to 13 area families amid inaction by the company and state environmental regulators.
Unregulated industry at work.
Cantor’s Cant 0
Andy Borowitz reports:
“The earthquake and Eric Cantor originate from almost the identical point,” said Dr. Davis Logsdon of the University of Minnesota’s Seismology Institute. “But while the earthquake caused some minor shaking, there’s only one word for Eric Cantor’s impact: devastation.”
Update from the Foreclosure-Based Economy 0
Bloomberg reports that banks are falling down on the job and not foreclosing quickly enough.
Consequently, condo associations are suing banks to live up to their obligations to foreclose because the associations are suffering from vacancies and the loss of condo fees from deliquent homeowners.
Words fail me.
Stray Thought 0
Judging by the headlines in today’s local rag (and other rags), an earthquake that causes no fatalities and does almost no damage is rilly rilly big news to persons who have not experienced an earthquake before.
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
Honest to God, if President Obama appeared at the wedding at Cana and transformed water into wine, some people would complain that he failed because the wine was muscatel, not scuppernong.
More Like This 0
Sadly, it’s in civil, not in criminal court.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., in a 102-page civil lawsuit, accuses the bank of slipshod lending practices that violated its internal controls, and for spending lavishly as the bank’s condition worsened and the economy teetered on the brink of collapse.
A Liberal: Origins Issue 0
Neal Starkman, writing at the website that is all that is left of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, which was my favorite of the two major Seattle papers, muses over how he became a liberal what he considers the two distinguishing characteristics of liberals.
In some ways, it mirrors my own experiences; in others, it points to some of the reasons why liberals tend to be such a factious bunch. A nugget (emphasis added):
But am I merely justifying and ennobling my own prejudices? Don’t conservatives seek the truth and care about people? Consider some issues, past and present, with liberals on one side and conservatives on the other: Racial integration of public schools. The formation and continuation of unions. The invasions of Vietnam and of Iraq. Environmental protections. Women’s rights. Gay rights. Well, you can do the analyses. The next time you see a liberal and a conservative debate an issue, ask yourself: Which one is sticking to the facts? Which one is advocating something that will help people who need help?
QOTD 0
Walter Bagehot, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
The whole history of civilization is strewn with creeds and institutions which were invaluable at first, and deadly afterwards.
And Now for Something Completely Different 0
Trickle-Down Tricksters 0
Thom Hartmann discusses Foxy falsities on economics.
Craft Crafty Beer
0
Brendan reports that Budweiser shills its dishwater as “craft beer.”
Update from the Foreclosure-Based Economy 0
Indicators are up.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said Monday that 8.44 percent of homeowners missed at least one mortgage payment in the April-June quarter. That figure, which is adjusted for seasonal factors, rose 0.12 percentage point from the January-March period.
We Felt It Here (Updated) (Updated Again) 0
The sliding closet doors rattled a little.
My friend’s workplace, which is an old wooden building constructed in the 1920s, shook enough to get her to hang up the phone and head for the stairs.
I was near the center of a quite noticeable quake once. I told the story here.
Via Frank Chow.
Afterthought:
This explains why my call to Richmond dropped. Now it’s “all circuits are busy.”
Addendum, Later That Same Afternoon:
The Richmond Times-Dispatch rounds up Virginia’s earthquaking history.
Addendum-Dee-Dum-Dum:
Thoreau comments:
