2011 archive
The Fee Hand of the Market 0
Bill Shein surveys the new fees banks are considering instituting to replace the old fees that they are now prohibited from collecting.
Here’s a sample. Follow the link to see the rest.
ISO Brains 0
I have finally figured out the current fascination with zombies.
It was preparation for the Republican face for the nomination.
Via Raw Story.
Newt Gingrich, Man of Principal (with Compound Interest) 0
In the Chicago Trib, Steve Chapman considers the ascendency of Newt Gingrich. Mr. Chapman does not believe that Newtmentum has staying power.
A nugget:
Aside from style, there is the problem of substance. Some Republicans are turning to him out of aversion to Romney’s notorious flip-flopping, forgetting Gingrich’s own amazing flexibility.
At Kiko’s Place, Shaun Mullen quotes John McWhorter (my emphasis; follow the link and read the entire piece):
And, now, a blast from the past:
Facebook Frolics, Creepy Stalker Dept. 0
The ACLU seems to have had enough.
We shouldn’t have to choose between browsing the Web and keeping Facebook from tracking everything we do online. That’s why we’ve asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to look into Facebook’s practice of tracking your web activity even if you never click on a Like button or log into Facebook at all, and why we encourage you to tell Congress to take steps to protect our privacy by creating a “Do Not Track” mechanism with legal force. And, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.), chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, has pledged to hold a hearing to investigate these reports.
I seldom visit Facebook and, when I do, I do so in a private browser session; cookies dropped in private session are deleted when that session is ended.
I’ve also set my browser to “delete new cookies” upon exit.
That took a teeny little bit of work.
I set the preferences to the default of retaining cookies. I then deleted all the cookies except for the two or three I wanted and exited the program.
I then restarted the browser and changed the cookie setting to “delete new cookies,” so that the ones I wanted would be retained, since they were no longer “new.”
No Facebook creepy stalker cookies on my computer.
Well Bred Bread 0
I’ve been experimenting with bread lately, having fun making olive bread, asiago cheese bread, and other variants.
Here’s my basic bread recipe.
Warm water: Use approximately 3/4 to one cup per loaf desired.
Yeast (for lighter bread, use two packets).
Salt. I usually use about 1/4 teaspoon.
Sweetener (to feed the yeast): Cane sugar or brown sugar. Depending on the desired sweetness, use one to two tablespoons per loaf; use more brown sugar than you would white sugar.
Flour: Unbleached white flour with either white whole wheat flour (it’s made from a different strain of wheat from the whole wheat flour we are used to) or rye flour.
Honey wheat bread: Substitute 1/4 to 1/2 cup honey per loaf for the sugar before adding the flour.
Olive bread: About 3/8 cup or more chopped or sliced green olives or “salad” olives plus the juice before adding the flour. (I save olive jars when the olives are gone so I can use the juice); supplement with black olive slices if desired. Pimento-stuffed olives are fine.
Asiago bread: About 1/2 cup or more shredded cheese per loaf before adding the flour. May substitute or blend grated Romano and Parmesan (avoid the pulverized kind that comes in a shaker).
Garlic bread: About three to four tablespoons of minced garlic per loaf. Avoid the hard, dried minced garlic from your spice rack; prefer the minced garlic that comes in a tube or jar; supplement with garlic powder for extra oomf. Alternately, peel and sauté one bunch of garlic, cutting the cloves into large chunks, and mince and sauté one clove per loaf in butter or olive oil and add the whole mixture, including butter or oil, before adding the flour.
Onion bread: About a quarter cup of onion flakes per loaf before adding the flour; supplement with onion powder. May also used fresh chopped sautéed onions.
The Fee Hand of the Market 0
How is this not kidnapping and extortion?
Hundreds of passengers traveling from India to Britain were stranded for six hours in Vienna when their Comtel airline flight stopped for fuel on Tuesday. The charter service asked them to kick in more than 20,000 pounds ($31,000) to fund the rest of the flight to Birmingham, England.
They Can’t Help Themselves 0
Fabrication and falsification is what they do.
On Even-Handedness 0
Thoreau:
The law, in its majesty, allows the individual and the corporation alike to spend money on political ads.
The Enronning of America the World
0
David Calloway of MarketWatch points out how financial venality has become financial normality. A nugget:
For the past 30 years, however, financial services has been the place to be. And the focus on making money has turned into a worldwide industry, with several million full-time occupants. It’s spawned the growth of the financial media industry, with companies such as MarketWatch, Bloomberg, TheStreet.com writing about Italian bond yields with the drama that our predecessors used to write about rock concerts. And it’s brought the world together in innumerable ways that both benefit, or as we’ve seen, destroy.
Read the whole thing.
Update from the Foreclosure-Based Economy 0
The engines of foreclosure strength continue apace, attesting the wisdom of the bankster-philanderersphilosophers who master the universe.
Values have fallen so far that many potential sellers have pulled homes off the market. Fewer than 38,000 homes were for sale in the 28-county area in July, the lowest total in nearly seven years. Distress sales will likely continue to make up a big part of the inventory for some time to come.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
Once more, no mention of how many persons are no longer eligible for benefits, yet remain unemployed and living in their cars in Walmart parking lots.
(snip)
The four-week moving average, a less-volatile measure, dropped to 396,750 from 400,750.
The number of people continuing to collect jobless benefits decreased by 57,000 in the week ended Nov. 5 to 3.61 million, the fewest since September 2008. The continuing claims figure does not include the number of workers receiving extended benefits under federal programs.
Those who’ve used up their traditional benefits and are now collecting emergency and extended payments dropped by about 70,400 to 3.46 million in the week ended Oct. 29.
Emphasis added.
Driving while Brown, Birmingham Bridge Dept. 0
From the description (emphasis added):
Cineo Gonzales, an Alabama resident and a father of two, talks here about those who left in a hurry, including families with children who are American citizens.
“Their children are U.S. citizens and they are running away in their own country,” said Gonzales, a taxi driver who has been receiving calls from many panicked families.
Sipping the Fantastickal Teacup 0
The Commander Guy discusses the Wingnut World of Fantastickal thinking, using the Wingnut faith that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac somehow caused the crash. A nugget:
Follow the link for his discussion of faith-based political fakirs of Wingnuttery.