July, 2009 archive
Dustbiters 0
Like flies:
- First BankAmericano, Elizabeth, New Jersey
Peoples Community Bank, West Chester, Ohio
And that’s just the ones in the eastern half of the country. No doubt there will be more to come.
While we’re waiting, ponder on this.
More:
Mutual Bank, Harvey, Illinois, joins the ranks of the non-existent.
Raise Gun. Shoot Foot. 0
It looks like Apple and AT&T might have shot themselves in the foot by blocking Google Voice. Michael Arrington abandons the iPhone:
Most of you won’t know what I’m talking about, so I’ll explain.
One reason I refuse to Apple is their walled garden.
H/T Karen for the link.
Snakes on a Plane Bugs on a Boat
0
No, there will not be a repeat of the 1918 flu epidemic, if only because in those days there really was no such thing as “public health.”
On the other hand, the H1N1 virus is not just media hype. It’s been reported in over 160 countries (when I was a young ‘un, there weren’t 160 countries).
Sixty crew members have so far been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus, while 70 of their colleagues were also showing signs of being infected, they added.
GDP Down–but Not So Far 0
Bonddad considers reports that Gross Domestic Product last quarter was down at an “annualized” rate of one percent, rather than the 4.5% that was forecast. His conclusions (follow the link for the full analysis):
1.) Government spending really saved the day last quarter — it was the one positive area of growth.
2.) The rate of decline in several important areas occurred at a slower rate. Gross private domestic investment decreased at a far slower rate as did exports and imports.
3.) The rate of decline is more along the lines that occurred in the 4th quarter of 2008 rather than the 1st quarter of 2009.
Reducto ad Absurdum ad Absurdum 0
Dick Polman:
Why this country is barely governable, chapter 30,000:
What follows is real. President Obama is having a beer tonight with Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sgt. James Crowley. But a flap has developed over what kind of beer should be served. Gates wants to drink Red Stripe. Crowley wants to drink Blue Moon. Obama intends to drink Bud Light. But one domestic beer-maker is upset with Obama because Bud Light’s corporate parent is not based in America (nor are the makers of Red Stripe or Blue Moon), and therefore insists that Obama should be serving something that’s all-American, like Sam Adams. What a quandary!
Personally, I don’t think that any domestic beer should be served until each and every brewery worker produces an American birth certificate.
Sacks of Goldman 0
Michael Lewis dispels some myths about Goldman Sachs. A nugget:
Rumor No. 1: Goldman Sachs controls the government.
Every ninth-grader knows the U.S. government has three branches. Goldman owns just one of these outright; the second we simply rent; and the third we have no interest in.
What small interest we maintain in the government is, we feel, in the public interest. The financial crisis has its roots in a single easily identifiable source: others’ envy of Goldman Sachs.
The bozos at Merrill Lynch, the dimwits at Citigroup, the nimrods at Lehman Brothers, the louts at Bear Stearns, and even that momentarily useful lunatic at AIG took risks that no non-Goldman person should take, in a pathetic attempt to replicate our returns.
Now we are working with Tim Geithner and Congress to ensure that we alone are allowed to take the sort of risks that might destroy the financial system.
Read the whole thing.
We Need Single-Payer 0
Report from the field. Ashley Sayeau writes in the Guardian:
It wasn’t until I arrived in England that I understood this completely. Thirteen weeks before my recent operation, I had given birth at the same London hospital. I was able to hold my daughter for maybe 20 minutes before the midwives and doctors discovered that I had a very serious and rare fourth-degree tear in my perineum. After the finding, I was immediately wheeled into surgery, where for the next three hours, I was stitched up by, I’m told, one of the best surgeons in the field.
(snip)
Indeed there was nothing bureaucratic about any of it. Far from impersonal, I had repeated conversations with the surgeon himself about the injuries and the operations. The clinic’s nurse, a wonderful woman named Ann, held my hand through some seriously uncomfortable pre-operative exams. This Monday, her babysitter called in sick. I know because I talk to her all the time. Not once in any of these encounters did anyone bring up money. Not once was a politician present.
Cleaning Up after Themselves (in a Manner of Speaking) 0
So, after selling dodgy mortgages using high-pressure sales techniques, they turn around and buy up the houses that are “distressed.”
Empty Nest 0
The last bird flew yesterday.
Me, I think I’ll fly south for the winter.
Scary Black Man 0
To quote John Cole, “Nucking futs.”
Afterthought: Bigotry is a constant undercurrent, the bassline as it were, of wingnuttery.
Hope for the SS United States 2
Rusting away in Phialdelphiaville:
The record-setting 990-foot vessel, which has languished at Pier 82 for more than a decade, was offered for sale in January by Norwegian Cruise Lines for an estimated $20 million.
There’s more at the link.
When Zombie Banks Walked the Earth 0
Pay for performance my anatomy. This is nothing more than getting incentive pay for showing up.
Follow the link for the gory details.
H/T Karen for the link.
Beck and Gall 0
Ron Reagan calls out Glen Beck.
Ugly and stupid is ugly and stupid, no matter what side of the fence it’s on.
Listen (about six minutes):
The Grand Old Loony Bin 0
StevenD reports on the latest crazy conspiracy theory from the wingnut brigade: That the World Health Organization created the swine flu virus so as to commit genocide against honest, godfearing everyone all over the world.
His summation, well, sums it up:
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
Betting it gets revised upwards:
Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits rose 25,000 to a seasonally adjusted 584,000 in the week ended July 25, the Labor Department said, a touch above market expectations for a reading of 570,000.
However, the four-week moving average for new claims, considered to be a better gauge of underlying trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, fell by 8,250 to 559,000. This was the lowest level since late January.
