December, 2009 archive
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 1
Still under half a mil:
Some other indicators looking up a bit.
Athlete of the Decade 1
Tiger Woods, according to the AP.
The choice of the Las Vegas Showgirls Union is still being awaited.
Truth in Free Association (Updated) 1
The newscaster said, “Vice President Joe” and I thought “Lieberman” before he could say “Biden.”
DId I mention that the whole Republican Party is completely against making anything better for anyone other than the veddy veddy rich?
Addendum:
DIck Polman on Holy Joe.
Parental Paranoia 1
The new pernicious problematic peril to the purity of the pubescent puerile from the Puritanical, who never ever played “spin the bottle” when they were young:
Members of the Virginia State Crime Commission refused Tuesday to recommend legislation concerning sexting, but the issue is likely to come before lawmakers next month.
Currently, it’s up to commonwealth’s attorneys to charge teens and young adults who send sexually explicit pictures or videos through text messages or e-mails with possessing or transmitting child pornography. Several have done so, and some lawmakers say there should be laws to ensure the issue is dealt with uniformly across the state.
But others, like Del. David Albo, R-Fairfax, said taking the discretion away from the state’s 120 elected prosecutors could result in a teen being punished for a stupid mistake while allowing a serious predator to receive a mere slap on the wrist. Albo called possible legislation “a total minefield.”
Meanwhile, Conor Friedersdorf links to a chilling story of dictatorial prosecutorial vindictiveness and stupidity, which says it so I don’t have to:
Interpolation, 250 Miles Later: The point of this is that some kid who makes a mistake, or maybe it’s not a mistake but he or she’s under age (the age limits are, after all, generalizations) shouldn’t be treated like a 45-year-old who snatches a six-year-old off the street, but that is where we are headed.
Good British Import 0
No Lucas Electric here. From MarketWatch:
U.K. Chancellor Alistair Darling has refused requests to relax the terms of the tax — which would be paid by banks on all bonuses over 25,000 pounds ($40,600) — as firms claim it would raise far more than the 550 million pounds the Treasury estimated, the Financial Times reported.
The Treasury claims that the solution is for the banks to pay out less in bonuses, rather than to relax the tax rules, it added.
Family Values, the Bushonomics Way 0
Nobody could have predicted:
Requests for reduced alimony and child support payments have surged, and the emotional toll of lost jobs, slashed pay, and uncertain futures appears to be driving an increase in other family problems.
Read the whole thing.
Twits on Twitter 0
Earth-shaking news.
Adding Value 0
It’s an interesting report; it defines value as something other than country club memberships:
(snip)
The report said tax accountants were the most destructive, laying waste to £47 of value for every £1 they created. Elite City bankers (earning £1m plus bonuses) destroy £7 of value for every £1 they create and advertising executives wreck £11 of value for every £1 they are paid.
On the other hand, the report judged that waste-recycling workers generated £12 for every £1 spent on their wages. Childcare workers create between £7 and £9.50 of value for every £1 of pay and hospital cleaners create more than £10 in value for every £1 they receive in pay.
To see a description of how the “value” estimates were reached, follow the link.
Ideology and Wishful Thinking, the Foundations of Republicanism 2
Krugman:
Oh, and conservatives simply ignore the catastrophe in commercial real estate: in their universe the only bad loans were those made to poor people and members of minority groups, because bad loans to developers of shopping malls and office towers don’t fit the narrative.
Speaking of catastrophes in commercial real estate, as I traversed the Jersey Turnpike this weekend, I saw the number of vacant warehouses has increased since my last trip up that way, and office buildings which had been occupied by the same folks ever since I first traveled that road [mumble] years ago are now for rent, cheap.
One sign by a warehouse park touted “1,000,000+ Square Feet Available!” Three of those is a square mile.
And I only went from Exit 7A to Exit 11.
Ice Day 2
I had to run an errand up in northern Connecticut this weekend. I drove up yesterday, 250 miles in about four and a half hours driving time. Beautiful sunny day and a gorgeous drive.
I stayed over at a hotel in Waterbury and set out early this morning, figuring I’d have a nice explore on the way back.
I wandered through southwestern Connecticut, eventually finding myself on the Merritt Parkway near Bridgeport, then beat feet for the Tappan Zee (I won’t drive through New York City on a bet–that’s what trains are for).
The Entitlement Society 2
Banksters:
But as a whole, the industry continues to resist important changes – even as key players continue to show why those changes are needed.
Just one example: The Credit Card Act, passed by Congress earlier this year, will soon bar card issuers from raising rates on existing balances under “any time, any reason” clauses or for being a few hours or days late on a payment – a common practice during the last decade.
So what did Citibank recently do to a swath of its customers? It raised their “regular” rate to 29.99 percent, and then promised them a rebate of 10 percentage points each month if they continue to pay on time. In essence, Citibank devised an end run around the new rules.
Citibank isn’t alone. Recent reports by consumer groups, including one last week by the Center for Responsible Lending, have identified a series of similar devices to game the system even before most of the new rules take effect Feb. 22. The card issuers’ clever lawyers have decided that boosting revenue is more important than honoring the spirit of the new law.
The True War on Christmas . . . 0
. . . consists of the dumb crassness (or is it crass dumbness?) to convince persons to buy things unwanted for persons unloved at prices unreal.
“Climategate” 1
Aside: We need a new term for a political scandal to replace “gate.” It’s shopworn. How about “Great and Glorious Patriotic War for a Lie,” as in “climategreatandgloriouspatrioticwarforalie.”
Fact Check dot org takes a look at that email so-called scandal. Shorter version of the analysis: Any attempt to turn it into a scandal is a load of hooey.
But, then again, it’s been carried by our favorite load of hooey carriers from the beginning. Probably something to do with their fossil fuel stocks . . . .
Dobbious Apparitions 0
Mr. Feastingonroadkill reports.
Urban Legends 0
Mithras catalogs the new crop:
Over at snopes, of the 60 items on their “What’s New” page, 13 are wingnut obsessions.
Follow the link for the list of nuttiness.
It’s nutty, but it’s also dangerous that real persons believe this crap.
Return of Beyond the Palin Meets the Thermometer 0
Alan Leshner writes at the Guardian:
He opened the column by equating global warming deniers with the doctors who, in the 1950s and 1960s, insisted that tobacco was safe.
I wonder if he listens to GNC? Todd read my email making the same comparison on the air. (The “GW#” links at the GNC link are my submissions.)
I have a quibble. He says she “distorted” facts. I don’t think she did.
Claiming that someone distorted something implies that he or she is capable of understanding it in the first place.
News at Eleven 0
Today at about 11 a. m. EST, Todd Cochrane begins his third (?) annual 24 hour podcast. Jeffrey from Geekazine is scheduled to participate.
Check it out.
Dustbiters 0
While I was sleeping, these outfits ran aground:
Guess their bonuses won’t be so big this year.
