December, 2011 archive
Clipboard Nazis 2
Philly dot com tells the story of a condominium where exterior colored Christmas lights are banned. Only white lights are permitted and then only in certain locations (for example, in the shrubbery, not on the building itself).
Residents agreed to these restrictions when they bought their units.
All palaver about “rules are rules” aside, here’s the reason given for having and enforcing this one:
Former board president Kenneth Davis called the matter a “nonissue.”
“Whatever you want to do, do it inside,” Davis said, adding that the board was trying to preserve property values.
Questions of good taste aside, persons have the screwiest notions about what affects property values.
[Fade to dream sequence]
Real Estate Agent: “So, would you like to make an offer?”
Pigeon: “I don’t think so. They had ugly Christmas decorations last year.”
[Fade back in]
Rules are indeed rules.
Arbitrary and stupid are still arbitrary and stupid.
Full disclosure:
I live in a condo. They have rules about decorations.
They may be arbitrary about some things, but they are not stupid.
“Round and Round It Goes and When It Stops, You Get Hosed” 0
At Asia Times, Ellen Brown wonders why the Fed keeps shoveling money to banksters in the name of “increasing liquidity,” when banks are supposed to lend, not borrow.
She explains that it’s more Wall Street three-card monte. A snippet:
The answer is no. Today when banks make loans, they extend credit first, then fund the loans by borrowing from the cheapest available source. [4] If deposits are not available, they borrow from another bank, the money market, or the Federal Reserve.
Rather than loans being created from deposits, loans actually create deposits. They create deposits when checks are drawn on the borrower’s account and deposited in another bank. The originating bank can then borrow these funds (or others created by the same process at another bank) at the Fed funds rate – currently a very low 0.25%. In effect, a bank can create money in the form of “bank credit”, lend it to a customer at high interest, and borrow it back at very low interest, pocketing the difference as its profit.
If all this looks like sleight of hand, it is. The process has been compared to “check kiting,” . . . .
Read the whole thing.
Then invest your money in a slot machine in Lost Wages, Nevada; at least those games are regulated.
Reach for the Christmas Spirits 0
Make mine a triple Scotch with a Bourbon chaser.
Via Bob Cesca’s Awesome Blog.
Bachmann Spurner Overdrive 0
New reality show: Republican Shore, with Snooky and The Donald in a situation:
Trump told Fox Business Network on Friday it amazes him Bachmann would meet with him four times and phone for his guidance, only to snub his Dec. 27 debate in Iowa.
Just Cain’t Help Missing the Point 0
This has been nagging at me for several days now.
Wednesday, Edward Wasserman wasted precious electrons at Philly dot com wondering whether charges that Herman Cain committed long-term adultery should matter as regards his apparently defunct campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.
Wasserman did not mention the several charges–charges made credible by settlements paid by his employer–of Cain’s using or attempting to use his privilege, position, and power to extort sexual favors from persons subordinate to him.
Furrfu.
A Modest Proposal, Immigration Dept. 0
My friend has a theory about how to deal with illegal immigrants.
I believe we should treat them like politicians. If they get away with it, it means they are smart enough to stay.
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes 0
Mitt the Flip has one core principle:
Say what you think they want to hear.
Twits on Twitter 0
Entitled to a jury of your twits:
Sample texts of twits at the link.
Moving the Mail 0
I much as I generally sympathize with MoveOn dot org, I must say, this is quite the hoot.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
Slightly better. According to the story, it’s unclear how much of the decrease can be attributed to seasonal jobs.
(snip)
Those who’ve used up their traditional benefits and are now collecting emergency and extended payments decreased by about 211,600 to 3.31 million in the week ended Nov. 19.
Conventional Wisdom, Magickal Thinking Dept. 0
I mentioned developer magic last week in conjunction with the scheme of some in Virginia Beach for the city to fund a developer’s construction of a new hotel.
A refresher on how it works: the city gives money to a developer to pull a rabbit out of a hat, magically making tourists favor Virginia Beach over, for example, Ocean City or Myrtle Beach.
The developer disappears the money and the rabbit stays in the hat.
Meanwhile, the hotel sits half-empty, surviving on the city’s guarantees, until comes another developer to promote another “public-private partnership” (see below) to convert the site to condominiums or retail space or something, promising that, like a weekend in the Bahamas, it will restore the magic. &c.
Here’s the latest in the story.
The resident curmudgeon at the local rag tore into this issue yesterday, and she had facts and figures. Unlike City Council’s numbers, they are based on facts, not on developer’s projections. A snippet:
“This is not an ideological issue for me,” Sanders told me Tuesday. “I don’t oppose public spending on the stuff that makes sense…. But it’s the same script and the same scenario everywhere.”
From coast to coast, in cities large and small, politicians salivate over inflated visions of convention business. They build magnificent facilities and then chase conventions by slashing their fees and pouring public money into ancillary projects designed to give their centers a competitive edge.
After years of studying the convention industry, Sanders says he’s not surprised to find municipalities that are struggling to balance budgets and pay teachers that can miraculously find money to throw at their convention centers. These exhibit halls inevitably come with overblown promises of stampeding visitors, millions in tax receipts, and hotels packed with conventioneers.
Travelers don’t go to cities to visit hotels.
Travelers go to hotels to visit cities.
The Secret of Wingnut Success 0
Annoying liberals. It what the base values most.
Click for a larger image.
Via Some Guy with a Website, who also points out this.