January, 2013 archive
Stray Question, Television Dept. 0
Have you ever wondered why there were no black folks in Mayberry? In North Carolina? In the South?
I cannot think of a pretty answer.
Gun Nut Paradise Approacheth Apace 0
While I was attending to family business (probate stuff) today, I gather there were additional outbreaks of politeness amongst the gunnuttery contingent.
No doubt the NRA will attribute this to a leftist conspiracy to undermine their talking points.
“A Fundamentally Stupid Idea” 2
Contradict Me explains at the link.
Light Bloggery 0
Family matters.
Update from the Foreclosure-Based Economy 0
Go south, young man.
Topping a list of 20 metropolitan areas is Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, the Irvine, Calif.-based real estate data firm said.
RealtyTrac looked at four criteria in tallying the “best places:” the supply of foreclosure inventory; foreclosure sales as a percentage of all transactions; the average percentage discount on foreclosures; and the annual percentage change in foreclosure activity in 2012 compared with 2011.
Also among the top 20 metro areas for buying foreclosures is Lakeland (No. 5), Tampa (No. 6), Jacksonville (No.7), Orlando (No. 9) and Miami (No. 12), according to the RealtyTrac report.
More “best places” at the link.
Methinks ’tis not a good way to become a “best place.”
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
A little worse:
(snip)
The number of people who continue to collect jobless benefits climbed by 22,000 to 3.2 million in the week ended Jan. 19. The continuing claims figure does not include workers receiving extended benefits from the federal government.
Those who’ve exhausted their traditional benefits and now are collecting emergency and extended payments jumped by about 418,000 to 2.11 million in the week ended Jan. 12.
Just wait till Republican sequestration sets in, if it does. Then you’ll see jobless claims.
On second thought, sequestering Republicans might not be such a bad id–oh, never mind.
Afterthought:
Self-sequestration! That’s the ticket!
Via Bob Cesca. Follow the link for more.
“It’s Been the Ruin of Many a Poor Boy” 0
The House of the Republi-can.
Dick Polman sums it up in a column on immigration:
Git-Fiddle Fiddle Faddle 4
Trying to visualize this makes me fret.
You’d think it would cause band cramp.
His female “accomplice” (as they call her in the story) would string along the clerk as the thief inserted the ax in his wardrobe.
No mention whether she used a g-string.
The stores need some way to fender off the thieves.
News, Ripped from the Ticker 0
Warning: Language.
Great Moments in Regressiveness 2
Virginia Governor Bob McDonald has a bizarre plan to fix Virginia’s chronically underfunded highways (underfunded because raising the gas tax is verboten in Virginia, though the gas tax is one of the lowest in the country, having been lowered by Republicans), by eliminating the gas tax, raising the sales tax, and imposing a special tax on owners of hybrids.
I can’t quite figure out the reasoning behind it, other than legacy! innovative thinking! ground-breaking! Plus, it’s deeply regressive, skewing more taxes towards those who have the least.
Maybe Dan Casey of the Roanoke Times can help make sense of it.
The same sort of thing is going on in other places ruled by the party of the takers Republicans.
The Fee Hand of the Market 4
It would seem that this is what passes for innovation these days.
The bad news? Credit card issuers are busy dreaming up new types of fees to make up for the shortfall.
(snip)
Consumers soon could find themselves charged for a lost or second card, for paper statements and even for not using their card enough or for making too many calls to customer service.
Some issuers have started charging from $1 to $5 for customer service calls beyond a certain limit per billing cycle, Mr. Hammer said.
Innovation as defined by Paulie Walnuts.
School Days, School Days 0
Good old Golden Rule Days,
Readin’ and Ritin’ and Marksmanship,
All to the tune of a thunderstick.
Jeez oh man, you can’t make this stuff up.
“Regrettable Crowd-Related Incidents” (Updated) 0
Addendum, Later That Evening:
In related developments, Bob Cesca points out that
but omits mentioning that it makes you a bigger pr–oh, never mind.
