2016 archive
It’s a Fargone Conclusion 0
There is no limit to how far they will Fargo.
Customers and former employees of that unit, Wells Fargo Advisors, have contacted the Observer following last month’s $185 million in government fines against the bank over employees’ opening of fake deposit and credit card accounts. The sources said questionable practices arising from the bank’s aggressive approach to sales also extend into its brokerage operation, which sells everything from mutual funds to annuities to IRAs.
Fargo to the link for the details.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Politeness is a family value.
A female relative found the family members inside a unit of the Redwood Creek Apartments at Southwest Windmill Drive and Greenway Boulevard, according to police.
Just another day in NRA Paradise.
Nothing To Do, Nowhere To Go 0
The last time the number was this low, I was in grad school.
(snip)
The four-week average of claims, a less-volatile measure than the weekly figure, dropped to 253,500, the lowest since December 1973, from 256,000 in the prior week.
The number of people continuing to receive jobless benefits declined by 6,000 to 2.06 million in the week ended Sept. 24. The unemployment rate among people eligible for benefits held at 1.5 percent. These data are reported with a one-week lag.
Chasing Votes 0
Jamie Dimon is upset that Hillary Clinton doesn’t care enough about bankers’ fee-fees.
Hell, if I hadn’t been supporting her already, this would have turned the trick.
QOTD 0
Kerry Greenwood:
Kneading is a trance-inducing pastime. . . . You can become one with the dough.
Bake your own bread (it’s easy) and understand.
Also, read Kerry Greenwood’s books. She makes words dance.
Still Rising Again after All These Years 0
You’ve heard of Mosby’s Rangers?
Meet Trump’s terrorists.
“The callers were threatening to come over and burn down the building and to shoot up the building,” John Swaine, the museum’s CEO, told the News and Observer. “They’ve lessened in frequency this week, but they’re still coming in.”
(snip)
Swaine said that he denied the Trump campaign’s request for a tour on Sept. 20 because the campaign asked for the museum to be closed for five hours and for Trump to be videotaped walking through the exhibits.
The Great Migration 0
I have been banking at Wells-Fargo.
It wasn’t a choice. It just happened.
I was banking at a regional bank that got gobbled up by Wachovia. Then, two minutes before the bubble burst, Wachovia bought Fly-by-Night Mortgage Company, Inc., and was taken down by the bursting bubble, so I ended up with Wells.
Though I have not had a bad experience with any local Wells-Fargo branches or any Wells-Fargo employees, it is difficult not to conclude from recent news reports that Wells-Fargo has a deeply corrupt corporate culture at the highest levels.
As my first wife would have said, they have plucked my last nerve.
Accordingly, I have spent most of the last two days moving my banking business to another bank. (This was made easier by my choosing to use minimal online billpay. I’m not agin’ it; I just feared that I wouldn’t be able to keep track of it, so I still write “checks”–they are made from paper and they take the place of currency; you may have heard of them. Consequently, I had only about four online thingees to change.)
Yesterday I called up my pension fund (I’m old) to change my direct deposit from Wells to my new bank. After we had completed our business, the obliging fellow on the phone told me that they had gotten “lots of phone calls moving from Wells-Fargo” in the last week (and good for the callers, say I!).
I reminded him of the news stories. He said, “Oh, yeah. I remember reading something about that.” What followed was a cordial discussion about how a three-piece suit seems to be a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card and about how he and I were on the same wave-length about bankers and banking, but I digress. . . .
Now, I shall wait a month or so to be sure that everything is copacetic and then I shall finally forego Fargo for all time.
“You Have To Be Carefully Taught . . . .” 0
In the Bangor Daily News, Julia Hathaway wonders why so many persons are angered by the concept that black lives might, indeed, matter. Here’s an example of what she refers to (warning: autoplay; also, disgusting). She remembers her growing up and notes that it starts when you are young. Here’s a tiny bit:
Nattering Nabob of Narcissism 0
Tell me, does this remind you of any Republican presidential nominees who may have been in the news recently?
Greg Hasty Pounds Silly Pence 0
In my local rag, Indiana native Greg Hasty enumerates many reason why Mike Pence should not be Vice President. Here’s a bit:
Despite widespread appeals from the world’s most prominent business leaders, who warned that such a policy would spur economic backlash and drive business and investment out of Indiana, Pence pushed forward.
Much more at the link.
For the Birds 0
Plaintiffs eat crow in silly lawsuit about crows.
Being a farm boy, I tend to be biased against crows, but, really, now.
Fear Is a Defense (Updated) 0
At the Boston Review, Simon Waxman examines a recent Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that a black man’s running from the cops is not in and of itself an offense. Rather, indeed, it can be justifiable due to a history of police conduct. Here’s an excerpt; follow the link for the full article.
On appeal, the SJC determined that the vague description of Warren and his companion, and their flight from officers, were insufficient grounds for a police seizure. In doing so, the justices validated, to some degree, black men’s fear of police.
The ruling acknowledges that, in light of enduring police misconduct, black men have good reason to flee the police.
Addendum, Later That Same Day:
In the Vice Presidential Debate, Mike Pence said it’s better not to talk about this sort of stuff so as to avoid hurting the fee-fees of the po-po.
Addendum Afterthought:
The creative thinking of those who would defend racism and racist behavior does tend to amaze, does it not?