Links 9/1/12

By lambert strether

Bernanke confirms bias towards easing FT (text).

Bernanke signals more stimulus, steps into election battle McClatchy

Ben Bernanke Takes Us on a Stroll Down Memory Lane Bloomberg

Bernanke at Jackson Hole Tim Duy

Bernanke on the defensive Felix Salmon

If QE3 is so close, why is the Fed’s balance sheet shrinking? FT Alphaville

The Jackson Hole Speech People Should Long Remember WSJ. Andy Haldane’s “The Dog and the Frisbee.”

The financial system rests on quicksand FT. Excellent, says Yves.

Big Finance’s Best Friend Boston Review. The aptronymic Bob Shiller.

Spain creates bad bank, injects funds in Bankia Reuters

Weidmann resignation report turns up heat on ECB’s Draghi Reuters

Chart of the day Wonkwire. Falling capex.

Factory orders post biggest rise in one year Reuters

A Dismal Outlook for Growth Economix, Times

America’s Descent into Poverty Economic Populist

Corn, soybean prices at all-time high worldwide, World Bank says LA Times

New rules governing organ transplants to be drawn up amid fear of organ sales on social networking websites Independent

Hermès raises profit and revenue targets FT

Desert storm! World’s wildest party underway at city in the sand as 60,000 gather in searing Nevada heat for Burning Man festival Daily Mail

Mother’s love exports cosplayers to overseas fans Asahi Shimbun

In Search of the Living, Purring, Singing Heart of the Online Cat-Industrial Complex Wired

Political gridlock threat to Japanese spending Times of India

Modern China: A tale of luxury villas and displaced villagers McClatchy

Brazil’s Listless Growth Continues WSJ (JC)

Brazilian Congress waters down forest protection Nature

The Future’s So Bright… Foreign Policy. Africa’s booming economy.

It’s Becoming Clear That No One Actually Read Facebook’s IPO Prospectus Or Mark Zuckerberg’s Letter To Shareholders Henry Blodget

Exclusive: Walmart tests iPhone app checkout feature Reuters

Apple Feels Reporting Drone Strikes ‘Objectionable And Crude’ And Rejects App Techdirt. Tag: reporting-the-news-is-bad.

How many Kindle Fires were sold? Aymco

Software Meant to Fight Crime Is Used to Spy on Dissidents Times (furzy mouse)

An Infantilizing Speech American Conservative

The End of Gasoline Warfare The Archdruid Report

* * *

D – 6 and counting*

“Jam yesterday, jam tomorrow, but never jam today.” —Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass

Readers, I’m taking a break from the horse race today, partly because I did some work on the house and I’m tired, but more because… Well, the national election campaign so far reminds me of nothing so much as a sports bar: There, up on the teebee screen, are the players on the field. Some wear jerseys labeled R; some wear jerseys labeled D. Announcers hold forth in a rapid stream of technical and statistical information, and proffer color commentary. The managers and the owners are unseen. And down in the bar, we, the “voters,” cheer, or groan, or chant, or sit in white-knuckled silence, or shout advice. But are we, down at the bar, crazy enough to think that our chants and shouted advice actually affect what happens up on the screen? Of course not. How different from an election campaign!

So tonight, I’m just going to do items at the state level, the minor leagues, the Bull Durhams of this world, where people are actually from somewhere, where the corruption is on a human scale, and sometimes good can be seen to be done. I’ll return to regular coverage, in Charlotte at the DNCon, on Sunday evening. –lambert

AR. Money: “Hey, if the Kochs want to throw this much money away on inefficient targeting in AK house and senate races they can be my guest.”

AZ. Hmm: “The federal government has closed a criminal probe of alleged financial misconduct by Arizona lawman Joe Arpaio, self-described as ‘America’s toughest sheriff.'”

CA. Police state: “Los Angeles police are embroiled in another excessive force investigation after a mother of two died during a chaotic July arrest in which an officer kicked the woman in the groin while she was handcuffed, officials said.”

FL. Epidemic: “After six weeks of searching for homeless people possibly exposed to Jacksonville’s TB outbreak, the state has identified 311 people who test positive for latent TB exposure, and just one with an active case of tuberculosis, State Surgeon General Dr. John Armstrong said Friday.”

KY. Handmaid’s Tale: “After [16-year-old Savannah] Dietrich initially complained about the plea deal the two teens received [for sexually assaulting her], Paul Richwalsky, chief prosecutor in the juvenile court division of the county attorney’s office, told her ‘get over it and see a therapist. … The jail was for ‘real’ rapists, murderers and robbers.'”

LA. Isaac: “The mere sighting of a bucket-topped truck seemed lucky to the 71 percent of residents in the city who remained without power Friday because of toppled power lines and exploded transformers.”

ME. Ron Paul: “A choice by disaffected Ron Paul supporters to sit out this year’s election in ME could have national implications, [USM’s Ronald] Schmidt said. Because Question 1, a referendum on legalizing same-sex marriage, will likely motivate voters who support Ds to the polls, Schmidt said the impact of Paul voters opting out on Election Day would be magnified.”

MI. Corruption: “Kwame Kilplatrick’s former fraternity brother also has federal regulators on his back — for the same reasons as the ex-mayor: failing to respond to a lawsuit alleging he accepted lavish gifts in a pension scandal, according to new court records.”

MN. Fracking: “At earlier public meetings with few in the audience, things moved quickly as issues were discussed and relevant speakers invited to share information. Committee members had discussed a possibility of ending the one-year [fracking sand] moratorium early. However, it now seems for every step forward, the committee takes two steps back. County residents who’ve recently become involved – many from the Lanesboro area – have come to the meetings with more questions and concerns on issues they’d like to see addressed during the moratorium’s study time.”

NY. Fracking: “[B]aseline data [for streams is collected] as part of the Sierra Club’s Water Sentinels program. Without measurements before drilling starts, it will be difficult to connect pollution to a new well. The goal of the monitors is to collect a year’s worth of readings before any wells are drilled nearby.”

OH. Voting: “US District court rules that because the state lets military voters vote early on the weekend (depending on the discretion of the County Board of Elections), therefore equal protection requires that all voters also be allowed to vote on that weekend. The decision cites Bush v Gore.”

OR. Health insurance: “So last night my wife and I looked over how the Evolve Core plan we’re being forced to shift to is different from the Evolve Plus plan we have now. It didn’t take long to figure out that even though our monthly premium for two people in their mid-60s actually will be about $50 less a month (5% decrease), Regence is dropping a lot of benefits.” Gaming the system which ACA will, like, totally stop.

PA. Labor: “The United Steelworkers have decided not to go on strike now over stalled negotiations with steelmaker ArcelorMittal. The contract, which expires Sept.1, covers 14,000 employees in eight states — PA, WV, OH, IL, IN, MN, LA and SC.” October surprise? “I’ll walk on that picket line with you.”

TN. Charters: “Sen. Andy Berke is calling on lawmakers to conduct a ‘thorough review’ of [K12 Inc.’s] for-profit virtual school operating in a Northeast Tennessee school district, citing state student testing results he charges show ‘dismal’ results.”

TX. Corruption: “Recently filed federal court documents allege former El Paso County Judge Anthony Cobos was bribed with envelopes of cash for his support of a county contract that was supposed to help mentally ill children.”

VA. Extractive economy: “An unkept promise to a dying sister, stock manipulations and self-dealing have started [Kyanite Mining Corp,] a $200 million family mining and landholding business on the road to possible dissolution.”

WA. Corruption: “The Seattle Port Commission will meet Sept. 11 to discuss, in open session, the Port CEO’s lucrative new position on the board of Expeditors International.”

WI. Cheesheads: “In the back of his walk-in cooler, Zahn, 73, found several wooden boxes of cheddar cheese from the now-closed County Line Cheese in Oconto that over the years had repeatedly been buried by incoming cheese products. The result is 40-year-old cheddar that makes up part of what is likely the oldest collection of cheese ever assembled and sold to the public, according to experts.

WY. Ecology: “The federal government will end its protections for wolves in WY, where the species was introduced two decades ago to revive it from near extinction in the United States.”

* 7 days until the Democratic National Convention ends with pulled pork for everyone on the floor of the Bank of America Panther Stadium, Charlotte. AR, KS, NV, MS, and UT all have 6 electoral votes.

* * *

Antidote du jour, a cat in the wat (and a remarkably self-satisfied one, too):

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About Lambert Strether

Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver on such programs, because the two are different flavors of neoliberalism (“Because markets”). I don’t much care about the “ism” that delivers the benefits, although whichever one does have to put common humanity first, as opposed to markets. Could be a second FDR saving capitalism, democratic socialism leashing and collaring it, or communism razing it. I don’t much care, as long as the benefits are delivered. To me, the key issue — and this is why Medicare for All is always first with me — is the tens of thousands of excess “deaths from despair,” as described by the Case-Deaton study, and other recent studies. That enormous body count makes Medicare for All, at the very least, a moral and strategic imperative. And that level of suffering and organic damage makes the concerns of identity politics — even the worthy fight to help the refugees Bush, Obama, and Clinton’s wars created — bright shiny objects by comparison. Hence my frustration with the news flow — currently in my view the swirling intersection of two, separate Shock Doctrine campaigns, one by the Administration, and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the State and in the press — a news flow that constantly forces me to focus on matters that I regard as of secondary importance to the excess deaths. What kind of political economy is it that halts or even reverses the increases in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of both party establishments will open the space for voices supporting programs similar to those I have listed; let’s call such voices “the left.” Volatility creates opportunity, especially if the Democrat establishment, which puts markets first and opposes all such programs, isn’t allowed to get back into the saddle. Eyes on the prize! I love the tactical level, and secretly love even the horse race, since I’ve been blogging about it daily for fourteen years, but everything I write has this perspective at the back of it.

46 comments

  1. Peter Pinguid Society

    When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.” – Frederic Bastiat

    But it wasn’t always this easy.

    Cast your mind back to the S&L crisis of the 1980s and 1990s. In those days not every financial journalist was pimping for Wall Street, sometimes you’d find an iconoclast or maverick or a rogue ethicist still working in the profession of journalism and these people were not always easy to buy off.

    Shocking but true.

    This was before the 0.01 percent gained 100 percent control over the media. Before we started requiring that every Journalist and Financial Reporter pass the “100 percent Certified Wall Street Pimp Exam” before they be allowed to write a single line.

    In other words, this was before the age of CNBC, Ezra Klein, Roger Lowenstein, and Andrew Ross Sorkin. Before Adam Davidson and NPR’s Planet Money. This might be hard to believe but in those backward days it was still considered a conflict of interest for financial reporters to be paid by the same banks they “reported” on.

    In those dark days the S&L Office of Thrift Supervision brought thousands of lawsuits against identified perps, and over 1,700 fraudsters were actually imprisoned. This despite the fact that the so-called S&L crisis was nothing compared to the 2008 credit crisis.

    And the most shocking thing is that almost 100 of these 1,700 imprisoned fraudsters were members of the 0.01!!

    Here at the Peter Pinguid Society we began plotting our revenge, and this elaborate plot is what eventually came to be known as the 2008 credit crisis.

    This time we made certain that household sector losses alone were over 70 times greater than those seen during the entire S&L debacle. This time we made certain that the entire media, without a single exception, as well as all regulators and politicians, were bought off. This time we made sure to dot every i and cross every t. In our effort to spread corruption across the land, this time we left no stone unturned.

    As a result of these efforts, how many criminal referrals did that same agency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, manage to bring this time around? In the aftermath of the 2008 credit crisis?

    You got it.

    Zero.

    For this, we would like to thank everyone in the media for a job well done. There are too many names to list them all, nevertheless a few Wall Street pimps and whores deserve special mention for their outstanding service, including Roger Lowenstein, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Steve Liesman (and all of the talent at CNBC), everyone at the NY Times (you guys have have worked so hard pimping for the Street!) and last, but not least, the ultimate Wall Street Pimp Award goes to NPR’s Planet Money and Adam Davidson.

    Thanks Adam.

    What lessons can be drawn from all of this? The moral of this story is that if you’re a lender and a member of the 0.01 percent, you want to do the following four things: 1) grow like crazy 2) make really, really *really* crappy loans but at a premium yield 3) employ the most extreme leverage possible 4) set aside no reserves for losses, because you if f*ck up you can always count on getting bailed out by that ultimate tool of the 0.01 percent.

    Yep, you got it, the Ben Bernank.

    Thanks Ben…

    We are the Peter Pinguid Society, we are the 0.01 percent.

    1. Up the Ante

      “What lessons can be drawn from all of this? ”

      That W’s brain, Karl Rove, the author doubtlessly of the Texas Supreme Court Compromise, is an ‘enlightened’ Master of Finding of the Out, lol.

      Rove’s paltry disciple, W, the one who accused his fellow Americans of being “addicted” to oil, lacked sufficient wit to even recognize that he was referring to his and his family’s addiction to petroleum, witness their investment in defense-related industries.

      Lacked wit enough to even recognize that his nickname for Rove, “turdblossom”, was in fact a far more appropriate nickname for himself. As Rove had ‘mastered’ their relationship enough to know that W was or should be labeling himself as “turdblossom”, Rove doubtless feels he enjoys a similar stance in relation to the Peter Pinguid Society, knowing that Peter the Pinguid is ‘blossoming’ when depositing his foam & spittle here on NC in the form of ‘Reply’.

      Karl the Rove is a most unforgiving Taskmaster, and Peter the Pinguid’s recent gaffe of identifying with the 99% has laid bare in Rove’s brain that Pinguid is authoring foam & spittle, only.

      http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/08/links-82412.html#comment-797872

      1. Peter Pinguid Society

        Definition of parody: “an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or *genre* with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect.”

        But hey, I guess without a winking, flashing smiley, it’s impossible to create a parody that someone won’t mistake for the real thing.

        Maybe we should all just devote one sentence to the animal picture each day, and then devote one or two sentences to each topic of the day. And by all means let’s keep it as unimaginative, prosaic, matter-of-fact, and literal-minded as possible to avoid any possible misunderstandings.

        How many kindle fires were sold?

        Five million kindle fires were sold.

        Factory orders post biggest rise in one year.

        How much were civilian aircraft up?

        Orders for civilian aircraft were up 53.9 percent in July.

        And so forth….

      2. Peter Pinguid Society

        Hermes raised it’s profit and revenue targets.

        How much did Hermes raise its profit and revenue targets?

        Hermes raised its’ profit and revenue targets 28 percent.

        Some retailers employ baggers to speed up the checkout process, but at Walmart one employee scans and bags items.

        The cost of corn and soybeans soared to all-time heights in July.

        The Dow was down 0.5 percent for the week, while the S&P 500 was down 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq was down 0.1 percent.

        The capex is falling.

        1. Up the Ante

          Now, now, Peter, the Pinguid, let’s not jump to conclusions and assume I have not enjoyed your perspective, especially the pushing of the peasant over the cliff edge. That sparked some humor a number of times, so rather than this dribble you responded with a much more appropriate response would have been an aristocratic air and an appropriate putdown for the effrontery of myself questioning his ‘betters’.

          :)

          Don’t forget, Peter, boiled rope for the nobility is the coarse man’s greatest aspiration, and for yourself the choicest of manila.

          :)

          1. Peter Pinguid Society

            Up the Ante, yeah, my response was a little inappropriate, sorry ’bout that.

            I should’ve just made you wear donkey ears and a Dunce cap, then repeatedly write something on a blackboard, such as ““I will respect my betters” :)

          2. Up the Ante

            “But hey, I guess without a winking, flashing smiley, it’s impossible to create a parody that someone won’t mistake for the real thing. ”

            “I should’ve just made you wear donkey ears and a Dunce cap, then repeatedly write something on a blackboard, such as ““I will respect my betters” :) ”

            If you think upon the changes to this country’s political landscape with Bush and his fucking “turdblossum”‘s machinations it is impossible not to conceive that they are STILL, to this day, enjoying the turmoil they instituted. That realization must be included in the Pinguid offerings, otherwise the Pinguid art form tends to serve the machinations itself. Obviously, ‘Up the Ante’ is watchful for such intent ? Uh, yeah.

            If there is one thing you can be sure of it’s that Rove knew Exactly the type he was pitted against. Uh, yeah.

            As there is considerable humor in the aristocrat’s regard of ‘lower life forms’, if the Rove-demon is not responded to correctly it will attempt to assume the aristocrat’s stance in relation to all who have ‘found him OUT!’. That is the essential burden I have given you. Do you recognize that need to define yourself ? No time or space for petulant anonymous ‘Oh, my emotions have been hurtsed’.

            1. Lambert Strether Post author

              I’m always leery of those (in threads) who assign work they regard as essential to others. Perhaps you should take a hand yourself? Unless I missed the flashing parody sign?

          3. Peter Pinguid Society

            Up the Ante,

            You probably know the one about the two monks, but I’ll tell it anyway.

            They were walking along one day when they came to a stream where a young lady was waiting, hoping that someone would help her across.

            Without hesitating, one of the monks picked her up and carried her across, putting her safely on the other side.

            The two monks continued walking along, and after some time, the second one, unable to restrain himself, said to the first, “You know you’re not allowed to touch women. Why did you carry that woman across the stream?”

            The first monk replied: “Put her down. I did two hours ago.”

            Just adding: I do not put myself in a position of truth. Everyone makes his or her own choices. If what I write is worthless, just let it drop, that’s all.

          4. Up the Ante

            “If what I write is worthless, .. ”

            Astonishing you would still be taking that tack.

            Drop the “hurtsed”, yes.

            A somewhat different mettle is required than internet ’emotions’, to be sure.

          5. Up the Ante

            If Lambert feels to express himself in self-parody, so be it. If he feels to pretend he is not in relation to the several comments, who would argue ?

            Reinforcing someone’s confusion in an internet exchange is a limited-worth prerogative.

          6. Skippy

            What are the 4 first rules of chivalry?

            Fight for Gawd.

            Fight for King.

            Party like mad.

            Terrorize the peasants.

            Now Ante, lets not forget, it was not a peasant revolt that brought on the Magna Carta, but, the Knightly Aristocrats.

            Skippy… same shit different day thingy… eh. Has the king gone mad enough?

          7. Skippy

            @beardo…

            No, you have to bow down to him.

            Skippy… then you – maybe worthy – of his gifts… now where have I heard that line before… snort!

          8. F. Beard

            Da Pope I could give a noogie is how much I respect his office.

            But he’s a old man and noogies aren’t nice, so he’s safe from me.

          9. Skippy

            @beardo,

            No, not in these kind of units. Although you would get young or power seeking officers that would go out of their way and try to get one. Hell if they want to get shot, its OK with me.

            Skippy… respect is earned and can be found in act[s and in the eyes, not some silly gesture.

            Something descent and military for you.

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol5Dfs7jqFI

          10. Up the Ante

            ” .. In what conceivable way is _______’s collusion with _______ an “intelligence matter” that prevents the NYT’s managing editor from explaining what happened here? .. ”

            lol

            contra the ‘administrative firewall’

            lol

            ” .. What all of this behavior from the NYT has in common is clear: it demonstrates the extent to which it institutionally collaborates with and serves the interests of the nation’s most powerful factions, rather than act as an adversarial check on them. .. ”

            lol

            http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/29/correspondence-collusion-new-york-times-cia

          11. Up the Ante

            skippy, as “discretion”, the better part of valor, appears to have been thoroughly deserted, the following imagery presents itself repeatedly to my mind,

            An image of .. Lambert .. covering the political tumult of the U.S. elections, scrambling faster and faster to cover it all, and then flailing about when Up the Ante, of all people, pulls the Rove-card from his sleeve, throwing all of the ‘coverings’ into fundamental doubt ..

            haha

            In that milieu, with the Special Forces accusing Obama of being a traitor, the Repubs pull out ‘Dirty Harry’, the cop who would ‘make his day’ at the Death Squad Convention ..
            And now the ‘administrators’ would have us not mention the Rove-thing when it appears ?

            “Discretion” & plausible deniability lost .. not. Half-expressed ‘prerogatives’ breed contempt.

            Hopefully that’s not too cryptic, suffice to say that ‘some’ comments are not believable, even from ‘administrators’.

            Occupy Firewall Hide ‘n’ Seek

  2. Hugh

    Re quicksand, it is good to be reminded from time to time that the shadow banking system is still out there. I think it should be brought under banking regulations.

    Not buying the pro-Schapiro line though. She’s been at the SEC 3 years now and she is just now taking on the other commissioners about this?

    Re Jackson Hole, anyone else get the impression that Bernanke is running a bluff much like Draghi?

    1. Jackrabbit

      Bluff or Charade?

      AFAIK, the Fed’s ‘full employment’ mandate fails to consider
      1) the quality of the jobs or
      2) those that are deemed to have ‘stopped looking’ for work.

      As such, the Fed’s concern for jobs rings hollow, and Bernanke’s boasting of the Fed’s contribution to job growth seems to be nothing but a shameful, immoral charade prompted by political optics.

  3. Ned Ludd

    I used to follow local news closely. Now I don’t follow it much at all because of how lousy my local news sources are. Our local weekly was great, but now it’s part of the Village Voice née New Times libertarian tabloid chain. When New Times bought Village Voice (which had already bought our local weekly), they purged all the editors at our weekly and brought in corporate-friendly replacements. I hoped local blogs would fill the void, but they are just lock-step partisan cheerleaders.

    Since I avoid corporate news and partisan blogs – especially during an election year – the only local news I read is here at Naked Capitalism, in the state and local news round-up. I find it much more valuable than the national horse race news. Interesting state and local news stories are like wildflowers – they are out there, but you have to know where to look, and it’s always nice when someone points them out for you. In contrast, horse race articles are like mosquitoes – you have to go out of your way to avoid them.

    1. Lambert Strether Post author

      Ned, thanks! Fracking isn’t just a wildflower, it’s a whole field of wildflowers. Mostly ignored by Izvestia, Pravda, and the rest of the national media, which is probably a good thing.

      As far as the mosquitoes (Dr. Theodorus Nitz reference?), these mosquitos, to extend the metaphor, are malarial. It’s important to be aware of them and to enable their swatting, not only to protect ourselves, but to protect others.

      1. Buck Eschaton

        I go trout fishing in that area, this angers me. I don’t want no stinking fracking operation polluting the trout streams down there.

  4. Jim Haygood

    Re the Online Cat Industrial Complex … in an article about internet anonymity, Kate Murphy wrote:

    There are no secrets online. That emotional e-mail you sent to your ex, the illness you searched for in a fit of hypochondria, those hours spent watching kitten videos (you can take that as a euphemism if the kitten fits) — can all be gathered to create a defining profile of you.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/technology/personaltech/how-to-muddy-your-tracks-on-the-internet.html

    I’m so out of it, I thought Kate was winkingly suggesting to mentally substitute a synonym that couldn’t be used in that context in a newspaper (at least until that girl band in Moscow smashed the taboo).

    But now I realize that millions DO spend furtive hours watching ‘kitten videos.’ Hello, kitty!

  5. JamesG

    So it looks pretty certain there’s going to be some kind of stimulus. The only questions now are which billionaire banksters are going to get the money and how the poor and middle class will pay for it. /rimshot

    1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      Theres is a parable about a gardener and his garden.

      The irrigation system of his garden is broken. When he turns on the spigot, due to some blockage, water doesn’t go to the neediest parts of his garden.

      But the gardener does not know this.

      So, as the weather gets hotter and the neediest parts get more parched, he (could be a she) foolishly tries to turn up the spigot even more.

      ‘I will just turn up the spigot,’ he says to himself.

      It’s unfortunate he doens’t have a kind neighbor to point out to him that he needs to fix those blocked pipes.

  6. briansays

    Maine 2012–the impact of the bad treatment of Ron Paul may be most felt in the open Senate seat where Angus King the former rep. running as an independant has made it perfectly clear his vote for leadership is open

  7. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

    Modern China: a tale of luxury villas and displaced villagers.

    If they print more money, they will have more of that, and Song dynasty Ruyao bowls that were made exclusively for Emperor Huizong might just reach $50 million each.

  8. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

    Software used to spy on dissidents.

    Maybe it’s time to talk about some sort of non-proliferation of science, if they continue to use science to negatively impact the world.

    It used to be that science is used to solve a problem not caused by science. Nowadays, science is needed to solve problems caused by science in the first place. If that’s case, wouldn’t it be easier to just stop using science? that’s usually the way to get out of a pyramid scheme.

    1. ambrit

      mY dEAR sIR;
      Caps Lok and I would like to draw your attention to the esoteric benefits of dwelling at the apex of said Pyramid. Beneficial Cosmic emanations, Ley line convergence, enlightening exposure to the ‘Secrets of the Ancients’, all combine to produce the most felicitous outcomes.
      Anet that, Science comes in both Common and Secret varieties. You of all people should know that!
      To quote Judge Dee: “Doesn’t anybody meditate in this monastery?”

  9. Paul Tioxon

    PA Politics, with national headline maker presidential video appearance.

    MADE IN AMERICA, 2 day multi stage music fest, organized by JayZ aka Mr Beyonce, on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum, has jumbo -tron appearance by Prez Obama for 50,000 paid, fenced in, music seekers and scene makers. Also, local labor unions make protest appearance, claiming the Mayor has money for concert promoters, but not for a long over due court ordered raise for municipal workers. Old people complain that they were blind sided by closed streets and inaccessible public museums on the splendid, normally open for traffic and foot travel Ben Franklin Parkway.

    Apparently, not only will Obama walk the line with/for your, maybe?, but he will also party with you. Woo Hoo!

    9:36 p.m.

    President Obama makes a surprise on-screen appearance during Jay-Z’s performance telling the crowd the performer represents someone who “refused to quit.”

    Praising the “Made In America” event, Obama said it reflects “what’s possible when people from all walks of life go as far as their talents will take them.” He finished by urging everyone to register and vote.

    “Shout out to the president…” responded an obviously happy Jay-Z.

    http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20120901_Made_in_America_opens_today_-_will_Beyonce_show_.html

    1. Skippy

      Hope the mayor ponyed up for the party mints too[!] or told the Stasi to look the other way, whilst the despencing was going on.

      skippy… altered states (stress or drugs) and messaging thingy.

      Top Comments

      RIP

      Mendelevius 2 years ago 32

      Welcome, to the future of America.

      McMeevin 7 months ago 12

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68yJKQgj9mY

      1. Paul Tioxon

        Yeah, hotsi totsi, take an extra long doughnut break, said the mayor to the stasi. They not only looked the other way, they were told to stay home.

        http://www.philly.com/philly/news/FOP_City_slashed_number_of_cops_at_event.html

        “The Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #5 said Saturday that city officials dramatically reduced the number of police officers who were assigned to work the two-day Made in America concert on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

        FOP vice president John McGrody said numerous officers who were scheduled to work this weekend were instead told late Friday or early Saturday that they shouldn’t show up for their shifts.
        Specific figures weren’t immediately available, but McGrody said the number of officers who were told not to work the detail was “significant.”

  10. Skippy

    @Lambert.

    Fun things that CSG can achieve…

    An expert panel will meet in Brisbane today to discuss how to extinguish a gas fire on the Darling Downs.

    It started when leaking methane caught alight at an old mine site west of Dalby on the weekend.

    The site is now owned by Arrow Energy but the company says the fire has nothing to do with its coal seam gas (CSG) wells.

    Mines Minister Andrew Cripps says it could take some time to extinguish the blaze.

    “At the moment we don’t know yet what caused the fire.

    “Its really too early to speculate but out immediate focus is to determine a plan about how to extinguish the flame safely and to properly plug and cap the hole,” he said.

    Mr Cripps says representatives from Arrow and neighbouring Peabody Coal will meet with the Department of Natural Resources in Brisbane today.

    “I am pleased to report we have had some good co-operation from the companies both Arrow Energy and Peabody who have both cooperated with the department to try and come up with a plan.” – snip.

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-21/agforce-fears-gas-fire-repeat/4211906

    Skippy… coal seam fires… look up the history folks…

      1. Paul Tioxon

        The Marcellus Gas bonanza will ensure hundreds of years of underfunded capital maintenance, because they want to sell the gas to the largest user in the state, the municipal PGW, Philly Gas Works. It has billions in needed underground pipe replacements that go into almost every single home and commercial property in the city. They want us to burn the gas to heat and cook, they just don’t want to pay for its safe distribution.

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI8KLQ2WYK4

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCbpto487Ck

        The previous short video was a fire plume as tall as apartment buildings that burned all day long, melting aluminum street light poles.

        This is a regular, Russian roulette like event. It will and does happen, we just know when and where. If you look at the youtube selections on the side, it is happening all over the country, especially in established cities, such as Minneapolis, etc.

  11. ohmyheck

    Thanks for the great link to Burning Man. My 20-year-old son is there for the first time, with his friends. It’s wonderful to see photos of what he is experiencing. Awesome photography, I must say! I will send this link to him. I looked for him, but hey, 60,000 people, what are the chances…

  12. Paul Walker

    Ms. Dietrich is finding out earlier than most that there is no justice to be found at the American bar.

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