Links 2/10/16

Yves here. If you are here pronto at 7AM, Links are still a bit light. In addition to being distracted by all the NH primary news, Lambert and I are tying to wrap up a small side project (as in related to NC but not post-generating). Should be closer to normal by 8 AM.

New Hampshire Covered In Shadow As Floating Clinton Campaign Headquarters Takes Up Position Over State Onion (David L)

Horses recognise human emotions BBC (David L)

Birds Deliberately Spread Australian Wildfires Because Birds Are Dicks Gizmodo

The Woman Who Makes Prosthetic Pinkies for Ex-Yakuza Members Motherboard (resilc)

9,200-year-old fish fermentation site found in Sweden UPI. Swedish Les: “Proud inventors of marinated (rotten) herring…” Moi: This is called lutefisk and I gather you have to grow up with it to be able to eat it.

SolarCity’s stock craters on missed guidance, slower growth Fortune. EM: “I recently overheard a fellow who used to work there describe Solar City as a ‘financing arm with an ostensibly green-tech firm attached.'”

North Korean Satellite Passed Over Levi’s Stadium After Super Bowl Huffington Post

Solar-powered drones could deliver goods in rural areas, charged by micro-solar home systems TreeHugger

Americans more likely to die younger than people in other developed nations Boing Boing (resilc)

So, People Are Getting Nervous About Germany’s Biggest Bank Slate

Eurobank Panic. I should write this up but I am too wiped.

So, People Are Getting Nervous About Germany’s Biggest Bank Slate

Is the European banking industry facing its own Lehman Brothers moment? Telegraph

Deutsche Bank’s Hybrid Bonds Are in a Death Spiral BreakingViews

China?

How a huge Chinese ‘Ponzi scheme’ lured investors Washington Post (EM)

Refugee Crisis

A Three-Ring Circus in Finland: Soldiers, ‘Loldiers’ and Asylum Seekers Boston Globe (furzy)

German-Turkish refugee request ambushes NATO talks Politico

Argentine Deal With Holdouts Gets Closer Roubini

Syraqistan

Syrian Opposition Groups Sense U.S. Support Fading New York Times

Turkish state forces announce “surrender or we will begin aerial bombing” in besieged #Sur district of #Diyarbakır pic.twitter.com/rmVzBJUoFi @JinhaWomensNews (guurst)

Did Bashar al-Assad win New Hampshire? Mideast Policy implications of the Sanders & Trump Victories Juan Cole (resilc)

A “No-Fly Zone” in Syria Is Still Insane American Conservative

Imperial Collapse Watch

Obama Punts Controversial War Account to Successor Defense One (furzy)

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

US intelligence chief: we might use the internet of things to spy on you Guardian (margarita). Oh, come on. The whole point of the IoT is spying. The officialdom is just trying to persuade you that it really is a big consumer benefit to be able to tell your oven to start heating up before you get home.

President Obama’s military budget is still one of the biggest ever. Slate

2016. So what are the Clintons going to do the morning after New Hampshire? Double down or find a new strategy? Readers? And New Hampshire has probably produced the best possible results for Trump, by giving also rans who might have dropped out (Kaisch and Bush) some hope. So the likely outcome is continued jockeying for the “Who can beat Trump?” spot, with a resulting dilution of media and fundraising focus.

Why coco bonds are worrying investors Financial Times

What Clinton said in her paid speeches Politico

Huffington Post Whines that Sanders Won New Hampshire George Washington

Democrats Are Fuming About Hillary Clinton’s ‘Smear’ Line Huffington Post (furzy). This is by Zach Carter, one of HuffPo’s top reporters, so this is a real story, not an op-ed.

Why Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Deserve Black People’s Votes Nation (resilc). Gloves are finally coming off.

Hillary Clinton Relying On Minority Voters, But They’re Not All Relying On Her Huffington Post. More entitlement and another messaging backfire. Not yet clear how serious.

The Press In Hillary’s Purse American Conservative (resilc)

After Big Sanders Win, Pressure All on Clinton New York Magazine

Clinton’s Secret Weapon in Nevada Could Launch Her Comeback Mother Jones (resilc)

This was just an amazing moment on Fox News Vox. Ezra can’t bring himself to praise Sanders for his win, just his athletic prowess….

NH DATA: Dems Deeply Divided Over Obama & Face Unexpected Battle For Ideological Future International Business Times

GOP Candidates Compete Over Who Will Commit Most War Crimes Once Elected Intercept

Donald Trump’s Enormous New Hampshire Victory Is a Crippling Blow to the GOP New Republic

New Hampshire Turns Races Into Slogs Bloomberg

Informed Citizens and the Mob American Prospect. On health insurance.

Supreme Court deals blow to Obama on climate change Financial Times

Flint Is Still a Disaster, But Obama Just Proposed a Giant Cut to Water Funding Mother Jones (resilc)

Oil

Is Oil Becoming Stranded? Project Syndicate (David L)

Stung by Low Oil Prices, Companies Face a Reckoning on Debts New York Times

The Coming Wave of Oil Refugees Project Syndicate (Sid S). Important.

Goldman Sachs Abandons Five of Six ‘Top Trade’ Calls for 2016 Bloomberg

An SEC settlement with a twist: This time Monsanto’s executives pony up too Washington Post

Eight Ways to Improve the Fed’s Accountability Bloomberg

Class Warfare

Justice Department Fails to Criminally Prosecute a Big Bank — Again American Prospect

How France’s Emmanuel Macron lost the Uber war Politico

Seismic rupture Ed Chancellor, BreakingViews (Scott)

Antidote du jour. From Richard B in Birmingham, Alabama: “This is Lucy the Wonder Dog, a rescue, now about 6.5 years old. She came into my life just before I was laid off and kept me sane through those early days of freelance and uncertainty.”

Lucy_garden links

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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322 comments

  1. abynormal

    Good Morn’n Lucy, you sweetheart!

    “Even dogs know how important it is to hear somebody else breathing.”

    1. Llewelyn Moss

      Lucy makes a much better entry guard than a Stone Lion Statue. And she’d probably greet you a big wet kiss. Haha.

      1. perpetualWAR

        My Lucy (now Lulu) is nearing the end of her life. She has also kept me sane during the dark days of defending my home from foreclosure. She is my treasure.

        1. nycTerrierist

          Same here. Preparing for the long goodbye to my 19 or 20? yr old feline
          familiar. The price we pay for the treasure of our dear furry comrades.
          My condolences to you and yours.

      1. irenic

        Nevermind. The Eddie Aikau was canceled/postponed because the surf did not get big enough. Maybe next week?

    2. MojaveWolf

      Except for the age difference, Lucy could be a sister to our Nina, who passed away in March 2011. Beautiful picture, thank you!

  2. Pat

    Wonder dog indeed, Lucy is beautiful. Congratulations to both Lucy and Richard B for finding and loving each other.

    1. Uahsenaa

      Googling the headline works for most major news sites, but in this case, since it’s a personal webpage, using archive.org’s wayback machine often works.

      Except, I just tried it, and it seems roubini’s site must have a robot.txt file, since it’s not crawled at all.

    2. RabidGandhi

      Thanks anyway Yves! The sloppy seconds have trickled down to the local press. (And the paywall may be a problem unique to my location)

      From the quotes I saw, there is not much new in the article, even though negotiations are currently underway between the holdouts and the new Argentine government (which prior to being elected had said “we must pay whatever [NY Circuit Court Judge] Griesa orders”– also known as the ‘Varoufakis Negotiating Strategy’).

      This week the Argentine delegation reached an agreement with part of the holdouts that calls for 3% annual late fees and no haircut, which may very well be a (very depressing) threshold for what now seems like an inevitable agreement with Paul Singer et al., very much to the contrary of Roubini’s advice.

      This is all within a context where the government has laid off over 40,000 (so far), raised electricity rates by over 500% and cut over USD $5b in taxes for wealthy corporations.

      2016 is not going to be pretty down here.

  3. fresno dan

    With the election results, the people have spoken – the nincompoops! “Thank you, all, very, very much. My goodness. I don’t know what we’d have done tonight if we actually won. I use “we” as I am the only truly schizophrenic candidate – but as we say, several for the price of one!

    Actually, my result of 67th place far exceeded expectations of the incompetent right wing liberal media – why exceeding the expectations of such incompetents means I deserve votes is anybody’s guess. And here’s what we’re going to do. Now, we take this campaign to the entire country. Why we’re going to states where there are not elections probably explains our dismal placing. We’re going to fight for every vote in every state – which seems kinda violent in the states where there are not elections. We’re going to fight for real solutions that make a real difference in people’s lives – why we haven’t done that in the previous 20 years of government service, and/or have been so incompetent or ineffective would seem to be a good reason not for more of the same. But hey, you drink a lot and have hangovers, and you keep doing that!

    You know, when I started this campaign last spring, I knew we were facing profound challenges as a country. The way too many things were going just wasn’t right. And I thought, Godd*mn democrats. And than I thought, I can’t say that – how in the hell would I get elected???????????

    Now, people — people have every right to be angry. But they’re also hungry. They’re hungry for solutions. They’re hungry for doritos too! That is why I would immediately implement a doritors for all program upon my swearing in. Of course, if I’m elected I won’t actually be able to get you doritos, but is sure sounds good.
    What are we going to do? And that is — that is the fight we’re taking to the country. What is the best way to change people’s lives so we can all grow together? Who is the best change-maker? And here’s what I promise. Here’s what I promise: I will work harder than anyone to actually make the changes that make your lives better! Because I have been really, really, really lazy for the last 20 years. But I am going to get off my Fat as* and do something. What I have no idea, but I promise something.

    “In this campaign, you’ve heard a lot about Washington and about Wall Street. Now, Senator Sanders and I both want to get secret, unaccountable money out of politics and into my bank account. Now, too much of this money goes to people who are not nearly as deserving of it as me…..

    And with this strong unexpected victory, we go on to South Carolina, where this will be the beginning of a great groundswell of victory. Onward, upward, downward, and backward, but always twirling, ever twirling to victory!

    I hope I’m not breaking copyright…
    http://www.vox.com/2016/2/9/10956458/hillary-clinton-new-hampshire

    If you don’t want to see the entire episode, the 20 minute mark has a little something that might amuse people….
    http://kisscartoon.me/Cartoon/The-Simpsons-Season-25/Episode-006?id=46883

    1. Gaylord

      PRAGMATISM is the new word for appearing to do something significant while preserving the status quo.

  4. allan

    Goldman: Why anybody would give GS money to manage, or even follow their advice?
    Based on all available evidence, either they give worse tips than you would get from a dart toss,
    or they’re actively ripping off a muppet’s face (yours).
    Is Lloyd’s steely gaze that alluring? I just don’t get it.

    1. abynormal

      “Is Goldman well capitalized enough to survive the next black swan? It doesn’t matter. As Shanley says in her analysis of Goldman’s bonds: “The company’s debt spreads clearly benefit from the perception that it is too big to fail.” So the price of Goldman’s bonds mean that traders expect that the government will bail Lloyd Blankfein out of any serious trouble his traders get into.”
      Wall Street Learned Nothing, Forbes.com, July 20, 2009.

      Moral Hazard Be Damned…don’t fight the fed or the squid

      1. MikeNY

        Well, since Goldman basically runs Treasury, and the Fed is a Bichon Frise in Goldman’s lap, what’s there to fear?

      2. MojaveWolf

        Vampire squids, aka soul-sucking Chthulhu wanna-be’s, are vulnerable to intense heat and/or fire. In other words, they can be Berned.

        (sorry, couldn’t resist)

  5. Llewelyn Moss

    Bernie BERNED the Clinton campaign to the ground in NH (60%-38%). But of course the Dem Party establishment is snickering because they know their Super Delegates will override the Will Of The People at the convention — And put down this Filthy, Working Class Rebellion.

    Is there a Website where I can pledge to Write-In Bernie regardless of Dems pulling an end-run with Super Delegates? Sign me up!

    1. Katniss Everdeen

      The numbers, as presented by msnbc this morning:

      Bernie bested clinton by nearly 50,000 votes which “marks the widest ever gap in a contested NH democratic primary.” Bernie 60%, hillary 38%.

      nbc news has allocated 15 NH delegates to Sanders and 8 to hillary.

      clinton has the backing of 6 of the 8 NH superdelegates, for a final “allocation” of 15 delegates for Bernie and 14 delegates for hillary.

      With a 22% vote differential.

      hilary and Bernie were virtually tied in iowa, and Bernie creamed her in NH, and the current delegate totals according to nbc “news” are hillary in the “lead” with 44 and Bernie with 36, a difference of 8 or 10% of the total delegates.

      And that’s how it’s done.

      1. NotTimothyGeithner

        If Bernie keeps it up, a super delegate nominee with an ongoing fbi investigation will kill the Democratic Party. Obama knows he’s wrecked the party. He won’t let it kill itself.

        1. EmilianoZ

          They must be thinking Sanders voters have nowhere else to go anyway. And surely Trump will scare the hell out of them. So, they’ll have to hold their nose and vote for Hillary.

          1. BobW

            They are wrong there, having no idea how many Sanders voters will jump to Trump as a sharp stick to poke in the system’s eye.

          2. Massinissa

            I would rather Trump win.

            I dont think I could vote for him. But I will hope for his victory. Clinton is just that bad. Even Cruz would be preferable for me.

            1. jonboinAR

              I can’t quite agree.
              = Supreme Court
              It’s the only reason I can think of, but I find it compelling.

              1. Sam Adams

                Clinton will lose the general and with her goes the Congressional seats. That opens the Supreme Court to radical right nominees. Ego will lose the Supreme Court.

                1. jonboinAR

                  Scalia, Thomas, Alito, Kennedy, have got to be passing on sooner or later. I think it’s crucial to the progressive, democratic, NON-OLAGARCHIC (sp) direction of the country that we have a Democratic president in office when they do. JMO.

                  1. jrs

                    Well maybe it’s crucial we have a progressive, democratic, NON-OLIGARCHIC president in office. Which may be Bernie, but which certainly isn’t Hillary.

                    I’m not sure why anyone believes that Hillary will nominate particularly progressive, democratic, and NON-oligarchic nominees. What is this based on? Just the D in front of her name?

                  2. roadrider

                    http://www.byebyedemocracy.org/p/the-democratic-party-apology-handbook.html

                    tl;dr Scalia was confirmed 98-0; half of Dems voted for Roberts; Obama’s nominees are corporatists not progressives

                    Plus, the Dems (including Clinton) could have filibustered Alito – didn’t happen

                    Stop pushing the SCOTUS crap; if the Dems cared enough the SCOTUS would look a lot different and Hillary Clinton sure isn’t going to nominate any progressives (her idea of a “progressive” SC justice nominee is Obama)

      2. flora

        Man vs Machine.
        On Hillary’s facebook page someone is crowing that Hillary already has 400 super delegates in the bag.
        Bernie keeps saying the system is rigged. Wonder why.

        1. Vatch

          Based on my limited reading about the super-delegates, once they have expressed their support for a particular candidate, I don’t think they are legally obligated to remain pledged to that candidate. They can switch, if they wish. Of course there are risks to switching their allegiance, because there would no doubt be retaliation. But if Sanders has a significant lead in elected delegates, some of the super-delegates might see the writing on the wall, and abandon Hillary.

          1. Llewelyn Moss

            I believe super-delegates are appointed in each state by the Party Machine. I doubt many will want (or be willing) to go against the wishes of the Party elites. Heck, a lot of them are Party elites.

            1. Vatch

              Typically, they are people who already hold a significant political position: governor, senator, congressional representative, big city mayor. I’m sure some of them could change their allegiance. There would need to be heavy pressure from the voters, since incumbents are often resistant to voter opinions.

              1. craazyboy

                Yeah, like they might need dem votes for their race. They’ve already been hammered at congress and state level by the Tea folks, which is really another anti-establishment sentiment, astroturfed and weird as they may be. So they may be thinking about saving their own butts by retaining some dem voters? Maybe?

                1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

                  If you count the tea party and Occupy, this is the third uprising (at least) in the last 8 years.

      3. Llewelyn Moss

        And to think the US is going (gone) bankrupt by Carpet Bombing The World to spread US Style Democracy. We don’t have Democracy. We have rule by Two Party Fiat.

        1. Blink 180

          IIRC isn’t the Republican convention result purely advisory? Because if it is then–

          Democratic primary: Delegate elections don’t count
          Republican primary: Convention results don’t count
          General: Votes cast for anyone but Democrats and Republicans don’t count (legal barriers to entry + de-facto legal non-recognition of third parties)

          Just where the hell is the popular representation in this system?! I’m not seeing it anywhere.

          It looks like just another crummy 3rd-world authoritarian pseudo-representative system parading around as democracy!

          1. craazyboy

            In the 3rd world they have to resort to stuffing ballot boxes. Here we have delegates, voting district gerrymandering, PACS, Corporate AI Voters, The Borg Party, and the electoral college. It’s much more sophisticated.

        1. Katniss Everdeen

          Having successfully convinced the “electorate” that a “majority” of 100 senate votes is 60 and not 51, it would appear that the laws of arithmetic have been effectively repealed where “voting” is concerned.

          If you are actually forced to COUNT the votes, that is.

          1. nippersdad

            Iowa is ongoing, they have found yet more irregularities and they are not giving up. The constant drip drip drip is going to add up to a deluge by the time they get to Super Tuesday.

            1. TheCatSaid

              This is snark, right?
              Even in NH there have been decades of funny business with the LHS-controlled ballot scanning machines, as documented here, including video of results being quickly and easily tampered with. I don’t hear anyone discussing it nowadays, even though the machines were never changed.

        2. Jim Haygood

          Superdelegates … probably some of the same folks who were outraged that Al Gore lost in 2000, despite apparently garnering a small plurality of the popular vote.

          But it’s okay when we do it!

          1. cwaltz

            The two parties are the epitome of parents.

            With Mommy Democrat, it’s do as a I say, not as I do.

            It shouldn’t escape an observant person’s notice that the Democratic Party will do whatever it needs to do to thwart activists if it thinks it is in its own best interests. I wouldn’t be surprised if it were the party elite that convinced Bloomberg that he should consider running if they can’t drag Hillary across the finish line.

            1. Jim Haygood

              From The Hill:

              Hillary Clinton is expected to leave New Hampshire with just as many delegates as Bernie Sanders, even after he crushed her in Tuesday’s presidential primary.

              The Clinton campaign has mounted an aggressive effort to secure about 360 superdelegates across the country, according to The Associated Press. Sanders has a total of eight superdelegates.

              http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/268935-clinton-likely-to-leave-nh-with-same-number-of-delegates

              Superdelegates: the Hillary Electoral College.

              “You vote; we decide.”

            2. MojaveWolf

              Re: Bloomberg — Please, let him run. In an election won by Bernie Sanders & his campaign to end the oligarchy, there would something absolutely delicious about having a billionaire spend a cajillion $ to win 1% of the total vote. Run, Bloomberg, run!

      4. Steve H.

        The two parties probably realize they jointly have a serious problem.

        A serious Independent run does not have to win. It just has to be a credible alternative that undercuts donations on the next election cycle.

        It is also not confined to Sanders as an individual. People are paying attention to his track record. There are other people with legitimacy.

        I swear, I don’t know if the hall of mirrors is so in place that we could end up with a Bush/Clinton runoff. But I think someone with leverage will understand the need to sacrifice the Clinton campaign to maintain the status quo. She has already proven she can lose a nomination.

        1. fresno dan

          Steve H.
          February 10, 2016 at 9:59 am

          I am thinking that it will be Bush-Clinton
          I think all the regulatory minutiae about ballots, delegates, convention rules, etcetera are such that the people who run the joint aren’t gonna let any loose canons screw up their grift….

          If voting made any difference, they wouldn’t let us do it
          supposedly Mark Twain

          1. Steve H.

            “When we took the Reformers biggest punch and went right on with business as usual, it broke the movement.”

            Not an exact quote, and I’ll attribute to Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, as I’m not being able to find the original.

          2. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

            I think the establishment has a simple solution to defeat the revolting voters.

            Bribe them.

            Give them money…free money.

            Do you think they will resort to that?

            Things are looking desperate.

            Remember, if you buy an election, you are contributing to the GDP.

              1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

                I think giving enough money to people that they no longer struggle to survive, but are prosperous again, that will be enough to get them to vote for you.

                They bribe everyone except the little people.

                And they give away free money to every multinational corporation, but they won’t give free money to the little people.

                Anyone, anything, but the little people!!!

                We shall never give them any thing free – what would motivate them to work?

        2. RabidGandhi

          Easy solution: Bloomberg ex-machina.

          Soda Pop Mike swoops in at the last minute, he or the Clown Car win the White House, and the Dems spend the next decade blaming Bernie and the left for the ensuing mess. Then everyone forgets about the math. (see: Nader, Ralph, DNC demonisation of)

          Repeat and rinse.

      5. JohnnyGL

        At this point, if he keeps winning and the Dem Party spurns him, he’s got the bankroll to actually go independent. Plus, he’d prob get extra support from voters who’ll be fuming at the shock and injustice of what happened.

        How late can you still get on the ballot in each state? If he gets shut out that way, too, he’s gotta take his “movement” that he keeps calling for and Lambert keeps looking for and start protest marches.

        I wonder if he’s really got the appetite for a pitched battle and if the superdelegates in the Democratic Party are really prepared to override the voters if necessary.

        1. James Levy

          If it goes to the convention, there may be no time for him to mount an independent campaign. I don’t know the legal and logistical aspects, but my guess is it would be almost impossible to walk out of the convention in August and be on 50 ballots the first Tuesday of November.

          1. nippersdad

            New York only needed 5000 signatures, and he got 85,000. Just on the web he could probably get whatever he needs pretty quickly. Especially if the Party proves him right about endemic corruption and nudges him out on a technicality like superdelegates.

      6. Amateur Socialist

        Madame Secretary had basically the same impressive lineup of super delegates for 2008. Her campaign argued well past the sell date that her path to the nomination was “still viable” despite the increasing dependency on these magical (Democratic Party Only!) secret weapons. It didn’t save her then either.

        1. Amateur Socialist

          Well you’ve got your ignorance and you’ve got your stupidity. One of them is correctable.

          (Why I am always happy to be considered ignorant btw)

          1. jrs

            Sort of, Black Agenda report implies Sanders seems to have had some kind of informal agreement with the Dems to a degree. He was endorsed by them for Senate, and Dems often didn’t even run a candidate against him for the House, and if they did according to Black agenda report the Dem party did not endorse the Dem!

            This might be how it has to be if an “Independent” is to get anywhere in the current system beyond city council or so. But it limits how much of an interloper one really is, and whether or not it’s all that meaningful a distinction to make at all, between interlopers and party men. Which is not to say Sanders = Obama of course, so much is unknowable of course about how he would actually govern, he does seem better.

    2. Dave

      If Clinton gets the super delegates and is anointed by Wall Street, just stay home at election time, or, vote for Trump as a protest vote against Wall Street.

      Clinton v Trump = President Trump

      Sanders v Trump = President Sanders

      Imagine Hillary coming down the stairs at the White House:

      “I’m ready for my close-up Mr. DeMille!”

    3. ohmyheck

      “Presidential Candidate Bernie Sanders: Sheepdogging for Hillary and the Democrats in 2016”

      http://blackagendareport.com/bernie-sanders-sheepdog-4-hillary

      “Spoiler alert: we have seen the Bernie Sanders show before, and we know exactly how it ends. Bernie has zero likelihood of winning the Democratic nomination for president over Hillary Clinton. Bernie will lose, Hillary will win. When Bernie folds his tent in the summer of 2016, the money, the hopes and prayers, the year of activist zeal that folks put behind Bernie Sanders’ either vanishes into thin air, or directly benefits the Hillary Clinton campaign.”

      Dixon goes on to explain that it is important to at least try to get the Green Party on the ballot in ALL 50 states, which is not the case at this time. In the comments on other blogs where this article has been posted, there is a decidedly emphatic declaration by many that they will not/never/no-way vote for HR Clinton is she becomes the nominee. Therein lies the big difference this time around.

      1. human

        This article/opinion is from May. It is very worthwhile to continue to check in for current reporting, for example, “Vector of Fear: Blacks and the Democratic Party.”

  6. paul

    Watching mrs Clinton on the television screeching about picking herself up again made me think she’s getting a little punchy after all those knockdowns sander’s women hating voters are delivered.

    Her husband doesn’t look well at all.

    1. sleepy

      Her husband doesn’t look well at all.

      I’ve noticed that myself. He looks frail with no energy, more like he’s in his 80s than 69.

      1. mad as hell.

        I bet a lot of that fatigue is from staying up late every night counting his money then his wife’s money and his daughter’s money and now even a bank account for a grandchild.

        1. Vatch

          Apparently it’s possible to buy a model or statuette of Scrooge McDuck in his money bath tub. I wonder whether a little model of Slick Willy could be substituted for Mr. McDuck?

      2. diptherio

        That’s the inevitable result of selling your soul to the Lord of Lies. He got that unnatural charisma and 8 years in the Oval Office, but eventually the Devil always takes his due. As my old econ adviser once said about then-candidate Forbes: “Sometimes the rot in someone’s soul is so advanced that you can see it on their face.” Applies to B&H Clinton as well.

        1. Ivy

          Aw, you had to go and mention Stevie Forbes, which made me throw up a little. I recovered by recalling how someone, wish I could remember who it was, wrote that somebody should just take Stevie aside and explain to him that his Presidential ambitions were misguided.

      1. OpenThePodBayDoorsHAL

        It’s pure Kabuki, all she has to do is appear competitive until the convention and the DNC and Superdelegate Corrupt-O-Rama will do the rest. A few sheeple will moan but it’s much too easy to disappear people to Guantanamo-On-The-Hudson for any real Days of Rage to ensue.

    2. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      I think she will put up more fight – thanks to the machinery, she got almost the same number of delegates.

      Be on the alert for the revenge of the empire.

      I don’t see any screeching or would look past that. The battle is not over.

    1. abynormal

      “No matter how long grave acts tarry in their conceal places, light always move in on them.” Darmie Orem ….cryan an tha crickets

      1. RabidGandhi

        ZOMG I forgot all about that! Guess we’re just waiting for the buy order from Bill “Nopestradamus” Kristol.

        1. allan

          Deutsche Bank Will Have Government Backing If Needed, Mack Says

          Deutsche Bank AG’s status as Germany’s biggest lender should give investors confidence in its ability to pay interest on debt, said John Mack, the former chief executive officer of Morgan Stanley.

          “There’s no question in my mind, it is absolutely good for every penny,” Mack said in an interview Wednesday on Bloomberg Television. “This idea that I heard yesterday, the possibility of not making their interest payments, it’s just absurd. The government will not let that happen.”

          Well, that problem is solved.

            1. S M Tenneshaw

              300 million USians had a problem with our bailout. The response was to threaten us with martial law.

  7. bob

    Any pointers to the actual total vote count NUMBERS?

    I’ve been googling for 10 minutes and can’t find even a hint of a vote count.

    Even the IBT link “NH DATA” is completely devoid of any data

    This should be pretty basic. How many people voted? Who did they vote for?

      1. bob

        They’ve appified their entire site. All the real content only comes up when you allow a few hundred megabytes of java to open up, and allow access to at least 30 different guradian and non-guradian domains.

        Google.com (in a few forms), ophan.co.uk, imrworldwide.com, facebook.com, krxd.com.

        For a vote count tally that is less than a few bytes of data, I have to let facebook track me?

      1. fresno dan

        Llewelyn Moss
        February 10, 2016 at 8:29 am
        thanks for that.
        It is kinda screwy that so few sites just give the plain, simple numbers. Some of these people STILL think they’re gatekeepers….

      2. petal

        I had to drive down Rt 120 the other day and there were like 10 Jeb signs, all in a row over 10 feet a la Burma Shave style! Between the signs, all of the radio ads, the twice/thrice a week mailers from his PAC,…I can believe the $1200 mark. I don’t have telly so I can’t comment on any tv ads, but I can believe he saturated there, too.

      3. Brindle

        The lede on the NYT’s New Hampshire page is “An Optimistic Jeb Looks Ahead…” The Jeb campaign reminds me of TPP —will it ever die?

        1. cwaltz

          I’m trying to understand the GOP hope model.

          If you win third in Iowa or third in NH then you’re a winner.

          I guess Carly is holding on because sooner or later she’ll hit 3rd place somewhere and 3rd place is the equivalent of winning in SC or NV.

          It’s kind of ironic when you consider they’re always accusing LIBERALS of wanting to give everyone a trophy.

          1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

            It’s always wise to try to understand what the other side is thinking.

            We dont’ have to agree; in fact, it helps to convert or defeat them.

            That’s why it puzzles me that we don’t hear from any Hillary supporters here those who have voted for her or intend to. We are just hearing ourselves.

      1. bob

        “Donald Trump’s Enormous New Hampshire Victory Is a Crippling Blow to the GOP New Republic”

        So, based on the vote count, the headline is completely false. Trump is a loser. He didn’t even get within 30% of the winner, Sanders.

        Sanders- 138, 716
        Trump- 92, 417

        Not even a gentleman’s C for the Vulgarian. D+, on a curve.

            1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

              Losers are winners and winners are losers.

              Sometimes you lose, and sometimes you win.

              The Little People have been losers for enough years.

              Our day will come…when manna trickles up from the ground up and we put the Big Pentagon and Big Brother on a limited budget diet.

    1. MDBill

      The discrepancy between the Clinton-Sanders delegate count as reported in Politico vs NYT is interesting. Apparently, the Gray Lady wants to avoid calling attention to the super-delegates and the undemocratic nature of the process?

        1. Left in Wisconsin

          The way they are including the super-delagates in the count is super-misleading. There is no reason to only include super-delegates from states that are voting/have already voted because there is nothing about the allocation of super-delegates in a state that is at all related to the voting in that state. They are two entirely difference processes and it is not right to suggest the super-delagates of a state only get added to HRC’s total on the day of that state’s primary or caucus.

          They need to just give HRC her 400 vote head start so everyone can see exactly how this works. Then Bernie can steadily chip away at her lead over the course of the spring.

  8. Steve H.

    A general note to readers: I set up an RSS feed for comments yesterday, and I am well pleased. In particular:

    : I’m saving time from flipping through previous comments to find what has been posted to a sub-thread since the last time I looked;

    : It seems to put a damper on shooting from the hip in responding, which is usually when I dig a hole and trip into it. Possibly because the linear emotional build of comments is subverted by having to engage forebrain to figure out what the comment is responding to.

    : A very good comment was posted to a thread from January, which I never would have seen otherwise.

    I haven’t verified that it fixes the ModQ problem, where a comment is placed at the time written but can be buried behind subsequent posts. Also, Feedly does seem to update on a half-hour basis, so there is a lag-time issue, but the trade-off seems worth it.

    I’m posting here, rather than following the previous thread, since if someone does not have an RSS feed, it’s less likely they’ll see this response.

    Thank you, and I’m sorry.

        1. ambrit

          /s/ As Fearless Leader says; “We must utterly destroy all vestiges of that vile Liberal dogma, ‘Moderation in all things!'” /s/

          1. Steve H.

            ‘Moderation in all things.’

            Corollary: All-things includes moderation. Thus:

            ‘Moderation in moderation.’

    1. Llewelyn Moss

      A very good comment was posted to a thread from January, which I never would have seen otherwise.

      Thank you for acknowledging that. And you are welcome. ;-)

    2. Steve H.

      Coupla data points:

      Two comments from this morning (am I overposting? ah well) that went to the moderation queue and were released have not shown up in the Feedly line.

      More concerning, my comment here from 9:31 has not shown up, although the bracketing comments from ambrit and diptherio have. The comment itself is not so important, but it makes me think that other peoples comments may not be showing up as well.

  9. Mark Alexander

    This morning’s report by those Nice Polite Republicans at NPR about Bernie’s win was typical. They downplayed the huge margin, then played clips from Clinton’s weird victory speech and nothing from Bernie’s speech. They’ve been doing this free advertising for Clinton all along.
    A few months ago I heard Cokie Roberts talking about the Democratic race by never once mentioning Sanders and instead playing big chunks of Hillary’s latest TV ad.

    Even my spouse, a long-time die-hard NPR listener, has finally woken up to the fact that they are simply a propaganda outlet for establishment politicians. I think if one follows the money, it’s clear why this is so. Every few minutes they announce that they have support from odious squillionaires like the Walton family and Bill Gates. Or maybe I’m wrong, and NPR, like Hillary, is so pure that money doesn’t affect it at all.

    1. NotTimothyGeithner

      I watched a bit of msnbc late last night, and I saw a demoralized and perplexed bunch. Whether they voted for Sanders or Trump/a year Republican for that matter, the overwhelming percentage of voters rejected the economic miracle propaganda.

      Given the youth breakout for Sanders, any on camera personality or opinion columnist pimping for Hillary needs to be worried their audience is ready to shrink.

      1. fresno dan

        If you read the news, and look at the irrefutable, incontrovertible facts in an article, its like most articles are less than 1% facts.
        Now, if you distilled down your spaghetti and meatballs just to the vitamins and minerals, it wouldn’t be very appetizing. So I don’t begrudge the media their filler – but good grief, just don’t poison the food.

        And of course, how much ink and pixels are wasted on a second, third, or fourth place finisher actually “winning” because they exceeded the wizard of oz’s expectations?

    2. Brindle

      Occasionally I’ll tune into NPR Morning Edition—-I usually last about 5-7 minutes before leaving as the status quo/centrist supporting view is just too oppressive. They do better on artist types of stories.

      1. diptherio

        They’re news programs are crap, but they do have some good non-news programs, that sometimes venture into serious territory, like This American Life (the episode “The Convert,” about an FBI agent provocateur at a mosque is excellent) and The Moth Radio Hour. But mostly, the depiction of reality on NPR only happens inadvertently (and never on All Things Considered).

          1. CraaaazyChris

            Years ago listening to WWDTM I had a sudden realization that this is a quiz show where the winner is whoever best absorbed the propaganda of that week.

            Lately I’ve been trying to retrain my brain to treat the NPR pledge drives as a cue to donate to something else more worthy (like Naked Capitalism!).

        1. Gio Bruno

          Agree with your assessment, diptherio. But you’re giving NPR too much credit: TAL is produced by WBEZ (independent) and until 2014 was distributed by Public Radio International (PRI). It is your local radio station that imports This American Life for your listening pleasure. NPR gets not credit at all.

          NPR (neo-propaganda radio) is essentially “slick” radio disguised as competence. It’s become essentially a weepy story outlet.

    3. petal

      I caught that this morning, too, Mark. Being pissed off yet again wasn’t the best way to start my day. Cheers.

    4. JohnnyGL

      I’ve been listening to them on my commute and keep marveling at how they barely even acknowledge that there’s a Democratic Party race going on. They finally had a Sanders clip today. I’ve seen every marginal Republican candidate get TONS of sympathetic coverage from NPR, but they skirt past Sanders’ very existence as often as possible.

      I haven’t followed a ton of MSM coverage, but I’m feeling like NPR might be among the worst.

    5. armchair

      Another thing about NPR is that the Seattle station will play a Noam Chomsky speech during the pledge drive to show how liberal and scrappy they are. They want that liberal money for the pledge drive, and once the drive is over, they put Noam back in the vault.

      1. bob

        NPR- Your donations keep the lights on.

        Your betters select the programming.

        Bought to you by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Center for Sneer, Billionaires Are People Too, The Walton Family foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative- Working since 1990 to advance the plight of Wall St.

    6. RabidGandhi

      My treat this morning on waking up was seeing NYT leading with the Trump/Sanders headline, but then the articles underneath were: Trump wins! Kasich Awesome in 2nd! GOP Establishment in Trouble! and Next Stop SC!

      OK we got our perfunctory Sanders headline out of the way, now go read about something else.

      PS thanks to Mark and to someone besides Tim Geithner. They listen to NPR/MSNBC so we don’t have to.

  10. wbgonne

    Why Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Deserve Black People’s Votes Nation (resilc). Gloves are finally coming off

    Excellent work. Re: Sanders, the author correctly criticizes him for voting for Clinton’s 1994 crime bill. The criticism on reparations seems silly to me, however. That ship sailed long ago.

    The criticisms of the Clintons are well-stated and, if acknowledged, should burn down Hillary’s AA firewall. One thing: the author neglects to discuss the 1996 crime bill (AEDPA):

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiterrorism_and_Effective_Death_Penalty_Act_of_1996

    This was Bill Clinton’s second monstrous criminal justice bill and it effectively eviscerated federal habeas corpus, which has allowed state criminal justice systems to run wild without fear of federal court review. Sanders voted against AEDPA.

    1. fresno dan

      I agree.
      We set up a great system for oppressing people with the 2 party system
      repubs – police should be given carte blanche
      dems – we would constrain the police, but those repubs stop us. OK, OK in these all dem cities its the police that stop us. But we WOULD do the right thing if only we COULD….

      1. neo-realist

        He’s been shamed so much lately by black lefties like Adolph Reed that he’s decided to come around.

        1. vidimi

          if that were the case it would be a very humble reaction on his part. most people would double down in the face of a provocation. i think there’s more to it than that, though.

        2. HotFlash

          Have been thinking about the reparations problem. Yes, reparations are due. To African-Americans, also to the original Americans, to dispossessed Irish, to German Americans, peasants, to women who were denied voting rights and property rights, to people in India, China, to interned Japanese, to LGTB people, to ‘comfort women’ — the list is very, very long.

          So yes, it is the right thing to do, but can it be done? Michelle Alexander says Sanders says it would be ‘divisive’.

          I would have to agree with the Senator. Think about how to administer reparations. Some questions:

          What form would these reparations take and who would receive them? Cash? Tax credits? Affirmative action-style privileged access to government programs? New programs (with, of course, professional program administrators)? Or what?

          Would people have to demonstrate slave ancestry? Hope the records are good and still existing.

          Would it be divided by percentage of ancestry, like the old mulatto/quadroon/octoroon etc system? What about Obama, whose black African father was never a US slave? Would ‘black’ people be busted for being too white? And on what basis?

          Perhaps by skin colour, height or nose width, as the Belgians divided the Hutus and Tutsis. Now *that* was divisive. Wikipedia notes dryly that ” The largest conflicts related to this question were the Rwandan Genocide, the Burundian Genocide, and the First and Second Congo Wars.” Yeah, divisive. BTW, which side would Eric Holder and Colin Powell come in on?

          And there is always DNA evidence — yeah, splendid.(/s)

          Better, I would think, than reparations is to destroy the institutional machines that are still causing and increasing the harms done by slavery.

          Instead of reparations for righting past wrongs, how about jobs at a living wage, free college education, Medicare for all, an end to private prisons, demilitarizing police forces and taking marijuana off the federal government’s list of outlawed drugs (all Bernie planks) to correct the effects NOW?

    2. Anon

      Speaking of reparations, I groaned a little upon reading it, not because I think it’s a bad idea, but how feasible is such a thing? Who determines how much each person gets?

    3. Gio Bruno

      Well, the chicken has finally come home to roost: The now retired LA County Sheriff (Lee Baca) has agreed to plead guilty to making false statements (lies) to Federal officials (FBI & others). Baca was, in fact, the leader of a jailhouse (largest in the nation) that consistently beat and battered inmates. Baca’s second-in-command is scheduled to go to trial soon.

  11. cybrestrike

    The Clinton campaign is getting trounced in with the youth vote. It’s kind of scary for them. Sanders’ camp has done a good job of locking them up. Of course, it was pretty easy…considering the fact that he’s the only one speaking to their issues (college debt and other left leaning policies).

    1. Uahsenaa

      He was the only one going to speak to young people at all, initially, spending much of the summer in college towns building up the volunteer base he needed/needs to be successful now. While Sanders was giving packed speeches back in the Fall in places like Iowa City, Ames, Keene, etc., Clinton was still doing photo ops in coffee shops with the handful of people specifically picked out by her security detail.

      That early behavior is biting her in the back now, since she just didn’t take the possible challenge seriously.

        1. wbgonne

          looks like a “Hospital this way” street sign

          Pointing to the right, naturally. The Clintons even triangulate on their campaign logos.

          1. S M Tenneshaw

            Not only pointing to the right, but pointing to the right with a Republican red arrow! What’s up with that?

      1. jonboinAR

        Pols take note: Sanders is also reaping the benefits of having stayed consistent with his message for 25 years and shown reasonable energy and stamina in delivering it. IOW, he’s got a kind of cred we haven’t seen in a long time.

  12. inode_buddha

    The interesting thing about the New Hampshire results is that, the voters are basically choosing the non-establisment canidates. They are choosing the canidates who are not taking anyone else’s money. So basically, they know what is going on in this country and its politics, and are trying to put an end to that game. Wait for the upper crust to start screaming about how the world is comng to an end if they can’t just have a little bit more…
    I know the type, I work for some of them. They have to win *everything* in sight or else go moping around feeling like total losers.

    1. diptherio

      They have to win *everything* in sight or else go moping around feeling like total losers.

      Which is what makes them total losers….

    2. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      Here is one instance we hope against geniuses.

      The smart members of the upper crust, if they are Judo experts, will use this energy and defeat us.

      And we have to be on guard against the revolution devouring its own.

  13. vidimi

    i posted a digested (read dummified) link to this story in the water cooler, but it bears repeating, especially if, like me, you enjoy a little elite schaudenfreude. here, a professor at goldsmith university squirms about social media dampening the medias monopoly on propagandizing people and, therefore, the increase in plebs focusing on so-called ‘issues’.
    http://theconversation.com/social-media-is-changing-the-face-of-politics-and-its-not-good-news-54266

    1. fresno dan

      Thanks for the link!

      “Researchers have already noted a growing division between “news junkies” who read widely (but usually only from sources they agree with) and a growing band of “news avoiders” who are opting out of news that seems aggressively polarised.”

      Well, I would hope people would try and sample a variety of sources. I would say there is stupid right wing and there is intelligent left wing (though I would agree that the stupid right far surpasses the intelligent right and seems to actually enjoy being stupid). And the same applies to left wing (the left seems more temperate in their language – no whales are advocated being nuked).
      Is NC liberal? Or dare I say, “progressive” I don’t think so because, I don’t know what the hell the difference between a liberal, progressive, and conservative REALLY is about as informative as putting Coke or Pepsi on a bottle of cola…
      Is pointing out Calpers corruption liberal? anti-government? anti democratic party? conservative?
      IS Obama
      liberal?
      Progressive?
      Conservative?
      Or are most politicians corrupted?
      Or are they just non-thinking and indoctrinated? Why EXACTLY does the US foreign policy apparatus apparently believe that Saudi Arabia is our ally????????? Inertia? Why do Americans think 14 people killed in a one time event in San Bernadino is profoundly important while the 30 or so murdered daily is inconsequential???

      For example, “The American Conservative” often linked on NC, provides what I would call a more “consistent” conservative viewpoint – you don’t bail out the rich, and enforce the laws that affect the rich, war is taken only in dire necessity, laws apply to the cops as well as the citizens, etcetera. Saying repubs are conservative is like saying dems are liberal….

      And maybe, just maybe, we can have a new meme on the innertubes – facts take precedence over ideology.

      1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

        It’s always the others who have been indoctrinated.

        As an exercise, on a daily basis, one can come up with an accepted notion and tries to overcome it.

        For example, one can try to see why Leonard’s “Mona Lisa” is not pretty, but in fact ugly.

        Perhaps the skin is too pale, not a healthy sign.

        Maybe the lack of a more exaggerated smile, you know, more teeth showing?

        You think the forehead is a bit too big?

        etc.

        You can go through this exercise and try to disagree with everyone in the world (as an exercise of course), “Is more technology always good?’ and be a Cassandra. “What is the min. amount of math one needs in the world?” “Are we mass killing vegetables?”

        And you realize how much indoctrination there is in the world.

        1. fresno dan

          http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/stolen-how-the-mona-lisa-became-the-worlds-most-famous-painting-16406234/?no-ist

          “It was a quiet, humid Monday morning in Paris, 21 August 1911. Three men were hurrying out of the Louvre. It was odd, since the museum was closed to visitors on Mondays, and odder still with what one of them had under his jacket.

          They were Vincenzo Perugia and the brothers Lancelotti, Vincenzo and Michele, young Italian handymen. They had come to the Louvre on Sunday afternoon and secreted themselves overnight in a narrow storeroom near the Salon Carré, a gallery stuffed with Renaissance paintings. In the morning, wearing white workmen’s smocks, they had gone into the Salon Carré. They seized a small painting off the wall. Quickly, they ripped off its glass shadow box and frame and Perugia hid it under his clothes. They slipped out of the gallery, down a back stairwell and through a side entrance and into the streets of Paris.

          They had stolen the Mona Lisa.

          It would be 26 hours before someone noticed that the painting was missing. It was understandable. At the time the Louvre was the largest building in the world, with more than 1,000 rooms spread over 45 acres. Security was weak; fewer than 150 guards protected the quarter-of-a-million objects. Statues disappeared, paintings got damaged. (A heavy statue of the Egyptian god Isis was stolen about a year before the Mona Lisa and in 1907, a woman was sentenced to six months in prison for slashing Jean Auguste Ingres’ Pius VII in the Sistine Chapel.)

          At the time of the “Mona Lisa” heist, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece was far from the most visited item in the museum. Leonardo painted the portrait around 1507, and it was not until the 1860s that art critics claimed the Mona Lisa was one of the finest examples of Renaissance painting. This judgment, however, had not yet filtered beyond a thin slice of the intelligentsia, and interest in it was relatively minimal. In his 1878 guidebook to Paris, travel writer Karl Baedeker offered a paragraph of description about the portrait; in 1907 he had a mere two sentences, much less than the other gems in the museum, such as Nike of Samothrace and Venus de Milo.”

          1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

            Thanks for that bit of history.

            It’s amazing no one thought, or maybe a few did, it was great (as in ‘one of the finest, instead of being ‘just another one of them’ or good) and now, today, everyone or nearly everyone thinks so.

          2. vidimi

            perhaps even more importantly, the theft was remarkable for who was suspected to have been behind it: pablo picasso and guillaume apollinaire.

  14. rich

    Ex-FDA Head Accused of Conspiring to Suppress Information About Harmful Effects of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Antibiotic February 9, 2016
    By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

    WASHINGTON — Margaret Hamburg, the former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, conspired to conceal harmful side effects of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)’s antibiotic drug Levaquin, according to a lawsuit filed by six patients, Qmed reported this morning.

    The lawsuit alleges that Hamburg suppressed information about the drug’s side effects so her husband, Peter Brown, co-chief executive officer of Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund, could profit from Johnson & Johnson stock. Attorney Larry Klayman, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiffs, speculated Brown earned approximately $500 million in Johnson & Johnson stock due to his wife’s suppression of information, according to a statement on his website. In addition to Hamburg, her husband and Johnson & Johnson are listed as defendants.

    “This is a major scandal, one that seriously affects the health of not just plaintiffs, but thousands of others. Defendants are alleged to have callously reaped large financial gains and profits at the expense of my clients. The entire sad episode is an example of how some in private industry are alleged to conspire and act with Washington D.C.

    http://www.biospace.com/News/ex-fda-head-accused-of-conspiring-to-suppress/408195/source=TopBreaking?intcid=homepage-seekernewssection-tabtopbreakingnews

    Wonder how many effective drugs are kept off market to maintain monopoly pricing ? re:How Corporations Killed Medicine http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/09/how-corporations-killed-medicine/

    1. Ivy

      My wish is that such suits bring about some degree of reversal of regulatory capture. The FDA is only one of several agencies that went native a long time ago. Toss on a few executive prosecutions, probably after Obama is out of office, and there might be more hope for the huddled masses.

    2. perpetualWAR

      You see this is the very reason that guillotines should be built from coast-to-coast. To show our stupid, tone-deaf government that we will not eat their damn cake anymore.

      -no more poisoning children with full knowledge
      -no more looking the other way while big pharma takes too much profit from bad drugs
      -no more stealing Americans homes with fraudulent paperwork
      -no more skimming off stock profit with a high-speed network
      -no more genetically modified foods
      -no more radioactive isotopes leeched into our water source
      -no MORE

    3. ginnie nyc

      Hoo-boy, Margaret Hamburg was the head of the Department of Health in NYC before she was elevated to Washington. Under Bloomberg. I wonder what hijinks she got into while she was here.

    1. abynormal

      SATAN, n. One of the Creator’s lamentable mistakes, repented in sashcloth and axes. Being instated as an archangel, Satan made himself multifariously objectionable and was finally expelled from Heaven. Half-way in his descent he paused, bent his head in thought a moment and at last went back. “There is one favor that I should like to ask,” said he.

      “Name it.”

      “Man, I understand, is about to be created. He will need laws.”

      “What, wretch! you his appointed adversary, charged from the dawn of eternity with hatred of his soul — you ask for the right to make his laws?”

      “Pardon; what I have to ask is that he be permitted to make them himself.”

      It was so ordered. Devils Dic.

        1. optimader

          John Milton: Who are you carrying all those bricks for anyway? God? Is that it, God? Well, I tell ya: let me give you a little inside information about God. God likes to watch. He’s a prankster. Think about it: He gives man instincts. He gives you this extraordinary gift, and then what does He do? I swear, for His own amusement, His own private cosmic gag reel. He sets the rules in opposition. It’s the goof of all time. Look, but don’t touch. Touch, but don’t taste. Taste, don’t swallow. [laughs] And while you’re jumpin’ from one foot to the next, what is He doin’? He’s laughin’ His sick, fuckin’ ass off! He’s a tight-ass! He’s a sadist! He’s an absentee landlord. Worship that? Never!Kevin

          Lomax: “Better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heaven,” is that it?John Milton: Why not? I’m here on the ground with my nose in it since the whole thing began! I’ve nurtured every sensation man has been inspired to have. I cared about what he wanted and I never judged him. Why? Because I never rejected him, in spite of all his imperfections. I’m a fan of man! I’m a humanist. Maybe the last humanist. Who, in their right mind, Kevin, could possibly deny the 20th century was entirely mine? All of it, Kevin! All of it. Mine. I’m peaking, Kevin. It’s my time now. It’s our time.

          John Milton: Because the law, my boy, puts us into everything. It’s the ultimate backstage pass; it’s the new priesthood, baby. Did you know there are more students in law school than there are lawyers walking the Earth? We’re coming out, guns blazing! The two of you, all of us, acquittal after acquittal after acquittal… until the stench of it reaches so high and far into heaven, it chokes the whole fucking lot of them.

          ~ The Devil’s Advocate 1997

        1. abynormal

          Food Sources Poisoned
          Water Sources Poisoned
          Brain Matter Goo’d

          RATIONAL, adj. Devoid of all delusions save those of observation, experience and reflection. (o:

            1. abynormal

              …better than the mental image of you leap’n thru your purple basil field sport’n a hot pink tutu! commend you on the Devils Ad quote.

              I don’t believe in miracles, only unexplained facts. West

              1. optimader

                mmmmm basil.. down to my last 4 ziplock bags of pesto… :o/

                hot pink tutu
                Now that would scare the cat!

                OT, bear w/ me… it is a quality of life hack
                wouldn’t believe until I tried it myself.
                A Spanish chef I know showed me a trick for dehusking garlic enmasse.. Always lookin for a tip to make things quicker…it works, it’s a boon! (he makes a lot of mayonnaise garlic potato salad and he wants it sliced not crushed –makes a difference…)

                Put the entire head (I guess it works w/ separate clove in a pan as well) put a lid on and shake the livi’n bejezuz out of it. the head falls apart and the cloves shed their skin!
                Quick easy no messing around smashing it.

                So, who doesn’t believe in miracles?

                    1. abynormal

                      have you tried making Basil Ice Cream??
                      you should…

                      i’ve stripped garlic using metal mixing bowls on top of each other. takes about 5 heads & livi’n bejezuz out of it.

                      “Miracles are like meatballs, because nobody can exactly agree on what they are made of, where they come from, or how often they should appear. Some people say that a sunrise is a miracle, because it is somewhat mysterious and often very beautiful, but other people say it is simply a fact of life, because it happens every day and far too early in the morning. Some people say that a telephone is a miracle, because it sometimes seems wondrous that you can talk with somebody who is thousands of miles away, and other people say it is merely a manufactured device fashioned out of metal parts, electronic circuitry, and wires that are very easily cut. And some people say that sneaking out of a hotel is a miracle, particularly if the lobby is swarming with policemen, and other people say it is simply a fact of life, because it happens every day and far too early in the morning. So you might think that there are so many miracles in the world that you can scarcely count them, or that there are so few that they are scarcely worth mentioning, depending on whether you spend your mornings gazing at a beautiful sunset or lowering yourself into a back alley with a rope made of matching towels.”
                      Snicket, The Carnivorous Carnival

  15. Pat

    Well, you know it was his neighborhood, so this is probably the last time they will hear from Bernie Sanders, even though he did give a very nice speech. At least I’m being told that this morning by my betters who know that Hillary will sweep the boards from now on.
    Personally I believe that Nevada will also be a shock for them, at least if the couple of non scientific polls I have seen recently are true (a guy looking for a story who asked everyone on a casino floor and found not one Clinton supporter to the comment on an article who noted that you would be hard pressed to find a Clinton bumper sticker or sign.) Oh, my opinion is not really just based on that, but Nevada got hit hard by the 2008 crash and not much was done to help them. People are still underwater there and swimming as fast as they can to avoid drowning. You know the kind of circumstance that Clinton’s policies and patronizing sound bites do nothing to alleviate. And then there is South Carolina, where I’m told Coates has killed any momentum Sanders had and Clinton is still beloved. Ignoring the fact that this is a state that Clinton cannot take in the general anymore than Sanders probably can, I’m still thinking that the devastating take downs of the Clinton legacy that are becoming more and more common are going to shred that minority support far more than Clinton and her supporters realize. She may still win it, but it is not going to be the blow to Sanders she might wish.
    But the other elephant in the room her supporters refuse to understand is desperate Clintons make stupid mistakes on the campaign trail. They did in 2008, they are doing so already in this one, and they will continue to do so.
    I don’t have any real hope that Clinton supporters will get that she is the poster child for the deep corruption that is epidemic in the Democratic Party. That her endorsements are split between those who want the same largesse she and Bill enjoy from their patrons and those who fear the Clintons escapes them totally. And this even if they recognize that the Party is a deeply broken entity. What I do hope is that when Clinton loses the majority of the votes and should bow away gracefully, they demand this as well. Because I’m hoping that some of them are still ration enough to understand that anything else will eventually destroy the Party.

    1. fresno dan

      Well, I for one believe every word of our so wise and experienced media – the best and the brightest! (SARC)

      So after all the bull about how this or that disqualifies Trump, and how Sanders can’t win – I just wonder how much will be made if Sanders does “BETTER THAN EXPECTED” with the black vote in SC??? I imagine how Clinton’s bulwark of the black vote will be another memory hole casualty.

      You know, I think we forget how amazing it was for a black man to be elected. Not really well known. but getting the nomination was something I had never believed would happen. and it did!!!

      So either Obama had the best campaign organization EVER, or maybe, just maybe, all those friends of Bill weren’t worth having, and for most people, the 90’s weren’t the great nirvana the media goes on and on and on about, and maybe, just maybe, Clinton isn’t this master Machiavelli of political insight that everybody says he is….

      Now with regard to Sanders – how many establishment repubs and media types have said that Trump has done something disqualifying? How has that worked out for them????? The dogs aren’t eating the dog food – saying Trump isn’t a “TRUE” conservative doesn’t mean anything to the repub base, and I highly suspect saying Sanders is a democratic socialist will not cause any pants to be pooped except in the 0.1% strata….
      If the red commentariat (well, the blue commentariat as well) can’t get Trump right, why do they think that they can get Sanders right????

    2. Jim Haygood

      ‘a guy looking for a story who asked everyone on a casino floor and found not one Clinton supporter’

      Hillary can win those folks over by telling them what they want to hear: “Easiest slots in town.”

    3. optimader

      Interesting perspective, but is a voting population sample set off a casino floor a cross-section demographic?
      I don’t know..

      Maybe in Reno? How badly are the contestants in a casino treading water financially?
      Again I really don’t know.

      I am opent to teh possibility that it is high value entertainment in an absence to alternatives for some people that don’t also have a gambling problem?
      Personally I find this kinda environment ghastly, but I guess older folks go to Casinos for buffets and stuff?
      On that note, thinking on it, I would suppose if it is a middle age to older crowd, that should have been a sweet spot for HRC?

    4. TedWa

      kj1313 @ 11:22 AM has a link showing Ta-Neshi Coates is now supporting Sanders. So that takes that out of the equation.

  16. Dino Reno

    Solar City, like Tesla, is an Elon Musk company and both will need to raise cash this year. Billions. The chances of that happening on favorable terms are looking very unlikely given the current market conditions. Musk, unlike the other great innovative product creator of our times Steve Jobs, has depended on government handouts to get his companies up and running. Musk has also borrowed heavily against his own stock holdings so a stock price decline like we’ve seen lately could a force margin call and more forced selling. His giant Giga Factory outside of Reno is behind schedule. His cars are late off the assembly line.
    The other day he told a car buyer who complained that his order was cancelled. No soup for you, as social media put it. His other company Space X depends almost entirely on government support. This may be the year when the wheels come off the Musk Machine.

    1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      He sounds like a ‘technology for a better tomorrow’ mensch.

      Electric cars, solar panels and space exploration.

      We’re smart and there is nothing we can’t do, no limit to our consumption, here or in outer space.

      We will smash them Luddites, on our way to a glorious future.

      Perhaps one day, he will be apotheosized to assume his rightful place among the Olympian gods..

    2. Steve Gunderson

      Spacex is much cheaper, about 1/2 the cost of a launch by Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services.

  17. Robert Callaghan

    Solar City keeps 100% of your Carbon Credits to sell to utilities as a claim against actually providing any renewable energy that they themselves are lawfully obligated to produce.

    In other words, Solar City finances your solar panels so utilities don’t have to finance their own. You get the debt, they get 100% of the green energy credit. The utilities keep the credits for the energy you produce which they are by law required to produce themselves. Your net effect on reducing carbon is zero. You are being greenwashed and played again. I know you never tire of this sort of thing. It is amazing to behold.

    Electricity production is only 18% of total energy use and it takes 10 times as much intermittent power to close down 1 fossil fuel plant. Even if we had 100% efficient carbon capture and storage, we would only stop 18% of emissions.

    search for: No Soil & Water Before 100% Renewable Energy

  18. DakotabornKansan

    For Hillary Clinton, it’s on to South Carolina where the black vote is.

    “It seems that we—black people—are her winning card, one that Hillary is eager to play. And it seems we’re eager to get played. Again.” – Michelle Alexander, “Why Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Deserve the Black Vote”

    This is a damning indictment of the Clintons and the Democratic Party.

    For Bernie Sanders, it’s breakfast in Harlem with the Rev. Al Sharpton (aka the King Rat), who is locked in the embrace of the rich and powerful establishment.

    That makes me cringe.

    Michelle Alexander made it clear that her article was not an endorsement for Bernie Sanders:

    “The biggest problem with Bernie, in the end, is that he’s running as a Democrat—as a member of a political party that not only capitulated to right-wing demagoguery but is now owned and controlled by a relatively small number of millionaires and billionaires. Yes, Sanders has raised millions from small donors, but should he become president, he would also become part of what he has otherwise derided as “the establishment.” Even if Bernie’s racial-justice views evolve, I hold little hope that a political revolution will occur within the Democratic Party without a sustained outside movement forcing truly transformational change. I am inclined to believe that it would be easier to build a new party than to save the Democratic Party from itself.”

    1. NotTimothyGeithner

      Al Sharpton is also a fame seeker. He doesn’t have a show anymore on msnbc, and it’s doubtful he will regain any kind of standing lining up behind the Clinton machine. Sharpton’s time has passed, but he may not have realized this yet.

      1. bob

        Roger Stone would probably disagree. Lots of use for him yet.

        He’ll be back on Fox news, the only place where he could get a camera pointed at him.

      2. optimader

        Al had a cable show? I can retroactively add that to the list of reasons why I don’t have cable.

        Al S. always dearly wanted to have a monetization page out of JJackson’s play book. Too bad for Al, he was founded on a fraud. JJ could always point to a picture of himself on a balcony in Memphis as his gravitas.

        My one first-person sighting of Al was many years ago at O’Hare. He was standing upon one of those electric golfcart shuttles and pointing forward ( pointing out something for his batman flunky also on the cart).

        That was back in the portly Al days, dressed in a satiny purplish jumpsuit w/a gold nugget kinda necklace.. (understated but elegant in presentation). Unfortunately this was before cellphone camera days.

        Al has always been about Al, never really got the national traction he was looking for. Maybe more just an east coast player? Now pretty much irrelevant all together as BHO’s Sun sets and he really was never able to play him for much.

    2. fresno dan

      DakotabornKansan
      February 10, 2016 at 9:25 am

      I would be all for a new party – but considering the rather illogical thing that people say, “I don’t want to “waste” my vote” (constraining yourself to ONLY voting for the two clown choices from the dems or repubs is the waste) – most people seem unconstitutionally unable to make a choice of anything but red or blue. Yellow, orange, green are just colors most people can’t or won’t see…..people’s heads would apparently explode if exposed to mauve or puce.

      It seems to me that if we want to change the party, it starts with changing the party leadership.

      1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

        You’re right – we need new parties.

        I am not sure about changing the party and changing leadership – the feature remains (not a bug), and as any hold on leadership is capricious, the problem returns when leadership changes later.

        And it seems to me, in opposing Hillary, successfully or failing, with the energy shown so far by the Little People, the party is in the process of disappearing, The 1990s and the last 8 years, the years of Democratic White House, are being rejected, denounced and disowned.

      2. cwaltz

        I think you handle it by being capable of fighting a two front war. You do what you can to get change within the Democratic Party structure while also working to build its alternative.

        If you do either/or you end up stuck exactly where we were before, stuck without an alternative to corrupt.

        This cycle, if Sanders wins, I may vote Democratic. However, I suffer no delusion, that the party will be fixed if he’s nominated. It does give hope though that the party can be reformed and stand for liberal ideals though.

        1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

          If Sanders wins, but we don’t send more progressive reformers to Congress, but instead end up with a hawkish Capitol Hill, and if Sanders offers MMT for his spending programs, I feel that would the worst case scenario.

          This energy will be hijacked.

          1. HotFlash

            Yeah that’s the big problem. Where are the Bernie allies for Congress? Some incumbents will slither over if he is the obvious winner, some of them will be treacherous and there will, of course, be stay-behinds in the elected, appointed, paid and even volunteer parts of the Dem apparatus. If you support a Bernie kind of change (or other improvement to the Dem system as it is), let your congresscritter know. More important, IMHO, is to let your local Dem apparatchiks know, and keep letting them know.

            Heh, in my tiny home county, the Dem establishment is so lame it can’t even answer the phone. I suspect that a mass enrollment of volunteers and a few votes could unseat them. They are so cheap!

          2. polecat

            How many elected ‘progressive’ turning to the dark side once in office is it going to take before concluding the democratic party a dead, putrid thing to be scorned. They are, in the main, wedded to this status quo system we’re shackled to.

    3. nippersdad

      She sounded a lot like Glen Ford in that passage. The sheepdog meme is going to dog him wherever he goes, it would appear.

    4. GlobalMisanthrope

      Surely if Sharpton offers an endorsement, Sanders will demur. Surely. Ugh. Sigh.

      Alexander ignores electoral reality. Sanders had to run as a Dem. Now, a second term run is a different matter and I think that’s the long game here.

      It’s also the long game in terms of the next Pres election regardless. A Sanders loss is almost certainly a Dem loss at a moment when the party’s legitimacy has been challenged on the big stage. With the Reps in meltdown, too, independent candidates could really make hay in 2020.

    5. Uahsenaa

      I admire Alexander’s work a great deal, and I can understand why she would be wary of endorsing anyone, given the historical record of being promised a whiff of justice and getting the exact opposite in return.

      That said, her point about there being no “outside force” may not be entirely accurate. Outside forces don’t have to be organized political parties. If Sanders does what he’s promised to do, to use the people he’s already lit a fire under to put pressure on both legacy parties to pass his agenda, then he will have the effect Alexander seems to believe he cannot.

      1. NotTimothyGeithner

        One hallmark of the Obama Presidency is the way the left has to fight him on TPP, Keystone, foreign policy, gay rights (Obama was not always a great defender.), his leadership of Team Blue, Healthcare v health insurance, the police state, etc.

        Having a President who isn’t actively destructive will dramatically strengthen outside agitators.

        1. Pat

          Why his dismantling of his grass roots organization and his throwing out the fifty state initiative at the DNC might almost seem to indicate he decided to move to the far right almost before elected. Well if one is cynical enough.

          Call me wild and crazy but this is one time I think the candidate WANTS his feet held to the fire and is hoping that his supporters and more of the public will do so. Something we have not seen in a very long time – possibly my entire voting life.

          1. neo-realist

            At the least, Obama wanted to move or rather keep the oval office in a strongly corporatist direction. Bernie will need some sort of 50 state initiative and a new DNC leader to lead it if he is going to have a chance of governing assuming he can win.

        2. wbgonne

          Having a President who isn’t actively destructive will dramatically strengthen outside agitators.

          Excellent point. The opportunity costs of Obama’s presidency have been astronomical. Sanders’ success illustrates what could have been and what still might be. The people are ready.

        3. fresno dan

          good point. Though I would phrase it as actually being sincere in one’s campaign platform instead of it being merely advertising to get elected…

      2. dk

        ^THAT.

        The Tea Party, astro-turfed or not, has proven that off-election-cycle grassroots pressure is extremely effective. It’s an open question as to how well this can or will be implemented by/under/during a Sanders presidency. Establishment politics almost always kills its grassroots after a win, because the grassroots can make governing difficult, especially if one is ready to sell out to any extent. One sees this with Governors and state parties a lot; after a win, the new governor guts the state party if they don’t think they’ll need them. A healthy party can facilitate challengers and upstarts, and even embarrass (not to mention pressure) their own incumbents. The conventional wisdom is that such an organization is a Frankenstein’s monster, dangerous and unmanageable. You have to be a radical to want one.

        I can’t find the article, but saw something a couple of weeks ago about the Sanders advance team operating in SC. The statement was that the campaign was making an effort to build local relationships instead of throwing a simple media blitz. It’s a slower build-up, and the article questioned whether it would be fast enough. But it means that the Sanders campaign is actually doing the necessary work for a durable post-election organization from the ground up, which is very encouraging, and gives some credence to Sanders’ promise.

  19. MikeNY

    Two impressions from last night, after listening to Trump and Sanders:

    1. Trump’s rhetoric is gaseous and really very noxious.

    2. I think the Fed take can a good deal of credit for Sanders’s huge win (and perhaps Trump’s, too). They have effectively short-circuited the political system on the economy. And reportedly, they can do much more…. Can they really be so stupid?

    1. polecat

      well.. if they continue with effectual nirp policies and/or try to ban cash for the plebes…i mean criminals/snark, then yes, they really ARE that stupid..

  20. bob

    “Flint Is Still a Disaster, But Obama Just Proposed a Giant Cut to Water Funding Mother Jones”

    “The 2017 budget proposes a $158 million increase to the Drinking Water SRF, which would help municipalities replace pipelines, fix water main breaks, and generally improve aging water infrastructure—the type of changes that could help places that, like Flint, have an aging water infrastructure. But the budget also proposes a $370 million cut to the Clean Water SRF,”

    158 million? 370 million? Huge? No.

    Add those numbers together and you still don’t get to 1/3 of what JUST flint needs to repair it’s pipes.

    1. JTMcPhee

      A couple of possibly apples-and-oranges sets of spending numbers:

      2015, https://www.nationalpriorities.org/campaigns/military-spending-united-states/?gclid=CjwKEAiA3Ou1BRDso5XyhduuwFASJABP3PED2te6RbgdoOuW-kO0_Fg7LLOTCWT-0-WHX371z55DCBoCrGvw_wcB

      2016, http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/year_spending_2016USbn_17bs2n_30508070J0#usgs302

      I hadn’t run across the second link before. Interesting, all the information you can glean from it, by adjusting the parameters at the top and expanding the categories and looking at the charts…

      More reasons to keep constantly in mind those two useful aphorisms:

      “Abandon Hope, all ye who enter here.” and

      “Resistance is futile.”

      On the other hand, “Bernie 2016 — Because Fokk This Sh!t!” The Deep State is out there, but it seems to have a terminal disorder… Will those people who profit from and operate it take all the rest of us down with them?

      1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

        Maybe the plan is ‘you have to destroy a planet to save it” – a larger version of ‘you have to destroy a village to save it.”

        Like any good scientific experiment, you scale up gradually.

        Good scientists do that.

  21. GlobalMisanthrope

    The editing function seems to be broken. I’ve tried to use it every day for more than a week and can never make changes. The message is “No changes allowed after other comments” or something like that.

    Anybody else?

    1. Jim Haygood

      Apparently the editing function works only until another comment is posted.

      If no one else posts after you, you get four minutes to edit. But if someone randomly posts 10 seconds after you, no editing for you! ;-)

    2. BillC

      I’ve been seeing the editing option come up on comments I did NOT author for at least a couple days, probably not more than 4. Might want to look for a change since last week.

      1. Steve H.

        I just saw one:

        Blink 180
        February 10, 2016 at 1:18 pm
        nakedcapitalism.com/2016/02/technology-and-the-future-of-work.html#comment-2546786

        Clicked, ‘comment loaded successfully’ but no text. Didn’t try anything else.

        1. hunkerdown

          The edit option wouldn’t seem to work very well with a caching proxy, I’d imagine. I think the responses to post submissions (after the 3xx redirect, if any) need a Pragma: header in order to skip through the proxy.

  22. Mav

    Now that the media is talking about Vampire squid’s bribes to Hillary, when are they going to focus on unelected officals getting bribed via speaking fees.

    Case in point is Ben Bernanke @ $200k per speech – he is giving HRC a run for her wall street money.

    1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      As Bill Clinton would say, ‘This woman,’ referring to Hillary, “this woman is not that good a liar, there are others who are much better, and she is not so good at taking money that she got caught. There are others far more subtle.”

  23. JTMcPhee

    Re NPR/PBS “leanings” and Lord Koos’s comment yesterday about the CIA office that “advises” the Hollywood Bernays apparat: There’s an interesting book, “The Cultural Cold War: The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters,” by Frances Stonor Saunders, which opens with this snippet:

    The way to carry out good propaganda is never to appear to be carrying
    it out at all. — Richard Crossman

    During the height of the Cold War, the U.S. government committed vast resources to a secret program of cultural propaganda in Western Europe. A central feature of this program was to advance the claim that it did not exist. It was managed, in great secrecy, by America’s espionage arm, the Central Intelligence Agency. The centerpiece of this covert campaign was the Congress for Cultural Freedom, run by CIA agent Michael Josselson from 1950 until 1967. Its achievements—not least its duration— were considerable. At its peak, the Congress for Cultural Freedom had offices in thirty-five countries, employed dozens of personnel, published over twenty prestige magazines, held art exhibitions, owned a news and features service, organized high-profile international conferences, and rewarded musicians and artists with prizes and public performances. Its mission was to nudge the intelligentsia of Western Europe away from its lingering fascination with Marxism and Communism towards a view more accommodating of “the American way.”

    Drawing on an extensive, highly influential network of intelligence personnel, political strategists, the corporate establishment, and the old school ties of the Ivy League universities, the incipient CIA started, from 1947, to build a “consortium” whose double task it was to inoculate the world against the contagion of Communism and to ease the passage of American foreign policy interests abroad. The result was a remarkably tight network of people who worked alongside the Agency to promote an idea: that the world needed a pax Americana, a new age of enlightenment, and it would be called the American Century.

    The consortium the CIA built up—consisting of what Henry Kissinger described as “an aristocracy dedicated to the service of this nation on behalf of principles beyond partisanship”—was the hidden weapon in America’s Cold War struggle, a weapon which, in the cultural had extensive fallout. Whether they liked it or not, whether they knew it or not, there were few writers, poets, artists, historians, scientists, or critics in postwar Europe whose names were not in some way linked to this covert enterprise.

    Unchallenged, undetected for over twenty years, America’s spying establishment operated a sophisticated, substantially endowed cultural front in the West, for the West, in the name of freedom
    of expression. Defining the Cold War as a “battle for men’s minds,” it stockpiled a vast arsenal of cultural weapons: journals, books, conferences, seminars, art exhibitions, concerts, awards…

    It’s a long and, for me at least, maddening read.

    Here’s a 6 page summary, with some illuminating observations on where “we” are now, thanks to the “liberal CIA” activities that obviously continue today — for anyone needing another dose of cynicism this bright Wednesday after the outcome of the New Hampshire primary: http://www.ratical.org/ratville/CAH/CIAcultCW.pdf And a slightly longer and more recent (2013) introduction by the author: http://www.thedivineconspiracy.org/Z5286U.pdf

    1. polecat

      all you have to do, if one is willing, is to take note of just how many entertainment folks like to talk the talk, but rarely, if ever, walk it !!….and if, by chance they DO the walk, it’s anything but sustained….

    1. Vatch

      Wow, you’re right! I’ve seen articles about the scandal, but none of them mentioned President Simon P. Newman’s non-academic background. Here’s one from 2014 that does:

      http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/blog/bs-md-mount-st-marys-president-20141208-story.html

      Mount St. Mary’s University, the second-oldest Catholic university in America, has turned to a Los Angeles private equity and strategic planning businessman to be its next president.

      The university announced Monday that Simon Newman, 51, will succeed Thomas H. Powell, who has been president of the university for the past decade.

  24. Jerry Denim

    Headline- “President Obama’s military budget is still one of the biggest ever.”

    I watched Trump’s New Hampshire victory speech. He pledged to “rebuild” the U.S. Military as if it had somehow been horribly neglected or dismantled under Obama. I almost choked. Even more surprising, if you look past the Trump’s xenophobia and naked jingoism his core message is remarkably similar to Sanders, except of course Trump has no experience, no street cred or anything approaching a plan concerning how he will bring jobs back from India and China. The vaguely specific things he did say regarding trade treaties employed a bit of specious rhetoric regarding “political hacks” versus “the best business minds”, but his remarks were absolutely nonsensical and betray either his own ignorance on the subject matter or perhaps his interest in paying lip service to a working class issue he has no plans of addressing. Trump is Sanders for belligerent idiots or perhaps the nicer way to say it is, Trump is the “low information voter” version of Sanders. I can see why Trump is popular with people who know they’re getting screwed but don’t have the foggiest idea of how or by who. I can also see why he is popular with Nazis. After decades of propaganda, disinformation, and obfuscating the truth the American media machine has rendered Jefferson’s “safe repository of knowledge” a frothing, ignorant horde. The corporate media has given us our first Presidential candidate for very angry idiots.

    1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      If Trump and Sanders have similar core messages, the emotion-candidate will probably finish before the information-candidate, which is not always the best outcome.

      We over value our intellect and often ignore our emotions. and whoever can better master the latter, will have a big advantage.

      “It’s not the economy (and numbers like the GDP, inflation)”

      “It’s the people in it…they are anxious, afraid, angry, frustrated, hoping, searching…”

      Maybe they are not smart. Maybe they are low information, because they are (fill in, lazy, not smart, etc).

      But they vote.

      1. HotFlash

        “It’s not the economy (and numbers like the GDP, inflation)”

        “It’s the people in it…they are anxious, afraid, angry, frustrated, hoping, searching…”

        Well, doh!!

        We think with our heads, we live in our feelings. Our hearts tell us where we want to be, our heads figure out where we are and how to get to the goal.

        1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

          And balance is the key…all things in moderation.

          Too much head or too much heart…neither can lead to happy endings.

      2. JerryDenim

        “But they vote”

        I never meant to imply otherwise when I called Trump supporters “low information voters.” I agree in elections hot emotion trumps (pardon the pun) cool logic, but it doesn’t have to be a binary either/or situation. Sanders can have logic, reason, sound idealogy, detailed plans, a long and proven track record as a public servant, righteous anger AND he can appeal to people’s better angels with a message of love and caring. Hopefully Americans that find Sanders appealing aren’t outnumbered by low information hot-heads. We may get to find out.

        1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

          Jerry, i don’t know if they are all low-information.

          The particular behavior – when one votes (for or against) solely or primarily based on race, gender, etc – can be observed of voters of all parties.

          A lot of times, it’s their heart over their head, and it’s not always they don’t want more information.

  25. ex-PFC Chuck

    This is called lutefisk and I gather you have to grow up with it to be able to eat it.

    Trust me, as a 100% Swedish American. Even many who grow up with it can’t stand it!

    1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      One website lists it number 5 on the world’s top 10 stinkiest foods, behind Durian, Surstromming, vieux Boulogne, Stincky Tofu.

      I think Hakarl of Iceland should be up there.

      1. vidimi

        arctic countries have invented some revolting foods out of necessity, but i think kiviak takes the cake.

        1. optimader

          Kiviak has to be right up there with the best, but I still think fermented Greenland Shark is still preeminent due to it’s sheer neurotoxic tastiness potentiality.

          Greenland sharks as food[edit]

          The flesh of a Greenland shark is poisonous due to the presence of the toxin trimethylamine oxide, which upon digestion, breaks down into trimethylamine, producing effects similar to extreme drunkenness. Occasionally, sled dogs that end up eating the flesh are unable to stand up due to the neurotoxins. Similar toxic effects occur with the related Pacific sleeper shark, but not in most other shark species, whose meat is often consumed fresh.[20]

          However, it can be eaten if it is boiled in several changes of water or dried or fermented for some months to produce kæstur hákarl, often hákarl for short. Traditionally, this was done by burying the shark in boreal ground, exposing it to several cycles of freezing and thawing[citation needed]. It is considered a delicacy in Iceland.[21][22]
          ~ wiki

            1. optimader

              that’s the stuff.. You wash it down with Brennivin, locally known by the colloquial name: “Black Death”
              Aptly put name btw

    2. optimader

      Like Greenland Shark in Iceland, rotted so it doesn’t poison the eater, or Surstromming in Sweden the stickiest rotted fish in the world . Both celebrated as an ethnic high-cuisine, but rewind the tape, foods of last resort to avoid starvation.
      But who’s to criticize a developed taste!

    3. Tink

      Actually, it’s not lutefisk. Lutefisk is fish cured in lye – the swedish term lutfisk literally means “lye fish” – and it originated in northern germany or the low countries during the middle ages. What we’re talking about here is fermented fish, so called “surströmming”. Lutfisk is usually eaten at or around christmas, while surströmming is traditionally eaten during summer, and it has a VERY distinct smell, to say the least.

      The two are very different and shouldn’t be confused, especially seeing as we’re talking about wholly different kinds of fish used (cod for lutefisk, herring for surströmming)!

      Personally, as a twentysomething, I have to say that I find lutefisk a necessary – even critical – part of every swedish christmas and will have a big sad if I can’t get it somehow.

  26. fresno dan

    Justice Department Fails to Criminally Prosecute a Big Bank — Again American Prospect

    Last week, the Justice Department announced that it had reached a $470 million settlement with mega-bank HSBC related to mortgage lending and foreclosure fraud that led to the economic collapse of 2008.

    “This settlement illustrates the department’s continuing commitment to ensure responsible mortgage servicing,” Benjamin Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, said in a statement. “The agreement is part of our ongoing effort to address root causes of the financial crisis.”

    OUCH!!!!!!
    I ruptured various and sundry internal organs laughing!!!

    “….continuing commitment to ensure responsible mortgage servicing” but I think what really damaged my viscera was, “ongoing effort to address root causes of the financial crisis”

  27. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

    Horses recognize human emotions.

    So do pigs, don’t you think?

    “Here comes the butcher. I can feel his or her the murderous intent, even through that disguised smile.”

    1. JEHR

      Re: Horses recognise human emotions

      I don’t know about horses’ emotions but every morning I walk by a horse barn which houses three animals. There is a lean-to shed on a small knoll facing the road and a white horse stands in the lean-to watching for walkers who pass by. He watches me from his first glimpse until I walk out of his view. I wave and talk to him. He never misses a “meeting” except when he has just been fed a bunch of hay!

  28. Jim Haygood

    State of Jefferson, state of mind:

    “As a libertarian,” Sam Toll says, “my ideal neighbor in the State of Jefferson is a lesbian and her transgender spouse — they’re married — guarding their marijuana field and their hemp field with their .50-caliber machine gun. And unlimited ammunition.”

    http://interactive.nydailynews.com/2016/02/state-of-jefferson-secessionists-california-gun-totin-rebels/

    Pelosification can drive reasonable folks to desperate measures. Unless they chill out with some of that dyke dagga … ;-)

      1. polecat

        as a former califonion, i used to wonder why the rightwing hated the pelosi so much……….then I took the red pill…….and saw just how far down, indeed, the rabbit hole we’ve gone.

  29. Jim Haygood

    From our broken record department: crude oil prints another 13-year low of $27.39.

    As J-Yel emphasized today, the rate hikes will continue (though at a more measured pace) till prices firm up.

    1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      It IS getting harder to find min. wage workers.

      “Quo vadis, my serfs? This way is your salvation. My satanic mill,” – a wanted ad.

      Further wage inflation pressure will also be met (or should only be met) with higher taxes.

  30. barrisj

    Atrios reports – via an ABC tweet – that the Goodyear Blimp is limping back to Joisey to spend more time with his family…and with Rubio completely losing the gloss from his 3rd-place finish in IA, we are coming to crunch-time for the Repub field…Carson prolly next to pack it in, and God knows how long the Cruz billionaires will keep writing checks for him – I suspect that Ted is not getting many callbacks on his mobile. It’s the surprising Kasich and my man Jeb! who are still the not-Donalds to vie for establishment backing. I suspect that Jeb!’s SuperPAC will commit to an all-out effort to discredit Kasich, as the name of the game right now – and throughout the Repub contest – is to go scorched-earth on one’s opponents, and who is better placed to run dirty campaigns other than my man Jeb! ? The tenacity and entitlement of the Bush Crime Family knows no bounds, and I continue to be amazed at how “informed people” were so ready to dismiss Gov. Single-digit for the past many months, given the Family’s history as playazz in major political races…we are in the back stretch, folks, about to take the turn for home, and I have to like my man Jeb!’s chances right now.

    1. NotTimothyGeithner

      The Cruz backers might be religious nuts who will go down with the ship.

      I remember there was a report about how the Romneys expected to win despite the polling and their own campaign. Some of these people are believers and can’t see the forest through the trees.

    2. Uahsenaa

      Cruz has two things going for him that might mean he goes the distance: 1) he has a lot of money in his campaign, especially in PACs, and 2) he’s an egomaniac. I get the impression he’d keep running just to make life difficult for the other candidates.

    3. Brindle

      Tweet from Jon Schwarz /tiny revolution:

      “What’s neat about America is that even if we weren’t an oligarchy the basic mechanics of our presidential elections would still be garbage.”

  31. flora

    re: US intelligence chief: we might use the internet of things to spy on you – Guardian

    Clapper has figured out that we all figured this out some time ago.

    1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      Is there a candidate who is the Big Brother’s preferred candidate, that He is manipulating the voters to willingly elect, despite our best intentions?

        1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

          I want to say only one, but they are smarter than that.

          Probably more than one and possibly they don’t lose regardless.

    2. polecat

      HALL2020 refridgerator ……..”i’m sorry Dave,…. but I cannot allow you to grab that sixpack as my data confirms that in doing so will cause….human error. These kinds of impulsive thoughts are always caused by….human error……….Dave……Dave are you listening?

  32. ProNewerDeal

    I heard a CNN Exit Poll of the NH Primary, that among registered Independents, Sanders 72% d. H Clinton 25%.

    This “stubborn fact” seems to obliterate the BigMedia BigPolitician notion/propaganda that the Ds are “polarized left-wing”, the Rs “polarized right-wing”, & that the Independent voters crave a Goldilocks-ish “Just Right” “Centrist” like Mike Bloomberg/John Huntsman/Evan Byah.

    Instead, the reality is that H Clinton is economically center-right, the Rs are extreme right-wing, and as such the vast majority (~70%?) are to the left of the center-right H Clinton. Hence many/most Indys are 2L4H aka Too Left For Hillary.

    IIRC MedicareForAll is supported by 58% of voters, as are most/all the B Sanders economic policies.

    1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      More martyrdom for Hillary.

      “Those who have always hated Bill, since 1992, are taking it out on me.”

  33. ekstase

    That bird piece is very funny. But all of their bad behavior is stuff that humans do too. And ravens being smart isn’t bad, it just scares us.

  34. ewmayer

    Re. “Supreme Court deals blow to Obama on climate change” — Thank you, Supremes, for saving us from a costly and embarrassing future TPP/ISDS lawsuit over the same plan.

    Re. “Eight Ways to Improve the Fed’s Accountability | Bloomberg” — Assumes facts (= accountability) not in evidence.

    Re. “US intelligence chief: we might use the internet of things to spy on you | Guardian” — But will Mr. Clapper and his minions also be using the IoT to lie to Congress (which actively encourages such), or will they continue using their mouths for that purpose? Inquiring minds want to know.

    1. hunkerdown

      If the data thief is terminated with extreme prejudice due to IoT surveillance, other technology isn’t needed and the “unclassified reality” of over-kippled just-so stories can proceed as scripted.

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