Trying to normalize my sleep cycle + have guests arriving + must get organized to take vacation. I should have some more posts up during the day.
Sex, Lies and Julian Assange Four Corners (Lambert). The is Australia’s version of 60 Minutes. From July but not widely covered. A must read. The transcript button at the bottom of the page does not work but there is one at the top that does.
Curious incident of a dead giraffe BBC. I recall reading that wolves have been observed to grieve the deaths of members of their packs for weeks.
AIDS-Like Disease In Asians: Not Contagious, But Damages Immune System Huffington Post (Carol B)
Father’s Age Is Linked to Risk of Autism and Schizophrenia New York Times
Wal-Mart’s New Health Push Wall Street Journal
Sticky keys begone! The Logitech K310 washable keyboard ExtremeTech. Having soaked keyboards more than once and having had them survive by virtue of unplugging them immediately, before they shorted out, I’m not convinced you can’t wash a garden variety keyboard if you let it dry fully. But this is cheap enough that it reduces the incentive to experiment.
Why Cell Phone Bans Don’t Work Science Now
Jaron Lanier: What it Means to be #Human Big Think
Australia’s Mining Bonanza Is Over: Resources Minister Bloomberg
Rich Chinese flee MacroBusiness
Eurozone leaders delay Greece aid decision Financial Times
Paul Ryan’s ‘Path to Prosperity’ Is Really a Bad Trip on the Road to Economic Ruin Alternet
Last decade worst for US middle class Financial Times
Affirmative Action Is Still Necessary Bloomberg
Retailers Wal-Mart, Target to Escape ‘Conflict Mining’ Rule Wall Street Journal
Barofsky: TARP Was a Failure CNBC (jack chase). A reminder why I’m glad these guys don’t want me on their show. Jack singled out Liesman’s “despicable” conduct. And per Jesse: CNBC’s Advocacy For Wall Street Is Painfully Evident in This Neil Barofsky Interview. More background: The Journal’s Russia Scandal Matt Taibbi and Mark Ames, Nation.
Profits in G.M.A.C. Bailout to Benefit Financiers, Not U.S. New York Times. More TARP fallout.
West Palm Beach woman’s arrest reveals clerk’s office probe focused on 1,000-plus missing oxycodone pills Palm Beach Post.
Home is Where the Vote Is OhioFRADclosure. A multi-state effort to organize underwater homeowners as a voting bloc.
Nearly half of Fannie Mae REO unable to reach market Housing Wire (Lisa Epstein). “Unable” is not the word I’d use.
Zywicki’s Interchange Settlement Balderdash Adam Levitin, Credit Slips
Changes to Money Market Funds Stall New York Times
* * *
lambert here:
D – 18 and counting*
War is fought by human beings. –Carl von Clausewitz
RNC. Deniers in the hands of an angry goddess: 2012, Isaac. 2008, Gustav. … Back door men: “For those delegates who might not want to be seen in line for the, uh, new osso buco on the menu, several [strip clubs] have added discreet new back doors.” … Wide stance: “A gay-owned hotel/spa/bathhouse in Tampa is flinging its doors wide for closeted conventioneers, offering free admission to all Republican National Convention delegates through August 31.” … Isaac: “‘Plan A is to protest,” said Medea Benjamin, 59. ‘Plan B is to protest soaking wet.’” … Ron Paul: “The RNC’s Rules Committee voted to require written certification that a presidential candidate has a plurality of delegates from five states in order to get a space on the convention ballot — a move intended to provide a warning in the event of floor movement toward an insurgent candidate.” …. Ron Paul: “Team Paul today announced details of a ‘We Are The Future Rally’ [at USF’s Sun Dome] scheduled for high noon on Sunday — the day before the Republican National Convention kicks off a few miles away.” …. Occupy Tampa: “According to [Kelly Benjamin, who works for Florida’s Consumer Action Network], over a thousand people will come together in protest.” The reporter can’t interview an Occupy spokesperson?
DNC. Masked balls: “[GUY FAWKES MASK GUY, in vid:] ‘We hope to see a large amount of freedom fighters, Occupy protesters, militias and other groups that are against the tyrannical rule of our current so-called government,’ the voice says.” I’d bet my bottom dollar, if any, this is a fake (yesterday’s RNCon version). The language is all wrong. “So-called”? “Large amount”? I’ve never read any Occupy manifesto that reads like that. Further — readers, correct me — the only sources connecting the militias/wingnuts/right with Occupy/anarchists/left have been police sources. Smarter agent provocateurs, please. Also, a classic illustration of the folly of wearing masks; at night all rats are grey. … Money: “D Party officials say they will not release the names of donors to next month’s political convention before the event, despite an earlier pledge that they would regularly disclose the contributors.” … Women: “Next month, five years after her mother’s death, Cecile Richards will be joined at the convention podium by a record number of women speakers. Other speakers announced today included Rep. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin; Georgetown student Sandra Fluke; Caroline Kennedy; Lilly Ledbetter; actress Eva Longoria, a co-chair of the Obama campaign; former Assistant Veterans Affairs Secretary (and current Illinois congressional candidate) Tammy Duckworth; and Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, the longest-serving woman in the history of the U.S. Senate.”
AZ. Doubling down: “Former R presidential candidate Herman Cain and two wealthy contributors to conservative causes are funding an independent expenditure campaign aimed at replacing [House Speaker Andy Tobin] with a first-term R lawmaker who made waves in 2011 for pointing a loaded gun at a reporter during an interview. ”
CO. Fracking: “The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission declared Monday that the Sandstone soccer fields and Union’s recreation area will be off-limits to drilling” (MR). … More guns, please: “University of Colorado Chancellor Phil DiStefano notified the Boulder campus faculty Tuesday afternoon that professors ‘do not have the right to shut down a class or refuse to teach’ should they learn that one of their students is lawfully carrying a gun under a concealed-carry permit.
FL. Corruption: “Interviews with campaign sources, invoices, campaign records and other documents show that [R] Rivera personally and frequently called Rapid Mail about [his D straw’s] Sternad’s mailers. During one call, Rivera directed an employee to walk outside, check the office mailbox for an envelope containing payment for one mailer, the sources said. The envelope was stuffed with cash — $7,800.” … Corruption: “State Attorney Robert ‘Skip’ Jarvis of Live Oak has reached an agreement that will allow him to avoid prosecution for using law enforcement data bases to research his political opponents and others.” Others?
IN. Water: “[Marijuana’s] distinct green color makes it ‘stick out like a sore thumb’ in the otherwise drought-stricken landscape when authorities search for clusters of the plant from the air. [Drought] has also forced growers to tend their illegal crops more often, which law enforcement says leads to more citizen tips.”
LA. Corruption: “Sources close to St. Pierre and the Nagin probe tell us the former technology firm owner hopes to get his sentence reduced in exchange for testimony against the ex-mayor.” … Projection: “The Rev. Grant Storms, the former ‘Christian patriot’ pastor whose marches against homosexuality at New Orleans’ Southern Decadence festival briefly put him in the national spotlight, was convicted of obscenity Wednesday, for exposing himself while masturbating at Lafreniere Park last year. In his confession, he described public masturbation as ‘a thrill,’ but authorities debunked suspicions that he was a pedophile.”
MA. Elizabeth Warren, Charles Pierce: “The major problem all along has been that Senator McDreamy [Scott Warren] really is a nice guy. He doesn’t just come across as one. He is.”
ME. East-west corridor: “The [Penobscot’s] lawsuit claims the 1980 law passed by Congress ‘expressly confirmed that the Penobscot Nation and its members retain a sovereign right to take fish from the Penobscot River.'” The E-W highway requires a bridge over the Penobscot. Hmm. … Ron Paul: “The committee suggested that 10 pro-Paul supporters and 10 supporters of Romney represent ME at the convention, according to Webster.” Sounds like the D RBC in 2008.
MI. Invasive species: “Feral swine became an illegal invasive species in MI under an order from the state Department of Natural Resources.”
MS. Water: “The Mississippi River has been reopened to limited vessel traffic after crews freed a barge that went aground in low waters caused by an extensive drought.” …
NV. Voting: “U.S. District Judge Robert Jones said the state’s decades-old ballot alternative of ‘none of the above’ was unconstitutional because votes for ‘none’ don’t count in the final tallies that determine winners.”
NY. Corruption: “Former state Sen. Nicholas Spano is in federal prison for cheating the government out of $53,000 in taxes. But his legal costs for the case now top more than $135,000. His campaign committee, Friends of Nick Spano, has paid all of it.” … Public goods: “”Long before we see massive reductions in police and fire personnel we see the loss of things that make city and urban living attractive,” [Mayor] Richards said as he presented Rochester’s 2012-13 budget in May. “Recreation centers, libraries, festivals and events, neighborhood revitalization efforts — all fall victim.”
OH. Hmm: “[University of Cincinnati president] Greg Williams surprised the Board of Trustees about 11 a.m. Tuesday by resigning immediately, citing personal reasons.”
OK. Tinpot tyrants: “Kaitlin Nootbaar, the OK high school valedictorian who was denied her diploma after she used the word ‘hell’ in her graduation speech, said on Wednesday she has no plans to apologize. ‘We went to the office and asked for the diploma and the principal said, ‘Your diploma is right here but you ain’t [sic] getting it. Close the door, we have a problem,” David Nootbaar said.” What you mean, “we”? Local reaction.
PA. Wind: “Dave Rosenberg [of] wind turbine manufacturer Gamesa, says they’re laying off 165 people this month at their plants in PA, because there’s no decision on the [Production Tax Credit for wind and other renewable resources].” “All of the above” my sweet Aunt Fanny.
TX. Sovereignty: “A Lubbock County judge is making headlines after suggesting that Obama might hand over sovereignty of the US to the UN, possibly igniting in a civil war.” Not the UN. The TPP. … MOOCs: “UT is in negotiations with Coursera [UVa] and edX, two of the most prominent companies engaged in the mass distribution of course content from elite universities for free online.”
VA. Nukes: “The North Anna [power plant] Aug. 23 incident [in 2011] showed some potential shortfalls. During the [5.8 magnitude seismic event with an epicenter a few miles away], not only did the plant shut down but area electricity was knocked out. The power plant needs electricity to keep critical controls and machinery running to prevent a nuclear accident. It has four large diesel generators plus a backup to ensure this. But just after the reactor shutdown, a coolant leak knocked one of the diesels out of service.”
WA. Coal: “Last Tuesday, FL-based company RailAmerica announced that it was no longer pursuing a coal export terminal in Grays Harbor. One down, five to go. Five coal terminals is still a lot to worry about.”
The trail. Medicare, Trudy Lieberman: “Most of these cuts centered on reduced reimbursements to providers—mostly to hospitals, which agreed to smaller payments over 10 years in return for more patients with insurance, which the ACA promised to deliver. In other words, they didn’t squawk about it.” Excellent point. … Metrics: “A map created by Amazon tracking the bestselling political books in the US state by state [here] shows that conservative titles are outselling liberal books virtually everywhere.” … Teebee: “But in order to ‘work’ — that is, to make a decisive difference in the outcome — advertisements need to persuade only a tiny minority. ‘[Advertising] does have an impact, even if it’s a marginal one,” says Joe Heim, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. “And that marginal impact is worth it.’ Whether or not an ad influences TV viewers directly, it has the potential to shape the narrative of the campaign [via the media].”
Robama vs. Obomney watch. Extremes meet: “‘I resent the fact that they’re spending and spending and spending,’ [conservative] Bramlett said. ‘They’re still spending money we don’t have. It’s not just the Ds, it’s the Rs, too.'” (How does government “have” money?) …. Why, the ingratitude: “Neither the Obama campaign nor the Romney campaign says their candidate had committed to appearing at the forum at Warren’s Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., near Los Angeles. The forum had been planned for this week.” And after Warren gave Obama’s inaugural address!
Romney. Fighting words: “[ROMNEY: ] President Obama, bless his heart, has tried to substitute government for free people and it has not worked and it’ll never work.” … Ryan: “In the first week of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s running mate, Mitt Romney’s positive coverage has increased drastically. Over 15% of the positive statements toward Mitt Romney during the week of August 11-17 came from Paul Ryan.”
Obama. Swing states: “President Obama will campaign in three key battleground states [CO, IA, VA] during the week of the Republican National Convention.” Biden to FL, Michelle to Letterman. … Tribalism: “The crowd had drowned out the heckler with chants of ‘Four more years!’” A chant that originated with Nixon. … His Airness: “[OBAMA: ] I’d say there’s about seven minutes to go in the game. And Michael’s competitiveness is legendary and nobody knows better than Michael that if you’ve got a little bit of a lead and there’s about seven minutes ago, that’s when you put them away.” … Hagiography: “Obama had one reason to ultimately quit smoking: his daughters.” Oh, puh-leeze. It’s an election year!
Akin flap. Tribalism: “DCCC wants it both ways— to demonize anti-choice Rs while supporting anti-choice Blue Dogs.” …. Prefenestration: “In an email to members of the state committee on Tuesday night party Chairman David Cole reiterated that Akin still could leave the race by obtaining a court order.” … Money: “Both Right to Life and Texas Ds are using the comment this week by MO U.S. Rep. Todd Akin to rally their troops.” … Money: “‘I was so appalled, so angry — I can’t tell you,’ said [Jillian Manus Salzman], who has co-hosted major Romney fundraisers. ‘His opinion is not just hurtful to others. It’s dangerous.'” … Polls: “The Pew Research Center, which has studied the political gender gap for years, found in April that 86 percent of voters said the economy was the issue most important to their votes, followed by jobs at 84 percent. Abortion ranked 16th, at 39 percent, followed by birth control, 34 percent.” … Kicking the far right: “[T]he pro-life movement has a very adult moment in front of them.” It’s really funny to see the Rs use the same arguments against the pro-life right that the Ds use against the left. Right down to “ZOMG! The Supreme Court!”
* 18 days until the Democratic National Convention ends with cake for everyone on the floor of the Bank of America Panther Stadium, Charlotte, NC. In the United States, 18 is the age of sexual consent.
* * *
Antidote du jour (furzy mouse). When I have tried this, my cats have proven to be capable of vertical takeoff.
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Antidote.
I have to think that all living things, animals and plants, are given a wash-free skin. And washing, like the photo shows, seems very un-natural.
Just another little piece of evidence that what we humans are today may be related to some sort of mental disorder.
I have never met a cat that likes a shower or immersion bath, but FYI (for those interested) my current cat now relishes getting wiped down with a dripping wet paper towel. A cat sitter started this trend during a 100 degree heat wave and now I must do this twice a day or he gets quite displeased. I am hoping his demands will lessen as winter descends. :)
I have tried to bathe cats in the tub/shower, never again…..
I also had a kitty (who looked a lot like that poor fellow in the photo) who loved to get a wash down with a dripping wet cool wash cloth on hot summer days. He would purr and purr…
We have a cat that loves to jump in the shower with us. The strangest feeling in the world is to be standing under the spray and feel something rub against your leg. Even more disturbing is when he decides to lick the water off your calf. He won’t stand directly under the water usually, but ends up soaking wet anyway. I’m not sure what got him started on this as we never purposely put him in there, he just thought it was fascinating and wanted to explore further, so jumped in. He has liked it ever since.
You can get a cat to love (warm) water.
It’s just a matter of taking them young. The claws are not so big and so sharp when they are still just a kitten :-)
That guy in the shower with the cat may find that kitty uses his body as a slingshot up and out of the shower.
Never walk naked into a room where there are kittens.
A friend found that they like to jump up and sink their
claws into anything that moves.
Cats are NOT dogs; they are self-maintaining by nature. You can see how stressed out the cat is by this unnecessary top-down procedure. This overbearing “owner” needs to get a dog to “shower” and fuss over, and let the cat find a home with someone attuned to, respectful of, catness.
Rich Chinese flee.
I don’t know if it’s the case here, but when you have a country where the rich all along intend to leave, the there wiil be no incentive to invest in their own country.
Unfortunately, it’s a small global village, and so, the subsequent mess (social, envirnomental, humanitarian, political) will always impact everyone planet-wide.
Basically, before we trade with a nation, any nation (I am not picking on any in particular) we ask their rich to swear they will not never leave, even if the money they bring here means jobs. Sometimes, there are things more important than money (sorry, neoclassical economists).
That’s why you pursue them to the ends of the earth with ninja assassins.
The “other” Chinese .01% went to Taiwan. Where is this Chinese .01% going to?
Re: Ezra Klein deems (from yesterday’s article)
Ezra Klein is mediocrity squared, a repulsive biped whose “best” writing falls somewhere between the insipid and the atrocious.
Klein is a troglodyte (defined as “a person considered to be a reactionary, out of date, or brutish”) who has spent his entire life sucking up to banksters and racketeers. If he were ever to undertake an exhaustive self-scrutiny (not that this will ever happen), he’d be so paralyzed with disgust, that it would leave no choice other than suicide.
Is it with vermin such as Ezra Klein, Adam Davidson, Andrew Ross Sorkin, etc that our civilization must come to an end?
That is a very eloquent ad hominem.
Please be more respectful towards troglodytes. Furthermore, please keep in mind that, from a purely darwinian perspective it makes almost no sense to accuse evolutionarily stable creatures of being “backwards” — if they were evolutionarily unfit they would simply be outcompeted.
That cat looks so sad :(. Cute!
As far as I know, there’s no ferrous metal in modern keyboards. Hasn’t been in years. Liquids in keyboards are not an electrical hazard, they’re a squish hazard and a sticky hazard. Just rinse well, turn over on a towel and tap to dislodge water, let dry thoroughly. I have two keyboards, but I’ve never spilled into them. I have rinsed keyboards, to no bad effect. I’ve Super Mean Greened all kinds of electronic silicone, NOT drives, but motherboards, vid cards, that sort of thing. Various wires and connectors. The important thing is to dry thoroughly: a hair dryer is a good start, then let sit for a few days. Try the tap into towel test for dryness.
A tech who has a business repairing silicone and unsoldering and replacing silicone board parts laid out the drill. He gets disgusting parts, filthy with tobacco smoke and dirt, and he won’t work on anything till it’s clean.
If you’re using any kind of cleanser, the other equally important thing is to rinse thoroughly. Just to get all the ducks properly lined up.
Ritholtz, a former CNBC contributor, was also critical of the Barofsky interview, saying he would be giving him a chance to speak without being interrupted at his upcoming conference.
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/08/neil-barofsky-at-big-picture-conference-october10th/
Most of the CNBC commentators have become unhinged. Jesus had an easier time in front of the Sanhedrin than Barofsky before that kangaroo court. Santelli is back into his loony rants.
And Maria is on a crusade against Eliot Spitzer. She treated him outrageously on a segment where he was allowed to defend himself against her almost daily attacks.
Of course, Maria is also having a fit over the attacks on Bain. The other day, she opined that “this country has NEVER been so divided!!!” There was that Civil War thing, Maria, but heh…
I think this desperation goes deeper than just defending the banks. From Liesman to Kudlow, these people find themselves having to defend Capitalism itself. Given how things are going these days, that’s a task likely to drive one to extreme behavior.
Their not defending capitalism, just what Upton said. Pure self preservation and maybe string out the lie a bit longer.
Skippy… Hell none of the MSM bloviators could compete in a true capitalistic playing field, their just carriage drivers.
Well, it’s also that the Left’s vision of what society should be ain’t all that appealing to most people, don’t ya know?
What we need is ethical capitalism plus a universal bailout of the entire population till all credit debt is paid off.
Not that I’m saying Barofsky is a Leftist cause I don’t know. But TINA is shorthand for “If you’re not for the status quo then you’re a Commie.” Unfortunately, that is often true.
What the hell does being “left” or “right” even mean these days? Is MMT and other heterodox economics left? Or does left mean “wants to collectivise ownership”? What is someone who wants an universal bailout Steve Keen style? Leftist because it directly benefits everybody else except 1%? Rightist because it gives capitalism more time before everything turns communist? Or is it about who gets power as a result of an action that decides if it’s “left” or “right”? Or is it adopting ideals like the “there is no consumption without work” that defines if someone is left or right?
I have had for a while now this creeping feeling that this entire paradigm of left and right is coming to an end. Maybe the division was a false one from the beginning, only used because it advanced the interests of certain sections of the elite at the expense of others. It certainly feels dated and confused now. I may be channeling Eisenstein here a bit too much, but is the entire distinction just an artefact from a preceding era of division, and now that the era is dying, the distinction is looking more blurred and irrelevant by the day?
They didn’t leave me a choice said .. “What the hell does being “left” or “right” even mean these days? ”
It’s really they asking you if you feel to contribute to the Spoofing of America Project, you know, the Patriots vs. Commies casting.
The nation’s largest consumer of petroleum has a large cast of characters that risk their lives for as low pay as possible, are encouraged to selfless acts for their country, are conditioned to obey orders without question, .. you know, the Commie paradigm. Spoofing of America.
I’d disagree. Their vehemence, sometimes almost panic, indicates that they’re not playing their usual role of mouth-for-hire. They’re defending their religion.
Listen to them and watch them. They’re sounding more like a Fundie confronted with biblical contradictions than the usual talking heads.
… maybe it’s because the Fundies’ magic undies are on fire — that could explain some of the shrieking, raving and generally irrational behavior . . .
skippy, yes: like Rudolph’s Bratfisch.
Sympathy and disgust in equal measure?
Skippy… I’m having a hard time with the former.
PS. Up thread at beardo… for a guy that spews the word ethical all over the joint and is still good with indentured humans… cough slaves. WTF are you on about?
for a guy that spews the word ethical all over the joint and is still good with indentured humans… cough slaves. skippy
“If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him free. When you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. You shall furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. It shall come about if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you; then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also you shall do likewise to your maidservant.
“It shall not seem hard to you when you set him free, for he has given you six years with double the service of a hired man; so the Lord your God will bless you in whatever you do. Deuteronomy 15:12-18 New American Standard Bible (NASB) [emphasis added]
@beardo… Every atrocity committed by the west used that kinda thinking. Plus, it also says a lot of other crazy bad stuff, yet when brought to attention, it is denied or its look over hear.
Skippy… the hole love – hate psychosis is mental stress position. FYI there are – NO – hetro’s, bi’s, homo’s, lesbians…. only HUMANS.
Plus, it also says a lot of other crazy bad stuff, skippy
Not so much now that I’ve read nearly all of it (the genealogies in Chronicles have put me off till now). For example, David killing those Ammonites with saws was contrary to what God ordered (the edge of the sword was to be used). But it turns out the Ammonites were very cruel themselves so David may have been applying “an eye for an eye.” In any event, David was disqualified from building the Temple by God: But God said to me, ‘You shall not build a house for My name because you are a man of war and have shed blood.’ 1 Chronicles 28:3.
That is hearsay and nothing more, to subject humanity, to such unvalidated positions via the interpretations of it, is a mockery of mental deduction.
Skippy… See Spencer Hubert… hows that cognitive process do us all.
Reminds me of the terrible interview of Elizabeth Warren on Planet Money. Aggressive defense of their paymasters. Then they are curious why ratings decline so substantially when their obvious bias turns off discerning viewers that are looking for cogent market information rather than shrill market boosterism.
Re Assange:
Hard to imagine what the victim’s lawyer’s argument is. The woman continued to spend time with Assange despite violations, apparently enjoying her intimacy with him. Would the argument be intimidation? Threats of more abuse if she leaves? Evidence? Does she have unidentified friends who would confirm this argument?
if it’s a form of statutory rape, the answer to that question is irrelevant.
I don’t believe Obama quit smoking.
Typo alert: “MI” should be “MS” in the Mississippi River story.
Thanks very much. Feral hogs for MI, river closing for MS.
Lambert, in MA there is a reference to “Scott Warren” that I believe should be “Scott Brown.”
Must be Mr. Strethers subconscious talking…
For people who can’t access the Financial Times article, here’s a link to the Pew report: The Lost Decade of the Middle Class.
Ned, thanks. Jill Stein/Cheri Honkala, are you tuned into NC?
Re: Neil Barofsky interview
I don’t watch CNBC. Who ARE these vile people? I can understand asking tough questions, but their hostility and lack of even the pretense of fairness was palpable. As Jesse pointed out, it appeared that Barofsky was nonplussed by the tag-team attack. I wanted to choke both the blonde spokesmodel and that guy who kept crossing his arms and then staring at his computer screens. Disrespectful and shameful.
CT, these MSM “Inquisitors” mirror American Bullies of “America, FUCK YEAH!”
Sorry, I don’t buy the “rude inquisitors wouldn’t let me talk” line. If you are on the air you speak the truth and don’t stop talking until you have made your point. If they shout, shout louder. Force the bastards to shut down their program and bring out the stun guns or let you speak.
Charles Pierce on Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me. Another reason to avoid that show and NPR. His quotes say it all.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/23/opinion/dont-break-up-the-big-banks.html?hp
This article is a real hoot.
ouch..
Heh…
These CNBC people are truly disgusting, and if any doubt remained that they are Wall St pimps, those doubts should be completely dispelled by this “interview.”
Missing Oxycodone? Now how did Rush get into that evidence room? Enquiring minds want to know.
I worked as a tech for 23 years, this included hotels where I would take the keyboards to the kitchen, put them in the big sinks, and spray them down, they got that dirty with encrusted Coke. You are completely right. As long as they are allowed to dry first, before plugging them back in, of course they can be washed. In fact, dried sticky cock can act as a conductor, though a poor one, so it’s safer if you wash it off (unplugged, of course).
DQC, mais quel double entrendre.
Edit: Mais quel double entendre.
Oh dear.
Thanks for making me laugh.
It’s amazing, the rigid unvarying uniformity of US discourse on treaty law. It makes the Nicene creed look like 4chan. A triumph of state propaganda. Provincial stumpjumpers like that Texas judge go back to their Bircher roots with nightmares of UN dictatorship. And mercantilist kleptocrats push for international law as if it only applies overseas – it’s solely for the sake of “American leadership” (by which they mean national security policy as formulated by the permanent state.) You’ll never hear anybody in this country point out that treaty law limits how this state can mistreat the population. US lumpenproles never ever get a peek at the documents, http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/index.htm .
That’s why the International Baccalaureate is such a brilliant intervention. It’s a textbook application of Responsibility to Protect, only with capacity-building for our failing state instead of Western-style aerial bombardment/anal bayonet rape. The IB’s a serious threat to the US police state. So goobers attack it in classic Bircher terms while mercantilist kleptocrats attack it with their mechanistic multiple-choice charter schools. The IB will be restricted to privileged kids who step onto the elite-recruiment conveyor belt and get indoctrinated with national-security dogma.
Re: Sticky keys-
From Robert Bruce Thompson of Hardwareguys.com, writer of computer books (“PC Hardware in a Nutshell”, published by O’Reilly)
http://flylib.com/books/en/3.312.1.148/1/
1. Disconnect the keyboard from the computer. We probably shouldn’t have to mention this step, but we don’t want to get sued by someone who didn’t realize it wasn’t a good idea to run his system unit and monitor through the dishwasher.
2. Place the keyboard, keys down, in the top rack of the dishwasher. Secure the keyboard cable with a rubber band to keep it from becoming entangled in the moving parts of the dishwasher. Set the dishwasher for gentle cycle and coolest water temperature, if those options are available. Make sure to select the option for air dry rather than a heated drying cycle.
3. Run the keyboard through an entire wash cycle, using dishwasher detergent. When the cycle finishes, remove the keyboard and douse it with at least a gallon of water, making sure to repeatedly flood the keys themselves . For safety’s sake, we always recommend using distilled or deionized water, but in fact we always use ordinary tap water and have never had a problem. After rinsing, turn the keyboard this way and that and shake it to drain as much water as possible. Use a towel to dry the accessible parts. At this point, your keyboard should look like new.
4. Set your oven to 150 degrees (or its lowest setting). We have no idea what the melting point of the plastic used in keyboards is, but we haven’t melted one yet. Bake keyboard until done, usually one to two hours. Let the keyboard cool, remove, and serve.
Lambert,
Re: “The reporter can’t interview an Occupy spokesperson?”
We’re not so keen on spokespersons. Just a couple of days ago, you provided a link to this:
“To ask an occupier to participate in such a debate asks them to speak for the movement. No one individual can speak for the movement; they can only speak for themselves. Official statements can only be released by the General Assembly after everyone has agreed through consensus that the statements represent the entire group. General Assemblies rarely consent to an official spokesperson or representative.
“Any group or individual claiming to present a representative of the Occupy Movement has not been honest. If a General Assembly approves an official representative, that person represents only that particular Assembly.”
http://occupytampa.org/home/2012/08/17/there-has-been-some-talk-in-the-news-lately-about-a-tea-party-vs-occupy-debate/
Irony Alert!
Did anyone else notice that the mascot of the school who’s valedictorian who can’t get her diplomma because she said the word “Hell” is a red devil? Cute little guy with horns and a pitchfork…
Wow, just wow…
Voting because of housing crisis–this is a great idea but it needs improvement.
There are candidates who actually address what is happening to homeowners. These candidates are not named Obama or Romney. We should not limit people’s “choice” to two candidates who advocate policies that hurt homeowners and help the financial industry.
Voting depends on opening up to real choices. List all the candidates for president, give an accurate accounting of their prior and proposed actions, then see who people really will choose.
Who are the alt candidates that have anything to say about non-homeowning, non-mortgage-holding persons who rent their shelters in circumstances where rents are galloping far ahead of wages. Very similar situation to the underwater mortgagors, when you step back and gauge the big picture. Precarious shelter because of asset-inflation forces generated by predatory finance system.
As I focus more on possible people to vote for (outside the Evil v Evil box) I’m finding it odd that any mention of housing is limited to the plight of mortgage holders and is void of any reference to the plight of renters.
Changes to Money Market Funds Stall New York Times
“”Ms. Schapiro wanted the $2.6 trillion money market fund sector to start holding cash reserves or to let their share prices fluctuate, instead of promising to pay investors $1 for every $1 they put in, among other changes.
Until the financial crisis, money market funds were considered a dull, low-return corner of the markets. But now, most of the nation’s top financial regulators view the sector as one of the most vulnerable parts of the American financial system.””
Most people definitely don’t see their money market funds as being an ‘investment’. They just expect positive returns. The experience with MF Global is the sort of rude awakening these regulations are trying to prevent.
CNBC-that was just shameful. But now I understand the truth! Capitalism, the free market, is not undermined in any way whatsoever by taxpayers handing over money to financial institutions who were falling apart due to their own fraud. Nope, that was just business in America.
But asking financial institutions to lend money to people who just lent them money to stay in business-NOOOOO!!! That is the destruction of capitalism!
Glad that was cleared up for me!
Context for MI feral pigs:
DNR closed several hog farms raising breeds that thrive in MI winters on the excuse that they escape, go feral and rampage the countryside. http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/michigan-swine-iso.htm
But as the article Lambert introduced states, the problem has not been the heritage breeds but the wild boars from the gaming farms set up for trophy hunters.
And whereas the DNR simply orders the small farmers to shoot their animals (with police for backup), they bring lawsuits against the hunting ranches, who have enough money to keep the courts tied up for years.
Re: CNBC’s “talent”
Google “CNBC contact Squawkbox” and it takes you to a form where it asks for a name and email address and then you can submit a comment to CNBC.
Unlike NPR’s form (which doesn’t allow any profanity) and which asks if your comment is positive, neutral or negative, you can submit uncensored comments to CNBC (with unlimited profanity) so you can let the CNBC talent know what you really think of them.
Not that anyone’s likely to read it, but you never know.
I once submitted a comment to CNBC in which I accused Joe Kernan of being a pimp to the banksters, and the next day he wrote me back and said I belong in jail.
http://www.businessinsider.com/new-poll-shows-how-american-voters-really-feel-about-science-2012-8
28% of Americans unwilling to pay an additional $1 per week in taxes to fund medical research v. 53% willing to pay the additional $52 per year.
That was a good review of some aspects of the Julian Assange story. In the supporting links there were also questions asked of the Australian government and given the boilerplate responses, it’s clear that Assange is on his own as far as the Australian government is concerned.
The Assange case is instructive because it shows just how superficial the façade is of constitutional order, rule of law, and individual freedom is in 4 countries which are supposed to be shining examples of Western-style democracy: Sweden, the UK, the US, and Australia.
You ever consider the possibility that Assange actually did what those 2 women said he did?
Theres a looooong list of countries where the CIA could conspire with police, prosecuters and a couple of patsy women to cook up a false rape charge, get him extradited then bundled onto a plane to Washington.
That would include all of Eastern Europe, for example. Pretty well any country you could name in Asia. Heck If the French decided it was in their national interest, he’d be on that US bound plane before his feet hit the tarmac.
Not Sweden. Swedens on that much, much shorter list of countries that couldn’t get rid of him if they were desperate for it, same as the UK, Holland, Denmark, and a small handful of other states.
Which is part of the reason Assanges defence is BS. He’s a hardcore misogynist with a messiah complex and lots of gullible supporters.
As far as the Swedes would never use “honey traps” (“What never? No never. What never? Well, hardly ever!”) it would be nice to have some evidence why their intelligence services would deny themselves that technique; and why they wouldn’t allow other intelligence services to do the deed on Swedish soil, given sufficient incentive. What’s so unique about Sweden? The Swedes rendered prisoners for torture, so why are they stumbling at a straw after leaping a mountain?
Also, “They never have so they never will” strikes me as pretty weak.
Even some of his supporters think Assange’s behaviour as regards the to women was iffy. Many of those who oppose the extradition order do son only because they think that Sweden will then send him on to the USA: if the Swedes were to guarantee that they would not do so, Assange would have virtually no support if he were to continue to resist.
In fact, no civilized country should extradite anyone to the USA at all until you have sorted out your criminal justice system, which is very badly broken. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/nov/10/our-broken-system-criminal-justice/?pagination=false (Review of William Stuntz’s ‘The Collapse of American Criminal Justice)
http://truth-out.org/news/item/10439-witness-to-innocence-wrongful-execution-and-exoneration (on the Death Penalty)
http://www.metro.co.uk/lifestyle/905783-lawyer-clive-stafford-smith-death-penalty-no-better-than-burning-witches (Lawyer Clive Stafford-Smith on the Death Penalty)
http://governingthroughcrime.blogspot.fr/ (Blog maintained by Jonathan Simon, author of ‘Governing Through Crime’)
So let’s see, you invoke a possibility, turn around and treat it as fact, provide no evidence for your views, ignore all the evidence against them, and then declare the rest of us gullible for not immediately agreeing with you. That looks like pretty standard troll-like behavior to me.
I for one am all for getting as much information about this case and Wikileaks out as possible. One of the first kind of analysis I picked up when I came to the blogosphere was the similar cases test, that is was a particular case being treated like other cases of the same kind. There were others: was a response proportionate to the issue raised, were those who had been the fiercest critics of something or were they only critics when they weren’t the one doing it? Applying these to the Assange affair it is clear that all of the governments I cited above have acted in truly extraordinary ways to conduct a witchhunt against Assange. Remember the underlying case is a he said/she said one that under normal circumstances would go nowhere. It has been marked from the start by bungling and bumbling of the Swedish prosecutors and deeply tainted by misconduct in their leaking materials to the press. Then just to show how out of control the Swedes were they issued an almost unheard of Red Flag international arrest warrant against Assange.
This is the lie we are supposed to buy, that no matter how bizarrely the various governments act in this case they really are just acting normally, following regular procedures, and have no axes to grind. Believe this and I have a bridge I would like to sell you.
There are various ways that the Swedes could get testimony from Assange without his ever leaving the UK, ways which they have used in the past, but they have refused. Both the UK and the Swedish government could veto any extradition to the US. This has been Assange’s only precondition to returning voluntarily to Sweden. Both governments have refused or ducked the issue. I love that the Swedish government has said it was sticking to its guns to maintain its national prestige. How does persisting in a politically inspired vendetta against Assange run by the Keystone Kops do anything but destroy that very same prestige?
I think from early on the game plan with regard to Assange has been crystal clear: if they get Assange, great, but if they can tie him in knots, they not only neutralize him and stain his reputation while they’re at it, but they send a strong message to all would be whistleblowers and endeavors like Wikileaks: we will destroy you and make your lives h*ll.
Hugh,
An uncharacteristic, MAJOR fail on your part.
Did you read the transcript?
Three days later on August 20th, Wilen, accompanied by Ardin went to the Klara police station in central Stockholm to seek advice about whether Assange could be forced to take an STD test. Ardin had gone along primarily to support Wilen. Sometime during Wilen’s questioning the police announced to Ardin and Wilen that Assange was to be arrested and questioned about possible rape and molestation. Wilen became so distraught she refused to give any more testimony and refused to sign what had been taken down.
JENNIFER ROBINSON: The circumstances leading up to the issue of the arrest warrant gave cause for grave concern for Julian about the procedures that were adopted in the investigation. We have to remember that when the announcement was put out that he would be subject to a warrant, one of the complainants was upset by that, and later said that she felt railroaded by the police.
KARIN ROSANDER, SWEDISH PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE: Well what happened is what was that the duty prosecutor got a phone call from the police and the duty prosecutor decided that he should be arrested.
ANDREW FOWLER: And what happened?
KARIN ROSANDER: He was arrested in his absence, but he… they never got in… got in contact with him so, but he was arrested in his absence. It’s a technical… technical thing in Sweden, Swedish law, yeah.
ANDREW FOWLER: The Prosecutor’s Office might not have contacted Assange but within hours they let the whole of Sweden know what was going on – leaking to the Expressen Tabloid the statements of Ardin and Wilen. The newspaper front page read: “Assange hunted for rape in Sweden”.
JENNIFER ROBINSON: Julian wakes up the following morning to read the newspapers to hear that he’s wanted for double rape and he’s absolutely shocked.
THOMAS MATTSSON: Two of our reporters had information about Julian Assange, and we also had a confirmation from the prosecutor which confirmed on record that there was a police investigation against Julian Assange.
ANDREW FOWLER: It was now the case took a strange twist. Within 24 hours, a more senior prosecutor dismissed the rape allegations, leaving only the lesser accusation of molestation. Assange willingly went to the police on August 30th and made a statement.
If this is accurate, the woman who wanted the STD test REFUSED to sign the statement that forms the basis of the allegations against Assange. Four Corners is very serious about fact checking (one of my buddies in Oz was a producer there), so I’d take this seriously.
You are correct about Wilen but it was my understanding that Ardin did not have any such problems. I do not know whether Wilen signed off on anything later. She and Ardin are using the same attorney so there appears to be some ongoing legal interest on her part.
You ever consider the possibility that Assange actually did what those 2 women said he did?
Clearly, you did not read the article.
Not Sweden. Swedens on that much, much shorter list of countries that couldn’t get rid of him if they were desperate for it, same as the UK, Holland, Denmark, and a small handful of other states.
Clearly, you did not read the article, and moreover you are wallowing in some sort of propagandistic fantasy of the US government’s creation.
Are you trying to say the UK can’t extradite or expel Assange? Is that not what they have been fervently trying to do at great expense for the last 2 years? And are you also trying to insinuate that Sweden has no ability to extradite him to the US. In fact Sweden has an established pattern of behavior whereby it illegally renders over individuals to the US for torture in third countries.
Maybe you’re just trying to say that Assange is lucky he is in a country that still has a hollow pretense of the rule of law, as opposed to some other, “Eastern European” (?) country, where the US doesn’t need to work through puppets as much.
Jeez I hope you’re never Attorney General.
‘You ever consider the possibility that Assange actually did what those 2 women said he did?’
‘He’s a hardcore misogynist with a messiah complex and lots of gullible supporters.’
Tell me, do you consider either reason – the alleged ‘rape’ of these women, or the misogyny/messiah complex, an adequate justification for Assange’s global pursuit and potential American incarceration?
Or is it the bucket of truth he dropped on your paymasters?
I quit watching CNBC during the 2008 campaign. All noise, nothing to learn. One can do very well without these people with the information available on the web. I see I have not missed much!
If you don’t need Fox news, you don’t need CNBC.
Bloomberg has started a 6am show that is often worth getting up for – if one is interested in respectful debate and the opportunity to learn from intelligent people having a discussion based on relevant questions and news!
The town’s relationship with the state is complicated. They are still subject to Spanish electoral law (Sánchez Gordillo is re-elected with a huge majority each time), but have abolished their police force. “By law, due to the number of inhabitants we have here, we should have around four to seven cops,” he tells me. “But we don’t want police here. Because we have our voluntary work, because we fight together, because we make our lives together, there is a high degree of coexistence. When we plant trees, we do it together too.” Sánchez Gordillo’s articulation of what “community” can mean is striking, when you consider how blithely the word is used by politicians across the west.
“Utopias aren’t chimeras, they are the most noble dreams that people have. The dream of equality; the dream that housing should belong to everyone, because you are a person, and not a piece of merchandise to be speculated with; the dream that natural resources – for instance energy – shouldn’t be in the service of multinationals, but in the service of the people. All those dreams are the dreams we’d like to turn into realities. First, in the place where we live, with the knowledge that we’re surrounded by capitalism everywhere; and later, in Andalusia, and the world.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/15/spanish-robin-hood-sanchez-gordillo
Stumbled on this at Bloomberg: an interview about how economists are corrupting economics, by turning themselves into ‘campaign workers’ in the US Pres elections.
Discusses economics as ideology; references Ferguson’s “Inside Job” to elucidate the problems with the corruption of economics as a tool of political power and influence.
The Bloomberg reporter actually asks a follow-up question with good context after 1:30. (yeah, pass me the smelling salts…!)
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/economists-risk-labeling-as-political-hacks-dhLJzeHIQCy25l7F9UuleA.html
(I leave it to others to provide insight about Boston U’s Laurence Kotlikoff, his background and area of focus.)
Glenn Greenwald:
The bizarre, unhealthy, blinding media contempt for Julian Assange
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/22/julian-assange-media-contempt
Bring on the battle!
Republicans Eye Return to Gold Standard .
Why anyone would listen to what Jaron Lanier had to say about anything is beyond me. Standard issue liberal hawk and useful idiot, now with improved dreads.
Speaking on behalf of the 0.01 percent, we are often accused of being responsible for the 2008 financial crisis, as well as growing inequality, profiting from wars, and lobbying politicians for more war.
In our defence, briefly, on the one hand, we accept responsibility for all of this, but deny that any of it was bad: on the other, we admit that it was bad but don’t accept full, or even any, responsibility.
We are the Peter Pinguid Society, we are the 0.01 percent.