Links 1/9/15

LARRY PAGE’S NIGHTMARE: How Google’s Dominance Comes To An End Business Insider

To Treat Depression, Drugs or Therapy? New York Times. No discussion of exercise, which is effective for mild to moderate depression.

Survey Finds Doctors Concerned About Impacts Of Climate Change On Patient Health Huffington Post

Hacked emails reveal China’s elaborate and absurd internet propaganda machine Quartz. Chuck L: “When will a patriotic leaker reveal the inner workings of the USA propaganda machine?”

China PPI suffers biggest fall in 2 years Financial Times

Why QE won’t resolve the eurozone’s fundamental money problem Frances Coppola, Financial Times (Scott). Important.

Europe’s Lapse of Reason Joseph Stiglitz, Project Syndicate (David L)

Euro close to 1999 levels against dollar Guardian

European Stocks Resume Decline as ECB Said to Study QE Models Bloomberg. This is starting to look like Penelope and her suitors…

Investors put €1.2tn into negative havens Financial Times

Hedbo Fallout. Note that this is mainly Lambert’s terrain. If I were to be following this in depth I’d get nothing else done, given the barrage of media stories. Nevertheless:

NATO calls Russia anti-terror ally after Paris attack RT (OIFVet)

From Syria to Paris Patrick Cockburn, Counterpunch

Obamacare

Half of Obamacare subsidy recipients may owe refunds to the IRS Washington Examiner (Katniss Everdeen)

Obama Proposes Free Community College Program NBC. Furzy mouse: “​Free if you are willing to work for it….huh?​”

Obama Proposes Free Community College for Some New York Times. Note the use of “responsible”.

New Research Links Scores of Earthquakes to Fracking Wells Near a Fault in Ohio New York Times

Landon May Not Be Community Banker Under New Legislation WSJ Economics

Oil

Why OPEC keeps talking oil down, not up Sydney Morning Herald

In Low Gas Prices, an Opening Emerges for Higher Taxes Wall Street Journal

Dodd Frank Rollback Watch

Volcker criticizes Congress’ attempt to weaken Dodd-Frank MarketWatch (Michael C)

Senate passes terrorism insurance bill, the first cleared by the new Congress Washington Post. Michael C: “Warren introduced an amendment to strip out the Dodd-Frank provision. Failed.”

Report Sheds Light on ‘London Whale’ Case Wall Street Journal

Debt Buyer Faces Fine and Loss of Thousands of Court Judgments New York Times

Car Loans See Rise In Missed Payments Wall Street Journal

Class Warfare

US export economy fails to import jobs Gillian Tett, Financial Times

Democrats, It’s Time to Get Real on Jobs, Wages and Growth Bill Moyers. Expecting the Democrats to change their stripes is like trusting Lucy with a football.

Girl says she knows she’ll die without chemo Associated Press. Note her mother agrees, so this is not the case of the child and parent being in opposition. So if you are Steve Jobs, you can defy conventional medical wisdom and try alternative treatments for cancer, but if you look like trailer trash (see photo of the mother), fuggedaboutit.

Restaurant Review: Kappo Masa on the Upper East Side New York Times (Scott). A reader quips: “A place made for the 0.1%.”

ABA Reminder to Prosecutors: Owing Money Is Not A Crime Bob Lawless, Credit Slips. From lat year but sadly still important.

The Political Consequences of Inequality Huffington Post

Blame politics for ascent of rich Financial Times

Antidote du jour (Robert M):

bear camera links

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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158 comments

    1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      I know if China, perhaps not during the Cultural Revolution, the descendants of Confucius, at least the eldest line, are respected.

      And in another region, they honor the posterity of the founder of a major global religion for close to 1,500 years.

      That’s great or at least better than Genghis Khan and his DNA transmitters, because apparently, everyone today in the areas he was reputedly to have visited carries some of his DNA and he/she is not really that special.

      1. JEHR

        Apparently, a straight line DNA connection can be drawn from the Chinese emperors to the present-day communist leaders. Amazing!

  1. MartyH

    And, “Gonzo”, aren’t the same faces showing up Meetup after Meetup with the NC crew? Speaking of which, weren’t we promised details for an NY Meetup next Friday?

  2. ProNewerDeal

    “Half of Obamacare subsidy recipients may owe refunds to the IRS”

    I am not suprised. Many workers are hourly, part-time style-underemployed, & do not know the amount of hours nor which hours they will be “given” from one week to the next week. Yet, 0bama’s Brutal ACA requires them to Nostradamus-ly guess in Dec 2013 their 2014 calendar year income, a figure that can only be known now 13 months later in Jan 2015 – surprise that many could not predict the future perfectly. Not to mention salaried workers, lay-off victims, etc face similar uncertainty that inhibits their “Nostradamusish Skillz”.

    Between this, & the Individual Mandate Tax, I’d guesstimate many ppl will be affected, and outraged by this tACApocalypse by April 2015. I’d predict the ACA & D Party popularity will noticeably decline as a result, possibly affecting the Nov 2016 election. Especially D Party poli-trick-ians & the 0bot masses continue to dismiss any valid constructive criticism of the ACA, & instead shamefully, illogically conflate it as racial hatred for Dear Leader 0bama or other such nonsense.

    0bama & 0bots, whatever happened to “we need to pass the ACA, then we can improve it afterwards, as was done for Medicare”? These jerks lied, since now they refuse to listen to our suggestions to improve this barbaric ClusterFock TM ACA into even a semi-civilized actually humane law.

    Yves/Lambert, thanks again, I hope you all continue to cover the Obamacare ClusterFock Beat, especially this current tACApocalypse beat the next 4 months.

    For instance, for those of us who use a software package to self-prepare our tax return, is the incremental ACA complexity driving many ppl to “throw up their hands” & pay an accountant/tax preparer to “do their taxes”?

    1. Miriam

      I had high hopes that Obamacare would make getting health insurance easier for part-timers and contingent workers. But, nope, these people have been cast out even further into the wilderness.

      I also wonder if a substantial number of workers knowingly overstated their anticipated 2014 incomes so they could get subsidies as opposed to enrolling in Medicaid.

    2. davidgmills

      It would take a huge mistake in clairvoyance to owe some additional tax. Only those at the margins of the various tax cutoff brackets should owe extra tax if they made more than they estimated. The brackets are about $5K apart. Sounds like Republican shit flinging to me.

      1. Yves Smith Post author

        I have never been able to estimate my income within $5K according to the IRS since I was self employed, not even within $20K. Both my revenues and my expenses are highly variable. That is true for pretty much all self employed and small business people.

        This is a salaried stiff talking who also fails to allow for things like being fired, moved to part-time, divorce, etc.

        1. davidgmills

          Yeah but the brackets are $13K, $18K and $25K for individuals. A difference of $5k here is being off 30 or 40 percent. Plus, you are supposed to notify the government if you have a significant change in income. My daughter is getting the subsidies and she has been getting an income form to fill out about every three months. Just got another form today asking for income proof.

          Every time I post here it seems that I am the only one who has some actual experience with the ACA because I got it for my daughter (who has major depression) and pay her premiums. Everybody else seems to have no real experience with the system and are just going by what they have heard or read.

          The divergence between my experience and what keeps getting reported is getting old.

  3. Kevin Hall

    ^^^^ (Antidote du jour)

    Robert M. if you will let me know in advance next time, I’ll give you my better side for the picture……….
    ;)

  4. vidimi

    it’s war, they have declared it:

    Judge: Rehire Cleveland officer fired after deadly chase
    http://www.theguardian.com/world/feedarticle/11725922

    A judge in Cleveland has upheld an arbitrator’s decision that the city should rehire a police sergeant fired after a deadly 2012 chase that ended with officers killing two people in a barrage of gunfire.

    The Plain Dealer (http://bit.ly/1Iy2rNE ) reports the judge also said two supervisors demoted for violating police protocol in that case should be reinstated.

    1. davidgmills

      Judge’s are always in a box when it comes to arbitration. Contracts to arbitrate are agreed to in advance of any actual dispute occurring. And where parties have agreed to arbitrate, courts usually will not overturn the decision of an arbitrator, especially where there was equal or near equal bargaining power agreeing to arbitrate disputes.

  5. wbgonne

    Re: Obama’s proposal for “free” community college: Beware of neoliberals bearing gifts. This is job-training not education. How long before Microsoft and EXXON and Monsanto begin “sponsoring” classes that are paid for by tax dollars? Socialize the costs and privatize the profits. Pure neoliberalism.

    1. ambrit

      Ah yes, the dreaded “free” Community College. Don’t fret, Community College was once known as Agricultural and Mechanical, in effect, Trades School. These community schools were always funded by the public in one manner or another; local taxes, 16th Section land (still used for some public schools here Down South,) Industry and Labour training schemes, Job Corps, which is still going strong.
      The basic error I detect in your comment, (which I generally agree with otherwise,) is that other forms of education happen along with and in the shop class. Reading prints requires reading skills and analysis, along with a good bit of math. Something as basic as using a tape measure requires the ability to imagine the object being described by the numbers; its shape and dimensions. Working with other people requires the skills of personal and group politics. Learning to run a job, no matter how small or large needs an entirely different set of interpersonal relationship skills. (I have been on jobs where the adoption of an Aristocratic attitude by management has sabotaged the project from within.)
      Finally, when viewed as the State trying to short circuit domestic ‘discord,’ the idea has the merit of taking otherwise vulnerable youth off of the street and giving them a sense of worth. Nothing sets the revolutionary juices flowing like the feeling that no one wants you. People generally gravitate to those groups that show sympathy and interest. Effective insurgencies usually have a youth wing. From that youth group, future party stalwarts emerge.
      The Beat goes on.

      1. GuyFawkesLives

        You mean there is other ways to manage other than aristocratic? Someone should explain that to the majority of managers in the field.

        1. ambrit

          Sorry comrade, I spoke from the experience base of North American small and mid sized commercial building. (I don’t call the Architects’ minions ‘management.’ They are more correctly considered as Tech workers, advisors if you will.) Job foremen and now women are a mixed lot, I agree. However, the superiority of outcomes from well run jobs versus aristocratically run jobs tends over time to increase the desirability of the better managers. They get the calls when projects are first coalescing. The crumbs go to the rest. Given the looming crash in commercial construction, who do you think will predominate? In construction at least, when you cut too many corners, the building falls down, or the air handling wont heat or cool the whole building, or the bathrooms end up out of service for extended periods of time. These building failures cost money to fix.
          I haven’t been to a technical college, but I’ll wager that most have no required classes in labor management for their managerial track degrees. H—! A one credit requirement in Speech and Debate or Drama would make a world of difference to these budding General Groves’.
          Well, that’s enough “If I Ruled the World” for now.

          1. GuyFawkesLives

            I lost my first construction job when the residential market crashed. Then I went into commercial and where I live the commercial construction market crashed a year ago. I know what you speak of.

            I am waiting for the Housing Crash II to happen here in the next few years…….and then I wonder how the government will categorize the “irresponsible homeowners”? Can’t say that twice, now can you???

            1. ambrit

              “..irresponsible homeowners..” Otherwise demonized as “deadbeats,” “slackers,” “white trash,” “n—–s,” “cholos,” etc. etc.
              We too are waiting for ‘Housing Crash II.” I’m actually waiting for big time housing price deflation. Than we hope to get a small plot big enough to raise a proper garden, and give my wife a true studio to do her work in. (As it is, I’m slowly improving the place we do have.)
              As for commercial construction today, you have to be prepared to live as a gypsy and travel from job to job. This is almost like the old construction guilds whose members travelled around from project to project. They usually worked on a church or cathedral project at least once to demonstrate their faith in God. Now we do it to demonstrate our faith in Mammon.
              Good luck with the future, and don’t worry much. As Keynes said, “In the long run, we’re all dead.”

              1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

                Isn’t there a saying, ‘housing crashes once, shame on you; housing crashes twice, shame on me?’

                Or maybe I got that confused with something else.

                1. fresno dan

                  I was thinking “bubble, bubble, toil and trouble…nah, that’s not it
                  Hmmmm…maybe “bubble double, toil and trouble…nah, I don’t think that’s it either…..
                  well, it was something

                    1. psychohistorian

                      Its called economic mythology 607.

                      The curtain to hide private money/finance and accumulation of private property behind.

          2. Banger

            In general, projects of any kind, sink or swim based on proper planning and intelligent management. My experience in the government, however, reverses that notion. No good deed goes unpunished and the best contractors in terms of skill and track record often don’t get the contracts and good managers are often shunted aside–sometimes I believe it is just for aesthetics–efficiency and sanity may threaten to spread and that would spell trouble.

            1. ambrit

              Too true. The State now occupies the space that the Church once filled. Smoke and mirrors, mumbo jumbo, and now, Contract Cadabra! (Watch me make a fortune disappear with one stroke of my Magic Pen!) Like the old Church, the State has resorted to magical thinking to justify itself. I fear that Marx was a bit confused. Now, the State is the opiate of the masses.

      2. wbgonne

        People should have the freedom to choose what they study in college. If some people want to go for job-specific training, fine with me. But the same should be true for those who want to become more educated generally. Educated citizens capable of critical thinking are the foundation of a healthy democratic republic. This, to me, is yet another example of how we have inverted (perverted?) the relationship between the citizenry and the business world. IMO, the economy should be driven fron the bottom up by educated citizens thinking and deciding where things should go, with the economy and otherwise. Instead, we get this autocratic, top-down system where the plutocrats fix the system and compel the citizenry to either comply or be ruined.

        1. Antifa

          In olden days, a high school diploma meant “This humanoid labor unit comes with basic reading comprehension, writing, and arithmetic skills intact.” No modern day company will believe a high school diploma means anything unless you can prove it through testing or training. Or, you go do what most labor units do, and get a two-year degree, often with some vocation built into it, like IT or Nursing.

          The continued rise of machine-learning and robotics to take over most human labor and routine tasking will continue to reduce the need for a low-skilled labor pool.

          Which means the permanently unemployed Americans of the future will be virtually everyone without 8+ years of specialized college training. These least educated among us will never have jobs. They’ll receive free healthcare and a Universal Basic Income for life, and spend their days writing haikus.

          Haiku writin’s hard.
          Five syllables, seven.
          Refrigerator.

        2. sleepy

          I’ve taught in two community colleges in two different states, and both of them offered more than technical or trades courses. Probably half the students graduated with A.A degrees with a liberal arts concentration and transferred out to the state universities; also had theater and journalism. Basically it seemed a typical experience of freshmen and sophomores in 4 yr. schools for that segment.

          It was interesting too that there was a lot of interaction in some gen ed courses between the trade students and the liberal arts.

          1. ambrit

            Ah! Dispatches from the Front!
            I have been out of the loop for several years now, so the enlightenment is good for me.
            How does the quality of the teaching, and then student achievement stack up against what you experienced in High School? In my day, mid to late sixties, early seventies, the level of quality varied wildly between schools, much less regions. Back then, the Trades Schools acted somewhat like remedial education centres. They bought the backwards types up to speed, so to speak. That and straight trades education were the basic functions they filled.
            I have to ask, how much of the Community College work do the traditional four year colleges accept as credits toward graduation? That would tell the tale as to whether the Community Colleges were extensions of High School or entry level versions of “regular” Universities.
            (You are fighting the prototypical “Good Fight.” May Fortune smile upon you.)

          1. ambrit

            dgm;
            I’m amazed you didn’t do the pun!
            “It’s a quant idea to have an educated citizenry. Do you think?”

    2. DJG

      If the average cost of community college is $3,800 a year, which makes total tuition for a two-year associates’s degree $7,600, how much time at what hourly rate are these students supposed to donate? Are they going to be paid some special subminimum wage to force them to work 500 hours a year for a tuition rebate of some $3,500? Just make community college free. Forget the puritanical work requirements.

      1. Gareth

        The vast majority of these community college students will already be working, just for the sake of survival, so why the Obama obsession with their work ethic? Was it really necessary to engage in a bit of poor shaming to score political points? A trained workforce pays for itself.

        1. ambrit

          A trained workforce, free from shame, also learns to think for itself; which is not what the elites really want.

        2. DJG

          Gareth: You’re right. And I am aware of that fact. Most community college students already have trouble maintaining a course load because so many work full time. So the question is: More kayfabe from Obama? (Sort of like the kayfabe veto signaling re XL pipeline?)

        1. ambrit

          Mommy and Daddy do it for them. It’s called Parenting. Hard work too. We had to pay School Board property taxes and buy supplies and make the time available to home school our three kids.

  6. Ben Johannson

    Re: Why QE won’t resolve the eurozone’s fundamental money problem

    The value of QE lay in reducing yield spreads, not bank lending. If the Troika woild allow it and lay off rhe austerity measures, automatic stabilizers will engineering a stumbling recovery for a few years.

    1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      How about a people’s QE – the people, as a whole, issue a bond, backed by the backs of the people, that the central bank then buys?

      If the government is rated AAA, I have to believe the people should be rated AAAA.

      1. ambrit

        My Dear MLTPB;
        Watch out what you’re suggesting there! That idea could very easily end up as a form of indentured servitude! (As in the new Debtors Prisons are sited conveniently next to factories owned by the financial institutions who originally bought those bonds.)

  7. TedWa

    Re: Blame politics for ascent of rich Financial Times

    Without reading the article I’d have to say no, blame the Federal Reserve. It’s obvious that in their mandate to create jobs they are missing the most important factor to securing full employment and job creation, ensuring wages always increase to keep up with inflation. That is the absolute least of their concerns. Transferring wealth is their top priority. And with that transfer of wealth is a transfer of power. So it was and so it shall be.

  8. Katniss Everdeen

    RE: Girl says she knows she’ll die without chemo Associated Press

    This family just needs to stop making their monthly medical insurance payments. Then they could watch that “responsibility” to provide “the treatment she needs to become a healthy and happy adult” morph into “nothing we can do” since the freeloading patient has no “skin in the game.”

    Her decision would then, most likely, garner strong congressional support.

    Of course they could be on Medicaid which is a horse of a whole different color. With Medicaid, the “port” was not only inserted into her chest, but into the government’s bank account, thus raising that sense of “responsibility” to heightened and fully-compensated fever pitch.

    1. McMike

      Generally agree, except even the Onion seems to miss the, ahem, elephant in the room: the American right thrives on outrage at what they view as sacrilegious printed/spoken words, and is not above threatening and enacting violence to manifest their rage, at home and abroad. The American right is never far from a violent hair trigger at the slightest perceived slight.

      Is there an Onion headline something like: perplexed Fox News viewer not outraged at anything today., or maybe: right wing hate group plans to bomb NAACP office to protest violent Muslim hate.

      Every time the right and the media get all worked up because some Muslim group tried to violently censor a foreign cartoonist – as they rediscover the first amendment for a moment – I find myself floating, tumbling, in a surreal sense of parallel universes.

      1. DJG

        McMike: You’re right. In the USA, what the right does is never violence or terror. It’s one of the reasons we’re stilling dealing with Southern Heritage. (See Scalise and the latest bout of idiocy.) Same with the NRA, gun massacres, Cliven Bundy, and concealed carry (forced most recently on Illinois, the last state to hold out). But don’t drop a paper cup at a demonstration against the Keystone pipeline or engage in whistle blowing. But you have opened up a huge subject–and I note that the French definitions of satire, debate, violence (some Parisian police officers evidently still don’t carry guns), and religion (there’s a reason for the French restrictions on the veil, not just prejudice) differ greatly from American assumptions. I doubt that U.S. commentators will even take notice.

    2. fresno dan

      It says something when a satiric publication can’t actually say something satiric…
      It took a long time for the “West” to learn not to take religion too seriously. I imagine it will take this bunch a long time to learn to let everyone have their own belief concerning the all knowing and all powerful God, who strangely never actually feels the need to do anything himself/herself…
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_wars_of_religion

      It seems to me God can squash anyone he/she so desires – course, there are always sycophants trying to curry favor. Its always strange how the almighty and all knowing entity needs mere humans to accomplish his/her wants, considering he/she created the universe…

    3. GuyFawkesLives

      Is there any way we can merge making fun of Islam and the CEOs on Wall Street to make the targets the real enemy rather than cartoonists? Let’s all put our thinking caps on, shall we?

  9. DJG

    A reminder with regard to the Counterpunch article and Iraq / Syria. France advised the USA not to go into Iraq. We don’t remember “freedom fries” and “surrender monkeys,” do we? Much of the blame here, if we are going to start the blame game, goes to the Anglo-Americano consensus about messing around in Afghanistan, Iraq, and even Syria. But I get ahead of myself.

    1. McMike

      I remember at some point later on, the French let us overfly their space to bomb Libya or something, and Fox News was left mumbling trying to reconcile it all.

    2. sleepy

      The invasion of Iraq was almost 12 years ago.

      The French government today is as gung-ho on the GWOT as the US is, with missions all over the Levant and Saharan Africa.

      The “Anglo-American consensus” has been Europe’s consensus for years. And no, I don’t think it’s been imposed on Europe as much as Europe is reverting to its colonial past.

  10. tw

    It is disappointing to read about yet another fool referring to chemotherapy as poison. Take enough aspirin it’s poison. Too much caffeine or alcohol…..poison. Many innocuous things become poison at certain doses.

    Having completed 4 months of chemotherapy for hodgkins last year I understand how difficult the treatment can be. 6 months won’t be easy but at her age she has a lot of strength and vitality to work with. It’s doable, and if she exercises and eats as well as possible, recovery can be relatively rapid. Pediatric cancer treatments like the ones for hodgkins have an excellent record especially in younger patients.

    The courage she needs to get this done is within her. And really when you you take this position at 17 what you are really talking about is fear not principle.

    I wish this young woman well, however calling chemotherapy poison especially in this instance is sophistry.

      1. Vatch

        I will be enough when she turns 18. She’s still only 17 years old, and for good or ill, that makes a difference.

        1. OIFVet

          Yet she is allowed to join the military at 17, with parental permission, if she so chooses. Old enough to go and die in war, but not old enough to choose to die with dignity. Her mother can make the decision to send her to die in a war, but can’t make the decision to allow her to die with dignity. For the Homeland, eh? We are such hypocrites.

          1. optimader

            “Old enough to go and die in war, but not old enough to choose to die with dignity.”

            Nothing dignified about dying at 17 when you don’t have to. That a 17yo can join the Military says more about Military recruiting ethics than it does about the judgment of a 17yo.
            I hope she lives a good long time and thanks her Mother.

            1. OIFVet

              Oh, so our wars are wars of necessity then? And for someone who dislikes the Soviets, you surely must see the trouble with allowing the state to determine what is dignified and what isn’t, and indeed who should live and who should die.

              1. optimader

                Please describe the dots you connect to get from here:
                “That a 17yo can join the Military says more about Military recruiting ethics than it does about the judgment of a 17yo.”
                To here:
                “Oh, so our wars are wars of necessity then”

                here’s an intermediate grayed out dot for you to work with: Assume that a 17 yo kids judgment is flawed.

                1. OIFVet

                  Fine Opti. How’s this: why should the same government that fields ethically flawed military recruiting practices be allowed to overrule the mother and her juvenile?

                  And also riddle me this: why can a juvenile’s judgement be found to be sufficiently sound to stand trial as an adult, but not sound enough to make her own decisions wrt to medical care?

                  1. OIFVet

                    Opti: Speaking of wars, why is it that the government, by virtue of starting wars of choice and underfunding the VA, is content to let 20+ veterans commit suicide every day, but is not content to let a 17 year old do so as well. Many of these vets have serious psychological trauma, are they any more competent than the 17 year old to make the decision to commit suicide? We are hypocrites, let’s face that.

                    1. optimader

                      Why is the sky blue? I thing Bridget has as good an answer as any. Governments are not amorphous and always rational and humane. That’s a fact of life.
                      “We are hypocrites, let’s face that”
                      I don’t believe I am a hypocrite, but surely “The Government” is. OTOH which example of Government throughout history wasn’t (isn’t) hypocritical at some level?

                    2. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

                      Why is the sky blue?

                      Rayleigh scattering is why.

                      The Song/Jin/Yuan dynasties Jun ware is blue for the same reason, not because the glaze is blue.

                      That sky blue goes especially well with one or more purple splashes.

                      It’s amazing they made something so beautiful almost 1,000 years ago.

                      And their work with high fire copper oxide that produced the purple splashed led to Yuan underglaze red and Ming/Qing oxblood red.

                  2. Bridget

                    “why should the same government that fields ethically flawed military recruiting practices be allowed to overrule the mother and her juvenile?”

                    For what it’s worth, it’s not the same government. But 17 year olds should not be eligible for military service, with or without parental consent.

                  3. optimader

                    I misread a news item on this that I thought indicated the mother subsequently acquiesced and consented to treatment? This apparently is not the case, the mother remains ignorant.

                    So I will continue to frustrate you w/ my opinion that I totally agree in principle that the Dept of Children and Families should obey the law and take custody of the minor and provide best available curative medical treatment.

                    Similarly, If a child were to be stabbed and a parent tried to refuse medical attention because he/she/they respect the child’s aversion to sutures and hemostats, again I would expect a government agency, in this case Dept of Children and Families, to step in and assure curative treatment is provided.

                    At the age of 18 she should then be allowed to pursue her own course in life.
                    If the people of the State of CT were to go through the process to change the law for this circumstance the Dept of C&F should then behave accordingly in such matters.

                    IMO opinion, the course of action is presently consistent with civilized behavior, and I would consider any change of the law in this regard as an incremental step toward a less civilized society.

                    1. optimader

                      Excellent Heretic! What a refreshing physics primer!
                      Maybe I’ll try to better frame the epistemological point I was trying to make, why is blue blue?

                      A quick sidebar, A few years ago a friend of mine was telling me about his work characterizing the use of a photo-multiplier device to characterize the state of purification of rotting meat with the purpose of developing an objective inspection standard for the FDA (USDA?) which ever is in charge of that sort of thing.

                      It turns out that when meat putrefies and become not-meat, at the atomic level electrons fall to lower shells and emit a photons. These photons can be observed and counted and the intensity correlated to the state of purification.
                      Who’d a thunk?
                      As well, meat will rot pretty much from the exposed surface in. that’s why aging meat works if you trim the exterior surface.

                      The industrial food darkside is ground meat or “tenderized meat” like what you’ll get at the also-ran restaurant “steakspecial” present the hazard of those surface bacteria colonies getting dragged into the interior wherein the anaerobic species will do their work sight unseen and make the eater sick as all fck, if the meat was not sufficiently cooked, then cooked some more.

                  4. optimader

                    “And also riddle me this: why can a juvenile’s judgment be found to be sufficiently sound to stand trial as an adult, but not sound enough to make her own decisions wrt to medical care?’
                    Neuroscience concludes that the human brain is not fully developed (adult) until mid-20s. That then begs the question, when is the executive suite sufficiently developed to override ill considered choices.
                    MY answer to that is… Beats me?

                    In this medical case it would seem she has the further handicap of terrible guidance from a parent.

                    With regard to being tried as a minor /adult
                    Criminal trial should be transparent with respect to age, but perhaps the sentencing guidelines should have a wider latitude for children/adolescence that incudes an assessment of brain function rather than simply defaulting to a binary Minor/Adult adjudication.

                    As for me OIF, I see a lot of gray in the world, that’s why I make for awful recruitment material into any Ideological service.

                  5. Optimader

                    Beef
                    Rayleigh scattering is the phenomena, but why blue? Which goes to what is blue?
                    Miles Davis took a crack at answering that

                    1. Minor Heretic

                      Optimader: Rayleigh scattering is (roughly speaking) the absorption and re-emission of photons by gas molecules in the air. Air molecules are bipoles, like tiny weak bar magnets. The higher the frequency/energy (blue) of the photon, the more interaction/scattering. Low frequency/energy red photons slide by with less chance of interaction. Hence a yellowish sun (direct) and blue sky (scatter) as opposed to a white(r) sun and black sky in space. Hence also red sunsets when there is a lot of crap in the atmosphere.

              2. optimader

                One last clarification as you have a tendency to make assumptions and conflate.
                If by “Soviets” (Council) you mean the political leadership of the fmr Soviet Union, yeah it would be safe to say I “disliked” them. More specifically, in the case of Stalin and his operatives, I’ll go so far as to say he was incarnate evil and his operatives were in the service of evil. If I had a Facebook page, I would surely “unfriend” Stalin.

                If you are implying I “dislike” the citizenries of the fmr republics and “protectorates” of the fmr Soviet Union, nothing could be further from the truth, They infact have my great sympathy.

                So looping back to what I think was your question, no I don’t take issue with the State (government) intervening with a demonstrated and accepted curative treatment with the objective of improving the chance of a positive medical outcome in the case of a minor. This positive perspective extends to analogous policies in any other government current of historical..

        2. McMike

          Really? There’s a magic line at age 18?

          Sure, the law feels a need to draw arbitrary age lines, (which it then ignores arbitrarily when it sees fit).

          Yet this is between her and her family. The fact that there are people out there who would strap a kid they don’t even know to a table and force-feed them chemo against their will scares the crap out of me.

          I don’t know what’s worse, the authoritarian insistence to forcibly impose your values on others, even in their own personal health choices… or the unquestioning zealous blanket endorsement of all medical interventions as unambiguously always good for everyone in all cases, and a willingness to force others to share that assessment, by force if necessary.

          Many strident vaccine enthusiasts frame their drive to impose their health fears and medical science worship on others under the guise of the contrived herd immunity justification, but when a clearly personal issue like chemo comes up, that rationale falls away, and we see that something deeper is going on.

          1. OIFVet

            Sure, the law feels a need to draw arbitrary age lines, (which it then ignores arbitrarily when it sees fit). Indeed, as it does when juveniles are sentenced as adults.

      2. fresno dan

        As I’ve said, we simply are represented by people who have no principals – where the supposed philosophy of a party is merely advertising, and is less credible than “new and improved” laundry detergents or speedy internet connections. Supposedly, republicans favor small government and freedom. What we see instead is pandering to quasi religious activists (and a minority of the religious at that) who make a hash of the concept of freedom, self determination, etc…
        Our next possible republican nominee is a guy who thought the state should determine when someone is dead, (brain dead), and that the state is a better guardian of someone’s wishes concerning their own fate than their own spouse. And it is just irony upon irony that such republicans want defacto less health care for those for whom health care would do some good, while bitching about how much health care costs, but will spend a fortune keeping the dead breathing on artificial life support…

    1. Bridget

      I have known two young people with this disease, both of whom underwent chemotherapy (admittedly terrible, awful, no good, very bad). Both of them are alive, healthy, and married with children of their own today. This young lady is not terminally ill, she can almost certainly be cured, and will hopefully be cured before she turns 18 and able to sacrifice her life on the alter of a bunch of hooey. What is her mother thinking?

      1. bruno marr

        …and I’m another. The success/survival rate has improved because of companies like Amgen (they provide the key drug in the chemo mix). However, I was an incredibly fit/strong man at the beginning, but barely hanging on at the end of the chemo cycling. It is not fun, and is not to be wished upon anyone.

        1. bruno marr

          Not to be picky, but this girl will not be “cured” anytime soon. Even if the chemo series proves successful in reducing the cancer cells, her Oncologist will be seeing here every 3 months for the first year beyond the chemotherapy. These visits will include blood tests, PET/CT scans, and other examinations. (PET scans are time consuming and can be uncomfortable for some.) The next 4 years will see this occur every 6 months. This is the remission phase. If, in year 5 the PET scan is negative her Oncologist may declare her “cured”. (Cross your fingers.)

          1. bruno marr

            Finally, the chemotherapy, alone, will likely cost over $100,000. The next 5 years $20K-30K. I hope she has very good medical insurance.

    2. Banger

      This is a very tricky subject but I don’t think anyone should be forced to get medical care. End of story for me. Just as if I want to medicate myself with substances doctors don’t like then I should be able to do that or not as I see fit.

      As for “poison”, well chemo is poison and you can’t deny that it works by killing cells. There are other approaches to cancer and lots of stuff work. I’ve seen alternatives work, I’ve seen chemo work.

      1. optimader

        “…As for “poison”, well chemo is poison and you can’t deny that it works by killing cells. ”
        Banger, Don’t all substances ultimately have a toxicity level, and therefore fulfill a simplistic standard to be characterized as “poison” when dosage is not also considered??

        If so, then what is distinctive about Chemotherapy drugs. Isn’t their objective as administered to be maximum preservation of healthy cells and elimination of unhealthy cells?
        http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/all-medicines-are-poison/

    3. Roger Bigod

      There’s a well-established precedent here. The Seventh Day Adventists believe that blood transfusions are wrong. Occasionally the child of SDA parents needs a blood transfusion, almost always in a hospital setting. The procedure is that the attending pediatricians go to a local judge, gain temporary custody and carry out the transfusions. Often the parents are ambivalent, and this allows them to feel that they’ve tried to follow the teachings of their faith, while honoring their desire to give the child the best care. I haven’t followed the case law for a while, but AFAIK it’s good precedent.

      I’m aware of one case in which a SDA adult rejected transfusions for a chronic severe anemia and no intervention was made.

      This situation differs in that there’s no religious element. And setting is outpatient, so the patient and her parents would have to take affirmative action to cooperate. In the transfusion situation it’s a matter of passively allowing the transfusion to proceed.

  11. TheraP

    Yes, exercise is an excellent way to self-treat mild to moderate depression as is even keeping a diary or talking to a wise friend.

    Caveat about excise however: for a small subset of people, who mistake an elevated heart rate (due to exercise) as a panic attack, exercise makes things worse as these folks might actually become suicidal. (The combination of depressed feelings and panic is not a good thing.).

    So get off the treadmill if you start feeling panicky and you’re depressed. Keep a diary handy instead.

    1. ambrit

      How intense a workout are we talking about here? Phyllis and I do our daily mile to two mile walk, except when it’s sleeting, like today, and I still battle the urge to sleep the world away. What is the threshold for boosting endorphin secretion? (A project for a cold and rainy day methinks.)

        1. ambrit

          Thanks for the idea. I’ll have to do some research on SADs. If I can get myself up out of bed before nine. (My hours are all over the place since I stopped being constrained by the necessity of regular employment. Even then, the new box store system would have me going in to work anywhere between pre opening time of 5AM and closing time at 11PM.)

          1. JerseyJeffersonian

            There are specialized light therapy setups available to help those afflicted by SAD. Reputedly, they really can help.

            If you are someone who has minimal sun exposure due to your work schedule, you might also give some consideration to Vitamin D3 supplementation. Besides helping to maintain bone density, Vitamin D3 is also beneficial for reducing inflammation, now also being linked to chronic depression.

              1. ambrit

                Something like hanging out under the tanning lamp an hour during the day? Also, lots of bare skin, like tanning, or light exposure to ones’ eyes? (Hopefully, this being NC, my economic output will rise as a result.)

          2. optimader

            Personally, I get up when I’m no longer tired, no alarm clock. If you can do that now, I’m guessing it is naturally healthy.
            I have a friend in Ohio that has http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasonal_affective_disorder
            Historically, he noticed he was subdued in the winter months and slept a lot more, fatigued etc…
            And he has found phototherapy to be profoundly effective for him. In essence it’s a bunch of florescent lights w/a certain transmission wavelength span and some sort of programmed schedule for exposure.

            Brain Chemistry is pretty weird stuff. Heres an example
            I have another friend I grew up with who has done a dozen or so seasons in Antarctica. I believe it was one of the years where he did custodial duty in the dark season he participated in a brain chemistry study investigating a phenomena where vocabulary progressively attenuates. It was observed that people in Antarctica that were chronically in and out of shelter to severe cold exhibited a (reversible) loss of vocabulary. Ultimately they were able to identify some enzyme that was being depleted by the cold. I don’t recall if it was due to the big swing in temp or just enduring prolonged bloody, bloody cold temperatures.
            he’s a character..
            http://vimeo.com/68545519
            Drilling Summary Pine Island Glacier Antarctica by Camp Coordinator Salvatore Consalvi

          3. Lambert Strether

            That’s an inhumane) working schedule; could be part of the problem. Sorry for well-meant advice that may not apply to your situation; I read the thread in reverse order.

            1. ambrit

              Thanks Lambert. Your advice is good. It sometimes takes examples of how others have handled similar experiences to jolt one out of a rut. It is curious to experience the difference in climate just a few hundred miles North or South will bring. I grew up pretty much in South Florida. Forty degree weather was cold. You didn’t go in the water at the beach if the air temperature was below seventy degrees. My Mom would occasionally get me to climb one of the palm trees in the front yard and get fresh coconuts for her to use in cooking or baking. (Coconut carrot cake!) Now, here in the middle of Mississippi, we get occasional sleet and snow, hard freezes, and lots of cloudy days, which feel a lot shorter than in days of yore. Getting older helps too.
              You are right about the schedule at the box store. I will venture to say that most of the ‘regulars’ here understand how this came about, and how it works. I got out of the box store about six months ago. My personal schedule is still topsy turvy, but I’m recovering from the experience slowly but surely. Phyllis says that I act just like how one of her aunts did in recovering from major surgery. (When Phyl was the ‘Spinster’ in her family, she was called on to go and help out various relatives in times of crisis.)
              This has got me thinking about the work schedules people now take for granted, and the adverse psychological effects such schedules engender. I can well see the proliferation of phone apps and games as palliatives for the stresses employers now impose on working people. An added bonus, from the employers point of view, is the further atomization of the workforce these phone apps stimulate. How can workers organize when they barely communicate with each other off the work floor? The quality of the information conveyed across media is the paramount consideration. (Does anyone know why Air America folded?)

    2. Brian

      Physical exercise is an excellent way to combat panic attacks, elevated HR is normal and beneficial. The workout distracts the person and you forget the PA. PA’s are idiopathic, let’s not turn them into something they are not.

  12. steviefinn

    I shouldn’t laugh – NATO – “That’s why we still strive for a more cooperative and constructive relationship with Russia.

    1. OIFVet

      Might have helped if they had condemned the terrorists that burned those ethnic Russians alive in Odessa last year. Oh wait, these were our allies who done it. European and US outrage at that act was conspicuously absent. Western media and political response was “Je ne suis pas Odessa”.

  13. Vatch

    Regarding Steve Jobs and his choice of alternative medicine: he chose that for himself, not for a minor child of his. That makes a big difference. Oh, and his death was quite possible caused by his dalliance with non-standard medicine. I’m not saying that alternative medicine is necessarily bad, but I think it often works best in combination with conventional medicine.

    1. Banger

      Steve Jobs gets a lot of attention because he was famous–don’t generalize about alternatives by looking at him–he was kind of a dick and a genius anyway and is not in any way typical–I’ve seen alternatives work.

  14. OIFVet

    Our man Yats goes to Germany, rewrites WW2 history. LiveLeak: On Thursday, January 8th, Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who is currently on an official visit in Berlin, demonstrated to the world his knowledge of history.
    In particular, he said that in 1941 it was the USSR who invaded Germany and Ukraine. According to the politician, he “remembers it clearly”.
    Moreover, according to Yatsenyuk, the Russian Federation is now “trying to rewrite” the results of the Second World War.
    “We all remember the USSR invasion of the Germany and Ukraine. We must not allow this [again]. And no one has the right to rewrite the results of the Second World War, and that is what Russian president trying to do, “– said Ukrainian Prime Minister in an interview with German TV channel ARD.
    By the way, in August last year it was announced that Ukraine plans to make changes to the history textbooks [for schools]. Then it was reported that the Great Patriotic War [that how WWII been called in USSR republics and in Ukraine till now] , Kiev intends to rename into the “Soviet-German War”. But later Kiev announced plans to replace the name “Great Patriotic War” to “World War II”.

    Yeah, putting this clown in charge was a great idea…

      1. Vatch

        Okay, I finally watched it (too busy yesterday to watch a 30 second video, I know, bad excuse). He expressed himself poorly (as far as I can tell with the language barrier), but he wasn’t as foolish as some of the reports made him seem. He did not mention “1941”, so this is not false history. I suspect the invasion of Ukraine to which he referred was the 1939 Soviet invasion of eastern Poland, since the southeast portion of Poland at that time was ethnically Ukrainian. He may also have been thinking of the invasion of Ukraine by Soviet Russia during the civil war following the Russian revolution.

        The reference to the Soviet invasion of Germany is undoubtedly a reference to the Soviet counterattack against Nazi Germany in the years following the German invasion of the USSR. This is quite lame on his part. He could have reasonably complained about the many decades that the Soviets controlled East Germany, but the invasion of Germany in 1944-1945 was completely justified, as were the initial years of the Soviet occupation of East Germany.

      1. OIFVet

        It isn’t. I posted a link to the video on YouTube that was flagged but should appear eventually. You know our man Yats is truly deluded when even Der Spiegel made fun of the history lesson he served to Germany. Sorry for the bad translation.

      2. Katniss Everdeen

        Not sure if I’m remembering this correctly, but I think it’s Yats who also continues to insist that Putin “invaded” and “annexed” Crimea.

        Was that Yats or…….someone else?

        1. Doug Terpstra

          There is an entire Ministry of Truth dedicated to fabricating the myth of Russian imperial aggression. The US-sponsored coup has been disappeared. Expect another false flag event bigger than MH17 if the current economic warfare fails to achieve results.

  15. Paul Niemi

    I noticed that Jeb Bush has started wearing browline glasses.

    http://www.politico.com/story/2015/01/jeb-bush-tax-returns-114045.html

    I knew I was restarting a trend when I special ordered my Shuron frames a year ago. But his are not the classic style, less bold, nevertheless they do project. I think the last president to wear browlines was LBJ. They were worn by FBI agents in the 1950s and 1960s, and many remember pictures of Malcolm X in classic browlines. I am going to take a risk and infer, from Jeb’s choice in eyewear, that he wants to appear more intelligent, versus the Iron Maiden. This could make sense, as otherwise his face brings to mind Pooh Bear.

    1. Katniss Everdeen

      By “Iron Maiden” I assume you mean Hillary.

      Well, she illustrates that glasses can be a double-edged sword. After she took her fall and had a concussion, didn’t the Fox brain trust maintain that her glasses-wearing indicated brain damage?

      Are “browlines” fashionable enough to overcome such medical insight?

      Judging from the linked Jeb pic, I’d say, “No.” If I were his mother and saw that picture, I’d be inclined to tell him to get more sleep, more sun and eat his vegetables.

      1. Paul Niemi

        I have no idea what the Fox people say. Opinions from that cosseted environment so rarely make it out to regular news sources. Margaret Thatcher was called the “Iron Lady,” for example. An “Iron Maiden” is a medieval torture device. If that name evokes a reference to Hillary Clinton, then it is coincidental. Nevertheless, the idea that any Bush and any Clinton will face each other in the 2016 election is, I think, evidence of the complete disfunction and misdirection of our political system. It is crazy. Given that, I would not be surprised if the candidates will be referred to by other, even less respectful, epithets.

  16. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

    Car loans see rise in missed payments.

    A technology psychopath’s solution: a robot car that driver itself back to the dealer automatically whenever you miss a payment.

    (Propaganda machine’s response: Another triumph for technology and more progress for mankind!!!…because it lowers the finance cost for corporations).

    Perhaps more science or technology is the solution, but you are always on the defensive and the powerful/the rich will always outspend you and always have the latest toys, the development of which is set up structurally to favor the rich and powerful, and in fact, often uses your money to do so (more propositions anymore?)

      1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

        :<

        These guys are not lazy like me, I can tell. They work really hard to stay a step ahead of us.

      2. Vatch

        That’s a very disturbing article.

        “State regulators are also examining whether a defective device could endanger the borrowers or other drivers on the road, according to people with knowledge of the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.”

        It’s pretty obvious that the answer is yes, a defective device could endanger people. Heck, a correctly functioning device endangers people.

        Yet another reason why it is important to vote in elections, and why one should also occasionally express one’s opinions about issues in letters to political representatives.

    1. Katniss Everdeen

      Do not panic. We’ve been here before. And we have “prevailed.”

      The “roadmap” is Obamacare. 2.0. For cars. We’ll just mandate that everyone must buy at least one car, with taxpayer subsidies to make the payments affordable Anyone who refuses to buy a car will be fined, er “taxed.” The IRS will administer the program. Special programs will be established for seniors, those below the poverty line and those unable to get driver’s licenses for one reason or another.

      The program will be financed using funds previously earmarked for public transportation which will be rendered unnecessary. The low price of gasoline makes this a perfectly logical time to institute this policy, which will create badly needed manufacturing jobs and increase gas tax revenues to replenish the highway fund.

      The great American tradition of happy, individualized motoring will be SAVED without the problem of ever-increasing, unaffordable car loan payments.

      In the meantime, I, personally, will be keeping an eye on Goldman Sachs-concocted auto loan securitzarions, and betting against the same ones John Paulson is betting against.

  17. fresno dan

    http://reason.com/blog/2015/01/08/full-tamir-rice-video-released-attorney
    =======================================
    Reporters for cleveland.com obtained extended footage of the killing of Tamir Rice. The full video demonstrates police officers’ callous indifference to the boy they had wrongly shot. The two cops allowed him to bleed for several minutes; the first person to administer aid to Rice was actually an FBI agent who happened upon the scene while the officers stood around doing nothing.

    Well, that’s not quite right. They did something—they intercepted Tamir’s sister as she ran to help him, knocked her on the ground, wrestled with her, held her down, handcuffed her, and placed her in the squad car a mere 10 feet away from her mortally wounded brother. And it was there that she waited, according to cleveland.com.
    ===========================================

    1. Katniss Everdeen

      Sigh.

      I have no idea what police “protocol” is in a situation like this. But, whatever it is, it doesn’t matter.

      I refer you to vidimi’s comment above, which demonstrates how seriously “protocol,” not to mention actual PERFORMANCE is taken by “arbitrators” and “judges” in Cleveland.

      For brevity, I will summarize: when in Cleveland, DO NOT call the cops. In fact, it’s probably a good idea to stay as far away from Cleveland, as well as cops everywhere, as you possibly can.

      1. fresno dan

        I suspect the “protocol” is, if you didn’t kill the suspect, let him lie till he bleeds to death….and don’t let anyone else interfere with the bleeding.

      2. Antifa

        Police follow manuals that tell them what to do in the various situations they will encounter. It’s hard to imagine that these manuals do not instruct that the very first thing to do after shooting a person is to secure them, and then put pressure and a bandage on the wound. That’s what happens in combat. Why not on the sidewalks of America?

        Or do the manuals actually say, “Strut around the street ‘securing the scene’ while the thug bleeds out.” Do the manuals say that? I think I’d like to read the operations manual for my local police department. I think every town and county in America ought to have ready access to their local police manual.

        1. optimader

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Hollywood_shootout
          A lawsuit on behalf of Mătăsăreanu’s children was filed against members of the LAPD, claiming that Mătăsăreanu’s civil rights had been violated and that he was allowed to bleed to death.[38] The lawsuit was tried in United States District Court in February and March 2000, and ended in a mistrial with a hung jury.[39] The suit was later dropped when Mătăsăreanu’s family agreed to dismiss the action with a waiver of malicious prosecution.[40]

          there is video of the police patiently waiting for him to bleed out.

        2. Yves Smith Post author

          I saw something similar in NYC but less dramatic. Robbery in a store. Store personnel grab the guy with the goods (male perp). Female prep chases staff with a knife. Someone gets a bludgeon, chases girl out of store, and beat guy they barely have control of.

          Cops arrive. The guy is bleeding like crazy from his skull. Clearly at least a concussion.

          They did nada, had him cuffed, sitting on the floor, bleeding.

  18. monday1929

    Yves, I find your use of the term “Trailer Trash” offensive, and not very “progressive”.
    It is a term used to de-humanize the poor.
    Is the child “trash” too?

    1. flora

      I know what you’re saying, but I found the term use to be an ironic and a condemnation of the people who really believe that slander, not a statement that the hostess believes the slander. Perhaps I am wrong.

    2. Bridget

      “Yves, I find your use of the term “Trailer Trash” offensive, and not very “progressive””

      ahahahaha! Walmart shopping, rural dwelling, red in the neck white people everywhere thank you for your concerns on their behalf.

      Well, actually, they don’t give a rats ass. Nice try, though.

  19. readerOfTeaLeaves

    The Antidote du Jour’s are always great, but this one is simply incredible.
    What a nice little bright spot in my day!

  20. fresno dan

    Restaurant Review: Kappo Masa on the Upper East Side New York Times (Scott). A reader quips: “A place made for the 0.1%.”
    ===============================================================
    One night the standard finger napkins didn’t appear until halfway through the sushi course. A restaurant of Mr. Takayama’s that forgets how to serve sushi seems unthinkable, but then the sushi itself was no prize. The rice was a gummy clump (though, on another visit, it was close to perfect).

    Kappo Masa provides a pantomime of service without the substance, and the restaurant itself is an imitation of luxury, not the real thing.

    Stars I might have given Kappo Masa if the prices were, say, 20 percent lower: one.

    Stars I am giving it: zero.
    ===========================================================
    Wow! At least we know the NYT food critic can’t be bought, and doesn’t fall for the hype.
    Maybe the food critic should cover foreign policy…

    1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      I remember when my parents bought us some second hand mattresses, I thought to myself, why can’t we have first hand stuff.

      The same thought occurs to me when I see the 0.01% dine at the finest eateries, but using second hand spoons and forks, having been previously inserted into some other diners’ mouths. Perhaps chopsticks at a sushi place are not second hand, but the plates are, I am pretty sure, unless the chef is Greek, I suppose…they are known to smash plates, old and new, thus increasing the likelihood of new plates.

      That’s why I think the really, really rich – they dine at home.

  21. st33ve

    Yves —

    As noted by several previous commenters, I believe you’re mixed up about “Steve Jobs” vs. “trailer trash” making any difference here. The issue is that the girl is under 18. If she was 18, she could refuse treatment — and wouldn’t need her mother’s approval, for that matter. Since she’s under 18, she’s not considered competent to make the decision, and the law doesn’t give parents free rein to refuse medical care for their children — which is almost inarguably a good thing in at least some cases.

      1. st33ve

        Although you can’t rule out the possibility of corruption in individual cases, I think it’s unlikely the results would have been different if this had been Steve Jobs’ 17-year-old daughter.

  22. The Infamous Oregon Lawhobbit

    But what if I hate exercise? Doesn’t that just perpetuate the cycle of depression if I have to do it?

    1. ambrit

      Then we would have to start calling you “The Infamous Oregon Laworc.” Beware, that way lies Minas Morgul.

    2. Lambert Strether

      In my experience, which may differ, the key thing is to get moving. Make sure to walk, even, or indeed especially, on your errands, because an errant is a goal. Make sure to look up at the sky and the trees, and not down at your feet and the sidewalk. Not kidding!

      In terms of diet, if you find yourself eating too much starch, that’s a sign of SAD. (I’ve never found a dietary solution, though.)

      1. bruno marr

        Bite the bullet and pay the high price of fresh fruit (grapes, strawberries from southern climes). Helps me. And I live on the American Riviera (plenty of daytime sun, though the day time is short).

  23. flora

    re: LARRY PAGE’S NIGHTMARE: How Google’s Dominance Comes To An End.

    Thanks for that. My laugh of the day.
    Google is abandoning its core competence in search engines for the chase after something new. They have hired Ray Kursweil, brilliant engineer, as their director of engineering. His focus is decidedly not on search engine optimization. Google may see their current market dominance in search engines as a platform for a jump to a new arena or a new aggregation of existing technologies, but betting the farm on a moon shot while the core business suffers seems, um, unwise.

  24. Luke The Debtor

    Regarding the Bill Moyers article:

    Democrats are too passive-aggressive to stand for anything. They’d rather stand against something.

Comments are closed.