Links 8/26/16

New study provides more evidence caloric restriction slows aging Business Insider (furzy)

Theranos to Appeal Regulatory Sanctions Wall Street Journal. Pathetic but predictable given Holmes’ detachment from reality. Experts have uniformly said the odds of success are very low.

Aftershocks hamper Italy quake rescuers BBC

Europe plans news levy on search engines Financial Times

How Long Will It Take for the ECB to Own All Sovereign Debt of Spain, Germany, France? Michael Shedlock

Vancouver’s commercial real estate market vacancies at a 12-year high Business Insider

Danish MP: EU a bigger threat than Russia The Local

Ukraine/Russia

Top US CEO: Putin’s Intentions – And The Right Way to Deal With Russia Russia Insider

The Two Tales of Russia Hacking NYT Marcy Wheeler

Russian military commences sudden check of combat readiness BNN

Syraqistan

Saudis and Extremism: ‘Both the Arsonists and the Firefighters’ New York Times. Margarita: “This is good reporting; the question is what took NYT so long to notice…”

Why Syria’s war may be about to get even worse Reuters (resilc)

Turkey invades Syria and attacks Kurds with the approval of USA Defend Democracy

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

How Facebook can affect your credit score Financial Times

Amazon and the CIA Want to Teach AI to Watch Us from Space MIT Technology Review

Imperial Collapse Watch

Lockheed’s F-35 Still Falls Short, Pentagon’s Tester Says Bloomberg

2016

Clintonite Conspiracy Theories Glen Ford

US election: Trump calls Hillary Clinton a ‘bigot’ BBC

Donald Trump Used Campaign Donations to Buy $55,000 of His Own Book Daily Beast (furzy mouse)

Mixed Signals on Immigration Roil Trump Campaign Wall Street Journal. Trump’s businessman’s reflex of trying out a negotiating position and adjusting it based on the reaction it gets is wildly at odds with political norms. It looks at best flaky and can be treated as proof of ignorance and recklessness. Not clear how he regroups, although the flip side is most voters don’t tune in in a serious way until after Labor Day.

Why You Shouldn’t Vote for Libertarian Nominee Gary Johnson Rolling Stone

Fed Missteps Fueled 2016 Populist Revolt Wall Street Journal. Audit the Fed and the seriousness of opposition to Bernanke’s reappointment to his final term were major wake-up calls that the Fed ignored.

Andrew Cuomo Administration Now Questions General Electric Move To End Hudson River Cleanup International Business Times

Hillary Clinton slams Trump for ties to ‘alt-right’ media CNN

Boko Haram is leaving a major healthcare crisis in its wake Vice (furzy)

Why Mylan’s Alleged Solution to Its EpiPen Price-Gouging Scandal Is a Scam Alternet

US online lending platforms suffer fall in volumes Financial Times. We’d long been skeptics…

Condé Nast Rumored to Consider Cost Cutting, Publisher Changes WWD

Today’s Top Supply Chain and Logistics News Wall Street Journal. Lambert flags the second item, Intel’s 49% margin on chips.

Markit Chief Economist Estimates 3rd Quarter GDP at “Just Under 1.0 Percent” Michael Shedlock (furzy)

If ur hiking “2 prevent risky imbalances,” shouldn’t u have a sense of distrib of hedge/spec/Ponzi across economy? pic.twitter.com/cBQLy5SNff @StephanieKelton

Look Who’s Coming to Private Equity’s Defense on Fee Secrecy Bloomberg. Confirms our reporting that public pension funds like CalPERS are acting as PE’s stooges.

Guillotine Watch

The Disastrous $45 Million Fall of a High-End Wine Scammer Bloomberg

Class Warfare

Police Misconduct in Bankrupt Cities Credit Slips

Honey, I’ve been slowly boring hard boards longer than you’ve been alive Corey Robin (martha r)

Richard Koo’s chart to explain the past 200 years FT Alphaville

Antidote du jour. Emma S: “The Roosians have landed.”

the roossians have landed

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

230 comments

  1. allan

    Mylan: There’s a hilarious puff piece on Heather Bresch in the NYT, including

    Over the years, her brash leadership style has bruised egos but also, some say, improved access to drugs and raised quality standards.

    But nothing that follows supports the last clause. The article really should be labeled `sponsored content.’
    It must be nice to be able to pick up the phone and get Pinch Sulzberger to further damage the family brand.

    1. DJG

      Unfortunately for the Democrats, if any Democrats are taking notice, the EpiPen fandango is what ACA is all about: Appeasing Big Pharma, keeping the companies profitable, and reinforcing the American mode of medical care, which is heavily reliant on prescriptions. Lots of them.

      Martin Shkreli was a harbinger, but the drug was needed by fewer people. Valeant was anotther symptom, but somewhat inscrutable.

      [A side issue? The over-diagnosis of allergies among Americans (?). Are all of these EpiPens truly needed? Even peanut allergies have been found to be treatable and made less threatening.]

      In short, as Lambert and Yves often write: A feature, not a bug.

      1. cwaltz

        Epipens are used AS NEEDED(you aren’t using it unless you are having difficulty breathing thanks to exposure to allergen) and if you have ever seen a real allergic reaction then you wouldn’t be asking if these were a good thing to have around. People do die from allergies and it happens in a matter of minutes.

        Then again the CEO of the Epipen company actually said it best when she stated, “I’m running a business.” In a for profit health care model you are going to see gouging to ensure profitability. Personally, I’d much rather see the government heavily regulate medical costs and subsidize as needed. Let the vultures find a less vulnerable population to pick on since no one chooses to be ill.

      2. Propertius

        In a just world, we’d be efficient and string both Holmes and Bresch up from the same lamppost.

        1. JustAnObserver

          Add Shkreli to complete the triad & we’d be gender neutral as well.

          The Big Lamppost as an antidote to the Big Tent ?

      1. Pat

        I can also tell you that Lantus aka glargine’s markups of the last few years did not hit Canada. Also that as egregious as I consider the increase, those are remarkably conservative compared to the EpiPen increase, perhaps the regularly monthly scheduled purchase of insulin inhibited that or that only buying the Pens once a year made the corporation’s “need” for profits concentrated.

  2. Starveling

    The alt-right connection Hillary is trying to make is silly. It’s like trying to pin Clinton as a Communist because CPUSA endorses her. If we had to judge pols solely on their most outrageous followers I don’t think anyone sane could vote for anybody who runs for office.

    1. timbers

      Everyday talking about something other than job destroying Clinton-Obama trade deals, Clinton’s roll in bring on the 2008 financial crisis, her global slush fund of bribery & corruption the Clinton Foundation, her Above-The-Law email destruction, her failed wars of aggression chaos & mass murder & destruction, and the growing Obamacare debacle is a good day for Hillary … NO POLICY QUESTIONS PLEASE and the media is complying.

      1. nycTerrierist

        Exactly. All they’ve got is omg Trump and running out the clock.

        I’m looking forward to the debates!

          1. nycTerrierist

            ha! yes, I imagine the busy philanthropist (cough, cough, I mean pay for player) will find the debates ‘burdensome’, like flying commercial. For the little people.

        1. timbers

          Can Trump stay focused on these issues that work so powerfully against Clinton & not get sucked into responding to Hillary’s prepared obfuscating attack lines based on social identity distractions & divisions designed to suck the oxygen out of policy debate? And complicit debate moderators?

          1. EndOfTheWorld

            If Hillary attacks, The Donald will attack harder, IMHO. That’s what he does. He may try to fire the moderators in mid-debate, which would be interesting. Above all The “D” must make the first debate entertaining enough so people will stay tuned to the next two.

        2. andyb

          The stress of preparing and actually participating in the debates may be too much for Hillary, given the fairly obvious medical problems, despite the spin from the DNC. How many bathroom breaks would there be? I cannot recall the source (sorry), but I recently read an article claiming that the Dems could place a transmitter/receiver in Clinton’s ear so that she could be prompted and respond sotto voce with a head turn pretending to cough. Apparently such a device cannot be detected visually or electronically. I plan to look for signs while watching what may be the most viewed TV events ever staged.

          1. heresy101

            Somebody please figure out what frequency these receivers broadcast on and go to the debates with a signal jammer!

          2. Myron

            Who would be on the other end advising her though? Hillary may be a criminal, but she certainly understands policy better than any one of her social media addicted marketing minions.

            Nobody expects Trump to win on policy knowledge, but charisma and authenticity isn’t something you can have inserted into your ear

            1. JTMcPhee

              Not “advising” her but prompting her like the little people that staffed the clamshells in the proscenium of all those opera houses and theatres legitimate and less so– with the libretto or script or gag list and verbal or written cue cards ready to prop up a faltering performer. http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/05/10/nyregion/hidden-from-the-operas-crowd-is-a-human-safety-net.html?referer=

              Reagan pretty obviously had the “earwig” support, you could see the pauses with the head cocked to listen. Same with Bush, I recall a little fuss being made about “cheating” in debates with a fairly obvious lump under the back of his suit coat. And I hope Trump doesn’t have a prep book for a David Gergen to hand over to the Clintoon Mafia…

      2. Anne

        At this point, the media has all but officially announced that it is opposed to electing Trump, and apparently intends to do what it can to prevent him from winning.

        I don’t want either of them to win: it’s like trying to decide if I prefer being poked with sharp sticks or being kicked in the shins.

        People may turn out to vote the down ticket races, but this may be one of those elections where there is a great discrepancy between down-ticket voter participation and presidential voter participation.

        Maybe the debates will tell the tale.

        1. aab

          Silly Anne. If people leave the Presidential line blank, I’m sure someone or something will helpfully fill it in for them.

          1. Vatch

            That’s why people should have the opportunity to explicitly check a box on the ballot that says “none of the above” or “no candidate”.

            1. aab

              I’d like that option if it meant that if “none of the above” got the most votes, it automatically triggered a new election in which the rejected candidates could not run.

              1. pretzelattack

                they should also be suspended above a pool, and wear clown noses, and every time somebody votes “nota” some catch releases and they get dunked.

            2. Carla

              If only we could actually use an actual pen to check an actual box on an actual ballot. THEN maybe, possibly, we could actually witness the actual counting of actual votes. At that point, voting might become meaningful, and “none of the above” would be a useful addition.

              1. Vatch

                In some states or counties, voters do mark an oval on a piece of paper with a pen. It’s a lot like those standardized test forms that we used in school. Even though there’s a paper ballot, the votes are counted by computer.

                You’re not alone in your desire for a tangible paper trail. Completely digital voting is very dangerous.

              2. Oregoncharles

                We certainly do in Oregon – a ballot is defined as a piece of paper. they keep them for years, too, in case of recounts/investigations.

                This is an advantage of mail voting (personally, I go to the courthouse and drop our ballots in the box there. Partly for the ritual, mostly because I procrastinate.

            3. Anne

              I completely agree. I actually think more people would come out – in this presidential election, anyway – to be able to register their vote for “none of the above.”

              If that was an actual choice, I think it would perhaps provide incentive for better candidates.

              And who knows, maybe NOTA would win!

              1. Katharine

                I’m strongly tempted to write it in, even though in this state, as a non-registered write-in it would not even be counted.

        2. flora

          The media, owned by:
          Carlos Slim, Mexican Telecom magnate – NYTimes
          Jeff Bezos, Amazon magnate – WaPo
          Rupert Murdoch, media magnate, and Prince Alwadeed bin Talal, Saudi prince – Fox News
          Comcast, largest US cable provider and media giant – MSNBC, NBC

          They all hate Trump and love Hillary. Could Hillary’s economic plans be better for their profits than Trump’s economic plans? TPP for example?

    2. dcblogger

      not at all silly, Trump has the dross of the right wing running his campaign. Trump is a racist buffoon. HRC is just saying the obvious.

      1. Starveling

        I’d rather an odious buffoon than a free-trader/warmonger. Someone like Trump might actually get Congress to do something useful for once, or create glorious gridlock.

        1. NYPaul

          “free-trader/warmonger”……………
          ————————————————————————

          To me, that pretty much Trumps anything coming from her opponent.

      2. Pat

        And Hillary is jealous? Considering her outreach to what I consider the largest criminal class in America from Kissinger on down, that may be the biggest explanation. As for racism, inclusive rhetoric is her only disguise. Hillary Rodham Clinton is a massive bigot, from LGBT to working class to blacks and latinos. Her actions and support of some of the worst legislation this country has ever produced marks her as racist and a class warrior for her adopted class.

        Neither candidate is worth a hill of beans, but when it comes to saying the obvious and telling the truth about the other, Trump trumps Clinton every time.

        1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

          Throughout history, this, when it comes to taking white, red, brown and black lives:

          Those who can, do.

          Those who can’t, just say, write or teach.

          “Stop laughing at those professors. They can be very influential…except when they are buffoons.”

      3. frosty zoom

        so perhaps it’s time for thee to say the obvious:

        trump: “mexicans is bad”
        clinton: “hondurans will die”

        trump: “muslims is bad”
        clinton: “muslims will die”

        trump: “eastern european women are hot!”
        clinton: “bomb them, bill!”

        trump: “russia ain’t so bad”
        clinton: “russians will die”

        see any patterns?

      4. aab

        Are you saying you prefer your racists brutally efficient at murder, incarceration and starvation, while being verbally polite?

        Frankly, in a racist vs. racist competition, I’ll take the one with less blood on their hands, and less evidence of a a real commitment to death and destruction.

        1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

          Sadly, we are all a little (or more) racist.

          I’ve heard it said that racism is related to power and wealth, and so, according to that, some races (oppressed and exploited) are not racist. I am willing to be convinced, but I disagree for now.

      5. The Trumpening

        As a full-fledged member of the alt-Right, I can tell you we are fighting many of the same enemies as the progressive Left: US imperialism, endless wars for Israel, Wall Street, TPP, Conservatives, and in general globalization. The main differences between the alt-Right and prog-Left is that we recognize that nationalism is the only effective ideology to combat globalization and more importantly, we see the obvious fact that instilling the fear of being called racist (or sexist, or anti-Semitic) is a way of controlling populations.

        The obvious parallel is a generation ago when the Christian powers-that-were controlled people by calling them devil worshipers, Satanists, etc. The rebellious youth replied by screaming “Hail Satan” and buying Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin albums. These kids and bands weren’t REALLY Satanists, they just used the associated imagery to shock the older people. The alt-Right does much the same with their dank memes and insistent calling out of Jewish journalists on their hypocrisy between the way they treat Israel and America, and / or Jewish and White people. Their PC infused elders are shocked to find their kids have Pepe the Frog memes on their hard-drives.

        1. EndOfTheWorld

          I don’t know where I could be pigeonholed. Hopefully nowhere. I’m not a holocaust denier, but if given a choice I would vote for zero tax dollars for Israel, and every other foreign country for that matter, since at last count we’re about 18.96 trillion bucks in debt, but who’s counting?

          1. Plenue

            That ‘debt’ isn’t actually money owed to anyone. It’s an accounting gimmick, nothing more.

            1. jgordon

              Uh huh. There’s a slight flaw in your reasoning, much like in astrology: everything looks like it’s working good right up until it doesn’t.

              Let’s pray that all those Treasury bond holders don’t mysteriously learn of the truth you’ve just revealed and suddenly decide to dump their holdings all at once–becsuse when that day comes the US will be in a world if sht, accounting gimmickry and all.

              1. Plenue

                Dump them where? And why would they do that? All they’d be doing is losing themselves out on money.

                The point is that we aren’t burrowing money from anyone. The same goes for all countries with a central bank. The government creates cash as it needs it. It’s also not correct to say we’re giving tax dollars to Israel. Your local taxes pay for schools and roads, but your federal taxes pay for nothing.

              2. I Have Strange Dreams

                You have been commenting on this site for quite a while and yet you seem to have learned nothing about how money works. That takes a special kind of willpower.

    3. Eureka Springs

      Clinton has had such success over the decades punching the left and winning votes, why not do the same to the right?

    4. Fred

      Trump very publicly asks African Americans for their vote pointing out the obvious about jobs, pay, schools and crime. Democrats go ballistic and blame the alt-Reich. MSM joins in the Nurembergesque drum ensemble.

        1. Fred

          It’s one way to defeat the alt-Reich. But seriously, haven’t you noticed the information operations effort in the MSM regarding Ukraine and Syria? Domestically it’s the everyone but Trump effort.

          1. ggm

            Hillary’s alt-right speech and the information ops are rather absurd, given that actual neo-nazis rose to power in the wake of the Yanukovich coup and Putin was welcomed in Crimea by ethnic Russians who feared for their lives after seeing the nazi flags raised in Kiev.

      1. Lambert Strether

        Trump’s not dumb.

        He’s not asking black people for their vote (and just because the Democrats are going ballistic about it doesn’t mean it’s true). He knows that’s not going to happen.

        He’s giving suburban Republicans permission to vote for him.

        1. aab

          It looks like Black Men for Bernie is giving Trump a soft endorsement — sort of like the leftist argument re: voting for Trump here, it’s not so much “pro Trump” as against Clinton.

          I think Ice Cube outright endorsed Trump, but I didn’t listen to or read his exact statement.

          This could be an interesting fall.

    5. EndOfTheWorld

      Hillary talking about “conspiracy theories” will backfire. As far as the JFK murder, a good healthy majority of people worldwide have believed there was more than one gunman for more than forty years. Her highness even mentioning Alex Jones will get people to tune in to him just to see what he says. Jimmy Kimmel also mentioned Alex in regard to picklegate. Once people tune in to Alex they like him. Before you call him “racist” be aware he’s interviewed Lewis Farakhan, Dick Gregory, Freeway Ricky Ross, etc. I myself listen to the Alex Jones show occasionally, or catch his snippets. He’s funny.

      1. jgordon

        Not only did Alex interview Farakan, he also praised him and said many kind things about him. Not exactly racist by any stretch.

          1. Emma

            Ah yes…. that old….very old (ie. Virgilio Malvezzi in the 1600s “fear of an external enemy is the greatest remedy for internal dissensions” – see link: http://www.filosofia.unina.it/ars/introe.html ) trick!

            Personally, I think they’re really ‘roosians’ from the planet Mars. That makes them ‘mars-upials’. This means it wasn’t about the ‘roobles’ after all…..it was all about a hostile ‘hopover’ of the world!

            1. frosty zoom

              “fear of an external enemy is the greatest remedy for internal dissensions”

              it helps if they wear funny hats. jews, muslims, sikhs, vietnamese..

              •••

              AMISH TERROR THREATDOWN; CLINTON SAYS “BUGGY ‘INSPECTIONS’ WILL INTENSIFY.”

    1. Lambert Strether

      Lambert here: The Antidote image has now been rotated so that the kangaroos are upright (to the extent that anything in the antipodes can be said to be upright). I blame Putin.

  3. tongorad

    Battle of Blair Mountain, aka largest labor uprising in US history:

    On this day in 1921, the Battle of Blair Mountain began: the largest armed rebellion in the US since the civil war. For five days in late August and early September, 1921 in Logan County, West Virginia, 10,000 striking coal miners battled with armed strikebreakers and federal troops following the killing of miners and their supporters in Welch and Sharples. Faced with the overwhelming firepower of US troops and even the air force, the miners eventually surrendered or returned to their homes. This is a gallery of incredible photos from the uprising.

    1. MojaveWolf

      Thanks for posting this! Had completely forgotten about, but very timely with labor day coming up!

    2. abynormal

      Thanks Tongorad!…i’d forgotten too. i read a book about the Matewan Massacre,Tug River, from May 12 through May 14, 1921…leading up to Blair Mtn…just can’t remember title of book (maybe someone around here will).

    3. hunkerdown

      Armed strikebreakers, hmm. How do those people not end up getting killed in their own towns while they sleep?

    4. clarky90

      The “open boarders” and H2B visa “workers”, of “modern, caring America” are the latest iteration of the scabs (hired stooges) that the bosses used to break the Unions (organized labor) back in the day.

      Thanks for the reference and the photos Tongorad

    5. ginnie nyc

      John Sayles made an excellent feature film Matewan in 1987. Gripping and educational about corporate tactics (plants advocating violence, etc.).

  4. Bunk McNulty

    Re: Wine scam. “…the victims included famed venture capitalist Arthur Patterson ($837,000) and former Credit Suisse investment bank chief Adebayo Ogunlesi ($479,000).” How is it that these MOTU types with their incredibly sophisticated understanding of the financial world (snark) get led down the garden path? When I was in the biz back in the fat days (before 2008) I’d get calls from guys (they were all guys) who had come into a lot of money and wanted to start collecting older vintages. I’d tell them to start slowly, build relationships with retailers, auction houses, etc. Most of them didn’t want to hear that; they wanted a truckload of the fancy stuff and they wanted it now. And then I’d say the name Hardy Rodenstock, and point out to them that he fooled everybody, including lots of big names in the business, and that if they thought they were smarter than Michael Broadbent, Robert Parker, etc., then they should just go ahead and take the plunge.

    1. Otis B Driftwood

      Curious story given I live just down the street from their former Berkeley location. I remember seeing their trucks driving around, too. Given it’s less than an hour’s drive to Napa and (better) Sonoma, never had reason or a desire to patronize this place.

      We make the occasional day trip or a weekend barrel tasting. It’s within the budget of most people. And if you ever have a chance to go, the real fun is meeting the people who work the tasting rooms and are passionate and knowledgeable about wine. Another key to having a good time is finding the places that don’t get overcrowded with bus tours.

      There’s really nothing better than driving up with my family and having a lunch with a chilled white on a hillside picnic area overlooking the valley. Sure, you’re surrounded by multi-million dollar gated estates, but I reckon living there constantly would be a bore. Better to come once in awhile to renew and recreate and enjoy time with the people you love.

      And, fwiw, 2016 is shaping to be a good harvest.

      1. JTMcPhee

        “Day trip or weekend barrel tasting!” “Within the budget of most people.” Hey, hotshot — which “most people” ar enough talking about? Thank you for your voicing of the great blind sense of privilege…

        One little item, among all the tens of thousands of others, illustrating why the 10%ers and up are going to be the death of all the rest of us. Unfortunately unaware, gloriously obtuse…

        1. Jim Haygood

          Would it have sounded less obtuse if he’d said “Disneyland is within the budget of most people” (as it appears to be)?

          1. afisher

            Nope! That too is beyond the reach of many families.

            But visiting Napa was relatively inexpensive back in the 70’s. When you really wanted to learn about wines, rather than get drunk, the employees were more than willing to assist.

            1. barefoot charley

              Napa became an upper-middle-class ghetto decades ago, overlorded by .01 percenters. Still pretty though–absurd real estate prices do that. Sonoma over the ridge offers many more pleasant and down-market experiences of the wine world that needn’t cost more than gas. It’s fun to compare the two adjoining districts, which complement rather than compete with each other. And you can still get great cheap Mexican in Calistoga, a Napa port of entry for the working class.

              1. Carl

                That’s why people in Sonoma County talk about “napafication.”
                I was in Healdsburg last week and the word appeared in a front page article of the local paper.

          2. sleepy

            A few weeks ago I took my son and my two young grandkids to a movie, a Saturday matinee with cheaper tickets–no deluxe seating or anything like that. The total cost including popcorn and drinks for the 3 of them, plus 4 tickets was a hair over $51.00. I suppose that’s average, but to me it was ridiculously high. And this is in a small Iowa town of 27,000.

            If you’re a single parent with 3 kids I think going to the movies may be a thing of the past.

            1. cwaltz

              Regal does a summer movie program. It used to be that you could see the movies for free on Wednesdays and Thursdays. They’ve raised it to $1. I used to take my kids to the movies and then let them split two kids packs($5 for a small popcorn, drink and fruit snack.) We also had a drive in during summers. We’d pick up a bucket of chicken and pull out a picnic blanket for the kiddos.

              You kind of have to know where to look to find inexpensive stuff for things to do with kids but there is stuff out there(my kids also used to do Lowes or HD workshops on Saturdays for free or the Michaels craft project for $2 as well.)

              I do think it’s funny that someone would think Disney is accessible to most though. Our household would have had to spend over a weeks wages just to get in the gate. We’re talking thousands to go to Disney World or Land for household that doesn’t live near Florida or California since we’d need to pay for gas and hotel as well. Needless to say my kids never went there. When we were low wage and struggling I’d save my change until July and bring a canned good to take them to a local fair on opening day($15 wristbands for 4 unlimited ride wrist bands for kids= $60, $10 for each to play games=$40 and another $20-$30 for fair food.) The kids enjoyed it and thanks to what is now our House representative they’d get to enjoy a show(sea lions one year, aussie animals another) and samples from Kroger as well for free(he sponsored the gate costs of the fair when he was a state representative, it was in his district.)
              Most vacations were pitching a tent in the backyard and going to the local pool every two weeks(even that required budgeting $25-$30 each paycheck.)

        2. Otis B Driftwood

          $20 dollars for tasting is within most people’s budgets (plus the cost of gas). My wife (a public school teacher, and this year a principal) and I do not take extended vacations, so this is it for us. If that puts us in the 10%, we’re in real trouble as a country.

          I find your comment insulting in the extreme.

          1. curlydan

            Apparently, you need to release your tax returns and an expense report with your comment! Your frugality is applauded.

          2. Alex morfesis

            Smythe did you say ??…& I suspect you want me to believe thats your wife too…insulted…if she was my wife, I would be insulted too…listen here…this is a family joint…

            It has been a long time since this pesky carbon based life hiding in its human host has been on that side of the rockies…at least kalipornia still has some pleasantries that dont eat up 100 bux to start…

            down here in the middle of flow-rid-duh, even the 50 cent frozen grilled cardboard burgers start at 5 bux at the first nites phony street fairs that force you to park your car in the next neighborhood …

        3. Milton

          I can drive up to Temecula and purchase 5 tastings for under $15 – hardly a 10%er outing…. I guess if the outing was more Prole acceptable less scorn would have been heaped by JT.

        4. Pat

          I’m thinking you don’t realize that wineries consider the tours and tastings to be loss leaders. It is a way of developing new customers and expanding their customer base. Some will buy cases, others will pick up a bottle here or there later making them a reasonable marketing tool for the wineries. Hence the information about the various charges others have posted here for some.

          And some of the small lesser known wineries sometimes have really good bargain wines, comparatively.

          1. bob

            It’s marketing, but it’s also a way to sell direct and get the whole price. Normally, if they use distributors and stores, they get about 25-30% of the final purchase price, if that.

            They can offer discounts, and in most places these sales, from their property, are what allow them to claim agricultural use of the property. Lower property taxes. It used to be that just $500 of sales would allow you to call yourself a farm, not sure lately. But it helps explain why all these “small farmers” are losing money- They got in business to lose money. It’s a property tax break and a federal income tax loss.

      2. ewmayer

        There’s really nothing better than driving up with my family and having a lunch with a chilled white on a hillside picnic area overlooking the valley.

        Except perhaps driving in the opposite direction, to the SW of Sillycon Valley, to one of the many wineries of the Santa Cruz mountains. Ridge and Cooper-Garrod are my personal faves, but there are plenty to choose from.

    2. lyman alpha blob

      Fascinating – you got me to look this guy up and one of the other prominent 1%ers he ripped off was Koch brother Bill. Koch sued Rodenstock after he realized he was scammed and Rodenstock simply refused to show up in court. Ha! – couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.

      One of my favorite literary genres, albeit a small one, is that of forgers preying on the vanity of the rich. If I’m remembering the correct work, Huxley’s Those Barren Leaves is a fine example if anyone would like to read a takedown of the squillionaire types.

  5. Steve H.

    – Hillary Clinton slams Trump for ties to ‘alt-right’ media CNN

    Nice how in this case the source [CNN] is part of the message of the link.

    1. frosty zoom

      uh,

      read this:

      17,353,498 Acts of Horrific Violence Caused by Hillary Clinton’s Wars of Greed

      •••

      i wonder who the family of berta cáceres would vote for.

      1. fresno dan

        frosty zoom
        August 26, 2016 at 9:10 am

        As well as this in today’s links
        Clintonite Conspiracy Theories Glen Ford:

        “The imperial conspiracy has always been bipartisan, reflecting ruling class control of both major political parties and corporate ownership of the media. This election season, however, the institutional Republican Party has been broken by the billionaire brat America-Firster white nationalist from Queens, who violated the ruling class pact by, at least temporarily, challenging the doctrines of free flowing global capital, “humanitarian” military intervention (regime change, or its euphemism, “nation building”) and a permanent U.S. war footing with the Russians and Chinese. It is these heresies — not Trump’s raging racism, which is standard issue for the White Man’s Party — that have stampeded multinational capital, most of the denizens of the national security state, and the whole imperial foreign policy establishment into Hillary Clinton’s “Big Tent.” Trump’s continued popularity with a white male constituency that was always assumed to be a bastion of the War Party, is seen as an existential threat to the legitimacy of the U.S. quest for global dominance. When Trump says that Obama created ISIS, it does not matter much whether he understands the import of his own words. He is speaking an essential truth that goes to the heart of one of the Greatest Lies Ever Told: that the U.S. and its closest allies are sworn enemies of jihadist terror. The voluminously documented truth — not a conspiracy theory — is that the Americans and Saudis created the international jihadist network nearly four decades ago and have now come to rely on Islamic jihadists as foot soldiers for imperialism in the Muslim world.”

        1. frosty zoom

          this sure smells clintonian:

          The Embassy of Ecuador to the United Kingdom reports that in the early morning hours of 22 August 2016, an unidentified person sought to gain unauthorized access to its embassy in London.

          The Embassy has made available to the UK diplomatic police the evidence in its possession to help clarify this serious incident.

          According to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), the host country has the special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of any diplomatic mission against any form of intrusion or harm. In this case, the security of the Ecuadorian Embassy in the UK is the responsibility of the British authorities.

          The Ecuadorian Government therefore expresses its concern about the inadequate response by the British authorities, who only arrived at the embassy more than two hours after the incident took place.

          The Government of Ecuador regrets that, despite the enormous resources that the British government has undertaken to prevent Julian Assange leaving the Ecuadorian embassy, the authorities did not respond more quickly to this extremely serious attempt an unauthorized entry.

          The Government of Ecuador expresses its willingness to cooperate with the security forces in the UK to prevent future incidents and renews its commitment to protect Julian Assange.

          1. Skip Intro

            They should have reported unauthorized exit. If they though Assange was escaping, they’d have SAS backing up the CIA and MI5 watchers in a heartbeat.

    2. aab

      Really? You’re doing this? How about the hate crimes committed by people actually employed by Clintons or closely allied with them — or the actual Clintons. You know, like how Bill raped women and Hillary threatened them, or how Bill killed a mentally incompetent man for political expediency, or how they together knowingly set about starving poor women and children, or destroyed Libya or enforced slave wages in Haiti or the Clinton delegate who CANED A WOMAN OF COLOR AT A DEMOCRATIC PARTY MEETING. Note how I’m not talking about the vile verbal attacks on women or people of color online by Clinton employees and supporters, nor am I bothering with the Clinton supporter who punched a woman in a hotel. I’m not going to point to Hillary’s inciting language — although I certainly could — for acts of violence, election theft and criminality she has inspired in persons not directly connected to her. No, with the Clintons, you can point to acts committed directly by them or people close to them. No need to look to strangers inspired by them.

      I think suggesting that the millions of people suffering under neoliberalism are just lazy bums too racist and/or stupid to get ahead is also a form of hate speech, but what do I know?

    3. Noonan

      “8. Two Muslim women verbally attacked on subway in New York City.”

      If verbally attacking someone on a NYC subway is a hate crime, there are thousands of guilty New Yorkers. Most of them vote Democrat.

      1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

        You see them and, even more often, their male counterparts representationally abused and attacked in Hollywood films all the time.

        They are more likely than no to be bad guys and gals

        And I wonder if, on the other side of the ledger, the produces and directors are more likely than not to be Clinton campaign donors.

      2. Plenue

        The entire concept of a hate crime (and hate speech) is asinine to begin with. It’s basically thought policing. If you attack someone in the street, you get charged with assault. But attack them while shouting a slur, and suddenly it’s a hate crime and somehow worse. Ridiculous. Motivations for committing a crime should only matter when it comes to the judge sentencing you, and whether they give you a lesser or greater sentence (like giving someone who tried to rob a bank to pay for medical bills a reduced sentence because they did the crime for noble reasons).

        I just completely fail to see how two people on a subway being ‘attacked’ with specific slurs is supposed to be a uniquely worse infraction than if only generic insults had been shouted at them.

        1. Ulysses

          “Only generic insults” Wait, what??!!

          In my time I have overheard many thousands of insults. Yet I can’t begin to imagine how someone could be insulted “generically.” An insult that fails to identify the insultee in some specific fashion just makes no sense to me.

          Please give us some examples of insults that don’t rely on noting something specific about the insulted group, or individual. “Pizza-face,” for example, might be considered insulting. “Face,” however, without some specific descriptor attached to it would probably not qualify as an insult. “Little punk” paints a specifically different picture than “big oaf.” You get my point?

          1. Plenue

            Generic insults being that which don’t attack anything specific enough to be considered ‘hate speech’, obviously.

        2. Skip Intro

          Your strawman caricature does indeed sound asinine, but it reeks of an all too common sort of willful obtuseness. Listen to a lot of Limbaugh or O’Reilly? A hate crime is terrorism, in that it is targeted not just at injuring a victim but threatening and intimidating an entire class. It is why burning a cross in front of the black family’s house is not just trespassing or an illegal bonfire.

          1. Plenue

            “Listen to a lot of Limbaugh or O’Reilly?”

            Nope.

            “It is why burning a cross in front of the black family’s house is not just trespassing or an illegal bonfire.”

            Maybe it should be.

    4. Brian

      DC, you appear to believe what you read on TV, this is dangerous for operant reality. Try to remember “killing” is different than “inciting”. We have been provided ample proof as to which applies to whom.

      and for those of you that vote by machine, you should be angry. Twas your state that went criminal and took away your right to vote. You might think of doing something to get your rights back. Good luck!

      1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

        California is ‘paper with direct recording electronic system, with paper trail,’ according to ballotpedia.

        Where does it place it – voting by machine?

    5. Benedict@Large

      So what’s your point? Are we supposed to outlaw speech because some Bozos do stupid things when they hear it? The ideas still exist whether or not we allow people to publicly speak about them.

    1. andyb

      Ah! those aging, anachronistic, and totally irrelevant spinmeisters like Carville and Brazile. But, to be fair, every time Rove speaks I want to puke.

    2. ProNewerDeal

      fw https://youtu.be/0m9ruKvIdGc if you like the smell of ether in the morning, Secular Talk/Kyle Kulinski eviscerates Carville for his ridiculous false statement that being anti-Clinton Foundation corruption means being anti-charity.

      1. Jim Haygood

        In the Clinton campaign stylebook, it’s acceptable to combine the second and third person conjugations into “dosh.” ;-)

    3. Benedict@Large

      Why does Carville even get air time? Everything that comes out of his mouth is completely predictable.

      “The Clintons can do no wrong.
      The Clintons can do no wrong.
      The Clintons can do no wrong.
      The Clintons can do no wrong. …”

      1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

        It’s a little more than that.

        It’s:

        “Mommy, he did it.”

        “Mommy, he did it.”

        “Mommy, he did it.”

        All born Judo black-belts.

        Let the other side take all the credit (don’t say blame). Re-direct (focal) energy.

    1. Katniss Everdeen

      Who cares?

      Trump is an “alt-right” racist who wants to be friends with Putin, and because of this people in costumes are yelling at each other on public transportation in new york. There’s video.

      Perspective must be maintained.

      1. Emma

        “Perspective must be maintained”…..couldn’t agree more Katniss which is why I propose an International “Liberté, égalité, déshabiller” Men at Gunpoint Day by and for Women…..Unless anyone knows precisely what “immoral” clothing is when it comes to men?

        Oh…and let’s do those Beekeepers whilst we’re at it……
        They really think they’re the “bees knees” with their veils don’t they?! They think it’s an essential part of who they are But it’s all those bees making that beekepers identity so they can “buzz-off” their veil kit too!

        1. hunkerdown

          Emma, business suits are immoral clothing. Sending the gendarmerie down Wall Street on such a mission would leave the emperors in their proper finery.

  6. Grizziz

    Re:Koos Chart
    A quick take seems to be the working poor in the US are screwed. It might be viscerally understood by those supporting Trump’s unarticulated autarchy and the Brexiteers.

  7. Pat

    The comments on the Empty Wheel piece about the two versions of the NYT hack supposedly by Russians are very interesting. Ranging from why the hysteria when almost every server has attempted hacks daily to a Putin is desperate to put his stooge Trump in office see they even edited the documents. I admit the edited documents is news to me.

    We truly are facing two views of reality at the moment. People look at all the claims of Russian hacking and go what are trying to accomplish and getting either Putin desperately wants Trump, or why are they trying to ramp up a war with Russia. I’m sort of in both camps. Any sane foreign leader who knows Clinton and her rabble are desperate for war with him and have been trying to set it up for years would want her to lose this election, but that the allegations are all to make that seem less rational and to pave the way for that invasion they want. (And yes, I do see some of the same disinformation style as the lead up to the Iraq invasion in all this.)

      1. Pat

        Two ‘suspected’ Russian groups

        two supposedly independent hacking groups, believed by security experts to have ties to the Kremlin, posted the same documents stolen from a philanthropy run by George Soros.

        I would say that Canada’s, or at least the Ottawa Citizen’s lack of links to Clinton’s media domination may be overstated. Please note the logline of that article which is long on innuendo regarding the groups who posted the documents with little notation of actual sources of that suspicion. Let me help it is

        ELIAS GROLL, FOREIGN POLICY, WASHINGTON POST 08.24.2016

        Meaning this was a Washington Post (aka Jeff Bezos) article reposted in the Ottawa Citizen owned by Post Media run by former conservative politician Paul Godfrey.

        I’m not saying there was not Russian shenanigans, just that there is little proof in that there was. I did enjoy the inadvertent humor from the somewhat shocked and superior attitude at such actions. It isn’t as if the US has used faked documents to advance their agenda. NOT.

        1. Alex morfesis

          The 2 russian gru/kgb hacker groups..led by fozzy bear and huggy bear…

          Can you tell me how to get…how to get to reality street…

          Rooskee power pr company…

          hootch-enuf and be-star$ki…

          Those dangerously evil fascist commie pink-hoes…with those really big and dangerous prop plane strategic bombers…and a tank force only ten percent smaller than one held by the major military threat formerly known as the democratic republic of greece…

          Danger will robinson…

    1. DarkMatters

      I’m speculating whether there might be some deep, unsuspected motive for Soros’ minions to be pulling off a cyber false-flag to cast Putin as a bogey-man. Given this statement, is there now sufficient evidence to report “George Soros is thought by some analysts to be responsible for the Moscow NYT hacks”?

      Just wondering…

  8. cojo

    New study provides more evidence caloric restriction slows aging Business Insider (furzy)

    Interesting story. What is more interesting is the commentary of Drs. Luongo, Oshima and Martin. The gist is do not try mimicking the lifestyle change of some modest dietary restriction. Instead, we are developing a pill for this condition too, to be at a pharmacy or “longevity center” near you. This is one of my biggest complaints of modern medical practice as done in this country. We poo-poo life style modifications and instead push (expensive) pills with dubious efficacy for many of our most common conditions.

    1. fresno dan

      cojo
      August 26, 2016 at 9:23 am

      Agree 1 zillion percent, cojo!!!
      If the market can’t monetize it, it isn’t worth doing!!!! (Sarc) And the thing of it is, we pay more money for drugs that are PROVEN not to be as effective as exercising and eating healthy.

      1. human

        I remember a story of an eye doctor, a decade or so ago, who sent some patients home with an amount of sterile saline solution. When they needed more he would explain how simple it was and how to make it at home. Needless to say, the patients preferred that he supply it and were more than willing to pay. An industry was born.

    2. a different chris

      Bingo I reacted to that, too. I nearly wanted to spit. “Humans are way different than these other creatures ( that the medical industry has used for like a century to “prove” something is ready to try on humans, but never mind that) and we can’t really explain the differences but we can make an expensive pill with weird side effects that mimics the effect of something we don’t understand- what you don’t believe us?”

  9. fresno dan

    http://www.blackagendareport.com/clinton_conspiracy_theories

    Hillary Clinton’s agents warn darkly of “conspiracy theories” that might trip up her presidential bid. What they really fear is the release of more damaging facts in the next round of Wikileaks documents. Therefore, the Clintonites are attempting to “poison the well of public discussion,” preemptively, “in order to immunize Clinton from future factual disclosures.” The real conspirators – to make war on the world – reside in Hillary’s “Big Tent.”
    ……
    t is surreal to hear the Clinton campaign and its vast army of surrogates, including virtually the entirety of the corporate media, howl about “conspiracy theories” timed to sabotage her triumphal procession to the White House. Shaken by this summer’s Wikileaks disclosure of the Democratic National Committee’s subversion of Bernie Sanders’ leftish insurgency, Clinton is attempting to inoculate the public against the “October Surprise” they fear is coming from Julian Assange, the Wikileaks founder holed up in the Ecuadorean embassy in London.
    …..
    Certainly, we will not hear or read the truth in the New York Times, the Washington Post, or any of the major electronic media, all of which are huddled in Hillary Clinton’s “Big Tent,” conspiring on how to defeat the conspiracy theorists that threaten the “her” they are “with.” Squeezed into a campaign tent that now houses the totality of the imperial military, “national security” and “free trade” establishment, Hillary’s legions resort to the broad brush strategy of truth pacification once known as McCarthyism, connecting dots between Russian “aggressors,” far-right domestic outliers, and everyone that refuses to accept Clinton as their savior from Trump’s America First Reich.
    ==============================================
    So I saw part II of Fox’s Megyn Kelly’s Assange interview.
    Assange stated that he did not believe MSNBC would have published any of the DNC material leaked by Wikileaks, and that the NYT wouldn’t have published most of it.
    Assange also noted that Clintoon was a McCarthyite with regard to the Russians.
    Finally, there was a go around about Seth Rich (sp?) with Assange not acknowledging Rich as the leaker, but restating that any implication that Wikileaks leakers would be targeted for harm a major concern for Assange.

    1. Anne

      Why Did the Saudi Regime and Other Gulf Tyrannies Donate Millions to the Clinton Foundation?

      Hmmm…let’s ponder that question, shall we?

      Glenn posits:

      Theoretically, one could say that these regimes — among the most repressive and regressive in the world — are donating because they deeply believe in the charitable work of the Clinton Foundation and want to help those in need. Is there a single person on the planet who actually believes this? Is Clinton loyalty really so strong that people are going to argue with a straight face that the reason the Saudi, Qatari, Kuwaiti and Emirates regimes donated large amounts of money to the Clinton Foundation is because those regimes simply want to help the foundation achieve its magnanimous goals?

      […]

      All those who wish to argue that the Saudis donated millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation out of a magnanimous desire to aid its charitable causes, please raise your hand. Or take the newfound casting of the Clinton Foundation as a champion of LGBTs, and the smearing of its critics as indifferent to AIDS. Are the Saudis also on board with these benevolent missions? And the Qataris and Kuwaitis?

      […]

      It doesn’t exactly take a jaded disposition to doubt that these donations from some of the world’s most repressive regimes are motivated by a desire to aid the Clinton Foundation’s charitable work. To the contrary, it just requires basic rationality. That’s particularly true given that these regimes “have donated vastly more money to the Clinton Foundation than they have to most other large private charities involved in the kinds of global work championed by the Clinton family.” For some mystifying reason, they seem particularly motivated to transfer millions to the Clinton Foundation but not the other charities around the world doing similar work. Why might that be? What could ever explain it?

      […]

      Indeed, as I documented in April, Clinton-defending Democrats have now become the most vocal champions of the primary argument used by the Citizens United majority. “We now conclude,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy for the Citizens United majority, “that independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.” That is now exactly the argument Clinton loyalists are spouting to defend the millions in donations from tyrannical regimes (as well as Wall Street banks and hedge funds): Oh, there’s no proof there’s any corruption going on with all of this money.

      Read the whole thing.

      I can’t wait to ask the next Clinton apologist why they think regimes that repress and abuse women, seek to wipe LGBT off the planet – among other things – give millions and millions of dollars to a foundation whose goals are gender and income equity, human rights and anti-poverty.

      1. fresno dan

        Anne
        August 26, 2016 at 9:45 am

        Wonderful link Anne and nice point made by the snippets you posted.

        I do not know how many times I have heard now, “Blah, potential conflict of interest blah, blah, but EVERYONE acknowledges that the Clinton foundation does good work”
        I hate conspiracy theories, but when it is said not by Clintoon advocates, but UNIVERSALLY by media pundits, it is awfully hard not to conclude that they all run off a script or that they are dumb as a rock.
        HOW is it, that apparently NOT ONE person in the mainstream can bring up this rather obvious critique?????? OTHER than they DON”T WANT TO….

        1. Anne

          More:

          Democratic Pundits Downplay Serious Ethical Issues Raised by the Clinton Foundation

          The Associated Press story this week revealing that as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton frequently met with donors to the Clinton Foundation, set off a firestorm in the media. Many Democrats and sympathetic pundits are criticizing the article — and have made the sweeping claim that, contrary to many deeply reported investigations, there is no evidence that well-heeled backers of the foundation received favorable treatment from the State Department.

          While there are some legitimate criticisms of the AP story — its focus, for instance, on a Nobel Peace Prize winner meeting with Clinton distracts from the thesis of the piece — it is nonetheless a substantive investigation based on calendars that the State Department has fought to withhold from the public. The AP took the agency to court to obtain a partial release of the meeting logs. Other commentators took issue with a tweet promoting the AP piece, which they said might confuse readers because the AP story reflected private sector meetings, not overall meetings.

          But in challenging the overall credibility of the AP story, Clinton surrogates and allies are going well beyond a reasoned critique in an effort to downplay the serious ethical issues raised by Clinton Foundation activities.

          Many examples cited, so worth reading.

          1. Jim Haygood

            Those pundits’ grandparents probably wrote the media encomia for “Uncle Joe” Stalin, Time’s Man of the Year in 1943.

      2. Tom

        Right. And don’t forget that those same repressive regimes that were so generous to the Clinton Foundation were downright stingy with donations to similar charities with identical stated goals. Sheer coincidence, right?

      3. Jim Haygood

        Veteran alt-rightist Pat Buchanan sums it up in one pithy sentence:

        Prediction: If Hillary Clinton wins, within a year of her inauguration, she will be under investigation by a special prosecutor on charges of political corruption, thereby continuing a family tradition.

        http://tinyurl.com/z7edh7v

        This summer, the US economy is in its 8th year of a weak but unusually prolonged expansion. Should the economy enter recession after the election (a pattern which repeated with amazing regularity from the 1960s through the 1980s), popular dissatisfaction will spike to dangerous levels.

        After Oil Shock I in 1974, the dismal state of the US economy contributed to widespread popular disgust with Nixon’s corruption. With populist sentiment brewing, the next recession will be dangerous for whomever is in charge. But for Hillary Milhous Clinton, it unquestionably would be career-ending.

        1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

          If you have been around hedge fund guys a lot, you know how to go long as well as short.

          You gotta be able to win either way.

          It’s like any good art auction house – you charge 20% or more to buyers and 30% or more to sellers.

          You conduct the auction on something twice, you practically own that piece.

  10. fresno dan

    https://www.emptywheel.net/2016/08/24/the-two-tales-of-russia-hacking-nyt/

    I have to ask a stupid question. What IF in fact the Russians “hacked” the NYT and/or the NYT Moscow bureau, what would that actually mean???
    WHY would they do it? HOW would that benefit Russia?
    ((Commie 1: Hoo boy – a list of NYT subscribers – these are the most gullible people on earth!!!
    Commie 2: Exactly right, they’ll pay good money for ANYTHING! We can finally unload our commemorative Chernobyl toxic waste souvenirs!))

    That they would get NYT stories prior to editing or publication???
    (Commie 1: NYT says Trump is a racist!!! Commie 2: Who knew? Thank God…less communism that we have the insights of the NYT 24-48 hours before anyone else!!!! Arm the nukes – we must stop racism in America!!!)

    Because getting NYT articles before anyone else doesn’t strike me as valuable at all – indeed, from all the critiques of the NYT I read, it strikes me as equivalent to breaking into an EPA superfund site and stealing manure that came from cows that ate plutonium…..
    Burglar 1: it must be worth something, else wise they wouldn’t lock it up!
    ((((you really should see this coming….)))

    burglar 2: Yeah! This MUST BE really good shit!!!

    Or do the Russians EDIT the stories (Punch Sulzberger: those damn commies are responsible for the lack of quality and ever declining pertinence of our newspaper!!!) to give that a….uh, well it doesn’t seem like a PRO Russian bias….man, it must be an elaborate plan….

    1. Pat

      I can think of one reason. Consider the well documented history that the NYT has of burying damaging stories towards political entities they support. If Russia were really trying to influence this election, knowing what the Times was burying regarding Clinton might be valuable. But that does not in any way explain hacking the Moscow bureau.
      Oh, wait, for more conspiracy minded, noted CIA front organization the NYT was a clear target for Russian state operatives to hack.

      I admit I miss the logic behind much of the so-called Russian State hacking. The DNC and its auxiliary organizations is not a logical target to me. There might be something blackmail worthy there, but honestly it would likely be weak tea, everyone thinks politics is dirty. Now, I fully expect any government agency, Congress, etc to be targets not just for Russia, but for every major country in the world including our allies. And it isn’t as if we haven’t targeted them.

  11. Greycat

    Could the Kremlin possibly think that the NYT is under contract with at least one of the major US political parties? Perhaps they hope that material other than (ahem) news is stored on the paper’s servers? Maybe the names of “reporters”?

  12. tgs

    A new development? Via Anti-Media:

    South Carolina Representative Trey Gowdy appeared on Fox News today and disclosed new details about the Clinton email scandal that seem to indicate intent to destroy evidence. … Gowdy reveals that Clinton used “BleachBit” to erase the “personal” emails from her private server. For those not familiar with the software, BleachBit is intended to help users delete files in a way to “prevent recovery” and “hide traces of files deleted.”

    FBI Admits Clinton Used Software Designed To “Prevent Recovery” And “Hide Traces Of” Deleted Emails

    1. begob

      I use bleachbit occasionally – the supposed advantage over ccleaner is that it roots out super-cookies. No reason to draw inferences over Clinton’s intentions.

      1. Antifa

        Are you a public servant whose every written communication is required by law to be recorded on government servers, or handed over to the government?

      2. hunkerdown

        If you’re doing general browsing from a high-security server containing public property, it’s your job what needs to be bleached.

        1. begob

          I’m just pointing out that it’s commonly used freeware – from the GNU foundation – that everyone who uses the internet should be aware of. We simply can’t infer anything from its use.

    2. Alex morfesis

      $hillary Kkklintoon and el donaldo are doing us all a favor by sharing the power of persistence over substance…

      all of our NM-EEZ must be enjoying their cigars and cognac right about now…

      a bit like nasa spending a fortune on magic space pen ink…and the russians using pencils…

      Bleachbit ??? Because hard drives are so insanely expansive…

      Dear amerikanskeez,

      Best way to be safe with communications hidingz ist to use hammer and multiple garbage can locations to discard little itty bitty pieces of broken internal parts of drive…

    3. LarryB

      That’s the first thing I’ve heard concerning her email server that suggests that there was someone competent operating it.

      1. hunkerdown

        For that moment, it did have someone competent operating it. However, time is a thing, and it doesn’t stop even for Her Heinous.

      2. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

        And probably the last time….nothing to see here.

        Hillary is so far ahead, and so over-confident, they will not bother with responding to allegations.

        Besides, she’s been doing this since the 80s, in not earlier and her evil, jealous opponents have been going after her without successfully nailing her. This is old news.

        “Have you heard about the latest outrage from Trump?”

      3. JustAnObserver

        Not so sure about competent. What’s the point of BleachBit if all the emails were being automatically copied to a remote backup server IIRC somewhere in Colorado ? New Jersey ? … or Moscow ?

    4. Jim Haygood

      BleachBit is actually posting this story on their website as a testimonial:

      Last year when Clinton was asked about wiping her email server, she joked, “Like with a cloth or something?” It turns out now that BleachBit was that cloth, according to remarks by Sen. Gowdy.

      https://www.bleachbit.org/news/bleachbit-stifles-investigation-hillary-clinton

      Gowdy’s a “Rep,” not a “Sen.”

      But who’s complaining, when a Member of Congress lauds your product with the unsolicited comment, “They had them deleted where even God can’t read them.”

      BleachBit FTW!

  13. allan

    Americans turn to Canada for cheaper EpiPens [Toronto Star]

    When Darby Leigh found out she’d need to start carrying an EpiPen this summer due to a medical issue, the Florida resident was stunned by the cost.

    “I couldn’t afford it,” said Leigh, 35. “They wanted to charge about $600 for two EpiPens and I couldn’t do that. I started looking elsewhere.”

    Her husband, Jonathan, originally from Brampton, suggested looking north of the border for cheaper options. She was able to buy a two-pack for about a third of the cost from CanadaDrugs.com, an online pharmacy based in Winnipeg. … The cost of a single EpiPen in Canada is about $100, according to a spokesperson for Pfizer Canada, which distributes the drug locally.

    “Canadians can rest assured that the price will not be increased like it has in the U.S.,” said Manon Genin, manager of corporate affairs for the company. “There are mechanisms in place in Canada to make sure that kind of situation doesn’t happen.” …

    Sure, but what they don’t tell you is that mechanisms in place is code for economic dictatorship.

    1. bob

      $100 is too much. It’s a very old drug. The drug in the pen probably costs less than $1.

      The other problem with the epi pens is that they expire. You can buy 2, and then never have to use them, but will have to buy another, just in case.

      They should be $5-$10 a piece. They should also be much more widely available. They do save lives, but at the current cost, they are very difficult for most people and/or organizations to afford.

    2. JEHR

      Allan, is “economic dictatorship” your description of democratic socialism which is what Canada practices where the government shows itself concerned with protection of the public against predatory private practices? Do you know anything about Canada’s parliamentary governance?

      1. allan

        Said in jest. Far be it for me to besmirch the land that gave us hockey sticks, poutine and Justin Bieber.

    3. Mel

      Well, there ya go. Eternal vigilance is not the price of freedom. $200 is the price of freedom. A little bit of freedom, anyway. You want more freedom, you have to keep paying.

  14. afisher

    The CTer’s are out in force here this AM. :-(
    It is no longer worth talking about the economy, which is what made this site a place to come to….now, it is no better than any other.

    1. tegnost

      As I’m reading now, you’ve made 5 comments today, 2 political, one curiously about the benefit of canadian single payer although the candidate you tend to support is never in a million years going to implement that so… kinda political…and one about the good old days in napa (personally I’m not rich and enjoyed going to napa but as otis pointed out expensive, did it on a drive thru, don’t see why people shouldn’t enjoy the fruits of the valley as it were…) and this one (which, by the way, is pathetic) Maybe put your money where your mouth is and focus your comments on economic issues? But I feel for you, defending clinton is a mighty task, I suggest you soft pedal it as much as possible and chip around the edges because at it’s core it’s corrupt beyond words.

    2. hunkerdown

      afisher, David Brock wants his petulant sulking back. Aren’t you embarrassed to be a presumable adult so committed to an imaginary friend that doesn’t even have serious antiquity to boast about?

    3. low integer

      I’m guessing afisher’s intention was that CT = Clinton Trolls aka CTR. Hahaha just joking.
      To afisher: We all know the angle you are trying to work here, and you are wasting your time.

  15. xformbykr

    regarding 2016, my spouse related the following to me:
    “have you tried the trump sandwich? it’s on white bread, with plenty
    of baloney, russian dressing, and a small pickle.”
    subsequently, i’ve searched for clinton related humor but have
    not found much. why should trump have all the fun?
    can readers help??

    1. human

      This is circa the 2012 race:

      The Hillary combo from your favorite chicken shack, “Small breasts, fat thighs and a left wing.”

      1. hunkerdown

        Of course conservative-pride supporters would say such a thing. In truth, she has only two right wings.

  16. Rufus T Firefly

    Thanks for the link about (Walford’s) caloric restriction studies. An aside worth further investigation, to folks concerned about genetic predisposition towards early-onset senile dementia: Subsequent research has been looking into links between pre-diabetes, GERD medications and the like. One suggestion was (along with anti-inflammatory diets, pre-biotics, meditative states and exercise) sporadic mini-fasts: 12hrs between eating, a few times a week, in combination with Nicotinamide Riboside, Pterostilbene, Reservatrol & Curcumin (or simply eat more colorful, leafy vegetables?) Yes, I’m pretty sure, we’ll be seeing lots of price gouging and media induced crazes, like selling reservatrol from endemic Japanese knot-weed rhizomes at a 30,000% mark-up.

    1. Lee

      Widely used GERD drugs such as omneprazole block the uptake of vitamin B12, which is necessary for normal brain function.

      1. Rufus T Firefly

        Simply imagine post TAA ISDS tribunal judgements as to what constitutes a suitable treatment for whatever ails 80 million US boomers? I’m guessing our betters will quite literally feed off our young any day now, a true sharing economy? Doubtless, there’s already an iPhone app? Rough guess, as physicians lose their jobs like the rest of us, the multi-tiered amalgam of “treatment options” utilized by us po’ folks (eg: substitution of vice grips & solvents for dentistry) will become more apparent to formerly middle class folks? You can’t SEO away symptoms, so even white folks will be relegated to reagent diagnostics, with your cellphone diagnosing whatever fracking, scientific agriculture, fall-out has done to endanger your children’s lives, as your faculties diminish and you become ever more desperate, craven & gullible to specious conjecture… I’m investing NOW! http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/how-snake-oil-got-a-bad-rap/

  17. flora

    re: “Look Who’s Coming to Private Equity’s Defense on Fee Secrecy” – Bloomberg

    In June, CalSTRS’s legislative affairs manager, Jocelyn Martinez-Wade, testified that if private equity funds “see the requirements in this bill become law and don’t wish to comply with them, they may not want to contract with us anymore.” ‘
    [And that would be a bad thing why ? ]
    ‘ That could cost CalSTRS up to $400 million in returns over time, its staff has estimated. Christopher Ailman, CalSTRS chief investment officer, offered to provide “actual examples” of funds that would kick the public pension out—but only behind closed doors.
    [right…..]

    And then I read this:
    http://theonedave.tumblr.com/post/149328805132/bonds-surpass-stocks-in-sp-500-pension-fund

    Hmmm. Maybe SP 500 companies know something PE captured pension staff don’t know.

    1. Jim Haygood

      As Andanov, Bauer and Cremers have described in a paper destined to become a classic, the regulatory environment of corporate and public pension funds is like night and day.

      http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2070054

      Corporate pension plans use a corporate bond yield (currently 2.91% for a 10-year maturity) published by the US Treasury to discount their future pension obligations:

      https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/economic-policy/corp-bond-yield/Pages/Corp-Yield-Bond-Curve-Papers.aspx

      By contrast, public funds such as Calpers are allowed to use an assumed rate of return (7.5%, in Calpers’ case). Given an unrealistically high (if not delusional) target return, public funds take higher levels of risk to hit their unlikely bogey, much as the S&L industry did in the 1980s before it blew up on the government’s dime.

      Fannie and Freddie were just a prologue. :-(

  18. Jim Haygood

    J-Yel’s liquidationist sidekick Stanley Mellon Fischer is at it again, shaking his bony old finger at us in warning:

    “Yellen’s comments are consistent with a possible September hike”

    Hooray — it’s Fed Groundhog Day all over again! (BTFD)

  19. Louis

    In regards to the Rolling Stone piece about why you shouldn’t support Gary Johnson, I believe he came out in favor of the Civil Rights Act, whereas a sizable number of other Libertarians have opposed it.

    The core tenet of Libertarian philosophy seems to be that if we loosen the rules people will simply learn to behave themselves. The history of the civil rights should illustrate why this is a cruel joke.

    Civil Rights didn’t come out of nowhere, it came because of widespread systemic discrimination–not only that but those acting in a discriminatory manner often genuinely didn’t believe they were doing anything wrong. The notion that racist business owners, racist law enforcement, and others would have come to their senses and treat everyone fairly without something like the Civil Rights Act doesn’t pass the laugh test.

    Libertarianism and Communism are almost two sides of the same coin: i.e. they may be nice ideas in theory, at least to some people, but have too fundamental a misunderstanding of human nature to ever work in practice.

      1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

        In Europe and elsewhere, there are usually more than just 2 major political parties.

        On the other hand, if you only have 2 major private sector players in any business, you would like it’s time for trust busting.

        Like, say, in the field of internet search engine or browsing.

        But it’s different, this time at least, in the public sector. You are able to have only one currency issuer and 2 dominant political parties.

        Wait, I think there is only one major search engine in the private sector.

      1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

        That leaves Stein and Trump as the real, genuine anti-TPP candidates.

        As Sanders argued for not going Independent from the start – it was about having realistic chances, in all 50 states….to actually be able to get into the White House.

        Now, as of today, we have only one who is within striking distance.

    1. Lambert Strether

      We know that merely from the fact that The Saker is interviewing Colin Powell’s former chief of staff….

      Adding, I misread the comment. The Saker is reposting a YouTube of Wilkerson.

  20. RMO

    RE Vancouver commercial real estate vacancies: I spent the first five months of this year attempting to start a small coffee roasting business in the suburbs of Vancouver – it was a one person business which had a fiercely loyal customer base and was making an adequate profit with it’s founder (by his standards and mine – about $30-40,000 per year) in Vancouver proper but the block he was in was being redeveloped and when the reconstruction was done his rent would have been increased fivefold. He couldn’t afford that and decided to retire and sell the business. I bought it and then went looking for a place to rent out in the suburbs. We tried to rent or lease several places but found the owners reluctant to rent to us. Only one owner seemed to have any real interest in actually getting a tenant but unfortunately that property would have required a pretty massive and expensive upgrade to the water mains, bathroom, ventilation system etc. to bring it up to current city code. He eventually rented it to someone to use it as a second hand store – since they wouldn’t need the building permit for the changes to the plumbing and vents like we would they wouldn’t trigger the code upgrades. I don’t blame him in the least for going with the simpler option. The funny thing is that the other properties we looked at are still empty to this day. Makes me wonder what’s going on.

  21. allan

    Cloud Computing Brings Sprawling Centers, but Few Jobs, to Small Towns [NYT]

    …The South Virginia tobacco economy collapsed as Americans cut back on smoking. But in 1999, Virginia used some of the $4.1 billion it received in a settlement with cigarette makers to build high-speed fiber-optic lines throughout the region.

    The broadband drew Microsoft, along with some financial perks. Mecklenburg County, which received $2.1 million from the state for the project, has given Microsoft 350 acres and offset personal property taxes by 82.5 percent, according to Wayne Carter, the county administrator. …

    Microsoft did not dispute reports that it would spend $1.1 billion on the Boydton data center, and said that “on average, data centers employ tens to several dozen people,” in a mixture of corporate and contracted positions. It declined to let a reporter tour the site. …

    Socializing costs, privatizing gains, minimizing employment. Late stage capitalism at its finest.

      1. ambrit

        Much easier to physically defend. Easy to establish a cordon around, indeed, the neos dream; easy to set up robotically controlled machine gun bunkers to keep everyone out. “Warning. You are entering a ‘No Nonsense Zone.’ Anyone entering for any reason will be killed.”
        The “real” threats will come from out of ‘cyberspace.’

  22. Vatch

    I’ve seen some news reports about popcorn worthy political events in the state of Maine! Do we know anyone who lives in Maine? Why, yes, I believe we do! Perhaps later today that person will comment on the fun stuff in his home state.

    1. Jen

      As a resident of the Granite State, who regularly reassures my out of state friends and family that the entire state is not, in fact, bat shit crazy (just a disturbing proportion of those who hold elected office, but when you have 400 members of the legislature alone, in a state our size, bat shit crazy is inevitable), all I can say is thank god for Paul LePage. He almost makes us look good.

    2. Lambert Strether

      Here’s the deal in Maine. LePage is, at the very best, a loose cannon (see here from 2011 and here from 2014).

      The Democrats are corrupt, and (my issue, and more than a pet one) LePage actually gave us landfill opponents a public hearing after ten years and two Democrat governorships, with witnesses under oath, with the legal result that a ginormous expansion was limited, and the political result was that the next one was halted. (The Democrats had also gotten the landfill going, in the first place, through a corrupt process involving all sorts of shenanigans and crooked lawyering).

      So in some ways Maine in 2011 was a forerunner (“Dirigo”) of the national race in 2016: Crazy vs. corrupt. So I’m not inclined to join the dogpile.

      1. John k

        True as far as it goes…
        But crazy might imply dangerous, whereas corrupt rides with confront Russia and China, which sounds really crazy to me… Plus everybody knows she’ll have to show she’s got the world’s biggest pair…

  23. Alex morfesis

    Burkini freedom…top court in france overturns law requiring women to walk around half naked for the misogynistic benefit of little french fried men….

    frites for all….

    1. Plenue

      Can someone more versed in French history than me explain how exactly France went from being the birthplace of Enlightenment ideals of freedom of speech and expression to this convoluted modern idea that banning certain things actually safeguards expression? I’m assuming it’s a separate branch of evolution from the one currently infesting US campuses; that speech can be restricted it it prevents people from being ‘triggered’.

      1. hunkerdown

        It’s perfectly reasonable to assume, lacking strong evidence to the contrary, that mass media throughout history, indeed, the mass medium that is mass history itself, be by their nature both the product and the vector of a power relation, therefore inadmissible as fact. In that sense, Francis Fukuyama was wrong and Henry Ford was right — history is bunk, or, shall we say, “orthogonal to actual events”.

        Unfortunately, the Enlightened didn’t seek to replace rule, so much as to complicate and obscure it, and in doing so, secure a share in it for themselves. An overbearing, overprivileged, fussy-as-all-get-out bourgeoisie and a meritocracy of bullshit aesthetics is not an inconceivable outcome when taking Enlightenment ideals, informed by Protestantism as they were, to their logical conclusion.

  24. Plenue

    >Lockheed’s F-35 Still Falls Short, Pentagon’s Tester Says

    And it will always ‘fall short’, because it’s based on an inherently nonsensical premise of a magical do-everything plane.

    Meanwhile, Russia’s T-50 prototype is nearing deployment readiness, and Syria is providing the perfect advertisement of Sukhoi aircraft. China and Indonesia both placed new orders for Su-35s, doubtless based on its showing over Syria.

      1. Plenue

        Well, the Su-27 family (of which the Su-35 is the newest member) was designed with pure aerodynamics in mind, so it’s all smooth surfaces. The new 5th generation planes are angular with lots of flat surfaces as a compromise to stealth. Theoretically they should still be able to outmaneuver older planes, but given the Russians fixation on 3D thrust vectoring and supermaneuverability, I wouldn’t be surprised if an Su-35 could out-turn an F-22.

        In that Rand Corporation simulation where the F-35 performed so abysmally (“can’t turn, can’t climb, can’t run”), the F/A-18’s performed even worse and were absolutely slaughtered by the Chinese Sukhoi’s. So our current stock of aircraft is actually in need of replacement. But the replacement the Pentagon has decided on is crap.

  25. John k

    On the plus side it is ridiculously expensive, so not that many crappy planes will be made, wasting less aluminum.

    1. Plenue

      The F-35 was supposed to be cheap workhorse plane while the F-22 was the expensive air superiority fighter, a continuation of the high-low doctrine that existed for the F-16 and F-15. The plan was that the F-35 would replace a bunch of other more specialized planes. There are about 200 F/A-18s currently in service. The F-35 was supposed to replace all of them. As it keeps being delayed and plagued with problems the Navy has been making noises about just continuing to use the F/A-18. Which is going to require a bunch of expensive upgrades to keep it viable, and probably a bunch of brand new, built-from-scratch airframes.

      So both options (get a bunch of F-35s or keep using the F/A-18) are going to suck and be expensive.

  26. Valdo Peixoto

    Calory restriction’s role in slowing aging is great news indeed. For once it’s proven austerity does work!

Comments are closed.