Thursday, June 12, 2025

Why the Green New Deal Is the Stuff of Fantasyland

Why the Green New Deal can’t deliver on its promises.

Bill Black: Trump CFPB Plans Obscene Change to Payday Lender Rule

The Trump Administration is out to weaken payday lender regulations so as to allow the industry to put borrowers on a debt treadmill that leads almost inevitably to bankruptcy.

Longtime Reporter Leaves NBC, Accuses Media of “Lionizing Destructive Organizations” Like the FBI

The FBI is openly setting out to make and break political leaders, undermining what we have left of a functioning democracy.

Cancelling NYC Meetup This Friday, January 18; Need Input On Planned Fort Lauderdale Meetup on Thursday, February 7

Readers have expressed virtually no interest in the first two scheduled meetups of this year, and we have gotten the message.

2:00PM Water Cooler 1/14/2019

Today’s Water Cooler; Fortnite, Southeast Asian trade, Sanders 2020, Democrats and the heartland, soybeans, Tidal’s faked streams, Bird, AWS and MongoDB, RSS, fiber, market moves, Los Angeles teachers strike, gig economy, Marie Kondo, countering misinformation

CalPERS Fiasco 2: Confidential Member Data at Risk by Letting Company With No Contract Have Access; CalPERS Apparently Still Has No Deal With Any Vendors for Upcoming Elections

How CalPERS gave access to its sensitive member database to a company it barely knew, Votem Corp., with no contractual protection whatsoever. That’s like giving the keys to your house to someone you just met.

CalPERS Fiasco: Impermissible Non-Public Board Election Count; Failure of Widely Criticized Internet Voting to Deliver on Any Goals; Botched Tabulation

CalPERS refused to abandon its half-baked idea to push beneficiaries to vote by Internet ant phone. The scheme had not only failed to produce its alleged benefits, but it’s also again demonstrated CalPERS’ incompetence and deep commitment to cronyism.

Links 1/14/19

Rethinking Free Trade Agreements in Uncertain Times

Jomo Kwame Sundaram makes the case against the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free trade agreement that went into effect at the end of 2018, for six of its eleven member countries.

‘A Reckless Advocate of Military Force’: Demands for John Bolton’s Dismissal After Reports He Asked Pentagon for Options to Strike Iran

John Bolton manages the difficult task of making me yearn for the days of Henry Kissinger.

Links 1/13/19

Plastic Watch: Ocean Cleanup Array to Arrive Today in Hilo for Necessary Repairs

Ocean Cleanup Array arrives today in Hilo for necessary repairs; not yet clear that the system will succeed in collecting plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Wolf Richter: Oops, SpaceX to Lay Off 10% of its Employees after Funding Fiasco in November

The LA Times reports that SpaceX, the unicorn startup with a newly minted $30.5 billion “valuation” and dreams of sending humans to Mars shortly, will lay off about 10% of its employees.

Links 1/12/19

Off-Roading, Chopped Joshua Trees, Overflowing Toilets: Our National Parks During a Shutdown

Wreckage of national parks during the shutdown as yet another sign of lack of social cohesion.