first.

I love their ability to slap the various Administrations silly while all the time sounding erudite. Ubiquicerpt:

Welcome to an era of diminished expectations and continuing dangers; a world where policymakers must steer between the imminent threat of deflation while countering investors’ (reasonable) fears that swelling public debts and massive monetary easing could eventually lead to high inflation; an uncharted world where government borrowing reaches a scale not seen since the second world war, when capital controls ensured that savings stayed at home.

How to cope with these dangers? Certainly not by clutching at scraps of better news. That risks leading to less action right now. Warding off deflation, for instance, will demand more unconventional steps from more central banks for longer than many now seem to foresee. Laggards, such as the European Central Bank, do themselves and the world no favours by holding back. Nor should governments immediately seek to take back the fiscal stimulus. Prolonged economic weakness does far greater damage to public finances than temporary fiscal activism. Remember how Japan snuffed out its recovery in the 1990s by rushing to raise taxes.

Imagine some Administration so stupid as to raise taxes in times like these. Why the Economist even raises the issue escapes me.

Warding off deflation, for instance, will demand more unconventional steps from more central banks for longer than many now seem to foresee.

IOW, let's paper the world with fiat.

I used to really like The Economist, but sometime in the last year I realized that their correspondants' adherence to economic liberalism was one-sided. For example, they advocate tough-love capitalism for automakers and more generally, those on the losing side of globalization. I tend to agree with those arguments. On the other hand, they completely abandon such principles when their readership (e.g. bankers) is threatened. All of a sudden they offer nuanced arguments about 'why finance is different'. I've also come to believe many of the criticisms offered below as well:
The Economist - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anyone else come to a similar conclusion?

Anyway, I'm still likely to buy one before a long flight and generally do find their analysis insightful.

Have we solved any of the underlying issues? Anybody? Buehler?

They also threw their libertarian ethos out the window when it was time to get in line and beat the war drum back in '02. Of course, this is right around the time that Congressional Democrats were downright enthusiastic about universal wiretaps, torture, and permanent suspension of habeus corpus.

Tupuli,

Is that like the G7-backed IMF prescriptions of austerity to debt-ridden third world countries vs. unbridled monetization for first-world countries? Do as we say, not as we do.

I read the MSM for amusement, not for information.

//What do you read now Lucifer?//

When house prices go down, someone wins, someone loses

Isn't that a few people win and a lot of people lose?

......there is no difference between the two parties other than a few social issues. The arguments with those few issues will dominate the news while the world still smokes.

...."we still think you are all barbarians..."

I B 1

I B 1 2

When house prices go down, someone wins, someone loses.

The problem is the losses are directly transmited into the highly leveraged financial institutions. That is why the housing/credit bubble has a much greater effect on the economy than a stock bubble or tulip bubble.

Banksters and elitists have always feared widespread ownership of firearms.

//The Economist has a stereotypical European attitude towards ownership of firearms.//

Agree that there is little difference between the parties, but the Democrats are much more dangerous as exhibited by their wanton tossing of money into the fray.... Too bad that the electorate is so poorly educated that they can be swayed by the promise of largess from the public treasury, the demise of the republic being the result.

Lucifer, do you believe Main Street needs a profitable Wall Street to recover?

I read a variety of MSM sources but with a very skeptical eye.

//Yes, I understand, but where do you get your information (other than CR)?//

No! wall street requires a healthy main street to survive. Parasites require hosts more than hosts require parasites.

//Lucifer, do you believe Main Street needs a profitable Wall Street to recover?//

So true. We'd never see a GOP president double the national debt and go 6 years without a single spending veto... Oh, wait.

Interesting CRE article on Zero Hedge:
Zero Hedge: The One Trillion Commercial Real Estate Time Bomb 

All currencies are based on faith. Even if backed by gold, you need faith that the gold can be fairly exchanged, and not confiscated.

tupuli writes: I used to really like The Economist, but sometime in the last year I realized that their correspondants' adherence to economic liberalism was one-sided. For example, they advocate tough-love capitalism for automakers and more generally, those on the losing side of globalization. I tend to agree with those arguments. On the other hand, they completely abandon such principles when their readership (e.g. bankers) is threatened. All of a sudden they offer nuanced arguments about 'why finance is different'.

I completely agree, Tupuli. I have been a long time subscriber to the Economist, and sometime around 2000 they lost their way. Indeed I recall an earlier incarnation of "Buttonwood" describing the US debt/financial policies as those of a "banana republic". But while they used to write prescient and insightful articles,they suddenly seemed to be falling over themselves to excuse obvious folly as sensible "innovation". This was especially evident in their writing about CDOs, but they also treated the stupidity of the Bush administration with kid gloves until very late in the debacle. This is why I started searching the blogs for something better, and am so happy to have found the likes of "Calculated Risk", "Follow the Money", "Naked Capitailism, and "Baseline Scenerio", not to mention the insights of energyecon, dryfly, evilhenrypaulson, mp, and others. But I was pleased by this latest issue of The Economist, and I hope they've got their mojo back.

When some of you talk about the "banksters and elitists" who exactly are you referring to? I mean these are not just some abstract people. They have First and Last names and exist in the real world. Do you fret about George Bush and Barack Obama, or their real masters.

Lets see who you may have in mind but be afraid to say:
Rothschilds
Kuhns
Loebs
Kahns

Greenspan
Zoellick
Bernanke
Dassault (Bloch)
Barney Frank (US Senator)
Axelrod (Obama's election advisor/puppeteer's agent)
Summers
Geitner
Goldman Sachs's CEO Blankfein
AIG Former CEO Greenberg that created the mess but safely retreated in shadows right before the crisis
Same can be said about the CITI's CEO Weil
Madoff the money launderer

and the list goes on and on. You get the picture. Now we can see who the banksters and elitists are.
Are you so afraid to name them by name? These are publicly known, yet there are many of them who are not known yet they are present in the halls of power in almost every major government and country.

I think you're indulging in some sophistry and semantics there. The value of commodities is based on utility and rarity. The value of a fiat dollar is based on absolutely nothing.

how to share it without violating confidentiality

The personal stakes for you are too high,...don't do it.

I'm here all night doing work in case it wasn't apparent.

Golly, you forgot names like Koch, Walton, Buffet, Gates, Slim Helu - any particular reason for that?

The value of the fiat dollar is based on the need to pay taxes in it.

berserker,

Housing Vacancies and Homeownership - Annual 2005: table 12

first link from the wiki article on homeownership

What I thought I had found -- and bear in mind that further investigation found this theory to be disproven -- was a bailout recipient company purchasing large quantities of bullion right around the time of the crash, without a legitimate (or even a conceivable) business purpose for doing so. I figured out what they were up to though, and it's kosher. But man, that would have been cool. I would've totally marched into my boss'es office and said, "Frank, it looks like they're tunneling assets, in GOLD BARS!"

Fuck it's late.

Again, anybody have a reliable source for that 2/3 home ownership figure? Its been discussed on this site many times, but the articles I'm finding are relitter propaganda . thanks.

I like the new Apocalyptic Saturday Nights...now if we could just get back our Morning Rock-blogging.

I'm here all night cramming for Tx. Civil Procedure Final...if it wasn't apparent.

I like the new Apocalyptic Saturday Nights...

Will you be shooting squirrels for food... OR BECAUSE THEY'RE A VECTOR?!?!?

Calculated Risk of Pandemic

Berserker,

CR's done numerous posts (with his typically excellent chart porn). Look'em up.

Civ. Pro. had no meaning for me in school. I thought it was really dry. Then when I started working in the court system I saw how important it is to the average person. Usually the answer is ethically reasonable.

What I thought I had found -- and bear in mind that further investigation found this theory to be disproven -- was a bailout recipient company purchasing large quantities of bullion right around the time of the crash

Keep digging Hoop, I want to know where the bodies and/or bullion is buried.

I used to really like The Economist...Anyone else come to a similar conclusion?

Several years ago, they hired an American editor, who turned it into crap.

Fortunately for them, the New Yorker hired a British editor, so you now have to read Vanity Fair, a fashion magazine, for in depth articles.

oh and we have lots of pigs for food, hoops!

Why do the anti-semites keep crawling out of the muck? Is there a shortage of rocks to cover them?

This ends the debate. That is what you need the A word for. No further discussion of crimes, just of rocks.

Civ Pro was my favorite course in law school!

What am I doing now? Transactional work, pure transactional. Unhappy? Why do you ask?

Why does CR attract so many lawyers (or aspiring lawyers)?

My wife is a 1L with an interest in international transactional work. We'll likely end up either in TX or perhaps the SF bay area. Any advice? E.g. how much emphasis should she place on fluency in a foreign language, are there specific industries that she should learn about, etc.

Beserker- I Googled HUD 68 homeownership and Bush and got a White House Press release referring to the 2002 Census. You can take it from here. President Hosts Conference on Minority Homeownership October 15,2002

Berserker, sounds interesting, though I would be more inclined to look at the establishment of the FHA, the GI bill, FDR's various attempts at building federal housing, than recent events, though maybe that is exactly what you're planning.

I'd also recommend using the term "Marxian" in the actual paper. It just sounds more academic. A narrow focus is also good - you could easily create something as long-winded as "Das Kapital" itself if you let it sprawl.

Do you recommend that Chomsky stuff? Talk about self-referential... You need a dictionary, a thesaurus, and a digest.

Tupuli, I do have some advice.

If you're not attending a top 20 school, and are not in the top third of that school, with the exception of harvard, stanford and yale, based on your first year grades, drop out now unless you like the idea of working on bankruptcy and/or tax.

Otherwise, focus on tax and bankruptcy (in that order), and start thinking now about which bankruptcy judge you would be comfortable clerking for in terms of locale.

HollywoodHack, there are plenty of traditional jobs that are not biglaw for sub top 20, like county counsel or whatever. Don't go into debt to get a degree from these places though, only go with a nice scholarship or other benny, because you'll be making 55-60k your first year. But you'll be doing real law. Not the shit I'm doing.

She goes to a top 10 school (in the state with the highest rate of UE in the nation) and has a B+ average after 1 semester. I think that puts her slightly above average in her class.

Berserker,

Homeownership statistics are great indicators of the bubble and it's downside. We peaked somewhere around 69% but the "normal" rate is closer to 64%. Greenspan himself stated that the additional 5% was "at risk", and Meredith Whitney pointed out that the rate has already fallen to 2002 levels so prices must follow.

Someone pieced together a pandemic flu map from various media reports.

Pretty neat.

World Human Novel H1N1 Cases & Suspect Cases - Google Maps

Hollywood Hack
Actually there are specific sources we are supposed to be engaging. And yes, the distinctions between Marx and Marxism. Marrx once said he wasn't a "Marxist" A good deal of my focus is on Mentalities-one of our required texts is The Great Cat Massacre by Robert Darnton. Interesting read. But I think it would be smart to bring in some recent stats. LoL my original thesis would have produced an 800 page tome.

Sorry for the cliche, but go for an education in something interesting and valuable, don't fret about the $. $60k can be a good life, which is short.

Hoop, given the economic climate, would you suggest looking more seriously at TX firms than SF bay? The former is probably our default, but the later would put me closer to my employer's mothership.

*should have been directed at Tupuli

I have no reason why so many lawyers are here

You'd still be hard-pressed to outnumber us geeks.

Competition will be fiercer in SF Bay, because everyone wants to live here. SOL will be higher in TX, salaries being equal. TX economy is propped up by lots of fed dollars, which might dry up if the fedgov has serious problems.

I'd say the TX job would be easier to land, but I would look seriously at both, because even though TX is easier to get a job at, shopping in both SF AND TX is even easier. If she wants to go the non-biglaw route I'd go with TX, because there are a lot of lawyers prowling around here willing to shovel shit at a DA's office for the privilege of "living" in the BA.

Also, forgot to mention, that Skadden deferee also has a Stanford undergrad degree and is a great interview who is quite attractive, just to help complete the picture.

If it's any consolation JD2B, she seriously considered going to Austin

Definitely agree on the cost of living. SF area would be neat, but I'd rather not pay 2x for housing.

Viet nam war news bias, that is, semantic analysis.
My pool sucks tonight, guess I'll to home and wait on The Doc

I like the youtube video of Ali G. interviewing Noam Chomsky-he plays the straight man almost to the very end-its hilarious.

Hoops:

Should Tuelpi consider where he wants to hang out by himself while his associate wife is working 100 hours per week to prove herself at the firm? Texas or San Francisco?

Norka, I think you're missing something... those... jobs... don't... exist.... anymore...

All of those burnt out 3d years didn't know how good they had it. And no one lucky enough to be making 200K+ without risking their own capital at any point should whine, especially now that nice real estate can be had soon for under a half-mil even in pricey coastal markets.

I love Ali G., but I wince when he takes advantage of the "generation gap". Not that the old are sacred cows, but just easy targets.

Tupuli, the SF bay area sounds nice until you live here. It's full of the most insufferable prats known to man.

AMEN!

God I can't wait till I get out of this place.......

The problem is the losses are directly transmited into the highly leveraged financial institutions. That is why the housing/credit bubble has a much greater effect on the economy than a stock bubble or tulip bubble.

No not on "the economy", on those institutions. The "economy" includes the price of tea in China. Or rice.

It reduces available credit. Drastically. That affects peoples ability to purchase goods.

JD2B - 4tiers can definetely make it. I was talking to the GC and 5 lawyers in VSP, Inc., a huge corporation, and I think one wasn't even from an accredited law school, tier 4, unranked trash diplomas, doing just fine. It's all about how you work it if you're low tier. In some ways, I think you have a better career being a badass with a crap degree.

Thanks for the input everyone.

All this really goes to whether there is an "education bubble". I wish CR would make some Student loan graphs for Sallie Mae.
And GradPlus loans for the next few years. There's lots of kids with 100K in debt who they can't foreclose even a crap house on.
That adds up to a lot of crap houses somewhere down the line.

Don't listen to the old fogies. We can afford to take a paper loss in student loans. Over-educated or over-qualified is better than under, just as too many houses is better than too few.

It is an interesting divide. There is some truth to the stereotype older fellows see it as "boy, don't need no schoolin' he needs a wrench!"
Guess it's a Gen. X thing. I just worry more of it as a straw that broke the camel's back.

Jews are so diverse in culture, country, language, belief, and religious view that there can be no real logical basis for anti-semitism. By my observation, as a group, "the Jews," meaning the various diaspora spread all over the globe, are incapable of any kind of collective action or even agreement about the fundamentals of their religion, let alone a conspiracy. The Jewish tradition of arguing and questioning and cajoling god instead of abject worship makes for a group of people with incredibly disparate beliefs, habits, and plans of action.

I don't get anti-semitism.

Every person I know who has gone into public service (working for the state) has been massively incompetent and has sought such a position out because of the allure of steady hours and not being fired for their incompetence.

Indeed, the way our society grapples with issues surrounding hyperinflated tuition and the assumptions behind mushrooming student debt will be interesting in the next few years.

I think an unaddressed part of the issue is the fact that any and all 'higher education' involving finance, economics, marketing or general 'business' is a complete and total fraud with almost no bearing on actual science or relevant job skills. A good liberal arts education is a great thing for any civilized person to enjoy, languages are the key to the world's cultures, studying fine arts is a true luxury, and the hard sciences can make for a great, socially useful career. Those things really are great investments in one's quality of life if done right. Everything else is, more or less, a scam, which isn't just damaging to intellectual culture, but potentially catastrophic when this smug, brainless culture results in things like the trillion-dollar CDO wipeout we've witnessed.

Hoopajoops LTD,

Everyone requires a good scapegoat..For a long time the christian west (and the muslim midlle-east) blamed anyone who was jewish for everything from plague, droughts, cold weather, usury, heresy,childhood illnesses and thinking differently.. I suspect the last accusation had some truth to it

The tradition of questioning means we can never accept things on faith, even what our own leaders tell us, so there is no agreement, as you say.

The questioners, from Marx to Kasparov to Lenny Bruce, will never accept what the political power dictates, which is a logical basis for fomenting antisemitism.

don't forget Jesus!

I was. But hoops point is valid. Lots of floundering students will pick up these jobs for a release of debt over say 10yrs of service. Will this be an "improvement" in quality for govt. service, hard to say.

This is the New Economy! American scientists and engineers DO NOT lower themselves down to actually advancing the science or building something tangible. Hell no, going to Wall Street and building nice ponzi scheme models is the new way! Or screwing the next generation of wanna-be-scientists and engineers with big tuition fees.

Hoopajoops LTD,

It has been a day without a lot of outrageous news.

I seem to get enraged when any bankster or their economist handmaidens open their mouths..

People usually don't acknowledge that part of what motivates the Kissingers, Bernankes, or Blankfeins is a misguided attempt to inculcate themselves to the power elite just to survive. They rationalize with Machiavellian logic.

Everything else is, more or less, a scam, which isn't just damaging to intellectual culture, but potentially catastrophic when this smug, brainless culture results in things like the trillion-dollar CDO wipeout we've witnessed.

I'm amused by all the $30k salary positions that absolutely require a masters degree in a specific field. Are they really anything more than informal guilds with a $50k entry fee?

I think the emphasis on 2 and 4 year degrees is similar. I believe the same parties that screen on that basis alone (as opposed to where you went or what you know) would just as soon accept certification that the applicant had set $50k of hard currency on fire. In either case, you filter out an undesirable segment of the population.

Really, what does a 2 year associates degree from a BS school certify other than "I'm less likely to steal from you than the other guy"?

It certifies that the person is together enough to engage in two years of study and pass classes during that two years of study. I've hung out with some real scatterbrained losers, and that is beyond them.

Hey at least its a good way to show employers which dogs will jump if you dangle treats. A valuable distinction.

American scientists and engineers DO NOT lower themselves down to actually advancing the science or building something tangible. Hell no, going to Wall Street and building nice ponzi scheme models is the new way! Or screwing the next generation of wanna-be-scientists and engineers with big tuition fees.

Meh, there really aren't that many quants out there.

Be careful what you say, hoops, you might wind up in public service and have to justify your raise.

It certifies that the person is together enough to engage in two years of study and pass classes during that two years of study. I've hung out with some real scatterbrained losers, and that is beyond them.

Well, could they summon $50k worth of hard currency to burn?

I'm only arguing that the education part is subordinate to the "look, I buy in to the system" part. I'm too lazy to look, but I suspect some rogue economist has examined this phenomenon.

I don't take that rhetoric as representative of 'true' Islam.

The "Golden Age" of Jewish culture in the Diaspora is considered to be in Spain, under Muslim rule. When the Christians took over (El Cid) many of the elite Jews fled to Muslim countries (Maimonides, e.g.). The ones who stayed eventually faced the Spanish Inquisition. Many fled to Holland, where they thrived until the Nazis took over. Some went with Columbus. Some were burned at the stake. The weakest-willed just became Christians. Others, called "Marranos" (Swine) practiced Jewish rituals in secret, right up to the 20th Century.

The ones who were burned didn't leave their genetic code, but they inspire us.

Probably. Does his lineage go back to 14th Century Spain?

The fact that he engages in a secret act of rebellion means that he respects tradition handed down for thousands of years, even if he doesn't understand it. The respect has value; the ritual is secondary.

Oh yeah, Hoopajoops is the only one online. comment thread all to myself.

the glimmer may well be those few flickers of intermittent energy emitted just before it goes completely dark

Turbo Timmy even used the darkness metaphor at his 'news' conference Friday. How poetic.

Folk, we're wasting our time. Start grubbing a patch for growing some comestibles. Heck, look at the videos of Michelle using first a rake then a shovel as she wreaked her screed on the White House grounds. Is it just me, or does it seem they are trying to tell us something?

And when it comes to that most feared all stop position, I know what I'd say if I was in charge: "We done told you to plant your own damn food, now shoo."

bobn (homepage, profile) wrote on Sun, 4/26/2009 - 2:25 am

Why do the anti-semites keep crawling out of the muck? Is there a shortage of rocks to cover them?

There's something about the idea that really gains traction in the human mind.

There is an international Jewish conspiracy, it's called the way the State of Israel exploits the diaspora community's special feelings toward the state that has managed to wrap itself up in their religious identity. Criticize the state of Israel, eat some flak from the ADL. Make no mistake, they destroyed careers and made enemies. Part of what you are hearing is the hissing from people who thought that was bad sport or got personally affected and are just trying to get the boot in on someone they dislike in a silly way.

I saw a really great aphorism from moorish Spain once, that those damn Christians and Jews were just alike, always getting ahead with the doctor's bag or the banker's moneybag. That made it very clear to me that it's about discrimination. Guys that are gonna get punched in the head get very entertaining. Guys that are going to starve to death while you watch impassively get very good at finding indispensable professions like banker and doctor. People in a religion that's pissed on get very tied in to their community since they have no other opportunity.

It really saddens me that so many people miss the universal character of the human experience and are so willing to project weird alien conspiracies onto any discernible group, even if that group publishes many English-language newspapers and conducts most of its business in the light of day. It's like people are so eager for a scapegoat they won't even take the trouble to do the most superficial research, because it would spoil their fun.

"Not unlike all those Christians who observe the winter solstice."

C'mon, this is just bile, and you know it.

"It's like people are so eager for a scapegoat they won't even take the trouble to do the most superficial research, because it would spoil their fun."

It's more than fun, it's displacement.

The idea of going to law school to get a job is strange. There have always been some corporate and government jobs, but traditionally most have practiced on their own or in a small group.

On the other hand I work at a small company and we are not as strict in our hiring as the big guys. We hire some guys with say a music degree or no degree at all to write unix scripts. They do a fantastic job.

Stick to it. It's a good policy. "Human Resources" is a critical organizational error that exists due to centralizing philosophy.

Case in point my brother. English degree, from a cal state, but its practically required to get any job now to have a degree since everyone has to get an "education" no matter how worthless it is so we can keep funneling money to pay for professors, etc. He works at subway in manufacturing as he calls it. I like to think he is more productive than a banker though, as he actually assembles a product.

Don't confuse the fact that your society decided to strip managers of hire / fire power by centralizing it and professionalizing it with the value of education. Would you want your brother to be ignorant just because his job doesn't require a "smart unit"? What about his own psyche? What about his role in a society that expects everyone to be intelligent and educated Citizens? Are you really commending him to the idiocracy because he couldn't find a better job? "Those who can, learn, those who cannot, labor" is a great idea if you fancy yourself a mandarin but it implies the rest of society will be a bunch of putty-faced ruffians who can't read and write, and are encouraged in their ignorance by their educated betters.

If you are articulating Confucianism or more generally elistist technocracy, make sure you're aware of it. If nothing else, you can see what other people made of it.

My feeling is that education leads to civilization. You want to know how to prevent people from turning into trailer park chavs? Make them into college students. Who cares if they're self-important, at least they don't light things on fire or break glass for fun. Complex thinking, nuanced awareness, critical to complex societies.

There's a reason for the eudaemonian idal, which is you have a lot of surplus, highly skilled labor. Societies with educational patterns based on European track-oriented models are less flexible in terms of labor factor reallocation. We just need to stop bowing to the pressure to turn college into an advanced technical school and get rid of all the troublesome "general education" and "rounding". We need classical education, not modern technician-generating training programs.

Don't agree with me? Look around. Your society needs to take a couple anthropology courses and maybe some intro econ and intro poli sci. A couple rocks for jocks classes wouldn't hurt with the whole Biblical literalism either.

I think my point with my brother really is the only reason he went to college was because of this "you have to have a degree" to do anything myth. My brother is not going to be some rocket scientist and he'll freely admit it. But why does society force it on him to go get a degree for something that is almost useless. I mean he majored in english because it was easy apparently, so it was just to get a degree which everyone says you need.

I think in principle having everyone be educated is a good thing. Unfortunately my brother really is no better off having gone to college than when he went in. I mean on top of going for the sake of everyone says so, half the colleges do not even teach anything and a good portion of the people have no business wanting to llearn anyway.

It is sort of the point I was making about my coworkers. my coworkers didn't go to college and they are educated. I mean shouldnt we just encourage people to care about politics or economics, and not just shove them into schools even though they dont care because we automatically equate a degree or diploma with being "educated". There are plenty of people out there who arent educated who have degrees, and plenty who dont have degrees who are very educated.

I know its really just a discussion that is all hypothetical. Our society is totally screwed up to begin with. It is why the kids who are interested in say politics or subjects that are more intellectual can get called nerds while the kids watching american idol and obsessing about it are normal. Shouldnt we just encourage people to learn more? As it stands now we try to send everyone to college because they get a piece of paper that says they are educated regardless of if they actually are, and now everyone has to get one because that piece of paper is expected. I suppose its a bad solution to the problem when in reality a good solution would be making sure people knew that caring about politics, or economics, etc, is a good thing and somehow convinced people to actually care. Maybe the college as a guild thing is the best realistic solution, i don't know. I have no idea how to convince people to not care about reality shows etc.

You are seeing the beginnings of The Last Bubble. Government finance will become the inflating mechanism for the next 3-4 years, but when the Boomers start trying to retire en masse, this final bubble collapses- the debts we have built up are unsupportable, and the government can only extend this debt bubble for a few years more. There is no way of preventing this outcome now. We had our last chance this past fall, and we chose the "free lunch" option, and Obama is doubling down on this option.

Don (profile) wrote on Sun, 4/26/2009 - 7:01 am

* reply

Boronco Papa wrote:
Obama May Have Swine Flu
During Mr. Obama's recent trip to Mexico he was greeted by a man who may have subsequently died from the Swine Flu epidemic that is sweeping across Mexico....

The AP is reporting Solis died from Pneumonia and did not have swine flu.

The MSM frames all, you are looking through a picture frame. Pneumonia is what happens after the flu compromises your immune system. Poor Don. He wants to believe. Of course Obama is fine. Hale and hearty, rearing to go after Credit Card companies, every last dollar of AIG bonus money, and other critical matters. Of course, he and the admin are fresh out of ideas and would certainly appreciate a few suggestions.

kidbuck (profile) wrote on Sun, 4/26/2009 - 5:48 am

* reply

Start grubbing a patch for growing some comestibles.

Doesn't that take us back in human societal evolution to a time before the division of labor? Wouldn't most people be better off working a few hours of overtime, or taking a second job, even minimum wage, and buying food with the proceeds?

Wow. We (or at least kidbuck) are so screwed. kidbuck opines about a societal devolution as if it matters, and as if kidbuck understands the problem.

Division of labor? Better off working overtime or taking a second job to buy food?

Quit now, while you're not so far behind.

Hey. Growing stuff on a big scale is not easy. You have to know stuff. You have
to be willing to get some excercise.

Bugs and squirrels like the same food we do. Deer are the bane of the friend that aspires to be Black Star Ranch. I'd be shooting them en masse, but she is too softhearted. I would hate to have to rely on what I grow to eat. On the other hand it is better than nothing.

She also has moles and stuff underground. So do I, but they just seem to tear up the lawn.
I step on their tunnels.

Bottom line, farming is hard and most people weren't all that good at it, even when every other person was a farmer.

She also has moles and stuff
underground
I step on their tunnels

Liz, looks like you're on a Haiku roll.

Gee, I just naturally write in Haiku and don't even know it.

Off to plant a couple plants.

Good morning guys; 4 hours of sleep and I'm shaking at the knees but ready to load on up and get back to work. 3 a.m. to 7 a.m. sleep is all I need.

Today is going to suck.

MrM (profile) wrote on Sun, 4/26/2009 - 9:56 am

Another example of why "Looking Forward" instead of broad soul searching and targeted prosecutions is very damaging

Quoted for truth.