With that, I call it a night. Night !

May tomorrow be more interesting than today...

You beat me to it Charles. Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road. I didn't know that Louden was still performing.

You don't need Krugman to know the blues.

Work that guitar

Brother Can You Spare A Dime

Malthus believed in limits. Krugman clearly does not.

lmao!
However, Loudon Wainwright III, not the world's most bluesy name.
Blues Primer

1. "Make your own Blues Name" Starter Kit:
   a. name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.)
   b. first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Kiwi, etc.)
   c. last name of a President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.) For

example: Blind Lemon Jefferson, Pegleg Lime Johnson or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, etc. (OK, maybe not "Kiwi.")

But mathematical models of complex, poorly understood systems are so reliable.

Hmmm ... it can't be that he is concerned about global warming?

Before you do a post on global warming, CR, come to NH. If it got to 60 degrees today I'd be surprised. I am sick of having the heat on in JULY.

This has got to have economic repurcussions. And throw global warming out the window. I'm freezing my butt off.

sportsfan, gorgeous. Beautiful. Thank you.

Tom Waits - Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?

Tim waiting for 2012 (homepage, profile) wrote on Fri, 7/3/2009 - 4:03 am
Because its good for you...
"Senate bill fines people refusing health coverage"
Yahoo! 404 - Page Not Found
"Americans who refuse to buy affordable medical coverage could be hit with fines of more than $1,000 under a health care overhaul bill unveiled Thursday by key Senate Democrats looking to fulfill President Barack Obama's top domestic priority."

Congress thinks the problem with uninsured people is that they have too much money.

MA already has a similar penalty.

"Health reforms" are about revenue, not health.

I am fairly sure that their central bankers are also confused.

//Still confused about the negative interest rate thing.//

A rare occasion where I tend to agree with Lucifer's point. Allow a translation if you will:

"Indeed, they were right about 5.8 out of 6.0 decades of financialization. House prices basically did not decrease from 1951 until 2007, because any technological gains were swallowed up by the growth-of-credit buying pressure. We only think the CDS peddlers were wrong because the two years they were wrong about were the two years that followed the climax of their work."

With that said, I tend to worry about global warming. I tend to suspect that we're doomed to a tragedy of the atmospheric commons, because the governments of the world haven't managed to come together to stabilize the composition of the atmosphere. Although when the clear-and-present-danger of the ozone holes became great enough, we did clean up another form of atmospheric carbon.

Krugman: The fact is that Malthus was right about the whole of human history up until his own era.

That is like Taleb's example of the pre-Thanksgiving turkey.

The trouble with health is that it's not an entitlement. At a fundamental level, someone else cannot give it to you. You have to conserve it through careful living.

i love that one barfly- thx!

kinda bummed that Waits doesnt actually sing anymore. he has such a lovely voice...

Really.. then why do Europeans live longer than people in the US. Heck.. they smoke more, drink more, eat more fatty foods?

Also could you explain why the death rate and number of people with heart attacks has gone down in the last 15 years, though we have become older and fatter?

// You have to conserve it through careful living.//

Health reforms are about the health of the insurance companies. They're gonna be REAL healthy.

• that's why they need to be taken out of the equation. What do you think are the chances of that happening ?

The trouble with health is that it's not an entitlement.

Wisdom Speaker, the real trouble with health care IMO is that it's a social issue, not an individual one.

One good pandemic ought to make that clear.

• but he leaves us with such a beautiful body of work. Endlessly fascinating.

I took so long composing this it came in under the pig. It relates to the discussion on negative interest rates/bank fees...

One of the people whom I assist managing their money has two Wells-Fargo Checking Accounts and linked Savings accounts. Counting all four, the total balances typically fluctuate between $500 and $1500 through each month.

Currently, W-F fees on these accounts come to $19/month or $228/year. That's about 20% annually of the average balance.

She had been paying only $8/mo on one checking account, then W-F convinced her to change some things around resulting in an additional $11 in fees on other accounts.

A couple of years ago I looked at W-F annual report and they had revenue of $1550/customer and profit of $370/customer. How do you think they did that?

[Yes, I am going to get her into a better situation, but she's in a wheelchair and I have no legal authority over her account.]

Yes and the composite stand by me is a trip too.
Anyway, nice way to start my july 4 weekend. You all have a safe one...

@Sportsfan: Yes, some aspects of health care are social issues, but many are intensely private. You can legislate responses to a pandemic (e.g. Mexico this spring; tamiflu stockpiling; AIDS education) but you cannot legislate what people choose to eat or drink. Nor can you legislate what they will do behind closed doors. You can legislate immunizations, but you cannot prevent "health-insured" people from engaging in very risky sports that would've been suicidal 200 years ago (skiing, motor sports...).

@Lucifer: Are you seriously trying to claim that exercise (walking 20-30 minutes/day) isn't conducive to good health?

for example:

Tom Waits - Georgia Lee

Wisdom Speaker, I completely agree with what you said. I'm one of those firm believers in individual rights, e.g., that people have the right to engage in all sorts of unhealthy behaviors and activities and that they must bear the consequences, whether it be early death or something lesser.

I would like to see health care (and the banking system) in the U.S. treated as something akin to a utility.

My minimal involvement with the current health care system suggests to me that there is massive waste in the way we are doing things.

barfly, with that voice Tom Waits definitely qualifies as the blues.

Should we assume he was (is) a heavy smoker?

its piling on i know. but you started it barfly

Come on up to the house

sportsfan, I'd say that was a safe bet.

Tom Waits - What's He Building?

sportsfan,

Just for arguments sake, why is waste less tolerable in healthcare than other fields? In your example it employs two people that otherwise wouldn't have a job. Isn't that worth something??

@sportsfan: Yeah, we're on the same page. It seems to me that "public health" began with good intentions, and good success at eliminating smallpox, minimizing polio, and so on. And the original forms of "health insurance" were "major medical" type -- they actually insured you against low-probability, high-impact events, while leaving you with the ordinary "maintenance" bills. I think from that point on the bureaucratic and marketing imperatives (respectively) took over, and the BABD's fell into some serious logical fallacies about getting something for nothing (possible for the individual, but not for the whole nation), and now we think health care is an entitlement.

TJ, it's less tolerable (to me) in the health care field because of the massive amount of money spent in that field.

I understand there will be a massive increase in unemployment if the involvement of insurance companies is somehow minimized in the health care industry, but I would hope those people find something productive to do.

If keeping people pushing papers around was all we needed, we could all work for the gubmint.

Unproductive employment is in many ways worse than unemployment:

1) It takes away time that could be spent producing social goods that do not show up in GDP (e.g. playing with your kids, volunteering)

2) It breeds cynicism and contempt for the system, which leads to lawlessness in other areas (why does the U.S. feel the need to incarcerate more of its population, percentage-wise, than just about anywhere else?)

3) Because someone has to pay the unproductive employee, productive work must be taxed more (or charged more fees), and the productive workers are not rewarded as much has they might be for further productivity.

Wisdom Speaker, health care "as an entitlement" is an interesting concept. People without insurance in the U.S. theoretically have the right to be treated in an emergency room and stabilized before being released. How much do we as a nation spend on that?

Similarly, there is a certain (perhaps growing) segment of the population that receives its emergency health care through a system of government owned facilities, which dutifully bill the patients, but probably collect less than a dime on the dollar.

Meanwhile, the cash paying uninsured are billed enormous amounts because basically they are subsidizing the nonpaying uninsured, though some reductions will be granted for actual payment.

The aging population has already shown us that Medicare goes broke long before Social Security does.

@Rob Dawg - it's a frequent observation that Nobel laureates (among other "leading experts") experience a form of intellectual scope creep... they start thinking they know more than they actually do about many areas outside their original expertise. You think the same is hitting Krugman now? It would be sad to see him turn into just another overconfident but underinformed and fundamentally wrong talking head / policy babbler / pundit.

Oooh. Krugman's claiming we need a bigger stimulus?

I'm seeing a big check in my future. Oh yeah.

wawawa,

Totally. Keep drinking!

I think the greatest immediate benefit of UHC would be the limitation to one system. We now have several proprietary systems floating throughout the health care industry.

Personally, I was really jazzed with what Oregon did years ago when they had a referendum on what services would be provided at taxpayer cost.. I would like to see something like that done today on a national scale. Don't know whether it would be politically possible, but why shouldn't we have a right to vote on how taxpayer dollars are allocated for health care?

(I'm not intending to extend that discussion to banks or wars or tax policy in general.)

People without insurance in the U.S. theoretically have the right to be treated in an emergency room and stabilized before being released.

Not a right, per se. The government stipulates that any facility that accepts government money for healthcare must treat all comers in the emergency room, and since government is the 800-lb gorilla (medicare, medicaid, etc.) they get their way. Same way the government gets away with setting ridiculously low reimbursement rates; they've already take control over the lion's share of healthcare spending in this country, so they can get away with murder. [And people think Walmart is brutal.]

I've always been pissed off at the AG's suit against big tobacco because it was based upon states' healthcare costs in treating smokers. Well hell, there are no costs if you don't treat them. If they're going to force people to treat them then they can't blame anyone else for the costs. And no, I've never been a smoker.

. . . it's a frequent observation that Nobel laureates (among other "leading experts") experience a form of intellectual scope creep... they start thinking they know more than they actually do about many areas outside their original expertise.

Ah, an invitation to quote my favorite philosopher:

"The experience of Socrates - When one has become a master in some field, one has usually, for that very reason, remained a complete amateur in most other things; but one judges the other way around, as Socrates had already found out. This is what makes association with masters disagreeable>"
--Nietzsche Human, All Too Human (1878)

that krugman takes a moral stand on economic issues is a plus

whether you agree with him or not

too many academicians, esp economists spend their lives in the abstract world and never take a stand

i dont agree with everything krugman stands for, but at least he stakes out his positon

and isnt unwilling to disagree with dems, even the prez

i dont agree with everything krugman stands for, but at least he stakes out his position

I feel the same way when CR states his opinion on some issue rather than playing it right down the middle.

@TJ - I was thinking in terms of the sportsfan's comment about the health care industry, where the incentive structure is so screwed up that people end up doing far more paperwork than would be necessary in a more efficiently-organized system.

There are undoubtedly some great ways to improve the system, which will probably not be implemented because of the entrenched powerful interests. Sigh.

There are undoubtedly some great ways to improve the system, which will probably not be implemented because of the entrenched powerful interests. Sigh.

Sounds like government, the very institution people seem to be looking towards to address these issues.

I can't believe Rob Dawg would want to outlaw steaks. Talk about the heavy hand of government?!?

Think of it as global warming for a good cause. Not that brown rice is all that bad, but a steady diet of it?

Rob Dawg wrote at 10:17 pm

Does he have any idea how much roast beef production contributes to global warming?

--

uh yes he does , (we do )

and right after we take your guns away we ultra liberals are coming for your roast beef, ice cream and your leather shoes

when are we going to be mercifully relieved of the presence of talking heads like krugman, anyhow? when does the collective pat-on-the-back they gave TPTB through the past decade earn them a ticket into laughingstock obscurity? why not yesterday?

Methane being more of a greenhouse gas than CO2, the caps will have to be tighter, right?

Sounds like a slippery slope leading to a higher tax on a good California Cabernet to go with that steak.

sportsfan (profile) wrote on Thu, 7/2/2009 - 10:29 pm

I can't believe Rob Dawg would want to outlaw steaks. Talk about the heavy hand of government?!?
Think of it as global warming for a good cause. Not that brown rice is all that bad, but a steady diet of it?

I just want the appropriate level of guilt applied to the meat. Personally I'd feel no guilt but I would hope the likes of Krugman would turn that critical eye inward and hold himself to the standards he wishes to impose on all.

"that krugman takes a moral stand on economic issues is a plus"

People seem to enjoy hearing like-minded people agreeing with them out loud. It's like going to a sports event between two teams and enjoying the crowd roaring approval of your side. Arguments between left and right are like tribal disputes: logic and facts are incidental, weapons wielded in the service of tribal loyalty and ideology.

Rob Dawg, I feel no guilt either, not for the cholesterol and especially not for the wine.

It was as soon as I realized that I would die some day that I really began to live.

(I'm not a Krugman fan so I must be a different kind of liberal.)

If the New York Times fails maybe CR can give him a weekly guest post.

"Arguments between left and right are like tribal disputes: logic and facts are incidental, weapons wielded in the service of tribal loyalty and ideology."

not true

the debate about global warming (anthropogenic climate change) is much like the debate which occurred on these pages three years ago about whether or not the country was headed for financial Armageddon

scientist i listen to, and indeed the vast majority of scientists indicate that the level of confidence that CO2 is affecting the earths climate is at a confidence level above 90%

if you want to wait to take action until the confidence level is at 100%

then

you risk meeting me in hell

Since this comment thread started with the blues, I'll leave it with the blues.

B. B. King & Eric Clapton - The Thrill Is Gone

The Blues is an American contribution to the world of music. We're turning 233 on Saturday. Cause for celebration. Later.

Edit: it was bugging me that I said 223. Would have been impossible to sleep.

Arguments between left and right are like tribal disputes: logic and facts are incidental, weapons wielded in the service of tribal loyalty and ideology.

• and your vaunted neutrality? Is that really possible?

I'm confident the government will blow it.

I'm looking forward to our deflationary spiral. Savers will be vindicated, irresponsible credit-spenders will be starving.

It warms my heart.

Have you actually done any calculations about the contributions of various greenhouse gases (net contribution)? water vapor is by far the biggest contributor to global warming.. CO2 is not even close!

Ever heard about the carbon cycle?

water vapor is immaterial

What was their methodology? and why not use a 6000 year baseline.. why are they afraid of using such baselines?

//Sea Ice At Lowest Level In 800 Years Near Greenland//

Lucifer

not so

you could back a galactic truck up to the earth and add 1000 cubic miles of additional water to the earth and that would not change the climate one iota

all you would accomplish is to raise the ocean level an inch or two

there is so much wter on planet earth that adding water does not change the curve of the paradigm

CO2 on the other hand exists in a range far below saturation and as such adding CO2 to the system moves the planet along a climatic curve of temperatures

mock, my question was directed to patientrenter. I know where you stand, and I stand with you.

Pete Seeger - Which Side Are You On?

Short Courage

i have never heard kurgman argue that the cause of this recession is a lack of stimulus

i have heard krugman argue that this mess is the result of a financialc crisis

and that since the banks and shadow banks are pulling back and deleveraging andd the consumer is over extended the resulting collapse in aggregate demand has to be countered or the economy collapses

btw even though im less than a pawn compared to krugman i disagree with him on part of his prescription

i do support a stimulus program, but not one that is primarily aimed at boosting consumerism

Krugman takes a stand. I respect that. At the very least he holds powerful interests accountable with his widely read soap box.

I agree with MT on health care and climate change. He seems to be tilting at windmills erected by Lucifer and TJ but he makes the effort. I respect that as well.

We are adversely changing our environment by our activity. The facts are widespread and widely accepted by scientists held accountable by peer review. Science is still driven by proven facts and scientific method. Add that to my respect list.

Health care is a right. The fat guy destroying his health and heading for an early grave is entitled to an expert medical opinion informing him of the fact his behavior will cut years off his life. All you heavy drinkers out there are also cutting years of your life but it is legal and feels good. So be it. We all make choices that lead us to where we are regardless of the path. I gave up thinking that the I could change anything but myself and everyday I know I could do better. One way I try to do better is respecting what I hold to be truths and give credence to those I think are fighting the good fight.

Compassion and understanding mixed with humility. Not a bad place to start.

Lucifer

compare the down sides

if the people who want to curb CO2 are wrong

the worst that happens is that we develop new technology at a cost , and that gives a return in energy independence as the USA imports nearly half of its petro chemicals from abroad

if the people who want to drill baby drill, and burn coal all day and drain thopse iraqi oil fields dry are wrong

then we continue to run trade deficits in excess of half trillion dollars per year and we cook the planet killing billions of people and submerging NYC and a major portion of the population centers around the world

Well put, Externalized, but who is this Lucifer I keep hearing about?

Lucifer (profile) wrote on Thu, 7/2/2009 - 11:38 pm

you asked,

"Can we reproduce the measured climatic data for last 50 years with any of these models?"

1.
Ice Core Data
Jan 23, 2009 ... GISP2 drill dome, Greenland. Photo by Mark Twickler. Ice Core from Quelccaya Ice Cap, Peru. ... Proxy climate indicators include oxygen isotopes, ... and search capabilities for Greenland Summit ice core data included in ...
Ice Core Data - Cached - Similar
2.
NOAA Paleoclimatology World Data Centers Greenland Ice Core Data
NOAA Paleoclimatology Ice Core Gateway Greenland Ice Core Data. ... and Information Service, National Climatic Data Center, U.S. Department of Commerce ...
NOAA Paleoclimatology World Data Centers Greenland Ice Core Data - Cached - Similar
More results from NCDC: * National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) * »
3.
Ice core - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ice cores contain an abundance of climate information. .... investigation of resulting and related effects of effects upon ice core data. ..... "Visual stratigraphy of the North Greenland Ice Core Project (NorthGRIP) ice core during the ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_core - Cached - Similar
4.
High-Resolution Greenland Ice Core Data Show Abrupt Climate Change ...
High-Resolution Greenland Ice Core Data Show Abrupt Climate Change Happens in Few Years. Jørgen Peder Steffensen,1* Katrine K. Andersen,1 Matthias Bigler,1 ...
High-Resolution Greenland Ice Core Data Show Abrupt Climate Change Happens in Few Years -- Steffensen et al. 321 (5889): 680 -- Science - Similar
by JP Steffensen - 2008 - Cited by 14 - Related articles - All 8 versions
5.
High-Resolution Greenland Ice Core Data Show Abrupt Climate Change ...
High-Resolution Greenland Ice Core Data Show Abrupt Climate Change Happens in Few Years. J. P. Steffensen 1*, K. K. Andersen 1, M. Bigler 2, H. B. Clausen 1 ...
High-Resolution Greenland Ice Core Data Show Abrupt Climate Change Happens in Few Years -- Steffensen et al., 10.1126/science.1157707 -- Science - Similar
by JP Steffensen - 2008 - Cited by 14 - Related articles - All 8 versions
More results from Science/AAAS | Scientific research, news and career information »
6.
Greenland Ice Core Analysis Shows Drastic Climate Change Near End ...
Jun 19, 2008 ... Information gleaned from a Greenland ice core by an international science team shows that two huge Northern Hemisphere temperature spikes ...
Greenland Ice Core Analysis Shows Drastic Climate Change Near End Of Last Ice Age - Cached - Similar
7.
Twin Ice Cores From Greenland Reveal History of Climate Change, More
Twin Ice Cores From Greenland Reveal History of Climate Change, More ... Greenlandic records indicate some unexplained "noise"—data that may be added by ...
Document Not Found - Cached - Similar
8.
Ice Core Reveals How Quickly Climate Can Change: Scientific American
Jun 23, 2008 ... ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE: Records preserved in a Greenland ice core reveal ... who was part of a team that analyzed annual data from ice tubes ...
Page not found--/article.cfm?...ice-core...climate : Scientific American - Cached - Similar
9.
Data - samples - software – Københavns Universitet
Centre for Ice and Climate > Data - samples - software .... Data from the Greenland Ice Core Project (GRIP) may be found on the Greenland Summit Ice Cores ...
Data - icesamples - software – Københavns Universitet - Cached - Similar
10.
Historic CH4 Records from Antarctic and Greenland Ice Cores ...
The two Greenland ice cores are from the Summit region (72°34' N, 37°37' W, ... Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory. .... Historical CH4 Records Since About 1000 A.D. From Ice Core Data. ...
cdiac.ornl.gov/trends/atm_meth/lawdome_meth.html - Cached - Similar
by DM Etheridge - Related articles

Searches related to: greenland ice cores climate dataantarctic ice cores oxygen isotopes

Lucifer

i guess i'll be seeing you in hell

(just trying to be funny... did i succeed??

Lucifer

i have not seen you make a scientific argument yet supporting your position

all you have done so far is throw out non sequitors

i thinkl you just want to make things as hot around here as you can

mock turtle,

I am not interested in convincing you.. you like the cult.

Environmental concerns are just a manifestation of a subconscious realization for many whites that their world is over. It is just an attempt to be a spoilsport, a dog in the manger, to resurrect the past...

It is over! It is not going to be like 1850-1950 for you guys ever again.. at least not in the foreseeable future. sorry.. but that is the nature of evolution..

Hubris is my favorite sin. Admitting that you were wrong requires one to be a bigger man than most of them are..

//Yeah, why can't they be more like us?//

and you accuse me not being scientific.. environmentalism is secular Christianity!

//the earth is the garden of eden and it is sacrelige to despoil and foul it//

you forget

the first human sinned by eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge

Christianity is the interface where science and the metaphysical are joined

so you have erred

environmentalism is neither secular nor Christianity

it is both...in unison

it is both good science and good religion to treat the planet with care

And you know that.. because you are?

//Well, if you include the next four centuries, it's 62 out of 64 centuries.//

Health care is a right.

What? News to me! Point out exactly what part of the Constitution or Bill of Rights that enumerates this so-called right.

Oh, and why would health care be a right and not food? Don't you get sick and die if you don't eat?

Image Container

And you know that.. because you are?
Pointing out that, by any measure, it's the last two centuries that are anomalies.

If you look at life on earth.. the past 500 million years (complex multicellular life) are an anomaly. (500 million out of more than 3.5 billion years!)

No one could have expected the mammal like reptiles to die off at the tertiary boundary. (almost 20% of 500 million years of land based life.. just gone..)

No one could have expected land dinosaurs to die off at the cretaceous boundary. (almost 200 million years or 40% of the period of land based multicellular life gone!)

No one could have expected humans to form cities. (less than 10k years out of 100 k).. large cities less than 2k out of 100k

No one could have expected the renaissance or the industrial revolution.

Uranium was a waste byproduct of lead and then radium mining till 1939.. in 1945 it decided a world war.

Almost everything substantial that has ever occurred on this earth (and likely the universe) is an anomaly.

//it's the last two centuries that are anomalies.//

That is what I am thinking about.. let's see. But I am sure to attract "true defenders of the faith".

//If you were to collect them into a blog of yours, I think they would make interesting reading.//

But I am sure to attract "true defenders of the faith".
Perhaps that would be a good thing. It could give the blog more traction.
I would suggest not worrying about it too much - you could write your own post, and if 99 people respond "I disagree," well, so what?
The blog would probably be lively.
If you don't want to deal with the "true defenders", you could shuttle them off to a rebuttal section.
Or you could blog without a comment section.

Way OT:
The Marines are on the move in Afghanistan, and POTUS had this to say:
. Obama told the AP he wants to help ensure that Afghans "are benefiting from development and improved agricultural systems and education systems and health care systems."
Good choice, POTUS. The Marines are the perfect group to develop agriculture, education, and healthcare.

Yes!

//We need a fundamental and radical restructuring of both the economy and the government//

We could unleash our legislators and lobbyists on them..

//The Marines are the perfect group to develop agriculture, education, and healthcare.//

broward,

Have you tried 'doom resurrection' on the iphone? It is incredible.. ok.. it is a rail shooter (but that was done to make it playable).

when i saw the first youtube video's i thought they were fakes, but it is real. It looks like the xbox version on a later era flat CRT TV (2005)

Meanwhile in Imperial Czarist America...

Here is a list of Obama’s current and prospective Czar positions:

1. Technology Czar: Aneesh Chopra.
2. Drug Czar: Gil Kerlikowske
3. Copyright Czar: Not appointed yet.
4. Energy Czar: Carol M. Browner
5. Car Czar: Ed Montgomery.
6. Terrorism/WMD Czar: Gary Samore.
7. Health Care Czar: Nancy-Ann DeParle. [7].
8. Education Czar: Not appointed yet. [16].
9. Economic Czar: Paul Volcker. [17].
   1. Mortgage Czar: Not appointed yet. [1].
10. Urban Affairs/Housing Czar: Adolfo Carrion. [10].
    1. Guantanomo closure Czar: Danny Fried. [17].
    2. Great lakes Czar: Cameron Davis. [11].
    3. Stimulus accountability Czar: Earl Devaney. [17].
    4. Cyberspace Czar: Not appointed yet. [16].
    5. Border Czar: Alan Bersin (Former US attorney). [6].
    6. Intelligence Czar: Admiral Dennis Blair. [8].
11. Regulatory Czar: Cass Sunstein. [2].
    1. Pay Czar: Kenneth Feinberg [3].
    2. Iran Czar: Not appointed yet. [16].
12. Tarp Czar: Herb Allison. [17].
13. Middle-East peace Czar: George Mitchell. [17].
14. Science Czar: John Holdren. [17].
15. Green jobs Czar: Van Jones. [17].
16. Afghanistan Czar: Richard Holbrooke. [17].
17. Sudan Czar: J. Scott Gration. [17].
18. Mideast policy Czar: Dennis Ross. [17].
19. Information Czar: Vivek Kundra. [17].
20. AIDS Czar: Jeffrey Crowley. [17].
21. Faith-based Czar: Joshua Dubois. [17].
22. Climate Czar: Todd Stern. [17].

Obama’s Czars “R” US!

sportsfan,
(edit) I met Tom Waits a few times back in the early 90s, when he was working on The Black Rider by way of a friend who is a well known musician, as far as I can remember he was smoking back then and drinking whiskey. John and Tom had a fishing show on cable for
awhile. for the record...

just read the above screed on climate change, it was interesting to say the least...
not sure where I stand, but from what I've read I'm skeptical of certain claims
...
Lucifer makes the claim that termites can't control the world, but over here, ants sure seem to
be accomplishing it (depends on what you deem the world... )

The fact is that Malthus was right about the whole of human history up until his own era.

This is not a fact at all. Malthus didn't understand that creativity and innovation were, for the whole of human history up to his own era, limited by the variables of human liberty and freedom as much as any thing physical in the environment. Malthus and contemporary ludites fail to grasp that humans are born with a brain as well as a mouth and that most are capable of producing far more than they consume. As we begin to adopt the old ways of tribalism and central planning we will again revert to historical poverty levels and find physical limits all around.

Drinking music:

Play it now: There Stands The Glass by Ted Hawkins

Ted Hawkins!

Thinking music:

Play it now: America Will Eat You by Greg Brown
YouTube - Greg Brown @ Falcon Ridge 2003 - I Want My Country Back

Greg Brown!

Just damn good music:

YouTube - Mose Allison - Your Mind Is On Vacation

Mose Allison!

Exponential Growth as a Transient Phenomenon in Human History
Exponential Growth as a Transient Phenomenon in Human History

Morning all - looks like equities were roundly skrood over the week. Genius comments from Axa analyst per Bloomie, says "people realize the economy isn't as bright as expected". Wow.

Stocks in Europe, Asia Drop as MSCI Index Slumps for Third Week - Bloomberg.com

C

Whomever posted the drivel about what we need is higher taxes, more higher taxes, and single payer to help the employer, and the government being the catalyst for this to happen.

Government has not created a single job. Not once, not ever. Government exists for its own purpose and that purpose runs counter to liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Some of you will get what you want. I pity you poor ignorant people. Enjoy.

Some others will also get to erase the remnants of whatever oldest generation remains. Eugenics, euthanasia, eu, youth, you. I pity you poor ignorant people.

As I have pointed out to the 'leaders' of other companies who paid for my advice, the policy of more better faster for less money is destined to fail. The policy of chopping off the bottom twenty and replacing them with 'new blood' will one day lead to your office.

One day, and that day will only come if you are so fortunate to live to a remnant of the oldest generation, you will taste the last of your wine as you walk bravely up your personal thirteen steps.

I'm putting my money on you screaming like a scared little rabbit as you are 'assisted' to your gallows.

the real trouble with health care IMO is that it's a social issue, not an individual one.

One good pandemic ought to make that clear.

No. Communicable disease is a social issue, heart disease is an individual one.

The problem with health care is people trying to socialize the risks. Just like the screwed up banking system.

"Rosbeef" is a descriptive term used by the French to describe Englishmen, who of course call the French, Frogs.

Charles Kiting...
"No. Communicable disease is a social issue, heart disease is an individual one."
that depends on the diasease... did a very interesting project for DOH in NYC on
tracking Communicables (N set => 96)... TB not a social issue (unless you think giving out Mickey D coupons as bribes
so that 'client's would take their Meds), as for AIDS you better believe it...[that data was ring fenced off like a Super Max]

we make fun of the Catholic Church for once debating how many angels could dance
on the head of a pin... I'm with Gibbon on this, we swim in an ocean of facts, the hard part is finding that thread
to connect those facts...

OT / the other day I was out at the range seeing to it that my Team LB was given proper firearms training,
this was done in the morning before genocide court (shot some nice footage of Comrade Duch of S21 crying) ...
one of the two - Srey Dau - seems to be promising! (wonder if this is how Charlie started with the Angels?...
condolences to Farrah!)
curious?
YouTube - Khmer Rouged Up She's Gonna Pop a .30 Caliber Machine Cap in ya' ASS!

there's something not quite right with a system that has 20+ on line and 260 lurkers?
I'm not up on my lingo... is that what you call them?

Suggested new marketing:

If you order a Big Mac meal and get a text that your job is no more while awaiting delivery, it's on the house

California has had many lengthy droughts over thousands of years, but it never had 40+ million people using about 150 gallons a day, per person.

Cali has not again been responsible as they have taken more of the Colorado river water then allocated for many years. Now Co NE AR have grown and there is not enough to go around. The problem even spreads into WY, NE, KS As the Ogalalla aquafier has dropped from pumping due to excessive use of surface water. Water liquid gold of life.

Juvvie D...
"California has had many lengthy droughts over thousands of years, but it never had 40+ million people using about 150 gallons a day, per person."
funny you say that... a few years ago the 2 springs on my tree farm in mid TN
went dry... most wells went dry (luckily, mine was 400 feet down) and people were drawing water
from the creeks...
....
in living memory nobody could remember this ever happening...
....

LBD,

San Diego and the Imperial Valley are the main users of the Colorado River water in California.

If I owned a home in SD, i'd sell it for whatever the market would bear, as SD has no ground water sources of any size.

A couple of things have happened to the Colorado in the past few years...

Quagga mussels showed up 2 years ago, probably from a boat that had been in the Great Lakes (where the mussels have eradicated 95% of the fish and gummed up the water works) and they really like the southwest, as they've breeding like underwater rabbits @ 3x the rate back east. Hydro capabilities @ Hoover Dam are in serious problems, and the Quagga has showed up in many San Diego reservoirs.

Take a trip to Hoover Dam, and look behind it, and take a glimpse @ the 100 feet of white wall, where water used to be.

Government and teachers in my part of the country have enjoyed annual 4-5% wage plus benefit increases for several years during the good times. On the other hand SS folks have been given CPI raises of 1-2% that were revised down ward in the 1990's. I really don feel to bad for these union backed employees. They to this point have suffered little.

SEC may Reinstate Uptick Rule for Short Selling

Prohibit cotton growing, drought solved. Water in the West is about political clout not limited resources.

Thank God for the Pig™.

there's something not quite right with a system that has 20+ on line and 260 lurkers?
I'm not up on my lingo... is that what you call them?

The lurkers are real, its just their UE insurance has expired so they no longer count as valid contributors.

YouTube - UB40 One In Ten 1981 

UB40 contribution to the current situation.

Ah, yes, Global Warming. Some general points:

• Human activities contribute about 5% additional CO2 released into the atmosphere beyond natural processes.
• Mars has warmed approximately the same amount as Earth in the last 30 years.
• Goldman Sach's stands to profit immensely from a cap-and-trade based market place.
• As always, one must be careful to distinguish between association and causation.

It is undeniable that the earth has warmed over the last 30 years. No one denies that. That it is anthropogenic is extremely uncertain and debatable.

And as a sociological aside, religion is a basic human impulse that will often find outlet and expression when denied in its more traditional form. This is why religionless people often develop a deep (I might inflammatorily say preposterous) faith in a Great Leader (Lenin, Mao, etc.) or The Government. Application to this discussion is left as an exercise to the reader.

Cheers,
prat