Cute title, although I don't get the whole "reality tv" thing, but I suppose lots of people like it. I can be amused watching people in public, I don't need some greedy producer inducing some of the worst of what society has to offer act like flaming assholes for my entertainment.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
deleveraging
THE WORLD OF BUSINESS
Mastering the Machine
How Ray Dalio built the world’s richest and strangest hedge fund.
by John Cassidy
JULY 25, 2011
"Ray Dalio, the sixty-one-year-old founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s biggest hedge fund, is tall and somewhat gaunt...
...Rather than confronting these issues, Dalio, like all successful predators, is concentrating on the business at hand—the markets and the global economic outlook. This spring, he told me that economic growth in the United States and Europe was set to slow again. This was partly because some emergency policy measures, such as the Obama Administration’s stimulus package, would soon come to an end; partly because of the chronic indebtedness that continues to weigh on these regions; and partly because China and other developing countries would be forced to take drastic policy actions to bring down inflation. Now that the slowdown appears to have arrived, Dalio thinks it will be prolonged. “We are still in a deleveraging period,” he said. “We will be in a deleveraging period for ten years or more.”
...Like many successful financiers, Dalio justifies capitalism and his place in it as a Darwinian process, in which the over-all logic of the system is sometimes hidden. This is actually what the mention, in his Principles, of hyenas savaging a wildebeest was about. “Is this good or bad?” he wrote. Like “death itself, this behavior is integral to the enormously complex and efficient system that has worked for as long as there has been life.” Of course, this view conveniently ignores the argument that hedge funds, through their herd behavior, have contributed to speculative bubbles, in tech stocks, oil, and other commodities. Even some defenders of the industry concede that the problem is real and potentially calamitous. “There is a basis for the argument that hedge funds add economic value,” Andrew Lo, an economist at M.I.T. who runs his own hedge fund, says. “At the same time, they create systemic risks that have to be weighed against those positives....”
Mastering the Machine
How Ray Dalio built the world’s richest and strangest hedge fund.
by John Cassidy
JULY 25, 2011
"Ray Dalio, the sixty-one-year-old founder of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s biggest hedge fund, is tall and somewhat gaunt...
...Rather than confronting these issues, Dalio, like all successful predators, is concentrating on the business at hand—the markets and the global economic outlook. This spring, he told me that economic growth in the United States and Europe was set to slow again. This was partly because some emergency policy measures, such as the Obama Administration’s stimulus package, would soon come to an end; partly because of the chronic indebtedness that continues to weigh on these regions; and partly because China and other developing countries would be forced to take drastic policy actions to bring down inflation. Now that the slowdown appears to have arrived, Dalio thinks it will be prolonged. “We are still in a deleveraging period,” he said. “We will be in a deleveraging period for ten years or more.”
...Like many successful financiers, Dalio justifies capitalism and his place in it as a Darwinian process, in which the over-all logic of the system is sometimes hidden. This is actually what the mention, in his Principles, of hyenas savaging a wildebeest was about. “Is this good or bad?” he wrote. Like “death itself, this behavior is integral to the enormously complex and efficient system that has worked for as long as there has been life.” Of course, this view conveniently ignores the argument that hedge funds, through their herd behavior, have contributed to speculative bubbles, in tech stocks, oil, and other commodities. Even some defenders of the industry concede that the problem is real and potentially calamitous. “There is a basis for the argument that hedge funds add economic value,” Andrew Lo, an economist at M.I.T. who runs his own hedge fund, says. “At the same time, they create systemic risks that have to be weighed against those positives....”
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Polluters best friends in Congress
MONDAY, JUL 18, 2011 14:59 ET
Who are polluters' best friends in Congress?
BY NATASHA LENNARD
Cantor and Bachmann are on the list. Surprising? Uh, no.
Who are polluters' best friends in Congress?
BY NATASHA LENNARD
Cantor and Bachmann are on the list. Surprising? Uh, no.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Wall Street Journal's Defiant Defense Of News Corp
Wall Street Journal defends News Corp
what a silly article title
Murdoch Seizes Wall St. Journal In $5 Billion Coup
By Frank Ahrens
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
http://tin
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Why Is the Most Wasteful Government Agency Not Part of the Deficit Discussion?
Why Is the Most Wasteful Government Agency Not Part of the Deficit Discussion?
Any serious battle plan to reduce the deficit must take on the
Pentagon.
by David Morris
July 12, 2011
In all the talk about the federal deficit, why is the single largest culprit left out of the conversation? Why is the one part of government that best epitomizes everything conservatives say they hate about government—- waste, incompetence, and corruption—all but exempt from conservative criticism?
I read the article. In a word - useless, but the graphs and pie charts are pretty. Here is what I think the problem is:
Pg 306 Web of Debt by Ellen Brown
Any serious battle plan to reduce the deficit must take on the
Pentagon.
by David Morris
July 12, 2011
In all the talk about the federal deficit, why is the single largest culprit left out of the conversation? Why is the one part of government that best epitomizes everything conservatives say they hate about government—- waste, incompetence, and corruption—all but exempt from conservative criticism?
I read the article. In a word - useless, but the graphs and pie charts are pretty. Here is what I think the problem is:
Pg 306 Web of Debt by Ellen Brown
"Critics charge that warfare, terorism, and natural disaster on an unprecedented scale are are being used to justify massive federal borrowing, while diverting attention from the fact that the economy is drowning in a sea of governmental and consumer debt. And that may be true; but policymakers are only doing what they have to do under the current monetary scheme. In an upside-down world in which debt is money and money is debt, somebody has to go into debt just to keep money in the system so the economy won't collapse..."
pg 307"....4. Engaging in a war as a pretext for borrowing , preferably a war that will drag on. People are willing in times of emergency to allow the government to engage heavily in deficit spending to defend the homeland...."
pg 307"....4. Engaging in a war as a pretext for borrowing , preferably a war that will drag on. People are willing in times of emergency to allow the government to engage heavily in deficit spending to defend the homeland...."
still reading this book
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Courthouse auctions: bros with bids
Karla Peterson Test Driving San Diego
Courthouse auctions: bros with bids
By Karla Peterson
6:31 a.m., July 17, 2011
"...Hey bro, wanna buy a house?: It may sound like something out of Ye Olde West (Wenches, anyone?), but the mood of the front-step auctions is totally California Casual. It is mostly professional-buyer dudes in shorts and polo shirts bidding against other professional-buyer dudes in shorts and polo shirts..."
Hmm. First time in a long time that I was mildly amused (or even bothered to read) by an article in the SDUT, that right-wing, suck-up-to-anything -that smells -like-money, piece of shit local paper.
Courthouse auctions: bros with bids
By Karla Peterson
6:31 a.m., July 17, 2011
"...Hey bro, wanna buy a house?: It may sound like something out of Ye Olde West (Wenches, anyone?), but the mood of the front-step auctions is totally California Casual. It is mostly professional-buyer dudes in shorts and polo shirts bidding against other professional-buyer dudes in shorts and polo shirts..."
Hmm. First time in a long time that I was mildly amused (or even bothered to read) by an article in the SDUT, that right-wing, suck-up-to-anything -that smells -like-money, piece of shit local paper.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Happy Pride 2011
I don't know if the kid is going to bring back pics or not, but I hope they have a good time.
LGBT Gay Pride Parade Route Map Schedule and History
Active military & Margaret Cho highlight 27th annual event
By Melissa Rauch • Sat, Jul 16th, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Barack Obama to Nominate Consumer Protection Bureau Chief Next Week
"The administra
Ahh, what!? This informatio
"Dow Jones & Co. Chief Executive Les Hinton resigned late Friday, as the top executive at News Corp.'s financial publishing unit sought to contain the damage from the company's British tabloid scandal, which began while he oversaw the company's U.K. newspaper operations
http://onl
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
State Health Exchanges Tilting Toward Insurers
"It's hard to believe that in all of Colorado, he couldn't find qualified candidates who understand commercial health insurance to balance industry executives with obvious conflicts of interest."
Thank you Mr. Potter :)
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Thank you Mr. Potter :)
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Naaahhhh, Really?
Congress Increasingly Staffed By Former Lobbyists
The number of former lobbyists working as key congressional staffers has more than doubled since the Republican Party took control of the House, a new report finds.
The number of former lobbyists working as key congressional staffers has more than doubled since the Republican Party took control of the House, a new report finds.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
How much money is enough?
How Dracula Hedge Funds Are Sucking Us Dry
What notion of economics or ethics justifies the fact that it would take the average family more than 35,000 years to earn as much as the top hedge fund managers earn in one year?
July 9, 2011 |
What notion of economics or ethics justifies the fact that it would take the average family more than 35,000 years to earn as much as the top hedge fund managers earn in one year?
July 9, 2011 |
| The Highest Income Celebrities, CEO and Hedge Fund Managers (2010) | ||
| The Top Ten | Average Yearly Income | Number of years if would take for the average American family to earn as much. |
| Hedge Fund managers | $1,753,000,000 | 35,217 years |
| Movie directors/producers | $126,000,000 | 2,531 |
| Top celebrities from all fields | $119,800,000 | 2,407 |
| Pop musicians | $87,200,000 | 1,752 |
| Non-financial CEOs | $47,100,000 | 946 |
| Athletes | $44,600,000 | 896 |
| Movie stars | $42,600,000 | 856 |
| Authors | $26,900,000 | 402 |
| Lawyers | $20,000,000 | 402 |
| Bank/Insurance CEOs | $16,600,000 | 333 |
| Median Family Income (2009) | $49,777 | |
Saturday, July 09, 2011
War on Drugs continues
Federal Government Rules Marijuana Has No Accepted Medical Purpose
Updated: 7/9/11 06:06 PM ET
Deeeeeees-custed here.
The “War On Drugs” Is A $2.5 Trillion Racket: How Big Banks, Private Military Companies And The Prison Industry Cash In
July 9th, 2011
Updated: 7/9/11 06:06 PM ET
Deeeeeees-custed here.
The “War On Drugs” Is A $2.5 Trillion Racket: How Big Banks, Private Military Companies And The Prison Industry Cash In
July 9th, 2011
Friday, July 08, 2011
I hate RepugnantThuglicans
The Tea Party and Goldman Sachs: A Love Story
Robert Scheer
July 6, 2011
"...Congressional Republicans are cutting funding for the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as if those already underfunded agencies are centers of anti-business radicalism. The CFTC is run by former Goldman Sachs partner Gary Gensler, who, back when..."
Republicans:
1. Defund and infiltrate regulatory agencies with corporate tools
2. Complain that big gubmint don't work
3. Rinse and repeat
Robert Scheer
July 6, 2011
"...Congressional Republicans are cutting funding for the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as if those already underfunded agencies are centers of anti-business radicalism. The CFTC is run by former Goldman Sachs partner Gary Gensler, who, back when..."
Republicans:
1. Defund and infiltrate regulatory agencies with corporate tools
2. Complain that big gubmint don't work
3. Rinse and repeat
Thursday, July 07, 2011
S&P Raises California Credit Rating To Stable From Negative
California Slashes Services For Poor, Elderly, Disabled
http://www
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Tomgram: Chase Madar, A Medal for Bradley Manning?
Bradley Manning, American Hero
Four Reasons Why Pfc. Bradley Manning Deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Not a Prison Cell
Posted by Chase Madar
at 9:50am, July 7, 2011.
"...1: At great personal cost, Bradley Manning has given our foreign policy elite the public supervision it so badly needs.
Bradley Manning is only the latest in a long line of whistleblowers in and out of uniform who have risked everything to put our country back on the right path...
Four Reasons Why Pfc. Bradley Manning Deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Not a Prison Cell
Posted by Chase Madar
at 9:50am, July 7, 2011.
"...1: At great personal cost, Bradley Manning has given our foreign policy elite the public supervision it so badly needs.
Bradley Manning is only the latest in a long line of whistleblowers in and out of uniform who have risked everything to put our country back on the right path...
...Take Daniel Ellsberg, leaker of the Pentagon Papers, a Pentagon-commissioned secret history of the Vietnam War and the official lies and distortions that the government used to sell it...
...And Ellsberg is hardly alone. Ask Lt. Colonel (ret.) Darrel Vandeveld. Or Tom Drake, formerly of the National Security Agency....Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Tomgram: Andy Kroll, The 60-Year Unemployment Scandal
at 10:17am, July 5, 2011.
"Americans care about them more than any other issue, so every poll tells us. The presidential candidates are already crafting their stump speeches and talking points around them. President Obama has seen the writing on the wall and regularly tailors his message to emphasize how many of them he has created. I'm talking, of course, about jobs."
What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Jobs
How Racism, Global Economics, and the New Jim Crow Fuel Black America's Crippling Jobs Crisis
By Andy Kroll
"Americans care about them more than any other issue, so every poll tells us. The presidential candidates are already crafting their stump speeches and talking points around them. President Obama has seen the writing on the wall and regularly tailors his message to emphasize how many of them he has created. I'm talking, of course, about jobs."
What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Jobs
How Racism, Global Economics, and the New Jim Crow Fuel Black America's Crippling Jobs Crisis
By Andy Kroll
Exxon spill Yellowstone river
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Ghulam Nabi Azad, India Health Minister, Calls Homosexuality A 'Disease' From The West
"India health minister calls homosexula
Hey Azad,
so is the caste system, but that aint stopped its spread
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Monday, July 04, 2011
Happy July 4th 2011
Yeah, I stole the pic. The article on Discovery News is a couple of years old, but interesing:
Eco-Friendly Fireworks Offer Safer Pyrotechnics
Emily Sohn, Discovery News
July 2, 2009
"While particle-filled smoke may be the most obvious concern, it's not the only issue -- or even the worst one...
...Animal studies have linked perchlorates, such as potassium perchlorate and ammonium perchlorate, to thyroid problems. Repeated pyrotechnic displays, especially ones that occur every day at theme parks, can take their toll."
Hmm, reminds me of this. Somebody over at the Huffpo made some crack on a fireworks article that cracked me up, but also caused me to sharply inhale, and then it made me very, very sad. Pretty great comment to make me do all that in one sentence.
Ralph Nader Is Tired of Running for President
Posted on Jul 4, 2011
By Chris Hedges
The most important moral and intellectual voices within a disintegrating society are slowly discredited when their nonviolent protests and calls for justice cannot alter intransigent and corrupt systems of power. The repeated acts of peaceful civil disobedience, efforts at electoral and political reform and the fight to protect the rule of law are dismissed as useless by an embittered, dispossessed and betrayed public. The demagogues and hatemongers, the purveyors of violence, easily seduce enraged and bewildered masses in the final stages of collapse with false promises of vengeance, new glory and moral renewal. And in the spiral downward the good among us are reviled as naive and ineffectual fools...
Fox News Twitter feed says Obama dead in apparent hack
By Richard Allen Greene, CNN
July 4, 2011 -- Updated 1509 GMT (2309 HKT) | Filed under: Social Media
(CNN) -- Hackers apparently broke into the FoxNews.com's Twitter feed for political news early Monday and used it to announce -- falsely -- that President Barack Obama had been assassinated.
Obama was "shot twice at a Ross' restaurant in Iowa while campaigning. RIP Obama, best regards to the Obama family," read one of several Twitter messages posted on @FoxNewsPolitics early Monday.
Apparently Hacked, a Fox News Twitter Account Sent Out Alarming Posts
By LIZ ROBBINS and BRIAN STELTER
Published: July 4, 2011
“Hackers sent out several malicious and false Tweets claiming that President Obama had been assassinated. Those reports are incorrect, of course, and the president is spending the July 4 holiday with his family. The hacking is being investigated, and FoxNews.com regrets any distress the false tweets may have created.”
I'm watching a BBC and PBS special called Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State (C) 2005. The mind boggles.
July 4, 2011 -- Updated 1509 GMT (2309 HKT) | Filed under: Social Media
(CNN) -- Hackers apparently broke into the FoxNews.com's Twitter feed for political news early Monday and used it to announce -- falsely -- that President Barack Obama had been assassinated.
Obama was "shot twice at a Ross' restaurant in Iowa while campaigning. RIP Obama, best regards to the Obama family," read one of several Twitter messages posted on @FoxNewsPolitics early Monday.
Apparently Hacked, a Fox News Twitter Account Sent Out Alarming Posts
By LIZ ROBBINS and BRIAN STELTER
Published: July 4, 2011
“Hackers sent out several malicious and false Tweets claiming that President Obama had been assassinated. Those reports are incorrect, of course, and the president is spending the July 4 holiday with his family. The hacking is being investigated, and FoxNews.com regrets any distress the false tweets may have created.”
I'm watching a BBC and PBS special called Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State (C) 2005. The mind boggles.
Friday, July 01, 2011
Idaho Lawmaker Who Drunkenly Stole Car Gets Off With Misdemeanor
Aaron Wiener | July 1, 2011, 11:38AM
After he stole a Ford Excursion and drove it with a .15 blood alcohol content -- almost twice the legal limit -...
After he stole a Ford Excursion and drove it with a .15 blood alcohol content -- almost twice the legal limit -...
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
My husband is funny sometimes
The following is a little exchange that I found humorus.
Me- "Oh my gosh, honey, we can't afford for her to continue going to school, the CA budget was passed and because the tuition is probably going up 23% and that's not chump change, we only have blah blah blah in the savngs account. If Granpa wants her to get her Masters he's going to have to help more than he has been."
Him- "Well, it's a good thing we didn't have three thousand of them, huh?"
Me - "I got my tubes tied for a reason."
Him - "Good job."
Monday, June 27, 2011
2 articles on the healthcare business
Nonprofit Insurers: Reaping Profits at the Expense of the Consumer
Posted: 06/27/11 10:09 AM ET
Wendell Potter
Analyst, Center for Public Integrity; Former insurance company executive; Author
"... Kaiser alone has spent $700,000 so far this year lobbying lawmakers in Sacramento...
...According to public filings, Kaiser has made a whopping $5 billion in profits since 2009..."
A Depressing Story You need to Read.
Robert KuttnerCo-founder and co-editor, The American Prospect
Posted: 06/26/11 09:05 PM ET
Posted: 06/27/11 10:09 AM ET
Wendell Potter
Analyst, Center for Public Integrity; Former insurance company executive; Author
"... Kaiser alone has spent $700,000 so far this year lobbying lawmakers in Sacramento...
...According to public filings, Kaiser has made a whopping $5 billion in profits since 2009..."
A Depressing Story You need to Read.
Robert KuttnerCo-founder and co-editor, The American Prospect
Posted: 06/26/11 09:05 PM ET
"If President Obama's health reform, the Affordable Care Act, backfires politically, one reason will be the staggering political power of the drug industry.."
Friday, June 24, 2011
Better hope you know exactly how your loved one died
Because most places aint like the CSI you see on TV.
Frontline: Post Mortem
I can't beieve this lizard-like creature has been re-elected 10 times and working in Nawlins for 40 years. No, seriously look at this guy, watch him speak on the Frontline show and then pray to God that you don't die in custody in New Orleans.
Frontline: Post Mortem
I can't beieve this lizard-like creature has been re-elected 10 times and working in Nawlins for 40 years. No, seriously look at this guy, watch him speak on the Frontline show and then pray to God that you don't die in custody in New Orleans.
Or many other places in the US for that matter. And oh, wait, re-elected? I did not know that coroners were elected, and didn't have to have anything other than a high school diploma in some places.
Huh?
RuEffinKidding me?
Huh?
RuEffinKidding me?
My country is so sad now
Report: Private Prisons Love Mass Incarceration, And Want Politicians To Love It Too
Ryan J. Reilly | June 24, 2011, 5:45AM
TPMMuckraker
"...The private prison population has grown 353.7 percent in the past 15 years, according to a study by the Justice Policy Institute."
Ryan J. Reilly | June 24, 2011, 5:45AM
TPMMuckraker
"...The private prison population has grown 353.7 percent in the past 15 years, according to a study by the Justice Policy Institute."
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Michelle Bachmann, frightening to me
Michelle Bachmann is a zealot, and she knows how to talk to her possible voters, the Evangelicals.
" Minnesota politician s who have squared off against Bachmann all speak with a kind of horrified reverence for her martial indomitability, her brilliantly fortifying lack of self-doubt , even the fact that she hasn't appeared to physically age at all in 10 years. "She will not stop," says Cecconi... "
"...Bachmann didn't talk a lot about her religion. She didn't have to—she knows how to signal it in ways that go right over secular heads. In criticizing Obama's Libya policy, for example, she said, "We are the head and not the tail." The phrase comes from Deuteronomy 28:13: "The Lord will make you the head and not the tail." As Rachel Tabachnick has reported, it's often used in theocratic circles to explain why Christians have an obligation to rule...
" Minnesota politician s who have squared off against Bachmann all speak with a kind of horrified reverence for her martial indomitability, her brilliantly fortifying lack of self-doubt , even the fact that she hasn't appeared to physically age at all in 10 years. "She will not stop," says Cecconi... "
"...Bachmann didn't talk a lot about her religion. She didn't have to—she knows how to signal it in ways that go right over secular heads. In criticizing Obama's Libya policy, for example, she said, "We are the head and not the tail." The phrase comes from Deuteronomy 28:13: "The Lord will make you the head and not the tail." As Rachel Tabachnick has reported, it's often used in theocratic circles to explain why Christians have an obligation to rule...
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Republicans do not have the power to block an Elizabeth Warren recess appointment
Here's the rule
Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
That’s Article I, section 5, clause 4 of the U.S. Constitution. You have to hand it to the House Republicans. They read the Constitution.
But they may not have read the whole thing. A little bit later—in the very same Constitution—is this passage on presidential powers:
[The President] shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.
That’s Article II, section 3, clause 3 (the emphasis is mine, not the founders’). Yes, you read it correctly. If the Senate wants to adjourn and the House won’t permit it, the President can adjourn both houses of Congress. That would be a fitting end to the House meddling in nominations—a power the Constitution expressly assigns to the President and the Senate, not the House.
Read the whole post here.
Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
That’s Article I, section 5, clause 4 of the U.S. Constitution. You have to hand it to the House Republicans. They read the Constitution.
But they may not have read the whole thing. A little bit later—in the very same Constitution—is this passage on presidential powers:
[The President] shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.
That’s Article II, section 3, clause 3 (the emphasis is mine, not the founders’). Yes, you read it correctly. If the Senate wants to adjourn and the House won’t permit it, the President can adjourn both houses of Congress. That would be a fitting end to the House meddling in nominations—a power the Constitution expressly assigns to the President and the Senate, not the House.
Read the whole post here.
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