Woman Says Bank Demanded Nude Pix Courthouse News (hat tip Lisa Epstein)
Trouble in sea bird paradise McClatchy (hat tip Buzz Potamkin)
Human Gelatin Could Be Used As Ingredient In Future Treats RedOrbit (hat tip reader Robert M). Eeew! Getting closer to Soylent Green.
Biggest Crocodile Ever Caught? National Geographic (hat tip Buzz Potamkin)
EU Court rules on GMO contamination; opens door to biotech liability Food Freedom. Ooh, this could become very interesting.
Oil exploration under Arctic ice could cause ‘uncontrollable’ natural disaster Independent (hat tip reader Carol B)
Rogue SSL certs were also issued for CIA, MI6, Mossad Help Net Security (hat tip reader Typing Monkey)
Nation’s Jails Struggle With Mentally Ill Prisoners NPR (hat tip reader Carol B)
Russia to Fortify Military Ties With Allies to Preempt Revolts Bloomberg (hat tip Buzz Potamkin)
Lawyer tells MPs: Murdoch lied to you Independent (hat tip Buzz Potamkin)
The Imperial Mentality and 9/11 Noam Chomsky, TomDispatch (hat tip reader Thomas R)
We must listen to what bond markets are telling us Martin Wolf, Financial Times
Obama ratings sink to new lows as hope fades Washington Post
Obama Said to Plan More Than $300B Jobs Package Bloomberg. This looks pathetic.
S&P Met With Bond Firms Prior to Downgrade Wall Street Journal
Occupy Wall Street will lay siege to U.S. greed Paul Farrell, MarketWatch
Why My Job is to Watch Dreams Die Reditt (hat tip reader SidFinster)
Many baby boomers don’t plan to leave their children an inheritance Los Angeles Times (hat tip Joe Costello)
Probe Into Goldman Widens Wall Street Journal
FHFA lawsuit against banks over mortgage-backed securities documents Wall Street’s informational advantage Trust Your Instincts
Profiles in competence: Jesse Jones & Leo Crowley Chris Whalen
‘Helicopter Ben’ risks destroying credit creation Bill Gross, Financial Times. I’ve disagreed with a good bit of Gross’s recent analyses, but this one is useful
Antidote du jour:
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More sectoral balances charts from the good Mr. Wolf. If this guy is one of the most important economists in the world why on earth don’t others look at how he does his research?
Maybe because they’re too busy dimissing the same research being done by MMTers…
In an increasingly fragile and volatile world economy, you’d think boomer parents would be trying to save as much money as they could for their children in case things should get really bad down the line. Apparently not. My experience, as a child of boomer parents, is that they think of their children after themselves, a distant second in the chain of priorities. I’m not saying my parents were the norm, but… well, the la times article certainly supports that conclusion. I wonder why it is that the boomers’ parents were so cautious and thoughtful for their children and the boomers are so blase. Spoiled, narcissistic and corrupt, the boomers have wrought untold horrors upon this country. In one generation we went from a vast middle class, strong unions, upward mobility for most, to the neo-feudal shithole this country is becoming. The boomers have no shame. Their legacy will long be remembered for the shattered world they left behind them. I’ve seen over and over again that of my generation (gen X), the narcissistic shallow dilettantes and vacuous careerists seem to rise to the top, under the watchful eyes of their superiors. Obama comes to mind. The boomers’ narcissism is reflected in those they choose to raise up from the next generation. My own personal Jesus succors me and tells me the day will come when these false and destructive miscreants will be shown for what they are, and a new day will dawn and the wise and just will lead us to renew and cleanse our nation.
Yeah, I know I’m batshit… but what the hell, I can still dream.
The boomers were the first ‘hlicopter parents”…the boomers’ parents, those who fought and lived through WW 2, let their kids run wild…to become the boomers.
The US (and many other nations too, as the so-called ‘cold war” was a world war, and very very expensive) boomers spent their accumulated social surplus on military spending.
The kids get nothing.
Don’t blame the boomers – blame the politicians who spent all the wealth on useless military things.
It’s called SKIing: Spending the Kids’ Inheritance. What annoys me is that they wouldn’t have that money if their own parents had taken the same attitude. In my opinion, it’s not their money, they’re just holding it in trust for the grandchildren of their parents.
Why should anyone expect an inheritance? If a parent wants to help out their kids financially, fine, let them do it while they’re still alive. Otherwise, people should go out and work for what they get. Nothing is more useless than aristocracy.
Dear Moophius;
Disclaimer: My wife inherited some money fifteen years ago. Not a lot, but enough to help us out of the perpetual hole we were living in.
The flip side to your arguement is the one of scale. If rewards were proportionally apportioned across the society, the ‘work for your money’ arguement would have legs. Unfortunately, most of humanity starts life with a steep disadvantage to overcome. Class divides do exist in all societies, and heavily influence the distribution of ‘income’ within said societies. Most commentators here and on affiliated sites would agree with the proposition that the primary function of Government should be to protect the ‘Weak’ from the ‘Strong.’ Too general a pronouncement, I admit, but a good first statement of goals for arguements sake.
The above is why most non-radicals lurking here and on the other “Liberal” blogs favour the reimposition of most of the New Deal reforms, and a return to Eisenhower levels of taxation. (Ten percent of 100,000,000 is still a H— of a lot more than I make.)
All things being equal, your proposal would indeed usher in the New Golden Age. I’m afraid however, all things are not equal, and never will be. So, we muddle along as best we can.
I’d agree, but we’re not talking about huge sums of money here. Because of the cuts to wages and benefits and the skyrocketing costs of living, not getting an inheritance means for example that boomers children could be wiped out by any illness in their family and as a result their grandchildren will be unable to go to college, or to eat well or something like that.
If this America was in the same economic situation as in the 1950’s -1970’s or even 10 years ago, you would definitely have a point though.
Am I the only one who does not subscribe to
this media-instigated treatment of a whole
generation of people as if they were all
the same ? Sheesh………it’s poppycock
people.
Oh, and BTW, it’s typically used by younger
people who are whining because life is not
treating them the way they think it should.
Talk about “entitled”………..
Well, let’s say this much for the boomers: they’re consistent. Consistently narcissistic and short-sighted, that is.
On the bright side, there is clearly a well-laid out path for entrepreneurs to capture some of that wealth burning a hole in their pockets: travel companies, plastic surgeons, wine merchants and other luxury vendors should do quite well feasting on the inheritance that wasn’t.
Leviathan, that’s what I tell my friends: try to start businesses that chase the inheritances that would have gone to other people. In other words, cater to the demands for luxury of the millionaire boomers who are determined to go out leaving only debts to their children.
Generational stereotyping and conflict, just like ethnic stereotyping and conflict, is a really useful way of keeping the serfs under control.
It even works pretty well on NC, apparently.
I hope our children inherit a livable planet.
The boomers should at least think about that.
DON’T BLAME THE BOOMERS ? (yeah – I know i am shouting)
Blame the Politicians ??
Q: Who elected the Policians?
It is about time we recognise and take responisibility for the fact that Politicians are elected by ‘We the People’ and can only enact into law what we allow them too.
It is about time we stop blaming someone/anyone/everyone else and take responsibility for where we are today.
The correct question to ask is “What are you PERSONALLY going to do about it?”
And Obama is too young to be a baby boomer – he’s at the very tail end of it, if he even qualifies as one.
The boomers have long been systematically denied political power – at least, those boomers who actually held “hippie” or other beliefs associated with the boomers.
The “Reagan Right” was a reaction to the boomers.
GHW Bush was no boomer, and his so-called “boomer” son differed in no way from the father, except for his age.
The problem is not the boomers, but rather with those who work to undo the victory over fascism (now called “the new deal” for short, but it’s still alleged to be “Roosevelt’s fault”…) achieved by the parents of the boomers.
It seems that perhaps a re-run of the old 1960s “war between the generations” (how did that one turn out? and who started that anyhow? I’m looking at the mass media…) is the next conflict they’ll try to re-start, for their own fun and profit.
“… and a new day will dawn and the wise and just will lead us to renew and cleanse our nation.”
But first we have to get through the Fourth Turning.
http://www.fourthturning.com/html/fourth_turning.html
I’ve argued elsewhere that the middle class screwed itself by identifying up: the middle class did to the lower class what the upper class did to the middle class. The middle class were the bashi-bazouks loosed on the lower class and believing themselves part of the ruling clique, safely in the protected circle.
The middle class almost all came from the lower class, working class and poor. Couldn’t get away from their roots fast enough. Now some of them are returning there.
Dear CB;
That process is as old as human society. The mosty effective counter strategy I’ve heard of is “Liberal Education.” The other day, while at work, I dealt with a Professor of X from the local University. The conversation , after the business basics had been dispensed with, veered off sharply into esoteric territory. One quote from the Professor stuck with me; “I don’t know why, although I have my suspicions,” he said, “but the kids today show an almost universal inability to think independantly, and almost no concept of what originality is.” My experience has shown me that those who achieve the most are generally those who abandon the ‘consensus reality’ and learn to think for themselves. Education is the key.
Mabye the kids think independently and the professor just doesn’t see it.
In any case, the first step to think independently is to disagree with everything you first come across.
Then, go from there.
Maybe eventually you find common ground…or maybe you don’t. But the default is to disagree first.
The default should be to examine everything critically. (Thank you Socrates.) It’s just as foolish to disagree with everything by default as it is to accept everything by default.
Thank you for disagreeing with me.
After disagreeing with me first, maybe you will next agree with me that to disagree, to be skeptical, to doubt (thank you Descartes), in that general direction, is to be critical.
I hope that’s not too foolish.
Dear MLTPB;
Are you perhaps advocating the Dialectic? (Thank you Marx and Engels.) It’s always fun to cross swords on this site, eh?
Sorry you don’t get on with your parents.
That article was about “millionaire boomers.” (What does that mean? Income? Assets, including houses?) Many of them have already paid their children’s expenses, or are helping “parents, children or siblings who have their own money struggles.”
Did you miss the part about “fear of outliving their savings”? Or “Many boomers already are giving the equivalent of an inheritance, except they’re doling out the cash while they’re still alive”? Or “They’re supporting elderly parents, adult children or other family members who are suffering professional or financial woes”?
“Others have held off on inheritances because they’re scared of running out of money in a shaky economy. Even the well-to-do have turned cautious, especially out of fear of spiraling medical costs.
“The concerns are legitimate, financial advisors say, because boomers have longer life expectancies than their parents but fewer safety nets such as pensions to guarantee financial security.”
My personal plan is to try to stretch out my modest savings until a medical emergency wipes out everything.
This generational warfare was one of the first divisions of the traditional Democratic base the Obama campaign created in 2008, by the way. (“Hey, old people, die and get out of the way!”)
Regardless of whether any individual gets on with their parents, the traditional American rugged individualist ideal is breaking down. Except for the truly wealthy, families and individuals can’t survive very long in the U.S. without help from their extended families.
The new generation becoming adults is told it has to work for a living and support themselves but there are few jobs for them and the jobs there are don’t pay enough to live on. They are told they should go to college to improve their chances of success but the net effect is that it didn’t improve their chances. It did set them back some staggering amount of money that begins to accumulate with interest.
In the meantime, the jobs they should be working are shipped overseas, or being worked by someone who is doing two jobs for the salary of one or done by illegal immigrants or done by foreign workers brought in to displace American ones.
Even these jobs are drying up as the economy spirals downwards while at the same time becoming increasingly automated.
And some wiseguy oldsters then tell the young guys to stop feeling “entitled” because they want to settle down and start a family before they are 40.
It’s not a made-up thing this generational warfare. Young people are the new blacks. And like in countries where there is no social safety system, people must rely on their extended families more and more. The whole model that prevailed where young people leave the family home to go off and start their own family is a mirage for a significant percentage (I would say the vast majority) of 18-30 year olds. It’s not that they don’t want to, it’s that they can’t.
In the paradise where everyone in the world has a bachelor’s bachelerette’s degree, who is going to cook or mow the lawn?
Illegal space aliens?
I never said everyone had to get one. That’s what employers demand even for menial jobs. Lawn mowing jobs go to illegals where I live. You can’t one that pays even minimum wage.
Sorry, it is not addressed to you specifically.
It’s more a general question about the paradoxical nature of life, and in this case, what happens when we get what we’ve wanted: universal college education.
Friends;
All right now, let’s all get together on this. The basic arguemant here is about the distribution of income, right? We Liberal Progressives argue that a grand leveling of wealth is optimal for society. (We can argue about it later.) The Social Darwinian Randians will argue that ‘survival of the fittest’ is the superior paradigm. The fact that the ‘Boomers’ are grousing about outliving their savings shows several things.
First, they are living a lot longer than previous generations. This requires greater resources. One can either let the ‘Law of the Jungle’ take care of them, or construct a society that spreads the costs of the problem out over the entire population. One produces meaner leaner animals, while the other produces civilized human beings.
Second, They expect a higher standard of living than previous generations too. People survived under much more rigourous conditions in the past than we do today. (Even the poorest of todays citizens would have been the envy of a great percentage of past generations.) Add to this the pernicious effect of the advertising driven ‘consumer society,’ and the caracature Citizen Weiner comes into his own.
Third, they grew up more or less stable and secure lives. No Great Depression nightmares for them. No hoarding canned food under the bed for ‘just in case.’ Little or no understanding of the concept of privation, or how to endure it. No wonder they’re scared. Their future is more and more looking like an alien purgatory.
Finally, throw in a lot of cynical and predatory financial and political elites. These folks just love fear and anxiety. These emotions are their ticket to dominance and control. Like any good magician, once you have distracted the marks, the sleight of hand will make up look like down and black white.
So, yes, the Boomers are indeed scared. Precisely because elites have engineered it this way. Let’s not blame the Boomers here. Blame the elites and their ‘System.’
I’m a boomer who was a single mom. I paid for a large share of my son’s education from my 401k, which turned out to be a better investment than tanking stocks. He now earns double what I did at my best job.
I don’t know how long I’ll live, but I’ll never be wealthy and don’t know if I’ll have enough to live in some comfort in retirement, so giving him a start in life without paying interest on school loans was a nice gift, I thought. But I guess that’s not enough from selfish-boomers like me.
My son appreciated it, though, and enjoys a pretty nice lifestyle that I couldn’t afford at his age.
“But I guess that’s not enough from selfish-boomers like me.”
That’s another annoying trait of boomers. First, talking about how they are not like other boomers. Then taking some label that applies generally to boomers and inaccurately using it on themselves. Then expecting everyone to discard their notion of what boomers are like, feel guilty for having such a notion, while at the same time feeling pity for the poor boomer while the boomer wallows in self pity.
It’s just another boomer head game.
Bottom line: parents who can afford to pay for their children’s education. Normal parents don’t expect a medal for it.
If your son is really well off, there’s no reason in the world he wouldn’t make sure you’re doing well in your old age. Chances are he wouldn’t expect a medal for doing that either.
“some label that applies generally to boomers”
“their notion of what boomers are like”
Science!
Your generation are all alike.
There’s another deliberately exaggerated and condescending remark.
I never said Boomers were all alike. Can’t the majority of a certain age group have certain traits that aren’t shared by other groups?
I know it’s not PC to say anything about a group of individuals, but to be fair nearly all the boomers I’ve met self-identified as “boomers.”
What is this bunkum, to put it politely, about how “boomers” are responsible for the End of the World? I was born in the late 50’s, and got out of an Ivy college in 1979. That was the original Great Recession. I couldn’t find any work beyond part-time waitressing or typing for four years, and it made a permanent dent in my salary progression. And all my 45+ relatives (“Greatest Generation”) never worked again because the American steel industry was gutted at the same time.
The current lousy economy is not some unprecedented cataclysm. The issue is not generational, despite the sloppy thinking of Gens X, Y & Z. This economic crash, and all the previous ones are a feature, not a bug, of late capitalism. The issue is systemic.
Try reading about events that occurred before you were born. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. (Geo. Santayana)
“End of the World”? Is it? Or is it just more boomer hyperbole?
Granted it’s capitalism, or at least what is called capitalism. And we can argue about whether it’s late stage or not. But one only has to consider the Japanese experience from 1989 until now to see that we can be in this situation with significantly less unemployment, homelessness, hunger, and lack of medical care.
In other words: it doesn’t have to be this way and the brunt of it doesn’t have to fall on those least able to bear it.
“Spoiled, narcissistic and corrupt, the boomers have wrought untold horrors upon this country.”
I have a problem with characterizing all the people born within an 18 year time span with such a broad brush. You’re talking about a lot of people, from 47-65 years old. What do you want, a pile of money handed to you so you don’t have to work like a lot of boomers did?
False dichotomy is a favorite boomer fallacy. If you want things to be less corrupt then that means you just want piles of money handed to you. Boomer brains made out of mush are also responsible for our current predicament.
You can’t blame my generation for the way things are. We were too young to vote for Bush or Clinton who are jointly responsible for crashing the economy. Obama’s made things worse but the other choice (McCain/Palin) seemed equally bad.
No you can’t blame us…yet. Boomers who have been voting 20 years do know better, yet keep these awful people in power out of fear for their cushy livelihoods. I’m tired of Boomers trying to fob all the responsibility off on other people. As a demographic, they are at least 50% responsible for the mess we’re in today.
re Murdoch story
Mr Murdoch said afterwards that he stood by his version of events and that he had been “absolutely clear and consistent”.
Yes, mate, but did you tell the truth?
Could someone please explain Bill Gross’s reasoning in more detail for me? He says that banks can no longer profitably borrow short and lend long because the yield curve is flat. I presume he means the Fed Funds rate yield curve. But the Fed Funds rate is tiny. Couldn’t banks still profitably lend at a higher interest rate than that, and do so with even more confidence, because the yield curve means they could borrow on a maturity schedule comparable to the maturity they demand on the loans they offer?
If the very short term rate is fixed to say 0% for two years, the interest rate for two year loans will also go down to 0%. If operation twist brings down the interest rate for five year loans, this will further reduce the profitability of borrowing at 0% and making a five year loan.
Hope that helps.
“Couldn’t banks still profitably lend at a higher interest rate than that,”
Nobody would take the two-year loan at the higher rate if they knew they could continue to rollover short-term loans at zero for the same period.
But regular people don’t constantly roll over loans. I still don’t understand. Can’t a bank still borrow money for almost nothing, and lend it to a consumer for five percent, and make a profit?
Sorry to be so dense. Alex, if you understand the replies, please let me know. And thanks for asking the question; it’s something I’ve been wondering. And still wonder.
Nope, I share your confusion.
Bill Gross doesn’t think about consumers.
Of note from the Reddit piece:
“The lawyers handle the evictions – they churn through the paperwork in the background, ten thousand properties at a time. They have it down to rote function based on templates, personal experience with the various judges and intimate knowledge of the federal, state and municipal laws…”
The piece is mostly interesting for its ground-level view of a disaster in progress, which is too often discussed in terms of aggregates and abstractions. But the bit I quoted is the point of contact with discussions here — particularly the way this guy who’s shoving people out of their houses on the ground seems to just assume that the lawyers “in the cloud” (as he says at another point) are doing their job properly….
Yeah, I caught that, too. I suppose he feels he has to believe that. I worked in the MIC for over 30 years and I never thought it was about national defense. It was about money and power. Same old, same old. Working a dirty job doesn’t require one to fabricate a rationale.
Some impassioned rhetoric this morning from one of the plaintiffs, after Germany’s constitutional court rebuffed their lawsuit challenging German guarantees for eurozone bailouts:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-07/german-euro-rescue-challenges-rejected-by-court.html
He’s taking several logical steps at once. But this is a classic framing of Germany’s historic cultural concern with monetary stability.
By contrast, southern Europe had a long history of inflation and currency devaluation before joining the eurozone. Somehow they were supposed to acquire a northern European commitment to price stability in a painless, quasi-magical personality transformation. In the Nineties, the great convergence of eurozone sovereign bond yields wasn’t merely painless — it was a collective keg party!
Yes, it was all a gay carefree beach blast, until Greece got sent to rehab, and Spain and Italy got their bar tabs cut off.
What y’all gonna do now?
Speaking of Greece, its 1-year bond yield is approaching 94% this morning.
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2011/09/Greek%201%20Year_0.jpg
In case you’re wondering, there’s no upper bound. In the event that the issue sells for pennies, the annualized yield could soar into the hundreds.
p.s. If those elephants are having a go at 69, somebody should tell the cutie on the bottom that she needs to flop over.
Hah, coffee onto keyboard…
These are tini tiny baby elephants.
In Bill Gross’ FT article, he states:
“”Fractional reserve banking, where only a portion of bank deposits are backed by hard cash, as well as unreserved collateral-based lending on overnight repo have allowed for an expansion of credit beyond the bounds of a central banker’s imagination.””
How is it that Mr. Gross fails to connect this dot with Hyman Minsky’s Instability Hypothesis dot, also mentioned in the article, to see that it IS fractional-reserve banking that is causing all of the financial and economic instability that Helicopter Ben is trying to “paper over” with his QE variations.
Mr. Gross mentions the effects on the M3 index as a factor in how things work. I am amazed that he cannot figure out that neither Mr. Bernanke, nor any central banker working under a fractionally-reserved money system – that would be ALL central bankers – are capable of putting any monies into the economy in the only monetary metric that matters toward ending the recession and restoring financial markets.
That would be the M1 portion of the money supply, where money gets spent, and re-spent and has a velocity-driven economic multiplier effect.
Rather, Bernanke’s QE’s end up primarily in excess reserves where they are drawn to speculate up commodity prices.
Time to wake up to the reality of the money system, Mr.Gross. The financial/bond markets should slowly begin to arise driven by demand in the economy, and not interest rate yield curves.
The Russians understand very well that covert destabilization is an effective weapon, when coupled with Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Pillar III (also known as war). Libya is only the latest example. Turnabout is fair play. Why don’t the Russians destabilize us for a change? Here in the US, pervasive popular revulsion against corruption, repression and rights derogation is desperate for an outlet. The international community has put together the most comprehensive indictment of US state derelictions, in human rights bodies and UN Agencies – but this country is hermetically sealed against it, thanks to our centrally-coordinated media oligopoly. The only way to get independent criticism out to the US population is through capacity building (R2P Pillar, II in the jargon) that the US government would view as covert subversion. So how about it, Mister Putin? Help us out. We’re as tired of this shit as you are.
Dear Doom;
Ol Vlad Putin isn’t going to help us re-form Western Democracy mate. He’s the latest in a long line of Eastern Autocrats. Look at the history of Russia as far back as the Golden Horde. His interests are best served by a corrupt and detested West. We are his ‘Jihadis.’ The ‘reason’ he can point to to justify some of his more oppressive actions. If America and the West stabilized and actually worked toward democratic and humanist goals, the Eastern peoples would have a ‘shining City on a Hill’ toward which to aspire. That would spell trouble for all the Despots and Theocrats of the East. So, don’t expect the Cossaks to come riding over the hill any time soon. We’re on our own Pardner!
Slim: “Sure is quiet out beyond the campfire tonight Lefty.”
Lefty: “Yeah, too quiet.”
Injun: From out of darkness; “You two stop worrying and get some sleep now.”
Interestingly, these days Russia is among the international community’s most articulate advocates of rule of law. Autocrat though he might be, Putin evidently learned from the impact of the Helsinki Accords. He can jiu-jitsu the shame pretty good. Same with China: they’re exploiting US weakness to advocate demilitarization and economic (CESCR) rights, of all things. They may be bastards, but they’re our bastards. On the merits they’re damn right.
Re: Antidote du Jour: I’m a faithful
NC reader, and have never posted a
critical comment (I’m not usually
qualified to), but I must protest today’s
Antidote.
These majestic animals should not be
used for human entertainment.
PS: I think elephants are my totem. The
circus in my town used to be held right across
the street from where I lived, so we
kids could run around and watch them set
up. The elephants were always awe-inspiring
to me.
May we all be boars if we can’t be African Elephants:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLqgekTQbqk
re: “Many baby boomers don’t plan to leave their children an inheritance”
notice the lady in the article says she wants to have her bank acct at zero when she dies. I wonder how she plans on timing that?
A caring hospital can do that – unplug your life support just when your account hits zero, assuming you have no medicare; otherwise, you’re needed to provide employment.
Nice attitude you demonstrate by your psycho comment.
Seriously – what good are you trying to do with that comment?
Got any evidence or proof that anybody anywhere thinks like you think they do about critical or end-of-life care? if so, name names.
Don’t simply insult the kindness and caring of the entire human race…that only illuminates how YOU think – or have been trained to think – about people whom you don’t know.
The comment is about the absurdity of trying to time it so you have zero money when you die.
If it did get you to go psycho about your moral superiority, well, so be it.
Hey guys!
“Moral superiority” is an oxymoron, after all. And since when has cynically snide sarcasm been a negative trait around here? Shake hands and play nice. Sit very still and regulate your breathing. Visualize the ‘Big Empty Circle.’ Take one ‘crazyman cocktail.’ Call us in the morning, we’ll still love you.
re Fragile Democracy: Representative democracy has proven to be too corruptible, it’s time to try direct democracy. Switzerland is a pretty good model. They have peace and prosperity.
FYI
NewPage Corp , the biggest maker of magazine paper in North America, filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, succumbing to falling demand as advertisers and readers move online.
Competition from Europe and Asia and rising costs for pulp, energy and chemicals have also hurt its business.
Setting generations against each other is a tactic of class war. We are all in this together. Boomers don’t have any money for the same reason no one else does: virtually all of it has been stolen by our looting elites. These elites would like nothing better than for us to stand around blaming each other. As long as we are pointing fingers at each other, we are not pointing fingers at them.
Re Obama, the mask is slipping. Chinks are appearing in the armor. The PR is to push the aura of inevitability: “Hey, he’s got a billion dollars.” But his unpopularity is turning into distaste. He is being qualified as ineffective. Can loser be far behind? Or talk of another failed Presidency? Comparisons with Jimmy Carter? These are perceptions that even a billion dollars can’t cure.
Biggest crocodile ever caught? 21 feet? Small stuff compared to your average Wall Street banker.
Small nit. Pronoun game.
“We are all in this together…”
Then, “…stolen by our looting elites.”
You have sneakily redefined “we.”
The deeper question is does this misuse of pronouns expose a flaw in your logic, grasp of the facts, and/or line-drawing. Maybe. Maybe not. Doesn’t inspire confidence, regardless. You seem to be, in your mind, the only one granted the power to separate one group from another; all other grouping perspectives seem to lack the standing of yours. It’s not that I don’t have a similar instinct about where you draw the line; it’s just that I see the limits of my own analysis, whereas you don’t seem to do the same.
A.J.,
Does your finely parsing critique of the pronouns and implied intentions in Hugh’s post make any sense at all? Maybe. Maybe not.
Dear Jones;
What we’re all wondering about are the limits of your ideology. I’m out in the open. So are crazyman, attempter, Down South (wherever he’s got to,) and the rest here. Are you a Professor of Philosophy? It sounds like it what with your evident affinity for Carnap and Wittgenstein. (I know, I know, it’s an ad hominem attack. So what?)
There are only looters (and those who serve them) and lootees. The referent in both cases is the same. It is to the lootees.
Compared to us youths, baby boomers have a life savings to destroy. All we have is debt. You are right about the real villains, but people my age are really having a miserable time of it compared to the boomers who are still comfortable in their homes (most of them). I don’t resent them, but I do wish we could also get jobs like they’ve enjoyed, and wish they’d stop picking on us and offer us jobs instead. And also I wish they would stop voting for politicians who want to obliterate our futures.
Some boomers were hippies once.
Hopefully they are comfortable in their homes.
Do you think every generation is like that – more idealistic in its youth?
From Salon today:
http://www.salon.com/news/larry_summers/index.html?story=/politics/feature/2011/09/07/oligarchycandor
Not that anyone around NC cares what Larry Summers says, but the candor is bracing to read:
“There are those today who would resist the process of international integration; that is a prescription for a more contentious and less prosperous world,” stated Summers. “We should not oppose offshoring or outsourcing.” (emphasis added)
Bracing indeed.
Had he been so candid when O appointed him, perhaps those of us whose blood ran cold that day, and since, might not have felt so filled w despair/disgust.
But its a relief to see that he is a self aware ass after all. Acknowledging it (given his ‘brilliance’, this is no Freudian slip)… Priceless.
And pathetic…
Thanks for sharing.
I should have added:
Can’t wait to offshore all of Wall Street, the Village, and everyone else who is a self-important prig. When are THEY all going to be replaced by foreign labor?
Not soon enough.
American Conservative magazine has an interesting article by noted military historian and retired Army officer Andrew Bacevich.
“An End to Empire: The Cold War and Long War are over—it’s time to return to reality”
http://www.amconmag.com/blog/an-end-to-empire/
Noam Chomsky on Darling dictators, rogue dictators and humanitarian intervention :
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/5/11/noam_chomsky_the_us_and_its
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The other category is an oil-rich dictator who’s not reliable, who’s a loose cannon. That’s Libya. And there, there’s a different policy: try to get a more reliable dictator. And that’s exactly what’s happening. Of course, describe it as a humanitarian intervention. That’s another near historical universal. You check history, virtually every resort to force, by whoever it is, is accompanied by the most noble rhetoric. It’s all completely humanitarian. That includes Hitler taking over Czechoslovakia, the Japanese fascists rampaging in northeast China. In fact, it’s Mussolini in Ethiopia. There’s hardly any exceptions. So you produce that, and the media and commentators present — pretend they don’t notice that it has no — carries no information, because it’s reflexive.
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The horror show in Libya is only just beginning.
What the? … you’ve locked the comments in Wray’s MMT hypervention post? … really?
What? had to sneak Wray’s golden-calf back into the “Holiest of Holy’s” before the great unclean heaving masses fixed their inferior gaze on its transfixing lustre, and realized it had a case of ‘mad-cow’?
Never thought I’d see this at NC … chicken-poo lame … disappointing.
Narcissistic boomers?
Boomers had to go out and work hard for whatever they
got.
It’s those griping b/c money is not being handed to them who are narcissists.
Talk about a sense of entitlement!