I’m in the air on the way to the AmeriCatalyst concerence in Austin on mortgages and securitization, where I am speaking on two panels, the keynote (!) and the final one on litigation. Adam Levitin is also on the second panel, and I was looking forward to having his help in fighting the defenders of the “nothing to see here, move right along” school of thought, but he is now one of the moderators. So I have to go it alone. Wish me luck.
We were just short of meeting the the third target (nice ex-post facto honoraria to our loyal guest bloggers) when I left NYC, and we’ve met it now, so thanks for your great response! As of 4:30 PM EST, 300 of you of our goal of 750 have generously contributed.
We are now on our way to meeting our next target, which is a purely selfish one: I want a real vacation! The last sorta vacation from the blog was in the summer of 2008, when I went to Alaska and there was no Internet for part of the trip. You probably remember my gnashing of teeth and rending of garments this past August/September when I was in Maine and the Internet ranged from sucky to non-existent, necessitating near daily 20 minute each way drives to the nearest Starbucks. Longer standing readers may recall past Internet woes when on semi holiday trips (for instance, drafting Chapter 8 of ECONNED and still blogging while on the Danube).
Now I could simply follow the suggestion of reader Earl Crockett:
I wish to propose the founding of an “Yves Smith Well Being and Restoration Fund” so you can jet off to the Caribbean Island of your choice on every Tuesday and Wednesday when nothing of substance ever happens anymore [this was during the heat of the crisis, when the cliffhangers took all weekend].
However, I have something more specific in mind, so bear with me as I go through the logic.
On the 2008 break, I had arranged for guest bloggers, and even though I liked them, some of them appealed to specific tastes and some NC readers were decidedly Not Happy. And since they were doing it out of an interest in NC and a desire to help, they did not have the same degree of obligation as the sort of guest blogging gigs I’ve taken up (one for Felix Salmon when he was at Portfolio, more recently for Glenn Greenwald at Salon). A formal vacation fill-in gig is more demanding of the guest blogger, since he does not have they luxury of submitting copy only when he feels inspired. He is obligated to find something to write about every day, and for readers that have different aesthetics and interests than his regular one.
Since we now have guest bloggers that may of you like, and I’m sure we’ll have some new writers submitting posts over the next few months, some of whom may also become regulars, I would arrange for 2-3 of them to take up the obligation of submitting regular posts, with another person responsible for Links (which if Ed Harrison continues to be a sport, might be an amalgam of his Links + a selection of reader submissions + stuff he found on his own) and possible cross/video postings. This would be a formal duty and therefore paid. I’d need full time coverage for a two week holiday around Memorial Day, and heavy but less than full time coverage for my usual two weeks in Maine (there is no nightlife there, so connectivity willing, I’d be submitting 1-2 posts a day).
I estimate at the current going rate of $100 a post that this will run $11,000. So that is our next target! And as of 4:30 PM EST, we are already have $2000 towards that goal. Thanks SO much for your generous support!
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Just a quick comment to note how heartening it has been to read up on previous posts and note the progress over the weekend.
As for (modestly) contributing, I can definitely say, ’tis an honor and a privilege.
While I am happy for Yves, I am upset that my part is not contributing anywhere near the level I expected.
Where are all you credit card contributors?
Please go <a href="http://www.bycycleinc.com/YSfundraiser/YSContrib.html" here if you are not comfortable with the Naked Capitalism regular contribution options during this fund raiser.
Thank you for support of our outpost of sanity in our crazy world.
so much for link embeding, damn.
Sorry.
AND THE LINK IS WRONG!
it is not https like it should and needs to be a secure server link, DAMN!
Try this
https://www.bycycleinc.com/YSfundraiser/YSContrib.html
Sorry for the failed attempt to embed the link and make it wrong…gag!
Hey Soros, take out that checkbook.
LOL! This is not fundraising, this is blitzkrieg!
I’ll be sending my modest contribution via mail. By the time it reaches NYC it will be like target 20.
Congrats!
I remember Ed manning the fort (2010?). Readers were sending him pictures of their pets for the antidote. Yves’ idea of a vacation was like taking 30 nerdy books with her. LOL!
I guess I’m donator #301.
Minie will be sent by snail mail.
will email Yves details.
Even I can’t stand in the way of Yves getting a vacation!
Yves, you do fantastic work, better than I can articulate. You deserve more than I can give, but I’ll do my best.
regards to all.
Maybe you could take the temperature at #OccupyAustin….
Yves:
My wife is From Austin. We recommend that you go to Guero’s for some Tex-Mex and then the Broken Spoke for chicken fried steak. Take Prof. Levitin with you. Have fun.
Best,
Arthur
I propose a toast: “Confusion to Larry Summers!”
(Aubrey/Maturin reference…)
I’ll drink to that.
Not that anyone is particularly interested, but I plan on donating at some point in the future, just can’t afford it right now.
Four things you must to do in Austin:
Torchy Tacos
Taco Deli
Chuys
Trudy’s (Get their Mexican Martini, its soo good that it they have a two drink Maximum!)
They have me on a VERY short leash! i was gonna try to see Jamie Galbraith, but they have me with a small group of people that it would be good to get to know for dins (Australian for dinner).
So I guess I have to come back, right?
Absolutely, you need to come back. We need to have blog party/eat tacos till we pass party.
Yves, FWIW here’s my opinion on site vacation planning.
Take a total vacation. Your readers aren’t going anywhere (unless a fully rested you is more formidable than the 24/7/365 you, then we’ll all need a vacation once you get back.)
Personally, I’d be happy with a daily Links post for the duration of the vacation (to keep it REAL simple highlight THE daily link to your guest posters. They know they’ll be doing double duty to your readers, and there will be little extra effort on their part (or anxiety on yours) .
I don’t think the site suffers if things go a little lite for a time.
And if the world goes to hell, you’ll have to cut your vacation short anyway. Hah
I like keeping my NC addicts at least sorta happy.
And the Mem Day vacation would be a total vacation. Maine is a family holiday, and quite frankly, having an excuse to absent myself is sometimes very useful.
NC is a brew of Yves mind and opinions, Yves “editorial policy” and some excellent guest contributions. The readers are in the brew too (some more than others).
Personally, there are some guests bloggers I can do without (I skip them) and the one I really like is Aurback.
The pursuit of vacation is implicit in the constitution. Yves, you are owed our gratitude and support. Advise on life style is not my role as a reader.
I like Marshall too, and he is ALSO a very nice guy. But other readers were mean to him!
Well this is the internets where people get grief they most assuredly don’t deserve.
Auerback rocks, as does Stoller, Pilkington, the other Smith, Ferguson, Washington… the whole boatload frankly. Don’t listen to the critics, you have excellent editorial selectivity. And don’t forget, the internet was invented so people could fling crap at each other anonymously ;).
Keep up the great work but don’t burn out. You are too important Yves.
Marshall Rocks!
I say bring on more Marshall
MMT MMT MMT MMT
I loved that ultra-provocative one during the debt deal titled something like: “Obama – 1st tea party President”
Marhshall, Ed, Matt Stoller, Bill Black,all the rest, I honestly don’t think any of them are less than great. All of them are amazing
Go get ’em, Yves! I just contributed a short time ago.
I am the curator of the economics feed for Progressive Congress News. I spend my days poring over somewhere in the neighborhood of 250-300 articles daily from various sources who post on economics from a progressive perspective, putting the most insightful (from a policy-analysis perspective) into a summary which is sent directly to progressive members of congress’ top staffers on a daily basis.
I can say without hesitation that your RSS feed is one of my must-reads every day. And I hope that it makes you happy that a good deal of your work is, via my colleagues and I at PCN, landing on the desks of key staffers and congresspeople in DC.
Keep up the good work.
Long time lurker. Gave today.
Love the commentary and general atmosphere here. I’m an engineer and often times don’t feel qualified to speak on most matters discussed here… but this is my morning read and I’m really happy to support in any way I can.
The best hotel to stay at in Austin is the Driskill. It’s downtown on the corner of Congress and 6th Street. It also houses the Driskill Grill, which is one of the top 5 restaurants in the country. The chef won an Olympic gold medal in culinary arts.
The best place for breakfast is the Magnolia Cafe, which is south on Congress.
As for Tex-Mex, believe me, you won’t find anything real north of Falfurias, which is some 300 miles south of Austin.
Enjoy your trip.
One low-labour option would be for the stand-in to select some of Yves’ old posts which still have contemporary resonances. I am confident that with so much produced of such high quality readers would be very happy to be reminded of pieces Yves wrote 1,2,3 years ago.
The best place to stay is the HI hostel on the beautiful south bank of the river. The showers used to be prison-style-ish but other than that the only hostel in the south (besides New Orleans, obviously) is also one of the most fun ones in the US.
The best thing to do? Take it from a Dutch guy, just get a bike and ride around the endless bikelanes. Also, camping at McKinny falls.
I love you Austin!
Just gave for Yves’ vacation! Thanks so much for the blog Yves. You are the best, and believe me, I’ve read all the rest :)
I regret that I have but $30 to give to my country.
(I’m probably going to buckle under and subscribe soon. It’s just every time I deal with PayPal I feel the need for a long hot shower.)
I think every comment I’ve ever made has mentioned this, but I’m still grateful for the full-text RSS feed. I hope it pays its way, now. :)
you more than held your own at the conference today. I was there and happy to see you on thenpanel. You were great.
The current response to the financial crisis and rampant fraud (or lack thereof) has made it a very discouraging time to be a law student. Blogs like NC and Credit Slips provide some optimism about the future — they should be required reading for all students studying economics, law, finance, etc.
Thank you so much for providing such a valuable resource!!
not sure if you saw my prior post about this or if you have time to look into this but here is my offer. i can give you $500 if i can do it thru a 501c3 org. this comes from funds in a fidelity gift fund account so it has to be given to a nonprofit. fdl has a writers fund set up, eg i contributed to GG via that fund. maybe if you simply contact jane and see if you can get listed there and confirm i can sent it to that fund earmarked for naked capitalism or yves smith. email me if you can get set up with fdl or if there is any other US charity that will accept an earmarked donation for you and my $500 has your name on it.
As a long time reader i really would like to contribute. i don’t have any email address for yves, this is my only way to communicate. I’m not sure if you have read my offer. I would much appreciate just a one line email to acknowledge the offer even if your reaction is ‘not interested’ or ‘too busy to check this out’, if that is not asking too much. As it is, I have no way of even being sure that you actually read every comment, so i don’t even know if you have seen my offer or not. Thanks.
Note that i currently have almost no income, so currently my only way to contribute is to tap the funds i donated back when i actually had income to take the charity gift tax deduction against.