UPDATE: Yves asked me to add a reminder for tonight’s DC meetup. It’s at 6:00 PM @ Elephant & Castle, 900 19th Street, NW. She hopes to see you all there.
We had a little shake rattle and roll here in LA yesterday morning. One picture frame tipped over on its side, so I’ll be putting in my insurance claim directly. Onward:
U.S. Home Builders Remain Cautious WSJ. Second month in a row where home builders see conditions as “poor.”
No Noise Newscast No. 1: Bill Black On The Fraud Economy No Noise News
You Don’t Say James Kwak, Baseline Scenario
GE Consumer Finance Unit Faces Two Federal Probes WSJ
Wells Fargo foreclosure manual under fire WaPo. Good to see this getting some mainstream media attention.
London loses top finance centre billing Financial Times. NYC is back, baby.
Former Bank of America Banker Sentenced for Theft WSJ
Ukraine:
Defying Sanctions, Putin Declares Crimea Independent NYT
Ukraine’s surrounded soldiers in Crimea await their orders LA Times. “Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, known for its history of training dolphins for war sabotage back in the Soviet days…”
The Crimea of Russia’s Imagination BBC
Deterioration in U.S.-Russian Relations May Disrupt Coming Talks With Iran NYT
Bond Insurer Seeks To Derail Detroit Bankruptcy Lawsuit WSJ
Pensiongate? Christie Campaign Donors Won Huge Contracts The Nation
CytRx Corporation (CYTR) news: Behind The Scenes With Dream Team, CytRx And Galena Seeking Alpha. This is a crazy story.
Crisis for Golden Dawn as MP leaves, claiming ignorance of criminal activities The Guardian
CIA-Senate rift bares institutional failings SFGate
Poll: Two-thirds satisfied with US healthcare system The Hill. Another way of saying this is that one-third of human beings in this country aren’t getting satisfactory care when they get sick.
Everyone is bad at pricing carbon — and society is paying Reuters
West’s Drought and Growth Intensify Conflict Over Water Rights NYT
Smothered by smog, Paris bans some cars; measure lifted late in day LA Times
While the seas rise in the Outer Banks and elsewhere in NC, science treads water Charlotte News-Observer. In North Carolina, it’s illegal to track how much the seas are rising until 2016.
Low-Wage Workers Are Finding Poverty Harder to Escape NYT
New York City Lawmaker Wants To Give Free Lunches To All Students ThinkProgress
5 Ways the War on Drugs Makes Us Less Safe The Atlantic
Working at the Columbia Journalism School Mathbabe. Go Cathy!
‘Netflix for piracy’ saved by fans BBC
Detection of primordial gravitational waves announced Ars Technica
CNN Host Speculates Whether Malaysia Jet’s Disappearance Was ‘Supernatural’ TPM. Good grief.
TV chef Clarissa Dickson Wright dies The Guardian. One of the hosts of the great “Two Fat Ladies.” Honestly, given what they cooked on that show, I can’t believe she made it to 66.
Play the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy text adventure online Boing Boing. I know what I’m doing for the next 12-15 hours.
Antidote du jour:
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A Jewish squirrel? How utterly adorable!
“Why is this acorn different from any other acorn?”
Dear LucyLulu;
Sorry, I think that’s a Semitic Gerbil. You know, the ones who lived in the Ethiopian highlands all those centuries.
Ethiopian highlands?
Still not good enough to get into the promised tree though.
It’s a southern flying squirrel, and they’re undeniably cute, and I even had some as “pets”, but if they get into your house/attic they will cause unimaginable destruction. After they plagued us, I now consider them flying rats.
Welcome back, David Dayen!
(Been getting offers to join Glenn & co at the//intercept???? just wondering…)
DDay, how great to see you here!!
Welcome, and congrats on your continued great reporting.
“Poll: Two-thirds satisfied with US healthcare system The Hill. Another way of saying this is that one-third of human beings in this country aren’t getting satisfactory care when they get sick.”
Or: two thirds are lucky enough not to have suffered major health problems or losing their jobs.
Is it a baby squirrel? Mouse? Super cute anyway.
Or, people love Medicare,which brings up the overall satisfaction rates.
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/In-the-Literature/2012/Jul/Medicare-Beneficiaries-Less-Likely-to-Experience-Cost.aspx
Then there’s the Las Vegas man who signed up through the Nevada health exchange in November, paid his premiums each month, had a heart attack on Dec. 31st, and ran up $407,000 [not a typo] in bills for triple bypass surgery. The exchange contractor, Xerox, says he wasn’t actually enrolled in any of the state’s plans.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/obamacare-leaves-las-vegas-man-owing-407000-doctor-bills
How can triple bypass surgery cost $407,000? BROKEN!
With people’s health, the goal should be 100% or close to 100%.
‘The remainder’ reminder that is often ignored is one where 51% of the voters jump for joy at the election outcome while the remaining 49% are in depression.
‘Take it like a man; never mind to look at it another way.’
Or, “two-thirds have absolutely no idea how much their health insurance costs, or what it does or doesn’t cover.”
Wonder how the poll would turn out if the pollster first informed those being polled of the cost of their health care, and the quality of that care compared to the rest of the industrialized world?
It’s a flying squirrel. Super cute is the best way to describe them.
Dave: a link for tomorrow, perhaps?
(snark on)
I am sure this problem could be solved by following Caribou Barbie’s solution of having the victims pay for their rape kits.
(snark off)
We have the “best civilization” greed, avarice and unfettered inheritance can buy. Its a race to the bottom.
(snark on)
Or maybe we should just eliminate the “rape is a crime” idea altogether.
After all, everyone knows that those evil “rape” victims were just asking for it. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong wardrobe choice.
Consult military justice system for further clarification.
Sorry, (snark off) is offline. I’ll try again later.
LOL!!!
Thanks, I needed that. As an enlightened male I have to be very precise about my position about this subject because the stupid is all around us.
Maybe they’re afraid of who might show up in some of the results…
My snark button has defaulted to random mode. The conviction rate in the UK remains at 7% of reported rapes. As a cop I found I could rarely beat the toss of a coin on who t believe. This method would increase the conviction rate. It would be interesting to know what the conviction rate is for victims not drunk or drugged at the time. I found such cases rare. As well as serial rapists there are serial false complainers and mad campaigners who assert that women never lie.
Not testing should be a felony carrying a life sentence. Quite what this says to a victim beggars belief.
On Netflix Pirates, the money quote for me was…”These people are trying to avoid paying the content creators, the owners of the content.” A demonstrably false assumption. After all, those who “own” the content are almost never the people who created it. A more honest assessment would be…”These people are trying to avoid paying the Content Rentiers, the “owners” of the content.” If some mechanism for an equitable division of the spoils were worked out, I’d pay more attention.
As someone who is member of the Writers Guild I go berserk at statements like this. Ever heard of residuals? Ever heard of Foreign Levy royalties? How about profit participation? Or performance escalators? All are ways that the content creators get from a project over and above whatever their initial payment was.
Residuals are earned whenever a movie or TV show is replayed on TV. There is a sliding scale according to how many times the show has run. Two-and-a-Half Men is a classic example. Here in L.A. reruns play back-to-back from 7-8 p.m. on local channel 5 and run nationally in a similar time period on FX. Those residuals are paid by the copyright holder (typically a studio, network, or major production/distribution company) to the various guilds (WGA, DGA, SAG, AFTRA, and even IATSE, the guild for those who work on the physical production side — grips, wardrobe folks, set builders, etc.) The guilds, in turn, forward that money to the individual creative person involved on each particular show. In the case of IATSE, instead of the money going to the individual it is used to fund the guild’s health care plan.
Foreign Levies are money collected on blank tapes and DVD’s by foreign government (a tax) designed to compensate content creators for losses due to private party duplication of tapes and taping of TV shows. That money is paid by the country’s collection department to the guilds and is distributed the same as residuals. (Unfortunately for IATSE members, Foreign Levies are only applicable to writers, directors, and actors.)
These are not trivial amounts. Work for creative types in the entertainment industry is very much up and down. I personally know a number of people whose residual checks and/or Foreign Levy money enabled them to pay the rent or buy food or even put gas in their car for a meeting or an interview that might lead to new employment.
Yes, the copyright holders profit more than they should from copyright income, but there are lots of creative babies in that bathwater and saying that illegal duping or viewing of programs only hurts the big corps is not only wrong, it’s morally offensive.
BTW: Speaking of copyright holders profiting more than they should, WGA member Eric Hughes and some other prominent industry folks have filed a suit against both the guilds and the major entertainment corps seeking to have the share of Foreign Levies that currently are being siphoned off by those corps be redirected back to the content creators. Not sure off the top of my head, but I believe the amount in play (including previous funds) is in the $400 mil range.
Dear Jess;
Sorry to have set your nerves on edge, not intentional. However, being one step removed from some people currently involved in the “Hollywood Scene,” I can attest that the present “entertainment industry” ain’t your grand dads Studio System. Even talented people find they need to have “patrons” to fund their lives while they chase the pot of gold at the end of the entertainment rainbow. Not just part time work at night while they toil at perfecting their craft during the day, but simple old fashioned protégé-ship. I have heard of residuals, but aren’t they a product of the union movement? Not too sure, but I thought that the “entertainment” unions were about the strongest left standing. Unless vultures like HuffPo get their way. Then you’ll see some good old Dickensian working conditions. So, keep the union banners flying!
Well that’s nice for you… Personally I spend a fair amount of time on set in art dept ( have worked all positions to production design). Please note no role in art is considered ‘above the line’. How good do you think your script would look on screen without us – the hardest working least valued part of the equation?
PS iatse isn’t a union its a fucking protection racket…
Lewis Lapham has a thoughtful essay up. A good read.
—“The medium is the message, and because the camera sees but doesn’t think, it substitutes the personal for the impersonal; whether in Hollywood restaurants or Washington committee rooms, the actor takes precedence over the act. What is wanted is a flow of emotion, not a train of thought, a vocabulary of images better suited to the selling of a product than to the expression of an idea. Narrative becomes montage, and as commodities acquire the property of information, the amassment of wealth follows from the naming of things rather than the making of things.”—
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lewis-lapham/revolution_b_4976468.html?utm_hp_ref=yahoo&ir=Yahoo
RE: Low Wage Workers Are Finding Poverty Harder to Escape
Not to be too grumpy or “get off my lawn” about it, but what in the world is this obsession with cellphones about?
“As for her daughter Jer’Maya, who mimics Beyoncé’s every move on her mother’s iPhone, Ms. McCurdy said, “She’d love to take ballet and piano lessons, but there’s no way I can afford that.”
“My heart is pounding 99 miles per hour. If he goes on full scholarship, I’ll still need to support him — how to pay his cellphone bill….”
” I put my kids in karate about a year ago. They loved it, but I got to the point where it was a choice between paying for a cellphone or karate….”
It’s getting harder and harder for me to work up sympathy for people who can’t find the money for the heating bill, in WINTER, but manage to keep the iPhone working.
Oh, and as for Chattanooga mayor Andy Berke who doesn’t ” want the South to be a place where businesses go to find low-wage, low-education jobs. That’s a long-term problem that midsized cities in the South face,” I’ve got news.
Your Senator Corker didn’t get the memo.
Step back for a moment and breath. What you are advocating is that poor people should be deprived of all pleasure, or the means and tools to participate in the everyday functions that have become part of everyday life and the rest of us take for granted. Like cell phones, cars, bank accounts… and ohmygod they have a TV!
This is not some temporary challenge that a little scrimping and prioritizing is going to get them through. This is a permanent condition.
Are there no workhouses?
Step back for a moment and breathe. Maybe even turn off that TV.
What you are advocating is that all should pine and aspire to measure pleasure in their lives by the conspicuous consumption of consumer commodities.
I hope this is not a permanent condition for you.
I personally opt-out of much of the usual electronic routine significantly relative to my friends and neighbors – a few blogs and boards being the exception. But I don’t judge how other people derive their pleasure. It is quite clear that for many people around the world, electronic gadgets are a central part of their entertainment. Maybe more poor people should go to the opera instead of talking to their friends.
In any case, I would argue that a cell phone has morphed into a utility, a tool for modern existence. Expected and even demanded. Increasingly, temp employees are expected to be on call at all times. And it may also be true that poor people have a hard time securing a consistent land line phone to serve as their point of contact.
Perhaps you grew up in a well to do family, so you don’t know the pain and shame involved in being a teenager not in possession of something that all your classmates have and take for granted. And, as a parent, I can tell you, the invention of the cell phone is a godsend in terms of having a way to keep track of your kids, and take away one of the biggest excuses for being late or off radar.
So you mean to tell me that when you call your kid on his MOBILE phone and he tells you that he just “fell asleep” at Justin’s house you BELIEVE him?
Damn, I wish you’d been MY dad.
At least I know he’s alive and can speak coherently. That’s an improvement.
McMike said: “It is quite clear that for many people around the world, electronic gadgets are a central part of their entertainment.”
There are 7 billion of us in the world. What percentage do you think can afford and use electronic gadgets for pleasure? “It is quite clear” that you are projecting your experience/exposure to the world into that attribution of “many”. Was there no pleasure in the world before electronic gadgets? And I have never been to the opera but enjoy theater that I have paid for experiencing by the sweat of my brow over the years….why the attack on my character you know nothing about?
McMike said: “In any case, I would argue that a cell phone has morphed into a utility, a tool for modern existence. Expected and even demanded. Increasingly, temp employees are expected to be on call at all times. And it may also be true that poor people have a hard time securing a consistent land line phone to serve as their point of contact.”
I said nothing about the second part of your original comment about “what the rest of us take for granted” which you defend in your “tool for modern existence” paragraph, above. The last I checked, a land line is still cheaper than comparable cell phone availability and usage. And the poor I know that need to be contacted for ad hoc employment get by with a land line and still struggle to pay for that.
McMike said: “Perhaps you grew up in a well to do family, so you don’t know the pain and shame involved in being a teenager not in possession of something that all your classmates have and take for granted.”
Another attack on my character you know nothing about. I grew up on the “poor” side of town, worked my way through a Catholic high school and was shamed and bullied because of where I lived and wasn’t a jock to make up for it.
Are cell phones a “godsend” or just a convenience that you can or choose to “afford” for parental management?
I originally just commented about your connection of pleasure to consumption of electronic consumer products and was trying to encourage some critical thinking. You are the one that is digging down, IMO. I mean no disrespect to the life you are choosing to lead.
Oh stop. You started this pissing match, don’t try and disown it now.
Particularly not with sophistry like playing with the meaning of “many people around the world.”
I’m just trying to get you to do some critical thinking too. See, my intentions are pure. So all is well.
You continue to attack my character instead of my points about the narrowness of your viewpoints and call my words sophistry.
I call that disingenuous repartee.
Go tilt at your strawmen on your own time.
I am on my own time. So who’s time might you be on?
“Perhaps you grew up in a well to do family, so you don’t know the pain and shame involved in being a teenager not in possession of something that all your classmates have and take for granted.”
Gag. Consumers in training.
Alas, very real all the same.
Predictable.
Although I’d say “deprived of all pleasure” is a bit hyperbolic.
Your response was predictable of a certain mindset as well.
Good lord, they even have microwave ovens! What will these welfare queens do next…. spend their food stamps on lobster?
http://mediamatters.org/research/2011/07/22/fox-cites-ownership-of-appliances-to-downplay-h/148574
It seems that the “let them eat cake” attitude is in abundance here. I have been lurking since 2008 and occasionally comment and I am not encouraged by the attitudes of many of the cognoscenti here once there comfort zone is challenged.
Don’t they know they can budget their way out of poverty!
+1
Among many other things, my students tell me they have to have a cellphone for their (usually low-paying) jobs, so they can get called in for shifts etc. No, the workplace doesn’t provide or pay for it. I don’t know if this is legal or not, but my guess is it’s communicated informally and it’s not like the students are going to go to court over it or whatever.
I’m sure parents here can also give many other reasons a cell-phone has become a social necessity of modern life.
It’s the other side (the dark side) of every innovation – in this case, the enabling of ‘Just In Time’ serfdom.
No need to keep idle workers around all day. This ability to reliably reach them in a timely fashion is just fantastic.
no need to mix up a full dataplan smartphone with a cellphone. there are services that offer $10/month as well as prepaid, which turns out to be quite affordable. The idea being put forth here is that a dataplan phone has become indespensible, which I completely disagree with. I can easily afford such a plan, but opt for a basic talk/text plan and do not feel any worse off for it. A dataplan is not a necessity.
Yes, didn’t want to jump into the fray because it evolved into more than cell phones – McMike’s comment on pain/shame/teenager resonated nicely for me as an outsider military brat, the Navy Exchange lines of clothing left a lot to be desired before the purchasing unit became privatized as it is now.
But we have dumb phones in my household and they work just fine.
Oh, and for everyone currently with access to “modern” PX fare such as Coach handbags (WTF?) – YOU’RE WELCOME.
Signed – a taxpayer who is contributing to your subsidized name brand products.
But the “data plan” for a lot of people is the only internet access they have. It’s a cheap way (low cost upfront) to get limited internet access.
Internet access is a necessity.
You are looking down your nose from a computer at home, or in the office. Probably over 1k new, plus, what $60 a month (after credit check, from a fixed address) for internet now these days?
But them, and those, and their smartphones.
you are absolutely correct, bob, that I do have access via home and work, and that I can fill my internet needs there. That being said, most people that we are referring to still have a home and many of them, especially the kids we’re talking about, likely also have internet at home. For some cases, yes the SP is only internet and that is different, but I am willing to bet that is not the majority of cases.
That being said, if it is simply internet, a home computer does not cost a minimum of $1000. There are many sub-$500 dollar options, and some that are close to nearly 1/2 of that, that will also serve more than a single person as a SP will at roughly the same cost for a single person. Spread that cost out over multiple people and it becomes much less expensive.
On top of that, the experience and usefulness of the internet using a PC or laptop is still superior to to that when using it on the smartphone for myself in most instances, in my opinion.
I am also not looking down my nose when I say that having a dataplan is not a necessity to the vast majority of people who have them, any more than I am when I say that many people can have at least as good a life if not better than they would if they did not indulge in much of what is pushed on us as ‘consumers’ today.
You’re moralizing with generalizations and no data to back your assumptions.
“but they have a big phone!”
Yeah, you can get a laptop for under $500, without service.
You can also get an android or iPhone, subsidized by the wireless provider, for the cost of service, with an X year contract. No $500 required. If you don’t have several hundred dollars up front, it looks like a pretty good option.
Things look a lot different when you don’t have money.
Verizon wireless right now-
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=phoneFirst&action=viewPhoneOverviewByDevice&deviceCategoryId=10
iPhone 4s “free” with 2 year contract. “free” android phones are even easier to find.
The USA has some of the highest monthly costs in the world for cell phone plans…..because markets (monopolies).
— In terms of raw prices, the U.S. ranks among the highest in the world in the cost of phone data plans. According to research by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) the average phone plan with 500MB of data costs $85 in the U.S., compared to $24.10 in China and $8.80 in the U.K., in terms of U.S. dollar Purchasing-power Parity (PPP). —
http://www.androidcentral.com/us-mobile-data-prices-among-most-expensive-world
LOL, good poach from Lambert!
Did Lambert post this previously or at Corrente?
I was just referring to the “because markets”…
Thank you for pointing this out. Everyone questioning the possession of the phone– no one questioning the cost.
Follow the money to the poor person, then stand and yell.
Do the owners of the proverbial “obamaphones” ever see any of that money? It’s a straight transfer payment from gov to telecom.
“But I pay $150 a month for mine!”
you’re an idiot. They did the math a few years ago and found it was more expensive to send a txt, byte per byte, than to talk to the hubble telescope in space.
The problem you’re having is that technology has changed the world and you can’t get your head around it. Phones are cheap. Nobody ever paid the heating bill by giving up their phone. Nobody ever got to college by giving up their phone. Also, phones have utility: phoneless people are more likely to be without heating, and less likely to make it to college, because they didn’t have a phone.
It’s strange, older people can handle the idea that cars are relatively low cost and high utility, so that poor people are worse, not better, off by giving them up. But they can’t handle that the cost of phones has dropped. They’re like the medieval folk who saw the poor walking around with actual clothes on, and couldn’t grasp that the price of clothes had come within range of the poor. So they passed laws to stop poor people wearing clothes “inappropriate” to their station, because that kind of consumerism was bad (“sumptuary” was just the medieval word for “consumerist”).
Phones are cheap?—A lot of these droids and IPhones are going for like $600, $700 each. I’ve just got the no frills edsel cell phone which was less than half of that. But I could understand how internet use, video and easy texting communication make them attractive in spite of the price.
What they “ask” and what they “get” are two different things. Verizon will give you a free iPhone with a 2 year contract.
It’s all a financing game.
Take your edsel to a pawn shop and look for a bid. I bet the bid for your phone doesn’t equal what they would sell it for.
Your very common mistake is thinking that your phone is worth what you paid for it. What you are willing to pay, and what something is “worth” are two completely different concepts.
Easier demonstration- go to grocery store and buy a loaf of bread. Take the loaf out in front of the store and look for a buyer. Even at a 50% discount you’d still have trouble getting a bid.
but..free markets!
So you can’t imagine a scenario in which someone has a job and can afford a cell phone, but lose their job within the TWO YEAR CONTRACT and still have a (now unaffordable) monthly bill. Early termination fees cost hundreds of dollars. Even if you were to swallow down that cost you still need a cell phone to function in day to day life. (Don’t believe me? Ever tried to hold down more than one job with at-call hours? No, I didn’t think so.)
War Nerd on Crimea
http://pando.com/2014/03/17/the-war-nerd-everything-you-know-about-crimea-is-wrong-er/
More political analysis from people who are not from Wall St.
“Russia Examines Its Options for Responding to Ukraine is republished with permission of Stratfor.”
This is the site that was hacked for memos and credit cards, sensitive info of its clientele who purchase strategic geo-political intel and guidance by Anonymous. Aside from that, it is a useful site for RealPolitik, if not hot stock tips on the commodities futures market on NatGas and Crude. In talking about Russia, it maintains a historical approach, that is, it explains Russia and the behavior of its leaders not as ideas and concepts operating within the logic some simple minded ideological framework, but as the actions of real people with lives lived over time with other people. Life as lived in the world as a people, who must live with and contend with other people.
As such, I find a pronounced characterization of reasonable accuracy, if for no other reason, than they do recognize power when it is exercised and do not portray mealy mouthed moralization or legal ideas about the sanctity of the rule of law. This is the rule of power. And, Russia’s power, as with others, has to be seen not only with an eye on the violent force of the state but ALSO, the economic might of the state which is the platform for sustained military capacity. The Political Economy analysis, RealPolitik has to look at both at the same time, because both at the same time are being exercised. Or recalling The Medici’s motto: Money to get power, and power to guard the money.
http://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/unrest-in-ukraine/
There are Russian military bases in Ukraine, with signed treaties permitting Naval and Air Force bases and limited troop movements of up 25,000 army without Ukrainian permission.
The Black Sea is the gateway to the Mediterranean for the Russian military and energy sales. The above link from Bloomberg shows the map of Ukraine as the transport link of oil and gas pipelines from Russia to clients in Eastern Europe as well as seaports. Having these lines cross the Ukraine, a friendlier country than Poland, Hungary or Romania, the last two who fought with the Axis powers during The Great Patriotic War against the Nazis, is further exploited as another reason to secure the energy transmission pipes by military stationed nearby. This is all reasonable from Russia’s point of view, and mirrors our own threat assessment methods when we deploy the military as security forces for our energy supply lines for NATO allies and the rest of the industrial world. Muslim terrorists and separatists already launched and threaten Russian cities with attacks, these real threats to the pipelines would cause untold havoc with Europe as well as Russia’s economy. The Ukrainians and the Russians have been sorting out their long standing ties, and have been doing so with Russian mostly getting what it wants through negotiated settlements and treaties formalizing the terms since the fall of the Berlin Wall over 20 years ago.
All of Ukraine has not been happy with most all of Russia’s influence within their nation, but they can not really do anything about it all. Internally, Ukraine is a house divided against itself when Russia is concerned. And externally, no one is going to war to stand up for the ideas of democracy if Russia decides its in their national interest to keep the Ukraine as a buffer between them and NATO, and Russia does not want to enter the 21st Century as a peripheral nation, functioning only as a conveyor belt of natural resources going West into the industrial capacity of Germany, France and England. This is Russian telling the US and NATO how it expects to take its place in the G-8 as well as the UN Security Council. It is determined to become a secured core nation in the global system, not just slightly more influential than Japan, certainly not subservient to the USA, but only going along with us when it is in their interests, as they determine their interests to be.
Is Ukraine going to fight to get it back? Did the US/EU/NGA’a crank up the crazy enough inside Ukraine to get them to go up against Russia over control of Crimea?
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/22527-the-forgotten-coup-and-how-the-same-godfather-rules-from-canberra-to-kiev
Since 1945, dozens of governments, many of them democracies, have met a fate similar to that of the elected government of the Ukraine, usually with bloodshed, says John Pilger.
Washington’s role in the fascist putsch against an elected government in Ukraine will surprise only those who watch the news and ignore the historical record. Since 1945, dozens of governments, many of them democracies, have met a similar fate, usually with bloodshed.
Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries on earth with fewer people than Wales, yet under the reformist Sandinistas in the 1980s, it was regarded in Washington as a “strategic threat.” The logic was simple; if the weakest slipped the leash, setting an example, who else would try their luck?
The great game of dominance offers no immunity for even the most loyal US “ally.” This is demonstrated by perhaps the least known of Washington’s coups – in Australia. The story of this forgotten coup is a salutary lesson for those governments that believe a “Ukraine” or a “Chile” could never happen to them.
Australia’s deference to the United States makes Britain, by comparison, seem a renegade. During the American invasion of Vietnam – which Australia had pleaded to join – an official in Canberra voiced a rare complaint to Washington that the British knew more about US objectives in that war than its antipodean comrade-in-arms. The response was swift: “We have to keep the Brits informed to keep them happy. You are with us come what may.”
The Ukraine is a house divided. So, yes to your question, there were NGOs pushing the pro-western protesters, holding out the promise of IMF aid and possibly more to keep from being digested by Russia, but when push came to shove, the NGOs were not backed up with tanks and Apache helicopters. The Russians are not sitting idly by and quietly into the night, waiting to be called center stage by John McCain and the Project for a New American Century.
I encountered that article elsewhere today. I had previously heard vague rumblings about the intervention by the Governor-General against the Australian Prime Minister Whitlam at the behest of the US/UK Deep State, but never had seen it laid out in such detail.
I guess in the Empire, it’s kind of like the Hotel California; i.e., once you are in its toils, you can check out anytime you want, but you can never leave.
Our man in Ukraine-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c6eYId4fPE&feature=youtu.be&t=4m31s
ponytailed Svoboda MP Igor Miroshnichenko didn’t like the programming.
The propaganda is getting thicker.
“It’s a sad day for America when you have to get your honest news from the pigs at Goldman Sachs, B of A, and Morgan Stanley.”
So very true.
What’s Chomsky say about the business papers, how they’re the only ones that tell the truth?
Excellent link. Obama and the Neocons couldn’t have fumbled a Great Game powerplay any more spectacularly if they’d choreographed and rehearsed it (one wonders). Beats Putin’s Obama takedown in Syria by a long shot. What a boomerang … sweet!
The characterization of McCain as a feeble, grumpy old geezer trying to shoo kids off his dandelion lawn is choice. This US kleptocracy of dunces would be comical if they weren’t so deadly.
RE: While the seas rise in the Outer Banks and elsewhere in NC, science treads water
I believe this is one of the strangest articles I have ever read.
“ Shored Up,” shows anguished commission members imploring their science advisers to somehow “soften” the high-water warning. And,
“Our view was, you don’t move so quickly and do things that are expensive and cost people money today to plan for something that’s way far, that far in the future,” Outten said.
Ladies and Gentlemen! I’m proud to introduce the problem to the nutshell.
Pure denial.
The anger stage is going to be interesting…
Kinda o/t, but under the category of the crapification of everything….
What is up with these adult toilet wipes the toilet paper people are all marketing now?
Have they made toilet paper so useless that now once you unsuccessfully wipe with toilet paper, you need to go back and finish the job with a flushable wipe?
I use recycled content TP, which is by comparison to the perfumed tissue paper they sell as TP these days can seem pretty rough. But at least it gets the job done, without needed backup TP to do what the TP is supposed to do.
When I visit someone with the fluffy stuff, I must say, it does seem to leave me feeling like the job isn’t done. So, flushable wipes strikes me as another data point in the crapification of everything.
McMike
“I use recycled content TP”
Oh, you mean the WSJ?
I tried using the WSJ’s editorial page, and Tom Friedman’s columns. Counterproductive… I don’t advise it.
That’s exactly where Friedman’s columns come from.
Of course it’s counterproductive. It would violate the Second Law of Crapodynamics, which states that you can’t pass crap from a less crappy object to a more crappy object.
No problem. Classical craponomics assumes away the laws of crapodynamics.
Yes, and this is truly a technology where a ‘breakthrough’ is not optimific.
LOL, precisely.
The wipes are an INNOVATION. Innovating is the way humankind moves forward. It is to be worshiped.
And what do we leave behind? That expensive, plumbing-requiring, floor-space-taking, water-wasting, crap-splashing, scrubbing-requiring elite European affectation called the BIDET.
I, for one, am not sorry to see it go. Bring on the flushable wipes.
What will we do when the TP-then-baby-wipes routine still doesn’t get us clean enough to satisfy our delicate sensibilities… add a third stage: Bum Loofa?
Hmmm. I better go trademark that now.
In the meantime, the wipes are overwhelming our sewer systems, and raising costs for everybody. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/flushable-personal-wipes-clogging-sewer-systems-utilities-say/2013/09/06/9efac4e6-157a-11e3-a2ec-b47e45e6f8ef_story.html
Antibiotics. A preemptive strike, so to speak.
Hmmm, germ phobia. Okay. Then I recommend an inverted spray can of Lysol.
But I had sorta thought the issue was more of a OCD material-removal thing.
Enter LADY [MACBETH], with a taper.
Lo you, here she comes! This is her very guise; and, upon my life, fast asleep. Observe her; stand close.
Doctor
How came she by that light?
Gentlewoman
Why, it stood by her. She has light by her continually; ’tis her command.
Doctor
You see, her eyes are open.
Gentlewoman
Ay, but their sense is shut.
Doctor
What is it she does now? Look, how she rubs her hands.
Gentlewoman
It is an accustomed action with her, to seem thus washing her hands. I have known her continue in this a quarter of an hour.
LADY MACBETH
Yet here’s a spot.
Doctor
Hark! she speaks. I will set down what comes from her, to satisfy my remembrance the more strongly.
LADY MACBETH
Out, damned spot! out, I say!—One: two: why, then, ’tis time to do’t.—Hell is murky!—Fie, my lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?—Yet who would have thought the old man to have had so much blood in him?
Doctor
Do you mark that?
LADY MACBETH
The thane of Fife had a wife; where is she now?— What, will these hands ne’er be clean?—No more o’ that, my lord, no more o’ that: you mar all with this starting.
Doctor
Go to, go to; you have known what you should not.
Gentlewoman
She has spoke what she should not, I am sure of that; heaven knows what she has known.
LADY MACBETH
Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. O, O, O!
Doctor
What a sigh is there! The heart is sorely charg’d.
We train ourselves to coordinate our BMs with shower time. PROBLEM SOLVED.
But but but…Splashback!
The comments in that “flushable” (but not sewer-friendly in reality) wipes article are an illustration of why we’ll do nothing about pulling fossil carbon out of the ground and burning it: “I like it, and I’ll carry on doing it. You’re not the boss of me! Anyway, I’m sure the supposed bad effects are just made up by the sewer industry. Or, even if they’re real, technology will make it all okay again!”
All the global warming denialism points, in one small comment thread.
The more cunning Middle East has a simple ass washing pipe attached to the bog. I made the mistake of asking Mum what a bidet was for on holiday in France. Consequently, I have been washing my feet in them ever since.
Your Mum was wise. If you’re ever in an accident and get taken to the emergency room, there are two things you must have–clean underwear and clean FEET.
I think that’s how it goes……………
You make my day! Break a leg! ;)
“CNN Host Speculates Whether Malaysia Jet’s Disappearance Was ‘Supernatural’ TPM. Good grief.”
Finally we know why the pilot had a recreational flght sim! Docking w/ the Mothership is a btch!
Now CNN just needs to essplayn what he was doing w/ the RC model airplanes and we just about have this mystery in the bag..
And speaking of germs, check this:
http://www.eutimes.net/2014/03/malaysia-airlines-mystery-deepens-after-top-disease-experts-rushed-to-indian-ocean/
Bad movie script.
But then, life is increasingly beginning to resemble a bad movie script.
I read another posting early today saying that the Captain was retaliating for the arrest of an “out-of-favor” politician on some sex scandal charge……I can’t find the link, sorry.
It is a situation that is becoming curiouser and curiouser. I also can’t believe that at least the US Military doesn’t know exactly where the plane went and is. I mean, what the heck do they do with all that high tech?
I have great sympathy for the pilot , FO (and thier families) after this relentless sullying of their reputations that has occured in the media. I had lunch with a vendor today at a place that had CNN on and i found the coverage appalling. I dont normally expose myself to CNNs toxic sensatioism and i remember why now.
That one is good for a laugh I must admit. Is it wrong to savor theories for their sheer romantic nuttiness and invention?
Saturated fat advice ‘unclear’
Swapping butter for a sunflower spread may not lower heart risk, say British Heart Foundation researchers.
There’s more profits to be made from cheaply made, hydrogenated & highly chemically processed vegetable oils which oxidize and go rancid when you cook with them. ‘Naturally’, these kind of rubbish foods always rise to the top of the health pop charts via the corporate food/medical/science mafia.
“So why are Americans still eating diets that are so high in omega-6 vegetable oils, with almost 9% of all calories from linoleic acid alone? (PDF) Despite the many studies that show the dangers of a high omega-6 PUFA intake, the conventional medical system is still preaching outdated and inaccurate information. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that we all aim for at least 5 percent to 10 percent of calories from omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and to limit saturated fat intake to less than 7 percent of total daily calories, similar to the recommendations made in the Sydney Heart Diet study. (4)
They suggest we choose “heart healthy” oils and margarines such as canola, corn, olive, peanut, safflower, sesame, soybean, and sunflower oils. This information is coming from the professional organization whose stated mission is “to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.” But as we know by now, these guidelines are not going to protect anybody from a heart attack, and could likely put people at a greater risk for cardiovascular disease. (5)
As more evidence surfaces about the dangers of high omega-6 PUFA consumption, it will be more difficult to defend the current AHA guidelines for fat consumption that are currently promoted by conventional health professionals. It seems the tide may be turning (slowly) when it comes to dietary fat recommendations, but it will be interesting to see how the American Heart Association responds to this new study. While we wait for the policy makers and medical organizations to battle it out, I’ll stick to eating butter!”
http://chriskresser.com/for-a-healthy-heart-stick-to-butter
“The physiology of fats and cholesterol is fully covered in Chapter 2. Almost half of this chapter is devoted to shattering popular myths about saturated fats. Not mincing any words, Enig methodically demonstrates the faulty data and reasoning behind the ideas that saturates either cause or contribute to heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer, mental illness, obesity and cerebrovascular disease. For example, after trashing the “data” that supposedly prove that beef and beef fat caused colon cancer, Enig flatly concludes: “And now, more than three (3) decades after the initial fraudulent report, the anti-animal fat hypothesis continues to lead the nutrition agenda. It was a false issue then, and it remains a false issue today.”
Subsequent chapters deal with fats and oils historically used in Western diets; the fatty acid composition of various oils and fats such as coconut, butter, lard, and olive oil; and a succinct summary of “fat facts.” The book is rounded out by detailed appendices on definitions, fatty acids in a huge number of foods and molecular compositions of major fatty acids.
Most interesting is Enig’s insider take on the nutritional research world and the forces that work behind the scenes to manipulate the facts. Never one to shy away from controversy, Enig blasts such organizations as the American Dietetics Association, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the American Heart Association, and the food industry in general. She accuses research scientists who denigrate foods containing saturated fats as “flat-earthers.”
http://www.westonaprice.org/thumbs-up-reviews/know-your-fats?qh=YTo5OntpOjA7czo0OiJmYXRzIjtpOjE7czozOiJmYXQiO2k6MjtzOjU6ImZhdHMnIjtpOjM7czo0OiJvaWxzIjtpOjQ7czozOiJvaWwiO2k6NTtzOjY6Im9pbGluZyI7aTo2O3M6NToib2lsZWQiO2k6NztzOjU6Im9pbCdzIjtpOjg7czo0OiInb2lsIjt9
Argentine bonds … not for widows and orphans:
(Reuters) – Moody’s cut Argentina’s government bond rating further into junk on Monday. The credit ratings agency downgraded the rating to ‘Caa1’ from ‘B3,’ and revised its outlook to stable from negative.
A major driver behind the decision to downgrade came from tumbling levels of foreign exchange reserves, which Moody’s analyst Gabriel Torres called a “semi-freefall.” The country’s reserves have plunged to $27.5 billion from a high of $52.7 billion in 2011, according to Moody’s.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/17/argentina-ratings-idUSL2N0ME1NI20140317
Reuters points out that one drain on reserves is their use in propping up an ‘overvalued peso currency.’ This insane policy cripples exports, accentuating the reserve drain, while inducing others to spend their overvalued pesos on imported luxury cars as an inflation hedge.
Something for you to ponder Jim.
JAY: Okay. Hold on for–John, John, break that down for a sec. Why would imports lower inflation?
WEEKS: Well, if the inflation is a result of purchasing power exceeding the supply of commodities that are available domestically, then that problem is resolved, can be resolved through importing more. Okay. So instead of prices going up for wheat or for automobiles or whatever it happens to be, a basic or a luxury, instead of prices going up, you import them to fill the demand gap.
JAY: Right.
WEEKS: Okay. If the government then begins to develop a imbalance in–that is, it is importing at a rate which is not sustainable, if it is in that situation, then it begins to restrain imports and inflation becomes the only way to resolve this disequilibrium between aggregate demand and supply of commodities.
JAY: You mean prices keep going up.
WEEKS: Right.
Okay, now, what do you do about it?
JAY: Okay. Hang on. Hang on. Hang on. Before you go there, Greg, what do you make of that as the cause of inflation? How does that compare with what you’ve been saying?
WILPERT: Well, I think that it all sounds–makes perfect sense to me. I mean, the only thing, I guess, is about the increasing money supply. Of course, the increasing money supply has been going to most of the country’s population through the social programs, and therefore it has been increasing demand.
Now, of course, the question is: where does this increasing money supply or what is the effect of that? It could be going into savings, in which case it wouldn’t be increasing inflation, but in Venezuela it goes towards spending. And part of the reason it goes to spending is because there’s already kind of a cycle of inflation generated where people feel like they can keep the wealth as–keep the value of their money better if they spend it, rather than if they keep it in the bank, because–.
JAY: John, why is the money supply going up so quickly? I mean, does this have anything to do with that they’re paying–they don’t want to use some of the foreign reserves, they being the Venezuelan government, to pay for the social programs, because they want to keep the dollars, so they’re, you know, in a sense printing more bolivars to pay for it?
WEEKS: What I think, Paul, is this. I think that increases in the money supply are the result of spending. That is, that is to say, the money supply is endogenous, if I can use that word. The money supply is the result of expenditure. It is not the cause of expenditure.
But I think there’s a bigger question here.
JAY: No, but back up. Whose expenditure? ‘Cause, I mean, what I’m–.
WEEKS: Well, it’s the government’s expenditure.
JAY: Yeah, exactly. So what I’m saying: instead of them using foreign reserves or taxing people to pay–increasing taxes to pay for these social programs, they’re increasing the money supply to pay for the program.
WEEKS: Yes. Now, I would like to make a general point about that, because if you look at Argentina, it is suffering from relatively high inflation also–not as high as Venezuela, but it’s suffering relatively high inflation. And a country where I was just working with the central bank, in Africa, Zambia, same thing. These are progressive governments. Bolivia is the exception. We can come to that if you want to.
Okay. Why does this happen? This is not happening in Colombia. It’s not happening, you know, in these reactionary places. So why does it happen in progressive countries?
“JAY: Okay. John, John, John, this is what we call a cliffhanger.
You’re going to have to come back for part two to find out the answer to that why, because this episode is getting around the time we think it should get to on the web.
So join us for part two, which you will see tomorrow, and John will answer the question why is it so high in Venezuela and a few of these other countries, but especially what to do about it. So please join us for the next segment of our discussion/debate about why is inflation so high in Venezuela and what to do about it”
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11575
So Disney/ABC (& the NSA? ) has a possible new TV show that glosses over kidnapping?
—”Alice in Arabia is a high-stakes drama about a rebellious American teenage girl who, after tragedy befalls her parents, is unknowingly kidnapped by her extended family, who are Saudi Arabian.
Alice finds herself a stranger in a new world but is intrigued by its offerings and people, whom she finds surprisingly diverse in their views on the world and her situation. Now a virtual prisoner in her grandfather’s royal compound, Alice must count on her independent spirit and wit to find a way to return home while surviving life behind the veil.
The pilot was written by Brooke Eikmeier, who previously served in the U.S. Army as a cryptologic linguist in the Arabic language, trained to support NSA missions in the Middle East. She left service in September 2013 as a rank E-4 specialist.”—
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/abc-family-orders-three-drama-689107
So Disney/ABC (& the NSA? ) has a possible new TV show that glosses over kidnapping?
—”Alice in Arabia is a high-stakes drama about a rebellious American teenage girl who, after tragedy befalls her parents, is unknowingly kidnapped by her extended family, who are Saudi Arabian.
Alice finds herself a stranger in a new world but is intrigued by its offerings and people, whom she finds surprisingly diverse in their views on the world and her situation. Now a virtual prisoner in her grandfather’s royal compound, Alice must count on her independent spirit and wit to find a way to return home while surviving life behind the veil.
The pilot was written by Brooke Eikmeier, who previously served in the U.S. Army as a cryptologic linguist in the Arabic language, trained to support NSA missions in the Middle East. She left service in September 2013 as a rank E-4 specialist.”—
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/abc-family-orders-three-drama-689107
Class analysis of superhero movies from Cracked.com (plus US self-perception, etc.)
http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-ugly-lessons-hiding-in-every-superhero-movie/
———
…Because we used to root for the underdog — we had a whole decade of movies in the Die Hard genre that all featured a lone, scared, outmanned commoner taking on a well-armed opponent through sheer heart and determination. Those underdog stories have been replaced at the top of the box office by tales of unstoppable forces of nature beating the piss out of laughably outmatched opponents (even the Die Hard series is like this now, as of Part 4). Sure, you still get stories like The Hunger Games, but they’re handily outnumbered by both superhero franchises and other films that follow the same “invincible badasses who answer to no one” template (RDJ’s Sherlock Holmes franchise, James Bond, The Fast and Furious movies, anything made by Michael Bay).
And that makes me think of this quote from the Dark Knight, where Harvey Dent says:
“You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”
Of course he’s right — in real life, Apple Computer goes from the scrappy underdog to the arrogant giant everyone is trying to take down. George Lucas goes from the hungry indie filmmaker to the unfeeling corporate billionaire who only cares about merchandising dollars. In the real world, the Rebels don’t beat the Empire; they become the Empire. They build their own Death Star but remember to name it something else and close the exhaust port.
Via Starwars.wikia.com
Maybe something like “Happy Space Ball.”
And I can guarantee you that each and every person in that situation finds that they no longer enjoy underdog stories — they know that if they root for the underdog, they’re rooting against themselves. When Sylvester Stallone got rich, suddenly the Rocky movies were all about the millionaire hero retaining his title against scrappy newcomers, and eventually we all started laughing at him. But now, we’re all on board with that idea. In 2013, we are all Stallones.
I must say, this comment section is more entertaining than any I’ve seen in awhile. Thanks everybody…….
And in defense of butt wipes, I turn 70 in a couple weeks, and as one gets older, staying clean everywhere becomes both more difficult and more important. That’s all I’ll say…….thank whatever god you want for that.
Interesting viewpoint. But isn’t this where you’re supposed to tell us how corncobs were good enough for your pappy? ;-)
I would say though, the ads do not seem to be targeting your demographic. They seem to me (at least in my amateur review) to be after 40 and 50 somethings. But maybe that’s actually how you get 60 and 70 something boomers?
In seriousness, I do wonder if there is actually an increasing need for this. The American diet and medicine regime, and consequently our gut health is surely abysmal. And it may well be that more and more people are finding themselves with chronic baby poop problems. Not just those who are getting older.
Nevertheless, I do suspect also that actual toilet paper has been crapified into uselessness.
RE: MH370
One natural explanation that I’ve never heard brought up is the 777″s history of post delivery defects. We’re not going to say design faults because that’s inflammatory and antisicence, but the number of subsystems that show up lame on this thing is sobering.
The long, silent flight actually reminds me of the pro golfer Payne Stewart’s death. Catastrophic depressurization killed everyone on the Learjet, and it still flew over half the continent on autopilot.
Instead of the Islamic terror scenario that they’re seeking to support, a little investigation on the pressurization integrity of this model might be in order. Or at least, some thought about the functional result of something built from 10,000 lowest bidders.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payne_Stewart
777 has an excellent safety record. I suspect you’re thinking of the 787 Dreamliner, which has had some issues.
The 787 had some early clunkiness.
Mostly due to the new light Lithuanian batters.
The FAA, in charge of frying safety, said ‘turn on the overhead fans’ gee whiz!
It’s all good now.
Maybe it is us who have disappeared from the plane.
But that’s not possible, because we are the center of the universe.
Free lunches for all students.
Some say the breakfast is the most important meal of the day, though that is probably just another myth.
Still, what about free breakfasts as well?
But, but, but … you’re proposing discrimination against the evening meal.
Three meals a day – probably an artificial concept unknown to early humans.
Voracious Worm Evolves to Eat Biotech Corn Engineered to Kill It
it’s as if monsanto’s goal was to find and nurture populations of bt-resistant rootworms, causing them to thrive by eliminating competitors and providing unlimited food.
Lambert linked this yesterday in comments. Bio-engineering, a terrific plot for a sci-fi thriller. Much of humanity starves as climate change, peak oil depletion, and franken-organisms destroy industrial farming and spread plagues. The remnant human population invents creative recipes for rootworm casserole, corn-borer chowder, and beetle juice ale.
The poison industry controlling our food supply using “scientists” who deny evolution exists… jeezers, what could possibly go wrong in an all-out bioweapons arms race against mother nature?
Jacobin Mag. in its blogs has been doing some fine coverage of unions and labor organizing recently. People here might find this piece informative and helpful.
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/01/the-bad-kind-of-unionism/
Sunoco oil pipeline leaks in Ohio nature preserve
No, it’s not the Onion… “Russian Lawmakers Ask President Obama To Impose Sanctions On Them All”
“The State Duma has passed a motion suggesting that the US and EU extend the freshly introduced sanctions to all Russian MPs rather than a limited group of officials…”
“Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said that everyone in Russia was tired of sanctions adding that the western measures only caused irony or even sarcasm.”
http://www.rt.com/politics/russian-duma-sanctions-crimea-594/
I hope Iran takes note.
Is it just me, or do you just LOVE this?
Let’s reverse the order of the famous Gandhi quote, and apply it to the Empire:
First, you are the Uncontested Winner.
Next, you meet with resistance.
And then they mock you.
Sanction this, sanction that. Wag your finger at the miscreants. Thunder out portentous threats.
Jesus, stuff a sock in it.
Versailles on the Potomac, you ain’t all that.
Dressed to Kill
http://failedevolution.blogspot.gr/2014/03/dressed-to-kill.html
Re Poll: Two-thirds satisfied with US healthcare system The Hill.
Another way of saying this is that only one-third of human beings in this country are sick.