By Lambert Strether of Corrente.
2016
O’Malley again gestures toward the ring with his hat, planning more trips to Iowa and New Hampshire [WaPo].
“O’Malley has the ability to captivate the nation and rise from a relatively unknown to a political juggernaut as John F. Kennedy did in the 1960s, more than 50 interviews show” [Daily Iowan]. Block that metaphor! Gush aside, stranger things have happened. (O’Malley’s email.)
During Clinton’s tenure as Secretary, “the State Department [had] no confirmed inspector general for more than five years, the longest gap since the position was created in 1957 [Wall Street Journal, “State Department Lacked Top Watchdog During Hillary Clinton Tenure”]. Gee, that’s odd.
Hedgies and private equity weasels want to destroy public education for their personal profit — and are Democratic contributors. So are teachers’ unions. Which set of contributors will Hillary Clinton side with? [New York Times]. “I’m thinking it over!”
Creative class “Top digital talent” from Obama campaigns moving over to Clinton [WaPo].
Establishment
Jebbie’s fundraising “is far outpacing potential Republican rivals who have largely been absent from the capital’s chicken-and-chardonnay fund-raising scene” [New York Times]. Plus, the man knows how to steal an election. So it’s a two-fer.
Principled Insurgents
Scott Walker to tour the Mexican border [Texas Tribune]. I wonder if he’ll be carrying?
Clown Car
Of Cruz: “Imagine losing 60 pounds of big government around your waist in just one vote” [The Week]. As we saw from the snarkfest unleashed with Cruz’s announcement yesterday, there are a lot of people in the Beltway who don’t like Cruz. At all. They’re a constituency, and their opinion matters. Ask Hillary Clinton about 2008 if you don’t think so.
FOX’s Megyn Kelly to Cruz: “What have you actually accomplished?” [Salon]. Another example. The Republican who can make a FOX host want to slap him around is a rare bird indeed.
Cruz to go on ObamaCare [The Hill]. The horror! The horror! But I’m sure he can go back on his wife’s policy when she returns to her job at Golden Sacks.
“There’s no cheat sheet to gauge the relative clout in the Republican Party of, say, a midlevel talk-radio host compared with one billionaire donor” [Bloomberg].
Stephen King to LePage: ‘Man up and apologize’ [WaPo]. Since LePage, untruthfully, said King had moved to Florida to avoid income tax.
The Hill
“So far, Congress has had trouble creating the kind of crisp, predictable governance that businesses and markets hunger for” [New York Times]. “Crisp” is for vegetables. So long as Congress doesn’t pass TPP and gut Social Security and Medicare, I’m not unhappy. It could be worse!
“Industry’s Influence on Trade Policy,” with handy chart [Sociological Images]. Sourced from a dynamic version at Wapo, but the static images are — surprise! — much easier to read and compare.
“The Senate on Tuesday rejected a Democratic plan to spend almost $500 billion on infrastructure using money raised by corporate tax increases” [Wall Street Journal, “Senate Defeats Democrats’ Infrastructure Plan as Budget Debate Begins”].
Herd on the Street
“In order to showcase and sell the Apple Watch, [Apple Retail Store] employees will be trained to provide personal fashion and styling advice to customers” [9to5.mac]. From the scenarios: “[Y]ou seem to have a fun style. I think the Pink Sport band would match your style perfectly.” Please kill me. “Wow, there’s so many options for straps.” Do any of the straps come in … grey?
Heinz to buy Kraft and create world’s fifth-largest creator of food-like products [Reuters]. Getting a bigger break on volume for High Fructose Corn Syrup and, no doubt, firing a few thousand workers.
Facebook’s “second chance,” as it introduces a post-desktop, mobile-friendly message service [Medium].
Stats Watch
Durable goods orders, February 2015: “The manufacturing sector continues to look weak. Durables orders fell 1.4 percent in February after rebounding 2.0 percent the month before,” below expectations [Bloomberg].
MBA Mortgage Applications, week of March 20, 2015: “Low rates are finally starting to raise demand for mortgage applications, both for purchase applications, up 5.0 percent in the March 20 week, and refinancing applications which surged 12.0 percent” [Bloomberg].
Emanueldämmerung
Backgrounder [Al Jazeera]. “The election will likely hinge on voter turnout and currently undecided voters, particularly black ones. On both these fronts, Garcia’s grass-roots ground troops could clinch it.” Maybe. Let’s not confuse MoveOn and the Bold Progressives with the grass roots, though.
“[Rahm’s] strongest support comes from gentry liberals: high-income, high-education whites” [National Review].
Health Care
“Half of all households that received ObamaCare tax credits last year will likely owe money to the federal government, a new study found” [The Hill]. “Only 4 percent of households received the correct subsidy.” A crapshoot with your health and your finances.
Black Injustice Tipping Point
“The policing of black bodies: Racial profiling for profit and the killing of Ferguson’s Mike Brown” [Fusion]. On the one hand, I’m happy to see streamer Tim Pool at Fusion. On the other, I’m not happy to see streamer Tim Pool at Univision/Disney’s Fusion. We all have to eat… So but and one hopes there are many more streamers out there.
Imperial Collapse Watch
“Army Spends $100M On Piece of Equipment That Doesn’t Do Anything” [Duffel Blog].
Water
“Scientists believe that the huge volumes of freshwater flowing into the North Atlantic from the rapidly melting ice cap of Greenland have slowed down the ocean “engine” that drives the Gulf Stream from the Caribbean towards north-west Europe” [Independent]. Yikes. That’s the Atlantic Conveyor.
California lawmakers seek access to confidential well logs [Center for Investigative Reporting]. “[I]n a state where groundwater is tied to private property rights and farmers pump with no restrictions, opposition remains strong in the agricultural community.” If you want to manage groundwater as the common pool resource it is, you’ve got to be able to map it. And you need the well logs to do that.
“Green water can be retained in three ways: collecting run-off; improving the infiltration of rain in soils; and managing land, water and crops across watersheds to increase water storage in soils, wetlands and the water table” [Nature].
Soil
“Landowners around the world are now engaged in an orgy of soil destruction so intense that, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, the world on average has just 60 more years of growing crops” [George Monbiot, Guardian].
“[R]ebuilding the organic matter in soils has the potential to store tons of atmospheric carbon” [HuffPo].
A wine’s terroir may have more to with the soil microbes found around the plant’s roots than with the actual soil’s characteristics [mBio].
“Soil Health Card” (by state) [USDA].
Enclosures
Gates Foundation and USAID hold closed meeting in London on plans to privatize African seed saving and swapping [Common Dreams]. “the meeting attendees included representatives from the World Bank and Syngenta, the world’s third biggest seed and biotechnology company, no farmers or farming organizations were represented at the talks.” Gee, that seems odd.
“Your seafood may come from slaves” [AP]. Important.
DNA records effects of conquest, slave trade in the Americas [Los Angeles Times].
Facebook is to content providers in the 21st century as railroads were to farmers in the 19th [The Atlantic]. Robber barons.
And just to drive that home: “The Battle Is For The Customer Interface” [Tech Crunch].
The new breed of companies are the fastest-growing in history. Uber, Instacart, Alibaba, Airbnb, Seamless, Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook, Google: These companies are indescribably thin layers that sit on top of vast supply systems ( where the costs are) and interface with a huge number of people ( where the money is). There is no better business to be in.
Well, except for private equity. That’s a good business.
Class Warfare
“Retirement Crisis: The Great 401(k) Experiment Has Failed for Many Americans” [NBC]. So will they be made whole? BWA-HA-HA-HA!!!! I crack myself up sometimes!
“[Executives] at large U.S. companies collectively realized at least $6 billion more in compensation than initially estimated in annual disclosures in the five years after the financial crisis first hit, according to a Reuters analysis. The reason for the windfall: the soaring value of their stock awards” [Reuters]. Ben — and Janet, you too! — take a bow!
“The Stanford Financial Fraud Research Center estimates that $50 billion is lost to financial fraud every year” [Phys.org]. And so the answer, naturally, is for “consumers” to be “pro-active.”
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Municipal Violations (HBO)” [YouTube]. Law enforcement as a profit center.
News of the Wired
- Sustainable local development in Greece [Green New Deal]. And see also. Note the EU funding. You’d think…
- Ohio could legalize marijuana this year [CNN].
- “I Can Text You A Pile of Poo, But I Can’t Write My Name” [Model View Culture]. Emojis? Check. East Asian character sets? Not so much.
- Researchers have recovered 70 million-year-old soft tissue, including what may be blood vessels and cells, from a Tyrannosaurus rex [NBC].
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Lee Kuan Yew being used to (re)-legitimize tyranny [Politico].
The cult of Lee Kuan Yew has poisoned Eastern Europe, but we should remember that it is also a global phenomenon. Brilliant Western intellectuals, CEOs and leaders created this cult over many years at Davos and other conferences and summits of the global power elite, thus fueling the authoritarian temptation in Eastern Europe.
- Tony Blair takes millions in consulting feeds from repressive regimes because he’s jealous of Bill Clinton’s haul [Daily Beast].
- “Terrifying footage shows German teen scaling Hong Kong tower with no safety gear” [Shanghaist]. Zeitgeist watch: Same story as here, except with a different kid, and buildings instead of mountains. 蒙.
- Mo’ne Davis!!!!! [WaPo].
- “The problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, already an ‘apocalyptic’ threat, is poised to get worse. The reason? The world’s hunger for meat” [New Scientist].
- “I sent them a good boy and they made him a murderer” [New York Times]. Seymour Hersh returns to My Lai. “We forgive, but we do not forget.”
Readers, feel free to contact me with (a) links, and even better (b) sources I should curate regularly, and (c) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi are deemed to be honorary plants! See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. And here’s today’s plant, the third of “I Wish It Were Spring!” week two (MR):
Yellow Trout lily.
If you enjoy Water Cooler, please consider tipping and click the hat. It’s the heating season!
Talk amongst yourselves!
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I think this New Yorker story is the one that was meant to be linked to in the final link http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/30/the-scene-of-the-crime
wine’s terroir: comes from the local and national marketing efforts generated by the French success.
MBA Mortgage Applications: Recent home in my neighborhood came up for sale, small 1K ,old needs 30K to 50K work, two elderly ladies are hot to buy the property and RENT it out for big bucks, they will be using there 401K money to buy the place. They must have gone to one of these RE seminars they are so greedy they almost foam at the mouth when talking about renting out property since everyone needs a home they believe they will have to do little or nothing to repair the home. I don’t think they know the City requires a license to rent out property and it must be inspected to make sure it meets code requirements. They have a condo they currently rent out so they are hot for more rentals.
Maybe they are risking their 401K money to survive. Who knows?
Today, at Marketwatch, I come across something about Social Security barely will cover your health costs.
That doesn’t sound believable to me if you have Medicare. Of course if your collecting at 62 (that is to say before Medicare kicks in), I’d almost believe it (depends on how much ACA subsidy I guess), but even then ACA plans get expensive as you get older.
It depends on what their income stream is. Phyllis presently pays $150 +/- a month for a “donut hole” policy, the Medicare Supplemental kind. With the co-pays and deductibles, one good medical ‘problem’ could indeed eat up ones’ Social Security payments for a year. Add to that the fun fact that most medical policies do absolutely nothing in support of vitamins and the dreaded “alternative medicine,” even when said has been proven effective, and you have a nearly perfect ‘Medical Industrial Complex’ rent extraction process.
Thanks again for enabling my “Rant Extraction Process.”
Nom they have money and at there age they don’t need risk!
Lee Kuan Yew: Well, if Evita can have her own musical to glitterize her fascist tendencies, why can’t he? Don’t cry for me Singapora…
In my inbox from Ellen Brown today:
California Water Wars — Another Form of Asset Stripping?
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/29849-california-water-wars-another-form-of-asset-stripping
Regarding your link, “Drill, baby, drill” could take on a whole new meaning.
I think this is why I tried to read Brown’s book and gave up, wanting to throw the book across the room (but probably threw it in the recycle bin instead). Any actual facts and explanation was so mixed in with …. whatever … as to make the whole thing seem worthless.
Sadly true to form.
Even if some of that stuff could work, introducing water that has “never been part of the surface hydrological cycle”, sounds like doing with water and the water cycle what has been done with carbon and the carbon cycle, which of course is working out so well. What could possibly go wrong?
Gentry liberals and the decline into insignificance. From Barone’s column in National Review: “That’s important for Chicago, but not so significant for the nation, because the central-city electorate is contracting. The number on Richard J. Daley’s license plate was 708,222 — the number of votes he got in April 1955. In February 2015, Rahm Emanuel got 218,217.” No national implications. Hardly a local implication because of the Detroitization of much of the city. And gentry liberals truly would rather not pay taxes to support “those people.” But we have microbrews! And don’t put ketchup on a hot dog!
“Those people”, are retired teachers, firemen, police officers and other municipal employes whose savvy negotiators combined with our short term thinking politicians(many who are now dead) to abuse the budgeting system and kick the can to our present doorstep. The workers deferred and the pols’ borrowed. Now we pay or go BK. Hopefully the whole painful and sordid affair will be shorter than the Greek debacle.
I liked that the NBC 401(k) story made no mention of the three major stock market crashes since I began working in 1987. What was it W. said? “Fool me once, shame on you. You fool me, can’t get fooled again”?
Getting fooled can be quite addictive.
Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, can I have more?
– from my last cat…
Smile — it’s Yemen Liberation Day!
And statues of repudiated leaders are toppling:
http://tinyurl.com/pfnr82z
One day, maybe we see ‘Greek Monetary Independence Day.’
RE: Lee Kuan Yew; caveat, what follows is in no way an endorsement of Singapore’s political-economic structure. I’ve seen this guy interviewed over the years (along with his son, I believe) and I have to say these two always came off as highly rational, bordering on geniuses, when compared to the involuntary clowns that have been governing the US and Europe for the last thirty years. That is, they appear to understand, whether one agrees with their policies or not, what it actually means to govern a socio-economic order–you know, govern, as opposed to looting, pillaging, and destroying in the name of democracy and freedom fries.
As for the article itself, per usual for Politico, the total lack of anything remotely resembling a capacity for critical analysis is on full display: EVIL EASTERN EUROPEAN AUTHORITARIANS INSPIRED BY SINGAPORE! As if the sub-moronic thugs that control Ukraine and the Republic of Georgia are in any way comparable to Yew. Oh, in case you didn’t know, the article very helpfully points out that Putin is really bad too.
Rahm goes in to the I watch store: Overheard conversation proceeded this way…
“What does your current watch look like?” I have functionaries for that.
“How do you plan on using your Apple Watch?” My donors just eat that shit up! If you want to give me 100 to go around, you won’t be sorry.
“Which Apple Watch look matches your personal style?” Well, I really like Homan’s torture center so I guess it would need to be black or orange. Wrap up one of each.
“Do you prefer leather or metal bands?” I already told you, I like Homan’s. We use both there. Wrap them both up, o.k. Are you some kind of stupid liberal or something?
“Are you more of a classic or modern watch enthusiast?” Well, the Stazi had a lot of good ideas but the new surveillance technology is better than they had access to. Basically, i”m an old school police state kind of guy but I don’t miss opportunities to update how I do things.
What does your current watch look like?
It’s a Mickey Mouse watch, but I keep his hands cuffed together ’cause he scares me. My people suggested I try something in digital….
Excellent work, just needs more ‘f***ing ret****.”
Thanks Michael,
I wanted to say that but didn’t think it would pass the censor! Should have done it you’re way!!!
The Death of Democracy (Golem XIV). A public talk on the TTIP. Not that I wish to encourage, in the least, his return to un-readable, un-machineable vlogging, but ISDS seems to be gaining a certain critical mass of focus in the MSM, which is generally not a good sign. Presumably they’ll save ISDS for later and be satisfied with transforming production into a privilege of the Proper People, to protect the children or the whales or whatever.
“Scott Walker to tour the Mexican border [Texas Tribune]. I wonder if he’ll be carrying? ”
It may be a concealed weapon if he finds the strip bars. hahahaha.
Ben Judah’s little piece on Lee Kuan Yew is little more than an attempt to take the political and economic legacy of someone he doesn’t like, and fold a bitch-fest about that into a larger bitch-fest about various states, principally in Eastern Europe, that have not yet acknowledged that There Is No Alternative, and duly submitted. No, I don’t particularly care for some aspects of the Singapore model, principally in criminal law and social policy, but this is just bilious, vile nonsense:
Thanks to the myth of Singapore, Kremlin elites came to believe—for the first time since the 1980s–that there could be a third way between Western liberal democracy, especially following the path of the European Union, and despotic authoritarian rule.
Umm, okay. There is no third way of any sort; that’s a myth. And who would want ‘despotic authoritarian rule’? So that’s not an option, either. What are we left with? Oh, yes, neoliberalism’s sophisticated corruption, based on the free flows of capital, petrodollar circulation, regulatory and tax races to the bottom, and never-ending reach-around, circle-jerk orgies (the revolving doors). Beautiful. Enjoy being in the middle of that circle, little people, and don’t dare to question your betters, let alone to attempt to envision a future other than being in the center of that circle. And my choice of metaphor is quite intentional: neoliberal rhetoric and practice, when pushed – and Ben Judah was clearly pushed, in the sense of being deeply offended and aggrieved my something – is all about dominance and submission; it is about power, making sure that those who don’t have it know that they will never have it, that they bow and scrape before those that do, and that they bless even their very chains as instruments of liberation.
in russia there is a whole generation of suburban youth who scale tall structures for fun. and i thought north american suburbs were bad. people will do anything to escape boredom, especially if they have testosterone to deal with.
By comparison, the UK gave us planking.
Soil & Water in California:
In Silicon valley alone we have paved over some 400 square miles of some of the most fertile land in the world. In my lifetime much of that area was still in fruit orchards producing a great sea of blossoms at this time of year and presaging mountainous abundances of fruit. Oh well, I guess if progress didn’t wipe them out the drought would have.
CA agriculture represents <2% of GSP as measured in dollars but is by far the largest agricultural producer in the U.S.—twice as much as 2nd place Texas. Unfortunately the other 98% of our state's economy produces nothing to eat or drink. Alas,Apple produces no apples.
Right now there seems to be little in the way of seriously enforced rationing or a statewide plan. The marketplace rations by way of pricing and if that is allowed to happen in regards water, which will in turn effect a large variety of food items, then both, which heretofore have been very cheap, will become quite expensive and much less affordable for many. We await developments.
Some years ago I took a course on Political Ecology at U.C. Berkeley. One of the readings that is considered foundational to the field is The Political Economy of Soil Erosion in Developing Countries by Piers M. Blaikie. Despite the geographical focus of the work, it lays down principles and a conceptual framework that is more widely applicable. Another is The City and the Country by Raymond Williams.
Per a recent article: AG accounts for 40% of current water use,urban use 10% Environmental 50%: But i wonder what is the components for the Environmental use?
They add up to 100%.
Not much left for wild animals and wild plants, unless they are included under ‘environmental use.’
If the California state flag is any indication, it features a grizzly bear. The last California grizzly was shot in 1922.
An advocacy organization states 80% goes to agriculture and quite reasonably questions the wisdom of our food preferences during this time of scarcity (http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/californias-drought-whos-really-using-all-the-water/). Some of our major and most water intensive crops are clearly luxury foods. Meat and dairy, two of my personal favorites and two of our major ag products, are in times like these irresponsibly water intensive. Humans need to drink a gallon of water per day to survive whereas a cow requires 23 gallons. It remains to be seen whether the appetites of the monied meat and dairy consumers will trump the survival needs of the great, and soon to be literally, unwashed.
At least one example of a market solution has recently emerged wherein a municipality has bought rice farmers’ water rights at a price that pays the farmers as much or more than they would receive for growing rice (http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article13908632.html). Truth is, there appear to be more complexly related competing interests in this thing than there are currently in the Middle East.
As for wildlife, I suspect a heartbreaking result will ensue.
The yawning gap between appearance and reality with Bill Gates’ charitable giving. Appearance “oh oh he and Melinda are so great, they’re funding health care and sustainability”. The reality: teaching hedge funds how to asset strip public schools for fun and profit, lining up with MasterCard to try and get the developing world hooked on bank credit, now privatizing African seed saving and swapping. Hey poor Indian farmer suicides are up 100X since Monsanto started going after them for seed licenses, I’m sure we can supersize that trend and make 3 biotech billionaires even richer.
Checked out the Soil Health Card for Illinois. One of the categories is “Earthworms per shovel” with places for checkmarks under something like “1-2”, “5-10”, etc. The soil where I live is such hard clay that I’m always thrilled when I see earthworms making their way through my soil. How do they manage?
Earthworms are an introduced species that are not in all instances purely beneficial:
“And little worms can trigger big changes. The hardwood forests of New England and the upper Midwest, for instance, have no native earthworms—they were apparently wiped out in the last Ice Age. In such worm-free woodlands, leaf litter piles up in drifts on the forest floor. But when earthworms are introduced, they can do away with the litter in a few months. The problem is that northern trees and shrubs beneath the forest canopy depend on that litter for food. Without it, water leaches away nutrients formerly stored in the litter. The forest becomes more open and dry, losing much of its understory, including tree seedlings.” http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/print/2007/05/jamestown/charles-mann-text
I have read a slightly different version of that. I remember reading that America reached the post-Ice-Age with its native Pleistocene menu of earthworm species intact, and it was only with exploration and EuroSettlement that European earthworms were brought here and have been steadily advancing against and wiping out America’s native Ice Age earthworms. Supposedly the line of battle is now in northern Minnesota among other places.
“Army Spends $100M On Piece of Equipment That Doesn’t Do Anything”
Yeah, it’s a 4 Star General.
RE: Stephen King v Paul LePage
Not only does Stephen King pay his taxes and Maine and donate further millions to other worthy causes in the state on top of that, he is also a very gracious man. He only asked LePage for an apology – he did not, although I’m sure he was aware of it, bring up LePage’s own confusion about what state he actually lives in.
“Army Spends $100M On Piece of Equipment That Doesn’t Do Anything” [Duffel Blog].
And the slab behind the shooter??
The monolith is the name given by humans to the mysterious black slabs found scattered throughout the Solar System…. http://2001.wikia.com/wiki/Monolith
One of the comments on Duffel Blog noticed that the “piece” of equipment is catalogued as ‘404’, file not found. Oh yes, when paired with the F-35 parody, this would be screamingly funny. Although, I suspect that all we’ll be hearing is screaming.
re: plantidote du jour
The deer ate my daffodils as soon as they peeked up through the snow. I hate it when that happens.
I ask you, where are the plant rights?
re: FOX’s Megyn Kelly to Cruz: “What have you actually accomplished?” [Salon]. Another example. “The Republican who can make a FOX host want to slap him around is a rare bird indeed.”
Megyn Kelly is apparently out to be a different kind of Fox newser:
“Kelly’s program has not just given America’s top-rated news channel its biggest new hit in 13 years; it has demonstrated an appeal to the younger and (slightly) more ideologically diverse demographic Fox needs as it seeks to claim even more territory on the American journo-political landscape.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/25/magazine/the-megyn-kelly-moment.html
So what does he perceive as accomplishments?
It’s actually a good, deceivingly simple questions for any of these clowns vying for POTUS. Ask Hillary and you might have the opportunity to watch her head explode.
I wonder if he’ll be carrying?
I doubt it, since open carry is illegal in Texas (unlike, say, Maine). I realize y’all are a bit provincial up there in the Northeast, but you really do need to get out more ;-).