Years of Fed Missteps Fueled Disillusion With the Economy and Washington WSJ
Global central bankers, stuck at zero, unite in plea for help from governments Reuters
Central bankers fear threat of low-growth rut FT
The Stimulus Our Economy Needs Nicolaci da Costa, Foreign Policy. @StephanieKelton: “Yellen said we may need to consider more effective automatic stabilizers. @pdacosta suggests Minsky’s ELR [Employer of Last Resort].”
Warned of a Crash, Start-Ups in Silicon Valley Narrow Their Focus NYT
Foreclosure crisis worsens in Massachusetts, spurring cries of state inaction MassLive
German economy minister says EU-US trade talks have failed AP. Although not Merkel.
Chinese banks braced over industrial restructuring FT
ITT College Chain Barred From Enrolling Students With U.S. Aid Gretchen Morgsenson, NYT
Syraqistan
Acceptable Losses Harpers. “Aiding and abetting the Saudi slaughter in Yemen.” I wish the Responsibility to Protect people would get their stories straight on which wars to beat the drums for.
Turkish army thrusts deeper into Syria, monitor says 35 villagers killed Reuters
2016
Clinton Foundation Official Requests State Lunch Invitation, Special Seating for Foundation Allies, Emails Show ABC. Clinton Foundation bank donors work through Huma Abedin to secure table seating at State Department dinner with Chinese officials.
Putting the Clinton Foundation in Context: Corruption Plain on the Face of It Amy Sterling Casil, Medium. Sterling, who has “a board officer level of understanding of nonprofit finance law,” is a class traitor (unlike those in the cowed or complicit non-profit sector, whose management forms part of Clinton’s base). More class traitors, please. Enough is enough. As they say.
Foundation Tapped Chelsea Clinton Friend’s Firm to Manage Endowment WSJ. And which foundation would that be?
Why Neera Tanden’s notepad gaffe is so hilarious Carl Beijer
Former Obama aide calls Trump a ‘psychopath’ Reuters. But not, apparently, Travis Kalanick, for whom David Plouffe did public relations. And so it goes.
Scenario How Trump could win Reuters
Swing states: how changes in the political landscape benefit Trump Guardian
Donald Trump Could Win Big Even If He Loses Election NBC. Straight to cable…
How the War on Terror Fuels Trump Jacobin
Ivanka and Jared’s Power Play The New Yorker
Inside The 2016 Fight For The White Working Class HuffPo
Republicans Are Already Planning How to Ruin a Hillary Clinton Presidency Esquire. And Democrats are already planning how to blame them. It’s… It’s almost as if the two party establishments needed each other, isn’t it? Nevertheless, if ruining a Clinton presidency includes the failure of TPP and no new war, that’s a silver lining, no?
Tuesday Is Primary Day In Florida– Can Progressives Win? Down with Tyranny
The best response to Campaign 2016: anger Fabius Maximus
Health Insurers’ Pullback Threatens to Create Monopolies WSJ
‘This Is the Only Way That Pipelines Will Be Stopped’ Esquire (Furzy Mouse).
The NAACP’s ill-conceived opposition to charter schools Editorial, WaPo
Black Injustice Tipping Point
Kaepernick Protest A Pivotal Moment Sports on Earth
Guillotine Watch
Framed Los Angeles Times.
Class Warfare
The Deliveroo drivers strike: a milestone in the sharing economy TechWorld
“Can we love?” More on commodification Global Inequality
‘Commoditised’ services? Enlightenment Economics
Can Cooperative Businesses Save Communities? The American Conservative
Today’s Inequality Could Easily Become Tomorrow’s Catastrophe Robert Shiller, NYT. One funeral at a time….
The University of Chicago is made of safe spaces Crooked Timber
Years of genomics research is riddled with errors thanks to a bunch of botched Excel spreadsheets Quartz. No, the Excel spreadsheet is not a proper interchange format. Dear Lord.
Majority of mathematicians hail from just 24 scientific ‘families’ Nature. Some interesting methodological issues, though.
Mangled ‘MH370 debris’ found off the coast of Mozambique suggests the jet EXPLODED and was not under control of the pilot when it crashed Daily Mail
Here’s a breakdown of the speech that won the 2016 World Championship of Public Speaking Business Insider
Autism a Silicon Valley asset with social quirks AFP
Brain wiring needed for reading isn’t learned—it’s in place prior to reading Ars Technica
Antidote du jour:
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
180 comments
Comments are closed.
RE: Interim DNC Chair Donna Brazile on Clinton Foundation Corruption Allegations: “We Often Criminalize Behavior That Is Normal” HuffPo
She’s got it backwards. We often normalize behavior that is criminal (you are witnessing her do it in action right there).
But its STILL criminal….if you don’t have lots of money.
But now we can dispense with all that bullsh*t of:
“equal justice under law”
“justice is blind”
“a nation of laws, not men”
If you have enough money, any law can be weaseled out it – that is a feature, not a bug
Chatting with a lawyer friend the other day. She quipped something to the effect of “The difference between legal and illegal? About $200,000.”
Brazile also simply tries to misdirect, which she used to be good at, back during the Monica Lewinsky fiasco, but Raddatz picks up right away on what she’s trying to do.
The only thing she manages to say about the Clinton Foundation shenanigans is, “oh, I dunno,” before launching into what are clearly her prepared remarks and line of deflection.
“Usual”? Evidently so. But it only becomes “normal” when lobbyists and crooked politicians are allowed to set the norms.
Donna Brazile makes me think that it’s time for the Democratic Party to just fade away.
Took the words out of my mouth.
oh, who cares about the Clinton Foundation? /s
“Imagine that while George W. Bush was governor of Texas and president of the United States, various people and companies decided to write him checks for hundreds of thousands of dollars, just because they thought he was a great guy. Those people and companies, just coincidentally, happened to have interests that were affected by the policies of Texas and the United States. But when he thanked them for their money, Bush never promised to do anything in particular for them. You would be suspicious, right?
….
“There are two main defenses for the Clintons’ actions. Both are distressingly naive.”
https://baselinescenario.com/2016/08/25/who-cares-about-the-clinton-foundation/
LOL! W was loaned* a few hundred thousand dollars and became managing partner of the Texas Rangers. After getting the city of Arlington tax payers to pony up money to build a new stadium for the team, he was able to flip the team and walk away a bonafide millionaire and run for Governor.
*the loan forgiven of course
“She’s got it backwards. We often normalize behavior that is criminal.”
Perfectly stated.
Norms and crimes are more or less the same thing with different enforcers and different enforcement mechanisms. Someone’s trying to play themselves off of themselves.
Exactly Roger.
I remember reading a great post on Naked Capitalism a while ago where I first heard the phrase “Normalisation of Deviance” ie where poor/criminal corporate behaviours are slowly normalised over time to the point where people internal to the organisation no longer realise they are wrong. Or just overlook it because “everyone else is doing it”. This is another great example.
“Normalisation of deviance” is a great phrase that sums up all political and corporate gouging and fraud behaviours these days. Remember the VW emissions fraud. The people internal to these organisations whether it be political operatives or corporate execs do not know what is right or wrong any more. And it comes from no one being punished, only fines without admission of guilt – this keeps pushing out the envelope of bad behaviours over time.
And here is another example I saw in Australia the last few days. A highly visible insurance company called Youi which only takes new policies by phone (and traps customers seeking quotes into giving them their credit card number) appears to have been scamming customers. Its premise is that they tailor their coverage to your exact specific circumstances – how often you use the car, garage or carport or street parking etc. Its ads are all over the TV and its slogan is “We get you”.
Well it turns out they really have been ‘getting’ lots of the customers, Just not in the way you would expect. It seems that a lot of customers who got quotes but didn’t take out a policy still had their credit card debited and had great difficulties getting it reversed and even then not for the full amount. That’s the first of a number of scam processes Youi have. Their whole business process seems geared to trapping customers.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/youi-customers-share-their-worst-horror-stories-20160829-gr3ip1.html
It’s unbelievable how pear shaped standard business practices are now…
Interesting photo in the NYT article about Silicon Valley start-ups cutting back on hiring, etc. It shows the CEO of Evernote, a white American, sitting there with what are apparently employees on either side of him. Both of those employees look Asian. The thought immediately sprang to mind, are they H1B employees? The article also talked about how, in order to survive, the company cut back on certain perks, among them free housecleaning services for their employees. Now why would they have offered such a service in the first place unless it was because they expected their employees to work ungodly amounts of overtime? Evernote sounds like what’s wrong with these start-ups, not what’s right.
. . . are they H1B employees?
I have no doubt about that.
The worst fallout may yet come, but many of the start-ups have hung on. Across Silicon Valley, engineers are still commanding annual salaries that average $136,000, according to Hired, a recruiting firm.
Code scribblers are now engineers.
Sean Behr, the chief executive of the parking service Zirx, epitomizes the change. The company, named after the Ukrainian word for star, was in the “on-demand” space, providing valet parking with the touch of a smartphone button. Mr. Behr said his goal was to make all of Zirx’s consumers feel like stars.
But each customer was so expensive to acquire and serve that Zirx lost money and consumers in all six cities where it operated. By late last year, Zirx, a San Francisco start-up that had raised $36 million, had only about a year’s worth of cash left.
So in January, Mr. Behr, 41, walked his employees through nearly 40 PowerPoint slides detailing the company’s precarious finances and explained that Zirx needed to take drastic actions. That month, he told customers Zirx was shutting down its on-demand businesses where valets would park cars for any customer who asked and would instead focus on more lucrative corporate clients.
“Investors used to say grow, grow, grow and don’t worry about costs,” Mr. Behr said. “Now you’re encouraged to not run out of money and make sure you’ll be around.”
Silicon Valley is near peak crapification. Slow down the flow of FED thin air money, and they crap out.
“providing valet parking with the touch of a smartphone button. Mr. Behr said his goal was to make all of Zirx’s consumers feel like stars.”
That makes Pets.com look like it was thought up by Einstein….
Soooo – how does the valet parker get to the place that needs the valet parker….and who parks the valet parkers car while he parks the customer’s car???
* ! OH, I see….than that parker calls a Zirx valet parker for his car, who than calls a Zirx parker for his car, who than calls a Zirx parker for his car….
I was wrong – this scheme can’t lose!
* ! OH, I see….then that parker calls a Zirx valet parker for his car, who than calls a Zirx parker for his car, who than calls a Zirx parker for his car….
FresnoD,
you apparently have no vision, in biz that’s called scalability!
From their website
It’s easy
-Tell us what you want to do
-Get a quote, then create a task
FK!!! why didn’t I think of that, I been wasting my time all these years actually making stuff!!! It is breathtaking the short cycletime for the irrationality of (ad)venture investment. These two examples are pathetic examples of investing in deckchair rearranging.
ChuckO
It shows the CEO of Evernote, a white American, sitting there with what are apparently employees on either side of him. Both of those employees look Asian. The thought immediately sprang to mind, are they H1B employees?
Libin is certainly white, if that is relevant, but he emigrated from St Petersburg, Russia. Did he become a US citizen (I don’t now either).
The two Orientals, hard to say where they’re from, they all look the same to me. I wonder if they have to do gardening on the side for Libin as well?
Startups, even ones as ridiculous sounding (to me) as Evernote and Zirx (yikes) presumably offer perks like housekeeping because the employees work long hours. Not really a news flash. Look at the time most any grunt associate lawyer puts in at a law firm. Many people willing to work their asses off for a seat at the table is not a new concept.
So as the worm turns on immigrants–legal and illegal “taking Americans jobs”. . Should H1Bs visas all be rescinded and those people deported? How about all the people that are here illegally and working? Serious question actually in the theme of good for Goose/Good for Gander. Personally i think H1B visas ae used to game the salary structure in the US, OTOH isn’t that also the case w/ employing illegals, or using more soothing vernacular, undocumented workers?
H1b is a temporary work visa. When the visa expires or the job ends, the worker must leave the country. That is the law.
Can H1Bs be renewed? What is the efficacy of H1B visa holder leaving at the sunset of their visa.?
I know (of, third person) a couple that never left.
I do not follow H1Bs in particular…
The world is really an app supported on the back of a valet parker.” The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, “What is the valet parker standing on?” “You’re very clever, young man, very clever,” said the old lady. “But it’s valet parkers all the way down!”
paul
August 29, 2016 at 10:16 am
+++++++++++++++++++++++++!
OMG – I just finished reading an article at the Atlantic about multiverses.
But I agree with you – valet parkers seem much more logical….
A lot of Silly Valley perks are like that. Get free gourmet food at work and you will never go home. Which is just what the company wants.
Yeah, and by the time you want to go home, say for a family or something, you find yourself unemployed.
…and divorced!
One of my friends is a retired computer programmer.
At one point in her career, she worked 80 hours a week. She was so busy that she didn’t have time to deposit her paychecks. Yes, I know. How archaic. But this was during the 1970s.
How does she look back on this experience? Not with fondness, that’s for sure!
On the photo: A giant white american ceo sitting there with what are apparently maximally industrious lilliputian employees on either side….. Something weirdly subliminal goin’ on there.
My favorite quote from the article:
“In 2013, I wouldn’t have thought about selling,” said Mr. Denman, 58. But all the concerns “encouraged folks to behave in whatever way would give them the greatest chance to succeed.” (Mr. Denman is the “chief executive of the artificial intelligence start-up Emotient,” whatever that even means.)
“…the greatest chance to succeed.” It takes awhile, but when those great american hope “entrepreneurs” get it, they really get it.
Next up maybe they can start working on the concept that an idea for a “business” probably ought to be a GOOD idea.
Does Evernote have only two employees left?
Ursinus narcissus.
Re: Clinton Foundation
The drip-drip-drip continues. In some ways, I think that this works in the Clintons’ favor. Absent some smoking gun, each allegation / revelation can, in isolation, be defended to some degree. This is clearly the tack being chosen by the Clinton apologists, hoping that people ignore the fact that the manure pile is growing, as they try to clean up after the latest horse that came galloping through the corral.
Or each little bit reinforces the idea that the Clinton’s are criminals.
Not just the Clintons, but the entire non elected DC Democratic establishment which is largely Clinton loyalists. “What did Board Member X know and when did X know it?” are perfectly reasonable questions for anyone connected to the he Clinton Global Slush Fund.
“Did you assist in an arms deal to the Saudis for money?”
There is a word for this, and it’s not “criminal.”
A frog dumped into a boiling pot of water will jump out. A frog dumped into a pot of cold water that is slowly heated to a boil will be boiled alive.
If you have ever kept frogs, you would know that allegory is not true.
It’s a metaphor, not an allegory. Whether real frogs jump out or not, the point is that gradual changes are much more likely to get the population to accept the “new normal” than a sudden change. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creeping_normality
Oh no, choice implies human thought. No doubt some of Clinton’s staff possess this ability, but her apologists are pure zombie.
I didn’t think too much of that Esquire article (“Republicans Are Already Planning How to Ruin a Hillary Clinton Presidency”) but jeepers, if we could settle for no TPP and no new war I’d be relieved, if not ecstatic. Not to mention the inevitable endless and multiple Republican hearings into HRC’s emails and the Clinton Foundation, and hopefully Chelsea sent to jail… a boy can dream!
Let me add no reforming or reworking Social Security and Medicare to ‘save it’ to that list.
There was a clever Venn diagram making the twitter rounds a few months ago with a circle of “Things Republicans Like” intersecting with “Things Democrats Like”. At the overlapping intersection of the two circles was “Things Hillary Likes”, among which were war and trade deals. So, Pavel, I think you are off on that. I haven’t read the Esquire article yet, but the title strikes me as off the mark.
Hana M
August 29, 2016 at 11:19 am
I agree with you – the two most likely things to happen are TPP and another…well, not war, because we call them “interventions” / “police actions” / “NATO support” / and my favorite for pure Orwellian doubletalk “Peacekeeping missions” and who knows what new euphemism they will think up….
Look at the parties disagreements and it all boils down to dividing the grift. Look at bailing out the shadow banking system, ever war, “free trade”, expanding the security state, and inaction, incompetence, and inability regarding rising inequality and they are all in lock step.
More evidence that Obama reversed the polarity of American politics, he turned every signature Bush policy into stuff that Dems are now supposed to be “for”: Big Wall St, Big Pharma, Big Surveillance, Big War.
So when it’s the Repubs who will be the ones who are against TPP and new wars, then real progressives will know exactly whom to support.
Dmitri Orlov absolutely skewers the Big War machine, read past the hyperbole for some real nuggets to ponder. If Repubs could triangulate “no new wars” and “no more nation building” with “we’re strong on terror” then it’s an absolute winner:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-28/dont-think-armageddon-think-thousand-balls-flame-and-then-crickets
“Putting the Clinton Foundation in Context: Corruption Plain on the Face of It ,” provides a very good, evidence-based summary of how the Clinton Foundation does very little charitable work. I guess the Saudi money and that contributed by Middle East dictators, I mean monarchs, is really not saving the world from Aids.
I once reviewed job openings in the Foundation and found the vast majority were for economists.
On the issue of donations to the Foundation creating a corrupting influence, I recall when I worked in the newspaper industry several major retailers imposed restrictions on their employees from taking anything of value from the newspaper seeking their advertising. This ruled out even lunches between the advertising exec and corporate advertising agent.
And on another note, quid pro quo corruption can be a donation made as a “thank you” for advocating a policy, or taking some other action, that the public official actually believes in. Hillary states all of the policies she advocated she “believed in,” but corruption charges do not require showing money changed a public official’s mind into taking action they were not inclined to take.
The obliteration of the heretofore non-controversial belief that money is a corrupting influence in politics may be the most damaging feature of Hillary’s campaign.
ScottW
August 29, 2016 at 7:52 am
“Putting the Clinton Foundation in Context: Corruption Plain on the Face of It ,” provides a very good, evidence-based summary of how the Clinton Foundation does very little charitable work.
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you how many times I have heard/read the official mainstream media propaganda meme – “There are questions about the fund raising, but everybody agrees the Clinton foundation does good work….”
Some argue the media is inept, some argue the media is corrupt – – I say why not both.
May of us have noticed that the trains run on time since the formation of the Clinton Foundation. IMO, this is more proof of their good work!
Didn’t George Bush Jr after being pushed by Bono increase aids funding and drugs to the third world. So, is this what Clinton is claiming to be their charitable work?
I know they take used but still good hospital supplies for third world hospitals and clinics. Not sure how much of their foundation money they put forth in this effort. Who knows they may even repackage it and sell it.
What the Heck Does the Clinton Foundation Actually DO?
“There are lots of good reasons for digging into the Clinton Foundation right now. But one question that gets surprisingly little attention is the most basic: What does this place actually do?
“As far as I can see, most people—including in nonprofits, politics and the media—know little about how the Clinton Foundation operates. That’s understandable, since the foundation ranks as one of the more complex nonprofits around. Yet grasping the mechanics of this place is a precondition for unraveling the controversies around it, relating to its effectiveness and possible conflicts of interest. I’ll get into those controversies in later posts. Here, I focus on the foundation’s mechanics.”
Read more at: http://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2016/6/23/what-the-heck-does-the-clinton-foundation-actually-do.html
It’s obvious, The Foundation seeks innovative solutions for innovative people utilizing synergistic paradigms on a variety of platforms.
How dare you leave out that they organically optimize the philanthropic ecosystem too!
– Anecdotal evidence of the effect of getting to know HRC better: When she ran against Obama in the primaries way back I was ambivalent about who won, ultimately favoring Obama because he talked a better game and I let myself hope it might translate to action. All I knew about HRC was that she had been a mediocre senator with no notable accomplishments and I remembered the poor policy choices of the White House when she was first lady. Then came her tenure as Secretary of State, the email affair, more opportunities to hear her speak etc. “Getting to know her better” has led me to think she is the worst choice in the upcoming election. It seems likely that she would be the worst president the U.S.A. ever had.
Depends how you define “worst”, like Obama she might very well be the “best”…for the 1% that is
River
August 29, 2016 at 12:38 pm
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++!
You must have been a CEO/CFO of some innovative organization seeking to innovatively leverage assets using initiatives…or somethin’
From the article:
One thing that confuses people about CGI (Clinton Global Initiative) is that none of the pledged money runs through this organization. As the foundation describes it, “Rather than directly implementing projects, CGI facilitates action by helping members connect, collaborate, and make effective and measurable Commitments to Action.”
“Commitments to Action” Ouch! I hurt myself laughing.
Hillary testifying: – Look thorough our prospectus – we never actually, not once, stated we would actually DO anything.
If even 1% of the money that is tax deducted for charity actually went to poor people, there would be no poor people – than how the hell would the planers, visionaries, dreamers, gasbags, conveners, organizers, facilitators, fundraisers, collaborators, and caterers make a living??? People who fly about and stay in fancy hotels, utilize business class airline seats, and consume 7% of the world’s bottled water and an indispensable part of the global economy and an indispensable part of the global economy.
And I can’t leave this out:
“The Clinton Global Initiative emerged after Bill Clinton had the idea of creating a Davos-type event that focused on global problems. ”
OR, to translate it to reality: The Clinton Global Initiative emerged after Bill Clinton saw what a great scam creating a Davos-type event that focused on global problems was….
In other words, flex net under color of non-profit.
Hang ’em high.
The Foundation does Disaster Capitalism.
Clinton Foundation – the synthetic CDO squared of the non-profit world. Its even got REMIC-like tax exemption benefits.
Does anyone here remember the comedian, Professor Irwin Corey, “The World’s Foremost Authority?” I don’t really know how to explain his comedic routines, other than to say he looked like a blown up cigar, and, spoke in faux-professorial syntax……similar in some ways to the great skits Sid Caesar used to perform.
————————————————————————————————
Professor Irwin Corey, An example:
“However … we all know that protocol takes precedence over procedures. This Paul Lindsey point of order based on the state of inertia of developing a centrifugal force issued as a catalyst rather than as a catalytic agent, and hastens a change reaction and remains an indigenous brier to its inception. This is a focal point used as a tangent so the bile is excreted through the panaceas.”
——————————————————————————————————-
Utter nonsense, yet sounds scientifically groundbreaking. In other words, just like the explanations regarding “what the Clinton Global Initiative,” or, any of the other Clinton “charities” purport to do. I mean, is it really so hard?
(Example) Why not something like this?………..
1. Our studies found that 500,000 children were dying each year in “Guamba, Africa from a rare form of “Paramoldun” infestation. By investing 18 million dollars for research, our laboratories were able to isolate a new form of antibody, which combined with Teretilicin,” has shown this new drug to be 88% effective in reversing, and neutering this once-fatal disease.
—————————————————————————————-
Why all the obfuscation?
This link to the ABC article on Clinton email works: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/clinton-foundation-official-requests-state-lunch-invitation-special/story?id=41695275
“Kaepernick Protest A Pivotal Moment”. Not likely. Kaepernick’s career is collapsing. This is likely to hasten his exit ftom the league. Not that he is insincere or misinformed. But the optics of this is that he is equating his career collapse with the oppression of young black men. This is unlikely to go over well with young black men who are succeeding handsomely in college and professional football.
The comments in the Post article about Kaepernick are 100% against him, which I was very surprised to see, being strongly opposed to both candidates myself. We have a “safe space” of sorts here on NC but we ought to take note of how far our positions are from those of mainstream America, right or wrong.
Interesting at a time when it is politically correct to criticize political correctness, safe spaces and trigger warnings on college campuses, we live in the “real world” in which political correctness mandates standing for the anthem and cheering the flyover. No exceptions.
What is the message he wants to convey here?
Freedom of expression – in this case, freedom to sit during the anthem? “I am free to sit.” Is that his life long struggle? Or this something new?
Is the message, as commented above – his career going nowhere and oppression of young black men?
Or is the message that we don’t need the anthem played before football games?
From CSNBAYAREA:
I thought it would muddle his message. And it probably did. So, he clears up. Isn’t it better to say what he wants to, in words, like this:
He will stand when change occurs (how and will he be actively involved). Till then, he will sit.
He also says:
“
Police don’t sing the anthem while they commit brutality, anymore than they hold up a dollar bill beating some innocent victims.
Will he reject the dollar, as our currency?
But only the anthem and the flag, though, he has to explain it’s not about the US military, The message is muddled because slain soldiers are buried with our flag, and maybe with the anthem.
Rejecting the dollar is clearer.
Meh, I’ve seen plenty of people NOT stand for the anthem in real life. The only reason this is being made a big deal is because the media has deemed sports figures very important people and role models.
Whatever.
Nationalism is an ism and I suspect like racism, classism, sexism and the rest of its ism brothers and sisters, it’s dangerous and meant to separate us. I think I can honor the fallen compatriots that came before me by recognizing the nation I live in is not perfect and that sometimes the people who run it can react rashly and without regard for the lives it risks instead of standing during a song.
Black people killed by the police are your fallen brothers too.
Which is nothing but making your who made point in another way.
i luv the smell of irony in the a.m…Fan’s Burn American Flags in protest against Kaepermick. protest signs: Leave America
this wknd i channel surfed past protesters…just the sight of them mapped out how Austerity will be strengthen!
“If you and every person in the county mailed
me an envelope of five to ten dollars, I think
I could rehabilitate the sheep.”
Hayes, Lighthead (luv an a.m. belly laff too)
place ad:
Foolproof method to protect yourself against petty larceny!
Mail $5.00 to address shown below for complete instruction kit. Free prize for first 100 customers!
It’s so inconvenient when racism becomes something other than an easy issue for clinton/obama “democrats” to exploit at election time.
If people keep doing things like this, somebody might actually have to do something other than just talk about it.
Sports fans are remarkably easy to whip into a frenzy when players do anything wrong (or “wrong”), especially when the players careers are not going well. If his was, this would probably be going over better. Still not well, though.
Actually, I have heard more reasoned analysis of why a particular meathead supports a given team, than I hear from most partisans of the legacy parties.
Hence “Team D” and “Team R”.
And more amenable to analyses using stats with more success in baseball than in predicting primary results.
I’m proud of Colin Kapernick. I support him and will do what I can to help him.
The black people killed unjustly by the police are American too.
Teamwork.
Lots of candidates in the November election and organizations can use his financial support as well.
How did Kaepernick’s purpose get so messed up? My understanding was that he objected to the part of the anthem, “with liberty and justice for all,” when, obviously, “Liberty and Justice” are absent for so many, especially those of color.
I’m a former Marine and am never more proud of our country than when protesters exercise their Constitutional rights illuminating some of the hypocrisy of words and phrases recited by rote, with the Founder’s purpose completely turned on its ear. I really wish some of my buddy Jarheads would use this opportunity to educate the public about what “freedom” really is. Why not show a battalion of Marines, with a video of a burning American flag in the background, not getting mad, but, stating how proud they are to be living in a country where such dramatic expressions are not only allowed, but, expected. Show the illiterate A-Holes what freedom looks like.
Do Management Fees Open Door for PEU Liability?
Despite hold harmless agreements on paper and corporate shells set up to insulate liability, it is logical that a private equity underwriter (PEU) could be held accountable for management decisions it makes on behalf of its affiliate. PEUs generally charge their company millions in annual management fees. Take casino giant Caesar’s, owned by PEUs Apollo Global and TPG.
An acquired company pays its private equity owners an annual sum for ongoing management and advisory services. You might have heard about these recently in the context of troubled casino company Caesar’s Entertainment CZR , which each year pays nearly $30 million to its private equity owners — Apollo Global Management APO and TPG Capital — despite annual losses north of $1.4 billion (Caesar’s could have killed the arrangement during last year’s IPO, but it would have been forced to pay $195 million the privilege).
That’s on top of the transaction fee charged by PEUs when they consummate the deal.
When they took Harrah’s (now Caesar’s) private, TPG and Apollo collected a $200 million “transaction fee” for the deal, split evenly between the two companies.
Caesar bondholders sued the operating company and just received the right to sue the next shell up, Caesar’s Entertainment Corp.. Courts have not granted the right to sue Apollo Global or TPG directly.
Caesar’s organizational structure is shown in their annual 10-K filing. The list of Caesar’s subsidiaries is five and a half pages long.
Here’s what the 10-K said about the bankruptcy:
As a result of CEOC’s highly-leveraged capital structure and the general decline in its gaming results since 2007, on January 15, 2015, CEOC and certain of its U.S. subsidiaries (collectively, the “Debtors”) voluntarily filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the Bankruptcy Court. Because CEOC is under the control of the Bankruptcy Court, CEC deconsolidated this subsidiary effective January 15, 2015
And who set up CEOC’s highly leveraged capital structure? That would be Apollo Global and TPG.
CEOC bondholder’s are one step closer to Caesar’s sponsors given their right to sue Caesar’s Entertainment. I’d love to see the day when PEU sponsors have to defend their actions in court for their decimation and looting. Maybe one day they’ll have to pay.
http://peureport.blogspot.com/2016/08/do-management-fees-open-door-for-peu.html
Maybe the wrecking ball can make a return trip?
Robert Reich article in the Christian Science Monitor that perpetuates the idea that Clinton
is going tohas already won big and have coat tails, AND that nothing that people want will get done (although I’ll bet they all expect the biggies the backers want will happen).http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Robert-Reich/2016/0828/A-landslide-election
By the way I think the url is telling: Business section, really?!?!
Here in southern AZ, there is hope that a Clinton win will have a cleansing effect on the local Democratic establishment. More than a few of our big names are looking forward to jumping on the Hill-train. Good riddance, I say.
I do think that one thing the Clintonites have managed to learn from Obama, don’t let the public have any expectations about the future as they are doing their best making sure that is the case (damn those pesky Russians/Republicans/racists/misogynists). And I’m sure a lot of politicians across America are looking forward to jumping on the train and stealing all the Clinton ideas for fun and profit (and not just Democrats). Unfortunately I’m not so how fast we are going to really get to say ‘Good Riddance’.
BTW look over there did you see there is new Mr. Abedin sexting scandal?!?!?!?
all human institutions have been organized crime rings.
Groan…
Human Rights Watch, Mayo Clinic, Doctors without Borders, ASPCA, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital any Public Library in the country?
Take a closer look at what particular interests are behind the façade of those seemingly benevolent alphabets you just listed. It seems like you may need to unlearn lots of myths that they have force fed you since birth.
I’m pretty sure MY public library isn’t a crime ring. Perhaps yours is different though. *shrugs* Heck, our rescue squad and fire department are almost all volunteer(I personally think they should be paid positions.)
“The stupid are always so certain and the intelligent are always full of doubt,” Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius quoted the ancient Greeks.
The major sources for the life and rule of Marcus Aurelius are patchy and frequently unreliable. The most important group of sources, the biographies contained in the Historia Augusta, claim to be written by a group of authors at the turn of the 4th century, but are in fact written by a single author (referred to here as “the biographer”) from the later 4th century (c. 395).[4]
Are you absolutely certain that was what was said?
As long as we’re questioning things we might want to question whether the people running the Roman Empire should be considered role models?
It seems like you are a perfect amalgamation of the zeitgeist of right wing thinking.
Get gun.
Hide alone under bed.
Freedom!
Thank you, Optimader. Cynicism like Softies normalizes corruption.
+++. yeah, that Librarian that breaking ranks to get me a political book being withheld by a twisted fanatic, is sure to be condemned for supporting ‘special interest’.
Indeed. Corruption *requires* exactly that sort of know-nothing cynicism to operate.
We’re trying to work this up into seething, smoldering, Malcolm X, break-your-g-d-neck contempt. Those of you who continue honoring the betters (because you want to become or be associated with them, or because of system justification theory, or just because you don’t know where to go without a leader?) are in our way.
Crime, in any guise, pays…………….no accountability.
Bill and Hillary, Bonnie and Clyde of Charity Fraud — Charles Ortel
“Bill and Hillary have been monetizing public service.”
from Greg Hunter:
Financial expert Charles Ortel says the Clintons’ real problem is outright charity fraud when it comes to the Clinton Foundation. Ortel explains, “On the other hand, on charity fraud, it’s a very different thing. In charity fraud, unlike pay-to-play, you don’t have to prove intent. Under New York State law, in particular, the requirement is merely that you prove the public filings in the Clinton Foundation are false and materially misleading, and they certainly are. This is why you are starting to see these editorial boards around the world say wait a minute. You also have to prove that they solicited, not that they raised money, that they solicited. That, the Clintons have admitted. . . .
On the charity fraud side of life, that is the mine field for the Clintons. The second the IRS, or any attorney general or a state taxing authority, decides to make an issue of this, the burden of proof shifts . . . the charity has to come forward and prove the affirmative case. The Clinton Foundation has to prove, since October 23, 1997, that all you have been doing exclusively is furthering the authorized tax exempted purposes, which as far as I know is, to be merely a research facility and archive based in Little Rock. Prove that’s all you have done. Show us the legally audited financial statements. Show us those audits.”
In closing, Ortel contends, “This is a tale that needs to be told, but it’s not going to be a tale that people swallow at first blush given the fact how powerful the Clintons are or how vengeful the Clintons are when they are in power. . . . Another way to talk about the Clintons is the Bonnie and Clyde of charity or the Al Capone of charity.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-9u01MJVuBk
Framed Los Angeles Times.
Apparently there are 6 parts to the story, and the link is only to the first part. As the first part is dated 8/28, it appears the full story has not been published.
However, it is obvious where the story is going. I am reminded of Gomer Pyle – SURPRISE, SURPRISE!
Corrupt police.
A white person is framed by a cop.
The question is: how many people are framed by cops? In this case, you have the very rare circumstances that one can discover police corruption. And that is the real outrage – the hands off attitude by the county boards of supervisors, mayors, prosecutors, judges, et al concerning police conduct, when the most superficial and middling examination of police actions would reveal things that make no sense at all. But there is simply a code of not “interfering” – or more accurately, carte blanche with regard to the police.
What is the solution here?
Conscript citizen police force?
In Thailand, every male must live as a monk for a brief time in his life (even for Thai Christians? I doubt it).
Why do we let every man and woman serve in the local (very local) police force for a fixed amount of time, preferably when they are in school, so it doesn’t interfere with their serfdom?
Are you in for a big surprise. I would recommend reading the whole series as it comes available or just google Kent and Jill Easter.
And I can see one bright light in this, perhaps if the idea gets into people’s heads that digital/computerized election systems can be hacked (not just the databases) maybe, just maybe hand counts of paper ballots will be demanded by the public for elections. Long shot but I believe stories like this meant to push a different agenda do make it more likely.
The Russian aspect makes an appearance but is not pounded as sources actually get quoted on the record. But OMG hackers have targeted election databases….
https://www.yahoo.com/news/fbi-says-foreign-hackers-penetrated-000000175.html
I actually interviewed James Razsa of Democracy Brewing on the same day he was being interviewed for the American Conservative article. As a long-time union and co-op organizer, he was a little perplexed by being featured in Pat Buchanan’s publication.
Here’s my extended interview with him:
http://www.geo.coop/story/come-beer-stay-revolution
We talked about his co-op first, then around the 14 minute mark we delved into the relationships between unions and co-ops. It’s good stuff, if you’re into labor organizing.
AC is a weird publication. It represents a kind of Republican or at least small c conservative viewpoint that I imagine feels very left behind in today’s day and age. We tend to forget that Christian conservatives were at the forefront of the Civil Rights movement and that Eisenhower, at the same time he was touting so-called “fiscal responsibility,” he was also warning of the complete takeover of the government by militarist and imperialist interests.
As a result, its authors, who strike me as far more independently minded than anyone who writes for Breitbart or DailyKos, tend to be anti-war and civic-minded. They see just as well how rural and working class communities have been gutted and so find a great deal of common cause with those on the left who don’t necessarily share their religious worldview. From a small c conservative view, co-ops reflect the need to establish and maintain meaningful social and economics bonds within a community, and it appeals to that conservative ethos of “government won’t do it for us, so we have to do it ourselves.”
Progressive social policies such as social security and Medicare are extremely popular in US. That body can’t be made up entirely of pinkos and lefties in training.
the MH370 article boosts my pet theory that the plane was shot down by the USAF when it got too close to diego garcia.
What is so telling is that the Diego Garcia radar logs are not available, to the best of my knowledge, for that day. Rationally, the Diego Garcia base would try to identify any aircraft entering the Southern Indian Ocean as a simple precaution; especially an unscheduled flight.
Read the article again. The title is misleading. They are saying the “explosion” was caused by an uncontrolled impact with the water.
IMO, one of the flight crew wanted to off himself, and make it look like an accident. If not for the automatic aircraft status reporting system (which most pilots are aware of, but can’t figure out how to deactivate without doing some research into the aircraft wiring diagrams…….which he wouldn’t have access to), all we would know is that it came down in the Indian Ocean.
If a guy wanted to make an airplane disappear, in a place as far from the beaten path as possible, the southern Indian Ocean would be tough to beat.
Well, Anthony “Mister Huma” Weiner has been busted again, in a colorful NY Post article headlined “Pop Goes the Weiner”:
Now, in a truly drastic and life-changing response, he has deleted his Twitter account. (!)
Never mind the Weiner … how can I get in touch with his well-endowed correspondent? Oops — I’m betting Bubba got to her first. :-(
You can’t make this stuff up.
When is Weiner going to fall to his death from their first floor balcony? Can’t Huma get the guy a job driving a campaign van or something, jeeze? Who the heck drives the Sprinter with the Hill’s sarcophagus anyway?
“She’s Had Enough Weiner,” cackles Drudge:
Will Hill-dawg do the same with Bubba, once she’s safely ensconced in the White House?
Sounds like Huma is a available! I wonder if Hill has preemtively broken a dish on Bill’s head yet?
Jim Haygood
August 29, 2016 at 9:50 am
An acceptable alternative headline:
Busty bust busts Weiner
With all the people who vanish surrounding the Clintons, apparently Huma still has no pull. Weiner’s still wagging his weiner. No bullet in his back? Impressive Hillary’s self-control. I’m actually surprised.
Mylan to Launch Cheaper Generic EpiPen Alternative [WSJ]
Authorized generic of lifesaving treatment for serious allergic reactions to list for $300 per two-pack
Such a bargain.
You beat me to it. I was just going to post that link, as well.
Could it be that public outcry had some effect? It would be nice to think so. (And yes, they’re still pricey)
But then, those 702,000 signatures opposing the TPP hand delivered by Bernie to Obama didn’t seem to have any effect. He probably gave ’em to Hillary’s grandkids to scribble on.
Still twice what an actual EpiPen costs in Canada.
And more than a simple injection of epinephrine, which costs 35 cents. Mylan is going to end up creating a black market for vials of adrenaline.
Put the CEO in an enclosed …… and LOCKED shed ……. with a fully loaded beehive** …..
… and see how she feels about her company’s immoral decision to screw a hapless public !!
** hive entrance temporarily blocked ….
Come to think of it, a shaken hornets nest, enclosed in shear nylon fabric, might be more fitting !
$300, such a deal. Mylan’s attitude seems to be (to paraphrase Marie Antoinette), let them eat shit.
That’s not as accurate as it might be. I think closer to “that will be 500 bucks or your kids can fuck off and die”
While people are at it- Where the outrage with respect to asthma inhalers?
I don’t have asthma, but was prescribed one for allergies a while ago. I get one a year. It’s up over $100 now.
$100 for a very old drug that literally saves lives. How does anyone with asthma afford that?
No generics either. No competition. I spoke with the pharmacy tech and a few years ago they “made it green” by changing something inside the inhaler. That’s when prices went insane. It used to be less than $10. Now, even with insurance, it’s the full price. $100. No insurance will pay for the “brand name” and there isn’t a generic.
bob, they used to contain CFCs. You are now taking a very old drug in a new, halocarbon-free, patented (ka-ching!) dosing system. In 20 years they might be cheaper, if someone hasn’t had the new propellants banned because they’re about to go off-patent.
About ten bucks for ventolin inhaler here in Australia.
Not much left when you pay for ‘health care’ in the USA.
‘The Excel spreadsheet is not a proper interchange format.’
In the linked article, the problem arises from Excel’s context sensitive formatting. It is activated by default unless you know to turn it off (few do). Examples include gene names such as “MARCH1” and “2310009E13” — intended to be text — getting auto-converted into dates and exponential number formats, respectively.
From my own experience, I’ve seen Excel auto-convert stock symbols such as “NOV” (National Oilwell Varco) and MAY (former May Department Stores) into date format, provoking outbursts of highly stylized profanity.
If context-sensitive formatting were off by default, as in Google’s spreadsheet apps, it would be a non-issue. But Excel is riddled with dysfunctional defaults, starting with its most basic default of moving the cursor down one cell after you make an entry, instead of staying where you left it. This is the first “feature” I turn off.
Though I do a lot of work on Excel, it’s still like trying to build a house using Fisher-Price plastic carpenter tools (ages 4-6). After thirty years of trying, square-headed, badly-coiffed Bill Gates still can’t produce professional-quality tools.
Or rather, he hasn’t figured out how to let/get other people to do it. I doubt the man spends much time doing actual software development nowadays. Did he ever?
Not since Microsoft Basic for the Altair.
Annoying but then there is the little date problem they have between versions, where opening the document in a later version means the date is translated iirc into 1 day later two years earlier.
Fun.
Jim Haygood
August 29, 2016 at 10:15 am
the only thing Gates EVER did was figure out how to manipulate contract law to grant himself a defacto monopoly.
There is probably not a better example of how Microsoft “free enterprise” stifles competition, raises prices, and probably over the years, has done more to hinder innovation than Gates, crappy, crappy, crappy products.
In the very first paragraph of the WaPo article on charter schools:
Hippies, consider yourselves punched.
You’d think that DC and its public schools administration would have learned their lesson after the Michelle Rhee fiasco, but since she failed upwards, I guess there’s no lesson to be learned. And I realize that the Post represents, shall we say, a particular worldview, but the rank unwillingness to even try to understand why teachers unions and the NAACP (not to mention the public DC schools actually serve) are opposed to charters is just one more reason to think that the Pravda on the Potomac moniker is not entirely undeserved.
Also, on Howard Fuller, who is quoted admirably in the article (WaPo also ran a puff piece on him in 2014), there’s this piece from ’95 on his resignation as Milwaukee Public Schools superintendent.
It’s always interesting to me when “advocates for school choice” get ousted by people who choose to stick with their public schools and the teachers who work in them.
Agreed. This editorial like most others in this vein also manages to completely ignore the reality of how charter schools have functioned. Note that they talk about “a few outrageous cases” while completely ignoring the fact that the few nationwide studies that have been done have found (see the lightweight Stanford study) that charters are generally no better (and are often worse) than traditional schools despite being free from constraints, and in many cases having more money than traditional schools due to the support of the big name corporate foundations.
The Post also talks about the need for better certification and supervision without nothing that the lack of such “bureucracy” is in fact central to the entire movement.
This is why I have abandoned the post as a serious news site. Their editorial viewpoint is based upon cherry picking anecdotes (“Hillary Was Booed once Oooh!”, “John Oliver found a bad apple”) to construct a straw man and then tearing it down. At no point do they deal with the substance of the NAACP’s views on chaters. Nor do they acknowledge the reality of the problem. They have disrupted communities of color, drawn away resources, and utterly failed to provide any substantive improvement on the existing system (See Chicago or New Orleans which was forceably converted by the Bush Administration to 100% Charter).
Absent having the facts on their side they are reduced to punching straw hippies to demonstrate their “seriousness”.
New Yorker: ‘Ivanka and Jared’s Power Play’. Yes, in contrast to Bill, Hillary and Chelsea’s Faith, Hope—-and CHARITY bit.
Neera Tanden is just another snooty, self-entitled lawyer with no sense of humility: ‘I missed when I tried to starve you and your mother.’ What a sick joke. The Democratic Party is full of them. You can fill in the names for yourself, beginning with Mr. O…a.
“I missed when I tried to starve you and your mother.”
Hard to imagine the firestorm that would have ensued had Trump “tweeted” that.
It would seem that david plouffe’s “psychopath” diagnosis is more applicable in this instance than in the one in which he used it.
Sir David Plouffe of Psychobabble?..http://www.jantoo.com/cartoon/33230483
How To Get Filthy Rich in Obamaworld
While Scheiber discusses some of the places that offer a lucrative landing for former Obama team members, like SKDKnickerbocker, he makes clear how easy it is to profit if you’ve acquired the right connections:
But it turns out the highest-profile White House grads don’t so much join consulting firms these days; they found them. A boldfaced Obama name can rake in upward of $25,000 per month from a client just by dialing into a conference call and drafting a memo from time to time. Four clients means more than a million dollars a year with virtually no overhead. “You can run a business like that on an iPad and a cell phone,” says the former administration official. The godfather of this approach is ex-Clinton strategist Doug Sosnik, famous for conducting his business meetings in jeans from coffee shops and hotel lobbies.
David Plouffe and Stephanie Cutter have both adopted the Sosnik model.
http://www.alternet.org/economy/how-get-filthy-rich-obamaworld?akid=10349.1120210.A9zSLv&rd=1&src=newsletter827805&t=11&paging=off
Just saying.
“ITT: Technically, It’s College!”
Their ‘campus’ is down the road from DeVry University, catty-corner from Corinthian College. The league tables are somewhat sparse, and they have a losing record against the community college teams.
Is Trump a psychopath? From the article:
It’s clear that Trump is a narcissist. Since there is overlap between psychopathic personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder, it’s hard for an armchair psychologist to decide whether or not he is a psychopath. It’s interesting that Hillary Clinton matches every one of the symptoms that Plouffe lists.
Clearly, Plouffe is projecting ….
FBI says foreign hackers have penetrated state election systems:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/fbi-says-foreign-hackers-penetrated-000000175.html
I wonder, how does the FBI know for sure that the hackers are “foreign”?
You know they have those IP addresses, a couple of which are in both hacks. Because no one can fake an IP address….
Well, who hasn’t?
http://www.newequipment.com/plant-operations/pilots-hire-cramming-test-age-drones-arrives?NL=NED-09&Issue=NED-09_20160829_NED-09_844&sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1&utm_rid=CPG03000001537258&utm_campaign=14232&utm_medium=email&elq2=8b1b7cfa6bba4bb8881043c13ef394c7
Pilots-For-Hire Cramming for Test as the Age of Drones Arrives
The heck with building real stuff!
I bought 500 chickens to peck at keyboards to code my drone parking app!
The Beta release might be rough, but what the heck it will be out ahead of schedule and I have an (ad)Venture Capitalist on the hook for another round of financing –and i only have to pay Chicken feed! Still thinking on the house cleaning service perk tho
You could structure it as a “Hen House Party,” throw in a couple of ‘toys’ and write it off as an employee perk; company underwritten exercise benefit, ‘goodwill’ building program, and employee ‘bonding’ program. Also, the toys could be written off as ‘beta testing’ supplies.
What’s not to ecstatically enjoy?
FYI: you can safely delete everything after the ? in the URL. All that nonsense after the article title is just tracking info so your reading habits can be better kept track of…of course, that might be reason to leave all that tracking info in the links you share, as it might throw off the algos. GIGO, right? But my inner html aestheticitian cringes…
In the grand scheme of things i am not too concerned about an industrial equipment site. Maybe I’ll get a popup ad for grainger.com instead of some DNC BS w/ HRC’s gaping maw?
Going to Pot.
‘Humboldt County’s marijuana boom is destroying a unique redwood forest ecosystem and killing some of California’s rarest wildlife. Now veteran pot farmers are fighting the ‘green rush’ to make cannabis cultivation truly sustainable.’
Quite an interesting read.
It’s a shame, but making it legal will undercut the black market and send prices into the toilet, making it unreasonable to keep a greenhouse out in the woods. Instead, farmers will put the grow houses on zoned agricultural land.
Very easy problem to solve!
The real environmental downside of conventional cannabis cultivation is the energy use necessary for indoor growing. It can be grown outdoors as a field crop responsibly, but it is impossible to grow a high energy plant inside an artificially lit building plugged into the grid in a way that isn’t environmentally irresponsible.
I fear the eventual creation of Big Pot, as part of Big Ag. The hedgies are already looking for ways to cash in, that speaks volumes about how things can develop. So it is not simply a matter of legalizing pot, it is a matter of regulation as well. As usual, my first instinct is “smaller is better”.
The issue remains that Pot is a low entrance barrier weed that inexorably just wants to grow because ….it is a weed.
Contrast with alcohol or say synthesized drugs which require various levels of infrastructure complexity to scale up.
A weed that theoretically is fully value added by just growing in a ditch is problematic for parasites when it comes to monetization. I think this asymmetric competitive situation is why it was made illegal and remains so for all practical purposes (Federally)
See Gates and EULA laws…
Big Pot came to Washington State. It’s horrible.
There has always been illegal growing in the forests. People grow there rather than south of the border and trying to get it over the border. There are notifications not to hike except on trails etc. As complying with the law is complicated and expensive, proposed lot sizes are large and tax per square foot high, it will continue.
The fight is to keep the farms small which will be difficult as the push is for corporatization not legalization. Even when farmers are trying to comply with the law, they are still raided. Crop destroyed, no arrests and the sheriff had no idea. Shrug. https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2016/aug/9/pot-farm-raided-blocksburg-today-had-reported-its/
H8’ers of HRC, apparently at the top of this site are so desperate that they repost articles form nearly a week ago? The “Medium” article was first posted here 8/24/2016. So much with keeping the folks appraised of new issues.
If I am wrong – the apologies in advance.
I often wonder what it’s like being a hater of the rule of law or an apologist for criminality. That’s true desperation.
Are you complaining that the link wasn’t posted earlier than today? If so, I guess it’s better late than never!
“so much with keeping the folks appraised of new issues”
…this from a mouthy poster incapable of searching for anything But the corners of a bowling ball yaaaaaaaawn
Is typing “H8’ers” supposed to make your opinion more or less credible?
I’m going with less.
I still can’t figure out what it is about spelling or reading that’s so scary.
Not frightening, it’s just been privatized.
Would have been a neat trick of NC to post a link to the piece on 8/24, given it wasn’t even published until 8/27.
This link is the latest installment in an ongoing series.
see, now putin is using time travel to derail hrc. that’s how much he h8’s her.
L8R D00D
afisher, your tendentiousness is showing. And you’re still refusing to answer for your neoliberal apologia, which, speaking for myself only, discredits you as a loyalist to a very blue imaginary friend. Instead of presuming to condescend to us and being met with well-deserved hostility as a result, is your entire argument based on the fact that you and other Democratic loyalists have constrained the argument to favor your childish little tug-of-war with no room for actual policy?
Oh dear, hunkerdown, I fear your vicious usage of a 50-cent word like ‘tendentiousness’ has turned afisher into a quivering ball of catatonia for at least 24 hours. Recall, this is a person who struggles with the subtle distinction between ‘form’ and ‘from’. So next time, please have mercy on poor borderline-analphabetic wannabe trolls like afisher and use a sub-college-level synonym like ‘bias’.
‘Coz she was a different Hillary a week ago?
RE: Foreclosure crisis worsens in MA
Not surprising.
Yes, it’s me again, a victim. I cannot withhold commenting on something so close to my heart (and life).
What sickens me is the way the ‘help’ continues to come in the form of creating new agencies to handle the ‘problems’.
“Since 2008, the Division of Banks has collected a licensing fee from mortgage loan originators and used that money for grants to nonprofits that help homeowners facing foreclosure, and for first-time homebuyer counseling.” (my emphasis)
Uh, huh. Since 2008? So………how’s that working for ya MA?
I think the title of the article says it all. (As one comedian says, “Here’s your sign!”)
Yeah. I used one of those HUD-approved agencies when trying to save my home in CO. The only thing they did for me was to negotiate the amount of pymt I had to put down to enter HAMP (thousands).
Yes, that was illegal but I didn’t know it at the time. I had trusted (ha!) a govt backed program would know the rules so I did what they said was needed, only to be foreclosed upon after a year of being current on those pymts.
I should’ve just put the money in my wood stove for heat. It would’ve been better used that way.
“Additionally, the Massachusetts attorney general’s office received $44.5 million in 2012 from a multistate settlement with the country’s five largest mortgage servicers related to foreclosure practices. With that, the attorney general created HomeCorps, which involved various efforts to help homeowners facing foreclosure.”
Swell. Yet another ‘program’.
HomeCorps reminds me of the HOPE line (still in existence).
I was in that vicious circle for many months, until I was directed under it to that govt-approved agency that helped negotiate that ‘down pymt’ to enter HAMP.
Too much money spent creating new agencies to ‘help’ struggling homeowners, that IMO would be much better spent if all the states got together and spent that money on top notch lawyers to force the banks into obeying the laws.
So the citizens of MA are crying ‘foul’?
The rest of the nation (like me) was crying ‘foul’ for years but it fell upon deaf ears.
Now their solution is the same ol’, same ol’. Create new agencies to deal with the crisis.
Enforcing the laws already in place would put a stop to it all.
Yet we all know that’ll never happen against the banks (or a candidate).
The WA appellate court just penned an opinion whereby they changed the definition of the word “and” to mean “or” to allow the banksters to win a statute of limitations issue.
So there’s that.
We have placed PC above the welfare of children.
From the story of an attempted kidnapping in NYC.
“An 11-year-old girl kicked and fought off a man who grabbed her and threatened to kill her at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park during Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day on Saturday, police said.”
In its entirety, the following is the description of the would-be child kidnapper who is still at large:
“The suspect is between 25 and 35 years old, around 200 lbs and between 5’8″ and 5’11”, police said. He was last seen wearing a red shirt with stripes, khaki shorts, sunglasses and has a tattoo with words on his right wrist.”
I’m trying to understand how political correctness has anything to do with the kidnapping?
Is the argument that because it happened at a Billie Jean King event that it was political correctness that endangered the kid(which totally misses the mark since kids have been kidnapped at places like parks or even their own homes?)
It’s what is missing from the description of the suspect that is politically correct, which is skin color. Purple, blue, white or brown.
maybe because there was originally a photograph attached to the story, not sure.
There indeed was…….although here is the update.
UPDATE: On Sunday evening, the NYPD “determined that the person depicted in the previously provided photograph was ruled out as a suspect,” and DNAinfo has removed his photo from this article.
It ought to be “PC” to make sure that if you are identifying someone as an assailant that you actually identify the right person.
Presented without comment:
323 reindeer killed in one lightning strike in Norway
wow. Yahweh really does work in mysterious ways. Are there no thieves, blackguards, ne’er-do-wells, politicians, assassins, or cannibals to smite?
Or is his aim that bad?
Thor’s in charge of lightning in Norway.
But doesn’t he have to answer to Marvel Entertainment executives?
depends on the first weekends gross.
Well, Donner and Blitzen are literal German for Thunder and Lightning, so perhaps the naming there was tempting Thor to remind us that there are pre-Christian myths operative in the region, as well. (Or maybe Mjolnir simply needs a new no-slip grip.)
I have no idea what to make of this yet but it was big headline on HuffPo 5 minutes ago:
FBI says foreign hackers penetrated state election systems
Michael Isikoff
Chief Investigative Correspondent
August 29, 2016
https://www.yahoo.com/news/fbi-says-foreign-hackers-penetrated-000000175.html
And they’re thinking it might be Russians. For whatever that’s worth.
Foreign hackers, so what. Who from the Foreign Great Satan is running this cycle?
Now, if the Powers released the names of domestic hackers who had access to state election systems, then the pitchforks and guillotines could do their socially beneficent work.
The real lesson to be learned from this, as elucidated earlier by another commenter earlier, is the absolute need for the elimination of any electronic interference with the ballot process. Paper ballots, marked by hand, and counted by hand in public are called the ‘Gold Standard’ for a reason.
Let’s see . . . the DNC needs to do some hacking of the vote in November. Right now, they aren’t at all sure how much prestidigitation will be required, or where. Hillary is being revealed day by day as the amoral greedhead she really is, and losing votes by the minute.
When the DNC does their magic with the electronic votes, people will talk. When people talk, the DNC need only point back to this opinion piece from August saying the FBI believes the Russians know how to hack our vote.
Voila! The DNC is off the hook for whatever fiddle-dee-dee they had to do to install their queen bee. Putin did it.
Golly, this election sure looks inviting for pranking the public. It wouldn’t surprise me if multiple hacks went on, each in different directions, for different reasons.
Of course, as the old saying goes, “It only matters who hacks last.” I think Genghis Khan said that.
God damn outsourcing. Domestic hackers could have done that job if they hadn’t been undercut by foreigners.
Thanks!!, best laugh I’ve had all day.
Southampton Town Supervisor Takes To Facebook In Affordable Housing Search Aug 29, 16 12:02 PM
The lack of affordable housing in Southampton Town is hitting close to home for Supervisor Jay Schneiderman.
On Friday, he posted on Facebook that he is looking for an apartment—one that is “affordable”—for a friend and her 3-year-old daughter.
And, thus far, he has not had much luck.
“She has a good job,” he said. “I have a lot of friends on Facebook, so I put it out there. So far it doesn’t look really good.”
The supervisor said he posted his online plea after being contacted by the woman, whom he declined to identify, and she shared that she is desperate to find affordable housing in the Hamptons. Noting that he has more than 3,400 Facebook friends, Mr. Schneiderman said he figured he’d ask around if anyone knew of any affordable apartments between Hampton Bays and Montauk.
As of late Friday afternoon, he said he’s received a few responses but that all were seeking higher rent prices than he had hoped for; one person wanted $2,600 a month for a three-bedroom apartment—above his friend’s price range.
“Your first knee-jerk reaction is to laugh—but it’s not funny,” Curtis Highsmith, executive director of the Southampton Housing Authority, said about the supervisor’s post. “There’s a huge shortage of affordable housing in the town. The issue is so serious that it’s not comical.”
Mr. Schneiderman is working on an initiative that would encourage homeowners, especially those who live east of the Shinnecock Canal, to offer accessory apartments as part of a greater effort to provide affordable housing in areas that mostly lack them. Currently, the law prohibits houses built on three-quarters of an acre or less from having accessory housing, like apartments. Qualified participants would be exempt from the law—if the Town Board ultimately approves the idea—so long as their homes sit on at least one-third of an acre.
The lack of affordable housing in the municipality is an issue that Mr. Highsmith, and members of the working class, are all too familiar.
“I think this entire town needs to start realizing they are the face of who we’re trying to represent,” Mr. Highsmith said. “‘Affordable housing’ has this negative connotation. It becomes a bad word—it’s not. It’s real people who need housing.
“They’re the face—I’m the face,” he continued. “My son—he’s the face. It really bothers me to see so many of my friends left because they just couldn’t afford it here. That’s resources leaving. That’s history leaving.”…
http://www.27east.com/news/article.cfm/General-Interest-Southampton/493105/Southampton-Town-Supervisor-Takes-To-Facebook-In-Affordable-Housing-Search
Yes I know it’s the Hamptons but it does have a working class, too. This affordability issue is from coast to coast.
Love the antidote. And man,that is a big momma bear. Looks like they’re all fattened up and about to head for the den for winter. Majestic animals, and the cubs are so adorable when they’re small.
This is a good “Too Big to Jail” image via Reddit: https://i.sli.mg/eI3WTL.jpg
Shows HSBC-related corruption of HRC, Comey, and Lynch.
Antidote du jour:
LOVE the photo today!
But as usual (being a photographer myself), it leads me to wonder why the photographers never take credit for them?
I won’t put any of mine over the Internet without my © on them. Even in emails.
(But then, I try to supplement my meager SS with my ‘work’, so I don’t give them away).
So I’m asking: Lambert, am I correct in assuming they’re just being found on the Internet? There have been so many great ones posted on here!
In truth, that’s what led me to this site in the first place, as I stumbled across it one day, impressed by a photo posted.
Then I began to read the content here and was hooked (and forever grateful).
Excellent photo (I always love water reflections) and much appreciated by a fellow photographer, for their stunning capture of these magnificent creatures.
Hummm Stephanie Kelton Tweeting something gets a notice when I posted it two days ago with no response.
Hi Philu, I remember your comment and link and thought about it when I saw Stephanie Kelton’s tweet in today’s links. You were on the ball! There are people seeing good comments like yours who don’t always mention it, sometimes they slip through without a response, I’ve had some of those. So please don’t get discouraged and keep up your good comments and links. I only comment occasionally but I was lucky enough to have commentator Steve H. recently remember and mention one of my comments from 6 months ago when a topic was raised again. I love the commentariat here at NC.
AFP link on autism in Silicon Valley doesn’t work; this does: https://www.yahoo.com/tech/autism-silicon-valley-asset-social-quirks-154022633.html
Donna Brazile claims “We Often Criminalize Behavior That Is Normal” and instead exhorts us to do the opposite — normalize behavior that is criminal.