There's A Reason For That

There has to be a rebirth of expertise, and that requires a rebirth of respect for people's real abilities - and a resurgence of actual common sense.

Not the phony kind of common sense that so many conservatives and libertarians are trying to substitute for knowledge because they've spent so much time convincing themselves they don't need to know anything - they just need to adopt a radical skepticism that allows them to feel smart without having to do any real work.

I can take myself as a fair example.

I'm a generalist. A generalist is someone who knows less and less about more and more until he knows practically nothing about almost everything.

After 73 years, I'm the intellectual equivalent of the Platte River - my knowledge base is a mile wide and an inch deep. Too thick to drink and too thin to plow.

But because I actually know quite a bit about a few things, and because I'm a good salesman, I can spin it all into giving people the impression that I'm smarter than I actually am.

If I'm not careful, my ego gets in the way - sometimes to the point where I can flop all the way over into Cliff Clavin territory. Fake lord forgive me my sins.

So I have to be careful not to overstep my limitations. I have to look for - and listen for - people who carry real bona fides on a given subject, and shift my conversation from declaring what I know (or think I know) to a more inquisitive thing where I can put what I think on the table, and ask if there's something I've missed, or I've gotten wrong, or if there's something new I can learn.

So anyway, the main point is to remember what's supposed to help us maintain a certain humility:

The more we learn, the more we have to understand how much more there is for us to learn.

It's The Stupid Economy

The point of Bessent's buy-back was to ease the upward pressure. Bond investors are demanding a better deal - higher interest yields - in order to buy our debt.

The higher the yield, the more our debt costs us. And at $40 trillion, our debt service is costing us over $3 billion a day - more than a trillion dollars every year - which eats into the economic growth we have to post just to stay even.

Bad shit comin', bubba.

BOND 'RESCUE' FLOPS
SAFE HAVEN FADING
DOLLAR AT RISK
TRUMP APPROVAL 30%

WALMART Weakest Growth in Years (WSJ)

Americans tighten wallets (NYT)

Personal bankruptcies surge (The Independent)

AI increasing inequality (WaPo)

Another Day, Another Dog-Ass Republican

Always. Always. Always. They're always doing what they tell us they hate - or what they accuse others of doing. Like they believe - hard - that if they just stay on the attack, we won't notice what fuckin' dirtbags they are.

Republican Who Backed Death Penalty for Pedophiles Faces Child Sex Charges

Palm Beach County Clerk of Court Michael Caruso, a former Republican state legislator who previously backed the death penalty for adults convicted of sexually battering children under 12, was arrested Tuesday on five felony child sex abuse charges.

The 67-year-old married father of seven who was appointed by Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis faces five felony counts: kidnapping, child molestation, lewd exhibition, luring or enticing a child and child abuse causing mental injury, an arrest affidavit shows.

Investigators in Florida say Caruso violated a child—who is a relative—and allege the abuse occurred multiple times from fall 2024 to August 2025, including on a family cruise, a fishing outing and during a Thanksgiving gathering. The child has been receiving therapeutic services since April 2026, according to the police affidavit.

“Being in a position of public trust provides no shield from accountability,” state Attorney General James Uthmeier said. "This individual will face the full force of the law.”

DeSantis, who named Caruso to serve as court clerk and comptroller in August 2025, immediately suspended him from office Tuesday upon learning of the allegations.

“It was a very easy decision for me to yank him from that position," DeSantis said during a Tuesday news conference.

When asked whether he or anyone in his administration was aware of the allegations against Caruso before his appointment, he answered "of course not.”

“He had a clean vet, he was well-regarded in the community,” DeSantis said, calling the alleged crimes “horrific.”

Florida is the first state to reintroduce the death penalty for convicted pedophiles, DeSantis said, and if Caruso is convicted, "he is going to be in a world of hurt.”

What Bill Did Caruso Support?

While representing District 87 in the Florida House, Caruso backed what is now known as the 2023 Florida Capital Sexual Battery law. The legislation allows prosecutors to seek the death penalty for adults convicted of sexually battering a child under the age of 12. Caruso is listed as a “Yea” in the April 13, 2023, House vote. DeSantis signed the bill in May 2023 and it took effect six months later.

The Republican is up for reelection in November but is not appearing on Tuesday’s primary ballot, as he is running uncontested. The Florida GOP called on Caruso to immediately drop out of the race.

“While this is surprising news for our entire team, it does not change who we are at the Clerk’s Office or our commitment to the community and customers we serve,” the Palm Beach County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller’s Office said in an email to Newsweek.

Following the arrest, Shannon Ramsey-Chessman was sworn in as clerk ad interim. As of Tuesday afternoon, Caruso’s official page on the clerk's office website was unavailable.

Caruso was booked into the Orange County jail and is being held without bond. The investigation remains ongoing and Uthmeier's office expects more charges.

A Nerdy Thing

JoJo Jams

Don't give the bully what he wants. You don't pretend they're not dangerous, you just refuse to pretend they're impressive.

Brilliant bit of insight from JoJo From Jerz.

Space Junk

First - I didn't know we had a spacecraft orbiting the moon. I think I should've known that, but I didn't.

Second - I think it's pretty fuckin' cool that we have a spacecraft orbiting the moon.

Because third - even if we don't get video of Elon's fuckup crashing into the moon, at least we get to see the hole it made.

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A post shared by NASA Solar System Exploration (@nasasolarsystem)

To The Rescue

I don't know what it means, if it means anything. 

What I do know is that the Trump administration isn't any kind of reliable source. So we're all just pissin' in the dark and hoping there's a bucket to catch some of it.



Treasury doubles debt buybacks as Bessent moves to steady bond market

Key Points

• The Treasury Department said Wednesday it will at least double the level of government debt buybacks in the next few months, targeting the sensitive longer-duration segment of the market.
• Yields tumbled following the announcement and stock market futures surged.

The Treasury Department on Wednesday said it will more than double the size of its government debt repurchases, sending yields sharply lower at a time of substantial market stress.

With fixed income markets under pressure and yields surging to levels not seen in nearly 20 years, the announcement targets the sensitive longer-duration part of the Treasury market.

Under the accelerated buyback, Treasury, led by Secretary Scott Bessent, will target the 10- to 20-year and 20- to 30-year portion of the market, which has seen a buyers’ strike since late June. The government will “at least double” the maximum size of its buyback operations, from $2 billion to “at least” $4 billion, according to an announcement from the department.

Yields cratered following the announcement while stock market futures rose sharply.

The benchmark 10-year note fell 6 basis points to 4.647% and the 30-year “long” bond tumbled 9 basis point to 5.196%. A basis point equals 0.01%. Yields and prices move in opposite directions.

The change will start Sept. 9 and stay in effect through Nov. 4.

“This increase in buyback operation sizes reflects Treasury’s desire to provide greater liquidity support in longer-dated nominal sectors where there is consistent strong sponsorship from market participants, as evidenced by the significant volume of high-quality offers Treasury routinely receives in longer-dated buyback operations,” the department said in a statement.

At its core, the move means that Treasury will be a larger buyer of older, longer-duration debt, providing liquidity to a part of the market that historically has shown strong demand.

The stepped-up operation “can help crowd in potential buyers tempted by the prior run-up in yields and force some near-term short-covering, while discouraging investors from going max short in the future for fear of being ambushed again,” Krishna Guha, head of global policy and central bank strategy at Evercore ISI, said in a client note.

“But the operation changes almost nothing in terms of the fundamentals in particular the unchanged need to finance the tidal wave of hyperscaler debt in addition to very large government deficits,” he added.

Moreover, the attempt to keep yields in check could end up making the Federal Reserve’s job of getting inflation back to 2% more difficult, said RSM’s chief economist, Joe Brusuelas. Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh has expressed a preference in the open market determining rates, and a move such as the one Treasury announced could artificially suppress yields and make inflation control more difficult.

“Bessent is a political actor. His interest is purely short term and is organized around the upcoming election and not a return to price stability,” Brusuelas wrote.

Economist Mohamed El-Erian wrote on X that the planned purchases are “small in both absolute terms and relative to net issuance” and more about “a broader deployment of ‘yield curve control.’”

In the most recent run-up in yields, market experts have pointed to various factors, including a higher term premium for holding government debt — essentially the extra yield that investors demand — as well as a changing profile of the Treasury buyer base. In addition, they cited increased supply of corporate debt, specifically related to artificial intelligence.

Wednesday’s announcement signals that Treasury is attentive to the liquidity issues at the longer end and is willing to be a more active participant.

“This is NOT a debt paydown, it is just a rearrangement of the maturity schedule of Treasuries,” wrote Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at One Point BFG Wealth Partners.

Drawing Contrasts

Mind you, I've never been a Biden fan. There's just too much about the guy that rubs me the wrong way.

That said, he's a good and decent man - capable and competent - and I have to give him props where it's due.

Here's one:

He took a 10-hour train trip across a country at war, and entered Kyiv when it was under almost daily missile attack. Then he took that same train 10 hours back, and he did all that without benefit of air cover, or a Special Ops unit to look after him.

So he's not my favorite hero, but at least he didn't hide in a fucking beverage cart, leaving dozens of press and crew and staffers to serve as decoys while he tucked tail and ran.

Fuck that Trump guy.

It's Jesus?

Christina