...is full of piss and vinegar. Fuck you, NSA.
Wednesday, August 07, 2013
The KrugMan Speaks
Another Bad Story Bites The Dust
One of the remarkable things about the ongoing economic crisis is the endless search for explanations of something that’s actually quite simple — the sluggish pace of recovery. You have a large overhang of private debt; you have a still-depressed housing sector; and you have contractionary fiscal policy. Add to this the well-established fact that recovery tends to be slow after recessions caused not by tight money but by private-sector overreach, and there’s just no mystery that needs explaining.
Yet we’ve seen an endless series of analyses declaring that there is indeed a deep mystery, and it must be Obama’s Fault. Probably the most influential of these analyses was the claim that Obama was creating “uncertainty”, and this was holding everything back.
Larry Mishel did a thorough debunking of this meme almost two years ago. And sure enough, the index of uncertainty that everyone was pointing to has plunged, with no visible boost to the economy.
Will anyone who bought into this story engage in some serious self-analysis? Why am I even asking?
That last line is the dominant theme of our current dysfunction, and I'm trying hard not to think we can just slap some sense into people.
Tuesday, August 06, 2013
Groundswell
David Corn talking about the Wingnuts planning to take over the whole joint.
It's a bit less scary when we learn more about it.
But something that stays a little scary for me is that "the messaging" effort (ie: Corn's point about the apparent collusion between GOP and "The Press") is pretty solid simply because we've grown accustomed to the false assertion of a "librul bias in the media". How long have 'Conservatives' have been bitchin' about that one? The frame's been in place for a long time, so we're ready to accept this development as just another example of Both Sides Do It.
So here's the pitch: "the media's been lying to us all along - we all know that. We're breaking away from 'the establishment' and we're gonna tell the real truth about what the government doesn't want you to know...blah blah blah."
Another weird development is that DumFux News is starting to become identified (by some) as not being Pure Right enough.
The glimmer of hope is that these new revolutionaries can be recognized as being different from the old ones only in the extreme levels of their hunger for power. And the exceedingly dangerous deliciousness is that Ginny Thomas and Ted Cruz and Alan West make up the monster of the Republican id. Created for a political purpose, the monster now turns to destroy its creators.
Here's to keeping the collateral damage to a minimum.
One more random connect-the-dots wondering: how does Jeff Bezos buying WaPo figure into any of this?
hat tip = Little Green Footballs
It's a bit less scary when we learn more about it.
But something that stays a little scary for me is that "the messaging" effort (ie: Corn's point about the apparent collusion between GOP and "The Press") is pretty solid simply because we've grown accustomed to the false assertion of a "librul bias in the media". How long have 'Conservatives' have been bitchin' about that one? The frame's been in place for a long time, so we're ready to accept this development as just another example of Both Sides Do It.
So here's the pitch: "the media's been lying to us all along - we all know that. We're breaking away from 'the establishment' and we're gonna tell the real truth about what the government doesn't want you to know...blah blah blah."
Another weird development is that DumFux News is starting to become identified (by some) as not being Pure Right enough.
The glimmer of hope is that these new revolutionaries can be recognized as being different from the old ones only in the extreme levels of their hunger for power. And the exceedingly dangerous deliciousness is that Ginny Thomas and Ted Cruz and Alan West make up the monster of the Republican id. Created for a political purpose, the monster now turns to destroy its creators.
Here's to keeping the collateral damage to a minimum.
One more random connect-the-dots wondering: how does Jeff Bezos buying WaPo figure into any of this?
hat tip = Little Green Footballs
If It's Tuesday
...it must be time for me to say, "Fuck you, NSA" - and also we should prob'ly figure out how to co-opt something.
So here it is:
I ♥ Capitalism.
So here it is:
That's a t-shirt you can buy at a joint called Red Bubble
I ♥ Capitalism.
Monday, August 05, 2013
Feelin' It
White Privilege - pretty much the king of all redundancies.
Hayes works for a company owned by a company owned in turn by a company that's being run by a lot a people who aren't voting for many Democrats - not the librul Dems anyway - but still sometimes he dances dangerously close to the point where he almost but not quite says there's an awful buncha bullshit about the way we're doin' things here.
Props when they're due tho'. Nicely done, Chris.
Hayes works for a company owned by a company owned in turn by a company that's being run by a lot a people who aren't voting for many Democrats - not the librul Dems anyway - but still sometimes he dances dangerously close to the point where he almost but not quite says there's an awful buncha bullshit about the way we're doin' things here.
Props when they're due tho'. Nicely done, Chris.
Sunday, August 04, 2013
A Little Serious Mumbo Jumbo
I think somebody needs to do another Jefferson on the bible - that joint's in dire need of an update cuz y'know what? (and this comes as no big surprise) when smart people take a slightly different look at it, sometimes they find a tiny inkling of truth that's managed to leak its way down thru the centuries while they trim away all the suck-up crap and the self-congratulational/flegellational junk.
Anyway, this is from The Book of Habakkuk, chap 2 - which ends up kinda just sounding like, "don't worry so much - what goes around comes around".
Here's the setup: this Habakkuk guy sees that the people with all the power get to keep doing whatever they wanna do, and they never get called on anything, and so his whole world's pretty fucked up, and of course, he's pissed at god because of it(?) and so he lodges a complaint with god somehow(?) - I dunno, but apparently, god made it far enough thru his inbox that day, and this is how he answered Habakkuk.
Not sure what any o' dat has to do with god actually - I guess I was just kinda going for the Authority Confirmation. Maybe it carries a little more weight with 'conservatives' if they hear it from "their book"(?) Prob'ly not - I dunno - worth a shot?
Anyway, this is from The Book of Habakkuk, chap 2 - which ends up kinda just sounding like, "don't worry so much - what goes around comes around".
Here's the setup: this Habakkuk guy sees that the people with all the power get to keep doing whatever they wanna do, and they never get called on anything, and so his whole world's pretty fucked up, and of course, he's pissed at god because of it(?) and so he lodges a complaint with god somehow(?) - I dunno, but apparently, god made it far enough thru his inbox that day, and this is how he answered Habakkuk.
6 “But soon their captives will taunt them.
They will mock them, saying,
‘What sorrow awaits you thieves!
Now you will get what you deserve!
You’ve become rich by extortion,
but how much longer can this go on?’
7 Suddenly, your debtors will take action.
They will turn on you and take all you have,
while you stand trembling and helpless.
8 Because you have plundered many nations,
now all the survivors will plunder you.
You committed murder throughout the countryside
and filled the towns with violence.
They will mock them, saying,
‘What sorrow awaits you thieves!
Now you will get what you deserve!
You’ve become rich by extortion,
but how much longer can this go on?’
7 Suddenly, your debtors will take action.
They will turn on you and take all you have,
while you stand trembling and helpless.
8 Because you have plundered many nations,
now all the survivors will plunder you.
You committed murder throughout the countryside
and filled the towns with violence.
9 “What sorrow awaits you who build big houses
with money gained dishonestly!
You believe your wealth will buy security,
putting your family’s nest beyond the reach of danger.
10 But by the murders you committed,
you have shamed your name and forfeited your lives.
11 The very stones in the walls cry out against you,
and the beams in the ceilings echo the complaint.
with money gained dishonestly!
You believe your wealth will buy security,
putting your family’s nest beyond the reach of danger.
10 But by the murders you committed,
you have shamed your name and forfeited your lives.
11 The very stones in the walls cry out against you,
and the beams in the ceilings echo the complaint.
12 “What sorrow awaits you who build cities
with money gained through murder and corruption!
13 Has not the Lord of Heaven’s Armies promised
that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes?
They work so hard,
but all in vain!
14 For as the waters fill the sea,
the earth will be filled with an awareness
of the glory of the Lord.
with money gained through murder and corruption!
13 Has not the Lord of Heaven’s Armies promised
that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes?
They work so hard,
but all in vain!
14 For as the waters fill the sea,
the earth will be filled with an awareness
of the glory of the Lord.
15 “What sorrow awaits you who make your neighbors drunk!
You force your cup on them
so you can gloat over their shameful nakedness.
16 But soon it will be your turn to be disgraced.
Come, drink and be exposed![e]
Drink from the cup of the Lord’s judgment,
and all your glory will be turned to shame.
17 You cut down the forests of Lebanon.
Now you will be cut down.
You destroyed the wild animals,
so now their terror will be yours.
You committed murder throughout the countryside
and filled the towns with violence.
You force your cup on them
so you can gloat over their shameful nakedness.
16 But soon it will be your turn to be disgraced.
Come, drink and be exposed![e]
Drink from the cup of the Lord’s judgment,
and all your glory will be turned to shame.
17 You cut down the forests of Lebanon.
Now you will be cut down.
You destroyed the wild animals,
so now their terror will be yours.
You committed murder throughout the countryside
and filled the towns with violence.
hat tip = The Professional Left podcast
Saturday, August 03, 2013
Welcome To The Jungle
There was a "decent" jobs report that came out a day or two ago, and it indicated a bit of drop in the unemployment rate and some other fairly OK stuff, but the thing I remember most is that the majority of the 162,000 new jobs were Part-Time. Yay us.
47% of American adults don't have a Full-Time job.
That ain't good, but hey - it gets worse.
47% of American adults don't have a Full-Time job.
That ain't good, but hey - it gets worse.
A Little Light Reading
Aha - suckered you into a post about science.
From The Verge:
Now I suppose I need to ask all you 'conservatives' to stay calm and try not to get too frightened by all this. I realize you guys can take just about anything and turn it into a massively spooky conspiracy aimed at contaminating our precious bodily fluids or some such nonsense, but really, you don't have to feel threatened by every fuckin' thing that comes around the corner.
And BTW - how come this is the kinda thing that gets done in Germany, and not here in USAmerica? This wasn't a "pure science" thing - it's happening because there's an application in mind - but this is exactly what we need to be funding in some pretty big ways. If we just kinda let the smarts guys do what they do, maybe we could find a really great use for the ability to store light that doesn't have to be about blowing shit up or knocking shit down. Could we at least try that for a while?
From The Verge:
Beams of light are usually speeding along at around 186,000 miles per second, but for one minute, researchers in Germany brought some to a screeching halt. Using a crystal frozen to temperatures below negative 450 degrees Fahrenheit, a research team managed to hold light in place for a full minute — marking a drastic increase from the previous record of just 16 seconds. The technology will eventually be applied to quantum computing as a way to retrieve and read data, but it'll have to work on a much smaller scale and for much longer periods of time before that can happen.And here's a Peer-Review paper for any uber-nerds who happen by.
Now I suppose I need to ask all you 'conservatives' to stay calm and try not to get too frightened by all this. I realize you guys can take just about anything and turn it into a massively spooky conspiracy aimed at contaminating our precious bodily fluids or some such nonsense, but really, you don't have to feel threatened by every fuckin' thing that comes around the corner.
And BTW - how come this is the kinda thing that gets done in Germany, and not here in USAmerica? This wasn't a "pure science" thing - it's happening because there's an application in mind - but this is exactly what we need to be funding in some pretty big ways. If we just kinda let the smarts guys do what they do, maybe we could find a really great use for the ability to store light that doesn't have to be about blowing shit up or knocking shit down. Could we at least try that for a while?
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