Venal Brains Cooking
Filed Under Bullshit, Politics, Technology | Leave a Comment
Most scientists identify as Democrats (55 percent), while 32 percent identify as independents and just 6 percent say they are Republicans.
– Pew Research, July 2009
Reality conception doesn’t require the brains of a rocket scientist, but one does need some kind of brain, and maybe a brain that’s not so flat.
Take Mitt Romney (please!), who carries an impressive foreign policy brain trust, but still lacks walking-around sense.
“Romney’s team is almost too broad, it’s soulless,” worried one GOP foreign policy expert who has informally advised the Romney campaign.
“You don’t know what direction he would go and some conservatives are worried it could be analysis paralysis.”
Before any paralysis, there’s gotta be some emotional feelings.
(Illustration found here).
A couple of weeks ago, Herman Cain blew off an interview with the Manchester (New Hampshire) Union Leader due to the fact the talk would also be on video — a real bad piece of equipment for Cain after the Libya incident — and his campaign had installed a new rule: No video cameras in newspaper interviews.
And why? Because “videos are typically used for television, and it’s a newspaper.”
The Union Leader responded in a blistering editorial, the final graph the kicker:
Videos these days are used by everyone, even random people on the street who record candidates with their cell phones.
The difference between television and newspaper interviews is not that cameras are present, but that newspaper interviews tend to be longer and more in depth.
The Cain campaign knows this.
It seems that Cain is fine with everyone seeing him give short, prepared answers, but not with everyone seeing him try to answer questions in which he has more than 30 or 60 seconds to respond.
He would do well to rethink that decision, for it gives the impression that he’s got something to hide.
No shit, sherlock.
Herman has a major, and disgusting, problem with women.
However, the much, way-much-bigger problem is that US politics sucks through a small straw.
Nearly 70 percent of US peoples consider the current Congressional operation the worse in 60 years — a “do-nothing Congress,” as scripted by Harry Truman in 1948 (via CNN).
The failure of the so-called “Super Committee” is a case in point — a do nothing due to the (t)he nastiness of the proposed cuts and the huge, huge ass-holeness of the GOP.
A most-excellent post yesterday at The Bonddad Blog reported the US could get going again if a lot of shit is put aside, with an emphasis on putting people back to work, pointedly on this country’s embarassing infrastructure.
The problem? Too much bullshit:
So what’s the problem?
Why is our system so fundamentally stuck?
Partly it’s a colossal, bipartisan lack of the political courage required to tell people what they sort of know but don’t want to hear.
Partly it’s a Republican Party that, for its own cynical reasons, wants no deal with this president. Partly it’s moneyed, focused lobbies that swarm in defense of specific advantages written into the law; there is no comparable lobby for compromise, let alone sacrifice.
…
The point to the above two paragraphs is simple: our political system is beyond broken and dysfunctional. I’m not quite sure where that is, but I do know it’s really bad place to be.
And that is why watching the train-wreck that is the daily news is so frustrating: solving the problem is easy, but our political system has become so dysfunctional as to prevent that from happening.
Brains infested with dry rot won’t work — the US is in a world of hurt.
Pump It Up!
Filed Under Cloud gazing, Economy, Energy, Environment | Leave a Comment
Yesterday, I put another $20 worth of gas in the old Jeep — and, lo and behold — the price of a gallon of regular has dropped four cents to $3.95 in just two weeks.
After seemingly being stuck at $3.99 a gallon for months, it was odd to see a difference in the numbers.
Prices are down in California and the rest of the US, but way-higher than last year.
From the LA Times: The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in California today is $3.710, according to AAA. Prices in California have fallen by 13.1 cents a gallon over the last month, but a gallon of gasoline cost only $3.164 on the same day last year. The current price is also 29.5 cents a gallon higher than the old record for this day, which was set in 2007.
National average is down 5.6 cents over the last month to $3.295 a gallon, although just one year ago at this date the price was at $2.86 a gallon — still nearly 20 cents higher than the old record.
(Illustration found here).
Beer prices at my store carries a similar characteristic as gas at the pump — the cost goes up by a dime one week, drops a nickel the next, providing a happy incentive to the buyer for the moment, seemingly unaware total price has gone up a quarter the past month.
Way up, a little down, up again, then down a little less — a process which eliminates price shock.
Oil itself is also getting banged around.
From liveoilprices: In London, Brent crude oil futures for January 2012 delivery was trading at $109.01, 08.30 GMT this morning on the ICE Futures Exchange.
And WTI: US Light crude oil futures for January 2012 delivery was trading at $97.79 a barrel, 08.15 GMT this morning in electronic trading on the NYMEX.
Prices are choppy due to the horror of the 17-nation Eurozone blow-out, which forecasters seem to think will lead to a break-up of the confederation, and eventually-quickly to a break-up of whatever kind of global economy the world is experiencing right now — investors continue to shun European government bonds, driving interest rates up and thereby digging a deeper hole for countries that need to refinance debt.
The US is hiding, or just too scared to come out and play.
In deflecting the shit across the pond, the US received a temporary/smoke-screen-bounce for the economy from Black Friday/Cyber Monday, which pumped up retailers for the upcoming big-spending holiday season.
Reportedly, last Friday was the largest single-day sales in US retail history — Overall, Black Friday 2011 sales set records, pulling in $52.4 billion, according to figures from the National Retail Foundation.
And yesterday, a record again with nearly $1.2 billion (yes, that’s billion) spent on Internet buying — nearly half-a-billion dollars more than last year.
Despite overall records for the weekend, which now includes Thanksgiving, (was) up 16 percent from $45 billion last year, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation, the money may not be there for the next month.
From CNN Money:
“Black Friday is only one piece of the puzzle,” noted NRF spokeswoman Ellen Davis.
“You could have the best Black Friday in the world but the rest of the season wouldn’t match up and that’s what happened in 2008.”
Typically, sales over Black Friday weekend comprise 10 percent of total holiday sales.
But, in 2008, experts believe many consumers rushed out during Black Friday weekend to take advantage of the best bargains then hunkered down for the rest of the season.
“A lot of people went out as a result of desperation because they knew the deals were really good,” Davis said.
“In some ways, the economic environment is very similar to 2008 but shoppers are acting very differently.”
The difference is in cash on hand:
“The strong holiday sales figures thus far underscores how bargain conscious American consumers still are and it doesn’t guarantee those strong results will hold over the next several weeks,” said Greg McBride, Bankrate’s senior financial analyst.
“Consumers are still worried about their savings, job security, debt and net worth,” he said.
All ingredients for staying alive.
And all this could be just another wad of bullshit — Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture says: If it’s the Monday after Black Friday, then its national hype the fabricated data day!
In other words, all that information in the above might be just inflation of results.
And Ritholtz, who’s one of the better dudes putting financial shit together, even goes so far as to wager a bet:
Here is my challenge to the CEOs of the National Retail Federation and ShopperTrak: $1,000 to the charity of the winners choice that your forecasts for Black Friday, the Thanksgiving weekend and the entire holiday shopping season are wildly off.
I bet you your forecasts miss the mark by at least 10 percent-20 percent (though I believe its closer to 40-50 percent).
Pump it up, then pump it down, shake the facts all around.
Monday Mourning
Filed Under Cloud gazing, history, Orwellian, Politics | Leave a Comment
Another thin-skinned GOP asshole caught being an asshole — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback got his panties in a bind when a high school student Tweeted that the good governor, “#heblowsalot:”
Emma Sullivan, 18, was hauled into her principal’s office and ordered to write letters of apology after one of Governor Sam Brownback’s office contacted the tour organizer to complain about the offending note on the social networking site Twitter.
Ms Sullivan, however, will not backtrack, saying she isn’t sorry and doesn’t think such a letter would be sincere.
And her mother agrees: I raised my kids to be independent, to be strong, to be free thinkers. If she wants to tweet her opinion about Gov. Brownback, I say for her to go for it and I stand totally behind her.”
(Illustration found here).
Reportedly, young Emma had disagreed with Brownback’s veto of the Kansas Arts Commission’s entire budget, making it the only state in the nation to eliminate arts funding — join the crowd, Emma.
“I think it would be interesting to have a dialogue with him,” she said.
“I don’t know if he would do it or not though.
And I don’t know that he would listen to what I have to say.”
And Emma is most-perceptive about the two-faced GOP — Think Progress reports Brownback’s baby-like over-reaction caused Emma’s high school to violate her First Amendment rights: Moreover, because the school district violated Sullivan’s clearly established federal constitutional rights, she is likely entitled to have the district or the principal pay her attorney’s fees if she decides to bring a lawsuit challenging this unconstitutional disciplinary action. In other words, the district could be wise to settle this case immediately if Sullivan decides to bring them to court.
Republicans don’t seem to care about the US Constitution, the rule of law or even for the general welfare of US peoples — the GOP is most-likely the most anti-American group in existence today.
And maybe, too, anti-life-as-we-know-it.
The biggest catch for action on climate change comes from the right-sided GOP, even as COP17 starts today in South Africa.
From Agence France-Presse via Raw Story:
When lawmakers cannot agree that climate change is a problem for which solutions must be sought, gridlock ensues, according to Democratic lawmaker Henry Waxman.
“During this Congress, the Republican-controlled House has voted 21 times to block actions to address climate change,” he said at a hearing this month.
“History will look back on this science denial with profound regret.”
Henry, it’s a profound regret right this freakin’ now.
And even right-wingers know it — Norm Ornstein, a congressional scholar with the American Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning think tank, says the GOP needs to get a good beating: “The best way to reach a deal for Obama is to pull out the partisan cudgel and slam them between the eyes repeatedly,” says Ornstein. “They’ll only come to the table if their political brand is damaged. They’re not coming for the good of the country.”
The dollar, they’re coming for the dollar.
One must also keep in mind the kind of country the US is today, thanks to Republicans with aid from spineless, chickenshit Democrats.
From Peter Van Buren at Tomdispatch yesterday:
As the occupiers of Zuccotti Park, like those pepper-sprayed at UC Davis or the Marine veteran shot in Oakland, recently found out, the government’s ability to limit free speech, to stopper the First Amendment, to undercut the right to peaceably assemble and petition for redress of grievances, is perhaps the most critical issue our republic can face.
If you were to write the history of the last decade in Washington, it might well be a story of how, issue by issue, the government freed itself from legal and constitutional bounds when it came to torture, the assassination of U.S. citizens, the holding of prisoners without trial or access to a court of law, the illegal surveillance of American citizens, and so on.
In the process, it has entrenched itself in a comfortable shadowland of ever more impenetrable secrecy, while going after any whistleblower who might shine a light in.
Read the whole post, it gets even more shitty.
Anything the GOP does should be scorned and pushed way-aside, or else the mourning will be in earnest.
‘Toxic’ Climate-mess
Filed Under Cloud gazing, Environment, Madness | Leave a Comment
COP17 — the latest UN climate summit opens on Monday in Durban, South Africa, and what’s the action status to combat the way-greatest, quickly-coming threat to humanity?
“They’re on the edge of a mess,” one experienced delegate told BBC News, “and they may not be able to resolve this mess.”
The above-mentioned ‘mess‘ is a deep divide between the greedy and the near-dying, with the good-old US of A counted amongst the greedy.
Despite the obvious oncoming terror of climate change, this COP17 (the 17th Conference of Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change) is another example of horrid political bias killing us all — those whining for longer time-frames for any kind of climate agreements are Russia and Japan, Brazil and India (Brazil claims the next few years should be a “reflection phase,” while India, a “technical/scientific period”).
And America:
The US remains the fly in the ointment and will not ratify the Kyoto Protocol or agree to legally binding cuts at this stage.
Not only have several attempts by President Barack Obama to push through the required national climate change legislation failed, but the presidential race for the next term of office has started in earnest — and some Republican candidates don’t even accept the reality of climate change.
WTF!
Time is of the essence for action, for most-sure, not a complete-dumb-ass ‘reflection phrase.’
And could the GOP might ultimately be blamed for destroying mankind — Whoa!
Climate change effects/affects everyone.
And even in the US, the fly in a toxic ointment.
A potentially-devastating environmental mystery is unfolding close to home here in northern California — last summer, just south of where I live, previously unknown blooms of toxic algae killed tens of thousands of abalone, sea urchins and other mollusks in Sonoma and Mendocino counties.
An incident which sparked near-immediate action: A group of scientists led by led by UC Santa Cruz was formed to figure out what the shit’s happening, not only for California waters, but maybe along the US Gulf coast as well.
A toxic water bloom is even affecting Lake Erie fish — disastrous results off climate change are multi-faceted, from ocean acidification, to sea level rise, to “extreme weather events,” or to minor shit like worsening allergies, and leading even to mass extinctions, maybe including wise-ass humans.
(Illustration of Agardhiella tenera ‘red algae’ found here).
So an investigation into that toxic algae could help other concerned areas of climate change — the UC Santa Cruz research will employ not only the most-advanced technological ocean-measuring devices and equipment, but will also use robotic gliders.
The five-study is on a problem that’s both dangerous and disturbingly apparent.
From the San Francisco Chronicle this morning on the proliferation of this entity that’s toxic to both humans and marine mammals:
“It is a huge problem for wildlife,” said Raphael Kudela, a professor of ocean sciences at UC Santa Cruz and the lead scientist for the study, which began last week.
“We’ve seen a lot more of what we consider unusual events.
It’s not always the same organism, but new things keep cropping up.
The million-dollar question is: What exactly is the change in the environment that these things are linked to?”
Not only can this stuff kill marine life, but can put a hurt on a human: People can contract amnesic shellfish poisoning, which causes nausea, vomiting, dizziness and, in severe cases, disorientation, seizures, coma and even death.
And in the natural process nowadays, climate change way-most-likely plays a part:
“We can’t say for sure that it is tied to something like climate change,” Kudela said, “but it does seem to be spreading globally, so something is changing, and we are trying to find out what that is.”
Alarms going off anywhere?
Despite the fact this story deserves A1 attention, the online version notes it originally appeared on C1 of the Chronicle.
The US involvement in tomorrow’s start to COP17 — no one in authority is going, in fact, the conference is way down on the list of shit to do.
Via Climate Progress:
“It’s awful to say, but I haven’t focused on them at all because first of all we’ve hit a wall here for now on climate change,” said Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), adding that Congress’ focus is now on debt and economic issues.
International climate issues are “basically happening through the administration now,” he said, “although I think Congress has to stay involved.”
Waxman, who sponsored a cap-and-trade bill that cleared the House in 2009, said he “hoped for the best” from Durban.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I haven’t thought about it.”
“It hasn’t been brought to my attention,” said Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).
Asked whether she planned to go, Boxer said she could not.
“I’m too busy here,” she said.
However, it might be a good thing Republicans aren’t going — keep the assholes from making bigger assholes of themselves.
Or make a much-bigger mess.
The Day After Thursday — ‘Rapid Crowd Movement’
Filed Under Finance, Madness, Media | Leave a Comment
From the police playbook of mob control:
A woman shot pepper spray to keep shoppers from merchandise she wanted during a Black Friday sale, and 20 people suffered minor injuries, authorities said.
…
Fire department spokesman Shawn Lenske said the injuries to least 10 of them were due to “rapid crowd movement.”
And the pepper-sprayer got away — police were still looking for the woman.
(Illustration found here).
Despite all the pushing, shoving and pepper spraying, The National Retail Federation, an industry trade group, forecast a 2.8 percent increase in sales this holiday season, though, down from the 5.2 percent last year.
The big sales, however, just ain’t there: In a research note on Tuesday, Wells Fargo economist Mark Vitner said: “Bargain hunters may have a tougher time finding those markdowns this year, as retailers are keeping a sharper eye on profit margins.”
So that pepper spray really won’t do you any real good.
Reportedly, shoppers will be cautious today, and onto into (shudder!) Christmas.
According to Accenture, a global consulting firm, 72 percent of US consumers plan “careful” or “controlled” holiday spending with 88 percent spending the same or less than last year, but that flies in the face of a supposedly 19 percent of customers this year compared with 14 percent last year, who plan to spend $750 or more.
One idea for this ugly, Black Friday, is don’t spend.
Lindsay Curren, editor at Transition Voice, recommends doing a whole lot of different shit today, but also to celebrate Buy Nothing Day:
But the best part of Buy Nothing Day may not even be the sticking it to The Man part.
It really may be the profound relief of taking the day off from any and all forms of consumer interaction. If I go out, it’s for a walk.
I don’t drive, because that “spends” gas.
I don’t see movies, because even though we have a locally owned cinema three blocks from my house, it’s just the day I choose not to go.
Instead we keep our lights low and kick back for good reads, family games, a little outdoors time, and yummy Thanksgiving leftovers.
Buy Nothing Day has turned into my Thanksgiving bonus day — no cooking, just hanging and relaxing.
I believe if you try it, you’ll like it.
For me, the best path to success is planning to use Buy Nothing Day for ease and reflection.
Make sure you’ve got enough food on hand, some good stuff to read, and ideas for filling those glorious unstructured hours.
Talking to your family members can be so cool!
Or try throwing an old fashioned family theatrical.
Play charades!
Make cards!
Look at old family photos.
I don’t think you’ll miss the low, low prices at all.
And it’s just a small step from there to looking at what else you can give up in this frenzied culture to buy yourself some peace of mind and time instead.
If you do go shopping today, don’t forget the anti-pepper-spray solvent.