Not surprising, but scientists have found evidence that young people suffer withdrawal effects when their cellphones are taken away.
Ya think?
In other news, scientists have found evidence that heroin users react when their heroin is taken away.
Friday, April 8, 2011
The Politics of Fear & Division, Part 12
Nothing new, but I thought that the current budget battle would be a good background for pointing out the fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) sown by "progressive" politicians. It's just louder and more rhetorical now.
Speaker Reid reminds us that the Tea Party is driving the Republicans to cut the budget, causing them to be "extreme" and "radical."
Jesse Jackson weighed in on how budget cuts are like the Civil War.
Eleanor Holmes Norton says it's the same as "bombing innocent civilians" to shut down the government.
We've already heard how 70,000 children will die if we cut offshore aid funding, so none of this should be surprising I guess.
The best one so far: families won't get their $100,000 death benefit from fallen soldiers if the government closes. Wow, just wow.
Science will have to shut down. "Time sensitive clinical research" translates to who knows what.
A shutdown will keep the shuttle Endeavor grounded.
Jerry Brown reiterates that we're in a Civil War. I guess they didn't teach history when he was in school, either.
UPDATE: Thank goodness for Customs agents. Without them we might have more exotic insects from other countries. What would we DO without Customs Agents? Hey, let's get some more! I wish they were more concerned about ALL of the parasites out there.
The politics of fear and the politics of division are alive and well, and being fed by the media in this country. Please, please consider this when you decide which group of political types represent you best.
Speaker Reid reminds us that the Tea Party is driving the Republicans to cut the budget, causing them to be "extreme" and "radical."
Jesse Jackson weighed in on how budget cuts are like the Civil War.
Eleanor Holmes Norton says it's the same as "bombing innocent civilians" to shut down the government.
We've already heard how 70,000 children will die if we cut offshore aid funding, so none of this should be surprising I guess.
The best one so far: families won't get their $100,000 death benefit from fallen soldiers if the government closes. Wow, just wow.
Science will have to shut down. "Time sensitive clinical research" translates to who knows what.
A shutdown will keep the shuttle Endeavor grounded.
Jerry Brown reiterates that we're in a Civil War. I guess they didn't teach history when he was in school, either.
UPDATE: Thank goodness for Customs agents. Without them we might have more exotic insects from other countries. What would we DO without Customs Agents? Hey, let's get some more! I wish they were more concerned about ALL of the parasites out there.
The politics of fear and the politics of division are alive and well, and being fed by the media in this country. Please, please consider this when you decide which group of political types represent you best.
The nature of regulatory law
Reports that 6 pages of the new health care law ends up generating over 400 pages of HHS regulations. That's not uncommon - the Federal Reserve has ended up with similar in the past. But it shows the difference between legislation and regulation, and that's an important thing to understand in banking.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Private money is illegal. In other words, no competition.
I've been following with interest the case of a guy who looks to be one of those scary militia types. He tried to get away with minting his own dollars. Feds say he tried to pass them off as US coins, they call him a "domestic terrorist."
I don't know the background of this guy, but the fact that the coins came from Coeur D'Alene Idaho sounds fishy. Lots of Nazis and bad white guys up there.
However, there shouldn't be anything wrong with printing an alternative money. ESPECIALLY if people could find out the silver or gold content of that money easily. It really makes the government look paranoid to spend so much time and money prosecuting someone for making barter currency.
I don't know the background of this guy, but the fact that the coins came from Coeur D'Alene Idaho sounds fishy. Lots of Nazis and bad white guys up there.
However, there shouldn't be anything wrong with printing an alternative money. ESPECIALLY if people could find out the silver or gold content of that money easily. It really makes the government look paranoid to spend so much time and money prosecuting someone for making barter currency.
Friday, April 1, 2011
GM wasn't really a success
The Washington Times today details the totality of losses that happened across the General Motors bailout-bankruptcy-rebirth episode starting in 2008.
As I've said here before, losing $84 Billion isn't "winning." Cheating bondholders out of their money can't be "winning."
As I've said here before, losing $84 Billion isn't "winning." Cheating bondholders out of their money can't be "winning."
Freddie, Fannie bosses got big bonuses, taxpayers sucked wind
You know I'm all about paying someone what they're worth. Labor should be allocated through markets, at market prices.
I'm not so sure, though, that we've heard enough from politicians and mainstream media about executive compensation at Freddie and Fannie. Turns out that even in the midst of a government bailout, these folks were taking bonuses for performance. What performance?
They deserved those bonuses, folks. Really. Because their job, as given to them by HUD and Congress, was to lend to subprime borrowers. And they did so. Wonderfully.
I'm going to stop short of saying that their job was to bankrupt the American economy in favor of wealth redistribution. That would be too cynical.
I'm not so sure, though, that we've heard enough from politicians and mainstream media about executive compensation at Freddie and Fannie. Turns out that even in the midst of a government bailout, these folks were taking bonuses for performance. What performance?
They deserved those bonuses, folks. Really. Because their job, as given to them by HUD and Congress, was to lend to subprime borrowers. And they did so. Wonderfully.
I'm going to stop short of saying that their job was to bankrupt the American economy in favor of wealth redistribution. That would be too cynical.
Most Fed loans during crisis went to foreign banks: Bloomberg
It's hard to believe, but the Federal Reserve's special loan programs were heavily trafficked by foreign banks during the recent crisis. Who knew?
Well, as I've posted before, nobody knew b/c the Fed doesn't release records of which banks it helps. Which is done to prevent the market from collapsing those banks during a liquidity crisis.
I guess that rules got to change now too. Some reforms have already been made, but you can bet that Congress will be looking to change some parts of DIDMCA to make that nearly impossible in the future.
Well, as I've posted before, nobody knew b/c the Fed doesn't release records of which banks it helps. Which is done to prevent the market from collapsing those banks during a liquidity crisis.
I guess that rules got to change now too. Some reforms have already been made, but you can bet that Congress will be looking to change some parts of DIDMCA to make that nearly impossible in the future.
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