Well it rained all day today in London so I'm using our 12 mbps connection to good use.....
1/ Taking on China
Paul Krugman praises our Congress for doing something right!!! Wow.
The House passed a bill that allows economic sanctions against China. But of course the oligarchs don't want anything done about China as they are all making too much money from having shipped expensive American jobs over there to be done by cheap Chinese labour......so good on 'ya Congress, you have accidentally done a good thing......
Serious people were appalled by Wednesday’s vote in the House of Representatives, where a huge bipartisan majority approved legislation, sponsored by Representative Sander Levin, that would potentially pave the way for sanctions against China over its currency policy. As a substantive matter, the bill was very mild; nonetheless, there were dire warnings of trade war and global economic disruption. Better, said respectable opinion, to pursue quiet diplomacy.
2/ Foreclosures and you
Interesting story which may have unintended consequences. GMAC and Chase have suspended foreclosures because they are in legal trouble as they can't prove they have title to the houses they are kicking people out of.
OK, but think about it - if you are in a house, under water, you have even more incentive to stop paying your mortgage......according to the story you will have 400+ days before foreclosure, and maybe even more if you hire a lawyer and they may possibly never get you out.....hmm...
Evictions are expected to slow sharply, housing analysts said, as state and national law enforcement officials shine a light on questionable foreclosure methods revealed by two of the country’s biggest home lenders in the last two weeks.
Even lenders with no known problems are expected to approach defaulting homeowners more cautiously and look more aggressively for resolutions short of outright eviction.
Despite the turmoil, some economists said the breakdown could ultimately lay the groundwork for a real estate recovery.
Stricken neighborhoods across the country, for example, could benefit. One big factor undermining home sales is fear of a large number of foreclosed homes coming to the market. If the foreclosures are delayed or never happen, housing prices might find a floor.
3/ Saturday Night Live started their new season with a hilarious parody of an interview with Christine O'Donnell and the RNC....all you ever needed to know about masturbation.....very very funny.......
Saturday Night Live started off their season premiere with having a bit of fun at Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell's expense and her remarks on witchcraft and masturbation.
4/ Religion
Do you appreciate irony? Well here's one for you - atheists, agnostics and Jews do better on religious tests than most Christians.....
The irony is in the first line of the article....
Americans are by all measures a deeply religious people, but they are also deeply ignorant about religion. Researchers from the independent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life phoned more than 3,400 Americans and asked them 32 questions aboutthe Bible, Christianity and other world religions, famous religious figures and the constitutional principles governing religion in public life.
On average, people who took the survey answered half the questions incorrectly, and many flubbed even questions about their own faith.
Those who scored the highest were atheists and agnostics, as well as two religious minorities: Jews and Mormons. The results were the same even after the researchers controlled for factors like age and racial differences.
And here's the test - click on the first story.....the test is in a box a few inches down....I got 12 out of 15 which I guess is appropriate......and how did YOU do?
5/ One of my favourite websites, they now have a book out - Mary, another Christmas present!
Does it get any better than #4? Maybe #5......
6/ Florida Politics - Amendment 4 - Vote YES
First link is to an article in the Atlantic giving the history of the amendment and taking a clear eyed look at the pros and cons.......very fair and balanced....
Why do developers continue to build homes even though there's weak buyer demand and an already bloated inventory? The local governments continue to cooperate with them, providing incentives to allow them to build, and blindly approving land use changes so they can create more excess housing and commercial space. Amendment 4 would allow Florida residents to restrain at least some of that overbuilding. It would require voter approval for land use changes. For examples, if a developer wants to convert a farm to a 50-story condominium, then voters must give the nod.
Second link is about the Koch brothers, our evil oligarchs, giving millions to the "Vote No on 4" campaign so they don't have to comply with any environmental issues. Open the story and look at the eyes on the second brother....looks like a serial killer......
Donors include the Koch Brothers, whose principal aim is to reduce environmental regulation of their polluting industries that generate billions in private profit. The Orlando Sentinel picks up the scent of Koch money in Florida: worth a read here.Libertarian law firm to challenge electioneering law
7/ Music Video - Sarah McClachlan with "I Will Remember You"....wonderful song from a dreamy, sultry singer.......excellent....
8/ Florida's Senator in a coma woke up enough to get a campaign contribution from the Koch brothers [them again], sign a letter written by a lobbyist, then back to sleep. What a waste of space Senator Bill Nelson is.....tired, old and corrupt.
Tea party time for old Bill......
He's against cleaning up Florida's water supply as are the ones who paid him, the polluting utilities and Georgia-Pacific [owned by Koch Industries]........
So....I wonder where our chums at the St. Johns Water Management District are on this issue? I'm taking bets ......."10 to 1 on" they are with Senator Scumbag.....
Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson has long portrayed himself as a friend to the ailing St. Johns River. He even made a point to visit portions of the river affected by a mysterious foam that materialized this past summer.
But on Sept. 16, Nelson appeared to side with industry, writing a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson urging a delay in finalizing the criteria that would affect the lower St. Johns, in order to allow “ample time to fully consider” public comments.
But on Sept. 16, Nelson appeared to side with industry, writing a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson urging a delay in finalizing the criteria that would affect the lower St. Johns, in order to allow “ample time to fully consider” public comments.
9/ Our crumbling infrastructure
Your trusty correspondent just had a first hand experience with how backward some of the US must seem to visitors from abroad, and not just anyone who has flown into any New York airport.
We were flying Miami - London on British Airways [using up the miles!] and so decided to take the TriRail service from Pompano Beach to Miami Airport so we didn't have to pay the extortionate parking fees at MIA. The rail service was OK - train was a little late due to the horrendous rain but everything about the service was basic - clean but shabby. Station unattended, no signage, no help.......
The 35 mile trip took an hour, and the train arrives a mile away from the airport, so we had to dash for a tiny bus through the rain [no cover] to check in at Terminal F......shabby, grody, and the only restaurant was a Burger King.
Flight was OK, and we arrived in the brand new Terminal 5 at London Heathrow, spotless, shining, marble everywhere.......by the time we cleared Immigration [5 minutes] our luggage was on the conveyor belt.....but wet through because all of the plane's bags were left in the rain in Miami. Oh well.....just Miami......
A four minute walk from Customs to the train station located under the airport, bought the tickets on the way from a young man with a hand held ticket machine, trains every 15 minutes to London's Paddington train station, with Tube and bus connections to anywhere. Train was new, comfortable and clean with TV monitors and WiFi and went about 80 mph! Cool.
I know I forward many articles about how we need to invest in our infrastructure so it was a little humbling to have this first hand experience. They have poured billions into MIA, and yes they do have a couple of new terminals [haven't seen them, but supposed to be nice] but when you leave the shiny new terminal you're at the mercy of.......Miami.......
Even when we build decent projects in the US the politics and corruption ruin it.
Miami again - there is a metrorail system in Miami that was built at huge expense....for all of the poor areas to commute to downtown. It wasn't allowed to connect to the airport OR the seaport, so all of the tens of thousands of cruise passengers flowing in every week have to get on to buses or take one of the horrible Miami taxis. The taxi lobby was allowed to kill the metrorail going anywhere useful back in the late 80's, but where is the vision now to build the last few miles of Metrorail to fix this travesty.
So we had the Miami Airport experience, and then the London one.....night and day folks, night and day.....
10/ Movie Reviews
Interesting little horror movie with a very good review - "Let Me In".....recommended...
And though it teases out the usual horror movie sensations of dread and anxiety and eyes-averted disgust, this movie also makes a direct and disarming play for affection, eliciting in viewers something akin to the awkward, resilient tenderness that is its subject.
Freakonomics - the movie
I know the abortion loonies hated the book for the theory below, but this movie is only OK. Four theories from the book by four different directors...
The book was very interesting......movie less so, but still worth Netflixing [is this word now a noun?].
The most problematic episode, Mr. Jarecki’s “It’s Not Always a Wonderful Life,” examines cause and effect when applied to the falling crime rate in the United States during the 1990s. After sorting through possible causes — changes to gun laws, more prisons, an improved economy — it concludes that the legalization of abortion in 1973 is the principal factor, because unwanted babies may not have been born.
As evidence, it points to studies of women who had legal abortions; among them 50 percent were likely to be poor and 60 percent likely to be single mothers. Those are predictors of the likelihood that a child may grow up to commit a crime. But as presented in the film, the theory seems purely speculative
Todays Irish joke
One day an Irishman, who had been stranded
on a deserted island for over 10 years, saw a
speck on the horizon.
He thought to himself, "It's certainly not a ship."
As the speck got closer and closer, he began
to rule out even the possibilities of a small boat
or a raft.
Suddenly there strode from the surf a figure
clad in a black wet suit. Putting aside the scuba
tanks and mask and zipping down the top of the
wet suit stood a drop-dead gorgeous blonde!
She walked up to the stunned Irishman and
said to him, "Tell me, how long has it
been since you've had a good cigar?"
"Ten years," replied the amazed Irishman.
With that, she reached over and unzipped a
waterproof pocket on the left sleeve of her wet
suit and pulled out a fresh package of
cigars and a lighter.
He took a cigar, slowly lit it, and took a long
drag. "Faith and begorrah," said the castaway,
"that is so good! I'd almost forgotten how great
a smoke can be!"
"And how long has it been since you've had
a drop of good Bushmill's Irish Whiskey?"
asked the blonde.
Trembling, the castaway replied,
"Ten years."
Hearing that, the blonde reached over to her right
sleeve, unzipped a pocket there and removed
a flask and handed it to him. He opened the flask
and took a long drink." 'Tis nectar of the gods!"
shouted the Irishman. " 'Tis truly fantastic!!!"
At this point the gorgeous blonde started
to slowly unzip the long front of her wet suit,
right down the middle. She looked at
the trembling man and asked, "And how long has it
been since you played around?"
With tears in his eyes, the Irishman fell to his
knees and sobbed, "Jesus, Mary and Joseph!
Don't tell me that you've got golf clubs
in there too?”
Todays Little Old Lady joke
A little old lady was walking down the sidewalk dragging two large plastic garbage bags behind her.
One of the bags rips, and every once in a while a $20 bill falls out onto the sidewalk. Noticing this, a policeman stops her, and says, "Ma'am, there are $20 bills falling out of your bag."
One of the bags rips, and every once in a while a $20 bill falls out onto the sidewalk. Noticing this, a policeman stops her, and says, "Ma'am, there are $20 bills falling out of your bag."
"Oh, really? Darn!" said the little old lady. "I'd better go back and see if I can find them. Thanks for telling me."
"Well, now, not so fast," says the cop. "How did you get all that money? You didn't steal it, did you?"
"Oh, no", said the little old lady. "You see, my back yard is right next to the Green Bay Packers football stadium parking lot. On game days, a lot of fans come and pee through the fence into my flower garden.
So, I stand behind the fence with my hedge clippers. Each time some guy sticks his thing through the fence, I grab it and say, "$20 or off it comes."
So, I stand behind the fence with my hedge clippers. Each time some guy sticks his thing through the fence, I grab it and say, "$20 or off it comes."
"Well, that seems only fair" laughs the cop. "OK. Good luck! Oh, by the way, what's in the other bag?"
"Well, you know, not everybody pays."
Todays drunk joke
After closing time at the bar, a drunk was proudly showing off his new apartment to a couple of his friends. He led the way to his bedroom where there was a big brass gong and a mallet.
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