Update
********************
1:15 p.m.The president just spoke about the payroll tax extension. I've lost the bubble on this. He wants a full year extension; the House wants a full-year extension; the Senate only agrees to a two-month extension which all agree is meaningless and agreed to only so Congress and president could go on vacation. So why is the House getting all the blame? Please don't answer. It's a rhetorical question.2:06 p.m.
If they all would have agreed on a full-year extension (which I don't support, by the way, because according to news today, the president's stimulus programs are working and more stimulus is not needed), they would all be on vacation. Speaking of which, I think the Senate has already left town.
I do find it degrading for a president to tell me that by not extending this payroll tax reduction, it means that the average American has to give up a pizza dinner out. At least that's what he said. Michelle has talked about the obesity problem in this country.
Talking head on CNBC has it exactly right. The new EPA rules to destroy the coal industry in this country will cost Americans a lot more than a measly $40/month. Again, the government keeps the payroll tax extension at the top of the news to hide things that are much, much worse and will affect Americans much, much more. The talking head on CNBC said this; not me (that bit about comparing the EPA with the payroll tax cut extension).
Original Post
Wow.All the folks I talked to today in the Boston area are thrilled with this "global warming." It's 66 degrees right now; not even sweater weather; more like long-sleeve weather. It's warmer than a summer night on the Huntington Beach, California, pier. Here in the Boston area not enough room to park cars so I had to move our car to the grocery store down the street for a couple of hours, and then I will bring it back home when there's room on the street nearer the house. But what a great walk back: I would have guessed 50 degrees; never expected 66.
********************
The big story in the Boston Globe (link not available without a paid subscription):
Good, bad, or indifferent, Pennsylvania is ready to mandate that planned parenthood clinics follow the same rules as other clinics. These are surgical clinics, for heaven's sake. We're not talking "advice/referral only" clinics, but clinics where a lot of blood is lost. Puerperal sepsis was the number one killer of young women at one time, right up there with tuberculosis. And these clinics were given a "pass"!! The PPCs say they may not be able to afford playing by the same rules.Who wudda guessed?
********************
Let's see: 9:31 a.m.. What's the price of oil? The price continues to melt up, another 40 cents. Now over $99.
********************
I see jobless claims (first time benefits) have dropped to lowest level since April, 2008. It looks like the president's plans are working and we don't need that two-month extension on payroll tax cut after all.
Folks are taking jobs, and employers are hiring.
By the way, with this "global warming," the construction season is extended. I can't speak for the rest of the country, but there's a lot of work being done in Boston during this beautiful weather. A lot of blue collar workers will have a nice Christmas for their families.
[By the way, I said this amounted to $80/month; it turns out that it is worth about $40/month -- that's what all the fuss is about -- give me a break. No, it's about a few other things as part of the deal.]
[By the way, I said this amounted to $80/month; it turns out that it is worth about $40/month -- that's what all the fuss is about -- give me a break. No, it's about a few other things as part of the deal.]
********************
Speaking of $80 or $40, I'm getting a kick out of the Occupy Wall Street crowd having to pay court fines. The worst part is the multiple trips they have to make to court. Here on the east coast, they are complaining about the subway fare from the suburbs to the courts downtown. I guess a lot of these folks live with their parents in the 'burbs.
This is what the court hearings look like: First, the arraignment hearing; then the stay; then the injunction; then the hearing; then the recess; then the verdict and sentencing; then the "what just happened" appeal. The courts say this just backs them up. I don't think the other criminals mind. It looks like a win-win for everyone except a) the taxpayer; and, b) the chump who got herself arrested for a movement that has no direction.
By the way, as expected, there are several stories of the chronically homeless (many mentally ill -- can one use that phrase any more?) being exploited to live in these OWS (when I first saw that abbreviation in a headline, I thought they were talking about the Oprah Winfrey Show) tent cities in the freezing cold and rain. That was before a "global warming" front moved in.
********************
When I think of faux liberals complaining about executive pay, my thoughts immediately go to The New York Times. I guess I've been wrong. It appears The New York Times has no problem with outrageous pay, at least when if pertains to their folks. The New York Times is failing financially, so they will let their CEO go. (Let my people go.) The CEO will get more than $15 million to walk away. This sort of takes the wind out of their sails when they complain about executive pay for other corporations.
According to a regulatory filing, Times Co's policy previously stipulated that Robinson, 61, would not be eligible for full pension benefits until she was 63 and had been with the company for 30 years. But people familiar with the matter said the Times Co agreed to pay out the full amount as part of her separation agreement.
Against the backdrop of an 80 percent decline in the Times Co's stock over her seven-year tenure as CEO, the size of Robinson's exit package prompted some criticism in the newsroom. Times Co shares are down 25 percent this year alone.
I guess they should have invested in the Bakken.
Memo to self: bookmark this story to cite next time The New York Times complains about executive pay for companies that are thriving and providing huge return for their shareholders, something The New York Times did not.
Memo to self: bookmark this story to cite next time The New York Times complains about executive pay for companies that are thriving and providing huge return for their shareholders, something The New York Times did not.
No glass ceiling for her, I guess.
Somehow my mind just wandered to the GE story paying no taxes in 2010; the GE/CEO is the president's czar for the US economy.
Here in Minneapolis were had a "prequil" to the Occupy "fleabaggers" a decade back with the with the occupation to try to stop the Hiawatha reroute.
ReplyDeleteThis encampment was allowed to go on for over a years. I used to bicycle past it all the time and would occasionally stop by and scope out the scene. At core were some very sincere people who tried to keep order. By and large they did a reasonably good job but it was an endless struggle.
You would have the gutter-punks, anarchists, chronic homeless and assorted dysfunctional types.
There were lots of jobs back then. There were also the "hip-slacker" types who wanted to move away from the parents but also wanted the "hip-slacker" part time job that typically paid not much more than a minimum wage. Basically, your music store, bookstore, video rental store or "Barista!" part time job didn't wasn't enough net income to pay rent. This would require a real (boring) job!
Back then there was something of a "reverse discrimination" where a lot of males were willing to let a slacker female stay at their place for domestic help and "benefits" and maybe
paying part of the electric bill so the guy is not constantly chiding them to to "turn off the light when you leave a room".
Surprise! Females working "real jobs" and having a place were far less willing to offer the slacker males such an arrangement!
The smart slacker male, and it was usually a male, would try to juggle this not rent situation. A weekly visit home with dirty laundry. That would be a good night's sleep but if the parents in the burbs had a hose it always needed upkeep and maintenance. Mow the lawn, fix the fence, clean the gutters, ect. and the parents would be a lot more tolerant. Same with frinds you "crash" at.
Other than parents don't overstay your welcome. Every other weekend is fun but every weekend is a pattern. The "not so smart" ones tend to wear out their welcome and burn their bridges really fast. The "cake eaters" tend to have cable TV and movie collections. The slacker gives a big sob story then is glued to the couch.
With the Hiawatha occupation both the smart and dumb almost always male "slackers" would use the occupied site as a safety valve "crash pad".
Sounds like the same thing is happening today with the fleagger-whiners.
If any Municipality wants advice on how to hand occupations contact the Hennepin County, MN Sheriffs department.
So true. I think many cities figured this out. Let the "fun" run its course, and then when it starts getting real cold, real wet, move in and remove the tents, and then the problem makers a couple days later.
ReplyDeleteThe sheriff's departments should only arrest the organizers and then let them feel the full brunt of the judicial gavel. Arrest five or so every day, and my hunch is that gradually the others would just leave. Only fools actually want to get arrested. The smart ones get their message out and then skee-daddle before the cops move in.
States or cities need to re-write fines to bill those arrested the pro-rated amount it takes to clean them out. I'm all for free speech, but when the Salvation Army can't get a permit to ring a bell for donations, or a Christmas tree can't be placed on public property, but yet dozens can camp out for months on that same public land, something is hugely wrong.
The occupy fleabaggeres claim they need to occupy as a part of their message. This is patently wrong. As an example, between my brother and me we have two houses. If someone advocates "housing justice" they could argue that they had to "occupy" one of our two houses. I have two cars. " they could "occupy one". They could argue that with "automotive justice" they could "occupy" one of them.
ReplyDeleteGet the drift?
Sorta sounds like Marxism which was discredited decades ago.
ReplyDelete