Monthly Archives: March 2011

Mere coincidence…or…separated at birth?

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Hmmm…

First, the ‘official photo’ of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, from his government website…

Second, the Grinch, from Chuck Jones’ classic telling of Dr Seuss’ Christmas story…

And last, but not least, Chucky…

The same feverish glint in the eyes…

The greasy, self-satisfied, impish smirk…

Mere coinkidink???

Or in reality, are these three evil triplets… hideous demon spawn separated at birth?

You make the call!!!

One final observation, before moving on…

Please note, dear reader, how perfectly color coordinated the Speaker is in that photo… the way the orange of his tie is a dead match for the hue of his skin, and how the blue of the polka dots in the tie syncs up with the shirt and his eyes… it’s like he did it on purpose…

I Knew It! I Knew It!

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All along, I’ve had this… gut feeling… that the current ‘official’ hysteria over public pension shortfalls was a manufactured, exceedingly artificial narrative, and now Paul Krugman agrees with me…

Citing an analysis of state pension shortfalls done by Dean Baker, Krugman says, “the official story these days — of years and years of huge giveaways to unions, resulting in gigantic, unpayable debts — is just wrong…” and then goes on to point out how the shortfall is mostly the result of the 2007 Financial Crisis we’re only now starting to emerge from.

As you can see from the above graphic, courtesy of Mr Baker’s report, much of the current pension shortfall can be attributed directly to the stock & bond market plunges of two years ago, and accordingly a pretty hefty percentage of that should have been recovered due to the recent extended rally in the same markets.

Per Baker’s report, pension fund assets would most likely be $850 billion higher if the funds had earned a rate of return the last three years just equal to 30 year Treasuries, and an additional $80 billion loss can be pegged to lower contributions by the states due to lower revenues. A total of approximately $930 billion, or almost the entire shortfall, a trillion dollars, as projected by some analysts.

In addition, Baker states that the “size of the projected state and local government shortfalls… for the pension funds is less than 0.2 percent of projected gross state product over the next 30 years for most states. Even in the cases of the states with the largest shortfalls, the gap is less than 0.5 percent of projected state product.”

0.2 percent of projected revenues, in other words, 20 freakin’ cents on every hundred dollars, if Baker’s figures and analysis are accurate… and if they are, so much for all the ‘Chicken Little/Falling Sky’ nonsense we’re being subjected to right now.

One question I do have is how much of the loss in various public pension funds’ assets can be attributed to the stock market decline, and how much was due to the collapse of mortgage bonds? Neither Krugman or Baker dive into this particular pool of water, and in his report, Baker only talks about losses, gains, and rates of return for stocks. It is my understanding that Iceland’s financial collapse was, in part, caused by mortgage bond defaults. I am also under the impression that public pension funds are prohibited from purchasing securities deemed too risky and that when the bond sellers were able to get the ratings agencies to give their new fangled ‘ financial products’ a AAA rating, they were free to sell those ticking financial shit bombs to pension funds.

I shall do more research on that as time allows.

In the meanwhile, Paul Krugman agrees with me…

Whaddya know, we’re being sold a bill of goods.

The Watering Hole: March 7 – Buffleheads

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I logged in this AM to find no Open Thread. Not feeling particularly creative at this hour:

Thanks Walt, I got in late, or was out late, or however it can be described I’m not feeling particularly present this hour. Bufflehead is a good way to describe it. -Raven

I make this our Open Thread. Please feel free to present your thoughts on any topic that comes to you.

Sunday Roast: Perspective

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From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of particular interest. But for us, it’s different. Look again at that dot. That’s here, that’s home, that’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

As it was leaving our solar system, Carl Sagan requested that Voyager 1′s camera turn for a last look at Earth, and take a photo from almost 4 billion miles away.  The “pale blue dot” was captured for our consideration.

Could it be that, deep in our souls, we know we’re insignificant?  Is that why we create great works of art and literature, love so hard, and fight each other so fiercely?

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.

This is our daily open thread.
Please feel free to share your thoughts on this or any other topic.

The Watering Hole: March 5 – The Boston Massacre

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On March 5th, 1770, there was a small todo in the Boston Common.

Five civilians, all male died as a result of the incident, which helped to ignite the American Revolution. The increase in British troops in Boston led to confrontations between soldiers and civilians. The troops fired into a mob. Three civilians were killed outright, eleven were injured, and two died later.

Republicans in Wisconsin trying to incite a similar situation in Madison. Governor Walker (Enabled by the brothers Koch.) is assuming the role of King George and the Republican State Senate majority (Similarly enabled.), the role of British Parliament. The only difference today is that law-enforcers are unwilling to assume the role of the Redcoats.

The laws being foisted on the people of Wisconsin are no different than the Townshend Acts of 1770. Draconian measures being imposed on an unwilling majority.

This is our Open Thread. Please feel free to rebel or present your thoughts on any topic that comes to mind.

Gummitch in Love: Music Night, March 4, 2011

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Yes, it must me admitted that Gummitch does have a special place in his heart for the rock & roll ladies. And the more they put out there on stage, the hotter they are — or at least that’s what Gummitch always says. You can judge for yourself, from a good range of choices. I apologize for the second video; I kept trying to fill that slot with something special that would play here, but the corporate shitheads are encroaching more and more on the ability to share music. This one belongs to Sony, so you have to watch it at YouTube.

More below the fold, and we eagerly await your contributions. This is like an Open Thread, but (mostly) for music.

Continue reading →

The Watering Hole: March 4 – Cortés

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March 4th, 1519 marks the day when Hernán Cortés arrived in what is now modern Mexico to discover the Aztec civilization.

He celebrated the event by wiping out the Aztecs. A short lesson for the Aztecs, avoid being discovered by white men in strange conveyances.

Communication s must have been slow in those days because native groups to the North experienced a similar fate starting about a century later.

Being discovered today seems to have a slightly different meaning.

This is our Open Thread. Please feel free to present your thoughts on any topic that comes to mind.

The Watering Hole: March 3 – Sarah Does Science

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What would be covered in a science curriculum created at Sarah Palan University?

Natural History
Creationism 101

Meteorology
Global Cooling 101
Solar Warming 102

Geology
Flat Earth 202
Viewing Russia 203

Health
Teenage Sex 301 (Lab $120 fee)

Wildlife Conservation
Field Stripping 400
Bears (With a subsection on cubs)
Moose
Wolves
Extra Credit Course – Marksmanship 417

Animal Husbandry
Turkey Feather Removal 402
Turkey Head Removal 415 (Graduate Credit Course)

This is our Open Thread. Please feel free to present your thoughts about anything that turns you on.

The Watering Hole: Wednesday, March 2, 2011 : Hump Day

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Wisconsin Governor Proposes Deep Cuts for Schools

Faced with a budget crisis caused by reducing the State’s revenues as a result of cutting taxes on the wealthiest of it’s citizens, Wisconsin Governor Scott “Imperial” Walker proposes to cut $1.5 billion in aid to public schools, local government and health care for the poor (Medicaid).

In addition to cutting State funding for schools, Walker proposes to reduce local school districts’ property tax authority. As for cities and counties, they would not be allowed to increase property taxes, either.

“We don’t need no education.”

Walker intends to cut school funding by nearly 9 percent. Whether his cuts will trigger cuts in matching Federal Funds has yet to be determined. What is certain is that these cuts, if enacted, will negatively impact all schools as they struggle to ensure all students score proficient or higher in national tests. Those that don’t will be taken over by the State.

The greater agenda here is POWER. As more and more wealth flows upward, fewer and fewer benefits are available to the rest of the populace. Niceties such as a public education sufficient to enable one to get a decent job will be gone. Decent jobs will be gone. Unemployment, health care, social security, gone.

Collective Bargaining? Gone, and with it gone, the working class will be deprived of the only power it had to counterbalance the power of the ruling class.

This is our daily open thread — feel free to sound off, vent, rant, rave, or post haiku, as the Spirit moves you.

The Watering Hole: March 1,2010 – Old Sins and Long Shadows

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I always loathed the bloke. Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, Germany’s defense minister has resigned today over the scandal around his PhD. thesis. He plagiarized about a third of it, if he wrote it at all, that is. And, of course, he had to sign a statement, that he had in fact written the thesis by himself and made all sources available to the reader. This amounts to perjury, which is in Germany not a misdemeanor but a crime punishable by at least 1 year in jail (parole possible).

And another one bites the dust: French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, resigned over trips she took to Tunisia which were funded by the Ben Ali entourage.

Well old (and newer) sins really have long shadows.

This is our open thread. Enjoy yourselves and have a nice day.