On The Lighter Side

Betsy Newmark has fun with the opening of Congressman William "Frozen Funds" Jefferson.

Comments

[Rick Ballard]

Wonder if Trout has been approached by Monica Conyers yet. She has a much better shot at jury nullification in Detroit than does Jefferson in VA. (Kwame Kilpatrick might disagree.)

[clarice]

Where he and Monica come from those are great defenses.

[Thomas Collins]

OK, this looks like a good thread for off topic posts.

Catching up on my "JOM correspondence," Jack Is Back, the Shreveport connection is that my son is at the moment doing teacher training in Shreveport. He will probably end up assigned to a Shreveport school, but it is also possible that he might end up in Baton Rouge or New Orleans. When we find out where his assignment is going to be, I might ask to impose on you to ask your MD friend for any recommendations for a primary care doctor.

Daddy, my child near the Arctic Ocean would be interested in watching Gold Rush if you happen to find the DVD. But don't go out of your way to look for it.

[bad]

I wonder what the African American community thinks of the implied yet still insulting, "he's black" defense.

[Parking Lot]

"The Obamas are certainly shaking up the artwork in the White House, as they have begun replacing 19th-century still lifes, landscapes, and portraits with bold, abstract, modern artwork. The Obamas have made it known to museums, galleries, and private collectors that they want to borrow modern art by African-American, Asian, Hispanic, and female artists for the White House."

http://tiny.cc/wh_art

[Dave]

the opening of Congressman William "Frozen Funds" Jefferson.

Is this off off Broadway?

[matt]

Parking;

I would say that their choices are by name rather than by work. I know there are a number of works in the national collections by both Ed Ruscha and Richard Diebenkorn that are much stronger and would complement the space better. One good sign is that Obama didn't pick Ruscha's burning Chevron station.

[matt]

i went to the WH art web site and noticed something somewhat intriguing. Laura Bush was able to acquire one of Jacob Lawrence's major works. Lawrence, to me is/was one of the top 2-3 African American artists. I just wonder if the Ogabe's kept that work or returned it to the national collection.

[Danube of Thought]

Shouldn't 78% of the artists be non-Hispanic Caucasian?

[matt]

I believe that is the objective, DoT. I heard they found a lesbian african/latino tourette's afflicted poetress who paints the walls with bat sh*t during her readings as the artist in residence.

[Rick Ballard]

Matt,

Does she have nicely toned arms?

[Jane]

I don't mind that they have changed the artwork. I always liked it when they had all sorts of black art on the cosby show. I have lots of pix of women, probably because I am one.

[MayBee]

In my home, I mostly have nude portraits of myself.

[Extraneus]

Me too, but in various states of undress.

[Buford Gooch]

I want to visit MayBee's home.

[Old Lurker]

Ah the comments I could make.

[glasater]

In the "interesting gossip" category:

MO could be involved with the Walpin firing--Grassley checking

[Jane]

Hey - you guys are making fun of me! harummph!

[pagar]

I believe MO has a brother involved in basketball also.

I believe that the firing is intended to insure that everyone in government understands that anyone investigating or seeking to investigate a Democrat will be fired.

Seems very strange to me that they have let the trial of Jefferson go forward.

[Porchlight]

Well, guys, I have momentous news.

I drove the entire way home from work today without seeing a single Obama bumper sticker.

That's 25 minutes through central Austin, Texas prog hell numero uno.

And believe me, I looked. I look for stickers every day - a reflexive habit I picked up during the 2000 election. I'm constantly scanning bumpers.

This has never happened since the election season begun in earnest.

I used to see an Obama sticker every minute on the same drive back in the height of the election. It's been slowly declining ever since. But now it is really, really noticeable. They're totally drying up.

Not only that, I saw TWO McCain-Palin stickers - also a record. On the same drive!

Okay, just wanted to share that.

If anyone else is noticing the same thing in a blue area, I'd love to hear about it.

[Ignatz]

--Seems very strange to me that they have let the trial of Jefferson go forward.--

What better way to establish their anti corruption bona fides than tossing an obvious crook who has already lost his seat to the wolves?

[Rick Ballard]

Rich,

The mid-month tax deposit numbers suggest that the May establishment survey report was indeed bunkum. Withholding and employment tax deposits were off -8.14% for Q1, -9.32% for April, -10.52% for May, -12.33% for June to date and -10.47% for Q2 to date (all YoY). Ogabe's babble about 10% unemployment was a ruse. It's going over 11%.

[Old Lurker]

And we needed the Porkulous Bill immediately or else the rate would exceed 8%. That trillion sure was effective.

[Extraneus]

I'd love to hear your report approximately one year from now, Porch.

[clarice]

Gosh how can that be, Rick?
Bloomberg:
" President Barack Obama said he is “confident” that he won’t have to raise taxes on most Americans to close the budget deficit as long as the economy picks up steam.

“One of the biggest variables in this whole thing is economic growth,” the president said in an interview with Bloomberg News at the White House. “If we are growing at a robust rate, then we can pay for the government that we need without having to raise taxes.”

Obama has repeatedly said he would keep his campaign pledge to cut taxes for 95 percent of working Americans while rolling back tax breaks for households making more than $250,000 a year.

“I’m confident that we don’t have to raise taxes on ordinary working families,” he said.
"

[Rick Ballard]

OL,

The establishment survey isn't picking up the hit to sole proprietors. Tax deposits from sole proprietors (or self-employed) were off 12.19% in Q1, they're off 22.96% in Q2. Corporations fell from -30.62% in Q1 to -40.60% in Q2 to date.

The Ogabe Regime needs to start babbling about a "bountiful late fall harvest" now that the green shoots have been bulldozed. They sure were smart to salt all that vote buying money away to be spent out in '10.

This is a lot like what things would have been like had Malaise Carter followed Volcker's throttling of inflation. Fresh Air was absolutely correct that Reagan's "Morning in America" made as much a difference as the tax cuts in reviving the economy.

Emperor Hussein Ogabe I is receiving a single finger salute from a contemptuous populace which isn't buying an ounce of his BS.

[Thomas Collins]

Jane, I don't think they are making fun of your art work. Now that you have raised the issue of the inherent artistry of women (when they are modelling for painting or photographs, or engaging in an activity themselves), they are showing their good taste by agreeing with you.

I myself love paintings of masks. They are spooky; when I was young I could swear the masks were leaving the painting and coming after me.

Rick, apparently our Prez can mouth the words that economic growth is key, but he just can't bring himself to recognize that his policies stunt growth.

[Extraneus]

So let's say these statist scum are tossed out in two years. 0bama's still president, so nothing can be rescinded, right? He can just veto the bill. If he gets the takeover done in the meantime, how much can a Republican congress do to change that?

[Rocco]

"He loves Africa," Trout mentioned.

Jefferson loves Africa so much that he helped Africa's various dictators rape their countries of their natural resources.

[Old Lurker]

Rick, I think investors are beginning to figure it out too. The stock run up was trader driven and now the value guys are wondering what the underpinning is.

Clarice, one need only have listened to Clinton for years to see the blinking red light in your Obama quote above. That phrase "as long as the economy improves" is a brand new qualifier on not raising taxes on the muddle...so now he can say "as I have always said" when he sticks the knife in.

[Rick Ballard]

"how much can a Republican congress do to change that?"

Extraneous,

They can defund it. That's what they'll run on (plus restoration of the Bush tax cuts) and they'll have to back up their promises if they want to hold the seats gained in '10 in '12.

OL,

The GS pimps can't keep all the balls in the air forever - volume says there's a hole in the balloon.

[Old Lurker]

Way too many balls in the air, even for those guys.

Anybody wake up Larry Summers yet?

[Ignatz]

--“If we are growing at a robust rate, then we can pay for the government that we need without having to raise taxes.”......“I’m confident that we don’t have to raise taxes on ordinary working families,” he said.--

So now his tax pledge depends on our growth rate and he is only "confident" he can keep his pledge. Sounds like he's preparing the lumpen for his very own impending "read my lips" moment. It's also his clearest admission yet on how he defines "fiscal responsibility", ie, the government will be a gargantuan, pre-determined size and taxes will be adjusted accordingly no matter whom they land on.
As far as the "if we are growing at a robust rate" part of it, what happened to "saving or creating" a gajillion jobs? Seems to me his promise of jobs necessarily implies robust growth.

This clown is both afflicted with and intentionally inflicts the most profound cognitive dissonance I've ever seen in a pol.
It's like watching an episode of the Cosby Show written by George Orwell.

[Melinda Romanoff]

OL-

You don't think Summers isn't on board with this program? How else is he going to get to be Fed Chairman and run the show for every one?

The Fed will be worse than the BOE if Summers is nominated. (Sorry, PUK.)

[Old Lurker]

Melinda, I agree about Summers...and disgusted with him for trading his soul for that.

Ignatz, you nailed it.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Soul, what soul?

This is power, no more, no less.

Just no gilding, Chicago style.

And I owe Pofarmer a honking big phone bill for our conversation today. Is he still knocking out cabinets? I learned a lot from him, shoulda tried to conference in Kim.

Oh well...

[RichatUF]

OL-

GS sent out Cohen for a "green shoots theory". Summers is out selling, and not very well, the administration's financial regulation plan. [boring wonkish content] The aspect of it I'm not sure about is the idea closing the OTS and turning the Fed into the "systemic risk regulator". The way it was described is essentially how the OTS "supervised" AIG. It would also still not get funds like LTCM which were domiciled abroad and work in secret. And I'd be curious is something like CALPERS, the UAW Pension Trust, or Alaska's Permanent Dividend Fund may fall under its scope. All 3 have significant assets and given the right set of conditions pose a "systemic risk" to financial stability. FWIW [/boring wonkish content]

Thanks Rick. A bad July report with a bad June number and a steep downward May revision could really rock the administration right in the middle of the healthcare debate (and what genuis thought of putting Dodd's name on the thing). I can only imagine the sorts of "funployment" stories the State Media will cook up.

[Melinda Romanoff]

If anyone is curious what two midwesterners can talk about for two hours. (LUN)

[Porchlight]

That's pretty cool, Melinda. I like the idea of JOMers chatting in the real world.

[Parking Lot]

((I believe that is the objective, DoT. I heard they found a lesbian african/latino tourette's afflicted poetress who paints the walls with bat sh*t during her readings as the artist in residence.))

omg that was funny

[Parking Lot]

((I don't mind that they have changed the artwork.))

me neither but I'm not sure it's post racialist art selection

[Melinda Romanoff]

It was fun, cousin Porch. And I left out our common trait, I think.

G'night all.

[Parking Lot]

Rick Ballard

((The GS pimps can't keep all the balls in the air forever - volume says there's a hole in the balloon.))

I have a question for you from an earlier thread where you commented that Ron Paul's economics are fantacist.

If what Paul Krugman advocates doesn't work and what Ron Paul advocates is unrealistic, what else is there? It seems all the financial pundits that I read are on one side or the other and there's nothing in between.

[Rick Ballard]

"It's like watching an episode of the Cosby Show written by George Orwell."

Wouldn't Jerzy Kozinski be a better fit?

Yes. In the garden, growth has it seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.

I believe that explores the complete depth of knowledge and understanding possessed by Hussein Ogabe I.

[Porchlight]

It was fun, cousin Porch. And I left out our common trait, I think.

Good show. BTW I forgot to mention on that last thread that I was born in Chicago. Hyde Park, to be exact. So maybe we really are related. ::grin::

Wouldn't Jerzy Kozinski be a better fit?

Rick,

I've been meaning to watch Being There again. Now seems like a real good time. I typically can't stand that dingbat Shirley Maclaine but I'll make the sacrifice.

[Rick Ballard]

"what else is there?"

Adam Smith and Friedrich Hayek. Attention to the meaning of "credit" and "trust". Clear definitions of duties and responsibilities and impartial and indifferent application of the English common law as codified by US statute.

The Ronulans get wrapped up in "money" (a means of exchange) instead of focusing on credit and trust - two words that could never be applied to the complete lack of character which Paul Krugman embodies.

As Ogabe's absence of character, intelligence and experience becomes more clear with each passing day we will see the continued withdrawal of capital from both markets and the economy. We have a liar, a cheat and a thief as Chief Magistrate. He has already abrogated customary resolutions of instances of default and rewarded political supporters in doing so.

It ain't gonna get any prettier until he's thrown back into the gutter where he belongs.

[Stephanie]

BTW in solidarity with the Iranians, shouldn't the headline tag be "We're all Iranians Now?"

[Pofarmer]

This shouldn't be a problem, right?

Legislators Framing Climate Bills Hold Energy Stock

LUN

[matt]

Rick, I have some friends who are very tuned in on Wall Street, and the articles and reports they are sending me agree with your assessment. The warning lights are flashing all over the world on American debt, and Dear Leader is hoping it will all be swept under the rug and blamed on the evil Republicans.When inflation kicks in its going to be brutal. the dollar will be permanently damaged, and we simply don't have the revenue stream.

I was taunting a liberal acquaintance again today, who kept on bring up Bush's profligate ways (in which with the exception of Iraq/Afghanistan/WOT I agree with him), and yet he would not acknowledge the Democrat staffed CBO's own numbers on Obama's spending.

It's time for some very tough talk by some Republican (or even a Dem) on the spending mess. This has to become a drumbeat if we are to save(if even possible)our economy.

Protectionism is in the wind now as well, and this is beginning to smell like 1931.

[Parking Lot]

Rick

Thanks for giving me some new ideas to explore ... I'll read up.

((As Ogabe's absence of character, intelligence and experience becomes more clear with each passing day we will see the continued withdrawal of capital from both markets and the economy.))

And the worse things get, he will still think that the solution is more subprime products! more taxes on the people who create jobs! D'OH!

((He has already abrogated customary resolutions of instances of default and rewarded political supporters in doing so.))

if you are talking about the bankruptcy creditors, yes that was extremely nasty and a huge economic disincentive

[Parking Lot]

matt

((When inflation kicks in its going to be brutal. ))

some people are saying that the debt is so huge that not enough money can be printed to cause inflation ... that the problem will be deflation

[daddy]

Thanks TC,

Going on a Charlie Chaplain hunting mission will give me something fun to do. And if you guys are interested, Sheveluch, a Russian Volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula, blew up on the 15th sending plumes to 50-60,000 feet. The plume extended at high level for hundreds of miles southward, and then ran into a Cyclone. So I just arrived in Korea and my 8 hour trip took 13, cause we had to head south almost to Hawaii to avoid the Volcano/Cyclone combo, before turning right for Korea. Fascinating how Mother Nature sometimes can put up 1,000 mile speedbumps when you don't expect them:>

[Ann]

EVIL

My contribution for the day.

And you guys need to threaten your children with calling that free "Scooter Store" shown only on T.V. It has worked for me! :)

[Stephanie]

It's On!!! Welcome back, we missed you.

LUN

[PD]

If anyone else is noticing the same thing in a blue area, I'd love to hear about it.

Not in Madison. Obama stickers are still very much in evidence. A lot of people still haven't taken down their yard signs.

[PD]

Clarice, one need only have listened to Clinton for years to see the blinking red light in your Obama quote above. That phrase "as long as the economy improves" is a brand new qualifier on not raising taxes on the muddle...so now he can say "as I have always said" when he sticks the knife in.

Ah, but during his February prime-time press conference, he said that families making less than $250K will not pay "one dime more" in taxes. He had no qualifier about an improving economy. And he didn't even qualify "taxes." And this is on tape in front of the nation.

This means any proposal for taxes by our Congress that will raise *any* kind of tax on sub-$250K households must be shoved in their face on the basis that the President is honor-bound to veto it because it violates his pledge.

"Dear Sen./Rep., Does this mean you don't think our president will keep his word about not raising ANY taxes on the sub-rich? Sure you cannot think he didn't mean what he said."

[Old Lurker]

Good stuff 12-1 last night. I should have stayed up. Rick's 11:57 pretty much sums it up.

The jarring detail buried in the descriptions of the finance oversight plans of Dear Leader is this: They want Money Market Funds to drop the "$1 no matter what" foundation of the MMF business, going to a floating value that means "Breaking the Buck" will be a 50-50 occurance. That basically vaporizes the whole business. Not a small step; $4 trillion lives there now and they fund huge swaths of our economy. Wonder where that cash will go?

[Old Lurker]

PD, go back and read Ignatz at 10:07 last night; can't say it much better than that.

[Parking Lot]

Rick Ballard

another thought

((As Ogabe's absence of character, intelligence and experience becomes more clear with each passing day we will see the continued withdrawal of capital from both markets and the economy))

if the economy and markets are going to crater under Obamanomics, might the goldbugs be right to pile their capital into gold?

[Jane]

That's pretty cool, Melinda. I like the idea of JOMers chatting in the real world.

There are few things better.

For me, every time it has happened it has exceeded expectations.

I highly recommend it.

[Pofarmer]

Hey folks. Has anybody ever figured out who has standing to sue on Obama's birth certificate? Are there still cases pending with the Supreme court.

[Parking Lot]

((Hey folks. Has anybody ever figured out who has standing to sue on Obama's birth certificate? Are there still cases pending with the Supreme court.))

When Hawaii went to electronic records did they even keep the long forms?

I'd like to see his college records more than his bc. (funny I just inadvertanlty typed 'bs' instead of 'bc')

[Pofarmer]

I'd like to see his college records more than his bc.

Don't know where I found it, but there's a guy claiming that in college admissions he listed Indonesian as his nationality for financial aid. If he was over 18, I would think that would be a little issue. I also think it would have been a great way to game that system, too.

[Hide and Watch.]

The three implacable C's, Climate, Capital, and China. It is amusing to see them develop a nexus. These C's are resistant to Axelrodian manipulation of the polity. They are the rocks upon which Obama'll founder.

Rachel Madcow just put on an 8 minute segment, involving the Editor of Salon, dedicated to the further marginalizing of 'birthers' as insane and dangerous advocates. Over and over again she reminded us that the Smithsonian shooter was a 'birther'.

Evil times, yes they are.

[hit and run]

MayBee (how did I miss this last night?):
In my home, I mostly have nude portraits of myself.

I demand proof.

[Old Lurker]

And I need to verify Hit's review of same.

How you doing, Hit?

[Being foreign student was a chick magnet.]

And yes, PoF, I think that before he wanted to be President of the United States, Obama wanted to be King of the World. He could do so being Indonesian, and I'm guessing he was born in Hawaii, but matriculated at Occidental as a foreign student, and maybe visited Pakistan in 1981 with an Indonesian passport. The Paki bureaucracy has visa records, heh.

[hit and run]

Doing very well.

[Pofarmer]

Over and over again she reminded us that the Smithsonian shooter was a 'birther'.M

What an odious bitch. Unfortunately, there are a lot of them out there.

[Pofarmer]

Hey Hit.

On your elbow, you might try a magnet wrap. I strained my right elbow years ago, and a magnet wrap provided MUCH relief. I got a Nikken brand name one, but I'm told they have generic ones at Walmart now. One of those weird little things that a) provided releif and b)kept me out of the dr's office. I hate dr's.

[Pofarmer]

Wouldn't it be interesting to know what Barack Hussein's itinerary in Pakistan was?

I still think that's what the whole passport kerfluffle was about. Things were being expunged.

[narciso]

He was a Holocaust and 9/11 denialist, that reads you out of the conservative movement, who tried to kidnap members of the fed. It puts him kind of the crazy continuum with the Berrigan nuts. Speaking of a special brand of corrupt doofus, in the LUN

[Duck Holler.]

Heh, hate the sin, not the sinner, Pof. You hate being unwell or injured, in pain and helpless misery. You don't really hate the one making a living off of that, do you?

[Pofarmer]

You don't really hate the one making a living off of that, do you?

Well, hate's a rather strong word. How about "wish to avoid."

I dunno, maybe it's just a tough guy midwestern stupid farmer thing.

Actually, that's probably it.

[bio mom]

What the heck IS an "ordinary working family" anyway?

[Rick Ballard]

"might the goldbugs be right to pile their capital into gold?"

Parking Lot,

Not in a system led by a thief, liar and cheat. Most goldbugs have pieces of paper which they believe assure them of ownership of X amount of a product with rather limited utility. Some own the actual product, which produces no income, is not easily exchanged in satisfaction of needs and must be protected. Other than that, it's damned near perfect.

Canadian or Australian income producing property would be a better bet at the moment. It sort of depends upon how much the (D)irty Fascists get away with. Will they be satisfied with levying confiscatory taxes or will they go with outright confiscation? If the first few judges who uphold confiscation are shot it might slow things down long enough for the slime to get tossed via the electoral process.

There is still some time left. Enough time to move liquid capital to places where it can feel comfortable while this drama unfolds.

[Quack, quack. I hear a second.]

Your 'tough guy midwestern stupid farmer thing' is amazingly universal. The way you feel about doctors is normal. Why do think the ironic 'Physician, Heal Thyself' has such power?

Just one more reason we have to pay doctors so much; it's to make up for bedrock distrust, which we all manfully suppress hypocritically. This is not to say real affection and trust can't develop between patient and physician. It's a Stockholm Syndrome sort of situation I'll ponder on some day. Heh, today.

[narciso]

I was following the Malkin link, and I discovered that Walpin is not the only
IG that's been interfered with, from Dan Riehl, Barovsky who Treasury put in charge of stimulus oversight, and some one at the ITC

[Not with a bang, with a whimper.]

Yep, Rick, Australian natural resources funds. I'm not the only one thinking that way, so I'm not sure if they're presently oversold. I see ads for them, just as for gold, so I suspect the horse is out of the barn. The way things are developing, C's piano wires sewed into hems might be the safest way to go.

Speak softly and carry a big aluminum bat.

[Bang, bang, the bat felt home.]

er, aluminium. Sorry, Mate.

[bio mom]

Actually most doctors don't make that much money compared to other professionals. Only super specialists like some neurosurgeons or orthopedic surgeons do. The average family doctor or pediatrician probably makes in the range of 150K at most after 10 years working. And they put in 4 med school years accumulating about 200K in debt plus interest on loans and another 3 residency years at about 45K salary. I have great admiration for the majority of doctors. There are always some scummy types but what profession doesn't have them?

[MayBee]

narciso-
It looks to me like Obama wants to run AmeriCorps, etc, like he ran Chicago Annenberg Challenge.

We need to reintroduce that failure of executive experience, but this time without the Ayers angle.
Where is Stanley Kurtz? He had written all about Michelle's other friends getting free money in the name of volunteering as well as the CAC.

[RichatUF]

OL-

Nice. After the market got spooked when Reserve Primary broke the buck, they'd like to see the whole thing happen again. Could see that as a pool of capital that could flow into short term municipal debt.

Parking Lot-

some people are saying that the debt is so huge that not enough money can be printed to cause inflation...

Since banks are still spooked they have been holding significant excess reserves. The Fed has also expanded their swaps lines internationally. Currency has been a small part of what they've done. (Ie. The money is staying parked at banks for loss reserves and caparcious government insurance or its overseas parked at foreign central banks and financials). The only inflation is in oil and that is more a function of firm state politics and US regulation. There is a large block of unemployed that putting downward pressure on wages and hugh inventory liquidations ongoing that are putting downward pressure on finished goods. Basic materials hoarding will prop up prices for a while until the hoarders run out of storage space, stop buying, and start consuming excess stock.

Gold has similiar firm state defects that oil has and it wouldn't surprise me to see some states and the IMF (if Geithner can do enough arm twisting) sell off gold reserves.

[Ignatz]

--This means any proposal for taxes by our Congress that will raise *any* kind of tax on sub-$250K households must be shoved in their face on the basis that the President is honor-bound to veto it because it violates his pledge.--

PD, I would submit he already broke his tax pledge when he signed the bill increasing cigarette taxes 62 cents per pack.
Despite his status as the chimney in chief I have seen no empirical evidence that smoking is confined to his and his other rich special interest and speculator friends' stratospheric and unjustified compensation levels.

[RichatUF]

Seems that Australia doesn't have the eco-cultists we do. Oh look, offshore exploration work.

Wonder if I could move there?

[Old Lurker]

But Rick, if you call the 800 # on the screen in the next thirty minutes, you can get a free Sham Wow with each gold bar.

And if you can stomach price swings wider than those of the stock market, having a bunch of gold might make somebody sleep better at night. Maybe just the Sham Wow guy, or the gold broker who gets paid coming and going.

That said, I have opined that an interesting estate plan involves safe deposit boxes - one for each child - in a Swiss bank filled with Krugerrands. Do not tell the child. Leave the key with a very trusted family friend who is not your executor. After your estate is settled and after your very honest child has filed all the Estate Tax Returns, have the trusted friend surprise the kid with the key and a map to the bank. Advise periodic trips to retrieve a few coins at a time...Thank dear old Dad for being so thoughtful.

Repeat with each generation.

[hit and run]

7 hours of US Open coverage today! 5 on ESPN and 2 on NBC.

Funemployment!!!

[Rick Ballard]

Rich,

Ya gotta admire the AP bootlickers.

The Labor Department said the total unemployment insurance rolls fell by 148,000 to 6.69 million in the week ending June 6, the largest drop in more than seven years. The decline is a sign that layoffs are easing.

What great news! A tremendous green shoot!!

Still, millions of Americans are receiving unemployment compensation under an emergency federal program authorized by Congress last summer and extended by the Obama administration's stimulus package.

About 2.36 million people received benefits under that program in the week ending May 30, an increase of more than 102,000 from the previous week. That's in addition to the 6.7 million people receiving benefits under the 26-week program typically provided by states.

Oh. So 102K of the subject to revision 148K just moved on into Uncle Sugar's loving arms, not into jobs.

Well, it's still a deceleration of the rate of decrease so the amount of blood on the floor isn't growing much. There appears to be something wrong with the sphygmomanometer though. Probably needs to be banged on the wall a few times.

[He's in a zone, alright.]

Ignatz, 10:07, yesterday: heh, or a work of A. A. Milne produced by Rod Serling.

[Not another Quack.]

Smokey's got a great medical acronym list this morning in the comments on the FUBAR thread at Watts Up.

[clarice]

There's always cattle farming in the Bolivian lowlands of Beni province. A friend bought a gazillion hectares there for nothing and keeps trying to lure me to join him in the venture--of course there's malaria, anaconda,piranhas, jaguars, a lunatic president, floods, etc. but you can buy so much land it'll take you all day to fly over it.

[Neo]

"he's black" defense

I've heard that at least in NYC, the "He's the Man" defense usually works better.

[Ignatz]

Somebody was asking about that $134 billion smuggling story the other day. Here's an interesting but necessarily sketchy Bloomberg story on it.
Still not clear whether the bonds are genuine or where they came from.

--A friend bought a gazillion hectares there for nothing and keeps trying to lure me to join him in the venture--

Interesting clarice. A realtor friend of mine in Fresno had two huge (thousands upon thousands of acres) Bolivian ranches listed. Ended up selling both of them for around $75,000.
I never considered them for a second. I might cry a river if that Morales imbecile is given the boot and stability returns.

[RichatUF]

Rick-

And the other 46k could have just exhausted benefits and extensions. Gotta love the AP. Should look up the doom and gloom reporting when the Bush Administration hanged a 7.2 quarter in 2003 after his tax cuts. I'll probably get a bit dizzy when the AP brings out the "green shoots" unicorns and happiness when the Obama Administration hangs a -7.2 quarter on the board.

[Parking Lot]

RichatUF

((The only inflation is in oil and that is more a function of firm state politics and US regulation.))

Aren't inflated oil prices the result of market speculation?

[Ignatz]

--I might cry a river if that Morales imbecile is given the boot and stability returns.--

That would be pre Morales stability of course, stability being at all times an elastic and relative term in Bolivia.

[clarice]

I say we go there and call it St Jane's--get money from conservation groups around the world to save the rainforest by doing nothing at all with the land except building comfortable air conditioned haciendas and raising enough cattle for evening barbecues.
(They do have internet service so we can stay in touch with those JOMers unable to join us.)

[MayBee]

I demand proof.

OK, Hit check your email.

[RichatUF]

Parking Lot-

Aren't inflated oil prices the result of market speculation?

Didn't we beat to death "market speculation" in the run up to $150/bbl? The Obama Administration likes them anyway, how else to explain his budget proposal with 9 seperate line items targeting the oil and gas industry: pulling leases, closing tax credits, eliminating funding for deep water research and the Arctic Survey (that was probably a favor to the Russians)...

[clarice]

This with lodge could have been ours.
http://www.rexinet.com/6563.html