Aluminum, Goldman, The Times, And BS

The NY Times on Sunday offered a long piece purporting to examine the latest outrage being perpetrated by Goldman Sachs upon a hapless, helpless public:

A Shuffle of Aluminum, but to Banks, Pure Gold

Groan - commodity speculation? I am confident there are some serious issues here related to the appropriate lines of business for a firm operating with an implicit Federal backstop. However, based on my experience in reading Times coverage of areas within my personal expertise, I am also grimly confident that when the Times covers commerce they leave their comfort zone when they move beyond publishing and women's fashion. OK, I'll give them men's fashion too.

The Times introduces an arithmetic problem in the early going, which was a bit of a blow on a Sunday morning:

Only a tenth of a cent or so of an aluminum can’s purchase price can be traced back to the strategy [described earlier]. But multiply that amount by the 90 billion aluminum cans consumed in the United States each year — and add the tons of aluminum used in things like cars, electronics and house siding — and the efforts by Goldman and other financial players has cost American consumers more than $5 billion over the last three years, say former industry executives, analysts and consultants.

Say it with me, Dr. Evil: $5 BILLION DOLLARS! And that figure entrances The Gawker and Yves Smith, both of whom attribute it to Goldman as profit rather than the consumer as added expense.

But does the $5 billion figure number make any sense? Hmm.

Per the US Geological Survey's figures, for 2012:

Based on published market prices, the value of primary metal production was $4.32 billion.

That was for 2,000,000 metric tons of primary consumption. A lot of aluminum is also recycled and some is imported, so "Apparent consumption" in the United States for 2012 was estimated at 4,520,000 metric tons. That has a total market value, at their figure of $0.98 per pound, of roughly $10 billion. Consumption was a bit less in 2011 and 2010 but average prices were a bit higher; some quick arithmetic gives me an estimate of $26 billion for total aluminum consumption in the US in the last three years.

And $5 billion of that went from the sheeple to Goldman Sachs? Scandalous! But wait - what happened to "Only a tenth of a cent or so of an aluminum can’s purchase price can be traced back to the strategy...". "Only" hardly seems appropriate if the net impact of this price manipulation is a 20% price increase.

So what does an aluminum can cost, anyway? Well, one can weighs 15 grams, or about half an ounce. 16 ounces to a pound implies 32 cans per pound. And this source says 33 cans per pound, so so far, so good.

At roughly a dollar a pound for aluminum, one can has about 3 cents worth of metal. Even with processing cots of zero, the one-tenth of a cent described by the Times is nowhere near 20% of the total cost; it is more like 3.3%, actually.

This discrepancy does not boost my confidence, which was low at the outset of the story. Further diminishing my confidence is this:

Because Metro International charges rent each day for the stored metal, the long queues caused by shifting aluminum among its facilities means larger profits for Goldman. And because storage cost is a major component of the “premium” added to the price of all aluminum sold on the spot market, the delays mean higher prices for nearly everyone, even though most of the metal never passes through one of Goldman’s warehouses.

Aluminum industry analysts say that the lengthy delays at Metro International since Goldman took over are a major reason the premium on all aluminum sold in the spot market has doubled since 2010. The result is an additional cost of about $2 for the 35 pounds of aluminum used to manufacture 1,000 beverage cans, investment analysts say, and about $12 for the 200 pounds of aluminum in the average American-made car.

Wel, $2 per 1000 cans is 0.2 cents per can, which is twice their earlier estimate. But $2 on 35 pounds of aluminum valued at $35 is still only 5.7%, not 20%.

$12 per 200 pounds of aluminum (at $1/lb) in a car is a percentage of 12/200 or, hey, 6%. Well, they are at least providing a consistent estimate, even if it is just one-third of their eye-catching "$5 billion" figure. And sure, $1.7 billion of excess costs is, well, excessive. Of course, the notion that all these storage fees represent pure profit is untested - one might think that storage ought to cost something.

What the Times seems to have discovered is the Twilight struggle between end-users and speculators. Just what was meant to happen when the global economy hit the skids in 2008? Aluminum producers could (a) stop mining bauxite, the raw material, (b) stop smelting bauxite into aluminum, or (c) make the aluminum and store it (or sell it to speculators willing to do just that) in hopes of higher prices down the road. Depending on the material, storage may be the least expensive option (As an alternative example, Saudi Arabia simply pumps less oil during price slumps, but storing refined oil is problematic.)

With a proper futures market mining and smelting can be smoothed out a bit and "excess" production simply stored. Speculators took advantage of low interest rates to do just that with a number of metals. End users naturally squawk because these "hoarders" are "driving up prices", which is undoubtedly correct - if producers were obliged to sell all of their output despite a collapse in demand, either prices would plunge more than they did, or the expense of shuttering mines and smelters and laying off workers would be incurred.

The idea that any of this is new, or only began when Goldman entered the market in 2010 is absurd. The Times is promoting this now because there will be a Senate hearing on Tuesday and the Democratic chair wants some attention. Mission accomplished!

MY NEW BEST FRIENDS: Goldman Sachs comments:

An unnamed Goldman executive gave Politico the company’s response to the Times story, saying that it “grossly inflated the power of warehouses in the aluminum market.”

I concur.

ERRATA: Two graphs show us aluminum prices and inventory over the last five years:

And LME inventory:

Some additional snippets for flavor. First, users v. speculators, June 23, 2013:

A trade group representing brewers is urging the London Metal Exchange to take steps to reduce warehouse backlogs that beermakers say boost the cost of aluminum used to make drinks cans.

The Beer Institute in Washington pressed the exchange to “end restrictive and outdated warehousing rules and practices that are interfering with normal supply and demand dynamics,” according to a statement provided yesterday by Christopher Thorne, a spokesman for the group. Members include MillerCoors LLC and Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI)’s Anheuser-Busch unit, according to the organization’s website.

...

Warehouse queues for aluminum have grown as more metal gets tied up in financing deals that typically involve a simultaneous purchase of metal for delivery in the near future and a sale for later delivery that takes advantage of a market in contango, where prices rise into the future.

The premium buyers pay to obtain aluminum in the U.S. climbed to a record 12 cents to 13 cents a pound this week, according to Austin, Texas-based researcher Harbor Intelligence.

If the normal premium is 6 cents per pound than the Goldman premium is at the 6% figure the Times seems to be using.

Cranky Congressman. And let me endorse the notion that there are some real issues here, even if the $5 billion figure is just NY Times hype and mirrors.

A hypothetical warehouse operator, from Oct 2 2012:

Let’s get something straight from the outset: before you beat up on me for running a warehouse business, cast your mind back to 2008, when the economic downturn slammed metal demand. Who stepped in to provide a home for all the excess supply? The warehouse firms did.

So don’t tell me we’re the bad guys. If we hadn’t reacted so quickly and efficiently to give you space to store metal, LME prices would probably be a lot lower than they are today. Do you know how long I had to wait for this? The business is cyclical. For many years, my sheds looked like empty, paved football fields. Some of us went into the logistics game. Others stored household items and electronics to claw back a little of the losses. Some of us didn’t have any metal in the sheds at all. It was a really tough time. Nobody paid us for just existing. Now times have changed, and suddenly I’m getting heat from all directions. One of the consequences of the steady inflow of metal to my warehouses is that sometimes there’s a wait to get it out again. What did you expect?

Headscratching from October 3 2012:

The storage of London Metal Exchange-approved metal has probably never been so controversial.

Opinions over the rights and wrongs of the LME’s system differ not just among producers, traders and consumers, but also within warehousing companies themselves.

Whether you like the queues or not, the fact remains that warehousing firms appear to operate within the LME rules.

Of the 26 companies that operate warehouses in 37 different locations around the world, none has ever been found to have breached LME rules governing load-out rates, breached Chinese walls or failed to maintain their LME-approved facilities according to exchange requirements.

Neither has a consumer failed to get enough metal to run its operations effectively, including an enforced shutdown due to metal being stuck in an outbound queue in Detroit or Vlissingen, where companies each store more than 900,000 tonnes.

In fact, producers have found a home for their metal during a downturn, traders and banks have found a lucrative new income stream in the form of financing deals, and warehouse owners have never had quite such a bonanza.

Ultimately, metal in financing deals is still available – it just has a price attached. The rapid rise in premiums for physical delivery is just one part of the phenomenon.

Although it can be argued that everything links back to long waiting times to access metal, premiums are still at elevated levels across the world and in locations where no queues exist.

If nobody is actually doing anything technically wrong – and nobody is really struggling to get metal for consumption – then what is all the fuss about?

Something doesn’t smell quite right, but nobody can really put their finger on what it is. If the firms are operating within the rules, then do the rules need changing?

Looks like manipulation, or something - in New Orleans the warehouses have long queues but still want more metal:

New Orleans warehousing firms are offering lucrative incentives for copper to be put into storage in their sheds, which already have huge queues for material, traders said.

A total of 4,525 tonnes of copper went into the city's London Metal Exchange-approved warehouses last week alone, with parcels of Chilean metal being taken into stock on incentives of more than $100 a tonne. The high incentives could create a new flashpoint in the debate about warehousing because owners of metal in New Orleans warehouses are already having to wait about six months to obtain their metal, people familiar with the issue told Metal Bulletin. “There’s a concerted effort to buy the Chilean material that is floating around to put into New Orleans warehouses and create a queue,” a trader whose firm is active in physical copper in the region said. “Incentives of over $100 are being offered, and it’s simply a game to tighten the market,” the trader added.

Lord Copper, Oct 12 2012, blames easy money and the desire to promote jobs rather than cut production:

If we look at aluminium, there is currently, let’s say, something more than 10 million tonnes of metal sitting in long-term storage, taking advantage of the economic situation I describe above.

If circumstances were not as they are, I believe that post-2008, the price would have dropped further (not being supported by warehouse-trade buying), which would have resulted in more and swifter production cuts.

That would have helped to balance supply and demand, which, after all, is what the fluctuating futures price normally does.

Instead, not only have production cuts been delayed, but stock is also a burgeoning stock which will serve to depress future prices when demand climbs again.

In other words, a well-meaning attempt to ease the financial crisis will have serious knock-on effects in the future, and that is the problem the warehouse trade and its attendant queues is telling us exists.

More background is here, although I surely can't vouch for it.

MORE DATA: A recent Bloomberg article offers this for the math mavens:

U.S. Aluminum Premium Seen Falling as Storage Incentives Slide

...

The premium slid to 11.8 to 12 cents a pound this week from a record 12 to 13 cents, Jorge Vazquez, managing director of the Austin, Texas-based researcher, said by e-mail today. Storage incentives dropped to 8.6 cents a pound from 10.5 cents and are poised to slide further, he said.

More in this recent Bloomberg article:

Since 2010, the additional cost to aluminum users is about $3 billion annually, according to the Beer Institute, a Washington-based trade group that represents brewers.

Buyers have to pay premiums over the LME benchmark prices even with a glut of aluminum being produced. Premiums in the U.S. surged to a record 12 cents to 13 cents a pound in June, almost doubling from 6.5 cents in mid-2010, according to the most recent data available from Austin, Texas-based researcher Harbor Intelligence.

So the machinations of Goldman et al have raied the premium by about 6 cents per pound, which is line with the 6% figure we gleaned from the NY Ties numbers. But now the Beer Institute is saying that the annual global cost is $3 billion? Or is that the US domestic cost?

If it is domestic, that is double the NY Times $5 billion figure and won't be right. The global market for aluminum is about 50 million metric tons, or about $100 billion (Yes, I am surprised by how small the US share is). So if Goldman is adding 6% to the cost, that should be $6 billion per year, not $3 billion.

I will square the circle by asserting that China is both a large producer and large consumer and may be insulated from this premium play. In which case, maybe half the global market is suffering a 6% distortion totalling $3 billion per year.

Well - if the US is half of the non-Chinese market (its not) then we can approach that $5 billion figure. My BS detector remains in the red.

 

Comments

[steve]

Silly Tom, using facts and numbers to argue your point. Such a waste of time.

The NYT found out a long time ago that its (few remaining) readers just want to read the NYT blasting an enemy of the people. There's no need for math, logic or consistency, all they care about is the headline.

[Jack is Back!]

Do they even understand the economics of Aluminum production? Invest in huge baseload electric power production first, then Bauxite, the smelting equipment, rollers and other infrastructure. I am sure there is more return there than in recycled cans.

[henry]

That explains why TK keeps his boat full of cans.

[Danube on iPad]

Unreadable.

[GMax]

Whoops ditzy State Judge about to get her @ss handed back to her on a platter?

The judge overseeing Detroit’s bankruptcy case says he will hold the first hearing on Wednesday.

Judge Steven Rhodes said Monday that he will take up the city’s request to freeze any lawsuits challenging last week’s decision to file for bankruptcy protection.

[cathy_f]

Warehouses buy and store the metal in the hope that it is worth more in the future (when it comes out of the warehouse) than it is worth in the present (when it is bought to be put in to the warehouse.) If, as the whiners claim, the metals are worth more now, then the warehousers are going to be slaughtered while the whiners will get bragging rights. If the whiners are wrong, they lose nothing but a little embarrassment, while the warehousers will profit handsomely.

So, who do you believe? The whiners who have no skin in the game, or the warehousers and investors who actually have their own money at risk?

A quite plausible explanation for all this is that commodities are a substitute for money when governments debase the currencies. It's not that the market is going long metals but rather they are going short money -- in the future, there will be a certain demand for metals which is the demand for cans and cars and all that jazz, but added to that will be the demand for metals as currency. Yes, indeed, metals make an inefficient currency, and you have to pay a storage premium, but if you trust the government to continue to debase money, then it's worth it to pay the extra cost for a currency that the government can't **** up.

[MikeHggns]

"If you store the ore, pay the guv some more!"

[Threadkiller]

The boat is aluminum as well.

[boatbuilder]

I'm going to have to just take your word on this one, Tom.

[NK]

cathy_f --well said. that's been my take since 2007 housing bubble burst. There wasan intense commodities run up until Fall 2008, then commodities regressed as a strategy as the Dollar became the safe haven, until BenB started 'debasing' the Dollar (relative to commodities) with QE in 2009.

[jimmyk]

Reader's Digest version: NY Times thinks speculators stocking aluminum are evil profiteers; the reality is that inventories are a low-cost means of stabilizing prices and production.

May I take this opportunity to quote Adam Smith? "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.... I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good."

[NK]

Cathy_F-- a little birdy asked me to inquire what you make about the absence of Glencore from that NY Times story?

[matt]

This is the new Obamanomics, of course. Punish the enemies of the state while subsidizing the administration's cronies.

I am now tempted to sell out and invest in (steal) a shopping cart and begin to mine aluminum from our fair city's trash cans.

California already has a black market in both cans and bottles from other states being imported to claim the higher ($0.10/can or bottle) deposits.

I believe a SWAT Team recently cornered a 1985 Chevrolet Super Duty stake truck with a crew of two dastardly rogues who looked a lot like Duck Dynasty rejects.

The truck was loaded so heavily that the springs sagged with bootleg Mountain Dew, Nestea,and New Coke cans as well as hundreds of thousands of 12 oz water bottles. Biggest bust in years in Inyokern County, I'm told.

If I do decide on this massive new venture, I hear that I'll get an Obamaphone and food stamps and they'll pay my mortgage too.....

[Old Lurker]

Matt, I think the first dollar I ever made was from collecting pop bottles from beside the road. Are you suggesting that might be the source of my last dollar made too?

[Old Lurker]

Related question: will that be scored as a real job?

[Danube on iPad]

Hadda be Inyo County or Kern County, Matt. Inyokern is a town.

Good one, Jimmyk. The invisible hand is something I'd like to see a lot more of.

[matt]

Could be, OL, as Bugs would have said.

I remember collecting pop bottles because the bottlers wanted to recycle. the came disposable plastic bottles and now the dumps are filled with millions more disposable bottles every day, resulting in reduced landfill lifetimes.

The sad thing is that the corporations and government still can't seem to figure out how to segregate all of the different formulations of plastic. Wacky....

[NK]

OL-- too funny....

[Old Lurker]

Matt, I started to add my own comment regarding the two cents per bottle I got in the 50s was what it was worth to the bottling company to use that coke bottle for the 50th time.

Now here on Nantucket there are reverse vending machines at the Stop & Shop that disburse the reverse tax as the locals take bottles and cans out of our trash to run them through the machines where they are ground up. Wonder how many I can cart from MD on the ferry next year?

[NK]

OL-- I assume you'll outsource that 'carting' work, for afair split of the proceeds.

[Some Guy]

The New York Times...?

Didn't they used to be somebody?

[Jane -walk like an Egyptian]

It's a boy!

[Rob Crawford]

But, but, the AoS morons are enraged!

[Rob Crawford]

The sad thing is that the corporations and government still can't seem to figure out how to segregate all of the different formulations of plastic. Wacky....

Not at all "wacky". There are no easy-to-use physical differences between plastics to allow them to be mechanically separated.

[NK]

Mazel Tov to the family Windsor.* Another male direct heir to the throne-- time for Parliament to pass a bill jettisoning that Nitwit Charles from the line of succession.

* Cue Handel's Zadok the Priest.

[Thomas Collins]

The NY Times articles covers many things, including (i) delays in delivery, (ii) increase in speculators storing metals, (iii) banks engaging in excessively freewheeling activities, and (iv) banks inappropriately receiving market info. I'd like to focus on delivery time for the moment. Can anyone explain to me why delivery time would be longer with a Goldman owned entity than another entity in the storage business? If there are unreasonable delays, is the argument that Goldman type entities are going to mess up Coca Cola's financing structure if Coke complains?

In any event, if anyone thinks delays are bad now, wait until Congress creates an Aluminum Spot Pricing, Storage and Use Protection Board (housed within the Federal Reserve, of course, and populated with all types of "stakeholders" as directors). Then you will see real delays.

[Some Guy]

Prince Charles is visited by the Queen’s secretary:

“Your highness, I’ve got good news and bad news from the Queen”

“What’s the good news?”

“The Queen is giving up the throne”

“What’s the bad news?”

“So are you.”

[NK]

Some Guy@3:53-- Huzzah Huzzah, Elizabeth knew he would never be King, why else name the Dufus 'Charles' a damnable name in British royal history. King William, now there's a name for a sovereign (OK the original was Danish, but whatever.)

[AliceH]

Well, the first William was Norman, and the next two were Dutch, but Huzzah all the same.

[Some Guy]

why else name the Dufus 'Charles' a damnable name in British royal history.

“Mummy, was I named after a great warrior?”

“No, Charles”

“was I named after a great statesman?”

“No, Charles”

“was I named after a…”

“No, Charles”

“then who?”

“a spaniel.”

“oh.”

[Dave (in MA)]

It's a boy!

OMG WTHC?

No offense, Jane--it's my standard response.

[narciso]

So, the Times doesn't understand economics, shocker;

http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/22/embattled-irs-chief-counsel-met-with-obama-2-days-before-writing-new-targeting-criteria/

[JIB]

NK,

She won't abdicate. She's been anointed. Great Britain is different than the continental royals like you saw recently in The Netherlands and Belgium. There is nothing "legally" keeping her on the throne but in England it just is not done. She made a promise to serve until her demise.

She hates abdication since she blames her uncle Edward's abdication on her dad (George VI) due to the stress it placed on him unexpectedly. He died at 57, I believe after WW2.

Plus she is the head of the Church of England and has given a promise to serve out her term as head.

He will just have to wait until its his term. He can, of course, abdicate, like his great uncle, but only before he has been anointed and install as the King.

[Porchlight]

Well, I'm very happy for them. They seem like good people and I hope they can enjoy their new baby with at least some amount of privacy.

BTW what fun if they named him George. :)

[Porchlight]

And George seems like a possibility in honor of the Queen's father.

[daddy]

Stuart Varney sez the estimate is that the Brits will spend 350 million on booze today.

I'll drink to that!

[NK]

I'm good with George, an ancient Christian name.

I'm better with that blithering idiot Charles never being on the King Edward's Chair, he'd probably make the CoE follow the Koran. Hmmm... Camilla in a full Burka is probably a good thing.

[JIB]

Typephus ate another post. Suggest everyone copy their post first before posting:

Speaking of George, the Sanford police just delivered the evidence locker to the DoJ in Orlando. Game on until someone with a semblance of intelligence calls it due to lack of evidence.

[Jane -walk like an Egyptian]

LOL Dave. I like it!

[JIB]

daddy,

The Brits spend $350 million a day on booze from my living experience over there. They need no excuses. A cracked sidewalk or rain is good enough.

[Marlene]

The Queen has taken Kate under her wing and they have a good relationship.The Queen learned a hard lesson with Diana. She has mellowed a bit.
On topic,Maine has a bottle/can deposit. The recycling center is a PITA. We donate our bottles and cans to the local Boy Scouts,the proceeds are for scout camp.

[Rob Crawford]

Stuart Varney sez the estimate is that the Brits will spend 350 million on booze today.

So they're backing off their usual level of consumption?

[Rob Crawford]

Speaking of George, the Sanford police just delivered the evidence locker to the DoJ in Orlando.

George should work with these people.

[Twang]

Absurd capitulation to the diverted story. Aluminum; heh.

Try focusing on the silver/gold derogations so that more equity is compiled into the speculative markets of choice.

Suckers !

[Rob Crawford]

Try focusing on the ENTIRELY OVERINFLATED POPCORN MARKET!!!!

SUCKAHZ!

[narciso]

Not to mention Frozen Orange Juice futures, contact the Dukes first.

[daddy]

Do we know the name yet?

I'm hoping it's Robert!

[DrJ]

I rooting for Elvis myself. King Elvis!

[matt]

Leon would be good.

[DrJ]

Leon? The "Blade Runner" character?

[Stephanie]

Re George:

Any word as to whether the deputy arriving on scene told George "we don't need you to do that?"

[matt]

No, just Leon. I've always felt that a King Leon would be a more accessible king. He could drive an El Dorado convertible and smoke Kools.

[daddy]

Hannity on radio just said that Phil Michelson will hand over 13.5 percent of his Brit Open winnings to the State of California.

I think JiB said that the winnings was 945,000 Euros. That equals 1,246,644.00 US Dollars.

If my math is correct, 13.5 % of $1,246,644.00 would be $168,296.94.

Pretty nice payday for Jerry Brown, courtesy of Phil.

[Threadkiller]

Dronenburg urged the California Supreme Court to rule that Gov. Jerry Brown and other statewide officials lack supervisory powers over elected county clerks, who issue marriage licenses, and may not order them to stop enforcing Proposition 8.

In her written response to the latest challenge, Harris suggested that her legal analysis prodded the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to take “the extraordinary step” of removing a legal hold on same-sex marriage before a June 26 Supreme Court decision became final.

The San Diego clerk’s petition was the second challenge to same-sex marriage filed since the high court ruled that the sponsors of Proposition 8 had no legal right or “standing” to appeal the 2010 injunction by retired Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker.

Supporters of Proposition 8 contend that Walker's injunction applied at most to two counties -- Los Angeles and Alameda -- because they were the only two counties named in the injunction and in the lawsuit challenging the ballot measure.

Harris  countered that the injunction applied statewide because it also ordered Brown and other statewide officials to stop enforcing Proposition 8, and those officials have authority over county clerks.

http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-76754951/

[MarkO]

Elvis is the King. The others are usurpers and pretenders.

[MarkO]

Imagine my disappointment that no one here has mentioned "The Mastermind of Muni-Mula."

Where have all the flowers gone?

[daddy]

Brett Baire:

A senior US Military commander at the time of the Benghazi attacks has come forward with first hand knowledge to say "it was clear the attack on the (Benghazi) Consulate had nothing to do with an anti-Islam YOUTUBE Video from the beginning."

Anybody surprised?

[narciso]

So, it's a welcome respite from the mendacity, idiocy and jackholery we've been subject, speaking of Amanda Marcotte, fitting those three categories.

[daddy]

Speaking of Elvis, and food fit for a King...

[MarkO]

daddy,

The VF article demolishes Obama and Clinton.

The GOP sends letters. Yawn.

[narciso]

Strongly worded letters, with large fonts, MarkO,

[Gmax]

At this point, what difference does it make?

[daddy]

Meatballs and Bacon! Yumm!

Sweet Potato Pie! Double Yumm!!

[Janet --- -... .- -- .- ... ..- -.-. -.- ...]

Royal name generator.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/07/12/royal-name-generator/2512673/?sf15237170=1

[daddy]

Tell me Dear, are you hungry tonight?

Thank ya, Thank ya' very much.

[Janet --- -... .- -- .- ... ..- -.-. -.- ...]

Pow Wow Chow -

[Buford Gooch]

Errata: I don not think that word means what you think it means.

[daddy]

I can't help falling in love with Peanut Butter and banana sandwiches.

[Dr. Weevil]

The obvious best name for any king is Rex. And the new Pope really should have picked Sextus: there have already been five Popes named Sextus, so the next one will be Sextus VI or, in Latin, Sextus Sextus. Do I have to tell anyone what King Rex would be in Latin?

[daddy]

Mexican Oat meal soup?

Yumm!

[Danube on iPad]

"it also ordered Brown and other statewide officials to stop enforcing Proposition 8"

Were they parties to the suit? If not, I don't think the order can be applied to them.

This new babe on the Fox All-stars is quite horrid.

[daddy]

Love me, love my meatloaf!

[Jim Rhoads f/k/a vnjagvet]

1 stick of butter and a cup of peanut butter for three sandwiches. Yowza.

[Twang]

Is it any wonder he tanked on the toilet at age 42?

[Danube on iPad]

I don't like the numbers I'm seeing in the Virginia governor's race.

[narciso]

Sally kohn, the lefty commmunity organizer, fan of Jeremiah Wright, tell me another one,

[NJJan]

Do
The new babe on special report is Sally Kohn and she makes Beckel look like a Mensa candidate

[daddy]

1 stick of butter and a cup of peanut butter for three sandwiches. Yowza.

Hopefully JIm it makes "the good kind of cholesterol, not the bad kind."

[narciso]

McAuliffe, he enbarasses Denebian slime devils, who are less slimy on balance.

[daddy]

OT

This is a surprising article to see in our Lefty local blog, on our defunct Alaskan Timber industry:

Attack on Alaska's state forester was low, even for Greenpeace

[maryrose]

Janet:
Please tell me sanity will reign in Virginia and Cuccinelli will be your next governor. I cannot stomach the SMARMY McAuliffe.

[maryrose]

Why are they debating now when the election isn't until November?
daddy:
I am not surprised by the General Ham explanation wrt Benghazi. When I think back on it now, Hil and Preezy must have thought we all were pretty stupid to swallow a video story explanation for out and out terrorism. Their contempt for our intelligence was so pobvious in this ploy of theirs. Susan Rice must have felt like a real doofus after those 5 Sunday shows aired. Go luck at the UN trying to get your credibility back.

[narciso]

Oh Wilkins, happens to have been a lobbyist for the Swiss Banker's Association, hm, I recall a spot of trouble they were in some years ago.

[daddy]

I will leave you with some just desserts:

And don't you lay off of my Pecan Pie!

God save the King!!!!

KayyyyRoooo!

[Gmax]

Sally Kohn seemed to be extraordinarily interested in gay rights. My guess based on the haircut and the suit, it was self interest.

[maryrose]

narciso:
Every one of Bammy's personnel has a checkered past. He likes to be an equal opportunity employer when it comes to dubious characters and people rejected elsewhere that need a second chance.Val Jarrett comes to mind as does Lisa Jackson and Prerez. Doesn't anyone of them not have the whiff of scandal surrounding them? Why not hire Bill Clinton and Monica to round out his troop of reprobates. What Obama doesn't realize is the American people don't want a trope of losers abusing our rights and trampling on the Constitution.

[maryrose]

It seems the only thing we got out of the nuclear option fight was Obama rescinding two names of illegally appointed members of the committee Cordray now illegally manages. A third court called Cordray's appointment illegal. Portman voted for him because he is from Ohio and our former AG.

[Janet --- -... .- -- .- ... ..- -.-. -.- ...]

I have no idea what will happen. The left hates Cuccinelli like they hated Palin. More than the normal hate. It is uber hate.

His going after Mann the AGW fraudster & liar was too much for them.
He's pro-life too....which drives them crazy.
McAuliffe is hardly mentioned...it is all about how awful Cuccinelli is.

[Captain Hate]

Hey maryrose, did you note that a tornado must have hit early Saturday morning just to the east of me and ripped the wall off of Usuline's gym? It was windy @ my place late Friday night and a *lot* of rain but I had no idea how bad it was elsewhere until I drove to play basketball and there were traffic lights out in South Euclid and Euclid Creek Park was closed.

[Janet --- -... .- -- .- ... ..- -.-. -.- ...]

I don't know what the WaPo is saying about the candidates. I try very hard not to even click on any links to the WaPo site anymore.

I even called & told them to quit mailing me their coupon mailer that came once a week. I had to call 3 or so times but it finally quit coming.

[Captain Hate]

Portman voted for him because he is from Ohio and our former AG.

Maybe Portman's homo son told him he should vote that way because I can't think of a sane reason to vote for a home grown jerk like Cordray.

Janet, no offense to you but growing up in Maryland it seemed like Virginians were mostly touched in the head.

[Janet --- -... .- -- .- ... ..- -.-. -.- ...]

Now if we could all stop our tax dollars from going to leftist organizations...we could maybe start making some progress....

[Extraneus]

I don't think I'll ever crush an aluminum can against my forehead the same way again.

[Janet --- -... .- -- .- ... ..- -.-. -.- ...]

The people in Northern Virginia voting for McAuliffe are not Virginians.

[maryrose]

CH:
I attended Ursuline College as an undergrad and my daughter did also and worked out in the gym that got hit.
CH: That sure was a close call for you.
Janet: The Left is mad at Cuccinelli for being the first AG to file a lawsuit against Bammycare. McAuliffe reminds of an oily, lousy used car salesman.How can people vote for such scum?

[maryrose]

Janet:
Doesn't Virginia have voter ID?
We have here in Ohio but recently in the last couple of elections had an election worker vote for herself and her dead sister. If you control the sign in books you rule the world. she recently was convicted and got a 10 year sentence. We even had a nun vote illegally.Oh and by the way,we now have a CIC re-elected illegally by targeting his Tea Party opponents.

[Jane -walk like an Egyptian]

Okay, I missed it. why is Daddy writing an Elvis Presley cook book, and what does Sally Kohn have to do with it?

[Captain Hate]

maryrose is right; as a *normal* citizen in Ohio (at least at the polling place I go to which is mostly commie) you have to show an id to vote. If an election worker voted for her sister she should really go to jail. I'm tired of people voting illegally, which is treason imo, and getting away with it. If there's no respect for voting laws there's no respect for the country.

[narciso]

Sorry the unappetizing part was Kohn's appearance on the Fox All Stars,Elvis was not an Atkins diet sort, I reckon,

[Janet --- -... .- -- .- ... ..- -.-. -.- ...]

McAuliffe reminds of an oily, lousy used car salesman.How can people vote for such scum?

I hear ya, maryrose...totally agree.

I meant that many people that live here are from other states. Myself included. Northern VA is not representative of Virginia.