10,000 curses upon you for planting that horrifying earworm one day early.
4.
harokin
The day before Friday.
5.
Alexandra
My new semi-fave (apart from the first-destination Balloon Juice crew, very much including Angry Black Lady) for dishing out condescension and ridicule:
Tomorrow is Saturday. And Sunday comes afterwards.
7.
Corner Stone
Just read this fascinating article on higher education value: We’re in a Bubble and It’s Not the Internet. It’s Higher Education.
“Like the housing bubble, the education bubble is about security and insurance against the future. Both whisper a seductive promise into the ears of worried Americans: Do this and you will be safe. The excesses of both were always excused by a core national belief that no matter what happens in the world, these were the best investments you could make. Housing prices would always go up, and you will always make more money if you are college educated.”
I’ve been arguing for a while now that this “box checker on the resume” has lost its inherent ROI.
ETA, I’m not saying I agree with Thiel on everything, just that I believe higher education is a bubble that’s going to damage a lot of kids/families when it eventually bursts.
8.
Mark S.
Fun fun fun
9.
Martin
Hmm. Sounds like Boehner may not have the votes for the budget. We might have a shutdown after all. Not sure how anyone could blame the Dems after that big show of agreement and bipartisanship, assuming that Nancy whips the Dem votes all in the yes column.
[Y]oung guns from the GOP, who had excitedly volunteered, upon entering the legislature, to carry some of the flagship legislation for the Tea Party, got their hind ends burned with a red-hot poker.
__
Indeed, their dreams of legislative glory ended in a blaze of smoke and fire on the steps of the Montana Capitol today as the Governor pulled out his branding iron and burned a giant VETO onto a pile of Tea Party bills.
@Corner Stone: Yes, that’s been true for some time. It varies massively by major, though, something that students haven’t fully grasped.
Bottom line is that there aren’t nearly enough students going into technical programs (math, science, engineering, etc.) and way too many going into humanities and some of the social sciences. Supply and demand are completely fucked up there. Some of that is structural – technical programs are vastly more expensive to build out than humanities programs, so universities offer lots of the latter seats and not as many of the former, but student interest just isn’t there either. Too many students just want to check off that box.
An engineering degree, even from a shitty school is almost guaranteed to pay off, but a humanities degree is a coin flip unless you come out of Harvard. Even with an advanced degree it’s still a coin flip.
18.
Shinobi
@Corner Stone: I read that, and I do agree to a certain extent. Some degrees, business, communications, these are largely wasted degrees. (This is especially true in light of the fact that only about 5 of the 50 market researchers at my company have degrees in anything related to Market Research.)
But I have a degree in stats, and I could not do my job without it, while there was a lot of on the job stuff, that degree was important. This whole “everyone must have a bachelor’s degree” thing has been bugging me for a long time.
(My boyfriend does not have his bachelor’s, and he can’t get anyone to even look at his resume, this, is stupid.)
@Corner Stone: My preferred outcome is not a shutdown. But if Boehner is having trouble getting votes on his side, and the House vote fails with both parties voting against it in mixed numbers even after the announcement of an agreement, then voters have no choice but conclude that the place is just fucked up and party affiliation doesn’t matter. If the Dems honor the agreement and the GOP doesn’t, then politically that changes the dynamic.
Politically, I think the Dems should seize on the situation and vote for this, and give as much cover to Republicans to vote against it. They can all come out and say ‘I don’t really like this budget, but a deal’s a deal.’ The harder they can make Boehners job, the better it’s going to be for Obama, and the less attention will be paid to the Senate, which is equally dysfunctional but with Dems in charge.
21.
kdaug
@Martin: Thus the political push to elevate STEM over, say, finance.
The officials insist that these American fighter jets are assigned only to enforcement of the “no-fly zone” and have not taken part in airstrikes against Libyan ground forces. The U.S. aircraft can be used when needed to take out enemy defenses as part of the enforcement of the no-fly zone.
Stand Up to Racism and White Supremacy Free Crystal Mangum!!1!
Peace Out. The power is yours.
25.
Jared
So what do you think Boner and Co will offer up this time to keep those sweet sweet tax cuts? Last time it was unemployment bens extension, DADT, some new judges and START.
What would be worth it this time? Immigration reform? Cap and trade?
In a shocking development, it turns out that several days of emo bullshit from back seat drivers regarding Barack Obama turned out to be complete and utter bullshit.
28.
4tehlulz
Weak Speaker is WEEEEAAAAK
29.
EconWatcher
Does anyone know if Boehner will actually be able to line up the votes for the budget deal, now that word is out from the CBO that the spending cuts were basically all smoke-and-mirrors? And won’t this endanger Boehner’s leadership position?
Also, am I crazy to think that Boehner actually conspired with Obama to try to snooker the tea party caucus within his own party? I find it hard to believe that Obama snookered Boehner; Boehner must have known about the smoke and mirrors. It seems to me that Obama and Boehner made a very short term alliance of convenience to get a budget through. They decided that “historic deep budget cuts” was their story, and they were sticking to it.
I would think the tea partiers will now go after Boehner, no? And while Boehner will sustain most of the damage, I have to say Obama doesn’t come out looking all that honest, in his portrayal of mostly bogus budget cuts.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s nuts to cut short-term spending with 9% unemployment, so I like the result. But I think that case needed to be made, and never was. And somehow I think Obama might find he was a little too clever on this one, though I’m not informed enough to game the whole thing out.
I feel like my arm is all warmed up and I don’t have a game to pitch. I was primed to review “Atlas Shrugged.” I figured it might provide a parable of Ayn Rand’s philosophy that I could discuss. … And now I am faced with this movie, the most anticlimactic non-event since Geraldo Rivera broke into Al Capone’s vault.
Evidently, he seems to feel the movie is so empty that there’s just nothing to eviscerate. What a letdown.
I saw that. Maybe 11-dimensional chess is more real than we think. First, you get Boehner to agree to a budget that turns out to not really be in his favor. Then you get him to declare victory early on so when he finds out he crashes to earth that much harder. And finally, you get Nancy Pelosi, the Republican equivalent of satan, bailing out the ass of a Speaker who got duped by the president and can’t control his own party to prevent the very unpopular government shutdown. How do you think the Tea Party will react to Boehner having to beg Pelosi for votes? How will Teabaggers in congress react.
Maybe there’s something I’m missing, but it looks for now like Obama, Pelosi and co. pulled a fast one on the Tea Party.
@kdaug: I think that would be Sergey Brin at Google.
Technically, mathematician, but the point is still there.
36.
kindness
@Martin: Yup, Repubs did need Democrats to pass the 2011 budget. Only 179 Repubs voted yes. Luckily for the non-teabagger set, 59 Dems voted yes too. Am I cruel in thinking Nancy should have made Boehner modify the resolution to include Wash DC being able to fund abortions with their own money?
37.
Jay C
Apparently, the 2011 Budget is a done deal: Via dKos: the final tally:
Republicans: 179 Yes, 59 No
Democrats: 81 Yes, 108 No
I find it hard to believe that Obama snookered Boehner; Boehner must have known about the smoke and mirrors
At first, I thought Obama snookered him – Boehner is far from a policy wonk, and the White House, especially this White House, has much stronger staff resources.
But I’m coming around. Boehner has always been a deal-maker, not a bomb-thrower.
But I think that case needed to be made, and never was.
It was made yesterday, though, in the speech in which Obama introduced his 2012 budget. I’d say that arguing the case for liberalism vs. the case against is best done on a big stage, during a protracted debate, not a quick one. Putting Obama’s two speeches together this week, it looks like he just wanted to get the leftover budget out of the way, and open up the next debate.
I think it just means that the tea partiers have no idea how to appropriate. For them, it’s all just abstract numbers and social causes. That’s how they got beat.
You have to really work hard to cut the size of government. That’s why the meager cuts in the compromise are all on the backs of the weak sisters of the budget world who can’t lobby back effectively. Foreign aid, the EPA, city of Washington D.C., etc.
41.
Spaghetti Lee
From Ebert’s review:
There is also a love scene, which is shown not merely from the waist up but from the ears up. The man keeps his shirt on. This may be disappointing for libertarians, who I believe enjoy rumpy-pumpy as much as anyone.
What? No rape sequence?
42.
Dexter
So Boner needed 50-odd Democratic votes to pass the budget. Can’t wait for the tea party to go after him.
43.
jon d
ABL is really pissed, does she and Freddie have relations in The Real?
44.
Martin
@kdaug: There aren’t that many finance guys making 100M a year. Just because a plumber won $300M in Super Lotto, doesn’t mean that plumber is a more reliable career choice. I know you know that, but somehow we need to convince the nation that having a bad hairstyle doesn’t automatically get you Donald Trumps net worth.
45.
kdaug
@catclub: And what’s the ratio of Wall Street speculators to Sergey Brins?
I see that Ebert has taken note of Rand’s sledgehammer-like obviousness:
The story involves Dagny Taggart (Taylor Schilling), a young woman who controls a railroad company named Taggart Transcontinental (its motto: “Ocean to Ocean”).
You have to really work hard to cut the size of government.
For one thing, you have to understand the government and how it works.
And the Republicans of this generation take great pride in not doing that, in not being part of the system.
These people can. not. govern. They can campaign, and they can make an effective case for their policies and philosophy, but they have no idea how to run the government. This little blip in their permanent minority status is going to give them some serious heartburn.
somehow we need to convince the nation that having a bad hairstyle doesn’t automatically get you Donald Trumps net worth.
Ideas?
ETA: I think attacking the filthy lucre itself would be a step forward. Shame the rich (before soaking and eating, of course). A little “How dare you” in polite society could go a long way.
Yes it just passed, we are funded through September. Good gawd I can’t imagine going through this agita again.
Pelosi voted against it, according to Teh Twittahz she said: “we can do better by women, students, #DC and investing in our future.”
53.
catclub
@kdaug: you asked for an engineer making $100m /year. I gave you one.
Plus, I do know that the problem is not in the lack of $100m/yr engineering jobs, but in the greater likelihood of earning $250-400k/yr as a lawyer or real estate agent than as an engineer.
In a shocking development, it turns out that several days of emo bullshit from back seat drivers regarding Barack Obama turned out to be complete and utter bullshit.
Pretty ironic it’a a TPM link.
55.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@kdaug: A civil engineer who’s been in the business 20 years and is managing projects should be making $100K a year, or close to it. That works out to $48/hr
Now, that’s about as high as you can go and still get to do engineering. Above that, you’re managing people and budgets. And engineers hate all that stuff.
In terms of his chair, he’s got plenty of Congressmen who’ve got his back. He didn’t win the Speakership by being a beauty queen for the Republican Party, but by doing what he does best – lining up and calling in favors.
But his time in the sun as the face of the party is done, and you know what? I’ll be that suits him just fine. He can go back to scotch, golf, and doing well for himself in back rooms.
57.
catclub
@Southern Beale: “Good gawd I can’t imagine going through this agita again.”
The fanbois will be devastated. It’s not Rand without a woman who wants to be raped symbolizing the proletariat’s desire to be mastered by their ubermensch Galtian overlords.
.
60.
batgirl
@Southern Beale: My obscenely wealthy cousin assures me that if we raise taxes that he and his buddies will all just go galt. Given that they are all in gambling, excuse me, finance, I said please do, no one will notice.
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: Depends on the field. If you’re doing chemical engineering or the right kind of process engineering, you can bring in quite a bit more than that.
May each of the privileged and racist members of the Balloon Juice Cockwallet Cabal get a flat tire in Compton at midnight…
__ http://twitter.com/AngryBlackLady
@catclub: You think a finance person is more qualified to go on to law school or earn a RE license than an engineer is? Engineers typically don’t do those things because they already have non-shitty jobs, unlike the finance guys that aren’t running a hedge fund.
@Southern Beale:
We hit the debt ceiling in early May. I’ve read that they can stretch that out until June and then it really is crunch time.
Considering the number of programs and agencies that would have to be completely defunded to enable us to live within our tax revenues and service the debt I’m not certain that the Republicans won’t go on a kamikaze run.
69.
Brachiator
@Corner Stone: An interesting article, but I think I would be more interested in the results if the guy picked kids out of high school.
70.
kdaug
@catclub: Ah, there’s the rub. Spend your time on STEM, or go to Wall Street.
“Good at math and programming? Let’s set you up in our micro-transaction derivative division and we’ll pay you (ok) $50M.”
vs.
“Good at math and programming? Come work for NASA/DARPA and we’ll pay you $150K.”
The incentives aren’t there, and until we get all draconian on the tax code, I don’t think there will be.
71.
Quicksand
I think we should all buy tickets and (optionally) see Atlas Shrugged, Part the First. It would be a shame if they didn’t make parts II and III, so what the heck, I’m in for a Hamilton.
72.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@joe from Lowell: I forgot to mention that civils are on the bottom of the engineering pay scale. We deal in dirt. Or concrete, or water. Or shit, actually. None of that glamorous software stuff.
Q: What’s the difference between mechanical and civil engineers?
A: Mechanical engineers build weapons. Civil engineers build targets.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s nuts to cut short-term spending with 9% unemployment, so I like the result. But I think that case needed to be made, and never was. And somehow I think Obama might find he was a little too clever on this one, though I’m not informed enough to game the whole thing out.
How so? Boehner has to get that budget passed in the house, that isn’t a matter of politics. The tea tards wanted an excuse to shut down the government and Obama didn’t give it to them.
While I’d take odds (and not long ones) that your analysis is correct, I think the actual results of the 2011 financing fights are going to be less important* than the optics of the situation, i.e. the politics of it. And by appearances, President Obama and the Democrats come out looking pretty good.
Scenario: The House GOP – driven by the Tea Party nuts – went far out on a limb, “demanding” radical budget cuts to keep the G’s financing going; Obama/Dems semi-caved, and agreed to a somewhat less drastic chop: the Teatards flipped out and ran around drawing “lines in the sand” – but in the end, it was “Obama’s” funding bill that got passed – with Democratic help (and BIG surprise: the “drastic” cuts are ameliorated somewhat by budgetary gimmickry: Hoocoodanode?)- the GOP are left looking like chumps, and Obama like a frickin’ statesman: as usual, the only adult in the room.
Boehner has always been a deal-maker, not a bomb-thrower.
Yeah: but his big House majority contains enough of the latter to make his (political) life miserable. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy…
My point was that smart kids are choosing law school – or used to – because it seemed like an easier road to substantial (to me!) earning potential.
Plus, ask Dean Baker how many lawyers we import compared to engineers. The kids know that if cheap competition is banned – or impractical – you get better earnings.
77.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
You are a cold, cruel man. To my knowledge I’ve done nothing to offend you, yet you posted a line from that song?
King John I of Ohio was in Cincinnati today, where he announced his choice for GOP Presidential candidate. Got any guesses?
Above that, you’re managing people and budgets. And engineers hate all that stuff.
Gah. That’s a whole different rant (one I’m happy to have), but where the fuck did we get it in our heads that once you’ve achieved a certain level of expertise in one specialty, say bimetallic engineering or tuberculosis control, now suddenly you’re a “MANAGER” and you need to go through PowerPoint and Excel training?
WTF? No.
80.
jibeaux
I hope I’m not in the Cockwallet Cabal. I have a wallet, but it just has some cards and exactly one dollar in it. I don’t think you can be in any cabal with a buck to your name, actually.
81.
Omnes Omnibus
@jibeaux: My wallet is from Cole-Haan; it is very nice. It is leather, but I don’t know what kind.
Hm, around here, the fundraising team loves the engineering grads…and not because the engineers make exorbitant salaries. They’re good salaries, but an awful lot of them get the invention and entrepreneurial bug and make lots and lots of money that way.
Well then, does your wallet have Bad Motherfucker embroidered on it? If not, I win.
92.
STUCKZILLA!
i wANT TO TASTE THE new front pager FIREBAGGERS LIVER, WHEN MY INTERNET IS fixesd. fucking lAPTOP keyboard. SERVED WITH with some pork an beans and a diet COKE. ThANkY YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY FART MR. COLE. IWILL avenge this blASTPHONY
A little “How dare you” in polite society could go a long way.
Which is the polite society, again? We live in a world where crowds alternately cheer and boo Charlie Sheen, not because he is blowing wads of money on hookers and drugs, but because he is not sufficiently entertaining.
…you need to go through PowerPoint and Excel training?
I’ve ended up doing enough public meetings and proposal presentations, and it’s been so long since I’ve done any H/H and water quality modeling that I tell people my only remaining technical skill is PowerPoint.
But hey, I can make great looking slides!
96.
Omnes Omnibus
@Bob Loblaw: There were a few people who chose to to be complete asses to ABL on what seemed to be nonsubstantive grounds.
97.
Amir_Khalid
@JGabriel: I also liked where Ebert mentions Dagny Taggart and Hank Rearden driving through the deserts of Wyoming.
98.
scav
@kdaug: Ditto. I blame MBAs, but I do that often so I wouldn’t rely on that. And it’s not limited to engineers. It’s almost anyone that can think their way out of a bag, paper or otherwise.
99.
Dennis SGMM
@jibeaux:
I slaughtered a Republican, tanned his hide and made my wallet out of that. Because he was a typical Republican lardass I also made a messenger bag and a set of seatcovers for the Miata. Oh, and a nice set of change purses from his chins.
*gasp* You mean the author has taken liberties with the Literal Word of Rand?
102.
EconWatcher
Bob L.,
Obama seems to have snookered the tea party, perhaps with the complicity of Boehner (who probably thought he was saving his party from itself). All good so far.
But it seems that Obama also somewhat snookered the American people. He joined in an effort to claim inaccurately that deep, historic budget cuts were made, rather than making a straightforward case that it’s a lousy time for short-term budget cuts. That wasn’t entirely honest.
Now, before I’m accused of concern trolling or some such thing, I think this is at worst a venial, rather than mortal sin. It will probably be forgotten right away, and anyway people may marvel at how much smarter the president apparently is when compared to his rivals. And perhaps Obama assumes that everyone with any sense will understand that the theatrics were necessary to get a real budget past the tea party.
But that bit of dishonesty just left me a little uneasy. Things like that have a way of coming back at you in unexpected ways. That’s all I’m saying. Overall, I pretty much agree with joe from lowell’s take.
103.
MikeJ
Cockwallet Cabal? I think I saw them open for KMFDM.
104.
kdaug
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: Yep. Take the best at what they do, and shovel them off to paper-pushing and managerial meetings.
I know some of you like my little stories, and so usually I post them directly into a thread which is vaguely relevant for your delectation and edification.
I was reading ABL’s latest (last?) and was reminded of a little anecdote involving Bill Donohue, but when I came to write it down I got a little excited and it ended up being a couple of pages long.
As such, I don’t want to dump it in the thread. I hope our gracious host and the lovely DougJ forgive me, therefore, if I blog whore a little.
Please click here if you would like to read my little story about Bill Donohue and the laxatives in the fruit cake.
where the fuck did we get it in our heads that once you’ve achieved a certain level of expertise in one specialty, say bimetallic engineering or tuberculosis control, now suddenly you’re a “MANAGER” and you need to go through PowerPoint and Excel training?
Probably the same place where we got the idea that once a teacher has really excelled in the classroom, we should wall her off from children entirely, and put her in a little office to do paperwork all day.
If I had my way, every Principal, Vice Principal, Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent in Lowell would teach five periods a week.
It’s not Rand without a woman who wants to be raped symbolizing the proletariat’s desire to be mastered by their ubermensch Galtian overlords.
“What I feel for you is contempt. But it’s nothing, compared to the contempt I feel for myself. I don’t love you. I’ve never loved anyone. I wanted you from the first moment I saw you. I wanted you as one wants a whore – for the same reason and purpose.”
but I think I would be more interested in the results if the guy picked kids out of high school.
Probably a lot less practical, overall. Plus, the article mentions Thiel has 100 “mentors” lined up to assist the chosen few. If that’s true these men and women will have a ginormous leg up over the standard “drop out entrepreneur”
I haven’t really reviewed the details but I do agree with one thing he says – “those who hate this idea are the ones who benefit most from status quo” (summary).
Pelosi voted against it, according to Teh Twittahz she said: “we can do better by women, students, #DC and investing in our future.”
I, for one, on balance enjoyed the Pelosi Speakership.
116.
jl
news flash alert sirens!
Saw someplace that Trump is officially folding his run for president into his reality show, will make an announcement about his announcement on the last episode of Celebrity You’re Fired, or whatever his show is called.
Can’t find the link now, but who cares? The Donald will dominate our lives until he, like Newt, makes sufficient bank off the stunt, and therefore links will be needless.
Like, do I need a link for saying the sun is bright?
No, I do not.
Everyone here knew Trump would work his political publicity stunt into his show, and anyone who disagrees is obviously trolling.
More important to our measly ‘lesser people’ lives is that Boehner could not deliver his caucus and needed Democratic votes to pass budget. The TeaGOPpers will not behave, which may mean trouble for all of us parasites who suck the teat of our current modern developed industrial economy.
A Trump link from TPM: looks like Trump will make birtherism the main plank in his personal platform!
Trump Goes All In!
Josh Marshall | April 14, 2011
“Donald Trump has taken on Joseph Farah, one of the heads of the birther movement and founder and editor of WorldNetDaily, as his birtherism guru and political advisor.”
At the rate things are going, I will have to double check on whether it is OK for me to booze hound at work. I may need to in order to get through the day.
The story involves Dagny Taggart (Taylor Schilling), a young woman who controls a railroad company named Taggart Transcontinental (its motto: “Ocean to Ocean”)
I don’t know. Would “From Sea to Shining Sea” have been better or worse? Besides, at least wingers now have another word to add to their salad–one that they can actually define for a change.
Cockwallet Cabal? I think I saw them open for KMFDM.
That must have been after I saw them with Throbbing Gristle.
128.
danimal
I’ll be damned if I can find the link, but John Cole is a prophet. It’s eerie how close the following post from you-know-who was predicted by our bloghost a few days back.
So you have a radical end of health insurance as we know it; or a drift toward patching the existing framework as best we can – and a fail-safe trigger for more taxes and spending cuts if none of it works.
.
Politically methinks: meep, meep. Whether fiscally, it works is another matter entirely. But that, I guess, is what the trigger is for.
The Sully walkback is just about complete.
129.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Sarah, Proud and Tall: I’m eager to read your blog, but please to keep your elegantly kid gloved paws off the lovely DougJ; I saw him first.
I’m not a huge fan of Obama (especially wrt his stance on civil liberties), and I didn’t listen to Obama’s speech yesterday. That said, for the last two days I’ve been reading the critique of it, and based on the reaction this must have been a grand slam. Even the most jaded lefties are saying they’re pleasantly surprised.
133.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Omnes Omnibus: No, I meant it as possessiveness subtly colored by the admiration nearly akin to idol worship that I have for SPandT. Did I miss?
134.
Martin
@catclub: We import engineers not because they’re cheaper, but because we don’t have enough. We don’t import lawyers because we have too many.
Which job market would you want to be wandering into?
135.
Omnes Omnibus
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Um, that’s not what I got from it, but I was involved in a Hermione_chan argument/discussion earlier today so my calibrations may be off.
136.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Omnes Omnibus: I suspect SPandT will get it; at least I dearly hope so. My condolences on your earlier misfortune. May I ask which thread? May I also ask how the Waukesha fishy business goes? King John I of Ohio announced that he’ll be supporting Haley Barbour should the confederate cracker enter the GOP race.
I haven’t really reviewed the details but I do agree with one thing he says – “those who hate this idea are the ones who benefit most from status quo” (summary).
I don’t know. The idea seems an oversimplification of some serious issues.
I don’t have time to go back over the article, but I wanted to thank you for bringing it to my attention again. I saw it earlier and forgot to bookmark it.
As an aside, I was reading some stuff about the organizational changes at google. Almost all people there have advanced degrees. Many are Asian, including East Indians (and I don’t note this with any fear or anxiety). Seems there is a new generation of successful people rising up, more diverse and with fewer hangups than some earlier generations.
My Congressperson, Tammy Baldwin, has formally request the the US DoJ get involved in the investigation and vote counting in Waukesha. It could get interesting.
I met Kasich years ago. He was a row in front of me in a theater in Columbus when I saw “The Jackal,” and I ended up getting introduced by a mutual acquaintance. Bad movie, bad politician.
Tell me you’ve got something weirder than this today:
FBI files on Tupac Shakur murder show he received death threats from Jewish gang
__ Files state that Jewish Defense League had extorted money from ‘various rap music stars’ by making ‘death threats’ and then offering protection for a fee.
__
Files released Thursday by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur state that the star had received death threats from the Jewish Defense League, an organization that has been characterized as terrorist group.
__
Shakur was shot dead in Las 0056egas in September 1996, in a murder case which remain unsolved.
__
“The JDL… have been extorting money from various rap music stars via death threats,” the FBI file on the case states. The report then goes on to describe how the group would make the death threats, and then call the rap star and offer protection for a fee.
__
According to the documents, Shakur was a victim of this scheme, as was another late rapper, Eazy-E.
I don’t see myself having believed accusations that a rapper was murdered by a Jewish extremist extortionist gang, before this.
Probably a lot less practical, overall. Plus, the article mentions Thiel has 100 “mentors” lined up to assist the chosen few. If that’s true these men and women will have a ginormous leg up over the standard “drop out entrepreneur.”
By the way, sometimes you don’t need a fancy “mentor.” You just need a great first grade teacher (NY Times story, if you need to keep track of NYT articles read).
Gerald A. Lawson, a largely self-taught engineer who became a pioneer in electronic video entertainment, creating the first home video game system with interchangeable game cartridges, died on Saturday in Mountain View, Calif. He was 70 and lived in Santa Clara, Calif….
__
Gerald Anderson Lawson was born in Brooklyn on Dec. 1, 1940, and grew up mostly in Queens. His parents encouraged his intellectual pursuits. His father, Blanton, was a longshoreman by profession and a voracious reader of science books by inclination; his mother, Mannings, was a city employee who was also president of the PTA at the nearly all-white school Jerry attended. There he had a first-grade teacher who changed his life.
__
“I had a picture of George Washington Carver on the wall next to my desk,” he said in a 2009 interview with the publication Vintage Computing and Gaming. “And she said, ‘This could be you.’ ” He went on: “This kind of influence led me to feel, ‘I want to be a scientist. I want to be something.’ ”
But if you want to get a true sense of what the “shadow budget” is all about, all you have to do is look closely at the taxpayer money handed over to a single company that goes by a seemingly innocuous name: Waterfall TALF Opportunity. At first glance, Waterfall’s haul doesn’t seem all that huge — just nine loans totaling some $220 million, made through a Fed bailout program. That doesn’t seem like a whole lot, considering that Goldman Sachs alone received roughly $800 billion in loans from the Fed. But upon closer inspection, Waterfall TALF Opportunity boasts a couple of interesting names among its chief investors: Christy Mack and Susan Karches.
__
Christy is the wife of John Mack, the chairman of Morgan Stanley. Susan is the widow of Peter Karches, a close friend of the Macks who served as president of Morgan Stanley’s investment-banking division. Neither woman appears to have any serious history in business, apart from a few philanthropic experiences. Yet the Federal Reserve handed them both low-interest loans of nearly a quarter of a billion dollars through a complicated bailout program that virtually guaranteed them millions in risk-free income.
Haven’t read it all yet. I’m sure he swears in there somewhere, or something.
144.
Corner Stone
@Brachiator: It’s a great deal for Thiel. He gets to seed a bunch of talented go getters for super cheap, and if any of them hit on something he gets to swoop in and be a favored “angel investor”.
It’s a great deal for Thiel. He gets to seed a bunch of talented go getters for super cheap, and if any of them hit on something he gets to swoop in and be a favored “angel investor”.
Kinda reminds me obliquely of Mistress Arianna getting suckers to work for her for free while she builds of the value of HuffPo and makes a killing.
I’m not exploiting you. I’m a … mentor…. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Files released Thursday by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur state that the star had received death threats from the Jewish Defense League, an organization that has been characterized as terrorist group…
The easy zinger would be “Talk about your Cockwallet Cabal!”… and yet it would be so much more awsum if only we could fit Bernie Madoff into the joke…
148.
Amir_Khalid
@Omnes Omnibus: That’s what Ebert found amusing. It seems toe makers of Atlas Shrugged need to take remedial American geography.
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Mark S.
Which seat can I take?
srv
It’s Thursday.
under_score
10,000 curses upon you for planting that horrifying earworm one day early.
harokin
The day before Friday.
Alexandra
My new semi-fave (apart from the first-destination Balloon Juice crew, very much including Angry Black Lady) for dishing out condescension and ridicule:
http://pmcarpenter.blogs.com/
Dave
Tomorrow is Saturday. And Sunday comes afterwards.
Corner Stone
Just read this fascinating article on higher education value:
We’re in a Bubble and It’s Not the Internet. It’s Higher Education.
“Like the housing bubble, the education bubble is about security and insurance against the future. Both whisper a seductive promise into the ears of worried Americans: Do this and you will be safe. The excesses of both were always excused by a core national belief that no matter what happens in the world, these were the best investments you could make. Housing prices would always go up, and you will always make more money if you are college educated.”
I’ve been arguing for a while now that this “box checker on the resume” has lost its inherent ROI.
ETA, I’m not saying I agree with Thiel on everything, just that I believe higher education is a bubble that’s going to damage a lot of kids/families when it eventually bursts.
Mark S.
Fun fun fun
Martin
Hmm. Sounds like Boehner may not have the votes for the budget. We might have a shutdown after all. Not sure how anyone could blame the Dems after that big show of agreement and bipartisanship, assuming that Nancy whips the Dem votes all in the yes column.
jibeaux
partyin’ partyin’
JGabriel
Brian Schweitzer, Smart Ass:
.
Corner Stone
@Martin:
Is that your preferred outcome? A broadly mixed Yes vote?
patroclus
The House is voting right now on the 2011 budget and, so far, 11 od the lying smearing Republicans are voting against it.
JGabriel
He’p me! I been modereratered!
(I think it’s because the linked post contains the name of a branding implement that is also a homophone for a game of chance.)
.
kdaug
@harokin: Do. Not. Start.
Bob
we we we so excited
Martin
@Corner Stone: Yes, that’s been true for some time. It varies massively by major, though, something that students haven’t fully grasped.
Bottom line is that there aren’t nearly enough students going into technical programs (math, science, engineering, etc.) and way too many going into humanities and some of the social sciences. Supply and demand are completely fucked up there. Some of that is structural – technical programs are vastly more expensive to build out than humanities programs, so universities offer lots of the latter seats and not as many of the former, but student interest just isn’t there either. Too many students just want to check off that box.
An engineering degree, even from a shitty school is almost guaranteed to pay off, but a humanities degree is a coin flip unless you come out of Harvard. Even with an advanced degree it’s still a coin flip.
Shinobi
@Corner Stone: I read that, and I do agree to a certain extent. Some degrees, business, communications, these are largely wasted degrees. (This is especially true in light of the fact that only about 5 of the 50 market researchers at my company have degrees in anything related to Market Research.)
But I have a degree in stats, and I could not do my job without it, while there was a lot of on the job stuff, that degree was important. This whole “everyone must have a bachelor’s degree” thing has been bugging me for a long time.
(My boyfriend does not have his bachelor’s, and he can’t get anyone to even look at his resume, this, is stupid.)
JGabriel
@harokin:
Which comes after Thursday.
And is followed by Saturday.
Then Sunday.
The weekend is way too short.
Look, it’s Monday.
And then Tue Tue Tuesday.
Followed by bang my head just exploded.
.
Martin
@Corner Stone: My preferred outcome is not a shutdown. But if Boehner is having trouble getting votes on his side, and the House vote fails with both parties voting against it in mixed numbers even after the announcement of an agreement, then voters have no choice but conclude that the place is just fucked up and party affiliation doesn’t matter. If the Dems honor the agreement and the GOP doesn’t, then politically that changes the dynamic.
Politically, I think the Dems should seize on the situation and vote for this, and give as much cover to Republicans to vote against it. They can all come out and say ‘I don’t really like this budget, but a deal’s a deal.’ The harder they can make Boehners job, the better it’s going to be for Obama, and the less attention will be paid to the Senate, which is equally dysfunctional but with Dems in charge.
kdaug
@Martin: Thus the political push to elevate STEM over, say, finance.
First show me the engineer making 100m a year.
Sentient Puddle
Acoustic palate cleanser
Joe Beese
Typical Obama lie.
Moonbatman
Stand Up to Racism and White Supremacy
Free Crystal Mangum!!1!
Peace Out. The power is yours.
Jared
So what do you think Boner and Co will offer up this time to keep those sweet sweet tax cuts? Last time it was unemployment bens extension, DADT, some new judges and START.
What would be worth it this time? Immigration reform? Cap and trade?
jibeaux
Aha! Moonbatman is PaulL!
joe from Lowell
In a shocking development, it turns out that several days of emo bullshit from back seat drivers regarding Barack Obama turned out to be complete and utter bullshit.
4tehlulz
Weak Speaker is WEEEEAAAAK
EconWatcher
Does anyone know if Boehner will actually be able to line up the votes for the budget deal, now that word is out from the CBO that the spending cuts were basically all smoke-and-mirrors? And won’t this endanger Boehner’s leadership position?
Also, am I crazy to think that Boehner actually conspired with Obama to try to snooker the tea party caucus within his own party? I find it hard to believe that Obama snookered Boehner; Boehner must have known about the smoke and mirrors. It seems to me that Obama and Boehner made a very short term alliance of convenience to get a budget through. They decided that “historic deep budget cuts” was their story, and they were sticking to it.
I would think the tea partiers will now go after Boehner, no? And while Boehner will sustain most of the damage, I have to say Obama doesn’t come out looking all that honest, in his portrayal of mostly bogus budget cuts.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s nuts to cut short-term spending with 9% unemployment, so I like the result. But I think that case needed to be made, and never was. And somehow I think Obama might find he was a little too clever on this one, though I’m not informed enough to game the whole thing out.
jibeaux
@joe from Lowell:
They shoulda kicked it in the front seat.
Sentient Puddle
Also too, I see Roger Ebert posted his review of Atlas Shrugged. Unfortunately…
Evidently, he seems to feel the movie is so empty that there’s just nothing to eviscerate. What a letdown.
Spaghetti Lee
@joe from Lowell:
I saw that. Maybe 11-dimensional chess is more real than we think. First, you get Boehner to agree to a budget that turns out to not really be in his favor. Then you get him to declare victory early on so when he finds out he crashes to earth that much harder. And finally, you get Nancy Pelosi, the Republican equivalent of satan, bailing out the ass of a Speaker who got duped by the president and can’t control his own party to prevent the very unpopular government shutdown. How do you think the Tea Party will react to Boehner having to beg Pelosi for votes? How will Teabaggers in congress react.
Maybe there’s something I’m missing, but it looks for now like Obama, Pelosi and co. pulled a fast one on the Tea Party.
freelancer
It’s Sunday, Sunday,
gotta go to church on Sunday.
Mark S.
@EconWatcher:
It passed.
catclub
@kdaug: I think that would be Sergey Brin at Google.
Technically, mathematician, but the point is still there.
kindness
@Martin: Yup, Repubs did need Democrats to pass the 2011 budget. Only 179 Repubs voted yes. Luckily for the non-teabagger set, 59 Dems voted yes too. Am I cruel in thinking Nancy should have made Boehner modify the resolution to include Wash DC being able to fund abortions with their own money?
Jay C
Apparently, the 2011 Budget is a done deal: Via dKos: the final tally:
Republicans: 179 Yes, 59 No
Democrats: 81 Yes, 108 No
Total: 260 Yes, 167 No
joe from Lowell
@EconWatcher:
At first, I thought Obama snookered him – Boehner is far from a policy wonk, and the White House, especially this White House, has much stronger staff resources.
But I’m coming around. Boehner has always been a deal-maker, not a bomb-thrower.
It was made yesterday, though, in the speech in which Obama introduced his 2012 budget. I’d say that arguing the case for liberalism vs. the case against is best done on a big stage, during a protracted debate, not a quick one. Putting Obama’s two speeches together this week, it looks like he just wanted to get the leftover budget out of the way, and open up the next debate.
kdaug
@Sentient Puddle:
See this? This is my shocked and amazed face. (Any resemblance to my no-shit face is purely coincidental.)
Bob Loblaw
@EconWatcher:
I think it just means that the tea partiers have no idea how to appropriate. For them, it’s all just abstract numbers and social causes. That’s how they got beat.
You have to really work hard to cut the size of government. That’s why the meager cuts in the compromise are all on the backs of the weak sisters of the budget world who can’t lobby back effectively. Foreign aid, the EPA, city of Washington D.C., etc.
Spaghetti Lee
From Ebert’s review:
There is also a love scene, which is shown not merely from the waist up but from the ears up. The man keeps his shirt on. This may be disappointing for libertarians, who I believe enjoy rumpy-pumpy as much as anyone.
What? No rape sequence?
Dexter
So Boner needed 50-odd Democratic votes to pass the budget. Can’t wait for the tea party to go after him.
jon d
ABL is really pissed, does she and Freddie have relations in The Real?
Martin
@kdaug: There aren’t that many finance guys making 100M a year. Just because a plumber won $300M in Super Lotto, doesn’t mean that plumber is a more reliable career choice. I know you know that, but somehow we need to convince the nation that having a bad hairstyle doesn’t automatically get you Donald Trumps net worth.
kdaug
@catclub: And what’s the ratio of Wall Street speculators to Sergey Brins?
JGabriel
@Sentient Puddle:
I see that Ebert has taken note of Rand’s sledgehammer-like obviousness:
.
Southern Beale
I’ve just learned of a group called “Patriotic Millionaires For Fiscal Strength” demanding the government raise their taxes.
This should be interesting. Don’t they know they’re just supposed to buy more big-screen TVs? So their wealth can “trickle down” on us all?
:-)
EconWatcher
joe from lowell:
Your analysis is persuasive. But what happens to Boehner now?
joe from Lowell
@Bob Loblaw:
For one thing, you have to understand the government and how it works.
And the Republicans of this generation take great pride in not doing that, in not being part of the system.
These people can. not. govern. They can campaign, and they can make an effective case for their policies and philosophy, but they have no idea how to run the government. This little blip in their permanent minority status is going to give them some serious heartburn.
Martin
@Spaghetti Lee:
Fixed.
kdaug
@Martin:
Ideas?
ETA: I think attacking the filthy lucre itself would be a step forward. Shame the rich (before soaking and eating, of course). A little “How dare you” in polite society could go a long way.
Southern Beale
@Jay C:
Yes it just passed, we are funded through September. Good gawd I can’t imagine going through this agita again.
Pelosi voted against it, according to Teh Twittahz she said: “we can do better by women, students, #DC and investing in our future.”
catclub
@kdaug: you asked for an engineer making $100m /year. I gave you one.
Plus, I do know that the problem is not in the lack of $100m/yr engineering jobs, but in the greater likelihood of earning $250-400k/yr as a lawyer or real estate agent than as an engineer.
mr. whipple
@joe from Lowell:
Pretty ironic it’a a TPM link.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@kdaug: A civil engineer who’s been in the business 20 years and is managing projects should be making $100K a year, or close to it. That works out to $48/hr
Now, that’s about as high as you can go and still get to do engineering. Above that, you’re managing people and budgets. And engineers hate all that stuff.
joe from Lowell
@EconWatcher:
In terms of his chair, he’s got plenty of Congressmen who’ve got his back. He didn’t win the Speakership by being a beauty queen for the Republican Party, but by doing what he does best – lining up and calling in favors.
But his time in the sun as the face of the party is done, and you know what? I’ll be that suits him just fine. He can go back to scotch, golf, and doing well for himself in back rooms.
catclub
@Southern Beale: “Good gawd I can’t imagine going through this agita again.”
You have a VERY limited imagination.
joe from Lowell
@mr. whipple: Hey, at least they admitted it.
How many sites out there are still holding forth on Obama’s super-sellout negotiating skeelz?
JGabriel
@Spaghetti Lee:
The fanbois will be devastated. It’s not Rand without a woman who wants to be raped symbolizing the proletariat’s desire to be mastered by their ubermensch Galtian overlords.
.
batgirl
@Southern Beale: My obscenely wealthy cousin assures me that if we raise taxes that he and his buddies will all just go galt. Given that they are all in gambling, excuse me, finance, I said please do, no one will notice.
joe from Lowell
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: Depends on the field. If you’re doing chemical engineering or the right kind of process engineering, you can bring in quite a bit more than that.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
One for Hermoine/matoko- because I agree though I disagree.
Bob Loblaw
@jon d:
Well then.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
@JGabriel:
lisa washed her hair on monday, lisa washed her hair on tuesday, lisa washed her hair on wednesday, lisa washed her hair on thirsday
Martin
@catclub: You think a finance person is more qualified to go on to law school or earn a RE license than an engineer is? Engineers typically don’t do those things because they already have non-shitty jobs, unlike the finance guys that aren’t running a hedge fund.
joe from Lowell
@Bob Loblaw:
I don’t know what that means, but it certainly has a ring to it.
wmsheppa
Great, now I have this stuck in my head:
http://www.blogesalming.com/2011/04/reimer.html
Dennis SGMM
@Southern Beale:
We hit the debt ceiling in early May. I’ve read that they can stretch that out until June and then it really is crunch time.
Considering the number of programs and agencies that would have to be completely defunded to enable us to live within our tax revenues and service the debt I’m not certain that the Republicans won’t go on a kamikaze run.
Brachiator
@Corner Stone: An interesting article, but I think I would be more interested in the results if the guy picked kids out of high school.
kdaug
@catclub: Ah, there’s the rub. Spend your time on STEM, or go to Wall Street.
“Good at math and programming? Let’s set you up in our micro-transaction derivative division and we’ll pay you (ok) $50M.”
vs.
“Good at math and programming? Come work for NASA/DARPA and we’ll pay you $150K.”
The incentives aren’t there, and until we get all draconian on the tax code, I don’t think there will be.
Quicksand
I think we should all buy tickets and (optionally) see Atlas Shrugged, Part the First. It would be a shame if they didn’t make parts II and III, so what the heck, I’m in for a Hamilton.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@joe from Lowell: I forgot to mention that civils are on the bottom of the engineering pay scale. We deal in dirt. Or concrete, or water. Or shit, actually. None of that glamorous software stuff.
Q: What’s the difference between mechanical and civil engineers?
A: Mechanical engineers build weapons. Civil engineers build targets.
Bob L
@EconWatcher:
How so? Boehner has to get that budget passed in the house, that isn’t a matter of politics. The tea tards wanted an excuse to shut down the government and Obama didn’t give it to them.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@kdaug: Oh, hell. I read your 100m as 100k.
Never mind. ::Emily Litella voice::
Jay C
@joe from Lowell:
While I’d take odds (and not long ones) that your analysis is correct, I think the actual results of the 2011 financing fights are going to be less important* than the optics of the situation, i.e. the politics of it. And by appearances, President Obama and the Democrats come out looking pretty good.
Scenario: The House GOP – driven by the Tea Party nuts – went far out on a limb, “demanding” radical budget cuts to keep the G’s financing going; Obama/Dems semi-caved, and agreed to a somewhat less drastic chop: the Teatards flipped out and ran around drawing “lines in the sand” – but in the end, it was “Obama’s” funding bill that got passed – with Democratic help (and BIG surprise: the “drastic” cuts are ameliorated somewhat by budgetary gimmickry: Hoocoodanode?)- the GOP are left looking like chumps, and Obama like a frickin’ statesman: as usual, the only adult in the room.
Yeah: but his big House majority contains enough of the latter to make his (political) life miserable. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy…
catclub
@Martin: In answer, No don’t believe that.
My point was that smart kids are choosing law school – or used to – because it seemed like an easier road to substantial (to me!) earning potential.
Plus, ask Dean Baker how many lawyers we import compared to engineers. The kids know that if cheap competition is banned – or impractical – you get better earnings.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
You are a cold, cruel man. To my knowledge I’ve done nothing to offend you, yet you posted a line from that song?
King John I of Ohio was in Cincinnati today, where he announced his choice for GOP Presidential candidate. Got any guesses?
Jared
@joe from Lowell:
Ken Layne of Wonkette has gone completely Bachmann.
http://wonkette.com/442974/slow-witted-liberals-finally-realizing-obama-is-their-enemy
kdaug
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason:
Gah. That’s a whole different rant (one I’m happy to have), but where the fuck did we get it in our heads that once you’ve achieved a certain level of expertise in one specialty, say bimetallic engineering or tuberculosis control, now suddenly you’re a “MANAGER” and you need to go through PowerPoint and Excel training?
WTF? No.
jibeaux
I hope I’m not in the Cockwallet Cabal. I have a wallet, but it just has some cards and exactly one dollar in it. I don’t think you can be in any cabal with a buck to your name, actually.
Omnes Omnibus
@jibeaux: My wallet is from Cole-Haan; it is very nice. It is leather, but I don’t know what kind.
trollhattan
@JGabriel:
LOVE it. Dang lybrul brandingers.
catclub
@Omnes Omnibus: “It is leather,”
… of course the maker did say something about leftovers from the Soylent Green factory, but it is very soft.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Omnes Omnibus:
Is that the boutiquey offshoot of Kohl’s?
gwangung
@kdaug:
Hm, around here, the fundraising team loves the engineering grads…and not because the engineers make exorbitant salaries. They’re good salaries, but an awful lot of them get the invention and entrepreneurial bug and make lots and lots of money that way.
Dennis SGMM
@jibeaux:
Urban Dictionary to the rescue:
cockwallet
Noun – partly refering to definition 4 of cock, even after being proved completely wrong the person is able to pull out more cockiness.
Omnes Omnibus
@catclub: Well, it is very soft.
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again): No.
FlipYrWhig
@Bob Loblaw: Maybe that’s supposed to be “Cockwallah.”
(I am aware of
allmany Balloon-Juice traditions.)jibeaux
@Omnes Omnibus:
Mine is yellow and gray vinyl and was made three blocks away from here by hand. I win liberal bragging points!
Holly Aiken, good stuff.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Bob Loblaw: WTF? I like Tyler Perry.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
@Omnes Omnibus:
Well then, does your wallet have Bad Motherfucker embroidered on it? If not, I win.
STUCKZILLA!
i wANT TO TASTE THE new front pager FIREBAGGERS LIVER, WHEN MY INTERNET IS fixesd. fucking lAPTOP keyboard. SERVED WITH with some pork an beans and a diet COKE. ThANkY YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY FART MR. COLE. IWILL avenge this blASTPHONY
HERE MUP here. gIDDEEUP
BW hHhHhHh bw hHhhhaaaa!
Bruuuuce
My Congressman, Joe Crowley, is speechless, and that is a very good thing indeed. Via The Rachel Maddow Show blog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZCl2bi-JDY
Brachiator
@kdaug:
Which is the polite society, again? We live in a world where crowds alternately cheer and boo Charlie Sheen, not because he is blowing wads of money on hookers and drugs, but because he is not sufficiently entertaining.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@kdaug: @kdaug:
I’ve ended up doing enough public meetings and proposal presentations, and it’s been so long since I’ve done any H/H and water quality modeling that I tell people my only remaining technical skill is PowerPoint.
But hey, I can make great looking slides!
Omnes Omnibus
@Bob Loblaw: There were a few people who chose to to be complete asses to ABL on what seemed to be nonsubstantive grounds.
Amir_Khalid
@JGabriel: I also liked where Ebert mentions Dagny Taggart and Hank Rearden driving through the deserts of Wyoming.
scav
@kdaug: Ditto. I blame MBAs, but I do that often so I wouldn’t rely on that. And it’s not limited to engineers. It’s almost anyone that can think their way out of a bag, paper or otherwise.
Dennis SGMM
@jibeaux:
I slaughtered a Republican, tanned his hide and made my wallet out of that. Because he was a typical Republican lardass I also made a messenger bag and a set of seatcovers for the Miata. Oh, and a nice set of change purses from his chins.
Omnes Omnibus
@jibeaux:
@Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again):
You both beat me. The two of you may now fight it out for bragging rights.
Jay in Oregon
@Spaghetti Lee:
*gasp* You mean the author has taken liberties with the Literal Word of Rand?
EconWatcher
Bob L.,
Obama seems to have snookered the tea party, perhaps with the complicity of Boehner (who probably thought he was saving his party from itself). All good so far.
But it seems that Obama also somewhat snookered the American people. He joined in an effort to claim inaccurately that deep, historic budget cuts were made, rather than making a straightforward case that it’s a lousy time for short-term budget cuts. That wasn’t entirely honest.
Now, before I’m accused of concern trolling or some such thing, I think this is at worst a venial, rather than mortal sin. It will probably be forgotten right away, and anyway people may marvel at how much smarter the president apparently is when compared to his rivals. And perhaps Obama assumes that everyone with any sense will understand that the theatrics were necessary to get a real budget past the tea party.
But that bit of dishonesty just left me a little uneasy. Things like that have a way of coming back at you in unexpected ways. That’s all I’m saying. Overall, I pretty much agree with joe from lowell’s take.
MikeJ
Cockwallet Cabal? I think I saw them open for KMFDM.
kdaug
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: Yep. Take the best at what they do, and shovel them off to paper-pushing and managerial meetings.
Then wonder why we’re not competing.
Temporarily Max McGee (soon enough to be Andy K again)
Time to cleanse the palate. Gotta get that damned Rebecca Black song outta my head.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Omnes Omnibus:
I always saw she gave as good (or better) than she got.
I like ABL but her friends suck.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
I know some of you like my little stories, and so usually I post them directly into a thread which is vaguely relevant for your delectation and edification.
I was reading ABL’s latest (last?) and was reminded of a little anecdote involving Bill Donohue, but when I came to write it down I got a little excited and it ended up being a couple of pages long.
As such, I don’t want to dump it in the thread. I hope our gracious host and the lovely DougJ forgive me, therefore, if I blog whore a little.
Please click here if you would like to read my little story about Bill Donohue and the laxatives in the fruit cake.
I hope you enjoy it.
kdaug
@Brachiator: Ah. That would be here.
joe from Lowell
@kdaug:
Probably the same place where we got the idea that once a teacher has really excelled in the classroom, we should wall her off from children entirely, and put her in a little office to do paperwork all day.
If I had my way, every Principal, Vice Principal, Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent in Lowell would teach five periods a week.
jibeaux
@Omnes Omnibus:
That’s ok. Dennis might try to play the winner, and I don’t think I want that.
Amir_Khalid
@Amir_Khalid:
I meant to say, “… the deserts of Wisconsin.”
Corner Stone
@JGabriel:
“What I feel for you is contempt. But it’s nothing, compared to the contempt I feel for myself. I don’t love you. I’ve never loved anyone. I wanted you from the first moment I saw you. I wanted you as one wants a whore – for the same reason and purpose.”
I mean, that’s just awful stuff.
kdaug
@Dennis SGMM: Keep culling that herd.
Corner Stone
@Brachiator:
Probably a lot less practical, overall. Plus, the article mentions Thiel has 100 “mentors” lined up to assist the chosen few. If that’s true these men and women will have a ginormous leg up over the standard “drop out entrepreneur”
I haven’t really reviewed the details but I do agree with one thing he says – “those who hate this idea are the ones who benefit most from status quo” (summary).
Corner Stone
@Southern Beale:
I, for one, on balance enjoyed the Pelosi Speakership.
jl
news flash alert sirens!
Saw someplace that Trump is officially folding his run for president into his reality show, will make an announcement about his announcement on the last episode of Celebrity You’re Fired, or whatever his show is called.
Can’t find the link now, but who cares? The Donald will dominate our lives until he, like Newt, makes sufficient bank off the stunt, and therefore links will be needless.
Like, do I need a link for saying the sun is bright?
No, I do not.
Everyone here knew Trump would work his political publicity stunt into his show, and anyone who disagrees is obviously trolling.
More important to our measly ‘lesser people’ lives is that Boehner could not deliver his caucus and needed Democratic votes to pass budget. The TeaGOPpers will not behave, which may mean trouble for all of us parasites who suck the teat of our current modern developed industrial economy.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2011/04/bill_becomes_bipartisan.php?ref=fpblg
A Trump link from TPM: looks like Trump will make birtherism the main plank in his personal platform!
Trump Goes All In!
Josh Marshall | April 14, 2011
“Donald Trump has taken on Joseph Farah, one of the heads of the birther movement and founder and editor of WorldNetDaily, as his birtherism guru and political advisor.”
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2011/04/trump_goes_all_in.php?ref=fpblg
At the rate things are going, I will have to double check on whether it is OK for me to booze hound at work. I may need to in order to get through the day.
stuckinred
@Bob Loblaw: And from the movie where the honky did breakdown in Compton (or next to the For) Searchin for a Heart.
cleek
the Duke Lacrosse shit got innerestin agin!
stuckinred
Forum
Anne Laurie
@Omnes Omnibus:
This reads like the setup for the Mohel Joke…
slag
@JGabriel:
I don’t know. Would “From Sea to Shining Sea” have been better or worse? Besides, at least wingers now have another word to add to their salad–one that they can actually define for a change.
Spaghetti Lee
@slag:
Besides, at least wingers now have another word to add to their salad—one that they can actually define for a change.
“woman”?
Omnes Omnibus
@Amir_Khalid: We have fields, hills, forests, swamps, and marshes. We do not have deserts.
slag
@Spaghetti Lee: No, they still don’t have that one down.
Omnes Omnibus
@Anne Laurie: Luggage?
Dennis SGMM
@jibeaux:
In a place where “Fuck you with a rusty chainsaw,” is a fairly common riposte I’d say that you’re being a bit fastidious.
FlipYrWhig
@MikeJ:
That must have been after I saw them with Throbbing Gristle.
danimal
I’ll be damned if I can find the link, but John Cole is a prophet. It’s eerie how close the following post from you-know-who was predicted by our bloghost a few days back.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Sarah, Proud and Tall: I’m eager to read your blog, but please to keep your elegantly kid gloved paws off the lovely DougJ; I saw him first.
Omnes Omnibus
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Meow. Hiss.
piratedan
some awesomeness courtesy Steve Benen…. check out the embedded video at the linked site.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2011_04/028949.php
Comrade Luke
I’m not a huge fan of Obama (especially wrt his stance on civil liberties), and I didn’t listen to Obama’s speech yesterday. That said, for the last two days I’ve been reading the critique of it, and based on the reaction this must have been a grand slam. Even the most jaded lefties are saying they’re pleasantly surprised.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Omnes Omnibus: No, I meant it as possessiveness subtly colored by the admiration nearly akin to idol worship that I have for SPandT. Did I miss?
Martin
@catclub: We import engineers not because they’re cheaper, but because we don’t have enough. We don’t import lawyers because we have too many.
Which job market would you want to be wandering into?
Omnes Omnibus
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): Um, that’s not what I got from it, but I was involved in a Hermione_chan argument/discussion earlier today so my calibrations may be off.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Omnes Omnibus: I suspect SPandT will get it; at least I dearly hope so. My condolences on your earlier misfortune. May I ask which thread? May I also ask how the Waukesha fishy business goes? King John I of Ohio announced that he’ll be supporting Haley Barbour should the confederate cracker enter the GOP race.
Brachiator
@Corner Stone:
I don’t know. The idea seems an oversimplification of some serious issues.
I don’t have time to go back over the article, but I wanted to thank you for bringing it to my attention again. I saw it earlier and forgot to bookmark it.
As an aside, I was reading some stuff about the organizational changes at google. Almost all people there have advanced degrees. Many are Asian, including East Indians (and I don’t note this with any fear or anxiety). Seems there is a new generation of successful people rising up, more diverse and with fewer hangups than some earlier generations.
Omnes Omnibus
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): It was the Music and Pity Charity thread. I may have referred to her as a simplistic twit on another thread as well.
My Congressperson, Tammy Baldwin, has formally request the the US DoJ get involved in the investigation and vote counting in Waukesha. It could get interesting.
I met Kasich years ago. He was a row in front of me in a theater in Columbus when I saw “The Jackal,” and I ended up getting introduced by a mutual acquaintance. Bad movie, bad politician.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
@FlipYrWhig:
i saw the cockwallet cabal when they toured as suzanne vega’s backing band.
FlipYrWhig
@Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal: Picking up the check at Tom’s Diner requires a cockwallet cabal.
El Cid
Tell me you’ve got something weirder than this today:
I don’t see myself having believed accusations that a rapper was murdered by a Jewish extremist extortionist gang, before this.
Brachiator
@Corner Stone:
By the way, sometimes you don’t need a fancy “mentor.” You just need a great first grade teacher (NY Times story, if you need to keep track of NYT articles read).
Corner Stone
Anybody else read the new Taibbi in RS:
The Real Housewives of Wall St
Haven’t read it all yet. I’m sure he swears in there somewhere, or something.
Corner Stone
@Brachiator: It’s a great deal for Thiel. He gets to seed a bunch of talented go getters for super cheap, and if any of them hit on something he gets to swoop in and be a favored “angel investor”.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Corner Stone:
It was the typical Taibbi piece, over the top, full of lies and completely awesome.
Brachiator
@Corner Stone:
Kinda reminds me obliquely of Mistress Arianna getting suckers to work for her for free while she builds of the value of HuffPo and makes a killing.
I’m not exploiting you. I’m a … mentor…. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
Anne Laurie
@Omnes Omnibus: Yep!
@El Cid:
The easy zinger would be “Talk about your Cockwallet Cabal!”… and yet it would be so much more awsum if only we could fit Bernie Madoff into the joke…
Amir_Khalid
@Omnes Omnibus: That’s what Ebert found amusing. It seems toe makers of Atlas Shrugged need to take remedial American geography.