Friday, 30 September 2011

By on September 30th, 2011 in government, personal, politics

08:09 – There was a little jap in the air this morning when I took Colin out at 0645. Autumn has arrived in Winston-Salem, with low temperatures over the weekend expected to be in the low 40’s (~ 6C), with winds of around 20 MPH (30+ KPH).


There’s a great deal of celebration over Germany’s approving the measures agreed upon at the 21 July summit. It’s difficult to understand why anyone cares. It was obvious at the time that the measures agreed then were grossly inadequate to address the crisis as it then stood, and the crisis now is orders of magnitude greater than it was then. Two months ago, it was a crisis of tens or hundreds of billions of euros; now it’s a crisis of trillions of euros.

Meanwhile, the “troika” representatives have arrived in Greece, charged with auditing the Greek government to determine if it’s complied with the terms required for the release of the final €8.5 billion tranche from the first (2010) bailout. It hasn’t, of course, and has no prospects of doing so, but one would think the Greeks would be doing everything possible to convince the troika auditors to give up the cash. Instead, the Greeks are rioting and preventing the troika representatives from doing their jobs, or even meeting with the Greek finance minister. It’s as if the Greeks want the troika to refuse to provide the final tranche, which in fact is exactly what many Greek citizens want. They perceive, correctly, that the bailout funds will not benefit ordinary Greeks. Instead, they’ll simply be used to pay off foreign bankers.

Europe now has the same problems that affected the US during the Lehman crisis and events following it. A refusal to recognize reality coupled with a refusal to allow the free market to operate. What Europe should do now is what the US should have done then: recognize the losses and allow the banks to suffer all of their accrued losses. Allow the banks to go bankrupt, in other words. Wipe out 100% of shareholder assets and as much as it takes, up to 100%, of bondholder assets. Fire all of the bank management, and allow the banks to reconstitute with all of the bad debt off their new books. Those equity and bond holders invested with the intention of making a profit; shifting their losses onto taxpayers is inexcusable.


12:32 – There was an article in the paper this morning reporting that Time-Warner Cable had increased the download speed of their standard RoadRunner broadband service from 7 Mb/s to 10 Mb/s, and their “turbo” service from 10 Mb/s to 15 Mb/s. That was a who-cares for us. We have the standard service, and were typically getting 10 to 12 Mb/s download speeds anyway. I was really hoping they’d also boosted the upload speeds, which have been typically 45 to 50 KB/s. So I rebooted our cable modem and found that indeed they had boosted the upload speed. I’m in the middle of uploading a 447 MB directory to my Dreamhost server right now, and the upload rate seems to be averaging about 115 to 130 KB/s. That’s with 125 MB already uploaded, so it isn’t the temporary speed boost they allow you for the first MB or so of any upload. It’s sustained. Still pathetically slow, but less pathetically slow than it used to be. It would be nice if it were symmetric, with upload speeds matching the 1,000 to 1,200 KB/s download speeds we typically get.

35 Comments and discussion on "Friday, 30 September 2011"

  1. ayj says:

    This is an eternal deja vu, I lived across this, Argentina 2001, if I were Greek the very first thing is sell everything and move to dolar, second take all the loans I could, even credit card loans, move it to dolar, and third, wait
    later, the governement quits, after that, devaluation, later, dracmatization to more than needed leveles (3 to 1?). Riots, nwe governemet, haircut, Some high level people stating, we are not alloowing to leave the plumbers paying your debts (sort of, remember O Neill)

    again, an eternal deja vu, again and again and again same history, different actors

  2. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    Yeah, but Argentina was (a) realistic, and (b) had control of its own currency and could therefore devalue it. Greece has neither of those advantages. Its only option, if it remains in the euro, is to “devalue” internally, which will be much more painful and much more extended for Greeks than just declaring bankruptcy and returning to the drachma.

    It’s in Greece’s best interests to default and abandon the euro, but that starts the dominoes toppling in the eurozone, so the EU is doing everything it can, which is essentially an extremely costly nothing, to stop the inevitable.

  3. Ray Thompson says:

    First Tennessee Bank sucks big time. Had to close my HSA account because the division was sold. I was charged $25.00 to close the account. Nothing but a bunch of crooks. Bank somewhere else where you won’t get ripped off by this sleazy bunch of slime balls.

  4. SteveF says:

    I use a lot of wordplay in my writing, both fiction and non-, and I’m generally disappointed that people don’t seem to notice it. Therefore, I’ll mention that I noticed “a little jap in the air”.

  5. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    I can’t take credit. It’s an obscure pop-culture reference from a classic horror movie.

  6. Jack says:

    What was the vertically challenged Japanese citizen flying?

  7. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    Well, let’s see. It couldn’t have been Air Force One, because it was broken. Something about a disagreement with the Washington Monument.

    “Technically sir, tomatoes are fags.”
    “He means fruits.”

  8. BGrigg says:

    http://www.attackwatch.com/

    This is a joke, right? A joke, as in Hahaha, that was SO funny! RIGHT?

  9. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    Obama and the Democrats are running scared, very scared. Obama knows that if the election were held today he’d have no chance of winning, and that by next year his chances are almost certain to be much, much worse. That’s why, for example, he sent Geithner to Europe to convince the EU to take really stupid, extremely costly measures to stave off collapse until after the 2012 elections.

    One thing I will say for Obama. Until the 2008 election, I thought Bush was a lock for Worst President Ever. But Obama has already kicked Bush into second place, and looks determined to run up a record that no president will ever be able to outdo. I wouldn’t have believed it possible that anyone could make me wish that Hilary Clinton had won the 2008 election but Obama has accomplished that in spades.

  10. Alan says:

    Obama and the Democrats are running scared, very scared. Obama knows that if the election were held today he’d have no chance of winning, and that by next year his chances are almost certain to be much, much worse.

    Which Republican candidate do you think has the best opportunity to defeat him?

  11. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    I’m kind of hoping that they introduce a “none of the above” option for the 2012 election.

    Lacking that, I’d be happier with just about about any of the republicans than with a second Obama term. Even nutcases like Bachman would be better than more of Obama and the Democrats.

  12. BGrigg says:

    What worries me is the Libtards I know have drank deep at the Democrat Koolaid Fountain. They think he’s doing a great job. Yikes!

  13. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    Which illustrates the dangers of allowing just anyone to vote.

    Restrictions on voting are well-established and questioned by no one (e.g. minimum age, absence of felony convictions, etc.), so there should be no problem extending that. As a first cut, I’d recommend a strict literacy test, a property ownership requirement, and a taxpayer requirement (anyone who was a net consumer of tax money would be ineligible, including government employees and those on welfare).

    As I’ve said before, a republic is unstable if the franchise is extended to people who have no investment (literally and figuratively) in the commonwealth. Why should renters, for example, have anything to say about who gets elected to spend the property taxes they aren’t paying? More to the point, what about actual conflicts of interest, such as allowing government employees to have any say about electing the people who employ them and pay their salaries?

    We would be immensely better off in all respects if the franchise was limited to adult, literate, taxpaying property owners. We wouldn’t be in the mess we’re in.

  14. BGrigg says:

    While I will agree that there are some restrictions I would like to see put in place, renters do in fact pay the property tax, merely by paying rent to the landlord. I doubt there are any landlords out there who pay the taxes out of the kindness of their heart.

    I suspect we would be in another fine mess, regardless of whatever the voter franchise is. I’ve met far too many assholes in my life to ever believe that nice people end up in charge.

  15. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    Renters don’t pay property taxes any more than you pay dividends to McDonalds shareholders when you buy an Egg McMuffin. The property owner is responsible for paying property taxes whether or not that property is rented. He writes the checks, and he is the one paying.

    Selectively eliminating stupid, incompetent, improvident people from the voting rolls can’t help but improve the quality of government. Certainly the measures I advocate may eliminate a few people who aren’t any of those things, but the point is that those eliminated will overwhelming be people that no reasonable person would want voting.

    I’ve made the same arguments that giving women the vote and allowing them to serve on juries was a mistake. Sure, there are plenty of sensible women out there, many of them whom I’d rather have voting or on juries than many men. But the reality is that women tend to vote for liberals. (Obama would not be president had only men voted.) And every defense attorney wants an all-woman jury, unless his client has been charged with rape or child molesting. Women, on average, are much, much more likely to acquit guilty defendants than are men. That’s the simple truth, as any trial attorney will tell you,

  16. paul jones says:

    Adams was a steep drop from Washington. And, thus, a tradition of replacing a president with his inferior has continued in a very nearly unbroken line since.

    Whichever nutcase the Republicans elect will be worse than Obama – they’ve actually not got anyone running that one can have confidence in. And the reflexive response of the electorate to the next president will be worse yet.

    Not that I’m cynical or anything.

  17. BGrigg says:

    Bob, I suspect that it is reasoning such as yours, that the past has been filled with revolution by the oppressed against their oppressors.

    Yes, the landlord pays regardless of whether or not the property is rented, but what a stupid landlord that would be, to own unrented rental property. And you want his vote?

    I have rented in the past, and never felt like I was “stupid, incompetent or improvident”. Seeing as I’m considering becoming a landlord, I’ll have to remind my tenants of their place in society.

  18. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    Adams was a steep drop from Washington. And, thus, a tradition of replacing a president with his inferior has continued in a very nearly unbroken line since.

    Well, there was Tom Jefferson, although he’s the only one I think deserves an A. We’ve been grading on the curve for far too long.

  19. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    I have rented in the past, and never felt like I was “stupid, incompetent or improvident”. Seeing as I’m considering becoming a landlord, I’ll have to remind my tenants of their place in society.

    I never said that you were, but surely you wouldn’t argue that as a renter you were far less invested (literally). Renters can just pick up and leave. Property owners are invested, literally and figuratively, in their communities and have an interest in seeing them well and prudently governed.

  20. BGrigg says:

    I disagree, the property owner has more to lose, but I see people pick up and go regardless of ownership. The renter may FEEL that they have more freedom, but only if they wish to lose their damage deposit. Otherwise, as a citizen living and working in a municipality, spending my money at the stores, paying a transit tax when I bought gasoline, I considered myself an equal with anybody else. I wear a tax yoke like anyone else, and what a city does involves ALL its citizens, from tiny children who don’t even pay taxes of any kind, right up to the high and mighty Landed Gentry. Of which I have managed, after years of being a substandard human renter, to have scratched out my own fiefdom.

    You could talk me into giving a property owner an additional vote, but take a vote away and create a class society? I’ll pass thanks. I’ve learned from history, and have no wish to repeat that particular bit.

  21. Jack says:

    The tax system needs negative feedback for stability.

    For example, everyone has one vote, plus one additional vote for every X dollars paid in taxes during the previous year.

    If the “rich folk” elect politicians that set the tax rate too low, then the rich folk won’t have enough votes come next election to keep the low tax critters in office. Presumably the vote balance will shift and the new congress critters will increase taxes.

    If the tax rates are set too high, then the “rich folk” will pay lots of taxes, and have lots of votes for the next election and presumably put low tax critters into office.

    Thus, after a few iterations, if we have set X correctly, the oscillations will dampen and we will have an acceptable tax system.

    This arrangement works best with a flat tax system. Since it will require a constitutional amendment to be implemented, the amendment might as well throw in a requirement for a flat tax and balanced budget as well. It may also need a mechanism to set the tax/vote ratio “X.”

  22. paul jones says:

    I believe my ideal president was best exemplified by the first Harrison.

  23. Miles_Teg says:

    “Lacking that, I’d be happier with just about about any of the republicans than with a second Obama term. Even nutcases like Bachman would be better than more of Obama and the Democrats.”

    I wonder if it would occur to the Democrats to replace Obama with someone more sensible, such as a blue dog. They might not win but the catastrophe for them in 2012 might not be so bad.

    Down here the Labor Party and the lovely Julia’s ratings are so bad that they’re facing near annihilation at the next election. There’s about 25-30 seats in Queensland, for example, and Labor is set to lose all but one of them. The exception is Kevin Rudd’s seat, the guy whom Julia and the faceless men deposed.

  24. Miles_Teg says:

    “I believe my ideal president was best exemplified by the first Harrison.”

    It would be nice if we could clone a few Harry Trumans…

  25. Bruce C. Baker says:

    … or even one Eisenhower.

  26. Miles_Teg says:

    “I’ve made the same arguments that giving women the vote and allowing them to serve on juries was a mistake. Sure, there are plenty of sensible women out there, many of them whom I’d rather have voting or on juries than many men. But the reality is that women tend to vote for liberals. (Obama would not be president had only men voted.) And every defense attorney wants an all-woman jury, unless his client has been charged with rape or child molesting. Women, on average, are much, much more likely to acquit guilty defendants than are men. That’s the simple truth, as any trial attorney will tell you”

    I agree, furthermore I think only single women should be allowed to work. In the current economic climate we could free up a lot of jobs by sending women home to do what they’re best at. If there was only one breadwinner per family that would kill inflation, open up jobs for men and cut down on traffic on the roads because women wouldn’t have to drive to their workplace. It’d be right there when they woke up in the morning.

    Perhaps women should be allowed to serve on juries though. Sometimes the accused is innocent, and women are more likely to discern that and point it out to their male collegues.

  27. Jim Cooley says:

    Much as I’d like the vote, I’d vote for RBT’s “vested interest” or “landed gentry” qualification.
    Representation and the taxation therefrom stem from property rights, and since (or until) doomsday that’s been the basis for both capitalism and the working legal system serving as its skeleton.

    The sanctity of personal property has eroded over the generations, and come to the point where the ~ahem~ electorate is asked that law shall be writ such that my hunger gives me a right to your bread, or my anemia gives me a right to your blood.

    Of course it doesn’t. One needn’t look farther than the kindergarten playground to determine how we human animals claim ownership of a cupcake. And so be it. Like it or not, that’s the way we are: we’re a bunch of monkeys.

    As such, it’s a given that some alpha male will end up with the best women and most of the property. That’s Un-fair, but hasn’t it always been so? Well then, why fight it? Hierarchy and territorial imperative are in our nature, and in evolutionary terms it seems to have served the tribe quite well.

    I’d address BGriggs snipe at history, but this damn box limits my scope. The whole damn WordPress experiment is a failure.

  28. eristicist says:

    Are the various things people said about women’s suffrage and working serious?

    I can’t tell if I’m falling victim to Poe’s law.

  29. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    Yes, well, it’s hard to tell if people are serious around here.

  30. Miles_Teg says:

    The boss is always serious, except when he isn’t. He prides himself on being an excellent poker player, which means he can lie with a straight face and still be considered a gentleman.

  31. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    Actually, I think it’s quite clear when I’m kidding, but others tell me that they can’t tell the difference. Perhaps it’s because I’m serious about a lot of things that many people think are outrageous.

    I haven’t played poker since they started introducing variants other than 5-card draw and 7-card stud, which are the only real poker games. I mean, wild cards? Geez. Talk about screwing up the percentages.

  32. ech says:

    Most pros will tell you that the real skill game is pot-limit Omaha, followed by no-limit Hold’Em or Lowball, depending on the pro – and even in the lowball camp there is the split of California Lowball vs. Razz.

    5 card draw is pretty much dead, and 7 card stud is on life support. The only wild card game I can think of in cardrooms is California Lowball, where a joker can be used for as a single wild card to make your low.

  33. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    Yes, I’m sure those are popular, but they aren’t real poker as far as I’m concerned. But, as I said, I haven’t played poker for more than 30 years.

  34. Miles_Teg says:

    “Actually, I think it’s quite clear when I’m kidding, but others tell me that they can’t tell the difference. Perhaps it’s because I’m serious about a lot of things that many people think are outrageous.”

    Sometimes it’s obvious when your kidding. Sometimes it’s not. I’ll admit to having been taken in a few times.

    I never learned to play poker properly. Despite repeated requests my father refused to teach or practice with me. I’m not the least bit interested in the new gimmicks, I like 5 card draw and 7 card stud, but only casually. I used to play backgammon for money, but that was 30 years ago.

  35. Robert Bruce Thompson says:

    I played poker for money when I was in college, but not since. I also played bridge for money, but not in the gambling sense. Rich old bridge fanatics who were mediocre players would pay me to be their partners with the hope that when we won the contract I’d be declarer on most of the hands, thereby earning them a few more masters points. It was and is perfectly legitimate, although it does skew the bidding. We’d often end up in suboptimal contracts, playing in the suit I’d declared rather than a better suit because they’d bid it first. Still, the competition was usually mediocre, so I generally did pretty well for my paying partners. The problem was, they often wanted to pay me to play with them at sectionals and regionals, where the point rewards were a lot higher but the competition was considerably stronger than at club games. At those events, it was difficult to do well with a mediocre partner.

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