tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post6895955569689735604..comments2023-10-30T09:23:42.803-05:00Comments on Some Assembly Required: SAR #9166Charles Kingsley Michaelson, IIIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04364694465614330540noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-57241964507923260112009-06-16T04:50:54.352-05:002009-06-16T04:50:54.352-05:00@"Morning Line":
"
Western banks h...@"Morning Line":<br /><br />"<br />Western banks have supported their eastern European subsidiaries—so far<br />"<br />http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13829347<br /><br />There is still time to bet on the collapse of a few Scandinavian banks - SEB, Nordea, Swedbank puts are probably too expensive now. <br /><br />Now I would go with Danske Bank: <br /><br />They have a long history of secrecy and subsidiaries blowing in foreign places!<br /><br />It makes me happy to see those suckers fall; besides, the recession is doing more good for the environment than the carbon cult ever will!fajensennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-49159115507040187992009-06-15T15:07:56.729-05:002009-06-15T15:07:56.729-05:00Regarding "Good Intentions", an advantag...Regarding "Good Intentions", an advantage of unpaved roads is that they are so much easier on the hooves of the draft animals that we'll be using more and more, so they'll need fewer trips to the blacksmith.Louis Bryanhttp://noehill.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-61629538555641763682009-06-15T14:57:29.857-05:002009-06-15T14:57:29.857-05:00We're talking only Social Security today, medi...We're talking only Social Security today, medicare/medicaid are frauds of a different nature. With SS the point I keep trying to make is that the "unfunded liabilities" are a distraction - if not an outright hoax - that pretends that some tax monies are distinguishable from others and some government debts look different than others when the lights are off.<br /><br />Social Security is a current budget item, the taxes that come in go into the general fund (no mater what words are used to confuse folks) and the expenditures come out of the same fund. For years Congress got away with overcharging workers for SS and pretended to put the excess in a Trust Fund. But the money was spent, it always is.<br /><br />But year after year Congress will come up with ways to raise spending money (taxes, borrowing, printing) to pay for wars, pet projects, old folks and so on. They may one day cut back on the wars and the pet projects, but old folks vote and will get their retirement.<br /><br />Maybe means-tested, and maybe (hopefully) all income gets taxed across the board, but worrying about not being able to come up with 56 or 97 trillion dollars over the next 75 years is a hoax. As long as the country holds together, the old will get their pittance. <br /><br />In the first place, the odds of the US of A being economically viable much 20 years in the future is iffy enough to make putting on a gloomy facte for non-events 50 or 75 years out is but a parlor game.<br /><br />ckmCharles Kingsley Michaelson, IIIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04364694465614330540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-65936279195139448182009-06-15T14:35:54.532-05:002009-06-15T14:35:54.532-05:00Here We Go Again: "The $56 trillion of unfund...Here We Go Again: "The $56 trillion of unfunded liabilities for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are a debt that must be paid.<br /><br />Better question is: how much of this Loot goes to the Healthcare Racketeers? Some of it, for instance, is for drugs which probably have no beneficial affects with the "research" having been falsified. <br /><br />See THE LAST WELL PERSON by Dr. Nortin Hadler, Professor of Medicine at UNC.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-9880115253599022162009-06-15T14:29:02.978-05:002009-06-15T14:29:02.978-05:00Bell, Tolling: A US District Judge has ruled that ...Bell, Tolling: A US District Judge has ruled that John Yoo may be held responsible for the abuse of detainees that flowed from his convoluted legal theories justifying torture during the Bush era."Like any other government official, government lawyers are responsible for the foreseeable consequences of their conduct." Wonder what "other government officials" the judge had in mind?<br /><br />Whistling In The Wind. Keep in mind that Backstopping all the Crimes committed by the Plutocracy in America is the Roberts Supreme Court. So, Justice in America is as hard to find as a sound security. To folks who think more Sotomayors will solve this problem, they are spawned by the same Plutocracy. (Laughable that the present Criminal In Chief is a Constitutional Lawyer!)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-69084806722929904662009-06-15T11:41:49.055-05:002009-06-15T11:41:49.055-05:00Porn O'Graphs. Snap.Porn O'Graphs. Snap.Demetriushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17198549581667363991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-90573495105203034712009-06-15T10:19:55.453-05:002009-06-15T10:19:55.453-05:00Not to nit-pick, but the unfunded liabilities stan...Not to nit-pick, but the unfunded liabilities stand at 99trillion:<br /><br />http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/5379285/China-warns-Federal-Reserve-over-printing-money.htmlSvendnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-78681928227370050862009-06-15T09:54:38.173-05:002009-06-15T09:54:38.173-05:00Drebert - Ah, Cologne. And Frankfurt and Berlin a...Drebert - Ah, Cologne. And Frankfurt and Berlin and so many others were given the opportunity to redevelop. But there was a human and social cost then,too, I recall.<br />ckmCharles Kingsley Michaelson, IIIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04364694465614330540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-45029446862355151122009-06-15T08:56:24.146-05:002009-06-15T08:56:24.146-05:00To be fair, Wink, Texas is a lot different than Pi...To be fair, Wink, Texas is a lot different than Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Philly. If Pittsburgh is no longer "bustling", please explain why I have to walk through an obstacle course of people on my way to my downtown office every morning. No, it's not NYC, but it's not dead either.<br /><br />If you want another example of how this <i>can</i> work successfully, look at Cologne Germany.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08270873072287048758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-70900474523115854042009-06-15T08:53:05.088-05:002009-06-15T08:53:05.088-05:00NvF - Right you are - and the median's the mes...NvF - Right you are - and the median's the message.<br />ckmCharles Kingsley Michaelson, IIIhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04364694465614330540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7806136543904112143.post-12250663558557168822009-06-15T08:37:57.988-05:002009-06-15T08:37:57.988-05:00Tech note about 'Be Careful What you wish for&...Tech note about 'Be Careful What you wish for' - $ 6,000 is reported as the median sales price, not the average sales price. If I understand that correctly then half the homes in the City of Detroit sold for *less* than $ 6,000.<br /><br />Thanks for a superb blog!Namke von Federleinhttp://emsjuwel.comnoreply@blogger.com