Friday Happy Hour Open Thread

 

"What Made Milwaukee Famous" - Jerry Lee Lewis  (Apropos of the excellent info from l-t c in comments.)

- I thought this was a pretty interesting take on the theater of the presidency. 

- Lisa!!

- The tip off was its unwillingness to drink milk with its feast of dead flesh.

- The right wing "grown ups" are concerned.   

Almost time to call it a day here.  What's happening? 

Comments

[Lisa Simeone]

Eeeek! Don't get me in trouble, Sir C!

[Lisa Simeone]

OMG, I was sure that vulture thing was from The Onion. I had to read it twice. Will wonders never cease?!

[kathy a.]

i'm happy about this news: the DA in dallas is looking into claims of innocence, allowing DNA testing where that evidence is available, and agreeing with declarations of innocence in court. he properly sees his role as "seeking justice."

[kathy a.]

turning to pharmaceuticals, i didn't know that there is an anti-trust lawsuit being argued at SCOTUS next week. it accuses bayer of boosting prices for meds by collaborating with the manufacturers of generics. the AGs of 31 states have joined in an amicus brief, arguing against that practice.

[kathy a.]

AND, the mass. high court agreed with the tossing of two foreclosures for bad paperwork, in a decision that may affect thousands.

[litbrit]

Ooh, Kathy, both of those bits of legal news are very encouraging.

I am currently coming down with this year's cold. Booooo.

Thankfully, no commuting tomorrow. Hooray, sleep!

[big bad wolf]

jack chaser (sorry i can't embed)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FiV3Ba_nvo

[Krubozumo Nyankoye]

Kathy a. and litbrit - that news out of MA. is interesting to be sure but I am not sure it is encouraging, well, in some respects it is and in others it isn't. It would be nice if the courts widely applied it and put a clamp on foreclosures until it can be sorted out, that would help an awful lot of people. On the other hand according to prior articles I have seen the securitization of so many of these mortgage loans is so shoddy and illegal that really big banks are on the hook for *trillions* if investors are awarded put backs. It is also interesting because the only bank I had seen mentioned in this connection before was B of A. This could get pretty ugly.

All you guys are experiencing winter which I gather has already been a bit chilly and wet (in terms of solid wet). Here the rainy season has finally broken big time. It should have started in October and after five solid months of virtually no rain at all it was much anticipated. However, it started weakly and didn't live up to reputation at all until beginning about two weeks ago. Since then it has been an almost incessant deluge.

I haven't a rain guage but I am guessing in the past 10-14 days we have had about 50 - 80 cm of rain. Lots of interesting consequences...

It is not really possible to do much field work because the roads are getting washed out and every creek is out of its banks so I am hiring people to patch up our roofs. Saves on buckets. Have to avoid boredom as well.

Worst news of all is that the town is running short of whiskey! The trucks can't get through. It's a good thing I have been here so long, we stocked up when this all started so we're good for about a month.

On the upside, there is no more smoke or dust in the air.

Our only problem is we are about 350 km from the nearest
paved road. One good thing though, this is not unprecedented yet. So everyone is taking it in stride in so far as possible.

Turning back to topics that may be of interest to those not stuck here, I see that the *almost entirely new government* (namely the House) has gotten off to a flying start manifesting how ill equipped they are to govern. Perhaps it would be appropriate to scan members of congress daily to see if they have a brain. I don't think that would be overly instrusive.

And just a pinch of philosophy. I have never understood, or in fact been able to relate to the big hoopla that centers on New Years. All I have noticed is that about Dec. 18th things start to slow down, reach their nadir about Dec. 30 - Jan 2 and then slowly everything gets back to more or less normal. I can certainly understand why people in general would want to take a little time off. I guess "time off to recharge" is more awkward than New Years. But there really isn't much of anything *new* about it. Most things are going to be pretty much like they were before. So just perhaps a better name would be Another Year. It would apply to everyone who lived to see it.

Happy Another Year everyone.

[Sir Charles]

KN,

Happy Another Year to you too.

Just back in from walking Stanley and it is indeed quite cold, although we have had little in the way of snow thus far, unlike other parts of the east.

I am glad to hear that you were like a good boy scout and stored your whiskey ration in advance.

The stupidity of this group in the House will eventually be the stuff of legend.

I am curious to see what the implications will be on the Massachusetts case too. I believe a lower court in Ohio also issued a decision aimed at slowing the banks down too.

What is astonishing to me is how slipshod all of the legal work on this stuff appears to have been. Unfortunately, as you suggest, the implications of all of these securities being messed up could be rather bad for a whole lot of investors, which sadly include pension plans, endowments, and other innocent buystanders.

[Krubozumo Nyankoye]

SC-

Frankly to me it is already the stuff of legend... once upon a time a nation of otherwise good repute in a state of what can only be described as dumbstruck stupidity, selected a set of "leaders" who's professed intent was to worsen everything to the greatest extent possible.

I gather from prior postings that you SC are some form of Avogadro so I think I can to some extent relate to your astonishment over the apparent legalities. I may be way off base because I have no legal expertise per se, but superficially I would guess that at the root of it all is some elaborate form of systemic fraud. If true "hard times" is going to acquire an entirely new meaning.

Yes, I am notorious for my consumption of whiskey here. In fact the local catholic priest depends upon me for his supply. Five years ago he came around once a week on Saturday afternoon about 5:30. Now he shows up every day, it is like Tea time. Unfortunately he won't allow me to record our conversations.

TKS for the reply...

[litbrit]

KN, your comment reminded me of living in Tegucigalpa, where we had a similar seasonal set-up: rain, and no-rain. When there was no rain, everything (and I mean everything) was dusty and crumbly-looking. When the rains came, everything turned green, and the mud flowed with ridiculous speed, often taking with it an entire street's worth of lean-to houses. If the river overflowed, there would be road closings and food (and booze) shortages due to the trucks not being able to deliver.

Then there would be border skirmishes, particularly with El Salvador, that would hold up shipments from the Norteños, and we'd suddenly have nothing in the grocery stores. Families fortunate enough to have larger houses all have bodegas, which my mother would stock with sugar and flour and other staples whenever my parents' tennis partners who worked for The Agency would give them a heads-up about political strife that was sure to impact food availability. The bodega--a large cellar with shelves--was also a convenient place to hide in case of a military coup.

Ah, memories!

[Prup (aka Jim Benton)]

First, let me apologize to Big Bad Wolf for not getting back to tell him of my joy and relief at the news about his cat. He's passed the first and most important test, he's shown he does respond to (injected) insulin -- not all cats do. After that, it's merely a question of tweaking the dose to find the best amount -- which may take a few months and a few vet visits and blood tests, but you'll find there is a relatively wide range for you to operate within.

Now you have one other problem, realizing you've added an unbreakable item to your daily schedule -- or two, if, like Kittenz, your companion needs two shots a day. That can be a bit of a pain in the neck, though I know -- even without meeting your nameless cat -- he's worth the trouble. But it will mean adjusting things like doctor's appointments to make sure someone is there to give him his shot at the right time. (For us it is a one-person job, and one of the few responsibilities that Em has willingly taken one because my hands are a little too shaky to manage it. I need to be there most days just to hold and pet Kittenz afterwards, but it can be given without me. But Kittenz is exceptionally cooperative for a cat.)

So go out and buy him a container of fresh catnip -- not the stale old stuff in the Hartz boxes which I'd guess is to catnip what McCormicks is to good spices -- and pass on good wishes from Em, Kittenz and I. And realize that while you have some 'give' in the schedule -- and can even afford to miss a shot every couple of months if you absolutely have to -- you've taken on a responsibility that matters, because a life is at stake.

[oddjob]

once upon a time a nation of otherwise good repute in a state of what can only be described as dumbstruck stupidity, selected a set of "leaders" who's professed intent was to worsen everything to the greatest extent possible.

Supporting data for the latter observation of the sentence is provided by Steve Benen in a post prior to the one Sir C. linked to.

[Sir Charles]

oddjob,

That's funny -- I was actually starting to gather statistic yesterday to make the comparison to the eight Bush years in terms of job creation.

I did a post sometime back comparing the job creation levels during various presidencies and noted that the Democratic presidents have ruled over eras in which far more jobs were created -- I think largely due to caring about the issue and embracing policies that would facilitate this. With the exception of the Harding Coolidgee term from 1921-25, no Republican president has ever exceeded annualized job growth of over 3% over a four year term. Bush the II achieved the worst growth of all, except, of course, for Hoover, who saw a tremendous net loss of jobs during his unfortunate four years.

Several Democratic president accomplished this feat, including Roosevelt in multiple terms, Truman, Johnson, and Carter. Indeed, it is something of a hobby horse of mine to point out that job gorwth under Carter was better than under Reagan, despite relentless Republican propaganda regarding the golden age over which St. Ronnie allegedly reigned.

KN,

I don't think the faulty papaer work on the mortgages is largely fraud driven. I think it reflects unbelievably slipshod work between the banks and their lawyers. It is, however, indicative of a mind set that also permitted both fraud and rank stupidity in terms of loan writing -- the general view that tomorrow would never come.

[oddjob]

I think it's human nature not to pay attention to important details as long as processing sales/transactions keeps an enormous gravy train in motion. The problem with zealous deregulation is that it ignores this basic aspect of humanity, making us vulnerable to avoidable catastrophes.

[oddjob]

I'd post this in one of the AZ shootings threads, but it's too tasteless and a little too off topic to fit well in any of them, even though I still think it's worth sharing.

(Hat tip, Wicked Gay Blog.)

[oddjob]

And on a happier note, the college intern who immediately came to Giffords' aid and thus may well have saved her life? He's gay! :)

[oddjob]

I just learned a particularly unpleasant piece of information (thanks to a high school classmate whose son went to preschool with the girl who was shot to death).

That girl who was shot?

She was born on 9/11/01...............

[kathy a.]

oddjob -- those westboro people are horrible, nasty. if they qualify for any kind of tax exemption, that should be re-thought. they can say what they want, but they should be shunned early and often for being hateful, terrible examples.

[big bad wolf]

prup, thanks for the advice and reassurance. so far it is a two person job, since he want someone petting/distracting him when he gets the shot. i tried it once alone; he bit me pretty good. we will keep working on that part, but, for now, i will stay close to home.

kathy, the westboro people are awful. i think they may also win in the sct, as i think i think they probably should. but from a human perspective, not a legal one, they should stop.

[oddjob]

Depression (possibly bipolar) has claimed the life of the younger son of the last Shah of Iran.