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Showing posts from September 21, 2008

Fun at the grocery store

I hate shopping. (Wow Duffy, brave, bold stance there. The rest of us love it.) I know but since I have 627 kids, I practically live there. Last night, I had to stop in for a few things. I get to the deli and place my order. The guy is new and decidedly more upbeat than the typical deli worker. Some chit chat and a nearly completed order when a lady with two kids in two walks over. There is no one, not a patron nor another employee anywhere nearby. I literally could not see another person except myself and the deli guy. "Do I have to take a number?" "Of course." He's smiling but she doesn't get it. She takes a number and he looks at me and laughs. "I hope I don't have to wait this long" she says dejected. "What number do you have?" he asks as he handing me the last of my order. "41" The board say "13". Deli guy starts: "13? 13? 14? 14? 15..." The woman sighs and rolls her eyes. I have

Ex-bankers on pushing customers to rack up debt - CNN.com

Ex-bankers on pushing customers to rack up debt : "Colombo said some people even asked about getting a $50,000 cash advance -- usually at zero percent interest -- for a down payment on a house. And although that's illegal, the former employees say they were trained to get around it by saying, 'I cannot give you money to use as a down-payment on a home. However, what I can do is, I can deposit some money into your checking account, and once it's there, the funds are there, it's yours to do with what you please.' Spokeswoman Betty Reiss said, "Our call center associates are focused on serving customer financial needs and responding to questions about their accounts." But Colombo said her performance reviews -- which she provided to CNN -- tell a slightly different story about selling tactics. In one, she is told by supervisors to be more aggressive: "You cannot sell what you don't offer." Another reads, "Understand the importance

The Case Of The Wartime Pope: The Historical Controversy Of Pius XII

The Bulletin - Philadelphia's Family Newspaper - The Case Of The Wartime Pope: The Historical Controversy Of Pius XII : "'For me, the wartime conduct of [Eugenio] Pacelli, as Pope Pius XII, was actually of secondary importance in my narrative .' Hitler's Pope has been criticized for its accuracy and dedication to objective history, and Mr. Cornwell admits that since its publication, his views have undergone revision . 'While I believe with many commentators that the pope might have done more to help the plight of the Jews, I now feel, 10 years after the publication of my book, that his scope for action was severely limited and I am prepared to state this ,' he said" For those of you who need a translation from Leftwing Academic (redundant, I know) to English: "I was completely wrong about Pope Pius XII but that's not the point. I was trying to fit the facts into my narrative. That is, I had the conclusion I wanted and was working backwards.

The Subprime Mortgage Primer

The Subprime Mortgage Primer Sad, funny and brilliant all at the same time.

Politics test

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You are a Social Liberal (63% permissive) and an... Economic Conservative (71% permissive) You are best described as a: Libertarian Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also : The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Malkin beat me to it

“When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the princes of greed. He said, ‘look, here’s what happened.’” I've heard 8 years of "Bush is a Moron" and Biden slings this stuff around and not a peep out of anyone on the left let alone the MSM. He should be roundly mocked for such stupidity. I'd like to book him on "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader."

Delaware Liberal University

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Checkmate

I've been told hither and yon that this market meltdown is, like all things, the fault of Republicans. Smarter people have blown holes in that idea on more than one occasion . Since they somehow to be ignored, let's go to the Liberal's Paper of Record, the New York Times: New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago. Under the plan, disclosed at a Congressional hearing today, a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry. The new agency would have the authority, which now rests with Congress, to s et one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it

That's a Nice Tax Exempt Organization You Got There. Hate to See Something Happen to It

Simply amazing. That's a Nice Tax Exempt Organization You Got There. Hate to See Something Happen to It : "if you don't withdraw the invitation to Gov. Palin we're going to look into your tax exempt status." Looks like authoritarianism isn't limited to Dick Cheney.

Why is Obama so vapid, hesitant, and gutless?

Professional contrarian Christopher Hitchens gives a rundown of why he think Barry is going to be another Dukakis. Why is Obama so vapid, hesitant, and gutless? : "...what I suspect in his case is that he had no idea of winning this time around. He was running in Iowa and New Hampshire to seed the ground for 2012, not 2008, and then the enthusiasm of his supporters (and the weird coincidence of a strong John Edwards showing in Iowa) put him at the front of the pack. Yet, having suddenly got the leadership position, he hadn't the faintest idea what to do with it or what to do about it." I do get the feeling that Obama has been borne by momentum that he hadn't anticipated. Frankly, I don't think anyone in the field thought he would get this far or even that he had paid enough dues to be where he is today.

Blue On Blue

Biden Calls Obama Attack Ad “Terrible” Meanwhile: Obama on Biden's Initial Opposition to AIG Bailout: "Joe Should Have Waited" more: "But it's the kind of thing that drives people crazy about politics," Lauer said. "It sounds like you were trying to score some political points against John McCain using his words, when your own running mate had used very similar words." " No , hold on a second Matt," Obama said. "I think what drives people crazy about politics is the fact that somebody like John McCain who for 26 years has been an advocate for deregulation, for 26 years has said the market is king and then starts going out there suggesting somehow that he's a populist who's been railing against Wall Street and regulation -- that's what drives people crazy about politics." So...it's not the fact that you're slamming your opponent for exactly the same thing your running made said? That's not the hypocritica

Two things...

from Jeff Jarvis that are worth your time. First up is an original idea in health care . Jeff is a "bottoms up" kind of guy. By that I mean he understands that most business models are basically upside down and need to be inverted to succeed. On that note he discusses the problem with our current form of health care competing interests for the same dollars. Everyone is trying to maximize their utility and simultaneously guard against privation. In the end, we all end up losing. He shows how a confluence of interests would serve everyone better. To be sure, when HMO's were first designed the idea was to create a system focused on wellness, not sickness. Prevention is much cheaper than cure. Keeping people seeing doctors for checkups and paying them to work out would preclude any surprises and help Fat America get off the couch and into the gym. It didn't turn out that way for reasons too long to discuss here but read Jeff's article. Second, he makes and

Unpacking the poll numbers

How Liberal Trolls Are Working To Get McCain Elected President . The author takes a very keen look at the recent Gallup numbers to see what, if anything, they mean. I don't necessarily agree that trolls are having any effect but I think his deconstruction of the statistics is very important. I would have built in more skepticism b/c the margin of error for any poll is between 3-5% which makes these polls so razor thin that they may not be trending as indicated. However, the aggregation of those trends is very interesting. Most important is the weight assigned by Gallup and what that means.

Political Babelfish

I'm introducing a new feature here called "Political Babelfish". It's available only to Pencader Plantinum subscribers. Non-subscribers, please enjoy this brief commercial (subscribers may scroll down and skip the commercial.) Do you like beer? Of course you do. Do drink swill ? Of course not. They say that "Nothing beats a Bud". We agree. Given the choice, we'll choose nothing over Bud every time. When you're ready for a manly beer with enough hops to pucker your face and enough alcohol to get you right where you need to be after just one, try Dogfishead 90 Minute IPA. So, Obama's latest laugher is this one: "'Given the gravity of this situation, and based on conversations I have had with both Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke, I have asked my economic team to refrain from presenting a more detailed blue-print of how an immediate plan might be structured until the Treasury and the Federal Reserve have had an opportunity

Media Caught Fabricating White Racists?

Media Caught Fabricating White Racists? Jeeze, they've stooped to simply making shit up now. This is just embarrassing.

What's not in the news

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was the premiere opponent of and speaker against the horrors of Communism. One thing he spoke about was the way he used to read the ironically named "Pravda". He said you read it not for what was in it, but for what was not in it. His point was that the news is shaped not only by how the news is presented (read: spun) but also by what is and is not reported. The very thing the MSM is having a hard time with. It used to be they may not have been able to tell you what to think but they certainly could tell you what to think about . It is a very effective way of controlling the argument. With the advent and rise of blogs and alternative media even that is getting tough. Not one MSM outlet has covered the story of Sarah Palin drawing a crowd of 60,000 in Florida. They have no interest in undermining their candidate and helping "that woman". They don't get to do that any more. Drudge has picked up the story so now it's national

Are towns really safer without traffic lights?

Are towns really safer without traffic lights? Answer: It appears so. This is not a new thing. I've written about it before but what makes this one different is that it takes it one step further and making highways unregulated. This is curious because Europe has been regulating and legislating behavior to death. This flies directly in the face of it. Moral of the story: If you treat people like idiots, they will act like it. If you treat them like adults, they will act like it.