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and yet so many people will ontinue to vote GOP. Defies understanding

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 04:54:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 3)

The want the government's hands off their firefighters...

If you are not convinced, try it on someone who has not been entirely debauched by economics. — Piero Sraffa

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 05:07:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 7)

Luckily, Romney was pretty clear a few weeks ago in stating his position against federal funding for firefighting.

The most important consequence of running the state like a private firm is that the state should not be in the business of providing free or implicit guarantees of any kind, as these are large "contingent liabilities" threatening to bankrupt the state. The threat of bankruptcy is real, as the state must fund itself by borrowing from private lenders, unable as it is to create money to fund necessary expenses deriving from the exercisising of implicit guarantees. One alternative to bankruptcy is default, but this is considered unthinkable as defaulting on obligations to fellow EU member states is "uneuropean". In addition, countries with a large primary trade deficit may find it impossible even to default.
So, what kinds of implicit guarantees are Eurozone governments providing that they shouldn't be in the business of providing? I can think of half a dozen off the top of my head:

deposit insurance for banks

granting limited liability to businesses

disaster relief

access to health care

access to education

access to legal redress

public safery

All of these are implicit guarantees that every citizen in Europe expects to enjoy relatively free of charge. These are large contingent liabilities of the state. Any and all of them could not be undertaken by a private entity that didn't charge hefty fees up front and wasn't adequately capitalised in case a particularly large claim presented itself. Would you pay a savings deposit insurance premium to an inadequately capitalised insurance company? (not that "sophisticated investors" didn't do exactly that when they bought CDS "protection" over the past 10 years) Would you incur risks with a full-liability entity having less capital than your potential loss? Would you trust you can be rescued from a disaster by an entity without the capital and operating income to actually fund a rescue operation? How about health insurance from an entity without the resources to pay for the treatment? How about your right to file a complaint to an entity without the necessary money to operate a grievance handling system? How about contracting physical security or firefighting services from an entity without the operating income to actually deploy security or firefighters?

If you are not convinced, try it on someone who has not been entirely debauched by economics. — Piero Sraffa

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 05:06:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 2)

Right -- let's return to the days of private fire companies and we can learn all over again why socialized fire departments were created.

by Marie2 on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 10:07:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

asdf:

yokels shooting at rocks with steel-jacketed bullets

That's the definition of "blaze away".

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Tue Jun 26th, 2012 at 01:22:28 AM EST
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Well, we are a MOTley crew.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 02:07:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 6)

The political circus here in the UK is in a strange mood. There's no legislation pending but, with the major party conferences looming and important supporters to be massaged, people are coming out with position papers right left and centre.

not important in themselves, but they herald where the fights are going to be.

Labour are beginning to realise that NuLab neoliberalism has led them into the wasteland and are trying to turn the ship around into a more modern leftward direction. However the undead, clinging to the money-bloated corpses of Blair and Mandelson, refuse to be staked and so there could well be some interesting squabbles this autumn.

The Tories failed to achieve an electoral majority despite facing the wholly despised and ineffectual Gordon Brown, so naturally the solution is to follow the republican party with policies that are even more raw meat conservative. Cameron is trying to make some running on this but is widely felt by the right of the party to be a liability and insufficiently fevered in his mania to hurt the poor and disadvantaged. Sadly the fights are unlikely to be public, but there will be a lot of right wing dog whistling going on as various factions try to raise their visibility.

The LibDems. What to say ? Most of that faction of the party which might have raised objections to the rightward drift of the coalition have left in disgust, leaving behind a conservative-lite party which has little ideological view other than to give mildly critical support to actual conservative policies

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 12:35:41 PM EST

it is getting very mad out there, close to sweepstake time on the month the coalition will collapse. theyre lining themselves up with new policies to diferentiate from each other.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 03:57:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 2)

Yesterday on the Andrew Neil talkshow, a panel were discussing that the Coalition had more or less achieved all of the bits and bobs they'd agreed when it was formed and are now wondering what they're gonna do next.

I think they've more or less abandoned the idea of more stuff on which they agree so the tories are now digging up stuff just to piss the libdems off

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 04:04:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

In there any real prospect of a collapse?

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 04:04:04 PM EST
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Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 8)

Not really. The LibDems who are still in government surely know that this is as good as it gets for them, so why would they rock the boat?

Not to mention that they've failed to rebel over civil liberties - the only thing that theoretically distinguishes Orange Bookers from the typical right wingers.

However, the Tories may actually be thinking that they will win the next election, so they may be tempted to precipitate it... but it takes a lot of courage to force an election when the Euro crisis may go critical and make you look really bad, right in the middle of the campaign...

by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 04:10:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Monday Open Thread (4.00 / 5)

Indeed. The key question is - how mad are the right-wing Tories? If they're barking enough to force the issue, the coalition, and the Tories, are over.

I don't think they are. Cameron rubs them up the wrong way, but I don't think they're unified enough to be suicidal.

What's scary is that Cameron is now on the moderate wing of the party.

I think it's more likely that the government may implode because of some Murdoch-related sleaze. Cameron has brazened it out so far, but if some interesting revelations appear during the trial of that Brooks person, Cameron's days could be numbered.

If he goes out the Tories will want to replace him with a right-wing sock puppet. And even some of the Lib Dems might lack the stomach for that.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 04:21:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

East Coast Sea Levels Rising Faster Than Rest of World, Gov't Study Shows | TPM

What's scary is that Cameron is now on the moderate wing of the party.

Yeah, that is scary: No more kids: David Cameron attacked over plans to discourage families having more than two children (Daily Mirror)

Prime Minister faces criticism for saying benefits system encourages young families to breed

If you are not convinced, try it on someone who has not been entirely debauched by economics. — Piero Sraffa

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 04:27:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The Halachic Condom (4.00 / 3)

From The Forward

But the phone interview that made my coworkers raise their eyebrows the most was the one I conducted with Mark McGlothlin, the San Diego-based condom manufacturer whose prophylactics are favored by ultra-Orthodox families with fertility problems.

by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 01:21:06 PM EST

Re: The Halachic Condom (none / 1)

So, basically a kippah?

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 02:51:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Sea levels rising (none / 0)

A new U.S. Geological Survey report published Sunday says that sea levels are rising three-to-four times faster along parts of the U.S. east coast than they are globally.
"Since about 1990, sea-level rise in the 600-mile stretch of coastal zone from Cape Hatteras, N.C. to north of Boston, Mass. -- coined a "hotspot" by scientists -- has increased 2 - 3.7 millimeters per year; the global increase over the same period was 0.6 - 1.0 millimeter per year," the U.S. Geological Survey said in a news release. "Based on data and analyses included in the report, if global temperatures continue to rise, rates of sea level rise in this area are expected to continue increasing."

by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 01:24:33 PM EST

Re: Sea levels rising (none / 0)

doesn't that mean the coast is slowly sinking ? Or is gravity failing on the East coast ?

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 01:42:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Sea levels rising (4.00 / 8)

It means that it takes a long time for sea level increases in the North Atlantic from the melting of glacial ice on Greenland to come into equilibrium with the oceans of the world. This more rapid rise along the US East Coast is entirely consistent with predictions I read as long ago as a year. A glacial collapse of the Greenland ice sheet could have serious consequences for US east coast cities in 20 to 50 years, possibly less.

As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 02:17:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Just sayin' (4.00 / 12)

by ElaineinNM on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 02:49:16 PM EST

or the buffoon...

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 02:52:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Of course I wasn't thinking of anyone in particular :)

by ElaineinNM on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 03:20:26 PM EST
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:-þ

Ever since I learnt about confirmation bias I've started seeing it everywhere

by ATinNM on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 07:34:40 PM EST
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Re: Just sayin' (none / 1)

Ever since I learnt about confirmation bias I've started seeing it everywhere

by ATinNM on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 07:40:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Just sayin' (none / 1)

I was going to reply with a picture of a disgruntled cat looking at the camera with the word 'bas' at the top, and 'SOON' at the bottom. But then I realized that this is less work.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Tue Jun 26th, 2012 at 03:05:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_20933323/details-come-denver-police-officer-shooting-one-c ustody

What happens if your gun goes off? And you shoot somebody dead?

by asdf on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 04:32:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Just another reason I'm glad America's gun mania ain't made it over here

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 04:53:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

http://twitpic.com/a0icy6

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 04:59:33 PM EST

Another promise he intends to break

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 05:26:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

That is not even funny any more.

If you are not convinced, try it on someone who has not been entirely debauched by economics. — Piero Sraffa

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 05:34:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

You can't make this stuff up!!! (4.00 / 8)

Huffington Post

Some students at private schools in Louisiana are being taught that Scotland's fabled Loch Ness monster is real, a claim that is then held as evidence disproving Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, the Scotsman reports.
Thousands of students across the state are eligible to receive publicly funded vouchers to allow them to attend private Christian schools where textbooks published by Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) claim the monster was actually a dinosaur that existed at the same time as man, an assertion which conflicts with the theory of evolution.

Get me outta here!!!

by ElaineinNM on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 05:00:38 PM EST

I'm Working On It (4.00 / 4)

It's somebody else who's slackin' on the job.

cough he knows who he is cough

Ever since I learnt about confirmation bias I've started seeing it everywhere

by ATinNM on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 07:37:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: You can't make this stuff up!!! (4.00 / 3)

Should preserve the south as a bastion of rightwing ignoramuses voting for the 1%. Today we see the legacy of a time when the racists pulled their kids out of public schools and sent them to substandard private schools rather than letting their lil darlings attend integrated schools.

by Marie2 on Mon Jun 25th, 2012 at 10:16:05 PM EST
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Re: You can't make this stuff up!!! (none / 1)

I don't actually understand this, because even if if the monster were real, and even if it were a dinosaur, how does that disprove evolution?

by asdf on Tue Jun 26th, 2012 at 01:27:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Just because it does, dammit

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Tue Jun 26th, 2012 at 02:54:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Presumably it's that evolution-followers believe dinosaurs and man never walked the Earth at the same time. If Nessy is around, therefore, evolution must be false.

No, it doesn't make sense.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

by Drew J Jones (pedobear@pennstatefootball.com) on Tue Jun 26th, 2012 at 06:29:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: You can't make this stuff up!!! (none / 1)

It doesn't have to make sense...

by ElaineinNM on Tue Jun 26th, 2012 at 08:40:17 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: You can't make this stuff up!!! (none / 1)

You're trying to use logic here. Stop.

If you are not convinced, try it on someone who has not been entirely debauched by economics. — Piero Sraffa

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue Jun 26th, 2012 at 09:08:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Oxford gets involved:

A new university-backed project aims to investigate cryptic species such as the yeti whose existence is unproven, through genetic testing.
Researchers from Oxford University and the Lausanne Museum of Zoology are asking anyone with a collection of cryptozoological material to submit descriptions of it. The researchers will then ask for hair and other samples for genetic identification.

by gk (g k quattro due due sette "at" gmail.com) on Wed Jun 27th, 2012 at 09:29:02 AM EST
[ Parent ]

The European Commission gets involved:

This video was published by the European Commission for a campaign designed to attract more women to a career in science. The commission said that the video had to "speak their language to get their attention" and that it was intended to be "fun, catchy" and strike a chord with young people. "I would encourage everyone to have a look at the wider campaign and the many videos already online of female researchers talking about their jobs and lives,"
The original video was taken down after it received so many negative comments.

If you are not convinced, try it on someone who has not been entirely debauched by economics. — Piero Sraffa

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Wed Jun 27th, 2012 at 09:39:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]