There's this weird chatter about how crazy it would be for mildly disgruntled democrats to stay home in November and not vote. I agree! Totally crazy! I'll vote for Sestak and Bob Brady, the former probably needs my vote and the latter doesn't. But GOTV concerns aren't about people like me, they're about numerous other people who don't always make a point of voting.
There's some truth to this counterintuitive take on Krgthulu, and it's the reason some of us our pulling our hair out. The solution to the economic problems we face are, if not perfectly simply in practice, pretty straightforward. That we've had people arguing otherwise, and even people notionally on the right side worrying about invisible bond vigilantes and arguing for a smaller stimulus than necessary just because, is maddening. So, yes, optimistic that problems are solvable. Pessimistic that they will be solved.
If I went around calling peoples' religions "evil" I'd probably get into a bit of trouble. Not that I'm important, of course, but the usual suspects would say I was bigoted against the faithful and whatnot.
Labor Day is almost here so I imagine the mosque "controversy" will begin to recede. What will next August's stupid fake controversy that gets 24/7 coverage be?
I at least understood that we stayed in Iraq so Very Serious People could feel better about themselves. Not an especially good reason, of course, but a reason at least.
Roadside bombings and attacks by militants in Afghanistan killed five U.S. soldiers Tuesday, raising the American death toll since this weekend to 19.
The number of American soldiers killed in August is now 55, a drop from the 66 who died in July, the deadliest month of combat for U.S. troops since fighting began in 2001.
Not an economist, but I think Ruth has it about right. The financial system is like a house of cards that is teetering on the brink of collapse. Sooner or later all the assets held by the banks will have to be valued at market rates instead of the inflated values currently assigned to them. I suppose our betters are hoping that either the housing market will re-inflate or that they can spread the losses out over several years for a soft landing. Either way, it's not very comfortable knowing that we're so close to having the whole house collapse.
I thought this was a decent if imperfect piece at GreenTechMedia today. If nothing else it highlights once again the point that energy from coal has significant negative externalities that are not reflected in its price, full stop. It's a very simple point, but apparently not simple enough for the brain trust that scribbles editorials in the WSJ. Whether they don't understand simple economic concepts or whether they dissemble to advance an agenda, or both, is up for debate I suppose.
WSJ editorial is full of crap. Dog bites man. Open thread.
The more interesting than parking (impossible I know) bit of the earlier article about the Italian (aka 9th St.) Market is whether retail gentrification will alter the character of the place which, as I understand it, has from the beginning been a fairly low end market area catering to poor immigrants. There are some higher end specialty shops mixed in a bit, and the various butchers have good if not top quality meats, but overall it's more of a lower priced retail corridor. Locally, the demographics are a mix of older Italian- and African-American populations, along with yuppies, hipsters, and newer Mexican and Vietnamese immigrant populations.
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