"Professional Suicide"

I don't claim to know just how well a band like Titus Andronicus does financially, but even this old man knows of them and, well, oh jeebus just fuck you New York Times for being stupid and focusing too much on attention on the plight of the not quite rich enough.

I Have To Admit

Little Ricky looks pretty good for a man of 53.

Perhaps when the politics and gaybashing stop working out so well, he can write nutrition and fitness books.

Cynic

I believe enough that (re)-electing Team D is important enough that I can take a bit of centrismating, triangulating, hippiepunchinating, etc... If it, you know, works.


But I've never been especially convinced that that it does work.

Maybe Somebody Should Do Something

If we define the "short term" as that period where any kind of government spending cuts are insane, the "short term" is now 3.5 years at least.

Obama's budget office initially calculated its economic forecast based upon data available through June. Even that data presaged an 8.8 percent average unemployment rate in 2011 and an 8.3 percent average rate next year. But the mid-session review got delayed, and when the Office of Management and Budget revised it to incorporate the data through the end of August, the picture became much gloomier. Unemployment will average 9.1 percent this year, and 9.0 percent next year, OMB concluded, and won't dip below 7 percent until 2015 at the earliest.

And, no, I don't want to hear about the need for deficit reduction anymore.

Doc Fix

I'm an open the borders and let everyone in kinda guy, but we should also focus on reasons why there is a shortage in the creation of domestic doctors.  I don't know how much this is due to the activities of the pernicious doctor cartel, shortages in government money for various things, the difficulties of starting or enlarging medical schools, etc...

Lunch Thread

enjoy

Wanker of the Day

Andrew Malcolm.

Thursday Is New Jobless Day

409K new lucky duckies.

Still not good news.

Monthly report out tomorrow...

Dreaming Of A Benevolent Dictator Who Agrees WIth Me About Everything

Ultimately, that's what  all the "no labels," "Unity08," "We need a billionaire," crap is about, imagining that there's some sort of political Jesus out there who can implement my favored policies without worrying about the existing political institutions or the pesky voters.

I'm not thrilled with the structure of our existing political institutions, though I am a fan of that basic democracy thing, but you can't just wish them away.   Unlike Tom Friedman's cab drivers, your billionaire is unlikely to agree with you about everything.

 More than that, we're all a bit tribal, and the most likely concerns of your billionaire would be the concerns of that very small club of other billionaires.

So, yeah, awesome.

Tangled Webs

Offered without comment.

David Cameron has been operating a secret unit in Whitehall charged with undertaking covert economic operations to choke the Gaddafi regime of the one thing it had in abundance: oil.

The "Libyan oil cell" was run by the international development minister Alan Duncan and helped to strengthen sanctions against the oil-rich country, blocking supplies of crude oil to the dictator's side while allowing petrol and diesel to flow to the rebels.

But the government is likely to face intense scrutiny over the fact that the unit was involved in linking the rebels to a Swiss oil firm, Vitol, which has been credited with keeping the revolutionary engine running through the war. Duncan was previously a consultant with the firm and has close personal ties to its chairman, Ian Taylor. Taylor has also been a Conservative donor in the past.

Better Go For More Austerity

Bad economic data from Europe, too.

All Part Of A Cunning Plan

No it doesn't matter when a speech is given, and no the whole thing was not part of some elaborate strategery.

Wakey, Wakey

Opening game of football season or POTUS speech on jobs? I bet 25,000 quatloos football will attract more eyeballs.

Even Later Evening

Later Evening

Rock harder.

Big Dumb Houses

All good people have decided that there's something wrong with houses getting bigger, but I'm not actually sure why this is precisely. I think it's easier to talk about why big lot sizes are a problem, but big houses? Bonus question: define big house.

Wednesday Evening

Rock on.