Everything crash
Stocks down 243 points 296.99 points 279.92 points in morning trading. [The NYSE has declared Rule 48 in effect (i.e., they're doing everything in their power to stop the selling but gold is already over $1,700 an ounce).]
UPDATE: As of 2:23 pm the Dow is down 493 points. The Dow Jones closed 634 points down. This is, of course, Bill Clinton’s fault.
I am really sorry about your IRA/pension/investments but . . . burn, baby, burn.
Will S&P downgrading lead debt cutters to cut deeper (but still without any offsetting tax increases?) (isn’t debt cutting without increased revenue like bleeding a patient but not feeding them?)
Ryan, of course, embraces the downgrade
WaPost looks at the origins of the debt showdown and for a change they just look at the Republicans and don’t try to make this be about both sides (“young guns”? I like that, it has the appropriate Che Guevara ring to it) [the WaPost was so proud of themselves, they published a separate series of graphics to accompany this story]
Andrew “Bush legacy scum” Malcolm blames Tim Geithner for everything (for all the wrong reasons, but he’s certainly spotted the right culprit)
Glenn W. Smith: the Triumph of the Counter-Enlightenment
Ian Welsh on the London riots coming to the USA soon
Revisiting Patco, and how Reagan made everything worse for everyone but the Richie Richs [Michael Moore: The Day the Middle Class Died]
The most pleasant thing anyone’s said about Social Security in ages
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Other news:
Eight dead in Ohio(move along, nothing to see here)
The longer we stay in Afghanistan, the more they hate us
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Fuck the Star Tribune for uncritically publishing yet more filth and lies from the filthy liars who front for our under-taxed billionaires. Some of the commenters call out the baloney but it’s hard because the authors, hacks from the Minnesota Free Market Institute, vaguely cite sources, but only in a generic, all-but-impossible to reference way.
The NYTimes backs them? When? How? Ditto the Heritage Institute. Both orgs publish huge volumes of information annually, yet the MFMI authors blithely assert crap and then vaguely attribute it to these and other sources. I.
The comments are also ridden with even worse bullshit from “ronniereagan.” I’d love for the Strib to look me in the eye and tell me that those comments didn’t come from the same ISP as this editorial submission.
They’ve robbed us of all our certainty, all our sureness. No matter how hard the left proves its case, the right has liars willing to give up their reputations and their honor to say otherwise and the average American is left bewildered and angry by conflicting facts. But the worst part is that the right’s shills never lose face, and are never publicly chastised for their lies which, by now, litter our public debate like manure on a hog house floor.
And to think, the Strib just rolled out an iPad app so you can read this lying garbage on the beach or while you commute. And no, there was no balancing op-ed from saner, more truthful folks. Just these lobbyists’ lies alongside Charles Krauthammer’s delusional economic fantasies about debt.
Who exactly owns the Star Tribune? And why do they chose to publish this crap?
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Politics:
Over at Hullabaloo they’ve got a Thom Hartmann video espousing grassroots involvement (I left a comment, read it to see why I disagree)
Drew Westen writes again [Joe Romm's take, Digby's take]
More big lies from the little people at the Tea party rallies [TBogg on the thug life]
How the Tea party turned into the snuff party (someone has to pay the bills)
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I like the concept of food trucks, but are we really that short of restaurants? Or are our city fathers over-licensing competition for businesses struggling to stay afloat during hard times?
Otoh, who looks out for me when I try to sell my writing services but in so doing have to compete with every person in the Twin Cities who thinks they’re a writer, whether they have experience or skills or not.
Licensing protects the qualified from the unqualified, and regulation keeps things sane. (Yes, I’d be all in favor of licensing writers if only so that buyers had some assurance of competence.)
The City should consider restricting food trucks to areas where there are large numbers of workers not served by restaurants (industrial parks, office parks, office buildings). Those trucks don’t pay property taxes and it’s not fair to let them park in front of restaurants.
I invented a new dish today, btw. Butter-fried bacon. Yes, now that you see those words in print, the concept is obvious. As is the fact that I am clearly not going to live forever but the buttery bacon grease sure made the potatoes taste good.
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Etc.:
Via Vick, Phil Dick’s bible is for sale
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Back in the days when Republicans had hearts and weren’t racist creeps, he was one of the best.
Globalization from the point of view of the Earth and its living species:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903454504576486421307171028.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_5
It’s probably not nice of me to say so, but I do like how Newsweek has managed to capture in Bachmann’s gaze a glimpse into her crazed mind and empty soul.
Very well-said, jonerik! Most people would need a 2X4 to the back of the head to achieve the expression Bachmann shows. She does it with migraines and unbridled crazy.
Agreed. She does not look like a well person (and not talking about the migraines).