Slog
News & ArtsFriday, March 1, 2013
News Morning News: Happy Friday!
Posted by Anna Minard on Fri, Mar 1, 2013 at 8:48 AM
Tim Eyman's Two-Thirds Majority Is Dead! It was declared unconstitutional yesterday morning. Eli says the ruling proves the importance of paying attention to down-ballot races; Goldy makes a list of Eyman's accomplishments, most of which are utter failures, and points out that the state's Republicans have no chance of pushing through a constitutional amendment codifying Eyman's bullshit, thank god. "SUCK IT, TIM EYMAN," says everyone.
It's Sequester Day! It's Sequester Day! Go look under your sequester tree! Did you get a train set? A puppy?! Just a bunch of bullshit? Me, too.
Downtown Gets a Playground: The play area at Westlake Park opens today. Will families use it? Or will it just get peed on at midnight? OR BOTH?
British Undercover Officers in Trouble for Seducing Activists: Good lord, this is insane. Using the names of dead infants for their cover identities, having years-long live-in relationships with people they were spying on—even fathering children. The Guardian has a long piece on one such relationship:
By the spring of 1995, Jenner began a relationship with Alison and soon moved into her flat. "We lived together as what I would describe as man and wife," she said. "He was completely integrated into my life for five years." Jenner met her relatives, who trusted him as her long-term partner. He accompanied Alison to her mother's second wedding. "He is in my mother's wedding photograph," she said.
SPD Opens Up About Tuesday's Shooting of a Mentally Ill Man: The story is complicated and terribly sad. Ben Steiner reconstructs what happened, according to the police, here. The man's family, however, seems to disagree with the police account.
The End of the "Florida Man" Superhero Joke? "Florida man vanishes after being sucked into sinkhole under his bedroom."
Local News Roundup, Excellent Headline Edition: One point per pun in the comments! Go!
• "Burglary suspect 'treed' in Magnolia"
• "Suspect 'butt dials' 911 during drug deal near OR police station"
• "Man convicted of eluding police takes off during court hearing"
Speaking of Puns, Blah Blah "Shakes on a Plane": Colorado College's ultimate frisbee team might be in trouble with the FAA for a Harlem Shake video they filmed on a plane.
Emily posted this on Line Out last night, but it needs to be in front of your face again. Make sure the sound is on!
1
So you dont want to talk about how the plastic bag ban is causing a spike in shop lifting in Seattle? KOMO, KING and PI had stories on this. This is backed up with a survey conducted by the city of Seattle.
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/S…
It also goes on to mention how this is not limited to Seattle, that everywhere plastic bags are banned, have dealt with a spike in shop lifting, not to mention a spike in e-coli sickness. This is something the city knew about, but didnt mention when proposing the ban.
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/S…
It also goes on to mention how this is not limited to Seattle, that everywhere plastic bags are banned, have dealt with a spike in shop lifting, not to mention a spike in e-coli sickness. This is something the city knew about, but didnt mention when proposing the ban.
2
There's space for playgrounds and Florida Man, but no Slog comment on the bombshell revelation in the Bradley Manning trial? His attempts to contact the New York Times and Washington Post about American atrocities were fruitless. Only after this appalling First Amendment failure did Manning contact Wikileaks. This lowly PFC is not only within his rights as a whistleblower *and* *also* under the UCMJ, but has cast iron balls that put to shame piddly cultural campaigns like marriage equality.
He's a gay man in the crosshairs of the imperial state, having endured 1,000 days of degrading and solitary confinement, but The Stranger has been AWOL on the issue since Jake Blomgart's story of August 12, 2012. Maybe if Bradley Manning had stopped at a DC hotel with a sackful of plugs and toys, Savage would cop a feel on the story.
Once again, let's ponder the question du jour: Why the silence of Gay, Inc? http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/02/22/b…
He's a gay man in the crosshairs of the imperial state, having endured 1,000 days of degrading and solitary confinement, but The Stranger has been AWOL on the issue since Jake Blomgart's story of August 12, 2012. Maybe if Bradley Manning had stopped at a DC hotel with a sackful of plugs and toys, Savage would cop a feel on the story.
Once again, let's ponder the question du jour: Why the silence of Gay, Inc? http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/02/22/b…
3
The sequester is like an arguing couple saying "If we don't start cleaning this house we'll burn it down" surely that will at least motivate us to start vacuuming. This was the administration's idea after all.
Obama looses either way, if his scare factor turns out to be true, he can blame the Republicans but shows an appalling lack of leadership. If nobody notices a 44 billion rate-of-increased-spending-cut, nothing is being really cut, then he's the little boy that cried wolf and also shows an appalling lack of leadership.
Obama looses either way, if his scare factor turns out to be true, he can blame the Republicans but shows an appalling lack of leadership. If nobody notices a 44 billion rate-of-increased-spending-cut, nothing is being really cut, then he's the little boy that cried wolf and also shows an appalling lack of leadership.
4
@1: Nor did we try biodegradable 'plastic' bags, which I hear are not as strong but still quite usable for shopping.
7
Our family doesn't celebrate sequester. We have a recession menorah where we light eight candles one minute apart, before the small amount of oil that we can afford burns out.
11
"The man's family, however, seems to disagree with the police account."
Translate this to Latin and it becomes the new SPD motto.
Translate this to Latin and it becomes the new SPD motto.
12
Q. What did you say?
A. "SUCK IT, TIM EYMAN!"
Q. I can't hear you ...
A. "WE SAID SUCK IT TIM EYMAN!"
A. "SUCK IT, TIM EYMAN!"
Q. I can't hear you ...
A. "WE SAID SUCK IT TIM EYMAN!"
13
The French businessman and economist, circa 1700s, Jean-Baptiste Say, made a number of observations, really of a commonsensical nature, some embodied in what has become to be known as Say's Law, although some items were attributed to M. Say, but originated elsewhere.
Say did write about the foundations of economic democracy, and supply and demand, and to summarize one of his dominant thoughts in a pithy fashion:
The workers must earn enough to be able to purchase the fruits of their labor --- the products they made and manufactured.
Really a very simple statement, but something we don't really see or think about too much lately.
With the collapse of sales at Wal-Mart and J.C. Penny's, and the really shocking news from a recent study on the typical American's ability to purchase an American auto, most succinctly summed up the a commenter on zerohedge.com (TruthInSunshine):
Looking to buy a new car, truck or crossover? You may find it more difficult to stretch the household budget than you expected, according to a new study that finds median-income families in only one major U.S. city [fucking parasitic, taxpayer-sucking Washington D.C....whocould'veknowit?] actually can afford the typical new vehicle.
The typical new vehicle is now more expensive than ever, averaging $30,500 in 2012, according to TrueCar.com data, and heading up again as makers curb the incentives that helped make their products more affordable during the recession when they were desperate for sales.
According to the 2013 Car Affordability Study by Interest.com, only in Washington could the typical household swing the payments, the median income there running $86,680 a year. At the other extreme, Tampa, Fla., was at the bottom of the 25 large cities included in the study, with a median household income of $43,832.
Sourced from the link below:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cars-incre…
And with the latest Bloomberg article:
Disposable income, or the money left over after taxes, dropped 4 percent after adjusting for inflation, the biggest plunge since monthly records began in 1959.
Sourced from the link below:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-01…
We observe exactly correlating data, which directly correlates with the data from the latest Census, namely that one out of two Americans, or 50% of the population, is at the low-income, or no-income, level, i.e., they have no money --- the obvious result from a dismantled consumer-based economy, leaving that fantasy finance-based economy.
If the workers, which there really aren't enough of today in America, given the real unemployment numbers (and yes, there have been new temporary employee jobs included in those employment stats, which may actually last an entire day or two), can't afford to buy the product, then we are truly royally screwed!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptis…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Say's_law
http://www.econlib.org/library/Say/sayT0…
More...
Say's Law and why it matters
The French businessman and economist, circa 1700s, Jean-Baptiste Say, made a number of observations, really of a commonsensical nature, some embodied in what has become to be known as Say's Law, although some items were attributed to M. Say, but originated elsewhere.
Say did write about the foundations of economic democracy, and supply and demand, and to summarize one of his dominant thoughts in a pithy fashion:
The workers must earn enough to be able to purchase the fruits of their labor --- the products they made and manufactured.
Really a very simple statement, but something we don't really see or think about too much lately.
With the collapse of sales at Wal-Mart and J.C. Penny's, and the really shocking news from a recent study on the typical American's ability to purchase an American auto, most succinctly summed up the a commenter on zerohedge.com (TruthInSunshine):
Looking to buy a new car, truck or crossover? You may find it more difficult to stretch the household budget than you expected, according to a new study that finds median-income families in only one major U.S. city [fucking parasitic, taxpayer-sucking Washington D.C....whocould'veknowit?] actually can afford the typical new vehicle.
The typical new vehicle is now more expensive than ever, averaging $30,500 in 2012, according to TrueCar.com data, and heading up again as makers curb the incentives that helped make their products more affordable during the recession when they were desperate for sales.
According to the 2013 Car Affordability Study by Interest.com, only in Washington could the typical household swing the payments, the median income there running $86,680 a year. At the other extreme, Tampa, Fla., was at the bottom of the 25 large cities included in the study, with a median household income of $43,832.
Sourced from the link below:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cars-incre…
And with the latest Bloomberg article:
Disposable income, or the money left over after taxes, dropped 4 percent after adjusting for inflation, the biggest plunge since monthly records began in 1959.
Sourced from the link below:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-01…
We observe exactly correlating data, which directly correlates with the data from the latest Census, namely that one out of two Americans, or 50% of the population, is at the low-income, or no-income, level, i.e., they have no money --- the obvious result from a dismantled consumer-based economy, leaving that fantasy finance-based economy.
If the workers, which there really aren't enough of today in America, given the real unemployment numbers (and yes, there have been new temporary employee jobs included in those employment stats, which may actually last an entire day or two), can't afford to buy the product, then we are truly royally screwed!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptis…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Say's_law
http://www.econlib.org/library/Say/sayT0…
14
@6, @8 - Yes, Fnarf was right in predicting my return.
I am a tad bit more to the left however, even I was appalled with the Romney campaign and also the rape insanity that is still going on.
I am a tad bit more to the left however, even I was appalled with the Romney campaign and also the rape insanity that is still going on.
15
@1 doing away with shopping baskets didnt significantly reduce theft of shopping baskets? I hope theyre not walking away with phoebe's pearls too...
16
And on a mich lighter note than this sequestration bullcrap (and for all you Power Ranger lovers and cat lovers out there), the most famous up-skirt video in TV history:
http://myvortexx.com/feed/memories-of-mi…
Enjoy . . .
http://myvortexx.com/feed/memories-of-mi…
Enjoy . . .
18
@1,
If shoplifting is that much of a problem, stores can easily take Costco's lead and station someone at the door, checking bags as people leave. That's SOP in many stores in NYC as well.
If stores decide paying someone minimum wage to do that job is too costly compared to their shoplifting losses, then I guess the shoplifting isn't as bad as they claim.
If shoplifting is that much of a problem, stores can easily take Costco's lead and station someone at the door, checking bags as people leave. That's SOP in many stores in NYC as well.
If stores decide paying someone minimum wage to do that job is too costly compared to their shoplifting losses, then I guess the shoplifting isn't as bad as they claim.
19
@18: Such a sad solution.
Remember that the "isn't that bad range" range is still passed along on to you in higher prices.
Remember that the "isn't that bad range" range is still passed along on to you in higher prices.
20
Is today Sequester Day? I thought today was Sequester Eve!!!
Not until 11:59pm does POTUS push the red button on his desk that activates the big SQUEEZSTER and slowly constricts the economy into sad, sad smithereens.
Not until 11:59pm does POTUS push the red button on his desk that activates the big SQUEEZSTER and slowly constricts the economy into sad, sad smithereens.
21
Raindrop: now that you are a tad more to the left, you should learn this: The word you were looking for in @3 is "loses," not "looses."
Weirdly, only the far-right comments regularly make this mistake. I don't know why that is.
Weirdly, only the far-right comments regularly make this mistake. I don't know why that is.
22
I have been sharing Faireset (cat/animal videos) with my students for several months. He is quite the innovator! Watch his work on the Tour Eiffel (Eiffel Tower) to see the true nature of this online artist. He even replied to one of my class's questions!
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