– It’s caucus day in Iowa, so here’s my uninformed picks:
Win: Willard
Place: Paul
Show: Perry
Also, that Willard and Perry are relatively close to each other.
– Although kids don’t like them some Perry.
– Is tolling on 520 changing your commute?
– Awwwwwwwwww.
– Washington had 2 of these views.
– Chris Polk will enter the draft.
Is tolling on 520 changing your commute?
It looks like it will. I normally take 405 up to 90, but I’m probably going to shift over to 5 into downtown. I’m wondering if I’ll have to shift back once the viaduct closes (or convince my work that I can work from home)…
# 1: I work in Bellevue, but when I have to into downtown Seattle for one function or another I usually take I-90. It might be longer in terms of milage, but it’s usually shorter in terms of time on the road.
With tolling, I might actually reverse that and take 520 instead. If it’s for a work-related event, I can get reimbursed for the tolls and the lighter traffic might make it the faster alternative.
One of the year-end articles points out the worst business moves by CEOs over the last year. It’s an impressive list.
Japan nuke boss tops list of 2011 CEO screwups
Some of these guys are gone (resigned or kicked out the door), but others remain. At least the Japanese director of the nuclear plants apologized, which I don’t think applies to any of the U.S. executives. Either way, none of them are going to be homeless – they got paid millions, some of it as they were leaving, and those that left still will be well-compensated as directors of various boards, and will eventually land in another high-paying gig anyway – these guys take care of their own.
You don’t even put Santorum in the top three? That’s a gutsy call.
My morning commute is from bed to bathroom to refrigerator to computer, and hasn’t changed all that much.
The stock market is up 1.85% this morning despite more saber-rattling from the crazies in Tehran, who are “warning” a U.S. aircraft carrier not to re-enter the Persian Gulf. I would guess the U.S. Navy will respond by waving our flag in front of their noses, daring them to kick us.
# 5: Investors must figure that another war in the Mideast would be good for corporate profits.
Report from Evangelical central:
So how are the Republican Evangelicals dealing with the prospect of Romney as a candidate? Well, from what I heard among people chatting on Sunday, they are following the Republican whisper campaign that “A Morman may not be a Christian, but at least he’s better than a Muslim”.
With respect to the views, #51 is incorrectly labeled as Washington (state). It is actually from Western Australia (WA is not Washington in this case). So Washington only has two, not three.
@6 Well, it would be good for oil stocks, because if oil hits $200/bbl the oil companies will make more profits. Never one to be unprepared for any eventuality, no matter how unfortunate, I own shares of Chevron.
@7 Keeping in mind that a sizeable percentage of those folks still believe Obama is a closet Muslim …
@8 Dang …
Is tolling on 520 changing your commute?
I don’t commute that way, but it will further keep me from going to the Bellevue side and spending my money. Once in a while, we like to go the Bellevue mall area and the Kirkland area. 520 was convenient. Money is tight, so I choose not spend extra money for the privilege of spending my money there. If I do need to go, I will take the extra time and take I-90.
Any bets on how long before they put punitive tolls on I-90, 520 and Lake city? I think three years.
On the list of pictures from planes, there’s no way that the designers of the sports complex in #75 didn’t know it was going to look like an angry monkey from the air!
Correction: 1948, not 1947. And the word ‘decision’ should be ‘dissent.’ (U.S. v. Columbia Steel.)
Am surprised that YLB, who is very bright and white and very double wide from side to side, did not catch & release the error.
Or the moronic error from lefty Ron Suskind who wrote about Senator LBJ sneaking our first modern civil rights bill past the Senate’s hostile Republican majority. That’s beyond error. That’s libel.
But it’s forgivable libel. Let’s excuse Suskind’s gross and libelous error because he’s honest enough to admit that Barack Obama is a hollow man who is unqualified to be president … aside from the qualification of writing My Book About Me. And then writing My Other Book About Me.
OOOh, that’s nasty!
I’m not sure it’s true, though. There’s real antipathy towards Mormons out there. It’ll sure be interesting to see, if Willard snatches victory from the frothy Santorum – GO RICK!
Love the airplane photos, though @8 beat me to it – I had to look up #51 as well, cuz there’s no way that topography is in our state. And the headings of the two WA (Wash.) photos were both typo’ed, too. Makes me wonder what other mistakes were made.
Was kind of surprised a shot of Rainier or the Cascades or Olympics with the Seattle skyline in the foreground didn’t make it in. On a clear day it’s pretty impressive, esp. around sunrise or sunset.
Yep, 14, Mountain Meadows has been much on my mind lately. I’m sort of like Juan Williams at the airport: every time I see someone in a suit and tie get on an airplane, I get nervous. Especially if it’s a woman. And if they come in pairs? Even worse.
Perhaps if we all pay Saintly Steve protection money …
We live in Seattle and I work in northeast Bellevue. Early last year I started taking the bus about half the time because I figured walking to the bus stops would do me some good and I’d just become sick and tired of driving on 520. In early November, a neighbor backed out of her driveway without looking and nailed the side of my old mini-van as I was going by. We sold it to her insurance company and I’ve been taking the bus every day since then. The wife drives our remaining car to work but she’s started taking the bus herself when it’s practical. (She works late some evenings teaching classes.)
Since making the change, my personal stress level is a lot lower, and over the last year I’ve lost a significant amount of weight.
@13 “Barack Obama is a hollow man who is unqualified to be president”
Bullshit. Anyone who didn’t plunge us into a Great Depression by doing the wrong thing in 2009 was qualified to be president in that dangerous time. He didn’t, therefore he was.
On the other hand, if the stupid gold-standard Republicans who wanted to let the banking system fail had gotten their way, we’d all be shivering in soup kitchen queues now.
I haven’t done anything in the stock market today except watch my stocks go up. Last week I thought coal stocks were undervalued so I bought Peabody Coal. It’s up 10% today. Man, this sure beats paying five bucks to commute across 520 to some lousy cubicle job! Buying Peabody last Friday doesn’t make me a fucking stock-picking genius, though. Any idiot can figure out that if a stock which hits $60 every year is selling for a little over $30, he ought to buy it. This sure beats working for wages in a crummy job.
Looks like I’m gonna make $3,000 in the stock market today. Happy fucking new year, Rabbit!!!
… and these rightwing ignoramuses think they know more about economics than I do …
Oh look, yet another terrible Erica Barnett article.
Well, this is interesting..
Jade Cargo is a joint venture of Air China, Lufthansa Cargo, and DEG, an investment arm of the German government. It has “temporarily” grounded it’s fleet, blaming a weak export market out of China. It still has money to pay staff, but no money for fuel – especially if it’s flying with mostly empty hulls.
If the Jade Cargo statement is true, then that’s a rather telling indication that the China export market may be weaker than anyone expected. Is China finally feeling the pinch of the economic problems faced by it’s major trading partners in North America and Europe?
But don’t necessarily read too much into this event, or believe Jade Cargo’s explanation. Air China had originally picked up the Jade Cargo investment when it purchased Shenzhen Airlines. But it also has a cargo partnership with Cathay Pacific (based in Hong Kong). It seems Air China is pushing a lot of it’s freight onto Cathay Pacific hulls, and leaving the Jade Cargo hulls empty and crying for freight business.
This leaves it up to Lufthansa and the German government to subsidize further operations, something which they are clearly unwilling to do given the current economic situation and the lack of a reliable partner in China.
Ed Schultz is predicting that Rick Santorum is going to pull it out tonight for a win.
Man on dog, don’t Google my name Santorum.
Meanwhile Newt the Grinch is bitching about the corporate money being used against him. Seems he now does not like the Citizen’s United decision. Who would have thought?
On the good side, Newt the Grinch can still continue his
book sellingelection campaign.I thought I saw a headline that said Romney will struggle for third in Iowa tonight, but I can’t find that article. Anybody have a lead on it?
Aha, I found it!
http://www.cnbc.com/id/45858605
It says Romney’s odds of finishing first or second have slipped in electronic trading, but he’s still the frontrunner.
Scaling new heights of hyperbole, Rick Perry urged supporters onward and upward (“Excelsior!”) today by telling them that defeating President Obama is comparable to the D-Day landings on Omaha Beach.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com.....maha-beach
# 30: This, from a guy who’s never served in the military, nor has has any member of his family? Guys like that shouldn’t try to evoke imagry of charging machine-gun emplacements across open ground (or beaches).
re 25: The froth over the Santorum Google problem may play into Santorum’s hand(s)in that it will appeal to the conservative victimization defeat.
For all the “excitement” of the Iowa caucuses, NPR quenched the fires a bit this morning. They pointed out that it’s little better than a straw pole, because the actual process of selecting delegates to the national convention occurs over a series of several months from now. The “straw poll” is merely advisory. The party funcionaries can decide for themselves who should get those votes months from now, after several of the candidates have dropped out. It’s unlikely to be Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, or Michel Bachman.
Also, the polls are going back and forth over who is ahead within a range of 20% to 26% of the Republican vote. Up to 40% are either undecided or say their preference is very “soft”, and could change by tonight.
It’s looking more and more like a beauty contest, and an ugly one at that. But since the political news media and pundits don’t really have anything else to report on right now, it’s taken on the perceived importance of a major political event – which it’s not.
The one big question isn’t who’s on top, but who’s numbers are so miserably low that they come in below “undecided”. Huntsman and Michel Bachman are at risk of having that happen to their campaigns. Will those candidates drop out this week, or double-down on the New Hampshire primary?
By the way, my wife and I saw “War Horse” last night. Some critics though it was emotionally light fare. Of course, it was originally from a children’s book, so I didn’t expect sophisticated moral delimmas. My wife and I liked the movie.
I was especially moved at the end when the father greated his son home from the war, both having “seen the elephant”.
Of course, Speilberg is always a great director, able to evoke suspense and an expansive imagery. It’s worth paying a few bucks to see it on the big screen. But hurry, I don’t think it will be in theatres long. Most parents probably thought it too intense for younger viewers, and they are probably right (I wouldn’t take children younger than eight or so to see it). Adults and teens seem to be going for Sherlock Holmes and Mission Impossible.
re 34. In my early twenties, I took some summer English course at ASU and the professor was apparently looked upon as some kind of expert on the art of storytelling as it applied to films (or filums as the prof. jokingly referred to them) — trying not to seem the highbrow to a bunch of long haired young stoners.
Anyway, one day he showed us a filum by some young man from Phoenix who, as time and tide would reveal,happened to have been Steven Spielburg. We all thought it was a horrible and juvenile remake of portions of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The prof., all smiles when the presentation was over and the lights were turned on, said: “Well, what did you think?” The reaction was kind but definitely not positive. The prof. cheerily remarked that maybe there were some strengths to the little film that we just weren’t sophisticated enough to see as yet.
In retrospect, how right he was.
Kind of like comparing one shaved sheep ass against another.
But what else do the Rethugs have this year?
@25
Eddie Schultz….people still listen to that jealous fat fuck? seriously, they do? wow…
# 37: Gee, brilliant analysis of the issues. I mean, rally brilliant. You would do your 7th grade locker room buddies proud.
@38
nah, its aimed more towards the crooked lawyer crowd….
Well, it’s D-Day in Iowa, and Rick Perry seems to be landing hard on his ass.
@39 hard to see what #37 has to do with lawyers, crooked or otherwise.
re 38: With that moniker, you might get a response from Ted Nugent.
@42
POOTY TANG!!!!!
or chris rock…
http://www.publispain.com/posters/pootie_tang.jpg
Throw your bullshit at Suskind. He’s over there on your left and, unlike you, seems capable of making a cogent argument instead of just making fumes with projectile farts. That HA stench you smell mostly comes from you.
And from the fact that Goldy’s Christophobic self-hating Jew-o-phobic Bible Studies stink.
Which brings us back to you, alas.
You know economics? Bullshit. You know greed and anal fisting fistulas from sodomizing yourself with carrots. And you know tularemia. You’re a walking vector of disease and stench, but not of knowledge.
You think you know more economics than St. Paul Krugman? That’s from democrat underground, which must mean they’re dead or braindead or ought to be.
Nobel Krugman seems to be saying that the FUBAR Democrats failed in 2009 because they didn’t do enough Krugman/Keynes. Should have thrown, say, $2 trillion in unstimulative Obama stimulus at us instead of the niggardly (is that racist?) and useless unstimulative Obama stimulus they threw. While wasting time, as Suskind demonstrates, on selling the cost-containment rationale of an Obamacare that doesn’t contain costs.
Krugman makes the classic commie argument that Keynesianism, like pure pristine communism, seems so far to have failed because it has so far not been tried, either in the deranged Obama era or in the FDR era.
As for your triple-negative nattering about what Obama didn’t do wrong, about the Great Depression reprise that didn’t happen yet, note what Obama and the useless idiots who still support him have done. Obama and other useless idiots from “News”week to the NYT have hijacked TARP from Bush and Paulson and have given it to themselves, taking credit for averting a depression that was already averted.
And … gold standard? Are you utterly fucking nuts or just fucking nuts? If you’re still thrashing thru the gold standard, take it up with Grover Cleveland or with Winston Churchill and Keynes. Ahamed wrote in Lords of Finance that Churchill got the best advice he could about putting the UK back on gold. Keynes, Ahamed writes, had nothing intelligent to say.
Which brings us back to you. Making an unearned increment of easy money on … coal. Coal, which, according to deranged Obama, is killing the planet.
When you figure out how to make a pile on Solyndra, let us know. Meanwhile, you’re just making piles on the floor and rug.
Coal. You should be ashamed.
@8, changed the number. I didn’t recognize it, but I figure there’s a lot of WA I wouldn’t recognize.