Noted without further comment:
U.S. Senator John Kyl, R-AZ, stated that abortions comprised over 90 percent of the services performed by Planned Parenthood. It's more like 3 percent. When questioned he said, "No problem--it wasn't meant to be factual."
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
$4 Gas
Why have gas prices shot up in the last several weeks? Did a whole bunch of oil wells explode? Not much has changed in the real world, just in the imaginary world of casinos called futures market contract trading. Speculators think prices may be higher in the future, so they bid up the price of a contract to deliver oil sometime in the future, perhaps a year away. If the price does go up, they make a lot of money. In the meantime, the big oil companies are happy to charge us more now.
Some claim futures markets are jutified by giving big users of the product (such as the airlines) a chance to lock in a price for future delivery. But, in fact the market for futures is much, much larger than the users of the product. Most of the players are simply gamblers. Gamblers in ordinary casinos don't bother the rest of us, but these speculators do.
Some claim futures markets are jutified by giving big users of the product (such as the airlines) a chance to lock in a price for future delivery. But, in fact the market for futures is much, much larger than the users of the product. Most of the players are simply gamblers. Gamblers in ordinary casinos don't bother the rest of us, but these speculators do.
They Still Don't Get It
General Motors announced the Cadillac CTS-V Wagon that has a 556-horsepower V-8,which uses premium gas and qualifies for the $1,300 gas guzzler tax. And we tax payers saved their butts for this innovation? Well, Texans need something to drive on their 85 MPH highways!
World Ruled by Gamblers
The denizens of the casinos called bond markets wrecked the world economy in 2008 with their extreme bets on derivatives. Now they are attacking individual countries.
New York Times, April 13, 2010
"Portugal's Bailout Unnesessary"
"Portugal had strong economic performance in the 1990s and was managing its recovery from the global recession better than several other countries in Europe, but it has come under unfair and arbitrary pressure from bond traders, speculators and credit rating analysts who, for short-sighted or ideological reasons, have now managed to drive out one democratically elected administration and potentially tie the hands of the next one."
New York Times, April 13, 2010
"Portugal's Bailout Unnesessary"
"Portugal had strong economic performance in the 1990s and was managing its recovery from the global recession better than several other countries in Europe, but it has come under unfair and arbitrary pressure from bond traders, speculators and credit rating analysts who, for short-sighted or ideological reasons, have now managed to drive out one democratically elected administration and potentially tie the hands of the next one."
Monday, April 11, 2011
Great Britain (and Holland) is bringing suit against little Iceland over money their nation's depositors lost when Iceland's banks went bust. They might better sue Goldman Sachs who caused the problem in the first place. Goldman got all their money back for poor bets courtesy of the American taxpayer. Why is the American Tea Party after medicare spending when Goldman's billionaires took them for a ride?
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Catastrophe-- Part 1 of a series
The movement of the tectonic plates and subsequent tsunami off the coast of Japan reminds us that we live on a thin crust subject to the whims of nature. In 2004, a similar event in the Indian Ocean killed 230,000 people in dozens of countries. Devastating as these tsunamis were, they had little effect on the atmosphere, unlike that of volcanoes. I am reminded of Krakatoa between Sumatra and Java, Indonesia in 1883, which killed 36,000 people. In the same area, Tambora, in 1816 produced an ash cloud that resulted in a year without a summer, and stunted harvests and created hunger in Europe and Russia.
David Keys in his book, Catastrophe, presents evidence of a much larger eruption in 835 that blew away the island upon which it sat. He associates the major climatic change to follow (floods and drought) with the disintegration of the Roman Empire, waves of bubonic plague, westward movement of the Avars out of Mongolia, and the rapid rise of Islam. When food sources change dramatically, political and social changes follow.
David Keys in his book, Catastrophe, presents evidence of a much larger eruption in 835 that blew away the island upon which it sat. He associates the major climatic change to follow (floods and drought) with the disintegration of the Roman Empire, waves of bubonic plague, westward movement of the Avars out of Mongolia, and the rapid rise of Islam. When food sources change dramatically, political and social changes follow.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Health Care Act
There are many things to like in the Health Care Act.
1.Strengthens Medicare by lowering drug costs for seniors and by adding preventative services.
2. Improves insurance coverage for those with pre-existing conditions.
3. Expands coverage by allowing parents to keep their cildren on their policies until age 26.
4. Gives new options to plan and pay for long term services through a voluntary insurance program.
So why are the Republicans so rabid in their opposition? Because many of them have nice coverage through their employers and begrudge it for others. And, because it mandates that everyone must have insurance. But, one of the principles of insurance is that the base must be broad for the average needed care to be supported. This is why group plans have favorable rates.
1.Strengthens Medicare by lowering drug costs for seniors and by adding preventative services.
2. Improves insurance coverage for those with pre-existing conditions.
3. Expands coverage by allowing parents to keep their cildren on their policies until age 26.
4. Gives new options to plan and pay for long term services through a voluntary insurance program.
So why are the Republicans so rabid in their opposition? Because many of them have nice coverage through their employers and begrudge it for others. And, because it mandates that everyone must have insurance. But, one of the principles of insurance is that the base must be broad for the average needed care to be supported. This is why group plans have favorable rates.
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