May 212012
 

Yesterday my errands gave me a lot of trouble, so it’s a good thing I got the blog up first.  I’m current with replies.  Things will be dicey for the rest of the week, because I will be doing volunteer work in prison both Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and evenings, so I’ll be swamped Tuesday and Thursday and exhausted Wednesday and Friday.  Therefore, what I post and when is completely up in the air.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 4:38 (average 4:54).  To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Takes:

From MoveOn: This Chart Would Be A Gross Exaggeration If It Wasn’t Spot On

21Chart

Spot on describes it perfectly.

From NY Times: Sometimes it’s hard to explain why we need strong financial regulation — especially in an era saturated with pro-business, pro-market propaganda. So we should always be grateful when someone makes the case for regulation more compelling and easier to understand. And this week, that means offering a special shout-out to two men: Jamie Dimon and Mitt Romney.

I’ll come back shortly to the troubles at JPMorgan Chase, the bank Mr. Dimon runs. First, however, let me talk about Mr. Romney, whose remarks about those troubles were so off-point that they constitute a teachable moment.

Click through. This editorial by Paul Krugman is too good to ignore.

From YouTube: How Romney Creates Jobs

 

It’s a sure bet that Romney will do to America what he did to SCM.

Cartoon:

21Cartoon

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  7 Responses to “Open Thread–5/21/2012”

  1. The Krugman article is creating a lot of buzz.  It’s all over the tubes.

    Don’t forget GST steel  – he did the same thing there.

    I like the little history reminders as cartoons!

  2. 4:06  There’s a slight crack in the door for Patty to slip through.

  3. Romney Creates Jobs — Where, When and How?

    The Chronicle Tribune — “Romney said he would not meet with the workers, admitting that he wasn’t ‘sufficiently aware’ of the situation [SCM]. ” — Wasn’t sufficiently aware of the situation? . . . or didn’t give a damn?  Is this the kind of action that might be expected of a President Romney in dealing with foreign governments . . . making decisions without being ‘sufficiently aware’ of the situation and repercussions?  The Teflon President? 

    From Bloomberg — “Romney As Job Creator Clashes With Bain Record Of Job Cuts” — The first part is an oxymoron, the second, the truth.  There is no clash.  They are one in the same.

    Anybody who has lived in a small industry town knows that the spin off or ripple effects of decisions like Bain’s is devastating, and almost criminal.  Whole towns can become ghost towns, whole communities lost.

    GST Steel, SCM and AMPAD — how many more thousands are there out there like these?  What is in store with a President Romney? — Invade Canada with the complicity of Harper and his harlots and destroy this country while scooping all the capital for the oligarchy?  Just a little bit of Canuck paranoia!

    MoveOn — Oh so true!  This probably a graphic that the Republican/Teabaggers will use in their teaching to low-effort thinking people to help them see that  Mr Obama is bad/evil/communist in addition to being a Kenyan Muslim!  The Republican/Teabaggers are so pathetic and cunning like a fox, but not necessarily smart.

    NY Times — This the heart of the piece to me.

     …“has built up positions totaling more than $100 billion in asset-backed securities and structured products — the complex, risky bonds at the center of the financial crisis in 2008. These holdings are in addition to those in credit derivatives which led to the losses.”  . . .  the reality behind JPMorgan’s facade of competence was a scene all too reminiscent of the behavior that brought down firms like A.I.G. in 2008: arrogant executives shouting down anyone who tried to question their activities, top management that didn’t ask questions as long as the money kept rolling in. It really is déjà vu all over again.

    It is time to re-enact Glass-Steagall or comparable legislation that clearly divides banks from banksters, deposit takers from risky investment units.  There is no middle ground of co-existence.

    Cartoon — Ah, Lindbergh’s first non-stop trans Atlantic flight from New York to Paris.  I can only imagine some of the dreams that this first non-stop flight inspired.

    • Where? China. When?  While at Bain.  How?  By exporting them from here.

      I fully agree.

      I love that graphic too.

      Amen.

      It must have been like witnessing the moon landing.

       

  4. From MoveOn: This Chart Would Be A Gross Exaggeration If It Wasn’t Spot On

    I just use the chart in reverse of the GNOP… ☺

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