The Fifth Days of the Fourth Estate

A couple days ago, Bill Keller flew the Clueless flag in the New York Times. That someone does not understand anything at all about income stratification, class or basically how the United States works is no barrier at all to their being in charge of the New York Times. In fact, it's a requirement!

Given that Keller's column has been nothing but a rage magnet since the day it was launched, that's quite enough of that. Time to revisit an old rash, currently in remission, but due to erupt in oozing pustules far too soon. Megan McArdle!

It seems that, in the gap between being booted from The Atlantic & falling into a sinecure at the Daily Beast, Ms. M has taken her Permission to Suck to Italy.

Alas, she has not been with Dawn & Wilbur Weston on the reenactment of the Costa Concordia disaster. Worse: she's been sharing.

Fantastic oxtail at Checchino dal 1887, even though I was told it was "showing its age". I shall be completely spherical ere I leave Rome.


Saturday, July 28th


Favorite Stupid Italian satellite channel keeps interrupting Olympics coverage to talk about some dumb financial problem they're having.

Friday, July 27th

Favorite Most interesting conversation in Rome so far: Italian waiter who is mystified by American wine markups. I can't exactly explain it either.

Friday, July 27th

Favorite So apparently, if you leave Rome without gaining 10 pounds, you're doing it wrong.

& tons more utter crap. How can we be sure it's really Megan?
 
RT @attackerman: Terrorists murdered 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics 30 years ago. The IOC won't have a moment of commemorati ...


Yep, she took her calculator.

Stupidy, apathy & corruption - which is most prevalent amongst our Elites?

That's a real question. I have no clear favorite.

Miss Kate is in the Details

In celebration of decisions made, an Oxford lass 20 years ago decided to give movies a try.

Minor stardom, major plastic surgery - you know the tale. As always, time for a sharp turn.

There has been a lot published in the last few years that makes it clear that short term, the stock markets of the world are thoroughly corrupted and exist to benefit the biggest, fastest and most ruthless insiders. Still, what other place is there to park the bits and pieces we manage to save? If you can find a solid company and share in their prosperity, that's what the whole joint stock concept was invented for all those years ago.

It's gotten a lot touger than the days when Uncle Billie was an outlier.

It is often said, and more often forgotten, that the most important part of financial statements is the footnotes. An ongoing blazingly blatant case is a royalty trust that trades under the symbol WHX. This thing was set up with rights to a well defined amount of oil. The remaining oil to be sold has been hedged. It is nearly certain that the trust will terminate in 2015, and completely certain that the total remaining payout is at most, $10.

Last week it was trading at $18. People saw the $2.86/ year payout, and valued it as though it would run forever. Many of these people ere qite upset when someone wrote up the obvious last week, and the price was halved. It rallied to $11.50 and has now fallen back to a reasonable $9.20. If you want to bet on stupidity, buy some, and be ready to bail on the next rally.

The footnotes I always found most useful are the ones on stock option compensation. Prior to SFAS 123, it was quite easy for management to award themselves options worth more than the companies annual profit. The challenge is a little steeper now, but it's still a good first place to look. If management is running the company for their entire personal benefit, buying stock is just paying tribute.

Anther thing to look for is exposure. On the up side this happens more often on little ones that aren't widely traded : There's a buyout offer. It's right there in the financials. The usual pattern is that holders who've loyally held on for years of low returns start getting offers. "Oh, we think it has some potential, and would like to hold some."

On the down side? The list of pending litigation can be longer than the rest of the financials put together. Don't worry too much, though. In American Jurisprudence, the only thing that can beat a corporation is a busload of nuns.

Nanny McPhee is not walking through that door. And if she did, she'd be old, gray & unable to dunk. Lettuce celebrate the harvest, as the drought spreads north.

Say the word I'm thinking of. What's the word? The word is

So, with all the evil & coldness going down in the world, what do we have to look forward to? (Spike, Faye & some unknown wench with light brown hair.) Yes, I'm reverting to talking about the power of Luv. And the need to use at least moderate Safe Search when doing it. Because otherwise it can get a little sad.

As opposed to heroic tales about how loyal implants saved a brave woman from a broken nose. And to think today was supposed to be political only in the sense that Teh Personal is Political. (best in NoScript) And to be absolutely clear.

Jewel is right pretty.

It's hot. Damn hot! Real hot!

For most of us, the record heat in the US for the last year has meant very little. Winter was easy, summer is a little rougher for the 20 minutes a day we aren't air conditioned.

Also, the young wimmens are wearing very little clothing.

Out where the sun beats down, things are not so nice. The corn & soybean crops are way off, and prices are up. Wheat is near $9/bushel, corn nearing $8. There are rumors of export limits. Yes, this is obviously connected to Global Warming. You don't have to be shy about agreeing with Every.Climate.Scientist in the World not on the Exxon payroll. So, expect the heat to continue, with breaks for monsoons, rains of blood, and plagues of locusts. This will get seriously ugly in the countries where people are on the edge. So, good news! When you bellyache about the weather, you're not being a whiner. You're addressing the most important problem to hit the world since 1945!

UPDATE : Please, please do not take this as trading advice! Corn is mostly used as animal feed or turned to fuel ethanol. These types of demand can be submarined as easy as breathing. The only real question is how things get allocated. I do NOT have a mole with the Masters of the Universe. UPDATE 2 : The Washington Post has noticed the drought, and has a nice picture of a drought riddled future.

It's July in France

And with NBCSports replacing Versus, and making basic cable, there's only one thing to say Mr. Wiggins, enjoy your 3 weeks in the spotlight! Like most, I'm watching for the fabulous scenery. Little towns that turn suddenly into green farms - aaahh.

Take it home & try it, George Mason for sale

George Mason was a fine, freedom loving, anti-slavery slaveowner.

He introduced the Virginia Declaration of Rights before the Declaration of Independence.

George Mason University is a state school in Fairfax, Virginia. They've developed a new funding model, where they sold their Econ department to the highest bidders. It's not really that unusual for academic economists to have "For Sale" signs. Most of the ones published in news stories sold out a long, long time ago.

What I wondered was whether the new model  - giving the Koch brothers control over corricula & faculty - would produce a different looking model of compensation.

The answer is clear: not at all. The highest paid:

Name Position Department Salary


James Larranaga Head Coach,men\'s Basketball Intercollegiate Athletics $525,000

Alan Merten President President\'s Activities $468,000

Lloyd Griffiths Dean, School Of Information Te Vse Academic Admin & Student Svc $348,296

Peter Stearns Provost Provost Activities $340,000

Daniel Polsby Dean/professor Of Law Law Academic Admin & Student Svcs $325,583

Mark Ginsberg Dean, Cehd Cehd Acad Admin & Student Svcs $315,000

Jorge Haddock Dean, School Of Management Som Academic Admin & Student Svcs $310,000

Maurice Scherrens Senior Vice President Senior Vice President $276,000

Sushil Jajodia University Professor Applied Information Technology $269,829

Thomas O\'connor Asst Vp/dir Ica And Rec Sports Intercollegiate Athletics $265,000

Marc Broderick Vp For Univ Develop & Alum Aff Development $260,000

Joy Hughes Vice Pres For Information Tech Info Tech Administration $260,000

Linda Schwartzstein Vice Provost For Acad Affairs Provost Activities $255,392

Basketball is their only Division 1 revenue sport. The players get squat. There are the usual armies of Deans & VPs, and professors in the $150,000 range, which isn't particularly high for the DC area. The main enhancement is easy access to wingnut welfare for anybody willing to put their name on the junk.

Updates : As hard as I try (not very, really) I can't hold a candle to this thorough look at GMU, much less the Mashey indictment they're linking to. Summary : GMU lies an awful lot, too.

I sing of Roland, glad & big

I'm a big fan of cooking and design shows. The usual challenge is to take something (potatoes, an old t-shirt) and transfrom it into something new.

In movies, this is the difference between remake (Let's do the 15th version of The Front Page) & Tim Burton's Batman.

In literature, this is the difference between plagiarism & backstory.

Backstory only matters if the work is any good. There's a medieval tale called The Song of Roland.  Of course you've heard of it - 12th century anti-Muslim propaganda about a hero betrayed, who doesn't let a little thing like a mortal wound slow him down. Got respun into a tale of some near-forgotten African bush wars of the mid-late 20th century:



Anyhow, since it's Kulturkampf time, might as well open a new front.


A couple more (earlier recs )online comics - Questionable Content has run for years about a Northampton coffeeshop.

&  SuperRedundant

come from a modern cultural perspective - geeky, freely fantastic, with none of the old time hangups.

One of the more intense battlegrounds of cultural perspective is the comment section of Luann. When Luann finally went into her bedroom with her not-quite boyfriend, the battle was on between those who thought it was just nasty & those who thought it was about fucking time. As the inaction stretched over days, it was nice to see them finally unite

in fierce condemnation of Greg Evans for recycling his cop-out from her last beau.

Happy National Blow Stuff Up Day!

A slight pulling of the reins

The success of the overlords in the long term class war depends on patience and stealth. The Nouveaus & the True Believers have their uses, but recently they've been running out of control, threatening to blow the whole project wide open. With economic growth no longer possible, the minion class (mostly 6 figure incomes) have been getting nervous. An important part of the contract has always been letting the Professionals believe that they are special, talented, pure and decent. Making them face reality is never a good thing. This was the week The Establishment got its act back together. A lot of different major stories make sense if you look at them that way.

Teresa Sullivan got her job back at UVa. Woot! She's a thoroughly mainstream chancellor who ran afoul of some Babbits who got above their station. Cord yanked - and people who should have known better are declaiming a Famous Victory. No; just the higher powers throwing a bone to the bought off academics & in the process reminding the hustlers who has the real power. Linda Katehi's job seems to be in no peril whatsoever.

Breaking: John Roberts made the easy call on PPACA, after initially going full wingnut. Roberts is the purest corporate tool in the shed. Taking away the goodies that have already come down from the act - and there have been many - would have been rough.

Turns out Louis Freeh is running a real investigation at Penn State. Paterno & the gang left behind a wide, ugly email trail. The ruling class has no use for people who can't run a decent cover up, unless they wear red beanies.

The sidelight to all this is the Barclay's settlement. They're paying off a half-billion dollars for taking part in a conspiracy to rig LIBOR. The regulators had it set up in the usual way - a small settlement in relation to the amount stolen, a feeble promise not to do it again, and nobody punished. Parliament is choking on that. Should be fun to see what they make Barclays do. As I recall (Kleiner vs FNB Atlanta) one major reason LIBOR became omnipresent is that the "Prime Rate" set by US banks had become a sad joke. Mostly a reminder that the credibility of US Banks was shot 30 years ago. Britain may be trying to salvage something.

Feather-footed through the plashy fen passes the questing vole

First off, to Rachel (if that is your real name) from Cardholder Services: No buttsex from me! Not going to the back of that very long line.

Someday somebody will listen to your entire message & pay enough attention to send men with guns & axes to your door. Won't be me. I have plenty of other minor annoyances to deal with. One that has become quite minor is Megan McArdle of the Daily Beast. This is a site that reminds me of why I decided to post lots and lots of pictures. It's BORRRRING! Sure, many decades back in a small town in England, Evelyn Waugh was kind of fun to read. Now? Bad graphics & 15 writers saying nothing much just doesn't cut it. We have Thomas Friedman if we want to read utterly empty wordstrings. Still, there is something to be learned from any McArdle post: 3. Some people, maybe including me, will be helped by the bill. Even if you think that this bill will, on net, make more people worse off, you should still be glad for the people who are being helped. For those who wondered whether McArdle's move from Senior Editor at The Atlantic to Special Correspondent at The Beast was a move up or grabbing onto something after getting canned, this gives the answer : She's not even on the company health plan now. Since this is a catch up post, remember Hang Up & Pedal? The latest impediment to biking is the Rolling Enforcers of Etiquette.

Biking a route I've taken for 24 years, some punk starts telling me how it should be done. Life is brutal. So I pull some dodgy (but safe & legal) maneuver to get away. Does it help? Of course not! They catch up & start ranting. It's happened twice. Maybe time for the Italian solution. Anyhow, this is where we leave with some cheesecake. Judge Parker for the last 3 weeks has featured a character who seems to be based on the Jack Weston Fed from Gator. Gator was a pretty good flick, especially the scenery. And by scenery, I mean pictures of the rural south - fields, water, shacks. Only for the poster, they had to add a curvy wench. Trouble was, the female star was Lauren Hutton.

Stick in the middle was her. Which is why all the posters were drawings, not photos.

Seacrest out.

Oh, Barbie, Barbie it's a wild world

Today we are confronted by insanity on all sides. From the Supreme Court of this benighted land, declarations that Corporations derive from a Supreme Maker, not state charters, (because Shut UP, that's why) and from elsewhere, that big headed child skeletons found in caves must be aliens because their DNA is only 99% normal, at least according to a basically incoherent decription of it from a raging nutter. How else to explain?

Actually, that covers it pretty well.

Since most of this is nothing new, the temptation is to just wobble around, mutter, and suffer the latest symptoms of aging. Is there an alternative? Of course. Just ask Barbie.

NO NO NO! Not reality TV Stereotype Role #2 - Angry Black Woman of Marginal Talent.

Back to the basics. Barbie, the Sweet Plastic Princess


Thank goodness.
Time to go watch some morons trying to cook without burning their hands.

They don't make 'em like they used to

So I'd sincerely appreciate anyone telling me which, if either, of these is worth watching.

Not sure that either actress was exactly born for the part. My skating experience consists of being 12. I fell down on the ice. The insanely beautiful Alexandra McGuire somehow managed to not hit my flopping scrawniness.

I went down Virginia

Some of you may remember that the laser like focus of this blog is combatting the administrative model of Universities and stopping the growth of tuition.

OK, so it's been a while. To recap, for the last 40 years, there has been unchecked growth of Management ranks, to the point where they are driving out faculty and bankrupting students.  Apparently, not fast enough for some people.

Teresa Sullivan, recently dumped as head of UVa, is a model administrator. She's raised tuition about 8% a year, introduced a budgeting system where popular departments keep their revenue, and generally stuck to the standard model.

Then the board of visitors struck, with Strategic Dynamism.

She could see no reason.

There was no reason. What reason do you need?
Only Lady MacBeth's sister's lonely plea, which unfortunately lacked any actual explanation:

My sister has not shared with me any of the specific reasons why President Terry Sullivan was removed, but if you know Helen like I do, you would undeniably trust her judgment and forethought. She would not have removed an effective, efficient president for unnecessary cause. She and the board are privy to information that we in the public are not.

You can imagine how few people that convinced, or you can click through. So, that's the basic story.  We've reached, a little earlier than expected, the breaking of the center. Just pandering to the donors while still trying to run the Standard Model won't work .

Cry Havoc, & let loose the dogs of war.

And in conclusion, almost forgot!

UPDATE : LGM on the cast of characters, ACTA & guilt by association.

Shooting fish

So theres a movie on Sundance tonight that I may watch out of sheer exhaustion and lack of good options for the slow parts

The guy on the bottom looks sort of familiar. Don't want to look up anything about it, but it looks like the kind of thing that, though mindless, might be bearable.

UPDATE : Post Show semiotic analysis, with spoilers : It sucks donkey balls. And the producers, too dim to realize this, keep Kate Beckinsale looking like Alfalfa, without the sexy voice.                                                                                                                                                                          Sad. Grim. Pathetic.

What's the matter? I don't give a damn

So I'm watching Rio Bravo, and trying to remember what it was that made a 1959 Western completely different from a 1969 Western. Which is not all that different from a 2009 Western. There was definitely a discontinuity there. Not just Wayne. Ricky Nelson was somehow owned by the System. So was Elvis. Face it, his movies sucked. Yet somehow they had something to do with the overthrow. Which might have something to do with the reconquista. How the hell did the overthrow of the old order leave us deeper in the hole to the aristocracy than anybody since pre-revolutionary France? Politics is about interest groups fighting for power. Somewhere along the line, the working class got separated from their interests. Many millions of words have been written about this. The people involved (in the sense a hog is involved with bacon) have not read any of them. So, I have one question to ask you : Are you stupid enough to be a Senator?
In summation, Fuck You, David Brooks.

Snooze Alarm at The Atlantic

As you may have heard, the greatest problem of our generation is finding a way to spend summer vacation. Which is about as real as anything else you may have heard these days. In a world destroyed by and still ruled by bankers, where the notion that bankers should be bailed out & everyone else should suffer is universally accepted by the Just Authority David Brooks says we should all heed, serious discussion is rather rare. Lets run down the boring shit at the thankfully McArdle free but somehow unimproved Atlantic Monthly:
James Fallows Soft-Power Watch: China and Norway, America :Boring stuff about China, and something about the TSA that reminds me of the flight to Iceland. Some jokers in Iceland decided to have us do the whole shoes & bottles circus after we got off the plane. It was only marginally stupider than getting on, and since there was nobody in charge to complain to, we were cattle.

Jeffrey Goldberg Your Friday Afternoon Horror Show - About Palestine. If you think I have something to say, you are wrong.

Derek Thompson Forget Edison: This is How History's Greatest says that inventions happen when the conditions are right, not so much as bolts of genius. Duh.

Garance Franke-Ruta Obama's Game Changer on Young Illegal Immigrants shows that sex & violence can be boring.

Clive Crook says Obama's Speech in Cleveland was a bit dull and offers ways to make it even duller.

Robert Wright Obama's Drift Toward War With Iran sounds convincing until you remember Jeffrey Goldberg is still out there.

Alexis Madrigal It's Terrifying How Easy It Is to Airbrush Photos shoots & misses.

Steve Clemons Bleak Streets: Johnny Cash Meets Eminem in Tunis has a neat picture, a good video, & some discussion of Tunisia. I like it. It has 2 comments.

TNC posted a story somebody sent him.

Either Bradley's checks are bouncing, or they need somebody to get them motivated. OWS where are you? I'm thinking that the barrage of calls from Cardholder Services, chimney sweeps, and "Take a survey, win a free cruise, on controversee-all issues" are not really a sign of economic recovery. Also too, a medical payment systme dependent on old people not realizing that all bills follow the "What I tell you 3 times is true" system, so the first 2 should be ignored, may not be optimal, unless you think medical care should be funded by essentially an estate tax. (Unless the pure scammers get there first) So, in summation:

Central Square has fallen to the Invasion

Today, I discovered something called "Tavern on the Square". Central Square has always been special : Where the Men are Men, and the Women are Moreso. Dive bars, failing deparment stores, lots of Indian restaurants and hippies. What's not to love?Anyhow, this place seemed at first to be a little fancy. Looked like Eastern Standard. Turned out to be a little lower brow, sort of a chain. Much like when the Glandore, which poured a fine breakfast, was replaced by Irish Eyes, which was exactly the same but inauthentic. Like when Vergies became something else, before beoming Madisons. Not like when it turned into Highland Kitchen and finally got what none of the other versions had - customers. Of course, none of this has anything to do with anything. If you live around here you knew it already. If not, why in the world would you care? I ate at Picante.There is something very basic at stake this year, and nobody seems able to express it clearly. Do we go back to trying to build a rich nation for everyone, or an aristocracy, where most of us are forced to tip our hats and the swells toss us a coin after they crush our children?Neither choice is perfect. Both promise major conflict before 2014. Only one of them involves turning machine guns on mobs of starving citizens. It isn't really a difficult choice. Just don't expect flowers. Not real ones anyhow. To flesh this out : Linda Katehi is still in charge, still using the legal system as a club despite not following the law. And the official policy of the Republican Party is : Take from those who have nothing. Today it's "skin in the game", tomorrow, Welcome to the Organ Bank.Over the top? It's not like people are being murdered by police. At least not everywhere, yet. Unless you live in Denver. Cops there live for this stuff.

Cowboy Movies, with Poll

Lots and lots of westerns - to a first approximation, all of them - are about the transition from a lawless state where some powerful jerk rules to civilization. Is there a genre about the reverse? We may be entering an era where decent folk are outvoted by selfish assholes. It's kind of an odd situation in that individuals are as gentle, if not quite as generous (It's about fear, yes?) as they've ever been. Problem is, for a long, long, time, the cult of the Savvy, or Glibertarians, or Nihilists, or Evil Fucking Plutocrats (your choice, #1) has dominated the National Discourse. Anyone who still mouths the basic communitarian wisdom that was obvious to Calvin Bleedin' Coolidge is now a Soshulist DFH. So, Baby steps. To start the move back to sanity, think about preferences. Do you prefer to live in a gentle egalitarian society, or to be better off than that jackass nextdoor who would slit your throat for $17? Consider 2 videos (Your Choice #2): Take a short break. Smoke 'em if you got 'em. Lemme know which touches you : Teh funny one or the deep one. Ignore the ad on one - or don't, if it bugs you. I swear on a stack of Quran, this is scientific.

Who's the fairest? You're just jealous

One virtue I think is important, possibly because it's one of my few virtues, is the ability to rejoice in, rather than resent the success of others. I used to think this was normal. When someone says something is "unfair", meaning that somebody else has more than they do, what's the point? The really nasty thing about this form of resentmnt is that it has limited range. People resent the neighbor who has a better job, better pension, sweeter wife. They don't, for some reason, resent the billionaires who're keeping us all down & laughing about it. This is the only thing I ever intend to write about the recall election in Wisconsin. It's just too depressing.

Local Bush Pilot Mike Harris x10,000

So, like me, most of you have spent the last week enthralled by the emergence of Clown-9 in the Spiderman newspaper version, and Mark Trail's visit to a remote cabin of a murder suspect. If you missed them, you can find them at the Seattle PI, or the Comics Curmudgeon in the links list.

Which was a good thing to focus on as the stock market melted down, stupidity & greed ruled the world, and the net new jobs of 69,000 in May only exceeded the downward revisions of the last 2 months by 20,000. Work is serious.

20,000 is twice the round number of pageviews this site is about to hit after 5 1/2 years of indolence & 4 months of reasonably frequent but pointless posting. Of course, most of those views were people who wandered through here looking for pictures of the buttocks of a 38 year old Oxford dropout. For them, one last picture:

Until 20,000! And hoping like crazy, but not expecting, that the job numbers will have turned. Because we know what needs to be done - hire people to fix & build stuff. Instead, because dumb analogies are easier to repeat than fight, government is cutting back. Because we should listen to our betters.

Yes, I am a genocidal maniac

This has me flabbergasted, or maybe bumfuzzled. Some stooge is posting special pleading to make the rules to tax hedge fund managers weaker. I pointed out a couple factual errors, and the loophole closing need for taxing sale of interest. Typical replacement McArdle, except for a couple of things. The guy was anonymous, and spreading some absolutely self serving drivel. In other words, almost certainly part of The Atlantic's new business model, aka Everything has a Price. Not something that you'd defend passionately, right? In fact, "Dr. Manhattan" never showed up, even when it was pointed out that the language he was complaining about had already been withdrawn. Ah, but the loyal acolytes of the Cult of the Hand are everywhere.

And of course, ready to jump in with something completely irrelevant.

surrealityslovak 1 day ago in reply to Downpuppy If I start a corporation and raise equity in the future, I inherently only participate in gains and not losses. Are all entrepreneurs thus not actually engaged in risk taking endeavours? This attitude is incredibly ignorant and obsolete. That most of its proponents are also proud of their own "anti-corporatism" is not exactly surprising. Neither is the fact that they haven't thought through the inevitable results of there proposals - an economy that is solely the province of elite family groupings with roughly no growth. We've been through a period without corporations, with unlimited liability, and where only rich families could start businesses. It was called the Dark Ages for a reason. This pose should only be attractive to genocidal enviromentalists, and anyone who adopts it should be scene as an ipso facto genocidal maniac

If anyone can translate this from Ferengi, I'd be much obliged. I already wrote the essay on why Corporations have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with carried interest rules. You can guess, to a round number, how much response that got.

Red X Maintenance

This morning has been time to go through the lbog & fix busted pictures. It means having to look at way too many pictures of Kate Beckinsale ass, butt I do it for you.

If I missed any - other the Ricks, that I'm still working on, please drop a comment. While here, might as well continue Thursdays look at the Kaplan Test Prep Daily with a mention of what they call "Fact Checking" - Pure Wingnut Spin! Pure shell game - comparing pre-recession spending with post, because Shut Up, that's why.

Everybody Lies, but only some get paid for it

That core parts of our economy & government are openly & severly corrupt is not really a secret. Consider securitized mortgage lending, in all its stages, as it existed 6 years ago: Borrowers lie routinely. Mortgage brokers both lie for borrowers, and to them. If the borrower was unqualified, they would qualify them. If they were qualified for a decent loan, the brokers would sell them on a worse one, to increase their kickbacks. Originating lenders happily accepted either way, knowing they could dump the garbage on securitizers. The securitizers really went big, into billions of dollars, stealing from both ends & the middle. Then, once the loans started to go bad, the servicers filed mounds of utter BS to foreclose on the borrowers, and keep them out of decent modifications. Judges & sheriffs looked the other way at the crap passing from the banks, so the property went back onto the market.

Which isn't really the topic, but just to point out how pervasive and blatant it all is. What we need to do is look at how many ways this all should have been stopped, and why each of them isn't functioning. I smell long running series! An easy to understand one is the Press. Take Washington Post reporters chats. Please. Despite persistent faceplants, they keep sending out their troops to amuse us with their ineptitude. This weeks highlight was an apologia for Bain by someone claiming to be a Rabbi but unfamiliar with the Rabbinical tradition of having a clue what you're talking about.

Q.pension funds how much money did bain leave for taxpayers to pickup after they removed pension funds from companies they bankrupted? – May 23, 2012 12:00 PM Permalink A.Brad Hirschfield : Quite a bit actually, because the profits get taxed, but that is not what you are asking. I think that you are asking about the lives of those workers who lost out when a business was closed by Bain. And there is no doubt that that did occur. Of course the profits from those closures went to other pension funds, including billions to public employee funds, that sustained other workers.

Wouldn't "I don't know, and have no busines discussing this until I find out" have been a much btter answer?

Q.Rate of job losses You said earlier: "The rate of job loss in those companies Bain controlled were w/in 1% of the average durring those years.". Do you have any sources for that? I'll wait. – May 23, 2012 1:39 PM Permalink A.Brad Hirschfield : Ah an easy one. Just a simpl request for more information. I love it. Check out today's Washington Post, especially the Editorial page. As I am on line writing you, i can not get you the link. Thanks for understanding!

The study he referred to was on Private Equity refis overall, not Bain. And, thank you DougJ:

Q.Bipartisanship I love your blog because you're one of the few bipartisan centrists who realize that both sides do it, where "it" is pretty much any bad thing. You're like the post-punk David Broder. Have you always been so fair and balanced or is it something you learn over time as journamalist? – May 22, 2012 11:14 AM Permalink A.Alexandra Petri : ALL RIGHT, WHO FILLED THIS CHAT WITH PLANTS WHO ARE BEING MUCH TOO KIND? I'm going to start using "post-punk David Broder" on my promotional materials. Thank you for saying this. I don't know how often I succeed at this, but I really, really try. When I finally retrieved my mail after several months of allowing it to suppurate in the mail room, I was pleased to have notes from both sides complaining in strident terms that I was ruining everything. Some weeks the bar swings one way and some weeks it swings the other, but obviously no one party has a monopoly on idiocy. That would make things too easy.

I read some of her other entries. She's very careful to say or know nothing. Not quite as bad as Shailagh Murray. Her dismissive stupidity set a standard none could hope to match. And now, she's paying the price. Time to remember what a good reporter is:

Hillbilly Hipsters

There's pretty good video called "Cursing the Ohio" Average song, very distinctive style. Suspenders & flop hats. Seems it got picked up by a band called the "Lumineers"

In general, I kind of prefer their music. Anyhow, the style is also used by BR549 & a few other groups (oddly enough, not including BR549s evil twins, The Derailers) Point is, it's false. Roots by people who were raised no such way. False in a good way, not the evil false of SE Cupp or the mortgage industry. The fraud in the mortgage business - from borrower to agent to bank to bundler to servicer & through courts back to borrowers - is tomorrow's topic. Tonight, let's just dance.

Investment Theory is Bunk

So I'm in the middle of grinding out the CPE for renewing a couple licenses. Fortunately, they're pretty much the same, so I can do investment theory twice. Could do it in my sleep, now. Risk versus return, right?

OK, let's go calculate some expected values based on Beta, the sacred ratio of a stocks volatility to the market! Alas, maybe not. Seems that since, oh, about forever, the way to make money is invest in companies that make money. Who knew? Haugen & Harris. They documented in 1972 that more stable stocks performed better. Then Haugen showed that it held in 1970-1990. Now, they've shown it for 1991-2010. So, how has portfolio theory reacted?

Yes, you're shocked. But now that you've peeled yourselves off the floor from the realization that all the investment professionals are trained in utter bull, is this an opportunity? Heck, yes. Like in more important endeavors, it's just a matter of finding what the herd ignores.

I'll be needing those eyebrows back. And kids: a warning about what happens if you mention Hittites on the internet: If Henny Youngman were a pelecypod amellibranch, he’d be you. (By the way, Phra the Phoenician says “hello”!)