Why I (Still) Love Paul Krugman

Just go read it: "Wingnuts, Wingnuts, Everywhere."

Beating on Obama...

I got into a little verbal kerfuffle with some friends on Facebook the other week over one of them becoming a fan of Barack Obama for President in 2012. My point was that his "post-partisan-bridge-the-divide" ideology is going to be counterproductive and ineffective.

In his column in today's New York Times, Paul Krugman writes regarding Obama and the inadequate stimulus:

So has Mr. Obama learned from this experience? Early indications aren’t good.

For rather than acknowledge the failure of his political strategy and the damage to his economic strategy, the president tried to put a postpartisan happy face on the whole thing. “Democrats and Republicans came together in the Senate and responded appropriately to the urgency this moment demands,” he declared on Saturday, and “the scale and scope of this plan is right.”

No, they didn’t, and no, it isn’t.

Scary Deja Vu...

I seem to be alone in my social circle for reading lots about the economy, even before this current recession started over a year ago. None of them seem to talk about it much. The orthodontists mention slower business, but none of them seem to follow current events, like the evolution (and devolution) of the stimulus package in front of the Senate right now.

Yesterday, Obama announced a salary cap of $500,000 for select executives in firms receiving federal bailout money from TARP. Good. The whole thing is fucked, and it's becoming more so.

While Paul Krugman is still my favorite to read, in part because he often has specific policy prescriptions as well as critique, Ryan at The Bellows and, to a lesser extent, Dean Baker do a pretty good job describing my concerns, and venting my frustration, and more frequently, too. And everyday Mark Thoma seems to point me at something interesting enough to keep me from unsubscribing from his RSS feed.

Tim Duy (via Economist's View):

I have run the gamut from dismay to anger to my current emotion, supreme disappointment. There were really only two glimmers of hope that the US could avoid a Japan-like multi-year stagnation. One was the offsetting effect of a strong global economy. Of course, we all know how that story ended. Poorly. The other was my certainty that US policymakers like NEC head Lawrence Summers and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner had studied the Japanese crisis up and down and realized that you needed to meet a banking crisis head-on, not with halfway measures that left the system crippled.

But today, reading CNBC’s coverage of the plan, it becomes painfully clear that we are headed full speed on a policy bullet train designed to repeat Japan’s errors.

........

Classic. Absolutely classic. Is this really addressing the problem of pricing? Are we not in the same boat of “if we pay too little, the bank is undercapitalized, but if we pay too much, the taxpayer holds the bag and therefore we need to nationalize”? Obviously we are in the same boat, because the new plan may cause an “accounting problem.” Like insolvency. That is, in fact, a problem, no argument from me. Apparently, though, the Administration’s solution is a suspension of accounting rules. Translation – we are going to try to hide the problem.

As if investors won’t see through that mirage because all of you traders are clearly slow witted. Again, Bank of America already plumbing the depths…

Why are we here? Why, months after TARP, are we still not willing to dig down in the balance sheets of troubled banks and disgorge the questionable assets once and for all? Why, with a new Administration, supposedly unfettered from the ideological positions of the last Administration?

The whole thing is definitely worth reading. One more reason I've been disenchanted with Obama (and his party) since before he was sworn in.

Look, the banks which way, way, WAY, overleveraged themselves need to be nationalized. They're already bankrupt, they just haven't admitted it yet. That's what happened with the S&L crisis here in the US, and it's what Sweden did as well. There are all these real-world recent history examples that no one in charge is paying attention to. It's just fucking us all over, and it's bad politics, to boot. If this recession drags on significantly, the party in power is gonna get reamed but good even by the idiot obstructionist party currently in opposition.

Feh.

Back with a Meme

I know I hardly post to this anymore, and I've been thinking of maybe starting back up if I can reboot my literary side...

Anyway, my friend Chris posted this meme on Facebook, and while I normally never do these, I thought this one would be interesting: "Put your MP3 library (iPod, iTunes, etc.) on shuffle. Answer each question with consecutive song titles."

1) IF SOMEONE SAYS, "IS THIS OKAY?" YOU SAY...
Get Out of My House (The Business)
2) WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Ed Is Sexy (Against Me!)
3) WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Jean and Dinah (Mighty Sparrow)
4) HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Protex Blue (The Clash)
5) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Close to Me (The Cure)
6) WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
The Ronald Miller Story (Kid Dynamite)
7) WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Raise Your Glass (The Planet Smashers)
8) WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
We Are No Longer Fighting (The Siren Six!)
9) WHAT IS 2+2?
Conspiracy Against the Youth (The Dingees)
10) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Barroom Hero (Dropkick Murphys)
11) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Vacation (Cub)
12) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Justin (Against Me!)
13) WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Temporary Trip (The Mighty Mighty Bosstones)
14) WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
A Jacknife to a Swan (The Mighty Mighty Bosstones)
15) WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World (Israel Kamakawiwo'ole)
16) WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Saving Sorries (Let's Go Bowling)
17) WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Stack O Lee (Prince Buster and the Trojans)
18) WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
We Don't Need You (Against All Authority)
19) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Dish or Die (The Parka Kings)
20) WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Racing The Train (Angry Johnny and the Killbillies)
21) HOW WILL YOU DIE?
It Mek (Desmond Dekker)
22) WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
She Just Won't Do (Winepress)
23) WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Pass You By (Skankin' Pickle)
24) WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
What I Like About You (The Suicide Machines)
25) WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
For the First Time (Westbound Train)
26) WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Suckerpunch (Five Iron Frenzy)
27) DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Together As One (Los Furios)
28) AFTER YOU ARE DEAD, WHAT WILL YOU BE REMEMBERED FOR?
Born and Raised (Fake Problems)
29) WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Beer (Mustard Plug)

This was also an excuse to listen to a bunch of random songs that I already know I think highly of rather than work through the backlog of music on my hard drive that needs to be deleted or burned to CD while I finish reading the Pharyngula archives.

Now I'll probably play most of these songs on WNUR tonight. Especially since so many of them turned out to be classics, modern classics, or covers of classics. Funny how out of close to 7,000 songs in my MP3 library, I got two songs each from Against Me! and the Bosstones, though.

I'm very unique...

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 1 or fewer people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

I left my Vespa in Toledo, Ohio with the best girlfriend ever...

...and have to go pick it up later this week.

I got back to Chicago from Ohio last night at about 10:30...by car.

I rode out to Toledo through northern Indiana (which has some horrible signage, so I probably went out of my way by 20 miles or so during the trip - 250 miles total). Mapquest put me on a gravel road, but I knew US 20 was only a mile or two north and heading in the same direction, so I was able to cut up there.

The P200 ran great most of the way out, though the engine started to rattle at certain speeds (real low or real high). It sounds to me like the flywheel cover might be rattling against something. Every bolt I could find was tight, though, and the bike was riding fine, so I didn't worry too much about it. As I got near Toledo, I was running low on gas and the bike started to bog a little bit at the top of 4th gear.

Friday morning I cleaned my jets and checked my plug (little bit dark, but I left the mixture alone at that point). Selena and I rode from Toledo down to Columbus in a heavy drizzle most of the way. The bike really started bogging in 4th, so I changed to a #7 plug and turned the mixture a quarter-turn leaner and it ran pretty well despite the wet. Idle was screwy, though.

Saturday in Columbus was sunny, hot, and muggy. All the hot humid air east of Hurricane Ike was trapped and it got a bit oppressive. One of my gear selector cables slipped right as we arrived for the ride meetup, so while I was tightening the pinch-bolt and adjusting the cables, we missed the ride, but ended up going thrifting with some of the XYLs there for the rally. (But since we'd ridden down through the area the ride was going to the day before, and were going out that way the next day, we didn't mind, and ended up hanging out with Selena's sister). My bike would only idle regularly when it was running rich (on a #7 plug), though I'm not sure how much that had to do with the humidity. To get it to run nicely, I had to turn the mixture a little leaner and set the throttle stop pretty high so it wouldn't die out at idle - otherwise it would bog at 45-50mph even after warmed up.

I was originally planning on riding back to Chicago yesterday from Columbus, but one look at the radar map yesterday morning disabused me of that notion. Selena and I left to ride back toward Toledo, and I'd either catch MegaBus or cadge a ride back to Chicago from there. It was still pretty warm and sunny, but with some moderate wind once we got out into the country which varied from a nice tail wind to a somewhat annoying cross-wind. We were keeping an eye on the western horizon to stop to put on rain-gear if needed.

About an hour outside Toledo, Selena's bike (a 2005 Stella) broke down. We were about 120 miles out of Columbus, and had been going full throttle most of the way. She suddenly started losing power at 45-50mph and was able to downshift and pull over in a controlled stop, but her kick lever was frozen solid. After letting it sit for an hour or so, it still wouldn't budge, she couldn't shift gears, and we found a nice farmer to let her put it in his barn for a couple
days (the state trooper that pulled up behind us a couple min after we stopped walked her to his door and vouched for him) until she can pick it up.

We ended up riding 2-up on my P200 at 40mph back to Toledo right as the pouring rain started, with all the gear two people bring on scooter trips, then driving to Chicago (and hitting some rain in Indiana). Selena drove back this morning, and I'm taking Megabus out later this week and riding back on Friday, which is supposed to be beautiful. POC Phil thinks her bike might have seized but only set after she stopped, but whether it's the top end or kickstart mechanism, the engine's gotta be opened up and she's planning on picking it up and taking it in to POC tomorrow.

Looking around and talking to a couple people, I'm thinking that my 20/20 carb likely needs a thorough cleaning/rebuild, but I might as well put a new 24/24 carb on at that point.

"No, I'm not gonna be your monkey."

I remember watching this four years ago, and it's still awesome.

I'm glad that emotional residue dissipated.

I watched Ronin for the first time in several years tonight. I started at 11:30, and now it's almost 2am and I have to get up in six hours to go to work. I took a three-hour nap this evening, catching up from staying up 'til 5am on Friday night talking to Laura's friend Angela. For some reason, I couldn't nap yesterday despite my exhaustion.

So I had some time to kill before sleeping tonight. I remembered Ronin being a good film, but the last time I watched even part of it was with Marta, before we'd even started dating. I think she fell asleep in the middle, and I hadn't watched it since, mostly because it still had this emotional residue for me.

I watched it again. It's better than I remembered. I picked up things I'd missed, or subtleties that hadn't seemed important to me before. Maybe it's because I don't watch many movies or TV shows anymore, and tend to view films not just as stories, but as art with carefully crafted components, each with their own importance. Regardless, I was struck by everything from the clothes, to the cinematography, to the story arc being rather well-done and unique these days.

I'm glad that emotional residue dissipated.

When life hands you lemons, make cantaloupe juice.

Two years ago this month, my cousin John died. I don't think about it much anymore, though at the time I pretty much escaped into the make-believe world of the Honor Harrington series of books. (You can download all 17 books in the series - I recommend them if you need to kill a couple months.)

The day after the funeral I was at my aunt Susan's house before heading to the airport, and she'd taken all the leftover cantaloupe from the reception and blended it, making a rather thick juice. I don't normally enjoy cantaloupe at all, but for some reason I think it tastes excellent in liquid form, and I drank about a quart of it (approximately eating one melon whole).

That's the one positive thing I took from that trip. Mostly I just remember the heartbreak on my aunt and uncle's faces, particularly when Susan was describing being at his bedside as he died. Tonight I made juice from two cantaloupes, and it brought the memories back.