Archive for May, 2014

In Memoriam (May 26, 2014)

Posted in Banks and Banking System, Book Reference, Bureaucracy, Hypocrisy, Kleptocracy, Military, War on May 26, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

A          “Fly the flag, fight to allow others to burn theirs, and campaign to prevent unwilling and unwitting lads and lasses from fighting for the entertainment and economic advancement of those in power.”

B          “And read the most insightful work on the underlying reasons that those in power take the powerless to war in the poem War Is A Racket by someone who understood war.  General Smedley Darlington Butler was a United States Marine Corps major general which by the way was the highest rank authorized at that time.  At the time of his death, he was the most decorated Marine in United States history.”

A          “Decorated is a curious description.  He knew his stuff.  Take the book to the beach.  Take it to head.  Take it to heart.”

B          “Take it to the class room.  And put it on required reading list next fall in the schools.”

A          “What about All Quiet On The Western Front?”

B          “Put them both on the list.  Remarque remarked on the absurdity and futility of the killing enterprise, whereas Butler served up the explanation front and center.  Follow the money.”

. . .

B          “They would not need to neglect as many veterans if they did not create and break so many of them.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Dissent is patriotic

Butler and Eisenhower said it all

Leave a comment »

Party Like It’s 16,919.99 (May 19, 2014)

Posted in Stock Market on May 19, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

1          “It looks like it may hit 17,000.”

2          “It looks like it is heading to 36,000.  Again.”

1          “Remember the good old days when Merryle Ruykeyser’s kid Louis was the most celebrated financial entertainer at a time before every Tom, Dick and Mary went into financial huckstering.”

2          “Remember when Lou sat around on December 31, 1999 partying like it’s 1999 with four characters who were as unrestrained in their enthusiasm for unbounded growth in 2000.”

1          “The lack of earnings always felt surreal, yet not earning money was described as the new real.  Who knew it was unreal except those who knew it was not real.”

2          “You did not even know what the company purported to do when it made an initial offering.”

1          “You could not go wrong until it went wrong.”

2          “Kind of a bummer . . . you know . . . the inevitable and predictable collapse and all.”

1          “I am sure that it will be different this time.  I’m pretty sure.”

. . .

[See the December 31, 1999 episode of “Wall Street Week” with Louis Ruykeyser at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5R0j75BZ0U and party like it’s 1999.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Always follow the smart money

Party like it’s 2014

Party on

Leave a comment »

Profile In Cowardice Award (May 12, 2014)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Cyberactivities, Judges, On [Traits/Characteristics], Press/Media, Privacy, Society on May 12, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Brooksley Born and Sheila Bair courageously challenged the kleptocracy in America.  The Committee did not delay too long waiting to gauge their hipness or political correctness.  For good measure, they also awarded themselves the award in 2009.  Yet the award for 2014 is devoid of . . . courage.”

J          “And integrity and vision.  The Committee went craven this year and should receive a special Profile in Cravenness Award.  There is not a scintilla of doubt that Edward Snowden should have won hands down for standing up courageously this past year.”

K          “The Profile in Courage Award suffers from the same myopia as the awards for most Rhodes, some Pulitzers and the Nobel in E-con-omics.  The pool is constricted and confined at the outset to a small number recipients who can be counted on not to do or say anything really imaginative, creative or, with an award ostensibly celebrating courage, . . . courageous.”

J          “Failing to acknowledge true talent is a tremendous lost opportunity and only heightens cynicism.  Society is giving the wrong signals.  Only those connected need apply.”

K          “Those in power candidly admitted that Snowden did not go to the right schools or belong to the right clubs.  Those who make the decisions did not aspire to play squash or go yachting with him.”

. . .

J          “Those who criticize him for departing the United States fail to understand how much courage it took to take a stand in the face of the venal and vindictive federal criminal justice system in America.”

K          “What if the United States gave him asylum from the United States in the United States?  Strength in response to courage.  That will never happen in a nation debilitated by fear and motivated by hatred.”

J          “No matter how things stay the same, they stay the same.”

. . .

[See the article on the impact of political ideology on First Amendment decisions at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/06/us/politics/in-justices-votes-free-speech-often-means-speech-i-agree-with.html and the commentary at The Supreme Court On Drugs (June 25, 2007) (“The Court’s new First Amendment test is two-fold: 1) who is making the expression and 2) what is being expressed. That is not what the Founding Fathers intended.”)]

[See the commentary on courage and truth at On Courage and Truth (March 17, 2008).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Pardon Edward Snowden

Free James Risen

Award James Hansen

Pusillanimity is bad form

Leave a comment »

The Minimum Wage: The Market Solution (May 5, 2015)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Economics, Economics Nobel, Health Care, Less Government Regulation Series, Market Solutions, Minimum Wage on May 5, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

1          “And the private sector solution.”

2          “Without a minimum wage, the government is providing massive subsidies for the workers laboring at major corporations that only provide sixty or seventy percent of the minimum livable wage.  The employees are required to subsist on food stamps and other government subsidies and programs.  If the minimum wage is instituted, more of the cost of production is internalized by the corporation rather subsidized by the tax payer.”

1          “There may be some lost jobs.  However, all the large corporations have deployed their most cunning technicians to find ways to eliminate as many human jobs as possible already.”

2          “Reducing monthly government payments requires some foresighted policy at the outset.  It is a no-brainer, but it requires an extraordinary brainer to understand.”

. . .

1          “The great debate over national health care fails to acknowledge that the United States has implemented the most inefficient national health insurance program in the history of human kind in Title 11, the Bankruptcy Code, rather than in Title 42, governing Public Health and Welfare.”
2          “The solution is simple.  The public shall receive the same health care coverage as the Congress.”

. . .

1          “The Norwegians will not reward that notion with their Nobel in E-con-omics.  If they do not reward that notion, the professional e-con-omists will not propound the notion.”

2          “We should go to the International Court of Justice and seek an injunction against the Norwegians and use the Nobel money for some other virtuous public purpose.”

1          “I am on board.  How could a concerned member of the public organize a public boycott?”

. . .

Bumper sticker of the week:

The Minimum Wage:  The Market Solution And The Private Sector Solution

1 Comment »