Month: April 2012

It’s Jobless Thursday

No Comments

And the news is not good, 380K initial claims, up 13K, from last weeks numbers, which were revised up 10K, with the less volatile 4-week moving average rising by 4,250 to 368,500, continuing claims falling 98K to 3.25 m, and emergency claims falling by 20.5K to 2.79m.

We’ve had some pretty good numbers since the beginning of the year, but we’ve also had an unprecedentedly mild winter, which has pushed a lot of “spring time” activities months earlier. See (Anthropogenic Climate Change)

The question now is how much did the good numbers in the first quarter of the year eat the economic activity now.

Could They Both Lose?

No Comments

Well, it looks like the Republican primary is well and truly over, and we are into the general election silly season, case in point, he Ann Romney – Hillary Rosen contretemps:

Now, it’s Republicans pretending there’s a big national fight over a subject that most women basically agree on – the decision to work or stay home. Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen unintentionally set off this fake firestorm when she commented on CNN Wednesday night that Ann Romney – whom Mitt Romney has been referring to as his top adviser on women’s issues – has “never worked a day in her life.” Here’s the full quote:

“What you have is Mitt Romney running around the country, saying, ‘Well, you know, my wife tells me that what women really care about are economic issues, and when I listen to my wife, that’s what I’m hearing.’ Guess what? His wife has actually never worked a day in her life. She’s never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing, in terms of how do we feed our kids, how do we send them to school, and why do we worry about their future.”

The Romney campaign pounced, with Ann Romney putting out her first-ever tweet: “I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work.”

So, we have Mitt Romney saying that his wife, who’s never had to worry about providing the necessities to her kids, would be his source for insight into women who have to work in this country, versus Hillary Rosen, who used to be chief counsel for the RIAA, where she viciously opposed fair use, and has spent her life selling her skills to the various corporate faces evil as a lobbyist.

To quote Henry Kissinger, “It’s a pity they can’t both lose.”

Please, just make it stop.

History Repeats Itself, First as Tragedy, Second as Farce

No Comments

So said Karl Marx, who must have had Allen “The Craziest Mother F%$#er in Congress” West in mind:

Voice Inside Allen West’s Head Told Him That 80 House Democrats Belong to the Communist Party [Updated]

One of the most ridiculous names — and there will be a lot of them — in the ongoing GOP veepstakes is Florida congressman, tea partier, and crazy person Allen West. Herman Cain, Sarah Palin, and fellow veepstakes participant Nikki Haley have all endorsed West as Romney’s running mate recently. We suspect, though, that none of them sincerely believe West is a viable option, and are simply currying favor with the tea-party wing of the GOP by flattering one of its champions. Because West is, actually, the exact type of person you don’t want as a running mate: A wildly outspoken, unpredictable loose cannon. His appearance at a town hall last night is just the latest example:

The conservative tea party icon also got in shots at Democrats and President Obama, who spoke Tuesday at Florida Atlantic University. West said Obama was “scared” to have a discussion with him. He later said “he’s heard” up to 80 U.S. House Democrats are Communist Party members, but wouldn’t name names.

You know, this is so Joe McCarthy in Wheeling West Virginia on February 9, 1950, and it’s farce, and I’d call Allen West is a f%$#ing clown, but this would be unfair to people who make clown pr0n.

BTW, don’t Google the term “Clown Porn”.  Or if you do, don’t let me know.  I have way too much that I need to un-know already.

I’m Hoping He Doesn’t Eat His Gun

No Comments

There needs to a public accounting of that happened in the killing of Trayvon Martin. With the special prosecutor has charging George Zimmerman witth 2nd degree murder, we should be seeing this:

George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who fatally shot Florida teenager Trayvon Martin 45 days ago, was charged with second-degree murder Wednesday, marking a turning point in a case that has provoked nationwide debate over racial profiling.

Florida special prosecutor Angela B. Corey, who announced the charge in Jacksonville, said that “the search for justice has brought us to this moment.” Zimmerman turned himself in and was brought Wednesday evening to the Seminole County jail.

Criminal justice lawyers said Corey faces an uphill battle in persuading a jury to convict Zimmerman of second-degree murder. Zimmerman told police he was fighting for his life in an altercation with Martin, who was 17 and unarmed, before he fired in self-defense.

Murder in the second degree, under Florida law, refers to a killing carried out without premeditation but with “a depraved mind regardless of human life.” If convicted, Zimmerman faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. His attorney, Mark O’Mara, [a new lawyer, after his old ones could not reach him, and he starting talking to the prosecutor on his own] said Wednesday that Zimmerman will plead not guilty.

My guess that the murder II charge is about trying to get a plea deal and/or presenting to the jury a way to split the difference and still get a conviction.

Then again, I don’t know what he said when he called the DA.

Only Sy Hersh

No Comments

He wrote an appreciation of the late Mike Wallace, where he describes how Wallace stole his scoop:

You’ve got to remember that it was a Saturday night in New York City. Mike had seen or been tipped off about my scheduled Times piece quoting Radford, made some calls, found Radford’s wife, and somehow persuaded her that she had to give her husband the message to call him immediately at CBS. When Radford did, Wallace interviewed him from the Denver airport. He immediately splashed the interview all over CBS radio. Wallace had scooped me by interviewing Radford while I was flying with him in tow. I was more embarrassed than angry. The Old Man had shown me his moves, and taken my candy away.

I have a sneaking suspicion that Mike Wallace would be more pleased about stories like this than all the puff obituaries I’ve heard today.

So, JP Morgan Is Being Hit Up for the Money it Stole from MF Global Customers

No Comments

They are, “in negotiations:

JPMorgan Chase is in talks with the authorities to turn over customer money that disappeared from MF Global when the firm went bankrupt last year.

The development, announced this week by the trustee tasked with returning money to MF Global customers, suggests that a substantial sum of client funds is still sitting at JMorgan. The statement from the trustee, James W. Giddens, said that he and JPMorgan “are presently engaged in substantive discussions regarding the resolution of claims.”

What is going on here is that JP Morgan took money from MF Global for margin calls that came from customer accounts.

The reason that they are negotiating is because they knew that the money was dirty, because they knew that MF Global had no other source of liquidity, it’s why they made the margin call in the first place.

They did something similar in the collapse of Lehman as well.

This is Prize

No Comments

Unfortunately, the following is totally fictional, but I’d love to see some of the Facebook snooping employers get shafted like this:

One of the new terms is that every prospective new hire allow their manager to “shoulder surf” as they browse their Facebook or better still, to voluntarily log their manager into their Facebook account. If I recall correctly, she claims that we have the obligation to do a “background check” on prospective hires. I’m extremely vague on the correlation between faux-promiscuous sex or drinking and employee performance, but as she is a seasoned veteran, I have to trust her when she says that things like this overrule my judgment as to who is and who isn’t fit to be a programmer in our employ.

I was willing to go along with things and see how they panned out. But today something went seriously wrong. I have been interviewing senior hires for the crucial tech lead position on the Fizz Buzz team, and while several walked out in a huff when I asked them to let me look at their Facebook, one young lady smiled and said I could help myself. She logged into her Facebook as I requested, and as I followed the COO’s instructions to scan her timeline and friends list looking for evidence of moral turpitude, I became aware she was writing something on her iPad.

“Taking notes?” I asked politely.

“No,” she smiled, “Emailing a human rights lawyer I know.” To say that the tension in the room could be cut with a knife would be understatement of the highest order. “Oh?” I asked. I waited, and as I am an expert in out-waiting people, she eventually cracked and explained herself.

“If you are surfing my Facebook, you could reasonably be expected to discover that I am a Lesbian. Since discrimination against me on this basis is illegal in Ontario, I am just preparing myself for the possibility that you might refuse to hire me and instead hire someone who is a heterosexual but less qualified in any way. Likewise, if you do hire me, I might need to have your employment contracts disclosed to ensure you aren’t paying me less than any male and/or heterosexual colleagues with equivalent responsibilities and experience.”

I got her out of the room as quickly as possible. The next few interviews were a blur, I was shaken. And then it happened again. This time, I found myself talking to a young man fresh out of University about a development position. After allowing me to surf his Facebook, he asked me how I felt about parenting. As a parent, it was easy to say I liked the idea. Then he dropped the bombshell.

His partner was expecting, and shortly after being hired he would be taking six months of parental leave as required by Ontario law. I told him that he should not have discussed this matter with me. “Oh normally I wouldn’t, but since you’re looking through my Facebook, you know that already. Now of course, you would never refuse to hire someone because they plan to exercise their legal right to parental leave, would you?”

What could I say? I guess we have another hire whether he’s qualified or not. Here’s the bottom line: My ability to select the best candidates for our positions has been irreparably compromised by looking into their private lives. I’ve been “tainted” by knowledge of their sexual orientation, illnesses, religion, political affiliations, and other factors that expose us to anti-discrimination legislation. We can’t even claim that the employee improperly disclosed these matters to us, as we are the ones initiating the investigation of their private doings

Worse, I cannot manage these people once they’re hired. I would be diffident about censuring them or passing them over for advancement for fear of incurring a lawsuit that would be a distraction to our business and damaging to our reputation as fair employers.

You know I think that this may very well be true.

If you look at someone’s Facebook page, you might very well determine that they are a member of a protected group (no discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, national origin, sexual preference [in some states], etc.)

So in addition to having Mark Zuckerberg suing you for hacking Facebook, which is what coercing a password against their TOS is, you might very well have a discrimination suit on your hands.

Oopsie.

Yes

No Comments

Does the Supreme Court Have It In for the Democratic Party?

This has been another episode of simple answers to simple questions.

Kevin Drum is wondering whether the Supreme Court, or more accurately its 5 conservative justices, are acting out of a desire to gain political advantage for the Republican Party, rather than just conservative judicial philosophy:

When it comes to judicial activism, conservatives claim that we liberals have nothing to complain about. The Warren Court was famously activist in a liberal direction, after all, and we lefties thought that was just fine. But there’s a real difference here. The famous Warren Court decisions — ending school segregation, expanding the right to counsel, enforcing one-man-one vote, banning organized school prayer — were obviously decisions that conservatives didn’t like. But there was nothing in them that was especially damaging to the interests of the Republican Party.

But things are different this time around.

Indeed.

Undoubtedly.

The tell was in 2001, when they wrote an opinion that amounted to a coup d’etat and said that it could never be used as precedent in Bush v. Gore.

When a judge says you can’t use a ruling as precedent, it’s kind of like a banker telling you that it would they don’t want you purchasing in high commission financial products from them, you had better literally be naked in bed with them, because like it or not, someone is getting f%$#ed.

Well, Here’s Something that You Do Not See Every Day

No Comments

A business requesting that they be boycotted:

Open Letter to National Organization for Marriage Requesting Boycott of Law Office of Bruce Godfrey

Original Letter
3 April 2012
National Organization for Marriage
Open Letter
By facsimile: (888) 894-3604
Re: Request to Join Boycott List

Dear Madam or Sir:

I write your organization to request that the Law Office of Bruce Godfrey be placed on the boycott list for corporate and business advocates for the recognition of lawful civil same-sex marriage. I would be most grateful for recognition of my small law office as an opponent of your cause in Maryland as you have recognized companies such as Starbucks. While Maryland attorney ethics rules place strict prohibitions on attorney solicitations of prospective clients for hire, no ethics rules prohibit an attorney from asking to join a boycott – as a target.

Bruce Godfrey has been a loud and notorious advocate of lawful civil same-sex marriage recognition in his home state of Maryland for many years. His unapologetic advocacy of equal protection principles and of the equal rights amendment of the Maryland Declaration of Rights advocacy has cost him friendships and business relationships. Godfrey is an inveterate opponent of your cause and a strong supporter of your most implacable legislative foes in the Maryland State House and General Assembly. He earned your boycott through loud commentary on this issue as a straight ally of equal protection of the laws on Facebook alone, and will continue to advocate for equal protection of the laws in Maryland per his Maryland Attorney Oath.

It was said of the late actor Paul Newman that his proudest life achievement was being placed on the infamous “enemies short list” of President Nixon during the Watergate era. If NOM requires a certain amount of achievement in opposition to your aims to merit a boycott, please receive this as a request for the clarification of your boycott criteria so that the Law Office of Bruce Godfrey may, through diligence and honest effort, merit that honor. Please target Bruce Godfrey for boycott; he intends to earn it.

Very truly yours,

Bruce Godfrey, Attorney (MD/DC)
Attorney at Law

Kewl

It’s Tuesday, So There Are Primaries

No Comments

And Romney sweeps the primaries, Maryland, DC, and Wisconsin.

The fat lady is singing.  About the only interesting thing is that Santorum was not on the ballot in DC, and none of the votes went to either Gingrich or Paul.  (Romney 70.2%, Paul 12%, Gingrich, 10.8%)

Such are the vicissitudes of the Maryland electoral that I didn’t even bother to vote.

Only congressmen and a senators were up for elections, and Ben Cardin is Senator for as long as he wants to be, and Jon  Cardin is my rep for life.

There was a bit of drama in the 6th district, where the Republican octogenarian Roscoe Bartlett was challenged by 7 opponents in the primary, but won with a plurality, and on the Democratic side, there was what was supposed to a close race between John Delaney and State Senator Rob Garagiola wasn’t close:

A wealthy Potomac businessman whose very candidacy challenged state Democratic leaders won a congressional primary in Western Maryland on Tuesday, setting up a battle for the seat in November that will help decide control of the House of Representatives.

John Delaney, a banker and first-time candidate, managed to topple state Sen. Rob Garagiola in the race, even though leading Democratics in Annapolis such as Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller had the legislator in mind when they redrew the 6th Congressional District last year to make it more competitive.

Garagiola was endorsed by Governor O’Malley, and Delaney was endorsed by Bill Clinton, and Delaney spent a lot more money, but given the dynamics of of western Maryland, my guess is that the voters in the region, at least in the old 6th, resented the idea of having their district redrawn for the benefit of one guy.

Atrios is an Ill Conceived Son of a Wombat

No Comments

You see, he’s been blogging for 10 years, so in honor of this, he is doing a list of the top ten wankers of the decade, a list I will follow with some enthusiam.

That being said, he is getting above, or below himself:

It’s time to begin the weeks long celebration of 10 years of the world’s suckiest blog, hosted by yours truly, the world’s suckiest blogger. There will be some laughs, some tears, and of course there will be lots and lots of wankers. Some our old friends, the ponies, might make some guest appearances if we put some appropriate snacks out to tempt them. We’ll start counting down to the ONE TRUE WANKER OF THE DECADE, beginning with roughly daily announcements of the 9 runners up, with #9 being announced today at precisely noon o’clock. The determination of all the winners has been made using the highly scientific system known as “what I happened to remember this morning,” though I did give a slight bit of thought on what to emphasize. It’s the wanker of the decade, not the wanker of the day, so I’ll try hard to reach into the past to remind us of some quality wanking from the Golden Age Of Wanking. Emphasis will be on media figures, though I’m not entirely ruling out politicians or similar. No posthumous awards, excluding some otherwise likely candidates.

(emphasis mine)

I object, I’m the world’s suckiest blogger.

That being said, his list promises to be entertaining, if somewhat scary.

Why scary? Because number 10 on his list is Megan McArdle, aka Jane Galt.

It’s not scary that she is on the list, but it’s scary that she is so low on the list.  If she’s number 10, I would peg Ms. “Math is hard” at number 3, this could get scary.

Even money says that Tom Friedman is number 1.

Quote of the Day

No Comments

A few months ago, I was standing in a crowded elevator when Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, stepped in. When he saw me, he said in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear: “Why does The New York Times hate the banks?”

It’s not The New York Times, Mr. Dimon. It really isn’t. It’s the country that hates the banks these days. If you want to understand why, I would direct your attention to the bible of your industry, The American Banker. On Monday, it published the third part in its depressing — and infuriating — series on credit card debt collection practices.

—Joe Nocera

(emphasis mine)

As an aside, while I still have issues with him, Nocera is not a totally useless NYT Columnist.  (See Friedman, Thomas)