Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[Jeff Buchanan]

11-0 to the "hell fucking no" side.

Have to read the article at the link to get the full gist of the stupidity of that vote. This isn't about environmentalists v. capitalists. It's about pure stupid.

I have a lawyer friend who has practiced water law in the west for 30 years and approaching 80 is still fiercely at it. In short his mission is to help industries that mine, pump oil or use water to find a balance between environmental concerns and best practices for survival of the human race and the economy that feeds, fuels and waters it.

Of course, despite the clarity of his legal arguments and ability to articulate reasonable positions, he's been labeled a right wing extremist. This sentence in the linked article sums up environmental idiocy:

Environmentalists opposed the planned desalination plant, arguing it would kill billions of tiny marine organisms by drawing in large amounts of ocean water and releasing salty discharge back into the ocean. The affected organisms make up the base of the food chain along a large swath of the coast, environmentalists say.

I'm sure the contingent of idiots that based their no votes on the permit for the plant had a host of collaborating idiots who had the "science" to back the stupidity up. And the supportors of the plant permit had this to say:

“California continues to face a punishing drought, with no end in sight,” the company said in the statement. “Every day, we see new calls for conservation as reservoir levels drop to dangerous lows. We firmly believe that this desalination project would have created a sustainable, drought-tolerant source of water.”

There is a reason that the United States is failing and it is the left's continuing assault on sensibility and reasonableness in pursuing policies that make core American values sustainable.

[iam416]

A company spent roughly $100M in plans, studies and other permitting nonsense over 20 years to get to a final vote on building a desalinization plant in Huntington Beach. Even Gavin Newsome supported it. The final answer.... 11-0 to the "hell fucking no" side. https://calcoastnews.com/2022/05/cal...-plant-permit/

Just something to remember this summer when you read about droughts in California. You may also want to remember how impossible it is to build new reservoirs there. Is water important? Apparently, no.

[iam416]

Quick summary - this week (and it's only Friday):

*The Chairman blamed Rs for inflation because Rs did not pass The Chairman's additional $3T of spending. I'm not making this up;

*The Chairman and the Energy twatwaffle from M, blamed the oil companies for the lack of refining capacity, which, per The Chairman's own administation numbers is at around 96%. The only answer -- and the one pushed -- is to invest billions to build more refinery capacity. The Chairman and his M Energy Twatwaffle then said they hope oil is out of business or transititoning out of business in 10 years (probably 8, really, since that's the magical climate change date from the UN);

*We had an all-time record number of immigrants stopped at the border in May. All-time. Meanwhile, as far as I can tell, The Chairman's Media BLACK OUT of the border is still in effect and folks at, e.g., "Democracy dies in DARKNESS" still don't care one lick;

*The most likely alternative to this fucking economic and policy illiteracy is still (a) desperately clinging to a narrative that only does him harm and the majority of the country is ready to move on from; and (b) a complete twatwaffle;

*Under The Chairman's reign, AlabamAlum was able to procure malort and Old Style and generally debauch the Mobile Riviera; and finally, and perhaps worst...

*The Wizard is still at-large and at least offering for sale "food" that most Sudanese refugees would politely pass on.

So, yeah, we're fucked.

And while not of this week's news, The Media almost completely ignored an assassination plot against Justice Kav. I say "almost completely" because the NYT did see fit to include a miniscule blurb on the matter on A20.

[iam416]

Stfile, twatwaffle.

[lineygoblue]

If I weren’t the beach and full of Malort, Old Style, and Italian Beef sandwiches, I would upbraid your insolence, Talent.

Please do it anyway.

[THE_WIZARD_]

I miss the days wiz would just post “STFU” and toddle off, distracted by a shiny red ball or a sippy cup full of dry Cheerios or whatever.

You don’t know what the good days are until they are gone.

STFU

[AlabamAlum]

If I weren’t the beach and full of Malort, Old Style, and Italian Beef sandwiches, I would upbraid your insolence, Talent.

[iam416]

Stifle, twatwaffle

[AlabamAlum]

But you previously did Portugal, correct?

I’ve been to Amsterdam/ Rotterdam dozens of time. Let me know if I you need any recs.

And I love Switzerland. One of the prettiest countries I have ever been too.

[Jeff Buchanan]

AA, we don't leave the states headed to Lisbon until July 10th. We're only spending a day there. Then on to Amsterdam where will cruise southbound on the Rhine to Basel Switzerland. I'll be in Switzerland for a couple of weeks.

[AlabamAlum]

Jeff,

If I don’t get a Portugal travelogue soon, I will be revolting!

[Jeff Buchanan]

Joe's appointees have been proponents of MMT. As far as fiscal and monetary policy, Friedman famously said that inflation was a monetary phenomenon.

It would take me more time than I am willing to spend to read the published articles of Biden's two appointees as Federal reserve Governors, Waller and Cook, to associate them with MMT. A cursory glimpse of their bios does not suggest they are MMT advocates. Biden has not appointed three governors as you allege. He has appointed two and elevated one of Obama's nominations, Brainard to Vice Chair.

If you're trying to box me in to a position which you then intend to claim I am a supporter of the Biden administration's fiscal policies, that's not going to happen. The entirety of his fiscal stimulus policies have been a disaster. I won't try to defend him or the knucklehead economists telling him American's need BBB and the shit-ton of leftist baggage attached to it. There's probably some MMT advocates in that bunch.

I suppose one could argue the FRB, being late to the party to raise interest rates - about 12 months late - could be because of the political leanings of the Board of Governors (The FRB). You'd have to make that point more strongly than alleging obedience to MMT. I don't see it. The board is made up of 3 Rs and 3 D's with one seat vacant. IMO, MMT is on the margins of current economic thought that might influence the FRB.

Powell is an R and a noted non-economist in charge of the world's largest economy. I can't ascribe MMT leanings to him. What I can ascribe to him though is a continuation late into the game of, as you described it, "buying debt instruments in order to keep interest rates artificially low. That, it turns out was highly inflationary. There were valid reasons for that buying spree though at the start of and during the pandemic. But, then, the urgency of those reason should have declined sharply by early 2021. The false belief that the pandemic crisis persisted played a role in continuing the urgency of it without trying to buffer economic growth with interest rate hikes as early as March/April, 2021.

That's a rear view mirror look detached from any influence Biden might have had on Powel by insisting on the need to do what was necessary to keep interest rates low ...... that was more Trump's approach than Biden's. Biden supported indications from Powell as early as last November that interest rates were going to rise. The reality is that it's a bit late to start raising them now sharply. That could have been avoided and I'll blame Powell and the FRB for not recognizing that.

[AlabamAlum]

I miss the days wiz would just post “STFU” and toddle off, distracted by a shiny red ball or a sippy cup full of dry Cheerios or whatever.

You don’t know what the good days are until they are gone.

[foxhopper]

If my life changes much more I may as well be dead.

[THE_WIZARD_]

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANYMORE LIES ABOUT RECKLESS SPENDING!! WE'RE CHANGING PEOPLE'S LIVES!"