Time for yet another open thread. You all must not like structure.
Where is good leave watching? Does anyone have a favorite spot?
135 Thoughts to “Open Thread Mid-week October 20”
Comments are closed.
Open Thread Mid-week October 20
Time for yet another open thread. You all must not like structure.
Where is good leave watching? Does anyone have a favorite spot?
Comments are closed.
Barrel Oak Winery in Delaplane … great hilltop view.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/20/AR2010102002989.html
LONDON – The British government on Wednesday announced historic spending cuts, aimed at reducing the country’s deficit, that will cost the public sector half a million jobs.
— We need to have the intestinal fortitude to do the same.
Did it actually pass, Marin?
Moe, how far is Barrel Oak Winery from the state park?
MH, from the same article.
The plan will be subject to a vote in Parliament, but because the coalition government has a majority, it is assumed that it will be passed.
and
Only the budgets for schools, the National Health Service and overseas aid were spared. Education spending is actually set to increase slightly by nearly $5 billion, despite the government scrapping a multi-billion-dollar school-buildings program. The Defense Ministry must find savings of about 8 percent, compared with the 19 percent average, but is facing a loss of 42,000 jobs over the next five years.
I’m not sure where the state park is. BOW is right off the exit for Delaplane. Going west on 66 you can see it on the hilltop on the right. Elene told me about another good one that is close to BOW called Vintage Ridge.
Gatlinburg, TN has great leaf peeping at the end of Octobrrrrrrr……
Moe, if you go on down the road about …I want to say 5 miles, there is a very neat little state park named Sky Meadow. They used to have celestial nights there.
Cargo, that’s a long way to go. How many hours?
Cargo, it might be time for outrage….Juan Williams was fired by NPR for his comments about O’Reilly. This really is preposterous.
Where is Cargo? Do something.
Wonder who will replace him on NPR?
Talk about outrageous !!!
http://www.wmal.com/Article.asp?id=1993170
My issue with O’Reilly wasn’t his opinion over the Mosque. I can’t tell people how to feel over that issue. And he knew he should have said radical Muslim. My issue was him telling Joy B to be quiet and listen to him so she would learn something. Totally unacceptable.
He is also getting enough mileage outta this to write a book. He did say that he had to tell her that…yea right. Arrogant AH award for O’Reilly, having everything to do with bad manners and nothing to do with mosques.
Google doing something very smart: http://atlanticwindconnection.com/
In addition to facilitating renewables, they’ve also built massive underwater transmission lines that will allow cheap power from southern Virginia and the Carolinas to be shipped into the NYC and Boston markets, all without tearing up thousands of acres and dealing with multiple state regulations.
CATO, will doing so increase costs on residential customers in VA/NC.. If the utility can charge more in the NE then what’s the incentive to sell in the South?
Not necessarily, Google is going to charge a toll for providers so they’ll have to factor the transport costs + whatever they can get in the NYC market. I’ve thought for quite some time that energy prices were artificially low due to all the hidden subsidies and other market distortions introduced by regulators. One thing about free markets is that you’re not always going to like what they tell you.
No doubt. Good info. My friend owns a small windfarm in the NW and is either thinking of expansion or selling to a larger farm/utility. I think that renewable resources are a great thing (but that we shouldn’t discard our other sources like coal and nuke). I like the concept of (water) wave power.
If I had the land and up front capital I would love to have my own solar array to power my property and then sell back to the grid.
Favorite sport? Hmmmm……..chasing women used to be my favorite sport, but, one caught me. I had to give up women for marriage….
Target shooting. Martial arts. Neither of which I do nearly enough and, in fact, do rarely now.
I know! POLITICS!
Rush was just pointing out that Google, a good liberal company, just paid about 2.7% in taxes on overseas profits through legal maneuvers by routing money through Ireland to Bermuda. BILLIONS were saved in taxes.
You would think that, as good liberals, they would want to pay those extra taxes. I mean, its o.k. for the rest of us, right?
Same with Apple using chinese labor and using non-union Fed-Ex to build Ipods……….c’mon, there are unemployed union workers in the US! Build it here!
Sky Meadows State Park is a treasure. I go at least several times a year to assure
myself that the old body can still meander up the mountain from the visitor center
to the Appalachian Trail without a heart attack. Always feel rewarded by the view.
Plus, the property and buildings have an interesting history.
(Check their website for info on special events including nightime sky watching).
Funny article considering the above talk about windmills. Cargo, I think you can appreciate some of it.. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39759042/ns/business-going_green/
Yeah…I saw that on Drudge.
Absolutely with you on that one Moon “listen and you will learn”. Who the h@ll made him the leader in charge. That’s why I don’t listen to O’Reilly. Same for Nina Totenburg.
Cult food news item of the day: http://www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/20762/20101021/the-mcrib-sandwich-is-back-at-mcdonalds.htm
The RENT……is too damn high!
Leaves haven’t peaked, even on the Skyline Drive. It is pretty but no where near full color.
Juturna, I have never seen O’Reilly in such a state. I have lost respect over how he talked to Joy Bahar. He justified why he did that. Not good.
My brother just drove up day before yesterday. He said that south of Gatlinburg and Cherokee, the leaves have turned, but, north of it, not so much….
Cargo, please ask him what kind of show it is. It doesn’t look like we are going to get the vibrant colors this year. Those dark rosy leaves were pretty…like some oak and dogwood.
Moe, I saw Barrel Oak Winery from the hillside. Big place in the back. I went by Gray Ghost but it was closed. grrrrrr
He’s gone now, but, said that they were turning. Not yet peaked. But on the north side, everything was still green…..
Weird. I’d of thought that it would turn faster as you go north……
Cargo, I would have thought the same thing.
The Manassas Battlefield and Prince William Forest Park are two other places to
enjoy a nice autumn walk.
Doing jobs that Americans won’t do.
http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2010/10/illegal-aliens-canvas-for-democrats-in-washington-state/
Illegal aliens are canvassing for far left Senator Patty Murray and democrats in Washington State.
FOX News reported:
When Maria Gianni is knocking on voters’ doors, she’s not bashful about telling people she is in the country illegally. She knows it’s a risk to advertise to strangers that she’s here illegally — but one worth taking in what she sees as a crucial election.
I would only worry if she voted.
The Osbourn Eagles are unstoppable! 56-0 in their Homecoming game against Stonewall last night.
Emma, I got a report last night on FB of the game. Wow!! Those Eagles are indeed unstoppable. I know my mom will be tickled pink when she hears this news. My mom and aunt are Osbourn alumni, and me, my sister, cousin, and daughter are all Stonewall alumni. Of course, the mention of Osbourn football gets my mom fired up on the trophies that rightfully belong at Osbourn, that sit at OP. I know this is a touchy subject with Big Dog too.
The eagles have that magic bullet guy. Maybe he will move again and become a raider ..nope….too close to the end of the season. Once the magic bullet is gone, the eagles had better watch out swooping into raider territy or they might find themselves stonewalled between a rock and a hard place.
Humorous goof this week when Prop 8 supporter Meg Whitman’s press secretary tweeted about an endorsement by a law enforcement group and included a link to a YouTube video … of a cross-dressing Korean man who plays bass guitar in his bedroom wearing lingerie. Thanks in part to Meg’s bump, more than 1.3M people have seen the video.
http://twitter.com/sarahpompei/status/27781137692#
@Morris Davis
Now THAT is pretty cool. 1.3 million views and still going strong. This may be one of the funniest campaign screw-ups ever. The video is too funny!
It must be a male thing. I turned off the video after 30 seconds. I bet the rest of the women did also.
Actually, the guy isn’t too bad at all! He’s got a bunch of other vids, too, and his cover of Judas Priest’s Painkiller is darn fine!
If I dood it, I get a whuppin’!!! I dood it!!!!!
http://www.mediaite.com/print/politico-dana-milbanks-glenn-beck-bio-not-selling-like-hotcakes/
BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
#1618 on Amazon!
BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Gauging the scope of the tea party movement in America
By Amy Gardner
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 24, 2010; 12:01 AM
In an unruly, unpredictable and chaotic election year, no group has asserted its presence and demanded to be heard more forcefully than the tea party. The grass-roots movement that was spawned with a rant has gone on to upend the existing political order, reshaping the debate in Washington, defeating a number of prominent lawmakers and elevating a fresh cast of conservative stars.
But a new Washington Post canvass of hundreds of local tea party groups reveals a different sort of organization, one that is not so much a movement as a disparate band of vaguely connected gatherings that do surprisingly little to engage in the political process.
The findings suggest that the breadth of the tea party may be inflated. The Atlanta-based Tea Party Patriots, for example, says it has a listing of more than 2,300 local groups, but The Post was unable to identify anywhere near that many, despite help from the organization and independent research.
In all, The Post identified more than 1,400 possible groups and was able to verify and reach 647 of them. Each answered a lengthy questionnaire about their beliefs, members and goals. The Post tried calling the others as many as six times. It is unclear whether they are just hard to reach or don’t exist.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/23/AR2010102304000.html?hpid=topnews
Looks like the influence of the Tea Partiers may be a bit inflated (perhaps more than a bit).
I saw that article, while honing in on another Thomas woman who has finally opened up and spoken.
To most of us, there was nothing earth shattering or unexpected. Funny. Men who are sleaze bags all seem to have the same MO. The scenery never changes.
Where is Rick? Isn’t he who recommended Wall Street? I finally got around to watching it. My favorite line was about WASPS; They love animals and pretty much hate people. That just about sums it up.
#1 on the non-fiction bestseller list … Jon Stewart, five places ahead of Billo’s Pinhead book.
Go Jon Stewart!
Levi Johnson is on Bill Maher. Too funny. Bill Maher basically ate him up and spit out the bones in a very friendly way. He is ignorant and uses fairly bad grammar. I don’t think he was ready for the quick wit and unabashed style of Bill Maher. Rob Reiner was also on the show.
Maher was totally funny and irreverent today. I tried not to laugh…but I did.
I must say, I am pleasantly surprised to find cargo advocating on behalf of unions. Perhaps he should tell his Republican friends to stop supporting free trade agreeements that allow companies to transport jobs abroad.
I don’t hate unions. I just hate the corrupt, evil bastards that run the unions. I notice that THEY have their pensions fully funded. I notice that SIEU wants to unionize the new “undocumented workers” so that they can pay into their coffers, even though they will bring the prevailing wages down. I notice that SEIU’s Stern wants to unionize India, etc,.
Maybe if the unions had paid more attention to building partnerships with the businesses instead of treating them as enemies, union membership might be up and the car companies would not be broke. Maybe if the money spent on the Democrat party had been used to fund pensions, the unions wouldn’t be looking for a bailout.
I notice that unions and liberal companies hire non-union labor when they can help it.
Shame, really.
Lets build a business friendly environment in the US that attracts businesses and can afford the unions. Lets make it attractive to have businesses here instead of overseas. What makes it so expensive to have a business here in the States?
Hmmmmm, I wonder?
Cargo said:
We have. I think we call it the South. Most southern states are right to work states.
I never heard of the dreaded SEIU before Obama. Where were they hiding?
Unions aren’t all bad or all good. They just aren’t the sword I am going to fall on.
Moon – you asked last week that I give a heads-up about my radio show. At 10:00 AM today, I’ll be talking with another investment professional about the outlook for the economy – whether or not we’re headed for a double-dip.
This topic is very important for investors because the long-term performance of markets is tied closely to the economy. Investors looking toward retirement or any other long-term goals should be very concerned. My guest and I differ on the outlook (I’m more of an optimist) but we agree that the administration is not helping us move toward strong growth with its current spending, debt and tax policies.
We may touch on the housing market but I plan to schedule an entire show on that topic later.
See http://www.insightwealth.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19&Itemid=19 for more details, information on how to listen to the live show or a recording later, and some charts showing the performance of some key economic measures.
@Starryflights “Perhaps he should tell his Republican friends to stop supporting free trade agreeements that allow companies to transport jobs abroad.”
You must have been howling in protest when the Democratic President Clinton signed NAFTA into law, right?
@Emma, I howled.
@Bob Pugh
Good show this AM. Not sure I share your outlook on inflation, though. Consider the following:
Since May
Wheat – up 50%
Soybeans – up 30%
Corn – up 45%
Cotton – up 40%
Cattle – up 12%
Copper – up 30%
Crude – up 15%
And a 15% pullback in our currency is being reported as a 15% earnings beat to US investors. I don’t understand how all the food/fuel/basic materials inputs can rise and support a low inflation environment, unless your theory is that these businesses have no pricing power. There’s a difference in the headline CPI and what one actually feels in their wallet/pocketbook, no?
Enjoyed the show. I didn’t understand it all but I guess if I keep listening I will learn more.
@Cato the Elder
Inflation at the producer or raw material level is not always transmitted to the broad economy or consumer level. You are absolutely correct that raw materials prices have been rising. I’ve been using both a raw materials and an energy ETF in portfolios for over a year – ticker symbols MXI and VDE (not a recommendation – MH readers should decide for themselves if those ETFs fit their portfolios). The National Association for Business Economics (www.nabe.com) released its latest Industry Survey this morning. Among many other interesting findings, some of which I discussed on the show, respondents are reporting rising materials costs.
Many firms have no pricing power now at the retail level and are unable to pass these costs along to consumers. Demand is not strong enough. That means that firms that are heavily dependent on these materials are caught between a rock and a hard place – rising materials costs plus no pricing power equals lower profit margins.
When the economy recovers further (may take a long time), demand picks and firms can pass along cost increases, expect to see acceleration in inflation at the consumer level.