Winter is over. We have all decreed that it is over. Think pansies, daffodils, and cowslips. Anything but winter. What are good flowers to plant now that won’t die if there is an overnight freeze?
How soon can you set out rosemary bushes and cypress from winter gifts? Will they die if they go out now?
How about those cherry trees? Will they bloom before Memorial Day? (Just kidding)
Speaking of the stock market … I saw the author Michael Lewis on “The Daily Show” last night. What his book reveals about stock market operations is amazing. High frequency traders are literally paying for quicker access to data than a regular trader can get, buying stocks and selling them to you at a price that you’re willing to pay, but which is higher than it was a few milliseconds before. Getting a little piece of action every other time a regular Joe naively buys a stock.
I wonder what level of the stock market’s ostensible value has to do with these falsely inflated prices?
I saw that. Not sure what one is supposed to actually do about it. The rich are who profit from it. The rest of us earthlings just keep getting gouged.
Emma: could you be a bit more specific? Let’s get some precision into this comment. Are you referring to Carl Rowan?
Much as I enjoy elements of Rick’s commentary, this business as describing immigrant communities as “Spanish” seems barmy to me. I doubt if I have ever met more than a dozen immigrants from Spain in all my time in the U.S. This terminology strikes me as similar to describing citizens of the United States or Australia as “English” because of the language they speak. It totally misdescribes the reality of the demographics of the diverse immigrant communities we have in Northern Virginia, virtually none of which are from Spain.
Scout is correct. The Johnson-Reed Act of 1924 severely limited immigration from Spain to the US. About WW II, however, we had a need for skilled shepherds; and the tiny Spanish quota (about 121) was elevated only for Spanish Basque immigrants. Some thousands of Basques did immigrate under that special exemption, but the lure of coming to America has since waned considerably.
OK, I’ll bite. Why did we need skilled shepherds?
Speaking as a former census taker, I discovered that a huge amount of the illegal aliens that I counted did not speak spanish or poorly. They were Mexican “indios.” They were insulted it I thought that they were white or Spanish. And vice versa for those that looked identical, but spoke spanish and declared that they were white because they had Spanish ancestry somewhere back in the family.
And no….it was not proven to me bye ICE that they were here illegally. Their actions of hiding from me until I knocked on their doors saying “Government” made it clear.
Many Hispanics and other immigrants were avoiding the census, not because they were illegally here but because various groups had told them not to be counted. Also, they could have only one person undocumented. Many are blended families. That is particularly true of people with a temporary permit from central America that got disaster entry.
Proof that Congress lives in a bubble and that Moran is particularly idiotic.
http://www3.blogs.rollcall.com/hill-blotter/moran-members-cant-afford-to-live-decently-in-d-c/
Very interesting, because my husband worked in northern Nevada where
we encountered many Basques. Winnemucca is, or was, a Basque town
where you could get wonderful Basque meals, served family style. Sometimes,
at lunch, the waitress would have curlers in her hair in preparation for
the dinner shift.@Wolverine
Sheep ranches, especially in the rough northern Rockies, I would think. Probably wool and meat for increased war production.
A lot of the Basques mentioned by Wolve are in Idaho.
“Not sure what one is supposed to actually do about it.”
I think that there’s a stock exchange, ICE, that doesn’t seel faster access to high frequency traders? So if consumers actually give a damn they can take business from NASDAQ and change this. Stock traders are being robbed in broad daylitght; time will tell whether they even care.
ICE is for commodities.
And anyone can buy real time access. HF trading involves a whole lot more than simply having quotes in real time. Your average consumer isn’t affected by HF trading per se.
Gov. TMac spoke at VMI and stated that without IMMEDIATE and smart decisions, the Hampton Roads area will flood due to rising sea levels.
Hmmmmmm sea level rise is about 0.12 inches per year and has been for thousands of years..and hasn’t changed.
Hampton Roads is between 12 and 42 feet above sea level.
Yep….. its urgent.
He should have saved that subject for Tech, CS. They could have helped with the arithmetic.
Watched “9500 Liberty” again today; it’s free on some channel I found on my Roku. Still somewhat interesting, but still has a false narrative at the end.
I didn’t care for the end at all. I actually thought it detracted from the film.