COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Friday, October 03, 2014

Ebola: “They have confidence that everything that was supposed to have been done was done”

Officials say as many as 100 had contact with Ebola patient; four have been quarantined

 October 2 at 5:30 PM
Public health officials in Texas said Thursday that as many as 100 people may have had contact with the Liberian man diagnosed with Ebola. Four of these people, at least some of whom are believed to be family members of the man, have been ordered to remain at home in an attempt to prevent the spread of the disease.
Still, authorities continued to stress that only Thomas Eric Duncan, who is the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States, had exhibited any Ebola symptoms.
“The only person who’s had symptoms is Mr. Duncan, who’s in the hospital,” Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said during a news conference Thursday afternoon. “And no one who has been around Mr. Duncan in the time he has been symptomatic has shown any indication of having contracted Ebola.”
It is unclear how many people had direct contact with Duncan, who flew on commercial flights to Dallas from Liberia last month. Authorities say the number of people who require monitoring will be much lower once that is determined.
Some students have not returned to the schools attended by five students who are believed to have had contact with Duncan, the school district reported. Attendance is down at these campuses, even as nurses have begun regularly visiting classrooms and counselors have been made available for students.
Liberian authorities said Thursday they plan to prosecute Duncan for lying on an airport questionnaire, because he said he had not cared for an Ebola patient or touched anyone who had died from the disease, according to theAssociated Press.
Before leaving Liberia, Duncan had his temperature taken at the airport in Monrovia by a person who had been trained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A thermometer approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration showed he did not have a fever.
The screening at the airport in Monrovia, the capital, has been in place for months, Deborah R. Malac, the U.S. ambassador to Liberia, said in a telephone interview Thursday.
“They have confidence that everything that was supposed to have been done was done,” Malac said.
An immigration expert and critic of the Obama administration’s immigration policies said Thursday that Duncan should not have been issued a visitor’s visa because he presented a high risk of remaining in the country illegally. She called on Washington to follow the example of several African countries, which have recently banned all visitors from Liberia and other countries affected by the outbreak of the Ebola virus.
Jessica Vaughn, a researcher affiliated with the nonprofit Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, said U.S. officials had made one “mistake” by issuing Duncan a visa last year and a second error by allowing him to enter the country.
“If you look at his circumstances, it should have been really tough for him to qualify for a visa,” Vaughn said. She noted that Duncan reportedly was jobless, living away from his home country and had a number of relatives in the U.S. — all factors that often indicate a person is unlikely to return home after their visa expires. “He clearly appears unqualified.”
Other immigration experts disagreed with this assessment and the suggestion of a travel ban, saying the current U.S. visa screening process has been made extremely rigorous in the past decade and that international health agencies oppose shutting down travel to and from the Ebola-stricken region.
Doris Meissner, who headed the federal immigration agency in the 1990s and is now a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, argued against banning travel from the region. She noted that the World Health Organization and other health agencies have said that closing borders and banning travel can be counterproductive because they “weaken the ability to mobilize and respond” to a health crisis.
Additional screening protocols have been added since the beginning of the Ebola outbreak, which has killed more than 3,300 people in West Africa, according to the World Health Organization.
Duncan began showing symptoms about four or five days after arriving, said Thomas Friden, director of the CDC. He visited Texas Health Presbyterian in Dallas shortly thereafter for medical treatment because he had a fever and some abdominal pain, telling a nurse that he had traveled from Liberia, but that information was not relayed to the other health care workers and he was released.
“This is a very sophisticated hospital,” said David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, during the same conference call. “They’ve done a lot of education related to preparedness for Ebola…Unfortunately, connections weren’t made related to travel history and symptoms.”
As a result, Duncan left the hospital during the period when health officials say he was symptomatic, which is the only time Ebola becomes contagious. A little more than two days later, he returned to the same hospital in an ambulance and was placed in isolation after being recognized as a potential Ebola patient. He vomited outside an apartment complex as he was being taken into the ambulance, Reuters reported.
Duncan’s nephew told NBC News that he had to call the CDC himself to report the possible Ebola infection on Sunday. Frieden said the CDC was not aware of such a contact, but said they were looking into it.
The CDC says the list of 100 people being assessed includes “potential, possible contacts.” Many, but not all, of these people had been interviewed by Thursday, Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC, said in a conference call with reporters. The CDC has a team of 10 people, including five “disease detectives,” on the ground in Texas to help with the response and identify anyone who may have come into contact with Duncan.
While authorities seemed reluctant to go into detail about why these four people were quarantined, they said it had to do with making sure they remained at home and accessible for monitoring.Four of the people on this list, at least two of whom are relatives of Duncan’s, have been ordered by state and county health officials to remain home until at least Oct. 19, with a local law enforcement officer stationed there to enforce this order. The order, which was delivered by local health officials on Wednesday night, says that they cannot have visitors without approval, has to provide blood samples and must agree to any testing.
“They were non-compliant with the request to stay home,” Jenkins said. “I don’t want to go too far beyond that.”
Jenkins said that while the order was unusual, it was necessary in this case, adding that it was important not to have “people leaving the premises on a regular basis” against the wishes of authorities.
“We do not intend to have to do that again,” he said. “But there’s nothing more important than keeping you safe.”
People who have come into direct contact with an Ebola patient who has symptoms must be watched for three weeks, beginning on the last day they had that contact. This process, which is called contact tracing, involves observing them for symptoms such as a high fever, at which point a person will be isolated.
“These individuals do not have any symptoms,” Lakey said. “At this time, they are healthy. There’s no risk they have spread disease to any other individual.”
But he later said, “The information I was given, I couldn’t be confident that that monitoring was going to take place the way I needed it to take place.”
There are also issues of hygiene at this apartment, including properly disposing of the sheets on which Duncan slept and his belongings. The home had not been cleaned by Thursday afternoon, as there has “been a little bit of hesitancy” in finding someone willing to do it, Lakey said.
The sheets and Duncan’s belongings have been placed into a sealed plastic bag, and they will be disposed of by a contractor who agreed to clean the home and who has worked with hospitals on medical clean-ups before, Jenkins said.
Three other people who came into contact with Johnson are the Dallas Fire Rescue crew members who took Duncan to the hospital. They are going to remain home and will be checked for symptoms over the same three-week period.
If another case of Ebola does occur in the Dallas area, emergency rooms in the county are prepared to handle it, said Zachary Thompson, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services.
“The plain truth is, we can’t make the risk zero until the outbreak is controlled in West Africa,” Frieden said. “What we can do is minimize that risk, as is being done now in Dallas.”
President Obama called Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings to discuss the response the Ebola case and pledged and reiterated his confidence in America’s doctors and national health infrastructure to handle this case safely and effectively, according to White House spokesman Eric Schultz.
Duncan flew on two commercial planes that landed at two of the busiest airports in the U.S. on Sept. 20. He boarded a United Airlines flight from Brussels to Dulles International Airport before changing planes to board another United flight to Dallas-Fort Worth. But authorities said this posed no danger to his fellow travelers or anyone who later boarded those planes, because he was not symptomatic and therefore not contagious.
As they have since Duncan was diagnosed Tuesday, public health officials assured the public that they could contain the virus.
“The bottom line here is that we remain confident that we can contain any spread of Ebola in the United States,” Frieden said. “There could be additional cases who are already exposed. If that occurs, systems are in place.”

195 comments:

  1. Is there a vaccine against stupid?

    Thinks of the levels of society and government that are in desperate need of a “stupid” shot.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Replies
    1. I just got back from Liberia, and I'm sick and have a fever.

      Here, take a couple of antibiotics, and go home.

      I don't have time to mess with your uninsured black ass, we got another one of them Ebola meetings to go to.

      Delete
    2. Texas, trying its damnedest to achieve 3rd world status.

      Delete
    3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    4. Takes awhile, but the truth comes out…

      Lancet editor apologises for Gaza article by scientists who promoted Ku Klux Klan
      Prof Richard Horton expresses 'deep regret' to Israeli doctors over journal's 'Open letter for the people of Gaza'

      By Inna Lazareva, Haifa10:17AM BST 03 Oct 2014
      The editor of The Lancet has expressed his “deep regret” to Israeli doctors after his journal published a controversial letter in the wake of the Gaza war co-authored by two scientists who had previously circulated Ku Klux Klan material.
      Addressing the physicians and staff at the Rambam hospital in the northern city of Haifa, Israel on Thursday morning at the end of his three-day visit to the country, Prof Richard Horton began by saying that he intended to “set the record straight” about his views and those of his colleagues.
      Last month, The Telegraph published an article about the extreme opinions expressed by some of the authors of the British medical journal's ‘Open letter for the people of Gaza’.
      Two of the authors - Dr Paola Manduca and Dr Swee Ang - had previously circulated and promoted a link to a video clip featuring an anti-Semitic diatribe by David Duke, a white supremacist and former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard.
      In the footage, Duke claims that “the Zionist Matrix of Power controls Media, Politics and Banking” and that “some of the Jewish elite practices racism and tribalism to advance their supremacist agenda”

      In another email to his contacts, Dr Manduca forwarded a message suggesting that the Jews were responsible for the Boston marathon bombings.
      “Let us hope that someone in the FBI us smart enough to look more carefully at the clues in Boston and find the real culprits behind these bombings instead of buying the Zionist spin”, the email stated.
      “First, I deeply deeply regret the completely unnecessary polarisation that publication of the letter by Paolo Manduca did. [ ....] this outcome was definitely not my intention”, Prof Horton said.
      “I was personally horrified at the offensive video by two of the authors of that letter. The world view expressed in that video is abhorrent and must be condemned and I condemn it”, he added, to the applause of the auditorium.
      Prof Horton, who is editor-in-chief of The Lancet, added that he has made his views very clear “directly to those two individuals” - and said that he will publish “what I have just said in The Lancet next week”.
      But Prof Horton made no mention of the other controversial aspect of The Lancet’s open letter, which wholly ignored Hamas’s role in the recent Gaza war - a fifty day conflict which was partly triggered by rocket fire on Israel from the coastal territory controlled by the Palestinian faction.

      Delete
    5. Following the publication of the letter, the staff of Rambam hospital were outraged and sent their own letter in response, which was not published by The Lancet, Prof Rafael Beyar, the Director General of the hospital told The Telegraph in an interview on Thursday morning.
      “But we believed, and said ‘let’s invite him. It seems like he doesn’t know many facts about this region. Let’s invite the editor in chief of The Lancet to Rambam to see the reality of medical life [in Israel]”, Prof Beyar said.
      During his three day visit, Prof Horton has met the staff of the hospital, over a quarter of whom are Israeli Arab citizens of Israel, as well as the Israeli, Palestinian and Syrian patients being treated there. Prof Horton also attended meetings with minority communities in Haifa, Acco and Tel Aviv.
      Enthusiastically logging his visit with photos on his twitter feed, Prof Horton mentioned in his speech that he was particularly moved by a meeting with the imam and the rabbi of the city of Acco, in northern Israel.
      “Yesterday, I had the huge privilege of visiting Acco, and meeting the imam and the rabbi of the city and seeing how they work together”, he said.
      “At end, I asked the imam, ‘so what should I do?’ And he said to me very directly [...] you must work with Israelis, you must work with Palestinians and you must work to encourage to bring those two peoples together.” [...]
      “I will simply say the whole of my time, from landing here to being here today has been a turning point, for me in my relationship with this region - and I thank you for it”, said Prof Horton to the medics.
      Prof Gerald Steinberg, President of the right-wing Israeli pressure group NGO Monitor which last month published an investigative report about The Lancet’s authors, expressed surprise at Prof Horton’s speech.
      “I expected when Richard Horton came on Monday to hear a whitewash - to hear from someone trying to save his position, because for many years he has been the centre of a lot of demonisation of Israel through the Lancet and through false medical claims”, he told The Telegraph immediately after the lecture.
      “What I heard was a changed man, someone who expressed regret - some would say it could have been greater, but the fact that he did this was very important.”
      At the conclusion of his visit, Prof Horton said he hoped to “open a new chapter” in the relationship between The Lancet and Israel, whilst emphasising the importance of closer Israeli-Palestinian ties and understandings.
      “The people of Gaza[...] don’t represent a terrorist regime. [...] [T]hey are just people who are trying to live their lives as peacefully and as safely as possible. Just like you, there is a hope for a different future - a future of success, prosperity, safety and peace. They want it, they try to live it, and it’s our hope that we can work with them, and with you, to achieve it”.


      YOu should all remember that column, Deuce published it and promoted it

      Delete
  3. QE (Quantitative Easing) is about over, so I guess interest rates are taking off, eh?

    Huh? What? What's that you say?!?

    The 10 yr. is at 2.42%?

    You mean, Santelli, and the Right Wing Crazies are . . . . . . . er, Crazy?

    I'll be damned; who'd a'thunk it?

    It is, as Rat has posited, "The Supply-Side Nightmare."

    Tons of "supply," No Demand.

    So, letting ALL the growth go to the top 1% wasn't a good strategy?

    Well, ain't that just the shits?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is demand; look at the stock market.

      Delete
    2. The beauty of the system is found in the balloon bursting, when all that "value" disappears into the software, forever.

      Delete
  4. Report card: C

    Some folks found a job at McDonalds

    No one got a raise.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some part-timers did get full-time work.

      Delete
    2. Joe Schmoe (non-supervisory worker) lost a couple of dollars in weekly earnings - due to a slight reduction in hours.

      Delete
    3. "Joe Schmoe's" loss of "a couple dollars in weekly earnings" is another way of saying that his hours have been reduced. The magic number is 29 hours of work for the maximum number of people. That cadre reduced to or hired as part-time loses more than a couple bucks.

      Home Depot has tackled this problem with "Team Orange". Part-time employees are taught to "reach out" to their "peers" and “invest” themselves in novel ways of performing a forty-hour work load in twenty-nine hours. This presents the problem of the farmer who pushes a team of mules to attempt the work of two teams. Before long he has only one mule; hence the high rate of employee turnover at Home Depot. Of course, Home Depot has generous incentive: those mules who survive one business quarter are eligible for quarterly bonuses. This bonus business is really exciting until distributed; at which time the mule is rewarded with an apple. Not surprisingly, employee morale suffers, which translates into a sorts of systemic failures and flaws, including customer service.

      It is tough out there and there is no untainted metric indicating that working conditions will improve any time soon.

      Delete
  5. Let's face it; this is a shitty economy, and is going to remain a shitty economy until we get some wage growth.

    And, that might be "never, ever, again."

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jack HawkinsFri Oct 03, 12:11:00 AM EDT
    They are on their way, Israeli.

    DR, a fact is established by irrefutable evidence, therefore, there are NO boots on the ground. Whether they are on their way may or may not be true.

    You went to all this trouble to call me an "Israeli." You needn't have. In doing so, you appear stupid, petulant, and a bigot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What are we supposed to call someone who takes the Israeli side over that of the U.S. in every instance?

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    3. Rufus IIFri Oct 03, 09:21:00 AM EDT
      What are we supposed to call someone who takes the Israeli side over that of the U.S. in every instance?


      Illiterate. I have never hesitated to make my disagreements with Israeli policy known here and elsewhere. If you have missed that, you have not been reading; you have been emoting. That is not my problem to fix.

      Delete
    4. Come on Allen, I was trying to be funny.

      Of Course Rufus and company doesn't have a CLUE about the multi-points of views, argument within our community over EVERY single issue.

      Of course we do not support every action of the Israeli government, but Rufus, Deuce and Rat only see what they want to see,

      I for one, take issues with many topics, but i will not enlighten the 3 Amigos on those topics.

      :)

      Gmar Chatimah Tova

      Delete
    5. The man who calls himself an American citizen and who yet shows by his actions that he is primarily the citizen of a foreign land, plays a thoroughly mischievous part in the life of our body politic.

      He has no place here; and the sooner he returns to the land to which he feels his real heart-allegiance, the better it will be for every good American.”
      - Theodore Roosevelt 

      Delete
    6. Rufus,

      I dare you to find a single instance when I have approved of U.S. aid to Israel in any form. Don't waste your time because it has never happened.

      I dare you to find a single instance when I approved of Mr. Netanyahu's governance. You won't.

      I dare you to find a single instance when I have sympathized with Pollard or any other Israeli spy. I believed I have called for life imprisonment or execution.

      You folks are pissed because I disagree with you on the "malicious" attack on the USS Liberty. When you can find a shred of "evidence" -- evidence defined under standard legal practice -- and I will gladly reconsider my opinion. But when I link to close to 2500 pgs. of investigative documents and hear back from you all within 5 minutes that they do not matter because of your feelings, you are full of it.

      I support my family when I see that the facts support them; otherwise, I go with the facts. Sometimes family members become as irate and intemperate as some of you. Tough!

      Delete
    7. I'm not "pissed." And, I don't "hate" wio.

      You guys are, for all intents and purposes, Israelis.

      You, relentlessly, knock the U.S., and praise Israel.

      You are what you are.

      Delete
    8. Jack HawkinsFri Oct 03, 10:03:00 AM EDT
      An Israeli


      Thanks for the praise.

      Maybe one day I will move UP to Israel in my live journey.

      Thanks for the encouragement…

      Delete
    9. Rufus: You guys are, for all intents and purposes, Israelis.


      Hardly.

      But that is the beauty of OUR great nation.

      I am as American as you.

      Like it or not.

      Your problem is that you only find "zionists" disgusting.

      You do not give equal time to all other folks.

      Just Jews and Israel.

      Delete
    10. That's not true; I also find the ISIS bunch disgusting.

      Just "Zionists and Headcutters." I didn't say anything about "Jews."

      Or, "Muslims."

      Or, "Lutherans."

      Or, "Wiccans."

      Just, "Zionists."

      Delete
    11. Those that hate "zionists" hate Jews.

      You cannot separate the 2.

      It's like saying you love black people but hate Black anti-slavery movement.

      Delete
    12. .

      Those that hate "zionists" hate Jews.

      Nitwit.

      .

      Delete
  7. They don't have far to go:

    About 200 troops, including special forces soldiers, arrived in mid-September in the United Arab Emirates, a staging post for military operations into the region, as part of a 600-strong deployment as Australia geared up to join the US-led campaign.

    They are backed by Australian air force aircraft, including F/A-18F Super Hornet jets, an E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft, and a KC-30A multi-role tanker and transport aircraft.

    right next door

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "right next door" is not in Syria or Iraq, although I believe Obama is being driven by events to ultimately put boots on the ground on the battlefield. When he does, I will not miss it.

      Delete
    2. there are BOOTS on the ground in Jordan

      About 6,000 U.S. troops headed to Jordan for military exercise
      May. 20, 2014 - 06:00AM
      http://www.armytimes.com/article/20140520/NEWS08/305200052/About-6-000-U-S-troops-headed-Jordan-military-exercise

      US Troops in Jordan Will Train Iraqi Soldiers
      The 1,500 U.S. troops in Jordan have increasingly become a major factor in White House efforts to contain the regional spillover from Syria's civil war.
      Earlier this week, officials in Amman said that Jordan was prepared to offer its facilities to host a U.S. training program for Iraqi troops to help counter a resurgence by Al Qaeda-linked militants who now hold sway in the Western Iraqi town of Fallujah and in parts of Ramadi.


      shhhhhhhh…...

      Delete
  8. That is why my idea was and is superior. If you want infra-structure and stimulation, bypass the banking system. For example, You want 3000 ethanol, wind and solar plants, all of which will produce fees and profits, simply issue a project currency, paid to suppliers and contractors as they produce. At the completion of the project start to withdraw the currency over the depreciable life of the project.

    The new $100 bills are perfect. You could identify the project by the bar code and the banking system could cycle them out slowly to conform with the project depreciation schedule.

    There is no debt service. No bonds, no Goldman Sachs and all the money goes into the income stream and income of the economy.


    The process is only for infrastructure and not for government agencies, the military or redistribution purposes. It is administered by the state governors and treasury proportionate to the project location.

    Perfect for highways, schools, rail, pipeline, alternate solar wind and renewable fuel projects, electric distribution and any domestic job creating entity.

    ReplyDelete
  9. It creates no deficit and is in perfect synchronous with the economic activity.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How do you get it through Congress?

      In particular, John Boehner, and Mitch McConnell?

      Delete
    2. LOL

      the bottleneck in congress is REID.

      Delete
    3. Reid is the bottleneck if you're a right-wing crazy person.

      For a proposal to create jobs, that would be Boehner/McConnell.

      This isn't "opinion." Just look at where all of the Jobs Bills died.

      Delete
    4. Look at the HUNDREDS of bills passed by the House that cannot make even to a vote on the Senate floor.

      Delete
    5. Harry Reid’s new challenge: His fellow Democrats

      Harry Reid has a new dilemma on his hands: restless Senate Democrats who are frustrated they aren’t casting enough votes.
      For the past year, Reid and Republicans have bitterly sparred over the stunning inactivity in the Senate. But the majority leader is now facing growing pressure from fellow Democrats agitating over the lack of votes on amendments, a central aspect of legislating in the Senate.


      Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/harry-reid-democrats-senate-gridlock-108212.html#ixzz3F5glHigw

      Delete
    6. Over 50 of those bills passed by the House republicans were to "repeal Obamacare." And, they really expected that to be taken up in the Senate?

      Delete
    7. So if you don't LIKE the bill, block the Senate from VOTING on it?

      LOL

      Welcome to Supreme Leader Reid's Fascist Wonderland.

      Delete
    8. Why would he waste time on a bill that had zero chance of passing? Every single Democrat in the Senate voted to Pass the ACA, and not one has come out and requested a "re-vote."

      And, THEN, you'd have to get 67 votes to get past Obama's Veto.

      That's just silly political bullshit. Don't you Ever get embarrassed?

      Delete
    9. So blocking the vote is to save me embarrassment?

      Come on.

      BE HONEST.

      Maybe VOTING on Legislation should be allowed by the Senate.

      It's called the will of the people.

      Delete
  10. Rufus IIFri Oct 03, 08:20:00 AM EDT
    QE (Quantitative Easing) is about over, so I guess interest rates are taking off, eh?

    Huh? What? What's that you say?!?





    On Wednesday, the S&P 500 declined 1.3%, leading some traders to say we’re already seeing fear. Oh, how soon we forget what true fear in the stock market looks and feels like.

    After all, the market is less than 4% from all-time closing highs. And despite September’s losses, the S&P 500 has now posted seven straight quarterly gains.

    Arguably, we haven’t seen real fear since late 2011.

    However, volatility is picking up in the short term, and everyone is searching for proximate causes…

    Are investors, once again, noticing the slow-motion train wreck in the eurozone economies? Is the selloff due to fears that Ebola is spreading in the United States?

    Whatever the news headlines, the ultimate cause of the selloff is actually more serious than hemorrhagic fever (from the market’s perspective).

    That’s because the primary driving force behind higher stock prices and narrower credit spreads for the past few years is coming to an end.

    I’m talking about the end of quantitative easing – the Federal Reserve’s bond buying stimulus program.

    It shows what seems to be a very close relationship between the S&P 500 Index and the size of the Fed’s balance sheet.

    Some investors and traders are even saying that this is the only chart that matters.

    As you can see, since the end of the credit crisis, the strongest stock market gains have tended to coincide with periods of aggressive Fed balance sheet expansion.

    With QE set to end this month, volatility is to be expected, as I said back in July.

    FLASH CRASH 2.0?
    In fact, we can’t rule out another sharp decline like the so-called Flash Crash on May 6, 2010, when the S&P 500 declined as much as 8.6% intraday before bouncing back.

    A joint report by The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) found that orders from trading firm Waddell & Reed triggered the swiftest portion of the plunge. But the true cause is likely far more complex.

    The Flash Crash also occurred during another period of Fed inaction, but it wasn’t the end of the world. Nonetheless, it was a horrific day for many investors and traders, and this is one of the reasons why the end of QE may be even scarier for the markets than the spread of a deadly disease that causes you to bleed out.

    After all, malaria kills more people in a single week globally than Ebola has killed during this entire outbreak.

    Safe investing,

    Alan Gula, CFA

    ReplyDelete
  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What if Jews are involved in the creation of an Ebola vaccine?

    Will Jack be facing an existential moment of choice?

    What choice would Jack make?

    What choice would you wish Jack to make?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A hugely disproportionate number of our Scientists are Jews. And, Chinese. And Indian.

      None of that has anything to do with Israel, Hinduism, or Zionism.

      Delete
    2. We're a Nation of People, dumbshit. Individuals. Not "religions."

      Delete
    3. Jack won't contract the Ebola virus on an airplane.

      Jack is on the No Fly List.

      Delete
    4. Not if, like Robert Peterson, you are a racist.
      Nit if, like Robert Peterson, you reject the idea that men and women are individuals.
      Individuals that should be judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin or their creed.

      Robert Peterson rejects "The American Way", he just has no where else to go.

      Delete
    5. Rufus IIFri Oct 03, 09:53:00 AM EDT
      A hugely disproportionate number of our Scientists are Jews. And, Chinese. And Indian.

      None of that has anything to do with Israel, Hinduism, or Zionism.


      Zionism is part and parcel of the Jews. It's a driving force. It's the natural and historic movement of self determination and equality for the jewish people.

      Deny the importance of Zionism to the Jews? Pure claptrap.

      Delete
    6. I think he kinda likes India, with that whole "caste system," thing.

      Delete
    7. Who gives a crap about the religion of a scientist or a professional? Who even thinks about it? Oh, someone that hires a Jew Lawyer.

      Delete
    8. At one time, "States Rights" (otherwise known as Segregation) was a "Driving Force" of the American Culture,

      but we're getting over it.

      Delete
    9. That would be hiring a "Jewish" Lawyer.

      Hiring a "Jew Lawyer" now that sounds racist.

      But face the truth Deuce, even you, who hates Israel and all it stands for USES Jewish business folks over others all the time.

      i am sure you will not admit it in public….

      If you were to share your truth about Zionism and Israel and JEWS to your "Jew friends"? LOL

      I'd LOVE to be a fly on the wall on that conversation...

      Delete
    10. Rufus IIFri Oct 03, 10:17:00 AM EDT
      At one time, "States Rights" (otherwise known as Segregation) was a "Driving Force" of the American Culture,

      but we're getting over it.


      Well "white folks" are but Blacks? Are self segregating at record numbers… Cant wait to get away from "whitey"

      Calls for proportional population representation in places from Detroit, Philadelphia to Ferguson are fueling the concept of "black" cities where "whites" are a tolerated minority…

      Calls for wealth redistribution from the wealthy "burbs" to finance the inner city "people of color" infrastructure and schools keep growing…..

      the self segregation :)

      Delete
    11. Judaism and Zionism are diametrically opposed, to each other.
      They are not "One and the Same".

      Sorry "O"rdure, but you're on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of Babylon.
      You're with Nebuchadnezzar and the renegade Priests that were in his hire, the ones that wrote the Talmud.

      Delete
    12. Jack HawkinsFri Oct 03, 10:38:00 AM EDT
      Judaism and Zionism are diametrically opposed, to each other.
      They are not "One and the Same".


      So says the jews hating, zionism bashing, Israel trashing, Judaism smashing troll?

      Your definitions do not count for anything, they are shall we be gentle and say? CRAZY? Looney? Infantile?

      Your views do not represent any mainstream POV by any Jewish organization in any way shape or form.

      Zionism (Hebrew: צִיּוֹנוּת, translit. Tsiyonoot) is a nationalist movement of Jews and Jewish culture that supports the creation of a Jewish homeland in the territory defined as the Land of Israel.[1][2][3][4] A religious variety of Zionism supports Jews upholding their Jewish identity, opposes the assimilation of Jews into other societies and has advocated the return of Jews to Israel as a means for Jews to be a majority in their own nation, and to be liberated from antisemitic discrimination, exclusion, and persecution that had historically occurred in the diaspora.

      "Sorry "O"rdure, but you're on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of Babylon.
      You're with Nebuchadnezzar and the renegade Priests that were in his hire, the ones that wrote the Talmud."

      By your definition no modern day Jews are Jews.

      By that? You are a genocidal maniac that advocates the extermination of the jewish people. And as such you should be arrested and tried for inciting genocide.

      Personally? I think you are just a sad, pathetic loser of a person who never accomplished anything in value in life. You are a failure as a husband, father, you have failed in everything you have ever done except be a troll on this blog. I pity you.

      You are worm tongue. You are a pathetic creature.

      I try and fail to see any humanity in you. What i see is a dead soul, a mean spirited prick of a human, without love, compassion or soul.

      You are a Human Animal.

      NOT a human being.

      Delete
    13. Deuce ☂Fri Oct 03, 10:15:00 AM EDT
      Who gives a crap about the religion of a scientist or a professional? Who even thinks about it? Oh, someone that hires a Jew Lawyer.

      I was once on a plane from Istanbul to Frankfurt. During the flight an Iranian lady went into what was later diagnosed as diabetic coma. A small group of American military medical personnel on holiday, went to work -- improvising from the plane's limited medical supplies -- and saved her life. One was a USAF officer who was awarded the Army Commendation Medal by then Colonel Rhonda Cornum, USA.

      Professionals do the job and do not consider anything beyond the work at hand. Jews are disproportionately represented in health care but that has nothing to do with Judaism; it has to do with the emphasis on education within that demographic, as is the case with Indians (Hindus?).

      The last time I needed an attorney, I fired the useless Jewish guy and ended up hiring a highly competent lesbian Catholic (her father had been Vietnam Airborne, with full blown PTSD) -- neither label having anything to do with her profession or competence. For the first time in my life, I received a substantial refund of my retainer!!!

      Delete
  13. Apparently, former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is a bit of a credit risk.

    According to Bloomberg, he not only told a conference of economists in Chicago that he couldn’t refinance, but when they laughed, he added, “I’m not making that up.”

    To be fair, Bernanke has successfully completed at least two refinancings, in 2009 and 2011, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal. A Fed disclosure form has his 2011 mortgage at an interest rate of 4.25%. The most recent data from Freddie Mac has the 30-year fixed rate down to 4.19%, suggesting he was likely trying to change the type of mortgage as well.

    And, Bernanke’s income these days is sporadic, if lucrative — pulling down an estimated $250,000 per speech.

    Banks are underwriting far fewer refinancing applications — down about 75% from the spring of 2013, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. What happened then? Oh, a guy named Ben Bernanke started talking about the Fed tapering bond purchases, and interest rates shot up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have been turned down repeatedly for a REFI.

      The system is screwed.

      But what can you do?

      Oh yeah, go the other way, embrace the deflating value of the dollar and raise prices to your customers :)

      Delete
    2. No, cut prices, supply better value, increase sales.

      But you, "O"rdure, you should follow your heart.

      Delete
    3. As for your inability to get financed ...

      LOL

      Delete
    4. It is not the "System" that is screwed, it's YOU.

      Delete
    5. Maybe you should work harder, up your "Pay Grade" a notch or two.
      Spend less time arguing with fictional characters.
      More time dealing with reality.

      That's probably the course you should be pursuing.

      Delete
    6. I could loan you the money, "O"rdure, but obviously, you are a poor credit risk.
      Sorry ...

      Delete
    7. I have noticed, in the course of my life, that "Under Achievers" are wont to blame ...

      "The System"

      Delete
    8. Jack HawkinsFri Oct 03, 10:58:00 AM EDT
      It is not the "System" that is screwed, it's YOU.

      Hardly. But reading what is written is not your strong suit.

      "What is "Occupation"Fri Oct 03, 10:16:00 AM EDT
      I have been turned down repeatedly for a REFI.
      The system is screwed.
      But what can you do?
      Oh yeah, go the other way, embrace the deflating value of the dollar and raise prices to your customers :)


      I aint "screwed", due to the situation, I will raise prices and make much more than the amount of interest reduction that I could save if refi'ing were easy for me.

      Once again you show your hand of ignorance.

      Not a good reader are you?

      the system is screwed.

      But some of us understand the macro system.

      In the end? the meager savings of the refi will be replaced with dollars in years future that are worth less and less and my prices continue to ride the wave of current assessments. Borrowing money is cheaper than using my own.

      And of course, the interest is still deductible. :)

      Not to worry about me Herr Adolf.

      As you imply I have options.

      maybe someday I will exercise them.

      Delete
    9. Jack HawkinsFri Oct 03, 11:13:00 AM EDT
      I could loan you the money, "O"rdure, but obviously, you are a poor credit risk.
      Sorry …

      Is that drug money? I'd pass...

      Delete
    10. Wiggling like a worm, that's our little piece of "O"rdure.

      Delete
    11. No wiggle, just pointing out your lack of reading comprehension.

      Delete
    12. I've thought for quite a while that the odds that wio is a businessman are even lower than the odds that he is an American.

      Delete
    13. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  14. WWII veteran given Viking funeral; Coast Guard agreed to Norse send-off

    http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/2/wwii-veteran-given-viking-funeral-coast-guard-agre/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS&utm_reader=feedly

    Picture showing how it ought to be done right.

    My sister always said she wanted a Viking Funeral.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Of course, when she suggested you play the part of the dog at her feet that was the end of that.

      .

      Delete

  15. Sweden to become first EU country to officially recognize State of Palestine

    "The conflict between Israel can only be solved with a two-state solution, negotiated in accordance with international law," Lofven said in the parliament as he made his first speech as PM on Friday.

    The Social democrat leader added that the “two-state solution requires mutual recognition and a will to peaceful co-existence.”

    “Sweden will therefore recognize the state of Palestine,”
    he concluded.


    I happen to think that the "Two State Solution" is a non-starter, but hell ...

    "That's Entertainment !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Congrats to Sweden.

      Sharia in Sweden: New Law Criminalizes Criticism of Islam

      Any Swede who offends or insult “immigrants” (Euro-speak for Muslims) or immigration (hijra) will be subject to prosecution. That is Islamic law.

      Danish journalist Mikael Jalving, author of the book Absolut Sweden, said that if it can be “proven” that you don’t support immigration, “you’re out of the game.” Journalist Ingrid Carlqvist explains that you become a pariah, stating, “If they point at you and say you are a racist, then you will have no job, no career, you might lose your family. You will have no future.”

      Muslim Rape Wave in Sweden

      Swedish girls Malin and Amanda were on their way to a party on New Year’s Eve when they were assaulted, raped and beaten half to death by four Somali immigrants. Sweden’s largest newspaper has presented the perpetrators as “two men from Sweden, one from Finland and one from Somalia”, a testimony as to how bad the informal censorship is in stories related to immigration in Sweden. Similar incidents are reported with shocking frequency, to the point where some observers fear that law and order is completely breaking down in the country. The number of rape charges in Sweden has tripled in just above twenty years. Rape cases involving children under the age of 15 are six - 6 - times as common today as they were a generation ago. Most other kinds of violent crime have rapidly increased, too. Instability is spreading to most urban and suburban areas.

      According to a new study from the Crime Prevention Council, Brå, it is four times more likely that a known rapist is born abroad, compared to persons born in Sweden. Resident aliens from Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia dominate the group of rape suspects. According to these statistics, almost half of all perpetrators are immigrants. In Norway and Denmark, we know that non-Western immigrants, which frequently means Muslims, are grossly overrepresented on rape statistics. In Oslo, Norway, immigrants were involved in two out of three rape charges in 2001. The numbers in Denmark were the same, and even higher in the city of Copenhagen with three out of four rape charges. Sweden has a larger immigrant, including Muslim, population than any other country in northern Europe. The numbers there are likely to be at least as bad as with its Scandinavian neighbors. The actual number is thus probably even higher than what the authorities are reporting now, as it doesn’t include second generation immigrants. Lawyer Ann Christine Hjelm, who has investigated violent crimes in Svea high court, found that 85 per cent of the convicted rapists were born on foreign soil or by foreign parents.

      Delete
    2. A group of Swedish teenage girls has designed a belt that requires two hands to remove and which they hope will deter would-be rapists. “It’s like a reverse chastity belt,” one of the creators, 19-year-old Nadja Björk, told AFP, meaning that the wearer is in control, instead of being controlled. Björk and one of her partners now plan to start a business to mass produce the belts and are currently in negotiations with potential partners. “But I’m not doing this for the money,” she said. “I’m really passionate about stopping rape. I think it’s terrible.” In an online readers’ poll from the newspaper Aftonbladet, 82% of the women expressed fear to go outside after dark. There are reports of rapes happening in broad daylight. 30 guests in a Swedish public bath watched as 17 girl was raped recently, and nobody did anything. The girl was first approached by 16-year-old boy. He and his friends followed her as she walked away to the grotto, and inside the grotto he got her blocked in the corner, ripped off her bikini and raped her, while his friend held her firm.

      There are even reports of Swedish girls being attacked and cut with knives on the dance floor. A 21-year-old man who came to Sweden a couple of years ago admits that he has a low opinion of Swedish females –or “whores” as he calls them. He is now prosecuted, suspecteded of cutting eight girls in several pubs. He is also charged with raping a girl at a private party, and with sexually harassing another girl in the apartment. Several witnesses claim that the 21 year old has said that he hates Swedish women.

      Sweden. a Palestinian Paradise

      Delete
  16. Sweden to recognise state of Palestine

    With its reputation as an honest broker in international affairs and with an influential voice in EU foreign policy, the decision may well make other countries sit up and pay attention at a time when the Palestinians are threatening unilateral moves towards statehood.

    In 1948 the Zionist declared statehood "Unilaterally" and the results have been 66 years of civil war, in Palestine.
    When the Palestinians declare their State, in a similar manner as the Zionists, the Israeli will have a melt down.

    Not nuclear, but emotional.

    "That's Entertainment" !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is Sweden Today:

      Sweden: Police humiliated and beaten up in Muslim area

      Radical imams, patrolling Muslim father groups and Sharia courts are safe in Europe’s Muslim-ruled areas, while non-Islamic authorities are regularly attacked. Bergsjön is one of Sweden’s many infamous, out-of-control Muslim-dominated districts. Via 10news.dk, translated from Avpixlat by Nicolai Sennels:

      When a police patrol patrolled immigrant-dominated Gothenburg district Bergsjön it ended up with two of the police officers being knocked down and attacked with punches and kicks. …

      Gothenburg Police has increased its effort against the large number of gang shootings and shootings that occurred in Gothenburg recently.

      The fast Islamisation of Sweden: 54,000 asylum seekers and 115,845 immigrants in 2013

      I cannot see how Sweden can possibly survive this. It is so sad to witness our brother country deteriorate so fast. Sweden’s population is “skyrocketing” — it is probably the fastest growing population in the West — and after the Swedish government promised all Syrians permanent residence, it has gone from mad to an obvious and inevitable suicide. Via 10news.dk, translated from Avpixlat by Nicolai Sennels:

      Today the Statistics Sweden published statistics on mass immigration to Sweden in 2013: over 54,000 people applied for asylum and a third of these were Syrians.

      Both among asylum seekers and immigrants Syrians are the biggest group. Moreover, men are clearly over-represented, with 64 percent, and 36 percent women. In addition to 54,259 asylum seekers, 115,845 people immigrate, and family reunification is still the main reason for non-Nordic immigration.


      LOL

      Now that's entertainment

      Delete
    2. Muslim immigrant gangs, having all but destroyed Swedish cities like Malmo are expanding their crime and burglary sprees to Oslo, Norway

      Gangs of criminal youths from Muslim immigrant suburbs of Stockholm and Gothenburg have started traveling to Norway to commit burglaries and other crimes, police in Oslo have reported.

      The Local (h/t Marina) Geir Ellefsen, police superintendent at Oslo’s Majorstua Police Station said: “We have seen a development in recent years where more and more criminals are arriving in Norway from Sweden, and it looks like the trend will continue this year as well.”

      The statement came as a gang of four Swedish citizens were arrested on Monday, charged with carrying out four burglaries in Oslo in just one week. The men were arrested as they left the hotel where they had been staying and a police search of their room discovered items stolen from several different apartments.
      Ellefsen said most of the Swedish gang members causing trouble in Norway were well-known to Swedish police, and that their anonymity in Norway, as well as the relative wealth of the country’s citizens, was what was luring them across the border.
      “They also know well that there is a lot of wealth in Norwegian homes,” he said. Three of the four Swedes arrested are of Somali descent, while the fourth is Iraqi. Oslo police believe the group committed at lease five of the total 30 burglaries reported in the city in January.

      Norway and Sweden lost to the west…

      LOL

      Now that's entertainment.

      Delete
    3. Jackrat says;

      In 1948 the Zionist declared statehood "Unilaterally" and the results have been 66 years of civil war, in Palestine.
      When the Palestinians declare their State, in a similar manner as the Zionists, the Israeli will have a melt down.

      I support the fake nationalistic people who call themselves "palestinians" (even though they cannot say "PALESTINE" in arabic since there is no P) to declare statehood (again, this will be the 3rd time). This will free Israel from the bullshit of all previous agreements from Camp David to Oslo and will free Israel, legally, to annex selected areas of the disputed territories as their own. Palestine may claim it, and it may be a border dispute. But it also will allow Israel to militarily respond to any and all attacks by the new nation "palestine".

      Be careful for what you wish for. Statehood holds responsibility, if the Palestinians FAIL to provide what a STATE demands? It will be the death knoll for Palestinian nationalism.

      Bring it on.

      But of course? ALL Israeli assistance should end. No food, fuel, tax transfers allowed, Since abbas and the PA want a complete breaking off of all relations with israel, the moment that "Palestine" makes a mutual defense pact with any enemy of israel? israel should destroy Palestine completely. :)

      Delete
    4. Can someone provide a Cliff Note version of "O"rdure's rant, I just can't be bothered to read it.

      Delete
  17. All the real Swedes left Sweden long ago.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All that's left are nitwits and Moslems.

      Delete
    2. If a person leaves Sweden Robert Peterson, then they are no longer Swedes.
      The people in Sweden, they ARE Swedes.

      Simple enough, figured even you would understand that.
      But, then again, you claim Kurds are not primarily Sunni Muslims.

      So your ignorance continues to be "Legend".

      Delete
    3. Yeah, most of them settled in Normandy, and became Frenchmen.

      Delete
    4. Jack HawkinsFri Oct 03, 11:30:00 AM EDT
      If a person leaves Sweden Robert Peterson, then they are no longer Swedes.
      The people in Sweden, they ARE Swedes.


      So the people from Russia and Europe that move to Israel are Israelis.

      Up yours jackass

      Delete
    5. No, they are Palestinians. As Israel is merely a polity in a "Portion of Palestine".

      Read Mr Truman and you'd be up to speed, "O"rdure.
      Here, I'll enlighten you....

      This Government has been informed that a Jewish state has been proclaimed in Palestine, and recognition has been requested by the provisional government thereof.

      The United States recognizes the provisional government as the de facto authority of the new state of Israel

      Harry Truman

      Approved
      May 14, 1948


      If there is no Palestine, then there is no Israel.

      Delete
    6. How about this, fuck off rathole.

      I did not say they were still Swedes.

      I said the real Swedes left Sweden long ago.

      All that's left are nitwits and Moslems.

      You were born a moron, rathole, and you cannot emigrate from that nation.

      Delete
    7. Sorry once again you define revisionist history.

      You cannot quote out of context and misleading lines of text and expect rational discourse.

      That is why you have a reputation for being a dishonest person. A liar.

      Simply? One whose words are not to be trusted.

      No matter what you say? Your pattern of distortion, lies and misdirection all prove on thing?

      You are not worth of discussion.

      You make it up as you go.

      Talk out of both sides of your mouth at the same time

      You are "Worm Tongue"

      Delete
  18. Rufus IIFri Oct 03, 10:29:00 AM EDT
    I'm not "pissed." And, I don't "hate" wio.

    You guys are, for all intents and purposes, Israelis.

    You, relentlessly, knock the U.S., and praise Israel.

    You are what you are.


    My knocking the foreign policies of the Bush and Obama administrations does not make me anti-American. I am an American, born and bred.

    By the way, when did I ever speak against my country? I know the difference between my country and the infatuations of foolish people with its leadership. Oh, I have repeatedly spoken ill of the VA system, but it turns out I was right and you were wrong -- hardly bespeaking a lack of patriotism on my part.

    Yes, I fully, unabashedly support Israel's right to exist and its right to self-defense, even if that means launching. It's family and it's moral. NEVER AGAIN!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The man who calls himself an American citizen and who yet shows by his actions that he is primarily the citizen of a foreign land, plays a thoroughly mischievous part in the life of our body politic.

      He has no place here; and the sooner he returns to the land to which he feels his real heart-allegiance, the better it will be for every good American.”
      - Theodore Roosevelt

      Delete
    2. I've never been wrong about the VA. It has treated me just the way I would expect a government, service-connected organization to treat me - conscientiously, somewhat slowly, fairly, and with respect.

      Delete
    3. My experience with the VA?

      Horrible. Incompetent, over stressed, beaten down, pill prescribing who could not make it in the open market.

      Now i am sure that my experience is only with 3 doctors may not be a fair sampling...

      Delete
    4. I don't see WiO or allen as knocking the USA.

      Some of it's policies perhaps.

      The idea that one can have deep concerns about the state of affairs among a group of people to which one is deeply attached seems fine to me - it depends on the group of people.

      Why just the other day rathole The Quoter was quoting Schoppy to the point that only a fool would be drawn to the patriotism of one nation.......

      These guys are drawn to two, and also to a greater overriding idea and heritage.......

      Do you deny your heritage, Rufus?

      Delete
    5. Then you must be blind, Robert Peterson.

      Perhaps ... ZEISS Online Vision Screening can help you.

      Delete
  19. Jack HawkinsFri Oct 03, 11:50:00 AM EDT
    The man who calls himself an American citizen and who yet shows by his actions that he is primarily the citizen of a foreign land, plays a thoroughly mischievous part in the life of our body politic.

    He has no place here; and the sooner he returns to the land to which he feels his real heart-allegiance, the better it will be for every good American.” - Theodore Roosevelt


    When an empty mind cannot say his own thoughts he repeatedly posts sayings and slogans...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When an empty bank account needs money, they try to borrow.
      But poor credit risks can't get it done.

      What is "Occupation"Fri Oct 03, 10:16:00 AM EDT
      I have been turned down repeatedly for a REFI.


      Better up your "Pay Grade", you little piece of "O"rdure.

      Delete
    2. Losers blame "The System"

      But in case you want to get approved ...

      7 simple ways to improve your credit score

      Read more: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/debt/7-simple-ways-improve-credit-score-1.aspx#ixzz3F6Bjufe0
      Follow us: @Bankrate on Twitter | Bankrate on Facebook

      Delete
    3. You big piece of shit, rathole.

      Delete
    4. Credit scores are more like your driving record:
      They take into account years of past behavior, not just your present actions.


      Guess you are truly and well fucked, "O"rdure if ...
      They take into account years of past behavior ...

      Delete
    5. What is "Occupation"Fri Oct 03, 12:02:00 PM EDT
      Jack HawkinsFri Oct 03, 11:50:00 AM EDT

      He still cannot recall his military unit in Central America. Military men never forget their units.

      Delete
    6. Jack HawkinsFri Oct 03, 12:13:00 PM EDT
      Credit scores are more like your driving record:
      They take into account years of past behavior, not just your present actions.


      Guess you are truly and well fucked, "O"rdure if ...
      They take into account years of past behavior …




      Once again you speak above your pay grade.

      My credit rating is stellar.

      Delete
    7. What makes a “good” FICO Score

      FICO credit scores have a 300–850 score range. The higher the score, the lower the risk. But no score says whether a specific individual will be a “good” or “bad” customer.

      While many lenders use FICO credit scores to help them make lending decisions, each lender has its own strategy, including the level of risk it finds acceptable for a given credit product. There is no single “cutoff score” used by all lenders and there are many additional factors that lenders use to determine your actual interest rates.

      Delete
    8. A good score, or a great score or a bad score, is determined by your lenders. And, their definitions are going to vary by loan product and by purpose. For example, a lender may require a minimum FICO or VantageScore of 760 in order to give you the best deal on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. That same lender may require a minimum score of 740 in order to give you the best deal on an equity line of credit on that same house. And, the same lender may require a minimum score of 720 in order to give you the best deal on a car loan. Same lender, different loan products, different “good” scores.

      Delete
    9. Once again Rat doesn't READ the posts, just launches into personal attacks.

      My credit scores are better than 90% of America.

      I have been turned down for refi of my mortgage several times.

      The system is screwed. As one banker i know told me, someone has to actually pay for everyone else.

      I am not screwed. I have recourse.

      Delete
  20. Turkey OKs Ground Troops to Fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria

    The Turkish parliament voted Thursday in favor of sending ground troops into neighboring Syria and Iraq to help quell the surging Islamic State group threat, becoming the first NATO ally or U.S. partner to seriously consider deploying the much discussed “boots on the ground” option from which all others have distanced themselves.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Have you considered that this give Turkey the green light to attack the al-Assad government of Syria?

      If or when Turkey acts, will it first attack Assad or IS?

      Delete
  21. "When an empty mind cannot say his own thoughts he repeatedly posts sayings and slogans..."

    :)

    And contradictory ones, at that.

    In fact anything that comes to 'mind'......

    It's Schoppy one day, Teddy the next, Hegel one day........blah, blah, blah

    It's entertaining, once you get used to it.

    ReplyDelete
  22. http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/10/leon-panetta-destroys-what-little-was-left-of-obamas-excuse-for-not-leaving-troops-in-iraq.php
    LEON PANETTA DESTROYS WHAT LITTLE WAS LEFT OF OBAMA’S EXCUSE FOR NOT LEAVING TROOPS IN IRAQ


    Does this make Panetta and me un-American? I think not.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Panetta has it right.

      It's all Obama's fault.

      Delete
    2. .

      Mr. P is merely another dick selling a book.

      I used to think the guy was pretty sharp until I watched through the years as he switched opinions along with jobs. The guy is a sleazy opportunist who will change his 'opinion' on a dime if there is something in it for him. He is a bounder with no core. I wouldn't give a nickel for anything the prick said.

      .

      Delete
  23. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Rufus IIFri Oct 03, 11:55:00 AM EDT
    I've never been wrong about the VA. It has treated me just the way I would expect a government, service-connected organization to treat me - conscientiously, somewhat slowly, fairly, and with respect.


    Great! Clearly, that is not the norm. Oh, VA facilities have been found to have facilitated drug running. You may recall our little talk about that. You were wrong. That, in and of itself, is nothing to be ashamed of; damning other people for reporting it is. But, then, what would a drug addict like me know?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It all depends on what "somewhat slowly" means.

      A great deal of testimony is that it means "never", or "too late".

      I am glad Rufus has been lucky, but my friend Dale wasn't so lucky. He's dead.

      Delete
    2. Though, seen from a higher point of view, Dale may be the lucky one, as most will be, except the reprobate.

      Delete
    3. as most will eventually be.....most definitely including Rufus.....

      I know. I am God.

      ;)

      Delete
    4. Another way of putting it is Dale's got all this worldly nonsense behind, we still have a ways to go......

      ............................................................................................................................

      "Just say that 'everything is gonna alright' and remember its not an end if its not happy yet......."

      from Sayings of My Niece, in her wonderful way of words

      :)

      Delete
    5. ALL Doctors and Hospitals "facilitate" drug running. They're in the Drug Business.

      I'll guarantee you, the VA less than most.

      Allen, I am by you like I am by Wio; I don't believe a single, solitary word you say.

      As for this person, Dale: well, if there was such a person, he lived longer than some, not as long as some others.

      If it's any consolation, my mother never stepped foot inside a VA Hospital, and she died, also - in a "private" hospital.

      Delete
    6. Rufus, My Father weighted 185 pounds and within 2 years of "VA" treatment he was down to 119 pounds.

      the number of pain killers and antidepressants were astonishing. By the time we saw and reacted it was to late.

      It's interesting how you can dismiss EVERY thing i say as fiction. Why should we extend any courtesy to you?

      Delete
    7. My mother died at home, having been cared for by her family for months. Admittedly, she was surrounded by a lot of medical know-how, but the cancer was unimpressed.

      I fail to see how the deaths of family members outside of VA has any relevance to a discussion about VA. Moreover, we are all dead men walking. So what?

      Delete
  25. Here's a good article about a very confused man written by a man somewhat less confused -


    Books
    October 2, 2014
    The Closed Mind of Richard Dawkins His atheism is its own kind of narrow religion

    http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119596/appetite-wonder-review-closed-mind-richard-dawkins

    ReplyDelete
  26. What is "Occupation"Fri Oct 03, 11:29:00 AM EDT
    Muslim immigrant gangs, having all but destroyed Swedish cities like Malmo are expanding their crime and burglary sprees to Oslo, Norway

    Muslims make up 5% of the population of Sweden and are responsible for >75% of rapes -- they like little boys as well as women. Google it. The numbers are instantly available. Sweden is now the rape center of Europe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My 17 year old daughter just went back to High School, we talked (again) about situation awareness, how to use common objects as defensive weapons and of course the insanity of Jihadists.

      I pity the creep that tries to jump her.

      Delete
  27. Jack HawkinsFri Oct 03, 11:18:00 AM EDT
    I have noticed, in the course of my life, that "Under Achievers" are wont to blame ...

    "The System"


    Now, that's funny! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  28. Our Mideast mission implausible.
    Jeffrey Simpson
    The Globe and Mail
    Published Friday, Oct. 03 2014, 12:00 AM EDT

    Take a deep breath. Adjust your glasses. Read on. See if you can make any sense from the following list.

    The Islamic State. The Free Syrian Army. The Syria Revolutionaries Front. The Hazm Movement. The Yarmouk Brigade. The Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union. The Mujahedeen Army. The Asalaw-wa-al-Tanmiya Front. The Noureddin al-Zengi Battalions. The Ahl al-Athar Brigade. The Shields of the Revolution Council. The Ahrar al-Sham Islamic Movement. The Tawhid Brigade. The Army of Islam. Jabhat al-Nusra. The Jaysh al-Sham. The Sham al-Islam Movement. The Jund al-Sham. The Muhajerin wa-Ansar Alliance.

    All clear? This is a partial list of combatant groups in the Syrian civil war, or whatever that conflict has become. Add to this list the forces of President Bashar al-Assad – forces that in many cases are actually controlled by warlords, rather than the government – and then ask: Who are Western powers, including Canada, fighting? With what means? Are the means proportionate to the objectives? And what are those objectives, for what Prime Minister Stephen Harper has called a “necessary and noble” mission?

    Syria is a seething cauldron of endemic violence, sectarian strife, religious rivalries, Islamic-style eschatology, foreign agendas, legendary animosities and generalized fear. Since March, 2011, the conflict has claimed more than 190,000 lives, left hundreds of thousands more wounded, and displaced nearly half of the country’s 22 million people, including many hundreds of thousands who have fled to neighbouring countries.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Into this cauldron, where it had previously refused to go, the United States and some of its allies are now dropping bombs, hoping (against much experience elsewhere in the region) to pinpoint one adversary for destruction – the Islamic State, the nastiest of all of the Sunni factions but not the only nasty one. Today, Mr. Harper will reveal how and why Canada will enter this cauldron.

      Without any idea how, the bombing powers seek to assemble a “moderate” alternative to both the Islamic State and Mr. al-Bashar’s government. These so-called “moderates” were routed some time ago. Reassembling, equipping and motivating them such that they take on two enemies at once is the stuff of chalkboard illusion, since it ignores the cleavages between Sunnis, Shiites and Alawites that the civil war has exposed, among other realities.

      The least that can be said for this mission is that everyone associated with it knows – or should know – that air power alone cannot win a victory, presuming the bombing powers can define “victory.” There will have to be political coalitions and new military forces on the ground that could somehow defeat the militants and the government while creating some semblance of an effective government for a devastated country.

      If this task were not implausible enough, the same will be required in Iraq, a country well-known for its hideous violence, massive corruption and sectarian rivalries.
      The rise of the Islamic State is a direct result of the ouster of Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi regime and its replacement with the Shia-dominated government of former president Nouri al-Maliki. Mr. al-Maliki, a middling functionary-turned-henchman, alienated and frightened his country’s Sunni minority, pushing many of them to support militant groups for self-defence.

      The Iraqi army, recipient of so much American aid and training, turned tail when confronted by the Islamic State. This broken and demoralized institution is supposed to be the bombing powers’ best hope for “boots on the ground.” But a survey of Iraqi forces for the U.S. Joint Chiefs found only half the brigades to be “reputable partners.” According to Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, many brigades “were so tied to Shia abuses, corruption, ghost soldiers and incompetent officers that they needed either to be disbanded or purged and rebuilt from the ground up.” All this, and more, would take a minimum of three years.

      Which is to say that no one in the bombing countries should assume anything but a campaign lasting many years, with very imprecise ambitions and shifting targets. The campaign would require war in two countries simultaneously, political reconciliation of a kind not seen in either, unprecedented co-operation from and among outside players (Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States), and an understanding of the societies of those countries that the bombing countries do not possess.

      http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/our-mideast-mission-implausible/article20893866/#dashboard/follows/

      Delete
    2. Victory is at hand, Ash: reluctantly, the USAF has agreed to supply A-10s.

      The Kurds will be pleased, as have been American troops, with the A-10s lethality. Unfortunately for the great adventure, Kurdish boots are unlikely to travel much further south than their own historic homeland, leaving most of Iraq to be reconquered by the Iraqi army (sic). With this in mind, I remind that The Reconquista of Iberia took about 781 years. My sense is that the American public and its representatives -- barring Pelosi and Sheila Jackson Lee (she of the manned Martian landing claim) -- will be hesitant, shall we say.

      Delete
    3. wanna bet Rufus didn't even read the article? Bombs from up high, easy peasy, no pain for America unlike the muzzies who need sacrifice a soul to the virgins to deliver their bombs.

      Delete
    4. .

      Who You Gonna Bomb?

      There have been a number of articles printed pointing out the same thing, due to lack of assets on the ground in both countries but primarily in Syria, the biggest hindrance to the allied bombing campaign is knowing where to bomb. In the first few days, the objectives were fairly simple, taking out the low hanging fruit if you like. Eventually you will run out of the easier fixed targets and will have to go after IS formations.

      But what happens if there are no IS formations.

      As the enemy continues to shift tactics and meld with civilians, intel will become increasingly important. If it will take a year before the FSA is up to speed (no comment) who will provide the intel in the mean time?

      Given the number of different militant groups in theater, how do you know who you are hitting when you drop those bombs, IS, FSA, Kurds, al Queda, civilian refugees.

      Eventually, perhaps already, the question becomes 'Who did you bomb?"

      .

      .

      Delete
  29. One of these days, when the time is opportune, we may not be surprised to read from The Quoter:

    "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."

    ReplyDelete
  30. Replies
    1. OTTAWA, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Canadian fighter jets will take part in U.S.-led air strikes against Islamic State militants operating in Iraq for up to six months, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Friday.

      Harper told the House of Commons that Canada also planned to send an air-to-air refueling aircraft and two surveillance planes to the region. He did not say how many jets would take part in the campaign.

      Harper said Canada would not deploy ground troops against the Islamic State group, which is also known as ISIL. The plan is subject to a vote in Parliament next week but is bound to be approved, since the ruling Conservatives have a majority.

      "We intend to . . . . . . .

      Delete

  31. New 'feminist' government with a Green tinge in Sweden







    Sweden's new Prime Minister Stefan Loefven arrives for the opening of parliament in Stockholm on September 30, 2014


    View photos
    Sweden's new Prime Minister Stefan Loefven arrives for the opening of parliament in Stockholm on …

    Stockholm (AFP) - Sweden's new Social Democrat prime minister Stefan Loefven unveiled what he called a "feminist" government including Green Party ministers for the first time in the Nordic country.
    Related Stories

    Sweden's Social Democrats reclaim power, as far right gains AFP
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    Sweden's Moderates say could cooperate with center-left government Reuters
    Swedish vote winner eyes coalition -- minus far right AFP

    "The Swedish people voted for a change of government and a new political direction. A new government comprised of the Social Democrats and the Green Party is ready to take up the task," Loefven said in his inaugural speech to parliament.

    "Sweden's new government is a feminist government," he said.

    Half his cabinet is female, including Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson and Foreign Minister Margot Wallstroem, a former EU commissioner.

    Green Party leaders Aasa Romson and Gustav Fridolin were appointed ministers for the environment and education, respectively, and the party will also control Sweden's overseas aid agency Sida and the consumer affairs ministry.

    He repeated election pledges to create jobs, recruit more teachers and increase the compulsory school age from 16 to 18.

    ReplyDelete
  32. http://cnsnews.com/mrctv-blog/craig-bannister/judge-irs-obamacare-rule-arbitrary-capricious-and-abuse-discretion
    Judge: IRS Obamacare Rule 'Is Arbitrary, Capricious, and Abuse of Discretion'

    "Currently, over a hundred lawsuits have been filed against Obamacare - and Obamacare has lost 91% of the cases decided to-date, (71 losses out of 78 decisions), according to the latest tally by The Beckett Fund."


    Re: Ebola

    It is being reported that the Dallas, Texas Ebola family is now under house arrest. Some members are reported to have attempted to break the quarantine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perfectly justified.

      It's serious business, the public health is at risk.

      Delete
    2. The ObamaCare Court records sound like the University of Idaho Football records.

      Texas State tomorrow, Vandals Fanatics.

      Delete
    3. Just wait for the outbreaks to spread… Check points and of course anarchy…

      LOL

      Delete
    4. The first medical intervention with Ebola is a thermometer. Is that oral or rectal?

      Delete
  33. From now on, every time I read Jack Hawkins refer to WiO as Ordure I will come back and say:

    So says Senor Rat Mierda

    ReplyDelete
  34. Something may be stirring in N. Korea -

    https://news.vice.com/article/former-top-official-says-kim-jong-un-is-no-longer-in-control-of-north-korea

    ReplyDelete
  35. 10.2 Million Jobs have been created since the Obamacare law was signed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is irrelevant to its legality. The Supreme Court will decide. That could take years.

      As to jobs, may there be many, many more, whatever the cause. Millions of good people are hurting through no fault of their own.

      Delete
  36. Rufus IIFri Oct 03, 12:42:00 PM EDT
    ALL Doctors and Hospitals "facilitate" drug running. They're in the Drug Business.


    This has got to be one of the stupidest things you have ever said. Give me a break! You know darned good and well what I talking about and you were flat out wrong.

    I do not need your validation.

    ReplyDelete
  37. .

    "Joe Schmoe's" loss of "a couple dollars in weekly earnings" is another way of saying that his hours have been reduced. The magic number is 29 hours of work for the maximum number of people. That cadre reduced to or hired as part-time loses more than a couple bucks.

    A few days ago, maybe a week, I saw a report on CNN or Fox that said that a recent study reported that of all the developed countries included in the study (including countries like Italy, Greece, etc) the US had the highest percentage of low paying jobs. I missed the lead in so I don't know who ran the study. I'll try to look it up.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  38. Rufus IIFri Oct 03, 12:42:00 PM EDT
    I'll guarantee you, the VA less than most.

    It took all of 15 minutes to gather the info. below. There's a lot more.

    Never once have you shown the slightest outrage at how your fellow vets are treated by this corrupt system. Such nonchalance is extremely odd for a guy who claims to be a Marine. Hmm...



    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/05/21/a-guide-to-the-va-and-the-scandals-engulfing-it/
    Everything you need to know about the VA — and the scandals engulfing it

    http://www.justice.gov/usao/tne/news/2010/September/092710%20Clendenin%20Guilty%20Plea%20Drugs.html
    Department of Justice

    Acting United States Attorney Gregg L. Sullivan Eastern District of Tennessee

    FORMER VA NURSE PLEADS GUILTY TO DIVERTING DRUGS


    http://www.va.gov/oig/publications/press-releases.asp
    Department of Veterans Affairs
    Office of Inspector General

    http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/24/us/senator-va-report/
    Bad VA care may have killed more than 1,000 veterans, senator's report says


    "The report identifies crimes committed by VA staff, including drug dealing, theft and sexual abuse of patients dating back many years. Earlier this year, one former staffer at the Tampa, Florida, VA was sentenced to six years in federal prison for trading veterans' personal information for crack cocaine."


    http://www.wisn.com/news/south-east-wisconsin/milwaukee/4-charged-in-milwaukee-va-hospital-drug-investigation/24861946
    4 charged in Milwaukee VA Hospital drug investigation

    http://nypost.com/2014/09/03/feds-bust-cocaine-ring-at-va-medical-center/
    Feds bust cocaine ring at VA Medical Center [Bronx]



    Miami

    A VA police detective told WFOR-TV last week that coverups were ingrained into the hospital's culture and that powerful prescription drugs were illegally dealt there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Note: before you go off on a rant, I am not suggesting that you are not a Marine. No, I just think you a cold-blooded, callous, one way, disingenuous, SOB, who has never given a moment's thought to anyone other than himself.

      Delete
    2. And, you're just a silly ass with some sort of agenda. An organization that big, and they found a nurse that dealt drugs? Really? Gimmee a break.

      I know how hard it is to get "drugs" out of the VA, and I know that that would be one damned hard way to make a living.

      Delete
    3. It is not hard to get drugs from VA. In fact, if you knew anything about VA, you would know that DEA has changed the protocols on the distribution of any Hydrocodone product because of rampant abuse. Unlike private practices, VA would write and did write standing prescriptions for these extremely addictive drugs. Now, scripts for 28 days will be written and will be delivered by UPS. Man! Listen to Mark Twain: "It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so."

      You still have not stood up to defend your fellow veterans. Yeah, you are damned straight I have an agenda: privatization and jail time!

      "One nurse"? Get real and get honest! Who are you trying to kid? You read a fraction one report among the large number I linked and are now trying to use that as some sort of silly cover. Try looking at stories of VA medical staff giving placebos and pocketing the real narcotic pain killers. This leaves veterans, often the least able to defend themselves, to suffer and sometimes die in excruciating pain -- got that.

      No, you have an agenda. Otherwise, you would admit what even the VA has admitted, what its own IG admits.

      Delete
    4. Sure, the VA needs to do a lot better in some areas. So does the Secret Service. So does that goofy hospital down in Dallas that sent a sick man with a high fever (that was newly arrived from Liberia) home with a bottle of antibiotics.

      But, Overall, they've done a good job for many Veterans that really needed it.

      As for "standing up for Veterans:" That is "Projection" at its highest.

      Delete
    5. You kidding? When have you ever written a truthful assessment of VA?

      Delete
    6. The only "assessment" of the VA that I've ever written has been of my own personal experience; and, I'll guarantee you that That was truthful.

      Delete
  39. http://tbo.com/gerald-j-gianoli-doctors-silent-protest-against-politicians-20141002/
    Gerald J. Gianoli: Doctors’ silent protest against politicians

    ReplyDelete
  40. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/arts/design/in-syria-and-iraq-trying-to-protect-a-heritage-at-risk.html?smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0
    Antiquities Lost, Casualties of War
    In Syria and Iraq, Trying to Protect a Heritage at Risk

    ReplyDelete
  41. Just to put it in perspective, the number of people that are working Part-time for Economic Reasons

    fell by 811,000 over the last 12 months..

    BLS Report

    ReplyDelete
  42. What is really happening in Kobane?

    ... from about 6 hours ago ...

    http://www.france24.com/en/20141003-watching-kobane-battle-kurds-lose-faith-turkey-anti-action/
    Watching Kobane battle, Kurds lose faith in Turkey anti-IS action

    ... from 4.5 hours ago ...

    http://www.france24.com/en/20141003-kurdish-fighters-plead-help-battle-kobane-ain-arab-syria-is-islamists/
    Syrian Kurdish fighters plead for help in battle for Kobane

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/03/us-mideast-crisis-idUSKCN0HS0Y520141003
      Kurds call to arms as Islamic State closes in on Syrian town

      “Turkey said it would do what it could to prevent Kobani, a predominantly Kurdish town just over its southern border, from falling into Islamic State. It has stopped short of committing to any direct military intervention and Syria warned on Friday against any Turkish "aggression" on its territory.”

      Delete
  43. .

    Government looses triad thugs on protesters in Hong Kong.

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/03/hong-kong-protestesters-democracy-occupy

    .

    ReplyDelete
  44. THE HAGUE: Dutch F-16 fighter bombers could be in action over Iraq by this weekend in the campaign against the Islamic State group (IS), Defence Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said on Friday (Oct 3).

    "I would like to inform you that Dutch F-16s could commence operations this weekend in the fight against the IS," she said in a letter to the Dutch parliament. "According to the latest planning, the Dutch F-16s could take part in supporting Iraqi and Kurdish ground forces in a close air-support role," she said. The F-16s will also be used for attacks on static IS targets at a later date, the minister added.

    Three F-16s are already in the area, with five others to arrive at bases in Jordan. The Netherlands said last month it would send six F-16s to take part in the campaign, plus two in reserve. Apart from the F-16s, the Dutch will also deploy 250 military personnel and 130 trainers for the Iraqi military.

    Aircraft from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined US warplanes in a new wave of bombing raids against IS group militants on Friday.

    Coalition fighter jets and drones conducted six strikes in Syria on Thursday and Friday, hitting militant tanks, oil refineries and a training camp, the US military said. American aircraft also conducted three air raids in Iraq over the past 24 hours, including two northeast of Fallujah, Central Command said.

    The Netherlands however said it would not join airstrikes in Syria without a United Nations mandate.

    Ready for de Show, Boss

    ReplyDelete
  45. Meanwhile, the masters of the "stationary blitzkrieg" are Still Closing In on Kobane. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You saying the Kurds (see above) were lying a few hours ago?

      Delete
    2. I'm saying that the headcutters are in, roughly, the same position (5 or 6 K's from Kobane) as they've been for the last several weeks, months, and probably year.

      The Kurds are smart people that understand Global Media. They know that, in their out of the way spot, the only way to get help is to Publicize their plight.

      Delete
  46. .

    The Freedom Act which puts some curbs on the NSA's surveillance of the public may expire this year unless Congress acts. The legislative inaction would be regrettable.

    However, Section 215 of the Patriot Act along with other sections will also expire by next June unless Congress acts. That would be a very good thing.

    Gridlock that leads to legislative inaction, you takes the good with the bad (hopefully).

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/03/usa-freedom-act-house-surveillance-powers

    .

    ReplyDelete
  47. What is "Occupation"Fri Oct 03, 10:18:00 AM EDT
    That would be hiring a "Jewish" Lawyer.

    Hiring a "Jew Lawyer" now that sounds racist.

    But face the truth Deuce, even you, who hates Israel and all it stands for USES Jewish business folks over others all the time.

    i am sure you will not admit it


    The use of “Irony" is an area that challenges you. Ask Allen to explain it to you. I will try and clarify. It is my experience that that anyone who constantly needs to modify a professional with a racial, tribal or religious adjective is more obsessed with the modifier than the person.

    I am suspicious of someone that says Jewish lawyer, Jewish doctor and agree with you that they are probably thinking JEW- doctor or JEW-lawyer. It is my opinion that they have a category for everyone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't be suspicious of me. I used Jewish lawyer in response to the anti-semitism here.

      I'd be on the street holding a cardboard sign without that guy.

      These day I have a female Catholic lawyer. She's good too, and prettier to look at, but would have been incapable of helping me like that guy did.

      Delete
  48. The new DEA policy for VA and Hydrocodone prescriptions took effect on 1 Oct 2014. Even if a vet had a prescription prior to that, on 1 Oct 2014 it became null and void. Many veterans did not receive notification of the change from VA until 27 Sep 2014. That's how VA rolls. That means that thousands of vets from our recent wars will now have to scramble to get the refills they desperately need. Recall: about 6,000 of the wounded are amputees and burn victims. About 17,000 more vets have suffered "severe disabling" injuries, e.g. brain trauma.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I make no apology for defending vociferously American veterans. I know the system well -- I should. Over the years, I have helped many youngsters avoid the bureaucratic landmines used by VA to screw newbies. I will keep doing that and continue to demand the privatization of the miserable excuse of a health care system.

      Delete
    2. Give me a fucking break. Your first mention of veterans, on this blog, was disparaging them as a bunch of homeless, drug-selling bums hanging outside the Atlanta VA, and living under bridges.

      Delete
    3. You should check the record, Sir. Again, you are letting your anger get the better of your good sense, assuming you have some.

      Your profane attacks on me during one exchange -- not the first on this blog -- involved the facility in Dublin, GA and had to do with the trading of drugs by vets; something proved entirely true by the records of numerous VA facilities over the past year.

      You also denied that vets can smoke on VA property. WRONG! Both Atlanta and Dublin have designated smoking areas. The Atlanta smoking station is on the third level of the parking garage near the overhead walkway into the hospital. Dublin's cancer center is in the front of the building in a covered area. You ought to seek facts before going pissy.

      I will give you a break when you deserve one. A lack of truth does not qualify.

      Vets do sleep under bridges. They also sleep in all sorts of other unsavory places. Indeed, about 1/3 million do that on any given night. I did not and do not criticize them for their plight; I reported it. You did not like the report.

      Delete
    4. You were making the assertion that Vets were hanging around outside the front of the VA, smoking (and selling drugs.)

      That is, on its face, nonsense.

      Only after I pointed out to you that VA facilities have enclosed smoking facilities did you scurry around and google up some silly response about the designated smoking area being transparent and next to the front entrance.

      You're a phony baloney, allen. It's all you ever were, and all you ever will be.

      Delete
  49. Given a choice and forced to spend time in either, I would be much more comfortable in a reformed synagogue than a pentecostal church. I would not step foot in a mosque. Personally, mankind would be far better off without religion.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't even imagine the demented mind that would hire a lawyer, or doctor, or accountant, or whatever because he/she was, or was not, a Jew.

      What kind of person thinks like that?

      Delete
    2. Rufus IIFri Oct 03, 05:37:00 PM EDT
      What kind of person thinks like that?

      A Jew.

      Jews are bound by innumerable laws that are not well understood by others. Google "Talmud" and find its size in pages and volumes.

      For example, in a divorce case a Jewish lawyer would know to automatically insert a "Get" clause into the agreement. Additionally, a Jewish lawyer will see that no business of the court is done on any of the Shabbats or HaMoedim. Also, a Jewish lawyer would instruct the court that a man wearing a kippah is not showing contempt.

      A Jewish doctor would not prescribe any treatment, medication, or supplement that was not Kosher.

      A Jewish accountant would know what rate of profit is permitted under Jewish law. Anything above that might have to be donated.

      A Jewish restaurateur will be Kosher.

      A Jewish marriage counselor or psychologist will understand the laws of family purity.

      None of this connotes acrimony or incivility. Get the picture? I doubt it.

      Delete
  50. All is well in Mississippi. They have a handle on drugs.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/us/whistle-blower-complaints-at-veterans-hospital-in-mississippi.html?pagewanted=all

    “In an unusually strong letter sent to the White House on Monday, the office that handles complaints from federal whistle-blowers says it has found a pattern of problems at a Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Jackson, Miss., that raises serious questions about the hospital’s management practices…

    ‘No efforts appear to have been made by the agency at any level to conduct a large-scale disclosure to the patients who were potentially affected by the radiologist’s malfeasance,’ the special counsel says in a document provided to The New York Times. ‘It appears that the agency is also in violation of its own policy to ensure appropriate care.’…

    The two most recent whistle-blowers raise potentially more serious issues. One, a doctor in the primary care unit, told the special counsel last year that nurse practitioners in her department were PRESCRIBING medications to patients even though the NURSES did not have adequate LICENSING or oversight. The doctor, Phyllis Hollenbeck, also asserted that she and other DOCTORS WERE PRESSURED by superiors to SIGN PRESCRIPTIONS even if they had NOT SEEN THE PATIENTS. Dr. Hollenbeck said she refused…”

    Oh, yeah, it’s tough to get meds from VA in Mississippi. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The blurb didn't say What Kind of Prescriptions.

      Delete
    2. Whatever medication, it is against the law. You obviously did not bother to look at any of the links posted above.

      You are as dumb as a post and apparently are content. There is no medication for that.

      Delete
    3. I may be a dumb, Mississippi hillbilly, but at least I can make clickable links.

      And, that is the only kind that I follow.

      allen, this is the time of day that you start getting a little incoherent, and I have some stuff gong on here that's about to get me a little grouchy; so, I'm going to let you go for now.

      Delete
  51. On Nov. 15, 2010, a who's who of conservative economists, investors and Niall Ferguson warned that the Federal Reserve's second round of bond-buying, or QE2, "risk[ed] currency debasement and inflation." Since then, the dollar is up 6 percent against a broad index of currencies, and personal consumption expenditure inflation, the Fed's preferred measure, has soared from 1.2 to ... 1.5 percent.

    Just like Weimar Germany.

    Now, everybody makes mistakes. The question, though, is what you learn from them. For these inflation hawks, the answer, apparently, is nothing. Caleb Melby, Laura Marcinek, and Danielle Burger of Bloomberg News tracked down nine of the letter's 23 signers, and asked them if they still stand by it today. They all do. Although, to be fair, some of them seem to be more acquainted with empirical reality than others.

    The slightly-less-aware faction thinks that the inflation monster has already come out from under their beds. "There's plenty of inflation," perennial goldbug Jim Grant says, "not at the checkout line, necessarily, but on Wall Street." Professor Geoffrey Wood agrees that "everything's panned out."

    And even actual monetary policy expert John Taylor claims that "the letter said several things—the risk of inflation, employment, it would destroy financial markets, complicate the Fed's efforts to normalize monetary policy—and all have happened." One problem: They have not.

    Then there's the more bashful group that concedes they haven't been right yet, but thinks they will be. Former inflation truther Niall Ferguson says their spectacularly bad prediction wasn't one per se, and that "there is in fact still a risk of currency debasement and inflation." Current inflation truther Amity Shlaes thinks that "inflation could come" despite no evidence of it. And former McCain economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin protests that "they are going to generate an uptick in core inflation" and "they are going to go above 2 percent."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Above 2 percent inflation. Scary stuff.

      Although it's not as frightening as what would've happened if we'd listened to these inflation hawks. To get an idea of that, just look at Europe. It raised rates twice in 2011 to quash an oil price blip, and quashed its economy instead. Unemployment is still 11.5 percent, and inflation has drifted down to 0.3 percent — lost decade territory. And now it's about to start its own mini-QE to try to save itself.

      It's too late, though, for the inflation hawks to save any credibility they might have. Their insistence that they're right in defiance of all facts has . . . . .

      Wonkblog

      Delete
  52. Yom Kippur begins at sundown.

    For any sin or wrong I may have done any of you, by commission or omission, I humbly beg forgiveness.

    ReplyDelete
  53. You are forgiven by me, at least.

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  54. Report: Pyongyang in “lockdown” as rumors swirl about coup in North Korea
    posted at 2:41 pm on October 3, 2014 by Allahpundit

    http://hotair.com/archives/2014/10/03/report-pyongyang-in-lockdown-as-rumors-swirl-about-coup-in-north-korea/

    'According to Jang — a former counterintelligence official and poet laureate under Kim Jong-il — members of the government’s Organization and Guidance Department (OGD), a powerful group of officials that once reported only to Kim Jong-il, have stopped taking orders from his son, Kim Jong-un. The OGD, Jang says, has effectively taken control of the country, and a conflict is simmering between factions that want to maintain absolute control over the economy and others seeking to gain wealth through foreign trade and a slightly more open market…'

    ReplyDelete
  55. Amazon plays 'race card' against Tom and Jerry -

    Amazon applies “racial prejudice” warning to Tom and Jerry cartoons
    posted at 9:21 am on October 3, 2014 by Jazz Shaw


    http://hotair.com/archives/2014/10/03/amazon-applies-racial-prejudice-warning-to-tom-and-jerry-cartoons/

    Is this an instance of 'false piousness' or a fair warning to parents looking out for little kiddies?


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  56. Brad DeLong tries at some length to rationalize Bill Gross’s insistence in 2011 that interest rates were about to spike. But while it’s nice to be charitable, to attempt to put the best face on someone else’s arguments, it’s also important to look at the argument someone was actually making. And the reasoning of Gross and others was much cruder and a lot more foolish than Brad acknowledges. I know because I was involved in the debate in real time.

    For Gross wasn’t arguing that rates would rise sharply once people understood that the economy would normalize in the near future. He was arguing that rates were being suppressed right now by the Fed’s purchases of Treasuries, and would spike as soon as those purchases ended (which they did, for a while, in June 2011.) Here, for example, is one report: Gross warns QE2’s end could sink markets.

    This was wrong on multiple levels. Not only did it ignore the fundamental reasons rates tended to stay low in a deleveraging world, not only did it overestimate the impact of QE, but it also assumed that the rate of Fed purchases — the flow of QE — was what mattered, when sensible people argued that the stock of assets the Fed held mattered. I wrote all about this at the time.

    If you find it hard to believe that such a smart guy could make such a poor argument, well, that’s the world we’re living in.

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