Economic News

From the good doctor. Who points to this Krugman post.

And the insistence on offering the same plan over and over again, with only cosmetic changes, is itself deeply disturbing. Does Treasury not realize that all these proposals amount to the same thing? Or does it realize that, but hope that the rest of us won’t notice? That is, are they stupid, or do they think we’re stupid?

I don’t know which possibility is worse.

The good doctor says,"I think they are stupid"

Also, ABC wants to misinform.

This is stunningly wrong.

The ABC article is based on the premise that an individual's entire income is taxed at the same rate. If that were the case, it would be possible for a family earning $249,999 to have a higher after-tax income than a family earning $255,000, because the family earning $249,999 would pay a lower tax rate.

But that isn't actually how income tax works.

In reality, a family earning $255,000 will pay the higher tax rate only on its last $5,001 in income; the first $249,999 will continue to be taxed at the old rate. So intentionally lowering your income from $255,000 to $249,999 is counter-productive; it will result in a lower after-tax income.

The people ABC quoted don't seem to understand that. Worse, ABC doesn't seem to understand it, either.

Again from the good doctor. "Some times I can't tell if media outlets are playing stupid or if they are stupid."

What An Ass

Via Blue Girl we find some southern nimrod sheriff is trying to make a name for himself. The head nimrod would be Leon Lott. He is going to try to find a way to arrest Micheal Phelps for the picture of him holding a bong. If you look at the picture, you will notice there is no smoke in it. The nimrod, Leon Lott is wasting his time.

Courage

A Palestinian girl confronts Israeli soldiers shooting at kids.

Someone please explain what the Israelis hope too accomplish with this?

Via Susie

Cops Bust Christmas Tree Grow In War On Christmas

OK, there is not really a war on Christmas but with losers like Bill O'reilly screaming about it I can not resist the headline.

Police in Odessa Texas, need to find something else to do. The busted a house with two small Christmas trees under grow lights.

KopBusters rented a house in Odessa, Texas and began growing two small Christmas trees under a grow light similar to those used for growing marijuana. When faced with a suspected marijuana grow, the police usually use illegal FLIR cameras and/or lie on the search warrant affidavit claiming they have probable cause to raid the house. Instead of conducting a proper investigation which usually leads to no probable cause, the Kops lie on the affidavit claiming a confidential informant saw the plants and/or the police could smell marijuana coming from the suspected house.

The trap was set and less than 24 hours later, the Odessa narcotics unit raided the house only to find KopBuster’s attorney waiting under a system of complex gadgetry and spy cameras that streamed online to the KopBuster’s secret mobile office nearby.

Now how do you get a search warrant if there is nothing illegal going on? It is illegal to use the FLIR imaging. No one saw marijuana being grown or smelled it as it was not there. Do you really want your tax dollars spent on this? Oh, and the local prosecutor is trying to find some law the group kopbusters broke. What an ass.
A local TV stations coverage.

Video of raid here.
Via Talk Left.

Good!

Maybe not enough people were indicted.

SPRINGFIELD - Pelham Police Chief Edward B. Fleury was indicted on an involuntary manslaughter charge on Thursday in the death of an 8-year-old Connecticut boy who shot himself accidentally at a Westfield gun show in October.

Also indicted on involuntary manslaughter charges were the Westfield Sportsman's Club, where the death occurred, and two other individuals, identified in court records as Carl Giuffre, of Hartford, and Domenico Spano, of New Milford, Conn.

Fleury and the sportsmen's club were each also indicted by a Hampden Superior Court grand jury on four counts of furnishing a machine gun to a person under 18.

Do not give machine guns to small children. This why we need gun laws. Yes, the majority of gun owners handle their guns responsibly but they are deadly weapons.

Things That You Do Not Need

A new twist on the treadmill. A treadmill on wheels. Because it is no fun to walk in place, walk in place while moving. For those people that love their treadmill so much they want to take it with them.

Holy Smokes!

Liquid smoking. This can not possibly be good.

Dubai

Sunset@Dubai, originally uploaded by hk_traveller.

Dubai where they can build the worlds tallest building. The largest indoor ski area in the world. Islands that look like palm trees. You can play tennis in the sky but they can not clean up their municipal waste.

For several weeks some of the emirate's fabled beaches have been covered with the stinking contents of septic tanks as Dubai suffers the consequences of its frantic and poorly controlled development.

The foul effluent, which threatens to damage Dubai's image, highlights one of the paradoxes of the emirates -- it can build the world's tallest tower and six-star hotels but has not constructed the sewage works it needs.

Dubai officially had 1.3 million inhabitants at the end of 2006 but its population is ballooning.

If you build it they will come, unless your beaches are covered in sh*t. It is just stupid not to take care of your sh*t. Heck, they are building at sea level. Let us see how smart that is in a couple of decades.

Stupid

Letting an 8 year old shoot an Uzi is stupid. The child lost control of the fully automatic weapon and shot himself in the head. He was under supervision of his father and a certified instructor. I have no doubt that the father was a republican, as he can not take responsibility for letting his son use an automatic weapon.

"This accident was truly a mystery to me," said Bizilj, director of emergency medicine at Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford, Conn. "This is a horrible event, a horrible travesty, and I really don't know why it happened."

It happened because he gave a child too small to control an Uzi, an Uzi and let him shoot it. Fucking Moron!

Once Again

If you are going to commit a crime, do not post the details online. Typo vigilantes are now paying for their crimes.

Jeff Michael Deck, 28, of Somerville, Mass., and Benjamin Douglas Herson, 28, of Virginia Beach, Va., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Flagstaff after damaging a rare, hand-painted sign in Grand Canyon National Park. They were sentenced to a year's probation, during which they cannot enter any national park, and were ordered to pay restitution.

According to court records, Deck and Herson toured the United States from March to May, wiping out errors on government and private signs. On March 28, while at Desert View Watchtower on the South Rim, they used a white-out product and a permanent marker to deface a sign painted more than 60 years ago by artist Mary Colter. The sign, a National Historic Landmark, was considered unique and irreplaceable, according to Sandy Raynor, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Phoenix.

They maintained a website that had details of their activities. The pictures and prose were used to convict the two men.

Really Not Too Bright

About yesterdays mountain lion attack.

Kevin Lassiter told authorities he spotted a mother cougar and her cubs while walking Wednesday morning through Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in Portola Hills. He said the mother cougar swiped at him with her paw, scratching him, when he tried to pet one of the cubs.
But a wildlife specialist with the Department of Fish and Game says Lassiter's wound is not consistent with an injury from a mountain lion attack.

He may be charged with making a false report. Idiot.

Nuts

Some times the right wingers get themselves into a tizzie over the most amazing things.

Try Some Legal Weed

Mt. Shasta Brewing - Weed, CA, originally uploaded by painfullyhip.

Mt Shasta Brewing has got the governments panties tied in knots.

WEED, CALIF. -- -- This town is in a tempest over a bottle top.

The federal government is telling the owner of a small brewery here that the pun he's placed on caps of his Weed Ales crosses a line.

"Try Legal Weed," the caps joke.

The U.S. Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau says those three little words allude to marijuana use.

Vaune Dillmann, owner of Mt. Shasta Brewing Co., says he was just trying to grab attention for his beers and this tough-luck place in the morning shadow of Mt. Shasta.

They need to get a grip or apply the law evenly.

While stomping on him, Dillmann says, the government treats Budweiser with kid gloves, despite the fact that "This Bud's for You" also could be mistaken for marijuana slang.

"They sell Bud. We sell Weed," he said. "What's the difference?"

Subsidize This

A look at the farm subsidies and the food pyramid. As Micheal Pollan says we are subsidizing obesity.

Lame

Joseph Romm at Gristmill.

The Toronto Star reported an alarming factoid earlier this month:

No gasoline-powered car assembled in North America would meet China's current fuel-efficiency standard.

That's mainly because:

1. Currently, their standard is much higher than ours.
2. Their standard is a minimum-allowable efficiency standard rather than a "fleet-average" standard like ours.
3. Our lame car companies don't make their (relatively few) most efficient vehicles in this country.

We will not have any car companies left if we do not force them to do the right thing.

If You Are Going To

commit a crime, do not up load photographic evidence to the internet and wait for them to find you.

Ranger Dave Rapp prepared for a fishing compliance patrol on December 10th by first checking the activity on a popular internet discussion board used by many anglers visiting the park. He noticed one entry in which the author wrote that she had caught 22-inch and 24-inch stripers (rockfish) on Assateague Island – a violation, as Maryland state law establishes a minimum length of 28 inches for this species. The author also wrote that she was "keeping this baby for dinner!" Included in the entry was a photograph showing the angler holding up the fish. Rapp noted that the entry was only a few minutes old and that the photograph appeared to have been taken inside of the park. He located, recognized, and contacted the angler, who was still on the beach within the park. She produced a 21-inch striper, and reported that she’d utilized a Wi-Fi internet connection to post her entry from the park. A violation notice was issued for the undersized fish.

via National Park Traveler.

Nevada Cashes In

The NYT has an article about selling federal land to support Las Vegas untenable lifestyle.

Tens of thousands of acres of federal lands in the Las Vegas area have been sold under an unusual law pushed through Congress nearly a decade ago by the Nevada delegation. The sales have grossed nearly $3 billion and counting.

It seems the other forty nine states are subsidizing life in the desert. Most Americans do not think about water too much, but with global warming it is going to be a much bigger deal. Living in the desert is not such a good idea.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority, the agency that has long provided cheap water to the valley’s two million residents, has received $285 million from the federal land sales, which it has used on a variety of water treatment, testing and transport projects, including facilities at drought-plagued Lake Mead. Plans for revenue from future land sales, water officials say, could include work on a pipeline to import water from 250 miles away.[...]
Moreover, local authorities are getting ever bolder in using the proceeds from the federal land sales for expenses not traditionally covered by money from federal taxpayers. More recent bills, authorizing the sales in eastern Nevada, funnel 10 percent of federal proceeds back into law enforcement, fire protection and transportation, traditionally the bailiwick of local governments.

Some of the projects are just unreal with golf courses and no doubt green lawns. It will be ugly in the not too distant future.