"...We have stripped Italy of everything of artistic worth, with the exception of a few objects in Turin and Naples!”
That scoundrel.
I wonder if France has ever returned some of what it stole.
2012-08-03
Joke Of The Day
As the silly season comes to Quebec due to the election campaign, so do the claims.
Like, for instance, the PQ saying it's open and respectful of the English language.
Heeeerre's Johnny!
Anyone who listens to a PQ supporter or to half of its parochial members knows this simply isn't true.
It's actually quite astounding they would make such a claim.
Let's get one thing straight: They ain't friends to the English language.
Wanna prove to me it's not so? Close down the oppressive, ridiculous, anti-liberty OLF.
Then I'll begin to somewhat take the PQ seriously.
Until then, I'll look elsewhere to cast my vote.
Like, for instance, the PQ saying it's open and respectful of the English language.
Heeeerre's Johnny!
Anyone who listens to a PQ supporter or to half of its parochial members knows this simply isn't true.
It's actually quite astounding they would make such a claim.
Let's get one thing straight: They ain't friends to the English language.
Wanna prove to me it's not so? Close down the oppressive, ridiculous, anti-liberty OLF.
Then I'll begin to somewhat take the PQ seriously.
Until then, I'll look elsewhere to cast my vote.
2012-08-02
Daycare Update
These proposals (which should be self-evident to any person of financial talent) for daycare reform are rational. That is, if you're not a socialist ideologue who accepts a little waste and corruption so long as it fits the "greater good" narrative.
The thing I find most objectionable, if not amusing (I'm not sure), is we're discussing reforms for something that should never have been tinkered with to begin with.
At best the government should have offered tax credits (if you enjoy that sort of trompe d'oeil), and simply stay out of it. Instead, the whole industry is politicized.
I'm constantly told to be "political" and get involved by getting to know my local MNA.
It's absurd that it's come to this. That a private business person has to "work" a political network in a service that shouldn't be so.
Not a fan of subsidized daycare. At all.
***
Yes. September 4, we're going to the polls in Quebec.
Don't get me going on this.
The thing I find most objectionable, if not amusing (I'm not sure), is we're discussing reforms for something that should never have been tinkered with to begin with.
At best the government should have offered tax credits (if you enjoy that sort of trompe d'oeil), and simply stay out of it. Instead, the whole industry is politicized.
I'm constantly told to be "political" and get involved by getting to know my local MNA.
It's absurd that it's come to this. That a private business person has to "work" a political network in a service that shouldn't be so.
Not a fan of subsidized daycare. At all.
***
Yes. September 4, we're going to the polls in Quebec.
Don't get me going on this.
2012-08-01
Snippets Of T.C.
The bank branch I worked at had a PA system I couldn't resist using.
At the end of each work day I'd break into romantic love songs in Portuguese and Japanese.
At the end of each work day I'd break into romantic love songs in Portuguese and Japanese.
More Ottawa And First Nations Issues
Oh, look here. Corruption connected to Native-government initiatives.
I don't know why, but this time the scandal at Attawapiskat annoyed me. It's not like there's anything new in this. Hey, I watched North of 60. I know where it's at.
There's nothing unique in people and citizens bagging a few tax dollars. Everyone does it, man.
Native corruption, however, is a secret no one really wants to talk about.
Perhaps it's time to rethink and reformulate our relationship with Native communities and adjust it for the 21st century.
When will the narrative and scrutiny turn to Native Chiefs and their scandalous behavior? Or is not PC to call them out? I mean, $90 million over six years and people live in squalor? $11 million unaccounted for?
What's so "unreasonable" to send someone in to look into the matter? This is taxpayer dollars we're talking about. Why would band leaders be against this? Do they have something to hide? I'm sorry, you want the cash, you can't just close the door behind. There's something called accountability.
The Canadian people may have an interest in helping Natives who feel aggrieved for the past, but it by no means entails freezing them out of the discussion.
Time for everyone to grow up.
I don't know why, but this time the scandal at Attawapiskat annoyed me. It's not like there's anything new in this. Hey, I watched North of 60. I know where it's at.
There's nothing unique in people and citizens bagging a few tax dollars. Everyone does it, man.
Native corruption, however, is a secret no one really wants to talk about.
Perhaps it's time to rethink and reformulate our relationship with Native communities and adjust it for the 21st century.
When will the narrative and scrutiny turn to Native Chiefs and their scandalous behavior? Or is not PC to call them out? I mean, $90 million over six years and people live in squalor? $11 million unaccounted for?
What's so "unreasonable" to send someone in to look into the matter? This is taxpayer dollars we're talking about. Why would band leaders be against this? Do they have something to hide? I'm sorry, you want the cash, you can't just close the door behind. There's something called accountability.
The Canadian people may have an interest in helping Natives who feel aggrieved for the past, but it by no means entails freezing them out of the discussion.
Time for everyone to grow up.
U.S. Muni Bankruptcies: But Is It Different This Time?
Not according to the Globe.
"...Accusations of gross mismanagement and dysfunctional politics have been laid against the municipal governments of the bankrupt California cities, which reportedly overspent on salaries and pensions and didn’t heed repeated warnings of impending doom.
In San Bernardino, for example, the city charter pegged police and firefighter pay to wages offered by other California cities, an obligation that became untenable as the unemployment rate surged to 15 per cent.
But most city managers and politicians will try to make major changes before bankruptcy is a possibility..."
Sure, but look at how vicious it played out in Wisconsin. It takes lots of courage to do it.
The article continues:
"...But the best way to avoid bankruptcy, experts say, is responsible financial management. “If you don’t have the money, do not try to spend it. Do not kick the costs of current services off to some future date,” said Prof. Mikesell. “Do not promise lucrative retirement benefits to employees unless you, at the same time, put aside money now to cover the ultimate cost.”
Aside from TWO paragraphs beginning with 'but' I will add, Duh! Or is D'oh! more appropriate?
"...Municipal bankruptcy in the U.S., as The Sacramento Bee sardonically declared last week, is “trendy.” But it may not be catching.
Only about 650 municipalities have filed for bankruptcy since the mid-1930s, when it first became an option, according to John Mikesell, an expert in municipal finance at Indiana University.
There are about 89,000 municipalities in the U.S., and municipal bond watchers are bullish that the news out of California is not a signal of a rush of filings to come. “They are so rare that analysts haven’t paid much attention to them,” said Prof. Mikesell..."
Whatever the reasons, austerity measures should be put in place in good economic times, but bad ones. That's why people push back and don't accept offers. They want what they fairly earned but that which should not have been given in the first place in some cases.
Anyway. San Bernadino, Calif. recently filed.
A list of other muni's filing with a brief explanation.
Here's a report from Bloomberg's (home of the Nanny-King himself) about Central Falls, RI filing.
Excerpt:
"...I still can’t understand why a city this size can’t run on $15 or $17 million,” said Jerauld Adams, 41, chairman of the Board of Trustees of Adams Library, which volunteers keep open three days a week after Flanders fired all the paid workers on July 1. “And they don’t even have to take care of their own school system...”
Good question but the article (as one of the links I provide) answers the question, retirees rejected a proposed cut to its benefits. This is what set it all in motion.
Canada isn't in great shape either.
It's a problem across Western nations.
"...Accusations of gross mismanagement and dysfunctional politics have been laid against the municipal governments of the bankrupt California cities, which reportedly overspent on salaries and pensions and didn’t heed repeated warnings of impending doom.
In San Bernardino, for example, the city charter pegged police and firefighter pay to wages offered by other California cities, an obligation that became untenable as the unemployment rate surged to 15 per cent.
But most city managers and politicians will try to make major changes before bankruptcy is a possibility..."
Sure, but look at how vicious it played out in Wisconsin. It takes lots of courage to do it.
The article continues:
"...But the best way to avoid bankruptcy, experts say, is responsible financial management. “If you don’t have the money, do not try to spend it. Do not kick the costs of current services off to some future date,” said Prof. Mikesell. “Do not promise lucrative retirement benefits to employees unless you, at the same time, put aside money now to cover the ultimate cost.”
Aside from TWO paragraphs beginning with 'but' I will add, Duh! Or is D'oh! more appropriate?
"...Municipal bankruptcy in the U.S., as The Sacramento Bee sardonically declared last week, is “trendy.” But it may not be catching.
Only about 650 municipalities have filed for bankruptcy since the mid-1930s, when it first became an option, according to John Mikesell, an expert in municipal finance at Indiana University.
There are about 89,000 municipalities in the U.S., and municipal bond watchers are bullish that the news out of California is not a signal of a rush of filings to come. “They are so rare that analysts haven’t paid much attention to them,” said Prof. Mikesell..."
Whatever the reasons, austerity measures should be put in place in good economic times, but bad ones. That's why people push back and don't accept offers. They want what they fairly earned but that which should not have been given in the first place in some cases.
Anyway. San Bernadino, Calif. recently filed.
A list of other muni's filing with a brief explanation.
Here's a report from Bloomberg's (home of the Nanny-King himself) about Central Falls, RI filing.
Excerpt:
"...I still can’t understand why a city this size can’t run on $15 or $17 million,” said Jerauld Adams, 41, chairman of the Board of Trustees of Adams Library, which volunteers keep open three days a week after Flanders fired all the paid workers on July 1. “And they don’t even have to take care of their own school system...”
Good question but the article (as one of the links I provide) answers the question, retirees rejected a proposed cut to its benefits. This is what set it all in motion.
Canada isn't in great shape either.
It's a problem across Western nations.
T.C. Is Better Than Jonah Lehrer
You know, this blog may be a piece of shit of a place but I'll tell you what, Bobby-boy, I never cheat or plagiarize. Every word, poorly constructed sentence, and misplaced comma comes from me and me alone. Where it isn't, I attribute accordingly.
However, reading crap like this from the Globe and Mail glossing over Lehrer's ridiculously infantile lying, make me vomit all over my pjamas. And when I do that, it gets all over my mother's chesterfield.
You try and take out vomit laced with green salsa, bee larvae and vodka.
Ga'head. Try.
Poor Ben Johnson and Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens and that weightlifter from Cleanjerkistan. Boo-hoo-hoo! They had so much talent! Let's spare a moment for these poor souls who, you know, couldn't handle the "pressure."
Bunchahacks.
Anyway.
Misquoting Bob Dylan. Really? Of all the guys! You just have to break out ONE of his albums and you'll have enough material there to last you a career.
If they have to resort to lying, and it wouldn't surprise me one iota if it happens more than we think (the New York Times has had a couple of fabricators on its staff), then they're not trying hard enough.
I read so much that I have literally piles of ideas and real quotes I can build stories around but have no time to get to. Who has time to lie? Pay me, and watch those stories come to freakish life. There would be no shortage of ideas for me on any staff (New Yorker? Pft. Amateurs) anywhere.
Bring it on.
***
Why am I poo-pooing on Lehrer? Surely, he isn't the worst offender right? Of course he isn't. My point is that we then have to watch all these pompous gate-keeping, elitist editors and magazine publishers pimp out all sorts of gibberish about "journalistic integrity."
How can there be any integrity when you see crap like you did on ABC when they jumped to the conclusion that the killer in Aurora was a member of The Tea Party?
Not only that, good, honest, and probably better writers and thinkers have to watch guys like Lehrer make a killing explaining and justifying his faux-pas.
Sezlotsboutus. The viewer. The reader. The voter.
We love. We crave. Deception.
However, reading crap like this from the Globe and Mail glossing over Lehrer's ridiculously infantile lying, make me vomit all over my pjamas. And when I do that, it gets all over my mother's chesterfield.
You try and take out vomit laced with green salsa, bee larvae and vodka.
Ga'head. Try.
Poor Ben Johnson and Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens and that weightlifter from Cleanjerkistan. Boo-hoo-hoo! They had so much talent! Let's spare a moment for these poor souls who, you know, couldn't handle the "pressure."
Bunchahacks.
Anyway.
Misquoting Bob Dylan. Really? Of all the guys! You just have to break out ONE of his albums and you'll have enough material there to last you a career.
If they have to resort to lying, and it wouldn't surprise me one iota if it happens more than we think (the New York Times has had a couple of fabricators on its staff), then they're not trying hard enough.
I read so much that I have literally piles of ideas and real quotes I can build stories around but have no time to get to. Who has time to lie? Pay me, and watch those stories come to freakish life. There would be no shortage of ideas for me on any staff (New Yorker? Pft. Amateurs) anywhere.
Bring it on.
***
Why am I poo-pooing on Lehrer? Surely, he isn't the worst offender right? Of course he isn't. My point is that we then have to watch all these pompous gate-keeping, elitist editors and magazine publishers pimp out all sorts of gibberish about "journalistic integrity."
How can there be any integrity when you see crap like you did on ABC when they jumped to the conclusion that the killer in Aurora was a member of The Tea Party?
Not only that, good, honest, and probably better writers and thinkers have to watch guys like Lehrer make a killing explaining and justifying his faux-pas.
Sezlotsboutus. The viewer. The reader. The voter.
We love. We crave. Deception.
2012-07-30
T.C. Likes Olympic Boxing
One sport I will be watching with interest is boxing.
For a number of reasons.
I love boxing. It's one of the first sports I ever watched live. Crammed in the old, smoke filled, Paul Sauve Arena and its collection of assorted characters, my father would take my brother and I to watch local fights. In these politically correct, health paranoia days, venues like Paul Sauve are sadly long gone.
Olympic boxing is one of the original sports. I tend to prefer watching the classics.
In London, boxing has an interesting plot in that the Cubans failed to win a gold medal (7 medals) in Beijing and the United States won just one medal. Olympic boxing as you should know, has been the net dominant domain of the United States, and since 1972 Cuba.
We talk a lot about pro teams and nations that dominate sports and Cuba's dominance of boxing is right up there with the best of them.
It will be interesting to see if both of these boxing powerhouses get back to their usual winning ways.
Here's a link to the all-time medals table. USA, Cuba and Italy lead in terms of gold medals.
Canada for its part, has a solid and proud boxing tradition at the Olympics. Let's see how they do.
For a number of reasons.
I love boxing. It's one of the first sports I ever watched live. Crammed in the old, smoke filled, Paul Sauve Arena and its collection of assorted characters, my father would take my brother and I to watch local fights. In these politically correct, health paranoia days, venues like Paul Sauve are sadly long gone.
Olympic boxing is one of the original sports. I tend to prefer watching the classics.
In London, boxing has an interesting plot in that the Cubans failed to win a gold medal (7 medals) in Beijing and the United States won just one medal. Olympic boxing as you should know, has been the net dominant domain of the United States, and since 1972 Cuba.
We talk a lot about pro teams and nations that dominate sports and Cuba's dominance of boxing is right up there with the best of them.
It will be interesting to see if both of these boxing powerhouses get back to their usual winning ways.
Here's a link to the all-time medals table. USA, Cuba and Italy lead in terms of gold medals.
Canada for its part, has a solid and proud boxing tradition at the Olympics. Let's see how they do.
Liberal Economics: It's All About Infrastructure
What is this obsession on the left with fricken roads and bridges? As if infrastructure is a means to an economic end.
That's not the worse of what this commercial attempts to sell.
Elizabeth "Paving Roads You Didn't Build With Wolves and Tears" Warren chooses to make her point by encouraging America to look to communist China.
Comparing the U.S. to China is like comparing Sweden to England during the Industrial Revolution. One country has a lot of "catching up to do." It's only natural China, like Sweden before them, will open the purses for things America already has in place.
The U.S. should be looking elsewhere.
Why not, I don't know, propose shoving money in new technologies? Why always in old, mature (and sometimes failed or losing) industries where the benefit is usually a "one shot deal?"
It's stale stuff.
Not saying the government shouldn't be investing in infrastructure. Although I never bought into the notion "roads won't be built without them" logic.
Just wondering why this is a key to economic policy. Enough for them to make a commercial aired during the Olympics.
That's not the worse of what this commercial attempts to sell.
Elizabeth "Paving Roads You Didn't Build With Wolves and Tears" Warren chooses to make her point by encouraging America to look to communist China.
Comparing the U.S. to China is like comparing Sweden to England during the Industrial Revolution. One country has a lot of "catching up to do." It's only natural China, like Sweden before them, will open the purses for things America already has in place.
The U.S. should be looking elsewhere.
Why not, I don't know, propose shoving money in new technologies? Why always in old, mature (and sometimes failed or losing) industries where the benefit is usually a "one shot deal?"
It's stale stuff.
Not saying the government shouldn't be investing in infrastructure. Although I never bought into the notion "roads won't be built without them" logic.
Just wondering why this is a key to economic policy. Enough for them to make a commercial aired during the Olympics.
2012-07-29
More On Obama
Boomer Musings offers this view on Obama's "you didn't build that...roads, blah, blah" comment.
Yes. I'm annoyed by what he said. I'm equally annoyed by people who defend it.
Yes. I'm annoyed by what he said. I'm equally annoyed by people who defend it.
Made In Canada: London 2012 Cycling
Women's road race saw two Cervelo bikes place in the top three - 2nd and 3rd. Giant - American-Taiwanese - won the gold.
Nice Try Jonathan Chait
Chait (NY Magazine) chimes in claiming the response and reaction to Obama's "you didn't build that" is, surprise, racist.
No Mr. Chait. No. The President got the reaction he richly deserves.
He failed not because he's black but because it was a terrible and pointless speech.
His response available on youtube was even more outrageous because what he claims in the video was NOT mentioned in the speech.
Why didn't he JUST SAY this? He's rearranging the message here:
No Mr. Chait. No. The President got the reaction he richly deserves.
He failed not because he's black but because it was a terrible and pointless speech.
His response available on youtube was even more outrageous because what he claims in the video was NOT mentioned in the speech.
Why didn't he JUST SAY this? He's rearranging the message here:
2012-07-28
London 2012 Is Off To A Bad Start
Speaking strictly as a sports fan, the IOC dropped the ball when it refused a moment of silence for the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes in Munich in 1972.
The operative word being "athletes." As in these people were Olympians.
I suppose the request was a foregone conclusion, what with the games being held in a politically correct nation given to them by a politically correct organization of the IOC.
The President of the IOC Jacques Rogge did little to offer a valiant or acceptable reason for not doing so choosing instead to chicken out.
Sad.
The IOC is a corrupt political entity onto itself much like FIFA. Denying Israel's request was a sham and only further embeds the utter hypocrisy (very much like the UN) of this organization.
It's a shame really. It's not about politics but athletics. Or supposed to be anyway.
I don't want to believe it but it's hard not to think the reason they chose to was because it was Israel.
The operative word being "athletes." As in these people were Olympians.
I suppose the request was a foregone conclusion, what with the games being held in a politically correct nation given to them by a politically correct organization of the IOC.
The President of the IOC Jacques Rogge did little to offer a valiant or acceptable reason for not doing so choosing instead to chicken out.
Sad.
The IOC is a corrupt political entity onto itself much like FIFA. Denying Israel's request was a sham and only further embeds the utter hypocrisy (very much like the UN) of this organization.
It's a shame really. It's not about politics but athletics. Or supposed to be anyway.
I don't want to believe it but it's hard not to think the reason they chose to was because it was Israel.
Heavy Hand Of Regulation Costs Us Dearly
The rate of regulation exceeds the rate of deregulation.
That's how I see it.
It's very surprising that it hasn't hit people in the head yet that crony capitalism is a direct result of heavy regulations designed by special interest and supported by the state.
The cost of that red tape is incalculable and goes under the title of "waste and corruption."
That's how I see it.
It's very surprising that it hasn't hit people in the head yet that crony capitalism is a direct result of heavy regulations designed by special interest and supported by the state.
The cost of that red tape is incalculable and goes under the title of "waste and corruption."
2012-07-27
The Big Bang Theory Of Building
So that's where Obama gets his ideas.
Nice.
Whoever this Lakoff guy is, I notice he's a linguist. Like Chomsky. What's up with these lefty polito-linguistics?
Before God, there was the government...Bang!
Nice.
Whoever this Lakoff guy is, I notice he's a linguist. Like Chomsky. What's up with these lefty polito-linguistics?
Before God, there was the government...Bang!
2012-07-26
Laval Needs To Rethink Its Rules
Kids should never, ever be ticketed for playing. Ever.
Dog owners managed to make their way into this particular soccer field. The dog's nails tears it all up and the dogs also defecate on the Astroturf and they don't pick it up. We've had complaints, we had to act and we did," said Laval police Const. Franco Di Genova.
So, fine the dog owners. Leave the kids alone.
Dog owners managed to make their way into this particular soccer field. The dog's nails tears it all up and the dogs also defecate on the Astroturf and they don't pick it up. We've had complaints, we had to act and we did," said Laval police Const. Franco Di Genova.
So, fine the dog owners. Leave the kids alone.
Trademark Letter And Striking Joe Paterno
I'm not a trademark expert but this is an interesting lawyer's letter regarding Jack Daniel's via Volokh.
Trademark logos are trickier but when it comes to single words, it tends to get a little absurd. No one should have a trademark or patent on a word.
***
Sticking with Volokh, a legal angle here.
What happened at Penn St. was awful and brings into picture about - among other things - our moral obligations in life, but striking Penn State's wins between 1998-2011 was to remove Joe Paterno from the record books.
Didn't Paterno win those games fair and square? And what about the players who were a part of those wins?
I guess people are just plain disappointed in Paterno. When they discovered he was a mere mortal they reacted predictably.
Trademark logos are trickier but when it comes to single words, it tends to get a little absurd. No one should have a trademark or patent on a word.
***
Sticking with Volokh, a legal angle here.
What happened at Penn St. was awful and brings into picture about - among other things - our moral obligations in life, but striking Penn State's wins between 1998-2011 was to remove Joe Paterno from the record books.
Didn't Paterno win those games fair and square? And what about the players who were a part of those wins?
I guess people are just plain disappointed in Paterno. When they discovered he was a mere mortal they reacted predictably.
Petty Tyrants In Big Towns
I'll be sure to have a Chick-Fil-A when I'm in the States.
What the Mayors of Chicago and Boston are doing is frightening. Not saying they're wrong in their opinions but that they would leverage their power against someone who holds a different view from them is intellectually heinous.
Once again from the top: Freedom of speech.
If I understand it correctly, Menino is preventing Wal-Mart from getting into Boston.
Meanwhile, Rahm Emanuel - you're gonna love this - enlists Louis Farrakhan's Army (noted anti-semite and anti-gay figure of the Nation of Islam) to police the streets of Chicago!
From one of the posters:
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. Their very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be ‘cured’ against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals. "—C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock
I see it everyday in my business.
What the Mayors of Chicago and Boston are doing is frightening. Not saying they're wrong in their opinions but that they would leverage their power against someone who holds a different view from them is intellectually heinous.
Once again from the top: Freedom of speech.
If I understand it correctly, Menino is preventing Wal-Mart from getting into Boston.
Meanwhile, Rahm Emanuel - you're gonna love this - enlists Louis Farrakhan's Army (noted anti-semite and anti-gay figure of the Nation of Islam) to police the streets of Chicago!
From one of the posters:
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. Their very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be ‘cured’ against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals. "—C. S. Lewis, God in the Dock
I see it everyday in my business.
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