With the hard-won new right to mold American society to any end they deem appropriate, the honorable Democrats now turn their benevolent eyes to seeing to our security. From a few days ago: U.S. mulling mortgage aid for unemployed
President Barack Obama is mulling new ways to delay foreclosure for jobless homeowners who are unable to keep up with monthly payments, an administration official said on Monday.
h/t Seeking Alpha who provides an analysis that includes this observation:
Instead of taking a step back and seeing the big picture, this new proposal gives the banks total control over the real estate market.
My emphasis. Seeking Alpha includes this eye-opener from Clusterstock:
There are lots of problems with this idea, including havoc it would create in securitized mortgages, that it would make the housing market even more illiquid than it is, and that it would create a huge incentive on the part of even more borrowers to default. Think about it: now you don’t even have to walk away.
IOW, having created the money policy that drove the nation off a cliff, the government — led by our fabulous new Neocon in Chief — is creating new money policy to drive the nation off a cliff.
Perverse incentives that distort markets? Come on; that’s Mister Progressive to you, friend, conforming reality itself to hope and change 24/7.
Money. It’s the new policy.
Comment by Joe on 7/17 @ 8:32 am #
What they have noticed that even many “good” mortgage loans (with a significant down payment, job and income history verified, good credit scores, etc.) are starting to go bad over job loss. If you lose your job you cannot pay your mortgage. Rather than treat the disease (because the stimulus never brought new jobs), they are now just treating a symptom.
Here is the reality, if you lose your job there are so many loans in trouble that banks may foreclose you in a year or so if you do nothing. If you work with them you can probably hold them off for several years without making full payments.
So this so called fix (even if it was a good idea) is not even needed.
Comment by happyfeet on 7/17 @ 8:36 am #
It’s a lie is what bothers me. It’s thems what own the mortgage backed security thingies is who they’re helping. Rich fags, mostly. It’s very sad.
Comment by BJTexs on 7/17 @ 8:41 am #
We are seeing the full effects of the progressive mantra of “We Must Do Something,” a blinkered obsession with treating the symptoms while utterly ignoring the side effects and long term consequences. It’s nothing more than the Dutch boy at the dike, writ large. Alleviate the short term pain and then let someone else sort out the economic train wreck.
Lost in this ever mindless stampede to end misery as we know it is any consideration for the real world of free market economics and, as JHow as written, any willingness to look at our sorry state of past and present monetary policy with open eyes. Lost in the wailing for action is the very real future of stagflation on a scale that will dwarf the late 70’s and early eighties. Remember how much fun that was? It will be a unicorn ride compared to what may happen and relatively soon.
It is a basic macro-economic principle that shoring up financial institutions by printing money by the billions coupled with rampaging national deficits requiring ever more nervous T-Note buyers will lead to some sort of a national economic disaster. Biden’s last speech in which he talks about “spending money to stave of bankruptcy” expresses an astonishing ignorance of economics and capitalism.
Unfortunately, he’s not the only one in this government asylum.
It looks like gold coins, canned food and heavy weapons for the near and far term.
Comment by Joe on 7/17 @ 8:43 am #
Well happy, I am not sure holders of mortage backed securities are all “rich fags,” probably the better term would be rich pigs who do not want to face risk on their investiment. That the government would even bail them out on this is nuts.
But getting back to your term, there is definitely one individual who talks like Elmer Fudd and who is a mess of lies and corruption, who deserves to be out of office and shunned, and possibly jailed, for his contribution to this mess.
Comment by B Moe on 7/17 @ 8:44 am #
That wasn’t a speech, it was an audition.
I have changed my mind, Democrats aren’t a criminal gang, they are fucking aliens from another dimension.
Comment by Joe on 7/17 @ 8:45 am #
My 8 year old got 44 out of 50 in rifle shooting this weekend. Almost time to get him out with the shotgun.
Skills for the future are important.
Comment by BJTexs on 7/17 @ 8:49 am #
Joe: while I’m as happy to to beat Barney Frank profusely about the face and head as the next guy…most of these self centered low-life hair stylin’ favor-mongers need to perp walked over hot coals.
From. Both. Parties.
This entire attitude of being unwilling to face the future consequences of their acts in deference to short term windfalls is beyond pandemic in that cesspool called Congress.
Again I say: Text message the few legislatures worth saving a warning, give them 12 hours to evacuate and then nuke the Capital Building from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
Since I like the Capital Building use a neutron bomb.
Comment by happyfeet on 7/17 @ 8:51 am #
They may not be rich fags now Mr. Joe but just you wait til they make our little country all peasanty cause of their gay socialisms and then we’ll see. Sometimes you have to take a loss when you make a bad investment and not just wail and moan to where our dirty socialist fancy pants prancing around in mom jeans piece of shit president waves his gay-assed harry potter wand and makes it all better. No really I’m not making it up it’s true.
Comment by BJTexs on 7/17 @ 8:51 am #
BMoe #5: HA! Great minds think alike! I made the same comparison on another blog.
What a maroon!
Comment by BJTexs on 7/17 @ 8:53 am #
happyfeet #8: You are a treasure. Now please buy me a new keyboard! I think I sprained a muscle in my forehead trying to read your second sentence!
Comment by Silver Whistle on 7/17 @ 8:53 am #
Mister Progressive
Is that like Mister Potato Head, but with more accessories?
Comment by Joe on 7/17 @ 8:59 am #
So Obama and Biden are turning American into Cabaret?
You may be onto something happy.
Comment by Silver Whistle on 7/17 @ 9:10 am #
Please get that image of Plugs and Dear Leader in lederhosen singing "Tomorrow Belongs To Me" out of my head.
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 9:17 am #
Well, I’m unemployed and I have a mortgage that I won’t be able to pay in a few months’ time.
So, mixed feelings here. Except for the part where I would rather they do the right thing that the thing that happens to benefit ME today but will screw the country.
‘feets, if Harry Potter were here, he would nuke President Hopenchange from orbit, because it’s obvious that Oprompta is a Death Eater or under the Imperius spell of same.
Also, it’s too bad they didn’t just make the 7th movie, because that one preaches against Utopianism and the deadly arrogance that comes with it.
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 9:18 am #
“I would rather they do the right thing than the thing that happens to benefit ME”
FTFM
Comment by BJTexs on 7/17 @ 9:23 am #
dicentra: I’m sorry to hear of your woes. I’m riding the knife edge with a company barely staying in business at 50% of my previous compensation and working a second job. Too often I forget to count myself as having more current blessings than others who are facing deeper waters.
Prayers for you and yours.
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 9:28 am #
Thanks BJT. I have been unemployed so many times that I have learned to save save save in the good times, including stocking up on foodstuffs.
I’ll be OK for the next few months. After that? Who knows?
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 9:29 am #
And sorry your job situation is precarious. Psychologically, that’s worse than being outright unemployed, as you wait for the other shoe to drop.
Comment by KingShamus on 7/17 @ 9:36 am #
“Personal responsibility? Never heard of it?”
Comment by Silver Whistle on 7/17 @ 9:39 am #
dicentra,
I am also sorry to hear of your situation. I should find out at the end of August if I will be joining you.
O/T, but for aficianados of the supremely ironic, comes this tale of the imam at the interfaith understanding conference
the Holocaust happened to the Jews “because they were serially disobedient to Allah.”
H/T norm
Comment by Cowboy on 7/17 @ 9:46 am #
dicentra:
Sorry to hear about your tough times. If I remember right, you’re in academics, right? Ever do any free-lance writing? If I hear of anything, I’ll be sure to let you know.
Comment by Pablo on 7/17 @ 10:14 am #
So, where exactly is the wall and how long will it be before we careen into it?
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 10:25 am #
I was in academia, but since 1999, I’ve been a technical writer. I’ve also been struggling with a chronic, low-level fatigue of unknown etiology (NOT CFS or Fibro), which caused me to quit my job for 2.5 years, then recently (April) I was canned when brain fog (from the unresolved health problem) caused me to botch a big project.
So…
Fortunately, I live in Utah, where unemployment is lower than national average, but after applying for 3 perfect jobs, I’ve heard nothing back. Prolly a typo in my resume that I can’t seem to find.
Comment by geoffb on 7/17 @ 10:41 am #
So sorry to here of your problems dicentra and BJT. I’ve been laid off since April but have a back to work date in September. That’s doing well in Michigan right now.
Comment by psycho... on 7/17 @ 10:45 am #
The false step of passing the money through “unemployed” cut-outs to give it to bankers is brilliant, because it’ll wrongfoot conservatives and get them talking “responsibility” shit instead of the “fascist” shit that actually applies.
Right.
If you’re a mortgage lender, you haven’t.
But go on.
Comment by SBP on 7/17 @ 10:45 am #
You interested in getting back into teaching at some point, dicentra? Maybe on-line?
I don’t know of anything right now, but can keep my eye out.
Spanish, wasn’t it?
Comment by Squid on 7/17 @ 10:47 am #
I have changed my mind, Democrats aren’t a criminal gang, they are fucking aliens from another dimension.
Are they cute? What’s the age of consent in this dimension?
Comment by Mikey NTH on 7/17 @ 10:53 am #
Let’s see. It will give the banks total control over the real estate market, banks that are controlled by the federal government.
Nope! Can’t see a problem with that.
Comment by TheGeezer on 7/17 @ 10:55 am #
Years ago, perhaps in 1971, I suggested to friends that we should push for Ted Kennedy’s election as president because that would cause the nation’s bankruptcy and we’d go over the top and get it overwith. We could start all over again. And then National Lampoon published as open letter from the Pope to Ted Kennedy telling Ted not to run because he was too stupid.
Here we are, with failures everywhere and libs cannot see how the government causes failure. So pursuaded that control reaps order, libs refuse to recognize facts.
Oh well. I received notice today that layoffs will be announced in three to five weeks. I could retire at seriously-reduced beenfits, but I think I’ll roll the dice. After all, it looks like soon nothing will be worth much, anyway!
Comment by geoffb on 7/17 @ 10:56 am #
Um, not so much.
Comment by TheGeezer on 7/17 @ 10:59 am #
Dicentra, is it depression? Might it be sleep apnea? I was dragging around struggling to stay focused and then wentr for a sleep study and got CPAP. It was really energizing.
I’ll say a prayer for you.
Comment by happyfeet on 7/17 @ 11:02 am #
Hi dicentra – there was this girl once and she was… she was nuts, really. Bonkers. I lived with her for a very very short time until she started scaring me and making demands, crazy and scary demands.
So I went away and what she did was she decided to work at this restaurant in a sort of managing capacity and, being nuts, ended up making love or somesuch with this illegal immigrant busboy and ended up having his baby, for whatever reason… I don’t know why for sure cause she’s bonkers.
So there she was with her little baby and no daddy and a little section 8 apartment. One day she flounced down into a booth with me and a friend what were having coffee. Just like that. With the little baby too. Probably mostly because the friend I was having coffee with knew Crazy really better than I did cause of her brother used to sleep with Crazy a lot even though she was crazy.
I didn’t say much but my friend asked what she was doing and it turns out she was doing this. It looks like they’re mostly full up right now but there are a couple opportunities. Those ones are on this page.
Comment by happyfeet on 7/17 @ 11:12 am #
I hope you can file unemployment. My little brother is doing that cause of the dirty socialists devastated the industry he’s in and he likes it a lot. Also he’s catering under the table. Food. From not ever catering anything anywhere ever bam out of the blue he’s got all these catering jobs. Kooky. He’s a neat guy.
Comment by happyfeet on 7/17 @ 11:22 am #
I’m thinking about getting him one of those groovy commercial popcorn carts for Christmas. Like this one. Maybe a used one might be smarter though. Successful restaurant guys I know say they always get used equipment. That’s a lot of money I think when you add in shipping and the actual popcorn supplies so we’ll just have to see how this year goes. But eventually for sure cause I want his kids to have it too while they’re still kids.
Comment by Christopher Taylor on 7/17 @ 11:38 am #
This proposal makes no sense: they would rent houses to people who can’t afford to pay for their mortgage to begin with? And they’d still have to pay for taxes, utilities, and upkeep? If they can’t afford a house, they can’t afford a house. This doesn’t have anything to do with people’s mortgages, it has everything to do with socializing another industry.
Comment by SBP on 7/17 @ 11:40 am #
I’ve mentioned on here before that deep-fried bacon rocks. Perfectly crisp throughout, and it cooks fast, so it’d be perfect for a fast food operation.
If I were going to do the push-cart thing I’d get one that had a couple of deep-fry units. BLTs made with fresh real tomatoes, lettuce, real cheese, and good bread. Top off with fries cooked in the bacon grease.
“Makin’ Bacon”, you could call it.
Feel free to steal this idea. I hereby place it in the public domain. However, I wouldn’t turn down a free sandwich or two.
Comment by TheGeezer on 7/17 @ 11:42 am #
If you used pork raised in Macon, Georgia, you could call it “Makin’ Macon Bacon.”
Comment by happyfeet on 7/17 @ 11:50 am #
That sounds awesome – I will talk to him about that idea but why popcorn is cause he bought this huge tow behind your SUV grill thinger and so a lot of his catering jobs he shows up and gets started grilling on site… the popcorn would be for the hungry children what can’t wait for all the grillings to be done. So they don’t get whiny. That was the idea. Also for him to take to church functions. He loves church and God and food a lot.
Comment by N. O'Brain on 7/17 @ 12:09 pm #
Comment by happyfeet on 7/17 @ 8:51 am #
Harry Potter economics.
Fucking perfect, hf.
10 turtles on that one.
Comment by Ric Locke on 7/17 @ 12:24 pm #
First we have “all the money goes to the oligarchs first”. Now we get food vendors in the streets.
Ah, yes. Just another indication that this country is turning into México del Norte. At least in a few years we can stop worrying about illegal immigrants.
Regards,
Ric
Comment by Salt Lick on 7/17 @ 12:34 pm #
…the popcorn would be for the hungry children what can’t wait for all the grillings to be done. So they don’t get whiny.
Get him one with a monkey. That’ll make the kids forget they’re hungry. But don’t name the business “The Hungry Monkey.”
Comment by Bob Reed on 7/17 @ 12:41 pm #
So since CRA and the whole sub-prime fiasco that it spawned didn’t actually finish off the housing market and the building industry, they’ve decided on an amazingly stupid notion that most likely will…
It’s un-effin’ believable…
I wouldn’t have believed soemthing like this as a premise for fiction, or should I say a horror story…
And the same wall street MBA financial jeen-yutzes that bought into the whole mortgage backed security swindle are right on board; once again being lulled by the siren song of incredible! profit margins no doubt; as well as the chimera that they can have their cake and eat it too! Retaining the long term asset while realize the short term gain of the rental cashflow…
Doesn’t anyone but us here in the real world realize that no matter what it’s worth on paper, it’s worthless if, you know, the people can’t actually make the payments they committ to!
Really, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that many in our banking system are sooper-jeen-yuses of the same caliber as Wile E. Coyote!
Just as builder shouldn’t be in the banking business, neither should banks be in the real estate business, except in the traditional indirect way by holding the mortgage paper…
Comment by Salt Lick on 7/17 @ 12:44 pm #
dicentra — I attended a gathering of friends recently and 50% of the men over 50, including me, were unemployed. The words “time for another Revolution,” were spoken several times.
Kroger has these 10 for $10 sales. With the right timing, you can score a month of spaghetti for $40. ;-)
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 1:02 pm #
Thanks, guys, for the concern. I do collect unemployment for now, and God help me, I pay a reasonable amount for COBRA because of the ARRA.
I have Hashimoto’s (autoimmune hypothyroidism) which also triggered sleep apnea. I was on a CPAP for about 18 months, after which the thyroid treatment straightened out the apnea, thank heaven. I hated that hissing snake on my face more than life itself.
However, even after playing with my thyroid meds for several years (T3 and T4 in every combination), I am still tuckering out after very little exertion and I have short-term memory and concentration problems (which can be helped temporarily with caffeine, amphetamines, or Provigil, but that just masks the problem instead of solving it).
We have since ruled out food allergies, adrenal problems (hypo and hyper), fatty liver, Epstein-Barr, and, it appears, reverse T3 syndrome, which I actually have but I’m not responding to the treatment. I also know that it’s not MS or chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia because I totally don’t have those symptoms. It’s also not the depression, because I’ve had that for 30 years and the fatigue is recent.
Seven years I’ve had this, and the only symptom is fatigue, so it’s impossible to know what’s causing it, given that just about everything has fatigue as a symptom. Furthermore, I can’t get on disability because I’m not sick enough for that.
Thanks also ‘feets for the tips. I’ll look into that, but I don’t know if I have the mental energy for that or for teaching. Or for tech writing, for that matter, but I gotta go with what I know. Loooove the situation I’m in. Just lurves it.
Comment by SBP on 7/17 @ 1:04 pm #
Have you been checked for lupus?
Comment by SBP on 7/17 @ 1:06 pm #
SLE signs and symptoms.
Comment by happyfeet on 7/17 @ 1:17 pm #
I love monkeys! If I didn’t have turtles I would definitely have a monkey.
You need to keep trying new doctors I think is all I would suggest. Hey. It sounds like you have all the skills and wherewithal to do indexing projects… indexing like putting together the index for a book. Most of this is done free-lance and you would have experience with it from the technical writing I imagine. All I know is there’s specialized software involved usually … no idea who to talk to if you’d want to pursue that idea, but I bet we could figure it out.
Comment by Matt on 7/17 @ 1:44 pm #
I went through 4 months of unemployment starting around thanksgiving and ending in March. Incredibly difficult time so my heart goes out to you dicentra. I remember calling the mortgage company and telling them I had lost my job and asking to work out some of kind of lesser payment option so I could stay relatively current on payments. They told me I had to be either 3-4 months behind or already in default. Here I thought I was being responsible in trying to stave off a potential problem and I’m told I’m not irresponsible enough.
In theory, its not the worst idea but how are we going to pay for it ? And doesn’t it reward people for not working ? I think the progs don’t really consider issues like that when thinking up this stuff- I mean, it feels alot better to say “we’re gonna save your house” and doesn’t feel good to explain how we’re going to get the money to do it.
Feelings. Nothing more than … feelings.
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 2:04 pm #
Have you been checked for lupus?
It’s never lupus! Don’t you watch House?
I have no pain (thank heaven) or any other symptom except fatigue fatigue fatigue. And heat intolerance, but that’s from the thyroid meds. We’re going to hit 100° for the first time today, so I’m staying inside during the day and venturing out around 8pm to putter around in the yard.
My next point of inquiry is… wait for it… low testosterone. It causes the brain fog and lack of endurance, so maybe. I’d also like to see a specialist, but they won’t touch someone who’s just tired.
As for indexing books, yes, ‘feets, I can do that, and I’ve done it before. If you’re using Word or FrameMaker, you can do indexing with that software. I’ve also done it by hand.
Wait. This thread is supposed to be about perverse incentives.
Nope. Got nothing.
Comment by Salt Lick on 7/17 @ 2:19 pm #
dicentra — Even if you don’t have lupus, a factoid you might be interested in knowing is that author Flannery O’Connor, on whose work Jeff G. wrote his dissertation, did have it, and the fatigue permitted her to write only 2-3 hours a day.
I am presently reading a collection of O’Connor’s letters which I’d highly recommend. Brilliant woman with a wonderful sense of humor and word play, like Jeff himself.
See if this sounds familiar — the head of an English Department wrote, on behalf of his 3 faculty and 90 students, about the correctness of their “interpretations” of her short story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” which they’d been studying that semester.
O’Connor replied that their “interpretations” left her in a “state of shock.” She wrote,
“The meaning of a story should go on expanding for the reader the more he thinks about it, but meaning cannot be captured in an interpretation.”
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 2:26 pm #
the fatigue permitted her to write only 2-3 hours a day.
Yeah, I could handle that. But nobody is going to pay me a living wage to work that little.
Good thing my car is paid off and in good shape after 12 years (97 Protégé). If worse comes to worst, I’ll get me a student loan and study up to become a database administrator at a community college. I loves me some databases, but I don’t know how to make them go from the inside.
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 2:30 pm #
“The meaning of a story should go on expanding for the reader the more he thinks about it, but meaning cannot be captured in an interpretation.”
I believe that there is a semantic problem here. “Meaning,” for the average Joe, when confronted with a text, means “interpretation” in the same way that you would interpret a foreign language. You look at the signifiers in the text and determine what they point to.
But “meaning” can also refer to “affect” in the emotional sense. A novel has “meaning” for you if after you finish reading it, you can’t stop thinking and wondering about it. It also “affects” you in the sense of causality in that it has changed your mind or at least added to your store (not “story,” Ms. Sotomayor) of understanding.
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 2:34 pm #
Wait! I found something about perverse incentives at The Corner:
About the junk science that has informed the scare about the chemical BPA, Mark Hemmingway remarks:
Comment by Salt Lick on 7/17 @ 3:02 pm #
I believe that there is a semantic problem here. “Meaning,” for the average Joe…
Well, with apologies to JHo for being so OT, here is some background:
English Department Head writes:
“We have debated at length several possible interpretations, none of which fully satisfies us. In general we believe that the appearance of The Misfit is not ‘real’ in the same sense that the incidents of the first half of the story are real. Bailey, we believe, imagines the appearance of the Misfit, whose activities have been called to his attention on the night before the trip and gain during the stopover at the roadside restaurant. Bailey, we further believe, identifies himself with the Misfit ans so plays two roles in the imaginary last half of the story. But we cannot, after great effort, determine the point at which reality fades into illusion or reverie. Does the accident literally occur, or is it a part of Bailey’s dream? Please believe me when I say we are not seeking an easy way out of our difficulty. We admire your story and have examined it with great care, but we are convinced that we are missing something important you intended us to grasp. We will all be very grateful if you comment on the interpretation which I have outlined above and if you will give us further comments about your intention in writing ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find.’”
O’Connor’s reply:
“The interpretation of your ninety students and three teachers is fantastic and about as far from my intentions as it could get to be. If it were a legitimate interpretation, the story would be little more than a trick and its interest would be simply for abnormal psychology. I am not interested in abnormal psychology…
[two paragraphs explain her intentions -- all the story is "real," though stylized, and Bailey in a very minor character]
The meaning of a story should go on expanding for the reader the more he thinks about it, but meaning cannot be captured in interpretation. If teachers are in the habit of approaching a story as if it were a research problem for which any answer is believable so long as it is not obvious, then I think students will never learn to enjoy fiction. Too much interpretation is certainly worse than too little, and where feeling for a story is absent, theory will not supply it.
My tone is not meant to be obnoxious. I am in a state of shock.”
Comment by SBP on 7/17 @ 3:05 pm #
There was an Isaac Asimov time travel story that involved bringing Shakespeare to the present day.
He enrolled in a seminar on his own works — and got flunked for arguing with the instructor.
Comment by SBP on 7/17 @ 3:10 pm #
“God ha’ mercy! What cannot be racked from words in five centuries? One could wring, methinks, a flood from a damp clout!”
Comment by Joe "Sputnik" Biden on 7/17 @ 3:31 pm #
Gaaahhhh sput sput sput sput sput
Comment by Kresh on 7/17 @ 3:48 pm #
It’s all about making us servants to the govt. The man who controls your wallet and/or stomach controls you. The kindness of the overbearing master.
@Dicentra: Write novels. 2-3 Hours a day could be enough to bang out a novel in a month or two, depending on your typing speed. When you’re fatigued, read research material. Unless I’m totally off on the severity of the exhaustion. Maybe you have mono? Been kissing any high-school boys? Plus, writing expands your mind and stuff. Crap the ‘govt doesn’t want to have happen and stuff. Or something.
Excuse me, I have to go change the tinfoil in my beanie. The new stuff makes the propeller spin faster!
Whee!
Comment by bigbooner on 7/17 @ 3:56 pm #
“Get him one with a monkey. That’ll make the kids forget they’re hungry. But don’t name the business “The Hungry Monkey.”
But just hope that the monkey doesn’t misbehave because he would have to spank the monkey in front of the kids. I think you need some kind of special business license for that.
Comment by Joe on 7/17 @ 4:06 pm #
dicentra, I hope you get a better job soon. I am sorry you are in that situation.
Comment by Jim in KC & Partners on 7/17 @ 4:47 pm #
I dunno, dicentra. I think you’re kinda on topic. It’s been a while, but I always found that dealing with Framemaker created a perverse incentive to throw the damn computer out the window. And that was for ~15 page software installation guides.
Comment by Cowboy on 7/17 @ 5:01 pm #
dicentra:
Are you tied to your geographic area? If not, email me at mathew1421 at yahoo dot com.
Comment by SBP on 7/17 @ 5:12 pm #
I’m a LyX man, myself. It. Just. Kicks. Ass.
dicentra, if you haven’t been checked for lupus, will you ask them to do so as a favor to me?
Comment by Danger on 7/17 @ 5:23 pm #
Dicentra,
I pray that your conditions improve soon, I have had some limited battles with fatigue myself caused by some pinched nerves.
I got relief from massage and accupuncture. Might not be what you need but it couldn’t hurt to try.
God Bless
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 5:27 pm #
I always found that dealing with Framemaker created a perverse incentive to throw the damn computer out the window.
Heh. I was using version 8, so most of the bugses were worked out.
What I wanted to send spinning out the window were some really buggy access points that couldn’t even hold onto a DHCP address or find another device on the same subnet. You’d think they’d get basic Ethernet functionality right, but no.
Comment by sdferr on 7/17 @ 5:30 pm #
Obama pronouncements like this make me think the man is losing his mind. He has nothing substantial to say whatsoever, no argument addressing the issues at hand but asserts and cajoles for the sake of an unreality that exists only in his fevered imagination. He would have his political allies undertake a ruinous policy unilaterally, consequences be damned.
Yet he is the president of the United States. Incredible thing to say.
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 5:36 pm #
if you haven’t been checked for lupus, will you ask them to do so as a favor to me?
I just might. I am a little suspicious of my “no pain” symptom. I came down with shingles last winter but it didn’t hurt at all. I just thought the constellation of sores were zits until the proximate lymph node got really sore and I had them checked out. While recovering from the shingles, my doc gave me Lyrica to protect my nerves. Turns out Lyrica is used to treat fibro and stuff, so maybe my body is weird in that aspect.
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 5:43 pm #
sdferr:
Obama sounds deranged because (a) he’s trying to obfuscate his real intentions, and (b) he’s a Narcissist, so words are weapons, not tools for communication.
Somebody on Hewitt today (guest host: Jim Geraghty) was pointing out that lots of reps have rural clinics and hospitals in their area that rely heavily on private insurance payments, and the destruction of private insurance would put them out of business.
I LOVE this from your Fox link: “‘This level of progress has never been made before,’ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.”
Progress = CRAM DOWN! WhooHooo!
Said person also observed (on Hewitt) that Obama just wants the photo-op of signing a Health Care Reform bill but he doesn’t care about the details.
Details are for losers, not for Messiahs, you see.
Comment by Danger on 7/17 @ 5:46 pm #
“I am a little suspicious of my “no pain” symptom. I came down with shingles last winter but it didn’t hurt at all.”
That is telling; I had shingles in my early 20s and it was one of the most painful things I have ever endured. It felt like I was being stabbed in the ribs with a knife every 20-30 seconds.
I would recommend you see a neurologist that specializes in pain management if you haven’t already done so.
Comment by sdferr on 7/17 @ 5:48 pm #
OT — For an antidote to the insanity of Barack Obama, see this series based on a long interview with Richard Feynman “Fun to Imagine” (just keep clicking the next number in line in the Related Video Box to the right). h/t J. Goldberg at NROCorner.
Comment by newrouter on 7/17 @ 5:52 pm #
Obama Care in 60 seconds or less
Comment by Danger on 7/17 @ 5:53 pm #
“Obama just wants the photo-op of signing a Health Care Reform bill but he doesn’t care about the details.”
Well, isn’t that how he approached the stimulus package?
Comment by Danger on 7/17 @ 5:59 pm #
G’night all,
Hang in there Dicentra we are all pulling for ya!
Comment by Arnold's drive-in on 7/17 @ 6:01 pm #
Well, isn’t that how he approached the stimulus package?
That’s the story of his life. Community organizer – cough, resume builder. Law Review – not about intellectual input, just a throne. Annenberg Challenge – not about helping teh kiddies, just his political base. His State senate career – crickets till people let him attach his name to bills when he was seeking higher office. But he has two memoirs!
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 6:01 pm #
Thanks all y’all for your words of encouragement and advice.
It helps.
Comment by Carin on 7/17 @ 6:08 pm #
So … what did I miss. What are we advising Dicentra about?
I’ve been in the backwoods for three days. A bear visited us two of the three nights. It was … special.
Comment by geoffb on 7/17 @ 6:11 pm #
They should just pass a ream of brand new paper, have him sign it. Then they can go back later run off the text. If nobody is reading it what’s the diff. The bills are just window dressing, they will do whatever Obama and the Czars want, day to day, minute to minute. Second to second coming soon in Obama 2.01 beta.
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 6:13 pm #
OK. Two Glenn Beck clips, the first in which he loses it, and the second is a humorous mash-up.
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/07/17/beck-loses-it-and-justifiably-so/
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 6:15 pm #
Hi Carin!
They’re responding to comments 14 and 44.
Backwoods? Was it lovely? Did you see cute birdies? (Bears are not cute out of the zoo.)
Comment by Swen Swenson on 7/17 @ 6:15 pm #
I dunno bigbooner. I’ve a feeling that spanking the monkey in front of kids is the sort of thing that will get you packed off to the crowbar hotel, and almost guarantee a roommate named Butch.
I’ve no advice dicentra except Hang In There and get well soon, ‘kay?
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 6:18 pm #
In other news, the recession is ridding us of these 14 things:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/14-things-the-recession-is-helping-get-rid-of
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 6:25 pm #
On Twitter: Walter Cronkite has died.
Comment by Carin on 7/17 @ 6:31 pm #
Gosh, Dicentra, I’ll be saying a prayer for you. Times are hard. Not having your health is just another burden. I’ll spare you the profanity laced tirade inspired by Obama’s handling of the economy.
No interesting birds. But, a bear did visit us. On the final night, he stood up, pulled the garbage off husband’s Element (how dang tall was that thing?) and proceeding to eat it for about 20 minutes. Then went to the neighbor’s campsite and attempted to drag off their cooler.
But, I HIGHLY recommend Ohiopile campground and park in PA. It was beautiful. The hikes were awesome, and the rivers/ streams/waterfalls, whitewater … just amazing. we went rafting yesterday (class 1 and 2, since we have little kids) and it was pretty dang fun.
Comment by geoffb on 7/17 @ 6:38 pm #
From Ace an article at Politico
Comment by newrouter on 7/17 @ 6:38 pm #
Ohiopyle State Park, Pennsylvania
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 6:46 pm #
we went rafting yesterday
I used to go rafting all the time. The best run was a 5-day trip down the Green River in eastern Utah through Desolation Canyon (Sand Ridge to Green River). This was back in 1977 or so, and my dad’s cousin was a river guide, so he got us a slot.
He told us that rapids have a rating system from 1 to 10. “Ten is Niagra Falls. Nine is the Flaming Gorge Dam spillway. We’re gonna hit a couple of eights.”
His boat was an old army pontoon with a wooden deck chained into the middle. I was with my parents in a 6-man inflatable (we straddled the sides). The first really big rapids came on the second day as the river slammed into the canyon wall. On the inside curve of the river was a shallower area strewn with boulders, and driftwood had piled up high against the boulders.
We were told that an entire troop of Boy Scouts was drowned on that rapid when their boat was sucked under a driftwood pile and slammed against the boulder. Then we watched the pontoon boat take the rapid and saw it bucking and almost capsizing (or so it seemed). We decided to pick our way through the boulders, but that meant avoiding the driftwood. That’s the only time I’ve truly been afraid for my life.
We made it, and it turned out that the fatal driftwood pile was a bit downstream, in the main current, and we easily avoided it.
Even so. Green River rapids are awesome because they result almost exclusively from water being compressed either by a hard curve or an actual narrowing of the channel, so it is really just a huge, wet roller coaster with no danger of being dashed against the rocks. The waves were at least 12 feet high in the best ones.
But watch out for the deer flies; those awful things will eat you alive.
Comment by Cowboy on 7/17 @ 6:50 pm #
dicentra:
I want to echo what happyfeet said earlier: You need to keep going to doctors until you find one who can help. When I was 19 I had bone cancer in my upper humerus. The first doctor said arthritis, the second said bursitis (and administered ultra-sound–probably the worst thing he could have done). The third, though a total asshole, correctly diagnosed it.
But the lesson is, diagnosis is an art, not a science, and finding an answer means you have to keep seeking opinions.
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 6:51 pm #
Our whole neighborhood used to go every summer to a site along the Bear River in southeast Idaho, right below a dam. We’d go down the river a couple of miles, then get out, load ‘em up in a truck, then go again.
Then the river would go down, depending on electricity demand, and we’d walk out into the river bed and find crawdads. This riverbed was strewn with lava rocks, and we’d pop at least one boat a year. We also could body-surf after awhile (we got older, and we knew where the rocks were).
Don’t think I’d dare do that know. Kids are fearless and immortal, I guess.
Comment by Cowboy on 7/17 @ 6:52 pm #
We have deer flies in Indiana. I hate them with every fiber of my being.
But if you move here for a job, dicentra, I promise to remove them!
Comment by N. O'Brain on 7/17 @ 7:00 pm #
But, I HIGHLY recommend Ohiopile campground and park in PA.
Waaay south and west of where we go, Clinton County in Central PA.
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 7:01 pm #
Indiana? I was just in that neck of the woods last month (Louisville, KY), and y’all have too much humidity for my taste.
Comment by Abe Froman on 7/17 @ 7:05 pm #
Dicentra, I’m sorry for what you’re going through. Do you exercise much? It’s a shot in the dark since everyone is different but I was always an athlete and in great physical shape and then when my playing days were over and subsequently fell out of the habit of even nominal exercise I found myself dealing with all sorts of issues ranging from depression to inability to concentrate. And even though I never put two and two together I did find that it went away when I finally started exercising again. And I should add – since I’m not very smart – the exact same thing happened again when I subsequently went a long stretch without working out. So in my case there’s a definite correlation fitness and mental health.
Comment by Abe Froman on 7/17 @ 7:07 pm #
should read – between physical fitness and mental health.
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 7:31 pm #
I have never been in good shape nor very physically active, so I hardly noticed the diminution of endurance until in the fall of 2001, when I went on a hike and tuckered out so fast it startled me. But I still thought I was just not in good shape now that I had a desk job instead of hauling books across campus all day.
I went through a phase in 2004, I think, when I would go on a brisk walk after dark in the winter, but I didn’t notice a difference in overall fitness. And now that it’s hot, I can’t deal with exercise because I overheat within a few minutes and risk heat stroke. I have to wet myself down to work outside even after sundown. I also used to go swimming in the local fitness center, but I can’t afford it now.
Comment by N. O'Brain on 7/17 @ 7:48 pm #
here’s a treat:
Leonard Cohen singing “Hallelujah”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttv5dyvtF4o&feature=related
I did my best, it wasn’t much
I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I’ll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah
My sister played the Jeff Buckley’s version at my Brother-in-Law’s memorial service and I have since fallen in love with it.
Comment by cynn on 7/17 @ 8:01 pm #
Dicentra, could you have shingles? That’s really come up at work. One of the triggers is stress.
Comment by happyfeet on 7/17 @ 8:02 pm #
here is my favorite version Mr. Brain the guy at the end is amazing he was like an American Idol person of some European backwater country.
Comment by cynn on 7/17 @ 8:16 pm #
Nobrain: I have the jeff buckley version which is dull. where can I get the shrek tune?
Comment by cynn on 7/17 @ 8:23 pm #
Although shingles brings excruciating pain: best of luck.
Comment by cynn on 7/17 @ 8:35 pm #
… and what happens when we go off a cliff? A new paradigm must spring forth, one that no longer serves the greed mentality. One that honors free exchange of assets without the cagey side-bets and hyper-manipulation. One that lets shit fail in an incendiary glory that will both entertain and horrify.
Comment by happyfeet on 7/17 @ 8:43 pm #
sometimes it’s twin paradigms what spring forth
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 8:43 pm #
cynn: See my #67
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 8:48 pm #
A new paradigm must spring forth, one that no longer serves the greed mentality.
Good luck with that. Greed and all other human weaknesses don’t go away no matter how hard you wish them to.
You cannot create an economic or social system that is so well-engineered, so cleverly made, so perfect, that people won’t corrupt it.
Sorry, but that’s how it is.
Comment by newrouter on 7/17 @ 8:53 pm #
yea because big government is never about greed. power yes. proggs suck
Comment by newrouter on 7/17 @ 8:55 pm #
cynn: liberal fascist
Comment by cynn on 7/17 @ 9:04 pm #
dicentra, I’m not willing to give it up. As deeply disappointed in Obama as I am, I will maintain a hope and presense that we can make a change. You’re Mormon; I’m stupid. It’s a wash.
Comment by newrouter on 7/17 @ 9:06 pm #
to what? you stupid f**k
Comment by B Moe on 7/17 @ 9:07 pm #
One of my hobbies is working on race cars, and we have a saying about wild ass no talent drivers: He is a wreck looking for a place to happen. This administration is exactly like that.
That made me smile so fucking big.
Comment by B Moe on 7/17 @ 9:08 pm #
How do you define greed, cynn?
Comment by Bob Reed on 7/17 @ 9:21 pm #
Dicentra,
I’m late to thread, but would like to express my hopes too that a doctor can determine what’s going on and provide you with relief for your physical trials. And, I think that you’re so intelligent and sharp that I’m sure something is right around the corner for you…
Have faith. The good Lord will provide for all of your needs. May He bless and keep you, and either cure you directly or grace your doctors with the wisdom and healing touch to do so.
It’ll all get better for all of us. Our best days lie ahead of us all, individually and as a nation.
Best Wishes
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 9:36 pm #
I will maintain a hope and presense that we can make a change
1. Who are “we”? The populace? The government?
2. What kind of change are you hoping for?
3. On what do you base the belief that such a change is possible?
4. What will be the means for effecting this change?
5. What will you do with the people who don’t want the change you propose?
6. If you find out that the means don’t effect the change you want, will you roll it all back? Do you have the moral courage to admit that you were wrong and that people got hurt?
Comment by Abe Froman on 7/17 @ 10:02 pm #
Poor cynn can’t remember if she’s in the Judean Peoples’ Front or the Peoples’ Front of Judea. There’s Judea and people and a front and they’re against something and for something but it’s all so confusing and where’s the box of wine?
Comment by No offense on 7/17 @ 10:19 pm #
No offense and sock puppet aside but is this website dead?
Comment by dicentra on 7/17 @ 10:21 pm #
Dead? Jeff’s on hiatus, Darleen and JHoward do the heavy lifting. There’s at least one post a day for us to play on.
So. No.
Comment by happyfeet on 7/17 @ 10:23 pm #
This website is very spritely. Much like Susan Dey.
Comment by Bob Reed on 7/17 @ 10:30 pm #
Maybe Jeff will come back by soon…Perhaps if you ask him happyfeet!
I hope he’s not regretting having to ban thor. I always got the impression that Jeff didn’t believe in muzzling anyone, but instead prefered proving them the fool…
Still, it seems like most of the commentariat was down with it. It was kinda like being on a jury that has to pass a death sentance; unpleasant and difficult, but necessary…
I hope that everyone is having a great Friday night and wish all a lovely Saturday.
Comment by happyfeet on 7/17 @ 10:34 pm #
oh. No. I definitely don’t got that kind of pull. I’m thinking of emailing him an email in which I employ beseeching tones. Not that I think it will help but just cause I think it matters very much that he comes back and I want to let him know that. I’ve told him this already before so I need to find new words.
Comment by geoffb on 7/17 @ 10:42 pm #
In perverse incentives at JammieWearingFool NYC taxpayers could see 59% of income go to taxes directly. Also the demise of private health insurance is not probable but inevitable in the health bill.
toujours l’audace
Comment by Bob Reed on 7/17 @ 10:47 pm #
Yeah happyfeet, I miss Jeff too.
We all do. Darleen and JHo are doing a great job, but still…
I hope that all is well with him and his family, and that he’s getting lots done on whatever he’s into these days.
And don’t sell yourself short; I think you’ve got the juice to make a difference!
The words will come; just let go, and they will flow…
Be Cool!
Comment by Bob Reed on 7/17 @ 10:51 pm #
59% !
Sacrebleu! Where can I move within commuting distance of NYC that has a reasonable tax rate?
I’m doomed…Economically speaking that is; otherwise, I’m doin’ Eye-ree-mon…
Comment by newrouter on 7/17 @ 10:54 pm #
NAY Grateful Dead – Uncle John’s Band @ Radio City 10-31-80
Comment by Abe Froman on 7/17 @ 10:57 pm #
Where can I move within commuting distance of NYC that has a reasonable tax rate?
Potter’s Field.
Comment by newrouter on 7/17 @ 11:01 pm #
move to pa flat tax state
Comment by geoffb on 7/17 @ 11:07 pm #
I think he is doing exactly what he said he was doing. Being a dad playing ball with his son, being a husband, enjoying the Summer. Living life instead of writing about it.
If he is like most writers I’ve known or read about, writing is a lifelong addiction, but the muse is fickle. Enjoy I say. PW will abide.
Life is too short and kids grow up so fast. You don’t get do-overs on each stage of their growing. I’d give a lot to just one more time pick up my sleepy son and carry him to bed. Unfortunately he is now 27 and bigger than I. Sigh.
Comment by maggie katzen on 7/18 @ 1:17 am #
I see what you did there.
anyhoo, how many links to this article have you received? I noticed it was in the top 5 emailed for a couple days.
Comment by happyfeet on 7/18 @ 1:52 am #
none… thank you. That was interesting … this part especially…
They really can be hard on each other and sometimes I worry they have murder in their hearts.
Comment by happyfeet on 7/18 @ 1:53 am #
I’m gonna try giving mine blueberries. Never tried that before.
Comment by Cowboy on 7/18 @ 5:01 am #
Wow, N.O.B.–that Cohen song is the real deal. Gave me chills.
Comment by guinsPen on 7/18 @ 5:28 am #
Rose Schroeder stands just outside her back door, …and bangs the aluminum pie pan with a spoon. Sure enough, just as she promised, they come running from all corners of the yard.
Soup’s on!
Comment by Lurker on 7/18 @ 12:38 pm #
Bob Reed, that’s crazy. He’s banned tons of folks and CAN because it’s his site. It doesn’t trouble him to do so.
——-Meanwhile, dicentra, I work for a firm that does a lot of SS disability work and I would suggest filing your claim now. In most states, it can take a year or two to get approved if you are disabled. If you find work in the interim, you can drop the claim. Nonetheless, you don’t want to get to end of the financial rope and then hear you have two years to wait to get benefits.
Disability is the inability to perform “substantial gainful activity” for up to a year or expected to last a year. A person who is too fatigued to work more than a couple of hours a day fit that description. If you doctor finds an appropriate treatment, either before or after you receive benefits, then you can go back to work. It’s called a safety net for a reason, but this one has a LOOONNNGG fall until you hit the net. By that time, most of our clients have lost just about everything.
Whatever you decide, good luck, but I’d re-think that disability decision.
Comment by SDN on 7/18 @ 12:40 pm #
I hope Jeff doesn’t regret the ban. This is the most peaceful and enjoyable week I’ve had reading this blog in a few years.
The only thing that would make it perfect is for Jeff to come back, but downtime is necessary.
Comment by geoffb on 7/18 @ 1:11 pm #
There is also a wait from the time of disability approval by Social Security and when you are allowed to be on Medicare. 2 years if I recall correctly. Social Security will issue a check that covers the period from when they decide you became disabled and when they approved it. But in the mean time you have to survive without income, unless your employer has disability coverage and you qualify, and without health insurance except COBRA which can be a heavy burden on disability income. BTDTGTTS.
Comment by dicentra on 7/18 @ 3:38 pm #
Lurker:
During my first bout of unemployment (I asked my boss for a 1-month “sabbatical” to recuperate, and it ended up being 2.5 years), I was on my employer’s long-term disability. During that time, I was required to apply for SS disability. I went two rounds with it, including doctor’s exams, and they rejected my claim both times (I know that’s par for the course).
Then after two years, the long-term disability people — having mightily wearied my doctor’s staff with incessant requests for medical records — determined that I wasn’t sick enough for coverage to continue, so they cut me off.
In desperation, I went back to work and lasted over two years before being dismissed for screwing up an extremely difficult job. It would therefore be impossible for me to build the case that I “can’t work.”
I can work, but it wears me out and wears me down. I’m not sick enough to be “disabled” and not well enough to be a good worker. Not at the stuff that pays well enough for the mortgage, anyway.
I’ll be OK. I can either get a student loan to study database management or I can sell the house and move in with my mom. Who lives near Boise, ID. AKA a fate worse than death.
Comment by lurker on 7/18 @ 4:22 pm #
Sadly, you stopped right before you would win.
First, a hearing in front of a judge is the only way for you to win (this is what I do 15 times a week). The state branches of Disability Determination are terrible and you can’t win.
As for private insurance, this is what they do.
I don’t practice in your state, but winning your case would be a piece of cake.
Comment by dicentra on 7/18 @ 7:29 pm #
Well, I really don’t want to be on the dole again. The psychological inertia that I had to overcome to get back to work was phenomenal, and I had all those years of work under my belt.
It wasn’t good for me. Those were lost years. I did nothing, wanted nothing, was nothing.
Comment by pdbuttons on 7/18 @ 8:05 pm #
i cherish and look forward to
dicentra
keep up the sly work…
i’m ur biggest fan without a ’straining order…
“u got some ’splainin to do!”
luv ur insights
Comment by tony0506@yahoo.com on 7/19 @ 3:17 pm #
I know this has nothing to do with the post… NE ways, Obama is a socialist. The only way socialism can ever succeed is if it kills poor, black and hispanic babies. That is why abortion needs to continue to be legal. So that the socialist government of Obama won’t have to support the poor with welfare and other government aid. Imagine this, if our taxes had to support millions upon millions of poor black and hispanic people – the government would go bankrupt… Genocide of the poor and the weak – that’s the Obama story. He’s the Black Hero… LOL
Comment by cynn on 7/21 @ 9:36 pm #
…And there you have it.