OS is, well, weary. The week is being spent on restoring the house post-flood, post-contractor, pre-academic year.
Yesterday was spent helping rescue an 80+ year old friend from the clutches of an auto dealer in Brentwood, Tennessee, who attempted to convince her that her lovely Caddy need $3500 of work, and that she needed to just get rid of it (e.g. trade it to us for about 2K or so), and buy another car (from us). OS drove it to his mechanic, who serviced it, replaced one tie rod end, replaced a piece of molding ($10 in supplies consumed), went over it with a fine-toothed comb, and charged her $233 for his efforts. The car has 70k miles on it, and drives showroom new.
When the propaganda about the 'New GM' begins to ratchet up, and the dealers pipe in about their 'new approaches to customer care', remember this little old lady. OS suggests we all run the other direction.
Another friend has lost a family member to a tragic drowning. A student is in the process of being tossed from her family, because she wishes to go to college, which is anathema in her world. Another friend was just summarily fired after eleven years, because the boss doesn't like him, and the organization he helped hold together (the church OS holds his membership in) is about to go through a period of chaos. OS lacks the energy to get involved, but he is anyway...
So, with nothing to say of value, OS offers a moment of dry, lovely humor. His readers in the US have seen this, but the readers from overseas likely haven't. Kudos to the creators of this little gem.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Words Matter: Despite/Because, Because/Despite--NPR Story On Lotteries
The headline from NPR is: More People Buying Lottery Tickets Despite Recession.
Or, perhaps, is it because? When people lose the existential connection that work, effort, thrift, and virtue create wealth, they lose hope. Might as well buy that lottery ticket, lightning may strike, maybe I'll finally get rich off all those other rubes who buy lottery tickets just like me.
When people see the worst sort of hustlers enrich themselves, leaving the wreckage behind for others to clean up, they lose faith. Might as well buy that lottery ticket, lightning may strike, maybe I'll finally get rich off all those other rubes who buy lottery tickets just like me. At least I didn't toss the economy over the cliff in the process.
When people see governments selling lottery tickets, they hear the message: Wealth happens via the lightning strike, mere capricious fortune, so instead of going to the bookie or the numbers game, we'll run numbers instead. The sense of integrity departs the culture. Might as well buy that lottery ticket, lightning may strike, maybe I'll finally get rich off all those other rubes who buy lottery tickets just like me.
(Besides, it's fer educashun--can't argew with educashun, can we?)
Despite.
Because.
In any case, it is heartbreaking to walk into convenience stores and see dispirited-looking people handing over cash for a 1 in 40-million chance of hitting the magical number that changes everything for them.
Or, perhaps, is it because? When people lose the existential connection that work, effort, thrift, and virtue create wealth, they lose hope. Might as well buy that lottery ticket, lightning may strike, maybe I'll finally get rich off all those other rubes who buy lottery tickets just like me.
When people see the worst sort of hustlers enrich themselves, leaving the wreckage behind for others to clean up, they lose faith. Might as well buy that lottery ticket, lightning may strike, maybe I'll finally get rich off all those other rubes who buy lottery tickets just like me. At least I didn't toss the economy over the cliff in the process.
When people see governments selling lottery tickets, they hear the message: Wealth happens via the lightning strike, mere capricious fortune, so instead of going to the bookie or the numbers game, we'll run numbers instead. The sense of integrity departs the culture. Might as well buy that lottery ticket, lightning may strike, maybe I'll finally get rich off all those other rubes who buy lottery tickets just like me.
(Besides, it's fer educashun--can't argew with educashun, can we?)
Despite.
Because.
In any case, it is heartbreaking to walk into convenience stores and see dispirited-looking people handing over cash for a 1 in 40-million chance of hitting the magical number that changes everything for them.
If You Pull Demand Forward....It Falls Down Later: July House Sale Numbers
It's breathtaking to watch ThePeopleInChargeOfSuchThings commit such obvious knucklehead mistakes.
If you bribe people 8K to buy houses, and then stop bribing them, they'll stop buying.
This is a bit like watching a train wreck from a distance. One can jump up and down, wave the arms and scream, but those two locomotives will meet on the same track, nonetheless.
This is about the culture, which shapes the economy. This approach to human behavior is destructive, of people, of culture, and of the economy at the last.
Heaven have mercy on us.
If you bribe people 8K to buy houses, and then stop bribing them, they'll stop buying.
This is a bit like watching a train wreck from a distance. One can jump up and down, wave the arms and scream, but those two locomotives will meet on the same track, nonetheless.
This is about the culture, which shapes the economy. This approach to human behavior is destructive, of people, of culture, and of the economy at the last.
Heaven have mercy on us.
Someone, Somewhere Needs To Get A Life: Juli Inkster Tossed On A Golf Rules Violation
Were it not so heartbreaking for a classy athlete, it would be funny. But, it's not.
Somebody, with too much time on his hands, and a detailed knowledge of the rules of golf, spotted Juli Inkster taking some warm up swings on the tenth tee, using a weight on her club. From his television set. She had been waiting for half an hour to tee off, and was loosening up.
So, he calls the golf tournament, to bust her. And the tournament officials take the call! Why? What on earth were they thinking?
They let her finish the back nine, and then tell she's been DQ'd. It's heartbreaking, because she was in the hunt for the lead when they tossed her.
This is idiocy. Does baseball allow fans to phone in if they suspect a balk? Or allow TV viewers to report a corked bat? Do hockey fans get to call in high-stick penalties on a game in San Diego from a bar in Boston?
This sort of stuff poisons the well. The game is on the course, between the ropes. The TV audience, as much as some individuals may wish it, is not a participant in the tournament. If they wanna play, they need to make it through Q-School, on their own merits.
How's about a new rule in that arcane book that prohibits tournament officials from taking phone calls from wing-nuts?
OS hopes the players raise hell with tourney officials. Perhaps if some notables begin pointedly not showing up, the point may be made. Let ticket sales tank on a few events, and a new spirit of reason may yet take root.
OS also hopes the no-life twit who decided the LPGA couldn't live without him reads this. You, bubba, are the definition of a loser.
Take a hint: Most forty-year-old men have jobs and don't live in momma's basement.
Somebody, with too much time on his hands, and a detailed knowledge of the rules of golf, spotted Juli Inkster taking some warm up swings on the tenth tee, using a weight on her club. From his television set. She had been waiting for half an hour to tee off, and was loosening up.
So, he calls the golf tournament, to bust her. And the tournament officials take the call! Why? What on earth were they thinking?
They let her finish the back nine, and then tell she's been DQ'd. It's heartbreaking, because she was in the hunt for the lead when they tossed her.
This is idiocy. Does baseball allow fans to phone in if they suspect a balk? Or allow TV viewers to report a corked bat? Do hockey fans get to call in high-stick penalties on a game in San Diego from a bar in Boston?
This sort of stuff poisons the well. The game is on the course, between the ropes. The TV audience, as much as some individuals may wish it, is not a participant in the tournament. If they wanna play, they need to make it through Q-School, on their own merits.
How's about a new rule in that arcane book that prohibits tournament officials from taking phone calls from wing-nuts?
OS hopes the players raise hell with tourney officials. Perhaps if some notables begin pointedly not showing up, the point may be made. Let ticket sales tank on a few events, and a new spirit of reason may yet take root.
OS also hopes the no-life twit who decided the LPGA couldn't live without him reads this. You, bubba, are the definition of a loser.
Take a hint: Most forty-year-old men have jobs and don't live in momma's basement.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Say What?: The ShoreBank 'Closure'
Mish shares this from the WSJ:
Regulators seized ShoreBank Corp. on Friday and agreed to sell assets to a team led by the community lender's executives and backed by several large U.S. financial firms.
The bank closure, among the 118 failures in the U.S. this year, caps months of uncertainty for a $2.16 billion Chicago bank that had ties to the Obama administration and deep roots on Chicago's South Side. The new institution will be known as Urban Partnership Bank and led by William Farrow, a former First Chicago Corp. executive who was ShoreBank's president and chief operating officer at the time of its failure.
The decision to sell to management is a rare move by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which generally bars investors who own more than 10% of the failed bank from bidding on its assets. The FDIC also typically wants to know if bidders have "ever been an officer or director of a failed institution" and "participated in a material way in one or more transactions that caused a substantial loss to any such failed institution," according to an FDIC document.
The structure of the deal "is unusual," said Atlanta banking attorney Chip MacDonald.
The holding company will remain intact, according to a person familiar with the deal. Urban Partnership is backed by a consortium of large U.S. financial institutions, including Bank of AmericaCorp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley.
This stinks to high heaven.
In the 1980's, Tennessee went through a bank scandal with Jake Butcher and his family and cronies. Jake went to the pen, spent seven years behind bars. Lost everything, had to rebuild his life from the ground up.
These folks get bailed, and handed the bank back.
Somebody owes Jake an apology. His only mistake was that he only stole millions, unlike the backers of Urban Partnership.
Regulators seized ShoreBank Corp. on Friday and agreed to sell assets to a team led by the community lender's executives and backed by several large U.S. financial firms.
The bank closure, among the 118 failures in the U.S. this year, caps months of uncertainty for a $2.16 billion Chicago bank that had ties to the Obama administration and deep roots on Chicago's South Side. The new institution will be known as Urban Partnership Bank and led by William Farrow, a former First Chicago Corp. executive who was ShoreBank's president and chief operating officer at the time of its failure.
The decision to sell to management is a rare move by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which generally bars investors who own more than 10% of the failed bank from bidding on its assets. The FDIC also typically wants to know if bidders have "ever been an officer or director of a failed institution" and "participated in a material way in one or more transactions that caused a substantial loss to any such failed institution," according to an FDIC document.
The structure of the deal "is unusual," said Atlanta banking attorney Chip MacDonald.
The holding company will remain intact, according to a person familiar with the deal. Urban Partnership is backed by a consortium of large U.S. financial institutions, including Bank of AmericaCorp., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley.
This stinks to high heaven.
In the 1980's, Tennessee went through a bank scandal with Jake Butcher and his family and cronies. Jake went to the pen, spent seven years behind bars. Lost everything, had to rebuild his life from the ground up.
These folks get bailed, and handed the bank back.
Somebody owes Jake an apology. His only mistake was that he only stole millions, unlike the backers of Urban Partnership.
The 9/11 Hard-Hat Pledge
This item is beginning to circulate, and OS passes it along for consideration.
Building a mosque in New York is no small thing. It requires people who specialize in the building trades, and that is a relatively small pool of people.
So, what happens if they refuse to take the job?
Building a mosque in New York is no small thing. It requires people who specialize in the building trades, and that is a relatively small pool of people.
So, what happens if they refuse to take the job?
Reasons to Smile On August 22, 2010
OS moans and groans. A lot.
However, there are good moments.
A country in meltdown and chaos doesn't get much golf in. Think about it. When's the last time we heard of a tournament held in Niger or Yemen?
Golf requires peace and quiet, and a level of order and prosperity that allows for leisure time. That's why it was gratifying to make the morning coffee, tune to the Golf Channel, and watch European PGA Golf live from the Czech Republic.
OS remembers where he was when he heard the news of the Russian tanks rolling into Prague in 1968, bringing the Prague Spring to an abrupt end. The Socialists in charge in Moscow weren't about to let freedom break out on their borders, by golly. The other serfs might get uppity.
It was an awful moment, even for a kid from Tennessee, a heart-in-the-throat/kick-in-the-stomach moment. The worst sort of people had run over the best sort of people. The US was not going to start a war in Europe over it, and everybody knew it.
So, it was sweet this morning to watch Miguel Angel Jimenez line up his putts in a free and prosperous Czech Republic.
Another good moment happened this week in Nashville.
Belmont University will be renovating one of the grand church buildings of the South for use as a classical concert hall, bringing its great Aeolian-Skinner organ back to its former glories in the process, and will allow the congregation to continue to use it as a house of worship.
It gives Nashville another world-class music venue, and will help Belmont (a non-denominational Christian institution) serve as a cultural counterweight against the relentless self-impressed secularism of both Vanderbilt University and the Nashville Symphony. It's located in a neighborhood, where people live and raise kids, not downtown amidst the hotels and clubs, or on a campus noted for its isolation from the city that surrounds it.
OS's parents were members of Belmont Heights Baptist as young marrieds, and OS was in and out of the place often in his youth. The sanctuary is a grand piece of architecture, a horseshoe design, and in its glory days the congregation sang the roof off the place. As the culture declined, the glory days departed, and it became painful to walk in the place, knowing what it had been and seeing what it had become.
It's inspiring to see this happen. This sort of thing is why we should all seek to build wealth, so we can do good things with the proceeds. It's why we need a culture that allows wealth to be built and encourages this sort of vision and generosity.
However, there are good moments.
A country in meltdown and chaos doesn't get much golf in. Think about it. When's the last time we heard of a tournament held in Niger or Yemen?
Golf requires peace and quiet, and a level of order and prosperity that allows for leisure time. That's why it was gratifying to make the morning coffee, tune to the Golf Channel, and watch European PGA Golf live from the Czech Republic.
OS remembers where he was when he heard the news of the Russian tanks rolling into Prague in 1968, bringing the Prague Spring to an abrupt end. The Socialists in charge in Moscow weren't about to let freedom break out on their borders, by golly. The other serfs might get uppity.
It was an awful moment, even for a kid from Tennessee, a heart-in-the-throat/kick-in-the-stomach moment. The worst sort of people had run over the best sort of people. The US was not going to start a war in Europe over it, and everybody knew it.
So, it was sweet this morning to watch Miguel Angel Jimenez line up his putts in a free and prosperous Czech Republic.
Another good moment happened this week in Nashville.
Belmont University will be renovating one of the grand church buildings of the South for use as a classical concert hall, bringing its great Aeolian-Skinner organ back to its former glories in the process, and will allow the congregation to continue to use it as a house of worship.
It gives Nashville another world-class music venue, and will help Belmont (a non-denominational Christian institution) serve as a cultural counterweight against the relentless self-impressed secularism of both Vanderbilt University and the Nashville Symphony. It's located in a neighborhood, where people live and raise kids, not downtown amidst the hotels and clubs, or on a campus noted for its isolation from the city that surrounds it.
OS's parents were members of Belmont Heights Baptist as young marrieds, and OS was in and out of the place often in his youth. The sanctuary is a grand piece of architecture, a horseshoe design, and in its glory days the congregation sang the roof off the place. As the culture declined, the glory days departed, and it became painful to walk in the place, knowing what it had been and seeing what it had become.
It's inspiring to see this happen. This sort of thing is why we should all seek to build wealth, so we can do good things with the proceeds. It's why we need a culture that allows wealth to be built and encourages this sort of vision and generosity.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
These Things Matter: The Impact Of The Federal Government's Refusal To Control Our Borders
What has been obvious to those paying attention to Mexico is beginning to peek above the radar of life in the United States.
There is a huge problem on our southern border.
The Wall Street Journal is now covering the carnage, in what has become an outright civil war. The narco-gangsters are bidding for power, in the way they know how, and the government, after nearly a century of corrupt rule, has little left in the way of credibility. Even a cursory glance at the history is chilling.
The mayor of one of the suburbs of Monterrey was murdered this week. He's not the first mayor to be thus dispatched, by the way.
Check your map. Monterrey is about a three-hour drive from Laredo, Texas, if OS's memory serves.
Remember how OS has ranted: What do we do when the headless bodies begin to show up in places like Kansas City? Or the local county sheriff's deputies confront organized armed gangs with their patrol cars and sidearms?
Well, take a peek at this feature, prepared by the Nashville Tennessean.
It's a county-by-county map of gang activity. In Tennessee. Including the gangs tied to the narco-gangsters south of the border. This is what the county sheriffs and city police departments now contend with. The entire feature goes into chilling detail. And, this, OS reminds you, is the paper whose editorial board long ago drank from the AlGore Kool-Aid. Even they admit there is a problem. Hard to explain away all those bodies stacking up, even if you are a hopeless liberal.
OS has a friend who used to be a journalist in a county near Nashville, where the gang activity is high. He covered drive-by shootings every week. In a formerly bucolic county seat. The tipping point was the day he covered the murder of a fifteen-year old boy, who was already the father of two. At that point, OS was insisting his friend was soon to endanger his life in his line of work. He found another paper to work for, in a quieter (for now) location.
True, not all of this can be laid at the feet of the government refusing to enforce the border. But, a lot of it can. And, it would be a great place to begin to tackle some of our challenges.
Before local Tennessee mayors are kidnapped, murdered, and have their headless bodies dumped behind the WalMart.
There is a huge problem on our southern border.
The Wall Street Journal is now covering the carnage, in what has become an outright civil war. The narco-gangsters are bidding for power, in the way they know how, and the government, after nearly a century of corrupt rule, has little left in the way of credibility. Even a cursory glance at the history is chilling.
The mayor of one of the suburbs of Monterrey was murdered this week. He's not the first mayor to be thus dispatched, by the way.
Check your map. Monterrey is about a three-hour drive from Laredo, Texas, if OS's memory serves.
Remember how OS has ranted: What do we do when the headless bodies begin to show up in places like Kansas City? Or the local county sheriff's deputies confront organized armed gangs with their patrol cars and sidearms?
Well, take a peek at this feature, prepared by the Nashville Tennessean.
It's a county-by-county map of gang activity. In Tennessee. Including the gangs tied to the narco-gangsters south of the border. This is what the county sheriffs and city police departments now contend with. The entire feature goes into chilling detail. And, this, OS reminds you, is the paper whose editorial board long ago drank from the AlGore Kool-Aid. Even they admit there is a problem. Hard to explain away all those bodies stacking up, even if you are a hopeless liberal.
OS has a friend who used to be a journalist in a county near Nashville, where the gang activity is high. He covered drive-by shootings every week. In a formerly bucolic county seat. The tipping point was the day he covered the murder of a fifteen-year old boy, who was already the father of two. At that point, OS was insisting his friend was soon to endanger his life in his line of work. He found another paper to work for, in a quieter (for now) location.
True, not all of this can be laid at the feet of the government refusing to enforce the border. But, a lot of it can. And, it would be a great place to begin to tackle some of our challenges.
Before local Tennessee mayors are kidnapped, murdered, and have their headless bodies dumped behind the WalMart.
Friday Evening August 20: The Joys Of Craig's List
OldSouth took another journey to Planet Knucklehead yesterday. The details don't matter, 'cuz you endure it as well, the slow-drip torture of burning irretrievable time getting simple things accomplished, which seem now to be not so simple.
OS is contemplating how to change his way of operating in this world, to avoid these sorts of things, hasn't come to a conclusion yet. He just can't be engaged constantly in the business of putting out small fires and get his work done, or have time and mental energy for those he loves.
Mrs. OS is teaching him the joys of Craig's List. Find the item, take some cash with, go buy the item (at a huge discount to retail), and go home.
There is a certain simple beauty in that approach. No shopping malls or telephone dweebs to deal with. This week, a lovely table was acquired, as well as three never-played woods with their covers, for a total of $65.
Tomorrow, shelves for the bathroom.
OS is contemplating how to change his way of operating in this world, to avoid these sorts of things, hasn't come to a conclusion yet. He just can't be engaged constantly in the business of putting out small fires and get his work done, or have time and mental energy for those he loves.
Mrs. OS is teaching him the joys of Craig's List. Find the item, take some cash with, go buy the item (at a huge discount to retail), and go home.
There is a certain simple beauty in that approach. No shopping malls or telephone dweebs to deal with. This week, a lovely table was acquired, as well as three never-played woods with their covers, for a total of $65.
Tomorrow, shelves for the bathroom.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Sometimes, Only Laughter Will Do: New Names For Ground Zero Mosque
Doug Ross has appealed for assistance. Apparently, the AP doesn't want the Ground Zero Mosque called the Ground Zero Mosque anymore. Too close to the truth, and it makes them, well, squeamish.
He's collected the first fifteen. All suggestions left here happily passed along. You gotta keep it clean, though. Play relatively nice.
15. Landing Gear Mosque
14. Project Bloomberg
13. 9/11 Victory Mosque
12. Daily Kosque
11. Caliphate-on-Hudson
10. The Gorelick & Clarke Building
9. Mosque formerly known as the Ground Zero Mosque
8. Hamosque
7. Crater’s Edge
6. Bullseye
5. The Mohammed Atta Memorial
4. Hormel House
3. The Debris Field Mosque
2. Burlington Terrorist Factory
1. New York Fire Training Academy
OS has come up with 'Miss Piggy's Downtown Digs' and 'The Presidential House Of Worship'. Not great, but he's been working all day...
'Bacon and Dregs' has a nice ring to it.
He's collected the first fifteen. All suggestions left here happily passed along. You gotta keep it clean, though. Play relatively nice.
15. Landing Gear Mosque
14. Project Bloomberg
13. 9/11 Victory Mosque
12. Daily Kosque
11. Caliphate-on-Hudson
10. The Gorelick & Clarke Building
9. Mosque formerly known as the Ground Zero Mosque
8. Hamosque
7. Crater’s Edge
6. Bullseye
5. The Mohammed Atta Memorial
4. Hormel House
3. The Debris Field Mosque
2. Burlington Terrorist Factory
1. New York Fire Training Academy
OS has come up with 'Miss Piggy's Downtown Digs' and 'The Presidential House Of Worship'. Not great, but he's been working all day...
'Bacon and Dregs' has a nice ring to it.
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