When I wrote here more frequently, one of my inspirations was watching the interaction between management and workers. My first work for hire was alongside workers, and the cultural background of my family would have a blue collar if it wore collared shirts at all. But I have always favored ideas that look neat on Click Here to continue reading.
A mysterious illness is causing calves to bleed to death on German farms. Veterinarians are stumped over what is causing the deaths: vaccines, genetically modified feed or perhaps even the first mother’s milk?
What can a cattle farmer do when he sees blood running from his calves like water, when they become lethargic and febrile and, by the next morning, are lying dead on the floor, their coats covered in blood?
“Our calves from last summer looked like they had been beaten,” says farmer Robert Meyboom, who is still shocked and perplexed today. “The animals’ bodies were covered with drops of blood, and their eyes were bloodshot.”
Half a year after the government seized Freddie Mac, confusion about its role is stoking tensions between the company and its regulator, including a dispute this month over how much the mortgage giant should reveal to private investors about its financial troubles.
Federal officials who took over Freddie Mac stopped short of nationalizing the company, leaving it partly in private hands. This means Freddie still has to answer to investors and file financial disclosures.
But when Freddie Mac’s executives concluded a few weeks ago that they had to disclose that the government’s management of the McLean company was undermining its profitability and would cost it tens of billions of dollars, the firm’s regulator urged it not to do so, according to several sources familiar with the matter.
Freddie Mac executives refused to bend. The clash grew so severe that they threatened to go to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which oversees corporate disclosures, to secure a ruling that the regulator’s request was out of line. The company’s regulator backed down, the sources said.
This is why government involvement in the economy is bad news.
Just watch this video for long enough to get to the end of the sheep story if you want a good laugh. Anyone who knows anything about sheep knows those stupid rubber bands are inhumane. But there are other ways of castrating sheep besides the way that he was taught to do it. After you get past the sheep story, the rest is just blather.
I already know that white collar people don’t know much and yet think they can tell us how to do our jobs. I already know that most safety regulations can’t be followed in the real world. And as far as a PR campaign for work goes, give me break.
Cute fury bunny rabbits using semi realistic tactics. (Hard to tell from the trailer, but the switch to the backup weapon looks right. But rarely will you see people working alone like they do).
Something is up. It seems that people in the highest levels of the US and Pakistan governments have decided to tell the New York Times what everyone basically already knows. Pakistan is supporting the Taliban militants who are fighting US soldiers and they have no intention of ever stopping that support. A short quote from the article….
Details of the ISI’s continuing ties to militant groups were described by a half-dozen American, Pakistani and other security officials during recent interviews in Washington and the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. All requested anonymity because they were discussing classified and sensitive intelligence information.
The American officials said proof of the ties between the Taliban and Pakistani spies came from electronic surveillance and trusted informants. The Pakistani officials interviewed said that they had firsthand knowledge of the connections, though they denied that the ties were strengthening the insurgency.
And later on in the article, American officials say what everyone knows….
Top American officials speak bluntly about how the situation has changed little since last summer, when evidence showed that ISI operatives helped plan the bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul, an attack that killed 54 people.
“They have been very attached to many of these extremist organizations, and it’s my belief that in the long run, they have got to completely cut ties with those in order to really move in the right direction,” Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said recently on “The Charlie Rose Show” on PBS.
The Taliban has been able to finance a military campaign inside Afghanistan largely through proceeds from the illegal drug trade and wealthy individuals from the Persian Gulf. But American officials said that when fighters needed fuel or ammunition to sustain their attacks against American troops, they would often turn to the ISI.
When the groups needed to replenish their ranks, it would be operatives from the S Wing who often slipped into radical madrasas across Pakistan to drum up recruits, the officials said.
The whole article should really be read by everyone. The most interesting thing about the article is that is was high level Pakistan officials who talked to the New York Times reporters. I wonder what caused them to decide to talk? It seems like this article is designed to set the stage for something but I am not sure what.
Regardless, the article highlights the problem with America’s ruling class. They are so degenerate that they are propping up a regime that they know is complicit in ongoing attacks on American soldiers. They do this not because they want American solders to get killed but because they are afraid of what will happen if they stop the support.
They can’t make hard decisions. They don’t have the guts to do anything that might have real costs. And this can not be blamed solely on Obama. These problems were already clear when Bush was in charge. Nor is it solely a problem with the White House. Everyone who is informed in this country already pretty much knew everything in this article. But no “serious” pundit has been willing to lay out the true choices facing America.
The truth that nobody wants to admit is that we have only two choices. We can swallow our pride and leave Afghanistan with all the catastrophic implications that choice has. Or we can give Pakistan a true “us or them” ultimatum with all the catastrophic implications that such an ultimatum would necessarily entail.
What we are doing right now is not a sane choice no matter what your ideology is. We are sending Americans in who will die trying to create a stable Afghanistan when we know they can never succeed as long as ISI is supporting the other side. We are wasting blood and money simply because our political caste is composed of cowards who want to kick the can down the road until a solution magically appears. In the end, though, we are either going to have to leave or else fight Pakistan. All the money and blood that was spent to try to avoid that choice will have been wasted.
In a way, the New York Times article is almost a good sign. At least the political caste is starting to go on record as admitting to things that everyone already knows to be true. I don’t know what they are trying to set the stage for, but acknowledging the facts is a move in the right direction.
An auction of government-guaranteed bonds failed for the first time in seven years today.
The Debt Management Office (DMO) – which sells gilts to raise money on behalf of the Government – said it had attracted bids worth only £1.63 billion for a tranche of gilts worth £1.75 billion.
The Treasury gilts are due to mature in 2049.
But the Treasury moved quickly to dismiss claims that the appetite for Government bonds was falling amid concerns about public debt and worries that the Government may be forced to step up the number of gilts it issues.
Edit: This too….
March 25 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks retreated after a Treasury auction of five-year notes drew a higher-than-forecast yield, spurring concern government attempts to lower interest rates will fail amid record sales of bonds.
Someday I want to learn all about lock-picking. I think it would be terribly fun.
Actually, I will try to be sure never to learn more about lock-picking because I am not sure I could stop from picking locks once I knew how. Just for fun.
H/T Hip And Thigh.
Here is a cool little game that makes an important philosophical point. Sadly the game can only be played once. That is because they never change the underlying rules so each time you play the game will get easier even if you do not read the explanation at the end. Still, I only got 3 errors so all you competitive people can see if you can do better on your first try.
A conspiracy theory I can believe. Especially since not just any old investor can participate in this program. They have to be certified by the government before they can even bid.
Pity the poor for they are always the ones who suffer the most when society breaks down. The rich can buy guns.
Japan’s elderly are going to have are really hard time funding their retirement.