kimmy

MSJ provided some excellent reading material on this subject. Go read it, Pliny. -k

Omar sucks. -k

Why did "big-3 market share of the US auto market" suddenly become the relevant metric of whether GM is being well-run or not? To put market-share in perspective: Apple has never had top market share in either computers or in smartphones, and Apple is the most valuable company on earth. Making a profit on a smaller market share sounds like better management than posting losses on a bigger market share, and GM is making profits again. Pliny has cherry-picked market-share because it's the only metric he can find to support the narrative he wants to spin, but it's desperate and rather dumb. GM knew in advance that some of the moves they did to stop the hemorrhaging (shutting down their Saturn and Pontiac divisions, as well as Oldsmobile a few years earlier) would result in a loss of market share. Combined with that, consider that Kia over the past 5-6 years has changed from a bit-player to an established major brand in North America, who are doing huge business in the value-car segment that Saturn used to compete in. -k

I am playing Borderlands 2 right now. I'm not usually into shoot-em-ups, but I just loved Borderlands, and Borderlands 2 brings back all the things that made the original so fun, including cameos from some of the original cast. -k {"870 bazillion guns... just got bazilliondier!"}

Well, as I still part-time as an "alcohol transfer logistics consultant" (ie... bar waitress) some amount of provocative dress is expected, both by customers and management. It does depend on the environment, as well as one's role within the environment. I would expect that at a big business of some sort, a female IT technician and a female engineer and a female middle-manager and a female executive secretary would all have very different standards of dress, and it would probably be a result mostly of how they wanted to be perceived by their colleagues. Now that's an interesting comment. I'd never thought of it in that way, but it really does fit. We receive feedback on our clothes from the people around us, often through non-verbal means, and we assimilate this information and reference it next time we're deciding what to wear. I don't think women mind it when men notice their breasts. I do think women mind when men are creepy about it. There's a line somewhere and it's hard to pinpoint exactly where it is, but the guy who keeps staring at your chest is definitely on the wrong side of it. I think the harshest criticism of womens' clothing choices comes from other women. -k

The thread title made me giggle... I envision "People's Republic Cultural Product" coming in a utilitarian olive-green box labeled "Cultural Product", purchased from a store that also sells olive-green boxes labeled "Consumer Product". If I recall correctly (I may not...) the movie "Hero", starring Jet Li, was made with direct involvement from the Chinese government. It was somewhat entertaining, but the overall message did somewhat seem like pro-government propaganda. -k

A sign of increased competition and more consumer choice! -k

This is fiction no matter how often you guys repeat it. Banks lent out far more risky mortgages than any government regulation or quota required, and they did it because they were able to make a fortune doing so. -k

You're conflating two different questions. "Are food stamps a stimulus?" (yes) "Is it effective to fight a recession using deficit spending?" (highly debatable) -k

I keep hoping Willard will tell us what they are, but all he will commit to is "cutting regulations" and tax cuts. Deregulation did happen, though much of it done under Clinton rather than Dubya. And I think we're all aware that there wasn't anything very conservative about Dubya's economic policies. There's nothing very conservative about Willard's either. -k

It would be possible for the government to spend money in ways that don't produce any economic benefits. The difference you've highlighted is a philosophical one, not an economic one. In economic terms, they're completely equivalent. Calling one a "handout" and the other "letting people keep more of their own money" is an ideological distinction with no relevance to the economic impact of it. -k

America still hasn't recovered from the effects of the "pro-growth economic policies" that wrecked the economy in 2008. I don't think America can survive more "pro-growth policies". -k

Yes, they're an assistance program and are not intended as stimulus. Nonetheless, they are stimulus. They generate economic activity by putting money directly into the economy. Republicans have no problem grasping the idea that a tax cut for a middle-class person stimulates the economy by giving consumers more money to spend. Food stamps do exactly the same thing, and in much the same way: more consumer spending, at the expense of the government's balance sheet. -k

Paul Ryan gets the crowd fired up, hands off to Mitt Romney, and the enthusiasm is ... ...painful to watch. "Oh... sweet Jesus..." Sort of brings to mind a Canadian moment from a while back... -k

In terms of stimulus to the economy, food stamps are probably a lot more efficient than cutting capital gains taxes or any of the other ideas that Team Elephant is trumpeting right now. Food stamp funds go straight into the economy. They're spent at retailers, and more than likely spent at food retailers that are close to poor communities where food stamp recipients actually live. As well as being spent at local businesses in areas that need jobs the most, food stamp funds probably purchase American-made products at a higher rate than the average shopping dollar. As in, if an American buys $100 of consumer goods, a big portion of that $100 is probably being spent on stuff made in other countries. If an American buys $100 of food, a lot of it is probably spent on stuff produced by American farmers and food companies. -k

no, they're not. It's not laws requiring them to ignore prudence that the bank lobby is bawling to get repealed. -k

Hey Derek. Still no news. The RCMP lady assured me that it's just that the BC CFO is completely swamped right now. This is completely retarded. We're closing in on 3 months for a process they said typically takes 45 days. I'm not sure if the BC CFO staff are part of the provincial employees that have been involved in the one-day strikes, but if they are that can't be helping either. Do you know anything about 45 Long Colt ammo? I've mentioned my interest in getting a "cowboy" set of guns... a SAA style revolver, a lever action rifle, and maybe even a "Mare's Leg" all in matching caliber. And I had been thinking that .357 would be the way to go, but there might be a better variety available in 45LC, maybe due to the popularity of cowboy-action shooting. The downside is that 45LC ammo appears to be kind of expensive and is probably not easy to find at the local shops. On the other hand, it appears to be pretty versatile, as there are loads ranging everywhere from low-powered rounds for cowboy-action shooting to high-power rounds that are in the same league as 44 magnum. I've also read that a gun chambered for 45LC can fire shot-shells made for 44 magnums, and read reloaders boasting that their home-load 45LC shot-shells are more powerful than .410 shotgun shells. I'm still thinking .357 would probably be the most practical choice, but some of the stuff I have read about 45LC sounds pretty intriguing. I just finished watching the first season of "Hell On Wheels", which is a drama set right after the Civil War, at the rolling "town" that accompanied the construction of the Union Pacific railroad. (it was essentially a town was made of tents and wagons, and so full of vice and violence that an eastern visitor declared it to be "Hell, on wheels", originating the phrase.) The main character of the show packs an 1860 Army cap-and-ball revolver, and an 1866 Winchester. -k

Todd Starnes, head of the Christians Acting Like Victims department at Fox News, has looked at the response to the "Innocence of Muslims" video, and ask why not charge the creators of South Park with blasphemy. -k

Trying to explain free expression to the dummies who are rioting in the streets over this would be futile. This video was about a different incident earlier this year, but illustrates the kind of mentality in effect here. When you talk about trying to explain free expression to the ones rioting in the street, try and imagine trying to reason with this guy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9kAVlnGMTU -k

Not Alex Jones. Terry Jones, the pastor involved with the video. Has anybody noticed that pro-American Libyans have stormed the base of the Islamists that attacked the embassy and driven away the militia? -k

And further to this aspect of the story, Jon Stewart's segment on the topic last night, entitled "Chaos on Bullshit Mountain!" People like Sean Hannity and Fox Nation and Shady are trying to create the impression that half of America is sitting around collecting handouts. But that doesn't match with the reality. -k

That's false. Shady said " There's an ever-increasing number of voters that don't pay any taxes, who's existence is mostly, or soley based on government. So of course, they'll vote themselves bigger benefits, at the expense of tax payers." Nothing in this statement indicates that Shady was remotely aware that the "47%" statistic refers strictly to federal income tax. That he says "[their] existence is mostly or solely based on government" indicates otherwise. In fact, there's nothing to indicate that the audience at Mitt's fundraiser, or Mitt himself, for that matter, are aware of the distinction either. The fact that Mitt describes these 47% as people "who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it" seems to indicate that Mitt doesn't realize that the statistic only refers to federal income tax either. He doesn't seem to be aware that many of them are still paying into things like Medicare and Social Security even though they are not paying into federal income tax. And I have heard this line that "47% of Americans pay no taxes!" repeated often enough without any further qualification, by people ranging from media figures to forum members, to be highly skeptical that people are aware of the specifics behind it. -k

Jimmy Carter's grandson saw the clips that had been posted earlier, sought out the person who made them, and persuaded the person to release the full recording to Mother Jones. Anyway, who cares? Why does it matter that it was released right now? It's not like this is dredging back to stuff he did when he was a reckless youth, like holding kids down and giving them impromptu haircuts, or dressing up like a state trooper and pulling people over. No, this is from a few months ago, after he had already secured the Republican nomination. I realize he changes his story almost daily, but it's not like he's a different man from when he said this. What's your objection to this being discussed now? Yeah, this won't hurt Romney with his core supporters. It's probably going to hurt him with swing voters, though. We shall see. -k

The most puzzling part: the parts of America that are the biggest "takers" are the parts where Republican support is strongest: Irony alert -k