There’s been a lot of talk about the Fed’s “Quantitative Easing” in the media, but there really hasn’t been a clear explanation of what it is and why it may (or may not) be bad for the economy. I haven’t found anything I could “copy and paste” to explain what the big deal is.
While catching up with my monthly reading, I saw an article in the November 2010 issue of Fortune titled “Let Us Tell You The Ugly Truth About The Economy” (p98). About midway through the article, on page 106, the following paragraphs really hammer home what “Quantitative Easing” is…
“Let’s say the Fed buys $1 trillion of Treasury securities in the secondary market. Out of thin air, it creates $1 trillion in credit balances in the sellers’ accounts. The sellers have $1 trillion more cash than they did, increasing the money supply.
There is now $1 trillion less of publicly traded Treasuries, which props up their price. By contrast, if Goldman Sachs wanted to buy $1 trillion of Treasury securities, it would have to find $1 trillion of cash to pay for them. Sellers would have $1 trillion more cash than before, Goldman would have $1 trillion less. There would be no increase in the money supply or decrease in the Treasury supply.
If the Fed could buy endless amounts of Treasury securities without any side effects, it would almost be like free money…. The Fed can’t do that indefinitely without touching off inflation, debasing the dollar, or both.”
TL;DR : It would kind of like trying to buy a coke with a dollar bill you drew on the spot if you had the authority to do that (and the fancy paper and special ink).
Have you ever wondered what happened to the names of retailers that are no longer in business? Retailers like “General Cinema”, “Handy Dan”, “Meister Brau”, “Handi-Wrap” and “Braniff International” to name a few? What would you do if you could purchase those names and use them however you want?
A recent ad in the Wall Street Journal (Wednesday November 10th pC13) has the title BRAND NAME AUCTION, and apparently is going to let you do just that!
The auction ain’t gonna’ be cheap. On the TERMS page, there is a “$10,000 as initial earnest money” deposit required for the high bidders.
But if you’re a company looking for a “hook”, or a businessman looking to resurrect a brand name, this is actually a pretty great opportunity.
Buy “General Cinema”, setup a production company under that name, and upsell independent movies to big-screen theaters. Maybe setup a web-based video-on-demand service, too.
Buy “Braniff International” and start a private charter-jet service with four-city service : NYC, Dallas, Vegas, and LA. (No invasive body scanners, TSA, or idiot airlines to mess with!)
Buy “Meister Brau” and sell your custom beer nationwide.
Buy “Victrola” and release music that is no longer under under copyright as “classic” compilation downloads & CDs.
Buy “Kinckerbockers” and offer a children’s product line (clothing, diapers, toys, etc) for resell along the lines of AVON. Local reps show the “Kinckerbockers” catalogue to friends, buy the product wholesale (like AVON) and keep the upsell profits for themselves (like AVON).
Dammit. I need to be on that TV show “The Apprentice” already. I’ll stomp all over everyone. Call me Donald Trump!
Here are some news stories from this week that I think the mainstream media completely missed out on. All links are from legitimate news sources and not the fringe / wacko sites.
This week : A “twitterified” version!!
* An 18 month old girl falls off a third floor balcony, bounced off a cafe awning and into the arms of a passing doctor. Paris. Of course. [BBC.CO.UK]
* Researchers have figured out how to erase memories. Soon we can happily repeat our crap decisions over and over. [HOPKINS MEDICINE.COM]
* Rich people have their own exclusive pawnshops? OK, the economy really is bad. [NEWSWEEK]
* BIMBO to buy Sara Lee? Yay! Sugar on everything!! [FOOD BUSINESS NEWS]
* A 1099 will soon be required for EVERY BUSINESS PURCHASE over $600. Phooey! [HOTAIR]
* Waterboarding isn’t torture if the US governemnt does it, but it is “domestic assault, false imprisonment, and making terrorist threats” if an individual does it! Good to know! [SMOKING GUN] and [INDY POSTED]
* Dick Cheney apparently caused 70 CIA informants to get killed when he outed Valerie Plame. (Or become “living challenged” as the Dickster might refer to ’em.) [SUN TIMES / ROGER EBERT]
* Obama is still allowing torture. That is all. [YAHOO]
* Enjoy the Big Macs and McRibs while you can. McDonalds is gonna’ raise their prices. [UPI]
* Is it cheaper to keep employees off the new Obamacare insurance and pay the fine? YEP! Three guesses what’s gonna’ happen when it becomes law. [YAHOO]
* BP dispersants are making people living in the area very very very sick. But the fish are good to eat! Honest! [AL JAZEERA]
* Another scientific discovery says if you sit at your desk too much, you’re gonna’ die. No news on the effects of headstands, squatting, or hovering bosses. [MSNBC]
* Newspapers are done in 7 years? No way! Sending a glare over an iPad isn’t the same as sending a glare over a newspaper! [NEOWIN]
…and finally…
* A major Chineese minister says dollar printing is out of control. [REUTERS] With a (actually funny) related SNL video…
That’s all I got. Back Monday!
** Actually posted late Sunday because my lungs are still having a coughapalooza fiesta. Not fun.
I haven’t posted for awhile because I got a cough & cold a with 2nd degree black belt that judo-flipped me into bed for awhile. I’m somewhat better now… and just in time for Monday. Oh joy.
I had some stories ready to go for this weekend, but Jon Stewart had a “Rally To Restore Sanity” at the mall of America this last week and the mainstream media completely missed out on this.
More people attended Stewart’s rally than the one Glen BokBok held in the same location just a few weeks prior, but Stewart’s rally only garnered sparse coverage on CNN, MSNBC and FOX. More “real” people were at Stewart’s rally, and even though the event was a “comedy” rally, Stewart’s speech at the end was epic.
The only thing I’m posting this weekend is Stewart’s closing speech. It’s that good.
Here it is, presented in its’ entirety (the following transcript is courtesy of Rolling Stone).
—–
And now I thought we might have a moment, however brief, for some sincerity, if that’s ok; I know there are boundaries for a comedian, pundit, talker guy, and I’m sure I’ll find out tomorrow how I have violated them.
I’m really happy you guys are here, even if none of us are really quite sure why we are here. Some of you may have seen today as a clarion call for action, or some of the hipper, more ironic cats as a clarion call for ‘action.’ Clearly, some of you just wanted to see the Air and Space Museum and got royally screwed. And I’m sure a lot of you are here to have a nice time, and I hope you did. I know that many of you made a great effort to be here today, and I want you to know that everyone involved with this project worked incredibly hard to make sure that we honor the effort that you put in and gave you the best show we could possibly do. We know your time is valuable, and we didn’t want to waste it. And we are all extremely honored to have had a chance to perform for you on this beautiful space, on The Mall in Washington, D.C.
I can’t control what people think this was. I can only tell you my intentions. This was not a rally to ridicule people of faith. Or people of activism or to look down our noses at the heartland or passionate argument or to suggest that times are not difficult and that we have nothing to fear. They are and we do. But we live now in hard times, not end times. And we can have animus and not be enemies.
Unfortunately, one of our main tools in delineating the two broke. The country’s 24-hour politico pundit panic conflict-onator did not cause our problems, but its existence makes solving them that much harder. The press can hold its magnifying glass up to our problems and illuminate problems heretofore unseen, or it can use its magnifying glass to light ants on fire, and then perhaps host a week of shows on the sudden, unexpected dangerous-flaming-ant epidemic. If we amplify everything, we hear nothing.
There are terrorists and racists and Stalinists and theocrats, but those are titles that must be earned. You must have the resume. Not being able to distinguish between real racists and tea partiers, or real bigots and Juan Williams and Rich Sanchez is an insult — not only to those people, but to the racists themselves, who have put forth the exhausting effort it takes to hate. Just as the inability to distinguish between terrorists and Muslims makes us less safe, not more.
The press is our immune system. If it overreacts to everything we eventually get sicker. And perhaps eczema. Yet, with that being said, I feel good. Strangely, calmly good, because the image of Americans that is reflected back to us by our political and media process is false. It is us through a funhouse mirror, and not the good kind that makes you slim and taller — but the kind where you have a giant forehead and an ass like a pumpkin and one eyeball.
So, why would we work together? Why would you reach across the aisle to a pumpkin assed forehead eyeball monster? If the picture of us were true, our inability to solve problems would actually be quite sane and reasonable. Why would you work with Marxists actively subverting our Constitution or racists and homophobes who see no one’s humanity but their own? We hear every damn day about how fragile our country is — on the brink of catastrophe — torn by polarizing hate and how it’s a shame that we can’t work together to get things done, but the truth is we do. We work together to get things done every damn day. The only place we don’t is here or on cable TV. Americans don’t live here or on cable TV. Where we live our values and principles form the foundation that sustains us while we get things done, not the barriers that prevent us from getting things done.
Most Americans don’t live their lives solely as Democrats or Republicans or conservatives or liberals. Most Americans live their lives that our just a little bit late for something they have to do. Often it’s something they do not want to do, but they do it. Impossible things get done every day that are only made possible by the little, reasonable compromises.
[With footage of lanes of slow-moving traffic playing on screens behind him, Stewart went on to build a metaphor based on the traffic merger at the Lincoln Tunnel between New York and New Jersey.]
These cars — that’s a school teacher who thinks taxes are too high…there’s a mom with two kids who can’t think about anything else…another car, the lady’s in the NRA. She loves Oprah…An investment banker, gay, also likes Oprah…a Latino carpenter…a fundamentalist vacuum salesman…a Mormon Jay Z fan…But this is us. Everyone of the cars that you see is filled with individuals of strong belief and principles they hold dear — often principles and beliefs in direct opposition to their fellow travelers.
And yet these millions of cars must somehow find a way to squeeze one by one into a mile-long, 30-foot wide tunnel carved underneath a mighty river…And they do it. Concession by concession. You go. Then I’ll go. You go, then I’ll go. You go, then I’ll go — oh my god, is that an NRA sticker on your car, an Obama sticker on your car? Well, that’s OK. You go and then I’ll go…”Sure, at some point there will be a selfish jerk who zips up the shoulder and cuts in at the last minute. But that individual is rare and he is scorned, and he is not hired as an analyst.
Because we know instinctively as a people that if we are to get through the darkness and back into the light we have to work together and the truth is, there will always be darkness. And sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel isn’t the promised land. Sometimes it’s just New Jersey. But we do it anyway, together.
If you want to know why I’m here and what I want from you I can only assure you this: you have already given it to me. Your presence was what I wanted. Sanity will always be and has always been in the eye of the beholder. To see you here today and the kind of people that you are has restored mine. Thank you.
A new article on CNET says that “U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood issued an injunction today against the company that operates the long popular file-sharing software, LimeWire, and requires managers there to disable “the searching, downloading, uploading, file trading and/or file distribution functionality, and/or all functionality” of the LimeWire software”
If you visit the Limewire page right now, you’ll see the official “death notice”…
“This is an official notice that LimeWire is under a court-ordered injunction to stop distributing and supporting its file-sharing software. Downloading or sharing copyrighted content without authorization is illegal.”
If you’re still on Limewire, I would recommend you remove the app from your system right now. It’s about to be as useful as Napster was when the hammer came down on them.
Here are some news stories from this week that I think the mainstream media completely missed out on. All links are from legitimate news sources and not the fringe / wacko sites.
* I have a great idea for a Law and Order episode! A jealous lover sabotages her rival’s parachute, causing her to fall to her death on the big jump the whole love triangle decided to take together! I’ll spice up the story by saying the woman that was killed was actually a married mother with two kids, and the murderess was just the “weekend” girl! To make the story really pop, I’ll say the two women spent the night in the man’s home a week before the fatal jump! Wait… all this really happened? In Belgium? Dude. Harsh. Ok, fine, I’ll only charge half my usual script price. Call me, Hollywood. [BBC.CO.UK]
* How much do you think a toll worker should make a year? You know… those workers that make change for you at a toll booth? 35k? 55k? 75k? How about $321k! Welcome to Noo Joisey! Whadda yoo lookin’ at? [FOX NY]
* American is losing a big piece of fabulousness this year. The Liberace museum in Las Vegas is closing. According to Wikipedia, “during the 1950s–1970s he was the highest-paid entertainer in the world.” For good reason. The man was talented far beyond his time, a real virtuoso on the piano, as theatrical and flamboyant as Elton John ever could be, and was always a “happy” entertainer. [CNN] has the story about the museum closing. For those of you who have no idea who Liberace is, check out this appearance from the Muppet Show in the clip below.
* “A small mountain town in California now has phone service for the first time in history!” What? Seriously? Next up, ELECTRIC LIGHTS and PAVED ROADS!! Look out 19th century! Here we come!! [FOX NEWS]
* A recent study says “heart medication and cholesterol drugs may be causing memory loss and temporary dementia.” I can’t wait for the first defense attorney to float the “too many cheeseburger medication” defense. You know it will happen. [SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN]
* In a bit of seriousness, a ruling by a federal judge is coming pretty soon on Virginia’s lawsuit over Obama’s recent insurance law/mandate. Here’s the Scooby-Doo “jinkies!” worthy quote… “Judge Hudson’s sharp questioning offered some clues as to how he views each side’s case. He showed sympathy for the plaintiff’s contention that requiring Americans to carry health insurance amounts to regulating “inactivity,” and that Congress lacks such a power…Allowing such power, Judge Hudson said, could open the door for the federal government to require residents to buy a car, join a gym and “eat asparagus,” he said. “It’s boundless.”” [WALL STREET JOURNAL]
* If you’re going to go off and build your own space station, you should know there’s now an internationally accepted docking port design for use in all space stations. “The IDSS IDD is the result of a working group established in 2009 by the International Space Station partners (the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), the European Space Agency (ESA), the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) assisted by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos))…. The figures and tables in this initial IDSS IDD release depict the features of the docking interface. Some docking system features are defined by the basic IDD standard, some will be defined in the future and some are left to the discretion of the individual docking system designer.” Um, OK. By my last count I think I found there was ONE space station in existence, so who exactly is this for? Something coming up we should to know about? [INTERNATIONAL DOCKING STANDARD]
* And finally, a shocking new study has found that “Motherhood may actually cause the brain to grow, not turn it into mush, as some have claimed.” I think the “mush” part will be highly debated among new parents. [SCIENCE DAILY]
Here are some news stories from this week that I think the mainstream media completely missed out on. All links are from legitimate news sources and not the fringe / wacko sites.
* Do you remember the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark? At the beginning when Indiana Jones turned around to see a giant friggin’ hero-flattenin’ boulder slooooowly start to roll down towards him? There’s a lot of news articles like that this week…
Meat prices are gonna’ go up to the highest they’ve been in a quarter century [BLOOMBERG]
A massive 50-state investigation “into the industry’s alleged use of faulty or fraudulent documents to complete tens of thousands of foreclosures” is starting [USA TODAY]
Not to worry! It’s nothing a bullwhip and a cocky smirk can’t solve! Come to think of it, a bullwhip and a cocky smirk tend to solve quite a few things. (I’ve heard)
* The rescue of the Chile miners went perfectly! And the trivia answer to the “who was the first one into the mine and the last one out of the mine” is…. Manuel Gonzalez! Manuel is also a former professional footballer who “vowed to stay until they were all evacuated” and his last act before getting out of the mine was “waving to the camera, bowing and then offering up a prayer”, then getting into the Phoenix capsule to GTFOutta there! Science rocks! [DAILYMAIL.CO.UK]
* Regrow your own lungs from scratch in a month? Seriously? Rat trials are underway already? Human trials in a few years? Social smoking to make a massive comeback? Go science!! Wait… [POPSCI.COM]
* Walking 9 miles a week saves your memory in old age? Well then driving over 100 miles a week should make me the smartest person in the world! Road Trip!! [BUSINESSWEEK]
* The 24 karat gold “What the HELL ARE YOU THINKING” trophy this week goes to Professor Borut Povse and the scientists in Slovenia who are training robots to learn our pain threshold “by punching humans and seeing if they cry”. The robot will stop “when the men cry mercy.” Seriously, somebody needs to keep an eye on Povse. “Dictator” and “robot army” are some of the kinder words I’m thinking of here. [NEWS.COM.AU] and [NEW SCIENTIST]
* So lemme get this straight… I buy a home waaaaayyy out of my price range, I can’t afford to make monthly payments on it, and when I fall behind for over six months I don’t get to keep it? Could Wall Street be right in saying this whole mortgage crisis really is the fault of the people in this “foreclosure fiasco”? Naaahhhh!! [REUTERS]
* And now a bit of serious news… Justin Stoner blew the whistle on his platoon for their rampant drug use, but the resulting probe found out that not only was his platoon a bunch of loser potheads, they took part in Afghan civilian killings, even “keeping body parts as war trophies.” His “fellow GIs beat him” for calling them on their activities, and now the “Army apparently wants to silence him.” What country is this again? Where’s the liberal cries of protest? Where’s the conservative outrage on this? On a related note, Stoner has a tattoo on his back that President Obama and congress need to have printed and hanging on their office wall… “What if I’m not the good guy. What if I’m the bad guy?” Exactly. [CNN]
* And now a bit of awesome news…. The horrible backstory: Scott and Jennifer Petkov have been mercilessly taunting seven year old Kathleen Edwards, who is dying of Huntington’s Disease, by hanging photos of her in front of their home and on Facebook with “her face becoming the center of a skull and crossbones”. The Petkovs have even made fun of Kathleen’s dead mother, who has already died of Huntington’s Disease, by putting up photos of her in the front of their home and on Facebook “wrapped in the arms of the grim reaper”. When asked why they were doing this, Jennifer Petkov said “for personal satisfaction… because it burns Rebecca Rose’s ass raw. It burns Rebecca Rose’s ass raw for me to make fun of her dead daughter.” (Rebecca Rose is the grandmother of Kathleen Edwards.) Scott and Jennifer Petkov also “painted their truck with tombstones and placed a coffin in the back of the truck… then parked it in front of the Rose family home.” Fortunately, this story made the internet and was featured on several social sites. One of the social sites caught the attention of the local “Tree Town Toys” store owner, who then rallied the community (and all the internet sites he is a member of) for a massive show of support for little Kathleen Edward. Kathleen was soon picked up at her home and arrived to a red carpet welcome to a cheering crowd “in a stretch Hummer that read Team Kathleen… to an unlimited shopping spree at Tree Town Toys” where “she could pick out anything she wanted.” The Ann Arbor Fire Department was also there “to show their support” and a party with lots of cake followed. “$17,000 in donations have come in” as well as flowers and gifts from as far away as Japan and Pakistan. And as for the Petkovs? Nothing but apology after apology now. Good people do exist, and great things still happen. This is how it’s done. [MY FOX DETROIT]
That’s all I got. Back Monday!
** Actually upped on 10/17/10 for even more evil reasons all my own! Mu ha ha ha ha!!!!
