Sleepless in Midland

Dana Milbank on Rick Perry - "He's no libertarian"

The Republican who most threatens President Obama in the next Presidential election is that famous "Generic Republican" who keeps besting Obama in the polls. Once a nominee gets a name and face, then he/she is going have to run a gauntlet of mud pies to get to the finish line. And it's already started.

Rick Perry seems to be drawing the most fire from liberal columnists, and that's a good clue as to who they think threatens the incumbent most.

Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank is trying to throw a rock at Rick Perry by saying he wasn't much of a libertarian until just recently. That may be true, but no one sympathetic to Obama would consider voting for a Republican anyway, regardless of the libertarian leanings. So the purpose of Mr. Milbank's attack is to try to sway those libertarian Tea Party types who haven't yet committed themselves to a candidate. The Tea Party folks may not be committed to a candidate, but they are quite committed to a change at the White House. And it's a good bet they will be eager to defeat Obama regardless of who steps into the shoes of that "Generic Republican."

Meanwhile, David Boaz tosses the rock right back at Milbank with this:

Good point. Now if only the Post had warned voters about Barack Obama back in 2007. And alas, Milbank could be kept busy for the next few weeks writing about presidential candidates who are “no libertarian.”

Expect more rock throwing and mud slinging between now and the 2012 election, and I say "great!" That's democracy in action. It's loud, it's messy, and it's the best thing going.

The world tomorrow

If this can be believed, it's a series of drawings made in 1910 of the artist's vision of life in the year 2000.

My favorite is the mechanical barber which probably used a straight razor for that smooth shave.

Found at Smilepanic.com via Metafilter.com.

So what will life be like in the year 3000? Each human will have his own personal robot valet, and no human exertion will ever be necessary, especially after the development of the exercise pill. But still no flying autos.

Nigerians scam lawyers

A gang of Nigerians conned some U.S. and Canadian law firms out of over $31 million in a clever scam. There's probably a lawyer joke in there somewhere, but here's what happened.

Con-man #1 contacts a law firm and engages it to collect a debt from someone. The lawyer who takes the case contacts the debtor who agrees to pay the debt. The debtor turns out to be Con-man #2, and he sends a fake check to the law firm. The lawyer calls the bank to verify that the check is good. Presumably the lawyer calls the phone number on the fake check, because the person who takes the call on behalf of the bank is Con-man #3 who assures the lawyer the check is good.

So the lawyer deposits the check in the law firm account and writes a check to Con-man #1 who promptly cashes the check and takes off for Nigeria to live the high life.

One of the Nigerians, Emmanuel Ekhator, was extradited to the U.S. a few weeks ago. Link. But whether any of the money will get returned is anybody's guess.

There now.  Here's what you've been waiting for:

The two partners in a law firm were having lunch when suddenly one of them jumped up and said, "I have to go back to the office - I forgot to lock the safe!"

The other partner replied, "What are you worried about? We're both here."

Had enough?  One more.

Q: How many lawyers does it take to change a light bulb?

A: You won't find a lawyer who can change a light bulb. Now, if you're looking for a lawyer to screw a light bulb...

Aside from the zombie, how was the picnic?

I love a photographer who can stay in focus during a zombie attack.

See the whole series at Quite Possibly The Most Awesome Wedding Photos Of All Time!

Don't go swimming with the fishes after a hurricane

Check it out. This photo was supposed to have been taken in Puerto Rico after hurricane Irene swept through.

Hopefully, it ate before it came to town. But the typical shark may consume 2% if its body weight per day, so it's hunting.

Via Ego TV via Bits & Pieces.

Justice on the border

There is so much money generated by the contraband drug industry that it corrupts everything it touches. And unfortunately, in one Texas border county it seems to include the justice system.

Cameron County, Texas, is just across the border from Reynosa, Mexico. And a District Court Judge (a Judge!) there named Abel Corral Limas recently pleaded guilty to racketeering charges:

On March 31, Limas acknowledged the facts in a lengthy recitation of the evidence against him read into the record in open court by the United States which proved that Limas used his state elected office as the sitting judge of the 404th District Court to enrich himself through bribery and extortion. Limas accepted money from criminal defendants and intermediaries in return for favorable judicial rulings in criminal cases, including terminations of probationary terms and modification of probationary terms and bond terms. He also accepted money and other consideration from attorneys in civil cases pending in his court in return for favorable pre-trial rulings in certain cases, including a case involving a helicopter crash at South Padre Island in February 2008. He also accepted money from attorneys in return for ad litem appointments. Limas also acknowledged receiving a total of $257,300 between August 2007 through Jan. 2, 2009, through his illegal racketeering enterprise. [Emphasis mine.]

You know there must have been some heavy duty forum shopping going on by criminal defendants in that jurisdiction.

Other guilty pleas included Francisco “Pancho” Cisneros, the bail bondsman bag man.

But the indictments just keep coming. An investigator for the Cameron County District Attorney named Jaime Munivez was also indicted as was alleged middleman Jose Manuel Longoria. And now a trial lawyer in Austin named Marc Rosenthal has been roped into the whole thing. Disclaimer -- the fine folks mentioned in this paragraph have only been indicted, not convicted, so they are presumed innocent until ... well, you know the rest.

For a list of suspects see ValleyCentral.com.

What a mess. Zoom in far enough with a microscope on living cells and the edges are difficult to distinguish as the matter appears to merge together. That's what our border areas look like. The line is not detectable.

Stick a Mosque in it

Our city government here in Midland, Texas, bends over backwards to help out Christian organizations. They close streets for the Catholic Church. They transform an entire neighborhood for a Christian school. And they shell out taxpayer money for a Christian rock concert. The excuse for that last one was that tourist dollars would come pouring in.

Sure, there's the church/state issue, but there also appears to be a case of favoritism. Only Christians seem to be the beneficiaries of the government benevolence. But our elected officials aren't dummies. Surely they've considered the possibility that some other religion might want equal treatment.

So the old, empty courthouse comes to mind. It's county property, not city, and the county hasn't demonstrated the religious fervor the city council has, but its still unused government property up for the asking. And the county just might like to get ahead of the issue.

What to do with the old courthouse? Turn it into a mosque.

I don't know what it takes to make a mosque, but there's probably enough of a building there to qualify.

But wait, why not put the ground zero mosque there, too? That would solve all sorts of problems for the heroes in New York.

And think of the possibilities. The Mecca of Midland. A Rockin' with Ramadan Concert. The tourist dollars would come pouring in!

How to confuse an idiot

Maybe you can figure it out. I can't.

Youtube link.

Via Sully the Urban Hillbilly.

Blade Runner remake update

Hush. It's not a remake! It's a sequel, prequel or ancillary story. See previously.

So now Deadline.com tells us that Ridley Scott has signed up to direct the "Blade Runner" sequel, prequel, whatever.

Hopefully it will come out before 2019, the futuristic setting of the original 1982 "Blade Runner."

Pop quiz. Who directed "Blade Runner?" Answer: Ridley Scott.

Texas Health Insurance Pool

The local newspaper tries to be even handed on political issues, and so this morning we saw an AP editorial titled Perry says no to 'Obamacare,' but what's his plan? in which Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar says this:

With Perry running for the Republican presidential nomination, health care in Texas and his own ideas as governor will get fly-speck scrutiny on the national stage. His state is a study in contrasts, boasting world-renowned facilities like the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, along with the highest proportion of uninsured residents of any state — 26 percent.

As a national candidate Perry has made total repeal of "Obamacare" central to his fledgling campaign. But it's unclear what he would put in its place.

Alternate link.

The answer to the question might be the Texas Health Insurance Pool (THIP) which has been issuing health insurance policies since1998. (See the FAQ.)

The purpose of THIP is to provide insurance for those people otherwise uninsurable by commercial insurance companies. The premiums are set by the board of directors. And it's optional. There is no government agency forcing anyone to buy the insurance. But it is health insurance available to people who have one of the qualifying preexisting conditions or who have been turned away by a commercial insurance company.

THIP solves the problem for Texans that ObamaCare sought to solve, i.e., make insurance available to uninsurable Americans, but without all the baggage Obama and Congress put into the bill President Obama eventually signed.

But THIP is such a closely guarded secret that there isn't even a Wikipedia entry about it. And it's hard to imagine that Associated Press reporters would know about it. But there it is, in pixelated print, the Texas Health Insurance Pool.

So is it true that 26% of Texans are uninsured? Who could know? But they do have a choice.

A slice of candy

Ever wonder what a candy bar looks like on the inside? Well, you can always buy one and bite into it. But what's the fun in that?

Here's a site where you can see photos of slices of 69 candy bars. Some look quite tasty and familiar, others not so much.

It's reminiscent of Sliced, the short lived TV show in which the host sawed stuff in half to satisfy that nagging curiosity: "What the heck does this thing look like on the inside?" It didn't take long for viewers to get their fill.

Why Senator Tom Coburn is loved so much

How can a politician with the nickname "Dr. No" be so beloved by his constituents? Well, all politicians tell people what they want to hear. And Sen. Coburn's constituents want to hear that lawmakers aren't spending like drunken sailors. (Apologies to drunken sailors for the comparison.)

The other day C-SPAN broadcast a town hall meeting from August 16, 2011, in which Senator Coburn answered questions from the audience at Tulsa Community College. For a taste of why they like him so much watch it at the this link.

Skip to the end and start at the 59:48 mark. The audience member says she and her colleagues are there on behalf of the Alzheimer’s Association, and she goes on to explain how devastating the disease is and especially how much money she believes Alzheimer's disease will cost the nation in coming years. She says there are a couple of bills pending, and ends by asking if they can count on Sen. Coburn's support. Then we get to the good part.

He answers, "No, you cannot." He goes on to explain that he wants the best National Institute for Health in the world. But the last thing we need is special interest groups telling the scientists where they need to go. He said the head of the NIH begged him to please not make any more laws telling them what to do but to let them follow the science to help the greatest number of people.

Let the scientists follow the science, not the special interest groups. Who can argue against that prescription? And here we have just a small sample of why he is so well loved.

 

Feeling young? You're not.

Next Christmas when "Home Alone" shows up on your TV, remember this:

More like this at 40 things that will make you feel old.

Via NewmarksDoor.com.

The President's Pictorial Posture

This photo keeps cropping up, most recently in LATimes.com about President Barack Obama's vacation reading.

Seems that the NYT may have originally posted the photo of Obama displaying good posture and intellectual curiosity in a fawning article during the 2008 campaign.

But amateur photographers will notice immediately that the picture is crooked. (I want to reach out, Monk like, and realign it with the surroundings.) Look at the horizon and the tarmac. The photo is tilted about 5 degrees to the right, and while that's an easy mistake for an amateur, it's misdirection when done by a professional.

Straighten it out and see a much more realistic, if slightly stooped, view of the subject.

 
Published photo on left.  Corrected photo on right.

More Jersey Shore unbranding

We talked about this phenomenon before -- reverse advertising or unbranding -- in regard to Snooki of "Jersey Shore" fame whereby owners of famous brands sent her clothes with competitors' labels so people would associate her with someone else's brand.

That's a rather ignoble way to make money, being bribed not to be associated with a product. But it's the marketplace at work.

And now we learn that another one of those show stars is getting the bum's payoff. Newslite.tv:

A spokesperson for Abercrombie and Fitch said: "We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino's association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image." ...

"We have therefore offered a substantial payment to Michael 'The Situation' Sorrentino and the producers of MTV's The Jersey Shore to have the character wear an alternate brand.

"We have also extended this offer to other members of the cast, and are urgently waiting a response."

Seems like there's room for extortion in there somewhere. "Nice set of sneakers you're selling. It would be a shame if everyone saw me wearing them."

Greetings aliens from outer space

Welcome to Earth. We hear that you are monitoring our global warming and plan to invade our planet because of it. Source and quote:

Watching from afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth's atmosphere as symptomatic of a civilisation growing out of control – and take drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat, the researchers explain.

That's not necessary, because we welcome you with open arms.

We are a very peaceful people, and we love one another regardless of race, color, creed or planet of origin. Sure we get in occasional spats, but for the most part those little skirmishes get resolved peacefully. Some of them continue to fester, but once there's a final resolution, i.e., one side gives the other a royal beatdown, the dispute ends, and the two sides get alone.

It's all just a matter showing who's boss. It's quite simple, really.

Once you arrive we'll treat you with all the respect you deserve. We love all species, even the ugly ones. And we might even be able to love someone, or thing, that looks like you.  Photo souce.

Can I be frank? With that bulbous head and odd shaped eyes you aren't exactly a calendar pinup. Maybe that huge head means you've got a big brain. But down here, size doesn't matter. And what's with those big nocturnal eyes? You live on some planet that doesn't have daytime?

But those spindly arms and legs are the tell. Your planet doesn't have enough gravity stop spit. Here on earth a strong wind just might blow you over. So you had better watch it, dude, if you can even call yourself a dude. We don't even want to know how you tell your sexes apart. And what about reproduction? You probably lay eggs like some kind of slimy reptile.

In these parts, the only reptile that's safe is on the endangered species list. And if you try to invade us you might just end up an endangered species yourself. Just try it. We are armed to the teeth, and it will be open season on you space lizards.

OK, I've tried to be friendly, but noooo. You 're all, "Let's invade Earth, let's invade Earth!" Well, we've got your invasion right here, buster.

Oh, but of course, we would never hurt you. We really are a friendly planet. We just want to make sure you get a good and proper assimilation.

Weary deer stranded at sea, rescued by humans

This is one of those feel-good viral stories that is almost impossible to believe without finding the source. But sure enough, it appears to be authentic. In fact, the boat owner posted a link to a PDF scan of the newspaper article. And here's an HTML link to the JuneauEmpire.com article. And see the slide show here.

It happened in October of 2010 near Point Arden in Taku Inlet Southeast of Juneau, Alaska. Map. The captain and passengers of the Alaska Quest watched four unusual objects bobbing in the water. Article excerpt:

Satre slowed the boat, and the group began to watch the group of four juvenile Sitka black-tailed deer.

"They swam right toward the boat," he said. "Then, they started to circle the boat. They were looking up and looked like they needed help."

These were wild animals, mind you. But they were desperate and willing to let humans help them. The deer were too weak to climb into the boat, so the folks lassoed them and hauled them aboard.

More:

According to Kelly, the typically skittish and absolutely wild animals came willingly and once on the boat, collapsed with exhaustion. They were shivering, she said. A few could not hold up their heads. She didn't know if two would make it.

"They couldn't stand up on their own," Kelly said. "(And) they couldn't shake the water off their coats. We didn't want to touch them, but it was clear they were happy to be there. They probably would have crawled on board if they could have."

One possible explanation for why the deer got in that predicament was that a predator chased them into the water. Or maybe they took a swim to find a food source. In any event, once the boat reached shore the deer were set free.

There now. Wasn't that a feel good story?

Thanks Sis.

Rick Perry's Signature

Amateur hand writing analysts shouldn't have much trouble interpreting Rick Perry's signature.

Puffy. All caps. Readable. Expressive. Here's a guy who isn't trying to hide anything with his signature. He's outgoing and proud of who he is. Big ego, that's for sure, but that's what it takes for anyone to think he can get elected president.

The seal, however, seems a bit over the top.

Signature found here.

Pink Pistol Peppers Pecker

Anyone carrying a handgun wants to be certain that the manual safety is on, or if there is no manual safety, that the trigger is covered. All right, that's the lesson. And if you are a guy, stop reading right now. I hate to lose you, but you need to look away now. It's for your own peace of mind.

OK. You've been warned. Here's the story from USAToday.com.

CHANDLER, Ariz. — As Joshua Seto, 27, and his fiance, Cara Christopher, walked to a local grocery store last week for refreshments, he tried securing her pink handgun in the front waistband of his pants.

The gun fired, striking Seto's penis and continuing through his left thigh. The bleeding started immediately and was heavy, according to police dispatch recordings released Sunday. ...

Best part: The 911 operator told the fiance to apply pressure but avoid looking at the wound. She had to look. It's unknown whether the wedding is still on.

Also found at PoliceOne.com.

Hat tip CS who advises that a good holster is more than just a convenience.

And for movie fans, a "Pulp Fiction" bonus:

Hey, wanna party? Try Houston.

From CBS News:

10. Houston, Texas
According to dating site OkCupid, these are the cities where the highest percentage of "casual sex seekers" can be found (in case you're interested)...

Houston, the fourth largest city in the U.S., landed the number-10 spot in this countdown.

Via Houston Press where you can see the whole list.

Maybe that's where the swingers convention ended up after the local D.A. shooed them away. Remember that?

Does Midland need a new fire station?

The prospect of a new fire station in Midland, Texas, came up in a casual remark in a recent post, and a commenter insisted on connecting a new station with the city's insurance rating. I wasn't ready to write about a possible new station, but I'm more or less dragged into it.

Published news items reported that the search committee that picked the new Fire Chief over others vying for that job were influenced by the possibility that this chief could raise the city's insurance rating. So it's almost certain that an effort will be made by the fire department to raise the rating.

Around the end of June the Fire Chief stated that Midland's insurance rating could be raised with the purchase of newer equipment and more training for the firefighters. So we can probably assume that new equipment and more training are in the works, although it's hard to find it in the proposed budget.

[By the way, he also mentioned that our neighbor city of Odessa currently has a higher rating, so those Midlanders with a competitive streak can get their gears going.]

The drive for a new station is based on a series of maps the Chief had prepared which show points in the city from which emergency calls were received in relationship to the fire stations. And the maps show circles around the stations with a little area that seems to fall through the cracks.

Anyone with a predisposition for a new station will no doubt be persuaded by the maps that a new station is absolutely necessary. But someone needs to look at the cost, not just of the land, building, equipment and vehicles, but the expense of the 12 to 18 new employees needed to staff it. That's an expense that keeps on taking, year after year. And it's questionable whether the benefit outweighs the cost.

An instructive item in the Midland financial report for year ending 9/30/10 is on page 134, table 21. There were 10,829 emergency responses in the previous year. That sounds like a lot, but the very next line says only 543 fires were extinguished. That's only 5% of the total emergency responses, so we have a fire department doing a lot more than putting out fires.

The agency that determines the insurance rating would look at that 5% not all those other calls.

If there's a problem that needs solving it's separating the fire calls from the other emergency calls. I phoned 911 twice in the past 12 months on behalf of a neighbor who needed emergency medical help. Both times a fire engine showed up first. That seems like an unnecessary use of resources. And perhaps a solution might involve the purchase of more ambulances rather than building a new station. The city of Odessa utilizes "8 front line ambulances." Source: page ii in Odessa's budget. How many does Midland have?

Disclaimer. Hey, I don't enjoy this. I love the fire department, but taxpayers have questions. The Chief is a smart, likable visionary, and with a compliant city council and passive taxpayers, he'll leave his mark on this city. Someone needs to compare the expected benefit with the cost.

Jailed

I'm standing in my padded cell, the voices in my head, the huge numbers swirling in my skull. Claustrophobia sets in. There's no way to escape.

 

Actually, the voices were those of Sheriff Gary Painter and staff at the open house today describing the new $16 million 216 bed annex to the county jail in Midland, Texas.

It looks like a very secure facility to this observer. And the padded cells with the salmon colored walls really have to be experienced to be believed. The seat/bed is a bench six inches off the floor. And the toilet is a hole in the floor, flushable from outside. They are nothing at all like the movies.

Once the computers are in place a mile way, visitors will be able to visit with inmates via monitor and computer connection. The only face to face contact with non-jail staff will be with lawyers and preachers through a glass wall.

President Obama, stop digging, and stop talking

This Yahoo AP news article says President Obama "declared Thursday: ' There is nothing wrong with our country. There is something wrong with our politics.' "

Well, first of all, if there's nothing wrong with the country how about apologizing for that apology tour in the early days of this administration.

Secondly, there is nothing wrong with our politics. The founding fathers laid out a pretty good plan. Time will tell whether it will last, but it has served us just fine so far. The only threat is from people who try to abuse it. You're not threatening us, are you Mr. President?

Drought man -- skeleton crawls to water

This is very clever. A guy in Lubbock dressed a skeleton (fake?) with ragged clothes and made it look as if he were crawling across the lawn toward a bird fountain. See a photo at KCBD.com.

Hat tip PH Factor.

Obama flashback, 2009

A collection of Obama's broken promises would make quite a tome. And maybe someone will do that before the 2012 election. But here's one that seems quite topical even though it's from February, 2009, just after the majority of voter had melted in the magic of the candidate Barack Obama's promise to transform the economy and part the seas. It's his first budget, and let's focus on his opening statement:

Finally, while we have inherited record budget deficits and needed to pass a massive recovery and reinvestment plan to try to jump-start our economy out of recession, we cannot lose sight of the long-run challenges that our country faces and that threaten our economic health—specifically, the trillions of dollars of debt that we inherited, the rising costs of health care, and the growing obligations of Social Security. Therefore, while our Budget will run deficits, we must begin the process of making the tough choices necessary to restore fiscal discipline, cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term in office, and put our Nation on sound fiscal footing. (Emphasis mine.)
Barack Obama
The White House,
February 26, 2009.

The only problems he faced were those created by the previous administration, but he was going to fix them, make the tough choices to restore fiscal discipline, and cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term. It brings to mind another statement he made, that he would prefer to be a successful one term president rather than a mediocre two term president. Let's declare him a success and put him into retirement after his one term.

Beating up Obama isn't going to be a daily pattern at this blog, I'm merely doing some long overdue Spring cleaning of the "Pending Post" file. And that link has been patiently waiting its turn since February 2009.

Just wondering -- will the next president do all that whining about the problems inherited from the previous administration? He/she should.

The city council listened

There was light turnout at the Midland, Texas, City Council hearing last night to allow taxpayers to voice objection to the coming tax hike. Shouldn't surprise anyone. Last year the people reasoned, argued begged and pleaded for the council not to raise taxes. But the council members had made up their minds well in advance, and the take-away lesson was that it was folly to think a room full of taxpayers could change their minds.

I decided to go last night at the last minute and arrived 20 minutes late. But not to late to hear Jason Moore who drove over here from Odessa to help out. He even missed part of his son's birthday party for this. Midlanders are fortunate to have a good neighbor like Jason Moore.

Mr. Moore knew the council members wouldn't change their minds about raising taxes, but he made some good points, and the council listened. He has long railed against Golden Plaques -- buildings, schools, stadiums -- the expensive monuments built with taxpayer money and named after a politician. Being in the construction industry, he became fully aware of the high price the city paid for the recent construction of a school. And he pointed out that there were many areas that could save taxpayer money on the next *construction project, such as using ordinary bricks on the corners instead of expensive decorative bricks.

He asked that they seek advice from local contractors on how to keep the cost down. The council members agreed and took that opportunity to express that doing business with locals was more desirable then doing business with outsiders even if, for example, a fleet of police cars would cost more through a local dealership than one elsewhere. They neglected to explain how taxpayers benefited from that arrangement.

Another thing Jason addressed was the complicated nature of the proposed budget that was placed online. It's an 80MB monster PDF file and takes a while to load, making it, as Jason explained, very inconvenient for anyone with a slow connection. This was news to the council.

But there's another reason to bash that budget format. It's a 479 page secured, unsearchable PDF file giving the viewer three options: read it, print it, or both. Searching for something is a tedious page flipping eye tiring project. Unfortunately for users, that must be the best they'll do for us, because each year after it's approved by the council, they put it online in a user friendly format and stick a page in the front saying something like this:

"Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting
Presented to
City of Midland
Texas
For its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the Fiscal Year Ended September 20, 2009 ...
by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada ... whose comprehensive annual financial reports (CAFRs) achieve the highest standards in government accounting and financial reporting."

Congratulations for that certificate. However, it applies to the final report only, and they seem to want the preliminary budget to look as much like sausage as possible.

Finally, the quote of the day from Mayor Wes Perry: "You may think we're not listening. But we really, really are."

Tax hike to follow.

--
*The construction project Mr. Moore was referring to was the prospect of a new fire station. That is a topic for a future post, but it's striking how the concept of a new fire station has infiltrated the discussion so inconspicuously yet so thoroughly as to become accepted wisdom. But surely there is a better formula than population growth = new fire station.

Is it hard to get a loan these days?

I'm not in the market for a loan, but I found this chart to be quite interesting. It's the M1 Multiplier from the St. Louis Fed.

The multiplier is a ratio derived from a formula based on the proposition that a bank will accept a deposit but can lend most of it out, keeping only a required percentage in reserve. The person who borrows that money can then deposit what he borrowed into his own bank. That new bank makes a loan based on that deposit while retaining the required reserve. So the actual spending power of that original deposit is multiplied by the fact that banks can lend it out.

The chart shows the multiplier has been declining since about 1986. But it made a drastic drop below 1 in 2008. It bounced a bit and looked like it was about to reach 1 again. But now it's at around 0.75.

So it looks like banks aren't lending. Why the ratio has been declining for 25 years is a mystery the economists should explain. But at least one blogger speculates that the drop in 2008 was caused at least partly because that's when the Fed began paying banks interest on their reserves. If that theory is correct, bankers have decided a guaranteed payment from the Fed is a better bet than lending money to borrowers.

In any event. Now may not a good time to be in the market for a loan.

How much is an Obama guarantee worth?

The Barack Obama guarantee, March 19, 2009. Link and excerpt:

"We will come out on the other side stronger and a more prosperous nation," he said, acknowledging the nation's economic crisis. "That I can guarantee you. I can't tell you how long it will take, what obstacles we'll face along the way, but I promise you this: There will be brighter days ahead."

The comments brought another roar of approval from about 1,000 people at a town hall forum in Los Angeles, where questions were more fawning than pressing. "I'm very glad and thankful that you are our president," the first questioner began. The second said, "thank God for you."

Of course the economy will eventually recover. Some say it began months ago. But the stock market, which is supposed to be a leading indicator, and the unemployment rate, which is supposed to be a lagging indicator, certainly don't confirm that.

Any successful prediction either has to be so vague that it can't be disproved, or the date has to be so far out in the future that it will be forgotten.

But suppose Mr. Obama has to pay up on the guarantee. What then? Who pays?

Free elephant sperm

The Pittsburgh Zoo, once it gets the necessary permits from the South African government, plans to import elephant semen in Project Frozen Dumbo. Once they get it here, among other uses, they plan to give it away free to other zoos. See Pittsburgh Zoo still awaiting genetic material for breeding.  Via.

It took 23 dedicated people to get the stuff from the elephant.

Aren't we going to make some lame joke, about what kind of person it takes to arouse a bull elephant? -ed-. Stop it, stop it! We don't do that kind of thing here! You're fired!

What about this one. "What has its own trunk but comes in buckets?" -ed-. Stop it, I said. How many times do I have to fire you?

Sorry about that, folks. But that's the price one has to pay for free labor these days.

Sunday demotivational

They name ships after presidents, don't they?

Actually, it's expresidents.  So there'll be a few months wait for the USS Obama.

(Build your own demotivational poster at DIY.Despair.com.)