good newspaper, im a subscriber

but that was the us bureau of labor statistics. their data moves markets everywhere




now sleep already. why just announce it? all talk and no show...

frozen fertilized embryos are people in alabammy

you heard it first elsehwere!

Which begs the question: Can you freeze children now? I mean, you want a vacation (read: sexcapade) just with your wife, no having to take care of brats and stand their moronic chants in the car, you should now be able to freeze the little fuckers. People are people!

totally. with the price of child care these days nothing beats the efficiency of a chest freezer

From Wonkette:

SCOTUS' ruling on Orange Putschist's eligibility could be announced THIS MONDAY...

scotus decided unanimously that it's not up to the states to remove candidates from a federal ballot

i think this is correct, and that has nothing to do with the odious orange blob, may he rot

the thing is we can't have texass decide to remove biden from the ballot because texass, etc

ps sinema show won't be running again

She took enough back-handers to retire on, I presume.

im gonna guess that means kickbacks and so... probably? (from private equity i would assume)

but her retirement makes me fear for arizona. kari fucking lake now has the door open again. and i don't know how lefty is gallego, but arizona is far from a progressive place.

actually i thought sinema was a good fit for that population. yes, she and manchin declawed parts of bidenomics, but without those parts inflation is already causing trouble, and the fiscal prospect looks uncomfortable if the growth does not follow.

with the full 5 trillion the rest of the democratic senate wanted... i don't know where we'd be. awash in devalued money maybe? it was an enormous gamble on growth, and industrial policies are never guaranteed (ask france)

anyway we'll have to see what happens next, for me it's just a guess. if democrats overreach the backlash could spell doom. fascists feed on resistance to leftist excesses.

please note i don't judge these as "excesses" from my point of view, but rather from the point of view of what the average population of a place is accustomed to think and experience (in this case, center-right arizona)

remember how the tea party appeared in reaction to obamacare, meaning federal romneycare, originally actually nixoncare, i.e., the swiss model lite? (no jail here). universal health insurance is far from excessive for me, but for people who are used to winging it on their own, like moe tucker.... it was a big shock that reeked of "socialism"

see: https://web.archive.org/web/20101022...ound_video.php

(some comments are great at explaining the general stupidity of her position btw. but also she scores some good points. i mean jsut because she bangs drums it doesn't mean she has to be non-mainstream in some areas. she's very mainstream here. but anyway... what people are accustomed to do, how they react when things change, etc, still applies. yeah, so, sinema was a good fit for arizona i thought. and how are we going to pay for all things? growth maybe, if it happens, but it's still a big gamble: Warnings from history for a new era of industrial policy
https://www.economist.com/finance-an...ustrial-policy
from The Economist )

She’s a complete and total piece of shit, but I do wish some people from the far left would take a page from her book and just go in with the idea of being one and done and cram as much shit down peoples throat as they can. Stop worrying about getting reelected. Make a significant dent and get the fuck out.

My home country is quietly becoming a dictatorship again. I was born in a dictatorship and might die in one too.

compared to an ideal politician, in an ideal country, maybe she is

but compared to kari lake, one of her actual alternatives, she's fucking amazing

kari lake is the complete and total piece of shit in this scenario. look her up. that one has no redeeming qualities or sane political positions whatsoever

and arizonans could elect her... shudder


but after they get the fuck out, their works gets undone.

americans are very right wing compared to other peoples. if there is no political culture to support these things they just don't survive

take the fate of the cfpb for example. even with elizabeth warren still in congress it's always on the verge of getting dismantled. and it will continue to be a target of republican administrations until they are done strangling it

obamacare also continues to be a target. instead of improving it, republicans are trying to kill it altogether

or take roe v wade. killed after 50 years of rabid resistance. it never took hold in some sectors and it was a rallying point of the religious right

...

perhaps the country is too big to agree on much

i'm so sorry man :(

I've already spoken on Sinema, hopefully a good successor comes along.

https://azsos.gov/elections/results-...ion-statistics

https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/r...amiliar-divide

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=kari+lake&...r=news&ia=news there you can track the real fucking loon (or you can check out her twatter)

we are heading the right-wing way as well
four parties are trying to work together in forming a coalition who don't want to work together.

I wonder how long it will take before they realize it will never work








I wanna live with a Sinema girl
I could be happy the rest of my life with a Sinema girl

the world is turning to fucking shit lately.

I have built up quite a thick skin over the years, but this is just making me depressed

uncle joe did good yesterday! i didnt watch the whole speech but yeah. very lucid, and way saner than covfefe. i feel encouraged by this and do not fear the polls.

also i don't care for purity tests. we face a simple binary choice in this federal election. this isn't a school board or city council where you can vote for a fringe candidate and see what happens. but i am glad that michigan voters spoke clearly in the primary, and i think they've been heard. regardless of who started what and when, and who is who's ally, religions, and political alignments, etc etc... mass starvation of civilians cannot be allowed. there have to be limits to any war. let the humanitarian aid flow. so what if it required voter pressure--that's how democracy works. thanks, michigan

...


re: pain in our times: epicureanism and stoicism (with 21st century updates) continue to be the available individual responses to unpleasant times that i can see honestly working. and even though the epicurean garden can be destroyed, it can also be relocated nowadays, to escape destruction. for collective response (which epicureanism avoids), stoicism can blend well with politics. i like to combine them pragmatically. there is no need to be monotheistic and faithful, so to speak. it's a bad mental habit. well, two habits: monotheism, and faith. like the proverbial person with just a hammer, but with added stubbborness

we live in dangerous times, no question. it's not that we're in a bad situation in itself, overall. all times are dangerous. and in some sense, we are close to the peak of civilization. but the risk looks enormous (it's a very hard fall when you're riding high). there are plenty of doom prophets out there, but i'm not one of them. i think disaster can be prevented, or mitigated, or weathered, if we do the right thing (these are degrees of handling). it's just never over. reality is an infinite game.

---

eta nonfarm payrolls released this morning looked better than expected but last month's figures were revised downward so the us economy keeps doing well, basically, but not explosively well, so the soft landing (?) is in sight consistent with powell's testimony yesterday. rate cuts might be possible in june. here's hoping, because a no-landing would create problems. inflation must be tamed, or everyone loses

Wasn't this asshole "worth ten billion"? At this that's one of the lies he tried to sell us in 2016. Snake oil tycoon can't even come up with half a billion. Say goodbye to your New York shit, motherfucker!

From the NYT (1/2)

(2/2)

Actual cover of the New York Post this Sunday:



Y'know, when you're too much even for the NY fucking Post...

��hahahahahaaa! that fucking donkey. i'd be glad to see her laughed away from congress (the weird signs are meant to be a finger emoji pointing upward but this board won't read it)

==

SO, THE BRITISH ELECTION IS ON THURSDAY, HUH? you guys have weird schedules

who will you vote for? what are their chances?

(and btw, how is brexit treating ya? everything coming up roses? )

Use the circumflex diacritic or caret character. It's official internet slang.

^ Awesome answer. See? :)

it's not even close :D

(especially when mtg is the subject)

I'm not British, but afaik there aren't any elections there any time soon. At least no general elections, perhaps something local?
Oh wait, google says it's local elections this Thursday, nevermind. It hasn't been in the news yet where I live. Apparently nobody in mainland Europe gives a shit about the UK after brexit :D

lol i hear ya on the post-brexit level of concern

so yeah it's just local but apparently rishi sunak's hide is at stake or something? (or not, not sure really)

it's supposed to be a sea change in favor of the labor party and a loss of various tory constituencies, but since its mostly a domestic matter that gets little international reporting i'm not well informed (but still i'm curious)

i mean it's an early signal of what the results might be in their next general election (which i think it's next year but again, i don't understand their schedules lol)

It's local government elections this week. General election at some point later this year tbc, sunak is holding off from setting a date for it because he's hoping for a miracle to turn the consevatives ratings around but in reality the longer the conservatives hold on to power the more and more loathed they become.

oooh, i'm looking forward to today's results...

labour won big, but nevertheless some protesters cut their noses to spite their faces:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...es/ar-AA1o5HMd

same thing will happen here in november i'm sure, and i'm ready for what comes

There was nothing about Slovakia in the French media, so I had to read a mild wikipedia page regarding the election.



As for the Netherlands, as it's closer, we got to hear it. With slightly less concern than in the past, when far-right leaders gathered crowds. I was surprised in Rotterdam to end up on a place named after Pim Fortuyn (murdered political leader on the far right; would it still be considered that far now?).
In France too there's concern. There's so much to say and I'm so pissed that it'd be easier to use French. The government steals from the far right leaders, blames everything on the left, and that's about it. Does it work? Partly: everything left-identified is vilified. But the struggle for power between our despised Macron and the 4 leaders on the far right doesn't seem to go in favor of the man in place - whose government lies lies lies lies lies all the time (retirement, annual budget...).
Plus weird things within the media. Heading wealth, heading right.
Not a top notch world these days.

Zakaria's latest column:

The presidential election isn’t playing out how I thought it would

Christ on a stick what a downer. Those fucking numbers... Goddammit HOW STUPID CAN YOUR "FELLOW AMERICANS" BE. (Not that my country is exactly brilliant.) The horror...

On the other hand, just imagine if we win. NO MORE DEALING WITH THE ORANGE MOTHERFUCKER. LOO-ZER! Sure he's gonna be around posting bullshit, whatever, fuck him, let Jack Smith fuck him up while we enjoy a nice relaxing cuppa or sum'.

Greil Marcus' prediction:

at this point i feel biden is toast. he tacked left, but the left can never be satisfied enough, is disloyal, and in spite of his concessions now has condemned him over gaza. "not pure enough!" (as if the other side was better... the orange turd moved the us embassy to jerusalem, cancelled the nuclear deal with iran, etc )

now on youtube etc im getting very puerile leftist ads about how great it is that biden stopped future lng gas exports... is that supposed to be a good thing? because the environment, greed, something? i thought europe needed the gas after breaking up with russia... but some 12 year old apparently says no. if i can find the video i'll link it

meanwhile here's how germans feel about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SXy-M32kqg
japan also needs lng btw

on inflation, sinema and manchin, branded as traitors and hounded by the left, were right: excess fiscal stimulus breeds inflation. and so the inflation reduction act has been anything but. i can't imagine what it would have been with the full five trillion

industrial policy carries risks. it might work geopolitically, but there is an inherent economic inefficiency in manipulating markets, inefficiencies have costs, and consumers and businesses eventually pay for them. tariffs and subsidies may achieve certain strategic objectives but raise prices and increase deficits

the american worker is highly employed, but the american consumer keeps seeing high prices, particularly in housing and rental, which is usually the largest consumer expense (maybe from 25% to 70% of household budget depending on where you live and how much you make?). so even with full employment and higher wages coming in, workers are not feeling like they are prospering from the gains. of course in theory high employment and low prices tend to be mutually exclusive, which is why the federal reserve has a hard time finding the right balance, but good luck explaining that complexity to a crowd

here some figures:
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/f...rent-vs-income
https://www.census.gov/library/stori...e-on-rent.html

now as a result of fed policy the economy and employment are beginning to soften, just slightly, which should drive down prices, but the concern is that we might be heading towards stagflation, whereby the economy stagnates ("stag-") and employment goes down, but in spite of diminished consumption prices keep rising ("-flation"). jay powell laughed at the suggestion by a ft journalist in his press conference after the nfp data release (showing employment had contracted) because this is nothing like the 70s, but laugh or not the current data points at such a trend, if ever so slightly. so this is a real concern for forecasters, regardless of whether the fundamentals support the hypothesis or not

finally, to go back to the ira and fiscal stimulus, the deficit has ballooned to threatening levels, which are actually perfectly manageable at low interests. but the threat is that if interests were to rise (if inflation became a real problem, and interests would have to rise to curb it, or if us treasuries were not purchased by the world), then servicing the debt could quickly become unmanageable. kinda like the difference between a 30 year mortgage locked at 2% (cheap) and a maxed out 29.99% visa card (hell)

for an example of this see japan. japan has other problems (e.g. demographic), but they are between a rock and a hard place with their monetary policy, because if they keep interests low (0-0.1% currently) the yen keeps weakening (investments seek better returns elsewhere), but if they raise interests to make their currency more desirable their debt load will eat them

krugman said once that japan was proof that the deficit doesnt matter, but foreign currency exchanges say otherwise. japan depends on foreign energy and other imports, so a falling yen makes their cost of living higher: not just for consumers but for some businesses who import their inputs. (this even though a weak yen is goods for exports: but it's a matter of balance). so the bank of japan is on a warpath trying to prop up the falling yen right now (good luck with that). does the usa want to be on a similar footing, stuck with no choices? i think not

btw before i am branded a traitor (lmao) i will clarify to partisan ideologues that this is not an argument in favor of the orange turd. it's just a brief look at the current economic situation and why it hurts biden. me personally, i'm doing great, thanks, not really feeling the inflation (i see it but don't feel it, lucky i guess)

but for low income people, while unemployment remains low, rising food costs are hurting them, rental prices are strangling them, and house ownership with undersupply and relatively (but not really) high mortgage rates is further out of reach. so i can sense their discontent

turd wants to increase tariffs (inflationary) and cut taxes (fiscally irresponsible). but biden is also a tariff raiser! except he wants to tax "corporations" (berniespeak) which actually can reduce employment ("the job creators" in palinspeak). so the turd has a more hypnotizing approach about having your cake and eating it too. which is economic bullcaca, but this is america, where the poor think they are just temporarily embarrassed millionaires, not a social class in itself

of course the crowd is not capable of advanced reasoning or analysis, and the best hypnotizer wins, so here we are now, in the throes of populist fever from both sides. and with reason out of the window the best hypnotizer wins, unfortunately

Jesus, _slavo_, what the hell is going on over there?!

"Bleach blonde bad built butch body"... Not a bad description.

Yes, this time news reached France, and as often, the media gets interested when turn ugly, not saying why, and shift to something else (usually the ordinary Frenchman heading to the beach for a weekend break)