Maggie's Farm

Michael Lewis of Liar's Poker fame returns to Wall Street to survey the mess. (Thanks, reader.) One quote from the darkly humorous piece which explains the consequences of the investment banks' going public, thus transferring risk from themselves, as partners - to shareholders:

His (Eisman's) dinner companion in Las Vegas ran a fund of about $15 billion and managed C.D.O.’s backed by the BBB tranche of a mortgage bond, or as Eisman puts it, “the equivalent of three levels of dog shit lower than the original bonds.”

FrontPoint had spent a lot of time digging around in the dog shit and knew that the default rates were already sufficient to wipe out this guy’s entire portfolio. “God, you must be having a hard time,” Eisman told his dinner companion.

“No,” the guy said, “I’ve sold everything out.”

After taking a fee, he passed them on to other investors. His job was to be the C.D.O. “expert,” but he actually didn’t spend any time at all thinking about what was in the C.D.O.’s. “He managed the C.D.O.’s,” says Eisman, “but managed what? I was just appalled. People would pay up to have someone manage their C.D.O.’s—as if this moron was helping you. I thought, You prick, you don’t give a fuck about the investors in this thing.”

One quote from her piece:

Bailing out the auto industry offers no net gain to society.  It is a straight transfer of resources from one sector to another:  we tax money, or borrow it from a finite pool of capital available to the nation, and spend it on auto workers.  The people who pay the taxes, or the people who would have borrowed that investment capital, now have less to spend.  Whatever they would have bought goes unbought; whoever would have made it goes unemployed. To coin a phrase, what is made on the swings is lost on the roundabouts  We have the illusion of a gain only because that other group of people is invisible.  Even if we don't bail out GM, they will not be visible--we will never know who didn't lose a job or a business because we declined to spend one squillion dollars saving the Chevy Cobalt.

It's been as clear as day to everyone for years that the once-Big Three are lousy companies with lousy businesses, products that don't sell, and that nobody wants to invest in anymore - except politicians. We're a Toyota country now (except for the Ford F series).

But who ever said raw politics has to make logical sense? This is called vote-buying, and a big thank-you to Michigan for going blue by supporting existing union contracts. With our money. There is a certain sort of political logic in that.

Comment from The Barrister: What is often left out in these discussions is that bankruptcy would not put these companies out of business and these workers out of work. They would reorganize (and renegotiate contracts), or sell off their parts.

And from BD: Follow the money. Best I can figger, all that a bailout would bail out is the existing union contracts, and little more.

And from the NJ: I would not be happy to be working to support Michigan union benefits, which are so much more generous than mine - or those of most folks - that it's ridiculous. Why would I want to do that? Those businesses are obsolete, but somebody is going to try to sell us the notion that they need my money to go green, or some similar BS. Toyota already did that.

The wary American Black Duck of the Eastern US and Canada is prized by hunters, and there is no binocular birder either who is not happy to see them. Sadly, their numbers in the Northeast have been dropping while the population of their close relative the Mallard (with whom they commonly hydridize) have been rising.

Unlike most dabbling ducks, Blacks are happy breeding on either freshwater ponds and marshes or in salt marshes. Some studies in recent years indicate a significant reliance on beaver marshes for breeding habitat.

You can read about the American Black Duck here.

Photo from that site.

The internet is both wonderful and terrible. For instance, it enables patients to learn a lot about their own diseases, and if they are discriminating, sometimes even to save their own lives. But medical information, or opinion, on the internet has probably already killed far more people than it has saved.

Dalrymple, in an enjoyable piece on used bookstores: Bibiolphia and Biblioclasm

Chess for Charity is planning the world's largest online chess tournament as a charity event for Second Harvest.

It seems like a good deal all around: Chess USA Second Harvest Tournament

Curious about New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink and Tipping Point?

He has a new book, Outlier. You can read all about Gladwell and his new book here.

Photo from the article.

"I didn't know you were allowed to say those things."

A Bird Dog pup, after seeing Taming of the Shrew this weekend.

DMB likes the Poulan chainsaw. He likes the light weight, which surely can be a plus after a few hours.

Illegal immigration, solved

The list of excuses Obama will need. Reality's a bitch.

The election being over, the WaPo confesses

US trials for Gitmo prisoners? Good grief. Can't we just ship them all to Botany Bay?

From Blame Bush: "...that's all Obama wants to do, really. He just wants to share his peanut butter and jelly sandwich with all the people of this country."

From the KKK to Birding.

Newt offers himself up. I say, Take the offer. He has all the brains in the Stupid Party, and he knows what it's like to be Palinized.

Norm rates the Emmylou albums. My favorite is always the most recent one I've heard.

Child labor can be a good idea

PJ O'Rourke says "We Blew It." I know what he means, but I do not entirely agree. Polls show Reaganism is far from dead.

How to avoid the clutches of Obama Derangement Syndrome

An open letter to my friends on the Left

Somebody please tell this jerk to shut up: UK's Brown says Now the time to build global society. No thanks.

From Powerline:

In the 1970s a survey was taken of German and American auto executives. They were asked, "What do you do?" The Americans replied, "We sell cars." The Germans answered, "We build cars." It was a difference in corporate culture. The Japanese noticed. They decided to build cars, and they succeeded. Many Americans today, brought up on Pontiacs and Fords, won't own an American car, unless it's a car made in Ohio by a foreign company. What a stunning change.

Why you cannot build a Party around moderates. Related, from Big Lizards:

1. 34% of voters called themselves "conservatives."

2. Of that 34%, 20% voted for Barack H. Obama; that means 6.8% of the electorate both called themselves conservatives and also voted for Obama. (Would that include Christopher Buckley and his ilk?)

3. Contrariwise, only 10% of self-dubbed liberals voted for John S. McCain. Conservatives defected at twice the rate of liberals.

I think this from VDH is true. Not just because I want to think it's true, but because it's consistent with what I hear from people:

I think many advisors privately are thinking that the turn-out the vote hoopla in key states wasn’t all that much more than in 2004. And for all the talk of a new realignment and the end of the old conservative regime, 2008 is more likely explained as a once in a lifetime alignment of the stars (cf. Carter in 1976): the mid-September meltdown that ruined McCain’s lead; the normal weariness after eight years of incumbency; two wars; a charismatic young and path-breaking Democratic candidate, a liberal's renouncing of public campaign financing to amass $600 million.

From It Takes a Church, via Mark Roberts:

God of the ages,
We thank You for all who have served in the armed forces of this country.
We thank You for the freedom their sacrifice has earned and guarded for us. Help us to prize this freedom and use it well.
We ask You to bless all living veterans in a special way today, as well as the families of all veterans.
Comfort those who grieve for those who gave the last full measure of devotion.
Strengthen those who bear physical, emotional, and spiritual wounds.
Stand with those who provide care to them.
Move us to reach out to sisters and brothers who are veterans, or relatives of veterans, or who currently serve in the military.
We pray for the day when no one needs to serve in the military. Help us to live now in anticipation of that day, as people who long for peace, who pray for peace, and who seek to be peacemakers in this world.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

Ronald Reagan

Mankiw and ghosts.

Indeed, ideas do not "exist," nor does wealth, no does the "mind,"  nor do emotions, nor does math. How much of our lives are driven by nouns that do not exist in any material way?

Plato discovered Virtual Reality, and the epistemological message for today is that we all live in a mostly invisible Virtual Reality. It's no wonder we're all half-insane because our minds mess us up, and thus it's no wonder we love things we can touch like wood, metal, books, pretty girls (or boys, as the case may be), and plants.

Still, invisible things are often the most important and powerful. Like God.

Photo: A Theo gal. She exists materially, but whether you can touch her or not is another subject. That's up to her.

Don't get the wrong idea: Racism still a big problem in America claims advocacy industry. But I was told...oh, nevermind. Whenever I say "But I was told...," I feel like Milton in Office Space.

Big Pumas. I did not know they grew that large. Scary, but I think it tends to be the foolish young ones that mistake hikers for deer, and jump down with their teeth in the back of your neck and rip your head off.

Inverting the supply curve on health care

I took this little test and came out right next to Milton Friedman. (h/t, Villainous)

The Magical Thinking Watch

OK, I can get this link post up to Three Miltons, because I happen to be about 1/3 of the way through Anna Beer's new Milton bio, which, if you overlook the rather minor and easily-overlooked touches of pomo Nouveau Lit Crit BS, is quite absorbing and well-worth the read. Lots of quotes from his stuff, and it offers a good picture of the times. Thanks to the BD pup for finding that book for me.

Matthew 25: 1-13

1Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

 2And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

 3They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

 4But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

 5While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

 6And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

 7Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

 8And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.

 9But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.

 10And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

 11Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.

 12But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.

 13Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

We Warned Ya #1: Dems target your 401-K. Do they really want to do that? Peoples' 401-Ks are like Social Security to them. Correction - I should say they are almost sacred to them.

A post-racial election? LaShawn. Steyn wonders whether America turned Left - or turned "cool."

Aw shucks. We love to be loved. Don't we all?

Sure enough, gun sales are through the roof

Palin: my critics are jerks. Right on, Sarah. They aren't gentlemen, either. I think you're swell.

What are Mount Shasta's glaciers a proxy for?

A nation hopes for another FDR? Save Us, Dear Leader! Speak for yourself, NYT. That's the last thing in the world I want. Yes, we have another recession. Recessions occur on a regular basis, and wash away weak businesses. That's no excuse for the infantile hystrionics. Maybe the NYT wants a bailout.

I listened to Kudlow on the wireless while I was cleaning the basement this morning. He made a compelling case for letting GM go bankrupt as a way to emerge smaller and stronger. Honda, Toyota, and VW are eating their lunch because they run leaner and smarter. I agree with Larry that routinely rescuing failing businesses is not a role of government. Businesses must fail, consolidate, change. Banking is different.

How to invent names for new developments, like:

The Preserve at Woodstone
The Village at Stonewoods.
The Preserve at Woodstone Village
The Village at Stonecrest
The Preserve at Woodcrest Plantation

(I like the idea of Ye Olde Village at Seacrest Heights Plantation. You could sell it in Paramus, right next to the mall: 1 BR condos, only $375,000 with no down payment and a view of Nordstrom's. Hmmm - this could be a good naming contest.)

h/t, American Digest:

Bacon recipes are going around. It must be the time of year. For example, Apple Bacon Pie.

And how about this Texas Tommy? Thank God the hot dog is Kosher.

Here's all you need to know about how bacon is made. Real chefs make their own. Some folks save their bacon grease in the freezer, to cooks greens in. I should start doing that. Greens without grease are rabbit food.

"Ah, you fool, it's the educated reader who can be gulled. All of our difficulty comes with the others. When did you read of a workman who believes the papers?...But the educated public, who read the highbrow weeklies, don't need reconditioning. They're alright already. They'll believe anything."

The head of the secret police in CS Lewis' That Hideous Strength, as quoted in a piece by AVI

The next big rain will knock the remaining autumn leaves down. Here's where we are today:

When a candidate or party loses an election, the tendency is to over-read it and to self-scrutinize, sometimes to a fault. When they win, the tendency is to over-read it and not self-scrutinize enough. Often, the process devolves into a circular firing squad for the former, and a circle jerk for the latter. We try to avoid both of those unseemly activities.

These election thoughts by guest poster Bruce Kesler:

Now the hedge fund and predatory lender Cerberus wants a bail-out?

Gimme a break. I want a bail-out too, to pay my dental bills. And my mortgage and gas, please.

Change? This is loony.

When volunteering becomes compulsory, it's not volunteering any more, is it? Same difference between charity and taxes. Same as the draft.

Plus, where I live, there are more volunteers than there are things to do. The chance to teach English to Hispanics has a long waiting list, and the Red Cross says "We'll call you if we need you." They have to form committees to try to "identify unmet needs." In other words, well-intentioned housewives and retired guys have to make up things to do because everybody who wants "help" already gets more than they can handle, and most New England folks seem too proud to accept help anyway. The old culture dies hard.

Are people really so helpless in America that they need pimply high-schoolers or condescending do-gooder college kids - who know nothing at all about life - to "help" them?

I very much doubt it. But I don't know anybody who isn't happy to cash a check or to take a freebie from the gummint to buy a new iPod. People are always happy to accept cash from "the gummint," because it doesn't feel so much like you're ripping off your neighbor.

A Comment from our News Junkie:

 I have soured on do-gooderism. I have been to Katrina, to Appalachia, to NYC (where I now live), to Haiti and to Africa over the years with church groups, and every time I went the locals drank wine or moonshine or some kind of African hootch, and smoked in lawn chairs or lounging in the grass while telling jokes while we "helped." In Africa, the guys took occasional drinking breaks to visit the local whorehouse while we supposedly did stuff "for them." It's humiliating to all concerned, as if people were children; embarassing to the recipients and to the doers. Never saw anybody local ever offer to do so much as to pick up a hammer, a shovel, or a mop. I'm done with that approach to virtuousness. People have to want to help themselves, or there is not a damn thing you can do. "Wanting to help" is pure social imperialism of the most soft-headed sort. I once helped build a church building in Africa, and now feel foolish about it because a church is not a building - it's people. The building was insignificant except when it rained. They could have built a better one, better suited to their area, with poles and thatch (and much more cheaply) in a few days if they felt like it. What we built will no doubt be attacked by termites and fall down. 

Live and learn. What people want is cash to spend the way they want to.

Liberals want to bring back the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" as their plan to put talk radio out of business. How would it do that? Because every subject has 30 different views on it. I doubt that the Dems would wish to extend it to The Daily Kos or to Maggie's, but who knows?

It always amuses me how Liberals cannot tolerate dissent. Let's all rely on NPR and become one beautiful, happy family of group-thinking "sensitive, caring" parasites.

Anyway, in honor of the Dems' and especially Chuckie Shumer's desire to reinstate the Fairness Doctine, and out of consideration for our lady readers who feel that our Cheesecake/Beefcake ratio is way off target, we offer these:

Navy SEAL in training emerges from the ocean:

 In training, but not a Navy SEAL:

Political scientists love to discuss this topic. The short answer is simple, though: If they vote for my guy, they're rational - and vice-versa. Political scientists seem to think that voters should be more rational.

Of course, neither voting nor politics are entirely rational, nor should they be. Life is too complex for logic, and non-rational doesn't mean stupid.

The subject is discussed in Irrational Electorate by Larry Bartels, in Wilson Quarterly.