Open Thread - 4 June 2010

I am busy.  Entertain each other.  pl 

 

Comments

[William R. Cumming]

Well the Dow slid below 10,000. Okay that measure has long been disconnected fro the reality of the individual investor with over 70% of all trades by computerized institutional investors. Wonder if the oil spill, the failure of the Euro, the liklihood of war is factored in to those program trades?

[Tyler]

I went back to Delaware and blue crabs were $32 a dozen for male 1s and 2s!

I can remember when you could get a bushel for $80.

[Jackie]

This is disappointing. NPR broadcast this afternoon that Clapper is to be the DNI. I was so hoping it would be Hagel. No offense, but I'm tired of military men in these positions.

Tyler,
Living in the Sunflower State, of course I've heard of blue crabs. But what are male 1's and 2's? Is that the size? And who determines if a crab is male or female? How many in a bushel and how would a dozen stack up to that? Curious minds, you know!

[Castellio]

From the Guardian today:
"Nine Turkish men on board the Mavi Marmara were shot a total of 30 times and five were killed by gunshot wounds to the head, according to the vice-chairman of the Turkish council of forensic medicine, which carried out the autopsies for the Turkish ministry of justice today."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/04/gaza-flotilla-activists-autopsy-results

[N M Salamon]

William:
Perhaps the falsity of GDP, Unemployment, inflation etc numbers has caught the attention of some major players.
Electricity use is down 2% from previous year, so how can industry be growing __ running on thin air?

[J]

Justin Raimondo over at antiwar.com has brought up a very salient point regarding Israel's IDF putting 4 shots to the head and 1 to the chest into a 19 year old American kid who's only crime was carrying wheelchairs, toys, medicines, coffee, spices, etc. to the inhabitants of the largest prison camp in the world today -- Gaza.

"In view of the Obama administration’s shameful crawling, one can hardly disagree. Which raises a question: how many American lives are to be sacrificed on the altar of the "special relationship"? It’s a question to which one doesn’t really want to know the answer.

http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2010/06/03/this-says-it-all/

This Says It All

Israelis kill American – Joe Biden says: "What's the big deal?"

[Jose]

We are probably going to lose our Lobster season, because of the oil spill.

Hopefully, I file a claim against BP...lol

Tyler, Stone Crab claws are about $25-30 per pound and IMHO taste better.

We are a little politically correct down here and don't eat and kill the whole crab anymore, just the claws...lol

[J]

A lot of people around the globe are very upset regarding the Bilderberg group's confab taking place this weekend in Spain.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article7142478.ece

Here is what is listed as the Bilderberg group's meeting agenda:

http://www.corbettreport.com/articles/20100528_bilderberg_agenda.htm

According to the documents—which Estulin obtained from his sources inside the secretive group—issues to be discussed in this year's formal deliberations are:

1. Will the Euro Survive?
2. Development in Europe: Europe's Exit Strategy...On Hold?
3. Do We Have Institutions to Deal With the World Economy?
4. Greece: Lessons and Forward-looking Strategies
5. NATO and Afghanistan: The Practical Agenda for the Alliance
6. Iran and Russia: Economic and Financial Threats to the Alliance
7. The Consequences of War Against Terrorism
8. The Influence of Domestic Issues on American Foreign Policy
9.The Outlook for Japan's Economy
10. The Future of the U.S. Dollar: Alternative Scenarios

[Fred]

WSJ is saying Turkey is threatening to cut relations with Israel. Further into the article is this gem of delusion:

"Senior Israeli officials said they hoped relations could revert back to the status they enjoyed before Mr. Erdogan's election. "I hope we can go back to the good old days," said the senior Israeli defense official."

I don't know what was on President Johnson's mind after the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty but I'm sure Prime Minister Erdogan does not need to worry about the domestic Jewish vote. (Neither should President Obama)

[J]

Senators question Obama's choice of Clapper as national intelligence director

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/04/AR2010060404067.html?wprss=rss_nation

"Unfortunately, with his pick in Jim Clapper as the next DNI, the president has ensured our terror-fighting strategy will continue to be run out of the Department of Justice and White House," Sen. Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.) said. "While Jim has served our nation well, he lacks the necessary clout with the president, has proven to be less than forthcoming with Congress and has recently blocked our efforts to empower the DNI."

[The Twisted Genius]

William R. Cumming,

IMHO Wall Street is just another Las Vegas without Sin City's regulation and professional ethics. All those trades and quants would sell orphan children as ground meat if they could make a profit at it... and get away with it.

Vitriol aside, can you offer any professional insights into managing the unfolding disaster in the Gulf? (I checked out your website.)

[The Twisted Genius]

Castellio,

Between all the multiple headshots to the Turkish victims and the hit list we saw in the video from the Mavi Mamara, perhaps the Israelis intended to send a lethal message to the Turks. This may have been a lot more than a bungled assault.

[Castellio]

For those interested in media manipulation by Israel:
http://aliabunimah.posterous.com/proof-emerges-idf-audio-of-radio-communicatio

[The Twisted Genius]

Tyler,

As a transplanted Connecticut Yankee now living in Virginia, I never developed the expertise necessary to efficiently enjoy crabs. However, I fondly remember trips to the beach in New Haven where my parents would have soft shelled crab sandwiches when in season. I always thought they were the damnedest looking things... a whole breaded crab between two pieces of toast. My siblings and I would settle for fried clams and onion rings and those red blocks of candied popcorn. Good times.

[greg0]

Is the economy going down for a second time? Robert Reich says it's a good possibility as "the labor market continues to deteriorate."
Jim Hightower in his Lowdown newsletter says the US productivity numbers are phony.
"Yet, while official productivity figures have jumped dramatically in the past ten years, wages have stayed flat or actually fallen. Why? Because the widely acclaimed rise in America's productivity is hokum. In calculating the output per worker, officials only count the output of workers in our country, excluding the hours put in by millions of foreign workers who now make products for U.S. corporations. An honest measure would have to add in these foreign hours of input, revealing that automation and offshoring have only increased corporate profits, not productivity."

[The beaver]

J
You beat me to it. I saw it before supper time and wanted to post but then I got distracted by the hockey game between Chicago and the Flyers.
I am curious to see the actual lists of attendees. The Telegraph has mentioned Prince Charles and Cameron in addition to the usual suspects:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7804197/The-Bilderberg-Group-fact-and-fantasy.html

Looks like after Greece, Hungary is in the toilet and we'll see what the future will be for Spain

[Castellio]

Twisted:

Nasrallah doesn't think the choice of who died was accidental, nor can the Turks.
http://www.jnoubiyeh.com/2010/06/sayyed-nasrallah-marks-solidarity-with.html

[Fred]

Perhaps the IHH can get every old tub in the Mediterranean and man them with septuagenarian crew members and Muslim grandmothers and sail them to Gaza. I wonder how long it would take to fill Israel's harbors with leaky banana boats and their prisons with little old ladies?

No one on earth is going to believe that they are a threat.

[Harper]

WHAT IS THE SOUND OF ONE HAND CLAPPER? Well, Obama has appointed James Clapper as DNI. Now it is up to the Senate to dig in and hold a serious hearing. I hear that two other people were asked to take the job, and both refused--prior to the offer going to Clapper. His major qualification, according to my source, is that he gets along--ie. is subservient--to Panetta (and, by extension, to the CIA). From the standpoint of the White House strategists (sic), they just want to avoid a contentious hearing, not wanting the larger issue of the actual purpose of the DNI post to bubble to the surface again. So, presuming that Clapper, who recently was confirmed as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, will have an easy time getting through the confirmation process, the White House decided he was the one.

[optimax]

The following graph shows the percentage of job loss in the post-WWII downturns. The miniscule upturn in this recession is due to the hiring of census workers.

http://calculatedriskimages.blogspot.com/2010/06/employment-recessions-may-2010.html

[Allen Thomson]

Crabs: Males have narrow "aprons" (where the tail used to be somewhere back in evolutionary history but is now folded down under the body), females have broad ones.

Soft-shell crabs are divine pan-fried in butter and lemon and, if you like, some Old Bay Seasoning. But you do have to get used to eating something that has that many legs.

To ask another question: Whaddayall think about the current defector revelations concerning Burman WMD naughtiness? (see the current http://www.armscontrolwonk.com/ )

[Tyler]

Jackie,

As I am not a waterman, I can't say that I know what exactly makes a 1 a 1 and a 2 a 2. I believe 1s are about 6 inches across or so.

People like males more than females, because the flesh tastes different to some, but mainly because no one wants to deal with getting a crab full of eggs.

Jose,

You're insane. Stone crabs are good but there's nothing better than blue crab claws. Or spending the time to pick enough and fry it up as a crab cake.

TTG,

Fried soft shell crab sandwiches are definitely an acquired, adult taste. Delicious, but they're a bit intimidating for sure. And cleaning them is like riding a bicycle.

Allen,

You're right on the part about that many legs. As a child it looked like my father was eating a giant fried spider.

As an aside, there is only ONE way to cook hardshell blue crabs: Steaming them. Do NOT let someone try to talk you into cleaning them and then throwing them into an oven.

Probably the best place to go in the Mid Atlantic for softshell crab and clam/oyster fritter sandwiches is the Sharptown Fireman's Carnival in August in Sharptown, Maryland. The line goes on forever to get one, it seems. I haven't been there in years, but oh the memory stays with me.

[Jackie]

Allen and Tyler,
Thank you for the information about crabs, male and female. We never get whole ones here, but if I run across one, I'll pay closer attention. In the meantime, enjoy the delicacy!

[Balint Somkuti]

4th of June is the day of infamy for Hungary.

In the treaty of Trianon Hungary lost 2/3 of its territory and 57 percent of its population.

While there can be some justification for joinig some minorities with their countires, there is none for putting some 2,5 million hungarians under foreign rule and creating a hardy viable country. Hungary was deprived of most of its transportation, and resources.

This peace dictate (organised by the french with active british and passive american support) still plagues Middle Europe. The large hungarian minorities in the so called Small Antant states, are still deprived of most of their rights.

[rjj]

Doing the right thing....

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/06/main-wikileaks-source-outed-war-of-tweets-results/57753/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10255887.stm