It's like living in a novel. An Ayn Rand novel...

Every government interference in the economy consists of giving an unearned benefit, extorted by force, to some men at the expense of others. --Rand Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal

From InvestmentNews' "Taking it to The Street" article on 4/30:

The AFL-CIO, the 11-million-member labor federation, is urging Congress to impose a transaction tax on securities trading to help cover the $900 billion cost for a government jobs program they want lawmakers to create.

Why even bother creating the jobs? Why don't they just demand that the government redistribute the money directly to them? I mean, not via check, because they'd have to go to a BANK to get it cashed, but maybe through an envelope of cash?

Secret identity revealed!

C'mon - the resemblance is uncanny!

Who was that guy from Georgia, who grew peanuts and flew in Air Force One?

From "Inflation's coming V-Shaped Recovery" in Forbes:

Last week's release of the Producer Price Index should have sent shivers down the spines of those who worry about silly things like profit margins. Prices for finished goods were up 0.7% month-over-month and 6% year-over-year. Intermediate goods prices were up 7.7% year-over-year. Prices for crude goods have soared 3.2% since March and 33.4% on an annual basis. If that's not a V-shaped recovery in inflation, what would you call it?

The Consumer Price Index is up 2.4% over the past 12 months. No, that level alone does not equal intractable inflation, but it's still a big jump from last summer's 2% CPI drop. Thanks to the Fed's record-sized balance sheet ($2.32 trillion), which has grown by $20 billion since since last week alone, inflation data has become disturbing. April's import prices were up 0.7% from March and 11.4% from a year ago.

What's it called when you have high unemployment and high inflation? Oh yeah - staglfation! Malaise! Jimmy F'ng Carter fucks with our economy from beyond the grave through this administration! **update: James Carter apparently not dead.

Perfect summary from Mike Pento's article:

The losers in all this are members of the general public, who are suffering the double whammy of high unemployment and the erosion of their purchasing power.

My local school budget

Data from http://www.middletownk12.org/finance/files/User%20Friendly%20Budget%202010-11.pdf

Pupils	2009	2010	Net	Net %
Pupils on Roll Regular Full-Time	8540	8814	274	3.2%
Pupils on Roll Regular Shared-Time	86	84	-2	-2.3%
Pupils on Roll Reg Accr. Adult High Sch	16	22	6	37.5%
Pupils on Roll - Special Full-Time	1461	1381	-80	-5.5%
Pupils on Roll - Special Shared-Time	101	108	7	6.9%
Private School Placements	58	53	-5	-8.6%
Total	10262	10462	200	1.9%		As pupils increase…
Selected Items	09-10	10-11	Net	Net %
Total Operating Budget	146,208,972	140,366,709	-5,842,263	-4.0%		1. ...we spend less overall
Local Tax Levy	119,793,275	123,878,213	4,084,938	3.4%		2. but we're taxed more
Regular Instruction	51,142,450	48,884,706	-2,257,744	-4.4%		3a. even though we're spending less on teaching
School Sponsored Athletics	1,418,274	1,152,279	-265,995	-18.8%		3b. And less on sports
Personal Services - Employee Benefits	22,499,239	23,808,496	1,309,257	5.8%		4. but we are spending a million more on benefits
Total Comparative Per Pupil Cost	12,638	12,106	-532	-4.2%		5. so we spend less per kid overall
Classroom-Salaries and Benefits	7,240	7,505	265	3.7%		6. but more per kid on teachers
Employee Benefits as a % of Salaries	23.4	26.7	3	14.1%		7. and those benefit costs are rising

And apparently those benefit costs are rising even after the layoffs of 124 district staff, including 72.5 teaching positions! [http://www.app.com/article/20100420/NEWS/4210326/1283/LOCAL07/Middletown-voters-oust-school-board-incumbents-reject-budget]

You're nasty. You know who you are.

If there's a hell, there's a special room in it for people who go to the bathroom and don't wash their hands. But, many are unaware that there is a slightly smaller, adjacent hellroom for people who go to the bathroom and wash their hands without using soap! Especially when it's RIGHT THERE.

2010 New York City Start! Wall Street Run & Heart Walk

Heartland Brewery

When a man reaches a certain age, he must begin to think more carefully about what drinking on a Thursday night does to his body on Friday morning. Last night I met a friend for beers and something to eat at Heartland Brewery (the place you go when no one wants to make a decision as to where to go), and while it was far from a raging party my body kind hurts in that annoying way it does after I exercise. Since when is 3 beers enough "exercise" to make my joints sore? FML.

Anyway, I've been known to be sour on Heartland over the years, with my primary gripe being along the lines of "if you're a brewery, your beer shouldn't suck, and if it does the food better be damn good". And the food wasn't. However I do have to say that they redeemed themselves (to some degree) last night. The IPA flowed really nicely. It's one of their standards and always on the menu; I'm not big into "seasonal specialty" beers but their "Not Tonight Honey Porter" sign made me chuckle. All the pints are $6.95, and a seven-dollar beer is not that bad in the city. Service at the bar was friendly and attentive, and we had no trouble getting a table for something to eat. Comment on the economy that they have tables open at 730?

Maybe I was too busy hating on them to notice the menu, or maybe it really has changed over the years, but in either case dinner did not disappoint as in years past. I had the Pan-Seared Salmon (Pineapple citrus salsa and grilled polenta, served with frisée and radicchio salad and chipotle mayo 15.50) while my friend got the Grilled Cheese (I think it was on special - if so, bonus points for putting grilled cheese on the menu!). I can't speak for his but mine was pretty damn good, the salsa not overpowering the salmon. Overall Heartland Brewery worked themselves up to "acceptable, not exceptional" from "hell no" on my list - your results may vary.