Monday. Enough said.
Everyone is depressed and grumpy today, so let’s get down to the serious business of enlivening an otherwise miserable day – starting with the Left’s war on, of all things, straws:
And now they have a sudden obsession with strawmen as well:
By many accounts, Kavanaugh is the kind of person who planned to be a judge from the moment he entered law school. Or maybe high school. I’m pretty sure he was very careful about he wrote while working in the White House. His most controversial statements are probably those he wrote as a judge, where his job requires him to decide highly controversial issues.
In any event, Republicans aren’t going to (1) insist on the production of the millions of papers Kavanaugh handled as White House staff secretary or (2) hold up his confirmation while the Archives struggles to produce all of the papers he wrote when he worked in White House counsel’s office. The leadership’s response to Democratic whining is just what the Democrats’ response would be if the shoe were on the other foot: Pound sand.
Instead of pounding sand, Democrats are going to sue. In this case, it probably amounts to the same thing.
To paraphrase Napoleon (who may or may not have actually said this), “Never interrupt the enemy when he is in the process of making a grievous error”.
It is clear that the Democreeps have completely lost the ability to think and act rationally. If they had a shred of self-respect, dignity, or decency left, they would accept that they lost the argument about which direction the country wants to go to an orange-faced coiffed real-estate salesman and showbiz mogul who resembles a giant Cheetoh and has a vocabulary of about a thousand words, most of which seem to consist of superlatives, and go back to the drawing board and figure out how to win again.
Oh, and about that giant orange Cheetoh – known to you and me as the God-Emperor of Mankind – he just carries on #WINNING!!! because that is what winners do:
It has now become mainstream to worry about the sustainability of the Chinese model that was so thoroughly praised a decade ago. As the Financial Times Martin Wolfwarnedin the first of an ongoing series the dangers of China’s debt-fueled investment binge, “The salient characteristics of a system liable to a crisis are high leverage, maturity mismatches, credit risk, and opacity. China’s financial system has all these features.”
Subsequent entries in the series investigate the Chinese mountain of debt, which has fueled such projects as China Railway’s network of high-speed rail lines. Such infrastructure projects have kept the Chinese people employed and GDP growth high, but their economic viability remains in question. The high-speed system is the world’s largest by far, due to the state-owned transportation company’s ability and willingness to take on a level of debt that would be impossible for a company not backed by a government as powerful as China’s. The FT cites estimates that the high-speed rail project will bring China Railway’s total debt to more than $1 trillion by 2020, and points out that the company’s interest payments alone have exceeded its operating profit every quarter since at least 2015.
Another troubling trend is the growth of Chinese banks. As Bloomberg’s Yalman Onaranpoints out, in 1988, 9 of the top 10 banks in the world were Japanese, and in 2007, that list was dominated by American and European firms. Given that debt brings with it instability, it’s no surprise that the rapid growth of a country’s banking institutions can portend a crisis. So the fact that China is now home to the world’s four largest banks by assets is just one more signal of the country’s susceptibility to a crisis of some sort.
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Ann Coulter doing what she does best:
A lot of people find Ms. Coulter to be extremely harsh, uncompromising, nasty, and even un-feminine.
To which I respond: “Yes. And?”
Ms. Coulter is indeed un-feminine. She knows it. That is why she is single and childless. She knows perfectly well that she is too harsh and intolerant of stupidity to be a good wife and mother.
So she puts her energies instead into eviscerating the straw-man and emotional arguments of the Left. And she’s really good at it.
Here are some examples of her going toe-to-toe with various liberal shibboleths and personalities to help you get your Monday off to a good start:
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Currencies are tanking across the developing world, and with good reason:
The economic crisis brewing in Turkey seems to have surprised many. This was probably, at least partly, due to the ‘period of tranquility’ created by the central banks with theirs ‘unorthodox measures’.
Many seem to have imagined that the “synchronized global growth” spurt
were here to last. But, it was just a mirage, run by the stimulus of China and the major central banks.
As we warned in May, the global quantitative tightening will bring an end to the current business cycle. This is for a multitude of reasons (see Q-review 1/2018), but the most pressing of them is the fact that QT will raise interest rates and suppress liquidity. It will raise the costs of indebted companies, drive zombie companies to insolvency and ultimately crash the asset markets. A global debt crisis of epic proportions and depression are likely to follow. Turkey is showing what it might look like.
The Great Recession of 2008 may have ended – sort of – with chart-busting, economist-defying growth, but make absolutely no mistake: the systemic problems that created the great crash ten years ago are still around. The world is in for an extremely rude shock the day that this crack-up boom ends.
Central banks around the world are going to discover in an awfully big hurry that massive injections of debt-fueled liquidity into the global financial markets cannot work beyond a certain point. Doing so is like injecting heroin into an addict; after a certain point, if you keep adding any more money into the system, you will end up killing it.
The only treatment is complete detoxification. And this is a horrible prospect for most individuals, companies, and governments.
The massive drop in private debt over the last ten years has been more than offset by the explosion of public debt. But as interest rates rise and the cost of servicing debts soars, the fiscal ability of governments to match their obligations will collapse rapidly.
Central banks will be left with no choice but to monetise debt – again. And inflate more asset bubbles – again. And keep trying really, really hard not to crash the economy by raising rates too soon – again.
But I have a strong suspicion that this time, it simply will not work. The structural and political changes that have taken place in the last 10 years have made it impossible for asset-bubble economics to work anymore.
That form of economics requires almost complete mobility of capital and people in order to work, because that allows asset bubbles to be inflated almost anywhere, at will, without regard for structural consequences. But the political tide has turned decisively against that idea in the USA, and is turning everywhere else throughout the civilised world.
The next crash is going to be truly horrific. Be ready for it – long guns and ammo, always. And be prepared to snap up some very high-quality stocks at absolute bargain-basement prices when it happens.
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Ah, the delicious taste of schadenfreude:
Tesla’s share price plummeted today after embattled CEO Elon Musk gave an extraordinary interview during which he burst out in tears, asked for someone to take his job and admitted he relies on Ambien to sleep.
The 47-year-old is facing mounting pressure and an SEC investigation over a tweet sent last week claiming to have ‘secured funding’ to take Tesla private.
Today’s interview with the New York Times is likely to increase that pressure after he admitted to a raft of personal problems, exhaustion and says his friends are concerned for his health.
Tesla shares ended the day down nine percent to $306 after a series of falls in the wake of the tweet and ensuing controversy, wiping around $5.5bn off the value of the company.
Musk described the past year as ‘excruciating’ and the ‘most difficult and most painful year of his career’.
The interview also raises concerns about Musk’s drug use. It claims the board is aware that he has occasionally used ‘recreational drugs’ and Musk himself admits to frequently relying on Ambien to sleep.
The paper also claims that Tesla’s board is concerned about his posts on Twitter while under the influence of Ambien and have urged him to quit social media.
Additionally Musk denied he was ‘on weed’ or ‘stoned’ when he sent the tweet claiming to be taking Tesla private for a $420 share, although he acknowledged the value could be taken as a reference to marijuana. He said: ‘It seemed like better karma at $420 than at $419. But I was not on weed, to be clear.’
Are you thinking of buying a Tesla? If so, please raise your hand. Go on then, don’t be shy.
OK, great. Now keep your hand up, but bend your arm at the elbow so that the arm is at a 90-degree angle with the palm of your hand facing outward in the same direction as your eyes.
Rotate your palm 90 degrees to the left, if you raised your right hand, or 90 degrees to the right, if you raised your left hand.
Done? OK, great.
Now drive your hand as hard and fast as you can, straight into your stupid smug face.
Repeat as many times as is necessary to remind yourself that you are a GODDAMNED IDIOT.
And here is why:
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Another week, another opportunity to mock the Clown News Network in particular, and the lying liars of the legacy (((media))) complex in general:
Related – CNN anchor and liberal black guest take on a former Navy SEAL, end up looking unbelievably stupid in the process:
Related – CNN anchor gets schooled about immigration realities by a really-for-real border patrol agent:
Seeing a pattern here?
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Remember back when Robot Chicken was still quite funny? Yeah, me too. Those days are probably long gone – though they do have the odd flash or two of brilliance even today – but there were times when some of their shorts were laugh-out-loud hilarious.
Like this one, which is a tad dark, but… still pretty funny:
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The generation gap, explained in simple terms of mutual loathing:
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Classic Gregory House, M.D., to brighten up your day:
I particularly love the “Sex While Stupid” gag – because it is from one of the most thoughtful and introspective episodes of that show ever recorded. That one particular episode does result in an abortion, though, so it is not exactly what I would consider an uplifting moment – but it does result in some very thought-provoking questions and gives a profound glimpse into House’s character.
Related:
See also:
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Some more amusing pics from our friends over at Power Line:
One more, this one containing words of sage wisdom for us all:
Amen, Reverend.
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This week in liberaltardation:
Related – Liberal Logic, explained through memes:
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Your weekly dose of metal WTFness – German classic power metal meets Russian turbo-polka:
Just a little more of that sort of thing, and they’ll have to start scraping fans’ brains off the ceiling. Which, I suspect, was kind of the intention.
Speaking of Russian turbo-polka:
And speaking of GRAVE DIGGER:
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More metal for Monday:
I must admit, I’m not all that impressed with the latest AMARANTHE single, if I’m honest. Then again, they have been going downhill ever since their second, and best, album. “Aerobic metal”, or whatever it is that they call it, is only interesting up to a point – and then it just gets really silly.
On to something with a lot more balls:
If you need something a little easier to digest – here’s some cheesy silly power metal:
And now for a few classics:
Ending with, of course, IRON MAIDEN:
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While we are on the subject of heavy metal – a female metal singer by the name of Jill Janus committed suicide recently:
HUNTRESS singer Jill Janus has died by suicide. She was only 42 years old.
Jill’s family and bandmates have released the following statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET: “It is with a heavy heart that we announce that Jill Janus — frontwoman for the California heavy metal band HUNTRESS — passed away on Tuesday, August 14. A longtime sufferer of mental illness, she took her own life outside of Portland, Oregon. Janus spoke publicly about these challenges in hopes of guiding others to address and overcome their mental illness.
“Janus was a truly special creative involved with numerous musical projects including her role as vocalist for female metal/hard rock cover bands THE STARBREAKERS and CHELSEA GIRLS. In addition, Janus was co-composer and creator of an upcoming rock opera with TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA‘s Angus Clark and had a decade-long career as NYC DJ Penelope Tuesdae. Her musical career began in childhood.
“Beyond her accomplishments in the music world and her advocacy for mental health issues, she was a beautiful person passionate about her family, animal rescue and the world of natural medicine. She will be missed more than she could have ever known.
“If you or someone you know might be at risk of suicide, call 1-800-273-8255 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. It provides free and confidential support 24 hours a day, seven days a week for people in suicidal crisis or distress.”
I am truly sorry to see this news. My condolences go out to Ms. Janus’s longtime boyfriend and family.
I saw HUNTRESS opening up for AMON AMARTH at least twice (I think – my memory about those specific gigs is a bit fuzzy because of all of the headbanging) and then one more time for some other band, maybe. They were pretty damn good. Jill Janus truly loved being up on stage, and while she didn’t have perhaps the greatest voice, she sure had a commanding on-stage persona.
In case you’ve never heard of HUNTRESS, here are a couple of songs to give you an idea of what they were like:
RIP Jill Janus, you will be missed.
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After that very sad news, I think we all need a bit of cheering up.
So – busty Instababe of the day:
A post shared by Nicolle Noris (@nicolle_noris) on
Just so we’re clear about something – Ms. Norris there promises to deliver “surprises” to your direct message mailbox if you play her guessing games. It is not particularly difficult to figure out what she means, and it should not come as a surprise if we discover that she is, in fact, up for being “sponsored”.
Oh, and if she’s 18 and all-natural, I’m Mickey Mouse.
Anyway – try to grin and bear it today, it is Monday, after all.
2 Comments
Is Anne still "In Hate" with the God-Emperor after his little March Madness?
Judging by what she's been saying recently, it looks like she got over her snit fit.