New Developments III

[Greg]

Bitcoin futures approval sparks fears: 'The financial crisis all over again':

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/31/bitcoin ... peaet.html

[Greg]

Astronomers discover 7 Earth-sized planets orbiting nearby star:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/22/world/new ... very-nasa/

[mlrg]

The next Un Secretary General will be Antonio Guterres, born in my country (Portugal)

He was the UN High commissioner for refugees during the last 10 years. Prior to that he was Portuguese prime minister from 1995 to 2002. Although not from the same political family as mine, he was not a bad prime minister. He benefited from a good economic environment during the late 90’s but was unable to maintain his political reforms (mainly based on social welfare) during the last two years of his government. He resigned in December 2001 after his party lost local elections (curiously the prime minister that followed him was Jose Durão Barroso, who later became European Union Comission president).

Guterres is a true humanitarian so he is a very good choice for this role.

[Greg]

Texas Youth Football Team to Continue Protesting Anthem Despite Death Threats:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/texas-youth-fo ... d=42082211

[Greg]

Colin Kaepernick jersey sales have skyrocketed since he began his protest:

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/colin ... s-protest/

[Greg]

Sex Toy-Wielding Students Protest Gun Law at University of Texas:

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/201 ... y-of-texas

[Greg]

Stephen Hawking could finally win Nobel prize after scientist 'PROVES' black hole theory:

http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/6 ... -radiation

[OscarGuy]

And Sanders officially endorses Clinton, meaning the convention will not be a clusterfuck.

I find it amusing that one of the people interviewed in the CNN article talks about Bernie's integrity and honesty and that she'd follow him anywhere except to Clinton. So, either he has integrity or he doesn't. You don't get to pick and choose which part of his personality and rhetoric are filled with integrity and which aren't because if he doesn't have integrity in one area, then he cannot be a candidate of integrity.

[Big Magilla]

Speaking of Giuliani...

http://www.nydailynews.com/ne<em>ws/pol ... -1.2707601

[Big Magilla]

Trump is not a law and order candidate although he may bellow like one. Anything can happen in the next few months, but I think most rational thinking people, and even some irrational ones, see through him.

Most of my close friends and family members are died-in-the-wool liberals and Democrats, but even the hard-nosed, gun-toting Republicans among them, the ones who wish George W. or Reagan were still President, see Hillary as the lesser of two evils. They won't vote for her, but they won't vote for him either. Let them stay home, which bodes well for the down ballot. I just wish if the Democrats do regain control of both Houses that they've learned their lesson well and won't do what they did the last time in trying to appease the Republicans by watering down bills that they won't vote for anyway.

[Mister Tee]

So, that eighth key is still hanging on there, Tee?

I'm not concerned about it. This was of course a very sad week, but hyping that into "it's almost like 1968" is the kind of thing the press does to try to generate attention. If things were to escalate substantially -- retaliatory killings, truly violent protests, rage in the streets -- then there'd be something to the analogy. But what I hear from most corners -- with the exception of bone-deep assholes like Guiliani -- is a desire and determination that none of that happen; that this not split into "you either excuse all police misconduct or you're anti-cop". I have to say, the Dallas police have themselves helped mightily with this...their behavior both at the demonstration and subsequently is a model of what law enforcement should aim for.

[Sabin]

So, that eighth key is still hanging on there, Tee?

[mlrg]

Portugal european football champions! Fuck yeahhhhhh!

[Heksagon]

It was you who started out by describing Britain as an "austerity regime". But when I pointed out that the British economy has actually done pretty well during that time, you point me to articles that downplay the amount of austerity that Cameron has implemented, thereby effectively undercutting your own initial argument.

You're not the first person I've seen do this. When governments introduce austerity, the critics will predict disaster, and when their predictions don't turn out to be correct, they will try to downplay the amount of austerity that was actually implemented. What else can they say? I've even seen people argue that the Fiscal Cliff never happened.

It is true, of course, that the austerity measures that Cameron implemented were far more modest than what he initially suggested to push through. But the relatively good performance of the British economy since then makes it very difficult to argue that they would have been harmful.

it was in fact only the end of the austerity that produced economic gains:

You should also keep in mind what is the objective of austerity policies: To bring government deficits in control and thereby improving confidence in the economy. No one who advocates austerity, is saying that austerity policies should involve cutting governmental expenditures indefinitely, although the critics - including Krugman - often present that straw man.

Austerity is always supposed to be a temporary policy that will produce economic gains once it is completed. I don't believe austerity will help the economy just simply because the policy is ongoing, but it does appear to me that, for countries that have major budget deficits, if the policy is successful in bringing those deficits down, it will improve investor confidence, which will improve the economy. The benefits will be felt in the medium and long term, not overnight.

[Mister Tee]

This may not directly address your assertion, but two postings from the Shrill Nobelist that would dispute any view that austerity was good for Britain -- that it was in fact only the end of the austerity that produced economic gains:

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/0 ... austerity/
http://www.theguardian.com/business/ng- ... y-delusion

The second one's pretty long, and only really focuses on Britain toward the end.