Ahoy me hearty!

Shiver me timbers, Cap'n Snowbelt thought that all you landlubbers and scurvy dogs needed to remember to celebrate today...That's right, its Talk Like A Pirate Day, me chumbuckets!

What better day than this to celebrate the raisin’ o’ Cap’n Obama’s polls? He can barely sail into port before the crowds o’ land lubbers come runnin’ to greet ‘im. Change is in the wind like the flyin’ o’ the mainsail and the riggin’ o’ the yardarm!

Now don’t get me started on that dirty dog Pegleg McSame and his first matey, Bridges. There’s two of the worst scalawags that set foot on the sea (so to speak). Many a time did we try to rope in that Pegleg McSame, but, blast ‘im, he keeps escapin’ to one o’ his other houses, drat it! But, mind, you, I hear he’s get a load o’ treasure somewhere! Thanks to one o’ his wenches and her rum runnin’

Now get out there and raise a pint o'grog or rum, as ye see fit!
Arrr!

To tan or not to tan

As if we needed more reasons to think everything is somehow related to Buffalo, McSame's running mate's tanning need is supported by a local businessman,Dan Humiston, who is running against incumbent Congressman Brian Higgins (D). It turns out that this businessman, is the president of the Tanning Bed chain (a mostly WNY chain)l , according to this Buffalo News article.

I would also point out that I didn't even know anyone was running against Higgins, so clearly he needs better exposure.

But if McSame/Plain win the election, he just might become the next Attany General!

Perspective

I originally posted this on KOS yesterday as the market was melting...

"Prosperity, real prosperity has just begun." Brisbane also told his 25,000,000 reader that "stock gamblers may be worried, but the people at large feel cheerful."

- from A Nation in Torment: The Great American Depression, 1929-1939 by Edward Robb Ellis, 1970.

I just thought that a cheery quote was just the thing for everyone, given the events of the day.../snark

The quote, from p 69, is by Arthur Brisbane, then Hearst editorial writer. It is in response to events of Oct 1-3, 1929.

Continuing some pages later is another statement that is too familiar:

"Aware of the sickening crisis on the floor of the exchange, the six bankers decided to form a coalition to pump new life into the dying market. This they did by forming a pool, with each pledging $40 million for a total of $240 million. An additional $100 million was supplied by other financial firms...It was by far the largest concentration of pool buying power ever directed at the stock market. What they wanted to do was to indulge in a bold psychological gesture to end the panic - and to protect themselves."

This was on Thursday October 24, 1929.

On p. 81:

"in point of fact, the bankers' pool failed to save the market but did save the big boys themselves...They did give temporary support to such market leaders as United States Steel, then quietly fed back into the market nearly all the shares they had bought - at a fair profit to themselves."

"Then came Tuesday, October 29, 1929."

(sorry for so many quotes, I think that Ellis said it much better than I could paraphrase)

As neither an economist nor a "seer," I have no idea what today will mean in history. However, if we spent a bit more time understanding history, we might not be at a place again where bail-outs are needed for entities too big to fail. It's not a problem that can be solved in a day or two; it required vigilance and (real) grown-ups to keep an eye on things. We are seeing the culmination of years of deregulation and the mess that is created when no one cares who is making how much money and certainly no one cares how it was made.

Anyone looking to dump their Social Security into the market right now, raise their hand...

Not bad!

A very interesting piece about the increase in use of light rail.
From today's Buffalo News:

Buffalo commuters are leading the nation when it comes to taking light rail to beat the high cost of driving.

Metro Rail ridership skyrocketed 45.9 percent in the second quarter of this year compared to 2008 passenger counts, according to a survey released by the American Public Transportation Association today. Ridership went from 1.2 million in the second quarter of 2007 to almost 1.8 million trips in the same period this year.

This is good for the environment and good for hopes of extending the light rail line.
The article goes on to say:

Record light rail counts were also recorded in Philadelphia (34.9%), Kenosha, Wis. (26.9%) and Sacramento, Calif. (26.3%).

I guess we have Atrios to thank for the increase in Philly...Go Supertrain! Scroll down to see one of his many posts promoting better rail.

As anyone who watched the Bills beat Seattle today know, it is rainy here in Buffalo. A slight glimpse of the Fall to come, and a brief respite from the non-stop festivals, fetes and fun of the Niagara Frontier summer.

Local and state primaries are Tuesday, but nothing too exciting. The most interesting races are in the Democratic primary to see who will run for Tom Reynolds' House seat. It is a three-way primary race that has been pretty ugly and rarely factual. I wish Democrats would run as tough against Republicans as they do against each other.

The other race of interest is a NY State Assembly primary between long-time incumbent Sam Hoyt, and challenger Barbara Cavanaugh. Not sure how this is going, but it seems like it will be close, based on the number of mailings I received.