The Off Topic Topic

[Syt]

John Oliver is right - in hindsight this book cover is a dead giveaway:

[DGuller]

John Oliver is right - in hindsight this book cover is a dead giveaway:

[Syt]

Also, this is a masterpiece of editing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9-rthBwUXQ

[The Minsky Moment]

Piers Corbyn
@Piers_Corbyn
    
LOL! Lying thieving #UN-#EU(#4thReich) #Green Filth - #Agenda21 agents of #WallStreet #plunder machine are too disgusting even for #Guardian #Deluded servants of #SuperRich-#BigOil-#IMF #FakeGreen bandits - #Leeches sucking the life from the #developing world to "#SaveThePlanet"! twitter.com/NoTricksZone/s...

Well that makes a lot of sense. 

it appears to be an effort to pass the reverse Turing Test - a human attempting to mimic a malfunctioning computer.

[The Minsky Moment]

From the RationalWiki: "Piers Corbyn is the owner/operator of WeatherAction, a website that claims to accurately predict the weather in Britain & Ireland for much longer than the standard accuracy time frame of 5 days that most meteorologists agree on. Currently he makes predictions 30, 45, and 60 days in advance. In the past Corbyn claimed to be able to make predictions between 9 months and a year ahead"

So he is neither left nor right.  He's a straight-up con artist.

[The Brain]

Please. He's a con artiste.

[The Minsky Moment]

Article in Bloomberg with a good explanation of the SEC's accredited investor rules and their shortcomings:
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-09-24/earning-the-right-to-get-swindled

He then proposes his alterative regulatory scheme.

1. Anyone can invest all they want in a diversified portfolio of approved investments (non-penny-stock public companies, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds with modest fees, insured bank accounts, etc.).
2.  Anyone can also invest in any other dumb investment; you just have to go to the local office of the SEC and get a Certificate of Dumb Investment.
3.  To get that certificate, you sign a form. The form is one page with a lot of white space. It says in very large letters: "I want to buy a dumb investment. I understand that the person selling it will almost certainly steal all my money, and that I would almost certainly be better off just buying index funds, but I want to do this dumb thing anyway. I agree that I will never, under any circumstances, complain to anyone when this investment inevitably goes wrong. I understand that violating this agreement is a felony."
4.  Then you take the form to an SEC employee, who slaps you hard across the face and says "really???" And if you reply "yes really" then she gives you the certificate.
5.  Then you bring the certificate to the seller and you can buy whatever dumb thing he is selling.
6.   If an article ever appears in the Wall Street Journal in which you (or your lawyer) are quoted saying that you were just a simple dentist, didn't understand what you were buying and were swindled by the seller's flashy sales pitch, then you go to prison. 

[celedhring]

Valls for Barcelona is now official. He's quitting all his offices in France (apparently he wasn't doing much with them anyway...). He's also secured a spot as visiting professor at one of our most posh private unis, so he seems to have the patronage of Barcelona's bourgeoisie. His campaign won't lack funding.

He's running on a center-left establishment platform, which isn't the most exciting proposition in this day and age, but he will try to conflate the unionist vote. He's immensely popular among hardcore unionists, and his platform seems designed to attract moderates.

[Duque de Bragança]

In theory, one cannot be mayor and député anymore in France, but the law did not specify if it applied to mayor abroad. 
And yes, he did not show up often lately at the Assemblée Nationale.  As for Évry, the suburg where he launched his career, he was almost invisible there despite still having a mandate.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/2018/09/25/01002-20180925ARTFIG00359-s-il-pouvait-manuel-valls-serait-candidat-sur-la-lune.php

A local resident of Évry sums it up pretty nicely:

if he could Manuel Valls would be candidate for the Moon

.

As for securing the patronage of Barcelona's bourgeoisie, I guess dating a rich heiress, Susana Gallardo, helps.

http://madame.lefigaro.fr/societe/manuel-valls-susana-gallardo-riche-heritiere-catalane-photos-du-couple-290818-150239

As for  his centre-left platform, I guess he's trying to pull a local Macron in Barcelona.
Have fun with Valls, celedhring! 

[Zanza]

It's not reported that much internationally, but Merkel is slowly losing her grip on power. Her interior minister is openly defying her time and again, her coalition partner is very unhappy and today her faction in parliament elected a new chief against her explicit wishes. Let's see how much longer she will stay in her office.

[Duque de Bragança]

Actually it is.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2018/09/23/01003-20180923ARTFIG00196-pour-angela-merkel-la-fin-de-regne-a-commence.php

Merkel's reign nearing to an end

[The Brain]

It's not reported that much internationally, but Merkel is slowly losing her grip on power. Her interior minister is openly defying her time and again, her coalition partner is very unhappy and today her faction in parliament elected a new chief against her explicit wishes. Let's see how much longer she will stay in her office.

She has to get hungry eventually.

[Valmy]

It's not reported that much internationally, but Merkel is slowly losing her grip on power. Her interior minister is openly defying her time and again, her coalition partner is very unhappy and today her faction in parliament elected a new chief against her explicit wishes. Let's see how much longer she will stay in her office.

How does this work? Can the Bundestag just appoint another Chancellor or will this necessarily result in an election?

[celedhring]

In theory, one cannot be mayor and député anymore in France, but the law did not specify if it applied to mayor abroad. 
And yes, he did not show up often lately at the Assemblée Nationale.  As for Évry, the suburg where he launched his career, he was almost invisible there despite still having a mandate.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/2018/09/25/01002-20180925ARTFIG00359-s-il-pouvait-manuel-valls-serait-candidat-sur-la-lune.php

A local resident of Évry sums it up pretty nicely:

if he could Manuel Valls would be candidate for the Moon

.

As for securing the patronage of Barcelona's bourgeoisie, I guess dating a rich heiress, Susana Gallardo, helps.

http://madame.lefigaro.fr/societe/manuel-valls-susana-gallardo-riche-heritiere-catalane-photos-du-couple-290818-150239

As for  his centre-left platform, I guess he's trying to pull a local Macron in Barcelona.
Have fun with Valls, celedhring! 

Her current GF famously showed up at polling places dressed with the Spanish flag during last year's banned independence referendum, like a unionist Lady Godiva (although she wasn't naked underneath). She's super-rich, but appears to be a bit nutty.

He seems to be a political arriviste, but things have gotten to the point where I'd consider voting for him 

Fortunately I'm not registered to vote in Barcelona so I'll be spared the ignominy.

[celedhring]

Actually it is.

http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2018/09/23/01003-20180923ARTFIG00196-pour-angela-merkel-la-fin-de-regne-a-commence.php

Merkel's reign nearing to an end

It's been reported over here too. German politics get good coverage in our media.