Dec 26, 2012
BenY commented on Lawmakers Blow Opportunity to Rethink the Way We Fund Our Roads.
Our electric car is cheaper than the 10-year old Ford Explorer we traded in. The monthly lease for a 2012 Nissan Leaf costs less than the gas we used, even including the [estimated] $35/month for electricity, and the government made the charger almost free. So an electric car doesn't mean "extra disposable income" necessarily.
Jul 23, 2012
BenY commented on What Do You Think of the Man of Steel Trailer?.
This could be the first interesting take on Superman in a long time. If the movie really is about the decision of how you should live your life then it is something that relates to all of us. Anyone could make it a mission in life to better the world, but few choose to do this. Superman can take the story to its extreme since he is almost all-powerful, so it seems like a good angle for the movie. Much better than "invicible guy vs cartoon villain."
As humans we all have super powers, we just don't notice because everyone has them.
As humans we all have super powers, we just don't notice because everyone has them.
Jul 12, 2012
BenY commented on The Heart of the Capitalist System.
Planet Money has been talking about LIBOR for a while now and they had some terrific pieces on it recently.
One thing they point out is that it's really hard to figure out the effect of Barclays manipulating the rate since LIBOR is averaged using 18 different London banks with the top 4 and bottom 4 thrown out. So one bank shouldn't make a difference. But there is some evidence of collusion between banks, and even if they didn't collude they might have all been doing it out of self interest.
But we don't know yet so it's possible there was actually no effect from this. (But probably there was.)
Anyway, after the financial crisis hit none of the banks wanted to admit they were unsafe so they gave artificially low LIBOR scores. A low score means they can borrow money cheaply because they are sooooo trustworthy.
Banks like to appear completely safe especially when they aren't, so they all said "we're 100% fine" and reported low scores.
But all sorts of loan contracts reference LIBOR. A house or credit card loan might be set at "LIBOR plus some percent" so when it's a teeny bit lower it might be good for individuals.
But if things like cities or pension funds bought bonds that were based on a lower LIBOR then those bonds are paying out less, so the city or fund is out some money.
I have no idea how it affects the stadium bonds. Thinking it through as a layman: the stadiums were selling bonds to raise money, so if they were based on LIBOR they could have been paying out slightly higher or lower interest than they should have been. But if they sold all the bonds then they got their money anyway so they wouldn't be hurt much, unless a slightly lower rate means fewer people bought them. But if the rate was higher than it should have been then they'd be paying out higher interest than they should which is bad for them, unless this is what enticed people to buy the bonds in the first place.
I'm not an expert in any way, everything I know about this is from Planet Money (which I -heart-). Here are some blog posts on it and a really good podcast episode (as if this wasn't long enough already):
This blog post talks about who the victims were -- scroll to the end if you like. http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/07/0…
This is a short version of the LIBOR scandal, which I mostly summarized already but this has an audio version plus transcript:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/07/0…
And this is the full 20 minute podcast that talks about it in a really approachable and fascinating way:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/07/0…
More...
One thing they point out is that it's really hard to figure out the effect of Barclays manipulating the rate since LIBOR is averaged using 18 different London banks with the top 4 and bottom 4 thrown out. So one bank shouldn't make a difference. But there is some evidence of collusion between banks, and even if they didn't collude they might have all been doing it out of self interest.
But we don't know yet so it's possible there was actually no effect from this. (But probably there was.)
Anyway, after the financial crisis hit none of the banks wanted to admit they were unsafe so they gave artificially low LIBOR scores. A low score means they can borrow money cheaply because they are sooooo trustworthy.
Banks like to appear completely safe especially when they aren't, so they all said "we're 100% fine" and reported low scores.
But all sorts of loan contracts reference LIBOR. A house or credit card loan might be set at "LIBOR plus some percent" so when it's a teeny bit lower it might be good for individuals.
But if things like cities or pension funds bought bonds that were based on a lower LIBOR then those bonds are paying out less, so the city or fund is out some money.
I have no idea how it affects the stadium bonds. Thinking it through as a layman: the stadiums were selling bonds to raise money, so if they were based on LIBOR they could have been paying out slightly higher or lower interest than they should have been. But if they sold all the bonds then they got their money anyway so they wouldn't be hurt much, unless a slightly lower rate means fewer people bought them. But if the rate was higher than it should have been then they'd be paying out higher interest than they should which is bad for them, unless this is what enticed people to buy the bonds in the first place.
I'm not an expert in any way, everything I know about this is from Planet Money (which I -heart-). Here are some blog posts on it and a really good podcast episode (as if this wasn't long enough already):
This blog post talks about who the victims were -- scroll to the end if you like. http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/07/0…
This is a short version of the LIBOR scandal, which I mostly summarized already but this has an audio version plus transcript:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/07/0…
And this is the full 20 minute podcast that talks about it in a really approachable and fascinating way:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/07/0…
Feb 6, 2012
BenY commented on Man Bites Dog: "Needs More Salt".
C'mon, they were never really going to eat their dog. It's like in the cartoons when someone is in a lifeboat and looks at the other person who turns into a giant cooked turkey. It's a moment of madness, understandable desperation where all options are considered. They obviously chose not to do it, so it becomes only a morbid point of humor they can relate.
Unless... they set out with two dogs.
Unless... they set out with two dogs.
Feb 3, 2012
BenY commented on Lesbian Moms Have Breasts Too.
Her viewpoints suck, but unless the Komen foundation is using money to lobby against Gay Rights then how is it relevant? If Republicans cure breast cancer we'd all be better off. I'm sure there are tons of scientific advances made by scientists we would find distasteful in person, or funded by them.
Jan 24, 2012
BenY commented on Romney Releases Tax Returns, Had Tons of Money in a Swiss Bank Account.
There is another innocent reason to keep money in an offshore account: as a hedge against the value of the US dollar falling. For instance, remember that the Dollar and the Euro started out the same but now one Euro is worth $1.30. A 30% return over 10 years sounds good to me.
The US is trying to keep the dollar low so the rest of the world will buy our stuff.
The US is trying to keep the dollar low so the rest of the world will buy our stuff.
Jan 12, 2012
BenY commented on Today in the Proven Connection Between Gay Marriage and Child Porn.
They don't seem connected to me -- different background color, different font. My eye doesn't go directly from one to the other. They shouldn't have done this since it's possible to read the two headlines in a row, but seeing them as one story is a stretch.
Dec 9, 2011
BenY commented on Victim-Blaming Alcohol Ad Pulled in PA.
It isn't useful to talk about blame. If there are steps women can take to protect themselves, they should do them. It's no good to say "tell the men not to rape" if it means "tell the women they can't do anything to protect themselves, let the men control this issue." You can only control your own actions.
This happened to a friend of mine, it sucks. They guy did it to more than just her, and got away with it of course.
This happened to a friend of mine, it sucks. They guy did it to more than just her, and got away with it of course.
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