thought of the day

"There is no vengeance which maybe be inflicted, as biting and as limitless as regret." Anonymous

Illegal Immigration - what's the problem?

The problem is that no one really knows because no one is keeping data. Many Demopublicans claimed during California's last primary campaign that illegal aliens cost taxpayers and the state tens of billions of dollars each year. Thanks to the New Times, here are recent comments from those that should know because they're supposed to be keeping track of the money related to the cost . . .
“It turns out we really just don’t have the data on undocumented people because they don’t get benefits,” said Tracy Buckingham, assistant director of San Luis Obispo County Social Services.
“The city of Santa Maria does not compile statistics about the cost of undocumented residents,” spokesman Mark Van de Kamp said in a statement. “City police officers do ask the immigration status of arrestees booked into county jail, but it’s up to ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] to determine who’s undocumented and subject to immigration holds and deportation.”
According to SLO County Administrator Jim Grant, the county collects no data on illegal immigrants and therefore has little data on cost estimates. The county is reimbursed for the costs of detaining and processing such individuals he said. In the 2005 fiscal year, for example, the county received about $200,000 in reimbursement from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program. Last fiscal year the county received about $249,000 and Grant said it has budgeted to ask for about $275,000 this year.
SLO Sheriff’s Department spokesman Rob Bryn said the department doesn’t track illegal immigrants. “Normally we don’t track anything we’re not required to track,” he said. “And that’s just a budget issue.”
What about SLO County Auditor-Controller Gere Sibbach? Does he have any idea how many illegal immigrants are in the county or how much it costs the average legal resident?
“No I don’t,” he said. “I can’t think of anything.”

You can read the whole story here

Erma Bombeck

She was pretty funny . . . "Housework, if you do it right, will kill you."

Boistrous Bravado of a Politician

"Holy Godfrey? What Fun?" Teddy Roosevelt leaving office to invade Cuba.

His war cry? "Rough tough, we're the stuff/We want to fight and we can't get enough?/Whoopee!"

Investing Advice from a real pro

"The world is a lot different now. Nobody with any brains buys an asset based on what it's done. All intelligent investors buy for the future." Bill Fleckenstein

The end of ignorance is coming

During a recent interview with Charlie Rose, Intel CEO Paul Otellini had some amazing comments on the future of computing. He also said that within 5 years everything is going to be on every device; you'll be able to access it all from your car, your phone, your personal computer, your TV. To which Rose asked, "What's going to become obsolete?" Otellini responded, "Ignorance."

The important quote from Tiger . . .

“I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn’t have to go far to find them.”

Actions speak louder than words

“I cannot hear what you are saying because what you are doing is speaking so loudly.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Most Famous Person

One day, a kindergarten teacher said to the class of 5-year-olds, "I'll give $2 to the child who can tell me who the most famous man who ever lived was."

An Irish boy put his hand up and said, "It was St. Patrick."

The teacher said, "Sorry Sean, that's not correct."

Then a Scottish boy put his hand up and said, "It was St. Andrew."

The teacher replied, "I'm sorry, Hamish, that's not right either."

Finally, a Jewish boy raised his hand and said, "It was Jesus Christ."

The teacher said, "That's absolutely right, Marvin, come up here and I'll give you the $2."

As the teacher was giving Marvin his money, she said, "You know, Marvin, since you're Jewish, I was very surprised that you said Jesus Christ."

Marvin replied, "Yeah. In my heart I knew it was Moses, but business is business!"

Is the recession over? Bernanke thinks so . . . . who cares?

from Barry Ritholz - - -

Ben Bernanke has declared the recession over.

This leads to one simple question: Why should you care what his recession forecasts are?

Based on his track record as a forecaster and his acumen in identifying economic problems before they exploded, his views on starts and finishes of recessions are, to be blunt, irrelevant.

Recall it was Mr. Bernanke who described the sub-prime situation as “Contained;” it was he who believed Housing would not spill over to the broader economy; and it was he who somehow thought the Bear Stearns situation was a one-off.

I don’t wish to single out Mr. Bernanke; After all, he is an economist, and if you were paying attention, you will note that the entire profession missed the oncoming recession, credit crisis and market collapse. You may also find it helpful to ignore what the profession that cannot forecast yesterday thinks about tomorrow.

Even now, the Federal Reserve Chairman said the recession was “very likely over” as consumers showed some of the first tangible signs of spending again. Never mind that all this retail activity has been driven by government subsidies.

Now, as an investor, you do want to be mindful of the Fed Chief’s economic views, particularly how they pertain to his interest rate policies. The ed has made it clear rates are staying low for the foreseeable future, so this becomes a non-issue in this context.

But his economic forecasts? Don’t bother.

Note that I have not been a particularly harsh critic of the Fed Chair. While he may not be Paul Volcker, he is also (thankfully) not Alan Greenspan. And we could have done much worse than having a student of the Great Depression, who is also an out-of-the-box thinker as Fed Chief.

But as a prognosticator? He is no better than his predeccessor . . .

Psuedohistory and hyperdiffusion

A hyper-diffusionist theory is one that proposes that the greatest cultural achievements of one ancient civilization can be traced to another, higher civilization whose ideas were transmitted as a result of voyages or other forms of "diffusion" not recognized by mainstream scholars (usually because they never happened). . . . . . . This is a medieval way of thinking. Belief in hidden correspondences was almost universal before the Enlightenment, and it went hand in hand with a pre-modern methodology: first you decide what you believe, then you find the evidence, brushing aside anything that doesn't fit. from Damian Thompson's "Counterknowledge"

Longest insult in Shakespeare

"A knave; a rascal; an eater of broken meats; a base, proud, shallow, beggarly, three-suited, hundred-pound filthy, worsted-stocking knave; a lilly-livered, action-taking whoreson glassgazing, superserviceable, finical rogue; one-trunk-inheriting slave; one that wouldst be a bawd, in way of good service, and art nothing but the composition of a knave, beggar, coward, pander, and the son and heir of a mongrel bitch, one whom I will beat into clamourous whining, if thou denyest the least syllable of the addition." King Lear Act II Scene II

thanks to Jim Cooper, a friend of my sister Sarah's who I met at the Parkfield Bluegrass Festival this past weekend.

Winston Churchill quote

“’You are drunk Sir Winston, you are disgustingly drunk. ‘Yes, Mrs. Braddock, I am drunk. But you, Mrs. Braddock are ugly, and disgustingly fat. But, tomorrow morning, I, Winston Churchill will be sober.”

Best Comeback Line

If you ever testify in court, you might wish you could have been as sharp as this policeman. He was being cross-examined by a defense attorney during a felony trial. The lawyer was trying to undermine the policeman's credibility...
Q: "Officer -- did you see my client fleeing the scene?"
A: "No sir. But I subsequently observed a person matching the description of the offender, running several blocks away."
Q: "Officer -- who provided this description?"
A: "The officer who responded to the scene."
Q: "A fellow officer provided the description of this so-called offender. Do you trust your fellow officers?"
A: "Yes, sir. With my life."
Q: "With your life? Let me ask you this then officer. Do you have a room where you change your clothes in preparation for your daily duties?"
A: "Yes sir, we do!"
Q: "And do you have a locker in the room?"
A: "Yes sir, I do."
Q: "And do you have a lock on your locker?"
A: "Yes sir."
Q: "Now why is it, officer, if you trust your fellow officers with your life, you find it necessary to lock your locker in a room you share with these same officers?"
A: "You see, sir -- we share the building with the court complex, and sometimes lawyers have been known to walk through that room."
The courtroom erupted in laughter, and a prompt recess was called. The officer on the stand has been nominated for this year's "Best Comeback" Line -- I think he'll win.

How money gets transferred

"It is the markets’ job to reallocate money from the ignorant to the intelligent, from the lazy to the hard working and studious; from the naive to the educated, and from the speculator to the investor."

Barry Ritholz . . the big picture blog

Batman and Robin quotes

Robin: "I guess you can never trust a woman."
Batman: "You've made a hasty generalization, Robin. It's a bad habit to get into."

Robin: "That's an impossible shot, Batman."
Batman: "That's a negative attitude, Robin."

Alfred Hitchcock's style

"My camera is absolute."

"I tell the story through that lens, so I need you to move when my camera moves, stop when my camera stops. I'm confident you'll be able to find your motivation to justify the motion. I'll be happy to work with you, but I will not change the timing of my camera."

"Either they wear the clothes and do the part the way I want or they're not going to be in it."

from Spellbound by Beauty by Donald Spoto

Mike Doyles says this too

Mike Doyles says

The Year of Investing Dangerously

from Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter . . . a pretty good summary of events

click here