Shockingly, turning the population upside down and shaking them to collect loose change isn’t working out as well as the EU or Greece hoped. From Der Spiegel:

This dire prognosis comes even despite Athens’ massive efforts to sort out the country’s finances. The government’s draconian austerity measures have managed to reduce the country’s budget deficit by an almost unbelievable 39.7 percent, after previous governments had squandered tax money and falsified statistics for years. The measures have reduced government spending by a total of 10 percent, 4.5 percent more than the EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF) had required. [Read more]

Why blogging is better than spitting fire: My face almost never bursts into flames.

August 10, 2010:

News/Politics

Census Bureau Returns Cash: Counting people isn’t as expensive as first anticipated. [Read more]

Look on the bright side – at least the Gulf of Mexico now looks super-bitchin’ under UV lighting.

News/Politics

Arizona Immigration Law: A federal judge strikes down parts of Arizona’s Illegal immigration law, meaning Jan Brewer will spend more of the state’s money on lawyers. And John McCain has a sad. [Read more]

Paul Briggs does an outstanding imitation of how the Obama Administration handled the Shirley Sherrod video nontroversy. [Read more]

Before you watch this campaign video for Alvin Greene, remember one important thing – you’ll never be able to unwatch it. [Read more]

The Debate is over. The chicken came first.

News

Utah’s List: So someone in the Utah government releases a list of names of alleged illegal immigrants and sends it all around. Can someone explain to me again how Obama is the Nazi? [Read more]

One must wonder if Republicans will be standing up for British Petroleum and their profits after this latest headline: “BP lobbied U.K. ahead of Lockerbie bomber release.”

LONDON — BP confirmed Thursday that it had lobbied the British government over a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya in late 2007 before the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi.

The oil giant said it was concerned a slow resolution would impact an offshore drilling deal with Libya, but insisted it was not involved in discussions regarding actual al-Megrahi’s release. [Read more]

If a Sea Turtle could, it would murder you with its bare hands. And liberal environmentalists would like nothing more than to allow this ancient species to gain the power they’ve always slowly plotted.

Sea Turtles are often portrayed as wise, harmless keepers of the deep. But such a description couldn’t be further from the truth. The fact is this – Sea Turtles are monstrous man-eaters that make Great White Sharks look like otters. [Read more]

Jack Welch – former CEO of General Electric, Net worth, $720 million – had this to Tweet recently:

I wish the President would stop dividing us..Every day he has a new villain..bank execs, insurance companies, doctors, hedgefund managersetc

Sure, Jack, it’s the President that’s dividing us. It couldn’t be preachy people that are worth 30,000 times an average worker makes that divides some.

–WKW [Read more]

Yes, it is only Wednesday, but damn there have been some big  politcal Dick moves so far this week. [Read more]

If you aren’t with us, you’re against us.

Wolfrum’s Word

While I hate to put extra pressure on the U.S. National Soccer Game before their must-win game against Algeria, hopefully they are aware of one important thing – a win means Jesus is better than Mohammad, pure and simple. [Read more]

It is a truth universally acknowledged that lower taxes and smaller government lead to economic growth, while higher taxes and bigger government hold the economy back. And like many truths that are universally acknowledged, it is frequently contradicted by easily observable facts and that makes no difference. Economics especially seems to be full of these ironclad universal rules that only hold true some of the time, in elegantly controlled micro-economic examples. The rest of the time these "truths" are obviously not true, and no one would be fool enough to behave as if they were true except when it's time to set crucial government policy. [Read more]

Not long ago, actor Shia LaBeouf, star of the upcoming “Wall Street II,” delved into the world of advising investors, as he had these kind words to say about InterOil:

“IOC’s momentum is major, and it will surprise to the upside,” texted LeBeouf to a GQ writer.

For LeBeouf, the advice seemed natural, as he had been being prepped for his role at John Thomas Financial, where InterOil is their “favorite energy stock.” [Read more]

Ezra Klein recently tried to answer the question "Why is Goldman Sachs full of Ivy Leaguers?" by interviewing a Harvard/Goldman alum. (h/t to a righteously repulsed DougJ). But Wall Street's love affair with Harvard and Yale isn't just a question of why Ivy Leaguers go to Wall Street (the question Ezra begins with). [Read more]

If there’s one thing we can say for sure, it’s this: Those Gizmodo guys will get a much worse punishment for having that iPhone than anyone at Goldman Sachs will get for bilking their investors.

–WKW

Crossposted at William K. Wolfrum Chronicles

Some conservatives have accused President Obama of timing the Goldman Sachs lawsuit to make it easier to pass Wall Street Reform. It's not true, but the conservatives' anger at the alleged tactic is a sign of what a good idea that tactic is. It's the right general thing to do, and Obama should do a lot more of it.
 [Read more]

NEW YORK/ROME — Catholic Pope Benedict XVI has taken over all responsibilities at troubled Goldman Sachs, today. His new title will be Chief Holy Authority (CFA) or just “Pope.”

The Pope will keep his duties with the Catholic Church while working simultaneously at Goldman Sachs. The Pope stated he saw no problems for the giant financial firm that is currently in trouble with the SEC.

“We’ll move some people around, it will be fine,” said Pope.

An unnamed official at Goldman Sachs said the hiring of the Pope was the aggressive move need to put the whole company at ease. [Read more]

I know, I know. Daglog is not Twitter. And as Joe Biden would say, big F-ing deal. It's just that I'm over 60 years old (there, I said it) and to the best of my recollection I have never before bought a toaster.

I've owned a toaster -- like, forever. Of course. Everyone owns a toaster. But when my toaster broke this week, I asked myself, "When did I buy this thing?" And I drew a complete blank. Maybe it was a hand-me-down from my dear departed mother, or an ex-girlfriend. Or maybe it was left behind in an apartment I once rented. All I know is I've had it longer than I've had children, and they are in their late 30s. So when it stopped working, it surprised the hell out of me. It had always worked. Why would it stop now? [Read more]

So who do you get your stock tips from, these days? How about 23-year-old actor Shia Labeouf? Yes, in studying for his role in the upcoming film “Wall Street 2,” Labeouf spent time at John Thomas Financial. At John Thomas, InterOil (IOC) is their “favorite energy stock.”

So guess which stock LaBeouf is praising? [Read more]

BRAZIL – Atheist blogger William K. Wolfrum – known primarily for posting pictures of his dogs – has come out in support of the Catholic Church today. A life-long Catholic, Wolfrum said it seemed that now was the time for him to “have the back” of his old faith.

Even though I don’t believe in anything they preach and think they’re evil is no reason for me to abandon them now,” said Wolfrum, who has attended one Catholic Mass in the last two decades. “I’m no hater.” [Read more]