That’s it.
Don’t bother getting out of bed. Futures are up 70, and save the Italian election referendum, there’s little real “news” to talk about.
In fact, our Monday here started off with a Win-10 update and a Western Digital Synch update for the home network attached storage units, so it has been one of those “hyper- intensive yet refreshingly non-productive” starts to the week.
Still, there is hope.
Gallup is just out with a Consumer Spending Measure. And since the country has been on speed since the Trumpedency vote, this ought to come as no surprise:
“November (consumer) spending averaged $98/day up from $93 per day in October.”
While we’re on it, American support for the Electoral College has bumped way up, so looks like the mob-orchestrators will have to park their popular vote yammering for a while.
With that, economic confidence is at highest levels since at least 2008, as well.
All of which should be extremely bullish for markets into mid-Spring.
The usual on the dried eggs and rubber chicken circuit this week a couple of Fed-heads. Toss fairly minor data reports – like International Trade and Productivity and Costs tomorrow – and it shapes up as an ideal week to skip-out early or take an ultra-extended lunch hour to go spend money while it’s still worth something.
Bring in the Brains
Damn fine move, that. Especially appreciated by those of us who have read Carson’s story and understand that he’s got a crystal-clear, ground-level view of how poverty and housing go hand-in-hand and ways out.
Now if Trump can just put Mitt Romney back into retirement…
On the Way to the Door
We see the lame-duck-in-chief will be visiting Pearl Harbor with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe.
Europe in Crisis – Thanks Italy!
The constitutional referendum in Italy this weekend has resumed in prime minister Matteo Renzi resigning. It’s hardly an issue unless you have a condo on St. Peter’s Square. But it serves to underscore the major question that few have articulated; namely what is the European Union and tell us again, how does another layer of government bureaucrazy (sic) and costs (and retirement funding etc.) really HELP the little guys in the lands of the double-speaking hold-up?
The EU, for it’s part, is spewing mumbo like “We trust the Italians will manage the situation.”
But everyone knows that’s code for “Please, fix it quick, so it doesn’t propagate like the flu…”
Which it could.
Problems arise when a formerly independent country, like Italy, are ordered into “economic reforms” crafted by those gov’t-sprouts in Brussels.
SF Body Count Rising
Up to 33 in that rave fire over the weekend.
Officially, so far as our searches have gone, the cause has not been determined. But we don’t give much credit to the theory that a cigarette lit off a grass fire that burned to the building and then caught it ablaze.
Ure’s news nose that knows news worries there’s more to this yet to come. The tossed cigarette story doesn’t sound right. The rate of spread seems too fast, at least without human assistance.
Our skepticism of accidental/random comes from a formula:
Fire load = (combustibles in kg) x calorific value in kcal/kgFloor area in square meters.
See also the D. Gross paper “MEASUREMENTS OF FIRE LOADS AND CALCULATIONS OF FIRE SEVERITY.” And along with “Estimation of Fire Load and Its Risk Assessment in Warehouse” you may find why the “news nose” twitches. But remember, extremely intense fires leave little or no trace of accelerants. For now, it’s “of unknown” origin.
Prepping: The Revenge of Global Warming
Got your outside faucets covered?
Good supply of hot soups and back-power plans at the ready?
Some way to keep that stored water from freezing?
AccuWeather has an advisory on how a major blast of Arctic air is due to arrive in the U.S. from up north this week.
Here in the East Texas Outback, we could see 27°F Thursday night into Friday morning.
One of the few upsides? When we get the old Beechcrate out for a spin (to charge the battery and keep the cam from rusting), airplane performance in very cold weather is nothing short of spectacular.
So are complaints from the co-pilot.
46 and rain here this morning. We’re into one of those few short periods during the year when this part of Texas begins to resemble Adak, Alaska…in July.
Global cooling killing fire ants, live at 5 ..
I am old enough to remember the 50’s and 60’s when overnight lows of 27°F was NORMAL. We would even get an occasional 5° in winter. If the forecast mini ice age kicks in, we could see those numbers and lower again.
27F Overnight lows? Mmmmmm… toasty.
http://www.businessinsider.com/stephen-hawking-this-is-the-most-dangerous-time-for-our-planet-2016-12?r=UK&IR=T
Why the EPA won’t let Trump Drain the Swamp – the following species would be endangered:
– Brown-Nosed Bureaucrats
– Big-Mouthed Hogwashers
– 78-Fingered Statisticians (providers of employment figures)
– 2-Fingered Statisticians (providers of inflation figures)
– Blue-faced Blowhards
George from what I’ve read about the “rave” fire, looks like that warehouse was full of paper and wood combustibles (artwork), and the way the place was laid out, almost impossible to exit. No sprinklers either. Sounds like a death-trap in waiting to me; wouldn’t have taken much to set it off.
Latest I heard was that it started behind an old refrigerator. If there was an electrical issue, and maybe hydrocarbon solvents for art, it’s possible. Certainly there was a fuel load from “art” and supplies.
I there was a “must issue” permit for such things, with a highly simplified list of requirements, such as unlocked exits and enough of them, with exit lighting, there would be less need for the bootleg aspect. Of course, the drug laws need to be relaxed enough and cops/DEA need to keep out for the most part. Harm reduction folks could actually do harm reduction in that environment.
Most people running underground scenes are very conscious of anything that will bring unwanted attention or harm to their customers. There’s always expedience knocking, and sometimes they feel it’s necessary to cut corners. That and most don’t know fires in depth, or medicine. Create environments that allow edgy behavior with some safety net and a lot of the worst results would be eliminated. Burning Man is an example of risky behavior and environment with oversight.
RE: Oakland Fire
Local News media is reporting survivors said lights flickered, then went out. Electrical fire?
Hi George, just ran across an article that seems right square up your alley….are you hip to “SDR” Software defined Radio?
https://www.robertputt.co.uk/2016/12/04/welcome-to-the-world-of-software-defined-radio/
Single digit temperatures expected here in the mountains Wednesday night, and 30’s during the day. This global warming is killing us!
I’m glad you’re enjoying your airmobile, but did you really take it for a spin? That would likely elicit an eek from the copilot! I’m not sure if a mouse is spin rated or not.
President Useless stops the DAPL (Dakota Access Pipeline) for now….
http://time.com/4589991/dapl-us-army-permit-standing-rock/
I tend to agree with you on the selection of Carson and his knowledge of how poverty and housing go hand in hand. We’ve got a mixed use project here Portland, where they built section 8 apts and market rate condo’s in together. It has improved the crime issue that typically affects public housing and there are very strict rules about residents giving aid or comfort to gang affiliates. If an offense occurs, that resident is evicted and that eviction follows them to all public housing. In essence, they’re on their own. When someone is evicted that message goes around the facility and serves as a deterrent to others, for further harboring of criminal types and activity. Most people in public housing want to live in peace. My issue with public assistance is that it sometimes incentivizes some participants to make more babies for more “free” income and a boost in benefits, thus promoting the cycle of generational poverty, rather than making more quality of life affirming choices. It should be a goal to leave public housing, not make it a generation after generation choice. I know this is a controversial opinion, but I think any female receiving welfare to raise a child, should be required to be on birth control that is delivered in a way that it can’t be overridden by simply not taking the pill. There should be no incentive to bring more children into poverty when you’re on the public dole. If you can’t take care of yourself, you shouldnt be able to make more babies who, in many if not most cases, proceed to live the same lifestyle their parent did. You can’t stop a cycle of poverty if you don’t stop the cycle of activity that creates it.