Bear Pit: now the sole domicile of politics at LuLa

[JoeKitchen]

Wow, emojis, wow! 

Thank God for clarity James!

You really are a true White (Racist) Savorier! 

I bet you live in the Whitest neighborhood with the Whitest friends so concerned with the Whitest opinions.  Meanwhile, I, and many others, just live in City neighborhoods not really concerned with ideals of "Things Fall Apart," and trying to live life, unlike you.   How many lives have you ruined with your intrusion? 

[James Clark]

Wow, emojis, wow! 

Thank God for clarity James!

You really are a true White (Racist) Savorier! 

I bet you live in the Whitest neighborhood with the Whitest friends so concerned with the Whitest opinions.  Meanwhile, I, and many others, just live in City neighborhoods not really concerned with ideals of "Things Fall Apart," and trying to live life, unlike you.   How many lives have you ruined with your intrusion?

This is after an edit?    .

[Alan Klein]

The official inflation numbers (4.3% in August) are substantially understated. Some items in my local stores, including food, haircuts and construction materials were raised by 30-40% this year.

If you compare how they use to do it more honestly 50 years ago, the inflation rate probably is double what they tell us.  The government plays games with these statistics because they don't want to admit to the public just how bad inflation is since they're the ones responsible.

My barber went up 33% as the amount of hair has declined substantially.  The problem is big-ticket items have gone up a lot.  In the last year housing up 20%.  How does a young couple get started?  Autos are up 20%.  GM's average price for a car this year is $47K. You could buy an Audi SUV for that a couple of years ago.  Oil should hit $100 a barrel this year.  People here complain about the cost of film.  What does it matter when you won't be able to afford to drive anywhere to take pictures? 

[Alan Klein]

If you have an hour and a half, you can watch the ex-president of Greenpeace explain his knowledgeable doubts about global warming and CO2.  He posit that what we're seeing is just climate changing as it has through many cycles of the Ice Age.  Here's a scientist from British Columbia who helped form Greenpeace, attacked nuclear testing and used his boats to block whale hunting.   He had to drop out of Greenpeace because the crazies took over.  He explains convincingly that CO2 was worse in history, CO2 is helping to green the earth, we're in a minor warming period of the Ice Age, and that CO2 going up with the slight warming is not causative but coincidental. He favors nuclear energy which he considers safe. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5K5i5Wv7jQ

[TechTalk]

If you compare how they use to do it more honestly 50 years ago, the inflation rate probably is double what they tell us.  The government plays games with these statistics because they don't want to admit to the public just how bad inflation is since they're the ones responsible.

How dld "they" do it 50-years ago and what made it more honest?

"The government" isn't a single entity. It's a lot of different people, performing different jobs, in different places. So who are the "they" that you refer to that are "playing games with statistics", how are the statistics being gamed, and who are "the ones responsible"?

Without those details, all you have are meaningless vague assertions, of vague actions,  done by no one in particular.

[Robert Roaldi]

Returning to Australian subs for a minute, I thought you might enjoy this comedy troop's view. You are cautioned against some graphic language and strongly held opinions, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb5OKrYzZp8.

[Robert Roaldi]

The greatest economy ever has been the USA's since 1776, based almost solely on individual enterprise and achievement.  Any economy, no matter how successful prior, that has given into socialist policy, has failed.  Venezuela is a great example of such that has.  Cuba is another example. 

Compare East to West Berlin, with the same culture and prior economy, and you will see the same thing. 

North and South Korea is another example. 

History has almost never provided us with so clear and concrete comparisons.  How many more do you need until you see the truth?  Redistribution policies do not work.

Your radical ideology blinds you to reality a bit. Another advantage that the US had is timing and cheap real estate. It came into being at just the right moment of unprecedented industrial wealth creation and had no history to adapt to. And it was very handy not to have to pay retail for all that land, given how generously the first nations already inhabiting it let you have it for the price of a few laws and bullets. Let me ask you, do you honestly think that Americans are the only people on earth who understand individual achievement and enterprise. Please, give us a break. The US has a lot of achievements to be proud of, but let's keep it real, huh?

Your examples, Soviet Bloc, North Korea, etc., are a bit obvious, aren't they? Or are you seriously suggesting that the "infrastructure" package will drag the US into communist hell. If you don't like the policies, fine, I get it, but the irrational hyperbole does not lend your argument any credibility.

But I don't have a horse in this race, my only point originally was to say that every "right-wing" over-the-top panic over more government expenditure is getting old. (Anyway, wasn't Trump supposed to drain that swamp?    )

[Alan Klein]

How dld "they" do it 50-years ago and what made it more honest?

"The government" isn't a single entity. It's a lot of different people, performing different jobs, in different places. So who are the "they" that you refer to that are "playing games with statistics", how are the statistics being gamed, and who are "the ones responsible"?

Without those details, all you have are meaningless vague assertions, of vague actions,  done by no one in particular.

the way they calculated keeps changing so that's not an honest representation of what was before compared to what is now. He is an extract from the UK method which is very similar to what the American CPI is based on. Showing the fact if tea gets too expensive and people start buying coffee, then the CPI goes down because coffee is cheaper. Well, but if you still want to drink tea than the cost of living and the CPI is going up. But that isn't reflected in the new CPI. So it's all fake. 

QUOTE: For example, if the price of tea rose dramatically during one year, consumers might switch their spending towards coffee, making it necessary to adjust the expenditure weights accordingly in the following year.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/articles/ukconsumerpriceinflationbasketofgoodsandservices/2021#main-changes

[LesPalenik]

Squash prices jumped this year from 99c/lb to $1.47/lb. That's a 50% rise.
However, the digital images of pumpkins and squashes are now very cheap. Some stock photographers agencies charge now only 10 cents for such image and you'll have half a million squash images to choose from.

[Alan Klein]

Squash prices jumped this year from 99c/lb to $1.47/lb. That's a 50% rise.
However, the digital images of pumpkins and squashes are now very cheap. Some stock photographers agencies charge now only 10 cents for such image and you'll have half a million squash images to choose from.

Too bad you can't eat the picture like a digital NFT

[Alan Klein]

If you have an hour and a half, you can watch the ex-president of Greenpeace explain his knowledgeable doubts about global warming and CO2.  He posit that what we're seeing is just climate changing as it has through many cycles of the Ice Age.  Here's a scientist from British Columbia who helped form Greenpeace, attacked nuclear testing and used his boats to block whale hunting.   He had to drop out of Greenpeace because the crazies took over.  He explains convincingly that CO2 was worse in history, CO2 is helping to green the earth, we're in a minor warming period of the Ice Age, and that CO2 going up with the slight warming is not causative but coincidental. He favors nuclear energy which he considers safe. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5K5i5Wv7jQ

Darn facts keep getting in thr way of causation.

The average temperature at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station between April and September, a frigid minus-78 degrees (minus-61 Celsius), was the coldest on record, dating back to 1957. This was 4.5 degrees lower than the most recent 30-year average.

We first learned of this record through a tweet from Stefano Di Battista, who has published research on Antarctic temperatures. The legitimacy of Di Battista’s information was confirmed by Richard Cullather, a research scientist at NASA’s Global Modeling and Assimilation Office.

The temperature averaged over September was also the coldest on record at South Pole, wrote David Bromwich, a polar researcher at Ohio State University, in an email.

The extreme cold over Antarctica helped push sea ice levels surrounding the continent to their fifth-highest level on record in August, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

[TechTalk]

the way they calculated keeps changing

In what way? Still vague without knowing any details whatsoever.

so that's not an honest representation of what was before compared to what is now.

What is the dishonesty?  "Before" when? You're still just making vague assertions without any evidence.

You do realize that updates to reflect changes in consumer purchases of goods and services are designed to more accurately reflect the current economy, correct? If you're calculating today's personal transportation costs on the price of a horse and buggy rather than on cars and trucks, you're not getting a very accurate measure.

[TechTalk]

Darn facts keep getting in thr [the] way of causation.

No, they don't. Climate science regarding global warming trends is global, not regional. It's also focused on global trends measured over several years, decades, and even centuries, not a year or a season in one region of the globe.

[TechTalk]

The official inflation numbers (4.3% in August) are substantially understated. Some items in my local stores, including food, haircuts and construction materials were raised by 30-40% this year.

Squash prices jumped this year from 99c/lb to $1.47/lb. That's a 50% rise.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is based on the cost of about 80,000 consumer goods and services surveyed monthly. The CPI inflation index is a weighted averaging of those items. Some items, particularly commodities, may go up or down from one month to another rather dramatically.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/consumerpriceindex.asp

The methodology and detailed percentages of increase or decrease for the many itemized categories are not a secret. They are readily available.

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cpi.pdf

The current inflation summary is:

The annual inflation rate in the US eased to 5.3% in August from a 13-year high of 5.4% reported in June and July, matching market expectations. A slowdown was seen in cost of used cars and trucks (31.9% percent vs 41.7% in July) and transportation services (4.6% vs 6.4%) and inflation was steady for shelter (2.8%) and apparel (4.2%). On the other hand, faster price increases were seen for food (3.7% vs 3.4%), namely food at home (3% vs 2.6%) and food away from home (4.7% vs 4.6%); new vehicles (7.6% vs 6.4%); energy (25% vs 23.8%); and medical care services (1% vs 0.8%). The monthly rate eased to 0.3% from 0.5% in July, better than forecasts of 0.4%. Prices of airline fares, used cars and trucks, and motor vehicle insurance all declined over the month while increases were seen in cost of gasoline, household furnishings and operations, food, and shelter. source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/inflation-cpi

[TechTalk]

Inflation went up the highest in thirty years last month.

Its from a NYTimes article.  The difference could be that different statistics are being used to determine inflation rates.  The point whether its 13 or 30 is that inflation has started to get out of hand.  It could repeat what happened 40-50 year ago when we had double digit infltion. 

From the NYT article:
https://news.google.com/articles/CAIiEKSDRa7TldH-mHqV1GHbzDEqFwgEKg8IACoHCAowjuuKAzCWrzww9oAY?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen
The Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation climbed in August at the quickest pace in 30 years, data released on Friday showed, keeping policymakers on edge as evidence mounts that rapidly rising prices are poised to last longer than practically any of them had expected earlier this year.

The difference between the 13-year and 30-year figures is not that "different statistics are being used to determine inflation rates". The difference is in what was actually written and how you reported it.

If you're unable to see the mistake that you made in reading and reporting the actual quotation, I'll be happy to explain it. It's very simple.

[TechTalk]

Returning to Australian subs for a minute, I thought you might enjoy this comedy troop's view. You are cautioned against some graphic language and strongly held opinions, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb5OKrYzZp8.

Thanks for the link. I thought it was quite funny. Satire is often revealing as well as funny.

[TechTalk]

For a picture of inflation over time, here is inflation charted over the past 25 years...

https://cloudfront.net/charts/united-states-inflation-cpi trend 25-years

Here it is charted from the 1930s...

https://cloudfront.net/charts/united-states-inflation-cpi 1930s-2021

[TechTalk]

Wow, emojis, wow! 

Thank God for clarity James!

You really are a true White (Racist) Savorier! 

I bet you live in the Whitest neighborhood with the Whitest friends so concerned with the Whitest opinions.  Meanwhile, I, and many others, just live in City neighborhoods not really concerned with ideals of "Things Fall Apart," and trying to live life, unlike you.   How many lives have you ruined with your intrusion?

Is the humidity in New Orleans making you agitated?

"Savorier": adjective, more sa·vor·y or (Rare) sa·vor·i·er, most sa·vor·y or (Rare) sa·vor·i·est. 1) pleasant or agreeable in taste or smell: a savory aroma. 2) piquant: a savory jelly. 3) pleasing, attractive, or agreeable. I guess that's a compliment James!

[Alan Klein]

In what way? Still vague without knowing any details whatsoever.

What is the dishonesty?  "Before" when? You're still just making vague assertions without any evidence.

You do realize that updates to reflect changes in consumer purchases of goods and services are designed to more accurately reflect the current economy, correct? If you're calculating today's personal transportation costs on the price of a horse and buggy rather than on car and trucks, you're not getting a very accurate measure.

That wasn't "their" explanation regarding tea and coffee.   Why don't you understand?  I'll give another example.  Let's say they have sirloin steak in the basket of goods they figure to determine CPI.  Due to inflation, steak goes higher.  So this year,  the government takes steak off the basket and replaces it with chop meat.  Of course, chop meat is cheaper so the CPI doesn't go up.  But now, you're eating chop meat, not steak.  So your standard of living has decreased while the government is saying the CPI hasn't changed.  They're conning the public.   

[Alan Klein]

No, they don't. Climate science regarding global warming trends is global, not regional. It's also focused on global trends measured over several years, decades, and even centuries, not a year or a season in one region of the globe.

If you learn about the Ice Ages, you'll find out that's exactly what's happening now.  The slight increase is just a normal change created by nature.  Plus, the increase in CO2 is benefitting the earth making it greener by 30%.  You ought to watch that interview.