Category: Administrative Page 33 of 35

I’m getting more and more questions, and Stirling was a public figure, albeit a minor one, so here is the basic news.

Stirling had a stroke a little over two weeks ago.  It was very severe.  As of the latest news he cannot talk, cannot walk, etc… He was in a coma for quite some time after surgery to relieve the pressure.

It is unlikely he will ever fully recovery.  If you believe in prayer and feel so inclined, including him in your prayers couldn’t hurt.

The post on jobs #s has been withdrawn for the moment, since I didn’t notice I was using Current Population Survey #s where I should have used  Employment survey #s.  Ouch. I am officially embarrassed.  At least it was only up for a few minutes, though the internet is forever, as we all know.

Anyway, for those who read it, the numbers are approximately correct, the percentage #s are off, and the current population survey showed 873,000 jobs gained last month as opposed to 114K on the employment survey (this is why I don’t use the CPS. Anyone who believes the economy actually added 873K jobs is delusional.  That doesn’t mean they’re cooked, but they are a statistical artifact.)  I’d recalculate, but it’s 3:36 in the morning and my brain is fried.  Some day soon, probably.  My apologies.

The tl;dr version is this.  114 thousand is not a good jobs report and to regain all jobs in any time frame short of 10 years to a generation, you need steady reports over 200K, and ideally over 300K.  From the employment survey, not the population survey. 😉

If you value what Corrente and Lambert do, and you can afford it, consider tossing Corrente some money.  Blogging isn’t free, someone’s labor is always involved.  Corrente punches above its weight, the big dogs in the blogosphere may not link to it, but they definitely do read it, it’s sort of the guilty pleasure of many a-listers.  Ideas which start in Corrente do circulate out, and within Corrente there is a community which actually gets things done, as when they were the movers behind an alternate conference on the debt and deficit.

Times are hard for a lot of people, and if you don’t have the money, of course don’t give, but if you can afford it and you think Corrente does good work, help them out.

Times are tough, all around, and I know that’s true of many of my readers. It’s also true of a couple of good bloggers.  The first is Roy Edroso of Alicublog, who skewers the right in fine style.  He’s down and out, living with a friend and could use a helping hand if you can afford to give it.  He wouldn’t ask for himself, so his friends are doing so.  You can donate to Roy Edroso here.

The second is DCBlogger, who is in some difficulty as well.  She’s perhaps best known for her blogging at Corrente, but she also has a home blog.  She isn’t on the street yet, and it would be nice to help make sure it stays that way.  You can donate here.

Nothing’s really free in life.  No one has to pay to read blogs, but someone does have to work to create the content.  There is always a cost.  If you can give, please do.  If, on the other hand, you’re in trouble yourself, please don’t give.

and peace on earth for all.

Vacation time.  By my count, my first actual vacation in over 20 years (ie. I’m not adding a few days on to what is essentially a business trip.)  Will see how the backscatter machines/patdowns go.  If they go too badly this may be the last time I visit the US unless I’m being paid very well to do so.

If you’re in Vegas, and you’d like to get together, drop me a note at iwelsh-at-ianwelsh-dot-net.  I’ll be there for about a week.

Posting may or may not be light, hard to say.

I like my commenters and readers.  There’s virtually no one who comments here regularly I don’t think I’d like in person.  I have continued blogging out of a sense of obligation to people who have read me for years.  I would personally greatly appreciate it if folks would stop the personal attacks.  If necessary I will start deleting comments or shutting down comment threads.  But I really want to avoid the irritation, both to you and me, of either mandatory registration or author approval comments, or a combination of both.

And I don’t think there’s any commenter here who can’t look at what they write and know themselves if it’s a personal attack or trolling.

Not everyone here likes each other, not everyone here agrees with each other and that’s fine: we discuss important issues and people should be passionate.  When that passion starts driving people away, when it starts turning personal amongst people who are basically on the same side, it becomes a problem.  So, please, if you disagree with another commenter, by all means say so politely, but no more personal attacks.  As for trolling, you know it when you see it, please refrain.

Oh, and if your comment doesn’t show up, it’s almost certainly due to the automatic spam filter, not due to anything manual. At this point I haven’t manually added anyone to the spam filter.  I often am offline or don’t check the spam filter for some time, so don’t take it personally.  You can contact me at admin-at-ianwelsh-dot-net if you think you’re caught in the spam filter.  Again, I may not see your email for some time depending on what’s going on in my life, so if you don’t get an immediate reply, it’s almost certainly not that I’m deliberately ignoring you.