June 16, 2010

At the Shy Bee Café...

DSC_0010 copy

... creep into this delicate shade, hide from the cruel word, and tell me your tender secrets.

45 comments:

traditionalguy said...

Don't tell Meade, but I love your open tenderness in mind and heart, said Shy Bee.

Palladian said...

Aha! The bee doth honie draine! We're on the same wave-length today!

David said...

Hide from the cruel world, like President Obama and the Congressional Democrats, who should listen to this recent comment by Gary Becker, Nobel Prize winning economist.

To manage effectively a growing federal government debt, it is essential that the growth in entitlements be reduced, in part by raising the age of retirement and of access to Medicare. It is also crucial that government policies encourage more rapid economic growth of the American economy. Unfortunately, this is not true of many policies proposed or implemented during the past 18 months. These include, among many others, higher income taxes on corporations and on persons with bigger incomes, government regulation of pay, especially the pay of executives, health care “reform” that will raise, not lower, government spending on healthcare, special subsidies to various unproven green technologies, so-called job creation bills that create few jobs per dollar spent, and more aggressive anti-trust actions against successful companies, such as Google. These and other policies will reduce US economic growth at a time when faster growth is more necessary than ever.

Palladian said...

"who should listen to this recent comment by Gary Becker, Nobel Prize winning economist."

Nobel-Prize-winning President Barack Obama doesn't care.

Hahahahaha. You know, every time I remember that Barack Obama won a Nobel Prize, I shriek a short burst of uncontrollable laughter.

Then I remember that Albert Gore, Jr. also won a Nobel Prize and I laugh, this time a little longer.

It scares me.

kimsch said...

Did you mean "hide from the cruel word?" or world? Either is probably apropos...

wv: prest - the petals of this rose aren't prest...

Unknown said...

The bee isn't hiding, he's having a quiet smoke after pollinating.

PS We are very lucky you have decide to share your love affair with the roses, Madame.

AC245 said...

Hahahahaha. You know, every time I remember that Barack Obama won a Nobel Prize, I shriek a short burst of uncontrollable laughter.

Then I remember that Albert Gore, Jr. also won a Nobel Prize and I laugh, this time a little longer.


I think Obama and Gore are in perfect company with the likes of Yassar Arafat and Rigoberta Menchu.

Palladian said...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

David said...

Palladian--Becker won his Nobel Prize in 1992. If you look at his CV, which is linked at the Becker-Posner blog, you find that the Nobel Prize is listed near the bottom of his honors. That's because he's won about a zillion other prizes since the Nobel, and seems beautifully secure in his aging self and well earned reputation.

Contrast the hundreds of "Climate Scientists" who actually list the Nobel because they worked on some committee of other.

Humility and security--not overrated virtues.

David said...

The Obami are touting the $20 billion "fund" to be set up by BP. Here's the fine print, from an AP article:

In creating a victims' compensation fund, BP will use noncore U.S. assets as security for its $20 billion obligation. Chief Financial Officer Byron Grote stopped short of calling it a lien, but he said the assets will be used as security.
If BP had to borrow money in the future to pay any of its obligations, that might prove difficult because rising investor concerns could raise the company's borrowing costs. As of the end of March, BP reported only $6.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents. Grote said the amount has not changed "materially" since then.
Svanberg announced the company would not pay dividends to shareholders for the rest of the year, including one scheduled for June 21 totaling about $2.6 billion. The company will make initial payments into the escrow fund of $3 billion this summer and $2 billion in the fall, followed by $1.25 billion per quarter until the $20 billion figure is reached.
Aware that a healthy BP is in everyone's interest, Obama gave a plug for what he called "a strong and viable company" — a day after he had accused it of recklessness.


In other words, some sort of inchoate junior lien (if that even) on "noncore" assets. Read "noncore" are "lacking value."

BP will do what it's doing now--pay as they go. But someone else will disburse, thus putting the blame for slow pay on the intermediary, not BP.

What has been gained for those damaged by the spill?

Likely next to nothing.

David said...

Here's more on the BP "fund." These comments from the BP Chairman make it clear that the Obama attack on BP was having a material effect on its ability to finance, and that BP agreed to the "fund" as way to make it clear to the markets what its intermediate term liability will be.

The terms are not terribly onerous. The main victims are the shareholders of BP, whose dividend is being suspended.

John Rigby, analyst at UBS, said to Grote on the call, "It seems to me that BP agreed to pay $20 billion into escrow and suspended the dividend for three quarters, yet the BP chairman described the meeting as being constructive. So what did you get out of the meeting, from what appears to not be a legal requirement and something people thought was an aggressive stance taken by the U.S. government?"

Grote's response to Rigby involved both the political reality of the oil spill situation and the financial threat to BP of a situation that seemed to be worsening on a daily basis. "We believe we got the opportunity for the first time to have a constructive dialogue with the President. As the frustration has grown with the inability to cap the flow, there has been increasing concern about how BP was going to fulfill its obligations to all of those affected by incident, and the rhetoric has had some fairly dramatic affects on BP, both debt and equity markets observable for one and all."

Grote continued, "Much of the reaction was caused by deep uncertainty of how issues would be resolved. ... To have the chance for the chairman and CEO to sit down with the President and carve out an agreement that provides greater comfort and clarity and a framework consistent with the intention BP has had all along, allows our business to progress effectively," Grote said.

Specifically, the BP CFO said that being allowed to stage injections into the escrow account, "I hope provides greater comfort to debt and equity markets that there is not a very large and significant impact on BP coming in the immediate time frame."

The cash injections into the escrow account will be $5 billion per year over the next four years -- $3 billion in the third quarter 2010, $2 billion in the fourth quarter, and then $1.25 billion per quarter after that.

GMay said...

I'd like some legal opinion on this voting story:

One man, 6 votes???

Unknown said...

SueBee Honey--hmm, hmm.

Now a SueBee bee would much prefer a Georgia O'Keefe stamen.

Irene said...

Today, posts touched on wolves and bees. They remind me of gentle SueBee.

Hagar said...

I think the conditions for the BP escrow fund and the oilrig workers' unemployment fund were carefully negotiated before the President's speech Tuesday night, so that the meeting this morning and the "perp walk" was just about all theater.

It is difficult to feel sorry for BP - this blowout may be the fault of just one person with poor judgment at the scene - but there is also the sickening advertising and other actions that lead to questions of the top management's intellectual integrity.

That said, I am very disturbed about the manner of this Administration's - and Congress' - attack on a private corporation. I think it sets some very bad precedents if they get away with it.

Michael Haz said...

Althouse, that is a beautiful photo, as are your other flower photos.

How do you take the photo without any motion-caused blurriness? I've tried flower photography, and found that even the slightest, imperceptible breeze makes the flowers move.

Hagar said...

I was thinking about their advertising before the blowout; their ads after the blowout also lead to questions about their intelligence and competence to lead a major corporation in today's world.

HKatz said...

After a while you'll get tired of us droning on and on about our secrets, and you'll tell us to buzz off and colonize a newer post.

Palladian said...

"How do you take the photo without any motion-caused blurriness? I've tried flower photography, and found that even the slightest, imperceptible breeze makes the flowers move."

Bright daylight, fast shutter.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I have a secret.. for now.

It looks like I'm going to surprise my mother next week when I show up in Santo Domingo.

I went for an expedited passport today in NYC.. pick it up tomorrow.

Funny getting into that federal building was just like getting on the plane the day before.

Empty the pockets, scan belongings take off pant belt, pass thru a metal detector - shoes off for the plane but not the building.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Despite the security and the long line, it was fun getting on that plane yesterday.

Scott said...

Godspeed Lem! Have a wonderful time.

I'm taking two weeks off beginning July 4 weekend. Planning a car trip from NJ to Houston and back again.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

BTW - has anybody figured out the bee disappearance mystery?

This is potentially a big deal supposedly because it might jeopardize our ability to feed ourselves.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I have a two word tip Scott.

Cruise Control.

Its a wonderful thing.

chuck b. said...

55 yo man operating a backhoe died after >500 bee stings.

http://bit.ly/bkZxSK

traditionalguy said...

Lem...A bee keeper in Petaluma, Ca who ran his family's bee company told us that a new Monsanto sprayed on weed control chemical used on the base of the vines in the spring had been getting carried back to the hives and stopped the reproduction of new bees. He was a true expert, so I believed him.

XWL said...

Speaking of bees, anyone else ever see a bumblebee with honeybee like coloring?

Spotted in my backyard today.

chuck b. said...

You can add that picture to the "Needs ID" pool and some brainiac will ID that bee for you.

HT said...

Ann,

Shut me up.

Cover the Robert Wone case. Some very smart, gay, former CSPAN staff have started a great blog on it, dedicated to justice for Robert Wone.

What more can I do to get you to blog about this? It's got everything you (and your readers) want! And I would be interested to hear your opinion (both pre verdict and post) on the ruling.

http://whomurderedrobertwone.com/

LonewackoDotCom said...

I've pointed out how the tea partiers are wrong about most things, but even I have to admit it's good that a tea party icon finally has his own TV show.

Note: past comments at this site have generated a flurry of vile ad homs by Ann Althouse's tea party fans. The first link in this post points out how tea partiers have problems making an argument and are generally worthless as far as opposing the Dems. And, Ann Althouse's tea party fans have helped me illustrate my point by engaging in the same brainless, vile, childish, thuggish behavior I discuss at the first link in this post. Yes, the teapartiers are that dumb.

LonewackoDotCom said...

I've pointed out how the tea partiers are wrong about most things, but even I have to admit it's good that a tea party icon finally has his own TV show.

Note: past comments at this site have generated a flurry of vile ad homs by Ann Althouse's tea party fans. The first link in this post points out how tea partiers have problems making an argument and are generally worthless as far as opposing the Dems. And, Ann Althouse's tea party fans have helped me illustrate my point by engaging in the same brainless, vile, childish, thuggish behavior I discuss at the first link in this post. Yes, the teapartiers are that dumb. A good place to start discovering is my topics page. For instance, here's my extensive coverage of the NCLR, and here's a list of my posts about George Soros.

Wince said...

Maybe the Bee isn't shy, but merely trying to find a place to pee.

As in Bee Pee. (A little topical humor.)

Then again, the Bee may suffer from Paruresis.

Welcome to the official IPA (International Paruresis Association) website. This site is provided as a resource for people who find it difficult or impossible to urinate in the presence of others, either in their own home or in public facilities. Also, for people who have difficulty under the stress of time pressure, when being observed, when others are close by and might hear them, or when traveling on moving vehicles.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE. In fact, recent studies show that about seven percent (7%) of the public, or 17 million people, may suffer from this social anxiety disorder. Often referred to as Pee-Shy, Shy-Bladder, Bashful Bladder, etc., avoidant paruresis is nothing to be ashamed of, and you have made an important step simply by coming to this website.

traditionalguy said...

One of the biggest problem here in Georgia is that the Yellow Jackets are intimidating the Dogs.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I heard about the Monsanto genetic seed thing on Coast to Coast..

(the insomniac cafe)

I'll admit its hard for me to separated fact from conspiracy theory on this one.

Freeman Hunt said...

Tonight was Girls' Movie Night. I got to pick the movie but didn't have time to read reviews. Husband recommended Kick Ass. That's what we saw. Bad match.

Synova said...

Instapundit had a link to Tea Party web pages for Moscow, Israel and even one that was Dutch... complete with a Gadsden "don't tread on me" flag.

I'm a little bit freaked out.

Beta Conservative said...

So I tuned in to the later showing of Top Chef tonight and in the first 10 seconds we had a shot of Pelosi, followed by the exuberant pronouncement that DC is "Barack Obama'a City"! (notably not America's Capitol).

It looks like they have politicized one of my favorite shows and I won't be watching. Why do lefties have to foist this crap on everyone all the time?

William said...

In True Blood, one of the characters gets assaulted by a group of vampires. He puts off going to the hospital afterwards because he doesn't have any health insurance. Product placement of Democratic talking points in various movies and tv shows can make one feel cynical and manipulated......There isn't any question that BP is the heavy in this calamity. Their CEO had a press conference and expressed sympathy for the "little people". It sounded extremely condescending, and besides they should be offering aid to the fishermen and not Robert Reich....BP is the heavy, but that does not make Obama the hero. We have Obama's word that terror acts are not the works Islam. In similar fastion, it would go a long way if Obama did not portray this as the inevitable result of the petroleum industry's evil plot against America. Perhaps a kind word for the people working on the rigs to stop the leak would improve their morale better than the promise of criminal investigations when they get done.

William said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Crack Emcee said...

"hide from the cruel word, and tell me your tender secrets."

Done and done.

kent said...

BTW - has anybody figured out the bee disappearance mystery?

Oh, great. Now we're staging group reenactments of scenes from Shyamalan's The Happening. ;)

kent said...

"I can’t wait to tell my Baptist mother that her daughter is in Playboy."

NOT a shy bee.

Scott said...

@Lem: Yes, speed control and satellite radio. I didn't get the latter with my new Civic, so I'm going to get one of those that I can throw on the dash and plug into the 3.5mm iPod input, which it does have.

Not sure if I'm going to get XM or Sirius. They are both the same company now, so I don't know what differentiates them.

Scott said...

Apropos XM or Sirius: I found this helpful chart. I think I'm going to go with XM.

Ann Althouse said...

@Scott That chart is from 2005 and now Sirius and XM have merged.