The Weekend Economists are off to the races!

[bread_and_roses]

No – not the all too familiar “race to the bottom” – though we’ll consider that too. This Saturday America’s most famous race, the Kentucky Derby, will be run. So we’ll venture to the iconic twin spires of Churchhill Downs, to drink in the pageantry, history, and of course the Mint Juleps. For relevance we have the ever-pertinent Hunter Thompson on the Derby:

http://www.nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/47252398/ns/horse_racing/

the Derby is Amazing … Reason # 6

The contrast between Millionaire’s Row — filled with diamond-encrusted patrons who use "equestrian" as an adjective and make Mitt Romney look like a minimum-wage grocery bagger — and the Solo-cup toting masses that pack themselves into the infield. “I suggested that we should probably spend some time in the infield, that boiling sea of people across the track from the clubhouse,” Hunter S. Thompson wrote. “To get there, we had to pass through many gates, each one a step down in status, then through a tunnel under the track. Emerging […] was such a culture shock that it took a while to adjust.”
Hunter Thompson

From Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_Derby

Kentucky Derby
Grade 1 race
Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby.svg
Derby.jpg
The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports
Location Churchill Downs
Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Inaugurated 1875
Race type Thoroughbred
Website http://www.kentuckyderby.com/
Race information
Distance 1¼ miles (10 furlongs)
Track Dirt, Left-handed
Qualification 3-year-old
Weight Colt/Gelding: 126 lbs (57.2 kg)
Filly: 121 lbs. (54.9 kg)
Purse US$2 million
1st: $1,425,000
Bonuses US$ 200

The Kentucky Derby (play /ˈdɜrbi/) is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter miles (2 km) at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds
(57.2 kg) and fillies 121 pounds (54.9 kg).[1] The race is known in the United States as "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports" or "The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports" for its approximate duration, and is also called "The Run for the Roses" for the blanket of roses draped over the winner. It is the first leg of the US Triple Crown … The attendance at the Kentucky Derby ranks first in North America and usually surpasses the attendance of all other stakes races including the Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes and the Breeders' Cup.

... The Kentucky Derby was first run at 1½ miles (2.4 km), the same distance as the Epsom Derby. In 1896, the distance was changed to its current 1¼ miles (2 km). On May 17, 1875, in front of an estimated crowd of 10,000 people, a field of 15 three-year-old horses contested the first Derby. Under jockey Oliver Lewis, a colt named Aristides, who was trained by future Hall of Famer, Ansel Williamson, won the inaugural Derby.

Traditions
In addition to the race itself, a number of traditions play a large role in the Derby atmosphere. The mint julep, an iced drink consisting of bourbon, mint and a sugar syrup is the traditional beverage of the race. The historic drink can be served in an ice-frosted silver julep cup but most Churchill Downs patrons sip theirs from souvenir glasses (first offered in 1939 and available in revised form each year since) printed with all previous Derby winners. Also, burgoo, a thick stew of beef, chicken, pork and vegetables, is a popular Kentucky dish served at the Derby.

The infield, a spectator area inside the track, offers general admission prices but little chance of seeing much of the race. Instead, revelers show up in the infield to party with abandon. By contrast, "Millionaire's Row" refers to the expensive box seats that attract the rich, the famous and the well-connected. Women appear in fine outfits lavishly accessorized with large, elaborate hats. As the horses are paraded before the grandstands, the University of Louisville Marching Band plays Stephen Foster's "My Old Kentucky Home," a tradition which began in 1924.

Some random prices paid for Derby contenders (from www.bloodhorse.com)

$21,000
$80,000
$100,000
$250,000
$310,000
$390,000

On backstretch workers wages

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="

" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

How much is bet on the Kentucky Derby? From 2011

Wagering at Churchill Downs on the full Kentucky Derby Day race card was $23.4 million, an increase of 9% over 2010’s on-track wagering total of $21.5 million. On-track wagering on the Derby race was $11.5 million, an increase of 4.2% over the $11.1 million wagered one year earlier.

All-source wagering on the Kentucky Derby card was $165.2 million, the third-highest in Derby history and an increase of 1.5% over 2010’s total of $162.7 million. All-sources handle on the Derby race itself was $112 million, just below 2010’s $112.7 million. Churchill Downs returned $135.3 million to bettors, which amounts to 81.9% of total wagering on the Derby Day race card.

Read more: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/62943/churchill-record-attendance-for-ky-derby#ixzz1tw8NoOxH

I can't hope to equal our Demeter, so please all you WE'ers, chip in - the excesses of the ghoul vampire Rentier class are on display this weekend, for our amusement. Their hideousness high-lighted by comparison with the purity, grace, and innocence of the real stars of the show, the Thoroughbreds.

Good luck with your "picks!"

Back in a couple hours with more - on the money, the hats, the races, and the Derby immortals.

[DemReadingDU]

1. First! Thank you for starting the weekend thread!

[Demeter]

36. I second that!

I've had a blissful night's sleep ( no cat, no Kid), breakfast, a soak in the hot tub, lost and found the car key, and stopped in to check up on the market performance.

I go away one half of a day....and what happens?


And price of oil, too. Squeeze play?

anyway, it's not too hot and not too cold..a perfect day for an RG. (not pronounced "orgy&quot

See you later!

[bread_and_roses]

2. "Shut 'em all down"

Sometimes, when a horse doesn't run well in the Derby - or in other races - the owner or trainer will say, "he just didn't like the track."

A lot of 99%ers are none too happy with their track these days.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/04-1

Published on Friday, May 4, 2012 by Common Dreams
There Is a Plague Loose Upon the Land
by David Macaray

But this gouging issue transcends retail commerce. The case can be made that what’s been happening in the collective bargaining process over the last couple of decades (actually going all the way back to the Reagan administration) is a form of gouging—not in the statutory sense, of course, where laws are being broken, but in the sense of businesses taking unfair advantage of a customer’s distress (with the “customer” in this case being the American worker).

Management’s embrace of the aggressive, take-it-or-leave-it approach to contract negotiations is tantamount to a neighborhood store ripping us off by quadrupling the price of baby food following an earthquake. To the objections of an outraged consumer, the greedy store owner replies, “If you don’t want the baby food, don’t buy it.” To the objections of the labor union representing the employees, the greedy company replies, “If you don’t like working here—if you’re unhappy here—quit.”

... Why would a healthy company do that? Why would a healthy company choose to grind a loyal, efficient workforce into the ground? For the same reason a store owner, in the absence of anti-gouging legislation, charges $5.00 for a bottle of water that, only a day earlier, had sold for $1.25. Because they can.

... The only way to induce a stubborn company to bargain in good faith is by denying them the opportunity to earn that money and make those profits, and the only way to do that is by employees withholding their labor. Shut ‘em all down.

[Po_d Mainiac]

3. I know who won

&feature=related

[bread_and_roses]

6. OROFLMAO

I never saw that! Too Too Too perfect - especially for WE! You're a genius.

[Fuddnik]

7. Hilarious!

[bread_and_roses]

8. And here's the funniest Derby - runty little horse and 99%er trainer win the Derby

A 99%er wins the Derby - Mine That Bird

Now, the little horse Mine That Bird was not exactly a 99%er - although he sold for only a bit over $9,000 as a yearling, his Derby year owners paid $400,000 for him when he was two.

But his trainer, Chip Wooley, was definitely a not among racing's elite. He vanned Mine That Bird himself all the way from NM to Kentucky, trained Quarter Horses as well as TBs, wore a cowboy hat, and was on crutches from a motorcycle accident. This was all thought hilarious

- I mean, the Sheiks and their horses arrive in private jets and even the Funny Cide crew didn't van the horse themselves.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/sports/othersports/03derby.html

Mine That Bird Uses Shortest Route to Win Derby
By JOE DRAPE

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Sometimes this game brings you to tears. Sometimes it feels right to be wrong. And always it is better than O.K. when the tears streaming down your face are caused by a man in a black cowboy hat and an almost handlebar mustache, a Cajun jockey with more horse than book sense and a scrawny $9,500 gelding.

Chip Woolley, Calvin Borel and Mine That Bird, an improbable — no, impossible — 50-1 long shot, did just that Saturday, running away with the 135th running of America’s greatest race, the Kentucky Derby.

...The 45-year-old Woolley, a former bareback rodeo rider, loaded Mine That Bird in a van and hauled him behind his truck from his base in New Mexico, stopping at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Tex., so his horse could gallop a couple of miles.

Kentucky Derby 2009 includes hilarious call by an utterly flummoxed Tom Durkin - an expert announcer taken completely out of his game by this race - and amazing overhead replay of Mine That Bird threading the field and blasting out in front to win it.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="

" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

on edit - meant to add that I absolutely burst out laughing when I watched this live (live TV I mean) - still about my favorite Derby, and I'll always love MTB for that race.

[DemReadingDU]

12. Tooo funny! Here's another one " Mywifenosevrything battles with Thewifedoesntknow"

[bread_and_roses]

21. Yes, that's a good one too

... went viral among the racing boards online

[bread_and_roses]

20. Workers on the backstretch - not the 1%

http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/behind-racetrack-tough-existence-backstretch-workers-12174

Behind the racetrack, a tough existence for 'backstretch' workers
September 14, 2011 | Patricia Leigh Brown

... The lives of workers on “the backside” of the track – Latinos from Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador and Peru – are anonymous and grueling. Theirs is a seven-day-a-week job that can begin at 3:30 or 4 in the morning and end with the last race at 6 p.m. The grooms, foremen and “hot walkers” – known as backstretch workers – collectively feed, bathe and exercise 1,100 or so thoroughbreds. They saddle them, bandage their legs, apply liniment to sore muscles, walk them to cool them down after a race, shovel their manure and lay their straw beds.

It is a low-paying occupation largely without vacations, holidays and sick days, though those who live at the track, with its communal bathroom and shower facilities, do not pay rent. Backstretch work carries considerable physical risk, from kicks or bites from the horses to broken ribs and torn rotator cuffs.

... Living conditions scrutinized

Nationally, the housing and living conditions of backstretch workers have been the focus of repeated legal and civil rights cases. In 2008, a New York state labor investigation of the famed Saratoga Race Course found that more than 1,275 workers had been underpaid by trainers. The Labor Department wound up collecting approximately $600,000 in wage underpayments from 110 trainers, as well as $60,000 in penalties.

In 2004, the HOPE Fair Housing Center in Wheaton, Ill., filed a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development about overcrowded barracks-like conditions for backstretch workers with families at Arlington Park, in suburban Chicago. The end result was $6 million worth of new housing at the park.

Just where the 1%ers want to see all of us - in the company barracks.

Between the second and third paragraph quoted is a long section about "depression, social isolation, and substance abuse" among these workers and some wonderful

cultural arts program designed to ameliorate that ... you have to read through the "feel good" stuff about how wonderful that is before getting to the nitty gritty

about wages, etc - on which there is nothing about MAYBE RAISING THE FUCKING WAGES, BENEFITS, AND LIVING CONDITIONS. I find particularly offensive this sentence, "The program has been expanded to include traditional folkloric music and dance classes taught by Cibrino Galindo, a master artist." - how quaint! By all means, lets have the impoverished peasants singing and dancing! Can't have them dragging down the Masters' mood, now, can we? They just have to take care not to scare the horses.

note: this was posted in wrong spot - was supposed to be "in line" not a reply - but too much work to fix

[bread_and_roses]

4. One of the favorites in this year's Derby is "Union Rags"

I have been on Union Rags bandwagon since I first heard from him - not sure if the name is a civil war reference or not, but it was the "union" in the name that put me on his bandwagon. Happily, he does not belong to one of the Sheiks.

The unions are pretty much in rags these days too, with membership so dwindled. It makes the striking workers written of in the article above that much braver.

Good shots of the massive, georgeous Union Rags about 1 minute into video

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120428/SPORTS08/304280061/union-rags

[Po_d Mainiac]

11. The horse is Spanish

The bloody beast was originally dubbed "Nupcias Compresa" ...something got lost in the translation.

[bread_and_roses]

16. you lost me, Po_d ...

? Not sure what you mean? But then, I have not actually read much on background on UR other than following his races.

[Po_d Mainiac]

18. Knowledge is a gr8 tool

a little knowledge just makes one a 'tool'

I consider meself the classic palm hammer...a.k.a. 'a rock'

[bread_and_roses]

57. I'm still lost

I'm sorry to be such a dim bulb. Here's the source of the name:

Union Rags' name comes from his sire, Dixie Union, and one of his maternal forebears, Glad Rags II. That mare belonged to owner Phyllis Wyeth's family, won England's 1966 One Thousand Guineas and became a foundation mare for their farm.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/05/04/2175764/how-did-this-years-kentucky-derby.html#storylink=cpy

This is the "classic" formula for naming TBs - using the forbears names as a guide.

[Po_d Mainiac]

65. welcome to my world

[DemReadingDU]

67. I'll Have Another

Then there are the names plucked from everyday life. J. Paul Reddam, owner of I'll Have Another, has said the horse is named for Reddam's response to his wife's nightly query of "Do you want any more cookies?" as he lies on the couch.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/05/04/2175764/how-did-this-years-kentucky-derby.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy

[bread_and_roses]

5. "A Rich Man's Message to America"

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/03-5

Published on Thursday, May 3, 2012 by Institute for Policy Studies Blog
A Rich Man's Message to America: You Need Us To Get Even Richer!
by Sam Pizzigati

How can you tell a really smart rich guy from a really silly one? The really smart one would never spend four years writing a book that tries to justify the incredible riches of incredibly rich people. Mega-millionaire Edward Conard has done just that.

Conard amassed his immense fortune — estimated in the hundreds of millions — working the private-equity circuit alongside his close friend Mitt Romney. Now Conard is reinventing himself as a "public intellectual." He has just published a new book, Unintended Consequences: Why Everything You’ve Been Told About the Economy Is Wrong, that will be featured this Sunday in the New York Times magazine.

Don't go looking for anything new in Conrad's tome. His themes — as highlighted in the upcoming New York Times profile — regurgitate the same pap we've been hearing for generations, ever since Andrew Carnegie penned The Gospel of Wealth in 1889. Carnegie argued back then, in America's original Gilded Age, that we average Americans should welcome the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few.

By dint of their "superior wisdom, experience, and ability," Carnegie assured us, these rich few can put their wealth to work for the benefit of us all.

As far as I know he doesn't own horses - but I'd bet good money that there's plenty like him among those who pay millions - yes, sometimes millions - for a horse.

[Fuddnik]

9. One bank down...so far.

Security Bank, National Association, North Lauderdale, Florida, was closed today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Banesco USA, Coral Gables, Florida, to assume all of the deposits of Security Bank, National Association.

The three branches of Security Bank, National Association will reopen on Monday as branches of Banesco USA. Depositors of Security Bank, National Association will automatically become depositors of Banesco USA. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits. Customers of Security Bank, National Association should continue to use their existing branch until they receive notice from Banesco USA that it has completed systems changes to allow other Banesco USA branches to process their accounts as well.

This evening and over the weekend, depositors of Security Bank, National Association can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.

[bread_and_roses]

10. thanks, Fudd! (n/t)

[bread_and_roses]

13. "Oil prices plunge 6% for the week"

http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/04/markets/oil-prices/

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Oil prices have plunged 6% this week, erasing the gains of recent months and easing fears about $5-per-gallon gas ... at least for now.

The price of U.S. crude oil slipped beneath $100 per barrel on Friday, dropping about 4% from Thursday, to settle at $98.49. That's down from $104.87 on Monday.

This will give a little relief to families strapped by unemployment, low wages ...

.... but it's not the answer. The answer is GOOD GREEN JOBS and GOOD PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION and MORE INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS for our driving needs (everyone who lives in the country can't move to the city) and DECENT WAGES - for ALL workers - so gas priced at - or at least closer to - its true (including environmental) cost will not totally break the family bank!

... or...we could just get horses.

[bread_and_roses]

14. "Professional Horse Racing is a whole lot like Stock Market Trading!"

I have no idea who this guy is - it's just a hit I got off my search terms - and he seems to be selling something to boot ... but since I was thinking along these lines I'll quote a bit and then add some of my own.

http://www.articlesbase.com/horse-racing-articles/professional-horse-racing-is-a-whole-lot-like-stock-market-trading-926401.html

For a start a lot of people lose at horse racing simply because they have no idea what they are up against and they use techniques that are absurdly naïve.

Wrong off the bat - a lot of people lose money on gambling on horses because horses are living creatures who are not totally predictable and are, in fact, quirky and opinionated about horsey things like weather, noise, footing, crowding, etc. Unlike the Market, they cannot be totally manipulated by man or machine.

Others insist on backing winning trainers who have already proven excellent records at particular race courses.

I don't think the comparison to trading requires any explanation on that one - even for someone who wouldn't know a Thoroughbred from a Draft horse.

Even others use computers and develop algorithms that scan through huge volumes of data to discover clues and discrepancies that manual analysis cannot compete with.

ditto to previous

oh - and I'd say a prized TB stallion is like owning Blue Chips - they pay dividends year after year as long as they are healthy, some of them charging up $150,000 for a mating - and they can "book" to a lot of mares

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoroughbred

Unlike a significant number of registered breeds today, a horse cannot be registered as a Thoroughbred (with The Jockey Club registry) unless conceived by live cover, the witnessed natural mating of a mare and a stallion. Artificial insemination (AI) and embryo transfer (ET), though commonly used and allowable in many other horse breed registries, cannot be used with Thoroughbreds.[79] One reason is that a greater possibility of error exists in assigning parentage with AI, and although DNA and blood testing eliminate many of those concerns, AI still requires more detailed record keeping.[80] The main reason, however, may be economic; a stallion has a limited number of mares who can be serviced by live cover. Thus the practice prevents an oversupply of Thoroughbreds, although modern management still allows a stallion to live cover more mares in a season than was once thought possible. As an example, in 2008, the Australian stallion Encosta De Lago covered 227 mares.[81] By allowing a stallion to cover only a couple of hundred mares a year rather than the couple of thousand possible with AI, it also preserves the high prices paid for horses of the finest or most popular lineages.[82]

[bread_and_roses]

15. Kilmer, Swamp Root, and the Immortal "Old Bones" (Kentucky Derby winner Exterminator)

Swamp Root

http://archives.med.nyu.edu/collections/findingaids/medbottles.html

In 1793, Congress passed patent legislation, which allowed manufacturers to protect their products against counterfeiters. Hence the term "patent medicine" came into

common usage. However, most manufacturers were using the same ingredients for their medicines as their competitors. The majority of these products were quack

remedies composed in the main of vegetable extracts, alcohol, and narcotic derivatives such as cocaine, morphine, and opium. The main effect of these nostrums was

relief from pain. Understandably, the manufacturers did not wish to reveal their ingredients, so they protected their products by patenting the label information, promotional materials, and even the shape of the bottle itself. Patent legislation combined with the rapid growth and distribution of newspapers resulted in a large market for these remedies.

One of the most successful of the patent medicine producers, The Kilmer Company distributed its product through the mail. The company even provided a free urinalysis to potential customers--and would then proceed to recommend Swamp Root to the sick and the well alike. Kilmer's Swamp Root is a classic example of a quack cure, which promised the suffering customer far more than it could ever deliver. However, unlike some patent medicine manufacturers, Kilmer's does list its ingredients on its packaging and admits that alcohol is included in the mix.

The Kilmers got very rich, founded the Binghamton Press, and raced the immortal Exterminator, winner of the 1918 Kentucky Derby

http://www.westsidebinghamton.org/famouswestsiders.html

Willis Sharpe Kilmer also had a keen interest in horses. His vast racing stables, Sun Briar Court, opened in 1918 and stretched along the south side of Riverside Drive from Lourdes Hospital to the city line at Margaret Street. His stables had their own racing oval, a clubhouse, and stalls for 100 horses. Exterminator was the most famous of Willis Sharpe Kilmer's horses, winning the 1918 Kentucky Derby and going on to win half of the 100 races of his career. He became one of the most famous racehorses in history.

In other words, Kilmer got rich selling people in pain a worthless swill - reminds me, at least, of the Market. But the great Exterminator, also known as "Old Bones" was the real deal.

The immortal Exterminator is my all-time favorite. A rare ugly thoroughbred, he was gelded in part due to his ungainly physique, thought unworthy of passing on.

Kilmer bought him for a "work horse" for his favored Sun Briar, who was intended to run in the Derby. At the last minute, Sun Briar could not run that day, and against his inclinations Kilmer was persuaded to enter the horse he referred to as a "goat."
Exterminator went off at 50-1 on a track deep in mud: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exterminator_%28horse%29

"Exterminator raced at the back until the field turned for home, then he turned it on, flying down the track, passing one horse after the other. Nearing the wire, he was coming on stronger than ever... He won the Derby by a length."

Willie Knapp* became an instant fan of the tall chestnut gelding. Many years later he said of the champion: "When he was at his best, Exterminator could have beaten Man o' War or Citation or Kelso or any other horse that ever lived on any track doing anything."

(*trainer)

http://www.spiletta.com/UTHOF/exterminator.html

Exterminator's Race Record

Starts Wins Seconds Thirds
Lifetime 100 50 17 17

Coming from the back made him a "deep closer" in that race - these runners are among the most fun and exciting to watch. For a contemporary example see the post on Mine That Bird, 2009

[bread_and_roses]

17. The business of racehorses: "OBS Opening Session Posts Solid Gains"

Hip No. 160, a bay filly by Medaglia d'Oro , topped the opening session of the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s April Spring Sale of 2-year-olds in Training on Monday, April 23, selling to Hannah Smith’s Southwind Stables for $400,000.

... All told, 179 head changed hands during the sale’s opening session for a gross of $7,403,000, up substantially from last year’s gross of $5,663,400 on 199 head sold. Monday’s average rose 45.3% to $41,358, compared to $28,459 a year ago. The median price increased 25% to $25,000 from $20,000 a year ago. The buyback percentage was 23.2%; it was 27.1% last year.

“The sale is off to a great start,” said Tom Ventura, OBS general manager. “All of the numbers are headed in the right direction. We’re certainly very pleased. I remain optimistic that it is going to be a solid sale throughout.”

Read more: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/69185/obs-opening-session-posts-solid-gains#ixzz1txM5YYVY

[bread_and_roses]

19. In the world of racing, any 1% is a good 1%

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godolphin_Racing

Godolphin Racing is the Maktoum family's private thoroughbred horseracing stable and was named in honour of the Godolphin Arabian, who came from the desert to become one of the three founding stallions of the modern thoroughbred.

UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the driving force behind Godolphin. He also owns the Darley Stud breeding operation. Godolphin's first runner and winner was Cutwater (GB) at Nad Al Sheba, Dubai on December 24, 1992 while Godolphin's international operation commenced in 1994. The stable has training facilities in both Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Newmarket, United Kingdom.

Horses are wintered in Dubai, then travel each April to Godolphin's UK-based Godolphin Stables, which is the former Stanley House Stables, built in 1903 by Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby or to the historic Moulton Paddocks which is also located in Newmarket.

Sheik Mohammed is quite welcome in the American racing community. He has a runner in this year's Derby - Alpha - a beautiful creature, as they (almost) all are. I do not cheer for the Sheik's horses, though it's not the poor creature's fault who owns it, and I surely wish it a safe trip around the track - just a losing one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Dubai

Human rights in Dubai are based on the Constitution and enacted law, which do address many of the concerns of human rights organizations. For example, the Constitution promises equitable treatment of all people, regardless of race, nationality or social status, per Article 25 of the Constitution of the United Arab Emirates. In contrast to other nations in the region, there is also a significant degree of both press and religious freedom.

However, many human rights complaints have been reported upon. Most notably, of the 250,000 foreign laborers in the city live in conditions described by Human Rights Watch as being "less than human."[1][2][3][4]

... In keeping with traditional Islamic morality, both Federal and Emirate law prohibit homosexuality and cross-dressing with punishment ranging from long prison sentences, deportation, for foreigners, and the death penalty. No nightclub exists for LGBT patrons and no political organization is allowed to advocate for LGBT rights.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html

The dark side of Dubai
Dubai was meant to be a Middle-Eastern Shangri-La, a glittering monument to Arab enterprise and western capitalism. But as hard times arrive in the city state that rose from the desert sands, an uglier story is emerging. Johann Hari reports
Tuesday 07 April 2009

The wide, smiling face of Sheikh Mohammed – the absolute ruler of Dubai – beams down on his creation. His image is displayed on every other building...

... Once the manic burst of building has stopped and the whirlwind has slowed, the secrets of Dubai are slowly seeping out. This is a city built from nothing in just a few wild decades on credit and ecocide, suppression and slavery. Dubai is a living metal metaphor for the neo-liberal globalised world ...

... "The thing you have to understand about Dubai is – nothing is what it seems," Karen says at last. "Nothing. This isn't a city, it's a con-job. They lure you in telling you it's one thing – a modern kind of place – but beneath the surface it's a medieval dictatorship."

[bread_and_roses]

22. "Economy Has Recovered ALL Private Sector Losses Since Obama Became President"

eh, wot?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/04/1088809/-Economy-Has-Recovered-ALL-Privarte-Sector-Losses-Since-Obama-Became-President

As of April, there are now more private sector jobs in the United States than there were in January 2009, when President Obama took office. You read that right. We have now replaced all of the private sector jobs lost while Obama has been president.

And that was no mean feat, given that over the course of 2009, the private sector shed about 4.2 million jobs.

Gee - must be something wrong with all those people I know who are still out of work ...

http://truth-out.org/news/item/8906-job-slowdown-continues-into-april-but-unemployment-still-edges-downward

In spite of the slower job growth, the unemployment rate edged down again to 8.1 percent. However, this is not a case of the household survey showing a different picture than the establishment survey. As was the case last month, the drop in unemployment was entirely attributable to people leaving the labor force. The employment-to-population ratio (EPOP) fell by 0.1 percentage points for the second consecutive month, to 58.4 percent. This is just 0.3 percentage points above the low for the downturn.

emphasis added

[Hotler]

60. "Gee - must be something wrong with all those people I know who are still out of work"

To lazy to get up off their asses. All they want is a handout from the government.
Did I really need this?

[bread_and_roses]

23. The Hats

Some well over $1,000, though I'm guessing that's just a wannabe tag for real !%ers

http://www.nyfashionhats.com/servlet/the-Kentucky-Derby-Hats/Categories

The hat tradition supposedly, according to several articles I read, traces back to Royal Ascot http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Ascot#Royal_Ascot

"a major event in the British social calendar, and press coverage of the attendees and what they are wearing often exceeds coverage of the actual racing. There are 3 enclosures attended by guests on Royal Ascot week ...The Royal Enclosure is the most prestigious of the three enclosures, with recent visits from the Queen and Royal Family"

Most expensive KD hat on e-Bay on Wednesday, May 2 "Buy it now" price $2,350

"BRAND NEW & JUST IN FROM ENGLAND FROM PHILIP TREACY'S SPRING/ SUMMER 2012 COLLECTION ...

Philip Treacy is often referred to as a milliner to the royals..."
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NWT-AUTHENTIC-PHILIP-TREACY-SPRING-SUMMER-2012-WHITE-KENTUCKY-DERBY-WEDDING-HAT-/180868296370?pt=US_Hats&hash=item2a1c972eb2

[Demeter]

61. That's amazing

I learn so much from this thread and SMW

[bread_and_roses]

24. The fastest Derby - the Immortal Secretariat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_Derby

... The fastest time ever run in the Derby (at its present distance) was set in 1973 at 1 minute 59 2/5 seconds when Secretariat broke the record set by Northern

Dancer in 1964. Not only has Secretariat's record time stood for 38 years and counting, but in the race itself, he did something unique in Triple Crown races: each successive quarter, his times were faster.

http://www.secretariat.com/past-performances/kentucky-derby/

Secretariat’s quarter mile fractions:

0:25 1/5
0:24
0:23 4/5
0:23 2/5
0:23

You are unlikely to see anything like that tomorrow - they say "horses just don't DO that..."

(embedding unfortunately disabled on both the videos below)

(worth watching to the end to see Secretariat dancing about after the roses are draped on him)

(alternate footage that gives better view of Secretariat's remarkable run from last to first, going faster each quarter)

[bread_and_roses]

25. That's it for tonight - as for tomorrow ...

... unfortunately, I have to work from very early till mid-afternoon tomorrow (I did say ... life sometimes gets in the way...)

I'll be watching Derby coverage after that, though I'll try to get more REAL economics posted during commercials, maybe, if I can.

Carry on - ESPECIALLY with the economics, though Derby stuff from others will be very, very welcome!

[hamerfan]

26. Musical Interlude

Rolling Stones. Dead Flowers:

[bread_and_roses]

27. "The 5 Industries Dragging Down The U.S. Economy Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/industri

http://www.businessinsider.com/industries-dragging-down-economy-2011-4#5-retail-trade-1

#5. Retail
#4 Transportation and warehousing
#3 Accommodation and food services
#2 Non-durable manufacturing
#1 Construction

[xchrom]

28. Happy Birthday Karl Marx!

?w=549

[bread_and_roses]

47. That's perfect, xhchrom

that is just too spot on (since we're at "the Daarby" I'm mimicking the "Public School" Brits for the moment - and thanks for the B'day reminder too - if I drank Mint Juleps, I'd toast him with one.

PS - and THANKS xchrom for the posts - I knew I could count on you.

[xchrom]

29. Total unemployment goes flat

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Paper-Economy/2012/0504/Total-unemployment-goes-flat


This chart shows the rate of total unemployment since 1999. The drop in unemployment slowed in April, with the economy only adding 115,000 jobs
SoldAtTheTop

Today’s Employment Situation report showed that in April “total unemployment” including all marginally attached workers went flat at 14.5% while the traditionally reported unemployment rate declined slightly to 8.1%.

The traditional unemployment rate is calculated from the monthly household survey results using a fairly explicit definition of “unemployed” (essentially unemployed and currently looking for full time employment) leaving many workers to be considered effectively “on the margin” either employed in part time work when full time is preferred or simply unemployed and no longer looking for work.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics considers “marginally attached” workers (including discouraged workers) and persons who have settled for part time employment to be “underutilized” labor.

The broadest view of unemployment would include both traditionally unemployed workers and all other underutilized workers.

[xchrom]

30. Greek socialist leader Venizelos warns of 'mass poverty'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17966333


Polls indicate Mr Venizelos' Pasok will be punished at the polls by voters angry at austerity measures


The leader of Greece's Pasok party Evangelos Venizelos has said Greece faces a choice between austerity and "mass poverty" in elections on Sunday.

"On Sunday, our people's fate is at stake," Mr Venizelos told the closing rally of his campaign in Athens.

The leader of the centre-right New Democracy party, Antonis Samaras, said the Left was "playing games with the country's European future".

Both parties are set to lose votes to those opposed to austerity measures.

[xchrom]

31. the wouldn't be complete with out one of these

[Fuddnik]

33. It's the trifecta.

Margaritas for breakfast for Cinco de Mayo.

Juleps for lunch for Derby Day.

And if you last that long, Vodka for Karl Marx birthday!

Tomorrow can be National Sick as a Dog Day.

[xchrom]

34. So it is Said - so it shall Be! Nt

[hamerfan]

46. I'll Have Another. n/t

[bread_and_roses]

48. ROFL - did that work out with Fudd's post, or what? And he's a CHEAP horse, too!!

If I were at a window, I might have bet IHA after reading Fudd's post.

My two didn't win, but I can be pleased as punch (or Julep, or Vodka) that the horse that DID win only cost $11,000 as a yearling and $35,000 as a two-year old. That's pocket change among the racing elite. Take that, Sheiks!

[xchrom]

32. Gloom builds for euro zone, United States

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/05/04/uk-global-economy-idUKBRE8430OD20120504

(Reuters) - The euro zone economy worsened markedly last month and U.S. employers cut back on hiring, according to two reports on Friday that dampened hopes for gradual recovery on either side of the Atlantic.

In Europe, the purchasing managers indexes (PMIs), which primarily cover services, suggested a recession across the continent's currency union could now extend to mid-year and be deeper than previously thought.

The gloomy surveys clashed with the picture painted by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, who on Thursday spoke of a gradual recovery taking place in the euro zone during the course of the year - although he did speak about risks.

In the United States, a government report showed employers added a disappointing 115,000 workers to payrolls last month and, critically, many Americans stopped looking for work. Economists had expected 170,000 new nonfarm jobs, and the report could hurt President Barack Obama as he steps up a re-election campaign that will likely hinge on the state of the economy.

[Demeter]

63. How can you have a gradual recovery from a mortal wound?

I think the denial will never be overcome by events.

[xchrom]

35. Ky. Derby morning training canceled after storms

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10228723

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The track superintendent at Churchill Downs cancelled morning training for the Kentucky Derby and its 13-race card after a night of thunderstorms.

Butch Lehr (LEE'-ehr) made the decision early in the morning as crowds began to line up outside the historic Louisville track. Saturday is the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby.

The main track, which is dirt, was labeled sloppy at 8 a.m. EDT. The Derby will be run at 6:24 p.m. EDT, with the National Weather Service calling for mostly cloudy skies, a high near 85 and a 50 percent chance of pop-up rain.

Hundreds of thousands of race fans, topped off by a bevy of celebrities, are expected to converge at Churchill Downs. Last year, more than 164,000 people attended, an all-time high.

[Demeter]

37. This thread is fabulous!

I am so envious! Maybe we should have bread&roses take over....

it's obvious how much you love the topic,b&r.

Of course, my hobbies get frowned down by our new Fuhrer, Hugin (G&S, opera, ballet, Star Trek etc). (Just kidding, Hugin! Like I would pay attention, anyway...)

[Fuddnik]

38. More deadly dog food.

And I'm sitting on $100 worth of expensive dog food, that I mixed in a bin, and tossed the bags, so I can't check the UPC codes.


http://fox8.com/2012/05/04/dog-food-linked-to-salmonella-cases-across-us/


CLEVELAND, Ohio – Fourteen people have fallen ill across the United States, including two in Ohio, due to salmonella poisoning, and health officials believe the culprit is recalled dog food, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

“We’ve had two cases in Ohio: one a 74-year-old female in Franklin County and a four-month-old female in Morrow County,” said Mary DiOrio, the state epidemiologist for the Ohio Department of Health.

Brands included in the recall include:



Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul
Country Value
Diamond
Diamond Naturals
Premium Edge
Professional
4Health
Taste of the Wild



A statement on the recall website reads, in part:

“Diamond Pet Foods today announced that it is expanding a voluntary recall to include batches of nine brands of dry pet food formulas manufactured between December 9, 2011 and April 7, 2012 due to potential Salmonella contamination.

And some others. And a regional distribution map.

Brands Affected By Recall

Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul
Country Value
Diamond
Diamond Naturals
Premium Edge
Professional
4Health
Taste of the Wild

Production Codes
If your production code has a 2 or 3 in the 9th or 10th position AND an “X” in the 11th position, your product is affected by the recall. If the product you have does not include a 2 or 3 in the 9th or 10th position AND an “X” in the 11th position, your product is not affected by the recall, and you can continue to feed it as usual.

http://diamondpetrecall.com/

[DemReadingDU]

40. Are people eating this dog food, is that how they get sick? n/t

[Fuddnik]

42. Probably from handling it.

I just took a ride over to the feed store where I bought it, and they said they checked their invoices with the recall notice, and none of the contaminated lot passed through their store. So, I don't have to toss 100 bucks worth of food out.

The hounds have been eating it for over two weeks now, anyway. I'm sure we would have noticed something by now.

[hay rick]

39. Live odds for the Derby

here: http://www.kentuckyderby.com/contenders/kentucky-derby-live-odds

Bodemeister currently at 7-1. Would expect him to be half that or less. Going to Florida's Democratic caucus today to register my dissatisfaction with the incumbent and then it's on to the simulcast venue...

[hamerfan]

41. Musical Interlude

Rolling Stones (again). Wild Horses:

[bread_and_roses]

43. Thanks to all the posters! Life's been uncooperative today

I just got home - thought I'd be here by 3:30 at the latest. Will try to get a few posts in before the Derby. And a few more before I collapse on the couch later tonight.

[bread_and_roses]

44. Argentina's Model, an Alternative to Austerity

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/05-3

by Mark Weisbrot

One of the great myths about the Argentine economy that is repeated nearly every day is that the rapid growth of the Argentine economy during the past decade has been a "commodity export boom"

... It turns out that only 12% of Argentina's real GDP growth during this period was due to any kind of exports at all. And just a fraction of this 12% was due to commodity exports, including soybeans. So Argentina's economic growth from 2002-2010 was not an export-led growth experience, by any stretch of the imagination, still less, a "commodities boom".

...The myth of the "commodities export boom" is one way that Argentina's detractors dismiss Argentina's economic growth as just dumb luck. But the reality is that the economic expansion has been < a href="http://www.cepr.net/index.php/publications/reports/the-argentine-success-story-and-its-implications">led by domestic consumption and investment. And it happened because the Argentine government changed its most important macroeconomic choices: on fiscal, monetary, and exchange rate policies. That is what took Argentina out of its 1998-2002 depression and turned it into the fastest-growing economy in the Americas.

... Now for the world-wide significance of how Argentina's recovery actually happened: as I and many other economists have written, the policies currently being imposed on the eurozone economies – especially the weaker ones – are similar to what Argentina went through during the depression that led to its default and devaluation. These policies were pro-cyclical, meaning that they amplified the impact of the downturn. Together with a fixed, overvalued exchange rate, they made the economy worse. By defaulting on its debt and devaluing its currency, Argentina was freed to change its most important macroeconomic policies.

"Austerity" is nothing but another way to crush workers.

Not much austerity on display among the 1%ers and 1%er wannabees prancing abound at the Derby.

[bread_and_roses]

45. Pretty soon they'll sing the soppy "My Old Kentucky Home"

Aside from its dreary, soggy, mournful tune, there is the small problem of the lyrics.

Wiki quotes Frederick Douglass as saying: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Old_Kentucky_Home

Abolitionist Frederick Douglass thought the song stimulated "the sympathies for the slave, in which anti-slavery principles take root and flourish."[4]

The song described originally an everyday scene on a slave plantation and was a beloved song in minstrel shows.

"My Old Kentucky Home" became the official state song of Kentucky on March 19, 1928 by an act of the Kentucky legislature, but, by 1986, opinions had changed on the appropriateness of the lyrics. Japanese students visiting the Kentucky General Assembly sang the original as a gesture of respect, but Carl Hines, the only black member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, was quoted as saying that the lyrics "convey connotations of racial discrimination that are not acceptable". Within days, Hines was sponsoring a bill to revise the lyrics, and, with the passage of House resolution 159, the word "darkies" was changed to "people".[5]

They may have changed the lyric, and of course sensibilities have changed since the song was written. But - I still have a hard time with enshrining a song that hearkens back to the Old South, slavery and all, as an icon.

[bread_and_roses]

49. "The Grinding Halt: Reality Falls to Bits and Pieces"

Well, the Derby is run, the roses are draped, and one dream out of twenty has come true. Reality sets in.

I read this the other day:

http://www.theautomaticearth.org/Finance/the-grinding-halt-reality-falls-to-bits-and-pieces.html

When the Treasury defense of TARP came out a few days ago, I happened to stumble upon a one paragraph summary of it from Dutch public broadcaster NOS. Undoubtedly inadvertently, it described the reality behind the report just brilliantly. In a quick translation, this is about what it came down to:

The US will turn a small profit on the financial support banks, mortgage lenders and car manufacturers received during the financial crisis. So reports the US Treasury. Especially the support for more than 700 banks was profitable.

The support for car manufacturers has cost billions of dollars, but the Treasury says it has resulted in 230.000 new jobs.

American households have lost $12.3 trillion since the crisis.

That's what US reality has become: Tim Geithner attempting to paint a positive spin on one piece of financial politics among many, claiming that supporting Wall Street has been good for Americans. That they lost millions of jobs and close to an entire year's GDP in wealth in the process is not all that important.

Of course this all comes in the spirit of: not doing it would have caused a disaster! Losing $12.3 trillion apparently does not constitute one.

That last sentence says a lot. But then, the author seems to be going on to sing the "we must have austerity song."

John Mauldin had a good quote from Lacy Hunt at Hoisington, another good summary of American reality in the spring of 2012:

"Efforts by fiscal and monetary authorities to sustain growth by further debt accumulation may produce some short-term benefit. Sadly, these interludes fade quickly as the debt becomes more destabilizing. The net result of increased indebtedness then becomes the opposite of what policymakers intend when they promote economic growth by either borrowing funds for increased government expenditures or encourage consumers to borrow with artificial and temporary incentives."

Now, I just started reading this site - because it was mentioned here - and it really is a bit beyond my grade level. So it's entirely possible I'm not really understanding what they're talking about. I do think it's true that debt to promote more and more growth based on more and more consumption of throw-away goods or artificially created consumer "wants" is unsustainable. Isn't that what we've had all these years? Growth in the air-freshener market but crumbling schools and inner cities?

But debt to put people to REAL work that meets the REAL needs of REAL people - to educate, house, fund schools, provide mass transportation, grow food sustainably and locally - I cannot see how that does not in the end create real "wealth" and stability.

[bread_and_roses]

50. and I've come to my own "grinding halt" for tonight

Thanks again to all posters! I hope everyone had fun so far. We're pretty much back to grim reality tomorrow, though I'll give you some of the Derby day-after wrap-up.

See you all tomorrow.

[xchrom]

51. The Mint Julep

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/drink/2012/05/the_mint_julep_how_to_prepare_and_enjoy_this_complicated_cocktail_.html


The mint julep, official drink of the Kentucky Derby
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images.


Some call it the Run for the Roses. I call it an occasion to clean the old stains from a second-tier seersucker jacket and ring the starting bell on the daydrinking season. It is spring again, and it is time to make new stains, over and under a round of mint juleps.
The Kentucky Derby is a pagan ritual centered in Louisville. Dr. Thompson, who sketched an unsurpassable portrait of the event in “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved,” defined it most succinctly in a letter to Pat Oliphant, referring to the first Saturday in May as "the annual horse-shit and bourbon orgy." An awful lot of whiskey-marinated ice has sloshed around at Churchill Downs while the four-legged animals perform on the dirt track and the two-legged sort cavort in the infield and the grandstand. The mob at the Derby—joined by the crowds at house parties, OTBs, and Dixie-expat restaurants around the world—has conspired with fate to make a mess of a great American cocktail.
What a distinctly American mess it is! A mint julep is best when simply prepared, but it is always a complex drink—labor intensive and culturally knotty. For centuries, intraregional beefs have raged regarding its most correct preparation. Mustn’t there have been duels? Isn’t the fantasy of the julep entwined both with its undeniable Southern charm and also the traditions that William Faulkner and Kara Walker and everyone have been trying to tell you about? And all that expensive ice on top of all that!—properly made and patiently sipped, a mint julep is a drink you have a relationship with, a full amusement experience.

In his indispensable Straight Up or On The Rocks: The Story of the American Cocktail (1993), William Grimes traces the emergence of the modern mint julep to the Commonwealth of Virginia in the 1800s. Grimes passes along a recipe from the English novelist Frederick Marryat, who toured the United States in the 1830s and set down a native recipe: Put 10 or 12 tender shoots of mint in a tumbler, add a little sugar, and fill the tumbler one third with liquor (a blend of brandies in his case): "Then take rasped or pounded ice, and fill up the tumbler. Epicures rub the lip of the tumbler with a piece of fresh pineapple, and the tumbler itself is very often encrusted outside with stalactites of ice."

[Hotler]

59. Damn! That sure looks good.

I would bet they are mighty tasty on a hot day. I may have to break away from my tequila groove and try one.

[xchrom]

52. Why economics is still the 'dismal science'

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2012/0502/Why-economics-is-still-the-dismal-science


John Baldridge, 13, returns a quail to a pen in the backyard of his home in Roanoke, Va. with the help of his father, Duke Baldridge. John raises quail eggs to sell to a couple of local restaurants.
Kyle Green/The Roanoke Times/AP Photo

When economists are at a loss for hard data to explain trends or make predictions, they fall back on a soft phrase first coined by one of their famed own, John Maynard Keynes.


That term of art may sound like a “Twilight” flick. But it refers to immeasurable qualities of human thinking that can put energy into free markets but don’t easily fit on a Wall Street spreadsheet or an academic graph.

One quality – optimism about the future – isn’t so animal at all. In fact, despite the dozy economy, hopefulness seems to be an abundant trait among Americans who have the longest future, young people.

Nearly 90 percent of them who hold jobs believe they will earn enough in the future. Even among those not working, that same optimism is still high at 75 percent, according to a recent Pew Research Center poll.

In sharp contrast, more than half of today’s adults older than 35, whether working or not, are pessimistic about their future earnings. What’s more, the economic bullishness of working young adults hasn’t changed much since even before the 2007-09 Great Recession.

[bread_and_roses]

56. "Animal Spirits" from Keynes - how perfectly apt this weekend!

And what is true of economics is also true of horse racing -

immeasurable qualities ...[that] don’t easily fit on a Wall Street spreadsheet or an academic graph.

is as true of horses as of people, of racing as of Markets.

And optimism about the future? That's true as well of owners and trainers with a horse in the Derby - and these are 3 yr olds - not even fully mature horses, like the young 'uns referred to in article above.

As for the predictions of the "experts?" Well, I'll Have Another was neither the favorite at the windows or amongst the pundits listed over at http://www.equidaily.com/ . If you look at the pre-race predictions of the handicappers, you will see IHA picked to finish in the money by about three out of thirty-three listed (I did not read each and every one of those articles - going by title lists).

Of both humans and horses I think one can safely say that while numbers work pretty well in the aggregate they do not predict very well the behavior of any one individual. (The conventional wisdom is that post-time favorites - the horses picked by the entirety of people betting, from "experts" to first-timers betting on their favorite color silks win about a third of the time - a pretty good record.)

The problem with economists is that while owners, trainers, and bettors may be unduly influenced by dreams, myths, hunches, and irrelevant preferences (I just love the grey horses!), economists are prone to wrestling with the numbers to fit them into some preferential ideology - or worse, ignoring them for same. Both can convince themselves that an artificial construct existing in their own minds trumps reality. The economists, though, as witness the Chicago Boys, are far more dangerous to the rest of us.

[bread_and_roses]

58. Betting on the names nets two of top three finishers

http://www.sportsgrid.com/media/best-kentucky-derby-horse-names-2012/

I don’t know anything about horse racing, and I can’t offer any analysis on the Kentucky Derby itself. What I can do is power rank the horses’ names ... Names are assessed on how effectively they attract rooting interest and how intimidating they would be to other horses if other horses could grasp basic forms of human innuendo.

1. Dullahan
2. El Padrino
3. I’ll Have Another

He had the first & third finishers reversed, but given the odds, would still have made money putting a $2 show bet on each.

3x$2=$6
Payout on investment:
I'll Have Another - $9
Dullahan - $7.20
$16.20 - $6.00 = $10.20

Not a bad return - on whimsy.

[Demeter]

53. US jobs growth slows to 115,000 in April

The US created only 115,000 jobs in April, well below expectations of 162,000, a disappointing number that will add to fears that the economic recovery has lost some momentum.

But the unemployment rate fell from 8.2 to 8.1 per cent as the percentage of Americans participating in the labour force fell again, from 63.8 per cent in March, to 63.6 per cent in April.

Initial market reaction was muted as expectations had fallen in recent days amid other signs of slower growth.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/S4XZQQ/VLDNLS/HI3M9/II1EA9/B5BKFC/7V/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=4

[Demeter]

54. Brussels signals easing of fiscal rules

Senior European officials are championing an investment pact to stimulate economic growth in the eurozone as voters in France and Greece look set to punish leaders who have backed tough austerity measures

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/UXDMSS/4CFGUD/EKRAI/II1DT8/FKOEBA/FW/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=4

[Demeter]

55. Confirmed: America’s jobs crisis

Friday’s US jobs data sound a warning that should be heard well beyond economists and market watchers, writes Mohamed El-Erian.

With just 115,000 new jobs in April, the US economy is not creating enough employment opportunities to make a dent in the 12.5m jobless Americans in the labour force, of which a stunning 5.1m are long-term unemployed. Moreover, the disappointing monthly number managed to fall short of analysts’ massively subdued consensus expectation of 160,000, highlighting yet again the unusual sluggishness of the labour market.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/2SRI11/8ZU0NK/Q38E1/R30PDH/DW8YLJ/XL/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=4

[bread_and_roses]

62. "The End of Austerity in Europe?"

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/05/06-2

Published on Sunday, May 6, 2012 by Foreign Policy in Focus
The End of Austerity in Europe?
by Jeanne Kay

... Indeed, the election's big surprise was the spectacular surge of Jean-Luc Melenchon's Front de Gauche (Leftist Front), a coalition of parties to the left of the traditional social-democratic PS (Socialist Party).

... The Front de Gauche did not, however, make it to the second round...

... The Future of Austerity

Hollande, on the other hand, may not have a radical economic program sufficient to the task of reforming the French and European financial systems, but ... proposes a more Keynesian plan of job creation in the public sector, indexing the minimum wage to GDP growth rather than just inflation, and public investment.

... Francois Hollande [does not] present a true alternative to the finance-dominated system that precipitated the economic crisis... he famously reassured international finance about the ultimate innocuousness of his brand of moderate leftism: "You could say Obama and I have the same advisers. ... [T]he left was in government for 15 years in which we liberalized the economy and opened up the markets to finance and privatizations. There is no big fear."

Tipping the balance of power and shifting the dominant economic ideology in the EU might not be enough to ensure more social justice. But the demise of the austerity agenda would be a welcome first step — and open a new window for resistance.

Well *sigh* better than Sarkozy. At least he said this:

This is about turning the tables, reversing the trends that keep all the peoples of Europe under the yoke of the Sarkozy-Merkel axis,” he told the crowd.

[Fuddnik]

70. Well, Japan doesn't look too happy about it! Nikkei down 240 pts at the open.

It's gonna be a long day in the markets tonight and tomorrow,

[Demeter]

64. Thank you again, Bread and Roses!

You did an excellent job. And thanks to all who helped--you are marvelous!

Next year I'll have to have another guest appearance, as I have volunteered to work the entire weekend (when you can't stand the chaos, fix it)....but definitely, Marx should have his birthday commemorated...

Meanwhile, it's back to the routine...I threw papers until 3 AM and then slept until 2 PM. Time to get back in harness.

[bread_and_roses]

66. Photos - Exterminator's Headstone, and THANKS everyone

Last edited Sun May 6, 2012, 08:18 PM - Edit history (2)

Exterminator's gravesite, with it's headstone is just outside Binghamton, NY. With luck, his owner will be remembered in history as a footnote on swindlers who sold quack nostrums to poor suffering people - just like the Wall Street Boys. And also with luck, that - - I believe solid granite - headstone will be around long after their memory is forgotten. Even after it's nearly worn away, as long as the outline of the head can be made out it will stand as a testament to the horse as magic, myth, wonder, and even worship.

The size can be gauged by the rose, which had a stem almost two feet long as is partially buried to secure it



And thanks SO MUCH to all who posted this weekend! and to Demeter, for letting me run wild! (hope you had a lovely weekend, Demeter, you sure deserve one)

[DemReadingDU]

68. Exterminator was a big horse

Exterminator was a big horse, so large at birth, that the attending groom exclaimed to his wife, “this horse will kill off all the competition,” giving the horse his name.

Sun Briar had a long and distinguished career in thoroughbred breeding, leaving a phenomenal progeny, which includes Bold Ruler, Secretariat and Seattle Slew.

Now that is interesting, a bit more...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_thalweg/5160001064/


Lovely granddaughter.
My 4-year old grandson just snipped off his 5-year old sister's hair on her left side. She's a little lopsided.

[bread_and_roses]

69. Thank you for the progeny info!

I'd never realized that there was a link to Secretariat! http://www.pedigreequery.com/secretariat. Yes, Sun Briar was what I think they call "a very nice horse." But not an immortal, I think - though I am biased - as is probably anyone who read "Old Bones the Wonder Horse" (now inexplicably renamed "Kentucky Derby Champion&quot over and over, as I did as a child PS on edit - meant to add yes, he was BIG - seventeen hands or a bit over.

And thank you for the complement to the g'dtr - we think she's lovely too The hair is amazing, but DREADfully hard to manage.