paying peter to rob paul

Just scant weeks after the European Union floated the proposal to set negative interest rates for its institutions, there are reports that some American banks threatening to impose the same for depositor accounts should the US Federal Reserve step back on its programme of buying assets—that massive lienholder effort on the part of the US government that has been keeping up appearances for months.

Unlike the thinking-out-loud on the part of the EU, which hoped that making hoarding money less attractive by degrees and encourage people to park otherwise idle money in other vehicles, or what the central bank of Japan has already implemented, US policy is rather being ransomed by banks poor-mouthing about the costs that they'll have to pass along to the small-holders to offset losses elsewhere. Encouraging savers to sacrifice to the markets, toss their money into the ring, however, is not a good plan either—since that system is too propped up by the same shaky scaffolding. What dictates that certain balance-sheets can only trend upwards at the expense of everyone else? There are administrative costs of course with keeping open a de minimis account, but this seems to me like a bluff, since any holdings a bank can claim grows exponentially with the amount it is allowed to lend at a premium, but I guess also that's the point of this concurrent stimulus, urging people—though in a back-handed way, to put their money to good use rather than keeping it in their coffers.

tv tray

I really do enjoy cooking and trying new things—as well as tried-and-true recipes that require more effort than the old stand-bys of frozen pizza, boil-in-bag Indian dinners and fry-ups (though all carefully selected), despite that sometimes my offers to help are deferred to setting the table. I insist that it's not laziness that overcomes continuing overtures to prepare something more elaborate than processed foods and ready meals but I question what's in season and has a shelf-life—since I always am a bit put-off by the idea of tidying up afterwards and making such a fuss just for myself.

We barely use the embodiment kitchen-witchery, the microwave oven: plenty of compatible items, which is what processed meals really are, still go with this appliance, but the strange redoubts of speed, faster than boiling water or pre-heating did not seem to delivery something revolutionary. In fact, despite the promulgation of fast- and convenience-foods, however presented with a conscious, there is something quite counter-revolutionary to the notion that all meals in the future will be in re-constituted pill-form. I am a bit skeptical, however, that the claims of food brands are anything more than marketing, pandering to a guilty public who believe that one can undo laziness with a healthier choice—like dry cake-batter calling for a egg to make one believe that one is actually baking something or including nebulous urban-legends concerning burnt or ill-prepared foods, not followed to the letter causing cancer. I load my pizzas with all sorts of unsanctioned and incompatible fresh toppings and spices and probably satisfy myself with the same mechanism.

totenwinkel

Via the Presurfer comes a rather frightening look at the gaping size of the blind-spot (Totenwinkel, deadly corner)--especially for lorries and bigger vehicles on roadways in the UK, which take on a very dangerous through the looking-glass aspect when one is needing to change driving orientation. This phenomenon presents a very serious risk, particularly for cyclists sharing the road, and the article also presents some very simple and life-saving design- and behavioural-fixes.

zwölf zu eins

This Sunday, the citizens of Switzerland are set to vote for an unprecedented measure that would limit the exorbitant pay of company executives to a maximum of twelve times what the lowest paid employee of the same company earns. Opinion is split and early polls show that there is no clear winning margin with some economists championing the idea in hopes that such a cap at the high end will cause low end wages to rise and importantly calls attention to gross wage disparity and golden-parachutes often handed out for bad behaviour and poor performance in a society that values egalitarian qualities.
On the other hand, an equal amount argue that enforcing such a rule would handicap the ability of Swiss businesses to attract or retain talented leadership. It's comforting to believe that a clerk in the company mail room or a janitor might bring home a salary that's a direct and not too immodest ratio, not earning less in a year than what the highest compensated bring home in a month of the CEOs pay, but I suppose such functions are already contracted out to the lowest-bidder. What do you think about Switzerland's opportunity to make a statement? Whatever the outcome, I don't think the debate will stop when the ballots are counted.