So when the Republicans went to the White House to talk about raising the debt limit and destroying Medicare, they declared that their plan had been endorsed by 150 economists.

It took some searching to find out who these economists were, and the “star” of the show is Robert Mundell of Columbia University. The name didn’t ring any bells, and I don’t remember him being mentioned by any of the usual suspects, so I went to Wikipedia:

Robert Mundell, CC (born October 24, 1932) is a professor of economics at Columbia University and the recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 1999. Mundell laid the groundwork for the introduction of the euro through his pioneering work in monetary dynamics and optimum currency areas, for which he won the Nobel. Mundell helped to start the movement known as supply-side economics, and is known for the Mundell–Fleming model and Mundell–Tobin effect.

About the “Nobel” – Zero received the Peace Prize, so that doesn’t hold as much validity as it once did.

I don’t think the Irish, Greeks, or Spanish would greet him with open arms or support his theories, given their current situations, and the €uro is not exactly turning into the greatest thing since sliced bread for those living under its conditions.

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The BBC has some possibly better news to report: Signs that E. coli cases are stabilising, say doctors

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany’s national disease centre, said on Friday that in the previous two days there had been 199 new cases of the outbreak – bringing to 1,733 the number of infections.

The World Health Organisation said a further 103 people in 12 other countries had been sickened by the bug – all but one had recently travelled to or from northern Germany.

The United States said two of its military personnel in Germany were suspected to have come down with the illness.

Reinhard Brunkhorst, president of the German Nephrology Society, told reporters there were some signs that the outbreaks were slowing.
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“Conservatives” of the Tea Party variety are wandering the land and annoying people with their ignorance on display.

The first national leader of the Republican Party, Abraham Lincoln, gave them sage advice: “It is better to be silent, and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.” It is a paraphrase of Proverbs 17:28, “Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.”

Alas, the lure of the microphone is too much and the ignorance gushes forth.

Having screwed up the meaning of the Boston Tea Party [it was a protest against a corporate tax cut], now you have another citizen of Boston, the silversmith, Paul Revere, working for the British‽

I don’t think it’s great poetry, but Henry Wadsworth Longfellow did supply the narrative. I must conclude that a good portion of the people currently running for the Presidency of the United States have failed Sesame Street.