Standard & Poors’ recent decision to downgrade the United States credit rating from AAA to a AA+ has caused not a little handwringing among the chattering classes. The move dominated the financial news over the weekend, and investors the world over are wondering just what it means for the future borrowing costs of the world’s largest economy.

Which is pretty silly.

Because truth be told, in the grand scheme of things and once the dust settles, Standard & Poor’s rating of United States debt will prove about as relevant to investors as an unknown blogger’s review of the latest Hollywood blockbuster is to the movie industry as a whole. Which is to say: about none at all. Indeed, it’s a mystery why the the rating downgrade caused any sort of flare up at all, given Standard and Poor’s miserable track record issuing ratings over the past few years. As both Paul Krugman and Daniel Gross have pointed out in recent columns, Standard & Poors’ poor judgment in assessing the risks of securitized mortgage debt helped enable the 2008 economic collapse.  Read more »

Some very good shows were canceled before their time. I’m watching Outcasts on BBC-A – it’s the first season. I’m really enjoying it. But why do I bother when they’ll probably cancel it just like they canceled:

1) Survivors – this is my favorite sort of program – a few thousand people survive a pandemic and have to fend for themselves. Two seasons in they canceled it. The second season ends with a spectacular cliffhanger that I will not spoil for you if you decide to watch something with no resolution.

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Title: “How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines”

Author: Thomas C. Foster

Rank: 66

Blurb: “What does it mean when a fictional hero takes a journey? Shares a meal? Gets drenched in a sudden rain shower? Often, there is much more going on in a novel or poem than is readily visible on the surface — a symbol, maybe, that remains elusive, or an unexpected twist on a character — and there’s that sneaking suspicion that the deeper meaning of a literary text keeps escaping you.”

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This has been a pretty shitty week for those of us who were horrified by the debt ceiling drama, and who think about things like the future of the country.

And then we have freak shows like this revival in Houston…

…or repulsive levels of child poverty in America.

But then I read something that just made my fucking day, and so I want to share it with my fellow Stinquers.  The source? None other than Dolly Parton, but it doesn’t involve lesbians at the amusement park.

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The Stock Market’s crashing again, Standard & Poor’s hates America, Rick Perry is holding his God-In today… We’re just gonna hide in our Lego Batcave until all this blows over.

“The U.S. Postal Service reported Friday that it suffered a net $3.1 billion loss in the three months ending June 30. Without the intervention of Congress, the service said, it will default on payments it owes the federal government in September.” [The Hill]