Reportedly, the General is in “intense … earnest preparations” for bankruptcy.
GM is at the stock Mendoza line, the $2 exacta window now. That all said, a bankruptcy, if not structured by Team Obama, would let a bankruptcy judge have control over large swaths of the company’s operations.
And, the bankruptcy reform bill of 2005 toughened corporate as well as individual filing standards. That’s why a lot of retailers that have filed in the last year or so haven’t come out on the far side.
OTOH, GM could be floating trial balloons to push the buttons of the Street, bondholders or whomever.
April 07, 2009
Smithsonian publishing pseudohistory again – Peary & Cook at Pole
It’s to the point that when a new issue of Smithsonian magazine comes out (I have a gift subscription), I expect a major error of either fact or interpretation in a major story.
And, I also expect the magazine not to do anything about it.
April’s entry? Excerpts from Bruce Henderson’s book, “Who Discovered the North Pole,” insinuating Frederick Cook beat Commodore Robert Peary to the North Pole.
Henderson, both in the excerpts and the full book, stacks the deck in favor of Cook, without explicitly saying he beat Peary.
That said, he willfully ignores the painstaking work done by people BESIDES Peary backers showing that, four years before his claimed trek to the Pole, he faked the alleged first ascent of Mout McKinley, and faked it by more than 10,000 feet of altitude.
That said, do I think Peary got to the Pole 100 years ago this month?
Not likely. Probably neither one did. Neither did Admiral Byrd in his plane from Spitzbergen in 1926, per his own mechanic. And, since the Peary and Byrd had eliminated further claimants to going North 90 those two ways, at least until further handicapping like solo voyages, voyages without dogs, etc., probably the first person or people to visit the North Pole, if not from 20,000 leagues deep, in all likelihood popped up from below …
The USS Nautilus in 1958.
However, if it’s the battle of the two by-land claimants for first there, Peary is much more likely than Cook. And, albeit with modern synthetic clothing, gear, etc., his 1909 per-day mileage claims have been met and even exceeded in recent years.
Peary’s claim is plausible. (So, too is fraud; having announced this would be his last journey, he had good motive for fraud.)
Then again, so did Cook; it seems to have been part and parcel of his personality, something that Henderson also ignored.
And, I also expect the magazine not to do anything about it.
April’s entry? Excerpts from Bruce Henderson’s book, “Who Discovered the North Pole,” insinuating Frederick Cook beat Commodore Robert Peary to the North Pole.
Henderson, both in the excerpts and the full book, stacks the deck in favor of Cook, without explicitly saying he beat Peary.
That said, he willfully ignores the painstaking work done by people BESIDES Peary backers showing that, four years before his claimed trek to the Pole, he faked the alleged first ascent of Mout McKinley, and faked it by more than 10,000 feet of altitude.
That said, do I think Peary got to the Pole 100 years ago this month?
Not likely. Probably neither one did. Neither did Admiral Byrd in his plane from Spitzbergen in 1926, per his own mechanic. And, since the Peary and Byrd had eliminated further claimants to going North 90 those two ways, at least until further handicapping like solo voyages, voyages without dogs, etc., probably the first person or people to visit the North Pole, if not from 20,000 leagues deep, in all likelihood popped up from below …
The USS Nautilus in 1958.
However, if it’s the battle of the two by-land claimants for first there, Peary is much more likely than Cook. And, albeit with modern synthetic clothing, gear, etc., his 1909 per-day mileage claims have been met and even exceeded in recent years.
Peary’s claim is plausible. (So, too is fraud; having announced this would be his last journey, he had good motive for fraud.)
Then again, so did Cook; it seems to have been part and parcel of his personality, something that Henderson also ignored.
George Will called liar in own paper
About time, too, that somebody inside the Washington Post detailed in writing his global warming denialism lies And, that’s exactly what the Post’s Juliet Eilperin and Mary Beth Sheridan do in a piece on the continued thinning of Arctic ice.
I can’t wait to see what horseshit Will has in his next column.
The new evidence … contradicts data cited in widely circulated reports by Washington Post columnist George F. Will that sea ice in the Arctic has not significantly declined since 1979.
I can’t wait to see what horseshit Will has in his next column.
Time to cut Israeli foreign aid
If Israel’s new Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman truly believes Israel is at a dead end vis-à-vis the Palestinians, it’s a dead end of his and similar-minded Israelis own making, and cutting the U.S. gravy train to Tel Aviv is the only appropriate answer.
Dallas journalism crumbles
The Dallas Morning News has axed 200 people in its latest round of layoffs; names and details coming at the linked blog. That, in turn, means that the freelance and PR markets in job seeking are officially filled to overflowing.
Alt media?
Well, the Observer has news the News doesn’t cover, but its parent isn’t necessarily in the greatest shape itself. (Alt-weeklies have been losing classifieds to Craigslist faster, in some areas, than metro dailies.)
Suburban papers? Can’t speak about others in our area. Mine continues to muddle, as far as I know any details from above. But, muddling is still employed. I empathize with the stress levels.
Alt media?
Well, the Observer has news the News doesn’t cover, but its parent isn’t necessarily in the greatest shape itself. (Alt-weeklies have been losing classifieds to Craigslist faster, in some areas, than metro dailies.)
Suburban papers? Can’t speak about others in our area. Mine continues to muddle, as far as I know any details from above. But, muddling is still employed. I empathize with the stress levels.
Trinity levees, Calatrava bridge in Dallas have serious problems
What The Dallas Morning News won’t tell you, but the Dallas Observer has, is that the Trinity River levees appear to have some serious problems.
Serious problems with drilling a pier for the Calatrava bridge. Serious problems with pouring the concrete for it.
The full Corps of Engineers report has details. Here’s something pulled out by an Observer reader:
The story gets worse from there. Can they even place piers properly to build the bridge at all?
Former Mayor Ron Kirk is hopping mad about the delays. Hey Ron, try looking at the report first. Remember levees in a place called New Orleans four years ago?
Serious problems with drilling a pier for the Calatrava bridge. Serious problems with pouring the concrete for it.
The full Corps of Engineers report has details. Here’s something pulled out by an Observer reader:
"During the drilling of piers for Bent 6 (located 300' from the wet side toe of the west levee), the contractor reported that large quantities of sand in the formation liquefied even though slurry was being used to hold the excavation open. The liquefaction was so extensive that it destabilized the area within a 20' radius of the 7-foot diameter pier. This area had to be backfilled in order to be able to support the drill. When drilling resumed, a casing was used to support the excavation. However, the bottom of the pier heaved and blew out. The pier excavation was finally completed using both casing and slurry. During concrete placement, the contractor was unable to remove the casing with a 200-ton crane, so it remains a permanent fixture within the Floodway."
The story gets worse from there. Can they even place piers properly to build the bridge at all?
Former Mayor Ron Kirk is hopping mad about the delays. Hey Ron, try looking at the report first. Remember levees in a place called New Orleans four years ago?
VT Lege OKs gay marriage, slaps gov in face
After Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas decided to – coyly and lyingly – play politics with the Vermont Legislature’s legalization of gay marriage, through his veto, the state House overrode him by the bare margin needed. (The state Senate had easily overridden the veto.)
Meanwhile, Douglas is still lying, buck-passing, blame-shifting and more:
Well, doofus, it only took a couple of days to override YOUR veto, by which action YOU slowed down the Legislature’s agenda. Nice try, but not even close to a cigar.
I hope he gets swamped in the next election.
Positive side? Little Vermont is the first state to do this by legislative action.
Positive No. 2? The state House passed the initial bill by less than a two-thirds margin. Five representatives
Meanwhile, Douglas is still lying, buck-passing, blame-shifting and more:
"What really disappoints me is that we have spent some time on an issue during which another thousand Vermonters have lost their jobs," the governor said Tuesday. "We need to turn out attention to balancing a budget without raising taxes, growing the economy, putting more people to work.”
Well, doofus, it only took a couple of days to override YOUR veto, by which action YOU slowed down the Legislature’s agenda. Nice try, but not even close to a cigar.
I hope he gets swamped in the next election.
Positive side? Little Vermont is the first state to do this by legislative action.
Positive No. 2? The state House passed the initial bill by less than a two-thirds margin. Five representatives
Was Obama irresponsible on Iraq before election?
Perhaps so, if you follow Just.Another.Politician.™ to the logical conclusion of a statement he made during his surprise visit to Iraq today.
President Obama was asked if, now that he’s in office, he isn’t more like his predecessor, former President George Bush, than he’d care to admit. His response:
In other words, the die-hard Obamiacs who are still drinking the Kool-Aid, your man admitted that he is, indeed, Just.Another.Politician.™
President Obama was asked if, now that he’s in office, he isn’t more like his predecessor, former President George Bush, than he’d care to admit. His response:
“I have a responsibility to make sure that as we bring troops out, that we do so in a careful enough way that we don’t see a complete collapse into violence,” Mr. Obama said. “So some people might say, wait, I thought you were opposed to the war, why don’t you just get them all out right away? Well, just because I was opposed at the outset, it doesn’t’ mean that I don’t have now responsibilities to make sure that we do things in a responsible fashion.”
In other words, the die-hard Obamiacs who are still drinking the Kool-Aid, your man admitted that he is, indeed, Just.Another.Politician.™
The computer as baseball GM
Don’t laugh.
Right now, they’re being used more and more as either assistant general manager or assistant bench manager.
On the other hand, some of the actual numbers crunching indicates they’re not being used enough. And, some folks are fine with that, like Mr. Baseball Lawyer, Tony La Russa, manager of the St. Louis Cardinals:
(Tony, the puter probably doesn’t care for pitchers batting in the eight spot. Or Khalil Greene batting cleanup.)
Right now, they’re being used more and more as either assistant general manager or assistant bench manager.
On the other hand, some of the actual numbers crunching indicates they’re not being used enough. And, some folks are fine with that, like Mr. Baseball Lawyer, Tony La Russa, manager of the St. Louis Cardinals:
“There’s way too much importance given to what you can produce from a machine,” he said. “These are human beings, and I don’t think any computer is going to model that close to what we deal with at this level.”
(Tony, the puter probably doesn’t care for pitchers batting in the eight spot. Or Khalil Greene batting cleanup.)
Talk radio kills
And no, not in the ratings.
Right-wing talk radio, the type that starts at Limbaugh and goes right from there, arguable had a hand in the winger nutbar conspiracy thinking of Pittsburgh cop-killer Richard Andrew Poplawski, though judging by his own mom’s fears, he was probably actually mentally ill in some way, not just nuts in a nutbar way.
Gary Kamiya has more on this idea at Salon.
Right-wing talk radio, the type that starts at Limbaugh and goes right from there, arguable had a hand in the winger nutbar conspiracy thinking of Pittsburgh cop-killer Richard Andrew Poplawski, though judging by his own mom’s fears, he was probably actually mentally ill in some way, not just nuts in a nutbar way.
Gary Kamiya has more on this idea at Salon.
April 06, 2009
Obama IS the new Bush on state secrets
The Obama Administration has filed its first response (PDF) to the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Jewel lawsuit on AT&T’s telephone wiretapping at government behest.
As Greenwald notes, there’s not a shred of difference between Obama and Bush now on state secrets issues.
This is at the point where real progressives note, with allowance for inflation, there’s not a quarter’s worth of difference between the two on civil liberties overall.
1. Obama renames “enemy combatants” but keeps the idea;
2. Obama closes Gitmo only to expand Bagram.
3. Obama has the same idea on state secrets.
That’s just for starters.
As Greenwald notes, there’s not a shred of difference between Obama and Bush now on state secrets issues.
This is at the point where real progressives note, with allowance for inflation, there’s not a quarter’s worth of difference between the two on civil liberties overall.
1. Obama renames “enemy combatants” but keeps the idea;
2. Obama closes Gitmo only to expand Bagram.
3. Obama has the same idea on state secrets.
That’s just for starters.
AP tries to shut Google barn door years after horses ran out
I’m not going to knock the effort of the Associated Press to get Google, Yahoo, et al, ask before using any AP work, or even at the effort behind the effort – getting a slice of Google ad money.
But, the reality?
Not gonna happen.
First, Reuters and AFP have both expanded their U.S. presence in the past few years to a degree that Google could largely ignore the AP, or at least bargain for lower prices with the other providers.
If the three try to force a unified bid? Oh, you’re way into antitrust land there, and, even with the current newspaper climate, I’m not sure Justice would smile on that too much.
Second, why the hell did the AP not have a broader-ranging sourcing agreement with Google et al in the first place? WTF?
If Dean Singleton wants to talk about the problems, Problem No. 1 is probably staring him in the mirror.
But, the reality?
Not gonna happen.
First, Reuters and AFP have both expanded their U.S. presence in the past few years to a degree that Google could largely ignore the AP, or at least bargain for lower prices with the other providers.
If the three try to force a unified bid? Oh, you’re way into antitrust land there, and, even with the current newspaper climate, I’m not sure Justice would smile on that too much.
Second, why the hell did the AP not have a broader-ranging sourcing agreement with Google et al in the first place? WTF?
If Dean Singleton wants to talk about the problems, Problem No. 1 is probably staring him in the mirror.
The ‘intelligence satellite gap’
So, now that North Korea has launched whatever it launched, the Pentagon says we need more spy satellites.
Sure we do.
And you, of course, expect Congress to sign the blank check.
Sure we do.
And you, of course, expect Congress to sign the blank check.
Memory 2.0?
Or, just what can neuroscience do to alter human memory?
I agree with Thomas J. Carew. Other than limited efforts to soften PTSD-inducing effects of recent traumas, a skilled attempt to edit memory is decades in the future, because scientists still have a quasi-20th-century-genetics understanding of neurotransmitters, etc.
And, there’s still the 1984, or Brave New World, factor, involved.
I agree with Thomas J. Carew. Other than limited efforts to soften PTSD-inducing effects of recent traumas, a skilled attempt to edit memory is decades in the future, because scientists still have a quasi-20th-century-genetics understanding of neurotransmitters, etc.
“There is not going to be one, single memory molecule, the system is just not that simple,” said Carew, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Irvine, and president of the Society for Neuroscience. “There are going to be many molecules involved, in different kinds of memories, all along the process of learning, storage and retrieval.”
And, there’s still the 1984, or Brave New World, factor, involved.
EPA releases ‘Most Wanted List’
Similar to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, this Environmental Protection Agency list aims to nail top individual polluters.
With this type of crime, we have a chance for the shame factor to work, too.
With this type of crime, we have a chance for the shame factor to work, too.
The myths of Columbine exploded
From Dylan Klebold not being a psycho, through Cassie Bernall most definitely not being shot for confessing her Christian belief and so, not being a martyr (no matter what her mom claims. Dave Cullen plays whack-a-mole, and excellently so, with myths about Columbine.
That said, I strongly disagree with Cullen’s “sensitivity,” as Joan Walsh puts it, in not removing the aura of martyrdom from Cassie sooner, especially given this:
Also give than Misty wrote a book extolling her daughter as a martyr.
That said, I strongly disagree with Cullen’s “sensitivity,” as Joan Walsh puts it, in not removing the aura of martyrdom from Cassie sooner, especially given this:
her youth minister, Dave McPherson, said something like, "You'll never change the story. The church, you know, we've got our story and we're sticking to it."
Also give than Misty wrote a book extolling her daughter as a martyr.
April 05, 2009
Geithner on the ‘pull the trigger on CEOs’ hot seat
After President Barack Obama canned GM CEO Rick Waggoner a week ago, everybody wondered why Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner wasn’t doing the same in the financial sector, with Bank of America CEO Kim Lewis, the focus of shareholder lawsuits, mentioned as Target No. 1. Well, Elizabeth Warren, chairwoman of the Congressional committee overseeing TARP and TARP 2.0 is calling for exactly that, except her ire is focused on Edward Liddy at AIG and Vikram Pandit at Citigroup.
Now let us see how Timmy G responds.
Now let us see how Timmy G responds.
America inching toward secular openness; so?
We certainly have a long ways to go, but the 16 percent of Americans who self-identify as irreligious certainly sounds good, right?
Well, not necessarily. While it may mean a decline in power of fundamentalist Christianity, it doesn’t necessarily mean a decline in ignorance, especially ignorance of scientific matters.
Many of those “irreligious” also self-identify as “spiritual but not religious.” Some would be quasi-Christian unitarians. (I avoid the capital “U” because many of them would not agree with the denomination’s social stances.) Even more are likely New Agers of some sort, not known for scientific-type critical reasoning skills by any means.
So, those of us who do support critical thinking shouldn’t yet read too much into the idea of a “post-Christian America.” That country could be even more populated than ours is today by psychics, ghost talkers, alt-med practitioners and worse.
Well, not necessarily. While it may mean a decline in power of fundamentalist Christianity, it doesn’t necessarily mean a decline in ignorance, especially ignorance of scientific matters.
Many of those “irreligious” also self-identify as “spiritual but not religious.” Some would be quasi-Christian unitarians. (I avoid the capital “U” because many of them would not agree with the denomination’s social stances.) Even more are likely New Agers of some sort, not known for scientific-type critical reasoning skills by any means.
So, those of us who do support critical thinking shouldn’t yet read too much into the idea of a “post-Christian America.” That country could be even more populated than ours is today by psychics, ghost talkers, alt-med practitioners and worse.
TARP bailout cost to taxpayers raised
What was going to cost you and I “just” $189 billion is now estimated to have a government cost of $356 billion.
How many more things will Tim Geithner be repricing the in future? And, will it be covering up for Goldman Sachs-type buds or will it be tax-return type stupidity?
How many more things will Tim Geithner be repricing the in future? And, will it be covering up for Goldman Sachs-type buds or will it be tax-return type stupidity?
Ward Churchill wins wrongful firing suit; did gov perjure self?
While I don’t agree with everything he’s said over the past several years, Churchill getting a reinstatement hearing, and legal bills paid by the state of Colorado, says more than University of Colorado spokesman Ken McConnellogue attempting to diss the $1 in actual damages awarded Churchill.
And, can we try Colorado Gov. Bill Owens for perjury? I don’t believe one word of his claim that he didn’t pressure the university and then-president Betsy Hoffman to fire Churchill.
And, the U should take note: Five of six jurors wanted to hit it up for $100K or more in damages. I’m sure that will be brought up in Churchill’s rehire hearing.
Juror Bethany Newill, on the other hand, has the right take:
The sixth juror didn’t even want to rule in his favor in the firing itself, so, the compromise to avoid a hung jury was what we got.
And, can we try Colorado Gov. Bill Owens for perjury? I don’t believe one word of his claim that he didn’t pressure the university and then-president Betsy Hoffman to fire Churchill.
And, the U should take note: Five of six jurors wanted to hit it up for $100K or more in damages. I’m sure that will be brought up in Churchill’s rehire hearing.
Juror Bethany Newill, on the other hand, has the right take:
“One thing I kind of admired or respected was that, even though the world may disagree with what Ward Churchill said, even though it was very painful to people, I do respect that he can stand up for what he believes in. . . . He never issued an apology because he doesn’t feel one was needed.”
The sixth juror didn’t even want to rule in his favor in the firing itself, so, the compromise to avoid a hung jury was what we got.
Paul, Passover, Jesus, Gnosticism
In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul gives us the first extant written account of the Lord’s Supper.
He starts with the well-known phrase, “On the night our Lord Jesus was betrayed…”
But, “betrayed” may well not be the right translation.
Many Greek verbs have three voices — the active and passive ones we know in English, and a “middle” voice, a sort of reflexive voice.
Now, the Greek verb αποδιδωμι looks the same in middle and passive voice. But, it has different meanings.
In the passive, it does mean “betray.” But, in the middle, it normally means “hand over,” as in hand over someone to authorities. A similar meaning is “hand up.”
Critical New Testament scholarship believe this is what Paul means. He never, in the epistles he clearly wrote, talks about a Passion Plot, a Roman arrest, or the melodramatic literary angle of a turncoat named Judas.
That gets us to the first “pseudo-Paul.” In addition to it being quite certain that Paul never wrote the “Pastoral Epistles” of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus, which weren’t written until the end of the first century CE, or even early in the second, an earlier pseudo-Paul (or two) is believed to have written Colossians and Ephesians. Relations between these two books are unclear, but both likely were written no later than 30 years after Paul’s genuine books, by someone closer to the Pauline mileau than the Pastoralist of another 20-40 years later.
Well, both Colossians and Ephesians discuss what can certainly be called “esoterica,” whether they are talking about issues that can clearly be labeled Gnostic or not.
In Colossians 2:20, “Paul” tells his readers, “Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world….” The word in Greek, στοιχειον, is a word with plenty of use in Gnosticism, although it has plenty of pre-Gnostic use as well. As an “elemental principle,” it can be understood as a stage to be overcome by the Gnostic initiate’s battle to return to the All.
So, tying Colossians and 1 Corinthans, did Paul mean that Jesus was actually “handed up” to the “elemental powers”? In other words rather than the soteriology of the Pastoral Epistles, themselves connected with similar soteriology stances of dying-and-rising eastern Mediterranean savior gods, was Paul instead talking about Jesus as a sacrifice to Gnostic powers?
It seems likely. Mystery religions, after all, we know had their own mystery-fellowship dinners, from which it is believed Paul borrowed ideas that he fused into Passover concepts to produce his “Last Supper.”
If that’s the case, the genuine Paul was more a proto-Gnostic than later followers, let alone conservative Christians today, might want to accept.
Also, if that’s the case, pseudo-Paul of Colossians either didn’t understand the genuine article that well, or else thought that others’ interpretation of him had gone too far, or else did understand him well and deliberately reinterpreted him.
He starts with the well-known phrase, “On the night our Lord Jesus was betrayed…”
But, “betrayed” may well not be the right translation.
Many Greek verbs have three voices — the active and passive ones we know in English, and a “middle” voice, a sort of reflexive voice.
Now, the Greek verb αποδιδωμι looks the same in middle and passive voice. But, it has different meanings.
In the passive, it does mean “betray.” But, in the middle, it normally means “hand over,” as in hand over someone to authorities. A similar meaning is “hand up.”
Critical New Testament scholarship believe this is what Paul means. He never, in the epistles he clearly wrote, talks about a Passion Plot, a Roman arrest, or the melodramatic literary angle of a turncoat named Judas.
That gets us to the first “pseudo-Paul.” In addition to it being quite certain that Paul never wrote the “Pastoral Epistles” of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus, which weren’t written until the end of the first century CE, or even early in the second, an earlier pseudo-Paul (or two) is believed to have written Colossians and Ephesians. Relations between these two books are unclear, but both likely were written no later than 30 years after Paul’s genuine books, by someone closer to the Pauline mileau than the Pastoralist of another 20-40 years later.
Well, both Colossians and Ephesians discuss what can certainly be called “esoterica,” whether they are talking about issues that can clearly be labeled Gnostic or not.
In Colossians 2:20, “Paul” tells his readers, “Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world….” The word in Greek, στοιχειον, is a word with plenty of use in Gnosticism, although it has plenty of pre-Gnostic use as well. As an “elemental principle,” it can be understood as a stage to be overcome by the Gnostic initiate’s battle to return to the All.
So, tying Colossians and 1 Corinthans, did Paul mean that Jesus was actually “handed up” to the “elemental powers”? In other words rather than the soteriology of the Pastoral Epistles, themselves connected with similar soteriology stances of dying-and-rising eastern Mediterranean savior gods, was Paul instead talking about Jesus as a sacrifice to Gnostic powers?
It seems likely. Mystery religions, after all, we know had their own mystery-fellowship dinners, from which it is believed Paul borrowed ideas that he fused into Passover concepts to produce his “Last Supper.”
If that’s the case, the genuine Paul was more a proto-Gnostic than later followers, let alone conservative Christians today, might want to accept.
Also, if that’s the case, pseudo-Paul of Colossians either didn’t understand the genuine article that well, or else thought that others’ interpretation of him had gone too far, or else did understand him well and deliberately reinterpreted him.
April 04, 2009
Global warming denialists need better arguments
Andrew Revkin explains why, especially in the face of denialists who spout of about bits of cooling here and there.
Obama’s Taliban tar baby pops up again
Pakistani Taliban militant leader Baituallah Mehsud, apparently determined to ride the wave of publicity from Obama’s AfPak “surge,” has claimed responsibilty for the New York immigration center shooting, when it’s clear he had nothing to do with it.
You know, if we worked on getting out of Afghanistan, we’d suck al the PR air out of the balloon from this guy.
You know, if we worked on getting out of Afghanistan, we’d suck al the PR air out of the balloon from this guy.
Tim Geithner – fraudster, part 2 – with Obama & Summers
The Geithner-Summers-Obama troika is wanting to let its TARP buddies off a big financial hook. Here’s the nutgraf, right up top
How is the troika trying to do this? By setting up Enron-type “special purpose vehicles” to avoid giving money directly to in-danger financial institutions.
Ahh, we’ve reached the nadir of financial neoliberalism in the Democratic party when the President of the United States and his top financial advisors are taking pages from Enron’s playbook.
Of course, we have a second, pull quote nutgraf on page 2:
We can only hope somebody sues to see if the courts agree, failure of Congress to pass a veto-proof forbidding of this, and that the courts do indeed rule it’s ridiculous.
Read the full story.
The Obama administration is engineering its new bailout initiatives in a way that it believes will allow firms benefiting from the programs to avoid restrictions imposed by Congress, including limits on lavish executive pay, according to government officials.
How is the troika trying to do this? By setting up Enron-type “special purpose vehicles” to avoid giving money directly to in-danger financial institutions.
Ahh, we’ve reached the nadir of financial neoliberalism in the Democratic party when the President of the United States and his top financial advisors are taking pages from Enron’s playbook.
Of course, we have a second, pull quote nutgraf on page 2:
“They are basically trying to launder the money to avoid complying with the plain language of the law,” said David Zaring, a former Justice Department attorney who defended the government from lawsuits involving related legal issues. “They are trying to create a loophole to ignore Congress, and I think the courts will think that it’s ridiculous.”
We can only hope somebody sues to see if the courts agree, failure of Congress to pass a veto-proof forbidding of this, and that the courts do indeed rule it’s ridiculous.
Read the full story.
Tim Geithner – fraudster
Last night, on Bill Moyers Journal, William Black said, quite bluntly, that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is committing fraud, with TARP 2.0 and TALF. It all started when Moyers asked him why GM CEO Rick Wagoner gets canned and not Bank of America CEO Kim Lewis or somebody like that. Black responded:
Finally, someone “mainstream” in the economics world who will go beyond even Krugman and call a spade a spade.
Read the whole interview transcript or watch the video to see the details of Black’s charge.
If we put honest people in, who didn't cause the problem, their first job would be to find the scope of the problem. And that would destroy the cover up. …
Geithner is charging, is covering up. Just like Paulson did before him. Geithner is publicly saying that it's going to take $2 trillion — a trillion is a thousand billion — $2 trillion taxpayer dollars to deal with this problem. But they're allowing all the banks to report that they're not only solvent, but fully capitalized. Both statements can't be true. It can't be that they need $2 trillion, because they have masses losses, and that they're fine.
These are all people who have failed. Paulson failed, Geithner failed. They were all promoted because they failed, not because...
Finally, someone “mainstream” in the economics world who will go beyond even Krugman and call a spade a spade.
Read the whole interview transcript or watch the video to see the details of Black’s charge.
Krispy Kreme going broke?
Say it ain’t so! But, Moody’s has it on a list of “bottom-rung” companies that are most likely to default on debt payments. It’s all part of what may be the biggest troubled industry after cars, houses and newspapers in the current recession — restaurants. “Casual dine” chains, especially, overbuilt as much as cars and autos during the semi-good times earlier this decade and are now facing the financial piper.
NY decision may save desert from power lines
A decision by a New York energy consortium, dropping plans for a massive expansion in electric power line construction, may have good news for the Desert Southwest, too.
The parallels to massive lines crossing the Deert Southwest from solar projects so8nd strong. More on the court ruling behind this all is here.
The consortium, New York Regional Interconnect, cited a ruling made on Tuesday by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in Washington upholding a review process that demands that each such project be subject to a cost-benefit analysis and receive the support of 80 percent of the beneficiaries.
The parallels to massive lines crossing the Deert Southwest from solar projects so8nd strong. More on the court ruling behind this all is here.
Pots and kettles in Palin’s Deception whack-job land
When Palin’s Deception started, I thought “Audrey” would actually make her best shot at figuring out if Sarah Palin was lying about her pregnancy, and, if unable to come to a conclusion, but having enough of a cybercommunity behind her, hire a PI to nose around further to the degree he or she could.
Ahh, not so, not at all.
First, the place has become a cult.
Second, “Audrey” appears to be enjoying being the Queen of Sheba (first pot vs. kettle — Audrey and SP) with stringing out bits of information, pseudo-information and speculation here and there, without actually doing anything constructive about this.
In fact, regarding the PI idea, I suggested it, as part of my last long post about her and her website and blog. She e-mailed me with three or four excuses about why she couldn’t do that, all of which I shot down in an updated version of that post.
Soon after that, as “Audrey” (I put her name in scare quotes deliberately) continued to dally around the edges with her obsession with SP pregnancy photos, I realized she never would do anything besides dally around the edges.
Her claims to any expertise in midwivery, pregnancy care, or related issues aside, if she were serious about this being single reason for getting involved with Sarah Palin’s pregnancy with Trig (assuming it’s her kid, and now that Bristol’s been shot down as a candidate) she would have finished up her looking at various photos of SP’s actual/alleged pregnancy and been done with that..
Nope, nope and nope. As if the entire Palin family has become her tar baby or something, she moved on to playing around the edges of MySpace blog postings by Bristol Palin and some of her friends.
But, playing around the edges, unlike with questions of whether SP pregnancy photos were Photoshopped or not, isn’t enough. Now, she’s ready to go whole hog, including specific posts, and possibly even names, of juvenile friends of Bristol’s.
And along with that? We have white trash calling the Palins white trash in comment threads, trash-talking while “Audrey’s” increasing censorious groupies refuse to run any contrary opinions.
Speaking of that, and since “Audrey” and her Sieg Heil groupies see fit not to print how they’re wrong in her latest post, the one in which she attempts to justify rummaging through juveniles’ MySpace detritus, I’ll have to do that myself.
Only thing is, “Audrey” is wrong, as I commented there (without getting past Morgan the Nazi moderator).
As for the post itself? “Audrey” attempts to justify her gutter-rummaging by pointing to three criminal cases where MySpace was reportedly important in solving crimes, just in the past week.
In the second of the three cases, MySpace “solved” nothing. Rather, in the case of a juvenile posting nude pix of herself there, it was the scene of the crime. In the third case, it was the cause of the crime, not a clue in its solving. And, even the first case she cites, is just under investigation; nothing’s been solved yet, because no criminal charge has been filed yet.
But, beyond that, WHY, “Audrey,” are you rummaging in MySpace pages? Unless you believe that Sarah Palin either borrowed or kidnapped some other woman’s baby to pass off as Bristol’s in the past three months, it’s HUGELY clear Bristol had a son named Tripp at the end of last year, and, barring a miracle of post-pregnancy recovery, therefore CANNOT be the mother of Trig.
It would be less nutbar to postulate somebody else, even if not a family member, as Trig’s mother than it would be Bristol. And, if THAT isn’t the point of rummaging through MySpace trash, but rather, just rummaging through MySpace trash, you really have fallen low. As low as the woman you claim to abhor, or nearly so.
Short of Martians, or Elvis after a sex change, the most logical line is, after all, that Sarah Palin is the mother of Trig, horribly bad mother that she was during the pregnancy.
Of course, this is the same “Audrey” who claimed last fall that Team Obama had “inside knowledge” about the “truth” of the Sarah/Trig pregnancy. Scary as the risks are, I’d like to see SP run for the GOP nomination, whether she actually gets it or not, just to expose another wrongitude of “Audrey’s.”
That said, if Sarah is indeed Trig’s and gave birth last April, a commenter at Celtic Diva has a VERY interesting insight. (The comment is in response to a guest post by nurse Lee Thompkins, who likens birth doubters to conspiracy theorists.
Sweet Lucy 47 says:
Fits to me. It does accept Palin at her word (which ain't worth much) about the legal facts of the birth — and nothing else.
In other words, Sarah Palin has brought a lot of this on herself. (But, not all of it.)
I will admit that I, early on, noted that Mat-Su Regional Hospital did not post a Trig birth announcement. Well, there WAS one in the Anchorage Daily News.
But, there again, Team Palin could have done a better job of shooting stuff like this down. And did not. Because, she's an idiot.
Ahh, not so, not at all.
First, the place has become a cult.
Second, “Audrey” appears to be enjoying being the Queen of Sheba (first pot vs. kettle — Audrey and SP) with stringing out bits of information, pseudo-information and speculation here and there, without actually doing anything constructive about this.
In fact, regarding the PI idea, I suggested it, as part of my last long post about her and her website and blog. She e-mailed me with three or four excuses about why she couldn’t do that, all of which I shot down in an updated version of that post.
Soon after that, as “Audrey” (I put her name in scare quotes deliberately) continued to dally around the edges with her obsession with SP pregnancy photos, I realized she never would do anything besides dally around the edges.
Her claims to any expertise in midwivery, pregnancy care, or related issues aside, if she were serious about this being single reason for getting involved with Sarah Palin’s pregnancy with Trig (assuming it’s her kid, and now that Bristol’s been shot down as a candidate) she would have finished up her looking at various photos of SP’s actual/alleged pregnancy and been done with that..
Nope, nope and nope. As if the entire Palin family has become her tar baby or something, she moved on to playing around the edges of MySpace blog postings by Bristol Palin and some of her friends.
But, playing around the edges, unlike with questions of whether SP pregnancy photos were Photoshopped or not, isn’t enough. Now, she’s ready to go whole hog, including specific posts, and possibly even names, of juvenile friends of Bristol’s.
And along with that? We have white trash calling the Palins white trash in comment threads, trash-talking while “Audrey’s” increasing censorious groupies refuse to run any contrary opinions.
Speaking of that, and since “Audrey” and her Sieg Heil groupies see fit not to print how they’re wrong in her latest post, the one in which she attempts to justify rummaging through juveniles’ MySpace detritus, I’ll have to do that myself.
Only thing is, “Audrey” is wrong, as I commented there (without getting past Morgan the Nazi moderator).
As for the post itself? “Audrey” attempts to justify her gutter-rummaging by pointing to three criminal cases where MySpace was reportedly important in solving crimes, just in the past week.
In the second of the three cases, MySpace “solved” nothing. Rather, in the case of a juvenile posting nude pix of herself there, it was the scene of the crime. In the third case, it was the cause of the crime, not a clue in its solving. And, even the first case she cites, is just under investigation; nothing’s been solved yet, because no criminal charge has been filed yet.
But, beyond that, WHY, “Audrey,” are you rummaging in MySpace pages? Unless you believe that Sarah Palin either borrowed or kidnapped some other woman’s baby to pass off as Bristol’s in the past three months, it’s HUGELY clear Bristol had a son named Tripp at the end of last year, and, barring a miracle of post-pregnancy recovery, therefore CANNOT be the mother of Trig.
It would be less nutbar to postulate somebody else, even if not a family member, as Trig’s mother than it would be Bristol. And, if THAT isn’t the point of rummaging through MySpace trash, but rather, just rummaging through MySpace trash, you really have fallen low. As low as the woman you claim to abhor, or nearly so.
Short of Martians, or Elvis after a sex change, the most logical line is, after all, that Sarah Palin is the mother of Trig, horribly bad mother that she was during the pregnancy.
Of course, this is the same “Audrey” who claimed last fall that Team Obama had “inside knowledge” about the “truth” of the Sarah/Trig pregnancy. Scary as the risks are, I’d like to see SP run for the GOP nomination, whether she actually gets it or not, just to expose another wrongitude of “Audrey’s.”
That said, if Sarah is indeed Trig’s and gave birth last April, a commenter at Celtic Diva has a VERY interesting insight. (The comment is in response to a guest post by nurse Lee Thompkins, who likens birth doubters to conspiracy theorists.
Sweet Lucy 47 says:
Palin had become a Pro-abortion Pro-Lifer.
She really didn't want this baby, she had the amnio, found out then the baby was “damaged” and really realized she didn't want it...then denied she was even pregnant for months, until she could deny it no longer, so had to own up to it. Then, in Texas realizing she had a serious problem, made a fateful decision to travel as she did, in the hopes that God would take over and she wouldn't have the baby. Cynical?? Yes, maybe I am...but it all fits in with your explanation, and it all fits in with what happened and it explains the reasoning behind her actions.
Fits to me. It does accept Palin at her word (which ain't worth much) about the legal facts of the birth — and nothing else.
In other words, Sarah Palin has brought a lot of this on herself. (But, not all of it.)
I will admit that I, early on, noted that Mat-Su Regional Hospital did not post a Trig birth announcement. Well, there WAS one in the Anchorage Daily News.
But, there again, Team Palin could have done a better job of shooting stuff like this down. And did not. Because, she's an idiot.
Palin’s Deception gets down and dirty
“Audrey,” the proprietor of the Palin’s Deception blog, apparently frustrated that her picture-sleuthing can’t prove Sarah Palin wasn’t Trig Palin’s mom, and smacked in the face by pics of Bristol Palin holding Tripp, has decided to get down and dirty with MySpace snooping on Bristol’s friends.
And along with that? We have white trash calling the Palins white trash in comment threads, trash-talking while “Audrey’s” increasing censorious groupies refuse to run any contrary opinions.
Speaking of that, and since “Audrey” and her Sieg Heil groupies see fit not to print how she’s wrong in her latest post, the one in which she attempts to justify rummaging through juveniles’ MySpace detritus, I’ll have to do that myself.
The post itself? “Audrey” attempts to justify her gutter-rummaging by pointing to three cases where MySpace was reportedly important in solving crimes, just in the past week.
In the second of the three cases, MySpace “solved” nothing. Rather, in the case of a juvenile posting nude pix of herself there, it was the scene of the crime. In the third case, it was the cause of the crime, not a clue in its solving. And, even the first case she cites, is just under investigation; nothing’s been solved yet, because no criminal charge has been filed yet in what is a minor incident if it’s an incident at all.
“Audrey,” surely Morgan can rally the PD cult to dig up better trash than that?
A more complete post on this hypocrisy is coming later. And not in the cult-like “later when the Mass bell is rung” on her blog.
And along with that? We have white trash calling the Palins white trash in comment threads, trash-talking while “Audrey’s” increasing censorious groupies refuse to run any contrary opinions.
Speaking of that, and since “Audrey” and her Sieg Heil groupies see fit not to print how she’s wrong in her latest post, the one in which she attempts to justify rummaging through juveniles’ MySpace detritus, I’ll have to do that myself.
The post itself? “Audrey” attempts to justify her gutter-rummaging by pointing to three cases where MySpace was reportedly important in solving crimes, just in the past week.
In the second of the three cases, MySpace “solved” nothing. Rather, in the case of a juvenile posting nude pix of herself there, it was the scene of the crime. In the third case, it was the cause of the crime, not a clue in its solving. And, even the first case she cites, is just under investigation; nothing’s been solved yet, because no criminal charge has been filed yet in what is a minor incident if it’s an incident at all.
“Audrey,” surely Morgan can rally the PD cult to dig up better trash than that?
A more complete post on this hypocrisy is coming later. And not in the cult-like “later when the Mass bell is rung” on her blog.
April 03, 2009
WSJ: FOR supply-side economics except when it’s against it
Michael Boskin claims President Barack Obama is lying about his pledge not to raise taxes on anybody making less than $250,000, because every dollar of additional debt today means a dollar of additional taxes tomorrow.
Well, the definition of “stimulus” is, stimulating the economy so people and companies make more and therefore eat back into that debt without tax increases.
Sure, there’s no guarantee a government-fueled stimulus will work the way its proponents claim.
But, given that we never heard any Boskin outcry about Reaganomics, he’s in a pretty weak place to be firing deficit spitballs.
Well, the definition of “stimulus” is, stimulating the economy so people and companies make more and therefore eat back into that debt without tax increases.
Sure, there’s no guarantee a government-fueled stimulus will work the way its proponents claim.
But, given that we never heard any Boskin outcry about Reaganomics, he’s in a pretty weak place to be firing deficit spitballs.
Whack Job John Cornyn has the trifecta this week
It's a big week for Whack Job John Cornyn.After previously announcing he would oppose President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel, Dawn Johnson, because she lacks “requisite seriousness,” WJJ has now hit trifecta in one week.
First, Whack Job John was amongst GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who boycotted the start of committee hearings for the nomination of David Hamilton to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
Then, on his website, WJJ came out against the federal district court ruling that Bagram detainees have rights
A simple red-light camera solution for Duncanville
As I noted in my day job this week, Duncanville, Texas, a Best Southwest suburb of Dallas, has just a bit of red-light cam zealousness on low-tolerance enforcement.
Only Arlington, with 10 times the population, and Dallas, with 35 times, made more money on red-light cams than Duncanville last year. Or, to look at it another way, Plano, a city with almost eight times the population, made only two-thirds as much money on its more numerous cameras.
As for citations, neighboring city Cedar Hill, with a somewhat larger population, had only about one-eighth as many tickets.
In Duncanville, the vast majority of red-light camera citations come from just two intersections: southbound U.S. 67 service road at Cockrell Hill and Danieldale roads.
And, it also seems apparent that, if not a no-tolerance policy, Duncanville has a small-tolerance policy on stop-line issues.
Solution? Simple, camera-enforceable, and black and white.
But, it would probably cost the City of Red-Light Cams about $600,000.
Ban right-on-red turns at those two sites.
So, what say you, City Manager Kent Cagle? Mayor David Green? Police Chief Brown?
Only Arlington, with 10 times the population, and Dallas, with 35 times, made more money on red-light cams than Duncanville last year. Or, to look at it another way, Plano, a city with almost eight times the population, made only two-thirds as much money on its more numerous cameras.
As for citations, neighboring city Cedar Hill, with a somewhat larger population, had only about one-eighth as many tickets.
In Duncanville, the vast majority of red-light camera citations come from just two intersections: southbound U.S. 67 service road at Cockrell Hill and Danieldale roads.
And, it also seems apparent that, if not a no-tolerance policy, Duncanville has a small-tolerance policy on stop-line issues.
Solution? Simple, camera-enforceable, and black and white.
But, it would probably cost the City of Red-Light Cams about $600,000.
Ban right-on-red turns at those two sites.
So, what say you, City Manager Kent Cagle? Mayor David Green? Police Chief Brown?
Steve Pearlstein gives G20 two thumbs up
His hit all corners take on the summit?
1. Sarko got at least the appearance of IMF reform;
2. Brown got to rail against the “old system” while still standing apart from Sarko;
3. Obama gets Western Europe to actually do more stimulus work, albeit via the mechanism of IMF loans, and at the same time can use Sarko’s reform call as a cudgel at home.
At the next G20, in September in New York, we’ll see how this has played out.
1. Sarko got at least the appearance of IMF reform;
2. Brown got to rail against the “old system” while still standing apart from Sarko;
3. Obama gets Western Europe to actually do more stimulus work, albeit via the mechanism of IMF loans, and at the same time can use Sarko’s reform call as a cudgel at home.
At the next G20, in September in New York, we’ll see how this has played out.
Scatblogging is CATblogging, big cat style
If you live in or love the Southwest, and are a nature lover, you’re probably familiar with the story of Macho B. If not, I’ll give you the nickel tour.
Macho B was first captured on trip-wired wildlife camera in 1996. He was captured in late February, then released before being recaptured 12 days later, on March 2, because he showed signs of poor health. He was euthanized that afternoon.
The recently euthanized Macho B was allegedly baited with female jaguar scat for his first capture.
That’s per Janay Brun, who worked for the Borderlands Jaguar Detection Project and says she baited the trap in the presence of a Detection Project biologist and a state Fish and Game employee.
Of course, everybody else is either saying nothing or in deep denial.
At the same time, jaguars may get Endangered Species Act protection; at the least, U.S. Fish and Wildlife has to come up with better reasons NOT to do so, a federal judge has ruled.
Macho B was first captured on trip-wired wildlife camera in 1996. He was captured in late February, then released before being recaptured 12 days later, on March 2, because he showed signs of poor health. He was euthanized that afternoon.
The recently euthanized Macho B was allegedly baited with female jaguar scat for his first capture.
That’s per Janay Brun, who worked for the Borderlands Jaguar Detection Project and says she baited the trap in the presence of a Detection Project biologist and a state Fish and Game employee.
Of course, everybody else is either saying nothing or in deep denial.
At the same time, jaguars may get Endangered Species Act protection; at the least, U.S. Fish and Wildlife has to come up with better reasons NOT to do so, a federal judge has ruled.
Iowa: 3 down, 47 to go on gay marriage
Iowa, by unanimous state Supreme Court ruling, is to legalize gay marriage.
Sidebar note to California gay activists who did the wrong thing last year in “doubling down” to try to get a ballot-box win over Prop. 8 rather than forcing it to go through California Assembly approval for ballot access is now in order.
NONE of the early black civil-rights wins came by vote at all, rather than court action. And, any later ones came from inside Congress, not via public referendums. Take notes.
Sidebar note to California gay activists who did the wrong thing last year in “doubling down” to try to get a ballot-box win over Prop. 8 rather than forcing it to go through California Assembly approval for ballot access is now in order.
NONE of the early black civil-rights wins came by vote at all, rather than court action. And, any later ones came from inside Congress, not via public referendums. Take notes.
Obama can’t hide people in ‘Gitmo East’
In a far-reaching ruling that has gotten little MSM airplay in the U.S. so far, District Judge John Bates has ruled detainees at Bagram Air Base have the right to challenge their detentions in U.S. civilian courts.
At the very moment Team Obama is expanding Bagram (little noted in either the MSM or MSLBs), and less than six weeks after the Obama, not Bush, Justice Department claimed Bagram detainees had no such rights, this victory is HUGE, as Daphne Eviatar further explains.
At the very moment Team Obama is expanding Bagram (little noted in either the MSM or MSLBs), and less than six weeks after the Obama, not Bush, Justice Department claimed Bagram detainees had no such rights, this victory is HUGE, as Daphne Eviatar further explains.
Arctic ice gone in 30 years?
Some of the latest global warming models show a much faster melt-down on Arctic icepack than before.
Geithner fiddled at NY Fed while Citigroup burned
The New York Times has a long, in-depth article on just what Tim Geithner did, and didn’t, do as chairman of the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
My takeaways?
1. If you want real financial regulation, make at least the NY Fed, if not all 12 regional Feds, government institutions, not private banks. To that degree, it’s not totally fair to blame Geithner for everything that happened on his watch in New York. It IS fair to blame him if this isn’t part of his financial reregulation proposal.
2. Geithner, like his boss, doesn’t like confrontations.
3. As a result of No. 2, and his previous non-banking background, he may be too trusting of financial institutions.
4. By selecting Geithner as his Secretary of the Treasury, in light of Nos. 2-3, President Barack Obama may have been sending a “don’t stroke out” message to Wall Street.
5. Geithner has a lot of personal blame for Citigroup’s catastrophe continuing on its not so merry way.
But, take a look for yourself.
My takeaways?
1. If you want real financial regulation, make at least the NY Fed, if not all 12 regional Feds, government institutions, not private banks. To that degree, it’s not totally fair to blame Geithner for everything that happened on his watch in New York. It IS fair to blame him if this isn’t part of his financial reregulation proposal.
2. Geithner, like his boss, doesn’t like confrontations.
3. As a result of No. 2, and his previous non-banking background, he may be too trusting of financial institutions.
4. By selecting Geithner as his Secretary of the Treasury, in light of Nos. 2-3, President Barack Obama may have been sending a “don’t stroke out” message to Wall Street.
5. Geithner has a lot of personal blame for Citigroup’s catastrophe continuing on its not so merry way.
But, take a look for yourself.
Obama doubles down on $3 trillion with blank check in AfPak
That’s Ted Rall’s take on Obama’s Afghanistan “surge.”
Actually, that’s not quite right. Rall says Obama doubled down on $10 trillion, which he says is more like the real cost of Iraq and Afghanistan wars with compound interest.
Rall, who was against the invasion of Afghanistan when it was first proposed, a VERY lonely voice then, explains why:
When you’re worse than the Russians or the Taliban, you’re pretty bad.
And, that’s why I have less and less truck with “war hawk light” Dems-only quasi-progressives who still support this war, especially with someone like, say Blue Girl, who’s gung-ho pro-military.
Frankly, even aside from recruiting standards being lowered, I think that’s another bit of detritus from an professional Army, explosively mixed with the “American exceptionalism” held by about 98 percent of people to the right of Rall and 99 percent of people to the right of me.
Or, to put it another way, and to see a significant portion of today’s armed forces in light of today’s celebrity culture, I have this feeling that many an American soldier door-kicker has the attitude of, “Don’t you know who I am?”
Is everyone in the military like that? Of course not.
Is a majority? I honestly don’t know.
Is a fairly large plurality, say 20 percent or more, like that to some degree or another?
I’m pretty damned sure that answer is yes.
Actually, that’s not quite right. Rall says Obama doubled down on $10 trillion, which he says is more like the real cost of Iraq and Afghanistan wars with compound interest.
Rall, who was against the invasion of Afghanistan when it was first proposed, a VERY lonely voice then, explains why:
President Obama and the Democrats always asserted that Afghanistan was the “good war” — the one thing George W. Bush did right before he "”ook his eye off the ball” by invading Iraq. Not me. I realized that the invasion and subsequent occupation were doomed from the start. My Paul-on-the-road-to-Damascus moment came while watching Afghan villagers sobbing outside a house being searched by U.S. troops. “The Russians never violated our homes,” an old man told me. As in many societies descended from nomads, Afghan culture dictates that a man’s home is truly his castle. “Even when they came to kill you, the Taliban knocked on the door and waited for you come out. They didn't touch your wife or daughter. They never came inside. Never.”
I stared at the house’s front door, smashed and splintered after having been kicked in, and thought: They’ll never forgive us. Women were shrieking inside the house. The soldiers yelled at them: “Shut the f--- up!” At least they did it in English, so they couldn’t understand. Hearts and minds.
When you’re worse than the Russians or the Taliban, you’re pretty bad.
And, that’s why I have less and less truck with “war hawk light” Dems-only quasi-progressives who still support this war, especially with someone like, say Blue Girl, who’s gung-ho pro-military.
Frankly, even aside from recruiting standards being lowered, I think that’s another bit of detritus from an professional Army, explosively mixed with the “American exceptionalism” held by about 98 percent of people to the right of Rall and 99 percent of people to the right of me.
Or, to put it another way, and to see a significant portion of today’s armed forces in light of today’s celebrity culture, I have this feeling that many an American soldier door-kicker has the attitude of, “Don’t you know who I am?”
Is everyone in the military like that? Of course not.
Is a majority? I honestly don’t know.
Is a fairly large plurality, say 20 percent or more, like that to some degree or another?
I’m pretty damned sure that answer is yes.
April 02, 2009
Jaguars to get ESA protection?
A federal district court has ruled the lethargic U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has zero excuse for not drafting a recovery program for jaguars, unless it can come up with much better evidence than it has so far to justify inaction.
A little more attitude adjustment is in order with post-ruling comments like this:
Sounds like pre-emptive foot dragging.
Meanwhile, the state of Arizona has something to answer for on jaguars, too.
The recently euthanized Macho B was allegedly baited with female jaguar scat for his first capture.
A little more attitude adjustment is in order with post-ruling comments like this:
The court’s decision does not mean a recovery plan and habitat designation are a foregone conclusion, said Fish & Wildlife spokesman Jeff Humphrey.
Sounds like pre-emptive foot dragging.
Meanwhile, the state of Arizona has something to answer for on jaguars, too.
The recently euthanized Macho B was allegedly baited with female jaguar scat for his first capture.
An ‘anti-theft drug’? Is it ‘Brave New World’?
I’ve often said that the 20th century produced two truly prescient social novels.
One, of course, is “1984.” The other? “Brave New World.”
And, it what sounds like a bit of “Brave New World” mashed up with Wal-Mart, researchers at the University of Minnesota claim an already-extant anti-addiction drug can reduce the urge to steal.
Naltrexone, already known to limit urges in the case of addiction to some drugs, alcohol and compulsive gambling, was given to 25 reportedly habitual thieves.
Seriously, though, what if naltrexone has this effect, and aerial application of it does?
One, of course, is “1984.” The other? “Brave New World.”
And, it what sounds like a bit of “Brave New World” mashed up with Wal-Mart, researchers at the University of Minnesota claim an already-extant anti-addiction drug can reduce the urge to steal.
Naltrexone, already known to limit urges in the case of addiction to some drugs, alcohol and compulsive gambling, was given to 25 reportedly habitual thieves.
Seriously, though, what if naltrexone has this effect, and aerial application of it does?
A reply to 'Invictus'
Am I indeed the captain of my soul?
I find it hard to believe that is so.
Translating the individual “I”
To the global core of humanity
I think that it’s well-nigh impossible.
The individual human psyche,
Convoluted and self-referential,
Means the “I” is not quite that simple.
As for that “master” subroutine inside,
The one that supposedly masters “I”?
The king always faces peasant revolts.
If not that, a master can go haywire.
And, when that happens, then who masters it?
– April 2, 2009
INVICTUS, by William Ernest Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.
I find it hard to believe that is so.
Translating the individual “I”
To the global core of humanity
I think that it’s well-nigh impossible.
The individual human psyche,
Convoluted and self-referential,
Means the “I” is not quite that simple.
As for that “master” subroutine inside,
The one that supposedly masters “I”?
The king always faces peasant revolts.
If not that, a master can go haywire.
And, when that happens, then who masters it?
– April 2, 2009
INVICTUS, by William Ernest Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.
Tit-for-tat social strategy doesn’t work in workplace
The tit-for-tat strategy of social interaction, a refined version of “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me,” which is a base-level way to cut down on “cheaters” within evolutionarily developed social altruism doesn’t work on the job.
Well, this makes sense. In modern socialized societies, the workplace is a particular construct without the full range of social operation options that society in general has.
If you tit-for-tat a shitty boss, especially in an at-will hiring and firing state like Texas, you know what happens.
If you “accentuate the positive,” though, the researchers say you feel better about yourself, do better on the job, etc.
Well, this makes sense. In modern socialized societies, the workplace is a particular construct without the full range of social operation options that society in general has.
If you tit-for-tat a shitty boss, especially in an at-will hiring and firing state like Texas, you know what happens.
If you “accentuate the positive,” though, the researchers say you feel better about yourself, do better on the job, etc.
DMN gives employees a haircut
Similar to what the Fort Worth Star-Telegram announced last month, A.H. Belo, parent of THE Dallas Morning News, is trimming the salaries of anybody making more than $25K, on a sliding percentage scale.
House OKs FDA tobacco regulation
The bill to give the Food and Drug Administration regulatory power over tobacco passed with more than 70 percent House support. Although North Carolina Republican Richard Burr promises a Senate filibuster, I find it doubtful he can scrape up 40 other Senators. In other words, if he wants to filibuster, he will have to do an actual filibuster
Goodbye, Lieberman?
Not Joe Lieberman, but Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman the focus of a bribery investigation. How long before he calls the investigators “Arabs”?
Sarko: We’re moving beyond ‘the Anglo-Saxon model’
He’s of course talking about the Anglo-Saxon financial model, which a combination of old-school business conservatives and neolibs getting yet another Democratic presidential administration home still try to foist on the rest of the world.
“He” is French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who said, “a page has been turned” on financial regulation and related issues at the G20 summit.
Now, some neolibs, and with better standing, a few non-neo liberals, will say Sarko is “just posturing.”
Is there some degree of posturing in his statement? Sure.
But, “just” posturing? Wrong.
That said, Sarko said the deal wasn’t perfect. He wanted tighter regulation on securitization issues.
THAT said, with something on the books, and the Eurozone still the world’s largest economy (see poll at right on homepage), an opening wedge on this issue can now be further developed in one segment, at least, of the global economy.
More on Sarko’s take on the G20 from the Wall Street Journal.
And, pushed by Sarko, the G20 has asked the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to publish a list of tax havens; Sarko said he expects that list to be released at any time. And, with help from President Obama, he apparently got China, not an OECD member, to go along, at least for public consumption.
“He” is French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who said, “a page has been turned” on financial regulation and related issues at the G20 summit.
Now, some neolibs, and with better standing, a few non-neo liberals, will say Sarko is “just posturing.”
Is there some degree of posturing in his statement? Sure.
But, “just” posturing? Wrong.
That said, Sarko said the deal wasn’t perfect. He wanted tighter regulation on securitization issues.
THAT said, with something on the books, and the Eurozone still the world’s largest economy (see poll at right on homepage), an opening wedge on this issue can now be further developed in one segment, at least, of the global economy.
More on Sarko’s take on the G20 from the Wall Street Journal.
“Controlling hedge funds doesn't create a job in the French textile industry...but this turns the page of the madness of all those years of deregulation,” he said. “This is without precedent.”
And, pushed by Sarko, the G20 has asked the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to publish a list of tax havens; Sarko said he expects that list to be released at any time. And, with help from President Obama, he apparently got China, not an OECD member, to go along, at least for public consumption.
Euros double down on increased IMF support
European and other members of the G20, in a move that will hopefully shut the collective yap of American neolibs have doubled their original proposal for additional financial support for the International Monetary Fund, from $250 billion to $500 billion in new funds. The G20 agreed on other special measures as well.
Josh Marshall’s neolib flaks still attack ‘old Europe’
Simon Johnson has some good things to say about the current crisis and how we got here, but his continued simplistic browbeating of the EU over its refusal to adopt a US-UK “solution” to the problem is getting irritating.
Now, Johnson says, if “old Europe” is going to be obstructionist on International Monetary Fund issues, we need to force its hand:
To which I replied, both to him and some of the TPM commenters who swallowed his line:
Some commenters to his post were buying his line that EU member states’ much stronger safety net already counts as a stimulus. (Note: It does; look at how much The One had on expanded unemployment benefits in his package.)
To those folks, I added this:
In other words, comparing European and American unemployment rates is comparing apples and baklava.
With just those issues above, if you either add 2 points to US unemployment rates or knock 2 percentage points off the German side, you’re much more accurate.
Needed: more independent thinkers from center to further left on the political spectrum.
And, “less American exceptionalism” from both halves of the two-party duopoly.
Now, Johnson says, if “old Europe” is going to be obstructionist on International Monetary Fund issues, we need to force its hand:
The masterstroke is simple and also brilliant. The US is pushing for - and likely to get - the Managing Director (known as the MD) of the IMF to be selected through an open, competitive and merit-based selection process.
To which I replied, both to him and some of the TPM commenters who swallowed his line:
So, Mr. Johnson, are we going to open the World Bank chairmanship to an open election process as well?
Call me back, or write another essay, when you're down with that.
Some commenters to his post were buying his line that EU member states’ much stronger safety net already counts as a stimulus. (Note: It does; look at how much The One had on expanded unemployment benefits in his package.)
To those folks, I added this:
Germany, at least, doesn't calculate doesn't calculate unemployment the same way we do. Stop falling for an American right-wing argument. (For example, if you work for a temp agency, in Germany, you're considered unemployed, not employed, like here. Armed forces don't count in employment. And, they don't lock up 1 million or so marginally employable drug users.)
In other words, comparing European and American unemployment rates is comparing apples and baklava.
With just those issues above, if you either add 2 points to US unemployment rates or knock 2 percentage points off the German side, you’re much more accurate.
Needed: more independent thinkers from center to further left on the political spectrum.
And, “less American exceptionalism” from both halves of the two-party duopoly.
April 01, 2009
GM, trying to get out of hole, still using shovel
Ahh, brilliance, thy name is General Motors. In an attempt to get more people to buy cars, GMAC will start again making loans to subprime buyers.
So, you’re going to try to sell cars to people who may already be upside down on home loans, or else are upside down on the loans for cars they want to trade in and which will be worth nothing?
Obama’s federal-level version of what Texas does, and Europe, the clunker buy-up, I’m OK with. But, GMAC trying to do it on a private dime without such a program?
More insanity.
So, you’re going to try to sell cars to people who may already be upside down on home loans, or else are upside down on the loans for cars they want to trade in and which will be worth nothing?
Obama’s federal-level version of what Texas does, and Europe, the clunker buy-up, I’m OK with. But, GMAC trying to do it on a private dime without such a program?
More insanity.
Whack Job John Cornyn wouldn’t know international law …
If it swam across the Rio Grande and bit him in the tuchis. So, his claim that President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel, Dawn Johnson, lacks “requisite seriousness,” is simply laughable.
No, what lacks “requisite seriousness,” John, is YOU. You oppose Johnson because of her acerbic tone in writing about the illegalities espoused by the John Yoo-David Addington torture memos when you never did a thing about them yourself.
A-stan bottomless hole gets deeper
Gen. David Petraeus wants another 10,000 troops moved to Afghanistan.
And, how many more troops will you want after that, Gen. Westmoreland? And more KBR-types for the additional quartermaster functions?
And, how many more troops will you want after that, Gen. Westmoreland? And more KBR-types for the additional quartermaster functions?
Texas House passes journalism shield law
And, with only two dissenting votes. Most states already have similar laws.
David Horowitz – Obama was born in Hawaii
When a winger as wingnutty as David Horowitz actually talks sense about the Barack Obama birth certificate non-controversy, maybe other wingnuts will listen up.
Or, maybe they’ll point to Horowitz’s long-ago left-wing past and claim he’s a cyborg now being “awakened.”
Some reader comments on Jammie Wearing Fool and Little Green Footballs indicate the latter is about as likely. In fairness, though, the majority of LGF folks claim they never believed it.
Or, maybe they’ll point to Horowitz’s long-ago left-wing past and claim he’s a cyborg now being “awakened.”
Some reader comments on Jammie Wearing Fool and Little Green Footballs indicate the latter is about as likely. In fairness, though, the majority of LGF folks claim they never believed it.
Dallas PD officer Robert Powell quits
Powell is quitting over his cop-nazi harassment of Ryan and Tamishia on their way to see her dying mother at Baylor-Plano hospital last week.
Real questions about Obama’s Iraq withdrawal
Jeremy Scahill asks the questions the mainstream media hasn’t, like:
· What will be done with the 163,000 “contractors,” err, mercenaries?
· Will all the U.S.bases be closed?
· Will the Pentagon find a way to rip off taxpayers for “withdrawal” costs? (To which I add my own sidebar, “Will KBR do the same”?)
· Will Obama classify even more combat troops as non-combatants? (A number of brigade combat teams will be relabeled as parts of a “transition force headquarters” in August 2010.)
· After the last three coalition partners – Australia, Britain and Romania – withdraw in July, what will the U.S. do differently? Will public perceptions change?
Scahill, the author of “Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army,” has plenty more questions where those came from.
· What will be done with the 163,000 “contractors,” err, mercenaries?
· Will all the U.S.bases be closed?
· Will the Pentagon find a way to rip off taxpayers for “withdrawal” costs? (To which I add my own sidebar, “Will KBR do the same”?)
· Will Obama classify even more combat troops as non-combatants? (A number of brigade combat teams will be relabeled as parts of a “transition force headquarters” in August 2010.)
· After the last three coalition partners – Australia, Britain and Romania – withdraw in July, what will the U.S. do differently? Will public perceptions change?
Scahill, the author of “Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army,” has plenty more questions where those came from.
Is Medvedev ready to give Putin the boot?
Foreign Policy says Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is indeed becoming more his own man vis-à-vis his predecessor and mentor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Why now?
The economic meltdown, fueled in Russia by collapsing oil prices.
I wouldn’t expect Pismo Beach out of Medvedev, but he may actually be wanting to be a reformer, at least in Russian terms.
And, as the story notes, they have strongly different backgrounds — Medvedev the lawyer vs. Putin the KGB apparatchik.
If nothing else, as the authors note, if Russia’s economy goes further in the tank, Medvedev may have no choice but to lean harder on Putin.
Why now?
The economic meltdown, fueled in Russia by collapsing oil prices.
I wouldn’t expect Pismo Beach out of Medvedev, but he may actually be wanting to be a reformer, at least in Russian terms.
And, as the story notes, they have strongly different backgrounds — Medvedev the lawyer vs. Putin the KGB apparatchik.
If nothing else, as the authors note, if Russia’s economy goes further in the tank, Medvedev may have no choice but to lean harder on Putin.
‘Controlled’ GM bankruptcy could be uncontrolled disaster
Word is that the Obama Administration is looking at driving GM into a controlled bankruptcy to then split the company into two parts, with the more desirable parts being sold to a government-financed company.
Sounds good at first, no?
But…
Who decides what is “more desirable”? Who prices this stuff?
If you’re thinking this sounds like Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s TALF idea, well, you might not be alone.
Theoretically, it should be easier to choose winners and losers within a traditional manufacturing industry, but who knows?
Sounds good at first, no?
But…
Who decides what is “more desirable”? Who prices this stuff?
If you’re thinking this sounds like Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s TALF idea, well, you might not be alone.
Theoretically, it should be easier to choose winners and losers within a traditional manufacturing industry, but who knows?
IMF caveat 2 – what would stop China from leaving?
Michael Hudson has some great talking points about the International Monetary Fund, its potential funding and staffing increases and related items.
He starts with looking at the massive U.S. deficit. He claims the global “dollar glut” helps finance American military expansionism.
Hmm… Beijing and/or Moscow wouldn’t be at all upset about that now, would they?
Hudson points out that when sovreign wealth funds, whether from China or elsewhere, look at making major investments in things besides various aspects of the financial market, “national security” or other red flags get waved. (Sidebar: That ought to tell you just how important the “financial sector” actually is.)
So, if all this is the case, why wouldn’t China (and also, in all likelihood, Shanghai Cooperation Organization co-founder Russia) just up and leave?
Well, Hudson says it could just happen. He says for the first time in half a century (i.e., right after the founding), this is a real possibility.
The SCO could probably use what China wants, an electronic transfer currency, as the reserve currency, and maybe make the dollar and euro equal backup reserve currencies. With India having observer status, the threat is real.
He starts with looking at the massive U.S. deficit. He claims the global “dollar glut” helps finance American military expansionism.
Keeping international reserves in “dollars” means recycling their dollar inflows to buy U.S. Treasury bills – U.S. government debt issued largely to finance the military.
Hmm… Beijing and/or Moscow wouldn’t be at all upset about that now, would they?
Hudson points out that when sovreign wealth funds, whether from China or elsewhere, look at making major investments in things besides various aspects of the financial market, “national security” or other red flags get waved. (Sidebar: That ought to tell you just how important the “financial sector” actually is.)
So, if all this is the case, why wouldn’t China (and also, in all likelihood, Shanghai Cooperation Organization co-founder Russia) just up and leave?
Well, Hudson says it could just happen. He says for the first time in half a century (i.e., right after the founding), this is a real possibility.
The SCO could probably use what China wants, an electronic transfer currency, as the reserve currency, and maybe make the dollar and euro equal backup reserve currencies. With India having observer status, the threat is real.
Supremes give Philip Morris a short, swift kick
Without comment, in a one-sentence ruling, the Supreme Court has let stand, finally, a nine-year old lawsuit verdict against tobacco giant Altria, formerly known as Philip Morris. Essentially, though actually making a statement, albeit terse in extremis, SCOTUS declined to hear the case.
With interest, between actual damages, punitive damages to smoking widow Mayola Williams, and an override/cap on that, which will go to the state of Oregon’s crime victims fund, Philip Morris needs to dig in its wallet for about $150 mil, with the clock having been ticking on nine years of interest, though it says it will still appeal the amount due to the state.
Sidebar: The Oregon idea should be adopted by ALL states. It would be much more productive to society than either capping punitive damages OR letting them stand, but all punitive damages actually going to the plaintiff. Damages above 3x or 5x of actual, send them to the state crime victim fund, in part….
And, in part, to state legal aid.
With interest, between actual damages, punitive damages to smoking widow Mayola Williams, and an override/cap on that, which will go to the state of Oregon’s crime victims fund, Philip Morris needs to dig in its wallet for about $150 mil, with the clock having been ticking on nine years of interest, though it says it will still appeal the amount due to the state.
Sidebar: The Oregon idea should be adopted by ALL states. It would be much more productive to society than either capping punitive damages OR letting them stand, but all punitive damages actually going to the plaintiff. Damages above 3x or 5x of actual, send them to the state crime victim fund, in part….
And, in part, to state legal aid.
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