Former Bush (Jr.) Campaign manager and RNC chairman Ken Mehlman has come out of the closet, admitting that he was gay.
While his coming out might be a bit of a surprise, his sexuality has been a matter of discussion for years.
I would note that while he was head of the RNC, they ramped up appeals to homophobic bigotry, and he has not spoken to that.
25 August 2010
24 August 2010
Appeals Court Denies Federal Reserve Coverup Bid
Bloomberg filed a freedom of information act request to get information on the Fed's bailout of banks and other financial institutions about 2 years ago, and true to form, their response to a perfectly reasonable request for information has been delay and litigation.
They lost at the circuit level, and they lost at the appeals court level, and now the appeals court has denied them an en banc rehearing, so unless the Supreme court deigns to hear the case, they are going to have to turn over the information:
My guess is that it is a bit of both.
But in either case, absent the Supreme Court taking this up, it appears that we may have some very dull reading of some rather interesting events over the next few months.
Older posts on this are here.
They lost at the circuit level, and they lost at the appeals court level, and now the appeals court has denied them an en banc rehearing, so unless the Supreme court deigns to hear the case, they are going to have to turn over the information:
The Federal Reserve will have to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if it wants to avoid having to disclose details of its emergency lending programs to banks bailed out with taxpayer money during the financial crisis.I am not sure how much of this is just the fetish that the Federal Reserve has for secrecy, and how much is an attempt to cover up behaviors which might be illegal or otherwise appear corrupt.
The U.S. 2d Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Fed's motion on Friday to rehear the case in which Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News and News Corp's Fox News Network sought information on the U.S. central bank's emergency lending programs that began in late 2007.
The programs, designed to shore up the financial markets, more than doubled the Fed's balance sheet to well over $2 trillion, especially in the wake of the September 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers.
My guess is that it is a bit of both.
But in either case, absent the Supreme Court taking this up, it appears that we may have some very dull reading of some rather interesting events over the next few months.
Older posts on this are here.
Just how Broken is Our Government?
Well, how about a lobbying group brazenly using its ability to bribe members of Congress in an attempt to get an industry to target its own customers with onerous positions:
It is a revolting state of affairs.
It should be noted that RIAA chief Cary Sherman later "clarified", saying that, "A broader law enacted without their cooperation isn't what the RIAA wants," which really more a restatement of the the threat than anything else.
I hope that attitudes toward IP, and IP absolutism, are changing slowly. It seems to me that they are, largely as a result of the Blackberry case, when a patent troll nearly shut down the Blackberries in the US, in fact RIM's inability to separate commercial users from government users is in large part why the troll finally settled, they realized that judges deprived of their "Crackberries" can get stroppy.
The Recording Industry Association of America said on Monday that current U.S. copyright law is so broken that it "isn't working" for content creators any longer.This seems like innocuous whine, the sort that we have heard from the RIAA, the MPAA, the BSA for years, but it's the threat that caught my eye:
RIAA President Cary Sherman said the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act contains loopholes that allow broadband providers and Web companies to turn a blind eye to customers' unlawful activities without suffering any legal consequences.
…………
In response to a question from CNET, Sherman said it may be necessary for the U.S. Congress to enact a new law formalizing agreements with intermediaries such as broadband providers, Web hosts, payment processors, and search engines.The basic attitude here is that they can ask Congress to jump, and the only response will be the query, "how high?"
The RIAA would strongly prefer informal agreements inked with intermediaries, Sherman said: "We're working on [discussions with broadband providers], and we'd like to extend that kind of relationship--not just to ISPs, but [also to] search engines, payment processors, advertisers."
But, Sherman said, "if legislation is an appropriate way to facilitate that kind of cooperation, fine."
It is a revolting state of affairs.
It should be noted that RIAA chief Cary Sherman later "clarified", saying that, "A broader law enacted without their cooperation isn't what the RIAA wants," which really more a restatement of the the threat than anything else.
I hope that attitudes toward IP, and IP absolutism, are changing slowly. It seems to me that they are, largely as a result of the Blackberry case, when a patent troll nearly shut down the Blackberries in the US, in fact RIM's inability to separate commercial users from government users is in large part why the troll finally settled, they realized that judges deprived of their "Crackberries" can get stroppy.
Shirley Sherrod to USDA: Go Pound Sand
So the US Department of Agriculture, after unceremoniously firing her on a trumped up controversy, offered a new job, the "Deputy Director Of Advocacy And Outreach," but she declined the offer.
I'm sure that Ms Sherrod was polite and gentle in her denial, but she is not an idiot, and I think that anyone with this experience with any organization would be inclined to believe that the political appointees of the USDA are a bunch contemptible weasels who cannot be trusted.
Of course, the civil service staff of the USDA were a bunch of contemptible bigots, in the not too distant past, as Ms. Sherrod is no doubt aware, being one of the recipients of proceeds from the Pigford settlement.
I'm sure that Ms Sherrod was polite and gentle in her denial, but she is not an idiot, and I think that anyone with this experience with any organization would be inclined to believe that the political appointees of the USDA are a bunch contemptible weasels who cannot be trusted.
Of course, the civil service staff of the USDA were a bunch of contemptible bigots, in the not too distant past, as Ms. Sherrod is no doubt aware, being one of the recipients of proceeds from the Pigford settlement.
Well, Obama Mans Up On Somethng
I have always felt that Obama has been profoundly ambivalent on the matter of abortion rights, so I figured that their response to a judge's injunction against funding embryonic stem cell research would be to wring their hands, bleat a bit, and suggest that "Congress" do something.
I appear to have been too cynical, because the DoJ has announced that it will appeal this ruling:
I appear to have been too cynical, because the DoJ has announced that it will appeal this ruling:
The Obama administration said Tuesday that it would appeal a court ruling challenging the legality of President Obama’s rules governing human embryonic stem cell research, as the head of the National Institutes of Health said the decision would most likely force the cancellation of dozens of experiments in diseases ranging from diabetes to Parkinson’s.I am truly shocked. My sense was that Obama would go the way he tried to on "Don't Ask Don't Tell", and punt to Congress.
Fire Him Now
I understand that Marine Corps Commandant is retiring in just a few months, but he needs to be fired right now, and lose his pension:
This was not an inadvertent slip, this was a deliberate statement made at a Pentagon press conference.
Actually, I would suggest that a criminal investigation of insubordination is called for.
I don't expect Obama to man up on this one, but the Pentagon has become increasingly hostile to the concept of civilian authority, and this needs to be ended.
A senior US general has warned President Barack Obama's deadline to begin pulling troops out of Afghanistan is encouraging the Taliban.Obviously, unlike McCrystal, this isn't staffers, or the general, denigrating POTUS, this is something far worse. This is a Douglas McCarthur on Korea moment.
US General James Conway, head of the US Marine Corps, said the deadline was "giving our enemy sustenance".
This was not an inadvertent slip, this was a deliberate statement made at a Pentagon press conference.
Actually, I would suggest that a criminal investigation of insubordination is called for.
I don't expect Obama to man up on this one, but the Pentagon has become increasingly hostile to the concept of civilian authority, and this needs to be ended.
America Best Journalists, perhaps America's Only Journalists
I am referring, of course to The Daily Show, who follows the advice of Fox News®, and follows the money supporting the 51 Park development in Manhattan, which leads to Alwaleed bin Talal, who is the single largest largest non Murdoch investor in Fox News.
As to the dispute, whether Fox is stupid or evil, I think that evil and stupidity is orthogonal.
As to the dispute, whether Fox is stupid or evil, I think that evil and stupidity is orthogonal.
I Hate It When a Complete Asshole Agrees with Me
Case in point, House Minority leader John Boehner calling for Tim Geithner to be fired:
Jon Stewart showed just what Cramer's opinions are worth.
U.S. House Republican leader John Boehner called on President Barack Obama to fire Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and the other remaining members of the president’s economic team.It would make me wonder about whether I was being too tough on Timothy "Eddie Haskell" Geithner, but I am reassured by the words of this guy:
In a speech today to the City Club of Cleveland, Boehner said Obama’s stimulus policies are failing to create jobs.
[MSNBC Commentator Jim] Cramer during Tuesday’s Stop Trading! took issue with comments from a key House Republican, who called on President Obama to fire his economic team.While I am troubled that I agree with John Boehner on this, I am reassured that I am still on the other side of the issue from Jim Cramer.
Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio said during a speech in Cleveland that the president should get rid of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House economic adviser Larry Summers for starters. But Cramer stepped in to defend Geithner.
Boehner’s comments were “outrageous,” the "Mad Money" host said. “Geithner’s done a remarkable job.”
Jon Stewart showed just what Cramer's opinions are worth.
Holy Crap
They, whoever "they" are, were predicting that existing home sales would be fall post tax credit to an annual rate of something north of 4½ million.
Well, they were wrong. Existing home sales fell to 3.83 million, a 15 year low, and the 27.2% drop was the biggest since they, whoever "they" are, started collecting data.
What's more, housing inventory has risen from 8.9 months to 12.5 months since May.
The thing is, this was foreseeable. Everything that has been done in terms of real estate has been about extend and pretend.
Whether it's the fraud perpetrated on desperate people through HAMP, or the ruinously wasteful home buyer tax credits, this has all been about propping up housing prices in the short term in the hope that the banks can nickel and dime small consumers to generate enough profits to dig themselves out of their hole.
They keep pushing the sh%$ up hill, expecting to reach the crest of the hill, and it ain't happening, and now this pile is collapsing back down on us.
Recovery my ass.
Well, they were wrong. Existing home sales fell to 3.83 million, a 15 year low, and the 27.2% drop was the biggest since they, whoever "they" are, started collecting data.
What's more, housing inventory has risen from 8.9 months to 12.5 months since May.
The thing is, this was foreseeable. Everything that has been done in terms of real estate has been about extend and pretend.
Whether it's the fraud perpetrated on desperate people through HAMP, or the ruinously wasteful home buyer tax credits, this has all been about propping up housing prices in the short term in the hope that the banks can nickel and dime small consumers to generate enough profits to dig themselves out of their hole.
They keep pushing the sh%$ up hill, expecting to reach the crest of the hill, and it ain't happening, and now this pile is collapsing back down on us.
Recovery my ass.
23 August 2010
I Cannot Belive that I am Saying this, But
Ron Paul has seized the moral high ground.
He has come out foursquare in favor of the building at 51 park:
In doing so, he is publicly disagreeing with his son, who is in a relatively tight Senate race, and so is showing a lot more guts, with a lot more at stake, than jellyfish like Harry Reid or (to my great sorrow) Howard Dean.
He has come out foursquare in favor of the building at 51 park:
Is the controversy over building a mosque near ground zero a grand distraction or a grand opportunity? Or is it, once again, grandiose demagoguery?You can go and read the rest, but he's right, and sticking to his principles, and, for once, refreshingly free of "the crazy".
It has been said, “Nero fiddled while Rome burned.” Are we not overly preoccupied with this controversy, now being used in various ways by grandstanding politicians? It looks to me like the politicians are “fiddling while the economy burns.”
The debate should have provided the conservative defenders of property rights with a perfect example of how the right to own property also protects the 1st Amendment rights of assembly and religion by supporting the building of the mosque.
Instead, we hear lip service given to the property rights position while demanding that the need to be “sensitive” requires an all-out assault on the building of a mosque, several blocks from “ground zero.”
In doing so, he is publicly disagreeing with his son, who is in a relatively tight Senate race, and so is showing a lot more guts, with a lot more at stake, than jellyfish like Harry Reid or (to my great sorrow) Howard Dean.
The Anti-Defamation League Had Jumped the Shark
This is one big shark that he jumped.With Frikken Lasers!
There are now credible allegations that Foxman lobbied against an interfaith trip to Auschwitz:
Earlier this month, several imams joined U.S. officials to visit the Dachau and Auschwitz concentration camps, a trip which resulted in the clerics issuing a statement condemning anti-Semitism and vowing "to make real the commitment of 'never again.'"I hope the Abraham Foxman has a serious mental or neurological problem, because otherwise, he is just a pathetic bigot, and dementia is preferable to that.
The eight Muslim-American clerics were joined by Hannah Rosenthal, the presidential special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, and a handful of other officials from the Obama, Bush and Reagan administrations.
But according to Politico, "Organizers of the trip say they were dismayed that the Anti-Defamation League's Abe Foxman lobbied U.S. officials against participating."
*The largest shark, and likely largest predator fish ever. It died out some 1.5 million years ago. The Genus is still in dispute, between either Carcharodon (Great White) or Carcharocles (broad toothed Mako). But in either case, you are jumping C. Megalodon, you have jumped the biggest shark ever.
No, They Are Cruel People*
I enjoy reading Felix Salmon, and I generally agree with him, but a few days ago, he had a high level and sort of (no names) off the record briefing senior Treasury Department officials, including Timmy, and they revealed that the failure that is HAMP is actually a success because by stringing desperate home owners along, they managed to milk a few more mortgage payments, and delay foreclosures for a while:
Maybe Andrew Breitbart should cover this, that would get Geithner fired, because Obama trembles at Breitbart's fury.
Truth be told though, the definitive account is by Steve Waldman, and his account of this exchange is even more damning:
I think that he is wrong. They are cruel people, and they are evil people, and they know the evil that they do, but they think that the preservation of Wall Street, and its excessive bonuses to be worth perpetrating a fraud on desperate families grasping at straws.
These people were drowning, and they knowingly threw them anvils.
*That is what Atrios said.
Treasury told Waldman — and told my group of bloggers, too — that HAMP, even if it was a failure, was a success. It might not have helped much in terms of its ostensible stated aim of permanently modifying millions of home loans. But it did help in at least three other ways: it gave temporary tax and payment relief to millions of homeowners; it massively reduced the rate at which homeowners in default were being foreclosed on; and, in the words of Waldman, “it helped banks muddle through what might have been a fatal shock”.We had to save the banks, so if we destroyed a few lives, it was worth it. This is contemptible.
Maybe Andrew Breitbart should cover this, that would get Geithner fired, because Obama trembles at Breitbart's fury.
Truth be told though, the definitive account is by Steve Waldman, and his account of this exchange is even more damning:
The conversation next turned to housing and HAMP. On HAMP, officials were surprisingly candid. The program has gotten a lot of bad press in terms of its Kafka-esque qualification process and its limited success in generating mortgage modifications under which families become able and willing to pay their debt. Officials pointed out that what may have been an agonizing process for individuals was a useful palliative for the system as a whole. Even if most HAMP applicants ultimately default, the program prevented an outbreak of foreclosures exactly when the system could have handled it least. There were murmurs among the bloggers of “extend and pretend”, but I don’t think that’s quite right. This was extend-and-don’t-even-bother-to-pretend. The program was successful in the sense that it kept the patient alive until it had begun to heal. And the patient of this metaphor was not a struggling homeowner, but the financial system, a.k.a. the banks. Policymakers openly judged HAMP to be a qualified success because it helped banks muddle through what might have been a fatal shock. I believe these policymakers conflate, in full sincerity, incumbent financial institutions with “the system”, “the economy”, and “ordinary Americans”. Treasury officials are not cruel people. I’m sure they would have preferred if the program had worked out better for homeowners as well. But they have larger concerns, and from their perspective, HAMP has helped to address those.(emphasis mine)
I think that he is wrong. They are cruel people, and they are evil people, and they know the evil that they do, but they think that the preservation of Wall Street, and its excessive bonuses to be worth perpetrating a fraud on desperate families grasping at straws.
These people were drowning, and they knowingly threw them anvils.
*That is what Atrios said.
Court Injunction Against Federal Embryonic Stem Cell Research
My non-lawyer opinionFederal Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that the plaintiffs had standing because someone else might get grants if studies using embryonic stem cells could get funding, which seems top be a big of a whiskey tango foxtrot moment to me.
The Dickey-Wicker amendment prohibits the NIH from funding the destruction of embryos, and not all research post this act, which makes appear to me that this ruling is rather a bit of overreach by the judge as well.
22 August 2010
Yeah, Sure, Nothing to See Here
Tell Me That You Do Not Believe That This is a SetupWouldn't you know it, Swedish authorities issued a rape warrant against Mr. Assange, and then withdrew the warrant the next day.
It couldn't be that the CIA, the Pentagon (DIA), or the DNI were behind these apparently now bogus charges could it?
As Capt Howdy observes, it's like we are living in that, "horrific thru the looking glass universe where Nixon is serving his 5th term." (a Watchman reference, and yes, it would now be the 11th term)
As to my legal mind, my guess is that at this moment, some Swedish prosecutor is reviewing the laws on suborning perjury, and hoping that they don't apply to him.
As a practical matter, I would suggest that the rest of the folks at Wikileaks start dealing with the "Julian Assange commits suicide by shooting himself in the head 3 times and then throws himself off a bridge," contingency.
Monty Python's Lying Circus
I love Alan Grayson.*
*In a 110% purely heterosexual kind of way, of course, as the General would say.
*In a 110% purely heterosexual kind of way, of course, as the General would say.
Tests Of Alternate JSF Engine Show Higher Thrust
GE's F-136 has demonstrated a 15% sea level thrust advantage over the Pratt & Whitney F135 at the USAF's Arnold Engineering Development Center.
Additionally, GE is saying that they are doing this at lower turbine inlet temperatures, which would imply lower maintenance costs as well as greater upgrade capability:
Additionally, GE is saying that they are doing this at lower turbine inlet temperatures, which would imply lower maintenance costs as well as greater upgrade capability:
The intense battle over powering the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter could be heading to new levels following test results that show the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136 alternate engine has more than 15% thrust margin against specification, significantly exceeding the power of the baseline Pratt & Whitney F135.I would note that it is likely that, as with the F100/F110 comparison, that the GE engine is somewhat heavier, which would imply that at higher altitudes the P&W engines would provide better performance.
The tests at the U.S. Air Force’s Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) in Tullahoma, Tenn., are the first to officially calibrate the combat-rated thrust of a production-representative F136 at sea level conditions. Although the test program is only a matter of days old, it already appears to be showing greater performance margin in afterburner than expected, says the General Electric Rolls-Royce Fighter Engine Team.
Trying to Go B-1 With the F-22
Lockheed and the USAF have reached an agreement to preserve the F-22 production tooling for future use.
The claim is that this is about, "will be able to repair and modernise the service's aircraft, or manufacture new Raptors." (Emphasis mine)
Make no bones about this: This is not about SLEPPing the airframes or upgrades, they don't need the tooling for this.
They are hoping for a President, SecDef, and Congress will at some point change policy, as Reagan did with the B-1, and this is the sort of insubordinate crap that really needs to be addressed.
In a perfect world, Obama would find out who is behind this, fire them, and take the tooling and sell it for scrap.
In this world, we'll see the pigs at the trough every year or so for the next decade in an attempt to restart the program.
The claim is that this is about, "will be able to repair and modernise the service's aircraft, or manufacture new Raptors." (Emphasis mine)
Make no bones about this: This is not about SLEPPing the airframes or upgrades, they don't need the tooling for this.
They are hoping for a President, SecDef, and Congress will at some point change policy, as Reagan did with the B-1, and this is the sort of insubordinate crap that really needs to be addressed.
In a perfect world, Obama would find out who is behind this, fire them, and take the tooling and sell it for scrap.In this world, we'll see the pigs at the trough every year or so for the next decade in an attempt to restart the program.
21 August 2010
How To Scare White People…
Do not have anything in your mouth when you click play. (Marginally SFW)
Black people brunch Hard, son: (5:15)
Black people brunch Hard, son: (5:15)
In the Navy……
I am left speechless.
I am also far less concerned about a remilitarized Japan:
H/t Information Dissemination.
I am also far less concerned about a remilitarized Japan:
H/t Information Dissemination.
An Interesting Point on Moves to Reduce the Size of the General Officer Corps
Click for full size
It costs a lot, and make you lose wars
One of the areas where SecDef Gates is looking to reduce costs is reducing the level of general officers (general and admirals).
It costs a lot, and make you lose wars
An interesting sideline to this is that history shows that the more officers, particularly general officers, that you have, the worse that your military performs:
Militaries with proportionately large numbers of field [major through colonel] and general grade officers have historically proven to be losers, not winners, in war. At its current levels, the U.S. military is among the worst.Of course, the voice of officialdom, The Washington Post, notes that an officer's billet only costs about a ¼ million dollars a year, noting that, "Terminating a single general's billet might save about $200,000 a year in salary and benefits, barely a rounding error in the Pentagon's base budget this year of $535 billion."
This is, rather unsurprisingly, about as completely untrue as one can be without actually making a verifiable lie.
When someone becomes a general, he doesn't spend his days playing golf waiting for a war, they get a command somewhere.
If there isn't a command somewhere, then one is created, or the supervision of a task is upgraded from a field officer to a general officer, and the office, staff and budget are increased accordingly.
Once the office has a general officer in charge, there is a bureaucratic imperative for it to become "essential" in some way or another, so it will find things to do, and doing those things, whether needed or not, will cost money.
I would agree to cuts, but I would also suggest repealing the provision of the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act of 1980, aka "Up or Out", which make promotions a requirement for continued service.
It creates an incentive for rank inflation, what Robert Gates calls "brass creep" in assigning roles in the services.
As to why these additional costs have not been addressed in their article, my guess is that the Post editorial board thinks that something would be missing from Sally Quinn's cocktail parties if there were not a few generals in uniform there.
After Over a Decade of Starving Their Force to Make Room for F-22s and F-35s………
The USAF is looking at buying new build F-16s and F-15s to fill the gap:
The USAF has been doing its level best to create a fighter shortfall for the past 15 years or so in order to force a move to an all-stealth force.
The fact that the situation has gotten so dire that the USAF is considering buying some Eagles or Vipers is a big deal.
It indicates that the budget pictures on the F-35 are even grimmer than previously understood.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a new report today that for the first time reveals how US Air Force plans to deal with a fighter shortfall that is expected to reach 200 jets by 2025.Significant is an understatement.
The GAO report summarizes two mandatory reports the USAF delivered in March to Congress. There are four options:
1. Extending the service life of and modernizing about 300 F-16 aircraft
2. Increasing annual F-35 procurement above 80 aircraft per year
3. Procuring new upgraded variants of legacy aircraft such as the F-16 and F-15
4. A combination of options 2 and 3
The fact that the USAF has even considered resuming F-16 and F-15 orders could be very significant. Two decades of USAF leaders have consistently upheld the all-stealth rule for combat aircraft.
The USAF has been doing its level best to create a fighter shortfall for the past 15 years or so in order to force a move to an all-stealth force.
The fact that the situation has gotten so dire that the USAF is considering buying some Eagles or Vipers is a big deal.
It indicates that the budget pictures on the F-35 are even grimmer than previously understood.
BAE close to launch contract for APKWS rocket
BAE is looking to get its 1st contract to deliver APKWS guided 2.75 inch rocket.The advantage to a system like this is that something like a Hellfire is sometimes too big, and always too expensive for smaller jobs, like taking out a room, a car, or a mortar fire team, and a helicopter can carry a lot more of these than it can Hellfires.
Rather unsurprisingly, it's the Marines who are looking to take a buy.
Honestly, I'm waiting for them to cancel this, and move the money to the JSF or Osprey, which would both penny and pound foolish.
Prior posts on the various programs to add guidance to 2.75 inch rockets.
20 August 2010
It's Bank Failure Friday!!!!
And here they are, ordered, and numbered for the year so far.
After two slow weeks, we just tied the record for most bank closings this year.
Not pretty.
Full FDIC list
So, here is the graph pr0n with trendline (FDIC only):
I would note that are now at the point where the utility of the least squares trendline is diminishing, but I'm keeping it here for historical purposes.
- Community National Bank at Bartow, Barlow, FL
- Independent National Bank, Ocala, Fl
- Imperial Savings and Loan Association, Martinsville, VA,
- Shore Bank, Chicago, IL
- Pacific State Bank, Stockton, CA
- Butte Community Bank, Chico, CA
- Los Padres Bank, Solvang, CA
- Sonoma Valley Bank, Sonoma, CA
After two slow weeks, we just tied the record for most bank closings this year.
Not pretty.
Full FDIC list
So, here is the graph pr0n with trendline (FDIC only):
I would note that are now at the point where the utility of the least squares trendline is diminishing, but I'm keeping it here for historical purposes.
The Circle of Life
Heal the Bay has produced a video describing the migration of the common plastic bag.
And yes, that is Jeremy Irons narrating.
And yes, that is Jeremy Irons narrating.
For the Sci-Fi Geek in All of Us
So completely not safe for work, except, perhaps if you work in a library.
Krugman Channels Williams Jennings Bryan
Is it just me, or does his most recent OP/ED have some significant thematic similarities to William Jennings Bryan's Cross of Gold speech.
Here is the first 'graph of Krugman:
In any case, both Bryan's speech, and Krugman's OP/ED should be read. They are both very good.
Here is the first 'graph of Krugman:
As I look at what passes for responsible economic policy these days, there’s an analogy that keeps passing through my mind. I know it’s over the top, but here it is anyway: the policy elite — central bankers, finance ministers, politicians who pose as defenders of fiscal virtue — are acting like the priests of some ancient cult, demanding that we engage in human sacrifices to appease the anger of invisible gods.Here is the last 'graph of Bryan:
If they dare to come out in the open field and defend the gold standard as a good thing, we shall fight them to the uttermost, having behind us the producing masses of the nation and the world. Having behind us the commercial interests and the laboring interests and all the toiling masses, we shall answer their demands for a gold standard by saying to them, you shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns. You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold.Note, I am not making accusations of any sort of misappropriation of work. I am suggesting that two people, attempting to address similar problems, deflation and recession, have, 114 years apart, come to very similar conclusions, and expressed them in similar ways.
In any case, both Bryan's speech, and Krugman's OP/ED should be read. They are both very good.
Brilliant!
I think that I injured myself laughing:
No go read the whole thing. It's pretty short.
Outrage Over Plans To Build Library Next To Sarah Palin(%$# mine)
PLANS to build a state-of-the-art library next to Republican catastrophe Sarah Palin are causing outrage across mainstream America.
…………
Meanwhile President Obama has caused unease within his own Democratic party by endorsing the library and claiming that not everyone who reads books is responsible for calling Mrs Palin a f%$wit nutjob nightmare of a human being.
But Bill McKay, a leading member of the right-wing Teapot movement, said: "Sarah Palin is a hallowed place for Americans who can't read.
"How is she going to feel knowing that every day there are people going inside a building to find things out for themselves and have thoughts, right in the very shadow of her amazing nipples."
No go read the whole thing. It's pretty short.
19 August 2010
Trolling for Bribes
Hamid Karzai is planning to ban the operations of private military contractors (PMCs, aka mercenaries) by the end of this year:
As to the motivations for his doing this, I see three main policy goals here:
President Hamid Karzai is planning to sign a decree this week ordering the disbanding of all private security forces by the end of the year, his spokesman said Monday.This being Hamid Karzai, my guess is that this will not be fully implemented in time or in a consistent manner, but that is like saying the sky is blue.
But it is not clear how the move, which would constitute an extraordinary change in the security makeup of the country, could be carried out. There are at least 24,000 private armed guards in the country, some foreign but most Afghan, and there is no immediately available alternative for the array of crucial tasks they perform.
As to the motivations for his doing this, I see three main policy goals here:
- An attempt to ameliorate some of the outrage among Afghan citizens who are the ones on the wrong ends of the Mercenary's bullets.
- He wants to ensure that whoever is allowed to continue will be people whom he has vetted as being supportive of him.
- Any mercenary operations allowed to continue will have to pay some sort of bribes to him and his family.
The Recent Comments Widget Still Appears to Be Fracked
It is still only updating intermittently,
Sorry.
Sorry.
A Few More People on the Right Side of 51 Park
And they are Democrats.
Senator Al Franken:
Senator Al Franken:
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) is slamming conservative opposition to the Muslim community center project near Ground Zero in New York City -- the city where he formerly resided for many years -- calling the attacks against it "one of the most disgraceful things that I've heard."And Congressman Charlie Rangel:
Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) came out in support of the proposed Cordoba House Islamic community center two blocks from Ground Zero yesterday, saying that he's "kind of proud that they're sticking to their guns and saying this is where they would want to worship."Also, lesser plaudits to Nancy Pelosi, who suggested that the anti-Islamic Center movement might be AstroTurf, though she walked it back a bit later in the day.
Great Google Moogly!
Remember how I said that unemployment has been stuck between about 450,000 and 480,000 initial claims a week?
Well, not any more, today's numbers were up by 12,000 to ½ a million initial claims, with the 4 week moving average rose by 8,000 to 482,500.
Of course, since the article was written by a financial journalist, which means that they feel the need to be a cheerleader, and they are innumerate, they found someone to say that the 13 K drop, to 4.48 million, in continuing claims as, "an encouraging sign," but later they note that the number of people on emergency benefits, "increased 260,105 to 4.75 million in the week ended July 31." (the week prior to this one)
Let me explain this slowly for the financial journalists who might read this The people who are on continuing claims are in the 26-week window, if they go beyond that, they are no longer counter as having a continuing claim, they are counted as being on emergency benefits, so the falling number of continuing claims is not people getting jobs, it's people being unemployed even longer.
In any case, this is really grim. The already inadequate stimulus is winding down, and job losses are once again accellerating, and we have an election in 2½ months, and if the Republicans take power, they will drive the country even further into the ditch.
Yes, a half assed stimulus, which was then watered down by the dickwads in the Senate was such a good idea.
Well, not any more, today's numbers were up by 12,000 to ½ a million initial claims, with the 4 week moving average rose by 8,000 to 482,500.
Of course, since the article was written by a financial journalist, which means that they feel the need to be a cheerleader, and they are innumerate, they found someone to say that the 13 K drop, to 4.48 million, in continuing claims as, "an encouraging sign," but later they note that the number of people on emergency benefits, "increased 260,105 to 4.75 million in the week ended July 31." (the week prior to this one)
Let me explain this slowly for the financial journalists who might read this The people who are on continuing claims are in the 26-week window, if they go beyond that, they are no longer counter as having a continuing claim, they are counted as being on emergency benefits, so the falling number of continuing claims is not people getting jobs, it's people being unemployed even longer.
In any case, this is really grim. The already inadequate stimulus is winding down, and job losses are once again accellerating, and we have an election in 2½ months, and if the Republicans take power, they will drive the country even further into the ditch.
Yes, a half assed stimulus, which was then watered down by the dickwads in the Senate was such a good idea.
18 August 2010
Deep Thought
Dick Armey created an Army of Dicks.*
Jon Stewart does a good job teasing out the hypocrisy of the Congressman, former House Majority Leader, and über lobbyist Dick Armey casting himself as an anti-establishment foe of Washington .
Jon Stewart, Part 1 of 3
Jon Stewart, Part 2 of 3
Jon Stewart, Part 1 of 3
*The Teabaggers.
Jon Stewart does a good job teasing out the hypocrisy of the Congressman, former House Majority Leader, and über lobbyist Dick Armey casting himself as an anti-establishment foe of Washington .
Jon Stewart, Part 1 of 3
Jon Stewart, Part 2 of 3
Jon Stewart, Part 1 of 3
*The Teabaggers.
No Prosecution for Photographing Unclothed Teens in Their Houses
Because when a school does it, it's OK:
I guess that the prosecutor decided that high school students have no right to privacy.
Earlier posts are here.
Federal authorities announced Tuesday they will not prosecute administrators connected to a webcam spying scandal at a suburban Philadelphia school district.I cannot understand how there isn't a trial of someone involved in this.
Prosecutors and the FBI opened an inquiry following a February privacy lawsuit accusing Lower Merion School District officials of spying on students with webcams on the 2,300 district-issued MacBooks. The lawyers who filed the lawsuit claim the district secretly snapped thousands of webcam images of students, including images of youths at home, in bed or even “partially dressed.”
Zane David Memeger, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said he found no criminal intent in the alleged surveillance.
I guess that the prosecutor decided that high school students have no right to privacy.
Earlier posts are here.
But Will They Roll on Bush and His Evil Minions&trade
Polish prosecutors are considering charging the former Polish President and PM with war crimes for allowing the CIA to operate gulags in their country:
It does seem that this is all beginning to unravel, and perhaps we are near a point where revelations breed further revelation.
Polish prosecutors are considering bringing charges of war crimes against the country's former prime minister and former president over allegations of secret CIA prisons.One hopes that eventually we find someone who is willing to sing on this, and the Shrub and the Smiler will end up in the dock.
Former president Aleksander Kwasniewski and former prime minister Leszek Miller, who held office between 2001 and 2004, may stand trial before the State Tribunal, a court specifically designed to try Poland's top officials, Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported on Wednesday (4 August).
The court's prosecutor wants to ask the speaker of parliament to initiate the criminal procedure against the two men. The case would first have to go to a parliamentary committee and then to the lower house of parliament, which would decide whether or not to press charges, the news report says.
It does seem that this is all beginning to unravel, and perhaps we are near a point where revelations breed further revelation.
