Friday, February 29, 2008

doublespeak


Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee to the presidential election, has single handedly made America less safe. It may seem like a stretch to say, but how else would one characterize the way he single-handedly prevented the Air Force from awarding its refueling tanker to Boeing? Instead, Airbus will assemble parts at an assembly plant in Mobile, AL, ala the disaster that Boeing itself encountered in trying to build the 787 Dreamliner on schedule. In truth, this is just the end result of colossal corruption scandals and bureaucratic bungling, and the American taxpayers are getting trampled underfoot as various parties move into position to reap as much profit as possible.

In more conceptual terms, this move could represent the Military Industrial Complex beginning to cannibalize its own pieces as it begins to come to terms with its own unsustainable nature. And so, another 100 year cycle comes to an end. My favorite quote is from Gen. Lichte, who apparently regards the economic concerns as trivial, or of tertiary importance.

At a news conference, Air Force officials said that the creation of domestic jobs was not a factor in the decision. In response to questions about possible negative reaction to the deal in Congress, Gen. Arthur J. Lichte, head of the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command, said, “This will be an American tanker, flown by American airmen with an American flag on its tail and, every day, it will be saving American lives.”

The Friday Bacon


Do you heart bacon as much as I do?

Have you ever tried baking your bacon? Perhaps the decreased burn risk makes an alternative worth looking into.

Here are a couple of great bacon recipes: Bourbon Three-Bean Bake and Jerusalem Artichoke Soup with Sage Croutons.

And what do they add to bacon to make it even better? Video, of course.

Equivocal Behavior


Suddenly the slippery slope regarding torture doesn't seem like a fallacy.

Gobble Gobble Boom!

OK, So I may have overreacted.

Ben Franklin Report: Warning Signs


Parroting the same policy as many previous Treasury Secretaries before him, Sec. Henry Paulson has come in favor of a 'strong dollar.' Of much more interest, though, is his sound byte saying that the government will not step in to intervene in the market on behalf of investors who made poor decisions and took on way too much of the worst kind of risk. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in some of the most constructive testimony of his tenure thus far, indicated without words that the U.S. economy is probably already in a recession, that there will be bank failures in the near future, and yet he does not anticipate stagflation in the near-term.

In other pressures on the U.S. Dollar, OPEC has agreed to not lift output, which has pushed crude oil to a new record close, even further exasperating the oil standard. Pricing barrels of oil in euros is undoubtedly just around the corner. Expect to see oil ministers from the various OPEC countries begin speaking about it openly before their next production meeting.

As municipal bond markets continued to deteriorate, forcing yields up on long-term bonds, the city of Vallejo becomes the largest city in California to look bankruptcy square in the eye. This probably is the beginning of the trend, rather than the end of it, especially as houses will continue to have their values reappraised downward.

As an interesting aside, Fannie Mae paid $200K to lobby those who decide upon its workings. FNM's $2.1 billion loss on the year announced yesterday could put pressure on the ability of the mortgage giant to tap into credit pools, as Moody's announced that Fannie Mae's B+ rating is under review.

If you're wondering tomorrow morning why your wallet feels lighter, it's because it probably is. As of publishing the dollar was at a new record low against the Euro, weaker than the Canadian Dollar, and near a 4-year low with the Yen.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

St. Tibbs Birthday


February 29 (St. Tib's Day): St. Tib's Day (POEE)/Leaping Birth Day (D&D of the ECG). Tell everyone today is your birthday. Figure out how old you would be if you only had a birthday once every leap year. Act your age. Determine if you're of legal age to drive, raise children, buy a gun, gamble, leave school, get a job, drink, get married, get drafted, sign a contract, vote, run for parliament or congress, have sexual congress, have sexual congress for money, retire, or walk across the street by yourself. Realize how silly having a legal age for everything really is, and how arbitrary it is, and how it doesn't recognize the individual as an individual, and how it's all culturally-biased ageism anyway. Forget about age limits, and do whatever you want. If you're lucky, maybe you can convince them you're too young to get arrested for doing any of the above (but don't count on it).

from Ek-sen-trik-kuh Discordia: The Tales of Shamlicht, Holydays: Season of Chaos


Today* is St. Tibbs Day, in this, the YOLD 3174. St. Tibb's Day falls between the days of Prickle-Prickle and Setting Orange, between the Seasons of Chaos and Discord, every 4 years.You should celebrate St. Tibb's Day by only existing for one day. Mayflies are beloved of St. Tibbs.Most pundits identify Tibbs as St. Tibba, the niece and/or daughter (folks had looser morals back then) of King Pendra of Mercia, and the sister of the legendarily more buxom Saint Kyneburga. She was supposedly from Rhal, Rutland (mmm... Rutland), and was a Benedictine nun at Dormancaster abbey, Northamptonshire, during the 7th Century. She is widely assumed to not have existed, but possibly only existed one day every 4 years.St. Tibb's Eve is said in tradition to be the night before Judgment Day, which would make it the evening of either August 28th 1997, July 24th 2004, or April 20th 2011. A Glossary of the Folklore of Maritime Canada sums up the variousness involved, thus:
Tit's DayTit or Tibb's Day was a pagan feast and recuperation day following Tit's Eve (which see). At one time it was the first day of the month and celebration termed Yule. In revised Christianized form Tit's Day was described as the day following the final Resurrection and Judgment Eve, a day after time when accounts were beyond settlement. To have a Maritimer promise that he would repay money on Tit's Day meant that the loan-agent could not expect to recoup money in this or any other world.This feast day clearly belonged to the pagan deities Thor and Frey. C.L. Apperson has guessed that this was "a day neither before nor after Christmas" and that "tibb" is synonymous with "never". Desultry attempts were perhaps made to give the day a Christian veneer by referring to it as Saint Tit's Day, but the connotations of the word made this unsuccessful. Certainly The Old English Chronicle does list a Saint Tibba, circa 963, but Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1870) insists there was never a legitimate saint who bore this peculiar name. Tit's Eve Also known as Saint Tit's Eve, Tibb's Eve, Tip's Eve, or Tipsy Eve. The evening of the twenty-third day of December.This holiday was known in some parts as the Mother Night and followed the shortest day of the year . In former times, the overindulgence on this night marked the beginning of Yule... So now you know, and you can safely forget it all for another 4 years.(hehe hehehehe... they said "tits"...)


All stolen from http://www.23ae.com/
and as the comment says, also stolen from http://drjon.livejournal.com/1092702.html

Guns by the Ton


Defense Secretary Robert Gates just finished a six day tour of Asia, selling weapons systems to India and Indonesia, primarily, completely ignoring Pres. Eisenhower's warning. (posted at bottom)

In a speech given to Indonesian Council on World Affiars (part 1 and part 2), Sec. Gates emphasized the role of Indonesia in leading the region, while affirming the U.S.' role as arms dealer. Since normalizing military ties in 2005, the Indonesian military has benefited from increasingly generous military subsidies, in an effort to compete with Vladmir Putin's 2007 negotiations. In particular, the Department of Defense has begun using "1206" authority and the Global Train and Equip program to help bolster Indonesian military capabilities against a supposed terrorist threat. Although I don't see what naval installations and F-16s have to do with fighting individual extremists.

In nuclear India, Sec. Gates sought expanded military ties, along with, as you might have guessed, more arms sales. Besides the much sought after F-16, negotiations are also reportedly underway to include India in the missile defense shield that the Pentagon is trying to set up around Asia. This foreign policy of trying to be allies with both India and Pakistan at the same time is going to come to a head at some point. The longer the establish waits to produce productive changes in policy, the more violent the anti-U.S. backlash in Pakistan. Any worries about how a dangerous arms race could emerge between the two largest emerging economies in the world, stem from overlooking the inherently profitable nature of arms races, as each side tries to outdo the other in expenditures of treasure.

In another sign of attempting to graft foreign governments into our informal empire and the machinery that powers it, the Iraqi Army is switching from the AK-47 to the M-16. Besides the obvious cultural and political ramifications of this, between spare parts and replacements, arms manufacturers in the United States stand to make a big pile of money off of this.

Two of these arms manufacturers are reporting profits based on foreign military sales. Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Raytheon (NYSE:RTN) might as well be paying the salary of the SecDef for as much as he contributes to their bottom lines. After all, there would be little money to invent better ways to drop bombs if no one was willing to buy them.

For some additional background information, here is an article about the world's military industrial complex, and the Western world's role in it, which is about 75% of the total by value. And, of course, long overdue, the speech that coined the phrase Military Industrial Complex.

Turkey


Its more than just delicious with cranberries. Aparently Turkey is also a country in both Europe and the Middle East. Turkey invaded Iraq last Thursday to fight the ethnic Kurdish sepratists. The President has called on Turkey to limit the incursion while Turkish politicians use the Bush administrations selfsame rhetoric to support their own "war on terror." I find Turkey's reaction to Kosovo's declaration of independence interesting in comparison to that of Russia. Russia objected to Kosovo's independence because they are afraid international recognition of such states will only encourage other seperatist regions to break away from their mother countries. Which is supposed to be a reference to Chechnya. Turkey, on the other hand supported Kosovo's independence and recognized them as a country. I wonder what they think of Russia's stated reason of not wanting to encourage break away republics.
The Kurdish north has been the most stable part of Iraq since Bush declared "mission accomplished." Which is why neither the US or Iraq wanted to risk destabalizing the regioin by going in and trying to uproot the PKK. It was also the major reason not to pull US out of Iraq. Or at least I thought it was. The scinario painted by people like Sen. Mccain goes something like this. We leave, and with noone holding them back the Sunni and Shiite extremests begin a full scale civil war. The Kurdish north then takes all their trucks and goes home, declaring independence and the existence of a country called Kurdistan. Then the Kurds in Turkey try to take their land and join with the Kurds of the former Iraq and Turkey begins a massive military invasion of the region. This combined with the unfettered influence of Iran, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia in Iraq throws the whole region into utter chaos.
At least, thats the nightmare situation as I understand it. Now that Turkey has invaded Iraq I find it less compelling to support John McCain as a presidential candidate, since my whole reason to back him has veen prevention of Turkey from crossing that line. Admitedly, that has never been one of the planks in his platform but it was my reason. Without the threat of total middle-eastern bedlam, McCain's pandering to the religious zealots and "conservatives" in his party is thown into stark relief. I still have boatloads of respect for the man who is a war hero, and a senator who has managed to keep his integrity while being pragmatic enough to work in politics for so long. He just is no longer appealing to me as a president. Unfortunately that only leaves Clinton who voted for the war, and Obama who I have heard nothing substantial about, or long shot also-rans who I like but are being ignored by the old media.
Oh, aparently the U.S.S. Cole is still floating

Legitimate Law Enforcement or Uncommon Criminal Behavior?

First, by way of introduction, here is a moving testimonial from a cop who doesn't understand the pharmacology of tetrahydracannabinol. (How many style points does that judge have?)



We've already talked extensively about police corruption and brutality. I would agree that there are law enforcement officers who are more than thugs with badges. Unfortunately for those who would like to have a rosy view of the state of law enforcement in America, there is an abundance of evidence that police officers aren't always the most upstanding citizens. But, also, there is a sense of helplessness in the face of power, demonstrated by the examples of police who are charged with brutality or some other criminal charge, yet are given the equivalent of a vacation with pay.

In this case,(with video) a police officer is caught on the camera of his squad car planting marijuana on a suspect. As the suspect already had a warrant out for his arrest, the additional brutality and charges seem rather spiteful.

In this case,(with video) a family from Hobart, Indiana catches their beating on their front yard surveillance camera. I can't help but wonder what that woman said to the police officer to receive that kind of treatment.

In the trial of the two officers charged with manslaughter in the 50+ bullet shootout that resulted in the death of Sean Bell, there has been some pretty startling testimony. I'm sure that the defense will try to destroy the credibility of the witness on cross examination, but the question remains whether or not officers identified themselves as such before they started shooting.

Of course, there is the question or racial discrimination in the enforcement of laws. In some cases, as is allegedly the case in Seattle, there are allegations that police officers arrest minorities on subjective charges, which will invariably tear communities apart through distrust. In other cases, law enforcement officials cover-up the actions of violent racist extremists, as allegedly is the case in North Carolina, which would appear to be a horrible example of officially legitimated violence against those protesting racism and injustice. As the records in question were allegedly destroyed in 2004 or 5, one has to wonder who is being protected by this?

While it may seem a foregone conclusion that our society must have police officers, it is not necessary that there be police officers who flagrantly violate the law. After all, if those entrusted with enforcing the law have no interest in following the law, why should the rest of us? (+ or -?)

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

The Wisconsin Crazy

In a slight change of pace, the latest Wisconsin Crazy is someone who is relatively well-known. Governor Doyle, after losing support of Democrats in the Wisconsin legislature now expects to pass his economic development proposal despite a $650 million budget shortfall. If municipal bonds were a good investment, this would still be an ill-advised strategy, but with the growing financial crisis and the growing inability for municipal organizations to find financing, this budget can only be described as crazy.

Geopolitics: What Goes Bump in the Night


What is a threat? Is it a lone suicide bomber or a million man army on a hair trigger? The basis for this thought exercise, of course, is the size and quality of one's own forces. The quality and status of the American Armed Forces is beyond the scope of this current exercise, though. Therefore, for our purposes, we will assume that the U.S. is indeed the hyperpower beyond compare. So what is the biggest threat to the national security of the United States?

Pentagon general counsel William J. Haynes II feels not obtaining convictions in the military tribunals of terrorist suspects held in Guantanamo Bay's Camp X-Ray would be a threat to our national security. Former head of the prosecution of these prisoners, Air Force Col. Morris Davis, on the other hand, feels that opaque justice is the only way to see justice done. Even if these men were released today, how much would they still believe in the cause after up to six years of the strictly regimented and austere lifestyle afforded by Camp X-Ray's accommodations. I would be willing to bet that most of them would just go home and try to live out the rest of their lives trying to cope with what they've been through.

While Iraq may not be our 53rd state yet, the presence of 140,000 American troops means that our government throughout our continued presence in country will be forced to consider the security ramifications of a country in the middle of the most dangerous region of the world. So what a twisted web we weave when one of our NATO allies, Turkey, is potentially threatening the viability of the state that we're trying to carve out of the remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime. While the Bush administration characterizes the actions of the Turkish government as being responsible, this escalation will invariably agitate other regional powers, and stoke fears that Turkey seeks to impose its own order over Kurdistan.

Another threat that the Bush Administration is keenly aware of is the potential legal ramifications of the application of the Bush Doctrine. Thus, while Iran is alleged to pose a very real nuclear threat, members of the Coalition of the Willing are meeting to write and produce the 'third strike' resolution against Iran, ala the prequel to the invasion of Iraq. This incident smacks of another leading problem in the administration of the American National Security strategy, the human element of information interpretation. Documents the U.S. is using as the "smoking gun" are, predictably, be denounced as complete forgeries by the Iranian government. Curveball told the administration everything that they needed and wanted to hear about Iraq's illicit weapons programs, the accuracy of this information was criticized at the time by German Intelligence, and later by every other respectable intelligence agency that was worthy of the name. Remember this? Perhaps the thinkers in the Administration aren't creative enough to come up with another method to draw the world into another conflict that will further destabilize the energy infrastructure the world economy relies on. At any rate, there probably will be a third UN Resolution denouncing Iran. The reason for this is that the UN Security Council is about the only organization in the world that can legitimately overrule Iran's right to a peaceful nuclear energy program under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

One of the most dangerous positions in the world, though, is to be without friends. Thus, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the best salesman for the Military Industrial Complex, is touring Asia, and is currently enjoying two days of talks with Indian leaders. While the stalled nuclear deal will only be tangentially discussed, one can be sure that the U.S. Military's involvement in Pakistan and India's recent sea-based missile test will be near the top of the agenda, beneath promoting weapon sales. While military relations may be the goal of this trip, see China's agreement to release information on American POWs, one has to wonder whether this will actually be realized with the white elephant of historical tensions between Pakistan and India in the room. The lingering question, though, is whether the United States can successfully balance punishing Iran for violating the NPT while at the same time rewarding India with a nuclear agreement that will allow it to continue to develop nuclear weapons and delivery platforms.

Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister and presidential candidate, Dmitry Medvedev, warned in a campaign speech that the U.S. is placing Europe in a difficult position by recognizing Kosovo, yet is not taking any of the risk because of the intervening ocean. Given Russia's long term plans for Serbia, expect this issue to remain prickly.

But, of course, everyone knows that killer robots will be the primary threat of the 21st Century.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The Walk Of Shame


Bwa ha ha ha!

The worst part about this is the community that thinks these forced marriages are a great idea.

Money! Corrupting religion? Inconceveable!

Alleged police misconduct. To put it lightly.

Exxon.




Ben Franklin Report: What's That Flushing Noise?


For those who have been watching the Dow Jones since Friday, one might feel a sense of relief as markets appear to be recovering value, but as new data points suggest, the economy has not yet begun to feel the pinch of the financial crisis.

The first two points of data are a double whammy against two of the biggest motives in a capitalist system, the ability of a producer to make a profit and the willingness of the individual to spend money on goods and services. While a 7.4% increase may not seem like much of an increase in the Producer's Price Index, one can be sure that such a trend would lead to inflation above the 1%-2% range preferred by the Fed. However, deteriorating consumer confidence because of a bad job market means that addition spending on the part of the aforementioned consumer will not be spurred by a material increase in wealth but rather will be pried out by higher costs, which means that the increased revenue will be pure stagflation. This is only spurred on further by the third point of data, continued deterioration in the value of housing, which has served as a store of value in the face of a negative savings rate.

The combined effect of these trends in the market mean that the dollar is going to continue losing value, which will be reflected in exchange rates against other currencies, especially the Euro. Unfortunately, for the American citizen, the U.S. Dollar has ceased to be a safe investment vehicle, which is beginning to be reflected in the price of oil. As the dollar loses its value, the basis for the U.S. Dollar's Oil Standard will be eroded. Some of this increase will, of course, be based on speculation, but this is a losing proposition as the infrastructure that supports the movements of our economy might . This, of course, is not a permanent situation, but the painful solution to the crisis is not immediately forthcoming: fiscal conservatism, re-evaluation of oil as an energy source, and stricter regulation of the financial marketplace.

All in all, expect the situation to get worse, and a clear sign will be yearly earnings releases from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Jihad!


You cannot do this to my people! Your insipid behavior is boorish when contained within national boundaries, but becomes a fount of outrage when you export your stupidity and crash YouTube. How dare you attempt to interfere with my entertainment! How dare you impose nationalism on the log cabin! How dare you appeal to the base stupidity that you are attempting to fight!

Because of this, I feel a personal sense of responsibility to post the videos that were supposed to be suppressed. As for why anyone would want this to be suppressed, one can only imagine. As hard as this guy is to listen to, I expect his opponents would want anyone and everyone to listen to Geert's madness. For whatever it's worth, I hope the government of Pakistan is incredibly unhappy. Unfortunately for you, your most fanatical ideological opponents in the West are just as crazy as the extremists that seek to impose an ultraconservative version of Sunni Islam.


Part 1


Part 2

The Child-Man


Not long ago a shrill bitter woman published an op-ed decrying the contemporary propencity of men in their late twentys to delay marriage and career advancement. Many outlets of the old media recognized the inflamitory nature of her insult and decided to piggyback on its ratings generation powers by printing articles like this. (freedom hating British!)

Most responce to the author has been either an attempt to counter the assumptions in the article or to simply disagree with the author or the traditional notions of success. My contention is that her position is immoral.

This is best explained from a Kantian perspective; Hymowitz is treating all western males as means to an end rather than ends in themselves. To use the language of feminism, she is objectifying men. Or to describe my own moral outrage; Hymowitz has no right to declare that I be of use to her.

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Wire Fraud


It just so happens I was working in fraud prevention when this happened. The thing they were doing in the sale of their dick steroids, is something I have observed many companies doing. I will not mention any names because I don't want to get sued. Basically what happens is once they get your financial information for any reason they start charging you for all kinds of crap you never intended to purchase and sending you regular shipments of things you didnt even know they made, or they charge you and never ship the worthless garbage they say you bought.


The company tries to define what they are doing as a monthly subscription or something like that. In the case of enzyte all you have to do is buy one of their other supplements and they start filling out orders you never asked for sending you a months supply of whatever crap you ordered every month and sending you a "sample" of every product in their catalog. One of the main ways they trick you into giving them your credit card information is by offering a free sample that you only have to pay shipping for, then they insist on payment of the shipping cost with a credit card.


This way of behaving once a corporation has your credit card number is not unusual or restricted to companies that sell things that don't really work. Perhaps you have a legitimate subscription service for a monthly entertainment service like movies, internet, cable, or satellite. Any of these companies are likely to continue charging you for services you are not recieving long after you have cancelled your account. Some even stop billing you, wait a few months, then reactivate automated billing without resuming services or informing you. In hard economic times some large and seemingly reputible companies have used this method of raising revenue to enhance their bottom line. Again, mentioning no names, but if you do some research you can find out about some prior federal lawsuits of this nature.


Then once they have your information they are free to charge you for whatever they want and you are unlikely to recover any of that money. When you contact your bank, or usually when they contact you, you will initially talk to an overworked phone jocky who will try to explain the situation to you and try to figure out with you which transactions on your account you did not consent to. Next, you will be transferred to the person who's job it is to say "No." The bank calls them something that leads you to believe its their job to get your money back but reallythey are there to tell you why this fraud is your fault and what obscure federal regulation allows them to deny your claim. Every claim of a fraudulent charge that is maid is filed as an insurance claim by the bank to their insurance company, who also has people whos job is to deny claims. The bottom line they will give you is something like, "you gave them your financial information, so now they can sell you whatever they want."


Sure the product descriptions are intentionally deceptive, and the clause about recurring charges until the end of time are in fine print, and sure all of that might be illegal, but what are you gonna do? Sue?

Friday, February 22, 2008

The Friday Bacon



I for one am sick of these constant bear attacks!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Ka-Blammo!


Why would we blow up our own satelite that we had put in orbit recently?
Why would the military deny they were blowing up a spy satelite to protect its secrets?
Why hasn't anyone mentioned Missile Defense until the exercise was over?

In deference to the prior post about not being conspiracy minded I want to say that I believe that the military has our best interest at heart with everything they do. Every soldier I have ever known has an intense sense of duty to American civilians, the American people, and to America itself.

Perhaps I am too cynical but these were all thoughts I had within 30 seconds of hearing the first news blurb on the malfunction of the satelite. I just think this kind of situation generates wild speculation from the people and requires acknowledgement of the most obvious assumptions and honest discussion from a legitimate representative of the military. That would at least begin building a trust among the more cynical American citizens like myself.
Now for a serious question; how many of our tax dollars were waisted in this fiasco?

A Strange Night


As fodder for conspiratorially-minded people, I offer Exhibits A, B, and C.

A: The Picture. On the Night of the Full Lunar Eclipse, this blog had received 666 visits, for a bounce rate of 66.67%.

B: Democracy seems to have failed in Pakistan, as the opposition might not have enough votes to oust Musharraf.

C. I'm still blogging at god awful early.

In conclusion, what does this prove? Nothing. People who argue this way are counterproductive to the betterment of mankind.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

The Lunar Eclipse Of Blood


Tonight across the northern hemisphere the glorious light of the full moon was briefly occluded by the umbra of the earth. Red light, like the menstrual blood of a celestial goddess, flowed down on us and bedlam broke loose. For two hours, in two cities, the only sound the two authors of this post heard were the sirens of first responders scrambling madly to the next emergency. Wondering to themselves if this were really a Wednesday night. Then silence. The snow no longer reflecting the red power of that celestial orb. The darkness had passed and all that remains is the bright, familiar face of the moon. Her light, no longer simply taken for granted, but ignored as useless. - Th'Dave


It's not often that there happens to be a full lunar eclipse. Somewhat less often, a superpower escalates a potentially dangerous situation involving more sophisticated weapons and a new generation of warfare. In case you were outside enjoying the eclipse and weren't glued to the TV, at 9:30 PM Central Standard Time, right about the time white rabbit peaked, the Lake Erie, an American Aegis-class destroyer shot down that satellite, despite warnings from Russia and China about escalating a new race to weaponize and control space. Not really space, mind you, rather those behind this weapons test with a very small tolerance for error would like to move strategic thinking into the orbits around our beloved Mother Earth. I don't watch TV, but the article above seems pretty media polished, so expect the mainstream news media to pick up this wonderfully nationalistic gem of a story in short order.

As an American citizen and a veteran, I understand the rationale behind developing weaponry and doctrine for future conflicts, but nothing happens in a vacuum. When the Chinese Military shot down an aging weather satellite and didn't announce it, the world was supposed to be incensed that there was an ulterior motive behind it, and more it seemingly was reflective of cold war thinking. However, other than press conference, the differences seem superficial. If nothing else, the rest of the world could easily interpret the move as standard 'tit for tat' testing, reminiscent of the Cold War. News at 7!

Perhaps the worst part of this entire episode, is that the military has demonstrated its ability to intercept objects moving just about a hair's breadth above the earth's atmosphere, moving at 17,000 miles per hour. Which are the operational requirements of the missile defense system, so also look to say that we should invest more in this pointless weaponizing of space against terrestrial threats. But those tens of seconds are very hard to replicate.

Surely, the apocalypse is nigh! (I hate arguing for him, but it would seem that Bill was taken out of context here.) - TheRedKap

An Insider's Look


Chez Pazienza, now a blogger for Huffington Post, writes about his job experience at CNN, how they fired him for his opinions, and offers a behind the scenes look into the daily operations of CNN's newsroom. As one might expect it doesn't take a genius to figure out where the problem lies. As Mr. Pazienza says himself, "I watched my bosses literally stand in the middle of the newsroom and ask, 'What can we do to not lead with Iraq?' -- the reason being that Iraq, although an important story, wasn't always a surefire ratings draw. I was asked to complete self-evaluations which pressed me to describe the ways in which I'd 'increased shareholder value.'"

Let's see if his stance is as popular and as powerful as he believes. Sure, the bloggers of the world outnumber those in the traditional mainstream media news industry, however these bloggers are also, for the most part, apathetic and ignored by the powers that be, a form of institutional resistance to the new trend towards micro economies. Sure, an army of people, armed with laptops and vitriolic opinion are a force to be reckoned with here in this new information sphere that is undergoing continual evolution as users continuously provide new content and context, but they have not overcome spatial issues. For instance, there is no actual demonstration of power that would come from all of the bloggers who are passionate about a particular issue, such as voting reform, march together for their beliefs. Unfortunately, the real world gets in the way all too often, as the numerous qualified, intelligent bloggers have more to lose than gain by participating in such a demonstration.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Ben Franklin Report: Lists Abound


Because businessmen love lists, here is a list of some of the important stories surrounding the ongoing financial crisis.

  • 12 Steps to keep Ben Bernanke awake at night.
  • As inflation looks more and more probable, the price of oil jumps to a new record high of $100.10, and, of course, the markets react.
  • With U.S. Treasuries already near historic lows, analysts are seeing a market at near capacity as the government is forced to sell off billions more in deficit spending. While central banks with large inventories of treasuries and such securities should be the most nervous, every American citizen should probably share their concern.
  • The Fed's new Term Auction Facility, created to help inject liquidity into the banking system has been extensively used, to the tune of $50 billion. The only problem is that the collateral behind these short-term, one month loans is collateral that wouldn't be accepted by other parties.
  • The credit crunch is threatening to bury Boston's "Big Dig."
  • Credit default swaps, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, now measure more than the amount of U.S. Treasuries outstanding.
  • Credit Suisse's CDO headache

Sunday, February 17, 2008

The Wisconsin Crazy


This is a unique type of crazy, the type that chooses to antagonize authority figures. I think the worst part of the whole tragedy is that he seems at least marginally more competent than our intelligence services.

A Tropical Vacation


The recent firestorm of controversy surrounding the forthcoming trials of six inmates has forced the mainstream media to consider the military commissions system, as established by the Military Commissions Act. The disparity between the rights enjoyed by defendants in our domestic criminal legal system and those enjoyed by those tried before a military commission are incredible. Arbitrarily, the president of a commission can cloak the proceedings of a trial in national secrecy, beyond the purview of those accused. Moreover, the rules about what evidence is admissible is also more favorable to the prosecution, as statements made under duress, as in made while being tortured, are admissible as evidence. Unfortunately for the unfortunate souls subject to this system and the American people, said evidence will probably be classified. Here is an amusing response from the fashion community to the system.

On the other hand, if the information no longer exists, then there is no need to bother with the bureaucratic wrangling required to classify thousands upon thousands of hours of operations within the detainee detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, encompassing everything from the routine to the interrogations. All of them. As one might imagine, there are some lawyers and a judge that are justifiably upset. Unfortunately, the judge's question seems worded in such a way as to prevent any sort of burden being placed on the Bush Administration. In addition to receiving an extension on a previous deadline, administration officials only have to reveal whether or not the information destroyed was pertinent to the trial of Hani Abdullah, who is before him. If the Administration is bold enough to claim that the life and times of each and every individual in the facility for the entire time they were at the facility would definitely be pertinent to any trial, if for no other reason than to evaluate the statements made during the interrogation process, our constitutional checks and balances, specifically the checks of the judiciary over the executive, will be further eroded, if not made entirely irrelevant. The aforementioned trial was already made more complicated by Mr. Abdullah's attorneys' allegations that their client's personal effects were seized by the government, in violation of attorney privilege. For some additional reading, try the Executive Order outlining the form and procedure of the Military Commissions or the Executive Order outlining the ways in which the United States will cooperate with Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.

If one follows the most recent rhetoric in the daily White House press feeds regarding Guantanamo Bay and its status, such as June 22, 2007 and Feb. 11, 2008, Ms. Perino says that the Government is working on closing the facility and return the detainees to their home country or other third country. As one might expect, however, there are a few conditions, namely that the detainees have to be held in whatever country they are released to. Why would this matter? Well, if Country X feels that citizen John McY was wrongly imprisoned by Country Y, X might go to the UNSC, b/c pbiab.

For fun, try to come up with other activities that fit the definition of torture according to the U.S. Code and put it in a comment. And, also, a tangentially related article that details the career of the first commander of Guantanamo Bay and his later career in Iraq.

Oh, and the Cuban government wants Guantanamo Bay back to end its role in the War on Terror.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

The Walk of Shame


Thats right, two walk of shame columns in one weekend! By the decree of the Invisible pink unicorn. Another school board, motivated by the public opinion of ignorant savages, trys to plant the seed of doubt about evolution in the minds of the children they are supposed to be educating. Remember, the people pushing creationism on schools believe they are fighting a war. They may seem like crazy hillbillys to rational people, but they are willing to kill and die to spread their ignorance and hate.




This is more fuel for the argument that K-12 education is really just federally funded babysitting. Coupled with the blind hope that some of the little crotchfruits will be active participants and the society on the whole will reap the benefit of a few productive workers. I really wonder about what effect Ron Paul style, privitized education would have on America. Does anyone else hear Pink Floyd's "The Wall" playing?

The Walk of Shame


The old media continues to refer to this story in the terms most favorible to the Bush administration. I (and some former intellegence experts) want to point out some misconceptions that seem to be floating around. First, FISA already gives the president authority to listen to the phone conversations of any terrorism suspect. Its a legal, judge approved warrant, and the backlog is a myth. Second, if the warrentless wiretapping provision expires tomorrow, the wiretapps that are already in place under that law, get to stay in place for up to a year.


If President Bush already has everything he says he needs to protect us then what is in this bill he isn't talking about, and why would he want it passed? At the very least what Bush, the cowards in the Senate, and the business community want is a policy statement that it OK for a company to break the law and violate the rights of innocent American citizens as long as someone in the government asks. I may have misunderstood but I thought the reason Fred Thompson wanted Nixon impeached was because Nixon thought the President was above the law.

Don't Make Scalia Have To Smack A Bitch


This article redacts out, the specifics of Justice Scalia's comments that lead one to believe he has been watching too much 24. I want to point out the practical legal significance of the "two questions" that Justice Scalia says are the only two that remain. Once you say that torture
is acceptable, something Justice Scalia said is common sense, the only questions that remain are, when and how much.

The nature of the U.S. legal system makes coming up with answers to those questions a scary concept because our laws are not written in stone, but are subject to interpretation, and alteration. If you set answers to those questions in U.S. law those answers now become mutable. Justice Scalia's comments paint a mental image if backhanding a beligerant and dangerous terrorist mastermind mere hours or minutes before a devistating terrorist attack is executed. Light force + immidiate, credible, threat. What we already have is water boarding, sleep deprivation, and torture with dogs in the complete absence of any threat, or where the threat has already passed. With this as a starting point, a moveable line of what is acceptable becomes much more threatning to the sense of justice. Who are you to say thumbscrews and electrocution are inappropriate?

What defines an imminent threat is already a question that is litigated heavily in the U.S. in regular criminal cases. Frequently, just getting caught actually ends the threat a potentially dangerous person poses.

How does one know the person being tortured is guilty of terrorism or even knows anything of value? We have seen the intelligence community fail repeatedly in the last seven years. 9/11 was a failure of intelligence of colossal magnitute and consequence. Are we really to trust these people to make the judgement call about who it is appropriate to torture?

This is another question that, once the line is defined, becomes moveable. We are already torturnig people in Guantinamo under suspicion of terrorism or outsorcing it through extraordinary rendition. I point to the case of Maher Arar as an example of an innocent person that was apprehended under an unfounded suspicion of terrorism and tortured. It is not as if this argument for torture is being made in an academic setting, innocent people are being grabbed off the streets by the very people that are asking for the authority to torture them. The point is, people are being, and will be tortured before it is determined they are guilty of anything. Any law allowing for torture is merely a way for those who have already used torture to escape justice. Even if the defined as acceptable only in the scenario Justice Scalia proposes, its not too far a leap for local police agencys who have, say abused someone in their custody, or crooked cops who torture suspects to use a torture law to defend themselves in court.

Friday, February 15, 2008

The Friday Bacon






Ben Franklin Report: Time to Testify


Eliot Spitzer, the Governor of New York, yesterday weighed in on the ongoing financial crisis, with the unique perspective of one who was attempting to halt predatory lending practices before they were allowed to become the problems that we are seeing unfold today. The obscure bureaucracy, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (wiki), appears to have played a key administrative role in allowing this crisis to involve much more capital than would have otherwise been possible. As black has become white and white black, the Bush Administration has seemingly turned a bureaucracy dedicated to providing a degree of confidence in our banking system and protecting consumers, has become a tool for financial profiteering. Comptroller Dugan has this to say in response to the Governor's allegations, essentially pointing the finger of blame back at the states and arguing that the worst abuses came from institutions that do not fall under the purview of the OCC. Is this, perhaps, the next scandal to emerge from the Bush Administration?

In other news, Freddie Mac has announced plans to ease the financial liability of of its private mortgate partners. At issue is the liabilities said partners are burdened with incidental to the protection afforded by the mortgage agency. In tandem with this, the stimulus proudly signed by Bush into law the day before yesterday, increases the maximum value of a mortgage that the twins Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae may take onto their books, up to a maximum of $729,750. These two actions, in different ways, accomplish the same financial objective: to shield the private investors from the risk that they themselves took on by means of regulated governmental entities, which will inevitably mean that the taxpayer or, more likely, the purchasers of U.S. Treasuries will be stuck with the consequences of the ballooning crisis. Of particular note to the Presidential Election, some of the markets that would fall into the category to receive the largest margin of protection are in New York and California.

MBIA, Inc. executive said in Congressional testimony that they are in a position to withstand the financial crisis and no new regulation is required. The other contender for who rejected Warren Buffet's offer, FGIC Corp. announced intentions to be split up into two separate corporations, one for municipal bond insurance and another for the subprime mortgage liabilities, to cope with a new rating from Moody's at below investment grade.

On the legal front, the SEC is looking at revising financial transparency in response to more than three dozen investigations underway by the agency. The FBI is investigating a total of 16 corporations for fraud in relation to the financial crisis. I'm sure that this type of indeterminate liability will weigh heavily on the minds of investors who are desperately needed to provide all-important capital. The latest figure, produced by an analyst at UBS, forecasts the potential loss resulting from the ongoing financial crisis at $203 billion, which is likely to go up as other sectors of the credit market and municipalities become less safe investment choices.

This news, of course, makes Ben Bernanke's assurances of adequate insurance from risk sound like a flight of fancy. In light of Bernanke's precarious position, one must look to figures that measure confidence in U.S. monetary policy, like foreign exchange rates (Updated Dollar-Euro Exchange Rates). Considering the fall in the dollar in response to the Fed Chairman's comments, it would appear that the investment community does not share his opinions on the long-term outlook for the greenback. Considering his acknowledged position as the foremost authority in central banking, one might ask if Ben Bernanke is second guessing the Fed's dovish rate policy with the European Central Bank taking a more hawkish policy, keeping interest rates above 4%.

Below, is Bernanke's testimony yesterday, a song inspired by the Fed Chairman, and hot video from Reuters. Enjoy!





Thursday, February 14, 2008

How Much Stress is Too Much?

With all due respect for our appointed public officials, whatever else you may say about them, their job is undoubtedly stressful. Sure. But, how much of an excuse is this in the face of almost naked hostility displayed by Condoleeza Rice in responding to questions from Rep. Robert Wexler (FL-19)? (Impeachment petition)

National Single's Awareness Day

Unintelligible Intelligence


Somewhere, deep in the labyrinthine catacombs that are the U.S. Intelligence Community, someone doing some red force thinking had a sudden, horrible revelation: women who appear pregnant have the perfect cargo carrying capacity that is seemingly above search. Who really wants to grope a pregnant woman to see if she really is with child? Combined with the fact that organizations have used women in the past to serve as suicide bombers, and the threat, perhaps borne of someone's dissatisfaction with their childhood, was solidified, at least in someone's mind. Thus, the word was spread all across the land, pregnant women are a threat and should be treated as hostile. As with most of the warnings since 9/11, this, too, springs forth from the fearmongering tendencies of the mainstream media. The way to be sure of this is the final paragraph of the aforelinked article, italics added for emphasis:

Authorities say there is "no specific, credible intelligence" that says terrorists are planning to use women and suicide bombers to attack, but the warning was sent to agencies across the country in the wake of recent attacks overseas.


There is no factual substance to this claim, and thus should not be regarded as credible. But, before I go into some of the threats as seen by the U.S. intelligence community, here is an article from Fox News' Mike Baker, who tries to crawl into Osama bin Laden's head and do some red force thinking of his own, and ultimately revealing his own prejudices. I can only hope that those who get paid to do this type of analysis work aren't as simplistic and biased. I like the line where he tries to take credit for being the first to use the complexity of snowflakes in a metaphor for unconventional threats.

This same intelligence community has also recently thought, or perhaps hoped, that bin Laden is dead, judging from a lack of temporal context from his last two videos. Also, the organization whose Director for Analysis went before the House Armed Services Committee and, making a political statement, said that Iran still possesses the technological and industrial infrastructure necessary to acquire a nuclear weapon. A community which exports its fearmongering to those who are notionally our allies, in order to adjust foreign policies, the most recent example of this being India. Mike McConnell, who as the National Director of Intelligence serves as the leader for the community, for instance, frames the threat posed by a newly re-invigorated Russia in terms of control over sources of energy. For an example of how the community is acting beyond the boundaries of the United States, one need only remember the extraordinary rendition program, or for a more timely example, the apparent assassination by car bomb of Hezbollah leader Imad Mughnieh in Damascus. Considering his position on the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted List, it is not hard to imagine the U.S. Intelligence Community having taken an active interest in Mr. Mughnieh's health.


In conclusion, it would appear that the public product is half cocked fear mongering. Thus, Bush admonishing House lawmakers to approve expanded surveillance powers for this intelligence community is fundamentally flawed. Considering that they can't use the tools they already have to produce anything of any value, any expansion of said powers should be laughed out of the Congress. Also, considering the role of intelligence in the run up to the War in Iraq, the new intelligence offered to the IAEA and the international community.

For some additional flavor, mix in a look at how Defense Secretary Robert Gates' long involvement with the U.S. intelligence community and how it is influencing his strategy in the War on Terror and satellite sleuths seeking secrets.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Ben Franklin Report: Looking For a Knight in Shining Armor


With the subprime crisis beginning to spread to other parts of the credit market, economists are bearish to the point of betting on a recession for 2008. Of course, those who enjoyed the party are very unwilling to pay the tab. Thankfully for them, Warren Buffet isn't willing to allow the entire municipal bond market to implode, out of the goodness of his heart and the potential metaphysical ramifications. Just kidding.

"When I go to St. Peter, I will not present this as some act that should entitle me to get in," [Warren Buffet] said. "We're doing this to make money."


Some feel as though this is a poison pill to the companies that have received the offer. Ambac and another undisclosed company, either MBIA Inc. or FGIC Corp. (any guesses on which one?), has already rejected Buffet's offer. Here is a look at some of the other ideas being sent around the financial industry aiming at rescuing a bond market which is faltering to the tune of $6 Billion as of yesterday, by the way. The market responded by retreating to the Treasury market, pushing the yield down half a percentage point. And the greenback fell against the Yen in Asia on credit worries.

Another reporter for Reuters, John Parry, suggests that the United States government might be forced to enter the market to stabilize it in the event of a depression. Of course, he admits that it would have to be financed in the form of new government debt based on more tax cuts, but he doesn't admit that it would serve as a kind of bailout for the corporate interests who have made so much money up to this point on strange new financial instruments, like CDOs. Investors should be more careful in considering how they allot their money. There is no reasthe government should protect those who wanted to make a quick buck

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Republicrats: Another Nail in the Coffin


As some of you might have heard, the amendments to the FISA regulations, which also includes telecom immunity, has passed through the Senate. As the article mentions, there were 19 Democratic Senators who voted in favor of the legislation, along the lines of security before freedom or something like that.

Here is a list of the Senators who have voted to uphold the Bush administration's priorities, to twist the truth, to become Republicrats.

  • Baucus (MT)
  • Bayh (IN)
  • Carper (DE)
  • Casey (PA)
  • Conrad (ND)
  • Inouye (HI)
  • Johnson (SD)
  • Kohl (WI)
  • Landrieu (LA)
  • Lincoln (AR)
  • McCaskill (MO)
  • Mikulski (MD)
  • Nelson (FL)
  • Nelson (NE)
  • Rockefeller (WV)
  • Salazar (CO)
  • Webb (VA)
  • Whitehouse (RI)




GAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


There is no curse loud or profane enough to hurl at the senators who voted to give immunity to the telecom industry. All this does is encourage companies to break the law whenever the government asks them to. It makes the rule of law waivable at the whim of the president. If the alagations against the telecom companies are true, then we all have been harmed. Even law abiding people have secrets that should be kept and respected. Even criminals deserve privacy. Privacy is a human right that is not granted by governments or agencys, we are imbued with that right by our creator and the purpose of government is to protect our rights.
The Democrats roll over, fail to understand why they won last election, and approval ratings continue to fall.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Whats The Point?

This is what happens when you have theocratic elements in your government. An important fact to understand this story better; the Archbishop of Canturberry has a seat in parliment.

Friday, February 08, 2008

Ben Franklin Report: Where Did My House Go?


As anecdotal evidence of the ongoing financial crisis, the foreclosure rate in Wisconsin jumped in the past month to a new record high! As with other states, the urban areas are being hit the hardest, with Milwaukee County leading the state in the number of newly empty properties.

As for hard statistical evidence, I present the Rental Vacancy Rates, as compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau. There's a lot to be said for this table, but one of the most important notes regards the rent of a 1-unit structure, which actually decreased if one uses the value of a 2007 Dollar. One potential lesson from this is that the dollar didn't actually increase in purchasing power during 2007, in fact it lost such power. When prices increase in this fashion, it is almost certain to be indicative of inflationary growth, as in the growth derived not from any improvement in quality of product or innovative economic organization, but rather from aggregate forces which are reducing the power of the greenback. I believe this phenomenon might be called stagflation. The changes in vacancy rates do not appear to be statistically significant, other than perhaps a slight trending in shorter vacancy times. Which can only be taken as good news, despite the problems that foreclosure causes renters.

Amazingly, the search volume for 'foreclosure' has jumped by double in the past year, and the Internet, in an example of supply meeting demand, has come through with a plethora of sites designed to provide consumers information on foreclosure actions.

On the reverse side, most homeowners are not fully aware of their options when faced with foreclosure, according to Freddie Mac. Thus, many fall easy prey to scams like this one.

The Friday Bacon


Thursday, February 07, 2008

Genital Mutilation

Court battles are being fought to end the heinous practice of carving up the dicks of baby's for aesthetic purposes. Unfortunately as long as stories like this are relegated to "odd news" little progress will be made. I ask you again, where is the outrage? How can we as a society allow unnecessary surgery that is intended to cripple people's sexual function. What insane justification can be the basis of this practice? The answer is the label for this post.

The Wisconsin Crazy


Its been awhile since we have had a Wisconsin crazy story. This one is about a crazy cat lady that was actually an old man. Apparently he takes in one or two strays and they breed in his house and every couple of years the local animal shelter comes and takes the cats away. My favorite quote, "We were happy to get 26," she said. "We thought it was going to be closer to 40."


Wednesday, February 06, 2008

The Walk of Shame


The Germans have a word for when one enjoys the shame of others. Can't think of what that word is though. Anyway here is another story about an evangilitical gay hater who is gay.


Also, don't just do an image search for "gay." Unless you want to see lots of bald men with cock in their mouths.

The Warm Glow of Freedom


Basking like with a last cigarette in the results of the Super Tuesday elections, one cant help but wonder if America really does have the best form of democracy in the world. First, of course, a definition of democracy.

The New York Times Editorial Board today posited on the reasons it would seem that American democracy is failing, or seems to be at any rate. According to the esteemed editors, democracy works best when it unites people by the party, and the problem is further complicated by the piles of money thrown at the candidates by interested parties. The Washington Post editorial today read like a recap of an insider's view, and pardon me for saying this if you find it offensive, but isn't it somewhat racist to cast entire demographies of American society in wide brush strokes? Casting the results as though all Hispanic voters favored Hillary Clinton, along with women, is rather disingenuous, overlooking the effects of class and the factors surrounding electoral participation. And, even though white voters might have a problem voting for a black man, Obama showed strongly in the South. Perhaps those who have been broadly cast as racists are looking for a change not offered by someone who is also seen as being from south of the Mason-Dixon. Or, perhaps, because of the unexpectedly high voter turnout in the primary, the traditional mainstream news media is unable to fully appreciate the results, or how they may have been distorted due to the procedural complications of our voting process.

Problems caused by overparticipation in the caucuses, which are themselves already undemocratic in structure, has reported caused problems across most of the country, as voter turnout was almost uniformly higher than projected by election officials. In states such as Kansas, Idaho, New Mexico, Colorado, and California all suffered from the problems related to the swell of voter participation, the ugly underside of democracy, voter disenfranchisement. Of course, it's easy for some pundits to say that the modern American election is more about individual, disparate districts begging for the attention of the candidates than any informative and substantive debate. However, considering the amount of popular participation in the primary elections, the U.S. is going to have some serious problems come November. In England, one observer asks if our system is the best, or the best that we can pay for. As one would expect, the comments are the best part of this article. To which, I can most simply respond that American's two party system doesn't properly reflect the policy aims of the American public, and probably wouldn't fit most definitions of democracy. That being said, here is the latest delegate count, according to CNN, not the distorting effect of the undemocratic Superdelegates in the Democratic race. Also, what good would this discussion be without being able to make fun of some polling data?

In Africa, always a target for those who criticize national governments on their lack of transparency and democratic institutions, the targets have somewhat changed. Tunji Ajibade, publishing from Abuja, frames the recent electoral violence in Kenya in the larger failing of democracy on the African continent and has some sharp words for hesitant British diplomats and their notions of development. Another darling of the West, South Africa, is faced with its own crisis in democracy, with the power of the state having come to reside in the hands of a single party, the African National Congress. One author criticizes the current system, and asks, "What next?" Other new darlings of the West, the Gambia, the DRC, and Ethiopia are also targets for abuse as what were essentially undemocratic elections yielded despots who, with the blessing of their aid donors, are ruthlessly enforcing their will over civil society and journalists.

In Afghanistan, whatever advances that have been made in democracy since the U.S. invasion seem to be quickly fading, as the Taliban continues to fight in the southern areas of the country. Meanwhile, the NATO countries are becoming increasingly frustrated in the varying levels of participation in the force responsible for bringing freedom and stability.

Here is a grim reminder of the dangers of flawed democracy, in which a small minority of a country was able to determine the fortunes and fates of the rest.

Now, for the election coverage!





Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Cleveland, Ohio: Terrible American City Or The Worst American City?


These posts usually start out in the same way. There was weather and the poor quality of Cleveland's infrastructure turned a windy day into a catastrophe. Residents of north east Ohio faced the usual 18 hour power outages after any kind of weather comes through. More significantly a train was thrown from a bridge into lake Erie.

That was last week. While in China they have been experiencing crippling winter weather for two weeks bringing the country to a standstill. The poor infrastructure and inability to deal with this much snow has caused massive transportation interruptions which in turn has caused price of produce to double in some places and has caused many people to go without power since they cant get the fuel to the power plants. At least Hu Jintao acts like a leader in this kind of situation by responding immediately, going to the places affected, and activating emergency response so that a disaster does not get worse.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PEK261760.htm

This week in Cleveland the temperature has been 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit and there have been scattered showers. Which in Cleveland is weather of catastrophic proportions accompanied by flash flooding, and power outages.

http://www.wunderground.com/US/OH/Cleveland.html#WAT