muleboy channels his inner PJ (O'Rourke) whilst wearing PJ's ironically

just how one wears pajamas ironically i am not certain :)



there they are, all on the Internet now. scores, hundreds, thousands, millions of them, of every kind imaginable. one could not possibly sift through all to find "the one". some things must be left to the gods of proximity and timing.

some are young, some older, some brashy and bold, others quaint or demur. some with dozens of pictures accompanying, others only a few. many are grinning at you seductively, while a few scowl as if to dare you to look further. many look forlorn, as if they've long ago seen their best days, yet you ask yourself, perhaps they just need some tender loving care? all of them right there on the Internet, page after page of them, so you don't even have to get in your car anymore and drive to different places, spending hours, to look at them. countless websites are devoted to them, searchable in every locality.

and when you see all those pictures, you can't help but imagine yourself with them, most for less than the time it takes to click or scroll past, others intrigue and beckon you to linger and read the text. sometimes you find yourself returning to that page again, or bookmarking it for later. and the many different kinds each bring out another varied aspect of your own personality, charging you to decide which part you wish to present to the public.

you wonder what it would be like to have each one of them, for them to be all yours. to be inside of them. how would they smell? how would they feel? how would they sound? how they would respond under your command? would they be forgiving of your mistakes and rewarding of your guidance, whether it be gentle or aggressive? or would they punish you harshly for any and every little error you make?

and if you make the commitment, will they change on you? will they still be as exciting a year from now as they were when you first saw them? will they last, be consistent, dependable? or will they be yet another one way trip to heartaches and headaches, emotional and financial?

pray tell what will your friends and family think when they see you with the one you've chosen? will they be envious, proud, happy for you, or worry that you've gotten in over your head again?

alas, after enough time and experience, you will find one that compels you to act, to make contact to introduce yourself and to inquire. only to learn that someone else has already grabbed them up. and you wonder if that was "the one" as you move on to search another and another. until the memory fades and is replaced by the sheer volume or another "one" that dazzles.

such are the perks and perils of surfing through thousands of pictures on the Internet in the quest for that "perfect"... car !!!

stephenhsmith 7Jun2009

......

to paraphrase another George (Orwell) "hormones have always been at war with reason"

and this classic scene from "It's a Wonderful Life" is freighted with it


......

Darach Ó Catháin

......

i am aware, herr oberst

......

the gospel of Mark

"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it" - Mark Twain

me too Mark, me too. all day, every damned day. for every time i am convinced it is one, i read something that suggests the other, and the whole process starts again.

mo Mark
......

the reflex

for lyrics >


"The Reflex"

"You've gone too far this time"
But I'm dancing on the valentine
I tell you somebody's fooling around
With my chances on the dangerline
I'll cross that bridge when I find it
Another day to make my stand
High time is no time for deciding
If I should find a helping hand

[CHORUS]
So why don't you use it?
Try not to bruise it
Buy time don't lose it
The reflex is an only child he's waiting in the park
The reflex is in charge of finding treasure in the dark
And watching over lucky clover isn't that bizarre
Every little thing the reflex does
Leaves you answered with a question mark

I'm on a ride and I want to get off
But they won't slow down the roundabout
I sold the Renoir and the TV set
Don't want to be around when this gets out

[CHORUS]

Oh the reflex what a game he's hiding all the cards
The reflex is in charge of finding treasure in the dark
And watching over lucky clover isn't that bizarre
Evey little thing the reflex does
Leaves you answered with a question mark

......

luckovich salutes muleboy : )

on 3 March no less (3.03 : )
......

......

Happy Birthday Mik

hang around awhile would ya ?

(we may need you again)

Mikhail Gorbachev



......

mose and addie $200

......

remember the Alamo

'twas just half a lifetime ago
one day at the Alamo
i took this photograph
we were pondering the past
and how it moves so fast
yet it still makes me laugh

for life is ever bittersweet
all the pictures incomplete
for so much is still yet unseen
but in making time to think
what you miss if you dare blink
blink twice, and now you are 16

a time for opening of doors
plain to see the future's yours
to make of it what you will make it be
allow me, 'fore more years are through
to say i love, and i thank you
for everything that you have done for me

you're my music and my song
all i wanted for so long
a symphony of giggles, laughs, and hollers
yet there are more notes to play
and one last thing that i must say
just a reminder: i still owe you $200

......

Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band 21Sept1978

......

speaking of plasma

timeagan.com
(cool name too)
......

"you might say that innocence is my only crime" : )

......

friday night lights (out)

4 more Banks closed today
(13 this year... on Friday the 13th)

and at the cinema? "The Internationale" : )

click on links to

......

"Is it SAFE ?"

Sam Zell’s Empire, Underwater in a Big Way

click on link to

......

Justice Clinton

normally the words "Justice" and "Clinton" would not belong in the same sentence (pardon the pun) unless subpeonas and/or autopsies were involved, but being Friday the 13th, it seems like the proper moment to ponder ominously

the video above went viral this week, in the wake of Biden's overseas trip and speech on US Foreign policy and Holbrooke's trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan (plus learning of Kissinger's meeting the Russians last December)

yet Secretary of State Clinton has not ventured beyond US shores. but Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg did have emergency cancer surgery.

all of which combines to make me think that the foundation for nominating Hillary Clinton to the US Supreme Court this summer is being laid. after all, the Senate voted 94-2 to confirm her for SoS, thus dubbing the conflict of interest questions of Bill's 'charity' foundation's contributions "irrelevant" (in the minds of the Beltway cognescenti)

a lifetime job (good for probably at least 20 years at her age, maybe 30),including never having to run for office again
accountable to no one, de facto Chief Justice in a few more years, after 3 or 4 Obama appointments. a liberal version of Scalia (including numerous public speaking engagements with massive hurrahs, and writing most majority opinions), only having to bully/persuade 4 other human beings into doing it her way. plus a 'blind trust' enhances Bill's foundation's prospects and secrecy, and clears a path for Chelsea's electoral future. (at Caroline Kennedy's expense)

i would think it Hillary's dream job.
......

ABE (Honestly)

the more you read, the more you want to read, so



A 'Lincoln Scholar' Comes Clean by Thomas J. DiLorenzo


Historian William Marvel is a past winner of the Lincoln Prize and the Douglas Southall Freeman Award for his scholarship. The author of Lee’s Last Retreat, Andersonville, and A Place Called Appomattox is described by the renowned Steven Sears as "The Civil War’s master historical detective." He is also unique among all the "Lincoln scholars" who I have read in that his books do NOT read like defense briefs in The War Crimes Trial of Abraham Lincoln, filled with hundreds of bizarre rationalizations for every odious or barbaric act. Instead, they read like they are written by a man searching for historical truth.

Marvel’s 2006 book, Mr. Lincoln Goes to War, says this on the inside cover: "Marvel leads the reader inexorably to the conclusion that Lincoln not only missed opportunities to avoid war but actually fanned the flames – and often acted quite unconstitutionally in prosecuting the war once it had begun." This is obviously not how to win another "Lincoln Prize."

The book is about Lincoln’s entire first year in office. It accurately portrays Lincoln’s henchman William Seward not as some Great Statesman but as "a coward & a sneak." Marvel does not hide the fact, as most other Lincoln "scholars" do, that Seward, on Lincoln’s instructions, orchestrated the passing through the U.S. Senate of a "constitutional amendment specifically prohibiting congressional interference with slavery" in the South. The Amendment, known as the Corwin Amendment, did pass the House and Senate before Lincoln’s inauguration. In his first inaugural address Lincoln explicitly pledged his support for the amendment. In that speech Lincoln also said that there need be "no bloodshed" unless a state refused to pay the tariff tax, which had just been doubled (the Morrill Tariff) two days before Lincoln’s inauguration. Since the Southern states that had seceded had no intention of paying taxes to the U.S. government any more than they intended to pay them to the British government, this was an explicit threat of war over tax collection.

Unlike all other Lincoln "scholars" who simply ignore this fact, preferring to dwell instead on atheistic Abe’s flaky religious rhetoric, Marvel states the truth: "Lincoln’s address drew [an] ominous reaction across the South. Moderate newspapers strained for hopeful interpretations, but the Richmond Dispatch read it as a declaration of war because of the implied threat of coercion." South Carolinians "translated Lincoln’s denial of the right of secession [in the speech] and his refusal to yield federal facilities [which the South offered to pay for] as a solemn promise to subjugate the Confederacy."

Another fact that Marvel, unlike all other Lincoln "scholars," does not shy away from is the fact that there was overwhelming support in the North in early 1861 for peaceful secession. He quotes newspapers in New York, Washington, Illinois, Delaware, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere as saying so. He also notes that there was a strong movement to form a "central Confederacy" involving New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey (See The Secession Movement in the Middle Statesby William C. Wright). All of this shows that most Americans, unlike Dishonest Abe, understood that the union was voluntary and not held together by the threat of mass murder, looting, pillaging, plundering, and the burning of entire cities.

Lincoln’s decision to incite a war had nothing to do with freeing slaves, writes Marvel. "[H]e gambled [by resupplying Fort Sumter] on provoking a war to assure the dominance of federal authority." Marvel also understands that the real Lincoln was no Great Statesman but a most ordinary, Illinois machine politician who had maneuvered himself into the White House where he fully intended to continue his machine politician’s ways. "The president interested himself in the most minor patronage of his cabinet members, annoying his attorney general by interfering even in the assignment of federal marshals." He was an early day Governor Blagojevich, in other words, a "pay or play" politician.

Lincoln’s objective at Fort Sumter, writes Marvel, was to "launch a patriotic frenzy" in the North as a prelude to waging total war on his own country. The "frenzy" was not exactly spontaneous, and not as "patriotic" as the Lincoln "scholars" contend. The Republican Party orchestrated mayhem in cities throughout the North:

Perceived reluctance and insincerity [to invade and murder their fellow citizens] led Unionist mobs to descend on dissident businesses and individuals, demanding nationalistic demonstrations. Pennsylvania mobs destroyed the offices of dissenting newspapers, forced business owners to adorn their buildings with flags, and intimidated political figures into public expressions of Unionism. In New York City a resident described an absolute ‘despotism of opinion’ in which considerations of personal safety discouraged any unflattering remarks about the Lincoln administration or government policy.

And they say fascism began in Europe in the 1920s. Furthermore, Republican Party "orators" saw to it that "listeners came to have their hearts steeped in hatred" toward their fellow citizens of the Southern states, as "speakers competed for the most venomous denunciations of all things Southern." German immigrant Carl Schurtz informed Mid-Westerners that "all the world wants to march" to war. Any who disagreed, writes Marvel, "risked physical violence." The Lincoln "scholars" call this "national unity."

Marvel describes in chapter and verse how Lincoln ordered the arrest of the Maryland legislature (in a chapter entitled "The Despot’s Heel") despite the constitutional requirement that the states be assured a representative form of government, and how he ignored the Southern peace commissioners who sought a compromise. He also recognizes the importance of Lincoln’s illegal suspension of the writ of Habeas Corpus, which was followed by the imprisonment of at least 13,000 Northern political dissenters without any due process. "Without that repression, later war measures, like the imposition of direct federal conscription for military service, might not have survived public opposition to become fixtures contradictory to a free society."

When the public did protest the revocation of their personal liberties, "Lincoln responded to the public outcry with more severe repression . . . and with more audacious examples of it," in fine Stalinist fashion. Soon he "would grow sufficiently confident to wield unilateral authority and military might against the most fundamental elements of democracy, imprisoning duly elected representatives of the people, arresting opposition candidates, and ‘monitoring’ elections with soldiers . . ." Think of these actions the next time you read one of Lincoln’s pretty speeches about government "of the people and by the people."

Lincoln "scholars" can never, ever mention the possibility that the U.S., like all the other countries of the world in the nineteenth century that ended slavery (including the British and Spanish empires, the French, Danes, Swedes, Dutch, and others), could have done so peacefully and in a relatively short amount of time. For by doing so they would be admitting that there was an alternative to having the federal government murder some 350,000 fellow citizens in the 1860s, the equivalent of 3.5 million deaths today standardizing for today’s population. That’s why today’s Lincoln "scholars" devote inordinate time and effort to repeating Lincoln’s religious rhetoric while ignoring so many of the plain facts of history. Lincoln covered up his war crimes with a masterful use of religious rhetoric; his modern-day excuse makers are merely following his lead.

Not Marvel. "[P]eaceful emancipation on some scale seems at least to have been feasible," he writes. "The repeal of the fugitive slave laws would have encouraged even more slaves to escape . . . further weakening the institution. . ." Furthermore, "just as isolation hastened the end of apartheid government in South Africa, the international stigma and external economic pressures of an increasingly enlightened world ought eventually to have driven Confederates . . . to a voluntary abolition . . ." This of course is how slavery was ended in the Northern states – voluntarily and for mostly economic reasons, supplemented with the beginnings of a moral crusade.

For those who are wading through the putrid swamp of Lincoln "scholarship" that seems to have exploded in recent months thanks to Abe’s 200th birthday, and are seeking something other than yet another bundle of doubletalk and circular reasoning, read Lincoln Goes to War and its sequel, Lincoln’s Darkest Year: The War in 1862, by William Marvel.

February 12, 2009
......

slow rollin' low

"Lord I wanted to be something you could depend on"

for lyrics


I got a slow rollin' low
Ain't a mother would want me
Done got me so down bent out of round
Don't know my head from my toes.

Ain't a hand here to hold
Ain't a shoulder to cry on
Ain't a lesson to learn or a corner to turn
Twixt the dyin' and me.

Lord, I wanted to be
Something you could depend on
Lawdy, Lawd, woe is me
Ain't a body would care.

I got a slow rollin' low
Forgot the words to my song
Ain't that just like a fool to want a ride
On them trains when the trains are all gone.

SLOW ROLLIN' LOW
(Billy Joe Shaver)
......

36,000 plus

Karl Marx, Otto Von Bismarck, Abraham Lincoln, and Charles Darwin, all were born, lived, and died in the 19th Century, whose life's work profoundly influenced events of the 20th Century and is still being argued in the 21st.

the odds of two of the four being born on the same day (2.12.09) must be astronomical

......

now who's being naive, Kay ?

Mafia Millions Buoying Banks

VIENNA — Cash-rich Mafia groups have been channelling funds into banks desperate to survive the global credit crisis, the UN anti-crime chief said on Monday.

Antonio Maria Costa of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said he had collected ample evidence to make such accusations.

"Consultations I've had with prosecutors and law-enforcement officials around the world show there is ample evidence that the banking system's illiquidity is providing a unique opportunity for organized crime to launder their money," Costa told Reuters.


......

45 years ago today...

within 11 weeks of the coup d'etat, the most successful lohnot operation in history commenced on the Ed Sullivan Show (worked like a charm)


well they sure as hell weren't gonna put Bob Dylan in front of 60 million viewers and let him sing "Masters of War" now were they ?
......

a freudian negligee'

"whatinthehell? ... the United States elects it's first black President, and they spend the first month of his term arguing about the size of his "package".

(with southern, white Republicans, of course, saying that it's "too big")

Sigmund would be laughing like hell...

......

Bill Bonner Brilliant

the good war

The Washington Post reports that the War on Terror is over. No armistice has been announced. No treaty has been signed. The whole thing is just being dropped quietly, like a burnt-out cigarette. Too bad. It was our favorite war.

In the few words that follow, we explain why. First, the background:

"The history of the world is but the biography of great men," was Thomas Carlyle's contribution to the genre. But here we are more of the 'cometh the hour, cometh the man' school of history. When something needs doing...there is always some clown dim enough to do it. Osama bin Laden was that man.

"Bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy," was what he was up to, he said in a videotape. He even did the math. "Every dollar spent by al-Qaida in attacking the US has cost Washington $1m (£545,000) in economic fallout and military spending," said the report.

"We, alongside the mujahideen, bled Russia for 10 years, [in Afghanistan] until it went bankrupt... So we are continuing this policy in bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy."

How many generations will still tell of bin Laden's triumph? He brought down not just one empire, but two. His band of terrorists leeched the Soviets so thoroughly, they fainted. It was no coincidence that the Soviets lost Afghanistan in the same year their empire disintegrated. Then, he delivered a challenge to the America's amour propre.

The attack on the World Trade Center incited a death wish. The feds flashed a Red Alert; Americans cowered in their houses and sealed their windows and doors against biological attack. The 9/11 attackers could have been pursued by the usual gendarmes – at negligible cost. Instead, in the general panic, the Bush administration decided to go all out. Thus it was that the greatest stimulus package since WWII began – in haste and in delusion.

The federal budget went from its biggest surpluses to its biggest deficits. Interest rates were cut too – to an emergency rate of 1%. Within 24 months, the bubble in the Nasdaq was replaced by much bigger bubbles – in housing, finance, derivative debt, art, private equity, executive compensation, student loans and other forms of private debt. In effect, bin Laden suckered the fattest man on earth into having another éclair. The thunder coming from the financial markets for the past 18 months is the noise of his midriff exploding.

But we are not writing to complain about Osama bin Laden or the Bush Administration's reaction. When it comes to war and adultery, make-believe may be better than the real thing. Certainly, it is safer. In the War on Terror, the enemy had no tanks...no aircraft... no ships...no armies...no celebrated strategists...no famous generals...no sophisticated weapons...no military culture...no leather trench coats...no burnished helmets...no battle cries.... The problem was, it was hard to find the enemy at all. The Department of Homeland Security conducted 3 billion airport inspections looking for them. We remember getting patted down so thoroughly we felt we should leave a tip. But how many enemy combatants do you think they nabbed? Not a one.

There are two possibilities. The first is that the security procedures were so fearsome that terrorists dared not try anything funny. The second is that there weren't really many terrorists at large – at least, not in the United States of America.

But compare it to WWI or WWII...or even a penny ante affair like the Spanish American war. The War on Terror mobilized the whole nation in a Great National Cause...at much expense, much damage to the Constitution, and much inconvenience, but without actually causing much real suffering. Sure, a few hapless Muslims, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, were put on the rack. And yes, the cops in London gunned down a Brazilian electrician. Back in the United States, young couples did not embrace as they had in WWII – that is, as if there would be no tomorrow. Instead, they spent money as if there would be no tomorrow! No doubt, the desperate spending contributed to the bankruptcy of the whole system of bubble finance. But compared to the pain of a shooting war; the War on Terror was a delight. As far as we know, the Department of Homeland Security suffered not a single casualty. Not even any self-inflicted wounds. No executions for treason. And hardly any reported cases, neither of fleeing in the face of the enemy...nor collaborating...nor sabotage.

What a shame to let such a marvelous war to end without even a victory parade. Some of the agents should at least get medals for courage under fire...or exceptional valor.

Perhaps some special award. Such as the special agents who arrested Tamera Jo Freeman. A "Black Heart" medal might be appropriate. The woman was on a flight to Denver when her children got into a squabble. She spanked them both...and then Homeland Security agents put the cuffs on her. Charged with committing an "act of terrorism" she spent three months in jail and lost custody of her children.

And there ought to be some medal for the Pentagon flatfoot who put the long arm of American law all the way across the Atlantic and onto the shoulder of Gary McKinnon. Mr. McKinnon, as the mayor of London informed us on Tuesday, believes in UFOs. And to prove that the U.S. army is hiding information on extraterrestrials, he hacked into the Pentagon's computer...leaving his email address and a message: "Your security is crap."

Rather than thank him for this useful observation, the Defense Department no doubt put out a billion dollar consulting contract for someone to tell them their security is crap...and put out a warrant for Mr. McKinnon's arrest on a terrorism charge. That kind of service above and beyond the call of duty should be recognized.

So form up the battalions of veterans! Assemble the legions of luggage inspectors and metal detector operators...and all the thousands of investigators, worn down by five years of following leads to nowhere! Dress them up in bright, clean uniforms...and give them their moment of glory. Pin medals on their chests. Then have a jolly march down Fifth Avenue. Line the streets. Give them a hearty hoorah as they march by. Throw out the ticker tape. Young girls...fling yourselves at them...and get a kiss! And then, send them home.

Bill Bonner
February 5, 2009

......

"I Screwed Up"

in only two weeks in office, the President of the United States is interviewed on all the major tv network's news programs and says the words "I Screwed Up"

a damned refreshing CHANGE

(especially since the screw up did not result in anyone being killed for a lie)


......

there are no words

......

MAD : )

......

Peak USA 1956-1957

in 1956 the United States' economy comprised half of the world's economic output. the US led the world in manufacturing, technological advancement, and commercial culture, both old and new.

it is no accident that at the very same time, the US' middle-class' share of the wealth was at it's peak, nor is it just a coincidence that the percentage of the US labor force engaged in manufacturing and belonging to a union was at it's highest level in history.

least noted of all was the percentage share of US "defense" spending to the total budget and gdp. it was the lowest since the end of WWII.

ironic is the timing of the design, development, manufacturing, and sales of the 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air, as it coincided exactly with the peak of US military, cultural, and economic power. a peak that ended abruptly on 4 October 1957 with the introduction of the '58 model and SPUTNIK.



......

the warriors code Lord Byron 1820

western style, not samurai

When a man hath no freedom to fight for at home,
Let him combat for that of his neighbors;
Let him think of the glories of Greece and Rome,
And get knocked on his head for his labors.

To do good to mankind is the chivalrous plan,
And is always nobly requited;
Then battle for freedom wherever you can,
And, if not shot or hanged, you’ll get knighted.

i did say he was a minor poet : )

......

before he taught me...

what i needed to know...
JAMES BURKE - BBC reporter July 1969


......

new age minimum ? how 'bout 75 ?

“While I believe Mr. Geithner when he expressed regret for his failure to pay these taxes, he doesn’t explain why the failure happened. This embarrassing ‘mistake’ occurred despite Mr. Geithner’s receiving annual and quarterly documents from the IMF and signing annual tax allowance requests that were supposed to serve as reminders about his tax obligations. He also failed to pay these taxes despite having accountants review his tax filings, and despite using software to prepare his tax returns. Had he not been nominated for Treasury Secretary, it’s doubtful that he would have ever paid these taxes.” “This matter seriously undermines Mr. Geithner’s credibility to be the nation’s top tax enforcement officer. It suggests serious negligence on his part, and creates the impression of someone trying to game the system. Mr. Geithner showed poor judgment in waiting so long to pay these taxes, and then did so only after paying them became a political necessity. Certainly most American taxpayers do not have that luxury.” “Whatever his qualifications and talents for addressing the banking problems that are currently plaguing our economy, I cannot in good conscience vote to confirm Mr. Geithner’s nomination.”

who said this and when? for the answer



Robert Byrd, 26Jan2009

i'm beginning to wonder if perhaps the Constitution's age minimum for a US Senator should be amended from 35 to 75 years of age


......

"smart power" my ass

using high-tech toys to kill people in foreign countries is not "change you can believe in". the extent of being 'casualty averse' is a good barometer for decisions concerning using military means for foreign policy ends, to wit: "if a policy isn't worth getting many of your own people killed, it isn't worth doing in the first place" which of course makes every use of the US Army beyond the boundaries of the United States, with few exceptions, counter-productive.

for the 'exceptions'

Pancho Villa expedition 1916
Afghanistan 2001 (before 'mission creep')

the War of 1812 does not qualify. starting a war by invading another country negates the self-defense when the tide turns against you. see also: Maryland/Pennsylvania the summer of 1863
(remember i said US ARMY)
......

what a dick

Richard Fuld to be exact. if Gitmo is gonna stay open for another year, put this bastard in it

Lehman's Fuld sold Florida mansion to wife for $100


......

Russell Hodin, nails it the "hopey-changey" meter

......

the future is UNKNOWN : )

"i took a drink, well maybe FIVE : ) ...ya never forget the first time you heard UNKNOWN HINSON
(and Joan Collins in her prime ouch)

......

my kind of headlines

and yes, they are related...

Starbucks may cut 1,000 more jobs

Why Israel won't survive


a simple Google search reveals how

......

"I always played scared"

the ADG's Philip Martin perfectly captures the perils and pleasures of playing a guitar. even if it is not a Gibson : )


An editor here at the newspaper asked me to contribute to a story about New Year's resolutions, specifically to say what underused local resource-restaurant or music venue or opportunity for recreation-I intend to take more advantage of in 2009 than I had in previous years. It was not, on the surface, a difficult assignment.

A New Year's resolution can be wishful or self-flattering, and the most worthy ones are probably best kept private. If we mean to become better people, the first step might be to realize there are so many areas in which we need improvement that public declaration of intention to mend one fault only calls attention to unaddressed multitudes. I usually don't make resolutions, and if I do I don't consider the calendar.

On the other hand I like to please people, especially editors, and was flattered to be asked. So I tried to write something that satisfied the prerequisites of the task without sounding overly smug. The editor in question looked it over, found it wholly inadequate and returned it with a nice note saying that while it wasn't what she was looking for, she'd be happy to see the piece fleshed out as a column.

I wasn't going to do that, in part because what I wrote was just a few lines about how I planned to play more guitar in 2009 than I had in years past, not out of any hope of becoming a better guitar player but because I enjoy it.

But the more I thought about it, the more it struck me that while there's much I do poorly, few of those things could be called enjoyable. But I like to play the guitar. And recently I acquired a new instrument that's finer than any I've ever owned. It has a big, warm tone (some of you real guitar players can probably guess the make) and a comfortable action that makes it easy to play. It's more guitar than a player of my ability needs or deserves.

I have referred to myself as the "world's worst guitar player," which may not be strictly true but serves as fair notice for anybody who might think I'm being falsely modest.

I am only competent in a narrow mode of playing. I can write my own songs and play them, play a few standards and sometimes understand what other guitarists are doing (or trying to do). While I tell myself I play as well as I need to play (though I suppose I don't need to play at all), the truth is though I've been playing nearly 40 years I've never progressed beyond the comfortable plateau I hit when I was around 15 years old.

This is only partially my fault. While I could have become better had I taken lessons and applied myself-aside from learning a few riffs from guys I've played with, I'm entirely self-taught-I recognize that I lack the necessary musical facility to be genuinely good.

Though I played in bands when I was younger, I always found it stressful to learn new songs. I never understood how some guitarists could play back, note for note, a riff they'd heard once. I never made the necessary earto-fretboard connection that even mediocre guitarists eventually get.

I could learn songs, but I needed to write out the chord changes and sometimes watch the hands of the bass player or my fellow guitarist. I could play with others in a rudimentary way but I had only the vaguest concept of scales-I thought more in terms of safe boxes on the fretboard than in sounding the interesting notes that formed in my head. I always played scared.

The only reason anyone ever let me be in their band was because I wrote songs and had a passable-in some quarters-folk-rock voice I wasn't shy about using. The bands I was in played really loud and our music didn't require much virtuosity from the rhythm guitarist.

Looking back, I don't quite know how I pulled it off except that I really wanted to be in a band then. I practiced a lot and genuinely enjoyed coming up with songs. I don't think I realized I wasn't any good-after all, I was playing in a band that was sometimes getting paid.

These days, I understand I am a talentless musician. I'm not tone deaf but have no particular gift either. My approach to music is the same I take toward writing: I listen for rhythm and phrasing and maybe have a knack for it. I can write a poem that scans. But there's a more important sonic dimension I recognize but do not fully understand. There are people who hear much more profoundly than I can, who can dive into those waters to retrieve treasures that I cannot imagine.

That's all right. Those of us without great gifts still have a right to song-for most of human history music was performed by people with common voices and modest talents. It's only been in the past 100 years or so that people routinely have the opportunity to hear highly skilled, prodigiously talented musicians play. While there are millions of really good guitar players out there, being a bad guitarist isn't a sin-as long as you don't insist on inflicting your playing on other people.

Most of us probably don't do much that we're not good at doing; getting through the day is difficult enough without throwing in recreational challenges. But it's probably helpful to bump up against limitations now and again, to flail and occasionally fail. It is good to get in water over your head if only to apprehend how serious and complicated the world can be. It is easy to dismiss what we don't understand- to mentally reduce hip hop to rhythmic thuggery or dismiss bebop as random bleats and honks.

So I resolve to play more guitar this year, not in the hope of getting better but because my nice guitar deserves to be played and because I find it pleasant. And I sometimes surprise myself with an accidental pull-off or stray harmonic-the sort of ornamental flourish that, in real music, might pass for a grace note.

pmartin@arkansasonline.com


......

the daily IF ...

'twould seem that something of Rudyard's "IF" is applicable to most every day. today it be...

"IF all men count with you, but none too much"


......

and no one said a word

in the last ten days the price of a barrel of OIL went from below $35 to over $44. just a few short years ago, such an event would have been on the front page of every newspaper in the country as well as 'topic A' on every tv 'shout show'. now? hardly a peep.

that is the product of "conditioning"


......

it's been 4 days (only?)

if this song applies in 4 weeks, 4 months, or 4 quarters, it's going to be a long four years

......

words versus actions

if words matter (even when the syntax isn't tortured) today's EO's are a classic example of 'one from column A, one from column B'.
ending torture as official US policy ? ended immediately (good)... closing GITMO ? not good enough, not fast enough, and give the damn thing back to Cuba, it's theirs.

BUT... President Obama's statement following the signings could be very important. notice what word is missing ?

The message we are sending around the world is that the US intends to prosecute the ongoing struggle against violence and terrorism and we are going to do so vigilantly, we are going to do so effectively, and we are going to do so in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals ... We intend to win this fight, and we intend to win it on our terms.

the missing word? (or words?) is "WAR" & "WAR on TERROR"
......

simple questions

why, nearly two decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union, is there still a NATO ?

why should any nation-state with a 'central' government, span more than one time zone ?



......

election calendar

province leaders for IRAQ on 31Jan
(wonder how many americans know that?)

israeli parliament on 10Feb
PREDICTION: IDF/IAF will bomb rebuilt tunnels on Gaza/Egypt border 48 hours or less before the polls open



......

food fight

well, sausage-making anyway. go here to

House Dems push tax breaks through committee

By DAVID ESPO – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid grim new evidence of economic weakness, legislation at the heart of President Barack Obama's recovery plan advanced in Congress Thursday over the persistent opposition of Republicans seeking deeper tax cuts.

"We are very pleased with the progress," said Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., after $275 billion in tax cuts cleared the House Ways and Means Committee on a party-line vote of 24-13. Democratic leaders have promised the measure will be ready for Obama's signature by mid-February.

"It will create jobs immediately, and it will also lay the foundation for economic stability as we go forward," Pelosi added.

But Republicans said there was no reliable estimate of the bill's impact on employment.

"The American people deserve to know what they are getting for their nearly $1 trillion," said Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan, the top Republican on the tax-writing committee.

On the key vote of the day, Democrats closed ranks to preserve a tax break for this year and 2010 that would mean $500 for many workers and $1,000 for millions of couples, including those whose earnings are so low that they pay no federal income tax.

They also turned back a Republican attempt to jettison a new federal subsidy to help laid-off workers pay for health insurance after they lose employer-paid coverage, and a third to waive income taxes on unemployment benefits for two years.

Democrats argued that the Republican proposals would favor upper-income individuals and couples who they said benefited disproportionately from tax cuts passed during the administration of former President George W. Bush.

"We need to be dealing with people at the bottom of the income scale," said Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash. He also noted that the legislation would provide a $25-per-week increase in unemployment benefits.

But Republican Camp cited a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service that he said showed lower and middle-income workers already would have received most of the benefits from the proposal to eliminate the tax on unemployment benefits.

Congressional committees did their work as government reports showed the number of newly laid-off Americans filing jobless claims and the pace of home construction both posted worse-than-expected results. Additionally, Microsoft Corp. said it would slash up to 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months, while chemical maker Huntsman Corp. said it would cut more than 1,600 employees and contractors combined.

Democrats have an oversized majority on the committee, as they do on all panels as a result of their gains in last fall's elections. And while Republicans sought several changes in the legislation, the proceedings were devoid of drama or even emotion.

Republicans in both houses have been developing alternatives to the Democratic legislation, and Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the GOP House leader, announced a meeting next week with Obama.

"Our plan offers fast-acting tax relief, not slow-moving and wasteful government spending," he said, referring to a study by the Congressional Budget Office that questioned administration claims that the money could be spent fast enough to reduce joblessness quickly.

Not all Democrats were completely pleased with the legislation making its way to a vote on the House floor next week.

The portion of the measure ticketed for highway and bridge construction, $30 billion, is far less than some favor, and there was grumbling.

"This bill ... is not even near what we need for short-term needs and it does not in any meaningful way address the long-term needs for our country," said Rep. Peter DeFazio, although he added, "It is better than nothing."

There was outright opposition in the House to another element of Obama's economic recovery program, but it was entirely symbolic.

On a vote of 270-155, lawmakers voted to block use of the remaining $350 billion in the financial industry bailout created last fall. Among the opponents were 90 Democrats.

The Senate cleared the way for Obama to use the money last week, so the House vote was little more than a chance for individual lawmakers to vent their opposition. Some Democrats took advantage of the opportunity. "There's a massive transfer of wealth going on, taking money out of the pockets of the American people and putting it into these banks. This has to stop. we have to stop," said Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio.

The tax cuts that won committee approval included a $500 credit for workers making up to $75,000 per year. Couples with incomes up to $150,000 a year would receive a $1,000 credit. Individuals with incomes up to $100,000 and couples earning up to $200,000 would qualify for lesser tax breaks.

The Republican alternative envisioned a different approach.

It called for reducing the current 10 percent bracket to 5 percent, affecting a taxpayer's first $8,350 in income, and lowering the existing 15 percent bracket to 10 percent, covering income from $8,351 to $33,950.

The legislation that cleared committee also would provide a temporary $2,500 tax credit to help pay for college, and includes breaks to encourage the production of renewable energy resources.

For businesses, the measure includes $29 billion in tax cuts to encourage investment in new plants and equipment, and to permit money-losing firms to claim refunds on taxes paid up to five years ago, during profitable times.

Separately, the House Energy and Commerce Committee approved $2.8 billion to expand broadband communication service to underserved areas of the country.

Associated Press Writers Andrew Taylor, Jim Kuhnhenn, Stephen Ohlemacher and Kevin Freking contributed to this story.


......

subliminal suggestion ?

with them folks, you can never be sure


......

i had hope

i had hope that on inauguration night all, or at least one, of the major tv networks would corral Mel Brooks into hosting a primetime, uncut, presentation of his 1974 masterpiece, "Blazing Saddles", so that americans could all laugh like hell at themselves, together. in the way hoped for when the film was made 36 years ago.

some things change more slowly than others.


......

dirty dirty dirty song

2 Live Crew got nuthin on Jimmie Rodgers
(recorded July 1, 1930)



......

a very good speech

50% great, 30% rhetorical flourish, 20% scary as hell
or to say half of it i could hear Huey Long saying in his calmer moments, woven together with the embroidery of words, tone, and timing for which it is entirely possible Obama has no peer, past or present. but altogether too many lines that would make NeoCons click their heels and stiff-arm salute (before they realized who was speaking them or ?)

only time will tell

for full text go here to

President OBAMA: My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because we the people have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebears, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our founding fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet (it)."

America, in the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
......

it used to be "are" not "is"

the common form of reference to the United States is now "is". "the United States is... "a superpower" or "the world's largest economy" etc. it used to be "are". a very big damn difference it makes, or rather, has already been made. (until it's not)

so enough with the incessant assertions of singularity, oaths of allegiance, peons to 'unity' under a providence monotheistic, and the constant refining-redefining what the meaning of "is" is (particularly coming from Bill Clinton's hometown) the ADG's "single-mindedness" is bass-ackwerds again.

per the ADG...

Why is it that once every four years an immense pride is overshadowed by an immense humility before a set of bleachers that somehow has become an altar?

Why is it hearts that should be consumed by pride are humbled by the thought of the sacrifices that made and make such a Republic possible?

Why is it we are so confident and so wary at the same time?

We think it has something to do with the vision of the past, with the never finished American dream (may it never be finished!), with a set of meager settlements on a continent's edge having become so much and still becoming so much more.

We think it has something to with becoming, out of many, one.

We think it has something to do with the knowledge that we have so much still to become, so help us God.

the harder they try to desperately unify with emotional appeals and gaudy (and expensive) ceremonies, the easier it is to see that "The United States" are not to be much longer in this world.



......

just realized

in 1970's being a Bobby Allison fan, oh how i did loathe that arrogant sonofabitch in his damned cowboy boots, "King Richard". today i just realized what number car he drove (and a "Dodge" also... how appropriate, but then even his name was 'petty') the car however was very beautiful



......

remission accomplished

no need to

......

heckuva job Ehud

for 22 days at $100 million dollars a day, the Israelis' US made planes dropped US made munitions on 1.5 million people in 139 square miles of territory, ostensibly to destroy the elected Hamas government's supply lines, communications, and command structures, results in reducing the incoming rocket fire from a few dozen a day to one dozen.

not to mention killing and wounding a few thousand people (including a few dozen of your own)

heckuva job Ehud

btw, the elections are in 20 more days, how are the polls looking ?


......

mo mo mo, not so subtle

Maureen Dowd has W's number (and Hillary's and maybe Barack's too)
wish she had mine :) ...


As Barack Obama got to town, one of the first things he did was seek the counsel of past presidents, including George Bush senior.

As W. was leaving town, one of the last things he did was explain why he never sought the counsel of his father on issues that his father knew intimately, like Iraq and Saddam.

When Brit Hume did a joint interview last week with Bush father and son, dubbed “41st guy” and “43rd guy” by W., the Fox anchor asked whether it was true that “there wasn’t a lot of give and take” between them, except on family matters.

“See,” the Oedipally oddball W. replied, “the interesting thing is that a president has got plenty of advisers, but what a president never has is someone who gave him unconditional love.”

He talks about his father, the commander in chief who went to war with Saddam before he did, like a puppy. “You rarely have people,” he said, “who can pick up the phone and say, ‘I love you, son,’ or, ‘Hang in there, son.’ ”

Maybe he wouldn’t have needed so many Hang-in-there-sons if he had actually consulted his dad before he ignorantly and fraudulently rammed into the Middle East.

When W. admits the convoluted nature of his relationship with his father, diminishing a knowledgeable former president to the status of a blankie, you realize that, despite all the cocky swagger we’ve seen, this is not a confident man.

That is vividly apparent as we watch W. and Obama share the stage as they pass the battered baton. One seems small and inconsequential, even though he keeps insisting he’s not; the other grows large and impressive, filling Americans with cockeyed hope even as he warns them not to expect too much too soon.

Even Obama’s caution — a commodity notably absent from the White House for eight years — fills people with optimism.

W. lives in the shadow of his father’s presence, while Obama lives in the shadow of his father’s absence. W.’s parlous presidency, spent trashing the Constitution, the economy and the environment, was bound up, and burdened by, the psychological traits of an asphyxiated and pampered son.

The exiting and entering presidents are opposite poles — one the parody of a monosyllabic Western gunslinger who disdains nuance, and one a complex, polysyllabic professor sort who will make a decision only after he has held it up to the light and examined it from all sides.

W. was immune to doubt and afraid of it. (His fear of doubt led to the cooking of war intelligence.) Obama is delighted by doubt.

It’s astonishing that, as banks continue to fail and Americans continue to lose jobs and homes, W. was obtuse enough to go on TV and give a canned ode to can-do-ism. “Good and evil are present in this world,” he reiterated, “and between the two of them there can be no compromise.”

He gives the good-and-evil view of things a bad name. Good and evil are not like the Redskins and the Cowboys. Good and evil intermingle in the same breath, let alone the same society. A moral analysis cannot be a simplistic analysis.

“You may not agree with some of the tough decisions I have made,” he said Thursday night. “But I hope you can agree that I was willing to make the tough decisions.”

Actually, no. His decisions have been, for the most part, disastrous. If he’d paid as much attention to facts as fitness, 9/11, Iraq, the drowning of New Orleans, the deterioration in Afghanistan and the financial deregulation orgy could have been prevented.

Bush fancied himself the Decider; Obama fancies himself the Convener. Some worry that a President Obama will overdo it and turn the Situation Room into the Seminar Room. (He’s already showing a distressing lack of concern over whether his cherished eggheads bend the rules, like Tim Geithner’s not paying all his taxes, because, after all, they’re the Best and the Brightest, not ordinary folk.)

W., Cheney and Rummy loved making enemies, under the mistaken assumption that the more people hated America, the more the Bushies were standing up for principle. But is Obama neurotically reluctant to make enemies, and overly concerned with winning over those who have smacked him, from Hillary and Bill to conservative columnists?

If W. and Cheney preferred Fox News on the TVs in the White House because they liked hearing their cheerleaders, Obama may leave the channel on Fox because he prefers seducing and sparring with antagonists to spooning with allies.

Right now, though, it’s a huge relief to be getting an inquisitive, complicated mind in the White House.

W. decided there was no need to be president of the whole country. He could just be president of his base. Obama is determined to be president of as much of the country as possible.

We’re trading a dogmatic president for one who’s shopping for a dog. It feels good.
......

in med/mech terms

in the course of treating a patient's broken legs, a Doctor also discovers a bone cancer. if the Doctor resets the broken legs but doesn't inform the patient of the cancer, is he not violating his prime oath ?

in 29 more hours, in Washington D.C. the USA's broken legs will be reset, but the cancer will not be mentioned...

the cancer ? the linear, almost uninterrupted accumulation of more and more government power in the hands of fewer and fewer people. the very opposite of the spirit and intentions of the Founding Fathers and the Constitution they produced. undermining continuously the 'checks and balances' of the legislative and judicial branches toward the executive branch.

the new chief executive, on a new set of legs, will speak and act as if he cares what american people (and people around the world) think and feel, in order to further the contrast with his predecessor. the policies will continue largely unchanged.

a new salesman for the same lot full of used cars. some with a new paint job, others only washed, all of them with their odometers rolled back. no new models, not even one on the production line.
......

Evisceration to the tenth power

ever imagine what "Jack the Ripper" could do with a pen ?
Tom Friedman of the NYTimes knows the answer, for it has been done to him again by none other than, of course, Matt Taibbi click on his name to

......

"mark my words" ...

"Mark my words. He will leave office the most unpopular president in history" - July 2002

who said it ? for the answer

GORE VIDAL (of course)
......

100 TRILLION DOLLAR BILL

apparently the UN (and the world) doesn't give a damn what someone does to the people of their own country (including inflation resulting in a currency bill with FOURTEEN ZEROS on it, a picture of which is not yet available) as long as any pretense of an "election" is involved. (and of course they don't have anything worth stealing or aren't muslims)
no need to

......

Flight 1549

the pilots, crew, air-traffic controllers, rescue personnel (ferry crews, cops, fireman), and the people who built an aircraft that could hold together under a water-born crash landing and stay afloat not only long enough for all aboard to get out safely, but also to be towed to a pier to prevent it's drifting out to sea...

what do all those people have in common ? for the answer
UNION MEMBERS
......

indeed it is

......

subtle baby, subtle

"rich", "cheap", and "Geithner" all in the same headline... way to go Maureen


......

whopper junior ?

in many a movie, a character or plot aspect is introduced early in the story, then goes unseen/un-noted until brought back at the end for a dramatic embellishment that makes a much more powerful impression.

i've seen Obama do such things during the course of his campaigns. thus i suspect we will see the return of one particular plank at the very end of the stimulus bill's formation. but for now, it is a distraction that must be sent away for awhile.

Obama Shelves Jobs-Credit Proposal (Washington Post)



......

new home of the whopper

Burger King should sue...

“For me, consultation is not a catch-word. It is a commitment.” - Hillary Rodham Clinton 13Jan2009

hitchens: "buy one Clinton, get one free"


was it not her "consultants" that sabotaged her campaign for the Presidency ? Obama should be holding consultations with somebody about having her committed, asap.
......

IF not (2009)

forgive me Rudyard

updated from 2005


I've lost my head so many times
In looking back they're almost crimes
When instead of trusting I's overcome with doubts
I waited and waited and got so tired
And I lied and lied and then conspired
To make myself the target of hate-filled shouts

I dreamed until I could dream no more
And thought to settle many a score
With who circumstance says make the rules
I used up all my mispent youth
Searching for the weapons of truth
That I could use to educate the fools

But no one listened, never did
And in my turn, I underbid
And lost so much I dared not start to cry
Now I drift upon the sea
That consecrates both you and me
And rarely do I stop not wondering why

The unforgiving minutes wasted
So many thirsts gone unabated
Still one thing's absolutely ever fair
My open eyes saw more than most
'Til I became an envied ghost
Failing in the learning not to care

stephenhsmith 11Jan2009
......

Milbrath YEP !

......

not in, not out, forward = downward

"I'm not ruling it in and not ruling it out. I just think we should look forward. I think we should be looking forward, not backwards," Biden said.


the greatest power any LEO (Law Enforcement Official) has is the ability to look the other way when a crime is being committed
......

the diminishing law

"Captain Obvious" strikes again with some simple math that warrants pondering...

on the occasion of one's tenth birthday, the year to come is equal to ten percent of your whole life up to that point. at twenty, 'tis five percent, at 33, three percent, at fifty... two percent.

thus for a fifty year old, five years equals the same as two years to a twenty year old.
......

nullification

the ultimate purely ironic?
immortis but not ironclad
for in wars of ideas
as with those between men
the good get killed with the bad

collateral damage will not be escaped
any reading of History will show
thus more important than ever
on the subject of change
the old admonition, "go slow"

stephenhsmith 11Jan09

......

tom petty channeled julius caesar : )

Homines libenter quod volunt credunt

Men freely believe what they want to (used by Julius Caesar, but probably borrowed from Terentius)


......

my dick was too big

"My Dick Was Too Big" is the working title for a future biography of G.W. Bush's years as POTUS and the subtext of today's column by Maureen Dowd



January 11, 2009
Op-Ed Columnist
An Extremist Makeover?
By MAUREEN DOWD

In the past week, I’ve twice been close enough to Dick Cheney to kick him in the shins.

I didn’t. It’s probably a federal crime of some sort. But a girl can fantasize. I did, however, assume the Stay-away-from-me-you’ve-got-cooties stance that Jimmy Carter used when posing with Bill Clinton at the presidents’ powwow in the Oval.

The first time was Tuesday, when Cheney left the ceremony where he gave the oath of office to senators. The senators seemed thrilled, especially Joe Biden, who was getting sworn in for just two weeks and was excitedly showing off a family Bible the size of a Buick. But I thought it gave the ceremony a satirical edge to have the lawless Vice presiding over lawmakers swearing to support and defend the Constitution that he soiled and defiled — right in the heart of the legislative branch he worked to diminish.

The second time I crossed paths was Thursday night, at a glitzy party at Cafe Milano for Brit Hume, stepping down as a Fox anchor. It required extreme defensive maneuvers — much zigging and zagging — to avoid Cheney, Wolfie and Rummy, all three holding court and blissfully unrepentant about the chaos they’ve unleashed on the world.

“My conscience is clear,” Rummy volunteered to Bob Woodward, talking about how he’s interviewing people for his memoir.

Woodward was stunned. “I was as speechless as I was in July 2006 when I interviewed him and he said he was not a military commander, that he could make the case that he was ‘by indirection, two or three steps removed,’ ” Woodward told me afterward.

At least Ernst Stavro Blofeld would have the decency just to leave the scene.

From Gaza to the unemployment figures to the $10.6 trillion debt, things keep spiraling while W. keeps fiddling. Just as when he was in the National Guard and didn’t bother to show up, now, as the scabrous consequences of his missteps shake the economy and the world, he doesn’t bother to show up. He’s checked out — spending his time on more than a dozen exit interviews that do nothing to change his image as a president who was over his head and under Cheney’s spell.

Asked by People magazine what moments from the last eight years he revisited most often, W. talked passionately about the pitch he threw out at the World Series in 2001: “I never felt that anxious any other time during my presidency, curiously enough.”

Asked by Fred Barnes and Bill Kristol of The Weekly Standard if he had made progress in some areas for which he hasn’t gotten credit, the president put trying to privatize Social Security at the top of his list. It’s frightening to think where a lot of people would be now if that effort had succeeded.

After he leaves office, W. wants to go on more bike rides, because biking through Katrina was not enough. He wants to write a memoir, even though the offers are not pouring in as they did for Laura. And he wants to encourage debate at his presidential library on “big ideas.”

The vamoosing Vice has no apologies about turning America into a country that tortured; indeed, he denies it ever happened. “Torture,” he told Barnes, “that word gets thrown around with great abandon.”

He’s going back to Casper, Wyo., and said he’s giving “serious thought” to writing a book, so he can continue his extremist makeover. The only thing he can do now is shoot a big lie across the bow and see if it lands.

Cheney’s theory of executive “unitary” power and pre-emptive war and frightening the world was a theory of Constitutional thuggishness.

Asked last week by Mark Knoller of CBS Radio in one of his exit interviews to name the “biggest mis-impression” people had about him, Cheney replied with a laugh, “That I’m actually a warm, lovable sort.”

He went on to seriously assert that his image as “a private, Darth Vader-type personality” has been “pretty dramatically overdone.”

“I think we made good decisions,” he told Knoller, adding with even grander delusion, “I think we knew what we were doing.”

He protested “the notion that somehow I was pulling strings or making presidential-level decisions. I was not. There was never any question about who was in charge. It was George Bush. And that’s the way we operated. This whole notion that somehow I exceeded my authority here, was usurping his authority, is simply not true. It’s an urban legend, never happened.”

The fact that Cheney is now putting all the blame for all the messes squarely on W. shows once more how the bureaucratic master outmaneuvers his younger partner.

Even on his way out, Vice is still on top.

......

new taibbi "bush apologizes" (as if)

not a pretzel in sight, but Condi farts (new teaser tactic by Rolling Stone)...


......

bassackerds adg fos again

when the ADG lauds Hillary, Gates, and Geithner as good picks by Obama, and then criticizes Panetta... Leon should take that as a compliment. (methinks somebody besides Feinstein is pissed that Jane Harmon isn't going to head the CIA)
i don't know how well Panetta will perform, but picking someone not involved with 'slam dunk', extraordinary renditions, and 'enhanced interrogations' is a good start. beside the fact that as WH CoS he probably has heard as many Presidential Daily Briefings as ADG favorites (and listened to more) Panetta is a seasoned pol who has actually won elections which develops a keen sense of appreciation for public perceptions of policies. plus he is old and likely not to have future elective office ambitions which gives him a license to do right. and a lot of right needs doing to even partially correct the wrongs of the current Administration's "War on Terror" policies re: CIA

as if the ADG's myopia were not bad enough, they are now fully engaged in the 'GEORGE W. BUSH LEGACY RESCUE PLAN' by laying the groundwork for a million "I TOLD YOU SO's" when another terrorist attack finally comes, even if only on the scale of a London, Madrid, or Mumbai (they've stopped calling it Bombay?), by repeating the September 11 mantra over and over and over again.

free advice: when the check from AIPAC clears, don't sign it over to Bernie Madoff
......

a billion here a billion there

a billion here, a billion there... and pretty soon ('bout 100 years) you're talking about... an end to the 'global warming crisis', fewer wars, and a lot less individual prerogative

A PRODUCT OF "NIXONLAND"

in retrospect i must have absorbed some of the atmosphere of suspicion and tension of 1968 when i was 5 years old living in Baton Rouge, hearing the adults speak of the assassinations, LBJ's recusal, the war in VietNam, and the Garrison investigations just 90 miles away in New Orleans. but for me it really began on a sunny afternoon in Maryland when i was 9 years old, as i experienced it, "live" it was called then, sitting in front of a television in a suburb of Cleveland watching George Wallace shot down in a supermarket parking lot during the Democratic party primaries.

by the end of 1972, Richard Nixon's landslide election victory was said to have erased the question marks of public impressions of his narrow loss to John F. Kennedy in 1960, even his minority victory in the turmoil of 1968. indeed Nixon's overwhelming trouncing of George McGovern was thought by his most heartfelt supporters to be a repudiation of the Kennedys (the only state McGovern carried was Massachusetts)

the subsequent few years were a continuous series of revelations of the machinations known as WATERGATE, including the tangential FBI program COINTELPRO courtesy of break-in by the WEATHER UNDERGROUND (most ironically the program was directed by Mark Felt), all of which culminated in Nixon's resignation in August of 1974. soon thereafter came the first public television showing of the ZAPRUDER film of President Kennedy's assassination, which when combined with the prevailing public opinions derived from Nixon's downfall, led to public demand for the CHURCH COMMITTEE investigations.

attracted to investigate the contrarian point of view, then and since, just before my 13th birthday, it led me to me to my junior high school library to find a copy of the WARREN COMMISSION REPORT, thus beginning a lifelong study of POWER. who has it, how it's obtained, how it is used, who is seeking it, and why, which prescribed an equally intense and congruous study of HISTORY, especially WORLD WAR TWO.

the subsequent discovery of CARROLL QUIGLEY'S "Tragedy and Hope", MARK TWAIN'S commentaries that by his command were not published until after his death, H.L. MENCKEN'S chronicles of the politics of the early 20th Century, which were disturbingly similar to the present day, and a few hundred others have served me well in the 35 years since, as i experienced and analyzed politics, often up close and personally due to the curious coincidences of my time, place, station, and the concurrent advances in communications technology. (i no longer require a storage building full of filing cabinets for collected newspapers and magazines)

please forgive the long and personal preface and tease, but i felt it necessary as a contextual preamble to what i have finally written. after all what could be more personal than one's core view of why what has happened has and what is coming? in this sense, there are no distinctions between Politics, History, and Religion.

it is a template for viewing recent and current events, a contextual tool for how they can be made to make sense. it is only a few paragraphs, less than half the preface, covering the past century and projecting the next one. it is quite dark unless one possesses an abiding faith in the ability of mankind's nobler instincts to eventually overcome his animal's (a faith i do not yet share with certainty or probability) and it is available only upon request. it is titled "The MOST Inconvenient TRUTH".

......

Gazark perspective

all of the Gaza Strip (139 sq miles) is roughly equivalent to the size of Little Rock and North Little Rock plus some surrounding area (see maps below) Gaza Strip has 1.4 million people in it total, roughly half the population of Arkansas. Gaza City has 400,000 in about the same space as North Little Rock.

click here for maps >>>

Gaza Strip (outlined) equals map 2 area in Central Arkansas
......

who said this and when ?

"They are corrupting influences on religion and politics, and those who practice them in the name of religion or in the name of the Republican Party or in the name of America, shame our faith, our party and our country. Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right"

Senator John McCain 2000
......

suckerpunch toon got me good

kudos to Nate Beeler of the Washington Examiner

......

only in Arkansas would...

no one note the irony when anti-Union business interests, hire people to run around getting signatures on a petition (a piece of paper) to put an initiated act on the ballot (another piece of paper) to amend the Arkansas Constitution (yet another piece of paper) to circumvent an expected pro-Union Federal law (put down on paper somewhere surely) that would allow workers to organize via signing a piece of paper. ... WTF ?
......

weltanschauung shorthand tool

in a masterful wordplay, letter play actually, Mondoweiss makes a very good argument using "Worldly/non-Worldly" distinctions as a divining tool...

to which i added...

you make a very good case for 'W/non-W' as a shorthand tool for rapid assessment of significant part of a person's character, and thus a better than average indicator of a person's likely future actions/reactions. i humbly suggest a refinement or corollary to it would be 'curious/incurious'. (which is arguably a synonym for 'W/non-W' depending on applied scale)

i suspect that one can acquire the better aspects of worldliness without actual decades of experience and travel by means of study and skeptical questioning. which of course requires one to be curious enough.

Posted by: muleboy303 | January 04, 2009 at 11:11 AM
......

catchatwennytoo

don't know whether to file this one under "Don't you *&^%$#!-ing Dare" or "Oh, whythehell not" ?
Jan. 2 (Bloomberg) -- President-elect Barack Obama will probably tear down long-standing barriers between the U.S.’s civilian and military space programs to speed up a mission to the moon amid the prospect of a new space race with China.
it is not as if anyone who ever studied it didn't realize that NASA and "civilian" in the same sentence was pure bullshit anyway (besides it might actually save a few bucks) ......

one maze gone, the other goes on

the human maze on Galveston's beach is gone

but what if Life is a maze ?...


if Life is a maze
with a million ways in
and another few million
ways 'round
there's only one certain end
we all will find
the one all before us
have found

but for all in between
the journey's our own
despite what you're told
'tis not an unsimple task
for the answers you'll get
are often determined
by what kind of questions
you ask

to learn what to ask
and also what not
consumes many years
not days
others can help
but never forget that
they too are in their
own maze

stephenhsmith 2Jan2009 ......

Viva Fidel

in 19 more days he will have led the Cuban people during 11 of the 44 US President's tenures. isn't it time to let him out of his box ? is there not a statute of limitations on counterproductive policies ?

End the Goddam Embargo, Barack
(and give them back their land while you're at it)

......

they walk among us

and they're everywhere :) but we're easily identifiable as we're all named Stephen Smith (and we even spell it properly) and if we ever organize we will take over the world (or at least a thinktank)

one is a student at Georgetown Stephen Smith - Rationalitate another is a Libertarian in Ft. Worth TX (we're congregating? : ) Stephen Smith - A Beginners Guide to Freedom

all better than average writers when it comes to Economics and Politics. perhaps this is our year ? (now you know why i utilize the moniker Muleboy303, saves on confusion)



......

Avec le temps, ça s'arrangera

avoir un bon coup de crayon
s'entendre comme chien et chat : )
Il y a un temps pour tout

......

Answer: Not Once

Question: "in the 94 year history of aerial bombardment, has any bombing campaign that produced civilian casualties ever resulted in diminishing public support for the leaders of the nation whose populace was being killed, to the extent that new leadership was demanded and implemented by internal public pressure ?"

August 1945 ? (kinda, sorta, almost, but not really)
......

Can You Say "Disproportionate" ?

after enduring scores of hours of IDF air attacks that killed 364 Palestinians an Israeli is killed and two others injured in retaliatory attacks, but one headline is 3 TIMES BIGGER than the other ?

very curious, dare i say disproportionate "news" judgment.



......

Benazir, been a year

and a helluva year it has been in Pakistan. a new Prime Minister, New President, New Commander of the Army, New Head of the Intelligence Service, and a new reason to pull troops away from the "War on Terror". and not one damn bit of it was any accident.


......

The Perfect Day for Moving ... Troops

of course it be St. Stephen's Day, which far better than the doldrums of August, this week provides the best opportunity for the media game of LOHNOT (Look Over Here, Not Over There) with so many americans engaged in holiday activities (family congregations, trips, pre-Holiday shopping, post-Holiday gift returning, and wacky weather) it is rather easy to distract them with feel-good stories of children and puppies on the evening news, and the localized to nationalized 'horror' story as counterpoint (this year's edition: "Santa Shoots, Burns, Kills 9 so far ") thus it is a most opportune time to move troops around.

the Pakistanis are moving troops away from their Afghanistan border to their border with India (with major consequences possible on both ends), the Israelis are quietly massing to threaten or actually attack Gaza, and the US, after so many years of informal presence, is making it official, stationing units in Israel. (and not to be left out just 'cause their not soldiers, but sailors, China and Japan are deploying ships to the Horn of Africa)

Even Al Quaeda is moving a few around western Iraq (after their prison-break shootout)

'tis gonna be one helluva 2009 (and '08 still has five more days) pay attention



......

Watch me now, here I go, all I need's a little snow!
Starts me off, sets the theme, helps me dream my Christmas dream,
Every year I dream it, hoping things will change,
An end to the crying, the shouting, the dying,
And I hope you will dream it too!
It's Christmas,
Remember?
We've got to remember!

So, light the light, I'm home tonight,
I need you to warm me, to calm me, to love me!
To help me to dream my Christmas dream!

Crazy things, said and done,
Every single day but one!
Every night should, I believe,
Be the same as Christmas Eve,
Nights should all be silent,
Days should all slow down,
An end to the hurry, the noise and the worry!
And I hope you believe that too!
It's Christmas,
Remember?
Does no one remember?

The whole world needs, a Christmas dream,
We need it to warm us, to calm us, to love us,
To help us to dream our Christmas dream!

(Lüge dirigiert die Welt, Ehrlichkeit bringt selten Geld,
Jeder möcht' Sieger sein, wer verliert bleibt ganz allein;
Doch manch Will' ist möglich durch die Fantasie
Du stirbst um zu leben und nimmst um zu geben;)
Einmal im Jahr wird alles wahr
Zu Weihnacht vergiss nicht,
Vergiss es gewiss nicht.

......

$100 Million Fraud bought 48 hours of "fame"

astonishingly brazen (chutzpah?) fraudster gets caught stealing $100 Million and for less than 48 hours is the most famous Jewish crook in New York City. and now? how many americans know the name of Marc Stuart Dreier ? (wow, what timing?)

Lawyer Is Accused in Massive Hedge Fund Fraud
Marc Dreier’s Amazing Hoax The Office of Judith Regan on Legal Fees Lawsuit: 'Marc Dreier Will Lose' Just Like News Corp

......

Can't anybody connect f***ing dots anymore ?

or do they just not want to ? ...i forgot, it's the Holidays (ooh look over there, a bright shiny...)

December 2008

Obama nominates Hillary Clinton for Sec. of State
Clinton's Foundation Raised Millions From Foreign Governments
Clinton Won't Seek Recovery of Millions She Loaned Campaign
Clinton Moves to Widen Role of State Dept.



does "CHANGE" = more competent corruption ?
......

Habeas Corpus (Produce the Body) Bristol

there's no sense in waiting til the 25th just to please your Mother's PR hacks (though i understand if your Mother-in-Law to be's arraignment is a scheduling conflict)

p.s. consider naming the boy ONOMETRY as he follows your first son TRIG ?



......

the "THINK" method of learning to drive in traffic

also known as P.A.T. (for future reference)


......

the United States is NOT ...

"the United States is NOT an all-terrain vehicle" (despite the fact that those who seek elected office and those who seek 'favors' from them seem to think it is)

when driving through unfamiliar streets, it is not uncommon to turn onto a road and soon find yourself at a 'dead-end'. when this happens you have no choice...

but to turn back, and retrace your path, to find the intersection where the wrong turn was made, and take another route. only then can you hope to begin to 'move forward' again. (assuming, and it's a big assumption, that you know where you want to go)
......

my how time doth fly (10 years ago today)

......

the not so invisible hand

W1 - January 2007 - George W. Bush signs Executive Order to double the size of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve 48 hours after the price of OIL dips below $50 per barrel

W2 - May 2008 - George W. Bush signs legislation passed by Congress to temporarily halt filling the SPR (that is 97% full) until the price of OIL goes below $75 per barrel for 90 days

"Free Markets" my ass

......

drawing the line

"there's nothing you can do about it so there isn't any sense in worrying about it"

i suspect most everyone hears those words fairly often in today's society, especially in relation to the headlines of any given day. the thing is, everyone draws their own line between the things that something can be done about about and the things that cannot.

most everyone agrees about sunspots and asteroids, but on the issues of other people's values and behavior and the proper way to bound, shape, and direct them ? well then it gets damn complicated. and all too often those complications help thwart any effective change by convincing so many that such things are unchangeable, even when they are not.

i suspect that those perceptions serve somebody's purposes, and if so, then that makes the assertion that much more lamentable. 'twould seem that the only truly effective way to influence other's behavior and values is by explanation, exhortation and example.


......

"INFO-BOARDING" new wrinkle ?

past (and current?) masters of the 'document dump', have the Clintons found a new way to say FU to the blogosphere, stroke the corporate media, and 'control the message' simultaneously ? by placing a 3000 page list of 'donors' on an inadequate internet server ?

is this a harbinger ?


......

New Word (a muleboy original ?)

... "the process of destroying a captive's ability to reason by simulating drowning via an incessant torrent of ever more shocking and disturbing news" - noun,verb - INFO-BOARDING

update addendum 18Dec08: i think i may have just improved it because "INFO" connotes something of value, perhaps "MEDIA-BOARDED" would be more accurate ?



......

Hey Paul Greenberg, Project Much ?

"the mild persona he's now adopted on the op-ed page... is impressive mainly for its sheer chutzpah"

"But the greatest violence (Greenberg) has done, and continues to do, is to the language."

"(Greenberg) may be willing to twist the simple meaning of words, but he can't seem to admit their power, and take responsibility for the effect his own might have had on impressionable young minds."

"If he couldn't destroy American society in his youth, maybe he can undermine the next generation in his advancing years."

"His guiding philosophy isn't (conservative), it's hypocrisy"

"Now that I've written this column, I almost regret it. If I hadn't spotted his self-righteous little act in the (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette) the other day, I might have spared both you, Gentle Reader, and me this brief review of his miserable career. The man isn't worth wasting good time and words on. But attention must be paid, a record kept. So some future innocent won't take his type seriously."

Psychological Projection

whilst you "rage against the dying of the light" Paul, say something redeeming. a 'mea culpa' a week for the next few years might cover it.
......

Here's the *&^%$#! problem

"Working to help Alaska achieve its potential has been and will continue to be my life's work" ... "My motto has been here "to hell with politics, just do what's right for Alaska," and I have tried every day to live up to those words."
- Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska 20Nov2008 (approx 5:50 in video)

any person elected to "represent" a state in the U.S. Senate or a Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives is SUPPOSED TO BE the person deemed, by the majority of voters in that state or district, the most capable of determining what is in the NATION'S best interest FIRST and FOREMOST... (if not ONLY)

they are not SUPPOSED TO BE the person deemed most capable of assisting the state's or district's interests at the expense of other parts or the rest of the nation.

the fundamental failure of the American System of government is reflected by the fact that voters and candidates for elected office, not only do not understand this principle, but now have conflated it or have it exactly backwards.

the same fault is now visible down the ballot also, and until this fundamental misconception changes, the only direction society and it's institutions of governance can head is down.

stephenhsmith 16Dec2008
......

Rahmbo rhymes with History

"I did not have quid-pro-quo relations with that man, Governor Blagojevich"

he added "ask David Wilhelm".


......

Thank You Gov. Rod Blagojevich

"i put my faith in the people, but the people let me down. so i turned the other way and i carry on anyhow"



......

Cauterize/Carterize definitions

cauterize or -ise Verb [-izing, -ized] or -ising, -ised
...to burn (a wound) with heat or a caustic agent to prevent infection
-----------------------------
carterize or -ise Verb
to burn (a wound) with debt, an infectious agent to assure paralysis
(see George W. Bush Fiscal Policy 2008)

also deux-carterize (See George W. Bush Car-Czar/No TARP also known as "picking winners") ......

"Team of Rivals" or... "the Usual Suspects" ?

what better cover for Keyser Soze than being 4th in line and a woman ?


why not replace W's/Cheney's "Team of Yes Men" with a 'team of new thinkers' ? or better yet 'a team of people who were right about Iraq' ?

Shinseki is a start (but too little too late for me)and the political symbolism of announcing the appointment to head Veterans Affairs of a Japanese-American 4-Star General on Pearl Harbor Day could well be called "flash", but at least, finally, some 'substance' is behind it. ......

ADG Editorial FOS again (big f'n surprise)

"perhaps the West is dying of shame, for what it has done and what it has become ?" such is thing isn't allowed to be printed, perhaps not even thought, by the mercenaries of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's Editorial writers. 'twould be bad for "business".



......

dreaming in numbers and asking wtf ?

the combination of boredom and curiosity can lead to more questions and strange answers. case in point, imagine you possess the wealth of a Warren Buffett or a Bill Gates (dozens of Billions of $$$) it should then be fairly easy to imagine that lots of people would be asking you for money, yes ? hard luck stories or wild invention ideas etc. some not looking for a handout, but perfectly willing to pay for the use of the money with interest. so you decide to loan them $10Million for 90 days. How much in excess of the ten mil would you want/expect them to pay you back in three months time ?
on today's 3 month U.S. Treasury Bond, people are "loaning" the U.S. Government $10 MILLION for 3 months under a contract to be repaid $10 Million plus $2,500 at the end of 90 days. (.001% annualized = .00025% for one quarter of a year)

now why would anybody do that ?
......

december's terminology

politicians, central bankers, and fund-seeking ceo's worldwide, but especially in the U.S., are being quite careful in their public pronouncements, to rationalize the need for more deficit spending using the words "to pull (us) out of 'recession'". those words are not accidental. they are due to the pre-Xmas shopping season.

in January of 2009 the words of choice will become "in order to prevent a Depression" which will ratchet up the anxiety factor and have the added benefit of being accurate. ......

the cynic of arimethia awake again

extrapolate the "shock doctrine" to a 'worst-case scenario' (some might say 'logical conclusion') and what do you get ?

President Biden and then President Clinton

and that would suggest a few more questions. first and foremost, who would President Biden select for his VP ? answer: that depends on when he would become POTUS and what has transpired between now and then. a.k.a. "the conditioning". or to be more precise, it depends on the successes, failures, or scandals (and their coverage/narrative of the corporate media) of the presumptive next Secretary of State during the months or years of her tenure.

while observing the transition, one does begin to wonder just how many times P-E Obama has watched "The Godfather" and it's sequel.

"i'm surprised at you Tom, if there's anything that History has taught us..."

"make 'em an offer they can't refuse"

"my father taught me many lessons in this very room..."

it also makes one wonder whether P-E Obama, who is perceived to be very intelligent, is even smarter than anyone suspects? if he is, scandal and failure will consume Hillary's secretaryship within a year, with little "collateral damage" (if you'll pardon the expression) to the Obama Administration. (he gave her a chance and she blew it. he gets credit for magnaminity, she and Bill were just 'true to form')

and the 'worst-case scenario' ?

Biden becomes POTUS45 either before the presumptive SoS 'drama/narrative' has been established, or after enough time during which major advances in diplomatic relations have been achieved. (or at least 'reported' to have been achieved)

by 2012, age and health questions could be a large factor in deciding the top of the Democratic ticket, or not. could just as well run as is, in preparation/anticipation of a 10 year reign for POTUS 46.

time will tell

but i would like to add, that the degree to which such an outlandish idea sounds plausible is the same degree to which the american people no longer have a say in the formation and execution of public policy




......

Rudyard told me, but i did not listen

"If you can think and not make thoughts your aim"

35 years ago in 6th grade, i had to memorize and recite Kipling's "IF", as did everyone else in the class, thus i heard it several dozen times in addition to my own effort. it taught me the ability to "think", subsequently refined and refined over four decades now.

the curious consequence though, is that having learned how, since then i have "aimed" to do little else. i suspect that is not what Rudyard had in mind.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!

--Rudyard Kipling
......

"no one could have foreseen..."

the coming Recession ?

que up Upton Sinclair's axiom "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

2003
john r. talbott publishes "the coming crash in the housing market"

2004
FED begins series of 17 consecutive quarter-point % rate increases

2005
u.s. bond yield curve inverted (2005/2006)
u.s. home sales peak in August, down 8% by year's end
oil spike (post Katrina)

2006
u.s. bond yield curve inverted (2005/2006)
GM sells GMAC (wtf?)
oil prices spiral downward (pre-election)

2007
oil prices dip below $50 before friday's close, Bush announces doubling of Strategic Petroleum Reserve on sunday (January)
oil prices almost double before year's end
New Century Financial Apr'07 - bankrupt
American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. Aug'07 - bankrupt
Jim Cramer goes "nuclear" on TV
US Home sales down 30% from Sept'05 peak
accelerated us govt policies (the "surge" more troops/money)
dow theory confirmations (Nov 2007)
GDI turns negative (Dec 2007)

2008
bank run on Northern Rock (January)
Bear Stearns $10 (mar, apr, may)
CountryWide bought by JP Morgan (june)
bank run on IndyMac Bank (seized 11july)
end of the first week of Q3 DOW begins it's descent (finally)
......

"George Was Right"

George Wallace that is... "there ain't a dime's worth of difference between the Democratic and Republican parties"

the PtB/DoR-R (powers that be/disciples of Rothschild-Rhodes) hath found themselves another willing and exceptionally able young hustler of humble-roots to mark the time before some other blue-blood gets to pad his resume'. and instead of another largely ineffectual but at least semi-moral Carter, we are to be treated to an amalgam of corrupt corporate cronyism that combines the worst of George Herbert Walker's 'realists', Bill Clinton's 'triangulating sophistry', and George W's 'top-down deficit spending' ? (why even a coupla-few Ronald Reagan re-treads sprinkled here and there. what, for flavor ?)

will Obama's "new dawn of the power of our moral example of american "leadership" become as big a lie as Bill Clinton's "the most ethical administration in history" ? only time will tell. but if "personnel IS policy" the odds are not good, for the record doth show that an unusually high percentage of folks who have worked with the Clintons, wind up wishing they had not.

historical references: in the last 100 years, during the formulation and inceptions (coincidentally of course) of the projection of American military overseas and the Federal Reserve...

T.Roosevelt (blue blood, *accidental?)
W.H. Taft (young hustler)
W. Wilson (young hustler)
W. Harding (young hustler)
C. Coolidge (blue blood w/o wealth, *accidental?)
H. Hoover (young hustler, former "wonderboy")
F.D. Roosevelt (blue blood & young hustler = bad combo)
H. Truman (young hustler)
D.D.Eisenhower (historical anomaly west point 4 stars, ala Grant)
J.F.Kennedy (new blue blood, young hustler combo again)
L.B. Johnson (young hustler)
R.M. Nixon (young hustler)
J.E. Carter (young hustler)
R.W. Reagan (young hustler, late starter, political career began in '66)
G.H.W. Bush (blue blood)
W.J. Clinton (young hustler)
G.W. Bush (blue blood, young non(?)-hustler)
B.H. Obama (young hustler)


......

crystal ball or looking glass ?

a crystal ball or a looking glass ?
sometimes it's so damned hard
to tell which one you are staring at
as time deals another card

is that yonder light a dying star
or an ever-nearing fire ?
or both if patterns recognized
continue to conspire

unto a most decisive moment
for the warning lamp's now blinkin'
start studying up on Gorbachev
and put away the goddamn Lincoln

stephenhsmith 30Nov2008

i suspect that the odds are quite high that President Obama (or President Biden, should events conspire even more) will face such a "decisive moment" in the coming years. and if so, the man that makes that decision will have the opportunity to profoundly shape the future of all mankind for centuries to come, one way or the other.
......

shock, rinse, repeat... 'til mission accomplished

floods, trainwrecks, landslides, stampedes, even bus accidents all too regularly claim scores, often hundreds, sometimes thousands of lives in India.

India landslides death toll 300

Train Wreck Death Toll At 106

2,000 feared dead in India flood

145 killed in India temple stampede

without being covered wall-to-wall by western media. even regional cyclones, earthquakes, and tsunamis whose death tolls are in the scores of thousands and do receive daily media coverage, are quickly forgotten after their political utility diminishes (see burma bashing, clinton/bush relief effort)

but if ten muslims decide to play "cowboy" and the ensuing coverage is non-stop, play by play, 24/7, and breathlessly includes the phrases "highly-coordinated", India's 9-11, "brink of war" etc.

culminating in public assertions by high-profile Indian politicians for their own version of the US' HOMELAND SECURITY DEPT.

methinks that is 'mission accomplished', for the western media (whose priorities are showing verily)
......

who wrote this and when ? (4min read)

You're losing money right now. This very minute. You're losing money if you own an apartment. You're losing money if you own a country home. You're losing money if you own a stock or bond mutual fund. You're losing money if you have a pension plan. You're probably losing money here or there, you're probably losing money everywhere (except maybe from your savings account and wallet). But this is no Dr. Seuss story. It's more of a John Steinbeck tale, and we are the victims, a new generation of Tom Joads, and it's the damn bankermen who broke us. No, there won't be a police officer to investigate, and the government, at least this federal government, won't save us.

who wrote it and when ? ... answer at page bottom




Our tale of woe starts not in New York but in flashy places like Las Vegas and South Beach and faraway onetime Okie haunts like Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ontario, California. In these towns, and dozens more like them, housing companies erected colossal communities of homes. Eager homebuyers and speculators fought each other for these properties, armed with cheap financing, courtesy of Alan Greenspan, who wanted to boost an economy reeling from 9/11 and create a legacy of homeownership for all, including those who could not document steady income or, for that matter, citizenship.

We think of him as Saint Alan now, but in a few years he will be known as the reckless Fed chairman who encouraged the creation and use of exotic mortgages that required you to put down very little money, odd creations like the "2 and 28," an adjustable mortgage with low interest payments the first two years that explode into gargantuan fees for the next 28. Don't have the money to pay for the 2 before the 28? Go "piggybacking": Take out a home-equity loan against your new house to meet those minimal payments.

Where did the money come from? Banks lent it, mortgage brokers lent it, and even home builders themselves got into the act. The housing markets were so hot the lenders barely had time to check if their buyers were deadbeats, cheats, speculators, or actual honest-to-Betsy hardworking people who wanted nothing more than what Tom Joad wanted 70 years ago. Oh, and the buyers didn't have time to check out the terms, either; the value of the houses was going up too fast. Gotta close now! Nor did the regulators tap the brakes—whoops, there were no regulators. If something went wrong, who cares? The buyers could always sell their ever-appreciating home to the next guy on the reservation list or the ten after him. The builders, brokers, and bankers then shipped these mortgages east to the big Wall Street firms, which bundled them together and merchandised them as high-yielding bonds often backed up by nothing more than the full faith and credit of, well, no one.

Over and over, Greenspan hailed these fabulous financial breakthroughs that gave everyone a chance at the American Dream (or multiple dreams, in the case of speculators who took down homes and flipped them). And why not? Don't homes always increase in value? Won't there always be willing buyers armed with ARMs?

Except that wasn't how it went down. The same guy who prescribed the mortgage elixir for all Americans then laced it with seventeen straight interest-rate increases, increases that brought rates to levels so high that legions of people who bought a home with a teaser rate couldn't afford the payments. Between 2004 and 2006, just as interest rates started spiking and homes kept being churned out in these saturated areas, 14 million families purchased houses, many taking advantage of teasers and piggybacks. Given that the average home went for about $250,000, that's hundreds of billions in loans that cost a lot more per month than when they were taken. Now these people are stuck. They can't refinance because the rates are too high, and they can't sell their homes to repay their mortgage, either. In every area of this country—and in particular, in the once-hot markets like the ones I mentioned earlier—there are just too many other homes for sale and too many new homes still being pumped out.

What do the woes of these folks have to do with you? Can a housing fire sale in Phoenix or Fort Myers really affect your Hamptons beach house or your newly purchased Upper West Side classic six? Well, yes, and in even bigger ways than you might think. That's because the people who ultimately bought the bonds backed by what now look to be billions in bogus mortgages are those who run most of the big pension-, hedge-, and stock-and-bond-market mutual funds in this country. These suckers bought such bonds because bonds backed by mortgage-payment streams paid a tiny bit more than United States Treasuries, a comparable low-risk, if low-return, vehicle, and were supposed to have very little or no risk themselves. Some managers, however, borrowed huge sums to buy tons of these mortgages to turbocharge their results. And the most aggressive managers bought billions in mortgages given to less creditworthy individuals, the so-called subprime loans you keep hearing about.

Even though these loans have been losing value for years, it wasn't until June 2007 that any of this mattered. That's because of what is known in the trade as the "marks," the value of a stock or bond as it's "marked" by a firm. You are getting poorer by the second because many of these mortgage bonds were priced way too high because nobody thought that large numbers of borrowers would ever walk away from their homes rather than pay the interest that backed the bonds. Such a disaster had happened only once, in the thirties, and that was before loans were federally secured. The buyers and sellers accounted for the bonds as if they were as reliable as cash, because as long as employment was robust—and it is—they thought they would be fine.

But now all hell's broken loose on Wall Street because of those mismarks. This spring, as many homeowners stopped paying, the mortgage bonds—for the first time—starting losing value. Hundreds of billions in bonds that were thought to be worth more or less the price they were sold at, it turns out, are worthless. That's triggered a chain reaction: Brokers like JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Merrill Lynch that lent money to the firms that bought the bogus loans—most famously, Bear Stearns—basically foreclosed on those firms to get their cash back. But the firms, which are always running full tilt, didn't have the money to pay up. Bear, at the direction of the now-fired former co-president Warren Spector, let one fund just go down the drain. But Spector thought the other was still worth a great deal, so he put up $1.3 billion to pay back what the fund owed to the lenders and take direct control of the mortgage bonds. Spector, maybe one of the best minds in the bond business, genuinely believed that these mortgage-backed bonds still had substantial value. If someone as savvy as Spector thought these bonds were still good when they were actually worthless, that tells you that thousands of other managers are simply dreaming if they think their portfolios are worth anything near what they claim they're worth. In other words, we're looking at the start, not the end, of the lending meltdown.

Now these funds, which were supposed to be brimming with cash—the "liquidity" you hear about all of the time—turn out to have not much at all, and there are virtually no buyers anywhere for these mortgage-backed bonds, because who knows if the mortgages that are in them are worth anything? We only know that each day they are worth less than the day before, because every week, thousands of borrowers are being foreclosed.

Here's another layer: The panicked managers of these firms were supposed to be the buyers for all of the high-yielding corporate bonds being issued to pay for the private-equity deals of Cerberus, KKR, Blackstone, and other private-equity firms. They were supposed to lap up the paper for all of the leveraged deals that are in the hopper for underperforming companies like Tribune Corporation and Chrysler. The Goldmans and JPMorgans had already promised the money to the Blackstones and KKRs. They are on the hook—"hung," to use the grisly vernacular—but they can't sell the bonds to their usual pension-, hedge-, and mutual-fund clients because those clients don't have anywhere near the money they thought they had and are facing redemptions from furious investors. Now, pretty much every large financial institution in the country is caught in a web it can't get out of. Bogus mortgage paper is infecting the system, and no one has a cure.

Which brings us back to your money and why you're losing it. Unless you keep your money in cash or Treasuries or CDs or the First National Bank of Sealy, there's a pretty good chance that you're in a fund or funds that are mismarked and worth less than they and you think. If you own a home, you're in the financial crosshairs, too. It's not just that the lending crisis is causing interest rates to rise, jacking up your monthly nut if you have an ARM. It's that the value of your home is endangered because of the hit Wall Street—the industry, if not the stock market—is set to take.

In the past half-dozen years, the major brokerages in New York added hundreds of thousands of jobs in three areas: mortgage-bond sales and trading, private equity, and prime brokerage (the management of hedge funds' brokerage accounts). Each has grown by leaps and bounds each year. Now all three are frozen. There are no mortgages to package and sell and no clients who want them. The private-equity deals are all hung. And the way I see it, the hedge-fund business is liable to be cut in half by the chain of mismarking and redemptions. I think that many of these firms have as many as 30 percent more people than they need right now in these departments, and all of them will be cashiered by the end of the year. The lists are being drawn up; the HR people notified. Not too close to the holidays, please! And for those who are left, sorry, no bonuses. The money was all eaten up by severances. Unlike other times on Wall Street, the jobs will dry up across the board, because so many firms have beefed up the same divisions. This time, get laid off at Bear, no walking across the street to Lehman. The departed will be cut off from billions in disposable income that fuel the New York economy.

What can thaw this nuclear winter? What can cause these markets to defrost fast enough to save the jobs, and home values, of the rich in New York, if not the newly poor and evicted in Rancho Cucamonga? Spooked by the news that major foreign banks are now getting hit by the lending crunch, investors took stocks down sharply last week, prompting Fed chairman Ben Bernanke to order up a quick injection of liquidity into the system on Friday. I think the Fed will also cut interest rates soon—certainly sooner than it otherwise would have. That said, this Fed has been famously inflation-wary, and it may be reluctant to loosen rates too much, lest it overheat the economy, especially since the Fed seems to believe that the nonfinancial economy, the part not connected with home building or lending, is thriving. Of the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, only two, Citigroup and JPMorgan, are directly connected to this mess. If Bernanke's right, and the rest of the economy is as solid as he seems to think it is, it's possible the lending crisis could be contained to only those who work in and around the credit business. But that's a big if. If the lending debacle keeps spreading, or the rest of the economy heads south, the Fed may find itself too far behind the curve to do much good.

Who else can unlock the jam? Maybe we get some help from overseas, a Chinese buyer of a major brokerage, perhaps? A Middle Eastern purchase of some of a big bank's equity—Washington Mutual, maybe?—wouldn't hurt. That's what saved Citigroup in 1990. Perhaps Warren Buffett can come in and buy a Bear Stearns; hey, he saved Salomon in a different decade. What we need is some deep, untorn pockets to step up and buy some of the good paper that is being thrown away with the bad, so the trading desks can catch their breath and stabilize themselves. Giant losses would still happen, but perhaps not institution-threatening ones.

In other times, you might expect a president or a Treasury secretary to get involved, perhaps to pressure Fannie Mae, the organization set up in the thirties to issue emergency loans to alleviate just the kind of homeowning credit squeeze that we have right now, to lend a hand. But this administration seems to be either totally clueless or totally heartless, or both, and doesn't want to goad Fannie Mae into helping. Maybe they hate that quasi-governmental institution set up by bleeding-heart Democrats to help struggling home buyers of a different, more liberal and compassionate, era. Or maybe they just think that anything short of an FDR-era Agricultural Adjustment Act for homes, where we bulldoze whole housing projects instead of cornfields to get price stability, just won't work.

I fear that the pain and contractions in the housing and credit markets could cause as many as 7 million homeowners who bought houses in the past few years to flee or be tossed from their dwellings, even if the rest of the stock market thrives. It's why I went off the reservation and screamed about this problem on television the other day (my latest unhinged rant). I see what could go wrong. I see how the forgotten man gets forgotten, and I feel helpless because I don't see anyone doing a whole hell of a lot about it.

Thousands of miles from where the walls began tumbling down, New York, the town where the architects of card houses live, will soon feel the full force of the storm. So much of our economy depends on these financial builders and their minions who buy and sell the products that the pain may actually end up being felt worse here than in the epicenters of the problem. You just don't know it or feel it yet. It's all happened too fast, in just a few weeks of another sweltering summer, with the worst, much worse, yet to come. Which is why I bet that in the time it took for you to read this article, the Tom Joad effect just took another few bucks out of your pocket. Get ready, many more dollars will soon vanish before you discover you've been robbed.

James J. Cramer is co-founder of TheStreet.com. He often buys and sells securities that are the subject of his columns and articles, both before and after they are published, and the positions he takes may change at any time. E-mail: jjcletters@thestreet.com.
The Bottom Line - Bloody and Bloodier
The subprime-lending crisis is worse than you think, and could crush financial and real-estate markets for years. By James J. Cramer * Published Aug 13, 2007


......

sofa king embarassing

To: Mr. Ralph Nader

Please forgive me?

signed: muleboy303

thousands of hours of stressful emotional roller-coaster filled effort, hundreds of dollars contributed, hundreds of miles driven getting people to the polls to vote for him, and countless friendships forever destroyed by revealed prejudices and principles...

and now i am told to content myself with the fact that unitary, spendthrift, israeli-centric, theocratic, warmongering neocons (disguised as "conservatives") are to be replaced by pragmatic, unitary, spendthrift, israeli-centric, warmongering neocons (masquerading as "centrist liberals") ???

"disappointed" doesn't begin to cover it.
"fucking embarassing" is more like it.

please forgive me Ralph Nader. i fell for it. (never again)

......

personnel IS policy

"CHANGE you can BELIEVE in"
(if you believe the U.S. was "good enough" in the '80's and '90's)

howinthehell do you get "a new kind of politics" with same old goddamn names ?


......

on the d.E.A.N. ?

a suggested new tool for classic-liberal Democracy, because i suspect that the sum effect of thousands of small questions of public policy is a quite underestimated engine of real "change". (link)

......

depends on how you define it ?

if "civil war" were defined as "the central government unable to exercise authority (police, courts, administration, tax-collecting, etc.) over large sections of it's sovereign territory...

then, would not Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan already meet that definition? and how soon will Mexico ?


......

today's Drudge

versus muleboy303 from april/may 2007... Hillary Rodham Gorbachev
(ok, ok, so i mis-cast the lead : )

repost:

"Meet the new WASP, same as the old WASP" - shs Apr07

It is my belief that Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bill Richardson will be sworn in as P/VPOTUS on January 20, 2009. My preference would be for Ron Paul and/or Jim Webb, but Americans rarely listen to me, and besides it would take legions of like-minded bureaucrats to make any substantive difference in U.S. policy.

The "Powers that Be/Disciples of Rothchild and Rhodes" will continue to prevail in the highest levels of U.S. Government for at least another 4 years. (Although the idea of Hillary Rodham 'Gorbachev' presiding over the relatively bloodless dissolution of the United States as the 44th and last POTUS does appeal)

But with such a fantasy still remote (though tantalizingly seeming more possible everyday) it is time to turn toward more realistic expectations. To which I've composed a list of excesses/criminalities of the G.W.Bush Administration that I assert will NOT be remedied during the first two years of the Hillary Administration and a Democratic Party controlled HoR and Senate.

Patriot Act repeal
Military Commissions Act repeal
Dept of Homeland Security dismantled
FISA Court Authority restored
VA Healthcare fully funded
Electronic-Voting paper backup required
Congressional War Powers authority restored
Presidential Signing Statements eliminated by statute
Military Forces fully-equipped/trained restored
Elimination of "stop loss" orders
Restoration on NatlGuard deployment rules
Restoration of state Governor's control of NatlGuard
Restoration of U.S. legal fidelity to Geneva Accords
Restoration of Congressional oversight of Executive Branch
A "True" Balanced Budget
Iraq War brought into Budget
Limiting Presidential 'Executive Order' power by statute
Less than 80,000 U.S. troops deployed in Iraq

Which means that in the summer of 2010, as the American people face another round of Congressional elections, the issues before them will be almost exactly the same as they are today. Indeed I expect them to be worse, for any catastrophic events in the Economy, Foreign Relations, even Weather, will only serve to make the list more difficult to reverse, especially for a new POTUS who is a woman, who presumably will work to overcompensate for any suspicions of "weakness".

Add in the ever-possible event of another large-scale attack by Al Quaeda, which will become more probable as time passes, and especially if U.S. military units begin to be withdrawn from Afghanistan and Iraq, and the political calculus for a sea-change reversal of current U.S. policies becomes nearly impossible to imagine.

Thus, the only reason that could compel the complete withdrawal of American military forces from the Middle East in the next three years would be for a significant threat of civil-unrest and economic disruption within the U.S. (of a scale at least 10 times greater than that of 1968-1970 or 1930-1932)

It is going to be a "long war" indeed, unless the country folds/dissolves. (which may well have been the 'Powers/Rothchild's' plan all along)

stephenhsmith
11may2007
......

2Big2Fail ? (off the top of my head)

...in the last century or so,

Hapsburgs, Romanovs, Titanic, 2 German empires, Ottoman empire, British empire, the Soviet Union, A.T.&T.


......

first Franklin Delano, then Teddy

Obama's stated concept of a "jolt" to restart the economy reminds many of the situation FDR faced in 1933. it reminds me of the young man lighting a bbq grill, who after pouring lighter fluid on the charcoals and touching a match to it, witnesses a "whoof" that instantly flames out. then he proceeds to pour a massive amount of starter fluid on the coals and the next match results in an explosion that vaults him across the backyard. (and yes, i have done that)

the resulting fire, especially in the newly created enviroment of consolidated, semi-nationalized, banking and insurance industries, will eerily remind those who experienced it, of the late 1970's, in the form of double-digit inflation.

both the FED and the Obama Administration will have to work very hard and very fast to contain the fire. i can see where an administration that began by emulating Franklin Roosevelt would, within a few years, be confronted with a necessity to mimic Teddy Roosevelt, by TRUST-BUSTING.

for "TOO BIG TO FAIL" most certainly now equals 'too big to allow to continue in it's present form'. plus modern telecommunications technology has destroyed the consolidation/centralization argument for 'economies of scale' (are you listening FED GOV ?)

......

rolling out the red (ink?) carpet for future american oligarchs ?

re: Citigroup ... if you give them $20Billion under an agreement in which they are responsible for the next $29Billion in losses and you (the FedGov) will assume liability for any losses over and above that, have you not just:

a: limited their future losses to $9Billion ?
b: incentivized them to divest themselves of their worst assets without regard to price ?
c: created an opportunity for third parties (insiders too ?) to purchase those 'bad' assets at prices so low that they then become potentially profitable (with the booked "losses" billed to the taxpayer?)

something sounds very wrong with this "rescue" until you remember that it's the Bush Administration with H.R. Haldeman's former aide from 1972/3 as the Secretary of the Treasury (who just happens also to be the former CEO of Goldman Sachs)

p.s. can you really "rescue" paper (now digital) "money" losses counted with 9 zeros by creating more digital money counted with 12 zeros ? (i guess we're about to find out)

p.s.s. if Citigroup operates in 109 countries, why is their "rescue" only the US' (taxpayers) burden ?
......

point of personal pet peeve for over 30 years

now that budgets/bailouts/rescues/derivatives etc. are priced in Trillions (with a “T”) can we now dispense with the *&^%$#! PENNY ?
(and save a Billion (with a ‘B’, dollars and man-hours) each year?)

besides, we have too many reminders of Lincoln already, and for the sake of the gods, somebody please take away Obama's copy of Doris' goddamn book.
......

the unintended (?) "benefits" of a severe recession

illegal immigration slows (reverses?)
us armed forces easily exceed recruiting targets/quotas (with smaller incentive bonuses)
consolidation in banking industry
pent up demand for smaller govt destroyed by delay
pent up demand for criminal investigations into executive branch destroyed by delay
historic changes in laws/r&d/investment re: alternative energy destroyed by delay (again)
historic changes in tax/subsidy treatment of oil industry destroyed by delay
increased supply of 'cheap' labor pool
solidified previous, and justified future rationales for even more accumulations of presidential prerogative authority over more sectors of the economy and life


......

the perfect enemy

the old axiom "never let the perfect become the enemy of the good" is quite wise, in and of itself. yet it all too often is used as an excuse for half-way measures.
it also begs more questions of calibration. such as 'if Perfect = 100% good, and 50% or 50.1% equals more good than bad, then can the axiom be restated as 'never let 90% become the enemy of 60%' ?

then where does it end? is 75% the enemy of 74% ?

the so-far reported intended makeup of Obama's government seems to indicate that he is well familiar with the old axiom, as it is so very far from "perfect" (unless of course one believes that there is no difference between Israel's interests and those of the United States)
it also seems that Obama is anticipating very hard times indeed, including another war. makes one wonder just what Gates told him?


......

more dominos teetering in line

MORE DOMINOS TEETER IN LINE in no particular order

Citigroup, Xmas Sales, Commercial Paper, State Budget Deficits, State Pension Funds, City/State Bonds, Commercial Real Estate defaults, Credit Card Defaults, Big 3... on top of the continuing credit crunch, subprime unwinding, and unprecedented (in most americans lifetimes) "economic uncertainty" equals a nation on the "precipice"
which makes me think that a relatively small "push" is all it would take to initiate a replication by the "United" States of the Soviet Union's collapse and dismemberment. and such a "push" could easily be another terrorist attack in early 2009. (as Biden warned ?)


......

the all too common thread 'tween money and power in Washington D.C.

as one of a very small minority within the US population (a pagan), i cannot help but notice (and be envious and fearful of) a much common thread when it comes to money and power in Washington D.C.

the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve
(often referred to as “the most powerful man in the world)
the proposed Secretary of the US Treasury
the proposed White House Chief of Staff
the proposed Deputy-Secretary of the State Deparment*
the proposed (now withdrawn) Secretary of Commerce
the now (and future) Chairman of the Senate’s Homeland Security Committee
the projected future Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee
the newly elected Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
the current US Attorney General
the current US Secretary of Homeland Security
and if the rumour of Jane Harman’s future as CIA Director also comes to fruition, what will this picture look like to US’ allies (and enemies) in the Middle East ?(not to mention the words “Clinton”, “Secretary of State” and “obliterate” in the same sentence)

i’m thinking now might be a good time to start learning to speak Chinese.



......

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes" - Mark Twain

year minus 1.5... the first attacks
year zero... the state orders it's military forces to invade
the invasion/attack is successfully concluded within weeks
year plus 1... guerrilla resistance organizes and intensifies
year plus 3... millions of the native population become refugees
year plus 5... the invader state elects a new leader who proposes troop withdrawals
year plus 8... treaties allow substantial troop withdrawals to begin
year plus 9... the last of the troops are withdrawn
the invaded nation is engulfed by civil war
year plus 10... the invader government collapses into history

thus is the saga of the Soviets in Afghanistan
who did you think i was talking about ?




......

I have "HOPE" again : )

can you say "lightning rod" and "genius" at the same time ?

if HRC becomes SoS, watch how quickly the press uncovers malfeasance, perhaps in relation to 'assisting' Mark Penn to recoup the $5 Million owed him by her campaign, via a foreign national or nation. or one or more of a certain cascade of self-dealing initiatives, abuses, improprieties.

when the **** hits the fan, the Clinton's will be finished forever with very little damage to Obama (he gave them/her a chance to "change" and they couldn't)

the decks cleared by 2010. on with "a new kind of politics"

p.s. does anyone really believe that appointing a woman who hasn't willingly followed an order given to her by a man since Kennedy (Eisenhower?) was President, to be the nation's top diplomat, is anything but a political move?
......

GM intends to go Chapter 11...

yep, you read it right, GM, or more specifically GM's top management intends to file for Chapter 11 next year. as a 'controlled demolition' or a conjunctive merger/dispersal exercise. (complete with all manner of innovative 'golden parachutes')

the TELL ? ...

yesterday's news of GMAC filing to become a "bank".

such a move is chocked full of Federal Govt. regulations and options (2-5 years to divest 'non-banking' enterprises, of which GM's car-making is one, as well as Cerberus (owner's of Chrysler and a chunk of GMAC at the same time)but it will give GM/Cerberus/GMAC access to Paulson's $700Billion. hmmm.

today's news/rumour is of a potential Obama plan for a pre-packaged Chapter 11 "deal" for the Big 3. (on top of the car-state Senator's proposal to repurpose the already passed $25Billion to the automakers for re-tooling for hybrids)

the $25Billion "rescue plan" debated the last two weeks and now postponed until December (no show plan, no get money) is a product of the intended "controlled demolition", as the big OIL companies currently are the recipients of dozens, if not scores, of Billions of Dollars annually in tax-breaks/credits. to repeal just a fraction of those tax breaks to the OIL companies (who've enjoyed record profits during the past few years) would more than pay for any 'rescue plan' to the Big 3, yet no mention of it in the press, pundits, or Congressional hearings.

isn't that curious ? not really.

the OIL companies regard the re-tooling (and especially the public financing) of the Big 3's factories toward more fuel efficient hybrids as a mortal threat. one which they can easily delay or destroy via press agitation and lobbying pressure. (as well as gas pump price manipulation)

the OIL companies have much experience at getting Americans to forget the pains of high gas prices. now they will do it again, assisted by the recession/depression and federal budget deficits if necessary.


......

IF President Obama is truly smart ...

IF President Obama is as smart as i think he is, you will see one particular action/assertion during his first 100 days. it may require Congressional approval or perhaps just a stroke of his pen as an Executive Order. i'm not sure. but either way it will be both politically wise and the 'right thing to do'.

END THE US EMBARGO OF CUBA

now is THE time. the times (demographics) are changing, both inside Cuba and in South Florida. to allow the Chinese to become Cuba's indispensable 'friend' by exploiting the embargo and the reconstruction/investment opportunities presented by three hurricane's devastation, would be another in a long line of US' stupid and petty mistakes.

politically speaking, the positive effects of ending the embargo of Cuba will more than offset the negatives among the older expatriot community in South Florida by 2012.

humanitarian/geographically wise, to utilize 'Dollar Diplomacy' in 2009 would assist Cuba's transition into the global capitalist community on terms favorable to the US (in a time of shared economic distress) that would benefit US commercial interests and the Cuban population simultaneously.
......

C.H.A.N.G.E. "you can believe in" ?

'tis beginning to look as though "change" is but an acronym

Corrupt Hebrews And Networked Government Enablers

changing one set of unconditionally supporting Israel corrupt crony capitalists for another, is i guess "change". but not the kind i was expecting. one gets the impression that Obama is anticipating more wars and/or terrorist attacks.

Biden (enabler... see credit card co's, bankruptcy law, zionist)
Rahm (jewish... see Clinton, Camp David, Freddie Mac, IDF)
Clinton (enabler... see New York, Chertoff, "obliterate")
Holder (enabler... see Global Crossing, Winnick)
Pritzker (jewish... see Hyatt, Superior Bank)
Craig (enabler... see Helms, CIA, Phoenix Project)

Congressional Democrats apparently are following the trend as Joseph Lieberman is to retain his chairmanship of the Senate's Homeland Security Committee with Dianne Feinstein reported to soon take over the Senate Intelligence Committee chair. while the House voted today to install Henry Waxman as chairman of the House Energy & Commerce committee. hmmm, Energy AND Commerce?

Watch for Obama's choice to head the CIA. Jane Harman would continue the 'program'. also look for Dennis Ross in some top-level State Department capacity. and watch for the names chertoff, zalmay khalilzad, anthony lake, jamie gorelick, and robert wexler. they've got to land somewhere)

on the contrary and btw, whereinthehell is Samantha Power ?

......

DOW plunges below 8000 lowest since March 2003

when today's closing bell quit ringing,
i could swear i heard the laughter of a ghost as the ringing faded into nothingness...

and the ghost had a name... Saddam Hussein ......

AR NatGas Tax (in verse)

as i ascended up the stairs i met a tax that wasn't there, it wasn't there again today, so someone else will have to pay.

or in prose... once again... Fuck You Sheffield
......

the tax that isn't ?

in early April of 2008, Gov. Beebe signed into law a so-called "increase" in the natural gas severance tax, when natural gas prices were bouncing between $9 and $10 per mmbtu. within 100 days of the signing, natural gas prices climbed to over $13. in the subsequent 100 days the price dropped to less than $7. the spring's rabid planning for exploration, drilling, and projecting future tax revenues for the state of Arkansas is now becoming the winter's rabid quest for merger and acquisition at bargain prices, aided and abetted by the state's legislated long-term windows of tax exemption.

will Arkansas ever see more money from the new "increased" tax than from the old tax ? let alone the kind of money projected just 6 months ago ? probably not. by the time the shake-outs, shakedowns, mergers, inflation, and a return of demand is realized, the rules will likely be changed again.

Beebe signed identical House and Senate bills to raise the severance tax from the current rate of three-tenths of 1 percent per 1,000 cubic feet of gas to 5 percent of the market value of the gas, with reductions for some wells.

The increase, which becomes effective Jan. 1, is expected to generate about $57 million next year and an estimated $100 million by 2013. All but 5 percent of the additional revenue is earmarked for state and local road improvements. (link arnews 3April08)


Chesapeake, the largest U. S. natural-gas producer, has been rumored as a takeover target of BP — speculation possibly fueled by BP taking an interest in certain Chesapeake ventures in the past few months.

BP, Europe’s second-largest oil company, said in September its U. S. arm plans to buy a 25 percent stake in Chesapeake’s Fayetteville Shale assets in Arkansas for $ 1. 9 billion. A month earlier, BP said it had bought similar Chesapeake assets in Oklahoma for $ 1. 7 billion.(link ardemgaz 19November08)

......

One Adam Twelve (how's that for dating myself?)

how many police cars (not trucks just cars) does the US have on it's combined city/county/state leo forces ? avg cost per ? etc.

how ’bout Congress establish a fund (say $15 Billion over 5 years) to “match” (similar to Highway Trust Fund) the dollars any city, county, or state raises to purchase new police cars that are made in the US that are either hybrids or get 35 MPG (perhaps with an increasing minimum mpg over time?) so that the $25 Billion already allocated to retool the Big 3 would have a sort of ‘guaranteed’ future market for at least one particular line of vehicles ??? (perhaps extend the matching funds offer also to any bulk/fleet purchasers? cab companies, etc.)

with such a program the way would be greased for serving them with a ‘bridge’ loan to get to 2010 or 2011 (a kind of alternate/addendum to Neil Young’s proposal)some math... at $50,000 per car (high?) = 20 cars per $1million, 2000 per $100Million, 20,000 per $1Billion therefore... $15B + $15B(matching$) = $30Billion (divided by 5 years) = $6B per year = 60,000 units(cars) per year (with multiple side benefits. enviromental, economic, leo culture adaptations etc.)

......

mack rowe and mike rowe

2009 to be as rough/rocky as '08, worse, or more stable ? 'tween 2 new administrations at least (US, Israel, possibly Japan, England, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, etc.) and continuing turmoil in the world's economies, the chances are most likely "worse".

which would presage the question: what to do ?

a) continue to 'muddle through' and hope for the best
b) prepare to exploit possible opportunities
c) begin to enter 'survival mode' until the 'storm' passes

"a" is americans traditional modus operandi, with predictably undesireable results, yet i see no good reason why "b" and "c" cannot both be done simultaneously.

......

blame it on 'The Graduate' ?

or... it's all your fault Mike Nichols ?

"BIG OIL... are you trying to seduce me?"

"PLASTICS"

i did something the other day that i do only once every year or so. i took a bath. with the intent to relax but realizing the opposite, as the white noise of the water hitting water sent my mind racing for fixation. it landed on "plastics". that one word from a movie long, long ago. and thus i began to count.

the shower nozzle (unused at the moment), the hot and cold water knobs, the shampoo bottle, the shower curtain, the rings securing the shower curtain, the crossbar for the flannels, my shaving razor, toothbrush, the handle on my mirror, the handle of my callous scrubber, the air vent grill, and finally the tub itself... all made of PLASTIC.

suddenly the words "carbon" and "footprint" took on a more disturbing meaning and i wondered what the price of OIL was today? i walked the mile to the corner store for my cigarettes instead of driving the car for 90 seconds. it isn't much, but it's a start.

......

if only it were that simple... or perhaps it is ?

perhaps it should not be too terribly difficult to have a relatively successful Presidency? when the simple formula of 'WWWD?' (What Would 'W' Do?) is applied, do the opposite. Or for more accuracy use 'What 'W' Did' and do the opposite.

"W" sent troops overseas (bring 'em home)
"W" cut taxes on top incomes & hedge fund managers (raise 'em back)
"W" doubled the national debt (cut up the credit cards)
"W" subverted the Constitution (honor it)
"W" froze out Congress (thaw it)
"W" double-crossed the Russians (befriend 'em.. they have OIL)
"W" partisan-ized the DOJ (replace 'em)
etc.etc.etc.

ah, and the exception that proves the "rule" ?

well, "W" had SoS's that spent their adult lives taking orders and now Obama is reported to have offered that cabinet post to a politician who probably hasn't taken a single order or direction from anyone since Junior High School. (oh shit) or start another "war" when a rogue nation actually developed nukular weapons (oh double shit)
......

a place for everything or birds of a feather ?

the votes are in revealing a most curious concentration of Palin-pimping, Bible-beating, Dinosaur deniers in where else but... Arkansas? (which makes a certain kind of sense, having an inferiority-complex such a part of the cultural DNA that even it's capitol's name describes it as "little")

on 4 November, just over 1% of the 3100+ county-sized political units in the United States (including LA's 'parishes' and AK's 'boroughs') around 36 of them, registered a 20% or more increase in the number of votes for McCain/Palin in 2008 than was received by Bush/Cheney in 2004.

Half of those 36 were in Arkansas.

Which gives a whole nuther meaning to the name "the natural state". (must be something in the water. chicken feces?)
......

BIG 3 = < 45% of US Market

45.4% of US vehicle sales in May '08 probably will be close to 40% by this year's end.

$8Billion would buy every share of common stock in all 3 combined.

sounds like somebody needs restructuring (20 years ago?)


......

i hereby submit... the G.A.W.D. 2009

i hereby submit a proposal/outline for a tax-increase to partially fund future Federal (and/or States ?) spending on INFRASTRUCTURE. whereby funding already existing road/rail/bridge construction or re-construction would serve to quickly stimulate the overall US economy, while simultaneously creating high-paying jobs, and leaving at it's conclusion a valuable, long-lasting, tangible national asset.

call it "the G.A.W.D." (the Get Americans Working Directive) ... just to further piss off those of the Religious Right who are still clinging to their guns and lower-taxes dogma. (after all, what elected official could vote against GAWD ?) ... and wouldn't paying more taxes to hire more americans into good paying jobs, making real, tangible things that americans use every day, in america (not outsourcable) be kinda... patriotic ?

the proposal ? implement a dedicated 25 cent increase in the Federal diesel/gasoline per gallon tax, at the rate of 5 cents per year for the next five years.

even if each State were to do the same it would still guarantee that motorists, by 2014 would be paying less for every gallon of fuel than they paid in early 2008 (sans Inflation, possible future Regulations, and Market fluctuations/Manipulations)

the tax mechanisms are already in place, no need for new bureaucracies, the plans are already drawn in every state, the construction companies already exist with workers already hired and standing ready to easily expand their operations creating something that will last for decades. (not to mention the correlating value of promoting automobile/truck/rail innovations, reductions in pollution, and alternative energy technologies)
......

OPERATION: Destroy the UAW now in Final Phase ?

'twould seem that after three decades of deregulation, free-trade agreements, and outsourcing, the final phase of OPERATION: DESTROY THE U.A.W. (and any other Union that becomes a target of opportunity) is well underway. whilst also consolidating the banking industry into a replica of the oil industry, and simultaneously spending the US government and taxpayers into so much debt as to make reforming the health care insurance sector and restoring income tax levels for the top 1% back to Clinton or Reagan levels politically impossible.

i have a sneaking suspicion that President-Elect Obama would privately prefer that the re-organization via Chapter 11 of the BIG 3 automakers begin before 20Jan2009. it is counter-intuitive to his campaign 'message', yet it would serve to lower the base and build support for his 'pro-union' initiatives that are largely aimed at the service/retail sectors (the given being, that in US manufacturing, the union-bargained wage and benefits, especially health-care and pensions, are woefully disproportionate to international competitive advantage)

the current "bubble" in global capitalist commerce is in US Bonds. this will give way as the spending increases and the US deficit exceeds $1Trillion in 2009. i expect the creation of the next "bubble" to be in US Infrastructure spending. (more unionized, but also at lower wages/benefits)

......

26october2008 What Would You Call ... ?

"what would you call a combination of "musical chairs", "hot potato" and "russian roulette" ?

i'd call it the financial markets in 2008


......

the ides of october

what a difference just one month makes

......

matchbook not included : )

......

the muleboy bailout/rescue plan (not kidding either)

with pert near a trillion dollars pledged by various governments around the world over the weekend, the DOW is back up over 9000 (as of this writing), which means only 7 more days (7 more Trillion $ ?) like this one and the DOW will be back where it was... a year ago.

to speed up the "infusion of confidence" i hereby submit a simple plan: have Mr(s)Cheney and Bush, along with Mrs. Pelosi walk hand in hand out to the microphones/cameras on the White House lawn, and submit their resignations simultaneously. Justice Roberts then swears in Robert Byrd of W.Virginia as the 44th President of the United States.

(now really, who else has as much experience and talent at distributing hundreds of billions of dollars worth of taxpayer's money? plus, the Democratic members of the HoR had better replace Pelosi with someone younger and more effective (Rahm?) if they want to stay in power more than another two years. and while they're busy doing that the Senate needs to replace Reid with Feingold. hell, even Hillary would be an improvement)

plus... imagine how appropriately symbolic of the transformation of America, to have Byrd handover the Presidency in 99 days to Barack Obama?
......

Compressing Reagan

"Are you better off now than you were four weeks ago ?"
- Barack Obama 9Oct2008

after 28 years, I'm not sure Americans are ready for a President who thinks before he acts. not only thinks, but wonders about what might go wrong, and incorporates the possibilities into the decision-making. and even more so, takes steps to prevent and/or minimize the chances of something not going as planned. to paraphrase/quote Dan Quayle in 1992, "If Obama governs half as well as he campaigned, the country will be just fine".

Obama 2008, the most farsighted, disciplined, and effective political campaign I've ever seen.



......

It's what they each represent, the composite view, not issues

... Matt Taibbi's column last week re-rang the bell John McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis had rung 25 days before, with the two different notes pointing to a third.

Taibbi - "So, sure, Barack Obama might be every bit as much a slick piece of imageering as Sarah Palin. The difference is in what the image represents. The Obama image represents tolerance, intelligence, education, patience with the notion of compromise and negotiation, and a willingness to stare ugly facts right in the face, all qualities we're actually going to need in government if we're going to get out of this huge mess we're in. Here's what Sarah Palin represents: being a fat fucking pig who pins "Country First" buttons on his man titties and chants "U-S-A! U-S-A!" at the top of his lungs while his kids live off credit cards and Saudis buy up all the mortgages in Kansas."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rick Davis - insisted that the presidential race will be decided more over personalities than issues during an interview with Post editors this morning. "This election is not about issues, this election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."

dutifully disdained and dismissed at the time by hard-core politicophiles, who are that way mostly because to them, issues matter. nevertheless, i suspect the two statements are far closer to the real truth than any partisan would admit in public. yet Davis does exactly that to the Washington Post Editorial board ? perhaps he is not a partisan, but merely a mercenary?

but the "what they represent" idea must be examined further....

......

funny, scary, and funny-scary all at the same time

Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press 3Oct08 ......

a willful suspension of disbelief ?

so what 'national emergency' will come in the next few weeks, from "out of the blue", requiring a bank "holiday" and/or suspending the elections? .... and what will americans do then ? ... yep, NOTHING



......

"suspended" animation ?

"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in a flag, carrying a cross ." - Sinclair Lewis

"...with a nationalized banking system in the President's pocket" - shs

so, between the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and 2005's US Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London, is there still such a thing as "private property" left in the United States ?


......

5 years ago, 5 years from now

what was impossible to even imagine 5 years ago is currently moving from the realm of possibility into probability. 5 years ago the US initiated a war, deposing a savage dictator with the last name "Hussein". 5 years later the US is in the process of electing as it's President, a black man with the middle name "Hussein".

perhaps the only "can do" spirit lacking in americans is that of imagination? the simple function of 'thinking before acting' instead of 'acting before thinking' allows time for imagination.

and what could be possible in but another 5 short years?
a viable cost-effective alternative energy?
a nuclear-free middle east?
us troops stationed in less than 100 countries?
a balanced-budget?

the list could be endless. imagine.

......

33 days to go, 33 days ago

33 days to go until the vote totals start rolling in. that's a long, long time in politics. for just 33 days ago, millions of americans were getting their first glimpse of the Governor of Alaska. in the 33 days since, some have learned, while many others have come to suspect, that there is nothing there but a charming confidence that is pleasing to the eye, gleefully spouting platitudes and lies to cheering throngs desperate to avoid owning their failures.

americans will get another full dose of the sales job tonight, this time under fire in the VP debate. the 'morning in America' junkies will surely be pleased as Palin's insistent platitudes roll out by the dozens, the assertive assurances proving she is no 'shrinking violet' who cannot play with the big boys, and masking the fact that she is incapable of actual thinking. they will not care, quite the opposite actually, it will reinforce their bonding to "someone like me".

such is always the case with expert salesmen who must rely on selling themselves when their product is deficient and overpriced.

the "tells"? watch her interrupt and talk over, insistently, when others interject or dare to ask a follow up question (was she raised on McLaughlin Group?) and note the consistent lack of specificity as she paints a portrait of her accomplishments and her ticket's future proposals.

the "base" will love her for it. (and i mean 'base' in more than one definition)

......

Best "Protest" Sign I've Seen in 37 years

since "Withdrawal is something Nixon's father should've done 58 years ago"
......

Presidential Daily Briefings of August

6 August 2001 - BIN LADEN DETERMINED TO STRIKE IN U.S.

August 2005 - KATRINA DETERMINED TO STRIKE IN U.S.

August 2008 - CREDIT DERIVATIVES DETERMINED TO STRIKE IN U.S.

thank the gods someone else will be reading the PDB's next August, unless... ??? unless... some sort of "emergency" requires "W" to "suspend the elections" ?

......

30 point lead for Obama ? damn near

among those who don't answer questions over the phone, but bet money on the outcome instead. no it won't last, but it would be nice if it did. and it's a nice enough present for now, for but 10 days ago Obama trailed by 2.

"the surge is working my friends"

......

random shots 30Sept08

IF there is such a "crisis", why has the US DOLLAR gained nearly 10% in value during the past ten weeks? (and is currently the same level against world currencies that it was a year ago?)

and WHY $700BILLION ? and WHY NOT a moratorium for a year on resets of ARMS? and why not hand Paulson a check for a couple hundred billion dollars, sans any "protections" language because W could 'signing-statement' it out anyway, with a sunset provision of 4-6 months ? let him start buying up the trash, see how well it works, and come back next year with a couple of months to deliberately develop a longer term solution ?

finally, amidst the turmoil of US and Israeli elections, with worldwide recession begun/impending, and the price of a barrel of OIL again below $100, would this not be an opportune time for Hezbollah to launch an attack ? ......

my favorite newsman talks about the day i was born

and my alma mater. yes, i was schooled at Oxford... Mississippi (tadum, tish)
......

there is NO $$$ CRISIS ...

repeat, "THERE IS NO CRISIS", other than those GOP members of the Senate and HoR facing a repeat of the 2006 election results, and those members of the Bush Administration who now have less than 2800 hours left to create as many problems as possible in order to preclude the AG/DoJ of the Obama Administration from having the resources and political will to fully investigate the criminality of the current Executive Branch bureaucrats.

there will simply be too much fixing to do, to spend time/money on rectifying the injustices of the past.

what you are seeing played out now in the world markets and headlines from Washington D.C. and Wall Street, is the exploitation of a manufactured "opportunity" to simultaneously accrue more power in the Executive (and now Congressional) Branches of the US Government, to consolidate power in a handful of financial institutions run by less than 100 people, and to hamstring/hogtie the next Administration's ability to significantly change domestic spending and foreign policies.

it may well also be a desperation measure, that if successful, will limit the GOP losses in the Senate and House, or at least provide the future smaller GOP minority with the return of a philosophical/ideological basis from which to oppose and inhibit the next Administration's policies. (either gridlock, contrast, or both)

and what are the poker "TELLS" that this financial "crisis" is manufactured ?

in the past nine weeks the US DOLLAR increased over 10% in value against a basket of world currencies. during a time in which the fallout from the failure of the two largest bank bankruptcies in US history, the takeover of the largest insurance company by the US Government in history, the swallowing whole or in part of the largest mortgage brokers in US history, and the unprecedented injections of trillions of dollars by the FED, both in direct and overnight lending, while simultaneously "draining the swamp" of liquidity to smaller banks, as the FDIC's account was drained to insure failed bank's depositors, while foreign-owned treasury bonds and failed/absorbed banks/brokerages' foreign-owned corporate bonds were guaranteed by the US FED/Gov at the very same time as shareholders of those corporations had their dividends revoked or suspended and the values of those shares were rendered either worthless or radically diminished.

and there's more. foreign stock markets gained more with each US FED/Govt action or announcement than did US markets. the election calendar and the evidence of multiple fore-warnings of the impending "crisis" over the past one, two, three, even four years, combined with the insistence of the markets and the US Govt that "something has to be done NOW" because "out entire economy is in danger" reveal the disingenuous self-interest of beltway politicians, money managers, and tv pundits whose yearly compensations share the commonality of having six or more ZEROS before the decimal point.

on top of all that, since the beginning of August, the DOW and the S&P500 averages have lost less than 2% in value. and since September 17, upon the "announcement" that the US Govt/Treasury was "considering" a "bailout"/"rescue" "PLAN" (since when does anyone believe politicians when they say they PLAN to do something, especially something to HELP ?) the DOW and S&P500 have gained over 5% in value.

some of the popular "thrill rides" at modern american amusement parks are but seats in a theatre. the seats move a little bit, but the images on the screen in front of them are filled with visual gyrations that give the eyes (and hence, the brain) the impression of great tumult. i expect the same thing is true for Wall Street, Washington D.C. and the media that "reports" on them.

watch the volume on the DOW, it reveals whether big $$$ institutions and/or the FED are "churning" the markets and their averages, or if investors are weighing in with either selling or investing (bargain hunting), and remember always that the market managers WORLDWIDE stand ready to plunge the averages at any moment they deem necessary in order to 'scare' the public and politicians to increase support for any 'deal' on the precipice of both failure/breakdown or support/agreement.
......

back in the US, back in the US, back in the USSR

......

DOW UP TEN PERCENT since the last Presidential Debate

since the last time two nominees for POTUS debated.
a doubling of US national debt fulfilled, resulting, among other things, in

the housing bubble bursting
the two largest bank failures in US history
the largest mortgage maker failure in US history
the largest insurance company "conservatorship" in US history
the largest brokerage company failure in US history
the most expensive, unpaid for, "War" in US history
the most expensive expansion of social spending in US history
the largest legislated and unlegislated peacetime concentration
of power in the history of the executive branch of the US government

and the DOW is UP over TEN PERCENT (since october 2004)
tell me again, where there is a "crisis"? ......

the how to watch/listen to debates/speeches primer

speeches are to be listened to, debates are to be watched. which is why when listening to a major speech, i do so via radio. when watching a debate, i do so with the mute function on.

the words, intonation, and rhythm of a speech are often distorted by a visual image. to eliminate that 'visual static', the radio is a superior tool.

the 'body language' during a debate has a very powerful subliminal effect on the viewer/listener. one can amplify the ability to detect the more subliminal by turning the audio off when watching a debate. and thus minimize the effect of the distorting combat between words/sound and pictures. (periodic 'sound checks' are advisable, to confirm/reassess the effect of the visual, in terms of intonation component of self-assuredness and subject matter)

any major "gaffes" or visual ticks will quickly be reported on internet forums or the major media, thus requiring periodic check-ins with both.

thus far this evening, both candidates appear very compelling/competent visually (with the possible exception of a few minutes in the middle of the debate as McCain's blink-rate and body animation seemed accelerated)

the audio checks revealed both candidates to be more than adequate "presidentiality"-wise. (McCain did not sound "crazy" or "confused" and Obama's famous "ah-uh-ah's" were significantly absent)

the substance of what was said and the opinions/reports of those who watched and listened to the debates will soon be forthcoming. to be read with interest and in earnest. to complete the "personal evaluation" of the debate performances, which then will be contrasted and compared with national polling data.

to me, it sure beats the shit out of soap-operas, reality tv shows, and championship wrestling.

......

yet another 'million peso idea' ? Poll-erization

no, not the "razorback" condom again. (definitely for 'her pleasure', unless it's worn inside out) no, this idea may well not be profitable in the open market, but perhaps it could secure a government grant?

the polarization of the american populace, that i've both witnessed and read about for now 36 years and counting, is disturbing in it's projected consequences. (unless one believes that the United States replicating the bloodless breakup of the Soviet Union would do the future/world more good than harm)

the reported gulfs between urban/rural, rich/poor, young/old, religious/secular, nativist/globalist, and genders, races, regions, education levels, portend a coming "point of no return" where differences become irreconcilable. (if not already there)

thus, my idea: to form a national polling organization devoted to finding and reporting only those questions to which a large majority of each subset of many/most demographic groups are in agreement. i figure (pardon the pun) that 60% would be a proper benchmark.

......

1/2 of Americans Cannot Imagine...

i'd estimate that about half of the people (base voters) of the United States cannot possibly imagine the results of the Presidential election in 39 more days. on one side, to approximately 1/4 of consistent voters, the very idea of a black man (and 'liberal' Democrat to boot) becoming President, is a "reality" that requires them to embrace "hope" that something, anything, can and will "change" the electoral equation before the votes are tallied. by embracing such a "faith", they can continue to avoid facing the possibility.

the very same applies to the roughly 1/4 of consistent voters to whom the very idea that after 8 long years, yet another Republican 'jet pilot' (and 'more WAR advocate to boot) could become the next President, is a "reality" that requires them to embrace a "logic" that stipulates that their candidate should be two, three, or four times farther ahead in the polls than is currently. this "fear" of 'expecting tragic disappointment' is due to their conditioning from previous experiences, thus galvanizing them to embrace the mantra "not this time" (with fingers dutifully crossed)

over the next 39 days, one of these groups will have to be "conditioned" by the major media, to begin to "accept" the idea that what was unimaginable a few months or even weeks ago, is soon to become reality (like 1980). unless, the election is to be the third 'psyche-faith-logic' wrenching, polarizing, and agonizingly close contest in a row. if it is to be so, the SHOCK to millions of americans, on one side or the other, is going to have major consequences in the months/years following. (just as the last 8 years have shown)

......

the value of "discipline"

DISCIPLINE, the key ingredient of 'character', without which any success will be temporary. no amount or combination of talent, intelligence, or charm can bring lasting achievement unless DISCIPLINE is included in sufficient quantity.

one candidate for President of the United States, has revealed through his career and most especially his campaign, an exceptional degree of DISCIPLINE. the other candidate takes pride in his reputation for being a "rebel/maverick", capable of doing the totally unexpected at any minute.

'Judgement' and 'Temperament' are reflections/manifestations of DISCIPLINE, the very opposite of "deciding with your gut" and "shooting from the hip". is it any wonder that as the rest of the world looks to the United States for dependable leadership, they overwhelming favor the 'bottom-up method of consensus building' of a "community organizer's" experience over that of another 'top-down, lone decider', "fighter pilot's"?


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the closed circle of the 'strong man' theory of governance

the "strong man" as ruler/decider has always been a part of human society's history. the desire to have and empower a single person with unquestionable and unaccountable authority has periodically been sought by populations disproportionately lagging and in fear of "others".
with such a 'unitary' formula for leadership comes the natural correlaries of 'might makes right' and decision/direction making from the 'top down' rather than consensus or consent of the governed.

the 'lone decider' also inherently embodies the insecurities that mark both the populace advocating and acquiescing to it, and almost always the person who seeks it's pinnacle. the insecure person requires real power to offset their self-known inadequacies, as does the populace. thus, the insecurities compel the need for power, yet power waxes and wanes, thus eventually creating more insecurities, that in their turn demand more power. and the circle, be unbroken. at least until the day of total collapse. then the process begins all over again

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warning: BAD Language alert

pray tell, what exactly is "contained" in a "bottom" ? yep, SHIT !

how i would love for someone to write a book listing all the times some asshole (pardon the pun) on the cable/network business news shows in the last year/two said with a straight face, that the "sub-prime" mortgage problems had been "contained" and that housing sales/construction had "bottomed". ......

GDI in recession already (better measure than GDP ?)

the measure of Gross Domestic Income is arguably a better measure of the health of the US economy than is Gross Domestic Product (which gets all the headlines and spin) here's why: if GDP were calculated by one person's economic activity, this is how the two would result...




an hourly-wage worker, works the same number of hours each month for $100, for 3 months, = $300 GDI if that worker spends all but $10 in the quarter the GDP would = $290. if that worker spends all but $10 but charges $10 on a credit card, the GDP would = $300. (or GDP = $310 if $20 in credit card charges were made)

if the worker's hours or wage were reduced, the GDI would recede
if the worker saved more and/or spent less, the GDI would remain constant, but the GDP would recede. the opposite would occur for GDP if the worker saved more, or even spent the same amount of wages, but charged more on credit during the quarter.

the same government agency that produces the GDP data, calculates the GDI. the common standard for 'recession' is two consecutive quarters of negative GDP. the first two quarters of 2008 have reported negative (declining) GDI.

fewer workers, fewer hours worked, wage reductions, transitions to lower-paying jobs, all contribute in some way to reduced GDI for 2008. more savings, less discretionary spending, less credit card spending, all serve to reduce the reported GDP. which makes a "recession" not purely a function of slower business activity, but also one of more responsible worker/consumer behaviours.

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what will the DOW do tomorrow ?

what can the DOW do tomorrow that would simultaneously pressure the Congress into passing the bailout deal, and make McCain's "campaign suspension" look more like a "decisive, mavericky, presidentially caring" move instead of a desperate ducking of debating a black man in Mississippi ?

simple. knock the DOW down about 500 points.

it doesn't have to stay there. the FED/PPT can pump it back up some late in the day. just the straight line down for an hour or so would be enough to set the media's narrative for the evening news and scare the shit out of the american people who assume that market actions actually reflect economic reality. what excuse will the DOW manipulators use? increased jobless claims report at 8:30am central time.

UPDATE: 25SEPT 3:15PM CST
jobless claims report bad, new homes sales report worse, but no need for pressure as pelosi/reid are staying true to form and lining up like charlie brown for yet another try at the football. but, word of mccain's possible monkey-wrench could set the stage for today's prediction being only a day too soon. time will tell.



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Yet Another Opportunity

like a child that makes every excuse possible to keep from having to clean their room, 2008's election, presents the american people with yet another opportunity to voluntarily choose to join the rest of the world in partnership instead of seeking to dictate. to lead by example and the golden rule. by persuasive force of logic, not force of arms. to raise it's standard of living spiritually and materially by living within it's means and innovating, instead of the exploitation of division...

or the choice will be made for them.

and just like the child, americans will not like the consequences when the rest of the world forces them to clean up their room.

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Regimes Changed 2008

file under "the value of re-stating the obvious" (as it does have a tendency to get lost amidst the clutter) the following nations have changed leaders in the past 10 months.

Russia, Japan, Pakistan, Australia, Thailand. with Zimbabwe & South Africa(halfway)
Israel likely, but you never can tell with Olmert
Canada possibly, but not bloody likely (they're making too much money to change)
add the Ukraine, England, Georgia and ??? (could go any day)

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the "war on tight credit" equals the "war on terror" ?

it worked before, and time is running out on the bush administration, so why not try it again ? only this time, what Paulson is asking Congress for, in terms of authority and money, would be the equivalent of the President demanding that Congress give him the power and $700billion to go to WAR. without telling them which country, or countries, he intends to attack. how many troops, planes, ships, etc. will be used. and casually adding that any attempt to require oversight, either congressional or judicial, would be a "dealbreaker".
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the proper numerical perspective ?

unlike the UK, in the US candidates do not "stand" for public office, but rather they are said to "run" for office, making the campaigns a "race". thus the equivalent of modern presidential campaigns most americans could relate to, would be the Indy 500 or Daytona 500 (though the 24hrs of LeMans would be more accurate)

for some perspective, if the winners of the Indy or Daytona 500 mile races were to outrun the field by a mere 1%, that would be the equivalent of 5 miles or 2 laps.

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to write is to .... ???

21sept - moyers/kevin phillips wow... two old guys who have a lot to make up for ..and they're doing it. hurricanes/recessions occur naturally, so why is anyone surprised when they arrive ?

19sept. baseball,bball,fball.. altered/ruined 4more "juice" (excitement, scoring, etc.) + natdef, lawenforcement, courts, oversights, %schooling, %healthcare, etc. socialized : )

18sept. the ELF method (working very quietly) = anti-publicity


17sept. the First Question "how do you feel about being human"? + rules, hard rules, exceptions (balance of exceptions/rules)

15sept. no matter the outcome, if it's close.. America's in BIG trouble + impossible to imagine.. but... / and to those who understand only "force" (negating "talking")

13sept. the "tell" (iraq/maliki govt. surplus, then push to buy US built fighter planes = )

12sept. the "character" ledger ... and 62,040,610 votes

11sept. issues/personality = candy/vegetables Y issues
when bombs/shooting etc. is just "expedited, localized, extreme forms of 'sanctions'/condemnations ?

9sept.. bill/bern/wu risked as much or more as anyone who ever wore the uniform for similar reasons
8sept.. carseats, seatbelts,roevwade soveriegnty over your own body ?
6sept.. if bristol is not really pregnant, then there must be a miscarriage.. when?
5sept.. age,sex,race more in campaign 2008 than ever before.. lookout
4sept.. the last lesson parent teach child 'how to exit'
3sept.. p.a.t. driving lesson #1 patience, anticipation, telegraphing
29aug.. moral authority doesn't mean we're better 'n u, but we try harder to do better than you
28aug.. potato chips vs poetry (db gives me the bookend/hook..finally via BC speech puffery)
27aug.. in my life, only pres w/moral compass = carter (& O?) look what done 2em
26aug.. the US copy of Israel's 'samson option'
25aug.. can, should, shouldn't / US & individuals ???
23aug.. jeez louise versus robertson (preaching to choir's unintended consequences ?)
21aug.. the liberal equivalent of the 'war on terror'
20aug.. math/connections = quest for the obvious
addictions analogy corelary
18aug.."if they act stupid/surprised... they're probably not" hamas election/georgia/katrina? etc.
16aug.. energy/sense ratio reverses with age : )
14aug.. surgeon/pilot such incompetence ONCE = license revoked + in Geopolitics there are only two conditions (turmoil & stability) relatively
11aug.. the beginning of "deconsolidation" : )
10aug.. tiregauges/parishilton instead of budget deficits/broken army + gas prices shoot up til buying curtails, then float down til buying resumes b/c electronic tracking
6aug.. gmta update = why people like to have questions asked about them (opportunity to share/think alike/compare) + get paid to talk/write then get paid to shut up (ala Dan Yergin ?).. the BIPOLARIZATION of MEMORIES (intense laughter and crying easily remembered, media filter ?).. 1's and 0's from personal/other pov = curiously sexual connotations : ) ARCHIE CAMPBELL IS GOD
5aug... the most wonderful words i've ever heard "Daddy, tell me a story"
4aug.. the FED will DECIDE (%rate increases when ?)
caricatures (dems inaccurate/effective gop accurate/ineffective).. archie campbell school of politiconomics + president of the world ???
29july .. defining 'victory' in iraq (troops/bases/$$$/deaths)
27july.. the value/tradeoff polls within the moe
24july "the more one learns, the more embarrassing it becomes to be a human" shs + hate, loathing, disrespect=all crimes the state has no business trying to determine what combination of those factors induced someone to commit a crime, nor does the state have any business exacting different penalties for different assessments) shs.. they too said they were "Christians"... excused how ?? "the people in charge of the spotlight determine what gets seen" shs24july08
23july.. to a neocon, every new well drilled, govtcheck, ustroop deploy.etc. is a victory
22july rich/poor in ($, love, health, friends, talent, smarts...)
21july... electronic billboard, horserider/cellphoneFW :)
20july... tora bora/obl escape = fuckup? (not)
10july . a simple ?... why would it be so bad (1wk or 2 receipt after order?)...rufnkidnme ?.. "the bombing list"
9july.. how you spend (waste) your time is who you are
3july... "NEARER INTERACTIVE" (the NET & the Obama Administration)
3july... CUA-BONO (not cui) cua=Commerce Uber Alles
30june... "is the US at war?" (cic powers, vote projector, worth it tangents also)... good govt is boring
29june... daa=immediate response shs - delayed
28june .. TONE GODDAMMIT...
27june .. 3000 fixes 'what's one more'? .. with hor/sen majorities.. internet/obamacampaignlessons4governing ?... Kos & Effect ??? (the humourless and hypersensitive, downsides of)
24june... teaching 'critical thinking' via humour & questions (socrates wouldabeen so proud)
22jun08 shs...the TRIANGLE = Fucking, Killing, Ruling
=======================
is BHO a "pig" ala Carter? ... (pipeline analogy)
Wpolls Iraqpolls, econ, $$raising = DEM WIN ...
the 4 viruses isolationism, gold, anti-militarism, successful socialist state in sAmericaTANK ..OBAMA AEROPLANE WWI analogy escalating linear progression of imperial/unitary potus power hst/lbj 2 today then ??? afghan/wazir are already what US/Neocons argue Iraq would be if US forces pulled out. : ) diamonds (mining ton for .5 ounce) ..a chameleon's only shows his true colours in the dark (be himself)..
killing fairytales..video games = no message/time waster .. moral authority = greatest weapon ...bottom up/top down/internet 2 campaign organize & govern (ala Reagan 'going over their (wash d.c.'ers) heads to speak directly to the american people... ) ....the hollow echo of the victory culture (american exceptionalism meets reality) IS IT TIME YET? FOR 'equality under the law' ?... 1. full citizens 2. pre-full citizens 3. non-citizens ..no more male/female, black/white, etc. in US legal codes ?
3 measures = 1.cynical 2. balanced 3. idealistic .....

the value of re-stating the OBVIOUS ...
policeman's greatest power is to NOT enforce a law=
reporter/newspaper/broadcaster's greatest power is to NOT report a story
IMPULSES=WHAT % OF MISTAKES (50?75?90?)
MORE IS LESS (more govt = less freedom)
GMTA = THE ULTIMATE QUEST ??? holidays, music, movies, religion commercials etc.
"LIKE" is cinematic language ...OUT EMOTE CONTESTS..."family" 2000 years ago
BRIGHT LINES DISAPPEARING =/ democracy & capitalism require ethics to work properly
how u c others is grounded in how u c yourself
the indescribable beauty of the blank page
Electronic, Public, Interactive, RealTime, LTTE & Community Bulletins Page
writing yourself an absolution/indulgence check ?
make a friend of "ambiguity"
shs"the more a person realizes their own personal limitations in controlling their immediate enviroment, the more inclined they become to belong to a larger group than can control others" (biz,church,team,country etc.)
====================
(SHut Ins Typing Anonymously) ... "there is a lot of valuable news and persuasive opinion to be found on the Internet. but you'll have to wade through a ton of SHITA to find it" shs 22july2008
goddamn pride is expensive... wars and football stadiums = (priorities)
where have ya gone Mikhail Gorbachev = USAR (Union of Sovereign American Republics)
our nation turns its lonely eyes to you
list (by POTUS) each dimunition/deviation from the USC of 1889
shs "for over 30 years i've successfully avoided ....... for the same reason i've not tried Heroin. i was afraid i would enjoy it so much that i could not stop once i started" ....also 'bubbles within bubbles' = bubble-popper = pointing out the obvious/which has much more value in an information overload environs.
groucho / moynihan (facts) trumped by BOR/FOX and Internet forums (cliques)
cannot take compliments (why?) and 22Dec1973 ???
THE STRANGEST BEDFELLOWS & REVOLVING DOORS REPRISED
1HAND2THEOTHER LIST hst, hitler, churchill, ike, jfk, lbj, nixon, ford, carter, rr, 41, 42, 43, meyer lansky, otto kretschmer, f1's/indy (enzo ferrari, ferdinand porsche , h'wood, music, ????
"everything you do is a trade, which is why forethought and balance are so very important"
seeing yourself in a song is scarier than a car wreck shs 11july 08
"THE BOMBING REPORT" listing who blew up whom so track can be kept
"such things are not taught in schools, "truth" and "logic" are janitor's tools"
"art & history are two different ways of describing the same thing. both seek to explain and/or illuminate what individuals and then society deems important enough to warrant the effort" shs 17july2007
"immoral equivalency" = w/torture etc. fdr/internments wilson/palmer anarchists us./indians/philipinos
9july08.. "it is no accident that the rottenest sob in the Bush Admin is a former top lawyer from the transportation industry" (addington-ata) .. erie canal, american system/clay/whigs/lincoln/railroads...require govt 'eminent domain' power to grow rapidly = foundation of modern national-socialism "american"-style (up to = all consolidation has negative consequences) shs
shs12july2008 "the first tool in any power struggle/question to be mastered, especially in Modern American culture, is 'emotional blackmail' "
1sentence lessons from History (by SHS) : )
books> moynihan venona quigley tragedy/hope yergin/theprize
schieffer/rather =some folks require reassurance routinely. a 'booster shot' in order to keep themselves motivated to produce. some don't. while others will run helter-skelter over any all boundaries until made to stop, requiring not a single reassurance of "you're doing fine, keep up the good work", but instead a constant watchful eye and recalibrations of limits and directions.
the '78 FISA law was bad too
the different kinds of "intelligence" (booksmart, bodysmart, peoplesmart)
also... "it's how i learn... argument" (sparked by applying objective terms onto subjective questions) ......

Last Week's "Dumb" is This Week's ?

last week's assertion by the Democratic Party's nominee for Vice-President, that for the wealthy, paying higher taxes should be considered a "patriotic act", was labeled "dumb" by the Republican Party's nominee for President. But this week, the Bush Administration's Treasury Secretary and the Federal Reserve's Chairman are asking Congress to fund a buyout of the financial sectors biggest mistakes.

A public debt incurred is a tax imposed. So the American people are all being asked to pay higher taxes in the future to "save" the economy from a "financial armegeddon" ?

Could that not be considered, ahem, ... a "Patriotic Act" ?


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A Question for the Day (or the Ages really)

what policy enacted and executed by the Bush43 Administration has done more good than harm ?

the only thing i can think of would be "China", and even that is a close call.
(W didn't start a war over the surveillance plane knock down and capture, and though the trade policies hurt American labor, they may have enabled China to take over policing the world sooner)



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the CRISIS calendar

study this chart very carefully (there will be a quiz later, click to enlarge)

.
.
from the lows of March 2003, (hmmm, what else started in March of 2003 ?) existing home sales climbed 24% in 28 months, while the % of sub-prime loans that fueled those sales grew 150% (from 8% to 20%) notice anything kinda funny? like maybe that existing home sales peaked at the end of the summer of 2005 ? (single-family home construction also peaked at the same time)

and the FED ? well for most of the 5 quarters after the beginning of the War in Iraq, the FED held interest rates at the historic low of 1% until they commenced in late 2004, if i remember correctly, a series of 17 rate hikes of 1/4% each that ended in late spring of 2006 with the rate at 5.75%, where it stayed until the beginning of 2008.

so that means existing home sales/construction peaked about 9 months after the FED began hiking % rates, when the rate had only yet climbed to 3.75%.

then what happened ?

well the FED continued it's rate hiking as home sales/construction declined from August 2005's rate of 7.21 million, down to 6.75 million by the spring of 2006 when the FED concluded it's series of rate hikes. but nobody felt any panic, not even when home sales/construction continued to decline to 6.25 million just a few short summer months later. mortgage rates were still historically low, and easier to get than ever. and after the elections of 2006, the sales/construction even spiked back up in early 2007. no reason for panic at all. right ? not for long.

by 2007's 4th anniversary of the beginning of the War in Iraq, home sales/construction had dropped over 13% in two months, yet still no panic. only rumblings in the market newswires that if such a trend continued, some big name homebuilders and mortgage makers could be in for a rough ride.

the trend continued.

just four months later, home sales/constructions were down to almost 5 million units/year run rate. a 33% drop from the run rate of just 8 months earlier. CountryWide had gone bust and Jim Cramer was screaming bloody murder on the tele, saying Bernanke had no *&^%$#! idea how bad things were.

and yet they panicked not still.

the FED finally got around to lowering interest rates a bit 8 or 9 months later, in early 2008, then opening funding windows by the summer, to throwing boatloads of money into the markets on a near daily basis by Labor Day. but the boatloads of $ and the "bazooka" that Congress gave Paulson in July that he said he would "never have to use, just by the virtue of having it", got used just 8 weeks later on AIG, to "stem the panic".

the panic was not stemmed.

so here we are, 4 years after the %rate hikes began, 3 years after the housing peaks, 2 years after the Democrats unexpectedly took over the House and the Senate due to the incompetence and corruption of the Republicans, and 1 year after the largest home mortgage maker, CountryWide, went ka-busto, and with 500 BILLION DOLLARS pumped into the system by the FED already so far this year...

NOW (7 weeks before the Presidential Election) THE TREASURY SECRETARY OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION GOES TO THE LEADERS OF CONGRESS AND SAYS THE WORDs: FINANCIAL ARMEGEDDON ???
(and asks - demands? - unprecedented amounts of authority and money, with NO judicial review/oversight)

you can PANIC NOW ... (but not for the reasons you might think) ......

Hi Charlie Brown, wanna kick the football ???

"they" (WallSt/GOP) will jimmy down the markets as much and as long as it takes to make the Democrats in Congress cave in. and even during this game of the highest stakes 'chicken' in history, should "they" tire and acquiesce to a laundry list of DEM demands and pass the bill, W will simply 'signing statement' away the parts he doesn't like. this "deal" is IWR 2 (only instead of Iraq War Resolution it's the Inflation Whore Resolution) if the DEMS hesitate or attempt to 'christmas tree' the bill, the GOP will call them 'obstructionists' standing in the way of american's prosperity who don't really want "change" and are more concerned with winning an election from furthering discontent than they are about "solving" the economy's problems...etcetcetc...

i expect the "schedule" is for next week at the earliest, to build the 'DEMS/Obstructionist' narrative, and have the media wurlitzer in gear in case the debates go badly friday night and weekend polls start cascading away.

hi charlie brown, wanna kick the football ???



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"from a marketing point of view..." Andrew Card Sept 2002

``From a marketing point of view, you don't introduce new products in August.'' said WH Chief of Staff Andrew Card when asked by the NYTimes why the Bush Administration waited until September of 2002 to make it's case for invading Iraq. (CNN link)

in light of the past three weeks events, one cannot help but wonder if the same principle is once again being applied, only this time not to bully Congress into authorizing a WAR, but to two new products with potentially even worse consequences for the future of the United States. PALIN & BAILIN'



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Is "W" Truman Yet ? (damn near - waitin' on Gallup to confirm)

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ooh a bright shiny thing $$$

last week's "bright shiny thing" was DOLLARS !!! as americans joined the rest of the world in watching the stock market averages dance about, a few other things happened:

us defense secretary bob gates' apology to afghanistan as karzai's provincial governor killed by nato troops, admiral mullen's broken promise not to bomb in pakistan, coordinated terror attacks in india, the fema/perry clusterfuck in galveston, obama's poll lead re-taking, ukraine's government disintegrating, israel's wacky kadima election, gordon brown's impending political demise, kim's stroke (?) as north korea restarts it's nuclear power plant.

just to name a few (in addition to Wall Street's bad whiskey and China's bad milk) interesting times indeed.



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Punished for doing it Right ?

those who did right, or did it right, are unfairly punished when those who did wrong and wouldn't correct it, are "saved". afaik, Wells Fargo either didn't engage in ridiculous mortgages, or stopped and reversed course when the warning signs appeared over a year/two ago. a parallel perhaps to the star athletes who can't make the grades,but are still allowed to play, punishing those who make the effort to perform as well in class as they do in the game.



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6 weeks to go, 6 weeks ago...

6 more weeks until Election Day, with debates, world series, football, Halloween, etc. all to come before the voting concludes and the tallies made.

6 weeks ago though, the world's eyes were fixated on Michael Phelps as the Russians were accused of acting like Soviets again, prompting many young Americans to ask: "What are Soviets?". the blogs were filled with PUMA's anticipating a showdown in Denver. Rumours swirled that Musharraf might resign, the DOW lost over 100 points... in a week, the U.S. still had investment banks, and only the hardest core politicophiles knew whointhehell the Governor of Alaska was.

6 weeks is a long, long time.



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