Apparently the statement reads, in part: "Chrysler manufacturing operation...will not return to work any sooner than Monday, Jan. 19, 2009."
Okay.
And General Motors? Well, according to Moody's, they have "a 70% chance of declaring bankruptcy."
"What's good for General Motors is good for the United States." (Attributed to Charles Erwin Wilson.)
hahahahahafail
"What (CBS News' 60 Minutes) did acknowledge is that the next round of mortgage defaults is coming from two classes of mortgage lending that are slightly (but barely) more financially responsible than sub-primes. There were nearly $1 trillion in sub-prime mortages, but these new (to most Americans) forms of mortgages, the Alt-A and Option ARM mortgages, total roughly another $1.5 trillion. Given the fact that the banking industry has already sustained some devastating shocks, there is increasing doubt about the continued viability of many of the largest banks still left standing. Worse, it's going to take another 3-4 years for these loans to default, because that's how long it's going to take for the interest rates on these loans to reset to higher levels. Given the fact that a large segment of these loans are already defaulting even before the interest resets take place, the expert interviewed on the program claimed that he expects roughly 70% of these loans to default based on current, pre-reset default rates!"
I saw the segment and based on the facts presented, it seems inevitable that the housing-related implosion is just heading to Part II. What solution or solutions can stop this need to be implemented in the coming months.
Suppressing dissent, especially well-reasoned and provable dissent, is a cowardly tactic, no matter who does it.
"A federal appeals court today upheld, in part, a decision striking down provisions of the Patriot Act that prevent national security letter (NSL) recipients from speaking out about the secret records demands. The decision comes in an American Civil Liberties Union and New York Civil Liberties Union lawsuit challenging the FBI's authority to use NSLs to demand sensitive and private customer records from Internet Service Providers and then forbid them from discussing the requests. Siding with the ACLU, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that the statute's gag provisions violate the First Amendment."
The "case" for eavesdropping on citizens without legality is crumbling like a sand castle in a tsunami. Not that it could even stand up to a soft wavelet...
Vincent Bugliosi calls for the prosecution of the murderous moron and writes a book to prove the case. Now Michael Ratner has done the same with Donald Rumsfeld. A similar book will come out against Cheney and possibly Alberto Gonzales. The groundwork is there for a massive demonstration of what a true democratic judicial system can--must--do. Or inaction will be a demonstration of how deep cowardice can run within a boastful nation.
"What I observed almost a decade ago, in Punished by Rewards, is still true as far as I can tell: not a single controlled study has shown a long-term improvement in the quality of work as a result of any reward system. That would be an astonishing fact were it not for the existence of scores of studies – conducted with adults as well as children, in real workplaces among other venues – that have demonstrated how rewards tend to be not merely ineffective but powerfully counterproductive.
What is astonishing is how many people continue to buy the party line – that the concept of using extrinsic inducements is sound – indeed, not even open to question -- and the failure to show meaningful results (yet again) is due only to getting the details of implementation wrong. In place of solid arguments and evidence, we find a continued reliance on that outdated ideology known as behaviorism, a version of which turns on the adage that “all behavior is controlled by its consequences.” Depending on how the key words here are defined, this is either tautological (that is, true by definition and therefore not especially useful) or simply false. Even if you accepted it at face value, this declaration begs the question of what kind of consequences we’re talking about. I might work harder at a job that gives me personal satisfaction, for example, but that isn’t even the beginning of a justification for setting up artificial consequences like bonuses or sales commissions.
A few years ago, Training magazine – hardly a bastion of anti-Skinnerian sentiment -- ran a cover article called “Why No One Likes Your Incentive Program.” They were acknowledging what every honest person who has spent time in the business world must concede: reward systems are highly unpopular and (partly as a result) ineffective. I wish I could tell you that tweaking an existing program, finding a new way to reward people, would make those problems vanish. The reality is that rewards cannot work, at least in any significant way, because of the problems that are inherent to the whole idea of extrinsic motivation. Merely eliminating those rewards will not transform a workplace. That step is not sufficient, but it sure is necessary." (Emphasis Mine.)
So what about "executive compensation" for CEOs who strangle their companies into receivorship? Rewarding the wrong behavior is stupid, right? Right?
"(Reporter Branson) Hunter contacted Corporal Knuesn of the MCAGCC Provost Marshal office and MCAGCC Public Affairs Chief, Gunny Sgt. Chris Cox. Both confirmed the USMC will be present on public roads in order to setup a military presence during routine DUI check stops. “They will be working closely over the month to cut down of traffic accidents,” said Cox, “the Military Police will observe DUI check points and watch for their own guys. The intent is to have military presence out there.”"
WHY?! What possible reason can there be to have a Marine Corps presence at routine DUI stops?
Here's the answer: None legal. The only reason--and there is no other--is to establish the "validity" and "normalcy" of armed military troops on domestic soil. Once you establish that, you can then move on to make that military presence an active one, as in reducing the citizenry's scope of legal activities.
That has one and only one name: Fascism.
Mark My words: If this isn't stopped now, it will become routine. By then, it will take massive and even armed action to put an end to its encroachment.
Again: there is no longer any reasonable factual debate about this (hence to near total silence of the Republican right), and the Senate report finally holds the president responsible in bipartisan fashion..."
Yeah, well, different galaxy, I guess. On Planet America it seems a lot more like it's still 2002, and a frightened, compliant press is still learning how to embarrass itself by becoming a tool of a massively deceitful White House. Now that it's almost 2009, they've got it down to a science. Only today they don't even have the pathetic and shamefully flimsy excuse they did back then, in the wake of the 9/11 scare."
The media as retarded sheep, bleating in rhythm. Baaaaad.
Okay, okay! I'll make mention of the shoe-fling seen around and around and around the Googletubes. Here:
"Here's a little of what he communicated: no technology, no weaponry, and no propaganda can protect you from the results of mistreating millions of human beings. Iraq has been made a living hell. Everyone there has suffered and lost people they loved because of the callous greed and self-centered calculations of George W. Bush who has blood up to his shoulders after waging an illegal aggressive war for politics, money, oil, and bases from which to murder human beings in neighboring countries while seated at the safe distance of the Oval Office.
The question we should really ponder is not why al-Zeidi could be so impolite as to throw his shoes at Bush, but why the dozens of other shoes in the room remained on people's feet..."
Three comments:
1) This will symbolize the murderous moron's misadministration more than anything else he ever did or tried to do.
2) This clearly replaces the "shoe in politics" place of Kruschev's infamous "shoe pounding table," also aimed at the U.S. of part of A.
3) From less than 15 feet, there is no way--No. Way.--I would ever miss the murderous moron with two thrown shoes. I'd nail him with at least one. Guaranteed.
He added: 'It's been a remarkably successful effort, and I think the results speak for themselves.'"
Fucking idiot.
Of course they knew. They had to. You'd have to assume that these well-educated, legally-expert, career professionals were almost totally stupid in order to swallow the "accidental implementation" theory. Either totally stupid or willfully dismissive of the law. And since ignorance of the law is not an excuse, the wiretapping hyenas broke the law and are guilty of criminal actions.
"Continuing his refusal to take any responsibility for the consequences of his decisions, Bush suggests that al Qaeda came to Iraq by chance, that it simply “turn[ed] out to have been” the place where they “were going to take their stand.” But al Qaeda’s existence in Iraq is 100 percent attributable to Bush’s decision to go to war in Iraq: al Qaeda never existed there before, and in fact, Saddam Hussein viewed Osama bin Laden as a threat and refused to support him."
It must be nice to go through life being so stupid you can believe anything, even--or especially--your own damn lies.
Dogbert The Financial Advisor: "You should invest all of your money in diseased livestock. It would be unwise to invest in just one sick cow. But if you aggregate a bunch of them together, the risk goes away. It's called math."
A 15-second (or in My case, 2) explanation of what led to the current economic debacle that beats everything else all hollow.
The following was submitted as a comment, by Simon Owens:
Hey Gil,
I read your post about the Pulitzer's decision to open the prize up to online-only news outlets. I got a chance the other day to speak to Pulitzer administrator Sig Gissler for a PBS article in an attempt to nail down which online news outlets would qualify. I also spoke to the editors of Salon, Slate and ProPublica to gauge their reaction to the news (Salon editor Joan Walsh called the Pulitzer board "prissy"):
(PBS.org link): http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2008/12/pulitzers-open-to-online-only-entrants----but-who-qualifies347.html
Anyway, I thought this was something you and your readers would find interesting.
Take care,
Simon
Thank you, Simon.
Given the situation, the label "apartheid" does apply. And given that the U.S. has basically supported this situation with barely any semblance of condemnation or push to amend it, there probably isn't anything the U.N can actually do to make Israel change.
I can't come out and say this is right, but it feels right. But it isn't, even if it makes Me smile.
These protests in Greece began as a result of a young man's death at the hands of a policeman. The significance of these riots is two-fold: (1) They are into their ninth day (they have continued into Monday) and (2) The riots are spreading to other parts of Europe, for apparently related and unrelated reasons.
"The opportunity for progressives is to push the Obama administration to change our national course – to return to the old-fashioned belief that knowledge and education were good things. Eight years of ignoring the facts provided by Intelligence experts, the facts about global warming, and the facts that our core industries were slipping away from being able to compete with foreign companies, provide us with examples we can use to explain the value of education.
We have to demand that education become a centerpiece of Obama’s rebuilding plan. And we have to resist when corporations and their lapdogs rail against programs to adequately staff and equip schools. We need to remind the world of the successes attained by graduates of the New Deal literacy programs and the G.I. Bill. We have to proclaim that today’s children are no less deserving of opportunity than the children of the 1930s. And that today’s soldiers should not be coming home to less medical care and educational opportunity than our fathers had, returning from WWII."
You can't stop teenagers--as a group--from engaging in sexual behavior. But to condemn more and more of them to prison and a lifetime sex-offender status for a natural act is ludicrous. Where is the church-centered outrage on this level of condemnation?
Oh, that's right: they are the ones you believe in eternal damnation. As for the rest of Us, where's the outrage at the excessive punishment.
Know what you're getting into, thinking about it creatively and being disciplined about it and you can make credit cards excellent tools to manage your money. Especially now.
"Private prisons have been booming over the past eight years. From 2000 to 2005, the number of private prisons increased from 16% of all prisons to 23%. All of the increase in federal prisons has been in prisons owned or operated by private firms.
Immigrants are the fastest growing sector of the federal detainees and prisoners, and there are hundreds of millions of dollars to be made by enterprising businesses and governments. The annual Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) budget for 'detention and removal' is $1.2 billion...
...The prison executives even intimate that the economic crisis will fatten their business. When asked by an investment company representative about a possible downturn in detained immigrants as a result of new government policies, James Hyman, president of Cornell Companies, said, "We do not believe we will see a decline in the need for detention beds particularly in an economy with rising unemployment among American workers."
What is more, he told investors that there exists a pool of "10 million plus illegal immigrants" the company draws from and there is an "imbalance" between the number of immigrants and number of available prison beds."
The U.S of part of A. has the largest prison population in the world, and the largest percentage of its population in prison of any democracy. "Land of the free...paddywagon to the clink."
Did you know that your Senators and your Congressmen are getting a $5,000 raise on January 1st? Let’s see, these Congressmen already make $169,300 a year and they will be awarded an almost 3% raise. But my question is for what? Do you think they deserve a raise after the trillions of tax dollars they have spent and have put your children and grandchildren on the hook for it? Now this federal judge raise is a COLA - cost of living adjustment - but let me ask you this .. how many of you out there who own your own business are giving $5,000 cost of living adjustments to your employees right now? How many of you have worked for years without a raise that won’t even keep up with inflation? Or a raise at all?"
The pigs in "Animal Farm", that's what they are, the gluttonous pigs in "Animal Farm."
"Two Federal judges have deliberately invoked secrecy statutes to conceal the Federal government’s illegal use of torture, a prominent legal authority says.
According to Lawrence Velvel, dean of the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover, Judge Boyle refused to allow CIA contractor David Passaro access to government memos that could be construed to show he was acting under orders when he tortured a prisoner to death. And Judge Ellis threw out a case brought by Khaled El-Masri, a German citizen illegally arrested and tortured by the CIA."
"Secrecy" to hide crimes and criminal actions is also a crime, no?
Once you look at this graph--and its description--you'll understand why I wanted to title this post "Bloomin' Onion!"
The Toyota Sienna and Tundra also have 80 percent of their parts manufactured in the U.S."
Best part? Toyota don't need no stinkin' bailout.
Madoff told senior employees of his firm on Wednesday that 'it's all just one big lie' and that it was 'basically, a giant Ponzi scheme,' with estimated investor losses of about $50 billion, according to the U.S. Attorney's criminal complaint against him."
So the office pool for bailing out these Madoff Investment Securities people covers from December 13th to January 19th. Ten dollars to pick a half-day (A.M. or P.M.) and the winner gets nothing as all the proceeds go to giving Me a bonus. Welcome to bailout reality.
(I just noticed the writer could have led this article with "Bernard Madoff, a quiet farce on Wall Street for decades...")
"After an 18-month investigation, the Senate's armed services committee concluded that (Defense Secretary Donald) Rumsfeld's approval of aggressive interrogation methods (including waterboarding) in December 2002 was a direct cause of abuses that began in Guantánamo and spread to Afghanistan and Iraq. They culminated in the Abu Ghraib scandal in 2003, where Iraqi detainees were found to have been forced into naked pyramids, sexually humiliated and threatened by dogs.
The Bush administration insisted the abuses had been the result of a few 'bad apples' and that those responsible would be held accountable. The committee found neither those statements to be true." (Emphasis Mine.)
Can We start the war crimes trials now? Oh, you want perspective first? Okay, how about this, from Newsweek:
"Waterboarding is a method of simulated drowning that involves strapping down a subject and pouring water into his nose and mouth. As the subject gasps for breath, the water enters his lungs, inducing extreme panic within minutes. These and other Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE) techniques were developed from methods used by Chinese Communists against American soldiers during the Korean War. At the time, the United States denounced the Chinese for violating the Geneva Conventions and international law." (Emphasis Mine.)
"When they do it's wrong, but when we do it's right" is the attitude of either a cowardly bully or an idiot, neither of which should be in charge of troops in war (or peace). If torture is wrong when they do it, it's just as wrong when we do it. Period. And if it's a crime justifying a trial when they do it, it's a crime justifying a trial when we do it... no matter who that "we" is.
"Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in September they would comply with congressional demands for transparency in a $700 billion bailout of the banking system."
Let Me guess: that was before they got the bailout money. Right? And Congress didn't "demand" anything, they simply made a request along the lines of "If you can, you know." When Congress demands, it has the force of law. (Not that the law really means anything to these banksters.)
Here's the 1-minute version:
1) Paul Volcker out, Alan Greenspan in: Clear-headed control versus laissez-faire "whatever goes," confusing "hands off" with "autopilot."
2) Deregulation under Glass-Steagall: Commercial banks could hand out high-risk "liar loans" and investment banks could "lower" their reserve ratos from 12:1 to 30:1 or higher. Oh, and they could work together again, same as in the 1920s...
3) The Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003: Rewarded speculation (gambling) more than wage earning and leveraging (interest was tax-deductible) over savings. Didn't stimulate the economy, but pumped the housing and stock bubbles sky-high.
4) Faking numbers for incentives: Pay-for-performance became pay-for-numbers, with reports distorted to pump up shares and bonuses. Here's a related study.
5) Bandages instead of surgery: When the bubble burst, efforts focused on a "black box bailout," with no real plan or oversight, then continued with specific rescues rather than attacking foreclosures (from excessive borrowing), and then the two underlying problems: flawed incentive structures and inadequate regulatory systems.
"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he was "terribly disappointed" about the demise of an emerging bipartisan deal to rescue Detroit's Big Three.
He spoke shortly after Republicans left a closed-door meeting where they balked at giving the automakers federal aid unless their powerful union agreed to slash wages next year to bring them into line with those of Japanese carmakers."
That the Republicans are union-busting confirmed here. In the wrods of Senator Juim DeMint:
"These car companies are in real trouble. And they should’ve been planning to restructure for a long time. But the political aspect of this is most of this is being done to protect unions, uh, it’s not to protect the workers. And what I want to do is make sure we have jobs for these workers and we have first-class American automobile companies. And we’re not going to do it with the barnacles of unionism wrapped around their necks." (Emphasis Mine.)
So let Me get this straight: Harry Hungover, CEO of Infidelity Bank, runs to Congress with a whiny plea, gets billions and his high colonic bonus, easy-as-you-please. But General Chrysler Ford shows up and suddenly Congress wants to cut the salaries of workers. In essence, Congress is trying to take money from the workers themselves--twice. Tell Me this isn't communism for only the rich. Go ahead, tell Me that.
Now the matter will head to the murderous moron's Oval Orifice. As if things couldn't get any worse...
...Other financial companies to cut jobs in recent months include Goldman Sachs Group Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Morgan Stanley. Bank of America previously said it would cut 7,500 jobs following the July 1 purchase of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp."
Didn't the U.S. of part of A. taxpayers bail out these bastards to the tune of some $185 billion? And this is what the bailout gets Us, another ugly blip for Our unemployment figures?
Perhaps the most feeble excuse comes from lobbyist slimeball Rick Berman, who said the Employee Free Choice Act 'is a huge threat to fast food and has the ability to impact the long-term health of the industry.' Berman should know better than to associate the words 'fast food' and 'health,' just as McDonald's corporate should know better than to pick a fight on an issue that President-elect Obama has made a legislative priority for 2009."
I don't favor unions in most situations, but let's look a moment at McDonald's and Wal-mart: They are both gigantic, multi-location businesses, employing thousands of people at below-average wages. most of them without benefits. Why are they afraid of unions? Because unions would force them to adjust their sub-standard wage and benefit structures, a key piece of their "profit puzzle." Wal-mart just lost an anti-union suit in the Canadian Supreme Court, so I hope the EFCA and Obama can also pave a new path to better wages and working conditions for thousands of people.
Just a few of the lowlights in this hyena dungfest:
• 1,273 whistleblower complaints filed from 2002-2008; 1,256 were dismissed
• $212.3 million in overcharges by Halliburton for Iraq oil reconstruction work
• $455 billion deficit for fiscal year 2008; estimated to reach up to $1 trillion in 2009
• $9.91 billion for government secrecy in 2007 — a record
• 935 demonstrably false statements in lead-up to Iraq war by President Bush and seven members of his administration
Realizing that goal demands the young be conditioned to rely upon experts, conditioned to remain divided from natural alliances, conditioned to accept disconnections from the experiences, which create self-reliance and independence." (Emphasis Mine.)
I have said repeatedy that there is no difference between propaganda and government-mandated "education." Here's someone with the right credentials saying the same thing.
What do 1931 and 2008 have in common?
Maybe the same thing 1932 and 2009 will...
(And notice how 2 of the worst years ever happened with the murderous moron pretending to be in charge...)
For Toyota, that was roughly $1,800 in profit for every vehicle sold. For GM, it was an average loss of $4,100 for every vehicle sold."(Emphasis Mine.)
Bail these companies out? Bail out a company that after a century still hasn't figured out a way to not lose 16% on every sale? Isn't this rewarding total--and I mean, total--stupidity?
"Wow. Chalk one up for the good guys. After 5 days of a peaceful occupation of the Republic Windows and Doors factory in Illinois, which included a weekend of what had reportedly been productive talks between Republic workers who simply want the pay and benefits they've earned and Bank of America, which is Republic's creditor, it looks like, as The AP's headline puts it: 'workers win.'"
Finally: bailout money going where it is supposed to go and will do the most good.
Go ahead: you probably never heard more than 1 or 2...
"Leave it to mini-Marxists George W. Bush, Henry Paulson, and Ben Bernanke to saddle American taxpayers with $8.35 trillion in bailout commitments, yet not spend one thin dime on incentives to revive the U.S. economy."
Thieves are lazy, you know. Government-backed thieves even more so.
"Merrill Lynch & Co. chief John Thain has suggested to directors that he get a 2008 bonus of as much as $10 million, but the battered securities firm's compensation committee is resisting his request, according to people familiar with the situation."
Finally! A reasonable candidate to challenge the murderous moron in the off-White House for the Craptacularly Dumbest Shithead of 2008!
Murderous moron wins again, of course, but at least it was closer than 2007 and 2006 and 2005 and 2004 and 2003...
"...(T)he basic criteria for qualifying organizations are that they “publish at least weekly … are primarily dedicated to original news reporting and coverage of ongoing stories … and adhere to the highest journalistic principles.”"
Okay, though I have Puerto Rico press credentials, I don't consider Myself a journalist. But I do try to adhere to journalistic standards of fairness, accuracy and contextual presentation in both Jenius Jots and Gil The Jenius.
That doesn't make Me a hero, it just makes Me a blogger with a more serious mind-set than most bloggers. With the acceptance of online journalists to compete for Pulitzer Prizes, the industry has taken a step that was long long overdue. As noted in the brief article, the announcement came on the day the Tribune Company filed for bankruptcy. Maybe if the powers-that-be in traditional media had embraced the new wave of online media sooner, newspapers would be both more relevant and more successful than they are right now.
Before he was murderous, he was, is and always will be a moron. Here's a list of actions taken by not-soon-enough-to-be-ex-President Bush during his first 6 months as Oval Orifice. Some highlights:
* Cut $35 million in funding for doctors to get advanced paediatric training.
* Cut by 50% funding for research into renewable energy sources.
* Blocked rules that would require federal agencies to offer bilingual assistance to non-English speaking persons. This, from a candidate who would readily fire-up his Spanish-speaking skills in front of would-be Hispanic voters.
* Cut funding by 28% for research into cleaner, more efficient cars and trucks.
* Reduced by 86% the Community Access Program for public hospitals, clinics and providers of care for people without insurance.
* Proposed to eliminate a federal program designed to help communities (and successfully used in Seattle) prepare for natural disasters.
Plenty of foreshadowing here and even more so in the complete list.
Given what President-elect Obama is facing, this loveliest of honeymoons may be no longer than a weekend and the acrid arguments may begin before summer.
Malcolm Gladwell frequently soft-sells homilies as scientific insight, but he does uncover vital nuggets of knowledge. Here's one that strikes at the heart of education, a need so vital and so poorly managed it should be declared a national emergency:
"Eric Hanushek, an economist at Stanford, estimates that the students of a very bad teacher will learn, on average, half a year’s worth of material in one school year. The students in the class of a very good teacher will learn a year and a half’s worth of material. That difference amounts to a year’s worth of learning in a single year. Teacher effects dwarf school effects: your child is actually better off in a “bad” school with an excellent teacher than in an excellent school with a bad teacher. Teacher effects are also much stronger than class-size effects. You’d have to cut the average class almost in half to get the same boost that you’d get if you switched from an average teacher to a teacher in the eighty-fifth percentile. And remember that a good teacher costs as much as an average one, whereas halving class size would require that you build twice as many classrooms and hire twice as many teachers." (Emphasis Mine.)
Here's an observation/conclusion We recognize as important and true, though We may have never given it much thought:
"The teacher then asked the children if anyone’s name began with that letter. “Calvin,” a boy named Calvin says. The teacher nods, and says, “Calvin starts with ‘C.’ ” A little girl in the middle says, “Me!” The teacher turns to her. “Your name’s Venisha. Letter ‘V.’ Venisha.”
It was a key moment. Of all the teacher elements analyzed by the Virginia group, feedback—a direct, personal response by a teacher to a specific statement by a student—seems to be most closely linked to academic success. Not only did the teacher catch the “Me!” amid the wiggling and tumult; she addressed it directly." (Emphasis Mine.)
And a wrap-up:
"In teaching, the implications (of the discussed reserach) are even more profound. They suggest that we shouldn’t be raising standards. We should be lowering them, because there is no point in raising standards if standards don’t track with what we care about. Teaching should be open to anyone with a pulse and a college degree—and teachers should be judged after they have started their jobs, not before... It needs an apprenticeship system that allows candidates to be rigorously evaluated. Kane and Staiger have calculated that, given the enormous differences between the top and the bottom of the profession, you’d probably have to try out four candidates to find one good teacher. That means tenure can’t be routinely awarded, the way it is now. Currently, the salary structure of the teaching profession is highly rigid, and that would also have to change in a world where we want to rate teachers on their actual performance. An apprentice should get apprentice wages. But if we find eighty-fifth-percentile teachers who can teach a year and a half’s material in one year, we’re going to have to pay them a lot—both because we want them to stay and because the only way to get people to try out for what will suddenly be a high-risk profession is to offer those who survive the winnowing a healthy reward." (Emphasis Mine.)
The conclusion is obvious and common: Pay people who perform better more than those who are mediocre and bad, and measure them all on results. You'd think even a teacher could grasp that concept.
Tribune Co., which owns eight major daily newspapers and several television stations, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after collapsing under a heavy debt load just a year after real estate mogul Sam Zell took it private."
Any doubt that "old media" is lost? The question is, will it fade away or will it fight to retain its power base at the expense of the people it is supposed to serve?
More proof that "old media" is on death watch: The Times company, owner of the New York Times, is borrowing against their building to bolster cash flow.
"The US government does not have a monopoly on hypocrisy, but no other government can match the hypocrisy of the US government.
It is now well documented and known all over the world that the US government tortured detainees at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and that the US government has had people kidnaped and “rendentioned,” that is, transported to third world countries, such as Egypt, to be tortured.
Also documented and well known is the fact that the US Department of Justice provided written memos justifying the torture of detainees. One torture advocate who wrote the DOJ memos that gave the green light to the Bush regime’s use of torture is John Yoo, a Vietnamese immigrant who somehow secured a US Justice Department appointment and a tenured professorship at the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law. John Yoo is the best case against immigration that I know.
Members of Berkeley’s city council believe that Yoo should be charged with war crimes. The US government has charged lesser offenders than Yoo with war crimes. Yoo helped the DOJ achieve the Bush regime’s goal of finding a way around the torture prohibitions of both US statutory law and the Geneva Conventions.
The way around the law that Yoo provided for the sadistic Bush regime was closed down by the US Supreme Court, which voided Yoo’s arguments, and Yoo’s torture memo was rescinded by the Department of Justice. Nevertheless, Yoo’s obvious constitutional incompetence, which in Yoo’s case is total, has not affected his position as professor of constitutional law at Berkeley. Can you imagine the harm Yoo is doing by teaching future cadres of lawyers and government officials that torture is consistent with the Constitution and the law of the land? How many of us will suffer from this ignorant man’s teachings?"
For years, the Massachusetts regional director of Customs and Border Protection (Lorraine Henderson) paid illegal immigrants cash to clean her house and she even coached them on how to avoid deportation."
"Almost entirely under the media radar, workers in Argentina have been responding to rampant unemployment and capital flight by taking over businesses that have gone bankrupt and reopening them under democratic worker management. It is an old idea reclaimed and retrofitted for a brutal new time. The principles are so simple, so elementally fair, that they seem more self-evident than radical when articulated by one of the workers: 'We formed the co-operative with the criteria of equal wages and making basic decisions by assembly; we are against the separation of manual and intellectual work; we want a rotation of positions and, above all, the ability to recall our elected leaders.'
The movement of recovered companies is not epic in scale - some 170 companies, around 10,000 workers in Argentina. But six years on, and unlike some of the country's other new movements, it has survived and continues to build quiet strength in the midst of the country's deeply unequal 'recovery'. Its tenacity is a function of its pragmatism: this is a movement that is based on action, not talk. And its defining action, reawakening the means of production under worker control, while loaded with potent symbolism, is anything but symbolic. It is feeding families, rebuilding shattered pride, and opening a window of powerful possibility."
Before any of you Statesiders hiss "banana republic" (because you have no concept of anything except the contiguous 48 and Palin), try this on for size: Angry Laid-off Workers Occupy Factory in Chicago.
From occupation to take-over from the predictable failures of criminal cretins is but a matter of days.
More troubling, prime mortgages given to borrowers with the strongest credit now represent a rising percentage of those mortgages that are delinquent or entering foreclosure proceedings."
Highest unemployment in recent decades, highest foreclosures in decades, highest rate of increase in both economic segments in decades... I'm no economist, but that's a recession angling for deeper economic strife.
"See, what’s happened is that we are ruled by an incestuous bridge club clucking to itself in what amounts to a thermos bottle. Hillary is SecState because Precedent O’Bama wants to heal rifts within the Democratic Party. It would make more sense to poison the lot, but never mind. Everything is about domestic politics. And these dismal retreads promote each other in circles. Hillary goes from governor’s wife to First Basilisk to senator to SecState. Oh help."
"Theory and evidence lead to three unavoidable conclusions:
1) The theory of government-instigated job creation overlooks the loss of resources available to the productive sector of the economy. Frederic Bastiat, the great French economist (yes, there were admirable French economists, albeit all of them lived in the 1800s), is well known for many reasons, including his explanation of the "seen" and the "unseen." If the government decides to build a "Bridge to Nowhere," it is very easy to see the workers who are employed on that project. This is the "seen." But what is less obvious is that the resources to build that bridge are taken from the private sector and thus are no longer available for other uses. This is the "unseen."
2) So-called stimulus packages have little bang for the buck. Even if one assumes that money floats down from Heaven and we don't have to worry about the "unseen," government is never an efficient way to achieve an objective. Based on the amount of money that is being discussed and the claims of how many jobs will be created, Harvard Professor Greg Mankiw filled in the blanks and calculated that each new job (assuming they actually materialize) will cost $280,000. But since money doesn't come from Heaven, this calculation is only a partial measure of cost. In reality, the cost of each government job should reflect how that $280,000 would have been spent more productively in the private sector.
3) Government workers are grossly overpaid. There are several reasons why it costs so much for the government to "create" a job, including the inherent inefficiency of the public sector. But the dominant factor is probably the excessive compensation packages for bureaucrats. According to Bureau of Economic Analysis data, the average employee for the federal government gets paid nearly twice as much as workers in the productive sector of the economy." (Underline emphasis Mine.)
"Anyone who took the time to cut past Barack Obama's campaign rhetoric of 'change' and bringing an 'end' to the Iraq war realized early on that the now-president-elect had a plan that boiled down to a down-sizing and rebranding of the occupation. While he emphasized his pledge to withdraw US 'combat forces' from Iraq in 16 months (which may or may not happen), he has always said that he intends to keep 'residual forces' in place for the foreseeable future.
It's an interesting choice of terms. 'Residual' is defined as 'the quantity left over at the end of a process.' This means that the forces Obama plans to leave in Iraq will remain after he has completed his 'withdrawal' plan. No matter how Obama chooses to label the forces he keeps in Iraq, the fact is, they will be occupation forces."If your sworn enemy is fully supported by the biggest, dumbest bully on the block, when that sworn enemy hits you and runs for cover to the bully, you get pissed off. Royally.
Welcome to the Arab world's (simplified) perception of Israel. If you think this will get better with Obama as President, think again: His Chief of Staff is an avowed pro-Israeli hawk.
The longer We meddle in the Middle East, as clueless blunderers with huge firepower, the bigger the chances We will screw things up.
"I hate to tell you Boomers, but putting a yellow ribbon on the back of your $50,000 SUV is not sacrifice. Our claim to fame is living way beyond our means for the last three decades, to the point where we have virtually bankrupted our capitalist system. Baby Boomers have been occupying the White House for the last sixteen years. The majority of Congress is Baby Boomers. The CEOs and top executives of Wall Street firms are Baby Boomers. The media is dominated by Baby Boom executives and on-air stars. We have no one to blame but ourselves for the current predicament. Blaming Franklin Roosevelt or Lyndon Johnson for our dire situation is a cop out. Baby Boomers had the time, power, and ability to change our course. We have chosen to leave the heavy lifting to future generations in order to live the good life today.
Of course, not all Baby Boomers are shallow, greedy, and corrupt. Mostly Boomers with power and wealth fall into this category. There were 76 million Baby Boomers born between 1946 and 1963. They now make up 28% of the U.S. population. Their impact on America is undeniable. The defining events of their generation have been the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam, Kent State, Woodstock, the 1st man on the moon, and now the collapse of our Ponzi scheme financial system. They rebelled against their parents, protested the Vietnam War, and settled down in 2,300 square foot cookie cutter McMansions with perfectly manicured lawns, in mall infested suburbia. They have raised overscheduled spoiled children, moved up the corporate ladder by pushing paper rather than making things, lived above their means in order to keep up with their neighbors, bought whatever they wanted using debt, and never worried about the future. Over optimism, unrealistic assumptions, selfishness and conspicuous consumption have been their defining characteristics."
With charts, graphs and statistics. Being taken to the woodshed in coldly analytical fashion. Read it to see what is lacking and what is needed...now.
I wonder... Puerto Rico has one of the highest rates of C-sections and one of the highest rates of asthma in the States. They've both been discussed separately as national health problems since the ealy 1970s. Maybe they will be looked at differently now.
"The Justice Department has reopened an investigation into potential juror misconduct in the bribery conviction of former Democratic Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, whose case has widely been panned as an example of political prosecution."
Even life-long Republicans rejected this case. Subversion of the apparatus of justice is a common fascist trait, and no true supporter of democracy could go along with the absolute farce of the Siegelman frame-up.
The BRAD BLOG broke that story --- the first such scoop of ours to be noticed and picked up by the national media --- back in 2004, prior to the Presidential Election. At the time, the noise we helped cause with the revelations led to the WH being forced to restore terrabytes of documents, audio and video to their website in the week prior to the election. You're welcome."
Blogging: I think We'll keep it.
Proof of online media power? More online journalists imprisoned than print journalists.
Three reasons:
1) The relative anonymity of online journalists means they can be arrested and jailed without much uproar.
2) Print journalists eschew if not outright disdain providing cohesive support for online journalists.
3) Online journalism is a bigger threat to power structures because it works outside those power structures.
"...President Bush defended his foreign policy over the past eight years in an address to the Saban Center for Middle East Policy in Washington, DC. At one point, he acknowledged that there was no link between Saddam Hussein and the 9/11 attacks but justified using such a connection to push for the Iraq war:
It is true, as I have said many times, that Saddam Hussein was not connected to the 9/11 attacks. But the decision to remove Saddam from power cannot be viewed in isolation from 9/11. In a world where terrorists armed with box cutters had just killed nearly 3,000 people, America had to decide whether we could tolerate a sworn enemy that acted belligerently, that supported terror, and that intelligence agencies around the world believed had weapons of mass destruction. It was clear to me, to members of both political parties, and to many leaders around the world that after 9/11, this was a risk we could not afford to take."
1) Saddam Hussein had NO links to the 9/11 attacks and U.S. "intelligence" knew that.
2) Saddam Hussein and Iraq had NO weapons of mass destruction and even U.S. "intelligence" knew that.
3) Saddam Hussein was an acknowldged enemy and opponent of Al-Qaeda, refusing their presence in Iraq, and U.S. "intelligence" knew that.
4) With a decimated army, Iraq, no matter what Saddam Hussein thought or felt, was in NO position to attack the U.S. of part of A., and the U.S. Armed Forces and U.S. "intelligence" knew that.
So, murderous moron, what the fuck was and is the Iraq War you lied Us into about?
Passed in 1973, the laws mandate harsh, mandatory-minimum prison terms for even low-level drug offenses; people convicted of first- and second-time drug offenses often receive eight to 20 years. There are shocking, inexcusable racial disparities -- more than 90 percent of the people incarcerated are black or Latino, though whites use and sell illegal drugs at equal or higher rates." (Emphasis Mine.)
It is more than obvious that these laws are not working. It isn't the money: it's the social strife these laws exacerbate, rather than relieve.
From this same article, a damning statistic:
"The state spends hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars every year on policies that both criminal justice and public health experts -- as well as the majority of New Yorkers, according to the polls -- say don't work. It costs over $35,000 a year to keep someone in prison. Factor in policing and court costs, and that number rises to nearly $50,000."
According to the College Board, the average college tuition in 2007 ranged from $2,402 (public 2-year college) to $25,143 at a private 4-year college. As a society, We would rather place large amounts of money in incarcerating people than in providing them with education. You tell Me what that says about Us.
'At this time, the financial system is undergoing a very deep crisis that directly affects our countries. The most vulnerable economies, the societies with the highest rates of poverty, logically, are the first to suffer,' Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said at the summit opening."
It's not protectionism, it's regionalism. What's the difference? We shall see.
Is it a coincidence that this unprecedented suspension of the Canadian Parliament happens when the Conservative party seeks to retain power?
What's next? Posting military troops on domestic soil?
"Lost" votes? You mean as in "undermining the electoral process lost votes"? As in "continuing to undermine the electoral process of the leading democracy on Earth lost votes"? And finally, as in "undermining a nation," with lost votes?
Chinese financial overseer Gao Xiqing has some good advice for the U.S. of part of A. Maybe, given how much money the Chinese hold in dollars, We should heed it. (And swallow some bitterness along with it...)
Uh, sorry, Picky Grammar Lady. I know this isn't your fault...
But the third marker for their success is the most fundamental. It would be more difficult, if not impossible, for them to attempt to change history if Bush, Rove, Dick Cheney and the rest were held accountable for their misdeeds and misjudgments. Instead, on January 20, Bush will ride off into the Texas sunset to face the same treacly fate meted out to Richard Nixon, the previously worst president: To grow old in disgrace." (Emphasis Mine.)
Concluding with:
"Bush’s escape from accountability now means that he and Rove will be unimpeded as they attempt to create one final reality — a shiny new version of the last eight years in which Bush blameshifts the Iraq fiasco, the loss of New Orleans, the economic meltdown and the rest to his predecessors, opponents and hapless underlings.
Just as Ford’s pardon of Nixon led to the Republicans’ return to power just five short years later — and through Reagan came the Bushes, and with the second Bush came Dick Cheney, a Nixon acolyte and true believer in the unitary executive and fascistic absolutism — letting George Bush off the hook now undoubtedly paves the way for the return of another corrupt and abusive conservative regime sooner rather than later.
Absent impeachment or a trial, there is only one way to stop him: The truth-squadding of George Bush’s term in office cannot, must not — will not — ever end." (Emphasis Mine.)
Yes, the title is deliberately incendiary and it refers to the raping of Our financial system as a burden upon the next oe or maybe two generations. Once you're past that, and amidst a ticker-tape swirl of information and conclusions, comes this idea to straighten out the banking debacle:
"The good news is that we must (and can) protect the financial system without protecting any of the existing players. The means for doing so is in fact quite simple:
--Government should set up ten (10) new federal banks. Capitalize each with $20 billion dollars and immediately IPO off the bank to the public. The capitalization would carry a preferred coupon of 9%, incenting the bank to immediately replace that government capital with private capital, with dividends, executive bonuses and pay beyond $200,000 per annum (total compensation) being prohibited until the government capital is repaid in full.
--This would provide an immediate aggregate lending potential of two trillion dollars into the economy just off the Government Tier Capitalization alone. Private capital would fly into these institutions since they would be established with no debt of any sort.
--At the same time, withdraw all existing support programs by Congressional mandate. This includes Fannie, Freddie, the existing alphabet soup mess and all other taxpayer-funded backstops. The FDIC would be directed to provide deposit insurance only to the extent that it can document the safety and soundness, and expose same to public view, of the institutions it insures.
--If The Fed (which is technically unable to be compelled to comply) refuses, revoke their right to regulate the money supply and replace them, leaving them as simply another private bank forced to compete for funds in the open market like everyone else. They will go along rather than die.
--The consequence of this set of actions would be to force an immediate default of the excess (unservicable) debt in the private sector. Both banks and debtors would go bankrupt immediately, but the lending function would remain intact as the newly-chartered banks would exist to replace the "busted" institutions.
--At the same time Glass-Steagall must be reinstanced, reserve requirements for banks reinstated and enforced without exception, and leverage in the financial system must be strictly controlled at no more than 12:1."
There's plenty of enlightening--and scary--stuff in here. Read it and see.
I'm literally... speechless, after reading this. Not only has Stein been hideously wrong about financial matters, he's still being considered some sort of expert by the government seeking to bury Us even further in debt.
This article is a firehose blast of venom, disdain and comeuppance to the nation, both public and private citizens. Read it and see.
"The solution is a simple one. The next two years we need Republicans to act like Republicans. (You mean Lincoln-like, not Bush-like.) They need to fight the onslaught of big government (created by Republicans time and time again) and restore the public’s faith in their ability to reform and repent (and be punished for law-breaking.) The support of Republican and conservative voters cannot be assumed (or considered important) but earned, repeatedly. Yes we need ideas and occasional compromise, the Party cannot simply oppose everything and offer nothing (but fascism.) Yes we need Internet outreach, the media can never be expected to promote our ideas (since no one watches Fox Noise anymore) and we are being (rightfully) clobbered online. We need a lot of things but chief among them are Representatives of our Party who can govern (and several pigs that can fly would be nice, too.) Leaders who understand how policy effects the lives of constituents, the budgets of states, the ability of business to employ, the defense of our nation (are not in the Republican party.)
We need leaders who actually show up for work more than a day or two a week, who write (Constitution-abiding) laws instead of (screed-like) books, who understand when government should be limited and when it can play a role in our security and prosperity, who understand that liberty is a right from God (or more correctly, a society's earned privilege) and not a list of options for the government to respect, who stand by capitalism and fight communism (within Our own economy, as propagated by Republicans), put simply we need leaders who lead and conservatives who act like conservatives (and putty that acts silly.)
This was not an election where the conservative movement lost the confidence of the people (for it had none); it was an election where conservatives lost confidence in the Representatives of the Party to govern (with any semblance of intelligence, decency or honor.)
Now the Republican Party & elected Representatives need to regain the voters trust, without it they cannot (and do not ever deserve to) win." (Emphasis and parenthetical comments are Mine.)
"The flaw in all this (economic bailout) is that we fail to create wealth. We strive as individuals and as a society to be prosperous. Wealth creates prosperity but freedom creates wealth. To be prosperous, we must have the freedom to gain or lose wealth. That freedom, given to us by our Constitution, in 200 years, created more prosperity (AND respect AND charity) than the previous 5,000 years combined! Now, we find ourselves in a position where we are about to forfeit that freedom and prosperity.
Government has the obligation and authority to relieve us of a bit of our wealth, WITH OUR PERMISSION, to provide services for us. In doing so, it creates no wealth, which, by the way, is why the 'service economy' is a myth.Wealth is created when one purchases a good or service with his or her own resources and free-will, not when it is done under force of law or with resources of another. Simply put, over time, government has created trillions of dollars of false prosperity under force of law and creation of debt, both public and private."
Plain and simple, folks. And here's more:
"Many say debt drives capitalism. NOT! Profit drives capitalism, plain and simple, however when debt is encouraged or sponsored under force of law, well, you get the picture. When profit becomes subject to confiscation, then capitalism, wealth and prosperity grind to a halt. Many say we are witnessing the end and failure of capitalism. This is possible, but not without the fatal intrusion of socialism.
With (just) Federal debt approaching $11 trillion ($33,000 per breathing American), unfunded Federal entitlements approaching maybe another $42 trillion ($125,000 per breathing American), one must wonder if we can recover. Is it not obvious that more government is the wrong answer? Oh well, this should come as no surprise. Our situation can be summed up in a quote attributed to Alexander Tytler, though never found in any of his writings as follows:
'A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy.'"
Sadly, amen.
"We’ve long been the Party of fiscal restraint, but when we had all three branches we went on a spending binge that would embarrass a drunken sailor. We’ve long been the Party of smaller government, yet we let the government grow like Topsy and added new intrusive, expensive programs such as NCLB and Prescription Drug coverage. We’ve long been the Party of the people who worked hard and played by the rules, to borrow WJC’s phrase, but we almost enacted an amnesty bill for illegal aliens and would have had there not been such an uproar from the folks.
"Bush is a worse president than Richard Nixon. Chris Wallace made his argument, but we've got ten arguments of our own after the jump...
1. Nixon tried to steal an election. Bush succeeded.
2. Nixon never responded to a domestic attack by invading the wrong country.
3. Nixon managed to end his war. Bush is just gonna let someone else figure his out.
4. No major cities were allowed to drown under Nixon's administration.
5. Nixon had the decency to resign. Bush didn't.
6. Nixon's VP also had the decency to resign. Bush's VP is the worst human being who ever lived.
7. No one ever called Nixon's economy "the worst since the Great Depression."
8. Nixon built our relationship with China. Bush destroyed our relationship with everybody.
9. Nixon only wire-tapped the Democratic National Committee. Bush wiretapped everybody.
10. Nixon was intelligent enough to be called "Tricky Dick." Bush is stupid enough to be called 'a fucking imbecile.'"
Case closed, with some emphasis from Me.
Judge Manuel Banales, after surviving a motion to have him removed from the case, threw out eight of the indictments brought by Willacy County District Attorney Juan Guerra, including those against two special prosecutors, two district judges, and a district clerk.
Charges were brought against Vice President Cheney and former AG Gonzales for blocking the investigation into a prisoner’s murder in a private prison in Raymondville."
No surprise here, really. But did this happen to block future attempts? The easiest way to keep the hyena cabal out of the courts is not to seek to suppress the legal actions, but to shame them. It's an old neo-con tactic (Rush Limbaugh, anyone?) and I bet it moves into high high gear in the coming weeks.
"Like many of his celebrity journalist colleagues, (David) 3Gregory is a prime example of deferential “access” journalism, happily absorbing talking points and conventional wisdom in exchange for so-called “inside stories.” When he wasn’t busy serving as a translator for Ann Coulter, he danced with Karl Rove while Iraq burned. His focus on superficial rather than substantive issues, such as his egging on of the supposed Clinton/Obama soap opera drama does the public a terrible disservice (just browse through any of his recent show transcripts)."
Agreed. What made Tim Russert the quintessential journalist was his ceaseless efforts to get at the heart of the matter, digging hard to understand not only the gist of the topic, but its nuances as well. He didn't need to agree with the person he interviewed, but he did need to make sure he'd given that person the best chance to express and explain themselves. Gregory is a sweatsock to Russet's tuxedo.
And more media idiocy at the national level, one that even for Fox Noise is unfathomably stupid: A reality show "star" discussing Obama's transition efforts. Why? Only because she's black. Fox Noise: Skin deep.
"Governments today do not extirpate poverty. They treat the symptoms with assistance for food, shelter, and medicine. The poor fall into a poverty trap, since getting a job implies a loss of the welfare benefits. The highest tax rates are on the poor seeking to escape poverty, since they have to pay taxes, pay to take care of children, pay for transit, and they lose the free benefits. There then develops a culture of poverty, where children are brought up to see themselves as victims who can at best just beg for more welfare favors.
This is wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Here's why.
First of all, active troops on domestic postings are not "civilian protection": they are government protection. In other words, their mission is to do what the government says, when the government says and in the manner the government--the government, NOT the citizens--choose. State rights? Screw them, this is the U.S. of part of A.'s freaking Armed Forces We're talking about here, governor "I will shoot you dead if you dare to interfere."
Second, every military unit has three ongoing functions: training, planning and reconnaisance. Though training and planning for domestic crises are already a part of every branch's mission profile, reconnaisance--which means gathering intelligence, including spying--has so far been aimed outward, to potential enemies and flashpoints around the world. What is armed forces' reconnaisance called when it is turned inward, towards the citizenry the military is "protecting"?
It's called fascism, the use of military strength--that only the government has and controls--to subdue, subvert, threaten or otherwise dominate a nation.
There is NO other word for it, NO other explanation and NO reason for this to be done. Except to continue a fascist policy of national self-destruction, aided and abetted by Our indifference.
'That is a do-over that I can't do,' Bush said."
Fucking moron.
Thirty percent of the students surveyed say they have stolen in the past year...23% say they have stolen from a parent or realtive; 20% from a friend...42% have lied to save money...83% have lied about something significant to their parents...64% have cheated on a test taken in the last year...
And yet, here's a conclusion that chills the mind:
"As bad as these numbers are, it appears they understate the level of dishonesty exhibited by America’s youth. More than one in four (26 percent) confessed they lied on at least one or two questions on the survey. Experts agree that dishonesty on surveys usually is an attempt to conceal misconduct.
Role models, present and future, anyone?
The implications of this change are significant to Puerto Rico, for We also have a non-voting "member" of Congress. The race angle--still a major factor come decision time--is similar, seeing as how D.C. has an African-American majority percentage in its population.
We can call this the Special Olympics, where every (moron) gets a medal...
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