May 2008 archive

It’s been said that Defense Secretary Robert Gates is the “anti-Rumsfeld.”  Soft-spoken, open to input from others, Gates’ reputation as a sane voice and a counter to the bellicosity of earlier Bush years is entrenched in any number of newspaper and TV pundit accounts.

But in fact Gates has recently made himself the point-man of what Tom Englhardt has called “the war in the slum cities of the planet.”  Consistently and forcefully, Gates in recent months has argued and cheer-leaded for a global counterinsurgency war; a war extended into the foreseeable future in which America — having no geo-strategic equal — devotes itself to crushing sparks of militant protest wherever they arise.  Gates’ performance has been remarkable in its lack of ideological cover-stories and for its single-minded devotion to neo-imperial power.

h/t Cute Overload

Some good news out of China …

^kjdrill

Giant Pandas survive earthquake

Authorities confirmed Tuesday that captive animals in two of China’s major panda reserves were alive, according to Xinhua, China’s official news agency.

The Wolong Giant Panda Reserve Center in southwest Sichuan province is home to about 86 giant pandas, who were reported safe Tuesday.

Staff and critters at neighboring Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center were also reported safe, according to a spokesperson for the Atlanta Zoo, which has two pandas on loan from the wildlife reserve.

^kjdrill

~~~Do not Rec the Pony Panda Party.  This is Open Thread.~~~

1. The Los Angeles Times reports Consumer prices up just 0.2% in April, but there’s a catch. “The government’s main inflation gauge, the consumer price index, rose just 0.2% in April, when adjusted for seasonal changes, the Labor Department reported. Since energy prices normally go up in March and April, the department said, the seasonally corrected index showed energy prices as flat… The government noted that gasoline prices actually rose 5.6% in April, which is about what is expected this time of year. The problem for consumers is that the prices were so high to begin with — the department said that in nominal terms, gasoline prices are up 20.9% nationally over the past 12 months.”

   Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports Food prices see greatest monthly increase in nearly 20 years. “Food prices have risen 6.1 percent in the past three months on a seasonally adjusted annual basis. The one-month rise between March and April of 0.9 percent was the biggest since January 1990, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics… The costs of cereal and bakery products increased 1.4 percent from March to April and have risen nearly 20 percent in the past three months on a seasonally adjusted basis. Prices for fats and oils jumped more than 5 percent in April, on a seasonally adjusted annual basis, and have increased more than 26 percent in the past three months. Prices for sugars and sweets increased more than 10 percent during that same period.”

   The Guardian reports US property foreclosures up 65%. “The wave of misery caused by America’s sub-prime mortgage crisis engulfed more homeowners in April as foreclosures leapt by 65% year-on-year… Banks filed foreclosure papers on 243,353 US properties last month according to RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for repossessed homes. The figure was up 4% on March” and would be higher if not for court backlog.

   The Washington Post adds Standards of living are challenged, burdened by the weight of inflation. “Nearly seven in 10 Americans are worried about maintaining their standard of living… Soaring consumer prices are a major challenge, with many people struggling under the weight of the rising costs of fuel, food and health care… Overall, two-thirds called rising gasoline prices a financial hardship, including a third who said higher pump prices have proved to be a severe burden.” But, “U.S. gasoline consumption has continued to grow gradually over the past five years even as crude oil prices have quadrupled, but there are some signs in the poll that prices have finally hit a level that is altering driving habits.”

   But Wall Street doesn’t notice reality — just some cooked book numbers from the Bush administration. Instead, the Associated Press reports Stocks advance following better-than-expected inflation read. “Stocks steamed higher Wednesday after a better-than-expected report on consumer prices tempered some of Wall Street’s concerns about inflation. The Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 100 points.”

   And the Wall Street Journal gleefully plasters across the front page: Recession? Not So Fast, Say Some. “Economists also cite swift policy responses, including a sharp reduction in interest rates by the Fed — to 2% from 5.25% last September — and the distribution of fiscal-stimulus checks to millions of Americans, as factors possibly easing the downturn.” All that was done was to shift the blame to the next administration.

   I think the problems are just starting,” said Lehman Brothers economist Drew Matus, citing high gasoline prices and tightening lending standards, saying that prolonged stagnation can be worse than a recession.

   Asked in an interview… whether the U.S. could avoid a recession, Gary Stern, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said, “No,” adding, “But there are recessions and then there are recessions….The average resident doesn’t distinguish between whether the economy is growing half a percent or one and a half percent….It’s more, how does this feel?”

   It feels like the next administration is being set up for very bad things.

Four at Four continues with renewed fears for the Amazon, a contentious objector’s day in court, and the next low-wage stop for globalization.

We have come to a place unimagined even by Orwell who got so much right.