June 2009 archive

Joni Mitchell

Both Sides Now

Woodstock

Burning the Midnight Oil for a Brawny Recovery, cross-posted from My Left Wing.

If you wander around the fringes of economic discussion on these Interwebs, you may encounter sites extolling the wondrous virtues of the VAT. “If only we would adopt a massive VAT, our two decade long decline in manufacturing output would be gone, and we would be an exporting powerhouse once again.” … well, no, that would be a stereotyping of the argument. A real sample of the claims sound more like this, from tradereform.org:

I Squared R Element Company is in Akron, New York. It makes industrial heating elements which are used for many processes to make other things, including glass and computer chips. The company was the low bidder on a contract to export to China.

However, the company lost the bid. Why?

I squared R was told it did not include, in its bid, China’s 10% customs duty or the 17% value added tax(VAT) that must be paid at the border.

All our goods pay a 17% VAT at the Chinese border. And the uninformed say we are a high cost producer. Chinese exporters also get a 17% VAT rebate, i.e. they get paid to export.

And, yes, I have picked out this quote to pick on VAT-uber-alles advocates, precisely because it focuses on the part of the argument that is simply wrong.

More below…

Ahmadinejad hailed the vote, saying it was a “great ordeal” but one that pointed “the way to the future.”

“The people of Iran inspired hope for all nations and created a source of pride in the nation and disappointed all the ill wishers,” Ahmadinejad said in his television address. “This election was held at a juncture of history.”

Ahmadinejad The Man Racing Towards Not

The Future But The Middle Ages

Some in Palau are worried about Guantanamo detainees

The laid-back island republic is unaccustomed to geopolitics, and some question why the U.S. is sending them Chinese Muslims. But others say their culture is welcoming to foreigners.

By John M. Glionna

June 14, 2009

Reporting from Koror, Palau — Sipping guava juice under cover from a steamy tropical downpour, Tommy Remengesau Jr. says he’s always considered his Pacific island home a refuge from the troubles of the outside world.

“While the rest of the planet was in conflict, waging its wars, we remained a little piece of paradise,” the former Palauan president said as his pet fruit bat swayed upside down in a nearby cage. “Now, the world’s headaches have come home to roost in Palau.”

This isolated republic of more than 300 scattered islands, set amid a vast stretch of aquamarine ocean 4,500 miles southwest of Hawaii, had its reverie rocked last week when officials here announced that they would accept several Chinese Muslims held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Palau’s decision to offer refuge to more than a dozen ethnic Uighurs once suspected of terrorism was hailed by the Obama administration, which is eager to disperse Guantanamo detainees as part of a plan to close the notorious prison early next year.

Riots erupt in Tehran over ‘stolen’ election

Shock as Ahmadinejad claims victory as rival calls poll ‘dangerous charade’

Ian Black and Saeed Kamali Dehghan in Tehran

guardian.co.uk, Saturday 13 June 2009 22.09 BST

Iran faces political turmoil after hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was confirmed today as the winner of the presidential election and outraged supporters of his chief rival took to the streets to protest against a “dangerous charade” after a record 85% turnout.

Tonight riot police in Tehran confronted thousands of demonstrators shouting “death to dictatorship” amid shock and confusion after the official result backed Ahmadinejad’s claim to have won, made barely an hour after polls closed last night.

The moderate Mir Hossein Mousavi, who had been widely expected to beat the controversial incumbent if there was a high turnout – or at least do well enough to trigger a second round – insisted he was the victor and appealed against the result to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.

Robert Fisk: Iran erupts as voters back ‘the Democrator’

A smash in the face, a kick in the balls – that’s how police deal with protesters after Iran’s poll kept the hardliners in power

Sunday, 14 June 2009

First the cop screamed abuse at Mir Hossein Mousavi’s supporter, a white-shirted youth with a straggling beard and unkempt hair. Then he smashed his baton into the young man’s face. Then he kicked him viciously in the testicles. It was the same all the way down to Vali Asr Square. Riot police in black rubber body armour and black helmets and black riot sticks, most on foot but followed by a flying column of security men, all on brand new, bright red Honda motorcycles, tearing into the shrieking youths – hundreds of them, running for their lives. They did not accept the results of Iran’s presidential elections. They did not believe that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won 62.6 per cent of the votes. And they paid the price.

USA

Obama’s Spending Plans May Pose Political Risks

Concern Mounts in White House as 2010 Elections Loom

By Scott Wilson

Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, June 14, 2009

After enjoying months of towering poll numbers, legislative victories and well-received foreign policy initiatives, the White House has become increasingly concerned that President Obama’s spending plans, which would require $9 trillion in government borrowing over the next decade, could become a political liability that defines the 2010 midterm elections.The concern was reflected in the aggressive response from administration officials to criticism that money from Obama’s stimulus plan is arriving too slowly to help the languishing economy, as well as in the president’s public endorsement of “pay as you go” legislation, which would require Congress to make room for new non-discretionary spending with equivalent cuts to other parts of the budget. Yesterday, Obama also outlined billions of dollars in savings that would be used to pay for his health-care reform proposal.

The title is a reference to a Native American parable — the story exists in various forms. It’s a story that has found significant resonance, particularly lately.

“The Wolf You Feed”

…the article is one I recently posted over on ePluribus Media and DailyKos — it goes on to mention a couple of pieces that comment on the right-wing rhetoric and domestic terrorism that has been constantly egged on by the conservative media and punditry.

I know several folks here are familiar with the parable, and since it was on my mind, I thought it made a good lead-in to the piece. Please check it out and tell me what you think.

The parable, and the diary, begin after the fold…

Always Modest