Author's posts
Oct 16 2008
Debate Live Blog: Now With Extra Spin!
Oct 16 2008
The Stars Hollow Gazette
Yippee, looks like we will win!
Nonetheless, it’s worth underscoring — in fact, it’s vital to keep in mind — that the option of politically empowering Democrats is the opposite of a panacea. The Democratic Party structure in Washington, and particularly its leadership in Congress, is more corrupted and destructive than anything else there is — with the exception of the right-wing faction that has been running the country for the last eight years.
…
For the last several years, I’ve believed and have frequently written that the only worthwhile strategy is a two-pronged one:
I honestly don’t know of any “progressive bloggers” who blindly support Democrats. I think the strategy of the blogosphere has always been two-pronged — (1) remove the hideous right-wing beast from power and (2) change the Democratic Party in order to make step (1) worth doing. Those are EQUALLY IMPORTANT goals. Step (1) is merely a pre-requisite (an absolute one) to achieving anything worthwhile. But without step (2), step (1) is mostly (though not entirely) worthless, because the Democratic Party as currently constituted at its core is a wretched and status-quo-perpetuating institution. If those who spent the last eight years vigorously opposing the radicalism, militarism, and anti-constitutional abuses of the Bush administration fail to oppose the Democratic leadership with equal fervor when they violate the same principles — as they inevitably will — then the humiliation of the Right and its removal from power will be emotionally satisfying, perfectly just, and a very mild improvement, but will ensure the continuation rather than the termination of most of the worst abuses of this government.
It’s certainly true that there are more good national Democratic office-holders than Republicans — it’s not even close (anyone doubting that should just review the vote totals on the key votes during the Bush era). But within the Democratic Party, the good members are vastly outnumbered by the bad. The (understandable) euphoria over the anticipated obliteration of the extremist right-wing movement that has dominated our politics for years (which I share) shouldn’t obscure the fact that the alternative — the national Democratic Party — shares many of the same sicknesses and is burdened by whole new ones as well, and itself will need far more opposing and changing than supporting and affirming.
Oct 15 2008
The Morning News
The Morning News is an Open Thread
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 Bailout becomes buy-in as feds move into banking
By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer
1 hour, 48 minutes ago
| WASHINGTON – Big banks started falling in line Tuesday behind a rejiggered bailout plan that will have the government forking over as much as $250 billion in exchange for partial ownership – putting the world’s bastion of capitalism and free markets squarely in the banking business.
Some early signs were hopeful for the latest in a flurry of radical efforts to save the nation’s financial system: Credit was a bit easier to come by. And stocks were down but not alarmingly so after Monday’s stratospheric leap. The new plan, President Bush declared, is “not intended to take over the free market but to preserve it.” |
Oct 12 2008
Weekend News Digest
Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread
41 stories. No Business or Science yet.
57 stories. Science to come.
65 Story Final.
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 Paulson: Protectionist policies won’t solve crisis
By HARRY DUNPHY, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 12 minutes ago
| WASHINGTON – Appealing for global unity in a time of crisis, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Sunday that isolationism and protectionism do not offer a way to contain the spreading damage. He expressed concern about the fallout on poor countries.
“Although we in the United States are taking many extraordinary measures to ease the crisis, we are not pursuing policies that would limit the flow of goods, services or capital, as such measures would only intensify the risks of a prolonged crisis,” he said at a meeting of the World Bank’s policy-setting committee. U.S. lawmakers, meanwhile, called for fast action – by the administration on a plan for the government to take direct stakes in certain big troubled banks and by Congress on a new economic aid plan. |
Oct 11 2008
Weekend News Digest
Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread
66 stories. Politics, Business, and Science to come.
89 stories. Science to come.
96 story final.
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 Marriage ruling not the end of debate in Conn.
By PAT EATON-ROBB, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 35 minutes ago
| HARTFORD, Conn. – Now that the Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled same-sex couples have the right to wed, opponents of gay marriage are pinning their hopes on an infrequent ballot question in a longshot bid to block the unions.
Every 20 years, voters can force a convention during which delegates can rewrite the entire constitution. It’s a long, painstaking process that could cost millions and, by coincidence, it’s on the ballot this November. “This is our one opportunity for the people to have a voice, for the people to be heard, for them to decide whether marriage will be protected as between a man and a woman,” said Peter Wolfgang, executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut. |
Oct 09 2008
Happy Anniversary!
14,164.53, 10/9/07.
Let me take you on a quick trip back to the halcyon days of our youth, way back Friday before last.
The Dow stood at a sunny and proud 11,143.13 having gained 121.07 points that very day!
Then came the bad old politicians and they didn’t approve Wall St.’s $700 Billion Blank Check. A number simply made up to be big enough.
Not so big now are you?
Monday the 29th of September Wall St. threw their -777.68 hissy fit. Maria Bartiromo was particularly outraged that these mere Representatives could thwart her Saks shopping people’s will. See, this is what you get when you don’t kiss butt!
Now that changed their Capitol Hill water carriers mind for sure. What’s good for GM is good for the nation. The business of America is business.
So the next day we had our dead cat bounce, +485.21, Dow at 10,850.66 a whole +263.07 for W‘s entire tenure.
Now hold on to your socks folks because we’re going to take one of those big shoots-
| 10/1 | Wednesday | -19.59 | 10,831.07 |
| 10/2 | Thursday | -348.22 | 10,482.85 |
| 10/3 | Friday | -157.47 | 10,325.38 |
| 10/6 | Monday | -369.88 | 9,955.50 |
| 10/7 | Tuesday | -508.39 | 9,447.11 |
| 10/8 | Wednesday | -189.01 | 9,258.10 |
| 10/9 | Today! | -678.91 | 8,579.19 |
Happy Anniversary!
Oct 08 2008
Dow 6000
Well, entirely possible.
I had thought the market overpriced by 20% at 10,831.07 (DJI close one week ago, 10/1/08) but maybe I’m not gloomy enough. Ian Welsh at Firedog Lake makes a convincing case that you should be looking for 7:1 p/e which he calculates as Dow 6000 and that may be where we are heading.
In Europe they are nationalizing banks and frankly it’s a more cost effective strategy than buying the 40 x leveraged paper. The Brits just committed 250b pounds ($500b) and that’s a chunk of money.
Expect the US market to rise delusionally because this is all good for John McCain.
Oct 08 2008
The Morning News
The Morning News is an Open Thread
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 AIG execs’ retreat after bailout angers lawmakers
By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer
1 minute ago
| WASHINGTON – Less than a week after the federal government had to bail out American International Group Inc., the company sent executives on a $440,000 retreat to a posh California resort, lawmakers investigating the company’s meltdown said Tuesday.
The tab included $23,380 worth of spa treatments for AIG employees at the coastal St. Regis resort south of Los Angeles even as the company tapped into an $85 billion loan from the government it needed to stave off bankruptcy. The retreat didn’t include anyone from the financial products division that nearly drove AIG under, but lawmakers were still enraged over thousands of dollars spent on catered banquets, golf outings and visits to the resort’s spa and salon for executives of AIG’s main U.S. life insurance subsidiary. |
112 stories below.
Oct 07 2008
The Stars Hollow Gazette
You know, perhaps this meme is viral already but I was suddenly struck by just how much like Shelly Tambo Tina Fey is.
Well, except for the kind-hearted part.
This video is very obnoxious, but very reliable.
Oct 05 2008
Weekend News Digest
Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread
54 stories so far, but no Politics, Business, or Science yet.
6 pm Politics Update- 10 stories.
8 pm Business & Science Update- 15 stories.
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 Russian troops start dismantling Georgia posts
By SOPHIKO MEGRILIDZE, Associated Press Writer
44 minutes ago
| NADARBAZEVI, Georgia – Russian troops on Sunday began dismantling positions in the so-called security zones inside Georgia that they have occupied since August’s war, Georgian and EU officials said, a sign Russia will fulfill its pledged pullback.
Moscow faces a Friday deadline for pulling back its troops under the terms of a deal brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on behalf of the European Union. Hundreds of EU observers began monitoring Russia’s compliance last week. A pullback would likely mean at least a mild reduction of tensions between Russia and the West following their worst confrontation since the Soviet collapse. But substantial points of dispute remain. |
Oct 02 2008
The Stars Hollow Gazette
Bart: [speaking in a low voice] Hold it! Next man makes a move, the n_____ gets it!
Olson Johnson: Hold it, men. He’s not bluffing.
Dr. Sam Johnson: Listen to him, men, he’s just crazy enough to do it!
Bart: [low voice] Drop it! Or I swear I’ll blow this n_____ head all over this town!
Bart: [now speaking in a higher voice] Oh, lo’dy, lo’d, he’s desp’it! Do what he sayyyy, do what he sayyyy…
Harriett Van Johnson: Isn’t anybody going to help that poor man?
Dr. Sam Johnson: Hush, Harriet, that’s a sure way to get him killed!
Bart: [higher voice] Oooh! He’p me, he’p me! Somebody he’p me! He’p me! He’p me! He’p me!
Bart: [lower voice] Shut up!