Paul Krugman gets off a great line

Krugman's OpEd: "After all, you wage war with the president you have, not the president you want."

Architecture and Freedom

The only art which matters today is architecture -- specifically, public architecture. Painting, drawing, scuplture -- all have long since moved past people. But great architecture is still at a level which can be appreciated by the most well informed and the least well informed. It's an expensive form, though, which is why the most interesting work comes from where the deep pockets are.

Watching what has been happening with the Freedom Tower -- the replacement structure for the World Trade Center -- exceeds in interest any spectator sport. Which is why the NYTimes archetecture critic's appraisal of the most recent incarnation is perhaps the most important one yet written about any modern building.: "What the tower evokes, by comparison, are ancient obelisks, blown up to a preposterous scale and clad in heavy sheaths of reinforced glass - an ideal symbol for an empire enthralled with its own power."

Read the article and look at the drawings. How anyone could see this building as anything other than a threatening missile of power, I do not know.

The Jailing of Judith Miller - New York Times

Editors:


Re: “The Jailing of Judith Miller” (by William Safire, June 29 2005, OpEd).



Safire makes clear that journalists’ privilege is in conflict with citizens’ rights. An absolute privilege for journalistic sources is a weapon with which vindictive government officials would victimize citizens who oppose it. Citizens are defenseless against such abuses.

A nuanced ethical standard is required, promulgated and policed by a national journalist organization. Journalists should protect sources whose leaks promote a public good – as found by a judge -- and be required to expose those whose leaks do not. This would put prospective leakers on notice that if their leaks serve no public good, they will be exposed by the journalist, backed by the journalists’ national organization. If journalists don’t produce this standard themselves, we must ask courts to do it in our defense. Thankfully, they are.

Why Liberals Should Be Thrilled That Judith Miller Is Going To Prison

She was told by two Senior Administration Officials that Judith Plame is a CIA operative -- an act which is a violation of Federal Law (for the officials).
As a NYTimes reporter

(here's today's OpEd where they hold forth), she believes -- as do many journalists -- that all her conversations deserve absolute protection. The Supreme Court found this week that absolute protection for the sources of journalists does not exist in the Constitution.

We liberals should get down on our knees and thank God that protection does not exist. If it did, it would be a "nuclear weapon" by which angry and vindictive government officials would exact revenge on individual American Citizens. And get away with it. Here's how that would work.

The single largest steward of information about individuals is the United States Government. They collect all our financial data, our criminal records, our history; they write down the speculation of informants to the FBI, our secret testimonies regarding Supreme Court nominees (hello, Anita Hill).

If Miller's Right existed, any time someone in the government got a personal vendetta against you, they would pick up a phone, call a journalist, and, boom, now your private information is public, possilby ruining your reputation, possibly making it impossible for you to do business, or function in society. It might even -- as it did in Plame's case -- endanger the lives of any friend she has in Africa, where she operated, and where despotic murderous governments tend to kill opponents who talk to the CIA. It's a weapon which is unilaterally held by US Government officials, for which there is no counter-weapon.

The important difference between Miller's Leak and leaks which should -- must -- be protected, is that Miller's leak served no useful social or national purpose, at all. It did not promote common defense, general welfare, blessings of liberty et al. It was a vindictive attempt by US Government officials to punish a citizen for standing up against it. There is no defense against such a weapon; no review of it in the courts before it happens.

1 year along: Executive continues to flaunt Supreme Court Ruling

One year ago today, the Supreme Court ruled that the 500 prisoners held in Gitmo have a right to a habeous corpus review in Federal Courts.

Since then, 200 appeals for habeous corpus have been filed.

The number of these which have been heard: zero.

Why? Because the Justice department has been arguing in front of Federal Judges that, sure, the prisoners may have a right to a hearing under the Supreme Court ruling, but they have no other constitutional rights. Like, for a judge. Review of evidence. Jury of peers. Anything. At all. Basically, the prisoners have a right to have a hearing in an empty federal courtroom, according to the Justice Department.

This is overstepping by the Executive. Seeing that the Executive Branch already controls the Congress, it's no wonder, that Rehnquist -- who concurred with O'Conner and Stevens, both mentioned as possible retirees this year -- is not in a hurry to retire, giving Bush the opportunity to appoint, say, John Bolton's cranky little sister to the Bench.

Bob's Advance Copy of Bush's Speech Tonight

Bush has to give a speech to bring people back onto his side on the Iraq war. When he's running a political campaign, he wins support by stealing his opponent's issues; he did this in South Carolina against McCain, for example.

So what can he say now? Here's the draft of the speech I submitted to him yesterday, I figure he could brush it up with a few jokes (see Derek's post, below) and it's good to go.


(ON)

My fellow Americans: Thirty months ago, the United States, acting under direction of the United Nations Security Council blah blah blah blah blah.

Let's skip all that. You know it. What I really want to tell you is, our boys are over there getting shot up. And we've already done our job. And it's unnecessary. I'm talking to you tonight about how I'm going to fix it.

We invaded the country, when liberals were saying that street warfare would be bloody -- and it wasn't. We deposed a ruthless, murderous dictator, and handed him over to his people to be brought to trial for war crimes. We handed sovereignty to an established interim government, supervised the constitutional writing process, held successful elections, and started to help train the new Iraqi army.

You folks can read. The Department of Defense estimated in August 2004 that there were 5,000 insurgents in Iraq; today, that estimate stands at 25,000. Last year in June, fewer than 30 people were killed in suicide bombings. This June, already hundreds of people have been killed in suicide bombings. And the quality of life in Iraq is estimated by the United Nations to be worse now than it was before we invaded. Any way you slice it, things are getting worse.

There's a good reason for it. As we Americans know, any time you put someone in the classroom and say "This guy's the teacher; he's in charge", nobody else in the room will step up to take any responsibility. If someone starts suicide bombing, the rest of the room says "Hey, I don't need to do nothing -- that teacher's going to take care of it." If bad people start shouting "FIRE FIRE FIRE" and freaking everyone out, who's supposed to shush 'em? Teacher. We've all seen this happen.

Nobody will step forward, to help the teacher out -- unless they're the "teacher's pet" type, and nobody else in the room likes a teacher's pet. The problem we have in Iraq is that we're The Teach, and we're trying to find a bunch of teacher's pets to take over the classroom for when we're gone. And you know darn well what happens when the teacher leaves and the teacher's pet is in charge: bedlam.

As long as we're there, no credible Iraqi leaders will step forward to lead the country. Why would they? It'd make them the teacher's pet. Iraqis are being killed left and right for being the teacher's pet. Why, just today, the oldest member of the Iraqi Interim Government was killed in a suicide bombing.

The choice is clear: we should leave, soon. I've authorized troop redployments, which will remove all 150,000 US personnel by December 10, 2005. This means, if any of you have children in Iraq, I'm going to be doing my best to have them home for the Holidays.

Good night, and God Bless America.

Supreme court justice to lose house in case of irony vs. Souter?

In a bid to open a hotel aptly named "The Lost Liberty Hotel", featuring a "Just Desserts" cafe, Logan Darrow Clements of Freestar Media, LLC has filed a request in the Towne of Weare to use emminent domain to take Souter's home.

From the article:
Clements indicated that the hotel must be built on this particular piece of land because it is a unique site being the home of someone largely responsible for destroying property rights for all Americans.

Not only is this not a joke, there are only 5 people on the Board of Selectmen in the town. Only 3 have to agree to take away Souter's home.

What Do These Have in Common?

What do these four have in common: John Walton, John F. Kennedy Jr., John Denver, and John Kerry?

All four are named John, and all four crashed and burned.

Dubyah's Big Night

This is looking like it will be a pretty important speech for our President. The polls show his approval ratings plummeting - as Josh Marshall puts it, looking at his 31% approval rating on Social Security: "What [have been] the lowest ratings for a president... on any significant issue? How much lower than thirty percent does it go?"

Particularly relevant to tonight's address, he's running at 40% approval and 58% disapproval for his handling of the war in Iraq. So given the stakes, I figure the President will want to take the edge off the occasion with some light-hearted humor, and I suggest we 13D denizens do our part to help him out. Here are my suggestions:

• Well, the price of oil hit $60 a barrel yesterday. See? It's true! I really didn't invade Iraq for the oil.
• You may be concerned, as I have been, about the situation in Iraq. Some say that, with the progress we've made, the Iraqi insurgency is in its final days. Others say that, given its current strength, it could go on for a dozen years or more. And that's just two of the opinions I get from my Cabinet!
• The goal of a peaceful and democratic Iraq is too important for us not to stay the course there, maintaining - and increasing - our military superiority on the ground. Therefore, I will be asking Congress this week to institute a draft of all able-bodied young citizens, so that we may achieve this goal in a manner that is fair to all, with no class distinctions to sully the honor of those armed men and women who make the final sacrifice for their country. Just kidding!

Anyone else care to assist our President in his time of need?

Rehnquist does not retire

The Supreme Court ended its session today, and neither Rehnquist announced a retirement. Of course, anyone can retire at any time, but it has been traditional to announce an anticipated retirement at the end of the June session.

Whoo hoooo!!!!

Supreme Court: Judith Miller Going To Jail, Robert Novak Next!

Supreme Court Rejects Appeal in C.I.A. Leak Case by Journalists. The Supremes found no absolute right to protect sources. This means that now, the prosecurter in the Valerie Plame case can go directly after Robert Novak and, if he doesn't turn, he can go to jail.

I'm guessing Novak isn't as principled as Judith Miller is, and would rather flip on his White House buddies than go to jail.

The Priest Shouts: "Religion be Damned! This is a Serious Business!"

When a free-market economist like Paul Krugman advises the US to block the Chinese bid to buy UNOCAL, you should freak out.

Krugman points out that China, with its newfound wealth and US Bond IOUs, is now buying American companies. However, unlike its predecessor in the area (Japan), it's not buying companies at inflated rates, and targeted for prestige purposes (MGM, Rockefeller Center) -- that is, it's not making dumb investments. It's shrewdly buying companies to forward its manufacturing and global geopolitical position (Maytag; and an Oil company).

Also, it's worth noting that when Japan bought, it was actually Japanese private citizens. Here, the companies doing the buying are owned by the Chinese government. It's the Chinese government which will own the now American companies.

So, what we're seeing here is, the Chinese government is using the US Debt to buy US Companies, to forward their manufacturing and geopolitical position. This is actually unprecedented in history. No single entity -- and certainly, no government -- has ever entered the marketplace with the singular political will and growing economic influence that China has, and will have, for the next decades.

Krugman makes a purely political, non-economically motivated recommendation: block the sale of UNOCAL. Clearly, he feels that selling our historical dominance of energy-resource companies to China will place us at such a heavy political disadvantage, that politics is the more important consideration than free-market economics.

And that should freak you out. It's a bit like a priest suddenly shouting "Religion be damned! This is a serious business, no place for religion!"

What Krugman is saying is happening is exactly what anyone who can add sees as becoming the dominant world political trend: China, with a billion people, a rising economy and single-party dictatorship which owns all major Chinese companies, is rising, and its political and economic interests are beginning to brush up against those of the United States. As China's economy continues to grow exponentially, the brushes will grow, too.

The major question for the US is: will we permit what is, in effect, growing influence on the world economy by the Chinese government, or will we require the Chinese government to divest itself of companies which wish to grow by acquiring US assets -- in effect, privatising the Chinese economy. Expect the Chinese government to say "we don't have to privatise", so that it retains control of these assets -- and political control of its citizens, while effecting a larger international political control through its new acquisitions, rivalling that of the US economy (itself entirely private); and the US government to say, "If you don't privitise your companies, then we would be permitting the Chinese government to take control of the world economy, and we cannot permit a single government to control the world economy." This will play out first in the World Trade Organization, and then, when the Chinese government refuses to divest -- which they will -- it will play out in fora with many fewer ground rules for behavior than the WTO has.

Religion be damned, this is a serious business.

Canada About To Adopt Same-Sex Marriage Nationwide

It's already legal in Quebec. But the Supreme Court here ruled last year that it should be passed nationwide. And, within the next few weeks, the paraliment will have done so. National Post Article.

What's going on in Iran?

For many years the elected part of Iran's government was dominated by reformist politicians leading us to believe that the hard-line policies of the Islamic revolution were unpopular. But then, in the last few years, the unelected clerics decided that the reformist politicians would be disqualified from elections. However, Iran recently held an election which included candidates from various wavelengths in the political spectrum, including a reformist candidate or two. The result of this election was a victory for the most hard-line candidate. There have been reports of fraud but the news I've heard says any fraud doesn't appear to widespread and that, overall, the results should be considered valid. So what is does the mood of the Iranian electorate? Has it changed? If so, why? If anything, I would have expected some kind of backlash against the hard-liners for disqualifying the popular reformist politicians. None of the media I have been paying attention to has made any sense of all this to me yet.

For Those of Us Who've Left LA

Everyone leaves LA, sooner or later, sometimes for good, others merely permanently. I've had my own forth and back, from 86-90 and again 97-2003. Steve was there in the 90s. Robin was there very young. Connie still comes back to her childhood home, if only to abandon baggage with friends while visiting the parents across town. And now, Derek and Erica are pulling stakes July 14 and moving to State College, PA, where both will hold forth a few times weekly to Nittany underclassmen. Patrick holds the last remaining vacant guest room in the city for us -- hold on Patrick!

And for those of us who are still on the sugar rush, here's NYTimes article on the KCRW show Morning Morning Becomes Eclectic. It's one of thee few shows KCRW doesn't podcast, but you can pick up the iTunes stream here if you can tune in 9-12am Pacific time.

Blair's son to intern with U.S. Republicans

I'm not sure what this means, but it is unusual to intern with a political party from another country.

Arianna Huffington Reports Cheney Checked into Vail Cardiac Unit Under False Name

Seems this happened yesterday. Apparently he's out now.

Iran's New Hardline President a "Uniter" not a Divider

Winner in Iran Calls for Unity. He'd like Iranians to forget all their rivalries and turn them into friendships.

Something Monday This Way Comes

Monday's the last session before 2 months of vacation for the Supreme Court. On Monday: (1) they'll announce if they will hear the appeal of Judith Schmidt and Tim Matthews, on whether they have to serve jail time for contempt, for refusing to reveal their source in the Valarie Plame Scandal. If the lower-court decision is let to stand, off to jail they go -- and watch for the Federal Prosecutor to go after Robert Novak next. (2) Rehnquist might announce a retirement (I hope not).

Supreme's on Monday.

Italian Court Calls "Extraordinary Rendition" Ordinary Kidnapping

and so ordered the arrest of 13 Americans, all affiliated with the US Consulate in Milan, claiming they are CIA operatives. Seems the court believes they were involved in the kidnapping of an Egyptian imam off the streets in Milan, and had him sent to Egypt where, the imam's family says, he is being tortured.

Extraordinary Rendition is the US policy of sending terrorism suspects to other countries to be interrogated.

Administration Sends Mixed Messages

Look folks - this is pretty simple. Either the the Iraq insurgency is in its last throes, as the Vice President says, and we can plan to start bringing the troops home soon; or it's going to be necessary to stay the course in Iraq for the next two years - and I think we can assume that "no timetable" for withdrawal means at least two years at current troop levels - because of the strength of the resistance.

Unless the point of keeping our troops in Iraq indefinitely is to give them time enough to savor the wonders of Mesopotamian civilization past & present, you just can't have it both ways. Will someone please press the White House on this point?

Rumsfeld to Senators: Get Ready To Start the Draft, or Impeach the President

Senators asked Rumsfeld on Thursday for a timetable for leaving Iraq; Rumsfeld responded that doing so would "throw terrorists a lifeline", telling them when they have to hold out until.

This is bad strategy and it is bad policy.

Because, if you've been reading the news, you'd know that recruitment targets for the armed forces have been missed again and again the first half of this year. The Senators want to know: is the situation so bad in Iraq that we going to have to start drafting people? By saying "we are there forever", Rumsfeld is telling the Senators that we are either going to be undermanned in Iraq within a year -- making impossible for us to put down the insurgency -- , or that the draft is going to start.

Will the US public face a draft to fight the insurgency in Iraq, in a war that 60% of the public now believes President Bush and Company deliberately misled us into, using lies? No.

So, Rumsfeld's answer to the Senators -- sorry, no timeline -- means our Iraq policy is adrift, and we will either be drafting boys (and girls!) to fight and die in a war we were misled into, or we will simply see the quagmire deepen.

In response, Sen Kennedy, exasperated, asked Rumsfeld, given all your failures, isn't it time for you to resign? Rumsfeld responded, exasperated, "I've offered my resignation to the President twice." The implication is clear -- if we want out of this quagmire, we have to remove President Bush. So, what do you do to a President who willfully lied to the people to bring us into a needless war? That sounds impeachable.

US Has "Torture Doctors" At Gitmo

In violation of professional ethics no less -- if you take the "first, do no harm" oath seriously. So, now we keep on staff medical professionals who design torture techniques. Our very own torture doctors. Here's the article.

The Difference Between Scientists and Gooney Birds

The Planetary Society, a private group in the US interested in interplanetary travel, attempted to put up a solar sail this week, on a Russian Cosmos 1 rocket, which is launched from a submarine. The Russians announced, soon after launch time, that the rocket launch had taken place, but ultimately failed, due to unknown causes, and the probe had not reached orbit. Nonetheless, "scientists" at the Planetary Society said they believed they had detected signals from the $4 million spacecraft and that it was in orbit.

So, I'm sure it came as a shock to them when, several hours later, the Russian Space Agency announced that the cause of the failure was that the booster exploded 83 seconds after launch, and that the probe got no where near its orbit. This leaves the only possibilities for the Planetary Society's "signals" being either they were hearing the ghost of the obliterated probe, or that they themselves are completely bonkers, hearing "signals" where there are none.

Do space probes have a soul?

Will Bush Wimp Out?

Now that Bush has definitely lostthe fight to pass Bolton through the Senate, will he wimp out?

Presidents who don't have the power to do what they want, or the political skill to convince others to work with them on things they want to accomplish, hide behind infrequently used powers. Bush just may wimp out, and make a recess appointment of John Bolton.

By performing the recess appointment, Bush might as well put on a sandwich board which announces, "I am worthless and weak. I can't even get a nominee to the United Nations -- a body which I consider irrelevant except as an obstruction -- through the Senate. My boy Bill Frist, who's supposed to be the number one muther fucker in charge over there, can't keep his guys in line, and at a 40% approval rating, neither can I. Just ignore me." Except that you can't fit that all on one sandwich board.

So instead, maybe he'll just perform the recess appointment during the July 4th weekend. So that we all know. That he's a wimp.

Radioactive Tom Cruise

So, just heard: after the $49M opening of BATMAN BEGINS, Warner Bros. is looking to remake the other films, staring Christian Bale.

And Katie Holmes? They're looking to replace her with "a better actress".

ooof.

Recess Appointment for Bolton to the UN? Challenge Recess Appointments!

It would let him serve as US Ambassador through January 2007. Next recess is for the July 4 weekend, and then the traditional "Holy Mother! It's Humid!" August recess. Dems are demanding Bolton's past requests for classified information, to determine how responsible his handling of such are, and Rice and Bush have refused to hand them over, several times.

If Bush goes to a recess appointment, the Democrats should challenge the Presidential recess appointment power. This power is granted in Article 1 section 2 of the Constitution:

The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

This is interpreted as meaning the President may appoint someone to an office without Senate's consent during a Senate recess. However, that's not how I read it. It reads pretty clearly to me that the appointment may happen if the vacancy occurs ("happen") during the recess -- that is, if the Senate were in recess, the UN Ambassador dies, the President has the power to immediately fill the seat. But that's not how it's been interpreted historically. It has been interpreted to mean that if the Senate is in recess ,the president may fill any vacancy which normally would require their advice and consent, regardless of when that vacancy happened.

Seems wrong to me. Seems like this would be a good time to ask the courts to clear up the matter. I'm sure strict constuctionists like Scalia and Thomas would read it the way I do.

7:14pm Update: Bolton nomination is stopped again in the Senate. DEms filibustered it.

Democrat #2 Throws Hat into 2008 Ring: Senator Joe Biden

Last week it was Virginia Governor Jack Warner. Now we have Senator Joe Biden (Delaware) is in. Remember back the year Gary Hart ran, Biden was in it then, but a scandal came out because he had cribbed some speaches from other historical people's speeches, and even, apparently, some of his student-day essays.

Seems quaint in a time when we elect a president who drunkenly plowed his car into a tree, and was all coked up in Alabama instead of working for the National Guard, and the press dismisses it all as childhood excess.

Bush: Like a Rock

Neal Stephenson Op-Ed

Neal Stephenson chimes in to the Star Wars discussion today... with an NYT Op-Ed.

And, I might add, quite a geeky one.

A Simple Solution for Bush

John Bolton is a contentious appointment for the UN Ambassadorship.

What can Bush do? He wants his man there.

Answer: tell Congress that if they don't approve Bolton to the UN Ambassadorship, he'll appoint him to be Chair of the Federal Reserve when Greenspan retires next year.

That'll focus a few minds.

Iraq Strategy

Three years after giving the whole enterprise his blessing ("a war of choice, but a good one")...

30 months after explaining "The Pottery Barn Rule" to us...

27 months after the invasion...

25 months after "the end of major combat operations"...

18 months after ditching town to research & write a national bestseller on a different subject entirely...

8 months after our elections...

5 months after their elections...

Thomas Friedman is back with a question about Iraq that he wants - nay, demands - be answered - What is our strategy?

It's a good question! My only objection is to its timing.

I Now Pronounce You, Seargent and Warrant Officer

Let's say that you lived in a country where gay people served openly in the military. Let's say also that you lived in a country where gay people get married. Eventually,
there would be a gay wedding between two military men.

Kissinger on China

When Henry Kissinger has something to say about China, we should probably lend an ear.

Light in the loafers?

It occured to me that a few weeks ago, the religious right was going after SpongeBob SquarePants because he appeared to be gay. SpongeBob's gayness could be debated, but they went after him anyway.

So where was the attack on the obvious icon? C-3PO is about as gay as they come, but the right won't go after him. Why? Is it because the gender of his companion R2-D2 isn't clear? Have you ever seen 3PO's package? It's ginormous!

Pretend you're in the Senate, and discuss.

Ritual And Cats

This is not about bizarre Satanist rituals of animal sacrifice, but it is about something just as curious: rituals performed by animals.

The cat I'm sitting has an odd habit: prior to drinking, he moves his dish across the floor. The water splashes a little, and then he drinks. I've talked with other cat owners, and this is common.

What the heck is up with that? The cat's owner has a drinking fountain (but not enough time to bring it over with the cat on his rush to the airport), which usually keeps the water moving. The owner (and the above website) claims that cats like moving water. In nature, he says, moving water is in a river, which is healthy to drink, while stagnant water is often unhealthy. The cat is led by evolutionary self-preservation to prefer moving water.

Fine, so buy a fountain, the water moves and the cat is happy to find moving water. But why the high holy heck would a cat move the water himself before drinking it? It doesn't improve his health at all, whether he does this in my kitchen or in the Serengeti. If the point of drinking moving water is to select healthy water, it doesn't make the water in his dish any healthier to shove his bowl across my floor.

About the only reasonable, if anthropomorphic, argument I can think of is that the cat is engaging in a pre-meal ritual. In this ritual, Max has to make the water physicallly ripple prior to drinking it. He has no idea why this is, but it must be done to sate his evolutionarily self-preservational psyche.

Alternatively, cats have bad eyesight, can't see the clear liquid in the bowl, and so splashes it about to see if it's there. However, he could just stick his face in, and find out THAT way, which seems a simpler, and so more likely approach.

By moving its own water prior to drinking it might seem like the cat is engaging in a pre-drinking ritual -- a useless yet meaningful activity.

I'm just concerned that I'm going to come home one night, and find Max set up burning candles on a sheet-covered altar, draped in a gold embroidered robe and red beanie, incense drifting, arms raised heavens-ward before scarfing his cat chow.

So, now I'm curious to see if Paul Krugman writes about *this* this week.

White House Council of Economic Advisors Has Zero Members

Today, its Chairman stepped down, leaving the council with exactly zero members.

Bush has nominated a new chair to the Senate. He's been approved by the Banking Committee but has to be approved by the full Senate.

So today -- rather symbollicaly, don't you think -- the White House's Council of Economic Advisors has zero members.

Back to the Days of the Robber Baron Monopolists

Today, top news stories include the fact that the US Justicie department decided to drop that $130B judgement to zilch. Paul Krugman writes that Bush Administration policies have all been directed back to turning our country away from one with a social safety net and a robust middle class to one with a few very, very rich and powerful people, and the rest poor people.

So, which group are you intending to belong to?

First Dem Presidential Runner -- Virginia Gov. Mark Warner

The race begins. Speaking of which, anybody else see Colin Powell on The Daily Show last night? Just two days after Newt Gingerich. Neither of them declared.

New Slant on Mortgage Spam

One of the odd aspects of buying a first house in this Age of the Internet is that it gives you a whole new perspective on the vast "mortgage loan application" category of spam. For example, here is the actual text of an email I received from our real-life lender last week:

Subject: WOOO HOOOO!!!
The rates are in for today!!!!! 5.125% NO POINTS and NO ORIGINATION!!!!! Betcha I beat whoever the other bank is!

And you know - out of sheer habit I nearly deleted it...

Vaccine for Marburg, Ebola

Canadian researchers report discovering a vaccine which is 100% effective against Marburg and Ebola in monkeys.

Who Said Being A Big 'Ol Liar Can't Get You Ahead In Life?

Katherine Harris to Run for Senate in 2006.

North Korea Says It Is Open to Resuming Six-Party Negotiations, Hopes the US will Provide Tasty Snacks

They're ready again. And they don't want to make a nuisance of themselves -- but could the US bring tasty snacks, like last time? Maybe some finger sandwiches? And, hey, since they'll be in town, maybe Bush could throw a Texas BBQ! Some ribs, and creamy potato salad, with some of Laura's Hot Apple Pie that Tony Blair goes on and on about!

North Korea promises to bring a dip.

And this time, not Kim Jong-Il! (Good joke last time, though! Ha ha!)

Breaking!

The New York Times Editorial Board has determined that America's Music industry is more interested in churning out money-making blockbusters than how the music actually sounds!

Shocked! Gambling! Shocked!

Serra Great

An exhibit by Richard Serra, which was at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Arts a few years ago, has made its way to the Guggenheim Bilbao. At least one critic is now calling it one of the greatest works of art of the past 50 years.

We know, of course, that this critic is not a Caltech student, since every Caltech student knows how a Serra sculpture interrupts a good frisbee lawn.

Oh, but I'm not bitter.

Bush's War on the Middle Class

Bob makes an excellent point in the post below. Just to drive the point home, you may wish to peruse this article in the NYT today about changes the Department of Education has made to the college financial aid formula since 2000.

According to the article, two primary changes are working together to drive up the size of the annual parental contribution by thousands of dollars for median income families:

1. The Pell Grant system has substantially reduced its deduction for state income taxes, as an explicit cost-cutting measure;
2. The DOE has significantly reduced its long-term inflation forecast from years past.

The impact of the latter change is subtle but easy to understand: when inflation is lower, families need to save less for retirement, so they can "afford" to spend more sending their kids to college.

Note the coincidences here (because in politics, coincidences are about as likely as the tooth fairy): (1) States with higher income tax are inevitably blue states; and (2) The change in the inflation forecast, just like the Pell Grant rules revision, serves to decrease government spending - useful in these times of roaring budget deficits.

Putting it all together: Bush is soaking the middle class (esp. those in Blue States) in order to make up for a budget that has been busted by income and estate tax cuts for the wealthiest 1%.

The Winner Take All Society

I hope you've been following the NYTimes is running a series on Class Matters in America.

This comes against the backdrop of Bush's re-shuffling of the social contract, where government's interaction with the wealthy favors them much more, and helps to preserve their wealth and keep it over generations. Bush has decreased taxes for the wealthy, such that now, everyone paying over $10M pays a lower *fraction* of their indcome in taxes than those at $100K (a regressive tax, people). And, by doing away with estate taxes, wealth will now be inherited, meaning future generations need worry less about meritocracy -- a return to demands for the Gentleman's Cs in classes at Yale.

Since World War II, the US has given a very nice deal to the working class and the middle class -- indeed, the middle class has dominated society and politics for half a century. To the extent that the wealthy determine the direction of politics, you can see that, now that the Cold War is over, the need for all those working people is somewhat diminished. Thus, the social contract which offered respect to these classes is going to be adjusted. This is to say, the heyday of the middle and working class is over. Now is the time to be rich -- and not just a little rich, but extremely rich. Welcome to the age of hegemony, where the winners dominate and rule over those weak enough to be dominated and ruled.

Thus, the political trends favoring the wealthy established under Bush will continue, and deepen. And why wouldn't they? The very words "class warfare", thrown about by Republicans at any Democrat who suggests that a regressive tax systsem is unfair, sting sufficiently to discredit the argument, regardless of the merits. Within our own generation, it will be much harder to retire as a member of the middle class, and the middle class will be leaving much less to their children.

Why I Think Rehnquist Will Not Retire

In a somewhat vulgar display, public discusions over who might step onto the Supreme Court have begun. Chief Justice Renquist, with cancer, is thought likely to announce his retirement at the end of this session, in a few weeks.

Rehnquist voted, in what many consider to be a jurisprudentially dubious decision, to effect Bush's win in 2000. Subsequently, some think him a Republican partisan.

However, I think Rehnquist, as Chief Justice, thinks historically about the importance of checks and balances. He sees the archly powerful executive under Bush, and how the Senate has been cowed into being his right hand through the very personally weak Majority Leader Bill Frist -- who owes his political life to Bush. And, he sees that when the court hands down decisions, like the one last summer, that the detainees at Guantanamo Bay have rights of appeal in Federal Courts, the Executive Branch just plain ignores them, as it has been doing for the Gitmo decision all this year, playing it off in courts as if the Supreme Court decision did not exist.

Even if he is a partisan, he likely guards the separation of powers, and its checks and balances very closely. Seeing the Bushies 2 for 3 probably makes him worry about their aggressive Congressional posturing to go for 3 for 3.

So, I think Rehnquist will do a gut check, and ask himself -- can I keep doing this for 3 more years?

Bolton Demanded Illegal Firing of Iraq Weapons Inspector in pre-war 2002

Apparently, Bush's nominee for ambassador to the UN John Bolton orchestrated the firing of a UN civil servant chemical weapons inspector, because the inspector was trying to send UN weapons inspectors to Baghdad, which might have defused the pre-Iraq war crisis and demonstrated what the world now knows to be fact: there were no WMD in Iraq. Oh, and the UN declared the unusual firing unlawful.

This is a man with no sense, who acts in contempt of democratic rules. He's anti-democratic.

The End Of The Free Credit Report?

Remember how excited we all were when Congress passed a law requiring Equifax, Experian and Trans Union to provide a free credit report to all consumers who request one, once yearly? The FTC required they set up
a website

www.annualcreditreport.com where they would accept those requests. Well, go to that link now, and it's a dead link. The FTC thinks that link should be live and functioning. Of course, maybe you could call the number the FTC gives which goes to the same group: 877-322-8228, and sure enough, a computer recording answers. They give you two options: If you are calling from your home phone, press 1; if you are calling from another phone, press 2. So, I pressed 1 (calling from my home phone), and the response "Thank you for calling Annual Credit Report. Goodbye." and they hung up. So I called back, and pressed 2. They ask me to enter my home phone number (which I did) and the response was "Thank you for calling Annual Credit Report. Goodbye." and they hung up.

So, it looks like the credit reporting companies have decided not to provide that service anymore.

Isn't that illegal?

Mahnamahna

For Sesame Street Lovers of a Certain age: Mahnamahna

Bill Clinton Wants to Lead, Again.

The idea makes me breathless: He wants to be Secretary-General of the United Nations.

The very suggestion makes stark the contrast with Bush's UN ambassador nominee John Bolton. Are Bill Clinton and John Bolton even the same species?

Buchanan: Felt, as "Deep Throat", is a traitor

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