Sunday Open Thread

More news in the world.

Comments

[bunky]

Good Morning: Life is Good.

[Thomas Collins]

Top of the morning to all. There is a new coating of clear white snow outside my living room window. Although it is cold, it is an invigorating cold. Time to brew some coffee. My aim will be to hold onto bunky's life is good attitude as my own internal posture this morning.

[hrtshpdbox]

Willie Brown gets a phone call from a talkative and confident Blago, who appreciated comments Brown had made questioning the case against him (LUN). Saying he "can't go into details", Brown asserts that Blago had wanted to appoint Lisa Madigan to remove her as competition for Blago's seat in 2010 - and that Obama didn't like that choice.

[hrtshpdbox]

And to add, that just makes me wonder all the more about when Blago first knew his home phone was tapped, and if he served coffee to the Feds while they did it.

[centralcal]

Good morning. I intend to follow hrts link, but first did all of our Mark Steyn fans read his column yesterday?

Mark Finkelstein at Newsbusters has nominated it for Column of the Year.

Through A Windscreen Darkly

To the rest of you, I am jealous that my town doesn't have at least a little dusting of snow! Malibu and Las Vegas got some, but not us. About every 10 years or so snow falls in the valley and everyone goes bananas, hoping it doesn't melt before the cameras come out to capture it. Ah well, at least we aren't have tule fogs right now.

[centralcal]

have = having

[Jane]

Joe Biden is really an unmitigated ass.

[sbw]

The last thread regarding newspapers reminded me that in talks to the community I used to show a 1993 NYTimes pix of Yalta digitally altered to show Groucho Marx on the couch instead of Stalin and Sylvester Stallone leaning on the back. Early photoshopping. The Times' point was that photos could no longer be trusted.

I explained to the audience this is nothing new; that words have always been able to be altered. Since the beginning, the only thing newspapers have to sell is trust.

[Thomas Collins]

Jane, please don't insult all the fannies in the world by putting them in Joe Biden's class! :-)))

Snow is falling here in Boston's southwest suburbs. How's Central Mass's climate this morning, Jane?

[centralcal]

Jane: Ah, you must have seen Slow Joe on a Sunday talk show this morning?

Cheney will be on with Chris Wallace. I won't call that an antidote to Joe, as it will probably only worsen your feelings towards our new idiot V.P.-to-be.

[Thomas Collins]

Centralcal, the snow and cold are invigorating in measured doses, but in a few days we southern New Englanders, having had our fill of slipping, sliding and shoveling, will be pining for your climate.

[pagar]

That Steyn article is good.

Take a look at this one, someone at Newsweek got permission to ask Obama some questions (that might possibly be constructed as less than flattering praise for all that the O puts forth).
"If I Had Subpoena Power: Five Questions for Obama"

LUN

I wonder if that means they were not previously allowed to ask questions of Obama?

The questioner even passes himself off as a-"a lowly investigative correspondent", what ever that is. Does a correspondent not normally get to ask questions?

Of course, there is no mention of questioning where Obama's birth certificate might be. Or the millions of other questions that should have been asked of him during the campaign.

[Thomas Collins]

I didn't see Delaware Joe this morning. What did he blurt out this time?

[Caro]

More Steyn, but on a different note--
a book review of Oscar Hammerstein's lyrics.

Kinda fine for Sunday morning.

[wintersolstice]

Rice was on 'Meet the Press.' I couldn't help but notice her forehead and temples looked funny. I have a special digital TV and checked closer. It looks like her forehead was covered and there are two holes on her right temple. She seemed normal, except for her face. More smaller holes. It's like she has rejuvenated since her trip overseas.

Is it Rice? Was she cloned by Muslim terrorists? Seats are being replaced and cloners might make a move right there. They've gone after Congressmen before. The holes might be her being 'made' like in 'The Matrix' where they drill things into your body. It could also be the clone.

She also has a higher forehead, like Plame, and we know this is genetic. The high forehead is usually from time travel that we all know CIA does cause of their culture work. The genetics get screwed up and change while they travel, something that certain genetic groups do even if they don't time travel, which is why they did. The clone might be stupid. So, if it's not Rice who came back from overseas, then why does it seem so energetic, like it got special treatment before leaving. Congressmen get damned like that too.

Rice has to be vetted for cloning. So does Hilly with her CIA time traveling pals. Time travel is bad only because the device is not pure 'cause we use, so it's a bad idea anyway.

The tapped phone is an issue because Plame was doing domestic surveillance of domestic political groups at NSA, so we know the land line doesn't need to be physically tapped; our insurance that that is the only way tapping is done and has to be done by a judge. We know Plame complained when it turned out some of the people were her pals, retired CIA because her dad worked at NSA and she was a legacy. No one talked until later. We got the NSA scandal. So, the people tapping Blago's phone were using traditional methods, like the FBI with the land line and judge or is it the new tap into the phone cables thing and monitor it all? Where is the person complaining this is a politician like Plame's? Did FBI use the NSA? Fitz should let us know that is why it was someone else that really got him in trouble, not just Fitz and the FBI targeting Blago for their legacy informants.

[centralcal]

TC: Oh, I know. I was just telling Dr. J yesterday that I hate spending a few winter days in Truckee (to visit my son) because it is so cold. And the snow is beautiful when it is falling, but after that not so much!

sbw:

"...the only thing newspapers have to sell is trust."

They seem to have given that up entirely. I am not sure what it is they think they are selling now, except lefty propaganda.

[PD]

I am not sure what it is they think they are selling now

They think we're enthralled with their daring opinions, where they boldly speak truth to power in criticizing the current administration.

Opinions that are identical to those of the other members of their pack, and opinions they know they can speak in perfect safety, because this administration is gracious to its enemies.

[narciso]

Morning, Joe said something so typically Joe, showing he has no understanding of economics, consumer confidence,common sense' but I repeat my self. No I didn't actually watch it, i'm not that much of a masochist but I got the gist of it, from another blog in the preview; posting will be light today, because it's a cool sunny
day in South Florida; and I'm going to be out for a bit. I've convinced myself
that the Maverick express would not have let Sarah unhitch from the train; but we had to settle for this. As I said last night, she needs no additional lessons in what Washington regards as wisdom.

[narciso]

Bgates, you have to dial up the troll blocker to 11, seriously.

[Captain Hate]

Cheney will be on with Chris Wallace.

Did anybody watch that this morning? FNS was one of the casualties of this election season since Wallace pissed me off so badly that I swore off watching it and, as anyone who knows me can tell, my word is my bond.

Frosty day in NE Ahia with the temperature elevator due to go down accompanied by high winds and probably lake effect snow.

[PD]

Foxnews.com says it'll be on again at 6PM ET.

[PD]

Not that I want you to forswear your oath. :-)

[kim]

Palin/Cheney in '12.
=============

[kim]

Romney for second Vice-President.
======================

[kim]

Fred Thompson for Minister of Information.
===========================

[kim]

John McCain for Ambassador to the aliens.
==========================

[Soylent Red]

Morning JOMers. Jaaaaaane...

My little corner of our Planet in Peril has a -25 wind chill this morning.

I read that Barry is going to "create" 3 million new jobs. I marvel at that since he's never been in charge of a payroll or built a company, and since he somehow could not "create" jobs back in Chicago.

That numbskull Biden is shooting off his mouth again and proposing another 7 billion in spending.

I'm going back to bed.

[kim]

Here's the wildest one yet: John Kerry for Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
===============================

[Soylent Red]

Oh BTW...

Surge in Afghanistan? Here's the real reason:

Why Barry Fights.

[kim]

Madrassah assassine Paradiso.
===================

[Porter]

I was off a little, it's 10 below this morning, with a light lake breeze (20 mile an hour gusts). The Beagador is not going to enjoy the walk this morning.

hrts- Willie says Rod wanted to appoint Lisa to the Senate, eh? I thought something like that was in his fuzzy little head. Lets see if the other stuff pans out.

[Pofarmer]

Invigorating cold my butt. It's 5 degrees outside and I got to go bottle feed a calf, and mix feed for cows and fat cattle, and I'm just getting over a pretty nasty virus that put me out of commission all day yesterday.

Ivigorating. Pheh.

[Extraneus]

No honeymoon for Obama's chief "science" advisor?

NYT: Flawed Science Advice for Obama?

[Pofarmer]

Joe Biden is really an unmitigated ass.

What did he say now?

[Extraneus]

The Year in Corruption, from the NYP.

THE YEAR OF LIVING SCANDALOUSLY: FROM "KRISTEN" TO F#@&ING BLAGO, DEMS HIT NEW LOWS IN 2008

[Jane]

How's Central Mass's climate this morning, Jane?

It has never stopped snowing since it started Friday. I'd say we have about 16 inches at this point. Too bad I lost my shovel.

The thing about Joe Biden is he never actually says anything. But he made it clear that the president-elect is taking his advice which he gives on an hourly basis.

OTOH Cheney was fab. Wallace asked him if he regretted saying F-you to Leahy, and he said: "No, it was warranted". He also said that Joe Biden the big constitutional law professor, head of the judiciary committee doesn't have a clue what the Constitution says about the VP powers.

He was fun.

[Pofarmer]

Cheney is always a blast, as far as I'm concerned. And Lynn Cheney just seems like the nicest lady.

[Laura]

Jane,
I really like Cheney, he makes me think there are capable adults involved in Govt.

[Jane]

I really like Cheney, he makes me think there are capable adults involved in Govt.

You can kiss that notion good-bye in a month.

[Laura]

Please, I'm holding on to positive thoughts for another 30 days or at least through New Year's.

[Jane]

BTW Steph said he saw O's report on the Blago scandal and it says that Blago wanted Lisa Madigan to get the job to eliminate his competition and Emmanuel screamed at him in response.

[Pofarmer]

Please, I'm holding on to positive thoughts for another 30 days or at least through New Year's.

That's a pretty good attitude, but the hangover come the end of January is bound to be pretty bad. I can hardly wait to see the environmental stupidity coming from the new administration.

[Pofarmer]

Ya know, it's pretty sad really, what with all the "Bush lied" nonsense. We've got an incoming administration here that has very clearly lied to us. Granted, it's been about "political" things, but, well, it doesn't inspire great confidence.

[wevalue]

Obama's paying off Harvard. Fitz got an award and everyone figured out his overseas students scam. They get back to the US and need protection, like Obama's dad, son, niece.......

[centralcal]

Amen, Laura, to your thoughts on Cheney. He is really "the cool, thoughtful one," and makes Obama look hysterical and clueless in comparison.

As to Slow Joe - he is just an obnoxious dingbat.

[JM Hanes]

Soylent:

"Afghan and coalition troops found and destroyed 2.5 tons of marijuana in an abandoned school in southern Afghanistan"

Now that seems pretty stupid, doesn't it? Unless they burned it.

[peter]

Can anyone tell me when the winter solstice was? My kid's scoutmaster said it was at 1 am, but I heard on the radio it was at 7 am est. Youth wants to know.

[peter]

Utes. LUN

[kim]

I like that 'other troublemakers', peter.
=========================

[ben]

"Joe Biden is really an unmitigated ass.

What did he say now?"

His status as an unmitigated ass is so established, of course, that it is completely unrelated to any current asinine statements

[ben]

Rush Limbaugh:

"Caroline Schlossberg went up to Harlem for lunch yesterday. She's probably stunned to know that there are streets north of 110th."

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

I saw both Cheney and Biden this morning. The VP office is about to lose about 30 IQ points. Joe makes it up on arrogance though. I feel sorry for anyone having to sit through a cabinet meeting with Biden.

[bgates]

"Afghan and coalition troops found and destroyed 2.5 tons of marijuana in an abandoned school in southern Afghanistan"
Now that seems pretty stupid, doesn't it?
The transition team must have enough stockpiled for the Inauguration.

If I Had Subpoena Power: Five Questions for Obama
One of the lesser noted tragedies of the Bush administration is that it now takes a subpoena to ask questions of the President. As a hostage to fortune, Obama will be unable to overturn that policy.

dial up the troll blocker
DIY, dude.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

Obama keeps a promise; the oceans will stop rising...thanks to an amateur scientist:and his patent:

Backed by a computer model, the little-known inventor is making public a U.S. patent petition for what he calls the most "practical, nontoxic, affordable, rapidly achievable" and beneficial way to curb global warming and a resulting catastrophic ocean rise.

Spray gigatons of seawater into the air, mainly in the Northern Hemisphere, and let Mother Nature do the rest, he said.

The evaporating water, [Ron] Ace said, would cool the Earth in multiple ways: First, the sprayed droplets would become water vapor, a change that absorbs thermal energy near ground level; the rising vapor would condense into sunlight-reflecting clouds and cooling rain, releasing much of the stored energy into space in the form of infrared radiation.

[pagar]

"
""read that Barry is going to "create" 3 million new jobs. I marvel at that since he's never been in charge of a payroll or built a company, and since he somehow could not "create" jobs back in Chicago."

Take a look at his Secretary of Labor. I don't see anything but government jobs on her resume. But the Socialists and the Communists have a real friend and promoter in her, IMO.

"In a report submitted to the Communist Party in November 2000 Evelina Alarcon, Vice Chair CPUSA and Chair Southern California District, commented on Hilda Solis’s Congressional victory:"

"We in the Party can also be proud because our members were involved in all the targeted electoral efforts…"

Read more about the inroads the Communists are making into the Labor Dept at:

"The Obama File 58 “Hilda Solis-Obama Labor Secretary’s Socialist Connections” by Trevor Loudon, posted December 20, 2008, on his blog, The New Zeal, is cross-posted at RBO with the author’s permission. Loudon’s first Obama File was posted January 12, 2008."

LUN

[Pofarmer]

"Afghan and coalition troops found and destroyed 2.5 tons of marijuana in an abandoned school in southern Afghanistan"

I can't think of anything better than a bunch of mellowed out Taliban with the munchies.

[Pofarmer]

I dunno Patrick, my opinion is that as long as these folks are coming up with assinine ideas to prevent a non-problem they aren't screwing up anything important. The real problem is that a certain number of them will now be incorporated into the incoming administration.

[Thomas Collins]

Light traffic at the Chestnut Hill Mall in Newton, MA, although the Apple Store is busy. A steady fluffy snow has been falling for a few hours. Roadway traffic is really light. Perhaps folks have already done their shopping, or have shopped online.

[JM Hanes]

peter:

Can anyone recall any group violence over the past couple of years that hasn't been Islamic? If news outfits didn't insist on using euphemisms in the headlines, the scale and nature of the problem would undeniable. Alas, headlines are the dots that most people connect. Rioting youths in Sweden? How very odd.

Your BBC Report achieves new heights in obfuscation -- this time with the help of Swedish law enforcement on tip-toes. It was the stone-throwing in paragraph three that gave the game away, no? In paragraph four, a spokeswoman finally tells us that the "trouble" was "linked" to the closing of an Islamic Center. The landlord didn't renew their lease. Youthful "squatters" were "evicted." Cars were on fire, buildings burning.

I didn't know that I could still be surprised by PR pretzeling till I hit the last paragraph:

"The origin of the riots is the occupation of the building. But that's not really the reason now, now other troublemakers have just joined in, taking advantage of the situation," police spokeswoman Ewa-Gun Westford told AFP.

Random troublemakers? Let me guess. More youths? It was the very last word, though, that made me think it's time to trade in my irony meter for less sensitive equipment. If anyone knows their youths, I expect it would be Agence France Presse.

[Sorry, Laura! My cheery season doesn't officially start till I pick up my boarding pass tomorrow. Which reminds me. I should pack.]

[PeterUK]

"Backed by a computer model, the little-known inventor is making public a U.S. patent petition for what he calls the most "practical, nontoxic, affordable, rapidly achievable" and beneficial way to curb global warming and a resulting catastrophic ocean rise.

Spray gigatons of seawater into the air, mainly in the Northern Hemisphere, and let Mother Nature do the rest, he said."

Look,it's the Season of Goodwill,Peace to all men,and women,but any mention of computer models brings on the red mist.
Has the plonker costed what is required to spray gigatons of sea water into the air? What effect will the salt have on arable land?
I can see the Pharaoh Obama lighting up a dooby and going for this one.

[Frau Jedöns]

But some youths squatted in the premises, until they were evicted by police earlier this week.
Those Swedish Utes must have fantastic hamstrings, but wasn't the weather harsh for such antics?

[JM Hanes]

Thomas:

"....although the Apple Store is busy."

Seems almost emblematic, doesn't it? I'll bet the online numbers take an even bigger spike than they did last year. A day at the mall or 30 minutes on your Mac with your own Christmas playlist in the background? And cookies to test in the kitchen. We report, you decide!

[PeterUK]

JM Hanes,
The BBC almost never mention the M,I or the T words.
No such thing as Muslim?Islamic Terrorists.It's all about social cohesion.

[Frau Jedöns]

Islamic center? That explains the endurance. Swedes usually don't qualify for Olympic squatting teams.

[Helmenade]

Àâòîð ìîëîäåö))))õèõ

[Soylent Red]

I can't think of anything better than a bunch of mellowed out Taliban with the munchies.

Slower targets, easier to shoot.

Could put out piles of bags of Cheetohs to bait the hole.

[Pal2Pal (Sara)]

AJ has more on the Blago-Obama-Willie Brown revelations mentioned above:

An excerpt:

Ex-mayor Willie Brown has shed some critical light onto the Obama-Blagojevich affair. It seems now that this was all a push initiated by team Obama to stop Blagojevich from selecting a successor to Obama. It seems Blagojevich has a candidate in mind that Obama wanted to stop. In light of what Willie Brown has uncovered in his recent talks with Gov Blag, it seems Team Obama was the one putting the pressure on Team Blagojevich and not the other way around!

I wouldn’t bet on him stepping aside anytime soon. If anything, his hand is getting stronger by the day.

I can’t go into details, but my impression is that the whole mess started because the governor had been considering appointing a political rival, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, to the Senate so she wouldn’t be able to run against him when he went up for re-election in 2010.

Apparently, Obama’s people weren’t happy about the idea of Madigan coming to Washington, and there were some pretty heated conversations between Blagojevich and Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, which I understand will burn your ears off.

This really changes everything we read from Fitzgerald. Now Blagojevich’s rants about Obama giving nothing to get Obama’s selection(s) into the US Senate has morphed into Obama pressuring a sitting governor to allow the President-Elect to dictate the selection. Blagojevich’s requirements for a quid pro quo are now maybe a push back against an incoming administration who wanted control over who got into the Senate. Now the quid pro quo discussions are about what Obama would be willing to give up in order for Blagojevich to do Obama’s bidding on the selection and not go with his preferred choice of Madigan (who I warned should keep her mouth shut about impeachment, etc until the facts came out).

More here.

[PeterUK]

Helmenade,

I sense you are trying to make contact,please let us know.One rap for YES,two raps for NO.

[DrJ]

Calling Willy Brown and "ex-mayor" is right, but he really is better known for being the Speaker of the CA Assembly, and a very powerful one at that. He left that position only because of term limits. He's the original "Slick Willy," and is well-known in these parts for his 100 mph highway assaults from SF to Sacramento.

[Extraneus]

An ironic post indeed, PUK.

Hey, Sara, if any of this Willie Brown stuff is true, then Fitz has unfairly characterized Blag's comments as well as his crime. Of course this just cannot be, so therefore Willie Brown is lying.

[Thomas Collins]

I agree JMH, that avoiding the crowds and the elements may be leading folks to shop online. I myself enjoy the hustle and bustle of shopping. And today, while the rest of my family was asleep, I took the only car not snowed in!

Unfortunately, not much hustle and bustle today. I'm consoling myself with a Cabernet, salad and spaghetti and meatballs at the Atrium Mall.

You know, the more I find out about this Blago fella, the more I think he should be put in charge of negotiations with the Iranians. He's most likely corrupt and a crook, but I think his style would be more effective with the Iranians than the Columbia International Relations guy.

[DrJ]

I myself enjoy the hustle and bustle of shopping.

Damn TC you are going to have to turn in your "guy card."

[centralcal]

Ha Ha, TC! Out with Hillary and in with Blago as Secretary of State. Would definitely be interesting and certainly not "diplomatic." snort.

[sbw]

If O wants to lower sea level, I'm sure one of his scientists has already suggested pumping water from the Pacific Ocean over the hump into the Rio Grande.

[clarice]

The guy who picked us up from the airport--not our regular guy but someone I used to think wasn't crazy--was quite insistent that the economy began tanking as soon as Bush took office and that Bush and Cheney ought to and will be tried for war crimes.

Where;s the vodka?

[sbw]

The guy who picked us up from the airport

So, Clarice, must have felt torn when the time came to tip. Heh!

[Neo]

Is Fitzgerald screwing with Obama ?

The new "spin" is that Team Obama was trying to stop Blagojevich from appointing Lisa Madigan to the US Senate. Blagojevich wanted her out of town so she wouldn't run against him in 2010. With Emanuel speaking more than 20 times with Blagojevich or the governor’s aide John Harris, Obama's claim of "no contact" no looks pretty darn lame.

But meanwhile, Fitzgerald's "spin" of the goings-ons seems to be designed to protect Obama, so is Fitzgerald padding his future ?

[glenda waggoner]

TC-the malls of Houston are overflowing-and, yes, there are many bargains and guaranteed arrival shipping still left to be had online. Very cool here for gulf coast of Texas (45) winds gusty to 25, but I do have snow envy for you and Jane.
Missed Cheney this a.m (shopped too late online) so will watch @5..I live with the hope Cheney has left behind orders for the patriots left at defense, et al. If Obama was truly smart, he would have a "red Phone"
connected to Cheney's house.
oh, yes..yuse guys..I could have said ....,but passed!

[JM Hanes]

Thomas:

With Circuit City disappearing over the horizon, the only places I know my way around these days are Home Depot, Lowes and my local shrubbery dealership.

I was in New York last year too, and must admit that Christmas shopping at B&H Photo was worth the trip just to see it in real time. The check out lines must have been a couple of miles long, but miracle of miracles, they were handling people so fast it was like being on a moving sidewalk. They were even answering questions (and giving advice!) over the phone so fast, you'd never know that the store was busting at the seams. It's apparently owned and run by Orthodox Jews which means you can locate the nearest salesman in a veritable snap -- a sort of tech variation on "When what to my wondering eyes should appear?" It was really quite a lark. Which reminds me. I need to pack.

BTW, I stopped on the way into town for gas, and standard+ was selling for $1.67 -- something I hope I remember to point out to an employee who was convinced that only Obama could put an end to the price gouging conspiracy in America.

[DS]

Obama's smart. FSOs are now hiring and Congress is giving itself a raise.

Layoffs for feds?

Wonder who sued the banks for loan criteria?

[Captain Hate]

Everybody should visit B&H at least once for a weirdly unique cultural experience.

[TCOisbanned?]

Y'all loving that Bush auto bailout! With TARP funds no less!

[Captain Hate]

No; next question.

[TCOisbanned?]

?Just think, when you RINOs were defending Paulson and Kensianism, etc. you could have supported your argument even further by saying how the money can be used for car companies too! Yum yum!

[PeterUK]

TCO,
Do get Seasonal.Look, Santa has brought you a brand new spleen!

[JM Hanes]

Captain Hate:

Whenever our little one trick pony shows up, I take a moment to enjoy the idea of TCO's taxes going to Detroit.

[Captain Hate]

I take a moment to enjoy the idea of TCO's taxes going to Detroit.

Well yes, that and Kwame's excellent adventure in Club Fed.

[peter]

I bought a CD changer at B& H but won't shop there again. They only gave a thirty day warranty necessitating my mailing the item to the factory service center instead of exchanging the item. J and R give a 90 warranty. It is quite a cultural experience however, and they do sell quite a lot of interesting camera equipment at low prices. Many camera dealers in Manhattan are Orthodox Jews-- High tech meets Old Testament.

At the LUN, how Obama could save Detroit. So many things the government could do besides a bailout--how about a sales tax moratorium on American cars for thirty days? Or government backed warranty work for manufacturers who go bankrupt.

[ben]

TCO will be jumping off tall buildings soon when he realizes the 17 billion in loans to Detroit are a drop in the bucket compared to Obama's laundry list of trillions. He will miss Bush soon enough.

[Pal2Pal (Sara)]

There may only be less than a month left, but the Bush Admin. isn't going out quietly:

The White House corrects the record:

Most people can accept that a news story recounting recent events will be reliant on ‘20-20 hindsight’. Today’s front-page New York Times story relies on hindsight with blinders on and one eye closed.

The Times’ ‘reporting’ in this story amounted to finding selected quotes to support a story the reporters fully intended to write from the onset, while disregarding anything that didn’t fit their point of view. To prove the point, when they filed their story, NYT reporters were completely unfamiliar with the President’s prime time address to the nation where he laid out in detail all of the causes of the housing and financial crises. For example, the President highlighted a factor that economists agree on: that the most significant factor leading to the housing crisis was cheap money flowing into the U.S. from the rest of the world, so that there was no natural restraint on flush lenders to push loans on Americans in risky ways. This flow of funds into the U.S. was unprecedented. And because it was unprecedented, the conditions it created presented unprecedented questions for policymakers.

In his address the President also explained in detail the failure of financial institutions to perform normal and necessary due diligence in creating, buying and selling new financial products—a problem that almost no one saw as it was happening.

That the NYT ignored such an important economic speech to the American people and the complex causes of the crises is gross negligence.

The Times story frequently repeats a charge by the Administration’s critics: a ‘laissez faire’ attitude toward regulation. We make no apology for understanding the concept of regulatory balance. That is, regulation should be stringent enough to protect the greater public good and safety but not overly strong so that it unnecessarily inhibits innovation, creativity and productivity gains that are the sole source of increasing Americans’ standards of living. But while repeating this charge, the reporters gave glancing attention to the fact that it was this Administration that pushed for strengthened regulation and oversight, greater transparency, and housing reform.

The story also gives kid glove treatment to Congress. While the Administration was pushing for more transparent lending rules and strengthening oversight and supervision of Fannie and Freddie, Congress for years blocked attempts at stronger regulation and blocked reform of the Federal Housing Administration. Democratic leaders brazenly encouraged Fannie and Freddie to loosen lending standards and instead encouraged the housing GSEs to play a larger and larger role in the housing market—even while explicitly acknowledging the rising risks. And while the story notes the political contributions of some banks to Republicans, it neglects that political contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac overwhelmingly supported Democratic officials—in particular the chairmen of the banking committees. In fact, even in the midst of what by then was a housing crisis, it took Congress nearly a full year to pass specific legislation called for by the President in the summer of 2007, especially legislation to reform oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

[pagar]

Clarice, the latest on Felts from Marathon Pundit.

"The illegal surveillance of the terror group allowed Bill Ayers, a leader of the terror group who later befriended President-elect Barack Obama, to escape prosecution for his crimes. Evidence gathered against him was tossed out."

Marathon Pundit states the tip came from

Blog

If there is anyone who has not looked at third wave daves posts, he has some good posts; this weekend he salutes Gen Patton.

""Politicians are the lowest form of life on earth. Liberal Democrats are the lowest form of politician." --General George S. Patton, Jr."

[narciso]

It's nice out down here, no sign of the super duper economic collapse that Biden predicts, probably people are shopping less, but the local mall was packed, more than I've seen in a long time. Biden's stupidity becomes manifest yet again, unless it's reverse pyschology, and I'm not going to suggest he's that clever. Cheney was great as always, Chris Wallace's snark reminds one while you swore off Fox News
Sunday; too full of arrogant snark, PD. AP tried to make something of Cheney saying Sarah's not a lock for the nomination, which is true, but he didn't dismiss her outright unlike McCain and Powell; or did
I read this right. What finally happened with that driver, did he get the tip. Clarice,

[Pal2Pal (Sara)]

I couldn't help but notice while on my way into SD yesterday that every exit leading to a mall was backed up for a couple of miles and the mall parking lots were packed. Made me glad that the little shopping I was able to do, I did online.

[Extraneus]

Orthodox Jews?

I pulled into a gas station in Monticello, NY, this past summer, and there was a bakery in the same strip mall, both apparently owned by Orthodox Jews. I could tell because some were in uniform outside, making deals on their cell-phones.

The bakery was definitely a cultural experience. Lots of delicious things there, but what struck me was that they let you touch the merchandise before deciding whether to put it in your bag and buy it.

Very different from Venice, where squeezing an orange at a produce stand will get a woman tongue lashed.

[narciso]

This is the infuriating thing about Felt, he conducted what seemed like the proper thing to do; you generally can't get these people with a warrant, they're political activists, the judges would say. Nixon pretty much agreed with such actions (the Huston Plan, for instance incorporated some the Bureau's more dodgy tactics. Felt took his frustration with being passed over to Woodward and Bernstein, who didn'tunderstand
the issues involved. Nixon falls as to expiate the taint of Watergate, Ford passes the Levy rules, which curtail domestic surveilance, than came the Rockefeller Commissions and the Church Committee, who virtually made the American security establishment a dirty name. Carter's crusade against those elements ultimately
led to the indictment of Felt and Miller.
Biden's FISA was designed to solve a problem no one needed solving. Turner took a paring knife to the CIA's operations, mostly because of the activities of two intelligence officers working with Wilson

[narciso]

This led to massive cutback in key post, notably Tehran and El Salvador, and the ensuing crisis there. Reagan tried to Casey to reinvigorate the service, but ran afoul of too many constraints, and the Iran Contra
situation was seen as too much of a step toward the bad old days. Webster's gentile white shoe manner, was yet another impediment to successful intelligence. Woolsey tried to keep Clinton's eye of intelligence matters, but he quit not long after the whole Ames brouhaha came to light.Deutsch was like the second coming of Stansfied Turner, in an imminently more dangerous world. Then came September 11th, were remembered what the old peacenik shibboleth were clearly fruitless.

[pagar]

Great Posts Narciso.

Here's one I found thru the third wave Dave Blog that I hadn't heard before.

" Stop AIG Bailout Financing Terrorism

December 15, 2008

ANN ARBOR, MI – A federal lawsuit was filed this morning against U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. and the Federal Reserve Board to stop all bailout funds from going to American International Group, Inc. (“AIG”). According to the lawsuit, the U.S. government, through its ownership of AIG, is not only violating the Constitution, but also promoting and financing the destruction of America using American tax dollars.

The basis of the lawsuit is that AIG intentionally promotes Shariah-compliant businesses and insurance products, which by necessity must comply with the 1200 year old body of Islamic canon law based on the Quran, which demands the conversion, subjugation, or destruction of the infidel West, including the United States.

LUN

[Daddy]

Caro,

Thanks for linking to that excellent Mark Steyn Review of Oscar Hammerstein's lyrics. I can see now a bit better why on the Dennis Miller Show he was peeved last week with Burl Ive's for having messed up the words on "Swinging On A Star." Steyn takes that stuff serious!

Since we have so many folks here who attended ACC schools many moons ago, (Chaco, Captain Hate, etc), I wonder how many of us back then were fiddlin' with acoustic guitars trying to get the latest James Taylor or Almond Bro's riffs down. For the last 15 years or so I have done nothing on my beat up old Yamaha accoustic except Old Jazz Standards and have turned into a Richard Rodgers freak. On the hour long crew bus ride to Osaka last week, the co-pilot was plunking banal stuff on his travel guitar, and knowing I played, he passed it to me. I opened with a non-vocal vibrant Jazz version of R&H's "I'm In love With A Wonderful Guy" from South Pacific; (Great chords; 8th fret descending, C, Cmag7, Cmag6, Cmaj7 etc), then an equally ambitious and sprightly non-vocal version of "Tea For Two" I've whipped up. Not to dump on listening to the Eagles being plunked out for the 8 millionth time, but man, great standards with entrancing jazzy chords and melody and lyrics etc are so wonderful, why the heck did our culture seem to so completely get away from that stuff? Anyhow, I'm a mediocre to fair guitar player, but the 2 tunes I did were just by themselves so outstanding, that my captive audience dug it. And no wonder, it's all in the songs themselves.

Anyhow, like Chicken/Egg, I don't know if music produces the culture, or if culture produces the music, but a culture with Gershwin's and Berlin's and South Pacific's is the kind of music that can win world wars and go to the moon and build great cars and do just about anything it sets its mind to. A culture with 8 Grammy nominations for some pornographic rap mantra probably can't.

Oh, and current temp here back home is a balmy 14 degree's.

[PD]

I suppose that "spray salt water into the air" thing could get some good press for a while, at least perhaps until the warmists remember that water vapor is a greenhouse gas.

[Captain Hate]

Since we have so many folks here who attended ACC schools many moons ago, (Chaco, Captain Hate, etc), I wonder how many of us back then were fiddlin' with acoustic guitars trying to get the latest James Taylor or Almond Bro's riffs down.

Guilty as charged (btw, that's Allman Bros); owned a nice Yamaha too but I was never any good. As in completely worthless. I *could* play alto sax ok but haven't done it in years. I love improvised music and write reviews of it at times elsewhere on the intertubes; I just don't play it well. In the words of Dirty Harry "A man's gotta know his limitations."

Current Temp 2 above.