Month: May 2008

African Leaders Get the Finer Points of Free Trade

No Comments

At a summit, they complained that these deals allow for barriers to their products while requiring those of the industrialized nations into their markets.

Cotton is a classic case of this, where US subsidies allowed under the current regime undercut what would otherwise be competitive 3rd world supplies.

That’s because “free trade” deals are really not about free trade. They are about establishing an economic regime that favors stake holders such as investors and IP holders.

If you look at the economic development of the US though, it was built on what is now called “piracy” of European, largely British, technologies.

Sadr to Oppose US-Iraq Basing Agreement

No Comments

The fact that he opposes the agreementand calling for regular protests should come as no surprise. Sadr is the only real Iraqi nationalist amongst the Shia leaders, with Dawa and the ISCI being pretty much in the pocket of Iran.

It is also a position which is likely very popular in Iraq, as all independent assessments show that Iraqis as a whole want the US out, and this agreement is clearly a part of Bush’s “Iraq forever” policy, and would keep troops and bases in Iraq for decades.

If A Taser Can End Atrial Fibrillation, It Can Kill Too

No Comments

We have the case of a belligerent patient in a Connecticut hospital, who was brought in with atrial fibrillation brought on from a jump into an ice covered lake.

When he would not control himself, security tasered him, and it corrected his irregular heartbeat.

This is what a medical defibrillator does, and it can kill people too, just like the taser, though the defibrillator has not been called an instrument of torture by the UN’s Committee Against Torture

The use of TaserX26 weapons, provoking extreme pain, constituted a form of torture, and that in certain cases it could also cause death, as shown by several reliable studies and by certain cases that had happened after practical use.

Goldman Sachs Calls It, ” Alice-in-Wonderland Accounting”

No Comments

Goldman Sachs is saying that it will leave the Institute of International Finance because of its calls for relaxed financial standards.

When Goldman f$#@ing Sachs says that the accounting is too dicey for them, you know that something is seriously wrong.

Basically, it all comes down to “level 3 assets”, those for which there is no ready market. This is the stuff that Atrios calls the big sh%$pile.

In any case, the IIF wants to implement rules that, “would enable financial companies to cushion the blow of financial crises by valuing illiquid assets using historical, rather than market, prices“.

Meaning that they want to value this sh^% as it was valued a few years ago, when everyone thought that there had to be a pony somewhere.

Corruption at its finest.

And the Son of WIPO Looks to Set Up a Reign of IP Terror

No Comments

A copy of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has been leaked online, and it appears that once again the regulators miss the point.

IP protections are not property. They are liberty that we take from every member of society in the form of temporary exclusive licenses, because the society as a whole benefits from the creativity encouraged by these licenses.

The leaked copy of the proposal is here, courtesy of Wikileaks.

Economics Update

No Comments

Oil is up again today, to $131.03/bbl, even though demand is falling, and retail gas prices hit a record for 21st straight day, $3.944/gallon.

I think the only question is whether it will break $4/gal before June.

Paradoxically enough, the dollar strengthened, despite the higher oil prices.

Finally, we’re seeing a drop in mortgage applications, because rates are rising.

Rates will go up eventually, and when they do, the housing market will get even more ugly.

Nope, No Bribery Here…..

No Comments

So we now have $150,000 in cash going to olmert:

A Long Island fund-raiser and businessman testifying in a corruption investigation told an Israeli court on Tuesday that he gave $150,000, mostly in cash, to the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert. Skip to next paragraph Enlarge This Image Pool photo by Uriel Sinai Morris Talansky, an American businessman, before testifying on Tuesday in Jerusalem.

It is no surprise therefore that Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, is calling for Ehud Olmerd to step down.

Senate Poll Numbers

No Comments

All are from Rasmussen Reports™.

Election 2008: Kentucky Senate: Lunsford (D) 49% McConnell (R) 44%

This surprises me….I’d love to see Mitch McConnell get bounced, and this is a very bad number for him

Election 2008: Minnesota Senate: Coleman (R) 47% Franken (D) 45%

Franken took a hit over his tax issues, but most undecideds break against the incumbent, so I still think that there is a good chance for a pickup. If there is a debate, I think that Franken will clean Coleman’s clock.

Election 2008: Kansas Senate: Roberts 52% Slattery 40%

I’m stunned that this one is so close. Kansas doesn’t send Democrats to the Senate. Slattery could win this, but he has to get everything right.

Corruption Among Border Patrol on Rise

No Comments

This is not a surprise. As enforcement efforts increase, smugglers will naturally turn to corrupting enforcement officers as a way to do business.

Note that this isn’t all just that though:

When the Homeland Security Department was created in 2003, the internal affairs unit was dissolved and its functions spread among other agencies. Since the unit was reborn last year, it has grown from five investigators to a projected 200 by the end of the year.

Once again Bush and His Evil Minions™ manage to completely f^%$ up the execution.

Note that the best way to reduce corruption is to make sure that the border guards are well paid and have good working conditions. Underpaid and abused employees are more receptive to graft.