On the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. He voted against investigations and aid to the Gulf coast.
Month: June 2008
Bush and His Evil Minions™ Attempt to Blackmail Iraq Into Signing Away Sovereignty
It appears that the US is threatening the Iraqi government with the loss of $50 billion in reserves in US banks in order to make them sign Bush’s “Iraq Forever” deal:
The US is holding hostage some $50bn (£25bn) of Iraq’s money in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to pressure the Iraqi government into signing an agreement seen by many Iraqis as prolonging the US occupation indefinitely, according to information leaked to The Independent.
US negotiators are using the existence of $20bn in outstanding court judgments against Iraq in the US, to pressure their Iraqi counterparts into accepting the terms of the military deal, details of which were reported for the first time in this newspaper yesterday.
Iraq’s foreign reserves are currently protected by a presidential order giving them immunity from judicial attachment but the US side in the talks has suggested that if the UN mandate, under which the money is held, lapses and is not replaced by the new agreement, then Iraq’s funds would lose this immunity. The cost to Iraq of this happening would be the immediate loss of $20bn. The US is able to threaten Iraq with the loss of 40 per cent of its foreign exchange reserves because Iraq’s independence is still limited by the legacy of UN sanctions and restrictions imposed on Iraq since Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in the 1990s. This means that Iraq is still considered a threat to international security and stability under Chapter Seven of the UN charter. The US negotiators say the price of Iraq escaping Chapter Seven is to sign up to a new “strategic alliance” with the United States.
This is why the Iraqis are looking at petitioning the UN Security Council to extend the current mandate, which expires in December.
If they were to extend this by 6 months or a year, it would be to their advantage, and I can’t see the Bush administration vetoing this, it would put them and the US, in an absolutely untenable position diplomatically.
Then again, you can’t go broke overestimating the stupidity and venality of Bush and His Evil Minions.™
Libertarian Bob Barr Pulling Significant Numbers in Southern States
This article has polls showing 8% in Georgia, and 6% in North Carolina, which might be enough to flip the states from McCain to Obama.
Heh.
Senate Intelligence Committee Report Says the Bush Lied
That’s what the report translates to, “Policymakers’ statements did not accurately convey the intelligence assessments”.
Impeach Dick Cheney today. Impeach George W. Bush tomorrow.
S&P downgrades Ambac and MBIA
Seeing as how the monoliner insurer’s business plan is essentially renting out their triple-A rating, this pretty much puts them out of business.
With the monoliners heading for the rocks, it means that all forms of bonds are going to be more expensive to issue, and more difficult to resell, so I expect the market to slow down a lot, and possibly freeze up.
USAF Secretary and Chief of Staff Forced Out
General Michael Mosley and Secretary Michael Wynne have been forced to resign.
While the nominal reason given by SecDef Gates is mishandling of nuclear weapons by the USAF, I agree with Noah Shachtman’s take on it, that the USAF has been insubordinate on the F-22, and strongly resisting the supporting needs for more UAVs in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they were let go for this reason.
Gates pretty much said it himself, “For much of the past year I’ve been trying to concentrate the minds and energies of the defense establishment on the current needs and current conflicts,” he told the Heritage Foundation. “In short, to ensure that all parts of the Defense Department are, in fact, at war.”
Unfortunately, the USAF’s first priority has been a war with the rest of the DoD over the budget, in order to support their bloated spending priorities.
More Evidence of the Bush Terror Over Warrantless Wiretapping Revalations
We know that Bush and His Evil Minions™ are determined to create immunity for the telecommunications companies that spied on Americans, probably to cover up the fact that they used the program to spy on political enemies, particularly Kerry in 2004, but the fact that they are now cutting Kit Bond (R-MO), the ranking ‘Phant on the Senate Intelligence Committee in their negotiations with the House indicates that they are getting a bit desperate.
Normally, they don’t want their finger prints on something like this.
The Bush administration is talking directly with Democrats over rewriting the nation’s surveillance laws and leaving the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee out of the debate, a senior Senate Democrat said Wednesday.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said that negotiations were occurring without Sen. Kit Bond (Mo.), the ranking Republican on the panel.
………
“You know, Bond, he’s just complicating things,” Rockefeller said. “And I’ve never talked to him about [his one-on-one talks with Hoyer], so I don’t understand it.”
The only reason that the Bushies are so intent on this is because this program involves something so awful that they would all go to jail, and the only thing I can think of that would do that is their use of the program for partisan electoral advantage.
I could be wrong on this. When ever I think that I’ve mined the depths of the Bush administration, it turns out that I’m insufficiently imaginative.
Bush’s “Iraq Forever” Deal In Trouble
A majority of Iraq members of parliament have signed a letter to Congress rejecting Bush’s security agreement, which allows for 50 bases, control of Iraqi airspace, the right to arrest, immunity for US troops and contractors, and the ability to operate militarily without permission. (More details here)
Given how well US occupation has served the needs of the Iraqi people, this comes as no surprise, nor does Iranian rhetoric claiming that this deal is designed to enslave Iraqis.
Of particular interest is that Grand Ayatollah Sistani is not particularly supportive of the agreement, and appears to be demanding both parliamentary approval and a referendum, and there is no way that such a deal would pass on a referendum.
One shocker, to me at least, is that Ali Allawi, Ahmad Chalabi’s nephew, has written an article which appears to condemn the deal, making reference to the treaty with Britain in 1930.
One wonders if the Iraqis realize that Bush is a short-timer, and they are running out the clock in the hope of finding someone competent.
Why We Love The Rude Pundit
I haven’t formed an opinion on the Veepstakes, so I am not endorsing this line of reasoning, but I am certainly amused:
A Few Observations From Last Night’s Big Speech Threefer:
– No way, no how, not on this planet, not in this galaxy should Obama have Hillary Clinton on the ticket. That’s what Obama needs: a Vice President who believes she should be President, with the added bonus of having Bill Clinton wagging his pussy-ready finger at everyone whenever someone says something mean about his wife. It’d be a big, stupid mistake, akin to a family of lemurs inviting a boa constrictor over for dinner.
This guy is priceless.
Economics Update
Weekly initial unemployment claims were less than expected, though the 4 week moving average of people receiving unemployment benefits was up.
If there is a “wealth effect”, then this might be the side effect of the not wealth effect, as household net worth dropped by $1.7 trillion in 2Q of 2008.
A lot of this drop is due to the real estate market, where there were over a million homes in foreclosure in Q1 of 2008, 2.5% (one in 40 for the mathematically challenged) of all loans being serviced by the Mortgage Bankers Association, which explains why Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn expects to see more write-downs and losses for banks.
Another day, another record for retail gasoline, $3.989/gal, and oil rose to $125.05/bbl, largely on the European Central Bank holding its interest rate at 4%, and it’s president publicly worrying about inflation, which implies rate hikes and a weaker dollar, which tends to push oil prices up.
Finally, monoline insurers MBIA and Ambac are delaying attempts to try and raise capital because of the prospect of a rate cut by Moody’s.
Hillary to Formally Endorse Obama
Heard on the radio.
Should happen Saturday.
Tony Rezko Convicted
Little or no mention of Obama in the proceedings, so my guess is that this development will have very little significance.
Prosecutors Back off Siegelman and Scrushy Sentence Appeal
After Siegelman and Scrushy were convicted in what increasingly appears to be a politically motivated trial, prosecutors appealed the original sentences of around 7 years (already unprecedentedly harsh), asking for 30 and 25 years respectively.
They have now now withdrawn their appeals of the sentences.
Obviously, the coverage scared off the prosecutors, because it has become increasingly obvious that this trial would give one of Stalin’s show trials a run for its money.
I Call Dialog with Condoleeza Rice Pointless
Condoleeza Rice calls dialogue with Iran pointless.
Worst
Secretary of State
Ever
Worst
National Security Advisor
Ever
Chart Porn on Helicopter Ben
The Big Picture dug up this graph of total federal lending to financial instututions:
If that does not scare you, you are already dead.
Gray bars indicate recession.
Federal Accounting Standards Board to Invalidate Off Books Qualified Special-Purpose Entities
The qualified special-purpose entities (QSPE) is an off the books accounting structure similar to the ones that Enron used to conceal its losses, and now it looks like the FASB will be instituting a revised rule, FAS 140, to eliminate them.
Basically, this means that billions, and perhaps trillions of dollars of exotic financial instruments would have to move to the balance sheet, which would show many banks to be undercapitalized or even insolvent.
CSPI Calls For Banning 8 Foos Dyes
The dyes that the Center for Science in the Public Interest wants banned are, “Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Orange B, Red 3, and Yellow 6.”
The CSPI is claiming that they have a link to ADHD and behavioral problems in children, though I think the science is pretty thin.
Normally, this is something I wouldn’t notice, but Yellow 5 is an asthma trigger for a lot of people, including Sharon,*, so I’m constantly looking for it when shopping.
*Love of my life, light of the cosmos, she who must be obeyed, my wife.
Zimbabwe: Tsvangirai Arrested, then Released and NGOs Targeted
Morgan Tsvangirai was stopped at a road block by Zimbabwean security forces, and held for 8 hours before being released.
He had been charged with, “drawing a big crowd”…I’m not joking here.
So we clearly have an official policy of disruption and intimidation of his campaign.
Additionally, the government has ordered CARE and other NGOs to cease operations, likely for 2 reasons: They don’t want witnesses, and if the government is the only entity allowed to supply aid, it becomes easier to use this aid as a weapon.
Heavy Internet Users Targeted
So, now the cable companies are looking toward an “application agnostic” way of limiting bandwidth, see here and here, combined with metered service, where you are charged for bandwidth over a certain level.
The basic problem here, and it’s a Google search away, is that in the rush to get to broadband quickly, the cable companies came up with an inadequate network architecture, so they are afflicted with problems that do not hit DSL of fiber (FIOS).
The real solution is fixing their networks.
NASA – Sunset on Mars
Wicked cool.