Little or no mention of Obama in the proceedings, so my guess is that this development will have very little significance.
Year: 2008
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They have now now withdrawn their appeals of the sentences.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.
Good Eminent Domain Initiative Passes in California
Prop. 99 passed and Prop. 98 was defeated. The former just prohibited eminent domain for private projects, the latter was an attempt to eliminate rent control.
And in Other Primaries
Generally positive results in US Senate contests:
- Lautenberg wins in NJ.
- Neanderthal Steve Pearce is up for a drubbing from Tom Udall in NM.
Australian Activists Present Brief to International Criminal Court Against Former PM John Howard
Meanwhile, the Australian Broadcast Corp. reported June 1 that a legal brief has been sent to the International Criminal Court alleging Howard committed a war crime by sending troops to Iraq. A loose alliance of peace activists, lawyers, academics and politicians is behind the brief, organized by the ICC Action Group, based in Melbourne.
One paragraph in the article, but I’m beginning to thing that we should think of filing similar briefs on Bush and His Evil Minions™, because justice will never be served in the USA.
Gay Marriage Ban Gets on California Ballot
The polls show bigotry losing, but bigots are motivated voters.
Economics Update
ADP’s private report suggests 40,000 new jobs, though it should be noted that , “U.S. companies’ planned layoffs rose 15 percent in May from April to the highest monthly total since December 2005” it has been noted that, “ADP has been inaccurate of late, overpredicting payrolls,” so I would wait for the government figures.
On the other hand, productivity rose more than predicted in Q1 of 2008, though all indications is that this was not more stuff to do, but simply less stuff doing it, “Aggressive cuts in worker hours will help shield corporate profits and keep wage-related cost pressures under control, helping to reassure the Fed.”
Personally, I’m inclined to take the pessimistic assessment of this, because the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) non-manufacturing index fell to 51.7, indicating a softness in the service sector.
Additionally, we have the forecasting a world wide growth rate of only 1.8% this year, and weekly mortgage applications fell to a 6-year low.
Inflation worries are now weighing down the dollar, though oil prices are down a bit more to $122.48/bbl, but retail gas prices rose to a new high again, $3.983/gal.
Lastly, we have a visit from our old friends, the monoline insurers, with Ambac and MBIA getting hammered because Moody’s is finally considering a downgrade on their debt.
Dems Set to Cave Again on Extension of Unemployment Benefits
Steny “Mr. Capitulation” Hoyer is saying that House Dems are, “likely to drop a 13-week extension of unemployment insurance benefits” from the Iraq supplemental.
This is both craven and stupid. Make the Republicans, and for that matter the Bush Blue Dogs, vote against the unemployment extension.
Not only is it good policy in an economy in a tailspin, it’s good politics, since the extension is popular.
It passed with 75 votes in the Senate. If Bush vetos it, come back again, and again, and again, and again.
Wimps.
Piling On David Brooks
As John Amato of Crooks and Liars notes, along with half the liberal blogosphere, that when David Brooks says the following:
DAVID BROOKS, “NEW YORK TIMES”: Obama‘s problem is he doesn‘t seem like a guy who can go into an Applebee’s salad bar and people think he fits in naturally there. He has to change to be more like that Applebee’s guy and as he‘s done that he‘s become much more transactional. Much more, I‘m going to deliver this and this and this to you on policy.
He gets one fact wrong, there is no salad bar at Applebee’s.
I guess he’s never been to one.
Matthew Yglesias (June 03, 2008) – The Math (Politics)
Matthew Yglesias finds this bit of political chart porn:
Since 1994, Democrats have been under performing their vote totals. The redistricting in 2012 or so needs to be done in a sensible manner, particularly the extremely Gerrymandered “Majority Minority” districts, which have contributed to this problem.
Shorter John McCain: Hey, You Kids! Get Off of My Lawn!!!
The high points of McCain’s speech last night, such as they are, courtesy of Mark Halperin.
The Annals of the Incredibly Obvious
The Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), the Pentagon’s accountant, is saying that Lockheed-Martin needs adult supervision to stay on budget for the JSF contract.
The DCMA is predicting a 12 month schedule slip, and a $4.9 billion cost overrun.
Same old, same old, at the Pentagon.
Texas Observer Takes Down Phill Gramm
It’s a very good article, which places Gramm foursquare at the center of every major financial meltdown of the past decade.
My favorite quote:
Says Greenberger, “I am quite confident Phil Gramm didn’t understand what his legislation did. It was written by the banks and hedge funds.”
Note that Gramm was originally an economics professor.
It’s a good, and frightening, read on McCain’s economics guru.