In an interview with (who else) Fox News, Bush is saying that it’s no big deal that Osama bin Laden is still breathing free air.
Interesting comment from George W. “Dead or Alive” Bush, don’t you think?
Year: 2008
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot????
Just when I think that I’ve become so jaded and cynical that Bush and His Evil Minions™ are incapable of horrifying me, they prove me wrong.
Paul Wolfowitz has been named by the State Department to sit on an arms control panel.
I guess because that whole WMD in Iraq thing worked out so well.
Serioualy Neat SH%$: Air Force Declassifies Constant Peg
Constant Peg, where the USAF evaluated Warsaw Pact aircraft, largely from defections, during the Cold War, has been declassified.
I had no idea that it was still classified, as I recall reading about the program in the context of the death of a USAF Brigadier General around 1984, but it means that this information is now available to the public.
F-16IN to Get Supercruise
I have no clue as to the reliability of the source, but we have a report that Lockheed Martin will be offering the F-16 with a supercruise capability to India for it’s massive mid size fighter purchase.
I would assume that this would involve a growth version of either the F-100 or F-110 engines, probably the former, as it is lighter, and possibly some aerodynamic tweaks.
I also know that a clean F-15 exhibited low supercruise (below Mach 1.2) nearly a decade ago in a clean (no external stores) configuration.
I’m a little dubious of the report, there are a number of errors in the article, it states that the F-35 supercruises, and implies that the Typhoon does not.
Additionally, the F-16’s wing configuration tends to be draggy in the transonic and supersonic regime, and for meanigful supercruise, this ability would have to be exhibited while carrying at least 4 air-to-air missles, 2 on the wing tips, and two under the wings.
I’m Confused on the FISA Progress
First, Harriy Reid attempts to exhibit some intestinal fortitude, and demands real filibusters, and then 12 Democrats (Sens. Evan Bayh (D-IN), Tom Carper (D-DE), Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), and Ken Salazar (D-CO)) voted with the Republicans to keep Telco immunity.
I have to figure that this is Reid playing both ends against the middle. He says, “Real Filibuster”, and defuses efforts to remove him as leader, but then twists arms to get Dem Senators to vote to support bush’s position.
It still appears, however, that George W. Bush won’t get what he wants from the house easily, so he hasreleased White House wiretap docs to the house.
NOTE: When reading this article, there is a significant factual error, “The companies were helping the administration carry out the so-called Terrorist Surveillance Program, a still classified effort that intercepted communications on U.S. soil without oversight from the FISA court from Sept. 11, 2001 to January 17, 2007.”
This is not true.
This program was initiated in February, 2001, predating the attacks by 7 months.
Kucinich Drops Out
I don’t think that it was lack of money that led Kucinich to drop out of the Presidential race, he continued “running” all the way to the convention in 2004, and he’s never had any money.
I think it’s the fact that he has some credible primary challengers, and that his constituents don’t like being grist for the late night talk shows.
Scientology Vs. The Internet: All Your Bases Are Belong To Us
Well, it appears that a group of anonymous internet vigilantes, calling themselves “Anonymous” (not a whole bunch of imagination there), have decided, since the attempted suppression of Tom Cruise’s “crazy as a bed bug” Scientology tape, have decided to go after the organization, see here, here, and here.
It appears that the people involved call this “Chanology“.
While I understand how these folks feel, someone, and I don’t mean a member of Scientology, is going to end up dead.
I used to follow Alt.Religion.Scientolgy on Usenet, and I will simply note that this organization browbeat the Internal Revenue Service into submission.
Here is the “official” “Anonymous” video.
OK, it wasn’t their official video, that is here, at least until Youtube is forced to kill it:
Bush to Renominate War Criminal to DoJ Position
Stephen J. Bradbury wrote the memoranda that authorized torture, and so the Senate has refused to confirm, but George W. Bush, in a fit of pique I guess, has decided that there are not enough war criminals in the Department of Justice, so he’s sending him back again.
If there is a level of lawlessnesses that demands impeachment, it was reached some time ago, and by not addressing this with an investigation, the Congress is ignoring their constitutional responsibility.
NOT ON THE TABLE! NOT ON THE TABLE!
Israel Moving Toward Full Disengagement From Gaza
“Total disengagement” means no electricity, no fuel, no nothing, no kidding.
In response to the southern wall (or is it a fence…whatever) between Egypt and Gaza, Israel is no longer in control of all of Gaza’s access point, and so there are elements in the Israeli government arguing that:
Matan Vilnai, deputy minister of Defence, speaking on an army radio station said that: “We have to understand that when Gaza is open on the other side it is no longer our responsibility, consequently we want to separate ourselves from it”. Vilnai added that, following the withdrawal of Hebrew colonists in 2005, “we want to continue our disengagement from Gaza and stop delivering electricity, water and medicines so that they can be supplied by someone else: we will act responsibly until an alternative comes up”
(See here, here, here, here, and here)
In response to these suggestions, Egypt is moving to regain control of the boarder.
It would appear that no one wants responsibility for Gaza. I think that this concept is less appetizing than Plutonium toothpaste.
ECB Eschews Rate Cut
The European Central Bank (ECB) has decided not to cut interest rates, but instead fucus on minimizing Euro zone inflation (here and here)
Given the different financial situations in Europe and the US, the Euro Zone is not having a housing collapse, this is not surprising. Additionally, the ECB does not have a portfolio is just controlling inflation, unemployment is not a part of its mission.
This does, however, limit the Fed, as it places yet more downward pressure on the US Dollar.
Deal Reached on Tax Rebates for Stimulus – washingtonpost.com
Deal Reached on Tax Rebates for Stimulus – washingtonpost.com
High points:
- 1200 Per couple for the middle class
- $300 credit for children.
- Limits of $75K/150K for single/family
Low Points:
- No unemployment or food stamp spending, the BEST way to stimulate the economy.
- Only $300 for the working poor.
- Completely bogus tax giveaways to businesses that will take months if not years to show effect, and generate less economic activity
- An increase from $417,000 to as much as $700,000 for “jumbo” mortgages bought by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Like we need to involve the government in bad mortgages for rich people. It’s a bailout of the rich, and it’s bad policy.
If the Democrats had any guts, they would have held out for better, but I guess that guts is just ,”not on the table”.
I won’t do the Pelosi pic again.
It Looks Like Musharraf is Toast
I think that he is done, and that his options will be death or exile.he’s losing retired military officers, the new Pakistani Chief of Staff, General Ashfaq Kiyani, is forbidding active duty military men from meeting with him, etc.
Of course, through all this, Bush and His Evil Minions™ are without a clue:
Frustration is growing among Musharraf’s military and political allies partly because he is not listening to their advice, U.S. and Pakistani analysts said. “He’s locked in his own bubble that ‘l’etat, c’est moi’ — the state is me. He doesn’t understand how anti-democratic he is. He’s not thinking clearly anymore,” said the senior congressional official.
The Bush administration is still backing Musharraf, even as officials speak more frequently of working with “the Pakistani people,” instead of “the Pakistani leader.” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday met Musharraf on the outskirts of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in the highest-level contact since he declared emergency rule in November.
Rice pressed him to ensure that the vote is free and fair and that the Pakistani people have confidence in the results, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Such remarks suggest that the administration is discounting the new assessments on Musharraf from intelligence and congressional officials.
This is unlikely to end well.
Missouri Republicans Left At Loss By Blunt’s Withdrawal From Race
I’m amused, and Republicans are scrambling for a replacement.
This is important, because whoever succeeds Blunt will to a large degree control the redistricting following the 2010 census.
Economics Update
It appears that the the markets are expecting another 75 basis point rate cut by the Fed at their regular meeting next week. The futures market on the Fed rate cut puts the chance at 81%.
I have no clue what sh$# they are smoking, but I wants some. It’s gotta be some seriously good stuff.
Could someone please explain to me how this is not making book over the telephone and internet, and hence illegal?
Then we have George Soros warning that he is seeing a possibility of “systemic failure” in the markets. He expects that at the end of the US Dollar as the sole world reserve currency, which has been obvious for years, and that the era of “superleverage” is over, and that, “”I question how far the Fed can go, given the reluctance of people to hold dollars”, and, “We need a new sheriff, not Washington consensus.”
Basically, he’s saying that we are in 1930, and we need the restoration of FDR market regulations. I agree, but, of course, I didn’t break the Bank of England because I understood world currency markets better than the English Ministry of the Exchequer, and he has, so his opinion carries more weight.
In real estate, we have Credit Suisse predicting losses of $16 billion for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and we have a year over year price drop of 6% in the US, and that median sale prices in 2007 was 1.3% lower than 2006, the first yearly drop ever.
And in employment and automotive, Ford is reported to be offering buyouts to all of its 54,000 hourly employees.
Every salesman, every buyer, every secretary, every engineer, etc.
Another Republican Retires from a Competitive District
Jim Walsh (R-NY 25) will not stand for reelection.
He’s had some close races, and as a relatively moderate Republican, he’s a typical New York Republican, as opposed to a Long Island Neanderthal, he probably realizes that the current Republican leadership does not listen to him.
His district went Kerry in 2004.
People Who Should Have Their Asses Kicked, IBM Edition
This might also be titled, “Management victims who really need to join a union”.
You know, after 10 years of thinking of IBM as the antiChrist, I had finally replaced them with Microsoft, but this story has me reevaluating.
If they are not the antiChrist, they are at least a minor minion of Chtulhu.
As often happens, companies sometimes get spanked for not paying overtime to its workers, usually for being stupid. It happened to IBM, and they had to pay $65 million in back pay, and they reclassified about 7600 workers as “non-exempt”, meaning qualifying for overtime pay.
IBM took another step too, they cut the base pay of these workers by 15%.
If you do the math, they have to work 45 hours to earn what they previously made at 40.
And economists wonder why the average American is not satisfied with our “wonderful” economy.
BTW, I think you could make an argument that this is illegal retaliation. Talk to a class action lawyer.
Robert J. “I Hate Poor People” Samuelson Comes Out Against Corporate Excess
This guy has been infesting the Washington Post for years, and if you know the topic, you generally don’t have to read him.
His standard schtick is something like, “Social Security and Medicare? They are bad, they make you stupid. You should be an overpaid pundit like me,” so you could have knocked me over with an adolescent tuna when I came across Mr. Samuelson railing against excess salaries and lack of accountability:
Here are estimates for 2007:
Investment banker: $2.1 million, consisting of $275,000 in base pay plus $1.2 million in cash bonus and $625,000 in long-term bonus. (An investment banker helps firms raise capital by selling new stocks and bonds and also advises on mergers and acquisitions.) Bond trader: $1.5 million, with $240,000 in base pay, $975,000 in cash bonus and $310,000 in long-term bonus. Hedge fund manager: $1.8 million, split between a salary of $265,000 and $1.5 million bonus. Just why investment bankers and traders out-earn, say, doctors or computer engineers is a question I’ve never heard convincingly answered. Are they smarter? Unlikely. Do they contribute more to the economy? Questionable. True, Wall Street often performs a vital function. It channels savings into productive investments. It helps provide access to capital and credit. In 2006, U.S. companies raised nearly $4 trillion through new stocks and bonds. Many financial innovations, including mortgage-backed securities, have benefited individuals and companies.
But Wall Street also frequently misallocates capital and credit. The “tech bubble” of the late 1990s was one episode. Now we have subprime mortgages. Why? Well, the herd mentality of financial crazes has a long history. But compensation practices skewed so heavily toward bonuses based on annual profits make matters worse.
You know, these lessons are not only the same ones that were used to change public policy (Glass-Steagal anyone?) following the Great Depression, but they are actually predicted by free market theory.
If I can make a million or so dollars, and and do not lose this money when the crash comes, why the hell should I care about long term consequences?
One hopes that the current crisis will lead to a re-evaluation of the slavish devotion to the unregulated market as a solver of all problems.
OK, It’s Official, I am a Purveyor of Weapons of Mass Destruction
Many years ago, around the turn of the millennium, I worked at Loral Vought Systems…..Lockheed Martin Vought Systems…..Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control* in Grand Prairie, TX.
One of the items that I worked on was the Medium Extended Air Defense System, or MEADS.
I’ve also worked on the Armies ongoing but truly misbegotten Future Combat System† (FCS), it’s largest procurement program.
So now, I’m beginning to see just how tied into the Military Industrial Complex I am.
Maybe I should ditch engineering and become a Klezmer‡.
Yes, I worked on this, and that little flare behind the head is for additional volume for the motor to increase range. The original PAC-3 had straight sides.
It looks like they are still using ProEngineer™ as the CAD package. After a while, you can kind of get a sense of which cad packate it is from how it renders.
Yep, worked on this too, looking at a more flexible launch cannister than the PAC-3 launch cannister.
Worked on most of these too.
Worst place I ever worked. It was so bad that people who never worked at Stewart & Stevenson, Tactical Vehicle Systems would hang up when they heard Sealy, TX.
Made Dilbert™ and his workplace look like “Nerdvana”.
They ended up screwing up in reverse. Their final drawing package was bad enough that no one else wants to bid on FMTV contracts, because they can’t make heads or tails of the drawings.
*It was all the same place, it just went through one merger, and two name changes.
†Note to self, need to finish article about FCS for my blog. It’s been sitting in my draft folder for months.
‡An itinerant Jewish musician, more specifically, one who plays music typical of Eastern European Jews.
The Feddie Thompson Clown Show, the Gift That Keeps on Giving
You gotta love the guy.
He drops out of the presidential campaign, and a few hours later, he wins the Louisiana caucuses.
Thank you Freddie Thompson, you’ve made my week.
At Least the Republicans are “Classy”
Roger Stone, who has the distinction of being the youngest of Nixon’s “dirty tricksters”, has founded a 527 organization, Citizens United Not Timid, to oppose Hillary Clinton.
I guess he has to do something when he is not swapping spouses.
Here is their logo, and they are selling a T-shirt:
So very classy.