Month: June 2010

Viacom Case Against Google Thrown Out

No Comments

The judge said that the safe harbor provision of the DMCA indemnifies Google, and granted Google’s motion for summary judgement, and dismissed Viacom’s lawsuit against Google/Youtube.

My guess is the fact that Viacom was itself posting illegal material to Youtube as a pretext for the lawsuit had a lot to do with this.

I will note that the author, Greg Sandoval quoted an “expert” from the libertarian group the PFF saying that it would be overturned without noting that both litigants funded the organization.

That’s just sloppy.

Torturing Duncan Black

No Comments

Mr. Black, better known by his nom de blog Atrios, coined the term, “Friedman Unit ,” to describeThomas “The Mustache of Pablum” Friedman’s penchant for saying that the whichever war we are involved in will be won in the next 6 months.

A few months later Friedman would say that the next 6 months were “crucial.”

Rinse…lather…repeat…

Well, now Michael O’Hanlon is torturing the young lad:

At this moment, as we enter into perhaps the most crucial six months of the entire war, I hope and pray that President Obama will decide we cannot afford to be without the leadership of such an amazing American.

(emphasis mine)

Mr. Black wants someone to, “Make it stop.”

Your mouth to God’s ear, Mr. Black.

Economics Update

No Comments
Click for full size


Housing Recovery My Ass!
H/t naked capitalism

The lede has to be the the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) statement.

While the rates remained the same, no surprise, you cannot drop rates below 0%, and rates won’t go up until the Fed sends a few months of signals, what is surprising is that the statement is more pessimistic than May’s statement:

The Federal Reserve acknowledged a faltering pace of U.S. economic recovery on Wednesday as it renewed its vow to hold benchmark interest rates exceptionally low for an extended period.

In a statement at the end of a two-day meeting, the Fed scaled back its assessment of the pace of recovery, taking note of pockets of weakness, and also issued a cautionary note about volatile financial markets in light of Europe’s debt woes.

Of course, it’s more than just unemployment and consumer spending, real estate appears poised to had back down the drain, with the AIA’s Architecture Billings Index declining last month, and mortgage purchase applications fell again this week.

But the real news in real estate is the continuing collapse in home sales, and we now know that new home sales have fallen to the lowest recorded number ever, a 300,000 annual rate, and records on this have been kept since 1963. (!)

The two bright sides here are that the numbers are seasonally adjusted, and that the monthly number is volatile, and was likely impacted by the expiration of the home buyer tax credit, but it is still grim.

An Outbreak of Journalism

No Comments

When U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman, a Reagan appointee, struck down the Obama administration 6-month moratorium on deep water drilling, I kind of figured that I would hear stories about appeals.

It turns out that the story about his decision is all about the judges investments in a number of energy companies, including Transocean, operator of the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon rig:

U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman, a 1983 appointee of President Ronald Reagan, reported owning less than $15,000 in stock in 2008 in Transocean, the company that owned the sunken Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.

………

Feldman’s 2008 financial disclosure report — the most recent available — also showed investments in Ocean Energy, a Houston-based company, as well as Quicksilver Resources, Prospect Energy, Peabody Energy, Halliburton, Pengrowth Energy Trust, Atlas Energy Resources, Parker Drilling and others. Halliburton was also involved in the doomed Deepwater Horizon project.

I am stunned.

Not by a judge ruling in a case where the appearance of a conflict of interest is clear, after all, the moratorium might expose both Halliburton and Transocean but rather that someone in the mainstream media actually checked out his disclosure forms, and that it actually is now all over the place.

Props to the MSM.

Normally, I Don’t Buy the Obama and the Eleventy Dimensional Chess, But………

1 Comment

It is clear to me that Obama’s decision to fire Stanley McCrystal is the right thing on many levels, both on a political and a policy leve, and not just because this action is essential to the maintenance of good order and discipline in the military.

It is clear that anything else would have undercut both Obama’s credibility and the idea of civilian control of the military.

That being said, it was a lot more, it:

  • Got rid of a corrupt and political officer with a long history of being a Bush admin butt boy (Tillman, torture at the Camp Nama prison camp, his earlier insubordination, etc.)
  • He put someone in charge whom the Republicans are TREMENDOUSLY invested in (Petraeus), and so inoculated himself somewhat from any potential downsides.
  • He has given some ownership of the Afghanistan war to another corrupt and political officer with a long history of being a Bush admin butt boy, and if Davey (Petraeus) is kept busy, he won’t be leaking stories to undermine the timeline.
  • It is clear that this is a temporary appointment, so Obama can replace Petraeus at any time because it’s clear that being head of CENTCOM and Afghanistan is too much
    • At that time, he can appoint someone who won’t lobby to undermine the time-line.
  • Petraeus will be too busy to engage in political machinations over the next few months.

All in all, I give this an 8 out of 10. It works on just about every level, except, of course, for the fact that we remain in the “Graveyard of Empires.”

I Hope That This is True

No Comments

Josh Marshall is reporting that Florida Republicans are accusing Florida Democrats of sponsoring the Florida Tea Party, which is actually an officially registered party in Florida:

Now, as Christina explained today, Republicans are claiming that the whole Florida Tea Party (FTP) operation is actually a plot by Democrats to field a lot of potemkin candidates who show up on the ballot with the “Tea Party” label so that right-wing Republicans split their votes (between the GOP candidate and the ‘Tea Party’ candidate) and thus make it possible for a lot of vulnerable Democrats to slip through.

Now, the Republicans who are complaining about this don’t have the goods. Not enough to prove it at least. But there’s enough there to arouse suspicion. A lot of the candidates signed up at the last moment, many are young and have little if any political or even voting history and a number have past ties to the Democratic party. Republicans frequently help Green Party candidates get on the ballot. And if the shoe were on the other foot I think Dems would be suspicious too.

Republicans have been bankrolling the Green Party in various forms for decades, contributing not only money, but signatures for ballot access.

I hope that this is true and I hope that it continues.

What Simon Says

No Comments

Specifically, Simon Johnson, former IMF chief economist, who notes that with Peter Orszag resigning as as director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Paul Krugman would be the best replacement:

The president should nominate Paul Krugman to replace Peter Orszag as director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). (Orszag resignation details are here.)

………

But for the OMB position, the dynamic of a hearing would be terrific for the president’s specific agenda and broader messages. Krugman, of course, is the leading advocate for continued (or increased) fiscal stimulus. This is exactly President Obama’s message to the G20 this weekend.

Plus, when Republicans push back against Krugman on this issue, he will let them have it full blast on fiscal policy during the Bush administration. Krugman has, again and again, been an outspoken critic of the Bush era fiscal policy. He has precise chapter and verse on where the Bush team went off the deep fiscal edge.

………

It will not happen, of course, because Obama only tries to do the right thing when he has no other alternative, and there is simply not the pressure to have Krugman take the post.

Go read the whole thing.

OK, This is Stupid

1 Comment
Click for full size

This an April fools gag


This is someone doing WAY too many drugs.

ThinkGeek gets what they call, their best cease & desist letter ever, from the National Pork Board telling them that they are violating their trademark by describing Unicorn meat as, “The other white meat,” for which ThinkGeek, tongue planted firmly in cheek, apologizes:

“It was never our intention to cause a national crisis and misguide American citizens regarding the differences between the pig and the unicorn,” said Scott Kauffman, President and CEO of Geeknet. “In fact, ThinkGeek’s canned unicorn meat is sparkly, a bit red, and not approved by any government entity.”

Heh.

General McChrystal Should Not Be Fired

No Comments

He should be the subject of a formal criminal inquiry.

Simply put, the statements, both by him and by his subordinates with his tacit approval are completely antithetical to the idea of civilian control of the military.

To the degree that his profile in Rolling Stone, when he was informed of both content and quotes therein ahead of publication, and he voiced no objections, is simply completely beyond the pale for the lowliest private at a wedding toast, much less a general being interviewed by a major national magazine:

Now, flipping through printout cards of his speech in Paris, McChrystal wonders aloud what Biden question he might get today, and how he should respond. “I never know what’s going to pop out until I’m up there, that’s the problem,” he says. Then, unable to help themselves, he and his staff imagine the general dismissing the vice president with a good one-liner.

“Are you asking about Vice President Biden?” McChrystal says with a laugh. “Who’s that?”

“Biden?” suggests a top adviser. “Did you say: Bite Me?”

…………

…But part of the problem is personal: In private, Team McChrystal likes to talk shit about many of Obama’s top people on the diplomatic side. One aide calls Jim Jones, a retired four-star general and veteran of the Cold War, a “clown” who remains “stuck in 1985.” Politicians like McCain and Kerry, says another aide, “turn up, have a meeting with Karzai, criticize him at the airport press conference, then get back for the Sunday talk shows. Frankly, it’s not very helpful.” Only Hillary Clinton receives good reviews from McChrystal’s inner circle. “Hillary had Stan’s back during the strategic review,” says an adviser. “She said, ‘If Stan wants it, give him what he needs.’ ”

McChrystal reserves special skepticism for Holbrooke, the official in charge of reintegrating the Taliban. “The Boss says he’s like a wounded animal,” says a member of the general’s team. “Holbrooke keeps hearing rumors that he’s going to get fired, so that makes him dangerous. He’s a brilliant guy, but he just comes in, pulls on a lever, whatever he can grasp onto. But this is COIN, and you can’t just have someone yanking on shit.”

At one point on his trip to Paris, McChrystal checks his BlackBerry. “Oh, not another e-mail from Holbrooke,” he groans. “I don’t even want to open it.” He clicks on the message and reads the salutation out loud, then stuffs the BlackBerry back in his pocket, not bothering to conceal his annoyance.

“Make sure you don’t get any of that on your leg,” an aide jokes, referring to the e-mail.

This is on top of his lying and cover-up in the Pat Tillman affair, the torture under his command in Iraq at the Camp Nama prison camp, and his earlier insubordination at his speech in London about a year ago.

The only way that firing McCrystal would be an appropriate response is if he were fired out of a cannon.

His senior staff should be fired, McCrystal should be brought up on charges.

Of course, Barack Obama, because he wants everyone to like him, will instead engage in some theater like rejecting McCrystal’s resignation, but this is wrong for the military, wrong for the Afghan campaign, and wrong for the country.

Well, I’ll be hearing Olbermann’s Special Comment in a few minutes.

Deep Thought

No Comments

After my first full week at work, it appears that my skills still remain sharp.

However, there is one exception, my cubical navigation sense is off.

At least twice a day, while picking up something from the printer or returning the bathroom, I make a wrong turn, and end up at someone else’s cube.

My New Toy

No Comments
Click for full size



My new laptop, the Gateway NV7915u.

It’s more of a desktop replacement that can be transported to stationary locations than a laptop per se. It’s rather boat-anchorish, but that is what I am looking for.

It booted up fine, and I’ve been purging the crapware, particularly the Norton demo. (Friends don’t let friends put Norton on their machines)

In any case, here are pictures.