By now it’s abundantly obvious that no one of any consequence—with the dubious exception of Newt “Kiss of Death” Gingrich—has been following my analysis of the current economic situation. Either that or I’ve been singularly unprescient. In any event, the things that I said were going to be happening don’t seem to be happening, and…
Trust me, I hate this as much as you do, which is why you’ve got to trust me
It’s time for Democrats to wake up and tell Henry Paulson to go to hell. At first blush, Democrats in Congress, particularly House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, seemed quite ready to go along with Paulson’s request for a $700 billion bailout for Wall Street for three reasons: 1) Most of them don’t know shit about economics;…
Getcher Red Hot Economic Analysis Here!
I don’t know anything about economics, but I know what I like, and what I like is Naked Capitalism’s analysis of the Paulson plan. The long story short of NC’s analysis is that the financial system is, um, fucked up because housing prices became grossly inflated. Stability won’t return until housing prices fall to the…
Does that mean we lied? Part II
The way David Ignatius tells it, Secretary of Defense Bob Gates will do anything to express his sorrow for the deaths of innocent Afghan civilians killed by U.S. troops. He’ll even stand in the hot sun, wearing a pinstriped suit! According to Ignatius, Gates also announced that “United States will adopt a new approach of…
Milt Jackson Quartet in Japan 1990
So does that mean we lied?
Yesterday Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, speaking in Kabul, offered “sincere condolences and personal regrets” for recent deaths of Afghan civilians as a result of U.S. air strikes. You may remember that on August 22 a U.S. airstrike killed “five to seven” civilians, according to the U.S. military. Or was it closer to 90? Gates…
The Ample Ass-Covering of Anne Applebaum
Anne Applebaum is back from Afghanistan, and she has a tale to tell. According to Anne, the job is tough but doable. “Though Americans like to talk about “winning” and “losing” the war in Afghanistan, on the ground it’s clear that those categories aren’t relevant. Of course we can “win”: The real question is whether…
Two and 44/100s cheers for capitalism
A fascinating story in the September 9 Washington Post tells the tale of a come on practiced by some DC-area car dealers: Come on down and win $30,000 in cash! Or a Silverado truck! Or a flatscreen TV! Or a voucher for 150 gallons of gas! Now, granted, the odds that anyone would win any…
Drill, baby, drill or Toke, baby, toke?
A rather off-topic scandal is unearthed at the NY Times among those W&C guys at the Dept. of the Interior, involving drugs, sex, and free tickets to Toby Keith concerts.* Back in the day, my dad had a friend who thought that he and my dad should run the Bureau of Fish and Wildlife: “You…
Tales From The Bucket—Oh Yeah!
Okay, I’m tired of being serious. Besides, this is huge. You may remember a week or two ago I went off on a tangent about comics (here and here). Well, I thought I had kicked the habit, but I gotta tell you, the old “Woodcut Gil” Gil Thorp artist is back. Tales From The Bucket…