Cromleys News: March 2009

http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/03/12/2009-03-12_inside_bernard_madoffs_new_home_the_metr-1.html

I think that settles it. I'm going to figure out how to run a massive Ponzi scheme.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

New Skeptics' Circle is up

It’s here, including my recent post on Schroedinger’s Cat.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Rick Perry REALLY hates the unemployed

He’s officially refusing to accept the part of Obama’s stimulus that covers extended unemployment benefits.

I hope Congress addresses this by making clear it’s all-or-nothing on the money.
u

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

A Limited Defense of Michael Steele

In fairness, by Republican standards, I don't really see how Steele flip-flopped. After all, the Republican position on abortion seems to be that abortion should be "left to the states," and this state-centric position is best accomplished by passing a constitutional amendment banning abortion in all 50 states as well as a broad array of other federal abortion regulations. So, by these standards, Steele's position is perfectly consistent! Admittedly, if you use the standards of basic logic his position makes absolutely no sense, just like the Republican one, but any of the nation's prominent male op-ed columnists will tell you, this doesn't change the fact that the abortion criminalization lobby has a commitment to rigorous moral reasoning the rest of us can only envy.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

I write on faith schools for Comment is Free

I have a piece on the Guardian's Comment is Free site today. It is a reply of sorts to an article there a couple of days ago by James Graham.

I write:

One of the most important jobs on election day is getting the numbers from the tellers at the polling stations back to the committee room. And, having worked in many local byelections, I have come to the conclusion that the best people to do it are 10-year-olds on their bikes. They are quick and they insist on going back to the polling station every five minutes.

You could say these children are too young to understand politics and should be kept out of it until they are old enough to make up their own minds. How can a 10-year-old be a Liberal Democrat or a supporter of any other party?

But they have the rest of their lives to get cynical and bored by politics, to remain in the Liberal Democrats or rebel by joining the Trotskyites or the Young Conservatives. In the meantime let them enjoy being part of something larger than themselves.

This is probably the first and last time I shall appear under the website's Belief heading.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Palin’s Deceptions gets a spoof blog

And, I don’t know how Audrey, of the actual original website and blog, is handling the parody/refutation site. That said, though I still have questions about Trigg’s birth, the parody website producing pictures of Bristol with Tripp, from a Fox interview, it pretty much shoots Audrey’s idea that there would be an actual birth, at the time there was, right in the foot.

(Unless Audrey thinks that’s a borrowed baby or something.)

In other words, it’s awfully hard to argue now that Bristol Palin was actually Trig Palin’s mom.

Therefore, unless somebody can produce some damned good evidence Tripp Palin wasn’t born just over two months ago, I’m dropping the idea that Bristol was Trig’s mom.

That said, I DO think Sarah’s been a horrible mother to Trig starting from the birth. I also still think she’s lying about something; why else hasn’t she produced a birth certificate?

It’s also interesting that Audrey herself hasn’t had a blog post in almost a full month, and her acolytes tell the faithful to have patience, the next Mass will be conducted shortly, and rumors and rabbit trails will be transubstantiated into grand theories. (The Flu [sic on capitalization] doesn’t keep you from blogging for nearly a month, either.)

Interesting that the last post Audrey did herself was on the SAME DAY that the Fox interview referenced by the parody blog, in which Bristol had Tripp in hand, took place.

In other words, IMO, Audrey is stalling and spinning.

That said, as I blogged before, If Sarah is indeed Trig’s and gave birth last April as she claims, a commenter at Celtic Diva has a VERY interesting insight.

Sweet Lucy 47 says:

Palin had become a Pro-abortion Pro-Lifer.

She really didn't want this baby, she had the amnio, found out then the baby was "damaged" and really realized she didn't want it...then denied she was even pregnant for months, until she could deny it no longer, so had to own up to it. Then, in Texas realizing she had a serious problem, made a fateful decision to travel as she did, in the hopes that God would take over and she wouldn't have the baby. Cynical?? Yes, maybe I am...but it all fits in with your explanation, and it all fits in with what happened and it explains the reasoning behind her actions.

Fits to me. It does accept Palin at her word (which ain't worth much) about the legal facts of the birth — and nothing else.

Sarah Palin is ultimately about Sarah Palin, religious beliefs and all. Whether this was a fully conscious mindset or not, it sounds reasonable — and quite perturbing.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

An Executive Assassination Ring

From the Eric Black at MinnPost.com:

At a “Great Conversations” event at the University of Minnesota [Wednesday] night, legendary investigative reporter Seymour Hersh may have made a little more news than he intended by talking about new alleged instances of domestic spying by the CIA, and about an ongoing covert military operation that he called an “executive assassination ring.”

The discussion at one point touched on how Presidents get "intoxicated" with executive power, with the notion that they can get away with something. When Hersh was asked whether it could happen today. His answer:

Yuh. After 9/11, I haven’t written about this yet, but the Central Intelligence Agency was very deeply involved in domestic activities against people they thought to be enemies of the state. Without any legal authority for it. They haven’t been called on it yet. That does happen.

Right now, today, there was a story in the New York Times that if you read it carefully mentioned something known as the Joint Special Operations Command -- JSOC it’s called. It is a special wing of our special operations community that is set up independently. They do not report to anybody, except in the Bush-Cheney days, they reported directly to the Cheney office. They did not report to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff or to Mr. [Robert] Gates, the secretary of defense. They reported directly to him. ...

Congress has no oversight of it. It’s an executive assassination ring essentially, and it’s been going on and on and on. Just today in the Times there was a story that its leaders, a three star admiral named [William H.] McRaven, ordered a stop to it because there were so many collateral deaths.

Under President Bush’s authority, they’ve been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving. That’s been going on, in the name of all of us.

It’s complicated because the guys doing it are not murderers, and yet they are committing what we would normally call murder. It’s a very complicated issue. Because they are young men that went into the Special Forces. The Delta Forces you’ve heard about. Navy Seal teams. Highly specialized.

In many cases, they were the best and the brightest. Really, no exaggerations. Really fine guys that went in to do the kind of necessary jobs that they think you need to do to protect America. And then they find themselves torturing people.

I’ve had people say to me -- five years ago, I had one say: ‘What do you call it when you interrogate somebody and you leave them bleeding and they don’t get any medical committee and two days later he dies. Is that murder? What happens if I get before a committee?’

But they’re not gonna get before a committee.” [emphasis in original]

Here's the Times article Hersh references. The first three paragraphs:

The commander of a secretive branch of America’s Special Operations forces last month ordered a halt to most commando missions in Afghanistan, reflecting a growing concern that civilian deaths caused by American firepower are jeopardizing broader goals there.
The halt, which lasted about two weeks, came after a series of nighttime raids by Special Operations troops in recent months killed women and children, and after months of mounting outrage in Afghanistan about civilians killed in air and ground strikes. The order covered all commando missions except those against the highest-ranking leaders of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, military officials said.
American commanders in Afghanistan rely on the commando units to carry out some of the most delicate operations against militant leaders, and the missions of the Army’s Delta Force and classified Navy Seals units are never publicly acknowledged. But the units sometimes carry out dozens of operations each week, so any decision to halt their missions is a sign of just how worried military officials are that the fallout from civilian casualties is putting in peril the overall American mission in Afghanistan, including an effort to drain the Taliban of popular support.

Hersh has more on the JSOC. From DemocracyNow!:

Their unit (sic) to go find and kill and capture, if possible, high-value targets anywhere in the world. The whole world is a free fire zone for them.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Help David Heath's Fuel Poverty Bill

Just before Christmas, David Heath - the Lib Dem MP for Somerton and Frome - came second in the ballot for private members' bills. That means that he has a fighting chance of getting a now Act of Parliament on to the statute book.

On Friday 20 March his chosen measure, the Fuel Poverty Bill, has its second reading in the Commons. You can read more about the thinking behind the bill on the Liberal Democrats website and the Consumer Focus website.

In order for the bill to make progress next Friday, a hundred MPs must take part in the vote following the second reading debate.

So it would help David if you could write to your MP and ask him or her to turn up and vote for the bill. The Consumer Focus site has a draft letter.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Forum: Surving The Malaysian Economy

A Public Forum on SURVIVING THE MALAYSIAN ECONOMY

Speakers :

YB Tony Pua – MP PJ Utara
YB Tian Chua- MP Batu
YB Nik Nazmi – ADUN Seri Setia
Ms. Tricia Yeoh- Research Officer to MB Selangor

Date : 20th March 2009
Time: 8.30pm
Venue: SS15 Dewan Serbaguna MPSJ, Subang Jaya

Admission is Free

See you all there! ;-)

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

President Obama Establishes the White House Council on Women

Further Explanation of the White House Council on Women. From The White House:

The White House Council on Women will be composed of the heads of every Cabinet and Cabinet-level agency and will meet on a regular basis. Its purpose is to ensure that each agency takes into account the needs of women and girls in the policies it drafts, the programs it creates, and the pieces of legislation it supports.

Given the critical importance of its work, the Council will have strong leadership from the White House and will be directly accountable to the President. That’s why the President is appointing Valerie Jarrett, one of his closest advisors and most senior members of his Administration, to lead it. Tina Tchen, another senior member of the White House Staff, will serve as the Council’s Executive Director.

Today, women make up a growing share of America’s workforce and the majority of students in its colleges and law schools. Women are breaking barriers in every field, from science and business to athletics and the armed forces and are serving at the highest levels of government.

At the same time, women still earn just 78 cents for every dollar men make; one in four women still experience domestic violence in their lifetimes; women are 50 percent of America’s population, but just 17 percent of our Congress; and women are 45 percent of the workforce, but only 3% of its Fortune 500 CEOs.

These issues are by no means just women’s issues. When women make less than men for the same work, this hurts families who find themselves with less income, and have to work harder just to get by. When a job doesn’t offer family leave, this also hurts men who want to help care for a new baby or an ailing parent. When there’s no affordable child care, this hurts children who wind up in second rate care, or spend afternoons alone in front of the TV.

The President believes that when inequalities like these stubbornly persist, even in this new century, then we as a country need to take a hard look at where we’re falling short, who we’re leaving out and what that means for the prosperity and vitality of our nation.

That’s why he is establishing this Council – to continue building on government efforts like Title IX and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act that have made progress towards leveling the playing field for women and girls – and enhance them.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Why Some of Us Fear HOMEGROWN Terrorists MORE to the Foreign Kind

Two different posters have brought this story to my attention today:

Report: Slain US Nazi hated Obama, had parts for 'dirty bomb'
Stephen C. Webster
Published: Monday March 9, 2009

Claim: Depleted uranium purchased over the Internet from an American company

Trust fund millionaire James G. Cummings, an American Nazi sympathizer from Maine who was slain by his wife Amber in December, allegedly had the radioactive components necessary to construct a "dirty bomb," a newly released threat analysis report states.

The man, allegedly furious over the election of President Obama, purchased depleted uranium over the Internet from an American company.

"According to an FBI field intelligence report from the Washington Regional Threat and Analysis Center posted online by WikiLeaks, an organization that posts leaked documents, an investigation into the case revealed that radioactive materials were removed from Cummings’ home after his shooting death on Dec. 9," reported the Bangor Daily News.

"Amber (Cummings) indicated James was very upset with Barack Obama being elected President," reported the Washington Regional Threat and Analysis Center (PDF link). "She indicated James had been in contact with 'white supremacist group(s).' Amber also indicated James mixed chemicals in the kitchen sink at their residence and had mentioned 'dirty bombs.'"

"Also found was literature on how to build 'dirty bombs' and information about cesium-137, strontium-90 and cobalt-60, radioactive materials," said the Bangor Daily. "The FBI report also stated there was evidence linking James Cummings to white supremacist groups. This would seem to confirm observations by local tradesmen who worked at the Cummings home that he was an ardent admirer of Adolf Hitler and had a collection of Nazi memorabilia around the house, including a prominently displayed flag with swastika. Cummings claimed to have pieces of Hitler’s personal silverware and place settings, painter Mike Robbins said a few days after the shooting."

**************

RonnieB asks:

How long will media and law enforcement ignore this pink elephant in the room? I've been saying for years that anti-terrorism measures need to start first with the White supremacists right here in the U.S.

AMEN

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Cheney’s killer thugs exposed

I thought I had heard it all about Dick Cheney, but as Sy Hersh now says, we hadn’t heard the half of it up until now.

Hersh tells us Cheney had direct oversight over what he calls an “executive assassination ring.”

The comment was almost inadvertent, at a University of Minnesota forum. Hersh later said he’s nowhere near being able to write a book on it.

More here, from Eric Black, including MP3 of the whole colloquy, which also had Walter Mondale, among others.

And, the first link, from Raw Story, says it may be vaguely related to nefarious Special Ops work in A-stan, only even worse.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Libertarians are now considered terrorists by the government:

http://www.infowars.com/secret-state-police-report-ron-paul-bob-barr-chuck-baldwin-libertarians-are-terrorists/

Alex Jones has a copy of the document available. If you support Ron Paul or Bob Barr, you are at risk of being flagged as a terrorist in the state of Missouri. The document was supposedly leaked by a Missouri trooper.

Also, supposedly, the Anti-defamation League has placed Joe Bannister (the tax activist) on the extremist list.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

I would like to thank the Israel Lobby...

For this:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/11/america/intel.php

I was not a fan of him, particularly for this:

"His critics unearthed past statements that seemed to indicate at least partial support for the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in 1989."

Of course, the Israel Lobby had their own interests -- I'm just glad they happened to coincide with mine this time. Now if they would just endorse non-interventionism, we'd be set!

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Revenge List of Employers

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090311/D96S3G6O3.html

If only someone else in public had a concealed weapon.

Setting gun issues aside, what bothers me about this story in Alabama is the fact that this guy got good grades in school and somehow still ended up working at a food processing plant. I'm just speculating, but perhaps his actions are a result of the modern American economic reality. Perhaps he thought there was more to life and went nuts when he found out that employment in modern America is not that much better than serfdom and/or exploitative share-cropping. Work in the factory and then pay the tax-man or be thrown into the dungeon. Work in the factory and then get your devalued dollars eaten up by policies set up to make you lose. Get good grades, stay reasonably well behaved, end up in a dead-end job in a plant where the intellect is not exercised and go nuts.

This guy's story could've been any angry, gun-toting, economically-deprived intellectual's story. Who says Atlas has to shrug? He could get a gun and kill everyone, too. The worrying aspect of this theory I've presented is that it could become more and more common as the economy deteriorates.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Tripp Palin now a bastard child for sure

Sorry, Grandma Sarah, but that’s the language folks of your persuasion use as moral talk on the issue of unwed mothers.

And since Bristol is breaking off her engagement to Levi Johnston, Tripp’s gonna be a bastard child.

And, Levi’s sister said Sarah called him “white trash” regularly.

Well, if THAT ain’t the pot calling the kettle white trash …

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Obama signing statement and ‘presidentialism’

President Barack Obama so little liked the Congress’ omnibus bill that not only did he sign it in private, he issued his first presidential signing statement.

Obama had this to say in his statement:

Numerous provisions of the legislation purport to condition the authority of officers to spend or reallocate funds on the approval of congressional committees. These are impermissible forms of legislative aggrandizement in the execution of the laws other than by enactment of statutes. Therefore, although my Administration will notify the relevant committees before taking the specified actions, and will accord the recommendations of such committees all appropriate and serious consideration, spending decisions shall not be treated as dependent on the approval of congressional committees.

To me, rather than railing against Congressional pork, or else nobly defending the constitution, he’s railing against Congress trying to hamstring the office of the President, in most these cases.

The foreign policy purse-string controlling MIGHT have constitutional issues. The one on international commanders of U.S. troops in peacekeeping forces maybe does.

The rest, specifically the part in the pull quote? Nope.

Read the complete signing statement to judge for yourself.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

JPMorgan head sees recovery, welcomes regulation

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says he sees “modest signs” of economic recovery.

He also said he welcomes a federal government systemic risk regulatory agency, like Rep. Barney Frank is proposing.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Can newspapers save themselves?

First of all, despite claims to the contrary, Internet advertising is NOT very likely going to save newspapers. Not anytime soon.

My analogy is that Internet advertising is like the Red River in West Texas in summer – it’s a mile wide but only an inch deep.

Here’s the bottom line.

The failure is ultimately trying to apply a hardcopy business model to the Net. Papers, and mags, HAVE TO, even if the barn doors are already open, start charging for online content. Ads alone, in the online world, WILL NOT make a paper profitable.

Walter Isaacson says microcontent sales are the ticket, unaware that that’s already doable, and showing that Isaacson himself doesn’t have an answer.

Even readers of small dailies, semiweeklies and weeklies have gotten used to getting stories for free, off the Net.

The AP is going to have to revisit contracts with Google, Yahoo, etc., especially with Google selling its own ads on newspaper-linked stories now. It’s that simple.

Some non-dailies have pretty good websites, and I don’t just mean metropolitan alt-weeklies. And they sell ads well. Many other papers don’t. Even people at my level of newspapers demand more and more free content all the time.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Didn't Ted Stevens get CONVICTED and defeated for this reason?

Hat tip: Craig Hickman

From The New York Daily News:

Conflict-of-interest issues grow for President Obama's new urban czar Adolfo Carrion
BY Greg B. Smith
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
President Obama's new urban czar, Adolfo Carrión, admitted Tuesday he has not paid an architect who designed a renovation of his Bronx home two years ago.

Updated Wednesday, March 11th 2009, 9:15 AM

That presents conflict-of-interest issues because at the time the architect was a key player in a Bronx development that needed approval from Carrión, then the Bronx borough president.

In a statement to the Daily News, Carrión admitted he hadn't paid architect Hugo Subotovsky to design a porch and balcony for his City Island home.

The renovation occurred more than two years ago. The last document filed with the city Buildings Department is dated Feb. 2, 2007. The work permit on the job expired that same month.

Most documents stamped by Subotovsky on Carrión's house renovation date even further back, to October and November 2006, including a blueprint for the extensive work done on the front of Carrión's house.

In his e-mailed response to The News, Carrión claimed the architect spent 51.5 hours on the renovation for a total bill of $3,627.50, "based on their usual rates." That works out to about $71 per hour.

Carrión claimed he hadn't yet paid the bill on the two-year-old project because a "final survey" is not yet filed and approved.

"As is his practice for projects of this kind, the architect will present his bill and be paid after the final survey is filed and approved, when his work is complete. I anticipate the survey will be completed, filed and approved shortly, at which time the bill will be presented and paid in full."

Subotovsky did not return calls seeking comment. Carrión's response came five days after The News asked him for proof he paid the architect.

If it's determined the architect performed the work free, the work could be considered an unreported gift that could put Carrión on the wrong side of the law.

The White House again declined to comment Tuesday on Carrión's admission that he has yet to pay the architect or any other aspect of Carrión's unfolding problem.

Carrión started his job as director of the White House Office on Urban Policy on March 2.

In January 2007, at the same time Subotovsky was working on Carrión's house, a project he had designed called Boricua Village was submitted to Carrión's office.

The project, which includes nearly 700 units of affordable housing and a 14-story tower for Boricua College, needed Carrión's recommendation to go forward.

Two months later, in March 2007, Carrión recommended the project for approval to the City Planning Commission, which signed off on the project that May.

Now THIS is the fault of the VETTING TEAM. Please don't tell me that this is the first they've heard of this. I find that hard to believe. But, NOW THEY KNOW. And, The White House needs to take action.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Posturing

Yeah, I think it's safe to say that Wells Fargo will be giving back their bailout money on the same day that Mr. and Dr. Instapundit "go Galt." Coincidentally. this will be the same day that I win "America's Next Top Model."

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Where was the FDA?

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-medical-madoff-anesthestesiologist-faked-data

And this is why I don't trust the FDA, or doctors. Last time I got a tetanus shot, I was contemplating the likelihood that the doctor was secretly spreading AIDS as part of a government program -- took a few weeks to shake off that idea. When Libya claimed westerners were spreading AIDS, I believed it and wished the western media reported more on the case.

Call it extreme paranoia, but these days these crazy outcomes are possibilities in the practice of modern medicine. Unless you are important like British Royalty, and get private and special care, there's nothing to suggest that the public infrastructure for health-care can't be used as a vector for sterilization programs, eugenics, or the spread of disease.

Incidentally, the Times of India recently reported that Baxter International mixed up a shipment of flu shots with a particularly nasty air-borne/transmissable bird flu. I believe that was probably intentional.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Note to TPM – Obama has only himself to blame for ‘bitten off too much’

MSLB Talking Points Memo goes in the tank to refute this latest bit of scuttlebutt.

BUT… Obama’s own White House used the claim “he was too tired” to explain the clusterfuck of his first meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Can’t have it both ways. Either the Messiah gave Gordo the back of his Messianic hand, or, like his disciples, he fell asleep because he bit off too much.

That said, William Galston at TNR says Obama needs to focus to avoid being Jimmy Carter.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan

Alex Harrowell has a couple of interesting posts on the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, one at Fistful of Euros and the other at Yorkshire Ranter. The point is essentially this; the Soviets executed the withdrawal more competently that just about any other aspect of the war, and it worked out really well for them. The government that they left in place survived for another three years, and only collapsed when Soviet support ended in 1992.

In fact, the withdrawal was about the best idea the Soviets had in Afghanistan. Having decided to go, they pursued a policy of building up the Afghan government, changing the military strategy to one based on defending the bulk of the population and leaving the mountain wilds to the enemy, pouring in aid of all kinds, negotiation with those who were willing, and leaving a strong advisory mission in place.

I recall at the time that predictions of the survival of the Soviet-sponsored Afghan government were measured in weeks or in months, but it turned out that the opposition split, foreign support for the rebels vanished, and the regime was able to win several crucial military victories. Nobody talked much about this after 1989, because nobody really cared much about Afghanistan. I'm thinking that the United States and Europe could do much, much worse than what the Soviets managed; Harrowell thinks (perhaps only half-jokingly) that the Soviet general who managed the post-withdrawal advisory mission should be tracked down and consulted on the future of the NATO mission. A Soviet style operation would concede certain facts about Afghanistan; the central government will never have much control over the hinterland, and a liberal democratic regime is unlikely to exist in any thing but name, but it may be past time to think about such concessions.

Cross-posted to TAPPED.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Narrativewatch: Nick Clegg's new order

Here’s the, err, story so far. Nick Clegg worked last year to communicate this narrative: Labour have had their day and can’t create a fairer Britain and the Conservatives won’t but the Liberal Democrats will make it happen. It was old third party wine in twenty first century bottles, but showed promise all the same. Then, after Lehman Brothers collapsed and the economic crisis hit, the media meta-narrative took a new turn: the government’s response to the recession and the short-lived “Brown bounce”. Nick's story was squashed flat and the Lib Dems (as opposed to Vince Cable) struggled to tell a story about the economy.

In his spring conference speech on Sunday, Nick presented an updated and improved version of last year’s almost-narrative. Labour had presided over economic collapse and were now a "spent match". But the Conservatives would be no better. He slammed the Tories' plan to cut spending in a recession as "madness".

More importantly, Conservative and Labour prime ministers, from Margaret Thatcher to Gordon Brown, were to blame for our economic problems. Sticking with the same “never-ending cycle of red-blue, blue-red government [that] got us into this mess” would offer no solution. The two old parties just wanted to "cling to those old 80s ideas with a tweak here, or a nip and tuck there".

So, a plague on both your houses. Grimond, Steel, Ashdown and Kennedy would all recognise that story. Nick also said that the crisis had “opened the door to a genuinely new way of doing things”. What the Liberal Democrats offered people, he said, was a choice between “policies to patch up the old order, or policies to build a new one”.

The archetype used was that of a fresh start, a new dawn, the phoenix rising from the ashes; a new dawn. Here, Nick’s rhetoric became more interesting. He cleverly grounded the narrative in historical stories and symbols: Christopher Wren who “looked beyond the pain and dreamed what might come next” after the Great Fire of London, Beveridge and Keynes after World War II with their new ideas for healthcare and insurance for all; and Monnet, Schuman and the founders of the European Union.

What Nick Clegg told on Sunday was the outline of what Annette Simmons calls a “vision story”.

“A vision story raises your gaze from current difficulties to a future payoff that successfully competes with the temptation to give up, compromise or change direction.”
[Whoever Tells the Best Story WINS (2007)]

This could work -- if Nick can show voters what the “future payoff” would look like. Perhaps we could see this as his story’s “happy ending”.

When he spoke of “not just . . . sticking plaster solutions – [but] a new, better approach,” Nick offered a bit more substance than previously. Reforms to split investment and retail banking; barring board members of failed banks from holding other directorships; forcing high-street banks to give up risky, casino-style lending, with their bosses banned from receiving short-term bonuses of any kind; and allowing investments that took risks and hit problems to fail. On Saturday, Vince Cable provided some more economic detail. (He also told the conference a familiar, plausible morality tale: that a decade ago Brown and Blair “made a pact with the Devil” – “the financial aristocracy” – and now it’s collapsing, leaving Labour exposed and without a soul.)

But first we need unity and cohesion around the policy messages. If Liberal Democrats are going to call for a “new order”, we’ll need to project a clear and consistent idea of what it looks like. Talk of a more radical approach could bring forward a wide range of messages. Compare, for instance, the tone and content of Vince Cable’s “responsible boldness” (my description, not his) with the way some leading “social liberals” perceive the new dawn. [Click here, here, and here] Other people will have suggestions too. Let’s not forget, for instance, the new world will need to be built on sustainable, low-carbon foundations.

The Lib Dems’ revamped story also will need to strike a chord with our target voters. Annette Simmonds explains:

“A good vision story makes otherwise ambiguous promises for future payoffs come alive with carefully crafted sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings that eclipse the work we do for tomorrow’s payoff. Overwhelming obstacles shrink to bearable frustrations that are worth the effort.”

Nick and the rest of the party needs to show what the “new order” would look and feel like for voters (and for that matter, how credible is it?). For instance, James Graham has pointed out that Nick has been arguing some time that a new economic order would need to be based on a new political order. I have blogged previously that in promising a better sort of politics, we are not really talking about what most people are most interested in. They will want to see and feel what it would mean for them, in their daily lives. As the American pollster and political strategist Frank Luntz says:

“Political messages should emphasise bottom line results, not process.”
[Words that Work (2007)]

And Nick will need to embody the promise of a “genuinely new way of doing things” in his actions and appearance. In his 1995 book Leading Minds, Howard Gardner stressed that leaders need to embody their own narratives in order to seem authentic and credible.

I’ll finish with the same optimistic point that I made this time last year.

No-one ever said the Lib Dem narrative was going to arrive, gift-wrapped, in the post. It didn’t work for Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher or Tony Blair – or, for that matter, for FDR or Ronald Reagan. But at least Nick Clegg – the only person who can provide the Liberal Democrats with a story – is on to it.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Outsourcing

Adam discusses Maureen Dowd's lunacy so that -- this time at least -- I don't have to.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Once again, Alan Greenspan absolves himself

This time, over the housing bubble. Surprised?

And, that said, Greenspan’s self-defense appears to be a perfect reflection of his position as an acolyte of hyper-rational neoclassical macroeconomics, whereas, rightly or wrongly, people’s critiques of him have an emotional edge as narratives.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Sims

Seems like a good choice. Certainly, among Washington state politicians I always preferred him to Gary Locke...

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Reading the entrails

CNBC stock "analyst" Jim Cramer is getting lots of well-deserved mockery for giving some spectacularly bad investment advice, and then compounding his mistakes by denying them.

Yglesias points out that the whole business Cramer and his ilk are involved in is a contemporary version of entrail reading. Take this wholly typical "20 stocks to buy now" column. Consider what needs to be assumed to make taking this guy's advice worthwhile.

(1) All the information and analysis performed by the stock picker isn't already imputed in the stock's current price; and

(2) The stock picker knowledge of the various industries and firms he's analyzing is deep enough to allow his speculations to add value to the analysis already being done by hundreds and thousands of people who dedicate their lives to studying these industries and firms on an industry-specific and firm-specific basis; and

(3) This added value is greater than the transaction costs that must be incurred in order to take advantage of it.

Now how likely is this? How likely is it that there's a single person on this earth who knows enough about the contemporary technological and economic challenges of superconductor production, and about the complexities of commercial railroad transportation in America today, and about the Brazilian banking industry in the context of the current state of Latin American finance, and (repeat for 17 more industries) to be giving advice about 20 stocks that, collectively, actually has investment value? And how likely is it that, if this paragon actually exists, you just happen to have stumbled onto his wisdom by googling "20 Stocks To Buy Now?"

Beyond that, the notion put forth in the linked column and in a thousand similar ones, that individual investors should "do their own research" in order to "identify good companies" is both practically and theoretically preposterous.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Outsourcing II

Edroso on Paglia:

I see Salon is still publishing Camille Paglia. Why, I wonder? It can't be respect for her prose, which reads like yammerings that a cranked-up MFA candidate might read into a digital recorder for her overdue thesis as she speed-walks around the quad. The only sane reason I can imagine they do it is to throw Republican yahoos some pointy-head bait, as the Times does with David Brooks and John Tierney, to get themselves links from rightwing blogs. Don't they realize they could get Ann Althouse to do the same thing for much less money?

If I understand correctly, Salon is still asking people for money. Yeah, good luck with that as long as any percentage of a prospective fee might go to the somewhat more pretentious and even dumber Maureen Dowd...

...at least her latest column makes it clear why she likes Sarah Palin so much: they both seem to share the eccentric conviction that being criticized violates your First Amendment rights.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Bagram – Obama’s Gitmo?

Well, if President Obama is planning on expanding the prison at our Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, aas Salon reports, hell, yes, it’s his Gitmo.

Especially since he seems ready to run it the same way Bush ran Gitmo.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Israel fear-mongering on Iran refuted again

Once again, despite Israeli claims to the otherwise, Iran does NOT have highly enriched uranium to make a bomb.

You think Tel Aviv would get a clue by now that Shrub left 1600 Pennsylvania nearly two months ago and that Joementum Lieberman is focused on domestic policy in the Senate.

Maybe it, plus the Israel lobby here, thinks it still has big britches after driving Chas Freeman to remove himself from nomination as Obama’s intelligence czar. Freeman, however did not go quietly.

And, “change we can believe in” may not apply that much to foreign policy.

Chuck Schumer, who has replaced Al D’Amato as Sen. Pothole, claims he got the White House to force Freeman out.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Bad Analogies of the Day

William Saletan.

I take it that for most our audience the analogy between Obama repealing Bush's ban on stem-cell research (or, at least, defending this policy in terms Saletan does not approve of) and Dick Cheney's policy of arbitrary torture is so specious that to restate it is to refute it. But perhaps Saletan may wish to conisder one rather obvious difference: opponents of torture actually favor categorical bans on torture, whereas Bush and most of his supporters thought that stem-call research should be perfectly legal but that some forms of this research should be denied state funding. Or may he shouldn't consider it, such most of his writing on these issues ceding the moral high ground to people who don't even take their own purported ideas seriously.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Brian Barry, RIP

I see via Harry Brighouse that Brian Barry has died. I'm not a good candidate to offer an evaluation or overview of his work. He's an engaging and enjoyable writer with a voice that made him particularly pleasurable to read when you agree with him, and somewhat maddening when you don't--he was an impressive wordsmith in a way that few political theorists are. I endorse Why Social Justice Matters with few reservations, but on the subject of Culture and Equality I'm afraid I have to wholeheartedly endorse Jacob Levy's critical review.

Barry's writing possessed a dry wit and some delicious snark. I'm somewhat hesitant to highlight a book review, given his career's worth of substantive work, but as a fan of the genre of devastating reviews of deserving targets, I can't resist taking this opportunity to excerpt from his review of Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State and Utopia:

Finally the intellectual texture is of a sort of cuteness that would be wearing in a graduate student and seems to me quite indecent in someone who, from the lofty heights of a professorial chair, is proposing to starve or humiliate ten percent or so of his fellow citizens (if he recognizes the word) by eliminating all transfer payments through the state, leaving the sick, the old, the disabled, the mothers with young children and no breadwinner, and so on, to the tender mercies of private charity, given at the whim and pleasure of the donors and on any terms that they choose to impose. This is, no doubt, an emotional response, but there are, I believe, occasions when an emotional response is the only intellectually honest one. The concept of a "free fire zone," for example, could appropriately be the subject of black comedy or bitter invective but not dispassionate analysis. Similarly, a book whose argument would entail the repeal of even the Elizabethan Poor Law must either be regarded as a huge joke or as a case of trahison des clercs, giving spurious intellectual respectability to the reactionary backlash that is already visible in other ways in the United States. My own personal inclination would be to treat the book as a joke, but since it is only too clear that others are prepared to take It seriously, I shall do so as well.....
Nozick's vision of "utopia" as a situation in which the advantaged reinforce their advantages by moving into independent jurisdictions, leaving the poor and disadvantaged to fend for themselves, could be regarded as the work of a master satirist, since it is in fact merely the logical extension of pathologically divisive processes already well-established in the United States: the flight of the middle classes to the suburbs while the inner city decays from lack of resources, and the growth of "planned communities" for the wealthy aged and other specially selected groups who are able to shed much of the usual social overhead. Unfortunately, there is no sign that Nozick, jokiness personified in other respects, sees this particular joke, but, thanks to the direction given to public policy by Nixon and Ford and their Supreme Court, the American people have an increasing opportunity to enjoy the joke personally.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

The annals of self-immolation

Wow.

I've always been amazed by bizarre and/or offensive and/or illegal interview behavior, having witnessed an abundance of it over the years during faculty searches. But I've never really considered the potential weirdness involved with grad school interviews (and here, I'm not counting the time in 1994 when an aspiring American Studies grad student clogged the toilet in my apartment so ferociously that I was forced to summon building maintenance to clear the offending debris. The fellow eventually opted for film school.)

There's a great degree of irritating grad school conduct that can be chalked up to some combination of youthful exuberance and insufficient professional socialization. But then again, some people are just assholes.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Personal To Jim Cramer

No, really, quit while you're behind.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Not the Rules

Aye. Not the rules, but rather the policies that the rules enabled. Important distinction.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

The Government Enjoys Watching the Mentally Ill Beat Each Other Up

I'm not joking:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96RA7F82&show_article=1

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) - Seven employees at a state-run home for the mentally disabled have been suspended for allegedly staging a "fight club" among residents.

What's more ridiculous is the fact that people in this country want the government to take care of our health. We can be shocked about the treatment of the mentally ill in the state-run facilities today, but tomorrow we will all be those people -- under Obamacare.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

$1 mil for Palestinian students

Not a slow news day at all, today:

http://chronicle.com/news/article/6092/clinton-announces-million-dollar-scholarship-program-for-palestinian-students

What is wrong with this woman? Americans at home can't find jobs and send their kids to college, but Clinton wants to give money to Palestinians who're being victimized by ANOTHER country we give money to? When does this madness end?

Read the comments. Do those bureaucrats even know how offensive their actions are to various taxpayers with different views? I believe they do know how offensive it is and they just don't care.

One of the comments (Not mine! From the website!):

"Should we be surprised? The American middle class can fund Palestinian education, as well as in-state tuition for illegal aliens. Unfortunately, it will not be able to fund its own children’s education. Since we are passing the cost to the next generation to pay for it all, may we count on the future workforce of Palestinians and the illegal aliens to pay for our national debt?"

A tax-payer revolt is probably going to happen within the next five years. I'll probably join that revolt, because by then I will probably be unemployed.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Tin-foil hats a-plenty at Politico

And, Ben Smith’s is on wayyy too tight, as he sees evidence of a vast “left-wing conspiracy.”

It’s true that, via John Podesta’s connections to President Barack Obama, there are ties between the Administration and the Center for American Progress.

But, as Jane Hamsher notes, people like her don’t need to be coordinated with CAP or anybody else, anyway. And beyond that, plenty of truly liberal bloggers, from famous ones like Glenn Greenwald down to people like me, have been openly critical of Team Obama on a number of issues

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Tin-foil hats in suburban Dallas

In citizens’ comments at the March 10 Cedar Hill City Council meeting, John Lockridge of Duncanville spoke about mandatory microchipping of dogs, as required by city ordinance at the Tri-City Animal Shelter. He claimed that it was against his religious beliefs to have a dog microchipped, and that the procedure could cause cancer in as many as 10 percent of dogs.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Let them eat cake....

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/10/study-pelosi-repeated-requests-military-aircraft/comments/

In terms of continuity of government in the event of a disaster, I am fairly confident the country would be better off throwing dice or shaking an 8-ball for decisions than going to Nancy Pelosi for her (lack of) wisdom. She doesn't need this privilege.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

The Government Enjoys Watching Retarded People Beat Each Other Up

I'm not joking:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96RA7F82&show_article=1

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) - Seven employees at a state-run home for the mentally disabled have been suspended for allegedly staging a "fight club" among residents.

What's more ridiculous is the fact that people in this country want the government to take care of our health. We can be shocked about the retarded people in the state-run facilities today, but tomorrow we will all be those retarded people -- under Obamacare.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Clemens-steroids evidence link on McNamee items

Federal authorites have found “performance-enhancing substances” on various paraphernalia that his former trainer, Brian McNamee, had kept squirreled away for year before surrendering it. Clemens DNA has already been found in blood residue from a McNamee syringe.

Clemens’ big-mouth legal mouthpiece, Rusty Hardin, claims in the story that McNamee planted it. Hmm, wonder exactly how he’s parsing that. Would love to see McNamee sue Hardin as well as Clemens and shut his fat ass up.

And, despite Hardin “worrying” about chain of custody of the evidence, a go-to legal expert “in the story” says a typical judge would likely rule the evidence admissible.

ESPN legal eagle Lester Munson also says Clemens should worry.

It is easily enough to get him indicted. Plus, some nice physical evidence like syringes are always fun for a jury to handle.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Read BofA CEO Ken Lewis’ lips not his bank wallet

The Bank of America CEO, in denying there’s a bunch of bad banks in a bylined WSJ column, would prefer you do NOT read an actual news story about the financial status of his bank.

McClatchy reports that B of A, along with Citibank, HSBC Bank USA, Wells Fargo Bank and J.P. Morgan Chase, has a current potential loss exposure to derivatives of nearly $600 billion.

Now, that’s potential, not actual.

But that figure jumped nearly 50 percent in 90 days.

AND, worse yet for Mr. Lewis, it DOESN’T include the corpse-like Merrill Lynch “assets” that B of A bought.

Do read that an actual news story, though. It’s an eye-opener.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Maybe A-Roid won’t pass Bonds anyway

Gerry Fraley, looking at folks such as Adrian Beltre and Bo Jackson wonder just how well, or not, Alex Rodriguez will bounce back from his hip surgery.

He says Brian Cashman was right in wanting to dump A-Roid when he opted out of his contract in 2007.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Vince Cable: From Poppleton Road Primary School to Westminster

The Yorkshire Evening Press - York's daily paper - has an interview with one of the city's most famous sons:

It was his performances in the Commons, while interim Lib Dem leader, that shot Cable to national prominence, but the seeds were sown back in York, on the stage of the old Nunthorpe Grammar School.
“One thing at Nunthorpe made the big difference,” he says.
“I was actually a very shy student, but I was given the lead role in Macbeth, and that is where I learned to stand on stage in front of an audience.”

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

DST: May save energy, certainly affects health

The verdict is still somewhat out as to whether or not Daylight Savings Time saves energy or not (I’ve blogged before that it probably “LOSES” energy, through shoving more heat later into the day, when more people are at home, not work).

But, it clearly disrupts sleep and may cause more serious health problems.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Dreams mean – what you want them to

That’s the bottom-line answer from the latest social science research into the field.

We may still not know WHY we dream, but as to what dreams mean?

Well, the research tells us our actual emotional state, beliefs, biases, etc. lead us to determine in advance of any “interpretation” which dreams we consider important and/or true, and which ones we don’t.

Anyway, this is the final nail in the coffin of Freudian, pseudo-Freudian and Jungian dream interpretation

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Mini-Budget Stimulus?

Is the RM60 billion mini-budget sufficiently stimulating?

Unfortunately the budget only gets a C or C- rating from me. You'll read about all the positive points in tomorrow's headlines, so I won't repeat it here, unless it's really good. So I'll focus specifically on the shortcomings on this post.

1. The announced package is RM60 billion. However, the actual additional expenditure by the Government is only RM15 billion, and even then, it's actually split between 2009 and 2010.
Longer term measures are aplenty in the mini-budget. There's RM25 billion "allocated" as "Guarantee Funds" for corporations to secure loans from financial institutions (no actual money is spent by the Government unless a borrower defaults). There's also some funds allocated for major infrastructure projects. But short-term stimulus measures which are absolutely critical in stimulating our economy under duress are shockingly missing. The loans packages, construction of infrastructure etc., will take months, if not years to take off (i.e., for the effect to be truly felt by the economy).
RM10 billion is allocated to equity investments! Well, that can only refer to ValueCap, and that certainly doesn't add any value at all to the real economy! It keeps some shareholders (probably preferred companies) happy, but it does zilch for the underlying economy. No stimulus impact from this RM10b at all! (Might as well add the total transaction value of Bursa Malaysia to the total "stimulus package" value!)
The RM3 billion tax incentives package looks contrived at best. While I applaud the innovative double taxation relief to companies who employ retrenched workers based on their pay package, there's hardly anything else worth mentioning. Retrenched workers, for example, gets the tax-exempt threshold lifted from RM6,000 to RM10,000 for each year's retrenchment compensation - certainly not worth shouting about.
There's a slew of Private Finance Initiative projects, and so-called off-budget measures which amounts to RM7 billion. This is largely funded by private parties on large infrastructure projects and can't be dictated or driven by the Government. Hence they can hardly be included into the "mini-budget". It's a little like since my actual expenditure is going to be so small (RM10b for 2009), let's find ways to boost the figure so that it'll look good on tomorrow's headlines! (As an example, 2009 Budget was RM209 billion expenditure by Government, it does not include any PFI-type project values, so why should a mini-budget include it?). Just to add, despite obvious short and longer term benefits, there's also no specific allocations for public transport infrastructure projects.
To expand on the short term stimulus measures mentioned in (2) above - we are in a crisis mode. Measures implemented must have immediate impact to relieve the burden of the rakyat, or stimulate immediate domestic demand or investment. These measures may include short-term unemployment benefits for retrenched workers, traditional food-stamps, direct grants to the poor and deserving (who are unlikely to "save" this amount). You need to put money into the pockets of the ordinary Malaysians so that they could spend! But there's none of it at all here.

Therefore, while there are some decent medium to longer term measures committed in this mini-budget, I fail to see the urgency factor within the budget which seeks to immediately stall the continued economic decline, stimulate demand and raise business activities. And that is the most critical component when judging a crisis-driven "stimulus budget", which based on what was announced the DPM, was clearly and disappointingly absent.

It's just not stimulating enough in the immediate term when we are being hit worst, and we are set to be in recession.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

London Bridge is Falling Down...

I promised my daughter I'd bring back the London Bridge for her... hmmm...

Anyways, I'm flying tomorrow morning to London and will be taking the Sunday midnight flight back, i.e., arriving back in KL on Monday night, 16th March. For those who needs to reach me, send me an SMS or email.

And for those in southern England who'd like to meet up but hasn't already emailed me, do so soon and I'll see how the schedule can still fit. ;-)

Pussy cat, pussy cat,
Where have you been?
I've been to London
To visit the Queen

Pussy cat, pussy cat,
What did you there?
I frightened the little mouse
Under the (her?) chair

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

"The mother of the last KC-135 pilot has not yet been born."

I couldn't care less about the next generation bomber, and keeping the F-22 line open was probably to be expected. I'd do some additional F-35 trimming, as well. However, while I can understand why no one wants to step back into the aerial tanker mess, the KC-135 is really, really old. Old enough that it's maintenance costs are growing, and old enough that one or more of them is going to fall from the sky before long. And as Christian notes, saying that we'll delay the program for five years really means that we'll be delaying it for at least ten. Trimble has a slightly different view.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

A Canadian Helicopter Makes History in Afghanistan

A

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Bernake says the Fed is too weak... really?

Just this morning in the New York Times.. of course.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/3/11/business/economy/11fed.html?_r=1&hp

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Dowd: PWSA's problem bond could lead to a $3,800 liability for each customer (including me!)

[First, Early Return Dudes, I'm still playing catch up. This is my non-paying gig and the stuff I posted early this AM was from last night. Besides, I have some plumber dudes filling in a $9,000 hole in my basement today and I have my own problems with PWSA and I'm just a mere 22 callers on hold away from speaking to them.]

The folks at the Post-Gazette are right. This is important:

First, Dowd. The mayoral challenger, whose campaign is all about sober-minded fiscal responsibility, spent the weekend poring over 2,000-plus pages of financial documents on a squirrelly water and sewer authority bond deal, and came up with some explosive findings -- that the city agency recklessly entered a no-bid financial deal, overseen by Ravenstahl's own finance director, that is costing ratepayers at least $2.6 million a year.

Dowd was wrong, the water authority's director responded at a press conference called later by Ravenstahl's office -- it is actually costing city residents $2.9 million. "To attempt to politicize this issue at the expense of ratepayers is unfortunate," Ravenstahl said, accusing Mr. Dowd of releasing "some sensitive information" on the deal.

Read all the ugliness here.

(Will there ever come a time when I see the term SWAP and don't feel like running for the hills?)
.

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Monday, March 30, 2009

Friday, March 27, 2009

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Friday, March 20, 2009

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Monday, March 16, 2009

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Friday, March 13, 2009

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Blog Archive