Blacknell.net

Politics, open government, and safe streets. And the constant incursion of cycling.

Category: Society Page 26 of 69

Virginia Political Ridiculousness, Afternoon Edition

By

On March 19, 2009

In Personal, Politics, Society

Vivian Paige, in the context of some shameful personal attacks on a candidate for Lieutenant Governor, says:

The people have been lulled – by their own inaction – into a sense that politics is dirty and that’s just the way it is. But it doesn’t have to be. There are a lot more of us than there are of them. If we wanted to, we could change the way politics is done. But far too many are “too busy” to get involved, the result being the kind of attacks that Pat Edmonson and others experience, attacks that divert the candidate’s attention away from the real issues of jobs, healthcare, education and others.

People like to blame the candidates for the state of politics, but the candidates do it for a reason – it works with voters.  And it takes the focus away from things that are hard: jobs, healthcare, education; and onto things that are easy: playground insults and identity politics.   Now, as a fan of the occasional playground insult, I’m hardly hoping for some idealized world of policy debates (although if it could keep me from ever having to endure another pearl-clutching kabuki dance about how shocked and offended a Virginian was by language, all the while gliding over the ugliness of their ideas, I might sign up).  Rather, I’d like us all to be a little more conscious of our own tolerance for the form-over-substance approach to politics.

The Financial Clusterfsck: Exploiting the Knowledge Gap

By

On March 17, 2009

In Policy, Society

I’ve been thinking a bit about the exchange that went down in the Time Bomb post over at TPM, where they reprinted a readers claim:

You’re missing the point on AIGFP’s bonuses. The reason the government has no bargaining power is that failure to pay the bonuses — which, like it or not, AIG is contractually obligated to pay — would constitute a “cross-default” under AIG’s derivative contracts. Cross-default is considered an “event of default” under the standard ISDA Master Agreement (see sec. (5)(a)(vi)), which means that failure to pay the bonuses would allow AIG’s counterparties to terminate the CDS contracts and demand a full payout from AIG. With a derivatives portfolio of over $1.5 trillion, this is no small deal. Venting over AIGFP’s bonuses is fine, but urging the government to take an action which would result in hundreds of billions in losses to AIG (and thus the taxpayer) just because it would make you feel better is bad policy. Don’t let cheap populism become expensive populism.

Uh, yeah.  A subsequent reader (and really, TPM has some very smart readers, who contribute much to the discussion*)

This is simply not true. The bonuses are owed to AIG’s employees, not its counterparties. AIG’s employees are not parties to its ISDA agreements.

Furthermore conditions such as the payment of bonuses are not anywhere near what a “cross default” is. A “cross-default” would be if AIG failed to satisfy its obligations to Counterparty A, then Counterparty B could claim it was in default even if technically it wasn’t.

The contractual obligations that AIG are under are employee contracts…not ISDAs.
There’s no doomsday scenario here. The worst that can happen to AIG is that its
employees could sue it to obtain their promised bonuses.

Now, I don’t work in finance, but the first commenter’s claim that non-payment of bonuses would, on its own, trigger some cross-default provision struck me as absurd on its face.  And so I went to the cited model agreement section itself and saw that yes, there was no such provision and that the original commenter was full of shit.  But how many people would do that? His/her email to TPM is just another example of someone willingly exploiting the gap in knowledge (between the larger public and his/her specialized industry) for that industry’s benefit.  And it was intentional, to be sure – anyone who can cite a provision of the model agreement understands that it’s not relevant, here.  It’s disgusting, yet I see this sort of shameless exploitation replayed over and over again, in mass media discussion of the issue.  It’s a not faint echo of the approach that got us here in the first place – a belief that you can ignore the facts if you show enough confidence in your pronouncements.  Appalling.

*Like here!

This Explains Much

By

On March 17, 2009

In Personal, Society

Because I need to spread this around:

The BBC is reporting that a new study suggests that our mental abilities start to dwindle at 27 after peaking at 22, and 27 could be seen as the ‘start of old age.’ The seven-year study, by Professor Timothy Salthouse of the University of Virginia, looked at 2,000 healthy people aged 18-60, and used a number of mental agility tests already used to spot signs of dementia. ‘The first age at which there was any marked decline was at 27 in tests of brain speed, reasoning and visual puzzle-solving ability. Things like memory stayed intact until the age of 37, on average, while abilities based on accumulated knowledge, such as performance on tests of vocabulary or general information, increased until the age of 60.’

Some of you may appreciate the tags on the linked Slashdot story.

Is It Wrong, That I Laughed?

By

On March 17, 2009

In Society

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), in a radio interview regarding the AIG execs, yesterday:

“I suggest, you know, obviously, maybe they ought to be removed,” Grassley said. “But I would suggest the first thing that would make me feel a little bit better toward them if they’d follow the Japanese example and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say, I’m sorry, and then either do one of two things: resign or go commit suicide.”

“And in the case of the Japanese, they usually commit suicide before they make any apology.”

Probably a bit over the line, and wrong to laugh. But I did anyway.

The New Pakistan . . .

By

On March 15, 2009

In Politics, Society

same as the old:

Police detained the opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif, at his house in Lahore early Sunday morning hours before his address to a planned demonstration here, and arrested supporters protesting outside his home.

Criminals at the CIA?

By

On March 2, 2009

In Law, Policy, Society

Well, of course there are.  Just ask ex Executive Director Dusty Foggo, soon to be settling down for a 37 month stint.  Plenty more there, though, if this is any indication:

New documents show the CIA destroyed nearly 100 tapes of terror interrogations, far more than has previously been acknowledged.

[ . . . ]

“The CIA can now identify the number of videotapes that were destroyed,” said the letter by Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin. “Ninety two videotapes were destroyed.”

This isn’t something we ought just pass over.

(A Step Away From) Marijuana Madness

By

On February 27, 2009

In Law, Policy, Society

A not insignificant step forward to a more intelligent approach to drugs in the US:

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is sending strong signals that President Obama – who as a candidate said states should be allowed to make their own rules on medical marijuana – will end raids on pot dispensaries in California.

Asked at a Washington news conference Wednesday about Drug Enforcement Administration raids in California since Obama took office last month, Holder said the administration has changed its policy.

“What the president said during the campaign, you’ll be surprised to know, will be consistent with what we’ll be doing here in law enforcement,” he said. “What he said during the campaign is now American policy.”

Not a bad path towards budget cuts, either.

Pardon Me, Stewardess, I Speak Jive

By

On February 27, 2009

In Politics, Society

As TPM notes, this is *not* from The Onion:

And check out this latest development in Steele’s campaign to create a hip-hop image for the GOP. Michele Bachmann praised Steele’s speech: “Michael Steele! You be da man! You be da man.”

Next up – some of the GOP’s best chairs are black people!

(I wish I could claim credit for the title.  Alas, I stole it from comments elsewhere.)

Eric Holder Is Right

By

On February 19, 2009

In Personal, Society

Yesterday:

In his first major speech since being confirmed, the nation’s first black attorney general told an overflow crowd celebrating Black History Month at the Justice Department the nation remains “voluntarily socially segregated.”

“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards,” Holder declared.

He is absolutely right, and anyone who says otherwise is almost unbelievably naive or pushing an undeclared agenda.

Go, Rocky!

By

On February 10, 2009

In Society, Virginia

Okay, this is a little out of character, but I just had to link to this.  For context – over the past month, I’ve been biking by Lost Dog posters with pictures of Rocky.  I stopped and looked at them, just in case.  I was even interested in enough to check out the associated blog.    The last time I did it was about a week ago, and I pretty much came away with the thought that I felt bad for the owner of such an obviously gone dog.

And yet Rocky – with the help of scores and scores of area residents – was found 36 days after he was first lost.  No one will ever accuse me of being an animal person, but hearing news of the reunion was a really bright spot in the day.

Page 26 of 69

Previous

Next

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén