cmaukonen's picture

    Remembering Nixon

    Bernstein and Woodward have a very good retrospective of Nixon and Watergate in the Washington Post. For most here - those much younger than I - the whole era is but a small chapter in history. However I believe it is good to reflect on how close the country came to not only a constitutional crisis but a total break down in our democratic form of government.

    cmaukonen's picture

    Economy on a precipice

    We've all seem them. The iconic scenes of the train wreck or car wreck with the cars hanging off a cliff. Nobody dares move else they cause the whole thing to plummet into the abyss below.

    jollyroger's picture

    The high cost of Christie Whitman's casual corruption

    We are painfully reminded this day how much damage can be done when a poorly placed political hack elevates the propaganda needs of her party over the demands of public safety.

    Are the democrats too, well, democratic?

    o just a month before the date scheduled for the Wisconsin governor's recall election , the democrats had a contested primary to chose their candidate.

    o in a California district with a massive democratic majority the Congressperson will be a Republican since a multitude of democratic candidates so split the large democratic vote that the two winners were the (only) two Republicans who divided the much smaller Republican one.

    where the money's gone

     

     

    Stiglitz:

    Consider the Walton family: the six heirs to the Walmart empire possess a combined wealth of some $90 billion, which is equivalent to the wealth of the entire bottom 30 percent of U.S. society. (Many at the bottom have zero or negative net worth, especially after the housing debacle.) Warren Buffett put the matter correctly when he said, “There’s been class warfare going on for the last 20 years and my class has won.”

     

    jollyroger's picture

    Cops gone wild

    Those who follow these issues will have noted with satisfaction that governor Cuomo is now pushing a modification of the marijuana laws in the state of New York.

    At present, possession of 25 grams or less of marijuana is not a crime but an "infraction", involving not processing through the criminal justice system, but payment of a fine.

    "Open display" of marijuana on the other hand, is a misdemeanor which will lead to the arrest of the offender.

    The Wisconsin Rep senator's recall could matter there

    The media has mostly reported that the recall of one Rep senator won't matter since the senate won't meet again until November for an abbreviated session before the newly elected senate is seated.(I assume there'll be a new senate-if I'm wrong please correct)

    Not really true. Walker is trying to negotiate an agreement with an iron mining corp  and if so he would want to have the senate to convene to approve it asap. Which might be such a long shot that he wouldn't  bother

    No great significance-just a piece of data. 

     

     

    Jamie Dimon as William Holden

    Andrew Sorkin had a piece in the NYT yesterday suggesting questions to be asked Jamie Dimon in his upcoming testimony on Capitol Hill. 

    For example, "...when you called speculation about outsize risks in your investment office 'a tempest in a tea pot', what, if any, analysis had you personally conducted before making that statement?"

    One Wisconsin success

    One of the 4 Republican senators fighting a recall is losing by 800 votes.If that holds up control of the Wisconsin Senate will go over to the Dems.

    The Fire Next Time is Now

    Sometimes what seems to be more of the same is a "whole new ballgame".

    As I've written here before that , unrecognized,  occurred when Reagan reduced the top marginal tax rate from 70% to 28% which made it possible for banks to pay bonuses large enough so bankers calculated that it was economic to risk their banks to Greenspan's shocked surprise. 

    Timeline: 87,000 in Afghanistan

                    Timeline

    The President's going to end the war.

    End of 2014, 2014.

    13 years fixing stucco to a wall.

    Still it all falls down, all falls down.

    I remember when it was a little war,

    Just 4 years ago

    30,000 foolish souls

    There to make a difference.

    The only difference is 50,000 more souls

    And a few who art in heaven.

    But soon we'll have an end to this,

    A newfound peace, newfound peace

    Only drones remote controlled

    And military police.

    As they stand up, we can stand down,

    On Wisconsin

    As I've done in some past elections I'll post a report when the first meaningful results come in and will keep updating it in the comments until a decision. 

    Unless any one else wants to- Madison dagbloggers?

    Anyone with better info should feel free to replace me at any time including before I start. Otherwise I'll look around tomorrow and try to locate a Wisconsin source that promises to start providing data as soon as the polls close

    538 is forecasting a narrow Walker win.

     

    May employment number

    Only 69,000 increase in employment.  The unemployment rate rises to 8.2%.  I'd been guessing +250,000.  So much for my forecasting ability.  

    Obama's toast. I'm sorry to say.

    But decisions have consequences and his decision to back Geithner vs Christy Romer will have been the major factor behind his coming defeat.

    coatesd's picture

    Olympic Lessons for an Imperial America

    The Olympics loom. American eyes will turn to London, hoping for Olympic gold. As they do so, it will be worth remembering that this will be London’s second post-World War II Olympic Games, not the first, and that there are also medals to be won by comparing the condition of the U.K. on the last time the Games were held in London with its condition now.

    In 1948, when London hosted the first post-war games, the U.K. was still one of the global Big Three. For all the immediate rationing with which Londoners then struggled, the government there still presided over an enormous empire, still oversaw its own sterling area in which the U.K. currency remained as acceptable as gold, and still managed what in 1948 remained the free world’s second strongest major economy. In the more than six decades since, absolute living standards in London have been transformed, as they have everywhere in the advanced industrial world; but in relative terms the U.K. has definitely slipped. Per capita living standards in London are lower now than in at least 9 other EU countries.[1] U.K. productivity per hour is currently 18 percent lower than in Germany and 16 percent lower than in France.[2] An empire that at its peak covered 12 million square miles and took in a quarter of the world’s population is now entirely gone.

    Hair: Obama Punches a Hippie on Memorial Day

    Ah yes, trotting out those tired old lines:

    ”You were often blamed for a war you didn’t start, when you should have been commended for serving your country with valor. You were sometimes blamed for misdeeds of a few, when the honorable service of the many should have been praised. You came home and sometimes were denigrated, when you should have been celebrated

    No matter how many times someone points out the myth of hippies spitting on vets just didn't happen in any numbers, that the protests were aimed at the Pentagon, not G.I. Joe, the story just won't die.

    Apparently Obama missed one of the major vibes of the period, trying to end the war, trying to keep our neighbors from dying for no good reason. Are the kids at Kent State included in the remembrance of Memorial Day?

    We need to stop saluting the ‘generals’

    I watched a Memorial Day mini-documentary this past weekend.  It focused on a collage of yesteryear ceremonies showcasing how our nation’s populace bestows homage to our gallant warriors.  Along with the kaleidoscope of ceremonies depicting solemn and tearful observances, there were parades where bands and veterans marched as cheering crowds lined the streets, vigorously waving hand held mini red, white and blue flags. 

    Elusive Trope's picture

    Memorial Day in America

    Just figured someone ought to write something about it.  I have never served in the military, nor have I lost anyone close to me as a result of their service.  My dad was in Korean War, but he never spoke about it (he didn't see actual combat, being stationed in Japan).  The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and all the other conflicts around the globe, are inevitably abstractions to me for the most part.  As with everyone who has a heart, I hate war.  It would be nice if life was so simple as that.

    These pictures are some of the 60 photos from a blog on the website theBrigade, called Memorial Day...Home.  This website is cousin site to theChive website, which is one of the most popular sites globally out there.  Taking a trek through these sites I think reveals a facet of the American culture, both the good and the bad, the mundane and the profound.  But just pondering all of the pictures of this one blog is enough to make one ponder - what exactly is up to each of us alone.

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