Obama gives powerful drug lobby a seat at healthcare table Los Angeles Times (hat tip DoctoRx). Hhm, and this was branded as health care reform?
Australian June Retail Sales Unexpectedly Fall 1.4% Bloomberg (hat tip DoctoRx)
Avoiding the Tail Wagging the Dog David Merkel
Bank regulators dig in against Obama shake-up Reuters
After 6,000 Take Buyouts, G.M. to Lay Off Thousands New York Times
A fiscal frailty Financial Times
Regulate financial pay to reduce risk-taking Lucien Bebchuk, Financial Times
Is a Jobless Recovery Your Best Friend? Tim Duy
Bashing Goldman Sachs Is Simply a Game for Fools Michael Lewis, Bloomberg (hat tip Lambert Strether). Today’s must read.
Antidote du jour (hat tip reader John D, from the Sun):
A beluga whale saved a drowning diver by hoisting her to the surface, carrying her leg in its mouth.
She had been taking part in a free diving contest WITHOUT any breathing equipment.
Competitors had to sink to the bottom of an aquarium’s 20ft arctic pool and stay there for as long as possible amid the beluga whales at Polar Land in Harbin, north east China.
But when Yun, 26, tried to head to the surface she struggled to move her legs.
Lucky Yun said: “I began to choke and sank even lower and I thought that was it for me – I was dead. Until I felt this incredible force under me driving me to the surface.”
Whale Mila had spotted her difficulties and using her sensitive dolphin-like nose guided Yun safely to the surface.
An organiser said: “Mila noticed the problem before we did.
“We suddenly saw the girl being pushed to the top of the pool with her leg in Mila’s mouth.
“She’s a sensitive animal who works closely with humans and I think this girl owes her, her life.”
12 comments
Comments are closed.
Too bad we can't put the whale in charge of the economic crisis.
Somehow I doubt she would've selected the big banks as what needed to be lifted to the surface while everyone else drowned.
Would someone, anyone, please explain to me why Bloomberg would publish an onion piece about Goldman, especially by one of its chief critics, Michael Lewis, the author of "Liar's Poker"?
@"Regulate financial pay to reduce risk-taking"
Paul Krugman (see Links 8/3/09, "Rewarding Bad Actors") stated:
Last week the House passed a bill setting rules for pay packages at a wide range of financial institutions. That would be a step in the right direction. But it really should be accompanied by much broader regulation of financial practices — and, I would argue, by higher tax rates on supersized incomes.
Unfortunately, the House measure is opposed by the Obama administration, which still seems to operate on the principle that what’s good for Wall Street is good for America.
Some of these news reports, however, indicate that the White House is backing financial pay regulation.
Does anybody know what the true word from the White House is, or is it merely to talk out of both sides of its mouth?
@"Regulate financial pay to reduce risk-taking"
Paul Krugman (see Links 8/3/09, "Rewarding Bad Actors") stated:
Last week the House passed a bill setting rules for pay packages at a wide range of financial institutions. That would be a step in the right direction. But it really should be accompanied by much broader regulation of financial practices — and, I would argue, by higher tax rates on supersized incomes.
Unfortunately, the House measure is opposed by the Obama administration, which still seems to operate on the principle that what’s good for Wall Street is good for America.
Some of these news reports, however, indicate that the White House is backing financial pay regulation.
Does anybody know what the true word from the White House is, or is it merely to talk out of both sides of its mouth?
Re: Michal Lewis article (todays must read).
Anyone with in a mile of this guy better be prepared, the pop issuing forth upon release of his head from his ass, probably will do more than break glass.
What a front man, every industry has some poor slob set up as the mouth piece. The sad thing is he's probably a nice enough sort, just trying to get ahead and got the tap on the shoulder.
Skippy…WOW, GS must have one heck of a charm school, hell they found some guy with hair for this promo, too Yale falls the clean up jobs, huh Harvard club, lol. Vinny G. tell me your not grooming these people for some extra bread.
Disclaimer: I've just driven down and back from Brisbane/Sydney. 900+K 10hrs each way with 10hrs in between and none of my brethren were injured in this act.
Isn't it just something else. Yesterday, it was the press secretary, what's-his-name, out there denying up and down that there'll be a "middle class" tax hike – sure there won't – and, today, we learn that the "government" health care program is really going to be a private health care plan administered by the government at taxpayer expense for the benefit of the carriers. Inside of seven months, this snake has taken the very considerable reservior of child-like trust his well intentioned supporters have invested in him and just urinated on it. The pitiful appointments, the escalation of the war in Af/Pak, the bailouts, the pork-as-stimulus, the refusal to deal with Bush regime torture and spying, the broken promises, I mean it just goes on and on. The silver lining: That every lobby centered act these thieves perpetrate brings us closer to the systemic collapse that ultimately will provide the environment for root and branch change, change that will entail show trial justice for the vermin that today run the show and an opportunity to draft a new constitution, a constitution immune to the kind of wholesale corruption the present one has embraced.
Re the Chinese whale saves diver story: The first comment in the Sun's writeup is to the effect that wasn't it lucky that there was a man with an underwater camera there to snap the pics! (And not help her)
I don't trust much that comes out of China . . .
The best line. The naked truth of it makes it funny.
America stands at a crossroads, and Goldman Sachs now owns both of them.
Even the Rolling Stone article has so many wild swings as to make it easy to discredit. There are facts in it that are probably true, but then there are conclusions made that aren't true.
I'm very wary of the media dogpile on GS though because there are almost no facts reported and no laws broken.
I can't believe there weren't meaningful laws broken along the way in the last 10 years. We are supposed to be a nation of laws. Let's use em eh?
Skippy,
You do realize the Michael Lewis piece was satire, right?
If not you aren't alone:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/152088-questions-about-goldman-are-not-necessarily-envy
"It's a mistake to dismiss the genuine questions that have been raised about Goldman as mere envy. Lewis seems oblivious to the genuine and well-warranted anger that people feel, and that's a mistake."
And as for why Bloomberg decided to publish it, I can't say, but I enjoyed it tremendously, so I'm glad they did.
Walter,
I got a chuckle out of it, too. I especially liked the part about how Goldman rounds anything less than $25 billion to zero. Sounds to me like the Goldmans have been taking math lessons from string theorists…;~)
@Walter,
Satire upon satire FAIL, rofl.
Skippy…it was a stretch.
CUTE ANIMAL ALERT!
Amazingly small horise. Several photos. One of them looks like the pony may be about to sniff a kitty's behind — that's how close it's nose is to the ground. It's only about twice as tall as the cat.
Comes with heartwarming story.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1205022/Koda-born-health-problems-doctors-worried-But-turns-hes-just-little-horse.html