An Alternative to Body Scanners at the Airport UrbanGrounds (hat tip Marshall Auerback)
Chip implant ‘to help paralysed’ BBC
Diary of a Recession Baby: Thanksgiving is here, and so is hunger MarketWatch
Woman who told Obama she was ‘exhausted’ loses job Raw Story
Taliban Leader in Secret Talks Was an Impostor New York Times. Or as Richard Smith put it, Mr. Bin Had.
NATO’s Dangerous Wager with Karzai New York Review of Books
Wikileaks promises release 7 times bigger than Iraq War Logs ComputerWorld
Fixing the flaws in the Eurozone Stanley W Black, VoxEU
Meanwhile, The Irish Market Is Plunging Today Clusterstock
Minister and priest say pray for economy Irish Times (hat tip Richard Smith)
How Germany could come to kill the euro Gideon Rachman, Financial Times
‘In the worst case scenario these cuts might actually increase the deficit’ Guardian (hat tip reader May S)
Bernanke hints dollar standard is flawed FT Alphaville (hat tip reader Lynn F)
Secular Deflation Richard Bookstaber
Some States Weigh Unthinkable Option: Ending Medicaid Wall Street Journal (hat tip reader May S)
Foreclosure Detectives Hunt for Lies Wall Street Journal. More support for our contention that putback cases are difficult and costly.
Lots of Smart People Couldn’t Possibly F*%! Up, Could They? Adam Levitin, Credit Slips
F.B.I. Agents Raid 3 Hedge Fund Offices New York Times
Antidote du jour:
42 comments
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Yves,
The link to _An Alternative to Body Scanners at the Airport UrbanGrounds_ seems quite below your usual good judgement and taste–please reconsider this one.
Second that.
except for the moo-slim bit I found the idea quite good. Why not inconvenience the terrorist for a change?
“Of course the only true way to every eliminate terrorists is to eliminate Islam.”
I think that pretty much sums up whats wrong with the bloggers mentality.
What? The tools are in place to scrub Americans who disagree.
i quite agree.
agreed with Eric, that is.
Second that.
Y’all need to understand Yves’ sense of heavy irony here. Taste the metal. The idea is so extreme (the only safe Muslim is a dead Muslim) that it serves to starkly reveal the end result of our cultural sickness. It’s ugly, but that’s the point.
Some take this Brave New World scenario quite seriously. That is the message. You’re shooting the messenger.
Fascism is unmasking its ugly face across America, gangsta style…;~)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7AWw7t5zj0
I would say that Black’s article on the Eurozone merits a deeper analysis. He seems to be right in many aspects and makes a good deep analysis of which are the real problems of the euro and not just the usual “Germany good, Greece bad” junk.
It is clear that the Eurozone has favored core EU and damaged the foundations of weaker peripheral economies.And this is because the periphery had and has less of a weight in the decision-making process (and was surely mislead by the sparkling hypnotics of the new currency and everything “European”).
I think the analysis is correct, but the solution is untenable.
The problem with Black’s solution is that the EU is working as intended. The goal was to get peripheral countries access to cheap credit to find buyers for Germany’s exports.
Now that peripheral countries know they’ve been had, there’s no incentive to stay in the EMU. The euro is dead this time next year.
The only tricky part is transferring European taxpayers’ wealth to French and German banks at par before the marks get too cranky.
Second that analysis.
Your link to the UrbanGrounds blog post is disgusting and pathetic. The links you choose are a direct reflection upon you, and if you approve of this, your credibility evaporates in my eyes.
As Barry Rithotlz says, embrace the churn. For the record, I don’t take suggestions that point towards censoring content.
Jill, it seems to me that NC links are a mix of indicators of the zeitgeist and nods to under-appreciated perspectives, rather than certifications of approved content.
I like it like that.
OOOOh! The pink paws!
Ummm, is this like the latest centerfold from the Playcat magaznine?
I have heard many cat parents complain about their male cat sons going blind over this.
Why would anyone have a baby if they could have a cat instead?
No hairballs from the baby?
Baby puke is pretty nasty stuff, too. And when was the last time you saw a baby get the hang of a litter box on the first try?
RE: NYT on FBI raids, the fact that the ‘surprise’ raids preempted subpoenas (and frantic document shredding) is somewhat promising. It could even lead to the arrest of a few bad apples in the casino.
But it may be a Whitehouse play lifted from the script of “Casablanca”, where Captain Renault (Claude Raines) assures Herr Strasser: “Realizing the importance of the case, my men are rounding up twice the usual number of suspects”.
But here, the Passover of Goldman Sachs offices is somewhat curious … until, that is, you overhear the following exchange between Bush-Obama FBI director Robert Mueller and Lord Blankfein of Golden Sacks
Mueller: “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on here.”
Blankfein: “Your winnings, sir”
Mueller: “Oh, thank you very much.”
Play it again, Sam.
The Treasury Department Cover-Up of Foreclosure Fraud Will Be Televised.
Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) Meeting
http://www.yorkmedia.com/treasury/webcasts2010.html
Noon, ET
Including…
Tim Geithner, Treasury Secretary (Chairperson of the Council)
Sheila Bair, Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Edward DeMarco, Acting Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency
Spinner’s IndyMac Bank, F.S.B. v. Yano-Horoski ruling tossed.
A judge who blasted a lender’s “repugnant, shocking and repulsive” conduct in trying to foreclose on a Long Island home exceeded his authority when he canceled the mortgage on the property, a state appeals court has ruled.
http://www.law.com/jsp/nylj/PubArticleNY.jsp?id=1202475173468&Panel_Upsets_Ruling_That_Canceled_Mortgage&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1
Another, cheaper, alternative to body scanners (Chertoff’s self-dealing profit center) —the proctology exam.
“Michael Chertoff, Bend Over, Please…” by Thom Hartmann
Hartmann points out patently-obvious fatal flaws in the scanner “strategery”. First, terrorists are savvy enough to thwart TSA measures by using any number of other modes or locations entirely, or by simply setting off their carry-on bombs in crowded airports while waiting for a ‘frisky’ pat-down. Second, mules have been smuggling drugs for decades either by swallowing balloons or inserting suppositories. Plastique would foil the scanner just like coca and could easily be removed and detonated in the airplane lavatory.
How far do we have to bend over for these fascists?
With Michael Chertoff being one of the top recipients of this multi-billion dollar boondoggle, I suspect that there’s gonna be a fine Hanukkah at the Chertoff household this year.
1 blue glove = 200 herpes cases
A strong argument for the scanner option.
Yves,
Paul Kedrosky had this today, it’s a nice look into the gut of the quantifier:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,729155,00.html
I don’t understand why the Germans and other European countries in the center of the EU are surprised and offended at having to transfer money to the periphery: they signed up for that when they decided that a single currency for all Europe would be a neat idea. And it is a neat idea, for the center.
But marginal economies in a single-currency zone always suffer from being yoked to a more powerful regional economy, without the ability to ease the pain by devaluation, and for nation-states the answer has always been to transfer funds to the margins (or, if they’re callous enough, simply force the margins to suffer while denying them the right to separate). The Northeastern US transfers dollars to the southern states, Southeast England transfers pounds to Scotland, and Northern Italy transferred lira (and now transfers Euros) to the Mezzogiorno in the south.
(Ireland, for many years after independence, tried to keep its pound on par with the GB pound, but eventually gave up the struggle)
This is never going to stop, and Germany should either stop complaining, or admit they don’t like the idea of a Euro-zone as much they thought they would (or else admit they’re actually cool with “let them eat cake”).
Hellooo!
They aren’t “transfering money”..
they are buying Europe at firesale prices.
Yves,
Obviously links from Auerback, who wrote the idiotic article about China following India’s neoliberalism as the “better” solution for it’s population, should be checked.
Racism against Muslim’s doesn’t befit this blog and your heroic efforts.
Racism against Muslims? Sorry, happy, Muslim isn’t a race. Try again.
You are also an idiot.
A race is a group of people of shared culture, history, language, etc.
And the article was racist and discriminatory against said race.
If the article said something disparaging about Americans as a group, that would be racist as well.
Keep watching Palin’s America, you’ll get smarter, and be able to “refudiate” better.
Happy, I think you misinterpret the point of the link. Granted It probably deserved a qualifier, but Yves sometimes posts fringe links as red-flag alerts, raising awareness of the pathological thinking in wing-nut luna-spheres. This one is typical example of the ugly underbelly of American culture, but not something Yves or Marshall would endorse. (Although I’m not entirely sure about that Auerback fellow:-)
A few other posts at that link reveal related weirdness:
“Soros: Time to Find a New Socialist Candidate to Prop Up”
“US Army Picture of the Day: M320 Grenade Launchers”: …“Just one of the reasons I miss being in the Army — the toys we got to play with”
“Can Democracy work when people are idiots? California’s main problem these days is the people who live here.”
Doug you should be in charge of links lol. I remember the M203 well, especially when some one picks one up after its done its rotations to arm, thinks its a souvenir and bags it. Then thinks better of it and tosses into some range trash bin, only to be collected by some detail and whence they give it the over the head toss in to a very large construction trash bin, parked in the Batttalion parking lot. It decidece to go off, sending 3 guys to hospital.
Skippy…I think actualy you could incorparate the last two…
“Can Democracy work when people are M302 rounds? California’s main problem these days is the people who live here. Just one of the reasons I miss being in Californa — the toys we got to play with”
PS. thanks for the laugh!
There is such a wide spectrum of Islam, from Indonesia to Persia to Arabia, it clearly is still not a race by your definition. Do you honestly think that insults help your position, or erase your error?
Somehow, being a Christian, enduring the ridicule and insults constantly in the blogosphere, it is hard for me to get excited about something that might be disparaging of Muslims. But that is my viewpoint from the Christian “race.” LOL We must learn to take a few insults, just as I did yours.
eric, there is no such thing as race OK. It was a term which sprang forth from the heady pre scientific days of philosophers.
The concept of race in today’s society is loaded with assumptions, political agendas, and unspoken emotional associations. According to philosophers, Bernasconi and Lott, it was first used in its modern form in 1685, by Francios Bernier. However, in the 17th century when the term was first emerging in intellectual discourse, ‘race’ had a variety of meanings; indeed, no one was committed to a specific definition. It was not until 1775 in his essay, Of the Different Races of Men, that Immanuel Kant gave the term its first explicit definition
But why was ‘race’ an issue at this time? Not unlike the multiplicity of connotations the idea has in today’s society, ‘race’ evolved from a complex interaction of philosophical, scientific, religious and political frameworks.
The concept of race in today’s society is loaded with assumptions, political agendas, and unspoken emotional associations. According to philosophers, Bernasconi and Lott, it was first used in its modern form in 1685, by Francios Bernier. However, in the 17th century when the term was first emerging in intellectual discourse, ‘race’ had a variety of meanings; indeed, no one was committed to a specific definition. It was not until 1775 in his essay, Of the Different Races of Men, that Immanuel Kant gave the term its first explicit definition
But why was ‘race’ an issue at this time? Not unlike the multiplicity of connotations the idea has in today’s society, ‘race’ evolved from a complex interaction of philosophical, scientific, religious and political frameworks.
http://www.suite101.com/content/the-intellectual-origins-of-race-a8926
or more to your leanings see:
The next question is “Can race be Biblically defined?” The term race does not appear in the Bible. The Bible refers to differing peoples in terms such as family, tribe, people and nation. It groups people according to familial relationships and then into nationalities. An example of familial relationship is found in Genesis 10, where the genealogies listed are grouped by family. It should be noted that nowhere are the sons of Noah associated with race or color. An important passage on this matter is found in Genesis 10:5:
“By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations” (Gen. 10:5).
Note that familial and national division is shown, as well as division by geography and language (tongue). The significance of this will be discussed later in this paper. No where in the Bible is prejudice based on what we determine as race; i.e. color of hair, skin, eyes or physical characteristics. When God commanded the children of Israel to be a separated people or to utterly destroy other peoples, it was always based on the principle of separation from sin. The same principle of separation is presented in the New Testament when Christians are commanded to come out of the world and not be unequally yoked with the unsaved. (See 2 Cor. 6:14)
Skippy here…so right from the start you set up your self to false terminology.
http://www.bible-truth.org/race.htm
Skippy…ethnicity, ideology, nationality, tribe, what ever but, NO *racial*. Its a scam, to pit you against each other.
What about black humor don’t you understand?
Re F.B.I. Agents Raid 3 Hedge Fund Offices:
““We have begun increasingly to rely, in white-collar cases, on undercover investigative techniques that have perhaps been more commonly associate with the investigation of organized and violent crime,” said Lanny A. Breuer, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s criminal division, in a speech this month.”
“Independent analysts and research boutiques also are being examined. John Kinnucan, a principal at Broadband Research LLC in Portland, Ore., sent an email on Oct. 26 to roughly 20 hedge-fund and mutual-fund clients telling of a visit by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
Congrats, Lanny. Way to connect the dots.
Window dressing..I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. The Sec if anything, is picking the low hanging fruit.
Have none of you ever wondered why at certain times in te past few years; Corporate executives seem to have needlessly shot their own companies in the foot. It cerainly wasn’t in the spirit of disclosure, once they make their SO “disclosure”, they are free and cear to do anything.
So from my viewpoint, washing dirty laundry in public is just a means of lowering prices.
re: worst case scenario
A quibble about optics. Ha-Joon Chung speaks of less economic activity from cutting public budgets as if it’s only one of several possibilities. It’s inevitable, a direct result. It’s only a question of how big the fall will be from how big a cut.
By confining his comment to the worst case of pushing back into a finance recession to match the economic recession, he keeps away from the definite statement. Which would help reset people’s minds.
Coming from a tradition of unassuming statements, I can recognize the Oriental version of Midwestern Nice. However, it can also be that
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Re: Medicaid & its eventual demise
There’s a reason that such an effort was undertaken to get Allen Grayson out of Congress. He spoke truth to scabrousness.
“Don’t get sick. If you do, die quickly.”