No End Seen to Economic Downturn:
More than three fourths of the Bush tax cuts have been spent and the economy continues to spiral downward while you-know-who fiddles in Washington, planning his retirement. The latest prognosis envisions the downturn lasting into 2009, which means no one can see an end to it. Economists can't envision the economy more than two or three quarters. Nor does anyone see anything on the horizon that might pull the economy out of the current funk. (See today's New York Times story.)
The best resolution would, of course, be a breakthrough in energy production that would include a solution to the global warming crisis coupled with independence from foreign oil, but to date the best answers to these problems remain impractical.
More Dirt from Guantánamo:
The New York Times reveals that the basis for prisoner treatment at Guantánamo is based on an Air Force study of Chinese treatment of Korean War prisoners: "[the trainers'] chart had been copied verbatim from a 1957 Air Force study of Chinese Communist techniques used during the Korean War to obtain confessions, many of them false, from American prisoners" (Scott Shane, "China Inspired Interrogations at Guantánamo").
The "nutso" factor here is that the document used as a basis for the methods used at Guantánamo indicated that these methods extracted false information from prisoners.
Anyone who has ever served in the military knows that one basic truism supersedes all others: Your superiors only want to be told what they want to hear. Nothing else is acceptable. Bush/Cheney only found acceptable information that confirmed the conclusions they had arrived at before 9/11. Therefore the interrogations at Guantánamo must confirm the Bush/Cheney arguments.
Why the Rich Should Be Taxed, Heavily:
Today's New York Times reveals that Leona Helmsley has left the bulk of her estate, somewhere between $5 billion and $8 billion, to dogs. She left $12 million to her own dog, Trouble. Sure, dog lovers out there will oooh and aaah over Helmsley's love for dogs, but let's get real folks. Dogs won't get that money.
So where does the money actually go? No one is quite sure at the moment, but consider this: Helmsley's dog, Trouble, requires constant security, which costs $100,000 a year.
Helmsley, by the way, inherited her wealth from her husband.
More than three fourths of the Bush tax cuts have been spent and the economy continues to spiral downward while you-know-who fiddles in Washington, planning his retirement. The latest prognosis envisions the downturn lasting into 2009, which means no one can see an end to it. Economists can't envision the economy more than two or three quarters. Nor does anyone see anything on the horizon that might pull the economy out of the current funk. (See today's New York Times story.)
The best resolution would, of course, be a breakthrough in energy production that would include a solution to the global warming crisis coupled with independence from foreign oil, but to date the best answers to these problems remain impractical.
More Dirt from Guantánamo:
The New York Times reveals that the basis for prisoner treatment at Guantánamo is based on an Air Force study of Chinese treatment of Korean War prisoners: "[the trainers'] chart had been copied verbatim from a 1957 Air Force study of Chinese Communist techniques used during the Korean War to obtain confessions, many of them false, from American prisoners" (Scott Shane, "China Inspired Interrogations at Guantánamo").
The "nutso" factor here is that the document used as a basis for the methods used at Guantánamo indicated that these methods extracted false information from prisoners.
Anyone who has ever served in the military knows that one basic truism supersedes all others: Your superiors only want to be told what they want to hear. Nothing else is acceptable. Bush/Cheney only found acceptable information that confirmed the conclusions they had arrived at before 9/11. Therefore the interrogations at Guantánamo must confirm the Bush/Cheney arguments.
Why the Rich Should Be Taxed, Heavily:
Today's New York Times reveals that Leona Helmsley has left the bulk of her estate, somewhere between $5 billion and $8 billion, to dogs. She left $12 million to her own dog, Trouble. Sure, dog lovers out there will oooh and aaah over Helmsley's love for dogs, but let's get real folks. Dogs won't get that money.
So where does the money actually go? No one is quite sure at the moment, but consider this: Helmsley's dog, Trouble, requires constant security, which costs $100,000 a year.
Helmsley, by the way, inherited her wealth from her husband.
Labels: Politics, The Economy
posted by Jim | 9:33 AM
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