Wobbly financial institutions
Bob Morris @ Jun 13th 2008 23:50 - Category: Credit crisis ;
Archive for June 13th, 2008
An open national antiwar conference
Bob Morris @ Jun 13th 2008 18:15 - Category: Anti-war ;
“Now is the time for unity in the antiwar movement, ” says the video, and I agree.
Will there be a mass protest in DC this fall? If so, plans and organizing need to start now. The presidential campaign and particularly Obama has siphoned off huge amounts of energy from the antiwar movement. And while Obama certainly seems the least hawkish of any of the candidates, progressives need to keep the pressure on.
Reading the tea leaves a bit, this appears to be an effort by the less radical wing of the antiwar movement to do an end run around the oft-squabbling primary antiwar groups, the ANSWER Coalition and United for Peace, who aren’t speaking, much less organizing towards the common goal of ending the wars. My take: leadership of the movement is shifting from those two organizations to groups as yet undetermined.
It’s time to look at other means of protest besides just more mass marches and rallies. The media ignores them now, as do many of the Left. New ideas and approaches are needed, something I’m sure that will be discussed in Cleveland.
National Assembly June 28-29. Cleveland, Ohio.
Caption Contest
Bob Morris @ Jun 13th 2008 15:34 - Category: Unfiled ;
Join the festivities at Lenin’s Tomb. My favorite entry so far, “NO George! We heil with the right arm!”
Sen. Dodd chairs Senate Banking Committee yet got sweetheart mortgage deal
Bob Morris @ Jun 13th 2008 12:37 - Category: Unfiled Tags: Chris Dodd, Countrywide;
Sen. Dodd claims he wants to reform the very same industry where he got low rate mortgages personally ok’ed by Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo.
Dodd’s office quickly responded to the potentially costly revelation with a statement: “The Dodds received a competitive rate on their loans. They did not seek or anticipate any special treatment, and they were not aware of any.”
That no-denial denial ain’t gonna play. He was part of the “Friends of Angelo” group yet says he was shocked, just shocked to learn he got mortgages at below market rates.
This has removed him from the possibility of being Obama’s VP choice. Dodd is (was?) a popular senator with formerly squeaky clean reputation in Connecticut.
The Heritage Foundation snarkily says The Countrywide Bailout Explained.
(You already figured out that Dodd was a major player in the bill being passed, right?)
Loony Bird Lieberman and commodity speculation
Bob Morris @ Jun 13th 2008 12:33 - Category: Unfiled Tags: Lieberman, oil prices;
Meanwhile, the other senator from Connecticut, Loony Bird Lieberman wants to ban institutional investors from commodity speculation, a proposal which demonstrates his almost total ignorance of how markets work. While speculation is certainly part of it, increasing demand and flat-to-declining supply is the more probable driver of price rises.
Speculators can and do provide a bottom in declining markets, buying when others are afraid to, thus stabilizing prices. Plus, some speculators now are undoubtedly betting prices will fall, are they now the Good Guys fighting for the American Way (AKA cheap oil) against the evildoers who heartlessly scheme for more price rises? Stay tuned for the next exciting installment from Lieberman World.
A better plan would be to increase the amount of margin necessary to make trades and cap the amount of open contracts permissible. But banning institutional investors completely would almost certainly destabilize the markets at a time they don’t need more uncertainty and probably create all manner of unintended and negative consequences. Not that that matters to the loose cannon senator from Connecticut.
Senators got special low cost Countrywide loans
Bob Morris @ Jun 13th 2008 10:26 - Category: Unfiled Tags: Chris Dodd, Countrywide;
Senators Dodd and Conrad are among the government officials who scored V.I.P. loans from C.E.O. Angelo Mozilo.
Countrywide CEO Mozilo personally ok’ed the loan terms too and the senators (and other politically connected people) received better deals than ordinary homeowners. How cozy. Some might even call it corrupt.
Ireland rejects EU treaty
Bob Morris @ Jun 13th 2008 08:26 - Category: Unfiled Tags: Ireland, Lisbon Treaty;
Irish voters have rejected the EU’s Lisbon Treaty which must be ratified by all member states. In a bizarre coincidence, Ireland was the only country to call a referendum on the treaty.
Um, and why didn’t the other countries allow their voters to decide?
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso says “there is no Plan B” and a No vote “would have a very negative effect for the EU”
Sounds like the Hillary Clinton campaign, it was foreordained they would win thus there was no need to make contingency plans. Oops.
Micheal Martin, the minister of foreign affairs, acknowledged: “Perhaps there is a disconnect between the European institution and its people that we need to reflect on.”
Ya think?
Iowa. Black Swan flood
Bob Morris @ Jun 13th 2008 08:08 - Category: Unfiled Tags: Cedar Rapids flood;
“We are seeing a historic hydrological event taking place with unprecedented river levels occurring,” said Brian Pierce, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Davenport. “We’re in uncharted territory — this is an event beyond what anybody could even imagine.”
Most of downtown Cedar Rapids was underwater. That includes City Hall, the county courthouse and jail, all of which, in acts of civic hubris, were built on an island in the middle of the river.
Ethanol from landfill waste
Bob Morris @ Jun 13th 2008 04:15 - Category: Renewable energy Tags: cellulosic ethanol;
This BlueFire Ethanol video is maybe a bit heavy on the self-promotion, but explains clearly how ethanol can be produced from landfill waste, which is a double win because you get the ethanol and it frees up space in the landfill.
Cellulosic ethanol plant opens
Bob Morris @ Jun 13th 2008 00:15 - Category: Renewable energy Tags: cellulosic ethanol;
A demonstration cellulosic ethanol refinery capable of creating 1.4 million gallons a year of ethanol from sugar cane waste has opened in Louisiana. It’s built by Verenium who plans new plants producing 20-30 million gallons a year.
