2009 archive
Metamorphosis 1
A carrion eater is a creature, such as a hyena, that comes along and eats the remains after a predator, such as a lion, had finished with it. Lions seldom morph into hyenas in the wild.
In nature, defrocked lions seldom re-invent themselves as hyenas. Not the case in what passes for busine–oh, I give up. If I write any more, I shall break my own ban on raving profanity.
So it may come as a surprise that a dozen former top Countrywide executives now stand to make millions from the home mortgage mess.
Stanford L. Kurland, Countrywide’s former president, and his team have been buying up delinquent home mortgages that the government took over from other failed banks, sometimes for pennies on the dollar. They get a piece of what they can collect.
Via Balloon Juice.
Pay for Performance (Updated) 1
Look!
Over at Google.
Some executives got bonuses and
they. did. not. even. destroy. the. company. and . demand. a. bailout!
Who woulda thunk!
State Pens 1
Up the road a piece–no, not that road, the other road–in Harrisburg, Pa., freebies for the newbies. And for the oldies.
Now comes word that members of the state House got something else that day as well – a desktop pen set.
It was a gift presented by new House Speaker Keith R. McCall (D., Carbon). But he didn’t pay for it. The public did – nearly $4,000.
In all, 210 of the trinkets were ordered at a cost of $18.95 each. That’s one for each of the 203 representatives with a few to spare.
The bases of the pen sets are crafted from a three-inch chunk of coal and feature a small plaque with McCall’s name and new title.
This is in a state that, like most other states, is having trouble paying its bills.
I think Chris has a marketing opportunity here.
Oh, about those Bibles and Torahs. They get a new one every session, even if they’ve gotten one before. Some of the long-serving ones must have whole libraries.
Making Stuff Up 0
The Booman documents the facts.
The End of the Religious Right? 0
The article actually seems to argue for the end of the religious right as having an identity separate from the Republican Party.
The writer argues that the Religious Right as a self-identified movement has taken over the Republican Party while members of other Republican factions (constituencies?) are abandoning it, while more recent conservative religious leaders, such as Rick Warren, late of Much Ado over Not Much of Anything, as eschewing partisan politics.
Consequently, as it no longer exists as a separate movement. It and the Republican Party are becoming one.
I don’t know whether I agree, but it’s worth thinking about.
Michelle Goldberg in the Guardian:
(snip)
The Religious Right’s victory in taking over the Republican party contained the seeds of the movement’s failure. That’s because one of its founding myths is that it had widespread popular support, that it was, as Falwell named his organisation, a “moral majority”. In fact, it was simply a brilliantly organised minority faction, never big enough to win national elections on its own. Now it owns the rump of a fractured and discredited party. Dobson’s own organisation is in decline: Focus on the Family had to lay off a fifth of its workforce after the 2008 election. It’s becoming both irrelevant and redundant, because the Republican party has taken its place.
I Get Mail 0
From the Forces of Truth, Justice, and the American Way.
Join now.
Dear ACLU Supporter,
The truth is finally starting to come out — and it’s happening because of the sheer persistence of you and the ACLU.
Yesterday, in response to an ACLU lawsuit seeking government torture documents, the CIA acknowledged that it destroyed 92 tapes of detainee interrogations.
Stray Thought 0
The Leftie Blogoshere, though it is a relatively small self-contained place overlapping the left side of the main stream, has made it okay to be a “liberal” again through its aggressive willingness to describe itself as, well, “liberal.”
The spectacular crash-and-burn failure of Republicanism has, no doubt, helped.
My So-Called Social Life
0
Off to drink liberally.
Snow Job 1
Brendan makes a phone call.
“At the Movies” with Jon Swift 0
Mr. Swift, following the National Review’s example, offers his list of the 10 best conservative movies. A nugget:
Thanks for the Memos (Updated) 0
The news today is full of stories about Bushie Department of Justice memos that were released yesterday.
TPM linked to some of them yesterday.
I particularly liked this one (PDF), from last October, which pretty much starts with “remember what Gonzo said seven years ago? Forget it.”
A clear case of covering their rear ends before the door hit them on the way out.
These memos add further evidence of what a lot of us have been saying for years.
The Bushies cared not for the Constitution of the United States of America; not for the rights and liberty of the people; not for the blood, sacrifices, and dreams of the Founders and of the American people as they have tried to bumble their way to a more perfect union for the last two centuries.
H/T Karen for the link to the Washington Post.
Addendum:
The title of Dick Polman’s commentary nails it. Follow the link and read the column:
By the way, here’s part of my reply to Karen’s email telling me about the news story in the Post:
I was just hearing the report on NPR Morning Edition.
Wanted to make himself a bleedin’ dictator.
On Deletions 0
For a short while, I subscribed to the RSS feed from Patterico’s Pontifications (if you want to read to waste your time, you Google it yourself).
When he posted the obligatory wingnut “because there was a snow storm, therefore global warming isn’t” post today, I couldn’t take teh stupid any more.
All gone. Not wasting the electrons.
On the Benefits of Snow 3
There is really no point to cleaning the house until the snow melts, now, is there?
Iron Dark Horse 0
It’s a nice weekend outing:
Not among the original candidates, the nonprofit steam railroad, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, won with write-in votes alone.
. . . Now the railroad, along with three runners-up in the voting, will be sent on to the U.S. Mint to make the final selection.
(Somehow, I don’t think they are actually sending the railroad to the U. S. Mint; the Norfolk Southern it’s not, but it’s still kind of hard to box up.)
When Shock Jocks Rule the World 0
Or at least the Republican Party.
The Republican Party is now officially in the control of the entertainment industry.
The entertainment industry.
The same people who gave you The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Killdozer.
Commentary from the Right here.
Via Atrios.
Minor Annoyances 2
Websites that play audio or videos without asking permission.
Bushonomics: The Hangover 0
While the companies that make up the S&P 500 tallied a collective $114 billion in losses in the still-being-reported fourth quarter, the scenario would be remarkably different — and profitable — if 10 companies behind $131 billion in losses were removed from the picture, according to S&P’s senior index analyst Howard Silverblatt.
The other seven companies the article refers to are Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., Citigroup Inc., Wachovia Corp. (newly acquired by Wells Fargo & Co.), General Motors Corp., Symantec Corp., Devon Energy Corp., and Regions Financial Corp.
You know, the Masters of the Universe who pay bonuses for performance to retain highly talented executives.