Thursday, May 28, 2009

less than a club

5-28-09--Hobbled insurance giant American International Group Inc said it will not renew its sponsorship with Manchester United when its contract ends in May 2010....--WSJ D10

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

MemDay wknd

5-26-09—When [Derek] Walcott quit the race, commentators in British newspapers noted the irony of hounding a distinguished literary figure on the basis of long-ago sexual transgressions when many of Britain’s greatest poets were social or political reprobates, by the standards of modern day Britain. Michael Deacon in The Telegraph cited Lord Byron (“womanizer”), Samuel Coleridge (“drug fiend”), John Keats (“smack head”), Rudyard Kipling (“imperialist”), T.S. Eliot (“lines that could be construed as racist”), and Dylan Thomas (“drank like a drain, begged and stole from friends”), among others, and concluded “Not one of them, were they alive today, could hope to land the Oxford post—they just don’t meet the exacting moral standards set by people who conduct smear campaigns.” NYT A5

--5-24-09--The demise of an economy as mighty as that of the United States as of 2000 cannot be accounted for by anything less than deeply mistaken and foolish decision-making within that nation’s ruling circles. “The Decline and Fall of the United States of America,” Beijing University Department of Western Hemisphere History (Beijing Press, 2089)[sic] NYT WK7

Friday, May 22, 2009

sit down before reading

NYT May 22 2009 pm
For many years, unemployment in the United States was lower than in Western Europe, a fact often cited by people who argued that the flexibility inherent in the American system — it is easier to both hire and fire workers than in many European countries — produced more jobs. That is no longer the case. Unemployment in the United States has risen to European averages, and seems likely to pass them when international data for April is calculated. “The current economic crisis,” wrote John Schmitt, Hye Jin Rho and Shawn Fremstad of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a research organization in Washington, “has turned the case for the U.S. model almost entirely on its head.”

5-22-09

5-22-09—The hegemon’s ruling class, looking for investment opportunities, provides seed money for the next hegemon. As Marx himself pointed out, Venice (and Genoa) invested in The Netherlands, which eventually invested in England, which in turn invested in the United States, and as the United States appears to be currently doing in China. According to Arrighi, it appears to the hegemon’s ruling class that these new investments will leave them in their privileged position. Eventually, however, one of the regions favored by new investment establishes its own leadership in the production of key commodities. Eventually financially hegemony—which is technically easier to imitate, but depends on accumulated wealth—follows as well, and a new hegenomic wave begins. Richard Marens “It’s Not Just for Communists Any More,” OXFORD HANDBOOK OF SOCIOLOGY AND ORGANIZATION (2009) p 104

Thursday, May 21, 2009

i wish

5-21-09—Republicans scrapped an effort to label their rivals the “Democrat Socialist Party,” ending a fight within the GOP. WSJ A1

Monday, May 18, 2009

5-18-2009

5-18-09—If these groups wanted to make a difference, they could have better used their money on homes for unwed mothers.—Notre Dame senior. NYT A3

--A series of cover sheets for intelligence reports written for Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and other senior Pentagon officials during the early days of the war in Iraq in 2003 were adorned with biblical quotations...NYT A8

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

May 12, 13, 2009

5-13-09—A former surgeon at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, who is a paid consultant for a medical company, published a study that made false claims and overstated the benefits of the company’s product in treating soldiers severely injured in Iraq—NYT A1
--Cheney, who had 5 deferments himself to get out of going to Vietnam, would rather follow a blowhard entertainer who has had 3 divorces and a drug problem (who also avoided Vietnam) than a four star general who spent his life serving his country. –Dowd, NYT A27

--5-12-09--In states like Indiana, where property values never soared, community bankers have been rock solid. The last failure in the state was 1992. NYT A3

Monday, May 11, 2009

5-11-09

5-11-09--[“The Story of Stuff” video] is a cheerful but brutal assessment of how much Americans waste... NYT A1
--Many smaller [USA] companies complaining of abusive practices by their larger rivals were so frustrated by the Bush Administration’s antitrust policy that they went to the European Commission and to Asian authorities. ==NYT A3
---Remember that what the rest of us call health care costs, [the health care industry] call income–Krugman, NYT A21
--[Cliff Arness who runs the $20 billion asset-management firm AQR Capital said] “Hedge funds really need a community organizer.”—WSJ C1

Sunday, May 10, 2009

weekend update, May 9-10, 2009

5-10-09—Fortunately I’ve had numerous other failed projects to help dilute the impact of this particular one.—Mr. Smigel NYT A29
--5-10-09If you wanted to pick the moment when the American news business went on suicide watch, it was almost exactly three years ago ... when Stephen Colbert, appearing at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, delivered a monologue accusing his hosts of being stenographers [for] the Bush White House... –Rich, NYT , WK 8
--5-9-09We are at war! We are engaged in a constant warfare with Satan. Bishop Finn, condemning Notre Dame’s invitation to invite Obama to speak--NYT
--5-10-09--Thank God I’m an atheist—Luis Bunel NYT A15

Thursday, May 7, 2009

5-7-09

5-7-09—The FBI has incorrectly kept nearly 24,000 people on a terrorist watch list on the basis of outdated of sometimes irrelevant information, while missing people with genuine ties to terrorism who should have been on the list, according to a DOJ report ....politicians including Senator Edward M. Kennedy and Rep. John Lewis showed up on [the list]. NYT A20

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

May 6, 2009

5-6-09—An internal Justice Dept. inquiry has concluded that Bush administration lawyers committed serious lapses of judgment in writing secret memorandums that authorized brutal interrogations, but ... they would stop short of the criminal referral sought by some human rights advocates, who have suggested that the lawyers could be prosecuted as part of a criminal conspiracy to violate the anti-torture statute. NYTA1
--In a split decision on Tuesday, the German Constitutional Court upheld a ban on married people combining already-hyphenated names, forbidding last names of three parts or more. NYT A6
--Here’s a Wall Street solution to Wall Street’s problems: Let’s offshore trading operations to land where ethics are more highly esteemed—Norway, for instance. And while we’re at it, let’sreplace our gold-plated, Lear-jetting American CEOs with thrifty Europeans , who may not write management books but who will do the work better, and for a fraction of the cost.—Frank, WSJ A13

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

the empire falls, the dark ages begin

5-5-09--A federal judge has ruled that a history teacher at a Southern California public high school violated the First Amendment when he called creationism “superstitious nonsense” in a classroom lecture. The judge, James Selna, issued the ruling after a 16-month legal battle between a student, Chad Farnan, and his former teacher, James Corbett. Mr. Farnan’s lawsuit said Mr. Corbett had made more than 20 statements that were disparaging to Christians and their beliefs. The judge found that Mr. Corbett’s reference to creationism as “religious, superstitious nonsense” violated the First Amendment’s establishment clause. Courts have interpreted the clause as prohibiting government employees from displaying religious hostility. Mr. Corbett teaches at Capistrano Valley High School. NYT A16

Sunday, May 3, 2009

weekend up date May 3, 2009

5-3-09—A 2007 UNICEF study of the well-being of children in 21 developed countries ranked Dutch children at the top and American children second from the bottom. NYT Mag p. 47

--The longitudinal H/Scope Preschool Curriculum Comparison Study followed 68 such children, who were divided between instruction- and play- based classrooms. While everyone’s IQ initially rose, by age 15, the former group’s academic achievement plummeted. They were more likely to exhibit emotional problems and spent more time in special education... would I embrace the example of Finland—whose students consistently come out on top in international assessment—and delay formal reading instruction until age 7? NYT Mag 13-14

--“My pursuits are a joke in that the universe is a joke. One has to reflect the universe faithfully.” –John Michell NYT 28.