11/28/2010

1.  Today Wikileaks will release yet another trove of classified documents, publicizing a variety of US diplomatic cables containing candid assessments of foreign leaders and their policies.  The State Department contacted the countries they believe will be implicated in its release, among them: China, Afghanistan, Britain, and others.  The release will likely embarrass the United States and may strain already contentious relationships.  The Obama administration has pleaded with Wikileads, explaining that what they are engaging in is not only illegal but puts the lives of many in jeopardy.  Similar to prior releases, the New York Times, the British newspaper the Guardian and the German news magazine Der Spiegel have early access to the documents and will coordinate a release later this afternoon. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/28/wikileaks-document-release-state-department_n_788842.html

2.  The saber-rattling continues in the Yellow Sea as the US and South Korea begin war games in response to North Korea’s bombing of a small fishing island in South Korea.  North Korea continues to argue South Korea provoked the bombings by engaging in military exercises too close to the maritime border and that South Korea used “human shields” to make the attack appear worse than it actually was.  Meanwhile, China, North Korea’s sole ally, remains in diplomatic discussions trying to quell the situation.  http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-korea-carrier-20101128,0,1119970.story

Update: 5:49 pm

The Wikileaks occurred a few hours ago. Here is analysis by the Times and the Guardian, two of many news outlets who received the US embassy cables several weeks ago.

I like the NYT analysis, but the Guardian has a cool interactive map where you can read actual cables, sortable by country of origin, country referenced, name (e.g. Barack Obama, Asif Ali Zardari, etc) , or subject matter.

The cables are heavily redacted to not divulge names of sources or active undercover agents, and do not disclose information that could directly interfere with ongoing missions or be of significant aid to our enemies.  What is shocking, however, is the amount of subterfuge our government engages in to achieve its goals.  Namely, having ambassadors actively participate in espionage.

11/25/2010 – What Are You Thankful For?

Today I’m thankful for being alive.  I’m thankful for living in this country.  I’m thankful for having parents who read to me as a child.  I’m thankful for a lifetime of good health.  I’m thankful for being passionate.  I’m thankful for believing in something more than nothing.

11/23/2010

Hello again.  I’m free from studying for about a month so I’ll once again be posting to this site on a regular basis.  Last night’s CPA exam did not go as I’d hoped, but with any luck I’ll squeeze out the required score.  I’d love to be 2 for 2.

Anyway, much more pressing issues are at hand.

1. The New Yorker offers a quick and dirty explanation of today’s scuffle in South Korea.  North Korea launched a small attack on Yeonpyeong Island, a small fishing village in South Korea, after the southern country completed military exercises.  Whether this attack that killed two Marines and injured over twenty others was a result of Kim Jong Un showcasing his military prowess is under debate.  But regardless of the motive, this is not good news– our alliance with South Korea and China’s continuing relationship with North Korea could make for frightening times ahead.  http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/evanosnos/2010/11/lil-kims-big-surprise.html

2.  This article is from yesterday’s New York Times op-ed section.  Paul Krugram argues thats, “The fact is that one of our two great political parties has made it clear that it has no interest in making America governable, unless it’s doing the governing.”  I challenge anyone who happens across this blog to challenge that statement.  Republicans remain in lockstep disagreement with any proposals the current administration supports, regardless of how practical or vital.  Stimulus spending that aids hundreds of thousands of teachers, police, and firemen?  No.  Healthcare reform that prevents insurance companies from dropping or denying coverage to sick people?  No.  Sensible plans that include moderate tax increases and spending cuts to battle the burgeoning deficit that Republicans so vehemently lament?  No. A nuclear arms treaty with Russia that is a significant step toward peace?  No.  The insolence is insufferable and damaging to our country, the country Republicans purport to love.  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/opinion/22krugman.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

11/18/2010

My loyal minion reader,

So I’ve had this blog for almost a month.  I expected that around this time I’d become disenchanted with the written word and slowly slip into the internet night; become a speck on the bandwidth horizon.   My absence has most likely left you in a dystopia, teeming with pestilence and devoid of purpose.

But fear not.  I’ll be back Tuesday.  (Regrettable study habits forced me to push back my CPA exam date one week.)

‘Til then.

11/9/2010 – Quick comment

Last night, NBC’s Matt Lauer sat down with George W. Bush to discuss the former President’s new book, Decision Points.

I’m not here to summarize or critique the interview, but I want to pass along one thought:  history will treat W well.

This is a hard position to take considering I’m constantly surrounded by kindred spirited bleeding-heart liberals and Bush-whackers.  But W is a true showman, and his protracted silence allowed him to resurface as a new man.  Contrite but unapologetic, jovial but embattled, Bush’s candidness about his life and presidency evokes a pathos that historians will acquiesce to.  The portrait we’ll be left with is of a deeply flawed, misguided man, but one who had the country’s best interests at heart.  And since we so readily dismiss those who see President Obama’s agenda as oppressive and nefarious, we must extend the same presumption of good faith to George W. Bush.

11/7/2010

I’m taking a hiatus from this blog until 11/16.  I have not studied sufficiently for a portion of the CPA exam I have on the 15th, and a minute spent posting to this blog is a minute spent not studying.

I’ll leave you with two things: what I’m currently listening to and what I’m currently reading.

I purchased Elvis Costello’s new album National Ransom per the recommendation of a co-worker and after seeing Mr. Costello perform the song “A Slow Drag With Josephine” on The Colbert Report earlier this week.  Regrettably, this is my first Elvis Costello album.  I am enjoying it.  http://www.amazon.com/National-Ransom-Elvis-Costello/dp/B003ZDZ1XK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1289143280&sr=8-2

I just received my copy of Adam Carolla’s In Fifty Years We’ll All Be Chicks. The book is basically his podcast in print.  Adam rants about everything from tampon strings to taxes, and does so with an unequivocal comedic precision.   I initially bought the book because, even in this age of pirating and free downloads, I feel obligated to support artists whose work I enjoy for free (podcasts are free).  But last night I read forty pages and it is proving well worth the fifteen buck pre-order price.  Pick up a copy of this book for your Dad or your brother this Christmas.  If he’s a real man, he’ll like it.  Mahalo.  http://www.amazon.com/Fifty-Years-Well-All-Chicks/dp/0307717372/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289143366&sr=1-1

11/6/2010

1.  Keith Olbermann, MSNBC’s premier anchor and the progressive’s most resonate voice, was suspended indefinitely without pay on Friday for making political donations to three Democratic candidates during this last election cycle.  MSNBC President Phil Griffin acted swiftly late Thursday night after learning about Olbermann’s donations, but said that his suspension is not an indiction that he will be terminated.  MSNBC prohibits news-staff employees from making campaign contributions.  http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/44734.html

I’m no eminence grise on journalistic independence, but this rule seems archaic.  No one tunes in to Keith Olbermann’s show for opinion free, hard news.  Viewers tune in for his opinions and he, at best, thinly veils his left-leaning bias.  I’m surprised he only donated to three candidates.

An aside:  Fox News has no similar rule.  News Corp. (parent company to Fox News) contributed $1.25 million to Republican candidates, and Fox News star anchor Sean Hannity made thousands of dollars of personal contributions.  More evidence that Fox News is a political organization, not a news organization.

2. At first I thought it was cool to have a hurricane bear my name.  My sentiment has changed.  Over the past two days, Hurricane Tomas has claimed 17 lives in the Caribbean, including 4 in Haiti.  http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/hurricanes/2010-11-05-hurricane-tomas_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip

3.  President Obama flew to India on Friday to promote his plan to double US exports over the next five years.  We must not rebuild our economy on “the same pile of debt or paper profits,” he argues, instead we must once again “lead the way in production.”  For this to work, however, we need a strong Asian market where potential consumers can purchase our products.  Here is the President’s op-ed in today’s NY Times.  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/06/opinion/06obama.html?ref=opinion

Also, Obama’s trip is not costing the American tax payer $200 million per day as…need i say it?…reported by Fox News.  (To be fair though, this story was picked up by far right personalities and then reported by Fox News…if that makes it any better.)

11/5/2010

If Tuesday’s election has a silver lining, it’s that we’ll never again have to hear from Christine O’Donnell or Sharron Angle.  Little else remains to comfort Democrats.

After commandeering the House and nearly balancing the Senate, Republicans took to their stumps and promised no compromises.  Instead of beating back on this recalcitrance, the President was contrite during Wednesday’s press conference and, true to form, extended his hand in hopes Republicans would unclinch their fists.

No such luck.  Republicans and their Tea Party ilk touted the “shellacking,” as the President put it, as a referendum on the administration’s policies.  In his election night speech, soon-to-be Speaker of the House John Boehner said it’s time to “…reject the spending sprees, the bailouts, the backroom deals, the takeovers and all the nonsense.”

Wait.  Was he referring to the spending sprees of the Bush years?  Did he mean the bailouts that Bush initiated and he voted for?  He mustn’t mean the backroom deals and “government takeovers” that saved millions of jobs at Chrysler, GM, and Ford, and prevented our financial system from collapsing, right?

No, the Speaker wasn’t referring to that.  He was referring to a rejection of an alternate universe that Republicans created right before our eyes.  A universe where the remedies that prevented the Greatest Depression were ineffective.  A universe where huge deficits, caused by massive unfunded tax-cuts and two wildly expensive wars, are courtesy of Democratic policies.  A universe where the newly passed healthcare legislation is the biggest intrusion on our personal freedoms and saddles our country with an inestimable amount of debt…even though when its provisions are broken down Americans widely favor healthcare reform and, according the CBO, it will reduce our deficit by $143 billion over ten-years.

This is the false reality Republicans created.  This is the reality, apparently, many Americans live in.

After Wednesday’s press conference, many decried the President for failing to admit that the administration’s policies are out of line with the will of the people.  I applaud his rejection of this.

The Democrat’s poor showing is not the result of out-of-touch policies.  The country’s move to the right is a result of this Republican created alternate universe.  It’s a result of blatant lies, unabashed touting of misinformation, and the party’s willingness to regain power at the expense of American citizens.

Fortunately, early tests of Republican mettle are on the horizon.  First up, extending the expiring Bush tax cuts (which, of course, will be framed as Obama tax-hikes).  Do Republicans have the political will and rhetorical skill to sell a debt laden country tax cuts for the top two-percent of earners?  (Side note:  if this does happen, our deficit grows.)  Will they have the fortitude to keep the debt ceiling at its current level?  If so, it’s very likely that investors see this as a sign of weakness:  interest rates will rise, borrowing will become cumbersome and, for the first time in the history of this country, our ability to service our debt will come into question.  Lastly, and the linchpin of the Republican platform: repealing healthcare.  This sounds great in the alternate universe.  But, in the real world–where parents are able to keep their children on their insurance until they’re 26, where ill Americans cannot be dropped from their insurance or be denied coverage, and where health care costs will start to settle–repeal will be political suicide. Please try to strip your constituents of their new rights.  I implore you.

President Obama is often called arrogant because he acts as if he understands something others don’t.  It’s not an act.

11/4/2010

My apologies to the 3 people who look at this page each day.  (Yes, it seems I get about 3-5 hits a day.  That’s heavy traffic for me.)  Over the past two days there is an inestimable amount of news, but I’ve been hard pressed to find time to post to this silly site.

Here’s a link to the Washington Post op-ed page. If I may suggest, read Fed Chief Ben Bernanke’s piece that explains what the Fed is thinking and why they decided to buy an additional $600 billion of securities.  Also, I liked Dana Milbank’s take on Obama.  The President may be sorry that a number of his friends and colleagues lost their seats in Congress, but he offers little repentance for his policies.

11/3/2010 – Post Election Day

Do not despair.

Links and tons of passive voice writing to come.  (I don’t like posting at work.  Work is for working, not opining.)