Follow the Money

What they are thinking

I guess they just really, really trust Henry.

All hail, Caesar!!

William R Gruver, a professor of Management at Bucknell University, penned the following Op Ed in the NY Times last Sat. He shows a real understanding of the situation that got us into this financial mess, and has a good prescription for healing the sickness. You may not agree with him, but at least people should be talking about these solutions.

A Big Regulator For The Little Investor

No matter how many times 'Wall Street' offered up a bag-o-bonds for sale that turned out to be 'junk'--the Central Banks of China and Russia stepped up. They never refused. Somehow, the message abstracted by the sellers was this: "They are going to  make us rich. They will buy anything we offer them."

The thought of a 'sure thing' fueled an appetitie for greed that withered all fears, blinded all risks, as they scrambled to come up with more, more, more to the Chinese and the Russians. They had to scramble far and wide to find borrowers. No documentation--that's ok. No down payment? Never mind. We have mortgages for EVERYBODY. We'll just securitize them, leverage them, and sell the bonds to the Chinese. Ha! We're gonna be rich!! What could go wrong?

Is this the work of the ancient Chinese philosopher Chuang Tse? Did the Chinese, and the Russians, (both with the worlds greatest heritage for Communist experimentation), suss out that America's greatest weakness and strategic vulnerability was its greed and desire for unrestrained raw capitalism?

In other words--was buying up all our junk bonds a form of Asymmetrical Warfare? Inquiring mind cannot help but wonder how they turned us into a socialist nation?

The people who lost their houses--did they get bailed out by refinancing their too clever by half fancy mortgages into good old fashioned 30 or 40 year fixed mortgages? No. Could Uncle Sam have decided to help there, in THAT way? Yes.

Instead, who is it that ultimately receives the largess of the US Treasury and the Fed? Is it the Central Banks of Russis and China? The Russians of course, have a long heritage of chess mastery. The Chinese had Lao Tse, Chuang Tse, Sun Tzu, and Confucius.

I read a few years ago that it was popular on wall street to read The Art of War. That may have been more prescient than they realized, but I have yet to see any sign that they assimilated it's lessons.

So--what kind of survival skills does one need to climb the heap on Wall street, and be a player. I do know that some of these guys love to play 'Liars Poker'--maybe McCain thinks because he has gotten away with so many lies(like every time  he opens his dishonorable mouth) that he is equipped to get in the tank with the Wizards of Wall Street and swimm a few laps. You think these guys might by Sharks in Suits? What do they know that lesser guys who tried and died, don't?

What has McCain done besides beat up nerds in the bathroom of his highschool, that makes him think he has the right stuff to challenge these Players?

He's "taken on tougher"--REALLY? Meaning, he survived brutality at the hands of the Viet Cong? What about when he wanted to pick Joe Lieberman and the Republican Ayatollahs told him no--you will choose a fish picker from Bristol Bay, instead. Is that what he means? So who are the tough guys John McCain has taken on? So far, other than being a punching bag for prison guards, I can't remember him taking on anyone.

He wasn't tough enough to brave out his first marriage that he took vows over--not even for the sake of his kids. He did not uphold his vows when he began a bag man for Keating S&L's. He even took his hat in hand and aplogized to journalists for his endorsement of the Confederate Flag--symbol of an ideology that fought to the death for its rights to buy and sell human beings.

So, please, I wanna know--somebody tell me who these tough guys are that John McCain has taken on?

Wuzzup Wasilla! I heard some cretinous imbecile say on tv yesterday that Sarah Palin was the mayor of a 'City.' Please! Another way of saying it would be 'village'. Another way of saying it would be 'suburb of Ancorage.' WaPo published this  insightful view of the duties of the Mayor during Sarah Palin's tenure.(if you can call it that)

Click Here for WaPo Article

It seems that the source of insight on the 'two media narratives' came from John Ridley. Here is some more of his wisdom, which I think deserves to be part of a community dialogue on the subject. It really gets to the whole 'heart of darkness', of the thing.

Up in the Twin Cities area folks are speaking a new language. Or, should I say Palinguage. It sounds sorta familiar because it's Latin based. But different from the plain English we're used to speaking, in Palinguage recognizable words take on new meanings. Won't you take a moment to learn some Plainguage so you can talk like a hypocritical conservative?

REPEAT THE FOLLOWING:

If you're a minority and you're selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a "token hire." If you're a conservative and you're selected for a job over more qualified candidates you're a "game changer."

If you live in an Urban area and you get a girl pregnant you're a "baby daddy." If you're the same in Alaska you're a "teen father." (Actually, according to your own MySpace page you're an F'n redneck that don't want any kids, but that's too long a phrase for the evil liberal media to take out of context and flog morning noon and night).

Black teen pregnancies? A "crisis" in black America. White teen pregnancies? A "blessed event."

If you grow up in Hawaii you're "exotic." Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're the quintessential "American story."

Similarly, if you name you kid Barack you're "unpatriotic." Name your kid Track, you're "colorful."

If you're a Democrat and you make a VP pick without fully vetting the individual you're "reckless." A Republican who doesn't fully vet is a "maverick."

If you say that for the "first time in my adult lifetime I'm really proud of my country" it makes you "unfit" to be First Lady. If you are a registered member of a fringe political group that advocates secession that makes you "First Dude."

A DUI from twenty years ago is "old news." A speech given without proper citation from twenty years ago is "relevant information."

And, finally, if you're a man and you decide to run for office despite your wife's recurrence of cancer you're a "questionable spouse." If you're a woman and you decide to run for office despite having five kids including a newborn... Well, we don't know what that is 'cause THAT'S NOT A FAIR QUESTION TO ASK. --John Ridley

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Isn't his campaign for POTUS 'like' a major corporation? How many divisions? How many executives? How many state operations? How much money have they raised? How effective at branding their product? Isn't their product Obama, himself?

I used to be a CEO, and I have worked for many of them. From where I sit, today, I haven't seen CEO's doing anything that  Obama doesn't do, except maybe, guide wall street analysts regarding the next quarterly numbers--and yet, even in that, talking about fund raising and planning and stuff is very similar.

Bottom Line: Carly Fiorina does not reveal a lot of insight when she asserts this clownish claim. She is mystifying the role of CEO significantly.

I found this in the comments section to EJ Dionne's column  responding to Krauthammer's assault on Charlie Gibson-- and I thought the Commentor made some good points that deserved to be republished.

'* If you grow up in Hawaii , raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic; different."

* Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.

* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.

* Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.

* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the First black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration Drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran ' s Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.

* If your total resume is: local weather/sports person, 4 years on the city
council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people,
20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you '
re qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive and
next in line behind a man in his eighth decade.

* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including
the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no
other option in sex education in your state ' s school system while your
Unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.

* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.

* If your husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of
Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

Posted by: Bushme | September 15, 2008 5:23 PM '

Palin says she saw a photo of a dinosaur foot print with a human footprint in it.

She's a young Earther. To believe the Earth is less than 7000 years old, you have to disagree with both Geology, and Physics, and Paleontology--and you have to believe that all of those who have worked in those vinyards of science are completely, absolutely entirely wrong.

She also tried to get the local Wasilla hospital to stop providing abortion services.

Read all about it here:

This woman is truly scary. She reminds me more of Stalin than even Saddam...