No, they really don't get it
From the NY Times:
From the NY Times:
What Red Ink? Wall Street Paid Hefty Bonuses
. . .
Despite crippling losses, multibillion-dollar bailouts and the passing of some of the most prominent names in the business, employees at financial companies in New York, the now-diminished world capital of capital, collected an estimated $18.4 billion in bonuses for the year.
Shoot them
Peanut recall grows as feds find problems at plant
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The salmonella outbreak spawned one of the largest ever product recalls Wednesday by a Georgia peanut plant where federal inspectors reported finding roaches, mold, a leaking roof and other sanitary problems. Managers at the Blakely, Ga. plant owned by Peanut Corp. of America continued shipping peanut products even after they were found to contain salmonella. . . .
The official count is 500 sick; eight dead.
Hint: the next Rogue Warrior
Once more going to places we shouldn't* . . .
The new book is due out later this year. Anyway, this a quick backgrounder. The story the video goes with has a slightly different perspective from one Cuban family's point of view. Read it here ...
And sorry about the ad that occasionally pops up at the beginning . . .
* Or went, or might have but didn't, or couldn't possibly have, or tried hard not to - whatever the lawyers' formulation of the day is I'm supposed to use, insert here.
Once more going to places we shouldn't* . . .
The new book is due out later this year. Anyway, this a quick backgrounder. The story the video goes with has a slightly different perspective from one Cuban family's point of view. Read it here ...
And sorry about the ad that occasionally pops up at the beginning . . .
* Or went, or might have but didn't, or couldn't possibly have, or tried hard not to - whatever the lawyers' formulation of the day is I'm supposed to use, insert here.
Iran's nukes
As the Bush administration wound down, a number of stories filtered out of the White House concerning Iran's nuclear program. The headlines focused on two thing - the alleged vetoing of an Israeli plan to bomb an Iranian facility, and a U.S. covert operation against the Iranians.
The person or persons who mentioned the covert program ought to be shot, but that's another issue.
Buried inside the stories and implicit in some of the details was the fact that Iran probably now has enough nuclear material for one bomb. Which means that within a relatively short time, they will have enough material for two or three. (I'll skip the details here for space. You need more than one warhead since you want to be able to test the design and still have a bomb left in case you need it. As a practical matter, a country would probably need or at least want material for anywhere from four to six warheads before a test; the test announces that you have the weapon and, certainly in this case, invites an immediate strike from Israel if you don't have something to retaliate with. The design, by the way, doesn't have to be tested on your soil.)
Nothing looming on the horizon seems likely to prevent Iran now from "harvesting" additional material. Its missile program, while far from perfect, is already capable of sending a warhead to Israel.
We haven't formally entered a new era of Middle East calculus yet, but we're only a few months away.
Except as a deterrent against an invasion or direct attack, Iran's nuclear program may prove next to useless; nuclear bombs handcuff responsible leaders to a much greater extent than conventional weapons. But that surely remains to be seen, and the next steps of "engaging" Iran over the issue will be extremely interesting.
As the Bush administration wound down, a number of stories filtered out of the White House concerning Iran's nuclear program. The headlines focused on two thing - the alleged vetoing of an Israeli plan to bomb an Iranian facility, and a U.S. covert operation against the Iranians.
The person or persons who mentioned the covert program ought to be shot, but that's another issue.
Buried inside the stories and implicit in some of the details was the fact that Iran probably now has enough nuclear material for one bomb. Which means that within a relatively short time, they will have enough material for two or three. (I'll skip the details here for space. You need more than one warhead since you want to be able to test the design and still have a bomb left in case you need it. As a practical matter, a country would probably need or at least want material for anywhere from four to six warheads before a test; the test announces that you have the weapon and, certainly in this case, invites an immediate strike from Israel if you don't have something to retaliate with. The design, by the way, doesn't have to be tested on your soil.)
Nothing looming on the horizon seems likely to prevent Iran now from "harvesting" additional material. Its missile program, while far from perfect, is already capable of sending a warhead to Israel.
We haven't formally entered a new era of Middle East calculus yet, but we're only a few months away.
Except as a deterrent against an invasion or direct attack, Iran's nuclear program may prove next to useless; nuclear bombs handcuff responsible leaders to a much greater extent than conventional weapons. But that surely remains to be seen, and the next steps of "engaging" Iran over the issue will be extremely interesting.
Why the meltdown?
If you want to understand why the banks are continuing to implode, and how we got to here, pick up Phillips' book. It's not very technical, yet lays out the situation pretty well.
(If you like politicians - either party, but especially the Republicans - some of it will be hard to take, but hey. And I assume you're not reading it if you're a banker...)
The amazing thing is that the book was published last April, which means he was writing it in 2007, before the end result he writes about actually happened. It reads as if it was written this week.
If you want to understand why the banks are continuing to implode, and how we got to here, pick up Phillips' book. It's not very technical, yet lays out the situation pretty well.
(If you like politicians - either party, but especially the Republicans - some of it will be hard to take, but hey. And I assume you're not reading it if you're a banker...)
The amazing thing is that the book was published last April, which means he was writing it in 2007, before the end result he writes about actually happened. It reads as if it was written this week.
Latte this
So X* calls up the other day, in a bad mood. Deal he's been working on since Grant died still hasn't been pulled together.
"I told my agent two weeks ago to nail it down," he said. Being a fiction writer, he used more colorful terms, but that's all I can without burning the pornography filters.
"Sucks," I said. "Deals are taking a lot longer now because everyone's afraid. I myself - "
"That's not it. He hasn't even called the editor."
"Sucks," I said. "But how do you know?"
He knows.
"He hasn't gotten to it," said X. "Because he's busy. You know what he's busy with?"
"Doing that six-figure deal for Y?"
"I only wish. [Actually, he hates Y, but that's another story.] No, he's been drinking lattes."
"Give me a break."
"Go on Facebook and check it out..."
It turns out that X's agent has been drinking lattes, and quite often. A partial transcript from Facebook showed that, at the very time X called him and got his voice mail, said agent was:
- 'enjoying a latte'
- thinking about getting a latte
- 'imbibing a Classic Coke'
- researching the caffeine content of a double latte
- 'thinking about going to the movies'
- 'bored with cheesecake'
- 'sharpening his pencils on an old-style pencil sharpener'
- 'cutting my toenails'
The type of cheesecake was unspecified. The posts also reveal that the agent "works" from roughly 10:30 to 10:45 a.m., when he heads out for lunch, and 2:15 to 3-ish, whereupon he goes to pick up his kid from Angel School, whatever that is.
"I'm impressed that you have an agent who uses the word 'imbibing'," I told X. "But cutting your toenails in the office - kinda gross."
"It may not have been the office," said X. "He gets his email on an iPhone now. He's mobile."
"Arguably worse."
"No kidding. Why do people waste their time posting this crap? To let you know they're not working?"
"At least he's not saying what he thinks of you."
"Who cares what he thinks of me - I want him to get the deal done. Or at least answer my phone."
"Maybe you should start writing that on your Facebook log thing. Like 10:50 - Thinking of my agent and the deal he hasn't done . . . 10:51 - Researching methods of offing my agent . . . 10:52 - Settling on an axe as the best method . . ."
There was silence on the line for a moment.
"Gotta go," said X finally.
I wished him luck. Asking him why he had an agent who drank lattes would have to wait for another time.
* Name and a few details omitted to protect the guilty.
So X* calls up the other day, in a bad mood. Deal he's been working on since Grant died still hasn't been pulled together.
"I told my agent two weeks ago to nail it down," he said. Being a fiction writer, he used more colorful terms, but that's all I can without burning the pornography filters.
"Sucks," I said. "Deals are taking a lot longer now because everyone's afraid. I myself - "
"That's not it. He hasn't even called the editor."
"Sucks," I said. "But how do you know?"
He knows.
"He hasn't gotten to it," said X. "Because he's busy. You know what he's busy with?"
"Doing that six-figure deal for Y?"
"I only wish. [Actually, he hates Y, but that's another story.] No, he's been drinking lattes."
"Give me a break."
"Go on Facebook and check it out..."
It turns out that X's agent has been drinking lattes, and quite often. A partial transcript from Facebook showed that, at the very time X called him and got his voice mail, said agent was:
- 'enjoying a latte'
- thinking about getting a latte
- 'imbibing a Classic Coke'
- researching the caffeine content of a double latte
- 'thinking about going to the movies'
- 'bored with cheesecake'
- 'sharpening his pencils on an old-style pencil sharpener'
- 'cutting my toenails'
The type of cheesecake was unspecified. The posts also reveal that the agent "works" from roughly 10:30 to 10:45 a.m., when he heads out for lunch, and 2:15 to 3-ish, whereupon he goes to pick up his kid from Angel School, whatever that is.
"I'm impressed that you have an agent who uses the word 'imbibing'," I told X. "But cutting your toenails in the office - kinda gross."
"It may not have been the office," said X. "He gets his email on an iPhone now. He's mobile."
"Arguably worse."
"No kidding. Why do people waste their time posting this crap? To let you know they're not working?"
"At least he's not saying what he thinks of you."
"Who cares what he thinks of me - I want him to get the deal done. Or at least answer my phone."
"Maybe you should start writing that on your Facebook log thing. Like 10:50 - Thinking of my agent and the deal he hasn't done . . . 10:51 - Researching methods of offing my agent . . . 10:52 - Settling on an axe as the best method . . ."
There was silence on the line for a moment.
"Gotta go," said X finally.
I wished him luck. Asking him why he had an agent who drank lattes would have to wait for another time.
* Name and a few details omitted to protect the guilty.
Free Harry Nicolaides
Harry Nicolaides
The Thai government Monday sentenced an Australian novelist to three in jail for "insulting" the Thai monarchy - by writing a novel critical of the monarchy. Self-published, the book is reported to have sold ten copies.
The monarchy has played a critical role in the country, providing stability and inspiration during a time of change. Sentencing someone to prison for "insulting" it seems very much at odds with the values the present king has espoused.
Link to NY Times story.
Harry Nicolaides
The Thai government Monday sentenced an Australian novelist to three in jail for "insulting" the Thai monarchy - by writing a novel critical of the monarchy. Self-published, the book is reported to have sold ten copies.
The monarchy has played a critical role in the country, providing stability and inspiration during a time of change. Sentencing someone to prison for "insulting" it seems very much at odds with the values the present king has espoused.
Link to NY Times story.
North Korea's nukes
Over the weekend, the North Korean military stirred the geo-political pot by announcing that they were taking an "all-out confrontational posture" toward South Korea. At the same time - more or less - North Korean officials also said that they had "weaponized" roughly 31 kilograms of plutonium. (The general consensus is that that amount translates into four to six bombs; the actual amount used depends on the specific design.)
Those developments are in sharp contrast to the government's recent overtures to the Obama administration, including a request (denied, as far as I know) to attend the inauguration.
More of the same from North Korea, which has always believed in the carrot and stick approach when negotiating? Or is there a power struggle going on for control after (or maybe even before) Kim Jong il, now in bad health, dies or steps down?
The latter seems most likely. The statements by the military seem designed to show that it controls the country's might - and that Kim's successor must come to terms with it if he wants to rule.
Will North Korea's army give up the nuclear weapons if they see that as their most important "chip" in internal politics?
Maybe.
On the other hand, if you were playing poker, would you discard three aces and try to win with only a pair of deuces?
Over the weekend, the North Korean military stirred the geo-political pot by announcing that they were taking an "all-out confrontational posture" toward South Korea. At the same time - more or less - North Korean officials also said that they had "weaponized" roughly 31 kilograms of plutonium. (The general consensus is that that amount translates into four to six bombs; the actual amount used depends on the specific design.)
Those developments are in sharp contrast to the government's recent overtures to the Obama administration, including a request (denied, as far as I know) to attend the inauguration.
More of the same from North Korea, which has always believed in the carrot and stick approach when negotiating? Or is there a power struggle going on for control after (or maybe even before) Kim Jong il, now in bad health, dies or steps down?
The latter seems most likely. The statements by the military seem designed to show that it controls the country's might - and that Kim's successor must come to terms with it if he wants to rule.
Will North Korea's army give up the nuclear weapons if they see that as their most important "chip" in internal politics?
Maybe.
On the other hand, if you were playing poker, would you discard three aces and try to win with only a pair of deuces?
They still don't get it . . .
Today's Wall Street Journal features a story on a "secretive" Wall Street fraternity - they mean that literally - with a kind of gallows humor tone.
I can understand partying as the ship sinks beneath you, but this blew me away:
Oh, now I get it. Congress - aka the American public - bails out Wall Street for a phenomenal sum . . . hundreds of billions, with hands still out . . . but Congress is the problem.
Right.
Now I see the attractions of the French Revolution . . .
(Here's a link to the story - you probably need a subscription though.)
Today's Wall Street Journal features a story on a "secretive" Wall Street fraternity - they mean that literally - with a kind of gallows humor tone.
I can understand partying as the ship sinks beneath you, but this blew me away:
"Today, the FBI put out a warning that Al Qaeda was planning an attack to cripple the U.S. economy," inductee Martin Gruss joked later in the evening. "I've got news for them, Congress has already done that."
Oh, now I get it. Congress - aka the American public - bails out Wall Street for a phenomenal sum . . . hundreds of billions, with hands still out . . . but Congress is the problem.
Right.
Now I see the attractions of the French Revolution . . .
(Here's a link to the story - you probably need a subscription though.)
Pilot of the year - no - decade . . .
By now you've heard of Chesley B. Sullenberger III and his copilot (unnamed in early reports, but surely as worthy of praise), who managed to ditch an A320 in the Hudson River without losing a single passenger.
I'm sure there was a bit of luck and maybe divine intervention involved, but I want Sully and crew whenever I fly...
But hey, you know this guy was good - he drove F-4s for the Air Force ...
By now you've heard of Chesley B. Sullenberger III and his copilot (unnamed in early reports, but surely as worthy of praise), who managed to ditch an A320 in the Hudson River without losing a single passenger.
I'm sure there was a bit of luck and maybe divine intervention involved, but I want Sully and crew whenever I fly...
But hey, you know this guy was good - he drove F-4s for the Air Force ...
Lowering the prices would be too easy
Item: The NY Yankees have hired a high-rolling real estate company to try to sell premium seats at the new stadium.
Seems about a fourth of the real estate in the prime areas hasn't been sold. What a shock. I mean, seats that went in the range of sixty bucks are now costing . . . what? three-fifty?
But shouldn't someone tell Randy Levine that real estate agents aren't exactly pounding the ol' pill these days?
Item: The NY Yankees have hired a high-rolling real estate company to try to sell premium seats at the new stadium.
Seems about a fourth of the real estate in the prime areas hasn't been sold. What a shock. I mean, seats that went in the range of sixty bucks are now costing . . . what? three-fifty?
But shouldn't someone tell Randy Levine that real estate agents aren't exactly pounding the ol' pill these days?
Catching up on expenses
So the Guru calls up and asks: "Remember that time last year when Xxxx* was around and we were in that place and he got a little excited and things got hairy and someone called the police and the fire alarm went off and we had to sneak out by pretending we were with the paramedics?"
Me: "Vaguely."
Guru: "Do you happen to remember what you had to drink? I'm filling out the expense report . . ."
* Name redacted to protect the guilty from probable and multiple parole violations
So the Guru calls up and asks: "Remember that time last year when Xxxx* was around and we were in that place and he got a little excited and things got hairy and someone called the police and the fire alarm went off and we had to sneak out by pretending we were with the paramedics?"
Me: "Vaguely."
Guru: "Do you happen to remember what you had to drink? I'm filling out the expense report . . ."
* Name redacted to protect the guilty from probable and multiple parole violations
Raising taxes
Chuckee at the car place was all wrenched up the other day because he heard the New York governor wanted to tax Coke at 18 percent.
"You know what that's going to do to my overhead?" he moaned when I brought the car over for some new wiper blades.
"I didn't know you drank soda," I told him. "All you have is beer in that machine out back."
He blinked at me. "Oh," he said, and went off to fix someone's clutch.
Chuckee at the car place was all wrenched up the other day because he heard the New York governor wanted to tax Coke at 18 percent.
"You know what that's going to do to my overhead?" he moaned when I brought the car over for some new wiper blades.
"I didn't know you drank soda," I told him. "All you have is beer in that machine out back."
He blinked at me. "Oh," he said, and went off to fix someone's clutch.
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