Open thread

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Is this what Wall Street thinks is acceptable?

How are these people still employed? In a matter of five short days they somehow discovered an additional $316 million of bad debt? For real? How many people in the real world are afforded such luxuries? The truth is that nobody really knows how much money is going to be lost other than "billions."

Wall Street needs to lower the boom on these bumbling idiots. Read the rest of this post...

Coalition of the Going takes another hit

Besides the election defeat of pro-Bush, pro-war John Howard, the new incoming PM of Poland also plans to remove troops from Iraq in 2008. That's gratitude for you. Don't they know in Poland that we saved them and they owe America eternally, right or wrong? We saved them, daggumit.

Oh, Fox News will have a go at them soon enough. Yes indeed. Time to pull out Ronald Reagan video clips and talk of how he single handedly brought down the Iron Curtain. Fifty years of US policy had nothing to do with it at all, it was pure Ronny. Kielbasa will now be known as "Freedom Sausage" and pirogies will now be called "Freedom Dumplings." Tune in to Fox News for more details. Read the rest of this post...

Romney-appointed judge frees murderer who then kills again

Romney is desperately trying to short-circuit his own little Willy Horton controversy before it gets started, calling on the judge the resign. But the fact remains that Mitt Romney is a huge liberal, even by Massachusetts standards, and he appointed judges in his liberal image (not that I think liberal judges are pro-murder, but whatever the judge's reasoning, Romney appointed this judge because he approved of her reasoning - he can't now say "oops" after two more people are murdered because of his best (aka poor) judgment - how many more life-threatening "oopses" can America afford from yet another incompetent commander in chief?) That's what politicians do - they appoint judges who reflect their views. Romney is now trying to run away screaming from the judge he appointed only 20 months ago. Just like he's running away from his previous lifelong positions on guns, gays, abortion and more. Just add one more notch to the list of Mitt Romney death-bed conversions - and in this case, it's a literal death-bed conversion. Romney will be forced to talk about this judge the rest of his campaign, well, that is, the Republicans will force Romney to talk about this judge. The Democrats will find it too boorish to talk about this case, just like they find it silly to even consider talking about the right to privacy and so much more. Read the rest of this post...

Kids and the war

My two nephews, aged 9 and 11, decided to write some "war letters to home" following the Thanksgiving meal. The letters are from Matt and Max, two best friends fighting in Iraq (I'm assuming). I just found this very funny and adorable, and maybe a wee bit troubling. (Click each image to see a larger version.)





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Krugman - Banks Gone Wild

Doesn't he know you're not allowed to criticize the failed policies of the Bush/Greenspan years or else it will be considered "gloating?" Shouldn't we all rally round the wonderful effort that Team Bush gave us? It helped us with the war, so why not with the economy?

How did things go so wrong?

Part of the answer is that people who should have been alert to the dangers, and taken precautionary measures, instead blithely assured Americans that everything was fine, and even encouraged them to take out risky mortgages. Yes, Alan Greenspan, that means you.

But another part of the answer lies in what hasn’t happened to the men on that Fortune cover — namely, they haven’t been forced to give back any of the huge paychecks they received before the folly of their decisions became apparent.

Around 25 years ago, American business — and the American political system — bought into the idea that greed is good. Executives are lavishly rewarded if the companies they run seem successful: last year the chief executives of Merrill and Citigroup were paid $48 million and $25.6 million, respectively.

But if the success turns out to have been an illusion — well, they still get to keep the money. Heads they win, tails we lose.

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Saturday morning open thread

Food bank teams are at the grocery stores today here in Paris. My impression is that the easy-to-use $5/$10/etc bar code tickets typically used in the US at checkout are an easier and better method. Whether the actual end results are the same is another question. What do you think?

Oh, and what's happening out there? Read the rest of this post...

$20 billion spent on Black Friday

That's according to one early estimate, which puts buying slightly above 2006 numbers. Retailers are all delivering upbeat assessments though analysts are still cautious. Some analysts are suggesting the early start to the shopping day will result in thinner crowds on Friday afternoon, possibly slowing down business. (Wouldn't they be out for the same length of time, just arriving home earlier?)

How were the crowds near you? Were people buying or looking? It may take a few days, possibly a couple of weeks, before some firm numbers are calculated. Read the rest of this post...

John Howard joins Coalition of the Going today

Exit polls look bad for Bush's friend Howard. Any Aussie readers out there with news about Rudd, the Labor candidate? Rudd has previously said that if he wins he will remove troops from Iraq and sign Kyoto.

UPDATE: Stick a fork in Howard. Not only has he lost the national election, it looks as though he lost his own seat. Looks like his own "Workchoices" are a bit more limited. Read the rest of this post...