The Necropolitan Sentinel | chi per lungo silenzio parea fioco

Reckless Endangerment, the Book on Fannie and Freddie and the Housing Collapse

Posted on July 3, 2011 By Dan Collins

and financial meltdown, is considered on . . . PBS?

Via Stacy, but swiped because it should be posted everywhere:

If we had a press that were doing their job, the revelations in this book wouldn’t be revelations to any but the most disconnected citizens. If the press were interested in getting to the facts, it would be an easy matter for them to find out whether the excuses of Barney Frank or anyone else criticized in the book stood up to scrutiny. There are easily accessed public records that will indisputably prove the charges one way or the other.

If Congress were interested in doing it’s job, there would be ongoing hearings still, and some of those people who’ve maintained their silence and their fortunes would be subpoenaed and made to explain themselves to America. The truth, Congressman Frank, is not a vendetta.

Kudos to PBS for covering the story, but just putting up the rebuttals without subjecting them to scrutiny is a cop-out. I give it one testicle.

UPDATE: At Ace’s, Monty writes a review.

Da Techguy Considers a “Feminist” Response to Bachmann’s (and Possibly Palin’s) Candidacy

Posted on July 3, 2011 By Dan Collins

[Forcibly ripped from Mother Jones' Tumblr blog]

Cynthia Kounaris thinks that either Palin or Bachmann would be a disastrous choice to women, because “failure is not an option,” and lauds the way that Obama has represented black Americans in office.

Naturally, Peter disagrees entirely.

When it looked as though Obama was going to be elected, I said that I felt bad for black Americans, as he represented the values of only a relatively small and strange portion of them, and his economic policies were bound to bring him failure. I expanded on that idea in this post. The prediction of failure wasn’t difficult to make, based on the information at hand; nor was anticipating the progressive reaction of romanticising Obama’s administration and blaming the world for his downfall. What I didn’t at the time foresee is that these revisions would begin to take place a year and a half prior to his term being up.

Speaking of representations, Jimmie Bise (who links here this morning in his tabs dump) has initiated the Conservative Cubicle Art Project. What it is, and how you might participate, you’ll have to go there to see.

Via Jimmie, too: Labor unions by far the biggest givers to campaigns, with investment operations second by many lengths. Plus, nurses at Catholic hospital vote overwhelmingly against union, union doesn’t care what they vote. (via Curt Mercandante on Google+)

Is Bad Energy Policy Making a Poor Economy Worse?

Posted on July 3, 2011 By Joy McCann

1 Comment

The cost of this Administration’s flailing around on energy issues may be even higher than we think.

Rob Bluey and Abigail White, writing for The Heritage Foundation, discuss the huge toll that high energy prices have had on the employment rate, as well as the impact on what we pay for goods and services.

The Consumer Energy Alliance just published a report that suggests that the current energy anemia is exacerbating the Great Recession. The report apparently also cites concerns about how much income the country may be forgoing in lost tax revenue because of our unwillingness to pursue our rich sources of oil and natural gas–or, for that matter, build state-of-the-art nuclear power plants (although, given the President’s ties to the nuclear industry, that last point could change, and we’d be happy to have the right policy pursued for the wrong reasons).

America’s trucking industry is on pace to pay a whopping $138.7 billion for fuel in 2011 — an increase of $37.2 billion over last year, due to higher energy prices. That’s a lot of money for gas. And unfortunately for consumers, they’re likely to pick up the tab.

A new study from the Consumer Energy Alliance blames the lack of a national energy policy for America’s economic woes. Higher prices are costing jobs and putting a strain on families struggling to make ends meet.

Higher costs for the transportation sector mean rising prices for everyday goods and services like groceries and airline tickets. But that’s not the only consequence. The report estimates upwards of 500,000 jobs could be in jeopardy because of restrictions on U.S. energy development.

Industries such as manufacturing, agriculture and transportation are strained by endless red tape, including restricted access to domestic energy supplies. As a result, the higher costs for employers are being passed along through rising prices for consumer goods.

CEA’s study indicates the offshore energy potential of the United States is conservatively estimated at 45 billion barrels of oil and 183 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. That would be enough oil to power 60 million vehicles for 25 years and enough natural gas to heat 60 million American homes for 57 years.

”Demand for oil and natural gas is increasing,” said National Ocean Industries Association President Randall Luthi. “Yet we only explore for oil and gas in about 15 percent of the nation’s offshore areas — the same areas that were available when Richard Nixon was president.”

Apart from boosting job creation and steadying oil prices, offshore energy production would garner billions for the U.S. Treasury. Declining production in the Gulf of Mexico alone could cost the federal government more than $1 billion in revenue this year.

Meanwhile, President Obama has opted for politically symbolic measures like last week’s release of 30 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve rather than a comprehensive policy to increase American production. Heritage’s Nick Loris argued last week that the Obama administration is denying Americans access to domestic oil:

Production in the western Gulf of Mexico dropped nearly one-third of a million barrels per day since last April, and the increased production in 2010 is a result of increased horizontal drilling in North Dakota. We can’t drill off the Pacific Coast, Atlantic Coast, or the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Environmental Appeals Board withheld air quality permits preventing Shell from moving forward to develop 27 billion barrels of oil off the coasts of Alaska. The Environmental Protection Agency already issued two air permits, but Earth Justice filed a petition to review the permits, delaying the process.

Rob’s got a link to the full study, which I’m still diving into; you’ll also want to check it out via his page at Heritage. There are also several other links that I’m going to make you get from him, since I quoted an obscene amount of his article here.

First Amendment WTF?

Posted on July 2, 2011 By Teh Dede

5 Comments

[author's note: In the spirit of full disclosure, I am an atheist and appreciate that the Constitution protects my right to be so.]

So, I’m just a girl and not a Constitutional Scholar, so I could be entirely wrong about this. But it is my understanding that the text of the First Amendment goes something like this:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Which, I take to mean that the government cannot force you to practice a religion of its choosing nor interfere with your practice of a religion of your choice, or choosing to not practice one at all.

So if I’m correct about that…then where, exactly, does the Department of Veterans Affairs get off telling anybody they can’t say “God bless you” to the family of a fallen soldier?

WTF? is up with THAT?

And before someone starts with the “separation of church and state” thing: that doesn’t exist in the Constitution but, even if you want to argue that the First Amendment implies that, these are volunteers from private organizations; the Veterans of Foreign Wars, The American Legion and the National Memorial Ladies and the government has no business censoring their speech or interfering with the practice of their religion.

I bet my next pay check that if these volunteers were saying “Allah be with you and peace be upon you” (which if that’s what they want to say … they should go for it) the government would be keeping its big fat mouth shut.

WTF? Veterans Affairs.

Hold my Seat on the Strauss-Kahn Mea Culpa Bandwagon for Now . . .

Posted on July 2, 2011 By Da TechGuy

8 Comments

In the sudden rush to beat collective breasts concerning the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case as the prosecution’s lead witness’s credibility issues come to light, there is something everyone seems to have forgotten . . .

When this story first broke, one of the first things that happened was that several women came out of the woodwork to talk about unwanted advances–and more–from Strauss-Kahn over the years. Let’s remind you of one:

A local official of the Socialist party claimed that Strauss-Kahn had attacked her daughter, who is goddaughter to Strauss-Kahn’s second wife, in 2002.

Tristane Banon was in her 20s and writing a book when she approached Strauss-Kahn for an interview in 2002. In a TV programme in 2007, in which Strauss-Kahn’s name had been bleeped out, Banon allegedly described him as a “rutting chimpanzee” and described how she was forced to fight him off. “It finished badly … very violently … I kicked him,” Banon said. “When we were fighting, I mentioned the word ‘rape’ to make him afraid, but it didn’t have any effect. I managed to get out.”

Banon consulted a lawyer, but did not press charges. “I didn’t want to be known to the end of my days as the girl who had a problem with the politician.”

Banon’s mother, Anne Mansouret, told journalists on Sunday night she had dissuaded her daughter from legal action because she believed Strauss-Kahn’s behaviour had been out of character and because of close links with his family. “Today I am sorry to have discouraged my daughter from complaining. I bear a heavy responsibility.”

And here’s another one:

[A]n indignant Nagy wrote to investigators saying: “I was not prepared for the advances of the IMF director general. I didn’t know what to do … I felt damned if I do, damned if I don’t.” Nagy left her job at the IMF after the affair, and hinted at harassment of female staff, adding that her boss had “without question” used his position to seduce her.

And let’s not forget the money:

“They already talked with her family,” a French businesswoman with close ties to Strauss-Kahn and his family told The Post. “For sure, it’s going to end up on a quiet note.”

Prosecutors in Manhattan have done their best to keep the cleaning woman out of the reach of Strauss-Kahn’s supporters, but the source was already predicting success for the Parisian pol’s pals.

“He’ll get out of it and will fly back to France. He won’t spend time in jail. The woman will get a lot of money,” said the source, adding that a seven-figure sum has been bandied about.

Just a reminder: the average monthly income where she comes from in Africa is $45.

Remember also that Kahn’s story went from the alibi of “lunch with his daughter” to “consensual sex” with blinding speed.

People are already comparing this to the Duke case, but I don’t recall the Duke guys enduring other women coming out with revelations, or seeing them change their stories. I don’t remember money changing hands.

So I have three simple questions before I join the mea culpa bandwagon:

1. Have the women from the previous cases who “came out” recanted their stories?

2. Has any money changed hands, or has any been promised to her family in Africa?

3. If the maid was making up the story all along, why did Strauss-Kahn change his story about were he was?

I think these are good questions; does anyone have good answers?

Cross posted at Datechguyblog under the title Not so fast on the Strauss-Kahn Bandwagon.

Welcome to Operation Valour-IT!

Posted on July 2, 2011 By Joy McCann

This blog, and Little Miss Attila, will be part of the Marine team; we will be raising money to provide disabled heroes from Iraq and Afghanistan with voice-enabled laptops through July 14th.

The purpose of dividing the fundraising up into teams is to generate a little friendly rivalry among the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines–which helps to keep spirits up and money flowing.

The Soldiers’ Angels homepage explains it best, and provides you with the opportunity to give.

Creeping Sharia: Two Judges Nuke Keith Ellison-Backed Islamic School

Posted on July 2, 2011 By Dan Collins

3 Comments

Progs sure do love that separation of church and state, except when, well :

Will Keith Ellison get further involved with the school to ensure it survives? TiZA filed for bankruptcy shortly thereafter, so the $20,000,000 in taxpayer money already spent on Islamic education may not be recouped. via Inver Grove Heights and Blaine: TiZA bankruptcy follows court defeat – TwinCities.com. By Mila Koumpilova mkoumpilova@pioneerpress.com

Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, the embattled metro-area charter school, got a double whammy of bad news Thursday that spelled its closure.

In a scathing rejection letter, the state turned down TiZA’s request for a new overseer, which all Minnesota charter schools need to stay open. Hours later, a federal judge denied a temporary restraining order the school sought to stay open past a Thursday deadline.

Later Thursday, TiZA, which faces millions of dollars in legal expenses, filed for bankruptcy.

Bankrupt Green Energy Company of Big Obama Donor Got Half a Billion Stimulus Bucks

Posted on July 2, 2011 By Dan Collins

1 Comment

Winning The Future:

…The Energy Department estimated in a March 20, 2009 press release that the loan guarantee would create 3,000 construction jobs and a further 1,000 jobs after the plant opened… And President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden each personally showcased Solyndra as an example of how stimulus dollars were at work creating jobs, during appearances at the company over the course of the following year…

…Obama made similar claims in a May 26, 2010 speech at the plant, but the 1,000 jobs he and Biden touted in their respective speeches failed to materialize…

Instead, Solyndra announced on Nov. 3 it planned to postpone expanding the plant, which put the taxpayers on the hook to the tune of $390.5 million taxpayers… It also announced that it no longer planned to hire the 1,000 workers that Obama and Biden had touted in their speeches and that it planned to close one of its older factories and planned to lay-off 135 temporary or contract workers and 40 full-time employees.

CNSNews.com reported Friday that election law experts are questioning the legality of a presidential video, filmed in the White House, in which Obama dangled a raffle for a dinner with him and the vice president, in return for a campaign donation.

Title 18, subsection 607, states it is unlawful for the president “to solicit or receive a donation of money or other thing of value in connection with a federal, state, or local election, while in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties.”

A 1979 Justice Department ruling found that presidential fundraising in the White House is legal, but only when it occurs in the residential portion of the historic mansion.

But election-law experts told CNSNews the raffle video was taped in an area frequently used for official business.

“It’s a criminal offense,” high-powered GOP attorney Cleta Mitchell, who sits on the ABA’s election-law committee, told the website.

I’m sure those were kinetic presidential operations, rather than duties. Speaking of mealy-mouthed lying weasels:

Forty-nine members of the U.S. House of Representatives–including the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, the chairman of the Republican Policy Committee and two presidential candidates–are pointing to evidence they say is “contradictory” to Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan’s confirmation testimony and calling for the House Judiciary Committee to investigate the matter.

The lawmakers also say they believe that evidence already made public shows that Kagan must recuse herself from any court cases involving the health care bill signed into law by President Barack Obama while she was serving as Obama’s solicitor general.

“We respectfully call upon the House Judiciary Committee to promptly investigate the extent to which U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan was involved in preparing a legal defense of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) during her tenure as Solicitor General,” the 49 lawmakers wrote in a letter to Rep. Lamar Smith (R.-Texas), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Rep. John Conyers (D.-Mich.), the ranking member of the committee.

“Contradictory to her 2010 confirmation testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, recently released Department of Justice (DOJ) documents indicate that Justice Kagan actively participated with her Obama Administration colleagues in formulating a defense of PPACA,” the letter said.

You don’t say. And when did the Senate Judiciary Committee get this information? Presumably, it was never shared until Leahy struck his deal with Boehner. If it’s part of that, and if the right-wing noise machine (i.e., we bloggers) can make a big enough deal of this, it may turn out that Boehner got the better of Wile E. Leahy.

It raises a very interesting question: what should happen to a sitting Supreme Court Justice who’s discovered to have perjured him/herself in testimony before Congress?

In the Valley of the Thuggy O! O! O! Green Idjit!

[Image nimbly swiped from the Freepers]