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Wednesday, May 04, 2005
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Good reasons to turn down $40 million.
I've been reading Peter Singer's The President of Good and Evil,
an analysis of the ethical muddle behind George Bush's policies. Singer
notes at the beginning of the book that he got some very strange looks
and dismissive comments when...
[Body and Soul]
9:04:12 PM 
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IMPEACHMENT TIME: "FACTS WERE FIXED".
Here it is. The smoking gun. The memo that has, "IMPEACH HIM" written all over it.
The
top-level government memo marked "SECRET AND STRICTLY PERSONAL," dated
eight months before Bush sent us into Iraq, following a closed meeting
with the President, reads, "Military action was now seen as inevitable.
Bush wanted to remove Saddam through military action justified by the
conjunction of terrorism and WDM. But the intelligence and facts were
being fixed around the policy."
*TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE VISIT WWW.GREGPALAST.COM OR CLICK THE LINK IN YOUR AGGREGATOR*
[Greg Palast]
3:06:39 PM
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Big News on the Long Bond. The
big news wasn't yesterday, it was not the non-announcement by the
Federal Reserve about another quarter point increase in interest rates.
Uncle Alan has been telegraphing this for quite sometime, and there was
no surprise, in fact, some in the financial press are calling the
statement made "all but meaningless". Nor was the ECB's announcement to hold rates steady particularly a surprise.
Instead the big news is today, that the treasury is considering bringing back the long bond.
The price of the long bonds in circulation dropped downward -
increasing their interest rate, or yield, though they rapidly adjusted
leaving only a smaller jump - from 4.48% to 4.59%.
This really ought to be Hale's territory, but fools go where angels fear to tread... [BOPnews]
3:04:21 PM
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House votes to turn naughty cheerleaders into outlaws.
Guillermo X. Garcia | Austin | May 4
San Antonio Express-News - Garcia of the Express-News writes: The House
threatened Tuesday to stop cheerleaders from shaking their pompoms --
or anything else -- too suggestively, approving a bill that critics
derided as unworkable and unnecessary. Don't the idiots in Austin have
anything better to do than this? Cheerleaders? Pom-poms? Talking about
banging my head up against a brick wall! What about all the kids who
have no healthcare in the state? What about the fact that
educationwise, Texas STILL ranks near the bottom of all states?Are they
going to outlwaw the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders next? Hah, I'd like to
see 'em try.I usually try to avoid this culture war stuff, but we just
have so many problems here in Texas, and our Legislature only meets
once every two years. You'd think they'd work on something more
pressing, more substantial than hip gyrations?. And this bill was
authored by a Democrat? Stick an icepick in my eye please. I can't
stand it any more!
[The Agonist]
10:23:46 AM
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Air Force responds quickly and swiftly to charges of religious bias.
Last week, I noted that the system religious intolerance at the Air
Force Academy had grown so serious that every non-Christian cadet was
effectively treated as a second-class citizen. My friends at Americans
United for Separation of Church and State, which produced a devastating
report on the academy's tolerance for harassment, had threatened to sue
[...]
[The Carpetbagger Report]
10:21:54 AM
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If You Pay Me Less And Charge Them More, I'd Buy It. Via Jo Fish, the continual struggle over whether or not Wal*Mart can pay more.
Wal*Mart, of course, says no - higher wages would mean higher prices,
and it would apparently destroy the ability of Wal*Mart to give those
low, low prices to the poor people who shop there. Well, the higher
wage/higher prices thing is a wee bit (just a wee) contradicted by the
fact that rival CostCo is growing much, much faster than Sam's Club, and by their not having the lowest prices.
I once did an experiment with my mom that got her to swear off
Wal*Mart. If you live in a town with a Target or a Costco nearby, take
a "lower prices" true believer into a Wal*Mart when they're shopping
for, say, five or so items. Remember the prices of those items, then
head to the other store. See how many you pay more for at the other
store - unless it's a very specific markdown, the alternative is likely
going to be the same price or a bit cheaper. In fact, if people have
experience with this, post it here - if you want to do it yourself, let
us know how it goes.
Getting back to the main point, Scott Ott
tries to mock the point into obscurity, which doesn't quite work.
Y'see, Wal*Mart benefits in large part from government services for its
low-wage workers, meaning that the money saved from corporate profits
tends to just circle back around and come out of consumers' pockets
anyway. The interesting thing, though, is that it's actually yet
another corporate argument for universal health care - the greater cost
efficiencies of universal health care would actually allow Wal*Mart to
increase direct wages to its workers.
I also don't understand the contention that Wal*Mart would have to
provide "above-market wages" in order to satisfy critics - the graphic
below shows that the company actually provides wages $2.60 below the
market average.
As myths go, the Wal*Mart one isn't even particularly persuasive -
it's not the price leader in the marketplace, it's not paying market
wages, and to top it off, it's a soul-crushing place to shop. From
Scott Ott's alleged incisiveness:
"The unions have helped us to understand that we've
been looking at the retailing business backward for 50 years," the CEO
said. "We mistakenly thought it was all about providing a good
selection at the lowest prices so people would shop with us. But what
customers really want is the good feeling they get by providing a
higher living standard for cashiers, shelf stockers and people
greeters. Clearly, our primary responsibility is to pay higher wages so
that our workers can afford our subsequently higher prices, or at least
be able to buy from other retailers that pay their employees less."
One of the strange things about humor? It helps if it's true. Y'see,
Wal*Mart's competitors have prices that are directly in line with
theirs, and they pay more. So, the farcical CEO of Ott's piece is just as much of a lying ass as the real heads of the company.
What an accomplishment! [Pandagon]
9:47:41 AM
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Cheers and Jeers: Wednesday. From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE... The Daily Show gang harpoons the pundits... The O'Reilly Factor:
This is the venue for those who could use an immediate and certain
judgment concerning their value as human beings. Are you a man amongst
men whose moral clarity and vision stand unsurpassed or a maggot
feeding upon the flesh of the dying? You will be told within the first
minute of the program. Do not question the judgment. Accept it, and
make the necessary changes. Hardball: Talk,
talk, talk. Everywhere you go they expect you to talk. Not on Hardball.
[Chris] Matthews will deliver the sound waves; all you need to do is
take a page from the guy sitting in the Maxell ad and hang on. As long
as you grunt or nod enough to uphold the minimum body language
requirement of the social contract you just bought yourself a half hour
of free television time. (Caution to asthmatics and those with heart
conditions: Carbon dioxide levels around Matthews can become
dangerously high. In the event of a diatribe, oxygen masks will drop
from the ceiling. Help yourself, then help the children.) Larry King Live:
If the word that most often precedes your office title is either
"disgraced" or "indicted," it's time for an audience with the King.
Larry knows you are a decent person. He'll give you the chance to make
up your side of the story. And it's easy to cry on the show because
Larry King smells like onions. ---From America (The Book) P.S. You can add one more name to the list of talking heads getting their own show on cable TV: Stephen Colbert. Yippee. The disgraced---but never indicted---Cheers and Jeers starts in There's Moreville... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]
[Daily Kos]
9:10:51 AM
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Bush Calls Berlusconi Over Shooting of Italian Agent in Iraq.
Rome | May 4
AP - President Bush called Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi on
Wednesday to reiterate his condolences over the March killing of an
Italian agent by U.S. troops in Iraq. The call came days after
Washington and Rome issued rival reports about the shooting death. Oh
to be a fly on that wall.
[The Agonist]
9:09:33 AM
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JOURNAL: Guerrilla Entrepreneur Update.
Guerrillas stormed the al-Rasheed bank in Ramadi. They siezed $13.5 m
in Iraqi dinars. Earlier this week, guerrillas robbed three trucks full
of new Iraqi coins. This is another example of guerrilla
entrepreneurship. There's no need to rely on Syria...
[Global Guerrillas]
9:08:16 AM
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Persecution.
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when people revile
you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely
on my account. Rejoice and...
[slacktivist]
6:33:11 AM
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© Copyright
2005
Michael Mussington.
Last update:
6/1/2005; 1:34:09 AM.
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