I don’t know anything about economics, but I know what I like, and what I like is Naked Capitalism’s analysis of the Paulson plan. The long story short of NC’s analysis is that the financial system is, um, fucked up because housing prices became grossly inflated. Stability won’t return until housing prices fall to the…
Author: Alan Vanneman
Does that mean we lied? Part II
The way David Ignatius tells it, Secretary of Defense Bob Gates will do anything to express his sorrow for the deaths of innocent Afghan civilians killed by U.S. troops. He’ll even stand in the hot sun, wearing a pinstriped suit! According to Ignatius, Gates also announced that “United States will adopt a new approach of…
Milt Jackson Quartet in Japan 1990
So does that mean we lied?
Yesterday Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, speaking in Kabul, offered “sincere condolences and personal regrets” for recent deaths of Afghan civilians as a result of U.S. air strikes. You may remember that on August 22 a U.S. airstrike killed “five to seven” civilians, according to the U.S. military. Or was it closer to 90? Gates…
The Ample Ass-Covering of Anne Applebaum
Anne Applebaum is back from Afghanistan, and she has a tale to tell. According to Anne, the job is tough but doable. “Though Americans like to talk about “winning” and “losing” the war in Afghanistan, on the ground it’s clear that those categories aren’t relevant. Of course we can “win”: The real question is whether…
Two and 44/100s cheers for capitalism
A fascinating story in the September 9 Washington Post tells the tale of a come on practiced by some DC-area car dealers: Come on down and win $30,000 in cash! Or a Silverado truck! Or a flatscreen TV! Or a voucher for 150 gallons of gas! Now, granted, the odds that anyone would win any…
Drill, baby, drill or Toke, baby, toke?
A rather off-topic scandal is unearthed at the NY Times among those W&C guys at the Dept. of the Interior, involving drugs, sex, and free tickets to Toby Keith concerts.* Back in the day, my dad had a friend who thought that he and my dad should run the Bureau of Fish and Wildlife: “You…
Tales From The Bucket—Oh Yeah!
Okay, I’m tired of being serious. Besides, this is huge. You may remember a week or two ago I went off on a tangent about comics (here and here). Well, I thought I had kicked the habit, but I gotta tell you, the old “Woodcut Gil” Gil Thorp artist is back. Tales From The Bucket…
The snark that would not die
Not if I can help it, anyway. I recently posted a comment at the New Republic, regarding an article that Martha Nussbaum had written on Roger Williams, a commented that suggested, among other things, that I hoped I would live long enough to see Martha, Richard Posner, and Justice Scalia fighting it out with socks…
Benny Green—Cottontail
Benny Green, pianist with the Ray Brown trio, takes the lead in this version of Duke Ellington’s “Cottontail.” The trio includes Brown on bass, taking the backseat on this one, and drummer Jeff Hamilton, enhanced by a very large European big band. Recorded in concert in Cologne in 1994. Green quotes too much to be…