‘Con’ out of Congress, members bail on bailout…

Today, what was supposed to be a ‘sure thing’ unraveled. The $700 billion bail-out bill failed to clear the House. The market predictably went down, trying to convince the public that action is needed immediately. Having the luxury of being able to work from home today, I watched the developments on that epitome of business news on TV, CNBC.
So much misinformation, lies, and grossly unethical reporting goes on in the name of ‘business news…’

1. The anchors and reporters keep insisting that this is a great buying opportunity. Hey Maria and the gang, if it is such a great buying opportunity why is the market going down? Oh, by the way, why aren’t you or Bill Gates or Warren Buffet buying up all the bargains?
2. The money in the bailout is not going to fat cats but is going to ‘ease’ liquidity. These idiots do not want to say that liquidity is NOT the problem, but that the lenders have become highly risk averse. The bailout bill is exactly that- bailout for the financial institutions.
3. The anchors keep encouraging people to BUY, without saying that the current problems are caused by the casino culture they helped create. Playing games with people’s retirement money and hard-earned pay is highly unethical.
4. Neither the anchors nor the guests want to address the root cause of the problem. They do not want to discuss why the government should buy assets which no one else wants.
5. An argument made is that ‘this is a great buying opportunity for the Government.’ If it is such a great opportunity, why isn’t GE and other institutions beating to the door to buy these toxic assets?

Amy Goodman of Democracy Now did an excellent interview with Dennis Kucinich. It is worth reading.
“Is this the United States Congress or the Board of Directors of Goldman Sachs?” Rep. Dennis Kucinich Rejects $700 Billion Bailout

Every person has one vote and all votes are equal- NOT in the Electoral College System of the USA

For an outsider, and I am an outsider, the Electoral College System seems anachronistic and ill suited to modern-day needs. If all citizens are equal, irrespective of where they vote, then every vote should be valued equally. If the President is expected to represent every citizen equally, then every vote should be valued equally. With the Electoral College system, the value of a vote is increased or diminished depending on where the person voted. While no one can assess the truth in the 2000 elections, the result was close enough to suggest that Al Gore had received more votes nationwide than GWB.

The Electoral College System is one more reason for not participating in the system. The lack of simplicity and transparency does not help democracy.

I supported the Green party in 2000, hoping that it would help support the growth of an alternative party in the U.S. I bet on Kerry in 2004, and it is hard for me to fathom his loss. I have not yet decided whether to vote for a third party or for Obama, but if my perception of a McCain Electoral College victory gets closer to reality, perhaps a vote for a third party might be in order.

It’s in the way that you use it…..

It’s in the way that you use it,
It comes and it goes.
It’s in the way that you use it,
Boy don’t you know.

And if you lie you will lose it,
Feelings will show.
So don’t you ever abuse it,
Don’t let it go.

Nobody’s right till somebody’s wrong.
Nobody’s weak till somebody’s strong.
No one gets lucky till luck comes along.
Nobody’s lonely till somebody’s gone.

…..Song from the movie ‘The Color of Money’ sung by Eric Clapton….

Paul Newman passed away today. He certainly ranks as one of the greatest actors of all time. His wonderful movie Sting is the best entertainment money can buy.
The NYT has a nice article, “Paul Newman, 83, Magnetic Hollywood Titan, Dies.”

The following part is very touching…

“I’m not able to work anymore as an actor at the level I would want to,” Mr. Newman said last year on the ABC program “Good Morning America.” “You start to lose your memory, your confidence, your invention. So that’s pretty much a closed book for me.”

But he remained fulfilled by his charitable work, saying it was his greatest legacy, particularly in giving ailing children a camp at which to play.

“We are such spendthrifts with our lives,” Mr. Newman once told a reporter. “The trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss you can muster. I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out.”

McPalinauguration on January 20, 2009–still time to run for the Exits

Yesterday’s debate and the subsequent analysis has made it quite clear that the media, including the moderators and the analysts, is catering to entertainment rather than educating the public. The mainstream media assumes that the public is ignorant and stupid, and works hard to keep it that way. These thoughts are based on some of my observations…

• In the debate, McCain, who claims to have years of foreign policy experience, did not pronounce correctly either the names of foreign countries (including Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq) or the names of leaders like Ahmedinajad or Zardari. Obama pronounced the names effortlessly and correctly, and was gracious enough not to highlight McCain’s callousness. People everywhere take their country’s name seriously. Mispronouncing it displays a lack of respect and a lack of education. If a person like McCain does not even bother, after 26 years, to learn to pronounce these things properly and nobody highlights it, the American public will not ‘get it.’ Of course, most people in the media continue to mangle these names as well…And the public wonders why people in other countries dislike us.
• While McCain kept twisting Obama’s statements and taking them out of context the moderator just let everything go by. Obama’s statement that he would talk to all nations without pre-conditions was suddenly twisted to mean that he would be sitting opposite Ahmedinajad and giving the country away.
• McCain claims that the surge worked, but does not admit that the war was wrong and the surge was needed because he and his GWB administration caused the problems. It is also not clear if the surge just ‘shifted’ the problem. There is no guarantee that once the troops are removed stability prevails.
• Currently the U.S. is conducting operations at the Pakistan Afghan border, sometimes without Pakistan’s consent. Yet McCain flailed at Obama because Obama said that he would conduct operations if Pakistan’s forces did not do it themselves.

The sad part is that Jim Lehrer, of PBS, did not seriously question the candidates. Both of them got away with semi-truths and accusations, but McCain’s were the most egregious. Reviews of the debate in the major papers did not discuss these issues either.

At this pace, it is likely that we will witness the coronation of McPalin at the McPalinauguration on Jan. 2oth. Unless Obama establishes landslide support, Republican ‘electorate management’ techniques, perfected by Karl Rove and his disciples, will deliver the victory.

The Big Debate Farce

Today’s debate was truly a farce. Allegations were flying, with the useless moderator not challenging or questioning them. McCain was especially notorious in using data that was either false or incomplete, and distorted statements made by Obama.
The fact that these were not challenged would mean that quite a few viewers will walk away believing that what they heard was the truth..

Trying to Rise above the Muck of Mediocrity

While returning from class yesterday afternoon, an astute colleague of mine commented on how we sometimes seem to be stuck in mediocrity. It is a suffocating, slow death experience that kills the drive to grow and make things better. Managers seem to be content with the status quo, students go through the motions, faculty members do their little teaching and go…all the while the macro picture is slowly deteriorating or not keeping pace.

For my part, I remind myself daily to avoid the rut. I try to be fearless and stand up for quality. This term I have helped set up a few students with some great mentors, have arranged great field trips for some others. My first year students are coming around. I have tried to write interesting commentary on this blog. But I could be doing so much more and so much better….

Some folks who worked hard to avoid getting stuck in the muck…
My dad (died when he was 62 years old).
Ghantasala (52)
Kishore Kumar (58)
Lata Mangeshkar (going strong at 78)
David Byrne (56 and still a creative force)
Sanjeev Kumar (47)
John Ritter (55)

Couric does a Brain Drain of Palin

And voila…nothing comes out of it….

The fact that the Republican party elects McCain, who then selects Palin, and still gets more than 40% of the voters in polls shows the triumph of ignorance and the desire to stay ignorant over questioning and seeking.
And people ask why companies are outsourcing jobs to other countries…..

The Blame Game

Who Does Bush blame for the financial crisis? Here is an extract from Bush’s speech on Wednesday 9/24. (courtesy the White House website).

“Well, most economists agree that the problems we are witnessing today developed over a long period of time. For more than a decade, a massive amount of money flowed into the United States from investors abroad, because our country is an attractive and secure place to do business. This large influx of money to U.S. banks and financial institutions — along with low interest rates — made it easier for Americans to get credit. These developments allowed more families to borrow money for cars and homes and college tuition — some for the first time. They allowed more entrepreneurs to get loans to start new businesses and create jobs.

Unfortunately, there were also some serious negative consequences, particularly in the housing market. Easy credit — combined with the faulty assumption that home values would continue to rise — led to excesses and bad decisions. Many mortgage lenders approved loans for borrowers without carefully examining their ability to pay. Many borrowers took out loans larger than they could afford, assuming that they could sell or refinance their homes at a higher price later on.

Optimism about housing values also led to a boom in home construction. …”

Ah, It is the fault of the foreigners who gave us the money when we wanted it…

To which the German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrückgave a sharp reply, outlined in the NYT article, Germans Receive Bush Speech Coldly. “Investment bankers and politicians in New York, Washington and London were not willing to give these up,” he said. “The financial market crisis is above all an American problem.”

The long-term consequences, Mr. Steinbrück added, could be serious for the United States. “The U.S. will lose its status as the superpower of the world financial system,” he told the Bundestag. “The world financial system will become multipolar.”

The United States of America has benefited greatly from the Globalization of Capital, and blaming others for one’s lack of moral fiber is par for the course for people who claim to live on faith.

Overcoming The GAP – Greed Against Principle

“Integrity is an important character trait in every human being because it is the main moral that keeps our world responsible and functioning. If integrity was absent in our lives, nobody would be responsible to anyone else, and nothing would ever be accomplished….” – an extract from a passage by VW, one of my students.

WSJ reports that “At CVS Golf Gala, Suppliers Pay for Access to Executives.”
An extract…”Like other retailers, CVS Caremark Corp. has an ethics policy meant to keep suppliers from using pricey travel, entertainment or gifts to buy the favor of its employees. But many companies have found a way to spread largess to the drugstore giant’s influential executives — with the blessing of CVS.

This year, for example, KKM LLC of Lincoln, R.I., paid at least $50,000 for a weekend of yachting and golf with two top CVS officials. In past years, KKM, which sells goods to CVS on behalf of manufacturers, has funded other vacations that paired its executives with …”

Eli Lilly to disclose payments to doctors The company’s move to report money for speeches and advice comes as Congress pushesdisclosure legislation.

From the Associated Press

September 24, 2008

WASHINGTON — In an industry first, Eli Lilly & Co. says it will begin disclosing how much money it pays to individual doctors for advice, speeches and other services.

The drug company’s move comes as members of Congress push a disclosure bill in an effort to prevent such payments from improperly influencing medical decisions.

Beginning next year, Eli Lilly will disclose payments of more than $500 to doctors for their roles as advisors and for speaking at educational seminars. In later years, the company will expand the types of payments disclosed to include such things as travel, entertainment and gifts.

Some have voiced concerns that doctors are influenced by these payments in their treatment decisions and that this in turn can drive up medical bills. Although most physicians believe that free lunches or trips have no effect on their medical judgment, research has shown that these type of payments can affect how people act.

Bush – The MBA* President

MBA = Must Be Afraid

Credit must be given to George Bush and the bunch for sticking to one basic principle throughout their tenure – spreading fear and making people afraid- afraid of almost everything and almost everyone.
Consider the language used by Ben and others in intimidating Congress into passing the trillion dollar give-away.
From CBC.com….”The White House pressed the U.S. Congress publicly and privately Tuesday to pass a $700-billion US bailout package it hopes will contain a spreading financial crisis. Congressional leaders — especially those who oppose the package — are being asked whether they want to be responsible for even greater economic harm than has occurred so far, the CBC’s Henry Champ reported from Washington.
“And the whispers always include references to Oct. 29, 1929, the Great Depression and things of that nature,” he said. Although no one can be certain what would happen if the package is not passed, the threat is likely to carry the day, Champ said.”…..

“Action by the Congress is urgently required to stabilize the situation and avert what could otherwise be very serious consequences for our financial markets and for our economy,” Bernanke said in testimony prepared for delivery today to the Senate Banking Committee. “Global financial markets remain under extraordinary stress.” (Bloomberg)
“I believe if the credit markets are not functioning, that jobs will be lost, the unemployment rate will rise, more houses will be foreclosed upon, GDP will contract, that the economy will just not be able to recover,” Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee today. “My interest is solely for the strength and recovery of the U.S. economy.”
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox said Congress should “immediately” grant authority to regulate credit-default swaps amid concern the bets are fueling the global financial crisis.
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