Another Open Thread

I was lucky enough to remember to put the camera on the end table next to the chair, and caught these snaps. For those of you wondering what the wild and crazy decadent nights at Balloon Juice HQ look like, this is it:

I can’t believe it was just a little over a year ago and I was debating whether I should get a dog. If you don’t have kids, you owe it to yourself and the animals to have pets. Trust me, your quality of life will go through the roof.

And while we are at it, don’t forget to get your Balloon Juice swag at the CafePress store. All proceeds (and by all, I mean 100%) go to the lovely folks at Charlie’s Angels Animal Rescue to support their mission.

Wednesday Night Open Thread

I have deemed you worthy:

I think that sums up the general mood around here. We’ve had several beautiful days in a row- mid 70’s, sunny, no humidity, beautiful breezes. I’m loving it, and I love being able to have all the windows open with the ceiling fans on.

Had a really good dinner- I bought some wild caught salmon filets and dad turned them into this delicious salad he makes with rice, asparagus, peas, tomatoes. Also had some more tomatoes with basil and mozz., and am now having a glass of Aconga, a really cheap Malbec/Sauvignon Blanc I found at Kroger for 3.99 a bottle, which is a decent price for a servicable table wine. I think it will be a busy night of sitting on the porch and then on the lazyboy with the girls.

BTW- for those dealing with the IE issues and the site, I’ve scheduled another rebuild maintenance for the end of August.

Essential Ipad Apps

I’ve been tinkering around with the ipad, and I can’t quite figure out what it is supposed to do. Meaning- why an Ipad rather than a Macbook? Or, why an Ipad rather than an Ipod? Is it a size thing- because I just don’t mind carrying around a 17” macbook, which has so much more power.

Are there applications that I must have that will make me understand the mania?

And I’m not saying I dislike the thing, I just don’t understand why it would be an essential tool for someone when a laptop would suffice.

Why Was This Ever Legal?

The title to this post says it all:

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday tightened restrictions against “pay-to-play” practices in the municipal securities market.

The measure was another attempt to close loopholes that agency officials said have allowed political influence to corrupt aspects of the $2.6 trillion public pension business.

The five-member commission voted unanimously to bar investment managers who make political contributions to officials with influence over public pension funds from managing those funds for two years.

The commission also barred investment managers from paying a third party to solicit pension business on their behalf unless the third party is registered with the S.E.C. or other regulators and therefore subject to similar pay-to-play bans.

But the commission stepped back from its original proposal, which would have placed an outright ban on third-party solicitations of pension-management business. Commission staff recommended the partial ban after investment advisers and fund managers complained that they often lacked the resources to secure pension business on their own, causing them to rely instead on consultants and brokers to gain access.

Mary Schapiro, the chairwoman of the S.E.C., called pay-to-play “an unspoken, but entrenched and well-understood practice.” The commission has made several attempts in recent years to crack down on pay-to-play, which Ms. Schapiro said can “favor large advisers over smaller competitors, reward political connections rather than management skill, and — as a number of recent enforcement cases have shown — pave the way to outright fraud and corruption.”

I suppose it is impossible to outlaw everything that should be illegal, but sometimes you see something and you have to wonder why it was ever allowed.

Please Explain

Can someone explain this reaction from Emptywheel:

After prompting Kagan to deliver the standard justification for detaining enemy combatants during war and rewarding her with a condescending compliment, Lindsey starts by getting Kagan to agree that the war on terror will never end.

Lindsey: [Speaking of her rote recitation of the basis for indefinite detention] That’s a good summary. The problem with this war is that there will never be a definable end to hostilities, will there?

Kagan: [Nodding] That is exactly the problem, Senator.

What a breath-taking exchange! Rather than challenge Lindsey on his slippery definition (referring to “hostilities” rather than war), rather than challenging him on the premise, Kagan simply nods in agreement. One minority party Senator and the Solicitor General sat in a hearing today and decided between them the state of hostilities under which the Executive Branch has assumed war-like powers to fight terrorism will never end.

The police state will continue forever.

Maybe I am misinterpreting these remarks, and you have to watch the video, but didn’t Kagan just say it is a bad thing that we are currently engaged in never-ending hostilities? Don’t we agree that is a bad thing? Isn’t Kagan right? What should she have said?

Like I Said

Just got around to reading the Gerson piece DougJ linked to earlier, and I want to repost the part DougJ highlighted plus a little:

But the Internet is also a permanent record, as Weigel found. His reaction to exposure was honest and admirable. He admitted to being “cocky” and “needlessly mean”—the kind of introspection that promises future contribution. But when members of the Ugly Party are exposed, generally they respond differently. Obscenity? The real obscenity is an unjust war, or imposing socialism or devotion to Israel. It is an argument that makes any deep policy disagreement an excuse for verbal violence. Or an offense against taste and judgment is dismissed as humor and satire.

The alternative to the Ugly Party is the Grown-Up Party—less edgy and less hip. It is sometimes depicted on the left and on the right as an all-powerful media establishment, stifling creativity, freedom and dissent. The Grown-Up Party, in my experience, is more like a seminar at the Aspen Institute—presentation by David Broder, responses from E.J. Dionne Jr. and David Brooks—on the electoral implications of the energy debate. I am more comfortable in this party for a few reasons: because it is more responsible, more reliable and less likely to wish its opponents would die.

I think my analysis of Gerson and the rest of the village the other day summarizes this warped viewpoint rather succinctly:

The rules still hold true- all sorts of disgusting and bizarre worldviews are acceptable among the “toilet-trained” Beltway elites (Krauthammer, Will, Thiessen, Kristol, and many others still write for the WaPo), but don’t drink out of the finger bowl or use a four letter word or your ass is history.

Sincere panels about the appropriateness of crushing a child’s testicles are acceptable and serious op-eds about the necessity for torture are welcome, but dropping an f-bomb on a private listserv is simply inexcusable and cause for a serious case of the vapors.

Kagan Hearings

Is anyone paying attention to these?

Also, I just caught Tunch trying to escape again. Apparently he jumps up on a laundry hamper in my bedroom, and then pushes a screen open and jumps out the window. Devil.

But He Uses Pretty Words

Yesterday, Glenn Greenwald responded to Jeffrey Goldberg’s ridiculous “think about the Kurds” post hoc justification for the war in Iraq (which itself was Goldberg changing the topic from the accuracy of his pre-war reporting, which then led to the ridiculous spectacle of Eli Lake guest-posting for him to continue to attempt to make the Al Qaeda/Hussein link case- I can only assume Goldberg couldn’t get a Weekly Standard intern to fill in), and noted that throughout history, whenever any country is invaded, there is always some group within the invading country who was pleased:

It’s difficult to find an invasion in history that wasn’t supported by at least some faction of the invaded population and where that same self-justifying script wasn’t used. That’s true even of the most heinous aggressors. Many Czech and Austrian citizens of Germanic descent, viewing themselves as a repressed minority, welcomed Hitler’s invasion of their countries, while leaders of the independence-seeking Sudeten parties in those countries actively conspired to bring it about. Did that make those German invasions justifiable?

This has sent Time’s Joe Klein into one of his usual frothing rages (which seem reserved for Greenwald or anyone who dares attack the village):

Greenwald also disagreed with Goldberg, but used the opportunity to launch another of his litigious, ambulance-chasing forays—in Greenwald’s case, it is “hits” he’s trying to collect, not fees—in which he posited Jeff as an arch-villain, practicing a form of dishonest journalism that Greenwald believes is corrupting the Republic. To be sure, lazy, corrupt journalism happens; always has, always will. But Goldberg’s work is quite the opposite: rigorously reported, beautifully written and fiercely honest. Indeed, Jeff’s willingness to be candid about lessons he learned along the way created a book that Greenwald rarely, if ever, mentions: Prisoners, a memoir of Jeff’s time as a member of the Israel Defense Forces when he served as a prison guard and developed a close, difficult and unresolved friendship with one of his Palestinian prisoners. This is the sort of work that Greenwald, locked in the sterile prison of his ideology, is completely incompetent to understand.

And now, Greenwald—who, so far as I can tell, only regards the United States as a force for evil in the world—has laid out the incredible notion that the liberation of the Kurds, which Jeff celebrates (and so do I, and so do civilized people everywhere) as a happy byproduct of George W. Bush’s dreadful war in Iraq, can be compared to the Nazi seizure of the Sudetenland:

Actually Joe, you’ve completely missed the point.

Let’s put this in words Joe can understand- If Israel were to be attacked, occupied, and have millions of her citizens murdered or killed in an invasion by Egypt, six years from now, it would not be ok to point to that immoral invasion and say “But look how happy the Palestinians are!” Which is precisely what Goldberg was doing, and exactly what Greenwald was pointing out. Even worse, Klein needed a reader to point out the very fact that Greenwald himself insisted the invasion of Iraq and the Nazi invasions are not the same. Now that’s some close reading of something that really upset you!

Joe noted that he was interrupting his vacation for this outburst- for his sake, I hope it was written from the hotel bar, because he completely missed the point. And for the record- I really like reading Joe Klein- most of the time.

*** Update ***

We’ve now got the spectacle of two prominent journalists, one for Time, one for the Atlantic, willfully misinterpreting someone’s remarks and screaming that person is a Nazi lover and hates America. Godwin wept.

Well, We Did Do the Nose. And the Hat.

This never gets old:

Reversing its oft-repeated position that it was acting only on behalf of its clients in its exotic dealings with the American International Group, Goldman Sachs now says that it also used its own money to make secret wagers against the U.S. housing market.

A senior Goldman executive disclosed the “bilateral” wagers on subprime mortgages in an interview with McClatchy, marking the first time that the Wall Street titan has conceded that its dealings with troubled insurer AIG went far beyond acting as an “intermediary” responding to its clients’ demands.

The official, who Goldman made available to McClatchy on the condition he remain anonymous, declined to reveal how much money Goldman reaped from its trades with AIG.

However, the wagers were part of a package of deals that had a face value of $3 billion, and in a recent settlement, AIG agreed to pay Goldman between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. AIG’s losses on those deals, for which Goldman is thought to have paid less than $10 million, were ultimately borne by taxpayers as part of the government’s bailout of the insurer.

This is who the Republicans are going to bat for in financial regulation- the people profiting off the destruction of this country.

So wrong but so right

If I could turn this Michael Gerson idiocy into a post category I would:

The Grown-Up Party, in my experience, is more like a seminar at the Aspen Institute—presentation by David Broder, responses from E.J. Dionne Jr. and David Brooks—on the electoral implications of the energy debate.

Supporting torture is fine, as long as it’s done politely at the Aspen Institute. But FSM forbid anyone should make a joke about Matt Drudge in a private email.

A Centrist Solution

Here’s Ezra’s gloss on the financial regulation compromise:

So rather than a bank tax, which Scott Brown worried would take capital out of the banking system, we’re going to drop part of the TARP program that was … putting capital into the banking system. And rather than making big banks and big hedge funds foot the bill, FDIC fees will be hiked so that small banks have to pay in but hedge funds don’t.

I’d like to blame Feingold and Cantwell’s principled stances for this one, but I doubt that it mattered. Without a 60-40 majority, whoever was Republican 60th vote would have extracted some other, equally stupid compromise to get this thing passed. Brown was just the designated prima donna for this one.

Late Night Open Thread: Vuvuzela!

This one’s for Randinho. (And thank goddess for subtitles.)

Some Thoughts on Tuesday’s Games 6-29-10

Prior to today, I had watched all fifty-six games contested in their entirety. Unfortunately time constraints prevented me from watching any of the Japan v Paraguay game. Having followed it on The Guardian, it doesn’t appear I missed much. Please feel free to tell me what, if anything, I missed.

Regardless of how one feels about Portugal, it must be tough for Eduardo, their goalkeeper: he surrendered one goal in four games and is out of the World Cup.

I don’t know if they use the same term in Portugal, but in Brazil, they would refer to Cristiano Ronaldo today as um fogo de palha (flash in the pan).

Boo-frigging-hoo.

Man of the match IMHO: Héctor Baldassi, the Argentine referee, who refused to indulge Cristiano Ronaldo’s dives and kept the game under control.

Yes, Ricardo Costa deserved the card. He looked to see where Joan Capdevila was, then threw an elbow into his face. What did he think would happen?

Fernando Llorente’s performance is going to present Vicente del Bosque with some tough decisions. Iker Casillas’s should as well, in my opinion.

As the starting lineups were being presented I turned to Mercia and pointed out to her that six of the players play for Barcelona (I’m including David Villa now) and three for Real Madrid. Is there any other team in the World Cup that has that much talent concentrated on two teams?

Hugo Almeida may be a forward, but he plays like a holding midfielder who gets in on the attack once in a while.

I’ve always thought Carlos Quieroz was a crappy coach. Apparently some of his players feel the same way.

Sergio Busquets had a great game: he completed 97 of his 102 passes.

I’m back on Thursday. No football for two days.Don’t go into withdrawal.

Open Thread

I contend there is nothing finer than fresh tomatoes with salt and pepper. Except maybe pets:

I’d post a picture of Tunch, but I left the storage room in the basement open so I probably will not see him until tomorrow morning when he decides to wake me up for breakfast and has cobwebs strewn all over his whiskers and ears.

The change in Rosie in just two weeks has been remarkable. She played all day today with Guesly and Lily, and she sat on dad’s lap and was super affectionate. Mom thinks it is because I bought her some bling, so now she feels secure.

The new Ipad showed up, so I’ll be tinkering with that tonight. Kinda want to check out that new show Memphis Beat to see if it is any good.

*** Update ***

Apparently Tunch escaped outdoors somehow. There was meowing at the door, I looked, and there he was. I guess he got the benefit of an outdoor experience without giving me a heart attack.

Funnier Words Were Never Spoken

So the Republicans succeeded in removing 19 billion in taxes on the banksters from finreg, which led John Carney to write this:

The Republicans are expected to accept this deal.

So funny.