So the Messrs. Skilling and Lay got busted. This is a great day. Apparently after six days of thinking it over, the jury decided the Enron boys were just lying out their asses. Good job, jury. What was the part that tipped it for you? The part where they lied or the part where they lied about lying?
Here are my two favorite parts of the whole thing:
Mr. Lay is an alumnus of the University of Missouri, and like many philanthropists, gave them a big chunk of money, but didn't want a lot of fanfare. As things started going south for Enron, he then wanted his name on the gift. Then he wanted the money back, but only so he could give it to charitable Katrina-related purposes close to the jury, I mean home. Then he said he needed it back for legal fees. Mizzou isn't giving it back, although it's questionable whether his name will be honored on a building.
I did fundraising work for 10 years and here's what I can share right off the bat: It's a gift you make because you believe in the mission of the institution. It's not a savings account, to be skimmed from when you're a little light.
My other favorite part was that futures traders were actively betting on whether Skilling and Lay would be convicted. When Skilling's lawyer Dan Petrocelli got wind of that, he said, "It is god-awful [that] people are betting on peoples' lives."
Yes, sir, it certainly was. Oh, oh, you mean the traders. I see now.
Sources:
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/business/14643441.htm
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/illinoisstatenews/story/21A19122F45E0B19862571770011CF79?OpenDocument
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Thursday, May 18, 2006
See Desk For Jimmies
This sign was actually seen at a buffet restaurant by one of the Trogettes. The intent of the restaurant was, "Not only don't we trust you to put sprinkles on your own ice cream correctly, but we think you'll take far more than you're entitled to, so come to us for your jimmy allotment. " So now, at Casa Trog, "See Desk For Jimmies" equals "dumb-ass public policy."
And now, I'd like to catch you up on what's been happening in el mundo de immigracion.
There's a lot happening. Just today, in fact, the Senate narrowly defeated the idiocy known as the Ensign Amendment. This gem attacked illegal aliens who work and pay taxes b/c they do so by using fake Social Security numbers. It would have prevented said aliens from receiving credit for any taxes paid into the system while working as an illegal resident. It lost, but it was a 50-49 loss.
As many of you know, PUS was on TV Monday night, talking up the value of a big fence. In reality, the point of this chat was to shore up a large part of his ever-fading fan base. What's interesting is if your fanbase consists of conservatives and corporate America, it doesn't seem like there would be very many times in which these two groups wouldn't be one and the same. Yet here we have such a case.
A closer examination of PUS's big idea: The fence in question will stretch all the way across the Mexican border so that no one can get in here. In reality, there will be places determined to be so dangerous that they won't be fenced, and those will become the points of entree for many. That is to say that what's already a very dangerous trek will become more so. More foreseeable death, courtesy the Administration Pals.
Next: we're going to do a much better job, per PUS, of guarding the border, b/c we're now going to arm the border with 6,000 National Guard. 6,000? The entire border is 700 miles. That's more than 8 Guards for every mile. Not to put too fine a point on it, if you were to run your high-school track, you'd run into two Guards by the time you ran one lap. Is that necessary? Are we planning to hire only really fat, out-of-shape Guards who can run a total of 1/8 of a mile or less?
And it's not like the National Guard has been slacking lately. The days of a few weekends a year are gone. They've been quite busy. They've been in Iraq, they've been helping with Katrina. I don't know how many extra Guards we actually have for border protection. (And of those, how many are fat and out-of-shape?)
Another point is that PUS said it would cost $1.9 b-b-billion dollars to fund this whole thing. In case you're wondering how PUS came to be sitting on such a huge wad, he's not. It will come out of the emergency request he made for funds for the Department of Defense.
So, let's review. We put National Guardspeople in Iraq b/c we didn't have enough regular troops. And there are a whole bunch of other servicepeople, in addition to the Guard, in Iraq who are going without appropriately armored cars, etc. In other words, our lack of budget is making them as unsafe as they can be in one of the most dangerous places in the world. Now, when we have an emergency request to get them the funding they desperately need, it's being taken away so a bunch of fat guys can stand so close to each other they're practically holding hands under the hot Texas sun. With me?
Have you wondered where Congress is getting all that money it's dispensing? Don't look to the rich folk--I watched Uncle PUS sign another big old tax cut for them just yesterday.
See Desk For Jimmies.
Sources: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/18/washington/18cnd-immig.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5094&en=a1054fb2fa46ad96&hp&ex=1148011200&partner=homepage
And now, I'd like to catch you up on what's been happening in el mundo de immigracion.
There's a lot happening. Just today, in fact, the Senate narrowly defeated the idiocy known as the Ensign Amendment. This gem attacked illegal aliens who work and pay taxes b/c they do so by using fake Social Security numbers. It would have prevented said aliens from receiving credit for any taxes paid into the system while working as an illegal resident. It lost, but it was a 50-49 loss.
As many of you know, PUS was on TV Monday night, talking up the value of a big fence. In reality, the point of this chat was to shore up a large part of his ever-fading fan base. What's interesting is if your fanbase consists of conservatives and corporate America, it doesn't seem like there would be very many times in which these two groups wouldn't be one and the same. Yet here we have such a case.
A closer examination of PUS's big idea: The fence in question will stretch all the way across the Mexican border so that no one can get in here. In reality, there will be places determined to be so dangerous that they won't be fenced, and those will become the points of entree for many. That is to say that what's already a very dangerous trek will become more so. More foreseeable death, courtesy the Administration Pals.
Next: we're going to do a much better job, per PUS, of guarding the border, b/c we're now going to arm the border with 6,000 National Guard. 6,000? The entire border is 700 miles. That's more than 8 Guards for every mile. Not to put too fine a point on it, if you were to run your high-school track, you'd run into two Guards by the time you ran one lap. Is that necessary? Are we planning to hire only really fat, out-of-shape Guards who can run a total of 1/8 of a mile or less?
And it's not like the National Guard has been slacking lately. The days of a few weekends a year are gone. They've been quite busy. They've been in Iraq, they've been helping with Katrina. I don't know how many extra Guards we actually have for border protection. (And of those, how many are fat and out-of-shape?)
Another point is that PUS said it would cost $1.9 b-b-billion dollars to fund this whole thing. In case you're wondering how PUS came to be sitting on such a huge wad, he's not. It will come out of the emergency request he made for funds for the Department of Defense.
So, let's review. We put National Guardspeople in Iraq b/c we didn't have enough regular troops. And there are a whole bunch of other servicepeople, in addition to the Guard, in Iraq who are going without appropriately armored cars, etc. In other words, our lack of budget is making them as unsafe as they can be in one of the most dangerous places in the world. Now, when we have an emergency request to get them the funding they desperately need, it's being taken away so a bunch of fat guys can stand so close to each other they're practically holding hands under the hot Texas sun. With me?
Have you wondered where Congress is getting all that money it's dispensing? Don't look to the rich folk--I watched Uncle PUS sign another big old tax cut for them just yesterday.
See Desk For Jimmies.
Sources: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/18/washington/18cnd-immig.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5094&en=a1054fb2fa46ad96&hp&ex=1148011200&partner=homepage
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
torturoUS
Those pinkos over at Amnesty International report that the US has been engaging in widespread torture. A bunch of other wingnuts I know seem to think it's fine if this goes on, that as long as you've done nothing wrong, you've got nothing to fear. Hmm. Suppose you haven't done anything wrong yet you're still pulled into Guantanamo? Do you have better rights, more rights? The nice cell with the curtains and room service for the prisoners who didn't do anything wrong, it's just a case of mistaken identity? Or mistaken ethnicity? Or you just happen to tan well? I don't think so. I think you're equally hosed.
Only recently was a list of people who have been living at Gtmo for almost 4 years even made public. Can you imagine being one of those people, and hoping against hope that your family will get you released but they can't because they don't know where the hell you are? Or not being allowed to see a lawyer? Can anyone stay sane in the face of that, to say nothing of being tortured regularly to boot? I know myself. I'd have been rocking in the corner, muttering, inside of a month.
Forgetting for a moment small details like the Geneva Convention, which would protect even an enemy, why has our government not been required to prove that each prisoner is in fact an enemy combatant? This is why the whole idea of "you've got nothing to fear" is itself so very fearful. You have plenty to fear, whether you're a bad guy or a good guy. The reality is that Unca Dubya has no plan, and no one is holding him accountable for that vast and tragic lack. It could be argued that there are times, like in crises of national security, in which we need to give up some of the rights we hold so dear. I would argue that the erosion of civil and human rights is a terrible thing and should never even be entertained without the deepest thought and the most compelling reason, none of which has occurred as yet.
As has been said before, when none of us have any rights, I'm sure we'll all feel very safe. It's a damn scary thing when you realize that the real cause for concern in terms of our national security is inside the Beltway.
Yes, fellow Trogs, it's true. The calls are coming from inside the house.
Sources:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/rights_amnesty_dc
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,,1757618,00.html
Only recently was a list of people who have been living at Gtmo for almost 4 years even made public. Can you imagine being one of those people, and hoping against hope that your family will get you released but they can't because they don't know where the hell you are? Or not being allowed to see a lawyer? Can anyone stay sane in the face of that, to say nothing of being tortured regularly to boot? I know myself. I'd have been rocking in the corner, muttering, inside of a month.
Forgetting for a moment small details like the Geneva Convention, which would protect even an enemy, why has our government not been required to prove that each prisoner is in fact an enemy combatant? This is why the whole idea of "you've got nothing to fear" is itself so very fearful. You have plenty to fear, whether you're a bad guy or a good guy. The reality is that Unca Dubya has no plan, and no one is holding him accountable for that vast and tragic lack. It could be argued that there are times, like in crises of national security, in which we need to give up some of the rights we hold so dear. I would argue that the erosion of civil and human rights is a terrible thing and should never even be entertained without the deepest thought and the most compelling reason, none of which has occurred as yet.
As has been said before, when none of us have any rights, I'm sure we'll all feel very safe. It's a damn scary thing when you realize that the real cause for concern in terms of our national security is inside the Beltway.
Yes, fellow Trogs, it's true. The calls are coming from inside the house.
Sources:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/rights_amnesty_dc
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guantanamo/story/0,,1757618,00.html
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