[quote][b]Anonymous Dude[/b] - We Americans shall hang together or we shall hang separately.[/quote]

Alledgedly the words of Ben Franklin at the signing of the Declaration of Independence!

When a depression forms off Virginia is it "tropical"?

[quote][b]crash64[/b] - So much more to worry about. This is nothing more than a deliberate distractor from the real issues.
[/quote]

There are a lot of pundits who agree with you. The only marriage at the moment that is a threat to this country's long term well being is that relationship between the corporations and our government.

The only real abortion that matters is the one involving the death of our democracy.Go back to watching the propaganda box. They will condition you for practicing idolatry and greed.

I bet John Thomas has coached a lot of kids with a lot of vowels in their names, but I bet most most were the sons of coal miners and steelworkers.

[quote][b]thepatrioticsob[/b] - so its one crook being endorsed by many ... why can't we get someone with a real clue as to the needs of this country and not their own personal ideology ...
why does everything have to be about religion in this country ??? what about the issues the need to be addressed like spending cuts and tax increases ... both of which need to be done to get us out of the debt that bush and the repubatards caused ...
[/quote]

If you will look at chapter 7, entitled "The Rigged Game", in Jeff Sachs' new book "The Price of Civilization" then you can gain some insight into the politics that have created this clusterphuq we call a country.

Dimon has already stated that the "rule" as proposed would have had no effect on this outcome in this matter The actual implementation of the new rule will not go into effect until later next year.Jaime's board has already given him a vote of confidence and assured him that his "bonus" is intact. The originator of the strategy and a couple of others are getting the axe. A couple of sacrificial lambs should suffice to stifle criticism and derail any true reforms.

I love the above analogy to Las Vegas because it is appropriate. Han's Werner Sinn, German professor and economic guru, has called the current model of financial capitalism on Wall Street "Casino Capitalism". The academics have a clear understanding of how corrupt and self serving Wall Street has become and how government policy aides them in their exploits.

The criticism of the rampant greed and sense of entitlement displayed by these contemporary "Robber Barons" that has come from the old line leading capitalists and financial experts like Warren Buffet and John Bogle are a scathing indictment of their practices.

The defectors from the Wall Street investment banks, like Nomi Prins (Can't remember the first book by the male defector from Goldman Sachs describing this incestuous relationship.) ,have described in their writings the industry's pervasive influence and control over the government regulators that has created a situation where our government essentially allows the foxes to guard the henhouse. Are our leaders idiots? Of course not, they are willing accomplices in this charade.

Obama, and Clinton before him, were joined at the hip with the Robert Rubins and Larry Summers that began this deregulation that has facilitated the evolution of this flawed business model. The collapse in 2007 provided a laboratory for examining deregulation as it evolved on Wall Street and those that analyzed the collapse have given us a laundry list of practices that must end or at least be reformed.

There are a lot of issues to be addressed, but as you suggest your average member of Congress is ill equiped to deal with these issues and the regulatory bureacrats charged with the task are almost as inept. The ideological rhetoric and platitudes that characterize the debate are substituted for serious reform because presenting a true analytical explanation to the American people would only cure a good many cases of insomnia. Unfortunately, as you suggest, the rhetorical gibberish from the various Congressmen intended for the masses probably represents the extent of their competence on the subject as well.

I believe you indicated that you had read Hyman Minsky's "Stabilizing An Unstable Economy". As he prophesied back in the mid 80s, before the repeal of Glass-Steagall, the emergence and expansion of financial capitalism would only lead to increasing fragility and instability in our economy. He also stated that government regulators are always a step behind the financial innovators and that only the latest financial calamity reveals to them the inherent weaknesses in those innovations. Well, it has been five years since the collapse. The academics understand the failures involved. It is only in the age of corporatism that government is paralyzed to act in the national interest. Looks like the ultimate collapse is all that will prompt some new and dynamic leadership to come forward to correct the situation.

My understanding was that this was a "proprietary trade" with Morgan funds to offset an expected loss from European (Greece) operations. Not a part of assets under management.

While Morgan/Chase claims to have around $1.5 trillion under management, thet showed in their last statement $2.3 billion in assets and around $1.1 billion in liabilities. with shareholder equity of around $180 million.

This proprietary trade loss would represent a substantial portion of expected earnings for 2011. Don't know about this year. Why don't you look up their earnings for 2010. I'd expect $2-3 billion to put a dent in that.

The real issue is whether influence from the investment banks over government agency bureacrats in the rulle making process effectively gutted the intended restraint on gambling inherent in the"Volker Rule"as it was proposed.

The X-Ray showing a broken facial bone will not lie and credibility is what this case is about. A critical piece of evidence that would require an independent analysis by a neutral radiologist to confirm a fracture with no lines of calcium to reflect healing. All he could say was that it was a recent fracture, but it does document an injury that will tend to confirm some sort of physical altercation.

Perhaps the reference to adderall and the benzodiazipine, along with ongoing treatment by a psychologist, is more revealing as to why this tradgedy unfolded as it did. Zimmermann was apparently suffering from some sort of ongoing mood disorder and that may have predisposed him to an exaggerated response to any action that "pushed his buttons".Zimmerman himself may have been a loaded gun waiting to go off. Just the sort of person who doesn't need to be in a setting where he is armed and likely to be involved in confronting other individuals.

Going to be an interesting trial with a lot of angles to be examined.

Well, we saw how Athenian democracy worked --- hemlock for the critics. That's what I call "silencing" the opposition. When the opposition can be silenced with a phone call then you have a similar problem.

I think what the original poster is suggesting is that we examine "...the way a paper is run." in this instance and react accordingly.

I just took the liberty to express my views on the two areas that are thorns in my side when it comes tpo puiblic education. The "Super" has some role in the first, but is helpless to address the second as is the avowed policy of "no child gets ahead"!

@jlscott: There is a public function provided by media in uncovering and exposing the truth in that never ending battle to fight graft, corruptionn and incompetence in governmental institutions. Any effort to subvert that journalistic function is subject to intense scrutiny. Refusal to pursue that time honored tradition of muckraking by any media source by punishing those figures that pursue that noble objective, especially when done at the behest of a public official, is a vital topic for public discussion. It is not "others' business" as suggested by the poster. It is a public concern!

What was their role?

Were they exonerated of any involvement in the cheating scandal? If so, then they were not damaged . Unless perhaps they lost some salary. If so, pay them that salary.

If they were implicated in the cheating scandal then they have committed a fraud on the citizens and injured the reputation of public education.File a counterclaim for damages against them arising from their malfeasance.

There can be no acceptance of academic fraud. There can be no professionalism or integrity if such behaviors exist and escape punishment. That is what is at stake in this lawsuit.

@King Minos: There are two distinct features of public education that are contributing greatly to exploding costs. One is the growing number of "admin istrative positions which are funded at ridiculous salaries and the other is the use of highly educated and highly paid personnel to attempt to educate under Federal mandates those students that are incapable of being educated.

The reason for declining scholastic achievement is primarily a result of changes in societal behavioral norms and attitudes. Expectations, reinforced and taught by all social institutions, play a critical role in motivating both teachers and students.

Recent test results show that as a general proposition even our newly created charter schools are underperforming. Contemporary culture just seems to have a preference for ignorance and entertainment over scholarship and academics. Guess that the latter is just "too boring"! Besides, the power elite can manipulate the uneducated masses with greater ease.

The problem that led to this result was excessive leverage in JPM's "propprietary trading" in "hedge" intruments. This would have been limited by the "Volker Rule" as it was proposed and enacted, however Jaime Dimon's lobbyist friends and the bought off regulators weakened the restraints by implementing weak rules that allowed circumvention of the intended limitations.

There are a multitude of books written on the extent of the human greed and the sense of entitlement that has turned Wall Street into a huge casino operation. This greed, when wed to the naive and shortsighted view that any and all government regulation is bad, has created a laundry list of serious issues that plague the system.

We would all do well to read some of the criticisms of the current state of financial capitalism expressed by John Bogle, Hans Werner Sinn or Hyman Minsky.

Everyone who has descibed "packs" of coyotes could well be right.

The Eastern Coyote is about 15 lbs larger than his Western counterpart. They run in the 35 -50 lbs range and will display "pack" tendencies with a social order like wolves. They have also been known to interbreed with wolf species. As a pack they will attack and kill larger prey.Guess it's the same "mob psychology" that afflicts humans.

Saw a TV show a week or so back where a Canadian hiker had been attacked and killed by coyotes.

Efforts to restock the state with wolves years back may have resulted in some inbreeding. DNR has gotten reports of "black wolves" being spotted in North Georgia. Lots of possibilities here.

[quote][b]slickmcdight[/b] - It's time to shut this mental masturbation down!
[/quote]

Time to shut me down? Is that you Dick? How is that new ticker workin? You know somebody suggested that I could be a candidate, but I'd prefer to let the Eric Comptons of the world use it for 30 or 40 years rather than buy my vain ass self a few more years. Brother Cheney, life is too short to exploit your fellow man in a futile grasp for wealth and power. Didn't you listen to God when he was talkin?

As for my mental gymnastics, at least some of us have that capability. Others are intellectually impotent! This capability does allow one to be a "thorn in the side" of the totalitarian propagandists and manipulators from the far right or far left who seem to always have nothing but hatred and disdain for the academics and intellectuals. Is it envy or just a fear that intelligence and knowledge are a serious threat to the elites efforts to keep the masses ignorant and happy?

Shouldn't you be watchin Dancing With the Stars or American Idol along with all the other sheep?. I suspect that Tosh is more your style as you seem to share his lack of respect for virtually everything. An entire generation of young Americans undergoing mass indoctrination into and suffering from a psychological disorder. The diagnostic criteria for ODD, that particular malady, can be found in the DSM-IV-TR TABLE 23-9.

[quote][b]King Minos[/b] - thinking individuals. Because of their thinking and policy, the world experienced an economic depression; listening to them, further, will turn this into another Great Depression[/quote]

King, It was the neoliberal agenda that created the current "world depression" ! You mentioned Dani Rodrik, didn't you read his book? Free markets gone wild! As pointed out, the Germans and Scandanavian countries that have maintained some levels of sane government regulation and direction have faired much better than the rest. They have higher standards of living, lower crime rates, longer life expectancies, affordable healthcare, positive current account balances, and higher educational achievement. Seems like John Stuart Mills "contemporary liberalism" is working in their cultures.

John Maynard Keynes, as a British government official, warned his government and the Allies at the peace conference against the punitive levels of reparations being forced upon the German nation. He stated pointblank that this shortsighted vengence would plant the seeds for the next war. The father of macroeconomics was a visionary, but I'm not sure he actually saw beyond the economic chaos and anticipated the rise of Heir Hitler. The vast sums borrowed to finance the war by all sides spread havoc in all the economies of Europe. The communist were excellent in exploiting the insecurity and unrest and it was this threat, in this economic setting, that created the "fascists" who rose in opposition to the communists which naturally attracted support from the business interests on the right. This was true in the leading European fascist states of Spain, Italy, and Germany. Spain and Italy of course had no reparations to pay.

You have pointedly ignored my requests for you to offer your explaination for the "Great Depression". As Japanese "brain trust" economist Richard Koo suggests, the Great Depression displayed the classic persistence of a "balance sheet" depression which of course was created by the same economic forces unleashed under "classical liberal " or unregulated "free markets". As Hyman Minsky proclaims, free market economic theory generates inherently unstable economies and the addition of excessive credit is like pouring gasoline on the fire. A lot of the hot air in the bubbles are pumped in through the use of extreme leverage. (In today's parlance that is credit. ) I saw on "60 Minutes" last week that Lehman was leveraged in excess of 40 to 1. Of course it was the short term financing of this leverage that made them vulnerable. Minsky and Koo have got it right.

No my friend, it was free market economics aided by extreme liquidity in the credit markets, classic liberal theory in the Great Depression and neoliberal theory in our latest fiasco, that has led to these "balance sheet" disasters. The "Holy Grail of Macroeconomics" by Koo and "Stabilizing An Unstable Economy" by Minsky explain the economic the forces at work. If you want to minimize theory and focus more on how human beings employ it to lay the groundwork for economic collapse then try the explanations of Raghuram Rajan in "Fault Lines" and Hans-Werner Sinn in "Casino Capitalism". Sort of a written version of "When Greed Attacks"! The "half way" compromise for reforms suggested by a consortium of economists are set out in "The Squam Lake Report". If you want to see how neoliberal theory is creating economic nightmares globally then read Dani Rodrik's "The Globalization Paradox".

The impending "bankruptcy" of the U.S. is a product of greed aided by politicians on the right and left. Unlike the Germans we have created deficit engines in that unholy corporatist economic model employed in the healthcare, energy, and defense sectors. This has given us overpriced healthcare and defense costs. When these policies are wed to our beligerent military adventures, they have become the primary drivers in our national debt.

Add to this insane approach the implementation of Neoliberal trade theory, in which we tolerate unfair trade practices, and we essentially have exported our manufacturing sector (Along with the wealth and tax revenues from the laborers) and our technological superiority(Along with the military implications) to many of our natural enemies. This strategic foreign policy disaster is coupled to an energy policy that actually promotes waste of petroleum products, with monopoly economic model pricing, which further aids the export of our national wealth to other potential enemies. Our massive current account deficit and our equally massive budget deficits are not sustainable and are incompatible with our citizens' high standard of living and economic freedom. Our leaders have known this for 40 years and being politicians and not statesmen they cannot set aside their lust for wealth and political power and halt this inexorable march to oblivion.

Lewis Powell's corporate propaganda model has this country in a frenzy over homosexuality, abortion, and the President's citizenship while Rome is burning! The "Power Elite" of G. William Domhoff have "dumbed us down" and given us "bread and circuses" while "Pillaging" as Wall Street insider Nomi Prins calls it.

Serving Mammon, our nation will reap a whirlwind of epic proportions.

@JGForster: As i suggested, "some writers" consider the Pinochet and Suharto governments as "fascist". In terms of their economies they were indeed new creatures --- essentially laboratories where neoliberal theory was being tested. This was not a form of socialism where the economy was a joint venture with strong government input and direction.These governments had the general principles set out in their "master plan" which was to turn virtually all government services over to private entities. This was a tried and failed "blind faith" reliance on "free markets" to self regulate as had been the case under the original classic liberal economic theories . The governments and their version of the "secret police" were there to force the transition upon the populus and identify and "dissapear" any opposition.

[quote][b]JGForster[/b] -
Authoritarian would be a more accurate description. [/quote]

"Totalitarian" is precisely the word that I wanted to use and it accurately describes the nature of those dictatorships I referenced that were totally intolerant of differing opinions or dissent. "Authoritarian" is probably just not harsh enough. What does Websters say?

I see no problems with the definition. It is simply a term coined to describe a political phenomenon that swept over Europe during the early decades of the 20th Century. Each country involved displayed subtle and sometimes not so subtle differences. That is not particularly surprising since their cultures and History were unique before they became totalitarian states.

The cooperation with business interests and a political threat to them from the left is a prerequisite by definition and that makes it virtually impossible for a fascist government to arise from socialist elements who are always a threat to business interests.

Academics and intellectuals would support Goldberg's right to express his opinions, but his methodology is flawed and his agenda is transparent. This project of Goldberg's was never intended as a "balanced" analysis, but was intended as a collection of half truths and deliberate distortions assembled for the sole purpose of obscuring the political reality of the history of fascist movements. A perfect approach for creating myths and a threat to the search for truth.His work is as I suggested simply a polemic rant in the tradition of that "Creature from Jekyll Island". Terrible scholarship, but excellent propaganda. A practice worthy of a fascist I might add!

[quote][b]RightWingExtremist[/b] - the concept of fascism so often applied to the right? The only two Right leaning Fascists were Hitler and Mussolini. Stalin was a left wing fascist, Lenin was also a left wing fascist. So all I want to know is why people so commonly refer to people on the right as "fascists." As far as I can tell, fascism covers both ends of the left-right political spectrum[/quote]

Not intended as an insult. There is a critical difference between Marxist governments and what have been refered to as fascist regimes. As stated, both are "totalitarian" in their governance, but for totally different reasons. There were fascist movements all over Europe during this period. You have left out Hungary, Austria, Romania, and Spain among others. Some writers include many of the South American countries as "fascist" .

In more recent times, Naomi Klein has categorized the American/CIA installed puppet governments in Chile and Indonesia as "fascist". Pinochet and Suharto certainly were totalitarian in their tactics and they were obviously organized to counter growing political power in the socialist and communist parties. Not sure about the ideological view of and fixation with a national identity and recapturing the lost past.

Thisaction by the U.S. was largely in response to our foreign policy debacle in Vietrnam and the percieved growing threat to our regional hegemony posed by left leaning and Russian supported governments. The CIA insured that the foundational basis for the economic programs adopted and imposed by Chile and Indonesia were grounded in neoliberal free market theory. The South American economists that formulated the plans for economic transformation of Chile studied for years at the University of Chicago (The "Chicago Boys" put the "Brick" together which was a written model to be implemented after the elected government was deposed.) . A similar economic plan was devloped at Berkeley by a group of Indonesian economists (The "Berkeley Mafia" ) and was imposed following the removal of Sukarno. These two governments were in bed with many business interests that were poised to moved into the countries before the overthrows in order to exploit the denationalization of mining and industrial interests as well as the "privatization" of these business interests as well as numerous government services previously provided to the population on a subsidized basis.

How could the U.S. install fascist regimes? That is where "realist theory" in foreign relations rears it's ugly Machiavelian head. Morality plays no part in furthering national interests and the consequences for the respective people of those two nations were irrelevant. Harsh position to take, but those are the precepts upon which this theory of international relations rests. Of course in the long term this approach has proven somewhat counter productive because we have conditioned generations of foreigners to be highly suspicious of any US action. The legacy of our tactics in South America is a number of countries with a tremendous amount of distrust and outright resentment. We are the "Ugly American!"

Read the sources provided if you have a true interest in understanding the difference between fascist and Marxist governments. Both in terms of their ideological foundations and in their treatment of private property and business interests. The "Third Way" suggests a difference in government's relationship you know.

. If your motive and objective is to mislead and perpetuate this BS propaganda from Goldberg in furtherance of his agenda then perhaps I am the one being insulted.

[quote][b]RightWingExtremist[/b] -
But, how come it is so often associated with the right? Please explain.
[/quote]

If you can't grasp that concept from what I've just posted then it is unlikely you would gain much by reading the naratives of those academics who have analyzed the myriad of 20th Century movements that are categorized as "fascist". It is however the only way to comprehend the complexity of understanding and labeling a group of political behaviors as characteristic of a "fascist" state. It is as stated an amorphous concept.

If you are sincerely interested in gaining some insight then I suggest as a starter reading the rebuttals to Goldberg's propaganda piece that are set out in the History News Network site. Professors Griffin ("The Nature of Fascism) and Paxton (The Anatomy of Fascism") understand the various political movements that comprised the "fascist" nations as well as any in the academic community. They provided the intellectual portion of the "symposium" that reviewed "Liberal Fascism". Professor of History at Wisconsin, Stanley Payne, also has a treatise that looks at European "fascism" (A History of Fascism:1914 to 1945" Read these three works and perhaps you can figure out the answer to your question.

It is overly simplistic to label every political movement on the right that arises in response to a communist party threat as fascist. There are a lot of other "common" characteristics that are an inherent part of what is refered to as fascism. Since fascist states were and are totalitarian governments, just like the various forms of communist states, they display many traits common to such governments. This is where a lot of the confusion and misconceptions arise.

[quote][b]davidxto[/b] - @mcdawg:
You see, all my best ideas get scooped. I'm almost finished with Liberal Zombies from Dixie and I'm working on my opening for The Pirates of Sea Island. While doing research at the bar of the Jekyell Island Club Hotel I was "interviewed" by suspicious government agents posing as gin and tonic retired lawyers. Saw right through them while praising Jimmy Carter's fine work and so I escaped!
[/quote]

So you ARE the creature from Jekyll Island! J.P.Morgan's illegitimate child!

[quote][b]catman[/b] -
Unfortunately, Judge Roy Bean has been dead for 110 years and isn't available, at least on the earthly plain. I was wondering about him myself:
"Phantly Roy Bean, Jr. (c. 1825 – March 16, 1903) was an eccentric U.S. saloon-keeper and Justice of the Peace in Val Verde County, Texas, who called himself "The Law West of the Pecos". According to legend, Judge Roy Bean held court in his saloon along the Rio Grande in a desolate stretch of the Chihuahuan Desert of southwest Texas. After his death, Western films and books cast him as a hanging judge, though he is known to have sentenced only two men to hang, one of whom escaped."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Bean
[/quote]

Another right wing historical myth.

Who, pray tell, will be the "Law West of the Oconee".

If you enjoy reading agenda driven polemics masquerading as scholarship then try "The Creature From Jekyll Island". A nice blend of significant details of History inextricably woven into a conspiracy theory that rivals that of the "Bilderberger" menance crafted by the "free masons".

If I'm going to study fascism then give me the analysis of Professor Paxton or the narative of a Neuman in a "Behemoth". (Think he intentionally borrowed that title from Hobbes --- you know, the monarchist who formulated a contract theory of government somewhat different than his successors Locke and Rousseau.)

Polemic rants are "dangerous" in themselves as they corrupt truth which is the ultimate "holy grail "that we pursue in our quest. That is what scholarship and academia are all about. To generalize otherwise is to be the ultimate hypocrit.

As for Israel, I'm not sure what point you are trying to make.

[quote][b]The Oracle of the Athens Banner Herald[/b] - Judge Adamson from the Piedmont Circuit ) )Winder) is my suggestion. He's tried some cases over here as senior judge, so he knows his way around the courthouse.
[/quote]

Is Roy Bean available?

If he has a lawyer appointed then he needs to be ordered to keep quiet and if he refuses then "gag" and bind him.