MERRY AND PEACEFUL CHRISTMAS TO ALL

Idolizing the Rich

By Paul Krugman
Syndicated columnist

The Bernard Madoff story tells us a lot about the nation's financial mess


The revelation that Bernard Madoff — brilliant investor (or so almost everyone thought), philanthropist, pillar of the community — was a phony has shocked the world, and understandably so. The scale of his alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme is hard to comprehend.
Yet surely I'm not the only person to ask the obvious question: How different, really, is Madoff's tale from the story of the investment industry as a whole?

The financial-services industry has claimed an ever-growing share of the nation's income over the past generation, making the people who run the industry incredibly rich. Yet, at this point, it looks as if much of the industry has been destroying value, not creating it. And it's not just a matter of money: The vast riches achieved by those who managed other people's money have had a corrupting effect on our society as a whole.

Let's start with those paychecks. Last year, the average salary of employees in "securities, commodity contracts, and investments" was more than four times the average salary in the rest of the economy. Earning a million dollars was nothing special, and even incomes of $20 million or more were fairly common. The incomes of the richest Americans have exploded over the past generation, even as wages of ordinary workers have stagnated; high pay on Wall Street was a major cause of that divergence.

But surely those financial superstars must have been earning their millions, right? No, not necessarily. The pay system on Wall Street lavishly rewards the appearance of profit, even if that appearance later turns out to have been an illusion.

Consider the hypothetical example of a money manager who leverages up his clients' money with lots of debt, then invests the bulked-up total in high-yielding but risky assets, such as dubious mortgage-backed securities. For a while — say, as long as a housing bubble continues to inflate — he will make big profits and receive big bonuses. Then, when the bubble bursts and his investments turn into toxic waste, his investors will lose big — but he'll keep those bonuses.
So, how different is what Wall Street in general did from the Madoff affair? Well, Madoff allegedly skipped a few steps, simply stealing his clients' money rather than collecting big fees while exposing investors to risks they didn't understand. And while Madoff was apparently a self-conscious fraud, many people on Wall Street believed their own hype. Still, the end result was the same: the money managers got rich; the investors saw their money disappear.

We're talking about a lot of money here. In recent years, the finance sector accounted for 8 percent of America's GDP, up from less than 5 percent a generation earlier. If that extra 3 percent was money for nothing — and it probably was — we're talking about $400 billion a year in waste, fraud and abuse.

But the costs of America's Ponzi era surely went beyond the direct waste of dollars and cents.
At the crudest level, Wall Street's ill-gotten gains corrupted and continue to corrupt politics, in a nicely bipartisan way. From Bush administration officials like Christopher Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who looked the other way as evidence of financial fraud mounted, to Democrats who still haven't closed the outrageous tax loophole that benefits executives at hedge funds and private equity firms (hello, Sen. Schumer), politicians have walked when money talked.

Meanwhile, how much has our nation's future been damaged by the magnetic pull of quick personal wealth, which for years has drawn many of our best and brightest young people into investment banking, at the expense of science, public service and just about everything else?
Most of all, the vast riches being "earned" in our bloated financial industry undermined our sense of reality and degraded our judgment.

Think of the way almost everyone important missed the warning signs of an impending crisis. How was that possible? How, for example, could Alan Greenspan have declared, just a few years ago, that "the financial system as a whole has become more resilient" — thanks to derivatives, no less? The answer, I believe, is that there's an innate tendency on the part of even the elite to idolize men who are making a lot of money, and assume that they know what they're doing. After all, that's why so many people trusted Madoff.

Now, as we survey the wreckage and try to understand how things can have gone so wrong, so fast, the answer is actually quite simple: What we're looking at now are the consequences of a world gone Madoff.

Paul Krugman is a regular columnist for The New York Times.

I used to wonder where all the money went - Americans are more productive (read: work more than anybody else on the planet) than the rest of the world, but people are not getting ahead; they have been falling behind since the 70's! Now we all know who took the money and wasted it.

It used to infuriate me - my sense of fairness, that some people were getting so rich while others were barely making it... But nobody else seemed to care. Now everyone cares, but seems helpless to do much about it. We've all been fooled by the naked emperor.
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Talvipaiva Seattlessa

Image from the Seattle Times

Mr Cool in Hawaii

Talvimyrsky tulossa...

Meillä on ollut nyt jo kohta viikon verran epätavallisen kylmää ja talvista: pakkasta ja lunta. Ennenkin on tullut lunta, mutta se on ollut märkää ja sulanut miltei heti pois kun ilma on lämmennyt lumipyryn jälkeen.  Nyt on erilaista; pakkasta on riittänyt päivällakin muutama aste, lumi narisee saappaiden alla ikään kuin Suomessa.  Meidän kodit ei ole rakennettu kylmää varten, sisällä on koleaa vaikka kuinka lämpo on päällä.  Olemme laittaneet pyyhkeitä ulko-ovien eteen jottei vetäisi niin kovasti, mutta tuntuu että kylmyys tulee suoraan seinistä sisään.

Tälle päivälle on luvattu vielä kovempi talvimyrsky: lumisadetta ainakin 20-30 senttiä lisää, jääatävää vesisadetta, yli 70 mailia tunnissa puhaltavia tuulenpuuskia jotka kaatavat puita ja katkovat sähkojä.  Aamun lehdessä kehotettiin ihmisiä hakemaan kaupasta tarvikkeita sähkokatkojen varalle: vettä, ruokaa, pattereita.  Jos kylmä jatkuu tällaisena sähkokatkos on kova paikka: miten pysyä lämpimänä?

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Seattle Times

Amy Goodman on the Financial Crisis

Posted on Dec 16, 2008

By Amy Goodman

The global financial crisis deepens, with more than 10 million in the U.S. out of work, according to the Department of Labor. Unemployment hit 6.7 percent in November. Add the 7.3 million “involuntary part-time workers,” who want to work full time but can’t find such a job. Jobless claims have reached a 26-year high, while 30 states reportedly face potential shortfalls in their unemployment-insurance pools. The stunning failure of regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission was again highlighted, as former NASDAQ head Bernard Madoff (you got it, pronounced “made off") was arrested for allegedly running the world’s largest criminal pyramid scheme, with losses expected to be $50 billion, dwarfing those from the Enron scandal. The picture is grim—unless, that is, you are a corporate executive.

The $700-billion financial bailout package, TARP (Troubled Assets Relief Program), was supposed to mandate the elimination of exorbitant executive compensation and “golden parachutes.” As U.S. taxpayers pony up their hard-earned dollars, highflying executives and corporate boards are now considering whether to give themselves multimillion-dollar bonuses.

According to The Washington Post, the specific language in the TARP law that forbade such payouts was changed at the last minute, with a small but significant one-sentence edit made by the Bush administration. The Post reported, “The change stipulated that the penalty would apply only to firms that received bailout funds by selling troubled assets to the government in an auction.”

Read the fine print. Of the TARP bailout funds to be disbursed, only those that were technically spent “in an auction” would carry limits on executive pay. But Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and his former Goldman Sachs colleague Neel Kashkari (yes, pronounced “cash carry"), who is running the program, aren’t inclined to spend the funds in auctions. They prefer their Capital Purchase Program, handing over cash directly. Recall Paulson’s curriculum vitae: He began as a special assistant to John Ehrlichman in the Nixon White House and then went on to work for a quarter-century at Goldman Sachs, one of the largest recipients of bailout funds and chief competitor to Lehman Brothers, the firm that Paulson let fail.

The Government Accountability Office issued a report on TARP Dec. 10, expressing concerns about the lack of oversight of the companies receiving bailout funds. The report states that “without a strong oversight and monitoring function, Treasury’s ability to ensure an appropriate level of accountability and transparency will be limited.” The nonprofit news organization ProPublica has been tracking the bailout program, reporting details that remain shrouded by the Treasury Department. As of Tuesday, 202 institutions had obtained bailout funds totaling close to $250 billion.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said recently, “The Treasury Department’s implementation of the TARP is insufficiently transparent and is not accountable to American taxpayers.” Barney Frank, D-Mass., chair of the House Financial Services Committee, said earlier, “Use of these funds ... for bonuses, for severance pay, for dividends, for acquisitions of other institutions, etc. ... is a violation of the terms of the act.”

Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa said of the loophole, “The flimsy executive-compensation restrictions in the original bill are now all but gone.” Put aside for the moment that these three all voted for the legislation. The law clearly needs to be corrected before additional funds are granted.

The sums these titans of Wall Street are walking away with are staggering. In their annual “Executive Excess” report, the groups United for a Fair Economy and the Institute for Policy Studies reported 2007 compensation for Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs (Paulson’s replacement), at $54 million and that of John Thain, CEO of Merrill Lynch, at a whopping $83 million. Merrill has since been sold to Bank of America, after losing more than $11 billion this year—yet Thain still wants a $10-million bonus.

Paulson, Kashkari and their boss, President George W. Bush, might not be the best people to spend the next $350-billion tranche of U.S. taxpayer money, with just weeks to go before the new Congress convenes Jan. 6 and Barack Obama assumes the presidency Jan. 20. As Watergate leaker Deep Throat was said to have told Bob Woodward, back when Paulson was just starting out, “Follow the money.” The U.S. populace, its representatives in Congress and the new Obama administration need to follow the money, close the executive-pay loophole and demand accountability from the banks that the public has bailed out. 

Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column. 

Amy Goodman is the host of “Democracy Now!,” a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 700 stations in North America.

© 2008 Amy Goodman

Pakkanen jatkuu

Viime yona oli pakkasta noin 10 astetta. Se rikkoi Seattlen 44 vuotta vanhan pakkasennatyksen! Lumisadetta on luvattu huomiseksi ja kylma jatkuu ainakin ensi viikonloppuun. Samaan aikaan tama vuosi on ollut ennatyksellisen lauha ympari maailman.

Maailmankirjat on sekaisin.
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Our New Baby

Coco-Puff

Kylmaa

Seattleen on tulossa kylmaa ilmaa Kanadasta.  Pakkasta ja luntakin on luvattu useammaksi paivaksi.  Viimeksi on ollut niin kylmaa 90-luvun alussa.  Saa nahda... 

Minusta on kivaa saada vahan lunta jotta tulee talvinen ja joulun olo; taalla vain ei ole totuttu talvisiin olosuhteisiin  ja kaikki menee vahan sekaisin: liikenne, kodittomat, koulut, jopa tyopaikat.

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Seattle Times

Solidarity

Republic Windows closed its factory doors abruptly and threw out the workers without paying them the money they had already earned, or giving them appropriate notice. The workers have protested by taking over the factory and occupying it "until they get what is owed" to them. Bank of America cancelled the company's line of credit (even though Bank of America got tax payer bail-out money!) so the company threw out its employees.

This is so emblematic of what America has become. Unfortunately.
Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned here about solidarity...

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A Little Help for Pain

Jack Daniels whiskey and Finlandia Vodka are selling well in spite of (or because of) the recent economic trouble in the United States. I suppose getting a little drunk now and then helps ease the pain of financial stress.
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Kovat ajat edessa

Paul Krugman on huolissaan Amerikan taloudesta: tyottomyys tulee nousemaan viela ensi vuonna ja muutenkin taloudella menee heikosti viela pitkaan.

Oman tuntuman mukaan olen samaa mielta. Meidan tyopaikalla (rakennamme luksusjahteja upporikkaille) sanottiin maanantaina etta ylitoita ei saa toistaiseksi tehda yhtaan (erittain epatavallista), ja keskiviikkona kerrottiin, etta 200-jalkaisen laiva ostaja on perunut kaupat - yritamme nyt myyda sita toiselle ostajalle...

Pelkaan etta seuraava askel on lomautukset. Mina olen ollut taalla alle vuoden, mutta on muutama muu jotka ovat olleet viela vahemman aikaa - vaikka ei silla valttamatta ole merkitysta, silla meilla ei ole ammattiliittoa ja sen suomia irtisanomis- tai lomautuspykalia.
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Ala Kiiruhda

Georg Otsin parasta.  Kuuntele.

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Kapakassa

Kavin paikallisessa kapakassa tana iltana syomassa aterian ja samassa join pari olutta.  Syntyi keskustelua vieressa istuneen naishenkilon kanssa.  Han sanoi olevansa Montanasta kotoisin. Sanoi, etta hanella oli 38-vuotias tytar ja itse on kuusikymppinen.   Sanoin etta han on kovin nuorena saanut lapsen.  Siitakos han riemastui ja totesi etta oli jo "vanha" synnyttaessaan, silla Montanassa kaikki saivat lapsia jo teini-iassa hanen ollessaan nuori.  Eivatka asiat ole kuulemma paljon muuttuneet sittemmin.

Hanen tyttarensa on sairaanhoitaja paikallisella klinikalla.  Han on ainut lapsi ja miettii kuumeisesti voisiko tehda lapsen viela "vanhoilla paivillaan".  On yksinainen, mutta haluaisi lapsen, ja oma aiti kannattaa ajatusta. Ei vain ole varaa siihen.  Sairaanhoitajan tulot ovat aika hyvat taalla, mutta yksinhuoltajan olot ovat tosi huonot, silla paivakoti ym. lapsen huoltokustannukset maksavat mielettomasti.  "Isoaiti" auttaisi mielellaan, mutta ei koe pystyvansa hoitamaan lasta tayspaivaisesti, silla hanen on pysyttava toissa jotta voisi maksaa omat asuntovelkansa.

Seka aidilla etta tyttarella on kaksi tyopaikkaa, ja vain yksi vapaapaiva viikossa.

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Iguanas

Watch this video of Iguanas diving at the Galapagos Island.

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Iguanas

Harvey Milk

I saw the film "Milk" last night.  Sean Penn does a wonderful job of portraying Harvey Milk, a gay activist in the 70's San Francisco.  There's a sincerity to his character that keeps the film flowing. The film makes you realize that a lot has changed in 30 years, and yet still so much is the same.  There are still so many haters and bigots out there that want to destroy others.  Just look at California's Proposition 8.

It was interesting to see how the film portrayed 1977-78.  Seems like a long time ago.  That was the same year I came to the United States.

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I Give Thanks...

...for the bounty and goodness of the earth.

--- T

Syksyn pimeys

Hillarysta ulkoministeri

Onhan se hienoa etta Obama on tekemassa Hillarysta Yhdysvaltain ulkoministeria. Han on eteva, alykas, tiukka, ja tuntee "kaikki maailman ihmiset". Obama ja Hillary ovat hieroneet rauhan keskenaan ja siita hyotyy kaikki. Jopa republikaanit ovat tyytyvaisia valintaan. (Se saa tietysti minut hetkeksi eparoimaan koko touhua; mutta vain hetkeksi.)
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Poor And Fat

The Seattle Post Intelligencer has an article about the link between being poor and fat in America. We tend to blame those who are over-weight without thinking about what kind of choices they really have regarding their diet. Even schools generally offer very little choice in the kinds of meals kids eat daily - it's mostly junk food and coca-cola.
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By ADAM DREWNOWSKI
GUEST COLUMNIST

We have been told -- all too often -- that rising obesity rates in the U.S. are the result of a toxic food environment. Not so.

All evidence suggests that obesity is the toxic consequence of a failing economic environment. The social and economic policies of the past two decades have created an obese and increasingly diabetic American underclass. The consequences of fiscal deregulation, spanning several previous administrations, will plague the health system for years to come.

We were told that obesity was genetically driven, much like height. Not so. Both obesity and diabetes follow a social gradient. Bodies do not lie. High body weight, an infallible index of lower social class among women, is associated with economic insecurity and social distress. The social gradient applies equally to geographic measures.

Upscale neighborhoods are lean; poor neighborhoods are more likely to be obese. Across King County, obesity rates range from a low of 5 percent to a high of 30 percent depending on ZIP code. Seattle real estate prices, a good index of area poverty or wealth, are a reliable predictor both of obesity and of diabetes-related deaths.

We were told that obesity was the result of poor choices regarding fitness or diet. Not so. The carefully fostered illusion of freedom of choice disguises the fact that most people have none. Energy-dense foods, many of them nutrient poor, are good tasting, readily available, and cheap. Households selecting fast foods are typically accused of laziness, self-indulgence and moral failure. Few have thought to ask whether low-income households were simply making the only economic choices available.

Skyrocketing food prices have put the global obesity issue in a new and starker perspective. Speaking at the June 2008 High-level Conference on World Food Security in Rome, Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organization, said: "Food choices are highly sensitive to price. The first items to drop out of the diet are usually healthy foods -- fruit, vegetables, and high-quality sources of protein. ... Nutrient-poor staples are often the cheapest way to fill hungry stomachs." She reiterated those words at the June 2008 Pacific Health Summit in Seattle.

That declaration was directly based on research on diet quality and diet cost. Simply put, as incomes drop and food budgets shrink, food choices shift toward energy-dense refined grains, added sugars and fats. Whereas higher food spending does not guarantee a better diet, reducing spending below a certain minimum virtually ensures that the resulting diet will be energy-rich but nutrient-poor. Computer models, when driven by cost constraints only, consistently create diets similar to those consumed by the poor.

The obesity debate in the U.S. has steered clear of the complex issues of social class. Rather, much time has been spent on genetics, physiology, race/ethnicity, personal responsibility and freedom of choice. Attempts to improve dietary habits have stressed individual food choice behavior, psychosocial factors, self-efficacy and readiness to change. Official guidelines such as the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and USDA MyPyramid exhort consumers to "choose" healthful diets as opposed to unhealthy ones, somewhat like choosing chocolate over vanilla ice cream.

The issue of cost is never mentioned. Yet the key predictor of weight gain may not turn out to be sugar or fat, but simply low diet cost.

The issue of access to food sources is only now getting recognition. Minorities and the poor are at a disadvantage here: Poor neighborhoods attract fast food outlets and convenience stores as opposed to full-service supermarkets, an issue sometimes framed in terms of social justice.

However, given that many healthful foods have become luxury goods, their availability is driven by neighborhood buying power. It is a shame that many of the current strategies for obesity management are based not around alleviating poverty but around recommending high-cost foods to low-income people. That approach will not work in the U.S. or elsewhere.

The dual burden of undernutrition and overweight now faced by developing nations is another economic issue directly linked to poverty, food prices and diet costs.

The relation between food, incomes and health should once again become a priority for global public health. The major policy and political challenge for global nutrition is to ensure a supply of affordable healthy foods to all.

Adam Drewnowski is professor of epidemiology and medicine at the University of Washington and director of the Center for Obesity Research and Nutritional Science Program;
adamdrew@u.washington.edu

Bill Maher

I am so excited! I found Bill Maher videos that can be attached right into my blog! He is my favorite funny man. I would almost marry him if the circumstances were different. ;)
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Suomalaisille herkkua

Kokeilen blogissani uusia kikkoja seka suomalaiseen etta maailman makuun. Liitan blogiin pienia videoklippeja katsottavaksi ja ihmeteltavaksi. Kokeilen miten ne toimivat. Aion myos kokeilla muuta kivaa myohemmin...
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Naomi Klein Interview

Amy Goodman interviews Naomi Klein regarding the looting of the treasury. It is a shame what is happening even now as the tax payer money is taken and nobody is overseeing what happens to it. We'll all be begging on the streets soon.
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Naomi Klein

Clinton-issues

Clinton business issues

Everywhere you look, there’s stuff about Bill Clinton’s donors and all that, often with the implication that there must inherently be something dirty going on, because, well, just because.

But I guess that’s just the way things are. After all, do you remember all the grief President Bush got over his family’s questionable business ties?

Neither do I.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:81085

[Paul Krugman]

Have A Drink...

Melissa Etheridge

[From Daily Beast]

Singer Melissa Etheridge rails against the passage of the gay-marriage ban in California—and she won't be paying the state a dime.

Okay. So Prop 8 passed. Alright, I get it. 51% of you think that I am a second class citizen. Alright then. So my wife, uh I mean, roommate? Girlfriend? Special lady friend? You are gonna have to help me here because I am not sure what to call her now. Anyways, she and I are not allowed the same right under the state constitution as any other citizen. Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen. I mean that would just be wrong, to make someone pay taxes and not give them the same rights, sounds sort of like that taxation without representation thing from the history books.

Okay, cool I don't mean to get too personal here but there is a lot I can do with the extra half a million dollars that I will be keeping instead of handing it over to the state of California. Oh, and I am sure Ellen will be a little excited to keep her bazillion bucks that she pays in taxes too. Wow, come to think of it, there are quite a few of us fortunate gay folks that will be having some extra cash this year. What recession? We're gay! I am sure there will be a little box on the tax forms now single, married, divorced, gay, check here if you are gay, yeah, that's not so bad. Of course all of the waiters and hairdressers and UPS workers and gym teachers and such, they won't have to pay their taxes either.

Gay people are born everyday. You will never legislate that away.
Oh and too bad California, I know you were looking forward to the revenue from all of those extra marriages. I guess you will have to find some other way to get out of the budget trouble you are in.

…Really?
When did it become okay to legislate morality? I try to envision someone reading that legislation "eliminates the right" and then clicking yes. What goes through their mind? Was it the frightening commercial where the little girl comes home and says, "Hi mom, we learned about gays in class today" and then the mother gets that awful worried look and the scary music plays? Do they not know anyone who is gay? If they do, can they look them in the face and say "I believe you do not deserve the same rights as me"? Do they think that their children will never encounter a gay person? Do they think they will never have to explain the 20% of us who are gay and living and working side by side with all the citizens of California?
I got news for them, someday your child is going to come home and ask you what a gay person is. Gay people are born everyday. You will never legislate that away.

I know when I grew up gay was a bad word. Homo, lezzie, faggot, dyke. Ignorance and fear ruled the day. There were so many "thems" back then. The blacks, the poor ... you know, "them". Then there was the immigrants. "Them.” Now the them is me.

I tell myself to take a breath, okay take another one, one of the thems made it to the top. Obama has been elected president. This crazy fearful insanity will end soon. This great state and this great country of ours will finally come to the understanding that there is no "them". We are one. We are united. What you do to someone else you do to yourself. That "judge not, lest ye yourself be judged" are truthful words and not Christian rhetoric.

Today the gay citizenry of this state will pick themselves up and dust themselves off and do what we have been doing for years. We will get back into it. We love this state, we love this country and we are not going to leave it. Even though we could be married in Mass. or Conn, Canada, Holland, Spain and a handful of other countries, this is our home. This is where we work and play and raise our families. We will not rest until we have the full rights of any other citizen. It is that simple, no fearful vote will ever stop us, that is not the American way.
Come to think of it, I should get a federal tax break too...

Melissa Etheridge is an Academy Award-winning and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter.

In Need of Vacation

Silja Talvi writes about why Americans are a bit more crazy than the rest of the world: they work too much. I have noticed the same. I need a vacation.
--- T

Medical and poll-based evidence indicates that we seriously need relief. Work-related stress can lead to sudden heart attacks, obesity, anxiety and depression. A World Health Organization and Harvard Medical School study last year put the United States at the top of the list of depressed (or otherwise mentally disordered) countries, while the Gallup Daily Happiness-Stress Index finds that the only consistent upswing in mood occur when Americans get some time off on the weekends or holidays.

As John de Graaf, executive director of the Seattle-based advocacy group Take Back Your Time, puts it, Americans are "time-starved and vacation-starved."

Americans put in more hours at work than any other nation, surpassing even the workaholic Japanese. We average nine more weeks of labor per year than our working counterparts in Western Europe, who get at least 20 paid days of vacation each year.

Finland tops the list of vacation-supporting industrialized nations with 30 paid vacation days per year after the first year of work, plus 14 paid national holidays, according to a July 2007 report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research. (This is in addition to the possibility that the country might soon grant "love holidays" so that some couples can rekindle passions and have kids.)

Canada and Japan are near the bottom of that list, with a legal minimum of 10 vacation days, while the United States has the dubious distinction of being the only industrialized nation that does not have a mandatory minimum of vacation time. In fact, out of the world's 195 independent countries, 137 have some kind of vacation/annual leave legislation in place.

Whole article

Vaalit on ohi

Nyt on jo yli viikko siita kun Obama voitti vaalit. Voitto oli niin vakuuttava, etta se vei tuulet vastustajien purjeista. Hyva niin. Taustalla kuitenkin hymistaan ja varmasti odotetaan sopivaa tilaisuutta iskea takisin. Republikaanit saivat vain niin kovasti turpaansa, etta nyt on aika nuolla ensin omat haavat ja laskea haavoittuneet; vasta sen jalkeen voi lahtea toden teolla hyokkaykseen.

Nyt jo puhutaan pysyvasta demokraattien hegemoniasta. Se on kai turhaa puhetta. Vain muutama vuosi sitten puhuttiin pysyvasta republikaanien ylivallasta. Aikansa kutakin. On kuitenkin huomattava sellainen trendi, etta suurin osa nuorista aanesti demokraatteja ja Obamaa, ja republikaanit olivat voitolla vain "takamailla". Ovat putoamassa kelkasta kaiken maailman kulttuuri- ja uskonsodilla.
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California's Anti-gay-marriage Initiative

Black support of anti-gay-marriage initiative disappoints

While California African Americans were voting to elect Barack Obama as the nation's first black president, they were also voting to demean and deny that state's gay population.

By Leonard Pitts Jr
Syndicated Columnist

Sometimes, progress carries an asterisk.
That's as good a summary as any of a sad irony from last week's historic election. You will recall one of the major story lines of that day was the fact that, in helping make Barack Obama the nation's first black president, African Americans struck a blow against a history that has taught us all too well how it feels to be demeaned and denied. Unfortunately, while they were striking that blow, some black folks chose to demean and deny someone else.

Last week, you see, California voters passed an initiative denying recognition to same-sex marriages. This overturned an earlier ruling from the state Supreme Court legalizing those unions. The vote was hardly a surprise; surely there is nothing in politics easier than to rouse a majority of voters against the "threat" of gay people being treated like people.

But African Americans were crucial to the passage of the bill, supporting it by a margin of better than 2-to-1. To anyone familiar with the deep strain of social conservatism that runs through the black electorate, this is not surprising either. It is, however, starkly disappointing. Moreover, it leaves me wondering for the umpteenth time how people who have known so much of oppression can turn around and oppress.

Yes, I know. I can hear some black folk yelling at me from here, wanting me to know it's not the same, what gays have gone through and what black people did, wanting me to know they acted from sound principles and strong values. It is justification and rationalization, and I've heard it all before. I wish they would explain to me how they can, with a straight face, use arguments against gay people that were first tested and perfected against us.

When, for instance, they use an obscure passage from the Bible to claim God has ordained the mistreatment of gays, don't they hear an echo of white people using that Bible to claim God ordained the mistreatment of blacks?

When they rail against homosexuality as "unnatural," don't they remember when that same word was used to des-cribe abolition, interracial marriage and school integration?
When they say they'd have no trouble with gay people if they would just stop "flaunting" their sexuality, doesn't it bring to mind all those good ol' boys who said they had no problem with "Nigras" so long as they stayed in their place?

No, the black experience and the gay experience are not equivalent. Gay people were not the victims of mass kidnap or mass enslavement. No war was required to strike the shackles from their limbs. But that's not the same as saying blacks and gays have nothing in common.

On the contrary, gay people know what it's like to be left out, lied about, scapegoated, discriminated against, held up, beat down, denied a job, a loan or a life. And, too, they know how it feels to sit there and watch other people vote upon your very humanity.

So beg pardon, but black people should know better. Those who bear scars from intolerance should be the last to practice it.

Sadly, we are sometimes the first. That tells you something about how seductive a thing intolerance is, how difficult it can be to resist the serpent whisper that says it's OK to ridicule and marginalize those people over there because they look funny, or talk funny, worship funny or love funny. So in the end, we struggle with the same imperative as from ages ago: to overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice.

But if last week's vote taught us nothing else, it taught us that persistence plus faith equals change.
And we shall overcome.

Al Gore's Energy Plan

By Al Gore:
What follows is a five-part plan to repower America with a commitment to producing 100 percent of our electricity from carbon-free sources within 10 years. It is a plan that would simultaneously move us toward solutions to the climate crisis and the economic crisis -- and create millions of new jobs that cannot be outsourced.

First, the new president and the new Congress should offer large-scale investment in incentives for the construction of concentrated solar thermal plants in the Southwestern deserts, wind farms in the corridor stretching from Texas to the Dakotas and advanced plants in geothermal hot spots that could produce large amounts of electricity.

Second, we should begin the planning and construction of a unified national smart grid for the transport of renewable electricity from the rural places where it is mostly generated to the cities where it is mostly used. New high-voltage, low-loss underground lines can be designed with "smart" features that provide consumers with sophisticated information and easy-to-use tools for conserving electricity, eliminating inefficiency and reducing their energy bills. The cost of this modern grid -- $400 billion over 10 years -- pales in comparison with the annual loss to American business of $120 billion due to the cascading failures that are endemic to our current balkanized and antiquated electricity lines.

Third, we should help America's automobile industry (not only the Big Three but the innovative new startup companies as well) to convert quickly to plug-in hybrids that can run on the renewable electricity that will be available as the rest of this plan matures. In combination with the unified grid, a nationwide fleet of plug-in hybrids would also help to solve the problem of electricity storage. Think about it: with this sort of grid, cars could be charged during off-peak energy-use hours; during peak hours, when fewer cars are on the road, they could contribute their electricity back into the national grid.

Fourth, we should embark on a nationwide effort to retrofit buildings with better insulation and energy-efficient windows and lighting. Approximately 40 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States come from buildings -- and stopping that pollution saves money for homeowners and businesses. This initiative should be coupled with the proposal in Congress to help Americans who are burdened by mortgages that exceed the value of their homes.

Fifth, the United States should lead the way by putting a price on carbon here at home, and by leading the world's efforts to replace the Kyoto treaty next year in Copenhagen with a more effective treaty that caps global carbon dioxide emissions and encourages nations to invest together in efficient ways to reduce global warming pollution quickly, including by sharply reducing deforestation.

Of course, the best way -- indeed the only way -- to secure a global agreement to safeguard our future is by re-establishing the United States as the country with the moral and political authority to lead the world toward a solution.

Whole article here.

--- T

Universal Health Care In America?

Paul Krugman seems to think that we may get universal healthcare passed next year! He says that signs are pointing in that direction... I can't believe it until I see it, but that would be enough reason to celebrate for years to come.
--- T

Out With the Old...

I've been waiting eight years to do this!
--- T

Change.gov

Obama has opened a website for people to participate in the transition to his new government.  With him the United States will finally become comfortable with technology and the online environment.  (Yes, the internet was born here, but it has not reached the depths of its citizenry like in other parts of the Western world.)  Obama will prioritize universal access to broadband even in the more remote parts of the country, which will bring about equality and citizen participation in ways not seen here in the last few years.

This is very good.

Every step Obama takes seems to bring us to a better place as a nation; and he hasn't even started his new job yet!   Poor Obama - the expectations are mounting...  He seems so level-headed though, that I think he's going to be ok.

--- T

http://change.gov/

Dream Realized

Watch this great video on YouTube

about Obama, MLK and the American Dream.

I think that the "American Dream" is overrated, but after the election even the cynic must believe.

--- T 

More Beautiful...

Beautiful

The End of The Monster Years

The Monster Years [Paul Krugman]

Last night wasn’t just a victory for tolerance; it wasn’t just a mandate for progressive change; it was also, I hope, the end of the monster years.

What I mean by that is that for the past 14 years America’s political life has been largely dominated by, well, monsters. Monsters like Tom DeLay, who suggested that the shootings at Columbine happened because schools teach students the theory of evolution. Monsters like Karl Rove, who declared that liberals wanted to offer “therapy and understanding” to terrorists. Monsters like Dick Cheney, who saw 9/11 as an opportunity to start torturing people.

And in our national discourse, we pretended that these monsters were reasonable, respectable people. To point out that the monsters were, in fact, monsters, was “shrill.”

Four years ago it seemed as if the monsters would dominate American politics for a long time to come. But for now, at least, they’ve been banished to the wilderness.

Amen. I feel like I can breathe again - for the first time in eight years.
--- T

Barack Won Easily

Congratulations Barack Obama and the new generation of America! He won and restored our faith in American ideals of democracy and unity. McCain's concession speech was gracious, and Obama's was cool, calm, and simply amazing. We were in tears as we watched it all unfold. Now I can believe, again.

This email came from Obama to his supporters just before his victory speech:

Tarja --

I'm about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.

We just made history.

And I don't want you to forget how we did it.

You made history every single day during this campaign -- every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it's time for change.

I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign.

We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I'll be in touch soon about what comes next.

But I want to be very clear about one thing...

All of this happened because of you.

Thank you,

Barack

Some Voting Advice:

[This information is from MoveOn.org]

Election 2008 Voting Information

Today, November 4th, is Election Day! Remember to vote—not just for Barack Obama, but for Congressional, state, and local candidates as well.

Where and when do I vote?

Find your polling place, voting times, and other important information by checking out these sites and the hotline below. These resources are good, but not perfect. To be doubly sure, you can also contact your local elections office.

Obama's VoteForChange site: voteforchange.com
League of Women Voters' site: vote411.org/pollfinder.php

Obama's voter hotline: 877-US4-OBAMA (877-874-6226)

What should I do before I go?

After you've entered your address on either Vote For Change or Vote411, read the voting instructions and special rules for your state.

Voting ID laws vary from state to state, but if you have ID, bring it.

Check out all the voting myths and misinformation to look out for: http://truth.voteforchange.com/

What if something goes wrong?

Not on the voter list? Make sure you're at the right polling place, then demand a provisional ballot.
If you're voting on an electronic machine with a paper record, verify that the record is accurate.
Need legal help? Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

If you encounter a problem, try to videotape the situation and submit it to VideoTheVote.org
Want to do more?

Text all of your friends: "Vote Obama today! Pass it on!"

Volunteer at your local Obama office. Find an office here or here.
Now, everybody go vote!!!

VOTE

VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE

Tuesday is the day to vote for millions of Americans! Let's see how it all turns out...

As Bill Maher says, you can always leave if you cannot take it any longer. But I believe that it will turn out alright tomorrow.
--- T

VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE

Palin As Prez

A coworker emailed me this hilarious link today. Check it out and start clicking to see funny and odd things happen. Keep checking the link daily until Tuesday, as things are added to it!
--- T

http://palinaspresident.us/

Bush's Final Pillage

Naomi Klein, whose book " The Shock Doctrine" I am reading currently [amazing, prophetic book!], writes about the government bailout and the departing republican administration. The money - provided by the taxpayer - is disappearing so fast we can only scratch our heads and wonder what happened, when Obama is the president next January. T

"When European colonialists realized that they had no choice but to hand over power to the indigenous citizens, they would often turn their attention to stripping the local treasury of its gold and grabbing valuable livestock. If they were really nasty, like the Portuguese in Mozambique in the mid-1970s, they poured concrete down the elevator shafts.

The Bush gang prefers bureaucratic instruments: "distressed asset" auctions and the "equity purchase program." But make no mistake: the goal is the same as it was for the defeated Portuguese -- a final frantic looting of the public wealth before they hand over the keys to the safe."
Bailout = Bush's Final Pillage

Kahden todellisuuden maa

Hesarin nettisivuilla oli aika hyva analyysi Yhdysvaltain kahtiajakautuneisuudesta. laitan koko jutun tahan. Sanoisin viela etta takalaisen median ongelma on se etta se luulee tekevansa kansalaisille palveluksen raportoimalla molempien aaripaiden mielipiteet mutta jattaa usein oman analyysin tekematta. Siten kansalaiset joutuvat itse arvioimaan vaikeden asioiden syita ja seurauksia ilman perinpohjaista tietoa. Media on unohtanut etta uutinen ei ole pelkastaan mielipiteiden toistoa. Talla konstillahan Bushin hallitus pystyi manipuloimaan yleista mielipidetta juuri Irakin sodan alla - valtavirta-media toisti uskollisesti kaikki Bushin jaarittelut kyseenalaistamatta mitaan. Isanmaan nimessa.
--- T

[UUTISANALYYSI]

Yhdysvallat on kahden todellisuuden maa
Julkaistu: 21:24

Helsingin Sanomat

Koska media on läpeensä liberaali, sen vastapainoksi piti synnyttää konservatiivinen media.

Koska valtamediaan leviää konservatiivien valheita, on pitänyt kehittää liberaaleja mediantarkkailujärjestöjä, kuten Media Matters for America. Ja niiden vastapainoksi vahtikoiria liberaalien toimittajien valheille, kuten Newsbusters.

Moni Amerikassa on ajat sitten lakannut pohtimasta, mikä on totta ja mikä ei.

Totuus on kuopattu, sen tilalle on syntynyt kaksi rinnakkaista totuutta. Ja rinnakkaisten totuuksien sisälle rinnakkaistotuuksien versioita.

Karkeasti ottaen maa on jakautunut kahteen vastakkaiseen tulkintaan totuudesta: liberaaliin ja konservatiiviseen. Poliittisella kentällä liberaali on kallellaan demokraatteihin ja konservatiivi republikaaneihin.

Otetaan esimerkiksi Alaskan kuvernööri Sarah Palin, josta tehtiin yllättäen republikaani John McCainin varapresidenttiehdokas.

Mitä enemmän "liberaali media" tonki Palinin Alaskan aikaisia epäselvyyksiä, sen varmemmaksi kävi joillekin konservatiiveille, että Palinissa on republikaanien tulevaisuus, että hän on uusi Ronald Reagan.

Reaganin kuvaa painettiin kynnysmattoihin, joita myytiin liberaalien kotien edustoille. Samaista Reagania palvotaan jumalana republikaanisessa puolueessa.

Reaganin aika ja vaikkapa häntä edeltänyt Vietnamin sota muistuttavat siitä, että poliittinen kahtiajako on vuosikymmenien tuote. Sen sanotaan vahvistuneen republikaanipresidentti George W. Bushin vuosina, ja internet on antanut lisää tilaa sen ilmaisemiseen.

On vaikea keksiä toista kirjan nimeä, joka paremmin tiivistäisi nykyistä kahtiajakoa kuin Al Frankenin Valheet ja valehtelevat valehtelijat, jotka kertovat niitä – reilu ja tasapainoinen katsaus oikeistoon.

Tai ehkä sittenkin kuvaavampi nimi on Frankenia vihaavan Ann Coulterin kirjalla Jos demokraateilla olisi aivot, he olisivat republikaaneja.

Franken on minnesotalainen entinen tv-koomikko, joka pyrkii ensi tiistain vaaleissa senaattiin. Hänen kirjansa alaotsake viittaa konservatiivisen Fox-kaapelikanavan mainoslauseeseen "rehellinen ja tasapainoinen", jota pidetään liberaalipiireissä vitsinä.


Miltei kaikelle tuntuu olevan kaksi ääripäätä. Fox-kanavan vastapari on MSNBC. Liberaalille MoveOn.org-järjestölle se on uuskonservatiivien Freedom Watch. Konservatiiviselle The Weekly Standard -viikkolehdelle se on liberaali The Nation -viikkolehti.

Molemmissa ääripäissä ollaan vastapuolen uhreja. Konservatiivisilla radioasemilla valitetaan lisäksi sitä, että Amerikka on liberaalin median, yltiöliberaalien yliopistojen ja ultraliberaalin Hollywoodin saastuttama.


Amerikkalaiset valitsevat median ohella kotinsa oikeamielisistä naapurustoista, mikä on johtanut maan fyysiseenkin mielipidebalkanisoitumiseen.

Presidentinvaaleissa äänet jakautuvat valtakunnallisesti suunnilleen kahtia, mutta lähes puolessa piirikunnista jompikumpi ehdokas saa maanvyörymävoiton.


Bushin vuosina liberaalit ovat valittaneet, kuinka oikeistoradio onnistuu vuodesta toiseen aivopesemään sydänmaat äänestämään "omien etujensa vastaisesti".

Yhä noin neljännes kansasta ajattelee, että Bush on tehnyt hyvää työtä. Nämä Bushin tukijat eivät todennäköisesti lue The New York Timesia eivätkä katso CNN:ää, vaan ympäröivät itsensä "enemmän omalta tuntuvalla medialla".

Liberaalien mielestä Bushiin uskovat eivät elä "todellisuuteen perustuvassa yhteisössä".


Mutta mihin tai kenen todellisuuteen? Irakin sodan alla parhaina pidettyjä sanomalehtiä vietiin kuin pässiä narusta, ja niiden lukijoille syntyi käsitys suuresta joukkotuhoaseiden uhasta.

Hyvin liberaalien leirien suosima radiotähti-kirjailija Amy Goodman ruoskii kirjassaan The Exception to the Rulers The New York Timesia ja muuta valtamediaa siitä, että ne olivat sodan alla Bushin sylikoiria.

Goodman lainaa FAIR-järjestön selvitystä, jossa kerrottiin, että neljällä suurimmalla tv-kanavalla ennen sotaa haastatelluista 393 ihmisestä vain kolme oli tekemisissä sodanvastaisen liikkeen kanssa.

Sodan vastustajiin kuului yltiöliberaaliksi soimattu Barack Obama, josta saattaa tulla uusi presidentti. Se on konservatiiveille kauhistuttava ajatus, mutta oikeiston radioasemille se tietäisi uutta kulta-aikaa; sellaista, jonka Bill Clinton heille 1990-luvulla antoi.

Scary Elephant

Sosialismin peikko

Viikkoa ennen vaaleja amerikkalaisia pelotellaan sosialismin peikolla oikein toden teolla. Seka Mccain etta Palin kertovat uskollisille kuulijoilleen, etta jos Obama valitaan presidentiksi, Yhdysvalloista tulee sosialismin valtakunta. Oikeistolaiset agitaattorit radiossa ja televisiossa puhuvat viela voimakkaammin sanoin Obaman sosialistisista taipumuksista. Obama uskoo tulonsiirtoihin ja progressiiviseen verotukseen (eiko kaikki lansimaat harrasta moista sosialismia?). Obama haluaa ottaa rikkailta ja antaa koyhille (lue: laiskoille ja mustille).

Obama ei itse asiassa ole lainkaan sosialisti eika edes sosiaalidemokraatti. Han on vain moderaatimpi kuin oikeistolaiset republikaanit. kaikki on hyvin suhteellista. Yhdysvaltain senaatissa on yksi ainoa "sosialisti", Bernie Sanders Vermontista. Han kannattaa Pohjois-Euroopan kaltaista sosiaalidemokratiaa: koulutusta ja terveyspalveluja kaikille, ymparistosta huolehtimista, ym. tylsaa yhteishyvaa.

Taalla on taivas putoamassa niskaan, jos Obamasta tulee presidentti. Ainakin monet uskovat niin.
--- T

A Conservative Nation?

The morning after
Four years ago George W. Bush narrowly won the presidential election, and Republicans achieved a 30-seat majority in the House and a 10-seat majority in the Senate. Immediately there was a vast chorus from the commentariat, proclaiming the death of liberalism; America, everyone said, was a conservative nation. I have a whole shelf of books with titles like Building Red America and One-Party Nation.

Maybe the current polls are all wrong. But at the moment they point to an Obama victory by a margin much larger than Bush’s in 2004, plus a Democratic majority of 50 or more in the House and something like 14 in the Senate.

So you know what the morning-after commentary will say — in fact, it’s already started. Yes: it will say that America is, um, a conservative nation.
by Paul Krugman

Why Does Voting Seem so Difficult in America?

I have often wondered why the voting system cannot get its act together here in the US... Why are there such discrepancies and "voter fraud" throughout the system - like in some developing countries - and how can the system be so easily manipulated by political operatives? When I voted in Finland it seemed quite simple and basic. I have been voting in Finnish elections throughout my years in the States - and have confronted no problems.

Juliet Lapidos of Slate Magazine writes a good article about the voting problems in America, below is a quote from her text. See the whole article here. --- T

Our problems begin with a less than state-of-the-art registration system. According to Adam Fogel of FairVote, the United States is one of just a few democracies where the government takes a back seat, expecting individuals to sign themselves up to vote. (Other "self-initiating" countries include such beacons of democracy as Algeria, Cameroon, and Chad.) The National Voter Registration Act (aka the Motor Voter law, which Congress enacted in 1993) makes it possible to sign up at the DMV, at public-assistance offices, or by mail. But many, many people fall through the cracks—only 72 percent of the voting-age population was registered in 2004. Plus, we have no comprehensive way of correcting forms or striking people from the rolls when they move away or die.

Swedes, Australians, and Estonians all vote more than we do—the United States ranks 139 out of 172 countries when it comes to turnout—and experience less angst on Election Day because their governments are more invested in the process. Americans, of course, have a historic hatred of intrusive bureaucrats. As Eric Weiner noted in a prior How They Do It column for Slate, "Europeans tend to trust their private information with governments, not corporations" while Americans trust corporations, not governments. But he wrote that in 2006, before the Fed went on a nationalizing spree. Maybe along with AIG and Goldman Sachs, we should consider using taxpayer dollars to buy a controlling stake in MTV's Choose or Lose.

Colin Powell

Obama certainly has the momentum on his side. Colin Powell has just endorsed him for president. Powell, who was the only rational voice in the Bush administration early on (rational, though tragically mistaken). This is a way to make up for his mistakes.

--- T

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced Sunday that he will break with his party and vote for Sen. Barack Obama. "He has both style and substance. I think he is a transformational figure," Powell said on NBC's Meet the Press.

"I come to the conclusion that because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities -- and you have to take that into account -- as well as his substance -- he has both style and substance," Powell said. "He has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president." Huffington Post

Congratulations, Mr. Krugman!

My favorite economist-columnist wins the Nobel prize in economics! That is great news -congratulations, Mr. Krugman! I'll have to add his blog on my page... I read it every day and especially in these difficult financial times it is so relevant.
--- T

Paul Krugman

Not About the Financial Crisis

October 10, 2008, 1:43 pm

Not about the financial crisis
By Paul Krugman

The crisis isn’t the only scary thing going on. Something very ugly is taking shape on the political scene: as McCain’s chances fade, the crowds at his rallies are, by all accounts, increasingly gripped by insane rage. It’s not just a mob phenomenon — it’s visible in the right-wing media, and to some extent in the speeches of McCain and Palin.

We’ve seen this before. One thing that has been sort of written out of the mainstream history of politics is the sheer insanity of the attacks on the Clintons — they were drug smugglers, they murdered Vince Foster (and lots of other people), they were in league with foreign powers. And this stuff didn’t just show up in fringe publications — it was discussed in Congress, given props by the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, and so on.

What it came down to was that a significant fraction of the American population, backed by a lot of money and political influence, simply does not consider government by liberals (even very moderate liberals) legitimate. Ronald Reagan was supposed to have settled that once and for all.
What happens when Obama is elected? It will be even worse than it was in the Clinton years. For sure there will be crazy accusations, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some violence.

The next few years are going to be very, very tough.

I just wrote about the same thing last night - in Finnish. We are going to go through some really tough times in the next few years. No matter who wins the election.
--- T

Congratulations, Mr. Ahtisaari!

“The origins of my career as a peace mediator can be found from my childhood years. I was born in the city of Viipuri, then still part of Finland. We lost Viipuri when the Soviet Union attacked my country. Along with 400,000 fellow Karelians I became an internally displaced person in the rest of Finland,” he said.
“With my mother I moved from one household to another before settling in the eastern part of Finland, in the city of Kuopio. This experience, which millions of people around the world have gone through, provided me with sensitivity, which explains my desire to advance peace and thus help others who have gone through similar experiences as I did,” he said. [NYT]

Onnea, Mr. Ahtisaari!

Loistava juttu, etta Suomen oma Ahtisaari voitti rauhan nobelin! Onhan siita jo tavattomasti aikaa kun joku Virtanen ja Sillanpaa voittivat nobelit omilla tahoillaan. Ahtisaaren valinta ei ollut poliittinen siina mielessa kuin moni muu nykyaan. Se oli kunnianosoitus kovasta (usein taustalla) kaytavasta diplomaatin tyosta.
Alla oleva lainaus on Hesarin sivuilta.
--- T

Maailmankuvaltaan Ahtisaari määrittelee itsensä sekä idealistiksi että realistiksi. Lisäksi hän löytää itsestään joustavan pragmaatikon.
"Jos ei olisi idealisti, niin kuka ihmeessä tässä vielä 68-vuotiaana juoksisi pitkin maita ja mantuja?" hän kysyy.

"Toisaalta idealismi ei sinällään paljon auta, koska sitten jää sellaiselle julistukselliselle tasolle. Realismi edellyttää, että pystyy analysoimaan tilanteita. Se vaatii tiukkaa älyllistä rehellisyyttä."

Entä muiden näkemys? Entiset ja nykyiset työtoverit aina Namibian-ajoilta presidentin nykyisen toimiston Crisis Management Initiativen henkilökuntaan kuvailevat Ahtisaaren neuvottelijanominaisuuksia samansuuntaisin sanankääntein.

"Reilu, suora tyyppi." "Hirveän tasapuolinen." "Ei kaihda sanomasta asioita riittävän yksinkertaisesti ja selkeästi." "Pyrkii rehelliseen tilanneanalyysiin: tilanne on nyt tämä, ja tämä ei tästä muutu." "Tietää, missä on sudenkuopat, mihin pitää laittaa energiaa, millä asialla ei ole väliä ja missä pitää laittaa kova kovaa vastaan."

Amerikan sielu

On vaikea taysin kasittaa mita Amerikassa on tapahtumassa. On meneillaan sukupolvemme tarkeimmat presidentinvaalit. Barack Obama on jo melko varma voittaja muutama viikko ennen vaalipaivaa - ellei tapahdu jotain "aivan odottamatonta" kuten terroristi-isku omassa maassa... Mutta jos Obama voittaa, taalla on odotettavissa todella levotonta: aarioikeistolaiset sora-aanet jo huutavat Obaman paata vadille. McCainin kannattajat ovat uhkailleet tappavansa Obaman, silla han on "sosialisti", "muslimi", ja ehka jopa "ulkomaalainen syntyjaan" joka tuhoaa Amerikan.

Pelottelu on saavuttanut kiihkean vaiheen: suut vaahtoavat radiossa, televisiossa, netissa ja McCainin Ja Palinin vaalitapahtumissa. Jos taas McCain voittaa (jollain ihmeellisella tavalla), suuri osa kansaa tulee olemaan niin pettynyt, etta se aiheuttaa levottomuutta. Talouden luhistuminen on saanut kansalaiset niin vihaisiksi ja pelokkaiksi, etta McCainin voitto tuntuisi kestamattomalta, silla han on Bushin kaksoisolento.

Vaalivilppi on todellinen uhka Amerikassa. Tuhannet, jopa miljoonat aanet jaavat ehka laskematta, silla kulissien takana yritetaan poistaa koyhien ja vahemmistojen aania listoilta.

Minua on alkanut pelottaa, etta vaalien jalkeen Yhdysvalloissa tulee tapahtumaan aseellisia kapinoita tai mellakoita - voitti kumpi ehdokas tahansa - niissa tullaan taistelemaan Amerikan sielusta.
--- T

Scary Stuff!

A Lone Voice in the Wilderness

The New York Times has a well-written analysis of Alan Greenspan tenure as the Federal Reserve chairman. He was called "the Oracle" and was revered by all - hence hardly anybody questioned his knowledge or authority regarding regulation. One person, Brooksley E. Born, tried to introduce more regulation as she saw the perils of the derivatives market, but she was stopped forcefully by those who were enjoying the money-ride.
--- T

NYT: In 1997, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a federal agency that regulates options and futures trading, began exploring derivatives regulation. The commission, then led by a lawyer named Brooksley E. Born, invited comments about how best to oversee certain derivatives.

Ms. Born was concerned that unfettered, opaque trading could “threaten our regulated markets or, indeed, our economy without any federal agency knowing about it,” she said in Congressional testimony. She called for greater disclosure of trades and reserves to cushion against losses.

Ms. Born’s views incited fierce opposition from Mr. Greenspan and Robert E. Rubin, the Treasury secretary then. Treasury lawyers concluded that merely discussing new rules threatened the derivatives market. Mr. Greenspan warned that too many rules would damage Wall Street, prompting traders to take their business overseas.


He [Alan Greenspan] had a way of speaking that made you think he knew exactly what he was talking about at all times,” said Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat from Iowa. “He was able to say things in a way that made people not want to question him on anything, like he knew it all. He was the Oracle, and who were you to question him?”

Pigs on Wall Street

"The first hearing into what caused the nation's financial markets to collapse last month, precipitating a $700 billion bailout, opened with finger-pointing and glimpses into internal company documents from Lehman's chaotic last hours.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said the giant investment bank was "a company in which there was no accountability for failure." Lehman's collapse set off a panic that within days had President Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson asking Congress to pass the rescue plan for the financial sector.

Richard S. Fuld Jr., chief executive officer of Lehman Brothers, declared to the committee "I take full responsibility for the decisions that I made and for the actions that I took." He defended his actions as "prudent and appropriate" based on information he had at the time.
"I feel horrible about what happened," he said.

Waxman questioned Fuld on whether it was true he took home some $480 million in compensation since 2000, and asked: "Is that fair?"
Fuld took off his glasses, held them, and looked uncomfortable. He said his compensation was not quite that much."

Yahoo News

The End of Reaganomics

Francis Fukuyama writes in Newsweek an interesting article about what is happening in America. I don't agree with his whole analysis, but I still think it's a good look at recent history.
--- T

See full article below.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/162401/page/1

Bailout

The VP Debate

"And also, let me talk about energy [wink]..."
"And also, let me talk about energy [wink, smile]..."
"And also in regards to nukular weaponry, also [wink, wink, smile]..."

It was not a debate, it was a political commercial. Unfortunately I think some [more than should] will buy the product.
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Discrimination in Finland

Helsingin Sanomat:

The appointment of journalist Johanna Korhonen as editor-in-chief of the Rovaniemi-based newspaper Lapin Kansa has been cancelled before Korhonen began her work.

Korhonen, who left her previous job as editor-in-chief of Journalisti, the newspaper of the Finnish Union of Journalists, was named to the Lapin Kansa post at the beginning of September, and she was to have started at the newspaper in mid-December.

In a press release issued on Wednesday, Johanna Korhonen said that the reason for the cancellation of her appointment was the revelation that she is living in a registered civil union with another woman. Korhonen says that she was called in to a discussion, in which Kai Telanne, CEO of the media group Alma Media, and others attending the meeting had pressured Korhonen to withdraw voluntarily.

“When I asked, Telänne answered that knowledge of the gender of my spouse would have been an impediment to my being named editor-in-chief of Lapin Kansa. He also feels that ‘concealing’ the matter was a reason for cancelling the appointment. In his view it is a ‘completely impossible idea’ that I could work in a leading position in Alma Media, as an editor-in-chief in Rovaniemi”, Korhonen writes in her press release.

Korhonen says that Alma Media wanted Korhonen to withdraw from the post in silence, and would not make the reason for the move public, even offering her payment of EUR 100,000 to assure her silence. A statement issued by Alma Media says that the board of the company decided to cancel the contract of Johanna Korhonen because of a “lack of trust”.

CEO Kai Telanne denies that the move had anything to do with her having a woman as a spouse. “Korhonen is talking nonsense. A lack of trust has emerged. That’s it”, Telanne says. “Alma Media does not discriminate. We have any number of people living in all kinds of relationships. Johanna Korhonen knows it herself.”

Telanne does not specify the reason for the lack of trust. He admits, however, that the candidacy of her partner in municipal politics. Later Telanne said in an interview on a news broadcast on the commercial television network MTV3 that Korhonen was dropped because she had not been honest in her job interview about the political activism of her partner.

“It is very important for us that the next of kin of our editor-in-chief, I am talking about spouses now, are neutral. The editors-in-chief of provincial newspapers are expected to be absolutely unbiased and neutral. Korhonen was asked about this, and she told us that neither she nor her spouse were involved in politics. I found out on Monday morning that her spouse is a candidate in the municipal elections in Espoo”, Telanne said. In fact, Korhonen’s partner is a candidate in Vantaa, not Espoo.

In an additional press release Alma Media said that “the basis of the lack of trust is Korhonen’s mendaciousness in her job interview. After the contract was reached, it has come out that Korhonen had repeatedly told lies during the recruitment process."

“I am astounded that something like this can happen in Finland in the year 2008", Johanna Korhonen says.
She says that Alma Media had offered a severance contract worth about EUR 100,000. Korhonen says that it would probably have included a requirement that she not disclose information about the circumstances.

It came out later on Wednesday that the spouse of the editor in chief of another Alma Media newspaper is also involved in municipal politics, and unlike Korhonen’s partner, the wife of Heikki Lääkkölä, editor-in-chief of the Kemi-based Pohjolan Sanomat, is an active participant in the political life of the home town of the newspaper.

Lääkkölä’s wife, Päivi Koskenranta, served on the Kemi City Council from 2000 to 2004, and still represents the Centre Party on the city’s technical committee, and is on the board of the local municipal organisation of the Centre Party.

Lääkkölä has has been the editor-in-chief of Pohjolan Sanomat since 1996. Koskenranta says that her political career has never been a problem for her husband. “I only heard on the news that this would have been raised as the reason [for Johanna Korhonen’s dismissal]. I don’t see why this should even be told to an employer.”

Koskenranta feels that the events are unfortunate from Alma Media’s point of view. Alma Media CEO Kai Telanne says that he had not been aware of the political activities of the wife of the editor of Pohjolan Sanomat. However, he says that it has no bearing on Korhonen case.

“The issue is that she lied in her job interview”, Telanne reiterates.

helsinginsanomat.fi


Discrimination is painful no matter where it happens.
--- T

Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders is a sensible senator from Vermont. He writes why he is against the 700 billion bailout package: it's corrupt and unfair, and it does not address the underlying problems of the system that created the financial crisis to begin with. He has a website http://www.sanders.senate.gov/ where you can voice your opinion about the bailout. Check it out!
--- T

The American people are bitter. They are angry, and they are confused. Over the last seven and a half year, since George W. Bush has been President, 6 million Americans have slipped out of the middle class and are in poverty, and today working families are lining up at emergency food shelves in order to get the food they need to feed their families. Since President Bush has been in office, median family income for working-age families has declined by over $2,000. More than seven million Americans have lost their health insurance. Over four million have lost their pensions. Consumer debt has more than doubled. And foreclosures are the highest on record. Meanwhile, the cost of energy, food, health care, college and other basic necessities has soared.

While the middle class has declined under President Bush's reckless economic policies, the people on top have never had it so good. For the first seven years of Bush's tenure, the wealthiest 400 individuals in our country saw a $670 billion increase in their wealth, and at the end of 2007 owned over $1.5 trillion in wealth. That is just 400 families, a $670 billion increase in wealth since Bush has been in office.
Read the whole article here