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Phillip Swagel’s “The Financial Crisis: An Inside View“. It is a meaty 50+ page document but it is full of great lines such as the following:
A lesson for academics is that any time the word “force” is used as a verb (“the policy should be to force banks to do X or Y”), the next sentence should set forth the section of the U.S. legal code that allows such a course of action—otherwise, the policy suggestion is of theoretical but not practical interest.
Swagel was the former Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy under Henry Paulson. He served from December 2006 until January 2009.
Mr. Clarke was a rascally nine-year-old when he inherited that jewel. Ever since, as “Goodnight Moon” has drifted toward the center of America’s collective consciousness, he has floated on the fringes of society. No steady job. No fixed place of abode. Dozens of arrests. Rarely has his life traced a path through terrain even remotely resembling the world of Ms. Brown’s stories. Over the years, that world has yielded to him nearly $5 million. Today, he has $27,000 in cash.
Runaway Money by Joshua Prager
I wish they would just be honest with the American people and admit they don’t want any new energy instead of claiming to be FOR “green” energy and then doing everything they can to stop it (see Kennedy, Ted).
AP: Feinstein seeks block solar power from desert land.
“If we cannot put solar power plants in the Mojave desert, I don’t know where the hell we can put it,” Schwarzenegger said at Yale University.
Didn’t Old Yeller get put down by the boy in one of the most tragic scenes in cinema history?
Los Angeles
To those of us who live and work in Hollywood, movies are always the perfect gift. So we’re puzzled to read about the controversy that erupted when President Barack Obama gave British Prime Minister Gordon Brown a collection of classic movie DVDs.
It seemed like a chintzy gift to some sniffing British journalists. Impersonal, slapdash, borderline insulting — the sign, some suggested, of a president in over his head.
But, look, we’ve all been there. We’ve all been faced with finding a last-minute gift. We’ve all sprinted through the aisles of Walgreens, scanning the shelves for something — anything — that might possibly, if wrapped stylishly, qualify as a present. President Obama has the added burden of being almost completely broke, so it’s only natural that his eye drifts to the discount bin at the video store.
Continue reading WSJ: The President’s Diplomatic Gifts
A great article talking about what happened to AIG.
Studying philosophy, students love to debate the idea that we are all just brains in a vat. Based on recent experience, I think we’re brains in a comedy routine. Exhibit A:
There was Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, boldly testifying Tuesday before Rep. Charlie Rangel’s Ways & Means Committee – promising that the Obama administration intends to propose “a series of legislative and enforcement measures to reduce . . . tax evasion and avoidance.”
Geithner and Rangel vowing to crack down on tax evasion? Hahahahahahaha……
Christopher Hitchens in Beirut
“I’m fine, I think,” Christopher said.
He seemed to be in pretty good spirits, all things considered.
“The SSNP,” I said, “is the last party you want to mess with in Lebanon. I’m sorry I didn’t warn you properly. This is partly my fault.”
“I appreciate that,” Christopher said. “But I would have done it anyway. One must take a stand. One simply must.”
With flourish of Obama’s pen, over 269,000 jobs will be “saved/created” in Texas alone over the next two years!
I have always wondered why some people can stand cilantro. It’s delicious – I love adding a handful to any mexican-related food items I eat. Just last night, Annamarie and I were talking about this. And now, the Journal writes an article.Â
Across the Land, People Are Fuming Over an Herb (No, Not That One)
![[Cilantro]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/HC-GN394_Cilant_BV_20090212172913.gif) After picking up a vegetable burrito on his way home from work, Mike Racanelli planted himself in front of his television and took a bite. The smell hit him immediately: cilantro.
Irate, the 29-year-old Chicago band manager drove 20 miles back to the Mexican restaurant where he’d bought the offending item, threw it on the counter, he recalls, and “raised hell,” demanding a cilantro-free replacement “immediately.”
Later, he decided to vent some more. He recounted his experience on a Facebook networking group called “I HATE CILANTRO.” Social-networking Web sites have emerged as a bonding place for the multitudes who share his aversion to the pungent herb. The group has 894 members; there are some 40 other Facebook groups dedicated to cilantro bashing.
Cilantro lovers say it has a refreshing, lemony or limelike flavor that complements everything from guacamole to curry. It’s a key ingredient in a range of ethnic cuisines, including Mexican, Indian and Chinese.
But few foods elicit such heated negative reactions. Many people say it tastes soapy, rotten or just plain vile. Just a whiff of it is enough to make them push away their plates.
Continue reading Cilantro
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