MannyGoldstein
MannyGoldstein's JournalWhy are we still in the UN?
Doesn't seem like we really give a crap what other countries think any more.
Might as well free up the real estate in Manhattan, let Trump build something on the site.
5 living presidents: the body language is... interesting
I was reminded of this picture while listening to today's commemoration.
Well... Syrian WMD have finally taken the focus off of Spy On Everyone
Hopefully we don't totally forget about it.
I confess: if the Syrian army used gas against its own people, I think
they should be taught a lesson. A serious, serious lesson.
The general ban on using chemical weapons, which has basically held for the best part of a century, is a good thing. Hopefully it can serve as a precedent for other weapons bans such as nukes, land mines, etc. One day, perhaps all weapons can be banned.
I'm fine with the US and its allies inflicting great pain on the Assad regime if they gassed heir own people. Not troops on the ground, not a war, but some sort of strike to let them know that we care. Bullies understand nothing less than a 2x4 to the head, as I learned growing up.
Here's the problem: I don't believe a #%*@ing word coming out of Washington, unless it comes from the mouth of a very select few. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Alan Grayson, perhaps Al Franken and Ron Wyden, and that's about it - let me know if I've forgotten any. The lying has become so flagrant and ubiquitous... well, I've never imagined that it would be like this, not in my country.
But here we are.
Who did it? Who knows. At this point, it could be Halliburton drumming up some business, for all we know.
"It’s too early to consider a President Elizabeth Warren, but..."
From the Raleigh NC News & Observer:
It’s too early to consider a President Elizabeth Warren, but it would be good if the freshman U.S. senator from Massachusetts and scourge of the financial industry could set the Obama administration’s priorities for a few months.
Maybe then Americans would start to see action on two big gaps in the president’s record. No. 1 is the failure to vigorously prosecute the villains behind the financial crisis that blew up the U.S. housing market and vaporized many Americans’ home equity, savings and jobs. No. 2 is the failure to put in place the regulations and oversight needed to keep it from happening again.
...
“Despite the progress we’ve made since 2008, the biggest banks continue to threaten the economy,” Warren said in a statement announcing the new bill. “The four biggest banks are now 30 percent larger than they were just five years ago, and they have continued to engage in dangerous, high-risk practices that could once again put our economy at risk.”
That risk needs the tough approach to oversight that Warren is not afraid to advocate.
Cross-posted to Elizabeth Warren Group
"It’s too early to consider a President Elizabeth Warren, but..."
From the Raleigh NC News & Observer:
It’s too early to consider a President Elizabeth Warren, but it would be good if the freshman U.S. senator from Massachusetts and scourge of the financial industry could set the Obama administration’s priorities for a few months.
Maybe then Americans would start to see action on two big gaps in the president’s record. No. 1 is the failure to vigorously prosecute the villains behind the financial crisis that blew up the U.S. housing market and vaporized many Americans’ home equity, savings and jobs. No. 2 is the failure to put in place the regulations and oversight needed to keep it from happening again.
...
“Despite the progress we’ve made since 2008, the biggest banks continue to threaten the economy,” Warren said in a statement announcing the new bill. “The four biggest banks are now 30 percent larger than they were just five years ago, and they have continued to engage in dangerous, high-risk practices that could once again put our economy at risk.”
That risk needs the tough approach to oversight that Warren is not afraid to advocate.
Cross-posted to Good Reads
Elizabeth Warren May Control Larry Summers's [sic] Fate
Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!
Freshman lawmakers rarely influence outcomes in the Senate. Elizabeth Warren may be an exception if President Barack Obama nominates Larry Summers to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve.
If the freshman senator -- the populist scourge of Wall Street -- supports her former Harvard University colleague, he probably would draw little opposition from Democrats and would likely muster enough Republican votes to win confirmation. If she opposes him, other Democrats may defect, too, and it might be a struggle to win over enough Republicans to get the 60 votes required.
...
Warren has signed a letter supporting Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Janet Yellen to succeed Ben Bernanke, whose term as chairman expires in January. However, Warren has indicated that she sees Summers as qualified, and people who know them both cautiously predict she would vote for him.
The choice is expected to be between Summers and Yellen. People familiar with Obama's thinking say he is leaning toward Summers.
re: DU's resident "transphobes"
I'll bet there's a few folks on DU who think negatively or dismissively about transgendered folks. And that's bad.
But let's not forget Hanlon's Razor:
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
My operating assumption is that I should call people whatever they want ("Bradley", "Chelsea", "he", "she", ...) and be cool with however they want to characterize themselves, unless they're hurting others. So Chelsea Manning, she is.
But as a complete noob to this stuff, I wouldn't be surprised if I say something stupid when discussing a transgendered person.
One thing that threw me a bit is discussing Manning's past history, e.g., "when Chelsea leaked the damning video...", because Chelsea was Bradley when she leaked the video, so in my brain, the person who was arrested was Bradley. (Sometimes I have very rigid thinking - a blessing and a curse.) So referring to Chelsea as Bradley when discussing past events is a mistake I could have easily made out of my (abundant, as many know!) stupidity. (To solve my problem, I thought about the precedent of Muhammad Al - I wouldn't refer to him as Cassius Clay when discussing his early boxing career. So Chelsea it is/was.)
In any case, let's save our rage for all the #$%& that's truly born of bad intentions, and be careful to not slam those of us who mean well but don't always have our brains in gear. Teach us, don't yell at us.
Mostly, I'm thankful that this kind of stuff can get discussed now, and that people with atypical (is that the wrong word?) sexual identities (is that the wrong phrase?) can be who they are in most parts of our country. When I was a kid - not so long ago - they could not.
Progress! Let's keep going!
(Sorry for the ramble.)
Profile Information
Name: Manny GoldsteinGender: Male
Hometown: Greater Boston
Home country: USA
Current location: Remulak, as far as I can tell
Member since: Tue Aug 30, 2005, 09:44 AM
Number of posts: 34,589