Wednesday, November 26, 2008
The Fed is going to buy up $600 billion of debt issued or backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae and Federal Home Loan Banks — a move that makes the nation’s central bank a lender to almost every corner of American life. This is one of the first major moves from the Fed to ensure that commercial credit markets remain liquid, meaning that things like mortgages, student loans, car loans and other forms of consumer credit remain available at reasonable prices. The standard disclaimer on all of these bailout measures apply: May not work, maybe have long lasting repercussions, and the Fed now basically owns everything ever.
President-elect Obama has announced his National Security Team. The big news is that he will be keeping Defense Secretary Robert Gates in his current post for the time being. However, some commentators I respect are saying that the real question is going to be who gets to pick the mid and junior level staff.
US consumer spending fell by 1% in October, the largest decline since September 2001. So go buy stuff.
A position that I feel hasn’t gotten enough attention FDA commissioner. What with my desire to not get e coli, the appointment will signal how serious the Obama administration will be about making the FDA an actual regulatory body again.
The Thanksgiving tradition of Op-Eds about Pilgrims is alive and well. Luckily, Tom Friedman has an outstanding Op-Ed about the Citi bailout. Nothing earth-shattering, but some enjoyable vitriol.
Friday, June 13, 2008
Thought we first mentioned it yesterday, today the Washington Post has a much more complete rundown of the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling that terrorism suspects have the right to appeal their detentions in civilian courts. Some are saying the decision was influenced by the fact that some detainees have been held for 6 years without a trial. This was the fourth time the court has ruled agianst the Administration’s detention policies. It is worth reading the story just to read the spluttering outrage in some of the dessenting opinions.
OK, I’ll admit it, this blog is not the best place to go for up-to-the-minute FDA safty announcement news. Apparently tomatoes are the most recent vegetable that will make you get sick and die. This was announced like Tuesday and yes, we probably should have given you a heads up earlier (at least before you had that BLT for lunch). However, there is a plus side, if you haven’t gotten E. Coli already you are probably fine. Paul Krugman has a good take on why vegetables keep getting contaminated.
Thunderstorms are tearing through the midwest with massive flooding and tornadoes in several states. Wednesday night a tornado hit a Boy Scout camp in Western Iowa, killing 4. Seconds after the tornado hit, the least wonded scouts organized first aid stations to care for the dozens of others who had been wounded. Paramedics say that this quick work likely saved lives of many of the more seriously wounded.
The Nintendo Wii continued it gaming domination in May. It was the top selling console of the month with 675,000 units sold. That brings the total US sales of the Nintendo Wii to 10.2 million – on a par with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 which has sold 10.27 million. This is even though the Xbox 360 came out more than a year before the Wii (an eternity in the gaming world).
Thursday, February 21, 2008
I stayed up late last night to watch the eclipse. While watching the eclipse, I may have had a few beers (and a few glasses of whiskey). So I overslept and I was feeling a little delicate this morning when I popped open the newspaper. All of this is my way of saying to The New York Times, I WAS NOT PREPARED TO HANDLE A JOHN MCCAIN SEX SCANDAL. THAT IS GROSS.
Ok, it is not a “sex scandal”– yet — but The Times has a piece detailing the variety of ethical issues that Senator McCain has had come up during his career. The story leads by detailing McCain’s relationship with a female lobbyist during his 2000 campaign for President. She apparently traveled with him or to meet him on the campaign trail so frequently that campaign aides confronted both of them repeatedly to tell them to stop. Though he did not necessarily have an improper relationship with the lobbyist (both deny it), he did write letters to government regulators on behalf of her clients. The story is about 1 million words long and goes on to describe a variety of scandals in McCain’s career. But honestly, no one will be talking about a regulatory scandal from 1987. If this comes up at work, bring up that John McCain already has a smoking hot, super rich wife, so what the hell is his problem?
Democrats, The Law, and Blowing Shit Up after the jump
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