Suitably Flip

Freedom Tower Redux

A brand new Freedom Tower design has been unveiled and along with it, a new raft of shiny CG renderings.

After pleas from the NYPD based on safety concerns, Governor Pataki ordered the redesign last month.  So what's changed?

"Gone are the asymmetrical spire, torqued form, parallelogram floor plan, energy-producing windmills, suspension cables, lacy facade and open-air arcade."

So... the ugly, pseudo-futuristic ataxia that was destined to be to future generations what geodesic domes and the Queens Worlds Fair grounds are to us?

*Phew*

Total square footage is still roughly 2.6 million and the symbolic overall height remains 1,776 feet.

The water-white glass curtain wall building will sit atop an "almost impermeable and impregnable 200-foot concrete and steel pedestal" to house the building's 8-story lobby and mechanical equipment.  This, in addition to its being scooted further away from West Street, has allayed worries of susceptibility to car bombers and other surface-level threats.
 
SlantPoint opines.

Watch the new Freedom Tower slideshow.

Collect All Five

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the food court, someone claims to have found another finger in her order.

(Earlier this year, a woman made a false claim of errant finger discovery in a bowl of Wendy's chili and was later jailed.)

This time, the disembodied digit is said to have come with a take-out salad from a Louisiana Applebee's.  A woman impossibly named May Deal Chambers Johnson (a handle destined to litigate) has brought the suit, which claims physical and psychological harm resulting from:

...unsanitary food preparation and improper training of employees, as well as "failure to prevent the inclusion of a human fingertip in a salad to go."

That's undoubtedly the first time those words have ever appeared in that order in a civil action.

Seriously though, how are restaurateurs supposed to prevent all of these marauding fingers from sneaking into their food?  Maybe they can set some of these around the kitchen.

"As Iraqis Stand Up, We Will Stand Down."

Highlights from the President's primetime speech on Iraq:

Looking back:

• June 2004: Iraq achieves free sovereignty
• January 2005: Iraqis hold free elections
• Notable infrastructure improvements: roads, schools, health clinics, basic services (electricity, sanitation, water)
• Effects felt beyond Iraq's borders, as weapons programs are abandoned and freedom is claimed throughout the broader middle east (observably in Libya, Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia)

Currently:

• 30 nations with military forces in Iraq (many others providing non-military support)
• 40 nations and 3 international organizations supporting Iraq's reconstruction
• 80 nations and international organizations meeting recently in Brussels and next month in Jordan in support of reconstruction efforts
• 17 nations contributing troops to NATO training missions
• Italy, Germany, Ukraine, Turkey, Poland, Romania, Australia, and the U.K. training the Iraqi police force.
• 130,000 Iraqi forces gaining in number and quality
• 2,000+ Iraqi forces' lives given in the line of duty
• Iraqi-led anti-terrorist campaign "Operation Lightning" netting 100's of suspected insurgents and terrorists

Plans:

• No new troops
• No withdrawal timetable
• 3 new steps:
  • Partnering U.S. and Iraqi units, to allow Iraqis to observe the world's most professional armed servicemen in live combat situations
    
  • Embedding coalition operations teams to work and live alongside Iraqis, teaching skills related to urban combat, intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance
  • Assisting interior ministries with coordination of anti-terrorist command-and-control operations and leadership training
• Constitutional drafting committee will solicit involvement of more Sunnis
• Once written, Iraqi constitution will be put to a vote
• If constitution is approved, new elections will establish permanent government

Expectations:

• As Iraqis see that their military can protect them, more will come forward with vital intelligence
• Continued reforms will provide the foundation for a free and stable Iraq
• Rise of freedom in vital region will eliminate conditions that give rise to radicalism and terrorism
• Ultimate triumph depends on steadfastness of allies and perseverance of American people
• We will fight until the fight is won

Call for involvement:

• This 4th of July, find a way to thank and support our servicemen and women:
  • Fly a flag
  • Help out a local military family
  • Send letters to troops overseas
• Visit the America Supports You website for hundreds of ways to support the troops, including an online form to send your message of support instantly

Read the full address.
Captain Ed charted a liveblog of the speech.  So did Matt at Blogs for Bush.

Scrushy Acquitted

The first major case brought under Sarbanes-Oxley is finally over - and the result is the first major acquittal.

After 21 days of deliberation, the Alabama federal jury let HealthSouth founder and former CEO Richard Scrushy off on charges of fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering.   Despite $2.7 billion in "pixie dust" revenue, despite audio surveillance of Scrushy allegedly orchestrating the fraud, and despite 5 former HealthSouth finance chiefs implicating Scrushy as complicit in the bonanza of deceit, the formerly "deadlocked" jury acquitted on all 36 charges.

HealthSouth's stock is no longer exchange-listed, but they did finally file their 2003 annual report yesterday.

And the Winner Is...

Reluctant partiot Fatina Abdrabboh edges out Donna Brazile for this week's Hardy Hinge Award:

Fatina Abdrabboh	42%
Donna Brazile (on behalf of Dems (on behalf of Ohio disenfranchisees))	38%
hunter@dailykos.com	8%
SCOTUS Kelo Majority (write-in candidate)	8%

Official Proclamation, for immediate release:

"For her op ed in the New York Times, especially her unyielding abuse of hackneyed metaphor, her keen recognition that everything's about her, her quirky ability to develop a heightened hope for America after a run-in with a sweaty Al Gore, and her clinging to the notion that that's still an A-list name-drop, we at Suitably Flip farcically present this Hardy Hinge Award to Fatina Abdrabboh."

Congratulations, Fatina!

This weekend's voting also saw a spontaneous write-in campaign for an insurgent candidate, the Supreme Court majority that ruled against Susette Kelo, expanding the purview of eminent domain.

This week's runners-up:

• Ohio, specifically, Democratic officials on the topic of the 2004 election in Ohio.  Even more specifically, DNC Voting Rights Institute Chairwoman Donna Brazile is the nominee of record, as the leader of the DNC task force that's been picking at Ohio's electoral wounds.

• hunter@dailykos.com, sometimes a title is worth a thousand words (which is good because it's followed by 849 words of worthless claptrap).

Visit last week's winner.
See all winners.

Don't know why you say до свидания, I say привет

In a meeting Saturday with the likes of IBM, Intel, and Citigroup, Russian President Vladimir Putin "assured U.S. business leaders that his government remains committed to free-market principles and welcomes foreign investment."

Well, I believe one of those assertions.

Citigroup’s chairman, Sanford Weill, told reporters after Saturday’s meeting with Putin that the conversation was “very productive and long.”

I believe one of those two characterizations too.

The country has seen rapid capital flight since Putin (it's said) had the head of Russia's Yukos oil company, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a man with lofty political ambitions, jailed on ostensible fraud and tax evasion.

Add to that his December move migrating the selection of Russia's 89 local governors from a democratic process to one of presidential appointment, and the fleeing capital starts to seem like the smart money.

Unless Putin undergoes a genuine free market change of heart, this seems like a tough sell, so long as he's in office.  Putin bumps up against a term limit in 2008, but the World Peace Herald, who Friday pondered possible successors, suggests he will be able effectively to hand pick one.

3rd Weekly Hardy Hinge Award

Each Friday, our team of highly-trained media analysts sifts through the week's most detached diatribes and fatuous fugues to nominate candidates for this prestigious (and practical) trophy. Whichever nominee then earns the most votes from the blog-going public by the end of the weekend will be commissioned the week's most unhinged individual (or organization, media outlet, celebreality washout, etc.).

Congratulations to this week's nominees!  Vote for your pick below.  The polls will remain open until 10 pm Eastern on Sunday.

- Fatina Abdrabboh

For her op ed in the New York Times, especially her unyielding abuse of hackneyed metaphor, her keen recognition that everything's about her, her quirky ability to develop a heightened hope for America after a run-in with a sweaty Al Gore, and her clinging to the notion that that's still an A-list name-drop.  I think she'll find she fits in at Harvard far better than she thinks. (hat tip: Michelle Malkin)

- Ohio

Well, specifically, Democratic officials on the topic of the 2004 election in Ohio.  Even more specifically, DNC Voting Rights Institute Chairwoman Donna Brazile is the nominee of record, as the leader of the DNC task force that's been picking at Ohio's electoral wounds.

- hunter@dailykos.com 

Sometimes a title is worth a thousand words (which is good because it's followed by 849 words of worthless claptrap).

Who has come the most unhinged this week?
	Fatina Abdrabboh
	Donna Brazile (on behalf of Dems (on behalf of Ohio disenfranchisees))
	hunter@dailykos.com
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Visit last week's Hardy Hinge winner.
See all winners.

Moonbats Say the Darnedest Things

According to a Scripps Howard News Service poll:

51% of people believe it is very likely or somewhat likely that government officials were "directly responsible for the assassination of President Kennedy."

47% believe it is very likely or somewhat likely that "The U.S. Air Force is withholding proof of the existence of intelligent life from other planets."

33% believe it is likely the Navy shot down TWA Flight 800 either intentionally or accidentally.

Further, according to an independent Iraqi research group poll:

20% of Iraqis advocated clemency for Saddam Hussein - to "let bygones be bygones."

So what does it say for the credibility of the Gitmo torture camp argument that, according to a Rasmussen poll (hat tip: Power Line):

20% of Americans believe prisoners at Guantanamo Bay have been treated unfairly.

Judging by some of the above, opinions shared by as few as 1 in 5 poll respondents tend to belong to seriously fringy thinkers.  And yet, what percentage of Democratic Senators have made substantively equivalent claims about Guantanamo Bay?

Numbering 44 in total, if we give them the 3% margin of error, 11 or more carpers would make the Senate minority disproportionately disparaging of our servicemen and women (and that's assuming the only ones who hold this opinion are ones that have spoken out publicly or voted on the topic).

Let's see...

Dick Durbin:  Probably safe to say "Nazi camps" was suggestive of unfair treatment
Patrick J. Leahy:  Claimed the situation in Gitmo ”is an international embarrassment to our nation and to our ideals, and it remains a festering threat to our security."
Edward M. Kennedy: "We now learn that Saddam’s torture chambers reopened under new management: U.S. management.”
Joe Biden: Claimed on ABC's "This Week" that the prison was doing more harm than good and maintains it is "the greatest propaganda tool that exists for recruiting of terrorists around the world," and should be shut down.
Herb Kohl: "Guantanamo does not represent the America we know. Instead, it stands in stark contrast to the values our nation symbolizes."
Robert Byrd and around 20 Democratic colleagues: Supported an unsuccessful proposal to yank funding for the prison (presumably not because they were pleased with it).

So off-hand, with at least 6 high-profile grousers, plus a couple dozen tag-alongs voting their displeasure, my spitball guess would be that a solid majority of Democratic Senators would, if polled, affiliate with the uncommon opinion that the American military mistreats Gitmo detainees.

Notable public statements missing from the above list are welcome...

Not Garbage

So the House voted in favor of the flag burning amendment today.  Again.  This makes 6 times in 10 years.

The Senate has always shot it down in the past, but the math this time could make it a real corker:

"We count 65 votes [in the Senate] based on voting records and talks," said Marty Justis, executive director of the Citizens Flag Alliance, which has been lobbying Congress to pass the amendment. "There are 54 official co-sponsors [of the bill] so we are targeting the other 46. We are going to target them until the [Senate] vote."

67 is the magic number for an amendment to pass the Senate, at which point the measure would be sent to the states for ratification.

I must say I have a strong affinity for this tenacious little "amendment to be".  Not because of my stance on the issue, but because this is the actual singing amendment that featured in a classic Simpsons episode.  For nostalgia's sake, here are the lyrics to the first verse of that stupendous School House Rock parody:

Kid: Hey, who left all this garbage on the steps of Congress?
Amendment: I'm not garbage!

(singing)
I'm an amendment to be, yes an amendment to be,
And I'm hoping that they'll ratify me.
There's a lot of flag burners who have got too much freedom,
I wanna make it legal for policemen to beat 'em.
'Cause there's limits to our liberties,
'Least I hope and pray that there are,
'Cause those liberal freaks go too far.

Do those liberal freaks go too far?  Well...

Many supporters say it would be unpatriotic not to support the amendment, but the ACLU's Schroeder disagreed.

"If we are truly being patriots, we need to protect the right to dissent and liberty in this country," she said.

She added that the amendment addressed a "non-problem" because "it's not as if there is a problem in this country with people burning flags."

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee's constitution subcommittee, made the same point on the House floor.

"Where is the epidemic of flag burning?" he asked.

Well, Jerry, maybe right here in your (and my) very district.

The Future of Superior Firepower

Here are a few of the weird and wonderful DARPA projects in the works, from the defense spending bill (H.R. 2863) newly passed by the House (via Greta Wodele at GovExec.com):

• Aircraft capable of lifting an entire army brigade from "fort to fight" in order to eliminate the need for bases outside the United States.
• Mechanical and chemical ways to process military waste into fuel [and to] harvest the electrical energy behind the motion of ocean waves.
• Tiny bullets and grenades that are capable of steering themselves in flight to hit the hardest and farthest targets.
• Jam-proof communications satellites.
• Robots that could repair, upgrade and refuel other satellites.
• Pulsing neutron stars as location-tracking devices.

The $408 billion bill passed 398-19, in a refreshingly bi-partisan display of our country's commitment to staying in shape.

Don't you love the smell of neutron stars in the morning?

Biden' Time

Brendan Miniter quotes Joe Biden's pre-Cloture remarks in today's Opinion Journal Political Diary:

"The vote [for Cloture on John Bolton's nomination] we're about to take is not, is not about John Bolton, the vote is about taking a stand." It's "totally unacceptable," he added, "for any president to dictate to the United States Senate how he, the president, thinks we should proceed."

Senator Biden is either woefully unaware of how this process works or he's being deliberately misleading.

When the President expresses frustration that the Senate is not according a nominees his due vote, it's not because he presumes to dictate how the Senate ought to proceed.  It's because he presumes that the Senate, in fact, ought to proceed.

John Bolton has the support to win confirmation - the support of the duly elected majority.  The unacceptable dictate at play here is that of the Senate minority, which is obstructing a candidate nominated by the President and supported by the requisite percentage of the consenting legislative body.

Equally unacceptable is Biden's disingenuous and/or ignorant assertion that Bush's desire for the Senate's opinion on the matter to be expressed somehow amounts to dictating how the body should proceed.

Uninformed or underhanded, Joe - which is it?

Storm for Reform

Couretsy of an attentive reader, here's a worthwhile event being hosted by "Fix Our Future" this Sunday.  If you're a Washington area 18-39-year-old, stop on by Capitol Hill for an afternoon of Social Security statement shredding and free t-shirt receiving.

Sign up here.

Stop Me If You've Heard This One

"So a man walks into a Senate confirmation..."

Update: Statement from RNC Press Secretary Tracey Schmitt (hat tip: GOP Bloggers):

It's disappointing that Senate Democrats are more committed to obstructionism than they are to reforming the United Nations. President Bush nominated John Bolton because he is the right man to reform the United Nations and he has clear majority support. By continuing to put partisan politicking above the interest of the American people, Democrats in Washington show their true colors, and where their priorities lie.

"Bring Your Son To Jail" Day

Former Adelphia Communications chief and founder John Rigas and his son Timothy were sentenced today, following last year's convictions on fraud and conspiracy charges.

15 years for Dad (80) and 20 for Timothy (49).  That'll do.

Still, considering they could've been sentenced to a combined 215 years, maybe they should be counting their blessings.  It's unlikely this translates to an effective life sentence for either Rigas, since the judge left open the possibility of springing the elder early if, after serving 2 years, he is deemed to have less than 3 months to live.

To review, the Adelphia fraud wasn't an ordinary earnings manipulation game; the men were accused of pilfering $100 million from their public shareholders for their own direct personal gain.

Prosecutors said John Rigas had ordered two Christmas trees flown to New York for his daughter at a cost of $6,000, ordered as many as 17 company cars and had the company buy 3,600 acres of timberland - for $26 million - to preserve the view outside his Pennsylvania home.

Worse still for investors, the company collapsed into bankruptcy in 2002 after it disclosed a staggering $2.3 billion in off-balance-sheet debt that prosecutors said was deliberately hid by the Rigases.

"Our intentions were good. The results were not," Timothy Rigas told the judge.

Intentions: free stuff.  Results: federal prison.

I'd say Tim gives an accurate assessment.

And the Winner Is...

Durbin takes this week's Hardy Hinge Award in a landslide!

Joe Biden	0%
Deaniacs	6%
Dick Durbin	94%

Official Proclamation, for immediate release:

"For his mightily unapologetic hate-America first attitude and his inability to distinguish between legitimate military POW's and illegal combatants/terrorists, we at Suitably Flip farcically present this Hardy Hinge Award to Senator Dick Durbin."

Congratulations, Dick.

This week's runners-up:

• Joe Biden, for his illogical insistence on the closure of the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, his stale fearmongering about a military draft, his inability to distinguish between "indefinite" and "permanent", and the lamest confirmation obstruction excuse to date.

• 16,577 Deaniacs, for astonishingly maintaining that the DNC Chairman speaks for them.

See the original post.
Visit last week's winner.
See all winners.

PETA the Puppy Slayer?

Secret to PETA's "cruelty-free living" revealed!

Step 1)  Receive adoptable cats and dogs from local veterinarians, shelters, and clinics.
Step 2)  Improperly euthanize same.
Step 3)  Dump carcasses behind Piggly Wiggly.

According to Ahoskie, N.C., police, that's how a pair of employees of the organization "dedicated to establishing and protecting the rights of all animals" went about it.  From the Virginian-Pilot (emphasis mine, throughout the post)):

Two employees of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals were arrested on animal cruelty charges in Ahoskie, N.C., after investigators saw dead dogs being thrown into a grocery store garbage container Wednesday, according to the Ahoskie Police Department.
...
[Local vet Patrick Proctor] also identified what he called a “death kit” that police found in the van. It was filled with syringes and two drugs that only licensed veterinarians can have, he said.

“PETA will never pick up another animal from my practice,” Proctor said.

According to Proctor, among the dumped animals were "a healthy, 6-month-old mutt with a needle mark on its front right leg" and a family of cats that included "two very adoptable" kittens.

From a follow-up Pilot article:

Police suspected that PETA workers were killing the dogs and cats they were picking up from shelters and clinics because carcasses wrapped in plastic bags were found in the bins every Wednesday for four straight weeks, according to Ahoskie police Detective Jeremy Roberts. A total of 80 dead animals were dumped, he said
...
Animals were not supposed to be killed in North Carolina, except by veterinarians hired by the organization or if they were in too much pain to travel, PETA said.

After they are killed, [PETA President Ingrid] Newkirk said, the carcasses are supposed to be sent to a crematorium, not dumped in bins.
...
The two PETA employees: Adria J. Hinkle, 27, of Norfolk, and Andrew B. Cook, 24, of Virginia Beach, appeared Friday in Hertford County District Court. Each faces 31 felony charges of animal cruelty and eight counts of illegal disposal of dead animals and one of trespassing.

Newkirk has condemned the actions of the two employees, but noted, "Shelter officials knew some of the animals, which are not always 'cute, cuddly, housebroken or small,' would need to be put down."

Given that, consider this (from the PETA website FAQ):

"What do you mean by 'animal rights'?"

Animal rights means that animals deserve certain kinds of consideration - consideration of what is in their own best interests regardless of whether they are cute, useful to humans, or an endangered species and regardless of whether any human cares about them at all (just as a mentally-challenged human has rights even if he or she is not cute or useful or even if everyone dislikes him or her).

I'm no animal rights activist, but this is pretty sick.  It also takes hypocrisy to dizzying heights.  Maybe they ought to worry less about vegan conversion drives and spoiling everyone's 4th of July and focus more on internal controls.  Or maybe they ought to at least remove this copy from their main page:

PETA seeks to solve the animal overpopulation problem in North Carolina by subsidizing spay/neuter services, but we do not and will not hesitate to roll up our sleeves and do the dirty work at our own expense.

Dumping cats and dogs in the supermarket trash - yep, that's dirty work all right.

Watch the video report from Pilot 13 News.

1,236 Days To Go

Not surprisingly, Hillary is the favorite in the first 2008 Presidential straw poll, conducted by Richland County (South Carolina) Democrats.                        

Candidate	Votes
Hillary Clinton	44
John Edwards/Ewards	34
John Warner	32
Joe Biden	24
John Kerry	4

Clinton's dominance was even more dramatic in a Fox News poll:

The Republican field was more evenly split, but Rudy Giuliani edged out John McCain for the plurality:

It would be intriguing to see a rematch between Rudy and Hillary (though I can't say I'm hoping for it - that's one step closer to the White House than I'm comfortable with her getting).

Personally, given the data from the South Carolina poll, I'd be happiest with a match-up between Rudy and John Warner.  I was a little surprised to see a Republican Senator polling so strongly for the Democratic nomination, but maybe they've come to realize the best way to win elections is by running Republicans.

Oh wait... maybe they meant Governor Mark Warner.

Previously: Thoughts on the 2006 Senate races.

Kozlowski Convicted

Former TYCO chief Dennis Kozlowski is guilty of securities fraud, conspiracy, falsifying records, and one count of grand larceny.  The grand larceny conviction could land him in the hoosegow for up to 25 years.

There had been growing worries that jury confusion over convoluted conspiracy verdict forms would lead to a second mistrial for Koslowski.

Former CFO Mark Swartz was found guilty on 22 of 23 counts.

Click for TYCO stock price.

2nd Weekly Hardy Hinge Award

Each Friday, our team of highly-trained media analysts sifts through the week's most detached diatribes and fatuous fugues to nominate candidates for this prestigious (and practical) trophy. Whichever nominee then earns the most votes from the blog-going public by the end of the weekend will be commissioned the week's most unhinged individual (or organization, media outlet, celebreality washout, etc.).

Congratulations to this week's nominees!  Vote for your pick below.  The polls will remain open until 10 pm Eastern on Sunday.

- Joe Biden

For his illogical insistence on the closure of the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, his stale fearmongering about a military draft, his inability to distinguish between "indefinite" and "permanent", and the lamest confirmation obstruction excuse to date.

- 16,577 Deaniacs

For astonishingly maintaining that the DNC Chairman speaks for them.

- Dick Durbin

For his mightily unapologetic hate-America first attitude and his inability to distinguish between legitimate military POW's and illegal combatants/terrorists. After parading his disdain for our servicemen and military activities on the Senate floor, Durbin later publicly refused to retract or apologize for his statements.  Rather, he noted, "This administration should apologize to the American people for abandoning the Geneva Conventions and authorizing torture techniques that put our troops at risk and make Americans less secure."

Who has come the most unhinged this week?
	Joe Biden
	Deaniacs
	Dick Durbin
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Will the Real Insurgent Please Stand Up?

Via Captain's Quarters, this blow up of a picture of supposed Iraqi insurgents from Stringer/Iraq/Reuters has sparked some controversy as to its authenticity.

Specifically, a CQ reader and self-described "gun nut" noted the following oddities (emphasis mine):

What caught my eyes were the fact that the "insurgent" had his finger off the trigger and along the frame (excellent safety practice, but something not expected of an untrained insurgent, especially in a firefight). The second thing was that fact that he had his hand wrapped around the barrel, which would be very hot is he were actually firing it (especially during the summer in Iraq). The Machine gun in the picture is a Russian PK, which fires the powerful, long rimmed 7.62 cartridge, not the lighter intermediate round of the AK-47. Speaking as a "gun nut, firing such a machine gun in automatic while in that crouched position would put you on your rear end, with the barrel pointing towards the sky.

In short, this smells of a "staged" picture.

Now, of course, "staged" (if the picture is in fact staged) could mean a number of things.  It could at worst mean that Reuters is sponsoring the staging of insurgent propaganda (even if indirectly, by way of lax authentication practices).  It could also mean that bona fide insurgent groups have found a convenient revenue stream (or at least a mouth piece) and are simply posing for a picture here and there before remitting them to the local Reuters bureau, in a sort of a dramatic re-enactment of what may well have happened or may soon happen.  It could also be that genuine murderous insurgents, soon to unleash their terrorist fury, are simply hamming it up a bit for nearby cameras.

Further, assuming the attentive firearm expert's observations are accurate, the scene may not be staged at all.  We may simply be looking at a dumb insurgent with uncommon safety skills, a calloused hand, and an imminent capsize.

In any event, given these apparent photo-irregularities, I invite any past or present military personnel (or anyone else with knowledge of the weapons in question) to weigh in on the above observations, or any other oddities they may notice.  See also the full zoomed out photo.

The ongoing conversation at Captain's Quarters is taking place here.

In a Post-(n/2)+1 World

From Social Security reform to confirmation of Presidential nominees, it seems the Senate just can't get things done like it used to.  (Well, I suppose they do get certain measures passed now and then.)

In today's Golden Age of Filibusters, however, getting politically charged measures through the upper house just isn't realistic.  There is, after all, only an 11 seat spread between the majority and minority positions.  And that's simply not enough of a mandate to allow such tyrannies as setting a political agenda, confirming nominees, or other legislative duties once carried by simple majority.

And yet, what if that majority were to graduate from simple... to Super?  The legislative consequences would plainly be dramatic (read: work would get done).  But is it realistic?  Indulge me in a brief saunter through this chimera...

To increase their Senate position to a filibuster-proof supermajority of 60 and thereby scratch the Dems' increasingly itchy filibuster finger, the GOP will need to pick up 5 net seats in 2006.  I recently bounced this prospect off of Dr. Larry Sabato, Director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, and creator of the much-gazed Crystal Ball, which provides analysis and predictions for major elections.

There are 33 Senate elections in 2006, 18 of which are for seats currently held by Democrats and people named Jim Jeffords.  According to Center for Politics research, 8 of these Democrats are "moderately to very vulnerable" (6 of the 15 Republicans are given the same rating).

Per the Crystal Ball, these 8 most fertile GOP hunting grounds are as follows (colorization mine).  2004 Bush vote share is shown in parentheses:

Florida:  Bill Nelson (52%)
Maryland:  Open (43%)
Michigan:  Debbie Stabenow (48%)
Minnesota:  Open (48%)
North Dakota*:  Kent Conrad (63%)
Nebraska:  Ben Nelson (66%)
New Jersey**:  Open (46%)
Washington:  Maria Cantwell (46%)

*  In play if GOP Governor John Hoeven runs
** In play if Senator Jon Corzine is elected governor

If Republicans can flip the seat in each of the three red states on the most vulnerable list, and pick up any two from Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Washington, they'll get to 60 (and scores from Hollywood will renew promises of emigration... I smell a tipping point).  If one or more of the at-risk Republican seats should turn, however, there'll obviously need to be a corresponding cushion provided either by additional blue state poaching, or by a surprise party change among the less vulnerable seats.

Is it far-fetched?  Maybe a tad.  Is it too early to get overly piqued about it?  Okay, probably.  But with stewards the likes of Howard Dean, Joe Biden, and Dick Durbin at the helm of the party's rhetorical ship, there's magic in the air.

Crystal Ball offers analysis and early predictions for each 2006 Senate race here.

The Coward of Mosul

A big win in the war on terror this week, with the capture of Mohammed Khalif Shaiker, aka Abu Talha, aka the "Emir of Mosul".

U.S. forces have detained a senior associate of Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a U.S. general in Iraq said on Thursday, calling the arrest a major blow to the insurgency in the northern city of Mosul.
...
"This is a major defeat for the al Qaeda organisation in Iraq," Brigadier General Donald Alston told a news conference on Thursday, referring to the group led by Zarqawi and allied to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

From IC Publications:

"According to former Talha associates, Talha never stayed more than one night at any one residence, and always wore a suicide vest, saying he would never surrender," the statement added.

He surrendered to U.S. and Iraqi forces without a fight.  Surprised?

Caveat Venditor

The Shinnecock Indians have filed a claim to more than $1.7 billion worth of land in Southampton, Long Island, and a planned second lawsuit targets billions more.  The 3,600 acres in question were ceded by the Shinnecock to the town in 1859, under disputed circumstances.

Shinnecock Chairman Randy King claims the suit "will enable the nation to rise above the poverty, discrimination and exploitation we have endured for generations. We are seeking what is rightfully ours."

Assuming the suit has merit (which first hinges upon the Shinnecock achieving federally recognized status), that all sounds august and dignified.  Except that the rarefied air "above poverty, discrimination, and exploitation" is of course saturated with the amende honorable known as monopoly casino revenues.

The Shinnecocks are backed financially by Detroit-based Gateway Funding Associates, which is run by Marian Ilitch, the matriarch of a business empire that includes one of the nation's largest pizza chains, hockey's Detroit Red Wings and baseball's Detroit Tigers. The company had a combined 2004 revenue of more than $1 billion.

Tom Shields, a company spokesman, said Gateway is interested in "economic opportunities" involving the Shinnecock, including the possibility of investing in a casino. He said Gateway has worked with other tribes around the country in developing casinos and other enterprises.

Ilitch also owns MotorCity Casino, which takes in more than $400 million in revenue a year and is Detroit's biggest casino.

The gaming machine is supplementing its legal claims with a coordinated PR campaign on CNN, Fox News, NY1, WCBS-AM, WINS-AM, NBC's "Meet the Press," ABC's "This Week" and CBS's "Face the Nation", so prepare to be besieged.

The Shinnecocks of 150 years ago may or may not have been misled or unduly pressured to relinquish their claim to the land.  But whatever the appetency of the claim, this should not be confused with a case of a downtrodden people striving valiantly against repression (which I suspect will be the tenor of the media spots, beseeching, "It's time for New York state to respect the first New Yorkers").  Rather, this is an instance of a multi-billion dollar enterprise chasing singular access to an enormous prospective market.

Don't get me wrong - I'm all for capitalism and free enterprise.  It's just that an attempt to secure a lucrative, protected monopoly under the guise of historical inequities and the renewal of "respect" leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

For reference:  Browse some of the tonier parcels in the disputed area (the priciest digs going for more than $17 million apiece), courtesy of Southeby's Real Estate.

Welcome Back, Douglas Wood

In the video released by the Shura Council of the Mujahideen of their (now freed) hostage Douglas Wood, Wood is coerced into pleading for the U.S.-led coalition to leave Iraq.

What a bitter slap in the face it must have been for the kidnapping terrorist group when a successful rescue mission was mounted, not by the U.S.-led coalition, but by native forces.

[Australian Prime Minister] John Howard told parliament shortly after 6.45pm that "Mr Wood was recovered a short while ago in Baghdad in a military operation that I am told was conducted by Iraqi forces in co-operation in a general way with force elements of the United States".

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Update:  Watch video of Wood speaking about his ordeal from his hospital bed.

Billions More for Enron Investors

$2.2 billion, to be exact, this time in a settlement from J.P. Morgan.  This, just days after Citigroup's $2 billion settlement.  It seems a gloomier prospect for Morgan, though:

"Morgan also looks relatively worse versus Citigroup for three reasons. First, Citigroup settled first for both WorldCom and now Enron, so it looks like Citi forced J.P. Morgan's hand. Second, Morgan is paying more than Citigroup ($2.2 billion versus $2.0 billion), and third Morgan has an earnings hit whereas Citi had enough in legal reserves, which at least raises the issue about the degree of J.P. Morgan's prior conservatism," Prudential analysts said Wednesday.

Cumulative cash recouped by Enron investors to date:

$2.2 billion, J.P. Morgan
$2.0 billion, Citigroup
$222.5 million, Lehman Brothers
$69 million, Bank of America
$32 million, Andersen Worldwide

Total: >$4.5 billion

Still on the hook:  Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse First Boston, CIBC, Barclays Bank, Deutsche Bank, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Enron officers, accountants, and lawyers.

With these two monster settlements in the rearview mirror, watch for additional agreements likely to be reached in short order by many of the above.

A New Deal

While the Senate finds time to pass symbolic gestures, John Bolton is still hung up in a thinly veiled filibuster.  Bill Frist is hoping to pass Cloture and move him to a floor vote this week.  And since Senators don't have great attendance habits on warm-weather Fridays, the effort will be to make it happen by Thursday.

The anti-filibuster/anti-nuclear Deal only covers judicial nominees, so moving Bolton through will require something new.  And since Republicans got so hosed last time by the anemic negotiations of the GOP Gang of 7, it seems only fitting that there be a similarly red-skewed inequity this time.

Thankfully, PledgeBank's beta service makes that dream a reality.  So if your name is Joe Lieberman, Mary Landrieu, Robert Byrd, Ben Nelson, Mark Pryor, Daniel Inouye, or Ken Salazar, help make it happen by committing to the pledge here.

"I will link to MoveOn.org, Kicking Ass (DNC blog), and the Huffington Report for a week but only if 7 of the munificent 7 Democratic Senators will agree to quit filibustering John Bolton and vote for Cloture."

— Flip, Suitably Flip

Deadline: 16^th June 2005. 0 [Senators] have signed up, 7 more needed

More details
Links will appear high atop the front page at: http://suitablyflip.blogs.com/

If you're one of the non-Senatorial readers of this site, consider setting up a similar pledge.  I'll aggregate them in an update to this post to lend us a collectively imposing air.

Update:  Blogger signatories:

• Flip (Pledge Author)
• Pierre Owner Bouncer Pink Flamingo Bar & Grill
• Jack Ott
• The Man
• Gullyborg
• Zelda of The Urban Grind
• Geoff Smock
• Ogre's Politics and Views
• Gandalf the Ex-Donkey
• Kit from Euphoric Reality
• Badger Blogger
• Michael Swartz
• Rightwinger
• Scott's Conservative News and Commentary
• Grunt Sarge

Senators on board:    0 / 7

Dollars and Pence

Following Alan Greenspan's testimony last Thursday, England's counterpart Mervyn King spoke last night on British monetary policy.

While the U.S. has been listening for hints of a pending pause in rate hikes (now that inflation appears well-contained), the U.K. expects one or more rate cuts in the near future (despite the highest money supply growth rates in nearly a decade).

What else is different about the topsy-tourvy world of British monetary policy?  Here's a quick comparative chart, from a bloke in his pyjamas:

	United States	England
Policy Authority	Federal Reserve Bank	Bank of England
	(Federal Open Market Committee)	(Monetary Policy Committee)
Head Honcho	Alan Greenspan	Mervyn King
Celebrity Resemblance	Martin Landau	Danny Aiello
Money Supply	$9.2 trillion	1.3 trillion £ ($2.3 trillion)
Target Rate	Fed Funds Rate	BoE Repo Rate
Current Target	3.00%	4.75%
Trend	Eight 1/4 point hikes	Unchanged
Expectations	Hike(s), then pause	No change, or cut(s)
Sports Metaphor	Identify remaining rate hikes by equivalent inning of baseball game.	Be like a “true Yorkshire batsman: be ready to play on either foot .”
Policy Best Debated Over...	Brandy and cigars	Bangers and mash

Read the full text of King's speech.

Old Europe Hikes Up Its Pants

From China View:

The European Union will allow imports of men's trousers from China to increase by 8 per cent this year, with the figure climbing to 10 per cent in 2006 and staying there in 2007, according to an agreement reached on Saturday between Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai and his EU counterpart Peter Mandelson.

A Blog's Age

Congratulations to Michelle Malkin on her first blogiversary!

Paper being the traditional 1st anniversary present, and the blogosphere being the e-quivalent to printed media, an e-card seems like the ideal gift.  Here are a few good (read: free) collections of congratulations cards you can send her.

• 123 Greetings
• Funny eCards
• Yahooligans
• Greet2K

Enjoy, Michelle!

Kyl Ups the Ante

Andrew Mellon used the IRS to take down Capone.  Mitch McDeere used the Postal Service to take down the Moroltos.

Now, Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) plans to use the banking system to stem the tide of overseas internet gaming sites.

A bill being drafted by Jon Kyl, a Senator for Arizona and long-time opponent of internet gambling, seeks to ban credit card companies from dealing with online gaming groups in a bid to crack down on the rapidly growing industry.

As the US has no jurisdiction to challenge directly offshore internet gambling companies such as PartyGaming, which is based in Gibraltar, senators are trying to shut down the industry by stopping banks from handling all online betting transactions.

The bill is supported by the American Gaming Association (AGA).  It should also allay the WTO's beef.

Adding a little zest to the story, PartyGaming has been preparing for a 5.5 billion pound IPO on the London Stock Exchange.  If the bill passes, it would cut the firm off from the majority of its existing customers.

One Note Howie

You'd think it'd get tiresome, posting on Dean again and again.  But if he keeps throwing meatballs, we'll keep hitting dingers.

What's the vitriol du jour?  Well, since race has been such a winning topic for Dr. Dean lately, the obvious next contingent for him to loose his tactful sensibilities upon was black people.

Dean couthly reminded the world that African Americans are the rightful domain of the Democratic party:

"I think it's hypocritical for the Republicans to pretend to reach out to the African-American community unless they say they are going to reauthorize what gave the African-American community political power," Dean said in an interview.
...
Dean said Republicans should not "pretend" to be genuinely interested in courting African-American voters until the party makes a clear statement on [the Voting Rights Act].

But how does a diplomat with such a sensitive ear for hypocrisy - particularly with regard to the proprieties of courting particular voting demographics - reconcile this statement...

"White folks in the South who drive pickup trucks with Confederate flag decals on the back [read: a troublingly Republican voting bloc] ought to be voting with us, not [Republicans]."

with this one?

"I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for." 

The answer, of course, is that Howard Dean concerns himself with neither consistency nor coherence.  At this point, it'd be all too easy just to write off his whole daffy gabfest once and for all.  But until a preponderance of the party's sapient leadership decides to acknowledge Dean's divergence, I feel justified in taking his rhetoric as de facto mainstream Democratic dogma.

The Inaugural "Hardy Hinge Award"

This is a very special week here in the Suitably Flip bailiwick, as we're unveiling the winner of the first weekly Hardy Hinge Award.

Each Friday, our team of highly-trained media analysts will sift through the week's most detached diatribes and fatuous fugues to nominate candidates for this prestigious (and practical) trophy.  Whichever nominee then earns the most votes from the blog-going public by the end of the weekend will be commissioned the week's most unhinged individual (or organization, media outlet, celebreality washout, etc.).

Due to breaking events late Friday, we were regrettably unable to publish this week's nominees in time for their due vote.  Happily, our team of highly-trained media analysts was able to reach the unanimous decision to summarily declare Amnesty International the honored recipient.

Official Proclamation, for immediate release:

"In light of recently published comments encouraging the foreign imprisonment of U.S. Government officials, in recognition of their uncommon opinions of U.S. terrorist detention facilities, in avowal of their of their willingness to recite unsubstantiated hooey* before the House Judiciary Committee, and in awe of their long-standing and bold aloofness toward all reason and rationale, we at Suitably Flip farcically present this Hardy Hinge Award to Amnesty International, USA."

This week's runners-up:

• Howard Dean, for his delightful and astoundingly consistent inability to concatenate words that form inoffensive statements.
• The ACLU, for their most recent reproach of the Patriot Act (capably refuted here and here).

Each nominee put up strong numbers this week, but Amnesty's recent body of work simply rises to a new level of detachment.

On behalf of the organization, Amnesty Chairman Chip Pitts will shortly receive the above-pictured hardware, the attractive and dependable S. Parker Brass-Plated Plain Bearing Full Mortise Template Hinge (fully swaged, screws and removable pin included, handsome acrylic case and mahogany base not).

May it bring Mr. Pitts and his organization a renewed coupling with reality.

Be sure to stop in to vote on the next round of nominees, to be posted Friday.

---

* During Friday's hearing on re-authorization of the Patriot Act, Pitts claimed that librarians in the U.S. have indeed been compelled (presumably by the FISA Court under Section 215) to divulge business records.  Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner gave Pitts a deadline of 7 days to provide documentation of such to the committee.  That gives him until the 17th...

Watch the full video of the hearing.

Keeping Sharp

Today at 3:00 pm Eastern, "Ask the White House" will hold an online chat with Michael Battle, Director of the DOJ's Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys.

The topic will be the USA Patriot Act, presumably focusing on the "sunsetting" provisions that the President has been urging the Senate to renew:

"My message to Congress is clear: The terrorist threats against us will not expire at the end of the year, and neither should the protections of the Patriot Act,'' Bush said.

Shocker of shockers, the ACLU has issued a statement reminding us not only of the ostensible unConstitutionality of the Patriot Act, but also of its inefficacy.  They further hold that Bush "misled the public" on the issue (still hoping that phrase'll stick to something, I guess).

I've asked Director Battle to comment on the statistics and studies the ACLU slings around in its tirade, hoping for some debunking from the horse's mouth.

I'll update here with any response, and with general highlights from the discussion.  Visit the "Ask the White House" website to participate in the live chat.

Update:  The chat has concluded.  I highly recommend reading the transcript, but for you on-the-go types, here are the quotables:

• The PATRIOT Act also allowed us to use law enforcement tools - the same ones we’ve used for years against Mob bosses and drug lords - against terrorists who want to kill innocent Americans. These are the same tools that have been used for years to fight other sorts of crime, and courts have ruled that they are constitutional and do not violate civil liberties.

•  We have prosecuted terror cells and supporters of terror all across America, in states including New York, Oregon, Virginia, Florida, California, Texas, New Jersey, Illinois, North Carolina and Ohio.

• Far from compromising our civil liberties, the PATRIOT Act expressly protects them. The law says that Congress declares that, in the quest to identify, locate, and bring to justice the perpetrators and sponsors of the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, the civil rights and civil liberties of all Americans . . .be protected.

• Despite all the misinformation that's out there, libraries aren't mentioned in the PATRIOT Act. There is a provision in the law (section 215) that allows investigators to request the production of records to aid in international terrorism and espionage investigations. This can only happen with a court order and when those records are relevant to a national security investigation, such as an international terrorism or espionage investigations.

• Congress also improved many areas of the general criminal law in the Act, and we are therefore allowed to use those tools to combat other forms of serious crime, not just terrorism... Last December, Bobbie Jo Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant, was strangled and killed in her Missouri home. When law enforcement found her, they saw that her unborn baby had been sliced out and was missing. They used the PATRIOT Act to find the alleged killer and the healthy baby girl in Kansas a short time later. Also, in Operation Hamlet, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents used section 210 of the PATRIOT Act to assist in dismantling an international ring of active child molesters, many of whom were molesting their own children.

Click here for more repudiation of Patriot Act-related ACLU claptrap.

The Emperor Has No Clue

Kudos to Fox News Channel's Brian Wilson for trying to extract some kind of explanation from Howard Dean as to his ever-blossoming unhingery (via Michelle Malkin).

[Wilson] asked Dean "if people are focused on the other things that you've said about hating Republicans, about Republicans being dishonest and then this latest comment about the Republican Party is full of white Christians. You say you hate Republicans -- does that mean you also'' hate white Christians?

Watch the video of Wilson's report.

Another Spicy Meatball for Citigroup

Quick, take a look at your Ameritrade account.  Did you buy Enron stock between September 9, 1997 and December 2, 2001?

If so, you may entitled to a piece of the whopper settlement Citigroup has agreed to pay in connection with with the class action suit Newby, et al. v. Enron Corp., et al.

Citigroup Inc., the world's largest financial services company, Friday said it will pay $2 billion to Enron Corp. investors who accused it of helping engineer a massive accounting fraud at the energy trader.

The class-action settlement is one of the largest in corporate history, though it is less than the $2.58 billion that Citigroup agreed to pay WorldCom Inc. investors in 2004.

The settlement may put pressure on a series of other major banks to settle with Enron investors.

Read the Citi press release.

A Year in Arrears

William Pryor confirmed by the Senate:

On a largely party-line vote of 53-45, the Republican-led Senate approved former Alabama Attorney General William Pryor for a lifetime seat on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Bush last year put Pryor on the Atlanta-based court with a disputed recess appointment set to expire at the end of this year.

Courtesy of the Department of Justice, Pryor's resume and an editorial endorsement.

Sihpol Acquitted

Theodore Sihpol found not guily on late trading charges.

Ex-Bank of America Corp. broker Theodore Sihpol III was found not guilty of helping a New Jersey hedge fund illegally trade in mutual funds after the stock market had closed, a defeat for New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

STATEMENT FROM NEW YORK REPUBLICAN CHAIRMAN STEPHEN MINARIK
Re: Not Guilty Verdict in trial of Theodore C. Sihpol, III

Today, a jury of New Yorkers found former Bank of America broker Theodore Sihpol not guilty of 29 criminal counts filed by Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.  In response to the jury's verdict, New York State Republican Chairman Stephen Minarik said:

"Eliot Spitzer finally found a headline he's not going to like. This jury of New Yorkers exposes Spitzer as a politician whose ambition has steamrolled too many hardworking men and women of our state. Looks like the so called 'Sheriff of Wall Street' had a gun full of blanks."

Liveblogging the Fed

Or... "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Froth"

At 10:00 am, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan testified before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee.

All in all, there were no real surprises, other than, perhaps, the lack of surprises.  Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher made comments last week that suggested a defined end to the pattern of rate hikes, but Greenspan's language today was unchanged from that of the most recent FOMC minutes, which leaves the schedule indeterminate.

Greenspan's remarks, in brief:

• The economic soft patch observed earlier in 2005 is behind us.
• Inflation is contained for now, but no promises on when 1/4 point hikes on the Fed Funds will pause.  The Fed will be "vigilant" and "data-dependent".
• The flattened yield curve environment is an international phenomenon and is contributing to 1) high housing prices and 2) a moderated economic growth rate.
• We're in trouble when the baby boomers retire in earnest, given current savings rates, committed entitlements, and GDP growth.
• And by far the point hammered home the hardest, we must improve our system of education, particularly between 4th and 12th grade.  This is vital to long-term productivity, GDP growth, balanced budgets, and meeting the demands imposed by the pending labor force exodus.

Click below for the spine-tingling liveblog play-by-play:

10:00 am
Dow:  10461.86
10 Yr Note: 101.188 3.98%

Still waiting...

While we wait, fun words to watch for:
Bubble, Froth, Conundrum, Knife's Edge, [any baseball analogy]...

Here we go.  Greenspan paraphrasals looks like this.  [My annotations look like this.]

Summary of Chairman Greenspan's prepared remarks:

The past year's economic activity has alternatively paused and quickened.  The recent soft patch did not presage a more serious slowdown.  Spending has firmed.  Business investment is upbeat.  We have the same imbalances and uncertainties as we did a year ago.  Household savings remains negligible.  Pending mass retirement of baby boomers is still looming. The current account deficit exceeds 6% of GDP.  The surge in the price of oil has diminished U.S. purchasing power (oil climbed from 1.4% of GDP in 1Q04 to 1.8% in 1Q05).

On net, economy has done well over the last 12 months.  Real GDP has grown by 3.7%.  Unemployment fell to 5.1%.  2.5% productivity growth in first half of 2005, while respectable, is far less than >5% seen throughout 2004.

Rise in manufacturing costs has not yet fed into the core price level.  The pronounced decline in U.S. Treasuries - despite the cumulative 2% hike in the Fed Funds rate - was the biggest surprise of the last year.
[This is the "interest rate anomaly" or "flattened yield curve" referred to throughout the hearing.]

On housing, a bubble does not appear likely, but signs of "froth" are apparent in localized markets.  The upward pressure on housing is due to:

• Surprisingly low interest rates [the aforementioned anomaly, i.e. mortgages are cheap]
• Localized variance in housing prices, due to the inherent illiquidity, low transferability, and high transaction costs of the housing commodity
• If local housing markets do undergo a housing price correction, it is unlikely it will have a major macroeconomic impact.

10:20 am
Dow: 10458.56
10 YR Note: 101.079 3.99%

[Concluding his prepared remarks...]

"Inflation remains contained... Policy accommodation could be removed at a pace that will likely be measured, but the Fed will respond to changes in economic prospects as needed to fulfill its obligation to maintain price stability."

[This is the same language used in the most recent FOMC minutes, which suggests we're not in the "8th or 9th inning" (which would've more clearly signaled only 1 or 2 additional 1/4 point hikes, followed by a pause) that many had predicted.]

Q&A:

Regarding the interest rate anomaly:

"Something unusual is at play... of international origin."

Theories on the cause of the interest rate anomaly:

• The world economy is slowing down
• The accelerated pace of globalization opened up new areas of educated, skilled employment, bringing the cost structure of the world economy down, bringing down inflation premiums in the long end of the yield curve, and bringing down real risk premiums [real long term interest rates].

Effects of the interest rate anomaly on U.S. Economy:

• Mortgage rates are lower than they would normally be at this point in the business cycle, leading to the continued buoyancy of the housing market
• Other asset values that respond similarly to low long-term rates have similarly appreciated
• There is very little evidence of inflationary pressures on the product side [consumer prices], but wholesale costs may be rising.  Inflation risk: modest.  Fed: vigilant.  [Meaning if they start to see inflation creep in, don't expect them to ease off the hikes.]

10:30 am
Dow:  10453.29
10YR Note: 101.078  3.99%

Regarding the overall ability of the U.S. economy to weather difficulties:

Not inclined to expound on previously released FOMC statements.

Regarding income distribution in the U.S.:

Due to an underperforming U.S. education system (children perform well above the world median in 4th grade and well below by 12th), wage disparity and wealth concentration are increasing, an issue a democratic society should not tolerate.

[This was the first of many times Greenspan pointed to improvement in education as the lynch pin to securing our global competitiveness, long-term GDP growth, ability to make good on committed entitlements, and other triflings.]

Regarding a rambling thorough question posed by Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) about the Congress having used the flat yield curve as an excuse to carry large deficits [the notion being that it's less fiscally undisciplined to borrow more when the borrowing is cheap], the merits of repealing the death tax, and proper fiscal policy in light of the recent shift from a surplus to a deficit:

Fiscal policy will run into large problems in the next decade if we don't restore pay-go [deficit-neutral fiscal programs] and other fiscal discipline.  "Something very unusual is about to happen to this country" involving the huge exodus from the labor force. [the looming baby boomer retirement]

10:45 am
Dow: 10445.89
10 Yr Note: 101.062 3.99%

On a plea from Sen. Robert Bennett (R-UT) for the Chairman to hint where he thinks the long-term neutral Fed Funds rate might be (suggesting 3.5%).

Impossible to forecast, but we'll know it when we see it. [valiant effort, Senator]

Regarding proposed payroll deductions ("Save More Tomorrow Accounts") and their likely effect on household savings rates:

• There is evidence to suggest that "opt-out" savings plans (like SMTAs) will induce higher savings rates than "opt-in" plans
• But rise in savings rates is more likely to be due to changes in mortgage rates

10:55 am
Dow: 10458.39
10 Yr Note: 101.125  3.99%

On whether foreign investment in U.S. Treasury issues will shift the balance of the benefit of domestic production increasingly to foreigners (question from Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)):

Yes.  The impact will be "evident, but not serious."

On the future burden of delivering on committed healthcare entitlement benefits:

This must be dealt with "sooner rather than later" to avoid an "unhappy circumstance".

11:05 am
Dow: 10465.04
10 Yr Note: 101.281  3.97%

On whether the weak world economy theory [above] is a good theory to explain the yield curve anomaly:

Not really.

On the expected economic effects of a flattened yield curve:

One expects to see a squeeze in commercial banking activity [due to lower rate spreads], which generally leads to a slowdown in economic activity [because businesses are less able to borrow and invest in new projects]

On the federal government carrying unfunded liabilities [akin to a corporation carrying off-balance sheet financing]:

The federal government needs to adopt more uniform accrual accounting methodology to better recognize the cost of financing such liabilities.

11:15 am
Dow: 10464.00
10 YR Note: 101.250 3.97%

Do you still support the Bush tax cuts and do you think they should be made permanent?

Yes, if consistent with pay-go.

On how to get back to pay-go, given currently committed entitlements, defense spending, discretionary spending, and tax structure:

"Being as explicit as I dare," choices between "very goods" and "lesser goods" need to be made by legislators in order to curtail spending and/or increase revenues.  Balancing the budget is not being given sufficient priority.  "Unless you repeal the laws of arithmetic, it won't work."

On revisited worries about the threat of a cool-off in the housing market:

• The level of mortgage debt will go down due to equity extraction as the housing market cools.
• A major macroeconomic effect is not perceived as a consequence to the housing market cooling off.

11:30 am
Dow: 10454.84
10 YR Note: 101.234 3.97%

On the management of pension fund assets:

To the extent that funds are invested in other than risk-free assets [Treasuries], investors can expect higher returns as well as higher risks.  In the event of failure, that risk must be borne by employees, shareholders, or public benefit guarantees [the American taxpayer].  Those risks and the bearers of those risks must be identified.

On economic growth persisting despite high oil prices:

When gasoline and heating oil prices rise, consumption doesn't decrease measurably in the short term.  Long-term, when prices stay high, consumers will demand more fuel-efficient technologies, lowering overall relative consumption.

On the expanding dispersion of global current account imbalances, of which the U.S. is heavily on the deficit side: 

• Driven by increasing tendency of citizens to invest outside their country.
• Not necessarily a problem, provided significant levels of debt are not built up to finance the deficit.

On whether there's any way other than cutting expenditures AND raising taxes to restore fiscal discipline:

"Not that I'm aware of." [ouch, Alan.]

On the wealth of nations and why the United States consistently outperforms other countries:

1. The U.S. Constitution and its protection of personal property rights
2. The nature, education, and intellect of the American people [God bless 'em]

#2 is in serious jeopardy if we don't address declining educational standards in time to meet increasing entitlement burdens.

12:00 pm
Dow:  10503.83
10YR Note: 101.328  3.96%

On the levels of job creation and unemployment, compared to prior periods of economic recovery:

The earlier lag in job growth was in part due to increases in productivity growth (in 2002-2003).  This raised overall standard of living, offsetting the delayed recovery in employment.

A little tiff then ensued between Committee Chairman Saxton and Rep. Carolyn Maloney over the current unemployment rate (5.1%) compared to average unemployment rates for the prior three decades (which were all higher).  Rep. Maloney slipped in a final retort that the rate was lower in 2000.

[*sigh*]

12:15 pm
Dow:  10501.69
10YR Note: 101.266  3.97%

Revisiting the issue of income distribution:

High quality education is both a "necessary and sufficient condition" to solve the problem.  If we don't address that issue "nothing else we do is going to help very much."

Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) took a stab at bullying the Chairman into conceding that a more progressive (less "reckless and radical") tax policy is the better solution.  Greenspan responded with a brief economics refresher, explaining that returning tax revenues to high income tax payers results in productive reinvestment of that money, and very infrequently is put toward domestically unproductive projects, like the purchase of private islands and foreign factories that the Congressman was lamenting.

On the ability of econometric models to accurately characterize international trade between capitalist and totalitarian states (e.g. between the U.S. and China):

• They don't work very well.
• Applying principals of development economics works better than attempting to apply standard econometric models.

12:30 pm
Dow:  10523.41
10 Yr Note: 101.266  3.97%

On Rep. Loretta Sanchez's (D-CA) question about what other legislative policies need to be changed to address the country's income distribution:

[Say it with me now...]
SOLVE THE EDUCATION PROBLEM.

Chairman Saxton thanks Chairman Greenspan and concludes the hearing at 12:35 pm.

Feds Nab 5th in Lodi

Yet another Al-Qaeda suspect detained in Lodi, California:

An official with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed that Mohammad Hassan Adil, 19, was detained Wednesday for immigration violations. He is the son of Muhammed Adil Khan, who recently was taken into custody for immigration violations.

"He's being held on administrative immigration violations," Virginia Kice, an immigration spokeswoman, said of the son. Kice declined to elaborate.

Once authorities have had a chance to elaborate, it'll be interesting to hear why the suspects weren't already detained for these immigration violations.

Regulators That Get It?

If the Senate confirms Christopher Cox's nomination to the SEC Chair, he may round out an increasingly market-friendly cadre of financial regulators, particularly with regard to the uncertain future of hedge fund regulation.

The Managed Funds Association lobbying group recently has upped its efforts (Hedgeworld registration required) to mitigate the transition to mandatory SEC registration for hedge fund managers.

Meanwhile, Sharon Brown-Hruska, acting chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, publicly disagrees with the registration requirement, begging the question of whether Cox's presumed chairmanship would tip the balance toward chucking the policy altogether.

"The danger is often when the government steps in to regulate prices or risk taking, the government, as opposed to legitimate market forces, ends up picking winners and losers," Ms. Brown-Hruska said.

Plaudits and kudos, Ms. Brown-Hruska.  That kind of talk makes me wish I could go back to school, just so I could use that quote on my yearbook page.

Little Birdies

According to a survey by the Associated Press and the AP Managing Editors, a quarter of all U.S. newspapers forbid using anonymous sources under any circumstances.

Phil Lucas, executive editor of The News Herald of Panama City, Fla., said his paper has quoted anonymous sources only about once every three years, under restrictions so tight that "we would not use a source such as Deep Throat," who turned out to be former FBI official Mark Felt.

Willingness to rely on unnamed sources was negatively correlated with the size of a newspaper's market, which appears to suggest a lower overall reliability among big city papers.  Further, major market editors defended the practice as one only used in the most compelling and vital stories.

"The use of unnamed sources is limited to the most compelling cases where an important story can be told no other way," said David Boardman, managing editor of The Seattle Times.

Carl Lavin, deputy managing editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer, said that his paper discourages the use of unnamed sources, but "this needs to be balanced with the need to present vital information to the reader that cannot be obtained by other means."

I can understand the need to balance sources' rock solidity with the importance of getting a hot story to the presses, but what's the long-term trade-off of scooping your competitors at the risk of a permanent hit to your credibility when a source doesn't prove out?  Given the fact that the any anonymous source blunder is likely to involve an already high-profile story, it sounds like the small-town papers have the right idea.

I'd be interested to see this study repeated 5 years from now, after the fallout from some of the recent, notorious errors has been more fully realized.

Two Years in Arrears

Judge Janice Rogers Brown confirmed by the Senate:

The Senate voted 56-43 to confirm Brown to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and 67-32 to end the filibuster of Pryor's nomination to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals - the last of the three nominees Democrats agreed to clear in exchange for Republicans not banning judicial filibusters.

Of course, if you remember your new Senate math, this means that Judge Pryor's Cloture vote would've gone through even without the munificence of the 7 Democrat dealmakers, putting a little extra sting into the inequity of that lamentable compromise.

Courtesy of the Department of Justice, Judge Brown's resume and support for her record.

South Park Conservatives

Hot off the presses, my South Park persona is manifest:

Create your own South Park character here.

See the other bloggers in the neighborhood.

If You Don't Build It, Will They Come?

The prospects of New York's proposed West Side Stadium suffered a blow yesterday, as $300 million in financing  was quashed, due in part to abstentions by State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and State Senate Leader Joseph Bruno.

[Previously...]

The politics are knotty, involving not only the allocation of taxpayer funds, but also the city's 2012 Olympic hopes (a distinct priority for the Mayor), the Mayor's re-election campaign, and neighborhood spending payoffs to Silver (whose district includes the WTC site, and who most recently received an $820 million subsidy offer from Bloomberg and Governor Pataki) and other stadium opponents, which were widely seen as political quid pro quos for their support of the project.

Today, however, Silver intimated that supporting the project was never truly on the table, despite engaging the Mayor in lengthy negotiations this weekend ahead of the vote, and despite strong support of the project not only by Mayor Bloomberg, but also by Governor Pataki and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Mr. Silver disclosed that he never intended to approve the $2.2 billion stadium and hordes of hostile union workers declared the Manhattan Democrat an enemy of organized labor.

The day belonged to Mr. Silver, who spent much of Sunday in apparent negotiations over the project with Mayor Bloomberg but who made clear early in the day that nothing could have won his approval for a project that he said he views as nothing more than a larger scheme to relocate New York's financial center from Lower Manhattan to the West Side.

Mr. Bloomberg and Governor Pataki fervently supported the plan for what they called the New York Sports and Convention Center. Yesterday, however, when Mr. Silver was asked if the West Side stadium is now dead, he said: "It's never been alive."

The net effects of Silver's ploy are difficult to gauge.  As to 2012, International Olympic Committee watchers are mixed on whether New York's Olympic bid remains viable, absent a plan for the principal venue.  As to 2005, Sun Staff Writer Julia Levy argues Bloomberg may emerge from the rubble of this protracted battle as a stronger incumbent in this November's election.

Whoops.

The Impermissible Fire

A couple weeks ago, Indymedia Watch and Michelle Malkin wrote about an NYC Indymedia initiative urging their readers to engage in a "nationally coordinated action" of mass flag burning this 4th of July, in order to "show the elite that we are everywhere and that we completely reject the false principals this holiday is based on."

Of course, there's nothing inherently illegal about burning the American flag, but it occurred to me that igniting any open flame on a city street might be in violation of the New York City fire code.  So I e-mailed the FDNY to find out.

The Chief of Fire Prevention was kind enough to mail me a very prompt letter in response, explaining that open fires are indeed "prohibited in New York City and are covered under the administrative code sub chapter 26."  He did say that, absent proof of a compelling public safety concern, they would not consider the act a violation.

But aren't public safety concerns precisely what the fire code is designed to prevent?  It seems to me that just about anything expressly forbidden by it would be hard to interpret as anything else.  Whether flag, pig roast, or tire fire, the issue of open flames within city limits is pretty explicitly proscribed by the code (specifically NYC Administrative Code, Title 27, Chapter 4, Subchapter 26):

§ 27-4249 Open fires. a. It shall be unlawful for any person to kindle, build, maintain or use a fire upon any land or wharf property within the jurisdiction of the city of New York, except as follows: 
   1. outdoor picnic and barbecue fires on residential property in equipment with a total grate area not exceeding ten square feet and designed to use charcoal, or equipped with gas burners;
   2. outdoor noncommercial picnic and barbecue fires in equipment provided by and located in city parks where such fires are permitted by the appropriate city agencies;
   3. official fires used for the training of fire brigades or similar purposes by persons or corporations requiring such training, but only with the approval of the fire commissioner and the commissioner of the department of environmental protection;
   4. outdoor fires used in conjunction with tar kettles, coke salamanders, asphalt and snow melting equipment and open natural gas fired infrared heaters of capacity less than 150,000 BTU/hr;
   5. fires used for special effects for the purpose of television, motion picture, theatrical and for other entertainment productions, but only with the approval of the commissioner and the commissioner of ports and terminals.
   b. Any person who shall violate, or refuse, or neglect to comply with any provision of this section, shall upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding thirty days, or by both, for the first offense, and by a fine of not less than seventy-five dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding thirty days, or by both, for a second offense, and by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding sixty days, or by both, for a third or subsequent offense; and any such person shall, also, for each offense, be subject to the payment of a penalty in the sum of fifty dollars, to be recovered in a civil action brought in the name of the commissioner.
   c. The commissioner shall promptly notify the commissioner of consumer affairs of any open fire occurring at a location operated or maintained for the salvage, dumping or wrecking of motor vehicles or parts thereof.

Certainly the last thing anyone needs is for emergency personnel to be unnecessarily taxed on a major holiday (one that already involves its share of pyrotechnics), but the Chief did go on to advise contacting 911 in the event a public safety issue does arise.

The Root of All Monkey Evil

The first installment of Freakonomists Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt's new New York Times column is almost as intriguing as it is hilarious.

It details Yale behavioral economist Keith Chen's recent work with capuchin monkeys, namely teaching them to use currency.  Impressively, the monkeys seemed to develop an appreciation for stored value, budgeting, even relative valuation and utility maximization.

The monkey marketplace offered wholesome monkey staples like grapes, jello, and cucumbers.  The inevitable monkey black marketplace, however, wrought various societal ills on the fledgling monkey economy, including theft, gambling, and prostitution.  (And the occasional poo-fling).

Once, a capuchin in the testing chamber picked up an entire tray of tokens, flung them into the main chamber and then scurried in after them -- a combination jailbreak and bank heist ...

Something else happened during that chaotic scene, something that convinced Chen of the monkeys' true grasp of money. Perhaps the most distinguishing characteristic of money, after all, is its fungibility, the fact that it can be used to buy not just food but anything. During the chaos in the monkey cage, Chen saw something out of the corner of his eye that he would later try to play down but in his heart of hearts he knew to be true. What he witnessed was probably the first observed exchange of money for sex in the history of monkeykind. (Further proof that the monkeys truly understood money: the monkey who was paid for sex immediately traded the token in for a grape.)

No WMD? Qaa Qaa.

People sure are enjoying helping themselves to Saddam's chemical weapons complexes (or is it complices?).  Much of this equipment is "dual use" though, so it's possible that insurgent industrialists and rogue utilities barons are simply hoarding supplies in a plan to re-establish the Iraqi infrastructure.  (HT: GOP Bloggers)

A third of the chemical items removed came from the Qaa Qaa industrial complex south of Baghdad which the report said "was among the sites possessing the highest number of dual-use production equipment," whose fate is now unknown." Significant quantities of missing material were also located at the Fallujah II and Fallujah III facilities north of the city, which was besieged last year.

Before the first Gulf War in 1991, those facilities played a major part in the production of precursors for Iraq's chemical warfare program.

Access to Absolutely Everything

From the Nixon audiotapes, Nixon and Haldeman shooting the breeze about Deep Throat (hat tip: Homocon):

Nixon: "Well, if they've got a leak down at the FBI, why the hell can't Gray tell us what the hell is left? You know what I mean? ... "

Haldeman: "We know what's left, and we know who leaked it."

Nixon: "Somebody in the FBI?"

Haldeman: "Yes, sir. Mark Felt. ... If we move on him, he'll go out and unload everything. He knows everything that's to be known in the FBI. He has access to absolutely everything. ... "

Nixon: "What would you do with Felt? You know what I'd do with him, the bastard? Well that's all I want to hear about it."

Haldeman: "I think he wants to be in the top spot."

Nixon: "That's a hell of a way for him to get to the top."

In response to the deluge of "Hero or Traitor?" headlines, and in the interest of posterity, here are the results of a little unscientific newsGoogling (on the evening of June 2):

Query: "mark felt" hero
Results: about 1,830

Query: "mark felt" traitor
Results: about 237

MSM Heroism Index: 7.7

And when duplicated over at Technorati:

Query: "mark felt" hero
Results: 539

Query: "mark felt" traitor
Results: 177

Blogosphere Heroism Index:  3.0

Wasting No Time

Rep. Christopher Cox (R-CA) was nominated by President Bush to replace Bill Donaldson as Chairman of the SEC, just a day after Donaldson announced his retirement.  If the pick sets the forward tone for oversight of U.S. businesses and financial markets, this must be seen as a pro-business choice.

Cox co-authored legislation protecting businesses against investor lawsuits - the only bill to survive a Clinton veto.  He has also made tax reform an ongoing priority, fighting against capital gains taxes, dividend taxes, the death tax, and internet taxation.

Congressman Cox at a glance:

- First Chairman of House Committee on Homeland Security
- Chairman of House Policy Committee
- House Financial Services Committee Member
- Chaired 3 Congressional Task Forces on Capital Markets

Pre-Congressional career (from Congressional website):

- Senior Associate Counsel to the President, The White House, 1986-88
- Partner, Latham & Watkins, international law firm, 1984-86
- Lecturer on Business Administration, Harvard Business School, 1982-83
- Associate, Latham & Watkins, 1978-82
- Clerk, U.S. Court of Appeals, 1977-78

Education

- 1977 Harvard Law School, J.D.; Editor, Harvard Law Review
- 1977 Harvard Business School, M.B.A.
- 1973 University of Southern California, B.A. (three-year accelerated course)

Cox's nomination is subject to that delightful and civilized process, Senate confirmation.  The nominee faced a similar process in 2001 as a Court of Appeals nominee, but later withdrew his name.

How Cox's prospective Chairmanship would affect SEC oversight and enforcement of financial markets, only time will tell.  Early litmus tests may include whether the SEC will now entertain the plea of many of Cox's home state's high-growth technology companies to postpone implementation of the stock option expensing accounting rules, and whether the Commission will approve the proposed NYSE-Archipelago merger.