Archive for July, 2013

Artistes And Integrity (July 29, 2013)

Posted in On [Traits/Characteristics], Perjury/Dishonesty, Writing on July 29, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

A          “At first, I assumed and hoped that he had been misquoted.  But if the quotation is correct, he is admitting that he devised his writing to satiate his audience and make a buck.  Leaves you wondering if everything he wrote is a sham or just a by-product of a focus group.”

. . .

B          “Written interviews are sketchy at best.  The interviewer is too much of a gatekeeper.  A filmed interview of a person reveals tone, pacing, inflection, visual cues, and other information and insight.”

. . .

A          “I saw it too and wondered if he dismissed the earlier song as too maudlin or unhip, yet he discounted it as pandering at the time.  Perhaps he was candid.  He could have said that he has grown.”

B          “More cynical?  Leaves you wondering if he even really knows what he really thinks.”

. . .

A          “He was not misquoted and does not seem to care.”

B          “I doubt that he will give refunds to those who feel deceived.”

. . .

A          “Every aspiring author seeks to secure that elusive book contract, yet a book contract is essentially a contract for indentured servitude.  The book company owns the author.”

. . .

A          “An enchanting song is a poem that has taken flight.  I am somewhat indifferent to his songs but impressed that everyone who commented about the concert last month was delighted that he gave everything to his audience.  That is commendable and worth commendation.”

. . .   

Bumper sticker of the week:

Ars longa, vita brevis

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The Endless War On Women . . . By American Warriors (July 22, 2013)

Posted in Congress, Crime/Punishment, Drones, Due Process, Equal Protection, Military, O'Bama, Society on July 22, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

C1        “It could not be disregarded, so the predecessor to former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates issued a statement denunciating the rape.  It could not be disregarded, so then Secretary of Defense Robert Gates issued a statement denunciating the rape.  It could not be disregarded, so then Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta issued a statement denunciating the rape.  It could not be disregarded, so Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel issues a statement denunciating the rape.  It could not be disregarded, so the successor to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel will issue a statement denunciating the rape.  It could not be disregarded, so the successor to the successor to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel will issue a statement denunciating the rape.”

C2        “Perhaps they could concoct a Department of Defense formal form denunciation and describe it as ‘Form DD 1.’”

C1        “The official DoD ‘Bedbug Letter.’  Explanations in the military are simple.  What goes on goes on because the superiors want it to go on.  What the superiors do not want to go on will not go on, with only a few rogue exceptions that can be punished swiftly and publicly.”

C2        “The Commander-In-Chief is at the top of the pile.”

C1        “So they want it to go on.  In this man’s army, however, that war would not go on.” 

. . .

[Is a “Drones Unlimited” organization akin to “Ducks Unlimited” or “Trout Unlimited” or “Cape Buffalos Unlimited” on the horizon?  http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/07/17/us/17reuters-usa-colorado-drones.html?hp&_r=0.]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Join the military; get raped       

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The Silver Standard: The Value Of (Sort Of) Real Money (July 15, 2013)

Posted in Banks and Banking System, Economics, Gold Standard, Money, Silver Standard on July 15, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

E1        “The participants in the study are less expensively schooled rural residents who distrust dollars but desperately desire them.  Or their equivalent.  They regard Morgan silver dollars as real money.”

E2        “And Morgans are still a form of legal tender.”

E1        “One invoice stated that it could be satisfied by tendering three (3) Morgans or seventy-two (72) dollars.  Two media of exchange.”

E2        “The Morgan silver dollar is a known quantity made with an alloy of ninety percent silver and ten percent copper.  The local folks adopted a form of the silver standard using government coinage but without any government edict, direction or regulation.”

E1        “In my on-going survey, the value of a Morgan with no additional numismatic appeal is about thirty-three percent more than the assay value of the silver content of the coin.  Those trading in Morgans have no idea what the Dow is that day or even what the Dow is, but they know the exchange value of Ag every day.”

E2        “Their allegiance is not unalloyed, however, because in the final analysis the value of both silver and Morgans is denominated in dollars.  Dollars are still the unit of account.”

E1        “What is revealing and intriguing is the added value of the thing that is made out of the substance.  Information has value and is valued.  The Morgan conveys accurate information and is easy to convey while also providing a store of value which are attributes worth a premium in the market.  The study continues.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

One Morgan silver dollar =  the price of Ag x .9 x 1.33 = $___ fiat dollars.

Rock-paper-silver; silver rocks paper.

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Globalizing The Bail In (July 8, 2013)

Posted in Banks and Banking System, Kleptocracy on July 8, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

A       “So we won’t force all the taxpayers to bail out the banks, but we will force some taxpayers to bail out the banks they had the misfortune to trust.  Those who put their faith in the bank will be betrayed in a planned and premeditated policy.”

B       “It is all the rage on the global stage now and will create quite a rage when it is actually implemented.”

A       “Unless it is implemented slowly as a bank fails there and a bank fails here.  There was no public outrage over the losses at MF Global, yet there are many small investors sitting around a dinette table worrying about how there are going to pay the bills.”

. . .

B       “Will any e-mail surface crafted by a sentient human being who questioned the insanity and absurdity and ultimate futility of the policy.”

A      “An e-mail in some personnel file justifying a firing may surface in a wrongful discharge law suit.  A suit that is doomed if it is before a Republican Federal Judge.”

. . .

[See http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/jun/27/eu-agrees-banks-bail-in-deal.]

[See the “e-ssay” at Bailouts: Out; Bail Ins: In; Slowly Boilin’ The Frog (April 15, 2013).]

Bumper sticker of the week:

“The fact that it led to a complete collapse of the international economic system is what they call an ‘unintended consequence’ in masters of public policy programs.  So it is not our fault.  We are sorry that we cannot say we are sorry.”

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The Supremes On Love And Voting (July 1, 2013)

Posted in Gay Politics, Hypocrisy, Law, Supreme Court, Voting on July 1, 2013 by e-commentary.org

. . .

L1        “The Constitution protects most of the people most of the time, but only some of the people can stand before the court and take a stand.  Those attorneys versed in ‘standing’ doctrine could sit around a card table.  Roberts decided that the folks who bellied up to the bar could not stand before the court and challenge to decision rejecting Proposition 8 in California.”

L2        “Not a bad compromise.  However, the Court should pause before it rejects what appears to be an outcome adopted by a valid public referendum.”

L1        “Or legislation adopted by a congressional vote.  Such as gutting provisions of the Voting Rights Act.  Congress voted to extend the VRA by a larger margin that any other substantive legislation in recent memory.” 

L2        “Roberts made findings of fact on appeal with no basis in fact.  Despite the allegations of the Gang of Five, America has not changed; the South has not changed; the Civil War continues.  The Department of Justice and the courts must moderate and mediate the racial war in America.”

. . .

L1        “Alito claims that gay marriage is a new invention.  The history of love is not his strong suit.  History really is not his strong suit.”

L2        “Being a suit is his strong suit.”

L1        “At least with regard to equal treatment of gays, the characters on the Court who have created their own history now are being overrun by history.”   

. . .

L1        “At least the Court, less the members on the right, is on the right and righteous path regarding the right to extricate the government from the marriage business.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Of course the Constitution has its flaws, but it is a lot better than what we have now.

The Supremes:  You can hurry love

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