Archive for February, 2015

“Grexit”, “GrexEUnt”, Percolating Problems: PIIGS, BRICS, EU, EC, ECB, IMF, NATO, WTO, WAR (February 23, 2015)

Posted in Banks and Banking System, China, Greece, International Finance, Iran, Russia, Sports on February 23, 2015 by e-commentary.org

. . .

1          “‘GrExit’ admixes ‘Greek’ with ‘exit’ and may be the ‘Portmanteau Word of the Year for 2015’.”

2          “Or 2016?  Who knows.  They are punting and kicking.”

1          “What about ‘GrexEUnt’ for the ‘Greece’ ‘exeunt’ from the ‘EU’ because the dancing is so dramatic?  Devastating to stay, devastating to go.  So we Do-si-do and around we go.”

. . .

1          “Two prize fighters are circling each other warily, a flyweight versus a heavyweight.  In one corner, Greece cannot under any circumstances pay the massive debt to Germany (now d.b.a. IMF, ECB and EC) amassed by the Greek oligarchs.  In the other corner, Germany cannot under any circumstances allow Greece not to pay the massive debt it claims is owed to Germany.  In the stands, Greek citizens who now realize that the banks got bailed out but the citizens were abandoned and will suffer under any scenario.  On the sidelines, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Spain (PIIGS) and other sovereign colonies await the outcome and their turn in the ring.  An unstoppable force meets an immovable object.”

2          “The Parthenon painted in black, red and gold does not seem striking.”

1          “The Pantheon bedecked in black, red and gold could trigger some strikes.”

2          “Another great battle between the ‘Versailles Reparations’ paradigm and the ‘Marshall Plan’ paradigm.”

1          “The central Lesson of the Twentieth Century is that it is easier to take by investment than by invasion.  The central Corollary of the Twenty-First Century is that you cannot take too much by investment or you risk an invasion.”

2          “The German group should not have foisted all the funds on the Greek oligarchs; the Greek oligarchs should not have gotten all the lucre from the German group.  Seems that they are each about fifty percent culpable.  Split the difference?”

. . .

1          “Markets usually price in inevitable developments and go on with life and business.  Which side has the market priced to prevail and how will the outcome play out on the planet?”

2          “What if Greece remains in NATO, pivots to Russia for assistance and opposes sanctions against Russia from the inside?  The BRICS Confederacy will need to fashion a new acronym.”

1          “The astute Western players might keep Greece cum a new drachma in the European Union for trade and transportation purposes and for international security concerns.”

2          “O’Bama traveled to India to keep India from allying more closely with the BRICS.”

1          “Senator Bernie Sanders wants the Federal Reserve to ride to the rescue.  He understands the Corollary.  However, expanding the Federal Reserve to become the American Monetary Fund (AMF) may not be wise or prudent.”

. . .

2          “The Europeans are fighting their civil war with each other and were drafted to serve as proxies and mercenaries to fight America’s currency war with Russia.  The French cannot sell fromage, the Pols cannot sell apples, and even the Germans cannot sell brats.  And no one can buy inexpensive gas from Russia.  And America does what America does.  America sits back far from the front and consumes.”

1          “And secretly funds some folks.  The Europeans are fighting America’s war with Russia and not making their required NATO defense expenditures.  The Germans and others could write off some of the debts and then book the amounts against their required NATO defense expenditures.  America is committed to fighting the Russians until the last European collapses.”

2          “America may not be able to sit back.  Under settled international law, America’s cyberespionage against Russia, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran are each acts of war that provide justification for those countries to attack America.  America’s antics may trigger an unattractive response.  Not a pretty situation.”

1          “But remember that America has proclaimed that it can always unilaterally exempt itself from international law.”

. . .

2          “The punting and kicking the can now is measured in time not in distance.  With the four month reprieve until June 21, the new ‘high noon’ show down occurs on the longest day of the year.”

. . .

2          “Greece is a failed state with few clear public records describing private property ownership, a tax collection non-system and a distended pension system.  Without a functioning country or economy in Greece, the prospect of a functioning country or economy in Greece is not promising.  Stay tuned.  Film at 11.”

1          “During the sports segment, surely.”

. . .

[See the article at U.S. Embedded Spyware Overseas, Report Claims” in “The New York Times” by Nicole Perlroth and David E. Sanger dated February 16, 2015.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

You can provide liquidity but you cannot provide solvency

Can God create a stone so heavy that not even God is strong enough to lift it?  Can man create a debt so heavy that not even mankind is strong enough to lift it?

Brian, Jon And Journalism Today (February 16, 2015)

Posted in Entertainment, First Amendment, Journalism, Newspapers, Press/Media on February 16, 2015 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J1          “If you want to educate, you must entertain first.”

J2          “One of my most inspired, inspiring and insightful professors was a stand-up comedian who transitioned to entertaining and educating students.  Everyone wanted to come to class.”

. . .

J1          “If a person who styles himself an entertainer provides 27.4 seconds of insight and another person who lists ‘evening broadcast anchor’ on his (or perhaps her) tax return provides 8.3 seconds of insight, who provides more seconds of insight?”

J2          “The grand irony is that the ‘serious broadcasters’ are the comedians and the comedians are the serious commentators.”

. . .

J2          “So he later embellished his earlier exploits while embedded/‘inbedded’ with the troops who were embroiled in the actual belli. A misdemeanor.  He acted without the proper demeanor.  Not good form.”

J1          “Superficiality is the essence of integrity today.  The corporate broadcasters punish him for boasting but not for failing to provide 27.4 seconds of insight.  Image and perception are reality.”

J2          “That is the crime, the felony, grand theft ideas.”

. . .

J2          “Poetry, in addition to humor, must be injected into the discourse.  People love the unconscious symmetry, insight and joy of poetry, yet they will recoil and run if they see it coming.”

J1          “Humorous haiku.  That would allow a commentator to transmit 27.4 seconds of insight quickly.  But poets are only in it for the money.  Journalists are in it for the pursuit of truth.”

J2          “And the discernment of beauty.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

“Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see.”  Edgar A. Poe.  “and listen for what you don’t hear and look for what you don’t see.”

“The illusion of freedom [in America] will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion.  At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater.”  Frank Zappa

“Romney – O’Bama Care” In Practice (February 9, 2015)

Posted in Bankruptcy, Congress, Federal Courts, Health Care, O'Bama, Romney, Supreme Court on February 9, 2015 by e-commentary.org

. . .

T1          “One of the biggest misrepresentations of our generation is the statement by President O’Bama that a person could keep his or her insurance policy.  That ‘executive summary’ of the legislation by the Chief Executive led me to believe that the legislation was at least neutral if not benign.”

T2          “The legislation moved so fast that only a few on the inside knew what would transpire.”

T1          “The Federal Courts uniformly reject the doctrine that there is estoppel against the President or any federal official.  One of the great things about being on the inside of the Federal Government, for Republicans and Democrats alike, is that lies are not actionable and are blessed by the Federal Courts.”

T2          “No one cares.  And everyone on the inside gets a regular paycheck and a gilded pension.  And free health care.”

. . .

T1          “It was X dollars last year and then 2X dollars in December and then 3X dollars in January.  February brings a new number and a new nightmare.”

T2          “Before passage, a citizen filed bankruptcy after receiving health care.  After passage, a citizen files bankruptcy before receiving health care.”

. . .

T1          “Boehner does not have to navigate the mine field of ‘Romney – O’Bama Care.’  Pelosi does not have to navigate the mine field of ‘Romney – O’Bama Care.’  McConnell does not have to navigate the mine field of ‘Romney – O’Bama Care.’  Reid does not have to navigate the mine field of ‘Romney – O’Bama Care.’  They are all covered at no cost.”

T2          “No one cares about health care for the people.”

T1          “The Republicans are wasting tremendous money with all the repeated and futile votes to repeal ‘Romney – O’Bama Care’ without providing any alternative legislation.  The Supreme Court is not the forum because bad policy is not necessarily unconstitutional, it is just bad policy.”

T2          “The doctors and nurses have the most insightful perspective and provided the answer years ago.  A single payer system would work for them and their patients.”

T1          “The Republic cannot afford a single payer system and cannot afford not to have a single payer system.  The current schemes are so grindingly inefficient and unfair and only enrich insurance companies.”

T2          “No one cares.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at The “Contract with America”; The Congressional Reform Act of 2010 (March 29, 2010).]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Stay healthy then die quickly

Je ne suis pas Charlie; Je ne suis jamais Charlie:  Free Speech v. Hate Speech (February 2, 2015)

Posted in First Amendment, Religion on February 2, 2015 by e-commentary.org

. . .

W1       “The Supreme Court’s test for free speech is the benchmark for the West.  ‘Free speech is fine as long as I agree with and approve of the message and the messenger.’  The restrictions on selected expression in France, Germany, Europe and America are just that – they are restrictions on free expression.  Looking at the matter from the perspective of a Muslim, nothing whatsoever is more sacred or cherished in this life than Mohammed, and yet there are no restrictions on puerile attacks.  Others may not understand the reaction because their divine being is not as central in their lives.”

W2       “Suggesting that someone’s enthusiasm for his or her divine being is deeper and more profound than someone else’s devotion may spark a cranky response.  A Religious Fervor Index?”

W1       “One must look at how the legal regime in Europe and America appears to someone who has not been acculturated to accept the hypocrisy and dishonesty that underpins Western law.”

W2       “So it’s ‘hate speech’?”

W1       “Either apply one standard and characterize it as hate speech or reject the current hypocrisy and dishonesty and embrace unthrottled free expression.  I vote for unthrottled free expression.  That, I concede, will result in some unhappy people in many camps.  In addition, self-restraint is not the worst idea.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Chuck who?

Humanity’s motto:  To Enslave and To Colonize and To Throttle (Free Speech).

Free Speech Is Free Speech

Quasi-Free Speech Is Not Free Speech