Why the things that needed to get done didn’t get done!

You have to watch Rep. Kanjorski (D-PA) explain why and how the TARP got passed.

Rep. Kanjorski: $550 Billion Disappeared in \”Electronic Run On the Banks\”

So, all of these financial markets were supposed to be collapsing because of all of the risky mortgages, right? It seemed to me at the time that you should be able to shore up the system really well by having the govt secure mortgages that had gone into default.

No, I didn’t know how much that would cost, but keep in mind that 9 out of 10 of those defaults involved a borrower finding their monthly payments ballooning beyond their means simply because some other guys had defaulted. The bad risk had been spread around - but in other words you should be able to shore it up pretty quickly by securing only a fraction of those at risk.

Then you just have the defaulted lenders pay back the govt in the monthly payments they could still afford; the govt has plenty of time to collect on it, and can put a lien on the inflated property value for the remainder (because this plan would most likely prop up the insanely inflated home values we’d been seeing).

Bingo. Markets stabilized. Now begin regulating the kinds of transactions that caused the failure.

So, why none of this obvious stuff got done has always flummoxed me. Until now.

What actually got done - this “shoring up the equity of banks” by throwing money at them to do whatever they wanted - is pure trickle-down voodoo bullshit, and reeks to high heaven of an opportunistic money grab by the fat cats. “We were in a panic and we gave them an opportunity to do whatever they wanted,” Kanjorski admits. Well… no wonder they helped themselves! You gave them the opportunity to do whatever they wanted!

And the final explanation, that the shoring-up/trickle down approach was supposed to be “cheaper” clears up so much I had wondered…

But of! course! the Republican Congress, President, and Treasury would look for the cheapest, most ineffectual way to do it! (And of course the panicked Democrats would Roll Over.) That’s their fundamental approach to all government!

The TARP bailout is synonymous with Hurricane Katrina relief. Exact same dynamics, different government agency. A sudden, but not completely unforeseen emergency comes along, and the government-hating people running the government department that was once set up precisely to manage this kind of crisis - and used to be able to do so effectively - finds itself unable to manage the crisis effectively… preferring instead to pass the task on to private enterprise (in this case) or local govt (in Katrina’s case) and throw their hands up and say, “We did the best we could! Anything more would have looked like Communism!”

Man. Remember the days when “Federal Government” meant that you knew the job could get done?

I truly appreciate Kanjorski’s candor here. What would be nice is to see if he and the Democrats in Congress have learned anything from the TARP fallout. It’s obvious the games being played with the stimulus package are a whole new ballgame. The caller certainly gets it, and is saying what I’m saying: you have to get this money into the hands of the American people, fast. I hope they do it.

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The Face in the Frost

I just finished The Face in =
the Frost
, John Bellairs’s third book, though (from what I can =
gather) his first full-fledged novel, a blend of fantasy, whimsy, and =
horror, in which two wizards gather that a third wizard is up to no =
good, and go off to confront him.  It was also his last book to be =
published for the adult market, before The House with a Clock in its =
Walls
was asked to be re-written for young readers, launching the =
career writing juvenile horror novels for which he is better =
known.

I want to say it’s unlike anything I’ve ever =
read - but it isn’t.  It’s very much like two things I’ve read: in =
it’s crotchety, whimsical use of the fantasy setting for the pleasurable =
unwinding of a long yarn, it reminds me very much of the Terry Pratchett =
“Discworld” novels I’ve read, the earliest of which it precedes by some =
dozen years.  And in its eerie flow of haunting and horrifying =
scenarios and images, some of which are going to return to me with a =
shiver on some autumn night, it reminds me of the John Bellairs juvenile =
horror novels I read in 4th and 5th grade, which had the the power =
to scare the crap out of me all night long back =
then.
If you liked reading those books back =
then (and I know you did) you might like reading this book right now - =
or better yet, in October, when you start looking for ghost stories to =
blog about.  It’s a little like catching up with a funny, scary old =
friend.
“At that point I woke up. =
 The room was bright with moonlight, but of course there were no =
words on the window and, as far as I could tell, there was no one in the =
room.  So I went back to sleep again, and I’m not sure how long I =
slept, but I was awakened by the sound of someone tapping on my window. =
 It was a sharp, metallic sound, not like someone rapping with his =
knuckles, and I sat up with a start.  When I looked out the window, =
which is not very far from my bed, I saw that there was a large bird =
outside on the sill.  And a second later I saw that it was not an =
ordinary bird.  It was skeletal.  The gray light was shining =
through its rib cage and its eyeholes; it was pecking at the pane and =
clattering its horrible black wings against my window,  I was =
suddenly seized with the fear that it would break through the glass at =
any minute and get in, and I jumped out on the opposite side of the bed. =
 I got hold of my staff, and I muttered some kind of charm, I =
forget what.  It didn’t work, but a minute or two later, the bird =
gave an awful scraping cry and fell over backward, off the =
sill.”
=
Roger opened his mouth to say something, but Prospero =
raised his hand.
“I know what you’re going to say. =
 But the bird was not in a dream.”
-John =
Bellairs, The Face in the Frost (1969, Macmillan =
Co.)

=

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My dream about Grease II

Often I’m not in my dreams - I =
often dream entire movies or TV shows, where me watching them may or may =
not even be part of the dream.

Last night I dreamed =
that Grease II (which I’ve never seen, but which has an inferior =
reputation to Grease) was made in the style of an experimental =
new wave german art video.  The music was all appropriately =
Grease-like but the hair, makeup, staging, and effects were all =
otherwise from an early 80s krautrock video.  Frenchie was making =
out with Kenickie and her whole lower jaw as well as her tongue were =
coated in glitter makeup.  As if her tongue was wearing Michael =
Jackson’s glove.  The “plot” was that they were all, =
coincidentally, on vacation in Europe at the same time - but also =
looking for jobs.  Much of it was set in formal gardens, where =
Kenickie’s motorcycle and Rizzo’s chevy did not seem to belong. =
 Rizzo had this terrifying huge blonde wig and a denim or leather =
jacket - I think she had been crossed with the lady who used to be on =
the Rough Rider condom package for 20 years until the late 90s.  I =
had a strong critical reaction to the movie - that if the songs had been =
better, if the scenes had changed more often between songs, and that if =
Danny and Sandy would show up, it could have been really good. The weird =
makeup, hair, and lighting would have won crowds over (in my =
dream).

=

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New Year’s Wish

As we welcome 2009, my greatest HOPE is that America, the nation I love, will find the political will to turn itself around and become again the nation that recognizes, opposes, and prosecutes the practice of torture, instead of the one that systematically uses torture as a matter of foreign policy.

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Aners & Alt



Aners & Alt, originally uploaded by bobobobob.

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Strong Opening

“Prospero and Roger Bacon, the two main characters in a story that
seems crammed with wizards, were wizards.”

-John Bellairs, The Face in the Frost, 1969.

-Bob Conrad
Sent from my iPhone.

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lasagna cat

12 OMFGs and 5 WTFs. Have you been to lasagnacat.com? “Thanks” to
vince for sharing this with me.
http://www.lasagnacat.com/EyesWithoutAFace.mov

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The Money Quote

“I can parachute me there.”
-illinois governor rod blagoevich caught on wiretap allegedly
discussing option of appointing self to president-elect obama’s vacant
senate seat

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Best in the West

Okay, not to brag, but on the Zombie Bike Ride last 10/30, it was pretty decisively proven that I’m the best fixed-gear Thriller dancer in Chicago.  This I think puts me in contention with much of the Western world.  Srsly, I was Thriller dancing for miles on that ride, with only occasional competition.  I’m probably not ready for the Indonesian champion, but I’d like to see what Europe has to throw my way.

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Egg nog

This is the recipe I’ll be sticking to for a long time.  (My variation uses just about 2 oz. less milk.)

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