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A Country Full Of Idiots

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Let’s see:

Graduates of a Rhode Island school at which all the teachers were fired staged a rally on behalf of their “embattled” teachers. Those rallying are presumably part of the 48% of seniors who actually graduated from the school last year.

The nation finally has some basic educational standards and curricula, thanks to a 2-year effort by a collection of experts. But Texas and Alaska won’t be signing on. The recently reelected governor, a prize Know Nothing if ever there was one, says that only Texans are capable of deciding what to teach their kids, presumably including the 1.5 million or so Texan children currently living in poverty.

Gorilla says: “It’s hard to be any more stupid in a land ruled by idiots!”

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The Depths Of Decorum

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Chief Justice Roberts doesn’t think it’s appropriate for the Supreme Court to be criticized during the State Of the Union speech.

Of course his court has done its level best to protect the powerful at every turn.

Criticism is ok, even Roberts thinks free speech is a good idea.

What he doesn’t like is having to sit back, say nothing and be taken to task for what is the most right-wing court in living memory.

Gorilla judges: “Decorum must prevail at the Supreme Court, particularly if it’s owned by a large corporation!”

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Protecting America’s Loan Sharks

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Senator Bob Corker wants to exempt payday loan outfits from the financial services “reform” legislation currently going nowhere in the US Congress.

This is primarily because the payday boys have contributed handsomely to the Senator’s campaign, but of course that’s not bribery, it’s just a way of expressing admiration.

America’s loan sharks no longer operate in back alley offices with enforcers on the payroll. They’re out in the open, happily fleecing the poorest Americans while our leaders get rich on their takings.

Here’s their pitch to be exempt: On Monday, the nation’s largest payday lender, Advance America of Spartanburg, S.C., said in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission that “any federal law that would impose a national 36 percent A.P.R. limit on our services, if enacted, would likely eliminate our ability to continue our current operations.”

Gorilla thinks: “The mafia has set up shop in Tennessee! Now that’s a corker!”

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Jihad Jane

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Well, a sillier terrorist plot could be imagined, but the tale of Jihad Jane is right up there!

In a nutshell, she plotted to kill an unidentified Swedish man and provided material support to terrorists, in the form of some fundraising, an arranged marriage and the theft of a passport.

These terrorists may or may not have been the group recently arrested in Ireland for plotting to kill a Danish cartoonist who drew Mohammad as a dog.

Yes, it’s that ridiculous.

But for the authorities, Jihad Jane’s a godsend. Now that terrorists are recruiting hapless Americans to their cause, we can at last justify the billions spent tracking down a handful of very marginal people.

Gorilla says: “What about Tarzan? Didn’t I see him buying Saga Blue the other day?”

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Warm Bucket On A Scaffold

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

This would be US Vice President Joe Biden, the latest man to occupy a job that was described by one of his predecessors as “not worth a warm bucket of spit”.

And so to Jerusalem, where another round of indirect peace talks between parties that aren’t serious about peace rings just as hollow.

The Israelis are building settlements again, and don’t seem to care at all about US foreign policy.

And why should they, when a visiting Vice President bends over backwards to pledge “absolute, total, unvarnished commitment to Israel’s security”?

Gorilla says: “It’s hard to tell, in a meeting among assholes, where a friendly enema could do any good!”

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Sticking A Danish Fork In

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Copenhagen? It’s done for this year, says the Danish environment minister!

There was never any chance of a global agreement on climate change, and even less so in a US election year.

US politicians simply aren’t serious about sacrifice of any kind, so there’s little prospect of progress except at the margins.

Gorilla says: “A hamfisted waste of time!”

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Cottoning On

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Brazil is slapping some tariffs on US cotton and many other goods, having won every round in the WTO, and it’s yet another example of why those who preach fair trade rarely practice fair trade.

US agricultural subsidies have the effect of keeping prices artificially high for US consumers and promoting poverty in countries like Brazil, where domestic producers can’t compete.

And is there any chance we’ll get rid of the subsidies, a huge waste of money at a time of ever growing deficits?

Gorilla answers: “No chance of borrowing for Paul from Peter Cottontail!”

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International Women’s Day

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Today’s theme is equal rights, equal opportunities and progress for all.

Not much worth celebrating until the following are addressed:

*The majority of the world’s 1.3 billion absolute poor are women.

*On average, women receive between 30 percent and 40 percent less pay than men earn for the same work.

*Women also continue to be victims of violence, with rape and domestic violence listed as significant causes of disability and death among women worldwide.

Gorilla thinks: “If women ran the world, you can bet the world would be better off!”

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The Shorts Take Off

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Short sales are coming back big time, as the Administration tries yet again to prop up the housing market.

Having failed to bribe mortgage brokers to alter loans, the next bright idea is to bribe underwater homeowners.

And it won’t work, because nobody really knows how low prices will go, second/third mortgage lenders will want to be paid, and there’s no evidence of any pent-up demand in an economy with 10% unemployment and 23% of homeowners under water.

So, expect at least another 10-15% decline in house prices and more short sales in the next 12 months, as bankers do their very best to avoid the reality of their balance sheets.

The most sensible approach, namely having bankruptcy judges reduce mortgage principal and force the bankers to make a deal, has already been voted down twice in Congress.

Gorilla says: “Extend and pretend will morph into short to abort!”

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Oversight? No Sight!

Monday, March 8th, 2010

The financial reform bill is dead in the water, and it’s just as well.

The problem isn’t that the system lacks regulation, the problem is that the regulators didn’t do their jobs properly.

There’s no evidence they’ll do any better next time, and no willingness on the part of Wall Street’s captive legislators to take the banks on.

So, we can all start waiting around for the next bubble to burst: dollar carry trade, Chinese real estate, currency default swaps, or whatever it is our valiant regulators continue to ignore.

Gorilla says: “The rich man has already passed through the eye of the needle into deregulated heaven!”

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