COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Too Little Too Late?

I watched much of the testimony and presentation of Tim Geithner, Treasury Secretary. It was an underwhelming tentative and vague attempt and frankly I'm not sure what I heard.

Last night, President Obama gave a good demonstration of his intellect and skill as a speaker and a thinker. Unfortunately, I do not think that he is tough enough by half. That shows by the fact that the Republican pols in Congress do not fear Obama. They should. Obama should be raising hell, kicking ass and taking no prisoners. That is not in his DNA. He has surrounded himself with Democratic retreads and a sprinkling of Republican re-runs.

The Obama team is not going to cut it, just like the inept Bush Administration before him, at least as presently constituted.

As usual the wrong people seem to be in government. The questions and comments from the Barney Frank Committee were at best, an embarrassment, and these are the people that are making the laws that are to save us.

Well, the OJT program will continue. I have a question. Who would you trust and recommend to sort out this mess?




24 comments:

  1. Lee Scott, the recently retired CEO of Walmart. Mr. Scott and a team of his choosing.

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  2. This package would pay for 90% of all mortgages in the US. This is corporate welfare at the expense of the taxpayers. Although it contains some "green provisions", in the great majority it is a program for serfdom. If I were a US citizen, I'd renounce my citizenship and walk out.

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  3. Sarah Palin, and bob, of course. And we'll put Mr. Scott in general overall charge of everything.

    Rufus and Linear in charge of energy, Rat of the southern border, Wio and Mat in charge of foreign affairs, and the details up to a vote of the board of directors here, with Trish designated to carry out the details that are voted on.

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  4. Ash in charge of Arts and Crafts.

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  5. Doug in charge of the newly minted Department of Humour.

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  6. Bob
    please let me be in charge of suggestions.

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  7. Doug in charge of the newly minted Department of Humour.
    ==

    Better he be in charge of minting money. We all be millionaires. :)

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  8. Mat in charge of foreign affairs
    ==

    War Czar. I like. :)

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  9. Looks like the Israeli election comes out pretty much a tie.

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  10. When my dad came back from his trip to Italy, Mat, he was amazed.

    Said everybody was a millionaire, there.

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  11. Department of Suggestions: Gag Reflex.

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  12. Israeli polls are pretty accurate. There's no way they'd be off by 10 mandates. Likud was leading pretty consistently with 30 mandates versus 25 for Kadima. These elections are a fraud.

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  13. Maybe not, according to yoni the blogger, in Israel, Netanyahu is seen being "too American".

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  14. Make one!

    I don't know what to. ?

    And me and Sarah is boss!

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  15. Netanyahu is seen being "too American".
    ==

    That would've already been reflected in the polls. Netanyahu is not a new figure. Everybody is very familiar with him. Israel is a very small country and nobody there is shy about expressing their true opinion.

    I don't for a sec believe these results.

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  16. wait for the soldier's ballets to get counted


    look for another 3 seats at least

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  17. if i am wrong?

    then livni wins but losers to the bibi-avigdor bloc leads to form government...

    jpost has a pretty good picture...

    http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304741384&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

    What is worth mentioning is that for 15 years or so Israel has been pressured to do "confidence building measures" for the palestinians, and since then Israel has left gaza, lebanon, left 97% of the west bank (only to have to return), offered 97% of the land, family reunification, reparations, shared jerusalem, released thousands of prisoners and for what?

    stabbings. shootings, rocks thrown at cars, ied's cross border infiltrations, bulldozer rampages, suicide bombers, snipers, mortars, rockets, using retards as bombs, rocketing aid crossings, incitement to riot...

    that so called open hand that has been so open to the palestinians for years is growing tired and pissed and is now forming into a fist.....

    Maybe it's time for the arabs to make confidence building sets on their side?

    Otherwise....

    operation cast lead? a small battle of what's next....

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  18. The Omassiah says we got "BIG" Problems. Geithner says he's a'goin to fix'em, just as soon as he can figure out, how.

    They gotta figure out how to get a lot of people to do what they don wanna do. Might I suggest the use of a Gun?

    Let's try one mo time. The banks ain't sellin anything that you would buy; and you wouldn't buy anything the banks would sell.

    Those ARMs that are performing are paying very high interest. They ain't selling those. Those that ain't "performing" are a pain in the ass. No one (hardly) wants to buy those.

    Basically, all we can do is loan'em some money, and call it a day.

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  19. BG's C100 Electric Vehicle Cleared for Production
    by Jorge Chapa

    The trend towards smaller, energy-efficient electric vehicles has created a market that is quickly being filled by young startups. Enter BG Automotive Group, which has recently announced that their mass-produced electric vehicle the C100 has just been approved by the Department of Transportation! Perfect for commuting and daily urban driving, the sprightly vehicle gets an impressive 60-120 miles per charge and will be available for less than $20,000.

    The C100 is a compact four-door, four-passenger neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV). Designed for daily commuters and short trips around town, the vehicle has a maximum speed of 35-45 miles per hour and is expected to cost from $15 to $18 thousand dollars. Charging couldn't be easier - simply plug the vehicle into any regular wall outlet. A full set of safety features includes dual airbags and a sturdy steel body round out the package.

    The company is currently moving full-speed ahead with its plans to produce the vehicle and is considering the possibility of manufacturing it within the United States, with the hope of producing 100,000 vehicles by 2010.

    http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/02/10/c100-electric-vehicle-by-bg/

    http://snipurl.com/bo5ta

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  20. Sufat announces new electric scooters
    by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Feb 10th 2009 at 2:33PM

    Looks like Vectrix could might have some competition coming its way. Sufat, apparently a major scooter manufacturer in Vietnam, has just announced plans to produce a new electric scooter that it says is capable of hitting speeds of 80 miles per hour. Acceleration is equally impressive, with the proposed electric scooter hitting 50 mph in under ten seconds. Of course, it's one thing to make exciting product announcements, and another entirely to actually put a machine into production.

    The technology behind this supposed performance comes from a U.S. company called KLD Energy Technologies. The motor reportedly uses nanotechnology to keep heat low and improve conductivity and is mounted directly to the hub, eliminating the need for a transmission. So far, there's no word on battery technology. If successful, Sufat plans to assemble 50,000 electric scooter in its first year of production, which is currently scheduled for early 2010.

    http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/02/10/sufat-announces-new-electric-scooters/

    http://snipurl.com/bo79i

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  21. And al-Doug, of course, the newly minted Head of the Department of Homeland Humour!

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  22. Camille gets it about right:

    "Feb. 11, 2009 | Money by the barrelful, by the truckload. Mountains of money, heaped like gassy pyramids in the national dump. Scrounging packs of politicos, snapping, snarling and sending green bills flying sky-high as they root through the tangled mass with ragged claws. The stale hot air filled with cries of rage, the gnashing of teeth and dark prophecies of doom.

    Yes, this grotesque scene, like a claustrophobic circle in Dante's "Inferno," was what the U.S. government has looked like for the past two weeks as it fights on over Barack Obama's stimulus package -- a mammoth, chaotic grab bag of treasures, toys and gimcracks. Could popular opinion of our feckless Congress sink any lower? You betcha!


    Why in the cosmos would the new administration, smoothly sailing out of Obama's classy inauguration, repeat the embarrassing blunders of Bill Clinton's first term? By foolishly promising a complete overhaul of healthcare within 100 days (and by putting his secretive, ill-prepared wife in charge of it), Clinton made himself look naive and incompetent and set healthcare reform back for more than 15 years.

    President Obama was ill-served by his advisors (shall we thump that checkered piñata, Rahm Emanuel?), who evidently did not help him to produce a strong, focused, coherent bill that he could have explained and defended to the nation before it was set upon by partisan wolves. To defer to the House of Representatives and let the bill be thrown together by cacophonous mob rule made the president seem passive and behind the curve.

    Most mainstream American voters are undoubtedly suffering from economist fatigue these days. This one calls for tax cuts; that one condemns them. One says we're wasting hundreds of billions of dollars; the other claims that sum falls pathetically short. A plague on all their houses! Surely common sense would dictate that when Congress is doling out fat dollops of taxpayers' money, due time should be delegated for sober consideration and debate. The administration's coercive rush toward instant action, accompanied by apocalyptic pronouncements of imminent catastrophe, has put its own credibility on the line."

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