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Glenn Greenwald Not a Fan of the Iraq Invasion

I’m not entirely outsourcing Free Advice to Glenn Greenwald–he works for union scale–but this post contrasting the British investigations into the Iraq Invasion with our own (nonexistent) ones contains some remarkable paragraphs. For example: British political news has been consumed for the last several weeks by a formal inquiry into the illegality and deceit behind […]

The Unemployment Game Show

Tony G. apparently has nothing better to do than send me funny videos. Maybe he’s not in the labor force?

Help Me Out With the "Inventory Bounce" Cynicism

I am as skeptical of GDP numbers as the next guy. But I don’t quite get this commentary by Krugman: As expected, a big GDP number (pdf), signifying nothing much. It’s an inventory blip: topline growth at 5.7 percent, but only 2.2 of that is final demand. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the superficial […]

The Fate of the Mighty Dollar

Tony G. passes this along. Note there are some naughty words at the end.

Senate Reconfirms; Bernanke Says, "Come to the Bar, Drinks Are On Dollar-Holders"

CNBC reports: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke won Senate confirmation for a second term, ending a bruising political battle that forced the head the world’s most powerful central bank to fight for survival. Bernanke’s nomination was approved 70-30 by the Senate after clearling a procedural roadblock with a 77-23 vote. A simple majority of 51 […]

Bernanke Almost There…

According to CNBC: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke won a key procedural vote in the Senate, clearing the way for his confirmation for a second term running the world’s most powerful central bank. The Senate is now moving to final confirming vote. Bernanke was expected to win the Senate’s backing despite the stiffest opposition to […]

Potpourri

* Josiah Neeley sends this article on “6 Enlightened Ideas Brought to You By Evil Empires.” The premise is that yeah these regimes were mass murderers and ate their own children and such, but gosh they were kinda progressive in a modern way too. Rather than concluding that things like mandatory schooling or bans on […]

What Would It Take For Americans to Realize They Are Not Free?

I was having lunch with someone today (name being withheld in case he doesn’t want this broadcast) and we were musing over the contradiction in the average American’s mind. On the one hand, if you asked Americans to rate professions in terms of their morality or decency, politicians would come in at or near dead […]