BP’s Gulf Blowout is now clearly an environmental disaster with effects to be felt long term in the Gulf and possibly along the eastern seaboard. No one really knows how much has been released, or will be released, where and how crude will wash or be blown ashore, how easy or hard to clean up (past spills, such as Valdez, Alaska are not promising), the existence and extent of an underwater plume, and how devastating the effects on the underwater, sea bed, and marine environ will be.
Louisiana’s shrinking and endangered wetlands are at even greater risk from the blowout.
Mild or apocalyptic, take your pick, but every day now increases the risk of apocalyptic. The earth is more resilient than we often give it credit for; the environment will recover in the long term, however long that may be.
Presidents often get credit they don’t deserve, and the blame when it’s not their fault. If the economy is booming, they are the beneficiaries, and if it’s in the tank, then they get the blame. That’s a political reality.
Thus, I would not normally comment on the Obama Administration’s response to the BP Gulf Blowout. It’s BP’s fault, or Transocean’s fault, or Halliburton’s fault, or Cameron’s fault, or probably jointly and severally all of them. History tells us that human and mechanical errors are rampant in a disaster of this nature. The federal government through its regulatory agencies may have partial responsibility, although immunity may exist for the government. The lawyers will have a field day. Criminal charges may also be brought.
The Gulf Blowout is no more President Obama’s fault than Katrina was President Bush’s responsibility.
However, by the third day of the media showing the Katrina tragedy, squalor, lawlessness, and pathos of New Orleans, the media and liberals were dumping on Bush for not doing anything. Federal laws limit what the federal government can do in initially responding to an emergency such as Katrina; the initial legal burden is placed on the state and local government.
The public didn’t care. The Bush administration failed to respond. The President accrued the onus for being “out of it.”
But now it’s Day 42 and the media is starting to question the response of the Obama Administration.
It’s becoming reminiscent of the advent of Ted Koppel, Nightline, and Day XXX of the Iran Hostage Crisis.
We need to split the spill into two areas: the blowout/continuous discharge and the cleanup effort.
As recently retired Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen has acknowledged, the government lacks the expertise, personnel and resources to cap the hole. That perforce is BP’s responsibility and duty. They have the personnel, resources, and expertise. Thus, the federal government has to defer to them.
Regardless of whatever else may be said about BP, they have the greatest self-interest of all the parties in plugging the well. No matter the ecological tragedy, every day is a corporate disaster for BP. The days of the execs, responsible parties, and probably of BP as we know it, are numbered. BP is ‘toast.”
That, in turn, creates a feeling of impotence on the part of the President and his Administration. His frustration was apparent in his statement: “Just plug the damn hole.”
The official response therefore has become one of official outrage, if not invective:
Statements of Secretary of the Interior include:
”We will keep our boot on their neck until the job gets done.”
One of Senator Obama’s campaign messages was that he would be a President of competence and not diffidence. The premise of the first 15 months in office of his Administration is that the government can get the job done. The government is the answer to our problems.
The government has to stand by and watch – hardly the message he wants to send, even if it’s not his fault.
The government cannot stop the leak. Only BP, nature, or time can stop the discharge.
The government, our government, the Obama government has no control over the Gulf gusher.
How ironic that an Administration whose basic tenet is that government is the answer to our problems has to stand by and defer to a private enterprise, a foreign oil company at that, to resolve a problem it created.
The Administration faces a conundrum.
It must appear in control, but to be in control when the response efforts are a series of failures will destroy the veneer of competence the President has to possess to succeed.
Indeed, the President emphasized that the federal government was in control every step of the way and that BP could only do what the government allowed or told it do. However, BP has shown that’s not the case because it is using a chemical dispersant, Corexit, that EPA has requested it not use.
That’s politics.
The government cannot stop the leak, but it might be able to contain it.
The failure is with the response effort.
The Obama Administration is as derelict in its response as was the Bush Administration with Katrina.
For whatever reason, and some day we will know why, the Obama Administration was at best slow in marshalling resources to contain the oil. It dithered on incinerating the oil on the surface, whether chemical dispersants should be used, allowing Louisiana to build sand berms to hold back the oil, and marshalling equipment onshore.
Louisiana Governor Jindal’s plaintive plea for Corps of Engineers permission to build the barriers hit a nerve with Americans. (Sidebar - what a contrast between Governor Jindal and his predecessor Governor Kathleen Blanco and Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans during Katrina). The Corps was supposedly doing an EIS on the sand berms, which is like Nero fiddling while Rome burnt.
To President Obama’s credit, he ordered the Corps to approve the Governor’s requests. The military is flying in containment booms from Alaska and chemical dispersants, but as with Katrina, this response effort is not getting public attention.
However, as every little oil bar washes ashore, the failure of the government is apparent.
That too is political reality, and President Obama’s burden.
But that doesn’t end our story.
I find more appalling the Obama Administration response to the severe flooding of Nashville, Tennessee, the Cumberland River flooding which inundated downtown Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry, and the Opryland Hotel. 28 died in Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee in Nashville alone.
President Obama almost completely ignored the flooding, except to declare a Disaster Order. It was as though nothing happened.
Disaster response is not a forte of this Administration.
The late LAPD Police Chief Daryl Gates and the LAPD were highly respected for their competence in policing LA. Then came the Rodney King riots, the looting, and the total loss of control over the City. Gates was through as Chief. He talked the talk, but could not walk the walk when called upon.
Either the Obama Administration changes its response efforts, or it will fail.
That too is political reality, and President Obama’s burden.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Congressman Mark Kirk of Illinois Pulls a Blumenthal
Republican Congressman Mark Kirk of Illinois was as favored to win President Obama’s former Senate seat as was Attorney General Richard Blumenthal in Connecticut for Chris Dodd’s Senate seat.
The Illinois Democratic Party is shattering. The Democratic primary winner for Lieutenant Governor, Scott Lee Cohen, had to withdraw because of a 2005 arrest for domestic abuse as well as failure to pay back taxes and child support.
The Democratic Senatorial nominee, Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, had his family bank, Broadway bank, recently closed by the FDIC at a cost of $394.3 million to the feds. That’s hardly a qualification for office this year when Illinois is actually in worse financial shape than California.
And yet Congressman Kirk has lied about his military record, claiming to have received the prestigious U.S. Navy’s Intelligence Officer of the Year Award. He did not receive the individual reward. Instead, a unit citation was presented to his unit for their achievements in Kosovo. He was a member of the unit.
The disclosure came right before Memorial Day. We should be honoring the memory of our fallen soldiers, not trading on their valor through stupid misrepresentations by politicians. He claims it was simply a case of misidentification.
Congressman Kirk may snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
As with Blumenthal, no need existed for him to make this public claim. He has served honorably in the military. He received four Navy and Marine Corps commendations. He continues to serve as a Commander in the Navy reserves. All very honorable.
What are Blumenthal and Kirk thinking? Do they really believe that in today’s world these lies will not come out?
As I earlier asked with Blumenthal, is it arrogance? Is it a character flaw? Is it hubris? Or is it simple stupidity? Or perhaps it was an overzealous aide or political puffery?
After all, Al Gore took credit for the internet.
We expect puffery from politicians, but not when it comes to military service. That is too sacred!
George H. W. Bush, Robert Dole, John McCain, Robert Kerry, Daniel Inoye, John Kerry and others shed their blood for this country. We honor them.
Let’s just vacate the Illinois Senate seat. Leave it vacant. Neither candidate should serve if elected.
The Illinois Democratic Party is shattering. The Democratic primary winner for Lieutenant Governor, Scott Lee Cohen, had to withdraw because of a 2005 arrest for domestic abuse as well as failure to pay back taxes and child support.
The Democratic Senatorial nominee, Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, had his family bank, Broadway bank, recently closed by the FDIC at a cost of $394.3 million to the feds. That’s hardly a qualification for office this year when Illinois is actually in worse financial shape than California.
And yet Congressman Kirk has lied about his military record, claiming to have received the prestigious U.S. Navy’s Intelligence Officer of the Year Award. He did not receive the individual reward. Instead, a unit citation was presented to his unit for their achievements in Kosovo. He was a member of the unit.
The disclosure came right before Memorial Day. We should be honoring the memory of our fallen soldiers, not trading on their valor through stupid misrepresentations by politicians. He claims it was simply a case of misidentification.
Congressman Kirk may snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
As with Blumenthal, no need existed for him to make this public claim. He has served honorably in the military. He received four Navy and Marine Corps commendations. He continues to serve as a Commander in the Navy reserves. All very honorable.
What are Blumenthal and Kirk thinking? Do they really believe that in today’s world these lies will not come out?
As I earlier asked with Blumenthal, is it arrogance? Is it a character flaw? Is it hubris? Or is it simple stupidity? Or perhaps it was an overzealous aide or political puffery?
After all, Al Gore took credit for the internet.
We expect puffery from politicians, but not when it comes to military service. That is too sacred!
George H. W. Bush, Robert Dole, John McCain, Robert Kerry, Daniel Inoye, John Kerry and others shed their blood for this country. We honor them.
Let’s just vacate the Illinois Senate seat. Leave it vacant. Neither candidate should serve if elected.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Congratulations Apple; You're Now Number One on the Justice Department Antitrust List
Congrats Apple; your market value now exceeds Microsoft.
You’ve earned it; you deserve it.
You pioneer technology. True innovation.
You have product.
Congratulations Steve Jobs. Fortune Magazine in its November 23, 2009 issue saluted you as the Business Figure of the Decade, if you would "The Decade of Steve."
From the first mass produced desktop, to the Apple II+, to the Macintosh, IMac, ITune, IPod, ITouch, IPad, and IPhone, and the Apple Store. That doesn't even include the non-Apple Pixar.
Your software is clean, easy to use, and virus resistant.
You and Google’s Droid are fighting it out in the smart phone market as Microsoft tanks.
What about Bill Gates, Paul Allen and Microsoft?
IBM was stupid to give them control of the operating system of the IBM PC such that they could market it to any IBM compatible desktop. Firefox didn’t exist then.
Bill Gates and Paul Allen did not even have a operating system, so they paid a reported $100,000 to Seattle Computer Products for 86-DOS, the basic operating system for the IBM PC. DOS gave Microsoft the monopoly on the operating system, from which Microsoft crushed competitors such as Word Perfect, Netscape, and Lotus. Microsoft's predatory and exclusionary monopolistic practices earned antitrust prosecutions in the United States and Europe. Even IBM exited the market.
Yet Apple survived with a small, but profitable share of the market.
Steve Jobs was forced out of Apple in 1985, but was called back in 1998. Apple’s achievements since his return have been incredible. Any doubt as to the popularity of Apple’s products can be demonstrated by a simple walk at the two South Coast Plaza malls. If you look into the Sony Store you will be greeted with the sounds of silence as you can hear a pin drop. The Apple Store often has lines outside the store into the mall.
Apple’s success is from creating new products. Microsoft’s success is from tying software into its monopoly operating system. Microsoft is trying again with Bing to combat Google, but it's no substitute.
Steve Jobs and Apple; true technology pioneers! Many of the ideas were scoffed at by experts. The Apple store had no products to sell. Why buy an IPod when everyone had a Sony Walkman? Itunes – no way. The IPhone was too expensive, etc.
Steve Jobs and his dedicated team at Apple brought us technology we did not know we needed.
And now Apple has to pay a price for its success.
The Justice department has initiated an investigation into Apple for its pricing strategies and other marketing practices with ITunes and the music industry.
This Administration so believes that all good comes from the public sector that it cannot tolerate success in the private sector except as a political talking point.
The purpose of the private sector is to be taxed, regulated, and squeezed.
Apple should be rewarded for its success, but not in this Administration. Private success must be investigated, if not punished. Unlike Microsoft, it has not entered into blatantly monopolistic practices.
ITunes at an affordable 99 cents opened up a whole new business for the music industry at a time when its existing model is imploding.
Apple’s reward is 28% of the nation’s prerecorded music, hardly a monopolistic share.
CD sales are dropping, and Apple’s share of the rising MP3 market, the market it pioneered, is 76%. Competitors exist, but their products are not as competitive. Remember Microsoft? It’s Zune is a marketplace failure.
Apple passed Wal-Mart two years ago as the largest retailer of music in America. Both Wal-Mart and Amazon have about 12% of the market. Apple has succeeded against some of the best retailers in the world.
In addition, ITunes brings efficiency to the music distribution industry. Digital music avoids the costs of manufacturng and shipping CD's and LP's (they still exist), retailers, costly returns, and lets consumers purchase only the songs they want.
Pioneers with superior technology, lower costs, and efficiency should be rewarded, and they are by the marketplace.
But not this Administration.
Hang in there Apple, and here’s wishing decades of good health to Steve Jobs. Even this Administration will not be able to crush your creative, visionary genius.
You’ve earned it; you deserve it.
You pioneer technology. True innovation.
You have product.
Congratulations Steve Jobs. Fortune Magazine in its November 23, 2009 issue saluted you as the Business Figure of the Decade, if you would "The Decade of Steve."
From the first mass produced desktop, to the Apple II+, to the Macintosh, IMac, ITune, IPod, ITouch, IPad, and IPhone, and the Apple Store. That doesn't even include the non-Apple Pixar.
Your software is clean, easy to use, and virus resistant.
You and Google’s Droid are fighting it out in the smart phone market as Microsoft tanks.
What about Bill Gates, Paul Allen and Microsoft?
IBM was stupid to give them control of the operating system of the IBM PC such that they could market it to any IBM compatible desktop. Firefox didn’t exist then.
Bill Gates and Paul Allen did not even have a operating system, so they paid a reported $100,000 to Seattle Computer Products for 86-DOS, the basic operating system for the IBM PC. DOS gave Microsoft the monopoly on the operating system, from which Microsoft crushed competitors such as Word Perfect, Netscape, and Lotus. Microsoft's predatory and exclusionary monopolistic practices earned antitrust prosecutions in the United States and Europe. Even IBM exited the market.
Yet Apple survived with a small, but profitable share of the market.
Steve Jobs was forced out of Apple in 1985, but was called back in 1998. Apple’s achievements since his return have been incredible. Any doubt as to the popularity of Apple’s products can be demonstrated by a simple walk at the two South Coast Plaza malls. If you look into the Sony Store you will be greeted with the sounds of silence as you can hear a pin drop. The Apple Store often has lines outside the store into the mall.
Apple’s success is from creating new products. Microsoft’s success is from tying software into its monopoly operating system. Microsoft is trying again with Bing to combat Google, but it's no substitute.
Steve Jobs and Apple; true technology pioneers! Many of the ideas were scoffed at by experts. The Apple store had no products to sell. Why buy an IPod when everyone had a Sony Walkman? Itunes – no way. The IPhone was too expensive, etc.
Steve Jobs and his dedicated team at Apple brought us technology we did not know we needed.
And now Apple has to pay a price for its success.
The Justice department has initiated an investigation into Apple for its pricing strategies and other marketing practices with ITunes and the music industry.
This Administration so believes that all good comes from the public sector that it cannot tolerate success in the private sector except as a political talking point.
The purpose of the private sector is to be taxed, regulated, and squeezed.
Apple should be rewarded for its success, but not in this Administration. Private success must be investigated, if not punished. Unlike Microsoft, it has not entered into blatantly monopolistic practices.
ITunes at an affordable 99 cents opened up a whole new business for the music industry at a time when its existing model is imploding.
Apple’s reward is 28% of the nation’s prerecorded music, hardly a monopolistic share.
CD sales are dropping, and Apple’s share of the rising MP3 market, the market it pioneered, is 76%. Competitors exist, but their products are not as competitive. Remember Microsoft? It’s Zune is a marketplace failure.
Apple passed Wal-Mart two years ago as the largest retailer of music in America. Both Wal-Mart and Amazon have about 12% of the market. Apple has succeeded against some of the best retailers in the world.
In addition, ITunes brings efficiency to the music distribution industry. Digital music avoids the costs of manufacturng and shipping CD's and LP's (they still exist), retailers, costly returns, and lets consumers purchase only the songs they want.
Pioneers with superior technology, lower costs, and efficiency should be rewarded, and they are by the marketplace.
But not this Administration.
Hang in there Apple, and here’s wishing decades of good health to Steve Jobs. Even this Administration will not be able to crush your creative, visionary genius.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Food Inflation is Back
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently reported that the seasonally adjusted consumer price index (CPI) dropped .1% in April. In other words, inflation is under control, and perhaps deflation is in the future. Mortgage rates are at a 30 year low; gas prices are dropping before Memorial Day, when they usually rise.
Excluding the volatile fuel and food prices, the index remained constant, although it is up 2.2% over the past 12 months.
Do you believe the numbers or your own eyes?
You can read arcane BLS reports about CPI changes.
Or you can go shopping at the supermarket.
When I was young, all we had to do was checkout the Hershey chocolate bar at the grocery store. Hershey’s tried to maintain its famous nickel candle bar by adjusting its size as the cost of cocoa fluctuated. Forget any government adjusted or unadjusted inflation rates; Hershey was the test of inflation.
At the supermarket, where we feel inflation most immediately, prices are rising, offsetting falling fuel prices. Food was up .2% in April and .5% over the past 12 months.
Today’s food companies are subtle; they are raising prices indirectly by shrinking quantity, size, and volume while maintaining list prices. In short, we pay more for less.
The ice cream companies led the way a few years ago in a two-step process of shrinking carton sizes from 64oz to 48oz, a 25% cut.
Tuna cans shrank 23.2 % from 6½ oz to 5oz. At this point the tin almost outweighs the tuna. 8oz Yogurts are now 6oz (down 25%).
Halloween candy was once 16oz bags with an additional “10% free.” Now the bags are 11-12oz with nothing “free.” They even cheapen Halloween! At least Mike and Ike still offers "The Big Box," 9 1/2oz, but you have to look for it.
Pepsi, with its assorted beverage and Frito Lay products has been especially aggressive in cutting sizes. 24 can cases are now 20 can cases (16.7% reduction) while the company is experimenting with 4 packs. No tall boys for Pepsi. They’re also peddling smaller sized cans. Its 24 oz. Pepsi bottles are now 16.9oz containers (roughly a 33% cut in sugared water). Watch the magic as Tropicana orange juice shrinks before your very eyes to 59oz cartons instead of the traditional 64oz.
The Lay’s and Doritos went from 16oz to 10 1/2-11 oz., but it is now featuring a “Family Size” of 14oz.
The historical, traditional, classic baker’s dozen has been reduced to a true dozen.
Nabisco is also playing this game. Ritz and Honey Grams have gone from 16oz to 14.4oz, a 10% cut in size. Wheat Thins and Triscuits are down to 7, 8 ½, 9, 9 ½, 10oz packages depending on are they the original, low fat, less salt, etc. It’s all very complicated.
The cereal companies are playing the same game, but they offer the cereals in so many different sizes that it’s difficult to figure out what the cuts are. At least the actual hole in Cheerios has not yet grown.
The packaging often seems the same, but now it may contain 4-50% slack space.
The food processors can claim they are doing it to benefit us, the consumers: lower size, fewer calories, less fat, less trans fats, less sugar, less salt; they're helping us diet.
The food inflation started over two years ago when energy costs soared. One of the highest costs to the food industry is transportation. When gas and diesel reached $5 per gallon, the food industry, which distributes mostly by truck, felt the pain.
When petrochemicals are in the packaging, as with bottled waters, the industry was doubly hammered. The bottled water industry found an ingenious way to cut costs, reduce petrochemical consumption, and aid the environment. They figured out how to keep the basic water bottle at 1 liter, but substantially reduced the size of the plastic container by over 20%. They substantially reduced the packaging. That's efficiency, waste cutting, and green.
The chemical companies double cut in their detergents. Arm and Hammer’s standard size is now 32 servings, essentially cut in half. The plastic container has similarly shrunk.
Paying more for less is inflation.
It's certainly more than .5% over the last year.
Excluding the volatile fuel and food prices, the index remained constant, although it is up 2.2% over the past 12 months.
Do you believe the numbers or your own eyes?
You can read arcane BLS reports about CPI changes.
Or you can go shopping at the supermarket.
When I was young, all we had to do was checkout the Hershey chocolate bar at the grocery store. Hershey’s tried to maintain its famous nickel candle bar by adjusting its size as the cost of cocoa fluctuated. Forget any government adjusted or unadjusted inflation rates; Hershey was the test of inflation.
At the supermarket, where we feel inflation most immediately, prices are rising, offsetting falling fuel prices. Food was up .2% in April and .5% over the past 12 months.
Today’s food companies are subtle; they are raising prices indirectly by shrinking quantity, size, and volume while maintaining list prices. In short, we pay more for less.
The ice cream companies led the way a few years ago in a two-step process of shrinking carton sizes from 64oz to 48oz, a 25% cut.
Tuna cans shrank 23.2 % from 6½ oz to 5oz. At this point the tin almost outweighs the tuna. 8oz Yogurts are now 6oz (down 25%).
Halloween candy was once 16oz bags with an additional “10% free.” Now the bags are 11-12oz with nothing “free.” They even cheapen Halloween! At least Mike and Ike still offers "The Big Box," 9 1/2oz, but you have to look for it.
Pepsi, with its assorted beverage and Frito Lay products has been especially aggressive in cutting sizes. 24 can cases are now 20 can cases (16.7% reduction) while the company is experimenting with 4 packs. No tall boys for Pepsi. They’re also peddling smaller sized cans. Its 24 oz. Pepsi bottles are now 16.9oz containers (roughly a 33% cut in sugared water). Watch the magic as Tropicana orange juice shrinks before your very eyes to 59oz cartons instead of the traditional 64oz.
The Lay’s and Doritos went from 16oz to 10 1/2-11 oz., but it is now featuring a “Family Size” of 14oz.
The historical, traditional, classic baker’s dozen has been reduced to a true dozen.
Nabisco is also playing this game. Ritz and Honey Grams have gone from 16oz to 14.4oz, a 10% cut in size. Wheat Thins and Triscuits are down to 7, 8 ½, 9, 9 ½, 10oz packages depending on are they the original, low fat, less salt, etc. It’s all very complicated.
The cereal companies are playing the same game, but they offer the cereals in so many different sizes that it’s difficult to figure out what the cuts are. At least the actual hole in Cheerios has not yet grown.
The packaging often seems the same, but now it may contain 4-50% slack space.
The food processors can claim they are doing it to benefit us, the consumers: lower size, fewer calories, less fat, less trans fats, less sugar, less salt; they're helping us diet.
The food inflation started over two years ago when energy costs soared. One of the highest costs to the food industry is transportation. When gas and diesel reached $5 per gallon, the food industry, which distributes mostly by truck, felt the pain.
When petrochemicals are in the packaging, as with bottled waters, the industry was doubly hammered. The bottled water industry found an ingenious way to cut costs, reduce petrochemical consumption, and aid the environment. They figured out how to keep the basic water bottle at 1 liter, but substantially reduced the size of the plastic container by over 20%. They substantially reduced the packaging. That's efficiency, waste cutting, and green.
The chemical companies double cut in their detergents. Arm and Hammer’s standard size is now 32 servings, essentially cut in half. The plastic container has similarly shrunk.
Paying more for less is inflation.
It's certainly more than .5% over the last year.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Baltasar Garzon Redux
Spain’s eclectic judge, Baltasar Garzon (see my April 10, 2009 blog), is back in the news. The once high-flying, internationally revered Spanish jurist is grounded. This time, he’s on the receiving end of Spanish justice as he risks being defrocked as a judge.
He advanced the cause of “universal jurisdiction” in issuing arrest warrants for General Augusto Pinochet and others. His view of universal jurisdiction is that crimes against humanity, such as torture and genocide, can be pursued and prosecuted in any court that will assert jurisdiction.
He opened an investigation in 2008 covering the up to 114,000 missing victims during the Spanish Civil War and Francisco Franco’s 36 year regime.
The Spanish Civil war was brutal, with both sides committing war crimes, as one might suspect when the war was fought by proxies on behalf of Hitler and Stalin.
Spain is still highly divided over the legacy of Franco.
The Spanish Parliament enacted a general amnesty in 1977 for crimes of the Franco Government, two years after the dictator died.
Garzon, who has been quick to indict international figures, has been indicted on three counts for abuse of power. He is accused of knowingly acting beyond his jurisdiction.
He argued the amnesty did not cover crimes against humanity.
Spain’s Supreme Court voted 5:0 to allow the prosecution to proceed.
The result is that he was suspended from office on May 10, 2010, pending the investigation. If found guilty, he can be suspended from the judgeship for 10-20 years.
If he were an American judge, he would be in deep trouble for taking $300,000 in compensation from a Spanish bank for a series of lectures at NYU in the United States while a case was pending in his court against the president of the bank. He had quickly issued a not guilty verdict against the president. He saw no conflict of interest.
He also made enemies by approving the wiretapping of conversations between lawyers and prisoners in a corruption case involving politicians of the opposition party.
This breach of attorney client confidentiality outraged attorneys of all political persuasion.
Eventhough he is from the Spanish left, elements of the left and right have united in wanting him out.
Right now, he's out of Spain. He has accepted a 7 month appointment at the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
Whether or not he can navigate the thicket of international politics, and glacial pace of justice, at The Hague will be an interesting spectator sport.
He advanced the cause of “universal jurisdiction” in issuing arrest warrants for General Augusto Pinochet and others. His view of universal jurisdiction is that crimes against humanity, such as torture and genocide, can be pursued and prosecuted in any court that will assert jurisdiction.
He opened an investigation in 2008 covering the up to 114,000 missing victims during the Spanish Civil War and Francisco Franco’s 36 year regime.
The Spanish Civil war was brutal, with both sides committing war crimes, as one might suspect when the war was fought by proxies on behalf of Hitler and Stalin.
Spain is still highly divided over the legacy of Franco.
The Spanish Parliament enacted a general amnesty in 1977 for crimes of the Franco Government, two years after the dictator died.
Garzon, who has been quick to indict international figures, has been indicted on three counts for abuse of power. He is accused of knowingly acting beyond his jurisdiction.
He argued the amnesty did not cover crimes against humanity.
Spain’s Supreme Court voted 5:0 to allow the prosecution to proceed.
The result is that he was suspended from office on May 10, 2010, pending the investigation. If found guilty, he can be suspended from the judgeship for 10-20 years.
If he were an American judge, he would be in deep trouble for taking $300,000 in compensation from a Spanish bank for a series of lectures at NYU in the United States while a case was pending in his court against the president of the bank. He had quickly issued a not guilty verdict against the president. He saw no conflict of interest.
He also made enemies by approving the wiretapping of conversations between lawyers and prisoners in a corruption case involving politicians of the opposition party.
This breach of attorney client confidentiality outraged attorneys of all political persuasion.
Eventhough he is from the Spanish left, elements of the left and right have united in wanting him out.
Right now, he's out of Spain. He has accepted a 7 month appointment at the International Criminal Court at The Hague.
Whether or not he can navigate the thicket of international politics, and glacial pace of justice, at The Hague will be an interesting spectator sport.
Are We Really Neanderthals?
Neanderthals lived for about 200,000 years in Eurasia, but passed from the scene 50,000 years ago in Asia, and 24,000 years ago in Europe, leaving the field to Homo sapiens, who entered Europe about 40,000 years ago. They co-existed for only about 15,000 years in Europe with humans winning out. Presumably the inferior Neanderthal gene pool died out with the Last Neanderthal.
Svante Paabo, a geneticist at the famous Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany has headed a team of scientists studying Neanderthal DNA for 2 years. They published 2 papers in Science Magazine on May 7, 2010, in which they deciphered the genomic code of the Neanderthal.
They then matched the Neanderthal’s genome with the human genome.
Why?
Because that’s what scientists do. They search for knowledge, even with Neanderthals, wherever it leads.
The illiterate Neanderthals would not understand the Science papers, "A Draft Sequence of the Neandertal Genome" and my favorite "Targeted Investigation of the Neandertal Genome by Array-Based Sequence Capture."
What?
Then they peer review the research, something Neanderthals never worried about.
Here’s the revelation!
1-4% of our genomic code is that of the Neanderthal. Homo sapiens stupped with Neanderthals in the Fertile Crescent.
Did our ancestors really mate with these steroid size mammals?
I’ve known guys who would stupp anything. I always thought they were Neanderthals. I was right; they’re probably direct descendants of the Neanderthal.
Is it true that the brain cavity of Neanderthals was at least equal in size, if not larger, than that of Homo sapiens?
Neanderthal used tools, symbols, and primitive jewelry not up to Danbury Mint standards, perhaps face paint, and definitely fire, and shelter, had hearts and souls, but did not practice metaphysics.
They seem smart enough to me, certainly wiser than many of our teenagers.
If their brains were larger than ours, then how did we outlive them? That’s an enigma.
Here’s a problem. The math doesn’t add up. The report is that the Neanderthal genome is 99.7% identical to the human, but 1-4% of our DNA is that of the Neanderthal.
Fortunately, the Neanderthal also did not do math.
Our DNA has a 97% overlap with the Bonobos, so does 97.7% mean the Neanderthal is us?
The Neanderthal has risen in us.
It explains a lot. Now we know it’s truly genetic determinism. Our Neanderthal genes make us do it, compel us to engage in those stupid, impulsive, idiotic acts.
It wasn’t Adam and Eve and the serpent in the Garden of Eden with the forbidden fruit. It was miscegenation in the Mideast 80,000-50,000 years ago.
Studies showed that non-Saharan Africans (caucasoids) had 1-4% more Neanderthal DNA than sub-Saharan Africans. Either the latter had the brains and self-control to not mate with Neanderthals, or they lacked the opportunity. Sub-Saharan Africa was too hot for them; Neanderthals thrived in bitterly cold Europe. The last trace of Neanderthals was in Gibraltar 24,000 years ago. They wanted out of Europe.
The Neanderthals thrived in the last Glacial Age, but failed as the globe warmed.
Global warming is critical therefore in suppressing our Neanderthal genes.
I’ve certainly seen a few human Neanderthals in my lifetime. I simply thought they were genetic mutants. Now we know them for what they are, our siblings, and that’s scary.
On the other hand, when a student gives a really poor response to a Socratic question, I can simply mark it up to a Neanderthal experience.
If I call a student a Neanderthal, will it be defamation if it’s true?
Roots?
Are we out of Africa? Or are we out of Neanderthal? Or are we out of the Mideast? Or are we out of a cave?
What about mitochondrial Eve who lived 200,000 years ago?
What about Y-chromosome Adam who lived 60,000 – 90,000 years ago?
Was Eve a cougar?
What about 3.2 million year old Lucy in Ethiopia?
What about Cro-magnon?
What about Rhodesian Man?
What about Piltdown Man?
What about Geico Man?
How much of this can we believe? It’s based upon three bone fragments from a cave in Croatia, with the tested particles being the equivalent of an aspirin in size. That reminds me of the classic medieval question: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
Svante Paabo, a geneticist at the famous Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany has headed a team of scientists studying Neanderthal DNA for 2 years. They published 2 papers in Science Magazine on May 7, 2010, in which they deciphered the genomic code of the Neanderthal.
They then matched the Neanderthal’s genome with the human genome.
Why?
Because that’s what scientists do. They search for knowledge, even with Neanderthals, wherever it leads.
The illiterate Neanderthals would not understand the Science papers, "A Draft Sequence of the Neandertal Genome" and my favorite "Targeted Investigation of the Neandertal Genome by Array-Based Sequence Capture."
What?
Then they peer review the research, something Neanderthals never worried about.
Here’s the revelation!
1-4% of our genomic code is that of the Neanderthal. Homo sapiens stupped with Neanderthals in the Fertile Crescent.
Did our ancestors really mate with these steroid size mammals?
I’ve known guys who would stupp anything. I always thought they were Neanderthals. I was right; they’re probably direct descendants of the Neanderthal.
Is it true that the brain cavity of Neanderthals was at least equal in size, if not larger, than that of Homo sapiens?
Neanderthal used tools, symbols, and primitive jewelry not up to Danbury Mint standards, perhaps face paint, and definitely fire, and shelter, had hearts and souls, but did not practice metaphysics.
They seem smart enough to me, certainly wiser than many of our teenagers.
If their brains were larger than ours, then how did we outlive them? That’s an enigma.
Here’s a problem. The math doesn’t add up. The report is that the Neanderthal genome is 99.7% identical to the human, but 1-4% of our DNA is that of the Neanderthal.
Fortunately, the Neanderthal also did not do math.
Our DNA has a 97% overlap with the Bonobos, so does 97.7% mean the Neanderthal is us?
The Neanderthal has risen in us.
It explains a lot. Now we know it’s truly genetic determinism. Our Neanderthal genes make us do it, compel us to engage in those stupid, impulsive, idiotic acts.
It wasn’t Adam and Eve and the serpent in the Garden of Eden with the forbidden fruit. It was miscegenation in the Mideast 80,000-50,000 years ago.
Studies showed that non-Saharan Africans (caucasoids) had 1-4% more Neanderthal DNA than sub-Saharan Africans. Either the latter had the brains and self-control to not mate with Neanderthals, or they lacked the opportunity. Sub-Saharan Africa was too hot for them; Neanderthals thrived in bitterly cold Europe. The last trace of Neanderthals was in Gibraltar 24,000 years ago. They wanted out of Europe.
The Neanderthals thrived in the last Glacial Age, but failed as the globe warmed.
Global warming is critical therefore in suppressing our Neanderthal genes.
I’ve certainly seen a few human Neanderthals in my lifetime. I simply thought they were genetic mutants. Now we know them for what they are, our siblings, and that’s scary.
On the other hand, when a student gives a really poor response to a Socratic question, I can simply mark it up to a Neanderthal experience.
If I call a student a Neanderthal, will it be defamation if it’s true?
Roots?
Are we out of Africa? Or are we out of Neanderthal? Or are we out of the Mideast? Or are we out of a cave?
What about mitochondrial Eve who lived 200,000 years ago?
What about Y-chromosome Adam who lived 60,000 – 90,000 years ago?
Was Eve a cougar?
What about 3.2 million year old Lucy in Ethiopia?
What about Cro-magnon?
What about Rhodesian Man?
What about Piltdown Man?
What about Geico Man?
How much of this can we believe? It’s based upon three bone fragments from a cave in Croatia, with the tested particles being the equivalent of an aspirin in size. That reminds me of the classic medieval question: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
Saturday, May 22, 2010
John and Ken Want Nancy Meza Deported
Poor Nancy Meza; she does not understand the forces that she unleashed.
John and Ken want her deported. John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou are devoting hours of their valuable KFI640 prime time to a crusade to have her deported.
John and Ken have the highest ratings of any regional talk show hosts in the nation. They are tenacious, no, pit bulls, when they latch onto a “victim.” They do not believe in a kinder and gentler talk radio. They eviscerate politicians on the air.
And they don’t let go!
Many a politician has felt their wrath.
Poor Nancy!
She’s now prime time in LA.
Nancy committed the most heinous crime possible in Los Angeles.
Much worse than homicide, sexual assault or narcissism.
More heinous than being an illegal immigrant, although that by itself would set off John and Ken.
More despicable than an environmental felon.
All Nancy Mesa and her fellow demonstrators did was block traffic and close Wilshire Avenue and the 405.
SoCal is a relaxed place to live. Almost all sins are forgivable.
But not when it comes to deliberately blocking traffic.
Nancy Meza organized a demonstration in support of the Dream Act Thursday in front of a federal building on Wilshire.
The Development, Relief and Education Act for Alien Minors Act (Dream Act) would provide a path to permanent residency for undocumented alien students who graduate from high school in the United States.
She and 8 others were arrested for marching in a circle on Wilshire Avenue, near UCLA, blocking not only that major thoroughfare, but also the nearby 405 as the ramps backed up for miles. None were turned over to immigration, unlike demonstrators at Senator McCain’s Tucson office earlier in the week.
Traffic was blocked for hours. Bus routes were rerouted. Ambulances potentially had trouble reaching the UCLA emergency room. Workers went home.
Among those inconvenienced by Nancy were Ken Chiampou and their KFI news announcer, Terri Rae Elmer.
That was a major error in judgment.
John and Ken are leading a crusade to have Nancy deported. She’s a self-proclaimed illegal immigrant, having come to the United States when she was 2. She’s scheduled to graduate from UCLA in 3 weeks.
She’s thrown red meat to John and Ken. They have posted her phone number, twitter number, and website on their site. They encourage listeners to contact ICE and turn her in. Scores have dropped the dime on ICE.
She and 200 demonstrators were exercising their First Amendment rights, even though they lacked a permit. Maybe Nancy wanted to be a martyr for immigrant rights.
But she set off John and Ken.
I feel sorry for her.
John and Ken want her deported. John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou are devoting hours of their valuable KFI640 prime time to a crusade to have her deported.
John and Ken have the highest ratings of any regional talk show hosts in the nation. They are tenacious, no, pit bulls, when they latch onto a “victim.” They do not believe in a kinder and gentler talk radio. They eviscerate politicians on the air.
And they don’t let go!
Many a politician has felt their wrath.
Poor Nancy!
She’s now prime time in LA.
Nancy committed the most heinous crime possible in Los Angeles.
Much worse than homicide, sexual assault or narcissism.
More heinous than being an illegal immigrant, although that by itself would set off John and Ken.
More despicable than an environmental felon.
All Nancy Mesa and her fellow demonstrators did was block traffic and close Wilshire Avenue and the 405.
SoCal is a relaxed place to live. Almost all sins are forgivable.
But not when it comes to deliberately blocking traffic.
Nancy Meza organized a demonstration in support of the Dream Act Thursday in front of a federal building on Wilshire.
The Development, Relief and Education Act for Alien Minors Act (Dream Act) would provide a path to permanent residency for undocumented alien students who graduate from high school in the United States.
She and 8 others were arrested for marching in a circle on Wilshire Avenue, near UCLA, blocking not only that major thoroughfare, but also the nearby 405 as the ramps backed up for miles. None were turned over to immigration, unlike demonstrators at Senator McCain’s Tucson office earlier in the week.
Traffic was blocked for hours. Bus routes were rerouted. Ambulances potentially had trouble reaching the UCLA emergency room. Workers went home.
Among those inconvenienced by Nancy were Ken Chiampou and their KFI news announcer, Terri Rae Elmer.
That was a major error in judgment.
John and Ken are leading a crusade to have Nancy deported. She’s a self-proclaimed illegal immigrant, having come to the United States when she was 2. She’s scheduled to graduate from UCLA in 3 weeks.
She’s thrown red meat to John and Ken. They have posted her phone number, twitter number, and website on their site. They encourage listeners to contact ICE and turn her in. Scores have dropped the dime on ICE.
She and 200 demonstrators were exercising their First Amendment rights, even though they lacked a permit. Maybe Nancy wanted to be a martyr for immigrant rights.
But she set off John and Ken.
I feel sorry for her.
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