60 Minutes is Beastly

Tonight on 60 Minutes:

"As [Greg] Carr and the 60 Minutes flew over the landscape, they saw hippopotami, antelope and elephant. But not many - "

The wild animals were running to escape the helicopter. It wasn't enough to chase after the terrified elephants. Then the helicopter came up alongside the small herd to send them running for their lives in another direction.

PBS does the same thing in its ads for "wonderful" nature programs.

Recession Porn

Too Poor to Make the News:

THE human side of the recession, in the new media genre that's been called "recession porn" ...
[Barbara's Blog]

More raccoon meat in Detroit; more women of all social classes seeking work as strippers, although the "gentlemen's clubs" are hard-up for money, too.

The recession of the '80s transformed the working class into the working poor, as manufacturing jobs fled to the third world, forcing American workers into the low-paying service and retail sector. The current recession is knocking the working poor down another notch - from low-wage employment and inadequate housing toward erratic employment and no housing at all.

Reagan Did It:

The change in America’s financial rules was Reagan’s biggest legacy. And it’s the gift that keeps on taking.
[Paul Krugman]

Dumping Reagan:

In a curious and interesting twist, Republicans are reportedly "rethinking" Ronald Reagan ...
[Prairie Weather]

Torture Emails

I've read the three emails.

Glenn Greenwald:

What the new Jim Comey torture emails actually reveal

Just read the Comey emails for yourself -- they're not long -- and you'll see exactly how these DOJ torture memos were actually produced. The key excerpts tell the story as clearly as can be. Comey was vehemently opposed to a draft memo written by Acting OLC Chief Steven Bradbury --

Dick Cheney's Briefs

Why would he make the claim that declassifying intelligence reports would show how torture saved thousands of lives, if it isn't true?

Here we are:

So, he gets all the media value and spin by originally making the claim that the intel documents would prove the value of torture - if only Obama would let the truth come out. Then he backs away from the claim, using weasel-words to give him sufficient wiggle room to say that what he really meant was that the overall interrogation program provided useful information -- not that waterboarding or other enhanced interrogation techniques did.
[HuffPo]

Cheney Ran the CIA’s Torture Briefings:

In retrospect the subtext of those threats is now clear: Cheney was insisting that they not breathe a word about the Bush torture program. The CIA’s decision to suppress these facts in the account they provided the intelligence committee is further evidence of dissembling on a highly material point.
[No Comment]

Michael Moore: Goodbye, GM

Moore writes:

Twenty years ago when I made "Roger & Me," I tried to warn people about what was ahead for General Motors. Had the power structure and the punditocracy listened, maybe much of this could have been avoided. Based on my track record, I request an honest and sincere consideration of the following suggestions ...

Historical Day for GM

The coming of GM's bankruptcy was understandable, and yet it's stunning, and numbing.

From AP report:

The bankruptcy filing represents a dramatic downfall for GM, which was founded in 1908 by William C. Durant, who brought several car companies under one roof and developed a strategy of "a car for every purse and purpose." Longtime leader Alfred P. Sloan built the global automaker into a corporate icon.

Hey-Hey Hey Hey

Federal Reserve

Neal Fox YouTube video gets awards.

"Sit back, little children, as I tell the tale..."
[YouTube]

A bit o' the history:

The original Federal Reserve Act became law in December 1913. The “Federal” in the title implied that the law applied to the whole country, and “Reserve” emphasized the new institution’s role as a reserve holder and reserve supplier for the commercial banking system. ... Conspicuously absent in the title or anywhere else in the act were the words “central bank.”

And now:

Federal Reserve would serve as risk regulator under Obama plan:

Lawmakers have been divided on whether the Fed should act as an overarching "systemic risk regulator," with some arguing that such a task would stretch the central bank too thinly. Both Bair and Schapiro have objected to making the Fed alone the new supercop for "too-big-to-fail" financial companies.