20090430

American Banks Post TARP, Stress, Disorder : I.O.U. Holdings

Signs of the times :

* Taliban consultants from the Boston SWOT Valley cling to their regressive vision of economy : "we don't understand what's happening, we are the ones who planted IEDs and we are the ones treated for PTSD"

* A.I.G. is still hesitating for its new name : "A.I.U. Holdings sounds nice, but I.O.U. Holdings would make more sense".

* Barack Obama is looking for a Swine Flu czar : "how about John McCain ? Somehow, it's about fighting pork. John would just need some training to search nosemarks beyond earmarks".

* The GOP wants Arlen Specter back : "we'll do whatever it takes, even hiring Sarah to build this ultimate bridge to nowhere".

* Chrysler and GM shall survive, but Nardelli remains a little bit nervous : "I feel comfortable with Italian backers and stronger trade unions, and I love the designer shoes they offered me. I get the idea behind the material used (steel), but I'd rather have them branded 'Jimmy Choo' than 'Jimmy Hoffa'".

20090419

I.Q. can help measure handicaps, not intelligence

When I read Nicholas D. Kristof on Pr. Richard Nisbett's "Intelligence and How to Get It"*, I had in mind the image of labels on boxes of cereals, you know, the ones featuring a few good scores on key items just to persuade the consumer that he or she is not eating completely junk food. In Kristof's op-ed, the idea is to help Americans get better IQ scores.

Unfortunately, I.Q. is an heresy : you simply cannot sum up intelligence in one dimension. Actually, that would mean destroying it.

Intelligence is not something absolute. You can be very intelligent in certain situations and dumb in others, and there is no such thing as one kind of intelligence.

I defined** intelligence as "the capacity to apprehend (ie your environment, other people, situations...), understand, and give sense beyond your own senses, what you see, feel, touch, smell, or hear". Many people consider the ability to memorize a lot of information as a sign of intelligence, but the cleverest people I know make complex things look simple - simplicity is not always a sign of stupidity but often the key to intelligibility, apprehensibility.

If I.Q. measures something, it can't be intelligence. What it does measure for sure is the capacity to apprehend an I.Q. test. It somehow helps pointing out handicaps : it measures the ability to survive in the society that designed the set of questions. Call that a part of the Social Quotient if you please, but please don't call that Intelligence with a capital I.


blogules 2009

* "
How to Raise Our I.Q." (NY Times 20090415)

** "
Define: intelligence vs information"

20090417

"Insects placed in a confinement box" (welcome on waterboard)

"In releasing these memos, it is our intention to assure those who carrying out their duties relying in good faith upon the legal advice from the Department of Justice that they will not be subject to prosecution".

Some may cringe at this weakness : we want to bring down a system, and the guys who did the waterboarding are as guilty as those who obeyed orders from the IIIrd Reich, so they should be brought to justice as well.

Obama is fighting the good fight,
at the root of extremism and fundamentalism, starting from enemies from within.

But Barack Obama is not pointing the finger at anybody : he is showing the direction for Justice. As the head of executive power, his job is not to define what is legal and what is illegal, and certainly not to tell what is good from what is evil (see "
True v. False vs Good v. Evil").

Justice will eventually prevail, and the most rotten apples fall by themselves. Not by exposing the dark side but the best side of everyone : it's not about being with us or against us, but about embracing justice or refusing it. Some of the torturers will be jailed, many will walk free. But Justice will have won when the main culprits are behind bars or at least officially condemned : Jay Bybee, John Yoo, David Addington, Alberto Gonzales, Dick Cheney.

Cheney will fall only when his protégés feel that his protection won't save them. Thus his panic as George W. Bush refused to pardon Scooter Libby. Lord Dubya ? He will do what he does best : play dumb. Torture memos have Lobby Dick's fingerprints all over them, but The Fundamentalist in Chief himself grew very prudent following Abu Ghraib "revelations". What, me worry ?

Their torture memos led to such atrocities as "insects placed in a confinement box"* and ironically, that's exactly the image I have of this disgraceful mob.

I can't wait to enjoy the show. A perfect way of celebrating Darwin Bicentennial.

* "
Interrogation Memos Detail Harsh Tactics by the C.I.A." (20090416 - New York Times Mark Mazzetti and Scott Shane)

20090416

Last Throes of Democracy : India Votes

The World's biggest democracy votes. Ahead of Iran, and after Israel (another candidate for theocracy*).

Soon, we can actually measure the "
Lessons from Mumbai" : either fundamentalists and nationalists gain ground, or moderates secure the country. Or politics at its worst wins : an unnatural coalition cripling democracy and fueling the rise of hatred upon which radicals feed.

Manmohan Singh is far from being Mr Perfect, but he somehow managed to minimize the impact at home of Pakistan's gradual collapse under Pervez Musharraf. India is far from being a model democracy, and it suffered its share of terror well before Mumbai, but the central Government kept some distance from fundamentalism as well as from ultranationalism.

Yet the main issues for voters will be economy, inegalities, not politics. But precisely : beyond these elections, the best way to prevent radicalism from rising is to eradicate poverty and unfairness. May India strengthen its so rich and diverse identity around that noble mission, may India sent the right message of mutual respect to our troubled world.


* "
Beyond the Iranian people, Obama is addressing Israel"
see "Justice in America, No Democracy in Israel ?" in "
Bush's Farewell : Mission Accomplished... as Fundamentalist in Chief"

20090403

G20 on Twitter

@barackobama.com : "uh... hem... Look : 120 characters left. Good day : we reached an agreement. Bonus: prevented a fight btwn Sarko and Hu."

@nicolassarkozy.fr : "Good day : I made the headlines and saved the World as usual. Bonus : prevented war btwn US & China."

@hujintao.com.cn : "Good day : saved Macau & HK, purchased the US, cut ties btwn France & Dalai Lama. Bonus: spied UK in the process."

@gordonbrown.co.uk : "Good day : managed to kept my chin up, and my jaw not too low."

@tayyiperdogan.com.tr : "Good day : Shimon Peres wasn't there."

@robertzoellick.us : "Good day : if a Bushite like me gets a hike during this slump, there's still hope for easy money."

@bankimoon.un.org : "Good day : wish we had the same cast at the Security Council."

@abhisitvejjajiva.com.th : "Good day : was right behind Obama on the photo. Bad day : his smiles eclipsed mine."

@taroaso.co.jp : "Good day : wasn't caught sippin' sake."

@dmitrymedvedev.ru : "Good day : I kept those morons busy while Vlady nuked Georgia. Even got an Obama autograph."

@stephenharper.ca : "Bad day : got locked in the johns during the official photo op."

@mbtious.co.kr : "Good day : Kim Jong-il helped me get an itw w. BO."

@lula.com.br : "Good day : was hired as a bodyguard for Brown and the Queen. Kept that French lunatic away from Barack."

@angelamerkel.de : "Good day : was seated next to Oby for dinner, far from Sarko on the final picture."


@dskimf.com : "Good day : I got a budget to purchase flowers for Michelle Obama."

@silvioberlusconi.it : "Good day for plastic surgery : on the pixes, I look younger than Obama and Medvedev combined."

@kevinrudd.com.au : "G'day and seeya."

20090324

J Street Releases New Poll of American Jewish Community

Food for thought following Obama's Nowruz speech (see "Beyond the Iranian people, Obama is addressing Israel"):

1) Two unfortunate events happened soon afterwards : first a collision between a US submarine and a US warship in the Strait of Ormuz resulting in an oil spill (smells almost like Cheney's false flag tin can spirit), second a speech of Shimon Peres to the same Iranian people, probably meant to sabotage Obama's. Both events could and should have been prevented.

2) A very fortunate poll by J Street on how American Jews want Obama-style diplomacy to operate in the Middle East. Yes, there was some support for Gaza, but the war was improductive for peace. Furthermore, far from the AIPAC rethoric, American Jews are ready for major concessions to reach peace, refuse Lieberman, and want the US to discuss with a Hamas-Fatah Palestinian leadership.

---
J Street's announcement (below) :


J Street Releases New Poll of American Jewish Community
(Amy Spitalnick - March 23rd, 2009 10:56 am)

A new J Street poll, released today, shows strong continued support among American Jews for assertive American diplomacy in ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as in the Middle East generally. The results, which you can read in full below, demonstrate an understanding that difficult compromises will have to be made by both sides in order to bring true peace and security to Israel, the Palestinians, and the entire region.


American Jews remain remarkably supportive of assertive American efforts to achieve Middle East peace. The poll finds an extraordinarily strong base of 69 percent of American Jews firmly supporting active American engagement in bringing about Middle East peace, even if it means publicly disagreeing with or exerting pressure on both Arabs and Israelis, compared to 66 percent eight months ago;

69 percent also support the U.S. working with a unified Hamas-Fatah Palestinian Authority government to achieve a peace agreement with Israel, even when informed that the U.S. does not recognize Hamas due to its status as a terrorist organization and its refusal to recognize Israel. Interestingly, a March poll conducted by the Truman Institute at Hebrew University reported that 69 percent of Israelis also think Israel should negotiate with a joint Hamas-Fatah government;

By 76-24 percent, American Jews support a two-state, final status deal between Israel and the Palestinians along the lines of the agreement nearly reached eight years ago during the Camp David and Taba talks;

On Avigdor Lieberman: When told about Lieberman’s campaign platform requiring Arab citizens of Israel to sign loyalty oaths, as well as his threats against Arab Members of Knesset, American Jews opposed these positions by a 69 to 31 margin. One in three believe their own connection to Israel will be diminished if Lieberman assumes a senior position in the Israeli cabinet.

On Gaza: While Jews rallied behind Israel and approved of Israel’s military action by a 3 to 1 margin, 59 percent still felt that the military action had no impact on Israel’s security (41 percent) or made Israel less secure (18 percent), while only 41 percent felt it made Israel more secure.

Full March 2009 J Street Survey Results:
Survey Data.
Survey Analysis from Jim Gerstein, Principle at Gerstein Agne, the firm that commissioned the poll. Press Release.
Powerpoint Presentation, also from Jim Gerstein of Gerstein Agne.
Read J Street’s July 2008 survey results
here.

20090321

Beyond the Iranian people, Obama is addressing Israel

NYT's Ethan Bronner is not exactly holding fire against Israel these days, and he shouldn't : investigations are proving how essential principles were deliberately abandoned during the recent invasion of the Gaza strip.

Bronner also pointed out* the obvious fact that Israel cannot stick to its darkest sides (racism, fascism, which are not a Avigdor Lieberman monopoly these days), particularily if moderates gain ground in Iran on June 12, 2009.

As a Nowruz celebration, Citizen Obama decided to cast a video ballot for the upcoming presidential elections.

The Iranian people discovered a POTUS talking directly to them with words of mutual respect, a humble admiration for the great Persian culture, and a genuine spark of intelligence and compassion in the eyes. Barack even cautioned the Islamic Republic of Iran label, tearing down a 30 year old wall between both nations.

Reaching out without touching faith, Obama's speech was actually putting as much pressure on Israel as on Iran.

Livni and Netanyahu had better come up with something fit for this new millenium.


* see "
After Gaza, Israel Grapples With Crisis of Isolation" (NY Times - 20090318)

PS: Obama sent an even more direct message to Bush when he wrote to Chirac.

20090320

Geithner Takes Bullet, Bullet Spares Buck Obama

CNN's Ali Velshi cornered Geithner on the AIG bonus scandal : the Treasury not only knew about risks of bonuses to be awarded but prevented Sen. Chris Dodd from adding a clause to minimize them*.

Tim takes the blame raher unconvincingly : he uses the first person for the legally binding part of his job ("It's my responsibility, I was in a position where I didn't knowabout those sooner, I take full responsibility for that"), swiches to the second person for the future "now let's fix it" section ("In any case, we're going to go back and try to recoup the payments that were already made we had no legal ability to block at that time"), but keeps his distances with the third parties who actually dunnit : "The people doing this, the Fed and the Treasury people, are workingvery closely together".

"They, the People" of the Treasury, won't like this, Tim.

You just caught a bullet for your boss.

The previous day, Barack Obama changed his tune regarding the AIG mess : OK I'm angry but look, the buck stops here, I'm responsible.

The bullet stopped before reaching the buck, and I'm glad Geithner took it. From the beginning, this man was Obama's poorest pick.



* "
Geithner: Treasury Pushed For Bonus Loophole (VIDEO)" (HuffPost - 20090319)

20090316

Lobby Dick Tries To Retire, Fails To Retract

As the newly reformed League of Justice (D.C. Serious Comics) consider putting behind bars the Supervillains who disgraced America over the past 8 years, one of their most abject leaders resurfaces.

Last time we saw The Evil Doctor Cheney, he was pitifully escaping with his master Victor von Dumb in an helicopter. Their lair had just been raided by Captain America, who even humiliated von Dumb in public with his most powerful weapon ; a loud and concise X-ray speech exposing the imposter. The hero then threw this protective shield over the nation : "We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals".

It's hard to tell whether von Dumb will ever recover from his wounds. Somewhere deep into the darkest swamps of Amerika, The Rover is probably trying to revive his creature. D.C. Serious Comics declined to comment, but a sequel could be in the making under the title "
Amerika Doomed : The Legacy".

We do know for sure the man known as Lobby Dick is still alive. Yesterday, he even rose from his armchair to deliver a "State of the Union with John King" address on CNN.

The Anchorman's hulk of a body was protected by a 8-inch adamantium-reinforced glass table, but for good measure King cast a few spells on The Creepy Veep, using quick hand gestures on his Magic Screen : as some of the Supervillain's most shameless moments were instantly brought back to life, there was no chance anyone in the audience could misinterpret his snarl for a friendly smile.

King first asked Doc Dick what he thought about Captain America's first weeks in power :
- "This League of Justice is dangerous : they are changing the very definitions of democracy, justice, freedom, science... cancelling all the much needed reforms we brought to the dictionnary over the last eight years. Next thing you know, even listening to Rush Limbaugh will be considered cruel and unusual punishment".
- "Well... isn't it already, I mean technically ? And what do you think about the use or abuse of the new superpower called Stimulus ?"
- "You sometimes do need a stimulus to get things going. For instance, when I don't get an answer or when I get an answer that I don't like, electroshocks can prove useful. But this Stimulus is a joke. Let's be clear : this country needs bullets, not bullet trains. Tax cuts for the rich, ax cuts for the poor. And a nationwide pipeline network".
- "... connected with new oil fields in Alaska, I presume ?"
- "Nah... oil should keep circulating on trucks, gas-guzzling trucks doing circles, virtuous circles. This country needs pipelines for water."
- "Pardon me... did I hear "water" ?"
- "You did. Getting water all across the nation is a major challenge for this millenium : we want to democratize waterboarding - no child left behind."
- "But that's insane !"
- "Yeah. Look how poor John McCain lost his bearings... I'm sure he refuses to promote waterboarding because Arizona is too dry."
- "Wasn't it because he was tortured in Vietnam ?"
- "That's a question of vocabulary. There was no CNN at the Hanoi Hilton back then, talk about cruel and unusual punishment..."

King offered the criminal an opportunity to redeem himself : "come on, Doc, now that your ruling days are behind you, now that you have nothing to lose... why not confess that you could have done or said things a better way ?"

Hissing and shrugging, von Dumb's sidekick refused to retract :
- the collapse of the Twin Towers ? "The DemoTeam did it, we tried to save Freddie and Fannie, but this infamous gang deliberately refused to strip them from their most dangerous powers when it was still possible"
- the Deficit ? "yet another creature from the DemoTeam - we found the fingerprints of The Dude all over it. Plus we had to reprint all procedure manuals... and by the way, do you know how much it costs to build a soundproof torture chamber ?"
- the Big Bang ? "We were caught in a global tempest and had to cope with the same crisis as our allies - rumors that the crisis originated from our own labs, our very homes, are bold lies"
- Shock and Awe ? "My only regret : the CIA didn't do their job and provided us with poor intel... but luckily enough, I was there to correct them and forge the case for the invasion of Iraq. Going at a Supervillain was the right thing to do. Everybody is definitely better off now, don't you think ? Iraq has ceased to exist as a united nation, Persia has recovered its Superpower status, new enemies keep popping up from all over the planet... more than ever, this World needs Amerika."

- "And how about The Scoot ?"

The Dark Lord's face turned even more somber as The Anchorman mentioned the case that almost tore the Doc Cheney - von Dumb couple apart in the last throes of their assault on democracy : "Victor and I slightly disagreed on that one, granted. I think it has something to do with my partner's hypocrisy. That's probably the reason why he keeps hiding his true fundamentalist face behind a mask of compassion. But make no mistake : he is as dangerous as I am."

20090310

SNL - The Rock Obama

I know the GOP shouldn't be evil, but you don't want to make President Obama angry either...

From Saturday Night Live, he's facing the hulk of a problem and not with his green agenda :



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