True Financial Injustice

Andrew linked to James Fallows' guide to impressive journalism.

As Fallows says, his first NPR link about the bail-bond system is absolutely riveting.

Give it a listen as you get some work done.

Obama in China

[..] the founding documents that guide our democracy [..] put forward a simple vision of human affairs, and they enshrine several core principles -- that all men and women are created equal, and possess certain fundamental rights; that government should reflect the will of the people and respond to their wishes; that commerce should be open, information freely accessible; and that laws, and not simply men, should guarantee the administration of justice....

"And that is why America will always speak out for these core principles around the world. We do not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation, but we also don't believe that the principles that we stand for are unique to our nation. These freedoms of expression and worship -- of access to information and political participation -- we believe are universal rights. They should be available to all people, including ethnic and religious minorities -- whether they are in the United States, China, or any nation. Indeed, it is that respect for universal rights that guides America's openness to other countries; our respect for different cultures; our commitment to international law; and our faith in the future.

"I am a big believer in technology and I'm a big believer in openness when it comes to the flow of information. I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of countries around the world can hold their own governments accountable. They can begin to think for themselves. That generates new ideas. It encourages creativity.

"And so I've always been a strong supporter of open Internet use. I'm a big supporter of non-censorship. This is part of the tradition of the United States that I discussed before, and I recognize that different countries have different traditions. I can tell you that in the United States, the fact that we have free Internet -- or unrestricted Internet access is a source of strength, and I think should be encouraged."

Fallows reacts:

[..] he said just about as much on censorship and liberties as a visiting dignitary could say, in the circumstances

Photo: President Barack Obama walked by an honor guard during a ceremony at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People Tuesday.(David Gray/Reuters)

Link blag

David Frum wonders if conservatives can govern.

Dish reader draws a lesson from Fort Hood. Another differs. American Muslim reaction here.

Library Grape: Catholic diocese channels Christ's love, threatens to stop feeding the poor if gays marry.

TMV: Can we please just tax the churches already?

Politico: The Republican National Committee's health insurance plan offers coverage for "a fundamental assault on innocent human life".

TPM has a Lou Dobbs slideshow retrospective. Krugman writes: "Until now it really has seemed as if there was nothing, nothing at all, that someone on the right could say and do that would make them unacceptable in polite company. Now it at least seems that there is a line somewhere."

Fallows: more than a hundred TSA agents have gone undercover...cleverly disguised as TSA agents! (he follows up)

Police arrest twenty-five dangerous deviants in Chicago.

Headline to appreciate: "Irish priest kidnapped in Philippines released by MILF"

Unlike every other document on the Web, this page is in final form and completely finished. *grin*

Math is beautiful.

This guy can juggle. So can this one.

Soldiers and their dogs.

Fox is like China

James Fallows goes there.

China, western media, and proper context

A reader emails Fallows:

I'm an overseas Chinese and had great hope of free press in the West when I left China several years ago. But most of time I'm disappointed at how condescending and naïve are the Western medias when it comes to China, and I think many overseas Chinese have the same experience...

You've argued the better way Chinese authority may follow to improve their PR campaign to the outside world. But I think the communication has never been a one way traffic. There are also much work to do for the Western medias.

The attitude of arrogance and superiority aside, here are some interesting and apparent steps for the Western media to take to smooth the hostility between them and China.
1. Accept China's uniqueness (if not exceptionalism)
2. Recognize the legitimacy of the communist regime (at least partially in terms of the progresses they have made)
3. Tolerate the minor human rights problems and individual sufferings which are common in any developing country (not to mention China's hugeness and complexity)
4. Commend and encourage steps China made toward openness, cooperation and transparency (with less grudge and suspicion)

These may sound imposable or impractical for some in the West, but consider this: Are these applicable to India? I think these are exactly how the Western media treats India. They see India as a unique place with some nostalgia; they see Indian government as one of their own; they see India's human rights problem with great tolerance and understanding; they seem never hesitate to acclaim India as one of biggest power in the world in spite of its economy is far lagging behind that of China.

I don't want to complain about the mistreatment China has been receiving. My point is China is not the biggest threat, the mistrust and misunderstanding are. If you deep-down don't see the other side as equal, you'll never get the respect you hoped.

Because all these misunderstanding and hostility, the Western media and Chinese authority are both misleading their own audience to some degree, therefore further fuel the mistrust between the East and the West; and give more ammunition to communist regime to fan nationalism flame.

Link blag

Sen Burr (R-NC) Foolishly encourages bank runs. I keep asking myself, when did the GOP transition from fiscally responsible to financially insane? Is the FDIC too complicated a government agency for some of them to understand the value of? The United States Constitution requires Senators to be of age at least 30. Perhaps we should change that to IQ at least 130?

Recession silver lining? Misguided social conservatives aren't having much luck with their legislation, as moderates focus on real problems:

school prayer and discouraging teaching evolution has been declared dead. Prospects don't look good for a proposal to require ultrasounds for first-trimester abortions. Same goes for a bill to make marriage licenses more expensive for couples who don't take a premarriage education course.

WSJ: Fight piracy with convoys?

DoD Buzz explains the SEAL techniques likely used against pirates.

James Fallows gets an anecdotal take on the state of Iraq.

WSJ: Oregon plans to hike beer tax by 1900%

Politico: Obama will simplify the tax code? More from AP.

Texas governor thinks the state could leave the union. Didn't we have a war to settle that? HotAir calls him down.

David Frum shares my anger at Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and public school teachers' unions.

Megan: Why does Canada have cost-effective healthcare? Location, location, location.

Yglesias: Merely seeing salad on a menu makes you more likely to order junk food.

Radley listens to more left-wing radio.

Country club for the 21st century

From James Fallows' e-mail inbox:

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As a member of Affluence.org you will have the ability to find and interact with other affluent people from around the world, evaluate and contribute to your favorite charities, and gain access to exclusive lifestyle guides to luxury living, travel and the latest trends.Within this elite community you will be provided with access to a dedicated Affluence Concierge, receive priority access to the world's most exclusive premieres, nightclubs, parties, hotels, events and much more.

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The site looks legit...

Make Life Better

The exclusive organization of the world's wealthiest people.

Interact with other affluent people from around the world Receive free access to a dedicated Affluence Concierge Attend the most exclusive parties and events in the world Receive priority access to the world's most exclusive nightclubs, hotels, and restaurants Find other millionaires, billionaires, and socially elite people to network with.

Strategy v. tactics

I posted a clip of Biden spinning Friday night and commented on Palin's absence.

One of the things Biden hit McCain on is his lack of understanding that the surge was not a strategy, and his misguided lecture to Obama.

Fallows posts an email from a career Army colonel who explains the issue.

On Palin getting worse

Sullivan:

Crowley has a theory as to why. Chris Orr offers his own thoughts. My own view is that the Hannity interview doesn't count as it was an infomercial. And Gibson was pretty easy. Couric may have rescued her career with that interview. In other words: There's no Palin decline. There was nothing to decline from. There is no there there but ambition, fundamentalism and a bizarre personal life. And the pressure of her countless lies - especially about her personal life - must be beginning to tell. My own view is that she is such a massive joke she will kill the ticket; but if McCain asked her to withdraw, it would so destroy his own record of judgment, he would also lose. So we have two scenarios: either they struggle on, keep the Schmidt fireworks to distract from reality, and hope that racism and Christianism will somehow get them to the finishing line - or we start all over with Romney. But it's getting too late to switch GOP candidates.

I don't think the Palin problem is fixable. She is who she is: an unqualified fundamentalist liar with no nowledge of or experience in national domestic or foreign policy. And McCain had absolutely no idea who she was when he picked her.

I too think this helped rescue Couric's career. I never liked her as an anchor, but this interview showed the usefulness of having one woman interview another. No one can pretend Couric was sexist/demeaning/disrespectful/professorial, as they did with Gibson.

UPDATE: Fallows delves into the pain. Read the whole thing, if you can manage it. He concludes:

Two natural reactions are: to laugh at the "Putin rears his head" part, and simply to avoid concentrating on the rest. But given her candidacy for national office, neither of those is enough.

I am not aware of any other current figure in national politics -- by which I mean any member of the Senate or House -- who would do a worse job under questioning. There could be some I don't know about. But they're not on a national ticket.

For my part I'm beginning to think the "L" in Palin is superfluous.

Sarah the unready

Sullivan and his readership reax in what's become typically irreverent fashion.

At this point my instinctual and emotional reaction is to feel sorry for Sarah, the person. She's obviously very bad at working without a teleprompter and it pains me to see her on the national stage so out of her element. But presidents and vice presidents are not sportscasters and cannot work from teleprompters. Maybe Alaskan governors can, but the job she's applying for requires one to be able to think well on an international stage, and at this point she doesn't even seem up to cogent national-level thinking.

It's quite obvious now that McCain should not have picked her, that it was cynical, sexist, politics-first, country-last, hasty, and irresponsible.

It's also obvious that Palin should have declined the nomination when offered, and that Republicans and Christianists should not have been mindlessly eager to assume the best without data.

At this point she's been Quayle-ized, but I fear that we're headed for 39 more days of partisan republican and Christianist denial, media tiptoeing lest it risk offending those too much, and outrage from everyone else (democrats, libertarians, honest conservatives, and the rest of the free world)

I did not think this election could sink as low as Bush's years in office have, but the McCain-Palin campaign is testing that theory. Thankfully none of it is Obama's doing, and with his victory we'll at least be able to say America triumphed over incompetence and gross indecency and dishonor....which at this point is the only way I can think to describe the McCain-Palin ticket.

Meanwhile, the silence on this interview at the Corner was so deafening, K-lo had to defend it from an email.

UPDATE: Fallows chimes in, also feeling sorry, then says:

Couric deserves better ratings for the CBS news based on the steely relentlessness of her questions. Unlike Charlie Gibson, and unlike Joe Biden in a (possible!) future debate, she has no background complications of the older white man bullying the younger, attractive woman. She was a professional woman who has clearly earned her position grilling someone whose bona fides she clearly doubted.

And Couric displayed one brilliant technique I recommend to all future questioners. When Palin ducked a question about financial-bailout provisions, saying that "John McCain and I" had not yet reached a decision, Couric asked the deadly question: "So what are the pros and cons?" There is no way to fake your way around that. As Palin showed.

Nailed it.