Something Odd The spell-check utility available from blogger doesn’t recognize the word “blogger” (it suggests “blocker”). I’m sure they use third party software for the spell check, but you’d think they’d want the company name in their own lexicon. [If Blogger has spell check software then why do you have so many typos? –ed. Shut […]

Atrios in a Landslide Congratulations! He’s apparently as annoying to righties (scroll down) as Hesiod, Kos, and Marshall combined. Most Annoying Left-Of-Center Blogger 2) Hesiod from Counterspin Central (24) 2) Kos from Daily Kos (24) 2) Joshusa Micah Marshall from Talking Points Memo (24) 1) Atrios from Eschaton (71) AB

It’s official: Bush Drops Steel Tariffs Bush’s statement about why he dropped the steel tariffs was, shall we say, disingenuous. From his remarks today: I took action to give the industry a chance to adjust to the surge in foreign imports and to give relief to the workers and communities that depend on steel for […]

Serious Anxiety about the Dollar… In Europe Last night there were a few hours of near-panic in the currency markets as the result of a report that the EU was considering the imposition of capital controls to slow down the euro’s appreciation against the dollar. Capital controls in this case would presumably limit the amount […]

Controlling the Rules in Guantanamo Today’s Guardian is running an interesting (and apparently exclusive) story about the legal defense of the prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay: US Fires Guantanamo Defence Team A team of military lawyers recruited to defend alleged terrorists held by the US at Guantanamo Bay was dismissed by the Pentagon after some […]

Productivity and Capacity Puzzles The BLS released its revised productivity numbers for the June – September quarter (Q3), which show that productivity leapt by 9.4% over that three month period. The strongest gains in productivity were in the durable goods manufacturing sector – i.e. producers of cars, washing machines, furniture, and capital equipment. That remarkable […]

Looks Like Nader Might Run Via Talking Points Memo, I see that there is a Nader 2004 Presidential Exploratory Committee website now. Not wanting to criticize Nader without cause, I first thought that this might be a site made by someone urging Nader to run, similar to the various Draft Clark sites. So I did […]

Tim Russert is Bob Somerby’s Bi**h There’s not really any other way to read this installment of the Daily Howler. AB

Bush to Repeal Steel Tariffs The Washington Post is reporting that Bush has decided to repeal the steel tariffs. Given the growing crowd of countries that had recently announced that they would retaliate by putting tariffs on US products (as noted by AB in this post), I’m not surprised. As I argued in another earlier […]

More Medicare Part of the reason I made this graph of the just-passed Medicare Prescription drug benefit was to facilitate some clear thinking on the subject by commenters and other bloggers. In this post, Ruy Texiera points out that [Seniors] will be hyper-aware of how much they will and will not be helped by the […]