Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Update on conditions in Ireland…another letter from Ireland

The first letter from Ireland is here Update on conditions in Ireland…a second letter from Ireland Ireland, Land of Thieves, Charlatans and Sodomites… Zeus-Boy We’re forced to do silly things out of desperation, things that other nations don’t have to resort to. For instance, we’ve the lowest corporate tax rate in Europe at 12.5%. Sarkozy […]

Report from Chicago

guest post by run75441 While the American Banking Association (ABA) held their “Roaring Twenties” party to kick off their annual meeting, people from 20 different states, as far away as California, came together to kick off “Showdown Chicago” protesting the loss of jobs and the harsh and speculative practices put in place by banks and […]

Showdown in Chicago

rdan Dean Baker suggests some action in the form of a demonstration at the Chicago Bankers Association meeting October 25-26, 2009. Yves at Naked Capistalism recommends going, and Slate open forum contains comments. Several readers who live in the region have indicated they will be going. Perhaps we will get reports. Do you think they […]

A Question About Gaza

by cactus A Question About Gaza I’m trying to understand the situation in Gaza. I understand that Israel manages to exert some control over Gaza’s borders and airspace. Israel has also tried to choke off the flow of weapons into Gaza and this embargo is being blamed for much of the hardship that residents of […]

Now for something completely different

Kevin Drum incidentally mentioned the Nov 1940 collapse of ‘Galloping Gertie’, otherwise known as the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, in a post about a new technique about generating electricity from river or ocean currents. Which led me to pull up some footage and figure out how to embed it. (No it is not hard. But Old […]

Back in the Saddle

First off, apologies to everyone for my extended hiatus. It’s been almost four weeks since I’ve posted, which is the longest stretch that I’ve been missing since I starting writing on Angry Bear nearly three years ago. But the past few weeks have been a pretty busy time for me in more than the usual […]

PlameGate News Flash from the National Review

Byron York has been trying to argue for months that Valerie Plame was not undercover. Read his latest where he claims it was Joe Wilson that told the world his wife was a CIA agent. Memo to Mr. York: Brad DeLong has already awarded that Stupidest Man Alive trophy. Update: God bless Jane Hamsher! While […]

Our Fiscal Future – as Portrayed by the OMB

AB reader ilsm points us to a set of White House graphs on employment, GDP growth, and the budget. More on this after thanking Brad DeLong for commenting on a comment from Greg Mankiw on our fiscal future. Greg reminds us that we have to choose between reducing entitlement growth versus imposing taxes even higher […]

Swiftboating Anthony Zinni

Jonah Goldberg says GOTCHYA after he read Brit Hume: Former Clinton CENTCOM commander, Anthony Zinni … But in early 2000, Zinni told Congress “Iraq remains the most significant near-term threat to U.S. interests in the Arabian Gulf region,” adding, “Iraq probably is continuing clandestine nuclear research, [and] retains stocks of chemical and biological munitions … […]

Iraq-Iran: Sixteen Words or Sixteen Days

Bloomberg reports a starling claim from Stephen Rademaker, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation: Iran, which is defying United Nations Security Council demands to cease its nuclear program, may be capable of making a nuclear bomb within 16 days if it goes ahead with plans to install thousands of centrifuges at […]