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Saturday morning opening thread

Bookworm on Jun 13 2009 at 6:52 am | Filed under: Uncategorized

Off to the races (swimming), so I won’t be near a computer for hours. Have fun here (within the bounds of civility, of course), while I’m away.

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20 Responses to “Saturday morning opening thread”

on 13 Jun 2009 at 10:54 am 1suek

This _could_ mean their downfall, but with O in office, it won’t be.

http://theeprovocateur.blogspot.com/2009/06/acorns-past-due-taxes.html
on 13 Jun 2009 at 11:09 am 2BrianE

Is California a liberal paradise or the world’s largest mental sanitarium?
I’ve been interested in the progress California is making toward the green revolution, since establishing ambitious goals in 2002.
According to what I’ve read, California committed to producing 20% of its electrical energy needs from renewable resources by 2017. Of course, hydroelectric sources don’t count as renewable, since killing fish apparently is worse than killing birds.
I guess everything was going so swimmingly that Californians upped the ante requiring the 20% target be met by 2010 and an even more ambitious goal of 33% by 2020.

So how’s it going California?
From what I’ve read, approx. 10.3% of your energy is produced by renewables—with the 2010 deadline looming, how is it possible to double production in a single year, given that some of the bottleneck is transmission capacity? In addition to insure a steady supply of electricity, California must essentially overbuild so that intermittent sources (wind, solar) can be backed up with more reliable production.
So California apparently is mulling over a rather ingenious answer—RECs or Renewable Energy Credits, which is a scheme already used in other parts of the country.
California energy companies would buy these credits from any outside power company that has a renewable energy source. This would allow that outside power source to ship non-renewable energy to California companies.
I would think another term for this would be double-dipping, if one were concerned about total energy production in the US though. Californians get to fool themselves that they’re Green, while the total amount of renewable energy production can stay the same nationwide.
Granted, the increased revenue to energy suppliers outside California would probably use the money to build additional renewable production, but I didn’t see that is required.

From windswept hillsides in the Pacific Northwest to sun-baked desert land in the Southwest, renewable energy developers would be able to sell the attributes of their generation to a California utility, but deliver the actual power somewhere else. If utilities bought RECs from outside California, they would have to bring into the state the same amount of power, but it wouldn’t have to be renewable, under the CPUC proposal.

http://www.cattlenetwork.com/Content.asp?ContentID=279779

Before I get too snarky, Washington is also looking to go green. Wind generators dot the countryside above the Columbia Gorge, and while they look very cool from a distance, I’m not sure what the reception will be as they are built closer to population centers and dramatically increase in numbers.
Has California already reached the saturation level, where the idea of renewables by greenies such as the Sierra Club runs headlong into the reality of the “blight on the landscape” they actually represent?
on 13 Jun 2009 at 11:11 am 3suek

Now this is interesting. Not the fact that this person is dropping out, but has anybody done a count of the number of blacks Obama has appointed? Just the other day, I saw a photo of the new head of NASA,(I think) and he too was black. Not that I care in one sense – that is, as long as they’re qualified – but reverse discrimination is just as bad as discrimination. On the other hand, they’re presidential appointees and can be replaced by a new administration – which we’ll hopefully get in 2012 – so it’s his choice.

http://sweetness-light.com/archive/army-pick-drops-out-over-fannie-mae
on 13 Jun 2009 at 12:53 pm 4Ymarsakar

It doesn’t sound like double dipping to me so much as it sounds like the Catholic Church’s previous habit of telling people they will go to heaven, with their sins forgiven, in return for some silver and gold.

Money doesn’t buy everything, but it seems in the hand of corrupt men and women, they can buy spiritual salvation and energy renewal.
on 13 Jun 2009 at 1:10 pm 5suek

Here’s one that’s unexpected…

http://www.qando.net/?p=3030
on 13 Jun 2009 at 2:04 pm 6BrianE

Indulgences- that’s the word I was trying to think of.
on 13 Jun 2009 at 2:06 pm 7Ymarsakar

I was recently reading Ann Coulter’s “Guilty”, Book. She talks and argues exactly the same way as she writes, except for that little fact that she cannot quite recall all the salient facts on air, instead preferring to say “read my book”.

While that is certainly a motivation to get the audience to buy, it is not precisely an idealogical warfare tool to impact people’s perceptions in a way conductive to one’s ideology.
on 13 Jun 2009 at 4:35 pm 8Mike Devx

SueK #5:
>> Here’s one that’s unexpected… http://www.qando.net/?p=3030

The Volokh link raises an interesting question about DOMA. The claim is that when one state allows a gay marriage, that marriage must be honored in all states. Is this true?

Because Volokh raises an interesting point: Suppose one state sets the marriage age at 15. Two 15-year-olds get married, and promptly move to a state where the legal age for marriage is 16 or 17. What happens? Does anyone here know?

Or worse: Such a state allows a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old to get married; they promptly move to another state where sex between them would result in the 17-year-old being charged with statutory rape. What happens?

I don’t know the answer, but I’m sure there is a definitive one. Does anyone here know?
on 13 Jun 2009 at 5:19 pm 9suek

Well theoretically DOMA was specifically designed to counter the “legal in one state, legal in all” requirement of the Constitution. Can’t remember the term at the moment, but if I understand it correctly, if either of the couples in your example are legally married in their home state, then their marriages are legal in all states. That’s why legalizing marriage in one state is a problem, and why DOMA was passed. It basically allows each state to make it’s own decision. Unfortunately, it compounds the problem as well.

Darn. Now I’ll have to look that up.
on 13 Jun 2009 at 5:27 pm 10suek

Found it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_Faith_and_Credit_Clause
on 13 Jun 2009 at 9:35 pm 11SADIE

Speaking of legalities and maybe BW is the most qualified to answer, but I am asking it anyway.

A practice started during the Bush term – Mirandizing on the battlefield!!!

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/12/stop-mirandizing-terrorists/
on 13 Jun 2009 at 9:47 pm 12SADIE

suek

Always expect the unexpected.

Obama’s defense is to assuage the black community and churches, who are very anti-gay and homophobic.
on 13 Jun 2009 at 11:38 pm 13SADIE

Just in case anyone needs a lighter side for the day, just know that AQ is struggling with donations.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06122009/news/worldnews/qaeda_struggling_with_slump_in_donations_173927.htm
on 14 Jun 2009 at 11:48 am 14suek

Re: mirandizing

If required by soldiers, stupid. However, I can imagine some circumstances where they anticipate trial in a civilian court and are just covering all their bases. As I understand it, it’s the FBI that is doing this. Given that the court system is so biased in favor of the accused, it’s probably a good thing. Or at least, not a bad thing.

Getting soldiers included in that requirement would I suspect, result in far fewer prisoners being taken. Of course, that could be simply one more way of destroying the effectiveness of the military, of the military itself.
on 14 Jun 2009 at 12:39 pm 15SADIE

I don’t know if Padilla was mirandized. Judge Jeffrey White, a Bush appointee, gave the okay for Padilla to sue. I think a can of worms has been opened for maggots like Padilla.

http://www.newser.com/story/61817/terrorist-can-sue-over-torture-memos-judge.html
on 14 Jun 2009 at 3:35 pm 16suek

>>I think a can of worms has been opened for maggots like Padilla.>>

Maybe. First he’ll have to prove he’s been tortured…

That could be a significant hurdle…
on 14 Jun 2009 at 5:27 pm 17suek

Whoah. This one is interesting. Like puzzles? Solve _this_ one…!

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1119-The-Saga-Of-The-Bearer-Bonds.html
on 14 Jun 2009 at 6:03 pm 18SADIE

Very interesting. I read a little about it over the weekend.

Too many unanswered questions..Who were these Japanese guys? NGOs? Businessmen? Was someone at the G8 meeting waiting for the suitcase? Was Italy a pit stop on the way to somewhere else? $134 billion is a lotta pasta.

It reads like a who dunnit for a film? Of course, most everything I’ve read lately is like a screenplay.

I am remain clueless to helping you solve this one, but sure would like to know how it ends.
Suek…I am putting you in charge. I hope you don’t mind.
on 14 Jun 2009 at 6:08 pm 19SADIE

AHA…one of questions has been answered. They were enroute to Switzerland (maybe to make a deposit?)

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,630158,00.html
on 14 Jun 2009 at 6:19 pm 20SADIE

Below the comment is a post on Nowpublic.com.
I love a good mystery.

I may be able to shed some light on this with a story i heard from an ex-Yakuza guy a few years ago. Parts of it I may have mis-remembered but the basis of the story is allegedly true. Apparently after the war the Japanese royal family got themselves in a bit of a bind. Officially they don’t own any property but the reality is they own vast swathes all over Japan.

A core group of nationalist royalists after the war didn’t want to hand it all over to the Allied forces and MacCarthur fearing the worst and the Americans, after finding out, turned a blind eye to it in order to retain the trust of these powerful people who held sway over a large segment of public opinion. Also it was not surprising given the l;andscape at the time, this being before the CIA managed to sideline the Japanese Communist Party in favour of the LDP who have held power virtually unbroken to this day. It should be noted that the Emperor does not even own a wallet or possess any cash whatsoever. If he walked out of his Palace, he’d be virtually homeless. Everything is provided for but NO CASH…! …and no property. this was a condition by the Americans to prevent another rise of the monarchists.

So, as the story goes, a convoluted series of trusts and funds were established to keep hold of these assets and their incomes to be managed in exclusive secrecy by a small group of old money families who are also largely Yakuza enterprises. The problem started somewhere in the 60′s when banking laws were reformed/introduced that forced the profits from accounts to be declared or enfolded to the auditors office or other bureaucracy if not claimed every seven years. I think most countries have some variation of this seven year law applying to accounts that go untouched.

The real crisis was that this money had ballooned into a huge holding given that much of what was then backwater Tokyo had become prime realty. No-one who was entitled to the money (aka the Royal Family) could touch it and no-on dared skim any for their own benefit. It would’ve been a death sentence from the Yakuza who are acknowledged as being a rightist/royalist cult at heart. To this day in Tokyo the Right-Wing (Uyoku) “sound trucks” roar around Tokyo in drab green with wire mesh on the windows blaring marching music over Tannoy speakers bolted on the roof. Remember also that some of the first Prime Ministers of Japan were plainly Yakuza. Read HERE for more. I digress.

The decision was taken in secret (naturally) to disperse the funds’ income to sympathetic parties every seven years. This was called “trimming the whale”. You won’t find any reference to it on Google, don’t bother. As far as I know this is the first written account of it. This disbursement is in the Billions of dollars but in recent times, banking regulations have become tougher and tougher. Forcing the Yakuza (who are not the brightest fish in the pond, it must be said) to try ever more contorted ways to clear the money. I think this case is what you are seeing.

There’s another book’s worth more to this story but the twist to it was, I was told this tale while sitting in the bar of the Prince Hotel in Shinagawa. My source told me that this very Prince hotel (and all the other Prince hotels in Japan) were part of this asset structure. I laughed a little in (near total) disbelief and then looked down into my glass to take a sip and right then saw on the paper coaster underneath the discreet and fine watermark imprint of the chrysanthenum flower. I looked up at him in shock and he was smiling knowingly at me. We both knew that no company ever uses that flower mark because it is the Imperial signature belonging only to the Royal Family.