Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

A letter to the LA Times from me.

Further, I have a bet for Ms. Warren: If there is another credit crisis she will immediately call for the abolition of her agency.

President Obama inhabits Arnold Rimmer's body

Here. Just to be clear, Rimmer is the white guy with the t shirt that says "Give Quiche A Chance".

I'm waiting for Obama's Committee Against Salivating Monsters....

Death in the Andes-by Vargas Llosa

I am reading the novel Death in the Andes. Unlike the last one of his I read, Conversation in the Cathedral, it is an easy read. It is about the Shining Path terrorists--terrucos as they are known in Peru. I recommend it highly--both books actually. I have no way of knowing this with certainty but it seems that if you want to really know about Peru--you have to read his books. He conveys an incredibly vivid image of the culture and the politics.

Someday I will go to Peru.

Anyway, I always knew Vargas Llosa ran for president of Peru but I always thought he ran sort of how Ron Paul ran here---as a passionate longshot. Apparently, though, he was the favorite but he failed to win a majority in the first round and was forced into a runoff with Fujimori. For various reasons, he lost his lead and Fujimori won the runoff. I think Peru wishes it could have that vote back, despite some of the good things Fujimori did: e.g. crushing the Senderistas (shining path) and implementing some free market reforms. But maybe Vargas Llosa wouldn't have made a good president--who knows?

UPDATE: I guess Peruvians don't want that vote back: 66% agree that Fujimori was the greatest Peruvian president ever.

Obama and the law and marijuana

So Obama and Holder are making a low priority of busting marijuana stores in California. So low that they won't be busting them. That's fine. I think the federal law is unconstitutional anyway and I'm Ok with legal pot.

BUT, say a DEA agent is cruising around and observes the illegal behavior? Or even, what if the DEA knows about where and when the illegal activity is taking place (which is the case)? Is he/they supposed to ignore it? That hardly seems ethical or legal. It seems to me that Obama should work to repeal marijuana's status as a schedule 1 drug, if he wants to be legal and ethical. The Supreme Court has already upheld the federal law, so the judicial approach is out--at least for now.

Same thing with immigration laws: how can Obama legally ignore lawbreaking aliens? I understand that this is a semantic issue of what law enforcement issues are a priority, but, as a practical matter, these laws are being ignored based on Obama's political preferences. Again, this seems unethical. I believe, of course, that there is no legal remedy to make the executive branch enforce the law--the judicial branch allows a lot of leeway here. And, I know Republicans do the same thing but I can't think of anything specific that George W Bush did along these lines.

So here's a hypothetical: what if Bush said: I am going to make a low priority of prosecuting Border Patrol agents for misconduct (even of the felonious variety) because well, it's a tough job and sometimes mistakes are made in the heat of the moment. I think we can all agree that this would be a terrible idea. So why is it OK for Obama to effectively abrogate federal law?

The outcome of Obama's "policies" will be increased marijuana use, the practical legalization of marijuana, increased illegal immigration and the costs thereof. Whether or not one opposes these ends or not, our democracy has spoken against them. The executive should be required to seek Congress' input if they want to implement such policies as, dare I say, the Bush administration did when dealing with detainees and Gitmo. Why didn't Bush just ignore the Supreme Court? Prior to 2006 (and democrat pickup of the HOuse) he surely could have...but he didn't. He worked with the court's rulings and Congress in good faith. Bush had more respect for the rule of law and democracy than Obama has.

A former undersecretary-general of the United Nations lets us know how he really feels

From the New York Review of Books aka the Fuck America Monthly:

"A fog of know-nothing ideology, anti-intellectualism, cronyism, incompetence, and cynicism has, for eight years, enveloped the executive branch of the United States government. America's role in the world and the policies that should shape and maintain it have been distorted by misguided decisions and by willful misinterpretations both of history and of current events. That fog is now being dispersed, and the vast intellectual and managerial resources of the United States are once again being mobilized.

A blessing of this time of liberation and hope is that serious works of political analysis and philosophy may contribute to the new administration's approach to its daunting agenda of global and national problems."

This gem is from Brian Urquhart, a former Undersecretary-General of the UN. Why anyone would give a fuck what a UN flunkey thinks is beyond me.

In Bruges with a racist dwarf..

Saw the movie In Bruges. Pretty enjoyable. But one thing struck me as funny. The two main characters are hit men. One, who is cultured and enjoys Bruges, and another, who isn't and doesn't. At one point, they are "partying" with two prostitutes and a "dwarf" who is playing a role in a movie being shot in Bruges. The "dwarf" holds forth on his theory that a race war is coming between the blacks and the whites. The cultured (white) hitman takes offense because he was married to a black woman who was killed by a white man. He gets up too leave with disparaging words for the prostitutes and the racist dwarf. A hitman! Takes offense! At racism! And skeeziness! What's the message here? Most certainly that a racist is worse than a hitman! A person who kills people for money is fit to pass judgement on a simple racist. Ridiculous.

And you wonder why LA schools blow dead donkeys?

I'll never understand why voters elect union backed candidates to school boards. These candidates are interested in one thing--and guess what? It ain't the students.