Jacob Polley's time as 2011 Arts QLD Poet-in-Residence is sadly coming to a close. I know that I speak for many when I say that he has made an invaluable contribution to our poetry community, during his stay; his deep love of poetry, his warmth and skill as a teacher and his sublime readings have inspired writers all over the state. I am super excited to hear, read and see his legacy poem, written in collaboration with a number of students from QLD Academy of Creative Industries, that will be launched tonight. I have heard on the vine that it looks pretty special… So, to celebrate what has been a superb residency, here's a video from Jacob's reading at SpeedPoets on Sunday August 7. Safe travels Jacob… hope to see you back here one day soon.
Filed under SpeedPoets Feature Poems, who listens to the radio?
Due to Easter Sunday falling on the first Sunday of the month, SpeedPoets will be held on Sunday April 11 (the 2nd Sunday in April). Our feature for the month of April will be Perth based poet, Amanda Joy.
Amanda is a poet, sculptor, installation artist and songwriter born in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. She currently lives, works and gardens in Fremantle and travels as often as she can. Her poetry has been published in various journals online and in print such as Cottonmouth, Up The Staircase Literary Review, Killpoet, Fragile Arts Quarterly, Black Rider Press, Another Lost Shark, Heroin Love Songs, The Toronto Quarterly, Black Listed Magazine, Speedpoets and The Best Australian Poems 2009. She has a fascination with portals and conduits and every now and then she pops out a little limited edition illustrated chapbook for those who ask nicely. A tiny, yet sincere chapbook of her poetry, Not Enough To Fold was lovingly published through Verve Bath Press early this year. A more sizeable binding of her wordage, In Hand will be released in the U.S. in April. She blogs her poetry semi regularly at her website www.littleglasspen.com and www.myspace.com/amanda_joy1970.
And as always, there will be two rounds of Open Mic, live sounds from the mighty Sheish Money, the free monthly Zine, raffles and other giveaways, so make sure you are there from 2pm to settle in for an afternoon of words!
SpeedPoets, Sunday April 11, 2:00pm – 5:00pm, InSpire Gallery Bar – 71 Vulture St. West End. Entry is a gold coin donation.
In anticipation of Amanda's feature spot in April, here is her poem, Chased Seas Urge from SpeedPoets 9.1, which was also selected for publication in The Best Australian Poems 2009 (Black Inc. Press).
In the mangroves, we avoid the shade black with swarming sandflies.
I know I should tell you. I should say, I know I would tell you.
But the sun is going down and the tide is coming fast and invisible as fear.
to avoid the bites that will itch for days.
Your back is covered in black flies hitching a ride for a while.
the sea has a hold on more of me so I try to use my cupped hands like paddles.
I have that curiosity, what happens if I let go?
Give way to the pull, go with the flow.
the old man told me last night. He told it better than I remember it.
You turn to smile and that knowing is closer than the shadows.
My toes feel the sharp roots in the mud, more tiny cuts to keep clean.
competition, not a battle and I cried to think of the hooks in their stomachs.
Then you said "sshh, there's enough salt water here".
and we shared her family's meal.
My mind is there now with the turtles and the fish we didn't eat.
Creature and creature relocate now, at dusk. Some will eat each other.
that will sweep us out fast to sea. Discomfort will win.
SpeedPoets kicks off its ninth year of readings today at InSpire Gallery Bar (71 Vulture St. West End) and my gut is telling me it is going to be a big one.
To continue the weekly posting of poems from SpeedPoets Zines past, present & future, this week's poem is Moscow by Jessika Tong from the May 2008 Zine.
Remember, if you are interested in submitting poems to the Zine, email me at geenunn(at)yahoo.com.au with the subject line – SpeedPoets Submission – and paste your poems in the body of your email (no attachments please).
Hope to see many of you at today's gig.
How will I describe a man to you?
Clawing at the knots of Oedipus.
And men, where are the women?
Where are these homes of children and kitchens?
Softly and out of place against the cold white steel.
I began to bleed bolts and axe heads.
To eat and live machinery.
Going home, we shared an apple seed.
A chicken bone. We marched on.
The grinding of metal, now, a domestic audience.
We no longer breathe love or strong words.
I remember the water freezing in the night.
The air froze right there.
Pull it between our teeth like a blackened finger.
Killed them-selves just to be warm.
On this bed, across this kitchen table.
Has enough been sacrificed for you to be a whole and I a half?
When I first came to you Sexton was the rage.
Buttoning your heart, scrounging for an axe.
We can't afford an abortionist… you will have to kill it yourself.
The bonneted Eve that slept upon my wish bone.
Emptied it in the bath-tub.
Knotted a yellow ribbon onto the door handle.
She told me to get up, get up and dust your-self off.
Put on your best dirtiest dress, scrape mud onto your cheeks.
Trick yourself with perfume and bread my lovely thing.
Do you really want to be all alone in this old country?
Rest of us are filthy.
Rich with stories of your other wife.
Taking you into her mouth.
This is the first of what will become a weekly post, featuring a selection of the poems from SpeedPoets Zines past, present and future. First up is a poem by Melbourne based poet, Brooke Linford, which will appear in the April 2010 issue of SpeedPoets. If you are keen to submit work to the Zine, please send me up to 3 poems in the body of an email to geenunn(at)yahoo.com.au.
NB: As SpeedPoets is a not for profit organisation and the Zine is distributed free at the monthly event, I do ask that interstate and international contributors who would like to receive a copy of the Zine send me stamps or well concealed cash to cover the cost of postage.
And remember, SpeedPoets returns for 2010, with a new home! That's right, they have packed up eight brilliant years of gigs in Belushi's, The Royal George and The Alibi Room and are heading over to West End to call InSpire Gallery Bar (71 Vulture St, West End) their new home. To kick things off, the first event will host the official launch of the Brisbane New Voices chapbook, featuring micro-collections by Jonathan Hadwen (Night Swim) and Fiona Privitera (Peep Show). And as always there will be live sounds from the SpeedPoets engine room of Sheish Money, raffles/giveaways and the SpeedPoets Open Mic section. So come along and help us celebrate the start of our 9th year and and our 4th home… we want you there to set your words on fire! Doors open at 2pm – along with sign up for the Open Mic section.
showing more teeth than I usually would.
Another Lost Shark by Graham Nunn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.anotherlostshark.com.
Where do the Words Come From?
who listens to the radio?


text:
Guy Grievous
Guy M. Grievous
Hitman, Sniper, Mercenary
Expert Sniper
Between Chaotic Neutral and Lawful Evil
Guy is very clean cut with his hair slicked back. There are no visible scars on his person. He always seems to wear sunglasses day or night so most people don't know what his eyes look like. Often times he carries a somewhat large black case, he stores his sniper rifle and bullets in it.
A bit gruff and proud of himself. Has a slight addiction to coffee. Isn't above doing dirty work and he doesn't care for most people in the first place.
Guy Grievous doesn't kill people for a living by chance. Guy was born to two assassin parents within the city of Morroc. He was raised in Morroc mostly as his parents worked there and still wished to raise him, however starting around his fifth birthday he was taken to spend several months a year in the city of Einbroch with his mother's brother.
It was around when he was eight that Guy got the opportunity to first fire a gun. His uncle was testing a new design of rifle for his employers who were a small security firm operating out of Einbroch. His uncle had set the gun down for a moment and Guy excited about it picked it up, he aimed and shot his uncle right in the thigh. A few explicitives later however, his uncle was actually praising him on his shot and was for the next few years trained how to properly use a rifle.
His uncle was killed when he was about 15 in a skirmish with some bandits but by this point Guy already seemed to be a crack shot. For the next two years he lived entirely in Morroc until he would leave, against his parents wishes, to become an assassin himself but with a rifle. He went after bounty after bounty with his rifle, picking them off from a distance. Eventually he would purchase the rifle he has today custom fitted to shoot farther than his old one and with more power. He dubbed it "Eagle Eye".
Soon Guy would join the Organization, working not only as a spy but as a sniper. Upon the Organization's fall he spent the next couple months looking for work before finally ending up as a guard in Rachel. But seeing little need for his services there now, he has moved on to look for new work.
SCP-JP環境再現サイト
実験、実験、爆発
Arnwick Co.
我们致力于保持龙界的安宁
Portugal em pormenor!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Remembering Ike
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A persistent feature of the 2016 Presidential election campaign has been Donald Trump's steady stream of promises to "make America great again". The constant repetition of that mantra has motivated me to look back to the time when America was great – and to take another look at how our President was motivating everyone in this country to make such significant strides.
Although television has provided us with constant reminders of President Kennedy's great oratory skills, that medium has offered us little of what his predecessor, President Dwight Eisenhower offered by way of motivational elocution. After all, the years of the Eisenhower Presidency (1953 – 1961) marked the era when America's middle class strengthened to the level where young families were buying newly-constructed, air-conditioned homes – as well as shiny, new cars – on a grand scale.
In honor of Ike's birthday (October 14, 1890) it seems only fitting that we should look back at some of his most noteworthy statements:
Ike gave a speech before the National Association of Newspaper Editors on April 16, 1953. Joseph Stalin had just died on March 5 of that year, and there was heightened pressure for increased military spending, as a result of the burgeoning arms race with Russia. The never-ending debate on whether government expenditures should favor "guns or butter" became the key subject of this speech:
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron."
The ever-expanding rift between the Republican Party's so-called "Freedom Caucus" and the mainstream Republicans has prompted many GOP commentators to quote the wisdom of President Eisenhower, when discussing this subject:
"Extremes to the right and to the left of any political dispute are always wrong."
Many of the obnoxious political bloviators, who pollute the airwaves with their toxic commentary, would be wise to take heed of this sage advice from Ike:
"Never question another man's motive. His wisdom, yes, but not his motives."
President Eisenhower offered us another bit of important advice to keep in mind during an election year:
"Never let yourself be persuaded that any one Great Man, any one leader, is necessary to the salvation of America. When America consists of one leader and 158 million followers, it will no longer be America."
When you ask most people to recall a quote made by President Eisenhower, the usual response is a reference to his warning about the unrestrained power of the military-industrial complex. Those remarks were included in Ike's farewell address, which he presented on television, when he left office on January 17, 1961 – three days before his term expired. I suggest watching the entire speech. It lasts only fifteen minutes and it has remained every bit as relevant today as it was in 1961.
2016 Presidential election campaign, cross of iron, Donald Trump, Dwight Eisenhower, Eisenhower Presidency, Eisenhower quotes, guns and butter, Ike, John T Burke Jr, middle class, military-industrial complex, Republican Party
Crazy Time Returns
February 23rd, 2014 Posted in Uncategorized
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It's time once again for the politicians and other attention-seekers from the lunatic fringe to return to the spotlight. Politicians who intend on running for the Presidency in 2016 are already preparing to launch their primary campaigns. Because 2014 is a "midterm" year, the only voters who can be expected to vote in November will be the political zealots. Despite the fact that Congressional terms last only two years, the cretins in Congress are confident that the only people who will bother to vote in their gerrymandered districts will be the dependable hard core.
Unfortunately, we cannot assume that Americans will wise-up and respond to the recent plea from Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher, by going to their local polling places to address the problem.
Meanwhile, those intent on becoming the Republican Party's 2016 Presidential nominee are busy currying favor with the two men who dictate the party's agenda: Roger Ailes and Rush Limbaugh. As a result, there is no such thing as too extreme in crafting a campaign message to voters. With the midterms' bringing increased attention to the lunatic fringe voters, politicians who are posturing themselves as Presidential candidates are busy preaching to the crazy choir. This effort usually involves making personal appearances with the most polarizing, controversial individuals who haunt the airwaves with outrageous statements. The logical consequence of this practice brought the Republicans their "Ted Nugent Moment" this past week.
In their desperation to find a "rock star" who could serve as a dependable spokesperson for Republican political candidates, somebody came up with the idea of appointing Ted Nugent to that role. Nugent has "jammed" with fellow quasi-musician, Mike Huckabee and he has taken the stage with countless politicians from the far-right.
During the past week, a good deal of attention was focused on some choice remarks made by Nugent during a January 18 interview with guns.com. During the course of the interview, Nugent infamously said:
I have obviously failed to galvanize and prod, if not shame enough Americans to be ever-vigilant not to let a Chicago communist-raised, communist-educated, communist-nurtured subhuman mongrel like the Acorn community organizer – gangster Barack Hussein Obama – to weasel his way into the top office of authority in the United States of America.
Given the fact that Nugent himself bears a rather close physical resemblance to our simian ancestors, there was more than a little irony here.
After a number of news outlets seized upon Nugent's remarks, those Republicans who know that support from the lunatic fringe is no guaranteed ticket to the White House were quick to put some distance between themselves and Nugent.
Nevertheless, as I pointed out on October 16, because Roger Ailes has made it the mission of Fox News to promote the wingnuts of the GOP, is the party becoming marginalized? Will we soon hear from Nugent apologists who believe that there are elections to be won by speaking out in favor of some patriot who was forced to apologize for speaking his mind?
On the other hand, will the Republican Party's "Ted Nugent Moment" be the first in a series of such events which motivate would-be Republican Presidential candidates to distance themselves from extermists?
Meanwhile, the Democrats appear resigned to accepting Hillary Clinton as their 2016 Presidential nominee. We can assume that Hillary's sycophants in the news media will attempt to portray anyone who dares to oppose her as some sort of "extremist". The cult of people I referred to in 2008 as the Hillarologists – those who believe that Hillary Clinton offers them the only hope of seeing a woman in the White House during their lifetimes – will be ready for a fight.
Will another women rise up to challenge Hillary for the Democratic nomination? I hope so.
2016 Presidential election, Democratic Party, Hillarologists, Hillary Clinton, John T Burke Jr, midterm election, political extremism, Republican Party, Richard Fisher, Roger Ailes, Ted Nugent, wingnuts
Buddy Roemer Struggles to Become Visible
March 26th, 2012 Posted in Uncategorized
Mar, 26 2012
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His crusade against corruption in politics has made him the invisible Presidential candidate. The mainstream news media have no interest in him. His anti-status quo message is probably the reason why. Andrew Kreig of Washington's Blog reported that Buddy Roemer appeared with reformed ex-convict / former lobbyist Jack Abramoff before a cozy, standing-room-only audience of 120, convened on March 22 by the non-partisan Committee for the Republic. For those unfamiliar with Buddy Roemer, Kreig provided this summary of the candidate's background and political perspective:
"I don't think the answer is the Republican Party," said the former two-term governor of Louisiana, who became a Republican in 1991 and returned to politics last year after a 16-year absence. Earlier, he served four terms as a Democratic congressman beginning in the 1980, running unopposed in his last three races.
"And," he continued, "I don't think the answer is the Democratic Party." He says both parties are controlled by special interests and political action committees (PACs), whose checks he has refused to take since his first race three decades ago.
The big knock on Roemer is that he lacks high poll numbers and name recognition, doubtless because GOP debate-organizers excluded him. Yet he was doing better in certain key criteria than some other candidates invited repeatedly for nationally broadcast debates. Roemer concluded that his basic problem was that GOP chieftains did not want him to describe his reform message.
Therefore, Roemer's campaign is now focused on winning the Americans Elect nomination to be on the November ballot in all 50 states. Then he wants 15% support in poll numbers so he will be included in debates with the Democratic and Republican nominees.
On December 12, I discussed some of the criticism directed at Americans Elect. Most notably, Richard Hansen, a professor at the University of California at Irvine Law School, wrote an essay for Politico, which was harshly critical of Americans Elect. Professor Hansen concluded the piece with these observations:
Roemer's ability to survive this questionable nomination process is just the first hurdle. Even if he wins that nomination, he will be confronted by critics of Americans Elect to defend that organization's controversial nomination procedure. Nevertheless, if none of his opponents from that nomination campaign step up to oppose the result, Roemer might just breeze through any questions concerning that issue.
One interesting way to get a look at Buddy Romer is to read his Twitter feed – (@BuddyRoemer). Roemer's staff members occasionally post tweets about such subjects as the candidate's desire to restore the "Made in America" label so that consumers would have the choice to buy products from manufacturers who employ their neighbors. Here are some of Buddy's own tweets:
If Santorum and Gingrich don't get the GOP nomination, will they return to lobbying? Or keep their records clean for 2016?
"Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder." – George Washington
RT "@maximosis: The more people wake up from their tacit acceptance of the corporatocracy, the more apparent these abuses will become."
"The people do not control America, the big checks do."
From 1998-2010, the Financial, Insurance, Real Estate sectors spent $6.8 BILLION in lobbying & campaign donations.
Millions $$ in earmarks go to top Congressional campaign donors. Here are some striking examples >>http://thelobbyisteffect.com/2012/02/28/earmarks-are-a-microcosm-of-how-government-works/ #corruption
At his campaign website, supporters are encouraged to post tweets to Romer's Twitter feed in addition to making contributions within the self-imposed, $100 limit. At the "Blog" section, there are links to videos of the candidate's television appearances. A visit to the "Issues" section of his website will reveal Roemer's position on banking reform:
As a small business banker, Buddy Roemer is proud to have chosen smart investments that kept his bank on solid footing while others were taking bailouts from the government to remain solvent. Banking is too important to be left to the bankers, but Buddy recognizes that regulation of the industry must be a fine balance between too much and too little.
That sure sounds better than Romney's "regulations kill jobs" theme and Obama's track record of giving the banks everything they want, with revolving doors connecting the West Wing to Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.
The big question will be whether (as the Americans Elect nominee) Romer could accumulate the support from 15% of poll respondents so that he could participate in the Presidential debates with Obama and Romney. It sure would be interesting to see him on the stage with those two. The public might actually take interest in the process.

2012 Presidential campaign, @BuddyRoemer, American voters, Americans Elect, Andrew Kreig, balanced ticket, banking, banking reform, Buddy Roemer, campaign donations, Candidates Certification Committee, centrist blog, Citigroup, Committee for the Republic, Congressman, corporatocracy, criticism, democracy, Democratic Party, earmarks, fairness, financial sector, George Washington, Goldman Sachs, GOP, insurance sector, Internet votes, Jack Abramoff, John T Burke Jr, lobbying, lobbyist, Louisiana, made in America label, manufacturers, maximosis, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, non-partisan, PACs, political action committees, Politico, President Obama, Presidential debates, professor, real estate sector, reform message, regulations kill jobs, Republican debate, Republican Party, Richard Hansen, Rick Santorum, secrecy, self-appointed leaders, Twitter, unelected committee, University of California at Irvine Law School, voter identification, Washingtons Blog, West Wing
Keeping The Megabank Controversy On Republican Radar
January 9th, 2012 Posted in Uncategorized
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It was almost a year ago when Lou Dolinar of the National Review encouraged Republicans to focus on the controversy surrounding the megabanks:
"Too Big to Fail" is an issue that Republicans shouldn't duck in 2012. President Obama is in bed with these guys. I don't know if breaking up the TBTFs is the solution, but Republicans need to shame the president and put daylight between themselves and the crony capitalists responsible for the financial meltdown. They could start by promising not to stock Treasury and other major economic posts with these, if you pardon the phase, malefactors of great wealth.
One would expect that those too-big-to-fail banks would be low-hanging fruit for the acolytes in the Church of Ayn Rand. After all, Simon Johnson, former Chief Economist for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has not been the only authority to characterize the megabanks as intolerable parasites, infesting and infecting our free-market economy:
Too Big To Fail banks benefit from an unfair, nontransparent, and dangerous subsidy scheme. This isn't a market. It's a government-backed distortion of historic proportions. And it should be eliminated.
Last summer, former Kansas City Fed-head, Thomas Hoenig discussed the problems created by what he called, "systemically important financial institutions" – or "SIFIs":
… I suggest that the problem with SIFIs is they are fundamentally inconsistent with capitalism. They are inherently destabilizing to global markets and detrimental to world growth. So long as the concept of a SIFI exists, and there are institutions so powerful and considered so important that they require special support and different rules, the future of capitalism is at risk and our market economy is in peril.
So why aren't the Republican Presidential candidates squawking up a storm about this subject during their debates? Mike Konczal lamented the GOP's failure to embrace a party-wide assault on the notion that banks could continue to fatten themselves to the extent that they pose a systemic risk:
When it comes to "ending Too Big To Fail" it actually punts on the conservative policy debates, which is a shame. There's a reference to "Explore reforms now being considered by the U.K. to make the unwinding of its biggest banks less risky for the broader economy" but it is sort of late in the game for this level of vagueness on what we mean by "unwinding." That unwinding part is a major part of the debate. Especially if you say that you want to repeal Dodd-Frank and put into place a system for taking down large financial firms – well, "unwinding" the biggest financial firms is what a big chunk of Dodd-Frank does.
Nevertheless, there have been occasions when we would hear a solitary Republican voice in the wilderness. Back in November, Jonathan Easley of The Hill discussed the views of Richard Shelby (Ala.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee:
"Dr. Volcker asked the other question – if they're too big to fail, are they too big to exist?" Shelby said Wednesday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "And that's a good question. And some of them obviously are, and some of them – if they don't get their house in order – they might not exist. They're going to have to sell off parts to survive."
"But the question I think we've got to ask – are we better off with the bigger banks than we were? The [answer] is no."
This past weekend, Timothy Haight wrote an inspiring piece for the pro-Republican Orange County Register, criticizing the failure of our government to address the systemic risk resulting from the "too big to fail" status of the megabanks:
The concentration of assets in a few institutions is greater today than at the height of the 2008 meltdown. Taxpayers continue to be at risk as large financial institutions have forgotten the results of their earlier bets. Legislation may have aided members of Congress during this election cycle, but it has done little to ward off the next crisis.
While I am a champion for free-market capitalism, I believe that, in some instances, proactive regulation is a necessity. Financial institutions should be heavily regulated due to the basic fact that rewards are afforded to the financial institutions, while the taxpayers are saddled with the risk. The moral hazard is alive and well.
So far, there has been only one Republican Presidential candidate to speak out against the ongoing TBTF status of a privileged few banks – Jon Huntsman. It was nice to see that the Fox News website had published an opinion piece by the candidate – entitled, "Wall Street's Big Banks Are the Real Threat to Our Economy". Huntsman described what has happened to those institutions since the days of the TARP bailouts:
Taxpayers were promised those bailouts would be a one-time, emergency measure. Yet today, we can already see the outlines of the next financial crisis and bailouts.
The six largest financial institutions are significantly bigger than they were in 2008, having been encouraged to snap up Bear Stearns and other competitors at bargain prices.
These banks now have assets worth over 66% of gross domestic product – at least $9.4 trillion – up from 20% of GDP in the 1990s.
The Obama and Romney plan simply appears to be to cross our fingers and hope no Too-Big-To-Fail banks fail on their watch – a stunning lack of leadership on such a critical economic issue.
As president, I will break up the big banks, end future taxpayer bailouts, and restore capitalist principles – competition and creative destruction – to our financial sector.
As of this writing, Jon Huntsman has been the only Presidential candidate – including Obama – to discuss a proposal for ending the TBTF situation. Huntsman has tactfully cast Mitt Romney in the role of the "Wall Street status quo" candidate with himself appearing as the populist. Not even Ron Paul – with all of his "anti-bank" bluster, has dared approach the TBTF issue (probably because the solution would involve touching his own "third rail": regulation). Simon Johnson had some fun discussing how Ron Paul was bold enough to write an anti-Federal Reserve book – End the Fed – yet too timid to tackle the megabanks:
There is much that is thoughtful in Mr. Paul's book, including statements like this (p. 18):
"Just so that we are clear: the modern system of money and banking is not a free-market system. It is a system that is half socialized – propped up by the government – and one that could never be sustained as it is in a clean market environment."
There is nothing on Mr. Paul's campaign website about breaking the size and power of the big banks that now predominate (http://www.ronpaul2012.com/the-issues/end-the-fed/). End the Fed is also frustratingly evasive on this issue.
Mr. Paul should address this issue head-on, for example by confronting the very specific and credible proposals made by Jon Huntsman – who would force the biggest banks to break themselves up. The only way to restore the market is to compel the most powerful players to become smaller.
Ending the Fed – even if that were possible or desirable – would not end the problem of Too Big To Fail banks. There are still many ways in which they could be saved.
The only way to credibly threaten not to bail them out is to insist that even the largest bank is not big enough to bring down the financial system.
It's time for those "fair weather free-marketers" in the Republican Party to show the courage and the conviction demonstrated by Jon Huntsman. Although Rick Santorum claims to be the only candidate with true leadership qualities, his avoidance of this issue will ultimately place him in the rear – where he belongs.
2008 meltdown, Ayn Rand, banking, banks, Bear Stearns, big banks, capitalism, Chief Economist, Church of Ayn Rand, Congress, crony capitalists, Dodd-Frank, economy, End The Fed, fair weather free-marketers, Federal Reserve, financial crisis, financial institutions, financial meltdown, financial system, Fox News, free market economy, GDP, global markets, GOP, IMF, International Monetary Fund, John T Burke Jr, Jon Huntsman, Jonathan Easley, Kansas City Fed-head, Kansas City Federal Reserve, Lou Dolinar, market economy, megabanks, Mike Konczal, Mitt Romney, moral hazard, Morning Joe, MSNBC, National Review, Orange County Register, Paul Volcker, President Obama, Presidential candidates, Presidential debates, regulation, Republican Party, Republicans, Richard Shelby, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Senate Banking Committee, SIFI, Simon Johnson, systemic risk, systemically important financial institutions, TARP, taxpayers, TBTF, The Hill, Thomas Hoenig, Timothy Haight, too big to fail, Treasury Department, unwinding financial institutions, Wall Street
More Favorable Reviews For Huntsman
December 5th, 2011 Posted in Uncategorized
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In my last posting, I focused on how Jon Huntsman has been the only Presidential candidate to present responsible ideas for regulating the financial industry (Obama included). Since that time, I have read a number of similarly favorable reactions from respected authorities and commentators who reviewed Huntsman's proposals .
Simon Johnson is the former Chief Economist for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2007-2008. He is currently the Ronald A. Kurtz Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management. At his Baseline Scenario blog, Professor Johnson posted the following comments in reaction to Jon Huntsman's policy page on financial reform and Huntsman's October 19 opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal:
More bailouts and the reinforcement of moral hazard – protecting bankers and other creditors against the downside of their mistakes – is the last thing that the world's financial system needs. Yet this is also the main idea of the Obama administration. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told the Fiscal Times this week that European leaders "are going to have to move more quickly to put in place a strong firewall to help protect countries that are undertaking reforms," meaning more bailouts. And this week we learned more about the underhand and undemocratic ways in which the Federal Reserve saved big banks last time around. (You should read Ron Suskind's book, Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President, to understand Mr. Geithner's philosophy of unconditional bailouts; remember that he was president of the New York Fed before become treasury secretary.)
Is there really no alternative to pouring good money after bad?
In a policy statement released this week, Governor Jon Huntsman articulates a coherent alternative approach to the financial sector, which begins with a diagnosis of our current problem: Too Big To Fail banks,
"To protect taxpayers from future bailouts and stabilize America's economic foundation, Jon Huntsman will end too-big-to-fail. Today we can already begin to see the outlines of the next financial crisis and bailouts. More than three years after the crisis and the accompanying bailouts, the six largest U.S. financial institutions are significantly bigger than they were before the crisis, having been encouraged by regulators to snap up Bear Stearns and other competitors at bargain prices"
Mr. Geithner feared the collapse of big banks in 2008-09 – but his policies have made them bigger. This makes no sense. Every opportunity should be taken to make the megabanks smaller and there are plenty of tools available, including hard size caps and a punitive tax on excessive size and leverage (with any proceeds from this tax being used to reduce the tax burden on the nonfinancial sector, which will otherwise be crushed by the big banks' continued dangerous behavior).
The goal is simple, as Mr. Huntsman said in his recent Wall Street Journal opinion piece: make the banks small enough and simple enough to fail, "Hedge funds and private equity funds go out of business all the time when they make big mistakes, to the notice of few, because they are not too big to fail. There is no reason why banks cannot live with the same reality."
The quoted passage from Huntsman's Wall Street Journal essay went on to say this:
These banks now have assets worth over 66% of gross domestic product—at least $9.4 trillion, up from 20% of GDP in the 1990s. There is no evidence that institutions of this size add sufficient value to offset the systemic risk they pose.
The major banks' too-big-to-fail status gives them a comparative advantage in borrowing over their competitors thanks to the federal bailout backstop.
Far be it from President Obama to make such an observation.
Huntsman's policy page on financial reform included a discussion of repealing the Dodd-Frank law:
More specifically, real reform means repealing the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, which perpetuates too-big-to-fail and imposes costly and mostly useless regulations on innocent smaller banks without addressing the root causes of the crisis or anticipating future crises. But the overregulation cannot be addressed without ending the bailout subsidies, so that is where reform must begin.
Beyond that, Huntsman's Wall Street Journal piece gave us a chance to watch the candidate step in shit:
Once too-big-to-fail is fixed, we could then more easily repeal the law's unguided regulatory missiles, such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. American banks provide advice and access to capital to the entrepreneurs and small business owners who have always been our economic center of gravity. We need a banking sector that is able to serve that critical role again.
American banks also do a lot to screw their "personal banking" customers (the "little people") and sleazy "payday loan"-type operations earn windfall profits exploiting those workers whose incomes aren't enough for them to make it from paycheck-to-paycheck. The American economy is 70 percent consumer-driven. American consumers have always been "our economic center of gravity" and the CFPB was designed to protect them. Huntsman would do well to jettison his anti-CFPB agenda if he wants to become President.
Mike Konczal of the Roosevelt Institute, exhibited a similarly "hot and cold" reaction to Huntsman's proposals for financial reform. What follows is a passage from a recent posting at his Rortybomb blog, entitled "Huntsman Wants to Repeal Dodd-Frank so he can Pass Title VII of Dodd-Frank":
So we need to get serious about derivatives regulation by bringing transparency to the over-the-counter derivatives market, with serious collateral requirements. This was turned into law as the Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act of 2010, or Title VII of Dodd-Frank.
So we need to eliminate Dodd-Frank in order to pass Dodd-Frank's resolution authority and derivative regulations – two of the biggest parts of the bill – but call it something else.
You can argue that Dodd-Frank's derivative rules have too many loopholes with too much of the market exempted from the process and too much power staying with the largest banks. But those are arguments that Dodd-Frank doesn't go far enough, where Huntsman's critique of Dodd-Frank is that it goes way too far.
Huntsman should be required to explain the issues here – is he against Dodd-Frank before being for it? Is his Too Big To Fail policy and derivatives policy the same as Dodd-Frank, and if not how do they differ? It isn't clear from the materials he has provided so far how the policies would be different, and if it is a problem with the regulations in practice how he would get stronger ones through Congress.
I do applaud this from Huntsman:
RESTORING RULE OF LAW
President Huntsman's administration will direct the Department of Justice to take the lead in investigating and brokering an agreement to resolve the widespread legal abuses such as the robo-signing scandal that unfolded in the aftermath of the housing bubble. This is a basic question of rule of law; in this country no one is above the law. There are also serious issues involving potential violations of the securities laws, particularly with regard to fair and accurate disclosure of the underlying loan contracts and property titles in mortgage-backed securities that were sold. If investors' rights were abused, this needs to be addressed fully. We need a comprehensive settlement that puts all these issues behind us, but any such settlement must include full redress of all legal violations.
And I will note that the dog-whistles hidden inside the proposal are towards strong reforms (things like derivatives reform "will also allow end-users to negotiate better terms with Wall Street and in turn lower trading costs" – implicitly arguing that the dealer banks have too much market power and it is the role of the government to create a fair playing field). Someone knows what they are doing. His part on bringing down the GSEs doesn't mention the hobbyhorse of the Right that the CRA and the GSEs caused the crisis, which is refreshing to see.
If Republican voters are smart, they will vote for Jon Huntsman in their state primary elections. As I said last time: If Jon Huntsman wins the Republican nomination, there will be a serious possibility that the Democrats could lose control of the White House.
2012 Presidential campaign, 70-percent consumer-driven, bailouts, bankers, banking sector, Barack Obama, Baseline Scenario, Bear Stearns, big banks, CFPB, Chief Economist, collateral requirements, Confidence Men, Congress, conservative, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, consumer-driven economy, consumers, CRA, Department of Justice, derivatives regulation, Dodd-Frank, economic center of gravity, Federal Reserve, financial crisis, financial institutions, financial plan, financial reform, financial system, Fiscal Times, future financial crisis, GDP, Gross Domestic Product, GSEs, hedge funds, IMF, International Monetary Fund, John T Burke Jr, Jon Huntsman, leverage, little people, loopholes, megabanks, Mike Konczal, MIT Sloan School of Management, moderate, moral hazard, New York Fed, Obama Administration, over-the-counter derivatives, overregulation, payday loan, policy statement, President Obama, primary elections, private equity, Professor of Entrepreneurship, punitive tax, regulation, Republican nomination, Republican Party, Republican Presidential campaign, Republicans, resolution authority, robo-signing, Ron Suskind, Roosevelt Institute, Rortybomb, rule of law, securities laws, Simon Johnson, systemic risk, taxpayers, Tim Geithner, Title VII of Dodd-Frank, too big to fail, transparency, Treasury Secretary, unconditional bailouts, Wall Street, Wall Street Journal, Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act of 2010, Washington, White House
Here Comes Huntsman
December 1st, 2011 Posted in Uncategorized
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The bombastic non-Romney Republican Presidential hopeful, Herman Cain, has been providing us with a very entertaining meltdown. He has attempted to silence the handful of women, who came forward to accuse him of sexual harassment, with threatened defamation suits. Nevertheless, a woman who claimed to have been his paramour for thirteen years – Ginger White – possessed something the other women lacked: documentation to back up her claim. She has produced phone records, revealing that Cain was in contact with her at all hours of the day and night. Cain's humorously disingenuous response: He was providing advice to Ms. White concerning her financial problems. When I first heard about Ginger White's allegations, I assumed that she was motivated to tell her story because she felt outraged that Cain had been trying to cheat on her by making inappropriate advances toward those other women.
The next non-Romney candidate to steal the Republican spotlight was Newt Gingrich. Aside from the fact that Newt exudes less charisma than a cockroach, he has a "baggage" problem. Maureen Dowd provided us with an entertaining analysis of the history professor's own history. The candidate and his backers must be counting on that famously short memory of the voting public. The biggest problem for Gingrich is that even if he could win the Republican nomination, he will never get elected President.
Meanwhile, Romney's fellow Mormon, Jon Huntsman, is gaining momentum in New Hampshire. Huntsman has something the other Republicans lack: the ability to win support from Independent and Democratic voters. The unchallenged iron fists of Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, currently in control of the Republican party, have dictated to the masses that the very traits which give Huntsman a viable chance at the Presidency – are negative, undesirable characteristics.
Conservative commentator Ross Douthat of The New York Times, took a hard look at the mismanaged Huntsman campaign:
Huntsman is branded as the Republican field's lonely moderate, of course, which is one reason why he's currently languishing at around 3 percent in the polls.
Huntsman has none of Romney's health care baggage, and unlike the former Massachusetts governor, he didn't spend the last decade flip-flopping on gun rights, immigration and abortion.
At the same time, because Huntsman is perceived as less partisan than his rivals, he has better general election prospects. The gears and tumblers of my colleague Nate Silver's predictive models give Huntsman a 55 percent chance of knocking off the incumbent even if the economy grows at a robust 4 percent, compared to Romney's 40 percent.
On issues ranging from foreign affairs to financial reform, Huntsman's proposals have been an honorable exception to the pattern of gimmickry and timidity that has characterized the Republican field's policy forays.
But his salesmanship has been staggeringly inept. Huntsman's campaign was always destined to be hobbled by the two years he spent as President Obama's ambassador to China. But he compounded the handicap by introducing himself to the Republican electorate with a series of symbolic jabs at the party's base.
As Ross Douthat pointed out, New Hampshire will be Huntsman's "make-or-break" state. The candidate is currently polling at 11 percent in New Hampshire and he has momentum on his side. Rachelle Cohen of the Boston Herald focused on Huntsman's latest moves, which are providing his campaign with some traction:
Monday Huntsman introduced a financial plan aimed at cutting the nation's biggest banks and financial institutions down to size so that they are no longer "too big to fail" and, therefore, would never again become a burden on the American taxpayer.
"There will be no more bailouts in this country," he said, because taxpayers won't put up with that kind of strategy again. "I would impose a fee [on the banks] to protect the taxpayers until the banks right-size themselves."
The strategy, of course, is likely to be music to the ears of anyone who despised not just the bailouts but those proposed Bank of America debit card fees. And, of course, it gives Huntsman a good opening to make a punching bag of Mitt Romney.
"If you're raising money from the big banks and financial institutions, you're never going to get it done," he said, adding, "Mitt Romney is in the hip pocket of Wall Street." Lest there be any doubt about his meaning.
That issue also happens to be the Achilles heel for President Obama. Immediately after he was elected, Obama smugly assumed that Democratic voters would have to put up with his sellout to Wall Street because the Republican party would never offer an alternative. Huntsman's theme of cracking down on Wall Street will redefine the Huntsman candidacy and it could pose a serious threat to Obama's reelection hopes. Beyond that, as Ms. Cohen noted, Huntsman brings a unique skill set, which distinguishes him from his Republican competitors:
But it's on foreign policy that Huntsman – who served not only in China and Singapore but as a deputy U.S. trade representative with a special role in Asia – excels, and not just because he's fluent in Mandarin.
This is the guy anyone would feel comfortable having answer that proverbial 3 a.m. phone call Hillary Clinton once talked about.
If that phone call is coming from China – Huntsman won't have to wake up an interpreter to conduct the conversation in Chinese.
Any other Republican candidate will serve as nothing more than a doormat for Obama. On the other hand, if Jon Huntsman wins the Republican nomination, there will be a serious possibility that the Democrats could lose control of the White House.
2012 Presidential campaign, Asia, bailouts, Bank of America, Barack Obama, Boston Herald, China, conservative, Democratic voters, Democrats, financial institutions, financial plan, flip-flopping, foreign affairs. financial reform, Fox News, Ginger White, health care, Herman Cain, Hillary Clinton, independent voters, John T Burke Jr, Jon Huntsman, Mandarin, Maureen Dowd, Mitt Romney, moderate, Mormon, Nate Silver, New Hampshire, New York Times, Newt Gingrich, non-Romney Republican, President Obama, Rachelle Cohen, Republican nomination, Republican Party, Republican Presidential campaign, Republicans, Ross Douthat, Rush Limbaugh, sexual harassment, Singapore, taxpayers, too big to fail, Wall Street, White House
Comments Off on Tempus Fugit
If a Democrat wants to challenge Barack Obama for the Democratic Party's Presidential nomination, time is quickly running out. It takes a while to put a campaign together. Aside from rounding-up enough money to challenge an incumbent – who is expected to have a $1 billion war chest – there are other logistic challenges. For starters, a campaign team must be assembled, along with a network across the states. Messaging strategy and a campaign theme must be established. It's a huge deal. Nevertheless, if the Democrats believe that they can just sit back and watch Obama swagger his way to re-election – they're going to be in for a big disappointment.
As I pointed out in my last posting, Obama's problems have expanded beyond weak polling numbers. The Solyndra scandal can be expected to receive at least as much television coverage as the Casey Anthony "Tot Mom" trial. Ron Suskind's new book about the President's handling of the economy, Confidence Men, has provided us with an abundance of insights on Obama's leadership failings. Those observations will reverberate throughout the 2012 campaign until Election Day.
Obama's mishandling of the economic crisis is useful only as evidence of the President's ineptitude in the domestic policy arena. Has Obama done any better with his foray into foreign policy? Steve Clemons provided us with the answer to that question by way of an article which appeared in The Atlantic. The essay is also available at his own blog, The Washington Note. Mr. Clemons provided a great analysis of Obama's influence on the Israel – Palestine peace process:
Obama continues to parrot the line that peace can only be achieved between the "two parties", that only they can really bring this global ulcer to a close, when they decide to negotiate. The fact is that the status quo of frozen negotiations is benefiting the dominant, settlement-expanding Israel — and the US, in promising to veto at the UN Security Council Palestine's bid for official state recognition, is playing guarantor to one side, undermining the aspirations of others on the other side of the equation. What if the US had said to Kosovo — no statehood, no recognition from the US until you resolve all of your ongoing issues with Russia?
Obama is assuring the further emasculation and perhaps final demise of Palestine's moderates. Obama is also treating the Israelis and Palestinians as if they are on equal footing, equally able to concede to each other's demands. What Obama doesn't get is that a substantial portion of Israel's population loves not having a deal and never wants one. They are OK with a peace process to nowhere — but that is not acceptable for the less-endowed, less-powerful Palestinian side. Hamas is in the rejectionist corner as well, seeing its fortunes rise as earnest efforts at peace go nowhere.
The world watched Barack Obama lose a battle in the last two years with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israeli settlement expansion in contested and occupied territories. This is like the Soviet Union having lost a war of wills at the height of its power with Cuba.
The client state trumped the President of the United States — telegraphing to many around the world that President Obama ultimately didn't have the courage of his convictions and wasn't able to deploy power and statecraft to achieve the outlines of what he called for in his lofty rhetoric. Obama's UN General Assembly speech has done nothing to reverse the impression that Netanyahu is the alpha dog in the relationship with President Obama — and this is truly tragic and geostrategically consequential.
Well, at least Obama is consistent . . . equally inept and spineless on foreign policy issues as he is when challenged with domestic policy matters.
Will any Democrat step up to prevent the Republican Party from taking over the White House (any more than it already has with Obama in there)? The President's apologists can no longer dismiss criticism of this administration by characterizing it as propaganda from Fox News. Matt Taibbi's recent remark about Obama exemplifies how an increasing number of Americans – from across the political spectrum – feel about our current President:
I just don't believe this guy anymore, and it's become almost painful to listen to him.
Wake up, Democrats! Time is of the essence.
2012 campaign, Barack Obama, Benjamin Netanyahu, Casey Anthony trial, Confidence Men, Democratic Party, Democrats, domestic policy, economic crisis, foreign policy, Fox News, Israel – Palestine peace process, John T Burke Jr, Matt Taibbi, President Obama, Republican Party, Rolling Stone, Ron Suskind, Solyndra scandal, Steve Clemons, The Atlantic, The Washington Note, tot mom, UN General Assembly, UN Security Council, White House
Obama Will Lose In 2012
September 22nd, 2011 Posted in Uncategorized
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The criticisms voiced by many of us during President Obama's first year in office are finally beginning to register with the general public. Here's an observation I made on December 14, 2009:
On June 11 2010, Maureen Dowd gave us some insight as to what it was like on Obama's campaign plane in 2008:
The press traveling with Obama on the campaign never had a lovey-dovey relationship with him. He treated us with aloof correctness, and occasional spurts of irritation. Like many Democrats, he thinks the press is supposed to be on his side.
The patrician George Bush senior was always gracious with reporters while conveying the sense that what we do for a living was rude.
The former constitutional lawyer now in the White House understands that the press has a role in the democracy. But he is an elitist, too, as well as thin-skinned and controlling. So he ends up regarding scribes as intrusive, conveying a distaste for what he sees as the fundamental unseriousness of a press driven by blog-around-the-clock deadlines.
The voting public is just beginning to digest the sordid facts of the Solyndra scandal. Rest assured that the Republican Party will educate even the most intellectually challenged of those "low information voters" as to every detail of that rotten deal. The timing of the Solyndra exposé couldn't be worse for Team Obama.
On August 15, the Gallup Organization reported that during the week of August 8-14, Obama's job approval rating dropped to 40% – the lowest it had been since he assumed office. Another Gallup poll, conducted with USA Today during August 15-18 revealed that, for the first time, a majority of Americans – 53% – blame Obama for the nation's economic problems. Forty-seven percent still say he is "not much" (27%) or "not at all" (20%) to blame.
A new McClatchy-Marist poll, taken on September 14-15, revealed that Obama's sinking popularity has placed him just 5 points ahead of non-candidate Sarah Palin (49-44 percent). The Miami Herald noted that the poll results show the President just 2 points ahead of Mitt Romney (46-44):
Overall, the gains among Republicans "speak to Obama's decline among independents generally, and how the middle is not his right now," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, which conducted the national survey.
"This will require him to find ways to either win back the middle or energize his base in ways that hasn't happened so far," Miringoff said.
By a margin of 49 percent to 36 percent, voters said they definitely plan to vote against Obama, according to the poll. Independents by 53 percent to 28 percent said they definitely plan to vote against him.
With that sentiment permeating the electorate a little more than a year before the general election, most Americans think Obama won't win a second term.
By 52 percent to 38 percent, voters think he'll lose to the Republican nominee, whoever that is. Even among Democrats, 31 percent think the Republican nominee will win.
The most devastating development for Obama has been the public reaction to Ron Suskind's new book about the President's handling of the economy, Confidence Men. Berkeley economics professor, Brad DeLong has been posting and discussing excerpts of the book at his own website, Grasping Reality With Both Hands. On September 19, Professor DeLong posted a passage from Suskind's book, which revealed Obama's expressed belief (in November of 2009) that high unemployment was a result of productivity gains in the economy. Both Larry Summers (Chair of the National Economic Council) and Christina Romer (Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers) were shocked and puzzled by Obama's ignorance on this subject:
"What was driving unemployment was clearly deficient aggregate demand," Romer said. "We wondered where this could be coming from. We both tried to convince him otherwise. He wouldn't budge."
Because of Obama's willful refusal to heed the advice of his own economic team, our nation's unemployment problem has persisted at levels of 9% and above (with worse to come). As Ron Suskind remarked in that passage:
The implications were significant. If Obama felt that 10 percent unemployment was the product of sound, productivity-driven decisions by American business, then short-term government measures to spur hiring were not only futile but unwise.
There you have it. Despite the efforts of Obama's apologists to blame Larry Summers or others on the President's economic team for persistent unemployment, it wasn't simply a matter of "the buck stopping" on the President's desk. Obama himself has been the villain, hypocritically advocating a strategy of "trickle-down economics" – in breach of his campaign promise to do the exact opposite.
Reactions to the foregoing passage from Confidence Men – appearing as comments to Brad DeLong's September 19 blog entry – provide a taste of how the majority of Obama's former supporters will react when they learn the truth about this phony politician. Here are a few samples:
moron said…
. . . This disgraceful shill for global capital has destroyed the Democratic party for a generation.
kris said…
The President sure does come across as awfully arrogant, dogmatic and not very smart from this excerpt (and as someone who does not like to listen to his advisors- especially the female ones.).
mike said…
Wow. Romer was oh so right. And Obama was oh, so so wrong… What a pathetic display of arrogance and bad leadership. . . .
Th said…
And I was always joking about Obama as the "Manchurian Candidate" from the U of Chicago. Productivity? Really?
Dave said…
I've lost any last shred of respect for Mr. O.
Now that Confidence Men and the Solyndra scandal are getting increased publicity, we can expect that large numbers of voters will be losing their "last shred of respect" for Mr. Obama. It's past time for the Democratic Party to face reality: If they seriously want to retain control of the Executive branch – someone will have to ask Obama to step aside. DNC Chair, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is obviously not up to this task.
2008 campaign, 2012 election, African-American voters, aggregate demand, Berkeley, Brad DeLong, Christina Romer, Confidence Men, Council of Economic Advisers, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democratic Party, Democrats, Disappointer-In-Chief, DNC, economics, economy, elitist, Gallup Poll, George HW Bush, Grasping Reality With Both Hands, independent voters, John T Burke Jr, Larry Summers, Lee Miringoff, liberal, Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, Maureen Dowd, McClatchy-Marist poll, Miami Herald, Mitt Romney, National Economic Council, President Obama, productivity gains, Republican Party, Ron Suskind, Sarah Palin, Solyndra, trickle down economics, unemployment, USA Today, White House


text:
namespace Finances.Data.Migrations
{
    using System;
    using System.Data.Entity.Migrations;

    public partial class repeatprev : DbMigration
    {
        public override void Up()
        {
            AddColumn("dbo.Transaction", "PreviousTransactionID", c => c.Int());
            AddForeignKey("dbo.Transaction", "PreviousTransactionID", "dbo.Transaction", "ID");
            CreateIndex("dbo.Transaction", "PreviousTransactionID");
        }

        public override void Down()
        {
            DropIndex("dbo.Transaction", new[] { "PreviousTransactionID" });
            DropForeignKey("dbo.Transaction", "PreviousTransactionID", "dbo.Transaction");
            DropColumn("dbo.Transaction", "PreviousTransactionID");
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


EASY PEASY TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE COMPETITON CLEANING!
We're at that time of year when we are setting numbers for competition and need to give thought about the ones that are just about finished. While coming up with clever concepts and original choreography is a given, sometimes once all the "genius" is out there, the upkeep and "polishing" goes a bit overlooked. Other times, as much as we feel we are cleaning numbers, it's never looks exactly the way we hope it will once it hits the stage.
So, how do we get our pieces performance and competition ready? Here are five tips to think about which will help you and your students take your numbers from a "nice" piece to "extraordinary" and will take that amazing choreography you set for them to a whole new level.
#1 Give yourself Time: Seems like a given, but sometimes choreographing down to the wire (especially for little ones) does not give ample time to go back and clean the number. This will be especially true if you've had many absentees throughout the year who either need spaces within formations or need to learn sections of choreography while playing catch up. Try and keep moving with choreography week to week and not get stuck on a particular phrase. Remember, your little ones can only absorb so much in a given class, so decipher how many counts works best for them each week. Account for those inevitable class curve balls as well and try to give yourself some breathing room to fix spacing, review counts, work out entrances and exits and run numbers both with and without music accordingly.
#2 Take it out of the mirror: OK, the mirror is a dancer's best friend. We all know that. It is an essential tool for us teachers and for students for a variety of reasons. A lot of times however, dancers become dependent on that mirror when learning numbers without realizing it; especially if they have missed a lot of class. So what happens, when they get on stage and there is no mirror in front of them? Exactly. Figure out a point in the year when the mirrors go bye-bye, either by flipping your dancers around to face away or by pulling the curtains to cover them shut. By giving them ample time to ensure they know the choreography, entrance and exits and formation changes independent from looking in the mirror, it will make them feel more confident when they hit the stage. It will also ensure that everyone is responsible for knowing what they are doing and where they are going without uncertainty. Furthermore, it will clear up the confusion that sometimes occurs in regards to stage directions when they reverse it out the mirror.
#3 Performance Run Through: Dress rehearsals and performance opportunity are wonderful ways to work out the kinks before an actual competition. If this is a possible option for you, think about ways in which your dancers can perform numbers to get the jitters out. Think about things like giving free mini-performances for your community, visiting nursing homes, performing at a charity show or school event, etc. The more opportunity they have to run through their numbers in an actual performance space with the added variables like costumes, lights, etc., the better opportunity they will have to work out any sort of costume malfunctions, spacing issues and surprises that may come up!
#4 Video and Feedback: With the use of technology these days, this is an easy way to deconstruct the cleaning process. Video your numbers and go home where you can sit and review them and take copious notes on what sections needs to be cleaned. It also gives you a chance to watch the number more than once and catch things you might not in real time when viewing. Be sure to keep any sort of video for private use only and think before broadcasting it on any social media. Use video only as a personal tool to take cleaning notes. Watch with your class as well to give feedback and let them see what needs to be fixed!
#5 The Objective Eye: This one is a great tip, which is very helpful, however often overlooked. When we are choreographing a number, our eyes inevitably become used to seeing the same thing week after week. A fresh eye can often help us catch things that have gone a miss or give us a new perspective on something that might actually work better. If you have the budget to bring in a competition judge to give the dancers feedback, that is wonderful, however, even bringing in a fellow faculty teacher who hasn't seen the number can do wonders in terms on cleaning and getting things polished just that much more!
Wishing you all the best in your cleaning endeavors! Here's to a wonderful competition season!


text:
Malahat closed in both directions during a rockslide. (Instagram/bokarrasvlogs)
EDITORIAL: Island traffic strategy lacks key initiatives
Overpass installation and rail implementation needed
Don Bodger
The province's announcement that it's launching a southern Vancouver Island transportation strategy is, of course, long overdue.
We've been through so many studies, lots of talk and no action that it's getting ridiculous. Attempts to upgrade the southern portion of the Trans-Canada Highway should have been pursued at the same time as the Inland Island Highway from Parksville through to Campbell River, but fell by the wayside.
Now we're in a bind. The TCH from Nanaimo south to Victoria is a mess.
The government acknowledges the infrastructure needs of the communities have been ignored for far too long. Addressing congestion and finding a solution to an emergency route when the Malahat is closed are key points.
A request for qualifications has been posted to design a multi-modal transportation plan for the region. The shortlisted consultants will be sent a request for proposals in February, with the successful proponent being identified by the end of March.
A report on the feasibility of a temporary activated Malahat emergency detour route is expected this spring.
Design work is also scheduled to start shortly on Goldstream Park and will explore building an additional 1.5 kilometres of median barrier.
This is all well and good, but still not solving two key issues: traffic lights and rail.
Interestingly, it's been reported the Highway 1/McKenzie Interchange project will cut roughly 20 minutes off peak commute times when it opens to free-flowing traffic late this summer.
Has anyone figured out traffic lights need to be removed from every major intersection between Duncan and Victoria and overpasses installed in order to keep traffic moving? The more time that passes without that work being done, the higher the cost.
And the rail corridor has to be implemented somehow with a carefully formulated schedule so commuters and tourists alike can use it.
There's lots of work yet to be done and the oversights might just put us back to square one all too soon.
EDITORIAL: Gillette ad challenges men
B.C. VIEWS: Speaker Darryl Plecas splits legislature looting spree open


text:
Q: trying to clamscan my drive, error in permissions My computer's been slowing down.  I want to scan it for viruses.  I made a text file for a log as /home/user/Infected/clamscanlog
I ran:
clamscan -i -r --log=/$home/USER/Infected/clamscanlog
and I get
ERROR: Can't open //USER/Infected/clamscanlog in append mode (check permissions!).
ERROR: Problem with internal logger.
I tried the whole thing again with sudo in front and got the same error.
What am I doing wrong here?
Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS

A: You are missing that Unix/Linux cares about case (UPPER,lower) and that environment variables have an initial $, and their values. See echo "$HOME"; echo "$USER".
--log=$HOME/infected/clamscanlog

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
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Is There a Political Reason Twitter Won't Do More to Combat White Supremacy?
Contributor - April 26, 2019
But according to a new report from Motherboard, Twitter has avoided censoring white supremacists out of fear that it could impact the accounts of Republican politicians. Twitter hasn't made the same commitment to rid itself of white supremacist content, the speaker later said in another conversation confirmed by Motherboard, because it could have a similar effect on the accounts of Republican politicians. To do so for white supremacist content would inevitably impact Republican accounts because of the extent to which white supremacist and white nationalist rhetoric has bled into American political discourse. On Tuesday, CEO Jack Dorsey met with Trump at the White House hours after Trump took to the platform to complain that "they don't treat me well as a Republican," that Twitter is "very discriminatory," that it is "hard for people to sign on" and that it is "[c]onstantly taking people off list." Thank you for the time. Last August, Dorsey drew criticism for his decision to apologize to conservative activist Candace Owens after a Twitter Moment labeled her a "far-right" personality. Thanks for calling out." At a Turning Point USA event in London a few months later, Owens said Hitler's ambitions were "OK" until he wanted to take them outside of Germany's borders. I want to apologize for our labeling you "far right." Team completed a full review of how this was published and why we corrected far too late (12 hrs after). "[There's an] intentional conflation by a bunch of conservatives to say that white supremacist accounts and average Republican accounts are the same thing," Collins said of conservatives who claim bias. It should be in the interest of conservatives to try to make a delineation between white supremacist content and [conservative content]." One prominent Republican politician whose account may be hard to distinguish from those of white supremacists is Rep. Steve King (R-IA), who has regularly promoted white supremacists and neo-Nazis. "There is a very strong conviction on this side of the aisle that the algorithms are written with a bias against conservatives," he told Google CEO Sundar Pichai at a congressional hearing in December.
Trump's 2020 Campaign: A Traditional Operation With a Wild-Card Candidate
Contributor - March 30, 2019
"We won 306 to 223." (Mrs. Clinton's total was actually 232.) Advisers say privately that he has been distracted by the Mueller report, which he regards as a clear political victory, and has not focused on message for the coming months. As the campaign tries to build a traditional re-election operation, which officials often compare to President George W. Bush's 2004 race, the tension may build between campaign officials and Mr. Trump, who trusts his gut above all else. "One of the differences is time. "It's easy to build a beautiful operation," said Robby Mook, the campaign manager for Hillary Clinton's 2016 race. To staff the campaign, advisers have brought in a mix of new hires and veterans of the 2016 effort. The president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, meanwhile, is planning to play a large managerial role overseeing the campaign from the West Wing and speaks to Mr. Parscale multiple times a day. Mr. Stepien, meanwhile, has been focused on the delegate selection process and state chairman races in places like Massachusetts, Florida and Maine, to ensure that the Republican National Convention next year will be an uninterrupted celebration of the president. Mr. Parscale has discussed with Mr. Trump the potential advantages of targeting the Green New Deal, the ambitious Democratic proposal to combat climate change. The rally may still happen, people familiar with the plans said, but only because campaign officials insisted on it.
Libya's political instability makes room for ISIS to regroup
Contributor - March 3, 2019
Christopher Livesay: The city of Sirte. Colonel Ibrahim Bin Rabaa is the commander of Libyan counter-terrorism forces in Sirte. ISIS killed him. Christopher Livesay: So far this year in Libya there have already been more than twice the number of ISIS attacks. But we ask and we hope for help from other countries. Christopher Livesay: That's largely because ISIS isn't Libya's only problem. Christopher Livesay: And take this border crossing, between Libya's rival governments in the East and West. When ISIS was around, trafficking was at its peak. Sometimes they would even put terrorists on the migrant ships to Europe. Christopher Livesay: The two cousins eventually met in battle.
On Politics: Trump Ordered Kushner's Security Clearance
Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today. _____________________ • Internal memos reveal that President Trump ordered his chief of staff to grant Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and senior adviser, a top-secret security clearance last year, overruling concerns from intelligence officials. • Mr. Trump bet that his self-described skills as a master negotiator would be enough to persuade North Korea to renounce its nuclear weapons program. In failing, he laid bare the risks of one-to-one diplomacy. • Under a new Pentagon plan being offered in peace talks with the Taliban, all American and foreign troops would leave Afghanistan in the next three to five years. "It's 100 percent not true," one senior official said. • For many Americans, the testimony of Mr. Trump's ex-fixer Michael Cohen was just one more television show, doing little to change how they already felt about the president, good or bad. • Mr. Cohen's testimony about Mr. Trump's potentially felonious conduct has not moved House Democratic leaders closer to initiating impeachment proceedings. They see endless, overlapping investigations as a more damaging course of action. • Mr. Trump and his top economic advisers have sent a series of conflicting messages about the status of trade talks with China: A deal is either imminent, still out of reach or somewhere in between.
Graham says Trump slowing down planned withdrawal from Syria
Contributor - December 31, 2018
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has ordered a slowdown to the withdrawal of U.S. forces in Syria, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday. The president had declared victory over the Islamic State group in Syria, though pockets of fighting remain. Graham had been an outspoken critic of Trump's decision, which had drawn bipartisan criticism. The announcement also had shocked lawmakers and American allies, including Kurds who have fought alongside the U.S. against the Islamic State group and face an expected assault by Turkey. "I think we're slowing things down in a smart way," Graham said, adding that Trump was very aware of the plight of the Kurds. Critics had contended that the U.S. withdrawal would embolden Iran and Russia, which have supported the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. National security adviser John Bolton was expected to travel to Israel and Turkey next weekend to discuss the president's plans with the American allies. During his appearance on CNN's "State of the Union," Graham previewed his arguments to Trump for reconsidering the Syria pullout. "I'm going to ask him to sit down with his generals and reconsider how to do this. Slow this down.
After criticism, Trump pushes out Mattis sooner than planned
In a series of tweets, Trump appeared to question why he had put Mattis in his Cabinet in the first place and said Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan will take over as acting secretary on Jan. 1 to cover the accelerated departure. Mattis resigned in protest over Trump's decision to pull all U.S. troops out of Syria. A White House official said Trump decided Mattis should leave the administration earlier than planned to avoid a drawn-out transition when someone on hand whom they consider a qualified deputy capable of running the Pentagon in an acting capacity. "Deputy Secretary will continue to serve as directed by the president, and the Department of Defense will remain focused on the defense of the nation," Buccino said on Sunday. It is unusual for the Pentagon to have an acting secretary of defense. While Mattis' resignation followed Trump's announcement that he would soon pull all of the approximately 2,000 U.S. troops out of Syria, officials said that the decision was the result of an accumulation of disagreements. Earlier Sunday, Trump's acting chief of staff said that Trump had known for "quite some time now" that he and Mattis "did not share some of the same philosophies ... have the same world view." Mattis had been at work on Friday, and defense officials had insisted he was planning to stay through February, when he would attend a NATO defense ministers meeting. But Mulvaney, asked on ABC whether there was any chance the president might change his mind on Syria decision, said: "No. I think the president has told people from the very beginning that he doesn't want us to stay in Syria forever.
Trump Named Man of the Year by ISIS
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Capping an extraordinary 2018, Donald J. Trump announced on Thursday that he had been named Man of the Year by the terrorist organization known as ISIS. Trump made the announcement after receiving the news from the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whom Trump called "a terrific, fabulous guy." "I got along great with him, and he said a lot of nice things about me," Trump said. "He said ISIS didn't even consider anyone else." Trump, who is expecting to receive an official Man of the Year plaque from ISIS in the next few weeks, said that the award "came as a total surprise to me." "It's a particularly impressive honor when you consider ISIS was co-founded by Hillary and Obama," he said. Andy Borowitz is the New York Times best-selling author of "The 50 Funniest American Writers," and a comedian who has written for The New Yorker since 1998. He writes the Borowitz Report, a satirical column on the news, for newyorker.com. Read more »
Leaders of ISIS and Al Qaeda Puzzled Why Trump Has Not Invited Them to...
Contributor - July 20, 2018
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—The leaders of ISIS and Al Qaeda said on Friday that they were totally perplexed as to why Donald J. Trump had not yet invited them to the White House. The terror chiefs said that, as sworn enemies of the United States, they had certainly attacked the country enough to warrant an invitation for an official visit, and possibly a state dinner. "Maybe we haven't done anything to directly undermine their democracy—I get that," Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, said. "But we've been nemeses of America for years, and that ought to be worth something." Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al Qaeda, said that he also feels snubbed. "No invitation. Not even a save-the-date," he said. "At this point, I'd settle for the White House Easter Egg Roll, but I'm not counting on anything." Calling the absence of a White House invitation for Al Qaeda "the height of unfairness," the evildoer added, bitterly, "The whole thing seems political." Hibatullah Akhundzada, the current leader of the Taliban, said that, like his terrorist colleagues, he was "dumbfounded" that Trump invited Vladimir Putin and not him to the White House. "At some point you have to wonder, what does Putin have on this guy?" he said.
White House: 'Indisputable' Trump has done more to defeat ISIS than Obama
Contributor - October 10, 2017
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Monday that it's "indisputable" that President Trump has done more to defeat Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) than President Obama did. Sanders's tweets come after The New York Times reported Sunday that more than 1,000 ISIS fighters had surrendered in Iraq over the last week. The Times reports that the mass surrenders came after the Iraqi military captured the city of Hawija from the ISIS fighters after just 15 days of fighting.
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Abraham lays out the simple, effective principles whereby anyone can use the power of their own mind to transcend the negativity and limiting beliefs concerning money and abundance that are currently holding sway in the world. Finally, Abraham illustrates their powerful Focus Wheel process using specific examples from several Law of Attraction workshop participants – and in so doing provides clear, practical, effective guidance how to manifest abundance and prosperity in even the most problematic financial climate.
For over 20 years Esther & Jerry Hicks have published hundreds of books, audio recordings and videos, and have conducted up to 60 workshops a year. Their work is derived from the teachings of "Non-Physical Source Energy" whom they refer to as "Abraham".
The Teachings of Abraham™ are based on a universal principle called the Law of Attraction and on the key role our emotions play, and they illuminate and inform every aspect of our experience.


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Five Sussex teams win in Isthmian League south east - report and Hillians slideshow
Haywards Heath boss reflects on superb win over Ashford United: We should have scored more
Bruno hoping to turn form around
Seagulls defender Bruno is eager for Albion to turn their form around as soon as possible.
Friday, 15th January 2016, 1:00 pm
Bruno. Picture by Angela Brinkhurst
Albion have failed to win any of their last eight matches in all competitions, which has seen them drop from top of the Championship to sixth and also exit the FA Cup.
Brighton travel to Blackburn on Saturday and Bruno said: "We need to change this bad run as soon as possible. The most important thing when you're in a position like this is to just to go back to the basics and then I think we can do it.
"We are in a bad run but we can turn it around, we have some home games coming up and, hopefully, we can go on a nice run."
After a 21-game unbeaten start to the season, the Seagulls have lost four out of five matches since and Bruno said: "It's surprising because we have a lot of the same players. It's not about excuses, it's about actions we now take.
"It's not just a surprise for us, it's a surprise for the fans as well. This league is about small details and we have to change them and push hard so we can win as soon as possible.
"It's not about how many games we were unbeaten and now not having won in several games. It's time for the experienced players to step in and help."
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Pine Hills is located in Winter Garden-Ocoee, Florida. There are roughly 60,025 residents, living in 19,430 households. The average temperature for Pine Hills this time of the year is low of 60F and high of 83F. On average, Pine Hills gets about 2.39 inches of precipitation in April. Most residents are home owners (61%), have a high school diploma (57%) and are single, no kids (36%).


Army Major A. Robert Toal, son of the late Delaware County Court Judge William R. Toal, was killed Saturday night in an ambush while riding in a jeep in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam.
Major Toal, who lived with his wife and young son at the Regency Apartments, Creek Rd., St. Davids (PA), had been in Vietnam since last August, serving as an advisor to a South Vietnamese Army unit.
For two years starting in 1965, he was assigned to the ROTC detachment at his alma mater, Valley Forge Military Academy.
To show the Academy's 1200 students how the war in Vietnam was being fought, he slid down a rope from a helicopter to the 'battlefield" during the academy "Warfare Weekend" in 1966.
Major Toal, 31, attended Haverford High School. He was a 1956 graduate of the Valley Forge Military Junior College and was captain of the Valley Forge Band.
At Bucknell University, he was student commander of the ROTC. He was graduated in 1958 with a bachelor's degree in political science.
Major Toal received a direct commission in the Army. He served at Fort Benning, Ga.; Korea, 13 months; Fort Lewis, Wash. and Berlin for three years.
The Major had been an Eagle Scout and became the leader of a scout troop in Berlin. He also met his wife there and he and the former Annette Scholer were married in 1964.
Major Toal returned to Fort Benning for special training, including the Vietnamese language. He left for Vietnam on August 28, 1967.
In his letters home, the Major said the war was "difficult but worthwhile" and said the Army unit he was assigned to was "making good progress." The Major added that he was kept very busy and was "always proud of being in service for my country."
Besides his wife, Major Toal is survived by his 15-month-old son, Thomas Robert; his mother, Mrs. Gertrude G. Toal; and two brothers, William R.Jr., and John H. His father died in 1965 after serving as a Delaware County Common Pleas court judge for 17 years.
Photo and article appeared in The Philadelphia Inquirer on January 8, 1968.
and Bill Smith, Class of 71.


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DJI Mini 3 Pro leaked images and video show exciting redesign
By Hannah Rooke
It looks like the DJI Mini 3 Pro could be here in a matter of weeks, thanks to a leaked video
(Image credit: Adam Juniper/Digital Camera World)
It looks like the DJI Mini 3 could be officially announced in just a couple of weeks, following leaked images and video of the device.
The popular series of drones started with the DJI Mavic Mini (opens in new tab) and now includes the DJI Mini 2 (opens in new tab) and the DJI Mini SE (opens in new tab). Not only are they some of the best DJI drones (opens in new tab) but they also take the top three spots in our best drones for beginners (opens in new tab) guide so we can expect the DJI Mini 3 is going to be just as impressive.
(Image credit: @DealsDrones)
Although DJI hasn't made any official statements about its release dates or specs, Mirrorless Rumors shared photos (opens in new tab) leaked by Twitter account @DealsDrones (opens in new tab) showing that it should still only weigh 249g and in general looks very similar to previous models.
It's expected to include features that were missing before, such as obstacle avoidance sensors, it could have a larger battery with flight autonomy and perhaps even a 1-inch sensor with an f/1.7 lens – which would be a game changer regardless of whether you're using it for photos or videos.
It also looks like the gimbal itself has benefited from a well overdue redesign, with arms that rotate rather than flip out and a camera that is more square in shape.
DJI Mini 3 First leak video pic.twitter.com/NgskqONf8wApril 2, 2022
From the photos it looks like the remote control (at least in the Pro kit) will have a built-in screen rather than having to use your phone, which will make the controller smaller to handle. It should also make it easier to use as there have been times when I've been using my drone and accidentally clicked on a notification pop-up and it has taken me to Instagram or Messenger without meaning to.
Perhaps the one downside to having the screen included in the controller is that the joysticks are now much further up which could be less comfortable to hold but until we get one in our hand we won't know if that's the case or not.
Until we hear more information directly from DJI we won't be able to say for sure what the specs will be but, if any of what has been mentioned is true, it's set to be a very exciting drone capable of capturing high-quality photos and videos. As soon as we find out more information we will update you.
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Best indoor drones (opens in new tab)
Hannah Rooke
Having studied Journalism and Public Relations at the University of the West of England Hannah developed a love for photography through a module on photojournalism. She specializes in Portrait, Fashion and lifestyle photography but has more recently branched out in the world of stylized product photography. For the last 3 years Hannah has worked at Wex Photo Video as a Senior Sales Assistant using her experience and knowledge of cameras to help people buy the equipment that is right for them. With 5 years experience working with studio lighting, Hannah has run many successful workshops teaching people how to use different lighting setups.