James Vesely (Seattle Times editorial page editor) starts out with this:

TWO days hence, much of our commentary and opinion will move to a new, online presentation that includes letters to the editor, op-ed essays and a variety of cartoons, comments and blogs.

Online-information searches during the day and evening hours is deciding for us where most people go for commentary.  Currently, commentary is king in the online world, where opinions vary and clash hourly in the process of democracy.

Most op-eds, the guest essays that often place notable politicians and writers in front of you, also will move to the Web site, leaving us room for local columnists and local editorial opinion in print.

Posted by: Old Grouch in The Press at 22:27:47 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Senator Feingold of Wisconsin is offering the most detailed legislative proposal yet to rein in the essentially unfettered authority customs officials have claimed to search laptops, cell phones, and other electronic devices travelers bring into or out of America.

Under a 29-page bill Mr. Feingold introduced on Friday, customs agents at airports and borders would need to document a “reasonable suspicion” before inspecting a computer or similar device carried by an American resident and could only hold on to the device for 24 hours before starting the process of seeking a warrant from a judge.

“Requiring citizens and other legal residents of the United States to submit to a government review and analysis of thousands of pages of their most personal information without any suspicion of wrongdoing is incompatible with the values of liberty and personal freedom on which the United States was founded,” a preamble to the bill declares.
...
Senators Akaka of Hawaii, Cantwell of Washington, and Wyden of Oregon, all of whom are Democrats, are co-sponsoring the legislation. - The Sun

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 18:37:42 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Much head-shaking about the “illogical” actions by the Democrats re: the bailout plan and yesterday’s vote.^[1]

But suppose they’re not being illogical:

Before the 1994 Republican takeover, Democrats had sixty years of virtually unbroken power in Congress - with substantial majorities most of the time.  Can a group of smart people, studying issue after issue for years on end, with virtually unlimited resources at their command, not come up with a single policy that works?  Why are they chronically incapable?

Why?

One of two things must be true.  Either the Democrats are unfathomable idiots, who ignorantly pursue ever more destructive policies despite decades of contrary evidence, or they understand the consequences of their actions and relentlessly carry on anyway because they somehow benefit.

I submit to you they understand the consequences. - James Simpson

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 17:16:27 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Lee uncovers a startling secret:

In light of this discovery, Francis W. Porretto raises the critical question:

...Should we struggle to produce more oil, so the quality of the music will increase, or should we attempt to draft better composers and musicians into rock ’n’ roll, so we can have more oil?

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 15:20:55 GMT | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Is this something like what everyone had in mind?

Gimp-ified picture (stolen from Roberta!) from Sunday’s festivities.
CD 12” red vinyl release pending.

Coverage here.here.here and here.
(And a paragraph here, but that post deserves its own link.)

Posted by: Old Grouch in Meta at 22:35:56 GMT | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Ace has it here. Michelle Malkin here.

This is a “discussion draft,” i.e., not the final version. There is still plenty of opportunity for mischief. I expected the first draft to be relatively clean and without any surprises; watch out for things that get added at the last minute.

Took a quick scan through the draft’s 110 pages, and IMO it pretty much falls in line with the earlier statements.

Commenters at Ace are concerned that the combination of Section 103 (excerpted):

SEC. 103. CONSIDERATIONS.
In exercising the authorities granted in this Act, the Secretary shall take into consideration—

(1) protecting the interests of taxpayers...
(2) providing stability and preventing disruption to financial markets...
(3) the need to help families keep their homes and to stabilize communities...
... [6 other considerations omitted]...

SEC. 109. FORECLOSURE MITIGATION EFFORTS.

(c) CONSENT TO REASONABLE LOAN MODIFICATION REQUESTS.

—Upon any request arising under existing investment contracts, the Secretary shall consent, where appropriate, and considering net present value to the taxpayer, to reasonable requests for loss mitigation measures, including term extensions, rate reductions, principal writedowns, increases in the proportion of loans within a trust or other structure allowed to be modified, or removal of other limitation on modifications.

...
SEC. 110. ASSISTANCE TO HOMEOWNERS.

...
(2) MODIFICATIONS.—In the case of a residential mortgage loan, modifications made under paragraph (1) may include—

(A) reduction in interest rates;
(B) reduction of loan principal; and
(C) other similar modifications.

Nevertheless, GOP House Minority Leader John Boehner and the House Republican leadership have thrown in the towel... Boehner called the deal a “crap sandwich,” but told House Republicans he’ll vote for it.

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 03:01:29 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Bailout plan comparison based on statements and press coverage.  Sources and revision history at the bottom.

Posted by: Old Grouch in Rants at 18:15:09 GMT | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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“Maybe it gave them a teeny, tiny, isty bitsy, little glimmer of - maybe? - hope.”

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 00:34:40 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Important Information About Your Digital Music Purchases

We hope you are enjoying the increased music quality/bitrate and the improved usability of Walmart’s MP3 music downloads.  We began offering MP3s in August 2007 and have offered only DRM (digital rights management) -free MP3s since February 2008.  As the final stage of our transition to a full DRM-free MP3 download store, Walmart will be shutting down our digital rights management system that supports protected songs and albums purchased from our site.

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 21:22:07 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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One more wrinkle:

The biggest creditor is China and that’s a big part of this equation that’s not being talked about.  If America was not in such deep debt, we could deal with this problem much more effectively -- but China has essentially told the U.S. that we make good on all the debt that they're holding, which is nearly a trillion dollars, or they're going to stop lending us money.  To show that they’re serious, they’ve already stopped lending us money and if we can't borrow money every day, literally hundreds of billions of dollars, we default on the loans that are coming due.

So, this is a house of cards that the government has created and my biggest frustration with this whole mess is that it is being blamed on free enterprise, capitalism, and corporate greed -- when in fact, this is a good example of what happens when the government gets involved in the private sector.

Posted by: Old Grouch in Linkage at 18:29:29 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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