But Merkel, diplomats say, has combined a profound German instinct against debt – and its accompanying inflation – with a widely held sentiment here that the US and Wall Street are to blame for creating the global crisis. Ahead of German elections in September, the chancellor is also arguing that Europe's social safety net already constitutes enough of a stimulus and a higher percentage of debt than what's been offered by the US and Britain.Seeing how hyperinflation and overspending brought down the Weimar Republic and led to the rise of the Third Reich, which didn't work out so well, the German Chancellor seems knowledgeable of history repeating itself. But CSM notes that the Germans might be trying to sandbag their stimulus in the hopes that other countries do it and they can live off the exports. Since American TARP funds going to AIG payed off billions to German banks, I'd say the Germans have a pretty crafty strategy going.
"We were living beyond our means," Ms. Merkel said at a meeting March 28. "After the Asian crisis and after 9/11, governments encouraged risk taking in order to boost growth. We cannot repeat this mistake."
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Germans Aren't Buying This Stimulus Nonsense
The President's car-salesman abilities might be put to the test in trying to convince the G20 that they have to pump a bunch of stimulus Euros into their economies. Germany's chancellor is saying "nein" to any prospect of government intervention for Europe's largest economy. From CSM:
London Calling
I found this little tidbit of agitprop on the G20 Meltdown site, which promises a "Financial Fool's Day" tomorrow in London followed by "storming" the Bank of England at noon. Guess you can't have a decent protest without breaking some shit, spraying graffiti about corporate pigs, and hanging some effigy with a left arm longer than Wilt Chamberlain's. What's odd about these unemployed low-life protesters is, when there is too little police presence, they cause millions of dollar worth of property damage (see Seattle 1999), but when the police actually enforce the law, the cries of "police brutality" and subsequent legal action makes martyrs out of them (see Minneapolis 2008). A true Catch-22 for law enforcement, so they seem to be taking the pragmatic approach. From BBC:
But Scotland Yard is concerned the demonstrations may be "hijacked" by people intent on using violence.Best of luck to them, and hopefully the Secret Service brings their A-game as well, since Obama landed there today. However, from an OPSEC perspective, it wasn't helpful that the Daily Mail published the President's itinerary and a detailed diagram of his Cadillac. D'oh!
Commander Simon O'Brien - who has been meeting some of the protest groups - said people had a democratic right to protest and that police would always respond to threats "proportionately".
Monday, March 30, 2009
Red Carpet Transformation: Marisa Tomei
RED CARPET GLORY
I still stand by this dress
Beyond Fabulous!
RED CARPET HOT MESS!
What the hell was this about?
Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei has come a long way from her nondescript wardrobe. Remember her from "Different World" with Lisa Bonet? It took a while for the actress to find herself but eventually she did. It should be a law in Hollywood to have a fashion stylist and make-up artist at all times. Thank God Marisa decided to hire both.
I adore Marisa because she has her own individual style. Everybody hated her mustard Elie Saab rosette dress she wore to the 2009 SAG awards but I appreciated that she took a risk. Her style is much like mine edgy but yet chic!
Fabulous Events
2009 Signature Theatre Company Gala
YaYa DaCosta is such a natural beauty. She looks fabulous in this silver satin strapless dress. I am not too crazy about her grand-ma shoes though.
YaYa DaCosta is such a natural beauty. She looks fabulous in this silver satin strapless dress. I am not too crazy about her grand-ma shoes though.
1st Annual Streamy Awards
Really? Another boring black dress? Rosario Dawson is such a beautiful girl so I guess she feels she doesn't have to make an effort.
"In A Perfect World" Album Release Party
Which Diva Wore It Better? Demi Moore or Bijou Phillips
Demi Moore
Bijou Phillips
Bijou Phillips
Demi Moore first wore this amazing electric blue Zac Posen ruffled dress to the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Dubai. Demi looked sensational in this dress and I loved her bronze peek-a-boo heels.
Actress Bijou Phillips wore her fabulous chartreuse version to the "60th Annual Directors Guild of America Awards". I was blown away when I laid eyes on her in this dress. She looked flawless.
This is a difficult decision because both women were letting me have it! I have to choose Bijou because that chartreuse color is just captivating!
Glenn Beck Rising
The New York times has an A01 article on the rising popularity of the man behind the 5pm Fox News slot, Glenn Beck:
Joel Cheatwood, a senior vice president for development at Fox News, said he thought Mr. Beck’s audience was a “somewhat disenfranchised” one. And, he added, “it’s a huge audience.”He's a bit screwy in a "crazy-old-Uncle" kind of way, but these are screwy times, so I can relate. He doesn't have that smarmy Neocon approach like Kristol and he doesn't take himself too seriously like O' Reilly, so I admit to enjoying his show (albeit with a little bit of guilt). The guy is a living personification of the pejorative word "wingnut", but there's less shame in that now that conservative ideology is in the minority. Plus, he reminds me of Harry Dean Stanton's character from Red Dawn, which is reason enough to watch the guy occasionally.
Mr. Beck has used phrases like “we surround them,” invoked while speaking vaguely about people who do not share his discomfort with the “direction America is being taken in.”
His comments have prompted several bloggers to speculate recently that the TV host may have been promoting an armed revolt.
Who You Calling Materialistic, White Man?
Time magazine has an interesting article that examines the current recession from a cultural perspective and proclaims the end of the age of excess. I guess I'll have to put my dream of having an H3 in the Orange County suburbs on hold. But the article makes huge generalizations about society and neglects some of the modern-day Cassandras that saw this one coming:
We saw what was happening for years, for decades, but we ignored it or shrugged it off, preferring to imagine that we weren't really headed over the falls. The U.S. auto industry has been in deep trouble for more than a quarter-century. The median household income has been steadily declining this century ... but, but, but our houses and our 401(k)s were ballooning in value, right? Even smart, proudly rational people engaged in magical thinking, acting as if the new power of the Internet and its New Economy would miraculously make everything copacetic again. We all clapped our hands and believed in fairies.That's not completely accurate. What about the punk rock scene of the 80s and 90s, which was basically a rejection of the spend-cash-to-be-happy mantra? And nary a mention of counter-cultural forces questioning society like the movie Slacker and the Seattle music scene in the early 90s? I'm also a bit confused by the author's slamming of the "new power of the Internet". Certainly, those folks may have been partially responsible for the smaller recession at the beginning of the decade, but it has nothing to do with our current malaise. If the free market wasn't allowed to function in technological development, we'd still be reading Picard Vs. Kirk Usenet posts on alt.nerd.poindexter.trek instead of the awesome time-waster that the internet is today.
So the author is really setting up the reader for an argument in support of centralized power and planning plus a hint of "Obama is Awesome!" which comes on page 3:
But it's also a perfectly apt and gratifying turn of events: candidate Obama positioned himself as a smart, steady character who happened to be black, and the economic emergency that helped ensure his election has pushed the fact of his race and its heavy symbolic freight into the shadows of public consciousness. Once the crises have passed, however, I think we'll rediscover the ramifications, small and large, of the enlightened national turn we made last Nov. 4 and start enjoying the dawn of a new era of racial reconciliation.If there's any entity that's been living beyond its means the past 30 years, it's not your obnoxious yuppie neighbor who went into mourning with the closing of the Sharper Image store, but rather the federal government which has racked up a debt not seen since WWII. That has to do with politicians making ridiculous promises of entitlements and tax credits to get easy votes. Obama has completely ignored our economic reckoning and continues to print more funny money and go on wild spending sprees, so I disagree (FWIW) with the Time article that the Age of Excess is over. But, nevertheless, a very interesting article characterizing the Sub-Prime generation.
At least I exist, pretty boy
What makes you so great, Unicorn? It just seems like you are a horse with some superglue, big fucking deal. Oh you're on posters all over the walls of pre-teen girls? Seriously, Unicorn, how's that working out for Corey Haim? And the fact that you can neutralize poison with your horn, DOESN'T GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO ONLY EXIST IN DREAMS.
By the way, the director's cut of Blade Runner? Were you only in that because of some contractual obligation? It made no sense, Unicorn. You need to have a serious conversation with your agent.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Rebuild and Renew: Progressive Campaign to Further America's Decline into Irrelevancy
Ben Smith of the Politico has the scoop on a new group of "Grass Roots" outfits such as SEIU, NEA, and MoveOn.org that have put up $25K a piece to form some creepy campaign called "Rebuild and Renew". It's your regular rabble of progressive/liberal/whatever mainstays like unions, trial lawyers, and environmental groups, but this level of consolidation is unprecedented and certainly deserves some scrutiny. Looking to secure their piece of the federal budget pie, their stated mission is as follows:
President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2010 budget provides a visionary blueprint that turns away from the failed economic policies of the past and seeks to invest in our future by expanding opportunities for all. His budget commits major investments in health care reform, education, and clean energy, while restoring fairness to our tax system and reducing military expenditures over time in a responsible manner...More swell ideas that involve spending your money to keep wide swaths of citizens dependent on the dole (thereby securing favorable voting patterns down the road). The group's media spokesman, a Mr. Jeremy Funk, is the same guy behind the Hush Rush campaign a few weeks, so you can expect public shaming and ad hominem attacks will be the norm for anyone who dares to criticize The Obama's budget.
...We can extend opportunity and security for families in all walks of life by expanding health care coverage, making college more affordable, supporting the financial and nutritional needs of low income families, expanding affordable housing, investing in a far-reaching policy that will develop clean sources of energy and protect the planet by reducing global warming pollution, and generate good jobs to rebuild our middle class.
But the strangest thing was the imagery they choose on the header of their newly developed website (pictured below):
Not sure what the pair of grubby hands on the right is supposed to represent, but I presume it's how the rest of America, not affiliated with these special interests, will be living under the catastrophic debt Obama has promised. Foraging for scraps of food in the dirt, and some hope and change too.
Muhammad Ali's Celebrity Fight Night XV
Queen Latifah Birthday Celebration
As much as I love Queen Latifah, I can't co-sign with this ensemble. I am not sure what is going on with this get-up. Since she can't do no wrong in my book, I will let her pass this time.
LisaRaye and Lil Kim
LisaRaye looks great in her white draped strapless dress. Lil Kim must be looking in a fun-house circus mirror if she thinks she looks natural. It's like looking at a cartoon character. I am loving her Fendi Belt and Louis Vuitton clutch though.
Fitness trainer Jeanette Jenkins and guest
Jeanette Jenkins(allegedly Queen Latifah girlfriend) is working that LBD. Even though her friend's cream ruffled dress is a little tight around the derriere, I am loving it!
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