Thank You, Massachusett(e)s

At 11:40 PM EST on 19 January, almost two hours after the losing Democratic candidate for Senator from Massachusetts, Martha Coakley, gave her concession speech, this is how the two most prominent Bostonian newspapers' front-pages looked like.

BOSTON GLOBE




BOSTON HERALD




Nope. No sore losers here. Just media, the bitter clingers of hate.

Congratulations, Senator-Elect Brown!

Meanwhile In Dublin

120,000 people showed up to protest the government's proposed pension tax on civil servants.

It's funny how the dynamics of these various protests are shaping up, according to our cultures, don't you think?

In the USA, where taxation without representation launched our American Experience over 200 years ago, many of us are still upset about taxes -- this time about bailing out irresponsible parties, who are mortgaging our children's future. To that end, we too are planning countrywide protests.

In Ireland, and no doubt in other places in Europe, the protests are about the perceived greedy businessmen who ironically transformed the Celtic Tiger from a sleepy, terror-ridden island into a marvel of upward mobility. Ditto for Latvia, whose prime minister just resigned.

When things get a little rough, everyone starts pointing fingers of blame, bouyed by entrenched unions whose lifeblood is class conflict.

I don't feel scared when I see America struggling. I know the internal problems we have are fixable, and not the product of age-old social struggle. It's when old Europe starts to flounder, that I start worrying.

It's been 41 years since the streets were filled with red flags and unemployed youths marching in the streets, setting up barricades and throwing down gauntlets.

Who will be this year's Daniel Cohn-Bendit?

Canny Comment

One of the best comments on the current economic situation is via Daily Pundit. The blogger had wondered out loud about George Soros:

I wonder what this predatory vulture of a wrecker is shorting now?

To which one commenter replied that bankers are suffering from "Visigoth Syndrome" (heh), fearful of being sacked and left ravaged.

The cheerfully named Pink Pig replied (interestingly enough, Geithner's role was very much on my mind, after having watched Frontline's segment on the "Meltdown" this week):

"The Visigoths didn’t sack Rome. The Vandals (Alaric) sacked Rome, in 411 AD. And no, Rome was only sacked once. It collapsed in 476 AD, and the Visigoths took over. Nowadays, we call them Europeans.

Soros doesn’t need to short anything. He already sold out his equity holdings for megabucks early last year. I might watch out, though, if I cared about the Euro. Forex forwards are almost an exact replica of the underlying money markets (they have to be, because of arbitrage). The dollar and pound are paying a much lower interest rate these days than the Euro, but it would be fair to say that it is the Euro that is out of line. Eventually, Euro interest rates have to drop, which will also cause the Euro to tank with respect to the dollar and pound. The US 30-year bond is now trading about 40 basis points above the 30-year swap market (i.e the eurodollar market). I’ve never seen this before, and it has to change. I saw no stronger evidence that Geithner was a nitwit than when he claimed that the money market dollar was rated too highly against the US Treasury. Sorry, but it’s the other way round (unless, like other nitwits, you are only interested in the short term). If you were to build a financial model on the single premise that the US government was clueless, you’d make a fortune.

If in fact, US swap rates rise while the corresponding Euro rates drop, then the Euro will plunge against the dollar. Soros, who whatever his politics is no idiot when it comes to the financial markets, may bet this correctly, and if he does (either by shorting the Euro or buying the dollar), then he will be even richer.

Personally, I think it’s a nobrainer. I just wish I had the kind of money that Soros has."

Paging Dust Bunny Queen.

TARP Visualised

Read it all.

I am not Instapundit, but I do play him on TV.

(Note: The photograph has a Snopes page)

Appropriate Music For The Death Of Muzak?

Now taking suggestions from Sundries readers, seeing how the elevator music folks known as Muzak have declared bankruptcy.

This sour economy got even the people who turned "Like a Virgin" into a business-setting song mournful enough to ride up to the penthouse. Yikes.

Electoral Dysfunction

This spot by Reason TV is fantastic. Check out the visual with the accompanying voice-over:

"It should not be used in the hopes of achieving actual growth"

Oh man...made my day.



IN THE COMMENTS: Starless poses a logical question.

"Does this mean Obama needs Stimulus when he's with his unicorn?"

Ewww. Heh. Though doesn't it occur to anyone that maybe the unicorn is the one in need of a little help.

Wait, is saying that seditious in the new Hopium Den?

Sign Of The Times

If Obama Is Doing So Well In the Polls

Does that mean Americans are less racist today, than they were two weeks ago?

What could account for this sea-change in voter confidence of one African-American candidate? Is racism something temporary, or deeply entrenched in the psyche of all voters who were against Senator Obama until mid-September of 2008?

Does racism only raise its ugly head when things are going well?

What else could account for this remarkable swing to Senator Obama, when his supporters and pro-Obama journalists were saying that the only reason they could fathom for him not doing as well, was that white people (especially) were unable to vote for a black man no matter what?

Here's what I think:

I would like to suggest that there were some who were peddling the charge of racism for cynical reasons: they are disgusting race-baiters who wished to shame people into thinking they were bigots for not being for Obama.

Never again should the charge of racism cross the lips of any person in America, to do with Senator Obama's polling numbers.

For it is patently obvious that race could not matter less when we experience an economic downturn, thus swinging people's confidence to him in such a way, as to be irrefutable.

Let me be clear. Racism is disgustingly alive today. But my point is that it is not racism which was at fault when he was doing less well in polling numbers, than people believed should've been the case.

In short, it's not the colour of a person's skin, or gender, but life's circumstances and perceived character which are the overwhelming arbiters which determine who one votes for in this election.

Everyone who leveled the charge of racism a short two weeks ago should be ashamed of themselves today.

Fail Fail Fail

Everyone who had a hand in this failure to pass this Bill failed. There are no winners right now. My family had to recoup whatever little they had in the market, and we bailed on everything to do so.

I'm a fiscal conservative too, but this was a very important rescue plan for all the US economy. The rollercoaster effect around the world has only just begun. Sigh.

DEAL DONE

Breaking News: The government bailout deal has been cobbled together at last. Speaker Pelosi announced this overnight Saturday to Sunday at midnight EST.

Fortis, a Dutch-Belgian bank, is on the verge of collapse, and it threatened to be the first big bank to go under in light of the USA's economic woes. We'll see what happens now, but at first blush I say:

Thank GOD.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressional leaders and the Bush administration reached a tentative deal early Sunday on a landmark bailout of imperiled financial markets whose collapse could plunge the nation into a deep recession.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the $700 billion accord just after midnight but said it still has to be put on paper.

"We've still got more to do to finalize it, but I think we're there," said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who also participated in the negotiations in the Capitol.

"We worked out everything," said Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., the chief Senate Republican in the talks.

Congressional leaders hope to have the House vote on the measure Monday. A Senate vote would come later.

I'm just hoping that ACORN get bupkus. If they do, I'll be absolutely livid.