Friday’s Mini-Report

April 25, 2008

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* This isn’t good: “Consumer confidence fell for a third straight month in April, hitting its weakest in more than a quarter century on heightened worries over inflation and the sagging housing market, a survey showed on Friday.”

* On a related note: “Hundreds of thousands of utility customers are at risk of disconnections as the sagging economy drives up the number of past-due home heating bills and the amounts owed, utility companies in cold-weather states say.”

* And in still more economic news, the foreclose is affecting the troops, too.

* Uh oh: “Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatened ‘open war,’ against the American ‘occupiers’ and not the Iraqi government, according to a letter read by a top aide during Friday prayers.”

* Speaking of Iraq, it turns out the U.S. embassy can get worse: “The new U.S. Embassy complex does not have enough fortified living quarters for hundreds of diplomats and other workers, who must remain temporarily in trailers without special rooftop protection against mortars and rockets, government officials have told The Associated Press.”

* AP: “A sharp rise in food prices has developed into a global crisis, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday. Ban said the U.N. and all members of the international community are very concerned, and immediate action is needed. He spoke to reporters at U.N. offices in Austria. He was meeting with the nation’s top leaders for talks on how the United Nations and European Union can forge closer ties.”

* NYT: “Three detectives were found not guilty Friday on all charges in the shooting death of Sean Bell, who died in a hail of 50 police bullets outside a club in Jamaica, Queens, in November 2006. The verdict prompted calls for calm from the mayor, angry promises of protests by those speaking for the Bell family and expressions of relief by the detectives.”

* We’re getting closer to summer, which can only mean one thing: CNN is doing shark-attack stories.

* Hmm: “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday he may have to intervene in forcing undecided superdelegates to make their decision in the Democratic presidential race, if the contest stretches into June. Reid said he would consider writing a joint letter with Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) demanding that superdelegates make their endorsements public.”

* Georgetown will be considerably better off: “Georgetown students will no longer have the benefit of Douglas Feith’s insights into international law, his talent for seeing connections where others do not, or his ability to pack a PowerPoint presentation with punch. That’s because his time there is up.”

* In the Gallup Daily Tracking Poll, last week, Obama’s lead went from 10 to -1 over the span of five days. This week, after he bounced back, Obama’s lead went from 10 to 1 in four days. I guess Clinton is getting a post-Pennsylvania bounce?

* Speaking of polls, Most. Unpopular. War. Ever.

* Apparently, the “Pentagon Pundit” program is on hiatus. It may come back, though.

* Chris Matthews’ bizarre racial talk, parts one and two.

* House Republicans haven’t given up on retroactive telecom immunity yet.

* Steve M.’s posts on Peggy Noonan are something to look forward to every Friday.

* Can I use this to excuse my typos? “As blogs move us into a less heavily copy-edited world, I sometimes wonder if we’re moving back into a more 16th and 17th century form of writing, where the idea of correct spelling was less important than the communication of meaning — which, in reality, can be accomplished just as well with incorrectly spelled words and homonyms as with a more perfect language.”

* And finally, if you read National Review, you’d know that protectionist trade barriers, imposed by a Democratic White House and Democratic Congress “would be significantly more damaging to world stability than even nuking Iran.” And no, this wasn’t written as a parody.

Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.

CB, as far as typos go, I always forgive those immediately, due to the enormous amount of quality writing you do every day. I am a bit perturbed, however, that it appears you have made me live through Thursday one more time this week. And I thought my weekend was beginning! Is this Groundhog Day? 🙂

  • If only Tom Paine had had a spellchecker! I haven’t seen a typo all day and I’ve been looking because I’ve added a module to my comment-formatter to send you a message about it with one click. I’ve also added a function that fills in “orange” automatically.

  • “Three detectives were found not guilty Friday on all charges in the shooting death of Sean Bell, who died in a hail of 50 police bullets outside a club in Jamaica, Queens, in November 2006. The verdict prompted calls for calm from the mayor, angry promises of protests by those speaking for the Bell family and expressions of relief by the detectives.”

    Yeah, according to the “judge,” the prosecution witnesses weren’t crdible because they’d been arrested before and some had been to jail.

    New York’s (not) Finest strike again.

  • Dale said: I’ve been looking because I’ve added a module to my comment-formatter to send you a message about it with one click. I’ve also added a function that fills in “orange” automatically.

    Somebody is in need of some gainful employment to occupy their over-creative mind. 🙂

  • In the Gallup Daily Tracking Poll, last week, Obama’s leads went from 10 to -1 over the span of five days. This week, after he bounced back, his Obama’s leads went from 10 to 1 in four days. I guess Clinton is getting a post-Pennsylvania bounce?

    Maybe. Maybe not. I can’t find it right now, but about 2-3 weeks ago there was some discussion about that Gallup poll, and how Obama always did better in polls that were taken over certain days of the week, and Clinton caught up in polls that were taken other days. So there was a natural weekly rhythm to the poll. I assume that’s what we’re seeing now, and early next week Obama’s lead will grow again.

    Ultimately though, the national poll doesn’t mean much at this point. Actually, nothing means much at this point except the rate of the trickle of superdelegate endorsements.

  • Does anyone know why oil and farm products are sold in commodities markets instead of directly to refiners, processors and retailers? How do we know most of the recent price spikes are not due to market speculation and manipulation? That we’re not being Enroned to death on a massive, global scale? Why doesn’t anyone try to find out what’s really going on, either the fourth estate or the government?

    Has anyone noticed that Bush never speaks to the American people about anything meaningful in their lives? That all he ever does is lie or mouth platitudes? That he doesn’t seem to have, or want to have, anything to do with us?

    I’m in a Friday afternoon something-just-isn’t-right about our country or federal government. Somehow this global oil and food crisis should have been foreseen, and someone ought to be looking into and reporting to us what is going on. There’s just something wrong here.

  • And here I was on my knees thanking God that it was Friday.

    It does help if I know what day it is. I’ve clearly been working too hard…

  • Can I use this to excuse my typos? “As blogs move us into a less heavily copy-edited world, I sometimes wonder if we’re moving back into a more 16th and 17th century form of writing, where the idea of correct spelling was less important than the communication of meaning — which, in reality, can be accomplished just as well with incorrectly spelled words and homonyms as with a more perfect language.”

    Not that I favor bad spelling, but the following never ceases to amaze me:

    Tihs snetnece sohws the phaonnmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to rscheearchrs at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy: The oerdr of ltteres in a wrod dseno’t mtaeter, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit mnay pbloerms. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey letetr by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig, huh? Aprpeatlny slpelnig in’st taht ipmorant.

  • Can I use tihs to esuxce my tpoys? “As bogls mvoe us itno a lses hievlay cpoy-eitded wolrd, I smieetoms wndoer if we’re mvonig bcak itno a mroe 16th and 17th cntreuy form of witrnig, wrehe the ieda of crercot slpinelg was lses ipoarmtnt tahn the cmutminoiacon of mneinag — wihch, in raletiy, can be aocimeplschd jsut as wlel wtih ilornrcecty slepeld wdors and hyomonms as wtih a mroe prferct lngaguae.”

  • In Martin County, Kentucky this week, John McCain added another one his “Forgotten Places” to the growing list of places his campaign would now like to forget. With a straight face, McCain told the residents of the economically devastated region that eBay represents their economic future. And he did so by appropriating the words of Meg Whitman, who just happens to be not only McCain’s national campaign co-chair, but the former CEO of eBay.

    For the details, see:
    “McCain’s Answer for Poverty? eBay!”

  • “The new U.S. Embassy complex does not have enough fortified living quarters for hundreds of diplomats and other workers, who must remain temporarily in trailers without special rooftop protection against mortars and rockets, government officials have told The Associated Press.”

    Whoa. The problem with our Embassy in Iraq is NOT that it’s not fortified enough. The problem is that we are calling this 1.2 billion/year, Vatican-sized, 104 acres of prime real estate OCCUPATION HQ an “Embassy”. What an amazingly arrogant lie. Any complaints about the basketball courts and swimming pool, now?

    For more on the new “Embassy”: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174789/the_mother_ship_lands_in_iraq

  • Aw, heck. When that new amusement park goes up next to Fort Apache, I mean the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, the ferris wheel alone will soak up most of the hits, right?

  • hark (9) : Does anyone know why oil and farm products are sold in commodities markets instead of directly to refiners, processors and retailers? How do we know most of the recent price spikes are not due to market speculation and manipulation?

    I can answer part of the first question. I’ve been trying to find an answer to the second for a long time now. First question: From the point of view of a large restaurant chain, it helps to have consistent prices so they can print menus, quote prices for future events, etc. From the farmer’s point of view, money is needed to buy seed or cattle feed, etc. I’m oversimplifying a bit here, but essentially the farmer sells a portion of his harvest ahead of time in hopes of a bountiful crop. The restaurant chain buys ahead to lock in his prices. Of course all systems get corrupted, investors jump in, and you end up with a risky investment vehicle.

    As for oil, I don’t know for certain. Until about 2000, all we heard about was the OPEC price, determined by a cabal of oil producing nations. But around that time we started hearing everything in terms of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The nymex itself was founded in 1882, but why it became the universal measure of oil around 2000 is a mystery to me. I strongly suspect that it either has something to do with Enron directly or with like-minded entrepeneurs. I’ve read many times (I think even Krugman) that the nymex doesn’t actually affect the price of gasoline, but that’s where the logic fails me.

    It’s true that the price of a stock has only a psychological relationship to the profitability of the company. If people think the company is doing well and will do better, they will pay more for the stock. But it’s all about perception in this case. In commodities, they are actually buying the product and later selling the same product. I suppose one could argue that a wholesaler could buy the oil directly from Venezuela or Saudi Arabia, and not through nymex. But if there are enough nymex investors, they essentially create a monopoly by buying all the inventory. And if they don’t have the monopoly, why is the nymex price important except to investors?

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