Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: koan who wrote (90487)	11/19/2008 1:49:21 PM
From: Broken_Clock	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 116555

I will defer to Obama's judgement. --- Do you think he made the right move in hiring Eric Holder as AG? The dirt on him is surface. How is he different than the death squad organizer John Negroponte? === In its recent report entitled, "Breaking the Grip? Obstacles to Justice for Paramilitary Mafias in Colombia," Human Rights Watch (HRW) had specific recommendations for the U.S. Department of Justice. Specifically, HRW recommended that, in order to assist with the process of ending the ties between the Colombian government and paramilitary death squads, the U.S. Department of Justice should, among other things, "[c]reate meaningful legal incentives for paramilitary leaders [a number of whom have already been extradited to the U.S.] to fully disclose information about atrocities and name all Colombian or foreign officials, business or individuals who may have facilitated their criminal activities," and "[c]ollaborate actively with the efforts of Colombian justice officials who are investigating paramilitary networks in Colombia by sharing relevant information possible and granting them access to paramilitary leaders in U.S. custody." Do not expect these recommendations to be carried forward if Eric Holder decides to forgo his lucrative corporate law practice at Covington & Burling and accept the U.S. Attorney General position for which many believe he is the top contendor. Eric Holder would have a troubling conflict of interest in carrying out this work in light of his current work as defense lawyer for Chiquita Brands international in a case in which Colombian plaintiffs seek damages for the murders carried out by the AUC paramilitaries - a designated terrorist organization. Chiquita has already admitted in a criminal case that it paid the AUC around $1.7 million in a 7-year period and that it further provided the AUC with a cache of machine guns as well. huffingtonpost.com ====

To: koan who wrote (90487)	11/19/2008 2:11:48 PM
From: benwood	6 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116555

The weird thing about bailing out the auto companies is that we will pay for a GM or F even without buying it as we prop them up (either via inflation, taxes, or both). And in return, we can buy a F or GM at a bailout supported higher price. The underlying problem is the same as why jobs are exported with wild abandon: our cost structure is too high relative to the rest of the world. One way or another, the party will end and we will have a further decline in our standard of living. Already, we are paying for fraud and chicanery on Wall Street in a cratered stock market and crushed 401k plans and a deflationary downdraft which is more severe than anything since 1930. If we prop up one of the biggest industries in the US, then we will have taken one gigantic step towards the mediocrity of the old USSR. By my reckoning, the bailouts already in place are of a size that would have allowed high speed rail and light rail to be deployed in dozens of cities in the US and connecting many major cities. Instead, we have sustained Wall Street/AIG/Lehman bonuses and a dodgy Federal Reserve balance sheet that surely will be haunting us in a few short months at best. Soon it will be 'everything' is too big to fail. How is that going to work? Let's check the USSR's track record...