Evidently, the WaPo was trying to host a "salon" for high-rollers to get "off the record access" to Senators, Congressman, Administration officials, and WaPo reporters and editors of relevant sections (e.g. politics, business, etc.) The cost of a seat the table was reportedly somewhere in the neighbourhood of the low, low price of $25,000.
Showing posts with label corruption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label corruption. Show all posts
Thursday, July 2, 2009
You're Invited!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Situation in Iran Becomes More and More Infuriating
As if the notion that a politician may have stolen an election with the guise that he was elected by a legitimate democratic process weren't one of the most infuriating scenarios I can imagine, the escalating civil rights abuses there are taking me to a boiling point, even as I follow this from the safety of the U.S.
Today major outlets report that in addition to frequent and violent disruptions of assemblies/protests by Mousavi supporters, the internet, mobile calls, and text messaging have been shut down by the government in order to prevent the opposition from continuing to organize and communicate.
I fear this is going to get uglier and more violent before it gets better, and not in the direction of a revolution against corrupt democracy, but of constant stifling of the speech of mostly young people in violent and shocking ways.
"For years Iranian TV has shown Israeli forces attacking innocent people in Palestine," said student Shervin Elahverdi, 21. "But these riot police are more brutal than them."On Saturday night, at nearby Parkway, petrol bombs were thrown at police. Plastic bullets were returned. Unrest fizzed and spluttered all day in squares and at big junctions. Many were guarded by groups of basij (militia) volunteers, licensed thugs carrying wooden sticks. In mid-afternoon the Guardian watched one basiji chase a man into the middle of a traffic jam and beat him repeatedly with an iron bar.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
I wish I were more shocked about the Madoff scandal
But what's really all that shocking about the Ponzi scheme? Is it the greed? No, Madoff's greed isn't shocking. In fact, greed like his is what our economy needs to grow (I hate to be the one to say that, but I don't make the rules...). Is it the idea that he was paying investor A with the money of Investors B and C rather than through any real production? I can't see how that in itself is all that shocking. It's unsustainable, obviously. It only works if there's constant growth, and there's no such thing as constant growth. But unproductive tricks like this are not only common, they're the back bone of our economy. We spin gold from hay while 90% of the world starves. That's not a dirty secret. That's Wall Street. That's the financial sector.
The only thing I can even think should be deplorable in the Madoff scandal is the deceit involved...that the people who gave him the money didn't know what he was actually doing with it, and believed he was doing something else with it. It's fraud, sure. But done in more subtle ways, it's pretty common and pretty legal. Unsavvy consumers end up getting hosed all the time. And what's the free market's answer? Make it illegal? Give them their money back? No. It's 'buck up and make better decisions next time.' Free market for the poor, regulation and even subsidy for the rich.
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