Swine Flu

As Swine Flu, or A/H1N1 if you prefer, fades from the headlines, perhaps next time we should focus not on the fear of a "pandemic" but on the mighty efforts of the various organizations that helped target, treat, and contain the virus.

What is Waterboarding?

I recently stumbled upon this piece by Christopher Hitchens regarding waterboarding that boldly proclaims: Believe Me, It's Torture! But is it? Can something be torture if a reporter voluntarily undergoes it, so that he has the "weight of authority"? Can an editor ask that a reporter to undergo torture? Can this torture, then be broadcast? Can this really be excruciating pain?

I am inclined to say no. If an ordeal can be undergone for little more than commercial gain, then it cannot be called torture. It may be cruel, inhumane, or unbefitting of America - but torture?

Re-building Ethics

A note on the WSJ editorial page called our current situation "a crisis of ethic proportions." The writer, Mr. Bogle, goes on to say, "Substituting 'ethic' for 'epic' is a fine turn of phrase, and it accurately places a heavy responsibility...on a broad deterioration in traditional ethical standards." Rebuilding these standards in an age when "money manager agents...now hold 75% of all shares of public companies" is the solution Mr. Bogle foresees. In reading this, I could not help but be stuck by Pope Benedict XVI's insight in Spe Salvi that "every generation must also make its own contribution to establishing convincing structures of freedom and of good." We must recognize that our grandfathers' and fathers' regulations will not keep us honest, if for no other reason than we must embrace and build them as our own.

The Grass Isn't Always Greener

In some measure, it is human nature to be envious of what others have. But the grass is not always greener on the other side, no matter our perception of it. The passing of David Kellermann, acting CFO for Freddie Mac, is a tragic reminder. In a May 6 article the WSJ notes that "To neighbors and friends, he seemed to live an enviable life. His wife and daughter sometimes stopped by the office to have lunch with him" and "They just had one of those relationships that everyone wants to have in life".
Privately fulfilling and publicly successful - what more could a guy ask for?

Yet he worked in an environment that had "near-constant management upheaval" since 2003, he harbored doubts that he was ready to be CFO, and his sense of humor slowly slipped away from him.

Mr. Kellermann's tragic passing should give us pause when we glibly lay blame on executives of any title.

Who to Trust?

In relation to Steve Rattner, President Obama's auto industry adviser, and the New York pension investigation, the WSJ noted it was "growing evidence of corruption by officials who use their power over public pension funds to shake down private companies. This is the same political class that has been blaming banks for "greed" in the financial crisis. The pension fund scandal exposes the myth of the superior virtue of the public and nonprofit worlds. Greed is universal. And the opportunity for corruption is enormous when political discretion is tied to vast sums of public money."

The love of money is the root of evil. Americans should not be so naive as to believe that because an individual is a "public servant" they are immune to the pressures and temptations of the private, "for profit" world. The reality is, all people seek profit. We should therefore limit the amount of power, money, and blind trust we give to our "civil servants".

Follow Up: The Price of Gas

It has been far too long since I made the original post, but better late than never.

Earlier, I noted that Gasoline prices weren't that much different between Bush's inauguration and the days leading up to President Obama's official day. Turns out, that analysis has held true. According to the Energy Information Administration, a better source than facebook flair (which did get it right, however), the national average price for regular gasoline was $1.46 on January 22, 2001. At the change over, January 19, 2009, the national average was $1.83. This is a difference of 37 cents per gallon or 3.1%. So although it was a wild ride in the interim, the overall change was within normal inflationary rates.

Once again, Presidents really don't impact the economy and Congress controls the purse strings.

A Torture Rebuttle

As my previous posts discussed what I see as the short comings in the NY Times coverage of the torture memos, I believe I should offer another side which handles the issue more clearly.

First up we have "The Memos Prove We Didn't Torture" by Mr. Rivkin, Jr. and Mr. Casey. This Op-Ed out shines both Times pieces in a number of ways. First, it quotes from the memos. Four two or three-word phrases and two sentences of thirty or more words. For example, the authors quote a critical Red Cross report that asserted techniques were designed to "forcefully bang the head and body against the wall." The authors then counter this assertion by pointing out the shoulder blades are actually the point of impact and go on to quote the memos themselves, which state, "the idea is to create a sound that will make the impact seem far worse than it is and that will be far worse than any injury that might result from the action." The authors of this op-ed do not pontificate from a preconceived position, but rather engage the material.

Second, we have "The President Ties His Own Hands on Terror." This op-ed confronts many issues, including proponents reasons for believing the memos should be released (we're not using them so why keep them secret, they were ineffective, the ACLU sued so they had to be made public), the effects this could have on the intelligence communities moral and their future ability to rely on opinions from the Office of Legal Counsel. The responses to each of these issues are quite strong and would actually lose credibility, if it were not for the authors credentials. The authors assert the techniques "were used selectively against only a small number of hard-core prisoners who successfully resisted other forms of interrogation, and then only with the explicit authorization of the director of the CIA." How can the authors claim to know that the techniques were used "selectively" and only with "explicit authorization"? I would have thought it was simply a Republican talking point, if the authors were not Gen. Hayden and Mr. Mukasey, director of the CIA and Attorney General, respectively.

In short, the WSJ offerings directly engage the material with quotes and counter arguments while being more logically and directly composed.