05.29.08
No White House immunity, say lawyers
Important development reported by Marisa Taylor for the McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Twenty former U.S. attorneys, both Republicans and Democrats, urged a federal judge Thursday to intervene in a constitutional battle over whether two White House officials should be forced to testify before Congress about the firings of nine U.S. attorneys.
The former top prosecutors, including two who served under President Bush, argue in court papers that the judge should reject the Bush administration’s assertion of blanket immunity for presidential chief of staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers in the congressional investigation.
Democrats in the House of Representatives say they were forced to sue in March, more than a year after they launched the probe, because the administration has refused to allow Miers and Bolten to provide crucial information about the reasons the prosecutors were fired. The case also could determine how former presidential adviser Karl Rove responds to a subpoena in a related congressional investigation.
The lawsuit accuses administration officials of injecting partisan considerations into the firing decisions and making “questionable or outright false statements” in subsequent explanations to Congress.
Using up chipotles: Mexican-style Chickpea Salad
Another recipe sent by The Eldest to use up chipotles. I added a chopped avocado, since I had it on hand, and I think some bacon and black olives would also go well with this. UPDATE: Just had a bowl of this. Delicious!
MEXICAN-STYLE CHICKPEA SALAD
2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo
3 fresh jalapeño chiles
1 medium onion
2 garlic cloves
3 medium vine-ripened tomatoes
4 cups drained canned chickpeas (two 19-ounce cans) [19 oz?? - LG]
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lime juice plus additional to taste
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
freshly ground black pepper to tasteRinse chipotles. Wearing rubber gloves [I didn't bother - LG], separately seed and mince chipotles and jalapeños. Mince onion and garlic. Peel [forget it! - LG], seed, and chop tomatoes. Rinse and drain chickpeas and in a large bowl stir together all ingredients except additional lime juice. Chill salad, covered, at least 2 hours and up to 1 day. Season salad with salt and add additional lime juice. Serve salad at cool room temperature.
Gourmet, June 1998
Bank failures looming
Mary Kane has an important story in the Washington Independent:
As if there weren’t enough already to worry about during this credit crisis, now there’s a possible surge of bank failures ahead.
So far this year, three banks have gone under, and more are in trouble. On Thursday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said “problem” banks now total 90, up from 76 at the end of last year – meaning the viability of those banks is threatened. Banks also boosted their loan loss provisions to a new record because of real estate loans gone bad, the FDIC said, and chairwoman Sheila Bair urged banks to build additional reserves to ward off more expected losses. Internet sites like the bank implode-o-meter are sprouting up to tally the troubles. As concerns grow, Wall Street analysts predict 150 to 300 bank failures over the next two years.
“Bank failures are going to be a huge problem,” said Michael Shedlock, an investment adviser who writes the widely followed Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis blog. “We’re going to see some big lenders go under.”
Brain-eating amoeba
Now that we’re getting into the swimming season, Daniel DeNoon of WebMD gives us something to think about:
Six young men died last year after swimming in lakes or pools infested with a brain-eating amoeba, the CDC reports.
The bad blobs — known as Naegleria fowleri or N. fowleri — thrive in warm, fresh water all over the world. But the key word here is warm. The amoeba loves heat. In the U.S., it inhabits the relatively hot waters of lakes, hot springs, and poorly maintained pools in Southern or Southwestern states.
All six of the 2007 cases were in Florida, Texas, and Arizona (the victims’ names and swimming sites come from local media reports):
- May/June 2007: Angel Arroyo Vasquez, age 14, of Orlando, Fla., was swimming in an apartment swimming pool.
- July 2007: Will Sellars, age 11, of Orlando, Fla., was swimming and wakeboarding in Lake Conway.
- August 2007: Richard Almeida, age 10, of Kissimmee, Fla., was swimming and wakeboarding at Orlando Watersports Complex.
- August 2007: John “Jack” Herrera, age 12, participated in water activities during summer camp at Lake LBJ in Texas.
- August 2007: Colby Sawyer, age 22, ruptured his eardrum while wakeboarding at Lake LBJ in Texas.
- September 2007: Aaron Evans, age 14, was swimming at Lake Havasu in northeastern Arizona.
Why the deadly amoeba struck these six and not the thousands of other people exposed in the same places at the same times is a mystery, says CDC epidemiologist Jonathan Yoder.
Add-Art is cool
I just this morning added Add-Art to Firefox. It’s very nice.
Unintended consequences
Excellent story by Mike Lillis of the Washington Indpendent on how legislation to protect an industry can doom the industry. It begins:
In September of 1990, when a gallon of gas was $1.16, the Senate took up a measure that would have bumped the average fuel efficiency of new cars to 40 miles per gallon. Faced with heavy opposition from the nation’s automakers, however, the measure fell three votes shy of passage. Leading the congressional resistance was Michigan’s influential delegation, which stepped in to protect its famously regional industry.
Eighteen years later, the price of gas is flirting with $4 per gallon, the global warming threat is ever-increasing and Detroit’s auto industry is hemorrhaging workers. As America’s big three automakers — Ford, Chrysler and General Motors — struggle to compete with smaller, more fuel efficient imports, a number of environmentalists, watchdog groups and former members of Congress contend that Michigan’s lawmakers bear much of the blame for the industry’s woes.
“For the last 20 years, the Michigan delegation felt that what was good for the big three was good for Michigan,” said Brendan Bell, Washington representative for the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Instead, 20 years of inaction gave the big three the rope to hang themselves with.”
Interesting take on current US foreign policy
Take a look at this interesting post, which views our foreign policy as being formed by PTMs. The post begins:
A malign and poorly understood influence on foreign policy is the paranoid truculent male (though a few females share the ailment). The PTM is a fairly well-defined type, who believes that They Are Out to Get Us. He doesn’t much care who They are. If one They fails him, he will find another. These They must be fought to the death. It’s us or They.
As a current example, I get email telling me that Moslems hate us and want to enslave us. We must therefore gird our loins and prepare for an apocalyptic conflict that will determine whether Western civilization will survive. A war of peoples approaches, and we must win it.
This of course is transparent nonsense. A week or so ago I spoke with a friend in government service who recently returned from an extended period in Jordan. Perfectly friendly people, he reported. That was my own experience, years back. They knew he was an American, and consequently wanted to talk to him. He traveled by public transportation to Petra and so on. Not the slightest problem.
The difference between documentable fact and ferocious email was predictable. An unvarying characteristic of the PTM is the belief that his current enemies are implacably evil and united in pursuit of his enslavement. Frequently he hasn’t had the most minimal experience of this relentless enemy. Few of today’s PTMs have passed time in Moslem countries. Many do not have passports. The proportion who speak Arabic or Farsi or actually know any Moslems is very low. It doesn’t matter. PTMs share a specific personality that wants an enemy. They will always find one.
Groupthink in the White House
It’s amazing to see how rapidly the White House smear-and-slime campaign reacts to criticism. But, as John Cole points out, that response is typical of groupthink: any ideas counter to the group must be immediately put down. Cole points to the Wikipedia article on Groupthink, which lists the symptoms that identify Groupthink:
In order to make groupthink testable, Irving Janis devised eight symptoms that are indicative of groupthink (1977).
- Illusions of invulnerability creating excessive optimism and encouraging risk taking.
- Rationalising warnings that might challenge the group’s assumptions.
- Unquestioned belief in the morality of the group, causing members to ignore the consequences of their actions.
- Stereotyping those who are opposed to the group as weak, evil, disfigured, impotent, or stupid.
- Direct pressure to conform placed on any member who questions the group, couched in terms of “disloyalty”.
- Self censorship of ideas that deviate from the apparent group consensus.
- Illusions of unanimity among group members, silence is viewed as agreement.
- Mindguards — self-appointed members who shield the group from dissenting information.
And (in the same article) Jarvis outlined how to avoid Groupthink:
According to Irving Janis, decision making groups are not necessarily destined to groupthink. He devised seven ways of preventing groupthink (209-15):
- Leaders should assign each member the role of “critical evaluator”. This allows each member to freely air objections and doubts.
- Higher-ups should not express an opinion when assigning a task to a group.
- The organization should set up several independent groups, working on the same problem.
- All effective alternatives should be examined.
- Each member should discuss the group’s ideas with trusted people outside of the group.
- The group should invite outside experts into meetings. Group members should be allowed to discuss with and question the outside experts.
- At least one group member should be assigned the role of Devil’s advocate. This should be a different person for each meeting.
I don’t think any of the above were used by the White House, which maintained a rigid top-down (Cheney at the top) structure with no objections allowed, then or later.
How the press was managed
It wasn’t the White House directly, it was the news executives who censored the news and shaped the narrative in shockingly heavy-handed ways. Read Glenn Greenwald’s column today—it’s amazing. And it’s coming out only because of Scott McClellan’s book. Here’s one example Greenwald refers to:
Music to my ears
Via Hilzoy, blogging on Political Animal, this story by Deborah Charles in Reuters:
Maybe it’s his background teaching constitutional law.
If elected president, Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama said one of the first things he wants to do is ensure the constitutionality of all the laws and executive orders passed while Republican President George W. Bush has been in office.
Those that don’t pass muster will be overturned, he said.
During a fund-raiser in Denver, Obama — a former constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago Law School — was asked what he hoped to accomplish during his first 100 days in office.
“I would call my attorney general in and review every single executive order issued by George Bush and overturn those laws or executive decisions that I feel violate the constitution,” said Obama
Other goals for his first 100 days: work out a plan to withdraw troops from Iraq; make progress on alternative energy plans and launch legislation to reform the health care system.
Entertaining scifi mystery: Blasphemy
Just finished Blasphemy, by Douglas Preston. An excellent page-turner with a good mystery at the core. Don’t want to spoil it. Takes place in very near future.
Help Firefox 3 set world download record
Firefox 3 will be released in June, and the hope is that the number of downloads on the first day of release will set a world record. Go here to pledge to download Firefox 3 on the release date (and to be notified on the release date).
Raita revisited
Yesterday I said I was going to make raita, and today Mark Bittman very kindly posts a slug of recipes:
Raita
This cooling yogurt concoction from India is salad, relish, dip and side dish in one. The basic recipe here is usually not eaten as is but as the foundation for other raitas; there are infinite variations, and you can take them in almost any direction you like. And you don’t need to employ raita in exclusively Indian ways. It is terrific as a dip for flatbread, or, when made extra thick, an alternative to potato salad or coleslaw.Yield 2 cups; Time 20 minutes
Whether you use whole-milk or fat-free yogurt will determine its richness. Because fat-free yogurt tends to be a watery, it is best if you drain it for 10 or 15 minutes before using it: Put the yogurt in a strainer lined with cheesecloth, a coarse kitchen towel or a piece of linen.
2 cups plain yogurt
1 teaspoon sugar, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground cumin, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
Salt and ground black pepperWhisk yogurt until creamy. If it remains thick and stiff, thin it with a teaspoon or more of water and continue whisking.
Stir in sugar, cumin, red pepper, salt, black pepper and any of the combinations of ingredients below.
Cucumber-Mint Raita: To basic raita mixture, add 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced, and cup chopped fresh mint.
Tomato Raita: Omit crushed red pepper flakes. To mixture, add 1 large tomato, cored, seeded and diced; 1 onion, peeled and diced; and 1 jalapeo or other hot green chili, stemmed, seeded and minced. Garnish with 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro.Mixed Vegetable Raita: Add to mixture 1 cup diced crunchy vegetables, like bell peppers, celery, radish, fennel or a combination. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper and garnish with 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro.
Beet Raita: Omit crushed red pepper flakes. Add to mixture cup beets, cooked, peeled and diced, and 1 jalapeo or other hot green chili, stemmed, seeded and minced. Garnish with 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro.
Potato Raita: Omit crushed red pepper flakes. Stir in 2 potatoes, cooked, peeled and diced, and 1 jalapeo or other hot green chili, stemmed, seeded and minced. Garnish with 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro.
Chickpea Raita: Stir in 1 cup chickpeas, cooked or canned. Add an additional teaspoon crushed red chili pepper flakes to basic recipe.
Banana-Coconut Raita: Omit sugar, and substitute about 1 teaspoon garam masala or curry powder for cumin. Add cup dried shredded unsweetened coconut and 1 banana, not overly ripe, peeled and cut into inch slices. Add to cup chopped mint leaves and a little bit of cayenne, or to taste.
Blenheim Bouquet
Penhaligon’s Blenheim Bouquet soap and the Simpsons Commodor X3 Best to lather it. I picked the Gillette 1940’s Aristocrat, which had an Elios blade—and that blade works well (for me) in that razor. Three easy passes, an oil pass with l’Occitane Cade shave oil, then Royall Spice aftershave. Quite nice.
