Federal Reserve ordered to disclose recipients of bailout funds

Here's some good news from the U.S. Supreme Court:

The Federal Reserve will disclose details of emergency loans it made to banks in 2008, after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an industry appeal that aimed to shield the records from public view. The justices today left intact a court order that gives the Fed five days to release the records, sought by Bloomberg News’s parent company, Bloomberg LP. The Clearing House Association LLC, a group of the nation’s largest commercial banks, had asked the Supreme Court to intervene.
It takes some real chutzpah to deny the public the right to know how $3.5 trillion in public funds were used.

Continue ReadingFederal Reserve ordered to disclose recipients of bailout funds

The law and … comic books?

On my way home today, I heard on All Things Considered a piece about how Japan Disaster Strikes Home Among Anime Fans.One Philadelphia conventioneer this past weekend said,

"We're not just worried about our anime being cut off," he said firmly. "We're actually concerned for the people there."
The latter sentiment is obvious and welcome. But I can't wrap my ahead around the anime part. I happen to be not just anime-averse, but moved to the point of actually passing judgment on fans and applying more than salty adjectives to the medium. But Japanimation aside, NPR followed that segment with one just as interesting. Melissa Block spoke with blog authors (and attorneys) James Daily and Ryan Davidson about their blog Law and the Multiverse. The two turn their
attention to the hypothetical legal ramifications of comic book tropes, characters, and powers.
Sidebar: I only watch one sitcom on television - The Big Bang Theory - in which the nerdy characters talk occasionally about comic book character. I laugh because the writing and acting are quite funny, but never having developed any interest in comic books past the age of maybe 12, I can't relate to Sheldon Cooper et al on that particular recurring thread. Nor can I relate to the nerdy lawyers on NPR and their musings on how the law would affect the statute of limitations and time traveling super heroes. Or can I? I recall a discussion in high school (I actually only observed and didn't participate ...that time) in which friends were debating the merits of a phaser (Star Trek's Starfleet issue, Type-2) over a Space 1999 stun gun (this would have been around 1977, pre-Star Wars and definitely before Battlestar Galactica ). The back-and-forth went on for a while before someone mentally slapped his forehead and blurted out, "Guys! We're arguing about fictional weapons. They're not real!" [caption id="attachment_17156" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Collage by Erich Vieth (using some of his own comic books)"][/caption] I don't recall having a what-if conversation about fictional characters or fictional items at any time since that incident. I think that sealed how silly the whole idea was to me. A cynic was born that is trying to come out again as I creep toward curmudgeon age. I'll try to beat him back with a stick. Or set phasers on stun. [To be fair to the attorneys, from the NPR article]:
But is there any practical side to this? Yes, says Daily. The blog lets them "educate people about the law." And, adds Davidson, they can use "rich, detailed stories" when doing it.

Continue ReadingThe law and … comic books?

In Whom I Don’t Trust

Would you believe that the U.S. House of Representatives is spending our time voting on a resolution to reaffirm the divisive McCartheism era phrase "In God We Trust" as our national motto, and to encourage its display in all public and government buildings? Yep. On March 17, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee approved House Concurrent Resolution 13 and now the Republican controlled House will vote on it. You can read the entire text of the resolution here, and use the form at this link to contact your representative in the House, and urge them not to vote for such nonsense. How does this shore up the promise of jobs? I've previously posted on this annoying phrase, specifically on the money: In God We Trust (2007) and The Dollar Got More Annoying (2010)

Continue ReadingIn Whom I Don’t Trust

It is dangerous to quote the United States Constitution in America

Here's a cool idea: Write the Fourth Amendment on your chest in a marker, and then refuse electronic scanning at an airport, henceforth removing your shirt and thus displaying the Fourth Amendment. Actually, it's not a cool idea, Aaron Tobey used this technique of self-expression, and here's what the TSA did, as described at Lowering the Bar:

they cuffed him, interrogated him, had the airport police charge him with "disorderly conduct" (favorite of official thugs everywhere), and then contacted the cops at his university and suggested that they report Tobey to the Dean of Students.
Here's a copy of Tobey's lawsuit. A link provided in this same article suggests that the body scanners used at many airports might be emitting ten times as much radiation as previously claimed.

Continue ReadingIt is dangerous to quote the United States Constitution in America