Say Anything Blog

Warren Buffet raised the alarm about the explosion of the derivatives markets in 2002. He worried about an explosion in the derivatives market and, sadly for us, he appears to have been correct.

This guy says no and provides lots of pretty graphs to make his case. I’m not totally convinced but he makes some good points and reminds us that theory without factual support may be interesting yet misleading.

For economic wonky types and lovers of nice graphs.

I know you all have lots on your plate with your own campaign but Canada is going to the polls on Oct. 14. It’s a Conservative minority government now and the latest polling suggests a Conservative majority is possible if we were to vote today although that probably isn’t the most desired result.

As I was reviewing my retirement portfolio this morning I thought I would pop in to acknowldege that the American economy has not yet met the technical definition of a recession. I am somewhat surprised and obviously chagrined with my earlier post stating that the recession was on but that’s the chance one takes when one declares early. I still don’t see a healthy trend in the numbers but it’s not unreasonable to conclude that the economy is not as weak as I feared.

That is all.

I’d missed the story when it surfaced a few months ago but a law professor makes the case that he isn’t because he was born in the Panama Canal Zone before citizenship was granted to children of Americans living there. I’m sure he’ll run whether he’s technically eligible or not although I’d hate to be the judge forced to rule on the issue.

It’s too bad for those of my Constitutional Originalist friends that aren’t totally happy with McCain as nominee that they didn’t latch on to this earlier.

Where ever you are.

Speech Warriors expressed shock and the whole world sighed in relief as the Canadian Human Rights Commission delivered its predictable verdict in the Macleans case this week.

In its ruling, posted on Maclean’s website, the commission acknowledges “the writing is polemical, colourful and emphatic, and was obviously calculated to excite discussion and even offend certain readers, Muslim and non-Muslim alike.”

But the commission also says that, overall, “the views expressed in the Steyn article, when considered as a whole and in context, are not of an extreme nature, as defined by the Supreme Court.”

While doubtless of little solace to Mr. Steyn and a group of Canadian writers seeking to wring every last drop of martyrdom from the affair, the reasonable ruling demonstrates that, once again, the system works if you let it.

Well done CHRC.

A blast from the past, courtesy Matthew Yglesias, as Fareed Zakaria recalls the horror that was Ronald Reagan’s “appeasement” of the Soviet Union. Gnash your teeth along with Newt as he denounces Reagan’s visit to Moscow as

“The most dangerous summit for the West since Adolph Hitler met with Chamberlain.”

Consistency in thought and action is the hallmark of the true conservative IMO.

I’m surprised SA readers aren’t all over the Larry Sinclair news conference held yesterday in Washington. You’ll remember Larry as the guy who claimed to have “commingled” with Senator Obama in the back of a limousine. The press were not convinced apparently and Larry’s performance concluded with his arrest on an outstanding Colorado warrant. Pandagon has the salient, if not salacious, details…I liked the comment from Sinclair’s lawyer best.

It might if Presidential Airways can persuade a Florida court considering a lawsuit arising from a plane crash in Afghanistan. Details are here.

I see that the ranks opposed to same sex marriage have been joined publically by one Khalid Sheik Mohammed, leader of the 911 attack in 2001. I’m confident that this development will not tip the balance in favour of the California Proposition to exclude same sex marraige from Constitutional protection although I am routinely accused of underestimating the threat the jihadist movement poses.

I’m not suggesting that an actual alliance or conspiracy exists to defeat the movement for equality rights…it’s more like a confluence of interests shared by groups with certain fundamental views of what constitutes appropriate behaviour.

I also firmly reject the premise that those sharing Al Qaeda’s opposition to same sex marriage are in any way supporting the goals of international jihadism. It is quite possible to be a patriot and support aspects of the jihadist philosophy IMO.

Phase 2 of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on prewar intelligence in Iraq has finally been released and it would seem that some Administration claims could not be supported by the intelligence.

Despite the claims of Dick Cheney and several of the usual suspects at SA that Muhammad Atta met with Iraqi intelligence in 2001, the meeting could not be verified by American intelligence.

Despite statements by the President and the Vice President indicating that Saddam Hussein was prepared to give WMD to terrorist groups for attacks against the United States, the actual intelligence contradicted that possibility.

I suppose they had their reasons for making unsubstantiated statements or perhaps the statements can be substantiated through avenues other than American intelligence but such behaviour seems a little reckless to me.

Courtesy of the fine folks at abu muqawama...a very fine blog by the way.

P.M. Maliki…Sec. Gates…Gen. Petraeus…it’s the trifecta of defeatists!

Douglas Feith’s piece in today’s WSJ has a little bit of something for everyone. Feith addresses the faulty intelligence and WMD issues and illustrates how differences within leadership play out when trying to formulate and sell policy. I’m gratified that, like me, Feith detects the significant change in emphasis the Bush Administration placed on the justification for the Iraqi operation and correctly highlights the lack of a coherent and consistent rationale as an erly step towards the public view of the Administration as less than fully competent and reliable.

Others will certainly find aspects of interest to chew on…check it out if you haven’t already.