This Really Angers Me

Some rich jerks in a posh 5th Ave. apartment were blessed with the presence of two Red Tail Hawks that lived happily on a ledge and produced something like 30 chicks over the years. The hawks were a nice and wonderful piece of nature in about as man-made a place as there is on earth. New Yorkers gazed at them year round and one can presume they may have inspired children and adults along the way to think twice about nature and the world we live in.

These jackasses removed the bird's nest and evicted them. Come on - live and let live you pricks.

The New York Times is pissed too.

Women's Football

On a non-political note, I want to mention that last night 3 women footballers retired from the game. Arguably three but certainly two of the best footballers in history - male or female. It is special to me because they have for 15 years inspired men and women through their unbelievable skills and devotion to developing women's sports and sport in general. In a nation that usually ignores both soccer and women's team sports, it is a tribute to Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy that over 90,000 spectators watched live and 90 million on television as they won our second World Cup in 8 years, and through Brandi Chastain's shirt removal, they made one of the lasting images in the history of sports.

These women are the first generation of American athletes to reap the full benefits of Title IX which affirmed the equality of women's sports - especially team sports - to men's sports. I am personally sad to see them leave the game but happy to see them move on to other things. Let their legacy of excellence live on. And as a massive soccer fan, they are special to me because for the time being, they remain the only champions we have. They have 2 World Cups and 2 Olympic Gold Medals to their names and the thoughts and inspiration of a nation who despite its problems stands for equality in all arenas. We will miss them.

Afghanistan Parliament

So the NYTimes editors agree with me that yesterday's swearing in of Hamid Karzai was a great day, but they make a ciritical point that I overlooked: Afganistan has a President but no parliament. They need both, and based on the citizens bravery and forward looking actions to even vote (women voted, everyone faced terrorist threats), we absolutely have to give it to them. Having a broad reaching parliament would go a long way to reducing the powerful warlords all over the country.

The (tenuous) success in staging the Presidential election does not excuse our failures in abandoning where the real terrorists lived and continue to live. We have to now use so far ignored diplomacy and so far unseen dedication to the cause to do our best to ensure that a parliament will form by 2006.

Read it here

The House of Reprehensible Representatives

I am starting to think that Bush may not be the biggest enemy to our liberal, "Blue" society. It may just be the House who has started to break from Bush - to the right. We are already talking about the most conservative President in history and his Congress is defying his wishes to a more conservative bent.

This may be the real fight. We have elections for the House in less than two years - about a year until the campaigns start. I think the time is now to get moving in whatever ways we can. We should find out who our Reps are -whether we like them - and get active.

Mine is Honorable Charles Rangel. A rapscallion and a great minority voice in the House. About a year and half ago he went nuts on Tom Delay right on the House floor.

He said:

You will treat the minority with respect or you will not be treated with respect.

Touchet.

Read it here in the NYTimes

Is the Ambassador in? Not in London

I did not know this, but I am shocked to read that the United States has not had an ambassador in place at the US Embassy in London for five whole months. I see it as another ignorant assessment of the interests of other nations' in US affairs from Guess the W who.

Not having an ambassador is a slap in face and it hurts our relations with our critical cross-Atlantic allies. For goodness sakes, most British people WANT to like Americans and it appears our leaders are doing just about everything to counter this affection down to leaving the Ambassador position vacant for five critical months while the two of us are in the same rotten war.

Being abroad and seeing the damage this kind of chauvanustic and just plain stupid behavior is having on our position in the world is enough to make me start thinking of Rome and other giant collapses. The Huns and the Goths seemed unimportant too.

Read it from The Guardian

It meant that, throughout one of the most demanding periods of modern transatlantic relations, America lacked a strong voice and presence on this side of the water. This was a double deprivation. It was a loss to Britain, since it left Tony Blair to take all the hits while attempting to mediate US policy in this country. And it was a loss to the US, because there was no one with the clout to mediate Britain's views back to the American administration and people.

Tony Blair

Everyone seems to like Tony Blair. He is a seemingly nice guy that runs a well-respected country.

He followed George W. Bush into a hasty and poorly planned war against the will of his electorate and as things have gone from bad to worse, his popularity has followed suit.

Somehow the British are truly bothered by a leader that they cannot trust. Why aren't Americans bothered by Bush's lies?

Opinion from The Times of London

Karzai and Afghanistan

We have to give credit where it is due: Hamid Karzai has been sworn in as Afghanistan's first democratically elected leader. It is a great day for democracy and let us all hope and pray for success in this ravaged land.

We could call him a puppet, hand picked by Bush to do his will but the people voted and will feel more involved in the political process for the first time. At this critical time, Karzai needs our support and aid. We should watch closely to see our government taking the right steps to combat drug trafficking and use and to help bring the warlords under the control of Afghanistan's legitimate government.

In my opinion, one of ways we should support him is by taking a hands off approach most of the time to let him build his base and reach his people. Bush etc. Should always be ready to step in when he asks, however.

We cannot fail in Afghanistan.

Thoughts on Spitzer

Mr. Spitzer published the below article in the New Republic recently. It focuses on Republican "values" such as the Ownership Society, and then he highlights their failures to ensure their promises. He also attacks Dems for not framing their values appropriately.

I like Eliot Spitzer because he is a dogged supporter of solid New York Democrat ideals like the ones brought to us by Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt. He does fight for the little guy and I appreciate both his efforts and successes and bringing in corporate malfeasance often with little support from the national agencies like the SEC that should have been front and center.

As a former equity research guy and a person who was directly impacted by Spitzer's work I have a few questions for him:

What is your definition of a working man/family?

I think those putting in long hours in corporate offices are working men and women we should be in your definition. We are too well off to be considered poor but a long long way from rich and sometimes I feel like we fall in the gap in between what Dems have called working and what the Republicans view as those that need tax "relief."

Why is it that C. Michael Armstrong and other CEO's were never implicated?

While the equity research apparatus was in dire need of change when you took action, there was a lot more going on. Corporations have lost sight of true value and focus on stock price to a not before seen degree. We need to fight this trend. We need to give both small investors (like me) and small workers (like me) a shot and the short term focus of so many in the Fortune 500 holds many back.

Mr. Armstrong epitomized this trend and demanded that Citibank and it Solomon Smith Barney unit take a positive view of ATT stock before doing a lucrative transaction with the bank. It is known that he demanded a new rating before he would do business. There are many like him. Do not stop at the lowly analyst go all the way to the boardrooms.

Read Spitzer's Article Here