Before Rep. Barney Frank’s House Financial Services Committee. Watch live here. UPDATE: Best question so far comes from Frank: “If in good times you were told you were not going to get bonuses, what part of your job would you not do?” MORE: The various CEOs’ testimony can be read here.
It gets worse, as the Taliban pull off a mini-Mumbai at the Ministry of Justice in downtown Kabul, a day before Holbrooke arrives. On the other hand, Anne Applebaum makes a point I’ve been meaning to make here: the Afghan Army is surprisingly strong, made up of mixed-ethnic units (unlike the Iraqi Army).
Ilan Goldenberg makes some good points disputing my recent Iran posts. He may be right that holding off top-level negotiations until after Iran’s June elections would be offensive to the Iranians–and also convey the impression that we’re backing a horse in that race. But I’d be wary about dealing with Ahmadinejad before the elections, since that [...]
If you watched Grey’s Anatomy last week (I know…go ahead and judge me), you might have seen a rather unusual ad for the birth control pill Yaz. I was about to hit the mute button when the Yaz actress looked into the camera and said, “You may have seen some Yaz commercials recently that were not clear. [...]
This is a few days old, but should not be missed: The New York Times did the requisite story on just how hard it is to be rich on only $500,000 a year, the maximum income for a few bailed out bank executives under the new Obama administration policy. Private school: $32,000 a year per [...]
61-37. So, let’s reset: He’s been in office three weeks. He’s gotten the most expensive bill in the history of anything through both Houses of Congress…to a chorus of he’s screwing up, the honeymoon’s over, etc. etc. I’m not sure what the Conference wrangling will hold, nor whether the Republican duo trio (thanks–commenter sacredh)in the Senate can [...]
But it’s true. In a San Francisco federal court, five men who claim they were abducted and sent to foreign countries to be tortured, have been battling the Bush Administration, which claimed that “state secrets” and “national security” would be put at risk if the case were allowed to proceed. On Monday, the Obama Justice [...]
The Soviets famously sent two messages to John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis–one bellicose, the other offering a path toward peace. Kennedy ignored the bellicose one and prevented a nuclear war. Now we’re getting mixed messages from the Iranians. On Friday, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani gave a bellicose anti-American speech at the Munich [...]
My story about last night.
Jerusalem It was supposed to rain, and it may still–but a fierce wind is blowing, which is no metaphor: not much is likely to change in the Israeli election taking place today…unless, of course, Avigdor Lieberman’s neo-racist, anti-Arab Yisrael Beitenu party comes in first. Not likely, but not impossible: Lieberman was the only candidate throwing [...]
