All workers accounted for and in process of being rescued, with only one injured, blessedly. A shallow-water rig, thankfully.
Coast Guard rescuers are en route to the scene of the fire, 90 miles south of Vermilion Bay, Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Colclough said. Twelve of the workers are in immersion suits, designed to protect them from hypothermia. One is reported injured.
Please, please, please, let's not have a repeat performance from this spring...
Thursday, September 2, 2010
A Most Thoughtful Discussion On Christianity In The Academy
OS is an unabashed Christian. If forced to absolutely declare which flavor of Christianity he would be forced to adhere to for the remainder of his days, he would probably opt for a Protestant stance based upon the Apostle's Creed and Westminster or Augsburg Confessions. But he was raised old-school Baptist, and there is something about that wonderful tradition that settles in the bones.
He is an uncomfortable Christian in his current existence within US culture. It's a looong story, that can't yet be told without violating the privacy of a lot of folks, so someday...
In any case, here is a thoughtful discussion found on Inside Higher Education about the experience of Christian adherents in academe. There are no real heroes and villains here--examples of bad behavior are cited from several directions, and the tone is thoughtful and kind, which is a welcome relief from the normal clamor.
Both authors have great credentials, and write well, so it's well worth the time devoted. They give a good snapshot of what's happening in the US culture.
First, from Timothy Larsen of Wheaton College in Chicago, 'No Christianity, Please'.
He relates a story of a student who was academically thrashed by a professor for expressing his Christian views; and how his own work was trashed, not for content, but for his Christian world-view.
In response, Adam Kotsko, now teaching at Kalamazoo College, offers thoughtful words, and OS will share a few of them here, in hopes that you will read both essays.
On every front, the conservative evangelical community perceives itself to be under siege, particularly its children, since indoctrinating children in secular ideology is the most effective means of undercutting Christianity. Education has therefore always been a particular flashpoint, as the recurring debates over school prayer and the teaching of evolution illustrate. Believing that evangelical students are under continual attack, conservative evangelical leaders encourage them to boldly defend themselves whenever possible. Overall, the attitude their most prominent leaders promote in conservative evangelical students is a combination of extreme paranoia and defiance (conceived as self-defense).
Conservative evangelicals as a group, therefore, are not just one among many excluded groups. Rather, they are sui generis insofar as they have constantly been encouraged, from a very young age, to expect and create conflict in the classroom.
I should say immediately that not all conservative evangelicals take such extreme views seriously. My own parents, pastors, and youth leaders, for example, had fairly sensible views — certainly they were more conservative than I have wound up being, but they were fundamentally reasonable. However, in their desire to provide young people with wholesome, Christian edification, they gave credence to leaders and, much more insidiously in my opinion, to "Christian contemporary" pop groups whose members espoused views much more extreme and militant than they themselves would have been comfortable teaching their children.
That final paragraph is especially cogent. The 'Christian Media Industry', especially the part that produces music and recordings, has done great harm to Christendom, and has a lot of 'splainin' to do, Lucy. (As one wag put it: The Christian Music Industry--not Christian, not an industry, and certainly not music.)
Both articles well worth the ten minutes spent to be read in tandem. If you read from overseas, it will be especially helpful as a window into the present US culture.
He is an uncomfortable Christian in his current existence within US culture. It's a looong story, that can't yet be told without violating the privacy of a lot of folks, so someday...
In any case, here is a thoughtful discussion found on Inside Higher Education about the experience of Christian adherents in academe. There are no real heroes and villains here--examples of bad behavior are cited from several directions, and the tone is thoughtful and kind, which is a welcome relief from the normal clamor.
Both authors have great credentials, and write well, so it's well worth the time devoted. They give a good snapshot of what's happening in the US culture.
First, from Timothy Larsen of Wheaton College in Chicago, 'No Christianity, Please'.
He relates a story of a student who was academically thrashed by a professor for expressing his Christian views; and how his own work was trashed, not for content, but for his Christian world-view.
In response, Adam Kotsko, now teaching at Kalamazoo College, offers thoughtful words, and OS will share a few of them here, in hopes that you will read both essays.
On every front, the conservative evangelical community perceives itself to be under siege, particularly its children, since indoctrinating children in secular ideology is the most effective means of undercutting Christianity. Education has therefore always been a particular flashpoint, as the recurring debates over school prayer and the teaching of evolution illustrate. Believing that evangelical students are under continual attack, conservative evangelical leaders encourage them to boldly defend themselves whenever possible. Overall, the attitude their most prominent leaders promote in conservative evangelical students is a combination of extreme paranoia and defiance (conceived as self-defense).
Conservative evangelicals as a group, therefore, are not just one among many excluded groups. Rather, they are sui generis insofar as they have constantly been encouraged, from a very young age, to expect and create conflict in the classroom.
I should say immediately that not all conservative evangelicals take such extreme views seriously. My own parents, pastors, and youth leaders, for example, had fairly sensible views — certainly they were more conservative than I have wound up being, but they were fundamentally reasonable. However, in their desire to provide young people with wholesome, Christian edification, they gave credence to leaders and, much more insidiously in my opinion, to "Christian contemporary" pop groups whose members espoused views much more extreme and militant than they themselves would have been comfortable teaching their children.
That final paragraph is especially cogent. The 'Christian Media Industry', especially the part that produces music and recordings, has done great harm to Christendom, and has a lot of 'splainin' to do, Lucy. (As one wag put it: The Christian Music Industry--not Christian, not an industry, and certainly not music.)
Both articles well worth the ten minutes spent to be read in tandem. If you read from overseas, it will be especially helpful as a window into the present US culture.
More News On Franklin Brito
It is a hopeful sign that this tragedy is not going unnoticed.
The Venezuelan Government came out swinging, blaming Mr. Brito for having the temerity to insist that he be restored clear title to the land his family owns.
CARACAS, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Venezuela's government accused opposition parties on Wednesday of desiring the death of hunger-striker Franklin Brito to maximize political damage to President Hugo Chavez ahead of a parliamentary election.
"Like vultures, they desired and hoped for his death," a government statement said of the Brito case, which has stirred up Venezuelan politics before the Sept. 26 vote.
Critics have seized on the emaciated farmer's death, in a protest over land he says was seized illegally in south Venezuela, as evidence of Chavez's abuse of property rights and cold indifference to opposition.
But the government says Brito's complaint had no basis in law and that his ownership of 717 acres (290 hectares) in Bolivar state had been repeatedly ratified by land authorities.
"We are obliged to reject the Phariseeism of the rotten media, the electoral opposition and the Catholic Church who encouraged Mr. Brito's extremism with the sole aim of having a death for their dirty banners," the statement added.
Then, of course, we are treated to this classic piece of moral courage from the Obama State Department:
Philip J. Crowley, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Public Affairs, US Department of State, said on Tuesday that the United States is saddened by the death of Venezuelan farmer Franklin Brito, who had been on a hunger strike in protest for the expropriation of his lands by the government of President Hugo Chávez.
"We are saddened to hear of Mr. Brito's passing and we extend our condolences to his family," said Crowley, as reported by AFP. He stressed that Washington "did follow his case closely." But he simply added that the United States would "leave it to the Government of Venezuela to explain."
Given the other news that preoccupies us in the US, this may not rise far above the radar. But it is significant, as a regime fawned over by the Obama White House engages in blatant brutality with nary a murmur of protest.
The State of Arizona, on the other hand, is being hit with both barrels by the US Justice Department.
There is a terrible dissonance in all this. A terrible, tragic, disturbing dissonance.
Now, while we're on the subject of dissidents who have disappeared into the bowels of the Chavez regime, OS would be interested to hear news of the fate of Alejandro Pena Esclusa.
A recent statement was released by him from his jail cell.
Of course, our State Department stands by in silence.
And, in honor of President Chavez, a most appropriate portrait. Please feel free to distribute.
The Venezuelan Government came out swinging, blaming Mr. Brito for having the temerity to insist that he be restored clear title to the land his family owns.
CARACAS, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Venezuela's government accused opposition parties on Wednesday of desiring the death of hunger-striker Franklin Brito to maximize political damage to President Hugo Chavez ahead of a parliamentary election.
"Like vultures, they desired and hoped for his death," a government statement said of the Brito case, which has stirred up Venezuelan politics before the Sept. 26 vote.
Critics have seized on the emaciated farmer's death, in a protest over land he says was seized illegally in south Venezuela, as evidence of Chavez's abuse of property rights and cold indifference to opposition.
But the government says Brito's complaint had no basis in law and that his ownership of 717 acres (290 hectares) in Bolivar state had been repeatedly ratified by land authorities.
"We are obliged to reject the Phariseeism of the rotten media, the electoral opposition and the Catholic Church who encouraged Mr. Brito's extremism with the sole aim of having a death for their dirty banners," the statement added.
Then, of course, we are treated to this classic piece of moral courage from the Obama State Department:
Philip J. Crowley, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Public Affairs, US Department of State, said on Tuesday that the United States is saddened by the death of Venezuelan farmer Franklin Brito, who had been on a hunger strike in protest for the expropriation of his lands by the government of President Hugo Chávez.
"We are saddened to hear of Mr. Brito's passing and we extend our condolences to his family," said Crowley, as reported by AFP. He stressed that Washington "did follow his case closely." But he simply added that the United States would "leave it to the Government of Venezuela to explain."
Given the other news that preoccupies us in the US, this may not rise far above the radar. But it is significant, as a regime fawned over by the Obama White House engages in blatant brutality with nary a murmur of protest.
The State of Arizona, on the other hand, is being hit with both barrels by the US Justice Department.
There is a terrible dissonance in all this. A terrible, tragic, disturbing dissonance.
Now, while we're on the subject of dissidents who have disappeared into the bowels of the Chavez regime, OS would be interested to hear news of the fate of Alejandro Pena Esclusa.
A recent statement was released by him from his jail cell.
Of course, our State Department stands by in silence.
And, in honor of President Chavez, a most appropriate portrait. Please feel free to distribute.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Angelo Codevilla: America's Ruling Class
Just to let ya'll know this gent is not a tea-bagger living in Momma's basement, as the folks in the White House tend to characterize any who dare disagree.
Angelo M. Codevilla, a professor of international relations at Boston University, a fellow of the Claremont Institute, and a senior editor of The American Spectator, was a Foreign Service officer and served on the staff of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee between 1977 and 1985. He was the principal author of the 1980 presidential transition report on intelligence. He is the author of The Character of Nations: How Politics Makes and Breaks Prosperity, Family, and Civility.
Codevilla weighs in this month with a long and thoughtful article on the American culture, which goes far in explaining what has happened to us.
His thesis is: America has been taken over by a ruling class, profoundly out of touch with the people they rule, and the strains are beginning to show.
As over-leveraged investment houses began to fail in September 2008, the leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties, of major corporations, and opinion leaders stretching from the National Review magazine (and the Wall Street Journal) on the right to the Nation magazine on the left, agreed that spending some $700 billion to buy the investors' "toxic assets" was the only alternative to the U.S. economy's "systemic collapse." In this, President George W. Bush and his would-be Republican successor John McCain agreed with the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama. Many, if not most, people around them also agreed upon the eventual commitment of some 10 trillion nonexistent dollars in ways unprecedented in America. They explained neither the difference between the assets' nominal and real values, nor precisely why letting the market find the latter would collapse America. The public objected immediately, by margins of three or four to one.
When this majority discovered that virtually no one in a position of power in either party or with a national voice would take their objections seriously, that decisions about their money were being made in bipartisan backroom deals with interested parties, and that the laws on these matters were being voted by people who had not read them, the term "political class" came into use. Then, after those in power changed their plans from buying toxic assets to buying up equity in banks and major industries but refused to explain why, when they reasserted their right to decide ad hoc on these and so many other matters, supposing them to be beyond the general public's understanding, the American people started referring to those in and around government as the "ruling class." And in fact Republican and Democratic office holders and their retinues show a similar presumption to dominate and fewer differences in tastes, habits, opinions, and sources of income among one another than between both and the rest of the country. They think, look, and act as a class.
It's a hefty read, but truly enlightening. Kudos to American Spectator for publishing it for our consideration.
Angelo M. Codevilla, a professor of international relations at Boston University, a fellow of the Claremont Institute, and a senior editor of The American Spectator, was a Foreign Service officer and served on the staff of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee between 1977 and 1985. He was the principal author of the 1980 presidential transition report on intelligence. He is the author of The Character of Nations: How Politics Makes and Breaks Prosperity, Family, and Civility.
Codevilla weighs in this month with a long and thoughtful article on the American culture, which goes far in explaining what has happened to us.
His thesis is: America has been taken over by a ruling class, profoundly out of touch with the people they rule, and the strains are beginning to show.
As over-leveraged investment houses began to fail in September 2008, the leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties, of major corporations, and opinion leaders stretching from the National Review magazine (and the Wall Street Journal) on the right to the Nation magazine on the left, agreed that spending some $700 billion to buy the investors' "toxic assets" was the only alternative to the U.S. economy's "systemic collapse." In this, President George W. Bush and his would-be Republican successor John McCain agreed with the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama. Many, if not most, people around them also agreed upon the eventual commitment of some 10 trillion nonexistent dollars in ways unprecedented in America. They explained neither the difference between the assets' nominal and real values, nor precisely why letting the market find the latter would collapse America. The public objected immediately, by margins of three or four to one.
When this majority discovered that virtually no one in a position of power in either party or with a national voice would take their objections seriously, that decisions about their money were being made in bipartisan backroom deals with interested parties, and that the laws on these matters were being voted by people who had not read them, the term "political class" came into use. Then, after those in power changed their plans from buying toxic assets to buying up equity in banks and major industries but refused to explain why, when they reasserted their right to decide ad hoc on these and so many other matters, supposing them to be beyond the general public's understanding, the American people started referring to those in and around government as the "ruling class." And in fact Republican and Democratic office holders and their retinues show a similar presumption to dominate and fewer differences in tastes, habits, opinions, and sources of income among one another than between both and the rest of the country. They think, look, and act as a class.
It's a hefty read, but truly enlightening. Kudos to American Spectator for publishing it for our consideration.
James Corum On Iran's Nuclear Capability
Corum (a military historian, a serious resume, no hysterical guy in Momma's basement), shares sobering words about WhatObamaHathWrought.
The article isn't long, and words are not minced. The zinger comes in the final paragraphs:
The sum of American foreign policy is: trust the goodwill and friendship of the Russian and Chinese regimes. In my lifetime there have been bad foreign policies, but this one wins the grand prize.
Right now, the White House is already working on an argument that perhaps it’s a good thing for Iran to have nukes after all. It could make the world safer. And this line will be loyally accepted by the mainstream media. Until the nukes start to go off.
Usually, comments following his essays are thoughtful and insightful. This article brought a number of angry folks out of the woodwork, from all corners. This is not reassuring.
The article isn't long, and words are not minced. The zinger comes in the final paragraphs:
The sum of American foreign policy is: trust the goodwill and friendship of the Russian and Chinese regimes. In my lifetime there have been bad foreign policies, but this one wins the grand prize.
Right now, the White House is already working on an argument that perhaps it’s a good thing for Iran to have nukes after all. It could make the world safer. And this line will be loyally accepted by the mainstream media. Until the nukes start to go off.
Usually, comments following his essays are thoughtful and insightful. This article brought a number of angry folks out of the woodwork, from all corners. This is not reassuring.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
In Memoriam: Franklin Brito, A Farmer From Venezuela
As the press continues to lionize and never dare criticize Comrade Chavez of Venezuela, let us remember the latest of his victims, Franklin Brito.
This from today's Economist:
FRANKLIN BRITO is not well-known outside Venezuela, and the country’s government would like it to stay that way. Late on Monday night, the 50-year-old farmer and biologist died from a hunger strike in the military hospital in Caracas, the capital, where he had been held against his will, virtually incommunicado, since December.
Mr Brito’s sad saga started seven years ago, when his 250-acre fruit and vegetable farm in the south-eastern state of Bolívar was taken over by neighbours. He later discovered that INTI, the government’s land-reform agency, had granted them rights to occupy his land, in what he saw as an act of revenge by a corrupt local mayor.
He then began an extraordinary, and often lonely, fight to regain sole title to his farm. To raise awareness of his case, he staged six separate hunger strikes, amputated his little finger and had his lips sewn together. The government sometimes said it would meet his demands if he ended the hunger strikes, but inevitably reneged once he did. It also offered him $230,000 in compensation. But he turned down almost all of it, saying the payment was illegal and that he could be accused of corruption if he accepted it. Although the people occupying his farm left last year, their legal right to return at any time was never revoked.
In 2009 Mr Brito transferred his hunger strike to the pavement outside the offices of the Organisation of American States (OAS) in Caracas. This step, which led an OAS delegation to attempt to mediate, drew too much attention to the case for the government’s taste. In December it sent police to transfer him to the military hospital by force.
Despite pressure from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the courts, which mainly do Mr Chávez’s bidding, refused to order his release. Government spokesmen said Mr Brito was mentally ill and needed to be detained for his own protection. But they never provided any evidence to support this claim. The authorities themselves undermined it when they filmed him without his permission, and then presented a crudely edited video that suggested he was trying to blackmail the government for money.
Mr Brito sealed his fate when he began refusing even liquids. In a statement issued shortly after his death, his family insisted that he would “live on in the struggle of the Venezuelan people for property rights, justice, freedom and human rights.” His widow, Elena, has vowed to continue the fight. “This is our only project in life,” she said last year, “and my four children depend on it.”
The government clearly could have stopped Mr Brito from taking his life by restoring his exclusive title to his land. But Hugo Chávez, the leftist president, seems to have calculated that standing firm against his demands would be more politically advantageous. Human-rights organisations in Venezuela say that around 2,500 people are currently subject to criminal proceedings for engaging in peaceful dissent. The space to do so is shrinking every day.
The right to private property is essential to a free society. This is my land, and you can't have it unless I freely transfer it to you on terms agreeable to me. This is my house, my business, my copyright, my money, my body. It belongs to me, not to the state or the state's designated favorites.
OS is seeing this right beginning to erode here in the US. A friend and her husband resisted a state 'economic development commission' attempt to seize their farm for an industrial plant a few years ago, standing against massive arm-twisting by government at all levels. They just found out that it has all started again, via a zoning proposal that will effectively lower the value of their land to near zero, unless they buckle under at the next 'offer' to purchase. OS finds it hard to believe that this is an isolated occurrence.
Mr. Brito's refusal to buckle was extraordinary, some would say excessive. OS is not certain at all that he would show the same courage. He also hopes he is never put in position to have to make those kinds of choice.
This from today's Economist:
FRANKLIN BRITO is not well-known outside Venezuela, and the country’s government would like it to stay that way. Late on Monday night, the 50-year-old farmer and biologist died from a hunger strike in the military hospital in Caracas, the capital, where he had been held against his will, virtually incommunicado, since December.
Mr Brito’s sad saga started seven years ago, when his 250-acre fruit and vegetable farm in the south-eastern state of Bolívar was taken over by neighbours. He later discovered that INTI, the government’s land-reform agency, had granted them rights to occupy his land, in what he saw as an act of revenge by a corrupt local mayor.
He then began an extraordinary, and often lonely, fight to regain sole title to his farm. To raise awareness of his case, he staged six separate hunger strikes, amputated his little finger and had his lips sewn together. The government sometimes said it would meet his demands if he ended the hunger strikes, but inevitably reneged once he did. It also offered him $230,000 in compensation. But he turned down almost all of it, saying the payment was illegal and that he could be accused of corruption if he accepted it. Although the people occupying his farm left last year, their legal right to return at any time was never revoked.
In 2009 Mr Brito transferred his hunger strike to the pavement outside the offices of the Organisation of American States (OAS) in Caracas. This step, which led an OAS delegation to attempt to mediate, drew too much attention to the case for the government’s taste. In December it sent police to transfer him to the military hospital by force.
Despite pressure from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the courts, which mainly do Mr Chávez’s bidding, refused to order his release. Government spokesmen said Mr Brito was mentally ill and needed to be detained for his own protection. But they never provided any evidence to support this claim. The authorities themselves undermined it when they filmed him without his permission, and then presented a crudely edited video that suggested he was trying to blackmail the government for money.
Mr Brito sealed his fate when he began refusing even liquids. In a statement issued shortly after his death, his family insisted that he would “live on in the struggle of the Venezuelan people for property rights, justice, freedom and human rights.” His widow, Elena, has vowed to continue the fight. “This is our only project in life,” she said last year, “and my four children depend on it.”
The government clearly could have stopped Mr Brito from taking his life by restoring his exclusive title to his land. But Hugo Chávez, the leftist president, seems to have calculated that standing firm against his demands would be more politically advantageous. Human-rights organisations in Venezuela say that around 2,500 people are currently subject to criminal proceedings for engaging in peaceful dissent. The space to do so is shrinking every day.
The right to private property is essential to a free society. This is my land, and you can't have it unless I freely transfer it to you on terms agreeable to me. This is my house, my business, my copyright, my money, my body. It belongs to me, not to the state or the state's designated favorites.
OS is seeing this right beginning to erode here in the US. A friend and her husband resisted a state 'economic development commission' attempt to seize their farm for an industrial plant a few years ago, standing against massive arm-twisting by government at all levels. They just found out that it has all started again, via a zoning proposal that will effectively lower the value of their land to near zero, unless they buckle under at the next 'offer' to purchase. OS finds it hard to believe that this is an isolated occurrence.
Mr. Brito's refusal to buckle was extraordinary, some would say excessive. OS is not certain at all that he would show the same courage. He also hopes he is never put in position to have to make those kinds of choice.
Monday, August 30, 2010
While We're Being Lectured By The Mexicans About Our Poor Treatment Of Illegal Aliens...
This little gift arrives on the door-step:
According to Mexico’s Center for Human Rights of Migrants (CNDH), Mexico operates on a double standard in regards to the treatment of undocumented migrants. In a communique issued from Cd. Juarez, the organization pointed out that while the Mexican government demands respect for their countrymen in the US, it violates the human rights of Central and South Americans in Mexico. In reference to the recent massacre of 72 people in Tamaulipas, what happened there is only a reflection of the vulnerability of migrants in Mexico. Just this past May, they point out, the United Nation’s Human Rights Council expressed surprise at the growing xenophobia, aggressions, tortures, anti-migrant laws and even murders suffered by undocumented Central and South Americans in their transit through Mexican territory.
One of the most serious problems facing migrants in Mexico today is kidnapping. The CNDH documented the kidnapping of 9,758 undocumented migrants in Mexico between September 2008 and February 2009, more than 1,600 per month. The report also warned that the kidnapping of migrants has become a common practice, usually unpunished and with acts of extreme cruelty, carried out as much by the authorities as by organized crime. The crime is very lucrative. In the total number of cases cited above, the take in those six months was approximately 25 million US dollars.
Did you catch that clause in the last line?
'...carried out as much by the authorities as by organized crime.'
'...carried out as much by the authorities as by organized crime.'
'...carried out as much by the authorities as by organized crime.'
And the Obama administration is pursuing Arizona instead of the Mexicans?
HT M3 Report.
According to Mexico’s Center for Human Rights of Migrants (CNDH), Mexico operates on a double standard in regards to the treatment of undocumented migrants. In a communique issued from Cd. Juarez, the organization pointed out that while the Mexican government demands respect for their countrymen in the US, it violates the human rights of Central and South Americans in Mexico. In reference to the recent massacre of 72 people in Tamaulipas, what happened there is only a reflection of the vulnerability of migrants in Mexico. Just this past May, they point out, the United Nation’s Human Rights Council expressed surprise at the growing xenophobia, aggressions, tortures, anti-migrant laws and even murders suffered by undocumented Central and South Americans in their transit through Mexican territory.
One of the most serious problems facing migrants in Mexico today is kidnapping. The CNDH documented the kidnapping of 9,758 undocumented migrants in Mexico between September 2008 and February 2009, more than 1,600 per month. The report also warned that the kidnapping of migrants has become a common practice, usually unpunished and with acts of extreme cruelty, carried out as much by the authorities as by organized crime. The crime is very lucrative. In the total number of cases cited above, the take in those six months was approximately 25 million US dollars.
Did you catch that clause in the last line?
'...carried out as much by the authorities as by organized crime.'
'...carried out as much by the authorities as by organized crime.'
'...carried out as much by the authorities as by organized crime.'
And the Obama administration is pursuing Arizona instead of the Mexicans?
HT M3 Report.
Hmm...University Of Texas Begins To Hedge Its Portfolio With Gold
This peeks above the radar from Inside Higher Ed.
News that the investment arm of the University of Texas has started buying up gold is validating the concerns of some analysts who fear high inflation and increasing U.S. debt will wreak havoc on other more commonly held endowment securities, such as bonds.
The University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO) announced last month that it would move $500 million into gold. While that constitutes just 3 percent of the $22.3 billion in assets UTIMCO controls, it’s a marked shift in strategy for a management company that had no gold in its portfolio a year ago.
(and later in the article)
Given the fact that a gold investment strategy is predicated on the idea that the dollar is declining and the nation is too deep in debt, some have described the gaga for gold trend gripping the conservative movement – see Glenn Beck – as ideologically driven.
But you don’t have to be a conservative talk show host to see the merits of UTIMCO’s position, said Sandy Leeds, a senior lecturer of finance at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business. Leeds was so fired up by the news of UTIMCO’s strategy that he wrote an op-ed on the subject for The Houston Chronicle, which originally reported on a public meeting where the investments were discussed.
“While unstated by UTIMCO, we should consider the possibility that they are hedging against a U.S. meltdown,” Leeds wrote.
Leed's op-ed is well worth reading.
The financial problems we face are immense. In addition to our trillion-dollar deficit, our total debt is approaching 85 percent of gross domestic product. A recent academic study by Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff suggested that a debt level above 90 percent of GDP is a tipping point that results in slower growth.
In reality, I would be ecstatic if our debt level was only 90 percent of GDP. The real issue is that we have approximately $50 trillion of unfunded liabilities - Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. This is a daunting liability. Public investors such as mutual funds, pension funds, endowments, hedge funds, foreign governments and individuals have all combined to loan the United States approximately $8.5 trillion to fund our accumulated deficits. If we wanted to be fully funded in today's dollars, we would need to issue another $50 trillion of debt.
Now, if OS may break into the local patios:
Ya'll, these are grownups who have to be in charge of the endowments of major universities, unlike the clown circus who run the White House and Congress. University of Texas existed long before this crew ever got together, and intends to be in business long after they have left to write their mutually-incriminating biographies.
These people ain't no AstroTurf, or TeaParty TeaBaggers, or Glenn Beck devotees, or secessionists, or Klan members, or any of that stuff. These are serious, sober, boring respectable people who have to make sure the alma mater is still in business for their grandchildren.
They are voting with their investment decisions, and they ain't endorsing The One, TurboTax Timmy, and Helicopter Ben, Miz Nancy and Mr. Harry, and Rahmbo. They are distancing themselves from this crowd, and trying to keep their corner of the world intact when things begin to come unwound.
News that the investment arm of the University of Texas has started buying up gold is validating the concerns of some analysts who fear high inflation and increasing U.S. debt will wreak havoc on other more commonly held endowment securities, such as bonds.
The University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO) announced last month that it would move $500 million into gold. While that constitutes just 3 percent of the $22.3 billion in assets UTIMCO controls, it’s a marked shift in strategy for a management company that had no gold in its portfolio a year ago.
(and later in the article)
Given the fact that a gold investment strategy is predicated on the idea that the dollar is declining and the nation is too deep in debt, some have described the gaga for gold trend gripping the conservative movement – see Glenn Beck – as ideologically driven.
But you don’t have to be a conservative talk show host to see the merits of UTIMCO’s position, said Sandy Leeds, a senior lecturer of finance at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business. Leeds was so fired up by the news of UTIMCO’s strategy that he wrote an op-ed on the subject for The Houston Chronicle, which originally reported on a public meeting where the investments were discussed.
“While unstated by UTIMCO, we should consider the possibility that they are hedging against a U.S. meltdown,” Leeds wrote.
Leed's op-ed is well worth reading.
The financial problems we face are immense. In addition to our trillion-dollar deficit, our total debt is approaching 85 percent of gross domestic product. A recent academic study by Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff suggested that a debt level above 90 percent of GDP is a tipping point that results in slower growth.
In reality, I would be ecstatic if our debt level was only 90 percent of GDP. The real issue is that we have approximately $50 trillion of unfunded liabilities - Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. This is a daunting liability. Public investors such as mutual funds, pension funds, endowments, hedge funds, foreign governments and individuals have all combined to loan the United States approximately $8.5 trillion to fund our accumulated deficits. If we wanted to be fully funded in today's dollars, we would need to issue another $50 trillion of debt.
Now, if OS may break into the local patios:
Ya'll, these are grownups who have to be in charge of the endowments of major universities, unlike the clown circus who run the White House and Congress. University of Texas existed long before this crew ever got together, and intends to be in business long after they have left to write their mutually-incriminating biographies.
These people ain't no AstroTurf, or TeaParty TeaBaggers, or Glenn Beck devotees, or secessionists, or Klan members, or any of that stuff. These are serious, sober, boring respectable people who have to make sure the alma mater is still in business for their grandchildren.
They are voting with their investment decisions, and they ain't endorsing The One, TurboTax Timmy, and Helicopter Ben, Miz Nancy and Mr. Harry, and Rahmbo. They are distancing themselves from this crowd, and trying to keep their corner of the world intact when things begin to come unwound.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
The Beck Rally 8/28: OS Awaits Monday Morning...
...when ObamaBob will be called upon to explain away 300,000 people who are really, really, really unhappy with The Winner Of The 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.
Even the Yew Nork Times noticed this time.
And, it would be pretty safe to assume that for every person there, there were several more who would have loved to have attended.
That's a lot of really motivated people.
So, tomorrow, the Spin Machine folks will be meeting, winding ObamaBob up and feeding him the ExplanationOfTheDay.
Ron Nessen, Nixon's shill, had it easy compared to ObamaBob.
ObamaBob has to come up with a plausible explanation for this picture, and many others like it, from multiple sources. Can't call it PhotoShopAstroTurf and have any straight faces left in the press room.
Even the Yew Nork Times noticed this time.
And, it would be pretty safe to assume that for every person there, there were several more who would have loved to have attended.
That's a lot of really motivated people.
So, tomorrow, the Spin Machine folks will be meeting, winding ObamaBob up and feeding him the ExplanationOfTheDay.
Ron Nessen, Nixon's shill, had it easy compared to ObamaBob.
ObamaBob has to come up with a plausible explanation for this picture, and many others like it, from multiple sources. Can't call it PhotoShopAstroTurf and have any straight faces left in the press room.
How Stuff Works: Truly Cool, Simple Animations For The Laity
OldSouth has a buddy from academia whom he admires, and whose intellectual shoes he cannot tie.
A link from said buddy led to this, an elegant series of animated gifs that simply illustrate the ingenuities of the constant velocity joint, rotary engine, and much more.
As the Psalmist David noted: We are fearfully and wonderfully made. At our best, we create things like constant velocity joints, laser scalpels, the sonata-allegro and fugue forms, the pipe organ, the sonnet, golf, baseball, perspective in painting, the list goes on and on.
OS hopes you enjoy this bit of inspiration. We, who so often create chaos, are capable of such inspired greatness.
A link from said buddy led to this, an elegant series of animated gifs that simply illustrate the ingenuities of the constant velocity joint, rotary engine, and much more.
As the Psalmist David noted: We are fearfully and wonderfully made. At our best, we create things like constant velocity joints, laser scalpels, the sonata-allegro and fugue forms, the pipe organ, the sonnet, golf, baseball, perspective in painting, the list goes on and on.
OS hopes you enjoy this bit of inspiration. We, who so often create chaos, are capable of such inspired greatness.
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