If you haven’t noticed, our government hasn’t been regulating things in this country for about eight years. It cuts across almost every agency in the bureaucracy. Mostly they just unfunded the regulators or told them to stop doing their jobs. See recent headlines on airplanes being grounded because they hadn’t been inspected in timely fashion for an example.
You need only listen to the news any given day to be reminded. We haven’t been keeping our government accountable. Neither has our corporate media. So, we can blame only ourselves. Or only our media, if we are cowards. (Yes, I consider ignoring our own failing an act of cowardice. Blaming others is the height of it.)
It was interesting to hear of another regulatory failing on Marketplace on Monday night. This one not of Executive Branch malfeasance, but one of political will-bending in the Legislature in December of 2000.
I’m sure everyone remembers Enron. They went south in a very large way about a year later. But before that they got this legislation passed. Basically, deregulating (and effectively hiding) the trading of about 30% of the energy market.
Recently, we’ve had out-of-control rises in the price of crude oil. All the analysts say we’ve got plenty of supply. So, whatever could be the cause of the price rises?
Well the Legislature has finally fixed their part in this non-regulation snafu. Soon it is of course passing back into the Executive’s hands. What will happen there, only time will tell.
Michael Greenburger, previous Head of Trading and Markets for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission says “many observers believe that because those markets are not being policed, malpractices are being committed and traders are able to boost the price virtually at their will… From my own experience as a commodity regulator, I believe that if the Bush Administration were serious about its regulation, we could begin seeing prices drop within a month.”
If things don’t start moving in a positive direction, let’s make sure we tell our elected employees we aren’t happy about it.
58 doesn’t seem that old (and it isn’t) when you’re sitting here with your age starting with a 4. Droping dead at work, hard to believe. So many people survive heart attacks these days; it’s hard to believe a witnessed one can be fatal. Here’s the reminder.
Here’s Tim from a month ago, speaking what was obvious to many while invisible to many others:
The deal? 100+ feeds from live news cameras across the country and across the globe. Often (they’re working on 24/7) they have a live person, who will alert you to what channel has something interesting on it. They’re often doing the same thing you’re doing - watching the feeds.
I’ve been watching the daily politics podcast from CNN for a while. I loved CNN in the 80’s but their worthiness has been drifting for over a decade. I tend to vary my sources of news just to know what they’re all saying.
But something about this podcast, which is easily solvable has been annoying me for quite some time. So, I chased the links till I found a page to send feedback. I’m not sure if it will get to those it needs to, but I sure hope so. An easy fix to an annoying situation.
(Wolf Blitzer’s annoying, but they’re not going to solve that.)
CNN,
The only podcast I watch regularly is the CNN Politics podcast, a video daily release.
You really, really, really really need to mention WHAT DAY it is at the beginning of each podcast. On either the audio portion or displayed on the video, preferably both!
Otherwise enjoying it, thanks.
-bill shirley, houston
The trick is, these things download daily to my iPod/iTunes and if I haven’t watched them in a while, there’s a bunch of them. There is NO way to tell if it’s the most recent one when you’re watching. And, of course, the introductions are all identical.
Note: I should have said, it’s the only video podcast I watch regularly from CNN.
This is actually more of a free speech case. It’s disappointing on both levels.
I just found out that Ms. Chris Comer was forced to resign as the director of the Texas Education Agency. (I wished she would have forced a firing - but everyone much choose their own battles.) She was forced to step down for forwarding an email about a lecture.
Eric,
You’re going to invoke Richard Smalley, born in 1943 in Ohio, raised in Missouri, schooled at Hope College, University of Michigan, and Princeton - as proof that today’s state of public science education is healthy?
The mere fact that Ms. Comer was ejected from the Texas Education Agency under such ridiculous circumstances is case enough to state that there is a HUGE problem!
It’s also sad, that the link you had to provide was from the Austin American-Statesman, and a google searching of chron.com provides me a dead link.
Did the editorial board address this issue? Though it’s of minimal effect, it’s something they should have done!
I expect heads to roll over this. I will be sorely disappointed.
So I'll put it bluntly. Human beings are free except when humanity needs them. Maybe humanity needs you. To do something. Maybe humanity needs me — to find out what you're good for. We might both do despicable things, Ender, but if humankind servives, then we were good tools.
– Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card, p 35
