A few of our regular readers have quietly noted since our series of commentaries and cartoons focusing on the NSA leaks in early June, we've generally stayed away from in-depth discussions of the government's spying programs this summer.
With the sentencing today of U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning, and the events of this past weekend in the UK, we've decided to open up that topic again and let things fly, as several of the issues surrounding Private Manning, Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, and the U.S. government's spying programs have new information - but really haven't changed our positions.
As we noted in June, nothing that has come out about these government programs has truly surprised us. That Mr. Greenwald sent his significant other from their home in Brazil to Europe, to effectively be a document mule - and then somehow seemed shocked when his partner was stopped by U.K. officials looking for digital data that might contain "highly sensitive stolen (government) information" - also didn't surprise us. The behavior of both Greenwald and the U.K. authorities offended us, just as we're sure some of what the folks at the NSA have seen and heard might have offended them. It didn't shock us, though.
The latest stories about U.K. security officials trying to play the heavies to The Guardian newspaper weren't shocking either. Sadly, stories like this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who's ever had any significant knowledge of what really goes on in government and in corporations at the highest levels.
While we remain in solid opposition to most of the PATRIOT Act, and the U.K.'s "Schedule 7," what most critics of either law seem to have forgotten this summer is that both are, in fact, laws - and have been for over a decade. That doesn't make either law ethically right. But railing against the two laws as unconstitutional or illegal at this point in time makes those using that kind of opposition look like idiots or fools.
If either law needs changing or repeal - and both do, desperately - the people to blame aren't the Executive branches of either government who are operating under those flawed laws. It's the Legislative branches of both the U.S. and U.K. governments that must be forced to take their oversight roles seriously and change those laws.
We still have little respect for Edward Snowden, the impatient coward who remains hiding in Russia, even as further facts come out that continue to impugn his credibility. At least Private Manning did the honorable thing, standing to face the crimes he knowingly committed.
The key difference between Manning and Snowden is indeed one of honor, for us - and it's one of the reasons we fervently hope PFC Manning is sentenced far more lightly than he might be otherwise, had his intentions been malicious or self-aggrandizing. The treatment that Bradley Manning has received at the hands of his own government while being detained for trial has also been shameful and deplorable, even by international standards. In our collective opinion, Private Manning deserves some modicum of payback - especially as he's generally remained respectful and even apologetic for his actions.
Private Manning could be locked away for effectively the rest of his life, or he could be sentenced more humanely, as an example both to Mr. Snowden and the world that our American government is not vindictive.
We're somewhat less than certain that will happen, though.
We are still certain of this: There are some things the average American simply does not need to see or know regarding national security.
Just because Americans believe they have a right to demand certain secret government information doesn't make those demands legal - and it doesn't make those Americans any more able to handle the truths those secrets might reveal.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Educational Monkey Business
Many in the political media lament that August is the worst month of the year for news gathering. While President Obama was already back in DC and working yesterday, Congress is still out for another couple weeks - meaning that there is little news coming from the Capitol.
Schools, however, are back in session nationwide, and that lull in stupidity from Capitol Hill gives writers and journalists a chance to revisit certain issues we may not have been able to fully close out earlier in the summer.
For example, the student loan fiasco that got quietly resolved in July, and the legislation that President Obama signed earlier this month.
As we noted in July, and again before that in April, the student loan industry has become a massive racket, the kind of monkey on the back of Americans that seems cute at first and - literally for some - turns deadly later.
Even though the numbers surrounding America's student loan beast are clear and terrifying, we still encounter large numbers of people who scoff at the idea that the student loan problem is as bad as it is, or that America has broken any kind of contract that it's made with the young.
So we're going a bit gorilla today, and we're going to hit you over the head with a piece by Matt Taibbi, of Rolling Stone.
Taibbi, for his part, still has a chip on his shoulder against President Obama that we do not share. That said, the picture Taibbi paints of a fiscal and social disaster happening now, and stemming from the monster that is the student loan program is accurate, and is getting worse all the time. Just in the last decade, student loan debt has quadrupled.
In real-life terms, as Taibbi makes clear in his in-depth piece, this means everything from students having to sell drugs, to students committing suicide from the pressure of the crushing debt - debt that as we noted in April, was part of a social contract, one that America has welshed on.
Student loan companies now take such draconian measures as garnishing the federal disability checks of near-fatally injured former students, or going after the families of dead students trying to collect on higher ed. loans. Yet the best our government could do for a student loan relief bill this summer was to temporarily drop interest rates on the loans back below 4%.
That rate won't last, though. Unlike the plan financially wise members of Congress like Sen. Elizabeth Warren supported earlier this year, the plan that passed Congress in July ties the new student loan rate to the market rate. Which means it's a certainty that student loan rates will go up, and be even higher than they were before. While it's likely this issue will be tackled again, as Taibbi points out early in his piece, the focus on student loan interest rates is a distraction.
The real problem is the principal of the loans - as well as the principle that millions of American kids have been sold: That a college degree is a ticket to success, or at least a foot in the door for a decent paying job.
The truth today is that college loans are a scam. Even when they guaranteed good paying jobs, they were a risk.
Now, they're simply a monkey on the backs of millions of Americans - one that is dragging down the future of our entire nation.
Schools, however, are back in session nationwide, and that lull in stupidity from Capitol Hill gives writers and journalists a chance to revisit certain issues we may not have been able to fully close out earlier in the summer.
For example, the student loan fiasco that got quietly resolved in July, and the legislation that President Obama signed earlier this month.
As we noted in July, and again before that in April, the student loan industry has become a massive racket, the kind of monkey on the back of Americans that seems cute at first and - literally for some - turns deadly later.
Even though the numbers surrounding America's student loan beast are clear and terrifying, we still encounter large numbers of people who scoff at the idea that the student loan problem is as bad as it is, or that America has broken any kind of contract that it's made with the young.
So we're going a bit gorilla today, and we're going to hit you over the head with a piece by Matt Taibbi, of Rolling Stone.
Taibbi, for his part, still has a chip on his shoulder against President Obama that we do not share. That said, the picture Taibbi paints of a fiscal and social disaster happening now, and stemming from the monster that is the student loan program is accurate, and is getting worse all the time. Just in the last decade, student loan debt has quadrupled.
In real-life terms, as Taibbi makes clear in his in-depth piece, this means everything from students having to sell drugs, to students committing suicide from the pressure of the crushing debt - debt that as we noted in April, was part of a social contract, one that America has welshed on.
Student loan companies now take such draconian measures as garnishing the federal disability checks of near-fatally injured former students, or going after the families of dead students trying to collect on higher ed. loans. Yet the best our government could do for a student loan relief bill this summer was to temporarily drop interest rates on the loans back below 4%.
That rate won't last, though. Unlike the plan financially wise members of Congress like Sen. Elizabeth Warren supported earlier this year, the plan that passed Congress in July ties the new student loan rate to the market rate. Which means it's a certainty that student loan rates will go up, and be even higher than they were before. While it's likely this issue will be tackled again, as Taibbi points out early in his piece, the focus on student loan interest rates is a distraction.
The real problem is the principal of the loans - as well as the principle that millions of American kids have been sold: That a college degree is a ticket to success, or at least a foot in the door for a decent paying job.
The truth today is that college loans are a scam. Even when they guaranteed good paying jobs, they were a risk.
Now, they're simply a monkey on the backs of millions of Americans - one that is dragging down the future of our entire nation.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Success Can Really Bite
As the long hot days of August roll on, we were reminded through a few news stories and conversations over the weekend that farming isn't exactly a profession for wusses.
Last week, the USDA released a new estimate of what this year's U.S. corn crop harvest likely will look like - and indeed, the crop looks to be one of the largest ever. Most non-farmers might look at that and think, 'Great! A Bumper crop is a good thing, right?'
In terms of sheer productivity, yes. A bumper crop in any year proves America's farmers can once again navigate the challenges of Mother Nature, international agribusiness, our gridlocked Congress, and other unforeseen events to deliver a successful harvest. That said, it's not exactly like any of those challenges that farmers face are easy or stable. Even the best farmer can rarely account fully for unintended consequences, the kinds of things that often bite them in the behind.
One look at the complicated monster that is the corn market gives outsiders a perfect view of how success in growing food doesn't always mean success in the pockets of farmers.
When you're looking at how corn is sold in agricultural markets, what happened last year and in previous years matters. This year, corn harvest yields are forecast to be up worldwide. After last year's U.S. corn crop withered in the heat of late summer, many international corn buyers had to switch away from American suppliers to South American nations. Five years ago, combined exports from Brazil and Argentina accounted for only 23% of global trade. Last year, thanks to the weather in the U.S., it was 47%.
With more and more corn, and the same number of purchasers or less, thanks to global agribusiness corporations the demand is down - and sadly so is the price of corn. All of which means a bumper corn crop in the U.S. this year isn't exactly great news for the pocketbooks of American farmers.
What's going on in the Middle East and Egypt could also come back to bite American farmers. As Tim Fernholz wrote in Quartz this weekend, the Suez Canal in Egypt looks to remain open, even as that nation burns. Part of why the canal remains open is America's financial support of Egypt, as well as its international agreements with the Egyptian government.
There are plenty of people on all sides insisting President Obama is caught in a dilemma on Egypt - but the facts don't really bear that out. There are many reasons why President Obama won't likely publicly admit a coup has taken place in Egypt. For one thing, as soon as he would do so, legal considerations would automatically come into play that could potentially close the Suez to American shipping interests. That would include not just agribusiness interests, but also up to 3 million barrels of oil per day. A closed Suez Canal would be brutal to the bottom line of most American farmers.
Such an admission would also likely cut off a great deal of the U.S. military access to the Middle East - making America weaker in the Middle East, not stronger.
Finally, Mother Nature isn't exactly stable these days. In fact, as Jillian MacMath of AccuWeather notes, the entire greater midwest, from the Rockies through the Ohio valley looks to be getting an early frost this year - which could completely change the harvest outlook again, if the forecasts hold true.
All of which reminded us over the weekend to thank the next farmer we see, and reminded us to be thankful we don't have to deal with the issues farmers do every day. Even when they win, they can still lose - and that really bites.
Last week, the USDA released a new estimate of what this year's U.S. corn crop harvest likely will look like - and indeed, the crop looks to be one of the largest ever. Most non-farmers might look at that and think, 'Great! A Bumper crop is a good thing, right?'
In terms of sheer productivity, yes. A bumper crop in any year proves America's farmers can once again navigate the challenges of Mother Nature, international agribusiness, our gridlocked Congress, and other unforeseen events to deliver a successful harvest. That said, it's not exactly like any of those challenges that farmers face are easy or stable. Even the best farmer can rarely account fully for unintended consequences, the kinds of things that often bite them in the behind.
One look at the complicated monster that is the corn market gives outsiders a perfect view of how success in growing food doesn't always mean success in the pockets of farmers.
When you're looking at how corn is sold in agricultural markets, what happened last year and in previous years matters. This year, corn harvest yields are forecast to be up worldwide. After last year's U.S. corn crop withered in the heat of late summer, many international corn buyers had to switch away from American suppliers to South American nations. Five years ago, combined exports from Brazil and Argentina accounted for only 23% of global trade. Last year, thanks to the weather in the U.S., it was 47%.
With more and more corn, and the same number of purchasers or less, thanks to global agribusiness corporations the demand is down - and sadly so is the price of corn. All of which means a bumper corn crop in the U.S. this year isn't exactly great news for the pocketbooks of American farmers.
What's going on in the Middle East and Egypt could also come back to bite American farmers. As Tim Fernholz wrote in Quartz this weekend, the Suez Canal in Egypt looks to remain open, even as that nation burns. Part of why the canal remains open is America's financial support of Egypt, as well as its international agreements with the Egyptian government.
There are plenty of people on all sides insisting President Obama is caught in a dilemma on Egypt - but the facts don't really bear that out. There are many reasons why President Obama won't likely publicly admit a coup has taken place in Egypt. For one thing, as soon as he would do so, legal considerations would automatically come into play that could potentially close the Suez to American shipping interests. That would include not just agribusiness interests, but also up to 3 million barrels of oil per day. A closed Suez Canal would be brutal to the bottom line of most American farmers.
Such an admission would also likely cut off a great deal of the U.S. military access to the Middle East - making America weaker in the Middle East, not stronger.
Finally, Mother Nature isn't exactly stable these days. In fact, as Jillian MacMath of AccuWeather notes, the entire greater midwest, from the Rockies through the Ohio valley looks to be getting an early frost this year - which could completely change the harvest outlook again, if the forecasts hold true.
All of which reminded us over the weekend to thank the next farmer we see, and reminded us to be thankful we don't have to deal with the issues farmers do every day. Even when they win, they can still lose - and that really bites.
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