The bank has raised the possibility that there is a danger that somebody who knew how to use this program could use it to manipulate markets in unfair ways.

Given that Goldman obviously knows how to use its own program – which it paid many millions for – isn’t that a virtual admission that Goldman has been manipulating markets?
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a_6d.tyNe1KQ

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/business/07goldman.html?_r=2&ref=business

My grasp of the subject is far from a commanding one, but my interest has introduced me to a variety of readings. Articles on the topic seem scarce, so you’ll have to put the time in reading some thick books (j/k, they’re not that thick). Here are some good ones:

-Leftism Revisited: From De Sade and Marx to Hitler and Pol Pot, by Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn
-Liberal Fascism, by Jonah Goldberg
-Liberty or Equality: The Challenge of Our Times, by Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn
-Road to Serfdom, by Friedrich Hayek

There are many others, but these can give you some perspective. For a quick, fresh outlook on the leftist-fascist connection in the U.S., “Liberal Fascism” is an absolute must-read.

Yours,

revolverBoy

Fastened upon our ancestors by the despots of faraway lands, the Chains of Tyranny were linked by hereditary bondage, undeserved tribute and indentured servitude. By exhibiting gallant resolve and courage – in some cases against the face of certain death – our Minutemen forefathers gloriously threw off these chains just 233 short years ago.

Much has changed since that time. Yet today, we hear again the rattling and clanking of the Chains of Tyranny. The chains we hear are held not by foreign powers. Dreadfully, it is those among us, many of whom are our elected leaders, who possess the chains and toil endlessly to cast them across our backs. Now heavier and longer, the Chains of Tyranny have been wrought with new links – apathy masked by complacency, socialism fueled by internationalism, cults of undeserved celebrity and a reckless belief in the equality of results.

Moreover, they are now deceptively plated in gold. We have been assured, time and time again, by those who hold the chains that they “know better” and that to embrace their shackles would be “for our own good.”

The threatened return of the Chains of Tyranny triggers that transcendent call for us to assemble here today.

Who are we? We are the Defenders of Liberty!

Our hands reach across generations. We do not perceive the value of each other in abstract terms of race, gender, ethnicity or creed. We do not see ourselves as rich or poor. We spurn “identity politics” as a lazy and inadequate substitute for a guarded vigilance balanced by independent thoughts. For we are all individual citizens of America – black and white, man and woman, Mayflower descendent and newly naturalized – and we must all stand united to protect freedom’s priceless but delicate charge!

We detest efforts by the holders of the Chains of Tyranny to corrupt the everyday meaning of things and turn us against one another.

Hope is not faith! Change is not reform! Taxation is not charity! Equality is not opportunity! Servitude is not freedom!

To this end, we reject the following confused ideas tinkered in minds that reason abandoned and faith no longer moderates: Inconvenient truths, audacities of hope, carbon footprints, unearned incomes and government-sponsored “recoveries.”

We believe there is but one market – the free market – that, if allowed to run unfettered in a free society, can provide all men and women the opportunity to use the results of their work to better themselves, their families and their communities.

We know that public bailouts, no matter the intention, foster dependence, which in turn fornicates with servitude and begets slavery. For this reason alone, we would rather walk than drive a car made by any government! We would rather be paupers than be made rich by “public” money! We would rather drop dead than be cared for by Nurse Fed!

We further reject the guise of “universal health care” and recognize this abhorrent creature for what it is: a brazen attempt to seize illegally our wealth, control how we care for our mortal bodies, limit our access to the best medicines, stifle scientific progress and medical innovation, and transform our doctor’s offices and hospitals into DMV-style waiting rooms.

The Defenders of Liberty will never stand by and ignore the attempts of others to cast off their own chains of servitude. We will not strike accords or offer bribes to dictators! We would rather cut off our hands before extending them to the harbingers of evil!

Speaking of evil, we know only those true rights: those that are unalienable and endowed by our Creator. We reject penumbral “rights” as false and dangerous ideas contrived in judicial cauldrons established only to massacre those who permeate the bookends of life.

And finally, we know that our sovereignty shall forever reside in We the People. For this we reassert that any government that limits the God-given right of her citizens to defend themselves automatically ceases to be a government – for such action shall void the social contract from which it was forged.

We are the True Patriots, left to guard perpetually that shining city upon a hill. We know of her, we dream of her, and yes, throughout history she has had a name: AMERICA! Let us rally around her, for we are the Defenders of Liberty! Let us will hoist our flags, wave our banners and bear our arms! Let us be vigilant and fight any attempt to ravage her! For, as the envious eyes of the world are still cast upon us, we vow not to be the last to feel the sweet effervescence of her freedom!

God bless America!

- John Manning

The money, they said, had vanished
into the maw of the financial “crisis”
created so banks could suck up billions
in 401Ks, mutual and pension funds

in addition to the taxpayer bailout
and regurgitate it into the mint julep glasses
of CEOs and shareholders fanning themselves
while sitting on the financial plantation’s veranda,
living off the retirement
of the Middle and Working Classes,

and in the deep, dead of financial winter
will drink hot toddies and imported brandy
while wrapped in cashmere sweaters
by the comforting fire
of their remote and casual brutality.

by Vi Ransel

Have A Great 4th of July