Don't reward the scoundrels

William Greider, whom I've always considered to be one of our smartest, and best-informed political writers, has some legitimate criticism of the bailouts of financial instituions, and the terms of those bailouts.

As Greider suggests, the action of the government is necessary, but it should be accompanied by broad-ranging regulation, stiff penalties, future paybacks, protection against market manipulation, and help for the homeowner.

There are those on Wall Street who see the bailout as a huge opportunity. It's corporate socialism as practiced by the rich, the conservative and the Republicans.

And Greider is not the only one who feels the bailout will not work without strict regulation, and specific stipulations against profit taking. In the New York Times, oppositional editorial writers William Kristol and Paul Krugman don't think much of the offer. And Joshua Holland explains how the bailout privatizes gains while socializing losses.

Time to re-subscribe to The Nation

I let my subscription to The Nation lapse because, with every other piece of reading material that comes into the house, I never seemed to get around to finding the time to make it through The Nation's dense and important prose.

The unread copies made me feel guilty.

But now they've joined with the ACLU in a lawsuit against the federal government and a Constitutional challenge to the recently passed and signed FISA bill.

The price of a subscription is ridiculously small. It seems a small price to pay to show my support.

The role of mercenaries: pillage, burn and rape

Defense department contractors, and apparently the military branches of the Pentagon, have a serious sexual assault problem which they seem unwilling to address. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has held a hearing to find out why the Justice Department hasn't addressed the issue (too busy going after Democratic oppenents, I guess). Florida's Senator Bill Nelson has pressured the military, who seem incapable of handling the problem.