[The Court] is required, even after giving substantial deference to the views of the administrative agency, to be satisfied that it is not being used as a tool to enforce an agreement that is unfair, unreasonable, inadequate, or in contravention of the public interest. ... Applying these standards to the case in hand, the Court concludes, regretfully, that the proposed Consent Judgment is neither fair, nor reasonable, nor adequate, nor in the public interest. ...
As for common experience, a consent judgment that does not involve any admissions and that results in only very modest penalties is just as frequently viewed, particularly in the business community, as a cost of doing business imposed by having to maintain a working relationship with a regulatory agency .... If the allegations of the Complaint are true, this is a very good deal for Citigroup; and, even if they are untrue, it is a mild and modest cost of doing business.
-- US District Court Judge Jed S. Rakoff, rejecting a settlement between the SEC and CitiGroup, in which CitiGroup is accused of both selling and shorting bad investments for a $160 million profit while investors lost $700 million, 28 November 2011
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Driver's License
One of the annoying things about believing in free will and individual responsibility is the difficulty of finding somebody to blame your problems on. And when you do find somebody, it's remarkable how often his picture turns up on your driver's license.
-- P. J. O'Rourke (14 November 1947-), American political satirist, Rolling Stone, 30 November 1989
-- P. J. O'Rourke (14 November 1947-), American political satirist, Rolling Stone, 30 November 1989
Monday, November 28, 2011
Sloths
Friday, November 25, 2011
No More
[The death penalty] has been carried out just twice in last 49 years in Oregon. Both were during my first administration as Governor, one in 1996 and the other in 1997. I allowed those sentences to be carried out despite my personal opposition to the death penalty. I was torn between my personal convictions about the morality of capital punishment and my oath to uphold the Oregon constitution.
They were the most agonizing and difficult decisions I have made as Governor and I have revisited and questioned them over and over again during the past 14 years. I do not believe that those executions made us safer; and certainly they did not make us nobler as a society.
... I refuse to be a part of this compromised and inequitable system any longer; and I will not allow further executions while I am Governor.
-- Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber announcing that no more executions will happen while he is in office, 22 November 2011
They were the most agonizing and difficult decisions I have made as Governor and I have revisited and questioned them over and over again during the past 14 years. I do not believe that those executions made us safer; and certainly they did not make us nobler as a society.
... I refuse to be a part of this compromised and inequitable system any longer; and I will not allow further executions while I am Governor.
-- Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber announcing that no more executions will happen while he is in office, 22 November 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Christmas Creep
Monday, November 21, 2011
Thanksgiving
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Enthusiasm
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Longing Eye
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Useless
Monday, November 14, 2011
Dead Newt?
Friday, November 11, 2011
11/11/11
I remember sitting at my desk in 7th grade on 11/11/71 and writing the date on a school paper. It struck me at the time that that was an awful lot of 1's, and, separated by slashes, a string of 8 very similar marks to represent the date. I thought about the only better date for that being 11/11/11, but that date seemed impossibly far away at the time.
And here it is.
And here it is.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Oops
The third agency of government I would do away with [pause], the Education, the, uh, Commerce, and, let's see [pause], I can't. The third one, I can't. Sorry. ... Oops.
-- Texas Governor Rick Perry, failing to name the three cabinet-level federal agencies he vows to eliminate if elected, at the CNBC Republican debate in Rochester, MI, 9 November 2011
-- Texas Governor Rick Perry, failing to name the three cabinet-level federal agencies he vows to eliminate if elected, at the CNBC Republican debate in Rochester, MI, 9 November 2011
Wednesday, November 09, 2011
Sarkozy Vs Netanyahu
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in French about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, "I can't stand him anymore. He's a liar."
President Obama responded, "You may be sick of him, but me, I have to deal with him every day."
-- Part of a conversation overheard by a group of journalists through an open mic at the G20 summit in Cannes, 3 November 2011
President Obama responded, "You may be sick of him, but me, I have to deal with him every day."
-- Part of a conversation overheard by a group of journalists through an open mic at the G20 summit in Cannes, 3 November 2011
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Here?
Monday, November 07, 2011
Ruled Paper
Friday, November 04, 2011
AfPak
Thursday, November 03, 2011
Might Not
Wednesday, November 02, 2011
Trusted
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