Archive for October 13th, 2008

“For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.” 

- The first line in the Findings section of the Branchflower Report(pdf) (the investigation into Troopergate) that was released late last week. 

“Well, I’m very very pleased to be cleared of any legal wrongdoing, any hint of any kind of unethical activity there…Very pleased to be cleared of any of that.” 

- Sarah Palin, during a conference call with reporters on Saturday 

“Either Sarah Palin is lying brazenly or she’s functionally illiterate.” 

- Steve Benen

Paul Krugman has been awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences today. I am very, very far from being an economist but the economic knowledge I do have has mostly been gained through reading Krugman’s New York Times column and his book The Conscience of a Liberal. What Krugman does as a writer can be undervalued because he does make it look so easy. But it is remarkable how he is able to bridge the gap between economic wonks and the economically uninformed to create a space where both groups feel comfortable. 

More details about his Nobel win: 

Mr. Krugman received the award for his work on international trade and economic geography. In particular, the prize committee lauded his work for “having shown the effects of economies of scale on trade patterns and on the location of economic activity.” He has developed models that explain observed patterns of trade between countries, as well as what goods are produced where and why. Traditional trade theory assumes that countries are different and will exchange different kinds of goods with each other; Mr. Krugman’s theories have explained why worldwide trade is dominated by a few countries that are similar to each other, and why some countries might import the same kinds of goods that it exports.

“There was something very beautiful about the old existing trade theory, and its ability to capture the world in a surprisingly simple conceptual framework,” Mr. Krugman said. “And then I realized that some of the new insights coming through in industrial organization could be applied to international trade.”

The silk lined clutches from La Vita Lola are so adorable that I’m willing to ignore their slightly high cost. ‘Tis the season for creating wishlists, after all. ::cough:: hint, hint ::cough:: 

Skulls and Roses Clutch, $45.00 

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Jill- distraught at the bigoted anger swelling in the McPalin audience with no serious admonishment from the politicians at the helm- quoted a line from I, Claudius:” I was born into a world of people and now I live in a pack of mad dogs.” Those words stayed in the back of my mind while I read this horrific account: 

He had called the multi-ethnic Mid-Wilshire neighborhood home for more than a decade. Sitting outside a shuttered dental office near Berendo and 3rd streets, the homeless man with the Buddha-like frame rarely asked for money. But he got it anyway.

Regulars at the California Donut shop bought him coffee and doughnuts in the mornings, a couple of Asian men took him for showers and a haircut, and poor Central American and Mexican immigrants would give him spare change or food.

“His priorities were cigarettes, Dr Pepper, hot Cheetos and, once a week, he would buy C batteries” for his radio, said Asit Bhowmick, the Bangledeshi owner of the Bengal Liquor store.

The homeless man, whom many in the neighborood knew simply as “John,” never bothered anybody, said Jorge Garcia, owner of La Morenita Oaxaquena restaurant.

About 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Garcia said he was at work when a woman ran inside the restaurant, screaming for a fire extinguisher. He ran outside to find the man lying on his back in a nearby parking lot, his body still ablaze.

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Residents and merchants in the working-class neighborhood knew the man either as “John” or “Grimley.” They described him as a white man in his 50s, with a beard and blue eyes. He may have lived in the neighborhood for as long as 20 years.

Some heard rumors that he had once been a successful businessman.

Danette Kuoch, 29, said the man was a regular at her mother’s California Donut shop at the corner of 3rd Street and New Hampshire Avenue. When he was especially dirty, he would keep his distance — aware that his smell might be bothersome. Regulars would buy him coffee and doughnuts. “He never asked for money, but people gave him money,” said Joel Sandoval, 45, a Guatemalan immigrant and a regular customer. “Poor man, may he rest in peace.”

Kuoch said that two years ago, she saw a group of people stop by to visit the man. She thought it may have been his family.

“They visited for a while, then just left,” she said. “They parked in the shopping center, but they didn’t stop at any of the shops. It was like they specifically came to see him.”

The man would have been a defenseless target, residents said. His girth limited his movement.