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6271 [lbo-talk] Robert Frost Defends Robespierre, Lenin, Mao -- rank: 1000

Speaking of Mao, I was struck by this passage in the libretto for Nixon in China, which I was listening to recently: Mao: You know we'll meet with your confrere The Democratic candidate If he should win. Nixon: That is a fate We hope you won't have to endure. I'd like to make another tour As President. Mao: You've got my vote. I back the man who's on the right. Kissinger: Who's in the right you mean. Mao: ...

Document Size:	6634
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sat Apr 25 11:55:03 PDT 2009

6272 [lbo-talk] Robert Frost Defends Robespierre, Lenin, Mao -- rank: 1000

On Apr 25, 2009, at 1:26 PM, B. wrote: > Noam Chomsky (as someone else alluded to) has a very good bit about > 1) What Lenin and Trotsky were like when they were out of power and > on the sidelines, outsiders looking in, vs. 2) What they were like > when they were in power. > > Perhaps not surprisingly, there is a stark contrast! Trotsky and > Lenin, while out of power, were almost libertarian socialist in > their sentiments. ("State and Revolution.") So maybe t ...

Document Size:	5387
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Sat Apr 25 11:55:34 PDT 2009

6273 [lbo-talk] Trotsky's ashes made into cookies -- rank: 1000

On Apr 24, 2009, at 9:30 PM, SA wrote: > Just because someone's a jerk doesn't mean they're not worth > reading. Apart from the historical interest, though, I don't really > see what's to be gained from reading Lenin today, unless you take > capitalism to be some kind of timeless object trapped in amber since > 1917. Lenin wasn't like that at all, though modern Leninists often are. He was extremely flexible. > There's something both tragic and comic about Lenin. He ended his & ...

Document Size:	5459
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 24 18:39:36 PDT 2009

6274 [lbo-talk] Obama, "intelligent, " "good, " "socialist" top 3 adjectives US public uses -- rank: 1000

On Apr 24, 2009, at 3:51 PM, B. wrote: > http://realclearpolitics.blogs.time.com/2009/04/24/a-word-to-describe-obama-socialist-makes-top-three/ > > Describe Obama? 'Socialist' Makes Top Three > Posted by David Paul Kuhn > > It's no longer radical for Americans to describe Barack Obama as a > "socialist." Pew interprets the label as "negative." I've written to ask them if this is based on evidence or not. Doug

Document Size:	5743
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 24 18:27:56 PDT 2009

6275 [lbo-talk] silver lining? -- rank: 1000

On Apr 24, 2009, at 4:44 PM, SA wrote: > Speaking of which - Doug, you sometimes seem to take the position > that the bourgeoisie has gotten the whole bailout thing down to a > science, so the damage to the economy will be limited to that > extent. There's some truth to this, Like I've been saying, I think they can prevent a total collapse, but they can't generate anything like prosperity anytime soon. > but I just looked up some stats on the Japan case. The only thing > that ...

Document Size:	5657
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 24 18:07:31 PDT 2009

6276 [lbo-talk] Trotsky's ashes made into cookies -- rank: 1000

On Apr 24, 2009, at 5:46 PM, SA wrote: > Doug Henwood wrote: > >> Oh, come on. I'm no Troskyist, but a "jerk"? Please. Would you say >> the same of Lenin? > > Yes. Why? Because his revolution didn't work out as planned? Because he wasn't a writer still worth reading today? Doug

Document Size:	4976
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 24 18:00:01 PDT 2009

6277 [lbo-talk] Trotsky's ashes made into cookies -- rank: 1000

On Apr 24, 2009, at 4:29 PM, Matthias Wasser wrote: > And Trotsky was a jerk Oh, come on. I'm no Troskyist, but a "jerk"? Please. Would you say the same of Lenin? Doug

Document Size:	4787
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 24 14:06:20 PDT 2009

6278 [lbo-talk] silver lining? -- rank: 1000

On Apr 24, 2009, at 3:29 PM, Michael Pollak wrote: > Questions: > > 1) Are you okay with agency securitization (Fannie Mae, Sallie Mae), > or do want to shut them down too? They both enable too much borrowing in a sphere where there should be less. Mortgage debt went from about 60% of after-tax income in 1993 to 101% at the peak in 2007 - at the same time the homeonwership rate went from about 64% to 68%. The value of owner-occupied real estate went from about 140% of after-tax i ...

Document Size:	5943
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 24 13:15:47 PDT 2009

6279 [lbo-talk] silver lining? -- rank: 1000

On Apr 24, 2009, at 3:34 PM, Michael Pollak wrote: > On Fri, 24 Apr 2009, Doug Henwood wrote: > >> This whole "get lending restarted" thing has some serious problems >> if you think that debt levels remain way too high, and that the >> real economy's dependence on credit got way out of hand over the >> last decade or three. > > I completely agree. But then how to avoid a lost decade while the > economy gears down? That's the point of a large gov ...

Document Size:	5295
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 24 13:02:39 PDT 2009

6280 [lbo-talk] silver lining? -- rank: 1000

On Apr 24, 2009, at 3:10 PM, Michael Pollak wrote: > But the longer that this drought continues, the bigger the policy > issues become. After all, no politician wants to see the government > buying mortgage-backed bonds forever; but nobody really believes > that traditional, old-fashioned lending can take up all the slack. > So either the system needs to find a way to restart securitisation > or we face a world where credit will remain a highly rationed > commodity for a lon ...

Document Size:	5482
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 24 12:21:03 PDT 2009

6281 [lbo-talk] more on Robinson -- rank: 1000

On Apr 24, 2009, at 3:04 PM, Carrol Cox wrote: > Thanks for this. Probably in the next few months I will be using > software to have e-mail read to me. To be able to have some blogs read > aloud would be quite a big improvement I don't know what Windows has, but I was just looking at the Mac accessibility options, and they seem pretty rich. It will read the names of the windows on your screen, and then read text that you select. The speech quality isn't as good as Odidigo's, but it's ...

Document Size:	4998
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 24 12:18:19 PDT 2009

6282 [lbo-talk] silver lining? -- rank: 1000

On Apr 24, 2009, at 3:02 PM, Jordan Hayes wrote: > Can you be more specific on this? Decreases incentive to scrutinize creditworthiness, increases systemic risk.

Document Size:	4584
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 24 12:12:58 PDT 2009

6283 [lbo-talk] silver lining? -- rank: 1000

On Apr 24, 2009, at 2:48 PM, Michael Pollak wrote: > So does this mean you're re-thinking your idea that securitization > should be euthanized? No. It's a silver lining. But it's still basically bad.

Document Size:	4636
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 24 11:53:54 PDT 2009

6284 [lbo-talk] Trotsky's ashes made into cookies -- rank: 1000

[dunno if this is true - via Popbitch - whoever it is who does Popbitch has given broad hints of being some sort of leftist] Trotsky's ashes stolen and made into cookies: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/04/427707.html

Document Size:	4832
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 24 11:51:15 PDT 2009

6285 [lbo-talk] silver lining? -- rank: 1000

Is creditor power weakened in a securitized world? <http://doughenwood.wordpress.com/2009/04/24/silver-lining/>

Document Size:	4637
Author:	Doug Henwood
Date:	Fri Apr 24 11:37:54 PDT 2009