What the Libertarian Candidate for NYC Comptroller Would Like to Ask Eliot Spitzer

Former madam, Kristin Davis, has been the Libertarian Party candidate for NYC comptroller since April. She is running for the same office that Eliot Spitzer just announced he is running for. NY Daily News caught up with her and asked her what would be her first question to Spitzer during a debate:

"I'll ask his position on prostitution," says Davis. "And if he thinks johns should be arrested and charged just like madams and prostitutes. If he thought it was fair that he was never charged as a john under his new felony law but that I spent four months in Rikers Island from which I returned penniless, homeless, and forced to take sex offender classes for five months with pedophiles and perverts while he returned to his wife in his 5th Ave. high rise without ever being fingerprinted, mug shot, remanded, or charged with a crime under the very law he signed."

But Davis does fear she will not get to debate Spitzer:

 But my guess is that he will use his vast money he used to pay high-priced prostitutes to challenge every single one of my signatures to try to knock me off the ballot.

Earthquake Safety Tip from Architect Cesar Pelli

Cesar Pelli, who is the architect who designed the Tansbay Terminal Building that is now under construction in San Francisco, says:

Towers are inherently safer in earthquakes than low buildings. If you know an earthquake is coming run to the tallest building you can find.

Spitzer Has a New Book Coming Out

The Politicker reports:

Former Governor Eliot Spitzer was mobbed by an army of reporters as he made his first campaign appearance this afternoon, five years after resigning from office amid a prostitution scandal. Mr. Spitzer, carrying a clipboard with a single petitioning sheet, was swarmed by dozens of cameras in front of the Union Square subway station and then trailed through the green market as he attempted to gather petition signatures from voters. [...]He also repeatedly mentioned his new book, perhaps fueling suggestions made by some that his run is part of an effort to boost sales. “The book is a good book,” he said on more than one occasion. “It’s called Protecting Capitalism: Case by Case.”

If he is trying to promote his book, he is doing a sloppy job of it. As of Monday evening it doesn't appear to even be listed at Amazon.

Further, the title of the book is not encouraging, given the views he expressed in his last book.

Thanks to the Military, MISO Isn't Just Soup Anymore

WaPo informs:

In 2010, the U.S. military stopped using the phrase “psychological operations” because of its negative connotations. Instead, it adopted a blander term, “military information support operations,” or MISO.

The full WaPo report on MISO internet activities surrounding a Somali American caught up in a shadowy Pentagon counterpropaganda campaign is here.

Neocon: Rand Paul Is Likely to Improve as a Warmonger (with practice)

Neocon Jennifer Rubin writes in WaPo:

Watching Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) try to spin his foreign policy tales is like listening to a beginning violinist — it’s painful. But with practice and a teacher, the violinist can improve.

But she is certainly unhappy with recent comments Rand has made:

Sen. Rand Paul lashed out Monday against neoconservatives on Twitter for  supporting the “military junta” in Egypt and arguing for continued monetary aid to the country, whose armed forces recently ousted the sitting president,  Mohamed Morsi.[..] 

I’d like to understand to whom he is referring. President Obama? Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry? They all supported aid to the Egyptian government. Both houses of Congress, maybe? Right now it is the president who is rebuffing calls to cut off aid. Mr. Obama is many things, but a neoconservative he is not. One suspects Paul doesn’t quite know what one is and likes to toss around the term as his father and other fringe characters do in lieu of intelligible criticism.

Her advice to Rand:

Paul surely wants to be taken seriously. To do that, however, he needs to stop name-calling and learn something about foreign policy. In that regard, he might find he has more in common with Obama (cut defense, withdraw troops, reject meaningful assistance to the Syrians) than he does with mainstream conservatives. But that really isn’t fair; even the president understands the need for such counterterrorism tactics as drones and NSA surveillance.

In any case, like the aspiring violinist trying to get to Carnegie Hall, Rand Paul needs to practice, practice, practice.

Japanese Are Bailing Out of US Treasury Bonds

MarketWatch reports that detailed May data from the Ministry of Finance shows that Japanese investors were joining the exodus out of U.S. Treasurys, noted Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman:

 It appears that the bulk of the bonds that Japanese investors sold in May were US Treasurys and the roughly $30 billion were a record amount. This follows the $15.5 billion sales in April.  May was the fifth consecutive month Japanese investors have reduced their U.S. Treasury holdings and over this period sold about 8 trilion yen.

Analysts at Danske Bank note that the selling of foreign bonds goes back to the first quarter, when it was apparently driven by the need for portfolio managers to adjust the share of foreign-securities holdings in the wake of the yen’s sharp fall. The second-quarter selloff appears driven to a larger extent by worries about Fed tapering and its potential to push up global bond yields, they said.

This is what is going to make it very difficult for the Fed to slow/stop buying Treasury securities. When they slow/stop, there will be even more upside pressure on rates, with very serious sellers. 

BREAKING: New Snowden Interview

The second part of an exclusive interview with Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden is out: Here.

Although released today, the interview was recorded in Hong Kong on June 6, 2013.

Ron Paul Provides Details about the New 'Ron Paul Channel'

Tom Woods hosted the Peter Schiff Show, today and had Ron Paul as a guest. Dr. Paul talked in detail about his new Ron Paul Channel.

He described how the idea to launch a new media channel came to him,: “I was at a debate one time, a couple years ago, where I didn’t think I got a fair shake. In a two hour debate, I had 89 seconds. I thought, maybe there’s something wrong with the media. Maybe they’re not covering us fairly. I’m just using it as a pun, but there’s a bit of truth to this. We don’t get a fair shake. The people who believe in liberty and limited government, don’t expect it from the ordinary media.”

Paul also said that he wants to cover, Dr. Paul said, “I want to keep up very much with foreign policy and the wars going on, economics, the marketplace, the Federal Reserve. And then again, the great concern that people are experiencing now with the destruction of our privacy and the destruction of our civil liberties.”

Here's the full interview:

Why San Francisco Has Such a Boring Skyline

Artist rendering of the under construction Transbay Transit Tower.

Architect Cesar Pelli designed the Transbay Transit Tower that is now going up in San Francisco. When completed it will reach 61 stories, 1070 feet into the sky, making it the tallest building west of the Mississippi River.

The developers for the project, Boston Properties, Inc and Hines, estimate that building the tower will cost upwards of $1 billion. It will be a  mixed use skyscraper that will reside atop the Transbay Terminal — a future rail hub that developers are billing as the west coast equivalent to Grand Central Station, says the New York Daily News.

Sadly, overall, the SF skyline is getting pretty boring. Pelli explains why:

 I have known San Francisco for over 50 years and it used to have a much more cheery silhouette than it does today. I’m sad to say it has become a rather boring skyline because of building codes.

Dumb, Stupid, Crony First Responders

Following the crash in San Francisco of Asiana flight 214, Nancy Pelosi issued a statement thanking the "brave first responders." This is a typical response we now here from politicians whenever there is a crisis. It is an attempt to link rescue operations with government. And, indeed, the current structure of government results in its monopolization of rescue and emergency efforts. But, there really is no reason for emergency efforts to be government provided. Fire fighting was launched in the private sector by insurance companies and would certainly result in more advanced technology and techniques today, if the private sector was allowed to compete to provide emergency services.

Further, especially in large cities, there is a lot of cronyism that is involved in the hiring of personnel. It is not the best and the brightest that are always hired, but the best politically connected.

Thus, it is not a surprise to me that the same first responders, who Pelosi hailed, actually ran over one of the passengers of flight 214 and killed her:

An autopsy was being conducted Sunday to determine whether one of the two teenage passengers killed on the Asiana Airlines flight had been run over by a San Francisco fire rig at the crash scene.

The 16-year-old girl was found near the evacuation slide near the left wing of Asiana Flight 214 that crashed Saturday during a landing at San Francisco International Airport.

San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said Sunday her injuries are consistent with having been run over.

“As it possibly could have happened, based on the injuries sustained, it could have been one of our vehicles that added to the injuries, or another vehicle,” Hayes-White said. “That could have been something that happened in the chaos. It will be part of our investigation.

In other words, let me add dumb, stupid and crony to the adjectives describing government organized first responders. I wonder how the crony who ran over the teenager got his position.

This doesn't, of course, mean all emergency personnel are low IQ. It means they are caught in a government structure that will, at a minimum, make them much less efficient than they would be if private sector emergencies services were the general rule and they were working for them.

Bureaucracies are never a good idea in any sector, but it is alarming in the emergency sector, where life, limb and property are at stake.

The next time you here a politician thanking "first responders," keep in mind that it is propaganda for the state. And, that it would be best if government got out of the emergency and rescue business, since  government bureaucracy can only be about stifling creativity, productivity, efficiency and service.

Government is in the emergency business for one reason and one reason only, it is an attempt to justify government. It gives politicians a reason to stand up before crowds and pretend to be useful, to confuse the public, and to hide what they really are: taxing, coercive, lying, parasites.

What Washington D.C, Crony Capitalist CEOs Get Paid

Lockheed Martin Robert J. Stevens

Government contracting

$23.8

General Dynamics Jay L. Johnson Note

Government contracting

$18.0

Northrop Grumman Wesley G. Bush

Government contracting

$15.5

Alliant Techsystems Mark W. DeYoung

Government contracting

$6.8

Exelis David F. Melcher

Government contracting

$5.8

SAIC John P. Jumper

Government contracting

$5.4

(Via WaPo)

Reporter: Very Unusual Intense Hot Fire in Hastings Car Crash

San Diego-based reporter Kimberly Dvorak discuses the Michael Hastings crash. She mentions the unusual intensity of the fire and the unusual location of the engine relative to the body of the car.

Mrs. Harry Browne Responds to the Browne-Rothbard Story

Yesterday, I reported on a story circulating in some quarters about a check Harry Browne sent to Murray Rothbard. Mrs. Harry Browne responded to the story in a comment to the post. I reproduce that comment here in full:

Harry Browne was never a hardcore Galambosian, and Murray Rothbard never told Harry that he should send him all the royalties for “How You Can Profit from the Coming Devaluation.” 

On February 3, 1971, Harry wrote to Murray and enclosed a check in the amount of $250 for the “ideas of yours that I used in my book, “How You Can Profit from the Coming Devaluation.” I believe in rewarding those whose ideas I use, both with credit and with cash when I have turned them to commercial profit. I have used this system for several years and I have found it to be extremely profitable to me. The $250 is an arbitrary figure; I have no formula that I use for computing the exact amount.” 

On February 8, 1971, Mr. Rothbard replied, “I was astonished to open your letter and find a check fluttering out. While I appreciate your gesture, since I am not a Galambosian I must return the check, enclosed. It was enjoyable meeting you for longer than the brief moments at Washington, and we hope to see you again when you’re in New York. Best regards, Murray.” 

On February 11, 1971, Harry wrote: “Perhaps I should have given you a more detailed explanation for the enclosed check. Neither am I a Galambosian.” “The reason I pay royalties is very personal to me…..while my ideas are my own, I find it very difficult to do the research that is necessary to support those ideas. I would willingly pay someone to find a great many facts for me, but it is difficult to find such a person. Your work has made mine a great deal easier. If you have read my book, you will know how much I have drawn upon you. I am anxious to pay for such help because I want it to be available in the future – rather than being a favor or fortuitously available. I hope to be able to call upon you for some leads regarding information that would help my next book. I see no reason why I should have to be a parasite (there are plenty of those already.) I do not consider this a “moral” issue in any way. I just see no reason why you shouldn’t reap the rewards of your outstanding efforts which have benefited so many of us. I’m enclosing the check again, and I don’t expect to see it again until it comes back with my bank statement. With best wishes, Harry.”

As far as I know, Harry didn’t see the check again until it came back with his bank statement. And he and Murray remained friends until Murray’s death. Pamela Wolfe Browne – HarryBrowne.org

The Brits Prepare for 'Extreme Heat'

Americans will love this: London trains are being cancelled due to "extreme heat" and emergency broadcasts advise carrying water. It's 75F.
— Alice Ross (@aliceemross) July 8, 2013

VIDEO: Keynes Celebrates the End of the Gold Standard

It should be noted that gold-hater John Maynard Keynes actually made a substantial amount of his fortune by holding gold stocks, while FDR was propping up the price, at the urging of Keynes!

(Via newsalert)

Cameras Catch Mystery Break-In at Whistleblower's Law Firm

The offices of a Dallas law firm representing a high-profile State Department whistleblower were broken into last weekend. Burglars stole three computers and broke into the firm's file cabinets. But silver bars, video equipment and other valuables were left untouched, according to local Fox affiliate KDFW,


Dallas News | myFOXdfw.com

(via Foreign Policy)

"I think I am done with Rand."

Montana for Ron Paul writes at Daily Paul:

I just don't understand this fella anymore. Selling his soul to maybe be president, selling out Libertarians, sold out his own dad.....man...it just seems like babes for leaders.

http://reason.com/blog/2013/05/13/rand-paul-assures-evangeli...

We all have our opinions and I respect yours, but can you see where I am coming from? Flip flop, do anything to get votes kind of guy. being awake for a decade now, he just feels wrong to me....wrong!

A Look Inside the Most Expensive Apartment In Manhattan...

It is owned by hedge fund operator, Steve Cohen, who has put it up for sale for a cool $115 million. Pretty sterile, in my opinion.

According to the realtor, the design of the 8400 square foot duplex apartment on the 51st and 52nd floor of the Bloomberg Building on the east side of Manhattan required major floor removal and curtain wall structural reinforcement to accomplish the spatial and programmatic requirements.

The goal, through both the material palette of white Venetian integral plaster, stainless steel, maple floor, and white lacquer cabinets and the sculptural spatial articulation would both engage and counterpoint the spectacular 360° panoramic views of the city and beyond with a sense of serenity within a unique oasis environment.

What a Relief: It Appears Greg Mankiw Will Get His $1.6 Million in Royalties

On Saturday, I reported that textbook publisher Cengage Learning Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection. Among the publishers unsecured creditors is Harvard economist and textbook author, Greg Mankiw.

The publishing firm, according to the bankruptcy filing, owes Mankiw $1.6 million in royalty payments. As I acknowledged, I first learned about the bankruptcy as a result of a post by Paul Krugman.

Mankiw has responded to Krugman's post:

Over on his blog, Paul Krugman calls attention to the Cengage bankruptcy.  I am not sure why he thinks this event is noteworthy.  He seems to do so because Cengage is the publisher of my favorite textbook. I suppose it is schadenfreude on Paul's part.

Mankiw goes to say:

The short story is that this is a Chapter 11 bankruptcy (a reorganization), not a Chapter 7 bankruptcy (a liquidation).  These are very different things. In this case, the equity holders are being wiped out, and the debt holders are the new equity holders.

But it appears that Mankiw, as an author will be paid in cash, in full. He quotes from an article:

The transaction is expected to be largely a non-event for others doing business with Cengage. The company has permission from the lenders to keep using cash flow from operations to fund the business, and expects to keep paying vendors, authors’ royalties, and employees on schedule.

BTW: Mankiw's text  Principles of Macroeconomics is ranked # 29 in terms of sales under the category popular economics.

Both Friedrich Hayek's Road to Serfdom and Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson rank ahead of Mankiw's text. They come in at #25 and #26, respectively.

Mankiw's Principles of Microeconomics is ranked # 33. None o Krugman's books appear in the top 100.

WSJ Report: Larry Summers "Hellbent" on Becoming Fed Chairman

Larry Summers, a former top economic adviser to President Obama, is speaking, writing, consulting, advising, teaching and still in frequent contact with the president, and some of his friends say he is more than a little interested in the Fed job, reports WSJ.

WSJ continues:

Messrs. Obama and Summers explicitly discussed the possibility he could become Fed chairman in a private conversation at the end of 2010, as Mr. Summers was leaving his post as the director of the White House's National Economic Council, according to a person familiar with the matter.[...]A number of Mr. Summers's associates and current and former colleagues offered different takes on his current interest in the job. Some described him as hellbent on becoming Fed chairman, while others said he was apathetic, having moved on after being passed over before. Another group described him as somewhere in between.

Of note, in the WSJ article, Jonathan Gruber, an economics professor at MIT, is quoted as saying:

He's just an incredible combination of smart and caring.…I just think the world of someone who really really wants to get it done right and figures out how to do so.

But WSJ fails to point out that Summers may in reality not be that smart or caring. The Harvard endowment, when Summers was president of Harvard, lost substantial sums because of risky derivative positions that blew up on them.

Iris Mack, then working for Harvard Management, which managed the endowment, warned Summers about the position in an email. He refused to lower the risk and Mack was fired. The derivatives eventually resulted in major losses just has Mack had warned. Not too smart and not too caring on Summers part. Summers is an establishment crony who will just keep the Fed printing scam going on.

I'd rather see Mack, a Ron Paul supporter, who rose from the New Orleans ghetto to earn a PhD in applied mathematics from Harvard, as Fed chairman than Summers, whose pedigree can't match up with Mack's any step of the way. He was likely ruined as a child. He is  the nephew of two Keynesian Nobel laureates in economics: Paul Samuelson and Kenneth Arrow.