The Power and the Money

Torture is stupid, and its proponents are stupider

Sadly, shamefully, torture has entered the political debate yet again with the recent Congressional testimony of David Addington and John Yoo. 

The standard story seems to be the "ticking bomb."  You know, "gotta torture somebody if there's a ticking bomb."  Only that argument makes no sense at all.

If a bomb is ticking, then the person being tortured has every incentive to make stuff up and send the authorities on a wild goose chase until the bomb explodes.  The only way to give the suspect an incentive to tell the truth is to credibly promise to torture him or her if the bomb actually explodes.

Got that?  You need to promise to torture after the crisis has passed, when no possible information can be gained, solely as retribution.  Otherwise the suspect will lie like there's no tomorrow.

No democratic society can promise that and retain a veneer of legality or justice. 

In other words, the "ticking time bomb" argument is worse than specious.  It's pernicious.

Gridlocked

As I mentioned earlier the U.S. grid isn't very good.  Doug asks why.  I say bears.

Other hypotheses from our readers, however, would be very welcome.

Some current attempts to fix the problem below the fold.

Serious big actual built-stuff problems

What is the big limit to wind power in the continental United States?

The grid.  Simply put, our grid sucks.

I mean really truly seriously sucks, as in will collapse if highly variable power sources (like wind farms) make up more than 2% of the power pumped into the grid.  Worse yet, wind in the United States tends not to be near where the people are.  (Not even in Texas.  Texas is big.)  In other words, to really capitalize on wind power, the U.S. will need to spend quite a bit of money to add reserve power stations, upgrade local transmission grids, and build long-range HVDC lines to bring power from where the wind is to where the air conditioners run. 

Nuestro presidente

Soon, very soon, this fellow will be out of our hair.  That time, however, is not yet.  And so we get such classics of diplomacy as the following:

Reaction quote from a “Philippine-American,” Carlos Yu:  “I don't deny the capacity — I'm not bad myself — but it's certainly not the thing that comes to mind. Like great German stand-up.”

Poor Gloria Arroyo, needing to sit through that and smile. 

Betting (on) the (wind) farm

I get into the office this morning, ready to do some reading (on Chinese and Russian energy policy) and writing (on American intervention in the Dominican Republic) when I spot two new hits from India, both for "Blowin' in the wind."

And so, I think, it behooves me to write a bit about Indian wind energy.  Thankfully, Dick Vietor, right down the hall, has done a lot of work on the topic.  Much of what follows comes from him ... wind power in India makes a great story.

The Myth of French Nuclear Technology

  A lot of myths accrue to France and the French.  For example, that the French military isn't very very very good at defeating its enemies.  Or that the French don't get fat.  Or have bad taste in comedy, or can't make decent action movies (most untrue!), or are peculiarly racist towards immigrants.  (Although ... another post.) 

Me, I love France in that peculiar way that (I like to believe) only Americans can.  So much of the place reminds me of home!

But still, I gots to punch the myths.  The latest one I've run into is that France has discovered a way to make nuclear technology pay that doesn't involve huge dollops of taxpayer money.  As with so many things, the proof comes from Finland, a country I really have to visit soon.

Blowin' in the wind

Flying into Berlin, you can't help but notice the wind farms.

Germany has 22.2 gigawatts of installed windpower, just a percentage point shy of a quarter of the world total, and a third more than the United States.  It gets more than 6 percent of its electricity from windpower, a number matched only by Denmark and the great state of Texas.  Inside Germany, the mouthful provinces of Sachsen-Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Schleswig-Holstein get almost 30% of their electricity from wind. 

How did Germany do it?  How far can they go?  Will others follow?  Some analysis below the fold. 

Sovereign Wealth and the American Empire

I can’t complain about yesterday’s game.  Lots of fouls, but very entertaining, and the good guys won.  How often do I root for the Red over the Blue? 

That’s not what I’m here to discuss, however.  I’m here to discuss “sovereign wealth funds,” the consequences of which I think have been seriously misread by most observers.

The rise of “sovereign wealth funds” has scared a lot of people over the past few years, myself included.  At first glance, these things are scary.  SWFs don’t just represent ownership by foreigners of your nation’s assets, they represent ownership by foreign governments of your nation’s assets.  To paraphrase Joseph Stalin, sovereign wealth funds represent “socialism outside your country.”

Control of your domestic manufacturing firms and financial institutions by foreign socialists is not a comforting thought.  Those socialists might be, as socialists often are, motivated by things other than profits.  And that possibility opens the door to a wide range of potential abuses.

The flip side, however, is that the emergence of sovereign wealth funds provides the governments of the countries in which they invest a golden opportunity to protect their own overseas investors, insure access to overseas markets, and generally shape world economic policies. 

In other words, the rise of sovereign wealth funds controlled by Beijing, Abu Dhabi,  and Brasilia will, if handled correctly, reinforce Washington’s control over the world economy rather than weaken it.

Great game 2

Dude. Holy shit. Zac Pelleriti and I are watching the game, and we both seriously thought it was over when Croatia scored.  I mean, minute 118, what could happen?  And then Turkey ties it with, what, thirty seconds left?  Awesome.

By the time penalty kicks started, half the department is my office watching Croatia blow it. 

And it's on to watch Ay-Yıldızlılar play the Nationalelf! Man, I'd like to go back to Berlin to see that.  I'd say it'd be like watching Mexico play the U.S. in Los Angeles, except that almost no native-born Americans (of Mexican descent or otherwise) could give a f**k.

I'm a happy man.  Tomorrow I'll be rooting for the Netherlands, and believe you me, on Sunday I'll be back supporting the madre patria against the sleaze, or whatever they call themselves.  Here's to maximizing my cheering confusion:  Türkiye v. España for the 2008 European Cup.  (My ignorance over the actual chances of that happening is indeed bliss.)

¡Viva Turquía!  ¡Viva España!

Small-donor democracy

Barack Obama just opted out of the public campaign-finance system.  It's clearly hypocritical.  But it's also smart politics for three reasons.

First, John McCain is just plain breaking the law.  That's a whole 'nother level of hypocrisy.

Second, the 2004 election showed that the current campaign-finance system provided no protection against swiftboating.   527 groups, named after the tax-code provision that allows them, were fully able to skirt the law by claiming that anti-Kerry adverts were actually issue advocacy.  Since Barack Obama can mobilize small donors more effectively than any 527, his campaign doesn't want to give up that advantage and make him vulnerable to a reprise of 2004.   

Finally, Mark Schmitt has pointed out that Obama's style of fundraising opens the door to what he calls "small-donor democracy," a system in which small donors have as much opportunity to express their advocacy as do the big lobbyists.  Schmitt's ideas on how to get there from here are interesting and provocative:  I recommend the article.

I also recommend that our American readers engage in small-donor democracy directly, and click the "Donate to Barack Obama" link on this blog's sidebar.  (Or right here.)  The future can be now, if you make it.

Volando el avión el la madre patria

We managed to travel from Barcelona to Sevilla and back without showing any identification at all.  Travelling from Brussels to Berlin wasn't quite so easy, but the security check could best be called perfunctory.  Even returning to the U.S. of A. from Heathrow wasn't that bad ... it's amazing what a difference not needing to take out your laptop or remove your shoes will make.

I'm far from the first person to complain about airport security theater.  I'm certainly not the first person to point out that most of the measures don't seem to make flying any safer.  Hell, I'm not even the first person to point out that the TSA blog manages to consistently undercut it's own objection to the idea that most of the measures are just for show.  (Love the badges and blue uniforms!  Of course, that doesn't mean that the TSA people have police powers, but it sure makes it look like they do.  But it ain't theater, no.) 

I will, however, put in a brief for the defense.  Given that so many people have an irrational fear of flying, there may in fact be an economic return to security theater.  After all, if it makes people feel safer, they may be more likely to fly.  In theory, the return should even be calculable.

Has anyone tried to calculate it?

Great game

No, not the sixth game of the NBA final.  That was awful.  (I wasn't rooting for the Lakers, but I'm not much of a Celtics fan either.  So something other than a blowout would have been nice.)  Rather, das wunder von Genf, the match between Turkey and the Czech Republic.  Down two-to-nothing, one goal with 25 minutes to go ... then two more in the last four minutes.  Dude.

I have to admit that we wouldn't have bothered to watch it at all if we hadn't been walking past a Turkish bakery-slash-café-slash-bar in Kreuzberg next to what certainly appeared to be a housing project.  I couldn't stop myself from looking in through the window at the giant flat screen.  Any kind of team sporting event involving a ball will do that do me. 

The people inside spotted us and vigorously motioned us in.  In fact, one of the owners came out and insisted (through sign language) that he could find us a seat and we were more than welcome.  How could we say no?  After all, the game had only just begun.  And so, we had the full build-up of frustration that only soccer can produce by the time Ay-Yıldızlılar first scored. 

Apparently shouts of gooooooooooooolllll, go-lo-lo-lo-looooooooooooooool!" aren't a common German or Turkish way of expressing appreciation.  I judge this from the fact that when Turkey scored its first goal, my reaction attracted looks from some of the women in the place that I can only describe as bemused. 

I'll add here that neither high-fives nor fist-bumps appear to be used much either.  But the little kids in the place, and there were a lot of them, certainly seemed to appreciate both gestures, especially after Turkey's second goal.

The woman in the above picture who isn't my wife asked me if I was Muslim right after the game.  Before I could answer, the fellow on the right barged up and shouted, "In football, there is no religion!" 

By the amount of beer-drinking going on, I'd have to say that he was right. 

The owners gave us free pastries.  (We paid for the beer.)  They were great pastries.  Very recommended, the next time you're in Berlin.

Anyone know a good place in Boston to watch the Turkey-Croatia match?  Y'all know who I'll be rooting for.  ¡Viva Turquía! 

Who is Barack Obama?

I'm back!  But first, an answer to the title question.  Please, cut it, paste it, email it to all your friends. Heck, email it to all your not-friends, too.  Maybe especially your not-friends.

Barack Obama says the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE every time he sees an American flag. He also ends every sentence by saying, "WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL." Click here for video of Obama quietly mouthing the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE in his sleep.

A tape exists of Michelle Obama saying the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE at a conference on PATRIOTISM.

Every weekend, Barack and Michelle take their daughters HUNTING.

Barack Obama is a PATRIOTIC AMERICAN. He has one HAND over his HEART at all times. He occasionally switches when one arm gets tired, which is almost never because he is STRONG.

Barack Obama has the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE tattooed on his stomach. It's upside-down, so he can read it while doing sit-ups.

There's only one artist on Barack Obama's iPod: FRANCIS SCOTT KEY.

Barack Obama is a DEVOUT CHRISTIAN. His favorite book is the BIBLE, which he has memorized. His name means HE WHO LOVES JESUS in the ancient language of Aramaic. He is PROUD that Jesus was an American.

Barack Obama goes to church every morning. He goes to church every afternoon. He goes to church every evening. He is IN CHURCH RIGHT NOW.

Barack Obama's new airplane includes a conference room, a kitchen, and a MEGACHURCH.

Barack Obama's skin is the color of AMERICAN SOIL.

Barack Obama buys AMERICAN STUFF. He owns a FORD, a BASEBALL TEAM, and a COMPUTER HE BUILT HIMSELF FROM AMERICAN PARTS. He travels mostly by FORKLIFT.

Barack Obama says that Americans cling to GUNS and RELIGION because they are AWESOME.

Hat tip:  Slate.

Big day

My father and I (along with a slew of other friends and relatives) are in Trinidad at the moment for some very very very important business, after which I'll be travelling for a bit and posting only sporadically, if at all.

For those of you who don't know him --- and I plan to start posting a bit about his experiences when I return to the States --- here's a picture of the grand old man and myself:

See y'all later!