Contents
I. See the seeds of inflation sprout and grow!
II. Blood libel of the week
III. A statement by General Petaeus of the seldom said but blindingly obvious about occupying foreign nations
The quotes and links
I. See the seeds of inflation sprout and grow!
“Inflation Dynamics“, speech by William Poole, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, at Truman State University, Kirksville, MO (20 February 2008) — Excerpt, bold emphasis added:
My general approach is to think about all the things that might happen, as best I can, and then try to determine what is actually happening. My analysis includes my understanding of lessons from history. With regard to inflation, we know that inflation is a more slowly moving process than is unemployment, but also more persistent and more difficult to turn around. The seeds of an inflation problem are sown several years in advance, and it is not always easy to see the seeds as they sprout.
It is not always easy to see the seeds sprout, but it is getting easier every day. I suspect Poole sees them quite clearly.
II. Blood libel of the week
Rosie O’Donnell on the “Today” show, hour four (5 May 2008) — Audio available here.
O’DONNELL: Here’s what I think. There is a place in the world, an inspirational, liberational kind of preaching that Reverend Wright does that when you read something that sort of- I was not as offended as the people in the polls that I read. I listen to him, and frankly, it made sense to me. I totally understood what he was saying.
GIFFORD: Which part makes sense to you?
O’DONNELL: It made sense that-
GIFFORD: That we introduced AIDS into the black community?
O’DONNELL: But Kathy you know what it’s like for someone to pull one quote out of context for you. He was comparing it to when the government did give syphilis to black Americans for 40 years. What he was saying is in his history, in his genetic memory, he knows what it’s like for the government to infect his own people. Because he lived through those Tuskagee experiments.
The government’s deliberate failure to treat them was a terrible crime, but this is more than a gross exaggeration. The government did not inflect African-Americans with Syphilis in the Tuskegee study. See the Wikipedia entry for details (follow the links for documentation), some of which contract the usual narrative of this event. How astonishing that this pernicious lie is so widely believed, and that Americans listen so politely to such lies.
III. A statement of the seldom said but blindingly obvious about occupying foreign nations
“King David“, Spencer Ackerman, Washington Independent (6 May 2008) — Fifth in a Series: The Rise of the Counterinsurgents. Quoting General Petaeus:
“Every army of liberation has a half-life after which it turns into an army of occupation,” he said. “You can extend that half-life by being considerate of the population, respectful of the population, understanding of it, doing what are clearly good deeds, being sensitive to the conduct of operations, and try to limit very, very much the collateral damage and so forth. But over time, again, you are not one of them. And inevitably there will be some friction as a result of that and some resentment as a result of that. No country wants, again, an occupying army on their soil.”
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