Reason Morning Links: Spanish Judges, Chinese Spies, Boston Vampires

- Obama fires the chairman of General Motors.

- The latest lobbying scandal.

- Reason #5,023 to be paranoid: an enormous Chinese surveillance operation.

- Spain might bring charges against six torture-friendly Bush administration officials. (See this as well.)

- America's shantytowns.

- Internet justice.

- The role of federal deposit insurance in AIG's collapse.

- The health benefits of video games.

- School denies rumored vampire infestation.

- This is your Final Four thread, too. Go Heels!

Comments

[Taktix?]

Obama fires the chairman of General Motors.

How is this legal? Did I miss the passing of the Donald Trump Act of 2009 or something?

[Blue]

So now GM is being run by the federal government. You thought the company and its products were fucked up before - wait for it start turning out $60k "Green" cars that kill all living things within fifty feet and is still unprofitable.

[jtuf]

The conditions in the shantytown are tragic. My hometown is all suburban two story houses. It would be easy to replace them with 5 story walk ups to increase the housing supply, but the Democrats on the town council are bent on zoning out any new housing units.

[SugarFree]

Have you noticed how all the "this-isn't-nationalization" Obama-fans are quiet around these parts?

"Obama isn't a socialist because he isn't nationalizing industries." This would have generated a storm of "nuh-uhs!" just two months ago.

[J sub D]

? This is your Final Four thread, too. Go Heels!

No predictions here. The Spartans have as close to a home court advantage as you can get in the NCAAs.

? Obama fires the chairman of General Motors.

I'm expecting there will be a whole thread dedicated to a community organizer running the second largest automotive manufacturer on the planet. I'll save my comments 'til then.

[Taktix?]

This is your Final Four thread, too. Go Heels!

Yo, fuck college basketball!

i.e., Pitt lost 🙁

[TofuSushi]

So now GM is being run by the federal government.

This is not nationalization. It is efficiency. Now maybe that filthy corporate culture will start respecting womyn and start building the green cars that everybody wants.

Soon they will be as efficient as the Postal Service and we will see who is laughing then.

[P Brooks]

Wagoner should have been thrown off the roof of his glittering jewel of a headquarters building years ago.

[TofuSushi]

Wagoner should have been thrown off the roof of his glittering jewel of a headquarters building years ago.

Is that next to Galt's Gulch?

[P Brooks]

I bet that guy from the NYT got a bit of a chubby every time he typed "Hooverville".

[R C Dean]

I bet that guy from the NYT got a bit of a chubby every time he typed "Hooverville".

Shouldn't tent cities put up during the Reign of Obama be called Obamavilles? Perhaps Barackburgs?

[P Brooks]

You know what else would have been a good "morning link"?

Carl Icahn's opinion piece in the NYT yesterday.

We can hope that the government's experience with A.I.G. will demonstrate to Congress how little power shareholders actually have, and how important corporate governance reform is. It is time to remove the many devices that managements use to entrench their power, and give shareholders real power. The "ownership" rights that the government, as a shareholder, is now talking about are the same ones that activist shareholders have been demanding for years.

[P Brooks]

"We" have *loaned* General Motors an amount of money more than five times (by my recollection) their total market capitalization. There were specific performance requirements attached.

[Pro Libertate]

Why didn't we just let GM and Chrysler fail again?

Also, what the hell does the government know about running corporations? Why get into management decisions and compensation matters? What's the board for, anyway?

[Warty]

Anonymous gives me hope for the future. Seriously.

[P Brooks]

The next generation of clean cars, he sez.

"breakthrough technologies which will break our dependence on foreign oil"

"Fiat's cutting edge technology" This phrase makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

[P Brooks]

He's talking about bankruptcy, Ladies and Gentlemen.

----

The U S gov't will back your GM warranty; can I take my Chevy to the nearest Army base to get it fixed?

----

"cash for clunkers"!

[P Brooks]

No mention of replacing CAFE with fuel taxes.

Workers of the World, UNITE!

[P Brooks]

"Ingenuity and Resilience"! brought to you by the United States Government!

[HammeredHead]

Effective immediately you are no longer being reviewed by your supervisor. The recent passage of the Federal Investment Recovery and Economic Development act "FIRED" has created the new cabinet position of Secretary of Performance. You are hereby required to report to Secretary Trump for your current and future evaluations.

[anon]

anon IS my personal army. Thou shalt not fuck with me.

[Buffy\'s Vagina]

"Obama fires the chairman of General Motors"

Fired by a man who has never run a company.

[Buffy\'s Vagina]

"The U S gov't will back your GM warranty; can I take my Chevy to the nearest Army base to get it fixed?"

I suspect they's do a very good job.

[Brandybuck]

Obama fires the chairman of General Motors.

I woke up this morning to hear that on my radio alarm. I have now progressed beyond disgust. This is no longer reality, it is a second rate dystopia being enacted before our eyes.

[kevrob]

The proper libertarian response to the Final 4 is to root for the only remaining private school, Villanova.

Besides, my dad played for them in the first tourney.

Kevin

[Mike Laursen]

It's only a matter of time before Obama starts showing up on late night TV hawking cars with a ten-gallon hat and a tiger named, Spot.

[Geotpf]

How come everybody has forgotten that Bush fired the CEO of AIG? How is Obama firing the CEO of GM any different?

[Orono1]

Moe: Wait a minute, Homer. If it's true, what about all the stuff you weren't around for?

Lenny: Yeah. How'd you know the Chinese were spying on you?

Homer: Oh, I just naturally assumed.