Frank Zappa On Censorship

Taken too soon.

Christopher Hitchens On Racists & Religious Zealots

Christopher Hitchens poignant quote on racists and religious zealots.

The Skewed Rules Of American Justice

The Article: Rules of American Justice by Glenn Greenwald at Salon.

The Text: Gretchen Morgenson, the New York Times business reporter, wrote about aggressive action taken by British financial authorities against top Barclays executives in connection with illegal manipulation of LIBOR interest rates, including the bank’s Chairman, Marcus Agius, and its CEO, Robert E. Diamond Jr., both of whom were forced out of their jobs. In doing so, Morgenson bluntly summarizes the general, governing rules of American justice for financial elites:

One of the most revealing exchanges in the Barclays documents came when a bank official tried to describe why Barclays’s improper postings were not as problematic as those of other banks. “We’re clean but we’re dirty-clean, rather than clean-clean,” an executive said in a phone conversation. Talk about defining deviancy down.

“Dirty clean” versus “clean clean” pretty much sums up Wall Street’s view of cheating. If everybody does it, nobody should be held accountable if caught. Alas, many United States regulators and prosecutors seem to have bought into this argument….

MR. DIAMOND seemed shocked to be pushed out. An American by birth, he probably thought he’d be subject to American rules of engagement when confronted with evidence of wrongdoing at his bank. You know how it works on this side of the Atlantic: faced with a scandal, most chief executives jettison low-level employees, maybe give up a bonus or two — and then ride out the storm. Regulators, if they act, just extract fines from the shareholders.

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The Dum Dum Girls’ Smart New Single

Reminiscent of Mazzy Star but special in its own right, ‘Lord Knows’ is an aural gem.

Joe Biden Allergic To Bullshit

Paul Ryan is made of it.