Open Threads

64 metres here. (via Buck)

Because You Didn’t Need To Get Any Work Done Anyway!Post + Comments (51)

Vote!

Ebony or Ivory?Post + Comments (46)

That is one way of saying that China has started looking for alternatives to the dollar.

The dollar fell the most since September against the currencies of its six biggest trading partners after Chinese officials signaled plans to diversify the nation’s $1.43 trillion of foreign exchange reserves.

[…] “We will favor stronger currencies over weaker ones, and will readjust accordingly,” Cheng Siwei, vice chairman of China’s National People’s Congress, told a conference in Beijing. The dollar is “losing its status as the world currency,” Xu Jian, a central bank vice director, said at the same meeting.

[…] Chinese investors have reduced their holdings of U.S. Treasuries by 5 percent to $400 billion in the five months to August. China Investment Corp., which manages the nation’s $200 billion sovereign wealth fund, said last month it may get more of the nation’s reserves to invest to improve returns.

However:

“The world’s currency structure has changed,” Xu said at the conference in Beijing. Cheng, speaking to reporters after his speech, said his comments don’t mean China will buy more euros. The National People’s Congress, China’s legislature, isn’t involved in setting currency policy.

“Cheng has a history of speaking out on a range of financial market and economic developments, and his comments are not always accurate,” said Glenn Maguire, chief Asia economist at Societe Generale SA in Hong Kong.

Cheng’s remarks on Jan. 30 that China’s stock rally was a “bubble” caused the benchmark index to fall the most in almost two years the following day. The Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index, then over 2,500 points, has since climbed above 5,300.

I feel like I ought to be worried about this, but I also feel as though I don’t know enough about the situation to comment authoritatively. Let’s split the difference – I put the story up and better informed readers can hash out what it means in the comments.

Diversifying ReservesPost + Comments (56)

“I’m ready to go,” said former Gov. George Ryan, who planned to caravan with his family to the federal prison in Oxford, Wis., today.

“Look, I’m fine. It’s the beginning of a journey I hadn’t expected, but it isn’t over,” Ryan told Sneed in an exclusive interview Monday night.

Enjoy your “journey!”

George Ryan: JailbirdPost + Comments (8)

True to form, when the time comes to back words up with deeds Arlen Specter has never met a matter of principle on which he won’t cave. In fact I can’t imagine why anybody would take his “concern” over Mukasey at face value. Specter has folded on the torture issue several times already, so why should this time turn out any different? If you want principles, forget fake mavericks like Specter, Graham and Warner and instead look to the vanishingly small cadre of unrepentant pains in the ass like Chuck Hagel. The difference between play-acting and following through couldn’t be more obvious.

Spectering Lessons From A MasterPost + Comments (18)

Although I consider myself to be a small “l” libertarian at heart, when I see something like this, it makes me very happy:

Atlanta could become the first major U.S. city to require businesses to recycle.

Legislation that will be considered Nov. 5 by the Atlanta City Council would create a 16-member task force that would spend nine months studying a mandatory recycling program for businesses operating in the city.

The legislation has the support of a majority of the council and Mayor Shirley Franklin, a proponent of other environmentally friendly initiatives including green building practices and combating global warming.

Normally, I’m very wary of government using its police power, but there are times when things just aren’t happening fast enough. In my opinion, recycling is one of those things. And since I don’ t think anyone’s life, liberty, or property is being affected in any way, I don’t much consider it a violation of anyone’s rights (unless you believe there is a constitutional right to litter.)

In 1998, I lived in a small town just outside of Halifax, NS in Canada. Every resident had 3 bins. Yes, 3. One for regular trash, one for compost, and one for recycling (bottles, cans, paper, etc.) The trash bin was the smallest of the three. I remember thinging that if government is going to use its police power to force anything on the community, then this is one thing I could get behind. You could actually be fined if your trash bin contained items that should have been in the recycle bin.

And seeing the all the recyclable material that is regularly carted away from the buildings where I work, it’s something I would love to see put into action.

Atlanta May Require Businesses to RecyclePost + Comments (38)