HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PAUL KRUGMAN!

Paul is my favorite economist. I read his posts at his blog "The Conscience of a Liberal" every day.   He writes about economics in a way that folks like me, who are mostly unschooled in economics, can understand.  Along with his capacious knowledge of economics, Paul exhibits a great deal of plain old common sense, which I find quite appealing.  Oh, and he also won the Nobel Prize in Economics in  2008.  Before the day is over, I'll raise a glass to Paul's having many more happy birthdays, and I look forward to reading his wise posts, interspersed with humor, for a long time in the future.  And that's not to mention his Friday night musical offerings.

H/T to Bill in Portland Maine for the reminder and to my friend Paul (A.) for the link.

"CAT VS DOG - A TRICK CONTEST"

What a delightful video.  I'd say Kaiser, the cat, wins because cats are much harder to train.  Border Collies are intelligent and eager to learn.

I love the Bengal cat, which are rarities around here.  I've never seen one.  Of course, I love Nana, the Border Collie, too.

The owner and trainer of Kaiser and Nana says, "I do all of my animal training using positive reinforcement and clicker training."

YES, IT MATTERS WHERE THE PRICE TAG GOES

 

FEAST OF GEORGE HERBERT - PRIEST AND POET

A Wreath

A wreathed garland of deserved praise,
Of praise deserved, unto thee I give,
I give to thee, who knowest all my wayes,
My crooked winding wayes, wherein I live,
Wherein I die, not live: for life is straight,
Straight as a line, and ever tends to thee,
To thee, who art more farre above deceit,
Then deceit seems above simplicitie.
Give me simplicitie, that I may live,
So live and like, that I may know thy wayes,
Know them and practise them: then shall I give
For this poore wreath, give thee a crown of praise.

 (George Herbert)

HAGEL CONFIRMED AS SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

Former Senator Chuck Hagel was finally confirmed as Secretary of Defense, after his confirmation was stalled in the Senate by members of the GOP.  Senate Republicans view Hagel as a traitor to the party ever since he turned against the Iraq war and Bush's conduct of the war when he was in the Senate, which gave them reason enough to oppose his nomination.  Only four Republicans voted to confirm.

Back in late 2011, Senator Lindsey Graham, one of  the most vehement opponents of Hagel's confirmation, suggested the US might have to go to war with Pakistan.

From the AP:

A Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee said Sunday that the U.S. should consider military action against Pakistan if it continues to support terrorist attacks against American troops in Afghanistan.

"The sovereign nation of Pakistan is engaging in hostile acts against the United States and our ally Afghanistan that must cease, Sen. Lindsey Graham told "Fox News Sunday."

He said if experts decided that the U.S. needs to "elevate its response," he was confident there would be strong bipartisan support in Congress for such action.

From Juan Cole:

The GOP Orcs have a further list of countries they’d like to invade and occupy. Senator Lindsey Graham added Pakistan to the list. Does anybody else in the known universe think it is a good idea for the US abruptly to go to war with the world’s sixth-largest country, which is a nuclear power, and which is backed by China? I mean, shouldn’t this man just be declared clinically insane and mercifully put in an institution instead of being allowed to strut the halls of power?

I burst out laughing at Juan Cole's comments about Lindsey Graham's suggestion that we may have to go to war against Pakistan. Then I caught myself and realized that it's not funny at all that people like Graham and others in the Senate, who must always have a war going, operate in the highest halls of power in our country.  We can only hope that the "strong bipartisan support" in Congress for a war with Pakistan has evaporated, if it was ever present.

COMPUTER TROUBLES

The desktop where I'm typing is fine, but my laptop is freezing.  I believe the trouble is narrowed down to my virus protection program, so I uninstalled the program and will install a different brand.

My laptop has served me well, and I have no complaints, but I have been dissatisfied with my virus-protection program, because it continues to prompt me to include add-ons which I do not want.  I must uncheck the little boxes, to exclude the add-ons, which I think is a sneaky and annoying way to operate.  Plus, when I ran a performance scan, the result showed poor security protection.  What am I paying for?  Later...

"HIS HOLINESS" STAYS, BUT THE RED SHOES GO

With only two full days left of Pope Benedict XVI's papacy, more details emerged Tuesday of what the future holds both for the retiring pontiff and the cardinals who will choose his successor.

The pontiff will keep the name Benedict XVI and still be addressed as "his holiness" once he retires, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told reporters at the Vatican.

He will also be known as pope emeritus, emeritus pope or Roman pontifex emeritus.

The guidance clears up questions about how Benedict -- the first pope to resign in almost 600 years -- should be addressed as he moves into a life of seclusion and prayer after his Thursday resignation.

Not only do we learn of the proper way to address the retired pope, we learn of how he will dress.

He will wear a simple white cassock, without the customary red mantle of the pontiff. He will also no longer wear red shoes, probably adopting instead the brown shoes that he received as a gift in Leon, Mexico, during a trip last year.

I will miss the red shoes and the red mantle trimmed with ermine, with matching camauro, which reminded me a little of a Santa Claus hat.  The Vatican has not addressed such decisions in 600 years, since the last pope stepped down, and I'm sure other adjustments will follow as Benedict settles into his retirement.  Since change is in the air at the Vatican, my advice to the two popes would be to change the form of address from "Your Holiness" and "His Holiness" to something less presumptuous, but I don't expect my suggestion will be followed.

Picture of the pope's red shoes from Wikipedia.

H/T to Charles Pierce for the link to CNN.

WHY IS SHE SMILING?

Kristy Nichols

The Jindal administration kicked off a months-long state budget debate Friday by presenting a $24.7 billion budget that relies on the finalization of contracts involving public hospitals, property sales and other unresolved issues.

College tuition will increase, many parents will be required to make a co-payment for their children to receive therapy for developmental delays and the elderly no longer will get help receiving free prescription drugs.

“We’re proud of this budget even though this budget certainly has been a challenge,” Commissioner of Administration Kristy Nichols told members of the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget.

Ms Nichols is smiling because she says the Jindal administration presented a balanced budget to the Louisiana Legislature and the people of the state.  Nevermind that the budget includes one-time revenues that will not be available in future years.  Fiscal hawks in the legislature are upset about the use of the funds for programs that go beyond the coming fiscal year.

Nevermind that Jindal will turn over care of the poor to private hospitals, which he says will save money for the state, although all the contracts have not yet been signed, even as the administration phases out the operations of public hospitals.  Who will treat the poor and low-income people in Louisiana if the contracts are not completed? 

Several thousand state government workers could be out of a job....More than $1 million would be saved by no longer helping the elderly apply for free medicine through pharmaceutical company programs.

And what will be the consequences of the budget of which Ms Nichols is so proud?  Will the economy of the state grow in leaps and bounds?  Will unemployment numbers drop despite the thousands of state workers thrown into the ranks of the unemployed?  Where will the people who have lost their jobs find work in the weak economy?

What if the elderly can't afford their medications?  Too bad for them if they expect help from the state.

I hope the legislators keep in mind that Jindal's approval rating is at 37%.  The governor will veto any legislation that raises taxes, should such laws make it through the legislative process, and the chances of a legislative override are nil.  So what is a legislator to do?

CARDINAL O'BRIEN OF THE UK WILL NOT ATTEND CONCLAVE

Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the UK's most senior Roman Catholic cleric, has resigned as the head of the Scottish Catholic church after being accused of "inappropriate acts" towards fellow priests.

News that Pope Benedict had accepted the cardinal's resignation as archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh came after the Observer disclosed a series of allegations by three priests and one former priest.

O'Brien has denied the allegations and had been expected to continue in his post as archbishop until mid-March, when he was due to retire at age 75.

However, in a statement released by the church on Monday, it emerged that the pope had accepted O'Brien's resignation a week ago, on 18 February.
....

Confirming he would not now go to the conclave, O'Brien said: "I thank Pope Benedict XVI for his kindness and courtesy to me and on my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Scotland, I wish him a long and happy retirement.

The writers point out that although Britain will not have a vote in the conclave, since Cardinal Murphy O'Connor will be present at the pre-conclave gatherings, Britain will still have a voice.

A few days ago, the BBC reported that Cardinal O'Brien suggested that Roman Catholic priests should be allowed to marry.

ON THE JINDAL ROAD SHOW

From an opinion column In the Baton Rouge Advocate titled "Mr. Jindal, road scholar":

A state that consistently ranks at or near the bottom in key quality of life indicators sorely needs a full-time chief executive to address its challenges. In Jindal, we have a governor who treats Louisiana as a refueling station for his seemingly eternal road tour.

Jindal’s national political ambitions are clear. Whether he ever runs for president — and many people believe that he will — the governor is obviously passionate about national GOP matters and enjoys the national spotlight.
....

But true conservatism values personal responsibility, and Jindal’s first responsibility should be to the voters he pledged to serve as Louisiana’s governor. That’s good policy, and also good politics.

Ain't that the truth?  Kudos to the writer of the opinion and the headline writer.  I've mentioned several times that Jindal was a Rhodes Scholar.  What did he learn during his time at Oxford?  He graduated with an MA in public policy with an emphasis on health care.  Mercy!  My next post on Jindal will document that he is defunding public hospitals in Louisiana, even as plans for treatment of poor and low-income persons are not yet final.  Challenge or chaos?  Either way, Jindal needs to stay home and pay attention.