Low wattage tv tonight -- only American Idol for me. Who's going home?

Update: Matt and Lil Rounds in bottom two. I think Matt should go home. Update: Matt's at the bottom, and the Judges save him -- Simon very reluctantly. The other six cheer. Why? Now two will get sent home next week. This new "save" business is silly.

I see the Obamas filed their tax return. The White House has released it here (pdf). Aside from his high income, I find it interesting that Malia's and Sasha's tuition for the year cost $47,000. President Obama also announced plans to simply the tax code to remove the dread from April 15.

Update: We're getting 12-18 inches of snow beginning tomorrow. No spring for us.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

That's what Martin Wolf asks in a strong column over at the Financial Times.

I'd made the US/Russia comparison here recently, prompted by the Paulson/Geithner approach to the financial crisis which I believe is hobbled by a total lack of transparency and a fundamental misunderstanding of the crisis itself (Geithner and co. don't seem to believe that the banks are insolvent). Put simply, the bailout is worthy a banana republic or perhaps Russia but not a supposedly first world democracy like the U.S. [More...]

I know we are supposed to be making fun of the Tea Party thing, and they are significantly compromised by being so associated with the Republican Party, but I have to give credit for citizens getting involved in the debate. Sure it's forwarded by GOP astroturfing, and it would be silly to ascribe any political significance to it (after all, even under the most generous estimates, the nationwide totals will be around 20,000 "protesters" (who voted for Republicans in the 2008 election) in a country of 300 million), but I can not bring myself to ridicule folks who are arguing for their viewpoint.

This is an Open Thread.

I love the movie "Master And Commander." But as policy cue? (via DougJ):

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and a growing number of national security experts are calling on Congress to consider using letters of marque and reprisal, a power written into the Constitution that allows the United States to hire private citizens to keep international waters safe. . . . “The Constitution gives Congress the power to issue letters of marque and reprisal when a precise declaration of war is impossible due to the vagueness of the enemy,” Paul wrote in a press release. “Once letters of marque and reprisal are issued, every terrorist is essentially a marked man.”

Not the best idea I have heard recently. Consider this "national security expert's" take:

Freed hostage Captain Richard Phillips was supposed to reunite with his crew today in Mombassa. They were scheduled to fly back to the U.S. together. The plan fell apart because Captain Phillips was on the U.S.S. Bainbridge which had to attend to yesterday's failed pirate attempt to take the Liberty Sun, another U.S. ship. While the pirates failed, they caused some damage by throwing rocket grenades at the ship.

France captured 11 pirates yesterday by preempting an attack on a Liberian ship and raiding the pirates' boat before they could launch their attack. Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke yesterday about what's needed: Fewer expensive Navy ships. [More...]

The day before the due date for the scheduled court ordered release (this is no voluntary act by the Obama Administration) of the torture memos, Sully writes:

The question before the president today is not whether to prosecute his predecessors for war crimes; it is simply whether to allow the memos that the Bush administration drew up describing in gruesome detail the torture techniques they authorized - or to cover them up. . . . If Obama, for some reason, decides to prevent us from seeing exactly what was done then he will achieve only one thing: he will tell the world that the US has indeed authorized and practised war crimes while simultaneously telling the world that America will not be accountable for it. He will betray all of us who supported him to restore the rule of law. . . . There is no compromise possible here, Mr president. Do the right thing.

We'll see tomorrow if we get to congratulate the President for complying with a court order or criticize him for defying such court order.

Speaking for me only

Brad DeLong argues for learning from the Bank Of England's actions in 1825:

Monday morning, in the pre-dawn dark, Henry Thornton was at the Bank of England with Governor Buller and Deputy Governor Richards. For security reasons, they were alone. Buller and Richards counted out £400,000 in bank notes. "I hope this won't overset you, my young man," Marianne Thornton claims one of the two said to Henry, “to see the Governor and Deputy Governor of the Bank [of England] acting as your two clerks." Henry Thornton arrived at his own bank before opening with £400,000 in cash. The run on bank funds then recommenced. But "rumours that the Bank of England had taken them under its wing soon spread, and people brought back money [on Monday] as fast as they had taken it out on Saturday." This was the birth of central banking as we know it.

[MORE . ..

Re-legalize it now!
Tax marijuana today! Control it tomorrow!
Re-legalize it!
Pot prohibition's failed!
Let's tax and control it!
Pay down the US deficit!
Tax and control marijuana!
Please tax me!
Hey US Treasury! Make my day, TAX ME!

What are your thoughts on April 15, taxes and how they are collected and spent?

Pop the champagne!:

Consumer prices dipped unexpectedly in March, leaving inflation in the last year falling at the fastest clip in more than a half-century. The Labor Department says consumer prices edged down 0.1 percent last month as a drop in energy prices offset the biggest rise in tobacco prices since 1998. It was a better performance than the 0.1 percent rise that economists had expected.

Lower prices!! Great!? Ugh, no. Demand drops, and so do prices. And interests rates are already at zero. That's what happens in a depression. BTW, the big rise in tobacco prices is not due to increased demand, but to a big federal tax hike.

Former Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich pleaded not guilty today. He is seeking permission to modify his bond to allow him to travel to Costa Rica to appear in an NBC reality show:

NBC said Tuesday it wants the former governor to appear on a show called "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!" pending court approval.

Ten celebrities will be dropped into the Costa Rican jungle "to face challenges designed to test their skills in adapting to the wilderness," a network statement said.

That's one reality show I won't be watching.

What's as dreaded as going to the dentist? How about the moment before you open your tax return after getting it back from the accountant and finding out how much money you owe?

American Idol begins here in just a few moments. Dancing With the Stars (elimination night) and Biggest Loser (makeover night) should also be good.

What's on your agenda or mind this evening?

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The New York City Bar Association's Committee on Drugs and the Law has issued a short report, A Wiser Course: Ending Drug Prohibition, Fifteen Years Later (pdf.)

They make several recommendations.

Today the Committee makes a renewed call for a serious discussion of U.S. drug policy through a focus on the medical paradigm and the Controlled Substances Act.

The medical paradigm is one of three for legitimate use of psychoactive substances. The other two are sacramental (think peyote) and recreational. Our federal drug laws are tied to the medical. Among the recommended changes: [More...]