SIGTARP

[unixronin]

I'm not sure what SIGTARP should signify in computer terms.  But it would probably be something bad.  Probably related to SIGFAIL.

In this case, though, SIGTARP refers to the Inspector General of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, who has just released the latest official SIGTARP quarterly report.  I'll refer you to cipherpunk for a direct link to the report, in PDF format, and the executive summary on page 6 of the report (not least because if you're not already reading cipherpunk's journal, you probably should be).  But the capsule summary is that, just as many of us predicted, not only did TARP not really fix anything — in fact, the report states that TARP has not achieved any of its stated aims — but in fact it made matters worse.

"We're from the government, and we're here to help."

Comments

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

Things are not so bad in the House. In the Senate, though, custom and popular panic has led to a dominance of corrupt and reactionary elements. Even so, I'd say that without the deadlock the Senate has arrived at, we might find many of the Senators are at least capable of change.

Historically, collapses of political systems are usually followed by tyrannical interregnums. I therefore don't wish for collapse. On the other hand, perhaps we are now in such an interregnum. In that case, the question becomes how to find the path out.

I'd forgotten Wavy Gravy's campaign!