Month: February 2008

Bush Less Popular than Cancer

No Comments

American Research Group‘s latest poll has only 19% of respondents approving of his job performance.

That’s worse than cancer. Hell, that’s worse than Dick Cheney.

Impeach him now, it’s a political plus.

Bush job approval Approve Disapprove Undecided
Feb 2008 19% 77% 4%
Jan 2008 34% 59% 7%
Dec 2007 32% 66% 2%
Nov 2007 31% 64% 5%
Oct 2007 25% 67% 8%
Sep 2007 34% 60% 6%
Aug 2007 28% 65% 7%
Jul 2007 25% 71% 4%
Jun 2007 27% 67% 6%
May 2007 31% 64% 5%
Apr 2007 33% 62% 5%
Mar 2007 32% 63% 5%
Feb 2007 39% 56% 5%

He’s a Bush Appointee, Doncha Know

No Comments

Judge Robert Somma, a Federal Bankruptcy Judge, was pulled over for DUI, while reportedly wearing a woman’s dress, heels and stockings, and carrying a purse.

And not just any dress, but a, “Somma was wearing a cocktail dress, fishnet stockings, women’s heels and fumbled through a purse for his driver’s license.”

FWIW, he blew a BAC of 0.12%.

Yes, George W. Bush appointed him. Quel surprise.

Duke Cunningham Briber Brent Wilkes Gets 12 Years

No Comments

The prosecutor wanted 25 years, the probation officer recommended over 50 years, but the judge went with the low side.

It appears that the judge did not buy the prosecution’s argument that it was all Wilkes, and believed that Randy “Duke” Cunningham was not a mind bogglingly stupid pawn, but shared some responsibility in this.

However, the judge has sent him to jail immediately, no bail on appeal, because he deemed Wilkes a lying sack of sh%$. (My words, not his)

Oil Above $100 Following Refinery Explosion

No Comments

While oil has broken $100 in the course of a trading day, this is the first time that it has closed above $100, $100.01/bbl, with a peak of $100.10 hitting in the middle of the day.

Gas is above $3.00 again.

I understand how a refinery fire can get gasoline prices to jump, but I am not sure why the explosion and fire at Alon USA’s Big Spring, Texas, refinery would drive up oil costs. It seems to me that a reduction in refinery capacity would reduce the demand for oil.

Perhaps this facility is one of those tuned to the Venezuelan “sour” crude, and so it’s increased demand for light sweet crude.

Wikileaks.org Back On Line

No Comments

The Judge has modified his injunction, replacing a permanent injunction against keeping the site up with a temporary injunction against hosting the specific documents in question.

Additionally, Wikileaks has been given an opportunity to file a response, the first ruling was between Julius Baer and the Domain Name service Dynadot LLC, with no input from Wikileaks.

It appears that the Wikileaks folks were not given any notice of the proceedings.

Economics Update

No Comments

It appears that US banks have borrowed massive amounts of money from the Federal Reserve, over $50 billion, using assets that have very little value in the market right now. They get money for shovels of the big sh&#pile

Credit Suisse will be writing down $2.8 billion because of “pricing errors” of assets (also here), and has suspended the traders involved.

Errors, my ass. If these were “errors” as opposed to fraud and/or bad systems, the net would be closer to $0.

The Forthcoming “Jingle Mail” Tsunami: 10 to 15 Million Households Likely to Walk Away from their Homes/Mortgages Leading to a Systemic Banking Crisis

It is now expected that the U.K. government will keep British home mortgage giant Northern Rock nationalized for years, in order to avoid a massive exposure to the taxpayer.

In the increasingly dire world of insurance, we have predictions that bond insurer splits may lead to an explosion of lawsuits, as the separation valuable (municipal) side and the insolvent (big sh$%pile) side involves a lot of loss for the holders of non-municipal paper. Additionally, MBIA’s CEO has stepped down, and has been replaced by his predecessor.


Deck chairs, Titanic.

In the lawsuit category, we have investor activists calling for more accountability in management, which is generally a prelude to shareholder suits and the like.

Finally, we have inflation in China hitting an 11-year high, 7.8%. It’s likely that this will drive interest rates up in China, placing downward pressure on the US dollar.

And if that doesn’t make you think that it will soon be raining brokers in Wall Street, Noriel Roubini is predicting between 10 and 15 million home owners simply walking away from their homes, because they will be underwater with their mortgages, and cannot afford their resetting mortgages.

O’Malley Issues Emergency Foreclosure Regulations – washingtonpost.com

No Comments

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley (I still love saying that) is instituting emergency regulations for mortgages and mortgage loan companies, see here and here.

First, they are requiring loan servicers to give advance notice to the state, so that state agencies might be able to help.

Additionally, it looks like administrative action may be taken against what appears to be one of the bad actors in this, Ocwen Financial Corp., which appears to have no one answering the phones.

Torture Comes Home

No Comments

There is a very good that Darius Rejali, Author of ‘Torture and Democracy’ makes in this interview:

Yes, torture does migrate, and there are some good examples of it both in American and French history. The basic idea here is that soldiers who get ahead torturing come back and take jobs as policemen, and private security, and they get ahead doing the same things they did in the army. And so torture comes home. Everyone knows waterboarding, but no one remembers that it was American soldiers coming back from the Philippines that introduced it to police in the early twentieth century. During the Philippine Insurgency in 1902, soldiers learned the old Spanish technique of using water tortures, and soon these same techniques appeared in police stations, especially throughout the South, as well as in military lockups during World War I. Likewise, the electrical techniques used in Vietnam appeared in the 1960s appeared in torturing African Americans on the south side of Chicago in the 1970s and 1980s, and, as I argue in the book, that wasn’t just an accident.

So torture always comes home. And the techniques of this war are likely to show up in a neighborhood near you. Likewise, the techniques that appeared in the War on Terror were already documented in INS lockups in Miami in the 1990s. There is no bright line between domestic and foreign torture; the stuff circulates.

Next time you talk with a wingnut, mention that.

And go read the full interview.

There are Limits to Electoral Fraud

No Comments

It appears that Musharraf’s party has been absolutely crushed in Pakistani elections, here and here, and that there is now growing pressure for him to resign – USATODAY.com.

There are still some seats outstanding, but right now, the Pakistan People’s Party ( Benizir Bhutto) has won 87 seats, the Muslim League-N party (Nawaz Sharif) has won 66 seats, and Musharraf’s Muslim League-Q won only 38 seats.

There are 272 seats in the Pakistani National Assembly, so they need 137 for a majority, and 181 for the 2/3 vote to remove Musharraf, and t gether the parties have 155 seats right now.

There is a question as to whether the PPP and MLN can work together though, they are like the hatfield and the McCoys.

Fidel Castro Retires

No Comments

My guess is that he is not long to this world. Ill health is the best explanation for his retirement.

Hopefully, this will lead to some reforms.

If the US is interested in helping the Cuban people and hastening reforms, it should take steps to formally abandon the claims of US Cuban emigré community.

The comment that Talleyrand made about the Bourbon restoration (aka Bourbon Renewal*) applies here, “They have learned nothing and they have forgotten nothing.”

While any people who wish to return should be free to do so, and any investment should be allowed, allowing old claims to be pressed will damage the country, and it is a most powerful argument against reform, that old crazies, and (in some cases) outright terrorists, would come back and take it all.

*Yes, I know, bad pun.

Africom Move to Africa Abandoned

No Comments

The US Military’s new Africa Command (Africom) was to have been relocated from Germany to an African nation, but only Liberia was willing to be a host, I guess that that whole illegal war of aggression in Iraq probably put other host nations off.

They don’t want to be a part of future colonialist military actions.

The US government is claiming that Africom is, “not about militarisation but consolidating existing operations under one single command, while helping Africans with military training and supporting peacekeeping and aid operations”.

And no one believed this, largely because of recent behavior.