Month: September 2008

My Bizarre Thoughts 7 Years Ago

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My first thought was that their might be a Chilean connection, since it was on 9/11 that Allende was assassinated, my second thought was that it was a Reichstag fire, and there were dozens, if not hundreds of other odd thoughts.

The oddest one, and the one that sticks with me was driving home.

I was taking the outer loop of the Baltimore Beltway (I-695), and at the junction with I-83, which sucks, I blew through in no time at all. There were perhaps a dozen other cars on my stretch of interstate, and I remember thinking, “So this is what it takes to fix the traffic here.”

Completely inappropriate, slightly demented, and it is the feeling that I still remember the most vividly.

I’m not sure if it’s just me that is weird, or all of humanity.

John Sidney McCain III Has Been Nuts Since Birth

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The stories of McCain and his temper, he once called his wife the C-word in public, are legion, and I always assumed that it had something to do with his stint as a POW.

It appears that, in addition to the more recent stories listed in the article, he has been prone to destructive tantrums since he was an infant:

At age 2, McCain’s tantrums were so intense that he’d hold his breath for a few minutes and pass out. His parents would dunk him in cold water to “cure” him, he wrote in his memoir, “Faith of My Fathers.”

Ummmmmm….Are there any sane Republicans out there? Anywhere?

Republicans Looking to Make Lieberman’s Party Change Official

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This is no surprise, but he won’t change caucuses unless kicked out of the Dem caucus, which he should be, because Joe Lieberman is all about Joe Lieberman, and as a kinda-sorta Dem who spews Republithug talking points, he has more power, gets more face time, and is lauded as a bipartisan by the Beltway Gasbags, so I do not believe that Republicans will be successful in getting him to switch parties.

It’s a pity, because it would be good for the Democratic party and the nation.

Another Indictment of the LSI Concept

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Here is a good short article on the problems with the Lead System Integrator (LSI) concept from Bettina Chavanne , and I agree with his categorization of this as, “A Fox in the Henhouse”.

She raises the concern that she is , “not sure the military can run its own acquisition programs any better than private LSIs,” though, and I think that she is completely wrong here.

There is far greater accountability in the military, no golden parachutes, and the organizational imperatives are directed more towards military needs than to profits.

The real problem is that the entire defense procurement process is completely broken.

Why My Posting has Been Light Lately

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Things are fracked up busy.

  • Desperately trying to learn the ins and outs of feeds, and how to get Google ads on them.
  • Switching from lots of links to Google RSS reader.
  • Lost my job.
  • Dropped my cell phone in the toilet, needed to chase down a replacement.
  • Still working on my 1987 taxes (big refund coming, I am a bloody idiot).
  • Trying to get in some Torah study in while I have the chance.
  • Trying to resuscitate a Minyan in the area.

Still, you learn something new every day. I’m about 8 bucks from my first Adsense check, and according to the Maryland DOL, I have to declare it when I file for unemployment.

ATK’s Sizzler Simulator and Me

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I just had my resume submitted by a shop to ATK, which manufactures thing related to rockets, drones, and small arms, and then I came across the fact that they got a contract for a target drone to simulate the SS-N-27 Sizzler (Novator 34M-54E Klub).

It’s an interesting concept. It’s a two stage cruise missile proceeding at subsonic speeds for most of its flight path, but about 20-30 miles from the target, the second stages fires and it accelerates to somewhere around mach 2.9 for the final flight to target.

You end up with a supersonic approach just as it goes over the horizon, but the total package is much smaller, or the range is much greater, than something that would be supersonic along the complete flight path.

ATK’s job may actually be more difficult than making the weapon, as one would assume that you would want the possibility of recovery for the drone, at least when the defenders get it wrong in practice.

It’s called the Multi-Stage Supersonic Target (MSST).

Basically, you have a subsonic bus which carries the whole assembly, and the supersonic portion, based on the GQM-163 Coyote supersonic target drone is hung from a strongback.

Full disclosure: They have my resume in their hands right now, at least that’s what the shop told me.

OK, So I’ve Entered the Realm of the Jobless

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So it goes…..

All in all, the end of my contract was a good thing.

Working in nuclear power produced a level of cognitive dissonance, I think that nuclear poser is unsafe and economically unviable, that was wearing me down.

The day after it ended, I went to my chiropractor, and realized that I felt much better than I had in months.

The workplace as a bunch of people was actually pretty good. They were good people, but for the first time in my life, the nature of the work made me miserable.

So, while I am still fat and bald, I am no longer working in nuclear power, which means that all Homer Simpson jokes are now “inoperative”.

So, Now Bush and His Evil Minions&trade Are Claiming that the GSE Collapse is all the Fault of Congress

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What a group of WATBs.

But the White House blond bimbo, Dana Perino, is claiming that they could have fixed Fannie and Freddie, if not for those meddling kids Congress.

You know, this all occurred during a Republican controlled Congress…..You know….the folks who had their tongue so far up their ass that you never had to veto them even once.

Us Account of Afghanistan False: Cell Phone Pictures Tell The Tale

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Well, it appears that the US claims of 5 to 7 civilians and 30+ militants have been pretty convincinbly disproven:

The Afghan government, human rights and intelligence officials, independent witnesses and a United Nations investigation back up their account, pointing to dozens of freshly dug graves, lists of the dead, and cellphone videos and other images showing bodies of women and children laid out in the village mosque.

Cellphone images seen by this reporter show at least 11 dead children, some apparently with blast and concussion injuries, among about 30 to 40 bodies laid out in the village mosque. Ten days after the airstrikes, villagers dug up the last victim from the rubble, a baby just a few months old. Their shock and grief is still palpable.

Not only is the lying stupid, but it’s an attempt to justify a policy that reinforces the support of the Taliban.

Canada Calls Snap Elections

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Here and here.

Here is his political calculus in calling snap elections:

  • If Obama wins, Canadians will favor someone who is closer ideologically to the new president.
  • If the sick old man wins, then Canadians will want someone who will do their best to oppose 4 more years of Bush and His Evil Minions™ without the military restraint.

Thus holding Canadian elections after the US election is simply a losing proposition.

I hope that this doesn’t work for Harper, because he really wants go with Bushonomics, and we can say “buh-bye” to the best health care system in North America if he wins another term.

Economics Update

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Seeing as how the nationalization-in-everything-but-name of the GSEs has been covered elsewhere on the blog, it won’t be here.

That being said, the response of the international markets, rising dollar and oil prices falling despite a hurricane pointed at the gulf, appear to be positive.

It comes from the fact that while shareholders will get F$#@ed, the foreign national banks and sovereign wealth funds which bought Fannie and Freddie paper are getting bailed out.

It also looks like the monoliner bond insurers are winners here too, at least that’s how their stocks reacted to the news.

This does not mean that the housing crisis is over, or even that it has bottomed out, which is why foreclosures hit a record high in Q2.

Additionally with the official unemployment rate spiking to a 5 year high, the rest of the economy sucks wet farts from dead pigeons too.

What’s more, as Krugman notes that the U6 numbers are positively grim.

The common reported number is U3, while U6 is:

Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of all civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers

And U6 is higher than it was in the worst part of the 2001 recession:

It’s not just banking, real estate, or employment though; Paul Volker is saying that the current financial system, which relies on complex securitization, as opposed to conventional loans is very broken.

The best proof of this is that the bank of China is suffering a liquidity crisis, because its investments are illiquid.

Fannie and Freddie and Shady Accounting

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It appears that both firms grossly overstated their capital using accounting tricks, and the Morgan Stanley auditors hired caught the problems:

Indeed, one person briefed on the company’s finances said Freddie Mac had made accounting decisions that pushed losses into the future and postponed a capital shortfall until the fourth quarter of this year, which would not need to be disclosed until early 2009. Fannie Mae has used similar methods, but to a lesser degree, according to other people who have been briefed.

Some techniques used:

  • Not writing down their subprime and alt-A loans to market prices.
  • Counting deferred tax credits, which are worthless until a company generates a profit, as capital. (Only Fannie and Freddie have the right to do this)
  • Extending the default period on a loan before declaring a loss from 90 days to two years.

This is all stuff that only Fannie and Freddie could do. No other US bank is allowed to.

This is why the elimination of political and lobbying activities is important. The mess uncovered will become even bigger as normal accounting is applies.

It’s Official, GSEs Nationalized

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Upper management has been replaced, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are under US government control.

They are calling it a conservatorship, but its nationalization.

Here is the story that everyone is missing though:

At the same time, dividends on both common and preferred shares will be eliminated in an effort to conserve about $2 billion annually. All of the firms’ lobbying and political activities will be halted immediately and charitable activities reviewed.

The GSEs dropping dividends is not surprising, to do otherwise would political suicide, but terminating their lobbying and other political activities changes the environment under which they operate, because it is their lobbying and other political activities that has allowed them to have such a favorable legislative and regulatory regime.

They are done.

Oh I Give Up! Let’s Just Call it the Sarah Palin Clown Show

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I’m sick and tired of coming up with new medical sounding names, OK? It takes more time than it does to write the articles, because this sh%$ really writes itself.

First, it appears that Palin is taking a week or so, the nominal explation is that she is spending time with her son before he ships out to Iraq, but the real reason is that she is taking time off to “get ready”, and you have to love the snark from Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo

Isn’t Palin supposed to move to Cheney’s undisclosed location after she gets elected, not before?

The good Mr. Marshall owes me a screen cleaner…big time.

Howard Finemannotes that senior McCain officials have said that they are using the time to bring her up to speed, and Todd Harris, who is working with the McCain campaign admits that she is not ready, and probably needs two weeks to get her act together, explaining that, “If she goes out and makes a mistake, that is something that [voters will] care about, and that’s something that will haunt [McCain] for awhile, so I think this is a smart move.”

Jed, or the Jed Report has even created a “where’s Sarah” widget for inclusion in your web site.

On earmarks, even the Moonie Times is calling out Palin on her double-talk on earmarks….And when you’ve lost the Washington Times on this issue…….Well, you’ve lost the Moonie Times.

And we still have the gift that keeps on given, Troopergate, we have

CREW saying that Palin is attempting to subvert the investigation of her through back door channels, the Anchorage Daily News says that she is stonewalling the investigation, and Newsweek is reporting that John McCain allies are throwing up roadblocks into the investigation too.

Meanwhile, it appears that the bipartisan committee investigating the matter will push up the date of its report from October 31 to around October 10, which is not an unreasonable response to stonewalling.

Additionally, Alaska lawmakers will plan to issue subpoenas to seven witnesses, though not to Palin, because the seven canceled interviews with the investigator, reportedly after, “Ms. Palin’s lawyer, Thomas V. Van Flein, had forbidden members of her administration to have any contact with the investigator.”

We also have the State Police Union filing a formal complaint that Palin and Her Evil Minions&trade improperly released information from Wooten’s (the guy she wanted fired) private personnel records.

Finally, Mikew Wooten has finally gone public in this matter, talking to CNN and giving a brief interview.