Banks number 24 and 25 for the year, a pace of over 75 this year.
Month: April 2009
General Atomics Rolls Out Stealthy Predator C
David Fulghum and Bill Sweetman post their observations, most of which are obvious from the top picture, edge alignment, a serpentine inlet, a flattened exhaust nozzle, and a lack or right angles for stealth, along with a roughly 10 foot long weapons bay, more than enough for 500 lb JDAMS, or Hellfires, etc., and some wing to accommodate the higher speeds that the jet engine can generate.
There are some more pictures here, and you can also look through the Aviation Week gallery.
The aircraft has been designed with folding wings and a tail hook (bottom pic), which implies that it is intended to be operated from an aircraft carrier at some point, and this is clearly an early prototype, as the current air data probes, and the antenna/sensor on the bottom of the fuselage (also bottom pic) appear to be decidedly non stealthy.
Stephen Colbert Was Robbed!
The third node of the space station will be named, “Tranquility,” not Colbert, as the public demanded.
By way of a sop, they will name a treadmill after America’s most courageous journalist.
I profoundly am disappointed in NASA, though I really want the mission patch.
Where Olbermann Gets It Wrong
I watched Keith Olbermann’s special comment from last night on Youtube, as I was too busy wrapping Passover to watch the show.
While I generally agree with him, I find him powerful even when I disagree with him, or find his conclusions lacking, as was the case last night, and I’m not referring to the Kaiser thing.*
In this case, I believe that KO did not go far enough.
While he is correct that letting people off for “just following orders”, as is implied by the statements that those , “carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice,” will not be subject to prosecution.
This is wrong, and there is a bigger point, made ably by Glenn Greenwald, that there is a real and legally binding obligation obligation under the Convention Against Torture, which was signed in 1988 and ratified in 1994, to actively pursue and prosecute torturers ( roll Article 7 para 7):
The State Party in territory under whose jurisdiction a person alleged to have committed any offence referred to in article 4 is found, shall in the cases contemplated in article 5, if it does not extradite him, submit the case to its competent authorities for the purpose of prosecution.
This is not to say that refraining from after the little fish to target the big fish is a violation of this.
That is a legitimate prosecution strategy.
However, it increasingly appears that President Obama and Attorney General Holder do not intend to go after anyone, and in so doing, they are, but not going after anyone, with the explanation that this is, “moving forward”.
This is a obstruction of the prosecution of these acts is a war crime, and if this means no prosecution, it is an affirmative act to obstruct the course of justice.
Certainly, there are alternate venues, such as some sort of “Truth and Reconciliation Commission,” but all indications are that the White House are fighting even this weak tea.
I believe that, in the absence for support for some sort of fact official fact finding process, it makes Eric Holder and Barack Obama accessories after the fact to a crime against humanity.
In the short form, people who actively work to subvert any process of judicial or semi-judicial fact finding inquiry, outside of the context of legitimate activities of defense counsel, are war criminals, including the current President and Attorney General of the United States of America if they choose to continue this course.
That being, said, I am an engineer, not a lawyer, dammit,‡ and I would be interested in hearing opinions from people with a deeper knowledge of both US and international law.
*The Kaiser committed no war crimes by the standards of the day, notwithstanding the accusations of amputation Belgian babies hands† made in the early days of the war. The rules had not yet caught up with the technology of war, and if the Kaiser were guilty, than every participant in the war would have been guilty.
†Ironically, the Belgians, during the genocide phase of their rule over what was then the Belgian Congo DID require their native levees to return a human hand for each bullet fired, in order to prevent them from “wasting” bullets hunting game for food, along with holding families hostage, etc.
‡I LOVE IT when I get to go all Doctor McCoy!!!
Economics Update
Well, let’s start with the good news, that the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index has risen to a 7 month high, I think largely on Obama being president more than anything else, seeing as how the manufacturing reports from the
New York and Philadelphia Federal Reserve Banks, continue to show contraction, though the press is still crowing about how these reports show that the rate of contraction is easing, despite the fact that manufacturing fell in March by the largest amount since VE day, almost 64 years ago.
Taking the rate of change month to month is stupid, it’s the noisiest way to measure things, but there is real pressure to report prosperity “just around the corner,” because the alternative is to make real systemic changes that would have to be to the disadvantage of people like bank and brokerage presidents.
The fact that housing starts fell again, (top pic) and the weekly jobless numbers remained at very high levels, they dropped a bit, but continuing claims (bottom pic) remained at scary numbers. (click pics to be taken to the Calculated Risk posts in question)
CRE is suffering too, with office vacancies rising to a 3 year high.
Citi actually reported better quarterly numbers than expected, losing about 18¢ a share, less than the forecast 32¢.
Part of the problem is that we are still seeing distressed bonds selling for 3.5¢ on the dollar:
Credit-default swaps traders set a value of 3.25 cents on the dollar for bonds of an AbitibiBowater Inc. unit to settle derivatives linked to the newsprint maker that’s now in bankruptcy protection.
The price means sellers of credit swaps guaranteeing as much as $1.1 billion against a default by the Abitibi- Consolidated unit would pay 96.75 cents on the dollar to settle the contracts. Eleven dealers, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Barclays Plc and Morgan Stanley, bid in the auction, which was administered by Markit Group Ltd. and broker Creditex Group Inc.
Oh…..My…..Ghod!
This might explain why BankUnited has been given 20 days by regulators to find a buyer, or they will be shut down.
Meanwhile, oil rose slightly on the consumer confidence numbers, as did the US dollar and Pound Sterling.
And a Small, Well Lubed, Dominican Boy*
*Not my bon mot. That honor goes to Cthulhu at Short Skool Bus.
We Didn’t Start the Flame War
A vid from Collge Humor dot com.
Let me just say completely NSFW….Very funny!
A Few Thousand Words on Teabagging
I really didn’t cover it, because I don’t do right wing agitprop, but these protest signs at the rallies are prize:
Evolution Disproved!
I just hurt myself laughing:
In a severe blow to the credibility of evolutionary science, biologist Richard Dawkins admitted today that Darwin’s theory of evolution could offer no rational explanation for the continued existence of creationists. The process of natural selection sees genes which provide an advantage in the battle for survival being preserved across generations, but scientists can find no useful purpose for the gene which leads people to believe that the earth was created in only six days about 10,000 years ago.
Solipsism as proof of Genesis.
The Easter Bunny Hates You!
No Easter Bunnius were harmed in the course of this production.
From the perspective of a Yid, I’m LMAO!
What is Wrong with the Village:
Dana Perino is joining Mark Penn’s PR firm, Burson-Marsteller:
Mr. Penn, the firm’s CEO, said Ms. Perino’s experiences in Mr. Bush’s second term make her a valuable addition to the team of battle-tested public-relations veterans he is assembling. Mr. Penn writes a “Microtrends” column for The Wall Street Journal Online.
Bull. She was clubbed daily like a baby seal.
This is all about the incestuous ways in Washington, DC, and I can think of no better illustration of why the town needs a good muck-raking prosecutor to clean it out.
Dutch Soft Pedal JSF Order
It turns out that the Dutch Government did not have the votes to buy two JSF test aircraft without a firm fixed price commitment (Yeah, what are they smoking?*)
They managed a compromise, in which they order the test aircraft, but defer the production order from 2010 to 2011 or 2012, when the price should be firmer. (Yeah, what are they smoking?*)
The problem is that the last sale was what was clearly a phony price (around $80m a pop), and the opposition expects massive cost and schedule problems….And they are probably right.
*Well, it’s Holland, so we have a pretty good idea.
Deep Thought
It is harder getting the tune of Weird Al’s Virus Alert out of your head than it is to banish It’s a Small World from your brain.
I’m ready for Vogon poetry for relief.
Light Posting for a 2 Days
Tonite starts days 7-8 of Pesach, so I will be largely off line until Thursday night.
NY Gov. Paterson Continues to Move Left to Shore Up Flagging Poll Numbers
Now he has announced that he will introduce a same-sex marriage bill to the New York legislature.
Much like the income tax hike on the wealthy, we now know that Paterson will do the right thing, if you are holding a political gun to his head, like being down by double digits in the primary and the general elections for New York governor in 2010.
Obama Plan to Nationalize Student Lending Meets Forces of Evil
Most notably Sallie Mae, which has a history of cheating students, bribing college financial aid officers, and contributing generously Congressional campaigns.
As Matthew Yglesias notes, the college lending giant’s “compromise”, would waste $17 billion a year as compared to direct loans.
Luckily, Obama can eliminate much of the fraud, waste, and abuse, by which I mean much of the private players in the student loan market, through executive orders, as well he should.
Another Chinese Move Away from the Dollar
China is moving away from settling debts internally in US dollars, as the cities of Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Dongguan will start settling trade in Yuan, as opposed to US dollars.
China is walking away from the dollar, and this implies downward pressure on the dollar in the longer term.
Prosecutors Seek Indictment Against Abu Gonzalez and 5 Others
Unfortunately, it’s Spanish prosecutors seeking criminal charges.
We need a criminal investigation of these folks.
Do I Look Like a F&^%ing Idiot?
Goldman Sach’s CFO, David Viniar, says that he is mystified at why people care about the dealings between AIG and Goldman, “They’re one of thousands and thousands and thousands of counterparties and the results of any trading with AIG are completely immaterial to what we do…I am mystified by this fascination with AIG.”
People are interested because you bought phony insurance contracts (CDS’s) from them, and when they imploded, you got the taxpayer to pay out at 100¢ on the dollar, creating yet another subsidy for you corrupt bastards.
Even people who don’t understand the whole picture, they know that this is corrupt, and that they are being stuck with the check for this.
Your claim that profits on AIG deals, “rounded to zero”, in 2008 is bullsh%$. In a fair system, your firm should have lost millions, if not billions, were it not for yet another subsidy of you corrupt losers.
Breaking News: Wall Street Salary Caps Drive Away Assholes!
From the ever reliable Andy Borowitz:
As the federal government moves to institute salary caps for Wall Street executives, an increasing number of assholes are seeking employment elsewhere, a study confirmed today.
According to the report commissioned by the University of Minnesota’s School of Business, at a time when the economy needs experienced hands at the tiller, some of the financial world’s best-trained dickwads are fleeing the ship.
….
I need a screen wipe.