Month: October 2009

Where is Your God Now?

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On my most recent bank failure Friday post, there was a small bank in Otsego, MN, Riverview Community Bank that was closed by regulators.

Well, it turns out that the story of this bank is just a bit weirder than your average bank failure.

Riverview Community Bank was run by a religious nutcase who attempted to foist his religious views on his employees:

Riverview Community Bank, an Otsego firm that attracted national media attention several years ago for espousing prayer in the workplace, has been shut down by state regulators.

…

Early in its life, Riverview had a reputation for mixing faith and finance. Chuck Ripka, one of the bank’s founders, once told the Star Tribune that God spoke to him and said, “Chuck, if you pastor the bank, I’ll take care of the bottom line.” Ripka and his staff would pray with customers in the bank’s Otsego branch and even at the drive-up window. In a 2004 New York Times story, Ripka said he occasionally slipped up and said, “Come on over to the church — I mean the bank.”

Of course, this makes his bank hostile to non-Christian, or for that matter, non-obnoxious Christian, and as a public accommodation it also makes it hostile to non-Christian, or for that matter, non-obnoxious Christian, customers.

Yes, a religious test on employment is illegal, and it’s pretty clear that this guy made it clear that non-Christian, or for that matter, non-obnoxious Christian, people need not apply for jobs.

There is also the whole “Chasing the money changers from the temple,” irony thing, but I’m not up on my Christian mythology enough to follow the finer points.

It is worth noting that the bank was the subject of consent enforcement actions in the year before its closing, and were instructed to stop paying dividends when they were always circling the drain.

There is a lesson in all this, though: If you believe that God is on your side, you are always wrong, but if you worry whether or not you are on God’s side, you have a possibility of being right.

There is something deeply disturbing and deeply hypocritical about all these folks who seem to think that Christianity is nothing more than a path to wealth.

Were they Boinking Each Other?

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Have you heard about Northwest flight 188?

They missed Minneapolis. They overflew it, then turned, and returned to land at the airport, and the plane was promptly swarmed by cops.

The facts that we know are that the flight lost contact with air traffic controllers for over an hour, that they over-flew Minneapolis by about 150 miles, and landed over an hour late.

Well, at first they said that they had a “heated discussion,” and now they have provided further detail, saying that, “they became distracted during an extended discussion of crew scheduling that included their use of personal laptops.”

Seriously, this is nuts. They were out of contact with ATC for over an hour and missed Minneapolis by 150 miles.

This is not a discussion of “crew scheduling”.

Maybe one of them is sleeping with the other’s wife, maybe they are sleeping with each other, or maybe they were playing a MMORPG like World of Warcraft, or doing a Doom death match over a null modem cable.

It could also be that they just dozed off, the airlines are doing their best to work these guys to death…But a “heated discussion of crew scheduling”?

Yeah, and my dog ate my homework.

Inouye to Propose Changes to Franken Anti-Rape Amendment?

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Well, we know that appears that defense contractors really hate Al Franken’s amendment limiting their ability to use binding arbitration to keep things like rapes of employees and discrimination cases from appearing from in open court.

Well, it now appears that, in addition to the 30 pro rape Republicans and the Obama administration, there are now reports Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye is looking at stripping out the amendment.

This would be regrettable, because the law currently supports the rights of defense contractors to gang rape a woman and lock her in a box, and so the law needs to be changed.

I contacted his office, and have not heard any response at press time yet.

Full text of Franken’s amendment after break:

Sec. 8104. (a) None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for any existing or new Federal contract if the contractor or a subcontractor at any tier requires that an employee or independent contractor, as a condition of employment, sign a contract that mandates that the employee or independent contractor performing work under the contract or subcontract resolve through arbitration any claim under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or any tort related to or arising out of sexual assault or harassment, including assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, or negligent hiring, supervision, or retention.
(b) The prohibition in subsection (a) does not apply with respect to employment contracts that may not be enforced in a court of the United States.

Newspaper Circulation Craters

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What is going on is that their customers are dying off, and the next generation is just not interested in paying for bad journalism.

So newspaper circulation fell by 10.6% over the past year.

The first time that I saw footage of the protests at GW Bush’s inauguration in 2001 was in Fahrenheit 911.

The MSM was doing bizarre camera shots that were determined to hide it all, and the print media did the same.

For anyone who is at all web savvy, why read the New York Times when the Times of London, or BBC, or Guardian does a better job?

There are a number of problems, such as corporate slant in the news (GE/NBC), but the biggest problem is that newspapers are being managed by people who do not believe in newspapers, but rather by people who are little more than chop shop operators.

This is, as I have said before, you saw this in rail in the 1960s and 1970s, when the companies running railroads decided that it was a dying industry, and so cut people, cut maintenance, cut modernization, and cut infrastructure, and in so doing, they very nearly killed it off.

The news industry has become corporate owned, and acceded to the demands of Wall Street by digesting itself to generate the requisite profit margins, and now, there is very little left by way of quality product for people to want to buy.

Economics Update

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Click for full size


Chicago Fed Index Chart Pr0n H/t Calculated Risk


Your Moment of Zen

We have some dueling indices today, with the ATA Truck Tonnage Index falling, and the Chicago Fed reporting that its Midwest Manufacturing Index rose in September to levels approaching where they were prior to the recession.

Overseas, we have the Bank of Israel leaving its benchmark rate at .75%, German consumer confidence falling, and the South Korean economy growing at its fastest pace in 7 years, so it’s more mixed signals.

We are seeing an increased risk appetite among investors, which has driven treasuries lower, and pushed their yields up, though a statement by an official in the Chinese central bank that China should diversify its currency holdings, may have been a factor too.

In real estate, home prices in California fell by 7.3% from a year ago, largely on increased foreclosure sales.

In energy, oil fell again, and the dollar rose from this year’s lows, which would indicate a reduction in risk appetite, which is kind of counter to the results with the US treasuries above.

Finally, watch the video, it’s funny, in an, “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry,” way, and one note to the non-Brits, “Freddy” is Sir Fred Goodwin of the £ multimillion pension.

Jon Stewart is a F%$#ing Genius, He Should Get a Peabody Edition

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I have a call into Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye’s office regarding reports that there may be changes to Al Franken’s amendment prohibiting the writing of new contracts to contractors who use binding arbitration in discrimination cases, including, “any tort related to or arising out of sexual assault or harassment, including assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, or negligent hiring, supervision, or retention.”

While I am waiting for his office’s response, let’s have Jon Stewart put it all in perspective:

Purse Recovered

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Remember when I said that my daughter’s purse had been stolen?

Well much to the relief of everyone, particularly Natalie, her purse, which held her phone and her inhaler, as well as her song book/journal were recovered.

It turned out to be a taking for practical joke, as opposed to a taking for the purpose of theft. They took her stuff from her cubby in her after-school music class, and put it in her desk for art class, where she would find it.

Nasty joke, but less nasty than an actual theft.

Heh

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Mount Vernon, Washington decided to hold a Glenn Beck day, because he is a native son of that town.

May be this was a really stupid idea:

Glenn Beck Day in Mount Vernon was an expensive lesson for this small town, as it found out the cost of hosting a controversial celebrity.

It’s on the hook for $17,748.85, mostly for 239 hours of police overtime.

….

Well, says Ken Bergsma, the town’s police chief, better to be prepared than not.

The chief says the crowd of 800 to 1,000 demonstrators that greeted Beck for his early-evening appearance on Sept. 26 was the biggest protest he’s seen in his 32 years as a Mount Vernon police officer.

The city council officially distanced themselves from the Mayor’s decision when he made it, and it turns out that they were right, to the tune of almost 18 grand, which is not a small amount of change when the town has a population of 26,232.

There is, and should be, a cost to honoring people whose raison d’être simply self promotion and ego.

MEADS CDR Set for 2010

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Note 4 Separable Canisters


Defense Pamphlet Pr0n

Over a decade ago, I did some very preliminary work with the Medium-Extended Air Defense System (MEADS). Nothing major, just taking PAC-3 munition boxes and slapping them together in a way that the “4 pack” could be made separable.

At the time, I figured that nothing would come of it, because it was a joint program with significant foreign involvement, which looking at history, seems to be the kiss of death for weapons’ systems.

There just ain’t enough pork in a joint venture for either the Pentagon or Congress.

Well, it appears that I may (emphasis on the may) have been wrong, because there is a scheduled Critical Design Review scheduled for next year.

Then again, I may have been right:

Brig. Gen. Genaro Dellarocco, the U.S. Army’s program executive officer for missiles and space, says the service is frustrated that Washington is paying 58% of the cost of the program, but only has equal say with Germany and Italy on management matters. Germany contributes 25% of the funding with Italy handling the remaining 17%.

Paul Schneider, former deputy secretary at the Homeland Security Dept., conducted a review of the program and possible alternate management structures. Options included increasing U.S. control over the program, but industry sources suggest that option was discarded.

It does look like the transmit-and-receive modules for the radar (German) is on track, as the PAC-3 MSE (Missile Segment Enhancement, basically a bigger and longer range dual pulse motor) will be the interceptor, for now at least.

Army Looking for Compact Weapon for Tankers Etc.

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It appears that the US Army is looking for a subcompact personal weapon system for people like tankers and truck drivers.

Seeing as how this is a niche weapon, there are basically two cartridges taht make sense, 5.56 NATO, and 9mm parabellum (used in the Baretta pistol).

I would recommend the former, because if you are carrying more than a 50-100 or so, you have less weight, and even out of a short barrel, you have longer range.

I think that a Bullpup makes sense, because you start getting to absurdly short barrel lengths for the weapon (<10 in).

So, you have existing weapons like the MTAR-21 Tavor, the AUG carbine, etc,

If you want to go to a different round, then something like the FN P90, with its 5.7x 28mm cartridge (as compared to the 5.56x45mm NATO) makes more sense than a 9mm round.

Note that all the Bullpups have integral optical sites, which for someone with little experience shooting a personal in a combat situation is a real advantage.

Additionally one of the arguments against a Bullpup, that slinging a grenade launcher under the barrel become problematic, is not an issue here.

If the army is serious, they would buy something off the shelf, but I expect that there will be instead some sort of new weapon developed, so that some General can get a cushy job on retirement.

LCS-2 Breaks 50 MPH

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Say what you will about the LCS, and I agree with a lot of them, over priced, behind schedule, under-armed for their displacement, and under-crewed, but when you stomp the throttle, they go like a scorched cat:

The Navy’s need for speed is being answered by a pair of warships that have reached freeway speeds during testing at sea.

Independence, a 418-foot warship built in Alabama, boasts a top speed in excess of 45 knots, or about 52 mph, and sustained 44 knots for four hours during builder trials that wrapped up this month off the Gulf Coast. The 378-foot Freedom, a ship built in Wisconsin by a competing defense contractor, has put up similar numbers.

I have no clue as to their endurance when going this fast, but my guess is that they would need to refuel if they wanted to cross the Pacific at this speed.

Video from an builder’s trials after break:


Ready, Fire, Aim

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The USAF is looking at how new technologies might provide a diction for the service’s future:

The study will look 20 years ahead, with an eye toward implementing near-term investment decisions aimed at producing relevant military systems. “We are not talking about pie in the sky,” Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said last month.

The problem ain’t technology, it’s the contracting, and cost control. At the rate things are going, all of the USAF’s budget will go to just buying one aircraft somewhere around 2075.

After all, the F-22 already costs almost ½ as much as the first nuclear aircraft carrier, the Enterprise.

Their future is bleak until costs come under control, which is true of most of the military, but the US Air Force appears to be in the worst position regarding this.

Denmark Defers Fighter Choice

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Denmark is now deferring by a decision at least a year on its choice for a new fighter to replace its F16 fleet.

The decision will be some point in 2010, at the earliest.

Technicality, it is a competition between the F-35, F/A-18 E/F, and the Gripen, but until now, it has generally been assumed that the JSF had the inside track.

I think that any delay in orders will work against the JSF, as it is patently clear that the cost of the aircraft will continue to escalate, making selection of the F-35 that much more difficult.

Also, it appears that they are talking about downsizing their fighter fleet from 48 to somewhere in the 25-35 range.

Here is the original article and the Google translation.

Obyekt 279 Soviet Tank Photos

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I was looking at Pravda article about Libyan arms purchases, and and came across a photo gallery for the Soviet obyekt 279 heavy tank, which they mischaracterized as the T-10.

It comes in at about 60 metric tons in the late 1950s, which makes it a very heavy tank for its day, as does the 130mm rifled gun it sported, along with twin treads on either side to improve mobility.

Interesting, but by the time it hit test, the ATGM had largely eclipsed the heavy tank, which was replaced by the by the MBT, the T-54s on the WarPac side, and M-60, Leopard I, and the AMX-30, which were all at least 10 tonnes lighter, and the Centurion/Chieftain which was at least 10t lighter.


Video after break:

Well, Here’s a Shocker

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It appears that Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), the favorite rent-a-crowd for corporate interests, like Microsoft, Tobacco, and Jack Abramhoff, has now weighed in against the GE/Rolls F136 alternate engine for the JSF:

The group is lambasting congressional funding for a second F-35 Joint Strike Fighter engine, made by General Electric and Rolls-Royce.

In the process, the nonprofit watchdog organization is spending as much as an estimated $2 million on advertising that includes posters in D.C. Metro trains, paper and digital ads in Capitol Hill publications and billboards in several districts across the country.

But wait, there’s more:

CAGW refuses to disclose the campaign’s expenses, but it appears to represent a sizable chunk of its total budget.

In 2008, CAGW’s total revenue, which includes the nonprofit and its lobbying arm, the Council of Citizens Against Government Waste, was $5,158,515.

…

Pratt & Whitney spokeswoman Erin Dick said that her company “is not paying for the CAGW ads.” When asked whether Pratt & Whitney donated to CAGW, Dick said that the company does not disclose the public interest groups it supports.

CAGW and Pratt & Whitney share the same ad agency, Sullivan Higdon & Sink, based in Wichita, Kan., according to a Bloomberg report in August.

That same month, Pratt & Whitney said that it was erroneously [“erroniously”, Ha!] named the paid sponsor of a video made by the agency on behalf of CAGW. Since then, the paid sponsor reference has been changed, and the advertising group said that CAGW and Pratt & Whitney are separate customers, according to Bloomberg.

….

A 2006 Finance Committee report, published by the minority Democratic staff but backed by the Republican chairman at the time, tracked how convicted ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff enlisted tax-exempt groups on behalf of his clients. The report documented how Abramoff got CAGW, among other groups, to publish articles and news releases on behalf of his clients, and then directed tens of thousands of dollars to the taxpayer groups.

(emphasis mine)

Seriously, why anyone takes CAGW seriously is completely beyond me.