Month: February 2010

A Good Start

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The New Mexico legislature has just voted to move a significant portion of the state bank accounts to small community banks and credit unions:

New Mexico’s House of Representatives voted Monday to pass a bill that allows the state to move $2 billion – $5 billion of state funds to credit unions and small banks.

The municipal funds bill was approved 65-0, and is subject to a vote by New Mexico’s Senate. Governor Bill Richardson told the bill’s sponsor that he supports the legislation.

It’s a good start.

If we can defund the to big to fail institutions, they shrink, and lose influence in the corridors of power.

Ben Nelson and Blanch Lincoln Need to be Reminded What it Means to Be a Democrat

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It’s one thing to oppose a presidential appointee of your own party, but Ben Nelson Blanche Lincoln, just filibustered Craig Becker to serve on the National Labor Relations Board, and that crosses a line.

Their committee chairmanships should be in doubt, though that won’t happen with Harry “Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man” Reid leading the senate.

Note also that Nelson spoke out strongly against filibustering Bush appointees, but he’s with it when it involves Obama.

In either case, this is where a line should be drawn.

The reason for the filibuster? Because Craig Becker has represented labor unions as a lawyer. No problem with nominating union busting lawyers, but nominating a lawyer that supports workers’ rights? So Ben Nelson, and the Senator from WalMart filibustered him.

Needless to say, the AFL-CIO has blown a gasket over Nelson’s vote, I think that they understand that Lincoln is bought and paid for by WalMart.

Capitulation On Healthcare?

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So, Obama has announced a televised summit with the Dems and the ‘Phants on healthcare, where everything is on the table.

It appears that he’s pushing Dems to come on board for the idea, which appears to me to continue to be, “Just put ‘Healthcare’ on a piece of paper, and I’ll sign it.

Well, the response from the Republicans was that he must kill the House and Senate bills and forswear reconciliation before any such meeting, and the White House response to this, at least insofar is Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is concerned, is to say that they are willing to talk without preconditions.

One interesting twist to this is that John Boehner is also objecting to it being televised, because, I think that he realizes that “no” is not photogenic.

So, is this yet another misguided attempt by Obama to get Republicans to like him (my choice), or is it a bit of elventy dimensional chess where Obama gets Republicans to hang themselves on live TV? (What Boehner fears)

OK, Now, it’s Time To Roll Tom Tomorrow

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Tom Tomorrow, from Sept. 19, 2005 and Feb. 1, 2010

So Barack Obama is now saying that he, “doesn’t begrudge the $19 million in bonuses for Goldman Sach CEO Lloyd Blankfein and JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Domon:

“I know both those guys; they are very savvy businessmen,” Obama said in the interview yesterday in the Oval Office with Bloomberg BusinessWeek, which will appear on newsstands Friday. “I, like most of the American people, don’t begrudge people success or wealth. That is part of the free- market system.”

This is simbply a complete mind f%$#.

It is as Krugman notes, clueless, and Simon Johnson notes that this is an example of, “One of the most complete (and awful) instances ever of savvy businessmen capturing a state and the minds of the people who run it.”

Even if you accept the argument, such as was made by Greg Seargant, that Obama was actually making a nuanced statement where he attempted to show concern without being too “anti-business” in his statements, an to be fair, both Simon Johnson and Paul Krugman, as well as yours truly accept this, it’s still wrong, and shows a concern that is warping the decision making process at the white house.

Johnson notes that he is, “Not sure why he needs to strike that balance. CEOs are overpaid, bankers are overpaid, and bank CEOs are overpaid. Why not just say it plainly?”

Paul Krugman thinks that the nuance makes it worse:

I really don’t see how this makes things any better than the reporting in the Bloomberg story. We don’t begrudge wealth in the free market system — OK, but this wasn’t about free markets, this is an industry that survives only thanks to taxpayer backing. And Wall Street bonuses are like baseball salaries; please.

Just to be clear: what freaks me out about this isn’t what it says about Obama’s policies, it’s what it says about failure to read the mood of the country. The president seems solely concerned that someone might think that he’s anti-business, without — in this interview, at least — appearing to consider it necessary to say a thing about the pervasive sense of unfair Wall Street privilege. He doesn’t have to bash bankers every step of the way, but to respond to a question about bonuses solely by praising free markets and comparing bankers to baseball stars is … clueless.

Whether Tom Tomorrow is right, or whether Paul Krugman is right, what it means is that there is a distinct possibility of a President Palin in 2012.

Haitian Kidnapper Update

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First, I think that it’s pretty clear that something if fishy, since the State Department is refusing to intervene in the case, despite the fact that they, and their allies have aggressively lobbied for this.

It may have something to do with a report that this appears to be the 2nd time that they tried to abscond with children without paperwork or vetting that these were in fact orphans.

As I said before, this was a religiously motivated kidnapping.

Luckily for them, it looks like the they will be released shortly, with a finding by the judge of “the White American get out of jail free card” “no criminal intent.”

Economics Update

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H/t Calculated Risk

We have the numbers for the December trade deficit, and it increased by 10.4%, largely on the increases in energy imports. (See graph pr0n)

In the nexus of banking and real estate, home mortgage demand fell last week, despite the fact that rates fell on the 30 year fixed mortgage, and as the Mortgage Bankers Association notes, the fall is in new home purchases, refinancing continues apace:

The Refinance Index increased 1.4 percent from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 7.0 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 1.1 percent compared with the previous week and was 7.5 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

In international finance, the Bank of Korea kept its benchmark steady 2%, largely in response to surging unemployment in South Korea.

Australia, on the other hand, experienced the largest growth in the workforce in 3 years.

In currency, the dollar was mixed, largely on reports that a deal may be in the offing in the Euro Zone for Greece’s debt mess, news of which also drove oil prices slightly higher.

Snowed In

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At least 14 inches so far, on top of the 24+ inches last week, and school has been canceled for the whole week.

What to do?

I make soup. I just put the blending stick to split pea soup.

I got a soup/pea packet at the grocery store, and followed the recipe, adding onions, celery, carrots, and (my Sharon’s* suggestion) a parsnip.

I also added cubed pastrami,† which I cooked in cheese cloth, so that the meat flavored the soup, but II could pull the meat out when I blended it, and then I add the meat back to the soup.

Off to a late lunch.

*Love of my life, light of the cosmos, she who must be obeyed, my wife.
†I know that ham and a ham bone is traditional for split pea soup, but if I were to use ham in my house, on my wife’s dishes, my continued ability to breath would be in doubt, so no thank you, I like breathing.

Remember the Furious Fuchsia Dodge Challenger?

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Oh My God it’s the Barney Car!

It’s the Barney car!I knew that it was wrong and evil, and I posted such, though I think that at tht time I focused more on stupid than evil.

Well, now now I have proof that it’s not just stupid, it’s Evil (beginning with a capital “e” and ending with a sputter).

Tekeli li!! Tekeli li!! Tekeli li!! Tekeli li!!

H/t Oggie at the Shortskoolbus BBS for the Photoshop.

Obama Buys a Clue (Finally!)

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We how have reports that in a private meeting with David Boehner, Obama said that the Republicans are not interested in doing the work of government:

At the private White House meeting today between Obama and Congressional leaders, the President and John Boehner got into a testy exchange, aides say, with Obama charging that the GOP is just out to kill all his initiatives.

…………

That apparently irked the President, aides say, who accused Boehner of just wanting to kill all his initiatives. Boehner shot back that this was false, that Republicans are serious about bipartisan cooperation.

Now that you know the truth, just f%$# them.

Bipartisanship only works if both sides are interesting in helping the country. The Republicans are not, so there is no benefit to reaching out to them, period, full stop.

Shelby Backs Down

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Remember when I wrote that Richard Shelby had placed holds on every single Obama nominee because he wanted his pork?

Well, he’s backed down, a little at least:

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) has released his controversial “holds” on more than 70 pending presidential nominations, his office said Monday night.

Note that his holds directed at anyone, or anything that might have to do with the USAF tanker RFP, remain in place though.

News of the Unsurprising

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It turns out that almost all money donated by HP employees and HP related PACs in the California Senate race is going to Barbara Boxer, not Carly Fiorina.

In fact, more HP money has gone to her GOP challengers, most notably Chuck Devore, than has gone to Carly.

When Carly Fiorina was fired by Hewlett Packard*, employees at every level, spontaneously burst into song.

The song? Ding, Dong, the Witch is Dead!

The idea that HP employees, and HP tied political institutions, view her with anything but unbelievably well justified disgust is not news.

*Sorry, HP, one of her innovations was to drop the “Hewlett” and “Packard” after they stood up to her disastrous policies.

If On the Jury, I Would Vote to Acquit

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A group of German pensioners are on trial for abducting and imprisoning their investment adviser:

A retired architect and four other pensioners took their financial adviser hostage and held him in a purpose-built prison in Bavaria after their stock market investments failed, a court has heard.

The 74-year-old architect, identified only as Roland K, told a court in Traunstein, southern Germany, that he and his accomplices thought their financial adviser had “cheated and taken the piss” out of them after their investments in the US property market evaporated. As a result, he told the court, they had “decided to invite him for a few days’ holiday in Upper Bavaria”.

Roland K denied kidnapping but admitted the group, including his seventh wife, 79-year-old Sieglinde, Willi D, 60, and Iris F, 64, a retired doctor, abducted James Amburn at his home in Speyer, southern Germany, in June before transporting him in the boot of a car to Roland K’s house at the lakeside resort of Chiemsee, where he had built a prison for him in the cellar.

I don’t approve of such behavior, and I would not do so myself, but if these sorts of vigilante justice are nullified by juries on a regular basis, bankers will start looking to preserving their skins, and not their bonuses and tax dodges.

If they don’t get the message soon, we will see the people with guns shooting bank presidents.

I hope that the bankers get the message before we start seeing widespread murders.

I Know That They Are In the Faith Business………

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But the fact that the Church of England (i.e the Anglicans, called the Episcopal Church in the US) has invested 100% of its pension funds in equities (stocks) seems to me to be just a little bit risky:

The Church faces the same problems as all employers with DB pension schemes – improved longevity and lower real interest rates. But the Church’s pension problems are largely self-inflicted since, astonishingly, the scheme has an asset allocation of 100 per cent equities – the riskiest asset allocation of any UK pension scheme. To add insult to injury, it has (reluctantly) agreed to start moving to 70/30 equities/bonds, but not until 2017, and not to be completed until 2027.

(emphasis mine)

There is a good reason for interest rates to be up against the zero bound right now, but interest rates have been unreasonably low since GW Bush took office, as the result of a conscious decision by Alan Greenspan to bolster Republicans (politically independent Fed, my tuchas), and when this happens, people do insane things to get returns as a result.

The Iranians are Selling Someone the Brooklyn Bridge

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No, I am not talking about their nuclear program.

I am talking about their claim that they have flown a prototype stealth aircraft, or it may be a subscale drone demonstrator

The source is Fars News, and the aircraft is called the ‘Sofreh Mahi'(flatfish):

“The research model of this plane which staged a successful flight passed all radar-evading tests that we desired,” Lieutenant Commander of the Iranian Army Air Force General Aziz Nasirzadeh told FNA.

The General said that the flatfish-inspired shape of the aircraft as well as the materials used in its structure have provided the aircraft with the radar-evading capability.

Ummm….Flatfish? You are calling your aircraft a Flounder?!?!?!

I need a screen wipe.

Why We Love the Rude Pundit

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Nothing to see here, move along

Because he writes stuff like this:

See, Sarah Palin is graded on the hot chick curve. Men wanna f%$# her and women with low self-esteem wanna be her, so whatever she does just affirms that she is hot and f%$#able and gets to travel. If she looked like Kay Bailey Hutchison, we wouldn’t even be talking about her. Palin knows it. And she wields her sexuality like a distraction while she magically steals attention from those smarter than her.

It ain’t just Palin. Let’s face it: if Hillary Clinton had looked like Sarah Palin, she’d be president. And if Barack Obama had looked like Dennis Kucinich, he would not. But, Jesus, you could argue there was substance there. It’s a sad fact of America in the 21st-century that shallowness is a quality and depth makes you an out-of-touch elitist.

(%%# mine)

He cuts to the core of the issue here: that there are an awful lot of people in the United States who think that the manner of selecting our leaders should involve no more intellectual rigor than selecting Miss Alaska (and by the way, she lost that one too).

Really Bad Ideas: Dodge/Chrysler Edition

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No, this does not look macho!

I know that it’s kind of like shooting fish in a barrel, but the idea that Dodge will reinvigorate interest in it’s muscle cars with “Furious Fuchsia” special edition Chargers is just too stupid to ignore.

Fuchsia? Seriously?

What the hell were you thinking?

Seriously, real men don’t even know the world fuchsia.*

This is an aesthetic right up there with the AMC Pacer.

Sharon† looked at the picture, and said that she, “Wouldn’t be caught dead in it,” so the minivan driving mother segment doesn’t like it either.

*Full disclosure: I’m not a real man, even if I do detest quiche, and I can’t spell fuchsia.

†Love of my life, light of the cosmos, she who must be obeyed, my wife.

Hmmm…………Who Could it Be?

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Could it be ………… the Mossad?

Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh was one of the founders of Hamas’ Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, and was believed to be a major conduit of weapons to Gaza.

On January 19, he was found dead in his hotel room, and authorities in Dubai are saying that he was done by a hit squad with “European passports”, and these people were already out of the country before the body was discovered.

Among other oddities: His bodyguard was not with him because the plane was full, which is kind of a “WTF” thing.

Additionally, the cause of death is unclear, with reports, according to the Wiki, of suffocation, electrocution (unlikely, it’s a stupid way to off someone), and, “a heart-attack inducing drug”.

What is interesting (quoting the Wiki) is just how much Hamas is not on the same page about this:

Hamas officials made diverse and conflicting statements regarding the circumstances of their leader’s death. On the day of the incident, Hamas’ armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, announced that he died of terminal cancer in a hospital in the United Arab Emirates.

On 29 January, top Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar said that it was possible that members of the entourage of Israeli infrastructure minister Uzi Landau were involved in Mabhuh’s death. Landau was visiting the United Arab Emirates at the time for a renewable energy conference. Landau dismissed the claim, stating that his delegation was in Abu Dhabi, some 120 km from Dubai, and was escorted by 8-man UAE security team at all times.

Also on 29 January, Hamas’ deputy politburo chief Moussa Abu Marzouk said, “Mossad agents are those who assassinated al-Mabhouh”.

On 2 February, Hamas representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan said that Palestinian Authority security forces might have been involved in the death. He stated that “The Palestinian Authority security forces are pursuing [our] fighters and they have killed dozens of them since 1994.” The same day, Haaretz reported that a Hamas investigation suggested Mabhuh was assassinated by agents of an Arab government, and that al-Mabhouh was wanted by Egypt and Jordan.

Seeing as how his “day job” was running a textile firm, I see only four possibilities, the Mossad, some sort of internecine warfare amongst members of Hamas, some sort of natural death while in a sexually compromised position (which would explain the absence of body guards as well as the confusion from Hamas), or the textile industry in Syria is more cut-throat than I previously understood.

My money is on the Mossad.

That whole “silk merchant gone bad” thing ……… not so much.