Year: 2010

I’ve Never Called Him Stupid, But Now I Will…

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Because Barack Obama just met with Condoleeza Rice to discuss foreign policy:

US President Barack Obama met Friday at the White House with former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice for a chat on foreign policy and her new memoir, officials said.

What’s next, meeting with Mary Mallon* to discuss food hygiene?

Discussing haute cuisine, or for that matter how to win a World Cup, with the British?

Seriously, the idea that you are going to have a friendly chat about foreign policy with the worst Secretary of State of all time, who served the worst President of all time, because ……… Hell, I cannot fathom a possible reason for doing this.

What is going on here is a demonstration of either mind-boggling idiocy, or a truly nasty bit of psychological pathology that requires one to get approval from everyone.

*Typhoid Mary.

Bad Ideas Revisited

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The Royal Navy has a problem, which is that with a typical weapons load in a tropical environment, the F-35B STOVL variant of the JSF cannot land without jettisoning some of its (very expensive) stores.

Their solution is the Shipboard Rolling Vertical Landing, for which the Royal Navy has just paid Lockheed $18 million for a viability study, in which the F-35 will land on a carrier deck in a combined wing borne and thrust borne mode, at about 60 kts airspeed without benefit of arrester gear.

So, you have an aircraft weighing something north of 35,000 pounds, which is going to hit the deck at 60+ kts, though the relative speed will likely be closer to 30 kts, and it will then be manually braked to a stop.

What a bloody mess.

Yeah, Like This Name is Accidental

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European missile conglomerate MDBA has announced a successful test of its, “Hard and Deeply Buried Target (HARDBUT) Next Generation Multiple Warhead System (NGMWS).

It appears to be rather different in concept from the penetrators developed by the US, which use mass, metallurgy (ES-1 Steel), and specialized geometry to achieve a target kill. Hardbut appears to rely on a tandem warhead to achieve its goals:

The firing was carried out using a representative missile airframe on the long rocket sled test track at Biscarrosse. The live Precursor Charge (PC) was detonated just in front of the massive concrete target and the inert Follow-Through Bomb (FTB) penetrated through and exited the rear face of the target, demonstrating a penetration capability significantly in excess of any warhead currently produced by MBDA. The trial was also designed to assess the robustness of the compact Ruggedized Electronic In-line Fuze (REIF) which will incorporate embedded smart fuzing algorithms. The target and trial set-up were designed to be operationally representative.

(emphasis mine)

So it appears to me that there is a (probably shaped) charge, with a penetrator that follows behind.

H/t Danger Room.

Factoid of the Day

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I would not have known, but when you think about it, it’s not surprising that over their history, banks have been a money losing enterprise:

He duly notes the key role banks had in the financial collapse and cites “one amazing statistic,” namely that “in the aggregate, banks have never made money over time.” Instead, “like the airlines, banks historically have seemingly made money hand over fist during good times, but they give it all back when the cycle turns.”

But he asks, “How many bankers suffer the same fate when it comes to their own personal financial affairs?” And the answer to that question, Dennis believes, was a major factor in setting the stage for the encompassing financial crisis we’ve recently suffered through.

The problem is that while banks have not made money over their history, bankers have, because, when the going gets tough, they get to keep their enormous paychecks of the go-go years.

If we did something simple, like saying that remuneration to officers and executives in excess of $400,000.00 a year, the President’s salary, would be subject to claims against the company which paid them for 5 years, and then partially subject to claims against a company for the next 10 years, we would find a lot more honesty and probity in the financial industry.

I Hope that He is Wrong, But I Fear that He is Right

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John Carney at CNBC says that Congress will make the illegal actions of banks retroactively legal in the lame duck session:

The put-back crisis is not driven by economics. It is driven by legal rights. And there’s simply zero probability that the politicians in Washington are going to let Bank of America or Citigroup or JP Morgan Chase fail because of a legal issue.

So here’s what I expect will happen. The lame duck session of Congress will pass a bill that essentially papers over the misdeeds of the banks that originated mortgage securities. Every member of Congress and every Senator who has been voted out of office will cast a vote for the bill. And the President will sign it.

He is suggesting that you buy stock in Bank of America, because when Congress does this, the stock will rebound.

He’s right, the bankers own our government.

It’s Bank Failure Friday!!!! (late again)

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And here they are, ordered, and numbered for the year so far.

  1. Security Savings Bank, F.S.B., Olathe, KS
  2. WestBridge Bank and Trust Company, Chesterfield, MO
  3. Premier Bank, Jefferson City, MO

Full FDIC list

3 this week, which appears to be more or less on trend, which is a bit over 3, see graph.

My guess is that the final that the final number will be in the 150-160 range, though prognostic record is rather spotty.

So, here is the graph pr0n with trendline (FDIC only):

I would note that are now at the point where the utility of the least squares trendline is diminishing, but I’m keeping it here for historical purposes.

Here is Some Sanity in Defense Procurement

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The successor to the over-ambitious Future Combat Systems Manned Ground Vehicle (FCS-MGV)* the Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) has now dropped many of the technologies intended for the FCS-MGV, because, even now, 2 years after the cancellation of the program, the programs are still insufficiently mature to be deployed on a combat system:

In an effort to make use of the billions of dollars it invested in the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, the U.S. Army may have required too many immature technologies in its first Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV) Request for Proposals, according to the Army’s vice chief.

“We wanted to look and ensure that we made use of the investment in FCS and that we had the ability to use those technologies,” Gen. Peter Chiarelli told reporters at a Sept. 22 lunch in Washington.

However, if you want a vehicle in seven years, “you can’t be reaching deep for technologies right now,” he said.

………

According to Chiarelli, FCS was canceled in a way so that the Army could still make use of the research and development work done under the program.

“We wanted to ensure that those technologies that we worked so hard to develop could be integrated in to a new ground combat vehicle,” he said.

However, “there were a lot of those technologies that aren’t at a technology readiness level today where we could integrate them in seven years.”

(emphasis mine)

It boggles the mind that the technologies, “aren’t at a technology readiness level,” when the original intent was to begin fielding the FCS in 2008.

So the technologies in question won’t be ready 9 years after they were supposed to be fielded.

Our defense procurement system is seriously broken.

*Full disclosure, I worked on the Future Recovery and Maintenance Vehicle, FRMV, “wrecker” variant of the FCS-MGV† from 2003-2006 at United Defense (later BAE Systems after the Carlyle Group sold me to buy Dunkin Donuts).
†Future Combat Systems-Manned Ground Vehicle. These are the ones that are the tanks and APCs. As opposed to the various unnmanned vehicles, networking technologies, etc. that form the full FCS along with the MGVs.‡
‡Yes, I have worked everywhere. Maybe I can’t hold down a job, but more likely this has been my role as “technical hit man”, where you are parachuted in to take care of a specific need.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? (The Good Kind)

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Is an odd data point.

Notwithstanding the poling showing an enthusiasm gap, Democrats are casting their ballot through early voting in greater numbers than Republicans:

But something special is going on in two Ohio Democratic strongholds: Cuyahoga and Franklin counties. I track on this handy web page that other places around the country — including other Ohio counties — are so far reporting low single digit early voting rates. In stark contrast, over 112,000 votes have already been cast in these two Ohio counties. As a comparison, this represents over ten percent of all ballots cast in the 2006 election in these counties, with still some time to go.

…

Something is afoot in Iowa. Not only have nearly 120,000 voters already cast their ballot, registered Democrats are returning their mail ballots at a higher rate than Republicans in nearly every Iowa county. This, in part, explains the approximately 5:3 partisan registration advantage Democrats have over Republicans among mail ballots returned so far in the Hawkeye state.

I still see the glass empty, and I stand by my analysis that, win or lose, the Dems don’t deserve to win, but this is heartening.

QOTD

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I think too often many of us have tried to come up with elaborate financial/economic rationalizations for why the banksters have approached all of this the way they have. The simpler explanation is that they’re sociopathic assholes who think that everyone else must suffer for their mistakes.

—Duncan Black

And yes, my prior post segues very nicely into this.

Economics Update

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Unemployment Claims 2008-Present

Things aren’t getting better, they are just running out of people to lay off.
H/t The Washington Independent.

It’s jobless Thursday, and initial unemployment claims are back in the 450K-480K “sweet” spot, with initial claims rising 13,000 to 462K, the 4 week moving average rising 2¼K to 459,000, though both continuing and emergency claims fell.

Seeing as how the number really needs to be below 300,000 for any meaningful recovery in jobs, we remain in a bad place.

In non-existent inflation land, we saw producer prices rise 0.4% in September, though that was largely on food, the core rate was 0.1%, and the price of imports fell by 0.3%, even as the trade deficit rose.

I would note here to all the free trade fetishists, we have a deflation problem in our economy right now, and most of it is being imported.

Meanwhile, the us dollar has fallen to a low for the year.

Kochtopus

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The Koch brothers, who have been using their Stalin derived fortunes* to back the teabaggers, have steadfastly denied any involvement in the movement.

Well, let’s role tape:

David Koch told New York Magazine earlier this year, “I’ve never been to a tea-party event. No one representing the tea party has ever even approached me.”

But the Guardian reports that footage has emerged showing David Koch at the podium during an AFP gala receiving direct and detailed reports from his astroturf AFP army on their efforts to organize tea parties around the nation.

It appears that, “Never been to a tea-party event,” means getting reports from the people you are bankrolling on stage in right wing speak.

*Really, patriarch Fred Koch made his fortune setting up refining for Josef Stalin.

They Write Letters

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Alan Grayson has written to the FBI requesting a criminal investigation of fraud by the bankers in their foreclosure proceedings.

He is correct when he says that, ” It is time for handcuffs. Fraud does not become legal just because a big bank does it. … This is absurd. This is deliberate, systemic fraud, and it is a crime.”

Full letter after the break:


October 14, 2010

Robert S. Mueller III
Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20535

Robert O’Neill
U.S. Attorney
Middle District of Florida
400 North Tampa Street, Suite 3200
Tampa, FL 33602
Dear U.S. Attorney O’Neill and Director Mueller,

When it comes to foreclosures, there is mounting evidence of a state of rampant lawlessness in Central Florida. There are increasing signs that big banks routinely evade laws meant to protect homeowners, in many well-documented cases of ‘foreclosure fraud.’ Despite the demonstrated existence, for instance, of ‘robosigners’ signing affidavits attesting to documents that they have never seen, the parties engaging in such misconduct are not being brought to justice. Big banks are mischaracterizing this as mere ‘technical problems,’ and apologizing only where there is clear and very public evidence of harm.

It is not enough for big banks only to apologize for fraud, perjury, and even breaking and entering – when they are caught. It is time for handcuffs. Fraud does not become legal just because a big bank does it.

On September 20, 2010, after my office found evidence of systemic foreclosure fraud perpetrated by big banks and foreclosure mills, I called for a halt to illegal foreclosures.

Since then, big banks such as Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, GMAC, PNC and others have suspended foreclosures or foreclosure sales. These banks are still claiming that the massive fraud they have perpetrated amounts to nothing more than a series of technical mistakes. This is absurd. This is deliberate, systemic fraud, and it is a crime.

To give but two of the many available examples, attached is a deposition from an ex-employee of one of the largest ‘foreclosure mills’ in the state, the Law Offices of David Stern. In it, this employee testifies under oath that it was routine for that office to falsify documents regarding military records, in order to move foreclosure cases along more quickly.

The local media has reported on the case of Nancy Jacobini; a contractor for JP Morgan Chase broke into her home after the bank mistakenly foreclosed on it. JP Morgan Chase ‘apologized’ for terrifying her. But , US ; we have a system of laws. I am writing to ask you to enforce them.

The organized and systematic manufacturing of falsified documents to deprive people of their homes is not only a threat to the integrity of the legal system. It also aggravates and extends the weakness in the housing market. Who is going to feel comfortable buying a home if a big bank can simply take it, whether or not that bank has a right to it? Given the securitization of mortgage-backed securities, this misconduct is a threat to our securities markets as well. But fundamentally, this is a question of protecting basic property rights – if you don’t own it, then you shouldn’t try to take it. Without clear property rights, and a legal system that insists on clear proof of those rights before transferring ownership by force, the economy will fall apart.

If perpetrators of perjured affidavits and other systematic criminal activity can get off simply with civil liability – or even less, an insincere bureaucratic apology – the freedom that Americans enjoy will erode quickly in the face of lawless seizures of property. I appreciate your work on the joint Middle District of Florida’s Mortgage Fraud Initiative, and respectfully request that the efforts of your offices turn towards reining in this rampant criminality.

Regards,

Alan Grayson

Member of Congress

Obama Administration Requests Stay on DADT Injunction

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There’s a shocker. They want to continue the witch hunts and persecutions while they are appealing:

The Obama administration on Thursday asked a judge to allow the Pentagon to keep its ban against openly gay men and women in the military while it appeals her decision that ruled the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was unconstitutional.

President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and military leaders have backed ending the policy, but have urged that it be done by the U.S. Congress and military so that there is no disruption to military operations, morale or recruiting.

At a town hall meeting with young voters, a woman pressed Obama on why he wasn’t ending the policy immediately.

“This is not a situation where with a stroke of a pen I can end the policy,” he said and noted that he cannot ignore laws on the books. “This policy will end and it will end on my watch.”

This is a lie. Obama, with a stroke of a pen, could end the separations, and if Congress passes something (ha!) then it is his pen that will sign the bill.

When we look at Obama, one has to wonder whether he, or those people closest to him, like Valerie “gay is a lifestyle choice” Jarrett say about gays when they are having their private moments.

I’m beginning to think that the policy here is to find a path to do the least possible without fatally alienating the party.

If Obama were a Republican, we would be talking about his homophobia right now.

Foreclosures Hit a New Record in September

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I wonder how many of them were fraudulent or otherwise in error:

More than 100,000 U.S. homes were seized by lenders in September, a record number that probably will decline in coming months as major banks halt repossessions and review their foreclosure practices.

Lenders took over 102,134 properties last month, RealtyTrac Inc. said in a report today. That was the highest monthly tally since the company began tracking the data in 2005, surpassing the August record of 95,364. Foreclosure filings, including default and auction notices, rose 3 percent from the prior month to 347,420. One out of every 371 households received a notice.

I’m dubious of that the, “number that probably will decline,” as, “major banks halt repossessions and review their foreclosure practices.”

The banks will rush the moratorium, and in any case the moratorium will be very porous, because the banks are evil, so I expect the numbers to rise.

Describing the Green Party to a T

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In Illinois the Green Party Candidate for Governor, Rich Whitney, had his name misspelled on voting machines. It reads Rich Whitey.

I know that there are “people of color” in the Green Party. The late Ed Boyd, an African American, ran for governor in Maryland in 2006, but received no party support, because they were focusing on (equally doomed) the Senate candidacy of rich whitey Kevin Zeese.

Ed Boyd was kind of pissed, but that really is how the Green Party rolls. It’s the comfortable pretending to afflict the comfortable.