Year: 2010

Great Googly Moogly!

No Comments

There was a guy in Amarillo who wanted to burn a Koran on September 11, but a skater dude took the book away from him. No big deal I guess.

Induhvidual in question, one David Grisham, is a lone crazy, though, seeing as how he is from Texas, he’s not quite so lonely: Texas breeds this sort of Nutjob, see Koresh, David, and the Republican Party of Texas.

What does distinguish this guy from your run of the mill crazy is his day job, he guards a a nuclear weapons plant:

According to George Schwarz, the editor and publisher of the Amarillo Independent, Grisham is an armed guard at the B&W Pantax plutonium plant, north of Amarillo, Texas.

The Pantex plant describes its mission as “maintaining the safety, security and reliability of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile. The facility is managed and operated by B&W Pantex for the U.S. Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration.”

The Wiki callse Pantex, “America’s only nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility.”

It’s a good thing that Timothy McVeigh didn’t know this guy, or his bomb wouldn’t have been a bunch of fertilizer.

Un-Dirtyword-believable.

This is Called Polishing a Turd*

No Comments

The corn syrup industry has applied to the FDA to be able to call its high fructose corn syrup “corn sugar”:

The Corn Refiners Association, which represents firms that make the syrup, has been trying to improve the image of the much maligned sweetener with ad campaigns promoting it as a natural ingredient made from corn. Now, the group has petitioned the United States Food and Drug Administration to start calling the ingredient “corn sugar,” arguing that a name change is the only way to clear up consumer confusion about the product.

I have seen other similar things, the rebranding of prunes as dried plums, for example, but in the case of corn syrup, where we have an an industry producing a product that produces a product that generates significant about its safety, as opposed to a product like prunes whose use as a regularity aid has made it the butt† of jokes.

I don’t approve, but I do not see a place to comment on the FDA’s web site.

*Yes, I am aware that the Mythbusters did in fact polish turds using a Japanese technique called Dorodango, but we are referring to the cliche, not reality.
†Pun not intended.

Jon Stewart on Religious Tolerance

No Comments

Well really, it’s less about tolerance than it is an equal opportunity slam at the extremists in general, noting that when you take the Tanakh, Christian Bible, or Koran literally, you see violence, and hatred, and perhaps the problem is that taking the text literally.

There is also the prize line, “Who’s funding these radical Christian clerics?”

FCC Finally Approves White Spaces

No Comments

Basically, the FCC will be developing standard for unlicensed spectrum used on the spaces between TV channels to create a sort of super WiFi, using what is called “Sense and Avoid” technology.

It’s taken a long time to get here, largely because two groups, the broadcasters who wanted to be paid for something they didn’t have a license for and never used, they claimed interference issues, and the users and manufacturers of many wireless microphones, who had been using the spectrum illegally for years.

Technically, it is a good range of spectrum, it’s the analogue TV spectrum, so it goes a decent distance and penetrates walls and basements well, but more important is that it is unlicensed, which means that the use of the spectrum will be highly competitive, because, unlike wire, or the spectrum owned by wireless telcos, anyone can supply a service, as long as it complies with the technical requirements.

“Unlicensed” here means that anyone can operate the equipment, but that the equipment itself would have to be approved by the FCC before a sale is made.

This has a real potential to compete with the incumbents, and the barriers to providing service are low enough that there should be a fair number of entrants.

Not Gonna Happen……

No Comments

The latest polling on the Texas governor’s race has the Republican Rick Perry leading Bill White by 42% to 41%, which, given that undecideds generally swing against the incumbent (Perry) means that White could actually win this election, and might therefore be able to have a significant influence on redistricting.

The same goes for this poll, which has Perry up by 39% to 33% shows that the race is pretty close.

Obviously, the specifics of the polls make a difference, but this should be interesting in November, particularly given the ability of Governor Goodhair to put his foot in his mouth.

In any case, the phrase, “Margin of Error” figures prominently, as will the dynamics of early voting.

I Now Know How The Daily Show Writers Feel…

No Comments
The Mustache of Insanity

Because former recess appointee UN ambassador John Bolton is saying that he might run for President:

During recent appearances on Fox News, Bolton has been asked whether he would run for president. “Well, you know it’s a great honor when people ask me that question, and I have been asked that question,” Bolton said on Wednesday. “I don’t think anybody involved with politics should worry about that until after the elections this fall.”

He also said: “I’m not saying no. That’s right.”

This promises to be easier to ridicule, and even more funny, than the Freddie Thompson Clown Show presidential campaign of 2008.

I so want him to run.

Do you know that it’s been over 100 years since we elected a president with facial hair (Taft, 1908).

IRS Investigates Chamber of Commerce for Tax Fraud

No Comments

The Internal Revenue Service is investigating whether or not, “the group mixed funds for charitable and noncharitable political purposes in violation of tax codes.”

It’s pretty clear that most of the 501(c)3s that are attached to lobbying groups have nothing to do with what should be educational purposes:

Cyrus Mehri, a Washington lawyer who brought the I.R.S. complaint on behalf of U.S. Chamber Watch, said in an interview that the chamber’s current political activities were, in effect, being underwritten with money intended for charitable work.

The complaint focuses on loans and grants totaling about $18 million that were made beginning in 2003 to a nonprofit affiliate, the National Chamber Foundation, by the Starr Foundation, a charity started by the founder of A.I.G. and now led by Maurice R. Greenberg, the insurer’s former chairman.

Lawyers for Chamber Watch said their research, based largely on public tax filings, found that none of the principal on some $12 million in loans had been paid back and that the money appeared to have been given to the chamber’s foundation for unrestricted use.

This actually strikes close to home for me, as I actually incorporated a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization, Arisia, and while I don’t regret doing so, it got the organization a lower postal rate in its early, pre everyone-has-email, days, which helped a lot.

That being said, it’s a group that basically holds a science fiction convention every year, and the fact that it was legal to register as a tax exempt educational organization, as opposed to a non-profit membership organization, a 501(c)7 where contributions are not tax deductible, still bothers me.

There is a lot of abuse in the tax exempt organization regulations, whether it is science fiction conventions generally, the Chamber of Commerce’s faux charity, or the various think tanks out there, and it really needs to be fixed.

There is a Reason that I Declared them “They Who Must Not Be Named”

No Comments

But that hasn’t stopped the Voice of American from recruiting them to try and pacify angry people in the Middle East:

In what is evidently an attempt to mitigate the damage caused by Koran-burning pastors, the US government will attempt to dissuade outraged citizens of the Middle East from joining al-Qaeda by beaming Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian and Britney Spears across the Voice of America’s airwaves.

According to Press Gazette, Splash News and Pictures will provide a half-hour weekly show packed with meaty celebutardiness, aimed at winning the hearts and minds of those still undecided whether Holy War or Hollywood is the way to go.

First, I will note that if VoA is doing this, the Arab world is going to try and beat us to death with their bare hands.

Second, I have not yet put Kim Kardashian on my list of They Who Must Not Be Named, but ………

Wait for it ………

Wait for it ………

Wait for it ………

She is now.

Great googly moogley.

SNATCHING DEFEAT FROM THE JAWS OF VICTORY

No Comments

The Democrats, Again, of course.

After Boehner’s surprise statement, it looks like the Obama White House is trying to take advantage of this, and paint the Republicans with the “Daddy Warbucks” brush and splinter the Republican caucus, which is good, but a aide for the House leadership just said that the house will not vote on the tax cuts, which is significant because the Constitution says that tax bills have to start with the house.

My guess is that this is someone Steny Hoyer’s office, who is attempting to suck up to the Blue Dog types, who are trying to insist on tax cuts for the big donors.

And on the Senate, we have the preening sociopath narcissists Ben Nelson says that he might support a filibuster, while Mr. “That contemptible rat-f%$# who isn’t with us on everything but the war” Joe Lieberman both saying that he will support a filibuster.

What is good politics and good policy right now is for Barack Obama to say that he will veto any bill that grants tax breaks to people making more than a $¼ million.

It would be useful to show that Obama can draw a line in the sand, because at this point, no one believes that he can.

So Not Done In Iraq

No Comments

More combat action from our troops, notwithstanding the fact that our combat presence has ended:

American military units fired on insurgents while supporting Iraqi troops northeast of the capital on Sunday, Iraqi officials said. It was the second such episode since the United States declared an end to its combat operations in Iraq less than two weeks ago.

There were no American casualties in the fighting in Hudaidy, a village about 50 miles from Baghdad that has long harbored members of the Sunni insurgent group Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.

They are just, “advisers,” and Oceania has always been at war with East Asia.

How Barack Obama Could Appoint Elizabeth Warren, and Why He Won’t

No Comments

Under the Dodd-Frank bill, there is a provision that allows Timothy Geithner to appoint a head to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau until such time as the Senate approves a nominee:

According to the bill’s language, the Treasury Secretary has sole authority to build the new agency before it’s ultimately transferred to the Federal Reserve. That includes anointing a person to head the effort on his behalf, and under his authority. The interim head would serve until the President’s nominee is confirmed by the Senate.

That person could be Elizabeth Warren.

And the legislation doesn’t appear to contain a deadline for a Presidential nomination, experts say, which means Warren could start the agency from scratch, put her people in, begin cracking down on predatory and abusive lenders, and initiate a culture that would put consumers’ interests above those of the nation’s most powerful financial institutions.

What is interesting here is that this is not a recess appointment, and so is not subject to the limitations, such as the requirement that their appointment expires at the end of the current Congress in January, 2010.

Theoretically, if Warren were appointed, she could serve for decades without Senatoriual approval.

So, Warren could be appointed, and be on the job, tomorrow, and the only way to remove her would be for the Republicans not to filibuster her in the Senate, and hope that she is defeated by 51 votes on the floor, which won’t happen, because any Democrat who votes against her has the party base campaigning against him or her in the next election cycle.

So, why don’t I think that Obama will do this? Because in so doing, he would energize the Democratic Party base, who would then come out and vote for Democrats in 2010:

Within hours and possibly minutes I expect the president will name Elizabeth Warren to lead the new consumer protection agency, and if he does, the Democratic base will erupt and turn out to vote in far greater numbers than any current poll suggests.*

The thing is that I believe that there are two dominant schools of thought in the White House:

  • Those who believe that appealing the the base will always be a net loser in terms of elections. (Rahm)
  • Those who actively hate the Democratic Party base, which they see as irrational, unrealistic, a part of the hyper-partisan atmosphere in Washington, and terrifying to the fictitious middle of the road voters in off year elections. (Barack Obama)

Basically, in order for such an act to be taken, the core philosophies of the power centers in the White House have to be repudiated by the people who hold them.

This won’t happen, because even if these decisions help the party, they diminish the power of Emanuel and Obama’s philosophies within the party, which makes it a sort of perverse manifestation of the Iron Law of Institutions, (on edit see this Google link, because one of the purity asshole brigade at Wikipedia deleted the link) which states that, “the people who control institutions care first and foremost about their power within the institution rather than the power of the institution itself.”

*I would note that the author is already wrong, having posted this on Thursday, September 9, and we have had no announcement.

Boehner Blinks

No Comments

After threatening to take down any tax proposal that did not keep the tax breaks for the Leona “Only the little people pay taxes” Helmsley rich folk, David “Nicotine Stained Face” Boehner has agreed to support tax cuts for the remaining 98% of us.

I think that this is really a change in tactics: He knows that he cannot stop the tax cuts from expiring in the House, and that there is a realistic chance of taking the house, so he will go with the electoral politics that show that over ⅔ of voters support letting the “rich bitch” tax cuts expire, so he will let the Senate, where the chances of a Republican take over are smaller, filibuster this to death.

My response to both of them would be to remind them that the inheritance tax goes way up next year if nothing is done, and if something reasonable does not get through the Congress, then there all the taxes come back full force, but of course, I’m not being all hopey-changey and attempting bipartisanship.

Personally, I’d take the top rate, cutting at somewhere north of 10 million a year, back to around 94%, but then again, I’m just a DFH.*

*Dirty F%$#ing Hippy.

This is a Google Adsense On Drugs, Any Questions?

No Comments

One Step Forward, One Step Back

Well, Google™ Adsense™ gets one right, for a change.

I live in Maryland, and I am a Democrat, and in any case Robert “Bad Hair” Ehrlich is a complete prat.

I would also note that in 2004, I exchanged about 20 words with Martin O’Malley, and was convinced that he would be president one day.

He is an impressive candidate, and I think that it is likely that he will throw his hat into the ring in 2012 2016.

This ad takes you to Martin O’Malley/Anthony Brown campaign’s home page.

But after they get one right, they put up an ad for the Freedom Works teabagger AstroTurf 9/12 rally. (sorry, no link to those evil f%$#s, not even with the “nofollow” tag.)

I wonder why about 95% of the political ads that show up on my page are all about conservative causes though.

As for the rest, they seem to be HAMP scams.

**sigh**

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Ruled Unconstitutional

No Comments

One of the interesting things here is that the judge, Virginia Phillips, has ruled that, the policy has a, ” ‘direct and deleterious effect’ on the armed services, which will make the overturn at the appellate level more difficult, since appeals are typically based on matters of law, and this is a determination of fact, but note that I’m an engineer, not a lawyer, dammit!*

The judge will be issuing an injunction against separations, but will be giving the government time to appeal before doing so, so I expect another round of accelerated witch hunts in the Pentagon over the next few weeks.

This is an acid test of the Obama administration’s dedication to gay rights. If they go for a stay, i.e. keep expelling gays from the military, during appeals, they are not merely doing their duty to defend existing laws, as they have previously argued, they are actively and aggressively anti-gay rights.

My money is on Obama making the wrong decision both morally and politically, and going full bore against this decision, because I think that, much like Bill Clinton, there is a level of political, if not personal revulsion, against “te ghay” that drives them to do truly stupid and hateful things.

*I LOVE IT when I get to go all Doctor McCoy!!!

It Looks Like a Commenter on the Blog Will Become Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors

No Comments

Austan Goolsbee, who I’ve posted about a dozen times or so, objected to a post of mine, and I (with permission) posted his response to my blog.

Well, Goolsbee has written extensively suggesting that things like Obama’s proposed R&D tax cut don’t offer a whole bunch of bang for the buck, though he has argued that he thinks the current situation **cough** incipient deflationary spiral **cough** create a somewhat different dynamic.

Well, the scuttlebutt is that Dr. Gooolsbee is going to replace Christina Romer as the chairman of the President’s CEA, and J.W. Mason has the best line that I’ve heard in a while about this:

Looks like Goolsbee is the perfect pick to succeed Romer — his advice is already being ignored even before he’s been hired.

It’s a reference to the fact that Romer’s thoughts on the stimulus were not even passed on to Barack Obama for review, and the point being made is that in a choice between economists and the economy (Goolsbee, Volker), and shills for finance and the finance industry (Summers, Geithner), that Obama will go with the latter unless absolutely forced to do so.

It’s a great line.

It’s Bank Failure Friday!!!! (on Saturday Night)

No Comments

I’ve been off line for Rosh Hashana, so this is a day late.

And the FDIC is back in action, albeit in a low key way, with only 1 bank closure:

  1. Horizon Bank , Bradenton, FL

I am not sure why a small suburb in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area has had 4 banks fail in the past 4 years, see the Full FDIC list, but only one bank failure is a slow day.

Also, here is the Full NCUA list of credit union closings.

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.

Actually, it may have more use. There seems to be a pattern of a lull, and then an outbreak, so Yom Kippur, next Friday, may be a bad day for banks.

911, 9 Years on

No Comments

I don’t think that I can really say anthing about the 9th anniversary of the 911 attacks, beyond the humor and sociology in this picture:

I find this really, Really funny.

I think that I would have always found this funny, but it’s not an amusement that I would have felt comfortable sharing until very recently, and now, it’s the sort of thing that I would email to friends.

I’m not sure what it all means, but then again, I rarely am sure.

H/t Dc at the by invitation only Stellar Parthenon BBS.

Offline for 3 Days

2 Comments

It’s Rosh Hashanah starting this evening, so between this and the Shabbos* following I am offline until Saturday evening, though I have queued stuff various non time-sensitive stuff up, so scroll down.

Note that this notice will stay at the top of the blog until Saturday evening.

*The Jewish Sabbath, which runs from Friday evening through Saturday Sundown.