Nova has an episode on the rediscovery of the manufacturing techniques for the Ulfberht (an ultra high quality Viking Sword):
Month: October 2012
Yes, I Know, No Posts Yesterday
I came home, and was brweing a nasty cold.
I’m feeling better now, though I still have a bit of a cough.
Why Hasn’t Jon Corzine Been Indicted?
The Wall Street Journal notes that there were no effective capital controls or accounting standards at MF Global:
As MF Global Holdings Ltd. teetered last October, an accountant in its Chicago office got an urgent question from regulators: How much cash did the firm have left?
It is supposed to be an easy question for brokerage firms to answer, even in the middle of a crisis. U.S. rules set tight controls on the accounting, oversight and movement of money that belongs to customers or firms themselves.
This will require a significant effort,” the MF Global accountant, Matthew Hughey, wrote in an email to seven colleagues at 4:24 a.m. on Oct. 27, 2011. A copy of the email was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The reason Mr. Hughey couldn’t answer the question for regulators: Employees at MF Global couldn’t keep track of exactly how much money it had at any given moment, even before the company began to wobble, according to Mr. Hughey’s email. Officials had been trying to fix the problem for months.
As regulators and lawmakers plow ahead with investigations that began when MF Global tumbled into bankruptcy a year ago this week, yawning gaps in the New York company’s procedures for moving and keeping track of money are getting new attention.
A private lawsuit expected to be updated early next month is expected to highlight such issues and how they are tied to the more than $1 billion that went missing from customer accounts as MF Global failed last October, according to people involved in the suit.
A House financial services committee report, which will be released in the next few weeks, is expected to scrutinize how regulators handled MF Global. It is unclear how much focus will be given to the deficiencies in internal computer systems and procedures at the firm.
………
There are no signs that prosecutors are planning to bring criminal charges related to the firm’s demise.
Jon S. Corzine and Henri J. Steenkamp, MF Global’s chief executive and finance chief, respectively, have told lawmakers that they believed internal controls at the company were sound when they signed securities filings in 2011. Their signatures were required under the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate-governance law.
Mr. Corzine, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. chairman, strongly backed the 2002 law while he was a Democratic U.S. senator from New Jersey. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing related to MF Global. A spokesman for Mr. Corzine declined to comment Sunday. Mr. Steenkamp’s lawyer and Mr. Hughey couldn’t be reached for comment. A lawyer for Mr. Hughey declined to comment.
(emphasis mine)
Under Sarbanes Oxley, Jon Corzine personally certified that MF Global had established and was maintainied “internal controls” and “designed such internal controls to ensure that material information relating to the company and its consolidated subsidiaries is made known to such officers by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which the periodic reports are being prepared.” (From the Wiki)
The didn’t. It wasn’t even close, and Jon Corzine was in violation of the law, and should be subject to criminal penalties.
What have we heard from the Department of Justice? **crickets**
It is a disgrace.
Another Appeals Court Puts Another Nail in DOMA’s Coffin
The US Court of Appeals for the 2nd circuit has ruled that DOMA was unconstitutional.
What’s more they set a very high standard:
This is a really big deal. Jacobs is not simply saying that DOMA imposes unique and unconstitutional burdens on gay couples, he is saying that any attempt by government to discriminate against gay people must have an “exceedingly persuasive” justification. This is the same very skeptical standard afforded to laws that discriminate against women. If Jacobs’ reasoning is adopted by the Supreme Court, it will be a sweeping victory for gay rights, likely causing state discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation to be virtually eliminated. And the fact that this decision came from such a conservative judge makes it all the more likely that DOMA will ultimately be struck down by the Supreme Court.
Of course, this won’t make any difference to Scalia when it gets there. He’s a corrupt hack.
Still, it’s a, dare I say it, a fabulous bit of news.
It’s Jobless Thursday
And the number sucks.
Why I am So Glad that I LIve in Maryland, Part XCIV
It ain’t a swing state, so I don’t have any qualms about not voting for the guy who appointed Eric “Place” Holder.
The title of Marcy Wheeler’s post says it all, “Eric Holder Rewards the Teams that Gave Torturers and Mortgage Fraudsters Immunity“.
Disgraceful.
What Makes Massachusetts ‘Phants so Contemptible?
Blah, blah, blah!
So, Scott Brown accuses Elizabeth Warren of doing the Elizabeth Warren of working for the asbestos companies, and she responds with an ad with families of the victims of mesothelioma.
His response is to accuse her of using actors in the ad, which is completely untrue:
U.S. Sen. Scott Brown suggested Wednesday that his Democratic opponent Elizabeth Warren used actors in her advertisements defending the legal work she did on asbestos-related lawsuits.
But three of the people in the advertisements have said that’s not the case.
Brown made the statement during a campaign stop at the Taunton Fire Department’s central station on Wednesday morning.
During a question and answer session, one firefighter commented that both campaigns are publishing advertisements featuring family members of victims of asbestos-related illness. He asked Brown how Warren gets the victims’ family members to go on her commercial.
“A lot of them are paid,” Brown said. “We hear that maybe they pay actors. Listen, you can get surrogates and go out and say your thing. We have regular people in our commercials. No one is paid. They are regular folks that reach out to us and say she is full of it.”
One of the ads, titled “Ashamed,” features Kingston resident Ginny Jackson, whose husband died of mesothelioma after working at a Quincy shipyard that was filled with asbestos.
Reached through the Warren campaign, Jackson responded to Brown’s comments, calling them offensive.
“What Scott Brown said today is so offensive to me and my family after what we went through,” Jackson said. “He’s sunk to a new low.”
Nope, this is the nature of the Massachusetts Republican Party.
It’s who they are.
You should not be shocked.
H/t Wonkette.
How About Some Vacation Pix
Crater Lake Pix
The Ashland Shakespeare Festival’s Elizabethan Stage
Click Pix for full size
We went to Ashland, Oregon for my step-mom’s birthday, and sampled their Shakespeare festival and on the way back, we took a detour to Crater Lake.
A good time was had by all.
Here are my vacation pix.
There is a fair amount of duplication for Crater lake, I used continuous mode in an attempt to get panoramic shots that I could stitch together.
The photos really do not do justice to the beauty of Crater lake.
Daym! Stewart Nails It, Again
Blah, blah, blah!
Last night, I was musing on how to treat Paul Ryan’s phony op at a charity soup kitchen.
Then, I watched Jon Stewart opened up a can of righteous whup-ass on him, and I decided to be lazy.
Enjoy.
I Think that David Stockman Just Called Rmoney a C%$# Sucker
I don’t think that Reagan’s former budget director finds Mitts business experience particularly meritorious:
Bain Capital is a product of the Great Deformation. It has garnered fabulous winnings through leveraged speculation in financial markets that have been perverted and deformed by decades of money printing and Wall Street coddling by the Fed. So Bain’s billions of profits were not rewards for capitalist creation; they were mainly windfalls collected from gambling in markets that were rigged to rise.
Nevertheless, Mitt Romney claims that his essential qualification to be president is grounded in his 15 years as head of Bain Capital, from 1984 through early 1999. According to the campaign’s narrative, it was then that he became immersed in the toils of business enterprise, learning along the way the true secrets of how to grow the economy and create jobs. The fact that Bain’s returns reputedly averaged more than 50 percent annually during this period is purportedly proof of the case—real-world validation that Romney not only was a striking business success but also has been uniquely trained and seasoned for the task of restarting the nation’s sputtering engines of capitalism.
Except Mitt Romney was not a businessman; he was a master financial speculator who bought, sold, flipped, and stripped businesses. He did not build enterprises the old-fashioned way—out of inspiration, perspiration, and a long slog in the free market fostering a new product, service, or process of production. Instead, he spent his 15 years raising debt in prodigious amounts on Wall Street so that Bain could purchase the pots and pans and castoffs of corporate America, leverage them to the hilt, gussy them up as reborn “roll-ups,” and then deliver them back to Wall Street for resale—the faster the better.
It’s pretty long, but it’s well worth the read, and it is positively devastating.
Yeah, I’m Watching the Debates………
I don’t think that Obama has gained any intestinal fortitude, but he’s certainly had some coffee that was not decaffinated.
He’s said some variant of “that’s simply not true” a number of times.
Deep Thought
H/t JR at the Stellarparthenon BBS.
Kids, Don’t Try This at Home
I guess you file this under, “Why little Timmy didn’t get a Li’l Tyke fuel refinery for the holidays.”
On the was back from the Ashland Shakespeare festival, we decided to stop at Crater Lake. (It was beautiful, pix to follow)
Unfortunately, as we got to the rim of the caldera, the low fuel warning
went off.
Unfortunately, it’s HARD to find a gas station in the middle of a National Park.
We FINALLY pulled up to a gas station in Dry Creek (I’m not joking here), Oregon.
Unfortunately, their pumps were dry, and the next nearest station was 27 miles away!
The guy at the gas station, Pablo, was very apologetic, and called his sister to see if sure had a Jerry can of gasoline.
I looked around, and communed with my inner McGiver.
I saw some camping supplies, and looked to see of the had any Coleman fuel (also called white gas), which is gasoline without any additives to boost octane our detergent additives.
No such luck.
I checked the automotive section, and there were two bottles of STP, which could be used to run a cart in a pinch, as long as the engine was warm, but that was about a pint, which wasn’t enough.
While we were waiting for his sister to call back, Pablo looked in in the back shed, and found an old can of Coleman fuel about 3/4 full.
So I added the Coleman fuel, and the two cans of STP, and we managed to coast 28 into Idleyld and pick up some fuel.
One of the reasons to add the STP is that, on addition to dealing with potential contaminants in the old fuel, it’s that out had a lot of methanol in it, and so will to boost the fuel’s octane.
So we made it to the airport on time, (I would have posted it then, but this is when the plane started boarding, and then, after flying overnight, we all slept), dropped off the car, and checked in.
Crater Lake pix to follow.
Posted via mobile.
I think that we’ve found the title for our pr0n movie.
H/t DC at the Stellar Parthenon BBS.
It’s Bank Failure Friday!!!! (on Saturday)
Busy week. Three this Friday.
- GulfSouth Private Bank, Destin, FL
- First East Side Savings Bank, Tamarac, FL
- Excel Bank, Sedalia, MO
So, here is the graph pr0n with last years numbers for comparison (FDIC only):
Worst Ride Pimping Ever
I don’t have everything to add, except to note that what you see IS cardboard, but enjoy the pix.
Posted via mobile.
We Are in Ashland
The trip was kind of involved.
I neglected to mention that while Sharon and the kids made the flight, I did not.
I had to run back home, because Natalie forgot to bring her back pack, which had her inhaler, so I had to run homeand get it, (Natale will be on the hook for the taxi fare).
What I didn’t mention yesterday was that I DIDN’T make the flight, so I had to fly on another flight.
So we hit the car rental agency late, and then had a 5 hour drive to Ashland.
We got I late last night, at least by our Eastern Time body clocks, and had been up since 4 am.
Tonight, we have singer at a brew pub, and then we see a play.
Posted via mobile.
Apple, Beotches
H/T DC at the Stellar Parthenon BBS.
Travel Day
Heading to Oregon for my step-mom’s 80th birthday.
We are all heading down to Ashland, Oregon to celebrate, and to watch Shakespeare.
Just about to get on the plane.
Well, Ain’t That a F%$# You to the Community
So, San Francisco, a place with lots of LGBT people, and decent mass transit has gotten a new archbishop who is homophobic and a drunk driver:
The Catholic Church on Thursday installed Salvatore Cordileone, a leader in the fight against same-sex marriage, as archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
Following his installation as the religious leader of more than 500,000 Catholics in the largely gay-friendly Bay Area, Cordileone, 56, delivered a sermon and spoke about his recent arrest after failing a sobriety test at a police checkpoint.
“God has always had a way of putting me in my place,” he said. “With the last episode in my life, God has outdone Himself.”
Cordileone spent about 11 hours in a San Diego jail cell in August after he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. On Monday, he pleaded guilty to driving with alcohol in his system, said Gina Coburn, spokeswoman for the San Diego City Attorney.
Cordileone has been particularly outspoken in Church opposition to same-sex matrimony as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, a role that has put him at odds with many Bay Area Catholics.
He also led Church support for the 2008 voter-approved California state constitutional amendment, Proposition 8, that banned gay marriage.
Seriously, I’m kind of surprised.
This is an archbishop, so you can be pretty sure that the entire chain of command, up to and including the Pope, had to sign off on this, and they had to know what it means.
I would have thought that they would be too busy covering up pedophile priests to take a break to piss on the LGBT community.
I guess that they multitask well.