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December 31, 2008
Merry New Year!
There's plenty, you know!
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:39 AM | Comments (13)
December 30, 2008
Brain...Won't...Work
Man, I just can't get going today.
This whole Caroline Kennedy thing is too ludicrous for words...but deliciously enjoyable to watch.
I hope the Israelis squash Hamas into...hummus.
And we are really getting a lot of Eastern European spam comments; all these Cyrillic-typefaced comments that are illegible to ignorant 'Merkuns like moi but I assume say things like "hot borscht babes are waiting to meet you."
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:47 AM | Comments (8)
December 26, 2008
Christmas Turkey
(and I'm not talking about me)
For Christmas dinner this year I decided to smoke a turkey using the easy and tasty recipe by Keri C Here. This is a high-temperature smoke, so it really takes the same amount of time as a regular buzzard cook in the oven. But whoa Nelly the flavor!
You need an unbrined, non-enhanced turkey. I got a 14 pounder from Hinck's. A "free-range" farm in New Jersey...who'd a thunk it? Anyhow, mostly following the recipe on Tuesday night I mixed 1 gallon of apple juice with 3/4 cup kosher salt, 1/2 cup honey, 1/2 cup organic white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. I borrowed a 20 qt non-reactive pot to brine the beast in and plopped her in.
and then I wrestled the pot into the back fridge for a few days of enjuicyfying. And I do mean wrestled; this puppy was heavy. From Tuesday night until Thursday morning it sat in the fridge, brining away.
Christmas morning, after the presents were opened, I lugged the pot out of the fridge, took the turkey out, rinsed her off and patted her dry with paper towels and then put her on a platter back into the fridge to dry a little bit for a few hours until I was ready to cook her.
I was planning on about a 3 hour cook, so at the D-4 hour mark I started the charcoal going. While that was warming up I took her out of the fridge and quartered a large onion and placed in the cavity, tied the drumsticks together and lightly sprinkled some Montreal steak seasoning on the skin just because I felt like it, and inserted the old temperature probe
Once the coals got reasonably warm I put on four chunks of cherry for the smoke
and assembled the smoker, watching the temperature climb quickly to the desired 350º
(or at least close enough for my purposes) whereupon on the buzzard went
to be completely ignored for the next 2/12 hours. The wonderful thing about the temperature probes is that you never ever have to lift up the lid to check the internal temp; the lead hangs out the side of the smoker/over/grill/whatever and you just plug in the meter and you get your temperature. I started checking the temp at the 2 hour mark, because I was between bottles of wine, and it was climbing nicely.
I used the smoking time creatively. I drank wine, and I watched my Bride set a lovely table
Right around 3 hours the breast temperature hit my target of 165º so I brought her in
and covered her with foil to rest for 15 minutes or so while the remainder of the sides were finalized, then sliced and served. daughter was kind enough to pause for a half second before eating to show you
Turkey with a delicious smoke ring and flavor, mashed spuds and mashed yams, tasty green beans. Yum yum yum.
Oh, and to wash it all down
A bottle of Chateau Latour 1989. I bought that bottle, gosh, at least 15 years ago. I couldn't afford it then, and I sure as heck can't afford to replace it now, but it was bought to be drunk at a special time with family and friends, and I figured this Christmas surely fit that description. And I was frankly getting a little nervous that after nearly 20 years of far from ideal storage and several moves that it might be well past its prime...but it was wonderful. Not quite as full bodied as Latour normally is, and perhaps not quite what you would expect from one of the top rated wines of one of the top rated vintages of the past century, she nonetheless had a sweetness and smooth classic structure that was simply marvelous. Sure, I could have waited for the perfect meal or the perfect occasion...and she might have turned to flat brown water by then.
Fine things are only made fine by sharing them with those you care for.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 08:02 PM | Comments (11)
It's Fairly Warm Now
But last Saturday it was 20-ish degrees and we had some fresh snow
sigh....
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:16 PM | Comments (4)
December 24, 2008
It IS the Season of Miracles!!!!!
I have no idea WHAT the aliens did with the entire Notre Dame football team, but, wherever they spirited them off to?
I hope they keep them.
Whoever these body snatcher substitute football guys are? The ones currently MURDALIZING Hawaii?
I hope WE keep them.
Have another Scotch on the Irish, major dad!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And MERRY CHRISTMAS to ALL our extended family, from Livermore to Walla Walla, from Miami to Minnesota, Louisiana to Australia, East Brunswick to Austin to England and all points in between. We. Are. So BLESSED.
To be a small part of your lives. And we are so very grateful for your friendship.
Biggest Christmas hugs and all our love.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:57 PM | Comments (12)
A Song For Tonight
Recorded February 23rd, 1916 and still wonderful today. Pour yourself a glass of wine, turn off the lights and just listen and relax.
May your lives be filled with Peace and Love and Contentment.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:56 AM | Comments (6)
December 23, 2008
Porterhouse Heaven
Last week I just had an urge for beef. And not just any beef, but Porterhouse.
3 3/4 lbs of tasty cow joy
Two deliciously huge 2 inch thick pieces of cow flesh
Covered in garlic salt and pepper, grilled 'til yummy, and served with a huge pot of mashed spuds
Oh, and wine, natch
a very reasonable chianti for only $10.
Life is good.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 09:32 PM | Comments (3)
Somewhere Gaia Giggles
In Seattle, capital of Granolastan, they have wisely decided to protect fish in the salty ocean from, well, salt
The icy streets are the result of Seattle's refusal to use salt, an effective ice-buster used by the state Department of Transportation and cities accustomed to dealing with heavy winter snows."If we were using salt, you'd see patches of bare road because salt is very effective," Wiggins said. "We decided not to utilize salt because it's not a healthy addition to Puget Sound."
By ruling out salt and some of the chemicals routinely used by snowbound cities, Seattle has embraced a less-effective strategy for clearing roads, namely sand...
Actually, it sounds like the strategy Seattle has embraced for clearing their roads is called wait for Spring.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 12:47 PM | Comments (6)
Today in 1823
The Troy New York Sentinel published a well researched, unbiased, first person story called "Account of a Visit From St. Nicholas". Unlike today's New York reporting, the facts were never in doubt, which is why, I'm sure, we still enjoy it so.
Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there...
Thank you, Clement.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:31 AM
Defensive Postures
...I guess.
Fifty eight percent of Wall Street office workers surveyed say they would take valuable company data with them if faced with a layoff, if they knew could get away with it....The survey found that many office workers are downloading sensitive company secrets right now under their bosses noses in anticipation they could lose their jobs.
Among the survey’s findings:
• More than half the workers surveyed who admitted to already downloading competitive corporate data said they would use it as a negotiating tool to secure their next post because they know the information will be useful to future employers.
• Top-of-list of desirable information being extracted from employers is customer and contact databases. Plans and proposals, product information, and access and password codes are also popular choices.
• HR records and legal documents were the least favored data employees were interested in taking.
• Sixty-two percent of workers admitted it was easy to sneak company information out of the office.
Memory sticks are the weapon of choice for stealing corporate data, the survey found. Other methods included photocopying, e-mailing, CDs, online encrypted storage Web sites, smartphones and DVDs.
But in a culture where taxpayer billions are going for bonus money to keep the "best and brightest" at these firms ~ the VERY "best and brightest" whose brilliance f*cked over national economy, their firms and these snuffies' jobs, mind you ~ I guess it's every Third World Dog for himself.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:06 AM | Comments (9)
A Christmas Survey
I'm normally not a big 'meme' poster, but I saw this over at Nightfly's this morning and liked it, so thanks to Tracey here we go:
1. Opening presents: Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
Morning. Christmas Eve is Christmas Eve; it ain't Christmas.
2. What do you do with all the paper as it’s being ripped from presents? What about the ribbon?
In Jersey everything goes to the landfill.
3. Do you take turns opening presents or is it a free-for-all?
Turns. My Bride makes sure every gift is properly recorded for the thank yous.
4. Does someone act like Santa, passing out presents?
Daughter puts on her Santa hat and dishes ‘em out.
5. Do you play Christmas music in the background whilst opening presents?
Of course! And whilst we do that we giggle betwixt ourselves.
6. I have just given you a gift of socks. Tell me what you say to make me believe you like them, you really like them.
My socks life needs all the help it can get!
7. Do you like egg nog?
If you define ‘egg nog’ as a delicious cake batter-flavored bourbon/rum delivery system, then heck yeah!
8. Are there any other kinds of nogs that you’re aware of? If not, why not just call egg nog “nog” if it’s the only nog there is?
I think there’s a Nog in LOTR somewhere…doesn’t he work in Bree?
9. Are there any pre-dinner drinks or snacks available at your house on Christmas and, if so, what are they?
Lots of wine, scotch and gin.
10. What do you wear for Christmas dinner? If you wear elastic pants and admit it, please know I admire you deeply and may very well fall in love with you. Please do not panic.
Depends. If we have non-family company I try to be reasonable; I think this year I may pull out the Mr. Jefferson linen shirt Revolutionary War outfit paired with the tartan vest from Castle Atholl.
11. If you’re not hosting the dinner, do you assist in the pre-dinner prep?
I try. The kitchen is where the food and booze are.
12. If so, have you ever considered starting to play with the nearest child immediately upon your arrival at said Christmas dinner, causing him or her to REQUIRE your delightful company up until the very moment dinner is served thereby making it impossible for you to leave the little angel’s side and assist in the kitchen lest a loud, unsightly tantrum ensue? I’m just sayin’ is all. I myself would not do this, oh no, but I would not judge you should you decide to give it a whirl.
I’d much rather be in the kitchen.
13. What’s for Christmas dinner? Along that same vein, what time should I be there?
I’m smoking a 15lb turkey over cherry. I’ll brine it tonight in an apple juice based brine tonight for 24-36 hours or so to enjuicify it. We’ll have mashed ‘taters and baked yams, some type of green vegetable, stuffing, and of course I’ve got a couple cases of wine lying about.
14. Do you have a kiddie table and will I be forced to sit there?
Nope, no kiddie table. Kids eat at the Big Table. The only way the little turds will learn to act like adults is to treat them like them.
15. Who is tipsy at your Christmas dinner, besides me, of course?
Everyone damn well better be, or I have failed.
16. Is there something that is tradition at your Christmas dinner that you cannot stand or simply do not understand?
Nope.
17. Turkey: White meat or dark meat?
I’m a white meat man. My Bride is a dark meat-er. We were made for each other.
18. Turducken: I know what it is. I need to know why it is. Please enlighten.
I made one of those one Christmas. It was…different. (And man was my kitchen ugly back then; thank God we re-did it.)
19. Cranberry sauce: yea or nay?
Yea!
20. What happens after dinner? Napping? Squabbling? Frolf?
Cleaning dishes and more wine.
21. What’s for dessert?
Apple pie, I think.
22. What’s the best Christmas dessert, in your opinion?
I’m not a real big dessert eater, but if you happen to pour me a nice glass of sauterne I’m yours.
23. Now that it’s dessert, who is snockered? You can tell me.
I better be.
24. How many pieces/helpings of dessert do you have? Just know that whatever number you tell me, I will double it in my head to get closer to the truth, ‘mkay, Peaches?
See #22
25. Will Christmas carols be sung loudly and off-key, ad nauseum, until baby Jesus cries?
No, we’re pretty in-key, in a low-key sort of way.
26. Will you be forced to pose for photos at some point by someone making their giddy artistic vision your immediate personal burden?
Perhaps one or two at the very most.
27. Finally … Christmas day exit strategy: What’s yours?
Since it’s at my house I can stumble off to la-la land any time I want…after I’ve done the dishes.
Feel free to expound on your own in the comments.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:42 AM | Comments (9)
December 22, 2008
There's Really Nothing Else To Say
I'm very glad that no one was killed in that plane crash in Denver. My god, what a horrifying experience that must have been.
But I have to admit, naughty person that I am, I laughed when I read this
"We were going down the runway and it was just ... It was like we were in the air and then we weren't."
You will never read a finer summation of an aviation accident.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:18 PM | Comments (3)
Brrrrrrrrrrr
We had about 4" of Global Warming on Friday, and this morning it was 14 when I left the house...I love this stuff.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:10 AM | Comments (4)
December 21, 2008
Quote of the Day
...I want a single malt with a name I can’t pronounce and a creamy, austere label that tells a complicated story about ancient sherry casks and peat and heather and weird little islands full of taciturn Presbyterians.
Indeed, heartfelt words and a righteous tenet worth holding fast.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:21 PM | Comments (9)
December 20, 2008
It IS the Season
...of wonderments.
The Las Vegas Bowl is going to have the burliest, manliest, sexiest national anthem ever, and there's nothing you can do about it. Sure, the matchup of BYU and Arizona may seem like the odd couple of bowl pairings between a middling-to-good Pac-10 team and the third best team in the Mountain West, and that's not even taking the glaring cultural differences into account.And don't you know the *^&$#ING network starts their broadcast AFTER the anthem***?!?!?!? I'm scouring YouTube so I can share it with all my friends...HERE...before they see it anywhere else....Davis [sic] Hasselhoff will perform the National Anthem at Saturday's Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl.
*** In the interest of hopey change and transparency, I must confess that I. AND major dad. Have heard the Hoff warble about "dawn's early light"...before. But LIVE and in PERSON. (Jesus, this is DIFFICULT.)
It's true.
We were in Turn 4 of the Indianapolis Speedway (Known fondly to locals as "The Brickyard".), having lost our collective minds during the introduction of Chuck Yeager as the (HOT yellow Vette) Pace Car driver, when the announcer spaketh yet again over the public address system: "And NOW! To perform our NATIONAL ANTHEM.....David...HASSELHOFF!!!!"
Stunned. Silence. Drunken revelry extinguished in a shocked moment of clarity.
And then damn near all 500,000 souls in attendance cried in agonized synchronicity,
"David...HASSELHOFF?!?!?!?!"
Yup.
I wasn't aware blogging could be so cathartic.
And that I get to share the experience.
Lucky y'all.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 11:55 PM | Comments (4)
December 19, 2008
Cry Me A River
The best laid plans of Mice and Putins gang aft a-gley
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia would come under crippling financial pressure and may need to raise money externally if oil languishes at an average of $30 a barrel over the next two years, the World Bank predicted Friday.The bleak scenario would mark a rapid unraveling of Russia's oil-fueled economic gains over the past eight years, during which time the government has paid down most of its foreign debt and built up a vast stockpile of international reserves.
"If oil prices in 2009 and 2010 average $30 a barrel, that would be a nightmare scenario for a global economy," Zeljko Bogetic, the World Bank's chief economist in Russia told investors on Friday. "The pressures on the current account and public finances in Russia would quickly rise to a point where the financing constraint would become so sharp that it's possible even to envisage Russia's return from a creditor to international organisations to (that of) a borrower."
Chavez better not count on too much help.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 03:00 PM | Comments (4)
Die Infidel!
Someone will be made to crawl and beg for forgiveness soon
CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers had never bought into the notion that man can alter the climate and the Vegas snowstorm didn’t impact his opinion. Myers, an American Meteorological Society certified meteorologist, explained on CNN’s Dec. 18 “Lou Dobbs Tonight” that the whole idea is arrogant and mankind was in danger of dying from other natural events more so than global warming.“You know, to think that we could affect weather all that much is pretty arrogant,” Myers said. “Mother Nature is so big, the world is so big, the oceans are so big – I think we’re going to die from a lack of fresh water or we’re going to die from ocean acidification before we die from global warming, for sure.”
Such dangerous, radical, hateful views can not be tolerated in an open society.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:20 AM | Comments (4)
Why Don't They Just Sink The Damn Thing?
I'm sure this will really teach the pirates a lesson
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Pirates holding a ship full of tanks and ammunition off the coast of Somalia are likely to be paid millions of dollars in ransom within days, senior U.S. military officials said.The pirates have been holding the Ukrainian-operated, Belize-flagged MV Faina and its 20-person crew in the Gulf of Aden since September 25.
Military officials said the cash payment will be brought on the ship, directly to the pirates. Such a procedure is common because of the lack of electronic banking in Somalia.
The officials would not say how much ransom is being paid or who is paying it because it would be up to the individuals or company to make that announcement.
...The ship is laden with Soviet-era tanks, tank artillery shells, grenade launchers and small arms.
It's also currently laden with pirates, who may have small arms or even small feet, and should be sunk along with all of them.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:46 AM | Comments (12)
December 18, 2008
So OPEC HAs Cut Production By 4 Million Barrels A Day...
...and crude right now is down $1.91 to 38.21 per barrel.
Hot Damn! Why don't you cut it by 10 million a day to really teach us a lesson?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:39 AM | Comments (2)
December 17, 2008
Denial
It's not just a river in Egypt anymore.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:48 AM
December 15, 2008
Greed. It's A Sin We All Can Partake Off
But some of us more than others
New potential victims emerged of Wall Street veteran Bernard Madoff's alleged giant Ponzi scheme, with international banks, hedge funds and wealthy private investors among those sorting out what could amount to tens of billions of dollars in losses.New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon, GMAC LLC Chairman J. Ezra Merkin and former Philadelphia Eagles owner Norman Braman were among the dozens of seemingly sophisticated investors who placed money on what could prove to be history's largest financial scam.
Giant French bank BNP Paribas, Tokyo-based Nomura Holdings Inc. and Neue Privat Bank in Zurich are also exposed, according to people familiar with the matter.
...The alleged fraud has "swept up some of the most prominent and wealthy Americans, along with many people who thought they were embarking on a comfortable retirement and have now been left destitute," says Brad Friedman, a lawyer at Milberg LLP, which with Seeger Weiss LLP represents more than 30 investors with losses they believe could total more than $1 billion.
And the overseas folks are no smarter
Royal Bank of Scotland and Man Group on Monday outlined potential exposures of £400m and $360m, respectively, to Wall Street trader Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50bn fraud.HSBC is also facing a potential loss of about $1bn because of Mr Madoff’s “giant Ponzi scheme”, where old investors were paid with money raised from new ones.
...HSBC’s exposure is believed to be about $1bn in loans provided to clients, mainly funds of funds, which invested some $500m of their own funds in Mr Madoff’s venture.
On Sunday, France’s BNP Paribas said its maximum potential loss on Mr Madoff’s funds was about €350m. Spain’s Banco Santander said it had exposure of €17m, while clients of its hedge funds had €2.3bn at risk in Mr Madoff’s funds.
Japan’s Nomura said on Monday it had Y27.5bn of exposure but that the impact on its capital would be limited and BBVA, Spain’s second biggest bank, said it had no direct exposure but its clients face a loss of up to €300m and its international operations were facing a €30m loss.
Nicola Horlick’s Bramdean Alternatives has $25m invested with Mr Madoff’s venture.
Here's a more complete list based on what we know at this point.
And of course there are some nice ties to NJ politicians
“Senator Lautenberg was an investor in Bernard Madoff’s investment fund, primarily in the form of his family’s charitable foundation,” Lautenberg spokesman Scott Mulhauser said....“I'm hesitant to make any bold statements, because there may be some current accounts in the hands of others, but the bulk of the foundation money was in the hands of Madoff,” said Michael Griffinger, the Newark attorney asked to look into the matter for Lautenberg.
And shockingly lots of that money has made its way back into the hands of...NJ politicians!
Since 1986, Madoff and family members connected with the firm also made at least $419,000 in contributions to federal candidates in New Jersey, including the Senate campaigns of Lautenberg and Jon Corzine, and the presidential campaign of former Sen. Bill Bradley, according to CQMoneyline.com.Madoff, a former chairman of the Nasdaq stock exchange, was among the first contributors when Corzine entered the 2000 U.S. Senate campaign.
Madoff and Ruth Madoff, who has the same address on Federal Election Commission reports, provided $2,000 of the first $31,000 Corzine raised in August 1999, according to commission reports.
Corzine, a millionaire and former Goldman Sachs chairman who is now governor, eventually raised $2.7 million from contributors and put $60.2 million of his own money into that campaign.
A spokesman for Corzine said Friday that the governor did not have any personal investments with Madoff.
Madoff and relatives also gave $8,000 in 1999 to Bradley's campaign for president, and $13,600 to Lautenberg’s 2008 reelection campaign, according to FEC reports.
Bradley did not return a call seeking comment.
Mulhauser said Lautenberg would dispose of the contributions, but exactly how would be determined later. Typically, campaigns donate questionable contributions to charity.
The biggest recipient of Madoff’s contributions was the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which received $100,000 in the past four years. The DSCC chairman during that time was Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who also got $39,000 for his own campaign account from Madoffs since 1998, according to reports filed with the FEC.
The current chairman of the DSCC is Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J.
Greed, greed, greed. You've got a guy promising 8-12% per year, guaranteed, no questions asked; in fact, if you ask questions you don't get invited to "play." So some very smart people prove to us once again that high intelligence is not indicative of any semblance of wisdom.
Greed.
Avarice.
Oh, and political payoffs.
And these people want us to re-elect them?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:18 AM | Comments (1)
December 14, 2008
Today's Reading: A Lesson From the Book of Jonah...
...There's the enormous I-should-have-had-a-V8! moment as the mainstream press collectively thwacks itself in the forehead, realizing it blew it again. The New York Times - which, according to Wall Street analysts, is weeks from holding editorial board meetings in a refrigerator box - created the journalistic equivalent of "CSI: Wasilla" to study every follicle and fiber in Sarah Palin's background, all the while treating Obama's Chicago like one of those fairy-tale lands depicted in posters that adorn little girls' bedroom walls. See there, Suzie? That's a Pegasus. That's a pink unicorn....Goldberg. Amen.
And that's a beautiful sunflower giving birth to a fully-grown Barack Obama, the greatest president ever and the only man in history to be able to pick up manure from the clean end.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 01:53 PM | Comments (1)
December 13, 2008
And In A Cozy Hamlet In New Jersey...
Nightfly dreams of what could have been
WASHINGTON (AP) -The tall guy holding the camera in the Washington Capitals ' locker room works for the team's Web site.Two and a half hours earlier, the same guy was sitting on the Capitals' bench serving as an emergency backup goalie.
Dreams can come true...
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:47 AM | Comments (2)
Shocking Development!
The Office Of The President Elect makes a bold and innovative and Changey Hopey Cabinet choice for HUD: someone who...served in the Clinton Administration
CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- President-elect Barack Obama has chosen Shaun Donovan, New York City's former housing commissioner, to be his secretary of Housing and Urban Development.Obama used his weekly radio address to announce the selection.
"As commissioner of housing preservation and development in New York City, Shaun has led the effort to create the largest housing plan in the nation, helping hundreds of thousands of our citizens buy or rent their homes," Obama said.
He said HUD is essential in the effort to address the mortgage crisis, which he said "not only shakes the foundation of our economy, but the foundation of the American Dream."
"To stem the rising tide of foreclosures and strengthen our economy, I've asked my economic team to develop a bold plan that will dramatically increase the number of families who can stay in their homes," Obama said. "But this plan will only work with a comprehensive, coordinated federal effort to make it a reality."
Donovan has experience working in business, academia and at HUD during the Clinton administration.
So far it seems that Obama's priority has been the Full Clinton Employment Act of 2009...
Look, these folks all may be competent and well meaning and do a terrific job; for the sake of our country I pray they do, in fact.
But for someone whose core message was "Change We Can Believe In"...where's the change?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:38 AM | Comments (9)
December 12, 2008
Please, Don't Panic And Reach Into Our Pockets Again
Oh, this is just grand
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Bush administration said Friday that it will consider using the money set aside to help banks and Wall Street to rescue the auto industry.The statement -- a change in the administration's long-held position -- might be the last best chance to keep troubled automakers General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) and Chrysler LLC out of bankruptcy.
The defeat of a $14 billion bailout plan in the Senate late Thursday left the administration little choice but to tap the $700 billion bailout approved by Congress in October, the Troubled Asset Relief Program or TARP, according to White House Press Secretary Dana Perino.
"Given the current weakened state of the U.S. economy, we will consider other options if necessary -- including use of the TARP program -- to prevent a collapse of troubled automakers," Perino said in a statement. "A precipitous collapse of this industry would have a severe impact on our economy, and it would be irresponsible to further weaken and destabilize our economy at this time."
I feel sick.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:30 AM | Comments (6)
Re: Bingley's Bail Out Failure Post ~ I Think the Phrase
...is "See Ya!".
Auto bailout talks collapse over union wagesWASHINGTON (AP) — A $14 billion emergency bailout for U.S. automakers has collapsed in the Senate after the United Auto Workers refused to accede to Republican demands for swift wage cuts. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he was "terribly disappointed" about the demise of an emerging bipartisan deal to rescue Detroit's Big Three.
I know a boatload of folks who'd be willing to take their place at what the Japanese are paying in their American plants. Plus, there'll soon be 35,000 BofA employees, some of whom might also be grateful for a pretty well paying job.
And WHY is the UAW head being treated like a Big Three CEO? THERE'S your problem in the FIRST place. Gettlefinger needs to get over his Hugo Chavez impression and actually live in the day. As a make believe Marine once famously said: "Improvise, adapt, overcome"...
...or else.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:11 AM | Comments (10)
Lest We Forget The Last Bailout
Remember that beauty? The $700+ billion discretionary fund given to Paulson, the one with no oversight? Here's one of the folks he can give our money to
Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Bernard Madoff, founder and president of a New York firm that invested funds for wealthy individuals, hedge funds and other institutions, was charged with operating what he told employees was a long-running $50 billion Ponzi scheme in what may be one of the largest frauds in history....“It’s all just one big lie,” Madoff told his employees on Dec. 10, according to the government. The firm, Madoff allegedly said to them, is “basically, a giant Ponzi scheme.”
...Bernard Madoff served as vice chairman of the National Association of Securities Dealers, a member of its board of governors, and chairman of its New York region, according to the SEC Web site. He was also a member of Nasdaq Stock Market’s board of governors and its executive committee and served as chairman of its trading committee.
He was chief of the Securities Industry Association’s trading committee in the 1990s and earlier this decade, where he represented brokerage firms in discussions with regulators about new stock-market rules as electronic-trading systems and networks gained prominence.
A freakin' pillar of the industry.
Not One Dime More to any of these bastards.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:46 AM
Here's A Great Plan To Revive The US Economy
I just can't wait
POZNAN, Poland (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate will let President-elect Barack Obama sign up to a U.N. pact to fight global warming in late 2009 even if U.S. climate laws are not yet in place, U.S. Senator John Kerry predicted on Thursday.But Kerry, designated head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on the sidelines of U.N. climate talks in Poland that China, India and Russia would also have to promise to cut greenhouse gas emissions to win Senate blessing of any pact.
"It will be like the difference between night and day," Kerry, of Massachusetts, said of Obama's enthusiasm for action against climate change after what he said were eight years of inaction under President George W. Bush.
He told Reuters support in the United States for climate action was strong enough to let Obama sign up for emissions cuts under a U.N. pact to be agreed in Copenhagen in late 2009 even if the Senate had not by then agreed matching U.S. climate laws.
"We can have commenced the (domestic) legislative process, we don't have to have completed it," before agreeing to cuts under a U.N. treaty, he said.
President Bill Clinton agreed in 1997 to the U.N.'s existing Kyoto Protocol for cutting greenhouse gases until 2012 but never tried to get the pact ratified by a hostile Senate.
And by letting the Big 3 carmakers go belly up, why, just think of the carbon savings!
Hmm, and since JFK is over in Poland working on his carbon footprint I'm guessing all the Massachusetts employees of Chrysler, Ford and GM really appreciate his "fighting for their jobs" in the Senate, eh?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:36 AM
Auto Bailout Fails To Pass
And now they're hoping Bush bails their sorry butts out
WASHINGTON (AP) - Their efforts in Congress squashed, U.S. automakers are depending upon a reluctant White House to quickly provide a multibillion lifeline to help them avoid imminent collapse.General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, which have said they could run out of cash within weeks, have few options left after the dramatic defeat in the Senate of a $14 billion bailout for the domestic auto industry.
Its demise late Thursday prompted immediate calls from lawmakers in both parties for the Bush administration to tap into the $700 billion Wall Street bailout to rescue the beleaguered auto industry. The bill failed after talks broke down over the refusal of the United Auto Workers union to meet Republican demands for aggressive wage reductions.
I really hope they don't do that. If any or all of these companies go under there will still be people buying lots of cars made here in the US, right now.
It's just the sticker says "Honda" or "Toyota."
And I like their cars better.
So the Dow is due some 300 lower this morning. We'll just have to see how things pan out. But these bailouts need to stop; I'm glad folks are finally taking a stand against this reckless, mindless government spending.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:16 AM | Comments (6)
December 11, 2008
Headline Of The Day (So Far...)
"Three-way trade sends Putz to Mets"
Another one?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:44 AM | Comments (5)
Some Sobering Thoughts On Greece And The EU
There are strains that can no longer be papered over
Without wanting to rehearse all the pros and cons of euro membership yet again, or debate whether EMU is a "optimal currency area", there is obviously a problem for countries like Greece that were let into EMU for political reasons before their economies had been reformed enough to cope with the rigours of euro life - over the long run.In the case of Greece, of course, Athens was found guilty by Eurostat of committing "statistical achemy" to get into the system - ie, they lied about their deficits.
Be that as it may. Greece's euro membership has now led to a warped economy. The current account deficit is 15pc of GDP, the eurozone's highest by far. Indeed, the deficit ($53bn) is the sixth biggest in the world in absolute terms -- quite a feat for a country of 11m people.
I fear things will get much worse before they get better in a lot of places.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:34 AM | Comments (3)
December 10, 2008
Today Is Human Rights Day
So declared 60 years ago by the UN, and re-affirmed today by President Bush.
Let us pause a moment to be thankful for the blessings we enjoy and for those who guard them for us, but always remember that the most important guardians are not those in uniform but are in fact every citizen of this country. It is you and I, Dear Readers, who must be eternally vigilant in our defense of our precious and blessed liberty. We merely have to look but 90 miles off our coast to see the horrors of human oppression writ large.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:34 AM | Comments (1)
December 09, 2008
There Is Something Deliciously Ironic...
Daughter had to type a paper tonight arguing that the Industrial Revolution was a Good Thing™.
So naturally the power went out.
So she typed it on a laptop.
By candlelight.
I love this country.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:58 PM | Comments (7)
Dear SWEET Baby Jesus
We, your humble (and admittedly, occasionally irreverent: Skyler excepted)(Bill, too) servants on this spinning outerspace sin-globe, beg and entreat Thee ~ on bended knee and scruffy prayer rug ~ that Thou mayest do in all Thy divine power to keepeth our President Elect: Office of, as clean and shiney as Yul Brynner or Bingley's pate. Engage Thy Holy Super Powers to keepest The One free from the slings and arrows of Fitzgerald misfortune, and untainted by the foetid Blagosphere threatening to engulf all the Land of the Illini and suck them into the black pits of Hell. Let not his Changey Spirit have been corrupted by his scurvy people he never saw before in his whole life. EVER. friends mentors associates, whom he barely knew knows
Let The One remain sugar sweet and smoke free as our President, Dear Lord. Let there be-eth (as we say in the Corps) no "Office Change of Command", keeping us safe and MOST IMPORTANTLY...
"President BIDEN" free. (Oh, say aMEN, my brothers!)
Amen.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 05:51 PM | Comments (8)
Oh, How THOUGHTful, Studly and EXCITING!!!
Presenting a GREAT Christmas present for Kcruella!!!!
Come ON, now! NOTHING could be THAT great!!! (And I wouldn't share, anyways.) No, no, I'm talking about a studly addition to her beloved Mets.
The New York Mets have reached a preliminary agreement with record-setting closer Francisco Rodriguez on a $37 million, three-year contract.
Schmaybe
"Oh, you betcha."
Posted by tree hugging sister at 04:42 PM | Comments (3)
More From The Land Of Lincoln
The Smoking Gun has some of the criminal complaint.
It makes The Sopranos look like members of the Better Business Bureau.
Sickening.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 02:01 PM | Comments (1)
Illinois Governor Arrested
Hmmm, he must be an Independent* because nowhere in the article does CNN say if he's a Democrat or a Republican
(CNN) -- Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is in federal custody on corruption charges, a law enforcement official said Tuesday. Rod Blagojevich is currently serving his second term as governor of Illinois.Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, are charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's office for the Northern District of Illinois.
Both men are expected in U.S. District Court in Chicago later Tuesday.
A news conference is expected at noon ET.
Federal prosecutors say Blagojevich, Harris and others conspired to gain financial benefits in appointing President-elect Barack Obama's Senate replacement, according to the statement.
"The breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in a statement. "They allege that Blagojevich put a 'for sale' sign on the naming of a United States Senator; involved himself personally in pay-to-play schemes with the urgency of a salesman meeting his annual sales target; and corruptly used his office in an effort to trample editorial voices of criticism."
Once again, the corrupt nature of our entrenched machine politicians comes to the fore.
*that's a joke, obviously. He's a Democrat.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 10:49 AM | Comments (14)
I'd Found the Concept From the Beginning
...to be a complete perversion of everything America stood for. That ~ in a shared national tragedy ~ one life lost could be judged more worthy than another. That the multi-million a year stockbroker's death should be rewarded proportionate to his earning power compared to that of the Mexican dishwasher at Windows on the World, or the maid in a corporate loo. It sickened me and still does. Conceived originally as Americans to Americans, I'm glad to see the "Solomon" who apportioned the combined largess based on wealth and status, however late the admission, feels the same.
..."The 9/11 fund, I believe, was the right thing to do because it was a patriotic act by the American people to come to the rescue of these people in need," he told Washingtonian magazine in March."If Congress had asked me, 'Well, what do you think of this program?' I would say don't do it again. Here in Washington, if a car bomb goes off, do not set up a victim-compensation program. Or if you're going to do it again, next time make it much simpler. Have a person with the authority simply dole out the same amount to families of all of the dead. Don't ask one person to act like Solomon and try to calculate the value of lives. To be judge, jury, accountant, lawyer, rabbi, etcetera is very, very difficult," he told the magazine.
"X" amount of dollars divided by "X" amount of victims is how it should have played out. Honestly, I DON'T give a rat's ass that your stockbroker husband with his $2 mil a year salary hadn't thought to buy life insurance. That dishwasher/maid/bellhop never MADE enough to buy life insurance, but his loss was JUST as devastating to his family, however insignificant his existence in your eyes.
The whole exercise was a travesty.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 10:24 AM | Comments (2)
Obama: "No Need To Stock Up On Guns..."
Well, this is a relief, isn't it?
As gun sales shoot up around the country, President-elect Barack Obama said Sunday that gun-owning Americans do not need to rush out and stock up before he is sworn in next month."I believe in common-sense gun safety laws, and I believe in the second amendment," Obama said at a news conference. "Lawful gun owners have nothing to fear. I said that throughout the campaign. I haven't indicated anything different during the transition. I think people can take me at my word."
Great, Mr. President Elect!
Like, er...this word?
Obama answered "yes" in 1996 to a questionnaire from an Illinois group on whether he supported a handgun ban. But he later said a staffer filled out that answer and he did not support a ban.
Hmmm.
But I have to say I'm a tad more concerned about the words of one of your supporters
"We don't dispute [the gun sales hike] because the numbers from the federal system certainly confirm that there is increased activity out there. We just think it's a bit stupid," said Peter Hamm, spokesman for the Brady Campaign against Gun Violence."Anyone who thinks they need to rush out and buy a firearm clearly has not been paying attention to how quickly we make progress on this issue. We don't think these are first-time buyers. We think they are people who already have more than enough guns at their homes to protect themselves and are buying more."
In other words, "we are planning to make things much more restrictive but we're not there yet."
And, as a side note, who the hell are you buddy to pontificate on why someone should be allowed to have guns or how many is "more than enough." The Constitution doesn't say that people can have guns only for home defense or hunting; it says "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." So if people want to collect them, use rifles a la Gaston in all of their decorating, whatever, they can and should and must be allowed to.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:20 AM | Comments (2)
December 08, 2008
How Much Is That Barrel in the Window?
OPEC's planning a "shock and awe" campaign of their own. Apparently they haven't noticed that we're already all a bit stretched in the wallet.
OPEC president Chakib Khelil says oil markets should prepare for a "surprise" output cut after the organization's Algeria meeting."A consensus has formed for a significant reduction of production levels" by the 14-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Khelil told AP on Saturday.
The OPEC head's warning comes as markets have already been expecting an output reduction; however, Khelil said that it could be "severe," suggesting cuts of as much as 2 million barrels per day.
A decision that startles markets would help bolster slumping oil prices, Khelil said.
"The best way is to surprise them,"...he said. "I hope it (the decision) will."
I saw this early this morning on CNBC and then it dropped off the face of the earth, and none of the big blogs have it yet.
I don't know about you, but it pisses me off royally. I'd love to give OPEC a big surprise of our own. Or, at the very least, a big sumpthin' they won't soon forget.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 07:34 PM
Riots Continue In Greece
Geesh, what a mess
Fresh clashes have broken out between police and protesters in at least three Greek cities, after the fatal shooting of a 15-year-old boy by police.About 300 students battled police in Thessaloniki, while protests turned violent in Trikala and Piraeus.
Five demonstrations are planned in major cities later, including a mass rally by the Communist Party in Athens, where Saturday's shooting occurred.
Two police officers have been arrested in connection with the boy's death.
One of them, who is accused of murder, said he fired a warning shot and that the boy was killed by a ricochet, but witnesses told Greek television that the officer aimed directly at the boy.
Anarchists have been looking for any excuse to riot and cause mayhem, and they are helped by Greece's constitution
Hundreds of students clashed with riot police in Greece's second biggest city of Thessaloniki in a third day of rioting on Monday.Students at the city's Aristotle university spent the night holed up on campus stockpiling missiles and petrol bombs before taking to the streets, says the BBC's Malcolm Brabant in Athens.
He says they then retreated safe in the knowledge that they could not be followed as Greece's constitution strictly prevents the authorities from entering the grounds of schools, universities and polytechnics.
The Prime Minister is very weak, having only the slimmest of majorities in parliament, so expect the government to fall any day now.
Why wait for the seas to rise up and cover us when so many seem willing to submerge themselves?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:05 AM | Comments (4)
December 07, 2008
"Infamy" Still
We remember. Bless their brave hearts.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:56 AM | Comments (11)
December 05, 2008
A Hot, Steamy, Heartfelt FOAD
...to the mahROONS f*cking PINHEADS WEASEL D*CK LOSERS inhabiting the Escambia County Commissioners' chairs.
Escambia County commissioners are considering a gasoline tax to pay for running Escambia County Area Transit buses.However, with transit usage at a 50-year peak nationally, including vastly increased bus ridership in Escambia, more funding will be needed. And transit officials say it's likely state and federal funds could fall short next year.
(The article makes no mention of the fact that the county already HAS a $.06 gas tax in situ.) It appears that bus ridership has increased exponentially, which is why they want the extra dinero. As opposed to 2007, when there WAS no bus ridership, hence they wanted the extra dine...you get it.
An especially fervent shout-out to our own carpetbagger Gene Valentino for royally F*CKING OVER his OWN district!!! Yee HAW! THERE'S bi-partisan ignorantship at work!
Moron quote of the day? Oh, THAT belongs to that deep thinking, young whippersnapper of the bunch, Grover Robinson.
...Commissioner Grover C. Robinson IV said. "I see it as a true user fee. If you want to pay less of it, ride the bus.We have got to reduce our dependency on foreign oil."
Hey, GROVER!!! How 'bout we DRILL right offshore? Huh? Where ya stand on THAT?
As for your smug, simplistic sloganeering about "ride the bus": since you live in the part of town SERVED by said bus, that's easy, cheesey for YOU, little man. If you live out where the majority of the county lives (ths waves hand violently here), please note a simple fact: THERE AIN'T NO BUS. As we succinctly pointed out in January 2007, whence last you all pulled a "ride the bus" gas tax on a then $3/gal out your fat, collective asses.
Let me revisit a few of the more cogent arguments I made:
This tax would go to 'save' the bus system*, not expand it to the hundreds of miles of county (likePi...Mr. Valentino's district ) which have never (and will never) witness a bus rumbling through, but ARE full of the hardworking, minimum wage renters that the county is famous for. And carefully fosters the climate for, keeping it favorable for the endless supply of drones required by our captains of local industry. These people have to DRIVE for their $7/hr. These people have no property to get a break on. Most are probably not subscribers to the local paper (which has to be delivered by minimum wage types in CARS, too) and pretty informationally challenged. And then there're those lucky, forgotten folks who live in the upper 4/5's wasteland of the county* but WORK in the privileged lower 5th. The highlighted area (click for full size) is the sum and parcel of the ENTIRE Escambia County Area Transit service.
*As their own route map says "Some routes do not travel every route as depicted on this map" (DAMN, THAT'S helpful!)
And what's happened to the farthest reaches of the county in the intervening years? Big county employers like Solutia Corp. (up bumf*ck north, almost at the border) is laying off about 171 workers and GE (on the bay, at the very eastern reaches) is letting over 70 go. That doesn't include all the teensy little firms dumping their 3 or 4 or 5 employees into the unemployed line. And, thanks in great measure to Escambia County government, teensy little employers are what we're all about! I'm sure those folks will be THRILLED to help finance a bus line they CAN'T use with extra funds they DON'T have, as they look for all those jobs that DON'T exist here in the employment armpit of the Gulf.
Come to think of it, maybe the 50 or so folks the Pensacola News Journal is laying off live mostly in ECAT ridership areas! If they do, Grover, you're in like flint.
But for you, Mr. Valentino, I have something special planned. It's a big, fat, pissed-off constituent phone call, so tell your secretary to stand by! And I'm giving YOUR number to all my bus-riding-challenged friends in our little 'hood here.
Oh, you betcha.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:38 AM | Comments (7)
December 04, 2008
Looking For A Present For The Person Who Has Everything?
Then this might be the answer for you.
"Caganers."
They're kind of like Dubliners.
Only different.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:42 PM | Comments (13)
Breaker-Breaker, Looks Like We Got Us A Convoy
So the CEO of GM made his pilgrimage via auto back to DC to genuflect and kiss Pelosi's ring (for his sake, I certainly hope he bathed and splashed on a extra dose of Paco Rabanne before coming within olfactory range of Harry Reid)
Two weeks ago Rick Wagoner flew to Washington on a corporate jet. This time the chief executive of General Motors Corp. made the trip in one of his company's black hybrid Chevrolet Malibus, driving part of the way.
and the other CEOs will be there today, so the Three Wise Men will be together again, except in a twist on the conventional telling of that tale our modern versions will be looking to get gold from the New Born King
Wagoner will be back in the spotlight Thursday and Friday, along with fellow CEOs Alan Mulally of Ford Motor Co. and Robert Nardelli of Chrysler LLC, when they appear before the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee to appeal for financial aid totaling up to $34 billion. Wagoner's plea will be the most desperate. GM submitted a plan to Congress on Tuesday that called for $18 billion in loans and warned that the 100-year old iconic American company won't have enough money to run its business without an immediate cash infusion of $4 billion.All three CEOs made the trip to Washington in high-mileage hybrid vehicles—the types of cars critics say the Detroit Three should have been making more of instead of becoming enamored of higher-profit, less fuel-efficient vehicles like SUVs and Hummers.
Will one of our brilliant Solomonaic leaders in DC ask these "executives" how they can possibly plan to return to profitability when they've spent billions of dollars to develop a "high-mileage hybrid vehicle" that gets a scant 2 mpg better than it's gas-powered counterpart?
And they want at least $34 billion of my money?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:56 AM | Comments (6)
December 03, 2008
No Wonder This Guy Isn't Popular!
Nobody I know wants to hear any of this finger pointing stuff...when the finger points back.
...You know the rest. Eighteen months later, our down payment has been wiped out and we owe more on the house than it’s worth. We’re still able to make the payments, but our mortgage rate is about to reset. And we’ve already heard rumors about coming layoffs at our jobs. How on Earth did we get into this mess?The exact answer is different in every case, of course. But let’s round up the usual suspects:
• The predatory mortgage broker? Well, we’re certainly not happy with the bastard, given that he sold us a loan that is now a ticking time bomb. But we did ask him to show us a range of options, and he didn’t make us pick this one. We picked it because it had the lowest payment.
• Our sleazy real-estate agent? We’re not speaking to her anymore, either (and we’re secretly stoked that her BMW just got repossessed), but again, she didn’t lie to us. She just kept saying that houses are usually a good investment. And she is, after all, a saleswoman; that was never very hard to figure out.
• Wall Street fat cats? Boy, do we hate those guys, especially now that our tax dollars are bailing them out. But we didn’t complain when our lender asked for such a small down payment without bothering to check how much money we made. At the time, we thought that was pretty great.
• The SEC? We’re furious that our government let this happen to us, and we’re sure someone is to blame. We’re not really sure who that someone is, though. Whoever is responsible for making sure that something like this never happens to us, we guess.
• Alan “The Maestro” Greenspan? We’re pissed at him too. If he hadn’t been out there saying everything was fine, we might have believed that economist who said it wasn’t.
• Bad advice? Hell, yes, we got bad advice. Our real-estate agent. That mortgage guy. Our neighbor. Greenspan. The media. They all gave us horrendous advice. We should have just waited for the market to crash. But everyone said it was different this time.
Still, except in cases involving outright fraud—a small minority—the buck stops with us.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 08:02 PM | Comments (6)
This Explains A Lot
When I was just a wee lad of 2 or so one day my father left a ladder leaning up against the wall in our garage.
So, naturally, I climbed up it.
And leaned back at the top.
And pulled the ladder over.
And rode that sucker all the way as it scribed an arc across the sunlight gleaming through the windows on a glorious Jersey morn.
All the way to the concrete.
Yes, this explains a lot.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:01 PM | Comments (10)
Ah, Those Suave, Sophisticated Germans
So cultured! So refined! And, as European Unionists in the very highest of standing, so sensitive and attuned to the subtle nuances of different cultures from their own.
Like, for instance, that happy-go-lucky party-til-you-drop playground that is Afghanistan
First they were accused of not wanting to fight. Then they were blamed for failing in their main mission to train the Afghan police.Now Germany’s battered military reputation has received a further humiliating blow. According to official reports, the 3,500 troops in northern Afghanistan drink too much and are too fat to fight.
A German parliamentary report has revealed that in 2007 German forces in Afghanistan consumed about 1.7 million pints of beer and 90,000 bottles of wine. During the first six months of this year 896,000 pints of beer were shipped to German forces in Afghanistan. British and U.S. bases in the country enforce a strict ban on alcohol.
For those of you keeping track at home that works out to about 2 bottles of beer a day each, every day, all year. And a bottle of wine every other week.
Now imagine the outcry if those "insensitive cowboys" of the US brought a single drop of booze into Afghanistan.
(via The Real JeffS)
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 01:45 PM | Comments (4)
Oversight? Paulson Don't Need No Steenkin' Oversight!
And no questions, either; his judgment is beyond reproach by us mere taxpayers
WASHINGTON -- The Treasury Department has failed to address a number of critical issues while implementing the $700 billion financial rescue plan, including how to ensure its efforts are successful, the Government Accountability Office said Tuesday.The report, which was required by the legislation authorizing the rescue plan, said Treasury has yet to figure out how to make sure financial firms receiving billions of dollars of federal funds comply with limits on executive compensation and dividend payments. (Read the full report.)
On a more basic level, the Treasury's efforts to establish "an effective management structure and an essential system of internal control" are incomplete, the report said.
"Without a strong oversight and monitoring function, Treasury's ability to help ensure an appropriate level of accountability and transparency will be limited," the report said.
They didn't just give him a blank check; they gave him the whole checkbook and a printing press.
Oh, and did we forget to mention this minor detail?
The report also noted that the Treasury has yet to announce whether it will require firms that receive capital injections to report on the use of the funds. Doing so, the report said, "would enable Treasury to monitor, to some extent, how the infusions were being used."
Gee, ya think?
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 07:42 AM | Comments (1)
December 02, 2008
So, Lemme Get This Straight...
Even though the cops can't protect you, DON'T buy guns to protect yourself...because they could get stolen.
A city alderman frustrated with the police response to rising crime called Tuesday on residents to arm themselves to protect their lives and property....Chief Dan Isom told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he understands Troupe's frustration but doesn't support citizens arming themselves.
Carrying guns, he said, is not a "recipe for a less violent community."
Mayor Francis Slay wrote in his blog Tuesday that some of the most violent crimes in Troupe's ward are committed with guns stolen from law-abiding citizens.
Alrighty, then. "Roll over and die".
Got it.
Posted by tree hugging sister at 09:40 PM | Comments (3)
Happy Loving Couples Make It Look So Easy
Via Tim, here's a wonderful video of Take Your Wife To Work Day, F1-style
The obvious sweet love and affection they have for each other will keep me smiling all day.
As will the new additions to my Italian vocabulary that she provides.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:29 AM | Comments (6)
December 01, 2008
Uh-Oh
India has raised it's security level to "war level"
MUMBAI (Reuters) - The fallout from a three-day rampage that killed nearly 200 people in Mumbai threatened on Sunday to unravel India's improving ties with Pakistan and prompted the resignation of India's security minister.New Delhi said it was raising security to a "war level" and had no doubt of a Pakistani link to the attacks, which unleashed anger at home over the intelligence failure and the delayed response to the violence that paralyzed India's financial capital.
And of course the Pakistanis are trying to drag us in
Officials in Islamabad have warned any escalation would force it to divert troops to the Indian border and away from a U.S.-led anti-militant campaign on the Afghan frontier.
Not a good situation.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:53 AM | Comments (11)
If Each Night In Bangkok Is Like A Year In Any Other Place
Then how awful must a week stuck in the airport be?
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - The vacation is over for tens of thousands of tourists in Thailand. But they can't go home.The Hotel California-like drama began Tuesday when anti-government protesters shut the country's primary international airport. The following day they moved in on the capital's domestic airport, grounding all commercial flights in and out of the city.
About 100,000 people have been stranded by the closures, dealing a severe blow to the country's reputation as a safe and reliable vacation destination. Officials project the tourism industry's losses from now until the end of the year will balloon to about 150 billion baht ($4.2 billion), equal to 1.5 percent of gross domestic product.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at 06:48 AM | Comments (1)