DarkStar Spouts Off

Who Wrote The Title For This Article?

Who in hell wrote the title for this article that appeared in The Washington Post?

Blacks Conflicted About Supporting Appointee.

The article should be titled "Politicians and Activists Disagree About Supporting Appointee". Because I

A Long Read On AIG

This is a long read on AIG. Since I'm on vacation, I took the time to read it this morning. Of course, I read the paper version and not the online version.

For months, several executives at AIG Financial Products had pulled apart the data, looking for flaws in the logic. In phone calls and e-mails, at meetings and on their trading floor, they kept asking themselves in early 1998: Could this be right? What are we missing?

Their debate centered on a consultant's computer model and a new kind of contract known as a credit-default swap. For a fee, the firm essentially would insure a company's corporate debt in case of default. The model showed that these swaps could be a moneymaker for the decade-old firm and its parent, insurance giant AIG, with a 99.85 percent chance of never having to pay out.

The computer model was based on years of historical data about the ups and downs of corporate debt, essentially the bonds that corporations sell to finance their operations. As AIG's top executives and Tom Savage, the 48-year-old Financial Products president, understood the model's projections, the U.S. economy would have to disintegrate into a full-blown depression to trigger the succession of events that would require Financial Products to cover defaults.

If that happened, the holders of swaps would almost certainly be wiped out, so how could they even collect? Financial Products would receive millions of dollars in fees for taking on infinitesimal risk.

The firm's chief operating officer, Joseph Cassano, had studied the model and urged Savage to give the swaps a green light.

"The models suggested that the risk was so remote that the fees were almost free money," Savage said in a recent interview. "Just put it on your books and enjoy the money."

Maybe the new model for newspapers should be a "McNews" section for local news and the rest containing in-depth reporting on "things of interest." I say that because if I started reading this online, I know I wouldn't have finished the article. It's good but online, it may be too dang long.

Print out the article and read it. Don't worry about the trees.

I'll Huff and I'll Puff and...

OK, I wonder if I should set a place for popcorn

Republican Party officials say they will try next month to pass a resolution accusing President Bush and congressional Republican leaders of embracing "socialism," underscoring deep dissension within the party at the end of Mr. Bush's administration.

Those pushing the resolution, which will come before the Republican National Committee at its January meeting, say elected leaders need to be reminded of core principles. They said the RNC must take the dramatic step of wading into policy debates, which traditionally have been left to lawmakers.

You see, the problem is power corrupts and absolute power absolutely corrupts.

Nawww.... Wrong one. How about this one?

Power and money have a way of bringing out who a person REALLY is. Yes, that's the quote that's appropriate.

Don't Wanna Be In The News? Then BEHAVE!!!!

Here we go:

"I think he was upset over the incident ... and didn't want to be in the news again," she said.

Well, if he didn't want to be in the news again, then why do this?

Wooten believes Bell was upset over media coverage of the arrest last week.

Bell? Bell who?

MONROE, La. - A teen convicted in the "Jena Six" beating case shot himself in the chest and was taken to the hospital Monday, days after his arrest on a shoplifting charge, police said.

Mychal Bell's wound isn't life threatening, said Monroe Police Sgt. Cassandra Wooten. The 18-year-old used a .22-caliber firearm in the shooting around 7:40 p.m., she said.

Ahhhhh....
Now I see....

If you would just BEHAVE, you're ass would not be in the friggin' news!

Property Values, Down, Tax Assessments, Stable

Property values are down all over the Maryland area, but in the Baltimore region, tax assessment values are stable. Yeah, this is a BIG WT moment.

Property values in Baltimore are rising faster than anywhere else in Maryland, according to state officials who were to mail more than 730,000 assessment notices today.

While appraisals were nearly flat statewide for property overall - and even dipped in the more prosperous suburbs - values for homes in the third of Baltimore that will receive the notices rose 21.4 percent since their last assessment in 2005.

State assessors said home values rose 9.7 percent in eastern Baltimore County, 5 percent along the U.S. 40 corridor in Harford County, and 2 percent in the reassessed area of Carroll County. Home values dropped 4.2 percent in Anne Arundel, 7 percent in Howard and 16.3 percent in Montgomery County.

State assessment officials said that higher demand for relatively low-priced houses has driven average values up in some areas.

See, this makes me want to string people up by their gonads. That is a bunch of B.S.!!!!!

A Whole Lotta Nuthin

Let's be real people. First, the Rick Warren "controversy."

The man is a Christian pastor. The Bible calls homosexuality a sin. So, why should the man, being a preacher of The Word, support homosexuality or homosexual "marriage"? ANY Christian pastor, if he is following The Bible, is NOT going to support homosexuality. So, any invitation of a Bible following Christian pastor is going to upset "gay activists." So, let them be upset!

Next, let me address the "Obama, The Magic Negro" parody done by Shanklin for the Rush Limbaugh radio show.

So, please tell me what the big deal is? The show is a parody! A good sarcastic parody at that, that targets, and nails, the comment of a Black columnist who wrote that Obama was a "magic Negro" Black person because white people are comfortable with Obama. It was a play on the "magic Negro" characters played by Will Smith and Morgan Freeman in some of their movies. In essence, it isn't about Obama, it's about some Black people's comments about Obama and the b.s. issue of "Blackness."

So folks need to get a grip because the yappin' is a whole lotta nuthin!

I'd Like More Please

So, we need more of this.

Cruel and unusual punishment or just good, old-fashioned discipline?

Dennis Baltimore Jr. was caught vandalizing school property at Long Beach's Wilson Classical High School.

He was sentenced by his dad to walk the streets of Long Beach and Signal Hill on Tuesday for five hours in two locations wearing a sign saying, "I am a juvenile delinquent who should be punished. I have wasted your tax money with dumb acts of vandalism in the public schools."

When Dennis Baltimore Sr.'s phone rang Monday, he didn't know the call from his son's school would cost $875, the price of the vandalism.

"In a time of this uncertain economy, I'm sure the public is not going to like it," he said. "So one way I am going to discipline him is to have him walking around with a sign stating his crime."

Yes, more please!
H/T: rikyrah from Jack & Jill Politics

Sickening...

I know of a girl, at the age of 14, who was depressed and killed herself. That is not what is sickening.

First, I take a hard stand when it comes to suicide. It’s the work of inconsiderate and self-centered cowards, whatever the reason.

The comment I linked to is sickening. People who try to kill themselves and those who do, are in a world of hurt and/or mental illness.

One summer Sunday I hopped the Metro D.C. Red Line, went to the Mall and toured the museums on the Mall. I hopped back on to the Red Line and went home. Just before the Shady Grove stop, a woman jumped in front of the subway train and killed herself. It turned out she had a mental illness.

The young girl I mentioned, at the tender age of 14, killed herself because of family issues.

LaShawn Barber has written things I've agreed with. She has written things I disagreed with. She wrote things that really leaves me shaking my head like pushing the "Black inferiority in intelligence" garbage. But it's this one that really got to me because, as I have mentioned in comments on her blog, I see little Christian light in her posts, only condemnation.

I see absolutely NOTHING that would cause me to wonder about her faith and why she holds Christ in her heart.

Nothing.

This comment, is something the pastors of the church I belong to have been preaching the past few weeks:

Having said that, most Christians, at some point, have had a crisis of faith. We question our beliefs, especially when we’re going through trials. But that’s when we turn to God, not away from him, and to other Christians, living and dead, who’ve gone through similar crises.

She is right about that point. If she had written on that point alone, I'd have no issue. But to say the hurting and/or mentally ill are "inconsiderate and self-centered"?

No.

Those are the words of a woman who is filled with hatred. Some aren't meant to evangelize via words. Some evangelize via deeds and actions that makes people wonder, "What is in that person? I want what that person has."

I can't see wanting what she has in her heart.

[ UPDATE ]

An "update":

Did she write “inconsiderate and self-centered cowards”? There I go again, being too harsh. Christians aren’t allowed, so I’ve heard. What about the mentally ill, you ask? Well, if someone isn’t in his “right mind” when he commits suicide, I suppose that’s a different story. In some cases. Generally, my opinion of suicide, which I’ve contemplated in my younger years, stands. More sympathy for those left behind, please.

in reply to the update, I think non-consideration of the mentally ill is telling. I'm sure people will say you have to be mentally ill to consider suicide anyway, but I don't think that's accurate. At times, people get despondent, and at those times, most people don't try to commit suicide. Think about it, yes. Try it? No.

And, in fact, some who attempted suicide say they think they are doing a favor FOR their family and/or friends, instead of being "selfish" as LaShawn states.

Football

It's a regular season wrap. Here are thoughts on the teams that I tend to follow:

• Ravens - I thought they would go 8 - 8, instead they go 11 - 5. I think the coaches get a lion share of the credit. It is now obvious that the previous coach lost his team. The most valuable player for the team isn't QB Flacco, it's WR Mason. Dude gutted out separated shoulder after separated shoulder. The last 3 games it was evident that he had little, if any, use in the shoulder. You could see it when he ran patterns with, essentially, one arm and STILL got separation and caught passes. And what I want to know is, who poisoned Troy Smith's food?
• Cowboys - Wow. Just, wow. They self destructed. Is Romo prime time?
• Washington - I still like Campbell and I think Zorn may be a good head coach. I hope he gets 2 more years to prove himself. I thought Campbell needed to prove he could be a #1 QB this year or else he would be in trouble. I think he is a good QB but the Washington fans are, as the word implies, crazy. So I think they want him gone. I say he has one year left, or else.
• Eagles - Fire Andy Reid. McNabb? Keep him only because there are no other quality QBs out there, except maybe Troy Smith.

Other football stuff:

• Like I said, Farve should have never come out of retirement. The Packers were right to do what they did.
• The Colts are the team to beat. Even if it gets that far, the Ravens can't deal with them.
• The Steelers are the team to beat. If it gets that far, it will be a good game. But the Ravens will still come out on the losing end if they face the Steelers.

Finally:
Oh - Fur.
Zero.
Zilch.
Nada.
None.

Lions.
0 - 16.

If they play another Thanksgiving day game in the near term, someone needs to be shot.

Exhibit A Why Women Should Rule The World

This is Exhibit A on why women should rule the world.

The Afghan chieftain looked older than his 60-odd years, and his bearded face bore the creases of a man burdened with duties as tribal patriarch and husband to four younger women. His visitor, a CIA officer, saw an opportunity, and reached into his bag for a small gift.

Four blue pills. Viagra.

"Take one of these. You'll love it," the officer said. Compliments of Uncle Sam.

The enticement worked. The officer, who described the encounter, returned four days later to an enthusiastic reception. The grinning chief offered up a bonanza of information about Taliban movements and supply routes -- followed by a request for more pills.

Give the man the little blue pill, he acts like he's a teenager again, gives up the information and asks for more pills.

Men want it. Women have it. If they had it together, they would work it like they should and they would rule the world.

Eartha Kitt, RIP

I'm on the road and just found out Eartha Kitt passed.

This is a major bummer, but "at least" people have heard her voice for the past few days. :0(

Merry Christmas

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas and please remember Christ is the reason for the HOLYday

Windows Vista Woes

Complained to M$.
They sent a robo email letter stating how to fix the problem I had.
Did and and it was fixed.
Now it downloaded the latest updates, but they won't install. I'm stuck in perpetual "Preparing to install..." hell.

May Gate$ home reboot every 15 minutes.

Black Enterprise: "Did THEY cause The Credit Crisis?"

From January 2009, Balck Enterprise:

First-time Homeowners Benefited Least from Subprime Loans

If the subprime market flourished because of pressuers to help first-time minority homeowners, it would stand to reason that those first-time homeowners would have been the recipients of the most subprime loans. Wrong again. Between 1998 and 2006, only 9% of subprimes loans went to first-time howmeowners, according to the Center for Responsible Lending. The majority of subprime loans -- 62% were issued to homeowners looking to refinance an existing home.

Madoff Madness (Was Ponzi 2 )

So, now it is being reported that Madoff was reported to the SEC and the SEC didn't do anything.

Any more proof needed that government isn't a solution to most thing?

[ UPDATE ]

First article:

Charities, individual investors, universities, hedge funds and banks have already reported losses of more than $20 billion in the case. On Wednesday, Hadassah, a Jewish women’s charity, became the latest group to report falling victim to Mr. Madoff, saying it had lost $90 million.

The Jewish angle is interesting because he REALLY seemed to go after their investments.

And then the dude was on someone's radar in 1999!?!?!?!

In 1999 and then again in 2004, Eric Swanson, an assistant director in the inspections division of the SEC, was part of the team that examined Madoff’s brokerage firm. During those exams, the SEC team said it found almost nothing wrong, certainly not the fraud that the firm’s chief executive, Bernard Madoff admitted to last Thursday evening, as he sat in the FBI’s New York offices with his one wrist handcuffed to a chair and the other holding a telephone he used to contact his attorney, the famed white-collar lawyer Ira Lee Sorkin.

And the SEC didn't find anything out of the ordinary?

Now, suppose you invested in his funds, redeemed all of it and went about your merry way. Then, you get sued by other people to recover money from the scam that you knew nothing about!

Say you were an investor in Madoff's funds. A few years back you decided to diversify. You asked Madoff for your money back and you got it. You then invested the proceeds in an array of other assets. Madoff then goes bust in a massive fraud. One day you get a letter from a bankruptcy trustee. The letter says that you need to repay a large chunk of your original investment in order to satisfy the claims of other investors who were less fortunate (or smart) than you. Is this fair? Is this right?

The concept being applied by the Court and the bankruptcy trustee is called Fraudulent Conveyance:

And then here is the last thing.

Lets say you invested in his funds and received capital gains on reinvestments for which you paid taxes. Will the I.R.S. let you get a portion of the tax you paid back?

Seriously Pissed @ M$

Have I mentioned that the old laptop bit it?

Have I mentioned I quickly brought a new laptop with Vista on it?

Have I mentioned it's a pain in the ass with all of the security settings that the A/V software seems to not like at all?

Have I mentioned the a/v s/w seems to battle the o/s on permission settings on a constant basis, all behind the scenes?

Have I mentioned that automatic updates haven't worked in a month since I installed "automatically mind you" SP1?

Have I mentioned there is a SERIOUS threat ongoing right now that the latest updates somewhat patch but I can't update because the update is hosed and all attempts at using the suggestions from M$ friggin fail?

next 'puter is an Apple if I buy it. it's linux if I build it.

'eff it.

Like I Been Sayin'

The Ravens can't beat a good team.

All the team has to do is keep it close, like The Steelers did, and then run a no-huddle offense and that guarantees a score. When it was down to about 5 minutes, and the Ravens didn't score a touchdown, instead they had to make the field goal, I knew the game was lost.

Laughin', Robbin', & Servin'

This video is making the rounds in the greater Baltimore area.

People are commenting about the teenage girls laughing while the robbery and shooting is taking place. They wonder how this can happen.

When I saw the video, the first thing I thought is that the girls are IN ON THE ROBBERY. Then I wondered how the carryout owners can keep on taking orders and serving food.

The customer shot inside a Northeast Baltimore carryout — while onlookers laughed — says six or seven people “stepped around” him to order food as he sat on the ground bleeding. “They stepped around me to get their orders,” said Marvin Edmonds, 45, in an interview with The Examiner on Friday. “It was like I was in their way. It was like, ‘Man, I don’t care that you got shot. Move.’ I felt like a piece of nothing. No one asked me, ‘Was I all right? Do you need me to make a phone call? Do you want me to help you off the floor? ... The owners of the store they just turned around and continued to serve people and make orders.”

OK, I'd sue them in some way. The business should lose it's license.

Spouting Off On: Economic Mess and Economic Models

Normally, this would be titled something like "Comments R Us:...." but I wanted to name this one differently. On a post by Cobb titled "CRA & The Redline Revisited" I wrote:

When someone shows me the regulations or email trail or paper trail that said credit UNworthy people had to be given loans, I'll reconsider.

And, again, there are institutions that didn't get involved in the sub-prime mess even though they came under the CRA regulations.

And, again, most of the sub-prime loans were made by institutions not under CRA.

I understand the point being made about the regulatory environment, but people -- the real Free Market Capitalists -- refuse to admit Adam Smith's ideas are IDEAL[S] but, like the ideas of Karl Marx being IDEAL[S], refuse to take into account the overall selfish nature of mankind and how that selfish nature will manifest in time.

The anti-monopoly, slight consumer protection, regulatory form of capitalism as practiced in the U.S. did not come to be in a vacuum.

The real quandry real free market capitalists have is, if they admit to the real problem at the core of the sub-prime mess, they are then forced to defend capitalism from a weak point -- dare I write VERY weak? -- point of view. So, instead, they blame the CRA and Black people.

Companies were given the freedom, and that word is stressed for a reason, to rebundle and sell loans that they originated. Companies, run by people in the selfish mode of being able to make money without worrying about the consequences of servicing loans made on lax standards, made the business decision to get involved in the sub-prime market.

But, what I find most telling, is the same people using Blacks or regulations or the combination of both as scape goats, don't seem to ask why the market didn't self regulate out of necessity of survival?

I'm Down With Black

OK, I will support Black businesses or Black efforts when they provide good service and seem sensible. I'm sorry to say that I don't think Black Bird (powered by Mozilla) meets the last criteria.

Blackbird was developed on the simple proposition that we, as the African American community, can make the Internet experience better for ourselves and, in doing so, make it better for everyone. Primarily we believe that the Blackbird application can make it easier to find African American related content on the Internet and to interact with other members of the African American community online by sharing stories, news, comments and videos via Blackbird.

Why not create a plug-in with a skin and let people know what it is, instead of creating a plug-in with a skin and then re-brand as a new browser?

Hey, We Ain't Iraq!!!!!

What happens when you give absolute authority with absolutely no accountability?

Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve refused a request by Bloomberg News to disclose the recipients of more than $2 trillion of emergency loans from U.S. taxpayers and the assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.

Bloomberg filed suit Nov. 7 under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act requesting details about the terms of 11 Fed lending programs, most created during the deepest financial crisis since the Great Depression.

The Fed responded Dec. 8, saying it's allowed to withhold internal memos as well as information about trade secrets and commercial information. The institution confirmed that a records search found 231 pages of documents pertaining to some of the requests.

"If they told us what they held, we would know the potential losses that the government may take and that's what they don't want us to know," said Carlos Mendez, a senior managing director at New York-based ICP Capital LLC, which oversees $22 billion in assets.

This is just like what happened when we sent billions of dollars to Iraq and millions just "disappeared."

Ponzi!!!!!!

This has to be the longest running Ponzai scheme in history. Well, other than Social Security that is.

Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Bernard Madoff confessed to two sons this week that his investment advisory business was "a giant Ponzi scheme" that cost clients $50 billion before two FBI agents showed up yesterday morning at his Manhattan apartment.

"We're here to find out if there's an innocent explanation," Agent Theodore Cacioppi told Madoff, who founded Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC and was once chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market.

"There is no innocent explanation," Madoff, 70, told the agents, saying he traded and lost money for institutional clients. He said he "paid investors with money that wasn't there" and expected to go to jail. With that, agents arrested Madoff, according to an FBI complaint that provided a timeline.

The 8:30 a.m. arrest capped the downfall of Madoff and businesses bearing his name that specialized in trading securities, making markets, and advising wealthy clients. Many questions remain unanswered in this family drama, including whether his customers lost $50 billion. The complaint and a civil lawsuit by regulators describe a man spinning out of control.

Madoff's sons, Andrew and Mark, turned him in to U.S. authorities on the night of Dec. 10 after his confession, according to Martin Flumbenbaum, an attorney for the brothers.

Automobile Class Warfare

I'm very busy, but from what I'm hearing on the news right now, the car company bail out failed -- YEAH! -- because Republicans in the Senate want to set a pay scale for auto workers to match the pay scale of 'foreign car workers" in the South, where they are in "right to work" states. This, essentially, cuts the pay for many autoworkers.

But, the same Republicans didn't want CEO pay cuts because they said it would prevent the best people from trying to lead the financial companies out of the mess they created because the pay would not be enough.

Let that marinate and tell me why that isn't class warfare?

This is an example why I'm against nationalization of these companies. Politics gets involved in running the companies and making decisions instead of what makes good business sense, although "good business sense" seems to be an oxymoron for the financial companies right now. So, extend that to the VA and the disgraceful way they handle health care. Why should we have a single health plan as mandated by the government?

Ill Politics [ UPDATED ]

Jesse Jackson, Jr is "person #5!" "Candidate #5"
WOW!
Of course, we don't know if he paid or was willing to pay.

But now that I think about it more, what's the big deal? Isn't that how all politics works?

Think about it.

The House failed to pass a bailout bill. The Senate found legislation full of pork ear marks sweeteners that the House already passed, attached that to the Senate version of the bailout bill, passed it, and sent it back to the House which promptly passed it.

Wasn't that buying votes? Wasn't that pay to play?

The Newspaper Biz

Some conservative leaning pundits, bloggers, and "everyday people" seem to be gleeful about the state of newspapers in this country, and they say it is because the newspapers are organs of the Democratic Party. I suppose that's a soothing thought for some people, but just because it is soothing, it doesn't mean it is right. If you care to really think about it, here are some things to consider.

1. Most blogs that focus on the "news" of the day, even when the news is political, don't do original reporting, they report on information from online newspapers, other blogs, and television news.
2. A web site that many on the left says leans conservative, The Drudge Report, is actually just a news aggregator. Matt Drudge gets many of his "tips" from the reporters themselves.
3. How many people no longer read newspapers because the information is available online? Why pay for a subscription to a newspaper when you can go online and read the articles of interest?
4. We live in a 24/7/365 news cycle. if a story breaks at 8 AM, by the time the newspaper comes out, it is already old news. The best the newspaper can do is give more in depth information about what happened, but they don't get the breaking news. Compare that to CNN, MSNBC, or Fox News.
5. Because people are getting more of their news online, the advertisers are going online where the costs are less than in the print media, which also hurts the newspaper's bottom line. So you have a double whammy of people not subscribing AND the loss of ad revenue.
6. In general, the U.S. population is reading less. Who is going to get hurt more by this sad fact?

Those are just some things to think about.