DarkStar Spouts Off

GOOD!!!!!

Actually, I think this was BEST in the long run that the bailout vote failed.

This thing was hurried. There is NO DAMN GOOD REASON why ONE PERSON should be in control of $700B of government money, where he is given large latitude to, essentially, do whatever HE thinks is best.

The Cow Girls, SUCK!

Now I have to hear that Washington fan all dang day!

How Not To Sing The Blues

Another Eye Raiser

OK, I can't continue to get spun up over this mess, but people need to be informed and this information causes runs on financial institutions.

Updated: Wachovia has begun preliminary talks with Citigroup about a potential merger, people briefed on the matter said Friday afternoon.

Feelers have also been extended between Wachovia and Wells Fargo and Spain’s Banco Santander, these people said.

These talks are early, however, and no deal may emerge from them. But it appears that Wachovia is seeking out potential alternatives should the financial rescue package being debated in Washington is not quickly passed, or fails to provide enough help.

Bank of America customers, watch out!

Bailout Includes?

I just heard the bail out includes:

• Car loans.
• Student loans.
• Foreign companies.

Ain't this a ....

[ UPDATE ]

In the dark of night over the weekend when most people were snoozing, the Treasury dramatically expanded its bailout plan to include buying student loans, car loans, credit card debt and any other "troubled" assets held by banks.

The changes, which were included in draft language that also opened the bailout program to foreign banks with extensive loan operations in the United States, potentially added tens of billions of dollars to the cost of the program.

Blame It On The Niggras

Blame the subprime mortgage mess on the niggras. After all, they are the only ones who took subprime loans. Who cares if redlining is illegal, this mess wouldn't have happened if the niggras didn't receive the loans. Who cares if the banks, mortgage companies, and Wall Street over leveraged themselves getting the loans, bundling the loans, and then selling them.

Just blame the niggras.

[ UPDATE ]

Janet L. Yellen, President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

There has been a tendency to conflate the current problems in the subprime market with CRA-motivated lending, or with lending to low-income families in general. I believe it is very important to make a distinction between the two. Most of the loans made by depository institutions examined under the CRA have not been higher-priced loans,[16] and studies have shown that the CRA has increased the volume of responsible lending to low- and moderate-income households.

[16]. According to the 2006 HMDA data, 19 percent of the conventional first lien mortgage loans originated by depository institutions were higher-priced, compared to 23 percent by bank subsidiaries, 38 percent by other bank affiliates, and more than 40 percent by independent mortgage companies. Robert B. Avery, Kenneth P. Brevoort, and Glenn B. Canner, “The 2006 HMDA Data,” Federal Reserve Bulletin, Volume 94 (2007), p. A89.

Michael Barr, Law Professor, University of Michigan Law School

Despite the fact that CRA appears to have increased bank and thrift lending in low- and moderate-income communities, such institutions are not the only ones operating in these areas. In fact, with new and lower-cost sources of funding available from the secondary market through securitization, and with advances in financial technology, subprime lending exploded in the late 1990s, reaching over $600 billion and 20% of all originations by 2005. More than half of subprime loans were made by independent mortgage companies not subject to comprehensive federal supervision; another 30 percent of such originations were made by affiliates of banks or thrifts, which are not subject to routine examination or supervision, and the remaining 20 percent were made by banks and thrifts. Although reasonable people can disagree about how to interpret the evidence, my own judgment is that the worst and most widespread abuses occurred in the institutions with the least federal oversight.

At least there are people who refuse to blame it on the niggras.

Cuz Conversate On: Obama and Illegal Immigration

[ So, I'm having an email exchange with a younger cousin who asked me the following question: "So, what is your beef with the Democratic/Obama platform this election?  Is it the $9 minimum wage?  Drilling in Alaska?"

I responded with the following rant. I removed some of it and cleaned up of the typos, although I should just leave it alone.

I was planning on writing something like this anyway, so my response allows me to do it. ]

A friend of mine does construction steel work. He's a union member but doesn't get much work there because it's an old boys network and the union bosses watch out for their friends. So, "in secret" he does non-union work. He tries to bring in Black people to learn the trade but his boss doesn't hire them. He hires Latino men, instead. My friend was told by his boss to learn Spanish because he, the business owner, can't compete, legally, with the other companies, so he's going to bring on Latinos. And he's done it.

My friend can't fault them, neither can I, really, for wanting a better life. But, my friend has worked with MS-13 members and one was going to kill him until the other members stopped him and told the guy my friend was okay.

I have to wonder if my father tried to get into the U.S. today, would he be allowed? Yet, they get into the country, businesses look the other way (Swift, Tyson Foods, home builders, ....), the government
looks the other way until recently, and under employed/unemployed, people take the hit. MANY times it's Black people.

Enough is enough. Go to the gold standard and let the failures begin.

In a change from the original proposal sent to Capitol Hill, foreign-based banks with big U.S. operations could qualify for the Treasury Department’s mortgage bailout, according to the fine print of an administration statement Saturday night.

The theory, according to a participant in the negotiations, is that if the goal is to solve a liquidity crisis, it makes no sense to exclude banks that do a lot of lending in the United States.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson confirmed the change on ABC's "This Week," telling George Stephanopoulos that coverage of foreign-based banks is "a distinction without a difference to the American people."

"If a financial institution has business operations in the United States, hires people in the United States, if they are clogged with illiquid assets, they have the same impact on the American people as any other institution," Paulson said.

This is just amazing.

Comments R Me: First Gear

I wrote the following elsewhere:

The U.S. has a regulated capitalistic system, we haven't had a free market system since the depression.

But when I said there was more to this than just sub-primes, this is what I meant:

Now add to that that the banks were basically leveraging the dollar 120 times and you get how bad this is.

For the past few days I've been wondering how the failed banks and brokerages could be going under and it was starting to slowly hit me: they got CALLED. Just like the day traders who were leveraged to do their trading, and the brokerage calls the traders and say we want our money; NOW! Only the day trader doesn't have the money and then the mini-storm happens.

Then came the run on the money market account, sending it down to $0.97 instead of the target $1.00. Since then I've been wondering how many times a bank "loans" $1 for each $1 they take in and the numbers I've read have been said to be at least 80 times.

Now it's sinking in. Now it really makes sense. Now I know WHY the banks and the brokerages have been taking the money the Fed has been offering. It ain't just the "free money" aspect of this, they are taking the money in case of a run!

Ron Paul's a racist mo-fo or, at least, is associated with some racist mo-fos, but he's right.

My analogy for this mess is this. Think of what is happening as a gear system to a car. First gear only gets the car moving and the other gears do the real job. Sub-prime was the 1st gear toward moving to the financial meltdown.

Johnnie Earl Lindsey

The Innocence Project Does It Again

DALLAS — DNA was the key that set a Dallas man free on Friday after 26 years behind bars. Johnnie Earl Lindsey was greeted with cheers as he left the courtroom on Friday afternoon.

He had been convicted of a rape at White Rock Lake after the victim picked him out of a photo lineup, but new DNA testing cleared him of the crime.

Government Accountability

Someone is saying the government has to be held accountable.

That same person used a free commercial email service for government business and included their spouse in the cc-list to say the email is personal and, therefore, not releasable to requests about government business. This information was known BEFORE the person's email account was "hacked" and email posted on a website.

People are rightly upset about the hacking, but the same people are not saying diddly squat about circumventing government accountability which is this person's mantra in speeches.

Cuz Conversate On: Obama and Economics

[ So, I'm having an email exchange with a younger cousin who asked me the following question: "So, what is your beef with the Democratic/Obama platform this election?  Is it the $9 minimum wage?  Drilling in Alaska?"

I responded with a brain spew rant, as I can do at times. I removed some of it and cleaned up of the typos, although I should just leave it alone and post it as the brain stream it was.

I was planning on writing something like this anyway, so my response allows me to do it. The first part deals with terrorism ]

Uhhh... I *WANT* the "Bush tax cuts" made permanent because I like having more money in my pocket. I'm sooooooooooooooo not on board with the hike in capital gains. We have mutual funds where we are saving money for the long term for certain goals. We have 401(K)s. I want to get on a better footing so I can get back to playing with stocks. And I *WILL* get back to being a consultant. This means I'll incorporate as an S-corporation or an LLC.

As an S-corporation or an LLC, at the end of the year, the money made by the S-corp/LLC gets passed
to the owner, (me), as income. If I'm fortunate enough to bring in a decent amount of money, I get hit with a nasty tax. It's a "well known secret" that people in my field get "billed out" at a rate that's about 1 1/2 to 2 times the hourly rate that they receive. Imagine all of that going to me. Imagine all of that going to you and then you writing the check to Uncle Sam. I did that before when I was a consultant. I wrote a check every month to the U.S. government and filed a tax return every quarter.

Yes, I know of the need to pay taxes. And even though I can't see paying the government a higher percentage than God (30% vs 10% and the government can't do squat about my soul), I know there are needs that must be met. I can't see how the government at the federal level, and state level considering Maryland, deserves more of my money when they are wasting SO much of it.

My goodness, the "ear marks"? And they want MORE money? How about cutting wasteful spending?

Sub-Prime Okie-Doke

Don't fall for the "sub-prime caused the economic upheaval" okie-doke, ESPECIALLY the blame on the CRA.

Right now, 2% of mortgages that are in default are sub-prime loan mortgages.

Think about this: How can 2% be the root cause of such massive failures that we are seeing right now?

Again, how can 2% be the root cause of such massive failures that we are seeing right now?

I tend to think that 2% isn't the cause. I tend to think that 2% is just the very tip of the ice-berg. I tend to think the massive failures happening now is a result of the "bad stuff" that we are going to find out about later.

Don't fall for the okie-doke.

Project 21 Hit On HBCUs (Part 2)

A commentor criticized my post here, stating I didn't address the overall point. What follows is my reply to TBM who wrote:

The article was about forsaking sports for more science and technology in the curriculum. The example of the NCAA money example is part of showing how much the schools are losing by keeping athletics. You don't address the overall topic in your post.

The author does a poor job of addressing it himself, instead using implications about the NCAA to support an idea he has, but the use of the NCAA angle was poorly thought [out] and and just plain wrong.

I mentioned that state HBCUs have to get approval from a governing board before approval is given, and if most are like the board that oversees FAMU, Morgan, Coppin, and Bowie, then it isn't a simple thing of creating a science or engineering program and offering it as an option.

Morgan University had to fight UMBC and Univ Maryland College Park to get its engineering program. Coppin had to fight UMBC to get its computer science program. Morgan and Bowie are still fighting to maintain certain MBA programs. FAMU was penalized for not having PhD programs, which were stripped from FAMU years ago, when Florida implemented a 3 tier program for its colleges and universities.

Let's look at what happens at the half-time portion of football games at Howard, FAMU, Grambling, Hampton University, and other HBCUs. The bands during 1/2 time actually are the bigger draw than the games themselves in some cases. Howard, FAMU, Grambling, Hampton, Morgan, and others, have bands that are known across the country and in some cases, are internationally known. The "Battle of the Bands" is a big yearly event at HBCUs and there is an attempt in Prince Georges County, Maryland to use the Battle as a marketing tool to bring students to HBCUs.

The author is suggesting FAMU scrap it's football program, where its world famous Rattlers Band shows off its stuff. It doesn't make too much sense when the marching band is a marketing tool.

Black students in high school aren't taking the math and science courses that lead into engineering, science and math majors in college. Programs such as The Algebra Project has the right idea by starting there. The author would have done better to highlight The Algebra Project and others like it to increase the number of Black students in the pipeline to get science, engineering, and technology degrees.

Project 21 Hit on HBCUs and Sports

From a Project 21 article:

We need not look further than George Washington Carver for inspiration.  To serve the greater good, Carver passed up other opportunities to head the agricultural program at Booker T. Washington's Tuskegee Institute and helped revolutionize farming.  How wonderful it would be if today's HBCUs could begin producing scientists and engineers with Carver-like potential.

Given that their budgets and access to resources are limited, how can HBCUs increase their science and technology focus?  They should not "Rob Peter to pay Paul."  They should simply take "Peter" out of the equation.  The HBCUs' Peter is money-losing athletic programs.

HBCUs should consider converting resources set aside for athletic programs into resources for scientific research and development.

For example, Howard University reported that its athletic program in fiscal year (FY) 2006 would have incurred a nearly $1.1 million loss without revenues from the NCAA and sponsorships, which cut the overall loss to a little over $100,000. 

For FY 2007, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) reported that, without $1.4 million from the NCAA and sponsorships, it would have incurred an operating loss of $1.8 million.  As a result, FAMU's athletic program lost around $400,000. 

Preserving the status quo won't change anything.  Consequently, if black Americans desire a different set of outcomes, they must take new and different action.

High-quality scientists and engineers are in demand, and their compensation level rank high on the nation's wage scale.  To gain access to these salaries, to improve job prospects and to contribute to our nation's progress, shouldn't HBCUs implement programs to produce more scientists and engineers?  Isn't it logical to accomplish this outcome by converting financial, physical and human resources from the cultivation of athletes to the cultivation of scientists and engineers?

It is not clear from the author of this piece, why Howard and FAMU received the money from the NCAA. It is written as if the money was given to these schools to prevent the programs from losing a lot of money. However, I remember hearing the NCAA gives most of the money it receives to member schools. From the NCAA website:

The Association believes that the amount of revenue an organization generates should not influence its tax-exempt status. Instead, that status should be determined by how those funds are used to support an organization’s mission. The Association’s 1,200 member schools receive 95 percent of the NCAA’s revenue. The remaining funds are spent to maintain the day-to-day operations of the Association.

The Association in this case is the NCAA. Was the money given to FAMU and Howard part of the regular distribution of money? Take a look at the pie chart

Look at how the money is disbursed.

Should that raise a flag about the writing of the article?

The author also doesn't say that many schools, HBCUs included, have to go to a college board to get permission to offer certain programs. I know this is true of FAMU, Morgan, Coppin, and Bowie. I suspect this is true for most state HBCUs, while it's soley up to the private HBCUs.

I understand the intension of the article, besides just hypercriticism, but the article, from my POV, is poorly written and researched.

Cuz Conversate On: Obama and Terrorism

[ So, I'm having an email exchange with a younger cousin who asked me the following question: "So, what is your beef with the Democratic/Obama platform this election?  Is it the $9 minimum wage?  Drilling in Alaska?"

I responded with a brain spew rant, as I can do at times. I removed some of it and cleaned up of the typos, although I should just leave it alone and post it as the brain stream it was.

I was planning on writing something like this anyway, so my response allows me to do it. The first part deals with terrorism ]

Bush can't communicate worth a *DAMN* and hasn't done a good job in telling the American public exactly WHY the "war on terror" is being fought the way it is being fought. Granted, he can't tell everything, and I still don't know if going into Iraq was necessary, but since we are there, and since al Qaeda (AQ) went in there are put on a show of force, it really is necessary that we kick butt, take NO names, and show them that the U.S. means biznis! The conservative/conserva-kook talking heads did a better job giving reasons to go into Iraq than the administration did. And to top it all off, Bush said Iraq wasn't tied to AQ, but Cheny was saying different. All at the same time!

What?!?!?!?!

Gen. Powell said if we go in, we break it, we own it. Well, we broke it. We own it. Now that the Iraqi government wants to stand on their own, let them. Let's get out. But let's not deny that the surge, along with the Iraqi factions standing up to AQ, worked.

But that's not all. Afghanistan is a BIG problem as is Pakistan. But it doesn't end there. The genocide in the Sudan was Muslim against Christian, Muslim against Muslim. You had to look hard for it in the press, but if you found it, you would have read that AQ and other groups associated with Islamic terrorism, were involved in the Sudan.

These people are serious, they ARE educated, this IS a religious war, and they are willing to play dirty. We have our laws which we must abide by, but people need to realize, and this is where Dubyah doesn't
give a rats behind about people not realizing, that we have to get dirty in this one.

[ I didn't write what follows at the time, but I should have written it ]

The American people SHOULD question the president and congress on the desire to send the military into a war situation. the President, as commander and chief, MUST be up front with the citizens of the United States WHY we are sending the military and fight HARD to get the American people behind our actions. The President should NOT take a stance, as I think Bush has done, and just send the military in and assume the citizens of the United States should just follow because he is President.

I have no idea how Obama will handle dealing with these people. I KNOW they are no joke. I KNOW they can't be ignored. I KNOW we can't assume if we leave them alone, they will leave us alone. I KNOW we have to deal with them and be ruthless about it. I don't know if Obama knows or if he is willing to do so.

Blame Not

There is a lot of commentary blaming the subprime mess on government pushing home ownership. I say no.

Look, the Fed dropped interest rates to low levels. People starting buying homes, re-financing, and getting home equity loans because of the low rates. This drove up the price of homes, but in my opinion, the subprime mortgage business grew out of the fast rising cost of homes and the need to get more business, which a portion of which was driven by government wanting to grow home ownership. But, again, no one told companies to make 100s of thousand dollar loans without paperwork.

Comment Of The Week

From an email list I'm on, after I made this comment about AIG possibly getting $85B from the U.S. government and the government getting 80% of AIG in return:

Heh. ... and all this time I only thought commies nationalized private businesses "for the good of the state". :)

Wow.

Cowgirls vs Eagles

In-SANE!!!!

[ UPDATE ]

Great game!

Community Organize THIS!

Black Self Help Information

Spouting Off On: Financials

Bear Sterns was brought out, with the U.S. government pushing the deal, because they had too many ties to other financial matters to let go belly up. (That's what I think).

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were bailed out because the U.S. government doesn't want to see a real (and necessary) fall in the housing market. Plus, there are so many companies, people, politicians, and lobbiests tied up in this mess that a failure in those two "companies," means a real economic fall.

Bank of America brought out Countrywide Financial and Bank of America is now buying out Merrill Lynch(!) after passing on Lehman Brothers, who will file for bankruptcy. Lehman going under without a government bailout means, that Lehman didn't pay off enough politicians via lobbiests, or they are not tied into other financial companies enough that a failure of Lehman means further failure of/in the markets.

And you really have to be watching to pick up that HUGE ASS insurer, AIG, is in a boatload of trouble!

Now, I'm not one to, purposefully mess with my wallet, but these companies should just be allowed to fail or be brought out without government assistance. It's pain, now, or more pain later. I want to get the pain over with right now.

Comments R Us: Righteous Indignation Rant

Over at Baldilock's blog, this entry sent me over the edge.

Anyone who is not also disgusted with "the right" lacking morality and spirituality, needs their soul checked.

Look.

This is politics. Period.

They. Are. ALL. Bearing. False. Witness. And. Know. It.

And (general) you know it.

Your (general) "righteous indignation" is all a bunch of crap.

And if you say mine is as well, I won't even put up a fuss.

You (general) know that many people on "the right", for YEARS, have attacked married women with families who work, as being selfish, as not taking seriously the fact that children come first, as not being willing to admit that women CAN'T have everything.

And then when Palin's daughter is said to be pregnant, "the right" praises her for having the child? Meanwhile, pre-martial sex HAD been strongly condemned by "the right." The parenting of kids who engage in sinful behavior HAD been questioned. "If a parent is teaching their values to the children, the children will not stray." And I caught HELL for saying teenagers rebel. And now, "the right" are saying the same thing.

Ohhhhh.......

Palin is a great pick, identity politics-wise. But you (general) know dang well that many cultural critics have bit off their tounges on Palin and her family.

My. God. The immaturity of the father of the baby was on full display on Facebook and few comments by "the right" about that?

Have at me. Say what you wanna say. But those (general) who deny what I'm writing and are seeking to defend Palin, aren't defending TRUTH, no, they (general) are defending POLITICS. And that's fine and dandy, but don't (general since you is implied) claim otherwise.

Prove me wrong.

Dirty Little Secret

From Gregory Kane:

Earlier this week, Baltimore State’s Attorney Patricia Jessamy talked about that letter she sent to Abell Foundation’s Robert Embry back in March.

The angry missive was about a study — yet to be released publicly — commissioned by the foundation that recommended a “regional jury pool” for Baltimore City, the better to weed out those city jurors supposedly too cognitively challenged to convict defendants at the rate defendants are convicted in Baltimore, Howard and Anne Arundel counties.

Shawn Flower of Choice Research Associates did the study in which she concluded that for the fiscal year ending in 2006, 53 percent of verdicts in Anne Arundel County were convictions. The percentage was 41 percent for Howard County and 40 percent for Baltimore County.

The figure for Baltimore City was 23 percent.

And followed up with:

Jessamy said regional jury pools might violate the Sixth Amendment (they would) and had another bone to pick with Flower: the part of the report where the researcher wrote that jurors in Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Howard counties are not only “better educated, are wealthier and are more likely to own their own homes” but also “are … less likely to suffer from the structural disadvantage which often results in the higher incidence of crime and victimization from crime.”

Jurors in those three counties, Flower concluded, “are likely to be more pro-social, and thus would be commensurately more likely to convict defendants than in Baltimore City.”

...

The fact is, Flower and her Choice Research Associates compadres chose to study the wrong people. Flower is right that many Baltimoreans don’t trust Baltimore City cops. What Flower ignores — Jessamy said Flower “glossed over” this matter — is the question of why.

I've pointed out the "why" may be, in some cases, "broken windows policing" policies that were in force during O'Malley's reign. Some folks want to dismiss my questioning, but not all.

True story: About nine years ago a city cop stopped me for running a stop sign I didn’t run. Of course, I went to traffic court. I’d been to traffic court a couple of times before, when defendants swore before the judge that the officer testifying against them in court wasn’t the one who stopped them.

The district court judges hearing the cases dismissed the testimony of the defendants — even the one who said it was a black female officer who stopped him, not the white male officer testifying — and found them guilty. For my running-the-stop-sign case, I noticed the mustached officer set to testify against me was at least four inches taller and 40 pounds heavier than the clean-shaven guy who had stopped me.

Now, that's interesting isn't it?

He starts to close with:

And they’d ask themselves this question: If cops will lie about penny-ante traffic violations, what will they do when the cases involve drugs or murder?

Jessamy said there are about a dozen or so officers whose testimonies her assistant state’s attorneys can’t use because they’ve been known to give either false testimony or write false reports.

Yep, but that doesn't get press. I wonder why.

Where's The Father?

Where is the father of Karrine "SupaHead" Steffens son?

Why hasn't he gone for custody of his kid?