DarkStar Spouts Off

Let Me See If I Understand This

OK, the economy is in rough shape. Companies are laying off or going out of business. People are not spending because they are unsure about what's happening. Banks are not lending money but are using the money to buy other banks or help their own balance sheets. In an atmosphere like this, if you are not sure of your job or business, it makes sense to cut back unnecessary expenses, like going out to eat. But when Oprah said it, restaurant owners were upset because she spoke COMMON SENSE?

Again, the economy is in rough shape, but Hannity and Limbaugh are accusing President Obama of talking down the economy and, instead, he should be talking it up? I see them saying it's not "the worst since the depression" if statistically this is the case, but to accuse Obama of talking DOWN the economy?

He Didn't Tell Me He Loved Me!

He said he would be gentle.

He covered up.

He lubed up.

He stuck it in and moved around.

It was over quickly, although it seemed like it was forever.

He finished and said my prostate seemed healthy and just to be sure, part of my blood workup will be a PSA test.

But he didn't tell me he loved me! He didn't even buy me dinner! :-)

 Did you know that high blood pressure, untreated, can cause kidney disease?

Black man, get checked!

There will be little to no blogging for a bit.

More On Mortgages, Part I

In the comment section I stated:

The last time I saw stats, the default rate of ALL mortgages was 10 percent. The subprime mortgage default rate was a total of 1.5 - 2 percent of all defaulted mortgage loans.

Since when is a default rate of 2% enough to tank a market?

I should have stated:

The last time I saw stats, the default rate of ALL mortgages was 10 percent. The sub-prime mortgage default rate was 1.5 - 2% of all mortgage loans.

I think that clears up PART of what I wrote.

I got the 10% number from general news articles like this one:

Single-family residential delinquencies soared to nearly 7 percent during the third quarter, reaching 6.99 percent in the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest delinquency survey data; that’s up 140 basis points from one year ago and 58 points from Q2 on a seasonally-adjusted basis. In other words: we continue to have a problem.

But it gets worse. That total doesn’t include loans somewhere in the process of foreclosure, which reached 2.97 percent at the end of Q3, up 22 basis points from one quarter ago and 128 basis points from one year earlier. A basis point is one one-hundredth of a percent. Taken together, then, 9.96 percent of all existing mortgage loans were delinquent or in the foreclosure process as we headed into October; and that’s despite efforts from lawmakers and others to stem the foreclosure tide.

I've been sloppy in lumping defaulted loans with loans in foreclosure. I think the distinction is clear and needs to be made, so I'll try to make it in the future.

Loan data at end of June, 2008:

Current loans: 92.61%

30-59 days delinquent: 2.85%

Seriously delinquent (60+ days): 2.95%

Foreclosures in progress: 1.60%

More later...

Men! Get Checked Out

Are you a Black man, 40 or over?

Get regular check ups. Get your prostate and colon checked.

[ UPDATE ]

A story told to me:

"Oh, I FEEL fine!

I don't know what's going on, on the INSIDE, but I FEEL fine!"

Look guys....

If you and a few of your friends get the exam, trust me when I say, you can actually joke about "the snap of that glove and the finger."

Your life may depend on it.

3rd Side To Henrietta Hughes Story

As heard on The Tom Joyner Morning Show

Mortgage Data

Because I have to back up what I've been writing. I had the stats I needed somewhere and now I can't find it. I KNOW I posted the calculations here and I just can't find it.

OK, so let's do this again.

OCC and OTS Mortgage Metrics Report

More than nine out of 10 mortgages remain current. However, credit quality declined during the second quarter across all risk categories. The overall percentage of current and performing mortgages in the combined portfolio declined from 93.35 percent at the end of the first quarter to 92.61 percent at the end of the second quarter.

Loans 60-89 days delinquent increased during the second quarter from a low of 0.96 percent at the end of March to 1.06 percent at the end of June. Delinquencies of 90 days or more increased from 1.23 percent in March to 1.38 percent in June. Loans delinquent 60-89 days and 90 days or more increased in each month during the second quarter of 2008.

Foreclosures in process increased in each month of the second quarter from 483,375, or 1.40 percent of the total portfolio, in March to 555,680, or 1.60 percent, in June.

From the executive summary:

• More than nine out of 10 mortgages remain current. However, credit quality declined during the second quarter across all risk categories. The overall percentage of current and performing mortgages in the combined portfolio declined from 93.35 percent at the end of the first quarter to 92.61 percent at the end of the second quarter.

• There were increases in early stage delinquencies (30-59 days past due) and seriously delinquent mortgages, defined as mortgages that are 60 or more days past due plus loans to bankrupt borrowers who are 30 or more days past due. Foreclosures also increased in the second quarter.

% of all Mortgage Loans in the Portfolio	End of the First Quarter 2008	End of the Second Quarter 2008
30-59 days delinquent	2.57%	2.85%
Seriously delinquent	2.67%	2.95%
Foreclosures in process	1.40%	1.60%

Total Mortgage Portfolio (% of all mortgage loans in the portfolio)
	Jan-08	Feb-08	Mar-08	Apr-08	May-08	Jun-08
Current and performing	93.15%	93.36%	93.35%	92.99%	92.97%	92.61%
30-59 days delinquent	2.85%	2.65%	2.57%	2.76%	2.67%	2.85%
The following three categories are classified as seriously delinquent.
60-89 days delinquent	1.07%	0.97%	0.96%	1.00%	1.02%	1.06%
90+ days delinquent	1.23%	1.23%	1.23%	1.28%	1.31%	1.38%
Bankruptcy 30+ days delinquent	0.47%	0.47%	0.48%	0.49%	0.50%	0.51%
Subtotal for seriously delinquent	2.77%	2.66%	2.67%	2.77%	2.83%	2.95%
Foreclosures in process	1.24%	1.33%	1.40%	1.48%	1.53%	1.60%
Total Mortgage Portfolio (Number of mortgage loans in the portfolio)
Current and performing	32,107,266	32,235,790	32,179,572	32,199,990	32,314,069	32,187,260
30-59 days delinquent	980,836	914,123	886,194	955,558	928,730	990,488

Presented Without Comment

Presented without comment

Palin, who backed an abstinence-only sex education program when she ran for governor in 2006, told Van Susteren to expect abstinence from all teenagers was "not realistic." "Get beyond the ideal of abstinence," the 44 year old, new grandmother said. "Hey, life happens." "Not the most ideal situation, certainly you make the most of it," said the governor. Bristol Palin said she is getting help from many members of her family with raising the infant while continuing her studies. She told Van Susteren she has no immediate plans to marry Levi Johnson, who she described as a 'hands on Dad." Last year, there were reports that the couple would marry in the coming year. "Eventually we'd like to get married," the young mother said. "We're focusing on getting through school though, getting a career going."

Thank You

My paycheck will increase $16 - $64 a pay period.

Yep. That's a weeks worth of gas.

When You Lie With Dogs

"When you lie with dogs, you get fleas."  However, it looks like Burris is a dog.

PEORIA, Ill. — A few months before Roland W. Burris was appointed by former Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich to the United States senate, Mr. Burris tried, without success, to raise money from his friends for the governor at the behest of the governor’s brother, Mr. Burris has acknowledged for the first time.

Mr. Burris, who became Illinois’s junior senator a month ago over objections that the beleaguered governor should no longer make the pick, told reporters on Monday night that he had talked to Mr. Blagojevich’s brother, Robert, sometime in November about his troubles raising funds, and only later told the brother that he should not raise funds because it might appear he was trying to curry favor to win the senate seat.

After four stories, with the latest being he did try to raise money for Blago, Burris is looking real dirty right now. No wonder he took the appointment.

Not Commenting Much On The Stimulus Bill

I ain't commenting much on the stimulus bill because I don't think my blood pressure can handle it.

All I will say is, my fears about having a Democratic controlled legislative and executive branch is becoming manifest.

The. Legislative. Body. Voted. For. Something. They. Didn't. Have. Time. To. Read.

Why Is He Considered A Financial Genius?

Why is Donald Trump considered to be a financial genius?

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc, Donald Trump's casino group, is expected to file Tuesday for bankruptcy, The Wall Street Journal reported.

This is the 3rd time for the  bankruptcy filing.

The man is great at marketing, but lousy at business.

A Question For Other Black Republicans

I have a question for other Black Republicans.

• It's a white Republican, Rush Limbaugh, who is saying Blacks have not advanced in 40 years. That is false and I've proved it. Anyone else who holds true to that belief, is race baiting.
• It's white and some Black Republicans who say the CRA caused the financial meltdown when it's proven that most of the subprime loans were made by institutions that aren't under the CRA.
• It was a white Republican president who used a tale of a Black woman on welfare, getting into a Caddy after buying food with food stamps. It was that white Republican's own staff who later said it was not true and an "illustration."
• It was a white Republican, Jack Kemp, who said he was, essentially, in exile from his own party by saying the GOP needed to address Black voters.
• It was a white Republican, Tony Snow, who said he was, essentially, fired from the first Bush administration (Bush "Sr"), for saying they needed to address Black voters.
• It was a white Republican, Mary Matalin, who confirmed Tony Snow's comments about the "old" GOP guard not wanting to address Black voters.
• It was a white Republican, Lee Atwater, who said he used race baiting to get Republican votes.
• It was a white Republican, Ken Melhman, who said Republicans used race baiting, "The Southern Strategy" and that the Republican party was wrong for doing so.

Why must Black Republicans be responsible for cleaning up the mess we, by and large, didn't create?

Say, HUH?!?!?!??!

If anyone with a law degree can explain this to me, I would be thankful.

One of the 16 illegal immigrants allowed by a federal court to sue an Arizona rancher for stopping them at gunpoint after they sneaked across the U.S.-Mexico border is a convicted felon deported from this country after a 1993 arrest by U.S. authorities on drug charges, court records show.

Gerardo Gonzalez, described in a lawsuit brought by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) as a 38-year-old Mexican citizen, was convicted in September 1993 for possession of a controlled substance for sale and ordered deported to his home country.

Gonzalez, whose illegal re-entry after removal under U.S. law would be another felony, is among five women and 11 men detained by Roger Barnett, owner of the Cross Rail Ranch near Douglas, Ariz.

This seems like this should have not even been allowed.

As Goes Cali, So Goes Kansas

Oh dear...

Kansas is suspending income tax refunds and may not be able to pay its employees on time.

"We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto!"

Oh, This Will Help Your Cause

This is just unreal.

Orchard Park police are investigating a particularly gruesome killing, the beheading of a woman, after her husband — an influential member of the local Muslim community — reported her death to police Thursday.

Police identified the victim as Aasiya Z. Hassan, 37. Detectives have charged her husband, Muzzammil Hassan, 44, with second-degree murder.

...

Muzzammil Hassan is the founder and chief executive officer of Bridges TV, which he launched in 2004, amid hopes that it would help portray Muslims in a more positive light.

Yep, that will really help.

Castro In Waiting?

Is Chavez a Castro in waiting?

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela's elections chief says President Hugo Chavez has won a referendum to eliminate term limits, paving the way for him to run again in 2012.

National Electoral Council chief Tibisay Lucena says with 94 percent of the vote counted, 54 percent have backed the president's proposal. That trend is irreversible.

Firecrackers exploded as pro-Chavez caravans circled the city with horns blaring after the announcement Sunday night. Chavez appeared on the balcony of his presidential palace to sing the national anthem.

I think so.

That Squealing You Hear

That squealing you hear is the stimulus package being signed and the American tax payer reprising the role of Ned Beatty in "Deliverance".

More On The Government In Medical Care

If the federal government were to say that medical records should be in X format, encrypted to at least Y standard when at rest, contain at least Z information, provide for A areas for additional information, provide for B options, and dictate S minimum level of security when the data is in transport, this can be justified using inter-state commerce clause for involving the federal government in medical records. Note in this example, the federal government is involved in defining an interstate commerce standard. The government is not involved in medical decisions. So, I think for the above, it's a good thing to do. HOWEVER....

But the bill goes further. One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and "guide" your doctor's decisions (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, "Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis." According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and "learn to operate less like solo practitioners."

The above is the reason that should cause everyone's heart to skip a few beats. Here's the example:

Your mother getting treated by Dr. Vasoul. Dr. Vasoul decides on a treatment plan and gets approval from you and your mother on the plan. Dr. Vasoul implements the plan. You make sure your mother adheres to the plan and things start looking good. Your mother has returned to normal, meaning she's spoiling your children on a regular basis.

Now, Ms. Gover Mint comes around and reviews your mother's medical history and her current treatment. Ms. Gover Mint decides that based on her age, the treatment plan is not cost effective, even if the digital records show Dr. Vasoul noting your mother is responding well to the treatment. Ms. Gover Mint then tells Dr. Vasoul to follow another treatment plan that Dr. Vasoul knows is not as effective as the current plan and does not increase the quality of life. In fact, the stated plan even hinders the quality of life.

Think about the bureaucracy required to get the treatment plan approved while your mother suffers.

And consider this point. The I.R.S. has caught its employees snooping into the tax records of celebrities. Think about how many DON'T get caught and how many may use the medical information for ill.

Think about the trouble veterens have getting treatment at the V.A. hospitals.

This is NOT good.

Big Brother Does Meds

[ UPDATED ]

Medical whammy in the "stimulus" bill.

Feb. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Republican Senators are questioning whether President Barack Obama's stimulus bill contains the right mix of tax breaks and cash infusions to jump-start the economy.

Tragically, no one from either party is objecting to the health provisions slipped in without discussion. These provisions reflect the handiwork of Tom Daschle, until recently the nominee to head the Health and Human Services Department.

Senators should read these provisions and vote against them because they are dangerous to your health. (Page numbers refer to H.R. 1 EH, pdf version).

The bill's health rules will affect "every individual in the United States" (445, 454, 479). Your medical treatments will be tracked electronically by a federal system. Having electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily transferred to a hospital, is beneficial. It will help avoid duplicate tests and errors.

But the bill goes further. One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and "guide" your doctor's decisions (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, "Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis." According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and "learn to operate less like solo practitioners." 

Keeping doctors informed of the newest medical findings is important, but enforcing uniformity goes too far.

Where's Hannity et al On This Injustice?

Property Seizures Seen As Piracy

ENAHA — A two-decade-old state law that grants authorities the power to seize property used in crimes is wielded by some agencies against people who never are charged with — much less convicted of — criminal activity.

Law enforcement authorities in this East Texas town of 1,000 people seized property from at least 140 motorists between 2006 and 2008, and, to date, filed criminal charges against fewer than half, according to a review of court documents by the San Antonio Express-News.

Virtually anything of value was up for grabs: cash, cell phones, personal jewelry, a pair of sneakers, and often, the very car that was being driven through town.

Some affidavits filed by officers relied on the presence of seemingly innocuous property as the only evidence that a crime had occurred.

Linda Dorman, an Akron, Ohio, great-grandmother had $4,000 in cash taken from her by local authorities when she was stopped while driving through town after visiting Houston in April 2007. Court records make no mention that anything illegal was found in her van. She’s still hoping for the return of what she calls “her life savings.”

Hat tip: P6

A Say In My Republican Party, Subtitled Republicans Are Rednecks

That's a provactive title, isn't it? Normally, it would be titled something like "Comments R Me: ....". Well, I named this post what I did because of a snark(?) comment directed my way by my boy Cobb:

I decide who leads my Republicans. You seem hardly capable of distinguishing between them. It's all rednecks to you.

I responded, thusly:

I'm Republican as well, so don't I have a say? I've already been called a RINO, so don't I have a say? Or, are you saying you actually got to directly vote in Steele's election?

You seem hardly capable of distinguishing between them. It's all rednecks to you.

Now THAT was really STUPID of you.

I guess you have been missing, FOR YEARS, that Rush Limbaugh has been saying that RINOs need to be drummed out of the Republican party, that left coast and east coast Republicans are not real Republicans. It's the Southern and flyover country Republicans who are the real Republicans.

I guess you missed Limbaugh saying, during the election cycle, the conservatives in the Republican party have to drag McCain over the finish line first, and then "we" can go about reclaiming "our" party.

I guess you missed Hannity, Laura Ingram, Mark Levin, and other conservative pundits, saying the same thing.

I guess you missed the attacks against Steele from voting Republicans who claimed that Steele is not a conservative. Didn't you wonder in what universe Steele is not considered a conservative?

While you were pontificating that evangelical Republicans need to have their grips lessened on the GOP, they and others were saying it's RINOs like you whose grips need to be lessened.

Some people consider Gallup polls to be good indicators, if you are one of them, what does the linked poll which states 60% of Republicans have a positive view of Rush Limbaugh mean? What does it mean, in the context of his stating Republicans like YOU need to be drummed out of the party?

Dodge in weave, keep moving. Don't make yourself an easy target.

I forgot to mention the Republican who had spoken out against Rush, went on Rush's show to later kiss his behind after the Republican politician got a flood of calls complaining about his comments about Limbaugh.

Steele Sleeziness

So, the FBI "accidentally" sent the wrong documents to The Washington Post about an convicted felon who implicated Steele in a possible crime? There are two things here worth noting:

1. The FBI "accidentally" sent the wrong documents to The Washington Post. How many people believe it was an "accident"?
2. Some people, including Steele's representative, are pointing out the allegations are coming from a convict. Am I the only person in the world who sees the irony of the use of "jail house snitches" to help convict people, and the use of co-conspirators to help convict "Mr. Big" in criminal cases? Did people complain about the people who were with O.J. when he stole "his stuff back"?

Or is it just me?

Was It Me?

Or was Whitney high?

Economic Behavior Is Rational

I tend to think that economic behavior is rational, even when it is wrong, it is rational. For example, some people have said that discriminating against Blacks is anti-capitalistic. I thought, and still think, for example, not allowing Blacks to eat in a restuarant, was "good business" because, at the time, white people didn't want to eat with Blacks if the Blacks weren't the people serving the food. It was rational to have that model and get white people into your restaruant, then not discriminate and go out of business.

I mention this because of this opinion piece by David Ignatius in The Washington Post:

So Roubini knew two things: Housing prices wouldn't keep going up forever, and when they went down, they would take a big piece of the financial system with them. From then on, it was a matter of watching the data.

But everyone else had those same numbers. Why did Roubini act? The answer is that he decided to trust his gut, which told him there was trouble ahead, rather than Wall Street's "wisdom of the crowd," which -- as reflected in stock prices -- said everything was rosy. He concluded that the markets were not pricing in the degree of risk that was actually present in housing.

"The rational man theory of economics has not worked," Roubini said last month at a session of the World Economic Forum at Davos. That's why he and other prominent economists are paying more attention to behavioral economics, which starts from the premise that economic decisions, like other aspects of human behavior, are influenced by irrational psychological factors.

The most compelling rebuttal of the rational model, paradoxically, was delivered by the ultimate rationalist, Alan Greenspan. "I made a mistake in presuming that the self-interests of organizations, specifically banks and others, were such that they were best capable of protecting their own shareholders," the former Fed chairman told Congress last October.

That's why Greenspan didn't see it coming, argues Daniel Kahneman, a Princeton professor who is often described as the father of behavioral economics. His rational-actor model wouldn't let him.

Roubini's "gut" was rational thinking in opposition to the crowd. From my take, the "crowd" was also thinking rationally when it was thought the upward trend in housing would continue. They were wrong, but being wrong doesn't mean being irrational.

In fact, is it rational or irrational to try to make as much money as you can? I think that is rational. However, they were wrong to not assume things would take a down turn.

For Democrat Partisans

Both the House and Senate versions of the "stimulus package" bills, stink.

It's this type of overboard spending that got the GOP kicked out of the majority. If you Democrats want that to happen, keep hoping this pile of stinking steamy passes.

For hard core Obama supporters, you better start saying, loudly, that Obama needs to veto this mess and start over.