Bailout!

Seven hundred BILLION dollars. How many of you have wrapped your mind around the fact that this number WAS the total Federal budget just a couple of decades ago?

And now we’re going to use this HUGE amount of taxpayer dollars to bail out – prop up- guarantee- whatever the ‘financial market’.

Do you know that a lot of the problems with the financial markets are the results of government intervention wherein social engineers jimmied the works requiring lenders to violate long-established standards of lending in order to be “fair” to lower income, higher risk segments of the population.

Yes, bunkie, members of congress passed laws to buy votes, and some of those laws pushed lenders to make decisions that they would not have made absent government regulation. Today’s news is the result of that vote-buying effort.

That is not to say that financial folks aren’t entirely capable of greed on their own, but they were going though much of this behind the silly walls erected by legislators who made decisions on what it took to get re-elected, and the money folks cobbled together a paper world wherein large amounts of money were generated based on exchange of risky paper.

Think of buying and selling stuff based on the values you and your buddies assigned to the “stuff”. These folks were buying and selling the financial market equivalent of beanie babies! Each time a block of crap was sold, it increased value, at least in the eyes of the holder and the seller, just like beanie babies and baseball cards. The item being sold was of no intrinsic value except to some nebulous, mythical segment of the population and sooner or later they were going to get called for it.

You say you have a beanie baby worth $3000? Why? Because you paid $2500 and it appreciated. And the beanie baby guru you saw at the big flea market SAID your beanie baby was rare and valuable? As long as you dwell in the insular world of beanie babies, you’re fine, and I’m happy for you. But one day, the car note and the house note comes due, and you walk into my office and try to pay me by giving me your $3000 beanie baby and I shake my head and want cash. And your beanie baby market comes crashing down because you can’t get real value for perceived value.

That’s what happened to the financial market. MBA’s and PhD’s have built a world of beanie baby paper money, and somebody is wanting REAL money instead of a big stack of financial beanie babies.

And **I** shouldn’t be paying for it.

Today in History – September 30

1452 – 1st book published, Johann Guttenberg’s Bible, in Mainz, Germany.

1544 – King Henry VIII draws his armies out of France. His army leaves behind a considerable amount of genetic material.

1791 – The National Constituent Assembly in Paris is dissolved; Parisians hail Maximilien Robespierre and Jérôme Pétion as incorruptible patriots. Yeah. Just like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are “incorruptible patriots”.

1841 – Samuel Slocum patented the stapler. Hey! A milestone IS a milestone…

1938 – The League of Nations unanimously outlaws “intentional bombings of civilian populations”. Yeah, that worked. The League of Nations died. If only the UN would do the same…

1949 – Berlin Airlift ends after 277,000 flights. America faces down the Soviet Union. Today’s Left would not only have signed West Berlin Over to them, but would have held a star-studded concert to celebrate.

1954 – The U.S. Navy submarine USS Nautilus is commissioned as the world’s first nuclear reactor powered vessel.

1968 – 1st Boeing 747 rolls out. American aviation shows the world how it’s done.

2005 – The controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. Muslims are driven to a killing frenzy by cartoons. Who knew? Other things that drive Muslims into a killing frenzy: days that end with “y”.

Today in History – September 29

1789 – The U.S. War Department first establishes a regular army with a strength of several hundred men.

1916 – John D. Rockefeller becomes the first billionaire.

1936 – Radio used for 1st time for a presidential campaign. Obama loyalists try to get the ads pulled.

1938 – Treaty of Munich signed by Hitler, Mussolini, Daladier & Chamberlain. “If we give them a little of what they want, they will think we’re nice people and stop doing mean things.”

1942
– French government of De Gaulle cancels agreement of Munich. French government actually in FRANCE is collaborating its butt off. That 1938 agreement in Munich wasn’t worth the paper it was written on.

1991 – Military coup in Haiti. Still having trouble with that whole ‘election’ thing…

I think I see the problem

1990-ish: Dimmocrats see that their herd of sheep constituents are not able to buy homes because said sheeple lack the sort of income and track record that a lender would see as secure enough for a mortgage. In the traditional dimmocrat methodology of making laws to buy votes today and not caring about future effects, they hobble big credit with regulations that open up the market for ‘sub-prime’ lending, wherein money is loaned to the people least likely to pay it back.

2008: The mortgage industry collapses. dimmocrats blame the rich for following the path the dimmocrats set forth, propose MORE regulation AND a bailout using taxpayer (a title many of thier core constituency fails to achieve) money.

That’s money.

1990-ish: People in the energy industry see our dependence on foreign oil and try to expand the options of where to drill in the domestic venue. Dimmocrats in congress kowtow to a bunch of tree-hugging social engineers masquerading as environmentalists their constituents and block drilling in ANWR and any offshore areas besides off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas.

2008: Oil hits a hundred and fifty bucks a barrel and over $4 a the pump. Dimmocrats propose to add more tax burden to Big Oil, having determined that the way to get lower prices is to increase the costs to the people producing the product.

That’s energy.

Our problem seems to be a party that makes rules in one decade to buy votes, then when the chickens come home to roost in the next decade, they propose MORE rules to fix the problem they caused in the first place.

The Name Game #163

It’s a beautiful morning in southwest Louisiana. The skies are clear and the temperature was in the mid sixties when I walked out to get the paper. It’s headed for the mid-eighties. I will go out this afternoon and work on Li’l Dumplin’. I got her raised yesterday. She’s a mess. I have to get some debris cleaned up so the Coast Guard will be happy. Dumplin’s future is still murky. A rebuilt engine to replace the one that spend a week under water is multiple kilobucks.

The morning paper brings us birth announcements from tow local hospitals. One is the big one that gets the majority of the “I ain’t been havin’ a period an’ I been gainin’ weight an’ now I gots dese cramps” crowd. From August 15 to September 19 we get 88 births, 52 of them to parents who hadn’t done that “let’s make it official” thing, and ten of the new mommies are still wrestling with that question about exactly who the baby daddy is.

We’ll lead off with a few folks who thought their baby needed more than the standard two given names:

Dale & Nickie A. bring us their new baby girl, little Caoimhe (!) Evelyn Lily. I’m sure that the first name has some tremendously profound meaning in, oh, maybe Gaelic. Ain’t nobody Gaelic around here so it looks just plain pretentious.

Shaun & Megan T. bring their baby giel, little Amley Kieran Sharrie. Amley? Contrived. Kieran? Tryndeigh. Sharrie? I cain’t freakin’ spell…

Cynthia P. & Xavier S. tag a son with Xavier Jud Wayne Jr. That means, of course, that daddy’s parents were goofy too, making this an example of intergenerational repetitive stupidity.

Debra R. & Robert S. tag their baby girl with Kaylee Shay Lynn.

Next we’ll look at people wh say “I like that name but it won’t be so common if we spell it different to show we’re people of quality.”

Megan K. & Thomas W. bring a son, little Alexander Kannon. They use a “K” so you won’t mistake him for a piece of artillery.

Timothy & Elizabeth D. name their baby girl Matilyn Leigh. What was so wrong with “Madilyn”?

Ricardo & Shakeesha G. name their son Jordin John. If only there were some old book that would give them a spelling accepted for centuries to help them out. And if your momma is named “Shakeesha” you don’t stand a chance anyway.

Nina V. & Kevin S. have a new son, little Kameron Dawayne. The “K” so he wouldn’t be associated with a small southwest Louisiana town wrecked twice in three years by hurricanes, and “Dawayne” because they thought that “Dwayne” might be confusing to pronounce.

Next we get a herd of names that make you ask questions like “Where’d you find THAT?” or “Why didn’t you wait until the anesthesia wore off before you chose a name?” or “Are you sh*tting me?”

Miss Kayla M. presents her little girl Amari Faith. “Faith”? Like what’d get you to church where they teach you about fornicating and getting pregnant and not know who the baby daddy is?

Kenired & Dajuana A. loved that Sesame Street expose’ of the letter “J” so they tag their son with Jaundre Jujuan.

We have a pairing here: On Aug. 23 Andrew & Amanda G. had a daughter, little Abriele Raine. On August 29 Miss Shawna G. had a daughter too, little Journei Rayne. Both of them used either a weather phenomena or the name of a small town in Louisiana, but each spelled it in her own particular way. “Journei”? I guess that means the trip Miss Shawna’s gonna have to take to find the missing name for the baby daddy.

Brittney M. & Geoffrey P. have a new son, Carson Even. Not “Evan”. Even.

Ebony B. and Kraylon C. perpetuate the “Let’s name our kid after synthetic fabrics” thing with their son Traylon Lavell.

Mary L. and Tyrone B. have a son, Malachi (a good biblical name) Dejuan (pure fabrication).

Miss Kassie M. presents her new daughter, Jaylyn Janae. There’s that letter “J” thing again. And “Why you cryin’, Momma?” “Dey be jailin’ Janae today.”

Another pairing. Same hospital. On Sept. 8 Taylor M. & Justin B. had little son Kanaan Harper. A day later Jacob & Rachel D. had a son, little Canaan James.

Jessica L. & Curtis W. presents her daughter, little Mela Lashay.

I’ hoping this is a typo and not a new trend. I transcribed it exactly as it was printed: Britney G. & Chase H. bring their little girl, CassideeKayt. No spaces. It would have been bad enough WITH the space, but if it’s really that way, we have a little kid with a 13-letter name. Write THAT in crayon.

Fairlyn J. & Brandon B. have a new son/ canvas for their creativity: Brandel Joshuiah. Yes, bucky, that name was spelled “Joshua” for centuries, but these ‘artists’ knew they could improve it.

Ebonie L. & timothy K. have a new son, little Tejon Jamaal.

Yet another pairing: Miss Megan G. hasa son, little Michael Blaze on Sept. 16 in one hospital. On the same day in another hospital Lakeshia L. & Courtney G. also have a son, Tristian Blaize. Two little boys names after a famous stripper. Cute.

Samantha M. & Timothy B. tag their new daughter with Kamea Noelle.

Miss Brandy S. was watching TV reruns and tagged her son with Landon Michael. Good thing it wasn’t old Bonanza shows because we’d be seeing Greene Lorne and Blocker Dan.

Mr. & Mrs. Philip C. get tryndee with their new daughter Anslea Renee.

Saving the fun for last, we look at the fold who just need to get out of the box provided by twenty-six letters of the alphabet, so they start into punctuation:

Miss Michelle C. has a new little girl, Kiara’yana Kichelle. She seems to have failed to mention the daddy’s name.

Rochelle R. & Justin P. show their baby boy, little Brae’Lynn Jamar.

Bryan & Kim S. present their new daughter Mia’ Breon.

Kedra L. & Dedrick L. (different “L”) bring a little girl, D’Aira K’eyona.

Miss Angela M. brings her baby girl, little Marlie Monet’

Jessica H. & Corey M. tag their baby girl with Ja’Lissa Na’Shay.

And I guess the “Name of the Week” this week will be Kiara’yana Kichelle. See you next week.

Today in History – September 28

1066 – William the Conqueror invades England: the Norman Conquest begins. Part of what makes us what we are…

1781
– American forces backed by a French fleet begin the siege of Yorktown, Virginia, during the American Revolutionary War.

1850
– US Navy abolishes flogging as punishment.

1928
– Sir Alexander Fleming notices a bacteria-killing mold growing in his laboratory, discovering what later became known as penicillin. He wasn’t “Sir” back then, just a science geek playing with bread mold.

1938 – Dutch Premier Colijn sends radio message “No war coming” . See! They had pacifist moonbats back then, too.

1940 – Nazi occupiers present “New Dutch Culture” in German. Premier Colijn (above, 1938) is now right. The war was short and nasty and the Netherlands lost. Now they have ‘peace’.

1939 – Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agree on a division of Poland after their invasion during World War II. It’s a neat agreement between two blood-thirsty amoral dictators. Two years later Hitller decides that he wants ALL of Poland. And the Ukraine. And everything else.

1958 – France ratifies a new Constitution of France; the French Fifth Republic is then formed upon the formal adoption of the new constitution on October 4. The way things are going, the next one will be written in Arabic.

Today in History – September 27

1777 – Lancaster, Pennsylvania is the capital of the United States, for one day. For one brief day the population becomes example of large number of self-serving… nah… THAT’S Washington today. It took them a while to get that way, but they’ve got the act down pat now….

1903 – Wreck of the Old 97, a train crash made famous by the song of the same name. “They gave him his order in Monroe, Virginia, said “Steve, you’re ‘way behind time…”

1941
– The SS Patrick Henry is launched becoming the first of more than 2,700 Liberty ships. America’s might produced ships like cupcakes…

1964 – The Warren Commission releases its report, concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, assassinated President John F. Kennedy. It is widely debated as a cover-up.

1979 – The United States Department of Education receives final approval from the U.S. Congress to become the 13th US Cabinet agency. Public education is fast becoming equivalent in quality to public housing and public toilets.

The Blind Bunny

One morning a blind bunny was hopping down the bunny trail and tripped over a large snake and fell, kerplop right on his twitchy little nose.

‘Oh please excuse me,’ said the bunny. ‘I didn’t mean to trip over you, but I’m blind and
can’t see.’

That’s perfectly all right,’ replied the snake. ‘To be sure, it was my fault. I didn’t mean to trip you, but I’m blind too, and I didn’t see you coming. By the way, what kind of animal are you?’

‘Well, I really don’t know,’ said the bunny. ‘I’m blind, and I’ve never seen myself. Maybe you could examine me and find out.’

So the snake felt the bunny all over, and he said, ‘Well, you’re soft, and cuddly, and you have long silky ears, and a little fluffy tail and a dear twitchy little nose. You must be a bunny rabbit!’

The bunny said, ‘I can’t thank you enough. But by the way, what kind of animal are you?’

The snake replied that he didn’t know either, and the bunny agreed to examine him, and when the bunny was finished, the snake asked, ‘Well, what kind of an animal am I?’

The bunny had felt the snake all over, and he replied, ‘You’re cold, you’re slippery, and you haven’t got any balls… You must be a POLITICIAN’ !!

(From an email from good friend Bob. Yeah, I know it’s so old it has moss on it, so sue me!)

Today in History – September 26

1580 – Sir Francis Drake completes his circumnavigation of the globe. When he shows up back home, he’s got gold he captured from the Spanish in several engagements.

1792
– Marc-David Lasource begins accusing Maximilien Robespierre of wanting a dictatorship for France. They get a dictatorship anyway, but Robespierre is executed in 1794. He’s a victim of the terror in France that he helped author.

1960 – In Chicago, the first televised debate takes place between presidential candidates Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy. Nixon isn’t a cute as Kennedy and his poll numbers suffer…

1960 – Fidel Castro announces Cuba’s support for the U.S.S.R. Two words: “Communist bast*rd!” He makes the longest speech in UN history (4 hrs, 29 mins).

When you think you have problems

You get a series of pictures from another industrial facility subjected to the tender ministrations of Hurricane Ike.

This one’s about an 850kB pdf:

ike-flooding

Fact: Every office is going to have to be gutted and refurnished.
Fact: Paper records might be lost forever. Computer files not backed up to a remote server, ditto.
Fact: Electrical equipment that went under water is kaput until cleaned and tested, and in this case, much of it is going to have to be replaced.
Fact: Tank cars float when the water is high enough. This was ‘high enough’.
Fact: Floating tank cars seldom settle back down on their tracks. Moving railcars is quite a production.
Fact: Automobiles that spend days under water are usually not worth repairing.
Fact: Heavy equipment that’s been under water is expensive to repair.

We got off light over here.

Today in History – September 25

1492 – Crewman on Pinta sights “land”-a few weeks early. Wanting something really bad isn’t the same as having it.

1789 – The U.S. Congress passes twelve amendments to the United States Constitution: the Congressional Apportionment Amendment, the Congressional Compensation Amendment, and the ten that are known as the Bill of Rights. Only the Bill of Rights were ratified at the time, while the other two were proposed by James Madison but not ratified. In 1992, the Congressional Compensation Amendment was ratified as the 27th amendment to the Constitution. Does anyone really think that the government goes out of its way to follow the Constitution?

1929 – Jimmy Doolittle performs the first blind flight from Mitchel Field proving that full Instrument Flying from take off to landing is possible. Anybody who’s done his first flight under a hood knows what a feat this is. I do.

1955 – The Royal Jordanian Air Force is founded. The name translates in Hebrew to “targets”.

1990 – Saddam Hussein warns that US will repeat Vietnam experience. In 2003, America’s Left, with the complicity of the mainstream media, does its darnedest to relive its happy days in the seventies.

I need a new bumper sticker

In conversation yeaterday at our office, I and one of my co-workers were talking about the difference in the post hurricane demeanor of our present governor, Bobby Jindal and our past governess, Mizz “Blubbering” Blank-oh.

Bobby Jindal has been a ball of fire on the scene as two hurricanes ripped up Louisiana this year so far. In his appearances, he has been on top of the situation, very well aware of the resources in place, other resources moving into place and has been active in correcting problems in the area.

I’m looking for a new bumper sticker or 2012:

Jindal/Palin
-or-
Palin/Jindal

A female and a gentleman of Indian parentage. I gotcher diversity right here!

Today in History – September 24

1906 – U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Devils Tower the nation’s first National Monument. He wasn’t qualified to be president, having been selected for VP after less than two years as a state governor.

1948 – The Honda Motor Company is founded. American car makers didn’t crap their collective pants, but they should have…

1960 – USS Enterprise, 1st nuclear power aircraft carrier, launches.

1979 – CompuServe began operation as 1st computer information service. I had a CompuServe account in 1985. Anybody out there beat that?

1990
– East Germany leaves Warsaw Pact. After 45 years as a Soviet puppet…

2005 – Hurricane Rita makes landfall in the United States, devastating Beaumont, Texas and portions of southwestern Louisiana. The media is too focused on the perpetually peeved and professional beggar class in New Orleans to pay much attention to people who got up out of the wreckage and debris and went back to work.