No Runny Eggs

The repository of one hard-boiled egg from the south suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (and the occassional guest-blogger). The ramblings within may or may not offend, shock and awe you, but they are what I (or my guest-bloggers) think.

Archive for October, 2008

October 5, 2008

Dog eat dog Week 4

by @ 9:58. Filed under Sports.

It was a dog day afternoon and evening last weekend.

Green Bay 21 (+1) @ Tampa Bay 30 – I should’ve gone with the Stat of the Week.
Minnesota 17 @ Tennessee 30 (-3) – Quote of the Week – “We still have a chance to go 4-12.” – Titans LB Keith Bulluck
Philadelphia 20 (-3) @ Chicago 24 – Who let the dogs out?
Denver 19 @ Kansas City 33 (+10) – I believe I said something about a lack of defense – 198 yards and 2 TDs for Bust-Of-2007 Larry Johnson.
Cleveland 20 @ Cincinnati 12 (-3.5) – And the BenGALS are that weak.
Houston 27 @ Jacksonville 30 (-7-LOSS) – Was I talking about Houston’s nightmare or my overtime nightmare?
Arizona 35 @ NY Jets 56 (-1) – Even I didn’t see this one – 6 TDs on a bum ankle.
San Francisco 17 @ New Orleans 31 (-4.5) – One more point and I would’ve had the ridiculous over.
Atlanta 9 (+7) @ Carolina 24 – The Falcons are back down to Earth.
Buffalo 31 (-8) @ St. Louis 14 – I hope you took my advice to take the younger Trent.
San Diego 28 (-8) @ Oakland 18 – And Al Davis stiffs another head coach.
Washington 26 @ Dallas 24 (-10.5) – I should’ve applied the Dog Premium.
Baltimore 20 (+6-WIN) @ Pittsburgh 23 – I’ll take the winnings for taking the points and ignore the explosion of offense.

Nothing like going 7-6 ATS to get the season record back to .500 at 29-29-2. I won’t mention the over/unders are sinking like a rock to the tune of 3-4-1.

October 3, 2008

The Morning Scramble – The Glorious And Late Return – 10/3/2008

by @ 13:59. Filed under The Morning Scramble.

It’s been far too long since I did a Scramble. In fact, length was and is the problem; it was taking me way too long to put together near the end of the daily run, and despite the suggestion from Fausta that I do a side dish, this family-sized one once again stretched way too long (hey, I’m part of a big family). Oh well, let’s celebrate with Metallica…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5wms7k0Wh4[/youtube]

Oh, heck with it; we need some hair of the dog as well (thanks, Alexander, though since Bailout 2.0 – Now With Extra Liberalism And Pork passed, I’ll take that whiskey straight from the still).

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O4H9vs_hYI[/youtube]

I don’t care how big this is; I’m not splitting it in two.

  • Before we get to the brass tacks, Sister Toldjah and Ed Morrissey are celebrating their 5-year blogiversaries.
  • Executive decision; I’m not going to do too much on last night’s debate. I could be here all day just on that. Instead, I’ll send you to Gabriel Malor’s recap (note; Gabe is a certified AoSHQ Moron, so the language may be a bit rough, especially in the comments, where the cobbled-together system Ace uses makes gobbledygook of the table).
  • E.M. Zanotti has the react of the night from her inbox – "Sarah Palin field dressed Biden like a botoxed moose." Something tells me that’s going to be in the next MRQ over at Real Debate Wisconsin.
  • If you missed the debate, C-SPAN has the full video (H/T – John McCormack. Because I can, I’ll put it in here as well.

  • Jim Geraghty and friends filleted Joementum Version 2.0.
  • Cindy found a disturbing gesture from Joe Biden at the end of the debate. That would be at the 1:32 mark in the C-SPAN video.
  • Ed Morrissey found Biden’s knowledge of the Constitution sorely lacking.
  • Marc Sheppard explains the crap sandwich with yellow-but-not-Dew drink that came out of the Senate. Let’s see, take one stalled step toward socialized medicine, graft the bailout on it, throw in a heap of “targeted tax cuts” (pork me), sprinkle a bunch of greenery (and anti-oil production), and then shove the annual AMT “fix” and Hurricane Ike relief in to get a few conservatives on board this liberal “Holiday” tree and get the rest to vote “for” a de facto tax increase and “against” the sheeple, and you got the socialism that passed while I was typing this out.
  • How much pork? Paul Socha found it to be hundreds of billions in pork.
  • Dad29 explains why mark-to-market is a bad idea that’s making the bad loans truly toxic. Hint; look at LIBOR.
  • Darleen Click pictures why we have those bad loans. Bonnie and Clyde didn’t have federale badges like Fannie and Freddie though.
  • Bill Quick wonders how a Communist got so rich. Little-known fact, LIBOR was originally a construct of Vladmir Lenin.
  • John Washburn has an alternative plan. Of course, the Credit Generation will hate it because they won’t be encouraged to live beyond their means.
  • Michelle Bachmann has another alternative plan that Paul Ryan should have worked with instead of going with the crap sandwich.
  • Stephen Green explains why the crap sandwich won’t work; INFLATION!
  • Marcus Aurelius explains Supply and Demand 201.
  • The Pheisty Joey had some fun with an ObamiNation volunteer.
  • Uncle Jimbo caught Barack Obama doing everything but voting a lot of the time. Since I already did “School’s Out”, and you’re probably out of music by now, let’s do some Motley Crue.

    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYhGi65Lijg[/youtube]

  • Michelle Malkin is all over the fraud being perpetrated on behalf of Obama in Ohio.
  • Jim Hoft reports Obama is bringing in the big guns to take full advantage over at O(verrated)SU while the football team is busy getting crushed at Camp Randall.
  • Bonus Malkin – she reports that Obama bought himself a brainwashing channel on Dish.
  • How did he pay for that channel? Rick Moran wonders if it’s foreign cash. Unfortunately, we won’t know because the FEC won’t look into it.
  • It goes oh-so-well with brainwashing. James Wigderson has the second video, along with a bonus Blue-Out day targeted at the young skulls full of mush.
  • Bonus Uncle Jimbo – he has the Pyongyang Remix of the first video.
  • Dad29 proves that Obama is a typical Chicago Machine pol.
  • Flip notes that Obama is so liberal, even his poker buddies, specifically one whose Will County executive office was searched by the FBI in connection with a fraud investigation involving Will County and federal grants, say he’s too liberal.
  • Blue Collar Muse exposes a couple more of Obama’s friends profiting handsomely at the expense of taxpayers with housing units so substandard, they were deemed uninhabitable.
  • That and the Ohio fraud aren’t surprising, considering Jeff G. asserts Obama is ACORN’s Senator.
  • PJ-Comix laughs at the DUmmies who fear (hopefully correctly) that Obama has peaked too soon.
  • Matt Wolking contrasts Obama’s call for hearings on the mortgage crisis to John McCain’s attempt to act on that back before we got the crap sandwich with yellow-but-not-Dew drink.
  • Brian is very glum over the inability of McCain to make the reality of his separation from President Bush perception. You care to guess which exact Google search term gets more results – “Bush-McCain” or “Clinton-Gore”? Gore was Clinton’s VP, for crying out loud, and McCain was and is a significant rival of Bush.
  • Jim Hoft reports one of McCain’s Missouri offices suffered a break-in, with a laptop stolen. I’m sure Missouri’s law enforcement community will be all over that…wait, they’re too busy being Obama’s Toofer Squad.
  • Ed Morrissey reports the longest R drought (at least among the 50 states) just might end. Guess Wisconsin will finally be number one (excuse me while I hurl).
  • Warner Todd Huston reports McCain finally caught on to the fact the New York Times was just using him and left their pet columnist on the tarmac. Nice.
  • JammieWearingFool points out a massive conflict of interest, Fannie Edition, over at the Now Barack’s Channel network.
  • Steve T proves words are everything for presstitutes.
  • Speaking of words, Mary caught The News Organization That Cannot Be Quoted™ loading up the word cannon on McCain.
  • Michelle Malkin found the Boston Globe literally in the bag for Obama.
  • If you were wondering how far is too far, JammieWearingFool found the line at wearing an Obama shirt while covering an Obama rally as a presstitute.
  • Coop has the understatement of the week, courtesy MSNBC.
  • David Limbaugh explains bias.
  • Alexander found the inner workings of Congress eerily like a Three Stooges short.
  • Lawhawk caught New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) saying, “Term limits? Now that I used term limits to worm my way into office, I don’t need no stinking term limits.”
  • Jim Lynch proves it’s all about the name. No word on whether the candidate formerly known as Joe Biden will start shaving his legs.
  • Dan Kenitz lists the eight biggest dummies in politics.
  • Tom McMahon 4-blocks the ‘Rat half of the bipartisan Party-In-Government’s view of the law. Honestly, except for the lower-left portion, we could apply it to the Pubbie half as well.
  • J. Gravelle illustrates (literally) how a 100% increase becomes a 90% “decrease” in government math.
  • Fred rolls video of typical ‘Rat voters explaining why they’re voting for the more-socialist half of the bipartisan Party-In-Government.
  • Kate pictures the Most (Un)ethical Congress Evah! Since they didn’t quite get around to banning certain familial payoffs, they’re more than happy to make said payoffs.
  • The Headless Blogger explains why students from out of state should not be voting in Wisconsin. Of course, since they tend to vote for the ‘Rats, it’s encouraged by the state in blatant violation of state law.
  • Speaking of violating state election law, Dad29 caught the Milwaukee Election Commission allowing ACORN to hire at least 7 felons as voter registration workers. Can we check the registrations they submitted now, or is the Doyle-controlled Government “Accountability” Board THAT FAR in the tank for their fellow ‘Rats?
  • Jeff Dufour and Patrick Gavin find that watching debates while drunk is a time-honored DC tradition. I’m sure Stephen Green would like a royalty check for taking the idea (I’ll send mine once the DC bars send theirs).

    Off-topic, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the inaugural Drinking Right-DC Edition is the same night as the 2nd Presidential Debate. I’ll be drunkgrogging instead of drunkblogging that night, but Shoebox or one of the guest bloggers are welcome to set up shop.

  • Michelle Malkin has the next entity waiting in line for a bailout – the state of California.
  • Lance Burri says that kangaroos are on the menu because of Gorebal “Warming”.
  • Patrick McIlheran wants to be like the Swedes, at least when it comes to education. That’s right, the Swedes. It seems that competition in education works.
  • Michael Yon explains the situation in Afghanistan.
  • John explains the “Military Support to the Civil Authority” mission. Nick, you might want to pay attention.
  • I can’t finish without some good news – Matt Burden reports Marines are still Marines.
  • I also can’t finish without some goofiness – thankfully Jimi found a wicked-good ad for Miller Genuine Draft.

Guess I need to close with a song because I don’t know when I’ll do one of these again. It is barely morning on the left coast. I simply have too many good blogs to keep on doing this (267 feeds in the bloated reader at last count), so I dedicate this trip to the future past to the Soviets…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-2LQGigK-0[/youtube]

The Debate Results?

by @ 5:02. Filed under Politics - National.

October 2, 2008

Cool down the alcohol; it’s another drunkblog of the VP debate

by @ 14:15. Filed under Politics - National.

The expectations are very low, so let the alcohol flow. The fun will start about 7:45 pm, assuming I’m awake that is.

If I’m here, and I remember to actually blog the thing (heh), the questions will be in italics, the answers in normal type, and my comments in-line with a question or answer in parentheses. Since this is a drunkblog, the etiquette lamp is out.

At least I would be drunkblogging with CiL if it were up. Instead, we’re doing it the old-fashioned way below the window.

We’re more-or-less back, though CiL is at capacity. Sorry about that.

20:05 – Biden praising socialism, Palin reminding us McCain was pushing reform 2 years ago.

20:22 – My bull-fucking-shit meter is pegged on Biden.

20:24 – Palin – I fought “Big Oil” while Obama voted for them?

So you’re not taking anything off the table? Palin – Oh Hell No!

20:25 – Biden – Obama voted for the alternative fuel while he wanted to screw Big Oil (and keep us dependent on your friends the Mad Mullahs, Plugs?).

20:26 – Would you have supported tightening up bankruptcy rules? Palin – Yes, but things have changed. It’s a toxic mess on Main Street that’s affecting Wall Street.

20:28 – To Biden – We need to let bankruptcy courts screw the lenders (fuck that shit).

20:30 – Palin – Energy independence is the key to our future. It’s not about who is getting a tax break.

What about Gorebal “Warming”? – Palin – I’m in the only Arctic state, but it’s not just man.

20:31 – Palin – An “all of the above” approach also helps other countries keep the environment clean.

To Plugs – It’s EVIL AMERICAN CONSERVATIVES’ FAULT! (FUCK YOU!)

20:33 – If you hit refresh, the CiL SHOULD be working.

Chicken %*$&!!!

by @ 5:42. Filed under Economy.

In a move that will only cause more confusion in this chaotic time, the SEC provided “clarification” today on how to apply mark to market valuations. In their “clarification” the SEC now says:

reminded financial services firms that they don’t need to use fire sale prices when evaluating their hard to price assets.

OK, but what if the only sales currently, and that have for a while, are only fire sales? Then what do you do?

Further in the Reuters article is the quote that sums up my impression of the SEC’s “clarification.”

“This letter (SEC document) could be titled, pick a number, any number, as it gives bankers great leeway in choosing what numbers they will give to investors,” said Lynn Turner, who served as chief accountant at the SEC from 1998 through 2001.

While “picking any number” will allow you to finish your quarterly financial statements it has some huge negative potential; jail time.

Following the Enron debacle, Congress decided they were going to ensure that accounting standards were so tight that no one could “game the system.” Their fix was called Sarbanes/Oxley. Sarbanes, as it is generally referred to, did many things to tighten accounting rules. It also significantly increased accountability for management. Sarbanes has criminal penalties i.e. jail time for company executives who falsify financial statements.

Under normal circumstances, estimates provided by industry experts i.e. company executives, would be acceptable and pass without comment. However, in the current, hypersensitive environment, “estimates” are easy targets for overly ambitious prosecutors who are working in a situation where everyone is looking for someone to blame.

The SEC’s “clarification” didn’t clarify anything. If anything, it muddied the standard even further. The SEC should suspend mark to market for these specific asset classes. Only by setting the requirement aside or by providing indemnification for good faith efforts, will these companies find any relief from the mark to market requirement.

A couple of weeks back, as the current crisis unfolded, John McCain called for the firing of the SEC chairman Chris Cox. At the time, many people scoffed at McCain saying that he was reaching and over reacting. Based on this latest cluelessness on the practical implications of his own decisions, I agree with McCain! It’s time for Cox to go.

Just to make you feel really good, Cox is one of the four people outlined in the bailout (yes, it’s back to that with the extra crap that got thrown in) bill who is to oversee how the $700B is spent!

We’re in soooooo much trouble!

October 1, 2008

World Encouragement for US Socialism

by @ 10:55. Filed under Miscellaneous.

In a NewsMax article today this headline:

Billionaire Slim: Buy Stakes in Failing Banks

Carlos Slim is a Mexican Billionaire.   In the article he is reported to say that the approach of buying and reselling assets is wrong.   Rather, he says, the US government should buy the banks themselves.   In essence he calls for the nationalization of much of the US banking system:

But Slim said buying those debts would be complicated, because the government would then have to manage and resell them. He said it would be better for the government to assume majority ownership of the institutions, giving them more capital for restructuring and recovery.

What else would you expect from someone who talks capitalism out of one side of his mouth but has made his fortune in the corrupt, monopoly granting country that is Mexico?   Next to Nancy Pelosi, I can think of no one who’s perspective I would trust less on issues of capitalism than someone who has made their fortune from acquiring and leveraging monopolies!

What’s next?   Should we start taking advice on what our Constitution means from law makers in Europe?

Obamamania Sweeps the Nation

by @ 8:37. Filed under Miscellaneous.

First it was the video of the kids singing adulation and praise to Hope and Change and “The One.”
Now, we’ve got Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders channeling “The One!”

In discussing his firing of a fourth head coach in five years, Davis said:

“He’s not the guy I hired.”

I didn’t know that Jeremiah Wright had ever had a head coaching position!

Workout 2.0

by @ 5:36. Filed under Politics - National.

The bill previously referred to as “The Bailout” but appropriately classified as a “workout” (I’ll explain more later) looks to be heading for another vote.   While the timing is still to be determined, some sources are suggesting that the Senate may vote first and do so as early as Wednesday evening.

Folks have been working to figure out what adjustments need to be made to pick up the additional 12 votes that the first vote lost by.   While there were rumors, and frankly I thought the likely path, that SanFranNan was going to load up more socialism into the bill to get her more liberal folks on board, it now looks like there are a combination of items that are being considered.

Included in the “let’s get more libs on board” are these items:   my comments in italics

  1. Banning some forms of short selling – I’d have to see more details but I can’t imagine a situation that I would support long term.   We have seen in the current short selling curb, numerous examples where the removal of short selling has actually hurt the price of the stock.   How can that be?   Turns out that folks who buy long on companies use short selling to help protect themselves from unexpected down turns in the stock.   If they can’t protect their downside, especially in situations of high volatility, they won’t play on the long side.
  2. Extending Unemployment Benefits – No and hell no!   This is the kind of stuff that would allow the Republicans to sit out another vote.   This bill needs to stay focused on restarting the credit markets.   This issue does nothing in that area!
  3. Double the Property Tax Deduction for People Who do not Itemize Deductions – Again, no and hell no for the same reasons as #2
  4. More Spending on Transportation and Infrastructure – Ditto 2 and 3.   The argument is that this is putting money into the economy.   If Paulson is right, there is no money needed in the economy.   In fact, Billions of dollars have already been pumped into the economy.   We don’t need the Govt. borrowing more especially when we don’t know where the next fire is that we may need to fight.

Other ideas being proposed:

  1. Increase FDIC insurance to $250K for each depositor – OK, sleeves out of your vest on this one.   It may provide some help in stemming runs on banks but I don’t know that it addresses the credit issues.   My understanding is that during the RTC days, and even today, FDIC uses some pretty broad authorities to determine the amount that actually gets covered by each depositor.   I believe many depositors with balances over the current $100K mark, were fully covered by the FDIC.
  2. Remove/Adjust Mark to Market requirements – As I understand it, the SEC could do this on their own.   In fact, there are rumors that they may do that even if not in the bill.   This absolutely needs to happen.   Mark to Market  works when their are fluid markets for the assets you are valuing.   When the market become illiquid or worse, functions essentially as multiple fire sales, mark to market can actually mis price assets.   Many people will debate  the level, or if mark to market has impacted our current financial situation.   Trust me, Mark to Market has not caused this mess but it has surely exacerbated and accelerated  the deterioration of balance sheets.

Where does that leave us?   it looks like for the most part, the bill will come back as it was on Monday.   I don’t expect any changes that do more than allow some group of Representatives to change their minds.   After rereading Monday’s bill again, my biggest concerns remain that Paulson can buy assets from pensions and (and I just picked this up in my last rereading) no where in the bill do I see that he must specifically buy only the mortgage backed securities.  

In short,  this bill  leaves me feeling like the guy who has a bomb ticking down from :30 and he needs to decide which of 50 wires to cut.   I know we have to cut a wire.   If we’re right, we live.   If we’re wrong, well, stay tuned for tomorrow’s show!

Postlude:   I referred to this as a “workout” earlier.   This bill has been badly sold…that is if it is as many are selling it i.e. a situation where Paulson will buy assets, hold them for a while and place them in the hands of a healthier institution later, hopefully without a loss.   If the program works as that, this looks much more like a typical financial system workout i.e. at the end of the day we get our money although we may have to adjust the terms or payment amounts along the way.   If this really is a “workout” (as I believe it is intended to be) than Paulson and others should be making that point and selling it as such.   If it is a bailout, buyer be ware!

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