Thursday, September 14, 2006

More Pay Option ARM and Hammered

Karen DeCoster has noted my earlier post on pay option ARMs (see “Pay Option ARM and Hammered” - link follows) wherein I offered a criticism to her for labeling ARMs “evil.”

Karen has posted a bit of a lengthy reply to my post, which begins by welcoming me back to the world of blogs (thank you, Karen), and then delves into why she thinks her usage of the word “evil,” to describe ARMs, is justified.  Karen’s rebuttal leans heavily on Austrian economics.

Further into the piece, Karen’s hackles are displayed, in response to a comment left by another fellow blog individual, which was left at my post Pay Option ARM and Hammered.

Unfortunately, I do not have sufficient time, at this particular moment, to reply more heartily to Karen.  But I will this weekend.

Karen’s current piece, titled “On ARMs, Bullish Know-Nothings, and Functional Retards,” can be read here.

Posted by John Venlet on 09/14 at 05:51 PM
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Electrical Stimulation of the Brain

How would you like to be wired for pleasure, at your command?  Imagine having the ability to simply push a pocket sized remote control to electrically shock your brain and receive a jolt of pleasure.  The more you would push the remote, the more pleasure you would receive.  Bliss, hey?

But what if there were a way to achieve the same “high” sensation as one can get from illegal drugs, anytime, anywhere, and without the chemical side effects and criminal motivation? Such a technology does exist, and has seen limited use in humans for several decades. The practice is known as evoking pleasure by Electrical Stimulation of the Brain (ESB), and despite its invention in 1954, few people have ever heard of it, and much fewer have ever experienced it. It sounds like the stuff of science-fiction, but it’s real technology.

I don’t think I would opt for it.  Legal or not.

Via Damn Interesting in a post titled Technology and the Pursuit of Happiness

Here’s a bit more scholarly treatment of the subject:  Pleasure Systems in the Brain

Posted by John Venlet on 09/14 at 05:32 PM
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You're Just A Guinea Pig, Citizen

Many individuals claim the state is their protector, savior if you will, from all the hobgoblins, shysters, and bad guys operating in the world.  In reality, though, the state is not so much their protector, but their Master.  Benevolent at times, the Master is, but the Master and his minions can quickly turn on their subjects, as the following illustrates,

Nonlethal weapons such as high-power microwave devices should be used on American citizens in crowd-control situations before they are used on the battlefield, the Air Force secretary said Tuesday.

And why would the Master and his minions desire to ill use their subjects in such a method as suggested above?  For this reason,

Domestic use would make it easier to avoid questions in the international community over any possible safety concerns, said Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne.

“If we’re not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation,” said Wynne.

I think the state is more than willing to use such a weapon against all the “fellow citizens” to avoid being ill used by the “international community.”

Test nonlethal weapons on U.S. citizens, official says

Posted by John Venlet on 09/14 at 03:34 AM
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Wednesday, September 13, 2006

The Sobol Award Is Not Fiction

Sobol Literary Enterprises is looking for fiction writers, with a couple of caveats.  First, any manuscript you submit must be unpublished.  Second, you cannot be represented by an agent.

Too bad I do not write fiction.

You can read about it in this article:  New prize for unpublished manuscripts

You can enter your manuscript here:  Sobol Award

Posted by John Venlet on 09/13 at 02:23 PM
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Body Count - It Is Not Equivalent

As I’ve tripped through various blogs, and other more traditional online media, the past week or so, I’ve noted a disturbing trend.  More and more individuals are attempting to equate the number of deaths from the events of 9/11, to the number of deaths tallyed to date by the military, and then to label Bush in the same vein as the terrorists who perpetrated the acts of 9/11.

The murder of the victims of 9/11 do not equate to the deaths of military personnel killed in action.  The two are not equivalent.

Utilization of the one, as equivalent to the other, is simply intellectual laziness.

Posted by John Venlet on 09/13 at 11:31 AM
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Pot, Kettle, Black

There is an unsigned editorial in The New York Times, this morning, titled, Sock Puppet Bites Man

I had to wryly chuckle when I read the very last sentence of the piece,

Intentionally deceiving readers is wrong no matter what technology is used to convey the misinformation.

Did the NYT forget that they provided us with Jayson Blair, Nan Robertson, Rick Bragg, etc.

Posted by John Venlet on 09/13 at 03:56 AM
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Liocichla bugunorum

Though I enjoy birds, and keep a tally of those I have personally seen and identified, I don’t consider myself a diehard birder, chasing hither and thither when some species of bird I have not recorded is reported as being viewable in some area of the country.

Be that as it may, I was pleased to read, via The New York Times, that a new species of bird has been discovered in India.  The bird has been named Liocichla bugunorum.  To my eye, it reminds me of a Black-capped chickadee, with a more colorful style.  It’s a fine looking bird.

A New Bird Species Is Confirmed In India

Posted by John Venlet on 09/13 at 03:37 AM
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Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Pure Conjecture

I do not subscribe to The New York Times, or their Times Select pay for this article service, so I was unable to read Frank Rich’s column Whatever Happened to the America of 9/12 which was published on September 10th of this year.

Slate publishes a portion of Rich’s words, concerning a photograph taken by Thomas Hoepker on 9/11, purporting to show indifference among a group of five individuals who are sitting along the waterfront across from the WTC as the buildings burn.  Per Slate, the photograph was not published in conjunction with Rich’s piece, but the photograph is viewable via the Slate piece.  The photograph is also published in a new book by David Friend, titled Watching the World Change - The Stories Behind the Images of 9/11.

Here’s what Rich has to say about the photo, as obtained from the Slate piece,

Seen from the perspective of 9/11’s fifth anniversary, Mr. Hoepker’s photo is prescient as well as important—a snapshot of history soon to come. What he caught was this: Traumatic as the attack on America was, 9/11 would recede quickly for many. This is a country that likes to move on, and fast. The young people in Mr. Hoepker’s photo aren’t necessarily callous. They’re just American. In the five years since the attacks, the ability of Americans to dust themselves off and keep going explains both what’s gone right and what’s gone wrong on our path to the divided and dispirited state the nation finds itself in today.

Take a look at the photo via the link to Slate in this post.  Can you actually arrive at any conclusion regarding the psyches of the individuals in the photograph?  Or, are you only able to ascertain that the individuals photographed are sitting on the waterfront across from the WTC, and that one individual has a bicycle, and one is sitting on a chair and apparently has a tattoo on the small of the back, and one individual is wearing shorts, at least three of the individuals appear to have on sunglasses, and there is apparently a breeze blowing the smoke from the burning towers in their general direction, amongest other minutia?

I am uncertain if David Friend’s book provides the story behind this particular image, because I have not read it, maybe it does.  Maybe Friend interviewed the individuals in the photograph and ascertained that the group was simply soaking up the sun, on an extremely eventful day, discussing their upcoming weekend plans, or some new and upcoming artist, or the merits of riding a bicycle to the waterfront on a beautiful September day, but I rather doubt it.

Link to Slate piece via Fred Lapides site GoodShit.

UPDATE:

David Plotz, writing over at Slate, also has a few words to say about Frank Rich’s conjectured interpretation of the photograph taken by David Hoepker.  Plotz’s piece is titled Frank Rich is Wrong About That 9/11 Photograph

Posted by John Venlet on 09/12 at 04:56 AM
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Ditchweed Boondoggle

Claire Wolfe, laughingly, notes that the 98% of the marijuana eradicated by the DEA is nothing more than ditchweed.

Here’s the link to the state by state breakdown of the DEA’s weed pulling efforts.

Ditchweed, the scourge of ditches nationwide.

Posted by John Venlet on 09/12 at 03:25 AM
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Monday, September 11, 2006

It's Not Just Us

On this day, it also bears remembering, that it is not only America that Islamofascists have targeted with violence.  There are also Israel, Britain, Spain, Bali, Russia, Morroco, and Turkey.

Let’s not forget, that these same Islamofascists also willingly target their own supposed brothers in Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq.

It’s not just us.

Posted by John Venlet on 09/11 at 02:08 AM
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Friday, September 08, 2006

Islamofascism, Like It's A Brand New Term

George W, in a very recent speech, referred to Islamic Fascism.  Many talking heads, and Islamic individuals, were quick to denounce this labeling, as if the term had never been bandied about previously.

I first used the term back in December 2002, in a post titled Old Orwell?, where I linked to one of Orwell’s As I Please articles from 1944.  The link is to my old Blogger blog, and the link to the Orwell article, via my old blog, still is fresh.

Anyway, Victor Davis Hansen has a few words to say on Islamofascism in a piece titled
It’s Fascism—And It’s Islamic

Hansen’s piece may be construed to have been written to defend Bush, but, even so, he is pretty spot on regarding the term Islamic Fascism being accurate.

Posted by John Venlet on 09/08 at 12:37 PM
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Symptomatic of the Continuing Decline

If you type “decline of civilization” into the Google search engine, you’ll receive just shy of ten (10) million results to review.  Based on the number of results to review, one would think that there is healthy concern for possibly stemming the decline.  Alas, I do not think that this is necessarily the case.

I mention this today because of this story, Despite Charges, Prep Football Standout Remains Tackle-Eligible which I read via the Washington Post.

The charges against the football player, Pat Lazear, are for armed robbery, and though the crime is only “alleged” to have occurred, the charges evidently have more than just a modicum of truth, as this little blurb from the article illustrates,

According to charging documents, Lazear provided a gun—his attorney claims it was a replica not capable of firing—and dropped Warren off at the smoothie shop.

The irksome aspect of this story is the free pass being handed to Lazear in the name of high school football.

Lazear just recently was transferred to a new high school in Montgomery County, Maryland, because his previous high school principal, who has some principles, desired to have him expelled.  Though the principal’s expulsion request against Lazear was overturned, Montgomery County decided to transfer Lazear to a different high school, with a struggling football team, for the reason, I would wager, poor Lazear would not have to deal with individuals with principles.

Lazear’s new high school teammates do not seem to care about Lazear’s “alleged” improprieties,

They have decided, as a team, that Pat Lazear’s troubles no longer exist. He and four friends were never arrested for the robbery of a Bethesda smoothie shop. Police never charged Lazear with two felonies. The Montgomery County school system never forced him to transfer from Whitman High School before his senior year.

None of the incidents is relevant to Lazear’s new football teammates at Wheaton High School, so they’ve instituted a simple rule: Treat Lazear as if his life began Aug. 15, when the All-Met linebacker arrived at Wheaton’s practice field and revived the school’s football team.

Nor does Lazear’s new coach,

"We’re going to keep the past in the past and let him focus on football,” said Tommy Neal, Wheaton’s first-year football coach. “I told him: ‘I don’t care what happened in the past. Let’s make this situation the best for everybody.’ “

Nor do the Division I colleges hoping for star power for their rah, rah, rah college football programs,

More than 20 Division I colleges have offered Lazear scholarships, and he will likely choose between Alabama and Ohio State.

Lazear’s parents also do not seem to consider their son’s “alleged” criminal activity as requiring any corrective measures, at least not if it concerns football,

In Lazear’s hearing last week, the judge asked Angela Lazear if she considered punishing her son by taking away football. “We don’t look at football as an extracurricular activity,” she said. “We look at it as an opportunity . . . to pay for his school. . . . We have never considered that. It would ruin his future."

So, taking away football would “ruin his future,” but evidently participating (allegedly) in armed robbery would not.

Posted by John Venlet on 09/08 at 08:28 AM
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Thursday, September 07, 2006

The Path to 9/11 Dustup

ABC will be airing their “dramatization” The Path to 9/11 in a few short days.

In the Washington Post, Howard Kurtz informs us that certain Clinton adminstration officials are a bit put out over depicition of certain events as portrayed in the movie, excuse me, the “dramatization,” evidently concerned over the supposed legacy of Clinton and the yes men that surrounded him.

Madeleine Albright, Sandy Berger, and Bruce Lindsey are all on record as stating, in effect, that the dramatization is not accurate.

Well, is it any surprise that their contentions just might be correct?  I should think not, after all, it’s teevee we’re talking about here, that little electronic picture box which I think is a more of an opiate of the masses than religion.

How does ABC respond to the critcisms it is receiving regarding the dramatization?  Here’s a quote from Kurtz’s piece, from the executive producer of the show, Marc Platt,

Marc Platt, the film’s executive producer, said that although it “does contain composite and conflated scenes and representative characters and dialogue, we’ve worked very hard to be fair. If individuals feel they’re wrongly portrayed, that’s obviously of concern. We’ve portrayed the essence of the truth of these events.

“The essence of the truth.” Says it all, doesn’t it?

Kurtz’s piece is titled Clinton Administration Officials Assail ABC’s ‘The Path to 9/11’

Posted by John Venlet on 09/07 at 04:57 AM
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Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Continued Fostering of a False Sense of Security

Kent County, Michigan, the county I reside in, is once again perpetuating the false sense of security pedaled via gun buy-back programs.  I’m fairly certain you all know how the programs work, or at least how they are sold.  Gun owners ("bad guys") will be offered a stipend in the form of some type of gift card or such, to turn in their guns, and we’ll all sleep better at night safe in the palms of our government keepers.

Study, after study, after study, have shown that the gun buy-back programs are mere window dressing, a photo op for politicians, and they also provide a nice headline to publish in the newspaper for those too lazy to investigate the actual non-benefits of such programs.

Here’s my favorite line from the story as reported in The Grand Rapids Press,

Funds are limited, so once the money runs out then names will be taken in case more is received.

I’m sure the “bad guys” will be sure to leave their names and addresses if the buy-back program runs out of funds.

Kent Co. gun buy-back program begins Thursday

UPDATE:

I’m pleased to read, this morning, that Kent County’s gun buy-back program does not have much in the way of funds for the program.  Maybe individuals who have previously ponied up cash for these warm fuzzy programs have come to their senses.

Funds short for Kent County gun amnesty buy-back

Posted by John Venlet on 09/06 at 11:39 AM
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Pay Option ARM and Hammered

Karen DeCoster recently noted the same Business Week article I did titled “Nightmare Mortgages."

The article notes a possible looming problem for individuals who opted for what are called pay option ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages) as the financial vehicle for their home purchase or refinance.  Some of those who did utilize this financial vehicle are going to get hammered.

In a nutshell, what a pay option ARM offers to individuals is the ability to choose to make either a fully amortizing mortgage payment (a monthly payment which covers all interest currently owed, plus a portion of the principal), an interest only payment (no payment to principal), or a minimum payment which does not cover all the interest currently owed and the remaining interest currently owed is then added to the existing principal balance, which is termed negative amortization.

Karen, somewhat erroneously, begins her comments on the article with this comment,

A superb Business Week article on all things evil as regards ARMs (Adjustable Rate Mortgages).

The Business Week article is well written, and Karen’s comments are worth reading also, but ARMs are not in anyway evil.  ARMs are simply riskier financial vehicles than your standard vanilla ice cream fixed rate mortgage.  Especially the pay option ARM.

I’ll not comment any further on Karen’s post, or the Business Week article, but I will offer some insights on what I think is the actual issue with the sale of this loan product to individuals.  A lack of ethics within the mortgage industry, more specifically the subprime/non-conforming loan industry, an issue which is touched on in the Buisness Week article.

Having recently been deep in the trenches of the subprime/non-conforming mortgage industry, I was privy to the large push which was instituted to sell the pay option ARM to the masses as if it was the best thing since sliced bread.

The hook for this loan product is its initial low monthly payment.  We all know how low monthly payments are sold.  They’re hollered at us from teevee, radio, and print ads, repeatedly, as if it is the one and only reason to buy the product being pitched.  The subprime/non-conforming mortgage industry pitched the pay option ARM the same way.

The risks associated with the pay option ARM, in most cases, were pooh-poohed by the sales staffs of lenders who were selling the product to individuals.  A fact which may be attributable to both the ignorance of the individuals working for the lender (up to 60% of many lenders sales staffs have been in the mortgage industry for less than one (1) year and quite possibly do not know the difference between the mortgagor and the mortgagee let alone what negative amortization is), and the willingness of the masses to gobble up the low monthly payment hook with no further due diligence.

Granted, there are loan disclosure documents which must be signed and dated by prospective borrowers, which fully disclose the mechanics and risks of pay option ARMs, but they are rarely read by prospective borrowers.  This in and of itself is not the lender’s fault.  But it is interesting to note that today some mortgage lenders are consolidating all of the disclosures which must be signed and dated by borrowers into a paperback book format.  Thus, only one (1) document requires the borrower’s signature, which is the acknowledgement page of said disclosure book, which states that the borrower acknowledges receipt of all required loan disclosures, and that the borrower understands the disclosures contained within the book.  Of course, the majority of borrowers are only looking to confirm the low initial monthly payment quoted to them over the telephone, rather than having to actually read and understand something, so the disclosure book becomes a drink coaster, or is tossed aside and then read after the deal has been consummated, which, of course, is too late.

What I found most disturbing, ethically, about the sale of this loan product, was the fact that it was being sold to individuals who it had no business being sold to simply so the lender could put another loan on the books.  The loan was being sold to individuals on fixed incomes, to individuals in real estate markets known to be stagnant or depreciating, and to individuals who could barely qualify for the minimum monthly payment due at the inception of the mortgage.  Individuals at the most risk for payment default were (are) being sold the riskiest home loan product on the market.

ARMs are not evil, they are simply financial tools.  The issue is the ethics of those pushing the this loan product to those individuals who are least capable of operating the tool.

Posted by John Venlet on 09/06 at 06:08 AM
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