Friday, March 13, 2009

Obama Flopping Around Like a Fish Out of Water on the Economy

On February 5th, 2009, I noted that Obama was selling the stimulus package with fear.  Today, thirty-seven (37) days later, Obama is stating that, economically, things are “not as bad as we think.”

Flop, flop, flop.

Posted by John Venlet on 03/13 at 07:09 AM
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Thursday, March 12, 2009

What U.S. and Coalition Dollars and Armed Forces are Accomplishing in Afghanistan

Sayed Pervez Kambaksh, the student journalist sentenced to death for blasphemy in Afghanistan, has been told he will spend the next 20 years in jail after the country’s highest court ruled against him – without even hearing his defence.


The 23-year-old, brought to worldwide attention after an Independent campaign, was praying that Afghanistan’s top judges would quash his conviction for lack of evidence, or because he was tried in secret and convicted without a defence lawyer. Instead, almost 18 months after he was arrested for allegedly circulating an article about women’s rights, any hope of justice and due process evaporated amid gross irregularities, allegations of corruption and coercion at the Supreme Court. Justices issued their decision in secret, without letting Mr Kambaksh’s lawyer submit so much as a word in his defence.

Read the rest of this story, headlined Student facing 20 years in hell - Afghan court secretly sentences student whose cause was taken up by The Independent. His crime? To download article on women’s rights, and ask yourself why in the world the United States, or any other Western country, are spending taxpayer dollars in Afghanistan.  They are mired in medieval ways.

Posted by John Venlet on 03/12 at 07:31 PM
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Something You Wouldn’t Find Police Chief Endorsing, Today, or in a Newspaper

Stopped over at the blog The Smallest Minority, just a bit ago, and scrolled into a post titled Right Attitude, Bad Example.  Click on that link and take a peek at the photo, evidently from a 1935 issue of the LA Examiner, and the headline from the photo which reads “Lesson from Police Chief: PREPAREDNESS BEGINS AT HOME”.

In this day and age, a police chief would in all likelihood tell you to roll over and play dead if your home was invaded, and then dial 911, if you’re still alive, and the newspapers would tell you the police chief was correct in telling you that, decry the fact that bad guys are out there, post an editorial calling for more drastic gun control, and then charge your still living family members for printing your obituary.

Posted by John Venlet on 03/12 at 06:08 PM
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America - Lost and Gone Forever?

Wendy McElroy points to an essay penned by Mario A. Pei titled The America We Lost.

Pei penned the piece in 1952, and it is even more pertinent today.  Well worth a read, and it won’t take long to read it.

Posted by John Venlet on 03/12 at 12:23 PM
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Not Displaying Proper Submissiveness Can Get You Killed

Bill St. Clair points to a piece at LewRockwell.com, written by William Norman Grigg, titled The Martial Law Mind Set.  Grigg’s piece deveals into what may happen if/when you request a law enforcement official say please, or if/when you question their knowledge of the law.

Posted by John Venlet on 03/12 at 11:50 AM
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Mortgage Fraud Straw Men for Public Consumption

The New York Times has an article up under the headline Financial Fraud Is Focus of Attack by Prosecutors.  The article begins this way.

Spurred by rising public anger, federal and state investigators are preparing for a surge of prosecutions of financial fraud.

Across the country, attorneys general have already begun indicting dozens of loan processors, mortgage brokers and bank officers. Last week alone, there were guilty pleas in Minnesota, Delaware, North Carolina and Connecticut and sentences in Florida and Vermont — all stemming from home loan scams.

The headline to this article, and the above opening two paragraphs, could lead the uninformed to believe that this alleged upcoming “surge” in financial fraud prosecutions could result in a thorough spanking for the players in the mortgage financial industry, and possibly refloat the floundering ships of the financial industry as a whole.  That would simply be wishful thinking.  Way back in April 2008, in a post I titled Fraud or Simply Unethical and Foolish Subprime Lending, wherein I noted that the FBI was on the mortgage fraud trail in response to “public demand,” I stated the following regarding what the FBI might uncover.

While the FBI may find a few prosecutable mortgage lending fraud cases, what will mostly be brought to light by their investigations will be the foolishness of the underwriting guidelines utilized by the subprime lending industry, and the unethical, but not illegal, methods which were utilized to suck subprime borrowers in.

But let’s get back to those opening two paragraphs of the NYT article, specifically the second paragraph.  Let’s look at who is being indicted, first.

The indictments are being brought against “loan processors, mortgage brokers, and bank officers.”  Loan processors, and I am not dissing them here, are at the bottom of the pile in mortgage industry.  They are the lowest paid workers in the mortgage industry, well, except for the receptionist, they do the majority of the grunt work in a mortgage transaction, and do so under the direction of the mortgage loan officer, mortgage broker, or branch manager.  Prosecuting loan processors is like being penny wise and pound foolish.

Now, prosecuting mortgage brokers and bank officers offers the possibility of actually prosecuting a mortgage fraud case with some meat on its bones, so let’s look at some of the cases I think the NYT is referring to when the mention guilty pleas in mortgage fraud cases in Minnesota, Delaware, North Carolina, Connecticut, Florida and Vermont.  Let’s start in Minnesota.

There are two (2) mortgage fraud sentencing stories I could locate in Minnesota.  First, under the headline Partner gets 7 years in mortgage fraud case, and second, under the headline 2 who pleaded guilty in $35 million housing fraud get sentencing delay.  In the first story, we are informed that the two (2) individuals have been convicted for $6 million dollars in fraud, though fifteen (15) addtional charges are outstanding with a dollar value of the fraud in these 15 charges amounting to $100 million.  In the second story, the dollar value of the fraud was, as the headline states, $35 million.

Next up, Delaware.  I could not locate any stories regarding mortgage fraud sentencing in the State of Delaware, but, I did locate a story regarding a mortgage fraud sentencing in Delaware, Ohio, so I’ll substitute that story instead.  The Delaware, OH mortgage fraud sentencing story is headlined ‘Queen Of Mortgage Fraud’ Faces Deportation.  This story does not provide an actual dollar value of the fraud, but simply states “millions,” so I will arbitrarily say the “Queen’s” fraud amounted to $7 million.

Next, North Carolina.  Four mortgage fraud sentencing stories out of North Carolina, so the state must be a hotbed of fraudulent mortgage activity.  The first story is headlined Fayetteville woman pleads guilty mortgage fraud scheme.  This story provides no details on the dollar value of the alleged fraud, so I’ll say the woman was a piker and the fraud amounted to $1 million.  The second story out of North Carolina is headlined Man sentenced in mortgage fraud scheme.  This story states that the man’s fraud was valued at $2.6 million.  The third story of out North Carolina is headlined Mortgage broker sentenced for bank fraud.  This story states that the mortgage broker, a woman, committed fraud to the tune of $184,000.00, so she makes Ohio’s “Queen of mortgage fraud” actually look like a queen and not a piker.  The last story out of North Carolina is headlined NC real estate appraiser pleads guilty in fraud.  The value of this appraisers fraud was estimated at “in excess of $2.5 million,” so I’ll say $2.75 million.

Now, Connecticut.  The story out of Connecticut is headlined Connecticut man pleads guilty to mortgage fraud.  The value of this mortgage fraud case was set at $3.6 million.

Next, is Florida.  The mortgage fraud story out of Florida is headlined Ontario man, one of eight, charged with mortgage loan fraud.  The value of the fraud in this case was established as $1.188 million, and in actuality, the defendants in this case were directly defrauding consumers, by pocketing loan fees, rather than defrauding the mortgage players with access to Wall Street.

And last but not least, Vermont.  The mortgage fraud story out of Vermont is headlined Former Mortgage Broker Behind Bars.  This mortgage broker, like the Florida mortgage fraud story, was not defrauding Wall Street, but borrowers themselves by skimming fees.  The story states the value of the fraud was $1 million dollars.

Now, let’s total up all mortgage fraud conviction values herein stated and see what we get.  $60,322,000.00.  Now, let’s compare this number to the, what, $750 billion, or so, the government has thrown at the financial industry in the past six (6) months.  Now, if you divide $60,322,000.00 by $750,000,000,000.00 you end with 0.00008042933, so the mortgage fraud case convictions are infinitesimally tiny compared to the losses incurred in the financial industry due to simply unethical and foolish subprime lending.  The mortgage fraud cases being pursued, the “surge” of proseuctions to come, are straw men and window dressing to sooth the public demand, and nothing more.

Posted by John Venlet on 03/12 at 07:50 AM
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The Victim Mentality of Charles Freeman Jr.

Charles Freeman Jr., who had been fingered by Barack Obama to act as the chairman of the National Intelligence Council, voluntarily withdrew himself for consideration of said post yesterday.  But wait, though Freeman withdrew himself, voluntarily, for the post, he blames the Jews.

In a letter to supporters yesterday, Freeman said he withdrew because of a concerted effort by pro-Israel lobbyists to spread “libelous distortions” about his experience. “The tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assassination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods, and an utter disregard for the truth,” Freeman wrote.

Freeman’s blaming the of the Jewish people, for his voluntary withdrawl of his name for the post of chairman of the National Intelligence Council, is akin to trotting out the tired, old victim mentality exhibited in the white man be keeping the black man down argument, and I thought that America finally erased that tired, old argument with the election of Obama.

Freeman Withdraws as Head of National Intelligence Council

Posted by John Venlet on 03/12 at 06:57 AM
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Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Declining Home Values Equal Actual Affordable Housing

There is much handwringing and caterwauling emanating from the professional jobholders in Washington D.C. and elsewhere over declining home values, but, as Thomas Sowell notes in a piece at RealClearPolitics titled Subsidizing Bad Decisions, are not declining home values providing actual affordable housing opportunities?

The same politicians who have been talking about a need for “affordable housing” for years are now suddenly alarmed that home prices are falling. How can housing become more affordable unless prices fall?

The political meaning of “affordable housing” is housing that is made more affordable by politicians intervening to create government subsidies, rent control or other gimmicks for which politicians can take credit.

Affordable housing produced by market forces provides no benefit to politicians and has no attraction for them.

Study after study, not only here but in other countries, show that the most affordable housing is where there has been the least government interference with the market—contrary to rhetoric.

Posted by John Venlet on 03/11 at 02:30 PM
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Over 1 Million Served, and Counting

The government’s terrorist watch list has hit 1 million entries, up 32% since 2007.

The McDonald’s approach to reining in terrorism.

Terrorist watch list hits 1 million

Posted by John Venlet on 03/11 at 08:42 AM
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They’re Only Emulating their Role Model, Barack Obama

Camille Paglia, whose writing I tend to enjoy but not necessarily agree with, has a commentary piece up at Salon.com titled Heads should roll.  The piece also carries a secondary headline of “President Obama’s clumsy, smirky staff is sinking him—and resurrecting a deflated GOP!...” 

Paglia’s piece begins this way.

Yes, free the president from his flacks, fixers and goons—his posse of smirky smart alecks and provincial rubes, who were shrewd enough to beat the slow, pompous Clintons in the mano-a-mano primaries but who seem like dazed lost lambs in the brave new world of federal legislation and global statesmanship.

Immediately upon reading that opening paragraph I wondered why Paglia is unable to intellectually grasp the fact that Obama’s “posse of smirky smart alecks and provincial rubes, who were shrewd enough to beat the slow, pompous Clintons in the mano-a-mano primaries but who seem like dazed lost lambs in the brave new world of federal legislation and global statesmanship” are simply emulating their role model Obama.

Paglia’s call for rolling heads should begin with Obama, because Obama is the head smirky smart aleck and provincial rube, who indeed was shrewd enough to kick the Clintons to the curb during the primaries, and who is leading the dazed lost lambs in the brave new world of federal legislation and global statesmanship dazedly.

Posted by John Venlet on 03/11 at 07:07 AM
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Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Nancy Pelosi - A More Equal Pig’s Airplane Needs

In one e-mail, aide Kay King complained to the military that they had not made available any aircraft the House speaker wanted for Memorial Day recess.

“It is my understanding there are NO G5s available for the House during the Memorial Day recess. This is totally unacceptable ... The Speaker will want to know where the planes are,” King wrote.

In another, when told a certain type of aircraft would not be available, King wrote: “This is not good news, and we will have some very disappointed folks, as well as a very upset Speaker.”

Poor pig.

Pelosi Made Repeated Requests for Military Aircraft, Documents Show
Representatives for Judicial Watch, which obtained e-mails and other documents showing the requests, say House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has treated the Air Force as her “personal airline.”

Posted by John Venlet on 03/10 at 05:44 PM
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Global Warming Leads to a Frozen Lake Superior Twice in a Decade

I wonder how the global warming alarmists will spin this.

Lake Superior last froze over in 2003. It has now, again, frozen over. The frequency of freeze overs has historically been around once every 20 years. Now, in the last decade, we have seen two freeze overs.

That’s alot of ice.

Photo at link.

Via Mike Soja.

 

 

Posted by John Venlet on 03/10 at 04:16 PM
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“Intellectually Dishonest”

In a post titled It Is What It Is, And It Ain’t Nothin’ Else, Billy Beck points to a post of Michael F. Cannon’s on the subject of government intervention, read as control of, the health care industry.  The Cannon post Billy Beck points to is titled Schism in the Church of Universal Coverage, the church congregation being composed of members who proselytize for universal health coverage, which is socialism.

The congregation of the “Church of Universal Coverage” detests having their dogma of universal health coverage referred to as socialized medicine, as Cannon notes.

“Nichols and other members of the Church of Universal Coverage hate the term ‘socialized medicine’ not because it inaccurately describes their policies, but because it accurately describes their policies and rankles a large segment of the American public.”

Noting the above quote from Cannon’s post, Billy Beck provides the following quote from Ayn Rand’s “The Anatomy Of Compromise” - Ayn Rand, from The Objectivist Newsletter, January, 1964, re-printed in :“Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal”, 1967, part II, “Current State.”

When opposite basic principles are clearly and openly defined, it works to the advantage of the rational side; when they are not clearly defined, but are hidden or evaded, it works to the advantage of the irrational side.”

Billy Beck follows the Rand quote with this statement.

Consider the truth of that. Ordinary people are not thinking about this issue. They’re coming at it strictly from feel-goodism: they want Big Momma to take care of them and that’s all they know. It is not in the best interests of the socialists for people to understand clearly everything that this means.

Billy’s statement is true, and is closely related to the title I gave to this post.  The stupendous amount of “intellectual dishonesty” in the United States, currently, is unfathomable to rational indviduals.  When I consider the sheer numbers of individuals who irrationally embrace what Billy refers to as “feel-goodism,” I sincerely am dismayed, as the intellectual dishonesty of these individuals is not limited to only the congregation of the “Church of Universal Coverage.”  Intellectual dishonesty pervades those who control the State, currently, and these members of Congress, and their demi-god, Obama, are gorging on the feel-goodism and intellectual dishonesty to the detriment, and eventual destruction, of America and the freedom it previously stood for.

Posted by John Venlet on 03/10 at 09:32 AM
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Friday, March 06, 2009

Follow the “Atlas Shrugged” Step by Step Instructions to Destruction

Ayn Rand’s novel, Atlas Shrugged, is an important work which deserves every accolade received since its publication.  Unfortunately, I often think that professional jobholders who quote Rand, or refer to Rand, when uttering statements for the masses’ consumption, trivialize the important ideas Rand disseminated in this work.  Case in point, the following statement(s) uttered by Congressman John Campbell (R - CA).

“People are starting to feel like we’re living through the scenario that happened in ‘Atlas Shrugged,’” said Campbell. “The achievers, the people who create all the things that benefit rest of us, are going on strike. I’m seeing, at a small level, a kind of protest from the people who create jobs, the people who create wealth, who are pulling back from their ambitions because they see how they’ll be punished for them.”...How far, I asked Campbell, are we from the final chapters of the novel? “We’re still a ways away,” he said. “That will happen when people expect that there ought to be a recovery going on, and it isn’t going on.”

Though Rand’s novel plays out the scenario Campbell is referring to in the above statement, Rand did not pen “Atlas Shrugged” as an instruction booklet to refer to to monitor the progress of the State’s cannibalization of producers.  Rand penned “Atlas Shrugged” to enlighten and raise individual’s minds to heights far beyond the petty confines which define the State, the professional jobholders who serve and expand the State, and the looters who without compunction feed upon the scraps thrown to them by the State.

Congressman: We’re Living in ‘Atlas Shrugged’

Posted by John Venlet on 03/06 at 08:21 AM
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