Off the Cuff

News Corp Dithers on Google Pullout While AP Asks For More Traffic

Paul — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:15:12 PST

What does it say about News Corp’s stance when the main body owned by media outlets in the United State, the main cheerleader against new media is actually asking for more Google traffic, the same traffic that Murdoch and Miller say is worthless?

The delay to News Corp pulling out of Google once again proves that News Corp is all talk and no action when it comes to their constant attacks against the likes of Google. There’s ZERO technological basis for the delay because as we’ve repeated time and time again: one line in a Robots.txt file is all that’s required. If they had the courage of their convictions they’d be taking themselves out of Google not next week, not tomorrow, but today.

via inquisitr.com

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I am an American conservative shithead

Paul — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:38:52 PST

This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the U.S. Department of Energy.
I then took a shower in the clean water provided by a municipal water utility.
After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC-regulated channels to see what the National Weather Service of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration determined the weather was going to be like, using satellites designed, built, and launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
I watched this while eating my breakfast of U.S. Department of Agriculture-inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
At the appropriate time, as regulated by the U.S. Congress and kept accurate by the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the U.S. Naval Observatory, I get into my National Highway Traffic Safety Administration-approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal Departments of Transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency, using legal tender issued by the Federal Reserve Bank.
On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the U.S. Postal Service and drop the kids off at the public school.
After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety and Health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to my house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and Fire Marshal's inspection, and which has not been plundered of all its valuables thanks to the local police department.
And then I log on to the internet -- which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration -- and post on Freerepublic.com and Fox News forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can't do anything right. Via AMERICAblog

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The best laid plans....

Paul — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:46:21 PST

Today was a perfect example of the adage: The best laid plans of mice and men sometime go astray. Nothing got in the way of my accomplishing all I wanted to do. It was just that just wasn't enough time to accomplish them. Another wordds: bad scheduling!

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Not very productive.....

Paul — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:47:19 PST

Today has not been among my more productive days.

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Baby Entertainment

Paul — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:31:11 PST

Via: GraphJam

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Gas mask bra secures Ig Nobel prize

Paul — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:09:21 PST

Via: The Register

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I'm back

Paul — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:15:52 PST

Spent several wonderful days in Williamsburg, Virginia.

A salute to the skipper of the USS Lassen

Paul — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:54:59 PST

Hung Ba Lee, a native of Hue, Vietnam, who left that country as a five-year-old refugee and was picked up at sea by a U.S. Navy ship, will return to it later this month as the commander of the USS Lassen, a guided missile destroyer.

via ricks.foreignpolicy.com

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Take That Switzerland! Delaware Is Most Secretive Financial Center

Paul — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:13:11 PST

As even the most non-business-minded associate knows, Delaware is the preferred state of incorporation for most any company, even those who do absolutely no business in the state, because of its friendly tax laws. Another bonus for companies incorporating in Delaware is the expert courts, which have necessarily developed due to the proliferation of corporate cases there.
There are 700,000 active entities in the state, with only half of those being publicly traded in the United States, the tax group said.
So, how did little Delaware dominate the Swiss as the preferred tax shelter locale? Total non-resident deposits in the U.S. rose from approximately $1 trillion in 2001 to $2.6 trillion in 2007, the group's study found. Over the same period, the same type of deposits rose from $103 billion to $1.45 trillion in Switzerland.
Delaware's population is approximately 873,000 -- 45th in the nation. via: Business Insider.

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Doing a test.

Paul — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:08:24 PST

I am doing a test. So just disregard this post. I want to see if I can post to Posterous via my Typepad blog. If it works I can use my blog editor to do a lot of my posts which would make it a lot easier given the types of posts I do.

New Rules! Banks Can Lie About Commercial Real Estate Loans

Paul — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:25:04 PST

The commercial real-estate crisis is taking a while to play out, and the new rules will ensure that it takes even longer. Instead of having to foreclose and take writeoffs, the new rules encourage banks to modify existing commercial real-estate loans, even when the value of the asset has fallen below the value of the loan.
Because interest rates are so low, many commercial real-estate owners, especially those with long-term leases, are not having trouble making payments, even when the value of their buildings is well below the amount they owe. These property owners would not be able to refinance the loans because of the loan-to-value problem, so when the loans come due, they might be screwed. via: Business Insider

If this isn't a case of whistling pass the graveyard I don't know what is. You just can't hope time is on your side. Besides the rules that allow banks to over state the value of assets will continue to be a ticking time bomb regardless of the health of the market.

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New Rules! Banks Can Lie About Commercial Real Estate Loans

Paul — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:25:02 PST

The commercial real-estate crisis is taking a while to play out, and the new rules will ensure that it takes even longer. Instead of having to foreclose and take writeoffs, the new rules encourage banks to modify existing commercial real-estate loans, even when the value of the asset has fallen below the value of the loan.
Because interest rates are so low, many commercial real-estate owners, especially those with long-term leases, are not having trouble making payments, even when the value of their buildings is well below the amount they owe. These property owners would not be able to refinance the loans because of the loan-to-value problem, so when the loans come due, they might be screwed. via: Business Insider

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No One Escapes The Spanish Inquisition!

Paul — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:07:09 PDT

Image by Alejandra Gamgeek from Gallifrey via Flickr

In the spirit of the Pope and Kimberly Daniels.

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Pope Nixes Halloween

Paul — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:54:35 PDT

Pope Benedict XVI has joined Kimberly Daniels at the Christian Broadcasting Network in issuing his own warning against Christians participating in Halloween. The Pope wants Catholics to knew that the holiday is dangerous to not just their waistline but their eternal souls.
The Vatican has issued a statement denouncing Halloween as “anti-Christian” and “dangerous.”
In an article entitled ‘The Dangerous Messages of Halloween’, the Vatican’s official newspaper L’Osservatore Romano lays out the soul-sucking dangers of the holiday. Liturgical expert Joan Maria Canals warns “Halloween has an undercurrent of occultism and is absolutely anti-Christian.”

Why do I have feeling that at any moment the cast from Monty Python is going to come rushing and shout: No one escapes the Spanish Inquisition!

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Christian Columnist Warns of Demon Conspiracy To Invade the Souls of Children Through The Candy

Paul — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:36:10 PDT

With many of us preparing for Halloween on Saturday, we have a disturbing warning from Kimberly Daniels on the Christian Broadcasting Network’s Web site: demons (real demons) have contaminated Halloween candy to invade the souls of our children (and presumably late-night candy stealing parents). via: Jonathan Turley http://jonathanturley.org/2009/10/30/christian-columnist-warns-of-demon-conspiracy-to-invade-the-souls-of-children-through-the-candy/#comment-88040

For those of us more scientifically minded, it's called a sugar rush.

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Goldman Is The Yankees, Citi Is The Mets (GS, C)

Paul — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:07:50 PDT

There’s a delicious irony about New York baseball and New York banks that I think is worth discussing in light of the imminent Yankees World Series victory.
As baseball fans throughout the nation piss and moan about the fact that the Yankees have the wealth of NY to draw upon when pricing tickets, broadcast rates and payroll budgets, it is instructive to bring up the fact that the NY Mets have those same natural advantages.
And what do the Mets do with these advantages? They break hearts, find ways to lose and get abused by many smaller-market teams on a regular basis (hey Citi shareholders, sound familiar?).
This Tale of One City is analogous to Goldman’s regular trouncing of Citigroup and other hapless New York banks in everything from underwriting to trading to M&A.
via: The Business Insider http://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-is-the-yankees-citi-is-the-mets-2009-10

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South Carolina state attorney caught with stripper in graveyard

Paul — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:56:12 PDT

A deputy assistant attorney general who said he was on his lunch break when an officer found him with a stripper and sex toys in his sport utility vehicle has been fired, his boss said Wednesday.

Roland Corning, 66, a former state legislator, was in a secluded part of a downtown cemetery when an officer spotted him Monday, according to a police report obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act.

As the officer approached, Corning sped off, then pulled over a few blocks away. He and the 18-year-old woman with him, an employee of the Platinum Plus Gentleman's Club, gave conflicting stories about what they were doing in the cemetery, Officer Michael Wines wrote in his report, though he did not elaborate.

Corning gave Wines a badge showing he worked for the state Attorney General's Office. Wines, whose wife also works there, called her to make sure Corning was telling the truth.

He then searched the SUV, where he found a Viagra pill and several sex toys, items Corning said he always kept with him, "just in case," according to the report.

via rawstory.com

What gives in South Caroline? Is there something in the water?

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Happy 15th Birthday, Banner Ad -- Please Die Now

Paul — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:53:07 PDT

Fifteen years ago today, the banner ad as we know it was born. On October 27, 1994, HotWired.com hosted ads from Volvo, AT&T, MCI, Club Med, Zima (!) and 1-800-Collect. via: Silicon Valley Insider http://tinyurl.com/yfh67bb

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I didn't need a weather report...

Paul — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:36:06 PDT

I didn't need a weather report or even to look out my window to tell
what kind of day it was. I didn't want to get out of bed. My body was
already telling it was raining.

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Can simultaneous prayer take God offline?

Paul — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:32:25 PDT

I don't care if it's "slacktivism" but this Facebook campaign is incredibly funny: launching DDOS attacks on God by simultaneous prayer
As you may already be aware, recently the Atheist Founation of Australia and the Global Atheist Convention websites were the target of a significant DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack, which began on Monday 19 October.
This is a call to all non-believers and advocates for freedom of speech to join us in a global co-ordinated minute of prayer with the aim of inundating God (in this context, the Christian god, God, as distinct from the Greek god, Zeus, the Egyptian god, Ra etc etc) with so many useless prayers that it causes his divineness to go offline as as result of our own DDOS ('Divine' Denial of Service).
The prayer minute will be at exactly 8pm (Eastern Standard Time) and 9am (Greenwich Mean Time) on Sunday 8 November 2009.

via neteffect.foreignpolicy.com

You really can't make this stuff up! But it is really funny.

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Goldman: Government Policies Boosted House Prices 5%

Paul — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:32:48 PDT

From James Hagerty at the WSJ: Uncle Sam Adds 5% to Prices of Homes, Goldman Says
Uncle Sam’s interventions in the housing market have pushed home prices 5% higher on a national average than they would have been otherwise, Goldman Sachs estimates in a report released late Friday.
...
But these artificial props won’t last forever and may have created a false bottom in the market. “The risk of renewed home-price declines remains significant,” Goldman economist Alec Phillips writes in the report, “and our working assumption is a further 5% to 10% decline by mid-2010.”
In the research note, Phillips discussed how policies have reduced foreclosures, and stimulated demand with both the first-time home buyer tax credit and "abnormally low mortgage rates". Phillips wrote (no link):
"In 2010, we expect some of these supports to fade. Fed and Treasury purchases of mortgage-backed securities will taper off, and the pause in foreclosures created by federal mortgage modification programs may end.
The federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers appears likely to be extended for at least a few months, but probably no longer than through the first half of 2010."

via calculatedriskblog.com

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When you forget about standards....just this one time

Paul — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:12:18 PDT

via media.photobucket.com

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How the other 75 percent lives

Paul — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:01:35 PDT

From here, sources of income among the second quartile of older Americans, that is, from the 50th to the 75th percentile:

via krugman.blogs.nytimes.com

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Wall Street CEOs Don't Make Jack Compared To Healthcare CEOs

Paul — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:08:06 PDT

A rather interesting chart. Now we at least know where our health dollars are going! via The Business Insider http://tinyurl.com/yh3wbm2

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Can We Please Stop Whining About The Death Of Journalism Already?

Paul — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:05:49 PDT

For every horror story about how awful and un-accountable this new world is going to be, moreover, there are dozens of examples of uncovered sleaze, unfairness, and hypocrisy that never would have been reported in the old mainstream media world.

Would we really have gotten a better sense of the Iran protests from a single NYT bureau instead of thousands of Twitter and Facebook images?

Would CBS's fake National Guard documents have been outed so rapidly?

Were we really better off when we had to wait for PR people at companies to package layoffs or problems instead of reporting employee and customer chatter as it occurs?

Is it really better to have a handful of reporters and editors tell us what they think is important instead of letting anyone who wants to weigh in weigh in? (Can anyone seriously believe this? Thousands of expert readers constitute a much better fact-checking department than the best news organization in the world)

via businessinsider.com

I have to agree with Blodgett. The web in many ways has really been a net positive so far for journalism. My feeling those who whine about the effect of the web are the ones whose position of power is under attack. They no longer get to decide what is important and their voices are no longer the only voices.

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