Cknolls

http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm AND COUNTING

Like John Kerry did,right. Two Boston reporters were able to view some of his files and miraculously found nothing. LMAO!

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 19, 2008 -> 10:09 AM) But McCain is worserz!!!! That post was exactly what I wanted and expected to see. No one cares that Obama is lying right to their faces, and doing it repeatedly, AND getting defending for doing it. It is just amazing. On the CBOE it is said that if a certain Broker is moving his lips he is lying, I tend to think that way about politicians. ALL OF THEM!

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 19, 2008 -> 05:29 PM) So, for honesty's sake I have to fire in on this one. The thing McCain has going more strongly for him is probably 527's, but they also have a solid advantage in the RNC which is able to raise more money from big donors also. But...let's face it, whether Obama says so or not, there are still Democratic 527's hitting McCain. I'll give you an example, Moveon.org's 527 PAC is running an anti-McCain ad campaign right now along with AFSCME hitting him on the endless occupation rhetoric. How about the $500 million dollars the unions will spend trying to b*** Obama? That doesn't count right? In addition to the estimated $500 million the Tribune says he could raise by Nov.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Jun 19, 2008 -> 05:03 PM) Let the War Begin: McCain Officially Accepts Public Financing Obama Rejects Public Financing Obama ($100+ million) vs McCain ($84 million) + "Hit-Job" 527s Oh I forgot 527's are Republican only.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 19, 2008 -> 12:04 PM) So what happens if we drill everything in sight and in 2012 the amount of oil the world is able to pump out of the ground starts declining precipitously because we've crossed over the global production peak and there's no where left to go but down? Peak oil is a fantasy. How much oil is there in the Arctic? How about the Shale deposits? Atlantic and Pacific? We don't know because we haven't surveyed there for how many years?

Where is the coverage of this story in the MSM?

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 19, 2008 -> 09:58 AM) This is just too much... the Chair of the Senate Banking committee has no idea where interest rates are... http://www.thenextright.com/soren-dayton/s...-interest-rates He should be investigated and recuse himself from the committee that will vote on the Fannie Mae give-a-way in minutes. WHAT A JOKE! But he's a donkey so the same rules do not apply. Everyone talks about Enron. What about the Fannie Mae accounting debacle. Raines, Johnson, Gorelick. How much did they pocket from the "accounting errors"? Over $100 million dollars. I'm sure the investigations will happen when Barry brings change to Washington; and then monkeys will fly from you know where.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 19, 2008 -> 11:24 AM) My non-expert opinion is that we at least test the old 120ish lows. After that, par is possible. $128.31 is a measured move from the high of $139.89. $127.81 is the low of the last breakout and, in my opinion a better long entry. But, what's fitty cents.

QUOTE (kapkomet @ Jun 19, 2008 -> 11:20 AM) LMAO!

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jun 18, 2008 -> 09:27 AM) And we're talking hurricane alley. Seems like a recipe for disaster. How about shale deposits in the west?

Repeatedly through the campaign so far, Barack Obama has demonstrated a troubling lack of familiarity with American history, especially diplomatic history. Obama's cluelessness about diplomacy has raised troubling questions about whether he is qualified to be President. This one may have answered the question: Democrat Barack Obama misused a "code word" in Middle East politics when he said Jerusalem should be Israel's "undivided" capital but that does not mean he is naive on foreign policy, a top adviser said on Tuesday. Addressing a pro-Israel lobby group this month, the Democratic White House hopeful said: "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided." Obama backed off almost immediately when Palestinians protested his remarks to AIPAC. The adviser, Daniel Kurtzer, continued: Daniel Kurtzer, who advises Obama on the Middle East, said Tuesday at the Israel Policy Forum that Obama's comment stemmed from "a picture in his mind of Jerusalem before 1967 with barbed wires and minefields and demilitarized zones." "So he used a word to represent what he did not want to see again, and then realized afterwards that that word is a code word in the Middle East," Kurtzer said. I don't believe Kurtzer's explanation for a moment--why would Obama's mental picture of Jerusalem date from a time when he was five years old?--but it seems clear that, as Kurtzer says, Obama did not understand the significance of an "undivided Jerusalem." Diplomacy is full of "code words," and for a President not to understand them can be lethal. It could also be dangerous for a President to have a "picture in his mind" of Jerusalem that is forty years out of date, if that really is the case. Maybe Obama should stop off there on his trip to Iraq, whenever that may take place. It has become clear that Barack Obama has a great deal of learning to do before he is ready to serve as President. (One wonders, actually, what he is doing in the Senate.) Worse, he seems to have little understanding of his own limitations and no interest in putting in the hard work it will take for him to become even moderately conversant with foreign policy issues. Once again, we see the dangerous combination of ignorance and arrogance that characterizes Obama's Presidential campaign NOBAMA 2008!!

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Jun 17, 2008 -> 06:24 PM) <!--quoteo(post=1666399:date=Jun 17, 2008 -> 05:51 PM:name=Balta1701)-->QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 17, 2008 -> 05:51 PM) <!--quotec-->Rep Issa, R-CA. During discussion on a resolution recognizing the late Tim Russert. Classy.... apparently on Monday Fox News brushed off Russert as a member of the liberal media. Observers of the insane clown posse on MSNBC -- observers such as Ed Morrissey, for example -- noticed the classless comments made by Chris Matthews to Keith Olbermann on Olbermann's "Countdown" show in connection with the death of Tim Russert. "It may be tricky to say this, and I'll say it," Matthews said, introducing his weirdly derogatory remembrance of Russert. Matthews said that Russert had believed the administration's assertion that Saddam was trying to get nuclear weapons and that Russert was "an everyman" for believing it. Matthews was giving Russert what was at best a backhanded compliment, essentially portraying the just-deceased Russert as a dupe. Watch the video for yourself here. On Monday Olbermann promoted my friend Andrew Breitbart as the Worst Person in the World throughout "Countdown." Breitbart's photograph was displayed and Andrew was given reason to get excited. In the event, however, Olbermann conferred the honor collectively on FOX News because of an observation Andrew had made in a segment on "FOX and Friends" that morning. The "FOX and Friends" segment with Breitbart talking about Russert can be seen here. In conferring the honor on FOX News, Olbermann baldly lied about the ground for it. Olbermann's Worst Person in the World segment can be seen here. With his crazed pomposity, Olbermann intoned: "For God's sake, do you have to do it the first morning of the first week day after the man has died? Could you not shut the spigot off just for a little while? Could you not wait until after we have the funeral? Of course, you couldn't. You're FOX News and you are the worst persons in the world." He vaguely derided FOX News for the comments that Matthews had in fact made to Olbermann. In other words, in the clip above, Olbermann falsely imputed Matthews's offense committed on Countdown and on MSNBC on the evening of Russert's death this past Friday to Breitbart and FOX News. In the only critical comment Breitbart made on FOX, Breitbart had accurately described Matthews's offense in his segment discussing Russert on FOX News. The offense for which Olbermann seems to have called out FOX News as the Worst Person in the World was actually committed with Olbermann on MSNBC, and Breitbart had criticized Matthews for it. Because Breitbart's observation about Matthews was correct and damning, Olbermann chose not to quote or show it. Olbermann was thus free to misrepresent the gist of Breitbart's comments for the purposes of conferring his Worst Person in the World honors. In short, MSNBC accused its nemesis at FOX News -- not Breitbart, a somewhat less appealing target to Olbermann -- for what Breitbart said, and imputed Matthews's offense committed on MSNBC to Breitbart and FOX. Pot. Kettle. Black. Or worse. I know its Dem only, but I had to correct Olberliberal. I will leave now.

Only one Marine left to be cleared in the Murtha Massacre Hoax. What a piece of S*** he is for smearing these Marines. Retire and suck the teat of the U.S taxpayers you old bag of S***.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 17, 2008 -> 02:52 PM) SS, you work in finance - so I am surprised you see the math that way. In no way did Obama say he was going to fund 5 million jobs with $150B. He said he'd invest $150B in the sector, which he feels could create 5 million jobs. And I actually think that number might be conservative, in terms of how many jobs could be created in that sector. But he's not saying $150B is the SALARY of those jobs. He is saying he wants to fund projects with that money, which should help push businesses into growth that creates jobs. So, actually, the math is just fine. You may not agree that 5 million jobs could be created by the investment, but, there is nothing mathematically wrong with his statement. When has ANY gov't projection, be it tax revenue, jobs etc., ever been correct. Sounds good though.

QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Jun 17, 2008 -> 08:30 PM) A number of revelations have come out of the Senate investigation, and unfortunately the MSM is not going to pick up any of them. As damning as the evidence of a premeditated strategy to hide worked over detainees from the Red Cross should be, so too should the uncovering of the fact that torture was a top-down strategy and not the work of a couple of bad apple enlistees as the Pentagon wanted the public to believe. But none of this will get any significant media play and at the end of the day it won't matter. Because America is better than its enemies (except that it isn't), and America doesn't torture (except that it does). The damage this administration has done to our standing in the world is going to take 20 years to undo. Even with Barry as President. He'll gather the world at the U.N. and we'll all sing KUMBAYA.

QUOTE (Athomeboy_2000 @ Jun 17, 2008 -> 08:00 AM) and this... McCain's Secret, Questionable Record I would be curious to see those records. Kerry did it. As a Navy Grad '00, let me tell you how it works. The academy produces roughly 800 new ensigns and 200 USMC 2nd LTs with each class (rough numbers). About 350 end up in flight training. The rest are submariner (the real cream of the crop) and surface warfare. There are a smattering of Special Warfare (SEALs), Medical, Supply, Crytpo and Intel billets, but those require exceptional strength, medical issues or outstanding grades. The Airdales — both pilots and Naval Flight Officers (NFO)s — Like Goose in Top Gun — are just people who want to train to be pilots/NFOs. They leave the Academy as flight student ensign. Thats it. Once at Pensacola — now known as McCain Field after John S. McCain Sr. (the candidate's grandfather), the students must compete for the good jobs. If McCain ended up as a Jet Pilot it was because he was good on the stick. I would have chosen to be a pilot if I didn't have bad eyes. Here's another fact, USNA produces more pilots than the Airforce Academy in Colorado Springs. Also, of the percentage of Marines that are commissioned, about one third will be either Pilots or NFOs too, just flying for the Mean Green instead of Blue and Gold. First, my background: USNA 1989, currently an admissions outreach volunteer for USNA (known as Blue and Gold Officers, we counsel prospective candidates through the admissions process). I couldn't help but notice this gem in the Media Blog ...After four abysmal academic years at Annapolis distinguished only by his misdeeds and malfeasance, no one with a record resembling McCain's would have been offered such a prized career path. The justification for this and subsequent plum assignments should be documented in McCain's naval file. Simply put, this is nonsense. Available pilot billets vary from year to year, but aviation billets are open on a competitive basis to all midshipmen that are physically qualified. In practical terms, it boils down to having 20/20 vision and excellent hearing at the time of graduation. It is entirely possible that there were unfilled billets during McCain's era because there were not enough graduates that met the vision standards. In my class, we had pilots that graduated near the bottom; they were focused on doing the minimal academic work needed to graduate, because they knew their were pilot billets available regardless of class standing. This was different from my own experience of the more competitive Naval Flight Officer program (navigators and weapons officers). NFOs only needed 20/20 vision with corrective lenses. Also, there were less billets available, so this program was much more competitive. I barely made the cut, graduating in the middle of my class. Today, my outreach is complicated by the fact that USNA is mandated to have 2/3rds of the incoming class with 20/20 vision. That requirement is there to keep the fleet manned with pilots. Medical specialists can get more technical, but the typical 18-22 year old is going to go through some vision changes as they mature, and at graduation, there are even fewer aviation candidates. What this means in all practical terms is that if a typical midshipman, regardless of class standing, meets the physical standards required, than aviation is a likely career path. It's all a moot point anyway. Whether or not McCain got a "plum assignment", he certainly paid for it in Hanoi. I wonder if Jeff Klein served his country. Typical.

QUOTE (bmags @ Jun 15, 2008 -> 12:28 PM) I think we're just excited. Not as much as Chris Matthews!

Two U.S. senators, two former Cabinet members, and a former ambassador to the United Nations received loans from Countrywide Financial through a little-known program that waived points, lender fees, and company borrowing rules for prominent people. Senators Christopher Dodd, Democrat from Connecticut and chairman of the Banking Committee, and Kent Conrad, Democrat from North Dakota, chairman of the Budget Committee and a member of the Finance Committee, refinanced properties through Countrywide’s “V.I.P.” program in 2003 and 2004, according to company documents and emails and a former employee familiar with the loans. Other participants in the V.I.P. program included former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, and former U.N. ambassador and assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke. Jackson was deputy H.U.D. secretary in the Bush administration when he received the loans in 2003. Shalala, who received two loans in 2002, had by then left the Clinton administration for her current position as president of the University of Miami. She is scheduled to receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom on June 19. Holbrooke, whose stint as U.N. ambassador ended in 2001, was also working in the private sector when he and his family received V.I.P. loans. He was an adviser to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. James Johnson, who had been advising presidential candidate Barack Obama on the selection of a running mate, resigned from the Obama campaign Wednesday after the Wall Street Journal reported that he received Countrywide loans at below-market rates. Most of the officials belonged to a group of V.I.P. loan recipients known in company documents and emails as “F.O.A.'s”—Friends of Angelo, a reference to Countrywide chief executive Angelo Mozilo. While the V.I.P. program also serviced friends and contacts of other Countrywide executives, the F.O.A.’s made up the biggest subset. According to company documents and emails, the V.I.P.'s received better deals than those available to ordinary borrowers. Home-loan customers can reduce their interest rates by paying “points”—one point equals 1 percent of the loan’s value. For V.I.P.'s, Countrywide often waived at least half a point and eliminated fees amounting to hundreds of dollars for underwriting, processing and document preparation. If interest rates fell while a V.I.P. loan was pending, Countrywide provided a free “float-down” to the lower rate, eschewing its usual charge of half a point. Some V.I.P.'s who bought or refinanced investment properties were often given the lower interest rate associated with primary residences. Unless they asked, V.I.P. borrowers weren’t told exactly how many points were waived on their loans, the former employee says. However, they were typically assured that they were receiving the “Friends of Angelo” discount, and that Mozilo had personally priced their loans. The V.I.P. loans to public officials in a position to advance Countrywide’s interests raise legal and ethical questions. Countrywide’s ethics code bars directors, officers and employees from “improperly influencing the decisions of government employees or contractors by offering or promising to give money, gifts, loans, rewards, favors, or anything else of value.” Federal employees are prohibited from receiving gifts offered because of their official position, including loans on terms not generally available to the public. Senate rules prohibit members from knowingly receiving gifts worth $100 or more in a calendar year from private entities that, like Countrywide, employ a registered lobbyist. Senator Dodd received two loans in 2003 through Countrywide’s V.I.P. program. He borrowed $506,000 to refinance his Washington townhouse, and $275,042 to refinance a home in East Haddam, Connecticut. Countrywide waived three-eighths of a point, or about $2,000, on the first loan, and one-fourth of a point, about $700, on the second, according to internal documents. Both loans were for 30 years, with the first five years at a fixed rate. The interest rate on the loans, originally pegged at 4.875%, was reduced to 4.25% on the Washington home and 4.5% on the Connecticut property by the time the loans were funded. The lower rates save the senator about $58,000 on his Washington residence over the life of the loan, and $17,000 on the Connecticut home. The former employee says the float-downs were free. Senator Dodd’s wife, Jackie Clegg, said in a brief interview that two other lenders they checked with offered comparable interest rates. The senator’s office said Thursday afternoon that it is preparing a response. Countrywide has also contributed a total of $21,000 to Dodd’s campaigns since 1997. While a presidential candidate last year, he filed a bill to ban lenders from charging prepayment penalties and steering home buyers to more costly loans—both practices in which Countrywide reportedly engaged. He also called for criminal charges for such predatory lending. Senator Conrad borrowed $1.07 million in 2004 to refinance his vacation home with a balcony and wraparound porch in Bethany Beach, Delaware, a block from the ocean. Mozilo instructed a subordinate to “take off 1 point,” or $10,700, according to a March 17, 2004, email. Later that year, Conrad refinanced an eight-unit apartment building that he and his brothers owned in Bismarck, North Dakota. According to the former employee, the loan violated Countrywide’s normal policy of providing loans for buildings of four units or fewer. In an April 23, 2004, email, Mozilo encouraged an employee to “make an exception due to the fact that the borrower is a senator.” Senator Conrad acknowledged in a statement that he received financing from Countrywide. “I never met Angelo Mozilo,” he said. “I have no way of knowing how they categorized my loan. I never asked for, expected or was aware of any special treatment…From what we have been able to determine, it appears that we were given a competitive rate.” A spokeswoman for Countrywide, which is slated to be acquired by Bank of America, declined to comment. A Bank of America spokesman said that senior executives there “do not get involved in the origination of mortgages,” but will refer inquiring friends to the right loan programs. Mozilo co-founded Countrywide in 1969 and helped build it into the nation’s largest home mortgage lender. While interest rates were dropping in the first half of this decade, prompting widespread demand for refinances and home-equity loans, Countrywide loaned hundreds of millions of dollars per year through its V.I.P. program to politicians, government officials, business executives, entertainment celebrities and other customers singled out for special treatment. Account executives at Countrywide’s call center in Rosemead, California, handled the bulk of the loan applications, which were processed by a separate V.I.P. underwriting unit that had its own branch number in Countrywide’s record-keeping system. Jackson, the former H.U.D. secretary, borrowed $346,331 from Countrywide in June 2003 to refinance his Alexandria, Virginia, townhouse. That December, he applied for a $308,000 mortgage to buy a vacation home on a golf course in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. The loan came through on January 21, 2004, a week before President Bush named him to the H.U.D. post. He resigned in March 2008 amid unrelated cronyism allegations. H.U.D. has wide-ranging relationships with Countrywide and other lenders. It regulates real estate settlements and closing costs, and runs the Federal Housing Administration, which guarantees mortgages. The former employee says that Jackson received discounts on both loans. Defending his transactions, Jackson said he was a Countrywide borrower long before he met Mozilo or worked for H.U.D. Asked if he received any breaks on the loans, he said, “Not to my knowledge. If I did, it certainly wasn’t discussed with me.” Former H.H.S. secretary Donna Shalala received two V.I.P. loans, for $338,685 and $202,300, in 2002. “Normally, I would not ask for special consideration toward a certain loan/customer, but the complexity of the Shalala deal calls for it,” one Countrywide executive wrote in an August 20, 2002, email, explaining that the University of Miami president was buying an interest in a timeshare. “Angelo asked me to ensure that we ‘knock her socks off’ with our great service.” On September 21, another Countrywide staffer wrote that Shalala’s loans were “ready to close…I floated both of them down to current pricing.” Shalala did not respond to messages, and an assistant at the University of Miami said that she was traveling. Holbrooke’s wife, author Kati Marton, received loans totalling $1.4 million to refinance two properties in 2002. “Look for these,” one Countrywide manager wrote in a September 27, 2002, email, alluding to Marton’s loan applications. “These loans are incredibly important to Angelo and as such they are incredibly important to us.” The next year, Holbrooke borrowed $1.2 million to refinance a vacation home in Telluride, Colorado. Countrywide waived at least 1.25 points, or $15,000. “Per Angelo, this loan is to be at zero points,” a Countrywide manager wrote in a February 20, 2003, email. Also in 2003, Holbrooke’s son, David, and daughter-in-law Sarah received a half-point discount on a $559,500 loan, or about $2,800, when they refinanced their Brooklyn high-rise co-op, and five-eighths of a point discount on a $428,000 loan, or about $2,600, when they bought the floor above it. Neither Holbrooke nor his wife and son returned messages. Holbrooke and Johnson are both vice chairmen of the private banking firm Perseus. Besides the discounted interest rates reported by the Journal, Countrywide also waived points for Johnson, a former chief executive of government-sponsored mortgage reseller Fannie Mae. In 2003, Countrywide took 1.375 points, about $13,000, off a nearly $1 million loan to refinance Johnson’s Washington home. When he borrowed almost $1.3 million in 2003 that same year to refinance a 4,400-square-foot, Southwestern-style home with four bedrooms and five baths beside the second green of a golf course in Palm Desert, California, Countrywide waived 1.875 points, or about $24,000. In 2004, Johnson borrowed $3 million to upgrade to a larger estate—a 5,875-square-foot house, with a guesthouse and pool—on the same course. Although the size of the loan exceeded Countrywide’s limit for a second home, Mozilo told an employee to “do the deal.” Brian Brooks, a lawyer for Johnson, said that he never asked for a discount on his loans, and that it is “common knowledge” that individuals of high income and high net worth receive lower rates than other borrowers. “We don’t see anything out of the ordinary here.” Widely criticized for spurring the country’s mortgage crisis with over-aggressive lending policies, Countrywide saw its share price plunge from $45 in February 2007 to less than $5 in January 2008, when Bank of America agreed to acquire the company in a $4 billion stock swap. Countrywide is reportedly under F.B.I. investigation for alleged securities fraud, and Mozilo has drawn criticism for unloading $474 million in Countrywide shares between 2004 and 2007 as the housing crisis neared. He’s defended the sales as part of his retirement planning. Additional reporting by Julia Ramey; this story was adapted from a feature in an upcoming issue of Condé Nast Portfolio.

Senator Dodd received two loans in 2003 through Countrywide’s V.I.P. program. He borrowed $506,000 to refinance his Washington townhouse, and $275,042 to refinance a home in East Haddam, Connecticut. Countrywide waived three-eighths of a point, or about $2,000, on the first loan, and one-fourth of a point, about $700, on the second, according to internal documents. Both loans were for 30 years, with the first five years at a fixed rate. The interest rate on the loans, originally pegged at 4.875%, was reduced to 4.25% on the Washington home and 4.5% on the Connecticut property by the time the loans were funded. The lower rates save the senator about $58,000 on his Washington residence over the life of the loan, and $17,000 on the Connecticut home. The former employee says the float-downs were free. Senator Dodd’s wife, Jackie Clegg, said in a brief interview that two other lenders they checked with offered comparable interest rates. The senator’s office said Thursday afternoon that it is preparing a response

So Chris Dodd received two loans from the FRIENDS of ANGELO program at Countrywide. Should he be involved in the mortgage bailout bill(s) being floated in Congress, or should he recuse himself?

QUOTE (lostfan @ Jun 12, 2008 -> 05:34 PM) Joe Scarborough tries to hide his bias a lot of times but he is definitely a Republican and doesn't care for Democrats. I don't really see CNN as all that biased. Honestly. I mean which of their anchors brings the bias? All they do is report and interview, really. Ever hear Jack Cafferty.

GS rumored to be the next to take a large writedown.

In response to Balta, if the Fed used up their entire balance sheet on garbage collateral, the last resort would be to print. The Fed cannot go bankrupt, but they can print print print. And yes it kills the dollar, but didn't they say they couldn't allow Bear to fail? What happens next time if its LEH, or Citi? These companies will be shells of themselves when this passes. I for one cannot wait to see what LEH reports for earnings next week. I still believe they are hiding some bodies that are starting to stink. The spreads on their CDS widened considerably over the past week. And I still believe the bailout of BEAR STEARNS was actually a bailout of JPM; that is why BEAR was to big to fail IMO. JPM was counter-party to a boatload of BEAR trades.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ May 29, 2008 -> 04:05 PM) So, CK, in your opinion...what happens if the Fed reserves run out before we run out of crappy securities that banks don't want? Fed will print more money.