Posts from — December 2008

CNN reports that the Fed slashes key rate to near zero

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — In its latest effort to try and stimulate the U.S. economy, the Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate to a range of between zero percent and 0.25%, and said it expects to keep rates near that unprecedented low level for some time to come.

The central bank typically sets a specific target for its federal funds rate instead of a range. The rate had previously been at 1% and this marks the first time the Fed has cut rates below 1%. Most investors were expecting the Fed to cut rates to either 0.25% or 0.5%.

Taking the rate so close to zero leaves the Fed with little room for additional moves if the economy does not start to show signs of improvement soon.

Raising rates started the foreclosure mess, and mortgage rates have not been tracking back down with the funds rate, although the banks have been thrilled to lower the rates they pay on savings when the funds rate drops. This widens the gap between what the banks pay you and what you pay them, which is a major reason for the abysmal savings rate in the US.

The BBC is reporting a Serious security flaw found in IE

Users of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer are being urged by experts to switch to a rival until a serious security flaw has been fixed.

The flaw in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer could allow criminals to take control of people’s computers and steal their passwords, internet experts say.

Microsoft urged people to be vigilant while it investigated and prepared an emergency patch to resolve it.

The flaw is being exploited on gaming sites.  This isn’t a potential problem, it is a current problem and people are having their password stolen via this weakness.  If it’s happening on games sites, it will be happening on banking sites shortly.

Most problems are identified as “potential”, i.e. the weakness is identified before anything is done with it, but this problem is already “in the wild”.  With the current economic slump and the cash rich standing of Microsoft, they should just hire a group of experienced programmers and fix the damn thing, instead of constantly patching it.  After they think it is fixed, they should sponsor a competition to hack it. Produce a decent product, that’s how you maintain market dominance

This is the feeling you would get if at the end of the movie, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Jimmy Stewart’s character, Jefferson Smith, decides that instead of filibustering, he will sell out to Joseph Paine, Claude Rains’s character.

The incoming speaker of Florida’s House is a local politician, Ray Sansom, whom I first encountered through my Mother’s volunteer work with Hospice. Ray was the director at the time, and a good one. The organization prospered under his leadership, but importantly, the people who worked there were happy to be in the organization, not an easy thing given the mission of any Hospice.

When Ray ran for office he had a base to work with, the people associated with Hospice and other non-profits in the area. He was well liked and seemed to be in tune with local concerns.

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So, everything was wonderful when I booted up on the 15^th. Bill was still being annoying about Service Pack 3, but went away when you ignored him, and I signed on to the ‘Net.

I did a scan of the news, then check comments, noting that Kryten was still being thrown into moderation on a random basis, something weird from the recent upgrade, and then read a few blogs before venturing out to pick up some plumbing parts to repair a drain I had torn apart to get at the “clog from hell”.

After finishing the plumbing and take care of the feral cats I came back to start answering comments before continuing to work on my “real job”.

Nothing, Nada, Nil. The Internet didn’t exist, I didn’t exist, isolation had returned to the Florida Panhandle.

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Just because today is the actual vote for President of the United States [as noted by Mustang Bobby] I would like to offer a major dose of STFU to all of the ‘pundits” talking about the problems of the long gap between selecting a President and having one take office: less than two weeks is not a long time.

Once again: people don’t get to vote for President, they get to vote for some number of the 535 people who get to vote for President – the Electoral College. The Electoral College votes in mid-December, but the votes are counted by the newly elected Congress when they convene for the first time on January 8^th.

There is only a “President-elect” from January 8^th until inauguration at Noon on January 20^th.

The BBC reports that Shoes thrown at Bush on Iraq trip

A surprise visit by US President George Bush to Iraq has been overshadowed by an incident in which two shoes were thrown at him during a news conference.

An Iraqi journalist was wrestled to the floor by security guards after he called Mr Bush “a dog” and threw his footwear, just missing the president.

The soles of shoes are considered the ultimate insult in Arab culture.

I think he can forget having a street named in his honor.

I have apparently managed to update to the latest version of WordPress without breaking anything.  You shouldn’t notice much if any difference, but the view in the back-end is very different.

I don’t know if it is good or bad, only that it is definitely different.

I wouldn’t bother with upgrading, except that each iteration tends to be more secure.

The BBC reports on the intelligence of the wealthy: Top investors ‘hit by $50bn con’

Some of the world’s wealthiest private and corporate investors are reported to be victims of an alleged $50bn fraud by Wall Street broker Bernard Madoff.

Mr Madoff is alleged to have confessed to a huge Ponzi scheme fraud.

I think think the situation is summed up in the title of one of my favorite W.C. Fields movies: You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man.

These are the people who received all of those tax cuts to finance the growth in the economy, and they threw the money down a Black Hole in the hope of making unrealistic profits. “If the claims are too good to be true, they probably aren’t.” That is part of every presentation on financial fraud given somewhere almost every day at senior centers all over the country.  Apparently the police fraud units need to start giving them at country clubs because the obscenely wealthy aren’t very bright.

Everyone would have been better off if we had increased taxes on the upper brackets as we could have increased the number of homeless shelters and food stamps for the formerly wealthy.  As they have never paid withholding taxes, we don’t have to worry about them being a drag on Social Security and Medicare.

I was talking to neighbor and we got into a discussion of Single-payer, Medicare for All, when I realized that people don’t seem to be aware that almost of the insurance policies that even people without health insurance have include medical payments.

Your car insurance pays for accident injuries.  The personal liability section of your home owners insurance covers people injured on your property.  Workmans Comp covers medical costs.  All of these policies cover medical costs, they are just the costs of other people.

The significance of this is that in countries that have universal health care coverage all of these insurance policies are cheaper, because they don’t have to cover the cost of medical care.

Think about an accident that injures a worker at a fast food restaurant.  Which is more expensive: the worker’s wages or that visit to the emergency room?  A lot of workmans comp claims would never be filed  if we had Single-payer because it would be easier to just keep the worker on the clock and let him/her go for treatment.  Under the current system the claim has to be filed because it is often the only way of paying for the treatment.

This is just another way that Single-payer is cheaper than our current system.

The CBC reports that Canadian politicians have a deal ready

The federal government and Ontario have reached a deal to offer proportional funds to Canada’s auto industry if a proposed $14-billion US aid package is approved in Washington, Industry Minister Tony Clement said Friday.

Speaking to reporters in Toronto, Clement said the proposed aid to Canada’s ailing auto sector would amount to approximately 20 per cent of the U.S. proposal, or about $3.3 billion Cdn.

So the Conservative government of Canada gets it, while Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee is opposed to helping US manufacturers. Senator Corker had no problem voting to give hundreds of billions to Wall Street with no strings attached so executives could get their million dollar bonuses, but helping auto workers who actually cost about $28/hour is too much to tolerate.

According to MSNBC Tennessee Republican Bob Corker is pivotal deal-maker in Thursday talks

Corker has crafted a separate, three-pronged plan:

• It would require the two firms closest to bankruptcy, General Motors and Chrysler, to reduce their debt by two-thirds. Bondholders would have “plenty of incentive to make sure that the debt is reduced by two-thirds” or risk losing even more if the firms go into Chapter 11, where their bonds might be further discounted, Corker said. “We’re going to force them into bankruptcy if they don’t do this,” he said bluntly.
• He also would require that the Voluntary Employee Benefit Association, the entity created by the car firms and the UAW to handle retiree health care benefits, accept stock in lieu of half the cash payments due. The carmakers had agreed to fund VEBA but can no longer afford to do so. “If a company goes bankrupt, these future payments are never going to happen anyway,” he said.

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It Snowed In New Orleans!!!

What’s snow? …It’s probably cold. I’m cold, are you cold?
…Would I put up with you two if I wasn’t cold?

[Editor: It’s the Boys who are feeling it, as the Girls are on the floor next to the oil radiator. I know that Income really feels it because he is single-coated, unlike Sox and Excise, and he hasn’t bulked up for the Winter.

Friday Ark

The Republicans in the Senate have managed to bring the auto industry bridge loan proposal, already passed by the House and agreed to by the White House to a screeching halt, which probably means upwards of 3 million more Americans will be unemployed shortly.

The Republicans were demanding that the United Auto Workers take major pay cuts and give up benefits before they would even discuss the loans, and the UAW refused to participate in a one-sided give away.

I don’t remember the Republican Senators offering to give up their health care or Senate pensions as a result of the huge deficits they have accumulated over the last 8 years. Nor have they explained why none of the money we have been pumping into the financial sector was available to the auto companies while the financial sector is talking about megabuck bonuses for executives.

Over at the Agonist there’s a piece called More Car Thoughts about how the US auto industry can be saved by acting like Steve Jobs.

One of the key points is that the Big Three should shut down all of their assembly plants and just put the actual production out to bid.

Of course, this might help stockholders and the executives, but it obviously screws the workers. No concern is given to the minor point – who will buy all of these wonderful, up-to-date cars that are being built wherever. The workers in the companies that would probably get the bids don’t make enough to buy a cup of coffee at a Dunkin’ Donuts, much less an expresso in the areas where there are Apple stores, so they aren’t going to be buying them. This will outsource even more jobs, and create an even deeper recession.

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