October, 2010 archive
Bags of Air, the Return 0
What happens when someone turns over the shells in the old shell game and finds that the pea is missing?
We may be about to find out where that pea went, or whether it was ever there.
The investors asked Bank of New York to demand the repurchase of loans that were originated “in violation of underwriting guidelines,” according to a statement Monday by Kathy Patrick of law firm Gibbs & Bruns, which is representing the group.
The seller of any “ineligible or predatory” mortgages should also pay the cost of modifying them for homeowners, or buy those loans back from the pools of collateral backing the securities, she added.
This should get interesting.
Quality Construction at a Price That’s Right 1
My two or three regular readers know that I am skeptical of the electronic voting movement; I’m not agin’ it, but I fear too little attention is being paid to security. (Brad Friedman follows the security issues closely.)
I should also have been concerned about quality.
Virginia Beach will be the only South Hampton Roads city not using the electronic poll books on Nov. 2.
The story goes on to explain that the Commonwealth decided to show its reverence for the vote by buying refurbished computers.
The boxes don’t seem to have been refurbished enough.
To make the deal affordable, the state opted to use refurbished laptops, and that’s where some of the problems have cropped up, said Alfred Giles, voting technology coordinator for the Virginia State Board of Elections.
The recent shipments of used computers from the vendor, TechTurn, a Texas-based company, have suffered from a high number of defects, Giles said. The state has returned about 250 defective laptops, a large number from Richmond and Virginia Beach, to TechTurn in recent months, Giles said.
BKCSI 0
El Reg has the results of the forensic analysis.
There’s a Capsule for That
0
The Boston Globe reports on the pharma teams. A nugget:
A review of physician licensing records in the 15 most populous states and three others found sanctions against more than 250 speakers, including some of the highest paid. Their misconduct included inappropriately prescribing drugs, providing poor care, or having sex with patients. Some of the doctors had even lost their licenses.
Not doctors. Sales persons.
Cat Lady II 0
If you have internet, and you likely do, you’ve probably seen the video.
Now read about the results of the trial.
That “Forward” Button Will Do It Every Time (Updated) (Updated Again) 0
Blue Virginia has the details.
Vivian Page has more. I can’t be quite so charitable as she. Persons who are unable to realize what they can and can’t say in public–and the internet is a public place–are asking for trouble.
It is remarkable that many of those folks seem to gravitate to the Republican Party never mind.
Addendum:
That was quick. The story broke yesterday, when I drafted this post. From this morning’s local rag:
The e-mail was dated March 15 and sent from the address that Bartholomew uses as party chairman. Bartholomew forwarded it without reading the contents when “he was first getting familiar with the Internet,” Byler said.
Yeah.
Right.
Some randon related thoughts:
- Racism takes many forms, some much more subtle than others.
- Rudeness is rudeness is rudeness. Politeness includes refusing to do things that others would find hurtful.
- Dumb takes many forms. Really, how many of you forward emails without at least glancing over them?
- Grown-ups should know how to behave in public.
Addendum-Dee-Dum-Dum, Later That Same Afternoon:
It gets moreso.
Drinking Liberally Virginia Beach 2
One of the things that I have missed since moving to these parts is Drinking Liberally.
When I lived in the Greater Philadelphia Co-Prosperity Sphere, the regular Tuesday meetings of the local DL chapter recharged and invigorated me. The Philly DL bloggers who still have active blogs are linked on the sidebar, over there ————->.
It wasn’t the drinking (I can do that quite well on my own, thank you).
It was the liberally–the fellowship of kindred minds.
Some of the friendships I made there continue across the miles.
When I moved here, there were two DL chapters listed at the mothership–one in Norfolk and one in Virginia Beach–but both of them had faded away by the time I went looking for them.
Now, someone is trying to revive a local chapter.
See you there:
-
When: Thursday, October 28, 6:00 p. m.
Where: Croc’s Bistro & Bar, 620 19th St, Virginia Beach, Virginia (Map)
To quote one of my Philly DL friends,
“Come for the beer, stay for the check”
Give Me a Bleepin’ Break 2
So I’m listening to a rerun of “Criminal Minds” while mucking about on LQ.
In this episode, someone has spiked the water supply of a town with LS&D.
Dialog (paraphrase):
FBI Agent A. “Each person received 10 to 12 times the normal dose.”
FBI Agent B. “That’s enough to kill a small child.”
I’m calling bullshit.
Meta: Comments 0
I want to thank those of you have commented here.
This site does not get many comments (it has half as many comments as posts) and I have fallen out of the habit of checking for them.
I apologize and will do better, though I cannot promise to respond each one.
VBDC Third Thursday Dinner 0
- What: Virginia Beach Democratic Committee Third Thursday Dinner
- When: October 21st, 6:00 PM
- Where: Kelly’s Hilltop Tavern, 1936 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach, VA 23454 (map)
Show up, order off the menu (separate checks), socialize, and talk politics–or whatever else interests you.
I have attended several of these. They tend to be smaller gatherings, highly informal, and a lot of fun.
For more information, email VaBeachBoy@aol.com
We Need Single Payer, Fee Hand of the Market Dept. 0
Gotta pay those country club memberships:
(snip)
The lawsuit said that Michigan Blue Cross Blue Shield intended to raise hospital costs for competing health care plans and reduce competition for the sale of health insurance.
“As a result, consumers in Michigan are paying more for their health care services and health insurance,” Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney, who runs the Justice Department’s antitrust division, told reporters.
BCBS, natch, claims that it has done nothing improper. Follow the link for the details of its denials.
Facebook Frolics 2
And this surprises us how?
According to the Journal’s investigation, the issue affects tens of millions of Facebook app users, including people who set their profiles to Facebook’s strictest privacy settings, the paper said.
The “Vampire Elite” (Updated) 0
From Shaun Mullen. A nugget:
The Obama administration was going to have a dickens of a time getting the U.S. back on the road to prosperity after his predecessor gifted us the worst recession since the Great Depression.
But it is the Vampire Elite — the corporate big shots and bankers and stockbrokers and their super-rich clients — who are the greatest impediment.
Addendum, That Same Evening:
Foreclosure Fraud 0
Facing South compiles some stats. A nugget:
Read the whole thing. The raw numbers paint a more disgusting picture of fiduciary malfeasance than do all the polemics one can muster.
QOTD 0
John Kenneth Galbraith, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.
They Might Be Giants 0
Then, again, Phillies 6, Giants 1.
Catch 22 0
It’s the best catch there is.
A retired schoolteacher from Hawaii is so fascinated with the story of the Lost Colony that, upon retirement, he moved from Hawaii to North Carolina so as to continue studying it (now, that’s fascination).
He thinks he knows where some of the settlers moved before they disappeared–Mackay Island, in the northern end of the Outer Banks, north of Roanoke Island–but
