The Irony & The Ecstasy

Honestly, the jokes just write themselves these days:

A year ago, the Mortgage Bankers Association was thrilled to sign a contract to buy a fancy new headquarters building in downtown Washington. Interest rates were low, the group's revenues were steady and the prospects for quickly renting out part of the structure were strong.

But since then, the association has fallen on tough times as many of the subprime mortgages dispensed by some of its members proved dicey. Borrowers discovered the loans were more costly than they had anticipated. Foreclosures soared, and cheap, inexpensive credit dried up, slowing the economy.

The result: The trade group is about to find it harder than it imagined to pay its own mortgage.

Scheduled to close on the building in the coming weeks, the association will have to pay millions of dollars more than it would have a year ago when it contracted to buy the 160,000-square-foot structure -- millions of dollars it is now less able to afford.

No one could have anticipated that the predatory lending practices of folks like Countrywide would have industry-wide repercussions! No one expected those chickens to come home to roost.

It’s not like the Mortgage Bankers Assn. didn’t try to keep foisting their higher cost, dirty-dog subprime mortgages off on an unsuspecting public, even after the collapse of Big Shitpile, or force borrowers into foreclosure. Oh, wait. They did:

Indeed, under pressure from the lobby, the House already gutted some of the better parts of the Frank bill. For example, the Mortgage Bankers Association and the American Banking Association lobbyists persuaded legislators to allow lenders to continue the insidious practice of paying an increased fee to brokers for steering borrowers into higher cost sub-prime mortgages. It also bars borrowers whose predatory loans have been sold on Wall Street from suing investors for relief until the homeowners are facing foreclosure. In effect, it forces borrowers into foreclosure as a condition for asserting their rights. Wall Street and the big players in the mortgage market won't be held accountable for buying abusive loans.

Well, there is a God: apparently the Mortgage Bankers Assn. has hit on some hard times. According to the Washington Post, the lobbying group’s membership is down 17% and its revenue will be down 15%.

Not the same as a family being tossed out of their home, of course. But I won't be crying for the Mortgage Bankers Association if they have to eat it on their new HQ.

Happy Birthday, Peace Sign!

Apparently today is the 50th birthday of the peace sign. No kidding! According to Wiki:

This forked symbol was designed for the Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War (DAC) and was adopted as its badge by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in Britain, and originally was used by the British nuclear disarmament movement. It was later generalised to become an international icon for the 1960s anti-war movement, and was also adopted by the counterculture of the time. It was designed and completed February 21, 1958 by Gerald Holtom, a professional designer and artist in Britain for the April 4 march planned by DAC from Trafalgar Square, London to the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston in England.

The symbol itself is a combination of the semaphoric signals for the letters "N" and "D," standing for Nuclear Disarmament. In semaphore the letter "N" is formed by a person holding two flags in an upside-down "V," and the letter "D" is formed by holding one flag pointed straight up and the other pointed straight down. These two signals imposed over each other form the shape of the peace symbol. In the original design the lines widened at the edge of the circle.

I had no idea.

You can create your own peace sign here.

Our Great Equal Opportunity Employer

In the post below I quote John McCain as saying the U.S. military is the “greatest equal opportunity employer in America.”

Look what our great equal opportunity employer has done to a dead soldier’s Wikipedia entry:

Pentagon employee erases mention of homosexuality on dead soldier's Wikipedia page

The Washington Blade reports that a computer with a Pentagon-registered IP address removed references of Maj. Alan Rogers’ sexual orientation:

Information that was deleted included Rogers’ sexual orientation; the soldier’s participation in American Veterans for Equal Rights, a group that works to change military policy toward gays; and the fact that Rogers’ death helped bring the U.S. military’s casualty toll in Iraq to 4,000.

[…]

The IP address attached to the deletion of the details and the posted comments is 141.116.168.135. The address belongs to a computer from the office of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence (G-2) at the Pentagon. The office is headed by Lt. Gen. John Kimmons, who was present at Rogers’ funeral and presented the flag from Rogers’ coffin to his cousin, Cathy Long.

I can think of some adjectives right now but “great” and "equal opportunity employer" aren't among them.

McCain Nixed King Holiday

[UPDATE]:

McCain's history with the MLK holiday gets even worse. According to ABC News, he was not only against it for the state of Arizona, he supported rescinding it after it was already state law:

In Arizona, a bill to recognize a holiday honoring MLK failed in the legislature, so then-Gov. Bruce Babbitt, a Democrat, declared one through executive order.

In January 1987, the first act of Arizona's new governor, Republican Evan Mecham, was to rescind the executive order by his predecessor to create an MLK holiday. Arizona's stance became a national controversy.

McCain backed the decision at the time. But eventually he changed his mind.

If John McCain learned his lesson, he sure took his time.


The GOP is trying hard to, pardon the pun, whitewash its racist past with claptrap like this from the state GOP. Now via the Wall Street Journal we are reminded that John McCain voted against a federal holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. back in 1983:

But when McCain first came to Congress in 1983, he opposed creating a federal holiday. The House vote was 338-90 and President Reagan signed the bill into law later that year.

McCain said earlier this week that he had not understood the issue. Asked what he later learned, he said, “I learned that this individual was a transcendent figure in American history. He deserved to be honored… I had not really been involved in the issue. I just had not had a lot of experience with the issue.”

He grew testy when asked what he did not understand. He also noted that his adopted state of Arizona does not have a large African-American population, and said the U.S. military, where he had spent his entire adult life before running for Congress, is the “greatest equal opportunity employer in America. It was then and it is today.”

Well, except for the gay thing. But I digress.

So, McCain didn’t understand what the civil rights movement was about? Really? One didn’t have to live in the thick of it to understand what was happening in the 1950s and 1960s. His "failure to understand" shows either a shocking lack of interest or an even worse disengagement from one of this country's most transcendent struggles.

Geez, do we really need someone like this as POTUS? We’ve barely survived eights years of “no one could have anticipated” ... do we need another four?

Clinton Petition

I got a copy of Hillary Clinton’s petition to seat the FL and MI delegates in the e-mail via Emily’s List. That just ticked me off. Look, if Hillary is the nominee, great, she’s got my support. But there’s no need for dishonesty, and comparisons to the 2000 “count the votes” thing are offensive.

In comments at Eschaton Falstaff posted this hilarious video, which illustrates the issue perfectly:



Come off it, already.

Trader Joe's In Green Hills!

If this is a late April Fool's joke, I'm gonna be really mad. A friend just e-mailed me this, with no attribution from The Tennessean. We believe the location is the old Wild Oats building on Hillboro Road:

Trader Joe's, a grocery chain some Nashvillians have long clamored for, is set to open a Green Hills location by Thanksgiving of this year.

The store will be located at 3909 Hillsboro Pike and measure 14,000 square feet, said spokeswoman Alison Mochizuke.

That's in line with the California-based company's average store size of approximately 10,000- to 15,000-square feet.

I'll update if I find out more.

Welcoming Our Corporate Overlords, Part 2

As if network television weren’t crappy enough already, someone at NBC has come up with this lame idea:

At a presentation on Wednesday afternoon, senior executives of NBC, part of the NBC Universal unit of General Electric, will describe how they are seeking to make advertisers into long-term partners rather than just sell them 30-second commercials.

One example is a new deal with the Liberty Mutual Group insurance company that is centered on a pair of two-hour TV movies to be broadcast under the banner of the company — “Liberty Mutual Presents,” for example.

The movie plots are intended to complement a campaign for Liberty Mutual that was introduced in 2006 by Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos in Boston, which carries the theme, “Responsibility. What’s your policy?” The scripts, which Liberty Mutual will help develop, will discuss subjects like taking responsibility for one’s actions and deciding how to do the right thing.

Oh great, just what I need: to take my moral cues from a freaking insurance company.

This all worked so well in the 1950s, didn’t it? I’m sure the fact that Phillip Morris sponsored I Love Lucy had nothing to do with the fact that Lucy, Ethel and Ricky smoked like chimneys on the program.

Let me be clear, as a “content creator” (i.e., a writer) I absolutely detest this idea. I find it abhorrent to allow anyone--government or corporation--to have control over the creative process. I know newspapers and magazines do it all the time with advertising inserts and “special sections,” and I don’t like that, either.

The Times article quotes Michael Pilot, president for sales and marketing at NBC Universal:

advertisers “are not asking us to be programmers,” Mr. Pilot said, but rather “they want to be more connected to the programming; they want a seat at the table.”

Excuse me, I thought programming was a network's job, and who said advertisers should be involved in programming anyway? Who said that’s in the best interest of TV viewers? They're hawking products at us, why should they have a seat at the table?

I’ve voiced my distaste for being marketed to several times. I realize that this dislike of advertising is why corporations are forced to get more creative with their sales pitch to begin with. But it’s getting downright predatory. It’s like there’s some phantom lurking in my home reaching out to sell me shit I don’t want at every turn. Ads on supermarket shopping baskets, in the movie theater, on television, in my mailbox, and now even snuck into the content of my entertainment. I’m sick of it

Here’s a novel idea to Liberty Mutual: how about making a better product? Yeah, I used to have your insurance and I cancelled it because your premiums got way too high and you didn’t offer the same bells and whistles that other insurance companies did. How about just providing a product people want, and trust the “free hand of the market” to do its job?

Anyway, the NBC/Liberty Mutual partnership will debut in September with “Kings,” which Liberty Mutual’s PR guy described as

a “fast-paced, contemporary drama, kind of like ‘The West Wing’ set in a kingdom,” and inspired by the biblical story of David.

Good luck with that.

Justice For The Shanks

Updating this post from last Friday, Wal-Mart has finally agreed to do the right thing and return Debbie Shank’s settlement money so she can pay for her longterm care. Via Wal-Mart Watch:

Statement from David Nassar, Wal-Mart Watch Executive Director: 

“We are elated that after months of public pressure and national outrage, Wal-Mart says it is finally going to do the right thing for Debbie Shank and her family. 

“During the past few weeks, Jim Shank has brought to life Debbie’s tragic circumstances and vividly shown that her case is a scorching symbol of Wal-Mart’s decision to insufficiently fund its health care plan for its 1.3 million U.S. workers.

“Debbie’s case exemplifies what Wal-Mart Watch and others see every day:  the world’s largest employer choosing to put less into its benefits than it should.  This leaves thousands of Wal-Mart associates with choices about preventative care and necessary care that are driven by what they can afford rather than by what is in their best interest.  Debbie Shank’s story is not only a personal tragedy; it poses a cautionary tale for all Wal-Mart associates.

“It is our sincere hope that Wal-Mart will not have to endure this level of shame again before it fixes its health care problem and does the right thing for its associates.  We wish the Shank family the very best and will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that Wal-Mart keeps its promise to them.”

Thanks to CNN, Keith Olbermann, bloggers, and all of the good citizens outraged at Wal-Mart's callous attitude toward one of its employees, justice--at least this one time--has been served.

Truckers Protest Diesel Prices

A caller on the Ed Schultz show just reported that truckers in Wyoming are standing idle to protest the high cost of diesel. Then I heard truckers in New Jersey are doing the same thing.

It seems a national protest has begun:

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Independent truckers around the country pulled their rigs off the road and others slowed to a crawl on major highways in a loosely organized protest of high fuel prices.

Some truckers, on CB radios and trucking Web sites, had called for a strike Tuesday to protest the high cost of diesel fuel, saying the action might pressure President Bush to stabilize prices by using the nation's oil reserves. But the protests were scattered because major trucking companies were not on board and there did not appear to be any central coordination.

On New Jersey's Turnpike, southbound rigs "as far as the eye can see" were moving at about 20 mph near Newark, said Turnpike Authority spokesman Joe Orlando. Other truckers had gathered at a service area near Newark chanting and protesting.

Outside Chicago, three truck drivers were ticketed for impeding traffic on Interstate 55, driving three abreast at low speeds, said Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Luis Gutierrez.

Near Florida's Port of Tampa, more than 50 tractor-trailer rigs sat idle as their drivers demanded that contractors pay them more to cover their fuel and other costs.

"We can no longer haul their stuff for what they're paying," said David Santiago, 35, a trucker for the past 17 years.

I’m sure our snooze media will barely mention this story before moving back to their infatuation with all things McCain and the Democratic primary. So I thought y’all should know.

There’s a lot of discontent brewing under the surface in this country. When it all explodes, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Welcoming Our Corporate Overlords

Today I received a proxy statement from Bristol-Myers Squibb. I was interested to see a familiar name among the board nominees: Louis J. Freeh.

Yes, that would be the former FBI director. I guess I missed it when this story hit the newswires last fall:

NEW YORK, Sept. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) today announced that its Board of Directors has elected Louis J. Freeh, Vice Chairman of MBNA America Bank, N.A., to the Board. His appointment is effective today.

Of course, there’s nothing new about public servants joining corporate boards and vice versa: it happens all the time. Who has forgotten that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice served on the board of Chevron (even getting a Chevron oil tanker named after her), as well as the boards of Charles Schwab and Transamerica Corp.? Both Democrats and Republicans do it, and have for years. The media rarely if ever mentions a politician’s board affiliations (unless you’re Hillary Clinton, of course).

But it’s starting to bother me. Every week there’s a new press release about a former Administration official serving on some corporate board or another. For instance, last week Charlotte Beers joined the board of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia--a position she’d held previously:

Ms. Beers' election marks her return to MSLO's Board; she served as a director from 1999 to 2001, resigning to take a role in the Bush Administration as U.S. Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs from October 2001 through March 2003.

Most of the time such things wouldn’t raise an eyebrow, but the past decade has seen the establishment of a real government-industry revolving door, and this worries me. There are plenty of websites that discuss this (a good one with lots of disturbing examples of the revolving door can be found here) but it’s something rarely discussed in the media, except on lefty blogs. I wonder if people are really aware of what’s happening, if they care, and if anyone besides me thinks it’s a bad idea to blur the lines between big industry and government.