New logo
Bob Morris @ Jun 5th 2007 22:07 - Category: Unfiled ;
The amazingly talented Sandi created the new logo. Let me know if you need similar Photoshop work and I’ll put you in touch with her.
Archive for June 5th, 2007
Hurricane Gonu predicted to damage Gulf of Oman oil facilities
Bob Morris @ Jun 5th 2007 17:20 - Category: Unfiled ;
The Oil Drum has the latest on this freak hurricane.
No hurricane has ever hit the Gulf of Oman … until now.
ACLU charges Boeing subsidiary with aiding torture
Bob Morris @ Jun 5th 2007 13:59 - Category: Unfiled ;
Jeppesen Dataplan, a subsidiary of Boeing, arranged torture flights by the CIA. The ACLU has filed a federal lawsuit against them for aiding and abetting torture.
A ethically-vacant company executive was quoted as saying it “pays well” because the CIA “spare no expense.” I wonder, does Jeppensen charge the CIA outlandish sums to clean up the bloodstains after a flight? Hey, as long as it contributes to that all-important bottom line, then who cares if someone gets maimed or killed, right?
Looking out my back door
Bob Morris @ Jun 5th 2007 09:59 - Category: Unfiled ;
This wild turkey wandered in the back yard this morning. The cats were mesmerized. Joey charged it to no avail. The turkey wasn’t even slightly concerned. We live in the semi-burbs outside of Hartford where such wildlife is common. There’s bobcat, deer, bear and other critters in the area too.
The Minutemen are self-destructing
Bob Morris @ Jun 5th 2007 08:15 - Category: Immigrant rights ;
Orcinus details how the Minutemen are turning on each other, splitting into warring factions, and, big surprise here, it’s all about where did the money go.
Carbon emissions
Bob Morris @ Jun 5th 2007 00:23 - Category: Climate change ;
The Guardian has found that the international system for offsetting carbon emissions is rife with “incompetence, rule-breaking and possible fraud.” Plus, it’s a bizarre system in the first place - hey, I can dump garbage in my front yard if I pay you to plant a tree somewhere. Right, like that’s a long-term solution, even if it could be monitored by an international system with the power to enforce, which it clearly isn’t.
AP has documented that those states in the US with the most carbon emissions are precisely those states where coal is burned the most to produce electricity. This will come as little surprise for those of us who know how nasty coal is.
Amex wants you to charge your mortgage payment
Bob Morris @ Jun 5th 2007 00:15 - Category: Credit crisis ;
Just imagine the interest payments that will pile up when you pay your mortgage with a credit card. Interest on top of interest. Amex says they’ve had so much success in getting people to charge condominium down payments that they now want you to charge everything. Imagine the excitement, you can get rebates too. Yes sirree, charge $6500 and you get 1.5% back. Wow, that’s a whopping $97.50. But wait, their web site says that after the intro period is over, that interest rates are anywhere from 12-19%. Paying 12% to get back 1.5% isn’t really advisable, I’m thinking.
Oh, they charge a one time fee of $395 for allowing you to charge your mortgage. That’s mighty generous of them.
And if you need that mortgage but have a low FICO score, no problem.
Just get yourself added as an authorized user on a credit card of someone who has excellent credit. Presto, your FICO score goes up. You can’t actually use the credit card though, while the person who rents out the card gets paid for doing so. Any number of weaseldick companies are popping up to service this scam. They make several hundred a month per card leased out, while the card owner makes $150 a month or so.
Fair Isaac Corp., developer of FICO, says they’ll be slamming the door on this loophole soon.
Whole new possibilities for debt emerge here. Pay the weaseldicks, say, $1500 a month to lease space on several credit cards (and charge the expense of course.) Use that to get a mortgage which you also charge. You’ll then be paying interest on the credit card to pay the mortgage, which of course also has interest charges, with $1500 a month on top of that to keep the illusion going.
Of course this is no more delusional than what D.C. is doing, funding expensive wars with money it doesn’t have by going hugely into debt. Debt castles made of sand.
