Friday, March 27, 2009

Do they do bridge repair?

News item: KFC filling potholes in marketing effort

(Crain’s) — Don't be surprised if you see Col. Sanders out filling potholes. In an unusual cause-marketing push, KFC is tackling the pothole problem in Louisville, Ky. in exchange for stamping the fresh pavement with "Re-freshed by KFC," a chalky stencil likely to fade away in the next downpour...

Chicago has been in talks with a company about long-term sponsorship of pothole repair. [Chicago Department of Transportation spokesman Brian] Steele would not name that company.


There are probably some humorous possibilities.

Tuck this one away

American Association
Grand Prairie AirHogs - Signed OF Aaron Garza
~
"The name "AirHogs" is a slang term used by U.S. military pilots, and refers to the city's aviation industry."
-- The Wikipedia
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Thursday, March 26, 2009

On da udder hand, "No Title Nellie" is BRAIN-DEAD, so who knows?

Anthony Randolph started in his hometown on Wednesday (Dallas), finishing with 10 points, six rebounds and two steals, but Don Nelson wasn't thrilled with him after the game.
"Because he came home, I wanted to start him," Nelson said. "I was pretty disappointed when he reverted back to the way he wants to play, which is the way that we had him in training camp — coming down wild and shooting every time. I bent over backwards to make sure he played a lot tonight so he could play in front of his family, and that was a bit of a disappointment." Knowing Nelson, his anger with the young big man could result in another start over Brandan Wright in his next game.

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This post is making me hungry... I could really go for a slice of Molto's pizza right now...

Idaho teacher sells advertising space on tests

POCATELLO, Idaho -- Good morning, class, and welcome to U.S. history, brought to you by Molto Caldo Pizzeria.

In a cash-strapped Idaho high school where signs taped near every light switch remind the staff to save electricity, an enterprising teacher has struck a sponsorship deal with a local pizza shop: Every test, handout and worksheet he passes out to his students reads MOLTO'S PIZZA 14" 1 TOPPING JUST $5 in bright red, inch-high letters printed along the bottom of every page.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

He might want to check the morgue

MESA, Ariz. -- Cubs reliever Chad Gaudin is trying to find himself this spring, an odyssey which began when he was selected by the Andersonville Horror in the 24th round of this year's FISK draft.

He's got da BAEKs -- Bury Annudder Execrable K-Madder.

They warned us!

AIG employee quits at 'betrayal'

The mass exodus of those who would "save" "AIG" has begun. They won't get their bonuses, so they're outta dere. Taking with them their expertise in er, um, ah, I'll get back to you on that one.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

To Cheer Us Up!

Somebody's going to get rich! Was here and found this little gem of happiness about the bank plan.

Bronte Capital


Why the Countrywide guys should be allowed to get mega-rich

Posted: 24 Mar 2009 04:23 PM PDT
Pimco is a bond management firm which has come through this crisis almost unscathed. The monthly letters from Pimco are amongst the few must-reads of Wall Street. I have no reason to believe that Pimco has ever acted with anything but integrity.

A few days ago I posted about cumulative loss data at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I pointed out that Fannie's credit on qualifying mortgages was consistently worse than Freddie's and asked for comments. One comment suggested – and I have since confirmed – that the main difference was that Countrywide largely originated for Fannie – and was Fannie's largest source of loans.

Given that they used the same sort of computer data as everyone else it is likely that they were at best aggressive in how they confirmed mortgagee income and employment. Its a culture thing.

And given that the losses at Fannie and Freddie now appear to belong to the US Government these guys were not nice to taxpayers.

The guys from Countrywide have started a new firm – Penny Mac – which will deal in scratch-and-dint mortgages. They clearly have some experience in the area. The New York times wrote a story which was – at least editorially – a little sickened by how guys that manage to cause the crisis are now profiting from it. The tone rings politically true.

The terms for the Geithner funds were written so that Pimco could (almost certainly) run one of the funds. Indeed the terms appear to be written in a way as to maximise conflicts of interest. This is a problem – because say $10 billion that Pimco puts up will give Pimco power to buy maybe $200 billion in bonds.

Pimco owns a lot of debt of large banks. If they were to use that $200 billion for say $80 billion of overpayment as suggested by Steve Waldman then they could make good their huge holdings of bank debt. They are conflicted. The conflict is large.

By contrast if the Countrywide guys are to put in the bulk of their personal fortunes they are not conflicted. (It would be almost everything they had – and they have no other remaining interests.)

The treasury should refuse Pimco's application and accept Penny Mac's if Penny Mac makes a decent submission.

Its an outcome that politically stinks. It will deliver a fortune to the Countrywide guys. It will sure play badly in the New York times.

But agency problems are at the core of how we got into this crisis – whether it be mortgage brokers with an incentive to say one thing and do another or whether it is traders who got paid huge bonuses when they lied about their mark-to-market profits or rating agencies who were paid by issuers of dodgy debt..

The Treasury should be writing the criteria to minimise agency problems – and instead they have written them to maximise agency problems.

This is not good.

Maybe Fung could translate this?

Man of Kent is a delicious stop up Rte 7 in upstate New York on the way to Vermont. Adam reminded me of it today - and I decided to visit it on the web and found this:



Man of Kent Cricket Club Enjoy a Friendly Win

Match report by Nigel Johnson

Scorecard

Hoosick NY, August 13th 2006.

Well, it could have been the biggest banana skin ever, but in fact turned into one of our best performances and that takes into account a feisty and youthful opponent who thought they could win. It was the best day for Summer cricket and the wicket looked great, even with the minor problems of the pitch markings (!) Steve showed up with 10 High Schoolers from the electric city, and more than a few of them had serious cricket genes, and it was great to see Alton again, and there is for sure no better ambassador of cricket to mentor this new team, lead by Matthew Persaud, son of Maurice Persaud - need I say more. Evidently these kids had been practicing every Tuesday for some time now, and probably with the senior squad on Friday's, and I am sure that after our failure against the Mad Dogs, Steve thought we were ripe for the taking - well the best laid plans of Weisse and men, we proved 'em wrong. And did we!!

It did not start well, when this Captain lost the toss, and was pleasantly surprised when we were asked to bat first. I always go on the principal that it is far better to have the runs on the board, than to chase down runs on a worn wicket. Kumar and I opened the innings and rode our luck a little, having to deal with some short "bodyline" bowling, and accurate medium pace from their Captain. Still we were able to stick around long enough to take the sting out of the bowling attack before I succumbed to a mistimed shot and was caught out of their Captains bowling, still we had close to 40 runs on the board and a significant improvement on our previous effort. I can't recall the batting order but it seemed that everyone was more or less able to put runs on the board, and especially Kumar, Balki, Kirk, Mick and top scorer Eric who plundered some "sit up and beg" bowling in the middle overs. 100 runs appeared and went, along with 150, and we batted out our allotted 30 overs with great aplomb, garnering a total of 190 some for 9. Good efforts also from Allen with his ever present runner Balki, and Joe, who will want to forget his nightmare dismissal, I'm sure.

After our mid innings break we went out confident of a defensible total, especially with our bowling line up. Kumar and Neel opened the bowling and runs from the opposition were slow, apart from punishing the occasional loose ball. Balki, Kirk, Tim, and Eric followed and pretty much finished them off, and we certainly were able to take every chance that came on offer. Great catches taken, return throws, a neat stumping, and some stump splitting bowling ripped out wickets at regular intervals and in the end it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened. I must say that from my vantage point behind the wicket I thought that Steve was a little too eager for success, especially with his umpiring calls (!) But it was a credit that everyone stuck to their task with victory in sight. Well done indeed to the team. Moving on now, I don't know who is available for practice tonight but a show of hands would help decide. I have a knee strain and will not be able to participate tonight, and have work commitments for this Sunday and possibly next Thursday (!) So please speak up if you want to practice and so something can be coordinated. In terms of games we are pretty much done at the school now, but it would be worth planning an away game or two in September if there was some interest. So shabbash to all for a great team effort on Sunday - a great way to close out the year, short as it is at Hoosac.






What does this mean Fung?

BREAKING:

Paul Harvey is Still Dead.

Thank God.

~

Howie Long: Asshole

The excruciating and mildly amusing commercials of the tourney

3. Howie Long. Do you want me to hate Howie Long, Chevrolet? Because I do. I couldn't hate him more if he spent all day yesterday sitting next to me and jabbing me in the thigh with a pitchfork every time I blinked. And when I think about how much more Howie Long I'm going to be seeing over the next few weeks, it makes me hate Howie Long even more.
Tell me, Howie, what's so unmasculine about a having a step to get in the back of your truck? Are all truck owners expected to have a 40-inch vertical leap? There's literally no other scenario on the planet where a person would be expected to navigate a climb of that height without the use of a step. But this poor guy is the object of Howie Long's derision because he wants a step to get into the bed of his truck?
What's your deal, Howie Long? What do you have against the use of basic technology to help a person do something they might not otherwise be able to easily do? Man-step. What do you want to the guy to do, pole vault into the back of the truck? Do you stand outside of public buildings all day, Howie, waiting for someone who uses a wheelchair to use an entrance ramp, and then say, "Hey buddy, way to use your little man-ramp"? Jerk.


And am i the only one to notice his pedophile ad? The one with the annoying little girl, a close-up of his crotch and her pointing at it, before they get into the back seat of a truck together? That's the ad. Really.

I am never buying a fucking Chevy. Fuck them and FUCK Howie Long. ASSHOLE.
~

Monday, March 23, 2009

Smiff: The Statue

I'm guessing neither one was a Rhodes Scholar

Cops: Ohio man shot self after running over friend
The Associated Press 5:03 a.m. March 23, 2009
SAGAMORE HILLS, Ohio — Police say an Ohio man fatally shot himself in the head moments after realizing he had run over a friend in a bar parking lot.
Summit County Sheriff's Sgt. Scott Cottle says witnesses saw Erich Schultz and Stacy DiJulius arguing in the parking lot after both had been drinking at a bar in Sagamore Hills, about 20 miles south of Cleveland.
Cottle says 38-year-old Schultz tried to drive away in his Jeep, but DiJulius tried to enter the vehicle as it moved and fell under one of the tires. Cottle says it appears Schultz accidentally ran over DiJulius and he felt so bad about it that he took out a gun and shot himself.
The 39-year-old DiJulius died at a hospital after Saturday night's accident. Schultz died on Sunday.

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Obama, Ozzie Agree: Go Full Retard

Ozzie Guillen’s muses include advising Obama

GLENDALE, Ariz. – President Barack Obama’s apology for his Special Olympics crack to Jay Leno while lampooning his bowling skills may not be enough to satisfy Gov. Sarah Palin, who ripped Obama for a “degrading remark.” But the president might be heartened to hear that a fellow Chicago South Sider, one who knows something about political incorrectness, has his back.

“I thought it was funny,” said Ozzie Guillen, the never-lost-for-something-to-say manager of the Chicago White Sox. “People take it out of context. The [expletive*] people in this country think you have to worry about what you’re saying, what you’re thinking. … I love when I see Obama’s picture in the paper with a beer in his hands. It’s awesome. He’s a human being. He’s a guy who enjoys life.”...

[fucking?--ed.]
~

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Question submitted

6 y.o.: Hercules is strong.

me: yeah.

6 y.o.: Is anyone stronger than Hercules?

me: well his father is Zeus, and Zeus is stronger.

6 y.o.: who is the strongest god?

me: hard to say.

6 y.o.: who do most people say is strongest?

me: most people don't talk about stong gods anymore. People around here mostly worship the god of the bible and his son Jesus.

6 y.o: do you think Jesus could kill god?