It began innocently enough, in the late 1990's. Harry Markopolos worked for a Boston investment firm that kept losing customers to Bernie Madoff. Bernie was consistently, almost spookily, outperforming them, and Harry's bosses wanted him to find out how. They wanted to him to model Bernie's operation, so they could go and do likewise.
In under thirty minutes, Harry had bad news: They couldn't replicate Bernie, because Bernie was running a huge Ponzi scheme.
Thus began a decade-long journey in pursuit of Bernie and his sixty-five billion dollar scam.
Not surprisingly, he's now on a book tour.
Harry is not, shall we say, a riveting interview. He's a nerd, actually. But listen to what he has to say.
No one at the agency tasked with preventing stock fraud could understand the math he presented on four different occasions. No one was fired as a result, only promoted.
Had the meltdown not occurred in the fall of 2008, Bernie would still be at it. He turned himself in to the FBI. When they arrived to interview him, he greeted them with the classic line: 'There is no innocent explanation.'
He was speaking for himself, but as so often happens at crucial moments, his statement took on a universal tone.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Hannan's History Lesson On The Tea Party
A bit of a history lesson from Dan Hannan, who lends his Oxford-educated perspective to the Tea Parties: the one in Boston in 1773, the movement that has arisen here in the past year, and the one just underway back in Great Britain.
The American Revolution, in other words, was inspired by British political philosophy and – more to the point – by British political practice. American patriots saw themselves as part of a continuing British tradition, stretching back through the Glorious Revolution, back through the agitations of Pym and Hampden, back even through the Great Charter to the folkright of Anglo-Saxon common law.
We here owe so much to those who risked everything for freedom, the ones who stayed behind when our ancestors debarked for America.
Three cheers, if distant and delayed.
The American Revolution, in other words, was inspired by British political philosophy and – more to the point – by British political practice. American patriots saw themselves as part of a continuing British tradition, stretching back through the Glorious Revolution, back through the agitations of Pym and Hampden, back even through the Great Charter to the folkright of Anglo-Saxon common law.
We here owe so much to those who risked everything for freedom, the ones who stayed behind when our ancestors debarked for America.
Three cheers, if distant and delayed.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Taking Fire: Jim Bunning Of Kentucky
Jim Bunning, Senator from Kentucky, is taking some serious fire.
He, alone, has stood up to one more spending bill that normally would fly through on greased skids, an 'emergency' extension of federal unemployment benefits. If something is an 'emergency', then Congress gets to toss any consideration of budgetary restraints out the window. You know, it isn't like the entire universe doesn't know that unemployment is north of 10%, and has been for some time.
The Chilean earthquake in an emergency. This bill isn't.
He doesn't object to extending unemployment benefits. He just wants it paid for with money already budgeted. Therefore, he objects. And the bill stops dead in its tracks. He gets to do that. He's a Senator, just like all the other Senators who get to do that.
To hear the responses from the White House, Harry Reid, and even his own colleagues, you would think this guy was Attilla the Hun, eager to starve little children. Why, how DARE he object!
As one wry observer notes:
This is how Senators think. You see, the way the Senate works is that the powers-that-be package a whole host of big spending or nefarious policy into a bill that is wrapped in a bow of something like “unemployment insurance” or has some title that no one could possibly object to, and then you ask unanimous consent to call it up and pass it. No debate. No discussion. Just waltz on down to the Senate floor and ask consent - and when a Senator says, “hmmm… I dunno, perhaps we should have some debate about spending another 10 or 20 billion dollars every 30 days, and perhaps at least think about a way to pay for this stuff,” he is excoriated for “hating” people and left out to dry by friend and foe alike because no one has the damn nerve to stand up and say, “you know what, you’re right.” Instead, business-as-usual in the Senate is to talk about “my friend” from wherever, and to let federal spending balloon out of control while you laugh in the cloakroom or run to catch your flight to another junket somewhere.
Business as usual has got to stop. Someone has to take the arrows, and Senator Bunning has decided to do just that. He led the charge to defeat the Bernanke re-appointment, and had some steaming-hot choice words for the Chairman during hearings. Like, 'failure'. As in, 'You are a failure!' Stuff PeopleInChargeOfSuchThings never hear, 'cuz they're way too insulated from any effect of any decision they make.
Helicopter Ben kept his job, but the thirty 'no' votes did ring loud in his ears, and a lot of senators who voted 'yes' gonna have a lot of 'splainin' to do, Lucy. OS received a 'let me 'splain' email from Bob Corker yesterday, long after his vote was cast. He thinks people have short memories, that they care more about curling and Jay Leno. His lily-white is in for a shock, OS predicts.
Bunning, however, is of a different stripe. He had a life before the Senate, totally removed from political life.
He had a real career, as a very distinguished Major League Baseball pitcher, between 1955 and 1971.
Won 224, Lost 184, a .549 winning percentage. An earned run average of 3.27 per game over seventeen years in the majors, during an era when giants ruled the land, like Mantle, Maris, Aaron, Koufax, the list goes on and on. Before free agency ballooned salaries. Before steroids and multi-million dollar endorsement deals and no-cut contracts. In the mid-60's he allowed fewer than three runs per game for four consecutive years.
Baseball, for those who don't follow it, is a tough, unforgiving sport. Every pitch, every part of every play is charted by the statisticians, and enters the permanent lexicon of the game for all to see. There is nowhere to hide for anyone who plays the game. The tiniest misjudgment at the wrong moment can cost a team, and its city, an otherwise successful season. Likewise, an heroic performance at the right moment can turn the tide in a grueling 160+ game season.
He knows what it means to get the job done with thousands of people heckling him in the hot summer sun, hoping he fails. He ain't skeered of Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer...
He retires from the Senate this year.
With honor. Just like he did from baseball.
He, alone, has stood up to one more spending bill that normally would fly through on greased skids, an 'emergency' extension of federal unemployment benefits. If something is an 'emergency', then Congress gets to toss any consideration of budgetary restraints out the window. You know, it isn't like the entire universe doesn't know that unemployment is north of 10%, and has been for some time.
The Chilean earthquake in an emergency. This bill isn't.
He doesn't object to extending unemployment benefits. He just wants it paid for with money already budgeted. Therefore, he objects. And the bill stops dead in its tracks. He gets to do that. He's a Senator, just like all the other Senators who get to do that.
To hear the responses from the White House, Harry Reid, and even his own colleagues, you would think this guy was Attilla the Hun, eager to starve little children. Why, how DARE he object!
As one wry observer notes:
This is how Senators think. You see, the way the Senate works is that the powers-that-be package a whole host of big spending or nefarious policy into a bill that is wrapped in a bow of something like “unemployment insurance” or has some title that no one could possibly object to, and then you ask unanimous consent to call it up and pass it. No debate. No discussion. Just waltz on down to the Senate floor and ask consent - and when a Senator says, “hmmm… I dunno, perhaps we should have some debate about spending another 10 or 20 billion dollars every 30 days, and perhaps at least think about a way to pay for this stuff,” he is excoriated for “hating” people and left out to dry by friend and foe alike because no one has the damn nerve to stand up and say, “you know what, you’re right.” Instead, business-as-usual in the Senate is to talk about “my friend” from wherever, and to let federal spending balloon out of control while you laugh in the cloakroom or run to catch your flight to another junket somewhere.
Business as usual has got to stop. Someone has to take the arrows, and Senator Bunning has decided to do just that. He led the charge to defeat the Bernanke re-appointment, and had some steaming-hot choice words for the Chairman during hearings. Like, 'failure'. As in, 'You are a failure!' Stuff PeopleInChargeOfSuchThings never hear, 'cuz they're way too insulated from any effect of any decision they make.
Helicopter Ben kept his job, but the thirty 'no' votes did ring loud in his ears, and a lot of senators who voted 'yes' gonna have a lot of 'splainin' to do, Lucy. OS received a 'let me 'splain' email from Bob Corker yesterday, long after his vote was cast. He thinks people have short memories, that they care more about curling and Jay Leno. His lily-white is in for a shock, OS predicts.
Bunning, however, is of a different stripe. He had a life before the Senate, totally removed from political life.
He had a real career, as a very distinguished Major League Baseball pitcher, between 1955 and 1971.
Won 224, Lost 184, a .549 winning percentage. An earned run average of 3.27 per game over seventeen years in the majors, during an era when giants ruled the land, like Mantle, Maris, Aaron, Koufax, the list goes on and on. Before free agency ballooned salaries. Before steroids and multi-million dollar endorsement deals and no-cut contracts. In the mid-60's he allowed fewer than three runs per game for four consecutive years.
Baseball, for those who don't follow it, is a tough, unforgiving sport. Every pitch, every part of every play is charted by the statisticians, and enters the permanent lexicon of the game for all to see. There is nowhere to hide for anyone who plays the game. The tiniest misjudgment at the wrong moment can cost a team, and its city, an otherwise successful season. Likewise, an heroic performance at the right moment can turn the tide in a grueling 160+ game season.
He knows what it means to get the job done with thousands of people heckling him in the hot summer sun, hoping he fails. He ain't skeered of Harry Reid and Barbara Boxer...
He retires from the Senate this year.
With honor. Just like he did from baseball.
Dodging The Repo Man
OK, this one's too good not to share!
OS types in 'Argentina Default', and up comes this nugget of news:
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is unable take her presidential jet, Tango One, overseas, because it is likely to be seized by angry creditors.
In other words, she's dodging the repo man like some redneck three payments behind on his pickup truck!
Now, please. Someone, somewhere explain to this old boy why Hilary Clinton should be reassuring these clowns that it's gonna be ok to start a war if they're not allowed to seize the Falklands against the wishes of its inhabitants.
Within the past year, Argentinian debt has been so downgraded as to yield 50%, and they live propped up by Chavez. That's like livin' in Momma's basement...
Oh, please, someone make it stop. How long until 2012?
OS types in 'Argentina Default', and up comes this nugget of news:
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner is unable take her presidential jet, Tango One, overseas, because it is likely to be seized by angry creditors.
In other words, she's dodging the repo man like some redneck three payments behind on his pickup truck!
Now, please. Someone, somewhere explain to this old boy why Hilary Clinton should be reassuring these clowns that it's gonna be ok to start a war if they're not allowed to seize the Falklands against the wishes of its inhabitants.
Within the past year, Argentinian debt has been so downgraded as to yield 50%, and they live propped up by Chavez. That's like livin' in Momma's basement...
Oh, please, someone make it stop. How long until 2012?
Hilary Clinton Helps Brew Up A War, And The US Isn't Paying Attention
So Madame Secretary jets off to Buenos Aires, holds a press conference that essentially tells the Argentine government (that wonderful example of democracy and stability) that the US will stand aside as they attempt to seize the Falklands.
Usual palaver about 'negotiations needed'.
About what? The Falklands are part of the UK, and the residents have made it quite clear they like it that way.
Why is it people like Hilary rant about 'self-determination' for the Palestinians, and this and that ethnic group around the world, and are stone-cold silent when it comes to defending the right of UK citizens to their clearly-expressed self-determination?
This will lead to war in the South Atlantic, completely preventable.
Usual palaver about 'negotiations needed'.
About what? The Falklands are part of the UK, and the residents have made it quite clear they like it that way.
Why is it people like Hilary rant about 'self-determination' for the Palestinians, and this and that ethnic group around the world, and are stone-cold silent when it comes to defending the right of UK citizens to their clearly-expressed self-determination?
This will lead to war in the South Atlantic, completely preventable.
Massaging The Bad News In Advance
Reuters reports that Larry Summers, the White House economic advisor, is already spinning this Friday's unemployment report by saying it will be 'distorted' by the winter blizzards.
Hmm...it could lead one to believe that the numbers will be very ugly.
Now, if April through June bring us glorious weather, and there is a sudden surge in employment, will that be attributed to the weather? Or will Himself be found shouting from the rooftops, 'See, my insane spending programs worked! You AstroTurferClimateDeniersRightWingRadicals were all wrong!'?
What do you think?
OS smells an unemployment rate well north of 10% on Friday.
At some point, reality has to set in for the financial markets. Someone will finally head for the exits, and the liquidation will begin. It's like watching a train wreck from five miles away: You know those two trains are closing on one another quickly, but from a distance, it almost appears to be slow-motion.
And you can't do a blessed thing about it.
It's gonna be ugly.
Hmm...it could lead one to believe that the numbers will be very ugly.
Now, if April through June bring us glorious weather, and there is a sudden surge in employment, will that be attributed to the weather? Or will Himself be found shouting from the rooftops, 'See, my insane spending programs worked! You AstroTurferClimateDeniersRightWingRadicals were all wrong!'?
What do you think?
OS smells an unemployment rate well north of 10% on Friday.
At some point, reality has to set in for the financial markets. Someone will finally head for the exits, and the liquidation will begin. It's like watching a train wreck from five miles away: You know those two trains are closing on one another quickly, but from a distance, it almost appears to be slow-motion.
And you can't do a blessed thing about it.
It's gonna be ugly.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Black Humor Monday From Mish
Mish is soooo happy The Great Recession has ended.
And he has the charts to prove it!
Could be, ThePeopleInChargeOf SuchThings aren't accurately conveying the true situation to the citizenry.
And he has the charts to prove it!
Could be, ThePeopleInChargeOf SuchThings aren't accurately conveying the true situation to the citizenry.
Obama and Britain: Actions Scream Louder Than Words
If we need any further evidence of the character of the man in the White House, and those who surround, support, and enable him, this commentary from Nile Gardiner should just about put the final nail in the coffin.
He lists the top ten insults toward the UK by the Obama Administration. They show the low-class, cheap-ass, street-level ChicagoGhetto classlessness of this crew. My favorite is how they presented Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth with a ***!!!!*** I-POD!
('ScuzeMe a moment while I get it out of my system...***!!!***!!!%%%%!!!***????!!!!....There, that's better.)
But, the most serious and telling on the list is number six.
6. Throwing Churchill out of the Oval Office
It is hard to think of a more derogatory message to send to the British people within days of taking office than to fling a bust of Winston Churchill out of the Oval Office and send it packing back to the British Embassy – not least as it was a loaned gift from Britain to the United States as a powerful display of solidarity in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. Obviously, public diplomacy is not a concept that carries much weight in the current White House, and nor apparently is common sense.
Words fail. It's the Foxworthy Syndrome: You just can't make this stuff up!
OldSouth knows from his 'WhereYa'llFrom' Widget that British readers check in every day. And he is most flattered and honored. Over here, we've essentially forgotten the meaning of sacrifice for freedom, and ya'll remind us of it.
OS wants to assure all ya'll that you are not forgotten. Millions of our father and grandfathers came home some 60+ years ago, and yearly ever since, with stories of the courage, decency and hospitality of 'The Brits'. They are part of the fabric of family histories here.
We remember, even as Obama tries to toss Churchill down the Memory Hole.
OS can't tell his stories yet, but this family owes an enormous debt of gratitude to so many dear people in Great Britain. Ya'll changed our family history forever, in a most positive direction, out of the goodness of your hearts.
Hang tough. Ya'll got an election, and so do we, this year. Let's show these turkeys who the real Britain and the real US are when we hit the polling booths.
The Millenial Business Plan: Secretly Insure Your Neighbor's House, Then Burn That Sucker Down
This bit of insight from the New York Times: The banks that helped Greece hide its debts also bet that it would default on the debts they helped hide.
As one insider describes it: Imagine you are able to take out fire insurance on your neighbor's house. It gives you profound incentive to burn it down at some point in the future.
Damn! I wish I'da thought of that one! I wuz raised to think that sort of behavior was, well, fraudulent and harmful to my neighbors. Sunday School teachers kept drilling that 'Golden Rule' thang into my head. Little did I suspect, it's actually a business plan! And it works! And it's legal!
Damn!
Invest in premiums, gasoline, and matches...all you need is a compliant insurance agent (with whom you share the proceeds). Write the policy, pay the premiums, bide your time, wait until the owner is on vacation.
Hold a house barbecue.
Collect the payoff.
Now, in the spirit of Bill (It's the economy, stupid!) Clinton, we'll just waive any discussion of ethics.
Ethics, Shmethics. It's about making money, honey.
(Of course, this makes me wonder if someone's insured MY house! Maybe I should put off that vacation, after all...)
As one insider describes it: Imagine you are able to take out fire insurance on your neighbor's house. It gives you profound incentive to burn it down at some point in the future.
Damn! I wish I'da thought of that one! I wuz raised to think that sort of behavior was, well, fraudulent and harmful to my neighbors. Sunday School teachers kept drilling that 'Golden Rule' thang into my head. Little did I suspect, it's actually a business plan! And it works! And it's legal!
Damn!
Invest in premiums, gasoline, and matches...all you need is a compliant insurance agent (with whom you share the proceeds). Write the policy, pay the premiums, bide your time, wait until the owner is on vacation.
Hold a house barbecue.
Collect the payoff.
Now, in the spirit of Bill (It's the economy, stupid!) Clinton, we'll just waive any discussion of ethics.
Ethics, Shmethics. It's about making money, honey.
(Of course, this makes me wonder if someone's insured MY house! Maybe I should put off that vacation, after all...)
The Brighton UK Tea Party--SRO And More
Dan Hannan (the man we need to lease for eight years), reports an SRO turnout to the UK's kickoff Tea Party.
Let's hope they have time to rev things up by the May election. One thing working in their favor is the relatively small geographic size of the UK--about the size of our state of Illinois.
Wishing ya'll well over there. Take courage. The citizenry have the US Congress sweating bullets in anticipation of November 2010. A lot of them have bailed out, including the Democrat congressman in this district. This guy wouldn't even announce meetings with constituents in advance last summer, he was that afraid of what he would encounter.
Make your voice heard. It's OK to get a bit loud, just can't be violent. Loud, vociferous, with a sense of humor works well. Laugh those fools out of office.
And this will give you a bit of ammunition...
Let's hope they have time to rev things up by the May election. One thing working in their favor is the relatively small geographic size of the UK--about the size of our state of Illinois.
Wishing ya'll well over there. Take courage. The citizenry have the US Congress sweating bullets in anticipation of November 2010. A lot of them have bailed out, including the Democrat congressman in this district. This guy wouldn't even announce meetings with constituents in advance last summer, he was that afraid of what he would encounter.
Make your voice heard. It's OK to get a bit loud, just can't be violent. Loud, vociferous, with a sense of humor works well. Laugh those fools out of office.
And this will give you a bit of ammunition...
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