The Hackenblog

“‘State controller John Chiang warned today that if legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger fail to come up with a budget-balancing package in the next week, he would begin paying California’s bills with IOUs on July 2.’” (via Calitics)

Y’know, this would be funny if it were remotely funny at all. Fuck.

It’s nice the Lakers won, but could you please shut the fuck up and GO HOME? I can hear you all the way up on N Broadway. Christ, no wonder the LAPD was stressed out about this.

I mean, I hope it’s just that the Lakers won and the world isn’t ending. Or something. Great, now there’s sirens. Laker fans, you assholes, the LAPD have real crimes to deal with instead of your crazy-ass behavior.

Update: Now I’m really pissed off:

“At the Holy Grail, a vintage sneakers store around the block from Staples Center, owner Richard Torres appeared exhausted from staying up all night after revelers ransacked his shop after the Lakers’ victory.

“Torres was watching the Lakers’ game Sunday night at his father’s house in Corona when he saw images of the civil unrest on the TV news. He recognized the intersection of Pico Boulevard and Flower Street, where his store is located. Torres and his girlfriend, who works as the manager, jumped into their car and headed downtown.

“About fifteen minutes later, their security company called, saying the store alarm had been triggered. When they arrived less than an hour after the game had ended, shoe boxes were scattered all over the block. Some shoes had been lit on fire and thrown down the street.

“Torres and his girlfriend entered through the back door and saw the storage room all but empty. Fewer than 20 pairs of shoes were left out of the 800 pairs they had in stock. The floor was littered with receipts, price tags, tissue paper and crumpled-up shoe boxes.

“Torres’ eyes grew teary at the sight. Neighbors told them the revelers had gone to the back of the store, and pulled and pulled at the white metal door until it broke open, all the while chanting: “We want shoes, we want shoes.” Glass display cases had been shattered. Two computers, cash, sunglasses and hats were also looted.”
Owner of looted sneakers store surveys post-Lakers-victory damage, by Amanda Covarrubias, LA Times, June 15, 2009

and

“After the Lakers’ victory Sunday night, fans swarmed into the convenience store at a Shell gas station on Grand Avenue and Olympic Boulevard and started shouting: ‘Free soda! Free soda!’

“The rowdy crowd of about 20 young men, many wearing Lakers apparel, entered the store about 10:20 p.m. and started grabbing bottles of water, chips, candy, chocolate and six-packs of soda off the shelves, said 27-year-old employee German Bonilla.

“They loaded their arms with whatever they could grab and threw other items on the floor. They were gone less than five minutes later, Bonilla said. Bottles were shattered and cans of soda exploded on the floor. Bananas were trampled on, creating a sticky mess. A cashier in the store tried to tell the young men to leave and usher them out the door, but was unsuccessful.”
Looters raid a gas station store after Lakers’ win, by Amanda Covarrubias, LA Times, June 15, 2009

I’d rather my tax dollars go for the riot squad to protect the people and property downtown when the Lakers win and there’s a Laker riot than pay for this stupid “victory” parade thing. Oh, and by the way, eight LAPD officers were injured last night, so the LAPD probably isn’t in the greatest mood right now. And if they bust some heads at the “victory” parade, this will be the first, and hopefully last, time I won’t mind very much. Have fun on Wednesday, Laker fans. Yeah.

I like my city better when the Lakers lose. Sorry, that’s just the way I feel about it.

Some of you might recall when I blogged about the starting to start-up comic publisher, Furies Publishing, (Furies, not furries) and asked that y’all go look them over and click on their Google ads.

Well, thank you, all those clicks added up to almost $100! And then Google pulled their ads for some obscure reason and now the Furies won’t ever get that money your diligent clicks to Google’s advertisers made for them. This is very sad.

What is even SADDER is that the Furies are very clever women who were planning to spend that first $100 on cute little marketing thingys like bookmarks, bookplates, whatnot. What is totally TRAGIC about this is that these Furies know cute, like CUTE, like, Lawdy, do they know CUTE. So, now, not only do they not get their first start-up $100 to make some cute marketing things, we, World, will not be able to get any of these cute marketing things. And all because of Google Legree.

However, the Furies still have a donation button on their website. It’s tastefully at the bottom of the left sidebar. If any of you fine people who read this blog could toss them a few bucks, like more than $5, I’m sure they’d send you some cute Furies swag when they get enough dosh to make some. This is also a good deed: these are very brave women to even be thinking about starting a business, let alone one as risky as comics, in this economy. They’re taking it slow, so the Google shenanigans is a big-ish set back.

Also, if you could spread the word about the Furies Fundraiser, I’d be much obliged.

“I managed to take 2 photos before I was caught and unable to take
the piece de resistance of parking tard photos:

“Owner: Can I help you?
“Me: Is this your truck?
“Owner: Yes.
“Me: You’re taking up 4 compact spots.
“Owner: Well it is a big truck.
“Me: There are other non-compact spots to park in.
“Owner: Sorry to ruin your day.

“My thoughts after that were that ‘no, you didn’t ruin my day’ and
‘you’re going on teh interwebs about to be famous on LA Metblogs.’”
Parking Tards! Our readers are hunting for you too, by Sean Bonner, LA Metroblogs, June 1st, 2009

Un-fucking-real. Arrogant and stupid squared. FOUR COMPACT CAR SPACES FOR ONE GAS GUZZLER!!! W.T.F! A photo of the back of his truck after the jump (scroll to the end).
(more…)

Arnold can’t do math:

“In the short-term, expenditure reductions in any of these programs (CalWORKS, etc.) have significant implications for the state economy. The multiplier effects for these programs are found to range between 1.05 and 1.44, meaning that output and employment resulting from human services program expenditures are greater than the expenditures alone would suggest.

“In particular, In-Home Supportive Services are found to provide in excess of a 40 percent boost to the local economy. The multipliers for CalWORKs and Food Stamps are also significant and comparable at 1.34 and 1.37, respectively. Other programs, those that provide primarily services and less in the way of cash benefits, are found to have a smaller multiplier effect. The importance of these services, however, should not be diminished by the smaller multipliers that were found. This report discusses the likelihood that service reductions in many of these programs may result in the following: a higher incidence of homelessness, poverty, malnutrition, substance abuse, violence, and negative health outcomes for toddlers and infants. Aside from the toll these harmful circumstances have on the individuals involved, a higher incidence of these maladies produces not only higher economic costs today, but in the future as well. This suggests another sort of multiplier that ought to be included in the analysis – the indirect effect of reducing the demand for services tomorrow by providing them today.

“Finally, many of these programs are funded by federal in addition to state expenditures. These federal dollars are often only available as matching funds to state expenditures. The effect of matching funds was found to raise the multiplier for some state spending as high as 7.35. With matching funds, $1 in state spending translates into between roughly $3 and $5 in total spending on most of these programs. The effect on output and employment, and on the economic stimulus effect of state spending on these programs, is thus significantly magnified.”
SPENDING ON COUNTY HUMAN SERVICES PROGRAMS IN CALIFORNIA: AN EVALUATION OF ECONOMIC IMPACTS (pdf), By Jon Haveman, Ph.D., Beacon Economics, Eric O’N. Fisher, Ph. D., California Polytechnic State University, Fannie Tseng, Ph.D., Berkeley Policy Associates, Presented to Child and Family Policy Institute of California, March 17, 2009 (via, which has more links and is a faster read)

$1 CA dollar can, with matching funds, turn into up to $5 spent in grocery stores, doctors, public transit, etc. in California. I’m not very good at math either, so bear with me:

$1M = $5M, so $500K = $2.5M, $0.50 = $2.50, but $0 = $0, which is what I think the heartless bastard rightwingnuts in California ultimately want. Don’t any of those people have businesses, homes or investments in California? Or, y’know, humanity? Because sinking the whole State to gratify some sick fear and loathing of children, disease and poverty seems pretty crazy to me.

So, really, the only reason Arnold is going after these programs is because they have no powerful advocates. And he’s a heartless bastard placating heartless bastards.

And at a church, no less.

“KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) – A Kansas doctor who was a controversial provider of so-called ‘late-term’ abortions was shot and killed at his church on Sunday, local media reported.

“The Wichita Eagle newspaper reported that 67-year-old George Tiller, a longtime target of anti-abortion activists, was shot to death as he walked into services at Reformation Lutheran Church.

“Police are searching for a white male who fled the scene after shooting Tiller with a handgun, local media reported.”

~snip~

“Tiller’s clinic in Wichita has been the site of mass protests by anti-abortion groups and was bombed in 1985. Tiller was shot and wounded by an abortion opponent in 1993.”
Kansas abortion doctor shot dead at church: report, Reporting by Cynthia Osterman, editing by Anthony Boadle, Reuters, May 31, 2009 (also of note)

Don’t like somebody? Shoot ‘em! It’s the way we live now!

Fuck California:

“Consider this partial list of the governor’s proposed cuts to health and humans services:

· Elimination of the CalWORKs program;
· Elimination of the Healthy Families Program;
· Eliminating certain Medi-Cal state-only programs;
· Elimination of community based services programs at the Department of Aging;
· Eliminate State funding for Community Care Licensing;
· Elimination of remaining General Fund for Maternal, Child, and Adolescent Health;
· Elimination of funding for community clinic programs, such as Rural Health Services and the Seasonal and Agricultural and Migratory work programs;
· Elimination of funding for drug treatment programs established by the voters through Proposition 36;
· Reducing in-home supportive services eligibility and care provider pay;
· Reducing funding for foster care rates; and
· Reducing SSI/SSP monthly payments benefiting the aged and disabled to the minimum allowed under federal law.

“All of us know someone who will be affected by these cuts. This is not just a matter of balancing the state’s books. For some Californians, it is a matter of life and death.

“A society in crisis should not throw women, children, and seniors overboard first.”
Impact of Governor’s Proposed Health and Human Services Cuts, Budget Blog, by Assemblymember Noreen Evans, May 27, 2009 (also see Noreen Explains the Budget Crisis)

I think what you mean, Assemblymember Evans, is that a civilized society in crisis should not throw women, children, and seniors-who-didn’t-buy-their-home-in-the-1950-70s overboard first. We’re talking about California, not, y’know, something civilized.

By the way, when you run for higher office, Noreen, I’m sending you some money.

“It’s just wrong to claim that civil marriage equality would force changes on religious institutions. No rabbi has ever been forced by civil law to conduct a marriage between a divorcée and a Kohen, just as the availability of non-Kosher food in the general marketplace doesn’t force cheeseburger onto anybody’s plate.”
Judaism and Same-Sex Marriage, by Robin Podolsky, Jewish Journal May 26, 2009

Civil marriage is what is says it is: civil marriage. Not spiritual marriage. They’re different. Vive la difference. It’s part of the freedom of religion we all love so much in the country. Civil institutions are (generally) free of religious governance and (largely) religious institutions enjoy the protection of the law that allows them to believe and worship as they please as long as they aren’t breaking any laws. Gay CIVIL Marriage does not force any sect to recognize or sanctify any marriage between any two people. Prop 8, however, forbids religious leaders from signing a marriage license for two men or two women. Talk about the state curtailing religious freedom in a big way. Well, there you have it!

“A former probation department guard convicted of child abuse for letting five minors beat a boy who she wrongly believed had taken her cellphone at a Los Angeles juvenile hall was sentenced to a year in jail.

“Diane Buchanan was also sentenced to four years’ probation. The judge said Buchanan showed no remorse and she was fortunate the victim did not suffer more severe injuries and die.

“Deputy Dist. Atty. Natalie Adomian said that despite her conviction on three felony assault charges Buchanan she never apologized.

“Lawyers for Buchanan told the court she dedicated her life to helping children and her community and was destroyed by the case. In May 2005, Buchanan lost her cellphone at the Sylmar juvenile hall. Another boy at the facility said the victim had flushed the phone down the toilet.

“Prosecutors alleged that Buchanan opened the victim’s cell door and let in five boys to attack the youth. Buchanan did not report the incident or seek medical help for the victim.

“She later found her cellphone in her car, authorities said.”
Former juvenile hall guard sentenced to year in jail, by Richard Winton, LA Times, May 27, 2009

Over a fucking cell phone. This is a very sick woman. What does she do when something serious happens?

They’ll decide your project is obscene, sorry, “disturbing,” after they’ve taken the job.
Docucopies fucks over the Yaoi Press (also, via)

Here’s the TOS. Not a word about what kind of “disturbing” content they reserve the right not to print. Jerks.

For those of you wondering what the hell is going on in California:

“Assemblywoman Noreen Evans, Chair of the Budget Committee, spells out slowly for everyone the structural problems and false assertions about the California budget process.”

(via)

“But the California precedent still has me rattled. Who would have thought that America’s largest state, a state whose economy is larger than that of all but a few nations, could so easily become a banana republic?”

But, Paaaaauuuuuuulllll! It’s not a banana republic! It’s a Libertarian Paradise!

Me, I think it’s more of a dystopia.

Celestine Arnold at psfk.com

“4. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum

“Country: Dubai

“As the current crown prince of Dubai, Sheikh is the first in line to be the city’s next Emir. The prince moved up two spots this year and is the only young royal to surpass a British royal according to our measure of influence. He’s known as a leader, as the chairman of the Dubai Executive Council and the president of the city’s Council and Autism Centre, and as a poet.”

And, of course, he’s Number 4. Yes, yes, the poetry thing is nice, too.

I love to hate these lists. Really I do.

“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Moving with unusual speed, the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed legislation to recoup most of the $165 million in retention bonuses paid to American International Group Inc employees.

“Responding quickly to public outrage over the bonuses after the giant insurer received government bailouts of up to $180 billion, the House voted 328-93 to approve a 90 percent tax on bonuses for some executives at companies getting federal aid.

“The tax would apply to executives with incomes over $250,000 who worked for companies that got at least $5 billion in government aid. That could ensnare others getting federal help, such as mortgage financing company Fannie Mae.”
House votes to recoup bonuses from bailed-out firms, by Jeremy Pelofsky and Susan Cornwell, Reuters, March 19, 2009

Or maybe it’s just a bot thing. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be an appeal. Oh well.

Femme Femme Femme is a magnificent art blog that is a joy to read and voyage of discovery. It also gives my crappy French a nice work out, n’est-pas?

“Watching the national news media struggle to cover the economic crisis lately, one could be forgiven the fear that the United States had grown too ignorant and lazy to govern itself.

“Between mis- and disinformation, cheap political posturing and crowd pleasing histrionics masquerading as commentary, the public has been inundated by a flood of dangerous nonsense. Cable news networks must think their audiences have the attention span of fruit flies.

“Many in the New York/Washington media establishment appear to identify with the financial and political geniuses who got us into this mess, and to share their values. Jamison Foser at mediamatters.org noticed that coverage of President Obama’s budget in The Washington Post and The New York Times centered mainly upon increased taxes affecting “the oil and gas industry, hedge fund managers, multinational corporations and nearly 3 million of the nation’s top earners,” poor babies.

“ABC News produced a heartbreaking tale of woe about harried professionals scheming to reduce their incomes to avoid higher tax brackets. A dentist told the reporter she was contemplating cutting her income from her current $320,000 to under $250,000 by having her dental hygienist work fewer days and by treating fewer patients.

“Neither she nor the reporter appeared to have any idea how marginal tax rates work. To wit, she’d pay the higher 36 percent rate only on income above $250,000. The current rate is 33 percent. Hence, Dr. Happy-Tooth’s brilliant plan would save her exactly $2,100 in taxes at a cost of $67,900 in forgone income. No wonder people like her vote Republican.

“ABC subsequently filed an amended version of the story making itself look a bit less foolish.”
Simple story fails public, by Gene Lyons, Arkansas Democrat Gazette, March 12, 2009

Is it even possible for ABC and Greedpublicans to look less foolish?

As usual, Gene Lyons nails it.

God dayam that was boring.

The parts in the jail and the jailbreak were the best parts, but the rest was just boring. This movie had even less dimension than the comic.

You could spend about the same amount on the collected comics and get more for your money. They’re better, deeper, and more satisfying.

Full disclosure: I read the collected Watchmen about six years ago and have thought about it and reread it a lot since then. But I didn’t really understand it until I saw “Dark Knight,” and starting reading and thinking about libertarian fascism. Watchmen makes the same point that a Big, Wise Daddy is not going to save us in any way we’d like him to, but the Watchmen comics do more to make that idea crystal fucking clear. (Super secret fact: if you hold the comic up to a mirror by candle light under a full moon after payday, you can see ‘fanboys are stupid’ watermaked on certain pages. Not many people know this, and I’ll be killed if I reveal my source [I just made it up]).

They’ve lost it:

“License and warrant your submissions: You do not have to submit anything to us, but if you choose to submit something (including any User generated content, ideas, concepts, techniques and data), you must grant, and you actually grant by concluding this Agreement, a nonexclusive, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual, unlimited, assignable, sublicenseable, fully paid up and royaltyfree right to us to copy, prepare derivative works of, improve, distribute, publish, remove, retain, add, and use and commercialize, in any way now known or in the future discovered, anything that you submit to us, without any further consent, notice and/or compensation to you or to any third parties. By submitting any information to us, you represent and warrant that such submission is accurate, is not confidential, and is not in violation of any contractual restrictions or other third party rights. You further agree to inform LinkedIn in the event that any such information has changed since your registration with LinkedIn and, if appropriate, you agree to make such modifications yourself to your profile.”

~snip~

“Indemnify us: You have to indemnify us and hold us harmless from any damages, losses and costs (including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees) related to third party claims, charges or investigations, caused by (a) your failure to comply with this Agreement, including, without limitation, your submission of content that violates third party rights or applicable laws, (b) any content you submit to LinkedIn or (c) any activity in which you engage on or through the LinkedIn.”

I think this means if they have a data breech, they’re off the hook for anything the data raiders get. Or if they hand over your data to whomever, like the TSA, that’s okay, too.

And from the “Privacy” Policy:

Log files, IP addresses and information about your computer

“Due to the communications standards on the Internet, when you visit the LinkedIn web site we automatically receive the URL of the site from which you came and the site to which you are going when you leave LinkedIn. We also receive the Internet protocol (IP) address of your computer (or the proxy server you use to access the World Wide Web), your computer operating system and type of web browser you are using, email patterns, as well as the name of your ISP. This information is used to analyze overall trends to help us improve the LinkedIn service. The linkage between your IP address and your personally identifiable information is not shared with third-parties without your permission or except when required by law.
Consent to LinkedIn Processing Information About You

“Certain information you provide to LinkedIn may reveal, or allow others to identify, your nationality, ethnic origin, religion or other aspects of your private life, and more generally about you. Please be aware that in providing information to LinkedIn for the purposes of opening your user account, you are expressly and voluntarily accepting the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy and LinkedIn’s User Agreement. The supplying of all such information by you to LinkedIn, including all information deemed “sensitive” by applicable law, is entirely voluntary on your part. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time, in accordance with the terms of this Privacy Policy and the User Agreement, but please note that your withdrawal of consent will not be retroactive.”

I like LinkedIn, I just never put much on it, like 70% of my Profile. It’s probably harmless, but even paranoids have enemies.

Ah, the internet. It’s like life now: gotta be careful what you say to whom, where, and how you say it.

Yes, I am still angry. Here’s the sortable, searchable excel file with more information, like, employers, State, zip, etc. Here’s where it came from. (via).

Know anybody on this big, long list?

JOHN TEMPLETON JR: $450,000.00
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS HEADQUARTERS: $250,000.00
MANCHESTER FINANCIAL GROUP: $125,000.00
JOSEPHINE TEMPLETON: $100,000.00
TERRY CASTER: $100,000.00
TERRY CASTER: $62,500.00
GERALD SIMONSEN: $50,000.00
JOSHUA BAKER: $50,000.00
ROGER BENSON: $50,000.00
CALIF. STATE COUNCIL KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS: $25,000.00
LARRY SMITH: $25,000.00
ADAMO CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT CO.: $25,000.00
ROBERT HOEHN: $25,000.00
DAVID LESUEUR: $25,000.00
THE VINEYARD GROUP, LLC: $25,000.00 (more…)

Say it with me: Waterboarding is torture.

But not for this guy, who’s evidently never been waterboarded.

“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s choice for top U.S. spy declined on Thursday to call waterboarding ‘torture,’ only days after his attorney general nominee condemned the interrogation practice as precisely that.

“Retired Adm. Dennis Blair replied cautiously when pressed on the waterboarding question at a hearing on his nomination to be director of national intelligence, of which the CIA is a part.”
Obama spy choice won’t call waterboarding torture, Reporting by Randall Mikkelsen, editing by Philip Barbara, Reuters, January 22, 2009

Dennis, Dennis, Dennis, Dennis. Sigh.

You deliberately almost drown someone to coerce them into doing something and that’s not torture?

Someone deliberately almost drowns you to get you to do something and that’s not torture?

What planet is this guy on? Planet Military? Dump him! Now! Enough of this bullshit.

“NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street ushered in the Barack Obama presidency with a record Inauguration Day drop on Tuesday amid fresh signs the global bank crisis was far from over.

“High expectations for details on how the new administration would address the growing banking crisis and faltering economy were dampened after the inauguration speech concluded with little new information to digest.”
Banks sink stocks on Inauguration Day, by Chuck Mikolajczak, Reuters, January 20, 2009

High finance – it’s wonderful.

Here’s Bishop Gene Robinson’s beautiful prayer for our nation (and the guy we just elected to diss GLBT folk in it) because these lovely words certainly didn’t air on HBO.

Here’s the text:

“Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.
“O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…
Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.
“Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
“Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.
“Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be ‘fixed’ anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.
“Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.
“Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.
“Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.
“And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.
“Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.
“Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.
“Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.
“Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.
“Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.
“Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.
“And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.
“AMEN.”

HBO did not broadcast these words ON DIRECT ORDERS FROM BARACK OBAMA. Sing out David E!

And Pam S has some reactions.

Sigh. First Rick Warren, now this. I know we elected the better guy, I just wish he’d act more like it.

John Chiang has a tough job this year:

“The state will suspend tax refunds, welfare checks, student grants and other payments owed to Californians starting Feb. 1, Controller John Chiang announced Friday.

“Chiang said he had no choice but to stop making some $3.7 billion in payments in the absence of action by the governor and lawmakers to close the state’s nearly $42-billion budget deficit. More than half of those payments are tax refunds.

“The controller said the suspended payments could be rolled into IOUs if California still lacks sufficient cash to pay its bills come March or April.

“‘It pains me to pull this trigger,’ Chiang said at a news conference in his office. ‘But it is an action that is critically necessary.’

“The payments to be frozen include nearly $2 billion in tax refunds; $300 million in cash grants for needy families and the elderly, blind and disabled; and $13 million in grants for college students.

“Even if a budget agreement is reached by the end of this month, tax refunds and other payments could remain temporarily frozen. Chiang said a budget deal may not generate cash quickly enough to resume them immediately.

“Not all payments will stop Feb. 1. Most school and healthcare programs will be paid, as required by state and federal law. The state will continue to pay more than $6.6 billion in such bills.

“And Los Angeles County officials said they would cover welfare payments to more than 500,000 local recipients — for now.”

Good for us! That should keep the rioting to a minimum.

“But California is projected to be $346 million short of the funds it needs to pay all its bills in February. By March, the state would be so far in the red that even continuing to suspend payments would not cover the shortfall. California would be insolvent, making the issuance of IOUs likely.

“State officials have already designed an IOU template, Chiang said, and have been negotiating with banks over whether taxpayers could cash or deposit them if they are issued. The state could be forced to pay as much as 5% interest on delayed tax refunds if they are not paid by the end of May, Chiang said.

“The last time the state issued such IOUs — the only time since the Great Depression — was in 1992.”
California controller to suspend tax refunds, welfare checks, student grants. John Chiang announces that his office will suspend $3.7 billion in payments owed to Californians starting Feb. 1, because with no budget in place the state lacks sufficient cash to pay its bills, by Evan Halper and Patrick McGreevy, LA Times, January 17, 2009

Bank of America covered the first paycheck IOUs in 1992. Then they wised up. Since BoA is in the banker’s bailout of 2008/9, I doubt they’ll be stepping up. They’re not even a California bank anymore.

“Bernie Madoff’s investment fund may never have executed a single trade, industry officials say, suggesting detailed statements mailed to investors each month may have been an elaborate mirage in a $50 billion fraud.”
Madoff’s fund may not have made a single trade, by Jason Szep, Reuters, January 16, 2009

This makes it hard for me to believe Madoff was acting along. I don’t see him generating and mailing fake statements all by himself. This doesn’t let him off the hook, but if other people are involved, they should be prosecuted, too. More work for the SEC or whoever wasn’t doing their job in the first place, but there you have it.

Thanks WalletPop, of all blogs, for pointing it out:

“While the Claus Von Bulow and OJ Simpson trials made it seem like American justice was for sale, subsequent events have more or less erased any doubt. For example, in 2007, software executive George Anderson was sentenced to a mere 16 days in jail after he ran down a 60-year-old woman, fled the scene, refused to take a breathalyzer test, and failed a blood alcohol test. Similarly, when Lizzie Grubman, a celebrity publicist, struck 16 people with her SUV, she was not given a breathalyzer and was ultimately able to reach a plea agreement that landed her with a mere 37 days in jail and five years of probation.

“Fame makes it even easier to purchase freedom. For example, Lindsay Lohan received one day in jail after pleading guilty to cocaine use and driving under the influence. By comparison, Martha Stewart’s five month imprisonment seems positively draconian, particularly given that her crimes, including securities fraud, conspiracy, and perjury, weren’t life threatening. Of course, she probably served only a fraction of the time that she would have been stuck with if she had been an average, middle-income American.”
How much does it cost to escape the law? by Bruce Watson, WalletPop, January 16 2009

“‘Obama Tuesday night trekked to the Chevy Chase, Md., home of conservative columnist George F. Will to talk politics and get to know some of his fiercest intellectual adversaries: Charles Krauthammer, William Kristol, Larry Kudlow, David Brooks, Rich Lowry, Peggy Noonan, Michael Barone, and Paul Gigot.’

“”The two-and-half-hour dinner, which came at Will’s request.”

“George says ‘Jump,’ Barry asks ‘How high?’”
Coffee Time, Fablog, January 14, 2009

Dave Barry (I think) once wrote (about Clinton, I think) that really intelligent people became total morons in Washington D.C. He hypothesized that there was some kind of stupid ray focused on the White House and environs. Ya know…maybe he’s RIGHT!

I’m really looking forward to the Obama Administration. I’m just a little annoyed that the first order of business – The Stimulus – is the political/economic equivalent of a 50-foot dive into a shot glass.

It’s not that I don’t think the O Team can do it, I’m just sorry they have to on their first day on the job.

to describe the thinking of Alberto Gonzales and also Laura Bush:

“Unusually, I’m having a vocabulary problem. There has to be some word for the kind of person who considers his mild discomfort the equivalent of torture, crippling injury, or death for other people. But I can’t think of it.”
Looking for a Word, Paul Krugman blog, December 31, 2008

I missed the comment deadline on this one, so I’ll have to put my contribution here. I believe the word Dr. Krugman seeks is

Always glad to be helpful.

Updated Jan 10, 2009: I sent the same package Priority and it was there in two days. Oh well.

I usually don’t have problems with the USPS, I certainly like my local branch of it a lot, but this is turning into a bad joke:

Label/Receipt Number: 0305 0830 0004 5762 8913
Detailed Results:

Processed, January 06, 2009, 7:48 pm, RICHMOND, CA 94804
Processed, January 04, 2009, 12:47 am, OAKLAND, CA 94615
Missent, January 03, 2009, 7:19 am
Processed, January 02, 2009, 1:41 am, RICHMOND, CA 94804
Missent, December 30, 2008, 6:50 am
Processed, December 28, 2008, 11:21 pm, RICHMOND, CA 94804
Processed, December 25, 2008, 12:13 am, RICHMOND, CA 94804
Processed, December 24, 2008, 9:14 pm, RICHMOND, CA 94804
Missent, December 22, 2008, 7:21 am
Processed, December 19, 2008, 7:02 am, RICHMOND, CA 94804
Processed, December 15, 2008, 5:20 pm, GREENSBORO, NC 27495
Processed, December 12, 2008, 4:54 pm, BELL, CA 90201
Processed, December 10, 2008, 9:11 pm, LOS ANGELES, CA 90052
Acceptance, December 10, 2008, 3:30 pm, LOS ANGELES, CA 90031

However, I am impressed that they work on Christmas Eve and Day, but then sat on it for eight more days over New Year’s, and still seem to be “processing” it. Weird. And, I mean, it’s just going to Virginia. For the past three weeks. Oh well.

Greed and stupidity makes them suckers, one and all:

“For reasons that, at this particular moment in economic time, make little sense—and border on the totally embarrassing—I was in Monaco recently at a business conference that attracted many private-equity types who are still traveling grandly on the 2 percent fees private-equity firms pay themselves on the money they’ve raised. At my table in the ballroom of the Hôtel de Paris, in Monte Carlo, at a dinner hosted by Prince Albert of Monaco, there was a gentleman whose company, backed by private equity, had gone public and risen to $130 a share, but had, through the terrible autumn, dropped to $17. To my left there was a gentleman from K.K.R.—the seminal name in the corporate-buyout business, having survived and profited off a quarter-century’s worth of bubbles and busts. Actually, the gentleman joined K.K.R. after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, where he had been for many years. (By my quick calculation, in all that time of being compensated with Lehman stock, he probably lost between $30 and $120 million in the collapse. Still, he seemed to have homes in London, Dubai, and New York.) I asked, lowering my voice, ‘So … who’s on the brink?’

“‘Carlyle,’ he responded darkly. Indeed, Carlyle Capital Corporation, the arm of the Carlyle Group that invests in mortgage-backed securities, had defaulted last spring on more than $16 billion.”

~snip~

“And Blackstone, at the top of the market—indeed doing the last big deal of the bull market—paid $26 billion for Hilton Hotels. (Hotels, where private-equity guys spend most of their time, form a big part of the P.E. mythology. Not only has Blackstone become the biggest hotelier in the world, owning at various times mass-market chains such as La Quinta and Extended Stay America as well as Claridge’s, in London—reportedly Mr. Schwarzman’s favorite home away from home—but the Carlyle Group is named after the Carlyle Hotel in New York, David Rubenstein’s favorite hotel.) Actually, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and a few other banks paid $26 billion for Hilton—they lent Blackstone the money. Or, in fact, because Lehman and Bear have collapsed and their debts have been bailed out by the U.S. government, you’ve paid for the Hilton hotels—with their dramatically devalued real estate on which their empty rooms sit.”
The Ultimate Bubble?, by Michael Wolff, Vanity Fair, February 2009 issue (go read the whole thing, it’s…fascinating)

I hope this is the ultimate bubble and no one ever has to live through this at all. I bet they said that in the Depression, too.

Suckers at the top? Sure, why not? But maybe bushco made us tax-paying, hard working, honest types are the biggest suckers of all with the bailout, the tax cuts, Iraq, and all the other fuck the working and middle class attacks over the past 8 years. Who paid for all that? You and I and generations to come. Unless the U.S. hits the lotto, which I don’t think it even plays. Wait…where did that come from?

So, anyway, good luck, Mr. Obama! You’re gonna need it.