Thanks to our veterans we blog freely.

 

The Wall came tumbling down

 

Three Boismortier Sonatas

 

Comments from the cashew gallery

Political commentators, reporters with obvious partisan leanings, and political ideologues have been running their mouths for weeks and generally wrongly divining the word of truth.  Here are some more sober observations.

Republicans won big in Virginia’s 2009 elections.  What could have been a competitive and interesting race for Governor turned into a rout at the end of a long and distasteful parking lot fist fight.  Sen. Creigh Deeds ran a remarkably poor campaign that probably alienated many of the voters to whom he thought he was reaching out.

In addition to the top of the ticket, Republicans did well generally across the Old Dominion.   The results are less than surprising. The GOP was ready to run strongly in a state that has developed strong streaks of blue and red.  Issues like gun control, the economy (jobs in particular), small business concerns are important in Virginia.  The GOP addressed those issues clearly and Democrat attack ads, well crafted though they were, didn’t play to voters this year.

Republicans in Virginia also ran tough campaigns and got their volunteers out into the highways and the byways to knock on doors and raise the signs.   Democrats were valiant, but nobody was envious of any democrat’s campaign prowess this year.  They are also the guys in charge in Washington and the job market sucks.  That hurt them badly.

NJ’s incumbent Governor could spend money like few others (thrice elected NYC Mayor Bloomberg being one of those few who could and did), but the Garden State too is a financial disaster, tainted badly by political corruption.  In a rather Democrat and liberal state, this race should never have been close.  That said, the NJ GOP can hardly claim an age of “Republican Renaissance” is at hand. Republicans in NJ have much to do if they want to build on a hard fought victory.

A special election in NY’s 23rd congressional district was a lot less about conservatives and moderates fighting it out in a “GOP civil war” (conservative and liberal pundits feeding off of each other’s rancor would like to believe that) than a revolt by rank and file locals who didn’t like the backroom deal feel of NY Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava’s selection to fill a vacancy.  Mr. Hoffman might not have been the ideal candidate either, but his grass roots appeal was evident and he gained the interest and support of GOP’ers and others on the right (appalled by the Selected One’s decidedly liberal views even by the standards of GOP moderates like this blogger) who were willing to run one of their own, rather than serve the Chosen One.

Republican voters showed an unwillingness to be cowed. It reminds one of the overthrow of the Clinton dynasty by Democrat rank and file who ended up nominating and electing a young, articulate President and also taking their party back from the deified duo.

The repudiation of Ms. Scozzafava’s candidacy was a rejection of the arrogance of GOP party leaders who fancied themselves king makers and “deciders”, and what happened in NY’s 23rd had better be heeded.  A few important Republicans have egg on their faces for this one — one big shot in particular.

This was a serious rebuke to Mr. Newt’s pretensions to being some sort of a federal party boss.  If anything, Mr. Gingrich (who swaggared into the midst of this race to support a candidate who was anathema to her own voters and ultimately turned against her party) might want to think about what his role was in this fiasco.  This probably damaged his credibility with potential primary voters (generally a more conservative lot) in a 2012 presidential bid.

Mrs. Palin’s early support of Mr. Hoffman’s run was decidedly shrewd.  She placed herself on better footing with Republicans and Independents who might not agree with her on all the issues, but certainly respect her for refusing to kowtow to the backstabbers and ham-fisted kingpin wannabes in the national GOP who treated her with open contempt in 2008.  Sarah Heath Palin is without a doubt, and deservedly, a major winner in the 2009 elections.

 

Extra! Extra! Redneck Resigns!

One can hope the resignation of bigot Keith Bardwell closes an ugly chapter in American history.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/03/louisiana.interracial.marriage/index.html

 

Don’t forget to vote!

 

Arcangelo Corelli

 

It’s about time for oversight

The Obama administration is undertaking steps to reign in lunatic corporate salaries  for CEO’s and others in corporations that have taken federal bailout money.  It’s about time, in fact it’s past time, but this move should be welcomed by every investor, employee, taxpayer and customer. This isn’t a socialist inspired policy, it’s a free market move.

Zeusiswatching is unapologetically a capitalist and Republican blog.  This is also a blog that is willing to give credit to whom it’s due and President Obama deserves a word of thanks for getting a grip on this problem.  A real capitalist should welcome his moves, at least in the short term, for insisting upon accountability from companies that are on the biggest, and to date the most questionably managed welfare program ever enacted.

In the first place, investors don’t put their money into businesses to principally enrich the hired help.  That help, especially at the uppermost levels, is there to run the business profitably.  The banks, automotive manufacturers, insurers and others who have taken bailout money have by and large not run their businesses successfully or they wouldn’t have gone begging for gigantic handouts. Investors put their money into the market with the intention of earning returns on their investments.

The execs. taking bonuses from depressed businesses are taking money off the bottom line .  It’s investors and lower ranking employees who are both getting the shaft — and generally the consumer too.   Frankly, if CEO’s are taking huge bonuses rather than investing that money back into the company, both the investor and the taxpayer should be worried about ever getting their monies back.  It’s at least cause for concern.

Now almost certainly at this moment, a writer on the political right is typing furiously away at the keyboard decrying the “socialistic” control of compensation by big bad Obama or some other drivel.  The argument is wrong.  These firms are recipients of taxpayer money and as such, taxpayers have a stake and a say. If the corporations that have taken the money want to pay it back, then that should happen.  If these corporations continue to take government assistance, then like recipients of welfare to work programs so beloved by conservatives, these companies too must take direction.

There is a lesson for investors in this.  In the long run, executive level compensation is something that investors must start thinking about seriously.  Good employees are worth a great deal of money, even in a bad economic cycle.  That said, an executive taking a huge payout should always be answerable to the people who own the company.  That includes the small shareholders.  That also includes the bondholders, people who don’t own the firm but take a risk lending to a company that should be shoring up the bottom line, investing in new markets, and cutting costs, not services or the quality of goods as top level employees take money out of the bank for themselves.

 

Recent Book Reading

Salgado, Gamini (editor), Three Jacobean Tragedies. Two thumbs up

Cicero, Marcus Tullius (D.H. Berry trans.), Cicero Political Speeches. Two thumbs up.

Lebedova, Vera (Omelan Mycyk, trans.), “The wreath on the barrow of Taras Shevchenko: Childrens two-act presentation.” Two thumbs up

Mill, John Stuart, On Liberty. Two thumbs up

Seneca (Frank Justis Miller, trans.), “Medea“. Two thumbs up

Sevcenko, Ihor, Byzantine Roots of Ukranian Christianity. Two thumbs up

Ssu-Ma Ch’ien (Burton Waston, trans.), Records of the Historian from the Shih Chi.  Two thumbs up.

Bilon, Peter (S.P. Symchych, trans.), Ukrainians and their Church. One thumb up.

Xenophon (Wayne Ambler, trans.), The Education of Cyrus.  Two thumbs up

 

Resign now Redneck! (WTF??? II)

Why this guy hasn’t been thrown out of office on his Southern fried ass is beyond me.  Maybe it’s because he lives too far into the swamp to reach with a pink slip.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,567842,00.html?test=latestnews

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/16/louisiana.interracial.marriage/index.html

Click here for more info if you are just getting familiar with this WTF grade story of a hillbilly redneck white trash Justice of the Peace.

 

For Stiletto

This was recorded at the beginning of the rediscovery of Baroque music.

 

More Vivaldi

 

WTF???

Did I look at my calendar wrong?  Is this 1950 something?  Has this billy bigot on the bench been testing the recipe from the family still just a tad too often?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,567120,00.html?test=latestnews

Same story with corrected SCOTUS date

http://my.earthlink.net/article/us?guid=20091015/4ad6ac50_3421_1334520091015-2063922457

Below is more information from CNN

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/16/louisiana.interracial.marriage/index.html

 

What recovery are investors talking about?

Wednesday was a big day on the U.S. stock exchange.  The Dow closed over 10k for the first time in a long time.  Apparently investors were feeling optimistic and bullish about the economic recovery.

Here is some news that should have these folks thinking a little harder about this. I’ve copied and pasted most of the article.

Foreclosures rise 5 percent from summer to fall

By ALAN ZIBEL (AP Real Estate Writer)

From Associated Press

October 15, 2009 12:16 AM EDT

WASHINGTON – The number of households caught up in the foreclosure crisis rose more than 5 percent from summer to fall as a federal effort to assist struggling borrowers was overwhelmed by a flood of defaults among people who lost their jobs.

The foreclosure crisis affected nearly 938,000 properties in the July-September quarter, compared with about 890,000 in the prior three months, according to a report released Thursday by RealtyTrac Inc. That puts foreclosure-related filings on a pace to hit about 3.5 million this year, up from more than 2.3 million last year.

Unemployment is the main reason homeowners are falling into trouble. While the economy is likely out of recession, the unemployment rate – now at a 26-year high of 9.8 percent – isn’t expected to peak until the middle of next year.

Mortgage companies sometimes allow unemployed homeowners to defer three to six months of payments while they are looking for a job. But there’s little else they can do.

“The sheer scale of the problem is preventing the loan modification programs from having the kind of impact we’d all like” said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac’s senior vice president for marketing.

Last week, the Obama administration hailed a milestone in its mortgage relief effort, reporting that 500,000 homeowners have received help since the program was launched in March. But new defaults are still exceeding the number of borrowers getting help.

Mortgage companies have slowed down the pace of foreclosures as they evaluate whether borrowers qualify for the administration’s program. Analysts, however, forecast that many of those homeowners won’t qualify, and foresee a new wave of foreclosed properties hitting the market next year. That’s likely to further depress home prices.

Some homeowners are in such a massive financial hole that it’s hard to design a modification that will actually provide lower payments. And some have avoided paying their monthly bills for a long time.

According to the RealtyTrac report, there were nearly 344,000 foreclosure-related filings last month, down 4 percent from a month earlier but still the third-highest month since the report started in early 2005.

It was the seventh-straight month in which more than 300,000 households receiving a foreclosure filing, which includes default notices and several other legal notices that homeowners receive before they finally lose their homes.

Banks repossessed nearly 88,000 homes in September, up from about 76,000 a month earlier.

On a state-by-state basis, Nevada had the nation’s highest foreclosure rate in the July-September quarter. Arizona was No. 2, followed by California, Florida and Idaho. Rounding out the top 10 were Utah, Georgia, Michigan, Colorado and Illinois.

–

AP Real Estate Writer Alex Veiga contributed to this report from Los Angeles.

The problem is unemployment and the only answer is jobs.  A stock market that is rising partly due to rising oil prices isn’t a good thing.  Think about this for a minute, the job market is a disaster and it just got more expensive to do business for those left with a job.

A stock market rising because banks are looking good is simply absurd.  These are the banks that are about to own yet more houses.  They are also about to hold lots and lots of bad revolving credit card debt.

This doesn’t bode well.

 

Using technology and law for privacy

Privacy issues involving technology are real and in need of real legislation and regulation at the Federal and State level.  Currently, employers can troll the internet for information about their employees and potential employees and make hiring and firing decisions based upon a jobber’s personal life choices.  There is something inherently wrong with this.

Applicants for scarce jobs are wont to spend time and money on polished resumes, clothing, research into companies to whom they apply in hopes of finding employment in a depressed job market.  All the while companies can Google and surf the net looking into aspects of an employee’s (or potential ’s ) personal life — you know, the very things one is encouraged to exclude from a resume and may not be asked of upon a job application.

There is real need for clear, comprehensive, and heavily enforced legislation here to protect individuals from hiring and on the job discrimination at the hands of employers or recruiters for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with potential job performance.

On the other hand, new technology is making it possible for law enforcement agencies like the FBI to compare photos and mug shots with photos from the DMV to apprehend fugitives.  Some organizations are concerned about this too from a privacy standpoint (the ACLU for example) and the concerns are sober enough to merit a watchdog stance, but I think the concern is likely misplaced if these programs are clearly regulated by law and policy.

In some respects, I like having my queries and searches in the commercial world tabulated and correlated.  It makes it easy for Amazon.com to send me suggestions for things that are likely of interest to me — I’ve benefited from this and so too Amazon.  I like my grocery store to know what the local store should keep in stock for me — an almost daily shopper — who will go elsewhere to shop if I don’t like the choices on the shelves.  The problem is that my searches and queries are easily subject to interpretation and misuse.  My reasonable choices can become the subject of derision or discrimination by people I’ve never actually met.  The potential is real and I hope the technology continues to develop to make that less likely.

Technology is what has opened to door to modern day privacy issues.  It can also help solve many of them, but legislation and rigorously enforced policies are essential, and increasingly overdue.