COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Thursday, November 26, 2009

All Banks and Thrifts earn only $2.8B in Q3 and that is not from loans



FDIC Problem Bank List Surges to 552
November 25th, 2009
American Banking News

In a report from the FDIC that the Deposit Insurance Fund has been operating in the red since the third quarter, down by $8.2 billion, there was other bad news, as the number of banks on the problem list of the FDIC has now risen to 552, which in reality is probably much worse than it seems.

The reason for it being much worse is in connection to the 50 banks that have folded since the middle of 2009. We have to assume those banks were on the past list of 416 problem banks identified by the FDIC. With that having to be the case (at least the majority of them), it means the number of problem banks added to the list are in reality 186 when taking that into consideration.

Other concerns are the combined profit of $2.8 billion for the third quarter of all banks and thrifts. It’s not the relatively low number which is the problem, but that the profits aren’t coming form loans, which has been part of the problem for some time.

FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair stated on those concerns: “There is no question that credit availability is an important issue for the economic recovery. We need to see banks making more loans to their business customers.”

This comment from Bair sounds right, but really isn’t that meaningful in the current economic and credit crisis. Banks have rightly tightened up their credit standards, something that should never have been allowed to lapse in the first place. So there’s no way that they’re going to just loan out money to businesses based on the idea that they’re part of a movement to restore the economy.

Loans have to be worked out on an individual basis, and if the businesses are creditworthy, that will determine whether they receive a loan or not, and nothing else.

The other problem is the existing commercial loans on the books of banks are disasters. The fallout from them hasn’t really kicked in yet, as the second half of 2010 is expected to reveal how bad those really are.

When you sift through all the chatter on the subject, the truth seems to be that there is a much higher focus on avoiding risk with commercial loans rather than a move to extend credit.

So with the number of problem banks rising so much and banks in a defensive loan mode, the idea that a recovery is on the way continues to baffle everyone that thinks it through. Just taking a few of the giant bailed out banks and using them as an example of a recovery doesn’t cut it.

Problem bank numbers will continue to rise, along with failures. Alt-A loans are going to be due for mandated re-sets in the first half of 2010, with commercial loans projected to crash in the latter half.

Add to that the fact that money isn’t being made through loans but through investments the banks are making, and you see how there won’t be any jobs added in that economic environment, and few banks have the will or resources to take make the types of loans which government officials assert will be needed to help the economy recover.


106 comments:

  1. The banks got it figured out. They don't have to make loans to businesses and consumers to make a profit. They just borrow from the Fed at zero to twenty-five beeps, then get two year paper at sixty-five beeps, and pocket the difference. The government and the banks have become a self-licking ice cream cone.

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  2. Well, I guess the Good news is that we still Have a banking system. That they made $2.8 B, and didn't lose 2.8 B is "jelly" on the roll.

    This was a "Close" Call, Kiddos.

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  3. We damned near "lost the farm" on this one.

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  4. I'm not convinced it is over Rufus. The Banks were allowed to mark to fantasy which papers over the capital problems and the fed printed up a batch of cash to grease the wheels of the system but huge piles of debt remain with, apparently, a large proportion of it bad. I think the can has just been kicked down the road a bit and more reckoning is in the wings. For example, if Americans aren't buying, why would China maintain the Yuan peg? If they back away from the peg then they don't have the incentive to buy treasuries. If they don't buy the treasuries...

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  5. 46% of US banks did not make a profit last quarter.

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  6. Banks are peculiar beasts. Their assets are other people's liabilities. You put money in a bank and you are really loaning money to that bank. You borrow money from the bank and you do so with the assumption that things will get better and you will have more to pay the loan and the interest.

    What happens in a sustained period of high unemployment and slow growth?

    How good are the bank's assets?

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  7. That is "traditional banking" deuce. Modern banks aren't quite so traditional.

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  8. Many experts believe that next year, we will see large banks begin to downsize; that is sell off bits and pieces to raise capital. They think the new CEO of Bank of America must be someone who knows how to structure profitable deals.
    ***********************
    Expect to hear a hue and cry as banks mercilessly pop customers for overdraft fees. It's recently been a big deal in the UK and it wouldn't surprise me if populist pols here doesn't try to capitalize on the issue here.

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  9. ...sell off bits and pieces...

    Large bits and pieces.

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  10. mergers are often the last resort when no one really wants to buy any of those "bits"...

    ...The Pontiac Superdome went for 560 some odd THOUSAND dollars. Wonder what is was worth before the transaction?

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  11. Well, I see Rufus is still in the employ of BHO.
    Ms T speaks the truth, Rufus, the party line.
    ...they've already wasted enough money (trillions) on Wall Street and the Banks to pay off everybody's McMansion Mortgages.
    But nooo...

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  12. The superdome for the cost of a McMansion!

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  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  14. Just listened to a Jimmy Buffet SOLO concert he did back in '99.
    ...they play all live stuff for 24 hours every thanksgiving:

    Margaritaville Radio

    Flash Player



    Win Media Player

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  15. Wall St. Finds Profits by Reducing Mortgages

    As millions of Americans struggle to hold on to their homes, Wall Street has found a way to make money from the mortgage mess.

    Investment funds are buying billions of dollars’ worth of home loans, discounted from the loans’ original value. Then, in what might seem an act of charity, the funds are helping homeowners by reducing the size of the loans.

    But as part of these deals, the mortgages are being refinanced through lenders that work with government agencies like the Federal Housing Administration. This enables the funds to pocket sizable profits by reselling new, government-insured loans to other federal agencies, which then bundle the mortgages into securities for sale to investors.

    While homeowners save money, the arrangement shifts nearly all the risk for the loans to the federal government — and, ultimately, taxpayers — at a time when Americans are falling behind on their mortgage payments in record numbers.

    Housing experts warn that the financial players involved — the investment funds, their intermediaries and certain F.H.A. approved lenders — have a financial incentive to put as many loans as possible into the government’s hands.

    “From the borrower’s point of view, landing in a hedge fund or private equity fund that’s willing to write down principal is a gift,” said Howard Glaser, a financial industry consultant and former official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

    He went on: “From the systemic point of view, there is something disturbing about investors that had substantial short-term profit in backing toxic loans now swooping down to make another profit on cleaning up that mess.”

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  16. Detroit an example of what happens to real estate prices when unemployment gets bad where there is no beachfront property for the lucky survivors.

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  17. In Housing Bust, Government Increasingly Favors Homeowners Over Renters

    During the housing boom, critics increasingly complained that the government devoted too many resources to homeownership and too few to more affordable options, such as renting. Now, during the bust, the government’s commitment to ownership has grown even larger, according to a new report (pdf) from the Congressional Budget Office.

    This year, the government devoted four times the amount of budgetary resources to homeownership as it devoted to rental housing, or around $230 billion in spending and tax breaks for homeowners compared to around $60 billion for renting, the CBO reported. Around two-thirds of Americans are homeowners, according to the Census Bureau, though the rate fell to around 67.5% earlier this year, from a peak of 69.2% in 2004.

    The report notes that, until recently, most government support for homeowners came in the form of tax breaks that don’t require government spending but result in the government collecting less in taxes than what might be owed.

    But recent efforts to help stabilize a fragile housing market means that government spending now accounts for around half of federal support for housing...

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  18. The fact that we still have a corrupt govt-wallstreet-crony banking complex is a GOOD thing?

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  19. Good for transfering the wealth of the citizens to the crooks.

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  20. Blogger Doug said...

    "Detroit an example of what happens to real estate prices when unemployment gets bad where there is no beachfront property for the lucky survivors."

    hehehe

    location location location!

    There is still value in them thar hills!

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  21. W Bush:

    "I had to abandon free market verities in order to save the free market."

    ...and open the barn door for the Commie and Little Tim.

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  22. Well Whit,

    Half of THOSE folks did lose the farm!
    ...but half did not.

    Therfore,
    The Glass is half full!

    Signed,

    Rufus!

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  23. From Doug's link:
    With the national debt now topping $12 trillion, the White House estimates that the government’s tab for servicing the debt will exceed $700 billion a year in 2019, up from $202 billion this year, even if annual budget deficits shrink drastically. Other forecasters say the figure could be much higher.

    In concrete terms, an additional $500 billion a year in interest expense would total more than the combined federal budgets this year for education, energy, homeland security and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.


    This is what I was referring to the other day when I mistakenly said the debt service is costing $800 billion. I was off by $100 billion and ten years, and was pooh-poohed out of the bar by our resident optimist.

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  24. What Should a Home Really Cost?

    Using Real Estate Valuation Methods to Arrive at a Sustainable Market Price for Homes.
    Three City Examples:
    Compton, Culver City, and Rancho Palos Verdes.

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  25. Debt service will leave little or nothing for the welfare society. Welcome to the new normal. Ask Britons how it feels.

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  26. What kind of interest rate are they using to estimate the debt service totals?

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  27. I think I'll take the rest of the day to be thankful for what I have. Enough with the gloom and doom.

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  28. "...our resident optimist."
    ---
    Do you refer to Rose Colored Rufus?

    ...the optimist that predicted that the Mortgage Meltdown would amount to a piddle in the pond?

    Performance counts, Rufus!

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  29. I've been a big fan of fiscal prudence Whit. Roughly balance inflows vs outflows is desired. Some things just aren't cheap but worth paying for anyway.

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  30. Be thankful your spectacles are clear!

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  31. Just another day here in Canada. We gave our Thanks last month.

    Enjoy the day - especially the Family!!

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  32. Ash:

    "The government’s average interest rate on new borrowing last year fell below 1 percent. For short-term i.o.u.’s like one-month Treasury bills, its average rate was only sixteen-hundredths of a percent. "
    ---

    "To lock in low interest rates in the years ahead, Treasury officials are trying to replace one-month and three-month bills with 10-year and 30-year Treasury securities. That strategy will save taxpayers money in the long run. But it pushes up costs drastically in the short run, because interest rates are higher for long-term debt.

    Adding to the pressure, the Fed is set to begin reversing some of the policies it has been using to prop up the economy. Wall Street firms advising the Treasury recently estimated that the Fed’s purchases of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities pushed down long-term interest rates by about one-half of a percentage point. Removing that support could in itself add $40 billion to the government’s annual tab for debt service.

    This month, the Treasury Department’s private-sector advisory committee on debt management warned of the risks ahead.

    “Inflation, higher interest rate and rollover risk should be the primary concerns,” declared the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee, a group of market experts that provide guidance to the government, on Nov. 4.

    “Clever debt management strategy,” the group said, “can’t completely substitute for prudent fiscal policy."
    ---

    Traditional long term rates are what?
    ...not to mention rates for the new Weimar Nation.

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  33. Easy for you to say with your Conservative Banking Rules, Ash!

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  34. The superdome for the cost of a McMansion!

    jeez, sometimes I just don't know.

    There's a fellow here who now has put his farm up for sale, for $14,000 an acre.

    The wife and I were driving by the other day, and noticed a real estate sign, so we looked into it.


    It's great land as farmland, I can tell you that, which makes it worth maybe $1,400, tops, on what you could get from the crops, not even a good investment at that, though you'd have a nice place to take a walk.

    Development potential?

    Nil, for the next 30 years or more.

    Unless of course the county codes are changed to allow little bedroom communities around.

    Don't bet on it.

    187 acres at 14k is two million six hundred thousand.

    Any takers?

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  35. ...but happy Thanksgiving to all, half full, or half empty!

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  36. Rates will be what people are willing to pay for those longer term notes...

    ...or the Fed bellies up to the bar?

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  37. The FDIC is just a tax on banks, so I suppose the the FDIC is as good as the banks.

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  38. Filler up and toss er back! No half measures please!

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  39. If the Federal Government should support any institution is should be the FDIC! Better that than, say, AIG.

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  40. Anybody remember 17% rates?
    I sure do.
    We were all cash:
    I felt and acted like a pig in slop.
    ...then reality woke me up.

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  41. There was a lot of demand driving the 17% rates. I don't see that currently.

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  42. I remember Clients delaying paying suppliers to scoop 30 to 60 days of interest.

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  43. What about our printing press currency?

    ...assuming we avoid a deflationary depression.

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  44. trade 'em at the currency bazaar...I've got a nice shiny Canadian dollar sittin' right here.

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  45. Anybody remember 17% rates?


    hey, you're talking to me. Damn near sunk me.

    My wife's job and some good weather kept us alive.

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  46. High Speed Drinking Song

    Buffett-Mac McAnally-Will Kimbrough:

    ---

    Up on the East side of Manhattan,
    They’re still dancing with the stars.
    While over in sub prime city,
    It’s getting angry in the local bars
    Watching the news only gives me the blues
    There’s too much going wrong.
    It takes the likes of me to hit the reboot key
    and write a high speed drinking song.

    Millionaires losing everything.
    Hey, welcome to the other side of life!
    There goes the yacht, there goes the Rolls,
    But, you get to keep your wife!
    And don’t forget the automakers
    swimming up stream like a trout.
    They let the shi* hit the fan
    and then they made a plan
    We’ve got a lot to drink about.

    It’s the price of oil,
    the war of the spoils.
    Where’s your bucket for the big bailout?
    Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan,
    We’ve got a lot to drink about.

    Now, Madoff made off with all the money.
    Now his clients are down to skunk weed.
    Repeat after me, it’s so easy to see
    We’re only talking simple greed.
    And those Somalian pirates are counting all the gold.
    While Bush and Cheney ain’t around
    and all the good lookers seem to be Czech hookers
    from Key West to London town.

    It’s the price of oil,
    the war of the spoils.
    Where’s your bucket for the big bailout?
    Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan,
    We’ve got a lot to drink about.

    So pour me some Tennessee whiskey,
    pour me a fine Jamaican rum.
    That loud mouth soup
    gets me kind of looped
    Tequila, of course I’ll have some!

    Now the family devalues
    and little children count their net worth
    and the truth wherever it’s hiding,
    can be found on Google Earth.
    Citibank’s buying jets with our money.
    I wanna flog ‘em with a buggy whip.
    I hope Obama and Joe won’t let the volcano blow
    and patch the hole in our sinking ship.

    It’s the price of oil,
    the war of the spoils.
    Here’s your bucket for the big bailout?
    Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan,
    We’ve got a lot to drink about.

    Recession, Depression, the question good God
    CNN keeps bumming me out.
    I can’t take another doomsday moment.
    We got a lot to drink, a lot to think,
    a lot to drink about.

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  47. I don't think my comments were "Pro-Obumble," or "Anti-Obumble," Doug. They were just what they were.

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  48. Where'd ya get that? Gotta link.

    Good ditty!

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  49. What should every man know about money?

    Jimmy Buffet:

    "You’ve got to be able to take it out of the equation in order to enjoy life and make good decisions.

    Years ago I went to Warren Buffett for advice about something, and that’s what he told me.
    He said,

    “Whether you make or don’t make this deal, is it going to affect your life? And if not, then do what you want to do and be prepared for them to say no.”

    I’ve used that quite a bit.

    A while ago I almost bit on a deal with Disney.

    I thought it would mean instant fortune, but they had all these things they wanted me to do.

    I walked away from that and it worked out.
    "

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  50. whit said...
    I think I'll take the rest of the day to be thankful for what I have. Enough with the gloom and doom.


    Good idea.

    I know enough about how our Lutheran pastors go about counseling people - -some are quite good at this - that are nealy ready to blow their brains out to understand the good sense of counting the blessings.

    Their technique is to probe for those things in a life that are on the bright side, that might be forgotten in the despair of the moment, when the wife has run away with the kids, or when the husband has been found to be a cheating bastard himself, or when the bank is foreclosing, and concentrate on those brighter things.

    And then also to point to some of the deeper verities about life, maybe to point one in the direction of some of the near death literature, and engage in earnest prayer with the person. And just be of personal and sincere support. Congregationally too, if possible.



    Happy Thanksgiving, and Blessings

    bob

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  51. "My wife's job and some good weather kept us alive."
    ---
    As I said before,
    they gotta be good at something.

    ---
    (gotta get my digs in at non-misogynist Caveman, al-Bob)

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  52. My near-death experience consisted of me figuring out a strategy not to get caught at what I was up to.

    ...as usual.

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  53. There's actually no professional sensible planning going on in any of our counties here, these P and Z groups being made up of nitwits walking in off the street--here today, gone tomorrow--most with no financial or long term interest in the affair.

    But, maybe it's as good as a group of planners that turn into professional politicians.

    What's a person to do?

    Anyway--

    Elmore P and Z recommends changing comp plan to allow nuclear reactor
    Inconsistencies in Elmore County comp plan made it difficult to rezone site for proposed reactor, but company is pressing forward with new Payette County site



    Nov. 19, 2009
    For more information:
    Don Gillispie 208-939-9311

    Jennie Ransom 208-939-3495

    www.aehipower.com
    www.facebook.com/aehipower
    www.twitter.com/aehi



    In somewhat of a reversal from last year’s decision, the Elmore County Planning and Zoning Commission Wednesday voted to move forward with amending its comprehensive plan so developers could rezone land for a proposed nuclear plant. The company proposing to develop the plant welcomed the vote - even as Payette County holds a meeting tonight to consider a separate proposal for a nuclear plant.



    In April 2008, Alternate Energy Holdings Inc. applied to rezone about 1,280 acres in Elmore County to industrial use for a proposed nuclear reactor. In July, the Elmore County Commission found the county’s comprehensive plan was unclear, as it restricted industrial development to a remote area without services, yet sought to promote economic development. The commission directed its Planning and Zoning Commission to consider amending the Elmore County Comprehensive plan to allow the proposed nuclear plant rezone.



    “It has been clear to us that Elmore County’s comprehensive plan, while well-intentioned, has appeared to keep industrial development to one zone, thus denying other areas of the county the benefits of industrial development,” said AEHI CEO Don Gillispie. “We welcome Wednesday’s vote as a favorable sign that Elmore County is committed to making sure that its comprehensive plan is used to facilitate growth, not obstruct it.”



    Nevertheless, Gillispie said he is looking forward to tonight’s public hearing before the Payette County Planning and Zoning Commission. In October, AEHI submitted an application to amend the Payette comprehensive plan and rezone some 5,100 acres for a nuclear plant. The Payette submittal came a year and a half after the Elmore submittal when AEHI felt Elmore County wasn’t processing its application in a timely manner.



    If this step in Payette is successful, the company will have one more hearing for the rezone of the property currently anticipated before year’s end. Rezone approval will then allow pre-COLA (Nuclear Regulatory Commission application) preparations to begin in the first quarter of 2010.



    “While we welcome the Elmore County P and Z’s acknowledgement that their plan needs to be reconciled, we are moving forward with our proposal in Payette County as well and look forward to tonight’s hearing before the Payette County Planning and Zoning Commission,” Gillispie said. “We are confident there is at least one jurisdiction in Idaho that is open to having a clean, well-paying, stable industry anchoring their economy.”

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  54. there ya go bobal, put that nuke plant on your development property. You'll be rich! What company wants to build a plant there?

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  55. Somebody here asked who would buy the power.

    ...is the plan to sell it to idiots like the Californicators?

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  56. “While we welcome the Elmore County P and Z’s acknowledgement that their plan needs to be reconciled, we are moving forward with our proposal in Payette County as well and look forward to tonight’s hearing before the Payette County Planning and Zoning Commission,” Gillispie said. “We are confident there is at least one jurisdiction in Idaho that is open to having a clean, well-paying, stable industry anchoring their economy.”

    They're trying to play the counties off against one another.

    Nothing wrong in that, particularily in a day when unemployment is really reaching about 20 per cent.

    Translated: If you don't want us, fuck you, we'll go somewhere else, and take our jobs with us.

    ReplyDelete
  57. rufus said...

    "I don't think my comments were "Pro-Obumble," or "Anti-Obumble," Doug.
    They were just what they were.
    "
    ---
    Yeah,
    Wrong!

    ...but we love you, nonetheless,
    Rufus!

    ReplyDelete
  58. Answer the Question, al-Bop!

    (al-Bop, I like that)

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  59. Alternate Energy Holdings Inc, I quess, Ash. Whoever they are. Everything's entwined.

    I don't know a thing about them.

    In fact, Rufus pointed the proposal out to me quite a while ago.

    So I signed up for their newsletters, and post them for Rufus.

    The concept was a big deal, and included providing a market for farmers, and make ethanol.

    I'd be happy to have a nuke plant on my property. I'd be happy to have a nuke plant here in Lewiston, right where Potlatch Forests is.

    Who buys the power?

    People in Boise I quess, maybe even in Salt Lake.

    Don't know how far you can transmit power like that.

    A situation like this is ripe for all sorts of under the table dealings.

    Not just by the nuke company, but by the other energy providers, who see a threat.

    Others groups as well.

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  60. I recall that comet well. Impressive.

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  61. Boise requires a Nuke to light 13 watt florescent bulbs for the residents?

    ReplyDelete
  62. American Idol

    Lambert kissed a male keyboard player, dragged a female dancer around by the ankles, and had a dancer simulate oral sex on him while performing For Your Entertainment, a song with a sexual edge.

    I admit I did get carried away, but I don't see anyting wrong with it.
    Adam Lambert

    Democrat-Gazette News Services

    Among other blessings, I'm thankful I don't watch TV.

    --------

    Happy Thanksgiving, y'all.

    Viktor's back up at his blog.

    ReplyDelete
  63. There was electricity transmitted from Texas to California, during their last crisis.

    The Enron energy, as I recall.

    When we were discussing wind farms in the Dakotas, transmission loss was considered negligible, by the source I found. Energy transmission loss was something I expected to be a possible objection to the idea, but that, it turned out, was not the easily researched reality.

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  64. Don't know how far you can transmit power like that.

    LA drags electrons from the Bonneville system, Bob. My theory is that's why they're so frenetic south of the Tehachapis, and so laid back north of the Columbia. It's an electron deficit, like iron deficiency anemia.

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  65. Daughter just walked in. She's all fired up about Palin being in Coeur d'Alene for a book signing. Quess we're all going.

    Been listening to her on the Laura show. Makes sense to me.

    She tried to scoot around the question of who tried to shut her up during the campaign. Finally came out that it was mostly so and so, who ran interface with TV, talk shows, and such, breath of freedom to be her own woman now, say what she thinks.

    She's pregnant again, #6. No, they don't know the sex of the child yet, though they did have an early ultrsound.

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  66. Happy Thanksgiving to you, MLD and to all.

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  67. Palin thought there would be a big landslide away from the dems, in 2010.

    She has all the look of a run for prez, to me.

    She's for a stronger USA, in all ways.

    She can handle the job just as well as anyone else, better than most.

    I've always liked that in' in the way she speaks. Doin', bein', goin', I like that. Her speakin' is a combo of Idaho and Alaska.

    ReplyDelete
  68. Happy Thanksgivin' to you, MLD.

    And all.

    And to you, Linear. Hope things are going well with you.

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  69. Palin said she wanted to attack Obama on all his past associations, during the campaign, but really wasn't able to do so.

    Wright, Ayers, all the crap in Chicago, all of it.

    Free to speak her own mind, now.

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  70. 'Rat said it didn't work.
    ...never mentioned that his man McCain NEVER DID IT.

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  71. Mac wouldn't let her go on Rush, Hannity, et-al.
    Heard a hell of a quote from W speechwriter about W distancing himself from conservatives.
    ...Ingraham has the soundbyte of W mouthing it himself.

    New Tone did a great job of destroying the GOP.

    ReplyDelete
  72. McCain NEVER DID IT.

    That's right, and I can't figure out why.

    I recall Palin making a couple statements about 'cozying up to terrorists' or some such statement, but that was about it.

    McCain could have attacked O on so much stuff. Done corectly, there wouldn't have been any racial overtones to it. Everybody around O, white, black, was corrupt as hell. But he never did it.

    They lost the election.

    Almost makes me buy into one of the conspiracy theories.

    al-Doug, you want me to try and get you an autographed copy of Palin's book, when we stand in line in CdA? First time I ever will have stood in a line like that. There may be a limit on buys.

    ReplyDelete
  73. Local approval of nuclear plant rezone could lead to as many as 100 short-term jobs this coming spring, according to company

    Testimony ran 2-to1 in favor of plant at last week’s public hearing

    Testimony for a proposed nuclear plant at a hearing last week was 2 to 1 in favor and the company says it may start hiring a few dozen people locally as early as next spring, assuming the county rezones the land.



    “Discounting the usual anti-nuclear group speakers from around the state – who have no vested interest in Payette’s land use – the ratio was closer to 3 to 1 in favor,” said Don Gillispie, CEO of Alternate Energy Holdings Inc.



    Gillispie said preliminary site assessment will create an immediate need for drillers, surveyors, earth movers, contractors and other well-paying jobs.



    “Our proposed power plant will put thousands of people to work when construction hits full stride, but preliminary site assessment this spring may start employing workers in the short-term,” Gillispie said. “According to economic projections, the project will create 4,000 to 5,000 jobs during the construction phase, which could start as soon as 2013.”



    However, a limited amount of work will need to take place this spring for site study. For example, a meteorological tower and some simple outbuildings will need to be constructed and some grading done. Well drillers will be hired to take core samples and surveyors to stake out preliminary locations. Basic electrical service will also be brought to the site, requiring electricians.



    All of this work will be in preparation for an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Gillispie hopes to make an initial NRC application in the spring of 2011 (the company must collect a least a year’s worth of meteorological data).



    If you have problems in Elmore, go to Payette.

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  74. ...(the company must collect a least a year’s worth of meteorological data).

    What a load of steaming bureaucratic bullshit. The fucking process will take over two years from submittal, anyway. Don't they know the sun shines, the wind blows, it rains, and it snows in Payette, Idaho? Anywhere near McCall? I know a bar or two in McCall where they could get reliable weather stories.

    One year of weather observations is just a delay mechanism. Of course, NOAA can't trust their own weather data, as we're having confirmed.

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  75. "Any Jew that advocates US taxpayer support for a Zionist State should be declared a religious radical, and deported."

    Fascist

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  76. "(W)e should be looking to our south."

    Oh, we LOOK alright. What would you like to DO in the way of, I assume, increasing US influence/countering that of others?

    The ONLY thing we've got in the pipeline (thank you Bush) is Brazil - and that's not even yet at the point of resourcing.

    This admin is not concerned with political influence down here. Were it not for Chavez running his mouth and seeming to have gone off the deep end every other day of the week, there would be no interest of any sort at all. Chavez, however humorously, is the only thing that keeps this continent on the map of US foreign policy. Otherwise it might as well be Antarctica.

    There's a Democratic Congress that can't in its own mind uncouple Latin America from an 80's parody - or are simply fellow travelers. An Admin that can't yet forsake them and has no spare room on its plate for, oh, two more years. But I'll go on...










    Had this admin the interest and wherewithal, it's certainly not as easy as: "Hello. Would you like to be our buddy? We're the good guys, you know." This admin (see, I'm not naming names) is regarded by the good, the bad, AND the indifferent among governments with all the bright-eyed warmth and ready trust that one would grant Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre, sidling up on either side of you and offering to buy you a drink in your neighborhood hole-in-the-wall.

    The Iranians are running drugs, dealing arms, what-have-you - along with their overt political engagement - but however much closer to home, our focus with regard to them is still very, very much in *their* own back yard. And clear through the house, out the other side to the front porch.

    But you already knew that.

    I don't think you can "sell" South America on the basis of countering Chinese, Russian, and Iranian activities and influence, though you may get a few more souls injected to keep tabs on these. I don't think you can "sell" it in any way, shape, or form until there's a changeover in Congress AND the WH.

    Until that happens, nothing happens. Barring the screaming headline, this is. Barring the screaming headline (and I'd really rather it not come about that way) we've got what we've got until political turnover.





    As an aside: On the subject of open borders, which vex us everydamnedwhere, we've got that down here, too. (Which is worse? The coke or the open border? You decide.) Coming up with a social/political fix (it has to be both) for that ought to be worth someone's time and money. Ought to. Fucking bloody proxy war and there might as well be no border at all.

    Familiar, no?

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  77. I get a little confused when I get down there past Riggins, on the county lines and such. Payette County isn't McCall, that's Valley County, just looked it up, to make sure.

    I'm not exactly sure where these fellows are talking about, in Payette County.

    This state is as big as a European nation.

    The logical site for a nuke plant in Idaho should be somewhere on the Snake River plain, seems to me.

    I think Elmore County would fit the bill better than Payette County.

    Maybe the commissioners in Elmore began asking for too much, and they are saying back, fuck you.

    I just got an e-mail from my lady lawyer setting a date in January for my next trip to city P and Z. This whole plan was put together by the City Planner, I've got many objections to it.

    Last time around, I had the support of the City Planner, got voted down 12 or 14 to 0 by the idiot City P and Z, lead by a squirrel of a lawyer, who wanted to run the city from an unelected position, then I went on to City Council, where I won 5 to 1.
    I don't see how anything gets done. And my little projects are absolutely zero compared to a nuclear power plant.

    The whole thing can break down into bureacacy, hired enviros lawyers, etc.

    There's something to be said for a good Prince.

    I think a major mistake was made with these planning and zoning committes. State law should rule, too much has been given to the P and Z committees.

    It's looks as if the people are supporting the idea of nuke plants, in both Payette and Elmore.

    Not really surprising given the situation.

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  78. These Planning and Zoning Commissions shouldn't even exist, least not here.

    They are staffed by people that walk in off the street, or people who have a personal agenda.

    I don't know why they were set up in the first place. You have to have elected county commissioners, but an unelected P and Z commission made up of 14 or 15 basically self selected people? And in both cities, and counties. It's idiotic.

    The Idaho Legislature should just pass a bill, saying fuck it, we're bypassing all this shit, you have permission to build a nuclear plant in Elmore County.

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  79. Ahhh...everyone has left for the evening, my bottle of wine is almost gone and now, I can relax. My dinner was a success, I had good company and I'm looking forward to the same thing tomorrow. If all goes well that is.

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  80. Ahhh...

    I always love it when you say that, Melody. :)

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  81. Over and over, My Darling, again and again.
    -----


    “As every Iditarod musher knows, if you’re not the lead dog the view never changes,” Palin writes.

    Life On The Rogue

    If I was a rake, I could make a reference about that title too.

    Book review.

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  82. I'm gonna try and get some autographed copies of this book.

    I think she might be our next pres. Worth getting even if she fails.

    But, she's running, make no mistake.

    If I succeed, and you want one, MLD, I'll mail it to you through deuce and Whit.

    Gotta go downtown.

    Happy Thanksgiving, once again.

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  83. Well, that's a silly question. Of course, I want one. And not just because it's Sarah Palin, the coolest woman on earth, besides me, but because you get to meet your heroine and that would make me happy.

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  84. What's the matter, whit, having it mailed to your house and me picking it up the next time, I was in your area isn't what you were thinking?

    Don't worry if I want a autographed book from Sarah Palin, I'm more than capable of getting it myself.

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  85. No, that's not what I was "arghing" about...

    I was just trying to be "funny".

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  86. Pirate talk is not easy to understand, ya know. I tried it for a day and it got me all confused. I was deleting things left and right.

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  87. arg atwas gut me roked inta a merry swell and the she wert lik the see when werewarm lik inta ma in spring when the dolphys play aday an the see went upndown so heavenlyheavaly n we made home ma mast inta her stormee port


    Hell, everything closed on Thanksgivin', why didn't I think of that.

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  88. In our bard, and some of the other 16th and 17th poets, the sexual punning goes on forever.

    Some people like it, some don't.

    In a way, I kind of judge a culture or tradition or current tradition by some of the humor about sex.

    The more humor, the less stoning of the women to death, as a general rule. I think some PhD candidate should look into this.

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  89. Filthy Shakespeare

    Often an outrageous pun might contain a raging inner meaning.

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  90. arg atwas gut me roked inta a merry swell and the she wert lik the see when werewarm lik inta ma in spring when the dolphys play aday an the see went upndown so heavenlyheavaly n we made home ma mast inta her stormee port


    It was good when I was born into a world of sexuality

    And it was like when dolphins play

    In the sea, undulating

    And We made home through a mast in a stormy port




    Home being always a symbol of spirit, where maybe two can become one

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  91. Funny, the only thing that made me a fascist was deporting radical Jews, to deport radical Muslims, that is not fascist, too?

    That was the point of that entire thread, concerning wi"o"s thoughts on deporting radical Muslims.

    To be advocating giving Mr Holder that authority, to define "radical", then the power to deport, based upon that finding.

    What was wi"o" thinking?

    Why does allen not think deporting radical Muslims is fascist, too?

    Why are his standards so skewed?

    Should we deport EVERY ONE that will not prove their primary loyalty is to the United States?

    Or deport only convicted criminals, after their sentence is completed in US prisons.

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  92. By claiming that Glenn Beck is a danger to society, is not the Anti Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, which then advocates for "special laws" to combat the "hate" spewed forth by Glenn Beck a fascist organization, too?

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  93. rat farts continue...

    desert rat said...
    Funny, the only thing that made me a fascist was deporting radical Jews, to deport radical Muslims, that is not fascist, too?

    According to rat a Radical Jew is someone who believes that Israel should have the right to exist...

    Whereas I believe a radical Moslem is someone who wishes to destroy America...

    If Rat Turds had advocated the deportation of anyone in America wishing to destroy her THAT who be fine, but Rat Turds equates the love for Israel with the love for jihad that is the fascist of the Turd's position...

    Israel doesnt get anything from America except military aid, that is a fact.

    Economic aid is zero.

    Rat Turd hates Israel, that is a fact...

    He never mis-spells any other nation on the planet, nor any other group except the land of Zion..

    Rat Turd ONLY seems to have real venom for Jews and Israel...

    Rat Turd is a Baiter.... a Master Baiter if I may add...

    congrats to Turd the Jack Off wizard of the EB...

    and no, I wont shake his hands...

    ReplyDelete