Derivative Bank Reform

The financial institutions of this country are in a shambles due to poor choices by the nations banking institutions. If you look at small town banks that invest in the local community then you don’t see a problem. When you look at nationwide banks then you see a problem simply because they forgot the original mission of the bank. Sitting on a large pile of cash, yours and mine, they figured it was okay to gamble with it on Wall Street using one tool called derivatives.

What is a derivative you might ask yourself? It is for all intents and purposes a lottery ticket, a throw at the craps table, or a bet. By definition according to Wikipidia…

“A derivative is a financial instrument (or more simply, an agreement between two people/two parties) that has a value determined by the future price of something else. Derivatives can be thought of as bets on the price of something. Suppose you bet with your friend on the price of a bushel of corn. If the price in one year is less than $3 your friend pays you $1. If the price is more than $3 you pay your friend $1. Thus, the underlying in the agreement is the price of corn and the value of the agreement to you depends on that underlying.”

Republican opposition to such reform is outlandish in the face of so many banks that needed the Treasury to bail them out of the financial mess they were in. Banks became lazy and greedy for ever growing easier profits from Wall Street rather than focusing on the business model they started with. Greed lead to more greed and greater risk to not only the bank but individual account holders and that was the downfall of many of the institutions that Republican leaders wanted to not bail out to begin with? Which way do the Republican’s want the pendulum to swing? Our nation is at a catch 22 with some of the biggest banks and financial institutions; if they fail, they will take the nation down with them. We bailed them out when they went to Vegas and now it is time to tell those same banks that they have a gambling problem. It is called and intervention to prevent future bail outs!

Is common sense dead over on the right side of the aisle? If banking institutions are going to belly up to the bar for bailout money because greed superseded simple banking business rule of thumb, then they need big brother telling them that playing the lottery with other peoples money is not going to happen. Quarterly profits should not override common sense when it comes to banking institutions.

Is your bank playing with derivatives? If so, are you sure the check for your electric bill is going to be paid? That is the common sense behind bank reform. Protecting you and the money you deposit into the bank.

Papamoka

Governor Patrick Green Lights Casino’s

Picture courtesy of Mashpee Indian Tribe


In a move that was not a very large surprise to most people, the Governor gave the green light to casino style gambling here in Massachusetts. One of the bluest of blue states is now placing its bets on the future of gambling. The times in our state they are a changing and the need for yet another new industry is at hand. Just like the days of the computer industry manufacturing boom and bust, something has to fill the gap and the jobs that need to be filled.

Over at the Boston Herald they have this to say on today’s announcement by Governor Deval Patrick…

Patrick today proposed licensing three resort casinos in Massachusetts, in a move he said would generate between $400 and $450 million in annual tax revenue that he would spend on transportation upgrades and property tax relief.

Under the plan, the “tasteful and appropriate” casinos would be distributed one each in the western, southeastern and greater metropolitan Boston regions of the state, Patrick said. The licenses would be put up for bid in a competitive process open to Indian tribes and casino companies.

“Casino gambling is neither a cure all nor the end of civilization,” Patrick said. “On balance, however, and under certain conditions, I believe resort casinos can work well in, and for, the commonwealth.”

However, lawmakers must approve expanding legalized gambling beyond the state lottery and four racetracks, and House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi said today he was not persuaded by Patrick’s plan. - Boston Herald

The big question right now is going to be the discussions between Governor Patrick and House Speaker DiMasi. I’m not convinced by any means that Governor Patrick is pro gambling as much as he is about pro jobs. Contrary to popular belief, many areas of our state are in an economic downturn without any sense of relief in sight. New jobs and construction jobs are needed to rebuild communities and families once more. With the exodus of our latest and greatest industries moving if not south then across the border to Mexico, new jobs are desperately needed in Massachusetts.

I’m not sure if I am pro gambling myself but I do know that not all of our children will grow up and become MIT, WPI or Harvard schooled successes. Parents from all walks of life are struggling to survive and higher education is not always available to all children. Sad to say but reality is that some kids will drive the trash truck (A very honorable and appreciated profession) and others will run the company that makes sure that the trucks roll out of the yard every single day.

If I were to have an argument in favor of gambling in this state then I would have to go with the fact that the 20,000 jobs the casinos could provide would not be bottom of the latter minimum wage jobs but descent wages with benefits. I was reading in the same piece that one Indian tribe is willing to spend one billion dollars on a resort casino in Middleboro! Times that by three and you get three billion dollars in construction work.

If I were to have an argument against gambling in this state then I would have to go with the personal destruction and loss of family wages on lady luck at the gambling tables. Gambling is not dangerous to all but many become addicted just like one could become addicted to alcohol. When over done, one or both can destroy many lives.

Toss this issue up in the air for now till Deval and Sal sit down and hash this whole thing out. We could more or less say that this is the beginning of the serious talks of the process of gambling in Massachusetts.

Papamoka

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Dog Fighting Criminal Animals

Picture of Pete courtesy of Pitt Bull Abuse

There can not be enough punishment for the men or dare I say woman that train dogs to fight. This is the ultimate cruelty to animals and there is no way anyone with a rational mind could ever think that this is a sport. I can not imagine the pain and suffering that these poor animals go through to be trained to fight? How much cruelty do they endure endlessly to instill the ferocity and desire to survive when encountered with another animal trained in the same way?

I’m shocked that even an NFL Quarterback has his name linked to this disgusting form of animal abuse and it makes you wonder how sick of a human being he truly is? Is the paycheck from the Falcons not covering the mortgage? Trying to make a few extra dollars on the side to cover college costs or what? What the hell was Michael Vick thinking? One thing that is a fact, his days in the NFL are over and I don’t feel one damn bit sorry for him.

Monsters are supposed to live in children’s closets and not in our adult world. Apparently, they walk amongst us and hidden somewhere near you is a training class run by monsters to bring out the worst in mans best friend.

Over at the Boston Herald they have a great piece on this issue and what the leaders of Mass-a-two-sticks are doing to change the laws and make them tougher on the monsters perpetrating this as a sport…

Pols bite back against dogfights: Gruesome sport called widespread
By Colneth Smiley Jr. and Marie Szaniszlo

Thursday, July 19, 2007 - Updated: 04:15 AM EST

The gruesome nature of the competitive dogfighting that led to charges against Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick stunned Boston-area pooch lovers, but it came as no surprise to animal advocates and authorities.

“It’s not just in Atlanta but in every community,” said Scott Giacoppo, MSPCA deputy director of advocacy. “It’s very underground, very secretive. A lot of people attribute this type of activity to urban settings, but it often happens in very affluent communities.”

The largest dogfighting ring in New England - and one of the largest in the nation - began in Hyde Park and ended in Newton, N.H., the posh community the suspect moved to after he discovered he was being investigated. In that case, police raided a two-floor garage that was covered in blood and seized 37 pit bulls, nearly all of whom had battle scars. One was missing his tongue. Another had two broken legs. - Boston Herald

Maybe the State Legislature should make a law that these monsters have to be put in a cage with a pack of these dogs. Not their own dogs but ones that were trained by someone else. I know that that punishment is over the top and probably cruel but how much cruelty have these monsters doled out over the years to innocent animals before they were caught.

If you read the whole article, and I recommend that you do, this is not a poor mans so called sport. This is a very lucrative venue and slapping a small fine and even smaller threat of prison time is not going to make a dent in the participation in this cruel choice of entertainment. There needs to be a very disgusting fine for perpetrators convicted in the training or ownership of animals abused like this and the prison time should be up there with murder. How many animals are dying at the hands of these monsters every single day?

There is not a jury in the nation that would look kindly on this form of animal abuse and that is just how it should be. These are domesticated animals that are trained to be at the most primitive level of survival. When these poor animals do not perform well and loose, their owners revert to the most brutal form of animal abuse the news has ever reported. Men or woman that do this to them are not human in any form of the word.

Papamoka

Must read site for beautiful animals abused by owners that just happen to be Pittbulls

Pitt Bull Abuse

Please link this post or email it to your friends and family to protect these poor animals from future abuse.

Bush Commerce Department General is Gambling Too?

Picture courtesy of Bally's Atlantic City

Is it bad enough that the President is overseas gambling with America’s future and throwing the political dice of what he thinks our nation is all about but then again back at home he has many other folks rolling the dice as well? Toss the dice and see what the latest Bush administration scandal is and you cant make this stuff up!


Suffice to say that the good old boy network in Washington D.C. is still up to its old games. There seems to be a non stop mentality that anyone in the service to the people in the United States Government can do no wrong even if it breaks all the rules you learned in first grade, second grade, and all the way up the ladder of your public education. Doing something wrong is no longer questioned by anyone in the Bush administration because they are learning from the best at it.


Take a few of your closest buds and subordinates for an all expense paid junket to Atlantic City to attend a conference (winky, wink). There is some really serious government business in the city of slots and gambling institutions. Seminars with one armed bandits to discuss military commerce and how to expand the ventures of American business owners in the ways of … umm separating the government employees on the clock from their money.


Somebody has to defend the slot playing politicos and defend the rights of subordinates to loan cash to their boss when he runs out when it comes time to hitting the old slot machines… umm I mean when his expense account runs low for the lectures.


If you ever thought that the Republican run government has hit the very bottom of the barrel then this article from the Washington Post says it all…


Commerce Dept. Inspector General's Casino Trip Probed
Lawmaker Claims It Was on Federal Time
By John SolomonWashington Post Staff Writer Saturday, June 9, 2007

Commerce Department Inspector General Johnnie E. Frazier, whose retirement was announced Thursday, took five subordinates attending a government conference last spring gambling with him in Atlantic City on federal time, a lawmaker alleged yesterday.


When Frazier returned to the conference in Philadelphia, he asked subordinates if he could borrow $100 and one assistant obliged, according to a congressional committee and an eyewitness.

Frazier retired while several congressional and executive branch investigations of his activities are pending. A report by the Office of Special Counsel last month recommended that President Bush punish him for violating the federal whistle-blower law by demoting two witnesses involved in the investigations.


(Snippet-a-roo)


The committee's staff also has interviewed an assistant in Frazier's office who gave her boss $100 after he asked subordinates if he could borrow money. An eyewitness, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of concerns about reprisal, said Frazier asked subordinates for money the morning after returning from the gambling jaunt. One obliged, the witness said.


The House panel also is investigating whether Frazier and others altered or deleted government records after the investigations began. One manager has told the committee he helped Frazier delete approximately 4,000 e-mails from his government account last October, the committee said.


"Mr. Frazier's decision to resign was a wise one," said Rep. John D. Dingell (D-Mich.), chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee. "This investigation, however, is far from over." - Washington Post


Where does serving your nation in our government go from performing a task that is to find corruption within commerce become being corrupt yourself? I tend to think that it is a learned acceptance of government and we as the taxpayers are at the mercy of a check book that will never have a zero balance.


Corruption in our government is popping up everywhere and investigations are one thing but changing the ideology of what public service is all about will be a long road to travel. For the average person the word politician or public servant is now a very dirty word synonymous with a common street walker in the so called red light district. If a dollar is to be made then the risk of being caught is worth the chance of pulling the one armed bandit of public service.


What bothers me about this story in the Washington Post is that the Whistle Blowers that broke this latest scandal of the Bush administration are considered bastards amongst members of prominent public servants. In place of praise, they were demoted for serving the people. This gives the old saying “You can’t fight City Hall” a whole new meaning.


The United States Government payroll is the largest employer in the nation or a close second. Our nation supposedly encourages “Whistle Blowers” in one breath and yet time and time again in the next breath the people blowing that same whistle become the story and the ones to blame.


This leads me to believe that our nation is ruled by the select few for the purpose of serving just the select few and if you cross them then you will be subject to scorn and ridicule. Any skeletons in your closet become your excuse for ratting out corruption at any level and you become the bait and switch target. That is not right and it never should be acceptable to anyone if you call yourself an American.


If City Hall is asking you to loan them a hundred bucks due to a personal gambling problem and if you point it out as a “Whistle Blower” then I as an American appreciate your service to your nation. That it is not wrong.


Asking for the cash loan from subordinates is wrong! Taking your employees on a gambling adventure on government time is wrong no matter how you spin it.


Papamoka

Cross posted at Bring It On!

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