Obama Subsidizes Failure To Keep People In Their Homes

According to this article at CNNMoney.com, Obama expands foreclosure fix, the Federal government is expanding the FDIC run mortgage modification program to cover both first and SECOND mortgages. This program is supposed to get the lender to adjust the payments down to 31% of people's income. Not many people have used it and it hasn't really worked as those who are delinquent quickly get delinquent again. Now in a bid to get more to use it the government is allowing the second mortgage people took out to pay their down payment to be included.

The interest rates will be reduced to 1 or 2%. Next it will be home equity loans, or vacation homes, or just give people money. Why do I pay my mortgage every month?

Ethanol On The Way Out?

Let's just say I am not the biggest fan of Global Warming or the effects to regulate industry to deal with it. This decision though by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to begin attempts to lessen the greenhouse gases is good because it has a valuable side effect -- the removal of ethanol from the nation's gasoline system.

Ethanol it turns out creates more "greenhouse gases" then regular gasoline based on some science. Ethanol is expensive to make and transport and raises the price of food across the country. There have to be better sources of organic matter for fuel and some technology has been promising.

Much more to come on this.

Arshevin Dazzles

The late addition of Arshevin to Arsenal in January paid dividends yesterday as Arsenal drew Liverpool away 4-4. Arshevin had all four goals for the Gunners. It was an amazing performance. The only problem was that Arsenal was up 4-3 as the second half went into stoppage time. Somehow Liverpool scored. When will Aluminia be back?

More Xtranormal Fun

Here is a little video I made with my sons. WoW humor, what could be better?

Fooling Around With Xtranormal Beta

I always wanted to make movies. Xtranormal allows you to make short ones using text. Here is my first attempt.

Stupid Article in Newsweek About Textron and Defense Spending

This article was published today at Newsweek.com. I don't know if it will be in their print edition as I last read a copy of this magazine sometime in the Nineties. It is about Textron and the future of the company I guess during the Obama Administration. Somehow it links the downturn in the economy to the rise of Obama on the national stage, but I haven't figured out that relationship. One of the statements in the article is especially egregious -- "Money was cheap, the defense budget was growing, and your customers didn't particularly care how much anything cost." The Pentagon and the U.S. Government care very deeply how much things cost especially for military hardware. Bell, a unit of Textron, lost the Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) contract because cost and schedule spiraled upwards. The AH-1Z and UH-1Y programs came close to ending for the same reason. The Pentagon though is often hamstrung in these cases as they have made a commitment to a program, a needed program, and have to deal with the cost increases over time. In many cases the Services contribute to the cost increases because requirements change after the contracts are awarded. Believe me though based on experience cost is a deep concern with these kind of programs.

Obama to Devestate Huntsville

Update -- Gates' proposed cutting about 20% from the MDA budget mainly by eliminating new interceptors for the Midcourse Defense system and ABL. Not a great response from Congress especially our local Democrat, Parker Griffith. Of course he realizes his reelection could hang on this. More to come on the budget as it makes its way through Congress.

Rumors are here in The Weekly Standard that the new defense budget to be announced on Monday will "dissolve" the Missile Defense Agency. It was thought that there would be big cuts to the various missile defense programs but nothing as big as this. Now of course it could mean that the programs are returned to their respective services - the Army and Navy - but it also could mean they go away. Much of the MDA has been slowly moving to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville. Eliminating the Agency will eliminate a lot of Federal civil service and contractors jobs just supporting the infrastructure. The reason the Agency was created in the first place was to prevent the Services from raiding the funding to pay for their own priorities. If the various systems are given to them they might just go ahead and do that. Anyway a big chunk of the Huntsville & Madison County economy will go away. Let's hope this is not completely true.

Pinch Sulzburger and the Globe

So not only has Arthur Sulzberger Jr. destroyed the New York Times it looks like he will also take down The Boston Globe. I read this growing up in MA as we really had no choice. It has become a typical lefty Democratic rag but still it is hard to believe that it could go down like this.