Dead? No problem, you still qualify for loan!

From Newyork Times

One of the remarkable things about the report is the absence of evildoers, even though the cumulative effect of their behavior is now threatening to upend our nation. Early in the broadcast, we hear from Mike Francis, an executive director at the residential mortgage trading desk of Morgan Stanley. “From our standpoint it’s like, there’s a guy out there with a lot of money. We’ve got to find a way to be his sole provider of bonds to fill his appetite. And his appetite’s massive.”

The story then turns to another Mike, Mike Garner, a bartender in Nevada turned mortgage bundler. Mr. Garner said that market appetites for anything that resembled a mortgage pushed loan standards down: “No income, no asset. You don’t have to state anything. Just have a credit score and a pulse.” (Mr. Blumberg pointed out that the pulse thing was optional: 23 dead people in Ohio were also approved.)

When can we expect the next derivative based on the netherworld recovery ratios?

Though there is a big question – who is the “You”?

 

Anything similar for the solar crowd?

Via The Big Contrarian – The Hydrogen Hoax

The Queen in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass says that she could believe “six impossible things before breakfast.” Such an attitude is necessary to discuss the hydrogen economy, since no part of it is possible.

Be warned: quite a long article. 

I am searching for something equivalent for the solar energy crowd.   I want pointers for some study that estimates the cost and energy that would have to be expended on creating the solar panels and the effect it will have on global warming, what ills will be wrought by mining for the raw material (sand? anything else?) to make solar panels, the surface area that will be needed to erect the panels and whether we have enough surface area, and all.

 

Megatonnages – man made & natural

10 Greatest Major-Impact Craters

8 Insane Nuclear Explosions

Just a linkfest for today.  Nothing more.  The first picture in the second blog entry is beautiful.

 

Hear, hear!

Nothing more to say.

Really don’t know how I ended up in Amruth’a blog.  That goes into my watch list.

 

Carnage4Life is back

Dare Obasanjo’s blog is humming with quite a lot of buzz after a long hiatus.  The redesigned site is pleasing to the eyes.

One thing seems odd – why does clicking on the permalink for an entry does not come up with comments?  One specifically has to click on the comment’s link to get the comments along with Dare’s writeup..

 

What a swipe!

You oughtta love this guy!  He just used the steep hikes in oil prices and its effect on airlines to take a swipe at its competitor.

He not only expects some airlines to disappear, but he believes that the likes of BA, “which is levying surcharges faster than it’s losing bags at Terminal Five”, will end up handing more business to Ryanair.

 

But that is sheer fun to read! Thank you Phil!

Wonko the Sane and Gubble-Gubble. A software opportunity? – Go read A Microsoft Marketing Man’s diary.  Humor at its best.

I Drank multiple cups of Feature-rich coffee, a default slice of familiar and powerful toast followed by and optional one on a per-egg basis, and adopted best practices in the bathroom to support daily bowel operations. I seamlessly interacted with the bathroom mirror to transform the valuable face and exceed expectations. I interoperated with the toothbrush.

Microsoft Boy announces his School Homework – Another gem of a parody.

Thanks a lot Phil!

 

Investment Principles

Landed at The Big Picture via Paul Krugman’s blog.  Here is a list of investment principles, regardless of market conditions.  Please spread the word. 

A word of caution though.  This is only applicable to those that have something to invest with. 

Rest, please be assured that someone will soon come up with a list of accruing principles, regardless of whatever conditions.  Once I come across the same, I will dutifully report it here

 

Ten commandments, Truth, Stealing, Adultery

From Rambodoc’s Weekly Humerus,

What is the real reason that we can’t have the Ten Commandments in a Courthouse? You cannot post “Thou Shalt Not Steal,” “Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery” and “Thou Shall Not Lie” in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians. It creates a hostile work environment! (Author Unknown)

Better have quite some time free before following that link.  Blame me not if you end up spending most of the day there

 

Thanks be to the Music Season!

Via Rams Abode, Season Imsai.

• A mami in the row before mine was sleeping soundly. Her snores became so loud during the concert that her neighbors decided to pat her to wake her up. Upon waking up, the mami promptly put her hand inside her “jolna pai”, brought out a pair of binoculars, pointed them towards the stage and exclaimed:“Oh! Krishna-vaa. Besh. Besh”

• A member of my family told me that she wants me to take her to The Music Academy this time at least on one of the days while the season is on, that too at 1:00PM . I was too happy to oblige and then I heard the next sentence: “I heard that the food they serve in the canteen is out of the world”

Hope to attend atleast a couple of concerts this season, atleast not to miss all the fun