Son-of-a-beech, they did it to us again - Boycott Bank of America

It sure didn't take long to come down from a happy Earth Day weekend.  This from the Huffpost.  Of course, it's pretty much been completely overlooked by the national media.  Damn it pisses me off.

Largest Banks Likely Profited By Borrowing From Federal Reserve, Lending To Federal Government

A newly-released study from the Congressional Research Service bolsters claims that the nation's largest banks profited off the Federal Reserve's financial crisis-era programs by borrowing cash for next to nothing, then lending it back to the federal government at substantially higher rates.

The report reinforces long-held beliefs that the banking system in essence engaged in taxpayer-financed arbitrage: They got money for free, then lent it back to Uncle Sam while collecting juicy returns. Left out of the equation are the millions of everyday borrowers, like households and small businesses, who were unable to secure loans needed to tide them over until the crisis ended.

The Fed released records under pressure in December and March that showed the extent of its largesse. The CRS study shows for the first time how some of the most sophisticated financial firms could have taken the Fed's money and flipped easy profits simply by lending it back to another arm of the government.

The report was requested by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who likened the crisis-era emergency loans to "  Direct corporate welfare to big banks,"   in a statement. The cash likely was lent back to Uncle Sam in the form of Treasuries and other debt "  instead of using the Fed loans to reinvest in the economy,"   Sanders added.

In all, more than $3 trillion was lent to financial institutions from the Fed, and terms were generous. Junk-rated securities were pledged as collateral for taxpayer-backed loans. The Fed did not provide conditions for how the money was to be used.  (Bernanke should go to jail.  my words)

As part of one Fed program, on 33 separate occasions, nine firms were able to borrow between $5.2 billion and $6.2 billion in U.S. government securities for four-week intervals, paying one-time fees that amounted to the minuscule rate of 0.0078 percent.

In another, financial firms pledged more than $1.3 trillion in junk-rated securities to the Fed for cheap overnight loans. The rates were as low as 0.5 percent.

Story continues below

During one three-month period in 2009, Bank of America borrowed more than $48 billion at rates ranging from 0.25 to 0.5 percent. Meanwhile, the largest U.S. lender tripled its holdings of Treasuries and other taxpayer-backed debt to about $15 billion -- securities that yielded 3.5 percent.

During the third quarter of 2009, the bank borrowed $2.9 billion from the Fed through a program that charged 0.25 percent interest. In that same period, Bank of America increased its holdings of taxpayer-backed federal debt by $12 billion, according to the Congressional Research Service. Those securities yielded an average of 3.2 percent.

I know this is dry stuff, but if you can stomach it, here's the whole story   HuffPost

This should make your blood boil.  At the very least, move your banking to a local bank and boycott the bastards.

A Baja Easter Morning Stroll

One of the things Gatorville, Baja Georgia, did right a few years back was build north and south bank boardwalks along the St. Johns River downtown.  For some reason, I found myself alone on Easter morning and decided to take a walk downtown to see what was happening.  I enjoy center-city explorations on Sunday mornings when everything is quiet and this past Sunday was no exception.

 Downtown Gatorville, 10am Easter Sunday, 2011

Along the way, I came across two Gatorville treasures.  The first being the Chart House Restaurant.  I can't seem to find any historical info on the building but to the best of my memory it was built in the mid-70's and has been the Chart House since it's inception.  It's an architectural treasure.

 The Chart House, surrounded by condo and office towers.

 The building has a copper and glass facade and sits behind earthen berms.

I have eaten at this restaurant many times over the years and the food is always good to best.  The ambiance, five stars.  Of course, you pay for both.  This is not a budget restaurant.

Then, a little later on I came to my real destination, an old friend that my grandfather played on as a boy, my father played on as a boy, I've climbed all over as a boy, my kids and grand kids have played on as well.  This old man is at least 250 years old and has weathered the changes of time well.  If there are grander Live Oak trees, I've not seen them.

For years I have tried to capture the grandeur of this tree with photography to no success.  I offer up two photos here, one a straight-ahead shot, the other a three shot montage.

I apologize for the reduced resolution of these photos.  They were such large files that I simply got lazy and made them all 72dpi in deference to you having to open them online.  But you lose a lot.  I usually make my photos 96dpi for the extra crispness you get with high res monitors.

Sunday morning trash pick-up.  I'm glad someone is doing it.

Hope your Earth Day weekend was as good as mine.  Kids, grandkids, Easter egg hunt, ham and potato salad.  Easter in the Deep South, USA.

Take A Break From "Ugly"

A couple of weeks ago the non-profit where I work sponsored a Plein Air.  I am told that Plein Air is French for "fresh air" but in this context it means "open air," as in artists painting in the open air.  In our particular case, 37 artists from around the region gathered at the Arboretum for three days and painted whatever inspired them.  The art was sold at a Saturday night gala to benefit both artist and non-profit.

By any measure, the event was a great success.  Beautiful weather, lots of new visitors to our fledgling Arboretum, a fun festival and gala where lots of art was sold.

If you're like me, you are fed up with bad news and politics and need a break.  Here's a few photos of the event that will, hopefully, give you a little respite from the Ugly.

Mr. C had to get into the act to see what a photographer could do.

480 million birds killed in U.S. by cats each year

Feral Cats Kill 480 Million Birds in the U.S. Each Year - Responsible for 33 Extinctions.

This is the headline at Wildlife News and you can read the whole story there, it's pretty interesting.

We all know how loving our furry little felines are.  But we also all know what relentless predators they are and that it doesn't matter how well they are fed, they will still kill if simply for the pleasure of it.

It turns out that millions of the birds killed are at bird feeders.  This is a tragedy.  Essentially baiting a trap.  

 

When I had cats, they were constantly catching doves who would come to the feeders.  The sad thing is, they would most often not kill the bird, but leave it so maimed that recovery was impossible.  I was forced to kill the bird to end its misery.  I would strangle them.  I broke my heart each time one of those beautiful little birds died in my hands.  I could literally feel its heart stop beating.

I decided to do something about it, and it worked.  Here's a few tips from my experience.

1. Place the bird feeder in an open place.  Give the cats no where to hide and the birds a chance to escape.
2. If you hang your feeder, be sure there is plenty of open space under it.  The birds will land on the ground to pick the seeds dropped from above.  They need at least an 8'-10' head start.
3. If you must, fence in the area around or under the feeder.  This only requires a small garden type wire fence 24"-36" high.   It should be at least 8' in diameter.  The cat must jump it which slows him down just enough for the bird to escape.  I did this with two of my feeders and it worked very well.

If you have cats, please do your part to help stop the slaughter.

How to fund Education, Environment, Arts, Healthcare, and other stuff like that

From Warresisters.org:  The "actual" federal budget pie chart.

HOW THESE FIGURES WERE DETERMINED

Current military” includes Dept. of Defense ($653 billion), the military portion from other departments ($150 billion), and an additional $162 billion to supplement the Budget’s misleading and vast underestimate of only $38 billion for the “war on terror.” “Past military” represents veterans’ benefits plus 80% of the interest on the debt.

Altogether, we spend over $1-trillion a year on defense.

You want to know the true cost of war?  Visit the "Cost of War" icon in my sidebar.  Drill down to see how much it costs your family.  Oh, and here's the kicker... it's ALL borrowed money.  If that doesn't piss you off, nothing will.

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, 'n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea?
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head
Pretending he just doesn't see?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind

 

How Many Women Have You Slept With?

My wife asked me, how many women have you slept with.  I replied, only you darling, the others were awake.

March Madness... Time for the athletic gravy train to end

This past week Ralph Nader again called for the cessation of all college athletic scholarships.  He's been doing this since the 70's.  I totally agree with him.  

By eliminating athletic scholarships we could, in a single swipe, both elevate education and end the free-ride, taxpayer gravy train for the National Football League and its partner in crime, the National Basketball Association.

Elevate education:  No longer would miscreants and thugs become role-model heroes and given a free-ride at taxpayer's expense.  These "students" would now be required to actually attend classes and pass tests to advance, just like everyone else.  Can't do it?  Get a job.  The major focus of universities will again be education, not some dopey athletic mascot leading around a pack of idiot fans most of whom didn't attend the university in the first place.

I have attended many small-college and inter-mural sports events that were just as much fun and exciting as the over-bloated monster that's become college athletics.  It's what "amateur" sports is supposed to be.

NFL & NBA gravy train:  The NFL and NBA are total tax-payer blood suckers.  We train their athletes for them, at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars each, beginning in grade school.  We build their commercial palaces for them, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars each, so that they can then charge us exorbitant fees to enter them.  We even allow them to sell advertising on these public buildings and to keep the revenue.  And if we complain, why they will simply pick up their toys and move elsewhere leaving us holding the debt-bag.

I say good riddance.

There are plenty of examples of professional sports that do it the right way, the highest profiled being Major League Baseball and NASCAR.  For the most part, MLB teams build their own stadiums, they don't brow-beat taxpayers into doing it.  The same with NASCAR.  Professional baseball operates a minor league system where they discover and train their future stars at their own expense.  So does NASCAR.

It's way past time for blood-suckers like the NFL and NBA to be weaned from the taxpayer teat.

Don't get me wrong, I love sports.  What I don't love is the grotesque, gluttonous tax-sponge they've become.

You go Ralph.

The Old Men and the Sea

A week or so ago I got a call from an old friend.  He invited me to crew with him on his sailboat in an ocean race offshore St. Augustine, FL.  It was a beautiful spring day.  I hadn't seen my friend, Bob, in a very long time and his call brought fond memories of us sailing together for years in the 80's.  Yes, I would love to go sailing again.  Deal done.

The day before race day, a front moves through bringing overcast, cold rain and wind.  Forecast is 70% chance of rain, winds 10-15 knots out of the south clocking to westerlies (off-shore) by the afternoon.  A condition guaranteed to create "square" 5'-6' chop.

As I'm driving down to St. Augustine early in the morning, it's cold and wet and I'm trying to find any excuse I can to get out of what I know is going to be a miserable day on the ocean.  Trust me folks,  being buttoned up in foul weather gear on a cold and rainy day in heavy ocean chop that constantly tries to throw you overboard and does throw a bucket of sea water in your face every other wave ain't all that much fun.

As I turned off of US1 and onto King Street in St. Augustine the rising sun found a hole in the clouds and bathed that wonderful village in a light that made me smile from ear-to-ear.  Thank you Lord.  Thank you Bob for making me do this.

Sunrise over the marina.  Don't let the calm water fool you.  It's in a sheltered marina.  Offshore, the wind is doing its thing.  We're looking at the foredeck of Bob's vintage Bristol 35 which he is doing a nice job of restoring.

The crew checking rigging and settings before the start, about 2 miles offshore.

Jockeying for position at the start line.

It turned out to be a beautiful day, overcast but no rain except for a brief shower after the race had ended.  The wind varied at about 12 knots and the chop at 3-5 feet making the windward leg a joy ride and the downwind legs a smooth glide.  We raced cruiser, non-spinnaker class and finished 4th.  Not too bad for a bunch of old men, one of whom had never been on a sailboat before and another seasoned racer, me, who had to get his sea legs under him again.

We were back in the marina by 3pm and started celebrating and catching up on tall tales and lies.  It's what sailors do and one reason why I love it so much.  I'm still hung-over two days later.

Brothers Dennis and Bob.  If I had a dollar for every minute spent, every mile raced, every tall tale and lie exchanged with these two old friends... arrrrgggg, even Carl Sagan couldn't measure it!