CMoore.com

Another day, another batch of GOP felons.

Former Enron bosses Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling have both been found guilty on fraud, conspiracy and other charges.
…
In all, Skilling has been found guilty on 19 of the 28 counts he faced – with the “not guilty” verdicts coming on some of the charges of insider trading.

He could face as much as 185 years in jail.

Lay, however, has been found guilty of all six fraud and conspiracy charges that he faced. He could face as much as 45 years behind bars.

Shy as in Shylock, that is.

I’m not sure what I think of Prosper.com.

On the one hand, I would love to send those execrable payday loans out of business and make the personal lending and credit rating markets transparent. I also like that it leverages group and personal identity power, a la eBay, for trustworthiness. It takes a village, and on the internet your village reputation can go a long way.

On the other hand, this is about as risky of an investment vehicle as I can imagine, with the added benefit of religious prohibition (for the orthodox) and an extra feeling of sleeze.

From a lender perspective, these are unsecured loans to people you don’t know (but are at least somewhat vetted by Prosper), many with a history of bad judgements. You do have a 3-year contract, but enforcing judgements for delinquent payees is going to spawn a whole ‘nother industry (or reinforce the existing ones. See sleeze, above). Actually, after reading the FAQ, if you don’t get paid, you’re SOL as you don’t know who the lendee is personally. My guess is that Prosper has an enforcement arm where they’re getting more income (other than the .5% loan interest they take off the top. Damn, I need to think of these online database-charge-me-to-use-them things. Best business model ever, outside of religion.). Actually, on further review, it looks like you get to choose from among a few different collection agencies. In any event, Prosper’s still taking a cut from the referral.

So I’m torn. On the one hand, it could be a great way to help people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to get help. On the other, it looks like an ideal fraud and criminal (organized or not) environment. I debate linking to things that I’m unsure of, such as this, on the grounds that though I treasure information and sharing, I’d like to avoid advocating for shady or false things as much as possible.

Anyway, I thought I’d throw it out there. I think their FAQ page may have a little matharoni problem, though, but let’s talk about that below the fold. Read more…

Now quake in fear, Seattle! Also, gimme some of money. Except the homos. No, wait, I’ll take their money too, you SINNERS!

In another in a series of notable pronouncements, religious broadcaster Pat Robertson says God told him storms and possibly a tsunami will hit America’s coastline this year.

Robertson has made the predictions at least four times in the past two weeks on his news-and-talk television show “The 700 Club” on the Christian Broadcasting Network, which he founded.

Robertson said the revelations about this year’s weather came to him during his annual personal prayer retreat in January.

“If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms,” Robertson said May 8. On Wednesday, he added, “There well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest.”

My favorite part is the “If I heard the Lord right” bit. I mean, if it was the fuckin Lord, is there any way possible that an impotent omnipotent, omnipresent being could speak to you in such a way that you would not understand? Does FSM mumble? Stutter? How could you possibly hear him incorrectly?

Oh yeah, because it was your accountant calling to say that your diamond mine venture was going gangbusters and that fear of tsunamis will push up your gold holdings. Also, you’re a batshit crazy wahhabist addicted to fame. And coke.

For the Christians out there, how does it feel to know that this guy is considered the face of your faith in America? Hell, even McGovern called this shitbrick a ‘kook’ (actual quote: “When you say ‘radical right’ today, I think of these moneymaking ventures by fellows like Pat Robertson and others who are trying to take the Republican Party and make a religious organization out of it. If that ever happens, kiss politics goodbye.”)

Inflation!

Stocks fell on Wednesday, with the Dow industrials plummeting more than 200 points, on increased concern about inflation and interest rates.

Investors sold shares in banks, industrial conglomerates and other rate-sensitive stocks. An index of bank stocks was down 1.5 percent, while shares of blue-chip Citigroup Inc. slid 1.1 percent.

Economic data showing the pace of inflation quickened in April raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates longer than expected.

Bond market goes boom. Say hello to an increase in the fizzle of the housing market (and related industries) and an exploding number of bankruptcies as people’s ARMs skyrocket. Like, oh, mine, for example. Also, we, the People’s cost for our debt servicing by this insane administration just got a whole lot worse. Oh yeah, and credit card rates will go up as well.

Combine this with the $100/barrel oil ($200 or more if we attack Iran) and let’s just say Chicken Little was an optimist.

Today’s the last fiscal day of the fundraising quarter. If you can, now would be the best time possible to show your love for the Nedrenaline/desire to stop the Joementum.

For better or worse, the candidates that can raise more earlier get far more later as the people with money tend to wait and back the “winning” horses… and you get more money by showing that you can get more money. In any event, giving something, even just a little, in a primary has far more effect than in the general election. Your $10 is probably equal to 100 in the general. I gave a bit to Lamont and if you can, I encourage you to do so as well.

Lieberman must go. That Lamont seems like my kind of Democrat just makes it all the better.

Update: Lamont made it to 3,422 donors, well past the 3,000 goal. Good job!

ITMFA, my new favorite site.

They should make a shirt out of my motherfuckin sign, though.

Comes a new series, brought to you by the man who can’t write covering the interregnum between the odious and the sullied, Lucas presents to you, a 100-episode Star Wars TV series.

The TV series spin-off of the Stars Wars film franchise will run to at least 100 episodes, according to producer Rick McCallum.

He told BBC Radio 1 the writing team would soon be meeting to start on the project, which would begin filming in 2008 and be ready the same year.

“Hopefully if we can make it work and everybody’s excited and watches it we will keep on going,” said McCallum.

The series will be set between episodes three and four of the film saga.

It would cover the 20 years in the life of Luke Skywalker growing up that remains a mystery to most film-goers.

Here’s the thing: Jesus’ son Luke’s first 20 years? Were spent being a moisture farmer on Tatooine. Ex-CIT-ing.

I hope this works out better than the claw-your-eyes-out awful holiday special.

You work your ass off for a company (2400 billable hours in one year!), you get outstanding reviews, and what do they do? Deny you a bonus.

Why? Because you accepted a promotion in October, and as such, you “weren’t at the position long enough” to get the bonus.

Then they go on all about the bonus you’ll get next year if only you work X hours, knowing full well that this position has maybe 3 months left to go. This is right up there with a pencil as the gift for 2600 hours of work on my enraging scale.

I’m tired of being fucked over by my employers. So, so tired.

Fuck them. I’m going home.

Newegg let Anandtech publish photos of their operation. Pretty sweet. Thank you, Satan!

Looks like the throttling has been increased recently. It’s getting lots more play in the press at any rate.

Manuel Villanueva realizes he has been getting a pretty good deal since he signed up for Netflix Inc.’s online DVD rental service 2 1/2 years ago, but he still feels shortchanged.

That’s because the $17.99 monthly fee that he pays to rent up to three DVDs at a time would amount to an even bigger bargain if the company didn’t penalize him for returning his movies so quickly.

Netflix typically sends about 13 movies per month to Villanueva’s home in Warren, Mich. — down from the 18 to 22 DVDs he once received before the company’s automated system identified him as a heavy renter and began delaying his shipments to protect its profits.

Treating customers paying the same amount of money differently just grates. If you offer “unlimited,” it damn well better be unlimited. Bitches.

Whomever first offers me a better deal gets my business. Hear that, Blockbuster?

I was all ready to blame the new mail boy for screwing me over on my Netflix movies. Whereas before, I mailed the discs and get the new ones with only a one day lag, now Netflix is routinely throwing an extra day’s lag in there. I’ve mentioned this shifty behavior before, but I wasn’t sure of the culprit.

Well, it’s Netflix. Why? Because apparently, “unlimited” does not actually mean unlimited.

A large majority of our subscribers rent between 2-11 movies per month. The number of DVDs that you rent will vary based on a number of factors (See “Allocation, Delivery and Return of Rented DVDs” below). We provide a number of different subscription plans to accommodate a variety of movie watching preferences. Click on the “Your Account” link, located at the top of the pages of the Netflix Web site and see “View Membership Terms” for details on the various plans we offer. In our unlimited plans, we do not establish a monthly limit on the number of DVDs you can rent, however, the actual number of DVDs you rent in any month will vary based on a number of factors (See “Allocation, Delivery and Return of Rented DVDs” below).

There was even a lawsuit over this recently. You can still hold a DVD for an “unlimited” time – that part is still true, but your throughput is artificially limited by Netflix.

After the first set and using a basic 3-disc account, you could theoretically receive 24 movies in a 4-week period. This was my plan, or at least 20, since I figured I’d miss a Sat or two; after all, I’m a movie buff and I don’t subscribe to cable. Now, with this artificial extra day’s delay, they’re pretty much just flipping me the bird here. It’s a cheesy move on their part, and if they weren’t still providing me with decent value I’d cancel here and now. Do your jobs like an upstanding corporate citizen, bitches. Gimme mah movies!

What to do if you’re Bush and you need a budget that shows you cutting the deficit while not hurting your base or making any concessions towards the preemptive invasion of Iraq? Why, you lie, of course.

The budget plan for fiscal 2007 underscores what budget analysts of all political stripes have been saying for years: The goals of balancing the budget, waging a global fight against terrorism and making Bush’s first-term tax cuts permanent may be fundamentally at odds. . . .

“Those factors led Goldman Sachs economists to tell clients yesterday that the deficit forecasts are ‘unrealistic.’ . . .

“‘This budget is not going to happen,’ said Stanley E. Collender, a federal budget analyst at Financial Dynamics Business Communications. ‘Of all the budgets I’ve seen recently, this is the one going nowhere the fastest.’

See, that’s one of the reasons why I could never be a GOoPer – I have a sense of shame.

You don’t say?

Iraqi and American officials say they are seeing a troubling pattern of government corruption enabling the flow of oil money and other funds to the insurgency and threatening to undermine Iraq’s struggling economy.

You know who’s in charge of the Iraqi oil ministry, right? Ahmed fuckin Chalabi, that’s who.

Heckuva a job you’re doing there, Bushie.

Watch as he kowtows to the despotic Saud regime.

Diplomatically, Mr. Bush’s ambitious call for the replacement of 75 percent of the United States’ Mideast oil imports with ethanol and other energy sources by 2025 upset Saudi Arabia, the main American oil supplier in the Persian Gulf. In an interview on Wednesday, the Saudi ambassador to Washington, Prince Turki al-Faisal, said he would have to ask Mr. Bush’s office “what he exactly meant by that.”

The question is, will it be a night of warm regards and dry humping?

or does Bush slip him the tongue early and then go all the way?