Rest in Peace Tom Bosley

Tom Bosley, the actor most famous for playing Howard Cunningham died today at age 83. I probably learned a thing or two about being a dad him. Let's drink a toast in his honor with beer in teeny weenie glasses. Maybe even seventy-two.

UAW Chastises Chase Bank

According to the Detroit News, the UAW is threatening to take all of its deposits out of Chase Bank, deposits amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars for multiple reasons. The bank has refused to honor a foreclosure moratorium in Michigan. The Bank has taken a position backing Big Tobacco in its fight against unionization of farm labor, and although the article doesn't mention it, Chase is just a shitty bank. Don't believe me? Check out these sites

www.chasebanksucks.com
www.chase-sucks.com (check out the forum)
www.complaintsboard.com/.../chase-bank-a6981.html


I was already boycotting Chase due to its close relationship with Trilegiant Corporation (now part of Affinion). Here's a link to my blog post on the subject in 2007. Trilegiant/Affinion is a multi-billion dollar scam enterprise. How big of a scam is it? Apollo Capital, the private equity company that owns Affinion is trying to take Affinion public with a starting market capitalization of about three billion dollars.

Now for my marginally relevant video of the day: Be Gentle Tonight, by Jaye P. Morgan, formerly of the Gong Show and Founder (okay, probably not) of J.P. Morgan Chase.



Since I'm on the subject of the Gong Show (and in keeping with my usual criteria of only the highest standards of blogginess or blogitude) , I have to embed this Gong Show clip. It's been almost thirty years since I last saw Gene, Gene, the Dancing Machine. I didn't realize how much I missed him.

The British Perspective on the Decline of US Industry.
The BBC visits Gary, Indiana

Check out this link for the BBC Newsnight's story on the sad state of Gary Indiana. Gary was a boomtown through the first half of the 20th century. The decline of the steel industry resulted in Gary becoming close to a ghost town. Actually, Gary isn't a ghost town, 100,000 people still live there. On the other hand, Gary is still the home of U.S. Steel's biggest plant. When you talk to somebody who questions the use of $16 billion in stimulus dollars used to prop up General Motors and Chrysler, I suggest that you point to Gary, and ask the person what would have happened to all these towns dependent on the auto industry had GM and Chrysler not been saved.

Here's reporter Paul Mason's detailed report on his visit to Gary.

50 States Looking into Robosigning by Mortgage Servicers
Where Have They Been the Past 3 Years?

Most of the major mortgage servicers have announced moritoriums (moritoria?) on foreclosures in order to correct questionable paperwork practices, Meanwhile, the attorneys general of all 50 states have no jumped on the bandwagon and have announced a coordinated investigation of mortgage foreclosure practices.

My question: where were the attorneys general three years ago when consumer attorneys first broke news that there was rampant fraud in mortgage filings. It was almost three years ago (October 31,2007) when USDC Judge Boyko through out 14 foreclosure cases by Deutsche Bank on the grounds they couldn't prove their chain of title. Click here to see my write-up on the subject November 16, 2007. I wonder what happened to the homeowners covered by those 14 mortgages. The Deutsche Bank cases made the national news. In my blog post at the time, I linked to a front page New York Times story. In other words, fabricated foreclosure paperwork is nothing new, and has not been a secret. Where were the attorneys general three years ago?

Jobs Jobs and More Jobs.

People say the American economy is broken, and it just can't create enough jobs to go around. Ok, you haters, what about THIS.

Donald Duck vs. Glenn Beck

Staying Alive in The Wall

An interesting mash-up.

Happy 70th Birthday John Lennon

Clinton-Biden Swap - Bill's all for it

There's talk in the political press that there have been serious discussions in the White House about Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden swapping positions for 2012.

When asked what he would think about a Hillary/Biden swap. Bill Clinton said, "I'm all for it. Jill Biden's kind of hot."

"Oh, JOE BIDEN? Let me think about it."

Can New Engines Drive Market Share?
Part 1 - Ford Launches 4 New Engines in the F-150

The Ford F150 pickup is the #1 selling light vehicle model in the United States, and it has been for a generation. Ford's 2011 models are coming a little late this year, but they should come on like gangbusters, because Ford is showing off not one, not two, not three, but four new engines in its signature pickup line. The base engine is a version of the 3.7 liter V-6 that debuted to great acclaim in the 2011 Mustang earlier this year. The 3.7 is tuned to generate 300+ horsepower in truck form, a substantial increase over the previous base engine. Combined with a revised 6-speed automatic transmission, the 3.7 liter engine is expected to outperform General Motor's upgrade V-8 engine, but still deliver best-in-class fuel economy, exceeding the Chevrolet Silverado hybrid's 21/22 MPG. In fact, the superior fuel economy in the F-150 is a big reason Ford is discontinuing the compact Ranger pickup. The Ranger with a V6 only rates 16/21 with the EPA.

Ford's other engines for 2011 include two V8 engines, a 5.0 liter and 6.2 liter, for those who need more torque for towing, as well as its technological star, the 3.5 liter Ecoboost engine. The 3.5 liter is a V6 with gasoline direct injection (GDI) and dual turbochargers. A version of the engine has powered the Taurus SHO and the Flex and Lincoln MXT for a year or two. Ford hasn't releasted power or fuel economy numbers for this engine, but promises that trucks with the Ecoboost will match the 11,300 tow rating of the 6.2 liter V8 while having fuel efficiency close to the base 3.7 liter V6. The Ecoboost will come at a price premium, and will not be available until sometime in 2011, so it'll be awhile before we see how much people will pay for top of the line fuel efficiency and power combined with untested durability.

It appears that the 3.7 liter and 5 liter engines will be the volume motors for the F150. It won't take much of a market share boost to increase sales by the 11,000 unites needed to push Ford into the #1 position ahead of General Motors, this time not just in trucks, but in light vehicles (cars and trucks) altogether.