sparrow chat

If you want to know what’s really wrong with America (and many Americans) the disgraceful behavior of some loud-mouthed, bellicose, third-rate journalist on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange today should make it abundantly clear.

Mister Rick Santelli, who is I believe an employee of CNBC (would that be the Children’s National Broadcasting Company?) went into a, no-doubt, contrived rant cursing the hundreds of thousands of Americans losing their jobs and unable to meet their mortgages as a result, because the US president dares to use taxpayer’s money to help them keep their homes.

I refuse to display this obnoxious and disgusting behavior on Sparrow Chat. There are plenty of other media outlets and blogs proudly showing off the video to bad effect. Having read the majority of comments listed below them, it’s quite obvious how very many Americans are keen to support Santelli and his hypocritical viewpoint.

I use the adjective ‘hypocritical’ for obvious reasons – at least, to any American with sufficient braincells to comprehend basic written English: namely, that Mister Santelli and his mates from the financial sector have already received billions of dollars in ‘bail-out’ money from taxpayers to bolster the banks and finance houses that are all part and parcel of the great stockbroking fraternity that is American business.

Did Mister Santelli, or any of his friends on the floor of the CME, utter one word of complaint about the $25 billion to JPMorgan Chase, or Citigroup? How loud did he howl when Bank of America received its $15 billion check? Where was the Santelli vitriol when Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs pocketed $10 billion apiece of taxpayer’s money? Did he yell and shriek and behave like a spoiled child denied candy, over the other 370 or so financial institutions that, since October 2008, have received hand-outs totaling $116 billion? All taxpayer’s money.^[1]

Mister Santelli is so typical of all that’s wrong about modern-day America. He epitomizes the “Stuff you – I’m all right, Jack,” mentality that pervades this nation. He’s not bleating about taxpayer’s money; he, and his cronies, are just shit-scared they’ll have to start paying their fair share of taxes for a change, rather than the easy financial ride the well-to-do have had under George W Bush.

Let us be in no doubt here, Mister Rick Santelli is one of the well-to-do.

As CNBC is proud to tell us:

[In 1999] He joined CNBC from the Institutional Financial Futures and Options at Sanwa Futures, L.L.C. There, he was a vice president handling institutional trading and hedge accounts for a variety of futures related products.

Prior to that, Santelli worked as vice president of Institutional Futures and Options at Rand Financial Services, Inc., served as managing director at the Derivative Products Group of Geldermann, Inc., and was Vice President in charge of Interest Rate Futures and Options at the Chicago Board of Trade for Drexel, Burnham, Lambert. Santelli began his career in 1979 as a trader and order filler at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in a variety of markets including gold, lumber, CD’s, T-bills, foreign currencies and livestock.”^[2]

Mister Santelli may have suffered some financial setbacks as a result of the current economic crisis and its effect on stock and shares, but one can be certain neither he, nor his financier pals, will ever be thrown into the dreadful situation of homelessness.

The vast majority of those sold dud mortgages under the Bush administration’s lax regulatory system were not greedy, self-seeking individuals bent on purchasing fancy homes they couldn’t afford. Some were so, but most were ordinary folk hoping to escape the endless round of rental properties that sap their meager incomes and benefit only the landlords.

These are the people many Americans conveniently class as failures. They ‘fall through the net’ because there’s no net there.

Most irksome of all, is that the “Santelli Fan Club”, who support his selfish attitude, would be first in the queue and bleating for a handout, were they ever to be so unfortunate as to fall through that imaginary net themselves.

Once again, America is dividing into two teams. Each hates the other. We saw it during the presidential elections and it continues to surface at every opportunity, spurred on by a media that relishes stirring up this witch’s brew of poison and filth.

Following his tirade today, Santelli was interviewed by the NRO and asked how he thought the bail-out bill would play out in the future.

His response:

….the pursuit of happiness and to work hard and keep the fruits of your labor is something I believe in. And I’m not saying we should forget people who need help. But at the end of the day, Americans are strong and they’re charitable. I think what they have a problem with is that it’s force-fed via the government.”^[3]

Americans are not strong, they just believe they are. Neither are they charitable. If they were charitable they’d insist America’s kids and the elderly received free medical care; they’d demand assistance for the homeless and those stuck in poverty. Instead, whenever their government attempts to bring those things about, they howl like stuck pigs.

This nation’s in a mess. Is it worth saving?

Or, are the scumbags overrunning those few decent folks who still remain?

^{[1] “Bank bailout: Who’s getting the money” CNN.Com}

^{[2] “RICK SANTELLI CNBC On-Air Editor” CNBC}

^{[3] “NRO Talks to CNBC’s Rick Santelli” NRO, February 19th 2009}

Filed under: Scum always rises to the surface

Posted under Sparrow Chat

Remember how ethanol was going to save America?

Less than two years ago, US grain farmers were rubbing their hands with glee at the thought of all the ethanol dollars soon to be pouring into their bank accounts, as a surge in demand for corn meant that, once again, it was fun to be a farmer in America.

In his 2007 State of the Union address, President George W Bush mandated a seven-fold increase in ethanol production. It would, he said, take away US dependence on foreign oil at a time when gas prices were soaring through the forecourt roof.

As a direct result of Bush’s mandate, the ethanol industry borrowed heavily against future profits as it geared up to handle the seven-fold increase demanded by the White House. Farmers shifted production, bought new equipment, and hocked themselves to their bank managers.

A new era of automobile fuel production was about to begin.

Within months, the price of corn skyrocketed. Consumers, already hit by the rising cost of goods due to high oil prices, now found the price of foodstuffs in their local supermarkets rising ever more sharply as corn – this basic commodity of the food industry – became impossibly expensive.

An agricultural industry that for years had developed processed foods based around corn production, that promoted meat products as the “staple American food” (farm animals exist on corn feeds) suddenly found itself unable to supply these commodities at a sustainable price. Not enough corn could be produced to satisfy both the demands of the ethanol and food industries.

It’s hard to know how this crazy, ill-thought-out, situation would have eventually played out, had not one factor come into play that no-one appeared to visualize; certainly not the US government.

In June 2008, oil peaked at over $126 a barrel. By December 2008, it had collapsed back to under $33, taking with it the hopes and dreams of farmers, financiers, and ethanol industry operatives throughout the country.

‘Verasun Energy Corporation’ is an ethanol producer in the US. It was founded in 2001. According to the company’s blurb:

VeraSun Energy Corporation, headquartered in Sioux Falls, S.D., is a leading producer and marketer of ethanol and distillers grains. Founded in 2001, the company has a fleet of 16 production facilities in eight states. VeraSun Energy currently has an annual production capacity potential of approximately 1.64 billion gallons of ethanol and 5 million tons of distillers grains.^[1]

In 2006, Verasun was floated on the NY Stock Exchange. In April 2007 it acquired the company, US Bioenergy, thus becoming the biggest ethanol producer in the United States.

Don Endres, CEO of VeraSun, told the Grand Rapids Press back in April 2007:

We are competitive with $115 a barrel for oil, or $3.50 a gallon of gas, at $5 a bushel for corn. We have a lot of runway in front of us.”^[2]

An unknown number of Verasun’s “16 production facilities in eight states” now stand idle. In December 2008 the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

With oil down around $30, gas below $2, and corn back at $3.50 a bushel, I guess the runway ran out.

Ethanol from corn was never viable, either as a green fuel or a panacea for America’s reliance on imported oil. Ethanol from other vegetative matter may still prove a stop-gap, if it can be made to work economically.

The marriage of corn and ethanol was doomed from the start. Ill conceived economics, coupled with a US president too easily persuaded by greed-induced advisors, meant divorce was inevitable, with all the usual messy consequences.

It will probably never be known just how much effect this farcical episode had on the plunging US economy, how much of the blame can be laid at its door. There is no doubt the sudden food cost increases in the supermarkets, coupled with high gas prices, caused a significant drop in consumer confidence, even before the financial sector fiasco hit the headlines.

All-in-all, it’s yet another heirloom of the George W Bush method of government, to be added to the ever-growing list, that one day will hang like partly unrolled toilet tissue in the grubby restroom of his legacy.

^{[1] “Verasun Energy website”}

^[2] “US Bioenergy joins ethanol giant Verasun Energy” Grand Rapids Press, May 6th 2008

^{NOTE: Sioux Falls, S.D., February 6, 2009 – VeraSun Energy Corporation today announced that the Company filed a Bid Procedures and Sale Motion in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware seeking authority to sell substantially all of the assets of VeraSun Energy Corporation and 24 of its affiliates through a court-approved sale process.}

Filed under: Ethanol effervescence

Posted under Sparrow Chat

“I’m sorry, so sorry, that I was such a fool………” warbled country singer Brenda Lee, way back in those good old fifties and sixties when Saturday night was “boppin’ night” down the local church hall or youth club.

That little five letter word appears to have made something of a comeback of late, though hardly due to unrequited love, as was the case in Brenda Lee’s smash hit.

We’ve heard the word, “sorry,” a number of times in the last few weeks. Perhaps most prominent was the apology of Kaing Guek Eav, or “Duch” as he was notoriously known, whose trial for Khmer Rouge atrocities opened today in the Cambodian capitol, Phnom Penh.^[1]

Olympic record holder, Michael Phelps, was quick to cry, “Sorry,” after being caught on camera inhaling marijuana smoke through a glass bong while out partying recently.^[2]

Today, Madonna’s ex-lover and baseball star, Alex Rodriguez, bemoaned the immaturity that caused him to turn to steroid use – while ignoring all those similarly-aged players who didn’t – and begged America to forgive him.^[3]

For Phelps and Rodriguez, all they’re sorry for is being found out. The abject apologies to the American people have more to do with preserving their standing in the sports they represent, than any genuine sense of regret over what they did.

Oddly, only one of these penitents who can be taken seriously. Kaing Guek Eav, at 66, has nothing to gain from his contrition. He will surely go to prison for life. As a born-again Christian, however, it is likely his remorse is sincere.

In two weeks time the trial for perjury of baseball star, Barry Bonds, will commence.^[4] Bonds, unlike his fellow American sports cheats, chose to deny he ever used drugs, rather than seek absolution. No doubt, he hopes not to be proved wrong.

Time will tell, though with the prosecution set to call as many as 39 witnesses to testify against Bonds, before too long we may well experience yet another American sportsman weeping openly and begging his countrymen’s forgiveness.

^{[1] “Landmark Khmer Rouge trial starts” BBC, February 17th 2009}

^{[2] “Here’s A Riddle” Sparrow Chat, February 1st 2009}

^{[3] “Alex Rodriguez press conference live blog” USA Today, February 17th 2009}

^{[4] “Feds: Estalella said Bonds admitted steroid use” SFGate, February 14th 2009}

Filed under: And what about those bankers, then?

Posted under Sparrow Chat

This is the Atlantic Ocean:

It’s large. In fact, it’s very, very, large. The Atlantic Ocean covers over 41 million square miles of the Earth’s surface.

This is the Atlantic Ocean with a nuclear-armed submarine highlighted.

Even though it may be on the surface, cruising at about eighteen knots, unfortunately, you won’t actually be able to see it. It’s way, way, too small.

This is an image of the Earth, showing rather a lot of orbiting satellites, put there specifically to aid communications and navigation.

Despite the Atlantic Ocean being so very, very, large, and even though a nuclear submarine is really very tiny by comparison; notwithstanding 17,000 satellites zooming around above our heads designed to prevent it happening, earlier this month, this……

……managed to collide with, this……

……in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.^[1]

And neither even knew the other was there.

Given the payload carried by both vessels, it does little to inspire confidence.

^{[1] “Nuclear subs collide in Atlantic” BBC, February 16th 2009}

Filed under: Left a bit, no, right a bit

Posted under Sparrow Chat

Only the four younger members of the Roberts’ family still ride School Bus 13. Cordell Roberts and his three older brothers were banned by the school principal a few weeks ago, after a fight erupted between them while on the way home one afternoon, causing the bus driver to turn his vehicle around and return to the school.

The cause of the fracas was never established, though according to the other kids, Oakley Canton was the prime suspect. Oakley refused to incriminate herself, hitched up her cushion-stuffed brassiere and sat staring vacantly into space from the long bench outside the school building where sat the busload of kids, squirming as the driver harangued them on the correct behavior of young people when commuting in a moving bus, and how he’d been in zoos where the inmates displayed better manners.

Eventually, the school principal summoned the Roberts’ family parents to collect the offenders, innocents were allowed to re-board the vehicle, and the journey home was completed without further disaster. Apart, that is, from one little second-grader, Selena Astlik, who accidentally emptied a whole bottle of bright red nail varnish onto the seat occupied by Nicholas Lilly, just as he was leaning across the aisle, attempting to deprive Quinton Long of his yo-yo.

Nicholas, bully-boy tactics rewarded, played happily in his seat with the yo-yo, until, on reaching his stop he attempted to alight from the bus. The driver, aware of the boy’s penchant for vacant amnesia, yelled at him to hurry up, but Nicholas continued to sit with a puzzled expression on his face, making occasional wriggling motions with his hips.

Following another tirade from the driver, and dire threats of referrals if Nicholas didn’t “shift yourself”, the lad wrenched himself free from the offending nail varnish, leaving a bright red stain and a goodly portion of trouser behind him.

Today was the last day of school prior to Valentine’s Day and a four day holiday weekend. Over and above the usual cacophony of shrieks, insults, and occasional foul language – “Any more of THAT, Jethro, and it’ll be a referral for you, lad!” – was a buzz of expectation, as today was the school’s Valentine’s Day party. The bus groaned with a ton of goodies packed in thirty-odd Wal-Mart carrier bags. Each parent had recklessly endeavored to outdo every other parent, and kids staggered onto the bus laden down with enough sugar to keep Anheuser-Busch in business for the next twelve months.

The driver made a mental note to stock up on sick bags between shifts.

The afternoon home run was pandemonium. Even without the elder Roberts’s, and Oakley Canton – who’d been suspended for three days for calling Jethro Roberts a name his mother wouldn’t recognize – thirty-odd sugar-crazed kids high on artificial additives, are any driver’s nightmare.

Finally, the last kid was dropped off, the last schoolbag flung out the door at the child who had forgotten it, and the driver could return the bus to the depot and clean up the plethora of semi-chewed candy and trodden-in cookies that littered the floor; the assortment of multicolored, half-licked, lollipops by now firmly adhered to seatbacks and cushions.

Ah, well, the four day break would be welcome. And, after all, they were only kids.

^{For those who missed them, earlier tales of “School Bus 13″ are available HERE [The Saga Of School Bus 13] and HERE [All For The Want Of A Child's Handkerchief].}

Filed under: School bus

Posted under Sparrow Chat

Two rather depressing news items burst onto our screens recently. Initially, neither one appeared to bear any relationship to the other.

The first concerned two man-made satellites in earth orbit that collided, spreading space debris over a a wide area.^[1]

Even that doesn’t seem too great a disaster. No lives were lost; one satellite (Russian) is believed to have been defunct, the other (US), is part of a group of sixty-six operated by Iridium Satellite LLC, a communications company.

This is the first collision between two intact satellites, but it’s unlikely to be the last:

To date, around 17,000 man-made objects are orbiting the Earth, but more are joining them, in ever increasing numbers.

This is Lonesome George:

Lonesome George is so-called because he is the last remaining Giant Tortoise of his sub-species. He lives on the Galapagos Islands, is around eighty years old, and when he dies there will never again be any Pinta tortoises of the sub-species Geochelone abigdoni – anywhere.

George and his fellow Pintas were specific to Galapagos, like so many of the various species of animal and bird life still to be found there, but human intervention has done for the Pintas, and other species are following suit at an alarming rate.

Take a moment to consider these two news stories, and study the accompanying images. Hopefully, it won’t take too long before you recognize there is a relationship between them – and the one factor that irrefutably links them together.

^{[1] “Sat collision highlights growing threat” BBC, February 12th 2009}

^{[2] “Meet the world’s rarest tortoise” BBC, February 10th 2009}

Filed under: What the hell are we doing?

Posted under Sparrow Chat