Associated Press – March 14, 2008:
TULSA, Okla. – An Air National Guard jet mistakenly dropped a 22-pound non-explosive, practice bomb on an apartment complex, damaging the foundation but no one was injured, police said Friday.
The military pilot thought he had dropped the BDU-33 bomb, equipped with a dummy warhead, over a field in Kansas during a routine training mission out of Tulsa on Thursday.
A couple returned home to the Canyon Creek apartment complex and found the ordnance partly buried in the foundation and the power knocked out, Tulsa Police Officer Jason Willingham said.
The fighter aircraft was en route to Smokey Hill Gunnery Range in Salina, Kan., on a routine mission, according to a statement released Friday by the Oklahoma Air National Guard’s 138th Fighter Wing.
Shortly after takeoff, the training bomb inadvertently released from the aircraft, the guard statement said.
A safety investigation board has been convened and the investigation is ongoing, the statement said.
Attack Plan R?
That’s what you get for flying planes that are older than dirt.
If Jesse Ventura runs we won’t have to worry about this kind of thing.
Too bad it didn’t land on that jackass OK Senator Tom Coburn.
The pain-in-the-ass Senator Coburn blocked — all by himself — a Mt. Hood wilderness project that had unanimous, bi-partisan support here in Oregon.
It supposedly did it because of the cost.
How much?
50 MINUTES OF THE WAR IN IRAQ! (11 million.)
http://tinyurl.com/2bn3dr
OK, I’m not for bombing the guy. But I sure hope the Senate blocks every dime going to Oklahoma until they vote this pissant out of office.
It wasn’t a mistake. Everyone knows that Oklahoma has non-explosive, practice WMDs.
Hey ! The bomb was equipped with a dummy head, just like our “President” !!!
Greg Allen said – “OK, I’m not for bombing the guy. But I sure hope the Senate blocks every dime going to Oklahoma until they vote this pissant out of office.”
From an Oklahoman. Someone, sometime has to take a stand and say the federal government can’t be everything to everybody – from Bear Stearns on down. There is a finite amount of money (and credit).
And don’t give me this Iraq BS – we shouldn’t be there, but we are. Are you going to pick the last Marine to be there on the ground.
If Oregon wants to put money towards the wilderness project – go ahead. Is someone stopping you? Don’t ask me (or my kids or grandkids) to pay for it.
Did I make that plain enough? If not, please let me know.
Enough is enough – for some of us. For others there is never enough of other peoples money.
This bomb that was dropped by the current administration was no ‘dummy.’
*******************
http://www.gregpalast.com/elliot-spitzer-gets-nailed/?print=1
Eliot’s Mess
Posted By Greg Palast On March 14, 2008 @ 6:45 am
The $200 billion bail-out for predator banks and Spitzer charges are intimately linked
By Greg Palast
March 14th, 2008
While New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was paying an ‘escort’ $4,300 in a hotel room in Washington, just down the road, George Bush’s new Federal Reserve Board Chairman, Ben Bernanke, was secretly handing over $200 billion in a tryst with mortgage bank industry speculators.
Both acts were wanton, wicked and lewd. But there’s a BIG difference. The Governor was using his own checkbook. Bush’s man Bernanke was using ours.
This week, Bernanke’s Fed, for the first time in its history, loaned a selected coterie of banks one-fifth of a trillion dollars to guarantee these banks’ mortgage-backed junk bonds. The deluge of public loot was an eye-popping windfall to the very banking predators who have brought two million families to the brink of foreclosure.
Up until Wednesday, there was one single, lonely politician who stood in the way of this creepy little assignation at the bankers’ bordello: Eliot Spitzer.
Who are they kidding? Spitzer’s lynching and the bankers’ enriching are intimately tied.
How? Follow the money.
The press has swallowed Wall Street’s line that millions of US families are about to lose their homes because they bought homes they couldn’t afford or took loans too big for their wallets. Ba-LON-ey. That’s blaming the victim.
Here’s what happened. Since the Bush regime came to power, a new species of loan became the norm, the ‘sub-prime’ mortgage and its variants including loans with teeny “introductory” interest rates. From out of nowhere, a company called ‘Countrywide’ became America’s top mortgage lender, accounting for one in five home loans, a large chunk of these ‘sub-prime.’
Here’s how it worked: The Grinning Family, with US average household income, gets a $200,000 mortgage at 4% for two years. Their $955 monthly payment is 25% of their income. No problem. Their banker promises them a new mortgage, again at the cheap rate, in two years. But in two years, the promise ain’t worth a can of spam and the Grinnings are told to scram – because their house is now worth less than the mortgage. Now, the mortgage hits 9% or $1,609 plus fees to recover the “discount” they had for two years. Suddenly, payments equal 42% to 50% of pre-tax income. The Grinnings move into their Toyota.
Now, what kind of American is ‘sub-prime.’ Guess. No peeking. Here’s a hint: 73% of HIGH INCOME Black and Hispanic borrowers were given sub-prime loans versus 17% of similar-income Whites. Dark-skinned borrowers aren’t stupid – they had no choice. They were ‘steered’ as it’s called in the mortgage sharking business.
‘Steering,’ sub-prime loans with usurious kickers, fake inducements to over-borrow, called ‘fraudulent conveyance’ or ‘predatory lending’ under US law, were almost completely forbidden in the olden days (Clinton Administration and earlier) by federal regulators and state laws as nothing more than fancy loan-sharking.
But when the Bush regime took over, Countrywide and its banking brethren were told to party hearty – it was OK now to steer’m, fake’m, charge’m and take’m.
But there was this annoying party-pooper. The Attorney General of New York, Eliot Spitzer, who sued these guys to a fare-thee-well. Or tried to.
Instead of regulating the banks that had run amok, Bush’s regulators went on the warpath against Spitzer and states attempting to stop predatory practices. Making an unprecedented use of the legal power of “federal pre-emption,” Bush-bots ordered the states to NOT enforce their consumer protection laws.
Indeed, the feds actually filed a lawsuit to block Spitzer’s investigation of ugly racial mortgage steering. Bush’s banking buddies were especially steamed that Spitzer hammered bank practices across the nation using New York State laws.
Spitzer not only took on Countrywide, he took on their predatory enablers in the investment banking community. Behind Countrywide was the Mother Shark, its funder and now owner, Bank of America. Others joined the sharkfest: Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup’s Citibank made mortgage usury their major profit centers. They did this through a bit of financial legerdemain called “securitization.”
What that means is that they took a bunch of junk mortgages, like the Grinning’s, loans about to go down the toilet and re-packaged them into “tranches” of bonds which were stamped “AAA” – top grade – by bond rating agencies. These gold-painted turds were sold as sparkling safe investments to US school district pension funds and town governments in Finland (really).
When the housing bubble burst and the paint flaked off, investors were left with the poop and the bankers were left with bonuses. Countrywide’s top man, Angelo Mozilo, will ‘earn’ a $77 million buy-out bonus this year on top of the $656 million – over half a billion dollars – he pulled in from 1998 through 2007.
But there were rumblings that the party would soon be over. Angry regulators, burned investors and the weight of millions of homes about to be boarded up were causing the sharks to sink. Countrywide’s stock was down 50%, and Citigroup was off 38%, not pleasing to the Gulf sheiks who now control its biggest share blocks.
Then, on Wednesday of this week, the unthinkable happened. Carlyle Capital went bankrupt. Who? That’s Carlyle as in Carlyle Group. James Baker, Senior Counsel. Notable partners, former and past: George Bush, the Bin Laden family and more dictators, potentates, pirates and presidents than you can count.
The Fed had to act. Bernanke opened the vault and dumped $200 billion on the poor little suffering bankers. They got the public treasure – and got to keep the Grinning’s house. There was no ‘quid’ of a foreclosure moratorium for the ‘pro quo’ of public bailout. Not one family was saved – but not one banker was left behind.
Every mortgage sharking operation shot up in value. Mozilo’s Countrywide stock rose 17% in one day. The Citi sheiks saw their company’s stock rise $10 billion in an afternoon.
And that very same day the bail-out was decided – what a coinkydink! – the man called, ‘The Sheriff of Wall Street’ was cuffed. Spitzer was silenced.
Do I believe the banks called Justice and said, “Take him down today!” Naw, that’s not how the system works. But the big players knew that unless Spitzer was taken out, he would create enough ruckus to spoil the party. Headlines in the financial press – one was “Wall Street Declares War on Spitzer” – made clear to Bush’s enforcers at Justice who their number one target should be. And it wasn’t Bin Laden.
It was the night of February 13 when Spitzer made the bone-headed choice to order take-out in his Washington Hotel room. He had just finished signing these words for the Washington Post about predatory loans:
“Not only did the Bush administration do nothing to protect consumers, it embarked on an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which the federal government was turning a blind eye.”
Bush, Spitzer said right in the headline, was the “Predator Lenders’ Partner in Crime.” The President, said Spitzer, was a fugitive from justice. And Spitzer was in Washington to launch a campaign to take on the Bush regime and the biggest financial powers on the planet.
Spitzer wrote, “When history tells the story of the subprime lending crisis and recounts its devastating effects on the lives of so many innocent homeowners the Bush administration will not be judged favorably.”
But now, the Administration can rest assured that this love story – of Bush and his bankers – will not be told by history at all – now that the Sheriff of Wall Street has fallen on his own gun.
A note on “Prosecutorial Indiscretion.”
Back in the day when I was an investigator of racketeers for government, the federal prosecutor I was assisting was deciding whether to launch a case based on his negotiations for airtime with 60 Minutes. I’m not allowed to tell you the prosecutor’s name, but I want to mention he was recently seen shouting, “Florida is Rudi country! Florida is Rudi country!”
Not all crimes lead to federal bust or even public exposure. It’s up to something called “prosecutorial discretion.”
Funny thing, this ‘discretion.’ For example, Senator David Vitter, Republican of Louisiana, paid Washington DC prostitutes to put him in diapers (ewww!), yet the Senator was not exposed by the US prosecutors busting the pimp-ring that pampered him.
Naming and shaming and ruining Spitzer – rarely done in these cases – was made at the ‘discretion’ of Bush’s Justice Department.
Or maybe we should say, ‘indiscretion.’
************
No Post about Barack Obama’s spiritual mentor Jeremiah Wright.
#7, Ranger,
Someone, sometime has to take a stand and say the federal government can’t be everything to everybody – from Bear Stearns on down. There is a finite amount of money (and credit).
Good point. BUT, who gets to decide what is a worthwhile project. Although you say you are against the Iraq invasion, you imply that you support the effort. At over $250,000,000 every month. If you want, I’ll pick the last Marine to go.
A wilderness area in Oregon sounds worthwhile to me. KBG logo towels doesn’t.
#8, Bank Robber,
Hint, if you have something to say, say it. If you have an article for us to read, link to it. I don’t think anyone will read the entire article you posted. I don’t know what it is about and don’t care. Post YOUR opinion, not someone else’s.
So, Bankrobber. Let me see if I understand. You said “The $200 billion bail-out for predator banks and Spitzer charges are intimately blah.. blah.. blah.. blah.. blah.. blah.. blah.. blah.. blah.. blah.. blah.. blah.. blah.. blah.. blah.. blah.. blah.. blah.. blah.. blah.. blah.. “
BillM & Catshit,
The story is Govenor Spitzer,whore-monger or not, was a step away from blowing the whistle on illegal financial activity when the story broke.
Better read it carefully, because every American is going to feel the financial consequences.
#13, Bank Robber,
I understand you have something up your butt. That, however, doesn’t fit with the subject here. A plane dropped a dummy bomb on a building is what we should be discussing.
If that is what you want to discuss then either find a blog with a running discussion or ask the editors to run something. I’ll give you a hint. If you post something like that you will be called upon to cite your accusations. Just because you found the article on the interwebtubes does not vouch for its veracity.
I was going to post something more than this, but Bank Robber use up all the words.
>> # 7 Ranger007 said,
From an Oklahoman. Someone, sometime has to take a stand and say the federal government can’t be everything to everybody – from Bear Stearns on down. There is a finite amount of money (and credit).
OK, then, lead by example and cut one of Oklahoma’s pet projects first. I suggest that you close the Chickasaw National Recreation Area.
Better yet, let’s all end the Iraq war 50 hours early and pay for our whole project.
Did I say 50 HOURS earlier? You’d have to end the war less than ONE HOUR earlier to conserve this valuable resource on Mt. Hood.
After Ranger007’s stand on why Oklahoma should block funding to Oregon, I got curious.
For every dollar of federal tax Oregon PAYS, we get back 0.97.
But Oklahoma?
For every dollar of federal tax, they get back $1.47!
http://tinyurl.com/2mfkdq
Sure, Oklahoma wants to draw the line on federal spending — IN OTHER STATES — while they snarf way more Federal dollars than they give.
What hypocrisy.
The article doesn’t make sense to me.
Starts off saying the pilot thought he dropped the bomb at the range and later it says the bomb was dropped inadvertently on the apartment. Pilots can be off by a mile and still not hit civilian property on any proper training mission.
Something just isn’t being reported correctly.
How does Iraq only cost $275 million per month?
Anyway, referring to Bank Robbers book there … no one made Governor Spitzer sleep with prostitutes. He did that himself. Do I really care? No. But Spitzer marketed himself as Mr. Integrity so live by the sword, die by the sword I say.
Our whole market economy is rife with “introductory rates” like the sub-prime loan. Shop for a broadband ISP, and they quote you the introductory rate, which is only good for about six months. But you have to sign up for a whole year to get it. And the rate skyrockets up after that teaser period. Same for other things like cable and dish TV. It’s all about enticing people into debt. When the rates use to be consistent, people considered the expense more carefully. But the “trial” (which it isn’t) rate is just a trick to get people past their budgetary hangups.
That was no accident. It was one of our gay pilots bombing that Sally Kern bitch and missed.
We’ll get you next time, my pretty and it won’t be a house that falls on your ass.
#4, Tom Coburn doesn’t go about trying to get money for Oklahoma like that either. He cosponsored with Barack Obama a sunshine provision to put all government contracts in a database, so pretty soon sites like these can help lower federal spending.
My only comment has to do with the pic. Dr. Strangelove was a hack remake of the excellent Fail Safe which didn’t have this picture, but had Boss Hogg as a Jewish Senator.
This wasn’t that bad. I heard a story one time where during target practice in an M-60 Patton tank, the gunner loaded a sabot round, but the gunner set it to HEAT, which requires higher elevation, since the round’s bigger and slower. Suffice to say, the Army bought the guy a new garage.
Er… Correction: The LOADER loaded a sabot round.
Wrong. Strangelove was out first and did much better in the box office. Dr Strangelove is simply a master piece as are most of Kubrick’s work.
lol owned
Republicans will excuse anything – yes anything – to advance the power of their own political party – regardless of the best interests of the country.
And it’s always about money – only money.
I was brought up to believe that the United States of America, and its Constitution means a lot more than greed.
I really get a laugh out of those middle and lower income fools who think the Republican party gives a damn about them. Associating themselves with big money interets makes them feel so superior. If they could read, or took the time to do so, they would wake up – maybe.
Regardless of the lubricant being used, sooner or later it will start to hurt.
By the way, Liberal haters. I bet you cash those Social Security checks, even though the Democrats passed that law over the fierce objections of the Republicans. (the Republicans called it Communism.)
RE: No. 8 and Palast ….
As I’ve said before: REPUKES STEALING IN ALL DIRECTIONS !!! Had enough ??? ***NEVER VOTE REPUBLIANC AGAIN*** – FOR ANY OFFICE, AT ANY LEVEL !!!
#29 Profound words, like the Democrats never stole anything and are beyond reproached. MORON!