Bank of America will never, ever get my money. Not after what they pulled on this guy:
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/02/how_theresa_hatt_caused_the_financial_crisis.php
Last month, Theresa Hatt died at 52, after a brief struggle with cancer. [S]hortly after her death, Hatt's son, Paul Kelleher, began the sad task of calling his mother's creditors, to inform them of her passing. The calls were uneventful, if depressing, until Kelleher got to Bank of America. Here is how he says his conversation with a representative of the company's estates unit went:
Paul Kelleher: Yes, I'm calling to inform you that my mom died on the 24th of January.
Bank of America Estates representative: I'm sorry. Oh, it looks like she never even missed a payment. That's too bad. Well, how are you planning to take care of her balance?
PK: I'm not going to. She has no estate to speak of, but you should feel free to just go through the standard probate procedure. I'm certainly not legally obligated to pay for her.
BOA: You mean you're not going to help her out?
PK: I wouldn't be helping her out -- she's dead. I'd be helping you out.
BOA: Oh, that's really not the way to look at it. I know that if it were my mother, I'd pay it. That's why we're in the banking crisis we're in: banks having to write off defaulted loans.
"I lost it there," Kelleher, ... told TPMMuckraker. When pressed, he said, the estates rep backed off that last claim, but only a little, continuing to suggest that cases like his mothers had played a role in the financial crisis.
HOW much did B of A lose on their bone-headed purchase of Countrywide Financial, when everyone knew real estate was about to tank?? HOW many hundreds of millions of dollars (if not billions) did these suits piss away on greedy, shortsighted or just plain incompetent spending? And they have the fucking gall to pull shit like this?
I'll stick my money in a rabid squirrel's nest before handing over to these morally-bankrupt twits. The squirrel's nest pays a higher return.
Here is the finale of the Legacy installation:
My 24-hour installation marking Bush's last day in office is now up
Update: Wow, the smell from the port-a-john really helps put the whole piece in context
My farewell Bush cartoon is now up. Let the shoes fly
To mark the final day of George W. Bush in the White House, I'm premiering a unique work of art on Monday, January 19.
"Legacy" is a black and silver monoprint of Bush which will be installed on a construction dumpster outside the Venable Center in Durham. When Bush leaves office the next day, the print will be stripped off and tossed in with the rest of the debris.
This piece will only exist for 24 hours (if that), so come on down to the corner of Roxboro and Pettigrew Streets -- and bring extra shoes in case you get the urge throw something at Bush's "Legacy."
JP Trostle: "Legacy", 2009
Black toner on adhesive foil, 11" x 5"
on the south end of a metal dumpster, 7' x 20'
(The construction bin is located in between the two buildings that make up the Venable Center, and just outside of the offices of The Independent Weekly. Parking is available at a a small lot off of Roxboro or a larger lot off of Pettigrew.)
Well, for Turkish shoe manufacturers that is...
Turns out sales for the brand that was thrown at Bush are going through the roof and the company has hired a hundred people to help make more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=auI050ptHyPg
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/14/bush-visits-iraq-for-fina_n_150832.html
Not exactly the flowers Bush was expecting to be strewn with during his
victory parade ...
If you haven't noticed yet, I believe the Onion has raised that pastime known as the 'revenge fantasy' to new and sublime heights with a quiet little series of painful briefs they'redoing on Bush.
Wow.
Well, one can dream can't one ...
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/bushs_eyelid_accidentally
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/bush_dragged_behind
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/bush_passes_three_pound
My personal favorite:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/bush_tumbles_wildly_down
And if any of those things happen (oh please! oh please), I'll come back to political blogging.
Now, back to your "regularly scheduled" pop culture missives ...
I guess Bush doesn't feel he's done enough damage to the country in 7+ years -- he will now apparently try and destroy what's left of it in the remaining 75 days of his administration:
Bush’s aides have been scrambling to change rules and regulations on the environment, civil liberties and abortion rights, among others — few for the good. Most presidents put on a last-minute policy stamp, but in Mr. Bush’s case it is more like a wrecking ball
The New York Times article goes on:
Mr. Bush, or more to the point, Vice President Dick Cheney, came to office determined to dismantle Bill Clinton’s environmental legacy, undo decades of environmental law and keep their friends in industry happy. ...
The administration has taken other disturbing steps in recent weeks. In late September, the I.R.S. restored tax breaks for banks that take big losses on bad loans inherited through acquisitions. Now we learn that JPMorgan Chase and others are planning to use their bailout funds for mergers and acquisitions, transactions that will be greatly enhanced by the new tax subsidy.
In other words, take our tax-funded bailout, use it to buy up other banks with bad debt, and then dump the loss on you and me while keeping the assets -- all without having to 'inject liquidity' back into the market as the bailout was intended. Weeeeee
