Category: Schadenfreude

Mithras is Dead Wrong

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The proprietor of Tales of the Reconstruction is making fun of Sarah Palin, after she says something so stupid that you hope someone cuts her meat for her.

I’m cool with that, but then s/he says this, “She’s George W. Bush without the intellect. God, I hope this woman is a serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination in four years.

No….What’s more, F$#@ no. I have occasinally quoted what my my father said in 1968, which was something like, “Those stupid bastards, they’ve nominated Nixon, there is no way that we can lose now.”

Never, EVER wish a bad candidate on the public. They might just win.

On the other hand, you should clikc on the link and read the blog post. Sarah Palin is very, VERY, stupid, and it’s fun to laugh at her.

Hedge Fund Schadenfreude

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Well, something interesting happened today; for a few hours today, Volkswagen had the largest market capitalization in the world, exceeding that of Exxon-Mobil.

It appears that what happened is that Porsche, which had previously held 42.6% of VW shares, cut a deal to increase this to 74%, and just announced it.

Combined with the German state of Lower Saxony’s slightly more than 20% share in the auto maker, this meant that only 5% of the shares were available, and there were a bunch of short sellers who bid up the stock, because there was not enough out there to cover their short sales.

My take is that the hedge funds can go Cheney themselves. Their stock in trade is to make money from just such of a lack of transparency, they call it “market asymmetry,” and they just lost money on a lack of transparency.

Hoist by their own petard….Heh.

There is going to be an German regulators looking into this though.

My guess is that Porsche did this in this way because they wanted to punish the short sellers.

They succeeded, but I’m not sure if all is in accord with German securities law.

Bachmann-Turnoff Overdrive

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I make no apologies for the pun.

What’s more, I call out all the Liberal Blogosphere….This one was pretty obvious.

Well, Michele Bachmann, the lady who started her political career keeping the Disney Movie Alladin out of town, “feeling that it endorsed magic/witchcraft and promoted paganism” is still experiencing blow-back from her outrageous and un-American outburst on Chris Matthews’ show, where she accused most of the country of being “anti-American”

It now appears that her primary opponent, Aubrey Immelman, will run a write-in campaign against her, because, as he states, “We cannot tolerate this festering brand of neo-McCarthyism in our midst.”

Good for him, and bad for her. She has now generated something north of $700K in donations for Elwyn Tinklenberg, her Democratic Opponent, who has a real chance of pulling this out now, particularly now that the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) has stopped funding their ads for her.

Bummer of a birth mark, Miche.

*I know that it’s not nice to make fun of someone’s name, but his name still sounds like a character from Garrison Keillor’s fictional Lake Wobegone.

It’s Definitely the Weird Season

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You may recall Vito Fossella, who dropped out of his race for reelection after he was busted for driving drunk from his wife to his mistress, both of whom have borne him children.

Well, the Republicans selected Francis H. Powers, whose son Francis M. Powers was running against him on the Libertarian ticket.

And then Francis H. Powers died.

Well, it now looks like Vito Fossella is considering re-entering the race.

The political gods are smoking some serious dope in Staten Island.

Talk About Rebelling Against Your Parents

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Yes, I know that the source is Wing Nut daily, but this story is just too amusing to pass up.

According to WND, Masab Yousuf, son of West Bank Hamas leader Sheik Hassan Yousef, has converted to Christianity, and has become a supporter of Israel:

“I know that I’m endangering my life and am even liable to lose my father, but I hope that he’ll understand this and that God will give him and my family patience and willingness to open their eyes to Jesus and to Christianity. Maybe one day I’ll be able to return to Palestine and to Ramallah with Jesus, in the Kingdom of God,” Masab said.

Masab said he previously aided his father with Hamas activities, but he now has affection for Israel and laments Hamas.

Well, I guess that’s how you rebel against your parents, if your parent is a rebel.

Ted Stevens Indicted

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I’ll avoid the “tubes” and the “incredible hulk” jokes, as most of the ‘net does snark better than me.

In any case, he has been indicted on 7 counts related to concealing income from gifts from lobbyists and their firms, once again proving that it’s the cover-up that will get you.

Interestingly enough, the Republicans in Alaska are so corrupt they don’t have a replacement, with the most likely replacement, Sarah Palin, who is under investigation about misuse of power to get her ex-brother-in-law fired from the State Police.

Also note that the party can replace Stevens up to 48 days before the general election, so he could drop out.

That being said, I’ll enjoy some Schadenfreude, and you can donate to the Democratic challenger, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich at my ActBlue page.

Lichtenstein Banking Data Stolen and Turned Over to Tax Authorities

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Heinrich Kieber, a former bank clerk in Lichtenstein, downloaded the names and accounts of thousands of secret bank accounts, burned them to three CDs, and then sold them “tax authorities to 12 countries including Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy and the United States.”

Well, it now appears that a fair number of these rich pig tax dodgers people will be facing some serious scrutiny from the IRS.

It’s been a while since I had a Schadenfreude post.

Wingnut Heads Exploding

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While the main stream media
studiously ignores John McCain’s campaign finance felonies, wing nut heads are exploding over the fact that Obama will opt out of public financing, and bury McCain with cash.

In the times, we have David Brooks’ head exploding over the fact that Obama is not going to take public campaign financing, revealing that *gasp* Obama will work to gain maximum political advantage, and on CNN, we have Leslie Sanchez, director of the White House Initiative on Hispanic Education from 2001-2003, and hence a professional lier saying that money doesn’t mean anything because after all, the American public can’t be swayed with glitzy ad campaigns.

Yeah…right…

Heh.

This Much Schadenfreude Should Be Illegal

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Chuch Prince, former CEO of Citi who was fired for their losses that resulted from the collapse of the housing market, is now unable to find a buyer for his house .

Prince’s five-bedroom Tudor-style house in Greenwich, Connecticut, has been on the market for six months. He has cut the price by $300,000 to $5.85 million, according to the property listing.

It appears that he paid $4.48M for the house in 2003, so one wonders why he isn’t lowering the price more.

Maybe he has a 2nd mortgage on it…..heh.

Bush Fired Rove In Church

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Boy, the Avignon president is a really classy guy:

If you’re going to fire someone, you want to make sure you do it in a place where the now-unemployed can’t make a scene.

You know…a place like, say, a church.

That, according to a new book – “Machiavelli’s Shadow” – by former Time magazine reporter Paul Alexander, is where President George W. Bush informed trusted advisor Karl Rove in 2007 that his services would no longer be needed at the White House.

“On a Sunday in midsummer, George W. Bush accompanied Karl Rove to the Episcopalian Church Rove sometimes attended,” writes Alexander. “They made their way to the front of the congregation. Then, during their time in the church, Bush gave Rove some stunning news. ‘Karl,’ Bush said, ‘there’s too much heat on you. It’s time for you to go.’”

It appears that Rove is a screamer, and Bush was afraid that he would be shouted at.

But according to the Republican party, Bush is really brave for sending soldiers to die in Iraq.

Pathetic.

Boy…Firing a man in church because you were afraid he would be angry with you? Bush is one classy dude.

Schadenfreude of the Day: Bush/McCain Fundraiser Moved to Smaller Venue Because of Weak Ticket Sales

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You have to love it when in John McCain’s home state, a fund raiser with George W. Bush does not generate enough ticket sales to fill the Phoenix Convention Center:

Sources familiar with the situation said the Bush-McCain event was not selling enough tickets to fill the Convention Center space, and that there were concerns about more anti-war protesters showing up outside the venue than attending the fundraiser inside.

Another source said there were concerns about the media covering the event.

Bush’s Arizona fundraising effort for McCain is being moved to private residences in the Phoenix area……

Hey, my dad has a barn, let’s put on a musical!!!!

Not!!!! Heh!!!