Like chocolate and peanut butter.
Before he signed up for Team America: World Police, mass murderer Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was a Midwest con artist:
Such are the standards the once-proud American military has sunk to in its quest for more warm bodies to perform the grunt work of global occupation. This is what a dying empire looks like.
Robert Bales, the staff sergeant accused of massacring Afghan civilians, enlisted in the U.S. Army at the same time he was trying to avoid answering allegations he defrauded an elderly Ohio couple of their life savings in a stock fraud, according to federal documents reviewed by ABC News.So the Army apparently welcomed him in to hide out from the law. He also had incidents of domestic violence and hit-and-run in his background.
"He robbed me of my life savings," Gary Liebschner of Carroll, Ohio told ABC News.
Financial regulators found that Bales "engaged in fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, churning, unauthorized trading and unsuitable investments," according to a report on Bales filed in 2003. Bales and his associates were ordered to pay Liebschner $1,274,000 in compensatory and punitive damages but have yet to do so, according to Liebschner.
"We didn't know where he was," Liebschner told ABC News. "We heard the Bahamas, and all kinds of places."
Such are the standards the once-proud American military has sunk to in its quest for more warm bodies to perform the grunt work of global occupation. This is what a dying empire looks like.
With the Mega Millions jackpot up to $241 million, is it worth buying a ticket? $1 for a 1-in-175,711,536 chance at $241 million sounds like a winning bet.
But not so fast. The $241 million is only if you take the annuity option, and a lot of that is in future, devalued dollars. The cash payout is $170 million. So it still sounds like an almost even money bet. Ah, but taxes. Federal taxes on that $170 million will be 35%, bringing your haul down to $110.5 million. And then there are state income taxes. California exempts lottery winnings, but some states don't.
Now if you can avoid the taxes, it's still a close bet. If you buy a few tickets, you can't deduct your gambling losses unless you have offsetting gains. But if you buy all 175,711,536 combinations, you'd guarantee yourself the jackpot, and you'd have offsetting gambling losses on all the losing tickets so you'd pay no tax. So at current jackpot levels, you'd lose $5.7 million on the main jackpot, and you'd earn $11.25 million on 45 tickets with the 5 winning numbers without the Mega number worth $250,000 each, $2.55 million on 255 4-of-5-plus-Mega tickets worth $10,000 each, $1.7 million on 11,475 4-of-5-without-Mega tickets worth $150 each, $1.9 million on 12,750 3-of-5-plus-Mega worth $150 each, $4 million on 573,750 3-of-5-without-Mega tickets worth $7 each, $2 million on 208,250 2-of-5-plus-Mega worth $10 each, $3.75 million on 1,249,500 1-of-5-plus-Mega worth $3 each, and $4.7 million on 2,349,060 0-of-5-plus-Mega tickets worth $2 each.
Add it all up, and you'll win $32 million on top of the $170 million jackpot, for a total of $202 million and a profit of $27 million over your $175 million cost. So if you have the capital and the operational capability to buy all the tickets, it looks like a good deal... unless somebody else also wins and you split the jackpot. The odds of another winner are usually very low, but they increase as more people buy tickets. And more people buy tickets when the jackpot gets big. If other people buy 50 million tickets for this draw, there's a roughly 28% chance you lose half the jackpot and end up with a $58 million loss. There's also a much smaller chance that two other tickets win and you have to split the pot three ways for an $86 million loss. Factor these in and it becomes just about an even-money bet at these levels. If the jackpot goes much higher, it becomes a real winning bet.
For those of us who don't have the ability to buy all the tickets and net the gambling losses off for tax purposes? No, it's still a big losing proposition.
But then again, a buck can't buy you a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk, so why the hell not?
But not so fast. The $241 million is only if you take the annuity option, and a lot of that is in future, devalued dollars. The cash payout is $170 million. So it still sounds like an almost even money bet. Ah, but taxes. Federal taxes on that $170 million will be 35%, bringing your haul down to $110.5 million. And then there are state income taxes. California exempts lottery winnings, but some states don't.
Now if you can avoid the taxes, it's still a close bet. If you buy a few tickets, you can't deduct your gambling losses unless you have offsetting gains. But if you buy all 175,711,536 combinations, you'd guarantee yourself the jackpot, and you'd have offsetting gambling losses on all the losing tickets so you'd pay no tax. So at current jackpot levels, you'd lose $5.7 million on the main jackpot, and you'd earn $11.25 million on 45 tickets with the 5 winning numbers without the Mega number worth $250,000 each, $2.55 million on 255 4-of-5-plus-Mega tickets worth $10,000 each, $1.7 million on 11,475 4-of-5-without-Mega tickets worth $150 each, $1.9 million on 12,750 3-of-5-plus-Mega worth $150 each, $4 million on 573,750 3-of-5-without-Mega tickets worth $7 each, $2 million on 208,250 2-of-5-plus-Mega worth $10 each, $3.75 million on 1,249,500 1-of-5-plus-Mega worth $3 each, and $4.7 million on 2,349,060 0-of-5-plus-Mega tickets worth $2 each.
Add it all up, and you'll win $32 million on top of the $170 million jackpot, for a total of $202 million and a profit of $27 million over your $175 million cost. So if you have the capital and the operational capability to buy all the tickets, it looks like a good deal... unless somebody else also wins and you split the jackpot. The odds of another winner are usually very low, but they increase as more people buy tickets. And more people buy tickets when the jackpot gets big. If other people buy 50 million tickets for this draw, there's a roughly 28% chance you lose half the jackpot and end up with a $58 million loss. There's also a much smaller chance that two other tickets win and you have to split the pot three ways for an $86 million loss. Factor these in and it becomes just about an even-money bet at these levels. If the jackpot goes much higher, it becomes a real winning bet.
For those of us who don't have the ability to buy all the tickets and net the gambling losses off for tax purposes? No, it's still a big losing proposition.
But then again, a buck can't buy you a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk, so why the hell not?
The Daily Beast is pointing to financial problems in the case of Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, accused of murdering innocent women and children in Afghanistan.
As evil and destructive as Alan Greenspan is, I'm not ready to chalk these killings up to him. This was the result of the Bush-Obama policy of military adventurism, occupation, and colonization. Occupation is Hell.
UPDATE: Fox News reports the Bales owned another place in Auburn, WA, which they had abandoned. It's apparently this place, 1206 31st St NE. They bought it in 1999 for $99,950, about what it's worth for now on Zillow, but it was worth more than $200,000 in Greenspan's bubble. Presumably they sucked out a huge slug of home equity at the peak, because otherwise they would have been able to sell it instead of having to abandon it.
UPDATE 2: Yep, they owed $195,000 on that $100,000 Auburn house. Greenspan, you bastard.
Bales and his wife, Karilyn, appear to have been under financial duress. Their house, about 20 minutes from the base, was reportedly put up for sale the day after the shootings, listed at $50,000 less than the purchase price.Bales and his wife bought the house at 5215 West Tapps Drive in Lake Tapps, WA in the bubble in 2005 for $280,000. It's now worth low-$200's. I wouldn't post this information except that the family has been moved to secure facilities on the base and will never return to the house.
As evil and destructive as Alan Greenspan is, I'm not ready to chalk these killings up to him. This was the result of the Bush-Obama policy of military adventurism, occupation, and colonization. Occupation is Hell.
UPDATE: Fox News reports the Bales owned another place in Auburn, WA, which they had abandoned. It's apparently this place, 1206 31st St NE. They bought it in 1999 for $99,950, about what it's worth for now on Zillow, but it was worth more than $200,000 in Greenspan's bubble. Presumably they sucked out a huge slug of home equity at the peak, because otherwise they would have been able to sell it instead of having to abandon it.
UPDATE 2: Yep, they owed $195,000 on that $100,000 Auburn house. Greenspan, you bastard.
... because what national strategic national resource wouldn't we sacrifice to save Dear Leader?
The Independent (London):
The Independent (London):
As the Prime Minster, David Cameron, wound up his three-day official visit to the United States in New York, details emerged of a possible plan to for the two nations to co-ordinate a release of strategic oil reserves to counter the current increases in prices which threaten the economic recovery – and Barack Obama's re-election hopes.Months before a final decision could be made... Gee, that would create a temporary dip in gas prices right around... oh, what's happening this fall anyway?
The discussions in the Oval Office on Wednesday were prompted by the rise in oil prices due in part to instability in three major producing nations – Iran, Syria and Sudan. Officials cautioned, however, that no strategy was settled upon and it could be months before final decisions were made.
Folks are starting to fly the Obama and Stripes instead of along with the Stars and Stripes.
I believe in our first amendment rights so I'm not against the concept but I am very worried about the direction of the country when it's the Democratic Party that is hanging this flag down in Florida. Political idol worship is undemocratic. The purpose of democracy is to rule our leaders, not have our leaders rule us. That seems beyond the understanding of Democrats, though the GOP does their fair share of idolatry.
I believe in the Constitution and I find it ironic that those who exercise their First Amendment rights are so strenuously trying to destroy our other amendment rights.
This is just unsettling.
After a short stand off between a group of veterans and the head of the Lake County, FL Democrat Party, an American flag that had been altered to depict an image of Barack Obama in the space where the stars are normally located was taken down.
The Lake County Democratic Headquarters in Tavares has been flying two American flags outside their office. The first an American Flag and the second the altered flag.
I believe in our first amendment rights so I'm not against the concept but I am very worried about the direction of the country when it's the Democratic Party that is hanging this flag down in Florida. Political idol worship is undemocratic. The purpose of democracy is to rule our leaders, not have our leaders rule us. That seems beyond the understanding of Democrats, though the GOP does their fair share of idolatry.
I believe in the Constitution and I find it ironic that those who exercise their First Amendment rights are so strenuously trying to destroy our other amendment rights.
NYT via ZeroHedge:
After almost 12 years at the firm — first as a summer intern while at Stanford, then in New York for 10 years, and now in London — I believe I have worked here long enough to understand the trajectory of its culture, its people and its identity. And I can honestly say that the environment now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it.Any whistleblowers that help bring down the squid are a step in the right direction, but this guy's claims that everything was fine before Lloyd Blankfein are absurd. So when Hank Paulson looted Greece there was nothing wrong with that? When Robert Rubin hijacked the federal government, there was nothing wrong with that?
To put the problem in the simplest terms, the interests of the client continue to be sidelined in the way the firm operates and thinks about making money. Goldman Sachs is one of the world’s largest and most important investment banks and it is too integral to global finance to continue to act this way. The firm has veered so far from the place I joined right out of college that I can no longer in good conscience say that I identify with what it stands for.
Why is it that almost every "sponsored" link on my Facebook page is from someone I loathe?
Nathan Felcher: A RINO hack who supported the Schwarzenegger tax increase and milks the Chelsea King murder for political gain.
Dirty DeMaio: some group (unions? Felcher? Dumanis?) who doesn't want Carl DeMaio to be mayor of San Diego.
mybarackobama.com: enough said.
Stop the Koch Brothers: union / Democrat machine.
Why any of these groups think I'd have any interest in supporting their sick and twisted cause is beyond me. But I'm happy to click their links and move a few dollars from their coffers to Facebook's.
In fact, some of these links, I'm going to click over and over and over and over, over and over again.
Nathan Felcher: A RINO hack who supported the Schwarzenegger tax increase and milks the Chelsea King murder for political gain.
Dirty DeMaio: some group (unions? Felcher? Dumanis?) who doesn't want Carl DeMaio to be mayor of San Diego.
mybarackobama.com: enough said.
Stop the Koch Brothers: union / Democrat machine.
Why any of these groups think I'd have any interest in supporting their sick and twisted cause is beyond me. But I'm happy to click their links and move a few dollars from their coffers to Facebook's.
In fact, some of these links, I'm going to click over and over and over and over, over and over again.
Two Stanford professors explain in one sentence everything you need to know about why California is a failed state:
From the mid-1980s to 2005, California's population grew by 10 million, while Medicaid recipients soared by seven million; tax filers paying income taxes rose by just 150,000; and the prison population swelled by 115,000.HT: Tim Sheithner
Courtesy of ZeroHedge:
I have a feeling the kids might prefer this lesson on the Fed from Neal Fox, which happens to be both more fun and more truthful:
[...] it now appears that the propaganda masters at the Office of Central Planning have decided to go for young American minds while they are still pliable. It appears that as part of its reenactment of Goebbels [sic] "economic education" curriculum, the Fed will now directly appeal to K 8-12 student [sic], in which it will elucidate on the premise of "Constitutionality of a Central Bank." You know - just in case said young (and soon to be very unemployed) minds get ideas that heaven forbid, the master bank running the US is not exactly constitutional - you know, that whole thing between Andrew Jackson and the Second Bank of the United States...Full propaganda materials are here.
I have a feeling the kids might prefer this lesson on the Fed from Neal Fox, which happens to be both more fun and more truthful:
... for both the occupiers and the occupied.
U.S. Army sergeant goes on killing spree in Afghanistan, massacres 16 including women and children.
Put thousands of men in a hostile, pointless, thankless environment for years and stuff like this is bound to happen.
We should have declared victory a decade ago and gotten out before we wasted thousands of our soldiers' lives, tens of thousands of disabling injuries, and hundreds of billions of dollars. Now we plan to linger for another three years of carnage before handing Afghanistan back to the Taliban.
Here's the W.C. Varones foreign policy: if you attack America, we bomb you back to the Stone Age. But we don't waste American blood and treasure trying to impose civilization on savages.
U.S. Army sergeant goes on killing spree in Afghanistan, massacres 16 including women and children.
Put thousands of men in a hostile, pointless, thankless environment for years and stuff like this is bound to happen.
We should have declared victory a decade ago and gotten out before we wasted thousands of our soldiers' lives, tens of thousands of disabling injuries, and hundreds of billions of dollars. Now we plan to linger for another three years of carnage before handing Afghanistan back to the Taliban.
Here's the W.C. Varones foreign policy: if you attack America, we bomb you back to the Stone Age. But we don't waste American blood and treasure trying to impose civilization on savages.
Remember all those companies taking out full-page ads in 2006 offering to pay top dollar for your McMansion?
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