Jackson Jambalaya

Enjoy more of his work here.

Baton Rouge Business Report reported last week:
"A contingent of about 70 people from Jackson, Miss., will be in Baton Rouge next week to learn about the progress the city has made in downtown redevelopment, Mayor Kip Holden says. The group will be in Baton Rouge on July 9-10, looking at a things such as the consolidation of state government buildings and how city initiatives spurred developments such as the Shaw Center for the Arts, the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center and Kress at Third and Main, says Davis Rhorer, executive director of the Downtown Development District. “That’s a moment to celebrate, that we are moving to that level,” Holden says. Holden made the announcement Wednesday evening at a meeting of Progress Is Baton Rouge, a grassroots organization that supports the bond issue the mayor hopes to have before voters Nov. 14. The details of the next bond issue will be revealed July 22, but Holden says it will be at least $100 million smaller than the $989 million voters rejected last year that included various infrastructure improvements, expansion of the River Center and the Audubon Alive riverfront attraction. The cities of Baker, Central and Zachary, which voted overwhelmingly against the last bond issue, will be eliminated from the potential taxing district and therefore won’t vote this time around.—David Jacobs"

May he rot in hell.

Just posted a new poll about the local blogs. As some people will wonder why I didn't include Sid Salter or Marshall Ramsey, I think an explanation is in order. The poll excluded blogs by journalists and professional media outlets. I tried to limit it to blogs that covered the Jackson area to some degree, and didn't include websites such as Magnolia Report, which are not blogs but aggregators. (They just post headlines from other websites.) Vote early and often and if there is one I missed, feel free to let me know.

Copy of Subpoena

The Hinds County District Attorney's office has subpoenaed two individuals to testify in the Karen Irby prosecution. Prosecutor Patrick Beasley filed the subpoena with the Hinds County Circuit Clerk's office on June 29, 2009. The two individuals subpoenaed are Dr. Lisa D. Williams and Kirk McDaniel (Kirk McDaniel of Ridgeland).

No information is known about Dr. Williams. Mr. McDaniel was once an attorney who was suspended from the practice of law for a year in Pennsylvania. Text of decision' Mr. McDaniel was suspended after being found guilty of unethical conduct as well as being found guilty under UCMJ for being awol and also testing positive for cocaine.

Although I voted for Cinco De Mayo, Margaritas won the recent "Best Mexican Restaurant in Jackson" poll. It was a close race but in the end, the Pear Orchard cantina pulled it out. Congratulations to Margaritas.

Wonder why I post so many items from Karl Denninger's website, The Market Ticker, or why Kim Wade has him on his show so much? Its because Karl's track record the last few years predicting the economy has been on the money (pun intended). Every January he makes his economic forecast for the next 12 months and sufficeth to say, he's usually right. He is one of the reasons many of us don't listen to the CNBC gurus anymore as they are known for consistently getting it wrong. Here is his mid-year check of his 2009 predictions:

"Let's take a look at the scorecard first from my 2009 Prediction Ticker, remembering of course that I have six months left!

1. The economy will not recover in 2009. No sign of it yet, "green shooters" be damned. I predicted that U3 would reach 8% by the end of the year, it has exceeded that wildly, and is now 9.5%. U-6 also has exceeded my predicted value already.
2. Deflation, not inflation, will become evident well beyond housing. Already has. CPI and PPI have come in with negative prints as has capital goods pricing.
3. Housing prices will continue to decline. Yep.
4. The Fed's attempt to "pump liquidity" will be shown to be an abject failure. I'll leave this one on the table for now; I believe the evidence is in, but I'm in the minority. Score this one as a "no result" as of yet.
5. GDP will post a 12-month negative number. 12 months aren't up yet, but we're working on it!
6. The Stock Market has not bottomed. Remember, this was made with the market around the 900 level. Major check; we declined to 666. My secondary prediction was a 50% trading range and a 5xx low; we missed that by 67 points, but I still have six months left. I'm sticking with this one.
7. Precious metals will not be a safe haven. Oh Jim Sinclair! Where's my $1,600+ gold price? (Or for some, their $5,000+ gold price?) Missing, that's where. I know, I know, its all manipulation (instead of debt deflation.) Check.
8. The Dollar will not collapse. Hasn't yet.
9. The pound or euro will be where the FX dislocation originates if it occurs. I predicted Par for both being a possibility, not happening yet. We'll see what the next six months bring.
10. The US Consumer will go from a negative savings rate to a seriously-positive one. I'm predicting 4% but it could go as high as 10%. Major double-check! We're up close to 7% now. That's a home run in any book.
11. Commercial Real Estate will effectively collapse. The REITs have not yet imploded but the pricing and occupancy look like something that came out of the back end of a horse. Anyone got a finger to lend to push this pile over?
12. Along with the above, expect 10% of retail stores to close. We're getting there.
13. Several states will get in serious financial trouble and outright default of one or more is possible. California anyone? Major check.
14. Mortgages are not done. Yep. Prime, OptionARMs, ALT-A.
15. If you want to refinance you may get one brief shot at it with long rates around 4%. Check again. Hope you took it.
16. Those who have said that the corporate bond market is being "unreasonable" in its expectation for defaults will start to look like the jackasses they are. Ding! Check CDS spreads the last few weeks? They're widening again. Even worse, the actual corporate default rates are getting rather nasty. This trend continues.
17. Calls for "more lending" to consumers and businesses will go exactly nowhere. Major check. The drunk who is passed out from intoxication can't lift the bottle. Nice try guys.
18. General Motors and Chrysler will wind up in bankruptcy. DING!
19. Protectionism and currency manipulation will rear their ugly heads. This has started but there's much more to come. Watch out; this has the possibility of igniting wars.
20. Commodities will appear to be headed for a new bull market but this will turn out to be a false hope. Attempts to manage oil output to prop up the price will fail. Crude just rolled over, in fact, and major agri commodities were lock-limit down on one day last week. Ding......"

So let's see - I have 25 predictions and of them I can score 13 "confirms", half the year is over, and no busts as of yet (although there is one, the Euro/Pound prediction, that is looking shaky.)" Rest of article

If you are interested, here are his 2008 predictions. When he made them, many thought he was nuts.

I'm going to take a different twist in remembering Independence Day on this blog. It's been over thirty years since the Raid on Entebbe. Many of you don't know what this was, as nearly a generation has passed since that night when the Israelis freed their people from terrorists on July 4. The Israelis knew something about freedom as it was denied to them for so long. After a long struggle, they finally established a homeland and created a free and prosperous nation amid decades of wars initiated by their neighbors, as the Arabs refused to acknowledge they even existed. Fresh off the heels of the Arab sneak attack of Yom Kippur and the murder of its Olympians at Munich, the Israelis must have thought "not again" as PLO terrorists hijacked a plane, flew it to Uganda, and separated the Jews from the rest of the passengers, whom they freed.

The Israelis sent several C-130's carrying commandos (led by Netanyahu's brother) to the airport in Uganda where they were held, as Idi Amin gave the terrorists and their hostages sanctuary. The Israelis killed the terrorists, freed the hostages, and returned home to a shocked world and joyous nation. Watch the faces of the crowd in the clip below as they wait for the planes to return. What does one see but hope, relief, and a feeling that only among each other are they free and safe, that they have something worth fighting for.



The movie is available on Youtube. Forget the phony action movies filled with pretty boy 'roid monsters produced by Hollywood. Here is a movie needing no scriptwriting, as the true story was script enough. It has an all-star cast, a great director in Irving Kershner, and several moving scenes. The ending. The commandos singing several hymns as they flew to carry out their mission. The barbarism of the terrorists and the surreal nature of Idi Amin's Uganda. Entebbe is a lesson for the free world and to its enemies that there will always be those who will fight and die for freedom.



Interviews with some of the people involved 30 years later.

Start at 9:30.

WLBT reported:
"Surveillance cameras captured a man falling off of a bicycle at 4:15 A.M. at the entrance to Woodland Hills at Old Canton Road and Glenway Drive. The man picked up dropped materials, put them in a bag, and started to ride away. About that time a Jackson police car came by. The man waved at the officer and went on his way. The officer did not stop....
Assistant Police Chief Lee Vance looked at the video and said he couldn't tell if the officer actually saw the man on the bicycle. Vance said Commander Kenneth Goodrum, of Precinct Four, where Woodland Hills is located, consistently has the lowest crime rate in the city. Vance says crime is down over 10% in the past year, and violent crime in that area is down over 23%, so he trusts Goodrum and his officers.
Vance told WLBT that an officer cannot just stop a black man for riding a bicycle in a white neighborhood because that is profiling." Story

This is simply ridiculous and yet another example of the incompetence at JPD. Vance as usual is covering for his officers and defending a cop's dereliction of duty. Keep in mind Vance opposed releasing police reports to the public because he said he didn't want his officers getting sued, his duty to the public be damned.

JJ has learned two houses in the area were hit that night and two things were stolen: a purse out of an unlocked car and a woman's bicycle. Hmmm.... what was the suspect in possession of when the police car drove by? A woman's bicycle and a purse.

Unfortunately for Fondren residents, Vance is more interested in protecting his officer than he is protecting the public. His excuse that JPD does not profile is just that, an excuse as JPD profiles all the time. If you are white and in a certain part of town at a certain time, you will get stopped by JPD as they assume you are in that area to buy drugs (and they are probably right). No one wants JPD to stop and question black people in white neighborhoods or vice versa. What IS expected of JPD is for police officers to stop and investigate suspicious activity, regardless of color.

If nothing else, someone weaving all over the place while riding a bike at 4:00 AM is enough to give an officer probable cause to see if he is guilty of public intoxication. Then he can question him about the items in his possession. That is not profiling, that is police work and in just about any other jurisdiction, that is exactly what would have happened. Lee Vance's defense of his police officer was pitiful and a kick in the stomach to the victims whose purse and bike were stolen by that thief. Lee Vance owes us an apology.

Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi is interviewed by Business News Network about his recent expose on Goldman Sach's market manipulations. Video

Well, you never know what happens until you try. That old adage includes fighting Jackson's decision to refinance its 2002 and 2004 public works bonds with "interest rate swaps" derivatives that have bankrupted other local governments.

In the original deal, Jackson planned to refinance $95 million in bonds while paying $4 million in fees to various parties (this included $120,000 to Baker Donelson, $60,000 to Anthony Simon, $60,000 to Sarah O'Reilly-Evans, and $476,000 to Sterne Agee plus additional fees to "monitor" the contract to Sterne) for bonds which generated only $1.5 million in fees when originally issued.

However, City Finance Director Rick Hill announced Jackson will only refinance $40 million of bonds using interest rate swaps. The deal fell through because Deutschebank insisted Jackson would have to pay early termination fees if it ever got out of the deal (if it refinanced for example.). Other cities have been burned by these prepayment penalties as they usually cost millions of dollars. The deal was going to be insured by Financial Security Assurance, which proposed Jackson should have five years to pay the fees if termination occurred. The two parties could not agree on this issue so FSA is only going to insure a smaller amount.

Unfortunately, Mr. Hill tried to spin this new refinance as a good deal for Jackson. First he misstated the reasons why these swaps bankrupted Jefferson County:
"Hill said the banks involved in Jefferson County were unable to find anyone to buy the county’s variable-rate debt. He said Jackson has safeguards in place to prevent the same things from happening here. “They went way beyond normal practices,” he said." Northside Sun story

Actually Mr. Hill got it completely wrong. Whether he didn't know the facts or tried to deliberately mislead the reporter is for the reader to decide. The truth is the credit rating for the insurer, Ambanc, for Jefferson County's swap was slashed, causing the interest rate on it's bonds to literally jump overnight from 3% to 10%. There was no problem with selling the bonds as JP Morgan Chase was more than happy to collect ten percent interest and bankrupt the county. In fact, Chase allegedly overcharged JC by over $100 million.

Mr. Hill also says that the fees will only be $2 million. Only. The fees when the original $128 million in bonds were underwritten were $1.5 million dollars. The amount refinanced will be 31% of the original amount yet the fees will be half a million dollars more than what was originally paid. I asked Councilman Weill for a copy of the fees and was told Mr. Hill has not provided the Council with any materials yet showing the structure of the deal and further details about the fees. At this point, we only know there will be $2 million in fees, which is an exorbitant amount.

One other part of the story was wrong: "The agreement would have generated between $10 million and $13 million in upfront cash for the city and would have meant lower payments on bond indebtedness."

There was no upfront cash from the original refinance. Nowhere in the documents provided did it mention Jackson would get any upfront cash. A swap such as this consists of several different cash flows (which is why they are so complicated). Jackson was going to receive a cash flow every year that eventually would have reached a total of $10 million. However, the money was no sure thing, as several factors such as a change in Jackson or another party's credit rating, a change in interest rates, or a default, would have jeapordized the proposed $10 million.

What Jackson should do is suck it up and stick with the fixed interest rate it has now unless it can refinance for a lower fixed rate. It is true Jackson will pay a fixed interest rate in this deal. However, these swaps consist of several transactions and cash flows and those are based on adjustable interest rates. If they move in the wrong direction for any reason, Jackson will pay dearly for what little savings would realize. This deal should be thrown out along with the rest of the Melton administration.

WLBT story
WLBT video

earlier posts:
Stern Agee: Come get your bottle
Sterne Agee's connections
SEC going after JP Morgan for ripping off Jefferson County
Sterne Agee gets more money for "monitoring" swaps
Municipal Carnage caused by Wall Street
Jackson: paying $4 million in fees
Will Jackson end up like Jefferson County?

Yesterday I posted a great article from Rolling Stone which chronicled how Goldman Sachs made quite a pretty penny manipulating bubbles for decades. It's a great read and I wish I could require every one of you to read it. There was one tidbit of information, though, that really got my attention and it was how GS was able to manipulate the oil bubble last year:

Mugshots is moving in a few weeks to the old Corky's location in Flowood. But although that might bother some, I could care less if they do. What REALLY has me bothered is the fact I don't know where the hell I can get some damn good barbecue this weekend. Pig Out was average but it closed. No Homers. Corkys, as bad as it became, bit the dust. Red, Hot, and Blue sits empty. They are even tearing down the Northside Drive Exxon, which had the best ribs in town.

So where am I supposed to get some decent barbecue on Fourth of July weekend without driving to Grenada?

Note: Don't mention Hickory Pit as it's simply not that good. What I wouldn't give for some Jake & Rip's.

Your homework assignment for today

Rolling Stone article about Goldman Sachs accusing it of creating most bubbles. Here is Goldman's response. and here is Tabbai's response to their response.

Update: Fixed links.

Crime stats for June 22-28, 2009 in Jackson, MS.

GM can't seem to get it right. One of the few bright spots in the entire fiasco is the pending sale of Saturn to Roger Penske. Penske represents quality, success, and the entrepreneurial spirit that built America. Unlike most corporate leaders, Penske is the type of man you'll see meeting with engineers to discuss design on Monday, kicking butt in the plant on Tuesday, and visiting customers on Wednsday. Such drive and attention to detail is what brought him success and has caused many to be hopeful about Saturn's survival after Penske and GM announced a pending sale.

Unfortunately for Saturn, GM still can't stop itself from trying to screw up a good thing. The Wall Street Journal reported this week:
"Though its fortunes soured further in December, when GM said it would sell or close Saturn, they got a boost June 5 when the big chain of auto dealerships owned by motor-racing mogul Roger Penske -- struck a deal to buy the brand. "We were on death row," said Saturn Marketing Director Kim McGill, in an interview. Now, the brand is in "remission," thanks to Mr. Penske, but "is not yet totally cured," she said.
To spark interest and remind consumers that Saturn is still alive, its dealers have kicked off a new marketing campaign built around the slogan, "Wonder where the car business is headed? It's here." The slogan will be used on banners across Saturn storefronts and in a spate of email blasts, Facebook blogs and direct communications with buyers."

However, GM has other ideas as it tells its dealers not to spread the good news. Seems as though the corporate chieftains can't stand the thought of someone else getting any credit:
"But at least for now, GM has asked Saturn not to trumpet the Penske connection -- even though some dealers think it is the biggest thing the brand has going for it -- lest it overshadow the Saturn brand name. The deal may not be sealed until late in the third quarter, Ms. McGill said."

As a former GM employee, I can say I'm not too surprised, as GM is a company where egos mean more than performance or numbers. There is very little accountability at GM, as the worst executives tend to move from title to title, as they all protect each other. (We actually had divisional sales managers who had never been in sales much less visited a customer in their entire careers). Once you rise above a certain management level at GM, individuals with actual ability and common sense are seen as a threat by management and don't last too long. GM is not a corporation but a bureaucracy that just happens to sell cars.

What these REMF's care about is not results but GM's image as they try to avoid the "Penske Connection" even though it means more sales: "Enthusiasm about the "Penske deal helped Saturn in June, Ms. McGill said, drawing more traffic into Saturn showrooms and leading to a 35% year-to-year sales increase."

One dealer started using Penske in his advertising only to earn a stern rebuke from the Empire:
"He said the ads increased traffic to his dealership. "People want to buy from someone they like," Mr. Davies said in an interview. "A lot of customers won't buy a car from GM, but they will buy a car from Roger Penske."
Not long after dealer initiatives like Mr. Davies's billboards began to crop up, Saturn dealers got a letter from GM executives asking them to not overplay the Penske deal, for fear of taking the spotlight off the brand itself."

This is a perfect example of what is wrong with GM and corporate America. Sales, profits, or market share do not matter, as what is important to the Michael Jackson of the car business is the image and reality they created for themselves, a reality where GM reigns supreme and is adored by everyone.

Unfortunately for GM, what built America was not bloated bureaucracies like GM or Citi but risk-takers like Penske, Gates, Watson, Ford, and even Jobs. Business owners like Mr. Penske care only about results, while corporate bureaucrats worry about their image and avoiding any responsibility. If Saturn survives, it will be because it is led by a Penske and not a bunch of REMF's who are clueless about the real world.

One further note: Mr. Penske owns VM Motori, a company that manufactures diesel engines. American car manufacturers have had problems building a small diesel engine for regular cars that would allow them to compete with diesel-powered cars made by Volkswagen and Mercedes. If Penske can use VM Motori to build a diesel engine for Saturn, he might be onto something here and create a real winner.

The FDIC published a list of the loan to deposit ratios for host states of banks. It describes the ratio as "The host state loan-to-deposit ratio is the ratio of total loans in a state to total deposits from the state for all banks that have that state as their home state." Mississippi's ratio was 85%, placing it 11th on the list (This is good). FDIC report

Jackson Jambalaya has obtained a copy of Frank Melton's death certificate. It was attached to the deed of trust for the new mortgage issued by Omnibank earlier this month. The cause of death is listed as cardiac arrest and other details are provided.

One question asked after Mayor Melton's passing was what happened to the house on 2 Carter Grove Circle. Dr. Melton, Frank's wife, recently obtained a new second mortgage on the home from Omnibank. Mr. Melton took out a second mortgage on his home two years ago. It was a home equity line of credit for approximately $301,967 and was due in full in April of 2009. See earlier post.

Dr. Melton converted the heloc with Omnibank to a 20-year fixed rate mortgage with payments set at $2,175. The principal is $297,587. Deed of trust Omnibank retains the servicing rights. The first mortgage was extended by Bancorpsouth in December for another five years after it became due in full. The combined debt on the home is nearly $500,000.

Conservatism is a pretty simple philosophy: A belief that limited government and the free market best preserve our individual liberties and ensure our prosperity. Unfortunately for conservatism, many people who call themselves conservatives are actually CINO's: Conservatives in Name Only. The CINO loudly touts his conservatism but when push comes to shove, he will do things like vote for bailouts, support Medicare expansion, or work to sabotage the free market.

Brian Perry is a columnist for the Madison County Journal and former spokesman for Governor Barbour. While calling himself a free-market conservative, he is fighting to hike taxes on tobacco companies that didn't sign Mike Moore's tobacco settlement agreement. As the video above demonstrates, the tobacco companies agreed to the shakedown from Moore and his fellow AG's for several reasons. It protected them from future state lawsuits. It allowed them to fix their costs and pass them on to the consumer. It was to be a barrier for potential new competitors who weren't protected from future lawsuits. The states received billions of dollars from the deal while the tobacco companies received protection from the free market and further legal action. Not a bad deal if you can get it.

However, the free market is a pesky little thing. It has this funny way of responding to what consumers want much better than do the government and crony capitalists. In this case, Big Tobacco miscalculated when it decided to pay the vig to Vito and Bruno as it thought there would be no more competition. Unfortunately for Big Tobacco, the free market is teaching it a lesson it doesn't want to learn as tobacco sales by Non-participating (in the settlement) Manufacturers (NPM 's) are increasing due to their lower costs. According to a recent column by Sid Salter, Mr. Perry himself states NPM 's now have a market share of 14% in Mississippi. Most of these agreements are based on market share so the states and Big Tobacco have an interest in preserving their market share.

Mr. Perry and his clients have a solution for their problem and it is one familiar to liberals: raise the taxes on NPM tobacco sales. In true Clintonian fashion, Mr. Perry defends the tax hike as a free-market and thus conservative solution:
"Currently it is competing in a tobacco market where Mississippi has created a built in cost disadvantage for certain companies, including Altria. It wants to level the playing field and has advertised this fact on the radio. It is a pro-competition, pro-free market, pro-capitalism message.
Altria pays about 52 cents a pack above all taxes to Mississippi to off-set the health associated costs of smoking. Altria has proposed that other companies also pay for their health associated costs and has suggested 43 cents a pack as their share. It isn’t as high as the settlement companies like Altria, but it is still a fair share for the NPM’s contribution to health care costs. I believe 46 other states have an NPM fee; it is an established and workable policy option and for Mississippi could produce an additional $20 million per year. Additionally, under an equal NPM fee, whether a smoker continues to buy the NPM cigarette or switches to a different brand, the state would not be losing health care funds.
So it is a win-win-win situation for both Mississippi and Altria. Of course, Altria (Altria was formerly Philip Morris) benefits from a fair and competitive market place..." Mr. Perry's blog

Big Tobacco tries to rig the marketplace with the government's help only to see its efforts crumble as Smith's invisible hand works its magic. Like most companies that have seen their business threatened after hopping in bed with the government, Big Tobacco squeals for more taxation and government regulation while their hired gun talks about competitive marketplaces and how he believes in free markets. Obama's saying he doesn't want to run GM while firing the CEO comes to mind (In fact, part of Mr. Perry's blog reads as if it were written by a UAW chieftain complaining about Honda and Nissan). None of the NPM's agreed to the terms of the settlement yet Mr. Perry wants it imposed on them through a tax.

It should be pointed out there is nothing stopping Mr. Hood from pursuing the same course of action Mr. Moore did and seek damages from these manufacturers yet for some strange reason, Mr. Perry fails to mention that fact. There is nothing wrong with Mr. Perry advocating his position for his client. However, there is something wrong with someone calling raising taxes and working with the government to destroy competition a "pro-competition, pro-free market, pro-capitalism message".

yet are going to leave union health care plans untouched. Bloomberg story

A few months ago I posted this CNBC video in which Santelli points out some possible insider trading just before the Fed announcement. Watch the 7:00 mark:



Now Karl Denninger posted this week about some possible insider trading as well: This morning, the buying began in earnest at 8:30 Central, and then again at 10:00 Eastern - one hour in front of the "announcement", again on heavy volume.(Click on the link and see the chart). Needless to say, there was a huge spike and someone was able to profit off of the Fed announcement in way that reeks of insider trading.

By the way, while the government crows about incomes increasing, keep in mind it was mainly due to stimulus money. If you read the rest of the report, it points out real incomes are decreasing and more bad news for the economy:
"Private wage and salary disbursements decreased $12.4 billion in May, compared with a decrease of $0.7 billion in April. Goods-producing industries' payrolls decreased $12.9 billion, compared with a decrease of $12.2 billion; manufacturing payrolls decreased $9.8 billion, compared with a decrease of $4.9 billion."

Insider trading, front-running, green shoots turning into weeds...........

Iran says CIA killed Neda. Hey Obama, it doesn't matter what you do, they are going to call you a Zionist anyway. Of course, we shouldn't be too surprised as your best friend Rezco was a front for Saddam's cousin and bagman:

Atlas Shrugs is providing some pretty good coverage on the brutal crackdown in Iran. Worth reading.

Feel free to discuss the Messican Restaurant poll or anything else.

What do you want me to say about Sanford? Friggin' idiot. The out of the country rule is not a bad idea if you are a politician (a rule once followed by one past gubernatorial candidate in Mississippi ) but this guy was to repeat, an idiot. Taking off for 6 days. At Father's Day. Emails. Broken-down confessionals. He deserves everything he gets.

Colonial Bank in Montgomery, Alabama (and the money behind Auburn) was removed from the Smallcap index last week as its net worth fell to a little over $200 million (Its share price is around a dollar a share):
"Standard & Poor’s removed Colonial BancGroup Inc. from its S&P SmallCap 400 Index, which tracks a diverse group of medium-sized firms across the nation." story

Why is JJ tracking Colonial's fortunes? Colonial is the largest issuer of credit lines to mortgage lenders that do not service their own loans. A Colonial collapse would be huge as billions in credit lines for major mortgage lenders (such as Taylor, Bean, & Whitaker) would be jeopardized. Its the credit lines that allow lenders to fund loans and then sell them to servicers. Just think Realty Mortgage.

However, there is more trouble on the horizon as Citi announced today it will not be taking loan applications from lenders for 8 days:
"A spokesperson confirmed to HousingWire the company entered the temporary suspension over “quality control” issues surrounding documentation of appraisals or income verification seen in — or missing entirely from — previous mortgages purchased through the channel. Lenders like Citi purchase mortgage loans originated by independent mortgage bankers through correspondent channels." story

Citi is one of the few remaining servicers for mortgage lending. Most lenders sell their paper to Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo, GMAC, and Chase (Chase only buys from retail operations such as banks). While many banks such as Trustmark and Regions service their own loans, many other lenders such as Community Bank or Copiah Bank don't service mortgages but instead sell them to some of the aforementioned servicers (They don't use Citi, I used them as local examples.).

If a major servicer and buyer of mortgage paper such as Citi stops accepting loan applications, this will cause somewhat of a freezing of the mortgage industry as many lenders suddenly find themselves looking for other servicers. One can also expect other lenders that do not have such a problem will face some strain as their capacity is burdened by the increased demand.

She can't help it. She just can't as she hates Republicans so much. It's not enough to say they belong to the devil or write 16 straight posts bashing Sarah Palin. Now she has to swipe emails from Democrats. In this case, Bill Luckett is gearing up for a run at the Governor's office in 2011. Bill Lucket is a Democrat and has a few choice things to say about Republicans:

Leave it to Elvis to give us some comic relief. Fresh from his "Everyone is Picking on Me and I Won't Run Again" tour, Tim Johnson provides a moment of unintended humor when WLBT interviews him about another supervisor's proposal to have the State audit the county's dealings with its engineer, Rudy "Hef" Warnock, as Madison County has paid out over $9 million to Warnock and his company:
"Said Johnson, "...as far as the audit goes, I view it really as a witch hunt but we welcome the state auditor to come look, but when you look at the performance audit, it's gonna cost $35, $40, $50,000 to do this." Instead of the state auditor, Johnson says a committee of the county administrator, comptroller, chancery clerk and board attorney will conduct an internal evaluation. "...And I believe once the facts are laid out, we get a pretty good rate and we get a great job from our engineers.", said Johnson." WLBT story

So Johnson thinks nothing of spending $9 million dollars but fights spending $30,000 (.33%)for an independent auditor to see where the $9 mil went? Why get an outsider to count the money when your friendly neighbors can do it for you? They do understand things so much better after all.

Think mean ole Haley has been too tough on the budget? Apparently only a few states have smaller deficits than Mississippi.

Jackson crime stats for week of June 15-21,2009

The results were clear in the last JJ poll that asked who was the worst JPD Chief ever, and it wasn't even close. Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin won as he garnered 48% of the vote, with Shirlene Anderson a distant second at 24%. The results were:

"Emergency responders from Jackson and Flowood this morning resumed the overnight search for a 24-year-old Clinton man believed drowned in the Pearl River. Johnnie Carroll Evans of 1501 U.S. 80 East was last seen swimming with friends Sunday afternoon in the Pearl River near a Jackson water treatment plant, said Jackson Police Department spokesman Lt. Jeffery Scott.
Today’s search is aimed at recovering Evans’ body, rather than a rescue, Scott said. “We’re still out there looking for him. It’s a search and recover mode at this point,” Scott said at mid-morning Monday...
Scott said rescuers are not ruling out the possibility that alligators spotted in the area could have attacked Evans.
“We won’t know for certain until we find him,” Scott said. “There were some fishermen who said they’d been fishing in that same spot for about three days and they had spotted alligators.”
Scott said the rough waters of the Pearl also might be a factor in Evans’ disappearance..."
story

Leave it to the reporter to screw up an easy story. If she'd bothered to look a few yards from that spot, she would have noticed a.........drum roll.......... low head dam. Think that might have something to do with the current and the swimmer going under? In that spot I'll put money on his being killed by the dam's current before I would by alligators. One guy years ago decided he'd walk across the dam. Didn't make it and neither did this idiot.

"NGC 6240 offers a rare glimpse of a cosmic catastrophe in its final throes. The titanic galaxy-galaxy collision is located a mere 400 million light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus. One of the brightest sources in the infrared sky, the merging galaxies spew distorted tidal tails of stars, gas, and dust and undergo frantic bursts of star formation. The two supermassive black holes in the original galactic cores will also coalesce into a single, even more massive black hole. Soon, only one large galaxy will remain. This dramatic image of the scene is a multiwavelength composite; red colors trace infrared emission from dust recorded by the Spitzer Space Telescope, with Hubble visible light images of stars and gas in green and blue hues. The view spans over 300,000 light-years at the estimated distance of NGC 6240." link

"Apparently, she wanted to make the hallway appear that it had snow in it, so she decided to use a fire extinguisher (this is something that her dad has successfully done in the past). Instead of there just being a "little poof", the entire hallway filled with chemicals that caused the fire alarm to go off in the middle of the night during finals week.

Now this is her in the car upset that everyone at Alpha Chi (the sorority she wants to be in and presumably those who live where the fire alarm went off) hates her. She explains how she isn't a bad person and it was just an accident."

I recently found one bit of good news for Mississippi, depending on your political persuasion. The Rockefeller Institute issued its "State Revenue Flash Report". This report tracks state income tax receipts. A few items of interest:

1. The report published the percentage of state revenue that was based on an income tax. Mississippi had the third lowest number: 23.4% as only New Mexico and North Dakota depended less on the income tax for revenue.

2. The states depending on state income taxes the most saw the biggest drop in income tax revenue. (Are you paying attention Bill Minor?)

3. Mississippi is actually in better shape compared to the rest of the country in relation to this problem. While the state's income tax revenue is probably down this year, the budget is not as exposed to possible sharp decreases in this income as are other states.

I know its the Blues Brothers but its still a great song and I've heard it sung in churches before. Check out the slide.

Somehow, Jimmie "Karen Irby was indicted for vehicular homicide" Gates managed to pen this narrative about Brant Brantley announcing his retirement in the Clarion-Ledger:
"A man Mississippi judges fear to see in their courtrooms is stepping down as head of the watchdog group that investigates judicial wrongdoing.
Luther "Brant" Brantley III has been the only executive director of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance since it opened its doors on June 1, 1980. Brantley is retiring at the end of the month...." story

Fear? If anything they laugh at Brantley as his lax treatment of wayward judges is well-known in the legal community. It is a rare day indeed when Brantley prosecutes someone who is not a justice court judge. Brantley's modus operandi is to discipline a judge after someone else has done the same and forced his hand.

The Mississippi Supreme Court spelled out a pretty clear case of wrongdoing by Judge Patton in the Shelton case, yet Brantley somehow couldn't do anything until James Jennings filed a complaint, and even then six months passed until he finally began to interview witnesses (after the media reported on Jennings' lawsuit against Patton and Peters).

This blog reported on the Berry v. Aetna case where Rankin County Chancellor Billy Bridges was admonished by the Mississippi Supreme Court for his conduct during the trial. Bridges awarded a multi-million dollar judgment in a trial where no jury was seated, his divorce lawyer and campaign manager represented the plaintiff, and he contacted the defense lawyer during the trial and asked if he cared how the trial "turned out". Then there is the matter that the case should have been adjudicated in Circuit Court all along, something the MSC ordered. However, Brantley never could seem to find the time to prosecute Judge Bridges for his judicial misconduct. earlier post

While the fops and dandies in our press and judicial system laud Brantley and wish him well, this blog only has one message for him as we hope we get a real executive director for the Judicial Commission: Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

If you want a good example of what shows up on Iranian tv, watch this clip. The video portrays McCain, Soros, and other so-called Zionists as working together to destabilize Iran. It also shows why it's stupid for Obama to say nothing because NO MATTER what he does, they are going to accuse him of meddling anyway. Remember, they see him as an apostate, so in their eyes, he deserves to die. He needs to man up and say something more than referring to a robust debate while people are being beaten, tortured, and stabbed in the streets.

Here is the text of Khameni's speech yesterday: Transcript. Worth reading. When does he send in the Republican Guards to butcher the protesters?

From Tigerdroppings.com:
"Getting on the cat walk isn't that hard. I went once about 8 or 9 years ago. You just climb up some electrical piping on one of the pylons by river road, walk across a 2ft wide concrete beam and then climb up the ladder.

The catwalk goes all the way across, has guardrails on the side, and lets you climb a ladder down to the pylons in the middle, or if you're brave/stupid enough, climb a ladder to the top of the ironwork above the bridge."
Gaston


We one upped the f*** outa that. The ladder was locked, so we climbed up inside the 60 degree bridge structure, using the holes as grip. Once we got on top we had to get back to where the ladder brings you, so exposed out there we climbed the last span up to the top. There are two metal bars on each side that you can wedge your feet it and press your shins up against. getting back down was way, way freaky. My friend, once on top, ran the span over traffic, jumping the big holes. Crazy stuff. We climbed the electric tower that spans the river and the tallest radio tower down river road too. That last one was the craziest. Mofo was way up there." Y.A. Tittle

There is a catwalk underneath the bridge and a metal pier on one end. There is a ladder that goes up to the catwalk. Crazy idiots.

Update: The motion contains some interesting details. Apparently Patrick Beasley is the prosecutor. The motion also states "defense counsel needs additional time to engage experts and to have adequate time for said experts such as an accident reconstructionist, a toxicologist, and a neurologist to review discovery and to conduct independent examinations in order to assist the defense in this case."

Why exactly would the defense use a neurologist as an expert? Several comments on this website have claimed she would say she passed out or had a "condition". Would the defense's statement about requiring expert testimony from a neurologist validate these comments?

Copy of motion

Original post: Called the Courthouse two hours ago to check on the case and found out about this development. Was going to post after I got a copy of the order and uploaded it but apparently the CL isn't going to cooperate with me. The order will be published on this site later today.

It was originally scheduled for July but Judge Green agreed to a continuance. Sources have also told JJ Green is not willing to engage in any major cases until after she becomes Senior Judge (Judge Yerger announced his retirement), as she is measuring drapes so to speak. It should also be noted Judge Green usually only has three terms a year for criminal cases: March, July, November. Such a schedule would explain the long continuance.

Note: Warning: I've been over to the CL site and saw some of the garbage being posted in the comments section. Any of that stuff winds up here it's coming down the first chance I have to remove it.