Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Larwyn's Link Kerplosion: Gone with a whimper

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email!

Nation

Obama wants a social engineer for the high court: ProtWis
The necessary enemy: Greenroom
The Clever Manipulation: Projection & Paranoia: Dr. Sanity
Sizing up Barack Obama: Maggie
Dem warns another terror attack will happen: Gulf Five
Bush White House Twitter archive Erased: MereRhet
American capitalism, gone with a whimper: Pravda

Law

Activist Judge, the Video: Surber
Why the smart money's on Sotomayor: Greenroom
A dangerous precedent, in more ways than one: Dinocrat
Like Falstaff, in reverse: Power Line

Energy & Climate

China to Obama: no more money: Surber
Massive LNG discovery in LA could be game-changer: WSJ
Global warming alarmists out in the cold: News.com.au
'Green' lightbulbs poison workers, Earth: S&L
The carbon phobia bias: Prairie
NASA moonbat James Hansen Hopes New Climate Bill Fails!: Depot

Education

Barack Obama and the DC School Voucher Program: Instapundit
Failure gets a pass: firing tenured teachers costly, tortuous: LA Times
Fourth grader vs. Stanford moonbat: Crittenden

World

Dump Pakistan?: Prairie
As the U.S. retreats, Iran fills the void: WSJ
Venezuela: 'the early stages of something catastrophic': WSJ
World Wars: Scipio
Salamo Arouch, Who Boxed for His Life in Auschwitz, Is Dead at 86: New Bankrupt Times

Media

HuffPo's war on medical science: LGF
Seven clearly fake stories that fooled the MSM: Cracked
Nutbag McKinney appears on anti-Semitic radio show: LGF

Monday, May 04, 2009

Another Security Lapse for President Training Wheels


Writing at Hot Air's Green Room, Cold Warrior explains why this particular photo -- first noted by Ben Smith at Politico -- is a critical indicator of just how sloppy things have gotten at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: the White House posted a CIA fax transmittal sheet and attached document on the White House Flickr feed.

Sort of a casual treatment of our National Security information by any standard, ya think?

No, you can’t read anything of substance in the photo, later removed from the White House feed, but the casual treatment of a document marked “CIA” and “Secret” seems indicative of the attitude of this White House...

And it is yet another misstep in this Administration’s utter disregard for national security.

Somewhere, some place, in a government office or in the living room of a foreign official’s home there is one very worried individual, In this war on Islamist jihad, or a resurrection of the Russian menace, or China’s intrigues, in our efforts to stem many threats to our Nation from abroad, we rely on individuals who take risks, grave risks, often deadly risks, to provide vital information to Agency officers who in turn pass that information to our National leadership…with the clear understanding that such information will remain secret... and will not be plastered about in a White House publicity photo feed.

It is not about a fax cover sheet... it is about the casual treatment of information that could easily result in the death, or at a minimum the imprisonment of, a foreign official who literally staked his life on our being able to keep a secret.

As a commenter at Politico noted, "Ted Mack's Amateur Hour is playing at the White House."

Not to worry, though. Joe Biden is in charge of selecting and uploading photos to the White House Flickr feed. Plus, he's safeguarding the nuclear launch codes.

President Training Wheels is likely to get a lot of Americans killed one day.

And it's safe to say that the Democrats' usual playbook -- eh, blame Bush! -- won't even begin to assuage the anger of the American people.



The new de-motivational posters are here







'Borrowed' from: The Silverbacks.

Larwyn's Link Kerplosion: Note the Blindfold

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email!

Nation

Pelosi blocking investigations into corrupt Dems: Gateway
Note the blindfold, Mr. President: AmRight
Squeezing out faithful to make way for ACORN: Knight
The Democratic Party's Gun Strategy: PJM (Hawkins)
Update on Goose Creek, SC traffic stop: RSN

Economy

Another Failure in Liberalism's Lab: Prairie
War on the insurance industry: Irish Spy
Union Power: Atlantic (McArdle)
Green lobby writes a coal exception into a climate bill: Times

Politics, Law and Crime

What the left understands about the rest of us: Steyn
Controversial Video of Sotomayor Surfaces: LegalIns
Let's add a court jester!: Fausta
The President Who Hates his Country: Swirsky
'John Edwards Is a Leader In Misleading the Public': JWF
Whack-a-mole: AT (Gabor)
Tea Party group demands apologies from Dems: AT (Moran)

World

European Demographics: YouTube
Here comes Hillary, there goes Lebanon: Rubin
Obama engagement on Iran is a "fantasy": JP
Compare and contrast with Gaza coverage: BBC
Surely Jimmy Carter can't be that stupid...: Fausta

Media

Pinch Sulzberger grovels before his Patron: AT (Lasky)
Let loose the dogs of words: PJM (Fernandez)
Shed no tears as the Globe gets pinched: Herald (Carr)

Culture

Man decorates basement with $10 worth of Sharpies: Herald-Leader
The Altoids Tin Grill: Rick

Sunday, May 03, 2009

The Bidens: Of Hedge Funds, Hair Plugs and Ponzi Schemes


This is James Biden, brother of Vice President Joe Biden.

This is Hunter Biden, the Vice President's son.

In 2006, an investment adviser they'd met named Anthony V. Lotito offered Hunter an opportunity to buy an ownership interest in the Paradigm family of hedge funds. It looked like a great deal.

Lotito and the Bidens formed a limited-liability company to purchase an interest in Paradigm. The company would be called LBB Holdings USA, LLC. Each man controlled a one-third interest in LBB.

Lotito advised the Bidens that the best man to create LBB from a legal perspective was John Fasciana, purported to be "the best in the business." What the Bidens didn't know about Fasciana was they he was a convicted felon awaiting sentencing for a massive fraud: a federal jury had earlier found that Fasciana helped others steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from IT outsourcer EDS by pinching checks sent to the company and then laundering the funds through Fasciana's attorney trust account.

But, at the time, the Bidens claimed to be unaware of the suspect activities swirling around Fasciana (and, apparently, the existence of a research tool called Google).

Lotito and his pal represented that Paradigm had over $1.5 billion in assets under management; that the business generated about $9 million in fees for its owners; and, therefore, a reasonable valuation might be around $54 million.

LBB signed a deal to buy a controlling interest in Paradigm for $21.33 million; LBB would put only $330,000 down and, if it could raise the additional $21 million in six months time, it would close the deal. LBB also brought in another investor -- Simmons Cooper LLP -- which would pay $2 million in upfront fees that would cover LBB's down payment and due diligence costs.

During the six months of due diligence, Lotito and Fasciana are alleged to have submitted hundreds of thousands in expenses, consuming much of the money Simmons Cooper LLP had ponied up.

James Biden alleges that, during this period, he began to uncover disturbing facts about Paradigm: that it managed only $200 to $300 million in assets, not $1.5 billion; that its returns were less than advertised; that its equity structure was already in dispute; that its fee revenue was significantly less than $9 million; and that its primary manager had "a substance abuse problem".

At that point, Simmons Cooper withdrew from the deal, leaving the Bidens holding the bag.

The Bidens also learned that Lotito was not a licensed securities professional, had little experience with hedge funds, that he had multiple judgments, liens, foreclosures and defaulted loans pending; and that Fasciana was under indictment.

But, despite all of the misrepresentations, low-lifes and bizarre activities they'd uncovered, the Bidens continued to work towards closing the deal with Paradigm while negotiating Lotito out of the arrangement.

Let me repeat: though the business was only a small fraction of its originally reported size; that it seemed to be infested with all sorts of unsavory characters; and its founder had a few substance abuse issues, the Bidens still wanted to purchase Paradigm.

By September of 2006, the Bidens had bought Lotito out of LBB for $250,000. Later in September, they claim they executed a purchase agreement, though it was backdated to reflect a close in August of 2006.

The Bidens now controlled Paradigm. And this is when the real trouble began.

Until 2007, a man named Jeffry Schneider was the head of marketing for the Bidens’ Paradigm funds. While still working for Paradigm, he set up his own separate firm called Onyx Capital. He operated this firm from the Bidens' offices on the 17th floor of 650 5th.

Through Onyx, Schneider reportedly led the Bidens into relationships with Stanford Capital Management and Ponta Negra, a small hedge fund group.

Stanford, of course, turned out to be a massive Ponzi scheme and the co-branded Stanford/Paradigm relationship would be the object of a firestorm of unwanted attention for the Bidens.

But the rot inflicted by Onyx wasn't yet complete. On April 27, 2009, the SEC froze the assets of money manager Francesco Rusciano, alleging he "forged documents, promised false returns, and misrepresented assets... to illicitly raise more than $30 million from investors."

Rusciano ran the Ponta Negra family of hedge funds.

Ponta Negra was also marketed out of the offices of Paradigm by a man who had also worked for the Bidens' Paradigm Global; and its phone number was, until recently, that of the Bidens' firm.

And Schneider wasn't the only one involved with both Paradigm and Onyx. Alla Babikova is still listed as a marketing contact on the Paradigm website and was also described as working for Onyx Capital on marketing collateral.

Put simply, Onyx appears to have operated hand-in-hand with Paradigm while hawking extremely troubling investments like Stanford and Ponta Negra.

Suffice it to say that even a cursory background check of Mr. Schneider would have revealed a track record that is, shall we say, dicey.

Worse still, there are allegations that Schneider and another party stole a client list and used it to market the Stanford and Ponta Negra schemes.

According to John Hempton, the Bidens' "hedge fund hotel" doesn't end with Stanford and Ponta Negra: their offices contain "an assortment of other colourful funds. One of them is a SIPC registered broker dealer who also manages client money. This broker dealer does not list their auditor anywhere on their website. However they report startlingly good funds management results for 2006 and 2007 though they have surprisingly failed to update their website to include 2008 results. Their website boasts that their trades will be completed with zero commissions and transaction charges allowing them to focus exclusively on the investments that best meet the needs of the clients… Any resemblance to Bernie Madoff is purely coincidental."

The man who did the lion's share of the work piecing all of this together, the very same John Hempton of Bronte Capital, sums up rather effectively.

I see lots of possibilities: all of them reflect very poorly on the Bidens.

  • They were and remain controllers of a fund of funds which they allege misrepresented its returns and yet which they kept operational.
  • They were and remain controllers of a fund of funds which houses an alleged fraud in its offices (Ponta Negra).
  • They were and remain controllers of a fund of funds which employed a marketing organisation (Onyx) which was associated with distributing alleged frauds (Ponta Negra and Stanford).  
  • They were and remain controllers of a fund that claimed to have 28 staff many of whom are difficult to trace and where the revenue to fund those staff did not obviously exist.  This suggests that either the staff were not paid, did not exist or (more sinisterly) they were paid by stealing from the small amount of funds under management.  You could only steal the client money if the asset custody safeguards were not robust.  There is an audit statement on the SEC files qualified as to the robustness of these protections – however there is no evidence that the lack of robustness was exploited.

All of this was done from the 17th Floor of 650 Fifth Avenue New York. There are a few other things housed on that floor and you need to walk past Paradigm’s desk to get to them.


Writing at Zero Hedge, Tyler Durden predicts, "...it is only a matter of time before Joe Biden ends up on the list of people in [whom] the president has 100% confidence."



Based upon: John Hempton's excellent work, writing at Bronte Capital. Related reading: Bronte Capital: Harrassing a Blogger; Just how sloppy is Paradigm Global?; A statement by Paradigm; James Biden's sworn statement; Paradigm PGA Presentation; Ponta Negra Brochure, May 2008; Ponta Negra Brochure, Feb. 2009; Joe Biden associated with a fund-of-funds feeder scam?; Jeffry Schneider's FINRA report; Bronte Capital with a Major Scoop on Alleged Fraudster.
Linked by: Jawa Report. Thanks!

Obama nominee Koh sees no "reason why sharia law would not be applied to govern a case in the United States"


That's odd, I don't recall a Sharia amendment in the U.S. Constitution.

Maybe I missed that day in school.

Destruction: Pacquiao vs. Hatton -- in stop-action photos


Ricky Hatton looked more like a punching bag than a hit man against Mannie "The Destroyer" Pacquiao. The fight lasted barely more than a round, a profound disappointment for those among us who ponied up cash for the pay-per-view extravaganza.

Here's the first knockdown of the fight, demonstrating Pac's incredible agility and quickness.








And here's the sequence that ended it, a left hook (Pac-man's power hand) that deceived Hatton into dropping his right. The result: Hatton went to sleep as if he'd mainlined Ambien.









Notice how Hatton's right was, at the beginning of the sequence, correctly positioned, up high. Then, seeing Pacquiao's left shoulder roll downward, both of Hatton's hands dropped to cover up his midsection. Monumental mistake.

Of course, this victory was simply the prelude for a truly competitive and exciting fight: Mayweather versus Pacquiao, for the undisputed "pound-for-pound" title.


Larwyn's Link Kerplosion: Cramdown

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email!

Nation


Tapper goes after White House on Lauria claim: Ace
Fix it again, Treasury!: Kaus
Nationwide Tea Party Leaders Call on Obama to Live up to Meeting Promise: InstaPundit
Jack Kemp, R.I.P.: JO
Punish the real "torture" culprits: Ace
'Change' We Hope They Didn't Believe In: Maguire
New York Gun Control Measures: Jawa
Barney Frank repudiates his own anti-ACORN support: STACLU
Snort: Cheerios and milk go flying: Crittenden
Census off to a good start: Charlie Foxtrot
ABC reveals interrogators' names, photos, location: Exurban

World


The Taliban's Atomic Threat: Bolton
Ahmadinejad's upcoming visit to Brazil: Fausta
Saudi intellectual: Western Civilization Liberated Mankind: MEMRI
A laughingstock in Paris: Wheeler

Economy


Joe Biden associated with a fund-of-funds feeder scam?: Zero Hedge
The crisis of credit visualized: LGF
Surprise: Obama's job savings claims are bogus: FactCheck
Self-hating Wall Streeters: TigerHawk

SciTech


Great Lakes Water Level Changed Not By Global Warming... But By Ice Jams: Gateway
Science bloggers challenge HuffPo 'Wellness' Editor: Bloggasm
New York Times forced to issue correction on global warming folderol :Depot

Culture


Sycophant Gail Collins tries to cover for Biden: MoneyRunner
50 tools everyone should own: Pop Mech
Interview with Mark Levin: RWN
Today's Meme: SondraK
Tenure won't mean much if the college goes broke: AT (Kemp)
Does “Progressive” Hate for Obama Boil Beneath The Surface?: Aces
The Fastest Two Minutes In Sports: Moore

Saturday, May 02, 2009

The Hollow Man


Guest op-ed by Papa B.

While watching President Obama speak in his latest "press conference," it suddenly struck me what has been so troubling since Obama’s introduction and his ongoing "coronation."

While we are mildly amused at his teleprompter gaffes, they are really reflections of a characteristic that is deeper and more serious.

During the campaign, the opposition flailed away at Obama, citing his lack of experience, his relationships with Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, and the corrupt environment on Chicago's south side. References were made to his upbringing, the loose ties with his family, his odd visits to various countries, and strong ties to Socialist education and influences.

These do not really identify the essence of the problem, in my opinion. The problem is that he is a “hollow man”.

Hollow, because he has no value system. No value system, because his upbringing did not allow it. While President Bush can be criticized for much, he -- and some of his predecessors -- possessed a value system. You could always tell what issues affected him deeply.

His face and his eyes did not lie.

President Obama is a collection of beliefs, philosophies and agendas that have been imparted to him over the years by teachers, campaign activists, organizers, agitators, contributors, supporters, labor union leaders and lobbyists. Their teachings are, to some extent, fables. He may believe them to be "truths", but they are not his core, his essence. He has no such thing, because in fact, he is a "hollow man."

He is an attractive and charismatic presenter. When the teleprompter goes askew, he cannot rely on any fundamental beliefs, because he has none. He stammers and "uhms" his way through the speech until he recovers and loops back on message.

His gifts for presentation place him in a unique spotlight, and he is fawned over by those in the left, Hollywood and the media. Why? Because he was handsome, charismatic and so very different from previous politicians.

The "change" he preached was nothing more than a collection of philosophies never successfully implemented in any country, society or civilization. Every clear-thinking pragmatist knows that excessive borrowing, whether it's under the guise of a stimulus package or job creation, is still borrowing.

And borrowing must be paid back some day with interest and, perhaps, inflationary prices. The question is: will the nationalization of social and economic policies continue unabated under the leadership of the “hollow man” or at some point in time, will the electorate awaken, realizing that they have been “Elmer Gantry’d”?

Obama told Harry Reid, "I have a gift." And, indeed, he has a gift.

But only time will tell if the "hollow man" possesses a thin veneer that is beginning to fracture and flake away as the fawning and adulation fades. They will, instead, be replaced by more penetrating criticisms, even by the adoring media.

Many will feel disenchanted and then deluded, some will ignore the evidence, for to acknowledge those feelings would be indictments of their own beliefs and their cause. There will be a gradual, certain erosion of support from the moderate left; conversely, the far left will become more vocal in their support.

Because, at some point, he will shatter. And all the world will see the emptiness inside. It’s only a matter of time.

Somali Coast Cruise Package


Need to get away from it all and cut loose?

The Coast-of-Somalia Cruise Package is the cure for what ails you. And rates have never been cheaper!

Depart from beautiful Sawakin in the Sudan and arrive refreshed at Bagamoya in Tanzania, seven adrenaline-charged days later!

Bring your own high-powered weapons (handguns are welcome!) or rent them from our onboard Master Gunsmith. Enjoy reloading parties every afternoon with skeet and marksmanship competitions every night! We even have an indoor range for those rare days when the weather is uncooperative!

Starting at $3200-per-person (double occupancy, inside room) and $3,900 (veranda complete with bench rest), you'll relax like never before.

Rent a full auto M-16 for only $25/day with ammo attractively priced at $16 per 100 rounds of 5.56 armor-piercing;

On a budget? Rent a full-auto AK-47 for only $9/day with 7.62 ball ammo at $12 per 100 rounds.

Hello! Nothing gets a pirate's attention like a Barrett M-107 .50-cal sniper rifle; only $59/day with 25 rounds of armor-piercing ammo affordably priced at only $29.95.

Need a spotter? Our professional crew members can double as spotters for only $30/hour (spotting scope included, but gratuities are not);

Want to make a real impact? Rent an RPG for only $175/day with three fragmentation rounds included!

Free complimentary night vision equipment is included and coffee, pastries and snacks are always available on the main deck from 7pm until 6am.

Our deluxe package comes complete with gourmet meals and all rooms offer a mini-bar.

But that's not all! Twin mounted miniguns are available for rental at only $450.00 per 30 seconds of sustained fire.

And we guarantee that you will experience at least two hijacking attempts by pirates or you'll receive an instant $1,000 refund upon arrival in port.

How can we make that guarantee? We operate at 5 knots always staying within 12 nautical miles of the coast of Somalia. In fact, we make three passes through the area's most treacherous waters to ensure maximum visibility by Somali "mother ships".

At night, the boat is fully lit and bottle rockets are shot every five minutes with loud disco music directionally beamed shoreside to attract maximum attention.

Reserve your package before May 31 and receive 100 free rounds of tracer ammo!

Testimonials

"Six attacks in 4 days were more than I expected. I bagged three pirates and my 12-year old son sank two boats with the mini-gun. What a birthday present!" -- Fred D., Cincinnati, OH

"Pirates 0, Passengers 32! Well worth the trip! Can't recommend it highly enough!" -- Ben L., Bethesda, MD

"I haven't had this much fun since flying choppers in 'Nam. Don't worry about getting shot by pirates... they never even got close to the ship with the crap they shoot and their lousy aim... reminds me of a drunken juicer door-gunner we picked up from the motor pool in Phu Bai!" -- Dan J. -- Toledo, OH

Act now, because cabins and pirates are limited! You don't want to miss this adrenaline-charged vacation experience, available exclusively from Cheney Industries, a division of Halliburton!



Linked by: SondraK. Thanks!