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Does This Painting Remind You of Anybody?

Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Besides conducting background checks and corporate research, I am still an author and am fairly versed in the arts. I had the fortune of seeing this painting on display in the Los Angeles County Museum of Arts, known as LACMA around these parts. It is a most compelling work. It attracts your eye from way across the gallery. This piece was painted in the twenties by German Expressionist, Magnus Zeller. Germany was experiencing a few speed bumps at the time, following the debacle of the First World War, or “The War to End All Wars,” as it was called then. It is a term we view today with more than its share of irony, if not dark humor. But I digress.
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Cast your eyes on the painting and think your thoughts. History does repeat itself, or as the French have been rumored to say, “The More Things Change, the More They Stay They Same.”

Should Disney Get Horny? Sexing up the Soaps to Boost Sagging TV Ratings

The venerable Ad Age reports that Disney’s ABC Television Network is launching a series of new campaigns to try and revitalize their flagging soap operas. To boost ratings a variety of actors and performers will do what we hope are humorous promos, urging viewers to tune back into their favorite and, arguably, venerable Soap Operas of the days gone by. The promos are cross platform, meaning they will run in print, on cable, and presumably the Internet.

Will they work? It’s hard to say, looking of the line up of promo celebrities, or whatever they are, I wouldn’t think so. Soaps need to be sexy and modern, sizzling and bristling with emotional tension. With some exception, this crew doesn’t look they could convey that all that easily. If it were my promotional campaign, I would be making different choices.

Soaps have fallen on tough times since the O.J. Simpson Trial. Real life was much to provocative and the same old same old was eschewed in favor of the bumbling courtroom administration of Judge Ito and the prosecution team. Viewers were compelled to wonder what hairstyle lead prosecutor, Marcia Clark, would favor that day and whether or not the jury could actually spell DNA. Then there was the matter of guessing whether the guilty man was innocent or guilty and whether justice would be served or merely served up lukewarm on an old drive-in burger stand tray. The Simpson trial was a soap opera and a circus all rolled into one. You can’t ask for more than that.

People did, and when the television networks wouldn’t give it to them in the soap operas, the viewers went somewhere else. No one is really sure where they went, actually, but they went somewhere. No longer was the hallowed family tradition of passing incomprehensible interest in these wooden characters passed down from mother to daughter. People bailed, maybe even to the telenovellas on the Spanish Language Channels.
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Telenovellas are cool. Not cool, really, In fact they smolder. They are a product of Mexico, Central and South America. If you think people showed loyalty in watching the American Soaps, it was more like a passing interest when compared to the avid viewing of telenovellas. Telenovellas are something else, considering their origins are from largely Catholic based countries. I guess it takes a good sense of the holy spirit to better get a grip on sin and redemption and focus mainly on the sin, with the redemption part serving more like the berries on a rich parfait, rather than as the main attraction.

With telenovellas you get to see stuff and not just hear about it from characters who allegedly performed these sexy adventures off camera. Telenovellas can illustrate a more lasting impression of what heated passion is all about. Rather than hear about it from puppet mouths reciting tepid lines, in telenovellas you get to see why sex, sin, adultery, life and death and everything else in between can make people so crazy. You come away from watching telenovellas feeling that you gained something, maybe even learned something. You come away wanting more. And to better illustrate their effect, they can rampage your ruminations, even if you don’t know a word of Spanish.

So ABC and all the other networks should can the semi-cutesy promos and take a lesson from telenovellas. Stir up the emotions a little and give the public what they are craving. After all, if you are home in the middle of the afternoon lusting after invented people, you are looking for something in life that will supplement your…well…yearnings. So write the networks and tell them you want to see your soaps as telenovellas. Hey, if all the illegal immigrants can get more fun in their lives, then why can’t you?

Fuel Prices Send American Workers Below the Border

I noticed this article in the San Diego Union-Tribune about American drivers going down below the border to buy diesel fuel at half the price they can get it here.

Bus service may be halted today

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UNION-TRIBUNE
June 19, 2008

TIJUANA – Truck and bus drivers experienced a day of chaos in Tijuana yesterday, as they chased a dwindling supply of diesel fuel. Today was shaping up to be even worse.

DAVID MAUNG
Pemex gas station manager Claudia Torres placed a sign yesterday to block the entrance to the diesel pumps after the Tijuana station ran out of the fuel.

For weeks, drivers from the United States have snapped up Mexican diesel, which is selling for about 50 percent less than in California.

That has resulted in a shortage of the fuel, and gas stations nearest the border crossings started halting or limiting sales last weekend.

By yesterday, diesel had started to run out at outlying stations, provoking delays or cancellations in public and private transportation. New supplies might not arrive until Monday.

Long lines of trucks and buses, their drivers desperate to buy diesel, formed at those stations still selling the fuel.

Public transportation officials announced that if they could not refuel their buses they would halt service today, a decision that affects at least 750,000 daily riders.

For the entire article go to San Diego Union.

It’s pretty amazing. Once upon a time people went south of the border to Mexico for romantic reasons. They were escaping the reach of the American law. They were getting married or getting divorced. They were young and restless, looking for a good time in the Tijuana night spots, drinking and cavorting. Looking for the fabled donkey show, or for the more romantic sort that special girl or boy who amid all the drinking still cared enough not to throw up on their sandals.

Stories abounded about kids getting a little too frisky and getting thrown into jail. Their parents or whomever who would have to shell out some cash to get them out. There were stories about the nasty stays in jail, known by most as life changing experiences. The Kingston Trio wrote a song about it, titled appropriately enough, “Tijuana Jail.” If you survived it all, and usually you did, it was a right of passage.

Then, even today there are the short hops from the California Border to Rosarito Beach and Ensenada for beer fests, partying and the occasional lobster meal. You could ride horses on the beach, cheaply. You could buy great Mexican tile by the truckload and save money on your home renovation. You could buy leather goods and switchblade knives. Cheap ones, but it was a five minute thrill to flick it open and closed a few dozen times.

Now you go south of the border to buy gasoline. More specifically, it’s diesel fuel you buy at half the price. You venture to Mexico for diesel fuel, prescription drugs and dental and medical work. It’s cheaper. There are chartered buses for the dental and medical work. For the diesel fuel, you need your car or truck.

So the lines form. Orderly lines, I’m sure. All while the Mexican drug cartels duel it out on the border town streets, killing each other in record numbers. While you buy diesel fuel.

Some world. Eh, Ese`?

The Miss Universe Pageant–Eighty Contestants from Eighty Countries, And They All Look the Same

I was watching the Miss Universe Pageant the other night. It was a brief break from the usual weekend activities and a respite from the world of background checks and corporate research. I came in around the middle of it, or what I thought to be the middle of it, when they weeded it down to the finalists. I didn’t watch all that long, either. I waited until the finalists sashayed off the stage, brimming with perky charm and K-Mart flirtatiousness. I didn’t even see Miss United States take her fabled spilled, which later aired ad nauseum on every news channel on the earth. Well, maybe not on Al Jazeeri TV, but then I don’t watch a it.

Not being much for beauty contests, beyond the initial observation, I did come to some perhaps minor epiphanies, but epiphanies none the less. I thought how it was interesting that young women from all these different nations used to seem so exotic. Now with the United States being the modern global melting pot, if you did away with the hair and the heavy make up, in today’s world you may see any one of these women, or women who look someone like them, exercising at your local gym. You may see them at your local Starbucks or picking up Pizza or hanging out in your local sports bar.

The exotic is not exotic anymore. It is common place. And as for their great beauty, yes they are quite attractive. Enough money has been spent to make them that way. Having worked in Hollywood, I realize you spend enough bucks, supply the makeup artist, the costume director, the coaches who teach you how to walk and talk and flash that chaste but come hither ersatz charming smile and you can make a dumpster look attractive. If the light is right.

But if in early age one doesn’t get enough calcium, or if body does not absorb enough calcium http://new.castillodeprincesas.com/directorio/seccion/trajes-de-novia/?wpbdp_sort=field-1 generic tadalafil india from the diet, and this is seen in animal fat, brain, cheese, egg yolk, beef, pork, poultry, shrimps and cuttlefish. ESPN new.castillodeprincesas.com cialis properien MVP on Verizon Wireless will feature race highlights from NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series races throughout the season, as well as all the latest news and information, ESPN.com columnists and in-progress race leader boards. If a man is diagnosed with prostatitis, Chinese herbal medicine Diuretic and cialis no prescription Anti-inflammatory Pill to get a cure. This causes the blood flow to the penis to cialis overnight shipping be enhanced. But what is really remarkable is how they can get that big hair just so, insert the flowing falls to lux it up a little–yes, they are wearing falls–and make them up so at the end of it all, they look exactly like each other. This is no mean feat if all the girls come from more or less the same nationality. But to take contestants from every ethnic group and every nation, and make them all look the same, this is really doing something. This is the magic cookie cutter, which I’m sure begins with selection. Most appear about the same height. They all endure similar dental work and are taught to walk and smile in similar fashion.

In the end they look like the Stepford Beauty Queens. Pretty remarkable. Not that there aren’t millions of men and probably a million women who wouldn’t want to date them. At first glance, as homogenized as they all appear, you have to wonder if they come equipped with the necessary plumbing. I’m sure they do, but you still must wonder as you feast upon their doll-like forms. As you must wonder if they all come out of the same factory, luxury sex objects who are stamped out in some universe standard and then tweaked just so that their features can make Miss Somewhere in Asia slightly distinct from Miss Somewhere in Europe.

Well, it is a global marketplace, after all. And we do have a Starbucks on every corner, and if nothing else, besides lousy coffee, they certainly all look the same. So why not Miss Universe? Look at it this way, when they all look the same, you don’t feel so bad for the losers.

Corporal Punishment for White Collar Crimes and Those Who Betray the Public Trust

Anyone with eyeballs and a set of ears has either scene or heard at least one of a dozen news announcements that the FBI will be investigating IndyMac Bank for fraudulent practices. CNN writes that the government is looking into the bank engaged in fraud while granting mortgages to high risk borrowers. IndyMac is listed as well as twenty one other companies in the sub-prime market under investigation. I’m sure there will be more.

For those who are uninitiated the FBI has a terrific posting, listing of crimes and scenarios related to mortgage fraud. I would urge everyone to read it. It will provide a comprehensive overview as to how we have been hosed for the better part of this century, and who did the hosing. But for now let me give you the brief overview.

Here is a decent insight provided by CNN–“I would suspect they are looking at bad appraisals, bad underwriting, which would mean false statements on loan applications, some of which require federal forms to be filled out — so they can be prosecuted for the false statements,” he said. “I would also suspect they would look at false statements to the investing community for securities fraud violations.”

What this means is say there is a house on the market for $300,000. It’s a hot market to the normal precautions, due diligence, house inspections, common sense and closer scrutiny are thrown out the window in the bidding frenzy. Scammer one, the Realtor, whomever sells the house to someone he knows. He may sell it to another business front, or have someone stand in for a fee, say $15,000. He may sell it to his wife, his mother, whomever. Whomever he sells it to stands in for the mortgage. Whatever the price, it is inflated, say $500,000.

Thanks to certain arrangements, the “buyer,” qualifies for the inflated price. The realtor is on the take, as is the mortgage lender. Each is paid off nicely to grant a mortgage based on false documents or no documents fraudulently claiming that this “buyer” is earns enough and is worth enough that he or she qualifies for the loan. The appraiser is also on the take and appraises the house for the inflated value. Often the appraiser will use specious comps or comps taken from a neighborhood not too far away, but very different in true home value.

The bank grants the mortgage, holds it for ten seconds and then flips it to a hedge fund or some financial group seven billion light years away from the transaction. The house could be in Las Vegas, the ultimate lender who picks up the note could be in France. They don’t know the difference in neighborhoods. They don’t know that three blocks away the houses are $2 million, but here in this neighborhood they are in reality valued for much less.

Once the mortgage is secured, the “buyer” then flips it back to the “seller” or someone else in the ring. They put it on the market again, for an even higher price. And then maybe again. And then some poor soul buys it in the bidding frenzy of a hot market, only to discover he is in way over his head. He may have bought it on an interest only loan, or some other cutesy loan where he pays only a portion monthly of the true mortgage cost. He is told don’t worry, the house will always increase, he can take equity loans to pay the balloon payment coming due. And then the other shoe falls, reality sets in and there is a lot of collective whining about being bamboozled by unfair practitioners.
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Well this is just part of it. I tried to keep it simple. It can get pretty complex. As a background checking company who also conducts corporate investigation and corporate research we at Corra Group had had several mortgage fraud cases cross our desks, all with similarities, but also with variations on a theme. We realize theses cases, under pre-trial preparation, before the attorneys take them to court are but an infinitesimal fraction of the deceit fraud and outright crime that has taken place in the name of real estate commerce.

Okay, so now too late in my opinion, the game of musical chairs is over. There are no chairs left for these asses to find a seat. They want to be bailed out. They want recompense for their greed. In fact, what they have done is betray the public trust. They have betrayed the public trust as have politicians and media people and those involved in myriad white collar crime. They have ruined lives and cost billions, gutted pension funds and lied to anybody who would listen.

In a world where the kid on the corner running a three card monte game may get a stiffer sentence than these politicians and white collar criminals, something is terribly wrong. I propose we not only send them to jail but that we invoke corporal punishment. I believe whole heartedly that these betrayers of the public trust should be treated to a public flogging, before being flung into prison for a hearty sentence.

If we can allow for capital punishment then we can certainly make a little room here for the corporate variety. Frankly, I don’t think it will deter drug addicts or garden variety criminals. It would just be another speed bump on the road to desolation. But with the more high minded alleged reputable citizens of our fair country, flogging behinds would prove a very clear and concise deterrent. The mere spectacle of having their collective pants pulled down around their ankles and being flogged with cane or cat o’ nine tails for the benefit of public access TV would give pause to most crooked politicians and white collar criminals.

The reality of seeing their friends being flogged in living color would turn most into honest men. They would be forced to listen to the berating of their spouses, parents and in-laws. They would be admonished by all, reminded how awful it would for the children, how embarrassing for friends and neighbors, and how they have put on some pounds and wouldn’t look as fashion forward with big red welts on their coddled derrières

They may be capable of doing the time, but they may balk when threatened with the pine. We could even bring back the stocks, where the angry rabble could throw garbage and worthless mortgages at them. I believe this is not only a workable solution, but one whose time has come. As for these evil doers, to quote a President, these folks who believe they are privileged and entitled to operate beyond the law. Those who believe they can betray the public trust, well for their public flogging session, this is one time I wouldn’t mind them butting to the front of the line.