AllupInyourBiz

But could it be that this:

Is a result of this:

[photo by Gettyimages]

[Photo by David Duprey (NY Times)]

In the wake of the Turboprop crash in Buffalo, NY, on February 12, scrutiny is being applied to speed at which the FAA adopts changes suggested by the National Transportation Safety Board. A NY Times article concludes that the FAA, due to its entrenchment in bureaucracy, often times takes years to implement changes suggested by the NTSB. As an example of this, the Times cites the recommendation given by the NTSB to the FAA after an airliner exploded over Long Island in 1996, noting that recommendation has yet to be put into practice. According to the NY Times, “The safety board says there currently are 429 outstanding recommendations, of which 146 are more than five years old.”

Shepard Fairey is back at it, producing artwork for a “good cause.” The image to the left, is for a World Wildlife Foundation campaign to get everyone to turn out their lights for an hour on March 28th. Lets hope that Shep doesn’t get in any trouble for this one. He has been going through some rough times lately, including being arrested last Sunday. In addition, he is being sued by the Associated Press, for infringing copyright.

The iconic “Hope” image that was created and distributed by Fairey, during the Obama campaign, was tracked back to an Associated Press photo taken by Mannie Garcia, on assignment  by AP. The AP is now suing Fairey, claiming copyright infringement. Can you image the can of worms that is liable to open? Anyone who has done a stencil, can now owe royalties to the photographer who produced the picture it was taken from? Is the guy who took the Andre the Giant photo that Fairey modeled his “Obey” campaign on, now going to come out of the woodwork demanding cash?

Fairey’s lawyers argue that there is no infringement, under the “fair use” doctrine. I feel kind of bad for the guy. I hope that he doesn’t lose this one. Can you imagine the kind of damages that he would have to pay? That “Hope” piece was EVERYWHERE. I hope that if he does lose, that the court at least takes into account the fact that the profit generated from the piece, was primarily used to print and distribute more copies.

Here is the AP photo and the Fairey piece, side by side. You be the judge.

Monday, the media blamed the 7 point drop in the DJIA on the House’s rejection of the bailout plan. Tuesday, the media said that the DJIA was rallying because of speculation that a new version of the bailout plan would pass, in the Senate. Well, the Senate passed the bailout plan last night, and the DJIA is down over 3 points today. Why aren’t there any headlines linking the drop to the bill? Has that direct connection between the bill and the Dow mysteriously evaporated over night? Oh wait, maybe the drop in the Dow today is a direct result of investors’ anticipation of the vice presidential debate tonight. Is that it? So, why has the media focused so much energy on promoting the bailout plan, even to the extent of making total bogus extrapolations as scare tactics? No one is even arguing with the fact that the vast majority of individuals who have voiced their opinions to elected officials, have been opposed to the bill. Yet the media is still trying to convince everyone that the United States, followed by the world economy, is suddenly going to implode into a great depression if the Federal Government doesn’t step in NOW! Is the media some how convinced that the bill really is what people need (even if the people don’t want it)? Is there some sort of kickback for mass media, buried in the revised bill? Just as skeptics of the bill predicted, the market is doing what the market was going to do, regardless of any measure being passed by congress. If the media was telling the truth about the DJIA reflecting the faith of investors, in lieu of the contemplated bailout bill, shouldn’t the DJIA have soared today, after a victory in the Senate? What a total load of crap. Not only will the market continue to do exactly what it was going to do anyway (most likely continue to experience a decline), but if the House approves it, each American (not just taxpayers) will have another $22,000 each, as their portion of the federal debt.

It wasn’t enough indication of what the concerned involved citizens wanted, when they contacted their respective House Representatives and told them not to pass an economic rescue plan, at ratio of 10 to 1. Yes, that’s right, it is an “economic rescue” plan, not a bailout bill. The president was offended that the media kept using the negative term “bailout.” He said that he liked to think of it more as a rescue of a a ship (the economy) that is in distress. That is probably how his aides explained  the measure to him (or drew a picture for him, illustrating a ship being rescued). I think that analogy pretty much sums up the extent of Dubya’s grasp on macroeconomics. To him, it is like a big ship that needs to be rescued. Unfortunately, the majority of our elected officials also have a very rudimentary understanding of complex economic dealings. This is extremely evident by the Senate’s actions today. Instead of letting the bill die, after it failed in the House, they are slapping some tax breaks on it, and a measure to raise the level to which a single account can be insured by FDIC (a program which many banks have not even been paying their premiums for), and are going to try to ram it through anyway. It is because the Senators recieve so much campaign funding from Wall Street firms? It is because they really think it is going to help? Is it because they would rather have the less sophisticated voters think they tried, instead of explaining to them the it isn’t the government’s place to fix everything? I guess we will find out, in the debates that are scheduled to start today at 12:30 Eastern Time. If you are interested, you can stream them from C-span2. The vote is scheduled to take place “after sundown.” If you are interested to see the language of the bill, you can download a PDF of the draft here. Is it too much to ask, for the senators to use history as an example of what happens when you try to rush into a legislative fix on a capitalist economy? Maybe it is too much. But I don’t think that it should be too much to ask them to give heed to wishes of the overwhelming majority of the people who elected them to office. That, after all, IS their job.

If you have been all wrapped up in the coverage of Hurricane Ike and the Economic NWO that is currently unfolding, you may not have heard much follow-up regarding the train collision in California. As it turns out, the engineer may have missed the stop signal because he was distracted by a text message conversation. According to a NY Times article, ”investigators plan to subpoena the cellphone records of the engineer, identified by railroad union officials as Robert Sanchez, as well as those of the two boys who were said to have been exchanging text messages Friday in the minutes before his commuter train smashed into the freight train. The young men told KCBS-TV that they had taken part in the text messages exchange with the engineer right before the crash.” So, let me get this straight. Some states have passed statutes against driving while text messaging, but there is no policy at Amtrak (or state/Federal statutes) prohibiting train engineers, who have thousands of lives in their hands, from doing the same? Sounds awesome.

Lehman Brothers is like a ship bouncing around in rough waters. Last month, it was rumored that the firm was being eyed by Blackstone, HSBC and Barclays, as a possible takeover target. It was recently in negotiations with a South Korean bank to sell half of its holdings. Apparently the deal died before the terms could be finalized. According to Dealbook, takeover rumors are flying again today. Dealbook has learned that “Theodore Janulis, the global head of Lehman’s mortgage capital division, and Richard McKinney, its head of American securitized products, will be leaving the firm.” The meat of the article, however, is the alleged reason for the upgrade in stock rating today. Dealbook reports that Richard X. Bove of Ladenburg Thalman sent a note to his clients, listing the reason for upgrade “Hostile takeover now a possibility.” The reasoning behind this prediction is unclear, but Dealbookspeculates that it could be based on the failed negotiations with the South Korean buyer. More rumormongering? I guess we will see.

American Airlines, the first carrier to start charging for checked baggage, and the owner of a defunct computer system that left hundreds grounded, and others without luggage, earlier this year, will now be slapped with a huge fine by the FAA. According to the WSJ, the FAA is imposing $7.1 Million in fines on the airline for “allegedly violating employee drug- and alcohol-testing procedures and knowingly flying airplanes that broke maintenance regulations.” Lets hope that they personnel that failed the drug tests were the ones who screwed up the computer system, not the ones flying the planes. The fine that the FAA is proposing, would be of of it’s largest, ever. The WSJ reports that the FAA estimates “in total, the FAA said American flew passengers on 58 flights in aircraft that weren’t fit for service.” This doesn’t really come as a surprise, given the portion of the fleet that was grounded in March of this year, while all of the wiring in the 300 MD-80 landing gear had to be re-done. Keep up the good work, American. If the fuel prices don’t kill you, the bullet wound in your foot might.

Tats crew painted this “Stop Snitchin’” mural under permission from the owner of the building at the time. According to Animalnewyork, Tats crew now plans to sue the city, who issued a summons to the building owner, causing the mural to be buffed, because the City deemed it to be graffiti. As Animalnewyork points out, the cru doesn’t really have a case, since the city had permission from the new building owner to buff out the art. I have to say that I can’t really blame the City in this instance. The whole “stop snitchin’” campaign is ridiculous. It is just another example of organized crime trying to instill fear in those who aid law enforcement. How about, stop breakin’ the law. Then there would be nothing to snitch about.

For years, and years and years, Law School professors of property law have had to use cases from the 1800’s when teaching the idea of adverse possession. These days are all in the past now, thanks to Darren Miller of Brooklyn, New York. According to WNBC, Miller has been using over 10 acres of City owned property in the East New York section of Brooklyn as a vehicle depository. Apparently Miller charges $200 per month for storing a tractor trailer on the land. WNBC reports that Miller has been running this racket for nearly a decade, until the City stepped in this week, ordered all of the vehicles moved, and charged Miller with trespassing. Miller’s lawyer told WNBC that he thinks Miller is now the rightful owner of the land under adverse possession. I can just imagine all of the bandwidth at law schools across the nation being eaten up by the property law professors, trying to post their analysis on the various property law message boards. Finally, a relevant case, newer than Blackacre being adversely possessed by the McGregor family in 1826 (don’t shepardize that case, I made it up).