The Ostrich Head

The most corrupt company in history

    The Daily Bear (aka The Ostrich Head) has, through perusing thousands of audit reports, selected the most hideously corrupted company in the world.  Here are a few extracts of the 26 page report:

    Material weaknesses discussed later in our report continued to (1) hamper the [company]'s ability to reliably report a significant portion of its assets, liabilities, costs, and other related information; (2) affect the [company]'s ability to reliably measure the full cost as well as the financial and nonfinancial performance of certain programs and activities; (3) impair the [company]'s ability to adequately safeguard significant assets and properly record various transactions; and (4) hinder the [company] from having reliable financial information to operate in an efficient and effective manner.

 

  • Certain material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting and other limitations on the scope of our work resulted in conditions that continued to prevent us from expressing an opinion on the accompanying consolidated financial statements for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2009 and 2008.

 

    Because of the [the company]'s inability to demonstrate the reliability of significant portions of the its accompanying consolidated financial statements for fiscal years 2009 and 2008… we are unable to, and we do not, express an opinion on such consolidated financial statements.

 

    As a result of these limitations, readers are cautioned that amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and related notes may not be reliable. 

 

    The material weaknesses that contributed to our disclaimer of opinion on the consolidated financial statements were the [company]'s inability to

 

  • satisfactorily determine that property, plant, and equipment and inventories and related property were properly reported in the consolidated financial statements;

 

  • ensure that the [company]'s consolidated financial statements were (1) consistent with the underlying audited entities’ financial statements, (2) properly balanced, and (3) in conformity with GAAP; and

 

  • identify and either resolve or explain material differences between certain… changes in cash balance… and underlying financial information and records.

 

    Due to the material weaknesses and other limitations on the scope of our work discussed above, there may also be additional issues that could affect the consolidated financial statements that were not identified.

 

    To make the fiscal years 2009 and 2008 consolidated financial statements balance, [the company] recorded net increases of $17.4 billion and $29.8 billion, respectively, to net operating costs, which it labeled “Unmatched transactions and balances.”  An additional net $8 billion and $11 billion of unmatched transactions were recorded in costs for fiscal years 2009 and 2008, respectively.  [The company] is unable to fully identify and quantify all components of these unreconciled activities.

    It goes on and on and on.  I mean, this is worse than Enron right?  What company, seriously, could possibly get away with this and pull the wool over both government and shareholders' eyes? 

    And don’t tell me you actually guessed this is the US government.  I mean, this is the fair and transparent administration of Barrack Obama we're talking about. 

    But yes, sadly, this is from the official audit of the US government by the Government Accountability Office.

    And you wonder why the SEC can't find guys like Madoff?  Here's what the GAO had to say about the SEC:

 

    As of September 30, 2009, SEC did not have effective internal control over financial reporting.  We identified six significant deficiencies that collectively represented a material weakness in SEC’s internal control over financial reporting.

    In other words, the regulator that's supposed to weed out poor reporting and governance can't even get its own house into order!

    To clarify the accounting text in the Government Accountability Office Auditor's Report (or, rather, the non-report), the Whitehouse issued A Citizen’s Guide to the Financial Report of the United States Government.

     For easy consumption, the Whitehouse managed to reduce a 26 page report into 14 pages.  At least it does discuss transparency (once):

The website, Recovery.gov, is the centerpiece of the President’s commitment to transparency and accountability. Recovery.gov features information on how the Act is working, tools to help hold the government accountable, and up-to-date data on the expenditure of funds.

    Oops.  That's somewhere between an untruth and a straight out lie!

    The Citizen's guide also had a look at the problem of the horrendous lack of controls and balances -- in the securities market!  In fact, the citizen's copy totally missed out the bulk of the GAO report.

    Specifically, it missed the 27 pages (of a total of 28) that stated why the GAAP reported budget deficit of just $1.4 trillion was a complete sham.

    Fair enough I guess.  You don't want concerned citizens finding out about this sort of thing.

    Fortunately, you can't fool everyone all the time, and the guys at Shadow Stats who take government figures and compare them to reality found that the actual GAAP loss was $4.3 trillion.

    The reason I bring this up is the number of tea parties held recently.  For those of you who don't know the history of the Boston Tea Party, it basically marked the end of low-tax British Government Regime and the institution of the high-tax US Government Regime.

    Thanks to the GAAP loss, which is in essence a deferred tax, and to the corrupt and absurd policies that created it, Americans really should be holding their tea parties the day after Christmas!!

Cheers,

Peter.

The Tea Parties should be held the day after Christmas

    A number of tea parties were held recently in celebration of the Boston Tea Party.  For those of you who don't know the history of the Boston Tea Party, it basically marked the end of low-tax British Government Regime and the institution of the high-tax US Government Regime.

    Not much to celebrate for sure.  Now Tea Partiers celebrate the time of year when they've finished paying money to the government (about 35% of their year) and are now earning for themselves. 

    This is clearly misdirected and wrong.  These guys really need to take a long hard look at the numbers.

    The GAAP budget shortfall of $4.3 trillion is what Americans will have to pay in future taxes.  So it's nothing more than a deferred tax.

    If we add on the $1.75 trillion that individual American's already paid in tax, that brings the total tax bill to $6.05 trillion. 

    With the 155 million Americans over 15 that are working and earning an average of $39,500 a year, total personal income in the US is $6.12 trillion.

    That means total paid and deferred taxes account for 98.9% of the average income.  This puts the proper celebration for the Tea Party on the day after Christmas.  This still gives Americans four days to earn money for themselves (and five in a leap year)!

 

    Cheers,

    Peter.

Operation Iraqi Freedom a resounding success

    Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the number of Iraqi deaths by suicide bombers, car bombs, gunfire and executions has fallen from a peak of 72 per day to just 9.6 a day this year.  That corresponds to just 11.2 per 100,000 population per year. 

    If we call that the murder rate (and it's probably pretty close), see how well Iraq stacks up:

Sources:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr58/nvsr58_08.pdf
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/cats/law_enforcement_courts_prisons/crimes_and_crime_rates.html

 

    Heck, if Thailand gets any more dangerous, I'll head to Iraq for safety.  Well done George W Bush and Obama.  You guys are terrific. 

    Still, it gets me thinking that if the US had spent $3 trillion on New Orleans instead of Iraq -- $26.5 million per family instead of $0.6 million per Iraqi family -- it could have reduced the murder rate there slightly, as well as turning it into a show case city.  A hard sell politically of course.  They'd have to get the Congressional Budget Office to forecast a budget of just $20 billion a year and then watch it blow out 30-fold!

    It worked for the war, it will probably work for health care, so why not for the poor souls in New Orleans.

    Realistically, though they are probably better at helping to reduce Afghan civilian casualties.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter. 

Radical terrorist group planning to overthrow the US government with Weapons of Mass Destruction thwarted by FBI and Detroit Police

Luckily for Obama, the Detroit Police (without the help of Axel Foley) and FBI managed to infiltrate and shut down the operations of the Hutaree Christian militia group.

     Eight suspected terrorists have been arrested, indicted, and jailed because they "conspired to overthrow the US government."

     Whew!  Damn lucky the police moved when they did.  I mean, look at these masterminds who would easily have brought down the government and used their superior intellects to dominate America.

 
 

The shallow end of the gene pool

    In addition to conspiring to overthrow the US government, these religious zealots are charged with seditious conspiracy, attempting to use weapons of mass destruction, and possession of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.  David Stone Sr and David Stone Jr also are charged with teaching/demonstrating use of explosive materials.’

     Let me clarify that for you.  The indictment actually said they were planning on attacking and killing local, state, and federal police officers.  Their method?  Kill one, and then attack the funeral procession later. 

     Damn.  That's some elaborate plot.  Definitely worthy of seditious conspiracy charges, which carry a 20 year sentence.

     But worse, they conspired to attempt to use a weapon of mass destruction!

     Shock horror.  Aren't these the things that Saddam was supposed to have? 

 

For your information, a "weapon of mass destruction" is now defined as just about any weapon excluding standard firearms.  These include: bombs, grenades, mines, and missiles having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than one-quarter ounce.  A whole quarter ounce?  That's huge.  They also include any firearm that isn't a shotgun with a bore of over 0.5 inches.  I just looked on line, and found a weapon of mass destruction for sale.

    Man, when I was a kid, I remember my letterbox getting blown up by a bunch of local kids using a pool chlorine and sugar bomb.  I didn't realize at the time that my house had come under attack by WMD.

    This is scary.  The maximum sentence of life in prison seems comparatively light for the offence of conspiring to use one of these things.  Oh, and don't imagine that being outside of the US gets you off the hook.  Any US citizen owning, possessing, or using a WMD outside of the US is also up for life in prison.  This guy must be in jail already.

 

    But what's worse about the Michigan 8 is that one of the guys was even teaching other people (let's call them "terrorists") how to use explosives.  That's also a criminal offense with a 20-year jail term by the way -- even if they had no intention of using the explosives.  Don't follow this link or I'm going to jail as well!

     The final charge, which they all got banged with, was possession of a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.  So, having a licensed firearm is ok, but if you happen to have a firearm and conspire to do something violent, then it carries a mandatory 5-year license.

     Good, get these thought-criminals off the street.

     The judge -- sensibly in my view -- refused them bail on the grounds that they would be a threat to the community.  Heck, one of them even has a record of aggravated assault -- from driving his truck into the path of a police car 20 years ago!

     The prosecution is rapidly building a water-tight case against the Michigan 8, having seized firearms, grenade smoke, ammunition, military uniforms, a copy of Adolf Hitler’s “My New Order,” a samurai sword, and a jewelled dagger. 

     Yup, damning evidence indeed.  I mean a jewelled dagger?  That's what the terrorists in "Romancing the Stone" gave to Danny DeVito. 

     But it gets worse for the Michigan 8.  The prosecution alleges that their leader delivered a speech including the words, “How much longer are you going to put up with a foreign army controlling your streets and highways?  Now it’s time to strike and take our nation back so that we may be free again from tyranny.  Time is up.”

     Indeed.  The right to freedom of speech should only be stretched so far, and this clearly goes beyond it.  Imagine if they'd said something as like:

    We can do this. It will not be easy. It will require struggle and sacrifice. There will setbacks and we will make mistakes. And that is why we need all the help we can get.  So tonight I want to speak directly to all those Americans who have yet to join this movement but still hunger for change - we need you.  We need you to stand with us... This is just the beginning of our efforts to take back our country... We will not let America sink into further... without a fight.   - quotes from Sarah Palin's Facebook and an Obama campaign speech

     I mean, the group discussed various way of killing people, how to take over a county, and even plotted to take over a handful of counties in southeast Michigan -- including Hillsdale, Washtenaw and Lenawee counties -- to lure the enemy to them.  All 20 of them.  I remember doing a similar exercise in primary school to take over Tasmania.  Thank god I got away with it.

     So in summary, we have a group of guys with guns that trained 3-4 times a year, an outspoken leader, wacky plans, and an explosives expert who could create all kinds of WMD.

     Explosives expert?  It recently came out that the explosives expert was actually an undercover FBI agent.  So the police that arrested them actually provided the reason for arresting them in the first place.  Now that's efficient police work.

     In fact, it's so efficient that it is becoming the modus operandi of the FBI, having worked so well previously.

     So now we know why America is so safe despite having so many terrorist training camps!  The FBI infiltrates disgruntled right-wing paramilitary groups, supplies the WMD and arrests them.  This is MUCH more efficient -- not to mention safer -- than waiting around for them to actually attempt to commit a crime. 

     Heck, having a full time agent on the inside and mounting a massive surveillance team is pretty expensive, and if the group actually decides not to break the law it would all go to waste anyway.  Much better to get them to commit "seditious conspiracy", arrest the lot of them, throw 'em in jail, and move onto the next target.

     And I gotta say, I'm very pleased they are going after Christians as well as Muslims now.  This ties in nicely with Obama's recent policy shift in dealing with Jihad, Islam, and crusades.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter.