Mischief Musings

hides eyes

2009-02-25T20:44:01Z

When I was Very Little, Here's Lucy was a television show...

And the intro always terrified me...

*has an unnatural fear of mannequins, marionettes, and ventrioloquists' dummies*
*goes to hide in the closet*

Icons! I didn't make these...

2008-11-17T17:36:45Z

they're from shangrala, but they were *cute* and queenb23more wanted something peppy :)

Okay, I *love* the Lucy running in circles one....

8:30 and my work here is done...

2008-11-12T14:33:30Z

so I'm playing in ImageReady...

Charlie Brown Christmas...

A Christmas Story...

Charlie Brown Thanksgiving...

I just liked this one; it's Norman Rockwell SEP from September 16, 1916 and the title is "Redhead loves Hatty Perkins". I must have been around in 1916 in a former life to enjoy Rockwell so much. Either that or I'm just a sucker for Americana...which means that Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye can only be so far behind...

Anyone want anything? I've got time and Google...

Pear Pimples for Hairy Fishnuts

2008-11-03T20:36:07Z

:)

EDIT to add: No, I'm not finished here. The article under the cut is *directly* from Salon.com, it's interview with Berkeley Breathed. It's *profound* reading, and, much like Milo Bloom when he went off on a Quest for Lost America, Breathed explains where we are as a Nation in our Rhetoric. And you're warned, it ain't pretty. Funny, thought-provoking, but not pretty.

http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2008/10/18/opus/print.html

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The end of "Opus"

Berkeley Breathed explains how our coarse national dialogue led him to end his strip. But what fate awaits our beloved, big-nosed hero?

By Kerry Lauerman

Oct. 18, 2008 |

As the country excitedly awaits our great quadrennial political climax, a smaller subset looks toward the first week of November with great anxiety and dread. On Sunday, Nov. 2, the comic "Opus" will end. Worse yet, creator Berkeley Breathed has made it clear that the strip's namesake will, in that final strip, find his "final paradise."

Sure, it's been an unnaturally long run for a penguin. Opus, who started with a bit part in Breathed's Pulitzer-winning "Bloom County" (1980-89), starred in "Outland" (1989-95) and finally took center stage in "Opus" (2003-08). But for those of us accustomed to seeing our own thoughts -- and fears, hopes and simmering anger -- take flight in the broken-nosed face of a penguin every week, there's no preparation for his exit, only mourning.

Breathed says it's the anger that led him to close the book on "Opus," that the increasingly nasty political climate has made it too difficult to keep his strip from drifting into darkness. Breathed has described his work as a hybrid of "Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz's gentle humor and Michael Moore's crusading social justice. Perhaps losing touch with his inner Charlie Brown, Breathed has said that "a mad penguin, like a mad cartoonist, isn't very lovable," and wants Opus to take his final bow before bitterness changes him forever.

As for Breathed, he says he will turn to other projects, such as his children's books. His latest, "Pete & Pickles," is just out, a delightful love story of sorts between a practical pig and a whimsical circus elephant.

He answered a round of our questions this week, through e-mail, about Opus' end, rumors about Breathed's own health, and just what, precisely, will happen to our beloved penguin in two weeks.

You've said that you're ending "Opus" because you believe "We are about to enter a rather wicked period in our National Discourse," and that it will make keeping the successful tone of the strip impossible. Why do you think that things will get worse -- especially after the acrimony of the past eight years?

We're not a movie. In most aspects, there's no arc to the human story. Only a line heading upward. For nearly everything. In this case, the coarsening of the National Discourse. We aren't returning someday to any sort of golden era of political civility. The line heads heavenward and has been since the Republic started. And with the intersection of two rather dramatic dynamics -- the cable and Web technology allowing All Snark All the Time ... and the political realities of No More Free Lunch in America, it will spike in the coming years like Don Draper's sex life, and I hereby pledge that that's the last pop reference I use.

Aren't dark times exactly when satire is most needed?

It's not so much dark times now, as profane and loud. Satire you'll have, oh dear me, indeedy yes. "Vomitous" and "awash" are two words that come to mind. It used to be that everyone would be famous for 15 minutes. How antediluvian. Rather, everyone will now want a satirical YouTube film with 15 megabytes.

Satire we'll have. Rather, the real dearth in our world will be sweetness, comfort, thoughtfulness and civility. If I could do "Peanuts," that's what I'd be doing. Alas, I've tried. And oh, you get way, way richer.

There have been moments in the past few years when "Opus" upset your syndicate. (Specifically, this cartoon in 2007; and this cartoon earlier this year, which the Washington Post Writer's Group refused to even distribute.) How often in your career had that happened before? And is it more of a reflection of your work changing, or the climate that you're now creating in?

"Bloom County" had five times the edge of the work I do now. In 1986 I had a cockroach scream, "Reagan sucks!" in print size that took up the entire cartoon box. Nobody blinked -- 1,000 newspapers, quiet as a mouse. Now I draw a woman wearing a Muslim scarf, and the frantic publisher of the Washington Post Co. is on the phone at 9 p.m. telling me -- I am not making this up -- to adjust my character's hair so she doesn't look too unkempt.

Fear doesn't so much rule the wood pulp news industry. More like pee-on-themselves existential terror.

I will miss the crinkly mass of pressed dead tree held aloft over my Caesar salad and iced tea at the corner cafe.

After your May 18 strip, in which you announced that you have spasmodic torticollis, there's been a fair amount of speculation -- especially among Salon readers -- about how bad your condition actually is; about whether it's contributing to the end of "Opus," and much more. Can you fill us in on your health?

It's far too big a cliché to quit for health reasons. Truly, I'm fine.

I'm quitting to spend more time with my family.

Your audience has, by and large, mostly read you in newspapers. These are far less vital times for newspapers than when your career started. What has that been like -- having your work distributed in what seems, increasingly, like a dying form?

I like turtles.

Maybe you saw the YouTube of the kid at Halloween saying precisely that to the TV reporter when she asked what he thought of being made up as a zombie. It's a perfect dodge from unpleasant candor.

Do you think cartooning itself is a dying form, now that there are fewer news outlets for young cartoonists to get their start? Or will it evolve into some other form? And if so ... any clue what that is?

There'll always be great, classic cartooning. There'll also be radio. Concept rock albums. Theatrical movie dramas for intelligent adults. Little kids riding bicycles down a neighborhood street without a grown-up. Family dinner hours. Eleven-year-old girls who dress like children. Instant coffee. Buggy whips.

They'll just be much harder to find.

The very, absolute last comic strip characters destined to become true household words across America were invented 23 years ago: Calvin & Hobbes. There are and will be no more new ones.

That's a technology and cultural issue. Not a talent issue.

Your children's books seem to appeal to your gentler, Charles Schulz side. But how -- without Opus -- will you exercise your Michael Moore side?

I'll be on my couch Sunday mornings screaming at Brokaw and Stephanopoulos to call out the blathering bastards on their stupid fucking talking points and pin the dancing, lying, spinning Tasmanian Weasels down about something, ANYTHING for Christ Bloody Sake THE COUNTRY IS GETTING STEERED INTO CHAOS AND INSOLVENCY AND WAR BY ITS UNREAD UNINFORMED DULLARD SHEEP CONSTITUENCIES AND YOU JUST LET THE CANDIDATE SAY ONE MORE TIME WITHOUT OBJECTION THAT HE'S GOING TO CUT TAXES WHILE HE CALLS FOR FREE 24 KARAT GOLD FRANKFURTERS TO BE INSERTED INTO EVERY AMERICAN'S ASS JUST BECAUSE BUTT BULLION POLLS WELL.

You see right there why I can't have Opus involved with this anymore.

"Opus" was the third in a series -- beginning with "Bloom County," followed by "Outland." Is this it? Are you ruling out the possibility of ever doing an episodic cartoon ever again?

I like turtles.

When you say Opus will meet his final paradise, are you really saying what we fear you're saying? Some of us remember a certain amnesia episode with Opus, which saw him come back to life. Also, I want to remind you what you told us just last year, when asked about rumors that you'd finish the poor little guy off: "I was kidding about killing Opus, by the way. I'd like to walk the streets free from fears of spontaneous garroting ..."

K-k-k-kill? I've never said the K word. Did I? Don't YOU say that. COMPLETELY depressing. He's Passing Into the Ages. A Christian Scientist appreciates the distinction. Opus will be where I'd like to think of him being for the rest of my life ... which will be a small surprise to many readers. And possibly a Sopranos-like disappointment for some, but I simply will not bow to clichés this late in the game.

If nobody guesses it correctly after a bit of investigation, then they're probably still an undecided voter.

Come to think of it, I've given a good clue in this interview.

For the old "Bloom County" fans who take me as a cold-heart cynic about my cartoon, know that I made the mistake of playing Puccini's "Madam Butterfly" at midnight while I was drawing Opus for the very, final, last time last week and I got rather stupid. I'll just leave it said that way. It's an odd business.

Your new children's book, "Pete & Pickles," is getting amazing raves; Publishers Weekly says it has a "a dreamy intensity, a sculptural heft" you've never had before. Is creating books just a more rewarding canvas for you right now?

I mentioned that the coming days will be in extra need of sweetness, comfort, rationality and civility. I'm like Warren Buffett with a drawing hand. I see an undervalued market. As I did in 1981, actually.

"Pete & Pickles" made me smile while I painted it. My kids found me constantly grinning like an idiot as I drew. I often grinned drawing the comic strips, too. But it was a bit like the Joker's in "Batman." It begins to hurt after a while.

Stories for children are a refuge from the firefight going on above the foxhole. "Pete & Pickles" is my take on marriage ... and the wonderful ridiculousness of the concept. But come to think of it ... marriage is a bigger firefight than politics. So much for the refuge theory.

What else do you look forward to doing -- professionally and not -- without that weekly "Opus" deadline looming over you?

Writing smart stories that leave people -- OK, my children-- feeling a bit better about the world at the end. You asked.

Here's a question we asked the last time you spoke to Salon, and it seems appropriate to ask again now: One theme of your work seems to be longing for respect -- a lot of Opus' story is about his uphill battle for dignity, and in "Mars Needs Moms!" Milo starts out frustrated at his "thundering, humorless tyrant" of a mother's lack of respect for him, and ends up respecting her more. Do you feel like you've gotten the respect that's due to you?

You have to be bloody well kidding. I'm a walking laughingstock, battered by ridicule from every corner. I work hard and get paid back with utter disregard, spitballs, jokes about my mustache and a lack of sex. You meant around the house I hope.

Not having this regular gig anymore -- and not having to keep up a respectable appearance for your hundreds of client newspapers -- must be liberating. Is there anything, in your nearly fully free state, that you're dying to say to the world?

I like turtles.

-- By Kerry Lauerman

Because it bears repeating ...
"Bloom County" had five times the edge of the work I do now. In 1986 I had a cockroach scream, "Reagan sucks!" in print size that took up the entire cartoon box. Nobody blinked -- 1,000 newspapers, quiet as a mouse. Now I draw a woman wearing a Muslim scarf, and the frantic publisher of the Washington Post Co. is on the phone at 9 p.m. telling me -- I am not making this up -- to adjust my character's hair so she doesn't look too unkempt.

"Fear doesn't so much rule the wood pulp news industry. More like pee-on-themselves existential terror."

--Berkeley Breathed, Salon.com 2008 Interview (above in cut)

Drama Free Post

2008-10-07T19:01:12Z

*blinks* am I the only person who finds politics un-dramatic? Really?!?

Wow. Okay....

'Cos harrysmom and natertatersmom said so...and because I love them and harrysmom is *evil* :D

I'm making tea. I'm making tea so that I can munch on a Maple Shortbread cookie and watch ...well, we said no drama, so we'll just leave it at tea and biccie...

Whilst at the WalMart last weekend, gathering supplies for the wedding cake and Groom's pudding I'll be making, I also found some new tea towels in nice fall colors and it came with a maple leaf cutout.

Thus, an idea was born...

Here's the recipe:

Maple Shortbread cookie
First you have to make Maple butter *giggles*

2/3 cup maple syrup and ½ cup butter (room temperature)

In a small saucepan, bring maple syrup to a boil and reduce by half, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand at room temperature. When cool, add the butter and stir until completely blended.

Place in refrigerator until firm (I let it go overnight). Makes ¾ cup.

Shortbread recipe
¾ cup maple butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt

Combine the maple butter, flour and salt in a food processor. Pulse until all the ingredients are well combined and form a ball. Flatten into a disk shape. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until the dough is well chilled.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Position rack to center of oven.

Remove dough from fridge and roll to ¼-inch thickness. With cookie cutters, cut dough into desired shapes. Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake until slightly golden brown, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

Makes about three dozen two-inch cookies.

Oh, and here's what the wedding cake'll look like....
I went out and bought a 13 inch offeset spatula just for this behemoth, as well as several dowels and cardboard separators...

I also found a *cute* box made especially for transporting 9" pies and cakes wihtout damage to the cake. So Aymes, I'll arrive in CT with applecake intact, and won't mess up your kitchen in the process :)

iconage part two

2008-09-12T15:19:43Z

In a fit of thinking over the past several days; here is the workings of mine mind...

I missed Angela, so this came out; because she's not your average Southern belle.

It's my concerted opinion that no one has actually learned anything in this country since Schoolhouse Rock stopped showing. Which led me to...

This one that I will be using for the duration of the political season, and I'm not telling anyone who said the quotes unless they ask.

dabble dabble dibble dabble

2008-09-05T13:24:12Z

Improved Alabama icon:

and even though he never uses them; this one's Joe's:

I'm working on Tennesee and Florida and even Georgia for anyone who wants them...

Twain Wisdom...

2008-09-04T13:01:43Z

AL had mentioned a couple of weeks back that the Quote of the Day thinger had gotten on her nerves. With that thought in mind, here's today's quote:

"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."Mark Twain US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 - 1910)

PS is open and I have a slow day at work...who wants to guinea pig to the futherment of my computer education?

The Largest Bankruptcy in the Nation's History

2008-08-11T17:45:56Z

This is a rare public posting on what is mostly a Friends Only blog...

It is a political rant of a local nature, and while I don't condone airing the soiled linens publically, it seems that only public scrutiny, and a sincerely hacked off voting public who, one can only hope, will send these jokers packing, will achieve results.

Remember folks: Politicians are just like cockroaches; they prefer to do their business in the dark while you're not looking....

I don't live in Jefferson County, Alabama. I pay taxes to *work* in Jefferson County as well as taxes to the City of Birmingham...though I don't live here and cannot vote in the local elections (Taxation without Adequate Representation, anyone?)

I digress..

that's not what I wanted to call attention to here. While reading yesterday's paper, and an article on how David Bronner, the Chief of the Retirement Systems of Alabama( RSA)--which I am a contributor to, as well as every teacher, researcher, administrator within the University and school systems-- has proposed a plan to "bail out" the county for the Current Debacle and Complete MisManagement with a little hint of Malfeasance dropped in for good measure: he wants the RSA to buy the Sewer System.

Jefferson County now owes some $100 Billion (no, that is not a typo) to it's bondholders...they're past due, and have the third extension since March currently going. They have until November 7th, I think, to come up with a way to pay fro this behemoth.

The architect of this nightmare is the Jefferson County Commission, a larger more public group of whores I dare you to find anywhere, and their Pimp In Charge, Bill Slaughter. After getting the county residents into this mess, Slaughter now has a "plan" to rescue it--although why anyone with a whit of sense would listen to the man who got you into this mess is beyond me.

Mr. Slaughter proposes a hike in the Occupational tax, taking surplus from the $0.01 sales tax increase (that was meant for school construction), and an increase in property taxes--all of which must meet a threshhold or the coutny can raise property taxes to create more funds. That's right, Jefferson County, the money grubbing simpletons you elected want you to grant them the power to ARBITRARILY raise your property taxes WITHOUT the required referendum.

They want more of your money to piss away...and have the unmitigated gall to appear entitield to it.

There were "public hearings" this week for the residents of the county to hear three plan options. They were "public" as people were allowed to come: they could not ask questions, the commissioners themselves were not part of the panel, and more than a few protestors were asked to "leave".



Hearings frustrate, educate residents Bankruptcy option on minds of audience Saturday, August 09, 2008 BARNETT WRIGHT News staff writer A two-hour hearing held Friday to address Jefferson County's $3.2 billion sewer debt turned contentious as some county residents voiced frustration that they were not able to speak and wondered why elected officials weren't the ones answering questions. At least one of the 250 audience members inside Samford University's Wright Center was escorted from the building after confronting Birmingham lawyer Bill Slaughter, the county's top financial adviser. Still, Jefferson County Commission President Bettye Fine Collins said after the hearing, which she attended, that she was pleased that the public got a chance to hear about the county's financial problems and submit more than three dozen written questions. Later in the day, a second forum attended by more than 50 people was held at the Jefferson County Courthouse and hosted by Hollis Wormsley, a personality on WBHK 98.7 KISS-FM's "Talk Back." Many of the questions at the Samford University forum centered on whether the county would file for a Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy. "This was not a political rally," Collins said. "This truly was the County Commission's effort to provide the public with information they can digest." The program was moderated by former Gov. Albert Brewer, professor emeritus of law and government at Samford University. The panel included Scott Williams, a bankruptcy lawyer with the Birmingham law firm of Haskell Slaughter Young & Rediker; Jeff Sewell, assistant Jefferson County attorney; and Guy Logan, of Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Haskell Slaughter has done bond counsel work for the county since 1997. Citigroup is advising the county in negotiating the restructuring and refinancing of its sewer debt. Williams told the audience that a sale of the sewer system might not be possible under the state constitution. The audience was also told that sewer rates could double or even triple in a bankruptcy. The courthouse meeting's panelists, including some of the same people who took questions at Samford, spoke against bankruptcy and receivership, and touted a proposal from Citigroup as the only viable solution. "At the end of the day, no one will be 100 percent satisfied, but right now we are running out of time," Commissioner Shelia Smoot said at the courthouse. "That is not political rhetoric. This is not posturing." Audience members at the Friday evening meeting submitted written questions, too. At the end of the meeting, they were allowed to address the panel from a lectern. Several expressed frustration at the possibility of paying higher sewer rates, an option included in the proposed plan if the system fails to produce enough revenue otherwise. Other revenue generators in the Citigroup plan include expanding who must pay the county's occupational tax to include doctors, lawyers and other professionals; extending the school sales tax; and imposing additional sales and property taxes if needed. "Everyone in the county benefits from the sewer system," said Mark Ezell, a lawyer with the Haskell Slaughter law firm. "The Citigroup plan is an effort to spread the burden among residents of the county." Competing plans: Competing plans to address the problem have split the County Commission. Earlier this week, commissioners voted 3-2 for a plan formulated by Citigroup and Slaughter. To move forward with that plan, Gov. Bob Riley would have to call the Legislature into special session to approve changes for the plan, and there would have to be a statewide vote on a constitutional amendment. But Riley has said he would not call a special session unless the commission has the support of Jefferson County lawmakers for a remedy to the crisis. Collins, Smoot and Commissioner George Bowman support the Citigroup plan. On Friday, Citigroup offered an alternative to the automatic property tax increase proposed in its earlier plan by suggesting 4 percent annual increases in sewer rates after 2012 if sewer system revenues fall short of the amounts needed for debt payments. Commissioners Jim Carns and Bobby Humphryes favor a plan by Alabama pension chief David Bronner that calls for the county to declare bankruptcy and let the Retirement Systems of Alabama or another entity buy the system for $1.1 billion to $1.4 billion in cash. Smoot was the only commissioner to attend the evening courthouse meeting. Only Collins attended the entire morning presentation at Samford, in which none of the commissioners participated or was recognized. Carns and Humphryes left midway through the forum. Smoot showed up after the meeting began and Bowman was not present. Carns called the program "hogwash." He said the panelists were people who "just arrived at the dance. I've been studying this for over three years." Rate rise disputed: He disputed a comment that sewer rates would skyrocket in a bankruptcy. "Nobody anywhere in the country is going to come in and triple rates in Jefferson County," he said. "Forty percent of ratepayers in Jefferson County fall in the EPA guidelines of no more than 2 percent of your family income should be paid for sewer." Kent Piatt, a Hueytown resident, said he was angry that county commissioners were not part of the panel. "They have been sitting on their hands for six months," he said. "They are going to do what they want to do. What infuriates me most is that I had to listen to a panel of people I didn't elect." Linda Lunsford, a Hoover resident, said she favored the Bronner plan until listening to the speakers on the program. "The panel was authoritative," she said. "They knew their stuff." Tommy Greene, chairman of Birmingham-based Citizens for Sewer Accountability, a group formed to oppose the Citigroup plan, said the commission was repeating past mistakes. Wall Street banks should "participate in solving the problem," he said. "They have to share in the pain. The plan that the commission has put forth will mortgage our future for our children and will put a tremendous tax burden on the citizens of the county." News staff writer Joseph Bryant contributed to this report. bwright@bhamnews.com © 2008 The Birmingham News© 2008 al.com All Rights Reserved.

The deal here is, the RSA can only buy the system if the County declares bankruptcy, thereby putting the sewer in recievership and taking control from the County Commission. Which appears to be the sticking point: Mr. Bronner has offered to sell the system back to the County, with no profit margin built in. But this quote, from one of the Commissioners really REALLY steamed me: "Why would we want it back?" Collins said. "Who would want to repurchase the sewer system unless he wants to pump a lot of cash into it?" (News article below--bolding is mine)



Bronner plan adds buyback provision Commissioners dismiss RSA's same-price offer Sunday, August 10, 2008 RUSSELL HUBBARD News staff writer Alabama pension chief David Bronner said he is willing to sell Jefferson County's sewer system back to the government at no profit, after the Retirement Systems of Alabama earns a fair return and gets the system financially fit and out of debt. The head of the state's public employee pension fund said he would give the county the option of buying back the system after seven years. "They could have it back for the same price I paid for it," Bronner said. "Not a penny more." County Commission President Bettye Fine Collins said she wouldn't want the sewer system back if the RSA buys it. "Why would we want it back?" Collins said. "Who would want to repurchase the sewer system unless he wants to pump a lot of cash into it?" Collins favors a competing rescue plan from New York investment bank Citigroup that calls for refinancing the county's debt and finding new sources of revenue to cover the cost of those bonds. She is among a majority of commissioners who have warned that a Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing would stigmatize the county. Bronner, whose $32 billion pension fund has invested in everything from golf courses to nursing homes, has proposed RSA buying the debt-strapped sewer system for $1.1 billion to $1.4 billion if county commissioners are willing to file bankruptcy. Buying the sewer system back from RSA would require the county to borrow more money by selling bonds just a few years after filing what would be the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. That is not an impossible task. Orange County, Calif., filed the largest U.S. bankruptcy in 1994, defaulting on $1.6 billion. The county recovered an investment-grade credit rating and was selling bonds to eager investors at normal borrowing costs less than a year later. "Municipal finance is a very competitive business," said Jeffrey Cohen, a Denver lawyer who worked on the Orange County case. "Underwriters and bond buyers would be falling over themselves to lend money to Jefferson County once it cleans up its balance sheet." Not everyone agrees. County Commissioner Shelia Smoot said a bankruptcy would hurt the county, the state and all of its municipalities for generations, staining them as deadbeats who walk out on their debts. "Bankruptcy?" Smoot said. "Not an option. Period. It would rip the face of this county forever." Effect on bondholders: A Jefferson County bankruptcy filing would get rid of the claims of bondholders who are owed $3.2 billion after the county began missing interest and principal payments this year because interest rates skyrocketed. By agreeing to accept partial settlement in bankruptcy court, the bondholders would have no course of legal action against the county, Cohen said. Under a bankruptcy and purchase of the sewer system by RSA, those bondholders would get RSA's purchase price as partial satisfaction of their claims. Those bondholders would then be free to sue or negotiate with bond insurers for their remainder. The insurers pledged to pay off the bonds if the county can't in return for insurance premiums the sewer system paid. Bronner said the sewer system surely would be worth more than the RSA purchase price after seven years, because it would have more customers, additional assets and no debt. Here is how his plan would work: The county files for Chapter 9 bankruptcy on the sewer system's $3.2 billion of debt owed to bondholders who lent money by buying bonds sold for expansions and repairs. RSA buys the system for a price that Bronner said will probably fall between $1.1 billion and $1.4 billion, payable in cash. He said he won't know an exact purchase price until he looks at the sewer system's books in detail. Bondholders take the purchase price and wrangle with the bond insurers over their remainder. The sewer system operates as before. Its yearly free cash flow - the money left after paying expenses and for capital improvements - would belong to the RSA, which invests money to pay for the pensions of 300,000 active and retired state workers. After seven years, the county could sell bonds to repurchase the sewer system at the price RSA paid for it. Bronner said if seven years is too soon, he would agree to the same terms 15 years out. Expert: No stigma: Cohen, the Denver lawyer, said the large banks that arrange bond deals and the big investors who buy into them won't hesitate to do it again if Jefferson County files for bankruptcy and then attempts to sell bonds again. "It's not like personal bankruptcy," Cohen said. "Underwriters would work overtime to put a syndicate together because they want the fees." In Orange County's case, they didn't seem to mind. The county filed for bankruptcy in December 1994, to stem soaring investment losses from bad bets on the direction of interest rates. While that county didn't have the equivalent of Jefferson County's sewer revenue shortfall, it was selling bonds six months later. In June 1995, it sold $279 million of fixed-rate bonds that paid investors 5.2 percent interest. That was a few percentage points higher than the 3 percent bonds it had been selling before the bankruptcy. And even though Orange County was still in bankruptcy, and still in technical default on numerous obligations, the June bonds were rated AAA, the highest investment grade ranking, by Standard & Poor's. News staff writer Barnett Wright contributed to this report. rhubbard@bhamnews.com © 2008 The Birmingham News© 2008 al.com All Rights Reserved.

"Why would we want it back?" Collins said. "Who would want to repurchase the sewer system unless he wants to pump a lot of cash into it?"

*blinks* So, Madame Commissioner. The ONLY way you'll want this back is if more money is pumped into it? Why? So you can take somethign with value and trash it like you do everything else good in this county?

I stand corrected: the Commission is a Haggling bunch of whores.

Here's the truth: there is only so much time to get something done. The County's bonds have been downgraded to Junk--who's going to buy muni bonds here if they don't declare bankruptcy? Who in their right mind would see this bunch of con-artists as something to invest in? Bankruptcy is ugly, but bear in mind it's not the same as personal bankruptcy--and the time is coming very soon where bondholders will no longer grant you extensions and the bill collector will come knocking....

Mischief Musings

*hides eyes*

Icons! I didn't make these...

8:30 and my work here is done...

Pear Pimples for Hairy Fishnuts

The end of "Opus"

Drama Free Post

iconage part two

dabble dabble dibble dabble

Twain Wisdom...

The Largest Bankruptcy in the Nation's History

Hearings frustrate, educate residents

Bronner plan adds buyback provision

hides eyes