A giant oil skimmer brought in from Portugal is too big to be used in the Gulf cleanup effort.

The Taiwanese vessel “A Whale” was deployed last week along the oil-slicked Gulf Coast. But it’s been determined the skimmer didn’t collect enough oil.

Pretty sad when this ship is turned away because it didn’t help “enough”.

I get these letters all the time telling me I can get a loan modification. I did. Through the bank that holds my mortgage. Not some fly by night place that wanted money up-front.

Federal prosecutors announced the indictment of a Southern California man on money laundering and conspiracy charges for a scheme to defraud delinquent homeowners hoping to modify their mortgages.

Glenn Steven Rosofsky is accused of running a mortgage fraud scheme in San Marcos, California, that operated under the names Nations Housing Modification Center and Federal Housing Modification Department, according to a statement released Tuesday by U.S. Attorney Karen Hewitt in San Diego.

The government said Rosofsky and others would make false statements to induce customers to pay $2,500 to $3,000 to buy loan modification services. He also asked others to rent a post office box and office space in Washington, D.C. to create the impression that his service operated on Capitol Hill, the government said.

Just think of all the payments they could have made with those “service” fees.

I don’t think any of the airlines were expecting this.

Airlines canceled over 1,800 flights Friday as snow pounded parts of the South and dumped several inches of white onAtlanta, home to the world’s busiest airport.

Light to moderate snow fell steadily throughout the afternoon in Atlanta and its northern suburbs. It wasn’t expected to taper off until late evening. There was a chance of more snow for the area on Monday, afederal holiday when many workers will have the day off.

We enjoyed the snow here though.

The President yelled ‘JUMP’, GM and Chrysler asked ‘how high?’. Yesterday, Chrysler jumped as high as the Mr. Obama wanted them too.

Chrysler LLC has reached an agreement on a framework of a global alliance with Italian automaker Fiat SpA (FIA.MI) that has the support of the U.S. Treasury, Chrysler’s CEO Bob Nardelli said on Monday.

“We appreciate the willingness of the (autos) Task Force, along with industry and financial experts, to consult closely with us in order to achieve this significant step,” Nardelli said in a statement.

Chrysler, owned by private equity Cerberus Capital Management, was deemed by the task force to be not viable as a stand-alone company and was given 30 days to complete an alliance with Fiat or be cut off from U.S. government funding.

Sad, sad, sad. Almost as sad as the fact that the U.S. taxpayer is now paying for his/her own GM auto warranty.

Interest rates on standard U.S. 30-year mortgages dropped in the latest week to levels just shy of record lows as concerns of a deepening recession boosted the appeal of fixed-rate investments, Freddie Mac said on Thursday.

The average fixed 30-year mortgage rate declined to 5.04 percent in the week ending Thursday, from 5.16 percent in the previous period, Freddie Mac said in a statement. That was close to the 4.96 percent reached in mid-January, which was the lowest rate since Freddie Mac began its survey in 1971.

Too bad no one has any money because the Ma Pelosi and her gang took it all from us.

Authorities are still looking for Mr. Nadel.

Around the same time he mysteriously vanished, hedge fund manager Arthur G. Nadel owed a $50 million payout to some of the investors who had entrusted their life savings to him, an accountant said Monday.

Instead, they learned their money was gone — and now they’re left asking if it was all a bad investment, or if they were scammed.

Have they checked Mr. Madoff’s penthouse yet?

It’s pretty sad, that in the year 2008, when most people monitor their bank accounts online, that 75% of the banking websites have issues that could cause serious problems.

A new study from the University of Michigan has found that more than 75 percent of banking websites are not completely up to snuff when it comes to security.

The study looked at 214 financial institution websites and focused on both design flaws and improper security practices. None of these flaws represent catastrophic security issues, but many could allow for easier access to your password and user name should a malicious hacker come calling.

From insecure login systems to redirecting you without any notice, banks are leaving themselves, and your account, vulnerable to hackers. Make sure your bank passes the test before you end up putting your money in the pockets of others.

Crossposted at The Alligator Pit.

I don’t know what’s worse…

A society full of people who actually give their children names like this.

A family court judge in New Zealand has had enough with parents giving their children bizarre names here, and did something about it.

Just ask Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. He had her renamed.

Or the fact that they need a court system to stop them.

Now stop laughing. I am not a hypocrite. Slobokan is not the name on my birth certificate.

I love the fail blog.

There’s really no surprise here, is there?

A man who put his life up for auction on eBay found it wasn’t worth quite as much as he thought when he settled for around A$100,000 (48,000 pounds) less than his target price.

No one values human life as muchas they used too, and with the economy tanking like it seems to be doing, my bet is more people will value life less in the future.

He’s lucky he got what he did for his life. The only thing I don’t understand is why he is now going to travel in “search of a new life”. The grass is always greener my friend, and now you don’t even own the lawn you’re standing on.

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