My hard drive died

Yes, my laptop's HDD is as dead as Billy Mays. I don't have the cash to buy a Mac right now (well, I have the cash but I don't want to go into self-loathing mode), so I will stick with something under 1k that will suit my needs (internetz, music, digital foetoes, etc). I will also look for something that would be decent for playing the occasional game of DoD. I was afraid the Dell I have currently wouldn't run games very well, but I'm not sure that's an issue with a new machine. I would love to be able to play DoD again.

Anyway, outside of work I will have sporadic access to the internet until I bite the bullet and shell out of jew tokens on a new computer. I might hit up the library on 1-2 Saturdays per month to get my internet fix (lol libraries? those still exist?).

At least now, this gives me the option of doing other things I would only do sporadically during the week (read, stop being sloppy on the bass, etc) for the time being.

Don't know when I'll update this again. I don't really update it much anyway, but meh

SCOTUS says bankruptcy rules don't matter; tells bondholders to suck it

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D98NEVL80&show_article=1

The Supreme Court has cleared the way for Chrysler's sale to Fiat, turning down a last-ditch bid by opponents of the deal.

The court said late Tuesday it had rejected a plea to block the sale of most of Chrysler's assets to the Italian automaker. Chrysler, Fiat and the Obama administration had warned that the high court's intervention could have scuttled the sale.

A federal appeals court in New York had earlier approved the sale, but gave opponents until Monday afternoon to try to get the Supreme Court to intervene.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ordered a temporary delay just before a 4 p.m. deadline on Monday.

Now the court has freed the automakers to complete their deal.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

NEW YORK (AP)—Chrysler returned to bankruptcy court Tuesday to get a judge to approve the termination of 789 dealer franchises, while its plan to partner with Italy's Fiat hung in limbo as the automaker awaited action by the nation's highest court.

The sale of Chrysler's assets to Fiat Group SpA had been expected to close more than a week ago, but Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's decision to delay the sale now threatens to derail Chrysler's restructuring plans.

In a brief filed with the Supreme Court Tuesday afternoon, Chrysler and Fiat warned that the deal will terminate if it does not close by June 15. While a new agreement could be negotiated, there's no guarantee that one will be reached or that Chrysler will be able to be jump start its operations after the deadline, they said.

In bankruptcy court, more than 25 attorneys representing hundreds of dealers from across the country argued that little would be gained by terminating their franchises, while Chrysler maintained that the move is a necessary part of its plan to cut costs and quickly emerge from Chapter 11.

Arguments ended early Tuesday afternoon and U.S. Judge Arthur Gonzalez said he would issue his ruling later in the day.

Many of the dealers were selling the last cars on their lots and preparing to shut their doors for good at the end of the day, while others planned to sell used cars or other brands after severing ties with Chrysler.

The Auburn Hills, Mich., automaker has been flying through five weeks of bankruptcy proceedings and appeared all but certain to complete the sale of its assets to Fiat before the June 15 deadline. But Ginsburg issued a stay Monday to review an appeal by a trio of Indiana pension and construction funds which own a small part of Chrysler's secured debt.

The delay may be only temporary. Ginsburg could decide on her own whether to end the stay, or she could ask the full court to decide.

Fiat has the right to walk away from Chrysler after June 15 and leave the struggling U.S. automaker with little option but to liquidate. But a Fiat spokesman said Tuesday that the Italian automaker will not turn its back on a deal despite the Supreme Court stay.

Indiana officials, representing the state funds challenging the Chrysler sale, submitted a short statement to the Supreme Court Tuesday that calls attention to Fiat's statement.

"The Indiana Pensioners respectfully submit that the risk of termination by Fiat if the transaction does not close by June 15 no longer provides a basis for driving the timing of these proceedings," the officials said.

Responding to the Indiana funds later Tuesday, Chrysler and Fiat said that the sale agreement will terminate automatically if the sale doesn't close by the deadline, and there's no guarantee that they could negotiate a new deal.

"Given Chrysler's precipitous state, every day past June 15 increases the risk that Chrysler's business will not be able to restart successfully," the company said.

Meanwhile, the Obama administration said in a separate filing that each day of delay consumes more of the financing provided by the government.

"If the closing is delayed by more than approximately 10 days, a sufficient amount of the current commitment of debtor-in-possession financing from the United States will have been consumed as to require the government either to increase its overall funding to the detriment of taxpayers, or abandon its role in the transaction," the administration said.

Production at Chrysler's manufacturing plants remains halted pending the closing of the sale. Chrysler, which says it is losing $100 million every day its plants are closed, said it had no comment until it receives further information from the court.

Chrysler's ability to speed through the bankruptcy process has partially been a result of the involvement of the Obama administration's auto task force, which provided $4.5 billion in financing and helped negotiate a deal between the company's stakeholders.

Under a deal brokered in the days leading up to Chrysler's April 30 Chapter 11 filing, Fiat will receive up to a 35 percent stake in the new company created by the sale, in exchange for sharing the technology Chrysler needs to create smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.

The United Auto Workers will get a 55 percent stake that will be used to fund its retiree health care obligations, while the U.S. and Canadian governments will receive a combined 10 percent stake.

Meanwhile, the automaker's secured debtholders would get $2 billion in cash, or about 29 cents on the dollar, for their combined $6.9 billion in debt. Some of the debtholders balked at the deal, saying as secured lenders they deserved more.

The Indiana funds filed an objection to the sale and later appealed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. They claim the sale unfairly favors Chrysler's unsecured stakeholders such as the union ahead of secured debtholders like themselves.

The funds also are challenging the constitutionality of the Treasury Department's use of money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to supply Chrysler's bankruptcy protection financing. They say the government did so without congressional authority.

The funds hold about $42.5 million, or less than 1 percent, of Chrysler's $6.9 billion in secured debt. They bought it in July 2008 for 43 cents on the dollar.

The appeals come as Congress scrutinizes the Obama administration's restructuring of Chrysler and GM. The Senate Banking Committee said it planned to call Ron Bloom, a senior adviser to the auto task force, and Edward Montgomery, who serves as the Obama administration's director of recovery for auto communities and workers, to a hearing Wednesday.

Basically, the Supreme Court told the Indiana bondholders that they didn't matter and that the UAW, which has done nothing but hurt the auto industry over the past 2 decades (AT LEAST) with their constant demands to improve benefits and wages that allow some workers (who do nothing but put a fucking door on a goddamn car frame) to make more than an inner city school teacher who tries to make the world a better place every day and, in some instances, puts their person in harms way EVERY FUCKING DAY (WHAT THE FUCK MOTHERFUCKER?!), to get a 55% stake in Chrysler so they can pay for outstanding health care obligations? These are the same fucking people who refused to give adequate concessions when they were in the thick of the shit because they are greedy and ruthless and refuse to be left out in the cold and wants the MIGHTY MESSIAH OBAMA to save them and their precious health benefits.

What about the Indiana bondholders and all of the people who are participating in the pension plans? They got a measly 29 cents on the dollar for all of the debt they had when, with proper bankruptcy rules, they are FIRST on the list (after creditors like outside merchants of course) to receive payment for their investment. The UAW doesn't care though. They don't care that these people need that money to retire whereas some 25 year old line worker doesn't need shit and has marketable fucking skills he can take to another manufacturing job.

(For those unaware of how the garnishing of funds works in a bankruptcy:

From the Chapter 11 bankruptcy wiki:

As a general rule secured creditors—creditors who have a security interest, or collateral, in the debtor's property—will be paid before unsecured creditors. Unsecured creditors' claims are prioritized by § 507. For instance the claims of suppliers of products or employees of a company may be paid before other unsecured creditors are paid. Each priority level must be paid in full before the next lowest priority level may receive payment.

From the Chapter 7 bankruptcy wiki:

Fully-secured creditors, such as collateralized bondholders or mortgage lenders, have a legally-enforceable right to the collateral securing their loans or to the equivalent value, a right which cannot be defeated by bankruptcy. A creditor is fully secured if the value of the collateral for its loan to the debtor equals or exceeds the amount of the debt. For this reason, however, fully-secured creditors are not entitled to participate in any distribution of liquidated assets that the bankruptcy trustee might make.

So, in short, it goes:
1) Senior debtholders
2) Junior debtholders
3) Preferred shareholders
4) Common shareholders

In this case, the Indiana bondholders are #1 on that list and should rightfully get all of their collateral back, not the greedy assholes at UAW just so they can go to the hospital when they have the sniffles and won't have to pay out of pocket (we can't let THAT happen)

I understand this isn't technically a bankruptcy for Chrysler, but there's still a good case to be made here concerning the secured debtholders getting the shaft in favor of the UAW (who is getting a bigger stake than the company PURCHASING Chrysler. Another example of why unions are greedy and antiquated)

This is just another example of big government taking hold of another piece of the American dream. It's another example of capitalism dying a slow and terrible death.

Socialism is coming, folks, and it's going to be ugly