There are three good reasons why Congress should reject this legislation:
a. It is immoral—Dumping bad debt on the innocent taxpayers is an act of theft and is wrong.
b. It is unconstitutional—There is no constitutional authority to use government power to serve special interests.
c. It is bad economic policy—By refusing to address the monetary system while continuing to place the burdens of the bailout on the dollar, we can be certain that in time, we will be faced with another, more severe crisis when the market figures out that there is no magic government bailout or regulation that can make a fraudulent monetary system work.
Monetary reform will eventually come, but, unfortunately, Congress’ actions this week make it more likely the reform will come under dire circumstances, such as the midst of a worldwide collapse of the dollar. The question then will be how much of our liberties will be sacrificed in the process. Just remember what we lost in the aftermath of 9-11.
The best result we can hope for is that the economic necessity of getting our fiscal house in order will, at last, force us to give up our world empire. Without the empire we can then concentrate on rebuilding the Republic.
I was told to "GET OVER YOURSELF". I'm trying to figure out what that means. Does it mean I'm jumping to conclusions, or does it mean what I say doesnt matter?
i.e. What is said to someone who takes themselves a bit too seriously and is one snotty way to tell someone "chill out already". sheesh, bob, GET OVER YOURSELF, yer not the great and that's why she left you for your neighbors' dog.
i.e. Patronising phrase used to tell someone that you believe they hold too high an opinion of themselves, or are behaving in a conceited or pompous manner. You wouldn't be seen dead in shorts? Please! Get over yourself!
i.e. a phrase little pussies use when they can't win an argument with a real counterpoint. just, get over yourself. wow, that's the best you could do....
i.e. If youre the one saying it youre JEALOUS if youre the one being said to it means SHUT UP
1. I went to a birthday party at a video game / bar place. I've been there several times, and it's OK. I actually really like the atmosphere and the noise. I also enjoy not just standing around, to actually play skeeball, bubble or air hockey. The video games I can do without, but the driving games are fun. I'm not regretting it, I just have a hard time justifying paying to play the games. I've always been this way.
2. The Detroit Lions fired President Matt Millen and everyone is asking me if I am happy about it. Well I'm not sad about it, but it really means nothing to me. It should have been done 5 years ago. The damage has been done, and this team is 3 years from being respectful, assuming they get the right management in place. The problem is, the same people own the team. It's like the bailout; the govt taking over is supposed to make me feel better about it all? They're the friggin problem!
3. Yeah I watched the first presidential debate. I was more into seeing comments online after from those who just don't like McCain and drink the Obama Kool Aid (aka Fool Aid). Or those who just don't like Obama, and now think McCain is the best thing since sliced bread. It's an American Idol contest I tell ya, and you should all be ashamed if you are voting for who you think looks or sounds better. You should, you should, you should!
5. With Halloween right around the corner someone has to explain this to me: What is up with all the women who dress up very slinky like hookers? Really what is up with the need to go out looking like a hootchie? I'm not complaining, just curious.
4. One of my favorite movies of all time is IL POSTINO. I saw it again this weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it yet again. This will always be a top 10 movie for me, despite it's political oppositions to my personal philosophy. Yet the poetry of Neruda and the constant search to find beauty in life is why I love this movie. Go rent it.
6. My friend complains that he has no money. Yet he smokes about a pack a day, which is roughly $5 or so. That's somewhere around $1300 a year. Am I missing something here? I know I wasn't good in math during school, but I must be missing something. I think I'll buy him some Kleenex to help with his crying.
[This blog is brought to you by the word fastidious and the number 6.]
7. The shortest path to a happy life is found through conscious choice.
8. They say that swearing displays a lack of intelligence. I tend to agree damn it. Ever hang around someone that uses the F word like it's a conjunction or adjective let alone just a verb for common say usage? It seems that swearing is just so common place, that it's not swearing anymore. It's lost it's effect. We went to eat after our softball game, and my friend brought his kid. Every other word out of every one's mouth was some cuss or swear word. We all recognized it after saying it, but it was always too late and thus we felt bad. We are a dumb softball team.
9. The reason for traffic delays is usually the result of one person not paying attention to the flow of traffic by going too slow or cutting someone off. It's usually one person on a phone, or texting (who me? noooo!), or putting on their makeup. I've noticed though that this person when you finally pass them are just driving totally oblivious to the world around them. They have no sense of urgency, or any sense of respect to the rest of the drivers. They are the ones at fault, who cause accidents, cause lives, road rage, and billions of dollars in productivity. Please don't be one of these people on the road. Make the world a better place and friggin drive! I don't want to hate you, but I will.
10. There's a concept in marketing called The Tipping Point. Where a series of events repeated over and over, finally change the way a product is accepted, or a brand is entrenched widely. Does the same concept apply to relationships? Is there a tipping point though in a failed relationship where a series of bad things occur over and over that it's time to end it, and it's lost. Or is the tipping point usually just one event like an affair or abuse?
CREATION A man said to his wife one day, 'I don't know how you can be so stupid and so beautiful all at the same time. 'The wife responded, 'Allow me to explain. God made me beautiful so you would be attracted to me; God made me stupid so I would be attracted to you !
WHO DOES WHAT A man and his wife were having an argument about who should brew the coffee each morning. The wife said, 'You should do it because you get up first, and then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee. The husband said, 'You are in charge of cooking around here and you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee.'
Wife replies, 'No, you should do it, and besides, it is in the Bible that the man should do the coffee.' Husband replies, 'I can't believe that, show me.'
So she fetched the Bible, and opened the New Testament and showed him at the top of several pages, that it indeed says 'HEBREWS'
Led Zeppelin is now planning a 2009 tour. Robert Plant has decided to join Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and Jason Bonham.
The question is, how much will tickets be and where will they play? Easily the could load the Silverdome over a couple of nights. Most likely it will be Ford Field for just one night. So tickets will probably be $500 and up at least.
Hmmmm Lions season tickets or a once in a lifetime concert? The people who live in my head want to know what I'll do.
It's been a long time since I've rock and rolled...
Patriotism Starts at the Top, Sen. Biden By Arnold Ahlert (bio)
Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden thinks paying more taxes is “patriotic.” You wanna talk patriotism, Mr. Biden? Here we go…
First and foremost, let’s talk about why Joe thinks people should pay more taxes: to fund a government run with no concept of fiscal responsibility. Zero. This year’s budget is close to three trillion dollars. That’s a number so large it’s almost meaningless, so let me put some meaning behind it: Since the population of the entire country is 300 million, every single American is getting charged an average of TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS apiece by our “patriots” in Congress.
Here’s some of the things those patriots get just for themselves: staffs of 14 assistants for each member of the House and 34 for each Senator, on average. Top-notch health care and insurance plans. Pension benefits two to three times more than those paid in the private sector on similar incomes. Limousines, and special parking spaces on Capitol Hill and at Washington’s two major airports. First-class travel all over the world. Their own private health clubs, one for the House, one for the Senate. Their own doctor’s office on premises. And last, but not least, a work schedule with numerous holidays and a full month off in August.
All of it paid for by us.
You wanna be a patriot, Joe? Here’s a few suggestions: Get you and your colleagues to stop taking earmarks. Cut down on your staffs. Pay for your own health and life insurance. Travel coach. Stop pretending you’re “one of us” when nothing could be further from the truth. Oh, and one more thing:
Stop spending us into economic ruin–even as you have the gall to tell us it’s for our own good!
Spending other peoples’ hard-earned money isn’t patriotic, Joe, especially when most Americans know that billions of dollars are wasted on out-of-date and ineffective programs. Programs whose primary functions are to bribe certain constituencies–or to make guys like you look good. Take a gander at Congressional poll numbers, Joe. Most of us don’t think you guys look good at all. Most of us think Congress stinks to high heaven.
I do want to thank you for one thing however, and that’s letting the cat out of the bag on what you and Barack Obama consider “change.” Who could imagine such “revolutionary” ideas as taking even more money out the private sector and giving it to government to “redistribute”–in the middle of an economic downturn, no less? Higher taxes on the “rich,” aka small business owners, is also pure genius. Why? They’ll fire “little people” employees to make up the difference. And what can possibly compare with the “brilliance” of putting us all in even deeper hock than the NINE TRILLION DOLLARS of debt that you and your cronies have already amassed with years of irresponsible spending?
That’s 35 years in the Senate just for you, Joe. 35 years of insinuating government deeper and deeper into the lives of every American. 35 years of ever-increasing amounts of waste, fraud, corruption and out-of-control spending by a bunch of self-interested, self-aggrandizing egotists.
Egotists whose concept of patriotism begins and ends with one idea: getting re-elected.
And you have the nerve to tell us WE should be more patriotic?
Take your “patriotism” and shove it, Senator Biden.
The financial meltdown the economists of the Austrian School predicted has arrived.
We are in this crisis because of an excess of artificially created credit at the hands of the Federal Reserve System. The solution being proposed? More artificial credit by the Federal Reserve. No liquidation of bad debt and malinvestment is to be allowed. By doing more of the same, we will only continue and intensify the distortions in our economy - all the capital misallocation, all the malinvestment - and prevent the market's attempt to re-establish rational pricing of houses and other assets.
Last night the president addressed the nation about the financial crisis. There is no point in going through his remarks line by line, since I'd only be repeating what I've been saying over and over - not just for the past several days, but for years and even decades.
Still, at least a few observations are necessary.
The president assures us that his administration "is working with Congress to address the root cause behind much of the instability in our markets." Care to take a guess at whether the Federal Reserve and its money creation spree were even mentioned?
We are told that "low interest rates" led to excessive borrowing, but we are not told how these low interest rates came about. They were a deliberate policy of the Federal Reserve. As always, artificially low interest rates distort the market. Entrepreneurs engage in malinvestments - investments that do not make sense in light of current resource availability, that occur in more temporally remote stages of the capital structure than the pattern of consumer demand can support, and that would not have been made at all if the interest rate had been permitted to tell the truth instead of being toyed with by the Fed.
Not a word about any of that, of course, because Americans might then discover how the great wise men in Washington caused this great debacle. Better to keep scapegoating the mortgage industry or "wildcat capitalism" (as if we actually have a pure free market!).
Speaking about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the president said: "Because these companies were chartered by Congress, many believed they were guaranteed by the federal government. This allowed them to borrow enormous sums of money, fuel the market for questionable investments, and put our financial system at risk."
Doesn't that prove the foolishness of chartering Fannie and Freddie in the first place? Doesn't that suggest that maybe, just maybe, government may have contributed to this mess? And of course, by bailing out Fannie and Freddie, hasn't the federal government shown that the "many" who "believed they were guaranteed by the federal government" were in fact correct?
Then come the scare tactics. If we don't give dictatorial powers to the Treasury Secretary "the stock market would drop even more, which would reduce the value of your retirement account. The value of your home could plummet." Left unsaid, naturally, is that with the bailout and all the money and credit that must be produced out of thin air to fund it, the value of your retirement account will drop anyway, because the value of the dollar will suffer a precipitous decline. As for home prices, they are obviously much too high, and supply and demand cannot equilibrate if government insists on propping them up.
It's the same destructive strategy that government tried during the Great Depression: prop up prices at all costs. The Depression went on for over a decade. On the other hand, when liquidation was allowed to occur in the equally devastating downturn of 1921, the economy recovered within less than a year.
The president also tells us that Senators McCain and Obama will join him at the White House today in order to figure out how to get the bipartisan bailout passed. The two senators would do their country much more good if they stayed on the campaign trail debating who the bigger celebrity is, or whatever it is that occupies their attention these days.
F.A. Hayek won the Nobel Prize for showing how central banks' manipulation of interest rates creates the boom-bust cycle with which we are sadly familiar. In 1932, in the depths of the Great Depression, he described the foolish policies being pursued in his day - and which are being proposed, just as destructively, in our own:
Instead of furthering the inevitable liquidation of the maladjustments brought about by the boom during the last three years, all conceivable means have been used to prevent that readjustment from taking place; and one of these means, which has been repeatedly tried though without success, from the earliest to the most recent stages of depression, has been this deliberate policy of credit expansion.
To combat the depression by a forced credit expansion is to attempt to cure the evil by the very means which brought it about; because we are suffering from a misdirection of production, we want to create further misdirection - a procedure that can only lead to a much more severe crisis as soon as the credit expansion comes to an end... It is probably to this experiment, together with the attempts to prevent liquidation once the crisis had come, that we owe the exceptional severity and duration of the depression.
The only thing we learn from history, I am afraid, is that we do not learn from history.
The very people who have spent the past several years assuring us that the economy is fundamentally sound, and who themselves foolishly cheered the extension of all these novel kinds of mortgages, are the ones who now claim to be the experts who will restore prosperity! Just how spectacularly wrong, how utterly without a clue, does someone have to be before his expert status is called into question?
Oh, and did you notice that the bailout is now being called a "rescue plan"? I guess "bailout" wasn't sitting too well with the American people.
The very people who with somber faces tell us of their deep concern for the spread of democracy around the world are the ones most insistent on forcing a bill through Congress that the American people overwhelmingly oppose. The very fact that some of you seem to think you're supposed to have a voice in all this actually seems to annoy them.
I continue to urge you to contact your representatives and give them a piece of your mind. I myself am doing everything I can to promote the correct point of view on the crisis. Be sure also to educate yourselves on these subjects - the Campaign for Liberty blog is an excellent place to start. Read the posts, ask questions in the comment section, and learn.
H.G. Wells once said that civilization was in a race between education and catastrophe. Let us learn the truth and spread it as far and wide as our circumstances allow. For the truth is the greatest weapon we have.
I am against bailing out banks. They have been victimizing their account holders for decades, and now their selfish decisions are backfiring on them. I don't think that a bailout is going to teach them to stop making these kinds of horrible decisions, and we'll probably end up right where we started if there are no TRUE financial reforms made. But if this package must be passed, then it should not get to banks for free. In addition to limits on executive pay packages, there needs to be full disclosure to the American public of which banks are taking the available funds, real time. The minute the money leaves the Treasury, the recipient's name and the amount of the fund gets posted on the Internet, publicly. These banks should be subject to enormous oversight for a period following the bailout, to make sure they are using the money appropriately, and not investing it in yet another market that is set for collapse. Further, those of us citizens who have made smart financial decisions (I'm pretty sure this amounts to better than 90% of home owners) and have managed to keep our mortgages up to date should be financially rewarded. I suggest reworking of the rules surrounding Private Mortgage Insurance, and a reworking of tax credits for homeowners. Likewise, I support the suggestion that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac be broken up into smaller entities. We all know that when investing, diversification protects a portfolio from suffering major losses. It's one of the first things that any financial advisor teaches their clients. If the government cannot follow this one very basic financial concept, then I say our country is in bigger trouble than this one package can solve. Finally, thank you for representing the state of Michigan for all these years. We are in a unique position of having suffered a greater number of losses than the states represented by most of your colleagues. But if you find that most of your constituents are against this bailout, it must be said that, even the citizens who suffer the most can see what a bad idea a free bailout is. I said it to a friend of mine...I wouldn't trust Bernanke and Paulson to hold my car keys while I eat in a nearby restaurant. Those who led us into this fray should not be allowed to handle this money. I say we wait and see who our next President appoints to these offices, and let them handle the bailout funds. This administration has done nothing up until now to help this problem, even though it has been going on for over 10 years. What harm will a few more months do?
The same U.S. treasury Paulson is the same Paulson that made 120 plus million 2 years ago w/ his wall street buds. It's the same Paulson who said a month ago the U.S. economy is in excellent shape Now he says, "Give me 700 billion immediatley, let me answer to no one, and i'll handle it."
Posted on Wednesday, September 24, 2008comments (2)
Love Mail Oh hockeyDino.. so sexy and illusive. Tell me more about football and women drivers and text messaging and tattoos. Please, I'm aching for your wisdom. Give it to me, baby!
Hate Mail You too sound like Rush Limbaugh. Very scary.
I'm against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG. Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a "We Deserve It" dividend.
To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.
Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..
So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billion that equals $425,000.00.
My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend.
Of course, it would NOT be tax free.
So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.
Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.
That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.
But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.
A husband and wife has $595,000.00.
What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?
Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads
Put away money for college - it'll be there
Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car - create jobs
Invest in the market - capital drives growth
Pay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improves
Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean - or else
Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.
If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( 'vote buy' ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.
If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!
As for AIG - liquidate it.
Sell off its parts.
Let American General go back to being American General.
Sell off the real estate.
Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't.
Sure it's a crazy idea that can 'never work.'
But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!
How do you spell Economic Boom?
I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion We Deserve It dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC
And remember, my plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.
Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.
A message from Ron Paul. You know, the guy who has been telling us along that our dollar is becoming worthless, and the Feds are screwing us over by printing paper money out of thin air. That wacko!
Dear Friends,
Whenever a Great Bipartisan Consensus is announced, and a compliant media assures everyone that the wondrous actions of our wise leaders are being taken for our own good, you can know with absolute certainty that disaster is about to strike.
The events of the past week are no exception.
The bailout package that is about to be rammed down Congress' throat is not just economically foolish. It is downright sinister. It makes a mockery of our Constitution, which our leaders should never again bother pretending is still in effect. It promises the American people a never-ending nightmare of ever-greater debt liabilities they will have to shoulder. Two weeks ago, financial analyst Jim Rogers said the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made America more communist than China! "This is welfare for the rich," he said. "This is socialism for the rich. It's bailing out the financiers, the banks, the Wall Streeters."
That describes the current bailout package to a T. And we're being told it's unavoidable.
The claim that the market caused all this is so staggeringly foolish that only politicians and the media could pretend to believe it. But that has become the conventional wisdom, with the desired result that those responsible for the credit bubble and its predictable consequences - predictable, that is, to those who understand sound, Austrian economics - are being let off the hook. The Federal Reserve System is actually positioning itself as the savior, rather than the culprit, in this mess!
• The Treasury Secretary is authorized to purchase up to $700 billion in mortgage-related assets at any one time. That means $700 billion is only the very beginning of what will hit us.
• Financial institutions are "designated as financial agents of the Government." This is the New Deal to end all New Deals.
• Then there's this: "Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency." Translation: the Secretary can buy up whatever junk debt he wants to, burden the American people with it, and be subject to no one in the process.
There goes your country.
Even some so-called free-market economists are calling all this "sadly necessary." Sad, yes. Necessary? Don't make me laugh.
Our one-party system is complicit in yet another crime against the American people. The two major party candidates for president themselves initially indicated their strong support for bailouts of this kind - another example of the big choice we're supposedly presented with this November: yes or yes. Now, with a backlash brewing, they're not quite sure what their views are. A sad display, really.
Although the present bailout package is almost certainly not the end of the political atrocities we'll witness in connection with the crisis, time is short. Congress may vote as soon as tomorrow. With a Rasmussen poll finding support for the bailout at an anemic seven percent, some members of Congress are afraid to vote for it. Call them! Let them hear from you! Tell them you will never vote for anyone who supports this atrocity.
The issue boils down to this: do we care about freedom? Do we care about responsibility and accountability? Do we care that our government and media have been bought and paid for? Do we care that average Americans are about to be looted in order to subsidize the fattest of cats on Wall Street and in government? Do we care?
When the chips are down, will we stand up and fight, even if it means standing up against every stripe of fashionable opinion in politics and the media?
Times like these have a way of telling us what kind of a people we are, and what kind of country we shall be.
Posted on Wednesday, September 24, 2008comments (2)
FOXSports.com and WDFN (1130 AM) is reporting that the Lions have removed team president and GM Matt Millen from his post, ending one of the most criticized tenures in Detroit sports history.
Jay Glazer is a Senior NFL Writer for FOXSports.com on MSN and also appears every week on FOX NFL Sunday as the network's NFL Insider.
Updated: September 24, 2008, 9:09 AM EST 9 comments
FOXSports.com has learned that the Lions have finally removed team president and GM Matt Millen from his post, unseating one of the most criticized executives in Detroit sports history.
Millen was informed of the move last night during a late-night high-level meeting. This morning several people within the building confirmed that he had large packing boxes in his office and he made his way around to different employees telling them of the move.
It is unclear if Millen was fired or removed himself from the equation but the news comes just days after Bill Ford, Jr. publicly stated he would have fired the GM if it was his decision but he lacked the authority to do so.
The Lions have started off horribly and the groundswell for Millen's demise has once again been strong. Unfortunately, that's nothing new as there have been events like the Millen Man March, an in-game walkout protest and calls for Millen's firing for years.
The Lions have won only one playoff game and are an NFL-worst 31-84 since Millen took over in 2001. They have also been a model of futility on the road and Millen has gone through three head coaches, none of whom have been able to turn the Lions into a winner.
Posted on Wednesday, September 24, 2008comments (2)
Wednesday is count day for metro Detroit schools. Attendance numbers will directly reflect how much financial aid districts receive from the state. The more students a district has, the more aid it will receive from the state.
Detroit Public Schools have a lot of events planned in hopes to get kids in class Wednesday. There will be parades, raffles, cookouts, giveaways, and pizza and ice cream parties. All to get students to show up.
Other area schools are doing the same thing. Some have the Detroit Pistons showing up. Others are giving away free cars and other incentives.
Inkster, Michigan has a 58% graduation rate. Somehow I don't think free ice cream is going to increase that problem. Let alone the fact having more money. If you suck, you suck.
This is better than having a bowl of Wheaties in the morning
AH Come on Dino, we need your vote buddy
Dino no thanks
AH We need the lesser of the 2 evils You'll never have no evil That's reality
AH Obama is not the lesser of 2 evils. but I still wont vote for either of the those 2 a$$ clowns. that's the TRUTH
AH What, you think McCain is better?
Dino For my pocket book,yes but only temporarily.
AH we are in this mess because of the Republicans
Dino Thats what I care about. not true
AH What do you mean? Bush hijacked the country Dude, we'll have no country if another Republican comes to power You can't have a cowboy rule a world superpower
Dino we are in this mess because of republicans, democrats, and those who do not care or follow the Constitution. We are also in this mess becasue congress let it happen. Because regulation was not enforced, and those with financial power screwed it all up. This is not a party issue. Follow the money trail..it goes to both sides of the aisle. both sides of the aisle also support the Iraq fiasco, including your American Idol candidate obama.
AH but Bush took the country to war Not the democrats That we all know
AH Use your brain, stop watching the evening news to get your information. Republican vs. Democrat is a silly game you are being sucked into. It's really a joke. AsadAnyone who spoke against him was labeled a terrorist so very few did
Dino oh please
AH on man, what does Iraq have to do with Al Qaeda? Are you kidding me?
Dino No one was against going after Al Qaeda, because your buddy Clinton would not.
AH I come from that part of the world I can't be folloed
AH I'm talking about Afghanastan. folled At least Clinton targeted the right person, Bush had his own agenda and disguised it with Al Qaeda Pathetic behavior They should have sacked the sucker The Republican record speaks for itself and it is terrible
There is unrest in the forest, There is trouble with the trees, For the maples want more sunlight And the oaks ignore their pleas.
The trouble with the maples, (And they're quite convinced they're right) They say the oaks are just too lofty And they grab up all the light. But the oaks can't help their feelings If they like the way they're made. And they wonder why the maples Can't be happy in their shade.
There is trouble in the forest, And the creatures all have fled, As the maples scream "Oppression!" And the oaks just shake their heads
So the maples formed a union And demanded equal rights. "The oaks are just too greedy; We will make them give us light." Now there's no more oak oppression, For they passed a noble law, And the trees are all kept equal By hatchet, axe, and saw.
As I started to grow up in college, one of the reasons why I shunned liberalism and embraced libertarianism was because of these people. The Earth First tree huggers.
Let My Love Open the Door Pete Townshend (he's mostly deaf ya know)
When people keep repeating That you'll never fall in love When everybody keeps retreating But you can't seem to get enough Let my love open the door Let my love open the door Let my love open the door To your heart When everything feels all over When everybody seems unkind I'll give you a four-leaf clover Take all the worry out of your mind Let my love open the door Let my love open the door Let my love open the door To your heart I have the only key to your heart I can stop you falling apart Try today, you'll find this way Come on and give me a chance to say Let my love open the door It's all I'm living for Release yourself from misery Only one thing's gonna set you free That's my love Let my love open the door Let my love open the door Let my love open the door To your heart When tragedy befalls you Don't let them bring you down Love can cure your problem You're so lucky I'm around Let my love open the door Let my love open the door Let my love open the door To your heart
1. Eva Mendes claims to have had sex in all 50 states. Tramp? Fidel Castro (the Gene Simmons of communism) claims to have slept with 35,000 women in his life. Should we care?
2. My buddy just restored his white 1967 Corvette Sting Ray. It still needs work, but it's classic American power for sure. I took it for a spin, and realized what a wonderful machine it really is. All that power. The question, is a sports car really a chick magnet. Some of my buddies are saying, if he can't get a chick with this, then he can't get a chick. What do you think? Are chicks really that enamoured by what a man drives?
3. The world's most infamous email-spammer has been sentenced to 4 years in jail. He has sent out millions of spam emails, and has helped thousands of others do the same. Thus causing countless hours of wasted time and resources while he got rich. Spam is evil, spam sucks, and spam is fattening. Aardvarks love chocolate.
5. More often than not, I get mis-read via email. Tones get misinterpreted and naturally I have to explain myself over and over. It gets tiring, but how does one overcome this? I believe the only way is to explain within detail every word, every phrase, every sentence as to not get misunderstood. Jerk.
4. I have a real problem bailing out the billionaires because they can't manage their companies correctly. It's not the role of government to do this. If so, when will it ever end? Who is next, the auto companies? Pro baseball teams? Let the free market take care of itself, with proper regulation. The way I see it, there should be enough regulation in place to offset or prevent this type of thing from happening. If that's not the case, then why did the regulation get installed in the first place? If it doesn't work, then remove it. If its in place, then we still have to bailout these morons...then we have a bigger issue.
6. I'm batman.
[ This blog is brought to you by the number 7.5 and the singing butler ]
7. My friend's kid got bit by a spider in her eye. It got swollen shot, and also created a contagious infection. Another friend of mine got bit by a brown recluse spider and was in the hospital for a few days very sick. I've also just learned a daddy long legs spider is the most poisonous spider in the world. Arachnophobia!
8. I've asked for a legal separation from the Detroit Lions. I will be filing for divorce. I need counseling, but I'm going alone to deal with it. I've made up my mind, and it's over. There's no point in continuing, when our relationship is just a charade. Why go on faking it? Life is too short, it's time I do what I have to do in my heart because it's the right thing to do. It benefits no one that I stick around.
9. My problem with birthday parties. They are almost always the same. I have a hard time attending them, I have a hard time giving them. I am at fault for giving boring unimaginative parties. I just never think about it, until it's too late. Wedding, birthday parties...come on people let's spice it up a little. I need some ideas. Oh, and some money too.
10. What is guilt? To feel guilty about something? I am told by a shrink friend of mind that it stems from self doubt. From the ability to not recognize any confidence in your thoughts or actions. That you should feel guilty due to some moral or ethical compromise. What causes one person to feel guilty about one thing, and the next person not guilty at all over that very same thing. Who is right, who is wrong? There is emotional guilt vs. intellectual guilt. Emotional guilt is when you feel shame even if you arent wrong. Could be the catholic thing ya know.
Bush's Billionaire Banker Bailout: Are You Kidding Me? By Walter Moore, Candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles, WalterMooreForMayor.com September 20, 2008 javascript:void(0) Is this $700 billion bailout some kind of a joke?
According to the New York Times, Bush wants to spend $700 billion to buy bad loans from banks and other investors, in addition to the $85 billion already spent on American International Group, and up to $200 billion for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. That's $985 billion. How much money is that? Glad you asked:
It's enough money to pay the starting salary of over 1.7 million police officers -- for 10 years.
It's enough money to pay the average annual premium for health insurance for over 40 million families for 20 years (i.e., $12,100 for a family of four).
You could buy 44 million people a Prius, if you're willing to settle for the $22,000 base model.
Heck, you could even buy 123 new aircraft carriers. Our entire Navy has a total of 11 aircraft carriers right now.
Or you could give $3,271 to every man, woman and child in the United States.
Why should America's taxpayers spend that kind of money -- or any tax money -- to "bail out" investers who gambled by buying "securitized" home loans that turned out to be worth less than hoped? That is the risk they took when they made the investment. If they wanted to avoid that risk, they could have put their money in a federally insured savings account.
If the banks and investment firms that bought bad home loans go bankrupt, so what? No homes will be destroyed. No buildings will disappear. Rather, people who made bad investments will suffer the consequences. It happens every day. Over 38,000 businesses and 934,000 individuals filed for bankruptcy in the 12 months ending June 30, 2008.
So what makes bad investments in securitized home loans different? This time, it's not you or me, Mr. and Ms. Middle Class, going bust. This time, it's happening to investment bankers -- people who have become accustomed to making more money in a year than you and I will in our lifetimes. They have money, and therefore political clout, and are trying to "pull a fast one" by making you and me think we will suffer unless they get our money.
Don't buy it. Don't buy the "pay up or the Great Depression returns" story at all. The only way you and I will suffer is if Bush and Congress use our money -- $700 billion of it -- to "buy" these worthless invesments, thereby moving them from the bankers' balance sheets to our balance sheet, as taxpayers.
This bailout out is a massive securities fraud, and you're being pressured to hurry up and approve it before anyone figures out what a massive rip-off it is.
Banks deserve to fail if they invest poorly. People who bought bank stocks, moreover, took that risk. If they had wanted a safe, federally insured investment, they could have and should have put their money into federally insured accounts. It's not fair for the rest of us to have to bail them out simply because they gambled and lost.
Will certain people have trouble getting new home loans. Sure. But they will have trouble whether the bailout occurs or not. None of the bailout money would to struggling homeowners to help them pay their mortgages. Not a dime. The tax burden of paying for the bailout, however, would fall on their shoulders -- and yours, as a taxpayer.
Now, I don't care if you're a Republican, a Democrat, or, like me, an independent: one thing we can all agree is wrong is to give billions in welfare to the rich. Please tell your United States Senator and your Congress Member to vote "no" on this billion-dollar -- nearly TRILLION-dollar -- boondoggle.
Posted on Saturday, September 20, 2008comments (2)
I never cared for John Lennon's politics, and Yoko is right up there with Sadam Hussein, Hillary Clinton, Oprah, and Cruella Deville as the greatest sinister characters in history. Yet, I dig this song, as I do most every Beatles song.
Then I came across this clip, which I think Paul sings the best. Then you'll hate me for singing this the rest of the day in your head.
I misquoted Senator Joe Biden when I said it's patriotic to raise taxes. Actually he says it is patriotic for those who can afford it to pay more in taxes than the middle class. It is patriotic to want one's country to be the best it can be, and patriotic for wealthy Americans to pay for it rather than allowing Communist China to lend it to us. It is patriotic for those who benefit the most from the society called America to contribute the most to its maintenance and security.
Now with that being said, that's even worse! Socialism serves no purpose other than to propagate more socialism. Socialism or focusing on creating class systems only leads to the death of individualism, capitalism, and responsibility. Biden could care less about the common man, and his rhetoric along with his policies keeps the man down.
So I stand corrected, but even more so, I stand against Joe Biden.
[You can now go back to your regularly scheduled programming.]
Posted on Thursday, September 18, 2008comments (1)
So the FED just bails out AIG. Did I approve of this? I don't think I did. So the Fed bails out Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac. Did I approve of this? I don't think I did. So the Fed is going to print more money out of thin air. This will devalue the dollar even more, and the price of goods will go up. Did I approved of this? I did not. So the media is now focusing on NObama and McSame to see if they are regulators or deregulators. Do I care?
No one listens...it's getting worse. My work is never done.
1. Will someone please explain Dame Edna to me. I've never ever thought he/she was funny or remotely entertaining. I suppose it's a British thing? Benny Hill she/he is not. I just do not get it, and I've tried.
2. So Sarah Palin was asked that if a NATO nation was attacked by Russia, should we go to war with them? She said yes, "Perhaps so". CTM (chuckle to myself). Did you see Tina Fey as Palin on SNL? It was PERFECT.
4. I really like bumpy cake.
3. Thanks to my friend Mike for this. He pointed out that Obama sounds like the former wrestler and current actor The Rock. Close your eyes next time you hear him speak, and then picture him saying, "Can you smell what the Rock is cookin?". They are identical. Although Obama is a better actor.
[ This blog is brought to you by the word tripod, and the number 4 ]
5. I'm digging the album by Raphael Saadiq. Not sure who he is or how long he's been around, but this new album is very cool. It's got that sixtys retro soul. Simple, clean, and groovy. Very much like Duffy. Check it out when you get a chance on YouTube.
6. Anyone every walk a path or ride a bike then get reprimanded by the spandex mafia? You know the 5 to 20 bike riders who come up behind you and yell TO THE LEFT or ON THE RIGHT and you have exactly 2 seconds to get out of the way. Hard to relax or take a stroll when these guys are out, and lately they are everywhere.
7. A tornado hit near where I live. I had no idea it happened until an hour after the fact. I heard no sirens, didnt know there was strong wind or even a storm. Yet it flipped 3 cars and took the roof off an apartment complex. Scary creepy scary freaky wow.
8. So I asked if she did anything? She said she has done nothing. I asked her if she is doing anything? She said she isn't doing anything. Is it really possible to do nothing? Isn't doing nothing something? Or is doing nothing, not really nothing at all?
9. My friend says she wants to hook me up with one of her friends. She said she is cute as a button (must mean overweight?). She says she is very nice (must be ugly?). She says she has a great personality (must be psycho?). She says she has really got it all together (must be a bitch). No thanks.
10. I've asked you to show me something, and give me something. You haven't. I've asked you to quit ignoring me, but you still do. I've asked you to show me you care and show some progress. I'm very tired of waiting and I deserve more. I respect you, why can't you respect me the same way? I just want it to work, yet you are stuck and not really realizing what it is you are doing, to me, to everyone. You are stubborn or unaware of your actions and how you hurt me. Why are you doing this to me? I've been so faithful, and committed to you for quite some time. I think I've proven my loyalty and shown how devoted I truly am for you. You carry on as though everything is fine, and as if nothing has happened. I do not understand. My deep love for you just exists, created from something greater. It doesn't mean though I can go or should go on like this much longer. I hurt and feel very alone. You The Detroit Lions, make me very angry and frustrated.
I agree with regards to Obama, McCain, and Biden, Palin may be different. But the problem doesn't really lie with the individuals, it resides in our "two party" system where the parties have grown so close together as to maintain an incestuous relationship, Hell, McCain's first choice for VP is a Democrat. There is a difference, but it is only by degrees, they have different ways of approaching their biggest goal and their biggest goal is the very same, to stay in control. The tax and spend stuff is only a means to do that. Both rob Peter to bribe Paul, thereby insuring they'll get Paul's vote, and it is working for them.
I'll admit that if someone of the Sam or Jason ilk can ever actually prove their claims with regard to Palin, I'll vote for Dr. Paul, I may do that anyway as I find McCain very distasteful, supporting Bush 90% of the time is too damned close to "lock step". Obama, voting with Nancy Pelosi et al. 97% of the time, which is "lock step", is not an option for me. The one thing, the only thing, he has been consistent with, both as a US Senator and an Illinois Legis-looter, has been being anti-Second Amendment.
In any tragic event in our Nation's history there were morons who didn't quite get the point! When JFK was shot, and I don't recall all the circumstances, but a lady shopper at the A&P on Plymouth Rd. made the comment to a cashier. as she was checking out...'he got what he disserved.' Also, on December 8th, 1941...when FDR asked the Congress to declare war on Japan, a US Senator from Nevada, felt that we should think about this situation, and continue our peace talks with Japan. She was removed from office the following spring, by a special election held in her state. Both are true stories. Even when a very good buddy of mine was killed in Nam, our next door neighbor told my dad...'they all deserve to be killed for what's going on over there.' My dad told me, and very few things would upset my dad, that he wanted to just beat the crap out of the neighbor. I look at things as they are, and all that I see is history repeating itself. So you see Dino, the only thing that changes are the dates on the calendar. People are the only constant. Never forget too the sacrifices that our countrymen make for the preservation of our Great Republic
Someone tell me why celebrities constantly talk about politics? Do we really care what they have to say? Are they really qualified to say anything of value? It's disgusting that they take their money and prop their own candidates. Yes I'm not just talking about the Hollywood left, there is a right faction as well. However the left side is comprised mostly of idiots who spew nothing of importance. Here is a clear example of blah blah blah.
Posted on Thursday, September 11, 2008comments (4)
What I remember from 9.11.01 aside from the horrific shots on tv, was being at work and seeing how people reacted.
I'll never forget that I got a few emails that something just happened. So I ran to my bosses office and turned on the tv. My friend and I watched it. We would go back to our desks and were on the internet looking for more information. The internet was moving very slow. CNN.com kept on crashing.
My friend in New York wrote me that he could see what was going on from his building in mid-town. He won't talk about it till this day.
I remember my family calling New Jersey because our cousin worked near there. It was crazy.
Oddly enough my friend and I were thinking the world was falling apart. I looked out the window and the freeways were jammed because companies were letting their employees go home. Not ours though. I also recall 5 members from my team were in a meeting room carrying as if nothing happened, and laughing and making jokes about it. It still bothers me that they did this.
It will always bother me for some reason. Sure they didn't know the details, but did you really have to know the details? Was work really that important at the time. I just didn't understand the casual nature of their attitudes.
So every 9/11 I think about that, and it makes me shake my head in disbelief.
From: hockeyDino what does god have to do with liberalism or conservatism?
From: JS God has everything to do with it. God created mankind and mankind created liberal or conservative. When people lose hope or a relationship with God, we are not doing human purpose, God tells us to lead people to him. faith based initiaitves are an attempt to save those people you are scared to hell of. Bush is attempting to save Americans morals after Clinton had a negative impact on morals in America. How can you argue that?
From: hockeyDino How can I argue that? That's the silliest thing I've ever read in my life!
1. Every time there is a hurricane or tropical storm, we inevitably have to see weather reporters standing in the wind. Do we really need to see this? What is the point? What a waste of time, money, and resources to have these people along with their equipment there. Cities are evacuating and people are scrambling, yet these guys have to stick around and report what exactly? Clueless producers. Show me the footage after the fact, not a bunch of rain and debris flying around.
2. I've yet to meet a woman, who cannot look at the steering column or shifter when going from reverse to drive. It's possible there are women out there who do this (Danica Patrick), but I don't know any, nor do any of my friends. Just watch when she is going out of the driveway, she'll look down to move into another gear. Imagine all of the time spent over the course of a lifetime doing this! Hours upon hours of this impeding driving reaction. You know who you are!
4. Fans of the University of Michigan Wolverines can now buy a bottle of wine called Bo Merlot. Named after the late coach Bo Schembechler. I think this is slappy city. I do love Merlot, but it doesn't like me. Merlot and Chianti have a certain grape extract that no likey me.
3. There was no remorse from Kwame Kilpatrick, the mayor who resigned from office, over his wrong doings. None. In fact, his going away speech was nothing short of a preliminary rally meeting when he'll run for reelection in the future. And yes, he'll win. He'll win because Detroit deserves him. You deserve the government that is yours.
[ This blog is brought to you by the number 300 and the word vexation ]
5. There is a new product out called "my child's backpack" which is a bullet proof backpack. It can stop 97 percent of conventional bullets. Now have we gone too far, or is this a good thing? Shoot, I just don't know anymore.
6. I have always though the campaign called "Rock the Vote" was silly and not needed. Why would I want to get people to vote, who don't know they need to vote in the first place? Do we really need to educate the uneducated with such simple items that they should have learned about in school? I don't want these people voting! I don't want 18 to 22 year olds pot heads who are anti-everything voting.
7. Are you too old to wear your baseball hat backwards after the age of 30? I've been told this is taboo and that I shouldn't do it anymore. Not that I care, but I do have some sense of "dork factor awareness" that I pay attention to.
8. I love to have Sunday Night football or baseball on. I find it relaxing, and it's a tradition for me. What I don't like about the football show is how they dumb it down on NBC. Give me my ESPN football back...yes there was a difference. I also cannot stand how they put Faith Hill as the show opening emcee. What is the point? You know what else bugs me about sports on tv..the credits. Who cares who produced the show? Who cares who directed it? The people who create these shows have egos like you wouldn't believe. Get over yourselves...we don't care. We don't.
9. I'm probably not very smart when it comes to grocery shopping. In fact I don't really think about it, until the fridge is empty. That being said I don't use coupons like I should and I know I could save. Now my friend bought 8 bottles of Powerade at 59 cents each, then got a coupon for $4 off so then 8 bottles final cost 72 cents total. Now is that a deal? To me it would be more of a deal to not spend the 72 cents, and actually buy something of nutritional value - then that would be a deal. That's like saving on buying cigarettes..are you really saving when it is not needed? See what I mean Jean?
10. The Detroit Lions have started another season. The worst franchise in sports history is at it again. They will end up giving us more of nothing, with more false hopes (of which I have none), and silly promises. The Chicago Cubs have been lovable losers. The Lions have been the opposite. There is nothing to love about this team. It's so sad, so freaking sad it's funny. I'm so tired of waiting. I have no hope. Apathy? Pathetic. Dear God what have I done to deserve this as my team!!!
If you are interested following our tailgating crew's woes being Detroit Lions season ticket holders, stop on over at http://www.churchofnfl.com/. You can sign up for blog updates there as well. If not, pray for our souls which have been sucked out of our bodies to remain in utter limbo for eternity.
A study says that fans of classical music and jazz are creative, pop lovers are hardworking and, despite the stereotypes, heavy metal listeners are gentle, creative types who are at ease with themselves.
The concluded that jazz and classical music fans are creative with good selfesteem, Country and western fans were found to be hardworking and shy..rap fans are outgoing and indie lovers lack self esteem and are not gentle.
Those who like soul music are creative, outgoing, gentle, at ease with themselves and have a high self esteem.
And if you've ever wondered why people driving expensive sports cars often have music blaring from their vehicle, North could have an explanation.
Those who choose to listen to exciting, punchy music are more likely to be in a higher earning bracket while those who go for relaxing sounds tend to be lower down the pay scale.
There could be some merit to that, but when I was a metal head, I made nothing. I like pop and jazz (real jazz not pop jazz), and I'm not exactly gentle. All in all I think it's hogwash. You like what you like. I really wonder if this study was government sponsored or not. I suppose a marketing company would like to know the results. As for me, it just doesnt apply. I like metal, I like rock, I like alternative, I like old real country, I like opera, classical and jazz. I just don't like country or rap, so what does that make me besides super cool?
Posted on Thursday, September 04, 2008comments (1)
See ya Kwame...you thug!
It kills me when anyone talks in the third person, especially those who fail to realize the world does not evolve around them. That's how the resigning mayor of Detroit conducts himself.
I find it odd how people cheered the mayor when he was giving his farewell speech tonight. Hello, why are you praising a criminal headed for prison? Support your friend, your family, the person you love/like...but do not cheer a criminal. It serves no purpose, and it just embarrasses yourself
" setting me up for a comeback" Kwame. Yeah we can't wait for you to come back and be the mayor again, because we know the bozos will vote you back in. Kwame, you are a disgrace to the city of Detroit, to the people of Michigan. Granted, the people deserve the government that is theirs, but they can always change their mind. He'll back..just wait and see.
Let's hope Detroit and Michigan can start to turn things around. Let's hope the so called leaders can shut up about breaking bread, about praying, about bonding, and all that other useless rhetoric that has done nothing for 40 years.
I am more of a liberal.. I analyze the facts.. I try my best to make a choice based on what they can do for the whole... I am sorry if I lean towards those that are more or less in a degree in favor of the middle class. because we are becoming outnumbered.. A dying breed really.. Our empire is dying Dino.. I don't know what your thoughts are on that.. But slowly but surely.. That happens to every great empire.. Spain, England, .. you name it.. So in my opinion.. and on my behalf.. I am a liberal. I choose to disagree where necessary.. when necessary! Despite the views of a particular political party!
My response: Liberals dont analyze facts, they act on emotion. Socialism never worked, thats why things are they way they are. FACT. We are a dying empire because we werent designed to be an empire.
Posted on Thursday, September 04, 2008comments (3)
Instant message sent at 6:46 AM on Thursday
AH Obama over McCain anytime
Dino screw that
AH you hear Sarah's speech?
Dino no
AH It was pathetic
Dino so they all are
AH What choice do you have?
Dino vote your conscience. this is not American idol
AH Come on, Bush has failed, you don't want another Bush in power
Dino no I don't. i also don't want jimmy carter in power
AH He isn't Jimmy Carter
Dino yeah he is
AH Dino, your vote counts man
Dino taxes will rise big time my vote does count, and I will not vote for a neocon or a socialist - EVER
AH I guarantee you things will improve when the Dems come to power
Dino that's funny like Granholm? like Kwame? like a democratic senate? like a democratic house of reps?
AH forget about the MI Dems
Dino come one dems are dems
AH I am talking about Dems as a whole
Dino a socialist is a socialist everywhere. get real dems as a whole scare the hell out of me
AH Socialism is better than capitalism
Dino they dont care about the Constitution
AH Anytime
Dino BULL$HIT
AH What do you mean?
Dino thats fu-kin bullshit Capitalism is what makes the world go round.
AH Americans have no health insurance
Dino SO!
Ah Is that acceptable?
Dino YES get a friggin job
AH they are no jobs
Dino health care is not a right why are their no job??? jobs?
AH It should be
Dino bull$hit I dont work for you, and I shouldn't taxes solve nothing. Government has never made jobs that meant anything
AH But what have corporations done?
Dino in the history of the world, government does not create prosperity, individuals do.
AH Made people slaves to them That is capitalism
Dino corporations that sleep with the govt are bad for us. that is not capitalism
AH 10% super rich and the rest don't matter
Dino you are confusing the two you are falling for the old democrat bullshit line about the rich.
AH No I am not There is no such thing as ideal capitalism And there never will be
Dino the big companies are bad..because they are treated specially. they are dems and republicans. dont be fooled. there is such a thing. its being squashed
AH Communism failed for the same reason
Dino Communism fails because they realize capitalism works better. i.e. China i.e Russia
AH Socialism is the best
Dino then move to a country where you have no rights.
AH Europe they have rights
Dino this country was not founded on socialism. the problems we have are the direct results of socialism
AH In fact, they influence their government more then here What rights do we have?
Dino the only country worth a damn these days is Ireland. the only country that is embracing capitalism. lower taxes.
AH We can't even impeach a president you lied to his own people
Dino what is the value of the Euro? it's crap
AH It's not crap
Dino I have to go...but I'll teach you later.
AH always good talking to you buddy
[name of the clueless has been edited to protect the clueless]
Hate Mail Gee, it seems like just yesterday you were flogging foxfire, how quickly you change. Next you will be voting for Obama (when you wise up that is!)
Tired of IE, not sure of Firefox...try the new web browser from Google. I'm giving it a shot. Looks very simple to use, and I'm a fan of tab browsing. IE's security is horrible, and Firefox is a memory hog...so this may be what I've been looking for.
One box for everything Type in the address bar and get suggestions for both search and web pages.
Thumbnails of your top sites Access your favorite pages instantly with lightning speed from any new tab.
Shortcuts for your apps Get desktop shortcuts to launch your favorite web applications.
More on the features here: http://tools.google.com/chrome/intl/en-US/features.html
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