NEW YORK -- Stock futures pointed to a mixed open Thursday after the government's decision late Wednesday to give an additional $3.8 billion in funding to bolster GMAC's mortgage division. Futures for the S&P 500 were higher by 2.2 points at 1,124.3 and were 2.23 points above fair value. Futures for the Nasdaq were off by half of a point and were 0.8 points below fair value. After the close of trading Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury said it would commit $3.8 billion in new capital to automotive lender GMAC, which comes on top of the $12.5 billion GMAC received from the Treasury previously and increases the government's stake in the company to 56% from 35%. Absolute insanity. Thankfully, they have a bottomless pit of money to dip into.

I think my neighbor finally caught on that I was stealing his internet signal. He put a password on a day or two ago. I called him to strike a deal. He called back and said he was changing service providers...and that perhaps we could cut a deal after that... Which brings me to the rant of the day. Is anyone getting sick of these SHITTY cellphone providers and their greedy games?? I signed up with AT&T a few years ago after Verizon decided to over charge me month after month for roaming fees even though I had signed up for a nationwide plan. Their greediness meant that every month I had to call and eliminate the 15 or 20 bucks that they tried to screw me out of every month when I received the bill. After 6 or 7 months of that re-occurring madness, I gave up and switched providers. AT&T became my next battleground. For two years every thing went hunky dory. My bill always resembled my original plan costs. Then I re-signed for one of those two year deals when they dangled that ...

New jobless claims around 460,000. Nobody has a clue exactly how many people are unemployed. How can we find that data? Easy. It's called tax returns. Or tax non returns. Surely our transparent government will supply the data...ahhh..who cares...it's Christmas Eve. A couple thousand years ago- a man was born. The son of God and his name was Jesus Christ. And although he committed no crime he was executed by man. Each year at this time we celebrate his birth. The American version of Christmas is that we go out and waste a lot of money buying worthless shit for our families and friends. I guess this is the capitalist way of celebrating the life of a man that had absolutely nothing to do with the wanting of materialistic crap. Today I will finish buying worthless shit for my family. They will pretend they love it. I will pretend to love the worthless shit they buy me. I will be thankful that they are all alive and well, reasonably happy, and each year as I grow older I look at my ...

This piece is classic. I shall save it for later. Geithner "believes" job growth will resume in the spring. I couldn't resist posting it here. Why? Why would anyone hire as soon as this spring. More taxes? Health care costs? Banks that aren't lending? A consumer less recovery? Just who is going to start spending and what are they going to spend? You can drink this Kool Aid if you want...take a sip here if you'd like: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091223/ap_on_bi_ge/us_geithner_economy

Sorry for spamming the followers today. A lot of interesting stuff. This article is about President Transparency. He talks a great game of transparency but alas he doesn't show up with one. http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/12/mr_obama_tear_down_your_wall_o.html Another great article from a writer who thinks deflation is still a possibility and looming at American Thinker. Deflation is my secret fantasy. That and a night with Janine Lindemulder. Love to see all those debt holders, including Frankie, circling the drain...that at the same time Janine shows up with a box of toys and a bottle of viagra in one hand, her clothes in the other. Be like those ballplayers in "Field of Dreams." Is this heaven?

I snitched this online poll. Another 25,000 delusional people. Don't you guys know? The recession has been over for two months. Man of the Year- Ben Bernanke said so. To be sure, I think people suffering through hard times are more inclined to participate in these polls. Just a guess, maybe wrong. Answers at the bottom. Savings Center poll 1. How has the recession affected your finances? 1. My situation is dire. 2. My pocketbook is feeling a pinch. 3. I'm doing about the same. 4. My bottom line has improved. 2. Do you think the recession is going to get worse? 1. Yes. 2. No. 3. I don't know. Vote to see results Click here to see results without voting 1. How has the recession affected your finances? 1. My situation is dire. 25% 2. My pocketbook is feeling a pinch. 43% 3. I'm doing about the same. 27% 4. My bottom line has improved. 5%...

Gosh, how can this be? For many months I have been ranting about this Depression. Why? Because politicians and government workers have been manipulating every conceivable number and understating how severe this economic situation has been. It is politically expedient for them to do so. To tell the truth, to state publicly that you are inept and have done an absolute shit job of running this country, well that kind of honesty probably won't get you re-elected. And it shouldn't. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34519544/ns/business-washington_post A perfect example of this happens today. The original and hugely inflated GDP number for the last quarter is about to get revised downward again. It was manipulated by government giveaways like "cash for clunkers." My thought on this is simple. If you are going to engage in dishonest conduct, one time aberrations like "clunkers", then all auto sales associated with clunkers should have been eliminated from GDP numbers. Ju...

Well at least they didn't say she died of natural causes. http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=448013&GT1=28101 Latest newsflash. Now they are. http://omg.yahoo.com/news/actress-brittany-murphy-dies-in-la-at-age-32/32971?nc Look- here's the deal. I grew up in a world when telling the truth mattered. When people committed suicide, it got printed that way. When they died of alcohol and drug overdoses it was stated. I have great compassion for the families who suffer a terrible loss. It is absolutely gut wrenching and I have seen it many times, firsthand. But those people die in vain every time we decide to filter and obscure the truth and the cause of their deaths. I had a near and dear friend tell me once that alcoholism and drug addiction often result in jail, hospitals, and death. He was right. He graduated about three months later. He did not die in vain. Someday, maybe we will reconsider telling the truth as something that has greater value than some minority o...

Frankenstein Government can't rein in their spending, so now they are on the attack looking for tax "cheats" and offering rewards. http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Taxes/Advice/RatOutYourNeighborsGetPaidByTheIRS.aspx Fortunately, they have a two million dollar threshold which pretty much insulates anybody who knows me, friends patiently waiting on a torn bar stool and the promise of two for one well drinks at the Vista Bar. Maybe I could get a job as a tax cheat informant. Maybe infiltrate some lavish parties, spark a conversation or two about Cayman bank accounts. I 'd have to be discreet. Use my head lest I stumble into Mayor Johnson or any of Obama's cabinet appointees. Wind up like that poor sap Walpin. Maybe I could focus my efforts on elite republicans. Barack would like that. The only tax cheat I am concerned with is a government that stole my taxes to bail out bankers, insurance companies, and car manufacturers. Using my tax dollars to buy cars and hou...

The stock market dived to around the 6500 level just a little under a year ago. This was predicated on the banking "crisis." It was probably priced close to fair value at that point. The move from 6500 to 10,500 was huge. You do the percentage math if you have to. If I had a dollar for every equity investor, broker, and analyst that said, "the stock market predicts economic activity six months in advance" I could pay off the national debt. Ok, so all you boys and girls can read the same book. Good. So, tell me, where is this big ass economic boom? The big market rally has been on since March yet that was nearly nine months ago... The answer is, it is a lie. A myth. And it always was. With the dollar cratering and diluted, with GDP numbers crashing and being manipulated by 8000 dollar housing subsidies, free school money, and "cash for clunkers", there was no real economic pickup. No GDP growth. Politicians trying to manipulate and create an illusion. Guess...

I love great tasting whine. And for some reason, I like this story. Maybe it's the former beauty queen of a contest with what appears to be few competitors. I'm not sure, but ya know sweetheart...you could always get a job. Be forewarned, you will need Kleenex. http://celebglitz.com/37567/Celebrity-Gossip/man-wins-lottery-leaves-wife.aspx

For sale: Compact frontal lobe and medulla oblongata. Used very little. Pls. contact San Fran Nan for more information. The health care bill is garbage. A bailout for insurance companies. Great article here by a Democrat with a brain and conscience. I know, I know, those three things are generally mutually exclusive but not always. See it here: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/HealthCare/howard-dean-health-care-bill-bigger-bailout-insurance/story?id=9349392

It just never ends... First the elite bankers and their too "big too fail banks" are allowed to pillage America. Then they go broke. In the fall of 2008, Hank Paulson does his "sky is falling routine" with a few others and bails them out. Knowing full well-that his term at the Treasury is up and no matter what happens he is walking away and won't get held accountable. Now Citibank, one of the biggest recipients of TARP funds, is going to pay off the loan. What little money taxpayers might have made on the deal has been lost as the US Treasury and the IRS have negotiated a secret little deal with Citi that gives them enormous tax breaks- and effectively strips away any profit we might have made. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34442183/ns/business-washington_post Our fearless leader, amidst his hope and change rhetoric, has remained uncharacteristically quiet about tax breaks for US taxpayers. Although prior to his election, he maintained that he would remove the pen...

I cannot make this shit up. Today I was watching CNBC and listening to the usual "buy stocks they are cheap and they make you rich bullshit" that they parrot all day. One of the interviewees got all tongue tied, grasping for words as he tried to explain the "underground economy." It was like he was fearful and stuttering when he said people were performing work and getting paid under the table. He called it the "underground economy." No kidding. And he even added that the government knows about it. Like it was some secret and they were going to lock him up for even mentioning this on network tv. I am still laughing my ass off. I've known about the "underground economy" my whole life. So have all of you. There was a day when I criticized and labeled people as tax cheats. That day has passed. I see the world differently now. I see it as inclusive. I see cheating taxes as more of a necessity. It became necessary when the government began strippi...

So today Citibank announced they are paying back TARP. Obama asks banks to lend more. So what Mr. Hopey Changy, do you think banks will listen to you? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8412852.stm Why would banks listen to you when they can get free dough from the Fed and buy treasuries financed by us? Dude, you need a brain retread. Really. This is what Harvard produces? Citibank is going to raise 20 billion in an equity offering and pay off government loans. That way they can continue to operate as elitists and pay themselves huge salaries without the vigilance of the government and without taking orders from a narcissist in a suit. They can continue to pillage Americans. And ignore the great Won. Taxes for bailouts or taxes to pay bond interest and principal. Either way, they bend us over. That's a beautiful thing made possible by Frankenstein Government. Some people are starting to grow a brain. I add this to the growing swarm. Google and giggle. ...

When 98 year old grannys kill 100 year old grannys, trust me, the end is near. They said John Wesley Hardin shot a man for snoring once. Our 100 year old victim was apparently getting too many visitors. You should always know who you are bunking with. Geezus, I gotta run. Throw my roommate's shit out on the front lawn, change locks. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8409246.stm

I'm a little miffed. For 24 years, I actually spent a considerable amount of time breaking up fights, arresting drunks, keeping the peace. I may have even prevented a death or two. Not only did I prevent carnage, but I suffered some carnage in the process. Yet in all those years, not one solitary person ever nominated me-nor did I even get an honorable mention for a Nobel Peace Prize. What gives? Shit-I even have witnesses. So some dude, who has yet to do anything other than be a professional student or teacher, gets a Nobel Peace Prize? A dude that is authorizing two wars and 30,000 more troops? Here's my favorite part. Obama said we have to "uphold standards when waging wars that are justified and necessary." Have you ever met anyone waging a war that didn't think it was justified? Hitler, Bin Laden? That is how you get a peace prize? Here's the logic. When we finally manage to kill everyone, we will have peace. A snippet... More ...

There were only two possibilities. I'd either be dead or 49 today. Fortunately, it is the latter. And while President Obama either sees fit to blame Bush for all that ails us, he is just as quick to take credit for things that would have happened without him. So... Instead of giving the credit for my temporary survival to President Obama, I am going to give the credit to a God of my understanding and pray that she sees fit to see me through to age 50 and the black balloon party. In the meantime, let's check the Won's report card...this is the transparent one. For the visually challenged, click to enlarge.

Virtual insanity. Ace of Spades HQ and American Thinker are two excellent websites. American Thinker is well written but not above reproach. Some writers are simply in err and I fact check them frequently. Ace of Spades HQ is another excellent site. Think of it as American Thinker on steroids with a bunch of ego maniacs who all think they are smarter and more clever than anyone else, chiming in and posting their comments. It's like a mongrel dog pound and they don't let any independent thoughts or a cat, inside. The problem with both sites is that they view themselves as right wing and correct. I abhor lefty sites because lefties are just as self centered and ego driven, perhaps worse, than the righties. And these two idiot factions, the extreme left and right, represent war. Two drunken idiots beating each other up, while the gal they are fighting over, sneaks out the back door with whoever is available-because they are distracted. That metaphor is apt. Government doesn't ...

In just a minute, I am going to give you a link. The Senator grilling Fed Reserve Chairman Bernanke, is more or less dead on. Bernanke could care less. Why? Because his confirmation is a done deal. So what you are about to witness is a dog and pony show. A complete waste of time, Frankenstein style. Bernanke is no free thinker. He is a good boy. Good boys keep their jobs and make their masters happy. Serving the public? Forget about it. I am surprised Bernanke didn't stifle a yawn or two. But then good boys know better. http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1694-Senator-Bunning-Grills-Bernanke-To-A-Crisp.htm l

Man, I get sick of writing about government all the time. Once in awhile, I have to deviate. I have two heroes in the golf world. John Daly floats to the top because he is such an insufferable alcoholic and true under dog. My other hero is Tiger Woods for completely different reasons. Now I have a lot in common with these two dudes. I am male, I golf, and I was once occupying the space that Daly and Woods now occupy. But Tiger, he is what I call a golf robot. Literally raised to do nothing else but become a golf warrior. Oh yeah, I remember the footage from Johnny Carson of the then-three year old Woods swinging a driver. I have followed Woods life closely. His amatuer championships, his departure from Stanford, his interviews and open mike profanity at a British Open, the Fuzzy Zoeller black jokes. His current marriage which was arranged, I believe, through fellow golfer Jesper Parnevik. Oh yea, and I saw those nude photos of Nordegren. I mean, I thought those photos were real. Really...

I've been following a couple of stories this week. Incredible stuff. I've been trying to decide which incident took more balls. Crashing a Presidential party and embarrassing the shit out of the Secret Service or walking up to four police officers in a public place and executing them. I am a cause and effect guy. I immediately ask the question, were these people drunk, high, mentally ill or some combination of the three? I mean just when did their minds say, "Hey I got a great idea. Honey, why don't you jump into that red dress of yours, I'll throw on a tux, and let's go sneak into Obama's party?" I mean, what's the goal here? Publicity? Are they swingers? Did they have some undisclosed agenda or fantasy? Were they seeking a cabinet post? Did they pay their taxes? What was the motivation? Or all that hatred. "You know, my life is horrible. I am doomed and without hope. I mean I simply can't change my life. It's the cops fault. I think ...

The Federal reserve prints your money and sets interest rates. No audit has ever been conducted of this private bank that masquerades as an arm of the Federal Government. So as Ron Paul's bill to audit the Fed gains traction, the usual suspects emerge with the usual calm rhetoric and weak ass arguments. The biggest fraud ever perpetuated in the history of this country might finally face exposure. There is absolutely no reason not to audit the Fed and find out what they are up to. Honest and above board operations don't clamor for secrecy. They don't fear transparency. But this one does. Go figure. More from the current talking head here: http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/28/news/economy/bernanke_oped/index.htm

Children beware! This is what happens when you mix pot, booze, and an eighth grade education. There is not a doubt in my mind that this "recording studio" is a rectangular house covered in aluminum with a few hay bales underneath it.. Terminally stupid-but hilarious...

Hope springs eternal. Huge news day. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29734.html The Federal Reserve, a PRIVATE bank, is adamantly opposing this bill. Claiming that it will hinder it's independence and trying to scare us with inflation worries. The fact that we can't audit the Fed, which prints our money, is prima facia evidence that the bank is private. There will be inflation irrespective of the audit measure. In the Senate, flaming liberal Barney Frank will try to undo this bill. CNBC reporting that previous Fed Chairs Volcker and Greenspan have signed a letter opposing the audit bill. Two crooked bankers and one crooked, pot smoking Senator in opposition? What better reason do you need to support this bill??

This just in. Lou Dobbs not ruling out run for Senate or White House. Can it get any better than that??? Doubtful. http://www.reuters.com/article/mediaNews/idUSN1917286020091119 Dobbs lives in Rupert, Idaho. Sarah Palin is from Idaho. Can you imagine the "GEM" ticket? Oh yeah baby, Famous Potatoes!! Dobbs can prove he was born in Texas and he has a Harvard degree just like Obama's. It gets better. Dobbs briefly went to law school before regaining his senses and he actually has a work history!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Dobbs

I think people are finally starting to figure out that lawmakers have dug a hole that is going to be very hard to climb out of. Quite simply, we are going to pay 4.8 trillion over the next 10 years in interest debt alone. That's at current interest rates. Very rosy. The problem with that rosy picture, is that interest rates are at rock bottom and the cost of that debt must inevitably rise. The U.S. treasury must continually refinance it's debt. In fact, next year alone we will have to refinance 40% of our national debt as debt securities mature and we must pay bondholders. Let's pray we get current rates. In a nationwide poll, this was the question that was asked asked. I giggled at the results. And at the question itself. 1. How much would you contribute to pay down the nation's debt? Less than $100 8% More than $100 12% My estate, when I die 1% You've got to be kidding 79% Total responses to this question: 69261 The part I gigg...

I tried to embed an MSNBC clip which didn't work out. That and I don't really care for those Scotttrade ads. So I am going to throw in this link; http://www.onenewsnow.com/AP/Search/Business/Default.aspx?id=771798 Home foreclosure and delinquency rates set a new record. In fact, 14.5% of all home loans are now delinquent by at least 30 days or in foreclosure. That is huge. Not to mention the rise in conforming, those non adjustable and fixed loans, as even the best loans are sinking because of massive unemployment. Credit card defaults are also at an all time high. The jobless claims for the week ending Nov. 7 were 505,000. Which by any accounting method still sucks. All of this wretched excess has to get wrenched out of the system. It is the pain we must feel, the medicine we must take, to get over our consuming disease. I'm ok with that and of course it had to happen. And it will continue to happen. What frosts my ass is that politicians with "re-elect me" agend...

Housing starts. http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/18/markets/markets_new_york/index.htm CPI came in a shade worse than expected at .03. Dollar trading at 1.50 to one euro. Gold hitting 1150.00. Oil not budging, hugging 80 bucks a barrel, so no pump relief for us. Official jobless rate at 10.2. Real unemployment closer to 20%. We have been sitting in an artificially induced eye of an economic storm. The best news is baked in. When we exit the eye of this financial storm, this is going to get real interesting...say about 2010. I can't wait to see Frankenstein try to put lipstick on this pig in an election year. Anyway, I don't see this as good or bad. I just see it as it is. Pretty soon, inflation and the Federal Reserve are gonna jack up the interest rate on all that dough we borrowed and as Joe Biden so aptly puts it, it will be time to "gird your loins."

Huh? The terms optimism and pessimism are fascinating terms. They are created by a false sense of self. An ego that finds it necessary to label itself and then run around and label others. It is done to discredit others and make itself look perceptive. That is ego. Pure and simple. Unfortunately, this idea that we must label people and call them names was first learned in the sandbox or playground. It is kind of the adult version of name calling. Have you ever heard that cliche' about optimism? Of course you have, the one about seeing life as a glass that is half full or half empty? Complete and utter nonsense. I'd like to slap the shit out of the person that first uttered that cliche' and the millions of morons that repeat it. Years ago, I had a friend who ate right, took care of herself, and believed she would live to a ripe old age. You see, she considered herself an "optimist." Unfortunately, all of that optimism involved not getting seen by a doctor. And as s...

They say you can gauge the health and wealth of a nation by how well it cares for its poor. Maybe Ghandi said that- I'll have to look it up later. I counted nine bums on Boise street corners today. Corners that were previously uninhabited. I had the misfortune to get behind one of those bums straddling an island in a left turn lane. The lead car decided to go for his wallet as the arrow turned green. The bum got some currency for his efforts. We missed the light. I almost felt as though I had contributed. The bums all carry placards conveying a message. One said "family of five." One said "Army veteran." A river of down and out people who even if they could clean up, it is highly doubtful that they could be competitive at any level in today's rosy job market. Thankfully, the recession is over. Here's the worst part. That bum with the Army veteran hat has done more for me than the President. And if I were given a choice of who to hand that paycheck to, we...

I am a card carrying member of the lunatic fringe which is to say... I believe in liberty. Freedom from nanny government control. Nanny government control comes from three accepted sources...Republicans, Democrats, and the independent voters that THINK these two parties are the ONLY solution. In fact, our two party system is the PROBLEM. Repeating the same behavior over and over again achieves the same time honored and guaranteed results. A democratic nanny government that passes laws and gives your money to those unwilling to work for it, or a republican nanny government that passes laws and gives tax relief and business advantages to the rich and elite. Make no mistake about it. Either way, you lose-working stiff. Screw the Bushs' and Obamas' of this world. The Pelosis, Geithners, Franks, Waxmans, Dodds, Paulsons; the business as usual-enrich our personal lives any way that we can Frankenstein government employees. They quit working for us long ago. To support them is to take...

President Obama, Fed Chair Bernanke, and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner have set up a Kool Aid stand. They want you to buy the Kool Aid and drink some. Millions of Americans have. Here are the symptoms of someone who has swilled the Kool Aid. They proclaim that the "Great Recession is over." They have bought into the short term or micro view of an artificially stimulated TARP economy. They adamantly counter attack anyone who holds an opinion that you cannot continue to inflate and stimulate an economy, or avoid a collapse, by spending money you don't have. In fact it is going to make the coming depression far worse. What happens when the interest rates rise on all that US debt when we eventually come out of the great recession? Servicing that interest in an inflationary environment will be an incredible drag on our economy. Oil is going to get ugly, fast. We are just getting a short term reprieve. It is an illusion. What is not an illusion is that gold is hitting all tim...

Today is Veteran's Day. We are fighting two wars, we have skyhigh unemployment, a national debt roughly the size of Rhode Island, and more domestic problems than you can shake a stick at. And somebody takes the time to write this stuff? And somebody else takes the time to read it? http://airamerica.com/lifestyle/11-10-2009/capital-culture-obama-pastry-chef-the-crustmaster / I don't give a rat's ass about Obama, his wife, his kids, his ugly dog, his pizza chef, or his pastry chef, how big his penis is, or his golf game. I do however care about my country and the people that died trying to defend it so that dipshits like this could write stories about pastry chefs. Man, I gotta tell ya. If this stuff doesn't smack of Nero fiddling while Rome burns, I don't know what does. Make sure you thank a vet today for his service. Show some gratitude and respect for the things that matter. Obama or his pastry chef? Er...not so much.

Forgive me. Big news day. Coming in waves. You have to love a guy that knows how to spend trillions of your dollars, a self styled banking expert saving the planet from financial Armageddon, yet he doesn't know the slightest thing about the Countrywide VIP program? Whether or not he is getting a special rate or terms, when getting his own mortgage? So which way do you want to spin this, Chris? You are a genius when bailing out banks with TARP yet you are an absent minded and drooling idiot when it comes to spending your own money? Which is it Chris? Are you a genius, idiot, or victim? There aren't many people I despise more than Christopher Dodd. The drunken lout and girlfriend killing antics of Teddy Kennedy rated high. Maybe. Blarney Frank, a giant weiner that is full of shit as that name implies, who while in attendance during a pot raid just prior to the elections somehow managed to stay out of the "media"-and my number one self serving miscreant, Hammering Hank ...

Ok, here's the question of the day. Who is the greatest lottery winner of all time? Of course. Frankenstein wins 1/2 of every lottery win in the U.S. In fact, in my home state of Idaho one year, a huge lottery windfall made up a significant portion of a budget shortfall. Good gamblers, like Frankenstein, don't take gambles. Frankenstein has never bought a ticket. Now every Christmas, about the first time I start hearing Christmas music, which neatly coincides with the day after Halloween, I think of Jack Whittaker. Whittaker's story is so sad, that it bears remembering. Whittaker cashed one of the biggest lottery tickets of all time, 315 million. Well, he and Frankenstein. In fact, Whittaker only got 114 million. Frankenstein kept 201 million for himself. What happened next is worth remembering, it happened Christmas day, seven years ago, and it goes something like this... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Whittaker_%28lottery_winner%29 What's truly unbelievable was tha...

It's kind of a morbid thought really. Knowing the second date after the dash on your tombstone. Most of us manage to live a decent dash while some of us don't. Most of us don't know what day will follow that dash, but alas, there are a few who do. Some seven years after the DC sniper shootings, Mr. Muhammad is going to become one of those rare individuals who know with precision what day that's going to be. That day is today. In fact, it may have already happened. What motivated the DC snipers to randomly kill people? Words fail and chances are...where Muhammad's headed, nobody's going to bother asking him anyway. http://specials.msn.com/A-List/DC-sniper.aspx?cp-searchtext=D.C.%20sniper%20set%20for%20execution&FORM=MSNHAL

For the last three years, I have written extensively on greed. Unadulterated, rampant greed. And yet to write about greed, and the elites that practice money worship and the hunger, seems almost un-American. The defenders of capitalism see greed as "normal." It is acceptable. And to utter a disparaging word on greed, draws the defenders out. Right wingers, employees of the elite, they come. They attack. But what they cannot do-is defend greed. And they don't because they can't. And so it is that they launch those attacks on behalf of their nanny and elite employers. Displaying their loyalty. Hoping for a bigger piece of that wealth themselves. Indeed, it is a sickness. And as I write this, I see that Manny Ramirez has re-signed for the 2010 season with the LA Dodgers. Twenty million for six months of play. I stumbled onto this piece. Written by an MIT graduate with a nice string of credentials. It focuses on greed with an out take our two on our systemic priorities an...

I got a kick out of this. Seems Bank of America was giving out credit cards to illegal aliens without social security numbers. Taxpayers gave 'em 35 billion. Courtesy of Frankenstein. How sweet of us to bail B of A out and supplant their astute business making decisions. Linkeration via Snopes that verified the allegation- http://www.snopes.com/politics/immigration/bankofamerica.asp This brings up a lot of questions for me...like those involving accounts and other taxpaying consequences but arrgghh...gonna leave it alone...

Got this in an email from an old friend. He is part of the lunatic fringe that we used to refer to as "patriots." Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert. Congress said, "Someone may steal from it at night." So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job. Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time studies. Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing the tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and hired two people, one to do the studies and one to write the reports. Then Congress said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So they created the following positions, a time keeper , and a ...

I don't know what the big deal is. A trillion here, a trillion there. You guys act like this is some big deal. The sky is falling, the sky is falling. Now our annual GDP, or the total cost of everything produced in the U.S., is only 14.4 trillion. The national deficit is currently only 12 trillion. See it here: http://www.usdebtclock.org/ Next year, annual GDP and our debt will match for the first time evah! In 2011, it will spill over. Every kid born now owes an immediate 39,000 bucks just for being born- and I think its high time they started paying the freight. This waiting until age 15 to tax them is bullshit. That's why we owe so damn much money in the first place. And while I'm at it, isn't a high school education a capital gain? Franky got a piece of my salary every time they paid me to go to some job related training-so what gives? Ok, maybe that's weak sauce...onto the point... I don't even think a trillion is accepted as a large number, but baby anyth...

Years ago, I had several gold crowns put on various molars. This happened back when gold traded at 300 bucks an ounce although undoubtedly, I paid something north of that. Yesterday, India was reported as buying 6.7 billion worth of gold. India chose to invest in gold rather than US securities. Interesting. They bought at 1040.00. Today gold is trading right at 1100. They have already made 4 or 5%. Try getting that rate of return anywhere. Because the dollar is so hideously weak, and oil is traded in dollars, the price of oil continues to trend up. That and China is signing contracts with anyone willing to sell. It's over 81 bucks a barrel. Now I watch CNBC Business News. Far more than I should. And because they are a network, and a news channel, they bring on these talking heads. Today they were talking about commodities "bubbles." Thinking that all of this pressure on commodities is about to burst and rapidly deflate just like the housing bubble. Not so. In fact, what m...

I want to talk about pop. Soda pop. I need a Frankenstein breather. For years, I have witnessed this phenom which I am about to describe. Yet I have never stopped to ponder it until last night. I pondered it because as I stood in the eternal line of 12 items or less at the grocery store, I began counting the shoppers ahead of me, many with 30 items or more. Rather than club them to death or say nasty things, I pondered. That's new for me. And as I pondered, I noticed at the checkout counter that they have those little bottles of Diet Pepsi in those little coolers-my drug of choice. There was a tag that said a twenty ounce bottle was only 1.39. Yet here I was in that glacial line, holding a giant 67 oz bottle of Diet Pepsi. It cost only 1.00. And for a moment, I felt like a criminal. How could this be? With my intensely mathematical mind, doing quick calculations (although I certainly didn't need to) I should have been paying something north of 4 bucks for this loot. Was this th...

Being a libertarian is hard and lonely work. Running around and chasing Franky through gothic landscape (while keeping my torch lit) is not for the faint of heart. Let's take a meandering and circuitous walk and try to make this fun. I didn't choose to be a libertarian. I became one by default. I had the two emotional precursors that all libertarian must have. I came to believe that crooked politicians enriching them selves and their elite friends was wrong. (Republicans) I believed as well that enriching yourselves, enriching your friends, and making it appear as though you were helping the poor and downtrodden was also wrong. (Democrats) In both instances, the minions get hosed. So it doesn't really matter whether you steal my money and give it to your friends, or give my money to the poor. Either way, you are stealing my money. It's like being captured by benevolent headhunters. Death by sodomy or death in scalding water. Then we eat you. But either way you will be e...

Here at Frankenstein Government, we (meaning my multi-personalities and corresponding voices) are committed to bringing you the latest version of Frankenstein's, "Healthcare Omnibus Spendulus Maximus" or HOS 'M bill whilst you are sleeping. Presumably, some of you still have jobs. You will need your rest so that you can go to work and pay for my health care costs while I spend hours retrieving this information for you. Obamas' original price tag on the HOSM was 900 billion. Other reliable sources are putting it closer to 1.3 trillion. But don't worry about that. Nancy Pelosi is quoted as saying that this bill will actually reduce the deficit. Kind of like government buying you a new car, and just because they love you, they pay all the rest of your bills for you. Like I said, you can't make this shit up. Click here to get it straight from the floor, yesterday.

All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent. Thomas Jefferson Well in my little hometown last week, they "jerry rigged" a local school bond levy for 60 million. They did it one week prior to the towns regular elections. Why? Because they were trying to attract the least amount of participation as possible. That and the law that allows them to do that will likely vanish next year. My little area is heavily populated with second homes. Homes unoccupied by owners probably not even registered to vote locally. Ski season hasn't arrived yet. And so our school district exploited existing law, mounted the rallying cry, claimed it was GREAT for the local economy, and whipped up all of the support that they could. The majority went MIA. Apathetic and absentee homeowners. A whopping 27% turnout. Thus a super-minority was able to spend the dough of the majority. They claimed victory. Some of them even claimed patriot status for the act. (I ...

Hear Ye, Hear Ye old men. We may have missed our chance. The article states that streaking pumpkin heads may have been arrested and thus listed as sex offenders. Wow. Having harmless fun in frigid temperatures...well we can't be having any of that! E-mail this to a friend Printable version Police quash nude pumpkin run Many of this year's runners got cold feet over the threat of legal action A "zany" annual Halloween tradition has failed to materialise in Boulder, Colorado, with the threat of police action quashing the Nude Pumpkin Run. Each year, dozens have run down the city's streets wearing only shoe...

Now it's CIT's turn. Read the link and and just feel your backside get hot. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aGR8yTH2eLwY&pos=1 Early in the banking crisis, before we ever passed Hank's bailout bill, I wanted to see every one of those insolvent banks go broke. Into receivership. Yes and have the great depression that we all so richly deserved. Get it over with. In fact, that is the law. Government may have broken the law by passing TARP or so we'll find out. http://www.beachwoodreporter.com/politics/is_tarp_legal.php I remember this local brainiac telling me that the banks were going to pay back those loans. With interest. "We'll make money!" he said. Well, dude...it's like this. It's like loaning money to a soon to be dead guy. Dead guys don't earn money nor do they pay you back. Of the famous 4 "C"s of lending, the most important "C" is capacity. And broke banks, and dead guys, are fresh out of c...