Everyone rejoice! All of our economic problems are solved! You know all of that doom and gloom we've been hearing about liquidity problems with major banks not having enough capital to cover their losses and keep running? Well it's all taken care of. Big papa government's stepped in and says they're gonna make it all better. They're going to set up a special corporation that is going to take all of the bad debt that is killing the banks, and at the same time they're going to give money...
Alright everyone, let's all gather round and chant the mantra of the new economic order: "Privatize the profits, Socialize the losses!" Huh?!? Wha?!? What kind of nonsense is this and just how in the hell does it affect the latest episode of Big Brother and the farce that is the presidential election? Our economy has altered RADICALLY. In these past few weeks your government has committed more nationalization than Chavez could ever dream of. Congratulations, you now li...
Did you know? The Great Depression didn't happen over night. The history books state that it started in 1929 but it took a few years for things to get really bad. Today, it's been just over a year since the near collapse of Bear Stearns (who is now dead) that has signalled the start of the the bad times the economy has been going through. Nevermind that this was predicted years in advance with the Fed encouraging bubble after bubble after bubble and transparency now nonexistent thro...
How much should we be taxed? From that simple question, countless byzantine volumes have been written dictating, who, what and how much get taxed. Quite literally, it's no laughing matter. Even uttering the word "tax" can bring about the death of comedy, mirth and all things good in this short life. But for all the unpleasantness associated with taxes, they are indeed necessary. The great question is not IF to tax, but whom to tax and how much. Here in my present abode of ...
It's time to pony up and admit it. With all the hoopla we've been seeing over the last couple weeks, Palin should be the one running for president in the Republican camp. She seems to be the focal point of the whole discussion at this point. McCain hasn't been getting too terribly much attention, for, well, anything, for pretty much this whole election. He's not charismatic. He doesn't have the charm or wit or any personable characteristics that will endear him to the American ...
It's an honest question. For just a few minutes, please suspend disbelief and take a look-see at this very interesting article- http://www.energybulletin.net/node/23259 Written by a fellow who witnessed the collapse of the Soviet Union and is now comparing how things would go down in a similar situation in the U.S. The basic premise is, since things were much worse to begin with when the Soviet Union collapsed, people were already accustomed to many of the hardships and therefo...
In the debate over energy policy we keep hearing about how there are no viable alternatives to replace oil, coal and natural gas as fuel sources. Well, I've got a solution. Invest in space travel. I can tell many readers are now rolling their eyes, but you should know that the Chinese agree with me. In fact, that's where I got the idea from. The Chinese are making serious efforts to get men on the moon in the next decade. And they're not planning on going there just to kick a f...
So on friday the Olympics will be starting up in Beijing. Now I'm all for it- the games are an ancient and time honored tradition wherein every nation (well, most every nation) can send their best athletes to represent them in international competition. You know, all that utopian sentimental goo about us putting aside our differences and coming together in common brotherhood (sisterhood? sibling-hood?) to celebrate extraordinary athletics. You know, peace and love a...
There's been a lot of talk lately about drilling in ANWR and opening up offshore areas for further development. In this article I will address only the issue surrounding ANWR, as I don't have enough info about the moratorium on coastal development. The Myth: Drilling in ANWR will increase domestic production and lower the price of gas at the pump (eventually) By increasing domestic production we will also be less reliant on foreign oil. The Truth: Drilling in ANWR will only maintain ...
There's an interesting article over at livescience.com about many of the myths being circulated about global warming. As per usual many of these myths are being caused by folks who are simply spreading speculation to further an ideological goal without any hard science backing it up. In this particular instance, a rumour has been spreading mostly on the internet that the American Physical Society has reversed it's position on Global Warming. This simply isn't true, and in response...
Capitalism only works when society keeps it in check through government . The truth of this statement is illustrated by the pandemonium we see unfolding in the market today. This chaos is thanks to decades of deregulation which has allowed a small number of rich folks to get richer while the majority of society has suffered. It has allowed corporations and businesses to operate without impartial oversight thanks to the 'honor system' belief that they woul...
GM is hurting big time. Today their stock fell to a 53 year low. Ford aint doing so great either. In fact, just about all American companies that produce products heavily dependent on oil and gas are hurting big time. American Airlines is laying off thousands of workers and hiking prices for all checked luggage to try and offset fuel costs. Dow Chemical (which makes a gazillion products, many of which are or come from petroleum dependent processes) has already upped all of their prices acro...
We had the dot.com bubble. It burst. Then we had the real estate bubble. It too has run it's course and is painfully, slowly bursting (it's not done yet folks!) We also have the homeland security bubble, in which previously obscure and tiny companies have become giants raking in billions of your tax dollars to protect you from hordes of terr'ists (and collect data on what websites you visit and phone calls you make, all the while other government programs like food stamps get cut!) But since the...
It looks like Dr. James Dobson is at it again. He is saying that Obama has a distorted view of the bible and a 'fruitcake' view of the constitution. First off you should know this article is not defending/attacking or advocating Obama in any way. In all truth, Dobson could have said the exact same thing about McCain, or the green party candidate, or GWB and I'd be just as incensed. My problem lies not with who the target of the day may be, but with the system that has been created tha...
A time of great change is upon us. In the last few weeks there were riots in the streets of Egypt, Somalia, Haiti, Morocco, Madagascar, Thailand and Mauritania. And this is just the beginning. Here in Canada, Filipinos are buying up rice and shipping it back home to the Philippinnes, another country that may soon see rioting. The people in these nations were not rioting over politics or ideology. They were not rioting because of religion or human rights abuses by thei...