We keep hearing about the bailout plan and how we need to "re-capitalize" big banks to make everything better. I can't help but stand back, and look at the fact that the reality on the ground is being ignored; 1 in 6 homes are currently underwater. This means that the amount owed on the mortgage is greater than what the home could be sold for. Average consumer is tapped out, between car loans, home loans, student loans and credit cards the average joe has been living beyond his means for y...
Yesterday was the Canadian Federal Election. I cast a ballot and the fellow that I voted for got into office by only a 500 vote lead, so I'm glad I contributed my little slice to the democratic process. This was the third time I've voted federally. The first time was when I was 18, and I voted conservative. The next two times, my opinions had changed and so did my vote (one thing I can indeed thank George W. for, who I was a big fan ...
What's all this ruckus about voter registration and election fraud? I'm asking because in Canada, our elections are run a little differently from you fine folks in the U.S and quite frankly we don't go through the kind of ridiculousness I'm seeing in the news. In fact, we're having our own federal election on tuesday, the day after our thanksgiving and I can pretty much guarantee it's going to be a far milder event than the pomp and pageantry tha...
A letter from Michael Moore, on his website here- http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=237 Because, well, I think it's interesting, and I know he gets people's blood boiling on this site!! neener neener, Artysim Friends, The richest 400 Americans -- that's right, just four hundred people -- own MORE than the bottom 150 million Americans combined. 400 rich Americans have got more stashed away than half the entire country! Their combined net...
Wanna make a quick 19 million bucks? All it'll take is 3 weeks. Cause that's what hapenned to the last CEO of Washington Mutual (WaMu) He worked there for three weeks, during which time the bank nosedived and is now being snapped up by JP Morgan at firesale prices. Okay, well, he's still technically working there. He has to stay on the job for a little while longer while JP Morgan consolidates it's takeover of assets, but comeon! Let's look at this this way: Th...
It's time for the U.S to give peace a chance. "what the hell are talking about boy?? Don't you know those terrorists are gonna kick down our doors and chop our heads off at any minute!?!?" Without expounding further on the fact that you have a much higher chance of dying in a car accident or a heart attack from eating too much high calorie junk than you do from getting killed in a terrorist attack, let's look at the current U.S situation on the world stage. Namely, let's look at all the cu...
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 ...
I have a question I'd like to put forth to the good folks here at JU, a question that can be reasonably asked now that we're in the twilight of the Bush Administration. In your opinion, what was the biggest mistake the White House made in the last 8 years? I'm not asking this to attack Bush or his administration. It's an honest question. Everyone makes mistakes. So, as usual before I go any further I have to roll out my disclaimer; I don't give two rips about the democrat vs. republican...
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 ...
All stories have two sides. Very rarely in life will you ever find a cut and dry case of "good vs evil" though by all means, from time to time this does indeed occur. In the case of the conflict between Georgia and Russia, constantly Russia has been painted as an evil aggressor who inexplicably attacked a smaller nation. That is the side of the story that the west has told. But let us now consider the other side of the story- the following are the words of Dmitry Medvedev, the president of Ru...
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...