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...

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 ...

During my travels throughout north America I've come to a rather depressing conclusion. Before I share it with you, a disclaimer; I lay no claim to being a well seasoned traveller or any such nonsense, nor have I visited every single state or lived for a prolonged period in any of the places I have visited. So you are well within your rights to call me an uninformed know-it-all gasbag and I won't take offense. So what is this dastardly scheme I have stumbled across? Everywhere I've ...

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...

So now restaurants in New York have to post the calorie counts of the food they're selling. As of friday, if they don't post these counts, they face a $ 2,000.0 fine. While many folks cry foul on the part of the evil government interfering with private business, I personally think this is absolutely wonderful! Why? Because as a consumer, you should have the RIGHT to know what you're getting, especially when you're consuming it. Food isn't some consumer bauble that you buy for kicks, you ...

  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...

Chrysler's closing another auto plant. This time, the St. Louis South Plant which makes minivans is shutting down for good. In the fall, the St. Louis North Plant which makes pickup trucks is cutting back from 2 shifts to 1. As I've droned on about before, this is not a unique situation. All of the big autos are going through a major downturn and it's not going to get any better with the cost of gas. The recent announcement from Chrysler will cut about 2400 jobs. Plants in Ohio and Delaw...