Apparently, at my Place Of Witless Labor™ I stopped listening to some information I was given regarding a possible promotion past the part where I started getting upset.
Embarrassing behavior and several informative conversations later, I've come to the conclusion that I am a human being, and not something you see in the movies -- such as a Freeway Abutment or Carport Oil Stain, which are occasionally smarter than we are.
Promotion still in the hopper (Q: Will they or won't they? A: No Way To Know). Sit around and wait -- but listen more closely next time.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
They Don't Like Me; They Really Don't Like Me
Advised at the Place Of Witless Labor™ that there will be no promotion after all. Gee, tough sledding; that's the way it goes; we all have our little disappointments to live with; you should be grateful you have a job; I've had a difficult life myself so please stop whining; Thanks so much for your time.
Time to move on; nothing to see here...
Time to move on; nothing to see here...
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Tonight's The Night
The End
Terry O'Quinn, ABC's Lost Character, John Locke
Lost, the ABC-TeeVee series that began in 2004, ends tonight.
I was among the first two generations of humans who grew up to the rhythms of mid-1950's television: The sound of teletypes, and a man saying "The CBS Evening News -- with Walter Cronkite"; or Chet Huntley and David Brinkley's voices (actually, I'm old enough to remember watching Edward R. Murrow); the theme music to everything from Checkmate and McHale's Navy and Combat!, to Police Story and The Dick Van Dyke Show.
I grew up like a good, trained American consumer with the habit of following story lines in episodic weekly series, and it took some effort on my part to wean myself off what Harlan Ellison calls The Glass Teat. Now, I watch very little commercial television; I haven't purchased cable access in ten years, and am very selective about what I want to watch on commercial stations -- which is all I receive via my Analog-Teevee Converter box.
Even when I still had the habit, I was always a latecomer to whatever teevee series became popular. Partly, it's been a knee-jerk response to following crowds: I don't like to. So, when it seemed everyone was following Thirtytsomething (1987 - 1991) and having conversations on public transportation about its characters as if they lived down the street, I still never watched it when it was on regular, commercial broadcast television. It took being laid off in the early 90's, and having time to watch the 'Lifetime' channel to get me to watch it, and I loved it. Ditto with Seinfeld -- everyone was watching it; I wouldn't follow the crowd, and I realized I'd missed out on the action while it was happening. I was determined not to do that again.
The Cast Of ABC's Thirtysomething (On Floor: Cousin Gonzo)
So with STNG (1986 -1994) and Star Trek: Voyager, I simply jumped in and started watching -- both series had been broadcast long enough that they were already in syndication, and I could catch up on the arc of the plot through prior episodes.
Jerri Ryan, Seven Of Nine in Star Trek: Voyager:
And -- Yeah, I Watched The Series For The Science. Sure.
My favorite series of all time is (aber natürlich) the X-Files, and after missing the first two years of it never skipped an episode, straight through until The End in 2002.
I didn't go to see the recent, second X-Files film, X-Files: I Want To Believe (even though Billy Connolly was in it); Chris Carter, the X-Files' creator, had said that if the film did well enough he would bring the series back to television. It didn't, and I guess... Rats.
David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson; X-Files: I Want To Believe
For six years, I developed -- along with a lot of other Dogs in America -- a deep and abiding crush on Gillian Anderson; and when in a high-rise-side elevator at my Place Of Witless Labor™ (which displays an 'X' when passing some lower floors), I occasionally had an idle wish that the car would slow, stop, and the doors open; I would look out into a corridor at the Hoover building in Washington, D.C., and Mulder and Scully would be standing there. "Where the hell have you been?" Mulder would say, and I'd reply You won't believe me when I tell you -- well; maybe you will..
Gillian Anderson (Like You Had To Be Told)
With Lost, I never made the connection with the characters as I did with X-Files -- with the exception of the John Locke character, played by Terry O'Quinn (who turns 58 this year, as I will). I've been an on-again, off-again viewer, and in point of fact don't intend to watch the final concluding episode tonight. I may invest in the box set of the series which undoubtedly will be on the market.
The Main Cast Of Lost, Third Season
Lost has been an intriguing dramatic experiment; television has come a long way since The Twilight Zone, which was seen as a risky gamble in 1959 but became the trailblazer that made 'Outer Limits', 'Lost' and 'X-Files', 'Star Trek' and STNG and 'Voyager', 'Deep Space Nine'.
And, if I really want to see it on the tiny screen at a specific time every week, there's always syndication...
UPDATE: I watched it. I caved. I'm such a tool, etc., not to put too fine a point on it.
And, (1) I enjoyed it; (2) The ending made sense, even though I'd missed over four years of the show. Does that mean Lost was the television equivalent of an Egg Cream (tasty withal, yet free of substance), or that I'm just smarter than the average Dog? Who knows.
There was however, a dog in the last scenes, which guaranteed the finale had my vote.
Terry O'Quinn, ABC's Lost Character, John Locke
Lost, the ABC-TeeVee series that began in 2004, ends tonight.
I was among the first two generations of humans who grew up to the rhythms of mid-1950's television: The sound of teletypes, and a man saying "The CBS Evening News -- with Walter Cronkite"; or Chet Huntley and David Brinkley's voices (actually, I'm old enough to remember watching Edward R. Murrow); the theme music to everything from Checkmate and McHale's Navy and Combat!, to Police Story and The Dick Van Dyke Show.
I grew up like a good, trained American consumer with the habit of following story lines in episodic weekly series, and it took some effort on my part to wean myself off what Harlan Ellison calls The Glass Teat. Now, I watch very little commercial television; I haven't purchased cable access in ten years, and am very selective about what I want to watch on commercial stations -- which is all I receive via my Analog-Teevee Converter box.
Even when I still had the habit, I was always a latecomer to whatever teevee series became popular. Partly, it's been a knee-jerk response to following crowds: I don't like to. So, when it seemed everyone was following Thirtytsomething (1987 - 1991) and having conversations on public transportation about its characters as if they lived down the street, I still never watched it when it was on regular, commercial broadcast television. It took being laid off in the early 90's, and having time to watch the 'Lifetime' channel to get me to watch it, and I loved it. Ditto with Seinfeld -- everyone was watching it; I wouldn't follow the crowd, and I realized I'd missed out on the action while it was happening. I was determined not to do that again.
The Cast Of ABC's Thirtysomething (On Floor: Cousin Gonzo)
So with STNG (1986 -1994) and Star Trek: Voyager, I simply jumped in and started watching -- both series had been broadcast long enough that they were already in syndication, and I could catch up on the arc of the plot through prior episodes.
Jerri Ryan, Seven Of Nine in Star Trek: Voyager:
And -- Yeah, I Watched The Series For The Science. Sure.
My favorite series of all time is (aber natürlich) the X-Files, and after missing the first two years of it never skipped an episode, straight through until The End in 2002.
I didn't go to see the recent, second X-Files film, X-Files: I Want To Believe (even though Billy Connolly was in it); Chris Carter, the X-Files' creator, had said that if the film did well enough he would bring the series back to television. It didn't, and I guess... Rats.
David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson; X-Files: I Want To Believe
For six years, I developed -- along with a lot of other Dogs in America -- a deep and abiding crush on Gillian Anderson; and when in a high-rise-side elevator at my Place Of Witless Labor™ (which displays an 'X' when passing some lower floors), I occasionally had an idle wish that the car would slow, stop, and the doors open; I would look out into a corridor at the Hoover building in Washington, D.C., and Mulder and Scully would be standing there. "Where the hell have you been?" Mulder would say, and I'd reply You won't believe me when I tell you -- well; maybe you will..
Gillian Anderson (Like You Had To Be Told)
With Lost, I never made the connection with the characters as I did with X-Files -- with the exception of the John Locke character, played by Terry O'Quinn (who turns 58 this year, as I will). I've been an on-again, off-again viewer, and in point of fact don't intend to watch the final concluding episode tonight. I may invest in the box set of the series which undoubtedly will be on the market.
The Main Cast Of Lost, Third Season
Lost has been an intriguing dramatic experiment; television has come a long way since The Twilight Zone, which was seen as a risky gamble in 1959 but became the trailblazer that made 'Outer Limits', 'Lost' and 'X-Files', 'Star Trek' and STNG and 'Voyager', 'Deep Space Nine'.
And, if I really want to see it on the tiny screen at a specific time every week, there's always syndication...
UPDATE: I watched it. I caved. I'm such a tool, etc., not to put too fine a point on it.
And, (1) I enjoyed it; (2) The ending made sense, even though I'd missed over four years of the show. Does that mean Lost was the television equivalent of an Egg Cream (tasty withal, yet free of substance), or that I'm just smarter than the average Dog? Who knows.
There was however, a dog in the last scenes, which guaranteed the finale had my vote.
Friday, May 21, 2010
The Fire Next Time
I clothe my naked villainy with old, odd ends, stolen forth from holy writ -- and thus I seem a saint when most I play the villain. William Shakespear, Richard III
Glenny Tells Us To Revolt Against Scary Socialist Black Man --
Oh, And Buy Lots Of Bullion -- Through Goldline...
Little Glenn Beck, one of America's Taliban, went on the air today in his ClearChannel-syndicated raido program to say he wants people to know "the good news" that "a blaze is coming [that will] burn everything down" (Want to listen to this drivel? Go here).
Beck also said he believed we were about to enter into a time like Steven King's novel, "The Stand" -- in which an influenza virus, created as a bioweapon, escapes from its containment lab to destroy 99% of humanity; and puts the survivors in two camps: On the side of God and a 100-plus-year-old woman as His spokesperson; or with the devil, acting through a grinning psychopath named Randall Flagg.
At the same time, Beck is losing viewers on his Little Rupert Network program: Huffington Post reports "Beck's Fox News program saw its worst ratings of 2010 on May 14th, averaging just 1.776 million total viewers."
This is more than his competition pulls in on MSNBC, CNN, and HLN combined, but represents a continuation of a deterioration in Beck's marketshare that began in April. Beck's May 14th number of viewers was "50% off [his] peak audience of 3.4 million" total viewers, said Politicususa's Jason Easley.
That decline in viewers coincides, strangely enough, with Beck's shift in April toward more religion and more religious references in his broadcasts, and a statement that he is delivering a message inspired directly from god about current events.
And, god's message just seems to tie in with the political agenda of the American Far Right -- and with Goldline, a business which sells bullion and gold stocks, and for whom Beck is a spokesman. In today's broadcast, Beck said flatly that "Goldline is the escape" from the coming economic collapse he predicts.
Sigh.
Glenny Tells Us To Revolt Against Scary Socialist Black Man --
Oh, And Buy Lots Of Bullion -- Through Goldline...
Little Glenn Beck, one of America's Taliban, went on the air today in his ClearChannel-syndicated raido program to say he wants people to know "the good news" that "a blaze is coming [that will] burn everything down" (Want to listen to this drivel? Go here).
Beck also said he believed we were about to enter into a time like Steven King's novel, "The Stand" -- in which an influenza virus, created as a bioweapon, escapes from its containment lab to destroy 99% of humanity; and puts the survivors in two camps: On the side of God and a 100-plus-year-old woman as His spokesperson; or with the devil, acting through a grinning psychopath named Randall Flagg.
At the same time, Beck is losing viewers on his Little Rupert Network program: Huffington Post reports "Beck's Fox News program saw its worst ratings of 2010 on May 14th, averaging just 1.776 million total viewers."
This is more than his competition pulls in on MSNBC, CNN, and HLN combined, but represents a continuation of a deterioration in Beck's marketshare that began in April. Beck's May 14th number of viewers was "50% off [his] peak audience of 3.4 million" total viewers, said Politicususa's Jason Easley.
That decline in viewers coincides, strangely enough, with Beck's shift in April toward more religion and more religious references in his broadcasts, and a statement that he is delivering a message inspired directly from god about current events.
And, god's message just seems to tie in with the political agenda of the American Far Right -- and with Goldline, a business which sells bullion and gold stocks, and for whom Beck is a spokesman. In today's broadcast, Beck said flatly that "Goldline is the escape" from the coming economic collapse he predicts.
Sigh.
Anthony Hopkins Gets Life Plus 51
Not This One -- But Wouldn't It Be Weird If It Were?
My personal opinion is that often, fervent and public professions of religious faith are only an excuse for an abuse of power, personally, or on a broader scale. Ask the Office of the Holy Inquisition. Ask any of the local 'pastors' who participated in lynchings in the American South. Ask the Taliban, or their U.S. equivalents. And ask the families of people like Anthony Hopkins (no, not that one).
In Jackson, Alabama, a 37-year-old evangelical 'pastor' and "model church-goer and worship leader" named Anthony Hopkins was arrested for the murder of his wife. Herr Hopkins had kept his wife's corpse in a freezer, for four years -- thoughtfully preserving evidence for forensic and homicide investigators.
Anthony Hopkins of Jackson, Alabama, 2008
Hopkins' wife, Arletha, had not been seen since 2004; he had told friends that she had died in childbirth and was buried in Georgia. As it was later reconstructed by investigators, Hopkins' wife arrived home one day in 2004 to find him in flagrante with a young girl; after the girl fled, Hopkins killed his wife and stored her in a large freezer.
Plainly, not an individual who stops to ask himself, "What would Jesus do?"
Details emerged during his trial that Hopkins had terrorized his family for nearly a decade with alternating threats of heavenly punishment -- and sexual and physical abuse, which intensified after murdering his wife.
Hopkins was arrested in 2008 after one of his oldest children apparently approached police with a statement that their mother was stored with the Christmas ham and bags of Ore-Idas ("Timmeh, get me that bag of frozen peas" "Where, Daddy?" "Don't know -- lift your Ma's feet and look around under there, or god will strike you").
Portion Of 2004 Announcement From Hopkins' Church,
Reporting His Wife's Alleged Death In Childbirth
As I used to say in another job role, this guy's a real solid citizen.
Hopkins was convicted, primarily on the basis of physical evidence he had preserved and his own family's testimony. This week, he was sentenced to life imprisonment plus fifty-one years for the murder, and additional counts of rape, sodomy, child abuse, and poor sanitation in food storage.
As someone who committed acts of child molestation in addition to murder, he should have an interesting time in the Joint. Hope you enjoy being locked down 23 out of 24 hours a day, segregated in population, Tony! Otherwise -- hoo boy; you're dead, greymeat.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Blame 'Em All; Blame 'Em All; The Long And The Short And The Tall...
Barry Ritholtz, via his financial blog The Big Picture, recently provided a chart of the National Debt as its accumulated during the administrations of various Presidents:
There was some discussion that, in showing how this monstrous public debt (that we know about) has been nurtured and grown, who controlled Congress is an important perspective as well -- and so Herr Ritholtz provided that as well:
Read 'em and weep. There's not much else to do these days.
There was some discussion that, in showing how this monstrous public debt (that we know about) has been nurtured and grown, who controlled Congress is an important perspective as well -- and so Herr Ritholtz provided that as well:
Read 'em and weep. There's not much else to do these days.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
If This Is Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium
Twenty-Euro Note: The EU Has Some Beautiful Currency
David Marsh is an Op-Ed columnist for the New York Times, which published one of his pieces yesterday entitled "The Euro's Lost Promise".
It's a good example of how a large topic can be presented in relatively few words -- and is one of the best brief descriptions of the history of the Euro I've read in a while.
Americans don't really care about that history, or a common European currency -- unless you're a currency trader, or are vacationing there just now (and now would be a good time: 1.00 Euro is worth 1.24 US. A few weeks ago, the exchange rate was 1.48 US to the Euro, and San Francisco was full of German and French tourists).
Can't we all just get along?
Europe, a collection of nationalities and near-tribal subgroups, has a history of trade wars and religious wars and wars of national conquest and national unification going back over 1,300 years.
The dream of a Europe united under a single set of laws and currency wasn't really Napoleon's -- though he's often credited with it, that idea was just an extension of his personal ambitions; the same is true for German hegemony in Europe between June, 1940 and June of 1944. Unification has swirled around the edges of European history for generations, mostly gaining traction around the rise of Socialism before the Great War, and Communism after. But, the reasons it was so attractive as an idea (national chauvinism; right- and left-political radicalism; trade) were the same reasons it was politically dead: European governments couldn't get over themselves.
A case in point are Franco-German relations. Germany took the province of Alsace-Lorraine in 1871, a war that humiliated France, which plotted Revanche and a final reckoning with the hated Hun... which didn't occur until 1919, when France got Alsace back, but the Versailles Treaty paved the way for Hitler, with a little help from Wall Street and the Great Depression, ver. 1.0. A resurgent (and nazi) Germany kicked France to the curb in May of 1940, which endured years of occupation until being liberated in the high summer of 1944.
It took the rise of the nazis, the Holocaust, and the Second World War (also known as the Great War, Part II) and its political aftermath to make any European government believe unification was desirable, even possible.
We Don't Get Fooled Again
The specter of fighting another intra-European war was too terrible to contemplate. In addition, the Soviets had swallowed up the eastern third of the continent, and Western Europe was dependent on the United States for financial and military aid (and, particularly in Germany, for lots of bulldozers).
Ultimately, the EU and the Euro were attempts to force Europeans to interrelate with each other in the face of what was then still a Communist Russian threat, and to build a political and financial structure which could hold its own in the face of American domination and the eventual rise of China.
These are serious ideas for Europeans. It's an opportunity for them to create a model of separate, sovereign states acting in collaboration, not competition. There's an obvious tendency for Americans to perceive the EU in terms of 'states', like those in the U.S., but that's laughable, because, well... Europe is not America!!!
There are other questions involved here -- whether Europe's privately-owned banks were ready for a common currency; whether human beings can ever cooperate through long-term coalitions like the EU or the UN; or if 'human nature' is inherently selfish and evil. (A good number of Europeans like the cooperative model, and might ask If not now, when? If not us, then who?).
But, read Marsh's article. You'll learn something.
UPDATE (5/21/10): The German Bundestag has given a vote of support to the EU/IMF $750-Billion Euro (about $1 Trillion US) loan package to Greece and other EU countries through the European Central Bank, primarily due to the efforts of Die Eisenen Kanzellerin, Angela Merkel, and her CDU-dominated coalition.
We'll see what happens next.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
The Kids Are All Right
Big Guy Returns For BTB Weekend
The real Chairman Of The Board waded through the Golden Gate early this morning to make the annual Bay-To-Breakers -- if not a San Francisco Treat, it's certainly a tradition.
Anyway, that's what all the extra helicopters you see around are all about. We are, as always, happy to see him.
The real Chairman Of The Board waded through the Golden Gate early this morning to make the annual Bay-To-Breakers -- if not a San Francisco Treat, it's certainly a tradition.
Anyway, that's what all the extra helicopters you see around are all about. We are, as always, happy to see him.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
$ 1,000,000,000,000,000
One Quadrillion Dollars
"Gold is for optimists. I'm diversifying into canned goods."
-- Commenter On British Financial Blog
Ten Of These
Paul B. Farrell has been a financial analyst and commentator for many years. Semi-retired in Arroyo Grande, California, near San Luis Obispo, Farrell writes a weekly syndicated column carried (among other venues) by Little Rupert's Wall Stret Journal MarketWatch section.
Farrell's message is center-right politically when any politics are called for; even so, a relatively sane voice in the American financial commentary. He was warning of the unsustainability of the Housing Market Bubble, and of the explosion in Derivatives trading, before Nouriel Roubini or even Joseph Stiglitz.
In his most recent column, Farrell warned that the world's financial situation (and America's in particular) is burdened with enough debt to make another Great Depression more than just possible. From some of the commentary, you'll see he makes his politics clear (e.g., Medicare, Social Security) -- again, even so; he outlined fourteen points of debt and their sources or causes, which I list here in full...
... So here are my best estimates, mostly from reported resources, of the huge debts Wall Street is dumping on America, the big bubble they're already blowing, driving the global economy headlong into another meltdown that will trigger the Great Depression II. And likely, with all this debt, soon you can bet taxpayers will stage a revolution making Main Street American streets far worse than Athens:
1. Federal government debt ... $14.3 trillion
Federal debt limit doubled since 2005 to $14.3 trillion limit. Bush/Cheney wars pushed U.S. deep into a debt hole. Military kills 54% of budget. Expect 4% deficits through 2020.
2. Treasury / Fed cheap-money policies ... $23.7 trillion
The Fed's shadowy printing presses have created an estimated but unaudited $23.7 trillion in credits, grants, loans and guarantees, backed by taxpayers. Pure profit.
3. Social Security's rising debt ... $40 trillion
Soon we must either cut benefits or raise taxes 40%. Delays worsen solutions. By 2035 Social Security and Medicare will eat up the entire federal budget, other than defense.
4. Medicare's unfunded debt ... $60 trillion
Going broke faster than Social Security. Prescription-drug benefit added an unfunded $8.1 trillion. In 5 years estimates rose from about $35 trillion to over $60 trillion now.
5. Annual health-care costs ... $2.5 trillion
Costs rising faster than inflation. Burden increasingly shifted to employees. Recent Obamacare plan would have cost $90 billion annually, paid to Big Pharma and insurers.
6. Secretive global derivatives trading ... $604 trillion
Wall Street resists all regulation of their gambling casino that leverages the combined $50 trillion GDP of all nations by a 12:1 ratio. Warning: Less than 2% of Wall Street's derivative bets triggered the last meltdown. Buffett "guarantees" it will happen again.
7. Population growth 50% vs. Peak Oil demand ... $30 trillion
United Nations says global population is increasing from 6 billion to 9 billion by 2050. China and India need 500 new cities each. Billions more humans want autos, using up limited resources, shifting more costs to America, as commodity price increases and new resource wars.
8. U.S. dollar losing as reserve currency ... $20 trillion
As China's economy rockets past America's, the dollar will be replaced as the chief foreign reserves. The shift will devalue the relative worth of all America's assets.
9. Global real estate losses ... $15 trillion
Commercial real estate is bloating 25% of U.S. bank balance sheets. Dubai Tower, world's tallest, is empty. China collapse will upstage, further depress America's market.
10. Foreign trade and ownership ... $5 trillion
Foreigners own more than $2.5 trillion of America. China holds over $1 trillion Treasury debt. $40 billion new deficits added monthly. Total climbing at $400 billion annually.
11. State / local budget / pension shortfalls ... $3.5 trillion
Shortfalls of $110 billion in 2010, $178 billion in 2011. On top of more than $450 billion in annual shortfalls in local government employee pension funds. L.A.'s near bankruptcy.
12. Corporate pensions plus 401(k) plans ... $3.2 trillion
Only 30% of Americans have enough to retire. There's $2.7 trillion in 401(k) plans. And 92% of corporate pension plans are underfunded, with defaults guaranteed by taxpayers.
13. Consumer card debt ... $2.5 trillion
Americans are still living beyond their means. Even with a downturn, consumer debt rose from about $2.3 trillion to $2.5 trillion. Fat Cat Bankers love it, yes, love making matters worse by gouging cardholders and mortgagees, blocking help in foreclosures and bankruptcies.
14. Lobbyists' annual costs ... $1.4 trillion
Wall Street bankers, Corporate CEOs and Forbes 400 Richest spend billions to influence elected officials, regulators and bureaucrats with lobbyists and campaign donations to exercise power over government. Voters are easily manipulated, but it takes lots of cash.
The total of all 14 categories of debt is a mind-blowing $825 trillion that includes "apples and oranges," jet fighters, derivatives and insurance fees, credit cards, autos and mortgages. There are more, and of course these are just estimates. Given the lack of transparency on Wall Street and in Washington, our debt is likely over $1,000 trillion.
That's One Quadrillion Dollars.
Farrell's column makes clear that Wall Street is 'betting short' -- placing trades that will make money when aspects of the system lose; this is Goldman-Sachs' methodology. And in order for these Masters Of The Universe to cash in... the system has to fail.
I wish I had a wisecrack to make at this point, but I don't.
"Gold is for optimists. I'm diversifying into canned goods."
-- Commenter On British Financial Blog
Ten Of These
Paul B. Farrell has been a financial analyst and commentator for many years. Semi-retired in Arroyo Grande, California, near San Luis Obispo, Farrell writes a weekly syndicated column carried (among other venues) by Little Rupert's Wall Stret Journal MarketWatch section.
Farrell's message is center-right politically when any politics are called for; even so, a relatively sane voice in the American financial commentary. He was warning of the unsustainability of the Housing Market Bubble, and of the explosion in Derivatives trading, before Nouriel Roubini or even Joseph Stiglitz.
In his most recent column, Farrell warned that the world's financial situation (and America's in particular) is burdened with enough debt to make another Great Depression more than just possible. From some of the commentary, you'll see he makes his politics clear (e.g., Medicare, Social Security) -- again, even so; he outlined fourteen points of debt and their sources or causes, which I list here in full...
... So here are my best estimates, mostly from reported resources, of the huge debts Wall Street is dumping on America, the big bubble they're already blowing, driving the global economy headlong into another meltdown that will trigger the Great Depression II. And likely, with all this debt, soon you can bet taxpayers will stage a revolution making Main Street American streets far worse than Athens:
1. Federal government debt ... $14.3 trillion
Federal debt limit doubled since 2005 to $14.3 trillion limit. Bush/Cheney wars pushed U.S. deep into a debt hole. Military kills 54% of budget. Expect 4% deficits through 2020.
2. Treasury / Fed cheap-money policies ... $23.7 trillion
The Fed's shadowy printing presses have created an estimated but unaudited $23.7 trillion in credits, grants, loans and guarantees, backed by taxpayers. Pure profit.
3. Social Security's rising debt ... $40 trillion
Soon we must either cut benefits or raise taxes 40%. Delays worsen solutions. By 2035 Social Security and Medicare will eat up the entire federal budget, other than defense.
4. Medicare's unfunded debt ... $60 trillion
Going broke faster than Social Security. Prescription-drug benefit added an unfunded $8.1 trillion. In 5 years estimates rose from about $35 trillion to over $60 trillion now.
5. Annual health-care costs ... $2.5 trillion
Costs rising faster than inflation. Burden increasingly shifted to employees. Recent Obamacare plan would have cost $90 billion annually, paid to Big Pharma and insurers.
6. Secretive global derivatives trading ... $604 trillion
Wall Street resists all regulation of their gambling casino that leverages the combined $50 trillion GDP of all nations by a 12:1 ratio. Warning: Less than 2% of Wall Street's derivative bets triggered the last meltdown. Buffett "guarantees" it will happen again.
7. Population growth 50% vs. Peak Oil demand ... $30 trillion
United Nations says global population is increasing from 6 billion to 9 billion by 2050. China and India need 500 new cities each. Billions more humans want autos, using up limited resources, shifting more costs to America, as commodity price increases and new resource wars.
8. U.S. dollar losing as reserve currency ... $20 trillion
As China's economy rockets past America's, the dollar will be replaced as the chief foreign reserves. The shift will devalue the relative worth of all America's assets.
9. Global real estate losses ... $15 trillion
Commercial real estate is bloating 25% of U.S. bank balance sheets. Dubai Tower, world's tallest, is empty. China collapse will upstage, further depress America's market.
10. Foreign trade and ownership ... $5 trillion
Foreigners own more than $2.5 trillion of America. China holds over $1 trillion Treasury debt. $40 billion new deficits added monthly. Total climbing at $400 billion annually.
11. State / local budget / pension shortfalls ... $3.5 trillion
Shortfalls of $110 billion in 2010, $178 billion in 2011. On top of more than $450 billion in annual shortfalls in local government employee pension funds. L.A.'s near bankruptcy.
12. Corporate pensions plus 401(k) plans ... $3.2 trillion
Only 30% of Americans have enough to retire. There's $2.7 trillion in 401(k) plans. And 92% of corporate pension plans are underfunded, with defaults guaranteed by taxpayers.
13. Consumer card debt ... $2.5 trillion
Americans are still living beyond their means. Even with a downturn, consumer debt rose from about $2.3 trillion to $2.5 trillion. Fat Cat Bankers love it, yes, love making matters worse by gouging cardholders and mortgagees, blocking help in foreclosures and bankruptcies.
14. Lobbyists' annual costs ... $1.4 trillion
Wall Street bankers, Corporate CEOs and Forbes 400 Richest spend billions to influence elected officials, regulators and bureaucrats with lobbyists and campaign donations to exercise power over government. Voters are easily manipulated, but it takes lots of cash.
The total of all 14 categories of debt is a mind-blowing $825 trillion that includes "apples and oranges," jet fighters, derivatives and insurance fees, credit cards, autos and mortgages. There are more, and of course these are just estimates. Given the lack of transparency on Wall Street and in Washington, our debt is likely over $1,000 trillion.
That's One Quadrillion Dollars.
Farrell's column makes clear that Wall Street is 'betting short' -- placing trades that will make money when aspects of the system lose; this is Goldman-Sachs' methodology. And in order for these Masters Of The Universe to cash in... the system has to fail.
I wish I had a wisecrack to make at this point, but I don't.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Not Even 'Clash Of The Titians' Sucks Like This Badness
Если ты настолько глуп, чтобы тратить 880 R. рублей на DVD этого фильма собака, все молдавский народ жалко вас.
By I. Rabschinski
Milla Jovovich Concentrates On Her American Accent
Hokay. I am liking the Film. Is being a really good invention of the technology for over hundred years now. But sometimes there comes a movie so bad, like sick from the bad food, that I want to vomit in bucket. I will maybe vomit without bucket -- and I think in particular for this piece of diseased pig foot, I will make cream corn on your personal shoes, Okay?
This is The Fourth Kind, starring a woman who fifteen years ago was fashion model who never ate much food, and could only speak the Ukraine, and that not so good. But, they put her in this movie Fifth Kind Of Element with the Bruce Willis, and boom boom, she is big star and slinking around lots of modeling and advertisement. So nice for her.
You Buy Makeup From This Woman? She Looks Like Idiot.
Now, she is thirty-five and gets enough to eat, so no more can she make with the slinky photo shoots and little dresses. Now, she had better be film star for real -- and to do this, she has to speak the Amerikanyets like she comes from the Ohio and not like Kiev.
And, she has done this! Hoo Boy; is miracle! No, I am not kidding you. She sounds exactly like American -- only every little while, she has this slight little thing that happens.
I have pain in my butt to tell you -- but Milla cannot make like the modulation of her voice. No like going up; then like going down. She speaks in weird kind of low monotone: What-do-you-think-this-means-I'm not-sure-don't-put-your coffee-on-table-without-coaster-make-sure-the-Alien-has-some-too-thank-you.
Otherwise, she could like be from L.A. Not that sounding like American is great achievement, you understand what I am saying? (Oh yes you do too.) I am not certain why Slavic peoples seem to do this. Only Romanians and a couple guys I know from TransNestor speak English in some other way. And also myself, of course.
Milla: Just Another The Regular Kind Of Amerikanyets Girl
So: This sucking bad movie is fake inside another fake also. It is rubber chicken head inside of the bread made from cardboard. Ptuh!
Premise for this movie is that a real Doktor, psychological doktor kind of girl, experienced all kind of things with Aliens from the outer space in this Nome Alaska place, which used to be Russian. The movie is supposed to be about real people in the Alaska, and they make movie, supposed to showing Truth about all this -- with girl from Kiev who does such good fake American playing the Doktor.
And she is talking all these people in the Nome, who cannot sleep, because they see this Owl looking at them. Only, is not an owl -- and we know all this before the movie starts, even.
Supporting Cast Wears Funny Caps, Like Guys Wanting Work
In The Downtown Budapest -- Which Is Funny, Because Movie
Scenes In The Alaska Was Shot In Yugoslavia, Okay?
The film Guy is splitting the screen, or cutting away, to show interviews with this "real Doktor lady", Abigail Tyler (What fake name! I guarantee nobody named Abigail in all of America since there was the Tsar). Then, we see Milla saying exactly the same thing. So we think one is real, the other a movie. But the whole thing is being fake. In fact, supposed-to-be-real Amerikan Doktor girl is British actress named Charlotte Milchard.
Не мочиться на мою голову резиновой курицей и скажите мне, я могу арендовать большой автомобиль от вас, Okay?
This Is Whole Thing! This Is Much Of Bad Alien You Will See --
And Is Not Even Alien! Is Only An Owl!
Then her patients are not only not sleeping, they are running crazy with the gunz and shooting wife and kids and dog (well, not dog, because they have no dog), because of this Owl. And they do this with front lawn full of police cars with lots of flashing lights (such bullshit).
And this Owl is all over the place. Tricky Owl, who will always keep weird face to the camera as it moves around him. So effect is creepy -- and that is only special effect this movie has! You never get to see Aliens, and that is rip-off, big time.
Look! Even The Zoidberg, Actual Alien, Thinks Film Is Crap!
The rest of the movie is Milla, and fake interview with awful-looking fake-real Doktor lady Abigail every two minutes. Also people speaking the Sumerian (and with really bad aksent, I have to be telling you), which means something but nobody says what.
I go to University Of Bulgar to learn that film is "suspension of the not believing" -- but this piece of crap the film makes my Uncle Yehudi, who is famous for being funny in his head, look like Most Sane Guy In World.
Also there is the actor Guy, Will Wheaton Guy (Remembering Shock To The System? Armageddon? Or maybe The Postman? Will is the Good, but stuck in big Dog Of Film). And also some children put there to make you feel sorry for them to be in such bad film. There is also no dog, which bothers me.
At least kids got paid. If you are seeing this movie, you will see big Owl face with creepy eyes -- but all you will want to do is stab your own with fork or pencil.
Do not see!
I, Rabschinski, say this -- to Moldavish Guy; you also.
By I. Rabschinski
Milla Jovovich Concentrates On Her American Accent
Hokay. I am liking the Film. Is being a really good invention of the technology for over hundred years now. But sometimes there comes a movie so bad, like sick from the bad food, that I want to vomit in bucket. I will maybe vomit without bucket -- and I think in particular for this piece of diseased pig foot, I will make cream corn on your personal shoes, Okay?
This is The Fourth Kind, starring a woman who fifteen years ago was fashion model who never ate much food, and could only speak the Ukraine, and that not so good. But, they put her in this movie Fifth Kind Of Element with the Bruce Willis, and boom boom, she is big star and slinking around lots of modeling and advertisement. So nice for her.
You Buy Makeup From This Woman? She Looks Like Idiot.
Now, she is thirty-five and gets enough to eat, so no more can she make with the slinky photo shoots and little dresses. Now, she had better be film star for real -- and to do this, she has to speak the Amerikanyets like she comes from the Ohio and not like Kiev.
And, she has done this! Hoo Boy; is miracle! No, I am not kidding you. She sounds exactly like American -- only every little while, she has this slight little thing that happens.
I have pain in my butt to tell you -- but Milla cannot make like the modulation of her voice. No like going up; then like going down. She speaks in weird kind of low monotone: What-do-you-think-this-means-I'm not-sure-don't-put-your coffee-on-table-without-coaster-make-sure-the-Alien-has-some-too-thank-you.
Otherwise, she could like be from L.A. Not that sounding like American is great achievement, you understand what I am saying? (Oh yes you do too.) I am not certain why Slavic peoples seem to do this. Only Romanians and a couple guys I know from TransNestor speak English in some other way. And also myself, of course.
Milla: Just Another The Regular Kind Of Amerikanyets Girl
So: This sucking bad movie is fake inside another fake also. It is rubber chicken head inside of the bread made from cardboard. Ptuh!
Premise for this movie is that a real Doktor, psychological doktor kind of girl, experienced all kind of things with Aliens from the outer space in this Nome Alaska place, which used to be Russian. The movie is supposed to be about real people in the Alaska, and they make movie, supposed to showing Truth about all this -- with girl from Kiev who does such good fake American playing the Doktor.
And she is talking all these people in the Nome, who cannot sleep, because they see this Owl looking at them. Only, is not an owl -- and we know all this before the movie starts, even.
Supporting Cast Wears Funny Caps, Like Guys Wanting Work
In The Downtown Budapest -- Which Is Funny, Because Movie
Scenes In The Alaska Was Shot In Yugoslavia, Okay?
The film Guy is splitting the screen, or cutting away, to show interviews with this "real Doktor lady", Abigail Tyler (What fake name! I guarantee nobody named Abigail in all of America since there was the Tsar). Then, we see Milla saying exactly the same thing. So we think one is real, the other a movie. But the whole thing is being fake. In fact, supposed-to-be-real Amerikan Doktor girl is British actress named Charlotte Milchard.
Не мочиться на мою голову резиновой курицей и скажите мне, я могу арендовать большой автомобиль от вас, Okay?
This Is Whole Thing! This Is Much Of Bad Alien You Will See --
And Is Not Even Alien! Is Only An Owl!
Then her patients are not only not sleeping, they are running crazy with the gunz and shooting wife and kids and dog (well, not dog, because they have no dog), because of this Owl. And they do this with front lawn full of police cars with lots of flashing lights (such bullshit).
And this Owl is all over the place. Tricky Owl, who will always keep weird face to the camera as it moves around him. So effect is creepy -- and that is only special effect this movie has! You never get to see Aliens, and that is rip-off, big time.
Look! Even The Zoidberg, Actual Alien, Thinks Film Is Crap!
The rest of the movie is Milla, and fake interview with awful-looking fake-real Doktor lady Abigail every two minutes. Also people speaking the Sumerian (and with really bad aksent, I have to be telling you), which means something but nobody says what.
I go to University Of Bulgar to learn that film is "suspension of the not believing" -- but this piece of crap the film makes my Uncle Yehudi, who is famous for being funny in his head, look like Most Sane Guy In World.
Also there is the actor Guy, Will Wheaton Guy (Remembering Shock To The System? Armageddon? Or maybe The Postman? Will is the Good, but stuck in big Dog Of Film). And also some children put there to make you feel sorry for them to be in such bad film. There is also no dog, which bothers me.
At least kids got paid. If you are seeing this movie, you will see big Owl face with creepy eyes -- but all you will want to do is stab your own with fork or pencil.
Do not see!
I, Rabschinski, say this -- to Moldavish Guy; you also.
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