Big Mistake- Govt's Big Bailout!

Recently the government spent or budgeted $700 billion dollars to unstable financial institutions, most of them who made the stupid mistake of taking on unstable assets. You might say, "So, the government is bailing out businesses that made dumb financial decisions?" And the answer is YES! How often do we as human beings make stupid mistakes and our parents tell us, "Well, we know you won't be doing that again? or the rhetorical questions they say "Well wasn't that smart?" or some such. But our parents (if they are good ones) tell us we need to learn from our mistakes. If you miss a problem on your exam, figure out what you did wrong, and learn from it. Perhaps when that question comes up again, you'll have the right answer or will do the right thing. And instead of our government being the responsible parent that says to these financial institutions, "well, learn from your mistakes", it is bailing them out! It's equivalent to you doing something stupid at your job (photocopying your butt on the public copy machine) and then having someone come up and say... "Oh... well that wasn't smart. But you won't have any consequences for your actions." So our nation is going deeper into debt to make up for the mistakes of stupid companies, most of them who were stupid enough to allow financially unstable people the ability to purchase a house they could not afford. And how is the government going to pay for this? Why the tax payers of course! So, now I'm not only paying for people one welfare and other government funds... I'm now paying for idiot business men to remain idiots and allow them some job security. These morons shouldn't be allowed to be secured in their job! They've already screwed their job up (in a big way) and should probably look at doing something else... like flipping hamburgers at McDonalds or some such.

And while I'm really upset by all of this there are 2 groups that are really happy by governments deeper involvement in business: 1) the morons who got "bailed out" for their screw ups, and 2) the Democrats who want more government involvement. Heck, the Democrats are so thrilled by this (and it's no surprise that Congress did this- since it is currently held by the Democratic party), they are wanting to sink the country deeper into debt by having the government be responsible for health care as well. Great! One more thing the financially responsible people have to provide to the unfinancially responsible people. Perfect.

Honestly the government should not have bailed them out. But, you may say, then we'll have an economic crisis and a recession heading our way! Guess what?! We are already in a recession. No one wants to admit to the "R" word... but we are already heading towards "Great Depression #2". And with confrontations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and possible confrontations in Venezuela, Russia, and China... we need to have some of our government's budget providing for the security of our soldiers as well as a possible military confrontation. The bail out is going to cripple us more than it will help us. So, I'd like to take a moment to give Congress the finger. Thanks for F*cking things up!

For more info. check out = http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122215840074466841.html and http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122200573768460503.html from the Wall Street Journal.

Campaign 2008- Where They Stand

Note to reader- The information placed here is non-biased and is taken directly from US News & World Report. The various issues are Education, Healthcare, Iraq War, Immigration, Economy, Social Policies (gay marriage, abortion) and the Environment. The point of this posting is to help make it easier for the voter to understand all the issues each canidate supports and therefore help them to make an informed decision. The Democratic nominee is highlighted in BLUE, and the Republican nominee in RED. Should any comments come as a result of this, they are heartily welcome.

Education: No Child Left Behind
Obama- Improve the tests and offer more support to schools that need help.
McCain- Consider changing testing requirements for some students.

Education: Teacher's Pay
Obama- Supports pay based on individual teacher performance.
McCain- Supports merit pay for individual teachers.

Education: Higher Education Affordability
Obama- Create a $4,000 tax credit to cover the cost of college tuition
McCain- Has not revealed any details of his plans.

Healthcare: Mandatory Insurance
Obama- Requiring insurance for children only. If coverage is affordable and there are subsidies, everyone will buy.
McCain- Health insurance is something people can chose to do

Healthcare: Guaranteed Coverage
Obama- Supports forbidding insurance companies to deny coverage because of pre-existing conditions when people apply for coverage
McCain- has yet to reveal how his plan will protect people with pre-existing illnesses from being denied affordable insurance.

Healthcare: Restructuring the System
Obama- Want to expand people's choice of plans, possibly building on the plan for federal employees.
McCain- instaed of the tax break employees get on plans, McCain would give $2,500 to individuals and $5,000 to families to buy healthcare.

Iraq War: Decision to go to War
Obama- Opposes the war
McCain- critical of Bush's tactics 6 months into the war. Last year he became one of the staunches defenders of the president's current surge strategy.

Iraq War: Timetables for Troop Withdrawl
Obama- Allow the military commanders to adjust the withdrawl. Envisions a limited future troop presence in Iraq.
McCain- Calling for more troops in Iraq before the surge, but he would run up against the limits of a severely strained U.S. military.

Iraq War: Effects on the War in Afghanistan
Obama- Wants to pull troops out of Iraq in part to increase the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan. He would use the extra soldiers as leverage for additional troop commitments from NATO.
McCain- offered few specifics on whether or not more troops are needed in Afghanistan, but has recommended an increased emphasis on development aid.

Immigration: Border Fence
Obama- Voted for the fence, but is de-emphasizing his support.
McCain- Voted for the fence and has encouraged agreements to allow the government to enter private property to survey the land.

Immigration: Guest-Worker Program
Obama- Supports a guest-worker program with a database of workers, arguing it will improve wages and conditions for all workers.
McCain- cosponsored the failed Senate bill that proposed a guest-worker program with a registry and a path to legalization for illegal immigrants.

Immigration: Legalization/Amnesty
Obama- supports giving illegal immigrants a path to legal residency.
McCain- as the principal author of the failed immigration bill, which would have given illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, McCain has struggled to convince conservatives that his plan is not amnesty.

Immigration: Enforcement & Security
Obama- voted for comprehensive immigration reform and has stressed that legalized workers will boost U.S. wages.
McCain- moved from pushing the cause of legalization to emphasizing the need for border security first.

Economy: Taxes
Obama- would also give a $1,000 tax credit to working families.
McCain- wants to make the Bush tax cuts permanent, cut corporate taxes, and repeal the alternative minium tax.

Economy: Spending
Obama- would reinstate pay-as-you-go federal budget rules.
McCain- plans to balance the budget in 4 years by cutting the growth of discretionary domestic spending and eliminating earmarks.

Economy: Energy Prices
Obama- proposes investing $150 billion over 10 years in green technologies. He would also create a clean-energy venture capital fund.
McCain- proposes more domestic oil drilling, building 45 nuclear power plants, and investign $2 billion a year to develop clean-coal technology.

Social Policy: Abortion
Obama- strongly supports abortion rights, but has also been emphasizing his commitment to reducing the number of abortions.
McCain- rarely talks about abortion publicly, but helped pass the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003.

Social Policy: Roe v. Wade
Obama- he will nominate judges who uphold Roe v. Wade
McCain- pledged to appoint judges like Justice Antonin Scalia, an opponent of Roe.

Social Policy: Same-Sex Marriage
Obama- supports gay civil unions with all the legal benefits of marriage.
McCain- has said same-sex marriage is a matter best left to the states, but supports efforts to ban it in California and Arizona.

Environment: Global Warming
Obama- supports a cap-and-trade policy to limit domestic greenhouse gas emissions and would require polluters to buy allowances.
McCain- supports a cap-and-trade policy but would distribute some allowances at no charge.

Environment: Offshore Drilling
Obama- keep the federal ban on offshore drilling in place, arguing ti would not reduce gas prices.
McCain- would lift the federal ban on offshore drilling but bar drilling in environmentally sensitive areas.

Environment: Alternative Energy
Obama- supports tax incentives and subsidies for the development of wind and solar technologies, as well as for biofuels.
McCain- opposes government subsidies for ethanol production, supports lifting tariffs on foreign ethanol and promotes expaning nuclear energy.

Russia's Invasion of Georgia

By now hopefully everyone knows that Russia illegal invaded the sovereign independent state of Georgia and has annexed 2 Georgian territories- South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The reason for the invasion, Russians claim was that the ethic Russians living in Georgia were being persecuted in those 2 areas by Georgian police. If the Georgians (and no we are not talking about the people who live in the state next to Florida) were persecuting Russians, why would they do it specifically in those 2 areas? It doesn't make sense.

Russia informed the EU, UN, and US that they were going to move their troops out of Georgia. However, they claim those 2 territories (S. Ossetia and Abkhazia) are independent states and not part of Georgia any longer, so Russia plans to keep troops in those 2 areas. Surprise surprise! When the UN, EU, and US rejected Russia's military action in these 2 areas (whose independence has only been recognized by Russia), the Russian President stated "We do not want another Cold War, but we aren't afraid of another one either." Grreeaat!

This is not surprising behavior from Russia given its history the past 50 years. It's all about the territory. Russia is already the largest country in the world (spaning 12 time zones) and even now it is smaller than what it once was. Russians hope to return their glory by reclaiming long lost territory. And why would Russia go after these 2 areas specifically? Well South Ossetia is near the Caucus Mountains and is rich in oil (something which is a necessity for military and economic growth... at least today it is), and Abkhazia has a strategic naval port that the Russians could use. It wasn't that Georgians were persecuting Russians specifically in these 2 areas, it was that the Russians needed an excuse to claim these 2 areas. And it's all about the land. Some of the people from these territories have left because of the Russians soldiers. So, does anyone honestly think the Russians are doing this because they want to help people?

Either way, I think we are on our way to another cold war, but I doubt it will remain cold for long. The Russians have already shown their willingness to invade another country despite the negative comments and warning issued by the United Nations, they will not hesitate to take again. The question now is which country is next? Several post-Soviet countries have already voiced concern as being the next possible targets, and the European Union is attempting to hurry their entrance into the fold of western Europe before Russia decides to find another reason for invasion... again.

Stalin you have not been forgotten by your people.

Welfare

Welfare is financial assistance to aid people in need. "Need" refers to jobs, food, housing, etc... not ipods, Pizza Hut pizza, or satellite tv/cable. Today, unfortunately, anyone can get welfare! I have at least 3 friends (or former) that have a college degree, no mental or physical handicaps that prevent them from getting a job, are married, and have children... and are on welfare. And to top it all off... they are happy to be on welfare! One friend encouraged me to quit my job so that way welfare would cover some family expenses!

What mutants is society forming? I remember a time when "welfare" was something no one wanted to admit to. It was one of those things that you accepted as necessary for the time, but hoped to God you'd be financially back on track again soon. Now, people aim for it and wear it as a badge of honor. It may not have reached the stage of "coolness" yet... but it definately isn't something taboo or undesired. I mean, heck, how else did those 17 year old high schoolers hope to financially provide for their unborn children they agreed to have together? Why... welfare of course. Heck, they can even get college grants to help pay for them to attend a university for a degree they may or may not use! And this money that they are lining up to take is that of the financially responsible! Why are we rewarding the financially retarded?

I don't have a problem with welfare in general. I do not have an issue of having some of my taxpayer money to assist in those that truly need the money and are hoping to get out of welfare as soon as possible. What I do have a problem with is that money going to support people who just don't want to work or want to have all their kids now while it's free. It's NOT FREE! I'm paying for all your children to be born. And I'm paying for them to be born and raised by a parent who doesn't know what a work ethic is!

So, I propose the government do thus... reduce the budget going into Welfare. Next, I would have every person who needs welfare to fill out an application, agree to meet specific standards by a specific period of time (i.e. have a job, take regular drug tests, abstain from having any further children). This will return people onto a track of financial responsibility and realization of their priorities and obligations. Once they agree to said terms and are given a monthly allowance (welfare), they will be periodically contacted and watched to make sure they are meeting these standards (through contacting employment HR departments for job performance reviews and spontaeous drug examinations). Those that fail to stay on track will be warned and then if they continue to fail to comply, denied welfare. If they rely on the government to financially assist them with their children, yet are unwilling to meet the needs of their children as parents (through jobs, financial management, and a drug-free lifestyle), then it is easier for the government to place these children in a foster care system that can guarantee that these needs can be met!

The financially responsible need to unite! This isn't a poor vs. rich or a black vs. white issue. It's a solution to providing everyone the ability to become financially responsible once more. It will help stabilize our budget by reducing the amount that gets sucked into the vaccum of the unaccountable. It will help the United States to get out of debt. It will also cause teenagers and single women to re-think sex, which can cause unwanted pregnancies. It will cause people to take a second thought... rather than charge mindlessly ahead knowing that the government will take care of their consequences. This will bring about a nation that demands accountability! We demand accountability from our government, our president, and our congressmen... and it is about time that they demand accountability from us! It's time to become a nation of accountability!

86 Wives

According to BBC News (published on 8/8/2008) a Nigerian man named Mohammed Bello Abubakar is telling other men not to follow in his footsteps, specifically don't marry 86 women. Talk about going above and beyond the call of duty... he's even starting to make some of the Mormon Fundamentalists blush. While many religions accept a man's ability to have more than one wife, even most Muslims believe that a man should limit his number to four.

According to Abubakar, he doesn't go looking form them, "they just come to me". Yes, I'm sure the women take one look at a molting stick figure of a man with only a few teeth and think, "Prince Charming". Honestly? What has this guy got going for him? It sure as heck isn't looks. Must be his "come-ons". And if so... every man on earth would want him to write a book divulging his secrets so they can too have women "just come to me".

I think most of the women that come to him, probably just need the financial support a husband in Africa can bring (however, how much financial support can a man give 86 women and countless more children?). In fact, according to BBC news, he doesn't make any money... instead he sends his children out to beg.

One of his wives commented that Abubakar informed her that she was to marry him as "directly an order from God". She was in high school. And he was in his 70s! Hmm... gentleman maybe that is his pick-up line- "Hey babe, God ordered you to marry me... so... how do you feel about an October 3rd wedding?".

This is just unbelieveable that women would do this... but then again, I have know many women who do many stupid things... especially when they think they'll get love. Sometimes all a man has to say is "I love you" (and he doesn't have to mean it) and a woman is already wiling to die for him, bear his children, and commit illegal acts just because "well... he told me he loved me".

So to women I say... question and test his love and don't give your love away unless you are certain that it will be cherished by him (rather than collected with 85 other peices).

To men I say... dont' be stupid and get 86 wives (or in the United States- 86 mothers of your children) financially it will kill you. Plus, it doesn't reflect well upon someone who isn't man enough to support his own family and therefore has to rely upon welfare or sending his children out to make money to support you.

To Mohammed Abubakar I say... you took advantage of financially strapped, emotionally vulnerable, or religiously dillusional women. Sure you give them a place to stay and a man to call "husband", but there could have been other/better ways. You didn't have to sleep with them and then make your children with them the means of your financial stability. While most of your wives may see you as "next in line from the Prophet Muhammad", I see you as a dilusional horny man.

P Diddy Needs Fuel

Recently, according to Time Magazine (Sept. 15, 2008 edition), Sean (Diddy) Combs appealed to people in the Middle East (specifically Saudia Arabia) to give him some free gas for his jet. Due to the high price in fuel, he apparently "can't believe [he's] flying commerical". Seriously? First off, their is a fuel shortage... suck it up. Everyone else is dealing with it or at least re-prioritizing their costs/spending. Guess what!? It's your turn! And he was stupid enough to ask this request of "all my Saudi Arabian brothers and sisters". Isn't his music banned in Saudi Arabia? What are the chances some traditional Muslim listens to his music and is willing to send him a few free barrels of oil? And then too, what would Sean Combs give back to the generous donatee? A cd? a t-shirt? Come on! I mean I know most rappers are idiots... (lets be honest with each other... they know how to pack a weapon and get women, but have difficulty speaking correct English and reading classical literature)... but seriously? Wouldn't he realize that none of his music is selling to Saudi Arabia? Or that no one wants him to visit there for a tour? Surly, without keeping up on current events, he should be able to figure it out. Guess not. To Sean (Diddy) Combs, I say to you and to all those people you encourage... You Are Stupid. Get an education and do something valuable for society... and "no" rap music is not considered a benefit to society.