Friday, March 6, 2009

Media Incompetence and Hypocrisy

A fine example of media incompetence and hypocrisy:



If you forgot, 'Sir' Alan Stanford was accused in an alleged $8 billion fraud scheme and Howard Beale (played by Peter Finch in the movie Network) was a fictional character whose career as "the Angry Man of the Airwaves" was sparked by his half-joking offer to kill himself on nationwide TV following receiving his two-weeks' notice.

The right-wing media/Republi-con quid pro quo: Right-wing media enables and promotes the interest of the Republi-cons and, in exchange, wealth corporate interest buy ads on right-wing media. A perfect arrangement to defraud the public.

Operation Siege Status Report

Fax successful!

Email successful!

Call complete!

You can report your status by posting a comment.

Next siege, Friday, March 13, 2009.

Keep recruiting fellow taxpayers to STOP THE LOOTING OF THE TREASURY!

And remember, don't do anything stupid.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

The Plan -- Lay Siege to the Government

FINAL UPDATE, the is the final plan for the first siege on March 6, 2009:

The plan is to lay siege to the federal government, a figurative siege that is, of calls, and faxes, and emails, and letters, and demand that the government protect the treasury of our country from further looting.

The first siege will commence on Friday, with one volley, at noon CST.

The specific objective is the White House.

The coordinates are:

Address for letters: The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500

Phone Numbers:
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461

Email form: click here.

Tell them that we're not gonna take it and you want the government to protect the treasury from further looting by the robber investment banks and financial institutions.

I'm going to tell them: "Stop the bailout BULL! Protect the treasury NOW from further looting. No more money for insolvent investment banks and financial institutions."

Prepare for the siege by watching this video:



This is our banner:






















Now is time to prepare. Recruit fellow taxpayers, family, and friends.


Check back for further details.

CAUTION: Don't do anything stupid.


UPDATE: As expected, more looting of the treasury.

After a $60 billion loan, a $40 billion purchase of preferred shares and $50 billion to soak up the company’s toxic assets, Uncle Sam will quadruple down on AIG, with an additional $30 billion in taxpayer money. Read The New York Times, A.I.G. Reports $61.7 Billion Loss as U.S. Gives More Aid.

A loss of $61.7 billion in the fourth quarter, that is $465,421 per minute. "To put that in perspective, every six seconds it loses enough to pay full tuition for a year at Harvard."

"No company has cost you, the taxpayer, more money. And no company deserves it less." AIG was the enabler of the economic mess.

And Goldman Sacks, the former firm of former Treasury Secretary Paulson, was one of the enablees. All these bailouts are an attempt to try and save well-connected investment banks, like Goldman.

Time to End the Bailout Bull

Time to admit that Wall Street had just become a Ponzi scheme.

Time to kill the zombie banks and other financial institutions.

This is the reason for our outrage and action.


UPDATE II: Time to rally the peasants. Only a dozen or so have indicated that they will participate in the first siege, although I expect many times that number on Friday. If you plan to participate, please indicate in the poll on the right. I need to know some numbers in order to make the most effective use of assets.

If we don't have at least 100 declared participants, we will have to combine forces for one volley. In that case the first siege will begin at noon CST, or 18:00 (6:00 P.M. same day) GMT. (To calculate your local time for noon CST, use this time converter.)

Check back for a final update late Thursday.

And rally your friends and family to stop the looting of the treasury.


UPDATE III, MUST READ: Still not convinced. Read The Big Picture, Solvent Insurer / Insolvent Insurer about "[w]hy are the taxpayers making good on hedge fund trades gone bad" AKA the AIG bailout. There is no legitimate reason that insolvent banks and financial institutions should not be forced into bankruptcy. The only reason to bail them out is to save the stockholders. Former Sec. Treasury is one of those stockholders. He owns billions of dollars in Goldman Sachs stock. Ergo, he and other well-connected stockholders prefer government bailouts to save their investment vice bankruptcy.

STOP THE LOOTING OF THE TREASURY!


UPDATE IV, MUST LISTEN: Prefer to listen to, rather than read, the news. Then listen to NPR, Fresh Air, Simon Johnson on Bank Bailout Plan. Johnson is a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

The gist of what he says is that well-connected billionaires are using taxpayer money to prop up their bankrupt companies.

Therefore, I don't understand the public apathy! WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE!


UPDATE V: In an article titled The Big Dither, Paul Krugman, the newest winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, writes that when it comes to dealing with banks, the Obama administration is dithering. And the result could be an economy that sputters along for a very long time. Further, he writes, by:

"using taxpayer funds to subsidize the prices of toxic waste . . . most of the benefit would go to people who don’t need or deserve to be rescued.

And this means that the government would have to lay out trillions of dollars to bring the financial system back to health, which would, in turn, both ensure a fierce public outcry and add to already serious concerns about the deficit. (Yes, even strong advocates of fiscal stimulus like yours truly worry about red ink.) Realistically, it’s just not going to happen.

So why has this zombie idea — it keeps being killed, but it keeps coming back — taken such a powerful grip? The answer, I fear, is that officials still aren’t willing to face the facts. They don’t want to face up to the dire state of major financial institutions because it’s very hard to rescue an essentially insolvent bank without, at least temporarily, taking it over. And temporary nationalization is still, apparently, considered unthinkable.

But this refusal to face the facts means, in practice, an absence of action. And I share the president’s fears: inaction could result in an economy that sputters along, not for months or years, but for a decade or more. "

Time to kill the zombie banks and other financial institutions.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Rush is the Hindenburg of the Republi-con Future


REPOSTED from early February.

See also my earlier post, The Republi-Con Jihad Against America.

And see these from the Washington Post:


And from The New York Times, Fears of a Clown.

Don't ya love it when the cannibals turn on themselves!


UPDATE: Another tribute to the Great Republi-con himself:



UPDATE II:

Tribute to the great one:























ORIGINAL POST in early February:

A tribute to the great Republi-con 'Army of One,' with appropriate highlights of his career:


Is the Rally for the Constitution, or Religion

UPDATE: The Santa Rosa County School Board began its meeting Monday without a prayer, and then signed the consent decree. If adopted by the Court, the decree will end the lawsuit. See Pensacola New Journal, SR board signs decree to conclude prayer suit.

The next school board election should be interesting.

Some in the community are not happy, claiming it is "judicial tyranny, plain and simple". Of course, they overlook the fact that the school board "admitted liability on plaintiffs’ claims, as set out in their complaint filed August 27, 2008."


I have posted some of the court documents. I suggest you read the school board's motion to dismiss the complaint. A favorable ruling would have had the case thrown out.



Then read the ACLU's response in opposition.



Soon thereafter, without waiting for any ruling on the case, the school board admitted liability. That is the equivalent to pleading guilty in a criminal case.

Now churches will be holding a a rally during school hours, with school students. Why? Is the rally to celebrate the Constitution, or religion?

Extra Class at NoBullU on WEBY

ALERT, ALERT: More looting of the treasury!! NoBullU will be on air for a special edition today from 4:05 to 6 p.m. at 1330 AM WEBY and on line, courtesy of Cyber Smart Computers.

Topics:

National: the looting of the treasury and planned siege of the White House on Friday.

[We might also talk briefly about tomorrow's program, WEBY to probe Obama qualifications. The conservative nuts embarrass themselves as the government continues to loot the treasury.

What next, will WEBY probe the Apollo Moon Landing hoax with David Icke, author of The Biggest Secret, in which he wrote that the Illuminati are a race of reptilian humanoids known as the Babylonian Brotherhood, and that many prominent figures are reptilian, including George W. Bush, Queen Elizabeth II, Kris Kristofferson, and Boxcar Willie?]

Usually, I'll discuss anything, but today let's stick to the topic of looting the treasury. (Disclaimer: the host reserves the right to end any discussion and hang up on you.)

Listen to the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- No political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- Just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

So tune-in, call-in, but only if you can handle the truth!

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Class Saturday at NoBullU on BlogTalkRadio

UPDATE: It is a wrap! The first class at NoBullU on BlogTalkRadio is finished and posted for your listening enjoyment and future reference.


As a follow-up to the meeting to organize the effort and prepare a march on Washington D.C., I will host a live call-in talk show on BlogTalkRadio.

The show will be Saturday, after the meeting, at 2 p.m.

The call-in number is (347) 308-8275.

Check back for updates before the show. And call-in to fresh the tree of liberty.

NoBullU Battle Cry, Time to Refresh Liberty

FINAL UPDATE regarding the meeting at noon, in the Martin Luther King Plaza in downtown Pensacola, FL to organize the effort and prepare a march on Washington D.C., with a target date of April 15, 2009.: The weather looks questionable, but I will be there.

And at 2 p.m., CST there will be a special broadcast of NoBullU on BlogTalkRadio. Join me at this website to continue the effort to refresh liberty.

The call-in number is (347) 308-8275.

(NOTE: I've never used BlogTalkRadio, but I hope it works.)


In a letter to William Stevens Smith, Thomas Jefferson wrote:

"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ... What country before ever existed a century and half without a rebellion? And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."

After the actions of the government over the past several months, after reading Obama's 2010 budget proposal, and after learning that the government continues to prop up the Ponzi scheme that is Wall Street, I say that it is time to refresh the tree of liberty.

Please meet me tomorrow (Saturday, February 28, 2009), at noon, in the Martin Luther King Plaza in downtown Pensacola, FL to organize the effort and prepare a march on Washington D.C., with a target date of April 15, 2009.

This will be a peaceful effort, but bring a dollar bill to burn in protest.

Check back for updates, especially in case of inclement weather.

UPDATE: As discussed on the show, we will collect dollar bills for donation to a charitable cause, and burn a sybolic treasury note, the $1,000,000 bill that Mike gave me for the occasion.

REMEMBER to check back Saturday morning and/or listen to CyberSmart Saturday at 11 a.m. on WEBY for further updates, especially in case of inclement weather.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Class Today at NoBullU on WEBY

Listen to the voice of wisdom and reason in a wilderness of partisan rhetoric -- No political insanity, no conservative hypocrisy, no liberal foolishness -- Just straight talk, straight at you, and that’s no bull!!

NoBullU will be on air Friday from 4:05 to 6 p.m. at 1330 AM WEBY and on line, courtesy of Cyber Smart Computers.

Topics:

Local and state: Prosecute Sansom, he is corrupt, and how NOT to make it "illegal to look under or through a person's clothing," with guest, PNJ reporter Thyrie Bland; and

Nation and international: the government's aiding and abetting the robbery of taxpayers AKA the bailouts and organizing a recall of all politicians, AKA The Peaceful Revolution.

But I'll discuss anything. (Disclaimer: the host reserves the right to end any discussion and hang up on you.)

So tune-in, call-in, but only if you can handle the truth!

Economic Mess for Dummies

Having a hard time understanding the economic mess. In October I tried to explain it with words:

"The bailout doesn't seem to be working. The problem isn’t just $1 trillion in subprime loans, the problem is $62 trillion in credit default swap liability (CDS) for collateral debt obligations (CDOs) [NOTE: it should read collateralized debt obligations] that no one can unravel or value (or even understand).

What is a CDO or CDS? Imagine taking paper debt like mortgages, subprime mortgages, car loans, credit cards loans, and pretty much anything you can imagine. Now combine and mix the paper in a blender, spiking it with worthless rhetorical hyperbole that derivatives are the new paradigm of investments. Then pour the mixture in a pyramid of champagne glasses, to represent the varying levels of return (and risk), with the higher the glass, the lower the return and risk. That represents the CDOs. Now as you sell the mess, insure against the risk of the CDOs decreasing in value with CDSs. Presto, $1 trillion of bad loans is transmuted into $62 trillion in faux wealth. An alchemist would be proud.

That I think is a fair metaphor for the problem, and because of the scope of the problem the Feds don't know what to do."

Now watch the movie version, The Crisis of Credit Visualized:



Good movie, but I think it understates the role of CDSs. The estimates now are that credit default swap liability is nearly $600 trillion!!

UPDATE: Two additional movies, both from from Marketplace Whiteboard. The first, Uncorking CDOs:





The second Untangling credit default swaps:


Thursday, February 26, 2009

Republi-Con Fiscal Conservative Hypocrisy

Think about the irony.

On Tuesday, Obama gave a speech about the economic mess and the federal budget, acknowledging that the “day of reckoning has arrived” after years of financial irresponsibility.

The Republi-cons chose Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana, a state that has gotten $130 billion in post-Katrina aid, to try to convince the country that Republi-con ideas will save the country from the economic mess and the last eight years financial irresponsibility that those same ideas created.

Is there no Republi-con shame?

BTW, Jindal's speech, in both form and substance, was a flop.

This from the man that Rusty claims is the next mythical Ronald Reagan.

The Republi-cons are in trouble in 2012 unless they can destroy Obama.

Ergo, the Republi-con jihad to "hope Obama fails."

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Congressional Hypocrisy

From Dilbert, wouldn't this be hilarious:











Too funny!

Foobs Yet Again

How many times can American taxpayers be chumps, let us recount the ways, in chronological order:

Bailout and Dividends

Taxpayers are Chumps Cont.

Taxpayers Continue to Be Treated as Chumps

Taxpayers are Foobs

And yet again. Read The New York Times, I Ponied Up for Sheryl Crow?

We foobs let Northern Trust of Chicago, "which got $1.5 billion in bailout money and then laid off 450 workers, flew hundreds of clients and employees to Los Angeles last week and treated them to four days of posh hotel rooms, salmon and filet mignon dinners, music concerts, a PGA golf tournament at the Riviera Country Club with Mercedes shuttle rides and Tiffany swag bags . . . had a lavish dinner at the Ritz Carlton on Wednesday with a concert by Chicago (at a $100,000 fee); rented a private hangar at the Santa Monica Airport on Thursday for another big dinner with a gig by Earth, Wind & Fire, and closed down the House of Blues on Sunset Strip on Saturday (at a cost of $50,000) for a dinner and serenade by Sheryl Crow," stick it to us again.

So, how many time? Not once, not twice, not thrice, but more. (FYI: Once, twice, thrice...what comes next? Nothing comes next, as there are no more terms in this sequence.)

Home Sweet Home

Would the world be a better place without America? Think about it. Then read The New York Times, Paging Uncle Sam.

Since the economic crisis, it has become clear that America plays an important role in the world.

May America be worthy of God's blessing.

What is the Fiscally Responsible Thing to Do?

I've blog before about Republi-Con hypocrisy on federal deficits and debt. But in the mist of the economic mess left by bankrupt Republi-con ideology, what is the fiscally responsible thing to do?

Listen to Robert Reich's thoughts on the matter at NPR, Marketplace, Reducing ratio of debt is the real issue.

I Scream In Honor of Past and Current Presidents

Another email from Mike, General Manager of 1330 AM WEBY:

Ben & Jerry's wanted to create an ice cream flavor in honor of past and current Presidents.

For George W., here are some of their favorite responses:

Grape Depression
The Housing Crunch
Abu Grape
Cluster Fudge
Nut'n Accomplished
Good Riddance You Lousy Motherfucker... Swirl
Iraqi Road
Chock 'n Awe
WireTapioca
Impeach Cobbler
Guantanmallow
imPeachmint
Heck of a Job, Brownie!
Neocon Politan
RockyRoad to Fascism
The Reese's-cession
Cookie D'oh!
Nougalar Proliferation
Death by Chocolate... and Torture
Freedom Vanilla Ice Cream
Chocolate Chip On My Shoulder
Credit Crunch
Mission Pecanplished
Country Pumpkin
Chunky Monkey in Chief
WMDelicious
Chocolate Chimp
Bloody Sundae
Caramel Preemptive Stripe
I broke the law and am responsible for the deaths of thousands...with nuts


And in honor of the new President:

Baracky Road - - - half chocolate and half vanilla surrounded by fruits and nuts.

Got any humorous suggestions to add to the list.

The NOT Headline: Dumb Politician Has Lost Touch With the Common Man

An email from Mike, General Manager of 1330 AM WEBY, regarding alleged media bias:

"Biden is dumber than McCain.

Remember how the media portrayed McCain as such an idiot for saying "The Google"?

Well now Biden wants to know "The Website Number". Uh, hey, Joe, do you mean "The Web address?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJnJKE8kkmM

What an idiot!

I won't hold my breath waiting for media coverage of this blunder.

Mike"

First, I don't remember that "the media portrayed McCain as such an idiot for saying 'The Google,'" or even the statement by McCain Must have missed that one.

But what would Mike proposes as the headline: "Politician Dumber Than Dirt" or Politician Has Lost Touch With the Common Man?"

Give me a break, that is not news, everyone knows that.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Time to End the Bailout Bull

Time to admit that Wall Street had just become a Ponzi scheme.

Time to kill the zombie banks and other financial institutions.

There isn't enough money in the whole world to save Goldman Sacks, the former firm of former Treasury Secretary Paulson, the focus of an initial bailout proposal that never made sense, beneficiary of over a hundred billion bailout dollars, and then a hundred billion more.

Obama should just say no to more money for AIG and nationalize insolvent banks.

Is Crist a Traitor?

Florida's Gov. Charlie Crist was on McCain's short list for vice president before Palin was picked to be his running mate. Crist is also said to be considering a run for the Senate seat held by Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), and perhaps the White House some day.

Crist isn't make any fans with the rabid Republi-con bunch though.

Week before last he had kind words to say about Obama and the stimulus bill. To Crist, it is not "about partisan politics. It's about rising above that, helping the American people and reigniting our economy."

Now Crist want Obama "to succeed, I want him to do well because I love my country."

Guess he didn't get a copy of Rush's song, 'Barack the Magic Negro,' or the word that the Republi-con position is to "hope Obama fails."

Is Crist a traitor to the Republi-con Taliban-inspired insurgency against America?

Thankfully, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is keeping a list of other traitors to the Republi-con jihad cause.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

BS Watch

Did you get an email like this:

"WOW !!! President Obama reported to the nation this week that there is not one earmark or pork funding in the so-called economic stimulus bill. Pick your state and town and see who is pulling the wool over who."


The web site in the email is StimulusWatch.org. You can also find projects by state or territory.

First, I don't deny the stimulus bill contained earmarks.

But StimulusWatch.org is not a list of earmarks in the stimulus bill. The website is a list of "proposed 'shovel-ready'" projects in cities and states. Anyone can submit a project to the list. The state specific list includes "projects the mayors of this state submitted in the 2008 U.S. Conference of Mayors report."

But let me ask, would you prefer the government spend near a trillion dollars without a shopping list?

Only a Republi-con would want that.