The Market is Now Pricing In the Genuine Possibility that the US will Default on Its Debt
While the chances that our economy will go into default has increased from 8 in January to over 25 basis points by mid September, the Daily Telegraph also reported that, as a result, market interest rates have also spiked going from -50 to 150 basis points in the same time.
Speculators have become increasing skeptical the sudden US move to price in another trillion dollars in government debt is a good one, and have bet against us. The result is making it harder for Uncle Sam and many Wall Street firms to seek the financing our economy needs to survive this crisis.
According to the George Washington blog posting on Saturday.
"You've heard of "credit default swaps". They are a type of derivative where one person places a bet that a certain company will go out of business, and another person on the other side of the contract places a bet that the company won't go out of business (see this and this).
Well, people are now starting to increase their use of credit default swaps to bet that the U.S. will default on its ability to pay on its treasury debt."
Last week we were witness to a wild ride on Wall Street and it looks like we are headed for more volatility in the future as the market reaction to more government debt is turning very negative.
As Reuters reports, as of Monday morning opening of the Asian markets ... "Stock futures off on rescue detail worry"
It seems our top economists are also helping to trigger the alarm bells this time. Avi Zenilman from the Politico reports Sunday that the experts have weighed in and don't seem too impressed.
This week will certainly see more wild fluctuations on Wall Street, and in markets abroad, sending us ever higher into the precipice of a final turn in one direction or the other. How long the markets can endure this dizzying pace of turmoil is anyone's guess, but we are certainly in need of stability not ever-increasing volatility.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Taxpayers get socked 1 trillion dollars
U.S. Govt. Soaks Taxpayers to Bail Out Wealthy Elite; $1 Trillion Rescue Fund Lands at Taxpayers' Feet
Published on 20-09-2008
Source: Natural News
"In its complete abandonment of free market principles, the U.S. government has banned all short selling of nearly 800 financial companies and set up a $1 trillion off-the-books "rescue" fund in an attempt to sweep financial losses under the rug while sending the bill to taxpayers. If you or I used the same accounting practices in our own businesses, we'd be arrested for serious white collar crimes, but the U.S. government respects no law and is now fully engaged in Enron-like accounting schemes to create the appearance of financial safety while it drives our nation deeper into unacknowledged financial disaster. ... Today, by shifting $1 trillion in debt to the taxpayers and suspending free market trading rules, the U.S. government has guaranteed its own financial demise."
Published on 20-09-2008
Source: Natural News
"In its complete abandonment of free market principles, the U.S. government has banned all short selling of nearly 800 financial companies and set up a $1 trillion off-the-books "rescue" fund in an attempt to sweep financial losses under the rug while sending the bill to taxpayers. If you or I used the same accounting practices in our own businesses, we'd be arrested for serious white collar crimes, but the U.S. government respects no law and is now fully engaged in Enron-like accounting schemes to create the appearance of financial safety while it drives our nation deeper into unacknowledged financial disaster. ... Today, by shifting $1 trillion in debt to the taxpayers and suspending free market trading rules, the U.S. government has guaranteed its own financial demise."
Friday, September 19, 2008
Too good to be true
I knew there was a good reason not to “play” the stock market. Jim Willie writes for Kitco today:
"Hidden inside the AIG bailout funding package, surely hastily cobbled together, but carefully enough to include a totally corrupt clause, was a handy dandy clause that permits raids. The conglomerate financial firms are permitted at this point to use private individual brokerage account funds to relieve their own liquidity pressures. This represents unauthorized loans of your stock account assets. So next, if the conglomerate fails, your stock account is part of the bankruptcy process. Finally the corrupt USGovt and corrupt Wall Street houses are desperate enough to put into policy, stated by the US Federal Reserve, outlining the authorized raid of your money. Beware.
In the olden days, this sort of thievery resulted in a rope, a tree, and a horse scared out from under the perpetrator. Now? The government in cahoots with the Fed actually helps the bankers steal the money."
"Hidden inside the AIG bailout funding package, surely hastily cobbled together, but carefully enough to include a totally corrupt clause, was a handy dandy clause that permits raids. The conglomerate financial firms are permitted at this point to use private individual brokerage account funds to relieve their own liquidity pressures. This represents unauthorized loans of your stock account assets. So next, if the conglomerate fails, your stock account is part of the bankruptcy process. Finally the corrupt USGovt and corrupt Wall Street houses are desperate enough to put into policy, stated by the US Federal Reserve, outlining the authorized raid of your money. Beware.
In the olden days, this sort of thievery resulted in a rope, a tree, and a horse scared out from under the perpetrator. Now? The government in cahoots with the Fed actually helps the bankers steal the money."
Thursday, September 18, 2008
FDIC by another name
In my wildest dreams, as I am sure may of us have had at one point or another, was an image of me vacationing in the most exotic of places living up the big life from my fat bank account swelled by the winnings of the lotto. Ahh, the life of sipping pina coladas by the calm ocean side as I listen to the ramblings of my overly large-breasted cohort.
And I have to admit that, from time to time, these visions of doing nothing other than enjoying my winnings have kept me up at night trying to figure out what, in fact, that money would buy me.
After dwelling upon this luxurious lifestyle for more than a mere second or two, I would inevitably picture what would happen if these funds were to dry up. But then the thought of keeping smaller nest eggs of 100,000 planted in various bank accounts throughout the country came to mind, and the fear simply faded. A restful happy slumber would come soon after.
Of course, try as hard as one might to pick the lucky numbers each week, I have yet to hit the jackpot. As for me, not being a gambler at all, my odds are probably worse than most. One must play the game so to speak. But while I pay my respects at the gas pump, there is always that inner temptation and the seemingly endless wait to pay the cashier behind the long lines of other patrons whenever the Megabucks kitty sits at over 200 million or so.
Unlike other dreams and thoughts, striking it rich by dropping a dollar or two once a week, certainly isn't unique. And neither is the notion of diversification. After all, logic backed up by that special sticker on my bank tellers window tells me, and most everyone else, that's the smart way to go.
How hard it must have been to live in the days of the Great Depression without the assurance of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation backing up my deposits. As hard as I try to imagine, sleeping on top of my cash-hoarded nest egg just doesn't materialize. I mean, how much space does someone really need to have in order to protect 200 million? Possibly a Dick Cheney sized vault?
Surely, it has to be virtually impossible to protect your cash money when it sits somewhere hidden just out of sight in your own home. Especially, if you like to have guests, or plan on raising a family. I mean, what would happen if there was a fire, or for that matter, almost any natural disaster. Poof! There would be nothing left. Frightening thought.
But sadly, that is just what seems to be happening in the markets today, and there is the very real possibility that own our self-made financial disaster could lead to the possibility that the FDIC will not only be unable to protect us, but actually contribute to the problem itself.
All this talk about a vast storehouse of money stashed away by the Fed in case of rainy days like this, intended for the sole purpose of helping the American taxpayer out in times of need is just that. Talk.
Since its inception, banks have been contributing funds to the FDIC by charging us various fees. What contributions are made by an individual bank is calculated via a ratings system determined by the Fed that ranks each insured member based upon the likelihood of failure. And just like credit for you and me, the more risky the customer the higher the fee.
Now, you might think that hoard of money has got to be pretty big by now right? Well, not so fast. Turns out this money doesn't just go to some huge vault hidden underneath a mountain somewhere at all. And there isn't even a lock box, so to speak. For all this time, these small fees you and I have been paying, go directly to the Fed who in turn can decide to spend them as they please. Whatever amount the FDIC says they have on hand, well, it isn't really on hand at all. Most of it has already been spent on various other things anyway.
Bridge to nowhere anyone?
What is worse is that these small fees change as the conditions do. So as an insured bank begins to hit rough water, their fees increase as well. Of course, this all gets passed on to their customers who may or may not decide to shift their deposits somewhere else. It's a sort of self fulfilling prophecy. One that seems to be materializing right in front of us now.
Have your banks fees been rising of late? Well, now you know why. Want to know where your money is going? Not to some fortress of economic resurrection that is for sure.
So now there is talk that the FDIC is running out of cash because they have been using it to bailout so many of its members of late. The talk is that when the time comes, the FDIC will have to raise its rates even higher and possibly borrow additional money from the Fed.
Either way, these options are nothing more than additional taxation sifted through various government mechanisms to cloud our understanding of the truth.
And this can't be anything other than the notion of putting lipstick on a pig, could it?
How proud we must all be to know there is a nice sticker, and the fine-tuned words of officials assuring us we will all be protected in times of need!
And I have to admit that, from time to time, these visions of doing nothing other than enjoying my winnings have kept me up at night trying to figure out what, in fact, that money would buy me.
After dwelling upon this luxurious lifestyle for more than a mere second or two, I would inevitably picture what would happen if these funds were to dry up. But then the thought of keeping smaller nest eggs of 100,000 planted in various bank accounts throughout the country came to mind, and the fear simply faded. A restful happy slumber would come soon after.
Of course, try as hard as one might to pick the lucky numbers each week, I have yet to hit the jackpot. As for me, not being a gambler at all, my odds are probably worse than most. One must play the game so to speak. But while I pay my respects at the gas pump, there is always that inner temptation and the seemingly endless wait to pay the cashier behind the long lines of other patrons whenever the Megabucks kitty sits at over 200 million or so.
Unlike other dreams and thoughts, striking it rich by dropping a dollar or two once a week, certainly isn't unique. And neither is the notion of diversification. After all, logic backed up by that special sticker on my bank tellers window tells me, and most everyone else, that's the smart way to go.
How hard it must have been to live in the days of the Great Depression without the assurance of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation backing up my deposits. As hard as I try to imagine, sleeping on top of my cash-hoarded nest egg just doesn't materialize. I mean, how much space does someone really need to have in order to protect 200 million? Possibly a Dick Cheney sized vault?
Surely, it has to be virtually impossible to protect your cash money when it sits somewhere hidden just out of sight in your own home. Especially, if you like to have guests, or plan on raising a family. I mean, what would happen if there was a fire, or for that matter, almost any natural disaster. Poof! There would be nothing left. Frightening thought.
But sadly, that is just what seems to be happening in the markets today, and there is the very real possibility that own our self-made financial disaster could lead to the possibility that the FDIC will not only be unable to protect us, but actually contribute to the problem itself.
All this talk about a vast storehouse of money stashed away by the Fed in case of rainy days like this, intended for the sole purpose of helping the American taxpayer out in times of need is just that. Talk.
Since its inception, banks have been contributing funds to the FDIC by charging us various fees. What contributions are made by an individual bank is calculated via a ratings system determined by the Fed that ranks each insured member based upon the likelihood of failure. And just like credit for you and me, the more risky the customer the higher the fee.
Now, you might think that hoard of money has got to be pretty big by now right? Well, not so fast. Turns out this money doesn't just go to some huge vault hidden underneath a mountain somewhere at all. And there isn't even a lock box, so to speak. For all this time, these small fees you and I have been paying, go directly to the Fed who in turn can decide to spend them as they please. Whatever amount the FDIC says they have on hand, well, it isn't really on hand at all. Most of it has already been spent on various other things anyway.
Bridge to nowhere anyone?
What is worse is that these small fees change as the conditions do. So as an insured bank begins to hit rough water, their fees increase as well. Of course, this all gets passed on to their customers who may or may not decide to shift their deposits somewhere else. It's a sort of self fulfilling prophecy. One that seems to be materializing right in front of us now.
Have your banks fees been rising of late? Well, now you know why. Want to know where your money is going? Not to some fortress of economic resurrection that is for sure.
So now there is talk that the FDIC is running out of cash because they have been using it to bailout so many of its members of late. The talk is that when the time comes, the FDIC will have to raise its rates even higher and possibly borrow additional money from the Fed.
Either way, these options are nothing more than additional taxation sifted through various government mechanisms to cloud our understanding of the truth.
And this can't be anything other than the notion of putting lipstick on a pig, could it?
How proud we must all be to know there is a nice sticker, and the fine-tuned words of officials assuring us we will all be protected in times of need!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Socialism American Style
Over the weekend, intense negotiations were taking place at the highest levels of our government attempting to solve this country's myriad of problems from environmental disaster and dwindling natural resources to economic catastrophe.
And it seemed as though some sensibility had come over the newly emerging socialist tendencies of our financial system when the Fed announced Sunday that it would not come to the aid of Lehman Brothers - even though it had rescued a string of similar companies in previous months. But by Wednesday, it had again decided to come to the aid of another company, AIG. Then shortly afterwords it announced a bailout of our automotive industry as well.
Yet, with all of this "rescuing" going on, by midday the stock market was still down by over 300 points.
It is certainly becoming hard to keep track of all the socialist firsts this government is making these days. Bailout after bailout from investment firms, banks, home lenders, insurance companies, and now our auto industry.
Taking into account that the fallout from Lehman Brothers will far outweigh the collapse of WorldCom, (which was previously the largest corporate bankruptcy in American history). The sheer number of companies that would have become bankrupt hadn't the government stepped in is becoming enormous, both in size and quantity.
Our economy, as reflected through Wall Streets books, would be well beyond tatters by now hadn't these bailouts occurred. This is not even accounting for the several regional banks, like WaMu and SunTrust that have also seen better days before playing the game of unregulated predatory lending.
And yet, just as in physics, these losses don't just vanish into nothing because of the governments massive bailout program. There still needs to be an accounting for every dollar whether its shifted from private to public coffers, or from liquid to gas.
You can change the substance of something, like water into steam, but it will always retain the identical mass.
So, in essence, these massive bailouts happening practically everyday are going to have to be paid for by someone. Welcome to socialism American style.
Now we as taxpayers won't have to pay for it all as there will be numerous vultures lurking in the wings just waiting to scoop up the stinking remains of the corporate victims left behind. Of course, we will also welcome foreign "investment" from Britain, Europe, China and the Middle East.
And the trend will continue for as long as there is money to be made in swooping in and taking what we think are failed businesses. Just like the sale of the Sears Tower in Chicago, it's happening all around us from Wall Street to Main Street, fire sale after fire sale. If not our government, it will be another American company, if not another American company, then it will be another foreign company, or even country.
While this is taking place, larger numbers of Americans will find themselves without employment and wondering how much their personal burden will be to the government come tax time. Doubt we will be getting any rebate checks anytime soon.
Funny to imagine all of this could have happened in just eight short years, but that is the nature of our economy. Change can happen fast.
Now, the bottom is far from being over and already the American taxpayer is left holding a pretty horrible bag of corporate debts, the FDIC is running out of "insured" money, and the Fed is suddenly finding itself backed into a corner without any good options.
In fact, the Fed is now finding out that it is not able to set its rates because they are being set for them at record high levels by a market that is more concerned with hording its reserves, or using them to pay off these bad bets made in the derivatives market.
At the same time, the American consumer is also left with little to no options itself. The job market, as weak as it is, is our saving grace and the inbred system of payroll deductions, FICA, Medicare, et. al. will ensure that the government gets the money it needs to keep ticking along saving the country from its own mistakes. However, as good paying jobs are being replaced by increasingly menial labor and lower paying positions in an ever decreasing job market, this is also becoming a slippery slope.
Unlike the 60s, we can't just burn our draft cards so to speak and decide not to support a government who has had little to no regard for its constituents because the same paper that feeds us feeds our government. It's just like a modern version of indentured servant-hood, a step away from slavery but a form of ownership never-the-less. That combined with out right to demonstrate or protest having been taken away, as is now the case, we have in effect become "sheeple".
If the government was held accountable for its actions, and we had a say, this wouldn't be the case as our money would most likely pay for things we wanted them to, but not anymore. Through the system of corporate news cycles, we are made to believe what we should think, and so our power is reduced further.
With all options seemingly off the table for the Fed, and the American people, it seems like the game is up and we have lost this bad game of poker. How big the loss becomes will certainly be much more than the devastation of Hurricane Ike and Katrina put together, but in similar fashion, we will be left holding the bag paying for the mistakes of greedy people who have effectively brainwashed our entire political system.
We can only hope that after this man-made disaster has come full circle the wasteful debris of human greed is washed away like the bad paper they helped to create.
Until then, comrades, I will save a seat for you in Siberia.
And it seemed as though some sensibility had come over the newly emerging socialist tendencies of our financial system when the Fed announced Sunday that it would not come to the aid of Lehman Brothers - even though it had rescued a string of similar companies in previous months. But by Wednesday, it had again decided to come to the aid of another company, AIG. Then shortly afterwords it announced a bailout of our automotive industry as well.
Yet, with all of this "rescuing" going on, by midday the stock market was still down by over 300 points.
It is certainly becoming hard to keep track of all the socialist firsts this government is making these days. Bailout after bailout from investment firms, banks, home lenders, insurance companies, and now our auto industry.
Taking into account that the fallout from Lehman Brothers will far outweigh the collapse of WorldCom, (which was previously the largest corporate bankruptcy in American history). The sheer number of companies that would have become bankrupt hadn't the government stepped in is becoming enormous, both in size and quantity.
Our economy, as reflected through Wall Streets books, would be well beyond tatters by now hadn't these bailouts occurred. This is not even accounting for the several regional banks, like WaMu and SunTrust that have also seen better days before playing the game of unregulated predatory lending.
And yet, just as in physics, these losses don't just vanish into nothing because of the governments massive bailout program. There still needs to be an accounting for every dollar whether its shifted from private to public coffers, or from liquid to gas.
You can change the substance of something, like water into steam, but it will always retain the identical mass.
So, in essence, these massive bailouts happening practically everyday are going to have to be paid for by someone. Welcome to socialism American style.
Now we as taxpayers won't have to pay for it all as there will be numerous vultures lurking in the wings just waiting to scoop up the stinking remains of the corporate victims left behind. Of course, we will also welcome foreign "investment" from Britain, Europe, China and the Middle East.
And the trend will continue for as long as there is money to be made in swooping in and taking what we think are failed businesses. Just like the sale of the Sears Tower in Chicago, it's happening all around us from Wall Street to Main Street, fire sale after fire sale. If not our government, it will be another American company, if not another American company, then it will be another foreign company, or even country.
While this is taking place, larger numbers of Americans will find themselves without employment and wondering how much their personal burden will be to the government come tax time. Doubt we will be getting any rebate checks anytime soon.
Funny to imagine all of this could have happened in just eight short years, but that is the nature of our economy. Change can happen fast.
Now, the bottom is far from being over and already the American taxpayer is left holding a pretty horrible bag of corporate debts, the FDIC is running out of "insured" money, and the Fed is suddenly finding itself backed into a corner without any good options.
In fact, the Fed is now finding out that it is not able to set its rates because they are being set for them at record high levels by a market that is more concerned with hording its reserves, or using them to pay off these bad bets made in the derivatives market.
At the same time, the American consumer is also left with little to no options itself. The job market, as weak as it is, is our saving grace and the inbred system of payroll deductions, FICA, Medicare, et. al. will ensure that the government gets the money it needs to keep ticking along saving the country from its own mistakes. However, as good paying jobs are being replaced by increasingly menial labor and lower paying positions in an ever decreasing job market, this is also becoming a slippery slope.
Unlike the 60s, we can't just burn our draft cards so to speak and decide not to support a government who has had little to no regard for its constituents because the same paper that feeds us feeds our government. It's just like a modern version of indentured servant-hood, a step away from slavery but a form of ownership never-the-less. That combined with out right to demonstrate or protest having been taken away, as is now the case, we have in effect become "sheeple".
If the government was held accountable for its actions, and we had a say, this wouldn't be the case as our money would most likely pay for things we wanted them to, but not anymore. Through the system of corporate news cycles, we are made to believe what we should think, and so our power is reduced further.
With all options seemingly off the table for the Fed, and the American people, it seems like the game is up and we have lost this bad game of poker. How big the loss becomes will certainly be much more than the devastation of Hurricane Ike and Katrina put together, but in similar fashion, we will be left holding the bag paying for the mistakes of greedy people who have effectively brainwashed our entire political system.
We can only hope that after this man-made disaster has come full circle the wasteful debris of human greed is washed away like the bad paper they helped to create.
Until then, comrades, I will save a seat for you in Siberia.
UFO Reports Continue
As a "Cheesehead" it was hard not to find interest in this story because it took place relatively close to home. Being that this is my first post on the unexplained, I suppose it would be appropriate to let my readers know my beliefs about UFOs, the supernatural and the paranormal.
I don't really have any. Not yet anyway.
So let's move on to the story at hand. What is so interesting is that this incident was called to the attention of the police and not one but five of them seem to be as perplexed as the common man who reported it, (and there were many).
Historically, UFOs have been with us for as long as we have had the ability to write. As you may already know, the Bible has several accounts of the supernatural, but in the Book of Enoch (which was summarily tossed out by the Roman council on establishing a universal religion) there were some detailed accounts of UFOs. Not that the term UFO was used in those days. By the way, this council was also the same group of enlightened souls that decided it was best to tell us the World was flat, something which unfortunately, several people still believe today despite reports to the contrary.
Even before the Book of Enoch was penned, the earliest writings from Summarian times also talked about our existence being created for the purpose of cheap alien labor.
There are Egyptian hieroglyphs, medieval paintings, and even ancient African folklore passed down through the millenia which detail, in their own crude way, strange things that happened in the skies above.
In fact, throughout history, no matter what part of the world we investigate, (including Wake Island) there is a common link to UFOs. So much that one wonders why we don't try to make more sense of it than we do.
The problem is that it tends to get in the way of our other spiritual beliefs, and therefor has a tendency to make us feel powerless, as well as less than the top dogs in the solar system which we have spent just as long trying to prove.
I really wonder what happens in the minds of good Christian people who suddenly see unexplained objects hovering overhead and then suddenly disappear? Does this mere observation suddenly call into question their whole belief system?
Now I've heard some tell me that if they knew Jesus didn't exist, there would be no point to living. Hmmm. I have to take objection to that line of thought. Primarily because that reflects a complete lack of thought in the first place. Isn't the simple act of living make life worth living?
Aren't we equipped with the ability to reason, to love and to adapt given adverse situations? I hope so, but just as in the case with the most recent hurricane, Ike, that hit Texas last week, plenty of people decided to stay right where they were because of a belief system which prevented them to help themselves despite certain catastrophe.
When your Governor tells you being in the path of the hurricane constitutes certain death, you would think that would be enough. Unfortunately not. How easily people can turn off their reasoning circuits and face death head-on. May be it's good for population control, but not so good for the collective us.
Now, just a few more words here. I am not what you would call a "doubting Thomas" because to tell you the truth, doubt is something I have when all the information has been presented to me and then I disagree. So, in the case of Aliens from outer space, and modern religion, I am more of an undecided until further information has been presented type.
Faith is all well and good for most, but when it comes to making a life changing decision, I would prefer to have the facts around me and be confident in knowing what the outcome is before action is taken. I have faith the sun will come up tomorrow because it did so yesterday and the day before that, etc. Blind faith, if I was so inclined, may lead me to believe that the sun wouldn't come up tomorrow.
Blind faith worries me, because in essence, the only way I could have derived this type of belief is because someone is trying to coerce me, whether it be in a convincing argument or in written form, there is still a complete lack of evidence and usually a surprising amount of logic that tends to state otherwise.
I guess my point is that we shouldn't even believe what we think we see, even if it is our job to observe and protect the laws that govern us. Not because it may constitute a complete re-examination of our core belief system, but because we as humans place much too high an emphasis on our beliefs in the first place. Especially, if it causes us to act in ways that are harmful to ourselves or to others around us.
Can we agree to simply observe what we see and take that experience for what it is? Can we simply walk through the course of our lives and experience it happily not needing to fit it into convenient little personal boxes that trigger our inner fear mechanisms?
How shattering it must have been for so many people who were suddenly confronted with the knowledge that the Earth was in fact round. How could they place Heaven and Hell anymore? In fact, several people's lives were cut short simply because if this change in belief.
To me, that constitutes a sort of universal failure on our part. Let's say aliens do exist, does that mean Jesus didn't? For my own sake, I hope we don't have to find out the answer to that question because I don't think the human condition could handle it very well.
Strangely, if one looks deep enough, there really might be room for both, but that's another story all together. As is the case with almost everything ... anything is possible.
I don't really have any. Not yet anyway.
So let's move on to the story at hand. What is so interesting is that this incident was called to the attention of the police and not one but five of them seem to be as perplexed as the common man who reported it, (and there were many).
Historically, UFOs have been with us for as long as we have had the ability to write. As you may already know, the Bible has several accounts of the supernatural, but in the Book of Enoch (which was summarily tossed out by the Roman council on establishing a universal religion) there were some detailed accounts of UFOs. Not that the term UFO was used in those days. By the way, this council was also the same group of enlightened souls that decided it was best to tell us the World was flat, something which unfortunately, several people still believe today despite reports to the contrary.
Even before the Book of Enoch was penned, the earliest writings from Summarian times also talked about our existence being created for the purpose of cheap alien labor.
There are Egyptian hieroglyphs, medieval paintings, and even ancient African folklore passed down through the millenia which detail, in their own crude way, strange things that happened in the skies above.
In fact, throughout history, no matter what part of the world we investigate, (including Wake Island) there is a common link to UFOs. So much that one wonders why we don't try to make more sense of it than we do.
The problem is that it tends to get in the way of our other spiritual beliefs, and therefor has a tendency to make us feel powerless, as well as less than the top dogs in the solar system which we have spent just as long trying to prove.
I really wonder what happens in the minds of good Christian people who suddenly see unexplained objects hovering overhead and then suddenly disappear? Does this mere observation suddenly call into question their whole belief system?
Now I've heard some tell me that if they knew Jesus didn't exist, there would be no point to living. Hmmm. I have to take objection to that line of thought. Primarily because that reflects a complete lack of thought in the first place. Isn't the simple act of living make life worth living?
Aren't we equipped with the ability to reason, to love and to adapt given adverse situations? I hope so, but just as in the case with the most recent hurricane, Ike, that hit Texas last week, plenty of people decided to stay right where they were because of a belief system which prevented them to help themselves despite certain catastrophe.
When your Governor tells you being in the path of the hurricane constitutes certain death, you would think that would be enough. Unfortunately not. How easily people can turn off their reasoning circuits and face death head-on. May be it's good for population control, but not so good for the collective us.
Now, just a few more words here. I am not what you would call a "doubting Thomas" because to tell you the truth, doubt is something I have when all the information has been presented to me and then I disagree. So, in the case of Aliens from outer space, and modern religion, I am more of an undecided until further information has been presented type.
Faith is all well and good for most, but when it comes to making a life changing decision, I would prefer to have the facts around me and be confident in knowing what the outcome is before action is taken. I have faith the sun will come up tomorrow because it did so yesterday and the day before that, etc. Blind faith, if I was so inclined, may lead me to believe that the sun wouldn't come up tomorrow.
Blind faith worries me, because in essence, the only way I could have derived this type of belief is because someone is trying to coerce me, whether it be in a convincing argument or in written form, there is still a complete lack of evidence and usually a surprising amount of logic that tends to state otherwise.
I guess my point is that we shouldn't even believe what we think we see, even if it is our job to observe and protect the laws that govern us. Not because it may constitute a complete re-examination of our core belief system, but because we as humans place much too high an emphasis on our beliefs in the first place. Especially, if it causes us to act in ways that are harmful to ourselves or to others around us.
Can we agree to simply observe what we see and take that experience for what it is? Can we simply walk through the course of our lives and experience it happily not needing to fit it into convenient little personal boxes that trigger our inner fear mechanisms?
How shattering it must have been for so many people who were suddenly confronted with the knowledge that the Earth was in fact round. How could they place Heaven and Hell anymore? In fact, several people's lives were cut short simply because if this change in belief.
To me, that constitutes a sort of universal failure on our part. Let's say aliens do exist, does that mean Jesus didn't? For my own sake, I hope we don't have to find out the answer to that question because I don't think the human condition could handle it very well.
Strangely, if one looks deep enough, there really might be room for both, but that's another story all together. As is the case with almost everything ... anything is possible.
Monday, September 15, 2008
American Gamblers
Heard of he phrase, "put your money where your mouth is?" Well, if you're an American investor, you probably live by that phrase and are eating it right about now.
For some time the American economy has moved away from the production of goods and entered into the services industry. The end of the industrial revolution happened sometime shortly after WWII as the United States began to expand its global reach, providing other countries, such as Japan and Germany with the resources necessary to compete with our companies here at home. We did this through the Monroe Doctrine in Europe and under the reconstruction efforts of General Douglas McArthur in Asia.
By the 70s, it was becoming a hard pill for many Americans to swallow. And we are still in the process of losing our manufacturing base to foreign competitors, most notably China and southern Asia now.
Hard pill? Quite. The US has enjoyed being the primary manufacturing hub of the world since shortly after the American Revolution. Our continued innovation and subsequent manufacturing of these inventions, have provided this country with the ability to become the strongest nation on earth.
Interestingly, almost all finished goods prior to the Revolution were produced in England and then re-sold to consumers all across the world. Take clothes made from cotton as an example. American farmers would grow and then sell the cotton to manufacturing companies in England who would then make clothing items and, in turn, transport them back overseas to be sold as a final product. This was the case for almost every conceivable product, including tea.
As for the English, this system worked wonders for their economy until its colonies wanted to produce their own goods without having to bear the additional cost of shipping, or pay "unfair taxes" on these goods. The British knew a good thing when they had it and tried very hard to hold on to the advantage as long as possible.
However, after WWII the United States willingly gave several nations, (formally our enemies) the ability to directly compete with its own companies at home by building up their manufacturing bases even better than they were before. Often even better than our own.
Fortunately, the resourcefulness of Americans would lead to the growth of the services industry which quickly began to prosper in conjunction with the technological revolution. Again, the United States had a great deal of opportunity to prosper economically, and dominate, for a very long period of time.
However, we are currently struggling to remain competitive with other industrialized countries in the innovation of new technology, and we have long ago given them the reins of production. Those latest iPods that enter the market right before Christmas every year, are made in China. From the development of the iPhone, it has taken all of one year for an Asian company to develop and market a competitive product, which sells for a third of the price.
The services industry has followed the same path as manufacturing has, repeating pretty much the same mistakes. In order to remain competitive, American companies have decided to provide most its services off-shore. Because of the governments unwillingness to regulate how business do their business, this trend has continued unabated for almost two decades now. The result of which has provided for the emergence of several other countries as players in the world market.
Then in the late 90s, a new type of economy began to bloom here in the US and it was called the derivatives market.
Lets take a quick step back and glimpse a shortened snapshot of the history of the American economy.
First, we provided raw materials for others to produce, selling vast quantities to other countries and then buying the finished product later. Then we quickly became the world leader in manufacturing, but after about two hundred years of (mostly) unabated prosperity, we decided to provide other countries with the ability to directly compete with us. While this was happening, we painfully transformed our economy from production of goods to the servicing of these goods. Not too long afterwords, we decided to save a little money and sacrifice quality to save a buck here and there shipping the bulk of the service industry overseas. Now, the bulk of our capital is used to speculate on those very goods and services we used to own themselves.
In essence, we are now a country of gamblers. No matter how you look at it, the derivatives market is nothing other than sheer speculation with no guaranteed outcome. That is why anyone who is smart gets insurance on it, or doesn't play the game at all.
According to the richest man in the world, Warren Buffet has talked about the derivatives market using the terms, "ticking time-bomb","A fool's game", and "weapon of mass destruction."
Now, derivatives are nothing like stocks traded on Wall Street. They are very different things all together mainly because the vast majority of derivatives are traded outside of the market and are not held on a company's "audited" balance sheets. They also have really nothing to do with anything other than the concept of risk.
Stock is ownership in something. A derivative is really nothing other than "absence of risk" in something like a stock, or really anything you would normally put your money in. The upside is that the potential returns are generally faster and often larger.
Now why would I include this singular type of trading into the overall picture of our entire economy and equate it with our real economy? Simple. Because since 2003, the derivatives market has been larger than our combined global monetary wealth.
That's right, we (the entire global community) are no sitting on basically nothing other than sheer speculation which is now estimated at over 500 trillion dollars. In essence, Wall Street has become the new Las Vegas, but have put up our hard-earned money and savings as collateral.
What's worse is that they have continued to hide their devious accounting from the federal government, and lied to us about the true nature of the risks involved. Of course, none of this would have been allowed to occur if it hadn't been for the fed to give its OK, and it did this under the leadership of Alan Greenspan who now tells us we are about to head right off the cliff and into possibly another Great Depression.
How nice.
Also, unlike stocks which will last indefinitely-until sold to another buyer, or the company itself is sold, (or goes belly up), all derivatives have an expiration date associated with them.
This is why banks and investment firms, among others, have needed access to cash quickly or risk total collapse. This money is being used to pay off its bad bets in the derivatives market.
Now derivatives are not really sold in a market like Wall Street so to speak. By the derivatives market I mean to say whenever there is a buyer and a seller brought together to create a market.
Because there is no real regulation of derivatives, any seller of a derivative can find their own buyer willing to risk a future outcome. And this is why banks are swallowing up investment firms. Investment firms have basically purchased bad derivatives from banks who cannot pay them back for these loses when they are due. If these banks did not take them into their fold, then they in turn would be held to pay for these bets gone wrong, and as a result, probably go belly up themselves. That would be a really, really bad thing because our money is in those banks.
So, while investors have for years been telling the public that the best strategy for the American consumer is to take a long-term conservative approach to investing our money, they have essentially ignored their own advice and played craps with our hard-earned money we give them in good faith.
This while certain politicians have told us to quit "whining" about the economy and then gone ahead and decided to use taxpayer money to bail out these very same banks and investment firms who put us all here in the first place.
Make no mistake about it, until the derivatives market is brought under tight regulatory control, which I doubt it ever will be. The American consumer will continue to be mislead by the very people we are supposed to be putting out trust in.
But again, this shouldn't really be news to you.
For some time the American economy has moved away from the production of goods and entered into the services industry. The end of the industrial revolution happened sometime shortly after WWII as the United States began to expand its global reach, providing other countries, such as Japan and Germany with the resources necessary to compete with our companies here at home. We did this through the Monroe Doctrine in Europe and under the reconstruction efforts of General Douglas McArthur in Asia.
By the 70s, it was becoming a hard pill for many Americans to swallow. And we are still in the process of losing our manufacturing base to foreign competitors, most notably China and southern Asia now.
Hard pill? Quite. The US has enjoyed being the primary manufacturing hub of the world since shortly after the American Revolution. Our continued innovation and subsequent manufacturing of these inventions, have provided this country with the ability to become the strongest nation on earth.
Interestingly, almost all finished goods prior to the Revolution were produced in England and then re-sold to consumers all across the world. Take clothes made from cotton as an example. American farmers would grow and then sell the cotton to manufacturing companies in England who would then make clothing items and, in turn, transport them back overseas to be sold as a final product. This was the case for almost every conceivable product, including tea.
As for the English, this system worked wonders for their economy until its colonies wanted to produce their own goods without having to bear the additional cost of shipping, or pay "unfair taxes" on these goods. The British knew a good thing when they had it and tried very hard to hold on to the advantage as long as possible.
However, after WWII the United States willingly gave several nations, (formally our enemies) the ability to directly compete with its own companies at home by building up their manufacturing bases even better than they were before. Often even better than our own.
Fortunately, the resourcefulness of Americans would lead to the growth of the services industry which quickly began to prosper in conjunction with the technological revolution. Again, the United States had a great deal of opportunity to prosper economically, and dominate, for a very long period of time.
However, we are currently struggling to remain competitive with other industrialized countries in the innovation of new technology, and we have long ago given them the reins of production. Those latest iPods that enter the market right before Christmas every year, are made in China. From the development of the iPhone, it has taken all of one year for an Asian company to develop and market a competitive product, which sells for a third of the price.
The services industry has followed the same path as manufacturing has, repeating pretty much the same mistakes. In order to remain competitive, American companies have decided to provide most its services off-shore. Because of the governments unwillingness to regulate how business do their business, this trend has continued unabated for almost two decades now. The result of which has provided for the emergence of several other countries as players in the world market.
Then in the late 90s, a new type of economy began to bloom here in the US and it was called the derivatives market.
Lets take a quick step back and glimpse a shortened snapshot of the history of the American economy.
First, we provided raw materials for others to produce, selling vast quantities to other countries and then buying the finished product later. Then we quickly became the world leader in manufacturing, but after about two hundred years of (mostly) unabated prosperity, we decided to provide other countries with the ability to directly compete with us. While this was happening, we painfully transformed our economy from production of goods to the servicing of these goods. Not too long afterwords, we decided to save a little money and sacrifice quality to save a buck here and there shipping the bulk of the service industry overseas. Now, the bulk of our capital is used to speculate on those very goods and services we used to own themselves.
In essence, we are now a country of gamblers. No matter how you look at it, the derivatives market is nothing other than sheer speculation with no guaranteed outcome. That is why anyone who is smart gets insurance on it, or doesn't play the game at all.
According to the richest man in the world, Warren Buffet has talked about the derivatives market using the terms, "ticking time-bomb","A fool's game", and "weapon of mass destruction."
Now, derivatives are nothing like stocks traded on Wall Street. They are very different things all together mainly because the vast majority of derivatives are traded outside of the market and are not held on a company's "audited" balance sheets. They also have really nothing to do with anything other than the concept of risk.
Stock is ownership in something. A derivative is really nothing other than "absence of risk" in something like a stock, or really anything you would normally put your money in. The upside is that the potential returns are generally faster and often larger.
Now why would I include this singular type of trading into the overall picture of our entire economy and equate it with our real economy? Simple. Because since 2003, the derivatives market has been larger than our combined global monetary wealth.
That's right, we (the entire global community) are no sitting on basically nothing other than sheer speculation which is now estimated at over 500 trillion dollars. In essence, Wall Street has become the new Las Vegas, but have put up our hard-earned money and savings as collateral.
What's worse is that they have continued to hide their devious accounting from the federal government, and lied to us about the true nature of the risks involved. Of course, none of this would have been allowed to occur if it hadn't been for the fed to give its OK, and it did this under the leadership of Alan Greenspan who now tells us we are about to head right off the cliff and into possibly another Great Depression.
How nice.
Also, unlike stocks which will last indefinitely-until sold to another buyer, or the company itself is sold, (or goes belly up), all derivatives have an expiration date associated with them.
This is why banks and investment firms, among others, have needed access to cash quickly or risk total collapse. This money is being used to pay off its bad bets in the derivatives market.
Now derivatives are not really sold in a market like Wall Street so to speak. By the derivatives market I mean to say whenever there is a buyer and a seller brought together to create a market.
Because there is no real regulation of derivatives, any seller of a derivative can find their own buyer willing to risk a future outcome. And this is why banks are swallowing up investment firms. Investment firms have basically purchased bad derivatives from banks who cannot pay them back for these loses when they are due. If these banks did not take them into their fold, then they in turn would be held to pay for these bets gone wrong, and as a result, probably go belly up themselves. That would be a really, really bad thing because our money is in those banks.
So, while investors have for years been telling the public that the best strategy for the American consumer is to take a long-term conservative approach to investing our money, they have essentially ignored their own advice and played craps with our hard-earned money we give them in good faith.
This while certain politicians have told us to quit "whining" about the economy and then gone ahead and decided to use taxpayer money to bail out these very same banks and investment firms who put us all here in the first place.
Make no mistake about it, until the derivatives market is brought under tight regulatory control, which I doubt it ever will be. The American consumer will continue to be mislead by the very people we are supposed to be putting out trust in.
But again, this shouldn't really be news to you.
Bank Dominos
Well after a good year or two of abject denial, the game of bank domino's is finally here.
Of course the first real sign of this came back in March of this year, but with the quick action of the Fed, as well as the support of the EU and Asian banking systems we were able to delay this deadly game. Unfortunately, their quick initial reaction only helped to make things just that much worse, and instead of letting those foolish banks deal with their own self-made problems, we will now have to foot the bill.
It is almost funny to hear from the mainstream media that the bailout of Fannie May and Freddie Mac will cost only 200 or so billion dollars and that we are only a year at most away from recovery.
We still seem to place out faith in what the corporate media keep telling us, even after it is evident they have lied to us time and time again.
This week may finally be the week when a real sense of the true impact of the economy comes home to rest, but again, this will only be the beginning. There are the debt markets and derivative markets to consider as well, but I won't get into that here.
In the coming weeks, and possibly months, we'll find out that the Fed will not be able to keep itself afloat let alone the several banks and investment houses it has decided to assist. This is why it decided to let Lehman Brothers fall by the wayside, and will probably continue to let others fail well into the future.
If other countries believe that the Fed is over-extended, then there will be a worldwide panic never seen before and most of the financial impact will hit overseas first before it comes back here to the US. No one will want anything to do with the dollar because it's real value will actually be negative.
However, given the global nature of the modern economy, the backlash will hit suddenly like a backhand slap.
Already, airlines in Europe are folding, almost weekly now. Let's see how many more airlines fail abruptly before the end of the year, (some estimates are up to 60 worldwide). And what about next year?
Since March alone there have been 90,000 factories shut down in China, and there's a huge surplus of trade goods sitting at the docks. Many, many more factories will follow for the same reason they succeeded in the first place-they have no margins.
And neither did the airlines. Really the only margins that were left in this modern economy was kept in the hands of big banks and the government, but now their margins are quickly disappearing in smoke.
Of course, our government hasn't had profitability since Bush & Co. took office, but never-the-less have been running on the "good faith" of other countries to lend us the money, but soon those IOUs will come home to rest.
Facing the bailout of so many financial institutions, and itself, while continuing a policy of spend, spend, spend there will be no recovery. Foreign capital will dry up almost completely as these nations will be too busy helping themselves out of this terrible jam.
This begins a downward spiral until a true bottom is reached. Unlike a well, this bottom isn't something that one can simply quantify, or set in stone because the factors which have caused this haven't been corrected. And until they have been, there will be almost no limit to how far our collective economies will tumble.
One thing is for sure, this will spell the virtual end to the global economy as we know it today. By the time there is any semblance of stability, transportation costs will be much too high for small ticket goods to be shipped vast distances. Airline travel will be limited to the wealthy few, and smaller nations will balk en-mass, as they are already beginning to do now, to our version of global prosperity.
As such, the global peg the US dollar once had will be erased forever, and with it our vision of an American hegemony for the world.
How long we continue to keep our head in the sand is entirely up to us, but either way the real damage has already been done. Even if the housing market stabilizes, the economy will feel the pain for several years to come for several reasons.
The American consumer is completely tapped out. Other than the wealthiest 1 percent, the rest of us saddled with our own debt, will now be paying for the governments bailouts over the past year, a continued trade deficit that will not longer be paid for by other countries, and a failed government straddling itself with even more debt as the baby boomers begin to retire en mass.
Now, because there is little manufacturing base left in this country, there is only the hope that the American consumer will lead the economy back on its feet, and as is already evident, we have nothing left with which to buy our country back into prosperity.
So, until those economic dominoes stop falling around us and we have emerged from our own collective debt to again spend our economy back into prosperity there will be no recovery in sight.
Of course, it is the system that let us down. The abject deregulation of the financial industry, the constant lies of "All is Well" that are fed to us via mass media, and the inability of the government to do anything other than make things worse, we might not see the end of the tunnel for a very, very long time.
Ironically, those countries which will be least effected by this world-wide game of dominoes are the ones we are getting closer and closer to war with right now. That is, other than the Gulf states bordering Saudi Arabia.
Of course the first real sign of this came back in March of this year, but with the quick action of the Fed, as well as the support of the EU and Asian banking systems we were able to delay this deadly game. Unfortunately, their quick initial reaction only helped to make things just that much worse, and instead of letting those foolish banks deal with their own self-made problems, we will now have to foot the bill.
It is almost funny to hear from the mainstream media that the bailout of Fannie May and Freddie Mac will cost only 200 or so billion dollars and that we are only a year at most away from recovery.
We still seem to place out faith in what the corporate media keep telling us, even after it is evident they have lied to us time and time again.
This week may finally be the week when a real sense of the true impact of the economy comes home to rest, but again, this will only be the beginning. There are the debt markets and derivative markets to consider as well, but I won't get into that here.
In the coming weeks, and possibly months, we'll find out that the Fed will not be able to keep itself afloat let alone the several banks and investment houses it has decided to assist. This is why it decided to let Lehman Brothers fall by the wayside, and will probably continue to let others fail well into the future.
If other countries believe that the Fed is over-extended, then there will be a worldwide panic never seen before and most of the financial impact will hit overseas first before it comes back here to the US. No one will want anything to do with the dollar because it's real value will actually be negative.
However, given the global nature of the modern economy, the backlash will hit suddenly like a backhand slap.
Already, airlines in Europe are folding, almost weekly now. Let's see how many more airlines fail abruptly before the end of the year, (some estimates are up to 60 worldwide). And what about next year?
Since March alone there have been 90,000 factories shut down in China, and there's a huge surplus of trade goods sitting at the docks. Many, many more factories will follow for the same reason they succeeded in the first place-they have no margins.
And neither did the airlines. Really the only margins that were left in this modern economy was kept in the hands of big banks and the government, but now their margins are quickly disappearing in smoke.
Of course, our government hasn't had profitability since Bush & Co. took office, but never-the-less have been running on the "good faith" of other countries to lend us the money, but soon those IOUs will come home to rest.
Facing the bailout of so many financial institutions, and itself, while continuing a policy of spend, spend, spend there will be no recovery. Foreign capital will dry up almost completely as these nations will be too busy helping themselves out of this terrible jam.
This begins a downward spiral until a true bottom is reached. Unlike a well, this bottom isn't something that one can simply quantify, or set in stone because the factors which have caused this haven't been corrected. And until they have been, there will be almost no limit to how far our collective economies will tumble.
One thing is for sure, this will spell the virtual end to the global economy as we know it today. By the time there is any semblance of stability, transportation costs will be much too high for small ticket goods to be shipped vast distances. Airline travel will be limited to the wealthy few, and smaller nations will balk en-mass, as they are already beginning to do now, to our version of global prosperity.
As such, the global peg the US dollar once had will be erased forever, and with it our vision of an American hegemony for the world.
How long we continue to keep our head in the sand is entirely up to us, but either way the real damage has already been done. Even if the housing market stabilizes, the economy will feel the pain for several years to come for several reasons.
The American consumer is completely tapped out. Other than the wealthiest 1 percent, the rest of us saddled with our own debt, will now be paying for the governments bailouts over the past year, a continued trade deficit that will not longer be paid for by other countries, and a failed government straddling itself with even more debt as the baby boomers begin to retire en mass.
Now, because there is little manufacturing base left in this country, there is only the hope that the American consumer will lead the economy back on its feet, and as is already evident, we have nothing left with which to buy our country back into prosperity.
So, until those economic dominoes stop falling around us and we have emerged from our own collective debt to again spend our economy back into prosperity there will be no recovery in sight.
Of course, it is the system that let us down. The abject deregulation of the financial industry, the constant lies of "All is Well" that are fed to us via mass media, and the inability of the government to do anything other than make things worse, we might not see the end of the tunnel for a very, very long time.
Ironically, those countries which will be least effected by this world-wide game of dominoes are the ones we are getting closer and closer to war with right now. That is, other than the Gulf states bordering Saudi Arabia.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
That Sinking Sara Palin Feeling
It is without a doubt that we are in need of some real change after the troubling last eight years of the Bush & Co leadership, but it seems as though there is still a vast majority of American's who are utterly oblivious to the reality around them. Otherwise, how can you explain those ever-so-close poll results?
How is it that so many of us are so blind to the obvious scam that is, in essence, wrapped up in one person, Sarah Palin? And yet we are about to repeat the same tragic move that got us into this mess in the first place.
OK, so it's not entirely our fault because to some extent the system has been working against the common person for some time now, but there is still a huge amount of support for a ticket that lacks any form of credibility.
I wonder how many of us are really taking these elections seriously at all, and if they are how could they even think that the Republicans should be given another chance to run this country.
The answer is clearly that there are plenty of people who are taking these elections seriously and will sadly still vote for the McCain/Palin ticket.
From the card carrying members of the NRA, and big business, to naive women everywhere there is the very real possibility, (with DieBold's help) that once again Republicans will get another four year term at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
And even in the event that the Democrats do win, I fear there is the real possibility that at the very least the presidency will be stymied at every turn from global warming to international affairs. Too often I hear in the news that whomever takes the helm will have to endure a legacy which has already been established by the current administration.
So far, the rest of the world sympathizes with the American people and have endured our global stupidity because they feel that "We the People" will come to our senses and finally do the right thing by electing Barack/Biden. However, should this not be the case, then it will certainly be a different picture and there will be very little sympathy felt from anyone with the possible exception of our own pets.
To be truthful there hasn't been one thing I can recall that our country can be proud of the in the last eight years. Now, on the verge of utter economic catastrophe, and with the power to do something positive, will we ultimately decide to continue this epic tragedy? Well, I have that sinking feeling it's about to happen all over again.
How is it that so many of us are so blind to the obvious scam that is, in essence, wrapped up in one person, Sarah Palin? And yet we are about to repeat the same tragic move that got us into this mess in the first place.
OK, so it's not entirely our fault because to some extent the system has been working against the common person for some time now, but there is still a huge amount of support for a ticket that lacks any form of credibility.
I wonder how many of us are really taking these elections seriously at all, and if they are how could they even think that the Republicans should be given another chance to run this country.
The answer is clearly that there are plenty of people who are taking these elections seriously and will sadly still vote for the McCain/Palin ticket.
From the card carrying members of the NRA, and big business, to naive women everywhere there is the very real possibility, (with DieBold's help) that once again Republicans will get another four year term at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
And even in the event that the Democrats do win, I fear there is the real possibility that at the very least the presidency will be stymied at every turn from global warming to international affairs. Too often I hear in the news that whomever takes the helm will have to endure a legacy which has already been established by the current administration.
So far, the rest of the world sympathizes with the American people and have endured our global stupidity because they feel that "We the People" will come to our senses and finally do the right thing by electing Barack/Biden. However, should this not be the case, then it will certainly be a different picture and there will be very little sympathy felt from anyone with the possible exception of our own pets.
To be truthful there hasn't been one thing I can recall that our country can be proud of the in the last eight years. Now, on the verge of utter economic catastrophe, and with the power to do something positive, will we ultimately decide to continue this epic tragedy? Well, I have that sinking feeling it's about to happen all over again.
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