A Tattered Cloak

Buffett to Profit from the Bailout(s)

2008-10-02T16:42:00.000-07:00

Eight days ago, on Sept, 24, 2008, the NY Times announced that Warren Buffett would buy a $5 billion stake in Goldman Sachs, the financial firm that Henry Paulson ran before becoming Secretary of the Treasury, the financial firm that was saved by Paulson when he decided to bail out AIG which owed Goldman Sachs $20 billion and to let Goldman's main competitor, Lehman Brothers, go under. Yesterday, the NY Times annnounced that Warren Buffett would make a $3 billion investment in GE, primarily a financial services firm, at an extraordinary discount. Today, CNN is featuring Buffett pronouncing certain knowledge that the currently proposed bailout must be passed and that more heaps of money will have to be given to these firms in future bailouts.

We all know Buffett is an astute investor and that he knew full well what he was getting into by investing in these firms. What we only suspected before this was that the bailout was a corrupt scheme to give away hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money to the Bush Administration and its cronies, but Buffett knew it, that's why he took these positions and then started shilling for the bailout(s).

Buffett knew the fix was in and with no risk and very little effort he would realize 500-1000%, maybe more, on his money in six months or less. So to anyone who tells you that the crisis is real and the bailout necessary just point to Warren Buffett and his involvement. Warren Buffett is going to profit in the tens, if not hundreds of billions of dollars, from the unnecessary and corrupt bailout(s). Count on it.

And Then There Were Three

2008-09-29T16:11:00.000-07:00

Has anyone noticed that these corporate rescues of failing financial institutions leaves the US with only three major corporate financial institutions: Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Citigroup? How long will it be before we are told that we will have to give them trillions because "they are too big to be allowed to fail?"

A Majority of the House Stands Up

2008-09-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

The U.S. House of Representatives defeated Paulson's graymail attempt to provide $700 billion in windfall profits to his friends and/or the financial industry (it's hard to know if they're different). In doing so, these folks finally rejected the absolutely corrupt leadership of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, John Boehner and Roy Blunt. Good for them! We need to see more of that.

If the rule of law is reestablished several sectors of the economy should grow: demand for prosecutors and defense attorneys as well as prison construction to house all of the convicted Republicans and a few Democrats.

We Are To Be Pissed On Once Again

2008-09-26T10:04:00.000-07:00

The Senate and House members negotiating the windfall profit gifts to Wall Street corporations are saying that Main Street doesn't need specific benefits in the legislation because anything given to corporations will "trickle down" to Main Street.

And they wonder why they have such low approval ratings? Do you think repeatedly saying "we're gonna piss on the average American" has anything to do with it?

Suze Orman is a Dangerous Quack

2008-09-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

A few minutes ago, I watched Suze Orman respond to this question on CNN: In light of the current financial crisis, should I take my money out of the bank? Orman's response? No because you might be robbed or your house might burn down and you would lose your money. Anyone taking advice from this woman should probably be institutionalized as a danger to him/herself and others.

The correct answer to the question is: No, because if everyone tried to remove their money from their banks today, the vast majority would not get their money and the entire system would collapse. Banks do not have all of our money locked away in a vault. Think about it, how would they pay their people and their bills if they just took our money and locked it up for safekeeping? Right, couldn't happen. Banks make their money by loaning depositors money to others at interest or by investing it in other financial instruments *shudders* like home mortgages. Except for a reserve required by law to maintain their ability to allow some depositors to make withdrawals, the money you deposit is not in the bank very long before it is loaned out. So everyone can't just go to the bank and get their deposits in the same short period of time.

One wonders why PBS continues to expose their viewers to Suze Orman. Probably the same reason McCain chose Palin: Pretty trumps competent every time in our culture.

Sarah Palin Calls Herself a Pitbull With Lipstick

2008-09-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

Why? Why would someone running for Vice President of the United States describe herself as a breed of dog that is responsible for more vicious attacks than any other breed, killing more than 100 and maiming more than 600 innocent children and adults in the U.S. and Canada between 1982 and 2006.

Describing herself as a female dog and a vicious, murdering breed of dog at that makes Sarah Palin appear to be sociopathic at best, but what she is really laying claim to being in short is a tenacious, vicious, murderous bitch. No one, no one else in public life would have dared to call her that. Twas kind of her to out her real feelings about herself.

Sarah Palin, Keep Your Hands Off My Kids' Education

2008-09-04T15:11:00.000-07:00

McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, has a daughter, Bristol, who is pregnant and unwed. Now that wouldn't be worth talking about except that Palin is adamant that kids' sex education consist only of abstinence. So, Sarah! How's that working out for your family? Keep your hands off my kids' education. Asshole!

Fascist Police in Minnesota Raid Homes of Potential Protesters

2008-08-31T06:29:00.000-07:00

Glenn Greenwald covers the story here. Don't look for it in the mainstream media. Apparently, as with many of the Bush Administration's criminal acts, they have just decided to ignore another major violation of federal law and/or people's civil rights. Please, spread the word and write to your local newspaper asking them why they are not covering this story. Remember, it will be your home they are raiding next if you have the temerity to think out loud about protesting the behavior of our criminal political parties and government.

This is not what we think of when we see the American flag. This is not what we claim America is and stands for, but it is what America has become: home for many deeply evil, powerful monsters.

Bush to Putin: Only I Can Do That!

2008-08-16T14:49:00.001-07:00

As the premier monster on the planet, George W. Bush had the unmitigated hypocritical gall to tell Putin that "bullying and intimidation" were not acceptable ways of doing foreign policy. Nevermind that is exactly how he has conducted foreign policy for almost eight years and continues to do so today.

Representing this deeply evil administration, Sleazy Rice was pushed forward to condemn and threaten the Russians for invading Georgia, a sovereign nation. Would that these monsters were so concerned for the national sovereignty of Afghanistan and Iraq which they invaded and for Iran and others which they have threatened to invade and/or bomb into oblivion. Deeply evil hypocritical monsters they are.

One can only marvel, too, at the complete lack of interest shown by almost all media in pointing out the immense hypocrisy and evil of this American junta.

Coca Cola Turns Basic Economics On Its Head

2008-07-29T06:48:00.000-07:00

I'm still chewing over Coca Cola's announcement that in the face of declining sales, they will raise prices to their remaining customers. Sounds as though Coca Cola is a repository or source for Bush Republicans. Everyone even barely familiar with economic principles knows that if you raise the price, other things being equal, you will sell less. So, Coca Cola management is trying to break their business or, perhaps, they have a secret deal with Republicans for a taxpayer financed bailout while they are circling the bowl. It just never ends with these people, does it?

Presidential Election 2008 - Monster vs. Maybe-Monster

2008-07-14T05:22:00.001-07:00

There is no doubt: John McCain, the Republican nominee, is like his fellow Republicans, a monster. A corrupt, criminal, murderous, callous son-of-a-bitch who will continue the Republican destruction and sell-off of America while murdering people the world around to enrich themselves. So, most thinking, caring human beings will not vote for him. Of course, 40% of the American public does not fit that description, so he will get at least that percentage of American votes.

Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, is not a known monster, but that's hardly a reason to vote for him. Since winning the Democratic nomination, he has begun to back away from many of the positions he took when people were voting for him. He is now taking Republican positions on issues like Iraq, the economy, and healthcare, in effect, betraying the people who voted for him in the primaries. He is certainly beginning to look like a monster, call him a maybe-monster.

To the diligent observer it seems that the appearance that there are two major political parties in America is just that, appearance only. The monsters are everywhere.

McCain Is A Survivor

2008-07-04T15:54:00.000-07:00

Piloting five planes into the ground only one of which was hit by enemy fire does not make you a hero. Living through horrific torture and imprisonment does not make you a hero. It makes you a survivor, plain and simple. It may also leave you with horrific psychological scars which cause you to explode at your family, friends, and colleagues as well as opponents or to gleefully sing about killing hundreds of thousands of people by bombing their country without provocation. It may, in other words, make you psychologically and morally unfit to wield the awesome power that is entrusted to the President of the United States. It may, and in McCain's case it surely does.

Wesley Clark Didn't Disparage McCain's Service Record

2008-07-04T15:47:00.000-07:00

Paul Krugman does a good job of covering the brouhaha over and about what Clark never said here. Unfortunately, at the end of the piece he trips over the reality of the economic policies he calls failed, but which he still supports as he cheers for the Fed's continuing corrupt bailout and criminal support of the wealthy, a group to which Krugman apparently belongs. Good he got one right, horrible he continues to have so much trouble with the Bush economic policies that he continues to criticize and support.

Jesse Helms Dead at 86

2008-07-04T15:31:00.000-07:00

Unlike many of his victims, this evil, corrupt, racist, criminal Republican slug died today of natural causes. The world is a better place.

Obama = McCain Lite

2008-07-03T13:12:00.000-07:00

Read Obama's disturbing flip on telco immunity for their role in Bush's illegal wiretapping here. Now, recognize that he may well flip on everything else he has said which leaves us with nothing but McCain Lite. That sums up everything that is wrong with the American political system. When you get down to the final vote you will only have a choice between criminal Republican policies and criminal Republican policies. The Democratic Party is incapable of offering anything but a scumbag Republican as their candidate.

Professor of a Big Lie

2008-07-01T05:15:00.000-07:00

"There’s no comparable problem with commodities like wheat or oil, where the price changes minute by minute, and goes down as easily as it goes up."

Paul Krugman writes that bizarre statement here. I don't know if he is just in denial or has an agenda, but he is wrong, wrong, WRONG, and most people paying attention know it. The price of oil does not and will not go down easily. It will never go down significantly and the prices of everything else will continue to rise as oil prices rise. That will be disastrous for the United States.

RIP George

2008-06-23T14:21:00.000-07:00

George Carlin died at 71 on Sunday. I'll miss him. The world was a better place knowing he was in it. He taught me early that the words that most people objected to were nowhere near as bad as "kill" which they like to do a lot of. Profanity is not dangerous. It has its place and good use. Peace be with you, George. I'll miss you.

Shit, piss, cunt, prick, cocksucker, motherfucker, tits.

Organized Crime Owns U.S. Federal Government

2008-06-20T09:55:00.001-07:00

Glenn Greenwald has it right, here. Organized crime not only owns the Republican Party but the Democratic leadership as well. May they all rot in ...

It is all over. There is no hope. The Constitution will be shredded bit by bit as the corporate criminal organization swallows more and more.

Up to the Minute Facts or Conflicting Facts by the Minute?

2008-05-02T06:29:00.000-07:00

I was sitting in my local McDonald's this morning reading and sipping coffee when I looked up to see a CNN report: the government was reporting the unemployment rate rose from 5.1% to 5.25% and the economy lost 70,000 jobs. These were all worse than economists predicted, they informed us. I filed that and went back to my coffee and I Don't Believe in Atheists.

Just minutes later, I looked up to see "THIS JUST IN": the government reports unemployment dropped from 5.1% to 5% and the economy lost 20,000 jobs-- all better than economists predicted.

What was that? What was/is the truth? If the numbers in the second report are correct, where did the first numbers come from?

Costello: Sex, Torture... All the Same

2008-04-15T12:37:00.000-07:00

I signed a petition this morning urging my Senators and Representative to support impeachment of Bush and Cheney for torture, mass murder, and war crimes. I received a response from Jerry F. Costello (D- Illinois) this afternoon. Here is the salient part:

"I voted against impeaching President Clinton because the charges against him did not meet the high standards of impeachment under the Constitution. Similarly, the charges against President Bush do not meet these standards."

Since Costello thinks that torture, mass murder, and war crimes belong in the same category with consensual sex and lies about consensual sex, I don't think he is morally fit to hold the office of U.S. Representative. I won't be voting for him until he publicly disavows his current immoral stance and would urge everyone else to think about this and spread the word.

Is there really a difference between Democrats like Costello and Pelosi and Republicans like Bush and Cheney? In name only!

Forerunner of the Republican Plan for America

2008-03-24T12:12:00.000-07:00

"Clashes have been breaking out among Egyptians waiting in long lines for subsidized bread and the president has ordered the army to start baking more to contain a political crisis."

Of course, our President would order the army to bomb and shoot, rather than bake.

The New Attorney General: More of the Same

2008-03-22T07:36:00.000-07:00

The new Attorney General is typical of the Bush Administration appointees: an incompetent twit as this CNN piece makes clear:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Attorney General Michael Mukasey has been taken aback by the scope and variety of potential terrorism threats facing the United States, he told reporters Friday at an informal meeting in his office.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey receives terrorism updates during national security briefings.

"I'm surprised by how surprised I am," said Mukasey, who as a federal judge presided over terrorism-related trials in New York.
"It's surprising how varied [the threat] is, how many directions it comes from, how geographically spread out it is," he said.

Oh, golly, gee whiz , he's just so surprised. Twit! Must have had his head in a Bible for the last ten years, but, especially, the last five while Americans have been killing and/or torturing lots of innocent Muslims along with the occasional guilty one. You know... creating asymmetrical warriors... err... terrorists.

Saudi Government Will Retrain 40,000 Clerics

2008-03-20T16:50:00.000-07:00

According to the BBC, here, the Saudi government has assigned the ministry of religious affairs to retrain 40,000 imams to reduce the growing extremism in their society.

So maybe when they're done we could hire them to do something with the Southern Baptists, Pat Robertson, Jeremiah Wright, et. al.?

Three Cheers for Ralph

2008-03-20T11:43:00.000-07:00

Chris Hedges says, "...leave Nader alone. If honesty, vision and integrity were qualities that mattered in a national election, Nader would be president."

And a better world it would be.

Dirty, Rotten, No Good ABCNews

2008-03-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

Fire Brian Ross and anyone else who had anything to do with putting this in print. If you'd rather not look: Hillary is pictured with Monica and the blue dress. The words "inform" us that Hillary was, maybe, in the White House while Monica was doing Bill.

This might even be beneath the National Enquirer's "standards".