I was going to write a blog post about how ridiculous it is that the President of the United States comes out to support something he was previously against solely for votes. And magically his supporters love him for it and knew their great leader just needed to see the light. Because if you think he changed any mind all of a sudden, or that his opinion “evolved”, there are some bridges for sale. This was a campaign move.
But then I remembered that the whole reason they (politicians and their teams) do things like this is to steer people away from questioning the REAL issues our government, and especially our leader, should be spending their time and efforts on.
I don’t cast my vote for President based on what religion the candidate is, what their view on abortion is, or gay rights, women’s’ issues, minority issues, or any other social issues.
What I want to hear is how he (or she) will keep our country safe, keep the borders secure and support America to allow her citizens to prosper. Not start class warfare to help their reelection campaign or pick and choose social issues to pad votes.
But my guess is the media will suck on this morsel for a awhile and people will applaud it as “Presidential” and, for awhile at least, take mainstream focus off of the high unemployment, gajillion dollar deficit and continuing wars that we are funding and fighting. And that is exactly what his team is hoping.
“Once again the earth is about to spin off its access when comic worlds collide….”
That was in the preview window of an article I saw as a I was scrolling through Facebook this AM. An article on a pretty big entertainment news site. Written by a professional writer I imagine. Who apparently doesn’t preview his/her own stuff before pushing it live. Or simply doesn’t know the difference between access and axis. I’m hoping for the former.
For the amount of abuse people get on twitter for misusing its and it’s or your and you’re on what is basically a free, larger scale, non-professional, supposed to be fun(?) AIM chat session- you’d think professional writers would be more careful. Or that at least professional news sites would pay someone to check for these things before they push them live.
Thankfully, when you click through to the article it’s been fixed. And it is still not as bad as when people send in their resumes with such errors. Or on corporate websites. But for some reason, it just bugs the heck out of me when I see mistakes like that on anything that is supposed to be professional. So much “news”, so much is regurgitated on other sites, so many sites/outlets. So everyone is trying to be the fastest one to the punch. Or to hit SEND. Meh. There is a lack of quality control, or maybe just caring, that I find disturbing. Which of course is over-thinking a lot over this one silly mistake in an article that’s supposed to be fun anyway. But I do feel it is indicative of a larger scale issue that people simply don’t care as much about quality over quantity. Again…meh.
At the same time, I couldn’t care less when people misspell on twitter. Pretty sure half that blame goes to Apple and auto correct anyway :)
Every time I listen to CNBC’s American Greed on my drive home I can’t help but be just as annoyed and irritated with the “victims” as with the criminals.
I’m not saying the thieves were right. I’m not saying it doesn’t suck to have your money stolen. BUT, the bulk of these people were clearly quite lucky to ever have come in contact with the money they lost to begin with.
As an example, tonight’s victims were of to a guy who offered (phony) bridge loans. He lived in Hawaii and convinced people that he barely knew to loan him tons of money to supposedly make bridge loans. And of course, you got tons of interest on the money you lent him to do this. But then you didn’t. And then your money was gone. 1 woman said she took out 3 high-interest mortgages on her home on Kauai to loan/invest with him.
Hello?
So then this guy declares bankruptcy in Hawaii and is being investigated by the FBI. So he leaves his $4 million mansion and moves to Seattle and is living in a rented single room. And gets a job at a mortgage broker. Of course. Then he convinces another guy renting a room in the same place to give him his kid’s college fund ($30k) to “invest” in bridge loans. And apparently more people, to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars, also invest with him. Just in Seattle. Many millions in Hawaii. And just while he has been in Seattle for a short time. And living in a rented room while working at a mortgage broker office. Clearly a trusted investment professional.
Hello?
The woman from Kauai, the one who took out 3 mortgages on her home, and was forced to sell her home and move in with family in Maine, had the nerve to say “This could happen to anyone. I am an educated woman.” No. No, you can be 100% sure it would not happen to me. You thought you were getting a quick and easy way to money that you didn’t actually have to work for. Be honest. Great if it can happen but winning double 00s in Vegas is fun too. But you can’t blame anyone when you go bust. So not much sympathy coming from over here.
Fool. Money. Lucky to have ever met.
This is gross.
“Some 25% of the people who lost jobs since 2008 have applied for and received government disability checks. As an aside, we normally think of disability as something physical (back pain, etc.), but since 2008 43% of those getting approved for disability cited psychological reasons like stress.”
http://www.businessinsider.com/where-will-all-the-jobs-come-from-to-get-us-back-to-full-employment-2012-3
Stress? Really? Guess what losers – that’s called life. If you can’t handle it, or change your life to address it, feel free to go away. But the government (AKA the taxpayers) do NOT owe you a living. There is a reason in nature the weak ones get culled from the herd. Because then you don’t pass on the weak genes. Not a bad system really. Has worked for millions of years.
I have seen some people who have applied for and received disability in CA. They are healthy. They are also criminal. But the government system/workers in charge of policing the system don’t care. Because then they have job security. Circle jerk.
At some point this system HAS to change. It is simply not sustainable. See EU.
Preposterous: completely contrary to nature, reason, or common sense; absurd; senseless; utterly foolish.
The freedoms offered by this country are ones of personal freedom and liberty. NOT the ability to get stuff handed out for free or be taken care of by others. Or by taking away the freedom and liberty from another person or organization so you can have your perceived freedom. I’m not Catholic or Christian or particularly religious. However I believe in the freedom of religion. If you make the personal choice to go to a religious school, perhaps you should have investigated things like this if they are so important to you. They have every right to stand by their long-held (aka no big damn surprise to anyone) convictions without government interference.
If you need birth control, you can get it through almost all health plans. Or Planned Parenthood. Yes, you might have to pay something out of pocket but so what? You should have to. Hck, my Ob/Gyn hands it for free with your annual exam. For Free. And if your insurance company won’t cover it (almost ALL plans do to some extent however), then use condoms. Or abstain. Those are all of your choices. And you are free to choose one that works for you.
But my tax dollars should not go to cover it. No way. No how. The government, businesses/employers, health care companies and tax payers are NOT responsible for you. You are responsible for your own condition. Period. There is no such thing as free birth control or healthcare or anything else. What’s free to you is being paid for by someone else.
Too many people in this country are growing more and more dependent on the government trough when the whole purpose of this country was for INDEPENDENCE. People warred and died to have more independence and less overlord interference. Do not look to anyone but you. And maybe your family and friends. But certainly not the government. Not the tax-payers. Not your employer. Not your school. That is not their job.
Rush Limbaugh was out of line for calling her a slut. On the other hand, she put herself in the cross hairs with this issue. In today’s media-driven, 15 minutes of fame society, she knew she would be a subject of media attention. And frankly, I read so much crap in the media about Sarah Palin and her family (who I don’t even like but will defend here) it was ridiculous. So not one person in the media has a stone to throw on this issue, even though they sure are. And his sponsors cannot possibly be surprised. Do they never listen to his show?
The whole damn thing is preposterous.
To be clear, I LOVE the movies. I love watching good movies. And I love seeing the gowns and jewelry. But I think the incredible amount of award shows and self love the Hollywood community participates in has surpassed the ridiculous line.
Plus the Oscars aren’t based on a truly BEST movie, actor, etc. If we are picking best actors, Leo DiCaprio would have won by now. Hands down, best actor of this generation. And Brad Pitt and George Clooney wouldn’t be nominated. Are they likable? Sure. Of course. Fun to watch? Sure. But best actor? No, not so much. If either wins tonight, they should go and watch any movie from Leo’s career. And then throw in The King’s Speech from last year to switch it up to non-Leo. And then they should return their Oscar.
A few years back when I read about the value of the gift baskets the presenters receive in order to present (because they were having problems getting people to commit to present) all I could think was “Gross.” Again…don’t get me wrong…I’m all for cool stuff and fun gifts. But come on?? You are being asked to give out awards to your own friends and co-workers (possibly yourself) and you need to be bribed to do so?? And free suites at hotels where you cruise around and get free stuff? But then I have to listen to you preach about income inequality, socialized insurance and the unfairness of Wall Street and bailouts? Ok….*pat on your head*
I look at old clips from Oscars years and years and years ago and they just seemed so much cooler (as do the stars and movies.) But I think the Oscars were the only show in town. And they were proud to be nominated and of course, happy to win. Nowadays, it seems more of a circus. And a me-me-me series of events. I mean really, celebrities are surrounded by people that cater to their every whim. Everyone says yes to you. Everything is done for you. Talk about living in a bubble that is so far from reality it’s comical. But that’s probably why the “average person” is so drawn to it.
Think about it…if bankers, VCs or CEOs had 6 or 8 different conventions or award shows every year, giving themselves kudos and awards, drinking champagne, attending fancy parties publicized everywhere that went on for weeks, wearing expensive gowns and jewelry, well…they’d be hated and called the 1%. Much like they are now. But Hollywood is somehow different? Yeah….
But I will pop my Taittinger tonight and tweet some snark about the Oscars. And also be happy when the actors I like are shown in cool outfits. It’s NOT the SuperBowl, but it’s fun anyway. :)
So the mailman just returned a correctly addressed & stamped envelope with no explanation as to why it was returned. Our Controller said he received 2 bill payments back last week same way – correct address, correct postage, no markings or notes on the envelope – just returned in the bundle of mail (that the mailman shoves into the door the second you open it and runs off.)
Is this the new plan by the USPS to cover their huge deficit? Have everyone pay for double postage a few times a month (betting that most people won’t go down to the post office to complain)?
Or is it just another small example of how poorly run this money-hemorrhaging entity is?
I’m going with door #2.
Watched Margin Call last weekend. It was kinda meh. OK, but didn’t love it. No Wall Street. Not even Money Never Sleeps. But I like Paul Bettany and his character. And he has a small dialogue towards the end that, IMHO, rings quite true:
“If you really want to do this with your life you have to believe that you’re necessary. And you are. People want to live like this in their cars and their big fucking houses that they can’t even pay for? Then you’re necessary. The only reason they all get to continue living like kings is because we’ve got our fingers on the scales in their favor. I take my hand off and the whole world gets really fucking fair really fucking quickly and nobody actually wants that. They say they do but they don’t. They want what we have to give them, but they also want to play innocent and pretend they have no idea where it came from. That’s more hypocrisy than I’m willing to swallow. Fuck them. Fuck normal people.”
Many would probably see it as a greedy bastard banker speech. And it is. But I also see it as relatively factual view point that the average person doesn’t want to admit to being part of. Gordon Gekko touched on that in Money Never Sleeps too. Although I much preferred his Teldar Paper speech :)
…but politicians don’t believe that.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2102864/Staring-abyss-Faced-losing-job-Greek-woman-threatens-jump-death-desperate-despairing-nation-hungry-families-queuing-soup-kitchens.html#ixzz1mlJyhc38
“The crisis was partly caused by politicians hugely increasing the size of the public sector after the country joined the euro. In 12 years, the wage bill of the Greek state sector doubled — and this excludes ‘fakelaki’, the notorious cash-filled envelopes needed when dealing with officials. It was decreed that those in ‘arduous’ jobs could start receiving pensions from the age of 50 — and hairdressers and waiters were among 600 jobs classified as arduous”
How the hell are waiters and hairdressers even on the public payroll?? Government is SO corrupt. Or is it just stupid? Everywhere. And not just “everywhere but here.”
The “Hope and Change” elected in 2008 is not as far off of this as you might think.
What do you think would happen if welfare or government funded (aka taxpayer funded) pensions was cut here? Do you really think the reaction would be any different? There are multi-generational families that depend on welfare payments and other government assistance. And that doesn’t even count the ever-growing (federal and states) government payroll who all depend on their paychecks and their forever long healthcare and pensions being paid by the taxpayer. But at some point, even the people who are horrible at math, have to realize that you can’t keep spending and spending to inflate your “recovery numbers”, and taxing and taxing those few who can afford it, to keep everyone afloat. It’s actually pretty far frackin’ away from fair. Polar opposite of fair.
If you think about it, it’s actually rather ridiculous that social security and medicare are the first things bandied about to cut. These are at least things you or your employer paid into. Foolishly but that’s another conversation. But welfare? Government housing? Free cell phones for “the poor”? Annual raises for government employees? A long laundry list of money the government hands out and cannot possibly monitor properly. Not cut. Of course I also won’t start on the stupid list of pet projects that tax payer money goes to via political maneuvering. Again, another conversation.
I hope America wakes up. We are a fantastic country. The best. Filled with smart people that want to succeed. But sadly also filled with people that feel they are owed something. And politicians that just want to be re-elected. Sickening.
