Archive for September, 2008

My Economy Analysis

Here’s my take on the current economic crisis and the government’s desire to take (at least) $700,000,000,000 of taxpayer funds to “bail out” Wall Street: Fuck Wall Street.

I want Wall St. and the stock market to crater. I want to see a painful recession. I want the natural order of things to take over.

I do not want the government to save the market from itself. I do not want some bullshit reasoning that says I’m going to have an equity share in these institutions my tax dollars are used for to save. I’m willing to bet $5 that I personally will not benefit one iota from nationalizing finance any further than it has been (and I’m willing to bet another $1 I won’t see any return from what has already been nationalized).

What’s going to happen? People who shouldn’t get credit won’t be able to get credit? Good. I actually heard an argument for the bail out saying that if it doesn’t go through people won’t be able to buy cars. Bullshit. If their credit is good they’ll be able to buy new cars. People with shaky credit are the ones who won’t be able to buy new cars. So what is the problem?

And will the bail out save one average person who is not in line for a monster Wall St. style year-end bonus from losing his or her job? Doubtful.

We actually need for people and businesses to take a hit, learn how to live with a tighter belt and get some fucking sense back to them when it comes to money.

Also, Chris Dodd and Barney Frank should be forced to shamefully resign their seats in Congress. They’re both fucking disgraces.

Anyway, this is all a by-product of the original “me first” generation, the baby boomers, freaking out because they’re facing a bit of adversity. All they’re thinking about are their own retirement portfolios and they don’t give a shit how many generations it takes to dig out from under the debt as long as they get theirs. Assholes.

Published at September 30, 2008 in General. 5 Comments

One Last Time

I went to my last Orioles game of the year last night. It was pretty depressing, really. I wasn’t living in the state when Camden Yards opened, and it was always a treat to take in a game when I’d come in to visit family — if you could get tickets. On top of that, the Orioles were pretty competitive. Exceptionally so in the mid 90s.

Now, a stadium that was packed for years looks like this just after they play the Star Spangled Banner:

I sat in a section that had a few hundred seats in it, I guess. There were four (4) of us in the section. Four. In fact, this is what it looked like to my left:

And to my right:

Those pictures were taken in the bottom of the second inning, when pretty much everyone who’s going to be at the game is there.

Really, depressing. And sad.

On top of that, the team can’t even hold a 6 run lead. So you have a shitty team that can’t fill a great stadium (although not quite as great with the terrific view it used to have oblierated by the soulless hulk of a hotel they built just outside the park) and can’t win over the hearts of kids who want to love them but aren’t given any reason to.

Oh, well. At least a trip to M&T Bank Stadium to see the Ravens is still exciting.

Published at September 25, 2008 in General. 6 Comments

Politician Gunned Down

Over the weekend a former Baltimore City councilman was murdered outside of a nightclub. I didn’t know the guy, I wasn’t represented by him, I don’t know his constituents, the details of the murder, whether he was a target or just at the wrong place at the wrong time, or anything else. I just know what’s been reported.

And that has been basically stories about how great he was, how he was a champion of the little guy, how he was a great family man, etc. And all that may be true.

However, he was 45, married, and with children. He was out at 1:30 am on a Saturday morning either alone or with a lady who was not his wife. At a nightclub. Looking to borrow a corkscrew.

While I am no politician, and if I died tomorrow it wouldn’t warrant a line in the paper where as this guy has gotten article after article, we shared similar profiles being 40ish and married with two children.

Now, I’m not trying to cast aspersions, but I know that if I’m out “alone” without my wife or kids at 1:30 am I am up to no good. Period. And it’s not necessarily a bad thing to be up to no good, unless you’re breaking the law, but there is not one single reason for either of us to be out at that time of night “alone” at a nightclub with the home situations we have.

I don’t really care what he was doing out that night. If it was innocent, fine. If he was banging some non-spousal hottie, fine. If he was doing something else, fine. But a man of responsibility has to ensure he doesn’t put himself into positions that’ll bring harm to himself or his family.

And being in a club at 1:30 am on a Saturday morning while your family is home alone without you is probably one of the worst ways to do that. Especially in Baltimore City.

So while no man deserves to be murdered in cold blood, if Kenneth Harris was at home last Friday night I’m willing to bet he would have woken up Saturday morning.

Published at September 24, 2008 in General. 1 Comment

Researching And Discovering

Here’s why I hate the internet: there’s too much information available.

My TV melted (don’t ask), so I need a new one. I’m trying to find a 46-47″ flat screen and am trying to figure out which one would be the best value (as a jew I’m required to get a good value for the items I buy).

The problem is that every single fuckin television out there is either great, ok, or shit depending on where you look. Every single one. If you listen to the “unbiased reviews” you get one opinion. If you listen to the “-philes” you get another opinion. If you listen to the average schmuck who bought one and used it for a while you get yet another opinion. And never do the opinions from the different sources match.

So do you listen to the unbiased, the dork who is way too into the minute details of video reproduction on liquid crystal/plasma displays, or Joe Average? It’s all bullshit if you ask me, and the internet makes it impossible to do anything more than make an educated guess as to which anything is the right one for you.

(BTW, this appears to be the winner of the “hang on a wall in my house” sweepstakes. Fuck what anyone thinks about it.)

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In other news, I was driving out to where I ran 20 miles at 4:30am the other day (like a moron) and was mindlessly flipping through the channels on the radio to get my mind off the pain I was about to inflict on myself. Something I came across was the Kim Komando radio show. I’ve never listened to her for more than a minute or two, but it’s obvious that she serves a purpose: to guide old people and retards through using basic technology because they’re too feeble or stupid to figure it out for themselves.

Then it struck me that Oprah does the exact same thing, only she does it to guide the feeble and stupid through life.

Considering the great livings they make, which is an understatement when talking about Oprah, there sure are a lot of feeble and stupid out there. Sad, really.

Published at September 23, 2008 in General. 3 Comments

Series Of Retardedness

First we had the most retarded commercial currently airing on the TV. Now we have the most retarded news headline currently on my home page:

Tom Cruise praises Katie Holmes’ B’way performance

I know Tom Cruise is a tiny little scientologist freak, but I believe that even tiny little scientologist freaks will genuinely praise their wives’ acting performances when they see their other halves performing on Broadway. And even if tiny little scientologist freaks thought their wives’ performances in Broadway plays were utter shite I’m fairly certain that they’d at least play it off that they loved it for the short bus riding, football helmet wearing, close-set eyes having dipshits with IQs lower than a grapefruit to ask such a stupid question as, “so what’d you think of Katie’s performance?”

And that’s all I have to say about that.

Published at September 19, 2008 in General. 1 Comment