YouTube: GM Workers Get Into Fight--Things Getting Increasingly Ugly in US Auto Industry

WAYLAND Twp., MI - Perhaps a clear sign of the times in western Michigan as tempers flared at a GM dealership, closing its doors Friday. News crews just happen to be near the Wayland Chevrolet when one of the employees went after another one he said was going nuts after learning he was jobless. The anger of losing their jobs boiled over into at least two fist fights at the lot. Thanks www.ksla.com for this clip (Mar 28, 2009).

Author: ByOwnerAutoSales
Keywords: car auto dealership employees fight closing GM
Added: March 28, 2009

YouTube: O'Reilly Tells the View that He "Doesn't like people on their blueberries all day."

Cheating Hubby Caught by Wife on Google Street View

You really aren't safe anywhere these days, with runaway technology proceeding faster than anyone's wildest dreams...

With microscopically small cell phone cameras, video recorders, etc. and the ability of the Internet to make anything available to anyone worldwide instantly, we all of a sudden have all of these bizarre circumstances cropping up, like the story above.

Has Google gone too far?

YouTube Video: GOP Chair Michael Steele Discusses Hard-Partying Past, Getting Kicked Out Of College

Newsflash: Mitt Romney will Run for President Again in 2012

Someone should remind Mitt Romney that the track record of candidates who never stop running for president after losing the first time around, is pretty abyssmal.  

I propose John Edwards, Lamar Alexander, and Steve Forbes as case studies 1, 2, and 3.  Al Gore would be another, but he actually won the election in 2000.

Here we learn that Romney's going to speak, along with blowhard right winger Sean Hannity of all people, at the Virginia state Republican convention.  

He's not doing that for his good health.

You see, running for office continually for six years seems to just make the American public tired of you--like, "Ok, we checked you out, you intereviewed, and you didn't get the job.  Next!"

I actually pity the 2012 GOP candidate for president--whoever emerges, whether it be Romney (the favorite), Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, or anyone else.  

That person stands a good chance of being landslided by Obama by a record margin.

MySpace Getting Its Ass Kicked by Facebook

Does anyone besides grunge metal bands that no one has heard of, porn stars, or strippers use MySpace as their primary 'social networking' website these days (see this story)?  

Me thinks not, and that marks at least one positive that's come from this otherwise pretty useless craze: 

Rupert Murdoch being embarrassed by the pimple-faced, pre-pubescent geeks from Harvard who started Facebook.

This page happens to think that both of these websites all nearly totally useless--unless you're single and looking to get laid...

YouTube: GOP Chair Steele Gives Bizarre Interview to CNN

The GOP has another Sarah Palin on its hands in new party chairman Michael Steele--whose only qualification for the job was that he is black, like Barack Obama.  A key difference, though, is that Steele--like Palin, appears to be laughably incompetent.  I see a trend emerging...

Major League Asshole: Cheney Actively Undermined Obama to Israelis

Shocker, I know, but Dick Cheney seems unhappy these days.  

Now word's out that he's been actively undermining the incoming Obama administration to a foreign country.

I never quite understood how he got to where he did, other than he is ruthless and cut throat.  Maybe I just answered my own question...

The guy gets six deferments to avoid serving his country in Vietnam and then morphs into this weirdo, violent, right wing pro-war neocon fanatic.  

Oh yeah, and he was the driving force behind America's invasion of Iraq, and the driving force behind America becoming a state sponsor of torture during the Bush years.

Dick, here's a recommondation: go do some more duck hunting.  No one's listening to you.

Obama in Full Sprint

As he departs for a big initial European visit--where he will be hailed as a rock star, slightly differently than his predecessor, Obama has accomplished an impressive amount in his first three months.

1. He passed a massive economic stimulus plan that every Republican in the House voted against.  This is the same shrinking Republican party that were solidly behind George W. Bush's ruinous, heinous budgets of the last eight years.  They have no credibility and their lack of support is a positive sign for the country.
   
2. He named George Mitchell as envoy to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, thereby proclaiming loudly that eight long years of American disengagement and counter productivity in the conflict was over.
3. He unilaterally put a halt to federal raids on medical marijuana dispensaries.
4. His budget included billions in aid for the long starved American rail passenger industry, including money for the development of high speed rail corridors throughout the population centers of the country.  America is a decrepit, embarrassing third world country with regards to passenger rail travel.
5. Set a date with a firm withdrawal from Iraq.  Finally.
6. Took steps to close Guantanamo Bay and ended American state sponsored torture.

Has he been perfect?  Hell no!  Is he a vast improvement on his predecessor?  Yes.  

That's progress in my eyes.....

YouTube: Support for Marijuana Legalization Grows

YouTube: Top-15 Political Videos

I disagree with some of the rankings, but as a whole, this is pretty spot on.  The Iraq shoe throwing incident will go down in history as the defining moment of the Bush II presidency....

Pot Questions Inundate Online Obama Press Conference

In this moment of national economic crisis, the top four questions under the heading of “Financial security” concerned marijuana; on the budget, people voted up questions about marijuana to positions 1-4; marijuana was in the first and third positions under “jobs”; people boosted a plug for legalizing marijuana to No. 2 under “health care reform.” And questions about decriminalizing pot occupied spots 1 and 2 under “green jobs and energy.”

This is pretty funny. It's absurd that Marijuana is illegal while booze isn't, but still there are obviously more important things to ask the president about. And he's got more important things to worry about, too.

YouTube: O'Reilly Calls Liberal Website 'Insects' Over Rape Controversy

Background story here....

YouTube Video: Canada Demands Apology from Fox News Ater Military Insult

One really must question anyone who watches Fox News with any kind of frequency. Oh wait, that's tens of millions of Americans...sigh. The below video from the Canadian Defense Minister is in response to this segment from Fox News.  Later, this crass asshole Gutfeld was forced to issue an apology after several Canadians came home in body bags from Afghanistan.  

Boy Paints 60-ft Penis On Roof

I'm not sure whether the kid's got one hell of a sense of humor, or if he's got big problems: most likely a little of both.

Apprently the teen did it to get the attention of Google Earth....

YouTube: Letterman--Obama, Teleprompter or No Teleprompter

Obama Bin Lyin': Right Wing Whack Jobs Protest Obama Presidency

These are the same weirdo freaks who surfaced late last year during Palin/McCain rallies calling Obama a terrorist Muslim and suggesting he should be assassinated.  

Rush Limbaugh radio listener dittoheads, all of them, they represent the core of the Republican party.

That is one scarey core....

I'm curious about just what is riling these people up so much: higher taxes?  Uh, no, unless you're making over $250K a year, your taxes will go down under Obama's economic plan.

Could it be the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?  Ummm....well, actually no--it was the Bush/Cheney cabal and their neo-con puppet masters who got American engaged in those two clusterfucks.

Just what is it?  Perhaps they just can't deal with a black man as president, because blacks are inferior to white people and they are bitter and filled with anger.

That must be it....

Schwarzenegger Eyes California Senate Run

I hold relatively deep enmity towards Arnold Schwarzenegger for providing crucial support for George W. Bush in Ohio in the waning days of Bush's 2004 reelection campaign against John Kerry.

To the many simpleton dunces in Ohio who wound up voting for W, the sight of the Terminator up there on stage with Bush a few days before election day was too much to handle:  Fucking cool dude!  Let's go bomb something and rip Osama's guts out!  Fuck yes!!  It's Conan the Barbarian, dude!!

Having said that, the guy is one hell of a politician and one of the few national Republicans--Florida governor Charlie Crist is another--who seems to get it.  As a matter of fact, it's a shame Arnie can't run for president because he was born in a foreign country.  

What a silly rule: we allow dunces' with the IQ of your average chimpanzee to ascend to the presidency, yet we prevent incredibly capable American citizens become president because of where they are born.  That's both undemocratic and in fact un-American.  Alas, I digress...

If Arnie does decide to continue his political career by running for Senate in 2010, as this article suggests, it will be good for America.

Bernard Madoff: The Ultimate Free Market Capitalist

I was reading Frank Rich's must read column in today's New York Times on the AIG bailout and the utter, ongoing destruction of the world economy, when something he wrote hit me and drove me to come to this conclusion:  

Bernard Madoff was the most successful free-market capitalist entrepreneur in world history.  

Bernie--I know you're in jail, but I hereby reward you a lifetime "Ayn Rand/Ronald Reagan Deregulation/Every Man for Himself/Government Is The Problem" award. 

Congratulations, man, you really earned it!

Operating in a free market nirvana--whereby rules, regulations, the big bad government and the flat out truth just get in the way from a guy trying to earn a buck, Madoff successfully enriched himself and those close to him to the tune of $65 billion.

The people, hospitals, foundations, endowments, and charities who lost everything to Bernie??  Fuck 'em!  This is Darwinian free market capitalism, baby!  Survival of the fittest!   You know what the best government is??  No government!!

In true, beautiful, Darwinian form, these soft, dumb, fat losers were made extinct of their wallets by the capitalist wolf Madoff.  

Bye-bye gene pool.

The fact is that for thirty odd years now--really since the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, American economic thought has been skewed and warped into this notion that humans can trust themselves in a world without laws and regulations with regards to finance and business.

Yes, the magic wand of the all powerful 'free market' will take care of everything.  Just close your eyes and drive, baby... Heck, who needs to even lock their doors at night?  Humans are good to one another, right? 

Alas, this is the world that Bernie Madoff, AIG, and many others thrived in and succeeded in. True free market entrepreneurs, all of them.  Best in breed.  Cash assassins.  Money makers. 

They came, they saw, and they conquered capitalism and the free market.  

Greed, remember, is good.  And the government is bad.  I suggest we all sleep with our doors unlocked tonight...

YouTube: Obama's Special Olympics Joke on Leno

Awkward: Joe the Plumber Tells Room Full of Conservatives: "I'm Horny."

Of all the weird Republican political stories over the past few years, (Jeff Gannon, Sarah Palin...etc.) is there any more bizarre than that of Joe the Plumber??

Joe the Plumber.  Rush Limbaugh.  Sean Hannity.  Bill O'Reilly.  Glen Beck.  Ann Coulter.  Michael Steele.

Ladies and Gentlemen:  Your 2009 Republican party!!

YouTube: Obama Addresses the Iranian People

The chasm of difference between the Bush administration and the new Obama administration is most starkly illustrated early on in their approach to foreign relations....

2012: Obama versus Palin?

As unfathomable as it seems, there's a decent chance that Sarah Palin becomes the Republican nominee for president in 2012.  The party is in that bad of shape. 

Despite what this silly early poll states, if that matchup ever came to fruition, Obama would anhlliate Sarah Palin by a record margin.  You see, Palin was humiliatingly exposed last fall as being a total ditz/lightweight who appears to have difficulty walking and chewing gum at the same time.

Alas, I don't think even today's GOP voters--or more accurately the Republican primary voters of 2012, could possibly be as stupid to nominate Palin, who makes Dan Quayle look like a Rhoades Scholar.

But wait:  This country re-elected George W. Bush in 2004, right?

Anything is possible.....

AIG: Much Ado About Nothing

I mean $150 million is real money, sure, but in terms of the hundreds of billions of dollars that have already gone to bailout these zombie banks and other financial institutions, $150 million is chicken shit.  

Irrelevant except for the grand political theatre emanating from Washington that we are seeing now in real time.  You see, our elected officials--whores that they are,  can sense a political opportunity from a mile away and are busy milking this thing for all the political mileage they can get.

Taxpayer waste?  Let's talk some waste. How about the billions and billions of dollars that have been flushed down the toilet over the past 6 years in that hell hole known as Iraq.  This is my all time favorite taxpayer waste story.  No surprise it involves Iraq.

So please spare me the outrage over these AIG bonuses.  Is it bad?  Yes.  But not that bad.  Compared with what else has gone on over the past few years, it's a pin prick.

YouTube Video: Senator Grassley: "AIG is Sucking the Tit of the Taxpayer"

Video: Fritzl Incest/Murder Case Continues

For those of you unfamiliar with this utterly bizarre case, Josef Fritzl is the 73yr old Austrian man accused of locking up his daughter in an underground dungeon for 20 plus years and fathering 7 children with her. Whew.

YouTube Video: Will Ferrell--You're Welcome America- A Final Night with George W. Bush

Video: Jon Stewart Reports on AIG Bonuses

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AIG Gives Bailout Money as Bonuses

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"Obama Fingers" Brand Fried Chicken Causes Stir in Germany

I mean I guess it's every company for themselves in this economy, and you can't blame these guys for trying to earn a buck or two...but still this is still pretty poor 'taste' if you ask me.

Coming from Germany, no less....

What's next, the Sarah Palin tall boy?

How about 'Bloomberg Bagels'??

The Dick Cheney blood sausage?

Senator Spector Might Bolt GOP

Put simply, Spector is part of a dying, nearly extinct breed of national political animal: the moderate, northeastern, pragmatic Rockefeller Republican.  

If he wants to win reelection in 2010, as this article illustrates, it looks like he needs to leave the Republican party and become a Democrat.

As the Republican party has become increasingly radicalized, guys like Spector are part of a vanishing political constituency.

He's going to be running in 2010 agains Pat Toomey, the same loony-tune fundamentalist, Rush Limbaugh Republican he barely beat in the 2006 GOP Pennyslvania primary.

As we saw a few years back with Joe Lieberman, never underestimate the actions that a cornered, desperate Senator will take.

YouTube: Ron Paul Debates Stephen Baldwin on Marijuana Legalization

YouTube Video: Dick Cheney on Rush Limbaugh: "I Love Him."

Watch Rush's recent speech to the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) here...

Video: $50 Million in Coke and Weed Burned by Peruvian Narcs

What, exactly, will this accomplish??

Full Video: Interview of Jim Cramer on Jon Stewart Show

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Jim Cramer Interview Outtake Pt. 2

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24hrs Later: GOP Chair Steele--‘I Am Pro-Life, Always Have Been, Always Will Be’

Wow, Michael Steele has become the new Sarah Palin for the Republicans.  This guy has been a Clusterfuck with a capital C and it keeps getting worse...

I'm not backing down from the title of my previous post (see below), but the GOP powers that be will be extraordinarily cautious with this hit, and he will get hit, it's just a matter of when.  

They tried to find their very own Hillary Clinton in Sarah Palin last fall, and now they tried to find their very own Barack Obama in Michael Steele.

Only one problem with this strategy:  you might want to make sure that the person--no matter what their gender or skin color might be-can actually walk and chew gum at the same time.

Steele to be Shit-Canned Any Moment Now

Michael Steele, you are no Barack Obama.

This, my friends, will be the straw that broke the camel's back for the short lived but very entertaining reign of Michael Steele as the first African American chair of the Republican National Committee.

He barely survived last week after insulting GOP God Rush Limbaugh--having to humiliatingly apologize publicly on bent knee and beg forgiveness.  

One would think that the worst thing that the leader of the Republican party could do was to insult Rush, but, alas....... 

Questioning the party's doctrine on criminalizing abortion or on homosexuality is the equivalent of throwing yourself in front of a bus.  Suicide.

Like a slow motion train wreck, the modern Republican party is disintegrating before our very eyes...

In Defense of Earmarks

'Earmark' in today's America is a term that has become totally and fatally politicized.  

In reality, an earmark is a perfectly justifiable aspect of what Congress ought to be doing in government--which is to help its' citizenry.

Somehow over the past thirty years or so the word has been used by foes as a political sledge hammer.  

Is there room for reform, as in the Alaskan Bridge to Nowhere?  Of course.  

I've got news for you--there's a ton of waste in all complex organizations--not just government.  

But this shit's going to be putting a lot of people to work, at least.  I'd rather spend my tax money on earmarks than in Iraq.

Video: Jon Stewart / Jim Cramer Fued Continues

Wow, apparently Cramer is slated to appear on Stewart's the Daily Show tonight!!

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Basic Cable Personality Clash Skirmish '09

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Meghan McCain (John's Daughter): Republican Who Gets It

 Ann Coulter. I straight up don’t understand this woman or her popularity. I find her offensive, radical, insulting, and confusing all at the same time. […]

If the GOP wishes to regain relevance any time soon, they should listen carefully to people like Meghan McCain.

If the party wishes to continue to spiral down the toilet bowl into electoral oblivion, they should continue to listen to people like Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter.

You see, Limbaugh and Coulter are about as popular among women and immigrant voters as Bernie Madoff is with his former investors.  Toxic.  

THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS NO PRAYER OF WINNING ANOTHER PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OR REGAINING CONTROL OF CONGRESS IN ITS CURRENT FORM.

On the national level, the only elected officials who seem to understand this are Florida governor Charlie Crist and California governor Arnold Schwarzzeneger.  Moderate, pragmatic, green, non-ideological, problem solving Republicans who are fiscally conservative (I mean, what person with a brain isn't 'fiscally conservative'?) who actually appeal to women and immigrants.

But they are a narrow narrow minority in today's GOP, their voices increasingly being drowned out by what I call the Republican 'jihadists': ideological freaks who want America to be run by their form of Koranic Law:  Low taxes for the rich, no new immigrants, outlawing abortion, and denying that humans are adversly affecting the environment.  The 'drill baby drill' crowd that thought Sarah Palin would make a wonderful president.

Indeed, as I type this, I see no way out for the Republican party.  Things are that bad.  If I were new party chairman Michael Steele I would stop apologizing to Rush, pick up the phone and call Meghan McCain.  

She's a glimmer of light on an otherwise pitch black canvas for today's GOP.

High Speed Rail: An Idea all Americans can Support

Parisanship has been rotting the core of the American political system for decades now; with most American voters seeing all issues through either a Democratic filter or a Republican filter.

If you're a Republican, you can't support any new taxes or spending--no matter what the cause. 

If you're a Democrat, George W. Bush was the anti-Christ and all Repbulicans want to do is fatten their already bulging wallets by cutting taxes.

There is no in between, right?

Well how about an idea like dramatically increasing America's committment to developing a high speed rail network?  Can't we all support something like that?

Any American who's ever spent time in Europe has no doubt wondered, "Why the fuck don't we have trains like this back home?"  

It's extremelly aggravating: America, first in so many things (nuclear bombs, health care research and development, agriculture, technology, etc.) is a fucking third world country when it comes to rail transit!

France's spectacular TGV high speed trains--which can travel at speeds of over 200 mph, first came on line in 1981!  

The question must be asked, why?  Why has America fallen so far behind in this critical technolgy?  Wouldn't it be good for decreasing pollution and reducing greenhouse gasses?  Doesn't rail travel reduce traffic and relive the burden on our nation's roads and bridges?  

Doesn't less reliance on cars and trucks mean being America being less reliant on countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Venezuela and thus a stronger American foreign policy?

What:  it might hurt Ford, Chrysler, GM, or Delta?  It might piss off Hugo Chavez?  Exxon might get upset?  Give me a break.

The history as to why rail travel has been thwarted, underfunded, and indeed derailed in America is a long and sordid one.  In the early 20th century automotive tycoons like Henry Ford saw to it that politicians were bought off and railroad passenger companies put out of business.  

Recently, as this article points out, it's been the airline companies that have bought off America's politicians to thwart passenger rail development.

It's difficult to find one singular negative to America investing to dramatically ramp up our high speed rail network.  This is a case study in something that is not and should not be looked at through a partisanship lense.  

American high speed rail is not a Democratic issue.  It is not a Republican issue.  

It's an American issue that every single American can and should get behind.  Now let's get to work.

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT HOW TO CONTACT YOUR STATE AND FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVES AND TELL THEM YOU SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH SPEED PASSENGER RAIL SERVICE IN THE USA!!!!

VIDEO: OBAMA'S NEVER ENDING CAMPAIGN

THIS IS INTERESTING. CNN'S STU ROTHENBERG AND BILL SCHNEIDER REPORT ON HOW OBAMA'S POLITICAL MACHINE HAS NOT STOPPED CHUGGING ALONG SINCE NOVEMBER'S ELECTION. DO THE REPUBLICANS HAVE A CHANCE??
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Prince Charles' Love Letters to be sold on Ebay

This is really unnecessary, and indeed could be labeled as crass, but in this economy I guess people are doing lots of things to score a few bucks.  And can you blame them?  What do you English out there have anything to say about this?

Rush Limbaugh and Joe the Plumber: Republican Party's 2012 Presidential Dream Ticket?

As of today it would be, anyway, as the Republican party--totally devoid of any leadership or ideas, staggers on from one day to the next, like an old, wasted, beat up drunk waiting to be put out of its misery.

It certainly would be the dream ticket for the 30 or so odd percent of the American electorate that makes up the Republican party's 'base' who would sprint to the polls to vote for two duncecap losers like Rush and Joe. 

Luckily for newly elected President Barack Obama, the 'loyal' opposition these days is about as feirce as a retarded lamb missing two of its legs.

Folks, as bad as shit has gotten for the world economy, they have gotten for the GOP.  

Sarah Palin.  Rush Limbaugh.  Newt Gingrich.  Michael Steele.  Joe the Plumber.  Bill O'Reilly.  Sean Hannity.  Ann Coulter.

No, that's not some sort of Twighlight Zone criminal line up from the planet Zulu; those very  individuals happen to make up what today stands for the leadership of the GOP.

Hey Karl Rove, so much for your 'permanent majority'...More like a permanent minority.

Limbaugh: Ted Kennedy will be Dead Before Health Care Reform Passes

Gee, I wonder why Republicans have gotten routed in the last two elections?  Rush Limbaugh is the gift that keeps giving for Democrats....

Jim Bunning: Symbolic of Today's Republican Party

Mr. Bunning is known on Capitol Hill for gruffly blowing past reporters and colleagues in hallways and for cranky outbursts at his staff. “He is perceived as being out-of-touch, hot-headed and generally counterproductive,” said Phil Musser, a Republican consultant and former official in the Bush administration.

The story of Republican Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky provides us with a great snapshot of the current state of the national GOP.  That is, pathetic and getting worse.

It is thought by many in Washington that Bunning is suffering from some form of dementia: his party leadership is basically pleading with him to not run for reelection next year, and in general he is an embarrassment to the Senate as an institution.

Way to go Kentucky voters!  Good job Republican party!!

I mean, how long can a party survive by electing utterly incompetent, lazy guys like George W. Bush and Jim Bunning?  These are the types of idiots who have a difficult time walking and chewing gum at the same time.

Let's see: you've got a morbidly obese, drug-addled, racist, sexist and in general hatefully divisive Rush Limbaugh as the party's de-facto national leader; a eunoch, green, Uncle Tom/empty suit lightweight head of the Republican National Committee in Michael Steele, and just ran the most comically inept politician in American poltical history as your VP candidate in the last presidential election in Sarah Palin.

Oh--and throw in the fact that the party has no ideas and is proposing no solutions to any of the nation's ills beyond hoping that Obama fails...

Mix all that together and you've got one toxic political stew.  The GOP is hurtling unabated towards political irrelevance as a white, southern regional party.  Think Jim Bunning and Rush Limbaugh....

Video: Jon Stewart Reports on CNBC, Rick Santelli

Anyone who actually gives real creedence to the Rick Santelli 'rant' is an abject dunce.  Santelli's employer, CNBC, is the country's largest purveyor to the masses of what can only be called financial pornography and is itself partially to blame for the financial meltdown.  And one more thing:  Santelli, you're a pussy for cancelling on Stewart.  More Jon Stewart videos here....

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CNBC Gives Financial Advice

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Video: Jon Stewart "A Party in Limbaugh"

MORE JON STEWART COVERAGE ON RUSH LIMBAUGH HERE!

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A Party in Limbaugh

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YouTube: Kitten in Bong found in Nebraska

Video about kitten imprisoned inside of weed bong by weirdo in Nebraska...All Ripper weed coverage here

Video: Jon Stewart Reports on CPAC

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CPAC After Party

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YouTube: Letterman Unloads on Limbaugh to Couric

Letterman's referring to Rush Limbaugh's somewhat bizarre performance this past weekend as the keynote speaker at 2009 CPAC--video seen HERE

Freak: Nebraska Weirdo Busted with Live Cat Pot Bong

So this is the type of shit going down in Nebraska these days, huh??Doesn't get any more bizarre than this folks.  The young man, in my mind, is deeply troubled--

Steele Backs Down, Apologizes to Rush

Boy, that was fast.  Hey Michael Steele, if you weren't aware of who you work for, hopefully you are now.  Boy.   Got it?  Bitch?  There can be no question now:  Rush Limbaugh is The Leader of the Republican Party.

Steele / Limbaugh GOP Feud Erupts Into Public

Could things get any worse for the Republican party these days?  Well the answer is yes, of course, because things do get worse seemingly on a daily basis.

Now we have the party's newly elected, first African American leader Michael Steele, openly warring with Rush Limbaugh: God of The Fringe Base of The Republican Party. 

For a Republican to openly criticize Rush Limbaugh like Steele had the audacity to do over the weekend is to the loony tune right wing of the party the equivalent of a Catholic spitting at a crucifix.  It just does't happen.

RIPPER'S 2012 REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENT ARTICLE

Rahm Emanuel and the Democratic political brain trust have gleefully promoted the idea that the fascist, racist, xenophobic, polarizing and generally hateful Limbaugh is now the leader of the party.

The Republican party has been split wide open for all to see.  Is the end result the development of a third party?  

Guest Blogger Update on the Financial Crisis

This is an entry from a Minor-Ripper guest blogger.  An analyst at a well known New York City based hedge fund.

We are in a process of debt-deflation.   It is leading to the result of an economic depression.

The process is easy to understand: credit availability, issuance, and propensity to spend on credit went up over 25-30 years.

Propensity to invest went up during this time because investment led to good results – more wealth.  Own assets on leverage that are going up and you make money, potentially lots of money.

The problem is that the credit was fueling expanded business activity and earnings as consumers didn’t save (why save if assets are going up?).   The increased business activity fueled higher earnings which justified higher asset prices, which got i-banks and lenders to loan ever more – a virtuous cycle.   During the virtuous cycle – the US savings rate went from 6-7% to 0%.   

This process went on around the world.   European banks and investors bought many of the dicey loans which were originated at late stages in the game.   Eastern Europe – which is blowing up now – concocted schemes to borrow at lower interest rates in Euro or Swiss Franc to pay for houses or commercial loans or leases in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine etc…..That all worked fine until the currencies blew up making the debt burden unmanageable.  Asia is being exposed as completely geared to the US consumption cycle – ie export based economies which were establishing business and infrastructure exporting into a bubble.

 

OK – fast forward.   We get a global recession.  Credit gets cut and asset prices go down.   Now the virtuous cycle has become a vicious cycle and everything is unwinding in reverse the other way.   It is leading to Depression.   There will be strings of government, corporate, and household bankruptcies around the world.  Debt is a killer in an economy where asset prices and incomes are going backwards.   Ownership rates hit all-time highs for housing and stocks in 2007, so the breadth of people involved in the calamity is greater than past cycles.  The process will shake out for sometime…….we need to go back to levels of economic activity consistent with less debt and lower credit penetration rates throughout all aspects of the global economy combined with a consumers in the US saving money from their current income.   There you have it.    There is no governmental quick fix.  There is no magic bullet.   Those who come out ahead will do so because of ability to endure pain, survive, ride out storms, and persist.   Many will have 10-20 years worth of “work” and “savings” wiped away by this.   And many who get wiped will not ever recover because in the new economic reality there will be fewer opportunities to get rich coming out of this than there were going into this.    It could be good for people our age – who don’t get disenchanted, who develop the right habits quickly and adapt (learn how to save money, pay off debt, and remain solvent), who can win battle royals, and can position for the opportunities 5-10 years out.