US economics by the numbers: comedy or tragedy?

Saturday, January 19th, 2008

Do you want to hear something funny? How’s this; economic stimulus package. Say it again… eco-nom-ic stim-u-lus pack-age. Told ya it was funny. Every few seconds say that to yourself as you read the rest of this article. Trust me in short order it will stop being so funny.

3.07

That’s the average cost in dollars per gallon of regular unleaded gasoline that Americans pay to drive our cars. I know that’s peanuts to many people out there who pay 3 to 4 times that much.

16

As of 2005 that was the average distance Americans were traveling to get to work according to an ABC News poll. The number represents one single one way trip. It does not account for 5 days a week, or return trips.

24.7

Average mile per gallon rating of the American cars. Of course those are under optimal conditions assuming everything is spot-on.

10

The average number of gallons of gas held per American car

247

Average distance an American car can travel on a gallon of gas purchased for approximately $30.70

160

Average total miles per week Americans drive to work. This number is ONLY work and does not in any way reflect how much we drive outside of work.

1.5

Number of weeks, using an average of a 10 gallon tank and traveling an average of 160 miles in a week, that Americans can travel (strictly too and from work) before having to refill their tanks.

80

The average cost per month in dollars that American’s pay for gas. Keep this number in mind…

Don’t forget that number, we’ll be going back to it in a bit. In the meanwhile let’s take a look at another number. This one is the average mortgage payment in the US. $1600. Don’t forget that number either. Next number 450. That’s the average cost of health insurance per month.

One last number for you to consider. 145 billion. That’s how much our “leaders” are suggesting for an economic stimulus package. It breaks down to approximately $800 per person. That, $800 is their illustrious economic stimulus plan. Now do a little math and you’ll very quickly see why this “plan” isn’t funny, it’s morbidly disgusting and insulting. I guess that means my vote goes for tragedy.

Posted in News and Politics | 6 Comments »

Britney Spears: Someone help this woman

Friday, January 4th, 2008

Does anyone remember this Britney Spears? The one who all the little girls loved (and envied) and the one all the little boys had secret crushes on, but tried to hide that crush behind a facade of lust? What ever happened to that girl? Normally I stay far away, way far away from celebrity gossip. Especially the likes of these so-called “icons”. But for once I’ll throw caution (and good sense) to the wind and say something.

This woman needs some serious help. It’s gone beyond her acting like an idiot for all the world’s amusement. Actually it went beyond that a long time ago. And I suppose when it only effects her and “K-Fed” it’s one thing but the woman has kids. Don’t recall how many, don’t care how many I just know she has kids (as in plural). Point is that when her sickness effects only her that’s one thing, but when you start factoring other people into you clearly see she has a problem.

A friend of mine said she thinks Spear’s latest episode in which she got herself checked into Cedars Sinai Medical Center in LA for tests to see if she was under the influence of alcohol or drugs and for a psychological evaluation is the result of oneupsmanship. Could be. After all her 16 year pregnant sister has grabbed a lot of the presses attention who would normally focus in Britney. Not that it matters, if she does what she does for attention or not she still has some issues. Ok, she has lots of issues.

We don’t even need to make mention of the fact that it wasn’t all that long ago that she went on a wild binge of haircutting, drinking, drugging, and tattooing. I suppose I should be the last one to comment on those things, but oh well you get what you get. I recall reading somewhere that this is all a result of her breakup with “K-Fed” (Doesn’t that name just scream “professional wrestler”?) but I’m willing to bet it’s more a result of being a pop star at 15 and never learning how to grow up. I guess it depends on your perspective, but I don’t know that I would call 2007 a banner year for this woman.

• Failed rehab at least twice that I’m aware of. But hey at least she tried a lot of people wouldn’t even do that. Not that trying really counts for much in a situation like this
• Lost custody of her kids to “K-Fed”. As much as I hate to admit it there seems to be great wisdom in this decision
• Her drunken weekend of tattooing, head shaving, nervous breakdowns, and drinking
• A choice “crotch shot” or two
• Attacking a car with an umbrella
• Alleged affair with a papparazzi scum of the earth
• Horrible VMA performance. You remember right? The one where she was “too fat”? What the hell is with that? Too fat compared to what? She wasn’t too fat her peformance just sucked.
• The “OK!” magazine breakdown

Really, the how’s and the why’s don’t really matter. What matters is where she’s at now. I don’t care for her music, and she makes some pretty lame ass decisions, but then don’t we all? Couldn’t speak to what I think of her on a personal level since I don’t know her personally. Either way this isn’t about my personal likes or dislikes it’s about a young woman who needs someone to intervene on her behalf. But that’s been the rising call from a lot of people and yet no one steps up and steps in.

Has the American society really sunk this low that we can watch someone destroying themselves day after day and no one will do anything? I realize it has to be something she wants to do but people could help point her in the right direction. If her fans truly “loved” her as so many claim they’d be picketing her house with signs begging her to get help. Oh, that’s right her fans are too busy trying to emulate their hero. Incredible as it might seem this article is just as much about YOU who are Britney Spears’ fans as it is about her. Riddle me this; what aside from money and fame makes you so much different than her? For that matter what makes any of us so much different than her?

A while back Craig Ferguson did a monologue about Britney Spears. In the clip below he talks about his decision NOT to attack Spears. It’ll get you thinking. If not then maybe you should get yourself checked in and evaluated. Is it time to say enough is enough and stop allowing people like her to be victimized by the media and our own sick desires to tear others down, or will we just use her up toss her out and move onto the next victim?

Posted in News and Politics | 9 Comments »

Behind every powerful man…

Saturday, December 29th, 2007

There’s an old saying that goes something like this. Behind every powerful man is a more powerful woman, or something along those lines. The exact phrase isn’t important, but the message is conveys to the listener is.

It seems that our good friend Barack Obama has found out just how true that saying really can be. It seems that Michele, his doting wife and consummate supporter through thick and thin informed the presidential hopeful that he wouldn’t be allowed to run again and it is now or never in his bid for the White House.

Am I the only one disturbed by this? His wife is telling him what he can and can’t do? If we elected this guy president would his wife be running the show in the wings? Would we have a repeat of the Bill Clinton era in which we witnessed the rise of Hillary Clinton? Would we willingly suffer another tragedy like that one?

Posted in News and Politics | 6 Comments »

Benazir Bhutto: Reality Check

Friday, December 28th, 2007

When I checked the news this morning like so many other Americans the first thing I saw was that former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto had been murdered. My first reaction was to laugh. Yep, to laugh. Not because it’s funny that someone gets killed, but because how stupid does one have to be not to see exactly what was coming from five thousand miles away? Seriously? How stupid? Spend a moment with me reviewing the evidence and tell me that you’re even slightly surprised she was killed.

She and her husband were immersed in corruption

A number of nations had leveled corruption charges again Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari dating back to at least the early 90s.

Poland

Provided over 500 pages of documentation to the Pakistani government in 1999 regarding Bhutto’s receipt of illegal commissions on over 8,000 tractors that were sold. The money was then deposited through Swiss bank accounts in the name of an offshore company. Yes, the Swiss provided proof of this to Polish prosecutors.

The Polish Government has given Pakistan 500 pages of documentation relating to corruption allegations against Benazir Bhutto and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari.

The couple were convicted by a Pakistani court on corruption charges last month and received five-year jail sentences and a fine of $8.5m.

But they face further trials, including one which concerns the purchase of 8,000 tractors from Poland. According to Pakistani officials, the Polish papers contain details of illegal commissions paid by the tractor company in return for agreeing to their contract.

Source and rest of the article.

Of course if Poland isn’t good enough for you there’s more…

Switzerland

Once again our gracious heroine found herself (and her stalwart hubby) running askew of another nations law. And in 2003 to bear this fact out the Swiss judge Daniel Devaud found them guilt and ordered they pay $50k EACH in fines and an additional two MILLION dollars to the Pakistani government. She of course claimed political motivation, but thankfully the Swiss judge (and Pakistani government) aren’t that stupid.

Investigation Judge Daniel Devaud in Geneva sentenced them to a six-month suspended jail term, fined them $50,000 each and ordered they pay more than $2m to the Pakistani Government.

He said they had illegally deposited millions of dollars in accounts in Switzerland, and ordered the money be returned to Pakistan.

Ms Bhutto and Mr Zardari deny misappropriating the money, and are considering an appeal.

The BBC’s Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad says the ruling will come as a blow to the former prime minister, who has always said that corruption cases against her in Pakistan were politically motivated.

Source and rest of the article.

France

In 1998 French officials claim that her husband offered exclusive rights to Dassault Aviation (French military contractor) to replace the air force’s fighter jets in exchange for a five percent commission to be paid to a corporation in Switzerland controlled by Zardari. For those who are wonder what the big deal is, it amounts to a non-compete agreement in exchange for a five percent kickback. That’s the big deal. Or at least part of the big deal.

In interest of full disclosure and being honest with my readers I must say that at the time this was going on France apparently didn’t have any laws against it. They have since been changed, but regardless this just points once again to her and her husbands corrpution.

Gold trade

In 1993 Abdul Razzak Yaqub a Dubai based Pakistani gold bullion dealer got the Prime Minister Bhutto to give him an import license. Not a big deal right? Not until you consider the fact that shortly after the license was granted he deposited at LEAST $10 million dollars into husband’s Citibank account. Of course the Citibank account was opened under a front name and not a legitimate corporation or business. His excuse? Somebody in the bank has cooperated with my enemies to make false documents” (Go ahead do a Google or Yahoo search for that exact phrase and see what you turn up).

It’s also interesting to note that gold was actually up while the rest of the market took a nose dive. I think the windbags on Wall Street call it “a correction”. Either way gold didn’t correct. I don’t know if it’s tied into this corruption issue, but it’s worth noting.

If you’d like an in-depth rundown of this womans corruption I suggest you take a look at the New York Times piece about the Bhutto’s trail of corruption

Al Qaeda in the mix

I know, I just know that sooner than later someone will tell me she’s a hero for standing up to Al Qaeda. She was not a hero, she was an idiot. Not because she stood up to Al Qaeda but because she was willing to put other lives in danger in order to get herself back into power and her greedy little hands on money that didn’t belong to her.

But let’s get to the point. Al Qaeda is, for lack of a better term, an organization deeply rooted in tradition extremist Islam. Islam that keeps women in the homes covered head to toe. Bhutto being the first ever woman leader in the Middle East didn’t sit too well with Al Qaeda’s view of the world. Since 1992 they have been gunning for this woman. In October they claimed to have carried out the assassination attempt against Bhutto that cost nearly 150 Pakistanis their lives.

By no means should anyone blame Al Qaeda’s actions on Bhutto (or anyone else), but if that isn’t gross negligence I don’t know what is. I mean get a clue, having a huge “home coming” parade with tens of thousands of people in attendance and knowing that odds are that Al Qaeda will be there to wreck the party is stupid. It’s as stupid as you can possibly get. I can hear it now - “Oh but she just wanted to show the people how much she loved them and how much she cared by being out there with them.” That’s the kind of “love” the world doesn’t need. Once again it was nothing short of gross negligence on her part. It’s kind of like letting a “friend” get behind the wheel and drive drunk because you’re too much of an idiot to stop them. Yeah, it’s their responsibility for getting behind the wheel, but how dare you not slap them silly.

But the people loved her

So what? Some people love George W. Bush and look what kind of a mess were in. Some people love Fidel Castro, but he’s nothing to write home about. Hell, I’m willing to bet there were even people who loved Adolph Hitler, and I don’t mean his family. Point is that “people loving her” is totally besides the point. It doesn’t change what she was or how dangerous her presence in the Pakistani political landscape made it for both her and her supporters.

She was a good leader

If being a liar and a fraud makes you a good leader then she was one of the best ever.

She revolutionized politics in the Middle East

Did she really? Seems to me she set them back another 100 years. Why don’t people understand that the vast majority of Middle Eastern nations are NOT READY FOR WOMEN TO LEAD. Period. The only thing that a woman leader will accomplish is getting themselves and many others killed. Don’t like it? Blame the culture because that’s a fact. Even former US ambassardor to the UN Michael Bolton said that Pakistan needs martial law right now.

He said he thinks “this tragedy should guide us now as to what we do next, which I think ought to be declaring a time-out on internal politics; let’s re-stabilize, it probably will require a period of martial law.” “But let’s keep our eyes on the prize. For the United States, that’s the security of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.”

Source and rest of the article.

I hate to be the asshole, but Bhutto was NOT the leader Pakistan needed. It’s so very sad that the Pakistani people forgot so quickly her lying and corruption. That’s sad, but for the rest of the world to act as if a patron saint had been killed is just disgusting. It’s criminal.

Posted in News and Politics | 15 Comments »

YouTube suspends account for showing torture videos

Thursday, November 29th, 2007

I was reading the news this evening and came across this article talking about Wael Abbas’s Youtube account being suspended. If you’ve watched his videos I doubt there will be any question that they violated YouTube’s community guidelines with content that:

• Shows bad stuff like animal abuse, drug abuse, or bomb making
• Is graphic or depicts gratuitous violence
• Is meant to shock people

Should YouTube have disabled his account? Did they do morally right by protecting site viewers from his videos or did they simply advocate torture?

Social responsibility

I for one believe we, not as bloggers, or netizens, but simply as people have a responsibility to society. We’re supposed to work at making the world a better place. At least that’s my opinion. Needless to say it really makes no sense whatsoever when a company such as YouTube which has the infastructure to show these things for all the world to see refuses to do so because it might offend someone. Might be seen by a child. How easy it is to turn a blind eye to things when it doesn’t affect us. That reminds me of a poem. First they came: By Pastor Martin Niemöller

What can we do?

There are a few things we can do. For one we can petition against YouTube (though I doubt that would help due to the technicality of the policy violations), or we could offer Mr. Abbas guest posting chances on our various blogs a few times a month so his videos will keep being seen. Yes they could be seen if he just hosts them on his own blog, but this would make for a wider audience than he could get with just his blog.

Does anyone feel motivated to do anything to help him get his message out? I’m thinking some guest posts on various blogs around the world wouldn’t hurt… I’ll make the offer, Mr. Wael Abbas are you interested?

Posted in News and Politics | No Comments »