IRS vs. Healthcare

As some of you know, my wife and I have spend the last 3 years paying out on a bankrupcty plan. We finally completed that.

We paid out 100% of our debt. That situation arose out of a few years of lackluster employment after the tech buble burst and Dick Armey spearheaded legislation to pay corporations to move their jobs overseas. The final kicker was when my wife suffered heart failure due to high blood pressure. Her one week stay in the hospital put us over the edge.

During the bankruptcy, we had a tremendously crappy lawyer that lied to us constantly about the terms of the agreement and about paperwork he filed or didn't file. When we entered bankruptcy, I had a temproary, high paying contract job. Through the period of bankruptcy, I took a series progressively lower paying jobs, just to stay employed. My attorney kept telling me that paperwork had been filed to get an adjustment, but everytime, he lied.

So I ended up making significantly less money, but still paying the premium rate. The only way we could manage this was to short the IRS. My lawyer actually recommended this as he said they won't come after us until the bankruptcy was over. Then he'd be off the hook.

Now we're dealing with the IRS. They keep changing the figures that we owe and keep asking for increasingly larger lump sum payments as our first installment, if we want good terms.

My wife has started needing medical care again. So we've shelled out some large lump sum payments for her tests. She has a suspicious growth on one of her kidneys. Tests to determine if it's cancerous, are going to run nearly $3,000. The IRS wants a lump sum payment of $2,500 within the month.

We can afford neither. If we put off the IRS and save for the medical tests, the IRS will just assess more huge fees and penalties. If we pay the IRS, then we're rolling the dice on whether my wife has cancer or not.

It's back to interesting times again.

Don't worry, we don't have insurance. So those of you worried about your rates going up, be sure they won't. We'll be paying out of pocket. These days insurance is for rich people and government employees

Chicken Little Proclaims, "The Sky Is Falling!"

I saw Chicken Little last night on the mesmerization box. He said that the sky is falling. He said that if we don't give his friends the Corporate Welfare Queens, lot's and lot's of money, then they can't party anymore, puppies will die, the sun will not come up tomorrow, and we risk a recession. I guess Mr. Little is now a 'whiner', by the reckoning of Phil Gramm.

Today, the news is reporting that the Welfare Queen Giveaway Bill has all but passed. So the choice appears to have been made. We are going to hyperinflate our currency, try to blow another bubble and simply make the situation worse.

If I had a vote, I'd vote to risk recession. I don't earn enough money to buy milk at $15/gallon. I make too much, and evidently too little money, to qualify for government aid. If I were a billionaire or really poverty stricken, the government would jump through hoops to give me a handout. As it is, I'm in the middle class, getting squeezed from all directions.

I see my mistake now. I've tried to play by the rules for too long. I try to earn an honest living, pay my bills and live within my means. I never had a debt that would be considered outrageous or unreasonable when incurred. But my government frowns on this behavior. It's worked to export my career overseas, actually paying corporations to leave the country, leaving me with several years of lackluster employment and a declining income. Now those past debts are taking much longer to pay off, though thankfully I'm down to a mortgage, IRS and medical bills for my wife. Things are looking up if her suspicious cyst doesn't turn out to be cancer (when we find $2500 for further tests).

But I see now the error of my ways. As I watch men who are really shitty at business lose billions of dollars of other people's money, continue to eat well, go yachting, jet around to their various houses around the world, I see the truth of it all. Our government wants crooks to steal from our nation and will jump through hoops to reward them for causing massive economic destruction that is akin to an act of war.

If they blew up a building they'd be arrested. But they can intentionally inflict severe economic damage to the US that destroys lives and through secondary effects, will kill more people, and they get rewards. If a foreign nation tried to bring down our economic system, we'd be at war with them. When bankers do this intentionally then, threaten further damage if we don't reward them, we reward them.

Evidently, we do negotiate with economic terrorists. We do cave to extortion. We do reward crime. If we think that maybe we shouldn't cave to extortion, Chicken Little will appear on television to remind us that the sky is falling.

***************************************************

Did anyone else think he looked a bit drugged, like he's on anti-psychotics? Did it appear that he was trying too hard to appear sincere? Did it seem to anyone else that he didn't believe what he was saying?

Gas in Short Supply in 3 States

Some lazy blogging...

Financial Emperor Henry Paulson

Congress has been asked by King George Bush II and Financial Emperor Henry Paulson, to grant Henry the power to clean up the mess, that he and others worked to create.

This strategy works great in Washington. Engineer failure, then ask for and be granted supreme powers to clean up the mess you created. If this worked for the rest of us, the first baby to poop his or her diapers would become CEO of Johnson and Johnson.

So what are they asking for? In a nutshell, Henry (another good name for a King) wants unlimited power to borrow and spend money the taxpayers money. He wants sole discretion in how the money is spent. He wants complete immunity from prosecution and lawsuits, should someone decide to sue or arrest him for how he uses these powers.

This is exactly like getting burglarized, then later giving the burglar complete access to your financial accounts, on the promise that the burglar will wisely use your money to replace the stuff he stole.

In my opinion, Henry Paulson should be in prison for what he is done. but of course, the past few Congresses have legalized much of his activity, thanks to his lobbying and the lobbying of his friends that are enjoying sunny days on their yachts.

He screwed us big time. He robbed us. He destroyed our financial system. Now he wants, and will probably be granted the power to spend as he pleases, quantities of money that dwarf our nation's current largesses.

This one man will be able to give away, to domestic and foreign financial institutions, on a whim, more taxpayer money than is currently spent on education, the military, the War in Afghanistan and even the War in Iraq. He will be able to spend as many $trillions as it takes, to chase the dragon of inflation, by hyperinflating our currency. As he borrows and gives away, ever larger quantities of money to save his beloved banks, the dollar will devalue and he'll have to borrow and give away ever larger quantities of money.

Remember, in our fiat system with loans requiring interest, our money supply must keep growing to insure that debts must be repaid. Each bailout will produce a bubble, that will require a bigger bailout to save. Paulson already told us in a speech a few weeks ago, that he plans to blow another bubble.

The logical outcome of allowing Paulson to blow an endless series of bubbles is that he'll soon be spending more money blowing bubbles, than the US Government spends on everything. It won't take but a few iterations for him to get into the tens or hundreds of trillions of dollars a year in giveaways.

And what do the Dems have to say about this? They support Paulson, but want some consumer protections in the process. But to get what they want, they have to make concessions. As they didn't ask for extra fluff so they could give it up, they'll cave on consumer protections, and Paulson will become our Financial Emperor.

Then Nancy Pelosi will give speeches about what a great victory they've accomplished. When it all comes crumbling down, she'll tell us that her plan was to 'hope', that Paulson would give away infinite quantities of taxpayer funds in responsible manner, and how he disappointed her.

HyperInflating Our Way To Prosperity

Gov't rushing to finish huge financial rescue plan

This is incredible! The Government is going to transfer all of the finance industries toxic junk which even includes AAA securities, to the taxpayer, using a massive injection of newly borrowed funds.

Officials are saying that this could cost a half a billion dollars. Yet, we've been hearing numbers in the finance sector that the real exposure is in the hundreds of trillions of dollars.

As this new money enters the markets, it will drive the price of everything up. This will slow the economy further, necessitating further bailouts.

We're swirling the bowl. Bernanke and Paulson are trying to grab the rim each time they go around. The water level is dropping. Each time around it's further and further out of reach.

They both say that putting 'We The Taxpayer' on the hook for these liabilities is the best thing for us. That this will give us a clean smooth running financial system that can start making loans again, to power the economy.

In other words, they're trying to push start an economy that's out of gas.

After this bailout, after the toxic loans have been removed from the banks and made the responsibility of the public, what will the banks have left? The destructive cycle that we are experiencing will repeat, because the root causes are being perpetuated. Worse, they are being escalated as an attempt to cure the economy.

The easy loans, the easy money, are causing the runaway inflation that is killing our economy. Now the government plans to dramatically increase the supply of easy money for the banks, so that they can generate more easy money.

How can this cycle not continue to repeat? No one in a position of authority is clamoring to end the policies that drive this cycle.

Our financial system and government have bloated themselves way beyond the means of our nation's economy to support them. The metaphor of the bubble is apt, as these institutions are made up mostly of air. There's no economic framework to hold together at this scale. Yet we find ourselves in a mad race to force feed their expansion.

Our nation has been shedding jobs at a rapid pace of late. This has had the predictable effect of reducing demand for gasoline, thus lowering prices. But stocks remain short and we're entering winter, when heating oil usage will go up. Coupled with the massive dollar devaluation that Bush, Paulson and Bernanke are spearheading, we should see fuel prices rising dramatically after the election.

Rising prices will run more loans into the red, necessitating more bailouts, further devaluing the dollar...

Perestroika is will be here for the next administration. Get ready.

Once again, 'The Modern Mystic' publishes another video, arguing what I've been here typing.


"And we go round and round and round, in the circle game." - Joni Mitchell




Did you demand any answers?
The who and the what and the reason why?
Did you ever question the setup?

Did you stand aside and let 'em choose while you took second best?
Did you let 'em skim the cream off and give to you the rest?
Did you settle for the shoddy and did you think it right
To let 'em rob you right and left and never make a fight,
never make a fight, never make a fight?

Ewan McColl - Ballad of Accounting

Path To US Oil Independance

I took the challenge that pm I gave to my anonymous private message friend, when I wanted to see how well he understood math and production curves.

I calculated that if we want to make the US independent of foreign oil in ten years, we need a growth rate of a whopping 54%!!!

Using the rule of 72, we'd have to double oil production every 1.3 years.

Here's what the chart looks like.

A Depressing Email.

I got myself into a private argument with a person that believes that the US has more than enough oil to supply our growth needs for a long time.

I try to argue using basic math, and show as Bartlett did how the exponential function proves that large swings in supply, make little difference in the date of the peak. I discussed how these curves are simple and based on the same basic math used in to calculate mortgage schedules.

He argued previously that oil experts have disproved the exponential function and the math it is based on.

I told him that he is uneducated and innumerate. That's what he's referring to on the name calling.

This is my last response from him. This is very chilling as it demonstrates the depth of ignorance of many of my fellow Americans.

As our nation falls apart and as we drill faster and deeper and crisis worsens, these folks will cling to the faith that God will pee into wellheads and refill them, so that we can go on with consumeristic lifestyles.

Eating and consuming faster and faster is the American plan. We will consume our way to energy independence. Oil will never run out, because God is refilling the oil fields.

Here is his scary message.

LOL take it easy! Just remember that you sent me a private message first, you took this debate out of the public video comments and
made this debate private! Math is your solution? Yes math can be infinite, but humans are not! But can you prove to me that oil is finite?
No, no one can't! And even your hero Hubbert is a laughing stock! I remember reading about this man back in my science class (High School)
and read about the "Hubbert curve" and I remember when he had predicted wrongly (like you) that U.S. oil would peak sometime
between 1965 and 1970. In 1970, U.S. oil production was at an all-time high and Hubbert was immediately dismissed and forgotten! LOL.
Bartlett is nothing more than like these silly environmentalists conspiracy theory knuckleheads that fool people like yourself!
Your math ain't (Weaseldog) adding up, no matter how much you may copy and paste from opinions of others and NOT yours!

I certainly have a desire to learn, but I also have a desire not to listen to people who believe in conspiracy theories like Bartlett and the likes
of silly people like you who more than likely don't even believe in a God. I have been nothing but polite with you, and even when you started
your name calling witch is very childish on your part. I will leave you with words from a famous oil expert:

Abdallah S. Jum’ah, president and CEO of Aramco, the Saudi Arabian state-owned oil company, said:
"The world has only consumed about 18 percent of its conventional potential.’ We’ve heard this ‘chicken little’ stuff for years and there is
still plenty of oil.” “God has designed the earth so that oil will replenish itself and our energy needs will be met. For example, the Eugene Island
oil field off the coast of Louisiana is refilling itself. The earth will produce enough oil to power our economy until God shows us how to use the
next energy source he has provided us with.”

And another...

ak or no peak, Hubbert was wrong then and now.

How am I poorly educated? I am a New York University graduate with a business and computer technician degree.
What exactly is your background? You continue to state opinions from your heroes but you don't state your own opinions!
I told you, I do not care what conspiracy theorists believe, do you know what a theory is? Simply put an idea that cannot be proven fact!
You cannot prove that oil is finite can you? No! No one can! Your so called observations regarding me are completely distorted!
Distorted in the fact that I am yet to agree with your beliefs, I don't and I will NOT until you can show me that oil is finite!
Now this was a good debate, but it wont get anywhere because you have these mathematical predictions.
And these typical mathematical predictions never ever add up in the end, like remember Y2K? LOL.

Good luck in whatever you choose to do about energy crisis.

Nancy Pfotenhauer

Nancy Pfotenhauer explains that even though the Republicans have taken a big dump on America and are flushing it down the toilet, a Democratic administration would take a bigger dump on America.

I don't know if she's right or wrong. I no longer trust either party.

But she could do better than to argue that the Republicans suck less.

Couldn't she?

Arithmetic, Population and Energy

I posted this earlier, but just noticed that only the last clip was linked. This Is the complete series.

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5


Part 6


Part 7


Part 8

Pakastani Troops Ordered To Fire On US Troops

In this 'Noble War', things are getting hot. As the following AP article reports, Pakistani Soldiers have been order to fire on US Troops if they cross the border.



And General Dan McNeill, commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan says there aren't enough troops in Afghanistan to win against the Taliban.

McNeill: Each army has a formula as to how to determine what you need in the way of security forces for a counter insurgency. If you use the US doctrine, which is based on population and land mass, the figure for Afghanistan comes out well over 400,000 troops.

SPIEGEL: And how many do you have in total?

McNeill: The Afghans say that they have 22,000 on the rolls of their army and 42,000 police. NATO has about 39,000 troops here, so that totals a good 100,000. To aim for 400,000 is maybe a bit of a stretch but it should be within the ability of the NATO states to send out some more battalions, some more helicopters and resources which would allow the Alliance to cover more battle


Clearly it's time to bring back the draft, if our war lovers want to keep these wars going. And of course to expand the wars, we have to bring back the draft. Even John McCain agrees.

So get ready Republicans in the 101st Keyboard Brigade. You're going to the Middle East to fight for Halliburton.

Stunning Make Over!

That's how the Dallas Morning News characterized the loss of Lehman's Brothers, and the absorption of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America.

It's a Stunning Make Over!

That was how it was characterized in the little maglet, 'Quick' that they give away on the train platforms in Dallas.

It makes it sound like the Stock Market when to a beauty salon and got it's hair done. It sounds like a positive event.

So yesterday, the market looked simply stunning! Ready for a night on the town! The Dallas Morning likes it!

Perhaps the market should get a Make Over every day?

You're Doing A HeckofAJob Paulson

Bush on queue is regiving his standard, "All is well" speech.

This isn't a crisis. It's an adjustment. And adjustments can be painful.

Henry Paulson, the bankers involved, the Fed, principles at Lehman Bros, everyone responsible has done a great and wonderful job, says Bush.

Can't you just feel the greatness? The glory? Aren't you filled with waves of wonderment at these lovely events?



Bush's speech, paraphrased in song.

When Beer Runs Go Bad

Just kidding.

But this woman picked a bad time to go driving in the ocean. This is the first rescue for Hurricane Ike.


Some internet friends have asks how things are for me in Texas right now. I'm in the Dallas area, so all we're seeing at the moment are overcast skies and some gusting winds. We're in the storm path and the reporters are saying that the storm may still have the strength of a tropical storm, by the time it reaches us.

We're on the edge the Great Plains here, so we see some dramatic thunderstorms already. I've been narrowly missed by a few dramatic tornadoes in the past. The Mesquite tornado of 1984, came right down the street I was living on and turned right, just a few houses up from me. My drive home was through the path of destruction. A roommate at the time, that was riding with me, was from Iowa. He kept repeating the mantra, "Oh my God, I'm moving back to Iowa. Oh my God...". The destruction continued for miles and we didn't expect to find a house standing at the end of our journey. Chris gave notice and moved back home to Iowa.

In 1985, I had moved across town, and lived just a few miles from the airport when flight 191 went down in a storm, due to wind shear.

We've had a few storms this year, but nothing dramatic so far. My biggest concern is damage from broken trees and flooding. We sometimes get heavy hail in these storms.

Our house has a concrete drainage ditch behind it. When we first moved in, it would flood up past the easement a few feet into our backyard. Since then, a bridge down stream has been widened and we haven't seen flooding like that since. A few times I went down to see the bridge during the flood and a wall of water would arc over it like a tube in a wave you might surf in. It was a pretty amazing sight, and a bit scary.

If anything interesting happens around my house over the weekend, I'll see if i can capture it on film and share it.

War Sucks

"There's no bad guys in war, they're all good and they all die."

Keith Olberman on 9/11

I can't write much on this topic without getting angry.

Keith Olberman covers my feelings well.

Financial Socialism

You've all heard by now that Henry Paulson is going to fix everything, by repeating the tried and true methods, and techniques, that got us into this mess in the first place. The plan is of course, to make the government the one stop source for easy credit. The government is going to loan money cheap to people who can't repay it.

After blowing a series of bubbles, the Fed and the banks have created another disaster in the making.

Not bailing out the banks will ruin our financial system.

But bailing out our financial system will destroy the dollar.

Henry Paulson intends to blow a new bubble. He said so. He told us previously that he is working to keep wages low, and spur the economy by increasing debt.

Without a rise in wages, people won't be able to repay the new loans that will be dispensed in the next bubble, funded by taxpayers.

And the next bubble has to be bigger than the last, or there won't be a temporary recovery.

Our debt is at $54 trillion. It is growing at 7.25% This means that it doubles faster than every ten years, if we do nothing but maintain it.

Now that means that the interest on the debt also doubles in less than ten years.

To keep up, wages must double in less than ten years, so that tax revenue can double in less than ten years.

If this doesn't happen, then the dollar devalues by half every ten years if nothing else changes. But with us on the Peak Oil Plateau, the dollar will devalue much faster, as the price of oil goes up due to demand and a flood of infinite dollars.

Now the US Government is going to grow the debt significantly faster. the US Government is going to finance the biggest bubble yet, on low interest loans, backed by the US taxpayer.

We may well see the dollar lose half of it's value every three years.

This will kill jobs. It will kill wages. It will drive the price of real estate back into the stratosphere, and bring it crashing down again.

And don't get fooled into thinking this is to save the homeowners. The Chinese and Arabs bought these mortgage packages. Now they are now holding on to worthless paper. The US Government will buy these back at face value, thus making sure that they don't lose any money in the deal. The US taxpayer will eat the losses.

When this is done, no bank will be able to compete with the US Gov on mortgages. They'll still offer them, but they'll be reselling government loans.

The Finance Industry will no longer be a Capitalistic Entity but a fully Socialist one. The government will have complete control over who can borrow, and for what they can borrow.

The Government is going to strike a blow deep into the heart of our economy with this move. It will kill jobs. It will drive wages lower. It will create a system whereby people must borrow to live. And the government will decide what you are worth.

The Hillbilly Reports

Our Fearful Government

We're definitely well on the road to Fascism. In four years, they'll be gunning Americans down with real bullets.

If you read the comments on YouTube, it seems that many people, or maybe just many paid trolls, love this stuff. It gets their rocks off. They don't give a shit about the US constitution. They don't care if laws are unconstitutional. They don't care if judges are breaking the law, legislating from the bench, and making unconstitutional decisions. They just like watching Americans get tear gassed.

And they are winning. The war against the Constitution is wrapping up. These folks will soon get to whoop and holler, from the safety of their televisions, as they watch Americans get beaten and killed by our government. They'd get pissed if a Muslim beat an American to death, but it's cream in the britches time, if our government does it.

Marta Costello at the RNC


Gnooze Raw Footage