Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford

Now all the talk is about how the problem is not with greedy fatcats on Wall Street -- the real problem is that regular folks on Main Street can't get loans for the stuff they want to buy. It's the "credit crunch" and the "credit markets are frozen."

The true fact is that it SHOULD be hard for regular folks to get a loan, and especially hard if they have bad credit, lots of debt, or they really can't afford what they're trying to buy. The root cause of this credit problem was wildly loose lending standards -- loaning money to people who you're not supposed to lend money to, people who can't afford it, people whose credit and ability to repay are not prime, but rather sub-prime.

So now that so many of those sub-prime loans have gone bad (DUH!), we're supposed to support a $700 billion program to "restore confidence in the credit market?" Why? So lenders can feel confident enough to make bad loans again?

It's worth repeating that you should not buy stuff that you cannot afford. The joke is that this is obvious. To behave otherwise is laughable. But it's that joke that our economy is based on. That's why Wall Street is in a tizzy now, because God forbid people stop buying stuff they cannot afford! Lordy, it will ruin our economy!

We have become so used to getting whatever we want, whenever we want it, at Wal-Mart bargain basement prices, that we have lost the ability to judge true value. We fail to consider (and refuse to pay) the true cost of our American lifestyle. If this credit crunch might help to sober Americans up from their credit inebriation, then I welcome it.

And by the way, if you have good credit and a down payment, you can still get a loan, despite the headline scare tactics; just read the whole article. I think Wall Street is just upset that the easy cash they were making by exploiting folks living beyond their means has dried up. People should not live beyond their means, and any system that encourages them to do so is immoral and deserves to fail.

"Glittery prizes and endless compromises shatter the illusion of integrity."

Crap Sandwich (Updated II)

America is about to eat a $700 billion dollar crap sandwich. I want to know: Is this what I ordered?

Too bad we all have to live in the house of crap our government builds. The grand ole party must feel particularly craptastic right now, what with its trickle-down economic theory dripping into its pants, its standard of fiscal responsibility flushed down the john, and its presidential ticket as sad and funny as one of grampa's farts. I'm glad we have someone to vote for other than that pathetic pair, but I get the feeling the more important vote is the one we have absolutely no say in: whether or not to eat this giant crap sandwich.

Can we at least get a little hot sauce?

UPDATE: Looks like the Repubs found their inner free-marketeer and (mostly) voted to send the crap sandwich back--along with many Dems including our local Rep. Hinchey--though reports suggest they sent it back for extra crap. More details as they emerge.

Perhaps in response to all the crap, the stock market decided to take a bath.

Here's an analysis I can relate to, "Burn, Baby, Burn!":

"The question we are facing right now is whether it is better to let an unstable edifice implode, and then attempt to build a new and better structure out of the rubble, or whether there is still a way to shore up the creaky old barn while simultaneously replacing the foundation. The House of Representatives today said: Let it burn. Partisans on the left and the right seem happy to watch the flames."

UPDATE II: My original lament, that this would be a vote that we the people have little say in, was proven to be unfounded. It seems that many members of Congress facing re-election were persuaded by calls and letters from their constituents. Glenn Greenwald asks:

"Can anyone even remember the last time this happened, where the nation's corporate interests and their establishment spokespeople were insistently demanding government action but were impeded -- defeated -- by nothing more than popular opinion?"

Does it matter that most pundits believe that voters opposed to the bailout bill have no freaking idea what they're talking about?

Let Them Fail

The only way some people will learn how worthless and flimsy the stuff of which their carefree lifestyle is made is to blow it away. Use the $700 billion (if there really is such a sum) for families in foreclosure, to give them a chance to keep their homes. Use it for a massive country-saving infrastructure investment, to rebuild bridges, railroads, and pride. Use it for something real, instead of for something that doesn't really exist: credit.

The credit culture is dead. It's time to get real. (Like I know anything about money. I just like disasters.)

Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio

What're you rebelling against, Johnny?

I like to think of myself as an artist, a musician, even though most of the time I don't act like it. Looking back at other periods in my life that have been more productive artistically, I find that there's a common emotional engine driving much of the production. This engine can be described loosely as angst of some sort or another, heartache, longing, sadness, regret; I think you could safely categorize it in the negative energy category. This is not uncommon in art, particularly in pop music: everything from boy loses girl to fuck da police. My wellspring seems to be an emotional void into which memories of loss and a bitter aching for erstwhile sweetness flow.

More recently my engine has been running not on heartache but on rage, a tightly-chained, off-balance oscillating weight of pure hostile desire which wants to break free and destroy the world. Instead of drawing from a well, internally I am poisoning the water supply. I am smashing at the bricks with a hammer. I am strapping on a dynamite belt. And I am noticing that my artistic production has almost totally ground to a halt. Is there something about rage that clogs the pistons of creativity, or do I just not know how to transform rage into art? Or do I not want to see the art my rage inspires?

What do you do with your rage?

H is for Hell No

John McCain writes in the September/October issue of Contingencies, the magazine of the actuarial profession:

"I would also allow individuals to choose to purchase health insurance across state lines, when they can find more affordable and attractive products elsewhere that they prefer. Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation. Consumer-friendly insurance policies will be more available and affordable when there is greater competition among insurers on a level playing field. You should be able to buy your insurance from any willing provider—the state bureaucracies are no better than national ones. Nationwide insurance markets that ensure broad and vigorous competition will wring out excess costs, overhead, and bloated executive compensation."

So, John McCain would like to do for the health insurance industry the same sorts of things that he and his campaign advisers/lobbyists have done for the banking industry over the last decade?

And how'd that work out?

Hope Tone

Love the logo. The plan sounds nice. Hope Tone would be a good name for a gospel record label.

Maps and Legends

Do you like looking at charts and graphs? Here are a couple of interesting attempts to produce a graphical comparison between the tax plans of the two top candidates for president.

All you have to know is your income and you can see an estimate of what will happen to your taxes (and to those who make considerably more or less than you) under each proposed plan.

Once you've had your fill of taxes, check out these charts and graphs inspired by pop songs. The one above is my favorite.

And then you might want to know who says "soda" and who says "pop."

Was God an Alien?

Oh, this is just delicious. Read this fascinating column from Craccum, the weekly magazine produced by the Auckland University Students' Association of the University of Auckland, New Zealand and enjoy numerous tasty tidbits such as this:

"So, perhaps Jesus was one of the first alien-human hybrids."

Amen.

Do tanning beds really need lobbyists?

The language used in this press release from the Indoor Tanning Association made my jaw drop, and not just because I found out there's such a thing as an Indoor Tanning Assciation. Apparently there is a need for manufacturers and distributors of tanning beds to band together against the powerful threat posed by "dermatologists and the sun scare industry." They are trying to frighten Americans!

"While partisan bloggers and the sun scare industry will use this as an opportunity to undermine Gov. Palin and demonize the indoor tanning industry, the fact is that Governor Palin’s decision to get UV light from a tanning bed positively impacts her health.

“Moderate amounts of indoor tanning allow Governor Palin to experience the many health benefits that come with exposure to UV light,” said Dan Humiston, President of the Indoor Tanning Association. “Especially in dreary northern locations like Alaska, indoor tanning can help guard against wintertime depression and ward off diseases associated with vitamin D deficiency.”

“Kudos to Governor Palin for standing up to dermatologists and other members of the sun scare industry who are trying to frighten Americans away from UV light.”

Yeah! Here in America, Americans have the right to not be afraid of machine-generated ultraviolet rays. And those who would seek to scare Americans away from the penetrating beams of our giant radiation-coffins can pack their sunscreen and aloe gel and go back to Russia! Better red than dead!

I would guess that tanning beds cater more to Americans' vanity than to their vitamin D health. But whether in politics or business (or in this case both), demonizing your opponents is your last resort when logical arguments get, um, burned.

The Ghost of Tom Joad

I've been hearing a lot of talk about the apocalypse, the breakdown of society, collapsing banks, rising prices, unemployment, dwindling resources, mounting debt, dismay, despair, and anxiety. Mostly it's been me talking. Today when McCain repeated that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong," I was reminded of Herbert Hoover who said in August 1928 while campaigning for the presidency, "We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land."

"And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs." Revelation 14: 19-20

Listen to The Grapes of Wrath channeled by Bruce. (lyrics)

The Medicine is Sound

This new Here Are The Facts You Requested song makes me feel a little bit better every time I listen to it.




Thanks to Akire, King Me, & DJ Puup.

Another Day

the idea of
another
is enough shudder
deep bone bury lost cover
forget the shower and clutter
lie down
and cry for smother
pull back and shutter
let the focus blur
and blubber
the storm will gush
and choke the gutter.
clear the path
for yet another.

How Big is a Pig?

OK, I'll go ahead and say it.

Sarah Palin is a pig. She's a pork-barrel feasting, lobbyist-fondling, fundamentalist mud-wallowing pig.

Completely Whored Out

"My God, our country's been completely whored out to the highest bidders." We no longer live in a democracy, she says. "We have a partnership between a powerful state and powerful corporate interests. By any other name that's fascism. It certainly isn't a democracy. Mussolini must have a grin as wide as the Yukon River, looking at what the United States has become."

Lynette Clark, chairwoman of the Alaskan Independence Party, in an interview with Salon.com.

Them and Us

They are over there
because they could never be us.
Our difference protects us
and keeps them living in fear.

We're better off they're not near.
And if it comes to blows
better still the blows fall on those
way off, away from us here.

It's their curse to be among them.
Our children are born free,
and so ever it should be.
We send our grown to make their end.

We are not them, nor they us.
And though our ancient writings speak
the truth of our creator's keep,
it seems we're equal when we're dust.

So travel there, us to them.
Protect our precious and our vain
so we will never feel the pain
of knowing there's an us in them.
______________________________________

Listen to Them and Us by Here Are The Facts You Requested at MySpace.

Praying for the End of Time

I believe in the end of the world. Maybe it's a metaphor for the end of my own life, that is, the end of my world. And naturally speaking, we all meet our own end. Maybe I'm just sick of the political season, and how it tends to rip open old scars. But my gut feels that there's an end approaching that is larger than just me and the Maya. And I'm starting to long for it.

When I read about the old lady in Pennsylvania who told Joe Biden this past weekend that "Anybody...with a name like that is not going to get my vote. It'd be disgusting to get a man named Barack Obama as president of the United States."

Disgusting.

She went on to repeat the lie: "[Obama's] a Muslim. He pretends to be a Christian, and he isn't, he's a Muslim."

Also interviewed was the local Democratic ward leader, who was quite forthright in explaining that the reason people in his traditionally Democratic neighborhood were not yet on board with Obama is "his color." The business manager for the local ironworkers union agreed.

A lot of my family lives in Pennsylvania, and to be frank, a lot of them are Muslim-fearing racists. This sad fact is something that I have to shield from my son. It's something I'm embarrassed about. It reminds me why there's a distance between me and much of my family. When I read quotes like this in the Daily News, I make this association, I think of my own family, and I realize just how deeply wrong this whole country is. People are immeasurably stupid and hateful, not just in Pennsylvania, but everywhere in America. They are reveling in their own giddy ignorance, righteously falling in line behind the war hero while at once saving the nation from the infiltration of a "secret Muslim" and putting the black man back in his place.

During this election season, we have heard a lot about the progress we've made as a people in the hundred and forty-odd years since the end of slavery and the 88 years since women's suffrage. But that progress has detoured away from many small towns, arriving mainly in the big cities, the liberal-arts colleges, and the kinds of churches which are generally derided as "liberal." Rural Wasilla, AK elected a woman mayor, but her conservative values led her to secure $27 million in federal earmarks for her small town, and still leave it $20 million in debt. Plus she was keen on banning books from the public library.

Back in Pennsylvania, intelligent design was exposed for what it is (due to those insidious activist judges), but the fact that this challenge came from a school south of Harrisburg was not lost on me. The state has been described as Philadelphia on one side and Pittsburgh on the other with Alabama in the middle. Is this insulting to Alabamans?

But getting back to the end of the world, I must say I welcome it. This country, this world, this species, has run its course. The planet knows it. We are locked in a death grip with our own environment. We have found multiple ways to destroy ourselves and everything else, from complex multinational death machines like nuclear weapons and the Disney Corporation to simple lifestyle choices like carbon fuels and Lunchables. Each one of these human inventions contributes to the rolling ball of thunder which now darkens our doorstep. Come armageddon, come armageddon, come. America, I swore I'd love you to the end of time. And now I'm praying for the end of time.

The slate deserves to be wiped clean, because the writing on the wall is disgusting.

Bull

Sarah Palin is ready to become President of the United States of America (in case of emergency) in less than 5 months, but she's still not ready to answer any questions. Not until she's "comfortable" and will be treated with "deference."

That's bullshit.




UPDATE: It has been announced that ABC's Charlie Gibson will interview Governor Palin in Alaska later this week. Let's hope this won't be the kind of celebrity puff piece interview that the format seems to indicate it will be.

Podcars

This seems more like a Shelbyville idea.

A Person By Law

Before the war, I was marched in shackles
into the market of sheep and cattle.
Freedoms won in the wound of a nation
then bestowed to a corporate invention?

My freedom was guaranteed by amendment—
those bastard lawyers twisted and rended.
Hand my rights to a faceless phantom,
a person by law, no soul for redemption.

No body to jail, no soul to save.

Before long we’ll see the end of the inventions.
Just remember the cost of your decisions.
We live among the greediest of persons,
unaccountable, invisible, and beyond rehabilitation.

There’s not enough room in any house of detention,
no trademarked mascot for a criminal defendant.
There’s no church who will hear their confession.
There are no prayers to win their salvation.

No body to jail, no soul to save.

Set out on the land
to spread their nets to spread their debts.
Not fishers of men, not men at all
persons by law
whose god is called To Sell Us All.

No body to jail, no soul to save.