Holy Buck, Fatman!

If you’ve been keeping up with anything about the collective stupidity/greed that rich wall street investors got caught up, you’ll know that they’ve made some pretty bad decisions. Did you know that these bad decisions they made laregly effect YOUR 401k?

Go on—take a look at your 401k. See how it’s preforming terribly? If you were to pull up the portfolio holdings in your funds you allocated your money to–I’m almost certain you’ll see all kinds of Big Shitpile (including Credit card backed Securities)  in there. I was MORTIFED to see my international fund was largely made up of—you guessed it—Stock in Societe Generale.  Fuck.

I reallocated. I threw just about everything back into a very conservative fund backed by muni/tresury bonds to ride out the storm and starve off any more nasty losses. For awhile, this should ensure me some stable growth, albeit slow.

Since it’s a few days before a major holiday, I’m pretty slow at the job. This allows for a little more time to surf the tubes and stumble upon laughable blogs like this guys personal diatribe against anyone with a Vagina. Well, anyone with a vagina that dares to have an actual opinion. Or speaks, for that matter. Or exists. Well, I doubt he’d object to them existing since they allow for him to get off. Even if it is just reading old penthouse forums while beating off.

I couldn’t help but laugh as I scrolled through each “Women are out ta get you!” post. I’ve read many Pro MRA websites and they all seem to have one major thing in common: Somewhere, in the past they were wronged in some way. Either the bitch ex wife took them for all their cash or they got cheated on or their wives refused to suck their dicks when they demanded it. It’s all the same: the Bitch had the Fucking nerve! I can always find the post that alludes to the incident that gives birth to the scorned MRA. In this case, Mr. Birdseye’s “Japanese Wife” (which, no DOUBT he believed that marrying a Japanese woman would be better because they have been known to be more subservient to their husbands) had the gall to cheat on him. Of course, it’s his side of the story. We can’t be expected to actually believe that he *MIGHT* have failed his marriage by not believing what marriage is: a partnership of compromise, communication and understanding. Oh hell no. It was all the bitch’s fault. Fuck dat cheatin’ ho.

I kept reading and laughing —so much so that I sent some of these posts to my husband who characterized his mindset perfectly:

Posts like this are a result of Biguns and those other 3rd rate Hustler wanna be rags being put out of print because of internet porn. Next post: “When I Met Jackie at the Ski Lodge”.

Seriously!

Women don’t need to argue with him. They just need to make sure that he *NEVER GETS LAID AGAIN* That’s pretty simple to do since it’s more then probable that he’s not getting laid right now. Penis size might be part of the problem, too. I suspect that it has more to do with his bitterness, though.

Anyhow, his last post was by far, the best—a vast liberal feminist conspiracy to create a new north American currency. Except that there is no such thing. This guy is so clouded with bitter fury that he can’t even think logically.

Anyway, MRA’s aren’t to be argued with. They are there for our amusement, because there isn’t anything more hilarious then a guy scorned.

My libertarian debate buddy, Psychophil chimed in on the SCHIP debate which is still raging here in DC. (well, for all intents and purposes, I am in DC as I type this, soooo Blah.)

Phil’s argument is a poorly formed argument against SCHIP. They live in California where the Governator has propsed UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE!!! *GASP*

However, for the sake of the argument, lets say that this fool profiled on “SAVE ME FROM MYSELF, SAINT OPRAH!” lived in Maryland. The idiot profiled on the Oprah website is just that, and idiot. She(and her husband) were called idiots by guests, friends, etc etc. . not once in the article did she state that she wanted to apply for state sponsored health care for her children. In fact, the price of health care for her entire family is $1,000, and she decided that she wanted to spend it on herself instead. Since her husband pulls in $5000-6000 monthly (is that net or gross?), under current SCHIP guidelines, they would NOT qualify. Under the MD expansion, a Family of 8 would qualify for a portion of assistance, but still be subjected to paying premiums because they fall more then 200% above poverty guidelines. Quoth the MD Expansion:

SCHIP Expansion. The Maryland Health Care Access Act of 2007, a comprehensive health care reform plan sponsored jointly by the governor and members of the legislature, expands Maryland’s SCHIP program to children under the age of 19 in families with incomes below 400 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. Families with incomes between 200 and 400 percent of federal poverty guidelines would pay premiums to participate in the program. Dependent on a Medicaid waiver.

That sounds like someone would be paying something our of their bank account.

Secondly, this is not a story about a family struggling to make ends meet. It’s a story of an addiction to shopping, deceit, and unwillingness to let go of the material things that define us as people. This is something we should be addressing separately from the SCHIP debate: The credit crunch. We live in a country where we are told that the only way to express our patriotism is to shop. Financial analysts are betting that already overextended consumers will find a little more Holiday cheer in their pockets and spend some money during the Holiday season.

Easy credit is the way people have been showing off their “wealth”. Assets? Oh, well..The home. Maybe. Except that HELOC. And the ReFi. uhmmm…Housing prices are on a downward trend. I sincerely doubt the idiots on the Oprah show would be granted any kind of loan.

The idiots are so vastly different from the thousands who play by the rules, work decent jobs and just simply get screwed by a screwy system. Contractors who have no benefits through their jobs seek out health insurance just to get denied for a “preexisting condition”. Some cubicle monkey looks at some drs note in a chart and determines that Acne is a preexisting condition. People who live in generally depressed areas and are offered jobs at minimum wage with health care being an expense they simply cannot afford to buy.

It’s true, some of us are victims of our own personal choices. Some are not. Some have played by the rules only to have the factory close down, the IT job offshore or the small shop they once owned get priced out because of the new Wal-Mart. SCHIP programs are designed to be safety nets—a program to help someone while they are in the process of making better choices. I think there are plenty of people out there who are victims of circumstances. I also believe that inflation is worse then people think it is. How can I tell? well…personally, I can tell by how much money I will take out of the cash machine. I used to be able to make a 20 last all week long. Now, the same expenses cost me 40$.

You just can’t make this shit up.

It’s ironic that just this morning I was discussing the fear that some righties feel when confronted with a *gasp* brown person that may (or may NOT) be a Muslim. While surfing my daily feeds, I stumbled across this post that cracked my shit up. Apparently, this wankstain thinks that Nancy Pelosi is going to cause a dirty bomb to go off in Manhattan. Does Wankstain even live in Manhattan? I seriously doubt it. Wankstain is probably too busy studying his stats and referrals to leave his well padded suburban home in Safe Town, USA.

I think it’s hilarious that fear drives these idiots to believing that every brown person is out ta get’em. They’re the types that don’t talk to their neighbors, unless, of course, they know them well enough. (and know that they are worthy enough i.e. white, rich, Christian)

Shame. I take mass transit into a targeted city every day. I don’t look over my shoulder. I don’t fear Brown people, Muslims or someone with a different viewpoint then myself. What I fear is shit that spews fourth from people like these:

Most of the likely targets of these terrorist attacks are bastions of liberals, so I am really starting to say the h*** with it.

If they really want to walk blindly around in a Gaza-type world of exploding cars, trains, malls and pizzerias just so they can get one over on President Bush and conservatives, then I say let them go for it. After all, it will be their children and families scraped off the walls and streets. Fewer liberals would not hurt this country.

Just so we are clear, no relief funds or federal help should be available to states or areas represented by Members of Congress opposed to these safeguards when the events occur.

That would include DC, Mass, NY, California or Nevada, among others.

and this:

Who’s got the battery cables so we can begin torturing the lefty bloggers?

These people are scarier then “Joe Jihadist”. I will defend their right to say what they want, but I will not allow them to silence me.

It seems the assholeosphere has been leading the attack on the young boy who delivered the Democratic radio address concerning SCHIP and it’s benefits to a family struggling to make ends meet. The wingnuts got all up in arms about a family taking a *gasp* government handout that they went as far as to post the Frosts address on the website. This led Michelle Malkin to take a drive over to check out the neighborhood of Butchers Hill and come back with a report for her hordes. Quoth MM:

Why did I take the time to go to Baltimore? Because bloggers raised questions about the Frosts’ financial situation and made specific reference to these pieces of real estate. I did not “harass” the Frosts. I simply reported what the tenant told me and described what I saw after driving by their home. My basic reporting rebutted some impressions left by other bloggers on the right who haven’t been to these sites and assumed they were high-end luxury properties. They’re not. Moreover, I corrected the mistake that some of these bloggers made in overvaluing the house at $400,000-plus. It’s closer to $300,000.

Well, Miss Malkin, you have ventured into *MY* neighborhood and now it’s personal. MM wanted to see Butchers Hill/Fells Point for herself. Well, she failed to talk to some MORE residents.

What the wingnutosphere forgets to mention is that the Frosts bought their home in 1990 for $55,000. According to the Baltimore Sun. What they ALSO forget is how the the Mess that Greenspan Made has given way to inflated prices, which gave way to inflated property tax assessments in 2006. Although the State of Maryland has agreed to revalue certain assessments that were appealed, most in my neighborhood were denied. I was, and I suspect the Frost’s were, too. Butchers Hill and Fells Point are the cash cow of Baltimore city. To reassess us would be denying themselves much needed funding in a city striggling to attract more homeowners among a growing crime problem.

The right has also failed to acknowledge the stagnant–even decline in median income for the City of Baltimore. I know this to be fairly true simply because I cannot work in Baltimore City and draw a salary that will pay my mortgage. I have no choice but to commute two hours a day to make a living wage and to keep my home. I suspect that being away from her children is not an option for Mrs. Frost. I have one child and must chose between a long commute or a job near home. To keep my home, I commute. My husband works in the neighborhood. To be fair, I only have one child–and she is a teenager.

The Right also failed to acknowledge the rising cost of energy. Of course, no one wants to mention that in order to heat your home, you should set aside 5-600$ a month just to be safe. I conserve as much as possible, installed timers on the Thermostat, installed energy saving lights and kept them off as much as I could. My electric bill *STILL* went up. I suspect the Frosts pay a bit more. Their house is slightly larger then my own.

And finally, healthcare. I know a little something about this. A short time ago, I was a contractor as explained here. because my services were contracted, I was elgible to purchase a policy as a small business owner. It was priced at $1200 for one plus a child—in 2003. I had a choice: Starve or pay for healthcare. I shouldn’t have had to make such a choice!

The truth is this: NO ONE WANTS TO REMAIN POOR! The fact that the Frosts took advantage of MCHIP shouldn’t be the big issue. What needs to be addressed is the rising cost of living that has stagnated an otherwise vibrant business owner to the point where his only choice to save his children was to enter into the program. $55,000 a year with six children is nearly impossible these days. I tried to make it on  that with ONE child.

The Frosts should be a GOP wet dream. They’ve been married for many years, have six beautiful children, own their own home and abide by the laws of the land. They follow what many Goppers tout as the path to financial freedom: entrepreneurship. They have one fatal flaw, though. They haven’t earned the millions that most GOP supporters expect small business owners to achieve. Mr. frost has failed to grow his business at a rapid rate. The debate is about a program that helped the family in a time of dire need. Now we need to start asking some very serious questions: Middle class families are without affordable healthcare. WHY? It’s the economy STUPID!
Now, back to Ms. Malkin and the rest of her Ilk: I want you to come back to Baltimore and sit down to have a beer with me, a former MCHIP recipient, a former single mother and resident of Fells Point/Butchers Hill. I’ll show you homes that are over 400K and some that are still no more then 80K. I’ll show her what NCLB has done to Baltimore City schools and WHY the frosts chose the Park school. I’ll show her a Real Estate situation that has homes on the market for years. Hell, I’ll even chose a bar! Butts & Betty’s on the Corner of Gough and Collington. MM is pretty familiar with Collington. Why, she’s already been down that road already.

I was given a task by my boss yesterday. It wasn’t a usual on my task list, but let me tell you, it’s Effin HILARIOUS to accomplish. It has to do with a George Michael video, some footage from Sen. Craig’s press conference and some funny photoshopped pics. I promise to share the finished product with the rest of the world.

Anyway, The whole Larry Craig thing is laughable. Since I work with a lot of people who have either worked or are still working on the Hill, I came to find out that his homosexuality was known, just not spoken of. In fact, it was often rumored that he trolled for sex in Union Station here in the district. The fact that I am there every single day makes me snicker, but thats beside the point.  Several of my friends laughed when the story broke and said, “It took this long for him to fuck up and out himself..” Business as usual within the beltway. I swear, DC is a different planet sometimes.

I did learn something new this scandal, though. Although I had already known that illicit bathroom sex was a part of the gay subculture, I  thought it had died with the advent of the AIDS crisis.  I was very suprised to find out that it indeed still happens, and the foot tapping is a very widely understood signal for sex in a bathroom. My gay friend laughed while I said, “I had no idea that you tap your foot!”

Anyhow, I am loving this whole video editing thing. It makes for a great time dumper.

Have a great weekend folks.

That the killing fields and work or “re education camps” actually happened in Vietnam? Because that happened, we can’t leave Iraq or the same thing might happen again!

Funny, I remember the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia being responsible for that whole Killing fields thing.  I also remember learning that Vietnam actually overthrew the horrid regime. Maybe my history books weren’t the same as the ones that Chimpy McFlysuit had learned from. Or maybe he was just confused. or stupid.

I’ll buy the stupid part. But it makes you wonder—how long before some wingnut edits the wiki?

 Early this AM, as I watched WBAL through eyes half shut, I noticed a story they were doing on a “State of the Art” combination Middle/High School.  This new school will be equipped with the latest and greatest in technology, such as:

The school has a television studio, a mass communications lab with a radio station and a graphics and visual communications lab. School officials said they hope to use the new technology to teach a growing student population.

The new state of the art school is located in the town of Emmerton in Harford County. The project was designed to alleviate overcrowded schools and to prepare for the Base Realignment and Closure set to relocate thousands to the Baltimore metro area. The project cost a cool $59 million for the school alone.

The entire FY 2008 budget  for repairs to ailing schools in Baltimore’s inner city? $67,609 for the entire school system.  (pg 291 .pdf BCPPS) 2006-2007 had an allocated budget of 21 million but it wasn’t actually approved by then Governor Ehrlich.  Gov. Ehrlich and the State Board of Education approved the building of the Patterson Mill school in 2005.

Lets take a look at some demographics.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, The city of Baltimore had a median household income of  $29,792 in 2004.  64% of the city is African American. Home Ownership rates in the city are only at 50%. Jobs paying a living wage? hahahahahahahahahaha! Why do you think *I* Commute to DC every friken day?!?!?!?!?

Harford County, on the other hand had a median income of $64,000 in 2004. Only 6% of people living in Harford County are African American. Home ownership is at 78%.  Jobs that pay a living wage? Well, BRAC has been bringing in some seriously high profile government contractors who provide some competitive wages. Hmmm….

When the SCOTUS ruled in favor of disallowing schools to use race to diversify, I wrote that the impact will be along economic lines. I  also discussed the problems that  inner city schools face, continuing  to fail under No Child Left Behind simply because they lack the budget to even operate with the proper resources such as textbooks and working computers. Never mind the schools are in such disrepair that some are in desperate  need of MOLD ABATEMENT from leaky roofs and windows. Separate but equal, right?

While the well funded county schools enjoy the perks of larger Government grants under NCLB, the inner city schools are under a constant threat of being taken over by the state, which could hand them over to a private corporation. If that were to happen, I believe  private corporations would move to  start charing fees to parents for their services. Onward to an ownership society, right? If you own the means to pay, you can send your child to school. If not, there is the little “public” school down the street, you know, the one with the outhouse?

It’s a no brainer that more money for supplies and needed resources give students a better opportunity to excel. Areas concentrated in higher median incomes demand better schools or they will move their money elsewhere. Since many cities and counties depend on the property taxes to provide funding for needed infrastructure, they are willing to make their counties more attractive to live in, even if that means spending lavishly on schools to keep the parents happy.

Access to quality education is a long term  soultion to poverty. The more educated a child is, the better informed they are and can go fourth and make positive changes for themselves and their community. Being smart no longer becomes a liability, it becomes something worth pursuing and they become cool among their peers. Although this would take time to change, better funding for inner city schools can make a huge difference. Imagine if the inner city students had access to the state of the art technology and equipment the Harford County school has? I bet some young minds would be better inspired to create things the world has yet to see. It’s a damn shame no one will give them the chance.

When he wrote 1984.

Not to long ago, I received a telephone call from an individual that described themselves as “security” from our office telephone and internet provider. They asked a simple question, “Did you make a telephone call to the United Arab Emerites?” the security officer for nameless telecom provider said.

“No, not me personally, but I’m pretty certain that someone in our office did.” I responded. It wasn’t uncommon for anyone of my coworkers to make telephone calls overseas. It wasn’t uncommon for them to make telephone calls to countries like the UAE. It was, to us, simply doing business.

After providing my name and the name of the person who placed the call, I hung up the phone and sighed deeply. It was entirely possibly that the person whom identified himself as a “security officer” for nameless telecom company was, in fact, an employee or contractor for the NSA. The call was from an unidentified/blocked number, and while it is generally not my policy to pick up those calls (they are usually from telemarkers and sales douchbags) They kept calling back until I was so annoyed that I picked up the phone. Also, the nameless telecom company was a rather small one. (until a recent buyout) While it is entirely possible that they were simply giving us a courtesy call regarding unauthorized overseas calls, I highly doubt that was the case. We do business with people all over the world on a daily basis. To single out one phone call from the UAE makes me think that this call was not from nameless telcom company’s “security department”.

Yesterday, 16 Democrats from the Senate and 41 Democrats from the House, (apparently eager to get on with their three week vacations) passed a peice of shit legislation that will essentially legalize warrantless wiretapping and information gathering on any correspondence from outside the US. One of those YAY voters happens to be our own Babs Mikulski. Babs—I loved you for your valiant efforts to save my wonderful neighborhood of Fells Point. But, this….this is Unforgivable! I know that her vote was probably because the NSA *LIVES* in MD, employs tons of military, civilians and contractors and they most likely threw her some $$$. Money talks, people. Money talks. I still, after years of admiration for her, can’t be admirable this time around. Babs, you broke my heart. I sincerely doubt that voting against  this “reform” was going to lose those jobs. Quite the contrary! It could have allowed for more to be employed to come up with programs that would effectively gather intelligence without “casting a wide net”. There are some seriously smart cookies in IT. I’m guessing that they could have thought of ways to effectively protect the privacy of Americans.

I read all the reactions I could yesterday. I digested it and let it fester. I know that all the e mails I write to my friends overseas are being read by some guy in an NSA cubicle who is trying to determine if I am an “enemy combatant.” I just hope that some of my more scathing criticisms do not cross the desk of an NSA cubicle monkey with extreme right wing views. “Enemy Combatant” could be interpreted as “someone who doesn’t like the Bush Administration.”

Seriously, what is stopping one guy from sicking the dawgs on anyone in this country anymore? What happens if Molly homemaker didn’t like my Blog opinion and she turns me into the FBI as a suspected terrorist? What if I organize against a huge corporation and suddenly get a visit from the Department of Homeland Security?

The stories linked above are written by the people who have dealt with such inquiries and as far as I know are true. They are listening–and someone who is listening might have the wrong idea. Lets all hope that doesn’t happen.

tfg at Assclownopolis brings us some interesting observations.

tfg is a pretty astute blogger with a snarky edge on politics/world events. I enjoy his humor and commentary quite often. The post highlighted above discusses some very interesting points, all snark aside. For instance:

Regardless, part of the “justification” that was provided to the American people was that Iraq was trying to obtain WMD. Of course, none we’re actually found, but one of the myths that were perpetuated was that Iraq was attempting to obtain uranium ore from Niger. Consequently, the Neo-con logic goes, Iraq would have been able to produce fissile uranium hexafluoride (UF₆) to use in weapons. 

Okay, we know that. And we know that this claim also gave birth to the whole Plame gate, too. We know that BushCo was lying to get the American people scared into gunning for war. We know that UF6 is pretty dangerous–why? Cuz they SAID SO! So, why…WHY the fuck can tfg SNAP A FUCKING PHOTO of drums carrying the STUFF THEY SAID WAS REALLY REALLY DANGEROUS on the Baltimore beltway? Huh? HUH?

And why do we even produce the stuff? Why are two trucks with the stuff being transported without military escorts? Why is this shit being transported in bumper to bumper traffic near many residential neighborhoods? Why is it that easy for anyone to photograph this? Uhm..Department of Homeland Security–are you catching this? Do you see what we’re saying here? If you want to keep terrorists from getting their hands on the stuff, then I suggest you—uh…make it secure. Right? Oh, that would be common sense and the current administration is pretty much devoid of all common sense.

Hmmm…I’ve probably just got myself labeled as Public Enemy # 2,735, as tfg is # 2,734-duly noted in the comments on his post. Crap.

*puts on tinfoil hat*