The truth you won't get ANYWHERE

Thankfully I have my sources.

9 Months ago, then candidate Barak Obama spoke infront of 200,000 German citizens. He was heralded as the 'president of the world'.

But apparently the President of the world is becoming the butt of all world jokes.

"Europe is increasingly turning against his massive spending plans, which most European leaders see as a destructive way to move forward for the global economy and will only add to a massive American debt burden, At the same time, there is a growing impression across Europe that the Obama administration is inept and inefficient and increasingly poorly managed." - Nile Gardiner to Stephen Clark, Fox News

And we thought we were embaressed with GW?



oh, and AIG? I have been lack with comment because my comments were/are unpopular, and would get you stoned in this day and age. I think they should have kept the money.

*ducks*

Just a precaution.

Reason 1:
This administraion, and the last, with thier bailouts have been the picture of incompetance. The only people left at AIG are the ones sweeping up the mess busting their butts. Darn right they should get paid. They took the fall for bad investments our stupid government encouraged.
Reason 2:
Contracts are sacred and unbreakable in this country. Or atleast they were. I personally recieved a bonus for performance in a down economy myself, and have kept myself from paying for nice things for my wedding because - if Obama can have the authority to doit to AIG, why not me? I expect to see a 90% tax next year and have to save for it. Call me a cynic, but atleast I am not building a bomb shelter like others I know.
Reason 3:

This is a copy of a letter YOU MUST READ.

DEAR Mr. Liddy,
It is with deep regret that I submit my notice of resignation from A.I.G. Financial Products. I hope you take the time to read this entire letter. Before describing the details of my decision, I want to offer some context:
I am proud of everything I have done for the commodity and equity divisions of A.I.G.-F.P. I was in no way involved in — or responsible for — the credit default swap transactions that have hamstrung A.I.G. Nor were more than a handful of the 400 current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. Most of those responsible have left the company and have conspicuously escaped the public outrage.
After 12 months of hard work dismantling the company — during which A.I.G. reassured us many times we would be rewarded in March 2009 — we in the financial products unit have been betrayed by A.I.G. and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials. In response to this, I will now leave the company and donate my entire post-tax retention payment to those suffering from the global economic downturn. My intent is to keep none of the money myself.
I take this action after 11 years of dedicated, honorable service to A.I.G. I can no longer effectively perform my duties in this dysfunctional environment, nor am I being paid to do so. Like you, I was asked to work for an annual salary of $1, and I agreed out of a sense of duty to the company and to the public officials who have come to its aid. Having now been let down by both, I can no longer justify spending 10, 12, 14 hours a day away from my family for the benefit of those who have let me down.
You and I have never met or spoken to each other, so I’d like to tell you about myself. I was raised by schoolteachers working multiple jobs in a world of closing steel mills. My hard work earned me acceptance to M.I.T., and the institute’s generous financial aid enabled me to attend. I had fulfilled my American dream.
I started at this company in 1998 as an equity trader, became the head of equity and commodity trading and, a couple of years before A.I.G.’s meltdown last September, was named the head of business development for commodities. Over this period the equity and commodity units were consistently profitable — in most years generating net profits of well over $100 million. Most recently, during the dismantling of A.I.G.-F.P., I was an integral player in the pending sale of its well-regarded commodity index business to UBS. As you know, business unit sales like this are crucial to A.I.G.’s effort to repay the American taxpayer.
The profitability of the businesses with which I was associated clearly supported my compensation. I never received any pay resulting from the credit default swaps that are now losing so much money. I did, however, like many others here, lose a significant portion of my life savings in the form of deferred compensation invested in the capital of A.I.G.-F.P. because of those losses. In this way I have personally suffered from this controversial activity — directly as well as indirectly with the rest of the taxpayers.
I have the utmost respect for the civic duty that you are now performing at A.I.G. You are as blameless for these credit default swap losses as I am. You answered your country’s call and you are taking a tremendous beating for it.
But you also are aware that most of the employees of your financial products unit had nothing to do with the large losses. And I am disappointed and frustrated over your lack of support for us. I and many others in the unit feel betrayed that you failed to stand up for us in the face of untrue and unfair accusations from certain members of Congress last Wednesday and from the press over our retention payments, and that you didn’t defend us against the baseless and reckless comments made by the attorneys general of New York and Connecticut.
My guess is that in October, when you learned of these retention contracts, you realized that the employees of the financial products unit needed some incentive to stay and that the contracts, being both ethical and useful, should be left to stand. That’s probably why A.I.G. management assured us on three occasions during that month that the company would “live up to its commitment” to honor the contract guarantees.
That may be why you decided to accelerate by three months more than a quarter of the amounts due under the contracts. That action signified to us your support, and was hardly something that one would do if he truly found the contracts “distasteful.”
That may also be why you authorized the balance of the payments on March 13.
At no time during the past six months that you have been leading A.I.G. did you ask us to revise, renegotiate or break these contracts — until several hours before your appearance last week before Congress.
I think your initial decision to honor the contracts was both ethical and financially astute, but it seems to have been politically unwise. It’s now apparent that you either misunderstood the agreements that you had made — tacit or otherwise — with the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, various members of Congress and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo of New York, or were not strong enough to withstand the shifting political winds.
You’ve now asked the current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. to repay these earnings. As you can imagine, there has been a tremendous amount of serious thought and heated discussion about how we should respond to this breach of trust.
As most of us have done nothing wrong, guilt is not a motivation to surrender our earnings. We have worked 12 long months under these contracts and now deserve to be paid as promised. None of us should be cheated of our payments any more than a plumber should be cheated after he has fixed the pipes but a careless electrician causes a fire that burns down the house.
Many of the employees have, in the past six months, turned down job offers from more stable employers, based on A.I.G.’s assurances that the contracts would be honored. They are now angry about having been misled by A.I.G.’s promises and are not inclined to return the money as a favor to you.
The only real motivation that anyone at A.I.G.-F.P. now has is fear. Mr. Cuomo has threatened to “name and shame,” and his counterpart in Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, has made similar threats — even though attorneys general are supposed to stand for due process, to conduct trials in courts and not the press.
So what am I to do? There’s no easy answer. I know that because of hard work I have benefited more than most during the economic boom and have saved enough that my family is unlikely to suffer devastating losses during the current bust. Some might argue that members of my profession have been overpaid, and I wouldn’t disagree.
That is why I have decided to donate 100 percent of the effective after-tax proceeds of my retention payment directly to organizations that are helping people who are suffering from the global downturn. This is not a tax-deduction gimmick; I simply believe that I at least deserve to dictate how my earnings are spent, and do not want to see them disappear back into the obscurity of A.I.G.’s or the federal government’s budget. Our earnings have caused such a distraction for so many from the more pressing issues our country faces, and I would like to see my share of it benefit those truly in need.
On March 16 I received a payment from A.I.G. amounting to $742,006.40, after taxes. In light of the uncertainty over the ultimate taxation and legal status of this payment, the actual amount I donate may be less — in fact, it may end up being far less if the recent House bill raising the tax on the retention payments to 90 percent stands. Once all the money is donated, you will immediately receive a list of all recipients.
This choice is right for me. I wish others at A.I.G.-F.P. luck finding peace with their difficult decision, and only hope their judgment is not clouded by fear.
Mr. Liddy, I wish you success in your commitment to return the money extended by the American government, and luck with the continued unwinding of the company’s diverse businesses — especially those remaining credit default swaps. I’ll continue over the short term to help make sure no balls are dropped, but after what’s happened this past week I can’t remain much longer — there is too much bad blood. I’m not sure how you will greet my resignation, but at least Attorney General Blumenthal should be relieved that I’ll leave under my own power and will not need to be “shoved out the door.”
Sincerely,
Jake DeSantis
www.washingtonpost.com


GO JAKE!

Anyone want to invest in the Tonga Islands with me? I am sick of this crap.

President Norris

so chuck Norris has an amazing article on the Drudge report.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=91103

I was thinking of marriage counsoling. Pastor asked us if we ever would move from Michigan. It has always been a possibility, but we want to finish our education and start our careers first, a process that is going to take about 10 years.

but i might want to add now.....no, unless we finish our degrees, get better jobs, or Texas seceeds from the Union. Then we might move. To the Republic of Texas.

12 American Solutions

www.americansolutions.com

1Payroll Tax Stimulus. With a temporary new tax credit to offset 50% of the payroll tax, every small business would have more money, and all Americans would take home more of what they earn.


2Real Middle-Income Tax Relief. Reduce the marginal tax rate of 25% down to 15%, in effect establishing a flat-rate tax of 15% for close to 9 out of 10 American workers.


3Reduce the Business Tax Rate. Match Ireland’s rate of 12.5% to keep more jobs in America.


4Homeowner’s Assistance. Provide tax credit incentives to responsible home buyers so they can keep their homes.


5Control Spending So We Can Move to a Balanced Budget. This begins with eliminating Congressional earmarks and wasteful pork-barrel spending.


6No State Aid Without Protection From Fraud. Require state governments to adopt anti-fraud and anti-theft policies before giving them more money.


7More American Energy Now. Explore for more American oil and gas and invest in affordable energy for the future, including clean coal, ethanol, nuclear power and renewable fuels.


8Abolish Taxes on Capital Gains. Match China, Singapore and many other competitors. More investment in America means more jobs in America.


9Protect the Rights of American Workers. We must protect a worker’s right to decide by secret ballot whether to join a union, and the worker’s right to freely negotiate. Forced unionism will kill jobs in America at a time when we can’t afford to lose them.


10Replace Sarbanes-Oxley. This failed law is crippling entrepreneurial startups. Replace it with affordable rules that help create jobs, not destroy them.


11Abolish the Death Tax. Americans should work for their families, not for Washington.


12Invest in Energy and Transportation Infrastructure. This includes a new, expanded electric power grid and a 21st century air traffic control system that will reduce delays in air travel and save passengers, employees and airlines billions of dollars per year.





Now these are Solutions I could get excited about. I bet the Dow would not crash if we passed a bill that looked like this.

Apartment Hunting

Last weekend we had decided to stay in Ken's apartment after the wedding to save money. But then we went into mine, and discovered how much I actually had to move over and were a little disheartened. Especially me, since I had to think about sneaking my new favorite reading chair and bookcase back into my parents house for storage.


Also, as we are starting to prepare our taxes another thing that I did not think of surfaced. If I moved into Ken's place I would have to pay Grand Rapids City Taxes. That would make what we save by not moving up to a two bedroom less that one hundered dollars a month. On the flip side, his income would move up if he moved out of the tax zone.


So we went to Eastland first to look at what they have. I have been renting from them for 3 years and the management staff is really on the ball. The apartments are older and there is a 70's shag rug feel to them, but I overcame that in my little apartment with smart decorating.


So here is the floor plan of the one we want. Sadly it is currently unavailable, but it is a long time till May so we put our names down for a call.

100-0 and now fired??????

From: http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=904726


They fired the coach? I am sputtering at the stupidity of some who call themselves Christians? Stop letting relativity rule! It is the tool of Satan! Feel good mantra is starting to be present everywhere in this life, and I may end up puking everyday from its sickly sweet poisoned fumes.


*frusturation

Anyways, I hope someone gives this coach a job. This is INSANE!

100-0 and sorry for it?

http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=903780



I can't beleive they are sorry for that? Don't get me as heartless. In college I coached a win-less intramural team, and we were beaten nearly that bad by the volley ball team. (they were lobbing the ball like a volley ball, which was funn in retrospect, but cause a few to get really mad) One girl, who had played high school ball got so mad she wanted to walk off the court. I stopped her, and nearly got punched in the face I thought, but I told her to get her butt back and support her team. Then I made her coach.

I have never seen someone so mad at me before, but I was not going to let her leave the gym with those angry feelings. She got back in and coached her friends on how to loose with fight-grace - and honor.

This is how the world is changing and I do not like it. You can't teach people how to loose anymore. A big part of how you deal with life is how you take a loss, and this team - out of christian charity or some other nonsense - is robbing this loosing team of a valuable life lesson.

Of Couches: Reflection

Composition is no fun unless you can visualize yourself as a conductor of a great symphony with baton-thingy raised, ready to begin. The flourish......a pause.......and then what you do from there, be it moon the audience or sip cognac with pinky finger raised, is up to you, but that first sentence, that opening title, that is the kicker. That is where everyone takes in their breath in anticipation for you to begin.

In this case, I still stand here, baton-thingy raised, and am peeking back at the audience to gauge where I want to go with this. I pause, tap my lower lip in deep contemplation, circle the dais a few times, and then finally announce with a loud deep note from percussion, that it started with a couch.

This couch and I go way back. Back to High School when my parents bought new furniture. For years we had nice plaid blue and red couch, loveseat, and chair with footstool, but they were tiny and we were no longer.

Now my parents have unexpected and spectacular taste. Not unexpected in the manner which indicates that their class level is below the ability to select fine furniture, but unexpected as that the furniture they find is so fine in itself, any self aware teenager will blush at its appearance thinking "okay, this is a set up. I know I am somewhat neat, but I will ruin this stuff!!!!!!"

I reflect that along with the comfort of the pieces there was also the benefit of allowing the fine furniture to physically manifest my parents expectations of our behavior within their home. And, with exception of moments of extreme brain damage, the furniture remained fine until came time for me to leave for college. My behind parted with that luxury until the summer of 04 when I had knee surgery. I recuperated for 3 weeks on this couch.

It is now the end of 2008. mom and dad have replaced the couches again, and I have been blessed to be able to receive them into my home. (well, really Kennys apartment....but yeah) They are 9 years old and some of the original fluff is gone, but you still sink into these pieces of furniture with a luxuriant sigh of pleasure.

Which is good because I was almost ready to have a bonfire with the couches at about 5PM Saturday night.

I think one of the reasons they lasted so long is that they are HEAVY. The loveseat alone, we guessed, was around 300 lbs. The couch was defiantly over that. Back in the day - when I was in shape, I might have made it, but Kenny and I have desk jobs and were not quite prepared to move it out of a moving truck and 60 yards over snowy ground.

We rented the truck bright and early at 8 am on Saturday. With the help of my very physically fit brother Andy we got it all into the truck. Then the truck stayed there all day till the first of our retail service bound friends got off the hook at 7pm. We only managed to get the loveseat, and had to take 10 rest stops in a 30 yard space. I suppose it would have been better had it not been 15 degrees and a foot of snow on the ground, but managing the couch was to much for us to consider.

The chair had to wait till Sunday morning. I was not comfortable driving it back in Saturday nights weather and walking the equally as large chair up my icy apartment steps in the dark.

By the time it was all done, yes we had missed church. Unarguably the Lord was with us all weekend however; I just wish my loved ones (Andy) could remember this blessed fact when they are harping. It almost made the triumph of moving the couch sour. Almost.