Whats going on in america?

[xbl0x180]

And the hits just keep on comin'

S&P downgrades the U.S.'s credit rating:

http://news.yahoo.com/p-reconsidering-u ... 07261.html

An American company downgrades the USA credit rating. Sad. How about we hit them with an IRS audit?

I feel we might be better off today if Bush Jr. were NEVER elected. Gore and Lieberman didn't sound too good either in 2000 but they were the better of the two choices available nonetheless. And on top of that, voters rejected Kerry and put up with 4 more years of bullshit (you can't spell Bullshit without Bush!). The Bush tax cut should've been rescinded for those making >$250K. Nope. Damn Republican pressure. Is Obama a "Demoblican"? This S&P ding should be treated as a new crisis for Congress and Obama to mull a solution to. I hope the Republicans will be a little more cooperative. Congress needs to quit kneeling before corporations and remember "We The People" in the Constitution preamble. They are probably calling the USC "Just a GD piece of paper" like Dubya did.

Too bad there isn't a major 3rd party. If there were, I'd consider joining it.

God must be going through his hipster stage because he sure loves irony. S&P is the same company who gave AAA ratings to the subprime mortgage fraud committed by wall street bankers Hahah. Who needs the Al Qaeda/radical Muslim boogeyman when you have the Khmer Rouge for congress? Not even in their dreams could all terrorist organisations [combined] conceive and execute such a catastrophic economic plan. The enemy is us.

[yojo!]

Quite frankly, America's demise should not come as a surprise and it's going to get worse when you see stuff like this,. Only in America!.

[rapoon]

Quite frankly, America's demise should not come as a surprise and it's going to get worse when you see stuff like this,. Only in America!.

You think that's bad?

Check this out

When Perry stated he was running for President, ~50% of Senators didn't know who he was. The remaining
knew little about him. Btw, Perry's little rally is hardly a reflection of America as a whole.

[Skykid]

I feel we might be better off today if Bush Jr. were NEVER elected.

Oh god yes. That was the beginning of a slow and painful death, beginning with credibility.

But it was the fact he was re-elected that was really impressive.

[louisg]

I feel we might be better off today if Bush Jr. were NEVER elected.

Oh god yes. That was the beginning of a slow and painful death, beginning with credibility.

But it was the fact he was re-elected that was really impressive.

Right, that completely blew my mind. That he was elected the first time makes some kind of a sense just because there's always going to be X number of people who'll vote for that party and the Democrats had a weak showing. But that he was re-elected after all of that crap? Insane.

[yojo!]

Right, that completely blew my mind. That he was elected the first time makes some kind of a sense just because there's always going to be X number of people who'll vote for that party and the Democrats had a weak showing. But that he was re-elected after all of that crap? Insane.

That just shows you how good a brainwashing corporate media (fox news amongst other) does in America. Going to Iraq benefits the "war" machin, so Cheney and Bush had vested interest in going to war. a Poll a year ago or so showed that a majority of American still believe that Sadam Hussein was behind 9/11.

[yojo!]

Right, that completely blew my mind. That he was elected the first time makes some kind of a sense just because there's always going to be X number of people who'll vote for that party and the Democrats had a weak showing. But that he was re-elected after all of that crap? Insane.

That just shows you how good a brainwashing corporate media #fox news amongst other# does in America. Going to Iraq benefits the "war" machin, so Cheney and Bush had vested interest in going to war. a Poll a year ago or so showed that a majority of American still believe that Sadam Hussein was behind 9/11.

[GaijinPunch]

You think that's bad?

Check this out

Lovely -- my dad lived in Corsicana for a few years.

...lol... worked for the Fire Department. O_O

[Blackbird]

Right, that completely blew my mind. That he was elected the first time makes some kind of a sense just because there's always going to be X number of people who'll vote for that party and the Democrats had a weak showing. But that he was re-elected after all of that crap? Insane.

For the record, I knew he was bad news from the beginning and never voted for him. I actually didn't vote at all in the Bush vs. Kerry campaign because both candidates were terrible.

It's too bad Gore didn't grow a sense of humor until after he lost the election, lol. Dunno what happened there.

[gameoverDude]

In the 2004 election I had a strong "Anyone BUT Bush" sentiment. So I voted Kerry. It's sad that third parties never get a fair shot- people are afraid of their 3rd party vote being wasted.

During elections, I think the incumbent party should have a challenger come from its own ranks to go against the incumbent leader. In recap, 3 main choices: Party A's current leader, Party A's alternate choice for those dissatisfied with the above but not willing to vote B, or Party B's opposition candidate.

I view a big part of the corporate media as shit-stirrers ala Rush Limbaugh, especially Fox whose credibility is jack shit IMO. They're worse than the $2 supermarket tabloids- said $2 is better spent on a lotto ticket. TBH I wouldn't mind if News Corp and Fox go kaput in the aftermath of Murdochgate, unless someone with far more scruples than dirty old Rupert gets the reins. Good riddance to News of the World.

[GaijinPunch]

You think that's bad?

Check this out

Lovely -- my dad lived in Corsicana for a few years.

...lol... worked for the Fire Department. O_O

I know it's OT, but I wonder what really happened here. My father was Fire Chief of Corsicana in 1991. Surprised they didn't mention him in the entry. The Assistant Chief got a dis at the end.

[Skykid]

A Poll a year ago or so showed that a majority of American still believe that Sadam Hussein was behind 9/11.

I don't know whether to give the media a round of applause or the educational system a punch in the face.

[Krimzon Kitzune]

This is interesting. Commodities are taking a huge hit as a result of the S&P downgrade, save for some precious metals. I guess we don't have to worry too much about gasoline becoming more expensive for a while. Brent took a tumble as well. I suppose we should cut our losses for the time being and take this silver-lining, and hope that the markets selling off will put pressure on the politicians to get some REAL work done on our government finances.

*knocks on wood*

http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/commodities/futures/

[neorichieb1971]

The $ is slightly weakening. I would imagine the pound will rise against it in the coming weeks.

I'll eye up some US blu rays in the meantime and some of those Cave PCB's will undoubtedly come down to reasonable UK GBP prices.

In 2012 Ketsui will be £300 (shipped).


I think what all this means is that America is so heavy the world can't support it. If you divide $14,000,000,000,000 by the amount of people (300,000,000), you get an equal share of $47k per person. That means if your born American your already born in debt. If you gave up your first 2 years wages and lived on fresh air you might get by if it were a share for share basis. It could rain money in the US for 40 days and 40 nights and still there wouldn't be enough.

The other thing that baffles me is that America hasn't got alot of shit to show for that $14T since the Clinton administration. Just alot of blaming here and there.

To put this another way. I heard when Bill Gates was the richest man alive you could cover a football field 8 foot high with Benjamins. That equated to a measly $80billion. This is 14,000 billions. So i'm thinking that if you had 100 people throwing benjamins out of a train window or something it would take 1000 years to throw that much money out of the window.

[GaijinPunch]

I'll eye up some US blu rays in the meantime and some of those Cave PCB's will undoubtedly come down to reasonable UK GBP prices.

Doubtful. While the yen strength is more related to dollar weakness, you are still considered in the danger zone of Greece, which is also fueling the yen. Our Swiss friends have a far better chance at getting Cave PCBs at a decent price than you, unfortunately. It's FX though... who knows what will happen.

[Krimzon Kitzune]

I wonder if there is a dollar index thing I can find on Bloomberg or elsewhere that's updated often (or better yet, runs in real time). Anybody got any links?

[neorichieb1971]

Currency conversions?

www.xe.com

[lawnspic]

Whats going on in america?

The end of my fucking 401k again:(

[yojo!]

WTF in going in England ? Those riots in Tottenham came out of nowhere didn't they? The olympics are right around the corner, better get things in order before then...

[RNGmaster]

I wonder if there is a dollar index thing I can find on Bloomberg or elsewhere that's updated often (or better yet, runs in real time). Anybody got any links?

stop worrying about the real world and focus on STGT

[xbl0x180]

Whats going on in america?

The end of my fucking 401k again:(

Hahaha. I have a deferred compensation plan through my job and it's been looking uuuuuuuugly for this year. When the dust settles and the govt. starts printing a s**tload of cash, our money will be worthless. But then I think about the hours I spend on doing real work and it doesn't become too aggravating. They pretend to pay me, I pretend to work

[CMoon]

I wonder if there is a dollar index thing I can find on Bloomberg or elsewhere that's updated often (or better yet, runs in real time). Anybody got any links?

stop worrying about the real world and focus on STGT

Fuck it dude, let's go bowling.

[BulletMagnet]

Commodities are taking a huge hit as a result of the S&P downgrade, save for some precious metals. I guess we don't have to worry too much about gasoline becoming more expensive for a while.

Don't worry, they always find some excuse to pick our pockets a little bit more, no matter what the raw supply/demand situation is. Remember when prices rose so rapidly that it actually got Congress's attention for a bit? And how it all translated, not into coverage for supposed higher expenses, but record profits and management bonuses? And how absolutely nothing came of it? Feel free to tell me what's changed about operating and/or regulatory procedures within the industry between now and then.

The other thing that baffles me is that America hasn't got alot of shit to show for that $14T since the Clinton administration.

Oh, the super-rich have plenty to show for it: their collective bottom line has expanded at an unprecedented rate, it's just the rest of us that got jack-diddly. But since when do we matter? After all, if we deserved financial security the invisible hand would have given it to us, right? We're just getting what's been coming to us.

Whats going on in america?

The end of my fucking 401k again:(

Remember folks, when (non-CEO) pensions go the way of the dinosaur, this sort of setup is all we're left with, if that.

[dcharlie]

Oh, the super-rich have plenty to show for it: their collective bottom line has expanded at an unprecedented rate, it's just the rest of us that got jack-diddly. But since when do we matter? After all, if we deserved financial security the invisible hand would have given it to us, right? We're just getting what's been coming to us

well, the average joe did get something : the rest of america got the bill for all the corporate fuck ups and the dogshit war you were all sold, oh and now your welfare and medicare and general spending on infra etc is about to get gutted as well whilst the rich don't get to give even an extra 0.00001%

And after Bush and Co bent the country over and humped it to the tune of 7.x Trillion, the GOP get to wag their finger about the nations debt after Bush pulled an 8 year long reverse Robin Hood. I am still baffled as to why the Halliburton situation wasn't made a much bigger thing. Non tendered contract to a company the Vice President is a sitting chairman of then they are found to be over charging on every item in a range from 5x to 100x, raking in billions of tax $ ? I just don't see how people can sit and not get angry about this - seems the average american would rather get upset about whether Obama is a moooslim/not born in America/Communist/Nazi.

Sigh - the conservative opposition playbook is as predictable as it is pathetic.

[CMoon]

dcharlie> I don't disagree with any of your points. What can Americans do short of a full fledged revolution? Both political parties are completely, and totally corrupt. Voting for the right thing clearly isn't going to change anything, so what next?

Not saying most Americans will acknowledge that what you're saying is true, but even if they did, there's hardly anything they could do about it.

[lawnspic]

dcharlie, that sums it up pretty good. Americans are impatient and scared. Eight years of Bush and they wanted it fixed overnight. The only solution is to get the fuck out of the middle east and start paying off the Chinese to get in the black again. This country cant balance any budget with this war going on, costs way to much. Just remember when Clinton left office this country had a surplus of cash and everybody's portfolio was kicking ass with real economic growth, not the false kind where risk management got thown out the window to make a sub-prime loan to people who could not afford it. Also fuck the insurance company's that backed the shit loan three times over what those companies were worth (AIG anyone).

[BulletMagnet]

Sigh - the conservative opposition playbook is as predictable as it is pathetic.

Unfortunately, it's also proven undeniably effective, thanks in large part (as I've put forth before) to the increasingly complacent and store-bought American media: seriously, if we still had the likes of Cronkite and Murrow informing (as opposed to entertaining) us, would a political movement whose foremost "intellectual" arguments claim things like the poor aren't really poor because they own refrigerators have ever been allowed to gain such an utterly undeserved and prolonged level of prominence?

[dcharlie]

Unfortunately, it's also proven undeniably effective

well, that's the thing - i guess with a democratic encumbant and election year coming up that -just maybe- the Tea Party goons will get tossed out and, gasp, the democrats might be back running the show front to back....


... then they can REALLY screw things up!

(I do think this is the end of the Tea Party's 15 minutes... at least... i hope it is)

[neorichieb1971]

Americans need to vote for people who kick ass.

Or vote for an entirely different system of politics.


America needs a Hitler.

[BryanM]

dcharlie> I don't disagree with any of your points. What can Americans do short of a full fledged revolution? Both political parties are completely, and totally corrupt. Voting for the right thing clearly isn't going to change anything, so what next?

We're too stupid and divided by brainwashing since birth to go the Iceland way, so I guess we all find our own ditch to die into.

I slam The South a lot; it is a cancer upon us. They fought for rich white guys to keep their slaves, an institution against their own interest. As what worker can compete with a wage of "almost free"? This style of thought persists today. The North losing the civil war was the worst thing to happen to our country, flat out.

It was uncomforting to me when it occurred to me - I wondered if growing up in Texas had twisted my father and my evil ex psychologically, above and beyond the level of emotional trauma the kids would have received in a less whackadoodle place.

Bumping into data sets that say "lol south sucks" over and over again is distracting. Like internet dating data.