By admin
You don’t want to know what’s happening with the $700 billion (with a b) bailout money that was supposed to be earmarked for large financial institution’s foreclosure and mortgage-related losses. Trust me, you really don’t. Especially if you are the type who gets mad when the leaders of your country act foolishly, irresponsibly, and with self-interest as their first priority. This is one time when it’s definitely better to stick your head in the sand. In fact I don’t even want to watch the news any more, especially financial and political news. I’m sure I’m not alone there.
The whole idea behind the bailout was to rescue large financial institutions whose exposure to the subprime mortgage business (and foreclosed properties that can only be unloaded for large losses) was threatening their existence. That’s what it was for. Unfortunately between the time the legislation passed and now, which has only been a matter of weeks, lots of other uses for the money have popped up. Gee, who would have thunk?
Bank of America already received $25 billion (with a b) of that money. Now they are a company that is in good financial health and has never been involved in the mortgage business. They have no bad subprime loans, nor do they own any foreclosed residential homes. BOA is doing just fine charging their customers every time they talk to a teller. So how did they get their hands on that cash? Is it because they have a sign that says Bank on the front of their building? Or do they know the right person somewhere?
Today on television the mayor of Philadelphia made a desperate plea to use the money to bail out city governments - in particular, his city. When it was explained to him that the legislation which allocated the funds would not allow that, he responded that they need to give him some other money then - just like the auto makers are apparently getting. When asked where the money was supposed to come from, he said (and I kid you not) The federal government are the ones who print the money - just print some and give it to us.
As a reader of this blog I hope you understand why that doesn’t work. That crazy mayor might as well print the needed money himself - it will be worth just as much as all American currency will be if the federal government starts printing money to give to every failing entity. Heck, haven’t you made some investment decisions that didn’t work out? Have the government print you some money to bail you out.
The really scary thing is, what the government is actually doing with these bailouts isn’t much different than just printing the money. The effects are going to be the same - they just don’t realize it yet. Or perhaps they don’t care what happens to the next generation in America. By spending more and more money on an unlimited credit line that they have setup for themselves, they are setting a terrible example to the American consumer. The whole system could be bankrupt in our lifetimes, not in our grandchildren’s as we are all planning on. At least consumers have a point where their credit is maxed out. Our government can just keep borrowing - and because they can, they do.
Eventually all this government borrowing and printing money will come home to roost. When it does, expect the US dollar to be worthless - not only overseas but within our own country as well. How are you set on gold coins and gold bars? You might want to stock up on them the way things are going. Either that or you will need chickens, pigs, apples, and ears of corn for currency.
Papa Riah
Technorati Tags: bailout, economy, financial
By admin
Islam is one of the largest religions on the planet. There are a lot of misconceptions about it. The biggest one is that it is a generally peaceful religion and that the problems are caused by a handful of extremist nuts. The reality is that the extremist nuts are the ones who are truly practicing their religion, and all the peaceful Muslims are a bunch of hypocrites who pay their religion lip service - but don’t practice what it teaches. In other words, they are luke-warm Muslims. The overwhelming majority of those who practice Islam fall into this category. And it’s a good thing!
If all the Muslims in the world read the Quran and truly believed in it, the rest of us would be in for some serious trouble. Especially the Jews and Christians. They cannot live in peace with them according to their scriptures, and in fact are called out to kill all Jews and Christians. But they don’t. At least not yet. Many of the inactive Muslims are simply waiting for the proper time. But many more of them are just plain wimps.
The radical extremist Muslims think the time is now. The peaceful Muslims cannot disagree with their doctrine or what they are doing, just their timing. That’s important to understand. Muslims are called to kill all Jews and Christians (in that order) during the end times. The extremists say (correctly I might add) that the end times are here now and it’s time to get things started. The peaceful Muslims are a bunch of wishy-washy pansies who are afraid to get involved. Either that or they don’t want to give up their Tivo.
It’s obvious to anybody who was not brainwashed from childhood and who truly studies the religions of the world that Islam is a bunch of hogwash. Your eternal reward for abstaining from sin is an eternity of indulging in sin. Now how much sense does that make? I think it’s obvious who is responsible for this whole concept. The Quran, written some seven centuries after the Bible, was obviously written in direct contradiction to it. It doesn’t even have any original ideas, just a blatant opposition of the Bible. They have their own version of end-time prophecy, one in which the Muslims kill all the Jews and Christians and live happily ever after in eternity. You probably could have guessed that’s how it ends, right?
The really frightening thing is that leaders of Muslim nations not only believe in it, but are actively attempting to bring about the Islam end-time prophecies. Iran is now working frantically to develop nuclear weapons, the primary purpose of which is to use them against Israel. If you think the threat of mutual destruction will deter them from that, think again. That’s not how they roll. Surely 9/11 proved that. Mutual destruction suits them fine. After all, they have 72 virgins waiting for them in heaven to have eternal sex with.
So the only really good Muslim is a radical extremist. Don’t be mad at them. If you are going to get upset at somebody, yell at the rest of the Muslims for being hypocrites. While you are at it, you might also want to yell at your own government for being so blind.
Papa Riah
Technorati Tags: iran, islam, muslims, Religion
By admin
A gas station in my neck of the woods has lowered prices to around $2.50 per gallon. In these here parts that is the lowest we have seen in quite some time. And it makes me laugh. Not the bemused, satirical kind of laughter which you might expect coming from me being directed at some fad or group of people. This was more of a happy, giddy, celebration-type laughter one might find himself immersed in after winning a large bet.
You see, Papa Riah went out and purchased a new 8-cylinder, gas-guzzling full size pickup truck when gas prices were around $4.50 per gallon in August. If you listened to news commentators a few months ago, it was a sure thing that gas was going to be over $5 per gallon soon and stay that way forever.
Consequently full-sized truck sales came to a screeching halt over the summer, as the unwashed masses drove up the prices on hybrid vehicles so high you’d think they had diamond-studded steering wheels. Papa Riah wasn’t buying the hype, and neither was his brother-in-law Craig. Craig beat me by a month and purchased a brand new crew cab Ford F150 when gas prices were at their peak approaching $5 per gallon in June. The salesmen at the dealership literally had to go dust off the F150’s (which had been moved to the back of the lot) when he said he wanted to see them. They were almost giving the things away.
I like to buy my vehicles right. That means I purchase them 1 year old with less than 12,000 miles on them, and I hold out for a real deal. This summer I was in the market for a new vehicle and wanted a truck. I knew I was going to go with either the Chevy Silverado or a loaded Toyota Tacoma (and concede to the better mileage hysteria). But in my heart I wanted the Silverado and admired the defying of conventional logic which Craig had pulled off a month earlier. So I watched the used truck inventory at the local dealers on the internet closely, waiting for the right opportunity to come along.
As it turns out I wasn’t the only person working this angle as I missed a couple of the better looking deals by being slow on the trigger. I quickly gave up on the Tacoma idea though, because it became evident that one of those little trucks was going to cost me at least $4,000 more than what I really wanted anyway (even used), so there was no dilemma. It takes a long time to make up for $4,000 in better gas mileage even at $5 per gallon. There were a lot of Chevy trucks for sale out there, but I wanted a certified used from a dealer in one of three colors.
I finally picked it up in early August. A white one, 2007 model with 11,500 miles on it, new body style Silverado 1500, with the windows tinted just the way I like them. They accepted my offer of $18,900 on the asking price of $20,750. It is a perfect, flawless, new truck and I love the thing. Not bad considering brand new ones with zero miles sold in the mid thirties all day long when gas was under three bucks a gallon. (The finance person was quite flabbergasted when I explained how the purchasing of an extended warranty would defeat the purpose of buying a Certified Used Vehicle.)
Is there a lesson to be learned here? Only if you like money. There were plenty of brand new trucks like the one I wanted still priced in the low thirties at all the dealers when I was looking. If I were one of them rich folk who light cigars with hundred dollar bills I could have spent over ten grand more for essentially the same exact thing.
If you just have to buy your new cars absolutely new with close to zero miles because of the new car smell, you will pay dearly for that obsession. Why not purchase a spray bottle of new car smell for a couple dollars instead, buy the car one year used, and possibly save enough money to pay your kid’s college tuition for a year.
In general when there is any kind of mania in society, it’s usually profitable to be betting against it. This goes for just about anything - hot stocks, cold stocks, undefeated sports teams, tulips, and of course full size pickups. As those gas stations keep lowering the numbers on their signs my brother-in-law and I are laughing all the way to the bank.
Papa Riah
Technorati Tags: cars, economy, gas prices
You don’t want to know what’s happening with the $700 billion (with a b) bailout money that was supposed to be earmarked for large financial institution’s foreclosure and mortgage-related losses. Trust me, you really don’t. Especially if you are the type who gets mad when the leaders of your country act foolishly, irresponsibly, and with self-interest as their first priority. This is one time when it’s definitely better to stick your head in the sand. In fact I don’t even want to watch the news any more, especially financial and political news. I’m sure I’m not alone there.