Hunting Season Looms

I've decided to take up shooting this fall. No particular reason, just pissed off. And while that's probably the very worst reason to pick up a gun, I'm doin it anyway. As a woman I can always use the excuse that it'll make me feel safer, when it won't. Just less frustrated. 

 I can't help but wonder if it isn't time for Hilary to take command of the situation, like my idol Sarah Connor. I've not been a huge fan of Hil in the past, but, hey, the gal's earned her button, you know? I mean, enough already with the oppression of woman. And someone just oughta go drag that insane Jezebel Ann Coulter by her long, obnoxious hair up the steps of the Capitol, bonking her noggin with every step, til she gets some sense. A concussion would be a blessing. Did you catch that she wants the Repugnants to take the vote away from women Nationwide so a Democrat can never again occupy the Maison Blanche?? In public she says these things!  Sic Sarah on 'er, I say. She'll show her what's what.

Paul Ryan is a detestable man, (as is his manlove buddy MR, but for other reasons). A full throated supporter of every right wing nutjob's efforts to limit my rights as a woman and citizen, to occupy my vagina and hold it for the Fatherland,  take women back to the Stone Age (where, in some ways, they may actually have been better off, more geographic mobility anyway free from scrutiny). I am aghast that that RR (aptly acronymed, don't you think?) ticket has any supporters at all, is even taken seriously. But then, folks actually took Bush 2 serously, I thought that would be the wake up call, but turns out it was the permanent national dose of Ambien. It'll be a real hoot, and a drag for O, if Santorum ends up with the nomination after all this hoopla. He may look sane by comparison. We are indeed down the rabbit hole once more as more crazy people aspire to run – no no, add an "i" – ruin, the country. 

I was unaware there were so many contenders for the top US job. To wit, there are six or seven on the ballot in all 50 states I think. Test your views against those of the candidates on this amazing website that will FOOL YOU as it did me. Turns out some woman is running who more closely aligns with my politics (sort of). Take a look here. Take the test. It's fun, and you're bound to learn something. A lot of research went into this site, clever fellas. Send the link to any illinformed conservatives you  know, that pretty much includes all of them.

Romney wouldn't care of course, being a wackass Mormon and all, but you can't help but wonder if "Peewee" Ryan has ever considered the following may have actually happened:

As usual, the French seem to have the right idea about how to deal with their financial mess, at least they're not about starving the poor like everyone else, which does nothing but generate more nasty karma, but then they have that, you know, Fraternite thing we Americans don't like to think about. Here it's me first, then maybe you. French 20th century philosopher Bertrand Russell had some thoughts about how as humans we ought to conduct ourselves. They're pretty interesting.

a French thinker of not so long ago

I spend little time online, just too... I dunno.. unproductive. I rely on others to bring clever and entertaining FAcebook or other items to my attention.  This has been the House of Feminism this summer, what with T's studies on human trafficking and slavery and her online feminist pals. I'm always being shown hilarious things like this that put my generation in perspective.

Saw Woody Allen's new flick, To Rome with Love, last night. Made me feel Volare good.

Actually laughed out loud – a lot. Am I getting old and skewed enough for his humor at long last? Gorgeous, well, it is Rome, and funny. I was rooting for the opera guy. The Strand in Rockland is an old fashioned restored theatre, always a pleasure to see films there.

Today I learned that 66% of Americans polled don't know who Jamie Dimon is. Say, quoi? From an article in the latest Vanity Fair.  A disheartening piece of information. My fellow Americans never fail to disappoint when it comes to lack of knowledge – I mean, what possible excuse given all the news available to people in every conceivable form could one have for not knowing who one of the perpetrators of the biggest financial hoodwink of the era was? Boggles the mind. 

Here a few comments about the present economic state of the planet, especially of the West, I caught floating around the internet. Apologies to whoever said them, i just pasted them without thinking.

*  "This isn't structural – there are not too many workers. Work is going undone, things are decaying. What is happening is that capital has sucked up all the money, removing it from the world. The owners are hoarding or gambling while the world collapses."

and then, another...

*  "We must move from stabilize and reflate, to stabilize and recalibrate:

• It is time for creditors throughout the developed world to finally take the write downs that have long been coming their way in connection with the trillions of dollars of truly un-payable household and sovereign debts that resulted from the credit bubble of the 2000s.  Yes, this will pressure lenders and, yes, they will need to be recapitalized to the detriment of their existing stakeholders.  But there is presently no shortage of capital seeking reasonable risk-adjusted returns, and I have every confidence that it will flow eagerly into the financial sector—if only the balance sheets of our institutions were honestly reckoned by having the currently unrecoverable carrying value of assets written down to that which can be recovered today from borrowers and/or underlying collateral."

(Sensible comments from thinking people.)

Hasta la vista, sista. Y los hermanos tambien.

Dramatic Moment in Campaign

Paul Ryan... even more of a weasel than he looks?

Just check this out one second. I had to actually spend an hour searching to find any trace of this article about Paul Ryan dirty financial dealings just prior to the 08 crash, someone had brought to my attention the other day. Per Sunday's Guardian in the UK:

"Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney's vice-presidential running mate, sold stock in US banks on the same day he attended a confidential meeting where top level officials disclosed the sector was heading for a deep crisis.

The congressman on Monday denied profiting from information gleaned from the meeting on 18 September 2008 when Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, then treasury secretary Hank Paulson and others outlined their fears for the banking sector. His office said he had no control over the trades.

Public records show that on the same day as the meeting, Ryan sold stock in troubled banks including Wachovia and Citigroup and bought shares in Goldman Sachs, Paulson's old employer and a bank that had been disclosed to be stronger than many of its rivals. The sale was not illegal at the time."

Oh and there's more....

In April the Office of Congressional Ethics cleared Spencer Bachus, Republican chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, of allegations of insider dealing. Critics had charged he had taken advantage of insider information to trade shares on numerous occasions.

Bachus was present at the meeting that Ryan attended with Bernanke and Paulson. The next day he traded "short" options, betting on a decline in share prices in the financial services sector.

Attendees at the meeting have said Bernanke and Paulson's warnings were met with stunned silence. "When you listened to him describe it you gulped," Senator Charles Schumer told the New York Times."

Something fishy here. Terrifying even, or ... perhaps, more like...

This may be the first election of my entire life in which I do not cast a vote for President. Lesser of two evils just ain't good enough any more.