There were several things that happened today and this week that I wanted to talk about. So we've all heard something about Lehman Brothers filing for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch being bought up by Bank of America for $50 billion. This is just a couple of weeks after the bail-out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (who came up with these names?!) I believe on Tuesday the DJIA (Dow Jones Industrial Average), lost more than 500 points which is the worst that its been since 9/11, and just yesterday the Dow lost more than 300 points. And i'm sure you've heard snippets of McCain saying that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong." But back to what I was saying about the Dow, the FED knew that AIG (leading U.S. insurer for securities), was about to go under so they stepped in on Wednesday and bailed them out for $85 billion. Many people are saying that these are the effects of the credit crunch and the housing market bubble (which is not really a bubble, but a full blown crisis now), but thats not really what I care about right now. What I want to know is that with all of these bail-outs costing the government around $150 billion, who foots the bill? I mean for real- the government doesn't have a magic wand obviously, (thank you President Bush for pointing that out), so where is this money coming from? well the short answer is..YOU. The long answer is......YOU! Yes! If you are a tax payer you are likely to see your taxes being raised in order to pay for these bail-outs!
Well then now that i've gotten that off of my chest, lets turn to other news. Ok so yesterday while we were all scratching our heads over the financial stuff that was going on, the U.S. launched a drone (yes a drone) into Pakistan killing five people. I'm sure you have heard something about the standoff between the U.S. and Pakistan forces, where the head Pakistani General said they would protect Pakistani sovereignty at "all costs". So yesterday, American officials told Pakistan, ok we won't come into your country and conduct ground raids BUT we will still fire drones! So who wants to predict whats going to happen between Pakistan and America? Anyone? (me rolling my eyes)
Now lets turn to Yemen, there was a double car-bomb attack on the U.S. Embassy they tried to get past the security gate, but never made it that far. 16 people were killed, all of them Yemeni.
Cold War anyone? It seems as though Russia has missed the days of Mutually Assured Destruction drills. With a Lame Duck President that can do literally nothing (or won't) about the situation in Georgia, Russia has decided to be the provocateur and sign friendship treaties with the unrecognized breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Which of course includes a pledge of military assistance from Russia. With America (or maybe just the Bush Administration), wanting to build a Nuclear missile defense base in Poland (some would say WE were provoking Russia), Russia has decided to show us the middle finger and do what they want to do in matters of their foreign policy.
On that note I shall end.
Peace
p.s. smile! it's a form of charity :)
2 comments:
When I read your posts on the news, I feel so lost, just because I never follow up on current events. The only reason I knew about the Fannie Mae thing was because Controlled Chaos was going on and on about it one day.
Other than that, I know nothing. That is very pathetic.
Dude you have me so lost in your post. I need backgroud info. I don't even understand what is going on. THis is how desperately we need you, and this is how lost we become when u don't keep us informed.
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