This is some seriously good stuff. I really wish I could talk to that guy and find out if he’s going to vote for McCain still.

My latest observation is that greed, which most of us have, is one of the main reasons this country is screwed right now. But at the same time, I don’t like giving my tax money to programs that don’t work.

I’m all for spreading the wealth, but not if it’s going to some idiot getting their hair and nails done every week or putting it into their car’s appearance. If the government is going to step in and spread the wealth for society’s benefit, then the money that’s being re-distributed needs to be used for things like school, books, computers, and other long-term, potential-raising items–not crap.

Anyway, I digress. Here’s the video.

I’ve been a bit depressed lately. I’m behind on projects at work, and it’s really getting to me. I haven’t been working out (which leads to a lack of enthusiasm for life). I haven’t been learning much new in my field lately (due to being behind on projects). Etc. Etc.

Meh.

But that’s not the bad part. What I’m really worried about is the economy. Yeah, I know, everyone is. But I’m not worried about how a milk costing 20% more will affect me; I’m worried about how it’s effect on other people is going to effect me. That sounds selfish, and maybe it is, but what I’m saying is that I have an unshakeable feeling that things are about to go sideways.

I mean seriously sideways. Like civil unrest. Like looting. Like…sideways.

My problem is that I tend to go heavy on the hyperbole with things like this. I have an active imagination, and it’s impossible for someone with my minimal knowledge of macro-economics to understand what the true variables are. This combination leads to speculation–in a bad way.

But what I do think I have a handle on is the potential for violence within our country. I don’t think most realize how little the perception of order needs to be disrupted for large numbers of people, within every city, to simply decide to go batshit crazy. And that’s just for fun. That’s not counting when they actually can’t eat. Then it’s going to get seriously messed up.

So what’s a logical person to do? You don’t go buy shotguns and booby traps and prepare to kill your neighbors. That’s lame. And you don’t just sit back and hope (or pray) that everything will be fine. That’s lame too.

Logic lies somewhere between those extremes. My current recommendation is to buy enough food, water, and supplies to be able to not go outside for 2-4 weeks. And to consider buying a weapon to protect yourself and your family. Nothing outrageous: a handgun or rifle, or whatever, and some rounds.

In other words, don’t go all Mad Max and shit, but don’t be naive either. I don’t expect things to stay bad for long before they get set back right. Chaos is not good for those in power, so all the iron filings will push us towards order pretty quickly. And if that doesn’t happen, and it gets really bad, well…that’s just not even worth contemplating since you will be helpless regardless of how well you prepare (unless you can live off the land and protect yourself indefinitely).

So yeah, we’re only preparing for the minor craziness–like 2-4 weeks worth of minor civil unrest, some looting, some food shortages, etc.–not the apocalypse stuff.

Anyway, why do I think this is necessary? Because I am of the opinion that we’re about to see a period of hyper-inflation caused by the world failing to “believe in”, i.e. back, our currency. And we’ll just print more…and more…and more…until it becomes virtually worthless.

Enter $20 gallons of milk, and $15 gallons of gas.

Now, considering that some 37 million Americans live in poverty, what do you think that’s going to do to crime when they can’t pay for their basic needs? They’re going to do the same thing you or I would do, i.e. whatever it takes.

I see dark times ahead. Hopefully I’m wrong (along with Peter Schiff and Glenn Beck and countless others) and I can bury this post along with all my other stupid ones–of which there are many.

But I might not be. And if I’m not then you’re going to wish you got your 2-4 weeks of food and water and supplies together like I recommended. I’d rather feel stupid about doing it and never needing it than the other way around.

Anyway, here’s to hoping I’m being stupid.:

I was not happy at all with Obama. He had so many opportunities to attack, or even to simply respond in a better way. Examples:

On How to deal with Pakistan

There’s no problem with openly stating that we’re going to go in after Bin Laden if he’s in Pakistan. Pakistan knows this. The world knows this. It’s better to be up front about it.

And you should characterize that as an attack on Pakistan; it’s an attack on Bin Laden–and when I’m president the world will be able to tell the difference.

On Iraq

Ok, we’ve heard enough about the surge, John. I tell you what, let’s make a deal–I’ll admit that the surge has worked when you admit we shouldn’t have had to have one in the first place. You were wrong about Iraq, John.

You were wrong about going in, and you were wrong about how easy it would be once we got there. You keep talking about your judgement but with both the economy and Iraq we see that it’s precisely that judgement that has gotten us into the messes that you now want to solve.

You claim to be a fan of straight talk. How about starting by admitting that the solutions you’re talking up are solutions to problems that you personally helped bring about in the first place?

Those are the kinds of direct hits we need to see from Obama.:

This short read is an absolute must for those out there clinging to true conservative, Ron Paul-esque values in this election. It’s very similar to what I wrote here, but much, much better.

A couple of my favorite excerpts:

In 1932, America needed a strong leader like FDR; in 1980, it needed a strong leader like Reagan. In 2008, it needs a strong leader like Paul or Obama (depending on one’s political views), but the last thing it needs is someone unstable, erratic and given to melodrama and grandstanding when it suits his whim.

Given the choice between McCain’s reckless, “now I don’t see a problem, now I see an economy about to crater” approach to the economy and Obama’s long-established understanding that things have been in bad shape for many years; between McCain’s overly dramatic tendencies toward grandstanding and Obama’s intelligent, rational decision-making processes; between a political party that exhibited a collective ignorance in rejecting their best and brightest candidate and a party that chose the candidate that best represents its values, Punditty sees it as a no-brainer.

I urge all my conservative friends who are not voting for Obama to read it and pass it along. And for those of you who are voting for Obama, please send this to your Republican friends who are still thinking rather than following.

[ GOP Nominated the Wrong Candidate, Making Obama the Best Choice In November | allvoices.com ]

Links

[ If You Truly Support Ron Paul You Won’t Stand By and Allow McCain to Destroy This Country For Another Four Years | dmiessler.com ]

The fact that they misspelled both “socialist” and “maverick” just makes it that much better. But the best part is that if you asked them they wouldn’t think this is a problem.

Image from photobasement.com

The problem with McCain isn’t his age or his approach to taxes; it’s his virtual promise to engage in more war and his willingness to lie to get what he wants. If you hate Obama for whatever reason, that’s fine–vote for Bobb Bar (libertarian) or Chuck Baldwin (constitutional). Or hell–write in Ron Paul. Just don’t vote for McCain.

But don’t listen to me; watch the videos of McCain lying to you. It’s not out of context, and it’s not a trick. It’s John McCain promising war, being caught in outright lies, and in the case of the Confederate flag, admitting to a complete lack of integrity.

Just watch.

Forget Obama. Him getting elected isn’t nearly as important as McCain NOT getting elected. Please send these videos to your undecided and/or non-brainwashed, McCain-supporting friends.:

Image from assassindolphin

No, I’m not about to link to an Onion article. I wish I were. This is, unfortunately, real. This is the hockey Mom who’s disturbingly likely to be one bad medical visit from the White House.

A pastor named Philip Munger has been following Palin for a while now, and has had numerous encounters with her over the years in Alaska. Here’s a clip from a Salon.com article about one such interaction:

Another valley activist, Philip Munger, says that Palin also helped push the evangelical drive to take over the Mat-Su Borough school board. “She wanted to get people who believed in creationism on the board,” said Munger, a music composer and teacher. “I bumped into her once after my band played at a graduation ceremony at the Assembly of God. I said, ‘Sarah, how can you believe in creationism — your father’s a science teacher.’ And she said, ‘We don’t have to agree on everything.‘

“I pushed her on the earth’s creation, whether it was really less than 7,000 years old and whether dinosaurs and humans walked the earth at the same time. And she said yes, she’d seen images somewhere of dinosaur fossils with human footprints in them.”

Munger also asked Palin if she truly believed in the End of Days, the doomsday scenario when the Messiah will return. “She looked in my eyes and said, ‘Yes, I think I will see Jesus come back to earth in my lifetime.‘”

Let’s review:

1. Thinks the earth is less than 7,000 years old, i.e. creationist. Check.
2. Thinks Jesus is coming back in her lifetime. Check.

And now we see the picture. It’s no wonder she wants to play rough with Iran and Russia—she doesn’t give a fuck what they do. If they get pissed off and start a nuclear war, no worries. Jesus will swoop in and save the believers anyway.

I like atheists in charge of the nukes—or at least people with a somewhat secular view of the world. It’s important to think that THIS existence is important when wielding the influence and weapons that can bring it to an end.:

The Fed bought AIG today (80% of it), and it wasn’t the first government buyout of its kind this month. We’re facing the most serious financial situation since the depression.

So, that’s the backdrop. Here’s what McCain said about it today. Two statements. Just a few hours from each other:

The fundamentals of our economy are strong.

…four hours later.

The American economy is in a crisis. It is in a crisis.

But don’t listen to me. Here’s the video.

It’s batshit insane that people don’t get how unstable McCain is. He’s an absolute joke. I just hope the rest of the country figures it out before election time.:

It astounds me that anyone can buy into this crap.

(from a comment left on abc.com, via thebruceblog)

[ The Double-Standard That Republicans Think You're Stupid Enough to Fall For | thebruceblog ]

It’s not that their logical arguments are slightly more emotional than democratic logical arguments; they’re actually purposely avoiding logic altogether. Emotion is simply far more effective on their base than reason.

Here’s a quote to this effect from McCain’s campaign manager:

This election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates. — Rick Davis ¹

Ah, and now we see why they’ve been running such an attack-based campaign. The actual strategy is to make people distrust Obama rather than talk about the issues. That’s a good way to go for them, actually; if they campaigned on issues they’d get slaughtered.

Here’s a good juxtaposition of the two approaches as seen through two hypothetical, in-character stump speeches:

Democrats

The reason you’re suffering right now is because of failed policies like, a, b, and c. I want to change those in the following ways: x, y, and z. This will make America more successful than repeating the failed policies we’ve had.

Here are twelve areas where our policies are better for 99% of Americans in the country. Point by point I’ve laid it out. If you vote for me you’ll see how effective this new approach will be. Please give me your vote in November.

Republicans

Doesn’t that guy just give you a bad feeling? Every time I see him up there talking about all the things he’s going to do, with a mass of cheering fans around him, I think, “Wow, something about this just ain’t right…” I ask you not to trust elaborate, well-articulated plans from people with no record of service; anyone can say anything.

Trust your gut. Trust the kind of people who have served this country like I have, who love its traditional values, and don’t want to see it fall into the hands of some slick-talking lawyer with a questionable past and questionable goals. When election day comes, you know what to do.

gg.

How to Appeal to a Mouthbreather

To win an election with non-thinkers you essentially have to flash images in front of them to get them riled up. Take the decision away from them and hand it to their biases, fears, and prejudices.

• 9/11
• Twin Towers
• White family hugging a white baby
• McCain saluting the American flag (highlighting his war injury)
• Terror camp
• Bin Laden
• Barrack smiling next to an attractive blonde who is also smiling
• A mushroom cloud
• A weeping mother seeing off a soldier
• McCain in the POW camp
• Palin taking her kids to a hockey game
• McCain and Palin sitting together in church

Then ask them who they want to vote for: Some possibly Muslim guy who’s nothing but a good public speaker (wasn’t Lucifer charismatic too?), or a war hero who loves babies?

This is a win for Republicans.

The only way to counter this is to directly attack the strategy and the liars themselves. If Obama’s campaign continues to try and play the purity game they’re going to lose in November. It’s that simple.:

Links

¹ [ Rick Davis Says The Campaign Isn't About Issues | washingtonpost.com ]