Defining Marriage?

I was married before I was married, by my own definition. The Pro-Prop8 folks are afraid of homosexuality, not defending 'traditional marriage'. Remember Henry VIII? He re-defined marriage to permit divorce. It used to be one man & one woman "until death do us part". How easy to change the Forever clause?

Traditions are manifold.

How many ways can you be married?
____________________________________________
Church & State: A religious ceremony and/or a civil piece of paper.
Personal: You *feel* married!
Love - not a marriage of convenience.
Entitlements by your employer (W-2, Health)
Entitlements by your Government (get to visit a sick partner in the hospital, inheritance)

Then, there are the traditional traditions:

Is He/She from "the same side of the tracks"? Socio-economic pressures from your parents.

Is He/She the same nationality/ethnicity? "Girl, how could you marry a honkey?!" Indian/Pakistani, Hawaiian/Samoan, Ethiopian/Eritrean, and so on...

Is she/he much older/younger than you? Bad, or good?
Is the Man, the "man of the house" - sexism is traditional.

Same Religion? My Father's family was Catholic, my Mother's was Protestant - can you imagine the fight for my soul? How would I ever get married? How could my parents ever have gotten married?

Did your parent arrange the marriage - that is very, very traditional.

How did you rate?

Oh, Yeah...are you a man and a woman? Almost escaped my mind.

Bailouts

My money - if it goes to corrupt business CEO's with huge bonuses, it is better than going to funding war.

The Auto Industry - crocodile tears - oh, poor me! I got fuel efficiency tax breaks, got to get my SUVs to be rated as Trucks so I can avoid innovation on pollution, I actually increased the waste of foreign oil over the past years since the last Oil Embargo! Whoo-hoo! GM, Ford, and Chrysler ripped off America for forty years, and they want MY money?! We reward rich idiots.

Financial Service Industry - Zero down, Interest Only loans - F$%^ them. Heroin/Cocaine dealers - hey, want a snort? The American Dream (flawed as it is) with Burger King pricing! [later, you pay for the Kobe Beef Steak that made that burger, even if it was not real Kobe beef]

The suckers that went for the inflated crap are as responsible as the criminals that suckered them.

What happened to American Honesty - is that really a trait we possesssssss?
What happened to American Faith? Screw the poor, screw the proletariat, feed the rich? Let Churches fund helping the poor. 20% of American's are "Poor" - under the poverty line. ONE OF FIVE! One Quarter of Children go to bed hungry regularly - this is America?

Bail out Auto makers - is that American? They outsource to other countries - are we considering bailing out American CEOs, American Companies, American Workers, or...are we enriching foreign investors, funding foreign investments, funding foreign workers? Is GM a Japanese company, or an American one.

Who cares about America in a Global Economy? If America sucks, does it really matter if you investments are in another country? If we have such a National Debt that we are owned by everyone else, how loyal should you be to a Country that is giving itself away?

Innovation. Where have we forgotten our strength?

Wise Presidents - Part 2

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

- Eisenhower

Wise Presidents - Part 1

Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.
- George Washington

Obama's Bundlers & Wall Street Insiders

Not much happier with Obama, I must say. Can you say, "beholden"?

Bundlers:
Theodore Janulis – Lehman Brothers Head of Global Mortgages
Francisco Borges – Chairman of Landmark Partners a private equity real estate firm.
Nadja Fidelia – Managing Director of Lehman brothers
Michael Froman – Managing Director of Citigroup
David Heller – Managing Director of Goldman Sachs
John Rhea – Co-head of Lehman Brothers Global Investment Banking
J. Michael Schell – Managing Director at Citigroup
Jim Torrey – founder of the Torrey Funds – Hedge Funds
Todd Williams – Managing Director Goldman Sachs & The Real Estate Council
Tom Wheeler - Capital Partners
Stanley O’Neal - former Chairman of Merrill Lynch
Brad Morrice - the former CEO and President of the imploded subprime lender, New Century Financial

Contributors:
Lehman Brothers has CEO Richard Fuld and President Joseph Gregory as contributors.
Eric Schwartz, the co-head of Goldman-Sachs Global Asset Management has helped raise over $50,000.
Robert Wolf, the CEO of UBS Americas helped raise more than $200,000
Louis Susman, the Chairman of a Citibank subsidiary raised roughly the same amount.

McCain's Advisers - not including Phil G.

Former Texas Senator Phil Gramm, as I'm sure you are all aware, isn't working for McCain anymore, but he dismantled regulations that would have substantially protected us from the current collapse, if not avoiding it completely. "Credit Default Swaps", or CDS, is a derivative that allows an institution to avoid the penalties of entering into a risky situation.


Watch CBS Videos Online

Hell, who needs these when you have Government bailouts? Well, it did make things worse.

He is now a Vice Chairman for the Swiss bank UBS.

Just like the Presidents in the recent past, you put a fox in charge of the hen house. Drop consumer protection and you get lead painted children's toys, pay off the insurance lobbyist that feted you with a $5000 tax credit plan, fill the EPA with ex-members from the chemical industry - and so on. Protection? Feh!


The 83 McCain Adviser that were Lobbyists for Wall Street include:

Phil Anderson: American Council of Life Insurers, Aetna, AIG, New York Life, MassMutual, VISA

Rebecca Anderson: Aegon, American Council of Life Insurers, Cigna, Barclays, Credit Suisse First Boston, HSBC

Stanton Anderson: The Debt Exchange

David Beightol: Allstate, Amerigroup, Charles Schwab, HSBC

Rhonda Bentz: VISA

Wayne Berman: American Council of Life Insurers, AIG, Americhoice, Shinsei Bank, Blackstone, Carlyle Group, Broidy Capital Management, Credit Suisse Securities, Highstar Capital, VISA, Ameriquest Mortgage, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Fitch Ratings

Charlie Black: JP Morgan, Washington Mutual Bank, Freddie Mac, Mortgage Bankers Association of America, National Association of Mortgage Brokers

Judy Black: Colorado Credit Union League, Genworth Financial, Bay Harbour Management, Merrill Lynch

Kirk Blalock: Credit Union National Association, Financial Executives International, American Insurance Association, Mutual of Omaha, Zurich Financial Service Group, Fannie Mae, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco

Carlos Bonilla: Financial Services Roundtable, Freddie Mac

Christine Burgeson: Citigroup

Mark Buse: Freddie Mac, Goldman Sachs, Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Nicholas Calio: Citigroup, Managed Fund Association, Fannie Mae, Merrill Lynch, The Investment Company Institute, TIAA-CRE, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association

Ben Nighthorse Campbell: Amscot Financial Corporation, Community Financial Services Association, Fidelity National Financial

Andrew Cantor: American Insurance Association, Merrill Lynch

Alberto Cardenas: Fannie Mae

James Courter: Goldman Sachs, Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, Investment Company Institute, Merrill Lynch

David Crane: Financial Services Roundtable, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte & Touche, KPMG, Ernst & Young, Bank of America, Association of Corporate Credit Unions, Freddie Mac

Dan Crippen: Merrill Lynch, National Multi-Housing Council

Arthur Culvahouse: Fannie Mae

Bryan Cunningham: Arch Capital Group

Alfonse D'Amato: AIG, Freddie Mac

Doug Davenport: Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, Goldman Sachs, VISA

Ashley Davis: Prudential Financial, American Financial Group, American Premier Underwriters, Great American Insurance Company

Mimi Dawson: MassMutual

Melissa Edwards: Freddie Mac, National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, Access to Capital Coalition

Chris Fidler: American Bankers Association, Milcom Venture Partners, National Association Real Estate Investment Trusts

Samuel Geduldig: American Bankers Association, American Institute of CPAs, America Gains, Berkshire Hathaway, Consumer Bankers Association, Ernst & Young, Financial Services Roundtable, Investment Company Institute, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Prudential Financial, Sovereign Investment Council, Fidelity Investments, FMR Corp.

Benjamin Ginsberg: Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance, AIG Technical Services

David Girard-Dicarlo: American Financial Group, American Premier Underwriters

Juleanna Glover Weiss: RJI Capital, American Institute of CPAs, BNP Paribas, Ernst & Young, PriceWaterhouseCoopers

Slade Gorton: Allstate Insurance, Hannan Armstrong Capital

Phil Gramm: UBS Americas

John Green: Laredo National Bank, Alternative Investment Management Association, AIG, Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group, Citigroup, Credit Suisse Group, Fannie Mae, Icahn Associates, FMR Corp., AFLAC, VISA

Janet Grissom: American Institute of CPAs, NYSE, Merrill Lynch

Kristen Gullott: San Diego Credit Union

Kent Hance: Stanford Financial Group, Municipal Capital Markets Group, Inc.

Vicki Hart: American Financial Services Association, Citigroup, Investment Company Institute, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, New York Stock Exchange, VISA, Carlyle Group, Credit Suisse, Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis, Goldman Sachs, Stanford Group, Lloyd's of London, National City Corp.

Richard Hohlt: Capmark Financial Group, Fannie Mae, JP Morgan Chase and Co., Student Loan Marketing Association, Washington Mutual, Guaranty Bank & Trust, Peachtree Settlement Funding, Dime Savings Bank of New York

Gaylord Hughey: Heartland Security Insurance Group

Kate Hull: Credit Union National Association, Fannie Mae, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, Zurich Financial Services, American Insurance Association, Financial Executives International

James Hyland: American Insurance Association, Seattle Home Loan Bank, Self Help Credit Union, National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees, Merrill Lynch, Mortgage Investors Corp., Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis, Freddie Mac, New York Stock Exchange, Citigroup, VISA

Aleix Jarvis: Credit Union National Association, Fannie Mae, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, Financial Executives International, Mutual of Omaha, American Insurance Association, Zurich Financial Services

Greg Jenner: American Council of Life Insurers, JG Wentworth, UBS, VISA, PriceWaterhouseCoopers

Frank Keating: American Council of Life Insurers

Steven Kuykendall: California Bankers Association

William Lesher: Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Commerce Ventures, Rabobank International

Thomas Loeffler: Citigroup, Fannie Mae, Investment Company Institute, World Savings and Loan Association, United Services Automobile Association (USAA)

Kelly Lugar: RJI Capital Strategies

Peter Madigan: Arthur Andersen, Bank of New York, Broadridge Securities Processing, Charles Schwab, Deloitte and Touche, Goldman Sachs, International Employee Stock Option Coalition, Mastercard, NYSE, Fannie Mae, Merrill Lynch, PNC Bank

Mary Mann: MassMutual

Paul Martino: Morgan Stanley, Baker Tilly

Jana McKeag: Venture Catalyst

Alison McSlarrow: Fannie Mae, Hartford

Mike Meece: Georgetown Partners

David Metzner: Ernst & Young, Harbinger Capital Investments, Prudential, Public Financial Management, Western Union

Susan Molinari: Freddie Mac, American Land Title Association, Association of Consumer Credit Unions, Beacon Capital Partners, College Loan Corp, Coventry First, E-Trade, Financial Services Roundtable, Rent-A-Center

John Moran: Cerberus Capital Management, American Council of Life Insurers, Accenture

John Napier: Freddie Mac

Susan Nelson: AIG, San Antonio Credit Union

Paul Otellini: Ernst & Young, Financial Services Forum

Steve Perry: Charles Schwab, Hoover Partners, HSBC, National Stock Exchange

Nancy Pfotenhauer: American Land Title Association, Mortgage Bankers Association

Elise Pickering-Finley: Credit Suisse, DE Shaw, Hartford Financial Services, Research In Motion, Retail Industry Lenders Association, URL Mutual

James Pitts: Advanced Association for Life Underwriting, AETNA, American Council of Life Insurers, AIG, Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, Debt Advisory International, Financial Services Coordinating Council, GE Financial Assurance, Hartford Life, Jefferson Pilot Financial, Kenwood Investments, MassMutual, Mutual of Omaha, New York Life, UNUM Provident, VISA, PMI Group

Tim Powers: AP Capital, Genworth Financial, Retail Industry Lenders Association, E-LOAN, General Electric Mortgage Insurance

Walter Price: Wachovia

Sloan Rappoport: Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc. (FBR), Trafelet Delta Funds

Hans Rickhoff: Capital One, Investment Company Institute, United Services Automobile Association (USAA)

Kathleen Shanahan: New York Stock Exchange

Andrew Shore: Accenture, Retail Industry Lenders Association, Barclays, Bond Market Association, Credit Suisse, TPG Capital

Katie Stahl: Alliance for Investment Transparency, Ares Management, Fairfax Financial Holdings, Uhlmann Financial Group

Milly Stanges: TIAA-CREF

Aquiles Suarez: Fannie Mae

Don Sundquist: Freddie Mac, The Hartford

Peter Terpeluk: JP Morgan Chase, Ernst & Young, Prudential

Fred Thompson: Equitas

Jeri Thompson: American Insurance Association

John Timmons: National Association of Federal Credit Unions

William Timmons Sr.: American Council of Life Insurers, Citigroup, Dun & Bradstreet, Freddie Mac, Vanguard Group

Vin Weber: Agstar Financial Services, AKT Investment Corp., American Institute of CPAs, Ernst & Young, Freddie Mac, Louis Dreyfus Corp, PriceWaterhouseCoopers

Jeffery Weiss: JP Morgan

Tony Williams: Russell Investment Group, American Life Inc., Northwestern Mutual

Why Would I Want the Iraq War to End?

..when I invested in Exxon (up 300% since 2003), Lockheed Martin (up 300%), and Haliburton (400%); I'd be fiscally foolish to want the war to end! Money is all that matters, Corporations rule and people drool.

The Dow was up 20% in the same period. War pays well. Since War is now privatized and profitable, and since privatization proves 15x the payback over the Free Market - FUCK FUCK FUCK - why would any smart investor want anything other than pre-emptive invasions and no-bid awards to my buddies? Why would we want alternative energy when OIL is treating me so kindly, thank you?! Russia invades Georgia after Georgia invades South Ossetia after Condie visits Georgia - can anybody say "pipeline" of money?

Let's suck the life out of the Middle Class with Free Trade Agreements - we can always suck more from the poor as they are resilient. Let's sink the economy since it doesn't affect me. FUCK EVERYBODY ELSE.



Does it matter if the human population becomes extinct? Hey, I made mine! It is either Darwinism or the Rapture, either way...it will prove that humankind failed (but I succeeded!).