Dems Defend Freddie & Fannie

I received this video from a friend of mine. Combine this with the fact that Obama and Barney Frank were on the take from Freddie and Fannie and you start to see what went wrong.

USC Finished

I found a picture of Pete Carroll on the internet that's pretty funny all by itself in light of recent events (i.e. USC losing to unranked Oregon State Thursday night).



But I couldn't leave well enough alone...



Did I mention that I really hate USC? As much as this guy hates Tennessee.

USC LOOOOOOSES!

WOW! More important than my last post on America's economic death spiral, USC loses to Oregon State 27 to 21!

I am a proud USC hater and this is truly a happy, happy day!

In light of this recent development, the LA times foregone conclusion of victory as evidenced in this article is absolutely hilarious.

And let's not forget to throw Kirk Herbstreit under the bus. His interview with Mark Sanchez is even more side splittingly funny than the LA times article.



Kirk drinks more USC flavored Kool-aid than USC's own quarterback! Earth to Kirk, the inferior team is determined by the SCOREBOARD! I simply can't wait to see him deny reality Saturday morning on College Game Day. He'll probably claim that Oregon State is #1 just so he can say USC is #2. Naw, forget that. We're talking Kirk Herbstreit here! I'm sure he'll find a way to make the case that USC is still #1 and everyone else is still "inferior".

(Pssst! Kirk, I don't think that word means what you think it means.)

$700,000,000,000.00 Bailout

Lots of folks on TV are telling me we're in really bad shape, economically speaking. OK. I'll buy that. They're also telling me we've got to "bail out" our financial system with $700 billion in tax dollars. Congress agrees. Everyone says the consequences would be awful and, "we've got to do it." I've got only one simple question.

WHY?

Why do we have to do it? I'm not saying we don't, I'd just like an explanation before I unquestioningly throw $700 billion at the problem. I haven't heard a single person explain the consequences of NOT dumping tons of money into... into... into what exactly? Where EXACTLY is this $700 Billion going to go? Precisely who's pocket will the money end up in? No one has explained exactly how this mind bogglingly enormous amount of money is going to save us from the unknown and unexplained disaster looming just around the corner. Again, maybe we need to do this, but so far I've only been presented with two options:

1) The Federal Government (a thrifty and honest group of folks if there ever was one) gives $700 billion of your tax dollars to the investment companies who have already gone bankrupt writing bad loans (surely a prudent investment) and we all avoid a mysterious and inexplicable catastrophe that is only moments away (recession, depression, plague of locusts, melting polar ice caps, no one knows) by leaping headlong towards socialism.

2) We don't allow our politicians to hand over $700 billion of our tax dollars (after several hours of careful consideration of course) to investment bankers who lost all of their shareholders money, in the hopes of avoiding... something bad that no one can explain.

I don't know about the operational protocols where you work, but I'll tell you this. If someone came to my office and asked me for $700 billion dollars, they damn well better be able to explain why they need it! So far, I would have told all but a handful of these politicians to take the bag of manure they came in with and get the hell out of my office (the rest I would have fired on the spot)! Not because I think this is a bad deal mind you, but because they are completely unable to explain the problem and they are equally inept at explaining why the solution involves spending $700 billion in tax dollars.

For the third time, we may really need this $700 billion dollar deal, but no one is able to explain why. I expect FAR MORE from our very highly paid elected leaders than panicked looks and a knee jerk reaction to reach for America's wallet and throw money at a problem they don't understand.

If anyone knows of a web site that explains the possible outcomes of either spending the $700 billion or NOT spending the $700 billion (or preferably both), please post a link in the combox.

Hurricane Ike Bear

My sister in law in Houston told me about the bear that was spotted just after the hurricane. Pretty funny.

NCAA Football Polls

Is it just me or is everyone else sick of hearing about how good USC is EVERY FREAKIN' YEAR? Last time I checked LSU was the only team EVER to win TWO BCS CHAMPIONSHIPS! Yet the sickening ESPN, AP, USC love-fest continues.

Sure, they beat Ohio State and I'll even go so far as to say they looked good in that game (although it pains me to be that objective). But that's the only test they'll have all season. Have you looked at their schedule? Other than Ohio State, there isn't a single ranked team in sight for the entire remainder of their season. It's like being declared valedictorian after taking PE, art, home ec. and study hall your senior year. You've got to find a way to at least mix in a game with Utah or Colorado, heck even Fresno State would be an improvement at this point.

USC's one-pete National Championship and wide margins of victory against 2nd tier teams are not enough to keep a #1 ranking through the end of the season. Even a 1 loss team with a stronger schedule at the end of the season should be ranked ahead of USC. Furthermore, if the margin of victory is less than a touchdown in any of their remaining games, they should automatically fall out of the top spot IMHO.

Hurricane Gustav Damage

A few pics I took before and after the Hurricane.

Before:

After:

Some differences are obvious: roof damage, boarded windows. Some are more subtle. Check out how neat the yard looks in the before picture compared to all of the small limbs scattered around in the after pic. Also, look closely at the neighbor's tree behind my garage. It's thinned out quite a bit after the storm.

I also saw some National Guard troops rolling through town.

While we're on the topic of Hurricanes, if you own your own home and you live in an area prone to Hurricanes, you may be surprised to learn that you probably have a "hurricane deductible" that is substantially higher than your standard deductible. You might want to look into it before the next storm comes.

A few more pics here.

Prayers and best wishes to those in Ike's path.

Hurricane Gustav Travels

Made it back from Dallas this evening about 5:30 pm. The electricity came back on at about 5:40 pm. (not bad timing). I've got a little roof damage and lots of limbs in the yard but other than that everything looks OK. I took a few pictures of the damage around town but my camera was full before I could get everything. I'm sure it will all be cleaned up by tomorrow. I'll post the pictures I have sometime this week when I have time.

We stayed at the Sheraton in downtown Dallas along with several hundred other Louisianians who had the same idea. There were a bunch of nursing home patients on one floor. I saw a bunch of LSU gear being worn. We also had what I assume were the representatives from the 9th ward of New Orleans fighting in the lobby and screaming expletives at each other in their rooms so loud that I could hear them down the hall near the elevators. I had hoped to avoid the 9th ward thugs by staying in an expensive hotel as geographically far from New Orleans as humanly possible. Apparently the barriers to entry weren't sufficiently high. Luckily we managed to get a room away from most of the commotion but I had a coon-ass life insurance policy with me just in case (a Browning .380 auto).

I may post more on this later. Right now it's time for bed. Pray for those who were hit hard by the storm. It may be a while before they get power.