Better Off Now?

Rep. Adam Kinzinger posted on his Facebook page, "Yesterday, President Obama claimed that our nation is “better off now” under his policies than the country was four years ago. Check out the President's record on the economy. Do you agree with the President?"

Well, I don't exactly agree with the President's comments -- but I'm not convinced this is all his fault either. I think the folks in Goldman Sacks (Gold Sacks) and ALSO their employees in Congress can take equal amounts of blame.  Partisan charts only add blinders to the reality that we're crashing into the toilet. Maybe we'll swirl in the bowl a couple times, but the world as we know it is about to change radically. 

Maybe that's what the Myans were talking about? 

Best Case for TORT Reform I've Ever Heard

Suing the photography studio he hired to document his wedding in 2003 because he says they didn’t shoot the last 15 minutes of the reception, leaving out the last dance and the bouquet toss? Okay, maybe that's a breach of contract, even though I don't understand why they would have packed up if those things hadn't happened yet...

Hold on, there's more. As compensation for his mental anguish, Todd Remis wants H & H Photographers to cough up $48,000 so he can recreate the wedding, right down to the guests, for them to re-shoot.

One small hitch - Remis and his wife, Milena Grzibovska, are now divorced, and her exact whereabouts are currently unknown to him.

The lawsuit, which was filed two years ago just prior to the statute of limitation’s expiration date, has already cost H & H more in legal fees than the amount of money Remis wants for his wedding recreation.
“[This case is] an abuse of the legal system,” said studio owner Dan Fried.
[nyt]

Worst of all, one of the owners of H&H survived the Nazis and now has to deal with this unemployed used douche nossel - who's obviously using the court for a cash grab.

She Bent His Wookie; So He Force Choked Her

A STAR Wars fan was yesterday jailed for life after murdering his wife in an alleged revenge attack for smashing up his cherished toy collection.

Rickie La-Touche, 30, told a court that his Thai wife Pornpilai Srisroy, 28, had damaged his precious Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker memorabilia.

He later suffocated her during a row and then ran sobbing to his mother who lived nearby.
La-Touche later told police his wife had smashed up his Star Wars collection as part of a campaign to “make his life hell”. He also claimed he “flipped” when she threatened to leave him to go back to Thailand.

La-Touche, also known as Rickie Nehls, was found guilty of murder and was ordered to serve a minimum of 12 years.

Read more:

USA's Official Motto

Yea! The House Finally Passes Meaningful Legislation!

No, they didn't do the Super Committee's Job and solve the budget standoff -- no...

By a vote of 369-9, the House passed a historic resolution “reaffirming ‘In God We Trust’ as the official motto of the United States.”

And it only cost American taxpayers about $215,000. Luckily there's NOTHING else going on in the world for our politicians to be worrying about, right?  To the brave Congresspeople who voted on such a blatantly sacrilegious measure that defies the entire meaning behind the fable of the golden calf.... keep up the good hard work you're doing over there!

Personally, I think the Motto of the USA should be "Get a brain morans, Go USA!"

Giant Sucking Sound...

First they create European Civilization, then some 2500 odd years later, destroys it. Ah, to be fair, they're just the first domino to fall.

In anticipation of a coup, Greece's prime minister fires all head military leadership

But if you're not scared - you will be. See it isn't Greece. It's not even Spain or Ireland. It's Italy.

Italy's been walking around with 1.9 trillion in Euro debt (120% of GDP), so that's roughly 5.3 times larger than that of Greece, and is quickly approaching a situation where its debt will never fall below 100% of GDP without a default/debt restructuring. Its current 10-year bond yield is 6.25% and rising, meaning creditors are demanding about a 4.5% premium over German bunds to buy their debt. If that bond yield spirals out of control, Italy will not be able to pay the interest on debt + maturing principle + non-discretionary spending. Hey, maybe they've got some land or some paintings they can sell?


So, there's a lot of folks buying Italian bonds to keep the yield in check, but it's the ECB, and that tells you that there's trouble.  They are trying to bide time until conditions improve and more buyers step up. But if Europe - and Italy - can't convince the secondary bond market that Italian bonds are a good investment, and yields keep rising, then the ECB will eventually give up and some type of default/debt restructuring will have to take place. How much you think that Leonardo's worth? You know, after depreciation an' all?

Let's put an Italian default into a context that we can wrap our heads around, Lehman Brothers was around a $600 billion default. Italy would be a 1.9 trillion Euro default. 4 X larger. Now, that's a big scary number - but then you have to start thinking about the collateral damage from the banks that will die left holding Italian debt.

THEN do it again with Spain, and Ireland, and then... you see a pattern yet?

If you're not scared, you will be. You will be.