Goldstein's comrade special edition

[westerebus]

Dear party leaders are you happy now? Good citizen, the people have spoken and they are not happy. The party finds no comfort in bipartisanship and dares not protest too loudly at the other end for the sake of the nation. There is a virulent case of bank flu going around the globe, just in time for the holidays. And we are supposed to do just what exactly? Panic? Protest? Wait for calmer heads to prevail? Hope? Change? Deny?
If it looks like a 900 pound turd in the middle of the room, smells like wise, there can be no doubt as to who left it. Only the party could present such a wonder. Denial is out.
Change is lost in transit. No help there. Hope has a message, not necessarily the one that will cast pearls to swine though. Again no help. The only head we need concern ourselves about is the one on our shoulders. If it fails, the other one has no advice worth speaking of. Apologies to the intelligent sex, Goldstein just could not resist. We shall by pass protest for the moment. How then will panic help? It has lowered the markets to the benefit of some. Scared the maker's of markets into the waiting arms of the party's contributor's column. Given the rest of the world, a well deserved glance at what hubris on the home front look like. So, not much help there either. Protest? Just what shall we protest? The right wing sowing seeds of destruction? The left wing knitting a bill of many colors? The absence of guilt? No, comrades, these are small details.
The plan of the party continues onward. Here for your protection. Do you smell something burning? Do you feel the wave of far off heat? When the world is on fire, who do you call? Goldstein, that's who.

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Yes, Please Call Me For Intelligent Sex

Ladies only, please.

[The Inquisitive]

3. nice

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[westerebus]

6. From the looks of it

it's three thumbs up from someone who is gender challenged. Then again all I get is mt. Where's the romance? Performance anxiety probably. Market depression will do that. Oh yea of little faith and shorter retort, found only lust in the financial report.

[The Inquisitive]

2. mt

[A HERETIC I AM]

4. It's like watching a crazy guy in the park, wearing an overcoat and top hat, walking in a circle....

Talking to himself.

Reciting Othello with what he is sure is a quality delivery, hoping upon hope that there is at least one person who appreciates fine acting. Better yet, hoping there is another crazy guy, perfectly dressed for the part, to step up and skillfully utter the next line.

If nothing else, it deserves one of these.

:applause:

Now, one more for the "Hide Thread" pile.

[westerebus]

5. I don't own a top hat. n/t

[westerebus]

7. Courage

The ability to run toward the sound of gunfire. This is so lacking in the discussion of the bail out et rescue plan. Good citizens, how are we to change the way the markets and their friends of the party do business if we do not hold the line? We all know the history of this administration and all the help the party has provided, despite our angered appeals. Enough of the wonks and hacks and fear mongers insistence we are all doomed should this plan not come to pass. Case in point, $100 a barrel oil and the economic capitalist world will fall apart. Been there, done that, we are still here working our collective asses off putting bread on the table. While the great and mighty members of the party spew insults at our lack of understanding of big picture economics. We just can't be expected to reason our way through economics 101. Cost accounting 101. Basic business law 101. How sad are we?
Shock, after-shock, tremors, and shock and awe, surge, draw down to push back, all in the name of democracy? That's not my version of what democracy looks like. Bail out, rescue, recover, and tax payer re-capitalization do not a capitalist economy make. They want help. First open the books. Second, put regulation into law. Third, sign a loan agreement just like the rest of us. And if you don't qualify for the loan because you are too big a risk, Mr Buffet will lend you some at 10%. So will the rest of the billionaires if they are so inclined. They have the ability to do the math. Oh? They're not interested without a guarantee? Well neither are we.
The firemen who enter burning buildings to rescue those trapped inside do so with persistent courage from hard training and dedication. Comrades, one would think our Congress is no less willing to show the courage needed to pull the fire alarm and arrest the pyromaniac that started that blaze in the first place. Of course a $1000 suit will not cover up the smell of gasoline will it dear party leaders ?

[westerebus]

8. All hail the Senate!

Thank the gods for the Senate good citizens. Who else would insert a "west of the Mississippi" amendment to buy right wing votes into a bill that is touted as the mother of all bailouts. It would have been the father of all bailouts, but there are paternity issues. Somebody did indeed father more than one little waif who went astray on Wall Street. All toll, to no good by the latest account of failed responsibility. Comrades, we might pass on manners, we might pass on taste, we may even pass on party, but we can not pass on willful abuse that is the genesis of their problems. Being the authors or co signers of past deregulation of the markets, what should you expect? Goldstein does recall the era of junk bonds, no, the one before this fiasco, when MBA students were required to take ethics courses. That should pretty much cover everybody working on Wall Street hired in the past twenty years. Based on the mess they have created, the grading was on curve allowing for the one nun who aced the class. Her score was packaged, repackaged, hedged, sold short, and finally swapped to get the next few generations a passing grade. Thank you Sister. You see that vow of poverty is sowing ill gotten gains for the few. And reap they shall! For their companions in the Senate, and a few unnamed fathers, have elections to win or lose. Either way they get to keep what they don't spend from contributions. Like last year's bonus checks for the wonder kin of Wall Street.
Comrades, the party has come together to save you. Hope has joined with change to protect your interests in the up coming recovery. That should be in about three maybe four years. In the mean time, go to work, pay your taxes, and obey the law. Doing less is un-American.
Considering the world market will soon be borrowing dollars at 3% to invest in American capital markets for a return of 9% how long will it take before we run out of money? Can you say: Japan.

[westerebus]

9. Investments in tin mines.

The good folks from the New World Order - the sky is falling - seal the borders crowd, are hard at work. From what we can surmise, this is the final movement to the total integration of NAFTA and the end of the greenback or life as we know it. Well, it's about time somebody besides the party got the credit for this mess. The NWO folks even have a plan on how to resolve the financial crisis without tax payer dollars! Just nationalize all the financial markets after the crash of the stock market scheduled for spring 2009. No problem, we're on time for a change.
Wait a minute, that's where we are headed with or without the bailout. So when 70% of the citizenry say: NO to the bailout, and the party says: yes, please with sugar on top and little sprinkly things too, we are to believe there's some sort of conspiracy at hand? Or is just politics as usual?
When the good citizens say: impeach the SOB, and her Speakership says: Let them eat cake, sorry wrong century, NO, it's off the table; and we really, really need a bailout. Who can argue? Or is just politics as usual?
When the folks who shoved deregulation, we will skip the description of where it was shoved, advise us regulation is necessary to return confidence to the markets, insist it's for main street not wall street; are we to assume the position with gleeful anticipation? Or shall we double our investments in tin mines? Far be it for the party to place their interests before ours. Or is it just politics as we have come to accept in this country? At the very least, the NWO folks have uniforms, guns, a plan, leadership, and a mission. Very ugly plans and the who's who of secret leadership to boot!
Do you think an IPO NWOFund is a market possibility? Too bad we can't short Congress? They are on the no short list too, courtesy of the Ministry on the Monies.
Why are they so worried about credit markets effecting main street? The last contribution you made to the party of your choice was on a what? Visa because you care.
Goldstein reminds you in the city on the hill people are hungry. Please give to your local food bank if you are able.

[westerebus]

10. Sodom and Gomorrah.

Comrades, you may or may not believe in the Bible, it does not matter as long as you know the story of Lot's wife. As the story goes, she turned back to look at the destruction of the two cities, having been warned not to. Her punishment was to be turned into a pillar of salt. The modern version of which is the propaganda war for your hearts and minds. If you are granted an exemption from destruction, why look back? Lust is it's own justification. Greed know no bounds.
On the right such an event would allow Lot to declare a capital loss to big to accept there by opening the window to the FED and a tax holiday due to a natural disaster. On the left that would give Lot a reason to get federal funding in the form a FEMA loan and FHA low interest mortgage and an SBA grant to open an organic, impressionistic tax free NGO to save the salt.
Based on the actions of the party collective, the past week's bipartisanship bailout of unpalatable bilge waste, we must take the message of the party to heart. There's a difference in the way one can view a ship wreck, as a passenger or a spectator. We are all passengers in this case and the party knows it. Whom do you think the life boats are for?
Comrades, if tomorrow you see lines of people at your bank, get in line. If there is a plan on what it will take to correct the correction, Goldstein must have missed it. Having watched hope and change do the dozens again, it would not be a surprise to see many familiar faces at the bank tomorrow. Hope sounds like Allstate: you're in good hands. Change is like Hertz: putting you in the driver seat. Can we just text in our choice and be done with it already? Or go out side and raise our hands and get the NASA to record the moment? Blue tee shirt, red tee shirt day? Something, anything?
Once again the party is here for your vote.

[westerebus]

11. On skinning cats.

Comrades, you will recall the number one priority of the second installment of the good old boys into the great white bunker; the privatization of social security. Did it fail to impress you? The idea you could, if you so choose to, enter into the stock market with a portion or all your social security funds. There by opting out of the system and setting the course you desired.
No, no, said the party. That would be folly said the boomer's and their parents. The matter was left dead on the side of the road, so you thought. Bad news comrades. By the power vested in them, your Congress, the party, and the good old boys will take what is necessary to complete the transition into the stock market. Where did $700 billion plus come from? A nice round number. A well rounded sum in proportion to the population. Ah, simplicity itself. And to think, there was all this consternation about a bailout. It's the initial investment necessary to get your deepest support of the "ownership option".
Protection of the tax payer's money, stock ownership, redeemable at a profit, re capitalization of the credit markets, it's all for you. All in the name of the folk. Goldstein apologies for not being alert enough to derive the party's intent. All is well, go back to sleep.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

12. A bedtime story to incite nightmares. We know who the monsters will be.

[westerebus]

14. Monsters.

Monsters come in many colors as do party members. Given the disgust at the operations within the party (primaries)and the moralistic attitude between the ends of the party( given what I know now, my vote would be vs I wasn't here so don't blame me if you got it wrong vs I told them the surge would work) right and left exemptions from responsibility, we are not given much of a choice. The party exists for your vote. The real nightmare starts the day after the new president takes office. Most of this current trading is all in the sake of delaying tactics, wiping out 401ks, pension funds, and pouring sand into the gears will inspire more animosity. That in itself is a day time monster and very real. The solution(s) offered by the ends of the party, tax cuts, federal programs, ending earmarks, are NOT the fundamental solution to saving the good citizens of this nation. Confidence in leadership is where the solution starts. The monster under the bed is not the same monster hiding in the closet. Depends on which one you are most concerned with good citizen.

[Joanne98]

13. YAY Goldstein is back!

[westerebus]

15. Someone has to annoy the thought police. n/t

[Joanne98]

16. You're good at that. For sure!

:hi:

[westerebus]

17. Fumes.

Good citizen, back in leaner times when credit was what the grocer granted your parents between pay checks, many drove on fumes to get to where ever they needed to go. At that time the thought that gas would reach a dollar was, well, not a reality based proposition. We had oil, we had friends who had oil, the world was awash in cheap oil. All dollar based oil was ours any time we wanted. What we did not have was a lot of dollars. To buy a house, a collective of parents, grand parents, in laws, and sometimes a rich uncle, all kicked into the required down payment of 20%. Veteran's being the exception. The world watched as we build the oil driven modern sprawl near the mall. The mini revolutions in the cities and the lure of low taxing burbs was all we needed to depart the congested crime ridden cities. We would commute to everywhere and no where. We would drive away from all the people and problems of working class poor cities. We would drive to the community colleges and night school to get where we needed to go. Upward was outward. Progress was in the making of the new. New roads connecting the new factories to the new mall to the new schools to the new township to the latest county where wealth was to be found.
The old was left to decay. To die. The grand classic victorian homes split into rooming houses of the working poor. Some family homes secretly converted to front door, back door entry ways to beat the tax man. Basement, first floor, second floor,and attic apartments,that makes four families under one roof. Do you know why fire codes are written they way they are? Occupancy by... is prohibited. That's the reason.
Factory towns lost their reason to exist as one by one, the factories closed. They left the north for the south, the south for the west, the west for the off shore. Folks drove on fumes to relocate. To find jobs. To live. To find that elusive happiness others had. A lot of which was borrowed. More and more it was the fulfillment of unhappiness. The cycle of debt unbroken in the attempt to own the American dream.
Today, comrades, many are still driving on fumes. The best the party has to offer is tax cuts. Perhaps when we finally coast to a stop, which given our current inclination will occur under a new president. In the year's ahead, we might find ourselves waiting for the bus to take us to the clinic to see the social worker to get the debit card to pay for the prescription for the anti depressants necessary to get us through another election about Tax Cuts. When the drugs wear off then what? When the bus doesn't show up then what? When they close the clinic then what? When the debit card is rejected then what? Thank god, we're all getting tax cuts. For a minute there I thought I missed the bus.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

18. "fulfillment of unhappiness." I'll remember that for a while.

Thanks, enjoy your commentary.

[westerebus]

19. Parts is parts.

Why do you think our good friends in the banking business would stop lending? Banks exist to lend. They create their size in the form of assets by lending, not hording. So why have they continued to horde capital?
The party's media, would have you believe the toxicity of many loans on too many balance sheets, is the reason. How then, knowing what they carried forward and did not write off, can their solvency be less then suspect? Why would the Ministry of Wealth be so interested in purchasing these toxic instruments? If they are so toxic and so confusing, why bother? Just who benefits if theses bad loans are swept from the books or settled? Would that make the banks transparent? Will that right the capital positions of the western world? Or is there something else afoot?
Comrades, you may now invoke Sherlock Holmes' reasoning: if we remove the impossible, what is left, no matter how preposterous, must be true. The short version, do the debts outstrip the assets on the books? Which is not uncommon when their is no accountability between partners. Think of what you have on your credit cards compared to your significant other. Who's deeper in debt? Who has more stuff? Which 401k is bigger? Who has a rich uncle?
Should you have to resolve your debt, by means other than bankruptcy in the case of the banks or the national government, what would you do? You sell assets. You stop spending. You ask for adjustments in loan structures. You begin hording any cash you can beg, borrow, or steal?
If you had your very own printing press what would you do? If your crazy uncle gave you cash to cover your debts, why wouldn't you pay them off? Could it be that you see opportunity in the fire sale of this century? Knowing your bad debt is not that bad compared to your assets. So why sell the assets into a panic over who has the worse debt? What if the banks continued to lend you more credit? Or you rich uncle dumped all he had into your lap? What would change?
Given you got into this mess by spending on cheap credit and buying great bargains, would you stop? Or would you be looking to buy more? Debt is valued and the holder's of debt are to be paid first, why buy stock? Did the MOW pay the stock holders or the debt holders when they rescued their life long friends? Are there any assets worth holding on to? If you knew somethings were about to get cheaper would you horde capital? Sure you would. Would you complain about the other folk's spending and debt to get a better price? Sure you would. Will the banks act other wise? Will the party rescue you or the holder's of their debt?
The party is here for your protection. Debt is good.

[westerebus]

20. Swoon.

Found between swiver, a person given to sexual indulgence, and swot, a person who studies hard; lies one over come to a point near rapture or fainting. Just what can one expect from a party so inclined to swoon at the predicament they find themselves in? What is far more fearful is who shall take up the office of prime minister? Currently that position is held by a shadow. A shadow that can move a nation to war. A shadow willing to cut more then corners out of the Constitution to get the proper fit to the power that office assumed. Gravitas. Political weight. There is none in the line up as proposed by the party. Why?
The position of a singular power of the presidency has been replaced, it shall be a co-dependency. You do believe this do you not comrade? That was implicit, not implied. The job of president is just a tad larger then the suit that fills the chair. Nothing passes that chair that isn't vetted and made whole for the party's sake. The position of prime minister is no longer a mockery of Senatorial resolver, even given the appointment of the Constitution on duties so assigned. Just who will take pen to budget? Commander's in Chief are prone to details and sub-plots. They have no choice. The second in command wears a political uniform. As power is transfered only under extremely limited circumstances to the prime minister. The power of the military command structure is not in the organizational chart of the Great White Bunker. It resides in in the Oval office. With two wars in east asia, time stands still for no man. Spill over is problematic. The economic status of petro-dollars keeps the Robed One's up all night. Who will attend the king's next birthday bash? The Reformed Orange Growers will want face time before, during and after the next crisis. The great western union is none to trouble free. The Mao All Stars are restless and fitful. And we haven't touched on the domestic end of the house. So why such meager depth at the Prime Minster position.
The economic patterns that brings the new administration into power will be the same that bids them fare thee well in four years. No administration is prepared for what is coming. Political brinkmanship is not in vogue. The party will bipartisan us into stalemate of competing demands for resources we don't have. What follows a deflationary down turn is inflation cubed. The correction to the current greed is a good old fashion hanging. If you find that harsh, consider starvation as the next epidemic. We have double digit inflation in costs, high and extended unemployment and repression on the home front all thanks to good friends of the party. And who is being bailed out? All justified by the need to set our financial house in order in these times of great peril.
Where is the sacrifice? Where has the Congress been? We know what the party is for. To protect us should we swoon.

[Joanne98]

22. Excellent observation. Goldstein is very smart.

[westerebus]

21. 12 march 1917

Keep this date in mind, comrades.

[westerebus]

23. P E

Possible exaggerations, predictable entropy, piecemeal elaboration, particular enigmas, perversive effluence, and political expediency. All the subject of what ails the markets. One might give a pass to the party, if the party would pass a hat around from which we may choose the denomination fitting our interests. No bill smaller than the smallest bonus to be paid the deckhands and mates aboard the USS To Big To Fail would be a good place to start. From this hat, student loans should be paid perhaps. Medicare rolled into universal coverage for catastrophic illness might come out of this hat. What should not appear is a stimulus of food stamps and unemployment payments. What should not come out of this hat is the great underwriting of mortgages under water. So it is with general despair and major disruption that what resides up one's sleeve is not our business. What is in the hat is all we care to know about. Trickery is the profession of the party. Performance and showmanship to keep us at seat's edge. Will we actually get to peer into the hat? Will we really get out of it what we put into it, as admission to the great show? Or will it be the old, now you see it, now you don't, it was a promise after all. All promises were made to be broken. Friends with benefits in current parlance are not committed couples.
Good citizens, you may very well get what you wish for. A changing of ownership at the great white bunker and in the Congress too. If this is the case, why do we worry so? Did faith move a mountain? Did the mountain move itself? Did you see the mountain move? And just how well will the market comply to another shift of perspective?
Looking into a future of lower earnings, lower spending, slower growth, expanding impoverishment and tax cuts, the hat will indeed be passed around. Not for our choosing mind you. The faith that moves mountains will require additional donations. The party is always here. Watch as they make a mountain disappear.

[westerebus]

24. Place your bets.

Almost 900 points upward and they say fear and panic are short lived among the trust worthy. Well, we now have a possible idea why banks have been hording money. Why would they lend to you at 6 or 7% when they can suck the life out of what's left on main street. They are not as stupid as they would want you to think they are. No, they have no self respect either. This is them vs the rest of the world. Who just helped the mutual funds and institutions gobble up a buffet of undervalued goodies? De-leveraged of toxic, somebody owes somebody something, just feels so right. Just who gained on this jaunt down memory lane? The right wing perhaps? Goldstein say it just isn't so!
To paraphrase hope, as long as it's the economy, we win, now let's talk about the economic policy of tax cuts I'll put in place... How big a move to the upside would be needed by the Capitan's of Industry Yacht Club to obscure the focus of the middle third of the uncommitted? Are you listening? Good citizen, you can't buy votes, like beers, you can only rent them.
No, says you. Too far fetched. Really? After eight years of the good old boy's from the great white bunker and you still insist there is well, democracy? That the party would not come together to wink and nod to cover their collective assets? If for no other reason than to extort a few more dollars for the good of the party coffers. It may not change the outcome of the Congressional races, it will give pause for the few looking for an excuse to justify changing the sheets in the great white bunker.
Is there regulation of the markets yet? No. Is there transparency? No. Is there moderation of the greedy SOBs who run the markets? No. Are you being served? Think the classic Outer Limits show and alien cookbooks. The mundane middle class world is alien to the super rich. Revaluation is one thing, redistribution is quite another.
Do we have an energy policy yet? Universal health care? Sustainable social security? An end to the east asia war? Or is that wars? How about campaign finance reform? One citizen, one vote, no electoral college bypass?
What we do have is a huge deficit and a world wide recession. So America votes in the consumer poll and the total of which is the popularity of both ends of the party, plus the added bonus of the good old boys from the great white bunker and the market rallies. Of course if it were to fall say another 20% from here, post rally, you'd buy too. The party is here for your very last dollar, you protection and your vote.

[westerebus]

25. Summits.

Comrades, there is some confusion on the up coming summit. There is no plan to come to parity in terms of monetary equality. There are no plans to revise the power of the American Federal Reserve System. There are no plans to go to the gold standard. There are no plans to feed the poor, cloth the naked, shelter the homeless, comfort the down trodden, cure the sick.
How plainly can Goldstein put this. There is no plan to bring about Utopia. What they will try to do is come to an agreement on revaluation to avoid the collapse of the banking system which has with the collusion of the political parties taken the world into a depression of economic activity.
Hopefully, we will avoid a military build up and an escalation in nationalism. Currently, they are content to fight the war on terrorism. It comes down to self protection of the political parties and their corporate allies.
As always the party is here for your protection.

[question everything]

26. I've seen these threads before, but have to ask: who is Goldstein?

And, not having a space between paragraphs really makes it hard to follow any line of reasoning - if any exist.

Thanks.

[westerebus]

27. Goldstein's comrade.

Goldstein is an enemy of the state. Goldstein's comrade is an enemy of the state by association.

Who is Question Everything?

Why are spaces between paragraphs so important to question every thing's query as to the existence of reasoning in the context of Goldstein?

Should one requesting the identity of a fictional character from Orwell's 1984 based on the space between paragraphs answer as to who they are?

Is there a trap being constructed for Goldstein's comrade or for Question Everything based solely on the existence of the logic inherent in why one would space paragraphs in this manner?

In fact the removal of space between paragraphs may be a construct to lure another enemy of the state out from behind their anonymity?

Is it then possible to deduce that Goldstein's Comrade is in fact an agent of the state using a cover of carefully arranged provocations to confuse the reader into looking for logic where none is intended?

Question Everything how many fingers are on my right hand?

Question Everything why are you compelled to ask, having read these threads before: who IS Goldstein?

[westerebus]

28. Out of the past.

Comrades, once again we have managed to antagonize the thought police. Please offer a moment of silence for the Heretic I Am at this time. Poor dear must once again hit the hide a thread button. We had hoped to bring him into the fold so to speak, to no avail. Which brings us to past recessions and the consequences there of.

The worst recession in Goldstein's memory was the 1971-74 monster. The economic debate at the time boiled down to a simple formula. If you had a job, it was a recession; if you had no job, it was a depression. The party managed to extend unemployment insurance while the media reported the daily rise in the jobless rate. Not a time we would like to revisit.

The godless russians threatened to go nuclear over the Arab Israeli War of 1973. OPEC then embargoed oil shipments to the United States to help things along. All this is history. We live in the global age and the party has defeated or co-opted the majority of those players. We should be happy.

However, we are about to retest similar waters. Part of what was lost in that de-leveraging was pensions and job security as unions went bust and factories closed. The shrinking of the middle class had begun. It is still ongoing. As resourceful as we are, having thwarted administration and party alike, keep in mind the battle will continue. This election presents us possibility. Vote like your job depended on it, it just might.

Question Everything is the spacing to your liking?

[westerebus]

29. Hurry up and wait.

Any one who has served knows all too well this expression. Awakened at zero dark thirty in some god-forsaken place in order to saddle up and move out to an ungodly place with hostile intent. Even in non war zones the drill is the same. Hustle, move, move, move, hurry up, run, and then wait. And wait some more.

So to with our pending departure from neo Conservative, free market, unregulated, take one for the gripper's economic model to something else. Just what that else is depends on what is, is. What was has to change. The vox poluli has trumpeted the call to a digitized age of their making. Having reached the summit of the mountain, the climbs done. The triumph of good over evil complete. Well not quite.

It was no small feat. It has taken inspiration and dedication to come this distance. You are to be commended good citizens for all your efforts. You have in victory diminished the right wing of the party. You have accepted the responsibility to built the new city on the summit. A much further distance than that city on the hill from which you started.

The jubilation you feel is what comes from surviving conflict. Enjoy them while you can as they tend to add restlessness to the new task that awaits. The hurry up part repeats. The same dedication is required to complete the next mission. The next and the next.

The party continues. The work continues. Saddle up and prepare to move out. No, there is no rest for the weary.

[westerebus]

30. OOPS!

Simply dumbfounded. An oversight. We knew but didn't think to tell anybody. Split milk. Water under the bridge. There are several other excuses about to appear in the media in defense of the bailout/ bonus bill which the good citizens opposed. All for naught.

Comrades, the time has come for a good hanging. They would hang you if you stole a million. The faux leadership in charge of the bailout has stolen $700 billion. Directly from the Treasury. And no one is to blame. It's for the good of the country. The banks must be saved or they will not lend.

Well, they are not lending. Ergo, they need more saving. They need more capital to show a positive balance sheet to improve the yearly bonus structure. They can no longer sacrifice for the sake of the nation. It's your turn. Good citizen, you must play by the rules. Sacrifice is good for you. You are fat, malnourished, lazy, highly productive, selfish, charitable, uneducated, overeducated, and beyond description. You must sacrifice. Do it now.

On the brighter side, all is well. This nation has come through tougher times. Think FDR. The New Deal. The time frame was what a mere ten years. It's not like you're going anywhere soon. You will get a tax cut. Food stamps and unemployment benefits are in the works. But, you are better off then those elsewhere on the planet.

Perhaps the G20 meeting will solve all the world's woes. Save the cheerleader, save the world. Now the left wing of the party will do what the right wing could not.

[westerebus]

31. Distressed.

That period between recession and depression, also know as the eye of the storm. How can one be expected to support anything offered by the out going regime while the new crew is keeping a very high low profile? If the decider decided, the matter should be settled. The good old boy's from the great white bunker put the ministers of wealth and numerical computation out there to correct a correction. Hasn't worked by all accounts. It has bought, let's make that BOUGHT, some time for the GOB's to finish antagonizing the old Red Bear, the Man in Tan, The Mao All Stars, The Robed One's, the Reformed Orange Growers and a domestic audience of millions. Mission Accomplished!

So were are folks putting there money these days? No one is buying domestic vehicles, washing machines, or rare wine. So what are they buying? Ammo. Yes, ammo. That comrades is the next commodity bubble. If you want a stock to own it's Olin Corp. They own Winchester. Winchester makes gazillions of rounds of ammunition. Have you heard the term: gunned up? Well once you have what you consider a reasonable amount of firearms, gunned up; you buy all the ammo you can.

There are some who believe we are headed into anarchy. You may take your pick as to the reason. Collapsed economic state is very popular. Race war is getting some play too. Right wing insurgency with the assistance of foreign nationals requiring martial law is another. It may be a red state thing. Just which states have or will have the highest job loss? Looking bluish?

Which brings us to the G-20 meeting. Why bother? The GOB's can't commit to anything anyone would believe. The new crew is doing the low profile, can you hear us now thing? And we good citizens watch as the whole thing slips deeper underwater.

So, to the G-20 get together, best wishes on your recovery. Tampering with our money is a big no-no. We are all in need of someone to vent at. Please do yourselves a favor and just stay home.

If the new crew wants to lay the fate of this nation at the door step of the good old boy's, there will not be many happy campers come Inauguration day. We know why you were elected. We know who screwed this country. There's much too much distress out among the good citizens. Please before stupidity overwhelms someone, start passing out $100 bills now. Just hand them out. Mail them out. Direct deposit them. Put them in report cards. Clip them to cell phone contracts. Use the to wrap Starbuck's over priced bitter coffees. But get it going NOW!

Goldstein would declare his comrade available to a bank infusion of say a mere million dollars, but it would just go to books for children, food for the food bank, and more ammo.

[westerebus]

32. Mr.Porter

There is the possibility, good citizen, all will return to normal by mid 2009. The banks will lend, the auto makers will make autos. Good citizens will borrow and spend. Wall street will resume it's place as the financial fortress of democracy and America's position as Policeman of the planet Earth will never come into question again.

There is a possibility, good progressives, all the social issues that are offensive to the right wing will succumb with the stroke of the Presidential pen. That the new Supreme Court will enforce the Constitutional requirement to equality. That the Congress will do justice and put the interest of the this Nation first.

There is the possibility, comrades, socialism will find a homeless, jobless, penniless good progressive citizen and grant them due compensation and fulfillment of their daily needs. There are always possibilities pending that good fortune will over come despair and destitution.

The good citizens have spent themselves in this cause. Good progressives all. All working to the common cause of removing the injustices suffered by the many and more acutely by the few. Which is why we look at Mr. Porter's work, The Gift of the Magi.

Good citizen, you may recognize the name: O. Henry. The story of the two lover's wanting to surprise the other with a gift they would cherish. For her, an ornate hair comb to compliment her beautiful hair. For him, a watch fob to go with his prized pocket watch.

Selling what they both held so dear to show their devotion to the other. We need not worry beyond our front door some will argue. What will the party part with to show their devotion?

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Joanne98]

34. kick

[westerebus]

35. Raffles.

Solutions are what we are after. Problems are what we have. Solutions to problems are in the details. Thank the gods the G-20 have the best spin doctors money can buy. The media has restored itself to the head of the class on the drooling sociopaths bus who missed the last round of meds. If there was a story to come out this meeting, it was the passing of the mantle to the new administration. And that report was? There was next to none.

What we got was not a glimmer of dollar cost averaging by the sovereign wealth funds, instead we got the vetting process has begun for the Sectary of State. We heard tales of growth and transparency are coming right after they figure out who leaked the leak. As if that will put rumor to rest.

The G-20 will met in future with the new administration. For we are assured they did not met in some airport hanger. Honest.

Which returns to accommodations. How to get the new team to pee in the same direction. One may pee from inside the tent to outside. The G-20 is apt to pee in unison. That is what they would like you to believe good citizen. The GOB's will have left town and the new crew will seamlessly transition into power. He who has the toilet paper, rules the world.

Confronted with what to do with all the unsold inventory on domestic car dealerships. we offer the following solution. Raffles. The dealerships donate the new vehicles to house's of worship and community organizations and gets a tax write off. The patrons of these organizations get new vehicles for pennies on the dollar. Inventory is reduced. No raffle can last for more then a month. Multiple vehicles may be raffled at one time by any participating organizations. You will have to pay tax on the new vehicle at MSRP.

That's crazy. It will not work. Well, we can always wait for the fifty percent pre christmas sale. As always, the party is here for your protection.

[westerebus]

36. Pirates.

What is the world coming to? Have the great powers of mighty nation's so diminished as to allow piracy to run amok on the high seas? Truly, we are forgetful about the sameness committed ashore. How is it the Congress could hand over such ransom and never fire a shot in anger? We have answered our own question. Regrettably.


What now are we to do? Payout with a note none can cash? Seems this is the direction our 'best' Congress would approve of. Shall we wait for the 'better' Congress to seal our fate? As crews go they were all buggered for lack of a majority last time round. What excuse is in the offing?


Treason is not dishonorable if pardoned before trial. Trial is not necessary if evidence is a state secret. State secrets are what keeps us safe. To demand recourse is to flirt with treason. We have no secrets save those we never speak of.


So, it's pirates that rule. It's good capitalist's fighting for tax dollars to put the wind back into their sails. Cut throat banker's buoyed to the federal teat for safety sake. The reckless homeowner under water and under siege. Socialism all around and fear in the air. Even the damned Communists have gotten religion.

In Goldstein's world, waiting is no longer a option. There are no puts or calls this time to hedge with. Comrades, you will recall the uniqueness of the 2001 recession. A jobless recession was the term used. The correction was to declare a war. Then another. One bubble burst, followed by an other bubble created by very cheap money. That one has also burst. We are back to cheap money and none will lend. Values continue to decrease and the economy contracts. We don't need to be scholars to understand what we feel in our guts. It is bad and it is going to get worse.

Dear Party Leaders, waiting is not an option. If you think your pirates are wicked, you have no idea what's about to pull along side you.

[westerebus]

37. 479

That number is the total votes cast in the Fed Smith economic poll of Thrift Saving Plan ( TSP ) participants as of this date and time. These good citizens are a collection of Federal Government employees. All agencies including, the military, the state department, the post office and NASA participate in the TSP; it is the IRA of the American Government.

Question? Will the stock market be higher or lower by the end of December?

LOWER..... 67%

Higher.... 23%

Undecided. 10%

The party is here for your protection.

[westerebus]

38. Vacation information.

Greetings Comrades! Having just returned from Florida, there is much to report. First, Southern cooking just keeps getting better. To our surprise so does the stock market. Is it possible the appearance of the president elects three press conferences nudged the free marketers into action? Was it the news the Clinton's would be sitting at the kool aid stand selling centrist policy and party snacks that put market fever into high gear? Probably not.

Was it the additional $800 billion coming down the pike? The party has pledged or promised or donated or spent seven trillion dollars, with more to come. What's not to like? Are you going to grouse about debt? It's a war! You must spend what ever it takes to win. The crisis has gone beyond crisis! So much for hype and disinformation. Unfortunately, it's gone beyond our control. That being the capacity to manage news/propaganda and the push to run the market back up. To rebuild the cushion so to speak.

Up to this point, we could in all good conscience, blame the GOB's and the friend's of the party on Wall Street or K Street to a large extent. That was then this now. We are moving into the print more money and throw it out the window phase. While incurring debts very close to the GDP's tipping point. Asset values are contracting. We are not in an expanding economic cycle. We are watching a bear market rally infused with tax payer largess. There's a reason Paul Volker is smiling. He knows what's coming.

Yes, we did call for a very large dollar package to push the economy into a semi conscious state. The void of nothingness is not helpful. The over medication of the economy is just as bad. It's the dammed if you do, twice as dammed if you don't shuffle we find interesting.

Money will be spent to curb the decline in GDP. More money will be printed. More money will be spent to prop up the failing asset market. Deflation will continue. More money will be printed anew. Deflation will continue. And eventually, hopefully, inflation will return. Right after the next monster down turn that will scare the be jesus out of everybody. At which point, the possibility exists someone will declare just what kind of economic system we might be able to live with. The current one is not working. The debt is way too gross. The risk is barely worth the paper it's printed on.

In short, southern cooking will make you fat and happy until your next visit to the doctor where upon the adult in the room will present the likely out come of too rich a table. Diet can not stand to be in the same sentence with southern cooking.

So too fiscal responsibility does not play well with others. Get an agreement to a plan not based on the urgency to move the market forward. Get ahead of the market. It will find it's way home one way or the other. The party can take a cab, better yet a bus.

[westerebus]

39. The New Thunder Dome.

Good citizens do not disparage your fine fellows of the Congress. They are all put upon by the requirement to preform in the party's play. The hearings are all the rage. Press conferences are to be preformed. Makeup! Lights! Sound! Roll film!

All this is very very stressful to those brave souls. Hours of speechify-ing and nodding and reading notes in one's own hand is, well, debilitating. They will need to recess soon. For the good of the Country. Tomorrow can't come too soon.

The meat of the matter is how to prop up the economy. Where were all these experts prior to the down swing? The Finance Committee? Let us repeat the question. Where were the experts on the Finance Committee? The Ways and Means Committee? The We Set Policy and Spend Tax Money Committee? Hello??Anybody?

Well, we have the first project for the new economy. The New Thunder Dome. This will be a pay per view extravaganza! Constructed with all union labor. So the project will never end. It will include an Armed Forces Base so it will never close. It will be named after all the modern presidents so it will be fully funded. EEO,ADA,OSHA,FHA, and what ever compliance requirement necessary to meet budgetary insurance.

And what will happen there? The Games! Roman Games! Ceo's vs wild hungry lions! Wall street broker's vs Hedge fund broker's in the broken beer bottle and claw hammer fight! Acid pits vs oil company owners. Raging fire walks vs insurance company sales managers. All the waste, fraud and abuse suppliers on display for your viewing pleasure in the Pick Your Poison contest.

No, we will have plenty of lawyers, accountants, bankers, and polluters, every day of the week defilers of common good to choose from. A large supply is available while quantities last. And you are required to pay to view. Friday nights Adults only. Minors accompanied by adults permitted on Sunday after church services. $99.99 per view, cash for right wingers. $59.99 for left wingers who will have to use credit cards. Special offer. $39.99 for senior citizens who lost all their money in 401k's. Food stamps accepted. No refunds. Not responsible for accidents or injuries or acts of nature. Limited time offer.

And you thought there was no plan to recover our investments. Really,comrades,get with the plan before the plan gets with you. The party gives it a big thumbs up!! Taxes not included.

[westerebus]

40. Concerns

Good citizens, we have two concerns besides our own colony's welfare and the affect they will have shortly.

Firstly, the rubble of the Red Bear is collapsing. Given any choice, the Bear will conclude it is a plot aimed at their re-emergence. This needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

Secondly, platinum is at parity with gold. There is something very wrong here too.

On the up side, we are all being held ransom and the demands keep changing. Kidnappers should have a plan. Apparently there is none. The ransom offered isn't working either. It is hard to not find some solace in the knowledge the party is absolutely drained of common sense.

On the down side, well, it's all down side from here. The party awaits.

[SlowDownFast]

43. Comrade westerbus,

your threads are fascinating to me.

Shame that others here seem to be missing out. Lack of creativity, I suppose.

Not sure if the Bear (or anyone, for that matter) can legitimately interpret current events as a "plot" against them in particular, as current events are and will be an uncomfortable reorganizing of the whole world, and not one colony will really be spared the uncomfortableness. Pooty-Poot, with all his "intelligence", can contact the Tri-Lats/Illuminated Ones on the back channels if he doth protest a conspiracy or is feeling left out. It's entirely conceivable that even those who, in the past, have guided colonies and their commerce ever-so-discreetly are not so much in control as they once were, especially considering the nature of our current problem. Bottom line is, world leadership is either with their peoples or against them, and if against - well, let's just say either very good things or very bad things (probably both) are going to happen. How the Bear, or any other colony, adapts is ultimately up to it's people. The world is about to be tested. I continue to have hope we will pass the test, but am also prepared for the worst.

Yes, platinum at parity with gold. Says something about gold, hmmmm?

I also agree that the kidnappers seem disoriented. Methinks they struggle between their greed and the fear of what could (and probably will) happen if their "plans" were to backfire, as attempts at extortion often do.

Nevertheless, my soup bowl sits at the ready.

[westerebus]

44. No need for legitimate interpretation.

Just a casual view of the tariff mongers and capitalist old guard is enough to rally the call to arms. Good citizen, it is what happens over there that compels so many to retrench over here. The name of this game is nationalism. The us versus them is in full swing. The party is not above directing misfortune at home to achieve large goals abroad. The party is confident they have nothing to fear on the home front. The united front of the party goes a long way in co-opting security.

That disturbance in the Force, to coin that phrase, is a matter of awareness. Some feel it, some detract the proposition it exists because they don't. The anxiety and stress are real. The gut check pessimism is not simply a reaction to the news. The good citizens are ahead of the media if they are aware. Worker bees with heads down need no information. Hunter bees need all the information available. This colony is distrustful of the markets and their masters. Confidence is another word for kool-aid.

Comrade, the question posed is what of the old sheriff and his corrupt ways? The answer is: he's still the sheriff though soon to join the other retired sheriffs. We can list the dirty little wars of the party and which sheriff supported them. We can list the legislation that caused the destruction of the American Dream and who was there. The party keeps list too. And that is were fear comes from.

The response, close the borders and impose tariffs and regulate the markets?? For who's benefit good citizen? Will you be free with more regulation and smaller markets with higher tariffs? Will your debt go away? Will you have the basic necessities and few comforts a good citizen requires to live? Education, health care, employment that rewards your efforts, economic justice, and human rights?

Comrade, the Bear's party names us as the other. The Mao All Stars names us as the other. Who will we find on their lists? There is an exemption for sheriffs by the looks of it.

Are we going to wash the world in blood again? For money?

[Joanne98]

41. Hey WB have u seen these videos yet?

They're really cool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s4kTFcfs6o

[westerebus]

42. It's only the begining. n/t