Laissez-faire Fraud

Lots of people nowadays are looking at our troubled economy and are understandably confused as to what is the ultimate cause of the recession. Many reasons for the "economic collapse" have been put forward - mortgage lenders freely passing out low interest loans to folks who were never going to be able to repay, bankers and investment brokers repackaging collections of worthless loans and selling bits and pieces of them for commissions without any added value, worldwide growth expanding demand for a dwindling supply of oil, consumers financing their endless materialism on lines of credit they wouldn't be able to repay if they lived to be a hundred, etc. etc.

I'm sure that all of these are contributing factors. But what really concerns me is that the reasons listed above may add up to only a small portion of the real factors causing our current woes. Check out this article: http://seekingalpha.com/article/172797-the-global-oil-scam-50-times-bigger-than-madoff?source=article_sb_popular

The writer points fingers at Goldman Sachs (and others) for manipulating the price of oil, and in doing so committing fraud at a never before imagined scale. I don't really know how accurate his accusations are, but he does quote the Congressional Research Service, reports from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and others. If he's only partly correct, then outright fraud would appear to be a major contributing factor to the current recession.

We already knew that fraud played the major role in bringing Enron and Worldcom down. Computer Associates (CA) and Qwest Telecommunications were involved in multi-billion dollar fraud scandals, and then of course there's Bernie Madoff's multi-billion dollar scam.

So, now here in the early years of the twenty-first century, we are seeing thievery at a scale that not only was never possible before, but literally unimaginable.

And, making it all worse, the government is basically paying the criminals off with YOUR money! Just about every thinking financial analyst out there understands that by sinking multi-trillions of dollars into the TARP funds, the value of a dollar will be reduced commensurately. The biggest accomplishment of  TARP is that the criminals no longer will lose any of their ill gotten gains!

Currently, congress is contemplating new legislation intended to address these schemes by the Financial Sector community. However, legislation has often had exactly the opposite effect of it's intention (ref: "The Communications Decency Act of 1996" gave pornography on the Internet its biggest boost. "No Child Left Behind" explicitly spells out how public education will leave some children behind. "Defense of Marriage Act" - Ha! Don't get me started on that one!). I have very little confidence that any laws we could possibly pass would stem the flow of wealth from the middle-class to the very rich.

I am not sure what can be done to solve the problem. I'm tempted to take everything I have in savings and purchase what little gold I can. I know that my dollars will not be worth much of anything in the near future.

What's your thoughts on the current state of affairs? Do you have any hope of ever being able to retire with any quality of life?

Mr. Cuccinelli's bigotry

KENNETH CUCCINELLI, the Republican candidate for Virginia state attorney general, believes it's "appropriate" to formulate public policy on the premise that homosexuals engage in behavior that is "intrinsically wrong" and offensive to "natural law."   His comments  were made in an interview with the Virginian-Pilot, a newspaper in Norfolk, VA. Check out the story here:   Mr. Cuccinelli's bigotry.

Therefore if elected to Attorney General of Virginia, Ken will no longer abide by a "Non Discrimination Policy" put in place by Virginia's former Attorney General. 

Homosexual acts, said Mr. Cuccinelli, currently a state senator, are "intrinsically wrong. And I think in a natural law-based country it's appropriate to have policies that reflect that. . . . They don't comport with natural law. I happen to think that it represents (to put it politely; I need my thesaurus to be polite) behavior that is not healthy to an individual and in aggregate is not healthy to society."

Well Mr. Cuccinelli, do you know what else "doesn't comport with natural law"? DIVORCE! Shouldn't you put in place a policy which demands your employees to be married, and never divorced? Heck, better make it a crime. We can't have emancipated ladies trying to duck out of an abusive relationship! I mean, they must deserve it right!? 

Oh and while we're at it, shouldn't Virginia become the first state to bring back SLAVERY? I mean, the Bible does not condemn slavery! It's mentioned a bunch of times! Surely it must "comport with natural law"! Just think of the benefits to Virginia's corporations! Cheap Labor! Woot!

Mr Cuccinelli, you might want to read a few of the documents so carefully prepared by this country's founding fathers. Beyond some nebulous concept of "natural law", they actually stated the concepts that this country was founded upon. Their concept of all people being created equal under the law, and that all people are granted by their creator a set of inalienable rights might seem foreign to you, but trust me Kenny, it's very American!

Another Letter to the AFA

Hello AFA,

Please think about the consequences of obtaining donations from people who believe the lies you are spreading about the "Hate Crimes" legislation. You all know fully well that you will be able to continue to spread your hatred of those who don't share your belief system even if the Hate Crimes legislation is expanded to cover crimes against people because of their sexual orientation.

You also know fully well that there will not be a class of people with new "special rights". The only class of people who's rights will be affected are those who's violent acts of hatred - often inspired by religious fervor - have been tolerated by police and prosecutors who turn a blind eye when the victim is seen as an effeminate male or butch female.

Even as you collect your ill gotten gains from your "believers", society will continue to advance towards a day when ALL people will be respected under the law, and ALL people will be able to seek justice against those who harm them, and ALL people will be able to freely live, love and pursue happiness! Meanwhile the profit that comes from these lies you intentionally spread will poison your efforts turn the tide your way and with every generation, fewer and fewer people will fall for your indoctrination!

Signed,


George Bingham

The Evil in the AFA

My Representatives in Congress:

You may be receiving letters from constituents that were written by the American Family Association urging you to call for Kevin Jennings' resignation as the Department of Education's "Safe and Drug Free Schools" czar.

I truly hope you can see the evil between the lines in the letters the AFA has written.

Their first complaint about Kevin Jennings is that he founded an organization dedicated to stop violence against gay and lesbian students in the schools. Apparently, the AFA supports violence against gay students.

The AFA would rather continue thinking of Gays as second class citizens who should not be protected from persecution, violence, or disease. Instead, they would prefer that public school students are preached messages of chastity and abstinence, and that they not learn how to protect themselves from pregnancy or disease. The AFA would also prefer to continue their tacit approval of emotionally ridiculing young people who identify as GLBT (or are percieved to be GLBT) by sending them messages of hate.

I believe that Kevin Jennings is a brave choice for a "Safe and Drug Free Schools" czar, and I hope that you will give him all of your support! Everyone who has already grown up can see how difficult it can be for teenagers nowadays. Please empathize with those teens that find themselves aware of their GLBT feelings, which as you can imagine would be a scary thing for most kids to confront - especially publicly in a school setting. Think about that, and think about what it would be like for one of your children to be confronting feelings like that during their junior high or high school years. Wouldn't you want someone who has been through those experiences working on behalf of all students to promote peace and understanding?

Thank you for reading this letter!

Sincerely,


George Bingham
Kansas City, MO