It seems that Tom's viewpoint isn't happening like he believes, except by those who get their panties in a bunch.
Me, I'm just thinking cool- a Snickers gun!
WP
WEP Passes....On to the White House
4 hours ago
Just a bit of information that you do with what you will. As the old saying goes: "TRUST NO ONE".
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are known as "Government sponsored enterprises" or GSEs. Because of their ability to raise funds at advantageous rates, due to the government sponsorship, they over-stimulated the housing market to unheard of heights by buying mortgages originated by banks nationwide. Now, as these hallmark institutions of government manipulation of the housing market fail, the failure of government itself becomes ever more evident. The attempt to restore the GSEs cannot hide their failure from anyone who looks. That failure is already registered in the financial markets. Once a $90 stock, FNM is now a $10 stock. And FRE has fallen from over $70 to $7. The stocks have drastically slumped because of the bad investments of the GSEs in mortgages, investments urged on and subsidized by longstanding policies of the Federal government.I quickly went here for Fannie Mae and there for Freddie Mac. As you can see, both "GSEs" have fallen even further (as of this writing FNM=Last Trade: 7.07 Trade Time: 4:00PM ET and FRE=Last Trade: 5.26 Trade Time: 4:01PM ET). so being the curious Paranoid that I am, I decided to look back a few years and took a real hard look at the prices one year ago- FNM was at $65.84 and FRE at $61.60 and both were priced higher over the past two years. These prices can be seen and verified by looking at the charts that Yahoo provides.
Derivatives (highly leveraged and enormously risky instruments such as interest-rate futures, options and swaps) now total $180 trillion, 17 times the GDP. Warren Buffet calls derivatives "instruments of mass destruction". Many financial institutions have become highly invested in derivatives. Government-sponsored enterprises such as Fannie Mae (the Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp) use derivatives heavily. Because of the inherent nature of derivatives, these instruments and those using them are extremely sensitive even to small and moderate interest-rate increases.The entire article is worth reading once more just as the links are worth reading and hearing again too as the warnings have been visible for years and many men warned us- most chose to ignore it, and still do. I have not done all I can, but damned if I have not tried.
ReutersNO more in this home.
InBev agrees to buy Anheuser for $50 billion
Sunday July 13, 9:03 pm ET
By Jessica Hall and Martinne Geller
PHILADELPHIA/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch Cos Inc (NYSE:BUD - News) agreed to a $50 billion takeover by Belgium-based InBev NV (Brussels:INTB.BR - News), a source familiar with the situation said on Sunday, creating the world's largest beer maker.
InBev, the maker of Stella Artois, and Budweiser-brewer Anheuser were not immediately available to comment.
The combined company will be called Anheuser-Busch InBev, said the source, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity. Anheuser will get seats on the new company's board, the source said, but it was not immediately clear how many.
The deal brings an amicable resolution to a month-long saga that was becoming increasingly hostile as the two companies sued each other and InBev set the stage to try to replace Anheuser's board of directors.
InBev had proposed its own slate of nominees for the board that included Adolphus Busch IV, an uncle of the current chief executive of Anheuser-Busch.
InBev lured Anheuser to the bargaining table last week by raising its offer to $70 per share from $65 per share, a 27 percent premium over Anheuser's record-high stock price in October 2002.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.— That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.— Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.Then this came to mind:
Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.And with the last thought it flowered into the reminder that soon enough, I am sure we will hear:
"I was just following orders".However, a smiled blossomed across my face when I recalled, that defense does not work anymore...
"I said something the other day down in Georgia, and the Republicans jumped on this. I said, you know, absolutely immigrants need to learn English, but we also need to learn foreign languages," he said Friday.Why be embarrassed Mr. Foreigner? Unless of course you realized that you admitted your intentions of working towards creating a bi-lingual nation and we Americans do not want it, eh Mr. Foreigner?
Obama told the crowd that this is one of the problems with politics today.
"This is an example of some of the problems we get into when somebody attacks you for saying the truth, which is we should want children with more knowledge. We should want our children to have more skills. There's nothing wrong with that! It’s a good thing," he said.
While the Obama campaign says that Obama speaks a little bit of Indonesian, Obama himself admits that he isn't bilingual.
"I know because I don’t speak a foreign language. It's embarrassing!" he said.
The Obama campaign reiterated Friday that Obama would continue to require immigrants to learn English to be eligible for citizenship.Perhaps they need to understand this Mr. Foreigner, that YOU have NO say so over the requirements, or haven't they, or even you, ever read the Constitution and laws of these united States? Let me give you a hint Mr. Foreigner, the language it is in is English.
Barack Obama's planned visit to Europe later this month has thrust him into a diplomatic kerfuffle that threatens to undercut one of the cornerstones of his foreign policy: the notion that, unlike President Bush, he will listen to and work harmoniously with governments allied with the United States.Why is it that the only one saying so is a German? Why aren't Americans asking WHY ANY candidate would go overseas to campaign for the office of the President of these united States? In fact, why would any American say this?
The controversy began when word leaked that the Obama campaign, during the candidate’s first trip abroad as the presumptive Democratic nominee, was considering Berlin's historic Brandenburg Gate as the backdrop for a major address on transatlantic relations.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she opposes the idea, referring to the highly symbolic landmark as an "inappropriate" setting for a speech linked to a domestic American political campaign.
"Obviously Brandenburg is the sexiest option," the official said, but it would "undermine the message that Obama can work with U.S. allies and offers McCain evidence of Obama's diplomatic inexperience."Mr. Foreigner is not the only one who has traveled overseas, but I cannot find where Mr. McCrazy tried to speechify to the foreigners. However, we have to read comments such as this one from him:
The Democratic official also said that wherever Obama speaks, "it will be probably the biggest pure campaign event ever held outside the United States" and that it would be "absolutely significant" because it’s taking "campaigning to a public gathering overseas."
Mr. McCain said his campaign would pay for the coming trip. We'll pay for it because we don’t obviously want any criticism from that direction," he said.What!?! He is just concerned with criticism, not the fact that it is absolutely wrong to have the citizens pay for it to begin with?