If we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people
under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy. - Thomas Jefferson


Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Who Knew? (Part 4)

Peter Schiff, That's who. (wikip.)
I am half-assedly posting about articles I've seen that point out those anointed few who not only saw, to some extent, financial collapse coming, but had the balls to try and fight it publicly, up front. See also, part 1 (Iris Mack), part 2 (Byron Dorgan), part 3 (Elizabeth Warren))Please comment to this or any Who Knew? post when you see one of those who were willing to stake their reputation by pointing out our crash course with economic crisis in times where everyone else let the good times roll.

So, why haven't you heard of this genius yet?
Because, silly, he hasn't made me any money yet!
(aka: Because, silly, he still thinks its going to get worse!)

He saw it coming and took every chance he had to publicly debate the collapse of our credit and housing markets. This includes a book with his prediction in the title: Crash Proof: How to Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse which was released in 2007.
In many of the public forums he used to try to get his message across, he was literally laughed at, or at least smirked at in epic proportions of condescension. (Epic, because he was right and he was right on a big thing (right, Ben Stein?)

It would be best if you watched a 'victory lap' video made by a fan: (there are plenty of other videos to watch too!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I0QN-FYkpw

Despite his predictions throughout 2006 and 2007 of the upcoming economic collapse and the fact that he stood his ground because he knew he was right, he is generally not lauded as the economic seer he is. You would expect people to cling to his every word, to make notes of every gesture, to analyze his every thought after being right about the coming crash.

But, as it turns out, all of his short term investment picks since the economic collapse have been wrong. Now, he only gets speaking engagements outside of the U.S. The only press he gets include headlines of his losses since the collapse.What good is seeing the future if you can't make any money off of the predictions?
Additionally, he is still generally lauded with smirks and rolled eyes as he continues to predict a worsening economy, pointing out that we are only bailing out a part of the deck in a house of cards.

After writing that paragraph, I see that he isn't necessarily a genius... He's just unwilling to ignore the evidence and refuses to assume that endless growth is possible. Not exactly groundbreaking news...

Mad props to his father, Irwin Schiff, who decided in the 1970s that federal income tax was unconstitutional and stopped paying them. (He still pays his state taxes...) His belief in this is so strong that he has been in and out of court and jail fighting for his rights ever since. Today, at 90, he sits in jail again.

Ignoring a sage for being a sage...

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Read more: I found Mr. Schiff in an article painting him out to be an Extremist in the June 1 Time. Go find it yourself if you must, I'm not going to link to it from here...

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Mammalian fecal matter

Much like the EPAs guidelines for tossing bodies over the side of a boat, the FDA has taken the time to create guidelines for how much mammalian fecal matter is acceptable in the processed foods you consume.

Some of the interesting guidelines:
There is a problem when there are 60 or more insect fragments or 1 or more rodent hairs in 100 grams of chocolate.
Further investigation is warranted when 3% or more of your red fish or sea perch fillets examined contain 1 or more parasites accompanied by pus pockets.
Call in the agency when there is more than 1 insect fragment per gram in your noodles or macaroni products.
They call in Mr. Reddenbacher (r.i.p.) himself when 1 or more rodent excreta pellets are found in 1 or more subsamples, 2 or more rodent hairs per pound, or 20 or more gnawed grains per pound and rodent hair is found in 50% or more of the subsamples of popcorn.

Now, this is one of those posts where I am not particularly displeased with the results of the federal guidelines. After all, there is a direct inverse correlation between the amount of insect fragments IN your food and the amount of chemical pesticides ON your food. (The more poison, the fewer insect fragments. The less poison, the more insect fragments.) Not to mention that eating insects is generally healthy. (Not so sure about the rodent excreta pellets...) One last caveat, by the time most of this food reaches your mouth, it taste like a big mac anyway. Ignorance is bliss!
Besides, the line had to be drawn somewhere. Why not pay some scientists to draw that line for us?

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

read more: How Many Insect Parts and Rodent Hairs are Allowed in Your Food? More Than You Think ... and Maybe Than You Want to Know!(6wise)(original props go to NPRs (APMs) Splendid Table for pointing out the story...)

Monday, May 4, 2009

Lets re-examine that nipple

Lets all pitch in and get Scalia a night with a hooker that looks just like Janet Jackson. It'll be cheaper than today's announcement that the Supreme Court wants to re-examine Janet's nipple. Uh, I mean, of course, they wish to re-examine the wardrobe malfunction.

Maybe if someone just pointed out to the fine justices that they can still download the scene and watch it to their hearts content?

Re-Visiting a second-long glimpse at Janet Jackson's nipple from FIVE years ago...

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Read more: Jackson flash to be re-examined(bbc)
http://whyipaytaxes.blogspot.com/2009/04/save-us-from-bono.html
http://whyipaytaxes.blogspot.com/2008/11/did-i-tell-you-one-about-judge-that.html

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Photo op

Classic. The people who arranged dubya's Mission Accomplished photo op would have been proud.

Last Monday, the White House Military Office arranged a photo shoot of one of the two potential Air Force One's (its not actually Air Force One until the president is on board) over New York. Not too big of a deal, just a big waste of taxpayer salary and jet fuel.

Too bad they wanted the whole thing to be Top Secret. So, the worker bees in New York's hive of skyscrapers practically shit themselves in fear as they evacuated their buildings wondering why there was a 747 apparently coming right at them. The WHMO notified the police, the FAA, and all the other officials that might have responded in an actual emergency, but they decided that the general public musn't know about this in advance.

So, what was the purpose of so many soiled undergarments?
Because they "wanted to update its file photo of the president's plane near the Statue of Liberty"

You'd think paying $50 to any child with access to Photoshop would have done just fine...

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Read more: Air Force One photo op over N.Y. Harbor came without warning, Corzine says (nj.com)

Matters of significant importance

Apparently Florida has their act together. Nothing left to legislate or debate. They must have everything all wrapped up, because last Tuesday there were no economic problems, no education problems, nothing better to discuss at all than whether or not their citizens should be able to hump their pets.

After all, according to the Humane Society, there is a direct link between bestiality and sex crimes against human. What rapist doesn't get all fired up before the big night by fucking a sheep?

THIS is whyfloridianspaytaxes.