gangster's Blog

As I, everyone has an opinion about the ongoing war in Iraq. I find it Ironic How ones patriotism can somehow come back and smack you in the face when least expected. I enlisted in the service straight out of high school in the early 80’s; I love my country and felt the proudest when I wore my uniform and ribbons, Man do I remember the days. I knew the risks when I joined and my pride and love for this country by far outweighed any risks that could be thrown my way or so I thought.  I lost my sister to the war in Iraq when she was gunned down by friendly fire in the year of 2005. If my sister would be able to speak on her behalf today I’m sure she would say she felt the same pride and patriotism as me and every other soldier who signed up to serve our country with honor.

Unfortunately as happens in life, there are always unexpected turns that change our views. When we were attacked on 911 I was ready as was every other soldier to go after the terrorists in the name of patriotism and defend our country; and yes, demand revenge for our fellow Americans fallen at the hands of terrorists/terrorism. What I did not expect was to fall myself. I was brought to my knees by gunfire while serving in Iraq and changed my view of the war and life forever. My love for this country and drive to defend it selfishly changed the life of my family and I never seen it coming.

When I was shot, I was left handicapped paralyzed from the waist down and unable to care for myself in the manner I was use to my life as was before. Little things like change my diaper or change my catheter that held my urine in addition to tying my shoes and showering. That in its self put un-needed stress and pressure on my wife and two children, something I never thought of happening prior in my personal pride and leap to defend my country. My wife has to change me clean after me and pick up all of slack a normal healthy man takes for granted around the home. That in itself is a price heavy enough to pay for my selfishness and fast un-thought-out leap to defend my loved country, I never thought of my other responsibilities at the time as far as being a husband and father.

I like so many other Americans jumped at the Idea of war and became obsessed with a form of tunnel vision to defend my country to the point I never gave a thought of the price it may take on my family and who would care for them if all went wrong as it so happened did while I was in Iraq.

I am now disabled unable to care for myself as normal person should do to my disability and selfishness. I was able to get a fairly good paying job with the DOD Cleveland; ironically getting paid from the same employer I was employed by when I became disabled. Talk about going full circle? Now I think about all the other people who think of this war or any other war just like I did without thinking about the other things in life at the same time? I was one of those Americans so quick to send our Men and Women to war without thinking about my own family and what they will do without me if something goes wrong? I realized this more now than ever when some “Ya- who” threw a shoe at Bush and people started to become outraged, I was one of those people years ago. I thought nothing to serve up myself and any other service members to a war without thinking twice about the people here at home who rely on those service men and women as wives, husbands, mothers and fathers. Yet we become outraged when someone throws a shoe. Why did I have to sacrifice so much of my family and their life caring for me before I was able to put things into perspective today? Hell of a price for my wife and kids to pay, not to mention my parents for my selfish pride. I wonder if I would still do the same thing then after what I learned about myself today.

The answer, not at the price My Family has to pay for caring for me today. This all a direct result of my selfishness by putting myself and patriotism before my beloved family. A price we are both paying now and they had no input in the decision I made myself at the time, now they are paying the price from my selfish pride. How can I never of seen that coming? I’m told it happens all the time and everyday in life, Pitty people can’t learn from idiots like me! I challenge anyone to question my selfish patriotism to my great Country, but look at the cost it caused my family. So strange for so many Americans to claim it is our duty to stand and defend our country when needed; but then say you should of thought about what you were getting into when you signed on to the military to do just that if things go wrong. This coming from mostly people when given that choice, choose to do neither.

I always find it amusing how many people poke fun at cold temperatures in areas that normally rarely see snow used as proof global warming may be a scam. Perhaps this is all based on the lack of education or denial? The fact is, Global warming true or false is a "trigger" not a "result". Global Warming claim, melts Ice on the earth’s pole areas; The melting of ice in our northern pole regions has never been a debate by even non global warming believers. What happens with Global warming is fresh water ice melts at those poles resulting in extreme excessive amounts of fresh water flooding into our northern salt water oceans.  Salt water is far denser than fresh water and pushes the Salt water and it’s currents down to the bottom of our oceans. (Why is this problem you may ask)? Our natural oceans currents flow from the south to the north, (CONVECTION)bringing with it warmer equatorial temperatures from south to north. When excessive amounts of northern pole melted fresh water ice is dumped into the ocean, the salt water is pushed to the bottom thus our earth’s oceans natural current (CONVECTION) process of natural south to north ocean currents bringing northern America its warmer temperatures from the equatorial regions are slowed or stopped all together. The end results are much colder temperatures and snow in areas it rarely snows. So keep in mind every time someone posts a story poking fun at global warming using Snow or colder temperatures in areas where we rarely ever see snow as proof Global warming is a scam. It basically only shows the lack of education of “what” Global warming is or means. Colder temperatures are exactly what global warming creates. I’m not trying to prove or disprove the Validly of Global warming, just the lack of education of those who use cold temperatures and snow to disclaim Global warming when colder temperatures and snow is exactly what Global warming creates.  So the next time you see anyone using photos of snow and colder temperatures to disprove global warming, it may be interesting to ask them why?

Washington puts a temporary “Kibosh” on what seemed to be at one point, a already approved Auto maker’s bailout. Why you may ask? Turns out, the money was in the bag while being heard at the Senate voting approval board on Capital Hill "UNTIL" the "UAW" (((REFUSED)))to agree to any current or future pay cuts of at least equal to or about the same of as those of their foreign competitors; Building cars here in America and making a profit over American Automakers on average of 23 to 1. UAW representative spokesman claim they already surrendered “future pay” cuts as much as they can and "refuse" to cut anymore, future or present. I say fare enough then, join the unemployment lines along with the rest of America and see how much of a "CUT"you get paid then! How pathetic. I will “NEVER” buy a another "UAW" built car again! Not with the greedy "UAW" type of attitude/mentality towards a handout that comes from our pocket! They’re not willing to sacrifice a “future pay cut” to save their jobs today; and I’m obligated to pay for a bailout against my will for a group not willing to sacrifice a few bucks to save their own Behinds? They have to be smoking Dope?

German Employer DHL based in Wilmington, Ohio will be cutting 8000 more Ohioan jobs as they pull out of Domestic American delivery services. DHL a delivery company same as UPS and Federal Express will cut domestic delivery service to America and pull out operations all together. DHL will cut over 8000 employees here in Ohio further devastating our already overwhelmed unemployed economy here in Ohio, whose next in Ohio? The federal Government has stepped in with a few million dollars to help soften the blow for soon to be laid off Ohio DHL workers and their family members, The Money is not to help save DHL from leaving;  but instead to help educate and retrain the soon to be unemployed workers soon losing their jobs find new ones. My question is where are the new jobs these retrained Ohioans going  to be found?

Ignore the Stock Market Until February The current volatility is less about fundamentals than forced selling.

 

Down in the morning, up in the afternoon. Or is it the other way around? The topsy-turvy stock market is tough to read.

In the last year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has briefly been over 13,000 and below 8,000. The past month has felt like the Cyclone roller coaster on Brooklyn's Coney Island -- lots of ups and downs, the whole rickety thing feeling like it's going to crash at any minute.

Great investors are taught to listen to the market. Each tick of the tape has something to say about expectations for growth, inflation, policy changes and looming recessions. The stock market is like a giant mass of pulsing plasma doing price discovery and a game of hot potato, getting stocks into the correct hands with the right risk profile. It's way too big for any one person to manipulate, let alone touch directly. Instead, millions of us provide input with our buying and selling decisions.

When it's at its most efficient, with buyers and sellers neatly matched up at the right price, it's a pretty good predictor. The Crash of 1929 announced a recession, and the wake-up call unheeded might have caused many of the bad policies leading to the Great Depression. The Crash of 1987? Not so much.

You see, the market is a great manipulator. In September, the Dow dropped 700 points intraday after the House of Representatives voted down the Treasury's TARP bank-rescue bill. Spooked, the House passed the bill the next week. Or how about this? The Dow was up 300 points on Election Day applauding an Obama victory and then down 1,600 points since.

The market can also be a bold-faced liar. On Jan. 22, the Fed announced an emergency 75-basis-point rate cut in response to huge drops in European markets. A few days later, it came out that a rogue trader at Société Générale lost them $7 billion and the bank was unwinding his positions. Oops.

So which is it now: an efficient mechanism or a manipulating liar? Should you listen to it warning of doom or anticipating renewal? I'd say stick wax in your ears and don't listen to the market until February.

Don't get me wrong. The freezing of the credit markets is wreaking havoc on the world economy. Corporate profits are dropping. Central banks are fighting off deflation and may not turn off the spigots fast enough -- which could ignite runaway inflation. But because of the credit mess, I am convinced the stock market is at its least efficient today. Don't read too much into any move. Here are the five biggest dislocations taking place:

- Tax-loss selling: Whenever you have a loss in a stock -- and who doesn't -- it's always tax smart to sell it, take a tax loss and either buy something similar or wait 30 days and buy the original one back. December can be an ugly month of indiscriminate selling. The December effect will be huge this year.

- Mutual-fund redemptions: Mutual funds are also dumped for tax losses. When the stock market is down in the morning, it's usually because of mutual-fund redemptions.

Fidelity's giant Magellan fund, down 56%, is one of many in the $6 trillion stock-fund business having an awful year. As investors call or click to get out of these funds, Fidelity and the others have to unload shares the next morning to raise cash. This forced-selling overwhelms the system. New York Stock Exchange specialists, who are supposed to maintain an orderly market, stop buying and back away. You get huge drops, which can unnerve even more investors and cause them to redeem.

- Mutual fund cap-gain distributions: To make matters worse, in December mutual funds do capital-gains distributions. In a down year like 2008, you would think there are no taxes to pay. Think again. Legg Mason's Value Trust, run by Bill Miller, outperformed the market for 15 years by buying many "unvalue" names like Amazon. As investors redeem, he is forced to sell many of these stocks originally purchased at very low prices, triggering huge capital gains in a year his fund is down 62%. You can almost guarantee investors also will sell more of these funds to pay their unexpected tax bill.

- Hedge-fund redemptions: Instead of overnight selling like mutual funds, hedge funds typically require 45 days' notice for investors to get out of a fund. They've been furiously selling since September to raise cash to pay investors. This usually shows up as a set of stocks that just go down and down and down with no obvious explanation.

Rubbing salt in hedge-fund wounds is the fact that Lehman Brothers was a prime broker to many hedge funds, holding their shares. While Lehman's bankruptcy was not a problem in the U.S., in England the policy is to freeze accounts until the mess can be sorted out. There are billions in assets locked in this bankruptcy, and hedge funds are forced to sell positions in the U.S. and elsewhere to raise cash, exacerbating the downside here. By the way, when hedge funds are down for the year, they work practically for free until they make up the loss. We'll see hedge funds close and stocks liquidated as -- no surprise -- hedge-fund managers like to get paid.

- Margin calls: Whenever stocks go down sharply, you quickly find who owns them with debt. We have seen spectacular margin calls, a requirement for more capital to cover share losses. Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon unloaded 33 million shares to cover losses. Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone had a forced sale of $400 million in Viacom and CBS shares because of a margin call on other stocks. You can bet many not-so-public margin calls are behind many huge price drops. These usually take place in the last 30 minutes of trading.

So won't January be alright once these dislocations weighing on the market are lifted? The January effect is supposed to be positive.

Well, often money managers are fired at the end of disastrous years. A new manager comes in, looks at the existing positions and dumps them all and remakes the portfolio with new stocks that he likes, thus generating more selling. My favorite Wall Street adage suggests that the stock market trades to inflict the maximum amount of pain. Remember, you can only ignore the stock market for so long. Once everyone thinks it can only go down . . . it might go up.
 

I was watching the 19 evening news today when they showed the last standing speech of the now felony convicted Alaskan Senator “Stevens” during his Senate farewell speech to all his colleagues from office. What really got to me was not so much this guy’s farewell speech as one the longest running Senators who had served the Senate, but the standing ovation and continuous applause Now Ex- Senator Stevens received from all current and remaining senate members filling the Senatorial chamber. I don’t care what side of the bench this now convicted criminal is on; Republican or Democrat, It does not matter to me! Stevens acted on his own as a individual in a long ongoing crime of corruption by taking bribes over many years from Alaskan Construction Contractors doing work on his Posh personal Alaskan Home in exchange for State contruction contracts while serving as Alaskan Senator in office as one if not the longest running Senator in office to date. What upset me the most was not only the standing ovation the still remaining standing Senate members gave after Stevens’ farewell speech. But Stevens, by also losing his re-election due to his Felony conviction and soon to serve Federal Jail sentence, "saved" those very same Senate colleagues now applauding his farewell speech and long Service in office as Senator from the need of "Embaressment" of voting to“expell” once long term now Ex- Senator Stevens from his Senate seat due to his current convictions of crimes during office as Alaskan Senator. Just goes to show you how blind our current remianing Senate is when it comes to morals of "Applauding" the speech and service of now disgraced convicted criminals in office such as now EX- Senator Stevens. Would that  have been me attending this one meeting if I were a Senator, I certainly would have not only left my seat empty but certainly would not have stood up and applauded for this guys service as many did today for the Nation to see on TV. What is going on with our Senate today?

I received a letter from one of my credit card companies yesterday that stated due to the current economic situation they will be raising one of my credit cards interest rates by 4% beginning the first of January. I called them up and asked them why? I have nearly perfect credit with a fico score of no less than 760 from all three credit reporting agencies; “never” in my life have I ever missed any payments on any loans or credit bills. And rarely even use this card. (Discover Card) I have no balance at the moment and never went over $500.00 on a card with a $5,000 dollar limit in the 6 or so years I had it. They claim it was a business decision based on the current economy, I told them to cancel it based on their poor Business practices! If they think they can milk me because I pay all of my bills onetime while they work with those who do not, they have another thing coming! I only pray they are not one of the banks getting any handouts from this bull bailout with any of my tax dollars and end up going belly up over their greed. Screw them!

I was watching the nightly news today at 6:30 pm on 19 when they mentioned Congress was working on a second American stimulus package valued between 100 and 300 billion dollars to help once again jump start our economy. They said they would explain after the commercial return but then I was side tracked when my wife came home and started talking about something I also forgot, Does anyone have any information on what I missed and how much this Check will be valued for this time around and when?

A simple test to see who will be better for you tax wise at the following link. try it out and see.

http://taxcut.barackobama.com/

 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=129612609043
2829344

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_v
s_mccain/?map=10

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obam
a_vs_mccain/

 

 

So, please explain why Sara Palin, self-proclaimed “hockey mom” isn’t encouraging Bristol and Levi to stay in school– and play hockey? She doesn’t want to be a Hockey Mother-in-Law? Would she fly back for those tournament games?

 

It’s the kids’ senior year, and they’ve “DROPPED OUT”. Why is it that they can’t attend school with their friends and play hockey when the baby won’t be here until after the end of 1st semester?

 

Yet, Palin missed a day or two of work having her pre-term special needs baby, but Bristol can’t go back for her senior year of high school? Palin can have 5 kids AND be the VP, but Bristol and Levi can’t go to school? Levi made a statement today claiming he needs a job to pay for the baby; so I’m going drilling instead of finishing school and Bristol has no plans as of yet but supports my decision to drop out my senior year. Bristol will be dropping out also to prepare for the baby and going north with me while I’ll drill and she takes care of our baby.

Levi was asked what his thoughts where on Obama and the election his new soon to be mother in law is fighting so hard for these past few weeks? Levi replied, I think Obama is a cool guy a good man and a good candidate. Levi was asked agian what he thought of Sara Palin? Levi replied I hope she wins it seems as if the pressure of this election is starting to take it's toll.

The winner of this election will only need 270 electoral votes! Check out the results of electorals who went on record as to which way they are voting. Seems the deal is sealed even before America votes.

 

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/
obama_vs_mccain/

Here are the latest Stats.

 

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/presi
dent/us/general_election_mccain_vs_obama-225.html<
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