Author: Todd

creator of the fodder...
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Putting bank fees in perspective.

A July report by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation showed that banks took in $38.6 billion in fees and service charges last year. This may not sound like much when some of the richest individuals in the world have that much under their control. But let’s put this number in perspective by comparison.

  1. The federal budget deficit is currently $168 billion. This deficit was created over the past eight years and is projected to be about $407 billion by the end of 2008. That’s an average accrual of $50.87 billion per year. So banks collect consumer service fees almost as fast as the government created the current federal deficit.
  2. Microsoft projects to earn about $40 billion in profit after operating expenses from June 2008 to July 2009. So the banks could collectively purchase almost all of the products to be sold by Microsoft next year using the amount they collect in customer fees in 2007.
  3. Banks will collect more in consumer fees from their American customers than the average annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of many countries including Syria, Kenya, Sri-Lanka, Tunisia, Panama, Jordan and even oil rich Qatar.

I could go on but I’m not. If anyone still thinks that consumer bank fees are not hurting this economy as a whole they’re living in denial. The big question is: What, if anything are banking consumers getting for this money? You’re providing the banks a reason to exist so they can continue to do what? Protect the money? The money that only exists in a virtual world of electronic transaction systems? I really hope China doesn’t ever follow the lead of the US and give up their cash and carry culture in exchange for a nation of consumer debt and fees for the banks. No, I won’t even wish that on our biggest economic threat.

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McCain is ahead.

The conservatives have found their girl in Caribou Barbie. Obama may have lost the south and could ultimately lose the election as a result. Sorry Dems, you haven’t learned: GOP spells GOD and unless you can win the south you cannot win an election. Very sorry to see all the support for Obama amount to nothing. The country will remain divided. But like I’ve said before, the idea of unification in America is a pipe dream. We are divided on the issues and as long as people vote based upon single minded agendas like abortion views, the plight of the Alaskan salmon, or the rights of homosexuals their will never be common ground.

There is and always will be two Americas and it’s not rich and poor. It’s conservative and liberal. Obama could win the popular vote and will still lose the election. The conservative states carry too many electoral college votes for the Democratic mindset to prevail. As for myself I think both parties suck and neither truly represent the issues most important to the majority Americans which do not include abortion and gay rights.

Neither party wants to enforce the laws on the books and handle illegal immigration, or change them. Neither wants to attack the source of health care problems, the cost. And neither wants to be responsible for imposing government oversight on out of control corporations and the financial sector, an issue that many Americans feel is a key factor in our current social and economic status.

I will tell you this: Republican’s are way out of touch with what needs to be done to fix America’s economy. The continued idea that if you cut corporate taxes it will result in job creation is way off track. We’ve tried this for eight years. McCain says we’ve got the second highest corporate tax rate in the world. I say why shouldn’t we? We have the largest number of corporations in the world. Any further tax breaks will only result in more profits for these companies, not jobs. Automation and technology will replace the manual workforce. We don’t need to give additional breaks to already established, highly profitable corporations. We need to give tax incentives for corporate innovation and increase the wages in the service and labor sector for LEGAL workers in the US. This may increase the cost of domestically produced goods but it should be balanced out by an across the board wage increase.

We are living in an era when 1950’s Capitalism has come to collect on the note and the debt is enormous. The model of Capitalism as we know it today needs to be changed, not to socialism, but to whatever form necessary to level the playing field. No longer is a college education and a positive attitude enough to compete when the rules are regularly manipulated by corporate, legal think-tanks so those with money can continue to take more and more from those without such resources to defend themselves. Case in point: Bank Fees, consumer enemy #1.

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Rednecks usually win the White house

They travel by many names: white blue collar workers, rednecks, sometimes even racists. Our nation just can’t find the guts to come forward and admit it: A Democrat has not won the White House since Kennedy without the support of Joe and Jane six pack. Bubba Clinton had the backing of Arkansas and Carter was a peanut farmer from Georgia – ’nuff said.

For almost a decade the rednecks have landed squarely on the lawns of Republicans because of “conservative Christian values”. Which, by the way, have recently been expanded to include teenage pregnancy. And for any Republican who thinks that this “private family matter” is off limits, think again. Caribou Barbie forfeited her right to take that off the table when she endorsed abstinence only policies while in public office. We see how well that worked out for you Sarah.

Forgive me, I have strayed. There’s no way the rednecks will vote for a black man. Card carrying NRA, bible thumpers decided the fate of our last two elections and will play a huge part in the coming November legacy. The question is: Are there enough electoral votes available in the intellectual and minority regions of the country to overcome the Hyper-Christian, Good-ol-Boy demographic? We will have to wait to see if it will be as close as the last two rounds.

There’s a specific litmus test that can be used to determine which side of the Good-ol-Boy club any American stands on.  Just mention the European perspective.   A liberal will tell you they are embarrassed and will apologize that the leaders of our nation are selected almost exclusively by those who come from either corporate made, elitist wealth or the nearest evangelical church. The die hard conservative response will usually be: Who cares what Europe (or any other part of the world) thinks?

Call me crazy but I beleive it’s important that America maintain a positive image on the international stage. It’s time that we prove to the world that we can overcome the irrational, ideological and hipocritical demographic that has put this nation through it’s worst eight years since my generation’s been alive. I not only support but encourage all rednecks to go hunting, go to church, pray to Jesus, and above all maintain your strong disagreement with abortion and other “social conservative” issues. Just don’t fool yourself into thinking that America will continue to be dumbed down to your narrow minded set of moral rules and opinions you wish to confer upon others for many generations to come. But the one card you’ve got to take off the table and burn right now is the race card. In case you haven’t heard racism is no longer fashionable or tolerated, redneck or not.

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Poor little Levi…

Do you think he saw all this coming when he was bragging to his friends about the Governors daughter? Talk about thrust into the spotlight. He’ll be in office within 10 years on a platform of abstinence only, bible at the ready. Three words can describe the lottery ticket this kid bought: Best Sex EVAR.

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13 reasons I won’t vote for McCain/Palin

And they all stem from the same source: Caribou Barbie, she’s insane. These 13 reasons were summarized by who-sucks.com.  The original list was 16 but I narrowed it down to the reasons that legitimately concern me the most:

  1. A poor record: Her only political experience has been a few years as mayor of a small town in Alaska and less than two years as governor of that state. Her record wasn’t so great: the small town she left behind is now in financial ruin.
  2. She has no experience with national level politics. At the time of this posting, many of her views on national policy issues were unknown simply because she is so inexperienced that she hasn’t even made public statements about them. Presidential history scholars believe she may be “the most inexperienced person on a major party ticket in modern history.”
  3. She has no foreign policy experience. None.
  4. She is a creationist, and she wants “creation science” to be taught in public schools.
  5. She doesn’t believe in man-made global warming.
  6. Palin has been accused of abusing her power as Alaska governor to try to get her ex-brother-in-law fired as a state trooper. An investigation is underway.
  7. She has messed up views on wildlife protection. Environmentalists are appalled by her support of a $150-per-wolf bounty program. She’s also supported the use of government money to educate people about how great it is to shoot bears and wolves, and she doesn’t want the polar bear to make it onto the endangered species list.
  8. One nation, under stupidity: When defending the phrase “one nation under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, Palin said, “If it was good enough for the founding fathers, its good enough for me and I’ll fight in defense of our Pledge of Allegiance.” Reality check: The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892, long after the founding fathers died. The phrase “one nation under God” was added in 1954….
  9. Anti-birth control nutcase– Not only does Palin oppose abortion in all cases, she also opposes the use of birth control in all cases. That includes married couples that want to use condoms or the pill!
  10. Politicizing non-political jobs: When she was mayor of small town in Alaska, Palin abused her authority by firing city employees that did not fully support her reelection campaign.
  11. She can’t even manage her own family – rumors have given way to an admission from Palin that her teenage daughter is pregnant, and will be having a shotgun marriage to the guy that knocked her up. That’s what abstinence-only education gets you.
  12. Ninja editing: Her Wikipedia entry needed to be cleaned up before the public announcement that she was McCain’s VP pick.
  13. She has no clue about the role of the Vice President.
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Sarah Palin locked in my vote for Obama.

I tried all day not to write about this and now I must.  I posted the other day that Obama may not win.  I’m starting to wonder how he can’t at this point.  What a mess the McCain folks have made of this VP pick, Sarah Palin.

First, why in the name off all Republican nominations past would McCain not come forward with information that Palin’s 17 year-old daughter was knocked up knowing full well he was presenting her to secure the conservative base of “family values”?  Did they think no one would find out?  I can’t imagine how they expected the media wouldn’t flock to this information.  If nothing else THIS UNTO ITSELF displays poor judgment that is not worthy of two of the most powerful offices in the world.

The only possible excuse McCain could have is that he did not know.  That would imply that the vetting process was lame so he has no out.  The conservative base McCain was trying to draw support from may be in his corner on one issue alone, abortion, or lack thereof.  And in the process of shoring up this hyper-religious base he’s alienated every other voting demographic.  As a one time Democrat who is now a registered Independent I assure you my “family values” are above teenage pregnancy.  See what preaching abstinence to your children does for them?  It gets them pregnant.  Certainly Sarah’s little angel wouldn’t be having sex, no way.  Why that’s just not in line with her “family values”.  Then reality came crashing in on the Palin’s and it couldn’t have happened at a better time.

The whole thing comes down to a matter of judgment.  It was either poor judgment for McCain to pick Palin or it was poor judgment not to announce her teenage daughter’s pregnancy prior to revealing it to subdue vicious rumors on the Internet.  They thought the cat wouldn’t get out of the bag, now their trying to put it back in while the media watches.

I was on the fence about who I was going to vote for.  Now there is no choice.   While I still think Obama was made to the top through no more than personal relationships and a gift for oratory, at least he hasn’t already attempted to deceive the American public in such poor fashion.  Add to this that Palin’s hired a defense lawyer for Troopergate.  Wouldn’t it be great for the tabloids if the over-extended mom with her own child and a grandchild, who are less than a year apart in age, gets arrested while in the White House for having someone fired who refused to axe her former brother-in-law?  Is this a chance we can take?

I don’t just say no.  I say hell no.  Next to Bush getting re-elected for a second term her selection was the biggest political mistake ever.  Abortion or not, they’ve already proven they cannot be trusted and that they are capable of deception.  McCain stated that his staff conducted an FBI background check on Palin.  The FBI denies any such check was conducted.  But all of this will not stop the die hard Neocon’s from voting, bibles in hand, so it’s not a sure thing for Obama yet.  But Obama’s campaign staff could not have asked for a more generous gift from the right.

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Good speech. But Obama still won’t win.

Update: Just hours after I posted this entry McCain picked the first woman ever for a Republican Presidential ticket, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.  Not certain if this is a plus or minus.  She has no foreign policy experience.

It was an inspiring, articulate and historic Democratic Presidential nomination speech. Possibly the best ever. And it was very Obama. And it convinced a lot of Democrats he will win. There was actually more real content to this Obama speech than any I’ve previously heard. Many Democrats are proud and feel there’s no way he can lose now because America will not tolerate “another four years of Bush-McCain”.

I almost feel sorry for those Democrats. Despite their unmatched, historical support for America’s first black candidate he most likely will not defeat McCain. And McCain did one of the most impressive things I’ve seen in a while. He ran an ad congratulating Obama on his historic achievement during the televised nomination acceptance. This move will solidify McCain’s support from the moderates and Independents who were on the fence about a vote for the Republican ticket. It was an impressive feat, but the issues still stand and the Republican party did not forfeit because of one good speech.

Even without knowing McCain’s Vice Presidential selection as of this writing I can already tell that as the results of this election are tallied on Nov. 4th, 2008 one of two things will happen: Either the race will be as close as those in 2000 and 2004 with John McCain squeaking in and electoral victory or Obama will win by a landslide. There will be no landslide for McCain but I do not doubt the voting power of Republicans who watch silently and have a solid historical record of turning out to vote. Unlike the new, young “small-d” Democrats.

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I’m done with ebay.

I sold a product on ebay today.  They held all the funds for 21 days or “until the buyer leaves positive feedback” knowing very well a lot of buyers don’t leave feedback.  They consider this buyer protection.  I consider it misuse of my money as they are doing this under the guise of buyer protection in order to hold other peoples money to generate interest.  So I refunded the money to the buyer immediately and told him the product would not be shipped – it will be on Craigslist.

Through these actions against small, private sellers ebay has become nothing but a storefront for high volume resellers which comprise over 60% of their listing fees.  They require private sellers to use Paypal, again under the false pretense of “buyer protection”.  The reality is they don’t make any money through Paypal when a buyer sends a certified check or money order so they force sellers to use their revenue generating engine.

This is just like the banks telling their service reps to inform customers they process debit and check transactions largest to smallest for their own good. “So your car payment won’t bounce” they say.  Bullshit, pure and simple.  So it has nothing to do with the fact that this model generated an additional 17 billion in fees for the industry when adopted in 2006?  Right.

Until government starts acting to fight financial industry manipulation of consumer funds for their own benefit more and more consumers will suffer and languish while they wait for access to their own money.  No financial institution should be able to “hold” cash funds (note I did not say pending check deposits) or decide how and when to process payments and transactions when these actions result in a revenue stream or profit for the institution.  That’s using my money for your net gain and I resent it and will not allow it.  So, I’m done with ebay.

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Hedingham Golf Club actually got worse.

Who would have thought it was possible?  I thought Daryl threw away our rain check for 9 holes at Hedingham.  Not only did he keep it but yesterday he wanted to use it.  I agreed thinking it couldn’t be any worse than it was last time.  Man was I wrong.  The little guy at the counter was accomodating when we arrived, letting us go straight to the back 9.  But the very next thing that happened was the start of the worse 9 holes of golf I’ve ever experienced. 

There were two carts to choose from.  One was swarming with flies, so our choice was obvious.  The cart lasted about six holes.  Daryl pushed it up any hills the last three.  But before we even got started we had a portly guy with a crew cut, who looked to be in his 20’s, come along and ask to see our receipts to play.  Hmmm.  We just walked out of your club house with a cart key jackass… Anyway.  This guy felt it necessary to assert his authority on a couple of guys in their mid to late 30’s who are obviously into stealing free golf games at the course with the worst conditions in the area.  Never mind the little thugs all over the place.

So let’s talk about the little thugs on the bikes all over the neighborhood cart path.  They were swarming and didn’t care if we were coming through in a golf cart on the cart path, oh no.  We would go around the dumb little thugs and accomodate them for the money we paid.  At least at Wil-Mar, or any other clubs we play we won’t find groups of kids gathering on the cart paths or near the greens to smoke behind their parents backs.

So we left the cart at the 18th green because it just wouldn’t make it up the last hill to the club house.  We went inside to let them know.  Guess who we got to talk to?  Mr. Insecure, respect seeking, loser with an attitude.  Yep the same asshole who demanded to see our receipts to play his cheap *!itty course.  We expected an apology or something but no.  All this aggrevated guy would say is “our phone number was on the scorecard”.  That’s it.  Nothing else.  This displays the attention this “Golf Club” pays to protocol on a golf course.  I don’t even take my cell phone and I don’t want to hear anyone elses ringing on the course.

Look guy, you made your life choices and now you’re a manager or assitant greenskeeper or something at the worst golf course near Raleigh I’ve ever played.  Deal with it and get your attitude right.  The only thing that could have made this course any worse is unhospitable staff.   Now Hedingham has nothing going for it: a bad course in a low end track home neighborhood full of staff who seem to have a chip on their shoulder because they’re reduced to working there.  It makes for a lot of mental challenge for your game that if overcome, just might make you a better golfer.

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Barack Obama: A “Made Man”

I still don’t know who I’m going to vote for in November.  At one time I fully supported Obama.  I’m not so sure I do anymore.  I watched the CNN special Barack Obama Revealed last night and came away with even less certainty about Barack than felt before.  The most glaring message I got out of the whole show was how Barack is essentially a “made man” by his friends in the Illinois state senate, specifically his endorsement by Senate President Emil Jones.  It seems to me that Barack needed to learn how to grease his elbows and these guys taught him how to do it.  One good speech at the Democratic National Convention in 2003  and BANG – a Presidential nominee is born.  One who had 129 “Present” votes during his time in the Illinois Senate.  And no track record to speak of during one term in the US Senate.

I get the impression that a whole lot of “Obamamania” is based upon the fact that many, many people are turned off by the Republican party thanks to good ‘ol Dubya and Cheney.  They’re ready to take anybody that represents a change from the status quo.  But I haven’t been convinced that McCain is a carbon copy of Bush.  In the past and today McCain appears to be a Republican I can settle for.  He’s a moderate.  Now if he goes out and gets himself a hyper-religeous, bible beating, Neocon for a running mate to satisfy the “base” of the Republican party then I’ll have to settle for the lesser of two evils and go with Obama.  I will not sway in my position that nothing mixes worse than religeon and politics, not even oil and water.

There is one aspect of McCain winning the Presidency that I’ve not heard a lot of talk about.  That is the fact that if he wins and the Democrats pick up two or three more seats in Congress we can expect at least four more years of deadlocked legislation.  Nothing will be passed because bills will be shot own and vetoed at a record pace.  I’m relatively conviced this is not what we need right now.  I would like to see a working Congress as opposed to one that is permanently on vacation. 

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