I can't believe it's not a democracy!

Congratulations, Barack. Now you own it:

U.S. Afghan pullout not an option, White House says. Reuters notes the growing unpopularity with the Afghan "war": With U.S. casualties on the rise, American public opinion has turned increasingly against what Obama's aides once hailed as the "good war," in contrast to the unpopular war in Iraq that occupied the focus of his predecessor George W. Bush.

There are no good fucking wars.

This is smelling more and more like Vietnam every fucking day. Change we can believe in, my ass.

But you already knew this:

Medical bills underlie 60 percent of U.S. bankrupts: study. So when will the congress do something about that draconian bankruptcy bill they passed a few years back? Hahahahahaha. Yeah, right after they are done funneling another couple hundred billion to their friends on Wall Street. If they have the time, that is.

Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff of the State Department under Colin Powell, on Dick Cheney:

The Truth About Richard Bruce Cheney. Oh, and it ain't pretty, folks. I think Cheney is speaking out as often as he can so he can claim that any investigation of his crimes is politically motivated. So when is enough enough? When will Obama's people recognize that Cheney is undermining this administration? Sadly, I think nothing will be done and Cheney will only go away when, mercifully, he is called by his maker to spend eternity with Pinochet and Pol Pot. Can't happen soon enough.

Thanks to John for the link.

Yet another financial giant that's "too big to fail":

Citigroup May End Up With U.S. Government Rescue.

As I recall, China and a lot of rich arab princes from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia etc. own a big chunk of Citigroup. Shouldn't they dig into their pockets to save the bank? It's not like they don't have a lot of assets. And think about it, rescuing Citigroup means that, ultimately, some significiant portion of our money will be used to shore up their investments, no? That said, what is the right size for failure? Sadly, it seems the answer is your average middle class family with an upside down mortgage that just reset. Screw the masses, the rich need to feed.

Tonight, finally, W gives his last state of the union speech.

The short version: ya'll is fucked. The longer version? The democrats want al qaeda to bomb christian churches and give money to lazy scumbags who won't work. Etc. Me? Happy not to have a tv, and I won't stream it either. Because it doesn't matter, that's why.

Update: Ok, I actually listened to most of that asshole's speech, but I did it in the most painless way possible. Namely, I was listening to Mike Malloy's running commentary over W's speech. Man, Malloy is clever, because he made me laugh. And yes, W said that congress has to give immunity to telecom companies for their past illegal acts because we need to be able to track down the terrorists who want to kill us. That's a paraphrase, but you know.

Fortunately, the FISA bill is being challenged and democrats defeated a republican attempt to get cloture on the Intelligence Committee's version of FISA (the version with telecom immunity) and force an "up or down" vote. The phone calls to democratic senators helped. Go to Firedoglake for continuing updates and action items with regard to FISA. If the telecoms are given retroactive immunity for giving this administration everything they wanted (i.e., datamining our telephone calls and e-mail), then it's over. Corporations will know they can abet the government in violating our constitutional rights and there isn't a fucking thing we can or will do about it.

I'm torn:

Stocks backtrack amid hedge fund rumors. The AP reports: Stocks fluctuated Friday, giving up early gains as investors appeared to take a break from the run-up in stocks this week.

Investors' early burst of enthusiasm, which sent each of the major indexes up more than 1 percent, came after upbeat profit reports from big names like Microsoft Corp. and reports of a possible buyout of a trouble bond insurer.

But rumors of financial troubles among hedge funds appeared to unnerve the market Friday. The notion that a hedge fund could face trouble rekindled concerns that the recent stumbles in the financial sector may not be entirely on the mend; reports of fund problems have contributed to the market's declines over the past few months.

You see, I'd rather not see my retirement funds tumble any lower (and they have lost about 10%), but I'm not going to be tapping them for a long while. As for the hedge funds suffering? On the one hand that will trigger market problems, but count me among those who are convinced that the hedge funds haven't exactly been playing fair in the market. Hedge funds, unlike mutual funds, generally aren't regulated, and they control big money.

So here is my dilemma: Hedge funds are limited to "qualified purchasers," that is "an individual with over US$5,000,000 in investment assets" (some institutional investors may also qualify). Presumably, it won't be just us who suffer with this down turn. Of course, unlike the hedge fund investors, we are on our own. Sure, W with congressional approval (thanks Nancy) will be sending us each checks of upwards to $600 per person some time in May, but if the hedge funds look like they are going to tumble you can bet that untold billions will magically appear to make things right. In a sensible world (i.e., a parallel universe), the reaction to this and other hedge fund fuck-ups would be to regulate their sorry asses. But you and I know that that will happen right after congress begins impeachment proceedings. Yes, on the day after never.

It's a happy New Year indeed. For those

filthy motherfucking oil execustives, that is: Oil Futures Rise to $100 a Barrel...for first time ever. Oh well, at least we won't have to hear about any other oil price milestone until it hits $200 a barrel, and that should take months! Ok, watching the daily price of oil futures is like a dieter weighing themselves each day. Yeah, you get some information that may be useful, but the numbers are going to fluctuate. What's really important is the overall trend, which, for oil, is not good for the non-oil executives amongst us. That said, nothing motivates people to conserve like a spike in price. Just trying to remain convinced that the glass is half full.

So, did W issue a secret pardon to Scooter recently?

Libby to drop appeal in CIA leak case. Ok, maybe not recently, but you know it's coming because commutation isn't enough. We all know that it's just a matter of time before that former coke addict in the white house will give Scooter a full pardon. And so does Scooter. Q: What happened to the old days when the word was that you shouldn't "fuck with the spooks?" Color me nostalgic.

A great overview of the subprime meltdown:

MORTGAGE MELTDOWN. If that doesn't interest you, maybe the sub-headline will get your attention":Interest rate 'freeze' - the real story is fraud -- Bankers pay lip service to families while scurrying to avert suits, prison. Now you want to click, yes?

The article nails the basic problem, namely the subprime meltdown is not due to mere lack of oversight, or sloppy banking practices, no, the meltdown is grounded in fraud. The whole article is worth a read, but I feel compelled to post this nugget: And, to be sure, fraud is everywhere. It's in the loan application documents, and it's in the appraisals. There are e-mails and memos floating around showing that many people in banks, investment banks and appraisal companies - all the way up to senior management - knew about it.

I can hear the hum of shredders working overtime, and maybe that is the new "hot" industry to invest in. There are lots of people who would like to muzzle subpoena-happy New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to buy time and make this all go away. Cuomo is just inches from getting what he needs to start putting a lot of people in prison. I bet some people are trying right now to make him an offer "he can't refuse."

If Cuomo hangs tough, I will be genuinely impressed. Let's just say Cuomo was my last choice as state Attorney General and, in fact, I did not vote for that position in 2006. But if Cuomo metes out something looking like real justice? Smarminess aside, I'll pull the lever next to his name without hesitation next time he runs.

Sure, workers' wages are stagnant, but the Man is doing fine:

U.S. worker productivity surges ahead. The AP reports: In other economic news, the Labor Department reported that worker productivity roared ahead at an annual rate of 6.3 percent this summer while wage pressures dropped sharply.

That means the Man got more work out of us in exchange for, well, nothing.  Now according to the asshole who pretends to be our president, the U.S. economy is fabulous.  But for those of us who are not hedge fund managers (and maybe a few (former) hedge fund managers who invested in subprime mortgages), not so much.