travis' brain dump

yes, the rumors of my demise are false…  after a brief little vacation from technology, with the exception of some copious amounts of video gaming and movie watching when not being all consumed by work related projects, I am back with more material…

so, politics… *rolls eyes* wth!? I don’t know about the rest of you but I’m voting Myke Reinhold this year. (i’ll post the explainatory link attached to his name once his website issues are resolved) So. In looking at the candidates what do we have? Obama and McCain, but lets not forget their shadows, Biden and Palin.

Between one that constantly puts his foot in his mouth and the other who couldn’t answer a question with a straight answer if her own life depended on it, I think we’re in trouble either way on the VP front. I’m not saying we’re doing better on the actual Presidential side either. We’ve got Bush’s BFF and a man who I think intends well but I’m unsure on how well he can deliver without plowing over the American people in the process of fixing things. Let’s face it, we’re all done for. 🙂 I guess the moral of the story here is, if you want the same thing that’s been going on for 8 years to continue, you know which way to go. If you’re the gambling type you have a choice there as well.

To each and all who vote:

Forget about your party of preference, forget about what your friends or family tell you about a specific candidate. Ignore commercial spots and emails as their sole intention is to use the lowest tactics possible to tempt your vote. Educate yourself. Learn about the individual and how they will govern andc hoose the person, not the party that will best handle what you feel is important. If you simply vote Republican or Democrat or follow the advice of others, you’re acting out of ignorance and might as well have not even showed up to the polls as an ignorant vote can be more devistating than a missing vote.

Now… onto the economy… So, where’s my t-shirt that says “I told you so” about the bailout? 🙂 When the first bill failed, the market dropped a little shy of 700 points… when the second attempt passed the market dropped almost 1000 points. Take a hint!

I think government bailouts are just another method of prolonging the inevitable. I mean, let’s face it. One of the first bailouts with AIG was not only dumb but it proved that nothing would change. There is a reason why AIG was in trouble and it wasn’t because they were the victim. It comes from being poorly operated and making bad business decisions. I look at CNN this morning and see a headline “Three weeks after an $85 billion bailout, AIG is turning to the New York Fed for additional funding,” and I think to myself why do they need more money? Then I read about how they spent $440,000.00 on a retreat for executives that included spa treatments, banquets and golf tournaments!? uhhh… that’s taxpayer money you just spent! I personally am sick of these CEO’s and other executives who get retarded amounts of money and boards who willingly allow these stuck up rich bastards to negotiate contracts which allow for them to take in ridiculous amounts of money no matter if the business flops or succeeds then pass along those costs to the consumers at the other end labeling it as needed due to increase in costs to produce products.

Hey, instead of giving someone a golden parachute or lining their pockets with enough money in one month to pay the salaries of 200-300+ employees, how about use that money to HELP the American economy rather than kill it!? Instead of taking some reductions at the top, these companies lay off workers at the bottom and then go begging for money from the government, which is our tax money by the way, in order to keep their billionaire lifestyles and sit behind their desk signing off on ridiculous expenses, talking about their golf game with their cronies and giving themselves raises.

I say let the banks fail. The FDIC insures the deposits up to a limit so the working class doesn’t lose their money because the banks are stupid and when the bank rolls over and dies the pieces get picked up by another bank. I saw it happen with WAMU and everything seems to be running okay there and Chase bank is now bigger and stronger because of it. Yes, the world economy is going to feel it and things will get bad before they get better, but this bailout business is just prolonging an even bigger collapse. It teaches nothing to these folks except that it’s okay to continue acting the way they are.

But… what do I know? I’m just a server administrator for a natural gas company. I’m not a political or economical expert nor do I pretend to be. I’m just an angry American citizen who is fed up with the way things have been allowed to get. I worry for my family, our freedoms and our financial future and where the world will be tomorrow.