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| Monday, September 22, 2008 |
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What Can I Say?
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It continues: I rock as Wall Street burns.
I should have a LOT more to say about what's going on on Wall Street, but I've been busy tweaking my own remaster of Metallica's Death Magnetic (I'm a better producer than Rick Rubin. It's true!). Plus we've been overrun with calls at the call center and I get little time to read, but sometimes I rebel and go unavailable anyway to take in a short article from TIME, the only outside site I can get to.
It's irony writ large, the final verdict on Republican free market ideas. Republicans have had a free run of the executive, legislative and judicial branches for eight years (yeah, I know Democrats have held congress all of a year and nine months, and were only in session a small bit of that time, plus they've been vetoed by Bush six times, so I think their impact has been minimal), and here's what it's come to...
It's like my pal at work Alicia said when I e-mailed her today to ask if she was around. She wrote back, "Yes, I'm here in a Socialist country where we don't own anything, we don't manufacture anything and oh, yeah, we have a one-party government."
It's true. Free markets: privatize the profits on the way up, socialize your losses on the way down. Great racket. I saw a piece on the lifestyles of some of these Wall Street fat cats on 20/20 the other night: even as Wall Street crashes, they've still got four oceanside homes worth about $12 million apiece. They'll still get $20 million paydays -- for failing. And nearly 50% of the electorate can hardly wait to vote to let them get richer as they themselves grow poorer, because, you see, they're all "John Galts*," men of imagination and industry who's labors help to create...well, the bankrupt, foreign-owned-and-operated nation we now populate.
* Who the fuck is John Galt?
Look out, I'm Still Talking About Metallica
In more uptempo news...
Okay, I'm stuck on this damn Metallica album! Here's the latest twist on the tale: a noted heavy metal producer, Andy Sneap, said on his blog that he thought this new album had great songs but the mix sounded like a can of pooh. "I'd love to have a crack at it," he wrote.
Now a "mystery mix" has surfaced on the official Metallica chat board, from someone who describes themself as being a professional metal producer. This mystery guy cracked the raw track files from the Guitar Hero game, which broke down into six tracks, two of which were stereo. He remixed from these six tracks.
Many are raving about what he's done with it and they're saying this must be Andy Sneap making a demo of his abilities for Metallica. The remix didn't do much for me, sounded about as buzzy as the CD clips, but I give him a lot of credit for being on-the-stick and trying like that.
My remaster is better, though.
Dancing with the Kleenex
The new season of Dancing with the Stars started tonight. I think, though the stock market is tanking, Kleenex stock should be taking off like a rocket soon. Toni Braxton, Juliann Hough, Brooke Burke and greatest of all, Kim Kardashian shall be dancing. Which one shall I spill sperm to the most? This is gonna be one memorable season. |
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Posted by Art | 10:54 PM EST |
5 comments
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Your precious democrats are just as much to blame for this financial shit fix as the folks on the other side of the aisle.
RE: Metallica
No matter how much you polish a turd it's still a turd.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, from very brief reading, existed for the purpose of buying debt from banks and money lenders. It sounds like they were just doing what they were designed to do, but why did we have a sudden rash of bad loans? Variable rate mortgages weren't a new invention, I don't think. Why suddenly millions of bad ones?
I spend much of my free time studying financial history (not) and the repeal of the Glass-Stegall act and Commodity Futures Moderation Act, safeguards put into place in the `30's after the Great Depression, had a lot to do with this. McCain's top advisor, Phil Graham ("Americans are whiners") was behind those repeals.
As for Metallica...have you given the song a chance? This is the first release from a major label I've enjoyed in 20 years.
Rick Peregrine showed up on a recent post after it had scrolled off the page. He got miffed during our discussion of FDR. I then jokingly called The Rembrandts his favorite band and that sealed the deal.
Now if we can just get Darren here so I can make fun of sauerkraut and Colorado, I'll have officially pissed everyone off and accomplished my mission.
I gotta give Poppy a call. I guess his retirement is gonna be a little further away now thanks to the fucktards in washington.
We need change.
Bob Barr '08
Most interesting is a long quote from FDR's chief financial advisor. He says what happened was you had to have mass consumption to suppport mass production, but after everyone was in debt they stopped spending and their money was now all in the hands of the very few who owned the means of production. Once no one was buying, there was no reason to produce, so there were layoffs and everyone was unemployed. So all the cash had flowed upwardly to the top 2% of the population and it was "game over."
FDR's support of wage-increasing labor unions and the Works Progress Administration got everyone working and money flowing around again. There was another recession in 1937 that was only wiped out by World War II, where government regulation of business happened because it had to coordinate the war effort. But in the long run Americans had more money than ever, and the Middle Class as we've always known it was formed. `57 Chevys, Elvis and the first-ever FAX machine were born, and the modern era began.
A future post may detail my relatives' first-hand experiences with the Depression, Roosevelt and both political parties. Coming up Friday, though, a light bit of musical writing.
Here's what the World Book Encyclopedia says:
"The Great Depression began in October 1929, when stock values in the United States dropped rapidly...
"In addition to the farmers, workers in the coal, railroad, and textile inudstries failed to share in the prosperity of the 1920's. Industrial production increased about 50 per cent, but the wages of industrial workers rose far more slolwy...Then the amount of money in circulation decreased, and business became even worse.
"From 1925 to 1929, the average price of common stocks on the New York Stock Exchange more than doubled. Rising stock values encouraged many people to speculate...
"Stock values dropped rapidly on Oct. 24, 1929, now known as Black Thursday...
"The government also aided recovery by spending large sums of money. This fderal spending gave businessmen the confidence to also begin spending. The economy improved after money began to ciruclate."
This squared with what I've always heard.