To the outside observer, the 2008 Asset Management Conference held this week at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort in Phoenix was nothing out of the ordinary.
Conference participants, however, were notable because of the publicity they’ve received for their role in the ongoing financial crisis.
The conference at the posh resort included many senior managers at American International Group, or AIG, one of the world’s biggest insurers and recipients in September of more than $85 billion from the federal government.
AIG made significant efforts to disguise the conference, making sure there were no AIG logos or signs anywhere on the property.
Video the Vote went to Jackson County, WV, in response to numerous reports of machine vote flipping. The local county clerk showed us the machines in question, but the demonstration left us with questions, as the machine appeared to malfunction even after it was calibrated.
SCANDALOUS
Turn the volume up. This is simply unacceptable!
The HAVA, or Help Americans Vote Act, has outsourced this problem to a handful of companies that were able to create flawless Automatic Teller cash machines. When was the last time you used an ATM that malfunctioned?
While the disputed 2000 presidential election produced calls for reforms, Congress did not pass its election law until 2002. Bush then took months to appoint members to a critical oversight commission that disburses money to the states. States have now received $2.2 billion.
As of 2004, there were approximately 200 million registered voters, meaning we’ve each been taxed at least $10 for the privilege of using these faulty machines one time – possibly twice. In spite of the corporate welfare that wrested this “voting fee” from taxpayers, we are left with machines that are criminally inaccurate.
If you have refused to accept that voter machine fraud exists, then you must confront this reality now! It doesn’t matter who you plan on voting for. You must at least ask the question: “will my vote be counted?”
In 2002, George W. Bush signed the Help America Vote Act. When a Bush tells you he’s going to “help” you vote –look out! The result: in the 2004 presidential election, over three million votes— 3,006,080—were cast and not counted.
I used the term “conservatives” because it describes me, and it might describe you, but I don’t like the term. What I like is this country, and you know what? I’m not satisfied to “keep” the country through fraudulent, illegal voting interference. I think of it like pouring hydrogen peroxide on a deep wound: it stings, but it keeps the gangrene out. It’s like a tetanus shot: it’s sore for days, but the foot doesn’t get amputated. It’s like… oh, you get what I mean.
So here’s the problem with election fraud: when some party gets into power, and you don’t like them, then you must not allow them the tools to stay in power by interfering with the vote. Right now, those tools are more of a liability than an asset. Consider, for a second, how that could possibly be.
I know what you’re thinking: “The masses don’t always know what’s good for them. Sometimes, it’s better for the country if ‘we’ make the decisions for them.” One problem, of many, is that the masses in this country are heavily armed and increasingly less educated, and whoever YOU are, that should give you a moment for pause. There is a reason why democracy ought to be congruent with the desires of the masses…
So that comes back to the vote, and why it’s better for the country to express its will through voting. As a conservative, I’m seriously disappointed by the previous two elections, because I’m disappointed by the approval rating of the president. What I cannot understand easily is how the guy got 50% of the vote – twice – and yet his approval rating is the historical lowest of any president. Does that make sense to you? …and if so, please enlighten me.
As McCain has repeated: people are angry. really angry. and scared. and Angry! It’s important that in 2008, the “people” get to drive the country for a single, shining day. …and then instead of being merely angry, perhaps they will be self-loathing for legitimately putting some guy into office who made the choices that made them angry. If they’re self-loathing instead of angry, maybe “they’ll” shut up. That’s why the vote needs to be clean.
…and that’s why this video is interesting. People want to fuck with this country, and you don’t know if they’re on “your” side. Did you make more money this year? Really? How about these numbers, asshole:
This states that even for the top 5%, median income leveled off during the first 4 years of W. I wish I had newer data, because the 2008 numbers are going to make me cry. Meanwhile, the wealthiest individuals each increased their net worth by increasing amounts, and disproportionally benefited from tax breaks. …so are you convinced that the people manipulating the election are on your side?
The vote needs to stay clean. Conservatives, if the word means anything at all, need to care about this.
…not to fan the flames or anything, but the DOW has returned to September 11, 2001 levels. Really, that’s not such a bad thing, given how overvalued everything became during the deregulation of the last 8 years. …but in 52 weeks, the volume of the DOW has been cut in half, and that level of shock is going to … reverberate.
Here’s the upside: there is still actual value in the US economy. Yes, we’re the collective victims of massive pump-and-dump fraud, but it’s hardy like “we” aren’t producing anything. In other words, the market needs to bottom out at some value above zero. That will happen when people start to believe that things are undervalued, so it will make sense to invest again. This very process can be hindered if there is no effective monetary system that functions as a medium for the transmission of value, and that just might happen if the dollar fails.
On 3 March 2008, in a popular TV show, Sanal Edamaruku, the president of Rationalist International, challenged India’s most “powerful” tantrik (black magician) to demonstrate his powers on him. That was the beginning of an unprecedented experiment. After all his chanting of mantra (magic words) and ceremonies of tantra failed, the tantrik decided to kill Sanal Edamaruku with the “ultimate destruction ceremony” on live TV. Sanal Edamaruku agreed and sat in the altar of the black magic ritual. India TV observed skyrocketing viewership rates.
I haven’t heard of the Tantrik video before, but it sounds great. The thing I want to know is how many practitioners of these things actually believe in what they’re doing. I think there are two classes of these spiritual-magicians:
1. the ones who know they’re robbing their audience and taking advantage of their spiritual beliefs,
2. those magicians who, for some reason, never figured out how they do the tricks they do
…and I guess I imagine that 99% are type 1. I think the people on that show were probably type 1. So, it’s kindof twisted for type 1 people to put on a show like that, knowing that they are lying, and fully expecting the audience to trust and believe them. I imagine that, in almost every moment, the type 1 person is thinking to themselves, “suckers!”
I’ve heard that this sort of hoax is rampant in India and Africa, and that tons of people get robbed this way each year. The exact same thing can be said of faith healers/televangelists and other US forms of spiritual magic.
It bothers me that someone – who is knowingly treating their audience like suckers – would take money from people who probably should spend it on medical care or food. Specifically, it bothers me that someone can hold two contradictory ideas in their head at the same time:
1. knowing that their “magic” is just a hoax, and that it can’t really help anyone
2. knowing that members in the audience might be in real need of help
It’s the thought-process that reconciles point #1 with point #2 that I dislike… #1 is hurting people, #2 is failing to help. The only way these points can be reconciled is that they are both damaging to people in the audience.
So, when we get down to it, it bothers me that these performers are fundamentally mean people, sewing distrust and injury throughout the world.
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