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The government has decided they will privatize profits, and socialize losses – but only for big corporations that are poorly run. You as a common citizen will not receive such treatment, and unlike the large corporations you will be held responsible for your poor decisions.

The government isn’t interested in punishing the crooks who drove these companies into the ground, cost thousands of people their jobs, and who generated trillions in investor losses. They want to bail these companies out with OUR tax payer money and without our approval. Doesn’t this just sound wrong?! We the people are going to bail these corporations out against our will.

Your elected officials are feeding you misrepresentations. They are feeding you exaggerations. They are feeding you myths. They are feeding you assumptions that cannot be proven. Not a single elected official has taken the time to carefully explain why it is we need to spend $700,000,000,000 of taxpayers money. NOT ONE. They only tell you that we need to, otherwise we will have another Great Depression.

So let’s take a step back and think about this for a minute.

• Do you really think banks will stop lending money? That’s how they make money! If banks stop lending you money, then they go out of business. This isn’t going to happen!!!! There are over 7,100 commercial banks in the United States and only a handful have failed. These 7000+ banks are still more than happy, and capable, of lending you money for a car, house, RV, boat or whatever it is you want. The credit is not drying up. Don’t believe me? Go down to your local bank and take out a loan. I did and bought a brand new car.
• The government has NO CLUE as to whether this $700 billion bail out will work. No idea whatsoever. It’s a guess. It’s an assumption. It could be that this bail out requires another $500,000,000,000 more. It’s our money, the tax payers money, they are gambling. The government isn’t simply printing more money. They are taking out a loan that we the tax payers are paying back.

“We have been given no credible assurances that this plan will work. We could very well spend $700 billion, or a trillion, and not resolve the crisis.”

• Has the free market or capitalist system failed us? NO, NO, and NO. What has failed us is that government has tried to socialize housing; everyone deserves a house no matter their credit or income. Government has injected all sorts of incentives for people who don’t make enough or have bad credit so that pretty much anyone can get a loan for a house; thus the housing boom. Housing sales and construction went through the roof the last few years because anyone qualified for one of these extremely high risk loans. Problem is, these government incentives are NOT a free market and they artificially prop up the housing market. In comes supply and demand … As more people are able to afford houses, and supply starts to run low, more houses are created to meet demand OR house prices rise. As house prices rise, one needs more money to buy one. The bad banks started making up weird loans like the 125% interest only 3-year ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) which means the day you close on your house you owe 25% more than what it is worth. But over time, the market corrects itself naturally, interest rates rise, and you now have a lot of people who simply can’t afford their homes anymore. As house prices drop, and mortgage payments go up, people are no longer able to make their mortgage payment and they default or foreclose. Houses are no longer valued at their original price and HERE IS THE PROBLEM …. a $500,000 house is now worth $300,000, and the bad bank is stuck with a $200,000 loss because they can only sell the home for $300,000. Multiply this by millions of people who bought homes they should have never qualified for and you see the problem.
• The banks are NOT failing. Look at Citigroup. They just bought Wachovia. Don’t be sucked into the doom and gloom politicians are preaching you. I’d like to see one politician show me the facts that ALL credit will dry up like they say. Right now, I can go to any bank and get a car, motorcycle, house or RV loan. Yeah, it’s harder to get a loan BUT NOT EVERYONE SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET A LOAN. If you’re a high risk money borrower that may not be able to pay the money back, why should you qualify for a loan?!?!
• The government says we will make a profit on this $700 billion dollar loan that’s being forced down our throats. Really? Why will the government succeed where all these other companies have failed? It’s a lie. You will not be getting a check back from the government. Trust me. You will be paying back this loan with your own money for decades to come. They will find some way to get the money from us. We the taxpayers foot the governments bill.
• Some people are losing their lines of credit and houses! That is most unfortunate. But you know what? THIS BILL WILL DO NOTHING TO HELP THESE PEOPLE. This bill will ONLY help the banks and make more unqualified people able to afford more bad loans. THIS BAIL OUT BILL IS NOT A SOLUTION.

The guys voting this bill were elected into office, but that doesn’t mean they know anything about economics. Where one company fails, another will prosper.

It’s time we bring control back into our own hands. Let’s vote these government crooks out of office that have forced us to spend $700 billion of our money on something for which we do not approve nor do we have any say in. How do we do this? I will provide a list of all government officials and which state they represent who voted to approve this $700 billion bail out plan. You will get this list before the elections take place. When you are at the polls in November, simply don’t vote for any of these elected officials. Pick someone else. Each state will have several Democrats and Republicans running so there will be plenty to to chose from. You can still vote within your party lines.

UPDATE: It’s now November 3, 2009 and as we can see, there has been no benefit from the Bail Out. Barrack Obama will try to tell you that 670,000+ jobs have been created or saved. But what exactly does he mean by saved? And if jobs were created by the bail out money, what money is going to sustain those jobs? It was all a scam at our expense and they are trying to push another bill that will again take billions of our dollars and hand it out to companies they have a political or personal interest in.

GM and Chevy continue to deteriorate despite collecting billions in bailouts. Sales of GM are -44%. In comparison, Ford which took no bailout money was only -5% in sales over the same period. The cash for clunkers was a failure. How can I say that? Well, it cost you the taxpayer about $24,000 for every $3500 handed out by the government in support of this program. This money was spent on the destruction of the old cars, bureaucracies, and “other” expenses. And just today, the White House said the taxpayers will not be repaid for their involuntary bailout of these companies. No surprise there …

The White House has also said that all the benefits from the Stimulus Package have already occurred. After the 4th quarter of 2009, little to no benefit will be gained from the Stimulus Package.

I’m going to make another prediction … of the bail out money that remains, and after they realize the bailout hasn’t worked, they will find something else to spend our money on. We won’t be getting back a dime.

This was just way too funny. I had to post it.

While doing a story live for Fox News on the arrival of Hurricane Ike, Geraldo was standing atop the break wall showing the damage that had already occurred. Just seconds into the live broadcast, he was taken down by a piece of debris that washed ashore by a rather large wave. Geraldo was washed 10 feet before getting back on his feet. I must say, he handled the situation perfectly and resumed the broadcast. Towards the end of the broadcast, I guess either 1) his phone was malfunctioning or 2) people were trying to call him after seeing him take a spill, because his phone wouldn’t stop buzzing.

Skippers and captains from the earliest of times have reported freak waves of monstrous proportions, slamming into their ships sometimes causing massive amounts of damage and perhaps sometimes sinking them with little or no warning. For many years, these waves were thought to be mythical in nature and that there must have been some other logical explanation for the damage inflicted upon these ships or their sudden disappearance. It wasn’t until the last few decades that the answer was finally discovered, and to answer the question of whether they are real or fiction … they are most certainly real.

I wasn’t sure myself until I was watching an episode of the Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel. It’s a show about crab fisherman, their life aboard a fishing vessel and the dangers of working in the Bering Sea. Each ship has two cameras constantly rolling, observing the deckhands and the skipper. On this particular stormy night, the 100 foot long Aleutian Ballad was broadsided by a rogue wave knocking it on its side, almost sinking the 100 foot ship. It was caught on video (see below).

They aren’t that common, but for those who encounter one, an indelible impression will forever be imprinted within their mind.

Large swells form when 1) the wind is blowing strong, 2) the wind is blowing in the same direction, 3) the fetch, or how long in duration the wind blows in the same direction across the same area. When these 3 factors are all in place at the same time, swells can grow to 50 feet. A swell of this height usually doesn’t “break” in full height, but the top of the swell may form a whitecap.

Rogue waves on the other hand do break. What causes rogue waves is a bit of a mystery, but it’s believed they form when normal large swells, as mentioned above, interact with a strong ocean current. This forces the swell vertically which can reach heights of 100 feet or more. Theoretical mathematical models indicate rogue waves could potentially reach heights of 190 feet.

Another way in which large waves, perhaps rogue waves, form is when two swells combine to form one large swell for a short period of time. This is called wave reinforcement and can cause relatively large waves to form in small seas. For example, if the seas are averaging 15 foot swells and if two 15 foot swell collide with one another, a 30 foot swell is produced. This isn’t that common because swells usually propagate in the same direction. But in confused seas where two currents collide, wave reinforcement can occur and form abnormally large swells with little or no warning.

During World War II, British cruise liners were converted to carry troops from the United States to Europe. One such vessel was the “RMS Queen Elizabeth.” A rogue wave struck the ship near Greenland in 1942, shattering windows 90 feet above the waterline and nearly rolling the ship. It recovered and narrowly averted an unprecedented maritime disaster — the ship was carrying more than 10,000 troops at the time

It’s now believed that rogue waves have probably inflicted more damage on ships throughout history than previously thought. Many believed throughout history captains over-exaggerated wave heights, perhaps not on purpose but due to the fact it’s difficult to gauge wave height when there is nothing around to provide a frame of reference. However, after analyzing radar images of worldwide oceans taken over a period of three weeks, the ESA’s MaxWave Project found 10 waves 82 feet (25 meters) or higher. That was an astonishingly high number for such a relatively short time span; it forced scientists to seriously rethink their ideas on rogue waves (Source: How Stuff Works).