You'll excuse me if I find our sudden salvation unconvincing

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I hate to bang my drum on this more, but actually, what the people need is decent fucking education, so they actually KNOW when their asses are getting raped from behind and then handed them to them sliced on a platter for a shit sandwich.

Government in the US no longer requires students in K-12 to learn about government.  Yes, that's right--we only are required in public school to learn and teach the "3 'R's"...so imagine how dangerous that is, a bunch of citizenry who already know next to nothing about WHO runs their government and HOW, now turning into a whole collective of no-nothings on top of no-care.

true - i just went through a jury duty selection and 95% of what they were doing and saying was to teach basic civics to the people that have to serve sad unbarably fucking sad it was like Barney for adults, do you know what innocent until proven guilty means? - can you say innocent until proven guilty? 

"White."

What? Did I say it wrong?

The scream is silent this time.

[Cain]

 

Couldn't even wait 48 hours to start sucking up to the banking industry again.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/03/AR2009040303910_2.html?hpid=topnews

The Obama administration is engineering its new bailout initiatives in a way that it believes will allow firms benefiting from the programs to avoid restrictions imposed by Congress, including limits on lavish executive pay, according to government officials....

The administration believes it can sidestep the rules because, in many cases, it has decided not to provide federal aid directly to financial companies, the sources said. Instead, the government has set up special entities that act as middlemen, channeling the bailout funds to the firms and, via this two-step process, stripping away the requirement that the restrictions be imposed, according to officials.

Although some experts are questioning the legality of this strategy, the officials said it gives them latitude to determine whether firms should be subject to the congressional restrictions, which would require recipients to turn over ownership stakes to the government, as well as curb executive pay.

[Honey]

...
The IMF and World Bank have ALWAYS been a hegemon, and it's pretty sad that the media never gets to bust out exactly how insidious their ways are to any large degree.  Oh sure, the spots on NPR will highlight some of the shinanigans that are made public re: the past two IMF chiefs have not been able to keep their dicks out of their business.  But as to the backroom dealings with multi-billion international corporations, drug-and-arms running of said corporations for nefarious pursuits of some nation or other, and helping same corporations bilk millions from thousands of poor and indigent in 3d world countries...yeah, no, you rarely hear about that.

Well, I started out ranting about something or other, and now I'm babbling, so I'll stop.

I agree & it is quite annoying when the media reports on trifling bullshit (some viagra popping good ole boy waving his dick around, oh my! how unusual?) & neglects to report on the bigger issues, those that continue to effect the big picture & world dynamic involved.  Bread & circuses.  Is there a meme that reflects this concept of bread & circuses?  Just wondering. 

[Honey]

Couldn't even wait 48 hours to start sucking up to the banking industry again.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/03/AR2009040303910_2.html?hpid=topnews

The Obama administration is engineering its new bailout initiatives in a way that it believes will allow firms benefiting from the programs to avoid restrictions imposed by Congress, including limits on lavish executive pay, according to government officials....

The administration believes it can sidestep the rules because, in many cases, it has decided not to provide federal aid directly to financial companies, the sources said. Instead, the government has set up special entities that act as middlemen, channeling the bailout funds to the firms and, via this two-step process, stripping away the requirement that the restrictions be imposed, according to officials.

Although some experts are questioning the legality of this strategy, the officials said it gives them latitude to determine whether firms should be subject to the congressional restrictions, which would require recipients to turn over ownership stakes to the government, as well as curb executive pay.

I think the case can be made that tax payers (via Freedom of information act, Sunshine laws, et cetera) are entitled to know just how this whole thing goes down.  A big obstacle is, by the time people know, it's a done deal.  That's one of the reasons it's valuable (I think) to see how these things played out in the (recent) past.  The Savings & Loan fiasco of the 1980's? is a good example where some of the players haven't changed & you can trace the laws enacted to protect (& pamper) the guilty.  Unfortunately, everyone is more entrenched in the outcomes.