Some thoughts on Joe Stack from Global Guerillas:

Here are some quick notes on Joe Stack’s violence and the acts of others (there have been many recently).  I tend to view people like Joe Stack as canaries in the coal mine — people on the margins, mentally and situationally, that fatally explode at the early onset of severe societal and economic pressure.  Here’s what’s driving them:

    * Extreme frustration/hopelessness.  A great many people have seen little to no success in the US commercial sector despite a considerable effort, for decades.  For workers below the median wage this current environment is a depression — from the duration to the rate of the un/underemployment.  Any status gain they might have achieved before this occurred is now gone.
    * Few mitigating influences.  Most of the community and familial structures that historically buffered people in the US against economic failure have been ravaged.  Even functional families are now atomized. 
    * Rage and a loss of government legitimacy.  Time worn beliefs that have underpinned the American experiment, such as the idea of a level playing field, the correlation between hard work and success, and the underlying basic fairness of our system have been savaged by the government response to the financial crisis.  Frankly, the perception of many is that Wall Street’s pros are guilty of criminal fraud and even traitorous behavior (they damaged the security and future of the US for personal benefit).  Worse, they not only avoided punishment, they were rewarded for it.

Will we see more of this violence?  Most assuredly.  Further, as this economic failure matures, damaging ever greater numbers of people, we may see less violence against people and more economic violence (disruption) in an attempt to extract from society as great a cost as they possibly can.  A couple of hundred people, using the super-empowerment afforded by network disruption, could easily cause countless billions in economic damage.  A thousand people? 

Bigger, prettier version here.

And, now it’s mainstream.

I love the assumption that keeping extra food and water around is “crazy.”

Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) — The idea of secret banking cabals that control the country and global economy are a given among conspiracy theorists who stockpile ammo, bottled water and peanut butter. After this week’s congressional hearing into the bailout of American International Group Inc., you have to wonder if those folks are crazy after all.

Wednesday’s hearing described a secretive group deploying billions of dollars to favored banks, operating with little oversight by the public or elected officials.

So basically, what happened is these huge banks (both domestic and foreign) had billions of dollars in bad investments. Those investments were insured by AIG. When AIG was unable to pay off the insurance, the Federal Reserve stepped in and bought those bad insurance contracts for $30 billion. The banks received 100 cents on the dollar.

The result? Banks operate on the assumption that failure on their part will be subsidized by the US taxpayer.

The truth? The Federal Reserve’s reason for existing is supposedly to maintain economic stability in this country. The fact is that the Federal Reserve exists to protect the huge banks from failing and competing with each other. As long as the banks turn a profit, they can keep their money for themselves. When the banks fail, the Fed and it’s subsidiary, the federal government, will cover their losses. There’s no motivation for the banks to avoid risk.

The whole game is rigged.

$30 billion taxpayer loss on GM

The Obama administration will tell Congress Wednesday that it expects to lose about $30 billion of the $82 billion government bailout of the auto industry, two administration officials familiar with the report said today.

It’s theft. It’s money that was stolen from people who pay taxes now and in the future to bail out not the company, but the union.

Redistributive change. It’s Obama’s promise and motive. Unions are socialist entities that exist to oppose businesses. The socialists sucked the life out of GM, and when it died, another socialist stole money from one group and used it to bring it back to life, and gave back it to his socialist friends and contributors to continue feeding. The end.

Stimulus money being spent in non-existent districts

Here’s a stimulus success story: In Arizona’s 15th congressional district, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. At least that’s what the Web site set up by the Obama administration to track the $787 billion stimulus says.

There’s one problem, though: There is no 15th congressional district in Arizona; the state has only eight districts.

And:

recovery.gov says $34 million in stimulus money has been spent in Arizona’s 86th congressional district in a project for the Navajo Housing authority, which is actually located in the 1st congressional district.

In Oklahoma, recovery.gov lists more than $19 million in spending — and 15 jobs created — in yet more congressional districts that don’t exist.

In Iowa, it shows $10.6 million spent – and 39 jobs created — in nonexistent districts.

In Connecticut’s 42nd district (which also does not exist), the Web site claims 25 jobs created with zero stimulus dollars.

The list of spending and job creation in fictional congressional districts extends to U.S. territories as well.

$68.3 million spent and 72.2 million spent in the 1st congressional district of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

$8.4 million spent and 40.3 jobs created in the 99th congressional district of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

$1.5 million spent and .3 jobs created in the 69th district and $35 million for 142 jobs in the 99th district of the Northern Mariana Islands.

$47.7 million spent and 291 jobs created in Puerto Rico’s 99th congressional district.