DISPATCHES FROM THE GHOST MOOSE

so, the pension mess is unraveling in Europe.  the attached link describes how the European union employees are beginning to revolt over the necessary pension changes.  All being done way too late, by the way.  No way out of this mess. http://news.yahoo.com/mass-strike-promises-travel-chaos-063900078.html Now, contrast that with the non-action being taken in Illinois: http://news.yahoo.com/mass-strike-promises-travel-chaos-063900078.html no action.  the ticks on the ghost moose continue to gorge...I find the line about the pension being protected because it was legally awarded particularly infuriating.  if nothing else, this mess shows the unions are in charge, and no actions will be taken to do anything against the unions that supported the politicians. You can count on Gov. Fudd Quinn taking no actions on pensions during this term, and leaving the problem, and the supposed expiration of the income tax increase to the next criminal that will govern the...

so windy today.  must be winter blowing in. I guess summer is almost over. here are two gems about our favorite shithole, Illinois. http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/illinois/business-tax-breaks-illinois-sears-cme-cost-taxpayers-20111117 Gov. Fudd  Quinn is giving tax breaks to companies that will cost $848 million, as well as tax breaks to low income families.  and where do you think this give away will be funded?  Gee - when that temporary tax increase expires, we will be in a real jam, huh?  of course, the temporary increase is only temporary until it is replaced by a temporary higher increase in the personal income tax.  http://247wallst.com/2011/11/28/best-and-worst-run-states-in-america-an-analysis-of-all-50/8/ the link above is to a story that has Illinois ranked 49th out of 50 for the most poorly run state in the country, ahead of only California.  Can you imagine what a complete disaster California must be to be ranked lower than ...

I continue to marvel at the arrogance and ignorance that came together to form the perfect storm that was the financial system meltdown.  Two separate stories here.  the first is a better assessment of exactly how much of our tax money was given to the financial institutions to keep them afloat.  We were never truly told how tenuous this financial system was.   And how much it cost us taxpayers to make sure the bankers continued to award themselves huge salaries and bonuses.  And the whole story will probably never be told. But this is a good read: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-28/secret-fed-loans-undisclosed-to-congress-gave-banks-13-billion-in-income.html the second story here is about how the state of Illinois is being held hostage by companies such as Sears (and motorola, CME, etc).  http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/story/2011-11-25/sears-holdings-headquarters/51423932/1 In the same manner that the federal governme...

Since I first posted earlier, the paper came, and there was a follow up in the Trib about the pension hog that qualifed for a 6 figure pension by fradulently being classified as a substitute teacher: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-preckwinkle-scholarships-20111127,0,6549186.story well, it also turns out he had 2 kids and a nephew get full rides to college.  when is enough enough?  and yet this is not investigated by any government office - it lies hidden until the Trib shines light on it.  Just like the courageous Trib did with Jim Ryan's divorce records which indirectly led us to having our current collossal failure as president. Great Job, Trib.

the news is still full of stories about the mayhem with the crush of shoppers on Black Friday...mobs of people with nothing better to do, stampeding to get a $2 waffle maker, or a cheap flat screen tv.  spending hours of their free time standing in a line...like sheep.  The Norman Rockwell Christmas is no more...somewhere along the line the holiday went from a time of family and God, to a time of gorging on cheaply made Chinese goods. Proves my theory - the govt is only too happy to keep the masses supplied with food and alcohol in mass quantities...and cheap consumer goods.  If the masses are kept fat, drunk and laden with brightly colored stuff, they will be distracted from fully understanding that the state is broke, the country is broke, and one by one, European countries are folding.  my advice - learn how to speak Mandarin.  Merry Christmas.

Up too early.  I had forgotten what crap there is on tv at 4 am.  The extended commercials for seat covers and Chris Angel magic kits....do people actually buy this stuff?  I suppose if saps will leave home to line up at 10 pm on Thanksgiving night to buy a tv, they will buy anything.  I was watching Jay Leno (what a no talent hack) who had on some woman I had no clue, and she mentioned the unfair treatment that Michelle Bachmann was getting from the media...and of course Leno disputed that, mentioning the lampooning he had done of John Kerry, and the current repulican male candidates...but no mention of making fun of our current colossal failure, Obama.  no - making fun of Obama would be an admission that we have all been had...which we all have been.  how in the world would anyone want 4 more years of this failure?  time to unseal someone elses divorce records, or the make fun of Donald Trump, or dredge up dirt on Herman Cain...but, perish the thou...

Day after Thanksgiving.  almost all companies are closed...almost all.  Last week, Michelle Bachman made an appearance on the Jimmy Fallon show.  the band played some song called "Lying Ass Bitch" when she came out for her appearance.  http://www.nj.com/entertainment/celebrities/index.ssf/2011/11/michele_bachmann_gets_apology.html how is that in any way appropriate?  and why was this not covered more by the liberal press?  now, contrast that with the uproar last week when Michelle Obama was booed at a NASCAR race.  we immediately hear how all nascar fans are redneck bigots, and it was inappropriate, blah blah blah... at lease she wasn't greeted with a song "Lyin Ass Bitch".  that truly would have been horribly disrespectful.

Thanksgiving.  I was at WalMart this morning early, and the aisles were full of Christmas toys, etc.  Not much respect given to Thanksgiving.  Which is somewhat strange since Thanksgiving should be the one holiday that transcends race, religion, etc.  Unless, of course, you are a native American, then you'd probably not really feel too good about Thanksgiving.  Native Americans got screwed out of their country, then a few hunder years later, Americans got screwed out of their country...we have come full circle.  But, on that topic, I suppose the list of things to be thankful for far outweighs the list of things you can bitch about.  unless you are me - then you can find fault in virtually everything. such is life.  but, perhaps I need to lighten up.  but what would I write about?  anyway - football to come on in a bit.  too early for a beer...what is one to do? have a Happy Thanksgiving. (authors note:  I read this post...

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  My deck this morning was as slick as a skating rink. Glad we played golf last weekend - it will be awhile before we do that again.  In Chicago, anyway. By now you have probably heard of the prison sentence handed down to Tony Rezko for his part in the corruption that is out of control in Illinois.  By all accounts, this sentence is a harbinger of things to come for Gov. Blago.... http://www.suntimes.com/9012640-417/rezko-most-likely-not-the-only-one-troubled-by-his-sentence.html But what of the association of Rezko to our messiah, Obama???  why is the media not digging into this association a bit further?  Here is a description of their connection from Wikipedia (it is a bit lengthy, but read the whole article): In 1990, after Barack Obama was elected president of the Harvard Law Review , Rezmar Corp. offered him a job, which Obama turned down. Obama instead took a job with the firm of Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, [ 2...

I forget the exact amount, but when we, the middle class, make a cash transaction at the bank for over $2 grand, I believe special paperwork is required - just so the govt make sure we are not cheating them out of their share, and to make sure we justify why we have such riches....so, look at the link here.  MF Global's loss is over a billion - more than twice what was estimated.  And the money just disappeared..imagine that.  did they have forms for every $2 grand that they stole?  http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/mf-global-trustee-estimates-shortfall-could-be-more-than-1-2-billion/?ref=business Remember the coverage given to Michelle Obama while in Chicago, decrying the "food deserts", areas not having any stores where locals could buy food???  well, genius, here is why there are food deserts.  Who in their right mind would put a store in a neighborhood like this? http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Flash-Mob-Knocks-Over-Silver-Spring-7-E...

Thanksgiving week.  I have been off work twice - in 2002 and again in 2008.  I have this dark memory both times of sending resumes out on Thanksgiving morning....knowing full well that no one would be looking at time for a week if at all....the memories you can't shake....I am sure there are a lot of folks that will be doing that on Thursday. Played one last round of golf on Saturday, and put the sticks away.  it will be a long winter without the bi-weekly round of golf.  my game sucked, but it was always nice to get out and walk.  now is when you start thinking about where you could live to play more than just 6 months a year. Illinois - what a shithole. Was funny to see Emanuel subbing for Obama in Iowa, and making jokes about the republican field.  One can only hope a repub will follow suit and make some jokes at Obama's expense....here are some I have written: "did someone say illegal immigrant aunt???  or was it illegal drunken uncle????...

finally friday.  and will tee it up for the final round of the year this weekend.  another golf season for the books.  another story about the pension mess in Illinois. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-illinois-pension-costs-20111118,0,7612663.story who are we paying to calculate our exposure to this insane spending, and how could they have been off by over 100%?  and yet, nothing being done to reduce this expense.  story upon story about pension abuse, crime, entitlement, and yet nothing is done.  sure - anyone starting their teaching career today will be limited in what they can gorge at the public trough, but what of those hogs currenty pulling in many times what they paid into the plan?  I love how the proponents of pensions say that Illinois did not pay what they should have paid into the plan...well, Illinois is not a person - what Illinois paid, or was supposed to pay, comes from the pockets of taxpayers.  Us.  the ...

so much to write about, so little time...actually, so little attention span..but I digress. by now you have seen the video of the hippo-like Karen Lewis speaking at a SOCIAL JUSTICE workshop in Seattle, and making completely inappropriate remarks about Arne Duncan, and about being a drug addict in college http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/education/chicago-teachers-union-president-ctu-karen-lewis-joke-arne-duncan-lisp-wont-step-down-20111116 reading this story begs the question that I am sure comes to everyone's mind: How big of a crate did they need to ship that hippopotamous to Seattle, and did they have to keep it wet the entire flight???  (and you thought I would ask who paid to ship that pantload to a worthless conference, didn't you?) Also, I saw the news that the TSA was going to have new, more efficient passenger scanning procedures to make travel smoother over the thanksgiving holiday...that is, of course, assuming you are not white.  If you are whi...

Here's an article that shares my rosy outlook on things...read and enjoy. http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/41-people-american-dream-lost-63-economy-getting-144604132.html I especially like the comment about the percentage of people with no retirement savings.  I had a lot saved for retirement...then the market tanked and continued to tank.  what I have now will pay for maybe a year of retirement.  but, of course, the property tax on my house when I retire will probably be more than what is left in my 401k.  I am not too big to fail, so no one bailed me out.  while the bankers got bonuses for doing nothing, or breaking the law, I saw my hard earned money vaporize....hey, I have an idea...let's make the amount of social security we will collect the same as the government pensions...and let us retire at 52...great idea, huh?  the American Dream...available only to illegals and pensioneers. There are so few stories these days that provide any g...

It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is next Thursday.  As I have written many times, we can only hope the winter passes as quickly as the fall is passing. The approval for the liquor tax increase by the county is passing.  What the heck, we taxpayers are used to being screwed - what's a bit more taxation?  The justificaion given by those approving the tax increases is comical - we are somehow supposed to be at fault for the county tax decrease, so therefore that deficit had to be made up somewhere....how about reducing spending...reducing pensions...my friend told me of going to the county office to contest his parents property tax bill...and was greeted by the county employee with the most intelligent line "who you be?"...this is where our tax dollars are going...who you be.....we pay taxes so brain dead morons who could not care less about helping us can ask us who we be. I saw a story that the city of chicago is cutting jobs, and has 10,000 less city workers...

or, eleven, eleven, fourteen, if you will According to Obama, America has been a little bit lazy in attracting business to this country... http://tv.breitbart.com/obama-americas-been-a-little-bit-lazy/ huh??? lazy????  I am making significantly less income that I was a decade ago, and working significantly more hours.  I have not been lazy.  I know I am not alone either...we are constantly reminded how lucky we are to have jobs at all...to pay taxes to fund the really lazy: - welfare slobs that have more kids so they get more welfare each month - lazy first ladies that take a vacation every month, costing the taxpayers millions, and classifying their children as senior staff memberst to avoid paying their expenses - lazy first families who uproot a farm and put it in the white house back yard to show their commitment to gardening...why not actually plant something and watch it grow? - lazy business leaders who export jobs by the millions instead of spending the ...

what eerie numerology...we should all drink eleven beers tonight so as to not mess with karma.  this link is a good one: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=47438 in the world of dirty political tricks, our jug eared failure seems to have benefitted from unfounded allegations of sexual misconduct, and from the unsealing of private divorce records.  but what of Obama's sealed records....why, they will just stay sealed.  like the empty charges of racism whenever one side does not get its way, hopefully this strategy is exposed for its overuse.  but not likely - the world loves stories about it's leaders and what they do with their pee-pees.  and on a serious note: the Penn State situation is beyond horrendous.  the more you read, the clearer it becomes that what scumdusky was doing was an open secret.  and it was allowed to go on.  as for jo pa - I hope you and your family all die of a long painful disease.  what a load of effing...

There are more stories now about the tenuous state of the global economy.  this should come as no surprise, however, one wonders what will happen as the dominoes continue to topple.  Where does it end?  How many Peters can be robbed to pay how many Pauls?  Oh well - I guess to dwell on what is so apparent and unavoidable can only frustrate us as we run head on into the inevitable.  http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/breakout/mood-europe-only-worse-elliott-wave-analyst-130923234.html;_ylt=Amn_OmFlNO1bTGfkcVWOU6iiuYdG;_ylu=X3oDMTQ0ZWVtMnIwBG1pdANGaW5hbmNlIEZQIFRvcCBTdG9yeSBSaWdodARwa2cDMDYxMTBhZDctMjA1OS0zYWFmLTk1MWItZjIxMDhlYTc3OGY1BHBvcwMzBHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyAzM4YjQzMjUwLTBiOWQtMTFlMS05ZjVmLTFkZjEyMDhiMWFhMg-- http://finance.yahoo.com/news/eu-warns-possible-recession-eurozone-093842534.html or is it just me?

Well, I played bball one last time last night...a game I used to somewhat good at...time to hang up the shoes.  At 53 years old, what used to be taken for granted can no longer be done.  plus having about 50 extra pounds on me doesn't help.  but enough about me. Read the attached stories about oil prices.  We are on the verge of geting gouged yet again.  Stories like these pave the way for out of control gas price increases, and seem to find a way to justify them.   and watch the corporate profit announcements as the oil companies post record profits while selling less gas. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Oil-soars-but-motorists-dont-apf-1576711401.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode = http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c22b2530-0a2f-11e1-85ca-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1dEC6xs2S Ever feel like a 10 year old boy, and the oil companies are Jerry Sandusky??? terrible analogy, I know.  that is a most terrible story, and I hav...

One year to the presidential election...at least I think that's right.  One can only wonder about the silliness we are about to see.  all the empty promises that will be made.  the big talk.  we were all fooled in 2008 - but then again, we are so far down the tubes that the ability to fix things in one 4 year term, or with one administration is nil.  Back in the boom times of the 90s, people were quick to give credit to Ronald Regan...who had left office a decade earlier.   I don't recall at the time when Regan was president anyone saying "gee - a decade from now these things he is doing will really be good".  Every previous administration had a hand in our situation now.  In not flicking off the minute parasite that became big and unremovable.  In letting the hogs gorge at the public trough, and letting them get so fat they cannot be pushed away.  So, in a manner of speaking, every previous administration played a part in the situa...

Nice to have it light earlier..but the night starts sooner too.  oh well, happens every year.  Where does it end???  look at the attached story about the increase in fines/fees that Chicago will be imposing.  $1200/day for tall weeds?  $500 for playing a car radio too loud?  Chicago, with these laws and hundreds of speeding cameras, will become the speed trap nightmare made famous in countless movies...how many drivers will see the flashing lights come on behind them, and then be subjected to huge fines for infractions they had no idea they committed.  http://www.suntimes.com/news/8620307-418/city-fines-and-fees-double-triple-for-minor-and-major-offenses.html again, how about my suggestion about and illegal immigrant fee of $100/day.  How about $1000 for having a boarded up crack house?  How about $500/day for everyone on home detention, and $1000/day for every convict that we are paying to keep fed and clothed in the slammer.  o...

check out this garbage...the French PM asking Obama for help with the debt crises..  what unmitigated gall.  where were the european countries when we needed help....our ghost moose is about to pick up yet another parasite.  the world is effed when obama is asked for help in a debt crisis...unless France wants to make it a really big crisis.  Like asking a drowning man to swim over so you can hand him an anvil.  http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/3/sarkozy-asks-obamas-help-europe-debt-crisis/ asking Obama about how to fix a debt problem is like asking: - Kim Kardashian for marriage tips (it bothers me to write that hosebag's name) - Rosie O'Donnell how not to look like a bull dyke - Carrot Top how not to look like a red headed steroid freak - Gov. Fudd Quinn how to govern a state. if European countries are asking us for help...prepare for the global depression.  I hope the global depression does not affect the pensions of all the Illinois p...

I guess since I am not an economist, I do not understand such things, so have patience.  The Yahoo business page, Wednesday, Nov. 2.  The first story says that oil prices rose because of the good news on the economy..... http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Oil-price-rises-on-apf-2955644037.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=7&asset=&ccode = On the same page, there was a story that said the Fed sees FAR WEAKER growth than they expected....Hmm....odd...just imagine how we would have been ass raped on oil price if there was actually some good economic indicators....but, you need leaders who know what they are doing to get the economy going. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Fed-foresees-far-weaker-apf-4253484235.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode = pressed for time...I need to find some better material tomorrow.

Congestion Tax????  wtf...Mayor Rahhhhmm is proposing some major increases on the tax for parking in the overpriced lots in the open sewer called Chicago.  To park to see a play would now cost you over $30.  What an effin joke.  Add that to the additional surcharge on cab fares, and you now have to bring $100 just to park and get around the loop.  Plus you need to bring an extra Ipod and cell phone to give up to the flash mobs that targe and rob white people.  Brothas gotta make a livin.  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-parking-congestion-tax-1102-20111102,0,2232745.story Chicago...what a shithole. oh, and no progress on the pension deficit.  your $5500 share of the problem has gone up since I last wrote of it. Illinois...what a shithole.

October flew by in a heartbeat...I hope January and February go by equally as fast. The news is full of stories about Herman Cain and the sexual harassment case that he did/didn't have...and the dredging up of the settlement details.  And we have seen stories of Rick Perry and illegals...and all skeletons in the closets of all candidates...except Obama.  His records are sealed and stay sealed.  and the media just lets it go.  Obama must be supported by the highest levels of something.  for him to get a pass on all he does while the records of others are expected to be out there for all to see.  Obama is president because the Tribune sued to unseal the records of Jack Ryan, a senatorial candidate. which led to him dropping out of the race, paving the way for the eventual failure to win the senate seat and begin campaigning for president immediately.  no records of his college courses, no feedback on why his social security number does not pass the gov...