Angry Hobos Unite!

Looking at DVD releases that came out this weekend, I saw this:


Hobo with a Shotgun

Hobo buys a gun and goes on vigilante mission. (Rutger Hauer, Gregory Smith, Brian Downey)


Hahaha! Rutger Hauer's a hobo! Really, though, who says "hobo" anymore? Though I guess "Homeless Guy with a Shotgun" or "Transient with a Shotgun" doesn't have the zip that "Hobo" does.

Wait, how did the hobo earn the money? Can you beg enough to feed yourself and your alcohol addiction and your occasional weed habit AND regularly tuck enough away to purchase a firearm? Does a background check bypass not having a residence? Does "Shitty maroon traincar with dick spraypainted on the outside in white" count?

Shit.

Now I'm going to have to see this.

Wisconsin: Template for the Fall of America

Every time I think Republicans can get no lower, I am not surprised when they beat out my expectation and take another dip. What happened in Wisconsin yesterday was a swan dive straight into hell.

Here's how it went down:

• Gov. Walker takes power, immediately gives corporations big tax cuts.
• Gov. Walker suddenly has a money problem.
• Gov. Walker & Repubs craft "budget" bill that strips public employee unions of right to collectively bargain (gov't control of wages, basically).
• Gov. Walker shouts to the heavens that it is about the budget, not about busting unions.
• Union workers protest over proposed bill.
• Senate Democrats realize if they all leave, there will be no quorum, no vote, and bill cannot pass.
• Senate Democrats must leave the state and shack up in Illinois because Gov. says he could "compel" them to the capitol (Read: worst episode of Cops evar)
• Workers continue protest.
• Gov. takes fake "Koch" call, reveals he is underhanded goon, wants to trick Dems into coming back.
• Gov. says It's about the budget!
• Gov. discusses bounty hunters to get the Dems back.
• THEN: Breaking the legally-binding meeting rules, Republicans strip the bill of spending (therefore don't need a quorum) and pass the bill without Democrats.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Yes, the same Republicans who look at the health care bill as being shoved down their throats just practiced some of the most dirty, underhanded, illegal politics ever seen. These are not just crafty, clever, or manipulative elected officials - these are terrible people who lied, cheated, and finally weaseled their way through to breaking the unions for the *sole purpose* of decimating a source of finance for the Democratic Party and sticking their middle finger up the ass of the American Public Employee.

Doc Thompson in for Glenn Beck skimmed over the video of the committee vote and lied to his listeners, saying there was a Democrat from the Senate who came back (It was a House Democrat presenting rules). Rush Limbaugh managed to call teachers lazy bums and protesters bullying mobs in the first couple minutes.

And the best thing to see is the people in Wisconsin get PISSED. Someone better. These are the first dominoes in the Republican master plan of Corporate Wealth-ocracy ruling over the proles. If you're not in Ohio or Idaho - where it's already happened - and not in Wisconsin, keep the TV on. It's coming. And if you're not part of a union? Head over your shoulder, there - you're next.

In Short: Hannity's Arguments Trumped

Sean Hannity, king of the Awww Shucks I Don't Know About All That Elitist Learnin Republicans, was on the radios yesterday talking to the King of the Combover, Mr. Trump, who is apparently running for POTUS in 2012.

The thing I found strange (strange like if I suddenly shit jar of pickled haddock) was what was coming out of Trump's mouth, completely unimpeded by standard, right wing talking points.

Among these, Trump stated:

• America cannot compete with China
• China is taking all our jobs
• The USA is not producing much
• China's buyout of America IS happening in a vacuum

Had any of these things been spouted by a liberal, Sean would've gone into Robo-Republican mode: "No, you're wrong", [insert false talking point], "if it's free market, how can it be wrong?", *hang up*, "You know, it's just like those liberal elite..."

But not the Trumpster.

Hannity biases. You decide.

Lies About Wisconsin, Ohio...

[Edit, based on Calvin's comment: Unions were created because of abused workers, and tied into the end of child labor laws. These are good things, unless you're Republican and want to fund (read: tax cut) the corporations at the risk of crushing the hopes of real working Americans. Even today, while some abuses rear their ugly heads, the base mission is still valid: If the state (or other large group) controls your wages, you're going to get screwed. And yet teachers are still getting screwed. In Ohio, school funding based on property tax has been banned by the Ohio Supreme Court for over 20 years, yet no one changes it. But I digress - Unions are needed. And I hope I capture that in my post.]

The Riots

I was driving from Cleveland to Cincinnati yesterday afternoon, half-hungover and half awake, trolling the local AM stations from there to here and came upon quite the pompous asshole (unidentified conservative) who was taking calls about what's happening in Madison. When confronted with how hard teachers work, he reverted to "yeah, I work hard too." Then he switched to "Their job sucks!"

But all during his (and I will readily group Hannity and the other rightwing tools and myrmidons here), he nonchalantly referred to what was happening in Madison and Columbus as "riots" and "bullying" while out of the other side of his mouth saying all the Governor wanted to do was balance the budget and referring to the Tea Partier protesters as "just representing the taxpayer."

Yes, this should probably sit in the Hypocrisy section, but if we categorized it by that, the whole post would be under one heading.


The Teachers

Just to be clear: I was a teacher for one year. It was 50% wonderful with the kids. It was 50% horrible in the politics and administration. Also: the Madison issue is about ALL public service professionals.

Experienced teachers who have it down and still do a great job run an average of about 60-70 hours per week between teaching, planning, and grading. They spend 10-15% of their income on supplies and tools that the schools will not, either for them or the students.


The Hypocrisy

All the verbal abuse of the protests (RIOTS!) in Madison are from the right wing. And they're clearly targeting the unions as the abusers and devils. Why? Because while unions collect dues while helping negotiations for benefits and salaries, they also use some of those dues to promote political parties and candidates that support the unions.

And - YES - unions have, in some cases, totally abused their power and outgrown their use as their detriment has taken the ruling share when it comes to workers' benefit.

But the only reason it's an issue for the right wing right now is that 99% of those union donations go to Democrats because 99% of union supporters are Democrats. If that union money was going into the GOP fund, Hannity's only comment on the subject would be "They're doing the right thing, for themselves, and for America."


Life Without Unions

As a first-year teacher in North Carolina, where teachers' unions appear to be completely missing, allow me to tell you what happens (numbers were from about 5 years ago):

• First year teachers will start at $23,400.
• Mandatory 10% into retirement (that will eventually be your pension, none from state).
• Tax the rest at about 24%.
• You have the option of taking your yearly salary in 9 months or 12 months. Okay, can we do 12? Yes, but the way that works is you have to open a separate account, do the math yourself, and put away what you think you'll need over the 3 months and have that direct deposited from each check. But after realizing you won't even be able to pay the mortgage if you split it into 12, you opt for 9 and cross your fingers you'll be able to find something else during your "time off."
• You'll be working about 80 hours per week. Sometimes more for a teacher (English) where you have to grade 5-paragraph essays from 120+ students multiple times each semester.
• During the time you don't have, you're required to spend the money you don't have to pay to attend Continuing Education classes.

Why isn't anyone talking about what happens when you don't have unions?


The Reality

While the right wing refuses to acknowledge it, this is about power. The bill on the floor, the contention on the main issue is based on killing the union's ability to negotiate as a group. It allows the state to say "We don't have the money to meet what you want" and lets the salary to default to the "previous contract" meaning you basically don't get a raise if they say they don't have the money.

The power grab is simple. Pass the bill and own your public employees. Teachers aren't paid enough as it is as the people teaching/training/loving/supporting our kids when we're not there (and many parents aren't there out of school). Hey, let's pay them less because they're asking for more. Brilliant!


The Senators

The Democratic Party senators have left the state. The right wing is calling them cheats and liars. They might want to take a look at what Lincoln did. These Democratic Senators are apparently following The Party of Lincoln's playbook.


The Conclusion

These teachers and firefighters and police and every other public servant needs the unions to get them a fair wage. Yes, the unions sometimes abuse their power and certainly use money where they shouldn't, but the alternative is an abomination to anyone involved in a state job.

Keep your fight, Wisconsin! Bring the fight harder, Ohio!

And every other state that sees this horror coming, the Republican terrorism of breaking the unions in a veiled mission to balance the budget, be forewarned by our lessons and take heed. A struggle is about to begin. Embrace it!

Conservatives Blind While Staring Rich in the Face

Last week while listening to a Limbaugh or Hannity stand-in, I heard a caller say this:

You can't tax the rich because they'll just cut jobs to keep making the money they make.

Rah rah! Accolades! Brilliant! ...was the response.

I agree completely. But how is it that conservatives can see that so clearly - that rich people get rich by not spending when they don't have to and are motivated by profit - but be so blind to the opposite sentiment that they actually all support?

If you CUT taxes on the rich, they will NOT create jobs because they're making more money. They will simply buy more stuff. And who started the idea that all the rich people in the US are even in the situation where they COULD create jobs?

Oh yeah, the rich.

Let's Do a Drudge Wrap!

No, not a Drudge rap. That would just be silly. I'm just going to point out a couple things on the Drudge Report website today so you can go directly to the links and not feed into any of his fraudulent, bullshit rankings. Sub-headings are the links, all of which - as always - open in a new window or tab. And it's not all political BS either, more like a general news day wrap.

Fatty Trompe l'Oeil
It's the nanny state! Or so that's the general call to arms alluded to in even posting this story.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is giving $2 million to food behavior scientists to use marketing tricks to encourage kids to pick fruits and veggies over cookies and french fries.

Oh noes! Gubmit spending too!?!

Hell, we've got a country full of mommies and daddies (literal or figurative pundits) doing nothing but bitching that the kids are fat. If the nanny's the only one willing to do something about it: bring in the motherfuckin' nanny!


Boo Hoo Mortgage Man
Some guy put a huge sign on his lawn because he's in foreclosure. And ... wait for it ... I kinda agree with the conservative comments on this one.

THE ACREAGE, Fla. - Juan Guzman has a large, lawn-wide sign in his front yard labeled 'JP Morgan Chase help.' It's his last hope to save his dream home.

The Acreage man built his house in 2007 but couldn't handle the mortgage payment of $3,600 a month.

He said he tried negotiating a lower loan from his bank but it wouldn't budge.

Last year Guzman became unemployed and now his house is in foreclosure.

Woah, woah, buddy. You built a home and right off the bat couldn't handle the mortgage? Then you lost your job? Yes, banks are teh debil adn need to be reined in, but you don't get a pass for shitty planning and plain stupidity. Your mortgage was $3600/mo!!! Sorry bud; ya done fucked up. Walk away and downsize.


Condi's Condo!

Um, there was this story about Condoleezza Rice but it was too boring even for commentary. Click above if you need a nap.


Paladino n Cuomo, Sittin in a Tree...

You live in one of the most diverse cities in the world. You want to be Governor of the state. You probably shouldn't berate gay people.

Here's the 411: if you live in New York and are GLBT or know someone who is or don't know someone who is but agree with equal rights or don't even totally agree with same sex marriage but don't want to be associated with dirty guido bigots, vote for Cuomo.

If you like berating people because of how they were born - you know, like openly making fun of short people or ugly people or black people or someone with a lisp or mentally challenged kids - and happily identify with knuckle-dragging bully assholes everywhere, punch it for Paladino.

Seriously, I'm expecting Paladino's next attack to be "Heh heh, his name's Cuomo. That's almost like cum and dat's wat fags eats. Ha! Blammo!"


Band PR FAIL

I'm sorry. I went way too rant-y on this one, had to give it its own post. Enjoy!


Strange Signal From Discovered Planet?

Following the Sept. 29 announcement of the discovery of Gliese 581g, astronomer Ragbir Bhathal, a scientist at the University of Western Sydney, claimed to have detected a suspicious pulse of light nearly two years ago, that came from the same area of the galaxy as the location of Gliese 581g, according to the U.K.'s Daily Mail online.

Holy shit. At this point I don't care. The planet's 20.5 LY away. Somebody's got a year to get space transport that'll take us 75% of the speed of light (I'm talkin' to YOU Virgin Galactic!) and get me on that rocket and BLAM! I'm oribiting a distant red dwarf with a Biggie Size Earth before I'm 70 and maybe see a distant alien life in person before I die. Awesome. And...go!

Dick Morris What?

Ugh, another example of sloppy work from the right in some of the terrible emails I get from their lists:



I'm a well-educated writer with a penchant for a hard edge towards grammar. And I don't know if it was the phrasing (AWK = awkward) or the unnecessary comma, but it took me over an hour to discern what was being said here.

Apparently the translation for "Dick Morris [See is] Armageddon for Dollar" is not "Dick Morris Goes to Dollar Theater to View Bruce Willis in Armageddon" but "Dick Morris Prognosticates the End of the American Dollar." So Dick's a seer of some sort now.

Unfortunately for the seer, "Armageddon" does not mean "the end" or "the destruction" but more of a "final battle" as a reference to an actual place in the Apocalypse of St. John from the Bible. But the Dollar is American; isn't everything American better and stronger and kicks some serious ass over the rest of the world? Why the surrenderist, defeatist language Dick? Don't you believe in and love America? Don't you want to win?

Perhaps it's the scary money that shuffles Dick back into a corner when discussing finances. You see, Dick Morris was the subject of an IRS tax lien for $1.5 million in 2003, and was named on Connecticut’s list of top 100 tax delinquents in 2007, to the tune of $452,367. Oops!

Maybe Dick needs to get out of the business of shucking books or goods or talking on news shows that have anything to do with money forever. Or maybe hair tonic from bald guys is your thing.

Tuesday Politics: Republican NO-bama!

Day two of the scheduling plan and we've got some politics for you. So far so good.


Tomorrow night, President Obama is going to deliver his State of the Union Speech.

Now leaked: He's going to put a freeze on domestic spending.

So what do the Borrow-and-Spend Republicans say about a freeze on spending by their so-called Tax-and-Spend Democrats? Wrong!

Why? Isn't taking more financial responsibility for the country important.

"Wrong!"

Why?

"Democrat mean 'BAD.'"

So it just boils down to that, does it? Anything Obama and the Democratic party does is subject to ridicule and twisting and a good kneading and beating in the taffy-pulling machine that is the conservative media-political machine? Violently oppose anything proposed - even if it does some good for the country - in order to feign compromise, which the Democrats foolishly acquiesce to, at which point you'll still shout NO but now claiming that it's a weak bill in concert with liberals who say it doesn't go far enough?

"Yep."

But what about genuine health care reform, helping those that need the most help in an admittedly broken system?

"Socialism!"

Discounted meals for poor kids?

"Breeding machines!"

Cute puppies?

"Hitler!"


I see. And what about a Supreme Court that just allowed unlimited corporate campaign contributions from corporations, including foreign corporations, figuratively turning McCain-Feingold on its head (and even making McCain turn tail on his own legislation)?

"Oh, we were in power then. Dems may have been genuinely bi-partisan, but we just wanted to limit their funding. Now? No power. We've got to win in 2010 somehow."

That's what I thought.

"Democrat mean 'BAD.'"

Right.

I Don't Know Nothin' Bout Trackin' No Monies

This is Rep. Alan Grayson asking the Federal Reserve Inspector General about trillions of dollars of YOUR money and whether anyone's keeping track of where the money is and whether or not there are losses in the lending. Her answers are not encouraging.



Duuhh...ummm...I don't know. This is why we can't have anything nice. This is why, even if Obama's efforts are 100% genuine and could 100% fix the mess we're in, it won't. Everyone jumps up and screams FIRE and they bring out the money shooter and only months later do they say "Hmm. Is someone keeping track of this?" Of course because everyone assumes that someone's got the oversight thing handled, no one's got the oversight handled.

One day, in a futuristic, Planet of the Apes scenario, when we're pounding the beach in front of a decaying Statue of Liberty, maybe then we'll get it.

Ah, Teens and Their Porn

One of the first trips I made on the internets this morning was to MSNBC. I saw the above graphic and read Teens Cutting Back on Porn. "Really?" I thought.

So I continued my visual scan: Like others, Elkhart's porn culture feels recession.

Sounded interesting, but I was not necessarily interested enough to click. "Guess the recession's hitting just about everything," I thought.

About ten minutes and half a cup of coffee later I looked at it again and my brain corrected its Freudian slip.

Enough About AIG. Seriously.

Seriously. Shut the fuck up. I know you're pissed. I'm pissed too. But maybe we're not pissed about the same thing.

See, I'm a very liberal person when it comes to politics. I am also a business owner who works very hard for the money I earn in today's economy. America, and even Obama today, is expressing outrage over AIG's couple hundred million in bonuses. And it's the most absurd symbol of all the skullfuckery going on in our economy to date.

I'm not pissed about AIG's bonuses. Sure, perhaps they shouldn't have them since American taxpayers own 80% of the friggin' company, but Chris Dodd (D) is the one who put language in the stimulus bill that says any contract in play before Feb. 11th is to be honored. That's our guy behind the source of the outrage.

And the saddest thing is that everyone's pissed about AIG's couple hundred million dollars. Let me say it again: shut the fuck up about AIG. Last year we dumped $700 billion into banks and whatever-the-shit with no checks, no balances, and no accountability under the auspices of The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. And we don't know where much of that money is right now.

So what happened in this stimulus bill? Did we learn from what George W. Bush did with the war bill? Did we learn from what happened last year? Did the Democrats with a commanding lead in congress grab the reins and inject rules and provisions and accountability into this bill?

NO! Congress - our Democratically-led Congress - pulled the same shit they did last year. Obama pulled the same "gotta happen now or DOOM!" bullshit Bush pulled with the Iraq War legislation, pushing a bill through that was physically impossible to read in the allotted time before voting. We've tossed another $700 billion into the air and Congress is only NOW saying "hey, we should've put something in there about what if it's windy...."

This isn't a problem with our President; he's as hopeful and optimistic as anyone can be in an economic time like this. This isn't an issue with accountability or learning our lessons; if Congress wrote the bill again and America wasn't dealing with misplaced aggression, they'd do the same shit again. This is a problem with Congress.

You want Change with Obama, we start with the Legislative branch. House? 2 terms. Senate? 1 term. Then get the hell out. Without the worry for extended re-election, we won't have to deal with as much bullshit and lying. Without the potential for a full-on career in DC, you'll only get people who want to do the job.

Will it have problems? Sure. But last month our government took a shit-ton of our money for a second time in 6 months, stuck a pole up our asses and didn't even have the courtesy to give a reach-around.

Shouldn't we do something other than shake our fist at a company that has a fart-in-the-wind role in the process?

Did they muck up the financial waters? Yep. But when everyone was getting fat and happy, no one was shaking fingers. Did they take a ton of taxpayer money? Yep. But no one tied any strings. Are they handing out bonuses with that money? Yep, because a Democrat said they could.

If you're going to be angry, at least be angry at the right thing.

Drudge Uncertain of Reality

Had this poking around for a couple days. Shot of Drudge's site:



Question for Drudge:

Where the fuck have you been for the last 8 years?

The Magic Woodworkings of a Stimulus Plan

The stimulus plan has all the creeps coming out of the woodwork, most of them tossing everything - including the kitchen sink - at the Obama administration cause day wont day monies!

Las Vegas, which by some accounts already glitters, wants $2 million for neon signs.

Boynton Beach, Fla., is looking for $4.5 million for an "eco park" featuring butterfly gardens and gopher tortoises.

And Chula Vista, Calif., would like $500,000 to create a place for dogs to run off the leash.

These are among 18,750 projects listed in "Ready to Go," the U.S. Conference of Mayors' wish list for funding from the stimulus bill moving through Congress. The group asked cities and towns to suggest "shovel ready" projects for the report, which it gave to Congress and the Obama administration.

Let's just call bullshit on all that fuckery. Now and forever.

You want to dance around the money game? You want to propose projects the Federal Government should fund? Fine: line item how much it should cost and how many jobs it will create. If you get that money and do not create those jobs, you are accountable for creating those jobs within 2 months. If you do not create those jobs, you lose 50% of funding to the state until you do.

Accountability. How are we going to get anything done if it's just a bunch of liars and cheats?

Answer: we won't.

It's Been a Couple Days...

So it's been a couple days since I've been around. Part of it is the back and forth with the holidays and part of it is genuine apathy. I've been up and down about the layoff, fluctuating between not wanting to get off the couch and a "go get 'em" attitude (today's a little more "go"), and I've been getting all my ducks in a row for a massive contact push today because while the economy is stinking it seems everyone I would like to speak with had the last two weeks off.

Aside from growing the client list, it is good to have the house back. Empty, I mean. Love the family dearly, but the work day is sometimes the only time I get to myself. Which should really change this year.

No, this is not the time to go into resolutions for 2009. Some goals, some desires, maybe tomorrow.

The blog itself is not going to change much except to say that I'll have at least one post up daily - I know; I've been skipping more and more lately. I'm still sensing a minor remainder of political hangover, an apathy in its own right, and will be booting back up politically in the coming days, especially with the inauguration already being pushed to our lips like television's dripping teat.

Watched several movies over the holidays, so I've got some reviews coming up, some fantastic restaurants who deserve a write-up over on that business blog I -occasionally- write, more sex content, and the normal decrying of douchebaggery all 'round.

Happy New Year.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go get 'em.

Getting Laid Off

It couldn't happen to me - not right at Christmas - until it did.

It wasn't a surprise except that it lasted this long. The owner of the business had been running it into the ground for years. That's what happens when you continually fail to deliver and consistently late to meetings (him, of course, not me). People left and weren't replaced, including sales and - for now - they're going into hibernation mode.

The good news is that I run my own web design and marketing company and have a couple clients to lean on with that. So we're not dead, just bleeding. Yeah. Not drowning, but waving.

So if you enjoy this blog and know anyone looking to build or redesign or market their website, go ahead and click that profile and send me an email. Mrs. Shambles and I will appreciate it.

Funny-Sad in Cincinnati

From the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Homearama seeks less-pricey site

The Greater Cincinnati Home Builders Association has called off plans to hold its 2009 Homearama home show in the upscale neighborhood of Long Cove in Deerfield Township.
...
Hendricks said the lingering credit crunch and sluggish economy made it difficult for some builders and would-be home buyers to get financing at higher prices.

I would also guess that looking at very large, absurdly expensive homes in this economy might prove depressing:

"Hey, honey, let's go look at these homes we can't afford."

"We can't afford our home."

"Oooohhhhhhgh."

In Short: Palin's Makeup Artist

From Huffington:

If Palin's $150,000 shopping spree had Republicans disgusted, then the report that her makeup stylist cost $22,800 for the first two weeks of October should have them livid. The stylist, Amy Strozzi, was apparently paid more than any other McCain staffer during that period.

What the hell are they doing over there?

That Hypocrite Pope

Today:

Benedict says that "now with the collapse of big banks we see that money disappears, is nothing and all these things that appear real are in fact of secondary importance." He urges those who build their lives "only on things that are visible, such as success, career, money" to keep that in mind.

This is, of course, because Pope Benedict is the head of an organization that benefits when everything goes to shit, when people are tired of the political spin and don't quite understand what's happening. They go to church; they drop more into the ushers' baskets.

Uncertainty breeds money for The Holy See.

Christianity is, at its base, supposed to follow the teachings of Christ, who renounced all things in the physical world for the spiritual world, and taught his followers to do the same. Ironically enough, the purported stronghold of Christ's teachings, the Vatican, is worth billions in the physical leanings of priceless art, artifacts, treasures, and manuscripts.

Perhaps, Pope Benedict, if you were able to divest yourself of some of those worldly holdings and aid in helping those in need - you know, like Jesus would do - then perhaps you'd be less likely viewed as a hypocrite. Don't tell me I'm not following Jesus' path by having a 401(k) plan when a fart from the Vatican vault could help thousands.

And if the world were to follow your advice and value nothing physical and focus on only their spiritual development? Well, then, the Catholic Church would again become an enormous power to be reckoned with, wouldn't it?

Isn't worldly power...worldly?

Might want to read that Bible again, Benedict.

Keating Economics

McCain decided to blow up Obama's ties to Ayers, as well as blow up Ayers as a TERR'IST. Aside from it being bullshit (and I will have more on that later), McCain is letting out his old man stink; he's panicking because we've got a month to go. Problem with his strategy is that no one wants to talk about Ayers. We're a little too worried about the economy, our 401(k)'s - if we have enough to put into them.

And the worst part is that McCain's actions during the Keating scandal are directly related to what is going on now. Let's review, shall we? The Obama campaign released this gem just today. It's 13 minutes long, and will get you fired up.



Pass it on.

Bailout or Martial Law?

Some members of congress have been informed that without the bailout, Martial Law would be instituted.

From BoingBoing:



Last week everyone was shouting that the markets were sucking some ass because the bailout didn't pass. This morning I heard that the international markets were tanking before out opening bell because - suddenly - people internationally realized the bailout is a Band-Aid, not actually fixing anything.

WTF?