Who's the Pirate?

The "developed" world is dumping toxic waste in the seas off Somalia -- and stealing their fish. Who's the pirate? Who's the bad guy? Who's the thief?

The winner gets to write history. Right now we are calling the Somalis "pirates". If we were fighting back against the same kind of behavior, we'd be calling ourselves patriots.

Crooks & Liars: What The International Media Isn't Telling You About Somalia Pirates

Fuck AIG

Another headline that will get me banned by nanny software in airports and libraries everywhere. Fuck 'em. This is one funny song.

FREE MONEY IN THE USA

I cant pay my bills, my cards are maxxed
but the same old greedy banker hacks
are taking million dollar bonuses from my tax
Busting laws and breaking backs
AIGee your dumb said the man in the suit
With his bonuses and his sack of loot
The same guys who caused the train to crash
Are the only people still making cash

AIG I'm dumb FDIC my thumb
Shoved up my BofA
Free money in the USA
I got no place to stay
I lost my 401k
Now it's all gone away
Free money in the USA

Binding legal obligations
In a broke and worthless paper nation
one six five million in bonus pay
Free money in the USA
The first banker to press that case
may win in court but will one day face
an angry mob that he will meet
coming through the gates of easy street

Cancel all bonus's or put them in jail
We're all to goddamn big to fail

With so many people out of work
I hear some wealthy banker jerk
Say they can't attract the brightest and best
Like the ones who got us into this mess
Without hundreds of millions in retention pay
Free money in the USA
Go down to the unemployment line
There's a lot of people who'd do just fine
To right this ship and fix your bank
For a decent wage and a hearty thanks
for some honest pay for an honest day
Fuck aig fuck BofA-holes

© Paul Hipp 2009

Irish Wish for AIG

Irish Wish for AIG
.
St. Paddy's Day wish for AIG and the rest of the vandals and berserkers and barbarians still holding sway from the era o'Bushie...a curse still in play.
.
To the vandals of AIG and their minions near and far,
May the spirit of the Irish come crap upon your car.

You destroyed the American economy and now you whine
Oooh, oooh, them bonuses must be mine.

Yet while your eyes widen and your conniving brains spin
We've people living in tents and praying for regular meals ag'in.

'Tis a good time to be Irish or living with one, too.
'cause then I can take this moment to send this wish to you...

All of you, you know who you are.
Your craven greed and recklessness and avarice runs beyond the bar

of human decency and there should be just reward.
Not bonuses and big bucks lives, but a coat of feathers, richly tarred.

Yes, on this day of St. Paddy's here is my wish for the likes of you.
An indictment from Fitzgerald and the sting of his shillelagh, too.

hat tip to Prairie Sun Rising.

I'm With This Guy

Corporations Taking Bailout Money, Spending It Opposing Unions

Corporations are taking taxpayer money -- contributed by the workers of America, as most corporations in this country don't pay taxes -- and using it to lobby against the Employee Free Choice Act so they can keep workers under their thumbs. During an October 17th conference call hosted by Bank of America involving AIG, Home Depot and other US corporations, the corporate thieves suggest giving millions to a lobbying organization so they can get around the McCain-Feingold campaign finance laws. So, they've taken our money, and they're using it to lobby against us.

I've signed Change Congress's donor strike pledging not to donate to any federal candidate unless they support legislation making congressional elections citizen-funded, not special-interest funded.

HuffPo: Bailout Recipients Hosted Call To Defeat Key Labor Bill

Three days after receiving $25 billion in federal bailout funds, Bank of America Corp. hosted a conference call with conservative activists and business officials to organize opposition to the U.S. labor community's top legislative priority.

Participants on the October 17 call -- including at least one representative from another bailout recipient, AIG -- were urged to persuade their clients to send "large contributions" to groups working against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), as well as to vulnerable Senate Republicans, who could help block passage of the bill.

Bernie Marcus, the charismatic co-founder of Home Depot, led the call along with Rick Berman, an aggressive EFCA opponent and founder of the Center for Union Facts. Over the course of an hour, the two framed the legislation as an existential threat to American capitalism, or worse.

"This is the demise of a civilization," said Marcus. "This is how a civilization disappears. I am sitting here as an elder statesman and I'm watching this happen and I don't believe it."

You can listen to the call here on Wikileaks. Just click the blue "audio-recording" at the top of the page.

Sarah Palin starring in "The Grifters"

Sarah Palin took her kids along to public events to which they were not invited, and charged Alaska taxpayers for the kids' travel expenses. On August 6th, after Alaskan reporters questioned those expenses, she amended the forms to say "First Family attended" and "First Family invited", even to events the organizers say the kids were not invited to.

She's a real Republican, all right. A liar and a tax cheat.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.

The charges included costs for hotel and commercial flights for three daughters to join Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race, and a trip to New York, where the governor attended a five-hour conference and stayed with 17-year-old Bristol for five days and four nights in a luxury hotel.

In all, Palin has charged the state $21,012 for her three daughters' 64 one-way and 12 round-trip commercial flights since she took office in December 2006. In some other cases, she has charged the state for hotel rooms for the girls.

The Scurvy Little Spiders Come Out to Play

Can't you understand what's happening here? Don't you see what's happening? Potter isn't selling. Potter's buying! And why? Because we're panicky and he's not. That's why. He's picking up some bargains. Now, we can get through this thing all right. We've got to stick together, though. We've got to have faith in each other.

- It's a Wonderful Life George Bailey tries to stop the panic during the run on the bank.

You sit around here and you spin your little webs and you think the whole world revolves around you and your money. Well, it doesn't, Mr. Potter! In the... in the whole vast configuration of things, I'd say you were nothing but a scurvy little spider.

- George Bailey after Potter offers him a job.

Life imitates film:

WaPo: Fresh Signs of Recovery Or Just Opportunism?

In the past week, Warren E. Buffett put up nearly $10 billion to acquire Constellation Energy Group and a stake in Goldman Sachs. Japan's largest bank company has agreed to invest billions of dollars in Morgan Stanley. Private-equity firms, meanwhile, are lining up funds so they can pounce on assets that are priced to move quickly.

They're playing us all for suckers.