Wednesday, December 31, 2008 by Myke.

We all know the failure of the year 2008 and all of the economic crap.  People lost their ass on 401k plans, stocks, bonds and hell, we even lost out on cash value.  Our economy was so bad the Mexicans left for their home land.  Well I decided to take a look at some of the predictions that were made during and for the year 2008.

1. “A very powerful and durable rally is in the works. But it may need another couple of days to lift off. Hold the fort and keep the faith!” —Richard Band, editor, Profitable Investing Letter, Mar. 27, 2008

At the time of the prediction, the Dow Jones industrial average was at 12,300. By late December it was at 8,500.

2. AIG (AIG) “could have huge gains in the second quarter.” —Bijan Moazami, analyst, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey, May 9, 2008

AIG wound up losing $5 billion in that quarter and $25 billion in the next. It was taken over in September by the U.S. government, which will spend or lend $150 billion to keep it afloat.

3. “I think this is a case where Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM) are fundamentally sound. They’re not in danger of going under…I think they are in good shape going forward.” —Barney Frank (D-Mass.), House Financial Services Committee chairman, July 14, 2008

Two months later, the government forced the mortgage giants into conservatorships and pledged to invest up to $100 billion in each.

4. “I’m not an economist but I do believe that we’re growing.” —President George W. Bush, in a July 15, 2008 press conference

Nope. Gross domestic product shrank at a 0.5% annual rate in the July-September quarter. On Dec. 1, the National Bureau of Economic Research declared that a recession had begun in December 2007.

5.“I think Bob Steel’s the one guy I trust to turn this bank around, which is why I’ve told you on weakness to buy Wachovia.” —Jim Cramer, CNBC commentator, Mar. 11, 2008

Two weeks later, Wachovia came within hours of failure as depositors fled. Steel eventually agreed to a takeover by Wells Fargo. Wachovia shares lost half their value from Sept. 15 to Dec. 29.

6. “Existing-Home Sales to Trend Up in 2008″ —Headline of a National Association of Realtors press release, Dec. 9, 2007

On Dec. 23, 2008, the group said November sales were running at an annual rate of 4.5 million—down 11% from a year earlier—in the worst housing slump since the Depression.

7. “I think you’ll see [oil prices at] $150 a barrel by the end of the year” —T. Boone Pickens, June 20, 2008

Oil was then around $135 a barrel. By late December it was below $40.

8. “I expect there will be some failures. … I don’t anticipate any serious problems of that sort among the large internationally active banks that make up a very substantial part of our banking system.” —Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, Feb. 28, 2008

In September, Washington Mutual became the largest financial institution in U.S. history to fail. Citigroup (C) needed an even bigger rescue in November.

9. “In today’s regulatory environment, it’s virtually impossible to violate rules.” —Bernard Madoff, money manager, Oct. 20, 2007

About a year later, Madoff—who once headed the Nasdaq Stock Market—told investigators he had cost his investors $50 billion in an alleged Ponzi scheme.

10. “There’s growing evidence that parts of the debt markets…are coming back to life.” —Peter Coy and Mara Der Hovanesian, BusinessWeek, Oct. 1, 2007.

Oops.

I think this speaks for itself.

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Wednesday, December 31, 2008 by Myke.

After I read the below story, I actually got mad at this moron!  All I could say after reading it was, “So help me God, if I ever see this Michael Newdow I will punch him in the nuts”.  He has tried twice before and has lost so he thinks that three times a charm.  He is suing to remove the statement ‘So help me God’ from the inauguration speech ceremony for Barack Obama.  While we are at it, maybe we can also remove it from all currency here in the US and while we are at that we can ask that all churches remove any and all signs from their buildings.  Maybe this Michael Newdow can even call God and ask him to remove his name from the Holy Bible.  I am not even in the least bit religious but this guy is a f**k tard!

A number of atheists and non-religious organizations want Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony to leave out all references to God and religion. 

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Washington, the plaintiffs demand that the words “so help me God” not be added to the end of the president’s oath of office.

In addition, the lawsuit objects to plans for ministers to deliver an invocation and a benediction in which they may discuss God and religion.

An advance copy of the lawsuit was posted online by Michael Newdow, a California doctor and lawyer who has filed similar and unsuccessful suits over inauguration ceremonies in 2001 and 2005.

Joining Newdow in the suit are groups advocating religious freedom or atheism, including the American Humanist Association, the Freedom from Religion Foundation and atheist groups from Minnesota; Seattle, Washington; and Florida.

The new lawsuit says in part, “There can be no purpose for placing ’so help me God’ in an oath or sponsoring prayers to God, other than promoting the particular point of view that God exists.”

Newdow said references to God during inauguration ceremonies violate the Constitution’s ban on the establishment of religion.

Newdow and other plaintiffs say they want to watch the inaugural either in person or on television. As atheists, they contend, having to watch a ceremony with religious components will make them feel excluded and stigmatized.

“Plaintiffs are placed in the untenable position of having to choose between not watching the presidential inauguration or being forced to countenance endorsements of purely religious notions that they expressly deny,” according to the lawsuit.

Among those named in the lawsuit are Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, who is expected to swear in the new president; the Presidential Inauguration Committee; the Joint Congressional Committee on Inauguration Ceremonies and its chairwoman, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California; and the Armed Forces Inaugural Committee and its commander, Maj. Gen. Richard Rowe Jr.

The two ministers scheduled to participate in the ceremony also are named: the Rev. Rick Warren and the Rev. Joseph Lowery. The document includes a quotation from Warren on atheists: “I could not vote for an atheist because an atheist says, ‘I don’t need God.’ “

Newdow told CNN that he didn’t name President-elect Barack Obama in the suit because in addition to participating as a government official at the ceremony, he possesses rights as an individual that allow him to express religious beliefs.

“If he chooses to ask for God’s help, I’m not going to challenge him,” Newdow said. “I think it’s unwise.”

Newdow said that as a member of a racial minority, Obama should have respect for atheists, who also are members of a minority.

Newdow said religious references in the inauguration ceremony send a message to non-believers.

“The message here is, we who believe in God are the righteous, the real Americans,” he said.

Newdow said it’s unconstitutional to imply that atheists and others are not as good.

He acknowledged that his suit is unlikely to be successful.

“I have no doubt I’ll lose,” he said, adding that he hoped to eventually succeed through appeals and hoped future inauguration ceremonies would exclude religious references.

Lawsuit seeks to take out ‘So help me God’

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Wednesday, December 31, 2008 by Myke.

On behalf of myself and…well…okay I am lying a bit here.  Actually on behalf of Britain’s National Physical Laboratory we are all getting one extra second tonight to correct the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).  Due to the earth spinning way out of control we all lost a second over the last year.  I KNEW IT!  It felt like we lost something somewhere…serious.  My guess is that one of the “retarded” Global Warming freaks is going to blame this on Global Warming.  Dumb asses.

My question is, how does anyone know exactly how time is tracked?  I mean, did Jesus or God or Budda or some freak alien come up to someone a long time ago and say…”Hey, so this is how time is kept”?  I actually want a full explanation as to how anyone knows for a fact that we live by seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years.  This all goes back to things that me go hmm.  Why is the sky blue?  Because it is a reflection of the ocean.  Why is the ocean blue?  Because it is a reflection of the sky.  I am a firm believer that the movies The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, The Matrix and The Happening are the best depictions of our World and how it all works.  *CAUTION:  Movie spoiler coming up*  In the Hitch hikers guide, the Earth is built by another life form just like we build cities and buildings.  Makes sense being that every project has its flaws and mistakes.  In the Matrix we are just cattle being herded around by a higher technology.  If you make it out and are good enough to figure it all out…they are try and kill you off for good.  Better yet, f you do not believe in aliens maybe you can follow The Happening.  This movie shows us how plants, trees, bushes and grass can take control of everyone.  My take on that movie was that it was Mother Nature’s way of controlling the World’s population.  I know folks, we could go on forever here.  Anyways, here is the complete story.  You can accept the extra second or be a rebel and cheer 1 second ahead of everyone else tonight.  I plan on drinking enough Jaeger/Bing Cherry shots that it will not matter to me anymore. 

Immediately before midnight a leap second — the first for three years — will be added to atomic clocks around the world by official timekeepers.

Peter Whibberley, a senior research scientist at Britain’s National Physical Laboratory, said the Earth’s erratic rotation meant an extra second needed to be added.

“The difference between atomic time and Earth time has now built up to the point where it needs to be corrected, so this New Year’s Eve we will experience a rare 61 second minute at the very end of 2008 and revelers… will have an extra second to celebrate.”

Traditionally time has been based on the passage of the Sun across the sky — a modern version of this is still used by astronomers to track distant stars and spacecraft.

However, since 1967, an atomic timescale — the extremely accurate Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) — has been the world’s official clock and is used for broadcasting time signals across the world.

The accuracy of UTC is essential for the smooth running of GPS and the Internet.

By comparison, the Earth is far less reliable. It does not rotate at a constant speed — it can even wobble — and disruptions to its core, extreme weather, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes can influence the length of a day.

Therefore, leap seconds are occasionally added to align atomic time with astronomical time and ensure that the Sun remains overhead at noon.

Whibberley told British media anyone sober enough and who had a digital clock that picked up leap second information from a reliable source, would see the final seconds of 2008 as 57, 58, 59, 60, 00 — with 60 being the extra second.

Time added to 2008

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