Everything's on Twitter now...

Since about a year ago, nearly all of my blogging activity has moved to twitter...

http://twitter.com/stephenbove

MORON Clause

F-ING MORON Clause
Originally uploaded by the_real_cjs

Stop the Graft!

The current distressed asset repurchase being proposed by Treasury Secretary Paulson is an outrageous affront to all hard working fiscally conservative Americans --  a massive redistribution of value from the American people that benefits only a minority professional banker/financier class.

Any legislation empowering a "bailout" of distressed financial institutions at this time must prevent the following misuse of taxpayer dollars:

1) Banks, especially newly created bank-holding companies like Goldman Sachs & JP Morgan must be barred from borrowing funds at the Fed Discount Window and investing those funds in "distressed-assets" being sold by the Treasury after being purchased from failing institutions with taxpayer bailout funds. This kind of egregious round-tripping from Fed to Bank to Treasury must be prohibited.

2) Bail out funds paid to a bank or financial institution (such as Goldman, JPMorgan, etc.) for distressed assets must NEVER be used to subsequently buy similar (and especially not higher quality) distressed assets being sold by Treasury after purchase during a bailout. This sort of covert balance sheet swapping at taxpayer expense cannot be tolerated.

Call, email and write your Senators, Representatives and influential friends. Let them know that you are intolerant of the carefully veiled graft that has been proposed by Treasury Secretary Paulson.

San Francisco says NO to China Olympics Torch Run

IMG_0741
Originally uploaded by sbove

Yesterday, I was particularly proud to be a San Franciscan. My city-mates (and apparently thousands of people from all over California and even the US at large) converged on the embarcadero with great enthusiasm and compassion, and sent a powerful message to the Chinese government: "We are not trying to penalize the Olympics or the Athletes who will participate in them, but we will NOT stand by idly while a country of China's international stature advocates policies of genocide, criminal brutality, and political/religious oppression. We will not stand for it from China and we won't stand for it as our own Federal government does EXACTLY THE SAME THINGS to Iraq and Afghanistan. Troglodytic, reptilian, fear based foreign policy is a dangerous and obsolete mode. China, step it up! Tolerance and individual freedom are plenty compatible with economic prosperity.

More photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stephenbove/sets/72157604467857786/