2008 has now come to a close. What did we learn from it? How did it define us? Who came out on top? What things will we never forget? We can easily start off Presidential campaign. It certainly was one wild ride. Here in Texas we certainly had something unique. For President, the counties that consist of the Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Dallas were democratic majority. Now except for the far west ends of county, everything else went republican ticket but for Texas, sir, that is one amazing stat.
Election night was quite an amazing turnout. Obviously people do care who becomes the most powerful seat on the planet. Obama is our new president. I have many friends that did not vote for him. I hope through the next 4 years some of those opinions will be changed. I was amazed that the entire world had the next president as the headline news. Now it seems there was like a worldwide celebration that Obama won the presidency. Its like residents from all other parts of the globe saw a transition coming from the USA. We are moving into a new direction, one that will be better for the USA and the world. When Obama did his worldwide tour in summer 2008, over 100,000 people in Berlin came out during the day for his public speech. A US president speaking in Germany in an open square to a sea of Germans that were attentive, positive and were even waving US flags???? The USA is the best country on the planet period. However we live on this one planet with the other 6+ billion people than inhabit the globe. We are all in this together. I am not saying all the world problems are going to be solved. However the first step to progress is open communication. The world seems to take the Obama nomination as a positive step for the US from reactions across the globe that it was highly approved. The people I know that did not want him elected give me the typical response "he is a liar" , "just as crooked as any politician" "can't trust anything he says" and even those wild people question his true religion or country of birth. So I ask to those people, is he 100% evil? I mean some people I talk to really believe this. People believe that he has pulled a con on the entire USA population and we will suffer because of that. My response to those people is simply "Get your head out of your ass." You really believe our entire economy, rights, and way of life are all going to be threatened by him taking the office? Really? Seriously!?!?!? Doom upon us? Come on now. You been listening to FAUX NEWS too much. The future is uncertain, but I personally feel we have put a good man in the white house chair, and our country will prosper due to that.
Oil was certainly a crazy topic. For the simple reason, the price of oil effects the global systems of the entire world. Fuel prices high, means higher transportation cost, which raises prices on well.... EVERYTHING. . We live on transportation and everything we use is in relation to it. All products, equipment, documents and people always need to be in transit. Get from point A to B in the shortest amount of time. So we saw gas in summer 2008 hit some record levels. Oil was $100 a barrell, then $120, then higher, to where it peaked over $140+. People thought we would never go back. That driving had truly become a luxury to posses. We saw the US and world demand actually drop. Uh, that never happens. Well it did. I know I paid $4.05 a gallon. People in Cali and NY would laugh at that price during summer 08. For a time I felt if I got $3.89 gallon, I was getting the best price in town. So what happens towards the end of 2008?? Price from $3.50 to $3.00 -> $2.49 -> $1.99 > $1.49 in Austin, TX ($1.39 in Houston) at the end of the year. In Feb 2008 its back to $1.89, but that is no where close to the peak it was at. This kids, might be the biggest con of your life. The price of gas at start of 2008 was $3.20 (around there). It then started the upward climb. To where at over $4/gallon, it made everyone stop and think "Do I really need to make that drive?" I mean people didn't even travel over the summer months. So we get to end and it drops to a mark since 2000 or even before? How is that possible? The world continues to go as gasoline and fuel is produced and it looks like even though it is cheap now, we have no recourse without it. We still live in a world where all the electronics you see at a Best Buy are made out of some type of plastic components. Oil is not going out of style anytime soon. It shows you all the oil exec across the world (and many of those rich bastards right in my hometown of Houston) can just squeeze the world population to get whatever money they want. Its not like I plan to stop driving my car anytime soon. The addiction we can never break.
Money is the root of all evil. I mean, it seems silly how it is possible to have a world not live without currency. The rich keep getting richer and the hard worker keeps getting the shaft. Capitalism is a bitch. Survival of the fittest. Just ask Wal-mart (shop at a Super Target instead). So lets look at Wall Street. I have always had a theory that money is no longer actually physical bills. It is more of a electronic balance stored on some bank server. I mean our money is really just a simple data entry in a huge bank system. We put faith of our checking account all upon a simple numerical entry stored on that server. Though to think of it, we put the same faith in typical paper bills.
Anyways we saw in 2008 how fluid money really is. We also found out there are a lot more crooks out there than could be imagined. Bear Stearn's. *POOF*. Meryl Lynch, absorbed like the blob by Bank of America. Nice how Meryl Lynch paid out bonuses STILL on Dec 29, 2008 a few days before acquired in full by BoA. Also there was a conference call that got put on the air on MSNBC's Countdown. They call it a "retention award." You hear this irish VP guy from Europe directly say on the call. "We are giving a retention award. This is NOT a bonus. Please do not call it that." So yeah, trust your life savings with a company as moral as Meryl Lynch.
As for BoA, we should now call it THE BANK of America. They will become a nationalized bank before too long. It is just bound to happen. Lets look at the other banks. Washington Mutual, gobbled up. The Fanny & Freddie Mac twins, now govt owned. Did anyone see how there were lines of people the day of the IndyMac crash? It was like a line for a roller coaster for a club or a ride at six flags, except it was people to pull out their life savings. AIG = All Investments Gone. Holy crap, did we not see this coming? Wachovia now owned by Wells Fargo. Fantastic because Wells Fargo online banking system is a crock. Get checking account updates only after 2-3 days pass for your transactions to be posted. CNBC mentioned something that over 80% of all foreclosures were coming out of Florida and California. The ripple affect is happening due to people getting loans they never should have gotten in the first place. Now welcome to reality, population you.
People tell me time and time again "401k is the best option for retirement since it is tax free and company matched." I still think that 401k is another sham we are getting schooled on. No point to discuss further into that deep end. That dude Bernie Madoff is one slick crook. I mean this guy is the essence of the word "Swindle". Amazingly all the press clippings use that word to describe him, "Madoff swindled investors." What is amazing about him is that he had constant numbers in the positive and people had no idea how he was pulling it off. People would inquire all the time how he could pull off such profit every single year. That dude was Wall street royalty and lived the big rich fancy Manhattan life for decades. Now at 70, we see him for what he is, a true thief and an insult to the human race. Dude is still living in his big upscale apartment in Manhattan. I found it funny near the end of 2008, CNBC would show live shots of his complex. I think part of his jail time, he should be put in a chair, have to sit in an open park or area and people can walk up to a certain distance, and say whatever they want to him. Make him do that once a week for the next 10 years. This guy makes Enron sound like nothing. Do realize he was the biggest fish, but there were still plenty other crooks that got away free with all that cash. Think your retirement fund is in good hands? You sure about that???
All these CEOs make disgusting pay. I mean obviously if you are a big time brand name, you have worldwide recognition, so your CEO should get paid a lot. Makes sense. Though the numbers for some of the pay, and bonuses + perks they get on top is absurd. I can see why they do this. Lets say your VP at a fortune 500 company for your department of that company. Of course you want the CEO to make a lot, because that means the lower chain of command people also make a lot. So if you are a VP there, you make a good 6 digit salary to spend on expensive cars, big houses, trips, and all that lavish shit of loads and loads of useless furniture and stuff you have to fill that 3000+ sq ft house with. After all, you don't want to have drafty rooms. NO IKEA FOR YOU, only Crate & Barrell. So you do want high CEO pay, because the trickle down pay for other management get also a little taste. On CNBC in early Jan 2009 it was reported that Meryl Lynch CEO John Thain spent $1.22 million to refurbish his office. He merged with BoA so now he has to move to their building. He said on a "on camera" interview that his current office was inadequate. Stuff he purchased? $20k chairs, a $5k waste basket, and a luxury TOILET (WTF) that instead of a regular base, stood on 4 legs. He totally defended his actions when he was being grilled on why he spent all this money on crap. Its quite obvious people like this dude have lost their connection with what we like to call.... REALITY. Families are struggling to make it each month, and this guy easily spends a single person's salary on a piece of furniture. Truly amazing. You sometimes wonder where the soul for some of the people went. Is this venting anger I am doing? No, it is pointing out the obvious. John Thain is a crook, liar and swindler. It is ok, he has plenty of other CEO's that killed their finance companies to keep him company through the future.
So the entire world is in a recession. All that money based on interest, hedge funds, and other investments went POOOOOOFFFF. Just like the Lebron James Nike commercial with the white powder. POOOOFFFF. Bye bye cash. Where did it go? As I stated before, it is all electronic. Just a balance on account on some banking server. I mean we put all our trust in the banking system but how much of it can just be erased by a few key stokes. It is all based on a level of trust but in today's market, that trust is a very thin line.
Let us switch over to the category of entertainment. Something less of a drag. It is amazing how Youtube is redefiing a generation? If someone says to you they watch something, everyone instantly now says "well just watch the replay on Youtube." Best clip of the year was the Bill O'reilly lost tapes of when he did Inside Edition. Obviously our good friend Billy has a bit of a hot head. If you have not watched the video, then boy oh boy this is one you have got to see.
Don't forget the party remix
One random note (more of a vent), the wifi internet provider Wayport was purchased by AT&T. When I heard this news I was not shocked, but I was also laughing inside. A perfect match of two dysfunctional organizations. AT&T with its we don't care / borg you will be assimilated mentality, and my former employer Wayport, who might be the worst company I have ever worked for. My comments should be very precise since I still know people working there. For the 1.5 years I worked there, that company treats most of its employees horrid. Easily underpaid, management is ignorant, non listening, and only want to control the people that answer to them. I have never seen a company that cheated its own employees so much. It is why I hit the eject button along with several other friends I met there that used to work there. . Have fun under AT&T rule. Bet that will be clockwork. Lastly, Kevin Hamm (employee), worst person ever. TY and gn.
Biggest idiot NFL move certainly goes to Jerry Jones. Jerry has a lot on his mind, because he is about to open up JerryWorld theme park in Arlington, TX. You can not sign one backup quarterback in the off season? Not one? You also decided to bring in Mr. Adam Pacman Jones. Did he help your secondary or your team chemistry? You also decided to question Marion Barber's toughness. You questioned Marion the Barbarion? You also have been reported to schedule the final Texas Stadium game for NFL network so your team would get all the limelight for the final game. It was reported Jerry thought the Ravens would be a easy win for his team. How did that vs. Ravens game turn out? Also you made me lose a $20 bet to my co worker who said at the start of the year Cowboys would not make the playoffs. Sir, you got issues. You can not admit failure with any responsibility. You think your essence would evaporate into the air without constant ESPN cameras taking your sound bite quotes and doing a 10 min roundtable discussion on what you "really" meant. You are the constant variable in the equation why your team hasn't won a playoff game in all those years.
Other sports memories from 2008. It was good to see the Patriots end 18-1. The thing I will remember of the super bowl 2008 is the pregame warmups. They show the NY giants running out on the field. Eli Manning just happens to be jogging past Tom Brady. Eli quickly extends his hand to imply "Hey man, have a good game". Tom Brady decides to pull a move from high school, does the I'm gonna hit you move, to make Eli slightly flinch. Dude is trying to pull a fake punch for intimidation? Oh my my. Also like how Bellicheck instantly walked off the field. You stay classy San Diego, er New England. Boston Celtics brought back the glory of that historic NBA franchise. Lebron James and Kobe Bryant are just plain silly good. I mean these two players define everything what it takes to win in basketball. They each have a level of play for the game that can not be controlled or match by the opposition. Charles Barkley refers to Lebron as the "man-child". How true.
So on this recent rant I talked about 2008 election, the economy because.... its kinda important, a touch on the crummy rich deadbeats, some sports, but lastly I want to close with remembering Sept 2008 when Hurricane Ike hit my hometown of Houston, Tx. The 4th largest populated city in the USA got nailed by a class 4 hurricane. People might say when it hit landfall it was a class 3, but it was just barely under a class 4. The damage has piled up to be billions of dollars for the entire Texas gulf coast area. From galveston island being submerged underwater to downtown Houston having streets littered with debree, to all the smaller coastal cities from Freeport all the way to Beaumont / Port Arthur area that got hit.
My hometown which is off galveston bay got the storm head on. I thought my house would be in the ocean. Turns out it survived with only minor damage. Some other houses nearby had some trees fall on their roofs while othe rroofs got ripped off. However most of the homes in the area did make it through. I can say we actually got lucky. How come? The storm pretty much hit Galveston island head on. It then at the last minute drifted a bit to the NE where it went directly through Galveston bay. The storm fury for the Houston area would have been much worse if it hit 30 miles southwest of the area, to where the entire east side of the storm would have slammed the Houston regional area. Plus the storm surge was quite high, but if the storm did his slightly more to the southwest it would have been at least 3-5 feet higher that where it was recorded. Due to this small difference in about 30 miles, my hometown area mostly did withstand Hurricane Ike and did not end up in the ocean itself. As I have stated in a blog post over two years ago, we will keep to see hurricanes due to the overall climate change going on with our planet espscially due to what is going on with the world's oceans. The amount of CO2 emissions we put out is certainly a direct cause to why we have seen an increase in number of hurricanes and the deadly force more recent ones have shown. People that tell me global warming has not been really been proven need to.... well..... wake the fuck up! Good luck to you all in the 2009.
