Is that a shrub in your pocket...
or are you just a corporate profiteer?
Friday, November 19, 2004
Dollars to Donuts
For anyone who cares, there's an interesting article in today's Financial Times that discusses the rapid dollar sell-off that's occurred in the two and a half weeks since the US election (down 2.5 per cent against the euro and 1.9 per cent against the yen). For the year, the dollar is down 32 per cent against the euro and 21 per cent against the yen (against major currencies, the dollar has now fallen to the lowest levels since 1995).
Hard to believe our fearless leader's re-election failed to inspire global confidence.
The currency markets now fear that the gradual fall of the dollar will turn into a rout, with a race to sell dollars. There is continued speculation that OPEC will switch to the Euro as well.
On the plus side, the cost of living in Guantanemo is quite low.
posted by pjs 10:48 AM
Thursday, November 04, 2004
And, So Cometh the Dark Ages
It's been a long time since I've managed to write anything here. Between work and school and keeping my head buried into the elections, my brain has felt all mushy, and I haven't felt capable of writing.
Well, today my head is still mushy, though not as much as it was yesterday. Yesterday was quite similar to the weeks after my dad died, though of course nowhere near as painful (not that it didn't hurt yesterday, particularly after I'd heard that Kerry was calling it quits; do you think those bastards would have called it quits, John?).
No, yesterday was like sleep walking through a horrible nightmare. I really must say, I never saw this coming. I am so fucking disappointed with the 50 or so million Americans who ignored everything and put this asshole back in office. You're getting what you deserve, you fucking morons, but I don't deserve to be dragged into this shit with you.
Sometimes I wonder why I even care. What the hell, I'm not black or gay or a woman or of draft age. Sure, I'll miss the trees and I'll miss that whole free speech thing. But, odds are the poisoned air won't shorten my lifespan all that much (and, really, I'm not sure it'll be worth living around here anyway), and maybe I can find a place to hide where the brown shirts will leave me alone and let me die in peace.
I think what really pisses me off is knowing now that there are more of them then there are of us. Not a lot more (I don't for a minute believe we got an accurate vote count, but let's face it, we knew going in that we'd have to win by a lot more than a simple majority to get him out of there), but more, just the same. We can't kid ourselves that they were fooled into anything, either. We all know this bunch isn't smart, they aren't making us 'secure,' they aren't making things better for anybody but themselves.
No, this is a bunch of kristian fascimentallist nuts, and 'our fellow Americans' drank the kool-aid knowingly - willingly. They voted for these people, not in spite of them being the assholes they are, but because they are the assholes they are.
Well, congratulations assholes, you got what you wanted. Just don't come crying to me when your kids get the honor of serving your beloved leader in some stinking desert somewhere. How proud you'll be when your 19 year old daughter comes home in a flag-draped coffin that nobody else will be allowed to see. You can hold your head high when they drag those queers down the street away to be re-educated. You always knew that guy next door was a little funny, with his beard and his long hair; Git'mo's too damn good for him. And if your house looks a little disheveled when you get home, what's the worry? A little sneak-and-peak is fine, as long as you don't have anything to hide, right?
I wonder, is this how the good Germans felt? When their neighbors started talking about defending the Fatherland, and the Jews started disappearing from their neighborhoods. I wonder if their brains got all mushy as they tried to make sense of what their country was becoming, and wondering how in the hell they could have let this happen.
I wonder if we - the good Americans - have the energy and the guts and the means to keep it from happening here.
posted by pjs 4:12 PM
