ch.annel2-i.s-n.ow-a.ngry

Poor people in Florida, one of the states hit hardest by this economic disaster perpetuated upon the poor by those with money to burn, were turned away from Section 8 housing voucher applications by police in riot gear and SWAT officers. Some people had been in line since the night before, conditions are so bad there.

Hundreds of people, mostly mothers who had spent more than eight hours in line, were forced to leave the property at 2333 W. Glades Road by 30 Boca Raton officers, including SWAT team members, who held up shields as they advanced toward the crowd.

Angelica Rivera, 28, a mother of five who had pleaded with officers to let her drop off her voucher application, refused their orders to leave the property. She was handcuffed and dragged off to a police van, charged with disorderly conduct, disobeying a lawful order and resisting without violence. A second person was booked on similar charges.

Meanwhile, those blinded by their own sense of we’re fucking number one continue to spew lies to keep us in line.

“We’ve taken quite a clear position on this in saying that a strong dollar is in our nation’s interest and then recognizing that our economy like any other is going to have its ups and downs,” he [U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson] said.

The dollar hit fresh lows against the euro on Thursday in a continuing slide that has set European policy-makers nerves on edge as the euro strengthened against the dollar to $1.5644, posing a threat to the region’s ability to sell its goods competitively in America.

They’re worried about their ability to sell their crappy crap here at a premium because once it’s gone on a 5 thousand mile or so journey it’s an ‘import’ and suddenly way cooler than whatever exact same crap we grew in our own backyard. Yes, those fancy Europeans can be hypocrites too, read on:

The European Union sees itself as a world leader in the fight against global warming after EU countries agreed last year to cut emissions by 2020 and increase the share of wind, solar, hydro and wave power in electricity output by the same date.

Shipping shit thousands of miles to make a few extra bux well help fight global warming how, exactly? Personally, I think global warming is going to have a terrible impact on my life, not least of all because I have terribly dry skin that an endless summer is going to make into a nightmare for me. With the dollar in the toilet and all my tax money paying for shooting the asses off of non-threats in Iraq, how will I be able to afford fancy lotions that rely on crops no one in America can afford to grow anymore because my tax money only pays for useless crap to be grown? (And sometimes it pays for crops to not be grown.)

Instead of paying for farmers to grow, or not grow, certain crops, why don’t we pay farmers to put up greenhouses and hydroponic system to conserve water, increase output, and extend the growing season? Seems a logical idea for - oh, wait,

Also sad is that [crappy bottom of the barrel] goods from Europe that are sold here as extra fancy imports are usually cheaper than what was produced locally. Why is olive oil that had to be shipped over 5000 miles to get to my local grocery is half the price of olive oil made a few miles away? If something that had half it’s price taken up by the cost of shipping halfway around the world is only half the price of something produced nearby, that definitely must be a sign it’s top notch.

Well, at least I have a house, a computer, and an internet to do my bitching on. I guess it could be worse.

Amanda Palmer, 23, waited in line for hours with her 3-month-old daughter. Palmer is staying in a maternity home, from which she must move out by June.

US says sends warship off coast of Lebanon

New Sanctions Aimed at Syrians

USDA Shuts Down Congressional Audit

Bush: US Is Not Headed Into Recession

1 in 100 US Adults Behind Bars, New Study Says

Bush Disputes Obama on Diplomacy

Bush urges wiretap immunity law

Are you fucking kidding me? The greatest country in the world you say?

Hey, Rome was the greatest empire in the world. Hm. Look at them now, in a museum.

that the war in Iraq would last 6 weeks.

U.S.: Drilling Won’t Hurt Polar Bears

Also, the NYT sez: Merrill Lynch Posts a $9.8 Billion Loss while the BBC sez: Merrill Lynch posts $7.8bn loss

NYT says they have 16.7 billion in total mortgage related write-downs, BBC says they have 14.1 billion in the same write-downs.

From the AP: Bernanke said he expects consumer spending will continue to grow and suggested the country can withstand the current problems without falling into a recession. But he indicated that consumers could turn more cautious as they try to cope with all the stresses.

The odds have grown that the country could enter a recession. A sharp cutback in consumer spending could send the economy into a tailspin. Against this backdrop, Fed policymakers will need to be “exceptionally alert and flexible,” Bernanke said.

And now, with a filter in place from democnow:

Nouriel Roubini is with us. He’s a professor of economics at New York University, an economic adviser under the Clinton administration, and maintains the widely read Global Economics Monitor website. He was among the first economists to predict the housing slump and now warns a severe US recession is “inevitable.” 

And he goes into details, throwing a trillion into the price tag of ‘written-offs.’ The saying was “A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon we’re talking about real money.” It appears we might have to update that with a ‘tri’ in place of the ‘bi.’

The house next door to me comes up as $277,000 on zillow.com- the flyer on the house says $139,000 for a 4b/2ba that ‘needs a little tlc’ to say the least of the prats who ruined it. At least their rooster is gone, and their rotting car has been pushed to another empty lot where I don’t have to see it up close. In fact, there are quite a few empty houses on this block now… it occurs to me I am seeing the ripples of one of the hardest hit communities in the county. You’ll forgive me for not revealing the address. But I’m sure there’s a place like it near you that you can see for yourself the desparity of .net and .life.  I know who I believe.