How Bad Can It Get?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/11/us/11motel.html?_r=1&hp

It’s not often I take a break and put on my serious cap, but I read this and it just broke my heart.

This is the type of stuff that is really going on out there.

It’s one thing to not be able to buy as many drinks at the bar, or a shirt, or go on vacation…

All of which are luxuries.

But being forced to move your whole family into a motel?

No way to spin that positively at all…

So I’m going to use this moment to put aside the fact that I don’t have a job right now, and instead, be thankful that I still have a roof over my head and food on the table for the time being.

…Not to mention a lot of time and access to internet porn on my hands!

Logical

D.Smith

This is my 401K:

It’s not very responsible, and it sure as shit isn’t very smart, but at the moment it’s all the hope I have in the world of living a life of leisure.

Anyways, enough about my financial problems.  I doubt the three assholes who read this blog regularly, logged on to stare at physical proof of my financial ruin and failure as a man.  

Back to the issue at hand.  EATing strEAT mEAT in the hEAT

23rd and Park

26th and Park

28th and Park

Offering such fine cuisine as:

Quite Frankly, It's HAM

These conveyances represent about a fifth of the food wagons, sandwiched within a 10 block stretch of road, near my office each and every day.  They get out there at the asscrack of dawn selling egg sandwiches, bagels, coffee, muffins and donuts to the working stiffs of Park Avenue South.  By the early afternoon they seamlessly transition over to hamburgers, gyros, tacos, halal, fried chicken, etc.

Sure there’s no seats, no bathrooms, no metal utensils, hell the fucking food is sub-par at best, but it’s CHEAP.  And these days CHEAP is the name of the game Jane.  Long past are the days of Madison Avenue offices emptying out to the nearest eatery for midday martinis, steak tartares and oysters on the half shell.  Sadly, that’s all over….  Now we walk 12 feet from the building, buy a 3 dollar burrito and turn our horribly depressed asses around and walk right the fuck back in again.  Lunch never tastes as good as when you’re eating at your desk, I can sarcastically tell you that much my friends.

Personally I don’t much go in for the street food.  Sure I’ll have the occasional “dirty water” hotdog, which will usually result in crippling diarrhea and/or a tape worm longer than the Tehachapi Loop.  But either way I’m burning calories and that’s alright by me.

- Mike James

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081201213246.v50zx9ik&show_article=1&catnum=0

 “During that time, the unemployment rate went to 25 percent, at least, based on the data that we have. The real GDP (gross domestic product) fell by one-third. About a third of all of the banks failed. The stock market fell 90 percent.”

Bernanke said the situation at that time represented “very difficult circumstances,” because “we didn’t have the social safety net that we have today. So let’s put that out of our minds; there’s no — there’s comparison in terms of severity.”  - Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke On How This ISN’T like the Great Depression

What a bunch of bullshit.

I’m sick of rich guys in suits trying to explain to me how good or bad our current economic situation is.

How would you know? Because your fucking pie graph tells you so? Or cause Suze Orman told you so?

Let me tell you something, they dont know shit!!!!

No one does.

Frankly, I was one of the few people out there who called this recession months ago.

So how credible is Devonte Smith on economic affairs?

Well, despite me being 1 for 1…I’d be willing to guess the vast majority of any of you reading this wouldnt trust me with balancing your checkbook, let alone with all of your economic knowledge…

So why trust them? All they are doing is reading a bunch of books on how the economy used to work and coming up with a hypothesis on how that would relate to Wall St. in 2008.

And we are supposed to treat that shit as the gospel???

Oh well, if its printed in the Wall Street Journal or New York Times it must be true…

Lets be real - one thing everyone overlooks when turning to the Journal or the Times is that while they are great resources for reporting the news AFTER it happens, they are horrible at predicting what is going to happen next.

I never heard anyone say “Oh I just read this article in the Times that said there is going to be a terrorist attack in September” or “Hey, did you read that article in th WSJ that says Louisiana is definetly going to get a Hurricane that wipes out all of their wealth and resources”

So why would a newspaper be that insightful now?

Like I said, what a bunch of bullshit.

Thats exactly why these so called economists dont know shit

They are analyzing precedent to give them the answer to the future…

You cant fight a modern day war with the strategy of a caveman

If these guys were so smart, wouldnt they have been able to predict that THIS recession was coming?

Wouldnt they have been able to see this coming and know what measures to take to prevent shit from getting worse?

- Silence -

To me, I see this as totally up in the air.

I just heard today that my current employer could possibly be filing for Chapter 11 as early as Christmas…

That right there is by far the most accurate economic indicator in my opinion

So quite frankly, yes, we very well could be heading for another depression…why?

Because we are still witnessing the free fall of the economy – until there is some sort of stabilization for more than a day or so no one can prove that we aren’t heading for a depression…

See…I told you so…

Logical

D.Smith

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/business/economy/20econ.html?_r=1&hp

It’s always funny until someone gets hurt.

And right now, we are all hurting.

There are some that will play it off like shit isn’t that bad.

But at this point we can no longer pretend.

I can read.

And according to the article above it is clear that we are not only right smack in the middle of a recession, but this shit aint changing anytime soon.

At this point, ALL of us know someone who has been directly affected by our current economic situation…

I happen to know many people who have had their life altered by this…

While it may seem hard for you to grasp, the only real complaint I have is the focus of the relief.

Rewind back a few months to how happy we were spending that measly $600 bucks Dubya gave us…

I now consider that hush money.

A small little crumb to keep a pack of hungry wolves quiet for the summer.

Now fast forward to where we are now, and what do you know?

When we really need a little bit of help, it seems that all the suits in private jets are the only ones that matter.

I wont say the idea of a bailout is bad.

But, I will say its not fair.

Its almost a reward for the incompetence that lead to all of this in the first place.

While it is clear many of these auto companies need help, I really don’t think they need a handout.

WE need a handout.

First it was inflation, and now its deflation.

First it was an economic downturn, and now its a deep recession.

First it was “This will be over soon, the American public will make it out of this”, and now its “The Fed is anticipating significant further slowing in the economy.”

Where does that leave us?

Broke and bitter…

I’ll tell you what though, I do have faith.

At the end of the day me, Mike James, Jansen Wordsworth, and of course Big Shirley are ready to jump the border in the event shit really does hit the fan.

Mexico or Canada…we can flip a coin and decide at the airport…

A net positive either way…Canada has legal bud in B.C. and Mexico has legal…anything!!! 

Till next time folks…I need to get back to finding things around the office to steal in the event I get layed off next!!!!

Logical

D.Smith

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7588126.stm

So the party is over folks, the brief surge the stimulus package Bush designed to take some heat off his ass before he leaves office has come to an end…

I for one know I spent most of it on bills, food, and on the black market.

So did it work?

What does this all mean?

Apparently not a lot of good things.

According to these economic analysts, our economic woes have just begun.

In fact, the upcoming 3rd and 4th quarter appear to look even more glum than the current near recession state that we are in now.

Bah fucking humbug because we will all be baking each other cookies and making burnt copies of DVD’s to exchange as gifts if this shit continues..

Us here at And This Is My America are all broke and struggling so we will be sure to keep you updated on any breaking economic news!!!

Logical

D. Smith

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2008-08-25-gas_N.htm

This is startling news ladies and gentleman…

Yes, its true.

The recent surge in gas prices has in fact lead to record lows in the traffic death toll.

In fact, the lowest levels since JFK was elected to office…

Now for the reality of this study.

This does not mean that for the brief period that gas prices rose each day like an ebay auction that the citizens of this god forsaken country decided to be that much more moral.

This does not mean that while we have managed to drive billions of fewer miles per month, as indicated this past June, that there have been billions of fewer deaths nationwide.

And this certainly doesn’t mean that given the choice, people would rather have fewer deaths instead of cheaper gas.

However, what this does mean is that since the recent rise in gas prices, millions of Americans have found new and innovative ways to kill ourselves and each other at home, and in our immediate neighborhoods for a much lower cost…

Leave it to Americans to adapt new, economical ways to kill mankind….

Logical

D.Smith