Gaza War

Not the best way to ring in the new year. The picture above shows a Palestinian man mourning the death of his two sons and a nephew. They were killed by an Israeli tank shell early Monday. Israel will continue the attacks aimed at weakening Hamas, and halting all rocket fire into its territory. While these two factions slug it out, innocents get killed. Not sure what to say.

F*ck you federal reserve

Thanks you bunch of asshats for completely screwing up Christmas for planet earth, you bunch of bumbling, retarded, inbred geriatric rapists. If you're not sure of what my opinion of you is, let me make it clear... I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU ALL SO VERY VERY MUCH! Are you guys kidding me? This Madoff blows through possibly $50billion, and no one, including the SEC was the wiser? Holy cow f*ck! Are you kidding me?! And why oh why are we printing $8.5 trillion to sell off as bonds? We're now Mexico. Thanks Federal Reserve. Thanks for making the US dollar the new Peso in 4-6 months. And why the cluster F are we printing $8.5 trillion? If I were to buy all the bad mortgages in the US, it would cost around $970 billion. I'm no math wiz here like you Harvard boys, but what the hell is the other $7.5 trillion for? That much money literally pays for 80% of ALL MORTGAGES in the US.

I hate you Federal Reserve with all my heart. I hate you UAW, I hate you SEC, I hate every last hedge fund manager out there. I don't care if you're a legit fund manager, you're still scum.

$8.5 trillion. PLEEEEEEEEASE... can we put someone in the government that understands basic math. Oh, did you hear that... yeah, that was the sound of Christmas dying.

God my 2009 taxes are going to go up so much :( I may just not f*cking pay. I didn't sign up to have assholes manage my money.

8 Week underwear experiment

Week 4 - Things took a turn for the worse today, and I'm only halfway through wearing the same boxers. Never mind the unbearable itchiness at times, but certain areas have begun to heavily crust up. The moisture in the evening, combined with humid temperatures have created the perfect storm for bacteria. To make matters worse, I've run out of Febreze. Sitting down has become uncomfortable, and it's starting to sound like I'm walking on snow every time I move around. My apologies to the immigrant family at the iHop. I never heard of someone being allergic to the smell of cheese. In my desperation to make it to week 8, I'm now seeking professional advice, and am corresponding with a friend in Paris.

Wall Street confused

I just wanted to share an article that I thought was well written and insightful about one of the roots of this financial crisis.

END by Michael Lewis

Part of me thinks we're in limbo right now. A bit of a reprieve before the real bloodletting starts. Another part of me believes things will just get better again, and the illusion will continue for a bit longer until we find something better. I think Wall Street is on that same fence, and because no one knows which side we'll fall on yet, we're all a bit paralyzed.

Post black friday

So I went out like many on Friday morning to visit some shops to see if there were any deals around. I wasn't really looking for anything in particular, but just wanted to see what was out there. I made my way to an outlet mall that was packed, and traffic had to be directed by mall security guards on Segways.



After I stopped laughing, I was able to find a parking spot. The place certainly was packed. There were plenty of deals to be found, which was in contrast to what I thought was being offered at the big box stores. I was at a BestBuy and Target earlier, and wasn't really impressed. In fact, I was comparing prices in the stores to those online, and Amazon seemed consistently cheaper. The only deals to be had were the big ticket items like TVs. There was one woman in this Sony store pushing two 47" Bravias in front of her.



The outlet mall, like most malls, cater to women... and they were out in droves. I felt like a sardine in the Coach store where everything was on sale. The line for the register wrapped around the walls of the store.



In the end I really only got three toys. I went home around noon and just ended up doing my shopping online. No lines, no pressure to shop, I can take my time and they'll drop everything at your door in time for the holidays. Much easier, and you don't run the risk of killing a poor Walmart employee.

Thanksgiving

Ok, so I was a bit sick of turkey. Enough with the turkey. So this year we settled on a hot pot dinner. I haven't had one in a while, and I just couldn't have one without Peking Duck. The only problem is you have to travel to Chinatown to get it. I hate going downtown, but it seemed like there was no avoiding it. So, I started my drive down to the city through Broad street and good old North Philadelphia. As you can see below, it's like a crack addicts paradise.



I get nervous every time I'm at a red light. Always good to see the police around. We need more police.



So I make it downtown and head to the one place where I know I can get my duckies. I ask them to pull two from the window and chop them up into little bits for portability. If you've never had Peking Duck before, you're not missing anything. Stay away from it. More for me :)



So I have to make three trips back to my car from the various shops I'm raiding. I've accumulated cakes, snacks, pastries, and assorted hot pot ingredients.



I get distracted by this neony bright store front. At this point, I'm done with shopping and just wandering around. I have to admit, I do miss the city at times. I have this urge to spend a few hours here eating and drinking.



So the inside of this store looks like something out of Blade Runner. I'm expecting Harrison Ford to shoot a Replicant any moment.



The second floor is mostly a bookstore, and apparently, a repository of the largest pirated DVD operation in Philly. They're mostly Asian flicks, but there's some domestic movies as well. Someones not getting their royalties.



So after I pay my $13 for parking, I slowly make my way out of the city. I've hit rush hour. Exactly what I was hoping to avoid. Damn you shinny store front!



In the end it was worth it. We had roasted Duck for dinner that evening, and then today (Thanksgiving) we had that and more. Was pretty filling to the point where I couldn't even eat any pastries. Will have to wait for tomorrow.



By the way, these Tofu Puffs... not very good. Like eating popcorn packing. They're off my list for hot pot.



A hellish trip into the city, but in the end all was well. Good luck to everyone tomorrow on Black Friday. I've got my list ready, and will be hitting the stores early. Happy Thanksgiving!

Black friday sales

I thought I would just pass this on. This site lists all the Black Friday deals before they sometimes get released.

Black-Friday.net

There are some pretty enticing sales. For instance, say you need a new monitor, how about an Acer 22" LCD monitor for only $129 at Office Depot! And if you need a new laptop, now is the time to pick some decent ones up for about $300-$400.

I for one will be hunting for those USB wireless adaptors for only $19! They're usually in the $45+ range. And it seems most places are having a fire sale on DVDs.

Oh, and just a hint... one of these from Nissan sure would make a nice Christmas present.