Hedge Funds and the Global Economic Meltdown

This short video breaks down one of the fundamental causes of the most recent economic meltdown. The gist of video message is that a small, predatory group of rich guys, also known as the oligarchy, played the stock market system to make themselves bucket loads of money. The fact that the worlds' economies are spiraling down the toilet bowl is just an unfortunate side effect as far as these vampires are concerned. They got their money.

Some will claim that short sellers and naked short sellers (hedge fund manipulating stock prices by flooding the market with phantom stock) don't set out to destroy companies but I don't believe it. I'm generous enough to chalk the first company destroyed as a side effect up to an "oops, did we do that?" mistake. But the destruction of companies after that were definitely deliberate and planned. So much for counting on the market to do the right thing.

Despite what you may think about the invasion of privacy it was for protesters to go to the private homes of AIG bonus recievers, you can definitely understand the impulse after seeing videos like this one.

Since I'm not in the financial industry, I can't vouch for every detail mentioned in the video. But I can appreciate how Mr. Bagley took the time to try to break down the complex problem to a digestible level. I notice on many finance industry insider sites, those in the know spend a lot of time scoffing and looking down their noses rather than adding any productive information to the conversation.

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Hedge Funds and the Global Economic Meltdown from Judd Bagley on Vimeo.

Short selling hedge funds lit the spark that led to the global economic meltdown. Now they want to help craft the laws Congress will pass to fix our broken regulatory system. That's insane.

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A couple of sites mentioned:
http://businessjive.com/
http://www.deepcapture.com/

A good comment about the video:

Gregory Kohs: Very, very alarming stuff. It really sickens me that our small church struggles without a Sunday schoolhouse for our rapidly-expanding youth services programs, but these crooks can pull a few fast ones and walk off with their billions.

United States of America President Barack Obama & Vice President Joseph Obama

So long President Elect. Hello United States of America President Barack Obama & Vice President Joseph Biden. Today the Obamas and Bidens were rock stars and that's OK. Tomorrow, their noses will be to the grindstone, digging America out of the hole we seem to have fallen into under the less than steller leadership of the presidential administration that ended at noon ET today.

I love the pomp, ritual and ceremony surrounding the Presidential Inauguration. It gives us humans, social creatures that we are, a way to participate and affirm our beliefs in the symbols and concepts that make up American Democracy.

There were so many goosebumpy moments during the day. Including Aretha Franklin's My Country Tis of Thee to seeing the masses of humanity from all around the globe is managed to get themselves to the mall to witness the inauguration in person. I head that access to the mall was even cut off because capacity had been reached. So everyone who wanted to come didn't even make it.

I got up super early so I wouldn't miss any of the action. Since I started watching soon after 4 am PST, I even got to see the Obamas leave the house to go to church service at St. John's Episcopal Church. It seemed like there were crowds of people cheering them everytime they left their vehicle, The Beast. Sometimes even when the Presidential Couple were inside, riding along.

I followed the events with a combination of old media and Web 2.0 social networking technology. I switched back and forth between C-SPAN and C-SPAN 2 satelite subscription on TV. I fluv C-SPAN because they'll just let the camera roll without endless commentary, switching away to stuff I don't care about and commercials. A thinking person can only take so many talking heads and people telling you what to think or feel when certain things come on screen. It's like TV without training wheels.

Online, I had a combination of the CNN/Facebook integration, Twitter, Yahoo Instant Messenger and the web browser going on. There was a lag on CNN, so if I liked a scene on C-SPAN, I could just flip over to the CNN window and watch it again. It was also fun and funny to read the scrolling comments beside the live video feed. A lot of people were watching the inauguration on the down-low at work. Also, you could respond to your Facebook friends as they made comments about the inauguration in real time.

Twitter was good for finding links to cool stuff. I put in the word "Obama" and got to see everyone's comments with the word, not just people you are connected to. I learned about this feature during the election. The web browser was good for getting information such as the name of the designer of Mrs. Obama's inauguration ensemble, how to avoid getting trampled in the crowds, examples of wacky art inspired by Obama or word clouds of various Presidential Inaugural speeches.

President Barack Obama Inaugural Speech Word Tag Cloud

Needless to say, most of the speeches and musical presentations were very moving and inspirational. Including the ones given at the Inaugural Luncheon. By the way, I hope Senator Ted Kennedy is OK and will recover from his siezure. Luckily Senator Robert Byrd didn't have a medical emergency after all. I'm sure both senior life long Democrats would hate to kick the bucket on the new guy's first day on the job.

Besides President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address, I really enjoyed Reverend Joseph Lowery, a civil rights hero and Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) co-founder . Especially the call and response part at the end.

The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery gives the benediction at the end of the swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

Text of Rev. Lowery's Inauguration Benediction

By The Associated Press

Text of the benediction by Rev. Joseph Lowery during President Barack Obama's inauguration, as transcribed by Congressional Quarterly Inc. (CQ) Transcriptions:

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God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou, who has brought us thus far along the way, thou, who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee, lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee.

Shadowed beneath thy hand, may we forever stand true to thee, oh God, and true to our native land.

We truly give thanks for the glorious experience we've shared this day.

We pray now, oh Lord, for your blessing upon thy servant Barack Obama, the 44th president of these United States, his family and his administration.

He has come to this high office at a low moment in the national, and indeed the global, fiscal climate. But because we know you got the whole world in your hands, we pray for not only our nation, but for the community of nations.

Our faith does not shrink though pressed by the flood of mortal ills.

For we know that, Lord, you are able and you're willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds, and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor, of the least of these, and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.

We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that yes we can work together to achieve a more perfect union.

And while we have sown the seeds of greed — the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other.

And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance.

And as we leave this mountain top, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will.

Bless President Barack, First Lady Michelle. Look over our little angelic Sasha and Malia.

We go now to walk together as children, pledging that we won't get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone.

With your hands of power and your heart of love, help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nations shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid, when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around ...

(LAUGHTER)

... when yellow will be mellow...

(LAUGHTER)

LOWERY: ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen.

AUDIENCE: Amen.

LOWERY: Say Amen.

AUDIENCE: Amen.

LOWERY: And Amen.

AUDIENCE: Amen.

(APPLAUSE)

Just watching the Obama's and Biden's walk part of the Inaugural Parade makes me that more impressed with First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden (by the way, I love see their names). Both wore heels and skirts with bare legs showing while walking a couple blocks down the street. Warriors, I tell you.