The Rich Are Staging a Coup
The following article is lifted directly from michaelmoore.com, and is probably the most important thing you’ll read today.
Friends,
Let me cut to the chase. The biggest robbery in the history of this country is taking place as you read this. Though no guns are being used, 300 million hostages are being taken. Make no mistake about it: After stealing a half trillion dollars to line the pockets of their war-profiteering backers for the past five years, after lining the pockets of their fellow oilmen to the tune of over a hundred billion dollars in just the last two years, Bush and his cronies — who must soon vacate the White House — are looting the U.S. Treasury of every dollar they can grab. They are swiping as much of the silverware as they can on their way out the door.
No matter what they say, no matter how many scare words they use, they are up to their old tricks of creating fear and confusion in order to make and keep themselves and the upper one percent filthy rich. Just read the first four paragraphs of the lead story in last Monday’s New York Times and you can see what the real deal is:
“Even as policy makers worked on details of a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, Wall Street began looking for ways to profit from it.
“Financial firms were lobbying to have all manner of troubled investments covered, not just those related to mortgages.
“At the same time, investment firms were jockeying to oversee all the assets that Treasury plans to take off the books of financial institutions, a role that could earn them hundreds of millions of dollars a year in fees.
“Nobody wants to be left out of Treasury’s proposal to buy up bad assets of financial institutions.”
Unbelievable. Wall Street and its backers created this mess and now they are going to clean up like bandits. Even Rudy Giuliani is lobbying for his firm to be hired (and paid) to “consult” in the bailout.
The problem is, nobody truly knows what this “collapse” is all about. Even Treasury Secretary Paulson admitted he doesn’t know the exact amount that is needed (he just picked the $700 billion number out of his head!). The head of the congressional budget office said he can’t figure it out nor can he explain it to anyone.
And yet, they are screeching about how the end is near! Panic! Recession! The Great Depression! Y2K! Bird flu! Killer bees! We must pass the bailout bill today!! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
Falling for whom? NOTHING in this “bailout” package will lower the price of the gas you have to put in your car to get to work. NOTHING in this bill will protect you from losing your home. NOTHING in this bill will give you health insurance.
Health insurance? Mike, why are you bringing this up? What’s this got to do with the Wall Street collapse?
It has everything to do with it. This so-called “collapse” was triggered by the massive defaulting and foreclosures going on with people’s home mortgages. Do you know why so many Americans are losing their homes? To hear the Republicans describe it, it’s because too many working class idiots were given mortgages that they really couldn’t afford. Here’s the truth: The number one cause of people declaring bankruptcy is because of medical bills. Let me state this simply: If we had had universal health coverage, this mortgage “crisis” may never have happened.
This bailout’s mission is to protect the obscene amount of wealth that has been accumulated in the last eight years. It’s to protect the top shareholders who own and control corporate America. It’s to make sure their yachts and mansions and “way of life” go uninterrupted while the rest of America suffers and struggles to pay the bills. Let the rich suffer for once. Let them pay for the bailout. We are spending 400 million dollars a day on the war in Iraq. Let them end the war immediately and save us all another half-trillion dollars!
I have to stop writing this and you have to stop reading it. They are staging a financial coup this morning in our country. They are hoping Congress will act fast before they stop to think, before we have a chance to stop them ourselves. So stop reading this and do something — NOW! Here’s what you can do immediately:
1. Call or e-mail Senator Obama. Tell him he does not need to be sitting there trying to help prop up Bush and Cheney and the mess they’ve made. Tell him we know he has the smarts to slow this thing down and figure out what’s the best route to take. Tell him the rich have to pay for whatever help is offered. Use the leverage we have now to insist on a moratorium on home foreclosures, to insist on a move to universal health coverage, and tell him that we the people need to be in charge of the economic decisions that affect our lives, not the barons of Wall Street.
2. Take to the streets. Participate in one of the hundreds of quickly-called demonstrations that are taking place all over the country (especially those near Wall Street and DC).
3. Call your Representative in Congress and your Senators. (click here to find their phone numbers). Tell them what you told Senator Obama.
When you screw up in life, there is hell to pay. Each and every one of you reading this knows that basic lesson and has paid the consequences of your actions at some point. In this great democracy, we cannot let there be one set of rules for the vast majority of hard-working citizens, and another set of rules for the elite, who, when they screw up, are handed one more gift on a silver platter. No more! Not again!
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com
P.S. Having read further the details of this bailout bill, you need to know you are being lied to. They talk about how they will prevent golden parachutes. It says NOTHING about what these executives and fat cats will make in SALARY. According to Rep. Brad Sherman of California, these top managers will continue to receive million-dollar-a-month paychecks under this new bill. There is no direct ownership given to the American people for the money being handed over. Foreign banks and investors will be allowed to receive billion-dollar handouts. A large chunk of this $700 billion is going to be given directly to Chinese and Middle Eastern banks. There is NO guarantee of ever seeing that money again.
P.P.S. From talking to people I know in DC, they say the reason so many Dems are behind this is because Wall Street this weekend put a gun to their heads and said either turn over the $700 billion or the first thing we’ll start blowing up are the pension funds and 401(k)s of your middle class constituents. The Dems are scared they may make good on their threat. But this is not the time to back down or act like the typical Democrat we have witnessed for the last eight years. The Dems handed a stolen election over to Bush. The Dems gave Bush the votes he needed to invade a sovereign country. Once they took over Congress in 2007, they refused to pull the plug on the war. And now they have been cowered into being accomplices in the crime of the century. You have to call them now and say “NO!” If we let them do this, just imagine how hard it will be to get anything good done when President Obama is in the White House. THESE DEMOCRATS ARE ONLY AS STRONG AS THE BACKBONE WE GIVE THEM. CALL CONGRESS NOW.
Mini Reviews
Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM Lens
The Canon 400D comes bundled with a EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6. At first, I couldn’t understand all the online negativity surrounding this lens, but as my understanding of photographic technique grew (along with my frustration at the shortcomings of the lens), I realised it was time to upgrade. The 17-55mm f/2.8 is a much faster lens, with superior optics, image stabilisation and a wonderfully quick and quiet ultrasonic motor. Any negatives? It’s not cheap, or lightweight. [Review Link]
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens
A no-frills 50mm prime lens (which translates to about 80mm on the cropped sensor of the 400D). The 1.8 aperture gives you a narrow depth of field and allows you to shoot in low light without the need for flash or high ISO. It’s cheap and plasticky, but considering the price (around £60), represents one of the best bargain lenses available from Canon. [Review Link]
Manfrotto 055X Pro-B Tripod
Supremely flexible tripod. It’s big, bulky and because I couldn’t afford the carbon fiber one, it’s a little heavy, but it’s built like a tank, and almost as sturdy. It still amazes me that this tripod can hold the camera steady anyway from a couple of inches off the ground, up to nearly 6ft high. [Product Link]
Manfrotto 460MG 3-way head
I decided to opt for the 3-way head over a ball-head because it seemed to suit my way of doing things. I don’t use a tripod often, but when I do, I favour precision, over speed. Manfrotto gear is top quality, and this head complements the above tripod perfectly. It also came highly recommended by a couple of good friends, John and Mike, both of whom use the same one. [Image Link]
Canon BG-E3 Battery Grip
A simple addition to the 400D which changes the camera in a surprising number of ways. Firstly, it allows you to add an extra battery, adding substantially to the already excellent battery life. Secondly, it makes holding the camera in both portrait and landscape modes far more comfortable. Thirdly, it adds a second shutter and wheel control to the portrait position which makes it far less cumbersome. Fourth, it adds a connector allowing for a very useful hand strap. And finally, it allows you to use 6xAA batteries in a pinch, in the unlikely event that you run out of power. Any downsides? You may need a bigger camera bag to hold it. [Review Link]
Acer Aspire 5720 Laptop
Bloody awful. You might be wondering why I bought a PC? It’s a long story, which I’ll probably write up as a separate blog post soon. Needless to say, I’m now even more disillusioned with PC’s than I ever have been. The laptop itself isn’t that actually that bad. It’s the fact that a shitty operating system (Vista) is forced upon you (no drivers for XP), which is compounded by the mountain of utter crap that Acer insist on pre-installing for you (hint: it takes hours to remove it all). Oh and yes I tried Ubuntu. It’s come a long way, but ultimately it’s still got that Linux quirkyness.
TomTom One SatNav
The cheapest satellite navigation in the store. I weighed up all the features of the expensive models, and dismissed them one by one until I was left with what I really needed, a powerful satnav with speed camera database. Has worked flawlessly on every journey I’ve used it on, and makes those long journeys (even when you know the route already) so much less stressful. [Product Link]
Wenger Synergy Backpack
Ever thought you could be passionate about a backpack? Like any self-respecting geek, I’m choosy about what I carry my stuff around in. It has to be hard-wearing, yet functional. Practical yet stylish. My last one from Blacks was starting to get a bit worn, and this is the new replacement. I have to say, it’s possibly the most well made and durable bag I’ve ever owned. The build quality is quite astonishing, and it has been really well thought out. While it’s a little expensive, it’s worth every penny. This is the Mac of the backpack world. [Image Link]
Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock
I’d been playing the demo of this on XBox 360 for months, and finally got the full game for Christmas. It’s immense fun, but unfortunately the one of the buttons on the guitar neck was not working and it had to be sent back for replacement. However, it’s one of those games that is fun, whatever your level of ability. [Product Link]
Digital vs. Film
Apart from the odd film-based camera which I had when I was younger, I’ve always been a big advocate of digital cameras. For me, the “convenience vs. quality” tradeoff has always been heavily weighted towards convenience. Until now.
Since I bought my EOS 400D a few months ago, I’ve become far more creative with my shots and more conscious of the end result. I find myself wanting to shoot with different cameras, including film based ones to get better results. By “better”, I don’t necessarily mean sharper, or higher resolution. In fact it’s hard to describe what I mean by “better”. I suppose what I really want are more creative options.
Convenience is no longer a deciding factor. Not only am I prepared to put in the time to get the results, it’s actually becoming an enjoyable process to go through.
It’s funny though. When you have cheaper, more basic equipment, it’s easy to be fooled into thinking more expensive equipment always equals better results. While that’s often true, it’s not a hard and fast rule, particularly if your intentions are more creative than technical.
To emphasise the point, my Canon 400D cost me nearly £500 and my new Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim (the poor man’s Lomo) cost a mere £5. It may be very limited (f11, 1/125 shutter, 22mm lens, no flash - it’s about as basic as it gets), but limiting your options can sometimes increase the determination to get more creative results. It’s a phenomenon I’ve witnessed first-hand when forcing myself to leave my zoom lenses at home, and go out armed only with my 50mm prime.
I can honestly say, I don’t think I would have ever taken up photography seriously, if it weren’t for digital cameras. Digital affords me the freedom to learn as I go, without wasting valuable time and film on poor shots.
In some ways, though, my methodology itself is flawed. The vary nature of the complete digital process means there is less risk involved. I’m starting to agree with my friend Carl; with less risk comes more predictability, which can sometimes be seen in your end results. It’s very easy to become complacent & just shoot lots, hoping for the best, rather than taking the time to think about what you are doing. Well, for me, anyway.
I’m glad that I eventually managed to find my own little route into photography, but now that I’m here, I feel like I skipped my first year of school. I want to go back and learn some of the things that you only learn by using film.
The Vivitar is just a fun little way for me to explore film without any serious investment, but I can already feel the lure of far more professional film cameras that I’d like to play with.
Time to start saving.