When was the last time you saw CNN stick up for John McCain?

California's Budget Shortfall May Top $8 Million [ Reuters ]

Syrians March In Protest of U.S. Raid [ Al Jazeera ]

Women Buying Health Policies Pay A Penalty [New York Times ]

The Elderly and the Election [ Economist ]

No Comprimise With Iran [ YNet News ]

Anyone know, I hear she is being supported by a bunch of trial lawyers. If that is true, I am not too happy.

So as you have been driving around, you might be noticing that gas is going down. Finally!

I remember when it was peaking at $4 a gallon and oh man was I tired of driving around. Really, I just wanted to buy a horse and ride it to work since I live so close. Yesterday though, when I was driving to work and saw gas at $2.99 a gallon, I was glad I never transitioned over to a horse.

So here's a hip hip hooray for gas going down. Hip Hip Hooray!

Well at least until it goes back up.

Gas Under $2 a Gallon In Some Parts of the Country  [Associated Press]

Oil At 17-month Low As Gas Demands Fall  [CNN]

Over the last couple of years, there has been talk of passing a law that would create universal health care in California. It would be across the board. Undocumented immigrants might even have recieved it. If someone did not have health insurance, they would be in violation of the law. Violations would results in fines.

Now in general I have a problem with insurance companies. To me the industry is a big bad wolf. Preying to reap some benefit wherever they can. No matter you being a faithful customer, they will shun you in order to avoid having to pay out. This is happening a lot among health insurance agencies.

Well the wolf is out again. Once a year you are allowed to change your health benefits at work. And the health benefits can change on you. This year I am particulary upset with the new plans. Previously, I had experienced having to pay a small co-pay amount when visiting a doctor. It was about a ten dollar flat fee. The insurance would pick up the rest. Now, I will have to pay the first $2,300 as a deductible, and then the wolf will chip in.

So say I run into a brick wall, hurt my face and need to get some stitches. And lets say this happens after eight months of being enrolled in my new program. So we'll say my program deducts $120 per pay check. After eight months, I've already paid $960 dollars to my health insurance. Now lets say the total bill for fixing my face after I smash it up is only $2,000. So because I am still under that $2,300 deductible, I have to pay the whole $2,000 myself. So overall, I've just paid for the insurance CEO to take his nice lavish vacation and to fix my own face. Why even have insurance? 

Ah ha. But we all need insurance, well atleast so says the big bad wolf. It is insurance after all, just in case something happens, thats why we need it they say.

So in conclusion, I am glad that California never passed the universal health care.

Today, a United States special ops team consisting of 4 helicopters and troops mounted an assault. Their target was a building in the county of Syria. Inside were supposed terrorists. The state of Syria has protested the raid and calls for an inquiry.

Now the next question is. How does this affect the balance in the middle East? Is this a new tactic being drafted in Washington? Something similar to the cross border raids being held in Pakistan. Hopefully the President does not plan to change course right before the end of his term and this election.

 Syria Protests U.S. Helicopter Raid, Says Eight People Killed [Bloomberg]

 In other news,the largest newspaper in Alaska endorses Barack Obama.

Anchorage Newspaper Endorses Obama [NPR]

Alaska's Biggest Paper Backs Obama  [Fox News]

Now over the last several days rumors have been swirling around the workplace and internet that there is the possibility that Barack Obama is the anti Christ. I am here today to set those rumors straight. Senator Barack Obama is not the antichrist. According to Wikipedia, the antichrist "means a person who will oppose Christ and substitute himself in Christ's place."

Now considering Obama is a Christian, I do not see why he would want to overthrow Jesus Christ. If anything, he might modify the separation between church and state and have all public institutions become Christian institutions. I definitely do not see any evidence though that Barack Obama is the anti Christ. There are no ifs ands or buts about it.

**This is not an endorsement of Barack Obama. Just saying he's not the anti Christ. If you have any facts to challenge this, please do submit them, because if he is the antichrist, I would love to be the person to break the story.

Found this while I was surfin the net. Thought it was a great picture.

Some people in San Francisco, who would've guessed, think that prostitution should be legal. This fall on the ballot is Proposition K. The prop would do just as it says, decriminalize prostitution.

Now apparently several members of the Democratic party have endorsed the prop, but most of the notable figures have not (i.e.mayor, district attorney, police department). To me, this proposition is nothing short of ridiculous. Next month, San Francisco should not pass this bill. If they do, it will set off a wave of measures similar to this all across the nation. That is not what we need right now.

Say no to Proposition K.

So it is almost November 4th. Hope you registered to vote if you want to take part in this election.  Today is the last day to register.

So its down to the two heavy weights.

First we have the rookie Senator from Illinois.

His opponent is the veteran from Arizona.

 So who are you

 going to vote for?

So in Europe you can get a Ford that gets 64 mpg or a GMC that gets 47 mpg. But here in the United States, the land of the brave, home of the free, we are stuck with Fords and GMCs that might get 20 mpg. For American automakers to sell out their own country as a way to make a profit; this is a travesty.

I would say Congress should pass legislation that would require automakers to bring that same technology across to the United States. Their whole argument against more miles to the gallon is that they do not have the technology. Well obviously they do and they need to spread the wealth. Of course, Congress won't do anything more than they have too.

Thanks Nancy Pelosi!

A 64-mpg Ford? Only In Europe [LA TIMES]

Over the weekend, financial members of G7 met in Washington. They discussed the current worldwide economic downturn and possible ways to fix it. What ever they did it worked and on Monday the markets bounced back.

Asian Stocks Soar After US Rally [Associated Press]

Financial crisis: Will The G7 Action Plan Work? [Telegraph-UK]

And also, several weeks back pirates took over a tanker that was carrying Russian tanks to Africa. The pirates took over the ship and upon discovering the tanks, demanded a $20 million dollar ransom. Well two weeks later, the pirates have stated that if the ransom is not paid, they will sink the ship.

Somali Pirates Say They'll Sink Ukraine Ship If Ransom Not Paid  [Bloomberg]

Somalia Enjoys the Spoils of Piracy [The Australian]

I recieved this mailer the other day. The propaganda on this piece hits pretty hard calling Tony Strickland's opponent, Taxin Jackson. Really gets voters thinking about the economy.

Has anyone recieved any mailers from the Hannah Beth Jackson campaign? I'd love to see what materials she is sending out in response to this.

Now there is a lot of bad talk that goes on about residents of this country, who came here illegally, maybe by crossing through a desert, coming across hidden in a truck or a ship, or maybe they floated across in a buoy. Whichever way they came across they are ridiculed.

So I am pleased to announce that there is something that you can thank them for. Paying their mortgage. The Times wrote a piece that spoke about illegal immigrants paying being good homeowners and paying their mortgage. It is all because they are held to higher standards when applying for mortgages. This was because lenders applied ""stricter requirments, including larger down payments, pre-purchase counseling and fixed mortgage rates"

Now if these standards could have just been used across the board. Many of these practices should have been standard with mortgage firms all across America. Hopefully the subprime meltdown will teach firms to be wiser with lending practices. To be fair, the buyers are somewhat responsible as well. They should have known what they could, or could not have, afforded. Lenders got greedy though. Lenders began giving out loans like they were hotcakes. It was hunting season for the predatory lenders and they reaped some benefit. Now though, they've partially spoiled our economy, both the State and Federal.

What is there to do? Nothing really, just ride out the storm.

Illegal Residents but Responsible Homeowners [ LA Times]

Now you might have been living under a rock all summer, if you haven't heard about the big local election going down next month. It is for the 19 State Senate District, which covers most of Ventura County and Santa Barbara county.

The Republican candidate is Tony Strickland. He is competing against Hannah Beth Jackson, a Democrat. Both actually served different districts in the California State Assembly, during the same years of 1998-2004.

Now the two are duking it out in the most contested State Senate race this fall. So far the race is pretty standard, divided along party lines and full of cash. Oh yeah, the greenbacks.

Timm Herdt has reported that in the last week alone, Tony Strickland has recieved $283,000 and Hannah Beth Jackson has recieved $169,600. That is a whole lot of money for advertising. I've already seen some signs and television advertising. I have heard from sources that ads will soon be popping up in the newspaper.

So if you have been living under a rock, time to crawl out and vote. Who will you vote for? 

       Tony Strickland            or         Hannah Beth Jackson

So rumor is flying round the internet about the big bailout.

First, listen to Representative Peter DeFazio talk about how the Paulson plan is worthless.

Next, read about how as the plan was being debated in the House, the Treasury department was on conference calls with Wall Street firms letting them know that everything was going to be okay.

Turning a Wall Street Giveaway Into a Rescue for All Americans [In These Times]

Senate Passes $700B Rescue; House Votes Lured [Yahoo News]

Tonight the Senate passed the "Economic Stabilization Act, more commonly known as the bailout. Not the same bailout bill that was 103 pages in the House last week. Todays was 451 pages, chocked full of good stuff. As the bailout has grown I'm guess that there has to be something hidden in there. Oh yeah, probably those large salaries the executives are used to getting paid.

So is Senator Reid a better politician Rep. Nancy Pelosi, since he could get the Senate to pass the bailout but she couldn't get the House to pass it?