AZRainman : Photoshop Satire

California's Economic Forecast is Up in Smoke

2010-01-02T08:33:00.000-07:00

California's scary sneak preview -Washington Post

David Paterson, the governor of New York, casually mentioned that he thinks California might default on its debt. That's bad enough, as it could drag down the national recovery. But what's worse is that this picture is probably coming to a theater near, well, all of us.

The lesson of California is that a political system too dysfunctional to avert crisis is also too dysfunctional to respond to it.

California Watch: Will California Default on Bond Debt in 2010? -Market News International

Blue Moon Happy New Year

2009-12-31T08:09:00.004-07:00

From AZRainman: Photoshop Satire

A blue moon on New Year’s Eve happens every 19 years.

We the Sheople

2009-12-31T03:05:00.001-07:00

From AZRainman: Photoshop Satire

Fred knows...

Ron Paul: We're in Zombieland

2009-12-30T17:38:00.030-07:00

From AZRainman: Photoshop Satire

"The bigger the problem and the more the fear is built up, the more they take away our personal liberties and turn us all into zombies and the American people go along with it..." ~ Ron Paul

Coming soon, the zombie government...

U.S. Treasury Bond Market Crash Not Stocks the Big Story of 2010 -MarketOracle

Perpetual War Expands to Yemen

2009-12-29T01:30:00.016-07:00

From AZRainman: Photoshop Satire

U.S. Widens Terror War to Yemen, a Qaeda Bastion -NY Times

WASHINGTON — In the midst of two unfinished major wars, the United States has quietly opened a third, largely covert front against Al Qaeda in Yemen.

Next Stop: Yemen -Antiwar

The abortive efforts of the "panty-bomber" have inspired the War Party to focus on a new front in our ongoing and seemingly permanent "war on terrorism": Yemen, a godforsaken outpost of medievalism and sun-scorched desert on the northern shores of the Red Sea, is now taking center stage as al-Qaeda’s latest purported stronghold.

Yes, we’re still trapped on Bizarro World, where up is down, war is peace, and this year’s Nobel winner is launching what may very well turn out to be the third world war.

Yemen's natural gas: Who benefits? -Zawya
Exxon's Bid Spotlights Bright Future for Natural Gas -New York Times

From AZRainman Misc Pics

“When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it.
After my experience, I have come to hate war. War settles nothing.” ~ Dwight Eisenhower

Debt Slavery USA

2009-12-28T17:41:00.002-07:00

From AZRainman: Photoshop Satire

Obama signs US debt limit increase into law -Reuters

President Barack Obama on Monday signed into law an increase in the U.S. national debt limit to $12.4 trillion, the White House said in a statement.

Happy Holidays

2009-12-18T23:11:00.002-07:00

From AZRainman Misc Pics

Christmas wallpaper for you:

From AZRainman Misc Pics

Click here for full size (1680x1050 widescreen format)

Time Travel the Ontological Paradox

2009-12-17T23:38:00.004-07:00

From AZRainman: Photoshop Satire

"Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion." ~Albert Einstein

Once confined to fantasy and science fiction, time travel is now simply an engineering problem.
~Michio Kaku

Black Hole Economy

2009-12-17T17:06:00.001-07:00

From AZRainman: Photoshop Satire

The next sound you may hear is the vortex of infinite stupidity laughing at those who try to inflate their deficit away by subverting their currency.

Dead Men Walking by Niall Ferguson

There is nothing like a really big economic crisis to separate the Cassandras from the Panglosses, the horsemen of the apocalypse from the Kool-Aid-swigging optimists. No, the last year has shown that all is not for the best in the best of all possible worlds. On the contrary, we might be doomed.

Kucinich: 'Class war is over, working people lost' -Raw Story

2009 Person of the Year : Debt is Wealth

2009-12-17T13:54:00.001-07:00

From AZRainman: Photoshop Satire

Ben Bernanke: Person of the Year 2009 -Time Magazine

“The big question is: has he used that power for good or for evil? And of course my side of the argument is the system is evil and the chairman, whether it’s Greenspan or Bernanke, they can do no good.” ~ Ron Paul

Nobel Fraud Prize : War Is Peace

2009-12-10T09:13:00.002-07:00

From AZRainman Misc Pics

“War against a foreign country only happens when the
moneyed classes think they are going to profit from it.” ~George Orwell

Obama defends war at Nobel Peace Prize ceremony -AFP YouTube

New blood joins this earth
And quickly he's subdued
Through constant pained disgrace
The young boy learns their rules

Combat Kid by AZRainman

In 2010, Zombieland Becomes Reality

2009-12-10T06:54:00.003-07:00

From AZRainman Misc Pics

Real estate gathering ponders 'zombie' borrowers, 'train wreck' of securitization -Tampabay

"Put another way -- 2010 looks like an unavoidable bloodbath for a multitude of 'zombie' borrowers, investors and lenders. Given the looming 'train wreck' of escalating commercial mortgage-backed securities rollovers ($250 billion to $300 billion annually through 2015). the shakeout period may extend 'several years' as even some conservative owners with well underwritten loans from the early 2000s see their equity destroyed."

'Emerging Trends' report sees commercial real estate 'bloodbath' in 2010 -Commercial Appeal
Financial zombies threaten to mar 2010 -Sydney Morning Herald

Special Forces Use Zombie Tech In Combat -Strategypage

WTO Goes Bananas

2009-12-08T08:39:00.001-07:00

From AZRainman Misc Pics

End to WTO "banana wars" days away -Forbes

A deal to end the world's longest-running trade dispute over import tariffs on bananas is virtually complete, but a final agreement may not be reached until next week, diplomats involved in the talks said on Friday.

Caribbean countries say their economies will be devastated by a deal they see as inevitable. Banana exports are the mainstay of their economies and adjusting to the loss of markets is already hurting producers and communities on the islands.

Afghan War while Rome is Burning?

2009-12-04T04:05:00.012-07:00

From AZRainman Misc Pics

Kucinich: Prolonging Afghan war a ‘threat to our national security’ -RawStory

“America is in the fight of its life and that fight is not in Afghanistan -- it's here," Kucinich declared. "We are deeply in debt. Our GDP is down. Our manufacturing is down. Our savings are down. The value of the dollar is down. Our trade deficit is up. Business failures are up. Bankruptcies are up.

“The war is a threat to our national security. We’ll spend over $100 billion next year to bomb a nation of poor people while we reenergize the Taliban, destabilize Pakistan, deplete our army and put more of our soldiers’ lives on the line. Meanwhile, back here in the USA, 15 million people are out of work. People are losing their jobs, their health care, their savings, their investments, and their retirement security. $13 trillion in bailouts for Wall Street, trillions for war; when are we going to start taking care of things here at home?”

Poll: Americans Turn Sharply Against Interventionism -AntiWar
First Time in 40 Years Americans Want to 'Mind Their Own Business'

Rockefeller Tree Lights Up as Gold Soars Above $1200

2009-12-03T03:24:00.005-07:00

From AZRainman Misc Pics

Gold Marks Record Highs, Tops $1,225/oz -New York Times

TOKYO (Reuters) - Gold hit a record high over $1,225 an ounce on Thursday, exerting an irresistible pull on investors seeking an alternative to the dollar, despite a Chinese central bank official warning against a potential asset price bubble.

Arming Goldman With Pistols Against Public -Bloomberg

“I just wrote my first reference for a gun permit,” said a friend, who told me of swearing to the good character of a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker who applied to the local police for a permit to buy a pistol. The banker had told this friend of mine that senior Goldman people have loaded up on firearms and are now equipped to defend themselves if there is a populist uprising against the bank.

From AZRainman Misc Pics

"In a failed state, the government's priorities are totally separate from those of the people. The U.S. can't afford health care or a bailout for jobless homeowners, but it can afford a pointless war and multimillion-dollar bonuses for banksters who wrecked the economy." -Paul Craig Roberts

Afghanistan: Don't Pay The Ferryman

2009-12-02T20:47:00.008-07:00

From AZRainman: Photoshop Satire

Libertarians opposed to new war plans for Afghanistan -OpEdNews

Wes Benedict, Executive Director of the Libertarian Party, said, "Rush Limbaugh should buy Obama a nice cigar. The liberal president has done exactly what the conservative leader wanted: escalate the war."

The Democrats' War Tax -Antiwar

Sen. Carl Levin has a solution to the problem of how to finance our losing, futile war in Afghanistan – a war we are fighting to support what has now been officially deemed the second most corrupt government on earth: he wants a war tax.

And then the ferryman said, "There is trouble ahead, so you must pay me now," and a voice came from beyond, "Whatever you do, don't pay the ferryman. Too many men have failed before."

There's a whole fleet of them too...

Time Magazine Declares 2000-2010 as Decade of Hell

2009-11-25T18:23:00.014-07:00

From AZRainman: Photoshop Satire

The '00s: Goodbye (at Last) to the Decade From Hell -Time

Call it the Decade from Hell, or the Reckoning, or the Decade of Broken Dreams, or the Lost Decade. Call it whatever you want — just give thanks that it is nearly over.

On Aug. 29, 2005, near the center point in the decade, Hurricane Katrina made landfall in southeast Louisiana, killing more than 1,500 and causing $100 billion in damages. It was the largest natural disaster in our nation's history.

The U.S. has endured not one but two market crashes — one at each end of the decade. You might recall the first Wall Street crash, when swooning tech stocks tanked the market from 2000 to 2001, not long after the Nasdaq hit an all-time high of 5049 on March 10, 2000. (Recent levels: 2150-2200.) The economy went into a recession that now seems laughably mild. What followed wasn't funny at all: the most divisive and confusing presidential election in history, a discombobulated drama that we once thought could occur only in the Third World.

From AZRainman Misc Pics

Study: Half of US kids will receive food stamps -USA Today

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls. ~Aesop
If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one. ~Mother Teresa

2010: The Second Financial Tsunami

2009-11-22T17:46:00.003-07:00

From AZRainman: Photoshop Satire

Red Alert: The Second Wave of The Financial Tsunami Global Reaserch

The Prelude to the End Game

The US economy will be spiraling out of control in the coming months and will reach critical point by the end of the 1st quarter 2010 and implode by the 2nd quarter.

The massive US$ trillions of dollars stimulus has failed to turn the economy around. The massive blood transfusion may have kept the patient alive, but there are numerous signs of multi-organ failure.

There will be another wave of foreclosures of residential and more importantly commercial properties by end December and early 2010. And the foreclosed properties in 2009 will lead to depressed prices once they come through the pipeline. Home and commercial property values will plunge. Banks’ balance sheets will turn ugly and whatever “record profits” in the last two quarters of 2009 will not cover the additional red ink.

Wave of Debt Payments Facing U.S. Government New York Times

Treasury officials now face a trifecta of headaches: a mountain of new debt, a balloon of short-term borrowings that come due in the months ahead, and interest rates that are sure to climb back to normal as soon as the Federal Reserve decides that the emergency has passed.

The White House estimates that the government will have to borrow about $3.5 trillion more over the next three years. On top of that, the Treasury has to refinance, or roll over, a huge amount of short-term debt that was issued during the financial crisis. Treasury officials estimate that about 36 percent of the government’s marketable debt — about $1.6 trillion — is coming due in the months ahead.

FDIC's Bair: Bank Failures Will Peak In 2010 Wall Street Journal
Waiting for the train wreck Asia Times

US in State of War with Banks

2009-11-22T09:07:00.004-07:00

From AZRainman Misc Pics

We are in a de Facto State of War with the Banks The Final Post

We now sit on top a powder keg known as Alt-A mortgages, primarily made up of Option ARM and 5/1 ARM mortgages. It is a ticking time bomb. The banks know it. The Obama Administration knows it. The Fed knows it. Yet they can do nothing to extinguish the fuse. The bomb will go off. It’s timer is set for sometime before, during, or after 2011.

Red Alert: The Second Wave of The Financial Tsunami Global Research

The Prelude to the End Game

The US economy will be spiraling out of control in the coming months and will reach critical point by the end of the 1st quarter 2010 and implode by the 2nd quarter.

The massive US$ trillions of dollars stimulus has failed to turn the economy around. The massive blood transfusion may have kept the patient alive, but there are numerous signs of multi-organ failure.

There will be another wave of foreclosures of residential and more importantly commercial properties by end December and early 2010. And the foreclosed properties in 2009 will lead to depressed prices once they come through the pipeline. Home and commercial property values will plunge. Banks’ balance sheets will turn ugly and whatever “record profits” in the last two quarters of 2009 will not cover the additional red ink.

The Fed Is Bailing Out Every Bank In The World The Business Insider

The longer this imbalance goes on, the more likely it is that it will end in tears. And the irony is that a recovering world economy could be the catalyst.

From AZRainman Misc Pics

Manic-depressive Stock Market Inviting a Black Swan Event? The Market Oracle

Ready for an Iranian Nuclear Test?

2009-11-18T19:48:00.009-07:00

From AZRainman Misc Pics

Bluffing or a nuke test up their sleeve?

Iran nuclear deal collapses. Time for US to get tough? CSMonitor

Iran rejected a UN-brokered nuclear deal Wednesday that would have sent its uranium stockpile abroad. The Obama administration is now under pressure to make good on its promises of 'consequences.'

Minister Says Iran Won't Ship Uranium Abroad New York Times

Iran’s foreign minister said this week that his government would not ship its stockpile of low-enriched uranium out of the country, making him the highest ranking official so far to declare that Iran would renege on a deal aimed at defusing a confrontation with the West over its nuclear program.

Flashback to July 16, 2009:

Iran could have a nuclear bomb in six months Bild

German intelligence sources have sent a chilling warning that Iran could be armed with a nuclear weapon in six months. German secret service have “no doubt” that Iran’s missile programme is “exclusively” for the building of nuclear warheads.

6 nations ponder how to punish Iran for nukes China Daily

The meeting will include the UN Security Council's permanent members Britain, China, France, Russia and the US plus Germany, an EU official said Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to disclose details.

Trick or Beef? UK Declares Death to Meat Eaters!

2009-10-26T17:12:00.002-07:00

From AZRainman: Photoshop Satire

Perhaps Lord Stern would like a meat bust of himself instead.

Climate chief Lord Stern: give up meat to save the planet UK TImes

People will need to consider turning vegetarian if the world is to conquer climate change, according to a leading authority on global warming.

In an interview with The Times, Lord Stern of Brentford said: “Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases. It puts enormous pressure on the world’s resources. A vegetarian diet is better.”

Corn-based meat and ethanol: burning the planet to a crisp Grist Magazine

As for meat, get this: two researchers associated with the World Bank claim in a new World Watch report (PDF) that meat production is responsible for more than half of global greenhouse gas emissions. Previously, the most widely cited estimate came from the FAO, which reckoned meat contributes an already-stunning 18 percent.

I'm a PC and Windows 7 is Vista Reloaded

2009-10-26T15:36:00.012-07:00

From AZRainman Misc Pics

You can change her wrapper, but the kernel still looks the same.

Windows 7 Called Slower than Vista PC World

According to iolo's tests, Windows 7 starts up 42% slower than Vista -- one minute, 34 seconds versus one minute, six seconds -- on a brand new machine when the time trials are run to the point where the machine is usable, at least by iolo's standards.

Does Windows 7 Boost Performance? PCQuest

Win 7 Vs Win Vista
We came across in our test an unexpected fight between the two, while we figured out that the performance of Windows 7 and Windows Vista is actually at par. Windows Vista rather outshone Windows 7 by a couple of percentage points. This is pretty obvious as both Windows 7 and Vista use the same kernel. Microsoft didn't develop a new kernel for Windows 7, rather they have refined the Windows Vista kernel to use in Win 7. However, Windows 7 took less than half the time when compared with Windows vista.

Happy 50th Birthday "Weird Al" Yankovic! Freaking News

E-IPS: New Budget LCD Monitor Tech for Photo Enthusiasts

2009-10-19T23:12:00.003-07:00

In case your wondering what to get the Photoshop enthusiast for Christmas or Hanukkah, then you might want to take a look at the news e-IPS panels. This new LCD technology claims the same excellent 8-bit sRGB true color output and wide 178° viewing angles as the s-IPS panels, but at a fraction of the cost.

DELL UltraSharp 2209WA 22" LCD Monitor
Priced around $300

ViewSonic VP2365wb 23" LCD Monitor
Priced around $300

NEC MultiSync EA231WMi 23” LCD Monitor
Priced around $350

Further reading:
TFT LCD Wikipedia
LCD Panel Technology Explained PCHardwareHelp

Aliens Have Pollution

2009-10-19T18:18:00.001-07:00

From AZRainman: Photoshop Satire

So what else are they hatching?

How to Find Aliens? Look for Pollution on Other Planets Discover Magazine

Scientists have proposed what seems like an obvious solution to finding life on other planets—look for pollution similar to that found on Earth. Light or air pollution would be a dead giveaway to life on another planet, according to a study to appear in the journal Astrobiology.

Freakingnews.com is now King of Photoshop Contest Sites!

2009-10-17T22:27:00.005-07:00

Thanks to all you kind folks for helping put us on the top!

How Freakingnews.com is ranked around the world:
#1,286 Australia
#5,328 Canada
#5,737 India
#5,902 United States
#7,610 United Kingdom
#9,206 Netherlands
#10,066 Italy

Recently Freaking News broke its highest Alexa traffic rank ever and the daily reach is up 100% in the last 3 months. They are now the undisputed KING of all photoshop contest sites, were even the giant image hosting sites pale to get this kind of free exposure for their new and old members. You can even win a daily prize and then actually get paid for a huge global internet presence.

www.freakingnews.com