One of the amazing things I've run across in the research and promotion of "Crazyman's Economics" is that people who brag about how much money they've made in the markets don't care about those who lose money. They claim it's their fault they lost their money. They didn't do the proper research, they trusted the wrong people.

Look at the report Wall Street put out earier this week. They said it was human nature that caused investors to be too greedy when things were going well and panic too soon when things got shaky. (Translation: It's not our fault, it was the investors' fault.)

In fact, we've asked dozens of people who made money one question: "Where did your money come from?" Almost every single one of them, from guys in the coffee shop in Veedersburg, IN to afternoon host Tracy Jones on 700 WLW in Cincinnati say the same thing..."I don't care."

My name is Stephen Edds, and i am a freelance writer and author of a new book, called "Crazyman's Economics." I am a graduate of Hanover (IN) College and hold a B.A. in Poli Sci. I am a registered independent and a political moderate.

One year ago, I had very little interest in the stock market outside of my 401k performance and the daily stock market report. It was only through doing research for, and writing the book, did I realize how badly we're victim to a corrupt system supported by our government.

I'm on the Daily Kos because I realized that it was going to be the liberal and progressive Americans who will have the courage to address the core corruption of the stock market and commodities market as they are currently designed and implemented. Major reforms need to happen, before the house of cards of our trillions of paper worth crumbles and millions are broke overnight.

I'll be on here posting on economic-related topics, as well as posting diaries pertaining to questions the book raises.

Sorry for the false start. I'll do better.

And why, you might ask, actually the obvious:

Who Blew Whistle on Wasteful Spending

Henry Cook

Whistle-blowers who criticized a veterans charity group's lavish spending have been kicked off the charity's board of directors in a move they say was made in retaliation for speaking out to ABC News.
"They were incensed that I would tell the world how their donated money was being wasted," said Henry Cook, national commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH).

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I am told that my long entries are driving folks away.  Modern short attention spans, I guess.  SO here's a reposting of a basic idea...

...that the "reforms" we are seeing, for the present credit crisis, will surely contain well-concealed but clever trapdoors and loopholes, set in place for the NEXT big ripoff/raid... just as the openings that allowed this one were put in place after George Bush Senior's S&L scandal.

Read on, about the lesson of carefully reading the fine print!

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This time... the whining excuses of neocon enablers and how the next wave of "reforms" may set us up for the next big ripoff...

...but first...

’A WHISTLEBLOWER has made a series of extraordinary claims about how corrupt U.S. government officials allowed Pakistan and other states to steal nuclear weapons secrets....  Sibel Edmonds, a 37-year-old former Turkish language translator for the FBI, listened into hundreds of sensitive intercepted conversations while based at the agency’s Washington field office.  Among the hours of covert tape recordings, she says she heard evidence that one well-known senior official in the US State Department was being paid by Turkish agents in Washington who were selling the information on to black market buyers, including Pakistan.... She claims that the FBI was also gathering evidence against senior Pentagon officials – including household names – who were aiding foreign agents."

.....more...
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They want you Vets to believe they're not, it's All a Mistake!

Or so they , quickly? backtracked, only after one Retired Air Force Major, Robert Hanafin, sent the letter to ABC News, you'll find that link, in PDF, below as well as they're apology in PDF.

Bobby, is not one you want to piss off.

Oh and it seems the Veterans Charities, those given extremely low grades on actually helping Veterans, while doing more to help themselves, are still playing their game, more about that below.

Could this be why, the right leaning American Legion, has been virtually Quiet, along with the VFW, on all the reports coming to light about treatment, and shortchanging Again, of the returning Iraq and Afgan Veterans, to busy figuring ways, Illegally, to enhance their dwindling membership and coffers!

Privileged people passing themselves off as victims is very nauseating to witness.

Yet every election cycle (and even in non-election cycles) this is what we get from Republicans.

You don't agree with a Republican?  Then you are not only wrong, you are, by not agreeing with the Republican, purposely persecuting the Republican. (Perhaps  this is why they are given to screaming fits when "debating" someone possessing an opposite view. Because they feel the opposing viewpoint is literally hurting them).  Here's an example...

http://www.newshounds.us/...

It's like Glenn Greenwald said (paraphrased): "Neocons never err:  They are just the victims of other people's shortcomings."

That sums it up (and what I am trying to articulate) beautifully.
 

Even upon casual examination,  'tis clear posing as a victim is fundamental to modern-day conservatism.

I'm not a socialist, although my Political Compass score says I think like one. I'm not even anti-capitalist - in fact I am a capitalist by profession.

I drove to town today, so I got to listen to the radio (no reception at my house). I usually leave around 2PM so I can catch Fresh Air, and today Terry Gross was interviewing Bob Sullivan, author of a new book called Gotcha Capitalism (audio link). It's about all of the little extra "hidden fees found in many phone, cable, credit card and other bills."

These things have been driving me nuts for years, but I never quite caught the trend until I heard the program today.

Freedom Alliance is a 501(c)3 foundation that is considered a charitable organization based on a loose IRS standard. Here is their mission statement:

The Mission of Freedom Alliance is to advance the American heritage of freedom by honoring and encouraging military service, defending the sovereignty of the United States and promoting a strong national defense.

Freedom Alliance, a 501(c)3 educational and charitable foundation, was founded in 1990 by LtCol Oliver L. North, who now serves as the organization's honorary chairman. We will work to "keep America strong, keep America prosperous, and keep America free," said North upon the founding of Freedom Alliance. And so we have.  

What we have here, dear friends, is a political organization masquerading as a charity. Based on the mission statement, the biggest beneficiaries of this charity seem to be defense contractors if the purpose is to promote defense spending and aggressive foreign policy.  Let's take a closer look.

In all the great questions of life, here is one thing I've never understood:  If the Republican platform is so wonderful, the right vision for America; if their policies are (as they claim) so great for the economy, national security, the military, the environment, big business as well as workers, international standing, etc.....then why in the world would they have to resort to some of the atrocities they have been accused of over the past 8 years (at least)?  I mean, really, shouldn't the Republican party just be whaling away, beating Democrats handily, accumulating majorities of, perhaps, 80-90%??  Shouldn't we ALL be voting Republican in droves????  I mean, shouldn't we?

Because there is a world beyond divisive primary battles (really), I thought I'd pass this on - - there's a new scam email going around which I could imagine one of my (we're talking age 80+ here) relatives falling for.
 

Dear customer,
During our regularly scheduled account maintenance and verification procedures, we have detected a slight error in your billing information.
This might be due to either of the following reasons:

1. A recent change in your personal information ( i.e.change of address).

2. Submiting invalid information during the initial sign up process.

3. An inability to accurately verify your selected option of payment due to an internal error within our processors.

Please update and verify your information by folowing this link:

If your account information is not updated within 48 hours then your ability to access your account will become restricted.
Thank you

I am so frustrated right now that I decided to write this diary in the hopes of finding out if this has happened to other people and what they did about.  

In early July, while signing onto Bank of America (I have two credit cards with them) they had a promotion (big picture ad before going into mt accounts) to open a checking account with them, use their Bill Pay Service and within 50 days receive $100 (see pic below of offer).

*** This was real.  It was not a phishing scam.  I actually do have a checking account open with BofA now.  They also acknowledge the offer.

So, the account was opened, money deposited and I immediately started using Bill Pay as per the requirement to get the $100.  Keep in mind that I open the account by clicking on the offer itself, which was in a window when I was signing into BofA like I usually do to check my credit cards.

More below the fold.

Sorry to insult Nigeria.  

This is just a bit of spam that leaked through gmail's filters showing that Iraq had become the new home of the Internet bag drop.  It's interesting that ideas about the level of corruption in Iraq have become so common that con artists believe they can grab your cash by playing against these expectations.

From: RALPH HARLAND <xxx@web.de>
Date: May 13, 2007 8:12 PM
Subject: From Major R. Harland

Hello,

I am Major Ralph Harland, I am a British officer attached to UN peace Keeping force in Iraq, I am the commanding officer of the First Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment, as you may know everyday, there are several cases of insurgent s attacks and suicide bombs going on here.

It's time to take a break from all the terribly unfunny things. It's actually a scam you could love.

So laugh out loud - it's good for you. And thanks to the Sydney Morning Herald (link follows) for sharing.

http://www.smh.com.au/...

update: maybe a fake story, still funny, but not intended to make fun of anyone. we are all foolish at times... but the media I have been so hard on finally got me back if indeed the Sydney Morning Herald published this w/o verification. I just believed it because it was in the newspaper and it was not something that praised GWBush or the war (which I would have right away NOT believed). Funny, huh? It's always good to be foolish... helps with perspective.

Its not often that I am in communication with organizational presidents or successful authors, and its even more rare for them to insult me.  Yesterday was just my lucky day i guess, as Brannon Howse from the Christian Worldview Network fulfilled all of those traits when he felt felt it was necessary to email me.

A few weeks ago the 'Buffy' controversy erupted. For those unfamiliar, it was a large-scale fiasco that involved a user posting a vague diary that many people interpreted as a suicide note. All hell broke loose. Short version: A whole lotta time and energy was invested in trying to locate/save Buffy - as well as post-Buffy arguments/discussions.

All of this occurred on the cusp of this historic election.  Kos stepped in and said the reaction to the vague diary by Buffy was highly inappropriate and that after the election would come a time for this community to discuss what is and isn't appropriate usage of dailykos.com.

Setting aside whether or not the latest recommended diary seeking financial assistance is legit or not, I think the time for that discussion is now.

CONTINUED . . .

Was the entire diary a troll? Fake? It was up to over 250 responses then it just disappears.

What happened? I noticed people talking about troll rating the phone numbers but if the entire diary disappeared I assume it was more than a mere phone number.

I'm confused!

Sorry this is so short and not really a diary. Maybe there is a better way for me to find out what happened but I don't know what it is.

Literary Agents
As promised, the long-awaited episode on literary agents: what they do (and don't do), why you need one, and what makes an agent a good fit for you (besides the obvious, "because she sells your books). As a bonus, a couple of literary agents that I know will be dropping by and responding to comments (though one of them won't be by until after 8:00, so keep checking back). And while one of yesterday's "best quotes of the day" made it clear why we'd like some republicans to have agents, this is the Kossack's Guide to the Care and Feeding of Literary Agents.