Rick Raw: Civil Service Draft –Putting Young Slackers to Work

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net http://www.rickatnight.com/

Now that Obama has taken the helm of a nation in the grips of the Great Recession, he is soliciting ideas from his vast E-mail supporters’ list. There are myriad economic problems to solve, bailouts to manage, stimulus packages to initiate, and new jobs to create. It’s a daunting job for our new president. Expectations are unreasonably high.

Indeed, Obama has landed in a pressure cooker White House with his staff of experts and wunderkinds. Obama will be tested like no other president since Franklin Roosevelt. He must give us positive indicators that he will promote change, or there will be a backlash of disappointment and despondency.

First and foremost, Obama must stop the recession’s downward spiral stemming from our country’s economic collapse. However, Obama must also create new jobs to get the millions of unemployed people back to work to jump start the economic engine. Presently there are millions of disenfranchised youth who have no job prospects. Some are joining the military to find financial stability and to serve their country, which is a noble endeavor.

In contrast, others are slackers who hang around being a burden on their parents and society. Yes, they are unmotivated dweebs who think they can skirt the system by becoming overnight rock stars by imitating the success of four generations of established rockers. I see them on Jay Leno every night. They have one hit record, one tour, and are never heard from again. They pose well though. They’ve got the rock star look down pat. Alas, they can’t write memorable songs.

My first letter to Obama suggested that he form a Civil Service Draft. A mandatory conscription for men and women that would mandate young people (18-25) who were not serving in the military would be obliged to join a Civil Service Corp for four years. It would be much like the military with a boot camp, uniforms, special training, and military styled discipline. The pay scale would be setup similar to the military with a ranking system. Shelter, uniforms, and food would be included, like the military. Transfer into the military would always be an option at a comparable rank and pay.

After boot camp and training, the Civil Service Corp personnel would be assigned to community service organizations across the country helping restore ghettos, infrastructure projects, help build homeless shelters, administer medical help to people who have no health insurance.

Of course, college students with grade point averages 2.5 and above would be exempt. Civil Service Corp four-year tenure would be a respected credit on the Corp member’s resume.

Like the military, the Civil Service Corp will teach young people that they are not the center of the universe, and the needs of others are more important than their meaningless lives of doing nothing and being a burden on society.

At some point young people need to face reality and see the world beyond themselves. This would give them the chance for a steady job of self reliance and sacrifice. It would serve as a bridge from dependence on their parents to true independence and self respect.

The lessons Corp members would learn from this experience can’t be taught in schools. Clearly, there will be young people who can’t be helped. They will end up in jail or dead. But, this Civil Service Corp would save many of our youth on the brink of being lost forever.

Rick Raw: Madoff Mess Escalates –Pirate Mad Bart Madoff Remains Free in Penthouse

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net www.rickatnight.com

The saga of pirate Mad Bart Madoff continued with another outrage. On Monday, Jan. 12th, Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis of the U.S. District Court of New York refused to revoke Mad Bart’s bail. Prosecutors were livid and complained to the judge that Mad Bart brazenly violated his bail agreement by writing a hundred checks to relatives equaling over $100 million. He also mailed jewelry, expensive watches, and diamonds to relatives to the tune of $1 million dollars.

The judges decision left the prosecution stunned and speechless.
Yes, this pirate swindler just keeps thumbing his nose at the law and his victims while continuing to live the high life. Why is this judge giving him special privileges by letting him live in luxury in his palatial penthouse condo? Why, why, why!

Why indeed! Everyone from the prosecutors to enraged victims want this scumbag locked up behind cold steel bars, in a small cell with a stainless steel toilet and a cement bed until his trial. Perhaps the judge has heard of threats to Mad Bart’s life if he is incarcerated in the general population lockup. Ah yes, but no matter where Mad Bart is housed, someone is going to whack this creep–mark my words.

One can only speculate that the judge is soft peddling this major criminal for unknown reasons. Well, we can make unsubstantiated accusations that some money changed hands through underground channels or Mad Bart’s defense attorneys. But with the mass media spotlight on this case, the judge would be insanely reckless to take a bribe. But his latest ruling makes us suspicious.

The enormity of Mad Bart’s crime makes him the master thief of all time. He defrauded investors out of $50 billion in a blatant Ponzi scheme. Mad Bart’s victims included VIPs and celebrities, plus the Jewish charities in America and Israel. They demand that he be locked up for the common good. Lesser crooks have been hauled off to jail and held without bond until their trials.

Judge Ellis’ ruling is so egregious it demands a hearing before the bar association. No one is above the law and no one should get special privileges because they are wealthy. Judge Ellis’ ruling makes a mockery of the judicial system.

More significantly, Mad Bart’s scam went beyond his many irate victims. He disrupted an already fragile financial system, affecting hedge funds and brokerage firms, causing the Stock Market to falter. Big time investors from Wall Street, Palm Beach, Florida to Europe were ruined. Two of Hollywood’s elite players, Steven Spielberg and Kevin Bacon lost large amounts of money.

The chorus of people who are demanding Mad Bart Madoff’s head are growing louder. Lock the son-of-a-bitch up before a mob breaks into his building and drags him out onto the street and strings him up on a lamp post. There are some crimes that demand old time justice.

Rick Raw: Pirate Mad Bart Madoff of Third Avenue–The Quest to Find Madoff’s Hidden Stash

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net www.rickatnight.com

The cold steel blade of Pirate Mad Bart Madoff’s sword has ripped open a blood bath of financial destruction on his clients after he was arrested for running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme. Everyone from movie stars to retirees and best selling authors lost their life savings when Mad Bart’s house of cards collapsed. Inevitably, the slimy old bastard will walk the plank.

But now, the quest to find Mad Bart’s hidden stash, estimated to be $850 million, has begun. Despite Mad Bart’s assurances that he would come clean with his list of assets last week, so far, he’s done nothing to comply.

Mad Bart’s unmitigated gall continues to amaze and piss-off prosecutors when they discovered a pile of signed checks amounting to millions of dollars he intended to send to relatives. Then he mailed his jewelry and precious stones to family members for safe keeping. Despite prosecutors wishes that the Pirate Mad Bart be thrown in jail, the judge presiding over the case has not yet revoked his bail. Why is the judge treating this blood thirsty pirate with kid gloves?

It’s unlikely that Mad Bart will tell authorities where he has hidden his stash unless prosecutors offer him a sweetheart deal–like a complete walk.(That won’t happen.) It’s his only bargaining chip. Victims are clambering to get at least some of their money back. But jolly old Mad Bart scammed so many people they’ll be lucky to get pennies on the dollar. "Aye, I’ll give them nothing," he growled.

The scandal has just touched the tip of the Big Swindle iceberg. Where were the SEC and regulators? How could Mad Bart pull off this fraud for so long? Heads will roll and new regulations will be put in place. Delving into Mad Bart’s complex matrix of illicit dealings will take time to unravel.

Sure, Mad Bart will relinquish his obvious assets such as his brokerage accounts, client names, and offshore and numbered accounts that dealt directly with his investment company, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. And he’ll agree to sell his $7 million Park Avenue penthouse, the Palm Beach mansion, the yachts, the French villa, and the Montauk getaway. "Hell, their only trinkets," he said.

However authorities know that this devious sociopath had plenty of time to hide his real worth so his extended family will not have to live in poverty while he sits in jail for the rest of his life. Chances are, if Mad Bart is jailed in an open population of inmates, someone will have him whacked. One phone call from the outside and Mad Bart gets a shank in the heart.

Pirates of yesteryear buried their loot. Today, Mad Bart could have owned his own bank that was funded by nameless wire transfers from and to Switzerland, the Caymans, Liechtenstein. And yes, he could have used hidden safes, safe deposit boxes stuffed with cash, or bearer bonds, which are just like currency with no record of purchase. Relatives could cash them in after the scandal was forgotten.

Justice should be swift for Mad Bart. His head should rest on a spike high above Wall Street as a warning to greedy traders and big time swindlers. But first, Mad Bart should be tortured to give up the location of his stash, and then beheaded. A deal to find the loot is out of the question. He has done too much harm to too many people.

Rick Raw: Large Hedron Collider Revisited–Biggest Anticlimax of 2008

By Rick Grant Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net www.rickatnight.com

After tons of hype from CERN (LHC’s controlling body) about the magnificence of the Big Bang Machine a.k.a. the Large Hedron Collider– it’s debut fizzled. It was an inauspicious anticlimax after so much anticipation.

The LHC is 17 miles in circumference located near Lake Geneva in Switzerland. It’s a cyclotron on steroids that will be capable of accelerating subatomic particle to 99.9999 % of the speed of light. Then high speed digital cameras in the collector chamber called ATLAS will photograph the aftermath of the collision. The photographs will show the paths of subatomic partials released from the collision.

The Genesis Machine, as it was dubbed by hip media mavens, was designed to recreate the conditions just before the Big Bang to study the formation of the accelerating astral bodies to understand the mysteries of the birth of our universe. Naysayers were predicting the end of the world. These ignorant yahoos preached that when the machine was turned on it would form an earth swallowing black hole that would suck us up like mice caught in a vacuum cleaner.

Ah yes, the moment arrived and the preeminent astrophysicists gathered around the control room, wide eyed, like 12 year old boys looking at their first Playboy centerfold. When they excitedly switched on the LHC-- Nada! A blip on a screen appeared. It was the biggest anticlimax since the first pictures coming back from the Hubble Telescope were blurry.

The Big Bang went poof! The much ballyhooed showcase opening of the LHC was foiled by large helium leak caused by an electrical connection between two of the accelerators’ magnets. Now, a restart date is uncertain since the cooling down of the sector to room temperature may take months, and then opened up for inspection and repair. By the time all this happens, a restart may not be possible until early spring. It was a disappointing beginning to this cutting edge instrument.

However, the CERN’s astrophysicists are confident the $ 4 billion project will deliver new discoveries and solve some of the nagging questions being asked by elite scientists, such as the discovery of the so called "God partial" that could lead to the formulation of a general theory of everything, beyond Einsteinian physics. Like the Hubble debacle that was ultimately fixed, the LHC has grandiose scientific possibilities when it is repaired.

The LHC could answer puzzling questions, such as, are Dark Matter and Dark Energy one in the same thing? Dark Matter is the stuff that holds the galaxies together other than gravity, which in some galaxies defies the rules of physics. Since variable gravity is unlikely, then it must be Dark Energy causing planets in some solar systems in far off galaxies to orbit faster further out and slower closer to their sun. This is just the opposite from our solar system. Could Dark Energy and Dark Matter be what we call God? It’s a big machine to answer big questions.

"The LHC is a very complex machine, huge in scale and pushing technological limits," said Peter Limon how helped develop the Tevatron at Fermilab in the United States. The general public is vaguely aware of the LHC, but could care less. However, the LHC promises the most exciting discoveries in history. So, people who are keenly aware of advances in science (including me) are watching the progress of the LHC closely. Stay tuned. I will be writing frequent updates.

Rick Raw: Rice-A-Looney–Condoleezza Rice is Delusional in Her Praise of W

By Rick Grant

Commentary rickgrant01@comcast.net www.rickatnight.com

Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice has gone looney with her praise of W. She said that "Despite W’s low approval ratings, people will soon start to thank him for what he’s done." Right! As John McEnroe used to scream at the line judge, "You can’t be serious." What hallucinogenic drug has she been inhaling to reach this outrageous conclusion?

"So we can sit here and talk about the long record but what I would say to you is that this president has faced tougher circumstances than perhaps at any time since the end of World War II, and he has delivered policies that are going to stand the test of time," Rice said on CBS’ Sunday Morning.

Ms. Rice is delusional if she thinks that serious W watchers will "thank him" for the Katrina mess, which is the point his approval ratings started to plummet. W’s record is a series of collossal blunders, outright lies about his justification for going to war with Iraq, missteps on the infrastructure policy, lack of leadership on foreign policy, and many other mistakes. His lack of leadership caused the collapse of our economy, an expensive and deadly war in Iraq, allowing the Taliban to regroup in Afghanistan, hesitations that led to the failure to capture or kill bin Laden, and his inability to see the big picture as president. And, the $10 trillion national debt clicks away reminding us of W’s disastrous economic policies. Get real, Rice!

Rice continues her compendium of gibberish when she ignored reports that the United States image is suffering among our foreign allies. She praised the administrations ability to change the conversation in the Middle East. What! Has she gone mad? I’ve reviewed the foreign press’ vitriol about W and it’s not pretty.

And she goes on again with her jabber, "This isn’t a popularity contest. I’m sorry, it isn’t. What the administration is responsible to do is to make good choices about Americans’ interests and values in the long run–not for today’s headlines but for history’s judgment."

Rice is preaching blasphemy to a news media beaten senseless by W’s outrages over his eight year reign of incompetence. It’s time for Ms. Rice to stop kissing W’s butt and think of her own future. Her steadfast loyalty to W has weakened her position for coming out of this "confederacy of dunces" with her dignity in tact.

Asked by CBS’ Rita Braver why some former diplomats say Americans are disliked around the world, Rice said, "I know what U.S. policy has achieved. And so I don’t know what diplomats you’re talking to, but look at the record." She goes on to say, "I’m not bothered by criticism about me or the administration’s policies. If a person in my business is not being criticized, you’re not doing something right." Well la de da. Ms. Rice needs serious rehab.
Braver went on to ask Rice, about historians who say W is one of the worst presidents.

"They aren’t very good historians...If you’re making historical judgements before an administration is already out–even out of office, and if you’re trying to make historical judgements when the nature of the Middle East is still to be determined, and when one cannot yet judge the effects of decision that this president had taken on what the Middle East will become. I mean, for goodness sakes, good historians are still writing books about George Washington, Good historians are certainly still writing books about Harry Truman," she said.

"For goodness sakes," indeed! Ms. Rice has been sneaking into the White House liquor cabinet to come up with that gobbledegook. So, please feel compassion for Ms. Rice whose close associaton with W has warped her judgment and sent her into a delusional state so severe, she can’t see beyond W’s lame rationalizations. Poor Ms. Rice, she needs a long vacation away from the White House and months of in-patient rehab to clean W’s BS from her system. (All quotes gleaned from CNN coverage.)