NEW YORK CITY SHOOTINGS, ROMNEY'S QUESTIONABLE TIES, AND THE UPCOMING ECONOMIC HURRICANE (PLUS A REAL ONE)

It's been a busy day today with ANOTHER shooting, this time with the local police adding to the victim count. 58-year-old Jeffrey Johnson opened fire on his former co-workers and then on the crowd outside the Empire State Building today in yet another case of senseless rage. Johnson had been fired a year ago and apparently wasn't too happy with it, stewing for a year about the revenge the would take. Dressed to the nines in a grey suit, Johnson killed 41 year old vice president of sales Steven Ercolino who had traded accusations of harassment when Johnson worked there.

Johnson left and was followed by police officers when he opened fire on them. Police returned gunfire, possibly hitting several civilians, in the process. Nine people were hurt, none seriously. Unless you have a shot, you should never be randomly shooting into a crowd of people. You take cover, yes, but firing indiscriminately into a crowd is a terrible idea and proves my point that some cops shouldn't be on the job. These numnuts are front and center on that and would love to know what kind of marksmanship they have because apparently, some of them couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Two weeks ago, a knife wielding maniac attacked people in Times Square as well as a previous shooting of random people on the observation deck of the Empire State Building in 1997, so maniacs are nothing new. Police shooting into a crowd of people on the other hand is something else.

Bloomberg, the ultimate politician in nanny state ideas, immediately jumped on the gun control bandwagon, even though NYC already has very strict gun laws that didn't help anyone here. I wonder if he was eating some trans fat chicken while sloshing it down with a 72 ounce Big Gulp? Gun laws make it easier for innocent people to get hurt, not vice versa. It is also telling that it was the police who did the most damage here. Maybe they are the ones that shouldn't be carrying guns like in England?

Psychos are a dime a dozen and more and more people are going to be losing their minds as the world shatters around them. This guy Johnson was 58 and almost certainly not able to get another job. He had probably pissed through his savings and his unemployment as many states are trying to lower it LESS than 26 weeks now. While NY does still have 79 weeks of allowable unemployment benefits, it is unknown whether the gunman was collecting at all. He had been "downsized," or more likely replaced with a cheaper alternative, a common occurrence in all of the US. As this keeps happening, with no legal recourse, expect more of this to occur as people reach the end of their rope. Unemployment extensions end as of 12/23/12 and will NOT be renewed this time. Millions are going to be destitute that much quicker as money runs out very fast with not hope of work. These type of shootings are going to be much more commonplace next year.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Issac is heading right for Tampa, FL and the GOP convention. Issac will be the first hurricane to hit Florida in almost six years, a near record, and the first to hit the Tampa area in ninety years. I think God is trying to tell us something, Republicans.

This is from The Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/23/mitt-romney-bain-capital-leaked-documents_n_1825466.html?1345749809&icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D196348

A recent release of info about Mitt Romney has to be making him squirm as they show he has money invested in things that are directly against his Mormon beliefs and how he shields paying taxes on them. Romney is invested in Sankaty High Yield Partners II LP, a debt fund affiliated with the private-equity firm Bain Capital, which Romney co-founded. Sankaty has loaned money to a variety of questionable companies, including the now-embattled Las Vegas Sands Corp., according to documents obtained by Gawker.

Las Vegas Sands, which is owned by famed Republican donor Sheldon Adelson, is currently facing multiple Justice Department inquiries. The first focuses on possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a U.S. anti-bribery law, related to the company’s casinos in Macau, China. The second is probing allegations that Las Vegas Sands failed to report millions of dollars of possibly laundered money transferred to its casinos by two big-time gamblers.

Romney’s link to the Adelson-owned corporation is also notable because Adelson has become one of the primary bankrollers of the Republican party in recent years. The man, who some refer to as the Republican George Soros, has spent $41.1 million so far to oust President Obama and other Democrats, according to the New Yorker, and he’s promised to spend as much as a hundred million dollars to achieve his goal.

But Romney’s connection to Sankaty, the fund that loaned money to Las Vegas Sands, isn’t exactly direct. In 2011, Romney’s IRA held a stake worth between $250,000 and $500,000 in the company, and the Ann Romney Blind Trust held a stake worth zero, according to Gawker. In 2006, the Ann Romney trust held a stake worth more than $100,000 in the company, and Romney’s IRA stake was worth somewhere between $500,000 and $1 million.

Sankaty’s $3 million loan to Las Vegas Sands was made in 2009, according to Gawker. Though the Gawker report brings the connection to light, it’s worth noting that much of the information about Romney’s relationship with Sankaty was already publicly available through filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

And the document release also shines a light on Romney's indirect investments, through Sankaty, in companies that may not exactly jibe with his squeaky clean Mormon image. In addition to Las Vegas Sands, the fund also lent money to American Media, the parent company of the National Enquirer, as well as other gambling-related businesses and a cigarette company.

The Mormon church opposes gambling, including lotteries, and encourages others to join the church in “opposing the legalization and government sponsorship of any form of gambling,” according to its website. The church also offers programs to help its members quit smoking.

Nice to see it is not just Obama that will say whatever to get elected, the most damning reason people have NOT to vote Democrat this year. He over promised and under delivered for the most part, some of which the Republican congress gets some blame. Other things like caving on a public option for his health care plan, his refusal of close Gitmo or end either war in a timely fashion, and his unbelievable attack on pot dispensaries have sullied his image, perhaps beyond repair. I still think Romney is a long shot, especially if the youth of America show up to vote, as recent polls suggest they are going to en masse, perhaps even in bigger numbers than 2008, which will doom any GOP led effort. Here's hoping we get some people in there from either party who have a brain in their head and not just Sarah Palin's dumber cousin.

Let see what policies the GOP wants to enact: End to all abortion, no exceptions. A constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Taxes hikes for the middle class. Tax decreases for the 1%. And an end to all entitlement programs. In other words, they want to implement a European style austerity measure that will bankrupt the country in a few years and send the world into a sustained Deep Depression, one that will end civilization as we know it.

The middle class is getting destroyed and anyone voting for any Republican is hastening their demise. Not that the democrats are much better. They aren't. But once we get rid of the obstructionistic GOP, the democrats will have no explanation for why things aren't improving and only then will things actually change either through voting or by force. Vote democrat as if your life, and that of your family, depend of it, because it does. We need real change and no one is talking about the things to help America. The Republicans have NO ideas except how to reduce us to slavery. The Democrats are barely above the GOP as corporate America has taken hold of them too. Pray for our survival because all signs point to a serious catastrophe approaching and no one is at the wheel. Not Obama. Certainly not Romney. We are so screwed.