And the hangman pulls the lever....

Get ready people. We are standing on the gallows, and the hangman has pulled the lever. The floor we were standing on is falling away now, and we are starting our plummet. Don't worry, it's not the drop that will kill you, it's the suden stop at the end, with the rope tightening and the knot on our left ear snapping our head off to an impossible angle. I wonder how many times our feet will twitch?

Main Street is just about there. We are on the cusp of a major revolution. We the people are getting VERY ANGRY at what is perceived as the big guys preserving their buddies' "golden parachute funds". The time has come.

The only thing that will stop the situation at this point would be to hold the elections today, and have everyone vote out the incumbents, and write in a candidate for president that is not currently on the ticket. But that isn't going to happen. What they'll do is fund this trillion-dollar "bailout" of the financial sector. This is not for our own good, I'm telling you. This is not capitalism, it is fascism, pure and simple. And we're going to let this happen? I've been writing that this country is in a death spiral for a while now, and I'm predicting at least a 300-pt drop in the Dow today, perhaps double that. The market is broken, and our fearful leaders are taking the cash register and going home.

What about the average Joe Sixpack? The gang of thieves in Weaselton DC seem content to saddle us with the bill while they print ever more worthless fiat currency known as the "almighty dollar". The "almighty dollar" is looked upon with scorn in the world now, they see how thin the trappings of "success" are, they know we are going down for the count, and accordingly are saying "thanks, but no thanks" to our overtures for more investment here. The world's capital has dried up, the ATM is now unplugged. This nation's excessive, consumer-driven expenses are coming home to roost, and the waiter has just slipped us the bill. Our goose has been cooked, and the people know it.

This situation is being seen as "the beginning of the end" by most. I see it as the "end of the beginning". It's going to get much, much worse. If you were planning, like me, to retire at some point and enjoy "the golden years", please be aware that you will now have to work for approximately 137 more years, if you are nearing retirement. Your "golden years" are now a "lead ballon"- unless, of course, your name happens to be Bush, Cheney, Paulson, Bernanke, or Cox. Or the name of any CEO on Wall Street. That is where my little daughter's future is being sold out.

Despite Bush's "the sky is falling" speech, I don't buy for a second the specter of total anihilation of the markets if we let Goldman-Sucks fail. It will be yet another bank failure. We have seen large firms fail before- witness Enron, and the dreadful knee-jerk reaction of the politicos known as "Sarbanes-Oxley Act". That one crippled normal businesses, in an effort to "protect the shareholders". It was supposed to result in more transparency, but the net result is that no company can do anything without going through a checklist of Byzantine proportion, and a whole industry developed around it to siphon off profits. Entire corps of lawyers and accountants sprung up from the ashes of the failed energy giant. Think of what it will be like now, er, "going forward", to use a now common biz-speak term.

Protect your assets, and invest in commodities like gold and silver, and lead. It's time to rise up, unified, grab OurPitchforksAndTorches, and put this matter to rest once and for all. Greed is NOT good. It is the cancer that has taken over this nation, and driven us to ruin.

As always, I am...

Amir Fazadh