Are you serious....

I understand that the economy is in the toilet and we might just be in the worst recession since WWII but I have a huge problem with all of the "bail outs" that have been happening. As a Realtor for the past 6 years, I was an eye witness to a lot of people obtaining mortgages they should not have gotten. I can think of quite a few transactions that I was involved in where I said to myself- 'no way are these people going to be able to get financing for this place'- and they did AND 2 years later I received the listing as a foreclosure through the bank. The market was unbelieveable back then, a lot of people were making a lot of money and finanicial institutions were handing out funds like candy. I personally do not believe that there should have been a real estate bail out- especially with Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. They caused the problems themselves- they were way up the creek but in the end it was their own fault they had no paddle. I don't agree with the automaker bail out either- but that's another post entirely!

I found this posting on TopNew.com today and let me tell you I am actually speechless... enjoy!



Submitted by Arun Gupta on Thu, 01/08/2009 - 07:21

Sounds absurd, but even the porn industry is hit by the ongoing recession - at least, that's what porn titans, `Girls Gone Wild' creator Joe Francis and Hustler's founder Larry Flynt have to say!
According to TMZ reports, Francis and Flynt are seeking a $5 billion stimulus package for bailing out adult entertainment, saying that "the economy has made America's appetite for sex go limp." Where and how exactly they want to spend the money is, however, another question!
Though essentially considered recession-proof, porn is actually not so. Flynt has been quoted as saying on TMZ: "With all this economic misery and people losing all that money, sex is the farthest thing from their mind. It's time for Congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America."
TMZ says that that the two porn advocates, especially Francis, considers the porn `industry' - which reportedly generated nearly $12 billion in 2007 - similar to "the big three automakers, only BIGGER!"
The Web site too claims that adult DVD sales have fallen by nearly 22 percent during the year - and these numbers would definitely puncture the expectations at AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas this weekend.
Nevertheless, contradictory to claims of porn industry being smacked by recession, a Tom Johansmeyer article in `the Atlantic', though admits that porn video sales are down, also talks of Francis Koenig's fund AdultVest - which invests in porn-related assets - having increased by 50% in 2008!

So what are your thoughts???