Friday, February 20, 2009

They Suck

Indeed they do, suck, literally, the banks.

When signing the "Stimulus" bill, Bulimo Charisma said that the thing wasn't perfect and he wasn't just whistling dixie, not that I'd ever expect him to whistle "Dixie".

A minuscule part of the "Stimulus" is $40 billion to help the states defray unemployment costs.  

This is necessary, because, the final brainfart of the outgoing Codpiece administration was to give hundreds upon hundreds of billions to the mega-banks so that they could give billions in bonuses to their top management for greeding them into the financial collapse which got them the billions of tax payer dollars with which they were intended to help struggling businesses and people in trouble with their loans and mortgages.

The mega-banks smiled and put the money in their back pocket, to keep their butts warm -- the upshot is that the collapse of the economy continued unabated, in fact was exacerbated and the unemployment curves took a nose dive worthy of a WWII Stuka dive bomber.

That is why the 40 billion in unemployment was a necessity.  The banks of course smiled once again and cut a deal with the states so the states could save money -- those receiving unemployment are given plastic cards and the banks charge them money to withdraw their money.  

When the unemployed call the bank to ask about these fees they are docked with a fee for calling the bank.

Until the money for  the unemployed is actually paid to the recipients, it sits in the banks and draws interest -- which goes, no, not to the unemployed but to the banks.

That dear hearts is how the banks are helping stimulate themselves, I mean the economy.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The Pale Worm

[I've long had a suspicion that the unknown poet of the Third Galaxy was one sick puppy. In this, one of his later sonnettes his malaise with life nearly oozes out of the words. On the other hand, living your life with prophetic knowledge that your world will self-destruct not long after you die is enough to make anyone bang their head against the wall, or a bottle...]

I wish there was a way that I could say
exactly what it is that is killing me.

I caught a glimpse of it the other day,
but was too afraid to really see
it close and -- in a flash -- it was gone!

I havn't the courage to dare to give it a name,
that pale worm, sixty light years long...

With its heart of ice; with its breath of flame:
its coils are squeezing the life out of me!

Could I but look that beast square in its single eye,
I would be free at last! It's not likely
I'll ever do it and that is why, ever faster, I die...

I am tormented by the things I never did,
wracked with words I never said, but hid.