Ain't Nothing So Bad...

It's said that there ain't nothing so bad that it ain't good for something.

This may very well be true, or true enough that you won't choke on it.

An example.  During the 40+ years of the split between the East and West, the Cold War and the Iron Curtain, there was a zone along the borders between the free countries in the west and the countries enslaved in (evil) commie dictatorships. Barbed wire, mines and watch towers ensured that no one crossed or even entered this death zone.

Although death for people, it meant life for plants, animals, birds.  Thousands of miles long, reaching across climate zones, undisturbed, it became a haven for species no longer found in Europe or extremely rare. One example is a fresh water oyster which happens to be one of the oldest animals, if not the oldest.

The sunshine to the story is that after the collapse of the Soviet empire, people with foresight made sure that this nature treasure box was kept for the future.  

Sooo, maybe, just maybe something good will come out of the debacle of US foreign policy and the ongoing financial Great Collapse of 2008-9 -- and perhaps even the multitude of crisis which will befall this poor world in the wake of the global climate changes.

On the other hand, whatever good may come of these messes in our nest could probably have been brought forth with a lot less expense in both money and, more important, human suffering.

The Smell of a Rip-off in the Morning...

Well, well, well -- the news this morning is all a gush as to how the stocks are rising like a 14 year old boy's dick who just got to see his first picture of a nekked lady...

Great!  I mean the feel of a boner coming on -- the stock market, I'm not so sure about.  

I'm still suspecting that the bail out is mainly designed to keep an otherwise sinking ship afloat until the end of January when the Bulimo administration is inaugurated.  Anything bad that happens after that will be the fault of Bulimo Charisma and anything good (if any) to the wisdom and foresight of Paulson.

In fact, there seems to be an immense rip-off by banks going on at the expense of the taxpayers.  The trick has to do with index regulated loans, all $300 trillion of them... 

You see, the rate of index regulated loans is determined by the LIBOR*.  

LIBOR is determined by the loan rates on loans between banks -- these rates are determined by what the banks themselves report...

The present situation is that the banks are not lending to each other -- they are lending from Federal Reserves around the world at very favorable rates.  

The result is that the banks are reporting rates that are not only fictitious -- they are outrageous!   The normal spread in what the banks report is around .2% -- today, the spread is 1.75%!!!   

This means two things:

1. Banks somewhere are sucking up taxpayer money for nothing and private lenders -- businesses and homeowners are getting whacked with higher rates for which they are financing at the other end

2. The real economy -- that is, businesses and people actually doing real things to produce things and services of real value -- the real economy is being suffocated.  

*LIBOR is explained here by Bernhard

From a Small Acorn...

One of the reasons Bulimo Charisma is going to win the final lap of the Quadrennial Horse Races is because of an excellent and well coordinated campaign -- which, by the way, is an indication that, assuming a Bulimo administration is allowed to assume power, it will also be an excellent and well run administration.

This contrasts strongly with the Mad Cain campaign which, although in many ways well coordinated, instead of "excellent", deserves  the adjectives "dirty", "smear", "untruthful" and even "dangerous"

One the reasons that the Bulimo campaign gives us a glimmer of hope is that it has energized the young people and people who haven't been voting.  The reason that people haven't been voting is a political apathy in the USA which is startling in a western democracy -- a democracy which fancies itself as being an example and light to the world.

There are a number of reasons for this apathy which might be better termed political paralysis.  One of the main ones has always been difficulty, in fact obstacles in getting registered to vote and then actually casting a ballot.  Now there is nothing wrong in itself that citizens need to actually need to make an effort to vote.  However, there is a long tradition of keeping people from voting or having their votes counted when those people are of an ethnic, income or racial group likely to vote for the "wrong" party.

The classic example is of course the Dumbrats in the southern USA where poll taxes, literacy tests, registration fees and "good old boys" hanging around the courthouse were all intended and did keep those we now call black but then were known as "nigras". 

However, in today's USA it is the Repugnant party which has updated, modernized voter suppression and out right fraud in order to put a heavy thumb on the scales which they could not otherwise win.  Some of these methods are high tech things such as programmed computer "glitches" in electronic voting machines transferring votes to the "correct" party's candidate.  "Caging" of voters can also be high-tech in that computer models are used to select people to be struck from the voting rolls who are of the wrong income, ethnic or racial group.

Other methods can be much more crude but none the less effective for that.  The most effective is probably the smear campaign based on half truths.

An example, is ACORN (Association of Community Organization for Reform Now).   This is an umbrella organization with many activities among the poor and economically oppressed and, as to be expected, has received a lot of flack from Repugnant organizations and media pundits.  The focus this year has been upon their efforts to register voters who have difficulty it getting to register -- the poor and the elderly.  Why do the poor and elderly have difficulty?  The poor and elderly are more dependent on public transportation then others.  Public transportation the USA generally sucks.  

Another group that has difficulty are invalids, such as those in the Veteran hospitals and people from ACORN seeking to register invalid war veterans have been refused entry to the hospitals.  

But that is a small thing.  The law says that private organizations collecting registration forms must deliver all forms to the registration committees.  This is of course a great idea -- otherwise, they could throw out all forms that registered for the "wrong" party.  

What ACORN does do is triage the forms -- they divide then into three piles.  One pile is labeled as being okay as far as they know.  A second pile is labeled as doubtful. The third pile is labeled as being suspicious, that is probably incorrect or even specious.

However, what Repugnant organizations are doing is taking the third pile (which ACORN must, by law deliver) finding a lot of incorrect application forms and calling "voter fraud" -- and their media pundits scream it from radio and television.

This is a most effective smear campaign and has the effect (intended) to bring the results of the (s)elections in November in doubt.  They figure they are going to lose are already gearing up to attack a coming Bulimo administration.

Into this mixture is an element of hate which already exceeds the vitriol poured on the two Flintstone administrations.  

The bottom line is that Bulimo, whatever else I might think of his politics is a very brave man to wade into this maelstrom

The Deep White Pit Revisited

Somewhere during the last few laps of the Quadrennial Horse Races the show has turned into a farce.

If it wasn't for the fact that it is taking place during what more and more is obviously undfolding as the most critical if not final phase of human history it would be hysterically funny. As a matter of fact, maybe it is hysterically funny -- if you happen to be a cockroach or a shape-shifting lizard...

Seeing that they are now almost certain not to win the (s)election, Mad Cain campaiagn is opting to sow seeds of hate which will make the hunting of Prez "Big Dog" Flintstone look like a sunday school picnic compared to what will be thrown at Bulimo Charisma. 

At best, it will end with The Man Called Betrayus being (s)elected in 2012, or, far worse, Sarah Cuda.   At worst, well, I hope you don't have the sort of imagination I am cursed with -- like the unknown poet of the Third Galaxy spoke three decades before the opening phases of the Terrible Times:

When you've got a crystal ball,
you sometimes wish you didn't have a ball at all!

The nitty gritty dear hearts is that human history is seemingly headed towards either a deep white pit of sand or a pile of excrement.

Speaking of Arrogance...

Arrogance goes well, in fact magnifies incompetence. Avarice also gives good growing conditions for the first two.

The United State of Arrogance has demonstrated this in a rather pernicious manner, becoming more arrogant even as her incompetence has grown along with avarice by leaps and bounds.

Because Sarah Cuda was able stay on script when she shared the stage for ninety minutes "debate" with Jo Bitem and delivered a couple of zinger sound-bites the Bankers of Illusion could repeat in endless sound loops -- she has suddenly become more suited to assume the duties of Prez should Mad Cain decide to start pushing daisies after a (hopefully) hypothetical inauguration of the two.

Pray tell, is this not a celebration of incompetence? I know people who would vote for Mad Cain and Sarah Cuda simply because they are not "pro-choice".

Doesn't anyone remember how the Codpiece was (s)elected because he was "pro-life" and then proceeded to murder his millions? If Mad Cain is (s)elected, we will be singing like they sang about David and Saul, "Where Saul killed his thousands, David kills his tens of thousands..."  [1 Samuall 18,7]

Geeze, is this "Idiocracy" or what?

Meanwhile, hundreds of billions of dollars are forked over in what can only be called "Welfare for the (super)Rich" as a reward for the incompetent arrogance of their avarice.

None of the leading economists who have been consulted for their opinion in this manner have protested -- of course, that is probably because none of them were consulted, most pointedly the economists who warned about the Great Collapse.

On the off chance that this plan wasn't bad enough, 25 billion dollars was forked over to the Arrogant automobile makers -- and they didn't ask for some money back should the automobile makers ever start making profits again! This is an outright subsidy and subsidies and tariffs are exactly what excaberated the Great Depression.

On top all this, a stale cigarette butt put out in a plate of fish and chips, more home owners then ever are going to be foreclosed and evicted from their homes -- there was an alternative!

My Unrequited Love

is beans -- baked beans, bean soup -- whatever.  

I love beans and they repay me with flatulance of an order that might make a lighter person wieghtless if not actually airborne.  In the case of beans, it is supposedly compounds known as oligosacchirides (whatever they are) which bring about the windiness.  The problem with them is that we can't digest them, but bacteria we carry in our lower intestines find them quite yummy.  However, these bacteria have as excrement -- gas...

In any case, if you are going to take beans to task, you must soak them for at least 10-12 hours, preferably changing the water a time or two and rinsing them most carefully before preparing them, for example, in bean soup.

Here is how to make a real mean bean soup:

Take a cup of dry white beans soaked 10-12 hours and well rinsed in clear water, put them in a pot well covered with water and heat to a boil and let them simmer for at least two hours -- frankly though, despite what the cookbooks say, I don't see how you can over cook beans, unless you burn them, of course...

In the beans you should also be cooking an onion, finely chopped, like wise a stalk of celery and a carrot.  A peeled potato or two should also find their way to the pot -- but don't chop either them or the slice or two of bacon you throw in the pot. 

For spices, there should be sprigs of rosemary, thyme and a bay leaf or two.  A clove of garlic is also recomended as well as a cube of chicken boulion.  A teaspoon or two of muscovado sugar will help to harmonize the seasonings.

After simmering for at least two hours - three might be better - let the soup cool a bit and trasfer about half of the beans, all the potatoes  and most of the liquid to a bowl and puree them.   Return the mush to the reast of the beans, heat and serve in bowls, garnished with parsley and a good bread.

Eat your fill and fart with gusto the next day!

A Debate is a Debate is not a Debate

Here in the Happy Little Kingdom, it started. live at 3 AM and the only reason I saw anything was because, being 67, I had to get up to pee at about a half hour into the debate.  True, it can hardly be called a debate -- a debate is what Lincoln and Douglas did.  

They talked a half hour at a time, people listened and the next day people all over the country actually read what they had said in the newspapers.  Furthermore, the two actually talked about what they meant about the issues they were discussing.  Lincoln lost the election to the Senate, but the recognition he recieved nationally led to his becoming president a couple of years later.

Today, the necessary first thing to being (s)elected Senator, is at least $6 million and one or two million for a House member.  Debates are carried on by advertisements and 15-30 second slots on TV.  What is called a "debate" today between presidential candidates is little more than a session where two fighting cocks bash and slash each other with sound bites...

Anyway, I had made myself a cup of hot milk to drink so that I could better go back to sleep.  As I was drinking it, I turned on the TV and the first thing I saw was Bulimo promoting what would amount to preemptive military strikes in Pakistan.  It is enough to make a fellow barf seeing him apparently embrace the  basic tenet of the "Bush Doctrine"  which (are you listening Sarah?) means we, in our arrogance, have the right to commit whatever shit we want anywhere because we are God's Own Chosen People and the Last Best Hope of Mankind...  

But then Bulimo said something closer to what one might call intelligent.  He said that we had supported a dictator in Pakistan, Musharraf, for years and given him billions of tax payer dollars. 

MadCain, without looking at his opponent, responded in a manner consistent with the macho prick that he is -- cold, condescending and arrogant he then stated that Bulimo apparently had not understood (how could a freshman senator understand anything!) that "Pakistan was failed state then" -- the understanding being that "failed states" need a good dictator, if they can get one, especially if he happens to be our dictator.  Figuring that barfing in the middle of the night would not help me go back to sleep, I turned of the TV and went back to bed...

The fact is, dear hearts, that Pakistan was not a failed state when Mushareff took power -- that is complete bullshit!

Even now it is not a failed state.  True, we may help to kick it over the edge in the not too distant future -- if that happens, then you will really see fun and games.  The point is, though, that MadCain not only does not grasp the facts, he really doesn't care.  Neither does he care about the troops or the Arrogant people -- all that he cares about is his driving ambition to become prez of the United State of Arrogance.

Regarding Paulson's Heroic Vision

A book I read in high school, had one dodgey character, a surgeon, who is cutting on this patient and he happens to cut the wrong thing and massive bleeding ensues. So, he throws in some tampons and sews him up real quick and has him hustled him out of  the operating theatre on a gurney.  The patient dies 30 minutes later in his bed -- but not on the operating table -- a clear cut case of the operation was a success but the patient died.

I figure that is what this "bailout" is really about -- to fend off a crisis for at three months so that it won't be the dodgey surgeon's "fault".

IF, there is then no meltdown, which is what many economists seem to think, but "just" a real bad and deep recession and people lose their jobs, homes and cars -- well, that will be, sigh, the new administration's fault. However,  it was the Heroic Vision of Paulson and the Repugnants which saved the country from total collapse. "Sorry, folks," the Repugnants will then say, "but that's what you get for electing a bunch of Dumrats and an off-color prez!!!"

Humpty Dumpty

The root problem of the present financial crisis is the (nearly) unregulated trading and speculation in the debts of others -- which has been demanded and supported by the present administration, the Repugnants in general, Sen. MadCain in particular and, I'm sorry to say, large elements of the Dumrats..  

As the paper pyramid has grown to a virtual value a hundred times more than the debts on which it is based, money -- real, hard cash has been siphoned off in enormous amounts.

That is why the bubble pops, why the camel's back breaks, why Humpty Dumpty falls off the wall and why all the king's horses and all the king's men won't be able to put Humpty Dumpty together again.  

But that is not what the Repugnants are after.  All they want is to paste him together some until after the (s)election so the vampires have time for one last fix and then, after the Inauguration, blame it all on the Dumrats when Humpty turns into a puddle of piss.

Sixty Trillion Dollars Boggles the Mind...

There are any number of disgusting things one could point out in this unfolding financial crisis.

Repugnant people are now trying to wipe the shit off on blacks and hispanics -- the meme is that the kind hearted loan sharks in response to the pleas of librul bleeding hearts gave loans to them there dark-skinned and swarthy people who, irresponsible dolts that they are (but they can sing and dance!), just hand jive until they are evicted...

Fact is, though, the quarter trillion in loans is just the bottom of the pyramid -- and neither is there any statistic to show that dark-skinned and swarthy people are defaulting more than working whites (i.e., real Americans) whose jobs have been sent overseas -- no, the real burden is the number of speculative monetary instruments like what is called Credit Debit Swaps.

The vampires built a house of cards based on selling and trading in the "value" of loans and skimming the cream off in real money -- the "value" of credit debit swaps in Monopoly money is -- hold your breath -- more than 60 trillion dollars! That is more than 5 times the GDP of the US ans 6 times the present national debt!

Thank the Great Potato that there is at least one congressperson ready to say that not only is the emperor not wearing any clothes but he has shit on his face