Whoa! Slit thee own.

Somebody should have bought the Republican members of the USA Congress a program. They drove the US capitalist ship upon the rocks by voting against the Wall Street financial plan.

Upon scrutiny of the votes cast most of them came from congressional representatives who were facing tight election races in their own districts. Here lies the beauty of a resident democracy. Every four years or so ordinary people get a chance to voice their opinion. At the moment, its power to the people until after the election. Anyone who has no retirement savings or investments doesn't buy this crap that Wall Street puts out.

The reason is simple. If people are losing their houses because they need the money to pay for things like food, gas, health care and education costs. All of these have gone up in the US due to the grave political mismanagement of the conservative governments.

Ordinary people in the USA have been broke for a long time already. To see a bunch of fat cats on Wall Street go broke too, won't cause any crocodile tears in this constituency. Conservative politicians claim they know the business community. They claim to represent it. Usually business people who do run are simply inept businessmen. They perpetuate a myth that a country should be run like a business without attaching the little fact that three in five businesses fail within five years. It takes just as much luck and location than it does brains in a business success.

Running a country state is far more complex than running a business. Everything in business can be boiled down to the bottom line and the dollar value. In political success that success is measured in legacy. Neo-conservatives managed to lie their way into power with its knight in shining shoes, George W. Bush.

Bush's legacy to date. A failed bloody quagmire in Iraq which will exceed the Viet Nam debacle by good yardage. A failed strategy to capture the leader of the arch enemy Al Qaeda. A failed economy. A failed domestic strategy to respond to national disaster such as Katrina. A failed foreign policy. It would be much easier to name Bush's successes in theory. Why theory? Well try and think of one thing he has done right.

The interesting thing about all politicians regardless of stripe. The bad ones will jump ship when the polls indicate a shift in voter attitudes. While rich and upper class Americans have most of the money, the lower classes still have most of the votes. And in a ship full of affluent people quickly moving to effluent circumstances, the bad politician will jump that raft before the rats can smell the danger.

Sandlot

The US Congress bails out every multi-millionaire involved in finance at a price tag of 700billlion. How fortunate.

During the eight long years, Bush supporters prospered. Oil revenues have soared, up and into the pockets of Bush and Cheneys' pockets. George W. remains in financial linkage with the Savings & Loan fiasco where he and a few friends managed to line their pockets despite the failure of the financial system.

Behold another financial disaster. Behold who is leading the government. And you can bet, President Bush and friends will line their pockets with profits from the government.

This "disaster" is a shell game.

Let it be said

Watching the calendar slip by, one taps the coil of memories. One memory in particular sways me. Wise men state sublimely that cleansing the soul brings rewards. And people live long after death when someone states their names.

I have two names. They are names I want you ...reader, to retain.

The first name is Darlene Moses. The second name is Howard Desmoulin. As a favor, burn them into those memory cells so they may live long after I am gone. They had very short lives. And it wasn't their fault. It was an accident of time. It was an accident of place of birth. Serendipity served them poorly.

I use only their names in this article. It is not for secrecy or fear of triggering any legal retaliation. Rather holding consistent with the theme, other names will not be used because they do not deserve to be memorialized by repetition of those names.

You see Darlene and Howard were victims of racism. Racism indirectly killed them. They died together in a car. Carbon monoxide ended their lives on a cold winter's night.

I first met them both in my first stint in grade nine. Darlene appeared a mousy girl, a large round face and glasses. She was extremely studious, hard working, attentive and quiet. In the street speak of the time, she had brains.

Darlene had wonderful hand writing. I once managed to read one of the papers she wrote. It was fantastic. Hardly any of the familiar red marks on it. But the teacher had only given her a “C” on it. Clearly the essay excelled mine and I had earned a B+. It disturbed.

Howard came from the same community as Darlene. Meeting him in PE class, the Phys Ed teacher decided that we were ideal wrestling (Olympic style) partners. Training together gave us a mutual respect.

Both appeared to have a difficult time in school. Some classes they shone. In others they failed. It was a problem that all teens from that community had. The high school faculty claimed that it was because of the bus ride they had every day.

A problem with an essay assignment kept me waiting by the faculty lounge. The door was open and I parked the butt against the wall. Teachers streamed in and out. Students weren't allowed in. Naturally the only teacher I wanted was absent. But all faculty came here before going to class. It was the best place to wait.

Conversation streamed out from the lounge. The business teacher rolled in like a politician on an election campaign, walking by me without attention, I couldn't vote. At that point, I didn't care for the guy. He wormed his influence to a good gig. Business was introduced as a specialty. He also got himself onto the promotions committee. So much for my progress.

The scuttlebutt was that a couple of his pets were invited to the teach's house and there he proudly showed nude photos of his wife. His wife was another high school teacher. She was a looker for a really old woman in her thirties.

This high school was located in what would be called a rural backwater area. Most of the teachers of that period came there not because of the excitement of Northern Ontario living. Rather the reason was that they couldn't be hired anywhere else. They all were fresh out of teaching schools. They all were planning a short experience resume stay. We were in their eyes, uncultured country bumpkins. The business teacher held to that attitude.

Business teacher's voice was clear and a few decibels above the rest. For the most part one ignores the comments of going golfing, fishing and going to the camp or cottage. One comment came stinging through the cacophony, “I will never pass an Indian!”

It was the biz teacher. “Not a chance. I don't care what kind of topic they hand in. They won't get past me...”

I held my breath. Moments passed. Nary a contrary word. None of the other faculty stood up to oppose this comment. Darlene and Howard were screwed.

Finding ever soft

Experienced in the formidable dilemma of hyper acidity, I couldn't help notice that whenever the diarrhea emerged I was down to my last wraps of precious bum wad. Running out of toilet paper at that crisis moment is not cool, or clean. Yet it led to the simple solution for diarrhea prevention. Merely purchase a more than ample supply of ass wipe. Then miracle! No trots.

Desperate

The economy of the US isn't the only thing that is bereft of ideas. So follows the television sector. All they had was various versions of Idol, several versions of autopsy programs, and ....

Wait. An aside brews. How many times have you noticed that all of the CSI programs have... A cantankerous boss who speaks as every word is its own sentence... A cutesy lab rat(s) handling body parts... A genius forensic Pathologist... And roughly the same plot line every time out.

Back to the theme. ...and one can easily prove it. In the new season the prime featured "buzz" program is a regrilling of turkey meat "90240". Yuck!

Not an American

Two posts appearing in one day. They've been building up. Inventory sale.

You are not an American if... You haven't lost your retirement savings in all the financial institution's collapse.

I mean it. Isn't amazing that the champions of free enterprise will use hundreds of billions of dollars to prop up the friends of the Republicans. I mean the thought of having to detach themselves from chauffered limousines must keep them aroused in the recent weeks.

The electorate has shifted away from the Republican nominee and his Alaskan floozy. It is one thing to be a red neck but it is quite another to have one's entire retirement funds disappear or having a house foreclosure due to the collapse of the mortgage holder. Obama is five points ahead again.

And isn't astounding that people lose loved ones due to the avarice of medical practitioners in the US. The US government stands by in the carnage of an inefficient health delivery system. People die in the thousands. Yet the instant a financial institution moves into health problems, hundreds of billions of taxpayer monies are put up front to buy out the problem.

This is a lesson that no economic model works efficiently. At the end of the day any economic model works if the practitioners are honest. Economics depends on people. Sadly every economic model at its age sort of weeds out the sound and leaves only the greedy.

Make no mistake. The US government's financial scrambling to protect companies like AIG and others is not meant to save the US nation, its sole purpose is to save the wallet depletion of Bush's friends and business allies. Bush and his compatriots have done this routine before with the Savings & Loans Crisis when they defrauded poor mortgaged home owners and lined their pockets with $120 Billion of taxpayers money. Subprime Crisis is only a rehash of the poor mortgage policies of the US.

A properly instituted US public health plan in the US would have likely saved their economy. One of the reasons that people could not meet their mortgage payments was the need to pay the escalating health care cost in the US. Yet Canadian Conservative thinkers insist that Canada should adopt the US health care model. Think again.

Hey! Where's the Bull Crap?

The Harper government campaign uses the feel good atmosphere to attack Stephan Dion. A warning here. There is nary a hint at what the Conservatives policy stance on anything in the ads.

Not a word of the Afghan war's expense.

Nary a hint of what sort of treasury monies are available to the Canadian business community caught in the absolute financial disaster exploding south of the border. The Bank of Canada works largely in secret. But can you believe for one second that any or every major Canadian bank would not have financial exposure in the wake of the Lehman debacle?

Old phrase updated. Hey! Wheres the bull shit?

Que Sarah?

Technically, legally, future Vice President Sarah Palin will never travel to Ontario. According to Ontario law any animal that even looks like, appears to be related to a pit bull is banned and if found here euthanized. According to Palin remove the lipstick and there is a pit bull. Everyone knew she looked familiar.

Happy feet

Happy feet. Today I got to the chiropodist clinic today. Not taking mental health day off today. Rather employed on Happy toe day. Tomorrow or toe day. Clean. Rehydrated. Denailed.

Retro-virus

Toronto goes retro. Three of the struggling professional teams pick up old used managers again. Its the easy way out. Strickly PR.

Cliff Fletcher broke the new old trend to the Maple Laughs. In midseason Out went the hapless John Ferguson who couldn't buy a break. Paul M

Cito Gaston re-emerged as the Field Manager of the Blow Jays. Out went the easy going John Gibbons, an excellent baseball manager for four years but destined to be the sacrificial lamb for player's under performance.

Not to be out done, Rich Stubler, rookie head coach gets the axe and is replaced by a fossilized Don Mathews. Stubler was given no slack on the learning curve, and not the same slack as Pinball Clemons was the previous year. During one game with Hamilton, the owners and Clemons hung like vultures over the shoulder of Stubler. Claiming support for Stubler, it was a less than subtle message to the players that days were numbered.

Like is any one crazy enough to remarry an ex-wife? Don't visit Toronto. She might be waiting.

Air full force

Election full force on. The shits been flying like a Boeing. This an opportune segue. For openers the Cornservatives and the New Dumbercrats slagged the Liverals for leasing an older Boeing 737 from Air Inuit. Apparently, this was the only plane available in Canada at the moment.

The high and flighty claimed that the planes they leased, Airbus 319's, were more fuel efficient. Not by much. I looked the fuel consumption up. Yes it burns more but only a bit more. I mean be more fuel efficient and use a Greyhound bus.

But the Canadian taxpayer should take all these clowns to task over this three ring circus. First, if any of these people were even half environmental conscious they would gang together and travel on a single plane. Or, save us from all the fossil fuel farts and travel commercial.

Their excuse is that they can't use commercial. The commercial carriers are on a different schedule. Shades of Conrad Black here. Any excuse to dip into the pockets of the stake holders.

Isn't that a great bureaucrat speak? Stake holders. What a cognomen. Apt when the blood sucking politicians use it (a vampire subspecies known as “poliampires”). The pundits are right when they employ “stake holder” in my case. The fucking thing would be made of the finest maple wood (since it seems to be sappier) with a pointy point. And aimed at the hearts of all the poliampires and their lap dog media pundits.

Dimensionally Canada hasn't grown any larger than 130 years ago. We've only had commercial aviation for half that. Can't these guys use a train or a Budd car instead? True family values in this country emerged from a Pullman attached to the back of a cattle car train. Think of it. There is a whole bunch of Budd cars sitting forlorn at CPR Mimico.

You see its a big charade. With modern media technology the environmentally conscious politician would be better able to practice what he or she preaches by simply sitting in front of a computer terminal and answer emails and write profusely on a constantly changing website. This would save immense amounts of energy and polluted air.

Aside about Nawrleens

Some confusion to be removed. The reason that I did not put an updating animated picture is that I wanted to show what I saw, not what I see. Besides the stupid cameras aren't working right now.

Heights

This summer winds down with a thrill to politicians. Harper seeks an election. According to a recent poll, conducted by who the hell cares, Harper has been calling in the opposition leaders in order to declare that the Parlaiment is unworkable.

The issue dividing the electorate is the fear that the Liberals will bring in a carbon tax. Another tax grab to be sure. Yet the new tax is to lower the thirst for energy by increasing the cost of energy.

Lets back up a bit. Here is an electorate that cites the environment as a big issue. Governments should do something about the environment. Yet no one wants to drop their personal consumption of an ever depleting energy source. Everyone else has to do it.

The citizens of Canada are not alone. The Europeans cite global warming as a great concern caused by the burning of fossil fuels mostly oil. But when they hear that the Ice Cap disappears, they go oh good, there is a lot of cheap oil up there under that Ice Cap.

So much for Bangle Dissed and the Pacific Islands. Oh the hypocrisy of Canadians rises to new heights. Harper, and all the other hypocrites count on that.

Having a run

A conscientious friend sent me the link for a downtown live camera of New Awleans. Unfortunately a good idea winds up being twisted by the obvious reality of the situation.

It is a link to be appreciated. But in a rainy hurricane, visual impairments abound. C'est la vie.