California' s trouble

From a story on the internet: “WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House on Tuesday dashed hopes that the federal government would help California overcome a mammoth budget crisis that has brought the state dangerously close to an economic meltdown, saying the state will have to solve the problem on its own. "It's obviously not an easy time for the state of California," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told a briefing when asked if the administration would provide emergency financing for the state. "We'll continue to monitor the challenges that they have, but this budgetary problem unfortunately is one that they're going to have to solve," Gibbs said.” Pity the State of California. Perhaps as long as it doesn’t fall into the Pacific Ocean when the next earthquake hits, all is not lost. This woman does not care all that much - she doesn't live in California.

Left and Right.

As the U.S. steers to the left - becomes more and more liberal - Europe steers to the right. We will start seeing a trend which will see more and more affluent Americans leaving this country, becoming expatriates in Europe. It will be interesting to see how many members of Congress start buying property over there. If they say it's for vacationing, don't believe them. It's for security.

Now, Israel is worried because they see the U.S. moving away from guaranteeing its security. Not to worry, Europe will keep it secure. It's a lot closer to Israel anyway. What do I know? Nothing.

Despots and thieves

The President of a tiny little African country died yesterday. His name was Omar Bongo Ondimba. Already, many heads of state are proclaiming their deep regret and offering condolences. This man was a thief with a capital T, not unlike so many other leaders. He reminds me of Ferdinand Marcos and Carlos Salinas de Gortari. His little country of almost one and a half million (1,400,000) made him and his family filthy rich because it exports great amounts of oil. His people, in the meantime, are dirt poor. There are so few of them they could all be rich. This is fair? This is kind? Please. In the meantime, the condolences keep coming. Many historians credit Bongo with keeping his country peaceful. (It's not hard with less than two million people.) Bongo's private police force numbered 1,500. There has to be a better way. Please.

Conservatives

The news is telling us that the conservatives have picked up seats in the European Parliament elections. It's really no big deal since that body is toothless. However, it's an indication that Europe is moving to the right (as I have been saying for about two years) as the U.S. moves to the left. As they begin to play this tug of war, old friendships will erode and treaties will become meaningless or worthless. However, remember that I know next to nothing about these matters. Either way, my sweetheart is very happy.

Another suicide

It appears that another actor has taken his death into his own hands. It was reported that David Carradine hung himself in his hotel room in Bangkok. It was not a publicity stunt - take my word. He was 72. Perhaps he was just so bored and tired of life he decided to take the fast track exit? It's important to enjoy the simple things - even a bologna sandwich should delight you, with or without beer. Enjoy the sunrise, the sunset, a dinner roll, a scoop of plain vanilla ice cream, a slice of tomato, a book you have read twice already, the green grass, the yellow grass, the scorching heat, the bitter cold, the struggle to accomplish your goal - everything. Take the bad with the good. Even some very, very, very poor people in India don't take their own life.

UPDATE June 12, 2009: Now the news is saying that a forensics expert has said that Carradine did not commit suicide - he died of natural causes while playing some sort of kinky sex game with himself. Either way, it is somewhat sad.

Affordable what?

From a story in the Wall Street Journal: “Carlos Araya used to order lobster, filet mignon and $200 bottles of red wine at the Palm Restaurant in midtown Manhattan. Now, he seats customers at its Tribeca branch. Nowadays, during Mr. Araya's late nights at the Palm, reminders of his old life crop up when former colleagues come in. Some are encouraging and offer hugs. Others sneer, he says. "The way they look at you, you know they're thinking negatively," he says. Some are laid-off like him, and ask if the restaurant is hiring.” Few people realize that the Federal government had a lot to do with the financial collapse on Wall Street. Deregulation? No. That is not the entire story. The real story is that the federal bureaucrats (back in the 90s) thought that affordable housing was the panacea for lots of social ills. It was pushed in such a big way that everybody bought into the myth and soon, like lemmings, even people who should have known better were in favor of putting people who could not afford homes into homes they could not afford. That created a housing bubble of historic proportions which eventually led to abuses on an unprecedented scale. The financial mess was created by no more than five or six people - all of them somewhat delusional - and everyone who just went along. People are afraid to tell their bosses that they are wrong.

China again

It's all over the news - China has blocked several internet services - YouTube and Twitter and several others. Not Blogger. Not that I know of. The disconnection does not bother me - I'm not there. What I want to know is, how do they do it? Do they disconnect the servers? I have no clue. I guess officials who must maintain control must first control communication between and among people, especially dangerous people. It's like dispersing a bunch of ants. It really doesn't take much. Birds of a feather flock together. Those who are in charge and those who are controlled (or manipulated.) People are like cattle - very easy to herd. Good luck.