My thought for today.

Walk softly, and carry a big brain.

CBC Censorship

Why should CBC publish a story for all to see, then, in its sole opinion, decide to prevent comment? Are we not capable? Are we not smart enough? Either don't publish, or open all stories for comment. No more censoring public opinion.

Palin wants Obama to keep working, no vacation.

I can understand that. Palin and like thinking Republicans need Obama to keep working. Good news, he is. To produce, small people need to be in their office, Obama is the office.

S&P Preemptive Strike

Did S&P downgrade U.S. debt rating because it knew it was a target of investigation?

Wall Street Turds

The similarity in these two word is rather telling, don't you think, in that they both rather neatly describe what Wall Street bankers have done to us.

Usage: Wall Street bankers have defalcated with the country's money, and become filthy rich while defecating on we, the people. 

defalcate: To misuse funds; to embezzle. 

defecate:

 to void excrement from the bowels through the anus; have a bowel movement

Thanks to Dictionary.com for the definitions.

Investment Bank Collusion?

Will investment banks collude to drive up the cost of U.S. government debt? Why might they do that? 1. To improve returns for their clients. 2. To bet against lower rates. Remember, when they foresaw collapse of mortgage markets, they bet against their clients, and remember too, that investment banks caused a large part of our current sad state of affairs. None are in jail. All are rich beyond rich.

Buy a Vowel.

If investment banks were able to pay ratings agencies for Triple A ratings on mountains of garbage euphemistically called Collateralized Debt Obligations, surely the United States Government can purchase a Triple A rating for its debt obligations. 

U.S. Credit Rating

Can't the government simply pay the ratings services for a triple A rating, the same way that the investment banks paid for a triple A rating on their mortgage securities?

Coincidence?

Congress and constipation start with the same three letters. Coincidence? I think not.

Breaking News!

Washington Breaks Wind.

Really Bad Joke: John Edwards for President?

Now that he's officially a lying scuzzball, did we dodge a bullet, or what? How many firsts did we avoid? First unwed mother? First bastard child, although I hardly think it fair to call the child the bastard. What would he have done to his love child had he been elected? Remember the movie: Absolute Power? Scary, isn't it? He lied to us, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, not politician lies, but real people-to-people lies. He should be banned from ever holding public office at any level ever again.

World Population Density

According to Delanceyplace.com, six hundred years ago, somewhere around 1400, the population of the earth was 350 million, or slightly more than the current population of the United States. Most lived on just 4.25 million square miles, or barely 7 percent of the  earth's dry land, that portion being the most suitable for agriculture. Those densely populated regions of earth corresponded to just fifteen highly developed civilizations, the most notable being (from east to west) Japan, Korea, China, Indonesia, Indonesia, Indochina, the Islamic West Asia, Europe, Aztec, and Inca.Today, 70 percent of the world's six billion people live on those same 4.25 million square miles.

According to my calculations, that results in 82 people per square mile in 1400 and 988  people per square mile today. By comparison, today New York City has about 400 people per square mile. In 1400, my guess is New York City (though it hadn't yet been so named) had about 40 (probably of the Lenape persuasion) people per square mile, and who knows how many when the Europeans started poking around with some vigor two hundred years later.

Question for today.

Who owns your vote?

Quote of the Week

Hell is war. W. Allan McLeod, March 2005

News Item 05/18/07 – The White House and a bipartisan group of Senators reached a deal on immigration reform...

...part of which involves a 700 mile fence along the Mexico – United States border. So now we have George W. Bush, 43^rd President of the United States as much as saying Mr. Chertoff, build that fence, almost ten years to the day, on 06/12/87, when Ronald W. Regan, 40^th President of the United States admonished those pesky Communists by saying, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” Ironic, ain't it?

News Item 05/17/07 – With Whitehouse support (and that’s surprising because?) Wolfowitz wants to negotiate the terms of World Bank misconduct!

Wolfowitz wants to negotiate the terms of his World Bank misconduct (like I’ll quit if you give me a big severance package and say I’m a really good guy and didn’t do anything wrong—I mean who does he think he is, a CEO of an American company?).

Let’s see. He was one of the leading proponents of going to war in Iraq. Now he’s further besmirched the world’s view of all things American by skirting ethics rules of the World Bank by giving his girlfriend a raise in pay and a promotion and generally bullying his way around amongst his peers. What’s next? Surely a Presidential Medal of Freedom—at least that’s what Bush seems to do when his aides royally screw up. Remember Bremer and Tenet? And can a professorship at a leading Republican university be far behind? Wolfowitz is surely the type of person we need at the helm of an institution of higher learning, even a notorious neo-con one. Say, do you suppose if he converts to Christianity, he can fill in for dearly departed Jerry at that misnomer known as Liberty University. Allan McLeod, May 2007– posted Extra Wry 5-17-07

News Item 05/16/07 – Bush Appoints WAR CZAR.

Wouldn’t we be better off with a PEACE CZAR? Allan McLeod, May 2007

News Item 05/15/07 – Jerry Falwell dies.

God’s going to catch hell now. Allan McLeod, May 2007– posted Extra Wry 5-15-07

Quote of the Week

I am but a minor player in a field dominated by mediocrity. Allan McLeod, Apr 2007

Quote of the Week

Until we squish them underfoot, faceless theomaniacs like cockroaches will scurry from the cracks and shadows of anonymity to gobble up democratic freedoms tossed aside by feckless leaders. Allan McLeod, Mar5, 2007