The above title intentionally has commas and space missing because it feels all like one word screaming in my head.
I'm talking about the economy. At first, I felt like Nelson on the sidelines pointing and saying "Ha! Ha!". It doesn't affect me.
The Bush administrations coddling of corporations and the raping of the middle and lower class has actually worked in my favor. I have no major investments. I have no minor investments. I have really minuscule investments. IRA's that will cover my ass for about about a week once I retire my wrinkly ass. Millionaires and billionaires are the ones who got hit the worst. And it was at the effect of their own corporate boners for deregulation. Deregulation doesn't work. Give people in power the opportunity to "monitor" themselves, they'll make the choices that make themselves and their shareholders richer. And that's what they are trying to do in the bailout.
In the last gasps of the Bush administration, Bush and pals have drafted a bailout that gives absolute power to the Secretary of the Treasury, absolute power without retribution. There's also no accountability or penalty against the big corporations being bailed out. It's as if the government is responding to some "Act of God" natural disaster, not the massive mishandling of people's money. They want to get their buddies off the hook and give them a free ride.This has been typical behavior of Bush's shock doctrine politics. Take advantage of major events, like 9/11, or, in this case, a huge stock market crash, and push policies through quickly while people are panicked. Fortunately, many people have become accustomed to this disaster maneuvering and are able to more consciously respond to the what's going on. Even both presidential candidates (yes, I know, there's more than two, but, really, there's only two) agree that this bailout plan is crap. That's good news.
So, why am I still brain yelping "HolyCrapWe'reF**ked!"?
While congress has become more saavy to Bush's shenanigans, they're behind the curve of most of us. And we've seen him slide all sorts of crap through to the point of making the U.S. Constitution a curious historical document. And I recently read The Road. In Cormac McCarthy's apocalyptic novel, he never explains how we got to this point. What's happening right now with the economy, our ever-increasing trillion-dollar deficit, our immense trade deficit, our spreading our military resources so thin... well, this is a way to get us on The Road.What can we do? Really? Not much. Short of millions and millions of us storming the White House with torches and pitch forks - an idea I do condone - there's just not much we can do before November 4th. And I don't envy Barack Obama. If he gets elected, he has eight years of red tape to untangle and unmangle. It's change we can believe in, but it ain't going to happen over night. And there are a lot of rich, powerful people who don't want change who will be doing everything they can to keep it from happening. They don't mind if we all end up traveling the roadways with our broken down shopping carts foraging for food. They have their thirteen cars to protect them.
THE BS NEWS QUIZ OF THE DAY
Yesterday, I asked... "Scientists in Japan are working on a new way for man to reach space. They refer to the technology as what?"
36% said "Space Tube"
- Yes. And we have to carry messages when being shot through the tube.
10% said "Space Escalator"
- Just remember to not block the path. Stand on the left, defy gravity on the right.
9% said "Space Balls"- Yes. And our astronauts will be giant hamsters.
45% got it right with "Space Elevator"
According to The Times Online, the finest scientific minds of Japan are devoting themselves to cracking the greatest sci-fi vision of all: the space elevator. Up and down the 22,000 mile-long (36,000km) cables — or flat ribbons — will run the elevator carriages, themselves requiring huge breakthroughs in engineering to which the biggest Japanese companies and universities have turned their collective attention.My life is a sitcom. My luck, I'd get stuck two miles above the planet with a pregnant lady and have to help her give birth in zero gravity. Ew.
Here's an artist's rendering of what the elevator station would look like on earth.
Here's what the other end looks like...
I hate moving, so I do it well. I make sure everything is packed up, labeled, stacked and ready to go. In spite of my diligence, there's always a box or two that slips through the cracks. What's in the box? I don't know. I usually don't find out until after the move because the box had yet been unpacked from a previous move. I opened a box here to find that it had dirty laundry in it from two apartments ago. My goal is to not let that happen this time. All current boxes will be gone through. Items will either be repacked, thrown out, or donated to Salvation Army.There's also something about having a project where things need to spin out of control a bit before you can see the end. Directing improv shows and sketch shows where the cast develops the material is in a similar vein. Make a big mess, then keep what works, throw out what doesn't. Yes, yes, I know. My mother meant well when she gave me the white teddy bear with the script Ohio and plastic-encased State of Ohio quarter embedded in its chest, but it's time for it to move on. Just as soon as I take a brick to that plastic casing.Here's what bothers me the most...How the hell did I accumulate so many plastic hangers?
THE BS NEW QUIZ OF THE DAYOn Friday, I asked..."Scientists will be using the same satellites used by Israeli defense forces to do what?"
27% said "study Mideast air emissions"- Camel methane?18% said "track litter"- Not much litter there. People actually pick up after themselves. Or have their hands cut off.No one said "analyze human depressions effect on tropical depressions"55% got it right with "count kangaroo rats"According to The Associated Press, scientists plan to use satellite photos to count Giant Kangaroo Rats, the first-ever monitoring of an endangered species from outer space. Scientists will examine images taken from the same satellite used by Israeli defense forces to find the circular patches of earth denuded by the rats as they gather food around their burrowsWhy are scientists interested in counting kangaroo rats? Because, silly, they are so frickin' adorable!
This is a really cool wardrobe steamer trunk that I picked up from a junk shop a decade ago (anyone remember Betty's on Lincoln?). Four drawers, original wooden hangars, can use it as a small dresser or close it and flip it on its side and use it for storage and to put stuff on. It has been used as a dresser, coffee table and entertainment center with me. There is no logo or any kind of insignia that tells me the manufacturer. Inside the top drawer is a tag for a J. C. Higgins piece of luggage that is NOT the trunk. The tag, via my modest detective skills, place it anywhere from the late 1920's to late 1940's and possibly sold by Sears and Roebuck. Closed and upright, as it is in the picture, it is 42 inches tall, 21 inches wide across the top and 21 inches across the sides.If you are interested, shoot me an e-mail. I live in Logan Square. You would have to arrange for picking it up. joejanes1065@comcast.net.
UPDATE: 11/29/2008 - This is still available. I have since moved to Rogers Park in the northern part of Chicago along the lake.
More From The Jack Thomas Collection of Stray Tables.This pine table has spent more time as a desk than as a dinner table. The surface area is worn from the years and there's a few nicks, scratches and stains. It's pretty solid, though. It also can be dismantled and remantled with a screwdriver, which I have done on a few moves. It is 29 inches tall, 47 inches long and 29 inches wide. Portly cat not included.If you are interested, shoot me an e-mail. I live in Logan Square. You would have to arrange for picking it up. joejanes1065@comcast.net.
I have been in possession of this table for almost twenty years. It used to belong to this guy. Jack moved to LA shortly after I started camping out at his apartment. He left it behind and it has been following me around ever since. It's an odd table. It has a wood panel surface and green metal legs. It is 29 1/2" high, 3' long and 23 1/2" wide. It has served me well in a multi-purpose kind of way. It's great in laundry rooms and helpful for providing extra counter space in kitchens. Makes for extra desk space, too. It ain't pretty, but it's useful and has a nice personality.If you are interested, shoot me an e-mail. I live in Logan Square. You would have to arrange for picking it up. joejanes1065@comcast.net.
This is another solid piece of furniture I picked up from CostPlus World Market. It has a few nicks and scratches from the years. It has also done double-duty as a makeshift dinner table, desk and entertainment center. It is 17" tall, 47" long, and 27" wide. Not sure of the weight, but it's always been a two-person move job for me.If you are interested, shoot me an e-mail. I live in Logan Square. You would have to arrange for picking it up. joejanes1065@comcast.net.
I have a secret. I thought I might not vote this year. Total f-up on my part. My driver's license still has the address of my old apartment and I'm moving out of this one October 1st. And since you need verification of your new address, like a utility bill, I didn't think I'd have one in time for any last minute registration.I even thought about registering under the old address, but there's no guarantee I'd get it forwarded in time, if at all.On election day, I was just going to cross my fingers and hope enough people vote for my candidates to carry the day with wide margins.That's probably not going to happen. As we have witnessed in the last two presidential elections, the game seems to be to keep it as close as possible. Shut out as many people as possible or deter them from voting by lying to them about when and where to vote, or simply, throw a wrench in the machine.The only way to combat this is for every eligible voter to get out there and make sure his or her voice is heard. Don't screw up like I almost did. It doesn't matter whether or not you live in a swing state. There are more races going on than just for president.I found out that I actually have until October 7th to register. There's even a fourteen-day grace period, if I screw that up. Find out all the details for Cook County, Illinois HERE.THE BS NEWS QUIZ OF THE DAYYesterday, I asked..."In order to encourage families to prepare for emergencies, Homeland Security has partnered with whom?"
22% said "The Osbornes"- Duck and cover. Then bite the head off the duck.11% said "The Osmonds"- The key to survival. Keep copulating and making more Osmonds.11% said "The Lohans"- Surviving disasters or causing disasters?55% got it right with "The Muppets"According to The Examiner, in a move that will make Bush administration detractors bring back those duct tape jokes again, the Department of Homeland Security has partnered up with the famous children’s show Sesame Street. “We all want our children to feel safe in this world,” said Meryl Chertoff, wife of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, at a ceremony held at the John Tyler Elementary School to announce the partnership. "And who better to do that than our Sesame Street friends, Grover and Rosita!”I hope they have done their research here. Very embarrassing if they find any ties between the Count and Al-Qaeda. They already have to reign in Burt.
Here's what the other end looks like...
