So....

Enjoying the post apocalyptic glow that comes of reading the news. Man!, what a mess! Currently its the:

Auto Bailout

Sold to congress and the General Public as an attempt to "Save" Detroit and preserve domestic jobs...
odd the "Big 3" spent so much lobbying themselves out of being competitive - rather than spending on research into fuel efficient vehicles that kept at par with Europe and Asia - maybe we wouldn't have bought them - but I think if GM were as reliable as Honda - less people would buy Hondas.....


The Madoff scandal : This one is really funny! (is the pronunciation: Made-off?) Large jewish investment house turns out to be a scam, but a huge proportion of the impact is felt in the jewish community... so Madoff (a scumbag) steals from charities to give to charities - to make himself look good, and on and on...

Fully justifies my support for Government and Private Surveillance, i.e. the Government and Business leadership should be under 24/7 surveillance!

Works like this: in Government - any high state or federal position carries these 2 conditions: term limits of 10 total years in service. Government should be SERVICE, not a career, better to tap the input of more people for less time each, than have career politicians holding down office for life.
But secondly: Monitoring 24/7. If we accept the premise that rights are counterbalanced by duties, that is, for each privilege given there is an commensurate obligation, then the privilege of office is offset by the burden of monitoring, this takes "trust" out of the formula and renders government a measurable process that has clear duties, clear standards, and less opportunity for the kind of creativity that should so often lead to indictments.

For private industry this model is more problematic, but the standard could be established based on "scope of influence" as in: if an executives decisions can impact 10's of thousands of lives, then perhaps the same general principle should apply? Seems reasonable to me at least...

additional afterthought on Madoff: The darker side of the Madoff scam is that the losses are like a marker dye and reveal the insular relationship between jewish organizations in the US. A whole economy of "separateness" exists... How is it that a group of people with 1.8% of the US population can occupy so many influential positions? Example: as of the end of 2007 13% of the Senate is jewish... One possible answer: nepotism. Too many choices are made based on religion or community ties rather than merit, and that is discrimination, which we're supposed to be past tolerating.

Blagojevitch: what is the real story here? Is this guy a dirtbag? or is this part of something else? Political sacrificial lambs are often used for purposes other than what is on the label... So, either Rod screwed up, or forces are in motion to discredit him for some other purpose, wait and see and watch to whom it leads... ya know,"government prosecutors revealed new information today in the Blagogate scandal..." IF he goes down, there is no certainty, BUT if it blows over, it was a distraction and something else is afoot.