Ode to eggs

                              

"He that looketh on a plate of ham and eggs to lust after it hath already committed breakfast with it in his heart."

Pysanka as it's call came from ancient times when Ukrainians worshipped a sun god called Dazhoboh. It was said that no human could approach this god but birds were permitted in his presents. Humans not being able to catch these birds were able to gather their eggs. After all who doesn't go for a good omelet for breakfast?

Soon this became part of spring rituals but was banished by the Soviet Union. But it was too late because the practice had migrated to south and north america. With the fall of the soviet union a rebound came to the Ukraine in 1991.

I'm told there are actually clubs here in the U.S. that do this type of egg decorations and I know of one woman who fashions them like Faberge eggs getting upwards of $50 an egg for her handy work. Must have more time on her hands than I as it can take hundreds of hours to cut out the meticulous designs.

"So which came first the chicken or the egg? Who cares because you can't scramble a chicken."

Sadly though the whole chicken process has been reduced to a factory operation. Racks of eggs roll down the production line to be incubated. When the chicks break their shells they're treated more like widget on an assembly line. So many of the smaller gentlemen farms are now long gone and I'd bet anything if they could eliminate the whole egg hatching thing in a lab they would. A bunch of rotten eggs there if you ask me. Who after all doesn't like the sights and sounds of the farm with chickens scurrying about doing what chicken do. Just watch where you step.

How versatile the egg. For breakfast with ham or bacon, lunch in an egg salad sandwich or for dinner when mom burned the roast. There's egg nog at Christmas. Deviled eggs for the forth of July backyard bash and not to forget egging somebody's house at Halloween (Ever try to get that off a car finish? WMDs would be kinder). An egg for all seasons. 

Is that egg on your face? Then no egg in your beer for you. Put all your eggs in one basket did you? Egg foo young or egg foo old you can keep your 1000 year old eggs. Eggs benedict arnold and you just solved the puzzle on the wheel of fortune. No I won't go for the corny puns of eggscellent as an eggsample. Take your cheap humor elsewhere. This is a respectable place.  Just not too eggsciting at the moment. Ah there ya go again clucking out the latest of lame on a day of slack. Better end this before gallus domesticus police show up.

Hard boiled fried poached or baked pick your favorite.

Make mine two eggs fried over medium with hash browns and toast and don't forget the coffee. 

Hat tip to ode2eggs,com for his/her great egg wisdom

Friday beaver whisperer

Pssst! Get atta here!

Should be a nice day here so I'll forgo the car bombings, rapes, shootings, kidnappings, oil spills, political insults, landslides, car crashes, celebrity dress malfunctions, next deadly viral pandemics, economic collapses and rude comments from the peanut gallery for just one day. So go out and enjoy the momentary warm weather whilst we have it. Just don't forget the sun screen because after all we all know how easily we burn here.

Bank fails later if there are any.
UPDATE: No fails this week so carry on.

Filed under too lazy to blog

Bankster gangsters

            

Cyprus banks are open now but as was reported yesterday the exact details were a bit liberal in the numbers. Seems folks were told they could withdraw 300 euros when in fact they could only withdraw 100. None leaving the country can carry more than 1000 euros (down from 3000) and folks paying for college out of the country are limited to 5000 euros per quarter (down from 10,000).

The russians were notified of the current situation some 6 months ago and began withdrawing their money. (Nothing like insider information to protect your wealth.) So who's next on this slow motion train wreck? There's indications that Slovenia is reaching that market stress that's becoming more and more prevalent. In the last tow weeks their bond yields went from 4.5% to 6.5% meaning they are looking for money to prop up a sagging economy.

On Thursday, the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, tried to limit fears of contagion, saying Cyprus was a very special case and the EU had found the right solution for it. He said Luxembourg had a completely different business model to Cyprus and any comparison of the two would be absurd.

(You will note that the German finance minister is trying hard to protect the Luxembourg brand. Wonder how much money he has stashed there?)

As I see it this bail out thing is all a temporary band aid when the money is not going for things that would actually count like rebuilding infrastructure fixing schools and hospitals and the like. But do keep your eyes peeled as other nations suffer the same fate because poop does roll and it may be headed this way. Should the european union crumble it will bring the rest of us down with it. We are after all tied together financially with the rest of the world like it or not.

Oh and forget the tommy gun. A pen or laptop is so much neater and cleaner.  

News you can't use and could probably care less about

                                    

UK banks have a capital shortfall of $38 billion 

(Okay that's nothing new. Most of our banks are under capitalized but  that leads to the next headline which makes little sense)

Pound rises to Six week high against Euro

(Here's the rub as Shakespeare would say. UK has been doing about the exact same austerity measures as Spain Italy and Greece. Maybe not on such a grand scale but no less harmful to the social programs than the other countries.)  

No cashing of checks in Cyprus

(Oh that's going to go over big come payday when most people get their paychecks ) So like the Hotel California deposit will be permitted but only 100 euros will be permitted to be withdrawn. That'll go over big with folks wanting to buy a house or car. And if you think this is bad enough here's the rest of their hair brained scam:

• All savings accounts must run until their expiry date - with no early withdrawals allowed.

• Cashing of cheques will be suspended, but 'cheque deposits' will be allowed.

• Individuals will only be allowed to take €3,000 in cash on each trip out of the country.

• Cypriots will only be allowed to transfer up to €10,000 per quarter for fellow citizens who are studying abroad.

• All credit/debit card transactions abroad will be capped at €5,000 per person, per month.

• The measures will apply to all accounts, regardless of the currency it uses.

• Import payments will be allowed when 'the relevant documents' are provided to the authorities.

• They will run for seven days

(Somebody see a run on tar and feathers here?) 

Paging Mr. Berra

                

Judging by the Cyprus bail out deal you'd think the financial market just won the Powerball lottery twice in a row. Not so fast Mr Gotrocks.  Articles plastered across the financial news tout a last minute bail out deal. All well and good for those who only read the headline and not the meat of the articles. We heard last week that depositors would take a 10% haircut on their accounts which caused the beginnings of a run on the banks. When that idea didn't fly it was back to the drawing board and the new plan calls for even more suffering with a proposed plan of anywhere between 20 and 40%. So you didn't like the plan of the bully punching you in the face? Well then this time he'll kick you in the nuts too. How do you like them apples?

But seriously this was all caused by several factors. Cyprus was in great financial shape just a few years ago but when it got sucked into the black whole of the housing and derivatives market then the picture turned bleak very fast. The nations' debt was a mere 2% of GDP back in 2004 jumping to 6% a few years later. Russia is said to have some 20 billion in investments which might be puzzling considering the main source of income for the nation like Greece is tourism. Ah but it was those tax breaks that sank the ship. Cyprus became a tax haven for wealthy Russians looking for a place to hide their gold and cash. And since Cyprus is a part of the Euro zone it can't print it's own money to stabilize it's markets should things go awry which they did. And the irony is not lost in that it was Germany in the 1930s who faced the very same situation only the names were changed.

So as the Wall Street boys pop their corks on the bubbly the game isn't over yet. What would you do knowing your bank statement would be 20% or more lighter if and when the banks open again? And limiting the amount of withdrawals to 100 euros isn't going to make for a healthy economy any time soon. Most food and rent is more than that these days. 

The underlying plan is to separate the assets of the two largest banks and creating a good bank and a bad bank. We've seen this before and it's the same story. The banksters get the assets while the taxpayers get the debt. Focus on the assets and forget about the debt because after all it's been sequestered into a bad bank. And yet again it's privatize the profits and socialize the losses. These crooks must think we're stupid.     

Chilly Friday beaver

                                   

Second day of spring and what do we get? Snow of course. Poor beavers don't know what to think so I guess they'll have to wait it out until later in the day after it all melts. That's the way we roll up here in the northwest.

Cyprus isn't looking too good. They know if they open the banks there'll be a run on cash like money is free. Can't fault them for that. Would you want your account drained by 6 to 10% when it wasn't you who screwed up? Let's face it the country will default so just bring in the vultures and be done with it. Iceland made it out okay.

Today is World Water Day the focus being on sustainable safe drinking water for the billions on the planet. The two major sources of problems are the industrial pollutants we dump into our waterways every day and the fact that 2.5 billion have no toilet and resort to "doing it" wherever is convenient. Sad fact is that a simple sand filter can be fashioned and is cheap to operate. They've been using these in Africa for years. If only we'd think simply instead of creating high tech complicated computerized systems.

Here's something I bet nobody ever thought about. We've heard so much about gay marriage but nobody thought about gay divorce. How is that going to work out? Which one's the wife and which one's the husband? Who pays child support and who pays alimony? Judges are going to have a fun time with that.

South Korea

Quick background and how things change. We fought the north to a stalemate along side the south Korean forces. All was frozen in time since the early 50s. The youth of the country forgot what it was all about and became complacent. With mounting tensions and more saber rattling it should be a wake up call. Now we have a cyberattack. The source is said to come from China but as we all know web addresses can be hidden. You can put on your tin foil hat and make all kinds of conspiracy theories out of that one. But it will be interesting to see what korean youth makes of all this. I'm sure being plugged into the electronic information age they must be a bit concerned by now. It is after all a worry when you hit an ATM for a weekend of fun and the thing won't work that they might take notice. Or perhaps this was a test of our own cyber abilities like some sort of black flag operation. We may never know.  But it is a bit disheartening to think that maybe your money isn't quite as safe as you thought it was. Banks are said to have the best encryption codes or so they say.

Our Bank fails later
Update: No fails this week  

Liar Liar Hypocrite

Blogger is not being nice the last few days so we'll see what happens here. (Just checked and this is all screwed up) Compose mode is broken.

It's hard to dig through the lies and deceptions of late. The boy who cried wolf has nothing on our news media. Iraq 'celebrates' it's 10 year anniversary. Now there was the grandaddy of all lies. No WMDs. No Saddam climbing in bed with Bin Ladin. Over 4000 U.S. troops and 100,000 Iraqis dead and a price tag of over 2 trillion dollars (all things there are true except truth is the first casualty of war).

 Then there's the "stupid" party telling us that it's our fault that the country is in such a mess from something we did not do. Like the fat lady who's dress bulges at the seams they think another dress would suit them better to get invited to the White House ball. Not enough lip stick in the world to fix that pig. They say they're for women's issues all the while taking away more of their rights. As I've always said judge someone by their actions and not their words.

Rand Paul comes out as the sweetheart of the CPAC gathering. If he's their boy in 2016 then they have a lot of work to do. This is the libertarian who much like Rick Perry of Texas would like nothing better than to eliminate much of government conveniently forgetting that we actually need oversight in things like the operation of our airports and nuclear plants. He'd also delight to a return to the pre 1960s days of 'whites only' signs over his business. But the biggest lies are when the news is flipped on it's head as with Fox News or Faux Noise whichever you prefer. Rand Paul supports illegal aliens (the tea bag crowd isn't going to like that one) Must have secure borders touts Rand. (And how does that work with border patrol when you want to slash government, hum?)

Cypriot parliament rebels against a european hand out. (Those ungrateful scamps, how dare they not want to drain their bank accounts and give it to people who don't need it?) Arms depot explosion (that'll teach them to use cheap American made mortar shells, next time use cheap Chinese made shells. Much cheaper and reliable too.)

Hypocrite Obama urges Palestine to return to the peace table.
(All the while using drones on Pakistan. Ah but that's different. And let's not talk about what they'd like to do to Iran.)

India passes sweeping bill on crimes against women. (We have a half dozen mass shootings and can't pass gun legislation.)

UK passes draconian cuts to social programs. (While giving its' legislative body a pay raise.)

Eurozone economic downturn (No shite Sherlock. That's what happens when you cut spending and there's no jobs left to support your Ponzi scheme.)

XL pipeline study exposed as a hoax A supposed State Department study was actually done by oil industry. The study was done by a company hired by TransCanada who is going to build the pipeline. ERM insists that it has no ties to the Canadian contractor yet all of it's sources for the impact came from other companies in the industry. TransCanada is in partnership with the Koch brothers and you know they have no regard for the planet. (They wouldn't lie to us now would they?)

Pope supported civil unions as a cardinal (And his boss didn't excommunicate him then? Might want to check his hard drive for provocative alter boy pics while you're at it too.)

Look at those legs

                                         

U.S. news sources are slowly becoming irrelevant. They wonder why so many are turning to the web for their daily news fix and never once stopped to consider they have become trivial relics, no make that dinosaurs of an evolution morphed into trite infotainment. (Side note: even my idiot spell check knew that last word)

While the "Lame" stream media would have us focus on the latest starlets' night out of debauchery other far more important events are happening around the world that just might effect the price of tea in china.

All the while we, the underlings, are spoon fed the drivel of NASCAR crashes and peek a boo shots of Hollywood  nether regions as things that actually affect our lives are happening in real time on a global scale.

Cypress government had just agreed to do something unthinkable. Faced with inevitable bankruptcy it agreed to scalp all bank accounts by almost 10% in order to pay a debt not made by it's customers. Imagine if they did something like that over here. With so many living pay check to pay check the sheer volume of rubber checks would surely be enough to start a condom factory with enough for a world supply and then some. But no, our government is far sneakier than that. They continue to boil the frog as the expression goes by slipping cuts to bills that have nothing to do with the budget. You will note (if you were paying attention) that George W. neatly slipped by us no less than a dozen tax breaks for corporations most of which were under the guise of national security. Ever bill passed his second term had little goodies squarely directed at his "base" the uber  wealthy.

So where does one go for a daily fix of reality and real news that might actually mean something in our meager existence? Best method is to turn to foreign sources that have few ties to corporate controlled media. However I see even they are slowly being tainted with the money being thrown around. If you can get past the rhetoric of some foreign ideologies you just might find out what's really happening or did happen. But judging by what is happening on a world scale it takes no Sherlock Holmes to figure out that there's a class warfare going on and it's not looking any prettier as the days go by. At every turn we were promised greater stability and jobs if only the next bill was passed and it hasn't happened yet. And so the cavalcade of crisis continues and we see the water in the pot get warmer and warmer as it gets closer to boiling. Frog legs anyone?  

As for news try the Guardian  or Headline Grabber they at least cover what isn't being covered here.

How did I get here?

Or more importantly how did they get in here? From time to time I check the traffic here at casa Demeur. Not that I really care as this is a non monetary site ie no greenbacks have changed hands (what do you think I am some kind of prostitute? Don't answer that). But I was surprised to find traffic from some of the oddest places. The U.S. came in at first place followed by Poland? I'll have to investigate this further. I am not nor have I ever been polish. Not even a distant long lost relative has hailed from there. So it makes me wonder why they'd have a fascination with this little blog. Polish sausage is okay and I've eaten a proggie or two over the years but other than that it's a mystery.

Then there's the sources referring URLs they call them. Again a mystery. Google search I can understand. Someone looking for one thing and stumbling onto another. I've done that enough times myself. Or maybe it was just random web surfing as in click on the next button at the top and see what comes up. That can be fun at times. 

This could be a plot and not the communist kind. Most true communists got sucked into the capitalist black hole with ping pong diplomacy. That only leaves one alternative. The CIA is doing secret ops through Poland or maybe the former Polish pope started a clandestine organization before he passed. And that leaves other more sinister thoughts to bear. If the CIA was said to close it's overseas rendition operations then where are they holding their interrogations now? Fearless leader never gave us a clue when he closed them.  That just might leave the following guys to consider. They did after all manage to conceal their wrong doings for a good 40 or 50 years. 

The Mafia has nothing on these guys. Wonder if they kept their "enhanced" interrogation equipment left over from the Spanish Inquisition because after all "nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition".

Friday beaver the thieving kind

                                          

            Beavers are back it must be close to spring

 I'm not the conspiracy theory type but in looking at what's gone on in the past and what is happening today one tends to put two and two together and things start to add up. Take our entire banking system. There was a time when the government actually had control of our banking system. Our money was backed by gold and silver at a set price of $35 an ounce of gold. That kept prices stable and our monetary system flowing for quite a few years. The "federal reserve" is not a part of the government even though it sounds governmental. It's all private bankers who make up the system and they have one and only one objective. It seems they'd like nothing more than to suck the life blood out of the world's economy and for what? Another bump in their bottom line or perhaps another house in the Caymans that is if they can remember where the left the other half dozen.

Now digging through history we find some other interesting facts. After WWI Germany was required to pay back all of the debts from all the nations that participated even though it didn't start the war. The effort was disastrous.  With no other choice but to print more and more money to pay back the debt it took a wheel barrow to buy a loaf of bread. Hitler did one thing right by pulling out of the world monetary system and bringing it under government control just as we had done with our gold standard. Germany flourished after that. The world banks prior to that had backed Germany and were basically sucking her dry.

Fast forward to 1963. Five months before JFK was assassinated he signed into law an executive order removing us from the federal reserve system. Instead of dollars new notes were printed under the control of the federal government effectively cutting out the banks. Upon his death these notes were destroyed never to see the light of day.

A quick jump again to Nixon. France had a massive amount of U.S. currency and it decided to cash that in for gold. The only problem was that the U.S. didn't have enough gold to cover the currency (you will note that Nixon put a wage and price freeze under the guise of fighting inflation) so his next trick was to immediately remove us from the gold standard. The Saudis at that time were swimming in not only oil but our dollars as it was the world's reserve currency. They wanted to loan us money but fearing it having no backing wanted something as collateral. Nixon set about to form the EPA which unknown to many put much of our federal lands in a trust to be used as their collateral.

Fast forward once more and we find that most of the saber rattling and the fall of dictators was not because they had WMDs or for the spread of democracy but because these dictators were about to shift from the greenback to their own monetary systems. Saddam Hussein was about to shift to the euro. Mommmar Kadoffe was about to start his own gold backed currency. Even Hugo Chavez had returned the private oil companies to public ownership. So there may be real questions about his death.

So keep your eyes open for any country wishing to get out of this monopoly game played by the world bankers it will tell you who we bomb next. Iran is high on the list as they would like to leave the game and not because they are a physical threat to anyone on our shores.

I believe it was Rothchild who said "Let me control the money supply and I could care less what governments do".

Bank fails later
UPDATE: No bank fails this week

It's the economy stupid

                               

Surfing through the world news sources to get a better picture of what's happening I stumbled on some revealing information from of all places the Ukraine. And while America is focused or should we say distracted by the next pope or more importantly the next American Idol, conditions are ripe for a revolution. It won't be as mild as the minute men fighting the red coats either. A check of country after small country gave light to the situation. This recession is more akin to a depression only it hasn't quite hit here. And those at the top are secretly worried that the house of cards is about to fall.

 The United States on Wednesday urged Ukraine not to renegotiate its World Trade Organisation commitments, warning the move could trigger a chain reaction and bring down the whole global trade system.

Countries are waking up to the fact that you can't keep cutting and laying more austerity on the populations and expect healthy economies. The proposals are to increase tariffs and taxes to make up for massive losses over the past few years. Entire industries sit idle and while citizens are none too happy, their leaders are starting to worry about not just their own jobs but their personal safety for we know by history that coups and uprisings in other countries tend to lead to dead leaders.

There are 18 million empty homes in this country,the evidence of the housing bubble, but what that's done on a world scale is more than horrific. While the gamblers of the financial world were busy cashing in their chips entire towns were quickly becoming empty and some never saw a tenant even after they were built. They were built and nobody came. Rules were thrown out the window and the game continued until we have what we have now. There's not much left to squeeze out of economies when few are working and there's nothing to produce. And if you don't think it's happening in just the major countries like Greece, Spain and Italy then dig a little deeper.  These trade agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA were no blessing. It appears the World Trade Organization (that would be the financial boys at the top of the heap) are very nervous that things are about to fall. I suspect they are right this time especially when the players (suckers in this case) want to change the rules in the middle of the game.

The extent of the corruption by governments is beyond belief. They may have followed the letter of the law but they sure didn't follow the spirit of the law. Even now it's all debatable. And as we all know if you give somebody an inch they'll take a mile and they did just that.Time to give them the foot?

Jobs jobs and no jobs

                                      

The beavers are about done with their winter hiatus and should be back shortly.

Scanning the jobs outlook is never the most pleasant thing especially with the sequester (make that read jobs cuts). It wouldn't be bad if the same jobs didn't appear day after day month after month. The choices are simple. A job that would require starting over but the drawback would be another four year degree and starting at the bottom. No time left for that now. Or a job not requiring extensive qualifications but with not enough pay to cover the gas to get there. The third is totally perplexing. Wanted: someone with 30 years experience who's 20 years old. Lastly we have the job that requires no experience but is temporary, part time, requires on call working any shift monday through friday and weekends with a minimum wage starting salary, own car and tools required, no benefits.

And what do we have now? People who are working are expected to do the work of three people. And the scammers have crawled out from under the woodwork. Never sign up for a job search company. Your inbox will be filled with work at home scams promising millions.  And of course there's this Nigerian princess who said she'd lavish me in wealth if I only send her a small $10,000 dowery. Someone also mentioned there's money to be made as a White House tour guide but I'd have to hurry and send in all personal information for the security check. 

So what's left in scraping the barrel of employment possibilities? Male stripper? Nope, the six pack abs are down to a two litre bottle and all the strip clubs have been run out of town. Newspaper delivery? As if anybody reads a paper anymore. Last one I got was a give a way at the market and not worth the paper it was printed on. Nursing assistant? Doesn't pay enough to cover the gas to get there and soon I might be needing one myself. So here we sit watching our roads go to hell our schools slowly crumble and what's left of the jobs get bounced from Mexico to China then to who know where. All the while our congress argues over who's next to get stabbed in the back. Happy days sure aren't here again.     

Fukushima revisited

A school with a radiation monitor. You will note the level at .0083. Assuming that's in Sv then the maximum regulatory exposure rate would be reached in about two days.

The two year anniversary of this nuclear power station disaster , but not one to celebrate such things, and the situation has little changed. In fact it is worse. Towns outside the contamination (exclusion) zone are unsafe to return to but for short visits.  Radiation levels remain well above any background levels meaning that these people will never be able to return permanently in their life times.

The sheer volume of contaminated material will make the "clean up" impossible for entire towns have been left uninhabitable for generations to come.

This was however an accident waiting to happen for you see the first three reactors were commissioned in the 1970s some 40 years ago. As anyone knows building materials have a life span. It's true that some concrete and steel can last for centuries but not when they're exposed to such high temperatures. That's why most nuclear plants are designed with a life span of 25 to 30 years. Not a very efficient use of money or materials when you stop to consider the costs to build one, operate it, then tear it down. It takes 10 to 15 years just to get one on line. Fukushima was starting to experience maintenance problems as early as 2009 with valves failing and automatic and manual shutdowns. Much like owning an old car that you're just not to sure if it will get you there. Add to that the relationship between the plant owners and the regulators that give oversight. Regulators get stuck between public safety and corporate profits. Too lax and there's public outcry, too strict and corporations cry foul. But nothing goes noticed until there's an accident and nine times out of ten it's because of greed, a company cutting corners to save a buck.   

This is the legacy of fukushima. Ghost town after ghost town never to see activity again. Eventually nature will take back what we screwed up but that will be a long time coming.

Stupid is as stupid does

Take any position you like there is a correct way and the stupid way. You don't stop gun violence by adding more guns. That is just a statistical fact. Employment is not expanded by cutting jobs. Cutting benefits to the less fortunate is not going to make things better. Peace will not be achieved by starting more wars (and don't give us the BS about fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here non sense). FDR realized that the greatest defense a nation had was in the strength of its' people. It's the reason he put so much effort into building up the welfare of the people. What good is to have a strong national defense when there's nothing left to defend?

" Sgt. Shultz guard that falling down out house over there, that's an order!"

There's another delusion however not quit as apparent. That would be the quest for resources and the military being used to accomplish it. Nothing is farther from the truth. Yes every nation needs resources but that is not where the 'real' money is to be made. The real money is in the musical chairs game of failure. How perverted a thought one might think. But it's true. In the great casino of world markets more money is made by betting against than for. Like kids throwing rocks at the windows of an old abandoned house and daring each other, no betting each other, that they couldn't break the window on the top floor. Only problem is the house isn't empty and it doesn't represent just a house. The rocks aren't rocks but the weapons of war and the house represents a nation. And all the while those who profit from it sit comfortably in plush mansions in the Hamptons. That is the reality of the situation. And for them there is no good or bad news because it's all neatly done with emotionless computers crunching the statistics. They care not who lives or dies as long as the money stream keeps flowing and the game continues.

They must be doing quit well and we barely hear their names. For while you were busy watching the latest snow storm or mass shooting entire countries of the world are crumbling before our very eyes and no film at 11 for you. Wouldn't want the masses catching on to the game before it hits our shores. So in the mean time kick back and be distracted by your celebrity of choice or unreal of reality show, the game of deception continues until the house of cards falls and it will. Debt has no real intrinsic value other than to heap suffering on others and even like houses it too loses value. 

Stupid is as stupid does and how stupid of us to fall for such a game. "What fools these mortals be."  

Dirty pussy Friday... ewww!

Not that pussy this pussy!

You can't get there from here so just keep digging.

Oil.. black gold...bubblin crude.

Alberta, Canada, 1967 the first commercial oil sands operation began. Suncor Energy then called Great Canadian Oil Sands was originally Sun Company of Canada which was a subsidiary of Sun Oil which is now called Sunoco. Confused yet?

Now I'm sure you've seen the ads on TV showing the pristine wilderness while a voice over tells you about all the wonderful clean renewable energy the company is producing all for a better environment and future for the kiddies. Poppy cock! While the company does operate four wind farms on the one hand it's busy polluting the poop out of the planet on the other.

Fine fine everywhere a fine..

On April 2, 2009, Suncor was fined $675,000 for failing to install pollution control equipment at its Firebag operation near Fort McMurray, Alberta in July 2006. On the same day, Suncor was fined $175,000 for dumping untreated wastewater from a company work camp near Fort McMurray into the Athabasca River in 2007.

In the United States, Suncor has also been fined by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. In April 2012, a fine of $2.2 million was assessed for air pollution. Suncor failed to monitor and control emissions a number of times throughout 2009 and 2010, and numerous emissions exceeded regulations. Additionally, a benzene leak into Sand Creek was discovered in the fall of 2011. Employees at Suncor and the nearby Metro Wastewater Reclamation District Plant were exposed to benzene through the air and through drinking water. Cleanup efforts and the extent of the environmental consequences have remained largely undisclosed to the public and community around Sand Creek.

Now the memory might be a little short of late but I recall using Sunoco gas way back in the mid 70s. Why? Because it was the cheapest stuff around and I was about broke at the time. Someone years later informed me that it was not good stuff to run in an engine and he was right. That's the only car I've ever owned that blew an engine and I don't drive like I was in NASCAR. Something about cutting the gas with alcohol which of course cars back then could not handle. Today all gas is cut with alcohol but they're designed for that now.

So why won't these companies shift to cleaner ways? Because like junkies they have too much invested in the operation and they're all focused on their next 'fix'. They'll talk 'green' until they're blue in the face but their drug of choice is oil and they won't part with it until they're long dead and buried. Problem is they'll take us with them when they go. The thought occurred to me while watching a documentary on the tar sands that there really isn't a place left on the planet that is polluted to some degree or other. Look around your neighborhood. It might look pretty but I'd bet anything you'll find nasties in your soil water and air. A trip out on the boat you say to get away from it all? Think again. We dump sewage and industrial wastes there on a daily basis. Canadians didn't even bother to treat it first until recently.

I hear the ferry boat fog horn so it should be a nice day here. Get out and enjoy it. Just don't forget your respirators.

Bank fails later

UPDATE: One bank failed in GA.

Spin.... wash rinse repeat

                                  

I swear we need a translator for the news these days. I'll step into the role for a moment and show you what I mean.

North Korea threatens nuclear strike against 'aggressors'

(No they're just ticked because they're losing more handouts from China and Kim  Jung doesn't know what else to do. Got to keep your people on high alert and afraid. (See yesterdays post) ) And we have enough fire power to make the rubble bounce and they know it.

Political skill of the first order

Rand Paul demonstrated in his filibuster of John Brennan exactly why he is a formidable force....

(No he just demonstrated how a senator is full of hot air and can flap his gums for hours on end once again proving how useless congress truly is.) Anyone else caught doing that on a job would be cleaning out their desk.

Jobless claims in US unexpectedly fall to a six week low

(No the seasonal work is all over and with the sequester nobody is buying anything.)

Kenyan Shilling rebounds from plunge on Manual vote count switch

(Never trust computers it's how Bush won at least one election. And now they want to have cars run totally by computers? With the GPS systems we have you're liable to land up in the ocean.)

Obama to lunch with Ryan after dinner with GOP senators

(Wonder if Ryan will sit at the little table like we did as kids at thanksgiving?)

Study: States strict on gun laws, fewer gun related deaths

(Blows holes (pun intended) in LaPierre's thinking. And one can only hope he'll have an accident while cleaning his gun proving once again that he who lives by the sword (er gun) will die by it.)

Fear for sale. Get your fear here

                                          

A falling meteor. A man eating shark. A terrorist under your bed. Everywhere you turn it's fear fear fear. Pick any place or time or any situation for that matter and fear is all around us. Can't even go to bed without worrying about a sink hole swallowing you up. Or maybe a tree giving up its' roots and crashing through the living room crushing you to death. The bizarre seems commonplace now. Cannibals and pedophile priests roaming the country side looking for their prey. Next thing you know they'll say writing blog posts causes dementia. Hum, they might have a point there.

Clouds darkening overhead? Is it a tornado? A lightening storm? A blizzard waiting to pack a wallop? Will the power go out? Will the river flood it's banks. A tsunami perhaps? Mud slide land slid or volcanic eruption? Or maybe something man made like a nuclear plant meltdown should grace the headlines... film at 11. A robbery, a mugging or drive by shooting is always good for a minute or two. Embezzlement or fleecing old ladies out of their retirement is a quick empathy fix unless it's the dog caught in the drainage pipe or the two year old stuck in the well.

Better not mess with that I know a cousin of a friend of a friend who lost an eye that way. And if all this weren't enough the microscopic sleuths of the media bring up bed bugs, e coli, salmonella and flesh eating bacteria all with new and improved versions. Brush you teeth with lead tainted toothpaste in waters fit to run a car. Weren't those pajamas recalled when somebody went up like a torch? Pollution alert don't go outside except the inside isn't too healthy either with carpets and paneling out gassing and homes sealed up so tight Houdini couldn't get out.

A knock at the door - a robber maybe? A ring of the phone - no I didn't enter your contest and I'm not giving you my credit card number. An email from a loved one - sorry babe I happen to know you aren't locked in a Mexican jail and I won't wire you the bail.

So what's the expression? "You can fool some of the people all of the time..." With fear it's making us all fearless or maybe crass and cynical. So fear not because we all know something will get us in the end. We aren't immortal.   

Who cut the cheese?

                                     
I don't know what this photo has to do with anything but I liked it. Make up your own caption. Maybe the next senator from your state?

UN sanctions for North Korea

Un to discuss new sanctions on North Korea.

(What's left to hold back?)

Snow warning 9 inches possible

(Looks like the midwest got all of our winter or will we get snow in July? Paybacks are hell you know.)

New TV show called "Revenge"

(What ever happened to the altruistic shows like the "Avengers"?)

The Dow blew past it's historic high today

(Watch out, what goes up must come down and there's no real reason it should be this high. Expect a major crash as austerity comes to our shores.)

Apple working on an iWatch

(I just want something that tells the time and not a smart ass that talks back.)

Congress deals with our economic situation.  Not!

(Only votes the last two weeks were to not close tax loopholes. Oh but they did add another U.S. district court judge in NY.)

Weird news

                                      

Man accuses ex-girlfriend of stealing sperm 

(I'll let you make your own joke.) 

In Brazil barbecuing is a form of protest

(Especially when it's the disposed dictator who's getting barbecued)

Rats can communicate with each other via cable

(Wait till they get wifi)

Language police try to ban 'pasta' on Italian restaurant menu in Montreal

(No spaghetti for you frenchy) 

Paris, Diner closed after inspectors find a boiling pot of... (wait for it),,, caterpillars!

(Gad those French will eat anything. I got some slugs in the backyard they can have.)

So remember not to be messing around with any bridges. Go for the drunk overpass. :-)

Friday pussy all locked up

That pesky budget pussy is now in her cage where she belongs. So now what? When the economy continues into its' slow motion train wreck those at the top will surely say "it's not my fault". Oh but it is very much your fault Mr. congressman. You let this happen and we're on to your plan. You're sucking the last ounce of marrow out of this dying soon to be corpse. And you thought there was no such things as zombies. We don't need Cliff notes for this cliffhanger. But maybe quicksand is the better analogy. Slowly getting sucked into the abyss of the afterlife, rather be shot by a terrorists bullet than endure being choked to death. This would make for a fine Halloween horror tale if it wasn't for real. Thoughts of Simon Legree and Slidley Whiplash come to mind but they're too cartoonish for this main feature. Don't think it's not coming to a country near you. It's just a matter of time. Look at Greece. Look at Spain. Look at Ireland and you'll see what the future holds. Notice a rise in crime? Now multiply that when cops get laid off and "Escape from NY" won't seem like such a fantasy.



So there you have it the spin it to win it lame stream media has neatly covered their tracks. You'll see no protests marches on their squeaky clean freshly scrubbed airwaves unless it's corporations whining about lower profits in the forth quarter. And who cares when they already made off with your pension and are now going for your medical and any gold fillings you might have? I'd wonder how much a cadaver is worth at the local medical school but I don't want to give them any ideas.

Can't speak the truth because no good deed goes unpunished. Now get back to work. Oh that's right you don't have a job either. Okay then carry on.

Bank fails later.
UPDATE: No fails this week.