Hodge-Podge, Part I

What with mud all over the place, some of it even in My house, here are some thoughts that need to be released into the wild:

--I know I'm not a bad person, that, in fact, I try to be a good person, but I tend to think nobody notices. I'm wrong: They do. Well-wishers have called, e-mailed and commented; I am grateful and humbled by it. I wish I knew why I deserved it, but I'm very happy to see that in the eyes of very good folks, I do.

--Did anybody notice that the local government asked for a loan to cover its expenses? Seems The Jellyfish and legislative Fools don't understand--at all--a very basic premise of budgets and money at the state/natonal level: A government does not run out of money by accident. It is always--always, damn it--a deliberate action.

With all the controls, redundancy, documentaton, audit processes and reporting, it is impossible for a state or national government to not know whether it has enough money to cover its expenses or not. Not only do governments work a year ahead (budget), they work within a very stringent framework so that the money flow is always in view. So the fact that the local pigsty We call government asked for a loan is simply an act of political thievery: They are not only stealing Our money (who pays for that fershluggin' loan, huh?), they are stealing Our level of control, which quite frankly, is pretty much non-existent at this point.

--About the flood in My area: It is clear that the lack of Municipal attention to a critical juncture of the main drainage canal caused a problem. I asked--out of curiosity--some of the people who suffered damages from this whether they would sue the Mayor/City Hall. To a person, none said they would. All but one (13 of 14) had actually seen the evidence--the trash and debris piled high. So I asked if they would vote for Her Ugliness; they all said yes. Some of them were even offended that I would ask, not because it's a private matter, but because I would actually doubt she deserved their vote.

--Here's a new wrinkle: Mini-casinos in supermarkets. Uh-huh. Stick "adult entertainment machines" into a spare corner of a supermarket and watch the old folks turn the whole place into a senior citizen center. Okay, there are plenty of younger folks there, too, but what was once a common sight in real casinos, then "arcades," then bakeries has invaded the "family food center." Serve the coffee, sandwiches and finger food and--hey!--profit center. More gambling! Breads and circuses to fleece the marginally-subsistent! (Let's ignore their stupidity for the moment.) Here We are, an Island with a sickly economy, where the goverment is trying to privatize the electronic lottery and I have three questions: (1 & 2) If the electronic lottery was supposed to generate funds for education and was a great business, where'd the money go and why are We trying to give it away? and (3) When will We stop this trend of organized crime against the citizenry?

The Jenius Has Spoken.