The Voice of God

As predicted by Paddy Chayefsy in Network (1976): (video)

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson confirmed [...] that coverage of foreign-based banks is "a distinction without a difference to the American people."

[...]"That's a distinction without a difference to the American people. The key here is protecting the system. ... We have a global financial system, and we are talking very aggressively with other countries around the world and encouraging them to do similar things, and I believe a number of them will. But, remember, this is about protecting the American people and protecting the taxpayers. and the American people don't care who owns the financial institution. If the financial institution in this country has problems, it'll have the same impact whether it's the U.S. or foreign."

Link goes to full interview article; image links to movie transcript.

What should I spend my federal stimulus money on?

(check links to federal deficit chart over the last 28 years)

The other day I received my $600 stimulus check from the government. Apparently they've invented a time machine that allows them to make withdrawals from the Treasury from decades into the future, when this fiscal boondoggle will have to be paid off. I just hope I never hear the phrase "tax-and-spend liberal" ever again. Not that truth, logic or justice has anything to do with this.

In order to set my mind right about it, I have decided to spend the money in the following way:

$100 to the Obama '08 campaign
$100 to the Al Franken senatorial campaign
$400 distributed proportionately to how people vote in the following survey:

On what should I spent my federal stimulus check? (click above to vote)
PeTA (peta.org)
ACLU (aclu.org)
Libertarian Party (lp.org)
Human Rights Campaign (HRC.org)
Greenpeace (Greenpeace.org)
NARAL (naral.org)
Physicians for a National Health Plan (pnhp.org)
American Atheists (atheists.org)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (gatesfoundation.org)
One Laptop Per Child (olpc.org)

I will report the results of the survey (along with proof of my disbursements) in due time.

Gee, that's funny...

... I don't seem to be getting as many want ads / phone calls for "fixed-income (*) experience" tech jobs as I was a year ago.

Strange, ya know?



(*) mortgage-backed securities

(not that I miss them, and not that I returned any of those calls / emails; when you're deluged with 3-5 phone calls per day for jobs all requiring the same industry experience you don't have you know it's either the next hot shit or, as this stunk from square one, somebody's fishing on a dead pool, and I've already done the former in years past from both ends. I'd much rather have this as a client.)