Friday, February 29, 2008

City of Springfield

Springfield, Illinois: Where all of the effort goes into getting the job, not doing the job.

(This slogan is not copywrite protected. I encourange anyone to make T-Shirts and Bumper Stickers)

Did you know that nearly all jobs in Springfield that are salaried or pay over $10 per hour are taken by people who do not live in Springfield? They either get the job and immediately move out of town, or live in the same town where their boss lives (obviously going to the same church) so they get the job easier.

And now we are seeing the consequences of this. People who are working in Springfield, don't really care about Springfield's infrastructure because they don't live here, i.e. lack of patronage at local upscale restaurants, the fairgrounds electrical mess, City water Light and Power, street problems and lackluster police work.

Time to pass a law that states: If you work in Springfield, you must live in Springfield. This would clear up the rush-hour traffic issues, among many other issues.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Moon Unit

Well, I spent some time away from the idiot box last night. Stood out in the cold with my camera.
Lunar Eclipse

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Fun with Google Maps


I'm having too much fun with Google Maps.


I'm collecting crime info and posting it on Google Maps. You can see the map if you visit www.spfld.net and click on Crime Map (when you reach the menu page.)

An interesting pattern is emerging.

I try to keep it updated daily with information I read about in the paper.

Saturday, February 09, 2008

DEBT EQUTY

The truth about the subprime mortgage industry

I’m sure you heard about being able to get loans with bad credit. It was all the rage after the Enron and Worldcom scandals. The banks and money lenders were getting paid anyway, if not by the people who borrowed the money, then by the tax payers.

Does anyone remember the Lincoln Savings and Loan Scandal? Remember Senator John McCain’s involvement in that? That little steaming nugget will be dredged up soon enough; it’s not the story right now.

Lending money to people who are known not to afford it has been reported in the news as a “disaster”, reported as a “mistake,” and journalists and pundits alike have been scratching their heads wondering why it was done. Why were all those poor people allowed to borrow money they couldn’t pay back? What were those bankers thinking? Were they stupid?

No. They knew exactly what they were doing. They were investing in living, breathing people who would be forced to sweat and toil to pay them back, plus interest of course, as long as they lived, and if they didn’t, it would be their children’s burden.

It’s like switching investments from stocks to bonds or gold during hard-times. You can switch your investments from manufactured commodities to entire living, breathing families to pay you back, because it’s the law.

Another word for it is indentured servitude. If you have a credit card, a mortgage, a car loan, or are mandated by your state to get car insurance, or you pay rent, you qualify as an indentured servant if your expenses exceed your savings.

Debt Equity is the possession of the living breathing entity (in this case, multiple generations of families) that pays the money, not the money itself.

Banks and other lenders can track you down anywhere in the country with the help of their police (you don’t have any police.) because you need money to try and emulate the so-called “American Dream” as taught in public schools. As comedian George Carlin said “It’s called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.”

This is the dirty little secret of the “free market economy” that republicans desire so much. They keep complaining that regulations are keeping down the power of the free market. Regulations are the products of lessons learned from deaths and disasters. Just pick up a book by John Steinbeck, Upton Sinclair, or Mark Twain and you can read about what it was like when the economy was really free.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Update

We'll be celebrating Charles Darwin's birthday at the Pasta House this Sunday night at 6. For details and a flier, visit www.spfld.net