Author: fifteenkey (Page 34 of 95)

“Too big to fail” has and now “We the People,” are funding yet another “Puppet Regime,” this time not some foreign dictator who’s “our son of a bitch,” but the cartel of financial corporations who still have the leverage to bring the economy down. Really, the term should be “too rich to fail,” because how else can one explain how AIG, 80% owned by US taxpayers (The tab is $170B so far), can pay out $100M in bonuses because, as their CEO says, they are legally obligated, yet the United Auto Workers, a union representing blue-collar employees, had to make contract concessions before GM could receive a mere $25B of bailout bucks?

Just like OPEC could cripple our economy by shutting off oil as they did in the early 70’s, our financial institutions can do worse damage by shutting off the money. The “leverage” these men (well, the leadership of these rackets are dominated by men) have is that they are already rich, and will not lose homes to foreclosure or health insurance from job loss. They are all set financially and likely lack the conscience to give a damn if the rest of us circle the financial drain together, including President Obama. AIG, at the summit of arrogance, has so far refused to open their books to federal auditors. This company would not exist if not for taxpayer money, yet they know their people on the inside like Tim Geithner and Larry Summers will help keep the curtains closed while propping up their puppet theaters.

Over the years, many of the puppets we supported like the Shah of Iran and Diem and Thieu in Vietnam caused the United States incalculable losses of human life and treasure. We’re still paying for the sins of our puppet the Shah and he was ousted 30 years ago. There’s no telling how much our US corporate puppets will cost us. We haven’t even ousted them yet.

As usual this morning, I was awoken by the sound of a cry. Like a man reaching for a lost “phantom limb,” Madison jumped to my mind, but in about the fraction it takes for a judge to sign divorce papers, I realized it was not Maddy ringing the breakfast bell, but a cat howling through these thousands of joyless square feet.

Divorce rips at the fabric of family with a raw, jagged cut that takes forever to heal and if it ever does, the torn area never functions quite the same way again. This house once had a heart and a little girls voice pumping it with love. About a year ago, the heat of fire from an outdoor grill took a neighbors house here. Now its wooden neighbor is dying from “internal injuries.”

Having experienced the shredding of my family fabric twice, once as a child and once as a protagonist, I can report it is excruciating and destructive. Regardless of circumstances, and without assigning blame, now seeing loved one tortured by the phantom cries of a child and spouse gone makes my scars ache.

I’ve written here, here, here and here about how we need to fundamentally change “the American Way” or risk losing it all.

The weather is too nice to sit here and write yet another “the American sky is falling” post, but read Tom Friedman’s article in today’s New York Times. Here’s a taste:

‘What if the crisis of 2008 represents something much more fundamental than a deep recession? What if it’s telling us that the whole growth model we created over the last 50 years is simply unsustainable economically and ecologically and that 2008 was when we hit the wall — when Mother Nature and the market both said: “No more.”’

“It’s simple. We kill the bat.” That’s one of Kyle’s excellent “Heath Leger as the Joker” impressions and a metaphor for the financial crisis. The “bat” in this case is fear, and unless we smash the erratically flying source of what scares us, we’ll stay hiding under a blanket hoping it just goes away.

In my opinion we “kill the bat” by exposing the core that controls the over sized wings fanning our fear. I’ve killed a couple bats in my day (sorry PETA) and once stunned with a tennis racket, they shrink from a menacing black wingspan to a more manageable, egg sized rodent.

What we need is for Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to insist on an open-book management analysis of the books (the real ones, too) of any financial institution receiving bailout money. We keep hearing about how no one really knows the scope of the bad assets on the books of these giants, and until we do, taxpayers will be asked to continue throwing the dollars of our great-grandchildren to these theives of today. We’ll also remain financially paralyzed from the uncertainty.

Yeah, thieves. It amazes me that that Republicans can call the stimulus plan and new budget “the greatest transfer of wealth” in our history, when the richest of the rich have been broadening the gap between them and us for the last 30 years.

It’s simple, Citi, BOA and AIG, et al… Open the Kimono so we can “kill the bat” or you don’t get another dime and you do get nationalized.

My first-born child turns 20 today. Thank you to her mom for having her. Usually, written communication flows easily onto these pages, but occasionally it cannot possibly convey. So here are 20,000 “words” of love to express how I feel about Megan Elizabeth Daley…

Happy Birthday, My Girl.
I love you.
Dad

PS She’s going to hate some of these pics…

As I emerged from the hive mind yesterday, darkness had yet to fall and thoughts of Spring sub-let my mind where vacation thoughts have been silently squatting. Possibilities include a “Spring Training” hang at Dad’s in Florida, toasting 150K American miles for a UK/France art excursion, and a Kerouac holiday “on the road” with my son across the states not identified with Don Ho or Sarah Palin. With four weeks of annual vacation I could potentially swing all of these, but won’t, especially with a basement family room to build before the dog days.

I’ll discuss this more with Maddy over breakfast which begins now. “Blues Clues” is ovah!

Saturday is Megan’s 20th birthday. “It’s so depressing,” she says. Um, see me in 30, my girl… February 28th is also the 4th anniversary of this blog and I’m contemplating whether there’ll be a 5th. My blog stats have been sliding like Citi’s stock price and I’m wondering whether to go pouring good words on top of bad. I love writing, but maybe I should put my efforts into the great American novel instead… or writing jokes… or a business… or something non-virtual.

“I was writing my life instead of living it.”
– Soul Searching Thomas Merton

“Melancholy dripped from him as he walked.” Sadly I identified with that description of Abraham Lincoln when I heard it during a revealing documentary on his life. I don’t want to be low and I’m wondering if I’m wired that way or if I tripped on my wires adding a “d” to my personal evolution.

Last week in Dallas was our “Pre-Sales / Services” conference in preparation of a new release of our flagship product. The week was densely packed with content and socialization, and I had a presentation to deliver. Last. Yeah, I would be last person between my peers and their flights, wives, husbands, partners, children, cats and cute little puppies.

On Tuesday morning prior to my own flight, I was just beginning to think about my content, but moreso how I could entertain a restless bunch who’d been decked with Powerpoints for the better part of 30 hours over a three-day span. As I procrastinated with a Facebook update, it hit me.

Like pine nuts in pesto, I liberally sprinkled “anonymous” Facebook updates from conference attendees throughout my slides. Between bullets and graphs were “_____ is finally clearing out emails from August” and gems like “_____ needs the funk. Gotta have that funk” and “_____ is sitting at the bar with _____ and _____, and yes, we are working!” I ad-libbed commentary.

It worked. I heard many howls of laughter and applause, and I knew I had their full attention for the business content I was presenting.

Still, what I really got off on was making them laugh. I love that and it’s something I’ve been trying to do all my life… mostly successfully. Johnny Carson said, “If you get laughs, you’re a comedian.” I have a laugh.com interview with Woody Allen and one of his segments is titled, “Comedy and pain.” I think my drivers are pain and vain. Maybe if I make people laugh, they’ll like me… and the spotlight will be on me. I do like that white hot spotlight. In fact, given um, the fact “I” has been used 23 times so far in this post, some fair vanity is glaringly evident. That also explains this space. Anyway, back to me.

“How to fight loneliness?
Smile all the time”

Jeff Tweedy – “How to fight loneliness” – found on Wilco’s Summerteeth

Here’s a brilliantly designed explanation of our Crisis of Credit. It’s only about 5 minutes long, but it’s a great primer on why we’re in trouble.