Flying Over the American Wilderness

We're in Seattle today visiting family.  My wife has forbidden me to talk about politics while I'm up here. So far, I've obeyed her.  I listened to snatches of conversation as I walked out of the airport and realized I was a stranger in a strange land. I kept my mouth shut so my Texas accent wouldn't give me away and since the airline frowns on you packing heat, I was unarmed at the time.

Reminds me of the last time I was in Washington, DC.  A group of angry women heard my voice and asked if I was from Texas.  They launched into a diatribe about George W. Bush and I thought for a moment they were going to lynch me right there in the taxi.

On the way up in the plane, we flew over Texas, Oklahoma Wyoming, Montana and Idaho on our way to Washington.  For a long time we were flying over miles and miles of uninhabited country with no sign of human habitation.  I'm thinking I may need to check this out.

Every day, this world becomes less and less my home.  Every where I go there are people who are mad at people like me simply because I'm a Christian and conservatives.  I'm tired of a news media that wants me to sit down and shut up and hand over my wallet so I can be happier and contented.

Well, I've got news for the media.  I don't want to be contented!

I'm thinking of heading for all that wide open space.  All I need is some quiet corner by a mountain stream.  I'll build myself and my family a little cabin.  We can grow vegetables and stuff.  I'll put up a couple of windmills or put a generator on the stream, hook up satellite Internet service so I can continue to work.  I've got a 4 wheel drive SUV for getting to town for supplies.

I'll camouflage the whole thing so you can't see it very well from the air and do all my business electronically.  I could be very happy.  The technology exists to be totally off the grid out there.  I won't bother the wildlife much.  I might dam up the creek and make a lake, import a couple of beavers.  I could write some books about the wacky antics of the local raccoons and bears.

Someone demanded to know how I ever thought I could be happy out there isolated like that.  I told 'em I'd just check in on all ya'll on the Internet.  Five minutes on the MSNBC website ought to just about do it for making me very contented living out there in the wilderness.

I'm not kidding.

Tom King
Flint, TX

Banking Crisis Spreads to International Lenders

REUTERS - Dateline Tokyo: Following the problems in the US sub-prime lending market and the run on Lehman's in the US and HBOS in the UK, uncertainty has now hit Japan.

Reports indicate the Japanese banking crisis shows no signs of improving. If anything, it's getting worse. Following last week's news that Origami Bank had folded, it was today learned that Sumo Bank has gone belly up. Bonsai Bank plans to cut back some of its branches. Karaoke Bank is up for sale and its employees are having to sing for their supper. Shares in Kamikaze Bank have nose-dived and 500 jobs at Karate Bank will be chopped. Analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank and staff there fear they may get a raw deal.

UPI - Dateline Edinburgh: BANKING CRISIS SPREADS TO IRELAND & SCOTLAND. Financial experts in Ireland report that another consequence of the US sub-prime mortgage crisis is that the debt load for Dublin Bank is triplin'. In related news, Limerick Savings & Loan director Peter Nan was indicted yesterday, charged with removing a whole bucket of money from the vault. Prosecutors say, "Nantucket!" A disappointing third quarter earnings report for Clancy Brothers Ltd. is expected to be released tomorrow. The firm has set high earnings goals, but experts believe they won't "Makem". Officials at Riverdance Mortgage & Trust stated Flately - "We've been stomped!"

On the other side of the Irish Sea, bank examiners report this week that the Bank of Scotland has indeed lost their shorts.




AP News Flash:
Caracas - The Venezuelan Petroleum Group is in the tank.
Denver - The Cripple Creek Savings Bank is now up the creek - some authorities say without a paddle in a chicken wire canoe.
Ontario, Canada - The Bank of Nantucket has kicked the bucket.
London - The London Market, recently characterized by market watchers in Britain as a "little piggie" stumbled today and ran all the way home. Market chairman T.L. Pigg, could not be reached for comment, but in a written statement from his home in Luton, stated "Wee, wee, wee!"
Edinburgh, Scotland - McDonald Medical & Pharmaceutical Industries today announced that it has "bought the farm". McDonald senior partners claimed the problem was "Here a quack, there a quack, Everywhere a quack, quack."

Ten Career Moves to Weather the Coming Collapse

As a former semi-professional career counselor, it’s about time I weighed in on the subject of how to prepare for the coming financial catastrophe that is hanging over our heads in the coming decade. As my contribution, I’ve come up with a list of 10 smart career moves that are sure to help you weather the coming storm. Here they are in no particular order.

1. Pitchfork and Torch Manufacturing and Sales – The law of supply and demand. That’s all I’m saying.
2. Unemployment application processor – Can’t have too many of those. Be sure to get a conceal and carry permit, however. Things could get hairy.
3. Yard Painting Professional - This is a new career track I recently became aware of. Banks are hiring these guys to paint the yards green in neighborhoods where all or most of the houses have been repossessed to prevent the neighborhoods from looking bad in case they actually sell some of these $300,000 turkeys. Yard painting lasts about 3 months and if you get enough of them you could be secure till the end of the crisis.
4. Elected Official – Invest in some yard signs, make a lot of promises you know you can’t keep and you could have yourself a secure job for the next 4 years so long as you don’t mess up and actually do anything while in office. There is some risk of being tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail by angry mobs of taxpayers, but if you hedge your bets by cornering the pitchfork and torch concession, you can even make that a profitable experience.
5. Multi-billionaire – This one’s a no-brainer. Simply start with a couple or three billion dollars and try not to spend it all before your stock portfolio disappears.
6. Cayman Islands charter pilot – Corporate magnates will always need access to their money, especially in uncertain financial times. You’d be surprised how many will charter your plane or boat just to go down and make sure it’s still sitting there in the vault. It makes them feel secure.
7. Head of Major Quasi-Governmental Agency, Secretary of the Treasury or Chairman of the Senate/House Banking Committee - Apparently you can’t be fined , fired or prosecuted for anything you do in these positions. Great work if you can get it.
8. Soup Kitchen Operator – Keeps you busy and those that still have money contribute heavily to these organizations to keep the masses semi-content (at least to keep them from playing with pitchforks and torches).
9. Bank Repossession Officer – Again lots of work, you will not be popular but you’ll be busy. I recommend you start heavy anti-depressants on your first day on the job and pack heat.
10. Irish Step Dancer – Okay, there’s probably not going to be a lot of money in it, but it’s a heck of a way to work out your frustrations and it really makes your butt look tight.

Remember you're looking for steady employment that works with the times, not against them. Remember no matter how crappy your job, as long as you've got garden space, a porch and a banjo, you're gonna be all right.