tarpaulin

Given the almost jubilant anticipation that the US financial sector held yesterday for yet another turn of the screw that opens up the flood gates for more stimulus, I feel doubly vexed that the economic assessment was winnowed away into a non-story. Of course, it was too much of a tell that banks and associates rejoiced and rallied over the TARP package. That should have made everyone a bit queasy. More dismal news would cue world governments to inject some fresh money into the economy, and like I once heard a reporter fumble the idiom, paying Peter to rob Paul, instead of robbing Peter to pay Paul.  The mixed up message is about the same but there's a subtle difference I cannot quite unravel.  Business kept its poker face, held its composure, so they can escape some measure of the scrutiny that goes with the duplicity of companies who complain venomously over government interference and call economic policies defeatist and yet gladly accept a piece of bail-out pie or unbuild to order to fulfill a government contract or niche.  A cleverly executed hybrid automobile, I am sure, would do well on the market on its own merit, but instead of innovation, cost-overruns and short-comings are buffed down with tax credits and funding earmarks for pet-projects.  I wonder what was decided behind closed doors that yanked this story from the next day’s news cycle.

vini, vidi

Having resided in the European Union for quite some time, on official business, though without accompanying citizenship, I have gotten use to borderless pacts and relative freedom of movement. I have run up against a few logistical riddles lately, however, when it comes to travel. Though I had every assurance in addition to my own research on entry requirements for Turkey, I was still nervous and nearly flipped out when the guy behind the ticket counter informed me that my vegetarian meal, as requested, would be available on the flight. I misheard it. A visa is the short-form of the Latin phrase “charta visa,” the paper that has been seen. It think, however, a more apt expression might be quid pro quo, as everything escalated or otherwise sustained behind bureaucratic and diplomatic reciprocity and blow-back to the US for making travel in general such an unpleasant experience. H and I, projecting longingly to the next vacation, are hoping to spend New Year’s in Russia and I am already a bit overwhelmed by the process and who I belong to under these circumstances and travel arrangements. In an unrelated move, the airport at Hamburg is poised to start a pilot program to test full-body scanners, the city-state’s foreign minister announced. After the revelations, which should not have come as a big surprise, the US Department of Homeland Security is actively warehousing these images for more than just training purposes, I wonder why Hamburg would have committed to this exercise—which is apparently on a voluntary-basis, and risk being entangled in the same mistrust and suspicions that the US is courting. That makes about as much sense as a city-state having a full-fledged ministry of foreign affairs.

hen party or turkey in the straw

In response to the fires that have ravaged the country side and to record droughts, which in part some claim were perpetuated by laxer fire services than in Soviet times, Russia has stopped all exporting of grain. This I imagine will send shudders through the markets, raising the price of beef, beer, and sundry. Such gossip, like the price of tea in China, makes me always wonder what the common currency that it is financial people barter with. Meanwhile, criticism may have been fairly leveled over the response, but temperature extremes are unprecedented, even in Soviet times, though neither record-keeping nor the Soviet Union are not so long-lived as the weather. The preternatural may become the mundane controlling factor for money, as if previously disasters like flooding and famine were only marginally counted in terms of relief and rebuilding and charity portfolios.

Environmental soundness, above and beyond keeping the alive and sustainable for future spending, will be the biggest thing going and will soon outpace the military-industrial complex and defence spending.  Big Green, however, I hope would be incorporated on more sound and friendlier principles and not exploited as a means to influence and orchestrate sovereignty and choice. It took businesses eons to froth up the clout to dicate policy to people and governments, and I hope that genuine ecological stewardship won't be abused in the same way. Some augeries that world economies are verging towards a period of deflation.  The scholarly embellishments that go with a seemingly simple direction are very ornate, like a wind-rose.  Among other things, like making money worth more, deflation also, because it dampens the collective risks and rumours of risks that dissuade people from saving and expend their nervous energies on chancy schemes, could put an end to the gossip and back-biting.

mass-transit

Almost as refreshing as honest-to-goodness flying cars and loads better than a superfluous monorail, a couple of months back at the Beijing High-Technology Expo, a new concept for public transportation, a sort of straddle bus, had its premiere.  As China Hush reports, this high clearance chassis speeds passengers over the top of regular traffic without the need for a dedicated lane, displacing property alread curb-side, and at a fraction of the cost of digging subway lines.  This alternative means of getting around, besides being generally non-intrusive, passive unlike underground tunnels or ever-expanding ride share lane schemes, the busses further could realistically be made to run off solar-power.  Still, I think it is an impressive feat of civil engineering for German trolleys to share the road with cars.  I think that this is pretty keen and may help cut down on urban congestion, especially in the suburbs that have become launching pads, flyaway zones into the snarl.