Lessons on a Monday in February

Lesson one:

Societies shouldn't have mechanisms created that take large amounts of money and transfer them to people of formerly extremely small means. Put another way, it is nearly crazy for a society to have a lottery in which middle class or lower middle class people can win millions of dollars.

It's a mistake virtually always.

It doesn't make sense.

It's a mistake looking to happen.

Wanna' have a terrific documentary? Rush to Georgia right now and start filming the family who just won 270 million dollars in the "Mega-Millions" lottery. It'll be a runaway success. This has tragedy written all over it (unless this family is extremely lucky--or smart).

Lesson number 2: World leaders should NOT hand uncompeted contracts worth large sums of money (read: millions of dollars--again) to friends, colleagues or associates. (See "Day 2" below).

I was right. The contract given to former Attorney General John Ashcroft for between 27 and 52 million dollars, according to the Associated Press, was not competed by the government--yours and mine--that gave it to him.

I wish I had been wrong.

Day 2

It never ends.

So now friend of the Bushies and ex-Attorney General John Ashcroft's firm got--no huge surprise--a 27 to 52 MILLION dollar contract from his palzy's government (that would be yours and mine). Let's watch and see if it was competed or just handed to him.

Any bets?


Oh, and did you see where the acting chairperson of what is jokingly known as the "Consumer Product Safety Commission" "lashed out at the toy industry for a lack of safety controls that led to a string of highly publicized recalls"? Ain't dat a hoot? Yeah, she's upset they put out toys that can at least screw up our kids. Yeah. Right. Her solution? This is rich: "She warned that the industry has an obligation to regulate itself." "IF YOU KIDS DON'T QUIET DOWN, I'M GOING TO COME UP THERE!"

Why does this administration even pretend to care?

Why isn't the press--all the media--and the American public outraged?

Oh, that's right. We have our NASCAR, beer and cigs. What the hell.


As for Castro--a McGlaughlin-like prediction: he'll be buried before we celebrate the New Year. Understand, I'm not wishing it on him, certainly. It's just that he wouldn't bow out now if he weren't extremely ill.

And a final, rather ominous financial note: before last August, our own, United States-based Citibank was the largest bank in the world. Now, due, of course, to the subprime disaster and collapses, it is not only not number one but the top three are from--guess where? China, folks.

"Hang on to your seats. It's gonna be a bumpy ride."