AMAZON

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

I Was Thunkin’…

 

Reminder: Due to the time it takes to create a Coffeehouse post, I’m now presenting them every other Wednesday. If you have come to Nick’s Bytes seeking music, you’ll find five wonderful songs in yesterday’s post. There are also a couple in the today’s post; for a preview of next Wednesday’s Coffeehouse, listen to the song posted today at the top of my sidebar under Song in my Mind Today. Please be aware that I change that song daily and tomorrow it probably won’t reflect next Wednesday’s Coffeehouse.

 

think, thank, thunk

Bob Gibson & Bob Camp, The Thinking Man

>

Woke up this morning and you were on my mind. Well, not really. Actually, I can’t remember what was on my mind. I do remember that before I arose from my bed, I turned on National Public Radio and heard this: 

The Treasury's bailout program was originally designed to assist financial services companies, which held toxic mortgage-backed securities that were at the heart of the financial crisis. The government expanded the reach of the program by offering assistance to banks of all sizes. 

…Now, Detroit's Big Three automakers — General Motors, Ford and Chrysler — are lobbying for $25 billion in loans to help them survive. That's in addition to the $25 billion that Congress approved in September as funding to help the U.S. auto industry develop fuel-efficient technology.

~ NPR, Bailout Becomes Magnet For Other Industries

So…. I got to thunkin’. No one gave me a bailout when my Dutch mortgage company, ABN-AMRO, demanded $4,449.00 or they’d foreclose. No one even loaned me the money for four months until my pension began and I had the money to catch up on the mortgage! So… ABN-AMRO foreclosed! 


So… I got to thunkin’. Maybe things are “back-assward” (as the greenskeeper at the golf course where I worked summers during college often said). Instead of lending $700 billion to banks and such to cover “bad debts,” perhaps the government should have been helping the debtors? 


But, says the right-wing pundit,  that would be Socialism


 So… I got to thunkin’. Maybe I should change my name to General Motors, Ford or Chrysler? But Arlo Guthrie already had that idea:

I’m Changing My Name to Chrysler

So… I got to thunkin’. Just a week ago my soul was filled with hope as I contemplated our future with President-Elect Obama. But, then, maybe being President of the United States isn’t such a grand occupation at the moment:



I really have to stop thunkin’!

28 comments:

  1. Thunkin' can be a very dangerous thing! ;-)

    It seems to me that we have a big, gaping abdominal abscess over which we're applying band-aid after band-aid when we really need to clean out the wound and apply stitches. I'm not looking forward to the results of this process.

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  2. helpiong the people instead of big business,not in the current adminstation's volcabulary.Big business is what counts,people faceing forcloser,that do not count.

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  3. I miss the coffee house, but appreciate your humor here and especially the Arlo Guthrie song.

    I hope Alex is staying out of trees.

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  4. I've often told my family, 'You have to question the mental status of anyone applying for the job of President of the United States. I mean, take a look at the before and after pictures."

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  5. You know what all that thunkin' did son't you? It got you a very thunkfull post!
    :o) Liked the songs!

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  6. Is your brain hurtin' with all that thunkin'? :)

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  7. I've had some bad situations in my life and one did involve giving up my house. For that, it pissed me off when Bush and the Democrat run congress went along with bail out. It pisses me off further to hear of further bailout. Why? From my personal situation, it taught me how to work through things. Most was done with little assistance and many hours of work. I think it should be the same for all. Sometimes failure is just what the business or a person needs. It helps with growth. Otherwise, you are encouraging bad behavior in business.

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  8. I enjoy it when you write in satirical mode! For all the seriousness of this matter, I found myself smiling at your thunkin'.

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  9. Don't thunk too hard! (That's what happened to me!)

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  10. Carol: I agree: Thunkin' can be a very dangerous thing!

    I’m not one to look back to the “good old days,” but it seems that since then advent of Reaganomics, the working classes and those in poverty have become poorer while the wealthiest 5% have become richer and richer.

    I hope that some active preachers in the U.S. are preaching the prophet Amos these days:
    They trample on the heads of the poor
    as upon the dust of the ground
    and deny justice to the oppressed.

    ~ Amos 2:7a

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  11. Mike Golch : That seems to be a trend in the U.S. since the days of the 19th Century “robber barons” .

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  12. China Girl: I’ll have a coffeehouse house up next Wednesday. I promise!

    I’m Changing My Name to Chrysler speaks of an event years ago that, unfortunately, has occurred again and again. Rather like war!

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  13. Squirl: I seem, like Crassus (Me thinks he thinks too much) to do a lot of thunkin’!

    Auburn Haired Artist: Excellent point! As someone asked, “Why would anyone spend $80 million to be elected to a job that pays $400,000 a year?”

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  14. Daffy: Thank you! I enjoy writing “thunkfull posts”—especially with they’re done with a smile on my face and a twinkle in me eyes!

    Akelamalu : Yup, sometimes my brain hurts a lot when I do a bunch of thunkin’. Other times I just laugh a lot.

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  15. I enjoy it when you respond to comments the way you have done to this post. Often your comments are as insightful and interesting as your posts.

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  16. El: I truly agree that adversity can lead to growth. I also believe that it is people helping people that creates community. I don’t claim that exclusively for Christianity, but diakonia has traditionally been a hallmark of the Body of Christ:

    They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. ~ Acts 2:42-47

    Of course, that doesn’t necessarily refer to government support of mega corporations!

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  17. Dashing Dydley: Thank you, although at times I really wonder if the satire that I thunk I’ve written is really satire. I’m glad my thunking gave you a smile or two.

    S E E Quine: I have Alex around to make sure that I dunt thunks 2 muchie. OK?

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  18. Great post, Nick. I love that song!

    "Now it seems that there's a different point of view
    If you're a corporate titanic and your failure is gigantic
    Down to congress there's a safety net for you."

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  19. It's a good thing you have the freedom to think...

    “People who don't Think probably don't have Brains; rather, they have grey fluff that's blown into their heads by mistake.” - Winnie The Pooh

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  20. I love it when they call all these bailouts socialism. If we were a socialist country, we the workers would own the means of production and there would be no bourgeoise--Wall Street, Automaker CEO's--it would be in our interests to bail them out as we all would be owners as well--no private ownership. Instead, this is a cross between fascism (where Big Business rules under a puppet government that caters to their wishes) and Stalinistism (where everything is nationalized, but the people still get nothing). In other words, we are screwed.

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  21. To much thunkin will give you a terrible headache .

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  22. No, don't change your name to Chrysler... Start a business and name it after Obama! That's seems to be the thing to do! :D

    (Great song, BTW! I hadn't heard that before!)

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  23. I like that phrase...think thank thunk.
    Keep doing what you're doing, Nick...it's great..

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  24. BOB: Thank you. I realize that I’ve not responded as much or as often as I once did; my extensive napping limits my time in many ways.

    cyber witch: Thank you. Yep, it’s a neat song—and rather true in its satirical way!

    Anndi: Winnie The Pooh was quite a thunker, wasn’t he.

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  25. Enemy of the Republic: I had never considered the U.S. as a cross between fascism and Stalinistism. I have seen the fascism in the right wing and even in the right-centralist portion of the Republican party, but your idea provides a new insight into why 95% of Americans are usually screwed by America.

    Dr. John : You are absolutely right! My head has been throbbing for days.

    The Lone Beader : But… would Congress, even with a Democratic majority, bail out a business called “Obama?”

    Lavinia: Thank you! I really appreciate the encouragement!

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  26. Excellent thunkin, Sir.

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  27. Oh! I really like this!

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