burn baby burn

how does a fire make you shiver? well perhaps it doesn't. maybe though the recent destruction of california woodland might send just the slightest tremor through your bones. especially when one of the grandest blazes was set by a ten year old boy playing with matches.

pretty scary i guess, the raw fire power of ... well, a fire. all that property destroyed, kids made homeless and lives derailed. but hey, lets not get too morbid. its relative after all. no matter how much destruction the affluent citizens of california have had to endure in recent weeks its really a drop in the ocean when compared to the devastation caused by the spending flash-over thats been scorching the planet recently. ever see a hedge fund go up?.

of course the blame for the recent economic bonfire can hardly be laid at the feet of any particular individual. or even group of individuals. can it? surely it is inconceivable that some cabal in its anonymously opulent suite in washington, or edinburgh, or genoa or wherever stealthily agreed that interest rates should be kept to the absolute minimum while the resultant brush fire of consumption was milked for all it was worth? until it burnt itself out? thats not what the G8 does. is it?

i mean to say there are people out there pulling down massive, and when i say massive i mean massive, remuneration whose responsibility it is, when not advising governments, to run the banking and investment institutions competently. surely they know how an economy works? surely they understand the concept of boom and bust?

following years of an adrenaline spend rush on the back of fabulously low interest rates, all of a sudden we seem to have run full pelt into a 'credit crunch.' now i suspect that this 'credit crunch' has had a minimal effect on the blazing conifers of california but as far as sterling, dollars and yen are concerned it seems to have jammed the brakes on pretty hard. its all a bit difficult for joe soap to get his head round. isn't it? except to say that even the most ignorant ignoramus could have seen this coming a mile off.

surprisingly enough it won't be stan, or chuck or even peter who is really going to pick up the can here. nope. those guys may lose their jobs but as usual its good old joe soap again on the sharp end. as in california the peripherals, the illegal workers, the not too skilled and the low paid are going to find themselves out in the cold, along with their wives and their kids. their dreams of home and family razed to the ground as they learn how a fire can make them shiver while the corporate generals make sure their ticket to safety includes a big, and when i say big i do mean massive, severance package.

thats whats giving me a chill.

or is that shaking feeling my blood boiling?

definity 4

Q. what do you call someone who does it for money?

A. a social worker


or is that just a tad harsh?