A PIPE TO SMOKE ALL NIGHT

Amid Skepticism, Debt Panel Pressed to Make Deal – NYTimes

Lock up your daughters, put the women and children to bed. An eternal precept suitable for contemporary UK of all places. As time inexorably persists its immutable existence, same-sex marriage becomes a reality in the Empire state, the IMF leader a soon to be acquitted pervert, and the United States stands at the precipice of closing another empirical chapter, one cannot help but hang their head with nostalgia for the simpler of times of daily strafe bombings in middle eastern countries we did not even feel the need to point out on a map. Instead, Starbuck’s coffee shops across the English nation have been closing early, “MPs have been forced to return early from their summer holidays”, and I just do not recognize western society anymore.

Having finally put their bickering aside long enough to patch up something of a budget plan, both parties can now sit back and look into the crystal ball that is the UK to see what may await them. Ill-advised budget cuts, unfairly administered in already struggling neighborhoods, the result of partisan politics,  have given way to looting and arson. Looking for a purer motive than the need for free ‘trainers’ and brand new HDTVs is the productive thought process, but a long boring, rainy (read: London) summer, far from the caipirinhas and sun burns of the south, can bear the bulk of the finger pointing. This may however translate a more profound issue, swept under much the same rug under which the French one already hides. The Americans seclude it in the far reaches of Jamaica, Queens and Compton, California, but our beloved welfare state forces the unfortunate to serve the Fortunate sloppy joes at the cafeteria, leaving little free time for ransacking and generally causing ‘kerfuffles’ and ‘ballyhoos’. Although such actions will achieve no political or social gain, it should serve as the necessary cautionary tale for stateside Republicans, since the simple good of the country is not enough to warrant de-prioritizing their lobbyist checks in favor of tax hikes for the Forbes cover boys.

A bigger man than I would evaluate the demotion of the United States from a AAA student to a mere AA+ one, the buckling at the knees of the euro zone, and the return to 19th century tactics of rushing into public unrest straddling horses as a mere Keynesian dip, routine in nature. However, money-hungry partisan politicians aren’t exactly the type to heed any kind of warnings, much less look beyond their fat wallets, which is why I have decided to cry pandemonium and relocate underground, stack up on MREs, Jack Daniel’s and back issues of Hustler magazine (the apocalyptic world gets very lonely). Those equally fearful among you who wish to join me may do so. A word of warning though. Those wishing to rub elbows with the right people (me) will be in charge of our financial system, while those unwilling or unlucky will be relegated to maintenance and masseur duty.

Note-worthy: ““I approach this task like all tasks in Washington, with high hopes and tempered expectations, ” said Representative Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican and co-chairman of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, whose six Senate members and six House members are divided evenly by party.”