Sunday, October 12, 2008
It’s an exciting time here in America. As we get ready to say goodbye the institution where that has been our employment home for many a year, we also witness the biggest stock market tumble since whenever and a fairly interesting presidential election campaign.
At work the new term is well under way. The institute has a healthy enrollment and a good mix of nationalities. But...big changes lie ahead. The British are coming! The British are coming! Actual employees of INTO University Partnerships have appeared on campus. Yes, and we thought we were ready. We had a system of signals worked out: one if by land; two if by sea. Unfortunately they came by Lear jet. We totally missed them. We’re hosed.
The U.S. Congress passed the $700 billion financial rescue bill. Does anyone remember that? We’re not sure exactly what it’s supposed to accomplish. But we certainly hope that the alchemists who temporarily transformed toxic junk securities into AAA-grade securities won’t have to suffer too much. Hey, it was a great idea! Coulda worked. Did work for a while. And say what you will, it generated some great commissions while it lasted. Lead actually turned into gold there for a little while.
Now of course many people around the world are watching developments here and some of them are asking what kind of people live in the United States? Well, all I can tell you is that the people I’ve met since I’ve been back have been sensible and kind. Opinion polls, however, suggest that a significant portion of the population is made up of greedy sociopaths with the logical processing power of concrete. So I don’t know. Do the concepts of huge powerful jaws, tiny reptilian brain, and extinction ring a bell with anyone?
Our dog Lucy, of course, is more highly evolved than either the dinosaurs or the alchemists. She is very friendly and apparently has no desire to transform anything into anything! This is a very Taoist philosophy. She is interested mainly in fetching the ball. In fact if Lucy were in charge, Taoism would not be called The Way. Instead, it would be called Fetching The Ball. A trifle overweight when we returned, she is now back to her normal somewhat ridiculous level of fitness. For a sample, see below.
