drive-by commerce

Yesterday on my walk I was strolling by the little playground/picnic area at Dania Beach, listening to my iPod and enjoying the sun and the 80 degree temperature when a man driving toward me stopped and yelled someting out the car. I took out the earphones and approached him. He had one good eye, the other white as meringue. I couldn't understand him at first. He yelled "Canada?" Our little town and nearby Hollywood are full of Canadian snowbirds. He said something else about Canada I didn't understand, and I figured he wanted to know if I was from Canada.  I said, "No, soy de aqui!" figuring he was speaking Spanish. Then he pointed to a set of metal skis he had in the front seat of his car and told me, in English, he could give me a good deal on them.    

the idiots who rule america

Chris Hedges:

"Democracy is not an outgrowth of free markets. Democracy and capitalism are antagonistic entities. Democracy, like individualism, is not based on personal gain but on self-sacrifice. [If only we believed that in America.] A functioning democracy must defy the economic interests of elites on behalf of citizens. This is not happening. The corporate managers and government officials trying to fix the economic meltdown are pouring money and resources into the financial sector because they only know how to manage and sustain established systems, not change them. Financial systems, however, are not pure scientific and numerical abstractions that exist independently from human beings." (Emphasis mine and thanks to Mike in Miami Beach)