No Such Thing as Refuge

Last week, the CEO of the corporation I work for announced they are going to make cuts (including closing entire facilities) in order to lower costs and focus more resources on fewer game titles. The following day, the Orlando studio president met with all of us. He told us that while no specific decisions had been made yet, there would likely be cuts here even though our is (by far) the most profitable facility in the global corporation. More will be revealed after the new year.

"Ha ha ha!" I can hear the Universe belly-laughing at me. "Silly boy, there is no such thing as security. There is only paying attention to what is happening in the moment, following your heart, and doing your best." Well, to be fair to me, I lived through the dot-com crash so I chose the way I chose as a gesture toward "learning from the past." As if. As if the past were ever a reliable gauge for the future. (c.f. Real Estate marketing in 2006, "Historically, housing prices have always gone up.") I'm not saying I should have gone with a Silicon Valley startup instead or even that I'm expecting to be laid off. But my imagination that a large corporation would automatically be a safer bet in troubled times has not borne out to be true. As far as I know, the companies I turned down have not announced cutbacks.

An NFL football coach once called a "trick" play that fell apart badly - so badly in fact that the opposing team was able to steal the ball and run the other way for a score. After the game, the press asked the coach how he felt about that play. "You know," he answered, "It's one of those things where if it works, you feel like a genius and if it doesn't work, you feel like... well, let's just say I don't feel like a genius right now."

The Cure Is Worse Than The Disease

Velcome to Soviet United States of America!

In order for protekting our citizens and their interests, we have establish strong centralized institutions with broad authority over various aspects of their lives. Our latest plan is one of best ever. You vill like.

Effidently, bad, evil, greedy corporations tricked millions of Americans into signink legal contract documents known in the venacular as "mortgages". Ve know this must have been bad idea since etymology of vord "mortgage" transliterates into "death note". No von would ever sign death note, yes? Vell, anyway, by usink of flashy, hypnotizing marketing campaigns, these nasty corporations lured our dear dependents, I mean, citizens, into takink on of financial obligations linked to value of their homes. It is fundamental right for all Americans that home value should go up, up, up, and never hit snag. Somehow, however, snag did occur. We're not too sure who caused snag, perhaps CIA can look into this. It gets compicated and I von't bore you now vith details about how Wall Street firms ended up owning bundles and bundles of these death notes. But anyway, Wall Street firms have been sufferink also from snag.

Normally, businesses are allowed to make bets with their capital, flourishing when bets vin and dissapearink when bets lose. Ve dislike this chaotic arrangement yet citizens showed up in town squares with firebrands and pitchforks when we tried to interfere previously. This time, however, talkink heads on televised finance programs have convinced the people that certain of our Wall Street companies must not to be allowed for dissapearink. So here is plan. We, the caretakers of the American citizens, shall create federal entity. Led by vice diktator Paulson, it vill have authority for absorbink these bundles of mortgages from Wall Street firms. No pesky courts or lawsuits vill be allowed to interfere with vice diktator's dispensing of the death notes. So now, instead of the company dissapearink, only debt from company's bad bets will dissapear. It is thing of beauty, no?

Some organizers of previous pitchfork protests are voicink concern about plan. These are same guys who got upset when we started listenink in on phone calls without warrants, created authority to arrest citizens and not let them tell their spouses or lawyers what the charges were, and used army for toppling of foreign government. Yet it seems that crises mute the voices of dissent. I vonder what crisis will open the door for next big plan. Who knows? But for sure we will be ready for respondink to it with smart ideas for new centralized caretakink.

Do svidaniya comrades, and God bless the USA!