I read a story in yesterday’s Daily Mirror about a student being charged what appears to be excessive bank charges. The figures involved were so ludicrous I’m not going to put them here in case there’s more to it, but it led me to wonder how they get away with it, why there isn’t a law against a practice that appears to be nothing short of extortion. Then I wondered why they do it, and it came to mind, it’s a way of pushing people onto credit, backwards. They grossly inflate the debt, then set you up with a loan to repay themselves immediately, with the added bonus of a guaranteed income for years to come, possibly topped up with a little questionable added insurance - keeps the shares nice. And I wondered – why do we let them get away with it, and what came to mind was this. We have long been aware, or perhaps I should say assumed, governments do ‘mis-dealing’, we come to accept it as part of life, of governments, power corrupts, human nature, born of sin - and in case we think our governments should be better, there is the juxtaposition of rule in less democratic countries. So we are a nice accepting lot, so much so that these days even business can screw us openly. Talking of which
She's chatting with St. Peter at the Pearly Gates when all of a sudden she hears the most awful, blood curdling screams.
Don't worry about that,' says St. Peter, 'It's only someone having the holes put into her shoulder blades for the wings.'
The old lady looks a little uncomfortable but
carries on with the conversation.Ten minutes later, there are more blood curdling screams.
'Oh my God,' says the old lady, 'now what is happening?'
'Not to worry,' says St. Peter,
'She's just having her head drilled to fit the halo.'
'I can't do this,' says the old lady, 'I'm going to hell.'
'You can't go there' says St. Peter.
'You'll be raped and taken advantage of.'
'Maybe so, says the old lady, but I've already got the holes for that.'
2008-07-23 @ 13:11