The disaster in the northern Gulf of Mexico shows what folly we make with our gift, the planet Earth. The safety shut-off mechanisms that should have been required by law were waived for BP's well and now look at what we have on our hands.

I say - on OUR hands because the maximum liability by law is a tiny fraction of what the clean-up will cost the perpetrators of this huge ecological spoilage. It is testament of how badly things can go wrong when government colludes with corporations to fix the game.

Further north, the Senate voted down banking reform that would have limited the size and power of the banking sector that got us in the 2008-2009 financial crisis. More collusion! The NAY votes when examined are exactly the Senators who receive the most cash contributions from the banking industry.

Do you really think that the United States of America is still a democracy?

I don't.