I received an email today that Instant View of Netflix movies is now available for the Macintosh computer. These movies were too much of a memory hog for my PC to handle, and one of the reasons I bought a Mac was to watch the movies but until today it couldn't be done.

I just watched the documentary: "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room" about guess what: how the top of executives at Enron created a mythical company that had no real product and no real consumers but managed to pay themselves millions of dollars before going bankrupt and cheating their rank and file employees (and many of us stock holders) out of their life savings. Unfortunately the movie doesn't show enough about the little guys, except for one electric linesman at Portland Gas and Electric whose 401K went from $385,000 down to $1200. He was the poster child, I guess.

The sad thing is that somehow executives and investment bankers et al are still getting paid millions to take their companies into bankruptcy while we worry about how crappy little bank accounts and stock market investments.

At the end of the movie is this dirge by Tom Waits: "God's Away on Business." The lyrics are here for you too.



God's Away On Business
(Tom Waits/Kathleen Brennan 2000)
I'd sell your heart to the junkman baby
For a buck, for a buck
If you're looking for someone to pull you out of that ditch
You're out of luck, you're out of luck

Ship is sinking
The ship is sinking
The ship is sinking

There's a leak, there's a leak in the boiler room
The poor, the lame, the blind
Who are the ones that we kept in charge?
Killers, thieves and lawyers

God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business
God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business

Digging up the dead with a shovel and a pick
It's a job, it's a job
Bloody moon rising with a plague and a flood
Join the mob, join the mob
It's all over, it's all over
It's all over

There's a leak, there's a leak in the boiler room
The poor, the lame, the blind
Who are the ones that we kept in charge?
Killers, thieves and lawyers

God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business
God's away, God's away on business, business

Godddamn there's always such a big temptation
To be good, to be good
There's always free cheddar in a mousetrap, baby
It's a deal, it's a deal

God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business
God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business

I narrow my eyes like a coin slot baby
Let her ring, let her ring

God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business
God's away, God's away
God's away on business, business

I'm going to watch something cheerful now. "The High Cost of Buying at Wal-Mart" doesn't quite sound like the thing.