Sunday Funnies 2010-05-23: Gorilla has Message for Markets; Video on Quangos; 25 Cents a Poop in Canada

The 800 pound gorilla is large and in charge. He has this message for politicians and their short selling bans, austerity programs, job programs, affordable home programs, economic bailouts, and most of all recovery announcements.



Image from Funny Chill.

On Reducing Quangos

In response to 300,000 UK Public Sector Jobs Face Axe; No Sacred Cows Including Quangos; What the Hell are Quangos?

"SS" writes ...

Quangos are quangos. I don't think they are as big as the GSEs are in the US. There is a BBC serial (from the early '80's) Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister, a comedy series and I remember one of the episodes was on Quangos. I found some on You Tube. Humor is typically British and was a big hit in India.

The first 3.5 minutes of that are hilarious. After that not much. Give it a play. It's very funny for a third of the video.

On the subject of quangos, Nadeem at Market Oracle writes "The number will be more like 600,000. There will be riots next summer in Liverpool and Newcastle and elsewhere where the public sector is nearly 3/4 of the economy."

25 Cents a Poop in Canada

Here is an interesting development in Canada, courtesy of government bureaucrats who have never ending ways to spend your money. At $400,000 each, Automatic public toilet debuts in Toronto.

For those who can give two bits, Toronto�s first automated pay toilet is now taking customers at 25 cents a poop � er, pop.

�They are modern, state of the art washrooms � they actually clean themselves after each use. Now try that at home,� Mayor David Miller said before cutting a blue ribbon to open the loo.

A large crowd of press, officials and curious onlookers were on hand for the grand opening of the automated john, the first of 20 planned across the city over the next 20 years.

The new bathroom automatically cleans itself and will also get visited by an attendant three times a day.

The Automated Public Toilets will take any coins up to and including toonies and will provide change. They will also work with tokens that the city plans to distribute to homeless people through its Streets to Homes program.

One quarter gets you 20 minutes max.

Warning lights will start flashing at 15 minutes. At 18 minutes the warning comes on again and when 20 minutes are up you better be done, as the door then opens.

It�s also equipped with emergency buttons linked to a dispatcher, a smoke alarm, an emergency escape hatch and sensors to prevent the cleaning system from starting if anyone is inside.

Patrick, who sent me the story writes ...

Tokens will be given to homeless people will use them to do drugs inside.

Prostitutes will use them as well.

All because one day a city council member had trouble finding a bathroom. Apparently it is too hard to walk into a McDonalds or Tim Hortons to take care of business.

I do not know about Toronto, but in Chicago or LA such sites would be plastered with graffiti in about two days flat.

Of course they can put in more alarms, video cameras, and have qualified personnel monitor the videos 24 hours a day to make sure that poop is all you do. Perhaps they need a security guard posted at the door of each one.

The return of the pay toilet. Who coulda thunk?

Now all Toronto needs are signs on every corner "This way to the nearest loo". After all, Toronto's a pretty big place. How would you find it?

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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