Imagine the looks on their faces should one of them read these threads. I'd like to find a way to shame every damn one of 'em.
To be honest, if a banker was reading the less than complimentary comments I and other have made in these forums, they'd just think: "Well at least I know I'm doing my job right. As for shaming them, you can only shame somebody with a conscience, somebody who happens to care, and bankers obviously don't.
I just read earlier that up to 30% of households in NSW here in Oz are skipping up to 2 and 3 meals per day just to pay their rent and power bills, that parents are consistently getting sick because they're going without bare necessities to feed and clothe their kids.
Here in Oz at the moment, the greatest villains are the power companies, jacking up prices by over 70% in 3 years and the CEO's/upper echelon giving themselves million dollar + pay rises. Trouble is, they're not the only ones after your dollar... they ALL want it. Fortunately, we do not run a car or have social lives that include eating out, cinemas or nightclubbing, etc. In fact, I haven't bought clothing in over 2 years now... what I have does me, and I look after it. Shaunna rarely buys clothes, and her tastes are inexpensive anyhow, so she doesn't spend a lot, either.
Most of our money goes on rent, food and utilities... and once in a while, what's left over we use for some of the nicer things in life that make it a little more enjoyable. PC's and associated accessories are usually my thing, but it'll be a tad beyond 2 years before I upgrade my rig. Well actually, I'm putting a bit of money aside each fortnight and I hope to be able to build an Intel i7 based rig about mid-year next year. I already have a few components so it'll be CPU, RAM and mobo mostly, and maybe a 400 series graphics card iuf the prices have dropped sufficiently.
Hehe, I just hijacked/pirated your thread and went way off topic. 
But back on topic, I'm still amazed that the "US is slipping in the ratings" 
Frankly, I thought nobody 'd ever knock 'em off top ranking. Still, times are a changing and there's been a shift of power and resources. With the recession and all, maybe the US can't afford to be as corrupt as they once were anymore.
Yup, that's what they oughta do! The Chinese have plenty of cash these days, and if I was the US, I'd lease the title of most corrupt to the Chinese until I could afford it again. Just don't sell it to them Kiwis... I mean, you know what they do to the sheep, and you wouldn't want yer most corrupt title back after they've done with it. You probably never get it clean again, no matter how much bleach you use.
I'd rent it myself, but on a disability I could probably only afford it for 30 seconds or so, and I'm not gonna get much tainted in that short a time, am I? Hmmm, maybe I could get a pension discount and rent it for 5 minutes or so. I could get a bit of tainting done in that time. I thought the first thing I'd corrupt would be Wall St, but then I dawned on me... somebody beat me to it.
