'Out of the frying pan..........'

The poor miners, out of the frying pan, into the fire. Now that they have been rescued, their troubles are only just beginning. To be sure, this will end in tears. I hope the Chilean President got his full measure of publicity out of the incident, because he will surely have to distance himself from downstream capers as the miners are introduced to publicity and fame.

As to the Hausfrau's observation on failed multicultural society in Germany, evidently there was some serious effort made to establish a multikulti society in which people of different cultures could live happily side by side.

Shades of Peter Pan and Tinkerbell in Lalaland? Not even the Germans live happily side by side. Throw in a million or so Turkish gastarbeiters and voila, instant disharmony. I do believe we could have told them that when they first opened their doors to foreign workers from the Middle East.

I take it the Turks made a bad impression. Perhaps their workmanship was not up to snuff. Immigrants must work harder, she continues, to learn to speak German so they could better integrate. Do you recall the last German effort to promote its language as a standard throughout Europe and the UK?

And the scandal in the Lords with three Asian peers charged with padding their expenses. Is Parliament taking lessons from these two Indians and a Bangladeshi, or are they taking lessons from the Brits? In either case, it does not look good for the peers. I am sure this lot is the tip of the iceberg, or should I say the camel's head in the proverbial tent?

Lest one might perceive these comments as coming from one holier than thou, we are in a mess over here as well. The media has taken control of American society. We seem to be in a perpetual state of electioneering.

The run-up to the mid-term elections in early November is becoming hotter and faster with more negative and hostile campaigning than I have ever witnessed. Media surveys 'prove' that negative campaigning is highly effective in winning votes. The public would rather hear something nasty about you, than something nice about me. Terms like thief, liar and whore have been noted along with a host of others both more and less colorful.

Anyone escaping the campaign who is not branded as misanthropic, sodomite, careless with the truth and light fingered would be the exception. This all gets a bit boring day after day, but the media is so consumed with affection for itself and its ability to attract viewers through conflict, hate, sensation and the like, we are only assured of more of the same. No wonder our society is going bonkers with road rage, school shootings, crime, homicide, and generally freaking out at the drop of a hat.

We are relieved that China has finally come out and flatly stated that our economic problems are not their fault. Thank you China, we were so worried that you had been the root of our prevailing economic mess. Perhaps you could also make it clear that you did not control the election of Obama as well.