Apoplectic

Once again Cassandra is silenced.

Not quieted, silenced. I am apoplectic.

The whole Social Security "debate." The fact that it is being debated. How? Why? This man? This fucking idiot who cannot, has not, will not balance a budget, maintain a business, work a consecutive work week, read briefings about the very wars that he started -- for god's sake, the guy wouldn't dance longer than 10 minutes at his own conspicuously consumptive coronation -- this is the man folks will even allow to bring the topic up?

And now I'm hearing phrases like "the anti-ownership crowd." Is that me? Sure, I would like to own the house I live in, for instance. It's nothing fancy, that's for sure. It's two bedrooms, 80+ years old. Barely large enough to house a child we'd like to foster someday. Probably needs at least $50k in plumbing and foundation work. And since it's in LA (in a very fancy neighborhood, I might add -- we have two strip joints within a tiny three block radius) my 80 year old childless widow of a landlady wants $600,000. See, god's gonna let her take it with her... She's such a good Catholic that she calls me up every election day and tells me not to vote for any school bond measures or she'll have to raise my rent again. Oh and she hates all the Mexicans and Russians and Armenians. All the immigrants. And did I tell you she's French Canadian?

So maybe I am anti ownership after all. If she's typical of owners... I used to be pro-neighbor. She lives next door in her own quadplex that she wants even more money for. I used to offer her rides and cook for her and try to look out for her as much as possible. That's getting harder to do since she keeps raising the rent on us every time she hears someone else in the neighborhood is getting more from their tenants.

She, of course, is getting her social security. She of course loves Bush.

Since the BIG UNITER DIVIDED us all into OLDER than 55 and YOUNGER than 55, I thought I'd share a little FYI: Canada and New Zealand won't accept immigrants over the age of 55. They don't want you showing up there expecting to live on their dole, and that's reasonable. So the rest of us better get our paperwork in order...