I wish I could bring the economy in for service

Had to bring the car in for service. It's going to be a big one 70,000 miles + a bunch of little issues -- burnt out marker light, battery cable, etc., all normal wear and tear.

As a result, no early posts.

I started looking around on the old intertubes (if the intertubes crash, can you use a rubber patch?) and came across this little tid-bit on, "Some Assembly Required" (please follow link to original):

"12 Step Program: In the US 42 million are on food stamps, one out of three families – 45 million people, 22 million children - is “low income”, the number of the working poor continues to increase, over half of the US labor force have suffered unemployment, a cut in pay, reduced work hours, or have become involuntary part-timers since December 2007. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. We, the people, have a problem."

That was just about enough. Then:

"Second Look: The Dallas Fed's Texas Manufacturing Index was, despite some boosterish headlines, pretty much a downer. The index came in at 12.8 instead of the expected 17, which was a slight drop from November's 13.1. Worse, inventories surged, raw materials prices increased and wages and benefits grew, but new order volume dropped. In other words, they paid a bit more to make stuff out of more expensive materials, just to pile it up in inventory as orders dropped. Encouraging."

Well! That does it for at least an hour. After all, news like that is reported every day -- it's just that most folks ignore it.

They just plain ignore it. Then, they do not have to bother their lovely minds with thoughts about how to address any of these issues -- just listen to Rush and Beck (Glen), and (of course) PRAY.

OOPS! I almost forgot, worry about gay sex -- in and out of the Armed Forces.

Now that you all know that, don't you feel better?