First of all, part of the whole money/economic thing was explained to me by my husband: it never really existed in the first place. I really don’t understand stocks any more than I used to, but it all just seems like make-believe to me. Make-believe that can have horrific consequences for the rest of us who live in real money we actually want to spend.

Second of all, AIG?? O.M.F.G. You have got to be KIDDING me. Those fucking ASSHOLES. I am so freaking inflamed my head may burst really soon. How fucking arrogant do you have to be to go on a huge executive spa resort with the first bailout money, get totally blasted for it, and then give bonuses to the assholes who fucked up in the first place?! I am simply gobsmacked. I hope like hell someone finds a way to throw them in jail.

We were listening to a piece on NPR this morning about the homeless city of tents on the bank of a river in Sacramento. It has always been there, but in the past year has grown significantly. Most of these people had homes, cars, jobs… you know, were “normal.” They weren’t poor, they weren’t homeless. But then they lost their jobs and couldn’t find a new one. They lost their houses, their cars. Now they’re living in a tent on the bank of a river with a bunch of other homeless. And the Mayor? The Mayor said some words about how he has compassion, etc etc, but then said, “But eventually we must adopt a zero tolerance policy.” Excuse me? Zero tolerance for being homeless? Or zero tolerance for being homeless and very visible and drawing national attention to your city? Maybe what he means and what I heard were totally different things, but my kneejerk reaction was, “Fuck you.”

It makes me very sad and very frustrated when I hear people saying about how we need to go into [insert country here] to overthrow the evil government there and free the people there, or how we need to take in immigrants from countries that are far worse off than our own (and I say that as an immigrant to the U.S.). I realize it’s a very noble thought, and if we had the resources and ability I would love to help everyone in the world who needed our help. But how can we be so concerned about people in other countries when our own is in such dire straights? Yes, it’s selfish. But damnit, our own citizens are suffering. We haven’t even figured out how to make sure all our residents are fed and housed and have medical care. How freaking sad is that. How can we be so rich, and yet so very poor?