I really need to go back to Oahu

I really need to go back to Oahu. My film treatment is stuck, my freelance assignments are taking their sweet time paying me and I am still here in Oregon when I was supposed to be in DC.

I am tired of the chill, of the constant rattle of bad news and the accompanying anger I seem to read on people's faces.

Oahu is probably going through a lot as well; Hawai'i depends on international trade and tourism, and both are not doing so well. If I go, it won't be an escape as much as a reminder and a concentration of the woes that are beset us.

But it would be warm, and rum is cheap at the ABC store. You can buy Coke, too, and mix your drink right on Waikiki beach, sipping slowly and watching the sunset over Diamond Head, or take it to one of the Hula dancing exhibitions on the beach, remembering to give $10 to one of teh Grannies who had to drive the troupe there.

Yes, I need to return to Oahu.

And now the new world

No, not a political post; rather a observation that I think we have jolted, painfully, into the 21st century;not by electing Obama per se, but by the budget that was presented to Congress.

It's huge. It's really scary in scope of spending. And in order to pay for it, we as a country must swallow our pride and borrow the money.

Sadly enough, we were freely borrowing to pay for the war effort, to pay for our stupid finance instruments and the houses and cars that went along with it. So many people thought that they were rich; in reality, it was all figments of the imagination.

Here, read it and weep. Orpray, if you wish!