Some disjointed throughts on...

Conspiracies

Does the fact that Karl Rove and Fox News (which has admitted it gets its commentators' talking points directly from the White House) have attacked McCain indicate that they're trying to pressure him into doing something he doesn't want? Is his one tenth of a maverick status somehow bungling Cheney and the oil companies' long-range plans so they're trying to show how they can blow the election for him if he doesn't play ball? Because attacks from these quarters certainly don't indicate anything like journalistic integrity.

Is McCain's preposterous choice of Palin actually a feint to get people talking about her inexperience, Alaskan bridges to nowhere, and unwed teen pregnancy in little rich white girls vs. same in poor black girls... so they won't talk about the war, the ever-deepening housing crisis, the destruction of the middle class, the rising homeless population, and other issues that matter? I'm beginning to think it is.

My New House

So, to recap, I was living in a tiny, very ramshackle house in a very wealthy neighborhood. Now I'm living in a three-bedroom house in a less wealthy neighborhood. A few blocks to the west and south is a poor Mexican area in which gunshots can be heard at night. The north side of the block I live on is decidedly lower-working class, with rusty cars, furniture on the lawns, rough dogs roaming free, and rather hard-looking people sitting out of porches (a good indicator of a neighborhood's socioeconomic status: wealthy white people do not sit out on porches these days). The street I'm on, in contrast, is mostly serene and very well kept. The very next blocks, north and east, and noticeably nicer, with big houses, and nicer cars the further east you go.

And in every neighborhood no matter what the SES... Lots of houses for sale, many with reduced price notices, and no takers.

"Jack And Diane"

Wait a minute.... Suckin' on a chili dog? How does that work, exactly?