Here we go. . . something I call, "Signs of the Impending Fall of the United States."
If you look back through time, to the reign of the Roman Empire, you will find a certain sequence of events leading to the fall. . . looking forward, to modern times, you will find an alarming number of comparisons. . .

Roman Empire Government Corruption gone wild. Widespread use of drugs and alcohol. Rise in Homosexuality. "Free" governemt hand-outs to the poor (most of whom were made poor by the aforementioned Corruption) {Bread} An increase in violent "entertainment." And an increase in the number of civilians watching them and throwing wild parties to celebrate the win of a favorite. {Ciruses} Attacks by people from outside the borders, brought on in part by the actions of the government against these other peoples.

United States Government Corruption gone wild. Widespread use of drugs and alcohol. Rise in Homosexuality. "Free" governemt hand-outs to the poor (most of whom were made poor by the aforementioned Corruption) {Bread} An increase in violent "entertainment." And an increase in the number of civilians watching them and throwing wild parties to celebrate the win of a favorite. {Ciruses} Attacks by people from outside the borders, brought on in part by the actions of the government against these other peoples.

On a different note. . .
Ever notice that damn near the only thing on TV these days are high-tech cop shows and 'reality' shows? What a combination. . . the choice between shows that try to make the bad guys look like the good guys, or morons on parade. . . What ever happened to good ol' sitcoms? The sitcom situation (pun intended) is scarce indeed. . . not many showing, and of those, the rare good ones mean a lot of time watching Cartoon Network. . . wish I had the History Channel. . .
Lets see. . . the good ones are. . . That 70's Show, umm, well gee, thats it. Good thing theres the 4400 and the Dead Zone. I also recommend checking out the show on Comedy Central, Mind of Mencia.

Anyway, have fun, see whats down there and above all, demand your rights cause they won't just give em to ya.

     Silver Dragon

Well. . . its a little late but. . . better late than never.

Did you know that, in many places in this country, it is illegal to be homeless? Duh Gubmint calls it "illegal camping," like these poor people are on some kind of vacation. Yes, people actually get busted for being too poor to afford to be price-gouged on rent. Got news for ya. . . camping is what people with homes do when they feel like "roughing it." What the homeless do isn't camping, its surviving!
While everyone is focused on helping those affected by Hurricane Katrina, remember this: there have been people left homeless by some tragedy for a lot longer than I care to remember. Just because their catastrophe was less. . . newsworthy than this hurricane and such doesn't make it any less a tragedy.
I have a friend, known him for going on 23 years. . . only thing between him and homelessness is a little help from welfare and a mother who loves him. The death of his wife of 17 years, happened last April, has pretty well screwed him up. . . My shorter half has been cut down by more than one tragic event, from the deaths of her parents to her favorite sister-in-law getting killed, to her husband of 10 years dieing in her arms. In my own case, my dad died when I was only 10, I got to see one of my good friends shot in the face with a .20ga shotgun, one of my brothers dropped dead in his front year of heart failure at the age of 48. . . and thats just the stuff I feel up to relating to you. Know another guy, nicest old dude you'd ever wanna meet, worked for some high-tech companies in his day, wife dies. . . -=*poof*=- old dude loses it and has been homeless for a number of years.

Most of those you see living (existing) homeless on the street have some tragic event in their life that put them on the streets . . . extended illness, loss of employment (thanks to the Corporate Terrorists I have bitched about before), death of a spouse or child. . . something that was just too much for them to handle, most often the death of someone close like, as I said, a spouse or child.

So, next time some old guy, dirty and reeking and worn with years, approaches you and asks for a little help, give it to him. And ask him what it was that got him this way. . . chances are you'll hear a story of loss equal to anything coming out of the Gulf Coast, if less newsworthy due to its happening to only 1 guy instead of an entire city.
Better yet, dig into that box of old blankets and clothes that you ain't worn since Jimmy Carter was Prez, and take that stuff to a local homeless shelter. . . rent that extra bedroom (you know, the one with nothing in it but cobwebs?) out to someone who really needs it, and cut them some slack on the rent, don't rape them for what every other goober with a gold-plated house is charging.

Another thing you might wanna think about: millions of Americans are living from paycheck to paycheck; it wouldn't take much to set them to being homeless too. . . Viola! Instant criminal, just subtract house.
I will be expanding on this subject later as well; the plight of the homeless is something I feel strongly about.

With that, let me say that I feel for those left with no homes and no jobs due to the hurricane. . . and that I hope Duh Gubmint makes up for the lack of rapid response by 'going the extra mile,' as it were, to *really* help these people. Gods know, if I wasn't living from day to day and worrying if I was gonna have a place to live next week, I'd be doing more than just talkin to you guys about it.

Smoke your Blessing,
Balance is Life,
Draco Argentus

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