Just so everybody knows...

I will be in Costa Rica for the next week. I don't care what happens while I am gone except should one of my loved ones be harmed.

Just in case the secret CIA paratroopers find me and capture me and send me to Gitmo, I will let everyone know that I am scheduled to be back late Wednesday March 23, 2005.

If you the trusty readers don't hear from me within about a day or two, call the ACLU and let them know I may have disappeared under the patriot act.

I would have them check Gitmo first but now that I have blogged that I may be there, they may send me somewhere else.

Fingers crossed that the most dangerous thing I come across in Costa Rica is a Howler Monkey who has become enraged at his neighbor three toed sloth because an unsuspecting Tucan took the monkey's banana whilst he was looking at me drinking a margarita on the sunny beach.

hasta la vista

oh yeah, the social security nondebate was more like a lambasting of a conservative libertarian by a house full of new york liberals who knew he was full of shit the minute he walked in the door. Krugman was fantastic with numbers, points, and wokishness. Josh Marshall was pretty much sidelined because the moderator treated him more like a pollster than someone who has been keeping tabs on politician's stances on the issue. She kept asking him what he knew the people were feeling about the issue. I guess an easy payday for Josh.

As for me, I got an ovation for screaming "They can afford going to war" after the libertarian said something about how the government can't afford entitlement programs.

I didn't learn much of anything except that Bush's tax cuts cost $20 trillion over infinity (whereas the social security "shortfall" is $11-12 trillion). For some reason I couldn't find that factoid on the internet. I also found out that whilst the privatizers are toting that after 2042 or 2052 (or whatever number the SSA is throwing out based on current economic shittiness) the system will will take in only 73 cents for every dollar it spends, the government is presently taking in 68 cents for every dollar it spends. Which is worse.

Other than that nothing new. There were these two 20 something white guys right in front of me trying to convince a 70 something lady that privatization was a good thing for mankind.

Needless to say, you can't teach an old dog new tricks.