> Anyway, have a happy Independence Day, and wish for a time
> (hopefully in our lifetimes) when there will be _true independence
> for all_ in this land; not just the ones who say the right words and
> have the right thoughts. PAT]
No one is stopping you (or anyone else) from leaving. So if you are
so unhappy and dissatisfied here in the USA as you seem to be based
upon your constant snide comments and whining, then by all means I
suggest you move to some other country more to your liking.
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You make a very good point there.
Canada would be an excellent choice, as would Switzerland. Because I
personally feel more 'Americanized' in attitude and culture, I suppose
Canada would be a better choice for me. (Well, _most_ provinces, that
is, there is a notable exception to that rule). Canada is affording
full freedom to _all_ its citizens; there are no second-class
residents there, as happens in the USA. And although I _could_ move to
Canada and continue to receive my (USA-based) Social Security Disability
and Retirement payments, and I have been invited by friends to migrate
there, there are some serious obstacles: because my health is so very
poor (why in the hell I did not _just die_ in the brain aneurysm I do
not understand; that is a common result of those things) I am much too
unsteady on my feet to get that far without a _lot_ of help in the
moving process. If you went around all the time in a chronic, constant
state of 'dizzyness' you'd know of what I am speaking. Had I known in
1995 or even 1998 what I know and believe about the USA _today_ I
would probably have hopped on a bus and migrated to northern Ontario
or perhaps the eastern provinces; but smart we grow too late and very
sickly too soon. November, 1999 (Black Tuesday) was probably the end
of the line for me relocating anywhere.
My brother, Dan, the relatively well-to-do commercial artist in
Chicago has offered to pick me up here at my home, move me,
lock-stock-and-barrel back to Chicago to live, but I told him that was
an insane idea. Even if I somehow had the money to survive in that
town (rents alone three to five times higher than here; he paid a
little over 250 thousand for the condo he and his wife and child live
in) I am not sure I would have the stomach to deal with the politics
of the place. I imagine I could induce him to pick me up, and move me
to Canada as well, but I just would not impose in that way. If it were
still 1995 or 1998 I would not have to ask him. I was making sort of
semi-regular trips to visit friends in New York and San Francisco and
Los Angeles every couple weekends back in the 1960's, so I do know how
to get around. I was even in this general area (Junction City, Kansas
at Fort Riley Army Base) -- had gotten there on my own -- when the
brain aneurysm struck me down in 1999.
The last movie Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy made was in 1950; it was
called 'Utopia' and was about them being ship-wrecked on a desert
island with two other guys. It was an ideal place to live, but since I
cannot live in Utopia, nor even the village of 'Perfect' as the man
on TV-Land talks about,(although _he_ had to settle for having a
24/7 Walgreens nearby), I had to compromise by living here in the
little town of Independence, where all things being equal, conditions
are rather good; a magical little town which is a hybrid cross between
Utopia and the mythical village of 'Perfect', and by golly, we are even
getting our very own 24/7 Walgreens at 10th and Main Streets downtown,
due to open in November. They are building it, fresh from the ground
up now. They tore down and relocated the two businesses which were
there to further west on Main Street, out by Walmart. Considering I
was born in this general vicinity, and had honestly considered
retiring here (although the brain aneurysm made some premature adjust-
ments to _my_ timetable), I somehow get by okay. As much as I would
love to live in Canada (or even Switzerland) I guess I will endure
rural southeast Kansas. But thanks for the suggestion. PAT]
Justa Lurker (JustaLurker@att.net)