I have lived a good life and don't want to see what my country, the country I didn't have to lock my front door when not home, when I knew my neighbor, (isn't it funny now, how well does anyone know their neighbor nowadays??) is seemingly becoming.

You just need to move to Nashville. We never knew any of our SoCal neighbors well. I would say Hello and they would run inside. Here, my neighbors were the first ones to bring covered dishes by when we were moving in and they brough LOTS of food. They wanted to see the new house -- we built it -- and they found out I travel. So, if I leave town, my wife has about six people call or come by every day. She is from WA and not as used to the Southern "sit on the porch and yak" thing, but she can talk to a wall, so she fits right in.

Come on down, we live on a golf course and the 2nd tee is about 30 yards away.

As for the culture wars, you could not be more correct. If the capital gains tax is doubled, as some suggest it will, that will really hurt anyone in retirment and anyone retiring soon. It is simply not a good way to raise capital to give to the 40%+ that pay zero taxes.

Hmmmm....maybe i should be screamin' for EDIG to go up before the cap gains tax is raised so high I won't be able to cash it in.

John