California and Its IOU's Kind of Concern Me

I was grateful the State of California paid me hard cash for my 2008 tax return. There was a slight delay but I got my money free and clear. I can't imagine what it would be like for the state to send me a *gasp* IOU. If this IOU issuance by one of the largest economies in the world isn't enough of a red flag to denote what's to come, I don't know what is.

One day people may be temporarily trading precious metals for goods. One store in another state has already set up a system to do so. There was a video of it a while back but YouTube took it down apparently afraid of potentially panicking the populace. The gov't probably fears a panic will cause a shortage of precious metals and people hoarding.

I was in Martinez, California this weekend, a place I don't wish to return to ever again. While I was there a resident said the courts recently suspended prosecuting all kinds of criminal offenses due to layoffs of gov't staff. The city seemed peaceful enough to me for my one day trip. I also thought Martinez a perfect location for cemeteries. The map at right denotes numerous cemeteries in the area.

Yup, Martinez seems a good place for dead people, at least those who can afford to be buried rather than cremated. While I was having breakfast at Carrows I watched a very old person spend 30 minutes trying to get out of his car. It was like observing a star fish. Fortunately, I only had to spend a few hours in Martinez.