The news on the web is so disheartening as to shut down a person's appetite for life. There is no hope for improved health care, no hope for US leadership on climate, and no hope for the US to pull back from grabbing turf.  The latter may be the first to get some real attention for in grabbing turf we compete with our banker, China. I used to think that the people you least want to have mad at you were the Turks. Then I heard that it was the Persians. But now I think it is the Chinese. That's a flip observation on Chinese-US relations, so here's a more serious view: we are borrowing from China to fund our conquest of Asia minor and South Asia. How to lose friends and irritate your enemy in one easy lesson. Dear Blog, forgive me for rattling on with loose nuts and bolts, for I don't have a clue what's going to happen. The only thing I am sure of is that Vashon is blind to national concerns. Our two newspapers rarely get beyond the immediate, and that's our fault not theirs. If you think I am only upset because nobody has taken my advice on currency, well, uh, yeah, I'm small-minded enough, yes. But I'm not making up the news on the web, either. I'm chicken, I'm little, and I'm squawking, but don't take my word for it. Now, if you are not reaching for the delete quite yet, here is what Vashon should do: Hold a referendum on becoming self-sufficient. If you wonder how I could expect a reader to take that seriously, then it's because there is nothing any of us can do to affect the three concerns above. That leaves something we can affect, survival of our society.