The Clusterfuck Nation Chronicle

Commentary on the Flux of Events

State of the nation:

Circumstances took me out to the 'burbs west of Saratoga last night for a friend's birthday celebration. It was evening and the moms were out walking the golden retrievers -- yes, several sets -- along the collector road outside the subdivision. They were all walking in the drainage ditch beside the road because that's the only place there was to walk.

Twice yesterday I stood behind people making minuscule purchases on credit cards. At our natural foods emporium, the woman ahead of me charged a small bottle of water and a chocolate-covered rice cake, about $2.50. Later, at a convenience store, a woman charged two hot-dogs and a bottle of Pepsi.

One thing that this means is that that Americans who shop this way end up discounting their own dollars by around 18 percent, or whatever their credit card interest is -- in other words, an insidious form of inflation.