This is a sad note. I was at the bank yesterday and saw a friend that I hadn't seen for awhile. She had a business here on Whidbey Island. I asked here how business was and she told me that she had sold her business and that she and her partner were moving to Panama. They didn't want to be in the US anymore. It's become a place that they no longer felt safe in. How can you live in a place where people hate you and want you dead? Not only is she a liberal, but her partner is a woman. I have always enjoyed seeing either of them in the chance encounters one has in a small community. We would laugh and exchange stories. I will miss them. They leave a hole in the community. She said that you would be suprised at the number of people quietly leaving the country. I suspect that if Bush is re-elected the number of people leaving won't be quiet. Leave early, avoid the rush.