Sad, Isn't it?

[shipperx]

Signed onto AOL and saw the headline "Southern County Near Bankruptcy" And I didn't even pause. I thought: "Bet that's us..."

And, yes, it is. (well, not specifically. I live and now work across the county line, but it's all the same city metro area, so... yeah... still 'us.') Not surprised. We have a crazy ass, insanely corrupt Water Board (no, not that kind) that's appointed instead of elected and thus cannot be voted out of office (I know!) that went bug fuck crazy years ago with an insanely expensive (and in many respects just flat-out insane) sewer system (that wasn't and cannot be finished without endangering the Cahaba River and thus further contaminate our primary source of drinking water which, in theory, was the reason for the improved sewer system. It's a vicious cycle (especially so since significant chunks of the Red Mountain area are still on septic systems). More local discussion of it here. ) with tons of no-bid contracts to 'friends.' There's a reason why Black and White has a regular column entitled: Dead City Diary: The Insane and Inevitable Decline of a City (And no need to be partisan about it. The council has both parties... all of them equally nuts. (No, seriously, reading how it's covered in B&W, some of these people are NUTS!) Of course, since the city has declined so much, most people don't actually live in it , just work there... where we pay unlawful employment tax, that -- though it's been ruled unlawful multiple times by state and federal courts they never repeal. This is why we're quickly becoming a twin city. Birmingham/Jefferson County has been in decline for decades while Hoover/Shelby County is bursting at the seams.) Hey, I never claimed that it made sense.