Paralysis of the Mind

You can leave the country, but you can't escape Starbucks and McDonalds.

England was a lot of fun, I was surrounded by friendly people and accents that secretly made me smile. The sights were fantastic (I fully plan on being buried in Westminster Abbey... don't ask me how or why) and everything went really well. So no complaints, just satisfaction (and a touch of jet-lag).

It was extra-fun to watch the American political scene from away, as well. Coverage of the NH Primary and the State of the Union was definitely enjoyable because it was a) escapable and b) most of the Brits were a bit cynical about Bush's speech. I didn't get the immediate "that was the best speech ever" spin that typically accompanies Repug State's of the Union, although according to numerous sources, most of the coverage post-speech ran right into primary coverage. Interesting.

Did I mention that nearly everyone I spoke to in England was friendly to me? Visiting the York Minster (which is actually even bigger than Westminster), an 8-year-old kid was fascinated to talk America with me. We talked football (he likes Liverpool), American football (he's rooting for the Patriots), visiting America (he wants to see LA, something, which although I tried, I couldn't convince him otherwise) and enjoying England. He also made a few funny cracks about America, but it was tinged with a sense of humor. He asked if everyone was fat in America, and then if everyone was a millionaire (apparently, he and Karl Rove have spoken about the golden streets myth).

I did not see a football match, but I saw the Royal Shakespeare Company (featuring Dame Judi Dench) perform in Stratford-upon-Avon. Which was awesome, but that almost doesn't need to be said. Oh, and most everyone's teeth looked okay, and the food was surprisingly delicious. I did not have a single bad meal. And I saw enough Beckham to kill me, however, in a store, I saw a girl's size shirt that read: "Sick of the Beckhams." Word.

The Verdict: I need another week or two on the Isles. No chance to hit Ireland, Scotland, the Cotswolds or the Northwest of England, or Paris for a night. But the trip was fantastic, and now that I'm a Jedi Tube Master, I'm ready to return for another go.

Yes, yes, Monday I leave for England. So no blogs for a while. (I know, all 4 of you that read me will be crushed and/or devastated)

I may blog from across the pond, I may not. Either way, a full accounting of the trip when I return, not the least of which, I shall report exactly how much they hate Americans.

Ought to be a blast. See ya in... 11 days.

Divorce rate = 50%

So, err, one of the most important decisions that a human being can make while they're strolling the Earth, half the time it doesn't work. In fact, considering environmental factors, personal taste and bias, and of course, the whole "physical beauty first" thing, I'd be willing to bet that you could get the same 50% divorce rate if when you were 21 were randomly paired up, by name, with someone of the opposite sex.

Therefore, it's a great larf to me when Americans get all sniffy and offended by the idea of homosexual marriage. Not all Americans, actually, get to that point - in fact, most polls and studies conclude that Americans are about 55-60 percent FOR homosexual marriages. Which is positively fantastic, considering. But let me state again: the divorce rate is FIFTY PERCENT. 1 of 2. 5 outta 10. HALF!!

The sniffy folks talk of sanctity of marriage, this great holy bond between two people. Let me be perfectly honest: it's complete and utter bullhonk. If two religious people enter into this committment, in their church, in view of their God... so be it. They're making marriage holy within their own words and deeds. But they still face that divorce monster. Meanwhile, plenty of people get married for fumbling reasons, either a kid, or tax breaks (yes, people getting married for money) or just immaturity. And they're just as likely to make it work, or not work. Flip your coin.

Really, how can ANYONE say that marriage is holy? Britney Spears referred to her first marriage as a "prank gone too far." And yes, whether or not it lasted more than 5 minutes, that homely hometown buddy of hers will forever be her first husband. Aside: He had the same backwood trash look in his face as she does in hers, and honestly, I thought they made a wonderfully unattractive couple. I fully expect them to marry again. That's some sort of sanctified holy moment?

Face it, homosexual couples will doubtless be JUST as likely to break up. There's bound to be adultery. There's almost certainly going to be abuse, verbal and physical. There's gonna be divorce, broken hearts, and single-parented kids. And yes, that's America, love it or not.

The other famous argument is that homosexual couples can't concieve a child. True. I grant the medical impossibility. However, in a case of lesbian couples, they certainly can concieve with outside help. And if there's an agreement in place, and there's a surrogate mother, two gay men can have their own child. Meanwhile, there's plenty of kids who don't have homes. There's plenty of mistreated, neglected, and abused children, both in our country and around the world. A good family is a good family, no matter who is in it, be it two men, two women, a man and woman, a single man or single woman, or 2 parents and grandparents, okay? My mom did a plenty good job raising me. My dad and stepmom have done a fine job raising my half-siblings. I know very loving gay couples that would give their right arm for kids of their own, and I'd be willing to bet MY arm that they'd be utterly fantastic parents. And at the same time, I know plenty of hetero couples that have kids that make me cringe. Bad parenting is another problem in this country, but that's another rant althogether.

Let the homosexual couples get married. There's no reason why they shouldn't be able to celebrate their love like the rest of us... after all, getting married SHOULD be all about love, and love (according to songs, poems, and lovers' hearts) knows no bounds or colors or races or sexes. End of story. Uncomfortability with the idea of homosexuality should play no part in allowing them their chance to find love everlasting.

Or, a nasty lawyer-driven divorce seven years in. I'm a lover, but I'm an optimist, eh?

Before we get happy, read this wonderful opinion piece by Christie Todd Whitman, Republican, former governor of NJ, and a disaffected member of Bush's cabinent (as former head of the EPA). She makes a good point, about both parties, and she ought to get a medal for sensible discussion.

Anyway, I was told by a certain person *cough* she knows who she is *cough* that my blog is dreary, and is lacking any sort of good news. So today, let me praise something (for once).

The first time I heard about the Atkins Diet a few years ago, I thought to myself, "That sounds sick." If you are unaware, the Atkins Diet is a course of eating that requires the dieter to nearly eliminate all carbohydates. That means no bread, pasta, sugar, soda, juice, and everything else that has carbs in it (and you would be amazed what has carbs in it). You replace all those carbs and sugars with meat, cheese, eggs, and other things that have no carbs.

Now, the daily recommended diet that we all learned as children was that the base of the eating pyramid is built on carbs. So, turning it upside down seems outrageous. Plus, all that meat, all that fat and cholestrol... it just seems like a house of cards waiting to tumble.

Oddly though, Atkins (and it's second cousin the South Beach Diet) work magnificiently. I would know. My fat ass has been on it a mere FOUR days now and I have already dropped a few pounds. Yes, that's 4 days. And it's surprisingly easy, in the sense that there's a lot of low-carb alternatives waiting to be bought, since these diets are in vogue. Plus, you never have to go hungry - you're encouraged to eat until you're full, provided you eat correctly.

Meanwhile, I have met many other people who have done these diets and have found amazing results. I'm not trying to sound like a testimonial or anything, but I was really skeptical at the beginning, and after a little bit of research (and hey, personally trying the diet) I find that it's working. I don't have high cholesterol or high blood pressure, but these diets apparently work to help those - which I admit sounds outrageous, considering eating all that meat and cheese... but it does. My girlfriend's aunt's cholesterol was out of control, and 7 months later on Atkins and she's off her medication. My mom has high blood pressure, and a few months on the South Beach diet has her blood pressure down, and both of them couldn't be happier.

So, yes, you heard it here first: praise for Atkins! And now maybe a certain red-headed blog reader will leave me alone when I go ahead and criticize everything in sight in my next entry. *grin*

Apparently Lea Fastow is gonna have to go to trial... (Read here.)

She and her husband, Richard, bilked Enron's employees for millions of dollars. So, she (being only a minor assistant to him) isn't going to get as big a sentence. That's all right, he appears to be one of the masterminds behind the rip-off Enron pulled.

Yet, in trying to file a plea (which both she and the prosecutors wanted) she complained publically through her lawyer that when her husband goes to jail (he was going to plea as well, but that's also in jeopardy) the kids would have no parent, so she wanted to be jailed for 5 months, before her husband so that her kids wouldn't have to be put in foster care.

Well, Mrs. Fastow might just be mother of the year. How charming of her to think of her kids now, AFTER she'd helped commit one of the grandest frauds in American history. I suppose, while they were defrauding millions of dollars, she just figured that either a) she'd never be caught or b) that somehow with both mom and dad committing crimes, the kids would be okay. What a fantastic apology!!

Or... what a load of crap. If Mrs. Fastow were a lower-class citizen, the judge wouldn't give a damn if her husband were in jail. Seriously. It happens all the time in this country, a deadbeat dad (or one simply in jail) isn't in the picture, the mom has done something wrong, and those kids are going to foster care. But for the rich (even the rich off the backs of criminal behavior) get the special treatment. And those kids aren't exactly gonna go hungry - you can be sure they have trust funds to back them up, even if mommy and daddy get the punishment they deserve.

This, right here, is what drives me nuts about our legal system. Simply put, there's NO reason why the Fastow's should be treated any differently from a crack dealer. A drug dealer makes a lot of dirty money, and is a blight on a lot of lives. And tell me, exactly, how the Fastows aren't the same? He ripped off pension plans left and right, made millions of dollars he didn't earn legally, and has destroyed futures of people who aren't as rich as powerful as the Fastow clan and therefore, won't get the same nice justice. Crack is illegal, so is fraud. But our justice system sees it differently.

As for the parents keeping their kids, well, our country doesn't require any special talents for being a parent, but it seems like those kids might be better off away from their mom and dad. How are they supposed to teach the kids right from wrong? And what can you say when the kids grow up and realize exactly what their parents have done to other people?

It's sad. I admit, there are some bad parents out there, but the "system" is supposed to help the kids escape bad situations. Yet in this case, the system is doing its best to put those kids back in a house with two soon-to-be convicted criminals. And, the people who lost their futures in the Enron collapse still watch in horror as the executives plea-bargain their way out of paying back every last dollar.

Justice? Only for the rich.

No doubt, I've been lazy about blogging. Since few read my blog, I'll take care in knowing that not too many people are hurt by my lassitude.

Anyway, one of the big stories of the week is Pete Rose finally admitting to lying. I'm not going to get into the sports aspects of the story, I'm more interested in how he's been treated. Is it finally possible that America has swung the other way on apologies?

We're a very forgiving culture, for small dalliances. A lot of people forgave Clinton for being a philandering schmuck, people continue to give Robert Downey Jr. chances after his drug problems. Recovering alcoholics and drug users are considered minor heroes, the 12-stepping has become a national icon. We're actually starting to view addiction as a disease (which I can agree with, in small doses). At the same time, we have a low tolerance for obvious lies. Nixon was taken down on 'em. Clinton (forgiven for his sin) was still castigated for lying. There are plenty of others.

Not many people bought that Pete Rose never bet on baseball. Okay? If you did, you obviously don't understand addiction. There's no lines that won't be crossed in the face of an addiction. No alcoholic is going to say no to cheap wine if there's nothing else available. And no gambler, especially one as rough and tumble as Charlie Hustle, is going to stop at 3 sports and not a 4th. It's a disease, it's an addiction, and your brain isn't going to stop the high just because betting on baseball is gonna be an issue. If anything, betting on baseball is the bigger high, because not only is it the bet, it's the idea of getting away with it. Right from the clubhouse, in Rose's case.

So the lie was fairly obvious. And Rose lied hard. He accused everyone he could find, commissioners, lawyers, media, players, God, green men from the planet Xyorg, etc, of being against him. He was always a him-against-the-world kind of player, and he played the victim. Played it well. He's a popular cat, to this day. But a lot of people have been taking new looks at him.

His "apology" has been more bluster than humility. His apology showed up two more deserving players who are going to the Hall of Fame (Paul Molitor and Dennis Eckersley). His apology showed up at the same time he released his claim to martyrdom - his book "My Prison Without Walls."

Pete, I'm sorry. You were in a prison WITH walls for tax evasion. You bet on baseball. You're not a martyr, you're simply a liar who got caught and has to come clean before it's too late.

And the people of America have reacted strangely. There's been little national outpouring of support. Perhaps they realize that this apology is meant just as much to sell his book as it is to get him in the Hall of Fame. There's no actual contrition, which is pretty apparent. Or perhaps America's heart is getting a little harder to pull. Maybe. Rose's actions, though, have been a pathetic grab for attention, and it appears to have backfired. Which is sad. I obviously have little pity for the man, but he deserves (by his play) to be in the Hall of Fame. That's he's a fairly cruddy human being... well... there's a lot of bad people who are enshrined in Halls of Fame (Ty Cobb, O.J. Simpson, etc) because it's the game that's important, not the personality, and in the long run, that's what people remember.

Rose could have said this years ago, and by now, everyone would have mostly forgiven him. But by clinging to his lie for 14 years, he blew his own credibilty, and by NOW showing up (with horrible timing) he wrecked any possibility that public opinion will swing his way. Maybe 20 years from now, but by then it will probably be too late.

Good for us, though, for not being blown away by a P.R. stunt. I hope his book fails (although I know it won't), because I'm tired of apologies being big news, overshadowing others who have nothing to apologize for. Frankly, I'll take the man who doesn't make dumb mistakes over the one who can fake contrite tears after making one. Maybe it says that I'm unforgiving, but I don't see why second or third chances must always be offered right away. It takes time to improve as a person, and it seems like Rose hasn't learned much the last 14 years. Perhaps now he'll really see what it's like to fuck up enough to lose all your chances. And that might be the most important hit he could ever collect.

List of the most recent casualities in Iraq here.

The first was close to home. Jay VT is right across the lake from where I live. Not that I, or anyone else, should need a local reminder to keep our soldiers in mind, but it sucks hard when its close to home.

Our kids die and Bush dithers. It's sick. Not enough people are asking the question, "Why was there no exit strategy?" But we know the answer: the war was planned by the most arrogant of Americans.

It was assumed that Iraqis would rise up and love Americans. Anyone who knows the slightest thing about the Eastern world could have told the army it simply wouldn't be. Yeah, Saddam was a bad dude. Those he
persecuted are definitely thrilled to see him go. But the average person in Iraq is going to jump ship and adore
the red white and blue? It obviously was never going to happen. If 50 thousand Canadians screamed over the border with their hockey sticks a'waving (okay, okay, South Park joke), and "liberated" Montana from the U.S., do you think the citizens of Montana would simply accept it? You say, "That's an unfair comparison, Americans have more liberties and freedoms, etc etc" but I reply that Montana is home of more militias than any other state in
the nation. Remember the local militia as terrorist craze of the mid-90s? We have bigger fish to fry now, I guess.
Many of the people of the state ARE disaffected citizens who aren't necessarily thrilled with the government
"back East." Yet you can be sure if an invading army came in, they would go ape, and shoot everyone in
sight who wasn't a red-blooded American.

Why is any other country in the world so different? Maybe (gasp) America isn't beloved in the rest of the world, and maybe (double gasp) other countries have other ideas on how things ought to be. Most of the insurrections in Iraq are probably still Baath parth related, friends of the Saddam regime and Osama's men etc, but in an unstable region, political differences will be settled with a gun. Gephardt and Dean trade barbs on stage, they don't send their men to go eliminate the competition and kill those unloyal to them, but unfortunately, that's the way it is elsewhere. No matter what amount of political system we try to set up in Iraq, there's gonna be civil warring. And the common people in the land will be shat upon, still. And our soldiers are gonna die too, just adding to the numbers.

Humanity isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, because national peace typically comes only after a majority of people are tired of dying in useless civil wars. Afghanistan is going to be fighting within itself for years. Iraq will probably follow in the same path, and hopefully by then Bush will realize that American involvement isn't going to work. We're good with humanitarian aid, but not so much when trying to set up other governments akin to ours. We've had 200 years to make it work, it isn't going to flourish in a place where the creators (us) are hated, and the "founding fathers" (picked by us) aren't going to have popular opinion on their side. Could you imagine how well our Constitution would have gone over if the British wrote it for us in 1774? That's right, we would have met that document with guns drawn and blades raised.

Other countries, of course, are the same way. Why is America so special? Frankly, we're not to the rest of the world. This isn't 1900 where the streets are paved with gold and the land of opportunity is endless. No one buys into the myth - except Americans. And this naive belief system has to end if we're going to butt into endless world affairs. Bush and his planners obviously didn't study their oppponent's beliefs and values when making an exit strategy. And the soldiers die, more now have died after the "mission accomplished" fly-by by Lt. Commander Gee Dubya than during the war itself. Still, there doesn't seem to be any movement, indeed, we'll be sending in more troops, which will only mean more casualities.

Bring our troops home. Soldiers die while we waste our time. We did not accomplish our mission (remember, it was WMD's, not stopping Saddam) and it's time to own up and stop losing Americans.

Flipping channels last night, and stopped on Fox News. Don't ask why, I don't believe in polluting my brain. Anyway, the show "In Depth" was on, I guess its an interview show of some sort, and Mike "I'll Eat Your Baby" Tyson was chit-chatting in that distinctive voice of his. On the bottom is Fox's Terror Level, because Fox makes its money on terror just as much as Bush and Co do. Of course, the terror level is "HIGH" and my girlfriend, without missing a beat says, "Yeah, I'd have a high terror level if I were talking to Mike Tyson too." Priceless.

Had to run around town today because a package we were expecting didn't arrive. Turns out, it was addressed to Apt #2 instead of Apt. #3, and even though it had both our names on it, and had the correct address on it (although wrong apartment) our postman had no idea where it should go. Thank goodness he brought it back. I wouldn't normally bitch about postal service, except we consistently get a) things that aren't addressed to our apartment b) things that aren't even addressed to our address and c) we don't get things at all. Such as a phone bill and cable bill. Important shit. It isn't that hard to move the mail, honestly. I was halfway to getting Jackie Chiles, and then I remembered... it's the post office.

Finally, just for the hell of it: Mayor McCheese

You're welcome. :)