If you’ve ever hung out with Thai people in Thailand, you’ll notice 2 things about them: they’re rail thin and they eat — as in SNACK — constantly, all day every day. My theory is that Americans view food as a chore — waiters ask “are you still working on that?” as though food consumption were yet another task to be project managed in an overly compulsive network of obligations that Americans call their existence. It’s also something that causes cancer, makes you fat, etc. But I don’t see a lot of commentors pointing out the obvious, something that is shared by thin cultures as disparate as Thai, Japanese, and French: these people love their food and relish eating it with good friends. The empty, corn-syrup calories of the average American diet closely mirror the empty calories of too many American lives spent grueling away to pay off McMansion mortgages and SUV car loans instead of relaxing and enjoying life.
http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=25
30 June 2006
20 June 2006
...is not prison
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/18/weekinreview/18shane.html
It's obvious what to do with the illegal incarcerants in gitmo: send them to Riker's. Then they can see first-hand what a real American prison looks like, and how the real criminal justice system of the world's leading democracy really works. Oh, but wait, that would ruin Bush's plan to distract us from the disgusting state of bigotry, rape, violence, drugs, gangs, and overall depravity that exists in our nation's prisons. In fact, all the state-sanctioned torture and abuse at Gitmo and Abu Gharib is a wonderful smoke screen: those "prisons" represent the true state of depravity, as compared to the allegedly supreme and just penal system we have in our civil courts. What a farce, what a sham. If we didn't need to buy oil from the leading funding source of terrorists, Saudi Arabia and its citizens, then we could release them all and let Allah sort it out.
It's obvious what to do with the illegal incarcerants in gitmo: send them to Riker's. Then they can see first-hand what a real American prison looks like, and how the real criminal justice system of the world's leading democracy really works. Oh, but wait, that would ruin Bush's plan to distract us from the disgusting state of bigotry, rape, violence, drugs, gangs, and overall depravity that exists in our nation's prisons. In fact, all the state-sanctioned torture and abuse at Gitmo and Abu Gharib is a wonderful smoke screen: those "prisons" represent the true state of depravity, as compared to the allegedly supreme and just penal system we have in our civil courts. What a farce, what a sham. If we didn't need to buy oil from the leading funding source of terrorists, Saudi Arabia and its citizens, then we could release them all and let Allah sort it out.
don't lose faith
i'm writing something personal, in contrast to the usual depraved, extended moan about my homeland that passes for a post by me. i just got back from riding some local neighborhood bmx jumps. i feel so incredibly good from the combination of adrenaline and endorphins. i had a vision of maintaining faith, of calm, and of serenity. i remembered not to lose faith. and dear lord i remembered that i must excercise way more often. i had the most fabulous weekend in a long time, i felt like i was a sub-plot on entourage -- so coming back to the VFC would make anyone a little dour after that. pay the dues and do your thing til the next door opens my friend. it's all good in the hood. i came to the gun fight emtpy handed and walked away.
15 June 2006
oink oink oink, piggies at the trough
re: http://select.nytimes.com/2006/06/15/opinion/15brooks.html
Mr. Brooks--
1. If you combined the two parties you just described together, THAT would be my party. All I want is an effective government that does its job.
2. The problem is that our government has become a piggy bank that is manipulated by an plutocracy for its own benefit, rather than a represenation of the people's will. It doesn't take much effort to find countless examples on both sides of the present aisle -- the guy in New Orleans with cash in the freezer (so gangster!) or Rep. Hastert, who just pocketed $1.5 million via his role in federal highway funding (read more here).
Guys like you and me -- white, educated, smarter than the filthy rich because we have to work for our money -- make up a minority of this country. Politics is going more and more towards Ann Coulter and further and further away from sensible discourse regarding issues.
Ultimately the American electorate is to blame for our present sorry political landscape. It is our job as citizens to vote the bastards out of office. Oh, wait, that brings me to the next point: your vote may not count if you live in a city and are a minority.
While you advocate for the political party landscape I dream of, Republican lawyers and activists are intimidating voters, skewing voting districts, circumventing the rule of law, arbitrarily putting people in jail, spying on Americans, and generally acting like a military junta. They are destroying everything America means to me: hard work, fairness, freedom, and opportunity.
Bush exemplifies everything people hate about the rich: he's never worked hard, he's never known fairness (the odds are always stacked so that he always walks away, no harm done), he's never struggled for an opportunity, and he has no idea what it feels like to lose your freedom -- especially for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Why do those who resemble him the least vote for his party?
I mention all this because the faith of the American people in their political system is far, far lower than it ever has been. The President has committed far more impeachable offenses than Nixon ever did, but more people vote for American Idol than for the President. Citizens should be utilizing every tool available to rebel against this tyranny we are living under. But the Republicans have so effectively quashed dissent that people are afraid.
New political parties might matter to you and me, but if your vote doesn't really count and all your elected officials do is feed at the trough of federal pork... why bother?
Mr. Brooks--
1. If you combined the two parties you just described together, THAT would be my party. All I want is an effective government that does its job.
2. The problem is that our government has become a piggy bank that is manipulated by an plutocracy for its own benefit, rather than a represenation of the people's will. It doesn't take much effort to find countless examples on both sides of the present aisle -- the guy in New Orleans with cash in the freezer (so gangster!) or Rep. Hastert, who just pocketed $1.5 million via his role in federal highway funding (read more here).
Guys like you and me -- white, educated, smarter than the filthy rich because we have to work for our money -- make up a minority of this country. Politics is going more and more towards Ann Coulter and further and further away from sensible discourse regarding issues.
Ultimately the American electorate is to blame for our present sorry political landscape. It is our job as citizens to vote the bastards out of office. Oh, wait, that brings me to the next point: your vote may not count if you live in a city and are a minority.
While you advocate for the political party landscape I dream of, Republican lawyers and activists are intimidating voters, skewing voting districts, circumventing the rule of law, arbitrarily putting people in jail, spying on Americans, and generally acting like a military junta. They are destroying everything America means to me: hard work, fairness, freedom, and opportunity.
Bush exemplifies everything people hate about the rich: he's never worked hard, he's never known fairness (the odds are always stacked so that he always walks away, no harm done), he's never struggled for an opportunity, and he has no idea what it feels like to lose your freedom -- especially for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Why do those who resemble him the least vote for his party?
I mention all this because the faith of the American people in their political system is far, far lower than it ever has been. The President has committed far more impeachable offenses than Nixon ever did, but more people vote for American Idol than for the President. Citizens should be utilizing every tool available to rebel against this tyranny we are living under. But the Republicans have so effectively quashed dissent that people are afraid.
New political parties might matter to you and me, but if your vote doesn't really count and all your elected officials do is feed at the trough of federal pork... why bother?
07 June 2006
Canada, where the rule of law still governs the land
To the Editor--
Why is it that Canada has been able to make a significant number of arrests in a terrorist case without spying on their citizens and otherwise breaking the law? Why is it that the Canadian Prime Minister was able to make a joke about plans to take his life? Why is it that Canadian Parliament buildings remain open to the public after plans were discovered to destroy them? Canadians recognize that changing their way of life or veering away from the rule of law represents the ultimate victory for terrorism.
It seems that the Canadian government still views its role as one largely concerned with governance, rather than using an unfortunate situation to make a naked grab for power. Canadian law enforcement seems to view its job as upholding and enforcing the law of the land, rather than doing the bidding of a power mad Administration with no regard for the rule of law. As if the plight of this Administration was not embarassing enough, the Canadians have shown just how unncessary all of the draconian measures of the White House are. The Canadians are clearly aware that to do so would be to concede the ultimate victory to terrorists: the loss of our way of life and the freedom so many have died to protect. Shame on you again, shame on all of them: President Bush, VP Cheney, Alberto Gonzales. These three names are far more dangerous to America than any terrorist.
Why is it that Canada has been able to make a significant number of arrests in a terrorist case without spying on their citizens and otherwise breaking the law? Why is it that the Canadian Prime Minister was able to make a joke about plans to take his life? Why is it that Canadian Parliament buildings remain open to the public after plans were discovered to destroy them? Canadians recognize that changing their way of life or veering away from the rule of law represents the ultimate victory for terrorism.
It seems that the Canadian government still views its role as one largely concerned with governance, rather than using an unfortunate situation to make a naked grab for power. Canadian law enforcement seems to view its job as upholding and enforcing the law of the land, rather than doing the bidding of a power mad Administration with no regard for the rule of law. As if the plight of this Administration was not embarassing enough, the Canadians have shown just how unncessary all of the draconian measures of the White House are. The Canadians are clearly aware that to do so would be to concede the ultimate victory to terrorists: the loss of our way of life and the freedom so many have died to protect. Shame on you again, shame on all of them: President Bush, VP Cheney, Alberto Gonzales. These three names are far more dangerous to America than any terrorist.
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