Updates

I didn't get the job.
Kunkey's ear fell off.
Not sure which is more devastating.

Fake is so hot right now

I'm not interested in quality, authenticity, talent, or the so-called "real" these days. I want my food processed, my celebrities enhanced, my news filtered for entertainment value, and my boobs inflated and lifted. Real life is just so 1994. Can you imagine seeing a real, wrinkled (but still lovely) 40-something Faith Hill on a magazine cover? If you did, you might go into shock. What if this Jojo song were not pitch-shifted all to hell? It wouldn't be nearly so catchy, in fact it would suck. What if pop stars actually performed live, without vocal back-up assistant? Gimme my $75 back--that's what you'd say. What if the only stories on the news were about global warming? I just hope I stay plugged into the Matrix for awhile, cause it's gonna suck when I have to take that red pill!

Dropping the big one(s)

This past week was the anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A review of the main events makes you wonder if insanity was contagious, like a plague, during that time: the Italians had fascism, Germany had Hitler and Holocaust, Russia had Stalin and Communism, Japan had an emperor (who wanted to take over all of Asia), China had Mao, and the USA had the atom bomb.

Carl Sagan says...

Damn, where have I been?

I was really getting into the groove of writing every day, but then something happened. It happens every time. For some unknown reason, some force in the universe, some mystical cosmical wind blows in every few years and I can't help myself. I get focused. I get nearsighted and suddenly I realize, oh my God, I'm addicted to politics again.

It is so sad. I can't go a day without reading the Washington Post (online). I check my blogs. I read books (Al Gore and Barack Obama this month). I sneer at Republicans and debate random strangers. And all for what? So I can get depressed and bore my friends and my husband? Aaron and I have this ongoing debate about the importance or lack thereof of being informed about current events. I'm winning the debate, naturally, because I pull out quotes like this bad boy from Thomas Jefferson: "A nation that expects to be ignorant and free expects what never was and never will be." How can you argue? I mean, I'm sure you can, but it is a pretty kick ass quote.

Anyway, the cycle is the same. I get obsessed, I get excited, I get self-righteous, I get angry, I get disallusioned, I get depressed, and then I get over it. Here's to being over it (or so I say until tomorrow when Bush does something outrageous).

Mr. President, Wake Up

This quote from a senior intelligence official in the Bush administration caught my eye, while reading this article in the Washington Post: "The current situation, with regard to governance in Iraq, was probably irreversible in the short term, because of the world views of many of the [Iraqi] government leaders, which were shaped by a sectarian filter and a government that was organized for its ethnic and religious balance rather than competence or capacity."

Does this strike anyone as ironic, as it seems that our government is looking more and more like this assessment? Our leaders are following ideology rather than facts, blinded by their narrow world-view and utter belief that they are right, lacking balance and competence. Bush & Co. continue to ignore the assessments of the Iraq study group and any recommendations by those who oppose their pre-conceived notions, regardless of fact or truth. Our President's continued optimism is a joke and shows us either how blind or how deceptive he really is. He will be asking for us to "just give it more time" until he is out of office and someone else can handle the mess.

Your Inner Chimp

For fans of public radio, check out the program "Radio Lab" of New York Public Radio. We don't have this program on our local station, but through the beauty of the internet you can listen for free. It is very similar to This American Life, and that is where I first heard an excerpt of a show from Radio Lab on "Morality". The two hosts talk to scientists and people on the street about morality, where it comes from, why we have it. Very interesting social and scientific commentary in an entertaining format. I can't wait to hear more.

Costs of War

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are costing us $12 billion a month. Nancy Pelosi made this statement yesterday about the costs of the war and why we should start pulling out of Iraq:

“Think about what $10 billion a month would mean to protecting Americans from terrorism, improving security at our ports and airports, and increasing border security. Think about what $10 billion a month would mean for the 47 million Americans who don’t have health insurance, for the survivors of Hurricane Katrina, and for the education of our children. Think about what $10 billion a month would mean to lowering the deficit so that future generations are not burdened with debt.

“The American people are outraged at the Bush Administration’s misplaced priorities -- that is why Congress will hold the Administration accountable with votes this month to end the war and redeploy the troops. This will include a vote on legislation to begin redeployment of our troops within 120 days and to conclude by April 1, 2008, with the exception of those remaining in Iraq to fight terrorists and protect our diplomats."

No money for education or healthcare, billions available for killing. But that's OK, we're fighting for a just cause. Right?