"I was making rather merry sir," said I to my reflection in the mirror, body several pounds heavier after a near week of holiday indulgence. Shall we count the ways? Turducken, macaroni and cheese with sausage, sausage stuffing, cajun stuffing, gumbo, garlic mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts (have not acquired taste for them yet), rolls, Jamaican beef patties, strawberry flavored cake with chocolate frosting, strawberry Crush, fried chicken, and chocolate chip pancakes.
A bit too much gluttony and not enough Jesus, so let's flip the topic, and set mirrors aside.
For the most part there was nothing terribly important happening if you discount attempts to blow up planes headed to Detroit, and major protests and killing in Iran. Which, if not fully slothed we ought not to discount. In a land where we can stuff a debonded chicken inside of a deboned duck inside of a turkey, it's a bit of surprise that we cannot debone a potential terrorist before he stuffs himself onto a plane, only to be thwarted by alert passengers. Some will take this as a sign of lax security under the Obama administration, but it's more a trend.
Oh Umar, don't you know that Americans are not inclined to sit and let their fellow passengers pull out guns, matches, lighters, bazookas, or nail files anymore? What particularly hurts though, is the spread of this Al Queda nonsense to the black African population. If you don't see a potential racial profiling catastrophe in the making, hold your breath a short bit. While profiling is needed, it won't be welcome to American blacks who will bear the brunt of African stupidity. If you are black, get your flying out of your system fast before you become primary search targets (if you are not already). Thank you Umar, foolish 23 year old.
*
I recently saw the movie Avatar. It made a ton of money this weekend along with Sherlock Holmes and the chipmunk flick. I grew very tired through the first half, angry through the middle half, and slightly entertained during the final half, none of it the film making any more real sense than three halves making a whole. I learned a lot. Military contractors and ex-military are war mongers and violent (and despite the might work these same folks do on behalf of the military around the world, hired guns or not). Paganism is good. Technology is bad. Being a traitor is good. Capitalism is bad. Tribal medicine is good. Scientists are good (but worthy of death as punishment for their flawed scientific ways). In the Captain Kirk and Pocahontas tradition, screwing strange females in the new world is always good, and especially if they are the daughters of tribal chiefs. Saving innocent primitives is good, but can only be accomplished if you are white (or on rare occasion, a highly paid black person like Denzel Washington or Morgan Freeman)... primitives cannot, ever, save themselves.
Mostly I learned that director James Cameron has not an original thought in his head, and that a lot of critics and the public have been duped under the spell of the light and technology show. If I wanted to see Return of the Jedi and Pocahontas wrapped up in the same film--with a little Dances with Wolves-- I would do so. The final battle in Avatar was so close to the ridiculous Ewok triumph in Return of the Jedi that I found myself rooting for the Imperial Americans (go figure) and against the absurd idea that vague gods and the natural world will bail you out of your own isolated backward lifestyle. It was disturbing hearing the audience totally sublime to the idea of Americans dying when so many Americans, some 5,000, have died in our two ongoing wars.
It's is often amazing that Native Americans are praised for being close to the earth and the true occupiers of the Americas, when in fact, they too traveled here to these shores. If the world all flowed out of Africa, we can assume that those who were pretty strong and well equipped made it the farthest in an early human version of survival of the fittest with physical might making right. Getting to the North American continent first does not bestow perpetual rights, or greater spirituality. It just means you were first, and like every nationality on earth, you must build up a culture than withstand others, or watch it fade or get pushed aside. That is life, which is not fair. Or rather, it's equally fair at random to everyone, dispensing destruction to every ethnic group at some time or another.
Other News:
Iranians continue to protest their government, and the government continues to strike back through violence and denial of wrongdoing. This is exceedingly important, though we in the West typically don't have a good read on individual country's internal politics. Meaning, we have a habit of backing future enemies. A Marcel Marceu policy is probably needed.
Popular New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd allows her brother a moment to rant, and one can picture him proudly showing the column to his friends and colleagues. He may never realize that his sister has pulled down his pants in public by virtue of her generosity. One wonders why the Times would let a columnist subcontract out to family members, even if it was done merely to make a point about people's stupidity, gullibility and lack of self awareness.
Federal spending rose 4%, so Obama is somewhat of a liar. However, Federal spending rose less than the average in the previous 10 years. Thus, a liar who performs better than the previous group of liars. (And honestly, we think it's near impossible, regardless of party, to accurately predict growth or spending, so best estimates are excepted and somewhat ignored).
No comments:
Post a Comment