--- Oh, PLEASE be true.
I really need my weekly allotment of Stewie. I really, really do. I
also need the DVDs. --- Was watching Anderson Cooper last night as the
husband was preparing a fantastic Bolognese sauce. Anderson was
interviewing Jean Bertrand Aristide and a few minutes into the
interview, the husband came out into the living room and said, "Are you
watching this?"
Pretty interesting stuff,
if not straight out of the Delusion Files. Read the whole thing. The
U.S. kidnapped him, essentially, is Aristide's story. They made him
sign a document where an essential line was missing when it was
translated from Creole to French. Then they put him on a
plane---destination unknown until right before landing. Oh, and Colin
Powell is a liar. I found it telling that after the interview, Anderson
gave a quick thank you to the Reverend Jesse Jackson for arranging the
interview. Hmmm. What does that tell you about the veracity of
Aristide's story? I don't go to Democratic Undgerground very often, but this time I just couldn't resist the urge to see what they're saying about this. Of course Aristide is telling the truth. Why believe the coup leaders of 2000? They have no credibility, however, Aristide, of course, does. The thread that's the most interesting is that, according to this story, Baby Doc Duvalier wants to return to Haiti---but,
"Duvalier said in a television interview aired late on Monday, a day
after Aristide fled Haiti, that he had requested a diplomatic passport
several weeks ago, although he does not plan to run for president.
"That is not on my agenda," the 52-year-old former ruler, who has lived
in France since his forced exile in 1986, told WFOR-CBS4 television in
Miami. " So, someone automatically chooses to ignore what Baby Doc himself said, but says this instead.
So yet again the overwhelming message is that Bush and anyone in his
administration is automatically a liar and Aristide and Baby Doc
Duvalier are worthwhile sources of information simply because they're on the opposite side of the fence.
Oh, fer chrissakes. Your poor noggins are really catching too much of
that radiation the US is beaming down upon humanity from outer space.
Make sure your tinfoil hat is locked securely in place and doesn't have
any holes in it because we wouldn't want your poor gray matter to get more fried than it already is!

Posted by: Kathy at 12:59 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- Oooh, we've got more Hatch family goodness for
you.
Seems the youngest daughter, Anne, whose 21st birthday the clan was out
celebrating has been arrested before---this time for attempting to
purchase liquor whilst being underage. Nearly three years ago, Anne Hatch, then 18, was arrested by
Mendota Heights police after she tried to use her oldest sister's
identification to buy beer and then resisted the store owner's efforts
to detain her until police arrived.

And she was violent then, too.

As she came to the counter with two 12-packs of beer, Ha {liquor
store owner} told police, he recognized her from a previous attempt she
had made to buy liquor. When she showed him an ID belonging to her
sister Katharine, then 22, Ha took it and told her he was calling the
police. She became frantic, he said.
"She yelled, 'Let me go! Give me back the ID,' " he said, and shoved
him four or five times. While he was holding her in a bear hug to calm
her, Ha said, she kicked the neon sign and broke it.

Then her family got into the act---again---by trying to corral the evidence against their wee one.

The next day, Ha said, another Hatch sister -- it's not clear which
one -- returned to the store and asked him for the videotape of the
incident. He refused, he said, and she left.

So, now add this in with what the club owner said about what happened in Chicago.

He said that the women became belligerent when his staff determined
they had had too much to drink. "They were being refused service
because of their actions," Vartanian said. "They didn't like being told
no."
Outside the Crobar club, "the girls were screaming at my patrons,
threatening people," and one of them "let everyone know whose daughter
she is." He didn't know which.

...and with what the Chicago Police have said.

According to police, a bouncer asked them to leave the popular
nightclub, which remains open until 4 a.m., after unwelcome advances
from a male patron set off a loud quarrel. The sisters, who were
intoxicated, resisted and told police, "We're not leaving," said
Patrick Camden, Chicago Police deputy director of news affairs.
Then, Camden said, Elizabeth slapped an officer with an open hand and
knocked his glasses off. Police said that Anne wrestled with another
officer and scratched his face; once inside a squad car, she kicked and
shattered a window. "I think even in Minnesota, you would get arrested
for that," Camden said.

Now compare this to what our beloved AG has said about his daughters' behavior.

Hatch said that his daughters are "devastated and they want to be
accountable for their errors and mistakes."
"At the same time, they have indicated there was not an assault. I've
got to believe there have to be cameras at that nightclub that would
show what occurred and we'll know.
"My first instinct is to trust the police officers -- that's my job --
but I'm confident there will be a videotape and that will explain what
happened."

So, who do you
believe? The girls and their dad, or the people who had to deal with
these two drunks? I don't have a serious problem with the fact that
Anne Hatch tried to purchase beer with an older sister's id. Everyone
at some point in their misspent youths has tried to obtain alcohol
illegally. If you don't think this is the case, you're naive in the
extreme. I'm a good girl and I even did it. I just never got busted
(nor did I ever fail, either, but that's another story for another
day). One of the problems here is how this girl reacted to the refusal.
It wasn't her first time being refused, either. If she'd been calm, had
just given up the id and walked away, she wouldn't have had an issue
and probably wouldn't have been arrested. But she didn't do that. She
freaked, to put it simply. And when she became physical, the liquor
store owner was forced to become physical, as well. Life isn't
TV---when you go after someone, they're probably going to come back
after you---and this is even more true when you go after them in a
physical way; it's pure instinct. It's a pretty simple scenario.
Unfortunately, Anne didn't know that. I can surmise that she was
freaking out at the thought of losing the id---which, for someone her
age is a pretty horrible scenario; it cuts you out of all the good
social activities. She probably needed it in the immediate future and
wanted to have it for that occasion. Whatever. The point is that she
thought she could get violent and face no repercussions for her
actions. The other problem that I have here is what Mike Hatch has
seemingly taught his daughters about life in general. Because the
lesson seems to be if
someone gets in your face and tries to deny you something that you
want, you can get violent with them. You're beter than everyone else.
You're not going to be held accountable to the system because I'm going
to show you how to work around it.. This, of course, says nothing
of the fact that his girls seems to flaunt who their father is and
their knowledge of the system to manipulate the outcome of whatever
trouble they've gotten themselves into. Who, in their right mind, would
go to a the scene of the crime the day after and try to obtain the
videotape of the incident other than someone related to a lawyer? One
of them on Saturday night made it plain and clear who their father was,
too---obviously in an apparent attempt to make the cops go easy on
them. Dear God. Is this what law enforcement officers teach their
children? That you can manipulate the system--- just don't tell any of the plebians because we wouldn't want them to have the same priveleged information, would we?

Posted by: Kathy at 12:35 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- I've got two words for the IRS: FLAT TAX!
Goody goody gumpdrops for the IRS. They're going after those evil
people who dodge the tax man with questionable loopholes and
deductions. Wooooooh. They're really getting tough! I'm SO impressed
with their dominatrix-style enforcement. Whips and chains for everyone!
Not. Abolish the IRS. Eliminate the need for enforcement. Set up a tax
system where everyone pays 15% of their income---no matter how big
their income is---and watch the money roll in. Watch the multinationals
set up shop in the U.S. instead of in Bermuda. Flowers will bloom.
People will dance happy dances. Jobs will be created and the economy
will boom. This says nothing, of course, of the fact that we won't have
a deficit anymore, and we'll be able to pay down the national debt.

And of course, think of all the accountants and tax lawyers who'll go broke. That ought to put a smile on everyone's face.

--- And speaking of your tax dollars at work.
Presented to you, my Cake Eater readers, without commentary. Not
because I don't have anything to say about it, but because if I do say
something, I'll probably give myself an aneurysm. No one needs that.
--- The NHL did the right thing.
I'm relatively new to hockey. I haven't been watching all my life. We
didn't have hockey in Omaha when I was growing up---I knew one kid who
played. One kid. So, I will admit I'm no pro in judging what is and is
not acceptable when it comes to fighting, but Bertuzzi has always
struck me as being a tad more violent than necessary. Thug. Enforcer.
Whatever you want to call him. He was brought to my attention during
the Wild/Canuck playoff series last year. I noticed that if there was
any sort of altercation, Bertuzzi was generally in on it, if not
instigating it in the first place. But the Canucks are a physical team.
It's one of their attributes. Some teams are renowned for their speed
or their stick work. Vancouver is known for its physicality. I hate to
say I wasn't surprised when I saw that footage from Monday's game---but
honestly, I wasn't. It was only a matter of time, in my opinion, before
this guy crossed the line. And he did so---and broke Steve Moore's neck
in the process. Bertuzzi should be thanking his lucky stars that he
didn't put Moore into a wheelchair and got off with suspension for the
rest of the year. He'll also be really lucky if he doesn't wind up
having his ass handed to him by the British Columbia legal system. With
the players union threatening a strike for next year, weelll---this
could conceivably mean the end of Bertuzzi's career. All for one
retaliatory sucker punch. It makes you wonder, however. Players get
into skirmishes in hockey. It's one of the reasons why people like it
so much. More blood! Less hockey!
Whether the NHL would like to admit it or not, fighting is one of those
things that puts paying butts into the seats and keeps the league
profitable. So, knowing this, where exactly do you draw the line? The
refs aren't exactly on the same page when it comes to fighting. Some
knock this kind of crap off quickly; some just let it go on and then
when there's less of a chance of them losing their teeth, they throw
people in the penalty box. If the people who are on the ice, and who
are in charge of stopping this sort of behavior, don't want to get
involved and have different definitions of what is acceptable and what
isn't---where does this leave hockey on the whole? Bertuzzi's a hot
head. Did he just put the whole game into jeopardy? --- Michele over at A Small Victory gets it right.

U.S. coverage should be better. They should react to this story the
way they do to Scott Peterson type stories. Gather some experts. Give
us information. Send some reporters. Tell us about ETA, explore the
al-Qaida connection and hey, how about just spending some time talking
to witnesses and expressing some outrage and sadness?
The world stopped for us on 9/11. It amazes me how our major news
channels seem to brush international news aside. They did the same with
the coup in Georgia and the Chechnyan rebels and they do it all the
time with Israel. Five minutes of breaking news time and then back to
celebrity secrets and fashion advice.
We will never win the war on terror if we go on thinking that the only
terror that matters is what happens here.
I'll bet you the reason none of the American stations have covered it
is because they don't have any reporters in Spain. Amazingly enough,
though, I can't tell you how many stories CNN covered on the German
Cannibal case, with the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin in the background. I
hate to go into the whole bias thing here, but Germany and Spain are
pretty much on the same level, internationally speaking. Why does CNN
have a Berlin bureau, and not one in Madrid? Could
it be because Germany was anti-war? That they aligned themselves with
the French and hence it's a cooler, more media-hip type place to set up
a bureau? Spain, after all, supported the U.S. in ousting Saddam.
They're not cool.
Look at it rationally: how much German news does CNN actually report on
its U.S. system? Not much. We got an awful lot about the cannibalism
trial, but as far as the political strife Schroeder has been enduring
lately? Pffft. Very little. On DirecTV we get CNNfn during the
workweek, but on the weekends it switches to CNN International. Yes,
you get German news, but not enough to justify a bureau. But Spain,
Madrid in particular, has been suffering terrorist attacks at the hands
of ETA and others often over the past few years. You'd think that
simply by working the odds of newsworthy events, if a network were to
put a bureau anywhere in Europe, it would be in Spain. But they didn't.
They used European-network filmed coverage this morning. And because of
their lack of resources in Madrid, they couldn't focus very much on the
story. It's simply a lack of resources issue---but, as hesitant as I am
to point the bias finger, it seems to be the logical answer to why they
don't have reporters there in the first place. I wonder if it is
Al-Qaeda. We don't know. No one's stepped up to take responsibility and
that in itself is a hallmark of Al-Qaeda. ETA is pretty quick to claim
responsibility---Al Qaeda likes to let everyone wait. Remember 9/11. We
had to wait to find out who was behind the attacks, and when we did
find out, the conclusion was reached by the government---not because
Al-Qaeda shot out communiques to the networks, claiming responsibility.
But right now I don't know that we'll ever know, or if it will be as
big a deal as 9/11 simply because the media coverage isn't in place to
ensure it. Michele's right: we won't ever win the war if the media
doesn't start treating all acts of terrorism as if they happened on our
own soil. It simply can't be a matter of our people died, it's important; their people died, it's not.

Posted by: Kathy at 12:16 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- Found this last night.

100 Movies That Deserve More Love.
Bliss. I could go on about this all day. So many good movies that went
straight to video. So many movies that are ignored in favor of crap
like Scooby Doo 2.

A few of my favorites that they missed:

1. Year of the Comet
How can you not love a movie that follows the travails of two
diametrically opposed people whilst they follow a bottle of wine all
over Europe? Now, granted it's a priceless bottle of wine with
Napoleon's seal on it, but it's great fun. You have sweet Scottish
grannies sending out their henchman offspring to grab the bottle. Art
Malik plays a suave Greek who completely befuddles frigid hardass
Penelope Ann Miller with the biggest line of bull I've ever heard. And
the incomparable Louis Jordan makes a charming Frenchman bent on world
domination via a fountain of youth type serum. It's fantastic. It's
funny. Note to self: buy this one, you doof! 2. Fight Club
This movie blew me away when I first saw it. All David Fincher movies
are dark---literally. They're barely lit and they give you that creepy
feeling, like ghosts could walk on your grave if you mattered enough
for them to care. But this movie? I watched this one at home. By
myself. I started when it was still light outside, and I finished when
it was pitch black. I then ran around the house and turned on every
light and smoked copiously until the wee hours of the morning. It made
me think a lot about my life at the time and how freaking miserable I
was. It changed my mindset---but I didn't have a schizophrenic episode,
nor did I set a few bombs at the credit reporting companies. A
brilliant film and one that's HIGHLY underrated. You had to give it to him: he had a plan. And it started to make
sense, in a Tyler sort of way. No fear. No distractions. The ability to
let that which does not matter truly slide.

3. Death to Smoochy
I just loved the premise of this flick. Danny DeVito has one of the
sickest, most twisted senses of humor ever. I just love him. But
honestly---I don't know how everyone thought that Throw Momma From the Train was so fabulous, yet ridiculed this movie. It's great.

4. The Commitments

An Irish soul band?

5. Hudson Hawk
Now, I know a lot of people really hate this movie, but in my opinion
they're going into it with the wrong attitude. This movie is pure
over-the-top-camp. It's a spoof. If you thought it was something other
than that, well, you're a goof who believes everything Hollywood tries
to sell you. As proof---how does Hudson Hawk steal the Codex? He uses
vegetable oil, mirrors, and a Popeil pocket fisherman. If that's not a
spoof, what the hell is? It's brilliant. If for no other reason than
David Caruso is in it and he KEEPS HIS EFFING MOUTH SHUT FOR ALMOST THE
ENTIRE MOVIE!
6. Real Genius

Completely ignored in favor of Weird Science which was lame unless you were a fourteen-year old boy who had a thing for Kelly Le Brock.

Self-realization. I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, when he said, "I drank what?"

I might post some more. I might not. I'm fickle.

Some of the films on their list that I take issue with.

40. Die Hard 2: Die Harder

This movie blew. I don't care how you slice it---after the original, it was a complete and utter letdown. Bleh. Die Hard: With A Vengeance is much, much better. Nothing beats the original. Alan Rickman was fantastic,
but Numero three in the series is way and beyond better than Numero
Two. You have Jeremy Irons as the bad guy; it brings back your
love/hate of Hans from the first film. It has Samuel L. Jackson. And,
honestly, it tackles the subject of race better and more honestly than
any other movie I've seen of late.
41. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
I remember not being able to go and see this movie the first day it
came out. But my sister did and when she came home she told me "don't
bother." I've bothered once and I realized she was right. Muleram! Ugh.

No one, particularly not an Indiana Jones fan, should ever see this movie. It reeks.

51. Universal Soldier

Dolph Lundgren. Need I say anything else?

Ooops. Perhaps Jean Claude Van Damme.

81. The Tailor of Panama

This is listed at eighty-freaking-one??? What the hell is wrong
with you people? It should be listed in the top twenty---AT LEAST.
If you're a fan of LeCarre and his work, know that this is the ONE
movie that has actually managed to get his vibe down
correctly---probably because he co-wrote the script. LeCarre's stories
are always centered around the theme of moral ambiguity. He gets people
correct. He knows they're all talk, but when it's time to walk the walk
and in the process perhaps they put themselves out on a very weak limb,
well, he knows that people will take the route of self-preservation
every time. He's a wise man. Most of the time, you finish one of his
books depressed. Not this one, though. Pierce is the anti-Bond in this
film and he looks as if he had a great time with it. 85. The Zero Effect
Please. Move this one up the list a wee bit, would you? Brilliant film.
Despite the fact that the plot is ruthlessly pilfered from "A Scandal
in Bohemia,"---a Sherlock Holmes story---and NO credit is given
whatsoever, I still love this movie. 90. The Winslow Boy

I haven't seen this movie. I have no intention on seeing it. I can hear the objections already. It's Mamet! It's brilliant! You have to see it! Jeremy Northam is fantastic. I will utter two words in reply.

Rebecca Pidgeon.

THE WORST ACTRESS IN THE WORLD IS IN THIS MOVIE. I WILL NOT SEE IT.
Honestly, Mamet is completely besotted with his wife. She is SO bad. I
cannot tell you how many of his films she's ruined. And she has ruined them. Heist
would have been great if not for her. The Spanish Prisoner was ruined
because of her. She's wooden. It's obvious that she loves the
language---so much, in fact, she puts all of her energy into delivering
the lines, rather than---you know---developing the character she's
playing. To put it this way, if she were Midas and everything she
touched turned to gold, this, indeed, would be proof that we are living
in a parallel dimension. In the real world, everything she touches
turns to shit. No one other than her husband will hire her. This should
be proof enough. No movie in which she's cast "deserves more love."
Christ Almighty---she's worse than Shannon Tweed.

Posted by: Kathy at 12:14 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 1166 words, total size 7 kb.

--- This guy is a model subject for a paper on the practical applications and perceived societal benefits of eugenics.

Shorten, 33, picked up a nail gun that he thought was empty, pointed
it at his head and pulled the trigger.
..."Royal Melbourne Hospital neurosurgeons removed the nail in a
delicate four-hour operation even though Shorten, who was expected to
make a full recovery, had offered to take the nail out with a pair of pliers.
{emphasis added by moi}
Honestly, what are we gaining by keeping this guy in the herd? If
taking a nail gun (a NAIL GUN!!!!) and putting it against his temple,
and pressing the trigger to amuse and impress his friends doesn't
disqualify this guy of his herd union card, I don't know what will. ---
So, it's snowing. AGAIN!
I hear spring is sprung in other parts of the country. I hear there are
daffodils blooming down south. My sister in Omaha says tulips are
starting to pop their heads. Why can't we have spring? Is it really too
much to ask that since it's MARCH
that we in the nothern hinterlands get to enjoy a bit of flower
blooming and warm temperatures, too? Besides, this is screwing up the
snow-removal-division-of-labor. It's accumulating outside. Which means
the husband will be called to fire up the blower later. If this the
last snowfall of the season this, of course, means that I'M SCREWED COME NOVEMBER!
Have I mentioned that the first seasonal usage of said snowblower
always sucks because it takes forever to get the thing running after
it's sat around all summer long? --- We have satellite back. Partially.
Later in the afternoon on Friday I checked to see if the dish was
clear. And it was. But nothing was coming in, so we finally figured out
that we needed to reboot the receivers. Not a problem, just wish we
would have thought of it sooner. Like that morning. So, we did the hard
reboot on both of the receivers. This entails unplugging them and then
reconnecting them to their energy source. Takes about a minute. And it
usually works. Well, this time it worked in the office, but not in the
living room. After about an hour and a half on the phone with the
people at DirecTV, the husband officially called it quits and signed up
for the service plan. The guy should be here sometime today between one
and five to work on it. This is costing us thirty bucks today and an
extra five bucks per month. But we'll be on the service plan in case
anything goes wrong in the future. The heart of the matter seems to be
that there is something wrong with the outside connection to the box in
the living room. The boxes both work (yes, the husband switched them to
see if it was indeed a faulty receiver---nope), so there's something
goofy with the wiring on the roof. I have no idea how the wiring
survived those foul-mouthed ice melters that were up on the roof last
month when we had the ice dam issues, but something in that two inches
of snow fouled up the works. Hopefully, it'll be quick and painless.
I've never had anyone from DirecTV here other than the original
installer, and that guy was a piece of work. First off, he forgot his
heavy duty industrial drill at the job he'd just finished---in
Chanhassen---which is an outer-ring suburb that's hell and gone from
here. So, he goes to get it. An hour later, he gets back and gets up on
the roof. I'm in the office, on my computer and WHAM!
His extension ladder comes crashing into the window right next to my
desk, ripping the screen, before it hurtles to the ground. Well,
thinking that the guy had been on the ladder, I race outside to make
sure he's ok. Oh, he's ok all right. He's up on the roof, stranded,
wearing a chagrined expression. As soon as my heart returned to it's
normal thumping routine, he asks me if I can put the ladder back up on
the roof so he can get down. I peer dubiously at the ladder---which has
just flattened the four tulips I had managed to keep the squirrels from
chowing down on as part of their winter-bulk-up routine---and estimate
that it weighs probably a hundred pounds all told. Yeah, like that's going to happen. I have no
upper body strength. But I'll try. Because I'm home alone. And if don't
help the guy, no one else will be able to. And I really don't want to
have to call the fire department. I try and I try and I try, but the
thing's just too heavy for me. I eventually had to ask the obnoxious
neighbor for help. THANKS!
Just the guy I want to be indebted to. I appreciate it. Mmmhmm. Anyway,
the rest of the install took a few hours because he had some serious
logistical problems to sort out, the main one being that the only place
on the roof to install a dish that had a clear view of the southern sky
was on the back of the house. The living room is at the front of the
house. Reportedly, we have coaxial cable strung across the roof in the
space between the two places, it hangs off the roof next to our front
windows, and then comes into the house through a hole the guy had to
drill through the wall. The office was easier, he said, he only had to
string the cable partway across the house and then into the wall next
to the husband's computer. But the main thing was that it was done and
it worked. And the guy apologized for his goofs. He told me
he's never had an install go so wrong in so many ways. So, I will admit
I was leery about the DirecTV. For the first month we had it, I kept
expecting for something to go horribly wrong. But it never did. The
thing was capital R Reliable!
Then this happens. Now, I'm reminded of how poorly the install went.
And I'm frightened of what might happen this afternoon. Then add into
the fun that it's snowing outside and some poor schmuck has to get up
onto the roof to fix things. It's a recipe for disaster, I'm telling
you.

Posted by: Kathy at 12:04 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 1083 words, total size 6 kb.

---Forgive me. Lemmy, it turns out, is actually the bass player/lead singer for Motorhead.

I goofed.

Posted by: Kathy at 11:43 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- Now here's a campaign my
father could get behind. The man is a stickler for correct usage of the
English language. I can't tell you how many times he busted me for
using the phrase, "or something," when I was a kid. Fortunately,
however, he's given up on his children and has turned to criticizing
the grandkids. Phew. --- Zapatero is either a wimp or very clever when it comes to bending other countries to his whims.
I thought the EU Constitution might play a part in his minute switch
about pulling Spanish troops from Iraq. First it was, "we want all
Spanish troops out, as soon as possible...there's no negotiating on
this one." Then it was, "Well, if we get a UN mandate and they take
over the organization, we'll stay." Wiggle room, in other words. Now,
he's chatting not only with Tony Blair, but with Leszek Miller---the
Polish Prime Minster---as well. Highly suspect for someone whose
actions have dictated that they would be throwing their lot in with the
French and Germans sooner rather than later. The new EU constitution
(which is probably the most ineffectual piece of governmental writing
I've seen since the Defense of Marriage Act) is needing some
ratification. The main hangup is the same one we had here in the US
when we enacted our constitution: how do you rectify the power between
large states and small states? Their problem is that France and Germany
want a goodly portion of the power (read they want to be able to blow
off EU fines whenever possible) because they're established, large
entities. Spain, by the new constitution, would not have had the veto
power that those two countries had---throwing it in the same league
with newer EU countries, like Poland and the Czech Republic. Poland and
Spain are not only in the same boat when it comes to the threat of
terrorism and the relative unpopularity of participating in the
Coalition of the Willing (the Iraq war wasn't exactly popular in
Poland, but nowhere near the levels of dissaproval in Spain), but in
terms of EU power as well. If the constitution goes through as written,
Poland, Spain and other countries where the economies are
actually---ahem---working, would not only be footing the bill for
France and Germany's out of control public spending by propping up the
Euro, but they would be powerless to do anything about the situation. This explains why Blair was hot to get to Madrid. If the US/UK
can get a resolution through the UN mandating the Iraqi war, they will
have just garnered further support in the EU to battle back France and
Germany. Balance of power, kids. It's all about the balance of
power---and traditional balance of power, no less, which is something
we haven't seen in Europe for years. I guess that helping them through
the Cold War was worth it if this is what we're getting as a result.
It's entertaining for foreign policy watchers, like me. Kissinger must
be having a field day watching all of the developments. This is right
up his ally. But then again countermanding French hegemony has always
been his forte.
--- It's lovely here today. It's not even eleven and it's over fifty
degrees. WOOHOO! I went outside this morning to take a digital picture
of my tulips, which are starting to peek out from the cold earth, but
the camera crapped out on me. Dead batteries are the culprit, it seems.
Sigh. I don't like buying batteries for my camera: they're expensive.
As in $20 goes flying from my wallet to Duracell every time they crap
out---which happens more than I would like. I shouldn't bitch, I know. I have a cool camera.
(No, I don't have this exact model; I have last year's variant with an
8x zoom on it.) But it sucks power. It doesn't daintily sip at its
power source like a little old lady at a tea party who sips her tea
genteely, her pinky outstretched defiantly. Instead, it chugs power,
like a frat boy with a beer bong, who then belches and shakes the
richter scale in the process. Honestly, this is my only complaint about
the camera. It works great and I get spectacular pictures, but when you
have to buy new batteries all the time, and the batteries cost as much
as they do, it gives the phrase "love/hate" a whole new meaning.
---Thank God we have an oilman in the Oval Office.

The Bush administration voiced concern Wednesday about gasoline
prices reaching an all-time high, but
ruled out tapping into the government's oil reserves to temporarily
ease the problem.
``We need to make sure we have the resources in the Strategic Petroleum
Reserve to act in the event of an emergency, which would be a severe
disruption of energy supplies,'' said White House spokesman Scott
McClellan.
Thank God he's not going to pull a Clinton! The strategic reserves are
titled that for a reason: it signals that they're to be used, you know,
strategically, not to ease the woes of people paying $1.70 a gallon. They're to be used in case OPEC halts production entirely.
They're to be used to keep OPEC from holding us by the short and
curlies and then yanking to get what they want. The reserves give us
leverage, which we didn't have when OPEC embargoed us back in the
1970's. Bubba was an idiot. He opened up the reserves when gas prices
hit $1.50 a gallon and he
was the one who put us in the situation where we're having to refill
them at $35+ a barrel, when barrel prices back then were under the $30
threshhold. He gave OPEC more power, in other words. Short term
electoral gain at a very bad long term cost. Once again, Bubba wanted
us to know he felt our pain---but completely ignored the ramifications
of that action in the meantime. It also means he was ignoring what the
hell was happening in Venezuela at the time, which contrary to what the
media will tell you, is our 2nd largest source of oil---not the Middle
East. All of this kind of makes you wonder, though: if the invasion of
Iraq was all about oil and how we shouldn't be giving any blood for
that precious commodity, where the hell is the cheap gas?
We shed some blood---that should have at least translated into a couple
of cents off at the pump, shouldn't it?
If we really want cheap gas, well, pass an energy bill that includes
some coin for fixing and updating refineries. That will solve the
problem. I'm not a big fan of government subsidizing private companies,
but they won't act unless they get some money to keep up with the
demands the law has put upon them. It's time to take care of this and
to take care of it now.

Posted by: Kathy at 11:17 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 1161 words, total size 7 kb.

--- Courtesy of the husband. If I were a recording artiste, I would
have to question whether the RIAA is actually looking out for my best
interest or if they're just looking after themselves. {/sarcasm}
Read this.

Then read this.

THEN, read this.
And then try to tell me file sharing hurts the recording industry and
its artists. The Harvard study is proof of what I've been saying all
along: that file sharing is a tool to be used to promote sales. But the
RIAA is so shortsighted, so blindly ignorant of the facts that they
dismiss this study. Now it seems as if the Austrialian version of the
RIAA---the ARIA is willfully manipulating their sales numbers to
further their case against file sharing. Has the RIAA already done
this? Methinks its a distinct possibility. After all, this is an
organization who sues twelve-year olds to further its cause; who's to
say they'll stop there? To quote Morpheus: "I'm trying to free your mind."

And how ironic is it that the name of one of the biggest file sharing program is also the name of the man who freed The One?

Hmmmmm.

--- Another link courtesy of the husband.

What the hell?
So, if I'm reading this correctly, the child porn laws are now going to
be used just like the laws against suicide? Is that right? That,
because she's underage, this girl can be charged with sexual abuse---of herself?
Kinda makes you wonder if they're going to start going after the
chronic masturbators sometime soon. After all, they're abusing
themselves---it's time for government to step in!
I don't know about this one. I really don't. Something seems really off
here, if you ask me. I hate child pornography. It's vile. And I don't
know if "vile" is a strong enough word for it, but it seems to suit.
The Internet has to be a seriously scary place for parents nowadays. I
don't have kids, but I don't know if the good outweighs the bad here.
If I did have a kid, I wouldn't allow them on any chat servers. I just
wouldn't. Last year I babysat two nieces and a nephew for three weeks.
I was in charge of two teenagers and one tween for three whole weeks,
and everytime they logged onto AIM, I just about freaked out. Not only
could I NOT read their conversations when I peeked over their shoulders
(they were filled with symbols and abbreviations. Their chats made no
sense to me---the girl who likes plain English), I didn't know who the
hell they were talking to, and it would have been REALLY easy for them
to have eluded even my heightened snooping skills. Fortunately, they're
Mormon, so I could trust that they weren't going to get into too much
trouble. But still...it was worrying. I would have to think parents are
scared silly. It seems a hollow consolation that the Internet is
actually serving a flypaperish purpose and is bringing the pedophiles
out of the closet, from whence they can be caught---but I certainly
don't know if I'd want my kid to be used as bait. But this? This seems
over the top to me. Charging a girl who'd posted pictures of her
underaged-self on the internet with sexual abuse violates the spirit of
the law to me. Why didn't they just call the parents and tell them
about what was going on? Obviously they weren't aware. I can't imagine
ANY set of parents who would have said that this was ok behavior and
then argued that this was a flagrant violation of their daughter's
privacy and then have stood up for her on those grounds---encouraging
the government to charge her and they'd fight it in the courts. That
seems ridiculous. What the hell is going on here? If the child porn
laws were intended to prevent child pornography, and to protect
children---what kind of a message does it send to arrest a child for
violating those laws? I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head
around this one. It smacks of a nanny state.

Posted by: Kathy at 11:13 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 693 words, total size 4 kb.

--- Was distracted from blogging yesterday because I was too busy being
a domestic goddess. The house is clean. The pantry is stocked. And I FINALLY got one of those Rabbit-corkscrew opener thingys at Costco. But this isn't the one I bought: I bought the knockoff that was twelve bucks.

Seems to work just
fine, though, despite the fact they're viciously undercutting the
Rabbit producers. Opened my bottle of Fat Bastard Chardonnay
lickety-split. Methinks the Rabbit corkscrew patent ran out. Verdict: I LOVE IT I can get to my wine all the quicker at the end of a long day---and as our infamous homemaking felon would say, That's a good thing.
(Side question: did anyone else ever think that whenever Martha said
those words, the expression on her face was just a wee bit too maniacal
for comfort? Like she was saying that's a good thing but she really
meant: if you don't think this is a good thing, well, then you're
just an uneducated, ignorant moron who has no taste. And I will conquer
the world using my sheet sets sold at the Big K as my weapon of choice!
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! . Something's just not right with her.) The
husband, if you didn't know, was in the restaurant industry for years.
I've always used his old wine tools to open my wine, and unlike in some
households, you can always find a corkscrew in my house: it's
just a matter of choosing which one you want to use. But I was tired of
the old wine tools. They're made for restaurant use. The husband can
practically open a bottle of wine with one hand using one of those
tools; I, on the other hand, am scrawny (well, not really, but that
word works well to describe my lack of upper body strength). I didn't
really like using the wine tools, but since we had so MANY of them
(wine distributors hand these things out to servers like they hand out
perfume samples at department stores), it was hard to justify the
purchase of a new corkscrew. Particularly when the Rabbit corkscrews
used to cost $100. Aieee. It may work like a dream, but I'm just not
going to spend that much money on booze, let alone the tool that allows
me access to the booze. No way in hell. But then they became cheap. And
being my cheap self, I told everyone this is what I wanted for
Christmas. I thought I'd get someone else to pick up the tab. Did
anyone buy me one, though? Nope. Apparently they saw through my shallow
play. Good for them for not being suckered, but still---I didn't have
the damn corkscrew. I have one now, though. It takes up ten times the
space that the old wine tools used, but I figure since I was finally
forced to clean out my kitchen tool drawer, it's proved its usefulness.
--- Musical selection for the Cake Eater Office this morning. Just
listened to Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls. Am now listening to Frank Sinatra's recording of The Girl From Ipanema.
Ain't technology grand? Gotta love the shuffle. --- Since some of you
do your weekly shopping on Saturdays, I thought perhaps I should inform
you of this fabulous holiday that's coming up on Monday so you can be
prepared for the celebracion!

Visit your butcher today and prepare for Monday.

Posted by: Kathy at 11:09 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 575 words, total size 4 kb.

--- It's not snowing yet. And according to the weatherman on one of the
local stations we're actually supposed to have---gasp!---thunderstorms
this afternoon! I was finally able to turn off the furnace yesterday.
Exciting stuff, no? Considering the thing has been running non-stop
since last fall, this was a milestone. Today it's still warm and it's humid which is a completely novel concept. What? You mean there's an atmospheric condition that allows moisture to hang in the air, making everything feel all dewy? Wow!
I'm loving this. It will snow next weekend though. It's the Girls State
(?) Basketball tournament---reportedly that's the weekend it always
snows. I'm not sure about this one. Every state has their own mythology
about this sort of thing and I wind up getting them confused. In Iowa
it always snowed whenever we had the Boys State Basketball tournament.
I can't keep them straight. I'm assuming Mr. H.---aka the native---will
straighten me out on this one. All I know is that it's the middle of
March and while I should think that spring has finally arrived, I know
better. Winter will bitchslap me once more before it's all said and
done with. I know she will. She's mean and manipulative that way. --- Hell has officially frozen over.

Get out your skates and sticks, kids. It's time to play hockey using the devil's head as the puck!

GOAL!

--- As usual, Michele has beaten me to yet another really good idea that I was planning on using this morning.
Follow all the links. If it's not apparent to you that this guy is just
trying to sell his book by trying to tap into that Bush=Hitler
zeitgeist, well...perhaps you need to fine tune your cynicism
equalizer.
I watched the Richard Clarke interview on 60 Minutes Sunday night. The
husband and I paid attention until it was readily apparent that this
was a case of sour grapes/book pr launch/cheap, parting shots all
wrapped up into one interview with Lesley Stahl. Condi kicked him out
of the loop, and I can't honestly say I blame her. It's pretty easy to
surmise that Condi thought he was part of the problem that led up to
the embassy bombings, Khobar Towers, the USS Cole. It's also fairly
obvious to say that this guy didn't come up with any good ideas for
dealing with the problem other than shooting thirteen Tomahawks into an
aspirin factory in Khartoum and however many missiles into empty space
in Afghanistan. He had his uses---that of a mouthpiece, and Condi used
him appropriately in that regard. He was, of course, pissed off about
this. He was demoted. He was cut out of the National Security Council
loop---this meant he was actually responsible to Congress for his
funding and his activities. He got smacked with a big, wet trout and he
was smarting. Go figure that he would write a tell all the minute he
got out of government service. I don't think the guy is the
anti-christ. He spent thirty some odd years in public service---he's
got his retirement to think about. He needs the cash, hence it's in his
best interest to flog the hell out of this book. The problem with this
scenario is that he's flogging his book on the back of a nation that is
already bloody and bruised and is having some troubles with healing.
They've gone to the witch doctor (as a last resort, of
course---conventional medicine failed to heal their wounds) and they're
praying for some sort of resolution to the pain that has plagued them
over the past two and a half years. They won't get any healing out of
this commission. I hate to say it. They're going to get the same
answers that were readily apparent in the first few weeks and months
after 9/11. We dropped the ball. It's pretty apparent. We were hit in a
way we never could have thought we'd be hit (although, interesting side
note---remember the show The Lone Gunmen?
They predicted this sort of scenario---flying a jetliner into the
WTC---on one of their last episodes. It will never be seen again.) and
we suffered for our lack of foresight. I have a hard time believing
that this guy has dressed himself so flamboyantly in his
self-righteousness because he's really concerned about making sure this
sort of thing never happens again. Or to provide some comfort to the
9/11 families. The only patriotism he feels is due is to himself. It's
all about selling the book. If it were otherwise, why was the release
date moved up to coincide with his testimony before the 9/11
Commission? Why the inflammatory 60 Minutes interview? In other words
it's about greed. If you want to equalize greed with treason, go ahead.
I'm having a hard time making it there myself, but if you want to make
that leap, go right ahead. It's pretty simple: government pension=lousy
retirement in a double wide or
write inflammatory book about the current administrations failings in
an election year=Palm Springs mansion. Which would you choose? Being
the capitalists that you all are? Answer honestly, knowing you'd let
the chips fall where they might.
This, of course, doesn't excuse his actions. But it doesn't make him
evil---as in the d-EVIL made me do it!---either.
It just doesn't make him credible. His actions are suspicious. His
actions are not consistent with what he's done in the past. His
righteousness just doesn't jibe. This is why I'm having a hard
time taking him seriously. The problem here, of course, is that the
media has jumped on this story, like white on rice. They're loving it.
But think about this for a second: if he were really above scrutiny,
was speaking the truth and was right, where the hell is Kerry?
He's been conspicuously absent. He's the direct beneficiary of Clarke's
book---and yet he wants nothing to do with the man. I have faith that
people will see through this shallow ploy---at least the people who I
think have brains will see through this ploy. If you're one of the
folks that hang out at DU or Indymedia, you'll lap this stuff up. But
if you're a thinking person, which most people are, you will form your
own opinions about this case. The only thing that cheeses me is that
this man is playing with the hopes and fears of the people who want
some answers---those people who lost family on 9/11. By toying with
their emotions, he's being cruel. He should apologize to them, not for
dropping the ball on 9/11, but because he's playing with them to
supplement his retirement. Shame on him for that. He's using these
people. And that's what everyone seems to be ignoring in this debacle.
Very sad.

Posted by: Kathy at 10:53 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 1141 words, total size 7 kb.

--- No blogging today. You got two big posts yesterday and I have a
manuscript that needs working on.
Turn on CNN and watch the 9/11 hearings. Interesting stuff going on
there.

Posted by: Kathy at 10:47 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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--- So, I actually got out of the house today. Blew off some of that
house stink and made some money in the process. A good trip out, all in
all. I did something I've never done before: I went and sold off some
CD's. Impressive, no? A new experience and it was profitable, to boot.
It's not everyday you have an experience like that.
The musical selection at the Cake Eater household is eclectic. This is
putting it kindly. If I were in a mood to be unkind to myself and the
husband, well, I'd probably say that I'm addicted to music played by
men with acoustic guitars and he has a thing for bands who screwed
Tawny Kitaen on top of a Jaguar or in the back of a tour bus in the
80's. The middle ground between our divergent musical tastes is a very
small space indeed---about three inches wide, in fact. I've heard
strange stories of people who have gotten married and have actually had
to weed out duplicate CD's; that their musical tastes actually coincide. God. If this is the truth and not an urban myth, well, my God---do these people have any idea of how lucky they are?
To be able to go to a show together---and to enjoy it? What a novel
concept. Where one person isn't bored with Axl Rose's teleprompter
reading of the lyrics to---AHEM--- songs he wrote and his lack
of promptness and doesn't really mind getting stoned from all the
secondhand pot smoke? For one spouse to be able to pick a CD that
doesn't make the other spouse grind their teeth down to the roots?
These people could drive down the highway and agree to listen to the same radio station?
Wow. It sounds too good to be true. Really, it does. Hence it must be
an urban myth.
One of the very few things the husband and I do agree on when it comes
to music is that some of our purchases in the CD department haven't
been as worthwhile as we'd hoped they would be. I think everyone has
had this experience: a new CD by some artist you love comes out and it
turns out that, despite the one single you liked, it blew monkey bits.
I've been meaning to clean out the CD's---like I do the clothes we
haven't worn for a year---and I finally got around to it. But rather
than giving them to the Goodwill or throwing them out, I took them to
Cheapo in Uptown and walked out of the store with $30.75 in my
wallet---well, it was only $20 some after I bought some CD's, but who's
counting, right? I thought you might be interested to read what we
parted with---it might provide some amusement for those of you who got
to this page after you typed "Janet's Boobie" into Google's search
engine (And I *know* who you sick fucks are! Jeez. Chime in on the
bared breast and you get people looking for porno wandering onto your
blog thanks to algorithms...ugh. Sex and math. Are there any two more
unrelated topics out there?) might be interested to know what we got
rid of and why.
And away we go...
1. Sheryl Crow Tuesday Night Music Club: I got tired of it
somewhere around June, 1996, after "All I Wanna Do" had been played for
the bajillionth time. Pretty much killed the desire to get into the
rest of the album for me. 2. Various Artists Legacy: The Rumours Tribute Album: It sucked. And Hole covers Gold Dust Woman. No further commentary is needed.

3. George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic Greatest Funkin Hits:
This is one of the husband's choices. According to him it didn't have
the selection he thought should be on there. Too bad. I actually had
grown quite fond of Atomic Dog.

4. Various Artists Kiss My A**: The Kiss Tribute Album:
Another one of the husband's, recorded in those halcyon days of the
mid-90's where all the recording artists seemed to want to do was
covers of other bands songs. Like Fred Durst still isn't pulling that
trick nowadays, but according to the husband, this blew. And he really
didn't need it anymore. The original urge to purchase this thing, if
I'm remembering correctly, was that the husband---a huge KISS fan and a
member of the KISS Army at age seven---didn't have any KISS on CD and
was having a hard time finding some. In a moment of desperation, he
wanted to see what this was like and thought he might be killing two
birds with one stone. (There was a time, remember, in the early to
mid-90's where KISS was reclusive as hell---I miss those days...bliss.)
So, thanks to Mr. H. who bought him KISS's greatest hits for his
birthday last year, we don't need this one in the collection anymore.
5. Dave Matthews Band Crash: I still have a copy of this. This
was a duplicate that my sister bought me for Christmas and I couldn't
return because she'd torn the cellophane off.
6. Dave Matthews Band Everyday: Just couldn't get into this
one for some reason. Mr. H. would say that it was because I finally had
come to my senses and had realized that the Dave Matthews Band should,
in fact, be banned. He hates Dave, whereas I do not. I just didn't dig
it.
7. John Mellencamp Dance Naked: This was one of those Columbia House get ten CD's for a penny
last chance choices. Columbia House was bad. I've admitted before that
I was cheap, well as proof of my cheapness you should probably know
that I was one of those people who would sign up, get my ten free CD's,
buy my allotment and then would cancel the damn thing as soon as I
could. It worked out pretty good, too, because they kept lowering the
amount you had to buy. I think the last time I did this is, it was only
four. Good deal all around. This was one of the freebies and I picked
it in desperation because I was having a damn hard time choosing from
their pitiful selection. The CD still had the original cellophane on it
for two years. That in itself should speak volumes.
8. Mighty, Mighty Bosstones Let's Face It: The husband
purchased this for me, and while I liked one song on the disc, the horn
section got to be a wee bit too loud for my tastes. 9. John Osajca Back in 1999: This CD was a freebie from my
coffee shop days. Caribou used to have CD's players and employees could
bring in whatever CD's they wanted and could play them on the store's
stereo. Before the music industry threatened to sue over licensing
issues and they replaced all of the CD players with DMX
versions---which only played the DMX published and royalty-paying
CD's---publicists and the like used to drop off CD's at the stores as a
PR tool. Never mind that I never had a CD player at my store (my store
came replete with two hanging Sony TV's and cable! woohoo!) they
dropped CD's off anyway. This was one such CD and I have never listened
to it. After the fifteen teenagers I had working for me at the time had
blatantly ignored it for weeks, I took it home and stuck it on the
shelf. And it was a good thing, I did too---I made $2 on it today! HA! Profit!
The only thing I know about this guy is that he dated Lisa Marie
Presley after she dumped MJ. I feel for him. That baggage must have
been heavy!

10. Alice in Chains Jar of Flies:
The husband's. Hasn't listened to it in ten years. It went.
Ok, kids---there be the first ten. Have no fear, there will be more
boring twaddle about the CD's that I dumped today posted throughout the
week---we ditched almost forty. Lots o' material.

Posted by: Kathy at 12:38 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 1346 words, total size 7 kb.

--- Watched a very funny show tonight. This Just In.

And---go figure--- the main character has his own blog.
Brian, it seems, is the 21st Century, Californian equivalent of Archie
Bunker--except for the small fact that Brian is not some cheap Norman
Lear ploy to bring people over to the left by showing just what an
ignorant and intolerant asshat Archie was. (Kinda makes you wonder,
though. How many people watched that show, at the time, thinking that
Archie was right on and that Meathead could go and shove his head in a
grinder? Personally, even though I was a small child at the time, I
thought Meathead was a jerk and that Gloria was an eedjit for hooking
up with him in the first place. I was four and I was already smarter
than Sally Struthers----how cool am I?)
Anyway, Brian's conservative, he's an asshat most of the time, he's
funny, and he'd be proud and vocal about it, provided he could move his
ass off a barstool.
And he's a cartoon character. Brilliant, no? --- Read something in the local paper today that made me chuckle in an evil sort of way.
Mike Hatch, if you're not from here, is the Attorney General for the
State of Minnesota. He ran for the Senate in 2000, before Mark Dayton
threw his megabucks into the race and demolished everyone. I think he
even considered running for givernor in 2002---but the DFL party
decided Roger Moe should get a go at the job. He's stuck with his job
and has been toying with bigger ambitions for years. One of these days
he'll finally get around to realizing them.
In the meantime, he's kept his name in the paper and on the local TV
stations by being litigious. He's sued HMO's. He's gone after Qwest.
He's gone after the tobacco companies. His latest escapade in the world of lawsuits is
to sue the State of North Dakota because they're regulating when
outstaters can go and shoot ducks and pheasants in North Dakota.
Reportedly it violates interstate commerce laws. Apparently, his record
indicates a fair amount of fighting The Man for the average taxpaying
citizen. He's a DFL'er. That's his job. He's supposed to fight THE MAN!
Kinda funny, though, how little respect his offspring have for legal
authorities, isn't it? Even though their father is a legal authority in
his own right. One of his kids actually kicked out the window on a cop
car. That's a fairly impressive feat of dexterity---particularly when
one is handcuffed, no less. Were they just taking their dad's tack and
striking a blow against The Man when they resisted arrest? Apples
generally don't fall to far from the tree, after all.

Posted by: Kathy at 12:23 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 465 words, total size 3 kb.

--- Is the election over with already? Nope. Some people are just
firing up. Namely, Lileks.

It's come down to it again.
This battle of the lesser of two evils. One great white hope forging
his sword in the flame of electoral righteousness to battle the other
great white hope who's done the same. And for what? The chance to
appease the base voters who are so freaking unimaginative in their
thinking that they actually refuse to learn something new---to
actually, you know, reexamine the issues periodically, rather than
eating up the rhetoric that the candidates spew daily, like a frat boy
on a perpetual binge spews chunks every night after the bars close.
Ugh. It's MARCH and I'm tired of this nonsense. I've BEEN tired of it
since last September. IT'S BORING.
The very least these nimrods could do is give me a smackdown. I want to
see John Kerry smacked Geraldo-style with a folding chair. I think it
would do wonders for that overgrown chin of his. Conversely, I would
really like to see Dubya have his hair pulled. I think it would be good
for the two of them to just get it over with. Kerry v. Bush---The
Deathmatch, buy it on pay-per-view for only $59.95. We could pay off the national debt like that.
But they won't do that. Not very presidential, I'm afraid. However, it
would be really nice if these people actually, you know, campaigned to get votes. Because what they're doing right now is not
campaigning. It's soundbites wrapped up in a tasty brown concoction
pulled from an overly wet backyard. It would be nice if they actually
went to a function where they had to meet someone who didn't
necessarily share their views. If you're a Democrat, don't try to go to
a Bush function. You'll be placed in the "protest zone" about two miles
down the road. If you're a Republican, well, prepare to have junk
thrown at you at a Democratic event. Candidates don't have to campaign
anymore. They don't have to debate (if you think they're actually
thinking on the fly there, you're nuts). All they have to do is deliver
carefully massaged sound bites that will make the evening news as the
"zinger of the day." Campaigning is about convincing someone to vote
for a particular candidate---dissent is an essential part of the
process. After all, how can you convince someone to support you if you
don't actually ever talk to them? Do the presidential
candidates---right or left ever
talk to someone who doesn't support them. This crap that's on the
evening news every flipping night is NOT campaigning---it's
cheerleading. Yep. Cheerleading. You know---those obnoxiously popular
people from high school who wore short skirts and built human pyramids
at basketball games, like they were the only ones who could manage that
incredible feat of human dexterity. The people who shouted inane cheers
like "2-4-6-8, who do we appreciate?" You know the people I'm talking
about. They're fine folks, I have no doubts, but somehow we've all
managed to get caught up in their nonsense. It's a stretch, but do you
think those rabid party supporters on either side were once denied
entry into their high school cheerleading squad? I think it's a
possibility. After all, aren't we a nation of wannabes? Doesn't FOX
have an entire nation seemingly hooked on the insults a nasty
Englishman dishes out to Madonna/Ricky Martin Wannabes? When did this
nation stop thinking for itself?
Demand an actual campaign. Demand that the TV airwaves be free of
political ads---all the time. Demand that the candidates actually have
to go out and campaign and convince voters of their qualifications for
the top job. Don't rely upon celebrities to tell you what a candidate
stands for in some high-quality-production-value commercial bought and
paid for by Hollywood. God. Force them to be honest! And what's amazing is that these politicians actually wonder why voter turnout is so low. They just don't get it.

I can't watch this crap. I am not a cheerleader. I want real
discussion. I want dissent to hit these candidates full and center. I
want to see how they would overcome it. But they're not doing that.
They're campaigning against shadows---what each side perceives the
other to be and this is not what democracy is about. That men and women
died in wars defending this country and this is what they gave
their blood for? This three-ring circus of fundraising? Television ads
that are as nasty as they can get? Lies on the evening news? It's
bogus. Beyond belief bogus. I can't watch John Kerry spew the same,
tired lines about Bush being AWOL. I can't listen to Bush mispronounce
the word "nuclear" anymore. But I will vote. I won't disenfranchise
myself. After all, those brave men and women died so I could have the
right to tell the government who I think should run it. I already know
who I'm voting for in November. Don't ask, because I'm not going to
tell you. It wouldn't be a surprise to those of you who have been
reading this thing for forever, but I believe in the secret ballot.
There's a reason why it's written into the Constitution. Go and look it
up. It's too late for me to start the history lesson. Therefore, now
that my choices are delineated for me---I am declaring the Cake Eater
Chronicles to be---ahem---AN ELECTION 2004 FREE ZONE.

I ain't gonna talk about it no more.

Posted by: Kathy at 12:14 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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