Newsflash!

Hey! Something neither political nor depressing! What is this post doing here? Oh right. It's informing you that you can now view the real me, without all the attempts to be serious, on my new blog, Random Insane Bloggage of Doom. Strange name? Wait 'til you see what's in it.

Also. I mentioned this before... I'm going to be in Pennsylvania for three weeks, starting tomorrow, and I'll be studying Cognitive Psychology. So, I might not have much time to update this blog. Sorry, folks! I'll try my best but I can't promise anything. Barbaras both, please check the new blog, I left a message for you.

Adieu, adieu! I'll miss you all!

-Mint Sharpie

Not in this House you don't!

You know how the righties are always plugging "down home family values?" I have to wonder what the hell kind of psychotic houses they grew up in. The values emphasized by my mother, and hers, and so on through the generations are as follows:

1-Be responsible for your own actions
2-Don't waste your money
3-Clean your room
4-Don't do drugs
5-Treat the elderly with respect
6-Be nice to little kids
7-Respect other people's views
8-Don't start fights
9-Eat your vegetables, they're good for you

So that's how I grew up. Now let's see how the Neo-Cons DON'T stack up.

1-Obviously everyone ducks responsiblitity. ALL THE TIME.
2-Nearly two hundred billion (non-existant) dollars spent on Iraq EACH YEAR with no end in sight.
3-I don't know how their living rooms look, but the floor of the House has gotten very nasty (this applies to everyone, not just the Republican side of the aisle)
4-The Republicans back huge pharmaceutical companies that charge outlandish prices for the medicines people need to live.
5-Veterans are getting screwed over, retirees don't have enough to live on, and don't even get me started on Medicare...
6-Although blastocysts count as people, children's education is going down the tubes, as is foster care.
7-I don't have to say anything, do I?
8-*points to Middle East*
9-Actually that one I threw in for fun. I don't know how the Senators and Congressmen eat, although Dick Cheney could definitely do with less cholesterol.

So there you have it. Apparently "family values" count only as praying to Jesus 24/7. Which I for one find offensive. Religion is a personal matter, not a public one, and I don't care how many times the Bible says that the world is Christ's domininon---Leave it out of politics and schools. I'm not saying I disagree with every single little thing that Christianity stands for. Turn the other cheek, faith as relief and comfort... That's fine, I have no problem with that. It's when the government starts shoving their perverted interpretations of it into my face that I start getting angry. And when they make out like it's good family values, especially when they're systematically screwing families over... That's simply inexcuseable.

Mushrooms taste good, but...

It's everywhere these days. The non-existant WMD's in Iraq. Iran's new energy program. North Korea's missile test. Nuclear technology is useful---It can produce enough energy to power millions of homes and businesses. But always, the threat of the most deadly weapon in existance hangs over the world. With the potential to kill millions of people in a single blast and millions more in the aftermath, whoever is backed with nuclear technology is feared. It is this fear that makes so many so desperate to get their hands on nukes. As the president of Iran is doing, one can use the mere implication of a peaceful energy program to draw the international community out in a frenzy. The most powerful countries in the world are falling over each other to offer Ahmedinejiad help with energy production, as long as his country doesn't make a bomb. The president is now free to pick the best treaty he can, and get billions of dollars to aid Iran's energy production. North Korea's dictator Kim Jong Il has said that his country has the bombs, which is why so many countries are terrified that the long-range Taepodong missile tests may give North Korea a means to deliver them.

Of course, this all started with WWII. The strikes by the US on Hiroshima, Japan showed the world exactly how devastating nuclear bombs can be. Since then, the international community has feared and been jealous of any country in possession of nukes. What bugs me is that the US is the main opponent to other people's nuclear technology, even though we're the ones packing the most heat. If nobody else deserves to have it, why should we? Maybe because the States are supposed to be trustworthy. Or nobody wants to mess with us because we have such advanced military tech. Perhaps other world leaders don't want to lose the possibility of an alliance. Whatever the reason is, the reality is unfair. If people want nuclear energy, fine. Be my guest. But for the love of all things good, can we get rid of the bombs already? Calling them a peacekeeping tool is a terrible misrepresentation. Bombs have a single purpose: to kill lots of people at once. The threat of nuclear attack by the United States is an empty one, because after Hiroshima, nobody wants to have so much death on their hands. If some terrorist group decides to pull off another 9-11, a nuke isn't going to stop them. And so many innocents would be killed and maimed, so many children yet unborn would be mutilated, that nothing would ever be worth it. Everyone in the world would suffer. The brewing crisis in Asia highlights the horrible mess the human race has gotten itself into. Doom, doom, death and destruction everywhere; And it won't stop, until it all ends in the smoke of a mushroom cloud.

What would you die for?

Today is the one year anniversary of the bombings in London. It is always a terrible thing when people want to kill, but more so when those people are willing to take their own lives as well as those of others. I can understand the idea of giving one's life for a cause one belives in---I would gladly die to save any of my friends. What I don't get is why the cause should be killing. It causes an incredible amount of grief. The concept of a suicide bombing makes me wonder: What were they thinking? Did they hope to become martyrs purely for the sake of fame? Did they die with their victims because they were too cowardly to face the aftermath? Or did they believe in their cause so fervently that all other reasons to live were forced aside? If this last was the case, what about the cause evokes such mindless loyalty? I am scheduled to take a course in cognitive psychology, in about a week. I hope that it will shed some light on the subject.

In the meantime, what would you die for, and why?

Cultural Differences

I'm currently streaming CBC Radio One through the web. The news is reported every half hour, along with the weather. The announcer just relayed the weather: partly cloudy and 20° in Toronto. The temperature, of course, is in degrees Celsius. The thought rose unbidden, "Hmm. The USA must not import Canadian thermometers..." I don't know why this idea occurred to me. It's probably not right; I mean, just because they use a different system doesn't mean the manufacturers can't put different numbers on the edge of a piece of plastic. But this thought served to highlight the rift between Canada and the United States. Speaking from south of the border, it really is a different country up there. Not just because it actually is... But there's been a mystique about Canada ever since the Vietnam War. It's the stereotype that Canadians are different, so it makes the differences that do exist seem larger.

This realization of my true perspective disgusts me. As much as I try to be open-minded, I do have that element of the "ugly American" in me. Fundamentally, I have to see things from an American perspective. I haven't had the chance to develop any new ones. Just listening to one Canadian radio station isn't that much at all. For one thing, the CBC itself is only one side of the story. There are other radio frequencies out there.

However, taking what I've heard into account, Canada seems as close to Utopia as any place can be. One morning, the news reported "a terribly bloody day in Toronto," because two people were shot dead in the streets. I remember thinking, "Only two?" Murders are so common around here that they don't get that much attention anymore. So much for the Right to Bear Arms. On Canada Day, three men were photographed urinating on a war memorial. The pictures caused a national uproar. This makes me both sad and somehow nostalgic. Memorials can be covered in toilet paper and silly string and other junk, and the maintenence people just sigh and clean it up. I feel like it would be wonderful to live where people care about respecting war dead.

But the other half of the report featured people saying, "Set an honor guard, like America does at the Tomb of the Unknowns! They take care of their heroes." Excuse me while I scoff. It's all political, trying to make it look like the government cares. Under this administration, people are worth more dead than alive. Send soldiers into war without adequate protection, and then make a huge fuss when they come back draped in the flag. Veterans get left to make it on their own, when many have lost their jobs because of the length of time they've been overseas, and others from previous conflicts get screwed over by this new Medicare thing. And still, the news about the war in Iraq usually only reports American casualties. Nobody says anything about the thousands of civilians who have died, unless it's "Another terrible attack, forty dead including three Americans and another seventy wounded," and then some clips of parents who have lost children, crying and screaming. It's sick.

One day I will travel. I will meet people and learn things. Canada seems like a good place to start.

Is the Left wing really pink? Oh, Colonel Sanders, what a bore...

Have you ever really listened to C-Span? I mean really, really listened, and took notes of who said what. No? Me neither. All I get is what's on The News Hour, because I usually don't have the time to watch enough C-Span to hear anything useful. Now that Washington's on summer vacation, it's a good time to look at rhetoric on both sides of the isle.

I'll start with the Republican side. Most of their "reasoning" for what they do is done in the name of freedom, God, and you-aren't-American-if-you-disagree-ism. If you want to bring troops out of Iraq so that the people have to get serious and figure stuff out for themselves, you're "cutting and running" and "disrespecting our troops." If you want to raise taxes on the top 1% of the wealthy, you're damaging our economy. If you want to increase funding for schools, you're taking away from national security. If you want to raise security funding for New York City, you're being stupid because there aren't any national icons there. The demands of the red side are phrased in such a way that those who oppose them come across as unpatriotic and stupid. For example, "Operation Iraqi Freedom." If you vote against that, you look like you don't want Iraq to be free. Or the "Clean Air Act." Oooh, you don't want clean air, ooooh...

This macho, holier-than-thou attitude is very annoying. And for the most part, these "patriotic" resolutions help only the wealthy. Look at this Medicare mess. All these new individual plans were, supposedly, created to make sure that the participants would pay less for the medications they need. But no; instead, the consumer pays more, the prices of medications go up, and the pharmaceutical companies rake in the billions. If you ask me, medicines should be free. Period. Labs should be funded by the state. I mean, these are life-saving drugs here. Thousands of people would just up and die without their meds. Then again, if I could, I'd abolish money. Everything would be free, and everyone takes turns doing menial labor. Those who specialize would stay put, like scientists and chefs. Everyone would be supported by the state, and there wouldn't be poverty because everyone could have the basics of life, and more if they wanted. From each accoring to ability, to each according to need. Yep, I said it. Communism. The kind that works. But as everyone learns in freshman English class, humans don't work that way. Lord of the Flies and all that. Because of the corrupt, communism has accuired the worst rap in the world. Quite literally. Evil red commies. Even socialists get smeared. I'm what is known as a "pink diaper baby." I grew up with a socialist family and I believe in socialist ideals. Such as free healthcare and a stable platform, so that nobody gets stuck living below the poverty line. So sue me for wanting everyone to have a chance.

The other side of the isle, the Democratic party, used to be my party of choice. Then this new breed of Neo-Conservative cropped up, and the Democrats shattered. Previously, the reason that the blues didn't agree was because they all respected the fact that people have slightly different opinions. Now, though, they disagree because they want more political leverage. Some side with the Republicans in order to get more approval, but they wind up being labeled "flip-floppers." Because the democratic image practically expects representitives to change their minds, there isn't one solid model of argument to follow. Where most of the Republicans form a stubborn wall of "agree or else" attitude, everyone else is scrambling for cover. Those members of Congress whom I respect fight back with what I see as common sense. To combat the "you don't respect our troops" response to the idea of a pullout, several speakers pointed out that you haven't been to war so you can't talk, and this strategy obviously wasn't working, and people are dying, and don't you dare lecture us on respect when you won't even approve money for freakin' body armor.

Go get 'em, guys.

I just wish the Dems would get their act together enough to present a feasible alternative come November. 'Til then, I'm registering as an Independent.