Headline News Recap
As the American public officially welcomed the $1 trillion mark for the War in Iraq (you know, the clusterfuck that was only supposed to last a few months and cost us a couple of billion), one of the major bridges in Minneapolis collapsed killing five people, while 30 are still listed as missing. This is what happens when our corporately owned politicians send all of our money overseas in an attempt to take ownership over the third largest oil reserve in the world instead of using our money to help us. Most of the bridges and highway systems in this country are in serious need of repair and rebuilding, so let's stop the fighting for one or two weeks in Iraq, and the money we save should be able to cover the road/highway/bridge repair bill.
What a shock! Just a week after Atlanta Falcons Player/Animal Abuser Michael Vick was busted for his involvement in an elaborate dogfighting operation, the whole race issue is coming into focus. Here's the deal: yes, people of color have been given a shit deal in this country, but animal cruelty is animal cruelty. For those of you who aren't quite familiar with dog fighting, and think maybe Vick's involvement isn't so bad, I challenge you to Google "dog fighting". It's bad, and I don't give a fuck if you are black, white, tan, purple or blue, if you have any part in it, you're a major asshole that deserves to do time, or be stripped naked, covered in bacon and put into a small room with the doggies you've trained to kill. In fact, now that I'm thinking about it, I like the later of the two punishments.
Congress claimed they were getting tough on big oil this week by slapping $16 billion in new taxes on the oil industry, and earmarking the money for conservation and renewable energy. Considering the fact that BP alone took in $6.1 billion in profits last quarter (yep, 3 short months) $16 billion spread over the industry is basically an ant fart, but at least those worthless bastards in D.C. are attempting to look like they are getting off their dead asses to do something.
A sweet, Mexican lady in Los Angeles went into a frenzy this week claiming she was watering her tree and saw the face of Jesus on the trunk. You know, it's kind of hard to say that stereotypes aren't accurate when Mexican women keep claiming they see Jesus on trees, and in tortillas, and in candles, and just about anywhere else that a being who goes by the name "the almighty" wouldn't be likely to appear. Besides, I thought Jesus was appearing in a tree trunk near St. Michael's church in Memphis, Tennessee. Is this some kind of a tour, like when The Eagles did the "Hell Freezes Over Tour" in the early '90s?
In Local News
I am happily unpacking boxes now that we are finally in our own place. Aside from living in a cardboard jungle and dealing with a bit of an ant issue, Jeff and I are thrilled that we no longer have to feel like giggly teenagers when we want to have some good ol' fashioned husband and wife time. It's funny at first, but after a few minutes, it's just weird and creepy.
The most pathetic part of living in my new house is realizing that I have three times the distance to work as I had in Seattle, but I get there 5-10 minutes quicker. To all of my former neighbors in King County, they are not spending your tax dollars (which are also more significant than California) on infrastructure, they are lining their pockets. You all need to do something about it, because in the time it takes to move three car lengths on the 405, you can email your local politician to tell them they suck ass, and you need more roads.
Worthless Entertainment News
Lindsay Lohan is in rehab again. Nicole Ritchie is pregnant and due to report to prison by the end of the month. Britney went for Mom of the Year again and took her kids to Vegas without her ex-husband's permission. Paris Hilton didn't do shit, but the entertainment media yammered on about her anyways. What I'm wondering at this point is, how come we never hear about any reckless Hollywood males? There must be a few bad boys in the world of entertainment who are raising hell, but the media seems to endlessly obsess on these self-destruction divas whose stories are all the same, and it's downright boring. See, this is what happens when hard rock goes all emo. The rockstars are too busy whining about their feelings, and they forget that their role is to do crazy shit and make us wish that we could live in their bizzaro utopia for awhile. Give me the good ol' Guns 'n' Roses, Metallica, even Rolling Stones days when boys were bad, and their lives made for some great worthless entertainment news.
Asshole(s) of the Week
Achievement Obsessed Parents - Sports media was all abuzz this week over Jan Silva. Jan is an adorable 5-year-old with amazing tennis skills. This little guy's serve is the thing dreams are made of, and if he doesn't sustain one of those annoying playground injuries, he should have a bright career in tennis. The part of the story that rubbed me wrong was that his parents are moving the family to France to develop his skills. Once again, he's five. With this story in the back of my head, we got together with the family and saw my niece do a children's theater production on Saturday afternoon. During intermission one of the louder moms behind me was talking about what a genius her kid was, because he stayed in character the whole time. Okay, the production was "Oliver" and her kid was in the ensemble where all of the kids had to act like depressed, detatched orphans. How hard was this! Being in the ensemble sucks, because you are basically living scenery, and you have to sit there for two hours and watch the set designer's kid do a shit job in the lead. My point in all of this is that as a parent, I want my little one to be the best that she can be, but I am not pushing her to be great at anything. All of these parents who are so obsessed with achievement, and trying so hard to make their kids some sort of prodigy are basically telling them, through actions, that nothing they do is good enough or will ever be good enough. I know, because my mom was like that. Your kid will end up finding something they shine at, but it's not going to come from you, it's going to come from them. You can be supportive and cheer at their games/matches/tournaments, and drive them all over hell and back for their lessons, but in the end, they will follow their own dreams, whether you like those dreams or not. So, when I think about that mother trying to talk up her ensemble boy like he was the next Johnny Depp, it makes me want to puke, and that's why Achievement Obsessed Parents, you are the Asshole(s) of the Week.
No comments:
Post a Comment