Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Cost of War to Date

Since we are coming to the end of 2010, and I've heard a lot of people bagging on the healthcare legislation, while championing the tax cuts for the wealthy, I thought I would take it upon myself to post a current tally of our biggest national expense (spoiler alert: It isn't education or infrastructure...though it should be).

$4-$6 trillion for the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that include some of the following expenses that we are paying for instead repairing aging bridges, improving our education system, investing in development that will result in a better future for our kids:

$547 million P.R. money to sell us on the war

$100 million security contract in Afghanistan to XE (a subsidiary of Blackwater)

$840 billion per year on inefficient military spending (i.e. manufacturing parts for weaponry that is out of date or no longer needed)

$27 billion to citizen mercenary groups in Iraq and Afghanistan

$51 billion to military for no-bid contracts

$6 billion to Blackwater to train cops in Iraq

$7.5 billion in aid to Pakistan

$500 million dollar planes that cannot fly in the rain

$9 billion in cash sent to Iraq that cannot be accounted for

$1.5 billion for a new embassy in Iraq

$1.2 billion over five years to boost Yemen's security forces

$60 billion training and supporting Afghan troops

$375 million for arms for citizen mercenaries in Iraq and Afghanistan

$4.2 million New York City penthouse for the Afghani Ambassador

A navy eleven times the size of the next most militarized nation

We spend 15 times more on our military than the next most militarized 26 nations combined, and 24 of those nations are our allies. We cannot afford our empire, and at this point, the upkeep of our empire will likely be the undoing of our country. By my guestimate, we are in the same place the U.K. was in the '70s; high unemployment, a waning empire, and a country so mired in red tape that the politicians couldn't get anything done. Let's hope we aren't making the U.S. last year's beauty queen.

Monday, December 13, 2010

The Great Palin Fraud

Newsweek magazine has given Sarah Palin, yet another, cover story to add to her plethora of coverage. She is teetering on over-exposure, but, to my great misfortune, hasn't become the social pariah she should be.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hold fame against anyone. Let the idiots from Jersey Shore have their moment in the sun. Give Spencer and Heidi their book deal. If a random, somewhat straight bachelor can find on-air love, more power to him. The deal is that these people all have to go away when their 15 minutes is done.

Unfortunately, Sarah Palin, the greatest no-talent, reality show star of them all is still here. My question at this point is 'Why?'.

Sarah got her big break when John McCain chose her as his running mate in 2008. One would think that would be a nod to her experience, intellect, and political savviness, but in this case, it wasn't. The timing of this choosing happened to coincide with Hillary Clinton's rise in popularity. She had become such an extraordinary candidate that there was no ignoring the fact that the ladies on both the right and left were pulling for Ms. Hillary. Although she was losing the party's nomination, the idea that she and Obama would join forces would have certainly sunk the McCain campaign, so in desperation, the Republicans went on a vagina hunt.

Although there were many great Republican women with incredible talent to choose from, they needed a vagina with a little pep, one that wouldn't upstage McCain, and one that would fit into his 'women belong in the kitchen obeying their men' persona. Hence, Palin was pulled from Mooseland and into the spotlight, along with her opinionated husband, non-college bound children, one of which was pregnant at 17, and her terrible record as a mayor, which at the time, was the longest public office she had held.

She was great at reading from a teleprompter, which is what she went to several colleges to learn how to do, and she looked really fantastic in expensive business suits. She used ignorant, folksy language to claim that she related to people even though most of us would have likely turned around and walked away in disgust had she said the same thing to us in real life. In the end, McCain lost, and Sarah was supposed to go back to Alaska only to be seen again during a CNN 'where are they now' show in 2012, but Sarah had other plans.

The limelight is intoxicating, and no one is exempt from it, not even Princess Palin, and here is where the fraud comes in. While television shows still regard her as governor, the fact is that she didn't really govern. She was in office a short time before she started campaigning for Vice President, which took her out of the state for nearly a year, and then came back for a few brief moments to resign. What did she really do for the people of Alaska aside from walking out on them when something bigger and better came along?

Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected to govern California, and he served his full term. If we compare the experiences side-by-side, governing Alaska is like governing an upper middle class preschool where the building is new, you have an assistant and healthy classroom budget, and all of the parents bend over backwards to help you. California, on the other hand, is like running an inner city middle school in a 100-year-old building with leaky pipes and no heat, where you have to beg a local dollar store for chalk so you can write the day's lesson on the blackboard, and most of the students you are teaching are becoming parents at the end of the semester.

California is in a huge financial crisis, whereas Alaska has their budget padded by oil revenues, something no other state has. The California legislature is corrupt, whereas Sarah's legislature was from the same party. California has one of the largest populations, severe border problems, and has yearly wildfires that create a constant strain on state resources. Alaska has none of these issues, yet Sarah didn't want to stick around. Arnold didn't have to, but he did.

Now Sarah is everywhere, and people talk about her running for president. Why? What will this person bring to the highest office in the land? She doesn't have a background in Constitutional education, neither learning it nor practicing it. She doesn't have much foreign policy knowledge, and given that we are in a huge trade debacle with one of our largest debt holders, we might need someone with a clue to figure that out. She doesn't have much of a record when it comes to leadership. She can talk folksy, and spew rhetoric about loving the U.S. of A and believing in Jesus, unfortunately, that doesn't translate into jobs, debt reduction, and dealing with two expensive and on-going wars.

It would be one thing if Sarah made it clear that all she wanted to be was a Fox News correspondent who was paid a healthy sum of money to give speeches. She could write books, have a half-hour show, and follow the Glenn Beck playbook on fame and wealth. I wouldn't hold it against her. However, her constant teasing at a presidential run constitutes fraud, because she isn't qualified for the office. She doesn't know how to deal with complex issues of state, and she doesn't have the intellectual capacity to review and decide on policy that will set America on the path of prosperity, yet she will go on television and pretend she does.

It's sad to think that I have more respect for Snookie from Jersey Shore than I do for a fellow suburb mom like Sarah, because Snookie would never attempt to do brain surgery. Brain surgery takes a lot of skill, intricate knowledge and years of experience, and Snookie would be the first one to tell you that she doesn't have any of that, because unlike Sarah, she isn't a fraud.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

How About 'Team Bella'

I'm not a fan of the Twilight series, let me just get that our right now. I tried to make it through the first movie, and suffered a 45-minute assault of a melodramatic, self-loathing vampire and the dullest teenage girl in fiction. However, despite a complete lack in interest in high school vampire adventures, I have been consistently assaulted by a media obsessed with the three lead characters.

What has bugged me, aside from the excessive media coverage, is the idea that this teenage girl, Bella, is faced with choosing her 'swept me off my feet' vampire guy, Edward, or the 'hot best friend next door' werewolf guy, Jacob, in order to be happy.

Now I'm not such an old, married fossil that I don't remember how thrilling and exciting it was to have two guys interested in me at the same time. It's wonderful to feel wanted and pursued. For the teen and tween Twilight crowd, I can see the appeal, but I think the whole premise that her happiness is hinged on choosing one guy or the other is a bit backward and damaging.

In this day and age, we have more women than ever attending college, outranking men in the workforce, setting standards in art, literature, and independent film, yet I'm not sure why we, as a gender, remain tied to the ideals of the 1950s. Bella is 17 years old, why does she need to choose a guy to love? She should be more focused on choosing a college than choosing a mate.

In the next film, or part of the series, I think there is something about Bella focusing on college, but it takes a backseat to her relationship with her vampire guy. In an age where women can no longer rely on men to take care of them, is this the message we want to give to young girls? Many have justified Twilight's positive message, because Bella and Edward don't do the nasty until they are married. Big freakin' deal. Bella is still so emotionally dependent on Edward that she focuses more on him than on herself, which is wrong. Teenagers should be self-absorbed to an extent, because it gives them the ability to focus on their dreams, ambitions, and what they want to do with their lives.

Author Stephanie Meyer has to continue the series, but she should have ended with Bella choosing neither. Bella could have given both guys a kind let-down as she headed off to college to pursue a degree in psychology. Audiences could have been left wondering what Bella's life would have been like with Jacob or Edward, and in a day and age when technology has wreaked havoc on imagination time, it would have been a much healthier Team Jacob vs. Team Edward discussion.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Wife, Mother & The One Without Identity

I'm nearly 40 and it is still amazing to me how much women are expected to give up in their lives.

I spent 18 years looking out a window. My childhood was bleak and controlled. I lived in a small town with little opportunity. I looked forward to the day when I could break out on my own, and get on with my life, so figuratively, I spent 18 years looking out a window.

When I did finally make it into the real world, via college, I raged. I didn't want to be in school, tied down with studies, I wanted to be out there making action happen, pursuing a career in the music business. I was so very restless. If I would have had more insight, and bravery, I would have run screaming from my family, who always made a point to hold me back, and from that school. To this day, this is still my biggest regret; that I wanted to please unhappy, miserable parents, more than I wanted to go after my future.

I used my first marriage as an escape route, and began to get on with my life. I went to art school, began working in the music biz, and all was well, except my marriage, which consequently took a backseat to my ambition. Of course, it always takes two to create dysfunction, so I can't take total blame for the marital demise, but you live and learn.

It seems like all at once, I left the music industry, got married for a second time, entered into a new career path, and for a short time, (too short now that I'm looking back on it) I was a wife in an egalitarian marriage, the career woman better known as an 'up and comer', and felt like a completely independent being in control of my life.

Then I became a mother. Don't get me wrong, I have two amazing little girls who light up my life, but no one ever told me how much I would have to give up when I became a mother. I knew the body would take a beating, but physically I've never been fabulous, so it was no big deal. I knew that my sleep pattern would suffer, but I just put a fist in the air with the mantra, 'I'll sleep when I die'. I was willing to stay home for awhile, but I can't say I enjoyed it.

I like going into an office, dressing professionally, being respected and appreciated. You don't get that by having a clean house, well behaved children, or dinner on the table at night. I made the fatal error of believing that my husband would pitch in on an equal level. Again, no one ever tells women that men will only come to the table so much when it comes to keeping a home and rearing a child. Even when I was working full-time, I was still the primary care giver for the child, and expected to keep the house a home.

I once heard a young woman criticize the second wave feminists for encouraging women to be in the work force, because now we have to do it all. The response by Gloria Steinem was priceless. She explained to this woman that the original game plan was that women would be given choices to determine their own destiny, and men would step up and assume equal responsibility when it came to keeping a home and child rearing. Unfortunately the fatal flaw was that when women stepped up, men stepped back, and we didn't call them on it. We let them get away with making us do everything, and now the result is a younger generation of women who have very little interest in marriage or children. I can't say I blame them.

I find myself at home once again with a baby, a home business that remains quite neglected, and not much left to be excited about. As much as I love the baby, I can't stand feeling like I'm back staring out a window. I know this is temporary, the baby will grow up quickly, but it is hard for me to stand still.

Perhaps, during this dour time, the right thing to do is Google that old poster I used to see in my Junior High gym coach's office; the tabby kitten hanging from a bar that reads, "Hang in there", and make it my screen saver. This too shall pass, but in the meantime, I will learn not to expect too much from those I used to rely on, and I'll try to stay away from windows.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Guilt Becomes Her

I started this blog years ago to deal with the fact that I found myself in a life I never wanted. As a young girl growing up in an abusive home in a Podunk town, I dreamed of working in the music industry in all its excitement and glamour, and escaping to something sophisticated and urban.

I lived that dream for awhile, but still remained attached to the Podunk town. When I left the industry, ironically, I broke away from the Podunk town and all its baggage forever. However, I found myself in a dream of a romance with someone who I always told myself I'd never be with; a normal guy with a steady job who wanted a family, a house in the suburbs, family barbecues, Disneyland vacations with the kids, and a loving wife to grow old with.

I loved him and I chose to be with him. I claim complete responsibility for that decision. It seemed so great when we bought our first house, fixed it up, and sold it to upgrade to the dream house in the 'burbs. It seemed so great when we decided to have a child. It seemed so great when I made the choice to be a stay-at-home mom and give up my career. Then the reality hit. I was at home with a baby, in a house in the 'burbs, with a husband who worked 9:00am-5:00pm. I was living the "American Dream", but it wasn't my dream. I felt it was more the dream of my mother, a manipulative woman who raised me with half-truths, a huge amount of guilt, and a constant boot on my throat.

I started this blog to work through all that, because I knew in order to be happy, I would have to, reluctantly, get this all off my chest. A blog was more preferable to me than therapy. When you are told throughout your childhood not to talk about family matters, then at 30 years old find yourself on the therapist's couch, despite the safety of the environment, and the fact that you have been an adult for awhile, you still don't give anything up.

I used this blog for therapy, for a political platform, and as a sounding board for whatever my brain could come up with. It must have worked, because I don't find myself blogging much anymore. I find myself in a happy place in my life. I live in a beautiful house in the SoCal 'burbs with my normal husband, two children, and I've found that my, once dreaded, normal life is now a source of pride.

I was a poor kid from a one-horse town with a crazy mother, an abusive stepdad, and no hope for a future. I was supposed to wind up as a drug addict or pregnant at 17. I was supposed to be poor, white trash with a wage slave job, but I didn't let that happen. I educated myself, was smart enough to eventually land a wonderful man, worked my ass off to have a good career with a salary to match, and became the mother I wish I would have had. I am proud of this.

These days my guilt comes from the fact that I don't have much desire to write. For some reason I've lost a bit of confidence in my writing. Maybe I just need to quit bitching, quit feeling guilty, and just write. So, that's the plan. Many apologies in advance if it sucks, sounds incoherent, or doesn't really say anything original. My goal is to get back to creating quality content, so bare with me, and eventually, I'll get there. In the meantime, make sure you have a drink before reading my posts, everything will sound much better that way.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Fitting the Profile

Ever since some Nigerian kid tried to ignite his underwear, a discussion has been ignited about the issue of profiling. There are those on the extreme right that believe we shouldn't let anyone from an Arab country with a Muslim sounding name into the U.S., and the polar opposite view on the extreme left that says any type of profiling is morally wrong and shouldn't be done.

Perhaps the discussion shouldn't be focused on how much profiling we should or shouldn't be doing, until we come up with a finite definition for profiling. Profiling is wrong when its a bigoted cop who pulls over a Mercedes driven by a black guy, because he inherently believes that black guys can't afford to drive a Mercedes, therefore it must be stolen. This is usually the type of profiling that hits the news, and it has given profiling its bad name.

However, profiling is not the root of all evil when it is made up of concrete evidence supported by facts and used to ensure the safety of a civilian population. The fact is that every hijacking and/or serious threat to an airliner for the past 30 years has been committed by a Muslim male with ties to or from the Middle East between the ages of 20-35. Therefore, the question becomes, why are we frisking old ladies at Chicago O'Hare?

By not profiling persons of interest, we are wasting an incredible amount of time and energy all in an effort to look like we aren't profiling, and that's just stupid. After 9/11 I was selected for security screening nearly every time I flew, because Jeff worked for an airline and we bought our tickets as non-revenue, one-way legs. During one particular time, I did the usual discarding of metal into the little tray, and tried to pass through the detector three times unsuccessfully. As the TSA agent wanded me, I heard a beeping go off right over my chest. The agent would give me a critical look, and wand my chest again. After the fourth time, I finally lifted up my shirt, and exclaimed, "It's an underwire!" She let me go shortly thereafter.

Due to this exploding underwear incident, the Department of Homeland Security should immediately implement a policy of selecting the men who meet the watch list criteria. I know there will be a lot of innocent men who will be completely put out by this policy, but we can't take that risk. I don't say this lightly, and I will be more than happy to do my part. If I have to do the in-depth x-ray screening coming back from an international flight, I will express my condolences to the screening agent, step inside the x-ray tube with my arms raised and show the TSA what two children and age does to a once fabulous pair of breasts. It's a small price to pay to make sure I get from overseas to the U.S. without going 'boom'.

If this opinion seems a bit harsh and racist, then so be it, but until Brad Johnson, the 6' tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Protestant from Kansas decides to fly a 747 into the Sears Tower, we have to be right 100% of the time.