I'm cruising on a high of Panadol Cold and Flu, and feeling much better. Salam and I caught some sort of seasonal virus, so he got the pain killer and I got the weird shit that makes you feel good...but weird. Floaty, miss-the-doorway-and-hit-the-doorframe weird. Ouch.
We took him to the doctor, and happily ventured upon one that was trained in the US. Woo hoo! He said that basically, Salam is fine. Some sort of random virus. Then he asked me if I was pregnant. Whhhhaaat? I said, 'no' and that was kind of the end of it. His question is still bothering me though. Why on God's green earth would it matter to my son's virus whether or not I was pregnant? He wasn't prescribing for me, anyway. For God's sake, do I look pregnant? WHAT IS THE CONNECTION? ARGH!!! Ah, just one more thing to keep me awake at night.
That, and reading the news. I need to stop. Anything having to do with Muslims, I read with a feeling of expectant dread. What horrible thing have we done now? Is it terrible that I'm really happy that the mail bombs sent from Greece are from anarchists?
I've been looking for humor in the headlines, and all I can find that is funny is that the new speaker of the House's name is Boehner. Huh-huh. Huh-huh. I said Boehner.
Honestly, I know Americans are angry, but I think y'all over there on that big island need to get some perspective. Yeah, the economy sucks. Understood. Valid point. Be angry about it--and then demand that all the troops come home from all the occupations we've got going. Seriously--enough is enough.
Another thing. This gripe about big government. Y'all make it sound like government regulation is a bad thing. It's not. I promise. When the government allocates no money to regulate stuff, you get things like non-drinkable tap water with reported levels of un-named toxins in it from the poisoned ground and leaking pipes that brings it. You get lots of people who lose their hair for no apparent reason. You get ERs full of children with respiratory problems because of out-of-control levels of air pollution. You get really pitiful health care--unless you have a LOT of money. I mean, a shitload. The gap between the rich and the poor is insurmountable. The poor get poorer and the rich are perfectly happy to pay Stanford's level of tuition to send their kids to a Western-style kindergarten (or at least, that's what it's billed as). You have huge infrastructure problems, and a civil society that is so overwhelmed by stagnant salaries and spiraling inflation, that they can't catch their breath long enough to issue a yell of protest.
I know I'm a green organic-loving bleeding heart liberal Muslim socialist-wannabe, but honestly--things aren't that bad in the US. I'd really like to live there again, assuming that my husband and son won't get lynched by the neighbors. Your roads are nice (except in Pennsylvania). There are health care STANDARDS. Education is not completely out of reach, assuming you don't mind taking on massive debt. Society, overall, is not violent by nature. You have your bullies and such, but you don't expect to have to beat the crap out of people on a regular basis. I mean, people naturally form lines...and stay in them. Cutters are roundly mocked. I LOVE that. It is not yet 'every man for himself' like it is in other parts of the world.
Please don't push it backwards. There is no reason that the US pays twice as much for health care and prescription drugs as all the other industrialized nations in the world. Things can get better if we work together and shut off the media monster that is poisoning the political atmosphere. When I hear people say that Obama is ruining America, I can't take them seriously. The guy inherited a horrible state of affairs and has only been at it for 2 years. Personally, I'm still waiting for him to leave Afghanistan and close Gitmo. Keep the financial reform and build on it. Keep the healthcare bill and build on it. Work on education. Work on jobs. The political qualifications of our elected officials need to be more than, "I'm not a witch." I'm with Stewart--restore sanity.
In the words of Edward R. Morrow (in referring to television--but I think it applies to the internet as well):
This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and even it can inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it's nothing but wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful. Stonewall Jackson, who knew something about the use of weapons, is reported to have said, "When war comes, you must draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." The trouble with television is that it is rusting in the scabbard during a battle for survival.
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