Heidi came up with another gem just the other night. We were watching a little TV before bed, and we saw one of those Samuel Adams beer commercials. The one we saw was all about how Sam Adams "is not a beginner's beer" (more on this subject later). Anyway, as we're sitting there, she says, "They're right...Sam Adams is definitely not a beginner's beer."
"How do you mean?" I ask, as my experience with beer is trying very hard not to make unpleasant faces when I taste it.
"Have you ever had a lager?" she asks...then adds, "And I don't mean having sex with someone who cuts down trees for a living."
..........
Ah...my wonderful, beautiful bride...in all her glory...
Speaking of liquor, why do you "need" booze to have a good time?? Ever notice how every ad for booze is designed to make you believe either a) you're really sophisticated when you booze it up, or b) it's a huge, fun, really awesome party when you booze it up? There are even the goofy nicknames for anything and everything related to booze: "SoCo" and "Stoly" and Tuaca shooters and 7-and-7 and Long Island Iced Teas and Purple Passion...
The liquor industry's continuing zest to make it look like you aren't REALLY partying unless you're drinking is strangely disheartening. It's doubly so when you factor in how hard we get down on the tobacco industry in relation to how lenient we are with the liquor industry. I would argue that the abuses and activities are just as egregious as those perpetrated by Big Tobacco, and yet, somehow, there's been no huge settlement for all of the expenses the states incur in alcohol-related issues such as drunk driving deaths or crimes committed while under the influence or the like.
I would say that the Grand Experiment that is the Internet has failed miserably, and it's dragging our political system down with it. How can I say that? Well, you all know the old saying: opinions are like a**holes...everyone's got one. I would go one step further. On the Internet, not only does everyone HAVE one, but everyone IS one.
Look at the vitriol stirred up on the extreme liberal and conservative blogs and websites. I have no problem with folks expressing their opinion; indeed, I would be a huge hypocrite to say so, in light of the activity I am currently performing. But there is no civility here, as people are emboldened by the apparent anonymity that the Internet provides. With no repercussions, no consequences for what they say here, they have no incentive to remain civil, and they just say anything that's on their mind. Usually, in the most situations, that "anything" is a rude, crude personal attack on those who don't believe exactly as they do.
Just go to any news site these days, and read the comments that are permitted at the bottom of each story (and pretty much every news site premits these comments now). There are no logical arguments, there is no discourse, there is only anger and rudeness that knows no bounds. I feel that this belief that you can and should say everything you feel has only discouraged people from trying to remain civil, discouraged them from listening to differing viewpoints. When you quit listening, you can't even begin to understand; that lack of understanding leads to fear and ultimately leads to the inability to compromise. With today's ultrapolarized political climate, the ability to listen, understand, and compromise is critical, and it is becoming increasingly lost. No democratic system can survive the loss of that ability in the majority of its people. The Internet certainly does nothing to encourage its rediscovery.
"Criminals thrive on the indulgence of society's understanding," says Rh'as Al Ghul in Batman Begins, which is an excellent movie, by the way. I can't say I don't agree; most folks who dive deep into criminality (and we all know there are many) have no interest in going straight and will use any means they can find to work the system, to get something for nothing. I bring this up in light of two very telling symptoms of this, from completely different sources:
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/money/13452152/detail.html
http://www.city-journal.org/article01.php?aid=1371
Read them both, and ponder well their implications in light of my opening quote.
This is something of old news, but it does make a mockery of the arguments made by foaming-at-the-mouth liberals and press idiots who continue to call President Bush "der Fuehrer" and the like. If Bush is so tyrannical, why didn't he just take the same route our buddy Hugo Chavez took down in Venezuela a few weeks back, and just shut down all the media outlets that he doesn't agree with? If you need any further proof of how ridiculous the liberal/press claims are, how foolish are those who swear we're losing our civil liberties under the current Republican administration, and how our system really IS working mostly the way it was designed, take note of Bush's forbearance in light of the constant waves of sarcasm, negativity, and downright personal attacks hurled at him from all sides, compared to Hugo Chavez's "call-out-the-military-and-shut-'em-down" tactics.
So I had a very sad day a couple of weeks ago. You all know how I had put the stripes on my Rover last year? Well, I have to sell it now, and it doesn't seem to be getting much interest with the stripes on. So...
Deconstruction begins, and I'm not happy. Remember, they are just decals, but peeling each one is like peeling away part of my heart...
The passenger side is mostly done...
I'm to the hood, and I'm very sad...
The last stripe, and by this time my sadness has mostly turned to anger...
And I'm back from the New Hotness to the Old-and-Busted.
I'm not happy...not happy at all. It's times like this that I realize that all of our dreams are temporary things, like sparklers. They burn bright as we hold them, and we're happy, then they go out and we have to throw them away, with only the memory of their brightness within us. Thanks for reading along.
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