I keep forgetting to prophesize that Hugo Chavez will become the next great South American dictator. And after today's news, it ain't a prophesy anymore. It's a done deal.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/05/29/venezuela.media/index.html
See, those who know me know I get annoyed when Bush and the American government are likened to Dictators and Nazis. Maybe that's because I grew up in a household where stories of actual Nazi atrocities, and the lengths to which a person would go to escape an actual dictatorship, were told first hand over the dinner table. When I was young I thought they were adventure stories. Now I see the truth whenever I start hearing about similar behaviors around the world. See, GW is evil, no doubt. He would love to be a dictator, and given enough time, I think he could manage it. But thankfully we have an amazingly good system wherein we have a Legislative Branch of the government that, when thinking straight, can nip any budding thoughts of totalitarianism in the bud. Unfortunately, during the majority of Bush's career, Congress and the Senate were run by his lapdogs, exposing a slight flaw in an otherwise sweet system of government. But then, last November, America did something else. It overthrew the government within the rules of the system that we've set up for ourselves. We kicked the bums out, suffrage style.
In a Dictatorship, that doesn't work. They simply ignore the vote, if they vote. Then they kill everyone who voted incorrectly. Look at Zimbabwe for instance, classic Dictatorship happening there. For years Robert Mugabe pretended not to be a complete jerk, though he always has been. But at least he was the not so-duly elected Prime Minister. Then, things got sticky, or he made them sticky by screwing over the economy. When folks got upset and formed a political party to overthrow him in the coming elections, they were beaten severely and then imprisoned. I'm not sure anyone has been killed yet, but I wouldn't doubt it. When a Time Magazine journalist was imprisoned in Zim for, well, being there, he was held without trial, or proper sanitation, for a few days, and then released. His guard asked him if he could help get him a job in England. Read more about Mugabe who is a pretty classic Dictator here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Mugabe
Anyway, when Bush is done, he'll be done. There is no doubt in my mind, or in yours (sorry, hate to speak for you, but you know it's true) that he will in fact step down. The same can not be said for Characters like Mugabe, Chavez or Vladimir "I Looked Into His Soul" Putin even. Putin might step down in name, when (if) they have elections next year, but he will be pulling strings in Russia for a long time to come. The problem is of course that old saying about absolute power, Chavez has the taste in his mouth. Mugabe is an addict. Putin, well, he's distilling the stuff.
Bush would love to taste it. It SOUNDS like it would taste great. He's even tried to break into the cabinet a few times, just like in the old days before he got bitch-slapped by Christ. But folks, he ain't a dictator. He can't be. The Constitution is too good, just look at it: Still (basically) Intact. It takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. That and he knows he'll lead a plush plush life after office, no matter what happens in Iraq. He knows something else too, no angry mob is going to ever storm his mansion and tear him limb from limb like will probably be the fate of Robert Mugabe. Which is one reason dictators fight so hard to stay behind a very tall fence.
And in case you think I forgot about crazy Kim Jeung Il, don't worry. I wouldn't really call him a classic dictator though. He's so much more! He's elevated himself to the level of a God and wields power correspondingly. His dictatorship is one, of course, but it is at a level really never seen in the history of the world. My final link for you, you with strong stomachs, is what happens when absolute power is really allowed to corrupt absolutely:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/korea/article/0,2763,1136483,00.html
for those of you with weaker stomachs, you'll be happy to know that absolute power makes you a better golfer:
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/WTARC/2004/ea_nkorea_06_16.html
Of course New York is a big mess. How could it be otherwise? I mean, Tokyo is a mess, maybe not as big of a mess, but I would rate Japan as the cleanest country I've ever been to, and its megametropolis is still a little stinky. The secret to living here, if I've even guessed it yet, this may be wild speculation, is a combination of hard and soft attitudes. Hard, meaning you are willful enough to proceed despite what feels like an entire population intent on holding you back, and Soft as in, like a reed. Bend Like the Reed. There is so much stuff coming at you all day, every day, you have to let it flow by you, you can not try to stop it and examine it before sending it on its way. Glimpse it of course, take as much in a possible and then move on. One ally you have in the city, to help feel more like the reed are the parks. By Seattle standards, the parks here are also kind of stinky. Overcrowded on nice days, full of bare chested white men whose glare stings the cornea, the parks are much appreciated here, since they are the scant islands of green in an otherwise white-grey sunbaked landscape. Much of this city has the stamp of man on nature, imposing a new paradigm of ownership. We are the conquerors, this city proudly erupts, we have paved you! But Nature isn't even listening, Nature just quietly erodes, washes, grows. The parking lot across the street from us is chirping with crickets on this first of a long line of hot nights. Crickets. Parking lot. It is fenced off, and weeds haven't just sprung through the cracks, they've devoured the entire lot. It is a tiny serengeti over there, complete with tiny lions stalking prey. In the mornings, straw colored cats prowl the straw colored foliage. If man ever held dominion here, you wouldn't guess, save for the barb-wire fence draped with shredded plastic bags surrounding this huge area, there is nothing but the grasses, the crickets and the cats.
In the short term of course, our mastery of nature is total. This city has sprawled itself out over x number of islands, making itself comfortable. But the chez lounge is not inanimate, it is alive, and its concept of time and mastery is on a completely different scale than ours.
I was pondering all this while lying shoeless in Madison Square Park today during lunch. Shoeless Ian Webster. The air is fresher in these little pockets, and the cool shade cools the grass, and the cool grass retains its morning dew, and softly soaked my clothes as I lay, corpse-like, surrounded by hundreds of chattering New Yorkers who chose this 'natural' spot over the benches that line the scorching pavement. They talked of unnatural things, but I only heard snippets, and the words themselves became kindling for day dreams that soon lost any sense of the day. How is a siren different from the sound of a thousand crickets? It isn't really. Something living is trying to tell a specific other something living that it is there, all else who can hear it be damned. It is the shotgun approach to getting to its destination. They both are hard, they have to be to thrive in the city.
I opened my eyes and the noises were not gone, but had become part of the background, part of the river of noise flowing past me. I stared at the tree-limb above me, behind it a deep blue sky. Near me where I lay is a newly erected sculpture of what looks like two chrome trees fighting, or helping each other after a wind storm. Their branches connect, they are life sized and leafless. They look like naked robots compared to their living counterparts surrounding them. I am struck by the irony of the echo of nature in art, placed in a planted pocket of a city planner's design. Planted or not, the actual trees mock the sculptures with their elegant geometry, rough texture, and epic, sprawling branches shrouded in leaves. When the air stirs, the trees answer. The robots stay in frozen combat. They will be taken down at the end summer.
This city reclines in the palm of Nature's hand. But not because it has forced itself there, but because Nature hasn't yet begun to clap.
My eyes flickered open, and I pulled myself upwards. My clothes were indeed damp despite the midday sun, the grass quickly shrugged off my imprint. I returned to work.
I get bogged down by some of the crappier stuff that happens in the news, which is obviously my favorite thing to comment on, so I will comment on my own face instead. Antinews.
I wish I could grow a better beard. And I wish I could grow it instantly. The main differences between men and women are as follows: Women can have babies, men can grow beards. Done. Health Sciences lesson over. The problem here with this equation is that babies (arguably) contribute more to the continuation of life on earth more than beards. And the fact that it turns out that beards are the only contribution men can make to life on earth is made even more disheartening since I can't grow a very good one. If I was from a culture that demanded I grow a beard, I'd be out of luck. I'd be weird beard. Point being that I wish life was more like the Play-Doh Barbershop (arguably) the best toy ever.
Wouldn't it be neat to look at yourself in the mirror in the morning, tug on a lobe, and sprout any color beard you wished? Of course the PlayDoh Barbershop also took care of the top cover, which some out there might like to take advantage of too.
If you wanted a beard of cicadas, this would be the year. Every 17 years, the cicadas come out of hibernation and mate, or drink blood, or something. I don't know, I'd better look it up. But it turns out that this is that year, and the midwest is in for a bug-blizzard. Apparently the annoying thing about cicadas is the beastly amount of noise they make. So much so that outdoor concerts are being cancelled all over in places like Wisconsin and Iowa. Not that the concerts would have been very good anyway. I mean, come on.
Let's read more together about the coming cicada storm, let's self educate:
Not reported on widely in the US's vastly comprehensive news outlets (currently CNN has "Mom saves daughter, 4, from sinking minivan" and "NBC 's fall schedule is out. Is your show on it?" As headlines) We are in talks with Poland to place an anti-missile base on its soil. Also not reported widely is that in our negotiations with the Poles, we sent them a pre-written response letter ready for signing. This audacious and arrogant method of 'negotiation' sort of sums up Bush's presidency and our current foreign policy. Russia is furious of course, as we would be if they placed, under pretext of defense against Mexican attack, an anti-missile base in Canada. I can't even begin to express my sadness that Poland's President and Prime Minister, the Kaczynski Brothers, have once again proved that they are the intellectual equals of George Bush in even opening talks regarding this subject, considering that despite Poland's support in Iraq, the US has made no change at all to it's visa or citizenship relationship with Poland. Pathetic. Meahwhile the Czech Republic, while being one of my favorite countries in the world, has once again capitulated* and is going ahead with plans for such a base within its borders.
*Czech capitulation has been a glorious thing over the years, which is the only reason Prague remains the only intact medieval city in Europe.
My 90th entry comes on the heels of my Grandfather's 90th birthday. If he'd written one blog entry per year since his birth, or a couple a year to make up for his early pre-literate days, we'd be neck and neck right now. Actually he'd have won by a week. I want to quickly drop in a link for you to read, a bit of a pro-American rant from a Brit living in Washington D.C.
It is easy to be anti-America these days, the hard thing is to defend it without seemingly defending our disasterous policies of the Bushy years. But for as much pain as America has brought to the world, it has brought much more prosperity, knowledge and hope. America is a beacon. It's just that we currently have a big headed Texan (from Connecticut) standing in front of that beacon.
The new part for my machine has been ordered, it's on its way, but in the meantime we are running on reserve power. I have to check in on my laptop when I can pry it out of the hands of my lovely wife.
I heard a guy on the radio today violently attacking religion, and while I found myself agreeing with some of the basics of his platform, his approach and lack of any understanding for religion's place in the human experience had me blushing slightly for being slightly critical of my faithful friends a few episodes ago. He was less critical of Judaism, with its lack of proselytizing and introspective nature, but in general he was 'preaching' against the idea of G-d as a "Cosmic Dictatorship" which is eternal in life and after death.
But really folks, there is no reason to be mean. Your belief system may not be mine, and mine not yours, but we all come to the conclusions we come to after a great deal of thought and personal choice. The only thing I mind is when one's personal choice starts trying to shove someone else's off the road, which is basically what this guy was doing. We're on the freeway together people, and not everyone drives a Mini. Or whatever your favorite ride is.
I'm watching 'American Idol' on the "Television" right now and I want to point out that for as racist as America still is, it is currently voting for the best singers in the competition and best happen to be black women. And Simon is right almost 100% of the time.
Sorry, devolved into American Idol talk, and it already gets more attention than it deserves.
On another more important note, concerning our trip, my Tibetan aunt has invited us to stay at her house in Katmandu. We have happily accepted of course and will be traveling across the border from the India sometime in late November. Also, my mom will hopefully join us there as she got exited when she heard about the opportunity, but has since started reconsidering given the state of the Maoist rebels in the country.
Two questions might arise from this piece of news, "You have a Tibetan Aunt?" and "Maoist Rebels still exist?" Firstly yes I do and she runs an amazing shop called Tibetan Arts in Santa Monica, and secondly, apparently some certain rebels haven't been reading the news about the collapse of every communist country in the world. Then again, I hadn't read about them, so we all have some gaps in our knowledge.
Final news concerning our trip is that a Nigerian Airlines airplane went down yesterday and disappeared into a swamp in Cameroon, killing everyone on board. Ordinarily I'd feel sad for a second and move on, but it happens to be that our travel plans include two legs on that very airline which at this point are two legs more than I look forward to. Ulp.