What is THAT all about???

Caught Nancy Grace on Imus the other day. She said that tourism in Aruba is UP. WTF! Or is the data skewed from the journalists and news crews going down there?? If not, then there's something very wrong, or very obvious.

The China Syndrome

I'm borrowing this comment from streetlife.com -- it's too interesting to ignore:

"The New Face of Communist China….Last week I went to an event with Rui Chenggang, one of the top young TV news anchors in China who was named a Global Leader for Tomorrow in 2001 by the World Economic Forum, and is a 100% loyal Communist. Chenggang, who's all of 28 and incredibly articulate, is living in the states for the first time as part of the Yale World Fellows Program. He highlighted some amazing statistics— there are more people who speak English in China than there are in the U.S. —and noted some key misconceptions. We westerners associate China with a fire-breathing dragon, but in fact the icon we see as a dragon, the Chinese see as a benevolent water-breathing serpent that cares for crops. When I asked about the fact that China is growing so fast that there may not be enough natural resources to sustain it, Chenggang was cagey—he insisted that China is working on alternative fuel sources and that the government is much more focused on environmental preservation than the U.S. acknowledges. That's a tough one to swallow." Julie Boorstein

It's the Holiday Season!

Is it me, or does it seem like more and more of us are getting into the "spirit" of Christmas sooner and easier every year? Let's put aside the sentimentality for a moment, and examine further: I think folks are working so hard to try to make ends meet, and to be the best parent they can be, and to be a productive member of society, all the while being bombarded by the daily grind that, in the end, they are starving for any break they can get. Take Christmas music, for example. Ever hear a sad, depressing holiday song from start to finish? Even "Christmas Shoes" has a happy ending. Personally, I like this music, because it's a very welcome respite from the daily dirge of death, or break-ups, or evictions, or corruption, or poverty, or hunger, or political hi-jinks, or whatever other depressing crap that floods the media outlets. Yeah, yeah, Go watch The Daily Show, you say, you'll get comedy and satire relief. No, that's not what we need. Deep down, we want peace on earth. We want to see kids laugh. We want to breathe clean air, and we want to drink clean water, and we want to sleep in and not be rushed by the damned alarm clock every friggin' day. We're getting tired of the crap in the Middle East, every damn day. It's getting old, just like "the troubles" got old (and hopefully it will end because of it). I think if you showed most Middle Easterners some of the great things life has to offer, they would think twice about their religious zealousness. It worked on the Puritans -- where are they now? All work and no play, and you'll lose your mind, Ebeneezer! Christmas (or should I say Christmakkuh) means happy times, holiday parties, buying gifts for people we love and sometimes just because it's the right thing to do. If you look back on some of the great memories of your life, isn't there at least one Christmas that still brings a smile to your face? Yes, I understand we can't have Christmas every day (see "Elmo Saves Christmas" for more on that), but it's...it's...oh, man, this may sound corny, but it's the Spirit that needs to stay with us all the year. I think that's why I don't have a huge problem with cell phones. People are talking more, which means more interaction, which leads to more social participation, and what's wrong with that? But that's another blog for another day. So have yourself a Merry little Christmas, now.