Dear Mr. Blitzer

If you would kindly stop "looking for the fingerprints of al Qaeda" and limit your wild speculations about who is doing this, we might have a better chance of understanding what is actually going on in Mumbai and of taking you to be a serious journalist.

At this point there is no evidence that points more toward Qaeda than toward the enemies of India, yet you go on and on and on trying to coerce an endless string of experts into backing up your obsessive conjecture while "Possible Al Qaeda connection" scrolls across the screen. It's quite possible that this is not primarily about us at all.

Please remember that it isn't terrorism unless we are terrified and your hysteria serves only to blow this incident up disproportionately. Were you screaming about the human tragedy while we were blowing the hell out of Baghdad? No, you were like an excited schoolboy asking "Is this the shockinaw? Are we in the shockinaw yet?" Your credibility with regard to the dramatic lament over lost American lives has long since been sullied.

When you have nothing to say, which is a good deal of the time, please shut up.

The nightmare before Christmas

No one expects this to be a Christmas season retailers will celebrate. Even people with reliable income are cutting way back and when I read that local stores would be open as early as 4:00 AM today, I pictured yawning employees drinking coffee, trying to stay awake.

Nope.

A Wal-Mart on Long Island had its doors literally blown off the hinges just before 5 O'Clock this morning and the stampeding mob trampled anyone who got in the way. A 34 year old stock clerk tried to control the crowd and was trampled to death. Merry Christmas, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis - and we don't mean you, Wal-Mart shoppers.

We don't mean the commenter on CNN.com either, who wasted no time before blaming it on the Liberals and African Americans who will, no doubt, now that Obama is waiting to go to Washington make this sort of thing commonplace from now on.

"Get used to this folks. These are the kind of people that liberalism has created. After four years of Obama and the food , power shortages, and gas shortages that will be engineered by the marxists in order to take down this country, this kind of thing will become routine."

Joy to the world.

"Class" Sensitivity

Ever since Fogg’s recent passionate & compassionate, sensitive post I’ve been thinking about the effect of our unstable economy on the people of my world. Considering the incessant screaming from the headlines about the increasingly dismal state of the economy with words such as “worse since depression” being bandied about – one would think that most Americans would be economically quaking in their boots. Well – going by those I know – this is only partly true – which raises the prospect of some interesting social tensions in the future.

A few examples from my world.

I am an acquaintance of someone where I work who works in Human Resources. I ran into her the other day & she started complaining about all of the people coming into her office complaining about the economy. She said she wanted to put up a sign by her desk that said “no whining.” She then proceeded to fill me in on her Thanksgiving plans. She & her husband had decided to blow off the large annual family gathering hosted by her daughter & were instead going to NYC for the weekend. She then proceeded to tell me about all of the shows they were going to go see.

Mmmmm

For starters – she missed the irony of her complaining about complainers. Then – she seemed to miss the fact that issues pertaining to people’s finances were the concern of Human Resources offices (i.e. benefits, etc) so therefore people’s economic concerns were going to rise to the surface in her office. In other words – dealing with these people’s issues was at least part of her job. Thirdly – she was completely insensitive to her own good fortune in the face of others’ woes. The kicker about all of this is that this woman is really a very nice person. Cheerful & engaging. Kind even. I genuinely like her. But for heaven’s sake does she have a blind spot! I was taken aback by the whole conversation. Her obliviousness to the disconnect between her situation & that of others was incredible.

Then there is another coworker who daily regales me with tales about the remodeling of his home. He asked me recently what my plans were for xmas. I said I was staying put by myself, not traveling. He then suggested that I go to one of the local spas for a few days – he was dead serious. I evasively made some kidding remark about that not being my thing (which is true) – quickly changing the subject, not wanting to engage in a discussion of money. I’ve seen the ads for these spas – one would have to mortgage one’s soul to partake. This man happens to know exactly how much money I make – he hired me. He also knows how precarious my particular employment situation is in the current economic climate. Therefore -what a ridiculous suggestion. Now – he did not mean to be insensitive. And I took no offense – though it made me roll my eyes heavenward for days after. He’s a nice person. Really nice. Kind. I like him. But – like the HR woman – clueless.

Now – to be sure – there has always been a disconnect between the have’s & the have not’s in society. And insensitivity between the two is nothing new either. However – I wonder if the disconnect, the unintentional insensitivity is screaming louder these days? Egged on by misleading media analysis & political rhetoric. I wonder this because the headlines keep telling me that WE – in the collective sense as a society – are suffering. But WE are not. Only some of us WE. And some of us WE are suffering more than others. I do NOT include myself in this. I currently have a job with insurance. A place to live. A car. From the point of view of many this is huge - & it is. And from whose point of view am I fortunate? At least partly from the LOWER economic class point of view. You know – that class that NEVER EVER gets mentioned. The class completely dissed by political rhetoric during the election? All we’ve heard about in recent months is the woe of the MIDDLE class. The poor MIDDLE class. Defined by even Obama as being up to $250,000 per anum income. That’s just plain silly and encourages too many people to think of themselves as “suffering.”

I can not help but wonder if the insensitivity of these nice people I know is being nurtured by this inaccurate sense of SHARED suffering being spewed by the media & politicians. Not only are some members of the MIDDLE class acting insensitively to their fellow class members, but they are completely forgetting about the LOWER class in our midst. A class that we like to think doesn’t really exist in our fair country. We give to food banks but do we really stop to think about the lives of those who utilize food banks? If we do not start recognizing the LOWER class then how will we even be sensitive to our fellow middle-classers when they fall into it?

OK - thanks for listening to that rant!

And thanks, Fogg, for your sobering post of yesterday. It got me to thinking . . . And not to put my fellow Zoners & readers on a pedastal or anything, but I have been heartened by posts & comments of late to believe there is compassion for those less fortunate than ourselves. Such as Rocky's story about the local restaurant's Thanksgiving practice. Now - if only we can tune in the media & politicians to the scope of the under classes . . .

Thankstaking

Having been severely beaten down and expensively trodden upon by global economic conditions of late, I like to dwell upon the wonder and beauty of life that I'm privileged to enjoy. Life is sweet, as Buffalo so often reminds me; but not for everyone.

It's not sweet for the three defenseless people gunned down by holdup men in a Delray Beach Dunkin Donuts last night. It wasn't sweet for the parents of a two year old boy run over in his own driveway yesterday by another SUV in West Palm. The world is full of hunger and disease and war and the innocent are never spared while the guilty prosper. How offensive to them, should I be thankful it didn't happen to me. How revolting to thank an imaginary entity who allows such suffering.

There will be quite a few formerly comfortable retirees here who won't be having one of those belly busting Thanksgiving feasts this year. They simply can't afford it on social security and the few bucks they're lucky to make bagging groceries and pushing carts at Publix ( no tipping please) and besides the kids can't afford to come down here this year. Evictions are up tenfold. In fact putting food on the table is going to be harder than last year and nearly impossible for some and the food banks are depleted. It's going to be a dumpster based banquet for the homeless and yes, it's cold here at night this time of year.

So the kids aren't going to get big checks from me this year. Instead I'm planning to stop at the wholesale club and load it up with food for the local food bank. I'm not a saint, I just have found that there's nothing like the feeling you get making life a tiny bit sweeter for someone else. It feels good -- do it.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

My fellow creatures above and below the waves, meet Mr. Turkey. Inasmuch as Mr. Turkey is one of bloggingdino’s great, great, great grand-descendents, Mr. Turkey is not dinner but an honored guest. That is why we are eating vegetarian tonight … a full course meal of ferns, cycads, sea grass, and 8pus’s very own lokshen kugel, recipe below:

1/2 lb of egg noodles (medium)
8 cups boiling water
1-teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup orange juice (I also add dark rum depending on how tipsy I am)
6 tablespoons margarine
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup almonds or pecans, chopped
1/2 cup candied citrus peel (orange or citron or mixed)
dash of ginger (well, maybe 1/2 teaspoon)
dash of cinnamon (well, make that 1/2 teaspoon)

Boil the noodles in water with salt. Mix the beaten eggs and orange juice, then add remaining ingredients. Pour mixture over the still hot noodles and mix well (note: Hot noodles will melt the margarine making the job easier). Transfer to a well-buttered bread pan and bake in a pre-heated oven at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes (until top is golden). Cool and serve.

GIVING THANKS

I have cooked and cleaned and prepared many a Thanksgiving feast in my years
on this earth. Every year I would look around me and try to be mindful of what I am thankful for. When I was younger, of course I was thankful for many of the usual things; my sometimes volatile but solid marriage (we are a classic meeting of the stubborn minds kind of couple), my children and their good health, our home, the full pantry, etc.

But now that I am older and have earned the right to let my mind wander where it will, it comes to me that perhaps I missed the blessing wrapped in many a disaster or catastrophe. And so, I bear your indulgence while I reflect on some of the things I have only come to lately be thankful for.

I am thankful for the day my 2 year old set my kitchen on fire with the toaster… it was both a warning to always pull the plug on an appliance when not in use and also a way to get new cabinets.

I am thankful for the hour I spent scrubbing pee from the floor and ceiling in my bathroom. See, I had 4 boys of varying ages and the 3 oldest were supposed to be teaching the youngest how to use the toilet – the reason I am so thankful for this event is that I allowed me to add another highly embarrassing story to my arsenal.

I am thankful for all the miserable, pin-headed bosses I have endured over the years; now that I work for myself, I have only one a**hole to answer to!

I am thankful for all the software glitches I have screamed and cried through for without them I would have been too lazy to learn much about how this thing works!

I am thankful for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and St Patrick’s Day and Hannukah and for pizza, Chinese take out, Japanese steakhouses, Greek restaurants and all the little shops and eateries that remind me, what it really means to be an American despite our different ethnic histories, different recipes and different languages.

I am thankful for the local restaurant owner who, every Thanksgiving, opens his restaurant to anyone who wants to share a meal and proceeds to put on quite a feast. His invitation is worded in such a way so whether someone needs a meal or just wants to be there for the friendship, everyone can do so with dignity. It reminds me that while I’m involved in all the holiday preparations, not to forget others less fortunate – the food banks and various ministries are counting on us.

Good times, bad times, somehow, we endure and I am reminded of the words of the late Tim Russert, “Isn’t this just the greatest country we live in?”

Happy Thanksgiving!

We used to pray for them, but it's all over now

Well the word is out on Main Street - Tim Geithner can't be trusted as Treasury Secretary because he is Jewish and Jews have divided loyalty. I was interested to hear that and not just because Geithner's family assures us he's an Episcopalian raised and married in that Church.

Is the phony honeymoon over? That the Republicans may be abandoning their pretense of being in love with Israel is a possibility. One perennial Troll at The Reaction called me "an arrogant Kike" for having asserted that no, Barney Frank bears no discernible responsibility for our global recession; but it's really too soon to tell if the frustrated masses yearning to breathe fire will switch scapegoats and replace witches, Liberals, illegal aliens and the ACLU as hate objects. Maybe they consider all those straw men to be Jewish anyway.

Of course it's hard to think of any immigrant group that isn't or hasn't been accused of divided loyalty in this nation of immigrants. John Kennedy stared down that bit of bigoted Waspery with grace nearly 50 years ago, but ask a Muslim -- hell, ask someone who isn't a Muslim but has a suggestive name.

Of course it doesn't often occur except to cynics, that preaching the impending destruction of mankind and the dissolution of secular nationhood might be taken as a dilemma in as much as commitment to preserving the USA and praying for lakes of fire and brimstone aren't compatible, at least to me. I can't think of loyalty more divided than that of the Religious Right, promoting the Christian Bible as the foundation of the United States rather than its secular Constitution. I can't help but think of divided loyalty when presented with a candidate who looks longingly forward to the destruction of our country and the flight of the elect to the Holy Kingdom of God in Alaska (no witches may apply.)

The Spongey Brains of Squids

I have been a remiss member of the SwashZone community of late. Many excuses of course – too busy, blah, blah – the ready excuse of our modern age.

But that’s not it. For days (weeks?) now I have been watching SZone emails (comments & posts) filling up my in-box. All unread, I confess. I never even followed up on the last conversation I was involved in – I believe it was you, Dino, I was talking to? Maybe?

So why my rudeness? Please don’t take offense anyone. None is ever intended. But I have come to the conclusion that SQUID’s have sponges for brains. Yes – sponges. You know – my fellow sea creature of the deep? And sponges can only retain just so much until they are saturated & can hold no more. And my spongy-squid brain is saturated.

At first I thought this brain condition was a simple matter of election overload & subsequent burnout. I thought, I am just too whimpy a Squid to talk politics with SwashZoners right now. I am just too intellectually feeble to process any more angst over this or that. Too cowering of a deep sea creature to be able to handle dissent & conflict. In short – I thought – I am simply no longer up to the task of being a good zoner.

Yes . . . but why? Why haven’t I been able to squeeze some of the excess out of my spongy brain in order to make room for more info & discussion? I thought a week or so away from the blogosphere in general would help. And divorcing myself from the politically swashing zone.

But it didn’t work. Yesterday it occurred to me perhaps why. The pieces of the puzzle of Squid’s continued state of saturation began to fall into place.

I was driving around doing errands & I saw a sign posted about an auction of a home today. A home in which somebody once lived. A somebody now perhaps homeless altogether. Jus the week before there were signs posted all along the highway claiming “no credit check, loan guaranteed, 100%, new homes.” Bailout lessons blatantly NOT learned. More homes blatantly to be sold into later foreclosure.

Then there are the weekly meetings at work about hiring freezes, budget cuts, increased workloads, etc. Doom & gloom talk all over campus as programs are cut . . .

And every morning, on the way to my doom & gloom place of employment, my walk from my parking garage takes me past a congregating area for my city’s homeless. Everyday – I walk past these people – women & men. Quietly sitting, talking, living.

And more reality checks - last weekend I was sick with strep throat. My throat ached. I needed soup. Something soothing. I opened my cupboard to find nothing. Not a canned good to be found. Not a one. My child had cleaned out my cabinets the week before in support of said child's school’s food drive for a local charity – the SECOND food drive the school district has hosted in a month. As I ate a scratching, unsoothing granola bar instead of soup – my painful swallowing reminded me that there were those worse off than me. At least I had the soup to give.

And - the weekend before my child had strep throat. My child is allergic to penicillin so has to take a special anti-biotic. After paying my meager co-pay I happened to glance at the pharmacy printout & noticed what the BEFORE insurance cost of my child's meds was – it was staggering! I thought – how in the world would a parent without health insurance pay such an outlandish sum? And there are so many parents without health insurance.

So – I’ve come to realize that the saturatedness of my spongy squid brain is due to so much more than depressing headlines & blog posts/comments. It is due to the reality behind the headlines etc. staring me in the face everyday.

Today that home nearby goes up for auction. I can not help but wonder if the family in it will be needing those cans from my cupboard. I know that sounds a bit melodramatic – but – sadly – it just might be the stuff of hard core truth as well.

I am a lucky Squid, all things considered. Though my spongey brain continues to leak with a mixture of genuine compassion & selfish anxiety.

LATE BREAKING THEOLOGICAL DEBATE FROM MINI-8PUS

A continuing saga:  The youngest and last of my surviving octopode offspring (the other 199,997 were unceremoniously eaten) has released me from the chain letter curse.  I am pleased to report that my mini-8pus continues to mature and grow in theological sophistication with each passing day.  Here is the latest contribution:

Is there something about this exchange that reminds you of blogging?

Stupid Republicans

If we think the very rich are indeed different from you and me, it may not be much of a complement to them.

The talk around the Yacht Club these days involves a lot of snickering about Barak Obama and what "that man" will do to the economy. No, I'm not joking, but then neither are they. Perhaps Malcom Gladwell is right that material success has as much or more to do with circumstances than with talent or intelligence. Take the fellow with a yacht worth far, far more than than Joe the Plumber will make in his lifetime; a fellow who thinks that we're seeing a "slowdown" that will "bounce back" shortly and a slowdown that has nothing to do with George Bush, a Republican congress, deregulation or the idea that debt has no consequences if you cut taxes and pour money down a hole. I have as much faith in his genius as he has in the notion that America's success has been the result of its Christian piety.

Obama of course will raise taxes. That's axiomatic because he's a Democrat. Raising taxes will harm the economy, they say, even though it would be as fair to say that a bullet will harm a dead horse and the economy has done better under Democrats since WW II. Supply side economics will work eventually and even if it doesn't, even if the "slowdown" becomes a full blown depression, we have to keep making it easy for the Great Gatsby to keep the twin Diesels fed. Did I mention that Obama is going to ruin the economy by raising my taxes?