The Angst And The Apathy

Well, the proverbial cows are coming home to roost, to butcher a couple of metaphors at once.

What I consider to be one of the most cloying, namby-pamby and ridiculous movements in history is finally starting to pay dividends in the form of an entire US generation - termed the Millennials - who have no spirit or identity at all, outside of their complete lack of motivation.

About 20 years ago, the slimy liberal education system won out and instituted the "self-esteem" movement.  The idea was that the smarmy leaders of this movement (think bowel here) didn't want our little babies to ever feel left out, incapable or to get their feelings hurt, because this would damage their precious little psyches.  Instead, the reward system was reversed, and instead of glamorizing achievement and exceptional contribution, these sick psycho-babble numbnuts began rewarding every meaningless utterance and finger painting that the class morons made.

This has produced an entire generation of individuals who have no volition at all.  The smart ones are not motivated to achieve because there's no incentive, and the stupid ones are not motivated to try because they get rewarded for sucking up air and generating heat.

I never thought that I would agree with Martha Stewart on anything but recipes (occasionally), but when I saw this article the other day, I had to think that perhaps she does have some redeeming value.

Where I depart with Martha is that I don't entirely blame the kids.  I put most of the onus on the parents and the system they created.

Having bought into the Socialist programming, the parents completely forgot that Capitalism requires, nay demands competition.  By raising a generation of emotional basket cases who think that that they are owed the world, the parents have done a massive disservice to their progeny.

The whole Self-Esteem (bowel) movement posited that children receive permanent psychological damage from losing.  Games were modified or banned if there was the least possibility that someone could lose.  It also claimed that competition is harmful and everyone should receive everything in equal dollops, rather than the exceptional ones getting bigger dollops.

This had a two-fold effect on the kids.  The exceptional ones decided there was no point in striving to achieve, because no matter how well they did, the morons got the same attention, adulation and rewards.  Meanwhile, the morons came to believe that they didn't have to strive harder because they could sit in a corner and drool and get the same attention, adulation and rewards as the geniuses.

Result?  An entire generation who doesn't care.  The exceptional Millennials figure there's no point in trying and the moron Millennials believe they will receive all the benefits without trying.

Add to this rather toxic mix the Psycho-Babblists, who told everyone that they should never control their emotions.  They had to let it all out the very nano-second they felt anything.  They told us that if we controlled our emotions in favor of rationality, we would all end up damaged goods.

As a result, the Millennials are emotional basket cases, too.  The least little discomfort will cause them to break down in hysterical blobs.  They can't deal with human society out of fear they will face a situation that causes them emotional pain.  Without the capacity to reason, the Millennials are at the mercy of marketers and advertisers, who can easily push emotional hot buttons to make an entire class of society do whatever they want.

Put all this together with technology that allows these under-achieving, emotional kids to retreat from real interactions and disappear into a digital world of their own making.  The cell-phone zombies are people terrified of interacting with real life.  If they look up, they may encounter something that will cause emotional damage or require them to achieve a goal.  Instead, they retreat into Pokemon Universes.

Part of the collapse of the Soviet Union can be laid directly at the feet of Socialism.  The Russians had built a society in which no matter how much or how little one worked, one received the same (poor) return: everyone got the same squalid apartments, went to the same mediocre schools, and stood in the same lines to buy the same useless toilet paper.  There was no incentive to excel, so the economy ultimately collapsed because of it.

The US, being incapable of learning from history, pursued the same course.  It added the same Edu-Babble and Psycho-Babble that destroyed the Soviet system.  Now, the US is harvesting the first generation of useless and unmotivated individuals.

The Millennials want to enter to workforce at the upper management level, or better, have all the perks and pay without the work.  They want everyone to stop and acknowledge their emotional outbursts.  They want everyone to be absolutely equal, even if that means bringing everyone down to abject poverty, rather than lifting everyone up.

All of this came about because somewhere back, someone convinced the rest of us that Capitalism was evil.  Since people weren't educated enough to distinguish between Mercantilism and Capitalism, they were sold down the river and this Socialist rubbish became institutionalized in the US.  The Millennials are the consequence.

One of the most profound aspects of culture is that it requires a continuity of education from one generation to the next.  If the chain is broken for even one link, there is a very real risk that it can never be repaired.  With the Millennials, there is a very real risk that US culture has been destroyed forever.  If this generation is unable to overcome the failure of their parents to give them a proper education, then the nation may be irreparably damaged.

Given that Millennials are already without motivation, emotionally impaired and unable to educate themselves due to a lack of tools, the situation is dire.  If they are not able to change themselves, there doesn't seem to be a will or ability on the part of their seniors to do it, either.  As it exists now, the US is most likely lost.

Given the horrors that country has unleashed on the world in the past century, that may not be entirely bad.  However, the founding principles of the US were rooted in the Enlightenment, which represents the first time in history that humanity began to codify individual rights and promote concepts like equality under the law.  Since the US has squandered that rich heritage, it may be quite some time before another generation takes up the fight that brought down the monarchies of Europe and began the long fight to end slavery, both political and abject.

The Millennials, while seeming ridiculous and pitiful on the surface, may represent the end of the Enlightenment, at least for this epoch in history.  This is no doubt by design, and the ongoing effort to make those who believe in a malevolent "elite" out to be "conspiracy theorists" and thus unworthy of attention have effectively prevented the majority of people from seeing the problem, and rather dismissing it as pure fantasy.

Perhaps you think I am engaging in a bit of hyperbole, but I think the case cannot be overstated.  The Edu-Babble, Psycho-Babble and Socialist movements can be traced with some accuracy to various "elite" groups, and it seems rather certain that they have manipulated systems to install these programs to achieve the current ends.  The reader can find ample research on these matters.

The issue becomes one of trying to reverse the damage before it is too late.  Can an entire generation be remediated?  That remains to be seen.  Without the will or desire on their part, as well as the ability of the previous generations to repair the damage they have done out of (willful) ignorance, there is little more to do than sit back and watch the return of medieval servitude and the destruction of centuries of philosophical and societal advancement.

The damage has been done.  The question is, what will we do to fix it, if anything can be done?

Far Side Into The Toilet

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I told myself I was going to avoid the whole Tranny Toilet Trap, but I can't help it.  When I see this level of absurdity, I can't keep my mouth shut, or in this case, my fingers folded.

What set me off was this story of a Colorado woman that shot a tranny who followed her into the restroom.  Oh sure, the story's a bit more complex than that, but the gist is that the issue had gotten to the point that people are making up stories to fire up passions on both sides of the bench.

Just to launch this topic, let me say that it is in no way like the civil rights movements.  People who are discriminated against because of something they can't change is a real issue and deserves attention.  People who seek attention by changing something is a non-issue.

One of the many things that irritate me concerning this non-story is the misappropriation of words.  When I see the word "transgender," it's like fingernails scraping a blackboard.  There is no such thing as a "transgender" person, never has been, and likely won't be in the foreseeable future.  Until someone can demonstrate that they have changed from having two X chromosomes, to having an X and a Y, then there is no such thing as transgender.

Among humans, roughly 1.7% are considered "intersex," meaning they are born with some blending of XX and XY chromosomes.  These folks, once known as "hermaphrodites," may have what appear to be genitals of both male and female, though there are no recorded cases where both are functional.

This has led some to speculate that there are in fact five genders, though this is rather ridiculous, since sexual reproduction requires two opposite genders and won't occur otherwise.  In very rare cases where people have XXY chromosomes, called Klinefelter Syndrome, they are usually sterile and often suffer from lifelong health problems.  Even as such, these folks generally appear to be male.

What all this boils down to is that there is no such thing as a true hermaphrodite among humans.  Everyone who is sexually functional, is either male or female.  Surgery can rearrange the drapery so that it looks like something else, but this does not change the chromosomes, nor does it allow someone to reproduce as the opposite gender (in fact most become sterile).

In my profession, I have been around a LOT of male and female impersonators and transsexuals.  I have seen some amazing approximations on both sides of the spectrum.  I've seen a hundred ways to hide various bumps and bulges that would fool their own mothers.  But there are three things that cannot be altered by surgery: the "adam's apple," the second/fourth fingers and the pelvis.

The adam's apple, that lump on the larynx formed in males during puberty, can be hidden and even reduced a bit by hormone treatment, but it never goes away.  It alters certain qualities of the voice, such as making it deeper in males, that cannot be changed.  I've heard some great attempts, including in singers who sound for all the world like women, until you analyze the recorded wave-forms.  There are certain tones and harmonics present in the male voice that can never be disguised.

The 'finger test' surfaced last year when stories of Michelle Obama being a male made the rounds on the internet.  I have never met Michelle, so I can't speak to the truth of these stories, but the 'finger test' is quite real.  In men, the burst of testosterone around 9 to 16 weeks of gestation causes the index finger to stop growing.  Thus, in men the second/index finger is shorter than the fourth/ring finger.  In my experience, this test is no fail.  I have met dozens of transsexuals who have dared me to detect them and I have not yet failed, even with fabled Thailand girlie-boys.

The final test, though a bit more difficult to perform, is as infallible as the finger test.  The pelvis is completely different between male and female.  It can be disguised and hidden, but never altered.  Without killing and dismembering someone, the difference can be felt.  In males, the femur or thigh bone fits into its socket in a line front to rear.  In females, the socket is aligned side to side.  The overall effect is that it makes women's hips appear wider, but also affects one's center of gravity and range of movement.  This makes males better at running, jumping and climbing, while females are better at carrying loads and dancing.

All of this is by way of arguing that, in the main, there are only two genders and regardless of how many cuts and pricks (offhanded pun) one receives, DNA does not lie.  No one can ever be transgendered, though with a sharp knife, one can certainly be transsexualized.

The net result of this long-winded diatribe is that six months ago, no one gave a holy goddam who used what bathroom.  Now the topic is dominating international news feeds.  Here in Indonesia, it is very common to have unisex bathrooms.  There's a high-tech device in common use here that makes this possible - it's called a damn lock.  Well, OK, just a lock, I added the "damn" part.

There is no reason why anyone cannot use any toilet, provided there is a modicum of privacy that includes a stall with good walls and a lock on the door.  The only reason this has become an issue in the US is because in the name of freakin' "security," bathroom stalls have been reduced to little more than a couple of sheets of very small paper with door gaps that a herd of buffalo could run through.

There's a reason why British English calls bathrooms "closets."  It's because the stalls are little private rooms with locks on the doors, like a closet.  If the US still respected people's privacy, there would be no issue about who uses which toilets.  You could easily have a large room full of closets with a communal sink and what would be the bloody difference?  But, since the US is increasingly adapting its culture and public facilities to aid and abet sexual predators, I can certainly understand why women don't want GENETIC males wandering into their sacred haunts.

That, and having men around kinda kills the fun of the "we-pee," where women discuss all sorts of bizarre things while going about in flocks.  I'm hardly sympathetic to this issue.

In any event, back in the old days, men and women who cross-dressed usually kept their proclivities at home.  If they ventured out, part of the thrill was to see if they could fool the general public.  In most cased, no one really gave a good goddam.

However, in the age of mini cameras, really strange sex practices and a general permissiveness for all things perverted and just plain weird, I can understand why women would want to preserve the sanctity of the toilet.  In fact, I'm thinking of starting a movement called the Brotherhood of the Bowl to keep women passing as men out of our restrooms.  It will require a finger scanner and a hip check at the door.

What all this boils down to is a bunch of people screaming for attention in a world that has glamorized narcissism and self-aggrandizement.  People have come to crave the spotlight so much that they are competing to out-strange everyone else, and then demand "equal rights."

Got news for these folks: rights, by their very definition, apply to all people equally.  But, rights are amended by social decorum and the rights of others.  Within your home, you are monarch and have every right to go about your business as you see fit.  In public, other folks have the right not to be disturbed by your disturbances.  Social graces have developed over centuries to make everyone comfortable in public.  It is a small sacrifice for a cross-dresser or post-surgical transsexual to use the bathroom of their genetic gender, but it is a major sacrifice to force others to allow their privacy and comfort to be violated.

There is literally no end to this road.  Despite many folks thinking there is a natural limit to this silliness, there isn't.  It will continue until the majority have grown severely tired of the invasions on decorum and the pendulum will swing the other way, to the point of drastic and tragic backlash.

Society works because we all adhere to certain common rules of behavior that we can all live with.  There is no burning need for transsexuals and transvestites to use the toilets of the opposite gender.  This is not even remotely like protecting people from racial discrimination.

Three Reasons To Renounce Citizenship

I envision the US as similar to the face-hugger in Alien.  Remember that scene where John Hurt is on the table with that thing on his face.  When the crew try to remove it, the claws dig deeper and the tail tightens around his neck.  That thing is the gang of criminals running America, and John Hurt is the rest of humanity.

I've come to the conclusion that it is time to get out.  I need to find a viable alternative to holding a US passport.  All that document is, is a target for both the every-increasing enemies of the US, and the thugs that operate a so-called government in the name of US citizens.

I've boiled it down to three key reasons to quit:  One, the little-known and even less understood Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA); Two, the NSA and NDAA; and Three, the deplorable state of American culture.

The FATCA was passed in 2010, and requires foreign banks to report on all accounts of US citizens or lose their ability to invest in securities that originate in the US.  It also requires anyone with a US taxpayer number (what used to be called the Social Security number) to report and pay tax on all income from whatever source and all assets held overseas.

Now you're thinking, "Hey!  That's great!  All those rich guys and corporations can't hide their money offshore."  Well, it ain't that simple.  First, this law assumes that the US has the right to dictate to foreign banks how to go about their business and require them to spend additional time and money to comply with a domestic US law.  Last time I checked, a nation's jurisdiction ended at its borders and the only legal means of compelling performance on foreign powers was through treaties.

Second, I have lived outside the US for nearly six years.  I have not earned a single dollar in all that time.  I do not receive any benefits from government, and the only services I have utilized are my passport and notary service, which I paid for - in cash rupiah as required by the US embassy in Jakarta - on the spot.  I ask for and receive nothing from the US government at any level anywhere.

Third, I pay 25% income tax, 10% VAT and a host of other fees here in Indonesia, where I use publicly funded roads and services, and derive some benefit from living here.  Furthermore, if I held any property here in Indonesia, it has nothing to do with the US government, nor do they have any interest in my ownership, so I feel no compulsion to pay tax on my assets here or anywhere outside the US.

Fourth, the law specifically states that it applies to "all US persons".  In legalese, a person is a corporate entity.  It is different from the organic "person" in that the plural is "persons" and not "people".  Since I am a human being and not a corporate fiction, the law obviously does not apply to me.  However, try arguing these fine points with bureaucratic pinheads or foreigners who don't understand the intricacies of the English language.

That list alone would be enough to drive a sane person to find citizenship elsewhere, but it gets worse.

Next, there's the NSA/NDAA fiasco.  I have nothing to hide, and I like hiding that fact from any and all government prying.  You see, I was raised an old-school Texan.  We don't trust any government, at any level, anywhere, for any reason.  Very simple point of view.  The fact that I have nothing to hide is NOT an invitation to government operatives to catalog and record every single bowel movement I make.  I like my privacy.  What I want the world to know about me can be found right here on this blog.  Anything else is my own business.  So piss off.

Furthermore, both the NSA and the NDAA assume and treat US citizens as enemies of the state by virtue that they breathe.  You don't have to commit a crime, be convicted of a felony, spout off or protest.  All you have to do is wake up in the morning and you are an enemy of the state.

Excuse me?

Grousing about government is a time-honored American tradition.  Not agreeing with 99% of the crap that comes out of Washington is every citizen's right and duty.  Believing that unmanned cameras are not witnesses and unmanned drones are not law enforcement requires little more than reading a couple of documents - specifically the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Most egregious are the so-called rights to indefinite detention and warrantless search and seizure.  The right to face an accuser and the right to be secure in one's property date back to the Magna Charta and are fundamental to Common Law.  These two features of the NSA and NDAA radically change the nature of American legal and political life, and are far more subversive that any individual could ever be.

Finally, we come to the culture.  Something is terribly wrong with America.  The crassness and slimy nature of its so-called 'entertainment', and the sleaze that is promulgated in the public schools have created a public sphere that is bereft of any redeeming qualities.

Once you get out of the constant noise of it all, as I have, then even a few minutes of American TeeVee will make you nauseous.  The women are all domineering sex-fiends who spend all their time fixing the messes that the emotional, indecisive men make.  Every show includes a gay man that the women all fawn over.  This is the role model which the American male is supposed to emulate to get women to pay attention to them.  There's always a Jewish character who is the only one allowed to talk about religious matters and to have an opinion on things like race, religion and politics.  No other character can do that.

Racial minorities are predominantly criminal, but they are forced to be by white male society.  Once they are understood as victims of evil white men, then they are redeemed.  In fact, any character who adheres to traditional roles and mores is ridiculed and forced to change by some contrived event that shows how evil the old way of doing things is.

In any event, everyone is a victim (except while males).  Everyone has been downtrodden and their victimhood defines their character.  Without being victims, none of the characters have any existence or purpose.  Unless...

They are government agents.  Then they are heroic and all-knowing.  They can go anywhere, do anything with impunity.  Their hunches are always right and they are allowed to break-and-enter, confiscate private property, torture and terrorize to get their suspect who invariably caves in and confesses all under the omnipotent stare of Big Brother.

Once upon a time, there were TeeVee shows where men were wise and strong, and you could go ages without seeing a government agent of any kind.  If you did, it was usually Barney Fife bungling his way around being generally ineffective.  The roles have been reversed now, and every single episode and every single show has some interaction with a government agency.

I won't even go into the mental rape occuring in the public schools, or the physical rape occuring in medical institutions.  I won't mention the noxious stew of chemicals that infest every level of the food pyramid, and especially water.  One need only look at the number of Americans on some form of happy pills to know that the society is sick and getting sicker.  If the populace needs to escape that badly, something is definitely wrong.

I think it's time to start shopping for a new country.  The unfortunate thing is that the US has taken upon itself to infest as many countries as it can.  It's not enough that it has placed every soul within its borders in jeopardy, but it must export its error to the world.  It has no moral superiority nor legal authority to do such a thing.

The only reason it has gotten away with it so far is that the US threatens the lives and property of every single person on Earth with its military might.  If it keeps up, eventually the world will push back and that is the moment I surely don't want to be identified as an American.  I have not been part of the error, I have done what I can to corrent the error, and I sure as hell won't go down for the error of a rogue nation.

It's time for the American people to wake up and see what is being done in their name.  It is no longer enough to hide behind willfull ignorance and psycho-active drugs.  It is especially time for men to stand up and act like men.  Don't follow that rubbish on TeeVee.  Women respect strong, decisive men and they'll quickly back down.

You know what would really be interesting?  Go to Mexico, renounce your citizenship.  Re-enter the US illegally.  Then get amnesty and preferential treatment when Congress screws the pooch on the immigration bill.

The first step in setting things right is turning off the damn TeeVee.

Ex-Patty Cake

Sodium Fluoride

The other day, I happened upon one of these brochures intended for ex-pats, particularly American and British, who are being transferred to Indonesia.

They are given as general FAQs to executive types whose companies are sending them abroad on assignment.  The tone of these things is usually quite condescending.  They reflect the ruling paradigm of the two cultures from which they come.  At the same time, they are almost comical in their hand-holding.

The British pieces are of a common tone.  They primarily go to the idea that even though the ex-pat will not be under the direct control of the monarchy for a while, they will still be able to find a tea cart and cucumber sandwiches at 4pm, and if they look hard enough, even a bit of culture to while away their time.

The American ones are even worse.  They have the tone that even though the ex-pat is away from the usual brain-washing, they can still find pockets of Americanism where they can get their fix of tele-screens and paranoia.  Just, for God's sake, don't mix with the natives!

The one I was reading was geared towards Americans, though it included information for British, as well.  The one thing that absolutely riveted me was a small side-bar blurb.  The graphic was a water cooler and inside the bottle it read, "Water in Indonesia is not fluoridated.  You may want to check with your doctor to supplement you intake."

Now, let's just let that soak in for a moment...

For those who are still in the dark, sodium fluoride is an industrial waste product that was commonly used as rat poison until the post-WWII era.  It is produced most commonly in uranium and aluminum processing.  The Nazis used it in drinking water in concentration camps to keep the natives in a stupor and controllable.

Yes, I've read all the studies about fluoride.  Most of the early ones showing benefit to teeth involved naturally occuring CALCIUM fluoride in ground water.  The populations that had higher levels of CALCIUM fluoride had less incidence of tooth decay.  Makes sense.  When one drink the water, the calcium fluoride bond breaks leaving a calcium ion which readily bonds to the tooth enamel.

SODIUM fluoride is highly poisonous.  If you look on the toothpaste tube, you'll see a warning NOT to ingest the contents, and to call a doctor or POISON control center if you do.  They put it in small print and most people never read the damn labels on things they shove into their bodies.  Sodium fluoride causes all kinds of problems, such as fluoridosis, that damages teeth and bones and suppresses certain brain functions.  It is linked to suppression of the pineal gland, which has all sorts of implications.

I was floored.  Here in a brochure was a warning that the ex-pat wouldn't get his daily dose of poison in the drinking water and should check with his doctor!  Why didn't it simply go on to say, "Be sure to swallow your toothpaste every day to get your fix so you don't wake up?"

The entire piece was, of course, typical of the Anglo-American superiority complex.  Both cultures have this damnedable attitude that theirs is the highest form of culture on Earth, and if you absolutely MUST live outside it for a time, don't worry.  The natives generally won't eat you.  The sheer arrogance of these people is rather astounding.

Indonesians generally consider Anglo-Americans to be sombong, meaning arrogant.  The British are the worst, as they look down on everyone.  The Americans still worship the British, but shit on everyone else.  Both cultures have spent years terra-forming the Earth to meet their particular needs and aesthetics.

English language schools are a huge global racket, especially in Asia.  Since Americans and Brits refuse to learn any other language, the world is forced to learn English in order to take their money.  I'm not opposed to the use of trading languages.  Certainly, the world is full of them.  Indonesian is a trading language, as is French and a number of others.  But none of them have the global infrastructure to force everyone to speak English.

In fact, most non-native English speakers I have met use better language than the average product of American public schools.  If English survives into future generations, it will ironically be on the tongues of foreign speakers.  The average Indonesian high school graduate knows more about English grammar than the average US college grad.

Columbus Sticking It To The Natives

It's no wonder so many Indos are amazed that I am fluent in Indonesian.  They are even more amazed that I speak a smattering of Java, Sunda, Batak, and Manado, to boot.  Then they are gob-smacked that I speak an additional 10 languages above that.  I have to remind them that I am Texian, and by that I exclude the US occupying forces in my mother country.  Most true Texians are more erudite and culturally sensitive than even the most ardent bone-headed 'diversity' advocate.

To their credit, most of the Canadians, Germans, Dutch, Spanish, Romanians, Russians, Croatians, Mongolians, Chinese, and Koreans I have met here all speak Indonesian fairly well.  Very few Americans or Brits do, at least beyond "I want...".  The Ozzies?  Well, they're still debating which is their native language, much less learning any other.  Hahahaha!

Of all groups, Americans seem to be the worst offenders.  Wherever they go, they demand that the locals supply them with hamburgers, pizza and fluoride.  In general, Americans are the most provincial, quivering ninnies when it comes to diving into foreign cultures.  They give endless lip service to diversity and multi-culturalism, and have quaint festivals once a year with arts and crafts from some hapless victim culture.  But take them out of their protective, paranoid shells and dump them in the middle of a new land they can't even find on a map?

To be fair, Americanism is just an extension of Britishism.  The unmitigated gall of a people to think they can go around sticking flags in things and calling them colonies sets one back a bit.  It was that British mentality that led the US to wholesale slaughter of native North Americans, or Australian aborigines, or Indians or any of a dozen other peoples.  How does a group of people come to believe that its culture is so superior to anything else that all others must conform or die?

I don't single out the Anglo-Americans, either.  The French, Dutch, Portuguese, Italians, and Spanish, not to mention the Catholic Church have all done the same, just not to the jaw-dropping extent of the Anglos.  I mean, they literally landed on foreign shores, were greeted with open arms, and then proceeded to slaughter anyone who was brown, spoke a different language, or didn't acknowledge the genetic aberrations called the royals.

There's an old joke that seems appropriate about here:

Someone who speaks multiple languages is calles a polyglot.  Someone who speaks only two languages is called bilingual.  But someone who only speaks one language is called British.

At any rate, I wish I could find the author of the brochure I received.  I would love to add some things to it.  First, this:
"Don't panic!  Others have done this an survived.  They have McDonalds and Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza here.  You can even get your daily psychotropic medications readily at the local pharmacy without prescription, so you don't wake up before going home.  There are many English speakers among the few natives you will encounter on your stay.  They will not force you to participate in local culture or try to teach you new languages.  YOU ARE SAFE!  Just do NOT leave your hotel room, except to take our armored shuttle to your workplace.  Be sure and register with the embassy so they can email your daily paranoia warnings.  If at any point, you feel like you are assimilating, call immediately and we will be happy to re-indoctrinate you at no additional charge."

You know, if more Americans and Brits actually go out and learned about other countries and peoples, they might stop bombing them.  But, that may be too much to ask.  After all, those other countries and peoples are sitting on top of our precious resources.  Can't have that.  And certainly, nasty folks like Qaddafi who have independent central banks and debt-free currencies need special attention.

See your doctor about lack of fluoride in the water.  Hahahaha!  If that doesn't beat all.  In fact, it says so much in so few words, though I think many people won't get the joke.  In fact, the more I think about it, that little side-bar blurb may just be one of the sharpest jabs I have seen in a long time, and brilliantly disguised, at that.

I should write a letter to the author thanking him/her for such wry and subtle humor!

Super Huh?

I know many Americans think the entire world stops and waits breathlessly for the outcome of Super Bowl, but in fact, most of the world doesn't care. Even among the ex-pats I know here, the subject has received exactly NO attention whatsoever.

In fact, Americans tend to think the world waits for instructions to know when to get up and when to go to bed. Watching MSNBC, or CNN, or FIX outside the rather invisible borders of the US is quite humorous.

All the reporters and anchors tell us in anxious and self-important words that Obama wants this, or Hillary is urging that, or some congress-critter is jumping up and down demanding the other. Frankly, most folks out here couldn't care less.

More to the point, quite a few folks just wish the US would shut up and go the hell home and tend to its own.

Thirty years ago, when I first ventured out into the great unknown, it was different. People cared what was happening in the World Series. They really wanted dollars. You could hawk a pair of Levi's for a small fortune in backpacker stash. These days, no one talks about the World Series, since it doesn't involve the world in any way. The dollar is a joke and folks are preferring euro or yuan, those I can't for the life of me understand why they want euro, other than it ain't dollars. And Levi's? Hell, there's a factory outlet the next town over from here. They make the damn jeans in Indonesia!

I barely consume the American media anymore, except when I need a good laugh. I know enough Arabic to see that Al-Jazeera tells a much different story about what's going on in Africa and the Middle East. Hell, many Americans don't even know that Tunisia and Egypt are in Africa.

I practice my Mandarin by watching the China news channels, because, well...they own the damn planet and what they say carries a lot more weight these days than Hillary or Obama. It's also instructive to see what they don't say. Knowing what your adversary is afraid of is quite helpful, also.

Most of the world speaks at least two languages. The average Indonesian speaks at least two local dialects, plus a little Arabic to read al-Quran, and is learning or wants to learn English.

I know...I can hear Americans now saying, "Hey, I speak English." Well, no. Most American of an age wear their pants around their knees, signaling they are prison whores and speak some linguistic abortion called 'ghetto talk.' I know quite a few Americans who can't write a single, grammatically correct, properly spelled English sentence to save their lives.

Americans have isolated themselves, and in their ignorance, have inflated their importance in the world. Sure, at one point, America held sway. Everyone wanted to be American. Everyone wanted American stuff. But now, everything American is made somewhere else. Americans economic woes have scared folks away from the dollar. And American food is know for being just slightly above garage-grade, in terms of health value. About the only thing left of American hegimony is Pizza Hut or Domino's.

The one thing America had going for it was respect in the realm of dipolomacy. Well, GW's wars and torture, and WikiLeak's revelations have pretty much killed the last avenue of respectability. Obama's just a no-starter when it comes to state-craft.

So, it comes down to more games. Keep the rubes busy with eye-candy and botched national anthems. Give them a spectacle that draws eye-balls to the most talked-about commercials of the year. Package it all up with stylized warfare, and what do you get? The all time most-watched TV event ever, which I presume means above the Apollo 11 moon landing, which pulled over a billion, but I guess we've forgotten about that little bit of trivia, any more.

I remember when my cousin took me to Super Bowl VIII. I was played at Rice Stadium in Houston. At that time, the Super Bowl was little more than a glorified high school game in east BF Texas outback. Now, it's a multi-million dollar wast of time. Nero's bread and circuses comes to mind. Not much has changed in 2,000 years, when you think about it.

I didn't watch the World Cup, either, which I guarantee drew more eyeballs than Super Bowl every dreamed of. So where they get the most-viewed thing is a complete mystery to me.

Bottom line is out here in the real world, no one even knows what a Packer or a Steeler is, unless in reference to homosexual males. I'll stick to Jesse Ventura's Conspiracy Theory, if they allow him to do another season. He's stepped on a lot of big toes already.

As far as American cultural hegimony goes, it's been cashed in. Outside of American's borders, there are far more important matters to attend to than foolball games, eating being one of them.

Besides, no Super Ad has risen to the level of Apple's 1980-something Big Brother commercial. Thirty years of stagnation in that departmenta, too.