Page A3 of my local Sunday paper, the News Tribune (serving South Puget Sound) runs a little box along the seam-side of the page titled "In Brief" with a short rundown of stories from across the nation and the world.
Souter says Americans need civics lesson was one of the headlines that happened to catch my eye. A short synopsis of the news brief, or rather, the first sentence/paragraph: Retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter urged the nation's lawyers Saturday to help revitalize civic education warning that the failure of many Americans to understand how the government works poses a serious threat.
I'm shocked and appalled and in complete agreement with Souter. Later in the brief, Souter "pointed to a poll showing two-thirds of Americans can't name the three branches of government." Not that I particularly endorse the television corporation named after an orange animal of the dog family, but this is the reason shows like "Are you smarter than a 5th grader" have been allowed to have any measure of success. Americans are stupid.
It's no wonder we as a country are so ass-backwards compared to the rest of the industrialized world in so many aspects. We let idiots and morons and rock stars (and appropriate combinations thereof) be the ones in charge because we're too apathetic to even take the time to know how our own government works.
That's a damn shame because I for one believe that as far as governmental models go, ours has some pretty strong things working in its favor. Sure, there are major areas of corruption and aspects have gotten way out of hand, but the system of checks and balances between the three branches of the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary is a really good idea.
I'll save a discussion of the strengths and flaws inherent in the system for a textbook, but really, it's not that hard a concept. The hard part is how this system gets applied to running a country and all the political maneuvering that has shaped the government into the behemoth it is today. It's been complicated to a game of politics and control and infighting as all of our elected leaders try to force all the other elected leaders to agree with them and create/overturn laws and policies that will benefit us as a people, themselves, our allies, our enemies, their individual constituencies, the corporate interests providing them with money.
Vietnam's harmony with Zen master unraveling
This bit of news came from the very next page as the headline to a story about relations between Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, his followers and the Vietnamese government deteriorating supposedly after he made statements to the media supporting the Dalai Lama's return to Tibet.
Y'know, for a group whose stereotypical image is that of a peacefully meditating, balding Asian monk, these Buddhists really seem to create conflict with governments looking to repress their religious freedom. Riots and protests and semi-provoked attacks on monasteries make me wonder just how dedicated you have to be to maintain inner peace amongst so much chaos.
It's really not funny how these esteemed religious leaders are being forced from their homelands in the face of oppressive governments, but the kind of temerity shown by these mostly bald, mostly older men belies a greater will by the people to express themselves as their beliefs see fit.
The worst mistake opponents of such religious leaders could do is to martyr them and continue to seek to repress a spiritual movement. Look what happened to Christ, and over 2000 years later his teachings are stronger than ever. You cannot kill belief.
Six Flags filed for Chapter 11?
I normally don't do more than skim the business section as I have very little interest or knowledge in economic matters save for a deep interest in the bigger picture meaning of economy that seems to shape our materialistic society. Money is no object to me and anything beyond the necessities should be shared and enjoyed with as few restraints as needed except to maintain those necessities.
A small headline in The Wall Street Journal Sunday page caught my eye since I'd just spent the day running around my local water park. "Ride out summer at a theme park." Aside from the milquetoast pun on the word ride, it seemed like the kind of simple travel story you would find in the business section instructing how to spend your money and yet still manage to save (a contradictory idea I've still yet to wrap my head around).
I read it anyways.
The second sentence, "Though Six Flags filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy-court protection in June, deals are available at many of the theme-park chain's 18 U.S. locations" was the one that made me double-take. Since when did Six Flags file for bankruptcy? Oh, in June. Say what?
This should have no bearing on me whatsoever as Wildwaves and Enchanted Village (though I guess they dropped the Enchanted Village part of the name some time ago), the local water park I mentioned, hasn't been owned or operated by Six Flags for several years. But remember those commercials where the crazy old man in the ill-fitting suit danced to the Vengaboys and kidnapped random strangers on his magic bus and brought the to a wonderful land of happiness? Six Flags was responsible for that advertising annoyance.
I'm flabbergasted and left wondering how? Why? And more importantly, where was the major media coverage of the collapse of one of the biggest names in the theme park industry? I seem to remember there being quite a lot about some giant car corporations getting ready to go belly-up. Doesn't that bit have something to do with our overall economy as Americans find that frivolous spending on expensive theme parks and roller coasters aren't the best way to attain happiness and maintain a sustainable lifestyle?
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