In the same week, we have the MTV video music awards and a major hurricane. And that pretty much illustrates life, doesn't it? There are always successful, beautiful people having a good time on the same day that someone is experiencing tragedy and despair. One group is completely unaware of the other. Their worlds don't meet. That's life.

I love the enthusiasm of children. When they are excited about going somewhere, they run. They can't wait to get there! That innocent joy for life is such a great thing, I wish it didn't have to end. Wouldn't it be cool if adults ran places that they really wanted to go; the ball game, a concert, a movie. Just get out of the car and run to the doors.

The founder of the Christian Coalition called for the assassination of the president of Venequela. In public. How funny is that? This is where George gets his cowboy diplomacy. And we wonder why some people view this country as bloodthirsty. You can't really blame Pat Robertson. He is afraid that left in power, President Chavez may try to help spread communism and Muslim extremism. What the hell century are we in? Do we still fear communism? As far as the spread of Muslim extremism, that will be a problem as long as some Muslims believe that our country is the enemy of Allah. We can't assassinate the leaders of all of the countries that may be the homes of such extremists. Can we? As expected, Robertson is trying to backpedal today. He claims he was misinterpreted. Right. There are so many different ways we can take "...our special forces should take him out."

Alcohol. I don't understand why human beings think it is normal to be intoxicated. Think about English and Irish society. Everyone hangs out at the pub. It is normal. In America, we can't celebrate anything without alcohol. The point is to get drunk. Why isn't sober good enough? We demonstrate out infatuation with alcohol to our children all of their lives. When the kids turn 15 or 16 and start drinking, we go crazy! How dare they! They can't act like us until they're 21. That's the law. After 21, they can be just as alcohol dependent or addicted as we are, but not before dammit! It's so moronic. When did we decide that altering our mental status was a good idea? We get so pissed at drunk drivers who kill innocent people. Right. Like you never drove drunk. Everyone who drinks regularly has driven drunk at least once and probably lots more than that. Ah, but they didn't get caught! That's the difference. Hey, I'm guilty. So are you. When I realized that I had the genetic defect known as alcoholism, I quit. Just like that. It took a very talented therapist who happened to be similarly afflicted to talk to me in a way I could listen to. Not every drunk is so lucky. Here's a test to see whether you truly are the "social" drinker you think you are. Have you ever had sex with someone when you were drunk that you would not want to have sex with sober? Have you ever lost money, cell phone, wallet, purse, keys when drunk? Have you ever gotten into a fight with a friend when drunk? A stranger? Have you ever tried to open the door of the wrong car when drunk? Have you ever passed out in public, like face down on a table in a restaurant?Have you ever stood up a significant other because you got drunk? If you answered yes to any of these, you should probably think long and hard about your "social" drinking. Try to just have 1 or 2 drinks the next social occasion where alcohol is served. If you find it extremely difficult or impossible to stop after a couple, you are an alcoholic. Face up to it and do the right thing. Quit. Read "Alcoholism: The Genetic Inheritence" by Kathleen Whalen Fitzgerald, PhD. It helps.

So George tried yet again to connect Iraq and 9/11. STOP! You cannot think that there are 5 people in the United States who believe that. It isn't true. The hijackers were Saudis. Remember? Here's a question for the military leaders...how many career servicemen and servicewomen are in Europe and the Pacific right now? Shouldn't they be in Iraq and Afghanistan? Why should any Nation Guard reserve troops be in combat if our career soldiers aren't? Are we that afraid that the Japanese or the Germans are going to rekindle WWII? Shit or get off the pot, George. Send enough career soldiers with proper equipment to Iraq and Afghanistan to get it done, or bring them all home. If you don't understand that, ask Laura to explain it to you.

So tomorrow is my last physical therapy session. Thank god. I have come a long way in 5 weeks. I have to get my strength back but that will take a long time. Anyway, I hope that is the last time I have to have surgery. There is nothing good about it.
Six Feet Under has been really great these past two weeks. The retrospective was really cool. Hearing from the actors was interesting, what they thought about their characters and hearing what they thought were the best episodes.
How should this standoff between the soldier's mom and the president end? George won't do the right thing because he can't figure out what that is. I think she needs to go home and continue to organize the other family members of soldiers killed in Iraq. The anti-war movement in 2005 should be at least as big as the 1965 anti-war movement.
Most people are sleepwalking through life. I am not innocent. There have been huge blocks of time where I did exactly that. But, now I am trying to be awake. Try to be awake.

What's with the plane crashes? First Greece, then Venezuela. Terrible way to die, right? Knowing you are going to crash must be so terrifying.

Are they ever going to solve the Natalee Holloway case? Isn't it screwed up beyond all repair at this point? All three of those punks know what happened. If I were Natalee's mom, I would hire someone to snatch those boys up and beat the truth out of them. But, that's me.

I don't have anything to say.

Sometimes it seems as if the universe is laughing at us. Christopher Reeves' widow has lung cancer. She never smoked. What the fuck. I quit smoking 15 years ago. Now I feel like it doesn't matter. You can still die like Peter Jennings did 20 years after you quit. What's the point?

So Peter Jennings died of lung cancer. He quit smoking 20 years ago!!! Makes me want to smoke again. I saw Dan Rather and he looked like last week's roses. What happened to Dan? Astronauts have to wait to land because of low cloud cover. Why should that keep them from landing? It's all done with instruments isn't it? I mean do they have to see everything clearly to land? Airline pilots land in clouds, right? Where do our billions go? Six Feet Under was intense last night. Cried like a big baby. I see that the actor who plays Keith already has another gig, so that's good. I wonder how many of the other actors we will see in t.v. and movies. I'm glad Brenda is giving Nate's daughter to his mom. She never really bonded with that kid and who needs the aggravation, what with being pregnant and widowed and all. Best line of the show was when Claire sits down next to David at the service and she's wearing jeans. David: "You could have dressed." Claire: "No, I couldn't." David: " Well, we all managed." Claire: "Well then, you all win!"

It has been reported today that Bush's approval rating for his war strategy is below 40%. Hmmm. It takes some folks a really long time to come around to the truth, doesn't it? The illegal, ill-conceived, half-assed war is beginning to get old. Now, don't go all "you're not a patriot" on me. Yes, I am a patriot. That's why I still live here and didn't move after the last election. I love this country. I don't love blind, stupid fanatics and others of that ilk. They are taking up space and breathing my air. No offense. Bush had no right to put even one of our people in harm's way.
The British beat us to the Soviet mini-sub stuck on the ocean floor. How times have changed, huh? Now anyone can just fly right over there and land with their rescue equipment and go to work.
The astronauts are scheduled to land in about 8 hours or so. I have no idea if this will be a routine shuttle landing or another catastrophe. That isn't good.

Some more things I like...books. I recently read The Tipping Point, Freakanomics, and Blink. These are fascinating books and really easy reads. They are the kind of books you can pick up and put down again and again. The Tipping Point is about trends and how they get started and how they spread. Freakonomics explains the money side of modern life. The drug gang business model looks amazingly like any corporation in America. And Blink is about how we make judgements and decisions in the blink of an eye based on experience and instinct. So, if you are looking for some interesting reading, these books should do nicely. I finished "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" in about 5 days. I could have read it in 2, but I wanted to try to make it last. If you have never read one of J.K. Rowlings books, please check it out. You will be surprised.

Maybe criminals should be sentenced based on the impact their crime has on the victim, victim's family and society. Think about that for a minute. A person arrested for smoking a little weed should not go to jail. The impact of their crime is minimal. The child molester should go to jail for life. A gangbanger who kills another gangbanger? There might actually be benefits to society, right? So a life sentence probably isn't justified. CEOs who steal from shareholders and retirees should get 20 years.

I believe we have suffered a technical mishap. I posted on 8/2 but nothing shows up and the "help" on this site isn't much help. Basically what I said was...A British official announced that they were going to begin using profiling to help ferret out terrorists. About time! I made this suggestion in an earlier post. I mean how many terrorists are little old white ladies? I guess the astronauts have repaired the spaceship with their homemade tools! How many billions do we spend on these things? 14 more U.S. servicemen were killed today in Iraq. No biggie, right George?