As the end of the school year approaches we can expect our kids to come to us with ideas for graduation/end-of-the-year trips. If they suggest Mexico you should think long and hard before saying yes. Its warring drug cartels have made Mexico a very dangerous place--I'm sure you've read about the murders, kidnappings, and innocent people being in the wrong place at the wrong time. What you may not know is that Mexico now has one of the world's most liberal laws for drug users. Roughly speaking, legally you can have four marijuana cigarettes, four lines of cocaine, 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams of methamphetamine, or 0.015 milligrams of LSD. Maybe you are confident that your child won't be tempted by the legality of drugs while they are in Mexico--I'm sure they won't--but what about all of the other people that your child will be partying with in the clubs or on the beach? Scary!
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Some of my favorite books are fiction with a strong historical component. I've just finished The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff. Mr. Ebershoff entertains as well as illuminates in his intertwined stories of polygamy. In one story, Ann Eliza Young, 19th wife of Brigham Young, tells of life growing up in a polygamist world and her eventual apostasy from the Mormon Church. This is not a love story. Ann Eliza was at times in awe of Brigham as a leader, but most of her time as his wife was titular. The modern-day story,within-the-story, also involves polygamy, as well as being a murder mystery, and has its own apostasy--not regarding polygamy but gays, and the Mormon Church's rigid stance that has caused them to leave the church, if not the religion. I like books with interesting finales and this author has a unique and clever way of integrating the two stories at the end.
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The recent gubernatorial debate between Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner offered little in the way of new information. However, it did confirm that negativity is alive and well in politics. Mr. Poizner came out slinging and Ms. Whitman found herself on the defensive, but she managed to throw a few feeble punches of her own regarding Mr. Poizner's flip-flopping on issues. Pundits quipped that Meg might not be tough enough to govern. Tough may not be what we need. Arnold is tough, yet he has had a hard time making an impact. We need someone who can make Californians understand that we are in deep trouble and that it is not going to be pretty or fun getting out of this mess. We need someone to instill pride and a sense of duty in Californians--not a sense of entitlement. We need a leader. Right now we have a state that is covered in a security blanket that has become threadbare by pensions, labor unions, and illegal immigration. Our politically correct, freewheeling attitudes have taken us down the road to ruin. The "right" candidate for California would be running ads of Greece's current nightmare with a voiceover saying, "California will be the next Greek tragedy unless we all pull together for the greater good." Too many politicians cater to special interest instead of dedicating themselves to making tough choices. They make promises to get themselves elected or reelected: solving problems is a distant second on their agendas. I'm not optimistic--feta-stuffed grape leaf anyone?
PS--If you think Greece is not our problem think again. The trillion-dollar bailout will be partially funded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the largest contributor to the IMF is yes, you guessed it, America. This means Mr. and Ms. American taxpayer will not only be paying for health-care and other social services for Americans, but also Greeks.
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It was just me and my sometimes snuggly, always feisty, 16 year-old daughter on Saturday night so we went to the Jennifer Lopez movie, The Back-up Plan. Ms. Lopez is not a great actress but she looked fabulous strutting around (pregnant, no less) in her five-inched Christian Louboutins. And to be fair, her co-star, Alex O'Loughlin looked great too. Mr. O'Laughlin doesn't need $1000 shoes because he has million-dollar abs that he flaunts while driving a tractor shirtless. The movie opens with Ms. Lopez being artificially inseminated because she desperately wants to have a baby but has not met anyone who can fill the bill as father. She leaves the doctor's office and meets the man of her dreams before you can say baby-daddy. This is not a great movie--it's predictable, silly, overly sentimental and at times, gross. However, if your daughter is in a snuggly mood it's a perfectly fine way to spend an evening.
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It would not have been hard to miss the news that there was major flooding in Tennessee earlier this month. Even if you heard there was a flood, chances are you are not aware of how catastrophic it was. The flood has gotten short shrift by the news media and the White House. With few complaints about being over-shadowed by terrorist attempts in Times Square and an oil rig horror in the Gulf, the good people of Tennessee have pulled together to take care of themselves.
Check out this video: YouTube - Nashville Tennessee Flood 2010
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