The Real Missing Link

A Therapsid from the early Triassic -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
In discussions of evolution, the "Missing Link" always refers to some ape-man that provides a mid-point from ape to human. This conjecture is hardly interesting to me, though it's interesting and controversial to people who don't believe in evolution. Ape DNA is 98% the same as humans, apes originate from the same geographic areas as early humans, and most of all they physically resemble humans. Apes have the same gestation as humans, 9 months, and they even can be trained to speak primitive language. My imagination doesn't have to take any gigantic leaps to see a chimpanzee-like animal turning into a human.

Now, there is a missing link in nature that I find pretty puzzling -- it has hardly been addressed. I call it the reptile-to-mammal connection. Between fish and salamander, we have lungfish. Between tree mouse and bat, we have a flying squirrel. We have almost continual evolutionary calling cards throughout much of the animal kingdom. But for some reason, between tree lizard (an advanced reptile), and opossum (a primitive marsupial) we have nothing. For this discussion, I'm regarding marsupials as primitive mammals. No living animal species represents a plausible bridge of these two. The Australian platypus lays eggs and has venom glands, but still is overwhelmingly mammal in its behavior and looks.

The systemic changes that took place toward evolution of mammals were monumental: 4-chamber heart, mammary glands, external ears, internal temperature regulation, fur, etc. It's interesting to conjecture how it came about. One has to figure -- at no point did a marsupial crawl out of an egg laid by a lizard. There was a geneticist, Richard Goldschmidt, who once made such a conjecture -- the "hopeful Monster" theory. It has never been observed in nature, and it was mostly dismissed by other scientists.

There is ample fossil evidence of mammal-like reptiles that existed early in the age of dinosaurs. They were called synapsids and therapsids. They truly looked half lizard, half mammal -- their legs were notably more elongated than a lizard's, under the trunk of the body like a mammal. They must have been somewhat successful because they diversified and their fossils are everywhere to be found. None of these species survived into modern times though some lasted into the Jurassic era. My own conjecture is that the full progression from therapsid to mammal happened very rapidly and in one specific locale. ("Rapid" in genetic terms might be a few thousand years). So rapid and restricted was the change, that the "promotion" to advanced features was wholly inclusive to a tiny population, and all animals in that population were "promoted". If it had happened over a longer time frame, there would have been population drift and surviving "cousin" species.

What a shame that we have no living clues, only fossils. Arguably the largest, coordinated macro-mutation accomplished by evolutionary process, and we have nothing but two end points to look at. That fact, along with the complete disappearance of dinosaurs (arguably another transitional advancement over reptiles) suggests some very interesting biological events took place throughout the pre-Cenozoic era. The therapsid and its immediate successors are the real missing links – not the ape man. Maybe someday we can reconstruct what happened in that pivotal moment of evolution.

© 2007 blogSpotter

HIV Mysteries

Do we have all the answers? -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
The AIDS disease was discovered in 1981, and the virus responsible was discovered by (depending who you believe) Montagnier in 1983 or Gallo in 1984. The disease has claimed 25 million lives since it's discovery in '81. One dissenter in the science community, Peter Duesberg, stirred things up 15 years ago when he claimed that HIV was merely a passenger virus and other cofactors were needed for someone with HIV to reach a disease state. Among his observations:

• There is no HIV-specific disease. All the HIV-associated illnesses are previously known and can have other causes.
• Long incubation -- a virus disease usually has a short incubation, showing symptoms in 8-24 hours. HIV supposedly can take 5-10 years to show symptoms.
• In typical viral disease, there is a high % loss of target cells; HIV only infects 1 in 500 T-cells.
• Viral disease is self-limiting within a few weeks; HIV is not.
• Viral disease follows a random path; HIV seems to infect specific groups

For all of Duesberg's analysis, he lost his funding from NIH and he was labeled a loony. Duesberg seems to think that HIV is only a “passenger” virus and has nothing to do with getting AIDS. It’s easy to see how people could interpret his idea as homophobic – “It’s all those gay guys doing crystal meth”. Giving him the benefit of the doubt on that, he raises some legitimate points about how HIV differs from other disease-causing retroviruses. Here are some more observations regarding the American (but not African) pandemic:

• HIV infection is almost unheard of in lesbians who don’t do IV drugs (regardless of safe sex practices).
• HIV infection is almost unheard of in heterosexual males who don’t do IV drugs (regardless of safe sex practices).
• HIV/AIDS has never become a disease of the general population. It seems like heterosexuals having unprotected sex would be at risk, but it’s never become epidemic with heterosexuals.
• (Data from Duesberg): Of hospital personnel who’ve seroconverted from accidental needle pricks, nary a one has progressed to AIDS.
• There are a growing number of people who have the virus and no symptoms whatever.

Duesberg attributes the African pandemic to malnutrition, and some misdiagnosis. HIV transmission is caused by sperm-to-blood or blood-to-blood contact – the ritual of female circumcision could easily pass the virus if unsanitary tools were used. From some of what we see here, the disease is hard to get and even then something needs to help it along. I myself know of several people who’ve passed away from HIV, but most were drug users at some point. What I’d like to find, to help prove or disprove Duesberg, is someone with full-blown AIDS who is non-hemophiliac, non-IV drug user and also someone who has always led a somewhat “Mormon” lifestyle – no cigarettes, alcohol, recreational drugs to speak of. (Before or after infection).

My general conclusion is that HIV is necessary, but I’m not at all convinced sufficient to cause disease. Maybe there has to be some other disease cofactor at work. Duesberg raises good questions, but I wouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater as he appears to do. HIV/AIDS does behave in ways very unusual and the medical community still has many questions to answer. If people can remain objective in their analysis, maybe we can come to the most meaningful answers.

© 2007 blogSpotter

Stadium in the Sky

If you build it, the Super Bowl will come -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
Word has it now that the Super Bowl 45 (in year 2011) will be at the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. My first instinct is a twinge of irritation that the City of Dallas let that slip through our fingers. That new state-of-the-art stadium could have and should have been in Fair Park but some people in city/county offices did not fight for it as mightily as they could have. Instead, the Stadium is going to Arlington near the Rangers Ballpark. Arlington is developing into a super-sports venue and certainly stands to gain from this latest announcement. Right off the bat, Arlington will be getting some highway improvements that will accommodate the Super Bowl traffic.

Now here is why we should toss out the sour grapes -- why it's good news for all of North Texas. A Super Bowl, much like the Olympics, brings tourism and camera crews to your town. For an entire month prior to the actual game, Sports Illustrated, ESPN and even NBC Evening News will be putting a focus on our metro area. According to the Houston Chamber of Commerce, patronage of Houston's hotels and meeting facilities skyrocketed after they hosted a Super Bowl at Minute Maid Stadium. Hosting of the game served as a continuous one-month commercial for the Houston area.

The press will be scouring the whole area to let visitors know what there is to see. We have (among many other things) the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth and the recently opened Red Courthouse Museum in Dallas. We have Love Field with a recently relaxed Wright Amendment. By 2011, we should have a new George Bush Presidential Library and a dramatically expanded DART Rail. There are actually compounded benefits, because people who enjoy these new attractions will remember what they saw when it's decision time for the next Olympics location.

The Dallas/Fort Worth metro area has a responsibility to make a good impression. I visited Sydney, Australia in 1999 -- one year prior to their hosting the 2000 Olympics. Not only were they building an Olympic Park, but they were fastidiously cleaning up the entire city. Medians were landscaped, old buildings were painted; the entire city was shined and polished. We should do no less here, at least in highly visible tourist areas. I don't know if fiercely capitalistic North Texas is up to such a collective goal as city beautification, but maybe we need to try some collective goal-setting here. The football goal posts will have a lot of camera time at Jerry Jones' Stadium in the Sky. If the DFW area manages its resources right, it will score some points more vital than those of any football play in the new stadium.

© 2007 blogSpotter

Keeping Dallas Pretentious

Dallas skyline -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
In this week's TIME magazine, staff writer John Cloud gives a good update on the political climate of Dallas. The article, "Lavender Heart of Texas" points out that the Dallas metro area has become increasingly Democratic and yes, increasingly gay. Dallas now has Democrats occupying the mayor's office, most city council seats and 57 of 84 offices in Dallas County. Openly gay Ed Oakley is in the runoff for mayor; the Dallas sheriff, county judge, and district clerk are also gay Democrats. The basic information is well-presented; I'm a liberal who has lived in Dallas for 24 years so I applaud most of these changes. It's great that our fair city has made national news with its demographic advances.

Now this is where I have some problems with Mr. Cloud's verbiage and his conclusions (and in part, his obvious "Dallitude"). He attributes the liberalization of Dallas to the mid-terms where even the GOP chairman thinks 40,000 GOP voters stayed home, out of disgust with how immigration and the Iraq war are being handled. That may be true, but Dallas proper is increasingly black, Hispanic and older white people. This is due to "White Flight" primarily. Younger Anglo families seek school districts with low crime as well as inexpensive suburban housing. The population shift is mainly what's brought about the change in the city of Dallas' voting patterns. You can bet that Frisco and Allen have kept their GOP pedigrees. Farmer’s Branch on the North edge of Dallas just voted to boot illegal immigrants back to Mexico. Is that liberal or informed? Cloud also says that Dallas has the "ninth largest concentration of same sex couples". That would be impressive if not for the fact that Dallas is also the 9th largest city overall. If we had, say the 5th largest concentration that would be noteworthy.

Cloud’s 3rd observation that raised my ire was a dig at Austin, Texas. While I’m a long-time Dallasite, I did much of my growing up in Austin and it will always be my first city love. Cloud uses the unforgivable adjective “dowdy” to describe Austin as compared to Dallas. He describes Dallas as a city of “yearning and ostentation” as if that were a good thing. Note to Mr. Cloud: Crass materialism is never a good thing.

Where do I begin? Austin has hosted the Sundance film festival and is the “Live Music Capitol of the world”. It is the home of celebrities like Sandra Bullock and Mathew McConaughey. Austin is nestled near beautiful hills and lakes, and Austin reveres its historic past by restoring its older buildings and monuments. Austin is diverse, liberal and in a good way subversive. Dallas on the other hand has no entertainment venue of note. Talented artists usually get the hell out of Dallas as soon as they hit it big. Dallas has no celebrities who aren’t being paid nightly for their stint at Nokia Center. Dallas is on flat, grassy plains with no geographic beauty of note. Dallas tears down all its historic buildings to replace them with prefab concrete, fake stucco, and otherwise unremarkable, bland, me-too buildings. The overall mentality of Dallas, even among many gay Democrats is one of button-down conformity and stultifying dullness. How dare John Cloud call Austin dowdy? Mr. Cloud, I think your “yearning for ostentation” has clouded your judgment. You need to live in Austin for a spell – some silicone valley transplants have even brought much of the ostentation you desire to places like Austin’s posh new Domain mixed-use complex. Austin has everything Dallas offers, but Dallas has not nearly everything Austin offers.

If it were a food comparison, I’d say Dallas is a stale chicken salad sandwich and Austin is a sizzling plate of fajitas. I know which one sounds better to me. Enough said? Enough said.

© 2007 blogSpotter

Carter, Don't Back-pedal

He speaks the truth -- Picture courtesy of Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
Jimmy Carter said on Saturday, “I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history.” He added Bush as brought about an “overt reversal of America’s basic values” as expressed by prior administrations, including that of his own father, George H.W. Bush. Hey! Them's fightin' words! But who said that fightin' words never need to be said?

We already live in a politically correct, overly sensitive world where you step on a crack and you break your mother's back. My last blog about Falwell talked about the fact that political correctness has seeped into religion, where rational discussion is "intolerant" if it concerns religion at all. After the horrific events of 9/11, we've done nothing but walk on egg shells; we make sure Arabs aren't offended that some of us were bothered by the fact that they flew airplanes into our Trade Center. Now, are we to add "sitting President" to the growing list of criticism taboos?

On the Today show, Carter back-pedaled when talking to Meredith Viera. He described his comments as "reckless" and "careless". In a way that was both accurate and much-needed, he stirred the pot on Saturday. In a period of reflection and second thoughts, he wants to unstir it today. Well Carter, the cat's already out of the bag. What you said is unambiguous and it's what you really thought. Video cameras and sound clips across the world have it on record:

"worst in history"

Now Carter says he only meant his assertion with regards to Bush's foreign policy compared to Nixon's foreign policy. Well Mr. Carter, it's too late baby, baby it's too late. Borrowing from Carol King lyrics there. We know what you meant and we know that you meant it. You said similar things in the 2004 Democratic Convention. You spilled a bottle of truth; unlike milk or water truth leaves a permanent coloration on the floor, along with a beautiful aroma. It can't be cleaned up, it can only be appreciated. Don't cry over it.

© 2007 blogSpotter

Sometimes Divisive

Heal!

by blogSpotter
When Jerry Falwell passed away recently, fond farewells were given across all the media. Because his tirades were given under the aegis of Religion, and the word "Reverend" preceded his name, the newspaper remembrances were softened with phrases like "sometimes divisive" or "oft controversial". As Slate writer Christopher Hitchens so aptly points out, Don Imus could've salvaged his whole career with the prefix "Reverend". Hitchens went even further, by referring to Falwell’s dead body as a “carcass”.

In his early career, Falwell was pro-segregation and referred to Civil Rights as “Civil Wrongs.” He wasn’t much more enlightened by the late 90's; he elicited laughs with his now-famous outing of Tinky Winky -- a children's Teletubby character. Not so laughable were his dark insinuations that the Antichrist will “of necessity” be a Jewish male. His anti-Semitism was barely kept below the surface. His stance in favor of Israeli settlers in Gaza was more of a goading toward what he saw as ultimate Biblical prophecy -- Armageddon. Falwell crossed a Rubicon of sorts when in 2001, he said that the 9/11 attacks were divine retribution for gays, lesbians, feminists and the ACLU. He actually was compelled to apologize for that statement. There is no rational justification, divine or otherwise for what happened on 9/11.

"Speak kindly of the dead," they say. There are so many dead people of differing viewpoints; it's hard to stay consistent with that dictum. And if the recently deceased is "oft controversial" it's harder still. I have a friend who once said, "I don't care about Heaven or Hell -- when I die, I just want to know why things happened as they did. Give me an explanation for why life sucked, and what it was all really about." If there is one ultimate, real truth, may we all be apprised of it at least in death. Maybe we die, and then we just get a good talking-to. Jerry, I can't help but think that someone would set you straight about children's television, the ACLU and a few other things.

© 2007 blogSpotter

Atheist Murders Revisited

The Grande Dame of Atheism -- Picture courtesy Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
Madalyn Murray O'Hair is well-known as the woman who took prayer out of American public schools in 1963. As a champion of Church-State separation myself, I feel that she was undeserving of the title "America's Most Hated Woman". O'Hair was the director of the American Atheist Society headquartered in Austin, Texas for many years. Her son Garth, and twenty-something granddaughter Robin also helped in the administration of the group. O'Hair was not known for diplomatic phrasing or delicate words. She could be pretty scathing in her broadsides to perceived enemies, or even to cohorts that she felt were incompetent. Her undoing came in the mid 90's when she hired a violent ex-convict 53 year old, David Waters, to be her office manager. No telling what the background check involved but it was clearly inadequate. Waters was caught embezzling money from American Atheists and was fired. Madalyn wrote a scathing retort about Waters in the Atheist newsletter afterward. Waters saw the newsletter and he was reportedly enraged by it.

The rest of the story is rather gruesome and I'll sum it up quickly. In 1995, Waters and two cohorts kidnapped the O'Hairs from their home in Northwest Austin, and took them to a hotel in San Antonio. They forced Garth to cash large sums of money from personal accounts, and then they summarily killed all three O'Hairs. The details of this ugly deed are not known, and probably better left that way. It’s not known if they had to endure torture, because their bodies were so dismembered and decomposed when they were later discovered. Waters was eventually apprehended and sentenced for his deed -- he died shortly into his prison term from lung cancer. My main point in writing this article is to discuss how surrounding people dealt with the horrific event.

William Murray O'Hair was O'Hair's eldest son. William was actually a protestant minister and very much estranged from his Mother and family. Even so, I find it very odd that he didn't report his Mother missing for one year. The O'Hairs had left behind food cooking in the kitchen, beloved pet dogs and diabetes medicine in their house -- there was ample evidence from the get go that foul play had occurred. The Austin police refused to research it as a crime for a year or so, until several newspapers including the Dallas Observer had done so much leg work, it was painfully obvious a murder had occurred. Likewise, the FBI was very distant from the case until overwhelming data was produced by other parties.

Worst of all, some fellow Atheists mused about whether the O'Hairs had simply run away, possibly with funds from the organization. The reaction by family, cronies and law enforcement is absolutely astounding to me. When Waters was finally apprehended, it was for charges way less than 1st degree murder -- he was given 20 years for reduced charges. The lethargic and even hostile reactions, especially by law enforcement, make me wonder. I passionately embrace the idea of a Higher Power, but the God of my understanding would never condone what Waters and his cohorts did. Neither would the God of my understanding condone the hostile indifference that so many reputedly Christian people showed toward this crime. They seem to believe that it’s “just desserts”. It is possible for a believer to start out as an atheist (has anyone heard of Amazing Grace?) and come around to believing. To God, an atheist might be like unsculpted clay -- that which can be shaped into a beautiful sculpture of enlightenment in very short order. Even if someone is a diehard atheist to his last deathbed ramblings, it is up to God and not to us to decide on the worthiness or fate of that person's soul.

There are a few people who were rightly concerned about what happened. Even William Murray O'Hair finally came around and realized that nobody should countenance what was done to his family members. To people who felt menaced by Madalyn's presence in the world, or weirdly vindicated by her horrible murder -- shame, shame, shame. My own theistic perspective says we are always being watched by a Higher Power. His heart is gladdened by people who do the right thing, and saddened when people do otherwise. Condoning a sadistic murder probably falls into that second 'otherwise' category.

© 2007 blogSpotter

Skintillation

Ponderous thoughts about pendulous bosoms -- Picture courtesy Luke Ford/Wikipedia

by Erica
Hi, my name is Erica. I'm a former Penthouse Pet and today I'm the guest writer for blogSpotter. The photographer made a mistake in the picture above -- got a picture of my decolletage rather than my face. I suppose he was looking at my ample bosoms which can be pretty distracting. The black, lacy dress probably didn't help matters any. Men think that I'm all about my breasts and that there's nothing going on upstairs. That is so untrue. If you saw a list of my turn ons and turn offs, chauvinist men are on there somewhere. I mean, I want you to like my breasts but I want you to like all of me too.

OK, Erica has a confession to make. Erica is blogSpotter and I'm conducting a blog experiment (sexperiment if you will). Two blogs I've written in the last few months that have garnered many hits are "American Idolatry" and "Women in Cages 2007". "American Idolatry" was a somewhat negative critique of a show I seldom watch. "Women in Cages 2007" was a silly fluff piece which happened to have a provocative title and a picture of Paris Hilton with a shirt unbuttoned. I have to figure that I get more site hits when I have something sexually oriented and/or inane as the draw. Women are less visually oriented than men so the pictures that get the most visits are pictures of women.

A blog is a bit like a hair salon -- you have regular customers, but walk-ins are welcome. If someone is surfing across all the blogs in the blogger domain, they may just happen on an interesting title, picture or byline in my blog and start to read. I write about a lot of things -- music, art, and politics. I'd love to stimulate thought or discussion about those topics. That's all that this blog is looking to stimulate. But if I want to pull in an audience, it looks like I need pendulous bosoms to draw the audience in. What kind of sick, porno mentality do we have out there? Worse yet, where can I find royalty-free material so I can continue to supply what the customer wants? My own bosoms are not very pendulous, being a man and all. What a sad state of affairs for the human intellect.

In "Television for Dummies" I decried the fact that Americans have devolved into anti-intellectual Cretins that like shows about sex and bodily functions. It should come to me as no great surprise that blogs are the same. In the interest of keeping an audience, blogSpotter will have to occasionally use double entendres, cheap come-ons and skintillating pictures. I'll have to apologize if further down in the article there is, dare I say an idea about something. Think of it as a compressed Playboy, where you get the article and the cheesecake all in one pop. I can't help it that pendulous bosoms and ideas must coexist in one universe. We'll just have to find a way to make that accommodation. I must walk the line between grand ideas and cheap titillation. Tell me I didn't just use that word.

© 2007 blogSpotter

Hillbilly Hickhop

What happens when Country meets Punk? -- Picture by blogSpotter

by blogSpotter
I'm not a musician, nor a music reviewer but I feel it necessary to give a little replay of my evening at Austin Texas' Hole in the Wall this past Saturday. I was there to see my cousin's boyfriend, Scott Biram, perform his unusual blend of blues, country and heavy metal. My cousin Lizzie (aka Leroy) was in good spirits, introducing me to all her musician friends. Lizzie's pink hair was hardly a standout next to people covered with head-to-toe tattoos and Anglo guys with 2-foot dreadlocks. One of her friends casually showed where he just lost a leg in a motorcycle accident. The club was a fascinating mix of wholesome college Greek types, hippies, grunge rockers, middle aged patrons and a couple of drunks.

The stage area was barely elevated so only the throng at the front could see Scott. Scott plays a new variety of music which is a blend (according to one observer) of blues + country + punk. Someone else described it as "hillbilly heavy metal". In some parts, I thought he sounded like a sped up Ted Nugent or maybe Commander Cody; a musician watching with me said that's all wrong -- it's much more like Muddy Waters with a little gospel thrown in. If you are experiencing a giant "what the hell?" to these descriptions, you'll have to hear the music. Scott is a one-man band who plays percussion and guitar at the same time. The music is interlaced with sound effects, jokes, mild profanity and verbal asides about the song coming up. In addition to the above-mentioned artists, I detected elements of Johnny Cash and a couple of shout outs that called to mind Ray Charles. Maybe I'm wrong, but maybe I'm right.

One young man I spoke to was Mike Bourland, a 41-year old musician who is a major Scott Biram fan. Bourland described his own music as "hillbilly hickhop". Mike's Bourland Band is only part of his schedule. His "real" job is that of an AMD electrical engineer designing chips. When Mike isn't singing hickhop or designing the next generation of computer chips, he's creating short films for the next Southwest film festival. I told Mr. Bourland that he does more on a Thursday than I've done in my whole life. He said that he's joyfully manic and would have it no other way. I would be full of envy if I weren't so full of admiration for these creative types. Mike made a complete fan out of me when He admitted that he was a social liberal and fiscal conservative -- he had to flee the GOP in 2004 because of Bush's misdeeds. He wrote some songs to reinforce those feelings.

I'm probably too old school to appreciate the complete picture of hickhop or country punk. Willie Nelson is all I need to "get jiggy" with a country sound. But these young artists are cranking out the CD's and have international followings. Where there is smoke there is fire, and this hillbilly heavy metal is generating a brilliant blaze. For more information, check out these web links:

Scott Biram Web Site
Bourland Music Site

© 2007 blogSpotter

Women in Cages 2007

Hilton won't be at the Hilton -- Picture courtesy Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
America's favorite bad girl, Paris Hilton has been sentenced to 45 days in prison because of a parole violation. It seems she was going 70 mph in a 35 mph zone at night, with her lights off. Her license had already been suspended for previous civic wrongs. I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon with all the Paris bashers -- you really have to like Paris Hilton. The entertainment factor alone makes her worth having around. Rather than wave cautionary fingers or preach, I have decided to create a small sketch of what her life will be like in the Big House.

I'm hoping that the experience doesn't make her bitter toward the world. Maybe my small screenplay can be expanded by somebody like Miramax, and we can further explore the world of Paris. Here is just the beginning of my screenplay.

Working title: "The Last Time I Saw Paris"

-----
LYNWOOD PRISON, EVENING LOCKDOWN

Prison guard Foley is a butch-looking woman with short hair and military posture. She's checking all the cells to make sure the inmates are ready for lights out.

PRISON GUARD FOLEY
(Seeing Paris in her cell with banned items)

Miss Hilton! Where did you get that diamond studded jump suit? You're supposed to be wearing standard prison issue.

PARIS
(Combing her hair)
This old thing? It's from Barney's and it's off the rack. These are just rhinestones.

FOLEY
And where did you get the avocado face cream??

PARIS
All right, all right! My friend Nicole snuck me a few things during her visit. Isn't it enough that I'm here?

FOLEY
Miss Hilton -- I'm going to have to write this up and tell the warden. ...Hey! What’s this? You have a flat screen TV, an iMac, a wet bar, an exercise bike, a king-size bed and a sitting area! This cell is only 8 by 12, how did you do that?? You even have an ocean view!

PARIS
You're wearing me out with all these questions. Don't get all bent. What's your name by the way?

FOLEY
Well, it's Candace. They call me Candy for short.

PARIS
Look Candy, I've been noticing that your pores are large, and your eyes could use a lot more definition. You could probably use my help.

FOLEY
That's against regulations....I mean... Really? I mean, how much could you do with this mug?

Paris hands FOLEY a hand mirror through the bars.


PARIS
Let me show you how to be fabulous.


LYNWOOD PRISON, 1 HOUR LATER

Warden Smith is another prim, butchy woman and is making a round to check on everything. She see's Foley in a folding chair next to Paris' cell, face all tarted up with makeup.


SMITH
Officer Foley! This is a major infraction. You're supposed to be monitoring this sector. Instead, you're all made up like a cheap hooker.

PARIS
(Putting on finishing touches)
Hey! I take exception to that. This is what I wore on my last outing with my friend Britney.

SMITH
That's beside the point! ... Britney? Britney Spears? Are you two close? .... What is she like?

FOLEY
Pull up a chair -- she can tell you all about it. She says they never wear panties.

PARIS
(to SMITH)
Hey, your pores are looking large too. I have an Erno Laslow treatment just made for you.

SMITH
(reluctantly)
OK. Hey -- what are all these cameras doing here?

PARIS
Look, it's no big whoop. We're filming The Simple Life. It can't get much simpler than this...
***


This is all I have at this point. Will accept ideas for what should be the next scene...

© 2007 blogSpotter

The Summer of Love Turns 40

All you need is love -- Picture courtesy Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
I was just a ten year old Air Force brat when 1967's Summer of Love took place. At that young age I was unable to appreciate, much less partake in the amazing cultural phenomenon. 1969's Woodstock is frequently cited as the seminal Earth-shaking event in American Rock history but nay -- Woodstock is the offspring of that certain summer, that summer of California Dreamin' that took place two years earlier. The Summer of Love actually started as nothing more than a marketing gimmick for the June '67 Monterrey Music Festival. To help promote the event in May '67, The Mamas and Papas' John Phillips penned a little song with a big impact: San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair). Scott McKenzie's eloquent recording of the song became a #1 hit and it served as a quasi-invitation for hippies worldwide to converge in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco for the summer.

The Monterrey Music Festival dovetailed with several other amazing things. An event called the Human Be-In at Golden Gate Park got the ball rolling in January of '67. Then the Beatles came forth with the drug-influenced, George Martin-produced tour-de-force known as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. There was already a certain hippie momentum and the Beatles' magnum opus (arguably the best album in Rock history) added fuel to the fire. Basically, the whole world converged on San Francisco that summer -- people from New Zealand, Europe and everywhere else. There were hippies to be sure, but also tourists, gawkers, soldiers and middle aged people. Some of the drug-addled attendees actually thought that utopia was to occur then and there. It's easy to see why. They had free food, free love and even a free clinic (which still operates to this day). There was even a Free Store which gave basic supplies to anyone in need.

As all good things must, the Summer of Love came to an end. Overcrowding, crime and drug problems began to take a toll. Those ultimate wet blankets, practical people and realists, all had to go back to school and back to their jobs. It turned out that you couldn't give everything away free, forever without something like that pesky Social Contract becoming necessary. Nevertheless, and you knew a nevertheless was coming, the Summer of Love was beautiful in both its utopian intentions and its musical expression. Nothing since has held a candle to the "turning on" that happened that summer in Haight-Ashbury. In 1987, the 20th anniversary of Sergeant Pepper and the Summer of Love, the album was released in CD format. Wags the world over argued over the question, "Is love all you really need?" Sociologists and pragmatists everywhere claimed that you need money, work, social security a sound roof and central heating. They finally approached the expert himself, George Harrison, to seek his opinion. George answered without any hesitation at all: "Yes, all you need is Love". Thank you Mr. Harrison; this blog author is in whole-hearted agreement with that lyric. The Summer of Love was a perfect antidote to a world rocked by racial strife and the Viet Nam War. Some 40 years later, we are rocked by the war in Iraq -- maybe it's time to revisit Haight-Ashbury and its themes. I'll close with my favorite bumper sticker from the era:

"Make love, not war".

© 2007 blogSpotter

The Green Zone Becomes the Mean Zone

No longer a safe haven -- Picture courtesy Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
The Green Zone is a highly secured area in central Baghdad, fortified with heavy cement walls around the perimeter. Access points are highly restricted and secure. The Green Zone occupies a few square blocks which were once a tourist area; Saddam's palaces, state buildings, nice hotels and affluent housing filled the space. Since the US invasion of 2003, the area is now occupied by @ 10,000 people -- 5,000 government employees and contractors share the space with roughly the same number of homeless Iraqi squatters. The Green Zone has been thought of as an ultimate safe haven although that illusion was disturbed 3 years ago when rocket bombs destroyed both the Green Zone Bazaar and the Green Zone Cafe.

Now Brian Bennet writes in this week's Newsweek about further declines in the Green Zone area. Living there was never that easy to begin with; inhabitants have to go thru weapon's checkpoints just to enter a store or restaurant. It would be like going thru airport security six times a day. The American presence will soon be shrinking (in a physical sense) because all 1500 embassy officials will be moving to the new cement-fortified embassy structure. Much of the Green Zone territory will be ceded over to the Coalition Government; one shudders to think how "secure" the ceded area will remain. The "Red Zone" (anything outside the Green Zone) is a terrorists' shooting gallery so embassy officials will essentially be imprisoned in their new building.

Iraqi employees who set foot in the Green Zone are blacklisted on the outside. They can't return to the outside world. Even if they lose their employment they must stay put and live as squatters. Some receive regular death threats on their cellular phones. Now it seems the squatters may be evicted anyhow, facing certain and extreme danger. The eviction is because a suicide bomb went off in the Parliament Cafeteria on April 12th, killing an Iraqi politician. Since this event, the Coalition Government has ruled that anyone in the Green Zone not employed by the government or contract agency is a security risk.

American advisors have sought to create a secular, Democratic safe haven in the Green Zone (if nowhere else in Iraq). But it's still no Disney World. A well-regarded Sunni imam who opens his mosque to Shiites has been shunned by Sunnis even within the walls of the Green Zone. He has also received death threats. How well does it bode for the US that we can't even create harmony on a small-scale, trial basis? What is wrong with this picture? Many of these people are the highly educated Iraqis in leadership -- people that we would hope set a standard for other Iraqis. Even as we surge our troops, we seem to be shrinking, nay recoiling in the Green Zone.

Let me digress for just a moment now. It may seem like I'm straying miles from the topic at hand, but bear with. In Lilies of the Field, Sidney Poitier plays Homer Smith, an unemployed construction worker who by happenstance, ends up helping 5 immigrant nuns build a church. With his protestant background and spiritual songs, he shows the nuns an alternate path to spiritual awareness; they ultimately see him as an angel. He helps them to let go of their Eastern European rigidity and open their hearts. Now, let's come back to the topic of Iraq. Iraq doesn't need a military surge so much as it needs a change of heart. Threats of violence mostly serve to solidify whatever prejudices exist in peoples' hearts. Where is Homer Smith when you need him most? Iraq could use him at this very moment.

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