On the need for coolant

It seems that the new "in" thing is to have a breakdown. I mean, look (or don't) at Charlie Sheen. The media coverage involved has been very much a part of regular news reporting. as though this were real news. The way the guy himself is running it, however, is as entertainment. I have no doubt that most of my country's citizenry knows more about Mr. Sheen's breakdown than about the nuclear reactor melting core breakdowns in Japan as a result of the earthquake and tsunami.

And then there's Christina Aguilera's breakdown, but from what I don't know. I was under the impression that  she hadn't done much the last couple of years other than be Christina Aguilera., which must get pretty taxing from what I gather.

Frank Rich is leaving the New York Times, which is a breakdown in the order of the editorial knowledge universe, but it is his right to move on. It's just that he is one of the few in this country who see politics through the lens of show business, and isn't afraid to tell you who's tinkering with the script, or having a hissy fit backstage. And the Times let him.

A few people at work had histrionic breakdowns over failing to adjust their alarmed linear time devices to the new order of things.

And I suppose I might as well go ahead and make Frank Rich's non pejorative abdication as the Times' voice of sanity a milepost marker for the approach of my own acute time-limited reactive stress, anxiety, and depression disorder.

Did you see last Sunday's Times editorial page? David Brooks, the paper's allegedly respected  conservative/libertarian wrote in an editorial entitled 'The New Order';
     "We’re going to be doing a lot of deficit cutting over the next several years. The country’s future greatness will be shaped by whether we cut wisely or stupidly. So we should probably come up with a few sensible principles to guide us as we cut. The first one, as I tried to argue last week, is: Make Everybody Hurt. The sacrifice should be spread widely and fairly. A second austerity principle is this: Trim from the old to invest in the young. We should adjust pension promises and reduce the amount of money spent on health care during the last months of life so we can preserve programs for those who are growing and learning the most."

Don't forget you can click to enlarge

Have I said this, yet? The war has already begun. What happened in Wisconsin is just a skirmish. The real battle target, by extension,  is the destruction and annihilation  of Social Security, Medicare, the 40 hour work week and so on via "cutting the budget". The next battles prepare while everyone else focuses on meltdowns at nuclear reactors in Japan, natural disasters, and the sudden heart warming emergence of "freedom" in the middle east... Let me see if I have this right, some nebbishy kid managed to tap into some big time computers, steal untold bazigabytes of confidential US documents, and is now facing the possibility of being put to death for treason. Meanwhile back at the truth ranch, an arrogant European nebbish guy published this material on his group's website, and' looks very much to be in the middle of a setup right out of cheap fiction as he extradites to a country which will render him here. In the meantime, the leaked documents haven't really revealed very much other than such dangerous things like calling a thief a thief. And from those leaked documents on the "real" Mideast, revolutions have sprung up out of the twitter blue, armed and almost ready. I can't quite remember the exact words anymore, but Charlie Chaplin wrote in his autobiography that in plot construction, an event being repeated once is co-incidence, twice convenience, and three times contrivance. I'll bet whomever is backing and directing this show never figured on teachers in Wisconsin, though. So now They know that We know. And, looking at the plotline, I'd have to say that they might be coming soon. The time left to arm and organize ourselves is fleeting before madness takes control.

Laugh if you want. You're next.






.