07.02.05

Could I pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease get some real news? Knowing that what's-his-name is as mad as a hatter, or that what's-her-name married so-and-so and is pregnant (news flash) is not real news, people.

Real news is that the Shrub may get the chance to nominate not one, but two Supreme Court justices. Real news is Africa. Real news is the European Union. And more, more, more. There's so much information out there that celebrity publicity is ridiculous during newscasts.

While I'm not against the gossip rags or the shows, I am offended when this bullshit shows up on my news broadcast. News is information that affects my life. {Insert name of celebrity} fucking {insert name of celebrity} doesn't affect me. How much box office some movie made over the weekend doesn't affect me. If I got a percentage of the take, yes, I'd be interested. However, it doesn't mean squat in my ever-underfunded life. I don't care how much more wealthy some pinhead is getting. What, they'll be able to have even more cosmetic surgery? Great. I can't afford to get the tear in the cartilage in my right knee fixed. To me, being able to walk without pain (or even a little less pain) is more important than the unending quest for eternal youth. Guess I'm selfish that way.

Where was I? Oh yeah, news. Or rather, "news."

I had the misfortune to watch Nancy Grace on CNN the other day. Who the fuck is she? Hmm. Here are other opinions about her ethical standinghereand here. I wanted to reach into the TV and smack her. Loud, attacking, uninformed, polemical and a junkie for attention were my impressions of her. I was unimpressed.

That leads me to that Cruise guy which leads, inevitably, to scientology. Oh wait, I think it's trademarked...oh, yes it is. Okay then, Scientology. Being dubious (and agnostic) I did some on-line research. I tried to balance the claims of Scientology with the claims of its detractors. I can't get over the fact that it costs money (and a lot of it), that it seems to carry the same deadweight of older religions (including excommunication, intolerance, and the promise of holding the one and only Truth, that those who don't believe the tenets are damned, and a belief in non-corporeal spirits that inhabit our bodies), and that it was started by a man who said "I'd like to start a religion. That's where the money is," (attributed to L. Ron by Lloyd Eshbach in his work, Over My Shoulder ISBN 1-880418-11-8). But maybe I'm being intolerant.

*grin* Yeah, well, everything I've read and seen shows me that religion can be many things to many people. Me? I've got my own philosophy that grows and changes as I learn more about, well dang, life, the universe, and everything. My first, and most steadfast, tenet is to do no intentional harm. I added the intentional because no one can foresee all outcomes of every action. I think that the Buddha talked about doing things with an open heart. To me, that means with generosity and compassion.

I could be wrong.

Then again, I'm suspicious of anyone who declares, claims, or insists upon his or her absolute authority in any situation. That holds true whether I agree or disagree with him or her.

Frankly, I just want to be let alone. Could we start a new religion based on that one statement from Greta Garbo? I can see it now; huge halls filled with people sitting quietly with good books, quiet thinking going on, and every so often, the tea cart would come around for tea, coffee, and/or biscuit-y things. I see Garbologists not swarming the streets, not using the law to harass and oppress, and not hiding behind false arguments to prove the infallibility of the belief system.

C'mon everyone, who wants to be a Garbologist?

*grin*

Okay, enough. I'm getting peckish. Where is that damn tea cart?

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