Blagojevich aka Nixon

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was impeached and found guilty of trying to sell the senatorial seat vacated by Barack Obama. I'm sure you've heard about it - he made SURE of it. In fact, he skipped the first day of his trial to go on a media blitz in New York, starting with the ladies on The View!! *Best Moment*: when Joy asked him to do a Nixon impression and say "I am NOT A CROOK!" and he totally refused. Smart man! That sound bite would have been played over and over and over right now. The similarities between Nixon and Blago can't be denied. The speech in this clip could almost be used word-for-word by Blago...

He made a great effort to avoid the impeachment trial, raising hell over the fact that he was not given his 6th amendment rights and he couldn't bring witnesses to testify to his innocence and it was all a conspiracy because real corrupt politicians in Illinois didn't like all the "wonderful" work he was doing for the people. Right. BUT at the end of the day, if you read the 6th amendment, it says "In all criminal cases" which means NOT in impeachment trials. His was a case of the legislature deciding whether he was still the best person to take care of Illinois, not whether he was going to jail - so the 6th amendment doesn't apply here.

He was given an undetermined amount of time to defend himself and NOT ONCE did he deny the charges of corruption or deny that he was trying to gain financially from the available senate seat. He did not provide affidavits from the supposed witnesses he wanted to call. Instead he spent almost AN HOUR talking about his immigrant parents, his children thinking he was corrupt, the great work he has done, detailing EVERYTHING HE HAS DONE (aka his JOB). I wish I knew how to play the violin so I could play along to the tune...

He will go down in history and when corrupt politicians have no defense but insist on their innocence, it will forever be known as Pulling a Blagojevich. So now Illinois is Governor-less (to my knowledge) and if his eventual appointee, Roland Burris (who I met and questioned on his policies toward Arabs, and who I consequently dislike immensely) is not honored as senator, Illinois is also Senator-less (aside from Durbin). I can't wait to be back in Chicago next week!

Fab Five: Texas Cheerleading Scandal

The trademark phrase of American optimism is "Only in America!" Well this is well and truly an example of American elitism. 5 "Mean Girls"-type cheerleaders in Texas, near Dallas ran McKinney North High School. It helped that one of the girls was the principal's daughter. They told teachers to shut up, used offensive language and hand gestures, they skipped school and were subject only to their own rules while other students were forced to follow school policy.

Why? Because they were cheerleaders and because Linda Theret, the principal who was in charge of a whole school of kids could not even handle her own kid. They say everything is bigger in Texas - like egos and hypocrisy?

The girls went through 5 cheerleading coaches in 3 years. No one wanted to deal with their "Untouchable" personas and massive, unchecked egos. Then the girls took it one step too far with one of their new coaches, Michaela Ward. They ignored her attempts to teach them, they stole her phone and sent explicit messages to her husband and a fellow coach at the school. Mrs. Ward resigned then went straight to the media to inform the public about the school. An investigation was made into the principals conduct allowing the girls to run rampant in the school and giving them preferential treatment.

It was during the resulting school district investigation that pictures came out of the girls on MySpace, all minors, in a store holding explicitly shaped candles and one of them in a compromising position with the candle. There was also a photo of the girls drinking under age. All of them were given 15-day suspensions from school. Now here is where it is interesting.

Even though it was understood that the girls were bullies and were running the school, they were allowed to stay. Principal Theret was offered a deal to resign: $75,000 and a glowing recommendation. Now, really, does that seem fair? Would you want this woman in charge of your school? She can't control one 16-yr old girl, let alone a whole school. And how are those hiring at other schools supposed to know about her past failure when she has a letter saying she did a great job???? She should not be allowed to work in the school system and she should have DCFS monitoring her daughter and her other children. Way to go Texas...

Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire

I watched this movie today in theaters. At points it is sickening and it makes you want to turn your face away. The things people have to do for the "privilege" to live when so many of us take this as a given is shocking. It did portray India as a third-world country with intense human rights violations, like many Indian critics complained - although there was one scene that showed the development of the slum area the boys grew up in to be a newly built business center. Rife with corruption and a complete lack of value for human life, it will undoubtedly wedge a seed of mistrust in Americans regarding the region. Americans will think of the slums whenever they see or hear about India.

I have to say, it is a heart-warming story that makes you smile and really think for days afterward. I am glad I watched it in the theater in America because I knew just about everyone in there was on the same page. When the last question was revealed, the whole theater simultaneously gasped out loud! It was a great moment. But immediately after watching the movie, in the rush for the ladies room, I overheard numerous people say the movie put them off visiting the region. Where people once saw an area of meditation and calm spirituality, they now saw politics, corruption and injustice. It is not fair to say this was an inaccurate portrayal of India because it is not by any means a lie. But it did not delve into the business and commerce side of India. Since it is not a tourism ad, I don't see why it would.

It was shocking and disturbing to many Americans to see the movie and in the beginning a few people got up and left because it was very heavy. Americans do not like to see people struggling with basic life and the horrible, inhuman things these kids had to go through. It still makes my heart ache. And while we all like to think "I should do something about this, I would like to see this change" sadly I think the only change will be a drop in Indian tourism revenue.

But, on the bright side, the movie won 5 Critic's Choice Awards and 4 Golden Globes. Don't let it be said that America did nothing...

Old friends feel like old jeans, you forget how fabulous they are until you put them on and feel the comfortable old curves and hugs in all the right places. London is a city of comers and goers where people constantly move on to greener pastures once they "get over it." It leaves those of us still searching kinda lonely. But they always come back. Summer time in London draws back all the people who went a bit nuts in the insane winter season and moved away.

London brings together people who are drifters and dreamers, so naturally, we are always coming and going.

The Virginia Tech Killings

The killings in Virginia have really affected me. I don't really understand why, but as an American looking into the country from the outside, I am saddened by the random insanity that is consistently displayed by my fellow countrymen. In trying to understand the senseless deaths, one question keeps floating through my mind. Why do these types of killings ONLY happen in America?

There are a couple plausible answers:

1. gun control.

In England, guns are completely illegal. Not even police officers are allowed to have guns. This has been the case since a school shooting in 1997 because Thomas Hamilton opened fire at a primary school leaving 16 children and their teacher dead. However, it is said that the ban did not actually decrease gun crime. See the 2001 BBC article.

2. a fundamental issue with society.

This is where it becomes very worrisome. What about our country keeps making people go crazy? Why do we think it is ok to just shoot each other? I know the killer in the VT killings was not even born in America - but his action was American in nature, according to history. I think it has something to do with the superficiality of life in the US. It's about money and pretty things. Life is not difficult in America, even people who think they have it difficult really do not have much to worry about. Job security, personal welfare, family life...we always ways of getting by. A spouse can take over the "bread-winner" job or if there is no spouse, we can get help from welfare and government aid. We have the best medicine that science offers, doctors are readily available and have to treat you in emergencies and our family life is not threatened by wars, persecution or extreme hardship. Living in London has really showed me how superficial American life really is. Which is a possible reason that people have less regard for life. Postal workers killing people, students killing people, cops killing people, our government killing people. So many people are dying and there are so few good reasons. It's upsetting to be an American looking from the outside in. It's not exactly a pretty picture.

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A World Without America

I found this video, dramatizing news headlines that *could have been* if America did not exist. It's kind of a load of crap.



This was sponsored by a British company to basically sell the US. While I am American and I love America, this video is superbly one-sided. What about the introduction of nuclear power? What about pollution and global warming? The video is so biased that is almost becomes comical.