It's been quite some time since I've posted anything new, but recently a couple of New York Times articles have caught my eye. These articles absolutely fall into a category that I like to call "People are dumber than you can imagine."
First of all, there is a story about Zimbabwe's economic problems. For those of you who've spent the last five years watching American Idol and couldn't find Zimbabwe on a map (much less name it's capital or ruler), you should probably just skip the next few paragraphs.
Anyway, long story short, Zimbabwe used to be considered the breadbasket of sub-Saharan Africa and net exporter of food, now they are consistently in famine. How could this happen? Natural disaster? A war? AIDS epidemic? Nope, how about misgoverance so egregious that the standard of living in the country is well below where it was a decade ago (or more). How terribly incompetent are the people ruling that country? A quote from the article:
"The central bank’s latest response to these problems, announced this week, was to declare inflation illegal. From March 1 to June 30, anyone who raises prices or wages will be arrested and punished."
Imagine the kind of person who would think that this is a logical way out of economic free-fall - that person would be Robert Mugabe. Although he did not advance that policy (he is the president, not the governor of the central bank), there's no doubt he approved it before it was announced. He got the country into this mess, and I'm sure that he'll drive them further into disaster before the world is rid of him.
Mugabe is like a walking worst-case scenario. Every time you think "Damn, things can't get much worse in Zimbabwe," Robert Mugabe announces another ludicrous plan.
The sad thing is, you don't care, you've got some "Deal or No Deal" to watch. Of course, I'm even more of a hypocrite; I've been aware of this ongoing disaster for the last few years, but haven't really done anything about it. Anyone know of a way I could? I mean besides giving some money to some NGO, any actual ideas on this issue?
Ok, article #2: how can you see an article called "Ousted Pastor 'Completely Heterosexual'" and not click? Remember that ultra-conservative pastor that was all anti-homosexual until a male prostitute came forward and explained that he was paid to have gay sex with the pastor? Vaguely? Apparently that's because you're not from Colorado Springs or a member of the National Association of Evangelicals. So the story here is that after "three weeks of intensive counseling," the pastor has realized that he is "completely heterosexual." Church officials say that his "homosexual activity had not been "a constant thing.""
This is a great example of a story so absolutely ludicrous, no one would have thought to make it up. The man has a three-year-long sexual relationship with another man, but he's not actually gay? Can we get a show of hands on who believes this guy?
For a final bit of zaniness: apparently the pastor has said that "he and his wife were taking online courses to get master’s degrees in psychology."
Wow, being part of the meta-media is fun...I suppose this is why we get news stories reporting what prominent bloggers have been saying about the latest news story about a politician's reaction to an article about recent events. I really hate that, but at least now I've become part of the problem!
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
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4 comments:
you know, for all of your criticisms of how dumb other people are for watching american idol etc., you spelled "Recent" incorrectly in your title.
I have corrected the typo in the title.
If you spend a lot of time watching American Idol and Deal or No Deal and still know a good deal about world events, then I applaud you. Let's face it though, most Americans couldn't find Zimbabwe on a map.
And "the ability to find zimbabwe on the map" = "being a thoughtful person", or something else?
Good post, although you probably don't know your audience too well if you think that we're sitting around watching American Idol. I didn't see the latest on Mugabe, but that guy has been a laugh-riot ever since he took power. It's like he sits around and thinks of the worst possible solutions to his country's problems. Land-owning elite controlling all of your country's wealth? Use your militia groups to kick them off their farms and redistribute said land to said militia groups. Nevermind the fact that those farms were producing all of your food and that the new "owners" have no ability or desire to take up farming. Are your cities clogged with legions of poor? Just declare poverty illegal and bulldoze their shanty-towns! Is rampant inflation getting the ten people who still have homes and food down? Declare it illegal and fix all prices and wages. Hell, planned economies have an illustrious history of wild success. Seriously, I have no idea how this guy hasn't gotten overthrown or invaded by one of this neighbors. Of course, between rigged elections and the support of South Africa, I suppose he's in a better place than most African leaders.
As for Haggard, the depressing thing there is that his fall from grace, so to speak, had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the guy is a giant freaking hypocrite who has be lying to his followers while bilking them out of their money for years, but rather because's he's gay, which is apparently way worse of you're a crazed, anti-science, anti-women's-rights nutcase (bonus points for telling Richard Dawkins that he doesn't understand the concept of evolution). On a lighter note, it seems that the magical, three-week de-gaying ritual involves "godly men who are clean themselves insert[ing] themselves in the life of the one who is struggling... laying their hands on Pastor Haggard while calling on God." Wasn't that what got him there in the first place? Oh, yeah, that and the crank :-)
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