Paranoia, Paranoia, The Mexicans are Coming to Get Me...

Funny how the very same critics of the 9/11 conspiracy theory, however kooky it all is, seem just as apt to bake up their own crazy stories. Kookiness, it seems, is perfectly capable of emanating from both sides of the political fence.

~From Mother Jones, May/June 2007:

The Conspiracy: Secret plans are afoot to merge the United States into an E.U.-like union with Canada and Mexico. The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, a trade agreement being discussed between George W. Bush and our neighbors, is actually a cover for a soon-to-be-formed single North American Union. Dollars and pesos will be replaced with a new North American currency called the "Amero." The new "superstate" would erase the current borders, leading to a flood of former Mexicans into the region once known as the United States.

The Conspiracy Theorists: Jerome Corsi, coauthor of Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry, who's managed to enlist the sympathies of Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist, anti-immigration Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colorado), and Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Virginia) -- who introduced a bill last September stating the United States should not enter into said North American Union.

Meanwhile, back on earth: The SPP is real, but it's a run-of-the-mill free-trade program along the lines of NAFTA. The idea for a single North American currency has been floated by academics, but that's it. Kookiness Rating (1 = maybe they're onto something; 5 = break out the tinfoil hat): 4~~

I've been thinking lately about the concept of walls. Projects are obviously underway to fence off the southern border. (Forget about the much wealthier and non-threatening whites residing behind the northern one). The sense of impending doom that would trigger such an effort is what I cannot understand. But the very same ethos of irrational fear that is erecting walls between nations is what is fueling theories such as this. Irrational fear leads to paranoia, and once mixed with policy and implemented, can bring unnecessary economic and social strife on both ourselves and on our neighbors. Seeing the work of the Border Patrol, the National Guard members assisting them and the Minutemen who think neither are doing a sufficient job, I think there's plenty enough reason to think that concerns like these might well fall under the category of biggest crock of shit we've ever seen or heard.

Living with the Guys

Ahhhh, weekends…slipped back into two straight days of sleeping until noonish to cure a sleep deficit generated over the course of one week by a funky work schedule combined with frighteningly excessive coffee-drinking. Saturday’s somnolent bliss was followed by (yep) coffee in Capital Hill with Jason, who lately seems adamant about helping me improve my Japanese. Not that I can necessarily complain, being that completion of my degree depends on it. He’s pretty good at reminding me when I forget.

Following several years of feeling a bit locked in an antisocial cave I guess I can honestly admit the complex interaction with a whole new cast of characters in my life is a welcome blast of fresh air. The only difference now is that these people are not some illusion during one of my bouts of wishful thinking. With them I find myself going out for bubble tea, learning how to cook vegetarian, taking pictures the right way, staring at open skies, playing with a delightfully fluffy & feisty cat and figuring out how to hold my own in an intellectual argument based on logic. Beyond the fact that these two amazing men have welcomed me temporarily into their home during a period of huge transition, I’m pretty much happier now than I can really say I’ve ever been.

So here's what I can tell with regards to the present state of things:

The karma jar is full. I’m massively indebted. Life is good. Really good.

I'm Baaaaackkk...

Seeing as I’ve logged a gazillion hours on the internet without adding even a word to my name ever since I told myself I’d start blogging back in January, I figure now is as good a time as any to follow through. Whether I really have anything deep or “important” to tell anyone, I guess, really isn’t the point – plus who is to define what is deep or important anyway? Put simply, readers can see this one of two ways: (1) a means of maintaining some small purgative measure of sanity in the midst of chaos/the rat race/whatever one might call it (also known as the supposedly *grown up* realm of the capitalist work/spend treadmill, replete with graying temples and thickening middles) (2) on a purely selfish and very personal level, a self-tracking measure to keep myself motivated and on my toes.

To political theorists, environmentalists, poets, philosopher-poets and seekers of intellectual solace, I hope these ramblings are halfway decent fodder for spirited debate or at least good conversation. :) As far as my own purposes, it's is that this effort will help to stop likening my reclusive self to the student who says, “I’ll start writing my paper. Tomorrow.”

Another point which bears mentioning: SCREW cultivating a readership!

My goals would much more consist of such things as:
1. Making much ado about crap most people ignore or dismiss as petty (i.e., stories of our homeless, the nonsense behind the pricing and labeling of canned foods and such).
2. Exploring the world of ideas in the company of kindred minds.
3. Figuring out what it’s like to be awake!