barbara friedland

Too much stuff

I have way too many things.  In fact, I own virtually everything that one could possess.  With certain exceptions.

I don't have a boat.  Or plane.  Nor do I own a politician or judge.  Ditto for island and movie studio.

But I have what I need and then some.  Many important items are mine in singular.  A house.  A car.  

An only child.  

After that, there is a geometric expansion.  Three cats.  Handbags- too many to calculate.  Lots of jewelry.

Piles of pashmina and cashmere.  Books that could fill libraries 

Of course, shopping is my drug of choice.  Add to the fact that I am dedicated to finding unbelievable buys and it is physically painful for me to dispose of items.

Combine this with my mother's words always ringing in my ears:  waste is a sin.

Thus excess is my equivalent to the DT's or track marks on my arm.

And so I donate by the carload.  The Baltimore Free Store pleases me, knowing that my things are offered

at no cost to those who need or want.  I am presently giving a car to the SPCA, hoping that it will provide

money or usage.

Still, I have so much.  I recently finished my renovation and finally collected my storage.  Word of advice, do not put clothing away for several years, even raiments you might deem timeless.  Because they will prove to be dated.

There were a few broken objects and then mountains of art, furniture, and more stuff.  Coming out of countless boxes.

My resolution for the foreseeable future is to suspend shopping.  Not like the folks writing books about their withdrawal from consumerism. People who bring their child's art as hostess gifts.  And wash their hair with lemons.  

I will continue to purchase what we in the marketing biz call consumables.  And gifts.  Undertake any needed repairs, to myself, home or car.

But that is it. 

The inventory of my house can become a burden.  

Of course this coincides with the new economy.  Which will help to further the downturn.  Recession. Depression.  If what I do is practiced, writ large. Withdrawal from shopping, that is.

But I will find other areas of excitement.  Different passions.  I will luxuriate in achievement or affection.

Reaching goals and exceeding same.

Replace purchases with experiences.

I will resist the lure of sales and markdowns.  Inventory clearance and below wholesale pricing.  Refuse to even visit my favorite websites.  And their daily deals.

Happiness is found in wanting what you have.

I bet it is easier to wean oneself off of heroin.

Indict Bush.

Rod Blagojevich oh snap

I guess it is check.  Maybe check mate.  I think that Rod Blagojevich is going to win this round. 

And ultimately the entire fight. 

I would wager money that he won't go to jail.  And possibly not be impeached.

So much for not appointing anyone to President elect Barack's vacant Senate seat.  And old Rod

picked someone who would be hard to deter from serving.  Good credentials.

First black to win statewide in Illinois.  Barack supporter.  

71 years old for good measure. Unblemished record. Even from there.

Master Stroke. Rod Blagojevich.

Kudos Governor.

Of course his adversary could not beat an elephant at handball.

Fitzgerald was unable to find a link between Scooter Libby and Dick Cheney.

For all the folks blabbing about Valerie Plame and outing her as a covert agent,

this poor old prosecutor could not locate a single one.

Except for child porn and terrorist threats, talk is cheap.  And one is presumed

innocent until proven otherwise.

Bragging cant only means that one is boastful.  I can sell this Senate seat for

a million dollars.  Notice the future tense.

Unlike Dick Cheney who stated that he approved torture.  Past tense.  Deeds

completed.

The hirsute governor could rise like a phoenix from his own ashes.

And Fitzgerald, still preening in front of television cameras, will fail again.

Of course too many venal and incompetent people are leaving power now.

What makes Fitzgerald different is that he was charged to investigate them.

Two strikes and this lawyer should be out.

I understand that the terrible economy has been good for Wal-Mart and they are hiring.

Release Patrick Fitzgerald from his duties. Maybe he could be an assistant manager.

Or greeter.  WELCOME TO WAL-MART.

Indict Bush and Cheney.

Anne Hathaway

Why do I dislike her?  I am very aware of the revved up PR machine that has thrust this girl-woman into all available media.

I guess homely folks should be able to succeed in Hollywood.  Still, I am startled every time I see a picture, after clearly hours of primping, and she looks awful.  

But that is superficial. However, let's examine her intense media campaign.  All celebrities have to be concerned about over exposure.  

Is she talented?  Who knows?  I saw her in only one movie:  The Devil Wears Prada.  And frankly,

no one beside Meryl Streep even mattered.  The boyfriends of Hathaway's character were

badly miscast, and should have been reversed.  But who cares.  This was all about the

magazine editor.

The movie was based on a roman a clef, penned by a writer whom the editor of Vogue had

the misfortune of having as an assistant.  And then was able to read about it in a bestselling

novel.  After which, she could see herself portrayed by Streep.

But back to Hathaway.  I guess I am tired of women enabling bad men.  From Bonnie Parker to Laura Bush.

And the historical poster child for horrible judgement:  Eva Braun.

Hathaway's beau was merely a con man.  Her swain but a mere swindler.  And certainly of less import than the Wall Street folks getting the largess courtesy of Bush and a compliant Congress.  

Here Mr. Banker, you have destroyed your company and the economy but take this money no questions asked.

The actress claimed that she had absolutely no idea that any fiduciary problems were occurring.

Really, your guy is allegedly brokering land deals for the Vatican and can have the lifestyle of a Saudi prince.

I have some stock I would like to sell you. In Enron and Lehman Brothers.

And what about the Pope costume he kept on hand?

Maybe I am just grumpy because she has thrust herself on an unsuspecting American public with unrelenting steel discipline.  Haven't we suffered enough?  Why do I have to see her in some designer dress for the upteen time this month?

Report on people who matter.  On events that have significance.  If the media is bored, they could follow the money that is being sprayed onto Wall Street.

Or elucidate the crimes of the Bush Administration.  And Laura, dear, you must have known.

Indict Bush and Cheney.

I am right.

About a lot of things.  Bush.  Iraq.  Pilates.

Evil. Wrong. Good.

But this is about food and nutrition.  I am unerringly correct.

Of course there were trends that I did not anticipate.  Who knew that

blueberries had so much dietary value.  On lists of the top twenty foods:

they appear twice, fresh and frozen.

And I can not be expected to be cognizant of obscure fruit harvested in remote

ports of the Amazon forest.  Take that acai.

But I digress. 

Back to eating right.  Healthfully.

Years ago I began to eschew red meat.  Especially pieces marbled with fat and gristle.

I like my food clean and dry.  I don't use salad dressing, preferring to savor the individual tastes.

If you don't like fresh tomatoes, carrots and spinach, then you don't like salad.

Which brings me to my favorite food, spinach. Raw.  I eat it like candy.  And then eat candy,

like, well, candy.

But wait Bucko, chocolate is proven to be good for you.  Ha.

And that is the only sweet I like.

You could not pay me enough to eat drippy cinnamon buns, weighing in at 500 or 600 calories.

Ditto for danish, pies and any flour/sugar concoction that does not include the cocoa bean.

I like lean cuts of fowl and fish.  Salmon is divine, especially Jewified-  smoked as in lox.

Nitrates notwithstanding, it is manna from heaven.

When I went to college, I learned, for the first time, that people ate bagels without lox.  

With just cream cheese. Or even worse, butter.

Back to eating right.

I was apathetic to the Krispy Kreme invasion and don't imbibe drinks with whipped creme.

Health reports in regard to coffee change and shift, but it is clear that sugar laden beverages

that clock in with more calories than a banana split, can not be healthy.  

I was drinking tea before it was determined that this leaf provided a multitude of benefits.

It does everything except wash your car.  When I used to enjoy tea and offer some to 

my mother, her response was that she wasn't ill.  (For those slow on the uptake-

she associated it with colds and the flu.)  Well, I was perfectly healthy.  Probably

because I drank tea.  And ate raw spinach by the bag full.

The mere smell of fast food makes me nauseous.  Believe me, no study will ever

emerge touting the benefit of grease and fillers like the ones now advocating wine.

Thus my previous two vices are in fact good for the heart. Pass the vino and the Dove Bar.

I am not much of a fruit eater, preferring vegetables.  I add blueberries to my oatmeal- see above.

I do enjoy tart, crisp produce.  Apples, grapefruit, fresh figs. And many dietitians recommend

fruit in sparse quantities because of the sugar content.  I will get my sugar from chocolate-

see above.

Which brings us to nuts.  I have been tossing a few in my oatmeal for years.  I am not

much of salt user.  In fact, my doctor has suggested adding such when I think of it-

I never eat fried or greasy food, meals served on a tray by teenagers or anything followed by the word

jerk.

So for years,  to add interest to bland cereal, I folded in some nuts.  Guess what. Studies prove that

regular consumption of nuts helps to clear arteries.  So there.

Occasionally I will use sea salt.  I love it on melon or chocolate.  A yin/yang taste.

But mostly, I eat fresh, lean and raw.  No fat- as in milk but usually steamed- as in anything.

When I want to benefit my heart, I reach for a glass of wine or some chocolate.

It is nice to be right.

Indict Bush.

The War on Christmas

I am sorry but I can't help but believe that there is a virulent strain of antisemitism weaving through this pathetic non war, war.

If you want war, may I direct your attention to, in no particular order: Darfur, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Gaza Strip.

At any of these locations, one will find combat, with guns and soldiers and people dying.  It doesn't matter if the battles come from a perceived fear of survival- Israel- or stupidity and greed.  War is hell.

Unequivocally.

But apparently certain folks are all atwitter because some people say Happy Holidays, or God forbid, Happy Hanukkah instead of Merry Christmas.  

Imagine, using either ethnic specific greetings or inclusive ones.  The horror.

Bill O'Reilly, the moronic Fox hate monger is one of the generals in this ersatz battle. Apparently he has failed to notice that the economy is in ruins, we are engaged in two actual wars, our nation is more vulnerable to terrorists following the Bush reign and jobs are being lost by the thousands.  But according to him, the real problem is that folks say Happy Holidays.

Good news.  There are buttons, car magnets and tee-shirts available for purchase all allowing anyone to say Merry Christmas to the wearer.  

Really, if one is willing to pay $10 plus shipping and handling for 40 cents worth of crap, I have other sentiments to express.

Christmas is almost Jewish.  Let me explain.  For centuries, many Semites who did not adhere to the religious tenants still considered themselves ethnically or culturally Jewish.  Christmas, all explain, has transcended the story of Christ and is now an American holiday.

Hold it right there.  Not for us who refuse to pay retail.

Christmas has its function in our economy.  Poll all the retailers and etailers who count on the holiday to make a profit.  Or even stay in business.

Billo- as Keith Olbermann has christened him- do you want to know who really hurt Christmas this year?

Greedy Wall Street executives and immoral mortgage bankers.  An inept Congress and a venal President.

War, job loss, acute recession, businesses going under, people losing their savings and retirement, soldiers not returning from actual battles, and an administration that caused it all.

Indict Bush.

The rich

I thought of Truman Capote today.  He knelt at the altar of the rich.  Unfortunately he did not worship talent or accomplishment.

I am not a fan of this writer.  In Cold Blood was an interesting work and spawned countless similar books. But he was no Poe.  

EAP could do everything.  Prose, poetry, essays, invent a genre and edit.  I don't know what Poe thought about wealth but he clearly had none.  Capital that is.  But talent for the ages.

Capote, either sober or drunk, once asked the question of what makes the rich different from you or me. His answer was vegetables, I believe.

Or maybe that was the Looney Tooneys take on it.  Don't laugh, these cartoon lampoon Of Mice and Men mercilessly.  Tell me about the rabbits, George.

And I am not rich but I enjoy exquisite produce.  But I digress.

What makes the rich different is divorce.  Leaving.  Having separate homes.

And I am all for it.

Of course, when a couple has the means to split, they may do so too soon without trying to make the union works.  Who cares?

It is nice to observe that the gilded age which seminally returned during the Reagan reign and fostered by Bush one and two is falling into disrepute.  Ostentatious displays are gauche and louche.  And folks with bucks probably harmed others in the acquisition.

Right Wall Street arbitragers?  Mortgage bankers?  Halliburton executives?

Money problems is the new one upmanship.  Well I have been out of work for almost a year.  But my house is in foreclosure.

And so on.

No one can talk about purchases or fancy vacations because at least someone in the crowd is struggling. Hanging on for dear life.

Except for privileged people.  Friends of Bush.  Saudis.  Recipients of the billions of tax dollars that have been poured into Wall Street coffers without any level of accountability.

But I digress.  Back to breaking the bonds that strangle us.

I have been with Dario, on and off for two decades.  We have a son together and nothing else in common. I am a Buddhist, culturally Jewish and very liberal politically.  He listens to Michael Savage and feels that aWol George W. Bush was not conservative enough.

He periodically lands back into my house.  It has been 6 or 7 months this time and I am sated.  Over done actually.

Finances pressed him into my home.  And because he rescues pregnant cats on Christmas Eve, when the temperature plunges into the teens with a biting wind, it is hard to say no.

And he takes over.  And I feel used and unappreciated.  And so it goes.

But he has his own place which he is happily decorating.  I will soon have privacy and control returned and we will get along better when separate.

My mother, who adored my father, used to dream of two bedrooms.  Of course, by the time all the children were grown and space was available, my father became ill.  Whether she would have crafted the intimacy she wanted, is moot.

Because companionship and love can not be forced.  It takes its own path.

Indict Bush and Cheney.

Our most cherished beliefs.

Traitors. 

Con men and war criminals.  Evil incompetents.

George W. Bush and Satan's spawn, Dick Cheney have not only ruined our nation and our planet, but have reversed centuries old truths.

It would take too long to iterate all the criminal acts and levels of incompetence.  No, this is about how this administration, and thus the people who supported them, toppled our belief system.

To wit and in no particular order.

• Getting the most votes wins elections.

• Long history of drug/alcohol use and unrelenting business failure precludes being President.

• It is important to invest and save money.

• Home ownership provides an asset that only increases in value.

• Having a house is the bedrock of the American dream and financial wealth.

• People who lose millions, nay billions of dollars for the companies they headed, would never get bonuses. I am talking a canned ham and certainly not checks with 8 or more zeroes.

• Religion has become a way prevent narrowing one's thinking and perpetuatin hatred.

• Our nation, the symbol of ideals and liberty, would never torture.

• Serving in the military means serving in the military.  Directed to old aWol Bush not our soldiers in desperate straits.

• America takes care of our wounded veterans.

• Leaders read and act on intelligence briefings.

• Presidents actually bestir themselves when a natural disaster affects part or whole of our country.

• Competence is rewarded while ineptitude is punished.

• Folks unable to spit out a coherent sentence will not be Chief Executive- legitimate or otherwise.

• Anyone who betrays our nation will be punished.  And that includes leaking the name of a covert agent.

• Republicans actually support private industry and do not destroy it 

Indict them already.

Since when is talk a crime?

Mr. Fitzgerald.  I am not certain if you are going to convict the Governor of Illinois.  

This is not to say that Rod Blagojevich will probably not remain in his position for very long.  Nor will he appoint President elect and former Senator Obama's successor.  For free or otherwise.

It is a great story. Blagojevich sounds as if he just tumbled out of a Damon Runyon story.  Add the profanity, silly hair, hard to pronounce surname and shrewish wife, and folks we have a sitcom here.

But it is all, thus far, talk.  He, or his attorney could claim that he was just posing.  Acting tough.  Forceful.

And had absolutely no intention of allowing the seat to go to the highest bidder.

Jesse Jackson Jr. however, has some 'splaining to do.  Because if he is candidate number 5 and his liaison approached Blagojevich with remuneration, then he was breaking the law.  And bringing shame on the now hallowed position of junior Senator from Illinois.

Just kidding.  It is no different that the other 99 offices.

I don't know where Fitzgerald went to law school, but I am not impressed.  His work in regard to the Valerie Plame leak was pathetic.  The only result was Scooter Libby lying to federal prosecutors.  That's it?  No one was able to link Libby with, how about his boss, Dick Cheney?

As if the Vice President would allow anything to occur without his express approval.

Karl Rove?  Why wasn't he indicted? 

So now, Fitzgerald prematurely releases the tape of Blagojevich, and his case seems weaker every day.

If this prosecutor has time on his hands, Satan's child, I mean Dick Cheney has admitted- confessed?- to war crimes and torture.  

Soooooo, indict him.

If no one is moving to legally punish Bush and his merry band of war criminals, or the folks on Wall Street or the contractors skimming off the top in New Orleans, then nothing will happen with Blagojevich.

Fitzgerald.  Get Cheney.  This time.  It is a slam dunk.

Cheney

Apparently someone cracked open his coffin and Cheney has been on the loose

Perhaps he freed himself from the bunker where he has been functioning as our Chief Executive for nigh on eight years.

And look who is a chatty Kathy.  No regrets Dick.  Frankly, it is hard to imagine being human, making decisions and taking actions without some level of remorse.  Not old Dick.  The Vice President could not seem to cough up even one.

May I help.  Stealing both elections.  Not preparing our nation better before the 9/11 attacks.  Invading the wrong country.  Engaging two wars simultaneously and not winning either. The elusive Bin Laden.  Torture.  Disregarding major portions of the Constitution.  Katrina- before, during and after.  The money meltdown that happened on the Bush/Cheney watch. 

Just a few points to jog his memory.

Cooked intelligence.  Wait, Cheney was the chef.  

He is now demeaning Vice President Biden, saying that the Democrat from Delaware will decrease the power of the office.  

That is like a mass murder taunting the rest of America that they don't kill enough.  Or Bernard Madoff criticizing any other corrupt financial executive: saying that a Ponzi scheme is easier than selling reworked up derivatives.

If people proclaim to be Napoleon or Jesus, they are hospitalized.  When Republicans call the day night or yell that up is in fact down, no one seems alarmed.

When queried about the abysmal approval rating of the Bush/Cheney gang, the Veep has this to say:

"Eventually you wear out your welcome in this business, but I'm very comfortable with where we are and what we've achieved substantively."  He snarled on the record.

Sorry Dick.  It is not the time served but the laws broken.

If life was fair, he would be indicted now.  

And there is still time.

Agree to disagree

It is difficult to weave through the different viewpoints of people.  Maybe that is why we often surround ourselves with folks who enjoy similar beliefs.  It is easier than arguing the Bush should be incarcerated debate every day.  Or Reagan was not a great President.

So much less stressful when the immediate thong nods in agreement.  The Internet has helped to ossify our own world view by allowing all those with access the chance to read only what reinforces their thoughts.

Brace yourself folks, we are about to have a very conciliatory President lead this country.  This is the characteristic of Mr. Obama that has always worried me the most.  My pastor is rage filled minister who makes statements that I disagree with...it is a free country.  I can support the gay rights agenda and still bring someone opposed to this group for my invocation. And so on.

We need to dialogue with people offering a wide spectrum of ideas.  Otherwise, information is lost and those who believe differently become locked into a prison like stereotype.  If our nation is having problems with some of the Muslim faith, it is time to learn more about this religion.  Ditto in regard to the born-agains.

But when are the divisions too vast?  Can vegans be friends with carnivores?  Or even vegetarians? 

Will Jews tolerate anti-Semites?

Can any good or rational person not want to indict Bush/Cheney and the rest of the administration?

My contractor- trust me there is a book rising Phoenix like from my renovation- stole from me.  Just to list one of his many transgressions.  He is some type of Evangelical Christian and decided that God would not approve of all that he inflicted on me and returned to finish the job without pay.

Or more specifically, for work that he had already paid himself.  Thus my feelings are mixed.   Most of the construction is impeccable but two different roofers have used the term criminally negligent to describe how he crafted the roof on the new addition.

Still, I understand that contractors writ large are a tough bunch.  I recognized my fortune that he returned to honor his commitment. Yet when he informed me that the anti Christ is a Jew, I became enraged.  Thinking that now, in the 21 century, a religious leader would still preach such evil and incendiary words. Because that is how my contractor took on that view.

But my decision to no longer use his services hearkens back to the inadequate pitch of the roof construction not his prejudiced faith.

A subset of this discussion is humor:  what is not funny?  Thus far I only have the Holocaust on my list.

Actually each and every one.  Nazi Germany. Darfur.  The killing fields of Cambodia- all off limits.  But Hitler- pathetic and evil failure- please ridicule him for eternity.

But I digress.  It is hard to listen to neo Nazis and bigots.  Folks whose faith seems to comprised of only the Bible and hate.  Republicans.  Hawks.  Anti gays.  Anti Jews.  Racists of all colors.  People who voted for George W. Bush.  Those who harm children.  Torture animals or voted for Bush again in 2004.

When do we take a stand, secure in our beliefs and when do we reach out to opposing opinions and thoughts?

Hard to say.  Luckily some things are clear cut.

Indict Bush and Cheney.