#foreign stuff

so in Germany The Beatles are called Die Beatles and I feel threatened

Wood & Wires session by Coeur de Pirate

So if you buy CDs then you'll more than realise some more than obsecure bands you like, basically foreign bands, their CDs are nowhere to be found in stores anywhere, which really sucks. So hooray for that, no guilt when you download their whole discography! 

We solve symptoms. I was listening to Marketplace on NPR on the way home and they were talking about the president's budget. According to a new Gallup poll, a majority of Americans think that we need to cut spending and reduce the deficit. This is not surprising, and we do need to do both. What is also not surprising is the fact that when you ask Americans what to cut, whether it's social security or Medicare or defense, most of them say, "oh, no, don't cut those." Most people realize that cutting government spending is in reality a very tricky task. In fact, the only thing that many Americans agree that we should cut is foreign aid. Foreign aid accounts for about 1% of the federal budget. Quite literally, cutting the entire foreign aid budget would do the closest thing to nothing to solving our country's fiscal problems. Not only is this a solution that solves nothing, it is myopic. China is beating us up and down the field in the diplomacy game right now. The developing world is... well, developing, and development means building stuff. And I promise you that the Chinese are building it. Google "African Union Headquarters" if you don't believe me. When South Sudan finally gets their oil pipeline built through Kenya, the Chinese will have built it. And guess who will get first dibs on the oil that comes out of it. Example two: the border fence. Illegal immigration is not a disease, it's a symptom. Maybe if we invested more time and money into helping Mexico develop their economy and to eradicating drug use among our own citizens then people wouldn't decide to take the risk. In the long run, it would be cheaper. Alas, ours is not a system that rewards those who think for the long run.

     Anywho, that's about all I have to say today. My legs are kind of starting to stick to my desk chair since our house's air conditioning is out. Thank you mid-west weather for getting all hot and sticky before we can realize our cooling is on the fritz. Adios! Invest in sheers for your windows so you're enemies can't see what you're doing.