HERE'S MUD IN OUR EYE

Not that what nation in which one is born should ever be a source of pride, not that patriotism (meaning: standing by to defend your government through right or wrong) is at all a positive charateristic, but for me it gets harder and harder each day to not deny my affiliation with my country. *Blah* I don't want to yet again go into this country's high living standard, wasteful energy habits and world diplomacy muscle tactics that make us an enemy of so many poor and struggling people's of the world. What I do want to point out is that at the Kentucky Derby this weekend they will be making and selling $1000 Mint Juleps, complete with hand picked Hawaiian cane (as the sugar ingredient) and arctic glacial ice shavings! Does it really need pointing out how much food, how many pipes to a sustainable water system or how many semesters of higher education 1K could buy in a developing nation? Do we think that this kind of monetary waste goes unnoticed, unpublished, undiscussed in other parts of the world on a daily basis? What kind of reaction and emotion builds up in struggling societies around the globe on a communal and individual level when this type of economic frivolity continues year after year after year afer year by a world power? Terrorism doesn't occur out of hatred toward 'freedom'. That is a lie that we were fed on September 12th, 2000. Terrorism occurs out of hatred toward a society that spends $1000 for a 6 ounce drink. Cheers, folks. Cheers.