I never have been a whiz....

at logic. In fact, as I add on the years, I'm convinced that I don't even get the basics.

For example, is it logical that people who have been sexually abused use their humiliating experiences as an excuse to demean others by doing the same to them? What is that? Do they mean to say that since they suffered it is only logical that they make others suffer the same way? Is it some kind of Freudian twist on the 'what goes around comes around' axiom?

Oh, and how come these people never reveal their past until they've been accused of abuse? And, why do these human zeros immediately, after being caught, check into alcoholic treatment centers? Are they blaming the booze for relaxing their inhibitions so they could overtly degrade another person instead of staying home an playing with themselves?

They're giving booze a bum rap and I resent that. To me, it's just not logical.

Is it really logical that the United States, the possessor of 10,000 nuclear warheads, be the last word on who should have nuclear capabilities? I know we see ourselves as the benevolent father figure to the rest of the world but are we? While there might have been some truth to such an assertion in the past, when we were seen as fighters for justice, liberators and defenders of the weak, but the Bush Administration has pretty much exhausted our cache of admirable qualities.

The U.S. wants to dictate who has what, what elected official can stay and who must go, we bandy democracy about but are non-plussed when the ingrates want a democracy which reflects their own majority and not ours.

Is it logical the U.S. comes down hard on Libya, N. Korea and Iran for having nuclear ambitions but pussy foots around when it comes to Pakistan, India and China? Does logic have any rules? Shouldn't it be...well,...logical?

And for poor Allah logic seems to be out the window. How can He, logically, award martyrdom if He cannot determine who the bad guys are? It used to be easy. Anybody who wasn't Islamic could be decapitated, dragged through the streets and spat upon, and the doer got an automatic pass to martyrdom and 7, or is it 72, virgins. To Allah it was logical.

I can't imagine giving any man 72 virgins could be logical but, to each his own. For my part that would be the equivalent of getting 72 headaches all at once.

Now though, on whom does Allah bestow this honor? Is it to Sunnis who slit the throats of Shiites, or to Shiites who behead Sunnis? It would seem logical that He withhold martyrdom from both but, for such great deeds He must feel obligated to do something nice for His people. Certainly logic must come into play but its application is damn tricky.

I remember trying to study logic. I got embroiled in 'if A then B ought to be C' or some such crap. I gave up. It seemed illogical to me. The rest of the world appears to understand what's logical and what's not or, at least, they say they do.

As I study the current situation around the world I become very wary of the conclusions that are drawn, logically speaking, I mean.


QUOTE OF THE DAY:

'Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it'. - G.B. Shaw



MEXICO (as I see it):


Another day in paradise. An in-law nephew and his wife ask if I would take them to the airport. They were returning home, to Tijuana, after a weeks visit here. I said 'yes' even though I heard demons hissing in my mind. Any time I commit to anything these same demons begin their noise making. I've learned through the years that sometime they are serious and sometimes they are relegated to nothing more than tired snores.

I said 'yes' and I meant 'yes', do your damnedest demons-o-mine.

I told Leti that we'll make a day of it. After we drop them off we'll go into the city and look for shoes. We both need new shoes.

A great day! Endless blue skies. Sunny and breezy. My nephew and his wife were ready when we arrived. Fabulous! Off we go. We had an hour to drive an hour's drive. Perfect!

We arrived twenty minutes before flight time. In Mexico that's a lifetime (unless your going to the U.S.). A 'maletero' (porter) was handy. We did our 'abrazos' (hugs) and said our 'despididas' (goodbye's) and waved as our nephews disappeared through huge glass doors.

I shifted into 'D' and almost touched the accelerator as my nephew jogged toward us waving a hand which meant 'Don't leave'. Why? The porter said the flight may have been canceled! Oh, shit! I'll wait right here. I put on my emergency blinkers to alert all the world that I'm not dilly-dallying I have a bona fide emergency.

Within a millisecond two boys masquerading as police officers came to my driver's side window to tell me I can't park there. I blurted that we were waiting for word on a canceled flight, perhaps. As they were describing that my emergency didn't mean jack shit my nephew, still jogging, waved to us that all was well and we may go, for sure.

On the road again, what a wonderful sensation. Looking for shoes in a city famous for its shoes. Beautiful!

As I wove amid roaring semi-trailers, delivery trucks, taxis and ordinary crazy bastards I took a wrong turn. I had entered the toll road entrance instead of the 'free' road we needed to buy shoes. Stay calm! There must be a way to correct this error. There must be a turnaround. A way to re-trace one's steps. A way to get out of this mess.

I drove at a modest speed to be certain I didn't miss the hoped for turn about. After ten miles or so we saw a sign telling us that our town was but thirty more kilometers straight ahead.

We paid the toll and that's where we headed. Back home. Shoeless. In silence, except for the hissing of demons in my head.