I just opened the following letter from a young man named Kevin and found it funny.
Please send me the censored “My Life in Ypsi” comic You know, the one with all the cocks in it.
I also liked this letter, from a woman named Dorothy B. Raught.
hi mark maynard, i just wanted to let you know how much i enjoy your site. my son turned me on to the west virginia surf report and i found your site through it. both of you guys make my life a lot more enjoyable. i’m a 69 yr old retired pharmacist who basically never grew up or developed hardening of the brains keep up the good work.
I take a great deal of pleasure in knowing that my site appeals to both young, cock-loving males and retired professional women. Thats not an easy line to walk.
Oh, while were on the subject of hardened old brains, did you catch the quote by Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma? Essentially said that he was outraged by the outrage over the Iraqi prisoner abuse photos (several minutes elapse as Mark climbs down off his blogging chair and begins tearing through the MM.com files) OK, I decided to find you the real quote. Heres a clip from the Reuters article:
“These prisoners, you know they’re not there for traffic violations,” Inhofe said. “If they’re in cellblock 1-A or 1-B, these prisoners, they’re murderers, they’re terrorists, they’re insurgents. Many of them probably have American blood on their hands and here we’re so concerned about the treatment of those individuals.”
In related news, according to an International Red Cross report, as many as 90% of those Iraqis being detained by US forces are innocent of any charges. Heres a quote from the Chicago Sun Times:
The report said some military intelligence officers estimated ”between 70 percent and 90 percent” of the detainees in Iraq had been arrested by mistake.
Perhaps someone should send the link to the Senator from Oklahoma.
OK, I need to go to bed now. But, before I do, Id like to share a few quotes from a new article by one of my favorite authors, Mr. Kurt Vonnegut:
But I know now that there is not a chance in hell of Americas becoming humane and reasonable. Because power corrupts us, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Human beings are chimpanzees who get crazy drunk on power. By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East? Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces. They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas.
Vonnegut, in case you didnt know, served in World War II and has seen more than his share of carnage and inhumanity Apparently, however, he never felt as though he was treated like the toy of a rich kid.
I dont want to give away the end of Vonneguts piece, but here, for those of you that dont plan to follow the link, is how he wraps the article up:
Heres what I think the truth is: We are all addicts of fossil fuels in a state of denial, about to face cold turkey.
And like so many addicts about to face cold turkey, our leaders are now committing violent crimes to get what little is left of what were hooked on.
The article, while depressing, was nice in that it reminded of the fact that one of my favorite writers is also one hell of a bright and thoughtful man. It doesnt happen all that time that you grow up still respecting the same people you did in your youth. Im glad to say, however, that Vonnegut has not disappointed me.
Good night my invisible friends Tomorrow we will talk of less weighty things, like the case of stolen pasta sauce that I found in the alley, or how I almost broke down in tears this afternoon while recounting the happiness I felt at staring into the river and peeling an orange after my last acupuncture session If you have other ideas as to things we could talk about, please leave a comment in my new, extra-shitty Comments section.
