It's been awhile since I've taken on the day-to-day life here and in Washington, D.C. For the past eight weeks or so I've been writing about folks who mattered to me in my past, recent and distant, and talking about the resurgence in my shaky awareness of reality - death trumping all life - because of my job in an assisted-living facility catering to once-successful and vibrant folks now suffering from dementia and/or Alzheimer's.
But the world doesn't care if a columnist is watching.
Locally, the voters have said no to the latest transportation-fix package. Commuting to Shoreline now, I sit in traffic on I-5 morning and evening. And any other damn time I venture out on our only local interstate.
Seattle missed the boat years ago, falling for the then-mayor's bus tunnel scam instead of trains and other rapid-transit solutions. I guess you could blame the voters for voting down the latest package, or blame the politicos who are now saying there is no backup, alternate go-to plan. It's frightening for me to consider that the old bromide - a country gets the government it deserves - can be translated locally, too: a citizen gets the local government he or she deserves.
Say it isn't so.
After a nice and fairly substantial downturn, violence - primarily fueled by guns that don't kill people, but do help people kill people - and murder and mayhem are making a strong comeback in today's America.
According to the most recent FBI stats, murder and rape once again are rising, coming closer and closer to the record highs set in the late '80s. One big factor, of course, is the crazy availability of guns, as if automatic weapons are a right on par with the vote or soft toilet tissue.
According to the 2007 Small Arms Survey, there are now 90 guns in the United States for every100 citizens. That easily makes us the most heavily armed society in the world. India is in second place with four guns for every 100 people. A distant second. Why do we lead the so-called civilized world in stranger-to-stranger homicides and mass shootings like the one in Virginia this past spring?
You can talk about muddle-headed liberals all you want, and mistakenly misquote that certain amendment dealing with militias (are the Crips and Bloods militias?), but there is only one answer. We have more guns than readers, even counting those mouth breathers who only read blogs.
One crime, just to give you a taste of lovely Americana: A Special Olympian was recently gunned down at a bus stop in Milwaukee for his wallet, which contained less than $50. The number of guns manufactured and sold this year worldwide was slightly more than 8 million. More than half, 4.5 million, were purchased here in America.
According to a recent Associated Press poll, 25 percent of Americans said they didn't read one solitary book last year. The average American polled said he started five books (in a year) and finished four. In 1999, the same poll showed Americans starting 10 books per year and finishing seven.
I know, you're on the Internet. Where a sizable number of sites are still devoted to porn. Popups, anyone?
Fifteen percent of Americans currently don't have health insurance - 2.2 million more folks than a year ago. And then there's the housing market. But, of course, the real problem is Iran.
Thank God we are in the capable hands of the folks who brought us Iraq, the longest-running social disaster we've had the chance to be part of, at least by being in opposition, since Vietnam.
Finally, according to the Trust for America's health, obesity rates have risen for the fourth year in a row. This time 31 states showed increases. Mississippi is the fattest state; Colorado, the skinniest. Washington is tied for 17th place with Idaho. Oregon is number 19 in the fat parade.
Guns and blubber, hear us roar!
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