HUMAN INTEREST

Being out the country, you realize the whole world does not revolve around the smoke and mirrors approach to our daily manna. I've been back a few days and there's hardly been any mention of Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, or anywhere else in the world the U.S. is putting bullets in hearts and minds. Is the war over? All the news has been about dead Anna Nicole and her rotting corpse (who incidentally, I prefer to the live one) and the fact that Britney is running out of body parts to shave. A Miami judge sobs as he hands down his verdict, auditioning for his own JUDGE WEEPY TV show and Brit checks in and out of rehab so fast that the drugs barely have time to wear off. Except for Democracy NOW, even John Stewart is obsessed with this immorality play. It's only a matter of time before Amy Goodman gives up on hard news and shovels up the dirt. I hear Hugo Chavez has an extraneous nipple and Howard Zinn is getting a sex change. Come on Amy...what gives?
Because I knew so little about Argenzuela (I kept calling it Venezuela), I grabbed the TIME OUT Buenas Aires book as soon as i hit the pool. I learned about the travels of Evita's corpse, the theivery of Juan Peron's hands from his corpse and the dropping of drugged undesirable individuals from helicopters into the the Rio Plata in darker times. My BA buddies were all too young to remember any of this. All they remembered was when a peso was worth a dollar and everyone went to Miami on vacation. Those good times were gone. That's why the gringos were always picking up the tab. They spelled gringo ATM.
Late one night Slick and I were heading for home from the bar, when a couple of Polize waved us over. I'd read in my guide book about the Argenzuela tradition of corruption and graft. Car cinco quatro was about to give us a lesson. The officer took our papers and began the litany of offenses he could pull us in for. Then he smiled and asked how much Slick had in his wallet? Out came the pesos. In a way it was direct and not too painful. Hell, I hardly felt it as 150 pesos was removed from Slick's pocket. It wasn't exactly Kosher, but it was honest in its dishonesty. I resisted my urge to practice my Espanol. Donde esta Anna Nicole? Yo tango Britney.
In my little world the news is all about frozen pipes, my car being in the shop, the neighbor's game farm and Vic Vogelin's interview with the "human interest" guy on CBS 60 Minutes. We aren't sure whether or not it will air. There's a lot of competition out there on that tip. I think I just saw something fall out of that helicopter hovering over the river. That's gotta hurt on that ice. Could this be of interest?