Texas Frightens Me Sometimes

Ahhh...another beautiful morning in Austin. Crisp - a little more humid than I'd hope, but cooler nonetheless. Just had a delicious bowl of Barbara's Shredded Vanilla Almond flavored Oats with blueberries, some OJ and now plopped down on the couch sipping Brazillian coffee. My dog Mattie is curled up on the floor next to me. All seems right with the world. Until...

I turn on the local news to find that somehow, legally, Austin police will draw your blood down at the pokie if you refuse to take a breath-a-lizer test when pulled over. Comma-say-wha?

I know what you're thinking. Drinking and Driving is a horrible thing that sometimes ends up in tragedy. I agree. However, you don't live in Texas.

In Texas, it's the longarm of the law that rules.




And, in Austin, I've watched over the last six years the presence of police increase at least two-fold, which has only made me feel less safe. Furthermore, Austin police love to pull people over. It's sport down here. I've personally been pulled over half-a-dozen times for nothing, and even sometimes fabricated incidents. 95 percent of my friends have had to take the driving test after being pulled - some deserved - most not. This driving test is intended to keep driving misdemeanors off your record and is coincidentally offered via video or at the Comedy Club. Yes, it is a joke.

This is why I am scared about the Police having the legal capacity to force a blood draw down at the station if you refuse a breath-a-lizer on the street. When I first moved here, a lawyer friend of mine specifically instructed me never to agree to a breath-a-lizer when pulled over in Texas. I didn't think much of it at the time, but soon enough, I got pulled over, and fortunately did not have to refuse anything...however, I find his first words to me as a new Texan alarming. Welcome to Texas.

Many cops will ask you to do it, and in the past, you had the right to say no with little to no reprecautions (if you seemed reasonably sober, or even actually sober.) But, as my lawyer friend told me, the breath-a-lizer tests are sometimes faulty and if you take one and it takes a false reading, it would go on your record permanently, land you in jail and possibly ruin your career. But, to think now you would be forced to take a blood test.

My fear is that our Police in Austin - the ones who are out pulling people over on the side of the road - seem a little power hungry to begin with. The idea that they have absolute law to take you "downtown" and draw blood seems barbaric and very un-American.

I'm curious to see what the reaction of other people in Austin will be. In the mean time, I'll be driving like a grandma.

Super Saturation to Super Caffeination

I'd taken a leave from the blog because I reached my political saturation point. I was the sugar at the bottom of a Dunkin' Donuts coffee cup.

It's been a good escape from the U.S. political scene. Nine days in counting until Election Day. What's meant to be, will be.

In the meantime, I've bombed my first Organic Chemistry exam, but pulling fantastic grades in Physics. Who would have thunk it?!

Fall is settling in on Austin....THANK GOD! I've already started to think of ways I can leave Austin next summer and study somewhere else for 5 months. I love this city, don't get me wrong. I also love Texas. Partly because of it's strong culture (it's no joke - people really do wear 10-gallon hats, boots and drive large, frightening vehicles that I secretly love), but also because of it's legacy in our current political environment. I like being a part of the bigger movement. Even if it's tinged with shame.

However, by the end of May last year, we had already surpassed our typical number of days over 100 degrees. It was like wearing polyester to a sauna. I would look at mother's with small children and wonder if they kept them inside on summer days. I am sure some neurons melted together to form the part of my brain that won't except understanding Lewis structures.

Alas, those are distant memories and the cool north winds breeze upon us this morning.

Yesterday at my volunteer job, walking through the halls of the Emergency room, I got a great rush. I just love being there. Sometimes the acrid smells get to me, but the staff and the feeling of being around people you can help is pretty darn cool.

The other night I had a fantastic dream. I was an intern in a hospital donning a lab coat and scrubs. I forgot, however, my shoes! Luckily, in my dream world, there was a shoe kiosk near one of the floor desks. It was like the cloak room in elementary school where you would leave your stuff to change into more appropriate stuff. This meant that all that was left in the kiosk were high heels and funny slippers. I looked into one of the heels and saw that they were Easy Spirits.

What's meant to be, will be.

Were We All Watching the Same Debate?

Time Magazine's Mike Halperin (The Page), gives McCain an A- and Obama a B+.

Halperin must have actually been playing that "Joe the Plumber" debate drinking game I talked about in my last post. Nothing short of inebriation or a frontal lobotomy could explain those grades.

Makes me wonder how I did in my first Organic Chemistry exam last night. Here's hoping my professor has an intact frontal lobe and no beer in the fridge.

Ain't No Rubber Match

In last night's debate showdown that reminded me of a Dating Game split screen:

Moderator: "Obama likes long walks on the beach, John. What are your favorite ways to romance your man?"

John McCain: (rolls his eyes) "Well, where I come from, long walks on the beach are for sissies..heh, heh, heh."

Obama: (grin of confidence) "Let's just get one thing straight. John is about as romantic as a couch pillow, and this is just a fact."

Obama, in my view, had his best debate and best performance to date. He was cool, calm and pointed on his answers.

Meanwhile, McCain was clearly high off the fumes from his sharpie. Did anything he said last night make any sense? Did he even form a complete thought ever?

Just as a side note, I woke up hungover from the debate drinking game we played in which you had to drink every time "Joe the Plumber" was mentioned. Poor Joe...you're either a plumber, or you drink Shlitz six packs. Why can't you just be Joe the Neurosurgeon? I think it's a lesson to all of us....name your child Joe, and prepare for him to come home one day with a mullet, beer gut and a tattoo that says, "Crazy like a Focks" misspelled.

Dumb, Coarse and Also...

Not a lot of people read my blog (thanks fam - shout out to McShizzles on the East and West Coasts). So, what I am about to say really won't come to bear any true influence on how Americans think about this election. However...

It's like we are in a bad, abusive relationship with our government, in which we have been bullied into thinking a Bush-league president is the best we can do. We've been chastised into believing that folksy leadership is normal.

But, here is the hum-dinger coming from Sarah Palin and John McCain. They lie. This isn't a subjective opinion, it's just a fact. Sometimes, I feel like I am in a time machine and the flux-capasiter sent us back to 1983 when tax was a four letter word.



Talking points of Governor Palin this week: "Regan, taxes, hockey mom, can I call ya Joe, gotchya journalism, moose and also..."

The American people should be insulted that a leading official will go out on the campaign trail, spew lies, such as the following:

• "Obama wants to raise taxes on you"...yes, he will raise taxes on anyone making $250,000 or above. Something McCain won't touch because he's completely out-of-touch. However, McCain is planning on giving huge tax breaks to large companies - hello corporate bailout.
• "Obama wants to pal-around with the terrorists"...this one is a particularly sickening statement of such untrue and slandering proportions Palin could technically be sued for libel. She is calling into question Obama's patriotism while masking a lie. No one wants to pal around with terrorists. It's called diplomacy. Diplomacy even Henry Kissinger supports.
  

The McCain-Palin camp has turned up the voltage on low-blow tactics and this next month will get very, very interesting. And, over the last eight years I've finally realized the theme of the R political verbage: Say anything, no matter how true it is because we've bet on the American people not doing any reading or fact checking to figure out we're just slinging mud.