IT COULD BE WORSE...

If you think the good old US of A is going to hell in a hand basket, I'm here to tell you the rest of the world is even weirder. Take Canada for instance. A stand up comic was fined $15,000 for making fun of an audience member and causing "injury to her dignity and feelings." I may be wrong but isn't that why the rest of the audience laughed? Most comedians are funny because they haven't singled YOU out to pick on.
In Rio de Janeiro city officials complained about the shanty towns that are marked on Google's map. Seems to me they should be doing something about the poverty instead of surfing the net. And in India, a country famed for its poverty, a treasure worth at least $22 billion was found in a temple vault after a local lawyer asked for an audit. After a dispute over ownership, India's Supreme Court ordered the trove preserved in a museum. I wonder how much food and health care $22 billion would provide. In another Supreme Court ruling, the Brazilians now have the right to demonstrate for marijuana reform. Up till now it was illegal to encourage criminal activity.
Buenos Aires commuters responded to a several hour delay due to a derailment by setting fire to eight trains and smashing 3 ticket booths. I'm betting they were trying to get home after a long day at work. If it had been in the morning they probably would have just sat and read their papers. I guess it's a good thing they don't have trains in Somalia. The southern rebels hold a month long Koran contest for kids. The 17 year old winner was given an AK-47, two hand grenades, an anti-tank mine and a computer. Our church used to give out Bibles.
The German police were using trained vultures to locate bodies but they had to go back to dogs because the vultures were eating all the evidence. They do strange things in China too. The management of a factory that makes iPads and iPhones responded to a wave of suicides by overworked employees by forcing new hires to sign pledges that they would not kill themselves. Jeez…in this country they'd be killing themselves because they didn't have jobs. Ever looking for ways to raise more food, Chinese farmers used a growth accelerant on a large watermelon crop. The melons grew so fast they exploded. Ya think they should have tried it on a few plants first? A theme park called "Love Land" will be opening in China in the fall. China Daily quoted the park manager as saying it is to "help adults enjoy a harmonious sex life." I'm not sure this is entirely necessary in a country with 1.3 billion people but what do I know?
Politics in Russia are worse than here. The president and prime minister have been exchanging their jobs and intend to continue doing so it seems. The presidency is limited to two consecutive terms but these two have developed a way to maintain a dynasty without breaking the law.
Apparently the rulers of Bulgaria can't take a joke. A monument to the Soviet army that liberated the country from the Nazis was painted over to look like a group of super heros. Considering what the liberators had become you might have thought they would see the humor but noooo, the authorities had every drop of paint sandblasted from the monument and announced that the perpetrators would be found and prosecuted. Scary.
In Belarus the government is so repressive that all demonstrations are forbidden. Smiling and clapping were the only ways the citizens could express their opposition to the fraudulently elected president. Evidently he caught on to the sarcasm and now anyone who claps at the dictator, his troops or his security services will be arrested. I think Independence Day is going to be kind of quiet this year.
I like the way New Zealanders protest their government. An artist who felt that the Environment minister was soft on dairy farm pollution, sculpted a bust of him out of cow manure. It sold for over $2000 on EBay.
After hearing what it's like in the rest of the world if you still dislike our government you might relocate to Belgium. They haven't had a government in more than a year. The elected officials couldn't agree on anything (sound familiar?). That's okay though because they have a king and he appointed a caretaker administration to run the government. Their economy is doing fine in spite of the global recession. Perhaps the original Tea Partyers was a little hasty?