Summer Blues

I’ve been neglecting ya’ll; sorry ‘bout that.  I’ve been a little busy, a little unwell, writing other stuff (I don’t limit myself to political rants), and feeling very disheartened and disturbed about our social, governmental and overall future.

The debt-ceiling debacle really knocked the wind out of me, and Bachman winning the Iowa Straw Poll as well as Perry entering the presidential race finished me off.  Except I reserved a little energy for knocking TV news over the head with a lead pipe.  Now if I could just get my hands on a pipe…

You know, I don’t sit around here in the Tower just being grumpy because I think I’m smarter than everybody else and I have the solutions to the mega-problems (and they are problems, not “challenges”) we’re confronted with here at home and around the world.  That said, there is something each day that renders me speechless because of its stupidity.

Yesterday, it was an article in the Times about new scientific research that “proves” men can truly be bisexual (it’s been assumed for some time that women can be bisexual, because our sexuality is more “fluid,” no puns intended, I’m sure).  I just sat back and sighed.  I had no idea there was a question about this, let alone that someone doubtless got a major grant to confirm it.

Among the stupidities that most distress me are (1) the frequent obtuseness of those who practice science and their insistence on applying a hard-wired “testing” process while ignoring all “anecdotal evidence,” by which they’re saying that human experience doesn’t “prove” anything.

And (2) the ridiculously rigid way that science – and people in general – regard human sexuality.  It has been my experience and observation that all sexuality is “fluid.”  Yes, we’re born with a basic sexual proclivity: essentially straight or essentially gay.  But that doesn’t mean that people don’t experiment, or go through stages, or even, much to their surprise, occasionally (or once) find themselves strongly and genuinely attracted to someone outside their basic sexual comfort zone.

I don’t imagine that this latest study takes into consideration that bisexuality isn’t always a clean, even, 50/50 split – in fact it rarely is.  And since they’re not considering anecdotal evidence, I assume they’re also not taking into account the influence of religion, family expectations, social disapproval, professional consequences, etc.  Apparently, this study was based solely on arousal, and as men (and women, but men more so) themselves know, they can become aroused watching herrings mate if their need for sex is particularly great at that moment.

I guess the rigidity and stupidity bother me so much because they reveal such a lack of imagination and sense of wonder.  It also bothers me because the same rigid scientific approach has always been taken in regard to psychic phenomenon and spooky/occult stuff in general.  Scientists – whom I genuinely respect and value – are the ultimate five-senses crowd; if they can’t see, feel, hear, taste or touch it, they doubt its existence, whatever “it” is.  You would think that the discovery of germs, the atom, and other micro- and nano-scopic…stuff would lead them to be open-minded about everything, but too often the reverse is true.

Another stupidity that raises my blood pressure is people who reject the reality of major climate change – manmade or otherwise.  There were three significant earthquakes yesterday: in Virginia, Colorado and San Francisco, not to mention that Japan has again been hit, repeatedly, since the big one in March.  In addition, a killer storm named Irene is heading our way, we’re winding down one of the hottest summers we’ve ever had nationally, and the famine that is ravaging Somalia is the worst in 60 years.  How is it possible that these erratic and damaging weather and “natural” disasters are unrelated to a global population of nearly seven billion, and a totally unprecedented use of fossil fuels?  How was this morphed into a Left Wing Conspiracy?

Which brings me back to politics.  I’ve decided that in the best interest of my gastric health and emotional sanity, I’m not paying too much attention to the Republican race until the GOP candidate is selected at their convention next summer.  I’m also not going to listen too closely to anything the President has to say, but will instead keep a close eye on what he does.  Anything more will turn my summer blues into an autumnal nervous breakdown.