Joecities

Have you found that increasingly, life seems just like the movies ? Art imitating life or life imitating art. As we grow old in life, we seem to use standards to measure ourselves and the world around us, and these standards tend to come from our family, our peers and our environment. Pardon the impending ramble...

Let's just take two of those factors - peer and environment. In the same (although not always equal) way that our peers affect us, we affect them, but let's not consider that for the moment. A peer is thus also affected by their family and their environment. Presuming we give equal measure to each, half family, half environment. The amount of influence the environment has on us is made even more significant by your peers being in the same environment as you.

I know it sounds simplistic, and the conclusion might be obvious, but the closer you are to your friends, and the more similar your 'environments' are, the stronger the influence that environment will have on you - because of the direct effect they have on you, and the filtered effect they have through your peers, not to mention family.

That's my theory of why suicide bombers never work alone, and why life is becoming like the movies. Actually, it's not just like the movies but more of the media in general. I came across an online store that specialises in apparel that "looks just like what britney/jessica/hilary wore" and goes on to show paparazzi photos of the stars wearing similar outfits.

It takes a pretty strong influence (from your peers and environment) to want to strap bombs on your soft body and blow yourself to bits, and it takes a david beckham and tonnes of press coverage to want to pour gallons of hair gel on your head. I wonder if the whole world suddenly stopped talking about suicide bombers, whether they'd stop altogether. I watched a couple of episodes of '24' it's hard not to think about how it glamourises counter-terrorism/terrorism.

/end ramble

Been thinking of ideas for a book (one of the goals in my life) the idea that Comets seeded life on earth seems like a good enough premise but it's quite hitchikerish though. Would appreciate ideas if anyone is keen on volunteering them :)

Back to life on earth and more talk of incompetency and this great quote from Jefferson Parish president Aaron Broussard:

"Bureaucracy has murdered people in the greater New Orleans area," he said on CBS' "Early Show" Tuesday. "Take whatever idiot they have at the top of whatever agency and give me a better idiot. Give me a caring idiot. Give me a sensitive idiot. Just don't give me the same idiot."