As IF Times

link Chaz Bono blasts disrespectful Dancing with the Stars judges for picking on his weight.

Meanwhile, back in the real world….

The unabated plunge of society downhill into social conformity and political correctness continues.  Mr. Bono feels hard done by the judges on his performances on the pop reality show, Dancing With The Stars.  Like many people who tune into this show misguidedly expecting to see a contest, Mr. Bono is actually clueless that the show is in fact, populist entertainment.  In populist entertainment, you either get the adoration of the fans, or you get the hook.  It’s like the old Roman Colosseum only with virtual thumbs.

A large part of the audience watches because there is just something in human nature that makes watching a ‘car crash’ compelling.  A substantial part of the audience would disappear if on-air body blows were’nt handed out every week.  Simon Cowell does this for his new show, X factor and Gordon Ramsay assumes that acidic role for his cooking reality show.   People go on those shows with the expectation of possible and likely verbal abuse.  If you want to play football, you’d have to expect that 1000 pounds of men will crush you every 2 minutes or so.  That’s the price of entry.

If Mr. Bono doesn’t think his appearance on the show has any angle other than showcasing his lightness of feet, he is as delusional as his mother.  When the show picks performers for their seasonal line-up, they are not expecting to find hidden Nureyevs among football players, comics and centerfolds.  While it’s  always amazing when such unlikely performers rise to the challenge and show real talent, it’s purely for amusement that celebrities offer themselves to the public altar of judgement.  I mean come on, Emmet Smith in a tutu?

If you’re in the entertainment business, you’d better be used to personal insults. One of the best lines ever uttered was when Bruno accused Kate (of Kate plus 8 fame), of being “like a shopping cart” pushed around by her professional  partner.  Or when Kirstie Alley inadvertently body slammed her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy in mid lift. 

Trying to frame his ouster from the show as some kind of personal attack on him isn’t going to wash.  There are no zaftig professional dancers.  In real life, people don’t get paid for effort, only results,  (lawyers of course being the notable exception).   With all due respect to the unspoken undercurrent to Bono’s participation in the show, there really are big differences in the way people perform in life.  Chaz may be transformed, but on the inside, he may still carry vestiges of his former persona.  News to Chaz, calling men fatso is not hurtful.  That’s what guys do, they insult each other.  It’s not all I’m ok, you’re ok.  If nothing else, these shows demonstrate the reality that differences do matter.  Life is cruel and unfair and your mother can shield you from only so much.   You can’t force people to like you,  be a man and get over it.

link Freed prisoners who return to te… JPost – Diplomacy & Politics.

I’m sure they’re all shaking in their sandals over the warning by Netanyahu to avoid causing trouble upon their recent release from Israeli prison.  As has been reported in the news, Israel has exchanged 1,027 Palestinian prisoners for the return of just 1 Israeli soldier, Gilad Schalit. Talk about a one sided deal! 

Two obvious things pop out here.  First, the stark difference between how both sides of  the Israeli/Palestinian struggle view their citizens are displayed by this action.  Whereas the Israelis respect and honor the sanctity of every human life by striking such a lopsided bargain for even one soldier’s release, the other side cavalierly sends their young boys off to suicide missions as if they were drink coasters to be used as needed.  From the perspective of a westerner, it seems as if the preservation and sanctity of human life is what determines a society’s standing in the civilization scale.   The only instance that I know of in the animal world where creatures willingly commit suicide are lemmings.  That is certainly the exception.  Even rodents and insects try to nurture life.

Ironically for the released prisoners, it may only dawn upon them many days after their release that they were probably better off in Israeli prisons.  The food was likely better than what they were used to; it arrived on a regular basis; they were housed with buddies and most importantly, they were excused from having to go out on rock throwing, suicide missions.  They may all have even gained a pound or two.  For the Israelis’ part, they may have been happy to offload the expense of housing , feeding and clothing the 1,027 prisoners.  Even bread and water costs money. 

The second obvious thing that jumps out from this exchange is that it must be hugely insulting for each of the Palestinian prisoners to be exchanged by the train car load for just one measly Israeli.  Have they no sense of pride?  Using a sports analogy, it’s as if Tom Brady of the New England Patriots were traded away for the entire NFL!  They couldn’t have been of too much use to their own society since they were obviously expendable.  Imagine when they come back home to their families. 

“Oh, Ahmed, it’s you.  Yeah, hey listen, this is a little uncomfortable, but we didn’t expect you to come back.  We’ve replaced you with a coat rack.” 

In any event, there is no dis-incentive  on the part of these released prisoners to resume troublesome activities notwithstanding Netanyahu’s warnings.  What’s the worst that can happen?