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I asked a friend for a topic to post on, she chose taxes. She was getting pissed that, as a pretty smart person, she was having trouble managing two state filing. I am poor, so my taxes were pretty easy, but for most people April means a maddening trudge through line 8A minus the greater of lines 9 and 10, but if you have a deduction on line 32b then subtract your gross adjusted earnings from... and so on. Anyway, a while back I was thinking about why some things that are so prevalent in our lives are so obtuse and hard to deal with without other professionals. I think it's a matter of control. Back in the dark ages, the populace couldn't read, and depended on elites for information. In the modern western world, with widespread literacy, average people could do without the people telling them what was going on. What's a power whore to do? Create a new type of illiteracy. Legalese, legislature rules, tax codes. If you can't read it, how can you challenge it? So the majority of people just accept defeat, hire someone to do their taxes, pay ridiculous fees to lawyers, drop out of the political process. Americans are the most well educated illiterates in the world. And our leaders like that just fine. For more along those lines, and if you want to get really pissed, check out this book. (The author was on Air America the other day, and it was nuts. James talks about it too.) Want to get more pissed? When the IRS requested $12 million to add 80 investigators to help disrupt the finances or Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, President Bush said no. This guy is not serious about fighting terrorism. He's just not. He says he is, but he's just not.

There's an OpEd in the ProJo today proposing a compromise on the divisive gay marriage issue. David Carlin's solution? Friendship covenants for gay couples. (bmn) This idea, I submit, is idiotic. Why do I suspect same-sex marriage opponents wouldn't be at all happy with what is essentially a "don't ask, don't tell" loophole that allows gays to –wink*wink*nudge*nudge– get the benefits they deserve without, supposedly, rubbing it in anyone's face? And why would gay couples in loving relationships accept the further trivialization of their committed relationships by calling them "friendship covenants" or some variation thereof? This is putting aside the ridiculous example Mr. Carlin uses. If the southern slave holders agreed to the "compromise" of not expanding slavery to other states, would that have excused the immorality of slavery? I hope not.

I got a note in my email this weekend about trouble at the Castle Cinema in Providence: I remember when the dinner/theater experiment opened, and I thought it was a great idea. Having seen my local movie house close shop (twice!), I think we should value small neighborhood cinemas. Since they've been unable to compete with the Megaplexes on the movies, a place like the Castle decided to bundle the movie with a bigger experience. Melding the cliche "dinner and a movie," they opened a restaurant and bar, with the option of dining in the theater during the movie. Sounds like a great idea, right? They even recently partnered with a popular South County restaurant to re-brand their restaurant. Apparently it just hasn't been enough. They're trying to work out a deal with the city of Providence, but I imagine the cash strapped city isn't exactly in a good position to help. That's really a shame, as the Castle is exactly the sort of enterprise that Providence should be encouraging and building on if it really wants to maintain the hype of being an arts capital. The Castle hosted comedy shows, film fests and other live performances. It would be a shame to lose it. The management is asking that us little guys support the theater with attendance, which I won't be able to do, but if I may wield the mighty power of this blog, I'd like to encourage anyone in the greater Providence area to make plans to take in a movie at the Castle this weekend. It's important that we preserve our ability to have unique movie experiences, something we're losing everywhere (what's the difference between the mall theater in Providence and one in Wichita? Ab-so-lute-ly nothing.) Cranston, RI has an interest in seeing the dinner/theater experiment work, too. In the Continued Reading... I reprinted the email notice about the closure. Here's the website. THE CASTLE CINEMA SLATED TO CLOSE Providence, RI, April 10 After 80 years in operation, The Castle Cinema, one of the last remaining independently owned and operated movie houses left in Rhode Island is in jeopardy of closing its doors forever. Starting next week, The Castle will reduce operating hours to Friday, Saturday and Sunday only. This is a further reduction from a schedule that already has it closed on Mondays. Final performances and closing of the theater will take place on Saturday, April 24, 2004. Purchased and renovated by the Gemma family in 2001, a concept new to Rhode Island was launched. Dining in each of the three theaters is combined with movie viewing. The Gemmas were hopeful that the concept would allow the Castle to remain viable, not only as a neighborhood theater, but as incubator for film and performing arts. The Castle shows later run movies with an emphasis on independent and art films. Additionally, a diverse mix of live entertainment, televised sports events, independent film premieres and film festivals are regularly offered at the three screen theater, as well as special events for civic, school and community groups. In September of 2003, Crazy Burger Caf of Narragansett was brought in to lend its operational management expertise, and creative menu to The Castle operation. Although the Crazy Burger management team has done a remarkable job, and despite the fact that attendance last year was over 40,000, expenses and overhead incurred running a 80 year old building, continue to outpace revenue. The giant megaplexes have made it impossible for community based theaters to compete. Says co-owner Larry Gemma. Gemma is now reaching out to the theater arts community and the Mayors office in a final attempt to form strategic partnerships to more fully utilize the facility and to save the theater from the wrecking ball. He is welcoming any and all interested parties. Gemma is also appealing to the Castles community of patrons to support the Castle with their attendance to keep the theater alive. Re-defining itself as a non-profit organization is also under consideration. For more information or to contact the Castle visit www.castlecinema.com.

As a confirmed Catholic with plenty of Sunday School under my belt, you can forgive me for entertaining the thought this morning that Jesus might actually be on his way back this Easter Sunday. I woke up at 5 AM to probably the biggest lightning storm I've ever seen. It just went on and on, and I confess to being a little scared at times (generally whenever the thunderclaps were close enough to shake the house). I had to run around the house closing windows and securing the screen door, which was about to fly off its hinges a la Wizard of Oz. Then I remembered that I left my car windows partially open, but by then it was hopeless. As far as I can tell, it wasn't Jesus, just some nasty weather. I should have known that there's no way the world would end now, we still have game 7 of the Cubs-Red Sox World Series to get to before anything apocalyptic happens. On that happy thought, happy Easter! Enjoy your hours of church and meat and baseball and pagan fertility god worship (that is what the Easter Egg thing is all about, you know). ALSO: I just talked to my dad, telling him about my Revelations-tinged morning, and he told me a story about his last run in with the end of the world. The year was 1960, and the buzz around his catholic school was that the Virgin Mary had written a letter to be opened by the Pope in 1960. Speculation was rampant about what this letter said, the popular consensus being that it was the beginning of the end for humanity. My young father couldn't sleep, begging his father not to go to work that night, fearful that the end would come without his family together. The appointed hour came... nothing happened. No one was ever told what the letter (if it even existed) said. Years later, my father was relating this story to some friends, when one piped up and said "Oh, I remember that. Want to know what it said?" Of course everyone did! "It was just a simple three word sentence, in aramaic: "Vote for Kennedy."

Looking at the proposed amendment to RI marriage laws a while back, I noticed this section that's on the books now: This is a pretty interesting clause, and certainly in line with our long tradition of religious tolerance. Still, weird to see a reference to a specific religion excepting adherents to a law. Note, of course, that it's an example of extending rights, not constraining them. (I'm not Jewish, so I have no idea what consanguinity laws apply to their marriage laws)

There's an OpEd in the ProJo (bmn) called "Our consumption cult feeds market tyranny." It seems to me to go overboard a little bit, but it makes a point I think most people miss: we're richer than ever, and no happier for it. The author uses an example of child labor in third world countries, which maybe clouds the point with a partisan topic, but the wider idea is still something that resonates with me. We have this need to quantify everything, and if you can't put a price on it then it's worthless. Communities are tripping over themselves to create a "business friendly environment," (which usually just means low taxes) and by doing so they sell out the people of the town. But if they don't make special deals, then companies head to the next town willing to cut services, and the first town really loses by not getting any income. Everyone loses, and no one seems to know what to do about it. It extends to the individual. People want to spend more time with their families, but if they don't put in the extra hours they could lose their job, which would be much worse for the entire family. In New Orleans there's the fairly common example of lower class single parents working 80+ hours a week to pay private school tuition to keep their kids out of trouble at public school, but then have no time to supervise and spend time with their kids. We've set up all these no-win choices, and no one seems to be asking why this is the best we can do. Why aren't we happier, pharmaceuticals notwithstanding? Of course, there's no way to change this because, well, it wouldn't make good business sense.

I mentioned a couple weeks ago a new show on Fox that I really liked: Well, they only managed four. This is very distressing for me, as I was seriously considering modeling my life on main character Jaye. Reality TV wins again. As for shows coming back from the dead, Family Guy really is coming back! (thanks, James)

I missed it a couple days ago, but April 5th was the 10 year anniversary of Kurt Cobain's suicide. I remember distinctly listening to WBRU, making some food, when I heard about "a body found dead in a Seattle apartment, an apparent suicide. It's believed to be the body of Kurt Cobain." I was shocked, and pissed. I was so into music then, and Nirvana was a big part of that. In the following month I got into trouble after writing a prose poem about the suicide, which I read to my math class one day before the teacher showed up. Someone decided to go to the teacher after class and tell her about what I wrote, and before you knew it I was sitting in the Guidance Counselor's office. Thus began a multi-year misguided effort by the Warwick school department to keep me from killing myself. My poor parents. Anyway, I was reminded about this by Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore writing in the NY Times today about the current state of Kurt's music. I always said that if he hadn't killed himself in '94, the Backstreet Boys would have drove him to it eventually.

While I don't have the time to put together well written passages about politics and basesball, I do still have things to share. Share them I shall. - Google is going to take over the world - Various tech bloggers have been going back and forth lately about what Google has planned for the future. I think they are 100% right in this post. I'm both excited and scared at the same time. - A Visualization Of Iraq War Losses - You may have seen this already but it is important enough to bring up again. Not much to say about this one - the image speaks for itself. - An Accurate Debate On The War In Iraq - "Be quiet, okay? Everything's fine. You're wrong." - KFC Bags have a message on one of the handles that states "open here". Spinning lately: - Criteria - En Garde - Been listening to this one over and over and it rocks the shit out of me every time. - Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News - "Float On" is the best song you will hear all year. I wish I started listening to this band 5 years ago. I'm extremely excited to see Death Cab For Cutie and Ben Kweller at Lupos on Friday. I am ashamed that I saw The Darkness last weekend. I am indifferent about seeing the Red Sox play on Saturday (Sorry Bil, it's gonna be cold).

A post on neo-Calpundit made me think about our concept of the money that our goverment spends. I conducted a instant messenger poll of 6 buddies who happened to be signed on, asking them: How much (as a % of the US budget) do you think we spend on foreign aid to other countries? And, do you think it's too much or too little? Everyone had trouble coming up with an answer, but I pushed them. Those who answered guessed 8%, 10% and 13% and 18%. One wouldn't guess but felt it was "too much." Another knew politicians said it was too much, but they weren't sure whether to trust them. One person said it was "just right." The actual answer is less than 1%, about $17 billion. The US pays more dollars than any other country in aid, but as a percent of gross national product we are near the bottom, at less than 0.1%. I don't have any commentary, just thought it was interesting. None of us have any idea what is going on. And I'd venture that my friends are smarter than most people, so...

As of right now, 20 Americans have died in Iraq in April, plus more coalition forces. At least 40 Iraqis, whose lives are worth, I think, 3/5 of an American life, died today when a missle hit them. Among the marines who died this week was a 21 year old from North Providence. There's a family in my grandmother's neighborhood who will join over 600 American families ripped apart by a poorly planned and executed war based on faulty information. I'm sick about this.

After lulling the major leagues into a false sense of security on Sunday night, the Red Sox are ready to start kicking ass from here on out. Our other ace pitcher was a little shaky by his own admission, so he actually gave up a whopping one run while striking out 7 in 6 innings. Man, what happens when Curt Schilling settles in?! Then we have D-Lowe tonight and the knuckleballer Tim Wakefield going Thursday. I smell win streak. Em had a conversation with someone who decided the Red Sox Nation was on the verge of Titanicating, based on, like, 10 idiot radio show callers. Obviously a jealous Yankee fan trying to stir up trouble. That's what happens when your ace gets spanked by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays twice in a week. The Nation is strong. In fact, to prove it, please rise for the pledge of alligiance: I pledge allegiance to the fans, of the entire Red Sox nation. And to the Fenway faithful, in all the stands. One team, under Terry, unbeatable. With offense, and pitching - Play ball.