Bienvenidos a Argentina

Bolivia is beautiful but I am so happy to be out of that country. I will miss the breathtaking scenery and the anything-goes lawlessness but beyond that I can't think of anything else that I will long for. I will not miss the sand-covered washboard dirt roads, the shitty cans of "tuna", and the complete lack of decent broadband network. There were so many times when I wandered into a town looking for food only to be disappointed by the selection of items. My typical conversation would go like this:
"Is there a comedor in town?"
" No."
"Is there internet?"
"No."
"Is there a even a store."
"Yes there is."
"What do they sell?"
"Cookies and soda."
"What kind of cookies do you have?"
"We have shit cookies with vomit cream filling."
"You don't have chocolate?"
"Nope."
"Well, thanks anyway, bye."
I am still pissed off that Bolivia even has a military since they would get the living shit kicked out of them by any one of their neighbors except maybe Paraguay. Chile, Argentina, and Brazil would defeat them in a matter of days while Peru might take a week. In my past post I said nationalism is obselete but I should have been more direct;it is fucking stupid. If I were in charge of Bolivia I would fire every last soldier and hire a bunch of construction workers to pave Bolivia's pitiful roads and lay broadband wires in all of the cities that don't have any internet access. Not only is a Bolivian military useless but they are potentially harmful as the recent coup d'etat in Honduras should prove my point.
A friend of mine,who has crossed the land border from Bolivia into Argentina, described crossing the border as "leaving Kansas for Oz." That description is not to far off. The difference is just about as stark as leaving the U.S. for Mexico. Actually the difference is more stark because Mexico has well-paved roads. Everything here cost more but the quality of what you are buying more than makes up for the difference in price. I have spent more on food but I have eaten some amazing meals. The sheer size of the barbeque platters here makes my eyes pop out. The pizzas, pasta, and wine is good, too. The way to my heart is through my stomach and Argentina has already won my heart. In fact, I think I like it better here than in U.S. I have even heard that they have free health care here. With the good food and free health care here I can say that I might not come back.
Speaking of health care in America, I can honestly say that not reforming health care at all would probably be better than the bill the Democrats have advanced in Congress. There are not enough curse words in the English language to thoroughly convey how fucking pissed off I am about the two-party monopoly on power in the United States. The thing that pisses me off about the bill so much is the health insurance mandate. I currently don't have health insurance and there is actually a reason for it. I have had it in the past and discovered that they were so unresponsive and unhelpful that I cancelled it. Once I went to the doctor for a regular check-up only for the insurance company to drag their feet so long in paying the claim that I started getting collection letters from the doctor's office in the mail. The insurance company claimed they never even received my claim which was an outright lie. At that point, I sent only certified mail to them so they couldn't lie through their teeth like that. It still took about six months for them to pay only about %60 of the claim. After this, I figured it was best to just not have insurance and gamble that I never get really sick or break a bone. If yall think insurance companies are unresponsive and unhelpful now, just wait until you are forced to purchase health insurance. A public plan probably wouldn't be any better since the government would probably just subcontract out to the health insurance industry anyway. I can not accept health care reform that doesn't cut these thieving bastards out of the loop. This doesn't absolve hospitals, doctors,or the pharmaceutical industry from their culpability but I think the insurance companies are the worst culprits. This is yet another reason I might not come back to the U.S.
On a happier note, I have recently discovered some wonderful music online. Now that I have access to broadband, I have actually been able to give a good listen to Vladimir Visotsky. All I can say is that I want to learn Russian and take up chain smoking so I can sing like him. A friend of mine also turned me on to the Plasmatics. I can't believe I had never listened to any of their music. When I listen to it I just want to torch a cop car and slit some pig's throat. If any of yall don't think that there is censorship and coercion in the U.S. all yall have to look at is a picture of Wendy O. Williams after Milwaukee police beat the shit out of her while arresting her for an obscenity charge. As one music critic in the United States said, "Conservatives in America had castration anxiety," when they saw her chainsaw televisions in half. I am convinced that there are still efforts to erase the history of the Plasmatics as it is still very difficult to find their music. Youtube even seems to mysteriously fail when I am trying to load their videos. This makes me even more determined to rip off the music industry. I hope all of them go down with the shit music they have been trying to force down my throat through there control of the distribution channels. I am so happy that I have alternate routes of music discovery now that we have the internet.
I was in Jujuy, Argentina when my friend told me that Farrah Fawcett died. My response was, "Who fucking cares." Then I came back with the news that Michael Jackson had died. To me he died about twenty years ago but that is a moot point. I can't remember the last time people were so freaked out about a single person's death. It is like a god died or something. I suppose his music touched a lot of people but I can't say I really care. I want to ask people if they expected him to live for ever. For me Michael Jackson is far down the list of musicians who I find inspirational. Most of us mere mortals will never achieve the immortality that he has achieved through his music.