TresSugar

Here Comes a Book About a 9/11 Hijacker and His Stripper

LibertySugar — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:00:53 -0700

Novelist Andre Dubus III wanted to write a book about a stripper. Instead he ended up telling a story about sordid events leading up to September 11, 2001.

At the center of the 535-page novel - The Garden of Last Days - sits Bassam, one of the 9/11 hijackers, who spent time at a Florida strip club four days before the attack. The story follows a few other characters as well, including a stripper who takes her child to work while she dances for the would be terrorist, a drunk patron, and an elderly landlady.

In a note to book reviewers, the author explains his motivation for telling this story:

In the weeks after that brutal September morning, we began to learn something of the hijackers. We learned that many of them had trained in Florida, that they'd been seen visiting strip clubs. This was confusing. How could these young men be self-described holy warriors but also frequent strip clubs? But what lingered for me even more than this was the image of cash on a bedroom bureau in Florida, money earned by a woman who'd danced for one or more of them.

Are you intrigued by the internal struggles of a 9/11 hijacker and the stripper who danced for him? Will this appeal for even minimal empathy change the way readers think about terrorism?

Source

Food or Fighting? Is the US Spending Its Tax Money Wisely?

CitizenSugar — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 07:52:22 -0700

We're all feeling the sting of skyrocketing grocery bills - but families living at or below the poverty line are seeing their food stamps purchase less and less - and they're going hungry. About 1.3 million New Yorkers identify themselves as “food insecure,” concerned about their ability to keep themselves and their families adequately fed.

In the past year the price of what the government recommends as the minimal nutritional diet has risen 7.2 percent, with the prices of particular staples rising even more. Eggs alone have gone up 20 percent.

Food stamp allocations on the other hand, haven't changed since last fall - and won’t increase again until October.

The decrease in buying power of food stamps has been recognized in Washington - Congress passed a farm bill in May that would raise raise the minimum amount of food stamps families receive beginning this fall, passing despite President Bush’s veto.

The director of food assistance for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, says of the difference between food stamps and cost of food, “we know food stamps are falling short $34 a month [of the monthly $576 that the government says it costs a family of four to eat nutritional meals.] The sudden price increases on top of everything else like soaring fuel and health care have meant squeeze and strain that is unprecedented since the late 1970s.”

To see how the amount spent on food compares to that spent in Iraq, read more.

The food stamp relief included in the farm bill, amounts to $5.4 billion over the next ten years, including $50 million to promote community food projects, like local vegetable gardens.

Now I'm not a spending alarmist, but I do like to know the stats and how they compare. The ten year, $5.4 billion we're spending on food stamps? It amounts to just over a week spent in Iraq. Feeding people suddenly seems like a bargain.

$720,000,000 a day. Do you feel comfortable with how US tax dollars are being spent? Is this wrongly comparing apples to armor - or we all need a much bigger deal on Miracle Whip?

Source

Group Therapy: Engaged and in love. With another man?

Sat, 18 Aug 2007 10:00:00 -0700

So. As it goes I was in a relationship with another man I was head over heals for when I met my fiance. We (the first man and I) were two peas in a pod, we both wore many hats, but always seemed to have a matching pair. He was the guy I could totally be myself with. I could be athletic, cowgirl, biker, bookworm, adventurer, gardener, carpenter, chef... We shared a love for life and adventure I have not found anywhere else. We could do it all together and have nothing but smiles! When I met my fiance I asked this first guy is he was interested in being an official couple, or if I met someone should I persue that? He said he was not in a position to be in a relationship, that between his job and his starting company he didn't have time... So I persued this other man - or at least allowed a relationship to progress. We fell quickly in love. He was everything I never wanted to date. He was younger than me, in the military, we are complete opposites. But it seemed to go smoothly and I was blown away with emotion and love. Now that the dust has settled, as many of my friends said it would, I realize we are so SO different and rather incompatible in too many ways... And engaged to be married this coming spring!

I keep thinking about the guy that I left in the dust. The more things my fiance and I face together the more our differences are showing - and pushing us apart. I am a very positive person, he always believes the worst. I like to go for a drive and see what we find, he wants a schedule and gets annoyed if we don't keep to it. I am usually late, he is 15 minutes early and my tardiness drove him so crazy that I am no longer late (yes THIS is a good thing I know). He needs a big breakfast, I don't eat till noon. I'm a night owl, he needs 8 hours. I like to spend time with friends, he would rather stay home. I am a very social person, I have a lot of friends and wish I could see them all more. He has a few close friends that he talks to every now and then, and would rather not go to any of my social events. I wear jeans with holes in them, he will throw out a piece of clothing for a stain so small I can barely see it. I save everything, he throws everything away. I have more patience than most people, he has a one inch fuse. I watch soap operas, he watches CNN. I like a good bottle of wine, cosmos with friends or beer at a backyard BBQ he doesn't drink, then watches what I drink. I'm all for differences, but we have so little in common. We have very different ideas about what is a good day, what is a fun time, what is relaxing... We are like Dharma and Greg!!

I feel like things keep popping up reminding me of the man I left behind. It seems like everywhere I look there is something that reminds me how easy life was with the last guy. Who by the way was much more distraught when I told him I was engaged than I expected him to be. But I told him last November. Now it is August and still he permeates my mind and heart. I fell in love with my fiance for a lot of reasons, but they don't seem to be enough to keep us smiling together now. What should I do???? HELP HELP HELP! Wedding on the way!!!! And I can't picture it anymore!!! I can't help but think Dharma and Greg only work on TV. Not working so well here...

[EDITOR'S NOTE: To be involved in more GROUP THERAPY, click here]

Are You Doing Enough To Help Protect The Environment?

DearSugar — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 16:14:44 -0800

Celebs including Nicole Richie, Kristin Davis and Emmanuelle Chriqui along with many others stepped out last night to attend the EMAs: The Environmental Media Awards. What a wonderful thing that the media is doing!

Personally, I'd like to see all of Hollywood become more involved with environmental support, and this is a great start. It seems like days, months and even years go by and still we haven't implemented more of a strict environmental awareness program into our lives.

Do you think that you could be doing more to conserve energy and resources, not pollute, plant your own garden and make our world a more eco-happy place?

Mother's Day Gifts

DearSugar — Wed, 10 May 2006 08:03:32 -0700

Dear Sugar
Mother's Day is just a few days away - AHHH! Do you have any ideas for a meaningful gift that's not too expensive? Creative Cathy

Dear Creative Cathy
Pull an all-nighter and make her a scrap book filled with special pictures or matchbook covers of restaurants you've been to together. Include a loving poem for the cover, or give it to her separately as a card. Another idea is to buy her favorite flowers at a local nursery and make the arrangement yourself. It will be less $$ and more thoughtful since each flower was handpicked. Does she have a favorite activity? How about getting Mom a golf lesson, a knitting gift certificate to a yarn store or a large watering can filled with gardening tools and her favorite plants/flower seeds? One last thoughtful gift idea is the ipod shuffle. They start at $69 and you could present it to her already programmed with her favorite music. Bravo!