The word is that Van Helsing sucks big time so it might be better to check out Supersize Me! instead. The director, Morgan Spurlock, was on Chicago’s “Eight Forty Eight” this morning. It was pretty good interview.

One thing I wish he’d mentioned was the way people who live in impoverished neighborhoods don’t have access to healthy food. Since I haven’t seen the movie I can’t say for certain that he doesn’t address it. But since it hasn’t shown up in any of the interviews I’ve heard or read, I’m just assuming.

Fresh fruit and vegetables are something of a luxury for a lot of people, never mind buying organic. And even if you want to buy fresh produce, if you live in a neighborhood like West Englewood finding stuff that’s edible can be difficult. One woman told me that she doesn’t shop at the chain grocery store near her house because she can smell the food going bad.

Health costs and I don't just mean care and insurance. People who can't afford healthy food usually can't afford to join a health club or find the time to do something like go running.

Here in Chicago the Park District has a program called Chicago Works Out. You can take a six-week class in yoga or aerobics for $25. This is great but $25 is still money that's not going towards food or bills.

I’m lagging behind in my reading so I haven’t read this or this, but since I do know they address these issues I’m going to plug them anyway.

Moral high ground? We prefer deep chasms.

If you haven’t checked out Seymour Hersh’s New Yorker piece, read it.

The “fact” that we are better than Saddam Hussein has been the tiny bit of tattered nothing that has shielded this administration from the harshest criticism of this war. How many times did Bush trot out those torture chambers and rape rooms to counter the question of WMDs?

As Jon said, the rape rooms are merely “under new management.”

Fatigue

11 soldiers died today and it barely registered. I'm afraid of the numbing effect this war is having. We're getting used to the mounting casualities. It's exhausting being outraged/frustrated/horrified all of the time. I think one by one we're tuning out. I can feel it happening to me.

I can't believe that Bush's horrible "Mission Accomplishment" speech was a year ago. In some ways these last three plus years have been interminable. And yet when you've spent them in a sort of sustained state of disbelief, it feels as though time isn't passing at all. I'm still stuck in 2000 when everything went wrong.