A big deal is being made over the suggestion some astronauts may have consumed alcohol before being launched into space. I personally can’t imagine strapping a rocket to my rear stone cold sober. As long as the computer was below the legal limit, who cares? Never mind the fact they are strapped in their seats for hours before the shuttle even lifts off. I have yet to notice a tipsy astronaut waving to the crowd as he/she takes those final steps on Mother Earth. I doubt any alcohol consumed was to the extent it had an impact in their performance hours later.
Archive for the ‘Current Events’ Category
Drinking and Shuttling
Thursday, July 26th, 2007
Post Traumatic Lawsuit Disorder
Tuesday, July 24th, 2007In a nutshell, a woman is suing Consolidated Edison over last week’s steam pipe explosion because it brought back horrible memories of 9/11. The supposed intent of her lawsuit is to force Consolidated Edison to take the upkeep and maintenance of its pipes more seriously to prevent this type of event from happening in the future. Though I don’t doubt the explosion of steam and debris was horrifying, I really don’t think a lawsuit is necessary on her part to correct the problem. The explosion was an expensive mess for ConEd and NYC. The cost, damage and panic it caused is catalyst enough for the company and city to increase its efforts. The last thing our country needs is for our citizens to start bankrupting our good companies with lawsuits stemming from the stress of the terrorists’ actions. Our enemies aren’t those who remind us of what happened on that day, but those who acted against us on that day. Let’s not be like our President and lose sight of where our anger belongs.
It’s not cancer…
Monday, July 23rd, 2007Tony Snow assured us the palups removed from our President’s GI Tract are not cancerous. Notice he failed to mention whether or not they are brain matter. Ah, to finally have a diagnosis for all of this madness.
Is it Possible?
Tuesday, July 17th, 2007Is it possible commercials aren’t intended to make sense? I often find myself unable to sort out the message delivered. Such a waste of money for the advertiser when the viewer is left scratching his head. Maybe not though. Honestly, I’m afraid I actually spend more time thinking about the commercials I don’t get versus the ones I figure out easily. The belief is there has got to be something I am missing in the pitch that, once discovered, would make it all clear and clever to me. Perhaps the joke is on me though. Perhaps the commercial was never intended to be clear or clever and that is the surprising hook. Is stupid the new brilliant in the advertising world. Might as well be, I suppose.
Are We Numb?
Friday, July 13th, 2007Another child was found murdered today. As a mom, I feel incredible sadness. Naturally, I am also terrified I may someday find myself living a nightmare of someone else’s doing. Anger and shock aren’t really reactions I can claim, however. They definitely aren’t the first emotions I notice. This scares me a bit. Adding to the concern is my belief I am not alone. Society seems a bit numb and interest in these cases has a tabloid feel.
When I read commentary on recent headlines relating to child abductions and murders, the anger I do detect is often directed at parents and why they weren’t doing a better job of watching their children. Huh? Sure, it is important to be attentive parents. However, who under Earth’s blue sky has any justifiable excuse for laying their hands on and harming another person’s child? Who?!!! I don’t care how unattentive a parent is being (okay, I care, but not as it relates to assigning anger here). When does a parent’s lapse in judgment justify the killing or abuse of a child and nullify the need to direct 100% of our anger at the monsters who have commited these acts? Never. Never!
I think it is time for us to find our anger so we can direct it at the individuals in our society who are truly doing harm. When we are more upset by a mistake with our drive-thru hamburger or a car in front of us that hasn’t noticed the light has turned green, we definitely need to reset ourselves a bit.
Bumper Sticker
Thursday, July 12th, 2007While on the great American highway last weekend, my husband and I spied a bumper sticker that just about summed it all up. I can’t remember the exact wording. It was along the lines of “Vietnam was the only war Bush actually had an exit strategy for.” I support the troops completely. They are doing their best with a difficult situation. I just wish it felt like we had a well outlined plan for where we want to be in the future and how to get there. So far it feels like we are going about things like the working person who starts saving for retirement at 50. Success and security seem a bit out of reach.
Libby’s Luck
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007I wasn’t exactly surprised to hear of Scooter Libby’s prison sentence commutation. In fact, a full pardon wouldn’t have shocked me either. Surely George W. learned the Golden Rule of do unto others as you would have others do unto you. It would be down right silly for him to expect others to take responsibility for their actions when he clearly doesn’t wish to have others hold him accountable for his decisions, words and behavior.
Udderly Ridiculous
Thursday, June 28th, 2007It is projected milk will reach a national average of $5.00 per gallon by the fall. Increased fuel costs, production expenses and drought losses have all factored into the rising price. $5.00 per gallon!!! Everything that requires milk as an ingredient will also go up. I don’t know what anyone else has planned, but this pregnant lady is getting a body guard.
Sticks & Stones
Wednesday, June 27th, 2007Why does anyone even bother to listen to or reason with Ann Coulter? Such a waste of time. Elizabeth Edwards has a much more important disease to focus on fighting right now. The cancer that is Ann Coulter has reached its critical mass and will hopefully begin to die out on its own. Ann will eventually succeed in destroying herself. Giving any additional attention to that malignant mouthpiece at this point is simply extending her time in the spotlight. I say unscrew the bulb and let’s all have a good night.
Same Old Story
Tuesday, June 26th, 2007With all of the media outlets to turn to for information about our world, it is amazing to me they all seem to cover the exact same stories. Without fail the local, network and cable news centers are running identical content within seconds of one another. If you flip the through the channels, the only difference is the face and voice of the individual delivering the information. We don’t really have a choice of what information we’d like to hear, simply what talking head from what angle best suits our taste.
How sad the human exist has become so boring and uneventful there are only a handful of subjects to talk about anymore. With billions of people on this planet, there is barely enough content to fill 35 minutes of cable news without starting the feed queu all over again. Let’s not forget the poor local channels. If international outlets are hard pressed for stories, how is a local news crew to fill 30 minutes of air time when limited by a population of a few hundred thousand? Thank goodness for commercials and the countless number of murders, celebrity embarrassments and heart stopping catastrophes happening to people in other areas of the country that can be used as filler when the local scene is at a standstill. I mean, what is there to report if not humanity at its worst? Perhaps we all owe Paris Hilton a thank you afterall?
Until even more people get with the program and turn into murderers or idiots, we may find the slump in the news will continue. With such a shortage of viable stories to report, can we really fault the news outlets for creating their own stories? If they didn’t step up and ‘wag the dog,’ we would be stuck watching commercials non-stop. Or worse, they might have to rely on reporting human interest or feel good stories. The types of things that give us the false sense the world might be an okay place after all. Freedom of the press, as you can see, is vital to keeping us realistic about the nasty place this world is as well as keeping us supplied with the addictive negativity we crave.
I shouldn’t be so critical. There is a bright spot in all of this. I think we all should take a moment to thank our politicians for actually taking action on this very important issue. Sure, they may have dropped the ball on fuel, fresh water, military and funding shortages. They do, however, seem to realize how devastating it would be to our nation to find ourselves without sources for the type of content our news outlets rely on for their very survival. I feel safe in predicting they will not let us down. Viable news stories to report may be in short supply, but the trusted men and women of our legislature will not allow them to become extinct.