The Election

The election is like religion - there must be rituals and performances so it will seem real to people.

But it's not real. America is controlled by the big corporations, who back the professional politicians who will pass legislation in their favor, and who control what the media presents to us as "news". The price of gas is one example of how this works.

It's all about power and money and how to control 301,139,947 people, and it works like the casinos in Las Vegas - the odds are in favor of the house. The house being the government and the gamblers being the American people.

The end result is that Big Business prospers from a huge customer base and the American people have goods and services to purchase, at an ever-increasing cost.

Driving

It used to be fun to drive. I had a succession of 60's and 70's Chevy's with small block engines that I knew how to work on. I had them running fine, and kept them washed and shined. But these days, with all the traffic, construction, cops, gas prices, computer-controlled engines that require special tools to work on and new laws (seat belts, DUI etc.) it's just not fun to drive any more. Fuck, it's a 6-hour traffic school class if you're over 55 now. So I drive a practical piece of shit that I can't even bring myself to maintain unless it quits running. I stay home a lot.

DUI Stats

Proponents of stronger DUI laws like to bandy about statistics to support their cause, such as "close to half of all motor-vehicle crash fatalities are alcohol-related", but I'm unimpressed by such a vague statistic.

What does this really mean? The reader is supposed to infer that the crash was caused by a driver who was at least over the legal BAC limit and at most a raving, slobbering drunken lunatic and a major threat to society. But what if a stone sober driver caused the crash by running into a drunk driver who was doing nothing wrong? What if a passenger was drunk? What if there was an open bottle in the car from which the driver hadn't even imbibed? Lots of possible scenarios. Are these all "alcohol-related"?

When they show me a statistic that proves how many drunk drivers actually caused these wrecks I'll pay more attention.

From observation I know that the biggest danger is from distracted drivers. They're reading, eating, slapping the kids, putting on make-up and - of course - talking on the cell phone. I dodge these people every day, and they don't appear to be drunk.

Clergy Sex

Children seem to be sexually attractive to an inordinate number of members of the clergy. In some religions you have to abstain from sex to be a clergyman. Well, duh, that just ain't natural, and you have to be a little weird to go for that in the first place. So it's no wonder that various perversions may become evident in some of these people.

Modern Technology

OMFG, it's overwhelming. Computers, video cameras, HD TV, etc. How can you keep up? And then there's Facebook, MySpace, YouTube... Where is all the information I put on these pages going? You just can't be sure.

I'm not a Luddite; I'm in the thick of all this stuff, but tying to keep track of my friends, my updates, my profiles, my web pages is just a lot of work, and I sometimes wonder if my time might be better spent communing with nature or playing basketball or fishing or something.

Panhandling

There's a lot of talk about what do with aggressive panhandlers. I read about a little-known law in Memphis that requires panhandlers to get a $10 license before they can go begging. Seems like a solution to me.

Country Music

It's confusing when young people say they don't like country music. What do they mean, Montgomery Gentry, Taylor Swift, Rascal Flatts? These acts ain't country. Country is Merle Haggard, Ray Price, Alan Jackson, George Jones. So it's just damn confusing.

Computers

I like computers. At the moment I'm using three, 2 Macs and a Linux computer. I'm removing the Macrovision copy protection from a DVD with one of the Macs, using Handbrake to make an .avi file from VOB files on the other Mac, and using the Linux comp to write this post.

School Dress Codes

Kids brought this on themselves. School is supposed to prepare you to enter the work force and be a consumer and pay taxes, but wearing pants hanging off your ass won't usually get you a job that makes this possible. Yeah, I know, kids can't resist the marketing of these ridiculous clothes, so they pester their parents to spring for them. So, kids, live with it.