RED ALERT! RED ALERT! Or, is it Orange alert? Yes, the spooky people who are running our country have raised the terror alert to Threat Level Orange. Oooooooooooh! Scary! Hopefully, the other 275 million people I live with in this great land of ours are as tired of this silly paranoia as I am. I still don't quite get the relevance of this Chicken Little warning system. What's the freakin' point?? I ignore these warnings because there is absolutely NOTHING I can do about it, nor can anyone else except those brave few who are chasing these bogeymen around the world.

Don't get me wrong, here. I'm all about slaying every last terrorist piece of garbage on this planet and smearing his or her slimy blood on a dirty floor. But, when I see some pretty-faced newscaster breaking into the middle of a football game I'm watching acting all super serious to warn me that terrorist "chatter" picked up by someone indicates an imminent threat to my country, I just can't take it seriously. I laugh and then I start to yell because I"m missing my game for absolutely no reason.

Here's what this silly alert system has brought to the United States since 2001: millions, tens of millions, of dollars for more "security" (i.e wasted money that could be spent on the thousands of decrepit schools around the country or perhaps giving some of this money to soldiers' families who have to rely on food stamps while their husbands, wives and children are fighting for freedom in some third world swamp), an extension of the paranoia that infected this country on 9/11, and a mockery of our basic intelligence. Of course, beefing up the police force in Los Angeles will prove too mighty to scare away some low-life militant who can't think for himself from blowing up some hotel. Am I the only one who doesn't get it?

If the US wants to really get rid of these terrorist threats, they'd drop a nuke on the pilgrimage to Mecca and on Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia and a few other "nations."

It's time to stop this silliness. I may be out of line here, but the Dept of Homeland Security has done little more than plunge us into deeper debt and a pit of paranoia. No matter what they do, they can never control the actions of everyone. Sooner or later, something will happen here. Sadly, until the psychopaths and sociopaths of the Muslim world are eliminated, this threat will always exist. Period. The DHS is nothing more than a "Cover Your Ass" maneuver by our super-smart leaders in Washington so no one can be sued or blamed when something does happen on our soil. (read: WTC victims filing lawsuits against just about everyone because the attacks were preventable).

Have a good holiday!!!!!

Here's the latest example of why this country is is in a death spiral of stupidity. I want you to read this AP story from CNN:
============================================================
Woman files lawsuits over baby's Benadryl death

Sunday, December 21, 2003
BARTOW, Florida (AP) -- A Florida woman is suing the baby sitter who gave her daughter a fatal dose of Benadryl, along with the maker of the drug and the pharmacy that she says sold the product.
Paula Burcham was sentenced in August to eight years in prison for giving 3 1/2-month-old Grace Fields a lethal dose of Benadryl.
The child died from intoxication by diphenhydramine, the drug's active ingredient. Benadryl is an antihistamine and sedative.
Earlier this month, Tracy Fields, the child's mother, filed a wrongful death and product liability lawsuit against Burcham; Pfizer Inc., the New York-based maker of Benadryl; and the Perrigo Co., which makes generic versions of the medicine.
The lawsuit contends Burcham gave the child Benadryl with "willful disregard" for her safety because she wanted to quiet the baby.
Pfizer spokesman Tom Sanford said the company does not recommend people give Benadryl to infants.
Prosecutors said Burcham never told paramedics she had poured three teaspoons of Benadryl into a bottle of breast milk for the child. Burcham later denied it was to control the child's behavior.
The lawsuit seeks more than $15,000 in damages, and also names Clearwater, Florida-based Eckerd Corp., which owns the pharmacy that Fields says sold the medicine to Burcham. Other defendants are Polk County, the Polk County Health Department and the state Department of Children & Families.
DCF spokesman Bill Spann said the agency does not comment on pending litigation, but he urged parents to carefully check the qualifications of day care providers.
Burcham, 53, ran an unlicensed day care center out of her home.
============================================================

Ok, so let me get this straight. Some idiot, who probably shouldn't have been taking care of a child in the first place given the fact she gave a baby an overdose of Benadryl, was convicted of killing the baby. Fine. No problem there.

So, I'm wondering if someone can explain to me why exactly the PHARMACY and DRUGMAKER are responsible. I'm trying to figure out the logic here, besides plain GREED. Following the logic I'm seeing, what the pharmacy should have done before allowing one of its thousands of patrons to purchase an over-the-counter drug is perform a criminal and psychological background check, a psychological exam and profile, an evaluation of her ability to care for children, as well as references from friends, neighbors and others who could say she should be allowed the purchase Benadryl. Given the obvious recklessness and negligence shown by the pharmacy, they are clearly at fault here.

Same must apply to Pfizer. Obviously, they are a dangerous and evil company because they didn't take basic steps to make sure that crazy people don't buy their drugs that are available at any drug store, gas station or grocery store.

Right. And I'm sure there isn't some ambulance-chasing shark who came up with this hair-brained scheme to basically extort money from Ekherd and Pfizer.

I could comment on probably 1,000 stories a year that follow the exact line of logic. I'm wondering if they teach a Distorted Logic 101 and How to Extort Money from Anyone, Anywhere 102 in law schools around the nation. They must! The courts are filled with one ridiculous case after another.

I hope the judge in this case throws his gavel as hard as he can at this woman's attorney's empty skull. And maybe then he should have someone sue this woman for being so stupid as to send her child into the childcare worker's home. But, that would be too logical, wouldn't it?

So, this is pretty sweet. I've finally managed to create a space where I can vent my opinionated opinions of the world and tell the world what I think and why I'm right. Ha!

Well, it's Xmas time, and for me, it gets more depressing each year. Maybe it's because it's more fun when your a kid and don't have to worry about a damn thing. But as an adult, this holiday just gets shittier and shittier. Why? One word: shopping.

I'm convinced this country is going to hell in a handbasket. People are idiots. Xmas has turned into this cycle of buy buy buy and sale sale sale. Kids become monsters and think you don't love them if you don't get them "what they want" or don't buy them enough. Take for example, my trip to Kay B Toys last night. This little kid had to be no more than 4 or 5 years old. He had a death grip on a Buzz Lightyear doll and some other toy I couldn't see. This little bastard was SCREAMING, rolling on the floor, DEMANDING his daddy buy him these toys. How do kids become like that? I'm figuring it's because most parents don't spend any time with their kids, so the only way these little aliens feel loved is if they can get a ton of toys.

Now, this shit went on for a good 45 minutes. *I* wanted to throw the kid out of the store. And what does Mr. Responsible Parent do? "Oh, c'mon, now, Billy, Santa is coming next week. We can't buy both of them for you." BZZT!!!! Sorry, pal. Wrong answer. Instead of displaying to the world what a pushover of a parent you are, you should have picked him up, shed the toys, and walked out of the mall. This dickhead let this kid carry on for 45 minutes. No joke. I don't know who I wanted to slap more - him or the kid. I'm sure Billy pulls that stunt in every store they go to.

You know what I'm talking about, right? Of course you do. That's because this same scene plays out year after year. And it's sickening. Remember the latest trend of stores opening at 5 or 6 a.m. the day after Turkey Day this year? Every news station I watched that night showed hundreds of people pressed up against store doors waiting for them to open. Hello? Have we become that stupid? I guess so. People seem to think that just because something is on sale, they're smart by buying it. And you wonder why so many people are in debt.....

Anyway, this phenomenon seems to get worse each year. Maybe I'm just becoming more of a skeptic. But I don't think so. I'm quite sure our society wasn't hypnotized by consumerism like we are today 30 years ago. Then again, maybe this is good for me. Maybe I'll be one of the few who won't give in to this crap and be one of those who gets to buy all the houses of people who sink ever further into debt.

I registered a domain a few years ago: christmassucks.com. I let it die, because it wasn't worth paying for, especially since it's irrelevant most of the year. But what got me going was the fact that the malls (which I hate and hope to some day see them disappear) had Xmas decorations up in OCTOBER!!!!!! WTF is that about??? It would be nice if enough people would revolt and turn the tables on all the greedy retailers. You walk through Macy*s during the holidays and you wonder when the hell would end.....

Anyway, Merry Xmas. Let's see who won the spending derby next week.