3 Angry Rants on a Tuesday Morning
Normally Fridays are reserved for the news stories we come across the on the interweb. But this past weekend a few stories came across my desk and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about them. They’re just so ridiculous, but I can’t help getting all fired up about them. Well, I wanted to share these stories, as well as my anger towards them, with all of you. Since they make me angry, I didn’t think Happy Friday was the right outlet for them.
The first news story comes to us from Washington where Democratic Rep. Jim Moran is proposing a bill to limit when commercials for E.D. can be aired. On the surface I’m ok with this. I don’t need to see these commercials all the time, but on the other hand I am an adult and I am capable of deciding on my own what I can see or not see.
The argument to that is, and I quote Moran directly for this, “The problem is that they are showing these ads when small children are bound to get curious.” To that I say be a fucking responsible parent. If your kids get curious and ask questions, talk to them about it. If they’re too young for a talk like they, just be really vague. One of the comments suggests a child looking up the product on the internet to find out what it is or does. Here’s an idea, I know it may be a little out there, but how about putting parental controls on your computer? There I go again, asking for responsible parenting.
Much in the same way one bailout lead to another bailout lead to another bailout, I feel a ban like this will lead to a ban on another product, and so on. We have to draw the line somewhere. I just hope if I am ever a parent, I will have the authority over what my child watches on TV, and not the government.
Also, I think our elected officials should be working on a few larger problems than goddamned television advertisements. There’s a bad economy, a war, and a flu virus killing hundreds. Fix that shit, and then worry about what’s on TV.
I will say right up front I do not watch a lot of basketball. Before this season’s playoffs I haven’t watched a game all year. I won’t even pretend I understand it all, but what has me befuddled are the fouls. Specifically the fact that it seems ok to give a few fouls.
This anger was ignited during game three of the Nuggets vs. the Mavericks. With only a few seconds left on the clock, Denver had the ball, and Dallas was up by two points. The ESPN announce team made note that Dallas had “a foul to give.” They proceeded to describe what would be Dallas’ best game plan, which was the strategy Dallas attempted use. I feel like this plan comes directly from the play book of John Kreese. Antoine Wright intentionally fouled Carmello Anthony. The foul wasn’t called, and Mello made the 3 pointer and the Nuggets won, but that’s beside the point.
I was always under the impression sports were competitions where the better athlete would come out on top. So if the Mavericks were better than the Nuggets they should have been able to play legit defense to stop the Nuggets from winning, not this Cobra Kai sweep the leg shit. The other part that angered me about this whole fiasco was after the fact when Wright was arguing with the ref that he fouled Anthony. I have seen many athletes argue with a ref with the intention of convincing the ref that he did not commit the foul. I have never seen an athlete arguing that he did commit it. This whole concept perplexes me. To me this says Wright knows he is not a good player. Now pull your head out of your ass and learn to play basketball the proper way.
I don’t know what to make of the ACLU. Sometimes I think they are doing the right thing, but sometimes I think they are just causing problems and wasting everyone’s goddamned time and resources. This is one of those times that falls under the second category.
Some background to this. About a month ago a women wanted to get a vanity plated reflecting her admiration for tofu. The DMV has a list of letter combinations they do not allow on vanity plates. The woman’s proposed plates of “ILUVTOFU” violated the DMV’s policy and the woman was denied these plates. “FU” was the offending combination on this plate.
The ACLU got wind of this story and decided it needed to sue the DMV for freedom of speech violations. I’m all for free speech, but let’s examine why I think the ACLU is being re-godamned-diculous here. First, “Vanity Plates” is a program set up by the DMV. They have the right to decided what permitted. Second the list of what isn’t allowed is set up to protect the person. One article stated the list contains many abbreviations or slang affiliated with gangs. And as some one pointed out to me this weekend, the “ILUVTOFU” could invite an unwanted potential rapist who may think the driver loves to fuck. Third, it is a fucking license plate! Is this really something worthy of evoking a first amendment argument? I don’t think so. It’s not like it’s the works of Salinger, it is 8 fucking letters! If the tofu lady is really upset, then she has some serious attention issues. Get a goddamned bumper sticker stating you love for shitty food!
Now that I’m all riled up I’m going to see if I can find a certain celebrity to punch in the face.
See ya in “SERENTIY NOW!”
lee.s.hart@crujonessociety.com
12 May 2009 Lee S. Hart