| So a buddy of mine is counting down the days until his cell phone contract expires. He has Sprint and he hates them. "Fair and Flexible" is just a description of being anally raped to him. So he's planning a big "fuck you" party on the day his contract expires. It'll be fun.
Then I realized next year we're about to renew the biggest cell phone contract of all time: the presidency. We're so eager to get out of this last contract because the plan just didn't work out for us. We kinda got fucked with some unexpected charges and the quality of service is less than stellar. But hey, we have a few other choices out there and they offer a free phone! So we're signing up.
But really, we only have a few choices, they all have contracts with a lot of fine print we're not going to read, and we'll all end up with those same stupid fees after a few months. We'll whine; we'll bitch; we'll moan; but in four years we'll sign another new contract--as long as we're promised a shiny new phone. (Never mind that it isn't all its cracked up to be either.)
So here's to shitty cell phone service. I'm voting Sprint next year. Better to go with the shit I know than the shit I don't.
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| I'm really tired of this.
Unless your head has been in a hole in the ground for the past three days, you've had it struck repeatedly by every single TV network in existence about this shooting at Virginia Tech.
My favorite conclusion by all of the "experts" and "journalists" is the repeated claim that everyone missed all of the warning signs of a profoundly disturbed individual. So many people made mistakes--and they're outraged! And being the stewards of truth, they're going to set up a debate among the "experts" (who are conveniently employees of the network or on the news director's speed dial because they think they look so great on camera) and they're going to the truth!
Ah ha! They've put it altogether! They've figured it out. They're going to tell us how we're going to stop this from happening again. They're going to speak in a stern tone, blame the university/gun control laws/mental health system/society, and then self-righteously demand changes, probably without offering a realistic solution. After dispensing their careful orchestrated outrage, they'll pat themselves on the back, go collect their six figure paychecks, and congratulate themselves on how great of a "journalist" they are even though they'd never recognize the signs. Chances are if they do, it'll be something so absurd, ridiculous, over-compensating that it'll solve nothing.
I'm still waiting for someone to find a way to blame President Bush for all of this, you know, considering how he's the root of all evil in the world, I'm sure he's connected to this one too. (EDIT: Rosie O'Donnell took the turkey leg out of her mouth long enough to flap her jowles politicize this. Another woman on Fox News pointed out that killers like these tend to target women, meaning this is violence against women--and we all know that violence against women is worse than violence against men because women are worth more.)
People pretend like these killers are idiots. Do you really think that someone hell bent on unleashing his rage upon the world is going to be undermined by gun laws? Do you think mandatory treatment is going to change him? Do you think throwing him off campus is going to protect students when he could have just walked back into it armed? Do you think "reaching out" would have caused him to finally see the light and forget his rage forever? The only thing more complete that this man's hatred is the naivete of those who say they know how to prevent this from happening again.
Here's the reality: no one could have done anything to stop this. If someone's hell bent on killing a bunch of people, they'll find a way to do it. They'll side step the gun laws; they'll hide the warning signs; they'll resist treatment. If they're truly that consumed by hatred, no one is going to convince them otherwise. Fortunately, these truly disturbed individuals are rare, these incidents are rare, and the magnitude of it is rare.
In the meantime, the news networks who swarm like locusts upon the scene of the crime to affirm their outrage, add their little comments, and score interviews with everyone willing to get on TV and take advantage of their fame just to fill time and make it seem like they're digging up truth. They don't know anything and they're helping anyone know anything. If this had happened at Truman, I'd be disgusted at the media's exploitation and their phony sympathy to justify it. They certainly didn't cause this, but they'll do but fan the flames of anger, give demagogue's an opportunity to offer some sound bites. We'll gain no understanding; we'll make no progress; and we'll be left with the sick taste in our mouth that he won.
This whole thing makes me sick.
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