One Man's Trash . . .

I find this a bit ridiculous:  'Alley Trolls" Illegally Taking Garbage In Minneapolis. I'm not so obtuse that I can't see why this might bother the residents, but I think their reasoning is lacking.  And if part of the problem is that these scavengers make a mess of the garbage, then cite them for littering.  But this is stupid:

“I wish they’d leave the bins alone because people’s personal papers can be in there and that kind of thing. It just leaves too much open for the criminal element,” said Levitz.

If you're throwing stuff away that is personal and has personally identifying information in it and you throw that trash away where it ends up sitting in an alleyway for pick-up, then you're a dumbass.  Let this be my public service announcement for the day:  SHRED, BURN OR OTHERWISE DESTROY ANY PIECE OF MAIL OR "GARBAGE" THAT CAN BE USED BY SOMEONE TO STEAL YOUR IDENTITY.  I will do my best to refrain from saying "Duh".

Another reason cited in the article for cracking down on the trash scavengers is that "it could lead to more bold acts."  So apparently, dumpster diving is the marijuana of petty crime.  Noted.

Shocking

**Breaking News**  JLo did not actually film her Fiat commercials in the Bronx.  Whoa.  Next you're going to tell me that there is no Stars Hollow and that Gilmore Girls was filmed on a Hollywood set.

Boo, Hiss

Hundreds Arrested in Atlanta Traffic Sweep

What is the probable cause here?  Maybe I watch too much TV so I don't understand what actually constitutes probable cause for a police officer to search my vehicle, but I don't think the fact that one has a cracked windshield should allow for one to be treated as a suspected criminal and open to search and seizure by the police.

Because you know what?  I do have a cracked windshield and I am not a criminal.  I simply refuse to invest any more money in the jalopy that I have to hold on to until I can afford a new (used) car.  In short:  bite me, APD.

Poor Form

From the headline, I thought this was going to be overwhelming booing, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

NASCAR CROWD BOOS FIRST LADY

However, I will say that I think regardless of politics, it's just rude to boo the First Lady.  She's not in office.  I don't care for her or the fact that (I believe) she was ultimately responsible for pillaging my Happy Meal and taking away my fries, but I don't think I'd like to be someone who sat there and booed the poor woman in front of a stadium full of people.

Buckle Up

I just saw a rather disturbing "Click-It Or Ticket" commercial from the state of Georgia.  The cops are going to hunt me down, scare the bejeezus out of me and write me a ticket for daring to forget to put on my seat belt.  That was the gist I got.

But because they do this out of concern for me and my safety, I shouldn't be bothered by it.  It's okay that the police set up roadblocks to check for drivers not wearing their seat belts.  That's neither absurd nor a blatant affront to liberty -- because they care about me and they're doing it for my own good.  And it's not about revenue -- I know because the Click-It Or Ticket website (yes, it exists) tells me so:

“The worry of getting a traffic ticket is sometimes the only motivation for some drivers to fasten their safetybelt,” says GOHS Director Dallas.

Basically, Director Dallas is admitting that they had to threaten armed robbery to get people to buckle up.  So, it's our fault really.  Sure.

There Goes Sarah Palin . . .

Making sense again.  People just hate it when she does that.

More Evidence of Our Insanity

I was reading about San Francisco the other night and came across an article about efforts to clear Golden Gate Park of its homeless population, and in the course of that article a group of "anti-poverty activists" was quoted.  Are there any "pro-poverty activists"?  I'm not talking about people ambivalent to poverty or those nefarious "banksters".  I'm asking if there is an article in a newspaper or magazine out there that identifies someone as "John Doe, pro-poverty activist"?  And if there aren't pro-poverty activists, then why the hell do we need anti-poverty activists?  What do they do?  What I don't think they do is actually help people out of poverty.  What the people in the article I read do is lobby the government to allow for a permanent and pervasive vagrant population to live in a public park indefinitely.

You know who really "acts" against poverty?  Capitalists.

Objectivism

Interesting article on the study of Ayn Rand and Objectivism on college campuses.  I read Atlas Shrugged for the first time in the fall of 2008 and I honestly could not keep track of what was actually happening in the world and what was happening in the book -- auto company bailouts, steel company bailouts, bank failures, crony capitalism, etc. etc.

I strongly suggest reading this book.  It is frighteningly prophetic.  It is also quite long and repetitive.  I do not subscribe fully to Objectivism, but it serves as a strong argument for the moral virtues of individualism.

Evidence of Our Insanity

Some people were researching the idea of women taking their husband's surname upon marriage and found that 50% of those surveyed supported a law to require women to take their husband's name after marriage.  A law to require it.  What is happening to us?  There is a fundamental problem with a society that supports laws to project onto others even the most trivial aspects of our own personal worldview.  Why the hell should I care what another woman calls herself?  Am I so insecure in my choices that others should be forced to do what I have done and change my name to my husband's?  Or are people just so lazy that when asked a question like that, they don't think at all and just go with the reaction of "there oughta be a law"?  Ridiculous.  Think, people.  Every single law -- no matter how trivial and insignificant -- has consequences.

This Will Go Over Well

Someone at the White House slipped on their bad idea jeans again and came up with this doozy:  the Christmas tree tax.

Apparently, the government feels that the image of Christmas trees in America needs a boost, so they're here to help.  And their help, as always, comes in the form of a tax.  I'm going to give my reader(s) the benefit of the doubt and not even list the reasons why this is so f***ing absurd.  Good grief.  Guess I'll be borrowing my mom's old fake tree this year in protest.  Thanks for mutton, Obama.

I Can Sympathize

This is awesome.  If you set aside the fact that this is real and that Occupy Portland protesters actually did set fire to things.  It's like something out of my darkest revenge fantasies.

Occupy Portland protesters became enraged when Pizza Schmizza ran out of breadsticks to accompany their order. They threatened to assault employees and vandalize the restaurant.

There is one restaurant in particular that pissed me off one night that I have imagined doing comparable damage to.  I read once that serial killers and mass murderers lack a good sense of imagination and that is one of the reasons they are compelled to act -- because they do not experience the cathartic effects of simply imagining their darkest desires.

But what was I saying?  Yeah, these "protesters" are really entertaining as long as you ignore the fact that they're real and this is happening.  If you've wondered why I've been mum these past few weeks, it's because I've been speechless.  I had to explain to my husband that we have morons and imbeciles everywhere among us and that they're "Occupying" everything now.  I broke his heart when I showed him youtube video of "Occupy Valdosta".

Something sinister is afoot.  I don't know if this originally started as some grassroots thing and was very quickly co-opted by all the usual suspects (unions, George Soros, Michael Moore, the Democratic Party) for their own agenda or if the usual suspects hatched this plan from the get-go, but it's ugly and it won't end well.  They'll continue in some form or another until the 2012 election and I don't think they'll get the results they want and when that happens, do you think they'll just go away?