Jackass Nation

Warning. Political Rant.

OK, we've heard enough about Abu Ghraib prison. Literally. This is a topic that has been mired in circular logic. There's no doubt that what happened there was sick and depraved, but this is something that was discovered and responded to MONTHS ago. Heaven forbid the Pentagon try to investigate and take corrective action without getting an OK from the U.S. media.

There are really two aspects to this story. The one that is getting the most attention is the suggestion that these actions were not only known by people high up in the administration, but encouraged. That is the most asinine thing I've ever heard, and I'm not going to address that topic tonight. The other aspect is the fact that these actions were committed by relatively low-ranking personnel, who were young, inexperienced, and quite frankly, should have known better.

Is this the military's fault?
Probably not. I've never had military experience, so I can only speak from hypothesis; but these guys should know better. It doesn't take years of military training to know right from wrong. So if George Bush and Donald Rumsfeld aren't to blame (and they're not, get over it), who is?

Jackass.
I'm not insulting you, I'm talking about the TV show.
Jackass, and other shows like it, capitalize on public humiliation. In the defense of Johnny Knoxville and his cronies, most of their actions are set up to target themselves. However, the simple fact that shows like this get aired at all speaks volumes.

The concepts of dignity, respect, and personal responsibilty take a back seat to the depravity of humiliating those under our control. We live in a society that has become so permissive in allowing anything to air under the guide of free speech, that we lose a sense of what is appropriate. The fact of the matter is, we're raising our kids today exposing them to some of the most vile stuff that has ever been televised. We're desensitizing them to sex, violence, and indecency.

Alight. I'm bored with this post already.
I'll just publish it and move on.

I'm gonna regret this.

Everyone else has a blog. I don't need a blog. I'm pretty sure I don't even want a blog. I even hate the word blog. As far as I know, the only people interested in knowing what I think about various crap are the people I see on a daily basis; and even then, most of them wish I'd shut up once in a while.

I'm only here because of a slashdot link to a wired news article about how hybrid cars aren't performing up to the hype. Quite frankly, that's BS. I bought a 2003 Prius a year ago (1 year today, in fact), and I couldn't be happier with its performance. I knew when I bought it last year, that the estimated MPG were on the high side of things, but right now, my average mileage display says that I'm getting 48.5 MPG averaged over the last 900 miles or so (I reset it once in a while, just to screw with the numbers). I've never gotten below and average of 45 MPG. The thing is, you have to take into consideration the road conditions, the angle of incline/decline, whether or not you're running the A/C, etc... etc...

I don't go up and down a lot of hills in my current commute. I imagine if I were still living in Nebraska, my mileage would be awesome. I'm not in any rush to find out, though.

My wedding ring doesn't fit quite right. I'm losing weight, but not this much. I wonder if this really is a size 10 ring, or not. Either way, I've got time before the wedding to get it sized.

For the record, I don't think I'm gonna tell anyone about this. It'll be my dirty little secret. If someone finds it, great. If not, even better.

I'm in the middle of a graveyard shift right now. I'm about 6 hours away from finishing my shift, and man, I can't wait for this night to end. You don't know boring unless you've had some kind of network monitoring job.

So anyway, if you've found this, you probably want to know more about me.

29 years old.
Latino male.
I'll be married in less than 6 months.
I own two domain names I haven't used in a couple of years.
My eye itches.
I think celebrities should stay out of politics.
I think politicians should stay out of the entertainment industry. Except Fred Thompson.
I think people who don't watch TV only say that to act superior.
I don't watch reality TV. I'm better than that.

Blah blah blah.
I'm tired.
Maybe I'll post more tomorrow. But there's a network outtage planned. It might be busier than this.