CommenTerry

Where Is it Going to Stop?

Some U.S. companies now forbid their employees from smoking, even at home. While I believe those companies have every right to enforce such a policy, I wouldn't want to work for any of them, just on general principle. Even though I have never smoked, I would be concerned about the potential "slippery slope" effect. For example, who's to say they wouldn't soon forbid their employees from eating junk food and/or watching too much TV? Also, would they soon start requiring their employees to exercise regularly and be active in the community?

Why Not Solve Two Problems at Once?

I have an idea that would help remedy both the military personnel shortage and prison overcrowding at the same time. Give some criminals the option of enlisting in the military in lieu of all or a portion of their prison time. Hardened criminals and drug addicts would be excluded. This option would be generally limited to young, first time offenders whose sentences would normally range from one to five years. Military service would be an excellent way to get many young offenders back on the right track and away from the revolving doors of prison life.

What's So Ethical About Letting People Die?

I understand the reasons why allowing people to sell their organs would create an ethical problem. However, people are dying everyday while waiting for organs they never get. Paying people for donating their organs would greatly increase the supply and make them available to those who would not otherwise get them. Am I supposed to believe that the selling of organs is more unethical than allowing people to die when they could be saved?

Music TV with No Music?

Isn't it interesting how certain cable networks seem to have forgotten their original charters? Take MTV, for example. When that network started out, it showed all music videos all the time. That was its purpose. Now you rarely see a music video on MTV. Court TV is another example. That network was formed to cover real-life trials. However, it now seems to spend more time showing off-network reruns of police and court dramas.

Satellite TV Must Change or Die

The satellite TV industry must change its strategy or die. Satellite's current model of settling for the role of "cable on a stick" is not going to work too much longer into the future. Cable has everything satellite is currently offering plus even more innovative things like video-on-demand and IPTV that the satellite providers will never be able to match. Satellite operators seem bent on wasting their bandwidth on making all local channels available in HDTV. But that's like putting lipstick on a pig. Besides, cable can always provide stuff like that much easier and much better. Instead, the satellite TV should be using all that bandwidth to provide content that cable will never provide, i.e., lots of niche and international channels with programming not available anywhere else. Will they ever do this? Probably not until desperation sets in.

Nattering Nabobs of Negativism

Remember the phrase, "nattering nabobs of negativism", that Spiro Agnew liked to use to describe his adversaries? Actually, that phrase was coined by his speechwriter, William Safire. Anyway, I'd like borrow it to describe all the people who make a habit of intervening in the lives of others and preventing them getting stuff they want. Thinking they know what's best for everyone, these "nattering nabobs" can always come up with a reason why another person shouldn't have or doesn't need something.

Why Be in Such a Hurry?

If you're one of those people who always steps on the gas when you see the traffic light just ahead turn yellow, more power to you. However, I want to no part of that madness. For me, it's much more comfortable just to sit back and let the light turn red. Anyway, I usually start out a little early to give myself some extra time to get to where I'm going, so I won't have to rush.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Well, it's Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day will be here in just a few short hours. I'd just like to take this opportunity to wish all my readers a merry and safe Christmas! Always remember that Christ is the reason for the season. Without Him, even the best of us are hopeless wretches. Besides, when you take Christ out of Christmas, all you have left is the "mas."

The Cyclical Nature of Reality TV

One thing that many folks fail to realize is that the popularity of reality TV, like many other things, is cyclical. This genre was also popular at the beginning of each of the two previous decades, but faded by the middle of those decades. History is repeating itself as reality shows became popular again at the beginning of this decade, but now that we have reached the midway point, they are starting to fade in popularity. Based on past history, they will likely become popular again circa 2010, at which time people will mistakenly view them as some kind of new phenomenon.

Random Rants #29

The defense of "honor" alone never justifies the commission of any kind of violent act, even a punch in the nose. Violence is only justified to defend oneself or someone else from imminent physical harm.    

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Celebrities talk a lot but they usually have very little to say.   

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Something that is yours in name only is not really yours at all.

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I'm somewhat bewildered by people who claim that their children are their life. Maybe I'm having difficultly understanding this concept, since I don't have any kids of my own. However, I can't help wondering what those folks lived for before they had children.

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Have you ever wondered about those microscopic organisms that eat dead flesh? What prevents them from eating living flesh? If they ever mutated in such way that they could start eating living flesh, we would all be in big trouble very quickly!      

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Like many other writers, I have to resist the temptation to get bogged down in minutia.

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I am normally frugal and staunchly against wasting anything, but I'll sometimes make an exception when it comes to safety issues. For example, I'll discard a set of 60,000-mile tires after about 40,000 miles, even if they are still in good shape.

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Did you hear about the couple who had twins, a girl and a boy, and named them Sheila and Heela? The little boy is real monster!

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Some people will get extremely excited about winning $20, while others won't show any emotion at all when winning $20,000. I fall into the latter category. That's why I would never be selected for a game show like The Price is Right.