The end, again -- and again

By Capt. Fogg

A friend just drove back from Orlando and reported seeing billboards proclaiming, once again, that the "end of the world" was at hand. I'm never quite sure what these idiots mean by "the world;" whether it's human life, the habitability of the planet or perhaps the existence of existence itself which would be a problem far too complex to discuss, even amongst sane and intelligent people. Let's say I don't really suspect these apocalyptic birdbrains of either virtue.

Might I remind you, if you're one of these folks, that the recent quake and tsunami is insignificant when compared to things that happen regularly on this our only planet? But of course you may be one of those New Earth, 6 day creation idiots, but even then it's pretty small as compared with the explosion of the Santorini volcano or Krakatoa. Even in human times, the ancients weren't as populous and certainly didn't build nuclear power plants. But why discuss reality when the tantalizing lure of doom has the lemmings in thrall?

People have been predicting these things for as long as we have records; some to sell normative religion and others for what seems to be the pure thrill of it. Is there some inherited "daddy's going to whip your ass when he gets home" instinct or is it put there by our Mesopotamian religious heritage? I suspect the former since it creeps up in Norse mythology as well, but who knows? It persists because it makes money and gives power, at least temporarily -- particularly for those prophets who offer early destruction and provide dates and times. Some of those have to suggest mass suicide to avoid embarrassment as time inevitably rolls on past the deadline.

I can't wait for 2012, which I suspect won't mean the "end of an error" or the end of anything really important. 1982 came and went at the same petty pace and the end of the last millennium passed as smoothly as last Wednesday. I'm willing to bet we'll stop attributing all that cosmic wisdom to the Mayans by 1/1/13 but of course, I can't lose that bet, can I?

The Rapture idiots, followers of the lunatic of Patmos are still passionately with us, because gibbering John offers more of an "any time now" promise with clues like: "wars and rumors of wars" that obtain to every moment in history, just like earthquakes, floods, famines and outbreaks of disease. Since there's a new crop to replace the ever disappointed dimwits, perhaps nothing short of a true planetary catastrophe will rid us of them.

There are times when I wish for it, particularly if I survive long enough to watch the expression on their non-raptured faces. But I look forward to being here for a number of years, watching them reshuffling the cards, re-reading the entrails, consulting omens and shamans in their shameless way, world without end.


(Cross posted from Human Voices)

Sign of the Apocalypse #75: Kids being sued for "negligence"

By Michael J.W. Stickings

We all know American society is becoming increasingly litigious, with everyone seemingly suing everyone else, but I'm not sure we knew it was quite this bad:

Citing cases dating back as far as 1928, a judge has ruled that a young girl accused of running down an elderly woman while racing a bicycle with training wheels on a Manhattan sidewalk two years ago can be sued for negligence.

The ruling by the judge, Justice Paul Wooten of State Supreme Court in Manhattan, did not find that the girl was liable, but merely permitted a lawsuit brought against her, another boy and their parents to move forward.

The suit that Justice Wooten allowed to proceed claims that in April 2009, Juliet Breitman and Jacob Kohn, who were both 4, were racing their bicycles, under the supervision of their mothers, Dana Breitman and Rachel Kohn, on the sidewalk of a building on East 52nd Street. At some point in the race, they struck an 87-year-old woman named Claire Menagh, who was walking in front of the building and, according to the complaint, was "seriously and severely injured," suffering a hip fracture that required surgery. She died three months later of unrelated causes.

Her estate sued the children and their mothers, claiming they had acted negligently during the accident. In a response, Juliet's lawyer, James P. Tyrie, argued that the girl was not "engaged in an adult activity" at the time of the accident — "She was riding her bicycle with training wheels under the supervision of her mother" — and was too young to be held liable for negligence.

In legal papers, Mr. Tyrie added, "Courts have held that an infant under the age of 4 is conclusively presumed to be incapable of negligence." (Rachel and Jacob Kohn did not seek to dismiss the case against them.)

But Justice Wooten declined to stretch that rule to children over 4. On Oct. 1, he rejected a motion to dismiss the case because of Juliet's age, noting that she was three months shy of turning 5 when Ms. Menagh was struck, and thus old enough to be sued.

*****

Mr. Tyrie had also argued that Juliet should not be held liable because her mother was present; Justice Wooten disagreed.

"A parent’s presence alone does not give a reasonable child carte blanche to engage in risky behavior such as running across a street," the judge wrote. He added that any "reasonably prudent child," who presumably has been told to look both ways before crossing a street, should know that dashing out without looking is dangerous, with or without a parent there. The crucial factor is whether the parent encourages the risky behavior; if so, the child should not be held accountable.

So this isn't about the mother being sued, this is about the child being sued. A four-year-old child. (And how is even a five-year-old capable of negligence?)

This is insane. And a sure sign that the Apocalypse is just around the bend.

**********

Eugene Volokh, analyzing the decision, writes:

I also suspect that the whole inquiry into how reasonably prudent four-year-olds behave is unlikely to yield any meaningful result. Most four-year-olds are prudent sometimes and imprudent at other times, and I quite doubt that one can identify even in one's head what sort of care a reasonably prudent four-year-old would likely take. Naturally, this is a matter of degree, and at some age the question becomes more meaningful, even given that fourteen-year-olds and for that matter twenty-four-year-olds will often act rashly.

But I'm inclined to say that the wiser move for a state legal system would be to set the absolute bar to liability for the child (setting aside the possibility of the parent's being liable for negligent supervision) at a considerably higher age — maybe seven, or maybe even older. Otherwise, the result is more litigation with no real likelihood that we'll have any sensible jury decisions in such litigation.

Yes -- considerably higher. And certainly higher than four.

Simply put, children should allowed to be children, and not taken to court whenever they do something that, in adult terms, may be imprudent and possibly negligent.

In what kind of a sick society is this allowed to happen?

Sign of the Apocalypse #74: Guns in bars

By Michael J.W. Stickings

There's no way this will end well:

Tennessee is one of four states, along with Arizona, Georgia and Virginia, that recently enacted laws explicitly allowing loaded guns in bars. (Eighteen other states allow weapons in restaurants that serve alcohol.) The new measures in Tennessee and the three other states come after two landmark Supreme Court rulings that citizens have an individual right — not just in connection with a well-regulated militia — to keep a loaded handgun for home defense.

Experts say these laws represent the latest wave in the country's gun debate, as the gun lobby seeks, state by state, to expand the realm of guns in everyday life.

The rulings, which overturned handgun bans in Washington and Chicago, have strengthened the stance of gun rights advocates nationwide. More than 250 lawsuits now challenge various gun laws, and Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, a Republican, called for guns to be made legal on campuses after a shooting last week at the University of Texas, Austin, arguing that armed bystanders might have stopped the gunman. 

And, no, it's not in the Constitution, thank you very much, not if you actually think about what the Founders meant -- and if you actually read the Second Amendment:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Please note: The "people" have a right to "bear Arms," but only because there is a need for a "well regulated" citizen militia to defend the state. 

That was 1791, shortly after a revolution, when America was young and fragile. It's now 2010. Whatever the anti-government extremists on the right might say, there's no need for citizen militias -- and there's certainly no need for people to be free to carry guns, concealed or otherwise, into bars, onto college campuses, or for the most part anywhere else.

Based on what the Second Amendment says -- read it again, if you must -- the Founders did not intend for citizens to be free to carry weapons so as to be able to shoot each other.

The pro-gun misinterpretation, if I may put it nicely, is a recipe for disaster -- for violent, bloody chaos, and that's hardly an exaggeration.

And it's only going to get worse, what with alcohol in the mix.

The Great American Stupids

By Distributorcap

Both Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino and Bristol "The Unwed Mother with Family Values" Palin are going to be on the next edition of Dancing With The Stars

I didn't think it could get any worse than Tom Delay on the show, but it can. American society has definitely hit a new low.

I was secretly able to get a copy of Bristol's audition tape. Nepotism is alive and well on Dancing With The Stars. 

Me and Troy

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Hello, my name is Michael, and I have a huge man-crush on the Pittsburgh Steelers' Troy Polamalu.

So I understand completely why his gorgeous hair is insured with Lloyd's of London for $1 million.

Though it seems a bit silly, and, if it weren't Polamalu, I might go so far as to call it a Sign of the Apocalypse -- not the hair, of course, the insurance policy, or the fact that such insurance policies are taken out at all (not by him, in this case, but by Proctor & Gamble (for whom Polamalu does ads for Head & Shoulders).

But I won't. Because he's awesome.

And because I'll be in Pittsburgh for the opening game of the regular season -- my beloved Steelers are taking on the Falcons -- and, with the team Big Ben-less (but with the great Hines Ward, if anyone can throw the ball to him), I'm really looking forward to seeing Polamalu and his (insured) flowing hair wreak havoc on Atlanta.

Fox News moves to the front

By Michael J.W. Stickings

So who's getting Helen Thomas's front-and-center seat in the White House briefing room? The AP. (Which is bad, but it means not having to pick a specific network, newspaper, or magazine.) And who's getting AP's spot in the front row? A legitimate outlet like NPR, perhaps? Of course not. It's Fox News -- and this, as John Cole notes, is "a reward for their excellent achievements in propaganda."

Not that we should care -- after all, who really cares about the seating chart in the White House briefing room, other than the insiders themselves? -- but it is rather telling that at this time, with Fox News's agenda so utterly obvious, an agenda all about right-wing, pro-Republican sectarianism, not journalism, and with the whole Shirley Sherrod debacle still fresh in everyone's mind, that manufactured scandal pushed by Breitbart and promoted by Fox News, the insiders would effectively promote Fox News to the ranks of the supposed elite.

A Sign of the Apocalypse? Not really, given that Fox News is widely popular and hugely influential already, and given how pathetic the news media establishment is, and how predictable, but certainly a confirmation that the Apocalypse is at hand.

Sign of the Apocalypse #72: Dead animal beer bottles

By Michael J.W. Stickings

My brother, who lives in the U.K., sent me this BBC article earlier today. I almost wish he hadn't. I'm disgusted:

A beer served in bottles made from stuffed animals has been criticised as "perverse" and "pushing the boundaries of acceptability".

The End of History, made by BrewDog of Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, is 55% and £500 a bottle.

The bottles have been made using seven dead stoats, four squirrels and a hare, said to be roadkill.

However, Advocates for Animals and Alcohol Focus Scotland both condemned the marketing.

BrewDog claims the beer is the world's strongest and most expensive.

Its co-founder James Watt said: "We want to show people there is an alternative to monolithic corporate beers, introduce them to a completely new approach to beer and elevate the status of beer in our culture."

I'm all for strong beer, but 55%? And I'm all for alternatives to "monolithic corporate beers" -- I don't drink Bud or Coors or Molson or Labatts and prefer micro-brews -- but come on, seriously? This is ridiculous -- and completely unnecessary, and quite revolting.

"It's just bad thinking about animals, people should learn to respect them, rather than using them for some stupid marketing gimmick," said Libby Anderson of Advocates for Animals. "I think the public would not waste £500 on something so gruesome and just ignore it."

Well, one would hope so, but I have little confidence that "the public" will stay away. Sure, £500 is a lot of money, but someone will splurge, if only for the sheer novelty of drinking stupidly strong beer out of a dead animal.

It's gross, it's disrespectful, and it's SOTA #72.

(I've been remiss with respect to SOTA-blogging, but I'll try to get back to it. For other SOTAs, see the list on the right sidebar or click here.)

Sign of the Apocalypse #71: KFC's "Double Down"

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Believe it or not:

Last August, we wrote about the "Double Down," a mysteriously tempting (and potentialy lethal) new food item being tested by KFC. For those coming late to the story, it's bacon and cheese sandwiched between two pieces of fried chicken. And now, many months later, I'll finally be able to get my hands on one.

KFC announced the decision to go live with the Double Down yesterday, but we weren't sure they weren't playing a April Fools gag. But no, they truly are going nationwide with the delicacy on April 12.

I don't eat KFC anymore. Actually, it's been many years. It's the inhumane treatment of the chickens that end up on the menu. It's also how unhealthy and how just plain disgusting it is.

Exhibit A, among many choices, is the "failure pile in a sadness bowl," as comedian Patton Oswalt calls the so-called "Famous Bowls." (See clip below. It's hilarious.)

Exhibit B has to be the "Double Down." (Why not just shove a stick up butter in there, too? Or maybe add some foie gras for the high-end clientele?) It's a Sign of the Apocalypse, not to mention a Sign of America's Imminent Collapse.

If this death-sandwich takes off, there's a good chance America will just keel over.

Sign of the Apocalypse #70: Sex robots

By Michael J.W. Stickings

(For more SOTAs, see here.)

Don't get me wrong, the prospect of, er, alternative forms of sex and sexuality is not without its appeal -- say, sex in some Star Trek-like holodeck program -- but this, well, this leaves something to be desired, it seems to me:

Billed as a world first, Roxxxy the sex robot made here debut in front of adoring fans at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas.

The life-size robotic girlfriend comes complete with complete with artificial intelligence and flesh-like synthetic skin.

"She can't vacuum, she can't cook but she can do almost anything else if you know what I mean," TrueCompanion's Douglas Hines said while introducing AFP to Roxxxy.

"She's a companion. She has a personality. She hears you. She listens to you. She speaks. She feels your touch. She goes to sleep. We are trying to replicate a personality of a person."

Roxxxy stands five feet, seven inches tall, weighs 120 pounds, "has a full C cup and is ready for action," according to Hines, who was an artificial intelligence engineer at Bell Labs before starting TrueCompanion.

The anatomically-correct robot has an articulated skeleton that can move like a person but can't walk or independently move its limbs.

Robotic movement is built into "the three inputs" and a mechanical heart that powers a liquid cooling system.

Roxxxy comes with five personalities. Wild Wendy is outgoing and adventurous, while Frigid Farrah is reserved and shy.

There is a young naive personality along with a Mature Martha that Hines described as having a "matriarchal kind of caring." S & M Susan is geared for more adventurous types.

Aspiring partners can customize Roxxxy features, including race, hair color and breast size. A male sex robot named "Rocky" is in development.

A "companion"? Really? I get that there's a future in this, and probably an extremely lucrative one, and that human sexuality, including with "human" beings, will continue to evolve, but let's not overdo it.

Besides, is it really a good thing that one day we'll all be able to have essentially servile human "companions" customized to our liking?

It's one thing to have sex with a technologically-advanced toy, which is what this is, quite another to let such toys replace real and meaningful human interaction. And I fear that may be where we're headed.

**********

Although, I must admit, if TrueCompanion, the manufacturer of Roxxxy, wishes to send me a "robot" to check out, and review, well, er, that'd be fine with me. Whether it'd be fine with my real human companion is another matter, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Wild Wendy sounds good.

Am I serious about this? Ummm... maybe.

Sign of the Apocalypse #69: Alejandra Guzman's butt shots

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Just not the right sort of butt shots, it would seem.

As the AP is reporting, the popular Mexican singer was hospitalized after coming down with an infection from a cosmetic procedure that involves, yes, butt shots -- injections into the buttocks.

I haven't been able to find any details regarding just what was injected into her backside, or what the injection does (she apparently just wanted to be "more beautiful" for her boyfriend), but it seems that the director of the clinic she went to did not have a cosmetology degree, just a high school diploma.

Guzman now apparently wants to raise awareness about such procedures. Fine, and I wish her well, but, prior to this incident, did she never think that getting herself injected in the ass maybe wasn't such a great idea? Or, more deeply, that a society that seems to require that women (and, increasingly, men) subject themselves to such treatments is not exactly a healthy one?

Probably not. Consider, for example, the crazy popularity of Botox, a dangerous toxin that essentially induces paralysis. I suspect that most people do what they think they need to do without thinking much about it.

So much of the current body modification fad is questionable (if not repellent) -- from breast augmentation (SOTA #5) to designer vaginas (SOTA #13) -- and this is no different. I understand the desire to look good, as well as the incredible pressure on celebrities in the public eye to reach for bodily perfection the way Icarus reached for the sun. But how far is too far?

I'd say butt shots at disreputable clinics, leading to infection and hospitalization, is too far.

Hence SOTA #69.

Jackass; or, the honesty of a president (Obama v. Kanye)

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Honestly, I hope Obama did call Kanye West a "jackass," on the record or off. There is far worse, and far more appropriate, language to use to describe both Kanye, a veritable cultural abomination, and what he did to Taylor Swift at the MTV VMAs Sunday night. Even if it was all just a staged stunt, it was still a jackass move. (It didn't look staged, though. Swift certainly didn't seem to be in on what was happening. If it was a publicity stunt, it was probably just Kanye being himself.)

Along with Serena Williams and Joe Wilson, Kanye is my Douchbag of the Week. (All three have apologized, but their actions/words should not be so easily put behind them, or us.)

Speaking of those three great luminaries, check out this piece by Judith Timson at The Globe and Mail. They're all part of the same "social disease," which she calls "entitlementia," feeling "entitled to express our point of view whenever and however we feel like it, no matter if it's the right time or place."

Serena, at least, was in the middle -- or, rather, at the dramatic end -- of a tense sporting event. Lashing out in the heat of the moment, her outburst was understandable, in a way, however reprehensible.

But what Wilson and Kanye did? Each in its own way, shamelessly egotistical -- and, yes, a sign of the times, a Sign, if you will, of the Apocalypse.

**********

UPDATE: TMZ has the Obama audio here.

Back home, blogging and tweeting

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Well, I'm back home again after a lovely 2-week-plus vacation on Prince Edward Island, settling back into the old routine, back to normalcy. (But, then, what is "normal"?)

I'll have some posts up later tonight, or, if not, tomorrow, but be sure to check back for more from my fantastic co-bloggers and contributors. I thank them profusely for stepping up during my absence, especially Creature for making sure everything ran smoothly. I was able to blog a few times, but it was nice to take the time off without having to worry about this place. It was in good hands.

You may also notice, if you look over to the top of the right sidebar, that I'm now -- gasp! -- on Twitter. (Yes, I've succumbed.) What I post there will, apparently, be posted here, but only the most recent five tweets, and I invite you to follow me there, where I hope to tweet regularly. (It is surely a Sign of the Apocalypse that "tweet" and "twitter" have entered our vocabulary like this.) What could be better than the wit and wisdom, such as it is, of yours truly in 140 characters or less? (Yes, I know, a lot of things are better than that, but follow me anyway. The more the merrier. So spread the word. You can find me @mjwstickings -- or just click on the link.)

See you later.

-- Michael

Sign of the Apocalypse #66: The one and only Kim Kardashian, celebutante

By Michael J.W. Stickings

If you happen to find Kim Kardashian attractive, in one way or another, either in whole or in part, it's hard to feel sorry for Reggie Bush, star running back for the New Orleans Saints. He did, after all, get to date her -- and, well, to get to know her, presumably, in a deeply personal way.

But still...

Here are the two front-page Yahoo headlines that caught my attention last night:

-- "Kim Kardashian splits with longtime boyfriend"; and

-- "Kim Kardashian cuts Bush."

Notice that the first headline doesn't even mention Bush. If anything, he's an afterthought. The story is about the big star, Kardashian, not whatever guy she happened to break up with.

The second headline mentions Bush but is clear that it was Kim who broke up with Reggie, as if it was she who was calling all the shots.

Problem is, it's not at all clear what happened. According to the AP (the story to which the first headline links), they just "called it quits." According to the other article, which (un)helpfully quotes an anonymous source, they split up because they don't get to spend much time together. (Another anonymous source clarifies: "They loved each other so much but they hardly saw each other... They just need a break right now.")

Now, you may be asking, "Who cares?" Or perhaps, as I am this very moment, "Michael, you're on vacation, don't you have better things to do than blog about this oh-so-beautiful celebrity couple?"

Well, I had a few moments to spare, late at night, and what gets me about this is not the break-up -- because, yes, who cares? -- but the coverage of the break-up, and specifically the utterly unwaranted attention lavished on Kardashian.

Kim Kardashian, who is famous mostly, and pretty much solely, for being Kim Kardashian -- and for having... well, certain assets that many men of my persuasion, and no doubt some of other persuasions, and no doubt many on the other side of the gender divide, find, well... compelling.

What else is she? What else has she done? Her dad's a famous lawyer (O.J. says thanks). Her mother married Olympian and quasi-celebrity Peter Jenner. She appeared in Playboy. She's been in some terrible movies. She's a model. She has a workout DVD (but no Jane Fonda is she, yet). She has some perfume coming out (but, then, even Britney has her own perfume). There was that pornographic home video (which seems almost de rigeur for would-be "celebutantes" -- see Hilton, Paris). And, of course, there's the "reality" show about her own family, the prime engine of her stardom (excepting her assets, which really keep her in the limelight), Keeping Up With the Kardashians, a show that almost perfectly captures the shameless self-absorption of America's celebrity culture, and of its shameless inhabitants (not that I've seen much of it, though I'm sure I've seen enough).

(Celebutante -- what a horrible word, what a horrible concept.)

Don't get me wrong. She might be a lovely young woman with brains and a personality. And if she wants to get together with me to talk all this over, to fill me in on her many virtues, well, I'm up for that (though my significant other would no doubt want to come along, which would be fine with me).

And maybe it's not her fault, not all her fault, that she's become what she's become.

But seriously. How is it that Kim Kardashian has emerged as a fairly significant, and a significantly well-known, star, a celebrity whose every move is somehow worthy of the closest attention?

That's right, it's because we're getting ever closer to the Apocalypse, of which her being a star, for nothing at all really, is a bright, blinking neon sign made brighter, and blinkier, by the vapid culture that put her on the pedestal in the first place and that keeps her there for the rest of us apparently to drool over.

**********

Meanwhile, Reggie Bush has actually done something. He won the Heisman Trophy at USC. And although his pro career has thus far been somewhat disappointing, partly due to injury, he has been, when healthy, an exciting, game-changing playmaker -- yes, a legitimate star on the gridiron.

And 2009 will be just his fourth season in the NFL. Whereas his ex has probably maxed out, with little more to offer, Reggie's best may be yet to come.

Sign of the Apocalypse #63: Virginity for sale?

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Ummmm:

A student who is auctioning her virginity to pay for a masters degree in Family and Marriage therapy has seen bidding hit £2.5million ($3.7m).

Natalie Dylan, 22, claims her offer of a one-night stand has persuaded 10,000 men to bid for sex with her.

Last September, when her auction came to light, she had received bids up to £162,000 ($243,000) but since then interest in her has rocketed.

The student who has a degree in Women's Studies insisted she was not demeaning herself.

Miss Dylan, from San Diego, California, USA, said she was persuaded to offer herself to the highest bidder after her sister Avia, 23, paid for her own degree after working as a prostitute for three weeks.

Oh, assuming this is for real (and it could very well be a money-grubbing hoax), it's also for a "study," which she claims is "completely authentic." (More here. No word on what her women's studies colleagues think of this. It's hardly liberating, even if she thinks it's about empowerment.) And it's also a SOTA:

1) If it's a hoax, it's a SOTA that it's generated such buzz.

2) If it's not a hoax, it's a SOTA that it's generated such buzz.

And it proves that:

1) Men are stupid. (Seriously, how did we get this far?)

2) Ms. "Dylan" (and this is supposedly her) is a) manipulatively resourceful; b) loathsomely self-disrespectful; or c) both.

3) Our civilization, such as it is, continues to swerve into self-destructive oblivion.

(Still, I wonder how many men out there, typically full of themselves, think that she should pay them to lose her virginity.)

Sign of the Apocalypse #62: Joe the Plumber, war correspondent and pro-Israeli propagandist

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Seriously.

This is the second time that Samuel "Joe" Wurzelbacher has made our SOTA list. First he got a book deal, now he's off to war, sort of:

TOLEDO, Ohio – Joe The Plumber is putting down his wrenches and picking up a reporter's notebook.

The Ohio man who became a household name during the presidential campaign says he is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for the conservative Web site pjtv.com.

Samuel J. Wurzelbacher (WUR'-zuhl-bah-kur) says he'll spend 10 days covering the fighting.

He tells WNWO-TV in Toledo that he wants to let Israel's "'Average Joes' share their story."

That's right, he's being sent over to cover the war for Pyjamas Media's TV arm -- that is, for a right-wing media outlet.

But just who are these Israeli "Average Joes"? Will he really be interviewing average Israelis, many of whom are far more critical of their own government's actions than Israel's defenders, like Joe himself, in the U.S.? I suspect not. More likely, he'll be interviewing his Israeli counterparts, carefully chosen, right-wing regurgitaters of official government propaganda. See, he'll tell his all-too-eager right-wing American audience, these Israelis really want war just as much as you do. Not that Joe himself is smart enough to figure this all out for himself. He's just a tool, a pawn, in the larger propaganda war that Israel and its American allies are waging. (And I say this as someone who, in the past, has been extremely supportive of Israel and her various military excursions, arguing that it has a right to, and that it must, defend itself.)

What would be far more instructive would be to send Joe off to meet some average Palestinian Joes, those who may or may not much care for Hamas but who certainly don't like the Israelis invading them. Perhaps Joe could, for example, ask one of these average Palestinian Joes how he feels about the Israeli attack on that U.N. school. Perhaps he could even talk to someone who lost a loved one in that attack.

But, no, Joe is one of Israel's more mindless supporters, and all we'll get from him -- not that I'll be watching -- is some all-too-predictable pro-Israeli spin.

The situation in Gaza is complicated. A resolution to the current conflict, not to mention to the larger problem, will be difficult to achieve, to say the least. In his own pathetic way, Joe the Plumber just makes it all worse.

Sign of the Apocalypse #61: Seclusion rooms for special-needs children

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I can only hope that the people behind this barbarity get what they deserve.

And, all across the country, there need to be laws, with clear guidelines, restricting -- and perhaps banning, if a suitable alternative can be found, as surely one can -- the use of these so-called "seclusion rooms," or "time-out rooms."

Is this seriously how special-needs children ought to be treated? By being thrown into isolation?

It makes you wonder how civilized our civilization really is.

Whence come the horsemen?

By Greg Prince

Once in a while you stumble across a headline that's so OMFH jawdropping you just don't know what to think. Michael has a category here for certain social indicators: "Signs of the Apocalypse." He's approaching number sixty.

Far be it that I should infringe upon his gig, but today I saw a headline that hits me that way.

Consider the following from the MinnPost:

UnitedHealth to sell insurance policies that insure individuals against becoming uninsurable

This links to the following at The New York Times:

UnitedHealth to Insure the Right to Insurance

I'll be damned, but I was sure The Onion wasn't on my RSS feed.

Mind you, I don't fault United Health here -- they have evaluated the current market conditions and found a niche they think they can make a buck in. Fine, that's what successful business do. But the fact that there's a niche here to begin with, the fact that there is sufficient fear and uncertainty to make this a viable product, speaks volumes of the need for health care reform in the US.

Obama/Daschle? Are you paying attention?

**********

A SOTA it is. And it's #60. -- MJWS

Gun violence at Toys "R" Us

By Michael J.W. Stickings

So... yeah.

In my last post, written just a couple of hours ago, a SOTA post on the trampling death at Wal-Mart, I wrote this: "And don't think it was just the 2,000 or so people who lined up before 5 am at that particular Wal-Mart. There are countless more just like them, brutally rapacious and more than willing to storm and trample and kill in search of that must-have sale item, or whatever it is they need, or have been told they need, whatever it is they think will make them happy, common decency and everyone else be damned."

Well:

Two people have died in a shooting incident at a Toys "R" Us store in Southern California on the busiest U.S. shopping day of the year.

Seriously. I came across this story shortly after posting on the Wal-Mart incident.

Merry Christmas.

Sign of the Apocalypse #59: Trampling death at Wal-Mart

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Capt. Fogg wrote about the Wal-Mart trampling death yesterday -- and I'm calling it yet another Sign of the Apocalypse -- but I couldn't resist posting this headline from the AP:

Sought: Wal-Mart shoppers who trampled NY worker.

Here's the deal:

Police were reviewing video from surveillance cameras in an attempt to identify who trampled to death a Wal-Mart worker after a crowd of post-Thanksgiving shoppers burst through the doors at a suburban store and knocked him down.

Criminal charges were possible, but identifying individual shoppers in Friday's video may prove difficult, said Detective Lt. Michael Fleming, a Nassau County police spokesman.

Other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man, and customers stepped over him and became irate when officials said the store was closing because of the death, police and witnesses said.

At least four other people, including a woman who was eight months pregnant, were taken to hospitals for observation or minor injuries. The store in Valley Stream on Long Island closed for several hours before reopening.

It's a horrible story, obviously. And, to me, it's even worse when it's juxtaposed with the recent horrific events in Mumbai. Not because, in and of itself, it's worse than the attacks in Mumbai, and certainly not because the Wal-Mart killers are worse than the Mumbai killers, but because while there is serious shit going on in the world, both serious violence and serious suffering, serious shit that deserves our serious attention and our serious efforts to fix the problems that cause it, the Wal-Mart incident, an incident of lethal violence, however unintentional, was, at its core, a display of disgusting, out-of-control greed. It's like, with all the serious shit going on in the world, of which the attacks in Mumbai are a stark, news-dominating example, all these pathetic people care about is themselves -- about consuming more and more and more, about filling up their meaningless lives with material goods, with no apparent concern for others beyond their narrow, self-absorbed existences.

And don't think it was just the 2,000 or so people who lined up before 5 am at that particular Wal-Mart. There are countless more just like them, brutally rapacious and more than willing to storm and trample and kill in search of that must-have sale item, or whatever it is they need, or have been told they need, whatever it is they think will make them happy, common decency and everyone else be damned.

As George Costanza once shouted, when confronted with anti-social behaviour, "We're living in a society!"

But are we?

The nightmare before Christmas

By Capt. Fogg

No one expects this to be a Christmas season retailers will celebrate. Even people with reliable income are cutting way back and when I read that local stores would be open as early as 4:00 AM today, I pictured yawning employees drinking coffee, trying to stay awake.

Nope.

A Wal-Mart on Long Island had its doors literally blown off the hinges just before 5 o'clock this morning and the stampeding mob trampled anyone who got in the way. A 34-year-old stock clerk tried to control the crowd and was trampled to death. Merry Christmas, et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis -- and we don't mean you, Wal-Mart shoppers.

We don't mean the commenter on CNN.com either, who wasted no time before blaming it on the liberals and African-Americans who will, no doubt, now that Obama is waiting to go to Washington, make this sort of thing commonplace from now on:

Get used to this folks. These are the kind of people that liberalism has created. After four years of Obama and the food, power shortages, and gas shortages that will be engineered by the Marxists in order to take down this country, this kind of thing will become routine.

Joy to the world.

(Cross-posted from Human Voices.)