YGTBKM

Since I usually say "You've GOT to be kidding me" at least once a day in reference to the current news, I've decided that my daily conglomerations would be named as such. But just the first letters. Because I want to be cool like WWTDD.com and IDLYITW.com. Har har.

With that settled (for now), on with the stupidity:

From Say Uncle:

Tennessee signs agreement with 8 bordering states to crack down on seatbelt "offenders".

There was a dealio a while back where they said they wouldn't stop you specifically for not wearing your seatbelt, but if you were stopped for some other reason and happened to not be strapped in, they'd give you a ticket. I remember this well, as my mom always rode around without her seatbelt (while insisting that we wore ours, which I think is an appropriate metaphor for most government functions), but would put it on if we were ever stopped, which happened...twice, I think, when I was riding with her. The cops somehow never noticed that she put her seatbelt on while they were walking toward her window. You'd think they've be more diligent since she had kids in the car, but whatever. I honestly don't care, because obviously we all survived.

Then came "Click-it or Ticket", the catchy new slogan that basically meant, "If we see you driving without your seatbelt, we'll invent another reason to pull you over and then ticket you for the fake infraction AND your lack of seat belt".

Now they're making it mandatory to wear a seat belt. I usually wear mine, because I feel less in control of my vehicle if I'm not strapped in (I'm a very active driver...you'd have to see me to understand...no seatbelt, and I'm liable to start dancing along with the radio and forget to shift), but I know people who take jaunts to the store without strapping in, and other than the lack of a seatbelt (in the eyes of the law, I mean), there's absolutely no reason for them to be viewed as criminal drivers. They stop correctly, yield correctly, watch out for other drivers and for pedestrians, and are conscientious about what they do. Sure, you can't account for other people on the road, and if the conscientious citizen got smacked by a stupid citizen and died because they weren't wearing a seatbelt, that would really suck, but it's THEIR decision not to wear that belt. All you can do is let them know the risks, but ultimately people are going to make their own decisions about how to live their lives, and if that means they might die, well...it's their choice. I know just as many cases where a seatbelt being worn caused the person to die in the wreck, mostly of internal injuries caused by the contriction of the lap belt during application of the brakes. You can never tell what's going to happen.


It's like banning smoking in bars. If people know that smoking is going to happen in a bar, they can CHOOSE not to go. OMG A CHOICE HOW DOES THAT WORK?!? Well, it's very simple. You THINK about something, and you figure out what's best for you vs. what you'd like to do. If you're willing to take the risk to do something that might not be best for you even though it's what you'd rather do, you've just made a decision. If you choose to do something that's better for you, even though it's not what you'd like to do, THAT'S a decision, too. See how EASY it is?

I sing opera. I sing for my school choir. I take voice lessons. My throat is really sensitive, and I have to be careful with my vocal chords. I also like to do karaoke, and in a karaoke bar, there's...you got it: smoke. So when I want to do karaoke and sing and be goofy, I have to think about whether or not I have anything to do in the next few days that would be affected negatively by my not being able to sing (or speak for long periods). If there's something I have to do, I'll decline going. If there's not, I'll go. It's that simple. And it's MY decision.

------------------------

Manager for juiced-up biker threatens OTHER biker with public embarrassment if OTHER biker shows up to court to testify against juiced-up biker.

So Landis does some steroids and wins the Tour de France. Okay. That was stupid and probably not very fair, but whatever. I'm not a fan of the sport, so I kind of don't care. LeMond, a fellow biker, decides to testify against Landis in court. Landis' manager said, "Dude, if you come to court, I'll tell everyone that you were diddled as a child."

I don't see what that has to do with anything. I understand that people have a sense of shame and responsibility when they've been abused, but I don't understand why that sort of thing has to be brought up in conjunction with a case. The fact that LeMond was abused has NOTHING to do with this situation.

This, to me, is another example of just how stupid desperate people will act to get their way. It's like picking up cat poop out of the sandbox and throwing it at someone else because they called you out on putting sand down Susie's shirt.

-------------------------

LAX evacuated due to sprinkler in luggage mistaken for pipe bomb.

I have nothing more to add.

-------------------------

P.E. required in Florida elementary schools by law.

Part of me is like, "eurgh..." at this, but a bigger part of me thinks back to when I had P.E. in school, and how much I looked forward to it, even though I'm not athletically inclined. I truly believe, also, that the required P.E. my freshman year of high school is what kept me from ballooning after marching band ended in the spring. Proof positive of that fact for me was that I ended up gaining 30 pounds in the spring of my sophomore year. True story.

So I dunno. While I think the health of a child is up to the parents, and their total responsibility, I can't fault the school system for implementing this. I think that more activity during the day will help all those kids who supposedly have ADD, as well.

-------------------------

School sued for allowing bibles to be distributed to students.

As someone who's had someone throw a Gideon bible through their car window on the way into their high school parking lot (they technically followed the rules by standing on the road, but I'm not the only one who got smacked with a bible, and you bet I complained to some higher-ups, and it never happened again), I can sympathize.

That's different than being told by a teacher to go pick up a bible, however. That's inexcusable. I don't give a crap (at work again) what your beliefs are...you keep them to yourself and do your job, which is to educate kids on things that are based in fact and history, not theology. They can do that kind of thing when they're in college, if they so choose.



This is longer than usual, and I've just gotten some work dumped on my desk (welcome, welcome), so that's all for now.