No real pattern or any deep meaning to this one. Just some thoughts that have drifted around long enough to reach the screen of my computer.
The Good: Paris Hilton was recently sent to jail for violating the terms of her probation. She was then, inexpicably, released and – amid some anger on the part of about the entire thinking world - rightfully returned to jail almost immediately. As a minor aside, I’d like to thank the judge in charge of this case for, basically, whomping Ms. Hilton upside the head with a clue bat.
The Bad: Ms. Hilton has completed her sentence, is now a "changed woman," and once again walks amongst us.
The Ugly: The feeding frenzy for her "story" is now underway. First out of the gate was Larry King. I missed that interview (as I intend to do with all of the others) while occupied in the pursuit of a good nap.
The Good: The presidential elections are more than a year away. This gives us ample time to ignore what has already become a circus of the first order.
The Bad: The campaigns of most candidates for this office began, as near as I can tell, at about the time of the creation of the universe - such being the yearnings for this office of many of our current political crop.
The Ugly: We’re going to have to put up with all of this until November 2008 – at which point the campaign for the 2012 presidential election will begin in full force.
The Good: The approval ratings for congress were recently reported as being below 14%. I’d thought they were lower.
The Bad: Unfortunately, this means that there are still 14% of the people in this country who think that congress is doing a good job.
The Ugly: One wonders what congress will do next to bring that number down even more. Mess up the tax code? Already done. Screw up the illegal immigration mess more than it already is? Working on it. Put the Social Security system on a footing that would make a Three-Card Monty game look lie a solid investment? Mission accomplished.
Will Rogers may have had it right when he said: "This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer."
The Good: The local section on Interstate 5 just north of Marysville (see also: "Death Row") is likely to have concrete barriers installed to help prevent "crossover" incidents such as the ones that have occurred in the recent past.
The Bad: Human beings drive cars. Human beings are: fallible, given to let their minds wander, perfectly willing to do other – extremely distracting things while driving, often not content with the posted speed limit, and subject to medical problems at unannounced times. Cars are mechanical objects subject to breakdowns at decidedly inopportune moments.
The Ugly: There is no known system in the world that is guaranteed to prevent every accident all of the time.
The Good: Soon, we’ll have a state law in force that bans the use of hand-held cell phones while driving.
The Bad: Unfortunately, the legislature did not ban "hands-free" devices that are every bit as distracting for the person seated behind the wheel of a now unguided vehicle.
The Ugly: The rest of us will still have to play "dodge the car" while that person is intensely involved in some earth shaking conversation. One wishes that there were some way to convince these people that the phrase "Hang up and drive" is much more than a bumper sticker.
The Good: There seems to be an endless availability of consumer goods – many of which used to be manufactured in the United States – that are now being imported from China.
The Bad: There seems to be no end to this trend since price rather than quality seems to be the main driving force behind this trend.
The Ugly: Quality control doesn’t seem to have become a factor in the manufacture of many of these products. Case in point: I can’t recall the last time I had to worry about a chemical component of antifreeze being part of brushing my teeth – nor can I think of any jingle that might make me think that this a particularly good thing.
I suppose "Let the buyer beware" is still a very pertinent phrase.
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