Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Saw most of the All-Star game last night. Nice to see that the Rangers did not embarrass themselves. For the second year in a row, they played a significant role in the outcome. Wow, it's only taken 32 years!

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Y'know, I'm a big fan of Billy Bob Thornton. I really am. But Bad Santa was really bad. I just got it through Netflix. What a waste of time.

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So, Whoopie Goldberg lost her gig with Weight Watchers for her profanity-laced tirade against President Bush. I have no doubt she will politicize this as just another tactic by the current administration, as an affront to free speech.

When will the loony left realize that "freedom of speech" has two sides to it. Yes, she has the right to say whatever she wants. However, Weight Watchers has the right to not want her as a spokesperson. Freedom to speak as one wants does not the trump the freedom to not want to hear it.

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Some guy in Minneapolis finally got fed up with airport screeners. You know these people. They're the ones whose jobs are to stop anyone who looks suspicious - no wait - they can't do that. That would be racially profiling. I always wondered what an airport screener would do when confronted by someone from a terrorist-sponsoring country. I mean, it's got to be on his/her mind that the passenger "fits the mold", so to speak. But if he/she singles the passenger out, he would be accused of profiling.

Political correctness should only go so far. If we are worried about violating the rights of certain people, then we should be singling out everyone. If it meant I would have to be at the airport 5-10 minutes earlier, so be it.

Anyway, this one guy, as the screener moved his wand over his waist, decided that if the screener wanted to see something, he would show it to him. His bail for the indecent exposure violation was set at $300.

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In Florida, a 52-year-old man took his own life after he was charged with having sex with a 12-year-old boy. He blamed the local newspapers for his suicide, saying in his suicide note, "it is disturbing when an irresponsible press causes the families of the accused to suffer so much hurt and humiliation -- all in the name of selling newspapers and advertisement."

While I have a very difficult time feeling sorry for this man, the truth is that the press often convicts a person prior to any lawful conviction. In this case, this man appears to be guilty (although I admit to having no idea), but in many, many other cases, there have been a trail of broken spirits, marriages and lives, due to the over-zealous press.

Innocent people do not need to go through this. At least not without compensation, in dollars and print.

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