don’t panic

Yeah, I know. I promised myself that I wouldn’t blog on this. Sigh. It’s just that the whole thing pisses me off on multiple levels. It’s bad enough that the media is having a field day, but I’m beginning to wish that the poor woman would just die and be done with. And that’s a horrible way to feel about a human being.

But another part of me says, whatever was Terri Schiavo has long since left the building. If you believe in an afterlife, then her “soul” has certainly departed in my opinion. Keeping her flesh alive any longer is simply cruel to those who love her.

But this is all water under the bridge. And it’s not what has me hot under the collar. I’m angry at her parents and the christian (small “c”) community for their sickening attitude in all this.

Terri Schiavo’s parents have tried every legal means, right up to the Supreme Court, and every single attempt has been met with a negative. But they simply won’t give it up. Even when the highest court in our nation has told them that they don’t have a case, they still went back and tried the state again, and are bugging the Governor another time, pleading. I’m sure they are desperate. I’m sure it’s terribly difficult to have to watch your daughter die and be able to do nothing about it. But their comes a time when you have to simply let go and start dealing with your pain instead of turning the whole thing into a giant holy war between the religious right and… well, the whole rest of the nation.

But the aspect that no one seems to be pointing out in all this, is that they are setting an extremely scary precedent. No, not the one about life… I’m talking about taking your case to a higher and higher court simply because you don’t like the results locally. And they’re doing this on MY nickel. It’s the tax payer’s who ultimately pay for all this legal time.

Sure, it’s important. But is it any more important than any other court case? If it was some minority from an impoverished neighborhood being sent up for life due to a three-strikes law, would it be any less important? It would still be somebody’s son or daughter, so why should Terri Schiavo’s parents get to push this issue so far?

I don’t buy the whole religious issue here. Anytime somebody says “life” the religious right jumps up and screams “murder”, literally, and then takes up a crusade. I wish they would put even a small fraction of that fervor into saving those that can still be saved, instead of someone who doesn’t even have a cerebellum to think about it anymore. Put your effort into meals for the homeless, or being a Big Brother or Big Sister. Or how about taking up an environmental cause? That’s part of God’s kingdom too, you know.

I’m just sick of the hypocrisy. Yes, it’s an important issue. But there are tons of important issues that we can actually do something about. Only, they aren’t interesting and don’t carry any political exposure.

This article through the Union-Tribune illustrates all too clearly one of the major problems in our society today.

Here we have twenty people caught red-handed in a local forgery ring. Mind you, they were stealing people’s mail, washing the names off of checks and then redepositing the money into another account. These are not things you can do without knowing that you are doing something illegal. Yet, how are these people pleading? Innocent.

How?

“You see, your honor, I thought I was picking up my own mail, yeah, that’s it… and then I noticed that the wrong name was on all my checks, so I thought it would be okay to just wash off the mistakes and correct them. I never knew it was illegal… uh, that other guy, the one who skipped bail and went to another country, he told me that it was a legitimate business, yeah, that’s it. My Ferrari? Oh, that was a gift, yeah… from my dead uncle… The house? Um, that was my uncle’s too, yeah, that’s it.”

Whether it’s identity theft or Enron, it seems the fashionable criminals don’t bother with a conscience anymore. They just cut right to the trial. And unfortunately, the way our legal system works, they probably have a better chance of getting off than you think. What do they have to loose, right? The odds are pretty good that some cop somewhere accidentally dropped a bag containing evidence at the crime scene so the whole case simply must be thrown out.

And then, even if convicted, the ringleaders only get ten years. Damn, ten years for a two million dollar retirement package. It almost sounds good compared to the failing social security system I have to look forward to. Hope my 401k holds up. By that time, these jerks will be out of the slammer and doin’ it all over again with a new set of “innocent” flunkies.

So Apple Computer won it’s latest legal battle with online publications. A judge has ordered them to reveal their sources of leaked information regarding Apple’s upcoming new OS release.

This has me both happy and sad.

I really believe that legally, Apple is right. Using ‘journalistic freedom’ law in this way is just a lame excuse to try and get away with revealing information that was otherwise protected by non-disclosure. That’s why we have non-disclosure agreements in the first place.

If you don’t agree, then put it in another perspective. Instead of Apple’s new OS, what if it was someone working on the set of the new Star Wars movie revealing detailed plot points. Gets a little more tricky, doesn’t it. Or take it even further and make it the U.S. government and classified nuclear arsenal information, or even troop positions in Iraq.

But at the same time, it makes me very sad that Apple even finds it necessary to file a suit against these people at all. Yes, some things need to be done on principle, and this very well may be one of those things, but why did it have to be Apple? They’re known as the ‘good guys’, not the ‘evil empire’ that everyone loves to hate in Microsoft. So when the ‘good guy’ goes after the little guy, over what may seem to many as just a minor infraction, it taints them a bit. Justified or not, Apple is the one who’s going to get the black eye from this battle. And I like Apple.

The journalists should have known better, damn them.

This is so indicative of San Diego… CNN posted this today, saying that the national average for gas may reach a record $2.15 a gallon. When I read that I just sighed and shook my head. I would LOVE to pay a mere $2.15 for gas. Just yesterday I coughed up $2.43 a gallon to fill my tank. With regular.

It doesn’t help that we also have some of the worst traffic, the most expensive homes, corrupt politicians, a coming water shortage, and horrible salaries. But hey, there’s a Walmart and a Starbucks around every corner and the weather is great… oh wait. No, I guess it isn’t.

Why am I living in SoCal again?