Around the world in 80 minutes

I am insanely bored sitting at home and healing.

The dog has begun to ignore my attempts at conversation, and just continues typing, when he's pretending to sleep.


So I am watching the news, and figured I'd share my thoughts on the "top stories" from the networks.

Foxnews:

• There's a guy married to four ugly women with apparently no self esteem. Big, Fat, Hairy deal.
• The miners in Chile have been rescued. Hooray. Of course, there is practically NO mention of the American who actually dug the hole that got them out, but still, hooray. The key thing to note here is the role of Chile's president. He went to the site from day one. He admitted fault, culpability, and get this--legal responsibility for his government's failure to do it's job of regulation. It's almost as though he looked at our government's handling of the BP Horizon spill as a picture perfect example of what not to do in terms of leadership. The end result: he is almost universally beloved in his country, is also seen as a hero, and has vastly increased his nation's global reputation. Since he's not a natural born citizen, it's too bad we can put him up in 2012...
• Dad "uncooperative" in the hunt for his missing 10 year old daughter. Give me an hour, this guy, and my garage. I'll have her location. Dad will not be available for immediate prosecution however. It's amazing what you can do with a chair with a hole in the seat and a candle.
• A Federal judge is allowing a suit to proceed challenging the Healthcare law. I was under the impression that the US Supreme court was the court which decided the constitutionality of a law. The judge says not whether or not the complainants have a reason to sue, not if the law itself is constitutional. The Supremes are busy with a case to determine if a death-row inmate should sue one way or another. That case is over 10 years old.
• and after rooting around a bit, (apparently it isn't big news) the Taliban is apparently ready to negotiate peace. Of COURSE THEY DO. We have an administration which has repeatedly proclaimed its desire to end, not win in Afghanistan, and the Surest route to victory for the Taliban is to pursue peace, let us leave, and then take over Afghanistan again, without US interference, because we will not go back once we've left. In the Muslim world, this would be a huge victory for the Taliban, because they will remain in power and we will have gained nothing.

CNN:

• The miners may get out of the Hospital today.
• A soldier who blew the whistle on his platoon mates' crimes was beaten by his fellow soldiers, and ordered silenced by the Army.  Gee, with a headline like that, it just SCREAMS cover-up, eh?  It's possible that a) the incidents are unrelated, b) The Army told the soldier in question not to make public statements because it would impinge on the investigation they are conducting c) The platoon is a pirate crew, and their leadership well above platoon level should have been shit-canned about three promotions ago d) all of the above

 I tried, I really did, to watch CNN, but then Joy Behar started blathering about something and I just couldn't subject myself to the screech of Harpies any longer.  That is a LOT of stupid in a small (and round) place.

Continuing news:
Couple in Mexico starts taking pictures of known drug drop-off point, husband ends up dead, wife is shocked! Shocked!  (P.S.  Apparently, there has been some mention of crime, drugs, and violence on the rise in Mexico recently.  I presume this has been kept pretty close-hold, as this couple (who lived in Mexico for three years) didn't realize it.)

Many counties across the country are screwing servicemembers by not getting them their ballots in time for the ballots to be counted.  I'm not too cranky about this, because write in ballots are generally only counted if an election is really close.  This means that the votes of servicemembers are ROUTINELY ignored.  Now, in some of the counties who are failing to get ballots out in time for them to be counted, the races are going to be close--and the votes of the servesmembers in those counties will likely not be counted, either.
This has a SIMPLE fix--any servicemember who is unable to vote in their home state--like yours truly, who has not received his absentee ballot, either, shall not have to pay taxes to that state until the next election where they are able to vote.  Further, if it is a national election, they will also not have to pay federal taxes until the next election either.  Now, that solves the immediate issue, but what about long-term?  What about the policies enacted by those elected while the servicemembers were disenfranchised?  How do we make up for that?  Since the government doesn't have any money itself (it belongs to the taxpayer) a monetary settlement doesn't seem fair, except that those voters at home are the ones who should be ensuring the servicemembers votes are counted.  So, if they aren't willing to ensure the ballots of those who serve matter, then the damage to their local economy from lawsuits doesn't matter to me.

I need a hobby.
--Chuck