Things We Do Not Need In 2010

Each year culture in America spews out a wide range of meaningless words and certain types of fame and/or infamy, and trends that outlived their viability the moment they were created. So here are a few such things which to my thinking, we need to abandon for 2010.

- Don't ever use the phrase "Man Up". Ever. Just stop it. It is usually used in conjunction with ideas or "news" stories which just make no sense. If you say someone should "man up" about anything, it is a clear sign you are clueless in regards to the topic being discussed.

-- Prime-time cable network talk shows which pretend to be some kind of news show when it is not remotely news, it's mindless gossip, the kind which might be spoken by a dunce wasting time in the company break room. Likewise, the "trial" and/or "investigation" by public pundit whose only job is to be on camera as a featured former something-or-other is likely the very worst American trend of the decade. Same goes for reading someone's email or "twitter" utterance as viable commentary on any topic. It's pure proof that a cable network is refusing to pay anyone with ability to write a news report, and is far more willing to simply tell lurid lies.

-- Texting someone on a mobile device when you are talking face to face with another person. It's a pretentious habit.

-- Advertisements for "hover" chairs. Given the near 24 hour bombardment of this ad over the last decade, I'm pretty sure every single person on the planet who might actually have a need for a "hover" chair already has one.

-- There exists absolutely no reason to mention what Sarah Palin is doing. The woman has no skills, speaks very poorly, thinks even less so and has not been able to achieve any act of merit other than to be a mother -- and she does that poorly as well, being so narcissistic as to exploit her children as tools of self-promotion. See the above: a dunce gossiping mindlessly in the break room. If you are a fan of hers and think her a wise representative of American ideas, it at least tells the rest of us you really should have very few responsibilities in life. Being a fan of hers is reminiscent of those t-shirts popular in the 1970s that said "I'm With Stupid". (The same lack of worth Glenn Beck - the one way to tell if he is lying is if his lips are moving.)

-- Speaking of stupid, when someone claims that people who talk about Global Warming or Green Energy are really just evil conspirators trying to make tons of money, here's a reality check for you: all companies which currently sell energy (oil, coal, gas, etc) are doing it to make money. The real complaint is that such companies will quite naturally turn belly up and die off, like buggy whip manufacturers in the 1900s, as we develop more sustainable and less polluting forms of energy. Duh.

-- America needs to join with the rest of the world and ban advertising prescription medicine on television. No nation save America allows it.

-- And here are a couple of questions for the state of Tennessee -- why make it illegal to smoke inside a restaurant or bar but make it legal to carry in a loaded firearm? And why does every city and county governmental board have to conduct their business in public forums where images and records are made of their actions, but the state government is itself exempt from any such rule or accountability?

-- It's time to reverse the trend of charging the public huge fees and interest rates when they borrow money or use a credit card and pay only the tiniest of interest for saving money.

The Annual Christmas Monkey Caption Contest

Submit a caption for this image in the comments. The Christmas Monkey is a standard Christmas guest here on this humble and lovable blog.

And Merry Christmas!!

Snowball Fight In D.C. Brings Angry Armed Police

A massive snowfall Washington DC brought out a few hundred residents to play in the snow and have a snowball fight -- prompted apparently by a widespread Twitter notice. All seemed to be going well - and much fun was had ....

Fun until a passing Hummer got pelted with a snowball and the driver, an off-duty police detective, got out of his car and began threatening the crowd with a gun.

Images via D.C. Dispatches

Video of the event is here (via Gawker) including another video of the detective admitting he drew a gun on the unarmed crowd. Yeah, in the middle of a snowstorm, he gets angry for getting snow on his car?? And apparently he never identified himself as a police officer.

The crowd even helped one policeman helped get his car unstuck from the wintry mess. The Washington City Paper reports:

"Like so many others, Robin Bell heard about the snowball fight at 14th and U Streets NW and decided to go and check it out. He tells City Desk that prior to the incident, a cop car got stuck in the road and everybody stopped the snowball fight and helped the cop get his car out of the snow. "The crowd cheered and everybody was happy," Bell says.

Soon, though, he started hearing people shouting: "Don't bring a gun to a snowball fight!"

"Then I walked over and I saw a police officer brandishing a weapon," Bell says referring to the uniform cop. He says he didn't see the detective brandish his weapon--only the furious aftermath. He says the detective was yelling and "kind of out of control." "It was really strange to see a police officer so upset and angry over what seemed at best a misunderstanding," Bell explains. "At worst, it was some kids throwing a snowball at him."

And according to this report on FOX News -- the snowballers were some deadly crowd of anti-war protesters who needed to be brought to Justice. War on Christmas is more than just a slogan for the hacks at FOX.