Well, this is unprecedented. I actually have an idea of what I want to talk about in this post. I know, I'm just as surprised as you are. But first, I'd just like to point out that I just gone done watching 3 hours of The West Wing. I picked up the second season on DVD two weeks ago, and it's one of the best 37 dollar purchases I've ever made. I urge you all to watch the first season, then get blown away at how good the second season is. Amazing show. Also: if you're reading this blog instead of checking the site for updates (I'm making a big assumption there, that people still care about the site), then you should go check out the 'ol homepage. I put up a new piece of writing, and hopefully you'll like it.

But, enough of that. Here's what I want to talk about: your local news. Now, I don't know what your local news is like (unless you live in the DC/Metro area), but the local news here sickens me. I have no tolerance for it whatsoever. It's scare tactic after scare tactic after scare tactic. I'm fed up. They promote stories that no one really wants to see, but is too afraid not to see. It's like what Chuck Palahniuk talked about in "Lullaby." And if you haven't read that book, go do it now. Anyway, this week, the big news story I remember hearing about dealt with sex offenders. "Over a hundred child sex offenders have been found living near your child's school. Details at 5." Something like that. And I laughed. When I heard that, I honestly laughed. Because I was pissed off that the news is trying to scare people just so they can get ratings. And also because people probably honestly believe that these whacked out sex offenders really do live near their child's school. Whatever happened to trusting your neighbor? Whatever happened to being nice to others? Whatever happened to having faith in other people? Now, I hate people just as much as the next guy (ok, probably more than the next guy, but still), but I don't believe that people are inherently bad. When I meet someone for the first time, I'm not on my guard, thinking, "Hey, how is this person going to try fuck up my life?" But the local news is just fueling our fears. It's like gossip in high school. You release the story, and it goes wild. Next thing you know, everyone's suspicious of someone else all because they heard from a friend who heard from a friend who heard from a friend... Stop trying to scare us! But, let's not forget the very real, and very scary threat of a terrorist attack... Well, no shit! The whole world hates us, why would that be so totally unexpected? And it's not like the news is actually providing us with concrete information. Heaven forbid they should have decent enough intelligence to give us specifics. Here's what Adam had to say: "They have no information. The news goes 'They've heard from multiple sources that a terrorist threat is possible, but they have no clues as to the time, method, place, who's going to do it, etc.' That's not a fucking terrorist threat. That's like me saying I've heard from three people that the world is going to end soon, but none of them know why or how or how to prevent it, but we should all be scared and patriotic and watch out for fucking middle easterners." Well put, Adam. But, the news story that takes the cake is the bad weather we've been having here. The past few days we've had severe thunderstorms. You know what they've started using in the ads for the local news? "Violent storms in the DC area? More at 5." Violent?! Is there not a single story on the news that's NOT violent? Hell, there's sports stories about athletes who have acted in, you guessed it, violent ways. The top news stories are chalk full of violence. And now the weather? Violent storms... Bullshit. This is Washington, DC. There have to be hundreds of charitable establishments around this area, how come we can't hear about the number of lives the Red Cross saved today? How, thanks to some donation, a food shelter will be able to provide nourishment for people starving on the streets. How there have been amazing developments in the search for the cure for AIDS or cancer. But no, all I can hear about is how my neighbor is a sex offender and how we may, at some point, we don't know when or where or how, be attacked by the terrorist. So, do what I do. Just turn it off.

But that's just my two cents. Well, I talked about what I wanted to talk about, I guess I'm done for now. Read my new writing on the site (don't worry, it's not all serious like this rant was), and watch the West Wing. Have a good day, everyone.