So much stupidity, so little time

Some news stories make no sense.

Whether the actual content itself or the uncertainty of why something is actually given enough credit to be called “news”, certain stories can really kind of baffle the mind. Some examples from the SJ-R:

• Chatham’s Starbucks to close Um… so? Maybe if they didn’t charge $5 for a cup of mediocre (at absolute best) coffee, Starbucks wouldn’t have to close, what was it, like 600 stores? Maybe, just maybe, people are finally waking up beginning to see that in today’s world, buying snooty uppity vastly overpriced coffee twice or more a day every day is an unnecessary extravagance. Maybe people are finally realizing it’s not much more than a status thing- somewhere along the way, somebody decided it was to be considered “cool” to have a Starbucks cup in your hand. Bottom line, be smart and go to the store of your choice (more to come on THAT) and buy a can of Folgers or Maxwell House or Eight O’Clock or Sam’s Choice or whatever brand you prefer and make it yourself at home. It costs a hell of a lot less, lasts a hell of a lot longer, and tastes a hell of a lot better- because you can make it as strong or as weak as YOU like it and with as much or as little accoutriments as you like, not how some marketing dumb-ass in some office in Seattle tells you you like it. Don’t be a sheep, folks. And besides, if they have 600 stores that they can close without completely going under as a company, that says to me that there just may be a few too many in the world anyway.
• Our opinion: Take care when choosing seats Okay, I can’t even fathom whether the SJ-R is being serious, satirical, or just stupid in writing this Op-Ed piece. Basically, it’s referencing the young lad hospitalized (and since released) after being hit in the head by a foul ball at Wrigley Field, and also a woman that was hit by a foul ball at a Sliders game. Folks, these (and all others like it) are extremely unfortunate events that do occasionally occur at ballgames. But as even the article points out, it states right on the back of most every ticket (other than Sliders tickets- just read mine from last night’s game) something along the lines of “purchaser assumes responsibility for danger of batted balls or thrown bats entering the seating area” or whatever it says. If you’re outraged by the fact that people can and do get hit by fast-moving projectiles, get over it. It’s nobody’s “fault” that people get hit by baseballs or thrown bats or shortstops/point guards diving after a ball or hockey pucks or whatever the case may be; that’s an implied risk of going to a game and especially of sitting so close to the playing surface. I’m not trying to “blame” the little boy’s dad or the woman’s family for choosing to sit where they sat; when things like that happen, it’s a freak occurrence. But don’t try to say that the batter, the team, the stadium proprietor, or anyone else is at fault, either. One well-intentioned yet completely misinformed commenter on the SJ-R message board opined that the Cubs organization should pay for the boy’s medical bills. WRONG! It’s called taking responsibility, folks. Look into it.
• Wal-Mart shoots for west-side opening in 2010 This subject has been debated {here, among other places} for a while now. Someone- let’s say, me- says they don’t like Wal-Mart and that they won’t shop there, and people get ALL sorts of fired up. “How dare you try and tell me where I should or shouldn’t shop?” Folks, I really don’t give two shits where YOU shop. If you want to shop at Wal-Mart, knock yourself out. Myself, I see through their little cloak of lies and hypocrisy and choose not to buy what they’re selling, figuratively AND literally. My standards aren’t real terribly high, but they’re high enough not to shop at Wal-Mart. My opinion is simply that we don’t need three Wal-Marts, whether “supercenter” or not, in this town. Those that like Wal-Mart say they want one closer to them. Well, who wouldn’t like the businesses they like just a stone’s throw away? So, because there are people in every neighborhood that like Wal-Mart, we should build one in every neighborhood? We’ve got way too many McDonalds, way too many Starbucks, way too many Walgreens and CVSes, etc. as it is. Yeah, sometimes it sucks having to drive halfway across town (or more) for your price rollbacks or your favorite pizza, über-expensive flavored “coffee”, burger, $4 prescription, sub sandwich, home improvement store, or whatever the case, but that’s simply the way life is sometimes. Get over it.
• Laugh Factory owner: Jackson should pay for N-word FINALLY, here’s a “news” item that makes an iota of sense. A couple years ago, Michael Richards (Seinfeld’s Kramer) apparently suffered some sort of meltdown on stage at this City of “Angels” comedy club and called a heckler that “special” N-word. Because Richards is white, people called for his head on a spear, and not necessarily wrongfully so. Yet the “Reverend” Jesse Jackson uses the N-word during a break on a television interview a couple days ago, in reference to Barack Obama, and virtually nobody bats an eye. Why? Because Jackson is black, and it’s “okay” for blacks to use it? Bullshit. And supposedly, according to an SJ-R commenter, “some black gal on ‘The View’” recently stated that “blacks can use the N-word but whites can’t”. If that indeed was actually said, then once again, bullshit. Racism is racism, hate is hate, the N-word is the N-word, regardless of from whom it comes. Either allow anyone and everyone to use the word, or hold anyone and everyone accountable for using it- either way you choose, do it regardless of ANY person’s race, 100% across the board. THEN you may talk to me about bigotry. And I stand by my long-standing belief that Jesse Jackson is one of the most racist, bigoted hate mongers out there in the world today.

This is but a mere sample of some of the crap that is in the paper and on TV that supposedly qualifies as “newsworthy”. I could go on, but that would just be further striking of a previously expired equine, wouldn’t it?

RELATED YET UNRELATED ADDENDUM: As always, although even more so than before, Illinois Times can kiss my gaggle-of-nerds-belonging ass.