Dribs and Drabs

Although I have been advised against it, I can't resist putting together another potpourri of interesting stuff I've run across on the Internet recently. Plus, it's not like I've done a comprehensive survey about whether my readers like this type of entry -- the conclusion was conclusive, but the sample size was one.

My last blog left of with some commentary about Barak Obama, race, and politics. So, while I will include this New York Times article on the subject, and mention that I had the great pleasure of watching the original Shaft on a (the?) big screen at the MOMA the other night, and that it is actually quite a good movie which makes some interesting social and racial points, and which towards the end of the movie actually allows some black nationalist/pan-africanist characters turn a fire-hose onto some white people (as Dave Chapelle might say, "If I had my way, we'd do this in every episode!), I will start this blog with a more fanciful political issue: George Bush and the cheeseburger.

Apparently there is a war of words and petty government officials (should that be "petty petty government officials) over the birthplace of the hamburger. Both Athens, Texas and New Haven, Connecticut are claiming they their thriving communities incubated and produced the first hamburger on earth. There is a resolution in the Texas legislature right now that would declare Athens the winner of this beefy contest. Mayor John DeStefano Jr., of New Haven had this to say, "We are even the birthplace of George Bush who wants people to think he's from Texas. So yes, the hamburger is as much a New Haven original as President Bush. Get over it, Texas." The mayor of Hamburg has no comment on the situation, except to insist that he may or may not be a jelly-donut.

In other news, government spends a lot of time doing some very silly things. There is a proposal in the New York state senate to ban the use of iPods, Blackberries, and other such handheld electronica while crossing the street. This reminds me of a story I once heard about a man who was pulled over for DWPTF or Driving While Playing The Fiddle. He got off with a warning.

Finally and I hesitate to even include this, because really it's far more sad than it is funny, we end up in Florida where an appeal court upheld the conviction of a 16 year old girl and a 17 year old boy who "violated child pornography laws" after they photographed THEMSELVES naked and also "engaged in unspecified sexual behavior." Far from following the lead of such possible role models like: Paris Hilton, Pamela Anderson, Tommy Lee, or Dustin Diamond of 'Screech' fame, these two kids kept the photos to themselves. But, somehow, and to me, the parental hand looms in this situation as clearly as if it were visible, the police found out about the situation and decided to prosecute. This is totally sick. I understand laws intended to protect children, but how can anyone possibly think that these two kids or any others will have their lives improved by this ridiculous misuse of the Judaical system.

Well, I don't want to keep you (or me for that matter, I'm getting sleepy!) any longer, but suffice it to say that video games make your eyes better, cell-phones can burn, and a pro-basketball player is involved in a hit-and-run birthday caking incident. Lucky for him he wasn't in Florida.