Dammit! Tyler was supposed to come over and he never showed. And I was looking forward to eating a big juicy steak with him, too, for his birthday.
And speaking of kids...
Much ado is being made in politics about Hollywood targeting violent movies at kids.
Much ado has been made over internet access for kids... all that awful pornography that's out there!
Everybody thinks that the government should do something about it. Well, almost everybody. Here's a little thought:
Kids are the responsibility of their parents.
The parent should do the best that they can, then let them out into the world. If they are lucky, half of them will stay out of jail most of the time.
So, there are a lot of poor parents... no, not just poor people, but people who are bad parents. The ones that raise bad kids. You know, the ones that you won't let your kids play with, because they might find some porn sites on the web and that might be simply horrible.
Or those other kids might lie about their ages and get into an R-rated movie. Despite the fact that the movie ushers check IDs... or they're supposed to.
On the other hand, if you've raised your kid right, you don't have to worry about shit like that. Your kid will be able to say no. Or, better yet, they will realize the violence in the movie for what it is... violence in a movie. They will recognize porn for what it is... people making money on sex.
They will not be negatively affected either way. Why? 'cause you've raised them right. They have acquired your "family values", whether you like it or not.
Well, gee, they're still human, aren't they? Won't they be incited to violence and murder by watching violence and murder at the movies? Won't they be incited to rape and to have sex by watching pornography?
Well, gee, not if the parents have taught them not to do that stuff because it hurts other people and that they will be punished if they do...
Is this rape, violence, murder stuff new to our civilization? Just since we've had TV and movies and the internet? Not by a long shot.
Mass murders and serial killers have been with us forever, and probably always will be. The difference is...
Never before in history have the microphones been shoved in the faces of the perpetrators. Never before has this information been distributed so widely and sensationalistically.
So, many people get the idea that movies are the cause of the violence. They aren't... people with violent temperments go to violent movies and they play violent games. Cops and robbers, cowboys and indians... Doom. Terminator.
The fact is that many people play such games to relieve themselves of actual violence... to act it out and be done with it. Imagining that the monstor that gets blown up playing Doom II is your boss on a bad day can be cathartic. Or, for the younger people, the high school pronciple may take on the monster guise...
The guts on the floor and the blood on the walls isn't real. It's pretend. It's all fake, and those who do not know the difference... they are the folks to be afraid of. Because they will be the mass murderers... not because they played the game of watched the movie, but because... because... hell, I don't know. People are strange, that's way.
And the others that don't know the difference, the ones who aren't mass murderers but who think that mass murderers are created by the medium... they're the ones that scare me. They are lacking logic, and they have the ears of the politicians, or at least of the mass media. For what they are looking for is mind control, totally, completely.
And, coincidentally, most of them happen to be very religious... as in, "If you don't believe in my god and do what he says you'll go straight to hell, and here's a pyre to help you get there." So I'm pretty sure of what type of mind control they will advocate...
Today's image is Karen on Dan and Lynn's back deck... isn't she loverly? Well, I think so anyway.
Kids are the responsibility of their parents.
Kids are the responsibility of their parents.
Kids are the responsibility of their parents.
Am I making myself clear here?
Not the responsibility of the government, until they really screw up. Then we can put them in jail or do something else constructive like that. Kill 'em if necessary if they live in Texas.
Ah well, I'm not done with ranting on that subject, probably never will be. But I'll stop now, 'cause I have to go to bed. I'm on CT call tomorrow from 08:00 until 17:00, and I'll probably be in there all day... I got up at 01:30 yesterday and had a six-hour nap (and I felt a lot better for it!) but I have to get more sleep now...