Another Family Kicked Off A Plane And Other Stupid News

So, the number one story in the news today was the gun ban lifted by the Supreme Court. Ok, all I took away from that is that good people can now use guns to defend their homes--exactly what the founding fathers wanted. So....what about the bad people that get guns? They get guns with or without a ban so why are we making such a big deal about the lifting of a gun ban? Seriously, people. People in Washington D. C. were actually complaining about the problem that the absence of a gun ban would create. Listen to me carefully, because I am only going to say this one more time: BAD PEOPLE GET GUNS WITH OR WITHOUT A BAN!!! In effort to keep this short, that's all I am going to say--but not all I have to say.

The other day I was watching Good Morning America and was intrigued by the Australian man who is auctioning off his LIFE on EBay. No, not his Life magazine, his LIFE! The winning bid will acquire this man's house, possessions and his job. The man walks away with the clothes on his back and his wallet when the transaction is complete. Basically, he is doing it for a change in his life. Okie dokie. How about changing jobs instead? Or going back to school? Learning a new hobby? Now a woman in Florida is basically doing the same thing. She is auctioning herself and her home on EBay. The starting bid was 99 cents and shipping and handling will cost you half a million dollars. She says she's looking for love. Um....try match.com or eharmony. Auctioning yourself and your home on EBay in effort to find a man is just a creative form of prostitution, isn't it? She claims she's "doing it for the right reasons." Um, ok.

Another family gets kicked off an airplane. A mother and her autistic toddler were asked to leave the American Airlines jet after they caused a disruption. According to the mother, the flight attendants were rude and kept tightening the child's seatbelt after he wiggled it loose. The mother thinks airline folks should be trained to deal with children of special needs. The airline says that the child was rolling around on the floor and the mother was unable to control or secure her child in the seat so the pilot turned the plane around ("I'll turn this plane around, so help me") and taxied back to the terminal. The airline has apologized saying the incident should never have happened and the mother says she will never fly that airline again. Ok, let's take a look at this for a second. There is no doubt in my mind that a mother flying alone with an autistic toddler has the biggest challenge on the planet. More sympathetic to that situation, I could not be. HOWEVER, if the child was wiggling out of his seatbelt and rolling around on the floor while the plane was taxiing away from the terminal, this presents a safety issue not a special needs issue. FAA regulations are very clear about take off and seatbelt usage by passengers. I sympathize with the mother and I am sorry that she had such a horrible experience, but I hardly think she needs to blame the airline for this one. If anyone on an airplane is violating regulations or causing a safety problem, the crew has every right to get him/her off the plane. The crew was doing their job. I doubt that the flight attendants immediately began screaming and cursing. (The mother didn't say they did this, but the picture she paints makes it seem like they immediately came up to her and her child in anger). The only thing that the airline should apologize is for the captain making the announcement that they were returning to the terminal because of an uncontrollable child. The captain should have just said they were returning to the terminal for a few moments and left it at that. As for the statement that airline crews should be specially trained in the needs of the "special needs" people, I doubt this child's circumstances had anything to do with the flight crew's decision. There was a problem that was causing a safety issue and they took care of it. Plain and simple. What exactly do they need to be trained to do? Hold up an entire flight to wait for....what? Let the special needs passengers not wear seatbelts? Do we compromise everyone else's safety in the name of "special needs"? The mother admits her child was causing a problem but blames it on the flight crew. Puh-lease.

(Warning: Adults Only on this one). I saw a headline on msn news that went like this: HIV Spikes in Men Who Have Sex With Men. Um...CAN WE SAY, DUH?!?!?!??!?!!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Where have they been for the last 30 years?

And lastly, a NOAA employee is fired/arrested for using his work computer to carry on a "relationship" with what he thought was an underage girl on the internet. Haven't people learned by now that a work computer is not the best way to conduct deviant activities? C'mon! Everybody knows that the nosiest "big brother" is your own employer! If people want to engage in deviant behavior on the internet and reduce their chances of getting caught, they need to stay home! DISCLAIMER: I am not condoning the practice of soliciting underage girls/boys on the internet for deviant practices. My point is, with all the spyware that corporations use who is stupid enough to do that stuff on a work computer?!

This is why I should only watch the weather and turn the news off. People are dumb.