Daily News 5-280

FOR THE CONSIDERATION OF THE MASSES:

$455 Billion looks much better than $455,000,000,000
Brave Nuclear World
Extreme Reality

The Army of Zeroes--

The man walked down the street carrying a soapbox and a small PA amp with a microphone cord attached to it. He had a bumper sticker stuck to his back which read, "Bush saves the unborn, but he kills your children." The sticker sported an infantry helmet with the stars and stripes behind it. The man had my attention.

He put his soapbox down and stood atop it. He looked angry and self-righteous, like he was about to pour out words thick as buckwheat molasses. Then he sighed, and the anger disappeared from his face. Now he just looked sad. He pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and began, solemn and free of passion as he could be...

"We're throwing $455,000,000,000 at defense. In the meantime, the soldiers risking their lives are making between 18k and 24k a year. Is it right to send our brothers and sisters unprepared, armed only with their a sense of duty and trust for the state that raised them? America's soldiers love this country dearly--we have to remember that today's army consists of people who want to defend the people and places they love. Our troops are our family members and friends, they are the least of us who joined the call to defend The United States.

I ask the parents of these soldiers; the Americans making the 2nd biggest sacrifice--that of their children--what's more patriotic? Bringing our troops home, making the government keep its promises to those who volunteered their LIVES for this nation, and apologizing to the soldiers and their families for unnecessarily sending our troops unprepared, or letting them continue to fight, ill-equipped, tired, and misled? The pentagon, the executive branch, and the federal government in whole should do no less than apologize to the men and women of our armed services.

We are beyond justification of the war, because there is no justification for sending our soldiers to a war they aren't equipped to fight in. Even the most advanced military in the world needs equipment and rest. Even the most reliable machine needs oil and fuel. Even the best workhorse needs water and oats."

The man stepped off his soapbox, picked it up and continued down the road. Those last three lines were so cutting...but then I thought about it. The government is treating our soldiers like employees in a business, and they're giving them the lowest return possible for their services. But it gets worse--no armor in the humvees, cut leave-time, longer deployments...
When you're a parent of a soldier, and you're supporting a war with these conditions, you join the government in ignorance. The people supporting our troops are the ones demanding that they come home.

Radioactively Considering Other Options--

There's quite a bit of news about the decline of oil lately, and these bytes are from national media centers. Even petrol giant Chevron went ahead with a multi-million dollar ad campaign asking Americans to conserve gas--not a good sign. The apparent answer to the oil issue is simple in the minds of some: a greater reliance on nuclear energy.

This will be the advent of new transportation macrotech-- less fuel based vehicles and more battery powered devices. The dawn of solar assisted power, (we aren't good enough to run big machines on solar alone, but we can run some electrical systems with it, for sure.) a quicker consumption of our remaining coal, and maybe even the miniaturization of nuclear power.

We don't really have a choice-- nuclear power is far from safe, it discharges some of the most wicked waste products known to man, and it has produced some of our largest self-inflicted disasters. On the other hand, the fission process is easy. It yeilds tremendous power. It's reliable. For years we've known that our technology is slowly killing us, but the question we usually ask isn't "is this eventually detrimental," but instead "is this prosperous for now?"

Clean coal technology is available, but without strong regulations and an administration that actually agrees with them, we're going to keep dusting the sky dark grey as we burn the rest of our fossilized hydrocarbons and push back the days of worry for at least one more year.

Just remember Chevron--when any company is telling you to buy less of its product, the time has come to start asking some serious questions.

Extreme Television Watching--

This fall, a major network will feature ground-breaking networking as we join The Satellite Gang, a new show which will feature a new television crazed family every week. Watch as parent and child bond by sharing the same floorspace while absorbing twenty-two minutes of idiotic banter, staged comic relief by the hosts, and horrific production values that make you wonder where the money goes.

"Well, people want more real reality television," says Allen Godsword, media consultant. "And we're finding that more and more real American lives consist of sitting in front of the Television for the evening to watch their favorite programs. So when they ask for more REAL reality TV, we're giving them exactly what they want: we show them what the average American family does."

This week, The Satellite Gang follows a family of five and shows us what's it's like to surf the tube. "Well, I'm not supposed to tell you any of this," says Mitchell, the head of the household, "but before the cameras started rolling we were asked to create a little drama over who would be watching what." I asked Mitchell what he meant. "Well, we all usually watch the same program without a problem, but the director asked us to argue a little bit over control of the television."
Mitchell's eyes wandered back over to the glowing box that his chair faced. I asked him how he felt about being asked to act on a show that was supposed to be reality television. He didn't respond--his lenses clung to the screen, almost dancing with the images that it displayed. I asked again...

"MITCHELL, how does it feel to be asked to ACT on a supposed reality TV show?"

"Oh, sorry," he responded. "I love this program." He was bound to a show depicting a family much like his own. Eventually he answered my question. "It's no big deal being asked to exaggerate a little bit. The kids think it's a game and we have some fun with it. You know, it's not real life, but no one wants to just see us sitting and watching TV."
Mitchell went blank again, watching the television and forgetting he was even being interviewed. The he burst out into laughter and sighed. "I love this show," he said, "it reminds me of my family."

Ladies and Gentlemen, your daily news for this, the 280th day of 2005.

--out