Tuesday, January 22, 2008

1 Out Of 125,000+

  • What I'm Watching/Listening To/Reading:
    • I guess I'm sorry I missed the debate last night. Seems like there were some fireworks. I'm starting to get a little sick of the Clintons' politics.
    • I seriously can't believe I wrote that last sentence.
    • I'm bummed I didn't see Michael Clayton yet after this morning's nominations. I'll revisit those down the road.
  • Random Thoughts/Links:
    • I can't wait until the government helps their deficit by sending me a check. How is this a good idea? Even my dog won't give away his bone because he realizes that he won't have a bone.
    • Check out at about 1:10 of this video. The world's greatest living rock star doing the classic Beatles tongue-in-cheek sarcasm.
    • I sat in the worst meeting in recent history today.
  • Daily Rant:
And of course the big news of the day is the death of Heath Ledger. I wrote this on November 27, when Sean Taylor died:
So let's stop the hypocrisy. Either we get worked up over every wrongful death or we get worked up over none. Which would you think is right? The media and public will mourn Taylor for a couple of days. Then, they will discuss what the Redskins need to do. After that, we'll move on to the next news cycle. No discussion about the culture of violence that led to his and so many other deaths.
Substitute "drugs" for "violence" and we're right back there again. I'm sad that Ledger died to the same extent that I'm sad when anyone dies. Maybe I'm a little dismayed because I really liked 10 Things I Hate About You, but I can't, in all good conscience, call myself sad. According to an Associated Press story from 2005, over 125,000 Americans die each year from prescription drug use. There are any number of statistics at the website of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (www.samhsa.gov). We can't treat some people as mere statistics and then be sad over the death of someone else we don't know. 125,000 people. That's three Camden Yards' worth. The official cause of Ledger's death may not be suicide, but, in effect, by abusing drugs that's exactly what it was. So I can't feel but so bad for his death, because I know I don't feel bad when the others happen. It's an ugly truth of ignorance (maybe even intentional), but it's one I have to admit. And so it goes again, as we don't glorify the death of whoever dies of drug use tomorrow or the next day.

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