Top 100 Creepy People #71-80

Creepy Person #80- Paris Hilton
She reminds me most of one of the beings that came out of the ship at the end of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The media continues to push her on us as some sort of example of beauty, but I know better. Her whorish ways and idiotic attitude only add to the creepiness.

Creepy Person #79- Boris Karloff
His body of work probably should put him higher on the list, but with Freddy Kruger disemboweling everything that walks by, Karloff’s movies have lost their edge. There is still some good nostalgia here, and he deserved to make the list if only as a pioneer in the field of creepiness.

Creepy Person #78- Britney Spears
If it were not for the kid thing, I probably have put her and Paris on the same level, but what she has done to her children has gone beyond creepy to just sad. But, she’s still out there panty-less on a regular basis. She is the kind of crazy that would make you put a bullet in your own brainpan just to make her shut up.

Creepy Person #77- Christopher Walken
He can play a good villain, and the dude is just weird. Even his William Shatner style of speaking is creepy.

Creepy Person #76- Tiny Tim
If I have to explain this one, you obviously do not know who I am talking about. He wore adult diapers not because he was incontinent, but for ‘sanitary’ reasons. Just look this nut up.

Creepy Person #75- Angelina Jolie
I dealt with this a little in the earlier piece in Brad Pitt, but suffice it to say, she makes the list solely for relationship with the ultra-creepy Billy Bob Thornton. She actually wore a vial of his blood around her neck, and would not take it off even for movie roles. She always wanted to have him near here. Crreeepy!

Creepy Person #74- Meat loaf
I respect this guy. Anyone who can put out one album a decade for four decades and have them all make a mint is a genius, but he is a creepy looking guy. Hot wife, though.

Creepy Person #73- R Kelly
Any guy who could stock his own section in a video store with the sex videos involving himself and underage girls is creepy. It’s even more creepy that he is still walking the streets. Where I come from we call those guys pedophiles and we put them in jail.

Creepy Person #72- Senator Larry Craig
Hey, you slimy bastard. Give it up already. You have proven yourself to be a two-faced pervert. No one wants you, not the Republicans or the Democrats. At least the governor of New York stepped down, and you should too.

Creepy Person #71- Sandy Allen, the tallest woman in the World
Tall girls are always a little gangly, but that does not do justice to her. She is 7 ft. 7 inches tall. Any man would be stricken with fear when faced with the reality of his own inadequacies with a woman of this size.

Top 100 Creepy People #81-90

Creepy Person #90- Ruth Bader-Ginsburg

Ruth Bader-Ginsburg is the liberal who haunts the dreams of all good conservatives. She is not going to win any beauty contests, and if she had her way they would probably be illegal.  The fact that she and Scalia (my hero) are able to be friends almost pushes her off the list.

Creepy Person #89- Vincent Schiavelli

He is one of the great character actors of the 80s and 90s, and everyone I knew just called him “Fish Face.”  Can creepy be so shallow that it applies simply to the way a person looks?  Absolutely.

Creepy Person #88- Wallace Shawn

Some would say that it is “inconceivable” that he would make this list, but he gets on for the same reason as Fish Face #89.  He has played his fair share of evil villains and creatures during his career.

Creepy Person #87- Tony Randall

 

As Felix Ungar, he was the original metrosexual.  His prissy nature on the show and in real life was enough to make anyone wonder whose side he was playing for, so to prove his heterosexuality, he goes off and impregnates a woman…at the age of 70!  Ewe!  creepy.

Creepy Person #86- Frank Oz-

Frank brought us some of the stranger Muppets, like Sam the Eagle and Bert.  He also was the strangely backward talking Yoda (very creepy) in the Star Wars films.  He is a weird looking guy who is most remembered in movies for holding up a soiled condom in The Blues Brothers.  He is not the strangest person on the list, but he is a puppeteer.

Creepy Person #85- Janeane Garofalo

It creeps me out that I find her attractive.  She looks as if she smells like Patchouli and cigarettes, but yet I am curiously attracted to her.  Of course, my great fear would be going up to talk to her (if I were not happily married, that is) and having her start to talk politics

 

Creepy Person #84- Gordon Keith

 

Known to some as the Dark Lord, this radio/television personality has one of the darkest senses of humor that you will every find outside of Hell.  His Halloween and Valentine cards, while funny, will hit you like a punch in the gut.  See Gordo’s blog here.

Creepy Person #83- The Olson Twins

Since I can’t tell them apart, I didn’t even try.  They used to be cute, but that was obviously before the heroin.  Now these sunken eyed beauties look like a casting call for Dawn of the Dead.  The whole Lance Armstrong thing is creepy too.

Creepy Person #82- Mark Cuban

 

I’m not trying to be too Dallas-centric here, but is that really possible?  Cuban is tiring to say the least, but he is also creepy.  He is the guy you don’t want to let into the country club much like Rodney Dangerfield’s character in Caddyshack.  Not everyone knows it, but this doughy guy made some ‘blue’ films before he became filthy rich, creepy (shudder).

 

 Creepy Person #81- Bozo the Clown

 

Clowns in general are creepy in the same way that carnie’s are creepy, and bozo was the prototypical clown.  The whole Bozo franchise thing was also creepy.  So, your kid goes to get his picture taken with Bozo, but is it the real Bozo, or some guy who is a drunken pedophile when he’s out of costume.

 

Top 100 Creepy People #91-100

Creepy Person #100- Brad Pitt

Why Brad Pitt?  He has really grown as an actor in the past decade, and I like him in most of the roles I see these days.  His creepiness is by association.  He is dating Angelina Jolie who is also creepy by association.  She was married to Billy Bob Thornton (one of the creepiest people on the planet), and together, they forged a bond based on creepiness (more on this later).  That kind of creepy does not wash off.  It’s always there in the back of your mind, and no matter how beautiful she may be, you are still only one relationship removed from being in bed with Billy Bob himself (shiver).

 

Creepy Person #99- Paula Abdul

Paula is weird, and she may have a substance abuse problem.  She often looks and sounds like the female version of a letch as she fauns over the contestants of the show be they male or female. Like several of the women on this list, she is using everything she can in a losing battle to fight the effects of aging.

 

Creepy Person # 98 Constantine Maroulis

Since he was the genesis of this whole idea, I honestly thought he would come in at a higher spot, but he just does not have the fame or the creepy ‘cred’ that many of those above him do.  I still believe he is the creepiest Idol contestant in the history of the show, and I will say again, that I would not let my daughter travel to a state where I knew him to be.

 

Creepy Person #97 Charlie Sheen

Charlie Sheen is what Constantine Maroulis would be if he could really pull chicks.  He has plowed ground in an unending furrow from coast to coast, but that was not enough.  He married Denise Richards (hot!), but that was also not enough.  No, this guy who had Denise Richards at home and could have had pretty much any woman ‘for free,’ still went out and bought hookers, so much so, that he is fairly notorious for it.  I’m sure there is a Ven diagram where my jealousy toward him and my feeling that he is creepy begin to occupy the same space.  This fact only makes me feel dirty and creepier.

 

Creepy Person #96- Mariah Carey

I’ve seen the concert rider.  Green M&Ms, a toilet that has never been used, and that is just the first paragraph of six typed pages.  Guys will put up with a lot for a beautiful woman, but crazy wears you out pretty fast, if it does not kill you in your sleep.

 

Creepy Person #95- Jerry Seinfeld

All of Hollywood may ignore it, but just because you are famous does not make it alright to be a pedophile.  She was 17 when they started dating.

 

Creepy Person #94- Ben Folds

I love everything I have heard by this guy, but the more you listen to his lyrics the more you realize what a screwed up SOB he is.  It takes a lot of pain to write like that, and most people could never convey those feelings half as well or as tortured as he does.  I give any relationship he is in about a 2% chance of success, in fact, give me the under on that bet.

 

Creepy Person #93- Mr. Rogers

I have a friend who loves this guy.  First off, watching that show and seeing him follow the same process from beginning to end each day would leave any child a little OCD.  He looks like the type of guy who knows how many steps it takes to get him to the corner of his street.  The dress only adds to the creepiness.  Not once in all of the years he was on television did he seem to be affected by fashion trends.  It was the same thing everyday.  No one could be like that all of the time.  He is the poster boy for people saying, “He always seemed like such a nice person.”  Nice until they dig up all of the graves, that is.

 

Creepy Person #92- Pokemon

I know this is not a person, but there is definitely something creepy and insidious about Pokemon.  Kids seemed to be captivated by this primitive animation that could have taken lessons from G-Force.  And, the never-ending card game that went along with it whose only purpose was to get kids to buy more of the game was creepy.

 

Creepy Person #91- Nick Nolte

Nick Nolte is Gary Busey Light, a lighter slightly less offensive and creepy version of the original.  He still gets the DUIs and looks like he stinks, but not as bad as Busey.  I think the photo says it all .

Top 100 Creepy People

After causing a flair-up at the very suggestion that Constantine Maroulis is a creepy guy I began to ponder creepiness, and in an attempt to stir up as much trouble as I can while having a little fun, I have come up with a top 100 creepy list.  I had no real criteria other than the fact that these people in one way or another strike me as creepy.  I stayed away from people who have no notoriety, and I did not use too many historical figures.  Some, however, were so infamous for creepiness that they required some mention.  This is by no means an exhaustive list, and I invite you to remind me of any deserving creepy person that I may have left out.  I also left some people out on purpose.  For example, I did include Jeffery Dahmer on the list, but did not include John Wayne Gacy or many of the other serial killers.  Dahmer will suffice for the rest of them.  I didn’t want to have a list that was all serial killers.  In the same vain, I did not include a lot of the more creepy Metal Bands, but I mentioned a couple specifically.

I found that the word ‘creepy’ has almost as many connotations as ‘dude’ does.  You can be creepy in an ugly way, or a strange way.  Creepy can be evil or perverted.  It can scheme and erode, but in the end it is just creepy.

Some of the people on the list may be filler, but I hope they are funny.

Don’t expect the creepiest people in the world to be at the bottom of the list.  It will build.

Enjoy.

 

Why Sabermetrics is not going to save the Rangers

I had the pleasure of attending a wonderful baseball game this afternoon between the Texas Rangers and the Kansas City Royals.  It was about 80 degrees with a nice breeze.  There were only about 5,000 fans in the park (Texas has done little to draw fans so far this year).  However, on this day, the Rangers and the Royals got involved in a pitching duel.  Both pitchers went eight innings (very rare in any game much less one involving these two teams), and there were no errors in the game (just as rare if the Rangers take the field).  In the end, Texas won 2-1 on two home runs in a game that took only 2:10 to play.  Games like this make baseball more enjoyable.

Getting home earlier than I intended, I began to think about the problems with the Rangers as a team.  There is some anticipation around the Dallas area regarding the eminent demise of Ranger manager Ron Washington.  If this happens, I would like to see Buddy Bell given another opportunity to succeed as a manager. Getting rid of Ron would be a nice first step, but much more needs to be done.

General Manager John Daniels claims to subscribe to the ‘Billy Ball’ theory otherwise known as Sabermetrics.  I am not here to denigrate the Sabermetric theory.  It works or it has worked in the past.  Just look at Oakland making their yearly attempt to rise to the top of the AL West with another group of pseudo-stars.  Boston, of course, is the biggest example of how Sabermetrics can work for a team.  They believe in the idea so much, they have retained Bill James, the father of Sabermetrics, as a consultant for the team.

The Sabermetrics method assumes that all teams must function within a given budget, and therefore to maximize your potential to win, you must sign players that give you the biggest bang for the buck.  It really just makes sense, but Sabermetrics uses a set of expanded criteria that are used to determine a player’s ‘worth’ to a team.  In the end, the method tends to focus not on the elite players of the game as much, because they cost too much money to pack a roster full of them (unless you are the Yankees), but rather it focuses on very good, difference makers that are salary friendly.  By dropping out of the bidding for players such as A-Rod who may cost a team upwards of $25,000,000 a year, a team can focus on players who are very good, but not elite.  After applying the Sabermetrics methods to the players that may be available in free agency or for trade, a team can concentrate on packing its roster with these types of players and using them to complement a couple of truly elite players it may also have on its roster.  It is argued that by adding these players who ‘statistically’ make a difference to your team, you make your team better than other teams. Simple.

As I said before, this idea has definitely led to success for several teams in the past few years.  The problem I see is this, Sabermetrics, by being successful has given itself a definite lifespan.  For a number of reasons, Sabermetrics will have, and has already begun to deliver diminishing returns.

As more teams use these criteria for evaluating talent, the group of players that Sabermetrics has identified as ‘budget-friendly difference makers’ will be artificially inflated.  When there were only a couple of teams going for these players, those teams could focus on the ones at the very top of their Sabermetric statistics.  Now, many teams (including my Texas Rangers) have adopted this philosophy, and all teams know about it.  As a result, there is a lot more competition for these types of players.  Teams that do not even necessarily admit to using the Sabermetrics philosophy will make an extra effort to keep the players already on their roster that fit the Sabermetrics profile because their value will be more apparent.  This will further dilute the pool of players that fit the profile.

Another problem with Sabermetrics is that it does not effectively take into account the players that surround a particular player, and as a result, teams that are already pretty good tend to benefit more from its philosophy.  A player in the middle of a line-up with four other good hitters around him may look better that he actually is because he gets more at bats in that line-up, he is driven in more in that line-up, pitchers are forced to pitch to him in more situations, and he has more opportunities to drive in runs in that line up.  Put him on a team with a worse line-up, where he has to carry a lot more of the load, and his stats go way down as his opportunities decrease.  However, take the third best batter from say, the Marlins and plug him into a Red Sox line-up that is already filled with good hitters and he suddenly he is a much better player.

Coming to these ideas a part of a team philosophy as the Rangers have done will eventually be proven to be a losing endeavor.  Due to scarcity, these teams will reach for less talented players in an attempt to find players who fit these newly adopted philosophies.  It also will instill the catastrophic idea that championships can be won on the cheap if you only use this method.  This will sound great to owners who will think that they may be able to spend less, not hire superstars, and still have a contending team.

As far as salaries go, the Sabermetrics philosophy will end up driving them up.  The scarcity of players that fit the sabermetrics mold will drive their prices up.  And as teams attempt to do a better job of holding onto this talent, more teams will reach for talent that is not quite as good, and the salaries for those players will rise as well.  Trades for these types of players will cost more prospects, depleting a team’s farm system.  And don’t think that statisticians and GMs are the only ones paying attention to all of this.  Player agents and the players themselves have already started crunching these numbers, and when the numbers come up saying that they are more valuable, they are going to expect to be compensated accordingly.

As far as I can see, the Ranges have made every misstep possible in their attempt to adopt Billy Ball.  They spent the last few years building up their farm system, and recently have traded a lot of the talent that was almost ready for the major leagues for a group of guys who may not have been as good as they looked statistically.

 

American Idol Results Show, April 30th

The show started with the best group song so far this season.  There was even some real harmony.  I ran it back just to make sure they were not lip-syncing.  I am surprised that this part of the show is getting better just as the contestants have more songs to learn each week.  It might be that Neil Diamond’s songs are just easier to sing, or perhaps by trimming some of the less talented fat from the competition, the group song has become better through attrition.  Whatever the reason, it’s a good thing.

Creepy Constantine (and I stand by the creepy comment 100%) was back this week to promote some lame Idol recap show on the Fox Reality Channel (unlike my lame Idol recap blog).  Looks like that singing career has really taken off for him.  I think I still remember Gina Glockson, but I know I don’t care one bit.

Apparently, Paula, the producers or maybe both of them were so embarrassed by her ridiculous comments toward Jason during last night’s show that they deliberately omitted them from the two minute recap.  Are you serious?  That was hands down one of the classic moments ever on Idol, and the fact that they did not include it in the recap smacked of a purposeful cover-up.  If you are going to put that stupid airhead on the show every week, don’t take liberties with your audience while trying to avoid the fact that she is an idiot.  You may say that they were just worried about her feelings, but I say, if you are going to put yourself out there every week in that condition as a judge of talent in a competition on television (no less), then you deserve whatever ridicule and criticism you receive.  Oh, if the internet rumors of her impending demise were only true.

I’m not going to take any easy shots at Neil Diamond’s mother on this blog, but I will remind the producers of the show that this is television.

When Jason was safe, I knew it would be a bad night for one of the girls, and I was right.  I was pleasantly surprised to see Brooke leave the show, because she honestly deserved to go.  It also will give the Internet a week’s reprieve from the inevitable calls of racism that will come whenever Sayesha leaves in the next two weeks.  I did come up with a name for Brooke’s first album after seeing her attempt to sing herself off the show.  How about Déjà vu?   Get it?  Brooke is a sweet person, but I do not see her ever having a successful music career.  I truly hope she finds another way to be successful that does not include playing in smoke-filled bars on the weekend, I do not know if she would survive in an environment like that.

Much Ado About Miley

Amazing.  With all of the problems in the world today, America, Bill O’Reilly, the Christian Coalition, and others have decided to gang up on a fifteen year old girl for showing her back in a photograph.  Let’s be honest.  That is what happened.  You can see more flesh on younger girls at the beach, but no one is calling on Disney to censure these young ladies.

I saw the picture, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.  The only problem is in the minds of the perverts and Puritans that draw inferences from it.  Miley is fifteen, and though it may make parents nervous to realize this, most fifteen year old girls are coming into womanhood.  It is important for them to recognize their own beauty, and if she wants to have a photograph taken of herself that is legal and exemplifies her beauty, then good for her.  And it is not anyone else’s business.

I am a Christian, but for me, this is just another example of Christian organizations beating up on their friends.  A couple of decades ago, the Southern Baptist Convention (of which I was a member) took it upon itself to condemn Disney because one of its subsidiary companies, Buena Vista, had dared to make a few racy ‘R’ rated movies.  The short sighted numbskulls and backwater hicks at the SBC had decided to boycott the only major producer of positive, family oriented films in the country at that time.  Genius.

Flash forward to 2008, and here we are again with another group of numbskulls driving the same bus at a 15 year old girl who has done nothing except be a positive roll-model for their children for the past several years.

If anything, criticism toward the Cyrus’ should be directed at her perceived ‘over managed’ career, but no, these short sighted, self righteous idiots go after her.  I truly think that she is being punished for true faux pas made by other young (and not so young anymore) starlets such as Lindsey Lohan, Britney Speers, Paris Hilton, and their pregnant underage siblings, among others who go around tramping up America, and being terrible role models for our children.  The problem with criticizing these other ladies (and I use the term loosely) is that they just do not care.  Public criticism has little effect on them other than to get them more of the publicity which they crave.  But, in Miley Cyrus, America has found a young lady who actually cares about her image, reputation, and her status as a role model, and for that, America has decided to take a bat to her.  Very nice.

 

American Idol Top Five, April 29

It was Neil Diamond Night, and this allowed the contestants a wide variety of song choices.
Oddly the judges did not judge the first song right after they sang it, but waited until after all had sung their first songs to comment. I did not like this tweak to the format, but I assume it was done to keep the show under two hours, and so we would not have to hear Paula babble as many times or for as long. However, this proved to be a big mistake, as Paula (I’m sure her head was clouded by a variety of pills) could not keep the contestants or their songs straight. She thought Jason had sung two songs when he had only sung one, and roundly criticized him for doing badly on both of them. She then proceeded to tell us how hard it is to actually pay attention to the songs and remember important points about the performances, even though she took notes. I am sure this is a first because it forced her to keep her ridiculous ass in her seat. Simon was good and succinct.
Jason Castro:
“Forever in Blue Jeans”- This song was right in his wheelhouse. It was like all of is early season music. I thought it was good, but boring.
Randy thought it was OK.
Simon thought it was forgettable.
“September Morn”- I thought this song started out much better than the first one. The little bit of inflection in his voice made all of the difference. I liked it much better. It seems a little late in the competition for the judges to start criticizing him for being unoriginal and singing ‘safe’ songs, but they did.
Randy thought dogged him pretty on both songs. It may have been the harshest that I’ve ever heard someone told that they sang OK.
Simon thought they were both forgettable, among other harsh words.
David Cook:
“I’m Alive”- Once again he sings a song that sounds like something you would hear on the radio. Usually when a contestant sings a song that is not as well known, I think it is a mistake. However, when David does this it just seems as if he is preparing another hit to be released from his next album.
Randy thought it was very good and very strong.
Simon thought it was just above average.
“All I Really Need is You”- This was just another great performance, and the things I said about the first song go double for this one.
Randy thought he rocked the house with this one.
Simon thought this song was brilliant, and that he actually made the song seem contemporary.
Brooke White:
“I’m a Believer” This song was too low for her in the verses, but beyond that it was just awful. This was one of the worst vocals of the season by any contestant.
Randy thought Brook was better than last week, but a little karaoke.
Simon correctly thought it was a nightmare.
“I am I Said”- This song started much better than the first one. I think she could have gone a little more country with it and would have even been better. Still, it was her best performance in weeks and may be what keeps her around for another week (assuming that her fan-base would not have voted for her if she had done as bad as she did on the first song). It’s better to be strong on the last performance.
Randy thought it was a nice job on a tough song.
Simon thought this was the Brooke that we like.
David Archuleta:
“Sweet Caroline”- This song was just weird at the beginning for me, and his voice sounded a little shaky. Once he got to the chorus it got much better. For me, it was just alright.
Rand thought it was brilliant.
Simon thought it was amateurish.
“America”- Could he not have found a Neil Diamond ballad to sing? That being said, he did a good job of it, but it was a little forgettable.
Randy thought it was another good performance.
Simon thought it was a smart choice of song, but for some reason I felt as if he were taking a shot at the American people when he said it.
Syesha Mercado:
“Hello Again”- She looked pretty again, and her voice sounded good. The nice high note that she sang softly at the end of the first verse was a very good departure from her usual power style on the high notes. I liked the ‘Whitney-like’ version of this song. It was one of my favorite songs by her, and sounded radio worthy. I thought it was the best vocal of the first round.
Randy thought it was strong.
Simon thought it was old-fashioned, but I really think he just decided to beat them all up at the end of the first round. She did not deserve to be lumped in with the others on this song.
“Thank the Lord for the Nightitme”- I liked first song much better. The vocal was good, but I thought overall, it was just OK.
Randy thought liked the Broadway style of the song.
Simon thought she was a very good actress/singer. He dealt her the death blow by saying she could be in trouble, and correctly saying that her second song was forgettable compared with some of the others.

Accountability

Much has been made of accountability in exercise programs.  The effectiveness of accountability has been documented by many substance abuse programs including Alcoholic’s Anonymous.

When we began our weight loss programs, my wife and I made commitments to one another.  We have held each other to our commitments and have expectations that each of us will keep up our ends of the bargain on a weekly basis.

Accountability helps us because neither wants to have to admit failure to the other.  We encourage each other every week, cheering on a good week’s total weight loss, and consoling a bad week’s weight loss because we know the effort that we both have put into it.

I also feel accountable because I have decided to write about my attempts to lose weight on this blog.  My little girl also holds me accountable though she does not even know it.  Seeing her refer to the hefty male figures in her books sweetly as ‘daddy’ reminds me of my commitment to her.  All of these accountabilities have added up to help me hold myself to a successful program.

However, true person-to-person accountability is only as good as the commitment of the people who decide to be accountable to each other.  Don’t be afraid to hold people who make a commitment to you to their commitments, and don’t be afraid to ask them to hold you to yours.

 

Update: I lost 8 pounds this week and am now at 272 lbs.  That is 87 lbs in 15 weeks, and I am 62.5% of the way to my goal.  I am seeing the 100 lb mark on the horizon.  I hope to be there in three weeks.

 

Green, the Color of Vomit

When I was a child, like most boys, my favorite colors were blue and red.  If it was time to buy a shirt, it was usually blue, red or if I was getting way out there, maroon or orange.  There were clearly defined colors for boys and girls.  Girls wore yellow, pink and purple, and boy wore the colors referenced above. 

Then there was green.  Green did not seem to have the same gender connotations that the other colors did.  What could a young boy do with a color like this?  For me, green became my least favorite color.  I never bought anything green.

Of course, we grow out of these silly ‘kid’s stuff’ attitudes as we grow older, and by late middle school green shirts were just fine.  Now, olive green, khaki, brown and navy (women refer to these as neutrals) permeate my wardrobe.  And up till now this has been fine with me, however, recent social events which I will now refer to as “The Greening of America,” are beginning to turn me against this color once again.

I have had an issue with the new religion of ‘Global Warming’ and its modern inquisitional tactics toward anyone who has the nerve to question the ‘science’ that it is proposing.  There are actually educators and scientists who are losing their positions for daring to question the accuracy of global warming theorists and their models.

I, personally, believe this is a completely social agenda that had unfortunately become a government funded (your tax dollars) phenomenon.  There is no legitimate debate over the issue, and there are no real ideas being proposed to help alleviate the problem if one really exists. 

Here we are several years into a full-blown panic over global warming, and no one has yet begun building the first new nuclear reactor in the United States.  Why is this?  It’s because the ignorant nuts that are driving this issue are the same ignorant nuts that condemned nuclear energy in the 1970’s before it proved to the world that it is the safest, cleanest, cheapest, most sustainable, most environmentally friendly type of energy in the world.  Until these people, and the politicians they support, begin a serious and substantive move toward nuclear energy, I will have little respect for them or their cause.

The economic impact of policies being enacted by governments around the world, together with oil prices, has begun to take its toll around the world as we speak.  Now, there is talk of a world food crisis.  Economists are correctly placing blame for this on oil prices and the new ‘environmental’ policies especially those involving corn/ethanol production.  Of course, global warming theorists will blame, what else, ‘global warming’ for these food shortages.  It gets blamed for everything else.  It will be interesting to see which crisis wins if global warming and starvation of the poor worldwide driven by lack of food actually occurs.  My guess is that deep-down global warming theorists will feel that countries and cultures where human growth is unchecked could use a little thinning out.  A few million deaths in Brazil, for example would be that much fewer people that could cut down the rain forests, and that much fewer cooking fires, and we all know how terrible these fires are for the planets (I would like, at this point to reiterate the fact that I am speculating on the thoughts of other people, and would never harbor such thoughts myself).  It will be interesting to see how the mainstream/liberal media deals with all of this.

And, this all brings me back to my original point.  I’m beginning to like the color green a little less these days.  I could take it if it was just a political issue that was running its course, but now, it has not just invaded my own life, but has begun to permeate it.

I watch quite a bit of television, but recently my television watching has been marred by what I will call ‘green pollution.’  Every PSA on television seems to be about saving the planet.  Every Primetime program, “My Name Is Earl” for example, has become polluted by green references, and programs on Discovery and other educational channels (usually my favorite type of television) have become dumping grounds for the green message.  These channels, for me, are veering toward unwatchable.

Last year, discovery aired a program called “Expedition Borneo.”  The program documented man’s destruction of one of the last uninhabited forest regions on the Earth.  I got past the bleeding heart stuff at the beginning, and the rest of the program chronicled the majestic beauty that can be found all over Borneo, and it was truly a beautiful place.  I learned about that part of the world, and on the whole I really liked the program.

This year, Discovery followed up with “Expedition Alaska.”  They even devoted the whole week to ‘Alaska’ programming.  Unfortunately, the ‘expedition’ was nothing but a global warming fest with scientists racing all over the state to show us how global warming is destroying it.  Scientist after scientist made wild speculation about the consequences of global warming in general saying things like (and I paraphrase), “We don’t know exactly what impact global warming will have on these animals, but we have to do something to protect them.”  As this show droned on I found my interest drifting farther and farther away, until I just turned it off.

Eventually, there will be no intellectual refuge on television that is unspoiled by this green pollution.  Then, I guess I will have to make the unsavory decision to begin watching programs about motorcycles, tattoos and NASCAR.  At which point, I will sit back, drink my Gatorade, and wait for the Idiocracy to take over.  Bad Ass!