Stuff from the news

They say that there are three things that should never have been put on television: religion, news, and politics.

The reason is because television's a fast-format medium: a stream of images given to you in half-hour or thirty-second blurps. What pays for television, however, is its ratings -- and the only way to get ratings is to make sure your channel is more interesting than the next channel. That means even if I transmit the news, politics, or religion, I need to make it as interesting as Friends and Jerry Seinfield ... so you end up with actor politicians, TV evangelists, and unsubstantiated news presented in the most dramatic fashion possible...

Escaped killer on the loose. Could he be in your neighborhood? Find out tonight at ten o'clock...

Any yet I absolutely love the news. I love feeling "informed." I'm a news junkie. That being said, there are two news items I wanted to talk about: Major League Baseball and Terri Schiavo.


Major League Baseball

Everyone knows that professional baseball players use steroids. Look at pictures of Mark McGuire, Sammie Sosa, or Barry Bonds their rookie years and compare those pictures against them now and it's only too obvious. Do they regret having taken them? No way! Without steroids, none of them would be as rich or famous as they are today.

I've never been the biggest fan of baseball. It may be America's number one pass time, but I think that's just because of nostalgia. Little League baseball is still popular, and deservedly so, but I don't see how modern professional baseball can be compared to baseball in its Golden Age. I think the outrageous salaries and egos have sucked all the joy out of the sport.

And the problem is that Bob Selig and the owners know that - if it weren't for McGuire, Sosa and Bonds, baseball would be a dying sport. They need the homerun races to keep the public's interest and they need to turn a blind eye on steroid use in order to keep those races alive. The fact that McGuire would not answer any direct questions about his steroid use is answer enough. And Jose Conseco, whether or not his reasons for coming clean were to make money, is also facing criminal prosecution for telling the truth -- which makes me respect him all the more.


Terri Shiavo

The House just passed a special bill to get Terri Shiavo's case sent back to a federal judge so that this can be dragged out even more. Her case has become the rallying point, once again, for liberals and conservatives. How apropos that it occurs, once again, in Florida.

Personally I'm a firm believer in passive euthenasia. I know that this case seems more on the active side of things since they'll be starving her; but all pathos aside, the end is just the same despite the means.

I've tried to research the matter a little but haven't come to any satisfactory conclusion. It's significant to me that all of the court appointed doctors have found her to be brain dead. The fact that her parents keep showing clips where she seems to be responding to external stimuli doesn't really mean much if it's chance occurrence. Why not show a longer clip? Why don't they have more than one clip of her eyes tracking a balloon?

But then her husband is living with another woman and has two kids, so it doesn't seem like he's the most devoted guy either -- while her parents obviously love her. It also bothers me: the idea that the government can decide when this girl is going to die. The simplest solution, in this case, would be for Michael to get divorced and let her parents hold on to her for as long as they want. Let the rest of us draw up our battle lines in some future case. In the meantime, we should all tell our loved ones our wishes before something unfortunate happens to us.

As for me, I'd want that plug pulled.