Unsought Input

In a recent study the good old US of A was ranked 39th out of 149 countries in an environmental study that looked at countries overall environmental policies and emissions.  We were not the worst though.  I know I was saying stuff about China cleaning up for the Olympics before but they apparently have quiet a long way to go since they are currently competing with India for the least environmentally friendly country around.

Either way it’s probably time we do something about this, though.  I mean, where is our drive to win?  Our burning desire to fight and conquer and take over and WIN!!!? So, we just need to make this a challenge or a competition or a major TV show like American Gladiators.  If we had some type of zany game show to make people want to do environmentally friendly things we might be able to beat out other Costa Rica (who ranked fifth) or at least Japan (who ranked 21st).  I mean, all we need is a little bit of good old fashioned patriotism applied to saving the environment and people would just eat it up.  I know you could consider this technique to be  tricking the American public into doing something they wouldn’t normally do for a small prize or other’s amusement but I can’t really see any other way to make lazy people want to go out of their way do to anything.  Maybe I am not trying hard enough myself.  I know that if there was some crazy recycling game where I could win money or prizes I would totally be playing.

As far as corporations go, we could make a new TV show like The Office but with a company that has environmental hyjinks always ensuing.  Or we could just make them actually follow the regulations that would lower their emissions and pollution.  But hyjinks are always more fun.

Just for a change of pace let’s talk politics.  I mean, just in case you aren’t already bored to death of the presidential campaign yet, we can talk about it here.  I am surprised how early in the campaign it is and how much I really don’t want to hear about it.  Maybe it’s just because I am politically lazy.  But I hate to lay all the blame on myself, so I am going to blame it on the heavy press over it for the last three months when, in my opinion, I shouldn’t have been hearing about it yet.  I mean, shouldn’t I normally be just starting to care now?  But since I have already had this presidential election forced on me I have a feeling I am going to be very very very tired of it well before the actual elections.

There are a couple of things I hope to see in this election, though.  I am hoping to see some actual honest campaigns where there is no mudslinging and no school yard bully tactics similar to those employed in the last election.  I know, keep dreaming.  I just want to live in a country where I don’t have to worry about political commercials telling me how presidential candidate X is a doodie head who supports killing babies and puppy dogs.  I mean, I am glad I graduated from high school.  I thought that meant I would never have to deal with these kinds of antics again.  But, oh, how naive I was.  So young.  So naive.  I guess it’s good to have a dream.

I also want to see a minority in office. I think that is progressive and would let the world know that we are not just a country run by legislative fat cats who inherited their political career from their parents and know nothing of the real world.  I mean, right now we have kind of a bad rap with the rest of the world and this might be our chance to let everyone else know that we are ready to make drastic changes to make things right.  I don’t know, it’s my opinion and I’m entitled to it.

You know what else I want to see?  I want to see the celebrities who made all those sappy commercials  to go out and vote actually vote.  I know they probably need to register to vote first but it’s so simple.  They can get their agent or publicist or whoever to go down to the post office or town hall or where ever and fill it out for them.  Hell, they can even get them to help them at the polls if they need it.  I am just tired of the hypocrisy that fills this nation.  And the laziness. I mean, I am a lazy person when it comes to politics but I vote in every election, not just the presidential elections.  And honestly, if you can’t be bothered to vote for president you have no right to complain about anything ever.  Unless you are complaining about your family, and in that case, you are still not allowed to complain about anything ever.

Since I am already tired of the presidential race I decided to try and figure out what the candidates stand for without actually listening to any debates or what have you.   I found this website that asks you what your opinions are and how strongly you feel about them and based on your answers tells you what candidates are supporting issues closest to your opinions.  It’s kind of cool and only takes a few minutes so you should check it out.  It might save you the time of having to watch more debates and mudslinging commercials.

If you just skipped to the last paragraph, I will say it again.  Check out this website. It asks you your opinions and tells you who you might want vote for in the election.  It will save you a lot of annoyance this year which is sure to be filled with lots of political bull crap that you might not want to wade through.   Just trying to help.

So recently I wrote an article on how I felt that the British show IT Crowd is very good and does not need an American remake. If you click right there on that little blue link, you can read it, too, if your heart so desires. Basically it just became a comment festival to say that because I don’t think that a lot of people are “intelligent” (I will use this term loosely) enough to really enjoy this type of humor that I am a bad American. I am not saying that you have to be intelligent to understand humor. You can be dumb as a rock and still think things are funny. And different things are funny to different people. For example, my friends like to watch people take the Cinnamon Challenge all night. They think this is the funniest thing since the icanhascheezburger.com. I do not. I don’t really think it’s funny at all. And these people are pretty dumb. And you know, of course, that dumb people are funny. I mean, that is why Jackass got to make two movies that a lot of people went out to see and then bought, along with lots of TV shows and DVDs and merchandise.

But you know what? I do think intelligence has a lot to do with the type of humor you find funny. You have to be smarter to get certain subtle references to pop culture or semi-inside jokes taken from any culture: pop, web, society, ect. Because you can only get so far with fart jokes. Really. I am pretty sure that the basic fart jokes do wear down over time. Don’t get me wrong, a fart joke here and there is funny. Just not all the time. That is why intelligence in humor is what makes a certain movie or TV show or book or comedian or whatever more funny and memorable then another. Do you agree with me? I actually don’t care if you do or not. I mean, I am writing this article which means that it obviously bothers me a little that I had to go out of my way to explain this to some people, but that I wanted to make sure it was understood what I mean. So, maybe I do care. But just a little.

And, I am not saying I am really smart or that you are really dumb (if you felt that the title of my article on the IT Crowd was derogatory towards you, then maybe it was? If not, then hey, I’m not talking about you.). All I am saying is that there are a lot of dumb people out there who never get tired of fart and poop jokes, getting to see people kick other people in the nuts or fall off of buildings. But for the rest of us who want that kind of humor mixed in with more intelligent and snappy humor I feel we get punished with main stream entertainment. And I am very thankful when something funny comes out on TV or at the movies. But it’s like a rare mythological beast. You will see it and love it and want to own it but no one will believe you that it was there (or in this case worth watching). Americans are all jaded and bored. I am tired of the same old recycled TV being reprocessed and re-aired. So, sorry if I offended you people who like to watch the same show 20 different times (I am talking about anything here but you can insert The Real World if you want a specific example). Over a hundred different channels for people to watch and still nothing on TV worth watching.

Oh, and one last thing, it’s not just Americans. Every country has their fair share of dumb people. I’m sorry to just single out the good ole USofA. I know, it makes me anti-American. So does everything else despite but that is an article for another time.