ramble...

This post was originally going to be about how I wish I had a waterproof journal because I seem to get flooded with awesome realizations while I'm in the shower...but can't write 'em down! It causes some anxiety...having all these awesome thoughts flying around with nowhere to go. I get scared that they'll disappear forever if I don't get them out.

But, then I saw this article pop up in my Twitter feed:

US Border Patrol union rep: It's okay to shoot Mexican kids who throw stones

Uh...what?!

So, I read the story...which is about the NPR piece, Border Agent Shoots, Kills Mexican Boy At Bridge. The story features Drew Carey's tweeted opinions on the piece. Ok...

Boing Boing, your headline is misleading: the NPR piece doesn't feature any quotes from a Border Patrol union rep saying that It's okay to shoot Mexican kids who throw stones. Here's some context from it:

"T.J. Bonner, president of the union representing Border Patrol agents, said rock-throwing incidents against Border Patrol agents are common and capable of causing serious injury.

"It is a deadly force encounter," Bonner said. "One that justifies the use of deadly force."

Boing Boing's headline makes it sound like Bonner said it was okay to shoot children. But his quote doesn't seem to refer to any specific group of people other than rock-throwers. This feels like a Daily Show moment, and if I weren't tired, I might have jumped into a diatribe about the state of journalism. Maybe another time.

Before I retire for the night, another thing struck me while I was reading the NPR quote....

Really? Rock-throwing is dangerous enough to warrant the use of gunshots as a return attack? Cowboys & Indians! Israel & Palestine?

plagerizing myself

The following is actually the content of an email I had written to a friend earlier today. It's a response to one of her recent blog posts.

"Well said. I don't know anything about Lost, but the part you opened with was really nice to read and be reminded about. It's been interesting to think about how focusing so much on the facts and the answers pushes creativity to the wayside. And as it turns out, the creativity is where all the interesting stuff is!

Speaking of TV/logic/creativity/questions, I actually came to a really cool realization about a conflict I'd been struggling with while watching Bones. For a few episodes, I didn't really know what to make of it. I loved the fact that the show's based around forensic anthropology and that the characters are adorable; however, after a while I started noticing ridiculous things that got on my nerves (like how that chick always seems to instantaneously create new computer programs that can create accurate faces from skulls, and how Bones can perfectly identify how someone died after only looking at the remains for 2 seconds). I was that person who I've always railed against...the person who has trouble separating fact from fiction in these shows. Eventually I straightened myself out, though. During one episode, it occurred to me that most scenes take place in dark rooms with perfectly placed spotlights. I was in the process of being annoyed by the obvious lack of reality in that lighting, and how no giant office space would be so dark...when it finally clicked in me that IT'S A TV SHOW. I'd neglected to appreciate the creative aspects of the show and actually fought against them in some ways. That night, logic vs. creativity finally changed to logic & creativity. left brain & right brain."