Tag: news

offended at losing weight

These days, I don’t get surprised too much at the stupidity of some people nor at how easily they get offended.  I don’t know if people have always been this stupid, or if our society somehow breeds it in some type of “experiment-gone-wrong” type way.  But either way, some people sure do get offended easily.  Here’s a unique example, which really happened recently.

A 19-year-old overweight guy named Broderick Laswell was arrested last September for beating and stabbing a guy, then setting his house on fire.  When he went to jail, he weighed 413 pounds.  (That’s not just slightly overweight, either — it’s more like “the back of your neck looks like a pack of sausages” fat.)  Anyway, in jail, he’s fed “only” 2300 to 3000 calories per day.  And he’s tried to work out a few times, but he started feeling faint.  He claims that this faintness is due to hunger pains from diminished calorie intake, though it’s more likely because he’s morbidly obese.  I mean, when you’re over 400 pounds, walking across the parking lot is a workout.  (Not that I’d know personally, nor will I be researching this.)

Anyway, this guy is suing the jailers for “lack of nutrition” because he’s lost 105 pounds and is now down to a still-not-healthy 308 pounds.  He claims that this “lack of nutrition” causes his stomach to hurt and growl and be hungry again within an hour of eating.

So, to summarize this, a fat guy commits a crime, goes to jail, is forced to eat a normal amount of food, loses weight, and files a lawsuit over it.  Is he offended at being less fat?  Or does he think prisoners should be fed from a buffet every day?  What is he thinking?

too fat for prison

In the news there’s a story of a woman who is about 1000 pounds and can’t leave her house.  That is FAT!  I know, it’s not politically correct to talk about a woman’s weight nor to call her fat, but this isn’t some extra 50 pounds — it’s an extra 850 pounds!  I don’t think it’s even debatable whether she’s fat — let’s just call it what it is.

Anyway, she was in the news because she killed her nephew yet she’s not in jail because she’s too fat.  Sorry, but that’s just not a good enough excuse.  The prison should knock out a wall and make a double-wide jail cell if necessary.  If she can’t walk (and she probably can’t), get a crane and a dump truck, and haul her butt to the slammer.  Let her sit there, away from TV and excess food.  For her punishment, they should make her exercise.  If she can’t do much, they could have her roll over, or try to touch her hands together.

They can’t let her make a mockery of the justice system just because she’s fat!  She must go to jail.  What kind of example are they setting?

What is this world coming to?

celebrity voices for car navigation systems

This isn’t a new thing, but it’s the first I’ve heard of it.  One company is now offering celebrity voices as an add-on to your in-car navigation system.  The first ones chosen were Mr. T, Burt Reynolds, and Dennis Hopper.  They didn’t get a great review in this article, so perhaps the company didn’t do enough with them.  I could think of some really cool uses for their voices, but, as “real life” tends to interfere with what would be cool, some people would get offended and want to sue, so they probably have to limit what can be done.  Maybe they should offer some different rudeness settings, from “Bring It!” to “Please be gentle because I’m a wuss”.  Then again, my idea of settings to be politically correct wouldn’t be politically correct.  *sigh*

This second article explains why having your navigation system joke with you and use unusual accents is bad.  This is obviously overreacting, as long as the celebrity voices are optional.  People can use them if they can handle it.  If it doesn’t work for them, use the standard boring voice.  I tell ya, some people are just looking to get offended, even on others’ behalf.  *sigh*

In the latter article on being offended, someone said:

Even though we all realize that a car’s navigation system is a computer, our brain still responds to anything speaking to us as if it were a person.

Really?!?  Are you sure?  I think that’s stupid.  Because my wife’s vehicle has a navigation system in it, and I never confuse it with a person.  Nor do I treat it as a person.  Actually, I usually either ignore it or turn it all the way down, because I’m a man and don’t need directions!  🙂  But if it sounded like Mr. T, I would listen to it for the humor effect.

I don’t know who these people are that confuse a computer with a real person.  If this actually happens, there shouldn’t even be verbal directions, because they might think someone is in the car with them, and so they might panic and run off the road.  I know, that sounds silly, but so does their premise of confusing the voices.  And if you’re going to account for the possibility of human stupidity, then there’s a LOT of scenarios to consider.

the military’s new ray gun

The military now has an actual ray gun, which they call the “Active Denial System”.  It shoots out a 100,000 watt beam of radio waves.  It does no permanent damage, but it can stop people in their tracks up to half a mile away.

There’s some videos at this link.

I just want to know — where can I get one?  🙂

This would be great for keeping the neighbor’s pets out of my yard, along with those annoying door-to-door salesmen.  Plus it would be great at parties, although they need to develop a hand-gun sized version.  Maybe I should get the Buffet o’ Blog R&D department to develop one.  I bet it would sell like hotcakes…