Why supermarkets are off their trolleys | Carol Midgley - Times Online

Why supermarkets are off their trolleys Carol Midgley - Times Online

Oh for the love of all that is sacred and holy...what has this world come to? You can't take pictures of your own children at a park because of fears of pedophilia...can't buy alcohol for yourself if your child is with you because you may be buying it for them...lectured on proper pregnancy diet by the supermarket deli clerk...what the hell?

Have we gone so far down the road of needing nanny laws and covenants that it's not just lawmakers telling us what to do now? Is it the extreme paranoia of being sued? Do we really think that the sick & twisted perv pedophile is going to be so brazen (and stupid) as to take their kiddie porn shots to Wal-Mart for developing so that any parent who takes a cute pic of their kids in the bathtub is arrested & their children placed in protective custody?

This article title says it all...but it's not just supermarkets that are off their trolleys...it is the whole world. We are so focused on protecting everyone from themselves that rather than enforce laws already in existence we create new ones that are, essentially, fucking common sense. I know that it's not a good idea to give your child alcohol...however if I want to buy a bottle of wine and my seven year old is with me, does the clerk really believe that I'll be pouring her a glass the second we get out the door so therefore I should not be allowed to buy it? If I'm pregnant, do I really need the deli counter clerk telling me I should not be purchasing the potato salad, ham, roast beef and colby jack cheese but instead lean turkey and fruit salad because it's healthier? Let's not even go into what would happen to said clerk if I were in a delicate condition and such a comment were made...the meat slicer would definitely be involved...but I digress....

I do not need to be regulated into doing the right thing...I had parents who taught me that. I understand not everyone does but people still learn right from wrong. If someone is determined to do the wrong thing, no law on the books would stop them. If it did, our prisons would be empty.

This whole business of a zero tolerance policy has gotten entirely out of hand. All it does is punish good people while doing nothing to deter the criminal and evil elements of society from committing whatever vile acts that they are going to do. We really need to think about where we are going down this road and step forward as a nation, as a world, and say "enough is enough!"

You know it's Freaky Friday when...

Ok, seriously. Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize? NASA shot the moon to find water? Where the hell have I been for the past 24 hours?

I understand that Obama did not campaign for the NPP. My consternation is not with the POTUS but with the idiots on the Nobel comittee. Seriously? After 11 days Obama is eligible for the Nobel Peace Prize because he what...showed up & wasn't George W Bush? When liberals sit back and say "What the hell?" you know it's nuts.

As to NASA & the moon...well, I can only imagine that this is what they were striving to accomplish.

Amazon & Kindle-The New Big Brother?

My Kindle ate my homework? - Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money

A Michigan teen is suing Amazon for removing his copy of "1984" from his Kindle, causing his electronic references to the book to become useless and causing him to be unable to turn in his homework in a timely manner. Amazon deleted electronic copies of the book during a copyright dispute.

How ironic that the book referenced in this lawsuit is "1984". While I abhor frivolous lawsuits in general, I am interested to see how this one pans out. That a company can just take something back that you purchased in good faith due to an error they made is scary. With our increased reliance on electronic devices, this could potentially become a disturbing trend.

A few questions not answered in this article: Was this teen reimbursed for the cost of the e-book when it was removed? Was he notified that the book would be removed, therefore giving him the opportunity to back up his work? The most obvious question is what kind of monetary value can you place on lost homework? Given that this student was in Advanced Placement classes, this late assignment could have significantly lowered his grade, or even caused him to fail all together if the teacher refused to accept late work. This could lead to lower GPA, inability to get into the school of his choice, lost scholarship or grant opportunities....yes, I could go on but I will save these arguments for the lawyers.

My concern is that a company can reach out into your personal property and take away property that you have paid for. By opening ourselves up to increased electronic monitoring and living our lives in the public eye (Twitter, blogs, YouTube, etc.) I believe that we will see more instances of this type of behavior with regards to electronic material in the future. I have a feeling that this case, if accepted by the federal court, could set a precedent in how companies deal with electronic material in the future.