Our Christmas Presents

One full day...to set up the new computer; a few hours of which were spent on the phone to tech support.

Several hours...to read the instruction manual, about the same length as the Bible, that came with the new digital camera

Getting a present with no cords, cables, batteries, memory chips or any other kinds of gizmos.....PRICELESS!!!!!!!


NOTE: The above is most fictional and is just intended to make a point.



So Sayeth The Shack

Should Rigoberto Alpizar Have Been Shot?

For those not following the news, Rigoberto Alpizar is the man who was shot and killed by air marshalls in Miami yesterday after claiming he had a bomb aboard an airplane. Turns out there was no bomb, he was unarmed, and he actually suffered from mental illness and had not taken his medication. His death is an unfortunate byproduct of the "war on terror". I am sure there will be a big outcry aabout this. Unfortunately, given the exact circumstances, there likely could have been no other outcome. The air marshalls could not tell whether or not the man was bluffing about the bomb. They had no idea about his mental illness. They had no other way of subdoing him without shooting. Perhaps the air marshalls should have some other means of rendering someone unconcious without having to kill them. Shack's opinion: In this particular case, there appeared to be no other choice, especially since he started reaching into the bag that contained the supposed bomb. Nevertheless, it was unfortunate.

More Dangerous Than Iraq?

I received the following via e-mail. It is not my own work and I do not know who to credit it to, but thought it was worth sharing.

Thought for the day:

If you consider that there have been an average of 160,000 troops in
the Iraq theater of operations during the last 22 months, and a total of
2112 deaths, that gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000.

The rate in Washington D.C. (among others) is 80.6 per 100,000. That
means that you are about 25% more likely to be shot and killed in our
Nation's Capitol, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in
the nation, than you are in Iraq.

Conclusion: We should immediately pull out of Washington D.C