Let's Play Catchup

I was heading to a small town to take pictures of a sex-offender's van last week and pondering deep and philosophical thoughts when my mind turned, as it so often does at moments like these, to Southpark. I came across what seems an inconsistancy in the underlying messages of the show and it bothered me. You see, I feel South Park is a pretty good gauge for the way the population of the U.S. is leaning on any particular issue. I am not saying the makers of the show agree, often they don't, but by watching the show you get a good feel for not only what the issues are, but how the general population feels on the issues and how the show's creators feel. Well, I remember the Underwear Gnomes issue in which the owner of a small coffee shop manipulates the boys into swaying town opinion against a giant corporations attempt to put a competing shop in town. The boys learn the important lesson that corporations become large because they get very good, (or at least efficient) at something. Then a few seasons later we get an episode in which the boys fight the scorge of a large box store coming to town and taking over. This seems inconsitstent. I mean on one hand they are saying large coffee franchises are good and on the other they are saying big box stores are bad. It could be a simple as they like Starbucks but hate Walmart. Why are we mixing signals. Then I finally after about 2 hours decided that I was misinterpreting the anti-Walmart message. It isn't necessarily that they think Wally-world is bad, it's that they are saying if you don't like them, and there are many reasons not to, then stop supporting them. If you hate Walmart, then don't shop there. If enough people do that, then eventually they will go away.

On the home front, one of my collegues told me one of his clients was in jail and couldn't make bail, so the guys girlfriend takes a job stripping to raise his bail money. She had to quit though, after getting raped one afternoon in the parking lot.

Stupid news about famous people:

Okay, two recent examples seems to prove that the white trash gene breeds true.

Lindsay Lohan checks herself into an in-patient addiction treatment program. They agree to let her go to work each day, although it decreases her chances of successfully completing the program. She then treats the program like a vacation resort, going and coming as she pleases. Then when she is released from the program, she celebrates by going to a nightclub.

Britney Spears proves she is a fit mother by having a crying jag, going into a hair salon, asking them to shave her head, then shaving it herself when they refuse, crying some more, then driving to a tatoo parlor and getting some ink done. Yes, I want her raising my children. She did all this after checking herself into a treatment program and then leaving before it started. Not like she has shown much common sense in the past, but this chick is really loosing it and fast.

Guess it just goes to show you can take the girl out of the trailer park, but ya can't take the trailer park out of the girl.

February Fools

Sorry, it's been a while. Of course, noone is reading this so who cares, it's more a form of therapy. Anyway, 2 things.

Thing number one, I have been moved to a specialized and highly active caseload based in a larger county. The shift kept me working my ass off the last couple of weeks, but it is mostly done. I still pick up a few things from the old caseload.

Thing number two. I went to court in my old home county yesterday and they brought out a violation on another caseload. The judge was quizzing her about her failures to report for the last 2 months and she claimed it was because she had been incarcerated. He wanted to know why, as in did she have new charges that would also violate her probation. She claimed that she had been in carcerated in one county in December and a second county in January. Neither county was the one she was presently in court on. One incarceration, the one in January, she claimed was for a failure to appear in court. The second incarceration was on a misdemeanor probation violation out of a general sessions court case for failure to report to her officer. The judge was very curious as to the length of both of these incarcerations. Apparently they were both 10 days long. She could not report to her state probation officer because she had been locked up for 10 days. She couldn't explain why she could not report on the days she wasn't locked up. The judge then asked her what she did for a living and she told him she was employed by H and R Block. The judge took a long serious look at the young woman who was on probation with the state for a felony, on probation in one county for a misdemeanor, unable to meet the terms of either probation, and unable to appear in court when she is supposed to and stated "I can't tell you how much confidence it gives me to know that YOU are giving people advice about their income tax." She then asked him to set her a bond.